The Odyssey
The Odyssey is the ancient Greek epic traditionally attributed to Homer, centred on Odysseus's return to Ithaca after the Trojan War and the events awaiting him at home. Its voyages, delays, disguises and recognitions offer material for studying movement, agency and belonging. This article uses Samuel Butler's English prose translation, available as Project Gutenberg eBook 1727.[1]
Translation and scope
Butler calls the protagonist Ulysses and uses names such as Minerva and Neptune where readers of other translations may expect Athena and Poseidon. This article uses Odysseus, Athena and Poseidon in its own prose. Book numbers locate the episodes across translations; particular English expressions belong to the translator's wording.
The discussion follows selected episodes in the epic. Butler's introduction and footnotes include his own arguments about authorship and geography; those arguments are distinct from the story and are not adopted here as established facts.
Story summary
The poem begins while Odysseus is still absent from Ithaca. His son Telemachus seeks news of him, while suitors occupy the household and pursue Penelope. Odysseus eventually leaves Calypso's island, survives a storm and reaches the Phaeacians, who receive him as a guest. He tells them about earlier parts of his journey, so the order of narration differs from the order of travel.[2]
These recollections include the Lotus-eaters, the Cyclops, Aeolus's gift of contained winds, Circe and the Sirens. The Phaeacians later transport Odysseus to Ithaca while he sleeps. Arrival does not immediately restore his place in the household: disguise, recognition, the killing of the suitors and reunion with Penelope follow.[3]
Images and movement in the story
The distinctions below are editorial observations about the specified scenes. They do not assume that the entire epic is an allegory or that each object represents a single abstract idea.
| Episode | What happens | Relationship to compare |
|---|---|---|
| Lotus-eaters, Book IX | Men who eat the lotus lose their wish to return home; Odysseus forces them back aboard. | Wanting to continue differs from having an open route. The leader's purpose differs from the men's immediate wishes. |
| Aeolus's winds, Book X | The crew open a sack they believe contains treasure, releasing winds that carry them away from nearby Ithaca. | Nearness to the destination does not guarantee arrival; beliefs about a resource affect its use. |
| Sirens, Book XII | Odysseus is bound to the mast while the crew, their ears stopped with wax, row past. | One person's restricted movement supports the ship's continued movement. |
| Arrival in Ithaca, Book XIII | Odysseus is carried home asleep and does not at first recognise the land. | Reaching a location differs from recognising it or being recognised there. |
| The bed, Book XXIII | Knowledge of a bed built around a rooted olive trunk helps establish Odysseus's identity to Penelope. | A fixed object becomes evidence within a relationship shaped by long absence. |
The first two episodes distinguish a change of purpose from a change of course. Among the Lotus-eaters, the men cease to want the return. With Aeolus's sack, they remain voyagers but misunderstand what they are opening. In both cases the narrative includes other people's decisions, not only Odysseus's intentions.[4]
Restraint and agency
Before reaching the Sirens, Odysseus instructs the crew to bind him more tightly if he asks for release. When he signals to be freed, they follow his earlier instruction and continue rowing. The scene contrasts an advance decision with a later desire, and assigns different roles to the listener and the rowers.[5]
For comparison, note who requests the restraint, who applies it, what purpose it serves and when it ends. The same physical image of binding can appear in very different relationships. See Agency and Motion: Moving and Being Moved and Ties and Binds.
Homecoming and recognition
Penelope tests the returned man's identity by ordering their bed to be moved. Odysseus protests and describes how he built it around an olive trunk rooted in the ground. His knowledge of its construction provides the evidence she needs. Immediately afterwards, the poem compares her welcome of him to shipwrecked swimmers' welcome of land.[6]
The bed can be read as an image of rootedness, but its immediate narrative function is also practical: it tests shared knowledge. The following simile transfers the relief of reaching shore to Penelope's experience. Comparing these details keeps the object, its role in the plot and the explicit figurative comparison distinct.
Related pages
- The Return Journey: Bringing Experience Back into Everyday Life
- Ships
- Islands, Castaways and Exile
- Anchors and Moorings
- Music, Rhythm and Harmony
- Narrative and Interpretation
- Comparative Mythology: Methods, Evidence and Limitations
Stories and literature | Subject index
Sources
- ↑ Homer, The Odyssey, translated into English prose by Samuel Butler, Project Gutenberg eBook 1727.
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey, Books I-IX, in Butler's translation.
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey, Books IX-XIII and XXI-XXIII, in Butler's translation.
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey, Book IX, Lotus-eaters episode, and Book X, Aeolus episode, in Butler's translation.
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey, Book XII, Sirens episode, in Butler's translation.
- ↑ Homer, Odyssey, Book XXIII, the bed test and reunion, in Butler's translation.