Odysseus oh-DISS-ee-us was one of the ancient Greeks most famous and beloved heroes. The ancient Romans, who admired and eagerly copied Greek culture, were fond of him too. They called him Ulysses yu-LISS-eez. Also beloved by the Greeks and Romans was the great Greek poet and story-teller Homer HO-mer. He wrote at length about Odysseus in two superb epic poems. The first, the Iliad ILL-ee-ud, tells about the tenth year of the siege of Troy, a wealthy city in western Anatolia what is now Turkey. The rulers of several Greek kingdoms made war on and eventually captured Troy. Among those kings was Odysseus, who ruled the Greek island realm of Ithaca ITH-uh-kuh. Homer called him a very capable man who journeyed across the world after seizing the proud fortress of Troy.
