Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Odyssey |
OdysseyNoun1. A long wandering and eventful journey. 2. A Greek epic poem (attributed to Homer) describing the journey of Odysseus after the fall of Troy. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "odyssey" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Odyssey The poem of Homer which records the adventures of Odysseus (Ulysses) in his home-voyage from Troy. The word is an adjective formed out of the hero's name, and means the things or adventures of Ulysses. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Magnavox Odyssey was the first home video game console, predating the Atari Pong home consoles by three years. The Odyssey was designed by Ralph Baer, who had a working prototype finished by 1968. This prototype is affectionately known as the "Brown Box" to classic video game hobbyists. Unlike all later video game consoles, the Odyssey is analog rather than digital, which makes its invention all the more amazing in spite of its rather crude graphics and controller responsiveness. The Odyssey and its successor are the only consoles that lack sound.The Odyssey used a type of removable circuit card that inserted into a slot similar to a cartridge slot. The system also came with plastic overlays that gamers could put on their TV screen to simulate the playing of different "games," but only two TV sizes were supported. It also came with plastic game tokens and score sheets to help keep score, much like more traditional board games.
The Odyssey was released in 1972 but was a commercial failure. Magnavox did win a court case against Nolan Bushnell for patent infringement in Bushnell's design of Computer Space, as it somewhat resembled the games for the Odyssey.
The Odyssey was successful enough to support an add-on peripheral, a "light gun". This detected light from the TV screen, however pointing the gun at a nearby light bulb also registered as a "hit".
Ralph Baer went on to invent the classic electronic game Simon for Mattel in 1979, which became the most popular electronic handheld of all time. Magnavox would later try releasing another video game console, the Odyssey 2, in 1978.
Nintendo's first venture into the console world was selling the Magnavox Odyssey in Japan, before they made their own consoles.
External Links
- A rather exhaustive story of the Odyssey
- Ralph Baer's story of the development of the Odyssey
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Magnavox Odyssey."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Odyssey is the second of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the first being the Iliad. The book follows the events of the last 42 days of the voyage of Odysseus returning from the Trojan War. During two nights in the company of the Phaeacians he describes his entire voyage.
In the English language, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage.
Plot summary
The story opens with Odysseus held on the island of Calypso and unable to return home to his wife Penelope. All the gods, except for Poseidon, are sympathetic to his plight. With Poseidon away in Ethiopia for a feast, the others gather and Athena asks Zeus to allow Odysseus to return. Poseidon has kept Odysseus away from home on account of the blinding of his son Polyphemus and Odysseus' claiming to have tricked the Trojans by himself, but Zeus agrees to let him return. Hermes is to be sent to Calypso to ask for his release. Athena travels to the island of Ithaca, advising Odysseus' son Telemachus to call an assembly of the Achaeans to speak out against the suitors of Penelope, then to travel to Pylos and Sparta to seek tidings of his father's return.
On the second day, Telemachus assembles the people and makes a weak appeal to the suitors' consciences. They answer with scorn and are warned of their fate by Halitherses, but refuse to take any notice. Telemachus borrows a ship and travels by night to Pylos accompanied by Athena. On the third day, they arrive in Pylos and are received by Nestor. However he has no news about Odysseus and Athena disappears. The next day Telemachus drives a chariot to Pherae, halfway to Sparta, accompanied by Peisistratus. On the fifth day they arrive in Sparta and are received by Menelaus and Helen. On the sixth day Menelaus describes his return from Troy and says that he has heard from Proteus, the old man of the sea, that Odysseus is still alive and held captive on an island. Menelaus invites Telemachus to stay for 11 or 12 days, which he declines. Later in the book it turns out that Telemachus made an even longer stay in Sparta after all. Meanwhile, back in Ithaca on the sixth day, the suitors learn that Telemachus is searching for his father and they decide to lay an ambush.
On the seventh day, back with the gods of Olympus, Athena again urges the release of Odysseus and Hermes is sent to Calypso, where he presents the message. Zeus prophecies that Odysseus will reach the Phaeacians at Scheria after 20 days sailing, who will take him to Ithaca.
From the eighth day Odysseus constructs a raft, which he uses to leave the island on the twelfth day. After sailing for 18 days he sees Scheria on the 29th day of the story. However Poseidon raises a storm against him and he cannot land on the island until the 32nd day.
