The founders of Stoicism—Zeno, Cleanthes, Chrysippus—all wrote about Homer. Zeno’s longest work was called Homeric Problems. When we read the Odyssey, we’re reading what the Stoics read. We’re studying their curriculum.
Following this tradition. Michael and Caleb examine what makes the Odyssey Stoic and what makes it decidedly not. Odysseus perseveres through failures, temptations, and divine opposition for twenty years. He just wants to go home. That single-minded endurance is deeply Stoic.
But Homer’s hero also cries openly, grieves for years, and slaughters everyone who wronged him. He’s a brilliant bullshitter who tells elaborate lies even to gods. Is that Stoic?
The tension between these traditions reveals something important about both.
(0:00) Why the Stoics Studied Homer
(6:30) Sparknotes
(14:30) Stoic Theme: Perseverance Through Failure
(22:40) Stoic Theme: Intelligence as Virtue
(26:00) Stoic Theme: Cosmopolitanism and Being a Good Guest
(35:00) Stoic Theme: Tact as Social Virtue
(42:10) Non-Stoic Theme: The Emotional Hero
(46:30) Non-Stoic Theme: Revenge and the Suitors
(54:00) Non-Stoic Theme: The Trickster
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Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations:
