TheOdyssey (/ˈɒdɪsi/;[1]Ancient Greek:Ὀδύσσεια,romanized: Odýsseia)[2] is one of two majorepics ofancient Greek literature attributed toHomer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like theIliad, theOdyssey is divided into 24books. It follows theheroic king ofIthaca,Odysseus, also known by the Latin variant Ulysses, and his homecoming journey after the ten-year longTrojan War. His journey fromTroy to Ithaca lasts an additional ten years, during which time he encounters many perils and all of his crewmates are killed. In Odysseus's long absence, he is presumed dead, leaving his wifePenelope and sonTelemachus to contend with agroup of unruly suitors competing for Penelope's hand in marriage.
TheOdyssey was first composed inHomeric Greek around the 8th or 7th century BC; by the mid-6th century BC, it had become part of the Greek literary canon. Inantiquity, Homer's authorship was taken as true, but contemporary scholarshippredominantly assumes that theIliad and theOdyssey were composed independently, as part of longoral traditions. Given widespread illiteracy, the poem was performed for an audience by anaoidos orrhapsode.
Key themes in the epic include the ideas ofnostos (νόστος; 'return', homecoming), wandering,xenia (ξενία; 'guest-friendship'), testing, and omens. Scholars discuss the narrative prominence of certain groups within the poem, such as women and slaves, who have larger roles than in other works of ancient literature. This focus is especially remarkable when contrasted with theIliad, which centres the exploits of soldiers and kings during the Trojan War.
TheOdyssey is regarded as one of the most significant works of theWestern canon. The firstEnglish translation of theOdyssey was in the 16th century. Adaptations and re-imaginings continue to be produced acrossa wide variety of media. In 2018, whenBBC Culture polled experts around the world to find literature's most enduring narrative, theOdyssey topped the list.
Background
Dating
Many suggestions have been made for dating composition of theIliad and theOdyssey, but there is no consensus.[3]Robert Lamberton says that the epics "[straddled] the beginnings of widespread literacy" from the middle of the 5th-century BC,[4] but the poems' language can be dated to long before this period.[5] The Greeks began adopting a modified version of thePhoenician alphabet to create their own writing system during the eighth century BC;[3] if the Homeric poems were among the earliest products of that literacy, they would have been composed towards the late period of that century.[6][a]
According toRudolf Pfeiffer, they were probably written down, but there is no evidence for their publishing or physical dissemination for consumption by a literate audience.[9][b] Dating is further complicated by the fact that the Homeric poems, or sections of them, were performed byrhapsodes for hundreds of years.[3]
Scholars agree that the Homeric epics developed as part of anoral tradition over hundreds of years.[11] In the early twentieth century,Milman Parry andAlbert Lord demonstrated that they prominently contained the characteristics oforal poetry,[12][c] which would allow even an illiterate poet to improvise large poems,[14] composing them through speech.[12] Scholars do not agree on how the poems emerged from this tradition,[5] and it is not clear whether oral tradition can claim full credit for their composition.[15] In the nineteenth century, a series of related questions about the epics' authorship became known as theHomeric Question.[16] Sources from antiquity created mythic narratives to explain Homer.[17] Debate still persists today over many of the Homeric questions;[5] for example, concerning the compositional relationship between theIliad, theOdyssey, and the largely lost poems of theEpic Cycle; about whether Homer lived and, if he did, when;[16] and whether the poems reflect any geographical, historical or cultural reality.[5] While Homer is today attributed as the author of theIliad and theOdyssey, other texts have historically been attributed to him—for example, theHomeric Hymns.[18]
Textual reconstructions indicates the poems have taken many forms.[19] As live performance involves feedback, the content of the poem may even have varied from telling to telling.[18] This context is important for understanding and interpreting the epics,[20] andJohn Miles Foley said that performance is crucial part of their meaning.[21] Performance of epic poetry is a subject of both poems, with theOdyssey actually depicting professional singers likePhemius andDemodocus.[22] Applying these in-narrative performances to our understanding of the epics' performance might indicate that they were performed at the houses of distinguished families as part of banquets or dinners in the 2nd and early 1st millennia BC,[23][24] and that observers may have directed or participated in them.[23] They were probablyrecited—as in, not performed with music.[25]
Like theIliad, theOdyssey is divided into twenty-four parts.[d] Early scholars suggested these correspond to the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet, but this is widely considered ahistorical.[27][e] The division was probably made long after the poem's composition but is generally accepted as part of the poem's modern structure.[29] There are many theories as to how they arose. Some suggest they were an authentic part of the oral tradition or invented byAlexandrian scholars.[30]Pseudo-Plutarch attributed the divisions toAristarchus of Samothrace, but there is some evidence against this.[31][32] Some scholars connect the epics' segmentation to the tradition of performance, for example as a creation of rhapsodes.[33][34]