On the 33rd day, Odysseus meets Nausicaa, daughter of Alcinous, the Phaeacian King. With the help of Athena and Nausicaa he is favourably received in the palace. He describes how he arrived from Calypso's island. The next day, after the conduct of sports, he describes the two year voyage between the fall of Troy and his captivity in the island of Calypso.
He recounts departing with his crew from the Trojan War, sacking Ismarus and sailing to Malea, the southern point of Greece. However from there they were driven by winds to the Lotus-Eaters, most likely in an unexplored part of the world. They sailed to the land of the Cyclopes, where they were forced to escape from Polyphemus, thus drawing the wrath of Poseidon. They sailed to the island of Aeolus, who tried to help them return. Then to Telepylos, a city of the cannibal Laestrygonians. Odysseus could escape with only a single ship to the Island of Circe, where they spent a year. Circe commanded them to visit Hades to learn the way home from the ghost of Teiresias. Odysseus learnt that they must avoid injuring the cattle of Helios, god of the Sun, on the island of Thrinacia, if the crew were to return home. Returning to Circe, then sailing on, they avoided the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, although with the loss of some crew to reach Thrinacia. On account of hunger they devoured the sacred cattle of Helios, for which they were punished with shipwreck. Only Odysseus survived, and after floating for ten days on a raft, reached the island of Calypso where he spent the next eight years.
The following day, the 35th, the Phaeacians take Odysseus to Ithaca in a magical barque.
On the 36th day, Odysseus awakes in Ithaca and learns from Athena of the suitors of his wife. Disguised as an old man by Athena, he goes to the hut of his loyal swineherd Eumaeus. Athene goes to fetch Telemachus from Lacedaemon where he has resided for a month. The next day is spent by Odysseus in the swineherd's hut while Telemachus reaches Pherae, halfway to Pylos. On the 38th day Telemachus reaches Pylos and boards a ship without visiting Nestor, taking with him Theoclymenus. The ship evades the ambush of the suitors at night. Odysseus meanwhile is listening to the history of Eumaeus.
On the 39th day, Telemachus reaches Ithaca and sends his ship to the city, while himself directed by Athena to the hut of Eumaeus. There he meets his disguised father, whom nobody yet recognises. After Eumaeus is sent to Penelope, Athena reveals Odysseus to Telemachus and the two plot the death of the suitors. In the evening Eumaeus returns to the hut, where Odysseus is again disguised.
On the 40th day, Telemachus travels to the city and calls Theoclymenus to the palace. In the afternoon, Odysseus and Eumaeus reach the city, where Odysseus pretends to be a beggar. After some minor conflicts he meets Telemachus and they obtain weapons. Odysseus talks to Penelope, who does not recognise him. She explains that she does not believe that he is dead, and doesn't want to remarry: she has put the suitors off by insisting that she must first weave her husband a burial shroud, and every night she undoes that day's weaving. However she says that the following day, the feast of the archer Apollo, she will agree to wed the man who can send an arrow through the holes in twelve axe-blades set up in a row, using the bow of Odysseus.
On the 41st day the suitors decline to kill Telemachus on the holy day of Apollo. However none of them can draw the bow of Odysseus. Odysseus, revealing himself to two of his servants, has them lock the doors. After sending an arrow through the axe-blades with his bow, he and Telemachus slaughter the suitors.
On the 42nd day, the kin of the suitors unsuccessfully attempt revenge. Athene reconciles the feud.
Derivative works
Some of the tales of Sindbad the Sailor from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) were taken from Homer's Odyssey.
A modern book inspired by the Odyssey is James Joyce's Ulysses (1922).
Nikos Kazantzakis wrote The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel, an incredible 33,333 line epic poem which continues Odysseus' journeys past the point of his arrival in Ithaca.
The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou has the basic plot of The Odyssey; Joel and Ethan Coen admit basing the movie loosely on The Odyssey but insist that they haven't read it.
R. A. Lafferty retold the story in a science fiction setting in his novel Space Chantey.
Progressive metal group Symphony X based a 24-minute epic track The Odyssey on the story in their 2002 album, The Odyssey.
External links
- Homer's Odyssey resources on the Web by John Barger. Provides links to the original and various public domain translations.
