Book excerpt: This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic? includes a glossary and reader's notes to help the modern reader contend with the Odyssey's vocabulary and references to Greek mythology.The epic tale of Odysseus? ten-year journey after the defeat of Troy is, at once, a thrilling adventure story, a passionate love story, and a fantasy rooted in ancient history. It is also the cornerstone on which much of Western literature and thought is based. Three thousand years after ancient bards plucked their lyres and sang the adventures of gods and heroes, we still see much of ourselves in the tales of Odysseus and his men as they battle natural and supernatural forces'and their own human nature'to find their way home.