There are many stories about Homer's Odysseus. Call them folk-tales or legends, and consider that they're oral stories handed down through centuries.
The one I think sounds plausible is Odysseus' retirement story. He was sick and tired of being away from home. So he took an oar and walked in the forest.
He kept walking.
Eventually, he walked so far that people asked him what was that thing, he was carrying. They had never seen an oar before.
There! That's where Odysseus retired with Penelope.
