Podcast
Odyssey: A Daily Odyssey through Homer’s The Odyssey
Hosted by Grunt Work Podcasts · EN
Odyssey: A Daily Odyssey into Homer’s The Odyssey is a daily read-along podcast for anyone who’s ever thought, “I should really read The Odyssey someday.”
Every day for one year, host Landen Celano reads one page from The Odyssey, (using Butcher & Lang English prose translation), then follows it with smart, spoiler-aware commentary: close reading, Greek mythology context, Homeric weirdness, and whatever tangents the text demands.
If you’re here because you’re hyped for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Odyssey film: welcome. This show isn’t about the movie. It’s about finally experiencing the ancient story itself, in order, one page at a time.
Read along on YouTube (the text appears on screen), or grab the same Butcher & Lang translation from Project Gutenberg. Want a more traditional audiobook experience? Patreon subscribers get commentary-free audio at the end of each chapter.
New episodes daily. Despite rain, sleet, snow, and hydra encounters.
140episodes
Episodes
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Achilles Chooses Life Over Glory (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 11 – Part 16)
2d ago00:10:06Tap to summarizeThe greatest hero of the war speaks plainly at last. Fame survives death — but joy does not. In The Odyssey, Book 11, Achilles answers Odysseus’ praise with a truth that cuts through every heroic promise: he would rather live as the poorest laborer on earth than rule over all the dead. He asks instead about what still matters to him — his father Peleus and his son Neoptolemus. Odysseus cannot speak of Peleus, but he brings Achilles comfort by recounting Neoptolemus’ courage, wisdom, and unmatched valor at Troy, from the councils of war to the ambush of the horse, and his safe return with honor. This passage delivers one of the epic’s starkest reversals, where glory is outweighed by life itself, and legacy is found not in fame, but in the fate of one’s children. ⸻ New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw ⸻ Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.
Transcribe →Achilles Among the Dead (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 11 – Part 15)
2d ago00:09:59Tap to summarizeThe greatest hero of the war stands stripped of glory. Fame has followed him into death — but not joy. In The Odyssey, Book 11, Odysseus’ sorrowful exchange with Agamemnon is interrupted by the arrival of Achilles, accompanied by the shades of Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax. Achilles recognizes Odysseus at once and marvels that any living man would dare descend to the house of Hades. Odysseus answers with reverence, reminding Achilles of the unmatched honor he held among the living and the authority he now commands among the dead. This encounter sets the stage for one of the poem’s starkest reckonings: the contrast between heroic fame and the emptiness that follows it beyond life. ⸻ New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw ⸻ Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.
Transcribe →Warnings from a Murdered King (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 11 – Part 14)
4d ago00:09:56Tap to summarizeFrom grief comes counsel, sharp and unsparing. Survival, Agamemnon insists, depends not only on courage, but on caution at home. In The Odyssey, Book 11, Odysseus answers Agamemnon by tracing the long suffering of the house of Atreus back to Helen and the treacheries of women bound to war. Agamemnon replies with hard-earned advice: never reveal all that is in one’s heart, and return in secret, not openly, to one’s own land. Yet he makes one crucial exception — Penelope, he says, is wise and faithful, unlike Clytemnestra. He then asks after his own son, Orestes, hoping still that vengeance and survival may yet be his. This passage turns the underworld into a place of instruction, where the dead warn the living how to endure what awaits them beyond the grave. ⸻ New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw ⸻ Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.
Transcribe →Agamemnon Tells of Treachery at the Feast (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 11 – Part 13)
5d ago00:15:15Tap to summarizeWar does not claim this king — welcome does. The deepest wounds are dealt at home. In The Odyssey, Book 11, Odysseus asks Agamemnon how death found him after Troy. The fallen king answers with bitter clarity: not storm or battle, but murder at a banquet. Betrayed by Aegisthus and struck down with the aid of Clytemnestra, Agamemnon and his companions were slaughtered like cattle amid feasting bowls and laden tables. His tale lingers on the cruelty of the scene and the shame that treachery has cast upon his house — and upon all who hear it. This passage reframes the danger of return, warning that the end of war does not end peril, and that trust itself may be fatal. ⸻ New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw ⸻ Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.
