Abstract is: Odysseus (/əˈdɪsiəs/ ə-DISS-ee-əs; Greek: Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, translit. Odysseús, Odyseús, IPA: [o.dy(s).sěu̯s]), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses (/juːˈlɪsiːz/ yoo-LISS-eez, UK also /ˈjuːlɪsiːz/ YOO-liss-eez; Latin: Ulysses, Ulixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in that same epic cycle. Son of Laërtes and Anticlea, husband of Penelope, and father of Telemachus and Acusilaus, Odysseus is renowned for his intellectual brilliance, guile, and versatility (polytropos), and is thus known by the epithet Odysseus the Cunning (Greek: μῆτις, translit. mêtis, lit. "cunning intelligence"). He is most famous for his nostos, or "homecoming", which took him ten eventful years after the decade-long Trojan War.