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Here Stephen Tracy offers a vivid, fast-paced narrative that serves as a reading guide to Homer's monumental epic. He not only provides translations of key passages and traces the evolution of major themes in the Odyssey, but also helps new readers to understand the artistry of one of the best tales ever told. Aimed at advanced readers as well, this book stresses an appreciation of how Homer has ordered his narrative, covering such topics as character interaction, family relationships, elements of poetic language, and the symbolic treatment of death, rebirth, growth, and knowledge. Given the controversy over the way the Odyssey was composed and handed down, Tracy concentrates on presenting the poem as a highly unified work. His analysis of the narrative structure reveals the epic to be arranged as a series of parallel journeys. The journey, seen here as a symbol of growth and self-knowledge, is among the major themes discussed in detail, along with the importance of women as overseers of life's journeys and the need for the sons of heroes to grow up worthy of their fathers.
E-Book Content
T H E
S T O R Y
OF
T H E
ODYSSEY
T H E
S T O R Y
O F T H E
ODYSSEY
S T E P H E N PRINCETON
UNIVERSITY
V.
T R A C Y
PRESS • PRINCETON,
NEW
JERSEY
Copyright © 1990 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Chichester, West Sussex All Rights Reserved Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint copyrighted material from The "Odyssey" of Homer: A Modern Translation
by Richmond Lattimore. Copyright © 1965, 1967 Richmond Lattimore. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tracy, Stephen V., 1941The story of the Odyssey / Stephen V. Tracy. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-691-06855-0 (alk. paper)—ISBN 0-691-01494-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Homer. Odyssey. I. Title. PA4167.T7 1990 883'.01—dc2o 90-34573 This book has been composed in Linotron Palatino Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources Printed in the United States of America 5 7 9 10 8 6
FOR
Steve, Erik, Ben, and Mark
C O N T E N T S
Preface ix Introduction xi
CHAPTER 1
Books One to Four 3 CHAPTER 2
Books Five to Eight 27 CHAPTER 3
Books Nine to Twelve 55 CHAPTER 4
Books Thirteen to Sixteen 78 CHAPTER 5
Books Seventeen to Twenty 98 CHAPTER 6
Books Twenty-One to Twenty-Four 122
Viii
CONTENTS APPENDIX
The Odyssey as the Conclusion to the Story of the Heroes at Troy 149 Suggestions for Further Reading Articles and Books Cited 153 Index 157
P R E F A C E
W
book on the Odyssey? Quite frankly because there is none like this one in English and there is a need for it. The idea for this book was planted by one of my students at the American School of Classical Studies, Lisa Cox, during a drive to Delphi and Mt. Parnassos on a snowy winter's day in early 1982. Almost two years later I began writing out of a conviction that such a book was needed and as a way of working myself out of a period of listless inactivity (my own not-very-pleasant trip to Lotos land) caused by a tragedy in my immediate family. I have learned much about the Odyssey from writing this book; it will in turn be gratifying to me if others can learn something from reading it. One note of advice to beginning readers: always read Homer first a