Mythology Book

69

Odysseus. Shipwrecked and cast

ashore alone on the coast of

Phaecia (perhaps Corfu), Odysseus

was discovered by Nausicaa, the

daughter of Alcinous, the country’s

king. Smitten by Nausicaa’s beauty,

Odysseus made his way to the

king’s palace to seek her hand.

While Odysseus and his men were

being entertained as guests in the

hall of King Alcinous, the hero told

the king the impressive story of

their wanderings to date.

Sweet stupor

Odysseus began with the tale of

his sojourn in the land of the Lotus-

Eaters; he had gone there after his

men sacked Ismarus, their first stop

after Troy. The Lotus-Eaters lived

in a permanent trance. The lotus

blossoms not only provided

nutritional sustenance; they also

induced a daze of calmness and

contentment. Only Odysseus was

sufficiently quick-thinking and

self-disciplined to recognize the

danger when his shipmates

encountered the narcotic flowers.

Seizing the men by force, he

marched them back to their ship

and ordered his crew to set sail.

Cyclops and sea god

Hungry and tired after further

days at sea, Odysseus and his men

reached another coast, where they

dropped anchor. Going ashore to

forage, the men stumbled on a

cave and were thrilled to find ❯❯

See also: The Olympian gods 24–31 ■ The war of the gods and Titans 32–33 ■

The many affairs of Zeus 42–47 ■ The founding of Athens 56–57

ANCIENT GREECE

I–IV

Struggles of

Telemachus

to hold on to his

father’s house

IX–XII

Wanderings

of Odysseus

as his voyage

home to Ithaca

is dogged by

setbacks

XII–XIV

Odysseus

returns home,

reunites with his

son, and reclaims

his house

V–VIII

Odysseus

is freed

from captivity

with Calypso but

struggles to

return home

The 14 books of the Odyssey

Who was Homer?

The poet credited with both

the Iliad and the Odyssey was

almost certainly mythical.

Ancient tradition portrayed

him as a blind and bearded

bard, strumming on a lyre. He

was said to come from Ionia,

on the coast of Asia Minor, in

modern-day Turkey. It is

unlikely that such a person

existed, and that a single poet

created the Iliad or the

Odyssey, let alone both.

Instead, “Homer” appears

to have been an after-the-fact

rationalization to account for

the existence of the two great

works. They are probably a

compilation of stories told by

innumerable anonymous

bards, working in an oral

tradition that dated back as

far as the 12th century bce.

Such narrators could memorize

vast screeds of narrative verse

and fluently improvise new

storylines; they would have

used many formulaic narrative

elements and ready-made

images that were widely

accepted and are strongly

evident in the Iliad and

Odyssey. The “writing” of

the two works in the 8th

century bce was most probably

a conclusive setting down,

rather than an originating act.

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