Both epics assume some knowledge of their audiences—for example, concerning theTrojan War. This strongly indicates that the epics were engaging with a pre-existing mythological tradition.[35] Arguments exist for either epic having been composed first; it is not clear.[36] While the Trojan War is an important element for both, theOdyssey does not directly reference any events from theIliad's depiction of the war,[37][f] and they are generally considered to have formed independently from one another.[36]
Influences
Terracotta plaque of the Mesopotamian ogreHumbaba, believed to be a possible inspiration for the figure of Polyphemus
Scholars note strong influences from Near Eastern mythology and literature in theOdyssey.[39]Martin West notes substantial parallels between theEpic of Gilgamesh and theOdyssey.[40] Both Odysseus andGilgamesh are known for traveling to the ends of the earth and on their journeys go to the land of the dead.[41] On his voyage to the underworld, Odysseus follows instructions given to him byCirce, who is located at the edges of the world and associated with solar imagery.[42] Like Odysseus, Gilgamesh gets directions on reaching the land of the dead from a divine helper: the goddessSiduri, who, like Circe, dwells by the sea at the ends of the earth, whose home is also associated with the sun. Gilgamesh reaches Siduri's house by passing through a tunnel underneath MountMashu, the high mountain from which the sun comes into the sky.[43] West argues that the similarity of Odysseus's and Gilgamesh's journeys to the edges of the earth are the result of the influence of the Gilgamesh epic upon theOdyssey.[44] Classical folklorist Graham Anderson notes other patterns—the heroes ofOdyssey andGilgamesh meet women who can transform people into animals; are involved in the death of divine cattle; unhappily enjoy the presence of a "voluptuous lady in an other-worldly paradise" following a voyage through the underworld.[45]
Scholars have explored whether figures originate within the poem or belong to a tradition outside of it.Adrienne Mayor says that the Austrian paleontologistOthenio Abel made unfounded claims aboutthe fifth-century BC philosopherEmpedocles connecting the cyclops to prehistoric elephant skulls.[46] Whether the epic poem created, popularised, or simply retold the tale of Polyphemus is a long-standing dispute,[47] but Anderson says there is some amount of scholarly consensus that the story existed separately from the epic.[45]William Bedell Stanford notes there are some indications that Odysseus existed independently of Homer, although it is inconclusive.[48]
Scholars are divided on whether any of the places visited by Odysseus are real.[49] The events in the main sequence of theOdyssey (excluding Odysseus'sembedded narrative of his wanderings) have been said to take place across thePeloponnese and theIonian Islands.[50] Many have attempted to map Odysseus's journey, but largely agree that the landscapes—especially those described in books 9 to 11—include too many mythical elements to be truly mappable.[51] For instance, there are challenges ascertaining whether Odysseus's homeland of Ithaca is the same island that is now calledIthakē (modern Greek:Ιθάκη);[50] the same is true of the route described by Odysseus to the Phaeacians and their island ofScheria.[49] British classicistPeter Jones writes that the poem was likely updated many times by oral story-tellers across several centuries before it was written down, making it "virtually impossible" to say "in what sense [the poem] reflects a historical society or accurate geographical knowledge".[52] Modern scholars tend to explore Odysseus's journey metaphorically rather than literally.[53]
Ten years after theAchaean Greeks won theTrojan War, Odysseus, king ofIthaca, has yet to return home from Troy. In his absence,108 boorish suitors court his wifePenelope. Penelope tells them she will remarry when she is done weaving a shawl; however, she secretly unweaves it every night.
The goddessAthena, disguised first asMentes then asMentor, tells Odysseus's sonTelemachus to seek news of his father. The two leave Ithaca and visitNestor, who tells them thatAgamemnon, the commander of the Greek army at Troy, was murdered soon after the war. Telemachus travels toSparta to meet Agamemnon's brotherMenelaus, who in turn describes his encounter with the shape-shifting godProteus. Menelaus says he learned from Proteus that Odysseus is alive, but held captive by the nymphCalypso.
Athena petitionsZeus to rescue Odysseus, and Zeus sendsHermes to negotiate his release. As Odysseus leaves Calypso's island,Poseidon destroys his raft with a storm. The sea nymphIno protects Odysseus as he swims toScherie, home of the Phaeacians, and Athena leads the Phaeacian princessNausicaä to recover him. In the court of Nausicaä's parentsArete andAlcinous, Odysseus excels at athletic games and is overcome with emotion when the bardDemodocus sings about the Trojan War. Odysseus reveals his identity and recounts his adventures following the war.
On leaving Troy, Odysseus's men unsuccessfully raided theCicones. Afterward, on an island oflotus-eaters, they found intoxicating fruit which made them forget about reaching home. On another island, they were captured by the cyclopsPolyphemus. Odysseus, deceptively calling himself "Nobody", escaped by intoxicating the cyclops and blinding him. However, he boastfully revealed his true identity while escaping, and Polyphemus asked his father Poseidon to take revenge.
