Abstract
In the Odyssey's song of the man of many troubles, the pain that might isolate us is transformed by the artist so as to bring us together. It teaches us who we are by showing us what we are and what we are a part of. In that self-knowledge we discover that which joins us to others. The song of Odysseus that transforms us from child to adult, from part to whole, the morning song that awakens us from sleep and holds off for a time its relentless necessity, teaches us the fundamental lesson of our humanity—now is time, the only time, for action.
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