如今，《奥德赛》已被译为多国语言，是公认的世界文学经典。许多学者认为，这部史诗是由一些诗人、歌手或专业表演者口头创作而成的。至于当时口头表演的细节是什么样，这个故事是如何由口头诗歌变为书面著作，学者至今仍争论不休。《奥德赛》的用语是一种书面的诗话希腊语，混合了伊欧里斯语、爱奥尼亚语等多种希腊方言。全诗共有12110行，通篇使用六步格和扬抑抑格。不仅是战士们的行动，诗歌的非线性的叙事方法，以及妇人和农奴们对事件发展的影响，都是《奥德赛》里引人注目的元素。

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second oldest extant work of Western literature, the Iliad being the oldest. Scholars believe it was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia.

Homer is best known as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He was believed by the ancient Greeks to have been the first and greatest of the epic poets. Author of the first known literature of Europe, he had a lasting effect on the Western canon. Whether and when he lived is unknown. The importance of Homer to the ancient Greeks is described in Plato's "Republic", which portrays him as the protos didaskalos, "first teacher", of the tragedians, the hegemon paideias, "leader of Greek culture", and the ten Hellada pepaideukon, "teacher of all Greece". Homer's works, which are about fifty percent speeches, provided models in persuasive speaking and writing that were emulated throughout the ancient and medieval Greek worlds. Fragments of Homer account for nearly half of all identifiable Greek literary papyrus finds in Egypt.