List of Translators of the Odyssey into English - Abbreviations: C = complete Homer, both Iliad and Odyssey; BV = blank or unrhymed verse; V = rhymed verse; P = prose; */asterisk = particularly important translation. Many of these translations are still in print, some in paperback. (Arranged by date, by the first column down, then the second column down, and then the third column down.) A slightly abridged CD set is available for the Allen Mandelbaum translation, and an unabridged audiocassette set is available for the Robert Fagles translation and the Rodney Merrill translation. Naxos audiobooks is scheduled to produce an audio version of the Ian Johnston translation.
 

*George Chapman (1616) C; V	George A. Schomberg (1879-82) V	*George H. Palmer, revised by Howard Porter (1891, 1962) P
John Ogilvy (1669) C; V	Arthur S. Way (1880, 1881) V	Preston H. Epps (1965) V
*Thomas Hobbes (1673) V	William Morris (1887) V	*Albert Cook (1967) BV
	Thomas Clark (1888) P; Interlinear	*Richmond Lattimore (1967) BV
*Alexander Pope, et al. (1725) C; V	*George Herbert Palmer (1891) P	*Samuel Butler, revised by M.M. Willcock (1900, 1969) P
William H. Melmoth (1780) C	John G. Cordery (1897) V	Denison Hull (1978)
*William Cowper (1791) BV	*Samuel Butler (1900) P	*Walter Shewring (1980) P
Henry Cary (1823) P	John W. Mackail (1903-10; 1932) V	Memas Kolaitis (1983)
William Sotheby (1833) V	Francis Caulfield (1911; 1921) V	*Allen Mandelbaum (1990) BV, V
Theodore A. Buckley (1851) P	Henry B. Cotterill (1911) V	*E.V. Rieu, revised by D.C.H. Rieu and Peter V. Jones (1946, 1991) P
Dr. Giles (1861) P	Arthur G. Lewis (1911) BV	R[oger] D[avid] Dawe (1993) P
Philip S. Worsley (1862) V	*A.T. Murray (1919) P	Brian Kemball-Cook (1993) BV
Thomas S. Norgate (1863) BV	Sir William Marris (1925) BV	Michael Reck (1994)
George Musgrave (1865) BV	Robert H. Hiller (1927) P	*A.T. Murray, revised by George Dimock (1919, 1995) P
George W. Edington (1869) BV	Herbert Bates (1929) V	*Robert Fagles (1996); C; BV
Lovelace Bigge-Wither (1869) BV	*T.E. Shaw (= T.E. Lawrence = Lawrence of Arabia!; rent the video of the film classic Lawrence of Arabia, if you've never seen it) (1932) P	Martin Hammond (2000) P
Henry Alford (1860's) BV	*W.H.D. Rouse (1937) P	Stanley Lombardo (2000) BV
W. Lucas Collins (1870)	*E.V. Rieu (1946) P	Randy Eickhoff (2001, 2005) P
*William Cullen Bryant (1871) C; BV	*S.O. Andrew (1953) C; BV	Rodney Merrill (2002) BV
Mordaunt Barnard (1876) BV		*Edward McCrorie (2004) BV
*S.H. Butcher and Andrew Lang (1879) C; P	*Ennis Rees (1960) BV	Ian Johnston (2006) C ; BV
Roscoe Mongan (1879-1880) P	*Robert Fitzgerald (1961) BV, V	Charles Stein (2008)

G1a. Literature in translation, particularly Homer's Odyssey Like much of the world's literature in this course, Homer's Odyssey will be read in English translation, in this instance, from the ancient Greek. For a sense of the problems in translating literary works, take a look at "A Note on Translation" at the end of NAWLS2 (Norton Anthology of World Literature, Shorter Second Edition). For a further sense of the differences that may occur in translation, inspect the translations of the opening lines of Homer's Odyssey included in the appendix of this document and compare and contrast them with the translation in NAWM (Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces; old edition) by Robert Fitzgerald, a modern American poet and Classicist (specialist in Greek and Roman literature and culture), whose 1961 translation has become a standard.
To get a sense of the differences in translation, see the appendix of translation excerpts from Homer's Odyssey in section G10 of this pamphlet, along with notes on them.

G1b. The influence of this literary work on the English language

Like many of the world's great literary works, Homer's epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, have left their mark on the English language. From these works have come such terms as Achilles'  heel, holy moly, mentor, odyssey, siren, and Trojan horse.

Abbreviations: a Roman numeral , followed by a period and Arabic numeral, indicates a book and line or lines in the Odyssey; thus II.165 would mean Book 2, line 165.

