How do we treat the stranger? Encounters with Odysseus

Mike Tueller leads a discussion on Homer's Odyssey at Formation Brewing on Thursday, October 15, starting at 7 PM. The evening is built around one question: how do we treat the stranger?

That's the central thread running through the Odyssey. In the poem, a stranger repeatedly arrives in town, and the locals react in wildly different ways. Some feed him, some listen to his stories, some capture him, and some even murder him. Through those encounters, the poem reveals a great deal about ancient society and its codes of hospitality—the rules that governed how you were expected to treat someone you didn't know. Tueller will walk through those moments and what they say about the world Homer was writing for.

Tueller is a professor of ancient Greek language and literature at Arizona State University. He earned his bachelor's degree in Classics from Harvard, served in the U.S. Navy, and later returned to Harvard to complete a doctorate in classical philology. He's spent his career working with these texts, so he knows the Odyssey inside and out.

The night isn't set up as a single lecture. It's a three-part experience: expert-led learning paired with drinks, conversations, and guided table discussions between chapters. You'll hear from Tueller, then have time to talk through the ideas with the people around you. Tickets are $40, and the whole thing kicks off at 7 PM at Formation Brewing, 925 N 5th St in Downtown Phoenix.