Transcribe →Agamemnon’s Shade and the Price of Homecoming (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 11 – Part 12)
6d ago00:09:25Tap to summarizeThe night invites more truth, and Odysseus agrees to speak again. What follows is not glory, but warning. In The Odyssey, Book 11 continues as King Alcinous praises Odysseus’ wisdom and urges him to go on, asking after the fate of the comrades who sailed with him to Troy. Odysseus consents, turning from his own trials to the bitter end of others. In the underworld, the shade of Agamemnon rises, surrounded by those murdered with him, and recognizes Odysseus at once. He weeps and reaches out — powerless now — a king undone not in war, but by treachery at home. This passage opens a darker reckoning: that survival after war carries dangers as great as any faced on the battlefield. ⸻ New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw ⸻ Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.
Transcribe →The Stories End, and the Gift Is Promised (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 11 – Part 11)
1w ago00:10:03Tap to summarizeThe tale reaches its limit, and night presses close. Memory gives way to judgment — not of the dead, but of the living who have listened. In The Odyssey, Book 11 concludes as Odysseus finishes naming the women of old — Maera, Clymene, and Eriphyle — before declaring that the night is too far spent to tell all he has seen. Silence falls over the Phaeacian hall, broken at last by Queen Arete, who praises Odysseus’ bearing and wisdom and urges generous hospitality. King Alcinous agrees: Odysseus will not depart at once, but will stay one more night while the Phaeacians prepare a fitting gift and safe passage home. This passage closes the long descent into memory and myth, returning Odysseus at last to the world of human judgment, generosity, and choice. ⸻ New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw ⸻ Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.
Transcribe →Women Honored, Women Destroyed (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 11 – Part 10)
1w ago00:10:17Tap to summarizeSome are remembered for glory, others for ruin — and some for both at once. In the underworld, honor and loss share the same shadow. In The Odyssey, Book 11, Odysseus continues to behold the spirits of renowned women. He sees Leda, mother of Castor and Polydeuces, whose sons share immortality by turns, living and dying in a strange divine balance. He encounters Iphimedeia, whose sons Otus and Ephialtes dared to challenge Olympus itself, only to be struck down before manhood. He also sees Phaedra, Procris, and Ariadne — figures bound to betrayal, abandonment, and divine punishment. This passage gathers myths of love, ambition, and destruction, showing how closeness to gods can grant honor — or bring swift annihilation. ⸻ New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw ⸻ Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.
Transcribe →Queens, Mothers, and the Cost of Fate (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 11 – Part 9)
1w ago00:10:03Tap to summarizeThe underworld becomes a gallery of triumph and ruin. Glory and suffering stand side by side, bound by blood and choice. In The Odyssey, Book 11, Odysseus continues to question the spirits of legendary women. He sees Alcmene, mother of Heracles, and Megara, his wife, marked by heroic strength and tragic aftermath. He encounters Epicaste, mother of Oedipus, whose unwitting marriage and terrible end reveal how hidden truths destroy entire houses. Then comes Chloris, queen of Pylos, mother of Nestor, whose lineage is shaped by trials, impossible demands, and the hard fulfillment of prophecy. This passage gathers the great myths into a single reckoning, showing how even the most renowned lives are shaped — and often broken — by the designs of gods and fate. ⸻ New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw ⸻ Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.
Transcribe →The First Women of Old (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 11 – Part 8)
1w ago00:09:59Tap to summarizeFrom grief, the past unfolds into legend. The dead speak not only of sorrow, but of origins that shaped the living world. In The Odyssey, Book 11, Odysseus begins to question the spirits of famed women sent forth by Persephone. First among them is Tyro, who tells of her union with Poseidon in the guise of the river Enipeus and of the sons born from that meeting — Pelias and Neleus — founders of mighty lines. After her comes Antiope, who bore Amphion and Zethus to Zeus, builders of seven-gated Thebes. Through these voices, heroic history rises from the underworld, binding gods, mortals, and cities yet standing. This passage shifts the descent into Hades from personal loss to mythic memory, where the roots of power and place are traced through the women who bore them. ⸻ New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw ⸻ Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.
Transcribe →Three Times He Reached for Her (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 11 – Part 7)
2w ago00:09:41Tap to summarizeEven love cannot cross every boundary. In the land of the dead, closeness is promised — and denied. In The Odyssey, Book 11, Odysseus tries again and again to embrace his mother’s spirit, only to grasp emptiness, as she slips away like a dream. Anticleia explains the law of death: flesh and bone are undone, and the soul drifts free, unable to be held. She urges him to return to the sunlight and remember what he has seen. As their exchange ends, the spirits of renowned women gather at the trench, summoned by Persephone herself, and Odysseus prepares to question them one by one. This passage confronts the final cruelty of the underworld — that knowledge may be gained, but touch is forever lost. ⸻ New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw ⸻ Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.
Transcribe →