A student wants to know what to make of Homer’s apparent approval of Odysseus’s lying. The question doesn’t admit of an easy answer.
Tag Archives: Odyssey
When We Yield to Inner Darkness
The Odyssey explores how violence can swallow up those who engage in it. Odysseus is heroic in that he can listen to religious checks when blood lust threatens.
Overcoming the Siren Call of Domination
A reader suggests that the island enchantresses in “Odyssey” help the hero in his quest for integration.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Carl Jung, emasculation fears, Homer, individuation, Joseph Campbell, Sigmund Freud Comments closed
The Hero and the Goddess
My reflections on the meaning of Homer’s gods “The Odyssey.”
Odysseus’s Emasculation Anxieties
“The Odyssey” is obsessed with a fear of emasculation.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged emasculation anxieties, Feminism, Homer, monsters Comments closed
What Do Odysseus’s Monsters Mean?
My explanation for the monsters in “The Odyssey.”
Mentor: Rare for Sons to Be Like Fathers
Homer explores the difficulty of a young man living up to his famous father. It’s a problem that continues with fathers and sons.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alfred Lord Tennyson, fathers and sons, Homer, Ulysses Comments closed
Welcoming the Stranger
In Homeric terms, Trump, in his treatment of immigrants, is akin to barbarians like the Cyclops and the Laestrygonians.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged border separations, Donald Trump, Homer, immigrant border crisis, Stephen Miller, strangers Comments closed
Calvino on Reading the Classics
In a famous essay, Calvino gives us multiple reasons to read the classics.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Why Read the Classics", classics, Emil Cioran, Franz Kafka, Homer, Italo Calvino Comments closed