G2A. Spelling and Typography - Fagles vs. Fitzgerald     (G2a) Fagles' spelling versus Fitzgerald's spelling or transliteration from the Greek  Fagles in his book (from which the NAWLS2 draws) explains that he unlike some translators, such as Fitzgerald, uses the long-established Romanized or Latinized version of names and words. Thus he uses Achilles not Akhilleus, Telemachus not Telemakhos, Circe not Kire, Cyclops not Kyklopes. Fitzgerald, like some other translators, tries to adhere to the Greek alphabet and its spelling of words and names, rather than some traditional anglicizations of other translators into English. Thus, the goddess who holds Odysseus love slave (the nightmare of every male: just ask any male in our Humanities class) is given by Fitzgerald as Kalypso, rather than Calypso (somewhat more frequent in literary tradition), since Greek has only k (the letter kappa) and no c; likewise with Kirke, rather than Circe, and so on. (G2b) Peculiar typographical (diacritical) marks in Fitzgerald's translation Fagles includes a pronouncing glossary in the separate edition of his translation, so he doesn't indicate pronunciation of the Greek names within the actual translation. Fitzgerald uses several peculiar typographical marks, which are "diacritical"--that is, the aim of which is to indicate something about pronunciation. For example, we find a short slash (/) mark over the names Aigisthos and Agamemnon in Book I, lines 42 and 43; this mark is used to indicate to us that the names should be accented on the second syllable of the first name, Aigisthos ("eye-GIHS-tohs"), and the third syllable of Agamemnon, respectively. The slash mark over the penultimate vowel in the name Skheria in Book V, line 40, and over the second a in Phaiakians, in Book VI, line 4, indicates that the names should be pronounced "Skeh-RI-ah" and "fay-AY-kyuns," respectively. We find a circumflex (small ^ over a letter) over the name Helios in Book I, line 13, or over the name Hermes in Book V, line 32, or Demeter in Book V, line 132; this mark is used because Greek has two letters for e, epsilon (sound like the e in the word met) and eta (sound like the e in the word wear). The circumflex indicates the letter eta, rather than the letter epsilon in the original Greek. (Cf. the name Hermes Agreiphontes in Book I, line 53.) The dieresis (two small dots above a letter) is used to indicate separate pronunciation of a letter, as in the name Thoosa, in Book 1, line 91, or Laertes in Book 5, line 212, or Nausithoos in Book 6, line 9; the dieresis tells us that we should pronounce the names "Thoh-OH-sah" or "Lay-EHR-teez" or "Naw-SIH-thoh-ohs."  (G2c1) Fagles' and Fitzgerald's verse form and its relation to typography Fagles and Fitzgerald, like some other translators of Homer, use principally blank verse for his translation: poetry, in lines of approximately equal number of syllables (anywhere from ten to fourteen for Fagles, usually about ten for Fitzgerald), but no rhyme. (Occasionally, as in Book 5, in Hermes' announcement to Kalypso, Fitzgerald uses rhyme, which is not used in the original Greek; the question in such passages is why or what thematic reasons Fitzgerald shifts into rhyme. Also, in other places, Fitzgerald shifts from standard English into either colloquial or archaic English; the question would be what thematic or characterizational reasons account for these variations.) Fagles and Fitzgerald use verse paragraphs, like Chapman and Pope; such thought units are indicated by echeloned lines or by blocks of lines.  The blocks of lines in Fagles begin with an indentation (as used in such translations as those of Chapman and Pope), but Fitzgerald frequently doesn't indent for them, instead letting them stand alone, like "block style" in business correspondence.  In some places, Fagles and Fitzgerald use echeloned lines to indicate a verse paragraph or new speaker. For example, line 12 of Book 1 of the Fagles translation runs from "start" through "now"; line 24 of Book 1 of the Fagles translation runs from "the" through "now." A line breaks but is continued in an offset margin by what looks like, but is not, a new line immediately underneath. Likewise, in the Fitzgerald translation, in Book I, line 5: a line breaks but is continued in an offset margin by what looks like, but is not, a new line immediately underneath. Thus line 5 of Book 1 runs from "on" through "townlands." Similarly in the Fitzgerald translation there is echeloning in Book 5 in line 391 (from "and" through "'go on'") and line 395 (from "'for'" to "team"). Sometimes the printers and typesetters anthologizing such translations get the line numbering wrong because they didn't have an English teacher like Prinsky to explain some elementary stuff that in fact isn't elementary until it's explained. (G2c2)  Fagles and the half or defective line  Missing from the explanation by Fagles of his metrics in his "Translator's Postscript" (in the full edition of his translation) is a discussion of his relatively frequent use of the half or defective line, which has a precedent in blank verse extending at least as far back as Shakespeare's plays. Unlike the regular dactyllic hexameter used by Homer (see the subsection "Homer's verse form in the original" later in this document), Fagles will use a half or defective line such as I.3 (six syllables), I.41 (six syllables), I.218 (six syllables), I.245 (seven syllables), or I.258 (seven syllables).  (G2c2) Capitalization within verse paragraphs  Both Fagles and Fitzgerald, like many modern poets, do not capitalize the first letter of the word beginning each new line of poetry; rather, they capitalize based on grammar -- using a capital letter if the word begins a new sentence. Both translations are poetry, not prose.

(G2d) Homer's verse form in the original Homer set the standard for the use in epic of dactylic hexameter: that is, six dactyls -- three-syllable units or "feet" of / U U (accented or long syllable followed by two unaccented or short syllables) per line. This is a long line of eighteen syllables, though variations were not uncommon: one or more dactyls might be replaced by a spondee (two accented or long syllables: / / ) and the last foot is almost always a spondee ( / / ). Following are examples, with English transliteration of the Greek text (double vertical lines indicate separation of one unit or "foot" from another):

andra moi ennepe, Mous, polytropon, hos mala polla

/    U    U  ||  /  U  U  ||   /   U  U  ||   /   U  U  ||  /  U  U  ||  /  /

[Book 1, line 1]
 
Eos d'ek lecheon par'agauou Tithonoio

/  /  /   ||  /  U  U  ||  /  /  U  U  ||  /  /  /  ||  /  /  /   ||  /  /

[Book 5, line 1]

G3. Fagles Versus Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald's Consistent Use of Terminology from the Middle Ages Fitzgerald, like some other translators of Homer (e.g., Butcher and Lang, E.V. Rieu), but not Fagles, repeatedly uses such terms as "squire," "minstrel," and "manor," which connote the European Middle Ages and its feudalism; Fitzgerald and other translators (as well as careful readers) are bound to note parallels  between Odysseus' world and the Middle Ages and feudalism that evoke such terminology in the translation -- e.g., powerful feudal lords rather than one centralized king, power centers in individual castles or "manors," etc.

