7 Essential Lessons We Can Learn From Homer’s Odyssey

从荷马《奥德赛》中我们能学到的七堂关键课程

New Scientist Podcasts

2026-07-13

31 分钟
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Episode 385 What can Homer’s Odyssey teach us about psychology and human nature? Locked up in this 2,500-year-old text are a host of profound lessons and ancient wisdom.  In her new book The Odyssey Mindset, Oxford classicist and clinical psychologist Sam Akbar draws on seven essential lessons from this classic piece of Greek literature. She showcases what it teaches us about issues like grief, ego and dealing with trauma - translating The Odyssey into a toolkit for modern life. The book is out just as Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey hits the big screen. So if you want to have a deeper appreciation of Homer’s work before you visit the cinema, this one’s for you. Rowan Hooper speaks to Sam Akbar about the incredible influence this work has had on Western culture, and Homer’s lessons for clinical psychology. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  • The Odyssey, written about two and a half thousand years ago,

  • is one of the foundational books of Western literature, of Western culture, really.

  • It follows the story of the Greek hero Odysseus as he tries to get home after the end of the Trojan War.

  • Now, its influence is so profound that it crops up everywhere,

  • and it will be everywhere this summer as Christopher Nolan's new film comes out,

  • starring Matt Damon as Odysseus and Anne Hathaway as his wife Penelope.

  • One of the reasons Homer's epic has endured is because of what it says about the human condition,

  • what it tells us about the human psychological response to stress, to war, suffering, grief, parenthood, love.

  • So if you want to better enjoy Nolan's film,

  • or if you just want to show off to your friends about your knowledge of the classics, this is for you.

  • From New Scientist, this is the world, the universe and us.