When The Beatles released Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, I was twelve. The second song on Side Two was When I’m Sixty-Four, written by Paul McCartney. Hearing the song in 1967, I mean, even my parents weren’t sixty-four. Sixty-four was old!
I’ve been re-listening to an audiobook of Homer’s Odyssey. The version I’ve been listening to has Ian McKellen reading Robert Fagles’ amazing translation.
Once again, I’m struck by how The Odyssey has influenced so many other stories. Bits and pieces of The Odyssey are found in Pinocchio, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, pretty much any quest story will draw on Homer’s work.
Over the next year, I”ll write some words of my own about the Odyssey, but for now, I’d like to share with you the poem, Ithaka, by Constantine P. Cavafy. As I think of the journey of self-understanding I’ve been on, and the obstacles—some self-created—I’ve faced, I enjoy this poem more and more. Maybe it will speak to you. Enjoy!
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