Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Topics include: Odysseus as trickster, and where even in the Odyssey he gets 'bad press' including the episode with the Cyclops; how the absence of the story about atrocities at the end of the Trojan War draws attention to Odysseus' behavior; the contrast with Achilles and our ambivalence about Odysseus' mētis; Odysseus' behavior in the Embassy scene in Iliad; encoding of messages in the Cretan lies; Odysseus' inappropriate behavior as the guest at a feast; the relationship between nóos and nostos in episodes of the Odyssey including the journey with the Phaeacians to Ithaca; the encounter with Elpenor in Hades; the bag of winds from Aiolos; Odysseus' sleeping and waking.
Mentioned in the discussion:
Paul Radin. 1956. The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology. New York.
Jar (pelike) with Odysseus and Elpenor in the Underworld,
the Lykaon Painter, about 440 BCE:
collections.mfa.org/objects/153840
Recorded in Spring 2021 during v15 of the MOOC, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, focusing on Hours 9 and 10, and the Discussion Questions.
With Gregory Nagy, Keith DeStone, and members of the HeroesX Team.
Topics include: Odysseus as trickster, and where even in the Odyssey he gets 'bad press' including the episode with the Cyclops; how the absence of the story about atrocities at the end of the Trojan War draws attention to Odysseus' behavior; the contrast with Achilles and our ambivalence about Odysseus' mētis; Odysseus' behavior in the Embassy scene in Iliad; encoding of messages in the Cretan lies; Odysseus' inappropriate behavior as the guest at a feast; the relationship between nóos and nostos in episodes of the Odyssey including the journey with the Phaeacians to Ithaca; the encounter with Elpenor in Hades; the bag of winds from Aiolos; Odysseus' sleeping and waking.
Mentioned in the discussion:
Paul Radin. 1956. The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology. New York.
Jar (pelike) with Odysseus and Elpenor in the Underworld,
the Lykaon Painter, about 440 BCE:
collections.mfa.org/objects/153840
Recorded in Spring 2021 during v15 of the MOOC, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, focusing on Hours 9 and 10, and the Discussion Questions.
With Gregory Nagy, Keith DeStone, and members of the HeroesX Team.
