Lectures on Tap - "The Odyssey: Finding Meaning in Ordinary Life"

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🧠 Lecture: "The Odyssey: Finding Meaning in Ordinary Life"

🎙️ Speaker: Sydney Mitsunaga-Whitten

Join us for an evening that reimagines one of the greatest stories ever told. We often picture Odysseus as the master strategist and city-sacker, but this lecture proposes something different: the Odyssey is less a tale of conquest and more a profound exploration of what it means to live with others.

With Christopher Nolan’s big-screen adaptation arriving in July 2026, there’s no better time to return to Homer and ask what this ancient journey is really about. We’ll look at each of Odysseus’s adventures as encounters with radical difference that test not his strength, but his humanity—and discover why homecoming, the supposed reward, becomes the most challenging part of all.

Sydney Mitsunaga-Whitten teaches ancient Greek language and literature and Irish literature at Occidental College while completing a dissertation at Yale. Passionate about connecting classic texts to contemporary culture, Sydney sees literature as a radically ethical practice that can make us braver, kinder, and more sensitive to the delicate, tender moments of ordinary life.

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

6:55 PM – Host introduction

7:00 PM – Lecture begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up.

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