- English translations:
- Alexander Pope, 1713; Project Gutenberg edition; [1]
- Samuel Henry Butcher and Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg edition; [1]
- Samuel Butler, 1898, Project Gutenberg edition; [1]
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Odyssey."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Odyssey is an album released by guitar virtuoso Yngwie J. Malmsteen issued in March of 1988. Many of the songs were instrumental and are strongly influenced by 1970s prog rock and heavy metal, such as Deep Purple's Machine Head or Emerson Lake and Palmer's Tarkus.Tracks
- Rising Force
- Hold On
- Heaven Tonight
- Are You Dreaming (Tell Me)
- Bite The Bullet
- Riot In The Dungeons
- Deja Vu
- Crystal Ball
- Now Is The Time
- Faster Than The Speed Of Light
- Krakatau
- Memories
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Odyssey (album)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Odyssey, poem of Greek writer, poet and philosopher Nikos Kazantzakis, the largest of his works.Kazantzakis himself considered it to be his most important work. He started working on it in 1924, after he returned to Crete from Germany. Before finally publishing it in 1938 he had drafted seven different versions.
The "Odyssey" is divided in 24 rhapsodies (see rhapsody), as Homer's Odyssey, and consists of 33333 17-syllable verses.
Kazantzakis' Odyssey begins when Odysseus (Ulysses) returns to Ithaca and decides to delve into new adventures, as he very soon becomes unsatisfied with his quiet family life. First he travels to Sparta, where he abducts Helen, the wife of the king of Sparta Menelaus, whose abduction by Paris had led to the Trojan war. He goes to Crete, where a conspiracy dethrones the king. There he abandons Helen and continues to Egypt, where again a workers uprising takes place. He leads an aesthetic's life for a short period and then he leaves again for another place where he founds his own city, called Utopia. The city gets destroyed by a cosmogonic earthquake, however, it passes to a state of "complete freedom". Odysseus meets Managis (an incarnation of Buddha), Kapetan Enas (English: Captain One), alias Don Quixote and a fisherman, alias Christ. At the end he sails to the South Pole where he dies and becomes immaterial.
The "Odyssey" represents Kazantzakis' ideology and metaphysical concerns, as well as the main traits of his character: his heroic pessimism, his antirationalism, his loneliness and - finally - his nihilism. The central pattern is the denial, the demolition of a goal with a new denial, the struggle, not to reach a goal, but for the sake of the struggle itself, freedom as the denial of the idea of freedom, the glorification of the void.
The "Odyssey" has not been received enthusiastically by the public. The size of the work, the difficult language and the unlikeable character of this modern Odysseus (an immoral and lonely desperado) have been the main reasons. Despite all this, the "Odyssey" is a fascinating poetic creation. Kazantzakis managed to infuse it with all his experience and knowledge acquired through his reflections and his aestheticism.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel."
Crosswords: Odyssey |
| English words defined with "odyssey": Aristarchus ♦ Friedrich August Wolf ♦ homer ♦ Lipogram, lotus-eater ♦ Odysseus ♦ stargazer ♦ wolf. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "odyssey": Homer's Critics ♦ Odyssey system ♦ Pic-nic. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Gene, the Odyssey is dying . From my chair here, this is the last option (Apollo 13; writing credit: Jim Lovell; Jeffrey Kluger) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Henry Miller Odyssey (1974) Sex Odyssey (1970) The Beatles Mod Odyssey (1968) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Dark Odyssey (1961) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Books |
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Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Odyssey On Deck. Credit: NASA. |  | ODYSSEY deployed through ice. Credit: National Undersea Research Program (NURP). |
 | ODYSSEY is set to be deployed from ship. Credit: National Undersea Research Program (NURP). |  | Odyssey House 25 Years / Illustration by Salvador Bru. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Jamiroquai's odyssey 01" by Nicholas Sales Commentary: "My funk oyssey's cd :)." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| "Odyssey" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 57.14% of the time. "Odyssey" is used about 84 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 57.14% | 48 | 49,194 |
