83: The (Anti) Hero's Journey: The Odyssey Made You Think

"Tell me about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy, and where he went, and who he met, the pain he suffered in the storms at sea, and how he worked to save his life and bring his men back home. He failed to keep them safe; poor fools, they ate the Sun God’s cattle, and the god kept them from home. Now goddess, child of Zeus, tell the old story for our modern times. Find the beginning."
Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, Neil, Nat, and Adil continue with the next book on their Great Books Project: The Odyssey by Homer. This book begins at the end of the Trojan War as Odysseus embarks on his journey home. Listen along as we talk about Odysseus' adventures, flashbacks, and of course, plenty of tangents.
We cover a wide range of topics including:
The argument of Odysseus as a hero vs. anti-hero Crypto, market cap, and the downfall of $BIRD AI and the future of how we write The reunification of Argos and Odysseus How guests are valued in different cultures And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode.
Links from the Episode:
Mentioned in the show:
Socratic dialogue (3:33) 300 (6:29) Chesterson’s Fence (17:46) Bicameral mind (22:07) Domestication of dogs (33:51)  Bird Founder’s Stake Now Worth Less Than His Miami Mansion (47:05) Episode 7: A Crash Course in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cryptocurrency(1:07:58) Carthage (1:13:41) Lex (1:18:20)  The Infinite Article (1:22:04) Blinkist (1:23:40) Books Mentioned:
The Odyssey The Iliad (1:08) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Dante’s Inferno (8:39) The Fourth Turning (17:29) (Book Episode)  The Lessons of History (36:10) (Nat’s Book Notes) The Hobbit (40:45) Ulysses (47:58) Gödel, Escher, Bach (49:10) (Book Episode) (Nat’s Book Notes) Infinite Jest (49:10) (Book Episode) (Nat’s Book Notes) Atlas Shrugged (49:11) (Book Episode) (Nat’s Book Notes) On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (55:48) Tao Te Ching (1:04:05) (Nat's Book Notes) Seeing Like a State (1:05:52) (Book Episode) (Nat’s Book Notes) The Art of War (1:06:04) The Peloponnesian War (1:06:16) The Pioneers (1:07:30) The Epic of Gilgamesh (1:14:09) (Book Episode)  People Mentioned:
Ian McKellan (0:50) Plato (3:43) Eminem (4:18) Will Durant (34:53) Ryan Reynolds (43:38) James Joyce (47:59) Daniel Tosh (51:14) Stephen King (55:48) Brett Favre (58:01) Show Topics:
(0:36) In this episode, we’re continuing from where we left off on our Great Books List diving into The Odyssey by Homer. In case you missed our previous episode on another great by Homer, The Iliad, make sure to go check that one out! The Iliad and Odyssey differ in the way the narrative unfolds, despite being written by the same author.
(5:17) The Odyssey is an oral story meaning that it’s been passed down by word of mouth. Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about some of the main differences between the Iliad and the Odyssey where the Odyssey was more story-driven and the Iliad presented more lessons and takeaways.
(7:21) Odysseus: Was he a hero or an anti-hero? In some contexts, he’s portrayed as ‘god-like’ and admired for his strength and achievements. In other cases such as in Dante’s inferno, Odysseus is deep in hell for his crimes.
(10:49) Where the story begins, it come years after the end of the Trojan War. There’s multiple layers to consider when recognizing the reliability of the narrator: Which of Odysseus' stories were dramatized by the author and how would it be different if told in Odysseus' exact words? 
(14:56) In short, the story is about Odysseus’ journey home from the Trojan War and all the adventures that happened along the way. One theme along his journey home was the idea of 'don't assume you know better', and to respect the wisdom of the gods or your elders.
(18:49) Although the Greek gods are supposed to be listened to and r