Ah Homer. You stand at the beginning of the Western Tradition. You've granted us names that became common nouns. Odysseus has become Odyssey which means a long journey, like the journey of the titular character. Athena's disguise as the man Mentor guides Telemachus and Odysseus both. Mentioned has now come to mean a teacher or guide. This book has become a template for other stories, other journeys. Ulysses, the Latin form of Odysseus, by James Joyce tells the story of one man's journeying around Dublin in the course of one day. O' Brother Where Art Thou tells about the journey of a man to eat back home to his wife, complete with Cyclops, Sirens, and Blind Prophets. Over and over again we in the West call up the ghost of Homer and name him our muse. This story of Odysseus journey home after the conclusion of the Trojan war (recorded in Homer's first work, The Iliad) is a fantastic journey full of fun and adventure. I've only read the Lattimore translation, but on good authority. It's the one preferred by students at tutors at the famed St. John's College.  So if you want to begin where the Western Tradition begins, pick up The Iliad and The Odyssey. Curl up. And enjoy.