The Odyssey is about a man who after the war is over must be debriefed as it were and brought back into harmony with the feminine. It's a metaphorical, psychological work. He must "really" come back to respect the feminine as his equal, and the only thing that can do that is experience. A psychological, metaphorical, fantastical experience, metaphorical of the feminine, but one that is finally is realized as just as "real" and respected by the masculine divine.