[Usyd_Classics_Events] Placing the Odyssey in the 21st Century

[Ben Brown]

Dear All,

What does Homer’s Odyssey have to say to the 21st century?

Date: Friday 26 June 2026 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (UTC+10)

Where: Upstairs at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe NSW 2037

The Classical Association of New South Wales invites you to join us for an evening of discussion<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/M-DpCE8wmrtgYPmqRINfxU7CenF?domain=trybooking.com> as a panel of the most exciting scholars working in Australia today speak about Homer’s Odyssey and how this epic poem shapes them and their thinking about the 21st century. From migration and exile to war, identity, hospitality, homecoming, storytelling, and the longing for meaning, the Odyssey continues to speak uncannily to contemporary concerns.

Placing the Odyssey in the 21st Century<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/M-DpCE8wmrtgYPmqRINfxU7CenF?domain=trybooking.com> brings together an interdisciplinary array of academics to consider why love for and intrigue about this ancient poem persist into the present and what questions drive their engagement. How should we interpret the character of Odysseus today? What about its other characters, including its women who are often overlooked? What does the epic reveal about power, violence, gender, and survival? Could it be that the journey home—as an idea and especially as a feeling—is bound to become ever more compelling in our age of growing global instability, uncertainty, and the desire to escape?

Whether you are a long-time lover of the classics, you're simply curious about why ancient literature still matters or you want to become better acquainted with the text before the upcoming release of Christopher Nolan's film adaptation, this event invites you into a rich and accessible conversation about one of the foundational works of world literature.

Audience Q&A will follow.

An event not to be missed!

best, on behalf of the CANSW


DR BEN BROWN

Senior Lecturer, Classics and Ancient History

Co-director Critical Antiquities Network<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/E50YCGv0oyC06gm8ju7h4UBGvMr?domain=criticalantiquities.org>

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY NSW 2006

Ph.: 9351 8983; Office: Main Quad J6.07

E benjamin.brown at sydney.edu.au<mailto:benjamin.brown at sydney.edu.au> | W http://sydney.edu.au/arts/classics_ancient_history/staff/profiles/benjamin.brown.php

Aux approches de la soixantaine, on n’est pas toujours plus sage qu’à vingtans — Marc Bloch

Es eine Ungerechtigkeit ist, daß damit auch die Männer keine Erwähnung finden, welche sich dadurch, daß sie sich auf Lehre und Erziehung beschränkten, gar nicht selten ein sehr viel höheres Verdienst erwarben, als mancher, der ein Scherflein zur Wissenschaft beitrug — U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorf

Recent Scherflein: “Remains of the Day: Unfreedom in Ancient Greece” Philosophy, Politics and Critique 1.2, 2024, 165–184.

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