Why Odysseus?

This book examines the enduring appeal of Odysseus in artistic representation from antiquity to the present. The volume aims to provide a sense of how this character changes from ancient Greek myth through modern poetry, and how this capacity for change both perpetuates the motif of a mutable and devious character while reflecting essential anxieties over what it means to be a person. Why Odysseus? demonstrates that Odysseus was already a figure of dynamic reception in Homer’s Odyssey, then examines his varied uses in antiquity, his resurgence in the twentieth century, and his flexibility in modern reception. It concludes with the challenges of translating the character from one period to the next. Why Odysseus? explores how a uniquely indeterminate character becomes an important “shifting signifier” for reflecting different periods’ and peoples’ values on what it means to survive—and sometimes thrive—in a world that is definitively non-heroic.