Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-211) and indexes
Introduction -- "Odysseus was not . . .": Antisthenes' defense of an abused hero -- Plato's Odysseus: a soldier in the soul -- Yearning for excellence: Odysseus in cynic and stoic thought -- King, friend, and flatterer: Odysseus in epicureanism and beyond -- Between contemplation and action -- Epilogue: Odysseus' virtus and thirst for knowledge in the Renaissance