The Odyssey of Homer

When this groundbreaking, serialized dramatization premiered on 320 US radio stations, critics were unanimous in their praise, and it won numerous honors, including the George Foster Peabody Award, the Pulitzer Prize of broadcasting. Now twenty years after its first airing, Blackstone Audio is pleased to present this outstanding production.

The 2,600-year-old poem tells of a man, a hero of cunning rather than brawn, who inhabits three worlds: first, the world of his own reality—his wife, his son, his home; secondly, the world of myth in which gods and demigods sport and battle; finally, the world of sorcerers and monsters, of magic and ghosts and unspeakable terrors. The exploration and interweaving of these three worlds contribute significantly to the delight that The Odyssey’s audience has experienced throughout the ages.

Synopsis of Episodes:

The Suitors of Penelope

Commentary by Richard Posner, professor, law and government, University of Chicago

The Voyage of Telemachus

Commentary by Charles Bye, visiting professor, University of Athens

Free at Last

Commentary by Arthur Adkins and Wendy O’Flaherty, University of Chicago, and Gregory Nagy, Harvard University

The Great Wanderings

Commentary by Wendy O’Flaherty, University of Chicago

Monsters of the Sea

Commentary by Arthur Adkins, University of Chicago

The Swineherd’s Hut

Commentary by Arthur Adkins, University of Chicago

A Beggar’s Homecoming

Commentary by Eric Hamp, University of Chicago

The Contest of the Bow

Commentary by Albert Lord, Harvard University

Program host: Edward Asner

Cast:

Irene Worth, Shepperd Strudwick, Barry Morse, John Glover, James Deuter, Eloise Kummer, David Mink, Ron Parady, Robert Scogin, Megan McTavish, Tony Mockus, Francis Guinan, Michael Rider, Jordean Culbert, Ward Ohrman

Scholar Advisors:

Peter Arnott, Tufts University; Jarl Dyrud, University of Chicago; Peter Green, University of Texas at Austin; Albert B. Lord, Harvard University; James M. Redfield, University of Chicago; and D. Nicholas Rudall, (chair) University of Chicago

Announcer: John Doremus

Made possible in part by grants from TRW and the National Endowment for the Humanities.