Don’t die without reading The Odyssey
Why I’m hosting an Interintellect salon on a nearly 3,000-year old poem
Editor’s note: Tonight (Thursday, Dec 11) we kick off an
salon series on The Odyssey! Tonight’s session will be an introduction, so don’t worry if you don’t have time to read anything beforehand. A few seats are still available, and you’re warmly invited.Why read a nearly 3,000-year old poem? The short answer is because Christopher Nolan is making it into a movie. Earlier this year, my brother sent me this photo with a text: “should we read the book before this comes out?”
My brother had never read The Odyssey, and I hadn’t for decades. We both felt a little sheepish about the gap in our bibliography. Plus, everyone knows the book is always better than the movie.
The idea of a salon was born.
The greatest story ever told
The Odyssey is not a stuffy old poem. I’ve come to love The Odyssey the way Tolkien fans love The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) for its epic quest and deep mythology. Ostensibly, The Odyssey is about Odysseus’ long journey home following the Trojan War. But that’s like saying LOTR is about a man delivering a ring. It’s a coming of age story about Odysseus’ son Telemachus. It’s an examination of women’s agency, told through Odysseus’ wife Penelope. It’s an adventure story interwoven with layers of ancient mythology. The Odyssey is arguably the greatest story ever told.
More than a classic, The Odyssey is the foundation of Western storytelling and the archetype of the hero’s journey. We’ve all heard references to the one-eyed Cyclops, the irresistible call of the Sirens, Circe, and Calypso. The characters and stories in The Odyssey are our shared heritage. And despite being nearly 3,000 years old, its themes of homecoming, identity, and hospitality remain as relevant as ever.
And then there’s the divine drama. Today athletes pray to the same God and hope to be the chosen victor. In The Odyssey, the gods have chosen sides: Poseidon wants Odysseus to suffer; Athena thinks he’s suffered enough. The clash between gods is more dramatic than any clash between even godlike mortals could ever be.
Constraining herself to the exact number of lines in the original poem, Emily Wilson’s translation is accessible and cuts straight to the heart of the epic. No need to be familiar with archaic language. The Odyssey, especially this version, is wildly entertaining. To paraphrase
, “don’t die without reading The Odyssey. It’s not worth it.”It’s better together
But why a salon? My brother and I could have read the book alone. Because The Odyssey is an oral tradition. It’s not a story meant to be read quietly to oneself. It’s meant to be shared.
The beauty of Interintellect salons is that they aren’t lectures. They’re collaborative discussions. We could have agreed to read the same book and met once. But by breaking it down, meeting over multiple sessions, and making it a live event we get a far more robust experience.
When you attend a salon, you’re actually co-creating and shaping the discussion by bringing your unique perspectives and life experiences. No need to be an expert in classical literature. I’ve done the research to help add context, but everyone sees and is compelled by something different: moral, literary, emotional, historical, or personal. When we read together we expand what’s visible.
When I reread The Odyssey last month to prepare for the salon, I was surprised by how quickly it felt relatable and relevant. The first great lesson for me came from Emily Wilson’s introduction. She explains that The Odyssey doesn’t start at the beginning of Odysseus’ journey, but in the middle of things (in medias res). We don’t hear from Odysseus directly until Book 5 (The Odyssey is split into 24 books, essentially chapters). It’s such a simple idea, but it immediately helped me fix a structural problem in an essay I was struggling with.
The second surprise was how strongly the book’s great theme of hospitality, or xenia, resonated. Characters and entire societies are judged by how they treat strangers and how welcoming they are to guests. In The Odyssey, good hospitality is a moral and sacred responsibility. Guests have responsibilities too. Anyone thinking about immigration or social trust would benefit from a thorough reading. Closer to home, xenia shaped my 2026 New Year’s resolutions. I hope to host far more dinner and weekend guests in the coming year. I want my home to be a place of warmth for any guest needing a respite on their journey.
That’s what stood out to me. What will we discover together?
Join us!
This salon is for you whether The Odyssey is your favorite book, was forced upon you in high school, or it’s your first time. We’ll be meeting once a month from December 2025-July 2026 to keep the reading load manageable (roughly 75 pages or fewer per session).1 Can’t catch tonight’s session? Join us in January when we begin reading the full text in earnest!
Find all the information you need to sign up and follow along here. I hope to see you there!
Don’t have time to read the physical book? The Audible version narrated by Claire Danes is wonderful.
whew! I can die!