I don't have the ability to write a quick bit about this story. It's almost like trying to write a story about the very substance of life.
I first read The Odyssey, in my classical civilisation class at school. I still lament the fact that my school copy is lost, what I wouldn't give to see my 16 year old self comments in that battered old copy! But if you'd like to go on an EPIC travel through thousands of years of human states, then this will take you on one, you'll never forget.