Odyssey: A Daily Odyssey through Homer’s The Odyssey

The Question That Cannot Be Delayed (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book VII – Part 7)

A promise is accepted, but silence can only last so long. At last, the stranger’s presence demands a name and a past.
In this passage from The Odyssey, Book VII, Odysseus rejects any likeness to the gods and speaks instead of hunger, suffering, and the simple human longing for home. After the feast ends and the hall empties, Queen Arete recognizes the garments he wears—robes she herself helped make—and asks the question that now matters most: who he is, and how he came by them.
This moment marks the turning point from welcome to reckoning, as Odysseus is called upon to tell his story.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

The Promise of Safe Passage (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book VII – Part 6)

A feast gives way to resolve, and a stranger’s fate is weighed aloud before the gathered elders. Hospitality now turns toward action.
In this passage from The Odyssey, Book VII, King Alcinous addresses the Phaeacian captains after the libation is poured and the feast concludes. He declares that the elders will be summoned at dawn, sacrifices will be made, and plans laid to escort the stranger safely home. Alcinous also reflects on fate, the designs of the gods, and the close bond between the Phaeacians and the divine.
This moment formally commits the kingdom to Odysseus’ return, placing his journey within both human care and the larger workings of destiny.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

From Ashes to Honor (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book VII – Part 5)

A silence breaks, and with it the customs of kings assert themselves. What began in humility is answered with ceremony and care.
In this passage from The Odyssey, Book VII, Odysseus sits by the hearth in the ashes until the elder Echeneus speaks, urging King Alcinous to honor the suppliant properly. Alcinous lifts Odysseus from the ground, seats him in a place of honor, orders food and drink, and prepares a libation to Zeus, protector of suppliants.
This moment restores dignity through ritual, transforming a plea into welcome and setting the tone for what follows.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

The Stranger Revealed at the Queen’s Knees (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book VII – Part 4)

A figure steps from concealment into silence, and the course of his fate turns on a single, deliberate gesture. All eyes fall upon the one who has endured too long.
In this passage from The Odyssey, Book VII, Odysseus crosses the threshold of Alcinous’ hall while the Phaeacians pour their final libation. Still cloaked in Athena’s mist, he moves unseen until he reaches Queen Arete, where the veil falls away. Revealed at last, Odysseus clasps her knees and speaks his plea before the astonished court.
This is the moment where wandering gives way to supplication, and the hope of home is placed in human hands.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

The Palace of Endless Gifts (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book VII – Part 3)

A wanderer stands at the edge of wonder, uncertain whether to step forward. Before him rises a vision that seems shaped by gods rather than hands.
In this passage from The Odyssey, Book VII, Odysseus arrives at the palace of King Alcinous after Athena departs for distant lands. He pauses at the threshold, overwhelmed by the radiant hall, its golden guardians, tireless servants, and the harmony of craft and abundance within. Beyond the walls, a garden flourishes without season or decay, its fruits ripening endlessly under divine favor.
This moment reveals the full splendor of Phaeacian hospitality—an earthly paradise where generosity, skill, and divine blessing meet.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Guided to the Queen’s Threshold (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book VII – Part 2)

A stranger walks unseen through marvel and power, guided by a voice both kind and formidable. Every step brings him closer to judgment—and to hope.
In this passage from The Odyssey, Book VII, Athena leads Odysseus through the city of the Phaeacians under a veil of mist. As he passes their harbors, ships, and towering walls, Odysseus marvels at the strength and order of the people who have not yet seen him. At the palace gates, Athena reveals the importance of Queen Arete and counsels him where his fate may truly be decided.
This is a moment of quiet instruction, where survival depends not on strength, but on humility, speech, and favor freely given.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Guided Through the Mist (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book VII – Part 1)

A stranger moves unseen through a city not yet ready to know his name. Under divine protection, Odysseus takes his first careful steps toward safety.
In this passage from The Odyssey, Book VII, Nausicaa returns to her father’s palace while Odysseus prepares to enter the city of the Phaeacians alone. Athena veils him in mist to shield him from ridicule, then appears in disguise to guide him toward the house of King Alcinous.
This moment marks the quiet threshold between exile and hospitality, where divine aid and human kindness begin to converge.
 
