Episode 20: The Last Voyage (Part II)

In this episode, we conclude the poem “The Last Voyage” by listening to its remaining ten cantos. Having set out on a journey in search of his past, Odysseus revisits many of the places he had encountered during his return to Ithaca: the island of Circes, the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus, and the rocks where the Sirens sing their alluring song of wisdom. What Odysseus seeks is an answer to the question of his identity: who he is, and what he has lived for. The final shipwreck will bring him to the remote island of the goddess Calypso.

In this episode, Elena Borelli discusses the figure of Homer with Francesca Schironi. The  poem starts at minute 19.31

From": Giovanni Pascoli, The Last Voyage, translated by Deborah Brown, Richard Jackson, and Susan Thomas, Pasadena: Red Hen Press, 2019; Giovanni Pascoli, The Sirens, translated by Taije Silverman and Marina della Putta Johnston, Poetry Foundation; Giovanni Pascoli, Convivial Poems. Translated by Elena Borelli & James Ackhurst. New York: Italica Press, 2022. Copyright 2022 by Elena Borelli & James Ackhurst. Used by permission of Italica Press.