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The Odyssey

Melvyn Bragg discusses Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔr’s Odyssey, the epic story of the Greek hero Odysseus’ journey back from Troy, and its foundational position in the history of western literature and ideas.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The OdysseyΒ by Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔr, often claimed as the great founding work of Western Literature. It's an epic that has entertained its audience for nearly three thousand years: It has shipwrecks, Cyclops, brave heroes and seductive sex goddesses. But it’s also got revenge, true love and existential angst. The story follows on from Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔr's Iliad, and tells of the Greek hero Odysseus and his long attempt to get home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.Β Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss what has given the Odyssey such a fundamental position in the history of western ideas, what are the meanings behind the trials and tribulations that befall Odysseus and how the Odyssey was composed and by whom. With Simon Goldhill, Professor of Greek at King's College, Cambridge; Edith Hall, Leverhulme Professor of Greek Cultural History at Durham University; Oliver Taplin, Classics Scholar and Translator at Oxford University.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Thu 9 Sep 2004 21:30

Broadcasts

  • Thu 9 Sep 2004 09:00
  • Thu 9 Sep 2004 21:30

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