The "Odyssey" Re-formed

by Frederick Ahl, Hanna M. Roisman

Frederick Ahl and Hanna M. Roisman believe that contemporary readers who do not know ancient Greek can gain a sophisticated grasp of the Odyssey if they are aware of some of the issues that intrigue and puzzle the experts. They offer a challenging new reading of the epic that is directed to the general student of literature as well as to the classicist. Ahl and Roisman suggest that, while translators have served the Odyssey and its English-speaking readers remarkably well, the nonspecialist wishing to do a more detailed, critical reading of the epic faces a dilemma. The enormous scholarly literature makes few concessions to the nonspecialist, and those studies designed for general readers tend to offer variations on the overly simple, idealized readings of the epic common in high school and college survey courses. The Odyssey Re-Formed offers a lively and detailed reading of the Odyssey , episode by episode, with particular attention paid to the manipulative power of its language and Homer's skill in using that power. The authors explore how myth is shaped for specific, rhetorical reasons and suggest ways in which the epic uses its audience's awareness of the varied pool of mythic traditions to give the Odyssey remarkable and subtle resonances that have profound poetic power.

344 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 1996

Reviews

[antiardle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a re-reading of The Odyssey that attempts to service as a middle man between the layman and the scholar. It tackles prominent questions historians, scholars, and linguists have over the epic. Ahl dispels the notion present in middle-grade education that The Odyssey is an unimaginative simple work that is meant to be taken at face value. Instead, Ahl reinterprets the text as full of indirect hidden dialogue masked by pleasantries and euphemisms. A prominent example of this is Odysseus' encounter with the Phaecians where his polite remarks at Alcinous and his people clash with his oblique insults levied against them. Odysseus' recollection of the tale of the uncivilized Cyclopses is preceded by a tale of a secluded "Goat Island" that anyone "could have made a strong settlement." The insult is levied at the Phaecians who ventured far away in search of rescue from the Cyclopses. Odysseus' subtleties often get lost in translation (e.g., the vocative gynai that is commonly used of wives present in Odysseus' dialogue with Penelope in Book 19) so this text was helpful for an English speaker like me to grasp some of the obliqueness of Odysseus' dialect.