Odyssey

Book Club

Book Club | April 2020: Barker/Christensen Homer’s Thebes

"The city of Thebes has always been of interest to scholars working within mythographical and literary traditions, precisely because its presence looms large in our corpus of extant textual and especially non-textual sources. Looming even larger is the absence of a monumental epic to encapsulate its story in the manner that the Iliad and Odyssey do for the Troy story." Our Book Club readings are from Homer's Thebes: Epic Rivalries… Read more

Travel

Troy: Myth and Reality, The British Museum | Part 2: Frescos, the Horse, Odysseus, and written transmission

When I first heard that the British Museum was putting on an exhibition "Troy: Myth and Reality" I knew I had to go, and I was so happy that friends from the Kosmos Society were able to visit at the same time so we could share the experience with each other. In this post we continue our series of impressions and highlights. Read more

Visiting Scholars

Open House | Homer’s Thebes: Epic Rivalries and the Appropriation of Mythical Pasts, with Joel Christensen

We were excited to welcome Joel Christensen for an Online Open House. The title of the discussion is “Homer’s Thebes: Epic Rivalries and the Appropriation of Mythical Pasts,” based on his research and collaboration with Elton T. E. Barker. The discussion took place on Friday, March 6 at 11:00 a.m. EST, and was recorded. Read more

Visiting Scholars

Open House | Confessions of Murder in the Odyssey, with Eunice Kim

We were excited to welcome Eunice Kim of Furman University for an Open House. The title of the discussion is: 'Confessions of Murder in the Odyssey'. The session was live-streamed and recorded. The event took place on Thursday, February 6 at 11:00 a.m. EST. Read more

Topic for Discussion

Emotions from Greek Antiquity

"Oh to clasp your tender limbs, a mother’s fondest [most philos] joy! Oh to breathe your fragrant breath! ... Kiss your mother now for the last time, nestle to her that bore you, twine your arms about my neck and join your lips to mine!" Recent Book Club discussion prompted me to think about how human emotions were depicted in some of the readings from Greek antiquity. Read more