Daniel Mendelsohn

Join Daniel Mendelsohn, a distinguished humanities professor and acclaimed translator, as he brings fresh insights to Homer's timeless epic, The Odyssey. They explore the intricate themes of heroism and the search for home, highlighting Odysseus's complex character. Mendelsohn shares his translation journey, bridging the ancient with the modern, and emphasizes the evolving nature of storytelling. They delve into poignant moments of homecoming and identity, revealing how these ancient narratives continue to resonate in today's world.

Daniel Mendelsohn joins me in the Lesche to discuss his new translation of Homer's Odyssey, out on April 9 with the University of Chicago Press. Daniel Mendelsohn's websiteAncient textsHomer, Iliad and OdysseyAlso mentionedPrevious translations of the Odyssey by Richmond Lattimore, Robert Fitzgerald, and Emily Wilson (and Alexander Pope); also Caroline Alexander's Iliad.Previous books by Daniel Mendelsohn: An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and an Epic (Knopf 2017), The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million (Harper 2006), The Elusive Embrace: Desire and the Riddle of Identity (Knopf Doubleday 2009), and Three Rings: A Tale of Exile, Narrative, and Fate (University of Virginia Press, 2020)The Homeric scholarship of Jenny Strauss Clay, see, e.g., The Wrath of Athena: Gods and Men in the Odyssey. Princeton University Press, 1983. (Reprint, Rowman and Littlefield, 1996)Anne Parry, Blameless Aegisthus: A study of αμύμων and other Homeric epithets. Leiden 1973.Johanna's 2017 Eidolon essay on Daniel's An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic, "'Ithaca Gave to You the Beautiful Journey': Classics, An Odyssey, and a Conversation with Daniel Mendelsohn" About our guestDaniel Mendelsohn, an award-winning memoirist, translator, and essayist, writes frequently for the New Yorker and New York Review of Books, where he is the Editor-at-large. His books include the international bestsellers "The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million" and "An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic," as well as a translation of the poetry of Constantine Cavafy. His translation of Homer's Odyssey will be published in April, 2025.________________________________Thanks for joining us in the Lesche!Podcast art: Daniel BlancoTheme music: "The Song of Seikilos," recomposed by Eftychia Christodoulou using SibeliusThis podcast is made possible with the generous support of Brown University’s Department of Classical Studies and the John Nicholas Brown Center for Advanced Study. Instagram: @leschepodcastEmail: leschepodcast@gmail.comSuggest a book using this form

I love many of the classic myths and poems of ancient Greece. My favorite, though, is The Odyssey. While on the surface it seems to just be another epic adventure story, if you dig deeper, The Odyssey can give you insights on fatherhood, marriage, and surviving in a world that’s in constant flux. My guest today recently published a book exploring these themes in The Odyssey, particularly the theme of fathers and sons searching for each other. His name is Daniel Mendelsohn, and he's a classicist, essayist, and book critic. In his latest book, "An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic," Daniel shares the experience of having his 81-year-old father enroll as a student in the undergrad seminar he taught on The Odyssey and the insights he gleaned about his relationship with his dad by looking at the father-son relationships explored in the epic poem. We begin our conversation with a big picture overview of The Odyssey and why Daniel’s dad decided to take his seminar on it. Daniel and I then discuss what we can learn about the relationship between sons and fathers from Odysseus' relationships both with his son Telemachus, and with his father Laertes. We then shift to what we can learn from Odysseus and his wife Penelope on forming a strong marriage, how travel can change us, and why The Odyssey becomes more relevant to men when they have families of their own. This is a fun podcast filled with amazing insights about one of the greatest stories ever told. After you listen to it, you’ll want to dust off your copy of The Odyssey itself so you can read it with fresh eyes.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Daniel Mendelsohn, écrivain, critique littéraire et helléniste américain, partage son parcours intellectuel et ses identités juive et homosexuelle. Il parle de la place de la littérature en temps de crise. Il évoque le dialogue entre textes anciens et actualité, le genre qui mêle exégèse et autobiographie, et les liens entre élite, pouvoir et scandales contemporains.

Daniel Mendelsohn, écrivain, critique littéraire et helléniste américain, partage son parcours entre héritage juif et passion pour la Grèce antique. Il évoque la fragmentation culturelle aux États-Unis. Il explique l’importance du commentaire ancien pour penser les crises contemporaines. Il aborde aussi l’identité, la sexualité et les tensions politiques actuelles.