Home and Hearth are the capital themes of the Odyssey. They are the primary motives for Odysseus from beginning to end. He desires to return to his home and to the peace and respite from war that it affords. According to Greek myth, Odysseus did not desire to go to Troy in the first place, but feigned madness to avoid being called upon to sail in his black ships.
The establishment of the ideal life as a home life, rather than a warrior’s life for Odysseus makes a stark contrast with the picture in the Iliad. In this way the two epics form a complete picture of life, depicting a middle way rather than the extremes of war and peace. The object of war is peace, which makes Hektor the real hero of the Iliad. For Odysseus, the war was an invasion into his life, not the pinnacle of it. Therefore, after the war, Odysseus desires nothing so much as to get home and be the kind of husband and father that he wants to be.
This theme also indicates that for Homer, the greatness of civilization depended not only on the warrior but also on the household. A warrior carves a kingdom out. A household makes that kingdom permanent.
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