An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic

by Daniel Mendelsohn

Now do you want to say anything about why he starts the recitation of his adventures by boasting about his reputation for trickery? Madeline hesitated, but only for a moment. Because the adventure itself is about trickery? And it’s a trick that’s wrapped in language. So it’s all about tricks and words. Yes! I said. Words! In the end, what dooms the Cyclops is his inability to distinguish between two homophones. It’s funny, and it’s also kind of brilliant. Brendan’s hand went up. I wonder if you think we could say it’s a story about listening? About how your own perspective affects how you hear things? I mean, the real problem in this story is that from the very start Polyphemus hears what he wants to hear. If someone came up to you and said “My name is Nobody,” you’d do a double take, right? It’s so obviously weird. But he doesn’t take the Greeks seriously, because he’s bigger and stronger than they are, and so he doesn’t actually hear what Odysseus is saying.