Odysseus's crew nearly arrived in Ithaca, but were blown off course after opening a bag of winds they received fromAeolus. Afterwards, all but one of their ships were destroyed by giant cannibals calledLaestrygonians. On the island ofAeaea, the goddessCirce turned Odysseus's men into pigs. Hermes helped Odysseus resist Circe's magic using the herbmoly, and Odysseus forced her to restore the crew's human forms. Odysseus and Circe then became lovers for a year until he left to continue home. Next, Odysseus traveled to the edge ofOceanus, where the living can speak with the dead. The spirit of the prophetTiresias told Odysseus he would successfully return home, but must eventually undertake another journey. Odysseus also met the spirits of his motherAnticleia and former comrades Agamemnon andAchilles.
Odysseus's crew then sailed past theSirens, whose enticing song lured sailors to their deaths. His crewmen plugged their ears with beeswax to avoid hearing them, while Odysseus tied himself to the ship's mast. Next, they navigated the narrow passage between the whirlpoolCharybdis and the multi-headed monsterScylla. Finally, on the island of Thrinacia, Odysseus's men killed and ate sacredcattle belonging to the sun godHelios. Helios asked Zeus to punish them, which he did by destroying their last ship. Odysseus, the sole survivor, washed ashore on the islandOgygia. There he met Calypso, who took him captive as her lover until Hermes eventually intervened.
After hearing Odysseus's story, the Phaeacians take him to Ithaca, where Athena disguises him as an elderly beggar. Without knowing his identity, the swineherdEumaeus offers him lodging and food. Telemachus returns home from Sparta, evading an ambush from the suitors. Odysseus reveals himself to his son and the two return home, where Odysseus's elderly dogArgos, long neglected, recognizes him through his disguise; the old dog had been faithfully awaiting his master and upon finally seeing his return, dies peacefully. The suitors mock and mistreat Odysseus in his own home. He and Telemachus hide the suitors' weapons in preparation for violent revenge. Odysseus also reencounters Penelope and her servantEurycleia, who recognizes him from a scar on his leg.
Penelope announces she is ready to remarry, and that she will choose whoever wins anarchery contest with Odysseus's bow. After each suitor fails to even string the bow, Odysseus successfully strings it and fires an arrow through a series of axe heads. Having won the contest, he kills the suitors; Telemachus also hangs a group of slaves who had sex with them. Odysseus reveals his identity to Penelope, who tests him by asking to move their bed. He correctly states that the bed, which he carved from the trunk of an olive tree, is immovable, and the two lovingly reunite.
The next day, after Odysseus reveals himself to his fatherLaertes, the families of the murdered suitors gather to get revenge. Athena intervenes and prevents further bloodshed.
The narrative opensin medias res; the preceding events are described throughflashbacks and storytelling.[54]
InClassical Greece, some books or sections were provided with their own titles. Books 1 to 4, which focus on the perspective of Telemachus, are called theTelemachy.[55] Books 9 to 12, wherein Odysseus provides an account of his adventures, are called theApologos orApologoi.[53][56] Book 22 was known asMnesterophonia (Mnesteres, 'suitors' +phónos, 'slaughter').[57] Book 22 is generally said to conclude the GreekEpic Cycle, but fragments remain of a lost sequel known as theTelegony.[58]
Debate exists over what constitutes the "original"Odyssey. Some scholars regard theTelemachy as a later additional while others note that later parts do not make sense without those books.[59] Likewise, the poem's ending has been the subject of debate since antiquity—Aristarchus of Samothrace andAristophanes of Byzantium regarded the epic's real ending as lines 293–295 of book 23. Similar debates over the poem's ending occur today.[60]
Narrative and language
The epic has 12,109 lines composed indactylic hexameter, sometimes called Homeric hexameter—a metre with sixmetrical feet.[61][62] The form of hexameter iscatelectic, meaning that it lacks an expected syllable in the last foot. Each line has between twelve to seventeen syllable and generally forms a grammatically completesentence.[26] The poems may have inherited some stylistic traditions but invented others.[63]
The narrative is primarily related through speech—that is, characters talking to themselves or to somebody else.[64] Consequently, they frequently serve as narrators alongside the Homeric narrator, and their speech is the primary method ofcharacterisation.[65]
The language is simple, direct, and fast-paced.[66] It is also literary in style—the vocabulary was likely never thevernacular of any Greek population.[67] An important characteristic of the language is theHomeric simile. These are comparative metaphors that can be long[g] or short,[69] typically deriving from the natural world or everyday life.Irene de Jong describes them as "omnitemporal"—they may use the simplepresent tense, or the epic tense (blending past and present), or they may present a timeless truth (gnomic aorist).[70] Their functions vary; examples include characterisation and the reinforcement of theme.[71] Traditionally, the Homeric simile was regarded as a predecessor of European literary similes. This has been contested—for example byOliver Taplin.[72] Modern scholars generally agree that the Homeric similes formed as part of the epics' oral tradition, but earlier writers sometimes said they were added by one or more later poets.[73]
