Homer's Odyssey

Homer's Odyssey

by Tristan Husby

Season 1

Odyssey Book 6/Robert Graves Homer's Daughter

Episode 6: Book 6 and Robert Graves Homer’s Daughter The main readings for this episode were Book 6 of the Odyssey and Robert Graves’ novel Homer’s Daughter. Thank you for listening to Homer’s Odyssey. For our next episode, out on October 15, we will be reading Book 7 of the Odyssey and also Justin Arfft’s 2022 book Arete and The Odyssey’s Poetics of Interrogation: the Queen and her Question. Books and similar mentioned in this episode: Butler, Samuel. The Authoress of the Odyssey: Where and when she wrote, who she was, the use made of the Iliad, and how the poem grew under hands. E.P. Dutton & Company, London: 1922. Graves, Robert. Homer’s Daughter. Cassell, London: 1955. Graves, Robert. I, Claudius. Arthur Baker, London: 1934. Graves, Robert. The White Goddess. Faber & Faber, London: 1948. Graves, Robert. Goodbye to all that. Jonathan Cape, London: 1929. Hainsworth, J.B.. “Books V-VIII” in A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey: Volume I: Introduction and Books I-VIII. Edited by Alfred Heubeck, Stephanie West and J.B. Hainsworth. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1998. Lord, Albert. The Singer of Tales. Third Edition, edited by David F. Elmer. Center for Hellenic Studies, Cambridge Massachusetts: 2018. Parry, Milman. “The Traditional Epithet in Homer” in The Making of the Homeric Verse: The Collected Papers of Milman Parry. Edited and translated by Adam Parry. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1971. Shay, Jonathan. Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. Scribner, New York: 2002.

Odyssey Book 5/Jonathan Shay Odysseus in America

The main readings for this episode were Book 5 of the Odyssey and Johnathan Shay’s 2002 book Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. Thank you for listening to Homer’s Odyssey. For our next episode, out on September 15, we will be reading Book 6 of the Odyssey and also Robert Graves’ 1955 novel Homer’s Daughter. Books and similar mentioned in this episode: de Jong, Irene. A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 2001. Hainsworth, J.B.. “Books V-VIII” in A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey: Volume I: Introduction and Books I-VIII. Edited by Alfred Heubeck, Stephanie West and J.B. Hainsworth. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1998. Lord, Albert. The Singer of Tales. Third Edition, edited by David F. Elmer. Center for Hellenic Studies, Cambridge Massachusetts: 2018. Parry, Milman. “The Traditional Epithet in Homer” in The Making of the Homeric Verse: The Collected Papers of Milman Parry. Edited and translated by Adam Parry. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1971. Shay, Jonatha. Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. Scribner, New York: 2002. Zieliński, Tadeusz. 1899-1901. “Die Behandlung gleichzeitiger Ereignisse im Antiken Epos.” Philologus Suppl. 8: 405-449. Ancient poetry mentioned: Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

Odyssey Book 4/Mihoko Suzuki Metamorphoses of Helen

Episode 4: Book 4 and Suzuki’s The Metamorphoses of Helen The main readings for this episode were Books 4 of the Odyssey and Mihoko Suzuki’s 1989 book The Metamorphoses of Helen: Authority, Difference and the Epic. Next time, September 1, we will read Book 5 of the Odyssey and Jonathan Shay’s 2002 book Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. Books mentioned in this episode: Clayton, Barbara. A Penelopean Poetics: Reweaving the Feminine in Homer’s Odyssey. Lexington Books, New York, 1992. de Jong, Irene. A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 2001. Derrida, Jacques. “Plato’s Pharmacy” in Dissemination. By Jacques Derrida, translated by Barbara Johnson, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981. Kajillionaire. Directed by Miranda July, performances by Evan Rachel Wood and Debra Winger, Plan B Entertainment, 2020. Hartocollis, Anemona. “New College of Florida Was Progressive. Then Gov. DeSantis Overhauled It”. New York Times, December 28, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/us/new-college-ron-desantis-florida-conservative.html?smid=url-share West, Stephanie. “Commentary on Book 4” in A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey: Volume I: Introduction and Books I-VIII. Edited by Alfred Heubeck, Stephanie West and J.B. Hainsworth. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1998. Ancient poetry mention: Theocritus, Idyll 18

Odyssey Book 3/FA Wolf Prolegomena to Homer

The main readings for this episode were Book 3 of the Odyssey and F.A. Wolf’s The Prolegomena to Homer. It was written in Latin 1795. It was translated into English with an introduction and notes by Anthony Grafton, Glenn Most and James Zetzel in 1985. Next time, August 15, we will read Book 4 of the Odyssey, and the relevant chapters from Mihoko Suzuki’s The Metamorphoses of Helen: Authority, Difference and the Epic. Books mentioned in this episode: West, Stephanie. “Transmission of the Text” in A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey: Volume I: Introduction and Books I-VIII. Edited by Alfred Heubeck, Stephanie West and J.B. Hainsworth. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1998. Wolf, F.A. The Prolegomena to Homer. Translated by, introduction by and notes by Anthony Grafton, Glenn W. Most and James E.G. Zetzel. Princeton University Press, Princeton: 1985.

Odyssey Book 2/Milman Parry The Traditional Epithet in Homer

The main book for this episode was Milman Parry’s ”The Traditional Epithet in Homer”. This was written in French in 1928 as his dissertation from the Sorbonne. It was translated into English in 1971 by his son Adam Parry as part of the volume The Making of Homeric Verse. Next time, for Book 3, we will read F.A. Wolf’s Prolegomena to Homer. It was originally published in Latin in 1795 and translated into English by Anthony Grafton, Glenn W. Most and James E.G. Zetzel in 1985. Books mentioned: Atwood, Margaret. The Penelopiad. Canongate, Edinburgh: 2005. de Jong, Irene. A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 2001. Kanigel, Robert. Hearing Homer’s Song: The Brief Life and Big Idea of Milman Parry. Alfred A. Knopf, New York: 2021. Lord, Albert. The Singer of Tales. Third Edition, edited by David F. Elmer. Center for Hellenic Studies, Cambridge Massachusetts: 2018. Parry, Milman. “The Traditional Epithet in Homer” in The Making of the Homeric Verse: The Collected Papers of Milman Parry. Edited and translated by Adam Parry. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1971.

Odyssey Book 1/Albert Lord Singer of Tales

In this episode, Tristan and Noah read book 1 of the Odyssey and Albert Lord's Singer of Tales. Texts referenced in this episode: Bandersnatch. Directed by David Slade, House of Tomorrow and Netflix, 2018. Netflix, netflix.com Heubeck, Alfred, Stephanie West and J.B. Hainsworth. A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey: Volume I: Introduction and Books I-VIII. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1998. Lord, Albert. The Singer of Tales. Third Edition, edited by David F. Elmer. Center for Hellenic Studies, Cambridge Massachusetts: 2018. You do NOT need to have read the Odyssey to get something from this podcast, but it is encouraged! Tristan and Noah read the poem in the original Greek and alternate which translations we use in each episode. We also sometimes translate passages ourselves. For episode 2, we are reading Book 2 of the Odyssey and also The Traditional Epithet in Homer by Milman Parry.