In Search of Lost Haim: Homer and Heimat in the Dialectic of Enlightenment.

This essay analyzes Horkheimer and Adorno's interpretation of the *Odyssey* in their *Dialectic of Enlightenment*, focusing on how Odysseus's crew is allegorically read as representing "the Jew" within the antisemitic Imaginary as a figure of repressed nature. It argues that enlightenment's self-destructive tendencies are revealed through this reading, which exposes the contradictions of modernity and antisemitism embedded in the epic's narrative and form. Key episodes, such as encounters with the Lotus-eaters and Circe, illustrate the tension between Odysseus's instrumental rationality and his crew's latent "Jewish" remembrance of nature, suggesting a dialectical possibility for enlightenment's rescue through reflection and art. The essay situates this interpretation within a broader critique of antisemitism as a social and economic scapegoating mechanism, while highlighting the Jewish tradition's role in preserving a reconciliatory memory of nature that challenges enlightenment's violent universalism. Ultimately, the *Odyssey* is presented as a complex site where the origins of antisemitism, the repression of nature, and the potential for critical self-awareness converge.