Two hundred sets of eyes are now off their phones and on me. The laughter and talking stop, the room is silent. I have the audience鈥檚 complete attention as they listen to 鈥� my 35-minute, 24-song retelling of Homer鈥檚 鈥淭he Odyssey.鈥�

It’s not as far-fetched as it seems. In fact, I’ve done my 鈥淥dyssey鈥� performance almost 400 times in all 50 U.S. states and abroad in Greece, Italy, the U.K. and elsewhere.聽

I call myself a 鈥渕odern Homeric bard.鈥�

I studied classics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and for over 20 years I鈥檝e helped high school students consider Odysseus by singing his song to them just as was done by bards predating even Homer鈥檚 time.聽It is commonly one of the first texts taught to freshmen and comes with a number of challenges, among them how to guide students through a 12,000-line poem with unfamiliar names and strange customs and how to contextualize an ancient society with brutal practices that marginalized women and the enslaved.聽

But with the proper introduction, nothing is more relevant to our current cultural moment than the epic鈥檚 complicated hero who does not behave in ways that conform with our modern understanding of heroism.聽

With Homer鈥檚 epic in this summer, the coming school year is an ideal time to introduce students to this foundational text. Here are five strategies I鈥檝e learned for teaching Homer鈥檚 complex hero:

1. Find a translation that resonates. There have never been more great translations with varied approaches available. The newest high-profile translation by Daniel Mendelsohn puts poetic meter and language at the forefront. Emily Wilson鈥檚 highly regarded translation (the first by a woman published in English) uses a lean rhythm and highlights issues of gender and power. Translations by Barry Powell, Stanley Lombardo, Robert Fagles, Robert Fitzgerald and Richmond Lattimore each offer a different mix of language, poetry and narrative, all with excellent introductions and insightful endnotes. You might even have different groups of students read different translations and compare approaches.
   
2. Highlight the universal. It鈥檚 easy for students to get weighed down by unfamiliar names and archaic (well, Bronze Age) behaviors and rituals. I’ve had success framing 鈥淭he Odyssey鈥� first as a human story and then as an Ancient Greek story. Universal themes like Telemachus鈥� coming of age, Penelope鈥檚 motherly concern for her son, the impact of war on a soldier鈥檚 return home, and Odysseus鈥� complicated relationship with the truth connect more easily than how many hecatombs of cattle one should sacrifice to Zeus (generally, a lot) or whose father was Nausithous (Alcinous).
   
3. Include modern adaptations in other media. With the release of Christopher Nolan鈥檚 movie, it is a boom time for modern retellings of Homer and these can be great tools for helping students find ways into the story. In fact, my initial motivation for my one-person was to provide emotional context for the characters. Other examples are the movies 鈥淥 Brother Where Art Thou?鈥� and 鈥淭he Return,鈥� the novel 鈥淐irce鈥� by Madeline Miller, the viral TikTok sensation 鈥淓pic the Musical,鈥� and the Gareth Hinds’ graphic-novel retelling. All these versions complement Homer鈥檚 text and replicate the malleability of the oral tradition that created the epic we read today.
   
4. Teach an 鈥渁ngle.鈥� Unsurprisingly, 鈥淭he Odyssey鈥� is really long! Especially if you find you are limited in the amount of time you can dedicate to the text, pick one or two themes and go deeper into those aspects rather than trying to get through the whole poem. Some approaches that I鈥檝e found resonate with high students in particular: Focus on the theme of home and what it means to the concept of identity. Read books 9 through 12 (the 鈥渕onster鈥� books) and dive into the physical adventure world of the poem. Read selections that consider the female characters of the story and how they do and don鈥檛 express agency.聽Examine the role of divine influence and free will. Read other warrior homecoming stories and consider how Odysseus鈥� experience fits into our modern relationship with war and veterans.
   
5. Encourage creative engagement. One of the best ways to have students explore the poem and then demonstrate what they have discovered is by having them create their own versions of the story in other media. A song (or 24) inspired by a character. A drawing or painting of an episode. A podcast. A short video piece. Acting out a scene. The story can be told from any perspective in multiple formats.

I believe Homeric epic is perennially relevant and moving. It shows us what it means to be human. It considers identity, family, adventure, gender, leadership, failure, glory, and perseverance: It鈥檚 all there in 鈥淭he Odyssey鈥� (and 鈥淭he Iliad鈥�). 鈥淭he Odyssey鈥� has survived for 3,000 years because it encourages and inspires people to tell and retell it in their own times, and I have seen students tap into this legacy and in doing so both enlighten and be enlightened by Homer鈥檚 amazing poem.

Tennessee families experienced a bottleneck earlier this year as they waited to submit applications for the state’s new program. In July, 166 parents that they had received a scholarship, only to alert them a few days later that the notification was a mistake. 

鈥淚t wasn’t the most ideal user experience,鈥� said Heide Nesset, a senior fellow for the Beacon Center of Tennessee, a right-leaning think tank. But there was a 鈥渢ight runway,鈥� about three months, to get the program off the ground. 

