Man is he who suffers, and Odysseus is the man “of twists and turns,” the builder and destroyer, the journeyer trying to reach his beloved homeland.  Here Ian and I discuss what draws this man forward at his nadir in Book VI of Homer’s sequel epic.

Beauty, sing to me of that man of twists and turns!

He who washed up on shore, belched from the belly of the raging sea god.

Wisdom roused young Nausicaa, who stood rooted to the ground,

Odysseus’ welcome into the world.

This crusted roaming lion remembered her in a palm.

Eternal sun shimmering through its leaves near the navel of the world

Now the maw with guardian of Truth, the twinned virtue;

He sung her praises, and she acknowledged his manifold sufferings,

Counseled him to bear them silently.

He accompanied the retinue up to the haven, 

And prayed, waiting in Wisdom’s grove

For the right time.

Please join us for this discussion of “The Odyssey,” Book 6, and the discussion of beauty in Elaine Scarry’s wonderful exploration “On Beauty & Being Just.”

Chapters: 

00:00 Introduction & Summary of Book 6

16:00 Ancient Soap

17:40 Prepossessing Beauty

26:21 Beauty & Pornography

31:45 Beauty & Truth

36:37 Beauty and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion

40:04 The Ugliness of Our Buildings

47:39 Ian’s Photography

51:50 Calling all Artists

54:25 A Humble, Loose Call to the God

1:02:41 Beauty and Being Wrong

1:08:43 Beauty and Nature

1:09:50 Beauty and Relationality

1:15:30 Beauty is an Ally of Truth

1:24:46 You Forgot What Beauty Is

Thank you for watching!  Please see below for more on us:

The Odyssey’s translations we used:

https://a.co/d/04Ud8j0d

https://a.co/d/0dd7Svhh

The full video episode:

https://youtu.be/WsujhE2muTQ

The Podcast Playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T

The Episode Playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIszqVpagDQ

For more in this podcast, please go to:

Podbean:

https://benomtad.podbean.com

Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863

YouTube:

https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ

X:

https://x.com/Benomtad

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/benomtad

About our guest:

Ian Reclusado is currently off exploring the poetic wilds of psychology, neuroscience, and spirituality. 

He also offers guidance services for those interested in delving into their own inner wilderness.

You can find his weekly dispatches at www.thekindknife.com or follow him on Instagram: @ian_reclusado

I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.

Sea Short Photo by Henrique Hanemann on Unsplash

Photo of Nausicaa by Leighton (1878), courtesy of picryl