ABSTRACT
The homecomings of the Achaeans after the fall of Troy offered a wealth of material for the epic singer. He might sing of the return of Agamemnon, of Menelaus, of Nestor, of Diomedes, of Odysseus and others. The poet of our Odyssey chose to sing the homecoming of Odysseus. But he did not therefore exclude all the others; he worked a number of them into the composition of his poem with various purposes in view. We will consider first the functions fulfilled by these Achaean return-stories; and secondly the manner in which they are told.
