oddysy

The Odyssey
As you may recall from high school, The Odyssey is a book-length poem purportedly transcribed by Homer some 2700 years ago. It tells the story of a famous Greek warrior returning home from the Trojan War. The war began when Paris kidnapped the beautiful Helen and brought her back to Troy, inciting her Greek husband and his countrymen to lay siege to the city. After a decade of violent warfare, the Greeks finally win, and Odysseus begins a ten-year voyage home to his long-suffering wife Penelope and their son Telemachus. During his absence, Odysseus’ kingdom has been invaded by hoards of greedy suitors hoping to marry Penelope to acquire his wealth. His son has grown into manhood without a father’s guidance. It is a desperate and deteriorating situation. Odysseus’ travels take him to many lands and peoples. He battles men and monsters, makes many foolish decisions, finds and surrenders paradise several times, and eventually loses everything — his ships, crew, belongings, clothes, and nearly his life before the gods ordain that he is ready to reach home. All along his harrowing voyage, however, Odysseus is guided by the whispered instructions and shape-shifting intercessions of the goddess Athena.
Whether you read the book, watched the made-for-TV Emmy Award-winning movie, or simply remember hearing the tales of Odysseus’ battle with the giant Cyclops, his confrontation with Circe the witch who turns men into pigs, or his escape from the dangerously alluring Sirens, you may still wonder what this story has to do with our theme “travel and transformation.” We certainly don’t meet such fantastic characters in the outer world! And yet that is the point — they exist inside, in the fertile land of the mythic imagination, there to inspire new voyages of transformation. The Odyssey is not only a wonderfully entertaining story, it is a psychological map for men of the inner journey home from the wars of adult life — to family, love, and a new place in the world as a wise elder.