G4. The meaningfulness of Homer's apparently fancy poetic, "epic" language One question to ask repeatedly when reading the text is how and why some epithet (e.g., the color or appearance of Athena's eyes), formula (e.g., the description of sunrise at the opening of Book 2), or figure of speech (like an epic simile of several lines) is meaningful in itself and in its context. Although one motive for Homer's use of epithets or formulas was prompted by the oral situation of needing to stall for time while he (or another epic bard or reciter) was recalling what to recite next, what makes Homer's language of enduring literary worth is that it is meaningful or significant in itself and in its context. When an epithet (a standard adjective or noun applied to a person or object) or formula (a phrase or clause always used to describe something -- e.g., how Homer never says "next morning" but always a formula for the dawn) is used, what needs to be considered is how the epithet or formula is meaningful in its context. The epithet is often the same word in Greek (e.g., glaukopis, "shining eyed," for Athena) but often varied by translators from passage to passage, partly to avoid what a modern reader might consider monotony, and partly to capture a particular nuance of meaning in the passage. While in the Greek, Athena is always glaukopis, Fagles translates glaukopis as "sparkling-eyed," "bright-eyed," "eyes sparkling," etc.; Fitzgerald follows some translators in somewhat misleadingly translating the epithet as "grey-eyed." The epithet, by focusing on Athena's gleaming eyes, emphasizes her intelligence, suggestive of a main reason she favors Odysseus, the most cunning and intelligent of the Greeks. The epithet is also meaningful because Athena has her eye on the troubles of her favorite, Odysseus, and sees clearly into Poseidon, Zeus, Telemachus, and Odysseus' circumstances. (G4a) Epithets For example, the epic poet's use of  such epithets as "sparkling-eyed" (I.53/Fagles), "bright-eyed" (VI.27/Fagles) or (less precisely) "grey-eyed" for Athena (I.60; VI.30/Fitzgerald); "summoner of cloud"/Fitzgerald (I.82; V.23)  or "who marshals the thunderheads"/Fagles (I.76; V.24) for Zeus, "gentlemen with flowing hair"/Fitzgerald (I.113) or "flowing-haired Achaeans"/Fagles (I.106) for the Akhaians/Achaeans, and "Wayfinder"/Fitzgerald (I.106; V.48)  or "giant-killer"/Fagles (I.100) or "giant-killing guide"/Fagles (V.47) for Hermes, are not only part of epic style (for stalling to remember, filling out a line of poetry, and creating an elevated language appropriate to the grand subject) but also meaningful both overall and in the particular context in which the epithet or "formula" is used: Athena's epithet glaukopsis ("shining eyed") is appropriate in suggesting her intelligence (how would shining or bright eyes do this in a person?);  Zeus's epithet ("summoner of cloud" or "who marshals the thunderheads") is appropriate as the absolute ruler who summons all mortals and gods, the latter being depicted in his ruling over an assembly, which implies summoning, implying the power that can command that Odysseus finally be freed from Poseidon's persecution; the epithet for the Akhaians suggests not only that they have longish hair (like your Humanities literature instructor in former times) but also that they are free-spirited and thus shouldn't tolerate the oppression they are suffering from Penelope's suitors (a Homeric irony is that they do put up with it); and Hermes' epithet is appropriate because the delivery of his message will enable Odysseus to begin to find his way home. (G4b) Formulas All readers and students forced (encouraged? delighted?) to read Homer's Odyssey remember the epic formula of how sunrise is inevitably described at the opening of Book 2 and throughout this epic poem or poetic epic, as in "When Dawn spread out her finger tips of rose/ Odysseus pulled his tunic and his cloak on"/Fitzgerald (V.237-38) or "When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more / Odysseus quickly dressed himself"/Fagles (V.252-253). (Indeed, Cervantes is going to parody this style in paragraphs 3 and 7 of Part 1 of Chapter 2 of his novel Don Quixote, which you can inspect later in NAWLS2.) First, the lines work to describe quite accurately the streaking of clouds observable at dawn; second, the lines imply the outstretched fingers of an outstretched hand, which is appropriate to the context, since in Book 2 (which opens with the dawn formula) Telemachus/Telemakhos is on his way to plead or ask for help -- to reach out for help -- from his fellow Ithacans/Ithakans to oust the oppressive suitors, as well as mount an expedition to find his missing dad; or Odysseus is about to reach out literally, in building his raft, and figuratively, in reaching out to get back to his home.

