Structures de l'imaginaire odysséen, prolongements comparatifs et perspectives didactiques

After focusing on the historical context in which was conceived then evoking and classifying the most significant works, we have dealt with the question of the type of symbolism discernable in the underlying imagery in this work (the native land), the representations of monsters and aquatic figures, an initiatory journey to the borders of the kingdom of the dead). We have also observed how the imagery of a journey on the seas slips imperceptibly into a journey in time. At this point we have tried to suggest various interpretations of how time is represented. Thereafter, it seemed interesting to us to compare this source with contemporary texts in order to understand how a founding text can, in another context, still nourish our imagination today, choices had to be made : the Odyssey by Nikos Kazantzaki. We have continued our analysis by exploring a genre which has always lent itself to the adaptation of the great myths, namely the theatre, and thus we have revisited two recent adaptations. Moreover, the Odyssey has been at the basis of teaching for almost three thousand years, in Greece, of course, since it was written, but also in France. So, we have tried to compare the different approaches present in the syllabuses and textbooks to be found in a period covering the last thirty years or so, before making some suggestions about how Homer's text could still be perceived as attractive to us today without confining it to an obsolete image of "ancient culture". On the contrary, we have attempted to prove how it could still have meaning in our schools in the 21th century.