Welcome to The Wanderings of Odysseus.

In this 10-part limited series, I will be retell part of Homer’s epic tale, starting with the events that led to the Trojan War and following Odysseus as he tries—again and again—to find his way back home--home to his wife, Penelope, his son Telemachus and his kingdom of Ithaca.

These audiobook-style episodes were originally performed by me for my students at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley, California. Now I’m sharing them with a wider audience.

Episode 1: The Golden Apple (aka The Judgement of Paris)

This is where the journey begins. Long before Odysseus sets sail, a single golden apple sparks a divine quarrel that leads to both love and war. In the first episode the seeds of the Trojan War are sown at a wedding where gods walk among mortals—and one mortal’s fateful choice sets history in motion. The first version of episode one, The Golden Apple, was told spontaneously and live—under the shade of a Mediterranean plane tree, in 100-degree heatat the gates of the ruins of the ancient city of Troy, in what is now Çanakkale, Turkey." I was a visiting Fulbright teacher, spending 8 weeks teaching and writing in Turkey and Greece.  A group of 50 Turkish school children were visiting the site as well and the leader of our Fulbright entourage, knowing I was a storyteller, asked me if I knew any stories related to Troy that I could tell these kids.  I knew the basics of the Golden apple, also known as the Judgement of Paris, and inspired by my wanderings through those ancient ruins, touching the walls that perhaps had been touched by Paris, Hector, white haired Priam, Helen, Hecuba, Achilles, Odysseus... and feeling the screams and pain of countless warriors destroyed on these rocks, and perhaps touched with a bit of insanity from the relentless heat of that summer day, I said yes...I can tell a story.  And this is the story I told.