G5. Homer as artistic storyteller (G5a) Excitement, action, and suspense How exciting is Homer's Odyssey? Before the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Adventures, Hercules: The Further Adventures, and (even more exciting for some of the male gender) Xena: Warrior Princess, there was Ulysses, a 1955 Italian flick, starring Kirk Douglas (!) based on the Odyssey (Ulysses is the Latin version of the Greek name Odysseus). In 1997, a made-for-TV movie, The Odyssey, appeared, starring Armand Assante as the epic hero. (Both are available commercially on videocassette or DVD.) The end of Book 4 is one of the great cliff hangers of all time: will the suitors ambush and kill Telemakhos on the return trip seeking Odysseus or not? We won't find out definitely for fifteen books. (Cf. the cliffhanger that Cervantes pulls in Ch. 7 of Part 1 of Don Quixote, suddenly stopping the description of the battle between Don Quixote and the Biscayan with the disingenuous explanation that his source for the story gave out.) How will Odysseus survive imprisonment by a cannibalistic giant (Polyphemos)? How will Odysseus survive in a Clint Eastwood (particularly Eastwood's The Gauntlet [1977]) shootout with over a hundred suitors and henchmen in the last books of the epic, with only a force of three to help him? Behind all the excitement, suspense, and action, of course, themes and values are implied: for example, about what component(s) define true heroism. (The same is true, on a lesser scale, for Clint Eastwood movies, and their like.) (G5b) Juxtaposition, comparison-and-contrast Homer's opening of his second epic in Book 1 with the in medias res device, causes the emphasis to be placed on an agora or assembly of the gods; through Homer's narrative art or storytelling, this assembly is immediately juxtaposed, with consequent comparison and contrast, to the society depicted in Ithaka. What results is a comparison and contrast, through juxtaposition, of an orderly society under a strong leader (Olympos, Zeus) with a disordered society lacking a strong leader (Ithaka, the absent Odysseus). A similar comparison-contrast through juxtaposition is made at the opening of Book 5, between "societies" of Olympos (Zeus and company) and Ogygia (Kalypso and her boy toy, Odysseus). In Book 5, juxtaposition and comparison contrast work to suggest how the principles of very human rationalizing and face-saving work even in a goddess by the contrast between what Hermes tells Kalypso about Odysseus' leaving the island and what Kalypso tells Odysseus about his leaving the island. Clearly, even before Homer teamed up with Jethro (and started playing bluegrass music on his epic harp), he knew how to pull narrative strings to convey harmony or discord. (G5c) Depiction of character, psychology, and human (or divine) nature With the exception of individuals like Richard Speck, Jeffrey Daumer, and the Unabomber, we all have to get along with other people in various ways throughout our, and their, lives. Constantly throughout life we need to be able to analyze others and to engage in persuasion (or be aware of how others -- advertisers, friends, loved ones, etc. -- are trying to persuade us to do or believe or feel something). How is Athena indeed portrayed as extremely clear-seeing in her speech (Speech 1101 and 1102, yea!) to Zeus in I.60-119/Fitzgerald or I.54-112/Fagles? or in V.9-22/Fitzgerald or V. 9-23/Fagles? Why is it a smart rhetorical or tactical move to begin her speeches (I.61, I.103; V.10/Fitzgerald ; I.54, I.97/Fagles) the way she does? How does she relate the material or subject matter of her speech, what's on her mind, to what Zeus has just been talking about in Book 1 (I.45-59/Fitzgerald; I.36-52/Fagles) or appealing in several ways to paternity in Book 5? How does Homer portray Athena as a pro whom we'd all want on our "dream team" if we got into serious legal or physical jeopardy that called for argumentation or persuasion? What psychological components in Zeus is Athena working on, and how, in her persuasion of him? Be on the lookout throughout this epic for striking instances of effective communication and persuasion, which was highly prized by the Greeks, who, incidentally, in later times (the fifth century B.C.) were no strangers to rampant lawsuits (an epidemic that also flourished in Renaissance England; as noted in Ecclesiastes in the Bible, very little, like American litigation, is all that new).  With reference to Athena and Zeus in the passages already cited, do daughters still try to wrap daddy around their little finger, or is this merely an ancient Greek phenomenon?  (G5d) Humor in Homer (a Phrase with a Nice Ring), Homeric Irony An ancient TV show (not quite as old as Homer's Odyssey) hosted by Art Linkletter was called People Are Funny, and this humorous dimension of humanity is often depicted and explored in literature, including serious or even tragic literature. An example of Homeric irony is to be found in the opening of Book 1 in the description of the struggle of Odysseus and demise of his shipmates:

 

. . . He fought only to save his life, to bring his shipmates home. But not by will nor valor could he save them, for their own recklessness destroyed them all -- children and fools, they killed and feasted on the cattle of Lord Helios, the Sun, and he who moves all day through heaven took from their eyes the dawn of their return.         (I.8-15/Fitzgerald)

. . . fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home. But he could not save them from disaster, hard as he strove -- the recklessness of their own ways destroyed them all, the blind fools, they devoured the cattle of the Sun and the Sungod blotted out the day of their return.                    (I.6-10/Fagles)

Ironically, the sun god deprives the greedy shipmates from seeing the sunrise. Another example of Homeric irony occurs in the opening of Book 5, the first three lines describing Dawn rising from her marriage couch with Tithonos; this union of an immortal, Dawn, with a mortal, Tithonos, is just the subject of the discussion, a bit later in the book, of Hermes and Kalypso, and the principal source of Kalypso's grievance.

