How does the Odyssey follow the events of the Iliad?

Chronologically, the Odyssey succeeds the Iliad, as both are part of the cycle of myths surrounding the Trojan War. While the Iliad focuses on the events of the 10th year of the war—specifically the conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles—the Odyssey details the aftermath of the war and the long journey home for the Greek hero Odysseus.12

Following the fall of Troy, which was achieved through the stratagem of the wooden horse devised by Odysseus, the Odyssey begins nearly 20 years after he originally left for the war. The narrative does not follow a strictly linear path; it begins in media res (in the middle of the tale), with Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, searching for news of his father. Odysseus’s own harrowing ten-year voyage home, marked by divine interference and encounters with mythical creatures, is later recounted by the hero himself as he returns to Ithaca to reclaim his kingdom and reunite with his wife, Penelope.34