Odysseus tied to his ship's mast to resist the song of the Sirens, depicted on an Attic red-figure stamnos from Vulci (480-450 BCE).
© The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
The Odyssey
Reading an ancient epic in a modern world
Before this summer’s film adaptation, return to the original epic.
Program Details
Dates: July 7–23, 2026
Meetings: Tuesdays & Thursdays (75 minutes)
Format: Live Online Seminar (Zoom)
Time: Determined by participant availability
Ages: 13–17
Tuition: $250
Enrolment: Limited to 8 students
This six-session online seminar invites students to explore Homer's Odyssey through close reading, historical context, and discussion. Together, we'll read one of the foundational works of world literature and ask why it continues to matter today.
Weekly Outline
Session 1: Homer, epic poetry, and the ancient Mediterranean
Session 2: The Cyclopes and the rules of hospitality
Session 3: Circe, the Sirens, and temptation
Session 4: The long journey home
Session 5: Penelope, disguise, and recognition
Session 6: Why The Odyssey still matters
About Victoria
Led by Victoria, certified teacher, university instructor, and PhD candidate in Roman History. Through Stone & Margin, Victoria helps students become stronger readers, writers, and thinkers through close engagement with texts, history, and ideas.