Bestselling Author Explores Wisdom of 'The Odyssey'

Special to the Enterprise 

As audiences around the world return to Homer’s timeless epic through Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated film “The Odyssey,” opening in theaters on July 17, acclaimed mythologist, filmmaker and bestselling author Phil Cousineau will offer a deeper journey into the story’s enduring lessons during a special free book talk at the Varsity Theatre from noon to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, July 19.

Taking place during the opening weekend of Nolan’s film, this special event invites audiences to explore how the timeless lessons of “The Odyssey” can illuminate their own journeys - offering wisdom on resilience, healing, homecoming, love and finding their way through life’s greatest challenges. 

The event celebrates Cousineau’s acclaimed new book, “The Wisdom of the Odyssey: Twenty-Four Life Lessons from Homer’s Epic,” in which he distills Homer’s masterpiece into 24 illuminating lessons for modern readers. Cousineau explores the epic as not only a grand adventure, but also a deeply human story of resilience, trauma, longing for home, devotion, and the long journey back to oneself. 

“First and foremost, ‘The Odyssey’ is a story, one that must be felt as much as analyzed, an epic poem that helps us arrive at personal answers to fundamental questions,” Cousineau writes. “I hope to bring the story home again by returning pleasure, delight, joy, and no little awe to the experience of Homer’s poem, encouraging readers to identify with these immortal characters.”

About the author

Cousineau is the author of more than 40 other books, including the bestselling "The Art of Pilgrimage," and "The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on his Life and Work." Cousineau is a writer, teacher, filmmaker, storyteller, and cultural historian who has consulted on mythology and story for major studios including Warner Brothers., Pixar, and Lucasfilm, and has led mythology travel programs to Greece for more than three decades.

Visit him online at Phil Cousineau -

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