G6. Parallels between Homer's Odyssey and Greek Art

One interesting feature of ancient Greek art, particularly in architecture, is that what appears to be straight is in fact somewhat crooked -- made crooked to seem straight (see the comments about this in the art textbook). A parallel of this craftiness (in several senses of craft) can be found in Homer's use of in medias res and flashback, rather than telling the story completely straight, as well as Homer's suspension of the narrative at moments of suspense to indulge in an epic simile. Hence, just at the moment when Odysseus gives Polyphemos a sharp stick in the eye, IX.391 ff./Fitzgerald or IX.421 ff./Fagles), Homer chooses to halt the narrative for an epic simile describing a blacksmith's work, rather than immediately telling what Polyphemos' reaction is, what Polyphemos does in response; or in XIX.389 ff./Fitzgerald or XIX.409 ff./Fagles, when Odysseus' cover is about to be blown because his old nurse is about to recognize him, Homer halts the narrative for a substantial digression explaining how Odysseus got the scar that his nurse may or will recognize.

Another feature of ancient Greek art, and especially pertinent to the Geometric period, which corresponds to the time Homer is thought to have composed his epics, is symmetry -- even to the point of mathematical symmetry. The Greeks found this symmetry in mathematics, in music as well as art, and the very symmetrical, indeed mathematically symmetrical structure of Homer's Odyssey can be seen in the following diagrams (e.g., 12 books prior to Odysseus' return to Ithaka; 12 books after the return; 4 books about the Telemakhos story vs. 8 books for Odysseus the central figure, in a ratio of 1 to 2 or fraction of 1/3 and 2/3):
 

Yet another diagram also shows the same mathematical symmetry embedded in the work:
 
 

G7. Some general themes and motifs in The Odyssey As you read, keep in mind how the following items are being dealt with in Homer's second epic:

I. Homeric or Greek values: admirable traits of personality and behavior
A. Intellect
B. Restraint
C. Bravery
D. Perseverance
E. Loyalty
F. (Lasting) fame
G. Capacity for deep feeling

II. Humanity's relationship with nature
A. The sea
B. Aeolous (the winds)
C. Scylla and Charybdis
D. Animals

III. Humanity's relationship with the gods
A. Omens
B. Sacrifice (especially wine)
C. Gods' will vs. free will
D. Respect or disrespect
E. Special or ordinary connections

IV. Human beings' relationships with each other
A. Individual
    1. Love
    2. Marriage
    3. Courtship
    4. Friendship
        a. Exchange of gifts
        b. Hospitality
    5. Parent-child
B. Social (defining "civilized" or true "civilization")
    1. Disordered society, uncivil(ized) household
        a. Ithaka (while Odysseus is absent)
        b. Kalypso's island
        c. Lotos eaters
        d. Kyklopes' island
        e. Kirke's island
    2. Ordered society, household (Greek oikos, meaning "manor," and giving us the word economy)
        a. Olympos (Bk. 1)
        b. Nestor (Bk. 3)
        c. Menelaos (Bk. 4)
        d. Phaiakians (Bks. 5-8, 13)
    3. Key issues
        a. Relationship between old and young
        b. Proper leader, king
        c. Arts and artists
        d. Artefacts, material goods, prosperity
        e. Hospitality, sociability
        f. Communication skills
        g. Diet (often related to both e and h)
        h. Reverence for gods
        i. The genders
 
All these themes emerge from Odysseus's journey and homecoming, which may be easier to visualize with the following map that attempts to chart that journey:
 

G8. The subjects of the visual arts, music, literature, and commerce or business in Homer's The Odyssey (G5a) Throughout Homer's second epic, the visual arts, music, and literature are constantly referred to; what do we learn about what the ancient Greeks thought about them through these references? What do we learn about the uses, value, or interrelationship of the visual arts, music, and literature in the repeated references to them in this literary work? (G5b) Although he emphasizes what we think of today as "culture," Homer does not disparage such practical spheres as business and economics in The Odyssey. How does Homer emphasize the importance of business and commerce in the disguise Athena adopts in Book 1 or Princess Nausikaa's description of some of the occupational activity of her people in Book 6, "There's our assembly . . . "the foaming seas!" (lines 292-298) [Fagles] or "The agora/ with fieldstone . . . cross the foaming sea" (lines 281-88) [Fitzgerald]?

G9. Homer's Odyssey in Music, Literature, Film, and Painting

Homer's Odyssey has inspired several art music (the new term for "classical music") pieces, mainly operas, as well as some pieces of popular music.  Operas would include the following:

Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (1640) by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) [music] and G. Badoaro (words; libretto)

Ulysse (1703) by Francois Rebel (1701-1775) [music] and H. Guichard [libretto]

Ulysses (1722) by Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739) [music] and F.M. Lersner, based on the libretto by H. Guichard

Penelope (1785) by Niccolo Piccinni (1728-1800)

Penelope (1795) by Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801)

Penelope (1913) by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) [music] and René Fauchois (libretto)

Penelope (1954) by Rolf Liebermann (1910- ) [music] and H. Strobel (libretto)

An interesting Rock version of Homer's Odyssey material can be found in *"Tales of Brave Ulysses" (1968) by Cream and included on the 1995 CD The Very Best of Cream (Polydor 31452 3752-2).

