Looking Backward: Research Paper

DANIEL MENDELSOHN, AN ODYSSEY: A FATHER, A SON, AND AN EPIC, 2017 Student’s Name Course Date Daniel Mendelsohn, An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic, 2017 Introduction In his 2017 memoir An Odyssey, Daniel Mendelsohn’s “A Father, a Son, and an Epic” recounts his crash course at Bard College with his father Jay on Homer’s The Odyssey. Mendelsohn skillfully weaves in comments on the sad and happy father-son connections central to the novel’s universal subject as he describes his rocky road to independence while coping with his intellectually driven father. Mendelsohn’s skill suggests that the core of the classical heritage significantly impacts cultural aspirations, taking into account issues like familial relationships, self-discovery, memory recall, and the desire for human harmony. While ostensibly recounting personal experiences, Mendelsohn’s “An Odyssey” transcends mere memoirs, leveraging Homer’s epic as a structural scaffold. Through this framework, Mendelsohn delves into the intricate psychological depths of the father-son relationship, intertwining personal narratives with universal themes of self-discovery.[Pizzoli, Frank. “‘The Odyssey is all about father and son’. Frank Pizzoli talks with aclassicist in the footsteps of Homer.” The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide 25, no. 1 (2018).] Context of Homer’s Odyssey The Odyssey is a vivid and remarkable account of an ancient Greek epic poem that provides excellent insight into Homer’s civilization, typically attributed to him. It was written in the 8th century BCE and is one of Western civilization’s two most significant literary masterpieces, alongside Homer’s Iliad. The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus, the fabled Greek protagonist, who embarks on a ten-year journey to return to his island of Ithaca after the Trojan War. His journeys are disrupted by a variety of national and supernatural impediments, such as shipwrecks, unfriendly people, and some gods, such as Poseidon, who exact retribution for rejecting to embrace them as all-powerful lords. During the arduous journey back home, Odysseus needs to use his typical craftiness, cunning intelligence, and resilience to shield himself from the never-ending sequence of hardships and temptations.[Kathleen Riley, Imagining Ithaca: Nostos and Nostalgia since the Great War, Google Books (Oxford University Press, 2021): 4.] Oddly enough, the story of Telemachus' daily life in Ithaca is simultaneous to these events. While his father was abroad for a couple of years, Telemachus grew up to protect his mother, Penelope, from a group of proud suitors trying to outplay Odysseus. The tension between Telemachus' yearning for personal independence and his efforts to defend his father's inheritance is a counterpoint to Odysseus' internal battle in the Mediterranean waters. The nature of their relationship connects Odysseus to Telemachus like a cord that runs throughout the epic. The father-son relationship is built on topics such as identity, the passage of men from youth to adulthood, and knowledge passed down through generations.[Kathleen Riley, Imagining Ithaca: Nostos and Nostalgia since the Great War, Google Books (Oxford University Press, 2021):10.] How the Memoir Engages the Classical Text Memoir as Framework In the beginning, Mendelsohn makes The Odyssey the structural framework of his memoir. His inspiration to participate in the Bard College intensive seminar originated from a long-lasting interest in Homer’s epic poem and the wish to study it with outstanding experts. When Mendelsohn’s elderly father Jay, a lifelong learner, desires to attend the lecture alongside him, it is one of his last intellectual endeavors before death. In an unexpected turn, Mendelsohn weaves his seminar reflections on The Odyssey’s lyricism and universal themes with his mixed feelings about his irritated but intellectually vibrant father. The layers of meaning that spiral from the ancient text serve as the context through which Mendelsohn reflects and compares the intellectual and emotional paths, he and Jay are on together that season. Odysseus’s decade-long traumas of suffering are marked by meetings and short partings of him and his son Telemachus. Mendelsohn’s study of the epic’s father-son dynamics is portrayed as set against the backdrop of negotiating his fraught bond with his father. Mendelsohn uses The Adventure to position his and his father’s adventure in a greater quest for knowledge and resolve long-standing emotional rifts. Personal and Scholarly Perspectives Given that the book is both a personal memoir and an academic treatise, Mendelsohn carefully weaves together tales and insights, which act as threads and bind the tapestry together, making it even more vivid. Using this narrative technique, he pushes the readers to have a dual perspective on reality, revealing the actual nature of both the book and his relationship with his father. Mendelssohn’s interpretation of The Odyssey and his father’s distinguishing traits and circumstances weaves into the intellectual fabric of the comprehensive autobiography he writes for his children. For example, Mendelsohn would have highlighted Odysseus’ father’s varied character in the narrative by contrasting his craving for depth and refusal to accept simplistic looks. Aside from providing Mendelsohn with a better comprehension of the book, this interaction illustrates how familial and literary ties are intertwined, highlighting how family coherence is mirrored in literature.[Florica Bodistean, “Fiction and Self-Knowledge: Daniel Mendelsohn, an Odyssey. A Father, a Son and an Epic,” Journal of Humanistic and Social Studies 11, no. 2 (2020): 25.] Mendelsohn’s conte...