In books 13 through 16, Odysseus returns back to Ithica and the fairytale adventures of Odysseus are seemingly over. Although it can be argued that Odysseus is nothing more than a simple man, to some extent, his multitude of different motives create an undeniable mysteriousness about the trickster.

So far homer has made it clear that Odysseus’s goal is to reach his home in Ithica and be reunited with his wife and son. Yet somehow, he has “time enough to sleep and to enjoy hearing a tale”! Although it can be argued that perhaps Odysseus, a man of many trades, is being cautious, and Homer is exemplifying the fact that he does not let his emotions get the best of him. However, surely after so many years away from his family, he would act more alike how his son did when Telemachus was called home by Athena. It seems unlikely that the man Homer created to slay a cyclopes and be the brain behind the Trojan’s in the Trojan war is unable to form a plot to overcome a group of suiters from his house. This reluctance and difference between Odysseus and Telemachus perhaps demonstrates the result of war and spending so long away from family. Furthermore, perhaps foreshadowing that not only will Telemachus have to learn from Odysseus, but that Odysseus, the master of lies, will have much to learn from noble Telemachus.