Material from Homer's Odyssey is used by fourteenth-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri in Inferno (Ulysses actually appears in one of the cantos), English Victorian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson in his poems "Ulysses" and "The Lotos Eaters," twentieth-century Irish/British novelist James Joyce's Ulysses (1922), twentieth-century Greek novelist and poet Nikos Kazantzakis's The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938), and Derek Walcott's modern poetic epic Omeros (1989). Lyric poems have included "Circe" (1963) by A.D. Hope, as well as "Circe" (1977) by Olga Broumas; "Odysseus" (1910) by Alfred Noyes; "Odysseus" (1956) by W.S. Merwin; "Odysseus" (1959) and "The Sirens" (1959) by Donald Finkel, as well as "Siren Song" (1974) by Margaret Atwood; "The Return of Odysseus" (1943) and "Telemachos Remembers" (1956) by Edwin Muir; "Ulysses" (1933) by Robert Graves; "Ulysses" (1959) by John Ciardi; "Odyssey: 20 Years Later" (1995) by Peter Ulisse; "Ulysses and the Siren" (1603) by Samuel Daniel; "Penelope's Song" (1996) by Louise Gluck; "An Ancient Gesture" (1931) by Edna St. Vincent Millay; and "The Suitor" (1988) by Linda Pastan.

Feature films based on Homer's Odyssey have included Ulysses (1955), an Italian production, starring Kirk Douglas (!), and The Odyssey (made-for-TV, 1997), starring Armand Assante.

In the visual arts, Homer's Odyssey and its myths and tales were depicted from about the eighth century through the fifth century BCE in ancient Greek art, particularly on vases, as made clear in many general art history textbooks (both in explanatory material as well as illustrations), and in such books as John Boardman's Athenian Black Figure Vases: A Handbook (Thames and Hudson, 1974),  John Boardman's Greek Art (3rd ed.; Thames and Hudson, 1985), and T.H. Carpenter's Art and Myth in Ancient Greece (Thames and Hudson, 1991). Art historians put such art into the three main categories of black-figure, red-figure, and white-ground painted-vase decoration.   Several episodes from the Odyssey are illustrated on vases.  Drawn (in more than one sense) from Book 6 is Odysseus's meeting with Nausikaa.  From Book 9, one of the most popular and repeatedly pictorialized episodes is Odysseus' battle with the Cyclops (Kyklops) Polyphemos, illustrated again (1), and again (2), and again (3), and again (4), and again (5), and again (6) -- both on ancient vases and in modern art books. From Book 10, at least one ancient vase painter found the encounter of Odysseus and Circe (Kirke) bewitching; one book illustration gives an "unrolled" view of the vase, while another illustration shows the placement from two angles.  From Book 11, a vase painting helping to illuminate the background of the coolness Odysseus finds with Ajax (or Aias) is the suicide of Ajax (or Aias), provoked when Ajax lost a debate with Odysseus about what warrior -- Odysseus or Ajax -- should be rewarded with the armor of the recently slain Achilles.  Almost as alluring to ancient vase painters as Odysseus' combat with the Cyclops (Kyklops) was, from Book 12, the encounter of Odysseus and his crew with the Sirens (Seirenes); at least two paintings depict the episode, one with a giant and elongated Odysseus on the right side of the painting, almost lost from view or seeming to be part of the ship's mast, another, with the main participants much more clearly presented.  From Book 19, the meeting of Odysseus with his nurse, Eurykleia, is illustrated; from Books 21-22, Odysseus' fight with the suitors is illustrated; and from Books 19 and 23, Odysseus' reunion with Penelope is illustrated. 

Important visual art works include -- besides numerous ancient Greek vase paintings -- Nestor's Tales of the Trojan War (etching; 1930) by Pablo Picasso; Penelope Weaving (1500) by Pintoricchio, Landscape with Polyphemus (1649) by Nicholas Poussin; Poseidon with Odysseus' Ship (1560) by P. Tibaldi; Telemachus and Mentor [Athena] (1757) by G. Tiepolo; The Trojan Horse (1475) by N. dell'Abate; Ulysses and Circe (1600) by B. Spranger; Ulysses and Nausicaa (1609) by P. Lastman; Ulysses and Nausicaa (1830) by C. Gleyre; Ulysses and Penelope (1563) by F. Primaticcio; Ulysses and the Sirens (1837) by William Etty; Ulysses and the Sirens (1845) by E. Calvert; Ulysses Deriding Polyphemos (1829) by J.M. W. Turner.

G10. Connections of the Literature, Art, and Music Components - Professor Walter Evans and others have noted the following connections among the literature, art, and music of ancient Greece: (a) for the Archaic period -- 1. WARRIOR FOCUS / ARISTOCRATIC VALUES ; 2. INDIVIDUALISM ; 3. DETERMINISM / DISCIPLINE / RIGID PATTERNS ; 4. ATTENTION TO FUNERAL RITES / DEATH; 5. Focus on human world ; (b) for the Classical period -- [Citizen Focus rather than Warrior Focus of Archaic period] -- 1. Clarity and Simplicity (and Restraint) of Structure ; 2. Rationality ; 3. Focus on Humans / This World ; 4. Idealism ; 5. Individualism (self-assertion) ; 6. Innovation — relative freedom from tradition. How can any of these components be seen in, or beginnings hinted in, Homer's Odyssey?


G11. Excerpts from  English Translations of Homer's Odysssey, Plus Notes


G12-1. Notes and Questions on Homer's Odyssey  

 

Questions on Book 1

1.01. How is there multiple meaning in the epithet polytropon applied to Odysseus, used to describe him in the first line of the poem, and a problem for various English translators (as shown in the various English translations of Book 1 attached to these Notes and Questions): “Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns” (Bk 1, line 1)?