An important element of Homeric texts istheir use of epithets—in English, these are often translated as compound adjectives likemuch-nourished ormuch-nourishing.[74]
Homecoming (Ancient Greek:νόστος, nostos) is a central theme of theOdyssey.[75] The Greek wordnostos signifies both a homecoming voyage by sea and narratives involving the homecoming.[76][77] ClassicistAgathe Thornton notes thatnostos to the victoriousAchaeans following the fall ofTroy, but the narrator focuses on Odysseus and provides other Achaeans' homecomings as part of his narrative.[78]
FollowingAgamemnon's homecoming, his wife Clytemnestra and her lover,Aegisthus, kill Agamemnon. Agamemnon's son,Orestes kills Aegisthus for vengeance, paralleling the death of the suitors with the death of Aegisthus; Athena and Nestor famously use Orestes as an example for Telemachus, motivating him to action.[79] During Odysseus's trip to the underworld, Agamemnon tells him about Clytemnestra's betrayal. After reaching Ithaca, Athena transforms Odysseus into a beggar so he can test the loyalty of his wife Penelope.[80]
Agamemnon eventually praises Penelope for not killing Odysseus, and her faithfulness ensures Odysseus both fame and a successful homecoming compared to the other Achaeans. Agamemnon's failed homecoming caused his death;Achilles achieved fame but died and was denied homecoming.[81]
Wandering
Before Odysseus's arrival in Ithaca, only two of his adventures are described by the narrator. The rest of Odysseus's adventures are recounted by Odysseus himself. The two scenes described by the narrator are Odysseus on Calypso's island and Odysseus's encounter with the Phaeacians. These scenes are told by the poet to represent an important transition in Odysseus's journey: being concealed to returning home.[82]
Calypso's name comes from the Greek wordkalúptō (καλύπτω), meaning 'to cover' or 'conceal', which is apt, as this is exactly what she does with Odysseus.[citation needed] Calypso keeps Odysseus concealed from the world and unable to return home. After leaving Calypso's island, the poet describes Odysseus's encounters with the Phaeacians—those who "convoy without hurt to all men"[83]—which represents his transition from not returning home to returning home.[82]
Also, during Odysseus's journey, he encounters many beings that are close to the gods. These encounters are useful in understanding that Odysseus is in a world beyond man and that influences the fact he cannot return home.[82] These beings that are close to the gods include the Phaeacians who lived near the Cyclopes,[84] whose king, Alcinous, is the great-grandson of the king of the giants,Eurymedon, and the grandson of Poseidon.[82] Some of the other characters that Odysseus encounters are the cyclopsPolyphemus, the son of Poseidon; Circe, a sorceress who turns men into animals; and thecannibalistic giants, the Laestrygonians.[82]
Throughout the course of the epic, Odysseus encounters several examples ofxenia ('guest-friendship'), which provide models of how hosts should and should not act.[85][86] The Phaeacians demonstrate exemplary guest-friendship by feeding Odysseus, giving him a place to sleep, and granting him many gifts and a safe voyage home, which are all things a good host should do. Polyphemus demonstrates poor guest-friendship. His only "gift" to Odysseus is that he will eat him last.[86] Calypso also exemplifies poor guest-friendship because she does not allow Odysseus to leave her island.[86] Another important factor to guest-friendship is that kingship implies generosity. It is assumed that a king has the means to be a generous host and is more generous with his own property.[86] This is best seen when Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, begs Antinous, one of the suitors, for food and Antinous denies his request. Odysseus essentially says that while Antinous may look like a king, he is far from a king since he is not generous.[87]
According to J. B. Hainsworth, guest-friendship follows a very specific pattern:[88]
The arrival and the reception of the guest.
Bathing or providing fresh clothes to the guest.
Providing food and drink to the guest.
Questions may be asked of the guest and entertainment should be provided by the host.
The guest should be given a place to sleep, and both the guest and host retire for the night.
The guest and host exchange gifts, the guest is granted a safe journey home, and the guest departs.
Another important factor of guest-friendship is not keeping the guest longer than they wish and also promising their safety while they are a guest within the host's home.[85][89]
Another theme throughout theOdyssey is testing.[90] This occurs in two distinct ways. Odysseus tests the loyalty of others and others test Odysseus's identity. An example of Odysseus testing the loyalties of others is when he returns home.[90] Instead of immediately revealing his identity, he arrives disguised as a beggar and then proceeds to determine who in his house has remained loyal to him and who has helped the suitors. After Odysseus reveals his true identity, the characters test Odysseus's identity to see if he really is who he says he is.[90] For instance, Penelope tests Odysseus's identity by saying that she will move the bed into the other room for him. This is a difficult task since it is made out of a living tree that would require being cut down, a fact that only the real Odysseus would know, thus proving his identity.[90]
Testing also has a very specifictype scene that accompanies it. Throughout the epic, the testing of others follows a typical pattern. This pattern is:[90][89]
Odysseus is hesitant to question the loyalties of others.
Odysseus tests the loyalties of others by questioning them.
The characters reply to Odysseus's questions.
Odysseus proceeds to reveal his identity.
