The fantastical elements of The Odyssey have made it a source of inspiration to writers in virtually every field. James Joyce used it as the foundation for Ulysses (the Latin name for Odysseus). Margaret Atwood wrote The Penelopiad, which examines Odysseus’ violent homecoming from his wife’s perspective. Children in the 1980s watched a Franco-Japanese sci-fi cartoon, called Ulysses 31, following the adventures of Ulysses and Telemachus in space. The childlike in 2018 might be playing Super Mario Odyssey, in which the titular hero seeks to rescue Princess Peach from forced marriage to Bowser. It is just such a union which Penelope fears, as she delays her many suitors in The Odyssey, hoping that her true love will return before she is compelled to marry anyone else. Mario travels on a ship made out of a giant hat, which is not strictly Homeric, but other parallels are certainly there.

The most recent series of Prison Break was clearly written by Odyssey fans: Michael Schofield has been held for seven years in a prison named Ogygia (the name of Calypso’s island and the same duration of imprisonment, though Odysseus has a rather nicer time of things than Schofield). He has even adopted Odysseus’ alias, Outis, and before the series is completed, he battles an agent codenamed Poseidon, and blinds a one-eyed man. And as Chihiro watches her parents eat too much and turn into pigs, in Miyakazi’s 2001 classic film Spirited Away, we can only think of Circe turning Odysseus’ men into swine in the same way.

The Odyssey is an epic of such depth, detail and complexity that every reader can find something new in its poetry and every writer can take inspiration from its story. In another 2700 years, that will still be true.

More on The Stories that Shaped the World:

- The 100 stories that shaped the world

- The top 100: who voted?

- Is The Odyssey the greatest tale ever told?

BBC Culture’s Stories that Shaped the World series looks at epic poems, plays and novels from around the globe that have influenced history and changed mindsets. The poll of writers and critics, 100 Stories that Shaped the World, will be discussed at the Hay Festival in May and later broadcast on BBC World News.

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