What is it in Homer's Odyssey that has so enthralled readers from around the world for thousands of years. By joining Professor Vandiver for these 12 lectures on the Odyssey , you'll find out why. This literary exploration centers on a single provocative question about the epic poem's protagonist, Odysseus: Why does he long so powerfully to go home. To probe the depths of this question, you'll embark on meticulous, insightful examinations of the most important episodes in the Odyssey . In doing so, you'll understand the cultural assumptions that lie behind Homer's lines and the critical and interpretive issues involved in truly unpacking this ancient masterpiece. Among the range of episodes, themes, and topics you'll explore are: Odysseus's superb skills as a rhetorician; the abrupt break in the text at the end of the "Great Wanderings" episode, when the poem briefly returns to the third-person narrative; Penelope's knowledge and motives as they relate to the inevitability of her suitors' doom; the effectiveness (or possible lack thereof) in the poem's ending; the historical basis for the Trojan War from which Odysseus returns; and more. For anyone who's loved the stories of Odysseus's encounters with witches, monsters, and vengeful gods; for anyone who's longed to truly grasp the intricate nature of Homer's epic; or for anyone who has been looking for ways to approach a work that can often be intimidating to first-time readers, these lectures are an invaluable resource and a helpful introduction to the grandest adventure story in Western literature.

Odyssey of Homer

Literature & Fiction

Professor Elizabeth Vandiver

Poetry

The Teaching Company

The Aeneid is the great national epic of ancient Rome, and one of the most important works of literature ever written. And with Professor Vandiver's twelve instructive lectures, you'll enter fully into the gripping tale that Virgil tells. Join Aeneas on his long journey west from ruined Troy to the founding of a new nation in Italy, and see how he weaves a rich network of compelling human themes. Your encounter with the Aeneid focuses on careful, detailed examinations of the epic's background, main themes, and significant episodes. You'll get a helpful introduction to Virgil's Latin epic and the mythic and literary background with which Virgil was working (including an insightful summary of the legends of the Trojan War and of Romulus and Remus). From there, you'll dive into the poem itself with lectures that, in their clarity, economy, and enthusiasm, you're sure to find illuminating and thoroughly engaging. Throughout it all, the figure of Aeneas is never far from center stage- as fighter and lover, father and son, refugee and ruler, wanderer and founder, spellbinding storyteller, and sword-wielding man of action. Whether you read the narrative of his adventures as a paean to the glories of Rome or a cautionary tale about the human costs of empire, by the end of these lectures you'll come to understand precisely why Tennyson called Virgil a lord of language, and lauded his special gift for golden phrase.

The Aeneid of Virgil

Lecture Transcript and Course Guidebook. "The Great Courses, Teaching that engages the mind."

Classical Mythology, Part 1

Used, Good Condition, Binding and Pages in tact. Kept in a Smoke Free Environment.

The Iliad of Homer: Lecture Transcript and Course Guidebook (The Great Courses)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Professor Elizabeth Vandiver. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Professor Elizabeth Vandiver

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Professor Elizabeth Vandiver. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Odyssey of Homer

The Aeneid of Virgil

Classical Mythology, Part 1

The Iliad of Homer: Lecture Transcript and Course Guidebook (The Great Courses)