1.02 The actual Greek (as shown in these Notes and Questions) reads “andra moi ennepe, Mousa, polytropon, os mala polla” (Bk 1, line 1); what is suggested about Homer’s values and Greek values and ideas by the placement of the word for “man” at the head of the line and the beginning of the poem?

1.03  (a) What Homeric and ancient Greek values are suggested in the first passage (Bk 1, lines 1-12; “Sing to me . . . sing for our time too”)? (b) How is a religious dimension found, what ideas are implied, twice in the passage in the references to the Muse and to the “Sungod” (line 10)-- more literally, as in other translations, “Helios Hyperion”? (c) How does the passage suggest an emphasis on the values or qualities of striving and perseverance?  (d) How does the passage suggest an emphasis on the value or quality of self control? (e) How does the passage suggest an emphasis on the value or quality of the capacity for deep feeling by an individual? (f1) How does the passage in the somewhat misleading description of how Odysseus’ crew met their deaths -- versus the extended narrative later in the whole episode (Book 12) show the obliquity, the trickiness, of the columns of an ancient Greek temple, which, in order to appear straight from a distance, are actually not perfectly straight in their construction? (f2) How does Homer’s use of the in medias res technique for this epic also parallel the art of an ancient Greek temple’s columns? (g) How is Homeric irony shown in the phrasing of the Sungod blotting out the day of the return of the errant crew members?

1.04 (a) One of the recurrent epithets for “caves” or “cave” in this epic is “hollow,” which has multiple meanings and represents a problem for English translations; how does Fagles’ translation -- “arching caverns” (1.18) -- not capture a meaning in the Greek word for “hollow” that applies to how Odysseus feels in being held captive and separated from home and family? (The phrase in the Robert Fitzgerald translation, “sea-hollowed,” or the adjective in the Richmond Lattimore translation, “hollowed,” also doesn’t quite incorporate the meaning of “hollow” by itself, either.) (b) A problem for English translation is the repeated epithet for human beings, including Odysseus in these early lines, of the Greek word antitheo (e.g., antitheo Odusei [1.21, Greek text), which literally means “divine” or “godlike.” Fitzgerald translates “Lord . . . brave”; Fagles translates “great” in “the great Odysseus” [1.24]; compare the more literal translations of Dimock-Murray, “rage unceasingly against godlike Odysseus” ; Richmond Lattimore, “except Poseidon; he remained relentlessly angry / with godlike Odysseus” [1.20-21];  and Albert Cook, “Poseidon, who contended unremittingly / With godlike Odysseus” [1.20-21]. How are multiple meanings incorporated in antitheo here, including Homeric irony in describing the “godlike” Odysseus being held captive by the goddess Calypso and persecuted by the god Poseidon? (c) How are different forms of loyalty or fidelity suggested in the first twenty or so lines of the epic by way of references to the crew and the wife of Odysseus? (d) How are different facets of the relation between human and divine shown in multiple examples in the first twenty or twenty-five lines of the epic? (e) How is an artistic obliquity (cf. the columns of the ancient Greek temple) shown in withholding an explanation in the first reference to Poseidon’s enmity toward Odysseus (that is, why Poseidon is unrelenting in his hostility)? (f) How is the issue of Fate suggested in the reference at the end of the opening passages by the references to Odysseus ultimately reaching his homeland (in Fagles, 1.19-24)?

1.05 What ideas about or traits of the orderly vs. disorderly household (or society) are suggested in Book 1 in the juxtaposition of Olympus (the orderly household or society) versus the absent-Odysseus’ household in Ithaca?

1.06 (a) What Zeus talks about at the beginning of the Olympus episode initiates the Agamemnon and Orestes motif in the epic – compare how the disguised Athena brings up to Telemachus the Agamemnon story later in Book 1, at Ithaca, and how this motif occurs in Books 4, 11, and 24 of the epic. What ideas are suggested in the motif about (a1) the relationship between human beings and the gods, (a2) proper human conduct, (a3) wise or foolish human conduct, (a4) marital fidelity, (a5) a son’s duty or relationship to his father? (b) How is the Agamemnon story treated in the plays by ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus – Agamemnon, Choephoroi (Libation Bearers), and Eumenides – collectively called the Oresteia?

1.07 (a) Both in Book 1 and Book 5, how is a daughter portrayed in trying to wrap her father around her little finger (something purely imaginary, which could only happen in an ancient poetic epic) in how Athena attempts to manipulate Zeus? (b) What verbal techniques or devices does the daughter use to persuade or manipulate her dad, including, but not limited, to her allusion to the parental ancestry of Calypso that is bound to be a sore point to her dad? (c) Probably the most repeated epithet for Athena is the Greek word glaukopis, “shining-eyed”; as pointed out in the Prinsky Notes and Questions earlier, how has this epithet proved problematic for English translators? (d) How does this epithet for Athena (“shining-eyed”) help convey any trait or traits of hers? (e) Fitzgerald consistently translates “grey-eyed,” but Fagles often varies the translation (despite the clear repetition in the original Greek – Athena is always glaukopis, “shining-eyed”): e.g., “her eyes flashing bright” (1.106), “Her eyes glinting” (1.206).

