Odysseus

Odysseus, in Greek mythology, a Greek hero, ruler of the island of Ithaca and one of the leaders of the Greek army during the Trojan War. Homer's Odyssey recounts Odysseus's adventures and ultimate return home ten years after the fall of Troy. Initially, Odysseus was mentioned as the son of Laertes, king of Ithaca, although in later tradition Sisyphus, king of Corinth, was considered his real father, his mother having later married Laertes. At first Odysseus refused to accompany the Greeks to Troy, feigning madness by sowing his fields with salt, but the Greeks placed his son Telemachus in front of the plough, and Odysseus was compelled to admit his ruse and join the invading army. Throughout the Iliad of Homer, he is portrayed as a brave, sagacious, cunning warrior, and he is awarded the famous armour of the Greek warrior Achilles on the latter's death. Odysseus was responsible for bringing the Greek heroes Neoptolemus and Philoctetes to Troy for the final stage of the conflict. In the Odyssey it is said that he proposed the strategem of the Trojan Horse, the means by which Troy was conquered.

In the works of later Classical writers, particularly those of the Greek poet Pindar, the Greek playwright Euripides, and the Roman poet Virgil, Odysseus is characterized as a cowardly and scheming politician. In Latin his name is rendered as Ulysses.