Jillian French – Arts and Cultures Editor

On Friday, Feb. 13, the Bu Arts Festival hosted an Odyssey teaser, evoking Greek myth of constellations and divine navigation as part of the Arts Fest constellation theme. Students and faculty gathered in the LLC Agora (a fitting location!) to hear about the constellations in the tale and listen to readings. Students from the classics department took turns reading in fifteen minute intervals from book five of The Odyssey, which begins with Odysseus still trapped on Calypso’s island, longing for a return to his homeland Ithaca and his wife Penelope. The students read from Emily Wilson’s 2017 translation, notable as the first translation completed by a woman.

Image courtesy of Jillian French

Book five opens with a council of the gods, where Athena entreats Zeus to set Odysseus free from Calypso’s island, where he has been captive for seven years due to Posiedon’s wrath. Zeus agrees, and Odysseus sets sail on a raft he constructs. In anger, Poseidon destroys the raft in a storm, and Odysseus only manages to escape with aid from the sea nymph Io.

Before the readings, Dr. Jenn Cianca, chair of the Classics, Liberal Arts and Art History departments, opened the event with a brief lecture on constellations in Book Five. The constellations Orion and The Pleiades (The Seven Sisters) guide Odysseus as he leaves Calypso’s island on his makeshift raft. In Greek mythology, the Pleiades were the seven daughters of Atlas, who lost their protection when Atlas was condemned to carry the world. They were hunted by Orion until they were turned into doves, and later constellations, by Zeus. When Orion died, he too became a constellation, and the great hunter became locked in the stars in unending pursuit of the seven sisters.

Zachary Bombardier, a second year history student with a minor in classical languages, attended because of his fondness for The Odyssey. He was struck by the visceral imagery of a line from Book Five when Odysseus struggles against Poseidon’s storm: “Just as when an octopus is dragged from its lair, and pebbles cling to its suckers, so pieces of skin were torn from his strong hands on the rock.”

Carlota Rodrigues, a classics student, said she attended the event because “It’s a great way to keep Humanities alive and thriving! And it’s really interesting to hear everyone’s different way of approaching the text.” She was also excited for the other events the Arts Festival offered during the week, like the outdoor movie night and masquerade ball, saying, “It’s great for the community!”

The event precedes the much anticipated release of Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey movie, which, like the book, will follow Odysseus on his ten-year journey back to Ithaca. One attendee of the teaser said, “I thought Zendaya and Matt Damon would be here, but this was pretty cool too.” Along with the Odyssey reading, the Arts Fest wrapped up a successful and well-attended week of galleries, performances, and events on Saturday with the Masquerade ball, their closing event.