Given widespread illiteracy, the poem was performed for an audience by an or rhapsode.

Key themes in the epic include the ideas of (??????; 'return', homecoming), wandering, (?????; 'guest-friendship'), testing, and omens. Scholars discuss the narrative prominence of certain groups within the poem, such as women and slaves, who have larger roles than in other works of ancient literature. This focus is especially remarkable when contrasted with the Iliad, which centers upon the exploits