The Authoress of the Odyssey, Where and When she Wrote, who she was, the use she Made of the Iliad, and how the Poem Grew Under her Hands

by Samuel Butler

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Classics

314 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1897

About the author

For the author of Hudibras, see Samuel Butler.

Samuel Butler was an iconoclastic Victorian author who published a variety of works, including the Utopian satire Erewhon and the posthumous novel The Way of All Flesh, his two best-known works, but also extending to examinations of Christian orthodoxy, substantive studies of evolutionary thought, studies of Italian art, and works of literary history and criticism. Butler also made prose translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey which remain in use to this day.

See also: Samuel H. Butcher, Anglo-Irish classicist, who also undertook prose translations of Homer's works (in collaboration with Andrew Lang.

Reviews

[Emil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most contemporary Homeric scholars agree that the Iliad and the Odyssey were not written by the same author; the Odyssey was most likely composed at a later time by someone very accustomed to the Iliad.

If we assume that the Odyssey was not written by Homer and we take a closer look at the narrative manner, themes, style and portrayal of men and women, we can't help but agree that the Odyssey might have been composed by a woman. This would be by no means a singular event. Hedyle, Telesilla, Sappho, Megalostrata or Anyte of Tegea are just some examples of renowned ancient Greek female poets.

In his "The Authoress of the Odyssey" (1897), Samuel Butler went further than stating that the author is a female. He identified her as a greek speaking young princess from Trapani, west coast of Sicily. Moreover, the author presumably added herself to the poem as Nausicaa, the princess of Phaeacia.

How about that? Nausicaa, one of the most charming characters ever conceived could have been the author of the Odyssey. Fascinating,  but mere speculation.

The Sicilian genesis argument stands, though. Everyone agrees that Scylla and Charybdis correspond to Sicily and Calabria at the Straits of Messina. The Island of Gozo in the Maltese archipelago is the house of Calypso.

I have visited both Trapani with the Aegadian Islands and the Ionian islands. I agree with Butler. All the Ithacan scenes of the Odyssey are resembling Trapani and its neighbourhood ( like Cefalu and Mt. Erice). The Ionian islands in the poem resemble Aegadean Islands west of Sicily, not the actual Ionian islands in Greece.

When we put everything together we will notice that most of Ulysses adventures are taking place near the Island of Sicily, so it's safe to say that the author was very accustomed to that region, probably born and raised on the west coast of Sicily.



All in all, it's a very interesting read, although Samuel Butler patronising and jesting tone can be somehow annoying.

[Richard Seltzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Samuel Butler, author of The Way of All Flesh and translator (to prose) of The Iliad and The Odyssey, believed that The Odyssey was written by a young woman. This is his argument in defense of that theory.

This book feels like the books that try to prove that Shakespeare didn't write Shakespeare's plays.

He points out many anomalies and unexpected details in The Odyssey. But his "evidence" is a matter of speculating that a man wouldn't have described a certain scene that way or wouldn't have repeatedly given precedence to women rather than men.

The discussion is amusing, but not convincing.

He then makes the far weaker claim that the woman author lived in a particular town in Sicily (Tapani), and that the descriptions of both Scheria (Phaeacia) and Ithaca are based on her knowledge of Trapani, and that she wrote before 1000 BC.

Only a true lover of Homers' work would read this entire book. But such a person would enjoy it, as I did.

[LS · Rating 3 out of 5]

CHAPTER VII: FURTHER INDICATIONS THAT THE WRITER IS A WOMAN - YOUNG - HEADSTRONG - AND UNMARRIED

[Richard Epstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just because book espouses a crackpot notion doesn't mean it isn't fun to read or worth your time. Cf., The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting conjecture which becomes more and more outlandish but is at least intriguing and makes you reexamine the text (and your biases).

[Meg Lendrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Butler's prologue presents a promising feminist-like argument in which he claims that the Odyssey was written by a woman. However, his justification for his claim that the Odyssey was written by a woman is overtly misogynistic. He started his prologue with such promise and a refreshing interpretation of the Odyssey but, much like his contemporaries, his misogyny and sexist beliefs are explicitly stated.

[Javier Galeano · Rating 3 out of 5]

En este ensayo Samuel Butler, el traductor de la versión que me leí de la Odisea, desarrolla la teoría de que la persona que escribió la Odisea fue una mujer joven y probablemente que vivía en Sicilia. Además incluye un buen resumen de la Odisea. El libro es interesante, aunque muchas veces se vuelve muy técnica. Introduce algunas ideas de factura propia, que intenta defender con mejor o peor fortuna.

[Ana Maria Echeverria · Rating 4 out of 5]

muy interesante