The characters test Odysseus's identity.
There is a rise of emotions associated with Odysseus's recognition, usually lament or joy.
Omens occur frequently throughout theOdyssey. Within the epic poem, they frequently involve birds.[91] According to Thornton, most crucial is who receives each omen and in what way it manifests. For instance, bird omens are shown to Telemachus, Penelope, Odysseus, and the suitors.[91] Telemachus and Penelope receive their omens as well in the form of words, sneezes, and dreams.[91] However, Odysseus is the only character who receives thunder or lightning as an omen.[92][93] She highlights this as crucial because lightning, as a symbol of Zeus, represents the kingship of Odysseus.[91] Odysseus is associated with Zeus throughout both theIliad and theOdyssey.[94]
Omens are another example of a type scene in theOdyssey. Two important parts of an omen type scene are therecognition of the omen, followed by itsinterpretation.[91] In theOdyssey, all of the bird omens—with the exception of the first—show large birds attacking smaller birds.[91][89] Accompanying each omen is a wish which can be either explicitly stated or only implied.[91] For example, Telemachus wishes for vengeance[95] and for Odysseus to be home,[96] Penelope wishes for Odysseus's return,[97] and the suitors wish for the death of Telemachus.[98]
Homer was widely celebrated in Greek society as an impressively talented and didactic poet, instructing audiences on topics ranging from philosophy to science.[99] Audiences were primarily exposed to the epics through performances in bothArchaic andClassical Greece,[100] but their status among audiences in the early Archaic period (840–700 BC) is not understood.[4] Scholars of at least two ancient libraries—theLibrary of Alexandria and theLibrary of Pergamum[h]—studied ancient versions of the Homeric epics.[19] Alexandrian scholars includedZenodotus of Ephesus (early third century BC),Aristophanes of Byzantium (early second century BC) andAristarchus of Samothrace (mid-second century BC).[102]
Ancient scholarship explored a variety of topics. Some explored narrative inconsistencies,[103] for example. Allegory was a particularly common interpretation.[104] Wilson says this interpretation allowed scholars "to make sense of puzzling or disturbing scenes in theOdyssey".[105] Allegorical arguments also defended from Homer allegations that he had disrespected the gods[106][107]—a criticism famously made by the fifth/sixth-century BC philosopherXenophanes[108]—but were rejected by Alexandrian scholars as too convenient.[107] Pergamon scholarCrates of Mallus explored the epics as containing allegorical insight into cosmology and geography.[101]Heraclitus (late sixth/early fifth century BC) andPorphyry (third century) also wrote allegorical interpretations.[109][110] Porphyry'sHomeric Questions is the sole surviving large Homeric essay of the classical era. He limited his analytical scope to only explore questions that the Homeric text answered—he called this the Aristarchan principle.[111] Porphyry saw the nymphs' caves as representing human life,[104] and Heraclitis argued that Telemachus' encounter with Athena represented "the development of rationality" as he becomes a man.[104]
Many ancient editions of the Homeric epics existed; the Alexandrian library possessed some.[112] In material derived from the commentary of the fourth-century scholarDidymus, ancient versions were divided into "city editions" and "individual editions".[i] City editions were likely created within the city (perhaps as "official" versions) while individual editions were prepared independently by scholars.[114] He mentions individual versions owned byAntimachus,Aristophanes of Byzantium,Sosigenes,[114]Rhianus of Crete,Callistratus, andPhilemon.[114] City editions are known inArgos,Chios,Crete,Cyprus, andMarseille.[114] Both theIliad and theOdyssey wereschool texts in places where the Greek language was spoken.[115][116] They were probably part of the curriculum for the elite ofClassical Athens,[117] and in theRoman Empire. They were regarded as instructive for rhetorical skill,[118][j] and reading.[k] The Trojan War and its participants were already important mythological and historical references for the Roman Empire,[120] and the Romans readily absorbed Homer into their culture, transmitting the epic east and west.[4]
Alexander the Great's conquests spreadHellenistic cultural influence throughout the Eastern Mediterranean; it became read by every school child in the Greek world.[121] By the sixth century, the Homeric poems had a canonical place within the institutions of ancient Athens.[122] The Athenian tyrantPeisistratos or his sonHipparchus instituted a civic and religious festival, thePanathenaia, which probably featured performances of Homeric poetry;[123][124][l] a "correct" version had to be performed, possibly indicating that a version of the text had become canonised.[3][m] They may only have performed sections of the poems,[125] and it is not likely that they were performed without a break.[126]
Post-classical
Beyond classical antiquity and into the Byzantine era, the spread of the Greek language—and the consequent internal translation of the Homeric texts as it spread—maintained theOdyssey's relevancy and status.[n] Armstrong says both epics may have dropped from knowledge otherwise, citingBeowulf as an example of this fate.[128] The orthodox Byzantine view was that Homer wrote the two epics alongside theHomeric Hymns and theBatrachomyomachia, with some philological scepticism over the latter.[129] TheIliad and theOdyssey remained widely studied throughout theMiddle Ages and were used as school texts within theByzantine Empire.[115][116] Homeric Greek was difficult for Byzantine students, requiringparatexts to explain grammatical and mythological references.[130] Much of the surviving Byzantine scholarship was originally intended as educational material.[131][o] Students probably did not have physical copies of the epics, but certain manuscripts might have been made available to talented students. They primarily learned via dictation and repetition.[134]