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Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw
 
Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

A Prayer in the Sacred Grove (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 6 – Part 11)

Guidance ends, and solitude returns—yet not without hope. Before entering the city, the wanderer pauses to pray.
In The Odyssey, Book 6, Nausicaa drives onward toward the city, carefully setting the pace so Odysseus and the maidens may follow on foot. At sunset they reach the sacred grove of Athene, and there Odysseus remains behind, exactly as he was instructed.
Alone beneath the goddess’s trees, he prays to Athene at last, recalling how she once heard him not when Poseidon shattered his raft. He asks only this: that he may come among the Phaeacians as one worthy of compassion. Athene hears his prayer, though she does not yet reveal herself—still mindful of Poseidon’s unspent rage as Odysseus draws closer to the shelter of human walls.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

The Path to Mercy (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 6 – Part 10)

Wisdom accompanies kindness, and the way forward is mapped with care. Safe arrival depends not only on welcome, but on knowing where to kneel.
In The Odyssey, Book 6, Nausicaa completes her counsel to Odysseus, warning him against rumor and reproach while guiding him toward the surest hope of return. She directs him to wait in Athene’s sacred grove, then to enter the city alone once she has reached her father’s house.
She teaches him the custom that will save him: pass by the king and clasp the knees of Queen Arete, whose judgment carries decisive weight. If her heart is kindly, the path home will open—even for a stranger from the farthest land. Thus, discretion, reverence, and the right appeal are set before him as clearly as the road itself.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Guidance into the City (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 6 – Part 9)

Care turns cautious as kindness looks ahead. Help is offered—but with wisdom about the eyes of others.
In The Odyssey, Book 6, Nausicaa prepares to return to the city and calls Odysseus to follow. She promises to lead him to the house of her father, King Alcinous, where he will learn the ways of the Phaeacians and find true aid.
Yet she counsels discretion. Until they reach the city, Odysseus is to walk behind with the maidens, and once within the walls he must keep his distance, lest gossip and insolent talk arise among the people. Nausicaa speaks plainly of rumor, reputation, and the sharp tongues of men—teaching Odysseus not only where to go, but how to arrive safely among them.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Grace Restored by Water and Oil (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 6 – Part 8)

From salt and rags to dignity renewed, the stranger steps fully back into the human world. Hospitality does more than shelter—it transforms.
In The Odyssey, Book 6, Odysseus accepts the care Nausicaa offers with modest restraint, asking the maidens to stand aside while he washes the brine from his body. Anointed with oil and clothed in fresh garments, he emerges renewed—his strength and beauty heightened by Athene’s unseen hand.
When he sits apart by the shore, changed and radiant, Nausicaa marvels, recognizing that his arrival is no accident of chance but the will of the gods. She orders food and drink to be given, and Odysseus eats eagerly at last, restored by kindness after long deprivation.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Hospitality Promised (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 6 – Part 7)

Fear gives way to judgment, and judgment to kindness. A stranger is named—not as a threat, but as a charge of Zeus.
In The Odyssey, Book 6, Nausicaa answers Odysseus with calm authority and compassion. She declares that his suffering comes from Zeus’ allotment, and that, having reached Phaeacian land, he will not be denied the rights of a suppliant—raiment, food, or guidance. She names her people and herself openly, revealing that she is the daughter of King Alcinous, in whom the strength of the Phaeacians rests.
Turning to her frightened maidens, Nausicaa rebukes their flight and reminds them of the law that governs all wanderers: strangers and beggars come from Zeus, and even a small kindness is sacred. She commands them to give Odysseus food, drink, and a bath by the sheltered river, and thus the first true hospitality of his long return begins.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

A Suppliant’s First Words (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 6 – Part 6)

A stranger steps from the wild into the circle of human speech, choosing reverence and restraint where fear might rule.
In The Odyssey, Book 6, Odysseus finally addresses Nausicaa, not with touch or demand, but with carefully measured words. Unsure whether she is mortal or divine, he likens her to Artemis in beauty and bearing, praising her family and the harmony she will one day bring to a household.
He then names his suffering plainly: twenty days cast upon the wine-dark sea, driven from Ogygia by wind and wave, and delivered at last to an unknown shore. As a suppliant, he asks only for pity, direction to the city, and a garment to cover his need—closing with a meditation on the highest human good: a man and wife united in one heart and mind.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

The Stranger Reveals Himself (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 6 – Part 5)

