Stories from the Odyssey
Homer
Retold By H. L. Havell
GREEK CLASSICS
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second oldest extant work of Western literature, the Iliad being the oldest. Scholars believe it was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia.
The impersonal character of the Homeric poems has left us entirely in the dark as to the birthplace, the history, and the date, of their author. So complete is the darkness which surrounds the name of Homer that his very existence has been disputed, and his works have been declared to be an ingenious compilation, drawn from the productions of a multitude of singers. It is not my intention here to enter into the endless and barren controversy which has raged round this question. It will be more to the purpose to try and form some general idea of the characteristics of the Greek Epic; and to do this it is necessary to give a brief review of the political and social conditions in which it was produced.
The world as known to Homer is a mere fragment of territory, including a good part of the mainland of Greece, with the islands and coast districts of the Ægæan. Outside of these limits his knowledge of geography is narrow indeed. He has heard of Sicily, which he speaks of under the name of Thrinacia; and he speaks once of Libya, or the north coast of Africa, as a district famous for its breed of sheep. There is one vague reference to the vast Scythian or Tartar race (called by Homer Thracians), who live on the milk of mares; and he mentions a copper-coloured people, the "Red-faces," who dwell far remote in the east and west. The Nile is mentioned, under the name of Ægyptus; and the Egyptians are celebrated by the poet as a people skilled in medicine, a statement which is repeated by Herodotus. The Phœnicians appear several times in the Odyssey, and we hear once or twice of the Sidonians, as skilled workers in metal. As soon as we pass these boundaries, we enter at once into the region of fairyland.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
TELEMACHUS, PENELOPE, AND THE SUITORS
THE ASSEMBLY; THE VOYAGE OF TELEMACHUS
THE VISIT TO NESTOR AT PYLOS
TELEMACHUS AT SPARTA
ODYSSEUS AND CALYPSO
ODYSSEUS AMONG THE PHÆACIANS
THE WANDERINGS OF ODYSSEUS
THE VISIT TO HADES
THE SIRENS; SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS; THRINACIA
ODYSSEUS LANDS IN ITHACA
ODYSSEUS AND EUMÆUS
THE RETURN OF TELEMACHUS
THE MEETING OF TELEMACHUS AND ODYSSEUS
THE HOME-COMING OF ODYSSEUS
THE BEGGAR IRUS
PENELOPE AND THE WOOERS
ODYSSEUS AND PENELOPE
THE END DRAWS NEAR; SIGNS AND WONDERS
THE BOW OF ODYSSEUS
THE SLAYING OF THE WOOERS