122 - Odyssey 1: Society on the Brink

Something is very wrong in the opening scenes of the Odyssey. 

The master of the house is gone. His wife is besieged. His son is powerless. And the men eating him out of house and home are waiting for the right moment to strike. 

Welcome to Part 1 (of 6!) of our new series, where we cover Homer's great epic. 

Part 1 covers Books 1 to 4, the monsters haven't arrived yet — but the groundwork for everything is laid here. What does it take to reestablish order once it has fallen? What kind of man can do it? 

Follow Telemachus as he learns to speak, to threaten, and to travel among serious men, and meet the figures who shape his fate: Athena, Penelope, Nestor, Menelaus, Helen, and the doomed suitors led by Antinous. 

As Christopher Nolan's film approaches, it's a perfect time to dust off a copy of Homer's Odyssey, and follow along this epic story in our 6-part retelling.

Timestamps:
0:00 Why the Odyssey begins with Odysseus's absence
1:08 Introducing the show
1:25 Book One: Athena visits Ithaca
4:05 Telemachus welcomes the stranger
7:33 The poem's opening lines and Odysseus's epithets
10:06 Odysseus and the wrath of Poseidon
11:43 The Council of the Gods
13:58 Athena's plan to help Telemachus
17:20 Athena's instructions: call an assembly
19:08 The story of Orestes and Telemachus's zeal
22:08 Penelope's first appearance
27:00 Telemachus finds his courage
29:25 Book Two: The Assembly begins
31:56 Antinous defends the suitors
35:59 The omen of the eagles
37:55 Telemachus's plan revealed
40:16 Athena returns as Mentor
45:15 Telemachus sets sail for Pylos
46:48 Book Three: Arrival at Pylos
52:41 The story of Agamemnon and Aegisthus
1:02:17 Book Four: Arrival in Sparta
1:05:28 Helen's grand entrance
1:11:41 Helen's magic drug
1:19:50 Menelaus and Proteus, the shapeshifting sea god
1:27:08 Menelaus's fate: the Elysian Fields
1:32:09 The suitors plot to kill Telemachus
1:33:23 Closing thoughts

Callouts:

• Special thanks to Dr. Richard Johnson for his longtime support of the show. You are Caesar and Odysseus's Top Guy!
• In tribute to the life and aspirations of Savitha Shanmugasundaram, a University of Texas at Austin honors student who died tragically in the March 1 mass shooting, her parents have established the Savitha Shan Endowed Scholarship at UT Austin. The fund is intended to extend Savitha’s legacy by supporting the educational journeys of future UT Austin students. Please consider donating if you can.