The Odyssey's Guide to the Academic Job Market - Part II

In my previous post, I wrote about how the Odyssey teaches that success is fifty percent talent and effort, and fifty percent forces beyond our control: daimons, gods, or fate. This is an important thing for job-market candidates to keep in mind .

But what should individual effort focus on? The job market paper, of course, sure, and all the other obvious things. But what are some underrated skills one should cultivate?

Well, it turns out Athena has something to teach us about this too. Two skills, if we can call them that, are very important but not immediately obvious to many who embark on this quest. I’ll talk about the first in this post and the second in another post.

In Book 2 of the Odyssey, Telemachus addresses Ithaca’s citizens. He has called the assembly because he’s fed up with the Suitors. Many of the senior Ithacans are puzzled because they have not met in assembly since Odysseus left for Troy. What’s going on?

So, Telemachus’s task is not easy. All these senior people have had to leave the comfort of their routines and gather to listen to his speech. Does this remind you of anything? Yes, a job talk. Telemachus’s goal is to get the Ithacans’ support against the Suitors or, at the very least, to get a ship so he can go search for news of his father. He needs to make a good impression on the elders.

And how does Athena help him? In Emily Wilson’s translation (p. 120):

Athena poured a heavenly grace upon him

This seems very interesting, although it’s not clear exactly what it is. And, by the way, the meeting is not a great success. First of all, after his speech, Telemachus starts crying. Then, the Suitors rebuke him. And the Ithacans remain passive.

But this “heavenly grace” does have some effect. The lines immediately afterward read:

The elders let him join them, and he sat
upon his father’s throne

So the talk did not go very well, but the heavenly grace bought Telemachus an opportunity. The elders let him join them and listened to him.

This mysterious ingredient, this heavenly grace, returns in Book 17, when Telemachus comes back to Ithaca after his journey. He walks through the city and, in Mendelsohn’s translation (p. 332):

Athena poured upon him a grace bestowed by the gods—
All of the people stood gazing at him as he came in.

Once again, this mysterious “grace” works its magic. Telemachus gets the people’s attention. This time, things will go much better for him. Not because of “grace”—he had that in both episodes—but because he’s learned a great deal and now possesses much better judgment So “grace” is not enough, but it’s important.

The Greek word is χάρις, charis, which means many things but in this case means grace in the sense of being graceful. Perhaps a strong version of charis is charm, while a more modest version is amiability or something like that.

When I was preparing for the job market, one of the many generous colleagues who had recently survived the ordeal and agreed to share his experience with me told me that he had a stack of index cards for his job talk. Among them were random cards saying, “Remember to be nice.” The simple point is that people are more likely to hire you if they like you, and therefore you should be likeable.

When Telemachus returns to Ithaca, with the heavenly grace poured upon him, the Suitors welcome him with nice words and warm smiles. But it’s all fake (Mendelsohn p. 332):

The lordly Suitors were thronging around him on every side,
Speaking words of kindness but plotting evil deep in their minds.

So, yes, grace is no magic bullet. It buys Telemachus an opportunity to prove himself. The next challenge is to use that opportunity well.

The great expert is, of course, Odysseus himself. When he meets the Phaeacians, Athena pours some heavenly grace upon him, and he then uses the opportunity well by proving himself a great storyteller. But the grace is what buys him the Phaeacians’ attention. It buys him some goodwill. Here is how Mendelsohn tells is (p. 179):

Swiftly the square filled up with people, the seats were full
Of those who had gathered. Many were gazing at the sight
Of Laertes’ prudent son, for Athena had poured down
A grace that was more than human upon his head and shoulders,
Which made him much taller to look at, his body more solidly built,
In order to make him appealing to the hearts of all the Phaiekians—
Impressive and worthy of reverence, so he could get through the many
Trials that the Phaiekians had set to test Odysseus.

“But how can I get some of this wonderful grace over my head and shoulders?,” you will ask. Well, the Odyssey doesn’t say. Or, more precisely, it says that it’s up to Athena to pour it upon whomever she likes.

But you probably know, at least to some extent, how to display whatever grace you have developed over the years, and therefore you can remind yourself to do so. It’s one of the easiest thing to forget under stress.

Whatever grace you happen to have, pour it upon your head and shoulders. The argument comes later. First, you must make the room want to hear you.