ABSTRACT
The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel is one of the great encyclopedic works of our time, encompassing the major motifs of our civilization and Homer's, bridging the gap of our common heritage not only for Greeks but for all those to whom Homer is both ancestor and guide. In Homer, the revolt of his Ithacan subjects provides one more step in the reconciliation of Odysseus with those who have so long awaited him: with his wife, with his son, with the people he once ruled. Nikos Kazantzakis replaces these scenes with an account of the returned king's own alienation. For Homer, a single theme, hospitality and its abuses, can serve as determinant of all the principal events and provide a kind of continuing norm against which to judge characters and acts. For Kazantzakis' Odysseus is very different from Homer's, different as well from the heroes of Joyce, Dante, Tennyson, and others who have used him as symbol of enduring contemporary man.