According to Lamberton, the audience of the epics changed in the middle Byzantine age. Once the domain of grammarians and students, adults began to read them for pleasure and wondered the narratives of theIliad and theOdyssey related to the wider Trojan narrative.[135] The twelfth-century poetJohn Tzetzes producedHomeric Allegories forManuel I Komnenos's consort, which summarisedOdyssey and other texts.[135] Mavroudi says Tzetzes' work married cultural concepts from the Homeric and Byzantine periods; Tzetzes compared Manuel I to the kingly figures of Zeus and Agamemnon,[136] and depicted Odysseus with a protruding stomach.[137]
Ulysses and Telemachus kill Penelope's Suitors byThomas Degeorge (1812)
During thequarrel of the Ancients and Moderns—a late 17th- and early 18th-century artistic debate inFrance—theOdyssey andIliad were two of the primary subjects. The Homeric texts were criticised by the writersJean Desmarets,Pierre Bayle, andCharles Perrault;[141]Howard Clarke says that Perrault refrained from directly castigating the poems in the absence of a French epic, with Perrault granting Homer "ritual praise" by describing him as "Father of all the Arts". Defenders of the epics and Homer includedJean de La Fontaine andNicolas Boileau-Despréaux.[141] The debate subsided briefly in 1700, later reigniting between the French scholarsAnne Dacier, a translator and staunch defender of Homer, and the Moderns proponentAntoine Houdar de la Motte.[142] Dacier's Homeric translations included a 90-page introduction addressing the criticisms of Perrault and other Moderns; in his abridged translation of Homer, Houdar de la Motte responded, and Dacier produced a 600-page rebuttal. A rhetorical ceasefire was called in 1716.[143]
As part of the quarrel, questions arose over the traditional view of Homer as a singular poet.[144]François Hédelin, Abbé d’ Aubignac criticised Homer's sustenance of theme; his language; and observed that nothing was known about his life.[145] Perrault posited that the epics were written by different poets, possibly from each city that claimed to be Homer's birthplace, and then assembled; he credited the theory to the late Hédelin.[146]Richard Bentley argued that the Athenian tyrantPisistratus assembled different songs five-hundred years after initial composition.[147] His research also showed that Homeric Greek did not resemble the Greek of the classical period.[5]
Modern
In the early 20th century,Milman Parry andAlbert Lord demonstrated that illiterate singers could exploit formulaic language to improvise large poems, much like the Homeric Greek.[14] Of the 27,803 lines in the original texts, around 9200 arerepetitions, ranging from groups of words to entire sections.[148] Their research decisively showed that the Homeric texts formed asoral poetry.[149] Parry and Lord were investigating theSouth Slavic epic tradition, inspired by the work of philologistMatija Murko.[14] Parry's doctoral thesis had explored traditional Homeric epithets, drawing from the work of French linguistAntoine Meillet, but he did not comprehend the significance completely until travelling toYugoslavia to conduct field work with Lord.[150][q] Scholarship became increasinglyinterdisciplinary in the late twentieth century, synthesising literary research with archaeological and religious findings.[63]
The influence of the Homeric texts can be difficult to summarise because of how greatly they have affected popular imagination and cultural values.[152] TheOdyssey and theIliad formed the basis of education for members of ancient Mediterranean society. That curriculum was adopted by Western humanists,[153] meaning the text was so much a part of the cultural fabric that an individual having read it was irrelevant.[154]Robert Browning says that the scholarship Alexandrian library "laid the foundation" for "European literacy andphilological studies".[107] The epics mark the beginning of the Western literary tradition and, according to Corinne Ondine Pasche, have unrivalled influence.[11] TheOdyssey has reverberated over a millennium of writing; a poll of experts forBBC Culture named it literature's most enduring narrative.[155]
Livius Andronicus produced aLatin translation,Odusia.[156] Little is known about the full work, which was probably not simply a translation,[157] but surviving fragments are more formal than the original, and he reappropriated Homeric imagery from one part of the poem to another.[158] Livius'Odusia eventually became a school text for Latin students;Michael von Albrecht says his translation was "beaten into" a youngHorace.[159]Nicholas Sigeros providedPetrarch with manuscripts of theIliad and theOdyssey in 1354.[r] Petrarch's correspondentGiovanni Boccaccio persuaded a monk to called Pilato to produce translations in Latin prose—he finished theIliad, but only came close to finishing theOdyssey.[160] The first printed edition in Greek was published in Milan 1488 byDemetrios Chalkokondyles, a Greek scholar resident in Florence.[161]
Printed translations for modern European languages surged in popularity in the 16th century,[162] although many were only partial translations.[163] The most popular edition of the century was aword-for-word Latin translation byAndreas Divus.[162] The first completedItalianOdyssey, written byGirolamo Baccelli infree verse, was published in 1582.[164] The first completedFrench translation was composed inAlexandrine couplets bySalomon Certon and printed in 1604.[163] It lost public favour following theAcadémie Française language reforms in the 1630s and 1640s.[165]Arthur Hall was the first to translate Homer into English: his translation of theIliad's first 10 books, which was published in 1581,[164] relied upon a French version.[166]George Chapman became the first writer to complete a translation of both epics into English after finishinghis translation of theOdyssey.[167] These translations were published together in 1616, but were serialised earlier, and became the first modern translations to enjoy widespread success.[168] He worked on Homeric translation for most of his life,[169] and his work later inspiredJohn Keats' sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" (1816).[170]Emily Wilson writes that almost all prominent translators of Greco-Roman literature had been men,[171] arguing this impacted the popular understanding of theOdyssey.[172][s]
