"I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, known to the world
for every kind of craft – my fame has reached the skies.
Sunny Ithaca is my home. Atop her stands our seamark,
Mount Neriton’s leafy ridges shimmering in the wind.
Around her a ring of islands circle side-by-side,
Dulichion, Same, wooded Zacynthus too, but mine
lies low and away, the farthest out to sea,
rearing into the western dusk
while the others face the east and breaking day.
Mine is a rugged land but good for raising sons –
and I myself, I know no sweeter sight on earth
than a man’s own native country."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 9, lines 21-32. Odysseus, who is in disguise, reveals his true identity to King Alcinous and the Phaeacians. While his guile and fame are known throughout the world, Odysseus is more interested in reaching home in Ithaca than achieving further fame and glory. This passage provides us with an insight into who Odysseus really is, and how after all his heroic adventures he now believes that there is simply no place like home. The heroes of The Iiad and The Odyssey lived by the ancient warrior code of kleos, meaning renown or glory, often attained in battle. But home now means more to Odysseus.