Omeros

Omeros is structured in seven books divided into 64 chapters, written in a modified terza rima stanza. Walcott adapts the Dantean form loosely, using hexameter rather than pentameter, and the narrative shifts between the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia and various global locations including Europe and North America.

Omeros loosely reworks Homeric narratives into a Caribbean context rather than directly retelling them. Characters like Achille and Hector are Saint Lucian fishermen, and the epic engages with themes of colonialism, displacement, and identity rather than battlefield heroics.

Omeros, published in 1990, is widely considered Walcott's crowning achievement and was central to the Nobel Committee's decision to award him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. The committee praised his poetic oeuvre for its luminous quality and its great-hearted commitment to the destiny of the Caribbean.

The principal characters include Achille, a Saint Lucian fisherman; Hector, his rival; Helen, the woman they both love; and the narrator, a figure closely resembling Walcott himself. Other figures include the philosopher Seven Seas and the ghost of the father, Plunket, along with historical figures woven into the narrative.