On August 8, President Ryken emailed all students, faculty, staff and administration to announce Homer’s “The Odyssey” as the new core book for the 2024-2025 school year. Tiffany Kriner, associate professor of English, and David Lauber, dean of humanities and theological studies, pitched the book, and Ryken and Provost Karen Lee approved their selection.
Wheaton College launched the Core Book program in the fall of 2016, concurrently with the new Christ at the Core general education curriculum. Each year, the program chooses a book that engages the themes and questions of the curriculum. The program’s team invites the campus community to read and discuss it together, as well as attend various related events.
This year’s team, in addition to Kriner, includes Associate Professor of classical languages Alex Loney, Associate Professor of English Benjamin Weber and many other faculty engaging with “The Odyssey” in their own disciplines and projects.
Kriner said the program is “seeking range in time and place and writer. We go for different nations, different geographies, that will help us encounter lots of questions.” She also said the book has to be manageable for a first-year student.
“The Odyssey,” written about 2,700 years ago, presents challenges that past core books did not, according to Kriner. “It’s long,” she said, “and it maybe feels culturally distant from us.”
The epic poem by Greek poet Homer follows the journey of Odysseus. After the Trojan War, Odysseus, who is the king of Ithaca, spends ten years traveling home. The bulk of the poem’s action covers Odysseus’ final six weeks. Once home, Odysseus is recognized only by his dog and nurse, and he finds his wife has taken several suitors in his absence. Upon his arrival, Odysseus seeks to reestablish his leadership and his kingdom.
Because the book is not required reading for students or faculty, Kriner said that the program “tries to offer encouragement for participation by means of events and activities.”
In the past, the program has offered materials such as reading guides and discussion questions to help people engage with the book. Since there are already many such resources available for “The Odyssey,” Kriner said they wanted to do something different and a bit “nerdy”.
Starting this fall, Kriner will be co-hosting a 10-episode podcast about “The Odyssey” along with Weber and Loney. It will be available on the Core Book website and any major podcast platform.
Another “Odyssey”-related project will be Margin, a new reading group co-led by Christine Colón, English department chair, and Susan Dunn-Hensley, associate lecturer of English. The group will meet every Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in the Tower Room in Blanchard Hall.
Margin, which focuses on female authors from marginalized groups, will begin with Suzan-Lori Parks’ “Father Comes Home From the Wars,” a play loosely based on “The Odyssey.” Dunn-Hensley said the reading group will discuss “what Parks’ play adds to the conversation about the Odyssey and what happens when we include other voices.”
The rest of the book list will be decided as the year progresses.
Other “Odyssey” events can also be found on the Core Book website.
Not only is “The Odyssey” the core book for Wheaton’s campus this year, but the Greek epic poem is also one of the core books of Western civilization, according to Dunn-Hensley. In terms of its merit as core book, she commented that works don’t just become important because they are good or well written. “They strike something,” she said.
Colón and Dunn-Hensley highlighted certain themes of “The Odyssey” that may strike readers as particularly relevant.
“I think it will appeal to people who are thinking about all the different conflicts around the world today, and the idea of home and why you leave home and why you want to go back,” said Dunn-Hensley.
Colón, referring to the practice of hospitality in “The Odyssey,” said, “We talk about it in churches, but I think it’s something that we don’t value as much in our culture.”
Although the book is not required, Kriner said the program is an invitation to the campus community. “When we read together,” she said, “we’re making meaning in the world together. It builds relationships that are very powerful and strong.”
