Many-Minded Man

Joel P. Christensen is Professor and Chair of Classical Studies at Brandeis University. He is coauthor of A Beginner's Guide to Homer and Homer's Thebes. Follow him on X @sentantiq.

• Introduction1. Homeric Psychology2. Treating Telemachus, Education and Learned Helplessness3. Escaping Ogygia, An Isolated Man4. Odysseus's Apologoi and Narrative Therapy5. Odysseus's Lies6. Marginalized Agencies and Narrative Selves7. Penelope's Subordinated Agency8. The Politics of Ithaca9. The Therapy of Oblivion, Unforgettable Pain and the Odyssey's End

While the arguments are usually complex and intricate, Christensen has successfully achieved what he set out to do, thanks in part to his clear style and presentation. Attentive and contemplative readers will gain insights not only into the Odyssey but also into their own experiences.(Choice) Joel Christensen shows that he has thoroughly digested not only the vast field of Classics – specifically Homeric scholarship – but also the equally immense realm of human psychology, although he modestly denies the latter. [H]e offers a deeply personal study, one that emphasizes process over product in a way that seems quite appropriate to both the Odyssey and modern psychology.(The Classical Journal)