With state leaders hoping to serve up to 70,000 students next year, they鈥檙e now . Proposals are due Friday.

But the rough start in Tennessee wasn鈥檛 an anomaly. All states with education savings accounts have struggled to some extent with ensuring smooth transactions for families, whether that鈥檚 paying a school on time or ordering a homeschool curriculum. Some say the solution lies in picking more than one company to handle the increasing demand and improve customer service.

鈥淚f it鈥檚 one contract, I think the vendor is inherently trying to ensure that the state department has a really fantastic experience,鈥� said Nesset, who is also the vice president of

implementation at the Yes. Every Kid. Foundation, a school choice advocacy organization. 鈥淚f you have more than one [vendor], then they start competing, and families have the opportunity to make choices.鈥�

Tennessee鈥檚 current vendor is Student First Technologies, which won to run a smaller ESA program in three counties. Earlier this year, the state with the Indiana-based company to manage the new statewide program, despite its problems in other states. 

In West Virginia, where Student First still operates the Hope Scholarship program, an ESA, homeschool families complain that they can鈥檛 access the platform on their phones and that approvals and denials for purchases are inconsistent. Arkansas canceled its contract with Student First last fall after it failed to deliver a 鈥渇ully operational鈥� system on time. The company paid the state . 

鈥楪et what they need鈥�

Eighteen states now have at least one ESA program. With a new federal tax credit scholarship system beginning in 2027, the demand for organizations to manage them will surely grow. The trick is delivering a system that runs smoothly for families while ensuring that they鈥檙e using the money the way the state intended.聽

In a , Michael Horn, cofounder of the Clayton Christensen Institute, a think tank, talked with Jamie Rosenberg, the founder of ClassWallet. Still the biggest player in the market, the Florida-based company manages nine ESA programs. 

Prior to platforms like his, states had two options, he explained. They either issued debit cards, which made it hard to ensure parents spent the money on allowable purchases, or expected them to pay up front and request reimbursement 鈥� a significant obstacle for families on a tight budget.

ESA vendors, he said, give families the 鈥渁gency to get what they need but also the ease of knowing that what they’re doing and what they’re buying [complies with] program rules.鈥�

Adding more than one vendor to the mix could make the companies work harder to reach lower-income and minority families who are less likely to use the programs, said Lisa Snell, a senior fellow at Stand Together Trust, which funds school choice initiatives.

鈥淔amily outreach and satisfaction become the goal rather than the government as the customer to one vendor,鈥� she said.

Texas had the option to choose multiple vendors for its new ESA program, which launches next fall. allows the comptroller鈥檚 office to contract with up to five companies. But officials opted against it and awarded a two-year, $26 million contract to New York-based Odyssey, which currently runs programs in four other states. 

Joe Connor, Odyssey鈥檚 CEO declined to comment on the state鈥檚 decision and referred 社区黑料 to the state comptroller鈥檚 office. The office did not respond, but Amar Kumar, CEO of KaiPod Learning, a large national network of microschools, said the state likely felt multiple vendors would further complicate the process.

鈥淭here was this huge question of the complexity of doing that,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ow do you tell families which portal to go to or how will they decide who manages which part of the program?鈥�

鈥楽end a quarterly check鈥�

The vendor platforms include built-in tools to prevent misuse. Student First Technologies has an AI feature, , that reviews each expense, 鈥渁ssigns a confidence score鈥� and flags anything that鈥檚 new or that the state hasn鈥檛 approved in the past. 

But Katie Switzer, a West Virginia parent using the state鈥檚 Hope Scholarship to homeschool her children, said it鈥檚 unreliable, sometimes approving purchases for some families and rejecting the same items for others. She thinks states should focus more on monitoring students鈥� academic progress than tracking every purchase. 

鈥淚t’s stupid in my opinion to micromanage down to like the $20 workbook level,鈥� she said. 鈥淗onestly, I think it would be more cost effective to send a quarterly check to families.鈥�

That鈥檚 unlikely with such programs constantly under the microscope, and critics, especially in Arizona, pointing to high-end purchases, like , as examples of misuse. The state education department says it takes steps to prevent fraud and has to the attorney general鈥檚 office that have . 

West Virginia officials said they鈥檙e pleased with Student First鈥檚 progress since October, when that delayed orders caused students to fall behind on lessons. Orders are now 鈥済enerally鈥� processed within two business days, said Assistant Treasurer Carrie Hodousek, and the company has added and trained staff to prepare for peak order times.

Providers like Kaipod have their own concerns. School founders in the network have sometimes gone to the brink of eviction from their leased space because of late tuition payments, said CEO Kumar. 

鈥淭here should be a predictable schedule, but sometimes it can take weeks extra to get paid,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you’re running a small business and you owe rent, you owe payroll and your state payment is delayed, that creates a huge amount of stress for founders.鈥�

For now, rebidding contracts for vendors is the strongest form of accountability, he said.

鈥淭hey ought to not feel safe once they鈥檝e won a contract,鈥� he said.

Disclosure: Stand Together Trust provides financial support to 社区黑料.