Welcome to Part 2 of R&W’s discussion of The Odyssey.

In this episode Rhea and Shari discuss just how complicated of a man Odysseus is. They discuss the real flavor they get of the story being originally told orally, the way it reads much like The Arabian Nights: stories within stories within stories. They also discuss all the spin offs and stories The Odyssey rhymes with and has inspired in the centuries since.

They discuss Odysseus’s failure to be a good guest in multiple settings, and the ways he is responsible for his own wanderings, and ways he isn’t. They discuss the Cyclops, Hades and all the crying. Mostly they discuss all the ways this story is offering unexpected things to consider they hadn’t thought much about before.

Here is Rhea’s Substack post all about The Odyssey, and our reading schedule:

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