Johann Heinrich Voss' 18th-century translations of the epics are among his most celebrated works,[174][t] and profoundly influenced the German language.[175]Johann Wolfgang von Goethe called Voss' translations transformational masterpieces that initiated interest GermanHellenism.[176]Anne Dacier translated theIliad andOdyssey into French prose,[u] appearing in 1711 and 1716, respectively;[165] it was the standard French Homeric translation until the late 18th century.[178]Antoine Houdar de La Motte, who could not read Greek, used Dacier'sIliad to produce his own contracted version of theIliad and criticised Homer in the preface.[142][v] Dacier's translation of theOdyssey profoundly influencedthe 1720s translation byAlexander Pope,[180][w] which he produced for financial reasons years after hisIliad.[181] He translated twelve books himself and divided the other twelve betweenElijah Fenton andWilliam Broome; the latter also provided annotations.[182][183] This information eventually leaked, harming his reputation and profits.[184] The firstOdyssey in theRussian language may have beenVasily Zhukovsky's 1849 translation inhexameter.[185][186]Luo Niansheng began translating the firstChinese languageIliad in the late 1980s, but he died in 1990 before completing it; his studentWang Huansheng finished the project, which was published in 1994. Huansheng'sOdyssey followed three years later.[187]
Literature
ClassicistEdith Hall says theOdyssey has been regarded as "the very birthplace of literary fiction"; inT. E. Lawrence's 1932 introduction to the epic, he called it "the greatest novel ever written".[188] It is widely regarded by western literary critics as a timeless classic,[189] and it remains one of the oldest pieces of literature regularly read by Western audiences.[190]Brian Stableford, who described it as a kind of forerunner toscience fiction, says it has been reconfigured as science fiction more than any other literary work.[191]
In Canto XXVI of theInferno,Dante Alighieri meets Odysseus in theeighth circle of hell: Odysseus appends a new ending to the epic in which he continues adventuring and does not return to Ithaca.[192] Edith Hall suggests that Dante's depiction of Odysseus became understood as a manifestation ofRenaissancecolonialism andothering, with the cyclops standing in for "accounts of monstrous races on the edge of the world", and his defeat as symbolising "the Roman domination of the western Mediterranean".[85] Some of Odysseus's adventures reappear in the Arabic tales ofSinbad the Sailor.[193][194]
The Irish writerJames Joyce'smodernist novelUlysses (1922) was significantly influenced by theOdyssey. Joyce had encountered the figure of Odysseus inCharles Lamb'sAdventures of Ulysses, an adaptation of the epic poem for children, which seems to have established the Latin name in Joyce's mind.[195][196]Ulysses, a re-telling of theOdyssey set inDublin, is divided into eighteen sections ("episodes") which can be mapped roughly onto the twenty-four books of theOdyssey.[197] Joyce claimed familiarity with the original Homeric Greek, but this has been disputed by some scholars, who cite his poor grasp of the language as evidence to the contrary.[198] The book, and especially itsstream of consciousness prose, is widely considered foundational to the modernist genre.[199]
Modern writers have revisited theOdyssey to highlight the poem's female characters. Canadian writerMargaret Atwood adapted parts of theOdyssey for her novellaThe Penelopiad (2005). The novella focuses on Penelope and the twelve female slaves hanged by Odysseus at the poem's ending,[200] an image which haunted Atwood.[201] Atwood's novella comments on the original text, wherein Odysseus's successful return to Ithaca symbolises the restoration of apatriarchal system.[201] Similarly,Madeline Miller'sCirce (2018) revisits the relationship between Odysseus and Circe on Aeaea.[202] As a reader, Miller was frustrated by Circe's lack of motivation in the original poem and sought to explain her capriciousness.[203] The novel recontextualises the sorceress' transformations of sailors into pigs from an act of malice into one of self-defence, given that she has no superhuman strength with which to repel attackers.[204]
L'Odissea (1968) is an Italian-French-German-Yugoslavian television miniseries praised for its faithful rendering of the original epic.[207]
Ulysses 31 (1981–1982) is a French-Japanese television animated series set in the futuristic 31st century.[208]
Nostos: The Return (1989) is an Italian film about Odysseus's homecoming. Directed byFranco Piavoli, it relies on visual storytelling and has a strong focus on nature.[209]
Ulysses' Gaze (1995), directed by Theo Angelopoulos, has many of the elements of theOdyssey set against the backdrop of the most recent and previousBalkan Wars.[210]
Robert W. Smith's second symphony for concert band,The Odyssey, tells four of the main highlights of the story in the piece's four movements: "The Iliad", "The Winds of Poseidon", "The Isle of Calypso", and "Ithaca".[217]
Jorge Rivera-Herrans'sung-through workEpic: The Musical tells the story of theOdyssey over the course of nine "sagas", beginning with the end of the Trojan War and carrying through to Odysseus's homecoming to Ithaca.[220][221]
Sciences
PsychiatristJonathan Shay wrote two books,Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character (1994)[222] andOdysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming (2002),[223] which relate theIliad and theOdyssey toposttraumatic stress disorder andmoral injury as seen in the rehabilitation histories of combat veteran patients.
