The Odyssey is an epic adventure tale and hero's journey.

It kind of reads like a bunch of stories within the broader story, in that many of the obstacles faced don't have anything to do with the broader plot, they just happen and have no later effect.

Some of these internal stories are kind of funny, light hearted, even childish. Like when Odysseus tricks the cyclops into thinking is name is "nobody". Then when the cyclops friends come to help, after his eye has been stabbed, the cyclops yells "nobody is here! nobody has attacked me!". So they leave. Then Odysseus and his men sneak out by holding onto the undersides of the sheep as they leave the cave.

The culmination of the story is when Odysseus arrives home and avenges himself against the suitors with the help of his son and one of the old caretakers. The famous scene here is when Odysseus, in disguise, instigates a competition to shoot his old bow. No one can even string it. The Odysseus, disguised as an old man, strings it and shoot through the 10 small rings in a single shot.

He then locks the doors and massacres all of the suitors. It's pretty epic.

There are many stories on the journey I haven't mentioned. The witch. The sirens. The goddess that keeps him for company and sex. The portal to the underworld. The arrival at a friendly city where they hear his stories and shower him with valuable gifts.

It's cool to read The Odyssey along with the Iliad and see how Odysseus's character gets along in the two stories. He is depicted as the most cunning of all, and a tactical genius. What surprised me is that the Trojan Horse is not a significant part of these two stories. It's only briefly alluded to in a couple places.