The Many-Minded Man: The "Odyssey," Psychology, and the Therapy of Epic

by Joel P. Christensen

In The Many-Minded Man , Joel Christensen explores the content, character, and structure of the Homeric Odyssey through a modern psychological lens, focusing on how the epic both represents the workings of the human mind and provides for its audiences―both ancient and modern―a therapeutic model for coping with the exigencies of chance and fate. By reading the Odyssey as an exploration of the constitutive elements of human identity, the function of narrative in defining the self, and the interaction between the individual and their social context, The Many-Minded Man addresses enduring questions about the poem, such as the importance of Telemachus's role, why Odysseus must tell his own tale, and the epic's sudden and unexpected closure. Through these dynamics, Christensen reasons, the Odyssey not only instructs readers about how narrative shapes a sense of agency but also offers solutions for avoiding dangerous stories and destructive patterns of thought.

Genres: Nonfiction

360 pages, Hardcover

Published December 15, 2020

Reviews

[James Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and learned much from it. I didn't agree with the interpretations at all points, but there's no point reading it if it doesn't suggest alternative to your own opinions. Christensen was happy to engage with discussion online and I have turned his thoughts on the role of fate and human agency (necessarily in tension) in the epic into a handout for students.

I felt the text could be more alive to the Odyssey's positioning of Odysseus as something less than positive even in his own time, "it leaves room for more complex interpretations [of justified vengeance against suitors] "p. 202 doesn't go far enough in noting (inter alia) that prior to Odysseus slaughtering the suitors as they eat in his house (and Antinous' death marks this vividly as he is drinking), we have a series of parallel killings Aegisthus & Agamemnon, Heracles & Iphitus, Polyphemus & Odysseus), and Penelope's treatment of the suitors (requesting gifts, promising to choose, delaying without refusing, having favourites), and more makes Odysseus less obviously justified.


I found chapter seven on Penelope as a figure lacking agency and subordinated as a non-person (p. 178) ultimately unconvincing as an overarching interpretation, but found much of value in the interpretations offered to the evidence adduced for this.

Discussion of the Cretan Tales as ways in which Odysseus uses close parallels to the truth to render a variety of versions of himself really interesting too. Discussion of how the final chapter bookends and provides closure and the nuance of how Odysseus sets his journeying to many cities mentioned in the proem into a projected future beyond the epic fascinating.

In sum then, a book that prompts questions, opens up ways of thinking about a text using modern tools of psychological theory (learned helplessness worked particularly well), and offers fresh interpretations.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, as someone who has been in a lot of therapy but who hasn't read the Odyssey, I found this very accessible. All the Greek is translated for a less classically educated reader and the prose is crisp and clear.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very scholarly book about the Odyssey - I'm glad I read it, but it will not a permanent addition to my library.

[kam bhui · Rating 3 out of 5]

psychology of the odyssey

Fascinating application of psychological research to understanding how emotion, memory, cognition play as interactive dynamic reflexive narratives (of self and community and reader) that shape identities and give meaning to existence, life and it’s struggles.