Homecoming Myth and Adaptation:
The Odyssey in Conversation with O Brother Where Art Thou
He’s seen trouble all his days—but to be fair, he started a lot of it.
This August, we’re excited to offer two four-week cohorts on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, where we’ll be slow-reading The Odyssey using the gorgeous Emily Wilson translation. We’ll discuss its characters, language, and complexities, while thinking critically about the work of adaptation itself.
Register by August 14th! Starting August 18 and 19, taught by Julian Mammano. Discussions are always warm, collaborative, and focused on close-reading together. More details below!
Join us for a four-week cohort on The Odyssey this August!
“I was reminded that literature belongs to me as much as it belongs to the experts, and that reading, exploring and questioning it intentionally, in community, is not merely educational but joyful and applicable to my life and work.” — Elaine G.
TUESDAYS:
Dates: August 18, 25, September 1, 8
Times: 5 - 6:30PM PT
WEDNESDAYS:
Dates: August 19, 26, September 2, and 9
Times: 6:30 - 8pm PT
Details: https://www.thenewcommons.com/theodyssey
Location: Virtual via Zoom
Instructor: Julian Mammano
Use “FOUNDINGMEMBER” for 20% off on this cohort and on all cohorts you register for in the future. This membership is available to all who join a cohort by December 31st!
What you’ll get from the course:
You’ll have a well-paced reading schedule of The Odyssey (about 120-140 pages/week), with plenty of time to pay close attention to the language, plot, and questions within the text.
In each guided session, you’ll experience a community-oriented reading practice, with opportunities to participate and contribute in a variety of ways—with knowledgeable guidance and personal encouragement from the facilitator. We’ll use the text collaboratively to ask and answer questions, develop interpretations, and build collective meaning (or collective ambiguity!)
In the final session, we’ll watch the Coen brothers’ 2000 film “borrowing” adaptation O, Brother Where Art Thou? Through comparative analysis, the group will discuss the limitations, interpretations, and possibilities of this adaptation—and of the work of adaptation broadly.
You’ll leave this cohort with a strong understanding of The Odyssey, and have ways to return, including: (1) unique recaps on each discussion, (2) a record of what you loved as a reader, (3) your responses to creative writing, research, and journal prompts that we design for each session, and (4) ways to stay connected to your cohort members.
Why has a story about being in-between places and events—chaos and order, war and home—compelled audiences for thousands of years? How is oral, poetic, and visual storytelling integral to the story of The Odyssey itself? What do we make of modern translations and adaptations of this myth?
In this cohort, you'll have the chance to slow-read Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey and find guided, spacious discussions with seven other cohort members, taught by teacher and writer Julian Mammano. Rather than pairing this with a more serious or traditional adaptation, we’ll be ending with a critical discussion on the 2000 "borrowing" adaptation O Brother, Where Art Thou? This text-art pairing intends to open up a dialogue around the effectiveness and intention behind different kinds of adaptation.
For a piece of literature that has been translated and passed down in our collective human memory from generation to generation, what does it mean for us to continue finding ways into this story’s complexities, heartaches, and humanity?
Come join us for this close-reading journey, starting August 18 and 19! TNC cohorts are spaces where all members have the chance to actively participate and get to know each other.
The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson, W. W. Norton & Company.
- This 2018 edition of The Odysseywas translated by Emily Wilson, the first woman to translate the epic.
O Brother, Where Art Thou, directed and written by the Coen brothers.
- We will cap off our voyage with the Coen brothers, traveling to the 1930's American South in O Brother, Where Art Thou?—where the spirits of tricksters and vengeful gods are alive and well.
The Details
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Over the course of four sessions, read The Odyssey, spreading out the reading over the first three weeks.
We’ll conclude the cohort with a discussion on the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), directed by the Coen brothers.
First Session: Read The Odyssey, Books 1 - 7 (pages 105-239)
Second Session: Read The Odyssey, Books 8 - 15 (pages 240-385)
Third Session: Read The Odyssey, Books 16 - 24 (pages 386-525)
Fourth and Final Session: Watch and discuss the film O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000) directed by the Coen brothers.
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This cohort has eight seats available, to make that each person has plenty of chances to participate!
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The Odyssey is being offered as a four week (one session per week) course in August - September 2026 via Zoom.
Cohort 1 — Tuesdays, 8/18, 8/25, 9/1, and 9/8 | 5:00 - 6:30pm PT
Cohort 2 — Wednesdays: 8/19, 8/26, 9/2 and 9/9 | 6:30 - 8pm PTYou can visit each specific book cohort page above and within our community for specific meeting dates and times.
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All cohorts will meet online via Zoom.
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Four-week cohorts are $250/seat and three-week cohorts are $195/seat, often with discounts available!
Registering in 2026 makes you a Founding Member, for which we are so grateful! Use “FOUNDINGMEMBER” for 20% off any cohort by December 31, 2026, and you’ll receive 20% off all our cohorts forever.
If the costs are still out of range for you, send Lauren an email! We are price-conscious program, and want to offer as many opportunities for readers to join us.
“Tell me about a complicated man.
Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost
when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy,
and where he went, and who he met, the pain
he suffered in the storms at sea, and how
he worked to save his life and bring his men
back home. He failed to keep them safe; poor fools,
they ate the Sun God’s cattle, and the god
kept them from home. Now goddess, child of Zeus,
tell the old story for our modern times.
Find the beginning.”
― Emily Wilson, The Odyssey
Julian Mammano is the instructor of The Odyssey cohorts.
They are an experienced educator with nearly a decade of dedicated service in both public and private education, with a passion for innovative curriculum, college readiness, and inclusion and equity.
Join us for a four-week cohort on The Odyssey this August!
TUESDAYS:
Dates: August 18, 25, September 1, 8
Times: 5 - 6:30PM PT
WEDNESDAYS:
Dates: August 19, 26, September 2, and 9
Times: 6:30 - 8pm PT
Details: https://www.thenewcommons.com/theodyssey
Location: Virtual via Zoom
Instructor: Julian Mammano
Use “FOUNDINGMEMBER” for 20% off on this cohort and on all cohorts you register for in the future. This membership is available to all who join a cohort by December 31st!