About this Event
Event description
The Odyssey was never only a book on a shelf. It was a story made for voice, timing, audience, humour, danger, and surprise.
For this Lectures After Dark evening, Lynn Kozak, Associate Professor in McGill University's Department of History and Classical Studies, brings that live dimension into the room. They will begin with a short performance from the Cyclops episode, one of the Odyssey's strangest and most gripping scenes, then unpack what happens when Homer is heard instead of only read.
The talk will explore how performance shapes the way we understand Odysseus, the Cyclops, and the ancient storytelling world around them. Expect an accessible mix of live performance, classical scholarship, and conversation about why a very old epic can still feel immediate in a bar full of modern listeners.
What the audience will walk away with
- A vivid sense of how the Cyclops episode works when it is performed aloud.
- A clearer understanding of the Odyssey as a live storytelling tradition, not just a literary text.
- New ways to think about voice, audience, humour, danger, and interpretation in ancient epic.
- A memorable entry point into Homer for people who know the Odyssey well and people meeting it fresh.
About the speaker
Lynn Kozak is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and Classical Studies at McGill University. Their work focuses on Homeric epic, performance, storytelling, and the ancient world.
Event venue & nearby stays
Pub L'Île Noire, 1649 Rue Saint-Denis, Montréal, Canada
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