The character of Odysseus was very unpopular among the writers of 17th century Italy. He was considered too ambiguous to be the protagonist of a literary work. Nevertheless, during the same period, no fewer than nine operas were created in Venice alone, in which Odysseus is one of the central figures. With his first appearance in Giacomo Badoaro's and Claudio Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (1640), he became, precisely because of his ambivalence, the prototype of the ideal opera hero for the entire 17th century. In his character, all elements of this genre were able to blend and yet come together into a logical whole. Thus, his character exemplifies the significance of subject choice and role conception for Venetian opera of that time.