One of the most important heroes of Greek mythology, Ulysses (or Odysseus) appears in Homer's Iliad and is the protagonist of Homer's Odyssey. During the Trojan War, he helped plan the Trojan horse and also stole a sacred relic from the city along with Diomedes, during a secret night raid. He is punished in the eighth trench of the eighth circle of hell for his deception. He talks to Virgil and relates the story of his death: after sailing home from Troy (which, incidentally, the Odyssey narrates), he tried to sail to the ends of the earth, but went too far. God sank his ship with a whirlwind and drowned him.