How did people react to the story of Odysseus?

The story of Odysseus is one of the most popular and enduring in the history of western literature. Surprisingly from the point of view of modern readers, who often seem to enjoy the Odyssey more than the Iliad, in antiquity the Iliad was far more popular, as evidenced by archaeologists having found over three times more papyrus fragments of the Iliad than the Odyssey.

Both Homeric epics were extremely important to Greek culture,...

The story of Odysseus is one of the most popular and enduring in the history of western literature. Surprisingly from the point of view of modern readers, who often seem to enjoy the Odyssey more than the Iliad, in antiquity the Iliad was far more popular, as evidenced by archaeologists having found over three times more papyrus fragments of the Iliad than the Odyssey.

Both Homeric epics were extremely important to Greek culture, to the extent that Homer was often described as the "teacher of Greece." The overwhelming popularity of the Homeric epics is attested in both Plato and in Aristotle, among other sources. Plato and a few other philosophers (e.g. Xenophanes) were unusual in the classical period for the way they criticized the Homeric portrayal of the gods. In contrast, later Greek philosophers (especially neoplatonists such as Porphyry) tended to allegorize the Odyssey to fit their philosophical systems. The Romans also admired and studied the Homeric epics.

The Homeric epics were also central to the western European culture of the modern period, translated into English and all European languages multiple times. Among the landmark translations of the Odyssey were those of Anne Dacier into French and Chapman and Pope into English. Many poets have also explored themes from the Odyssey in their own work, including Tennyson, whose poems on this topic include "The Lotos-Eaters" and "Ulysses." Modern adaptation of the Odyssey include Joyce's Ulysses and Walcott's "Omeros."

In general, people have enjoyed the Odyssey as a story and seen in it not only a work of cultural importance but one which contains profound insights into human character.