Homer's "Odyssey" - A World Poem: Written in the late 8th century, it is one of the oldest and most influential works of Western literature. The epic poem tells the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus, who fought in the Trojan War and is prevented from returning to Ithaca by the curse of Poseidon. It is the story of a homecoming, the story of a man who, despite constant threats and temptations, never loses sight of his goal. And it is the story of a woman who must wait twenty years for her husband.