Mission Odyssey is a French-German animated TV series about the adventures of the ancient Greek hero Ulysses. The series is a production of BAF Berlin Animation Film GmbH & Co. Productions KG, Marathon Filmproduction, Marathon Animation, and M6 Metropole Television. Character design was created by David Gilson. Distributional rights were acquired in 2009 by the Your Family Entertainment AG, which is now holding indefinite broadcast rights including ancillary rights for almost all countries. Its global premiere took place on the French network M6 on 6 September 2002. In Germany, the show was launched on 22 February 2008 on KIKA.^[1]

Plot

After Agamemnon's army besieges Troy for 10 years, losing the best warrior Achilles, Ulysses builds the Trojan horse and captures the city. After the destruction of Troy, Ulysses and his men leave for home without paying proper respect to Poseidon. For this, the Sea God punishes Ulysses to roam the seas and be unable to return home to Ithaca.

Poseidon has made a bet with Athena that Ulysses and his crew will never make it home on their own. To achieve this Poseidon interferes in every episode of the series, with Athena constantly reminding Poseidon that direct intervention violates their rules.

The series covers the most important stages of Homer's Odyssey but is simplified and re-worked in a child-friendly manner. Occasionally characters from other Greek legends are used.

Characters

Main characters

• Ulysses ― as Ithaca's famous hero, he left 10 years ago to help the Greeks in the Trojan War which they won thanks to his tricks. He plans to return home, but did not count on Poseidon, who will not lose his bet against Athena. He is voiced by Dan Green.
• Nisa ― a perpetually barefoot 13-year-old girl who is implied to have been a slave from Troy and Turkish due to her skin tone, and one of Ulysses' loyal comrades. She has the ability to have horrific vision of imminent doom, but none of the others believe her, or even pay attention to her warnings, because she's a little girl (in a similar way to Cassandra of myth). She is voiced by Liza Jacqueline.
• Diomedes ― a member of the crew who set off with Ulysses and the gang to seek to return to Ithaca. He is the oldest one in the group, and is determined to protect them from danger during the journey. He always has some advice to the others, due to his combat experience. He is voiced by James Carter Cathcart.
• Dates ― the owner of the ship and a member of the crew. He is greedy and is always on the lookout to make more money.
• Titan ― one of Ulysses' closest friends and the most powerful members of the crew. He comes from the isle of Cronos, where he was to be crowned king - but he let his brother have the throne when he joined Ulysses.
• Philo ― a member of the crew, Philo is always worried about dangers and easily frightened. He is voiced by Darren Dunstan.
• Zephyr ― the youngest member of the crew, voiced by Jason Griffith.
• Penelope ― she is Odysseus' wife, waiting for her husband to return to Ithaca. She is voiced by Collen Clinkenbeard.
• Telemachus ― Odysseus and Penelope's son, voiced by Allison Viktorin.
• Owl ― sent by Athena to observe Ulysses' journey. He usually scouts ahead the ship on the lookout for danger.

Olympian Gods and Titans

• Athena ― a Goddess of wisdom, handcraft, and warfare who guides Ulysses and the gang, along with her pet Owl, to return to his hometown Ithaca. She also ensures that Poseidon does not directly intervene to stop them. Athena is voiced by Kathleen Barr.
• Poseidon ― he is the older brother of both Zeus and Hades, and second oldest of his other siblings behind Demeter, Hera, and Hestia. Poseidon is the main antagonist, though other gods sometimes also hinder Ulysses, usually not through direct action but rather as a result of their egotism and uncontrollable fits of anger. Poseidon commands most of the other villains and antagonists throughout the series, or manipulates them to attack Ulysses. Poseidon is voiced by Stuart Zagnit.
• Hades ― god of the Underworld and brother of Zeus and Poseidon.
• Hestia ― goddess of family and the hearth, sister of Zeus.
• Gaia is the goddess of Earth. She gives Cronus - her son - the Stones of Life and tells him to use them for creating the Universe. She is voiced by Diane Delano.
• Cronus ― primordial god and father to Zeus, Poseidon and their siblings. He was defeated and imprisoned by his offspring and cast down.

Others

• Pegasus
• Aeolus (voiced by Mei Brooks)
• Gildor (voiced by Matthew Wood)
• Hephaestus (voiced by Brian McFadden)
• Pandora (voiced by Emma Main)
• Calypso (voiced by Laura Bailey)
• Nausicaa (voiced by Veronica Taylor)
• Peleas (voiced by Philip Philmar)
• Erinyes (voiced by Tish Hicks)
• Achilles (not voice actor)
• Agamemnon (not voice actor)

Monsters and Creatures

• Aglaope (voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard)
• Mira (voiced by Lucy Fry)
• Circe (voiced by Kathleen Barr)
• Fates
  • Lachesis (voiced by (Carole Shelly)
  • Atropos (voiced by Amanda Plummer)
  • Clotho (voiced by Maya Rudolph)
• Chimera
• Kystal and Droplet (voiced by Alexandra Pic)
• Lycaon
• Telios (voiced by Scot Mc Neil)
• Aurel (voiced by Sam Vincent)
• Hardix (voiced by Scott McNeil)
• Polyphemus

Episode list

1. The Eye of the Cyclops
2. Charybde and Scylla
3. A Trip to the Underworld
4. The Song of the Sirens
5. Circe
6. Memories
7. The Curse of the Strygons
8. Looking for Pegasus
9. The Gorgon Sisters
10. Wind Palace
11. The Forge of Hephaestus
12. Duel of the Centaur
13. I Married a Harpy
14. The Flame of Eternity
15. Lotus Eaters
16. Queen of the Amazons
17. King of the Titans
18. The Mirror of Attraction
19. Atlantis Ascending
20. The Wishing Well
21. Enchanted Lyre
22. Cronos' Revenge
23. Dazed in the Maze
24. The Golden Fleece
25. Hercules' Columns
26. Ulysses' Bow