Laughter breaks the silence—and a wanderer is drawn back into the world of human voices.
In The Odyssey, Book 6, as Nausicaa and her maidens prepare to depart, Athene brings Odysseus’ rest to an end. A misthrown ball and a sudden cry awaken him beneath the trees, and he wonders what manner of people dwell in this land—violent and lawless, or hospitable and God-fearing.
Clothed only in a leafy bough, Odysseus emerges from hiding, desperate and sea-worn. His appearance scatters the maidens in fear, but Nausicaa alone stands firm, her courage steadied by Athene. Weighing his need and her modesty, Odysseus chooses words over touch, preparing to beg for help with careful speech—the first step back toward human fellowship.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Play Beside the River (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 6 – Part 4)

Labor gives way to laughter, and the quiet riverbank becomes a place of grace. Joy arrives unknowing of the fate it is about to meet.
In The Odyssey, Book 6, Nausicaa and her maidens reach the clear-flowing river, unharness the mules, and set about washing the household garments. They cleanse the clothes in the running water, lay them out to dry along the shore, and bathe themselves, anointing their bodies with olive oil beneath the sun.
When the work is done and the meal finished, the princess and her companions turn to play. Casting off their veils, they play at ball and sing together, and Nausicaa shines among them—likened to Artemis herself, taller and brighter than the nymphs who follow her. Unaware, their laughter drifts toward a man long hidden by leaves and sorrow.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Morning Resolve in Scheria (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 6 – Part 3)

The dream lingers into daylight, and purpose takes shape. What was whispered in sleep becomes action under the rising sun.
In The Odyssey, Book 6, Dawn awakens Nausicaa, and the memory of Athene’s counsel stirs her to motion. She goes at once to her parents, asking her father for a wagon to carry the household garments to the river for washing—speaking with care, modesty, and foresight.
Alcinous readily agrees, seeing more than she says, and orders the wagon prepared. With food, wine, oil, and clean intentions, Nausicaa sets out with her maidens toward the riverbank. A simple errand begins—one that will soon draw the weary wanderer back into the world of human kindness.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

A Call to Action in a Dream (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 6 – Part 2)

A quiet night gives way to gentle urging. Destiny moves not with force, but with suggestion and care.
In The Odyssey, Book 6, Athene comes to Nausicaa in a dream, disguised as a familiar friend, and speaks to her of neglected garments, growing reputation, and the nearness of marriage. With soft reproach and practical wisdom, she stirs the princess toward action—washing the household clothes at the river, as custom and honor require.
The goddess’ counsel is carefully shaped: it prepares Nausicaa for her own future, pleases her parents, and unknowingly sets the path that will soon bring her face to face with a stranger in need. Thus, even in sleep, the way home for Odysseus is being quietly arranged.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

A Dream Before the Meeting (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 6 – Part 1)

While one hero sleeps at last, the world prepares to receive him. Fate turns quietly, setting kindness in motion.
In The Odyssey, Book 6 opens with Odysseus lying exhausted beneath the leaves, granted rest by Athene after his long trial at sea. As he sleeps, the goddess turns her care toward the Phaeacians, a people set apart from the violence of the wider world.
Athene travels to Scheria and enters the palace of King Alcinous, where his daughter Nausicaa lies asleep among her handmaids. There, in the stillness before dawn, the goddess begins to shape the encounter that will carry Odysseus from isolation toward human welcome once more.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Rest at Last Beneath the Leaves (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 5 – Part 15)

Exhaustion finally overtakes endurance. After storm, surf, and supplication, survival gives way to rest.
In The Odyssey, Book 5, the river god answers Odysseus’ prayer, stilling the waters and bearing him safely to shore. Broken by salt and fatigue, he collapses, releases Ino’s saving veil back to the sea, and gives thanks upon the earth itself.
Weighing the dangers of cold, exposure, and beasts, Odysseus chooses wisely. He climbs to a sheltered wood, builds a bed of fallen leaves beneath twin olive trees, and at last lies down. There, Athene grants him deep sleep, easing the long travail of sea and sorrow as the night closes around him.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Clinging to Stone, Begging the River (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 5 – Part 14)

Land offers no mercy—but wit and prayer hold fast where strength cannot. Survival now hangs on judgment, timing, and reverence.
In The Odyssey, Book 5, a towering wave hurls Odysseus against the jagged shore, where only Athene’s sudden counsel saves him. He clutches the rock with torn hands, endures the recoil of the surf, and is cast back once more into the sea, barely escaping a death not yet ordained.
Bruised and bleeding, Odysseus swims beyond the breakers in search of safer ground. At last he sights the mouth of a smooth-flowing river, sheltered from wind and stone, and there he turns from struggle to supplication—praying to the river as a king, invoking the ancient law of mercy owed to all wanderers who come in need.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

