What is the main theme in The Odyssey?

One major theme of The Odysseyconcerns the beauty of home. For Odysseus, there is simply no place like home. As he says early on to King Alcinous of Phaeacia, "Nothing more sweet than home and parents can there be, however rich one's dwelling in a foreign land, cut off from parents." Odysseus misses his family terribly, especially after such an incredibly long absence of around twenty years, and he relies on the undying loyalty...

One major theme of The Odyssey concerns the beauty of home. For Odysseus, there is simply no place like home. As he says early on to King Alcinous of Phaeacia, "Nothing more sweet than home and parents can there be, however rich one's dwelling in a foreign land, cut off from parents." Odysseus misses his family terribly, especially after such an incredibly long absence of around twenty years, and he relies on the undying loyalty and love of his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, to be there when he returns.

Another major theme of this epic poem regards the importance of xenia, an extreme version of hospitality that Greeks were morally obligated to offer because travelers were under the especial protection of Zeus. When Polyphemus, the Cyclops, for example, fails to offer Odysseus and his men xenia, choosing instead to imprison and eat them two-by-two, Odysseus is permitted by the gods to blind the monster. Were Odysseus not offered hospitality in many locations, like Phaeacia, it is likely that he would not have made it home to Ithaca.