All-Night “Odyssey” Read-Aloud Takes Over Library

The original oral tradition of the ancient Greek poem “The Odyssey” was revived at Crossroads on Friday, Feb. 6. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., Hya Young and 16 students from her two ninth-grade English classes spent the night reading Homer’s classic work aloud. They were joined by School administrators Bob Riddle, Barbara Whitney and Jeff Guckert, as well as Latin teachers Marisa Alimento and Jamie Meyer.

In the interest of time, the group began the tale in the middle, when the war hero Odysseus is recounting his arduous epic journey from Troy back to his native Ithaca. Everyone took turns reading from the text—often with great spirit—nourished by hot chocolate and Roscoe’s chicken and waffles. The group frequently stopped to review and discuss what had been read.

By midnight, most of the faculty and staff had left and many students had succumbed to sleep. Hya and three determined students completed the poem at 3:57 a.m., enthralled by Odysseus’ defeat of more than 100 suitors who had relentlessly pursued his loyal wife, Penelope. Two hours later, Hya and her students journeyed home after their own epic adventure.

Hya reports that the read-aloud event was an effective complement to her classroom study of the poem. “The story and its themes have really stayed with those students who participated,” she says. “Hearing it aloud also helped them recognize literary devices emblematic of oral works, such as the frequent repetition of certain phrases. In fact, there was so much repetition that one student noted, ‘You know, this could be a much shorter poem.’”