Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Discussion aboiut whether there is a sense of completeness — or incompleteness — with the end of the Odyssey. Participants noted how even if a 'homecoming' has been reached, Odysseus' nostos is still a circle where the story never ends. Professor Nagy quoted Aristotle who states: "The older I get the more I love myth" as a way to point out how the more we think ahead and reflect on getting older the more the stories themselves seem to be the experience. Other topics included the psychological needs of main hero of Odyssey, the Odyssey in some ways as the completion of Iliad, psūkhē of Agamemnon speaking to psūkhē of Achilles, the notion of polutropos, and finally a question about who would lament Odysseus?
Mentioned in the discussion:
Film: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. 1988, co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam.
Recorded in Fall 2021 during v16 of the MOOC, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, focusing on Hour 11, and responses to the Discussion Question.
With Gregory Nagy, and members of the HeroesX Team.
Discussion aboiut whether there is a sense of completeness — or incompleteness — with the end of the Odyssey. Participants noted how even if a 'homecoming' has been reached, Odysseus' nostos is still a circle where the story never ends. Professor Nagy quoted Aristotle who states: "The older I get the more I love myth" as a way to point out how the more we think ahead and reflect on getting older the more the stories themselves seem to be the experience. Other topics included the psychological needs of main hero of Odyssey, the Odyssey in some ways as the completion of Iliad, psūkhē of Agamemnon speaking to psūkhē of Achilles, the notion of polutropos, and finally a question about who would lament Odysseus?
Mentioned in the discussion:
Film: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. 1988, co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam.
Recorded in Fall 2021 during v16 of the MOOC, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, focusing on Hour 11, and responses to the Discussion Question.
With Gregory Nagy, and members of the HeroesX Team.
