How ‘The Odyssey’ Shaped the Way We Speak

The name Odysseus existed before the word odyssey, says Mendelsohn. “[It] comes from the Greek word odyne, which means pain and vexation. Of course, Odysseus is a man who suffers a lot of pain on his journey home.”

Odyssey—which now refers to a long, adventurous journey—became part of the lexicon thanks to the success of Homer’s story and is derived from the hero’s name. “The English word odyssey, which is used when we talk about someone going on an odyssey or an adventure, obviously comes from the title of the poem,” explains Mendelsohn.

On his journey back to Ithaca, Odysseus travels through the Strait of Messina, the body of water located between Sicily and mainland Italy. There, he’s confronted by two monsters. The first is the six-headed beast Scylla, who dwells in a cliff-side cave and devours sailors in the water with her long necks. While on the other side is Charybdis—the daughter of Poseidon—who lives underwater and creates a huge whirlpool to swallow ships. 

In the years since Homer composed "The Odyssey," the phrase "between Scylla and Charybdis" has become shorthand for being trapped between two dangers. The expression remains common today. In 2021, the U.S. Naval Institute published an article entitled "Sailing Between Scylla and Charybdis: The Royal and U.S. Navies and the Specter of Decline."

“The idea that you have two alternates, both of which are terrible, is certainly dramatized in that episode of 'The Odyssey,'" says Mendelsohn. Since the early 1900s, between Scylla and Charybdis has been replaced in everyday vernacular with the phrase "between a rock and a hard place." Although that comes from the Southwest mining industry, it was also possibly inspired by Odysseus’ impossible choice.

This phrase originated in translations of Homer's works as "on the knees of the gods," an expression used to describe matters beyond human control. It appears in both "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey." In the latter, Odysseus' son Telemachus uses it while reflecting that his father’s return is up to the gods. 

“That is an expression that comes from Homer. It literally means that your fate and your destiny sits in the lap of the gods,” explains Mendelsohn. George Chapman, who translated "The Odyssey" into English in 1616, is credited with changing the phrase to “in the lap.”

As he leaves Circe's island, Odysseus is warned by the sorceress about the Sirens, mythological creatures who use their irresistible voices to lure sailors to their deaths. To avoid this fate, Odysseus orders his crew to fill their ears with beeswax. He then has himself bound to the ship's mast so that he can hear the Sirens' song without acting on its temptation. Although Odysseus does hear the song and begs to be released, his crew refuses and they sail safely past the danger.

Sirens and their songs have been used throughout culture to describe something that is tempting but ultimately dangerous. They appear in Apollonius of Rhodes' "The Argonautica," in which Jason and the Argonauts encounter the alluring creatures during their voyage. Sirens also feature in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, demonstrating the enduring influence of the myth across centuries of storytelling.

Throughout Homer's epics, phrases such as "wine-dark sea" and "rosy-fingered dawn" serve as poetic markers, signaling the close of one day and the beginning of another respectively. Both terms appear repeatedly in "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad."

The expressions have also endured beyond the ancient world. Derek Walcott, the Nobel Prize-winning poet, incorporated them into Omeros, his Caribbean reimagining of Homeric themes, while W.H. Auden referenced them in The Shield of Achilles. Patrick O'Brian also drew on the famous epithet for the title of his 1993 historical novel The Wine-Dark Sea.

Homer regularly used the expression "winged words" when gods and heroes—like Odysseus or Achilles—speak. This term signals the importance and urgency of what a character declares, as well as the instant emotion and impact it has on the person hearing them. 

The literary phrase appears frequently in both "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," introducing everything from battlefield taunts and speeches to divine instruction. The expression remains one of the most memorable examples of Homer's poetic style.