Following the conclusion of the Trojan war (related by Homer in the Iliad) Odysseus, the king of Ithaca who had fulfilled his services in the war, set sail for return to his native soil and Penelope, the wife he had left behind. Beset by misfortune and perilous adventures, his return was delayed by more than ten years. The adventures which he encountered are told in Homer's "The Odyssey."

The Odyssey is one of the greatest epic poems ever written. There are those who doubt that it was all written by Homer who lived about 850 B.C. at a time when there is little record that writing was practiced in Greece. There are those who believe that it was handed down from memory and written by some unknown writer or writers. Be that as it may, there has been universal admiration for the unity which is given to the tales, myths and legends from which the adventures are drawn. As the adventures unfold Odysseus emerges as one of the greatest of literary heroes and Homer is admired for the beauty of his poetic telling of the story.

The bust is taken from two sources; an effigy on an ancient coin and a battered bust of Odysseus which is in a museum on the island of Ithaca.