Why Odysseus?

Joel Christensen is Provost, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Professor for Classics at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. Previously, he served as Professor of Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies at Brandeis University, where he also served as Senior Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, Chair of Classical Studies, and Chair of the Brandeis Faculty Senate. Joel previously taught for nine years at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His research interests include early Greek poetry, myth, and literary theory. With Elton Barker, Joel has published Homer’s a Beginner’s Guide (2013), Homer’s Thebes (2020), The Many-Minded Man: The Odyssey, Psychology, and the Therapy of Epic (2020), Storylife: On Epic, Language, and Living Things (2025), and has recently edited The Oxford Critical Guide to Homer's Odyssey (2026).

• Introduction: The Man of Many Ways.- 1. Homer’s Odysseus, In and Out of the Odyssey.- 2. A Man of Many Forms—Odysseus in Ancient Literature.- 3. Translations: The Man of Many Words.- 4. Transformations: The Post-Classical Odysseus.- 5. Adaptations: Odysseus in Novels, Movies, and Songs.- 6. Reinterpretations: The Veteran and the Anti-hero.- Conclusion: Beyond the Epic’s End—The Hero Persists, Resists.