| Noun (proper) | 39.29% | 33 | 60,273 |
| Noun (common) | 3.57% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 84 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| USA | Odyssey Pictures Corporation |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "odyssey": Odyssey system ♦ the odyssey. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
odyssey | 1,517 | odyssey health care | 53 |
honda odyssey | 1,281 | used honda odyssey | 49 |
2001 space odyssey | 474 | odyssey picture | 49 |
odyssey putter | 323 | 2003 honda odyssey | 42 |
homer odyssey | 228 | honda odyssey buy | 39 |
2004 honda odyssey | 220 | odyssey case | 37 |
adventure in odyssey | 191 | odyssey boat | 35 |
odyssey of the mind | 181 | honda odyssey part | 34 |
odyssey golf | 129 | odyssey 1000 | 33 |
odyssey cruise | 124 | character odyssey | 31 |
odyssey battery | 123 | honda odyssey review | 30 |
space odyssey | 96 | honda odyssey for sale | 29 |
odyssey summary | 79 | odyssey magazine | 28 |
odyssey 5 | 71 | hyrule odyssey | 28 |
honda odyssey atv | 71 | mars odyssey | 27 |
2005 honda odyssey | 69 | greek odyssey | 27 |
the odyssey by homer | 66 | cliff note odyssey | 27 |
odyssey restaurant | 56 | odyssey white hot | 27 |
honda odyssey accessory | 56 | honda odyssey fl250 | 26 |
fun odyssey world | 53 | new honda odyssey | 26 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "odyssey"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | odisea. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | одисея. (various references) | |
Chinese | 冒险旅行. (various references) | |
Czech | odysea. (various references) | |
Danish | Odyssey-system (Odyssey system). (various references) | |
Dutch | Odyssee. (various references) | |
Esperanto | Odiseado. (various references) | |
Farsi | قطعه منظوم رزمی منصوب به هومرشاعر. (various references) | |
French | système Odyssey (Odyssey system). (various references) | |
German | Irrfahrt. (various references) | |
Greek | οδύσσεια. (various references) | |
Hungarian | odüsszea, kalandos utazás. (various references) | |
Italian | odissea, peregrinazione (peregrination, wandering). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | odysseyay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | odisseia. (various references) | |
Romanian | odisee. (various references) | |
Russian | одиссея. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | odiseja, putešestvije (peregrination). (various references) | |
Spanish | odisea. (various references) | |
Swedish | odysse. (various references) | |
Turkish | odise destanı, odise (Odysseus), uzun ve maceralı yolculuk. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | одіссея, мандрування (itineracy, itinerancy, peregrination, pilgrimage, roam). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "odyssey": odysseys. (additional references) | |
| |
"Odyssey" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: dissey, oddysey, oddyssey, Oddysseys, oddyssy, odessey, odeyssey, odissey, odussey, odyesey, odyessey, odyessy, odysay, odyseey, odysessy, odysesy, odysey, odysse, odyssea, odyssee, odyssen, odysses, odyssesy, odyssies, odyssy, Oysley. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "odyssey" (pronounced Ä"dusē) |
| 5 | Ä" d u s ē | Geodesy. |
| 4 | -d u s ē | candidacy. |
| 3 | -u s ē | accuracy, adequacy, advocacy, Argosy, aristocracy, autocracy, bureaucracy, celibacy, confederacy, conspiracy, courtesy, degeneracy, delicacy, democracy, diplomacy, jealousy, legacy, ecstasy, embassy, fallacy, fantasy, heresy, hypocrisy, idiocy, illegitimacy, illiteracy, immediacy, inaccuracy, inadequacy, intimacy, intricacy, legitimacy, leprosy, literacy, lunacy, meritocracy, obstinacy, papacy, pharmacy, piracy, pleurisy, policy, primacy, privacy, prophecy, secrecy, supremacy, surrogacy, theocracy. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-e-o-s-s-y-y" | |
-2 letters: doses. | |
-3 letters: deys, does, dose, doss, dyes, odes, oses, oyes, sods, soys, yods. | |
-4 letters: dey, doe, dos, dye, eds, ess, ode, ods, oes, ose, sod, sos, soy, yes, yod. | |
-5 letters: de, do, ed, es, od, oe, os, oy, so, ye, yo. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-e-o-s-s-y-y" | |
+1 letter: odysseys. | |
+3 letters: hydrolyses. | |
+5 letters: hydrolysates, hydroxylases. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Names: Company Usage 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
