After a piratical raid on Ismaros in the land of the Cicones, he and his twelve ships were driven off course by storms. They visited the lethargic Lotus-Eaters who gave two of his men their fruit which caused them to forget their homecoming, and then were captured by the Cyclops Polyphemus, escaping by blinding him with a wooden stake. While they were escaping, Polyphemus told his father, Poseidon, then he curses Odysseus to wander the sea for ten years.
After their escape, they stayed with Aeolus, the master of the winds and he gave Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds that should have ensured a safe return home. However, the greedy sailors foolishly opened the bag, thinking it contained gold. All of the winds flew out and the resulting storm drove the ships back the way they had come.
After that they re-embarked and encountered the cannibalistic Laestrygonians. All of Odysseus's ships except his own were immediately destroyed. He sailed on and visited the witch-goddess Circe. She turned half of his men into swine. Hermes warned Odysseus about Circe and gave Odysseus a drug called moly which gave him resistance to Circe's magic. Circe, surprised by Odysseus' resistance then change his men back to their human form in exchange for Odysseus' love. They remained with her on the island for one year.Finally, guided by Circe's instructions, Odysseus and his crew crossed the ocean then he summoned the spirit of the old prophet Tiresias for advice on how to appease the gods upon his return home.
They skirted the land of the Sirens, who sang an enchanting song that normally caused passing sailors to steer toward the rocks, only to hit them and sink. All of the sailors except for Odysseus, who was tied to the mast as he wanted to hear the song, had their ears plugged up with beeswax. They then passed between the six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis and landed on the island of Thrinacia. His men ignored the warnings of Tiresias and Circe and hunted down the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios as their food had run short. The Sun God insisted that Zeus punish the men for this sacrilege. They suffered a shipwreck as they were driven towards Charybdis. All but Odysseus were drowned, Washed ashore on the island of Ogygia, he was compelled to remain there as Calypso's lover until she was ordered by Zeus to release Odysseus.