Episode

Encore: A father and a son and The Odyssey

Podcast
Conversations
Published
Aug 25, 2026
Duration seconds
2820
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/daniel-mendelsohn-an-odyssey-a-father-a-son-and-an-epic/107059576
Audio
https://mediacore-live-production.akamaized.net/audio/02/nq/Z/rf.mp3
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/conversations-320217/episodes/encore-a-father-and-a-son-and-the-odyssey
Markdown
/podcast/conversations-320217/encore-a-father-and-a-son-and-the-odyssey.md

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Summary

Author and classicist Daniel Mendelsohn was teaching a university class on Homer's The Odyssey, when his elderly father decided to enrol in it.Daniel became fascinated by the stories of the ancient world as a child and grew up to study the classics and then write books and essays to share his knowledge with the wider world. Eventually he began teaching the Ancient Greek epic, The Odyssey, to first year university students at Bard College in New York State. But when his elderly father Jay asked to sit in on the course, it led to a big change in their relationship.This episode was first broadcast in 2020 Further information An Odyssey: A father, a Son, and an Epic is published by KnopfDaniel's latest book is The Odyssey: A New Translation This episode was first broadcast in 2020. It explores the Ancient World, Homer, The Odyssey, the Classics, translation, poetry, writing, teaching, parents, family, fathers, students, New York State, memoir, Odysseus, hero, storytelling, siblings, Winnie the Pooh, emotions, love, books.