Notes and references
Notes
^Inscribed on aclay cup found inIschia, Italy, are the words "Nestor's cup, good to drink from".[7]. Some scholars, such asCalvert Watkins, have tied this cup to a description of KingNestor's golden cup in theIliad.[8] If the cup is an allusion to theIliad, that poem's composition can be dated to at least 700–750 BC.[3]
^Papyri containing fragments of the Odyssey have been discovered in Egypt, preserved by the dry climate; these date to the 3rd century BC and differ from medieval versions.[10]
^TheIonic alphabet ranged from 20 to 26 letters during the Homeric period.[28]
^This observation is known as "Monro's law" afterDavid Monro.[38]
^During theQuarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns, the Moderns found long Homeric similes so displeasing that they named themcomparisons à longue queuë ("long-tailed similes").[68]
^These libraries were rivals in the early second century BC. Alexandria saw an scholarly exodus due to internal political disagreements. TheRoman Republic took control of the Pergamon in 133 BC.[101]
^Homer was repeatedly called "the father of oratory" throughout antiquity, including byTelephus of Pergamum.[119]
^Robert Browning writes: "It may seem odd today that children should be taught the art of reading from poems composed in a form of language which no one actually spoke or ever had spoken, but Greek society was not the only one that taught them this way."[107]
^Marry Ebbott writes: "Ancient sources indicate that rhapsodes performed in 'musical contests' (mousikoi agōnes) at the Panathenaia from at least the late sixth century through the late fourth century BC".[125]
^According to Mary Ebbott, rhapsodes played selections from theIliad and theOdyssey, which slowly contributed to Athenians identifying only those poems as Homer's work.[125]
^Some scholars have argued that religious tension in this period was caused by the spread ofChristianity because Homer was increasingly identified aspagan, but there is no academic consensus.[127]
^We have one surviving work from an anonymous Byzantine scholar (published asHomeric Epirisms in 1983), probably from the mid-9th century.[132][133]
^TheOdyssey was not the only text in this edition: it included all works classically attributed to Homer: theIlliad, theBatrachomyomachia, and theHomeric Hymns.[140] Maria Mavroudi attributes Demetrios' assemblage of all prospective Homeric texts for his editon to the interest of Byzantine scholars in interpreting the texts over debating their authorship.[129]
^Parry died, aged 33, from an accidental gunshot wound to the chest.[151]
^Petrarch wrote in a letter: "Homer is mute to me, or, rather, I am deaf to him. Still, I enjoy just looking at him and often, embracing him and sighing, I say, 'O great man, how eagerly would
^Wilson argues these inflected the narrative with connotations not present in the original text. For example, she says several translators interpreted the language used to refer to the slaves having sex with the suitors—the femine articlehai (lit.'those female people')—as meaningsluts orwhores.[173]
^Voss produced translations of other classics, too, and eventually revised his version ofOdyssey, but that received a less favourable reception.[174]
^Dacier'sIliad was critically well received; she provided historical and lingusitic commentary alongside it.[177]
^Houdar de la Motte's translation was much shorter and modernised. His argument that he had improved upon Homer angered Dacier, who penned a 600-page rebuttal.[179]
^Dacier did not speak English and, to read Pope'sOdyssey, relied upon a poor translation of it; she condemned it in a prefatory note a new version of herIliad. Pope admired Dacier and was hurt, but she died in 1720 before he could respond.[178]
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Thurman, Judith, "Mother Tongue: Emily Wilson makes Homer modern",The New Yorker, 18 September 2023, pp. 46–53. A biography, and presentation of thetranslation theories and practices, ofEmily Wilson. "'As a translator, I was determined to make the whole human experience of the poems accessible,' Wilson said." (p. 47.)
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