1.08 (a) The first of several references to why Poseidon has a grudge against Odysseus – the blinding of the Cyclops Polyphemus – is suggestive about what motivations or values the gods may have in behaving toward human beings; what motivations or values are suggested in Poseidon’s behavior toward Odysseus? (b) What meanings, including Homeric irony, may be found in the epithet “godlike” (antitheon) applied to Polyphemus in Zeus’ words “Cyclops / whose giant eye he blinded: godlike Polyphemus, / towering over all the Cyclops’ clan in power” (1.82-84)? (c) What details in the passage about the interaction of Odysseus, Polyphemus, and Poseidon suggest that Poseidon is only second in power to Zeus, including the epithet used for Poseidon?

1.09 (a) How do the epithets for Hermes (“guide and giant killer” [1.100]) relate in thematic ways to Odysseus’ odyssey in returning from Troy to Ithaca? (b1) Given that Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, is a 19- or 20-year-old who has grown up from infancy without a father, why does Athena need to enact the plan that she outlines for him [1.104 ff.]? )(b2) How is the plan that Athena outlines for Telemachus actualized in Books 1-4? How is this actualization suggestive about the relation between the gods and human beings, as well as what Telemachus will need later in the epic? (c) Athena’s reference to the inhabitants of Ithaca  as “the flowing-haired Achaeans” (1.106) initiates this epithet-motif applied to them; what ideas, including some Homeric irony, are conveyed by the epithet in relation to what happens in Book 2 of the epic?

1.10 (a) Why does Athena disguise herself when first communicating with Telemachus, and why does she choose the disguise that she does in making this communication (1.120 ff.)? (b1) What traits are revealed about the suitors by way of the activity in which they are first seen to be engaged (1.124-125; “There she found the swaggering suitors,” etc.)? (b2) What is the unwittingly ominous symbolism of the activity of the suitors in which they are first seen to be engaged? (c) How are the suitors portrayed as engaged in the depredation of Odysseus’ estate in the first details describing them (1.126-131; “lounging on hides . . . sides of meat”)?

1.11 (a) What is revealed about Telemachus’ relation to the gods – especially Athena – as well as his spiritual sensitivity by his being “First by far to see her” (1.132) among the group in the hall and courtyard? (b) The formula to describe speech, “winged words” (1.144; “met her with winged words”), is very frequent in the epic, and poses in each instance and in the many repetitions, problems for English translation. Fitzgerald translates the episode as “Then he said warmly.” What meanings does the epithet “winged” in the formula “winged words” seem to have in this instance? How did Fitzgerald derive “warmly” from the formula? (c) How does the place where Telemachus places the spear of Mentes/Athena (1.148 ff.; “he took her lance / and fixed it . . . waiting”) suggest (c1) a potential orderliness of the household / society (when Odysseus is present), and (c2) foreshadowing ominousness as applied to the suitors? (d1) How in several places, beginning with the reference to the “long bronze spear” (1.143) [an intentional anachronism by Homer, in one of dozens of reference to bronze, to suggest the bygone era several centuries before Homer’s time], the rack where the spear of Mentes/Athena is placed, and the chair where Telemachus seats Mentes/Athena, does Homer show his fascination for art and artefacts (1.143-153)? The artefacts, as here, are components of what is called “the decorative arts” in art history, including textiles, furniture, etc.

1.12 (a1) What are the ingredients of hospitality as shown in the details of how Telemachus greets his guest (1.140-168; “and straight to the porch he went . . . poured them wine”)? (a2) In the ritual of hospitality, what matters have to wait, as shown in what Telemachus asks his visitor later (1.196 ff; “Enough. / Tell me about . . . “)? (a3) What ingredients of hospitality are shown in how Telemachus parts from the visitor (1.355 ff.; “But come, stay longer . . . friend to friend”)? (b) As explained in the Prinsky Notes and Questions, as well as lecture, how did – and does – Greek ecology and geography relate to the importance of hospitality? (c) Why does the hospitality ritual involve the pouring of water for hand washing from a golden pitcher to a silver basin – that is, why not the pouring from a silver pitcher to a golden basin? (d) As repeated in the epic – and a sort of self-interested plug for his own profession, what does Homer describe as the high point of a lunch or dinner party (1.175 ff.; “and when they’d put aside desire for food and drink . . . crowns a feast”)? (e) How are the three basic components of the Humanities course at ASU – art, literature, music – clearly shown early in the epic, as they will repeatedly be shown throughout the work? (f1) How does the musical instrument of the Odysseus household poet combine both the music and art components of Humanities (“A herald placed . . . in Phemiuis’ hands” [1.178]) ? (f2) How do the passages involving Phemius (1.178 ff., “A herald placed”; 1.373 ff., “Amidst them still, the famous bard sang on”) combine all three components of Humanities?

1.13 (a) How does the elaborate story told by Mentes / Athena to explain why the visit is taking place (1.206 ff.; “Her eyes glinting . . . ‘My whole story . . . he’s never at a loss”) show the ancient Greek valuing of intelligence and business, as well as Athena’s clever mixing of lies and truth? (b) What might lying and storytelling have to do with intelligence – given that Athena is the goddess of intelligence? (c) How does Athena begin her program of morale-building and character-building for Telemachus in her story and her comment about particulars of Telemachus, “’My whole story, of course . . . I’ve not set eyes on Odysseus or he on me’” [1.207-247]? (d) How does the answer of Telemachus about his parentage (“And young Telemachus cautiously replied . . . his son’” [1.247-256] reveal that this late-stage adolescent needs what Athena is supplying?