A Shore Without Welcome (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 5 – Part 13)

Salvation appears at last—only to reveal a new danger. What the eye longs for, the body cannot yet reach.
In The Odyssey, Book 5, Athene intervenes, stilling the winds and sending the North Wind to bear Odysseus toward the land of the Phaeacians. For two nights and two days he is carried on the swell, fearing death, until calm returns and land rises suddenly before him—wooded and near, like life restored to a dying father.
But hope falters at the sound of surf. The coast offers no harbor, only sheer rock, reefs, and thunderous waves. As Odysseus weighs his peril—whether to risk the cliffs, search further along the shore, or fear monsters of the deep—he knows the earth-shaker’s anger has not fully spent itself. Survival now depends on judgment as much as endurance.
 
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Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Between Raft and Sea (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 5 – Part 12)

Choice narrows to endurance. What remains is not certainty, but resolve.
In The Odyssey, Book 5, Odysseus hesitates to abandon his raft, fearing yet another divine deception. He resolves to endure so long as the timbers hold, trusting neither promise nor impulse but his own hard-earned judgment.
Poseidon answers with final violence. A single towering wave shatters the raft, scattering its beams across the sea. Stripped of Calypso’s garments, Odysseus binds Ino’s veil about his breast and casts himself into the water, striking out toward fate. From afar, the earth-shaker watches and withdraws, leaving the hero to wander on—still suffering, yet not undone.
 
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Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw
 
Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Help from the Sea (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 5 – Part 11)

Disaster strikes without pause—and mercy answers from an unexpected quarter.
In The Odyssey, Book 5, a towering wave smashes Odysseus from his raft, shattering mast and sail and dragging him beneath the sea. Weighted by borrowed garments, he barely resurfaces, yet clings again to the wreck as winds hurl him helplessly across the deep.
Then compassion rises from the waters. Ino Leucothea, once mortal and now divine, pities his suffering and offers stark counsel: abandon the raft, trust the swim to shore, and bind about his chest an imperishable veil that will keep him from death. Salvation, she warns, lies not in holding fast—but in letting go.
 
New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com
Want to talk theories, themes? Join the conversation on our Discord: https://discord.gg/Sg2prdm
Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw
 
Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

The Storm Unleashed (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 5 – Part 10)

Calm shatters into chaos. The open sea becomes a judgment without mercy.
In The Odyssey, Book 5, Poseidon gathers the winds and darkens sky and water alike, hurling East, South, West, and North against one another until night itself seems to fall upon the sea. Odysseus’ raft is swallowed by storm, and with it his certainty.
As his strength falters, Odysseus speaks inwardly, lamenting that he did not die honorably at Troy where glory and burial would have followed. Now, alone amid the waves, he fears a nameless death—one more sorrow added to a life already heavy with endurance.
 
New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com
Want to talk theories, themes? Join the conversation on our Discord: https://discord.gg/Sg2prdm
Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw
 
Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.

Guided by Stars, Spied by a God (Homer’s The Odyssey, Book 5 – Part 9)

The journey begins in hope and skill—but the sea remembers old grudges. What looks like safe passage draws a god’s wrath.
In The Odyssey, Book 5, Odysseus completes his raft and is sent forth by Calypso with provisions, water, and a gentle wind. Steering by the stars—the Pleiads, Bootes, and the steadfast Bear—he sails sleeplessly for seventeen days until the dim hills of Phaeacia rise from the mist like a shield.
Yet the voyage does not go unseen. From afar, Poseidon spies Odysseus nearing the land where his suffering is fated to ease. Angered by the gods’ changed purpose, the earth-shaker resolves that even now the hero shall not reach safety without further trial.
 
New to the journey? Start from the beginning at: http://theodysseypodcast.com
Want to talk theories, themes? Join the conversation on our Discord: https://discord.gg/Sg2prdm
Support the project on Patreon and receive full-length, story-only audio after each book: https://patreon.com/gruntworkpod
Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC036TeD3DkuF1VSCQJfKGtw
 
Odyssey is a daily podcast reading one page at a time from Homer’s classic epic — every day. Whether you’re starting from the beginning or joining mid-journey, each episode brings you deeper into the story of The Odyssey.