Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick hosts Dr. Patrick Deneen to discuss his NEW BOOK: The American Odyssey: What an Ancient Story Reveals About Our Divided Souls.
Pick up the AMERICAN ODYSSEY out today!
https://a.co/d/01rpYuwt
23 Observations on the new Christopher Nolan Odyssey Movie
https://www.patreon.com/greatbooks/posts/23-quick-on-164190324
In this special episode of Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick welcomes back renowned Notre Dame political thinker Dr. Patrick Deneen—author of Why Liberalism Failed and Regime Change—to celebrate the release of his brand-new book, The American Odyssey: What an Ancient Story Reveals About Our Divided Souls.
Fresh off a 12-week deep dive into Homer’s epic, the conversation reveals why Odysseus is the ultimate “proto-American” hero: a restless seeker torn between the hunger for home and the irresistible call of the frontier. Deneen traces this tension from the ancient text through Dante’s damning portrayal of Odysseus as a villain of forbidden knowledge, to the Renaissance reinvention of him as the triumphant explorer who metaphorically discovers America itself.
What makes this episode unmissable is how Deneen unlocks Aristotle’s radical claim that humans are political animals precisely because we are neither beasts nor gods, the “citylessness” that turns Ithaca into a Cyclopean free-for-all, and the startling parallels between Odysseus’ refusal of immortality and Huck Finn’s decision to “go to hell.”
Pairing iconic American stories like The Wizard of Oz, Field of Dreams, and Huckleberry Finn with Homer’s timeless episodes, Deneen shows that the Western tradition isn’t locked in dusty classics—it’s alive in our movies, novels, and national character, especially as America marks its 250th anniversary. Dive in and discover how an ancient tale of departure and return still maps the divided soul of a nation that can’t stop exploring… or longing for home.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Dr. Patrick Deneen and the Book
01:54 Deneen's Return to Homer and the Odyssey
03:59 Odysseus as a Proto-American Figure
06:59 The Tension Between Flourishing and Discontent
12:07 Odysseus and the Pioneering Spirit of America
19:02 The Shift in Odysseus' Image from Medieval to Renaissance
27:01 Odysseus as a Figure of Forbidden Knowledge
34:08 The Connection Between Odysseus and Columbus
40:02 The Polis and Citylessness in Homer and Aristotle
48:07 The Return of the Polis and the Homecoming
56:06 Huckleberry Finn as an Odyssean American Hero
59:45 The Western Tradition in Popular Culture
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