Para-Narratives in the Odyssey by Maureen Alden

Author:Maureen Alden [Alden, Maureen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780192524287
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2017-09-07T00:00:00+00:00

The man who looks like a god but whose words lack grace obviously corresponds to Euryalus, and the man of insignificant appearance, honoured like a god for his rhetorical gifts, must stand for Odysseus, as Helen describes him in the Teichoscopeia: shorter than Menelaus but more majestic…no other mortal could compete with his powers in speaking (Il. 3.210–23).31 The comparison belongs to the genre of ‘the instruction of princes’, and Odysseus uses it to demonstrate his superiority to Euryalus in verbal competition32 and formal education. He disproves Euryalus’ assumption with an extraordinary throw of the discus, and challenges the Phaeacians to compete with him in other military sports. Demodocus completes Euryalus’ discomfiture by implicitly comparing him in his second song to Ares, who falls an easy victim to the δόλος (trick) (8.276, 281, 282, 317) and τέχναι (artifices) (8.327, 332) of Aphrodite’s husband, Hephaestus.33 (For another net δόλος, see Chapter 3, §§5 and 9.) Odysseus is often called πολύφρονος (very wise),34 an epithet used twice of Hephaestus in the song (8.297, 327). Odysseus also resembles the song’s Hephaestus figure in terms of bad legs, craftsmanship, and reliance on stratagem.35 He will not compete in a foot race, because his sufferings at sea have affected his legs (8.230–3). In the song, as in Odysseus’ quarrel with the good-looking Euryalus, appearances are deceptive, and the beautiful Aphrodite cannot control her passion (οὐκ ἐχέθυμος) (8.320): her handsome (8.309–10) lover, Ares, is worthless (δειλός) (8.351).

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.