The Bow and the Lyre: A Platonic Reading of the Odyssey

by Seth Benardete

In this interpretation of the Odyssey, Seth Benardete suggests that Homer may have been the first to philosophize in a Platonic sense. He argues that the Odyssey concerns precisely the relation between philosophy and poetry and, more broadly, the rational and the irrational in human beings.

Genres: Philosophy, Literature, Classics, Literary Criticism, Criticism, Nonfiction

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Seth Benardete was an American classicist and philosopher, long a member of the faculties of New York University and The New School. In addition to teaching positions at Harvard, Brandeis, St. John's College, Annapolis and NYU, Benardete was a fellow for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Stiftung in Munich.

Reviews

[Jacob Hurley]

Not an interpretation of Plato-like content in the Odyssey per-se, but rather a reading of the Odyssey as though it were the work of Plato - where every word is deliberate, every sequencing and assocation suggests a structure, and where contradictions suggest a meaningful paradox to be resolved by the reader. The main insights from this are that Odysseus' journey is far more politically focused than is supposed (from his experiences 'governing' his ship-crew to his re-seizing of Ithaca), and that his journey is far more personally transformative than is immediately apparent (as he embraces mortality not only through a singular choice at Calypso's island, but also as he settles into the meaning of his simultaneously anonymous and non-physical essence as outis/'nobody' and as deceiver). Benardete's analysis is dense and at times difficult to follow, and I think his analysis often tends to stretch by making possible errata/apocrypha/nonchalances into significant assertions, as well as citing Thucydides and other much-later authors with more truth&credence than they probably merit, but this is a great exegesis.

[Διόνυσος Ελευθέριος]

Benardete's interpretation of Homer's Odyssey is one of the highest exegetical achievements of our species. It is a book that requires an immense amount of careful but always rewarded study (a task which I have by no means fully completed myself). A full discussion of it here is not fitting, so I will confine myself to only a few brief comments. Benardete persuasively demonstrates that Plato's political philosophy is not entirely a novelty, for Plato learned Platonic political philosophy from Homer. Platonic political philosophy thus owes a great deal to Homeric political philosophy. Homer can thus be seen in an entirely new light, as a philosopher in the highest possible sense. I would like to end with a warning, though: this book is very, very hard. This will come as no surprise to readers of Benardete's other works, which are, it seems to me, even harder than this one.

[Will Spohn]

Bernadete manages to balance clarity and depth in such a way that shows that I still have a long way to go. He makes you work for each point he makes, and more closely reading would be really fruitful (but, alas, I don’t have the time or the will).

[LELYN R]

You think you have read the Odyssey, but you have not.