American Odyssey: What an Ancient Story Reveals about Our Divided Souls

How the Odyssey illuminates the two sides of the American mind, from one of our most influential cultural commentators.

The Odyssey is among the oldest-known written works. Yet it is somehow profoundly contemporary. Its themes are inescapably human: the desire to strike out for new adventures; the aspiration to be more than human; the temptation to wallow in beastlike torpor; the impulse to exact vengeance; the possibility that mercy might bring a violent cycle to an end.

Surprisingly, as the...