Odyssey by Homer, The

Contemporary Western society revolves around celebrity—and ancient Greek culture was no different, as this program demonstrates with perceptive comparisons of the two worlds. Scholarly analysis and splendid reenactments bring new life to Homer’s epic, giving it both a historical and personal context. For long-ago Greek listeners enraptured with famous warriors and athletes, Homer fashioned a subtle moral dilemma: can one pursue fortune and recognition without endangering a far more valuable treasure—namely, the love and stability of family? Clearly, The Odyssey still engenders sociologically relevant discussion. A BBCW Production. (51 minutes)

It is said that every road movie and novel about a defining journey owes a debt to The Odyssey. This imaginative program uses the poem’s division into groupings of books as a framework to allow Dr. Tom Winnifrith, of Warwick University; Dr. Douglas Cairns, of Leeds University; and Ken Dowden, senior lecturer at Birmingham University, to analyze the oral tradition and key elements of the story line. Readings and dramatizations from The Odyssey enhance the discussion of recurrent themes, characterization, relationships, morals, and the cumulative effect of the ten-year journey in shaping and seasoning Odysseus. (31 minutes)

The heroes of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey were the Greek ideal. Cleisthenes took tales of mythical heroes to heart. PBS. (2:32)

Viewers see an excerpt from "The Odyssey" (Director Andrey Konshalovsky). The Mediterranean is the landscape of Western Literature's first works: Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. They have "magnificent plots" that Stephen Fry shares with us. A BBC Production. (4:08)

This six-part series, filmed in Greece, Turkey, and Berlin, features charismatic historian Michael Wood who attempts to discover whether there was any truth in Homer‘s epic poems. Is Hissalik the site of the mighty Troy? Did Helen, Achilles, and Agamemnon ever exist? What was the significance of the famous wooden horse? Prepare for dramatic new twists to the tale. (6 videos, 59-60 minutes each)