The poet opens with an invocation of the Muses, asking them to sing through him about Odysseus’s trials attempting to return home from Troy. The action then turns to the gods, who debate how to facilitate Odysseus’s return. In Ithaca, Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, ponder whether Odysseus is still alive and how to deal with the aggressive suitors who have besieged their palace.

Calypso has trapped Odysseus on her island, wanting to keep him as her husband though it is past time for him to have returned home. Angry that Odysseus blinded his son, Poseidon has prevented his return, prompting the other gods’ pity.

While Poseidon is away visiting the Ethiopians, Zeus and the other Olympian gods discuss Aegisthus. They had warned him not to murder Agamemnon, but he ignored them, and Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, murdered him. Athena agrees that Aegisthus deserved to die but asks why Zeus has abandoned Odysseus. Zeus blames Poseidon for Odysseus’s troubles and offers to help plan his return home since he is “more sensible than other humans, / and makes more sacrifices to the gods” (107).

Athena suggests sending Hermes to inform Calypso that she must let Odysseus leave, then goes to Ithaca disguised as Mentes, an old family friend.