The Odyssey Books 20-21 with Thomas Lackey and Dr. Grabowski
About this episode
The episode discusses Books 20 and 21 of Homer’s Odyssey, focusing on character development and thematic elements leading up to the climax of the story.
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, we are discussing Books 20 & 21 with Mr. Thomas Lackey and Dr. Frank Grabowski. NEW ARTICLE: Why Should Christians Read Homer? Check out our COLLECTION OF WRITTEN GUIDES . In this episode of Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick and guests Dr. Frank Grabowski and Thomas Lackey dive into Books 20 and 21 of Homer’s Odyssey, where the stage is set for the long-awaited slaughter of the suitors. The portents multiply: Theoclymenus’s terrifying vision of the palace drenched in blood and gore, Athena’s divine orchestration, and Penelope’s masterful test with Odysseus’s legendary bow. Amid feasts for Apollo, disloyal servants, and growing frenzy, Odysseus the beggar masters his patience while Telemachus comes fully into his own—echoing the father-son reunion and the maturation arc that began in Book 2. The conversation has rich insights on Homeric anthropology, the thumos (spirited), xenia’s sacred bonds, ritual symbolism, and the limits of repentance under divine justice. Listeners will relish the similes, prophecies ignored at peril, subtle Christological resonances, and the masterful dramatic pause Homer builds before…
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