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Head of Odysseus from a Roman period Hellenistic marble group representing Odysseus blinding Polyphemus, found at the villa of Tiberius at Sperlonga

Odysseus^[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus (/oʊˈdɪsiəs, oʊˈdɪsjuːs/; Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς [odysˈsews]), also known by the Latin name Ulysses (US /juːˈlɪsiːz/, UK /ˈjuːlɪsiːz/; Latin: Ulyssēs, Ulixēs), was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey.

Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer’s Iliad and other works in that same epic cycle.

Husband of Penelope, father of Telemachus, and son of Laërtes and Anticlea, Odysseus is renowned for his brilliance, guile, and versatility (polytropos), and is hence known by the epithet Odysseus the Cunning (mētis, or “cunning intelligence”).

He is most famous for the Odyssey, ten eventful years he took to return home after the decade-long Trojan War.

Odysseus^[2]http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Heroes/Odysseus/odysseus.html was a legendary hero in Greek mythology, king of the island of Ithaca and the main protagonist of Homer’s epic, the Odyssey. He was also a prominent character in the other surviving Homeric epic, the Iliad. He was the son of Laertes and Anticlea, and is well known as an eloquent speaker, ingenious and cunning.

Before the Trojan War started, Odysseus was one of the suitors that wanted to marry Helen, step-daughter of king Tyndareus of Sparta. However, the suitors were many and there didn’t seem to be a way to solve who the husband would be. Odysseus told Tyndareus that he would provide a solution if he helped him marry Tyndareus’ niece, Penelope. Tyndareus agreed and Odysseus proposed to draw straws. Before that, though, he made everyone swear an oath that they would all support the husband and wife in any ill fate that they might face in the future. As a result, Menelaus drew the lucky straw, while Odysseus married Penelope.

After Helen’s abduction by Prince Paris of Troy, all suitors were summoned to help Menelaus in his quest to bring her back. Odysseus did not want to join the expedition, for an oracle had informed him that if he participated, it would take him a long time to return home. So, he decided to feign madness by harnessing a donkey and an ox to a plough and sowing salt on a field. Palamedes did not believe that Odysseus was actually mad, so he put Odysseus’ baby boy Telemachus in front of the plough; Odysseus immediately changed course, thus exposing his plan. For this reason, Odysseus always had a grudge against Palamedes since then.

After Odysseus’ plan was foiled, they all tried to recruit the hero Achilles, as an oracle said that the Trojan War would be won only if Achilles joined. Before they reached the island of Scyros where Achilles lived, his mother Thetis disguised him as a woman, because of another prophecy that said Achilles would either live a long, peaceful life, or have a glorious death while young. Odysseus made a plan to find out who Achilles was, among the women; he laid various weapons on a table, and Achilles was the only one who showed real interest in them. Odysseus then sounded a battle horn, and Achilles instinctively picked up a weapon ready to fight. As a result, Achilles joined in.

More Details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus