What is the origin of the word 'odyessy'?

Answer 1

The term 'odyessy' or 'odessey' (or even 'odyssey') for a long journey with lots of detours is based on the ancient Greek poem the 'Odysseia' attributed to Homer. The poem describes how the hero (Roman name: Ulysses, Greek name Odysseus), at the end of the Trojan war, returns from Troy to his hometown of Ittaca. Through a series of adventures, misfortunes and often direct intervention from the Greek gods, what would otherwise be a straightforward sea voyage of a few weeks becomes a 10-year ordeal in which our hero must survive hazardous adventures on several dozens of islands, becomes shipwrecked more than once, and in the end is the only man of his original crew to survive the trip.

The poem is part of classical culture and therefore still is prescribed reading material for every student of ancient Greek and classical languages. So 'a voyage as long as The Odyssey' became a regular English expression, which was shortened to 'an Odyssey'. Finally, 'an odyssey' (without the capitals) became a regular English expression describing a long and dangerous journey, or a journey that involves a lot of detours, or an epic voyage.