Homer's Odyssey is among the most important foundational texts
of Western literature. The paradigmatic heroic voyage, it has a
vast tonal and thematic range; among the issues explored are
exile, homecoming, fidelity, honor, deception, the
characteristics of a civilized society, and the relations
between men and women, parents and children, and individuals and
their social groups. Countless subsequent authors have used
elements of Homer's epic as starting points; in fact, the story
has become the basis for an ongoing conversation among writers,
who revisit its figures and tropes as part of the never-ending
effort to define the role of literature in helping us understand
our lives. In this course, we look at the Odyssey itself and
some of the works of poetry, fiction and drama it has inspired.
We spend about a month reading the Odyssey, together with
critical works on its structure, style, and literary and
historical context, including selections from Finley, Whitman,
Dodds, Bowra, Parry and Nagy. We then turn