What Did Telemachus Do to Get Athena to Apear to Him Again
2017.07.06 / updated 2018.10.12 | By Gregory Nagy
Odysseus, because of his external appearance every bit an old beggar, cannot exist recognized by his own son Telemachus. To make the recognition happen, the goddess Athena temporarily transforms the father into a young aristocrat. For Telemachus, however, the transformation itself tin be read as the epiphany of a god. [[GN 2017.07.06.]]
Image via the Tate.
O.xvi.062–064
Q&T via HTL 164
subject heading(s): ellipsis; elliptic plural
Here at O.xvi.062 equally too at O.fourteen.199, we see an elliptic plural, meaning 'Crete and everything that belongs to information technology'. See the note on O.fourteen.199. [[GN 2017.07.06 via HTL 164.]]
O.16.076
subject heading(s): 'best of the Achaeans'
Here again, equally at O.11.179 and at O.15.521–522, it is said that whoever succeeds in marrying Penelope would surely qualify every bit 'the all-time of the Achaeans'. [[GN 2017.07.06 via BA 39.]]
O.16.086
subject field heading(s): hubris 'outrage'; atasthalo– 'reckless'
These two negative terms hubris 'outrage' and atasthalo– 'reckless' are closely linked with each other in Homeric wording. The two words together are as well closely linked with the suitors of Penelope in the Odyssey. [[GN 2017.07.06 via BA 163, 319.]]
O.xvi.161
subject heading(s): Athena recognized past Odysseus
The fact that Athena here tin be recognized by the main grapheme of the Odyssey may be relevant to the role of Athena as the goddess presiding over the festival of the Panathenaia in Athens as the venue for the operation of this epic. [[GN 2017.07.06 via PasP 112n24.]]
O.16.164
subject heading(s): noeîn 'have annotation (of), notice'; neuein 'nod'
The act of noticing is sometimes connected with special signals, as here: neuein 'nod'; meet also the comment on I.09.223. [[GN 2017.07.06 via BA 51.]]
O.16.172–212
Q&T via MoM 2§17
discipline heading(s): homoio- 'similar to, same as'; eïskein 'make likenesses, liken''[; asaminthos 'bathtub']
|172 ἦ, καὶ χρυσείῃ ῥάβδῳ ἐπεμάσσατ' Ἀθήνη. |173 φᾶρος μέν οἱ πρῶτον ἐϋπλυνὲς ἠδὲ χιτῶνα |174 θῆκ' ἀμφὶ στήθεσφι, δέμας δ' ὤφελλε καὶ ἥβην. |175 ἂψ δὲ μελαγχροιὴς γένετο, γναθμοὶ δ' ἐτάνυσθεν, |176 κυάνεαι δ' ἐγένοντο ἐθειράδες ἀμφὶ γένειον. |177 ἡ μὲν ἄρ' ὣς ἔρξασα πάλιν κίεν· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς |178 ἤϊεν ἐς κλισίην. θάμβησε δέ μιν φίλος υἱός, |179 ταρβήσας δ' ἑτέρωσε βάλ' ὄμματα, μὴ θεὸς εἴη, |180 καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα· |181 "ἀλλοῖός μοι, ξεῖνε, φάνης νέον ἠὲ πάροιθεν, |182 ἄλλα δὲ εἵματ' ἔχεις καί τοι χρὼς οὐκέθ' ὁμοῖος. |183 ἦ μάλα τις θεός ἐσσι, τοὶ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσιν· |184 ἀλλ' ἵληθ', ἵνα τοι κεχαρισμένα δώομεν ἱρὰ |185 ἠδὲ χρύσεα δῶρα, τετυγμένα· φείδεο δ' ἡμέων." |186 τὸν δ' ἠμείβετ' ἔπειτα πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς· |187 "οὔ τίς τοι θεός εἰμι· τί μ' ἀθανάτοισιν ἐΐσκεις; |188 ἀλλὰ πατὴρ τεός εἰμι, τοῦ εἵνεκα σὺ στεναχίζων |189 πάσχεις ἄλγεα πολλά, βίας ὑποδέγμενος ἀνδρῶν." |190 ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας υἱὸν κύσε, κὰδ δὲ παρειῶν |191 δάκρυον ἧκε χαμᾶζε· πάρος δ' ἔχε νωλεμὲς αἰεί. |192 Τηλέμαχος δ',—οὐ γάρ πω ἐπείθετο ὃν πατέρ' εἶναι,—|193 ἐξαῦτίς μιν ἔπεσσιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπεν· |194 "οὐ σύ γ' Ὀδυσσεύς ἐσσι πατὴρ ἐμός, ἀλλά με δαίμων |195 θέλγει, ὄφρ' ἔτι μᾶλλον ὀδυρόμενος στεναχίζω. |196 οὐ γάρ πως ἂν θνητὸς ἀνὴρ τάδε μηχανόῳτο |197 ᾧ αὐτοῦ γε νόῳ, ὅτε μὴ θεὸς αὐτὸς ἐπελθὼν |198 ῥηϊδίως ἐθέλων θείη νέον ἠδὲ γέροντα. |199 ἦ γάρ τοι νέον ἦσθα γέρων καὶ ἀεικέα ἕσσο· |200 νῦν δὲ θεοῖσιν ἔοικας, οἳ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσι." |201 τὸν δ' ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς· |202 "Τηλέμαχ', οὔ σε ἔοικε φίλον πατέρ' ἔνδον ἐόντα |203 οὔτε τι θαυμάζειν περιώσιον οὔτ' ἀγάασθαι· |204 οὐ μὲν γάρ τοι ἔτ' ἄλλος ἐλεύσεται ἐνθάδ' Ὀδυσσεύς, |205 ἀλλ' ὅδ' ἐγὼ τοιόσδε, παθὼν κακά, πολλὰ δ' ἀληθείς, |206 ἤλυθον εἰκοστῷ ἔτεϊ ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν. |207 αὐτάρ τοι τόδε ἔργον Ἀθηναίης ἀγελείης, |208 ἥ τέ με τοῖον ἔθηκεν ὅπως ἐθέλει, δύναται γάρ, |209 ἄλλοτε μὲν πτωχῷ ἐναλίγκιον, ἄλλοτε δ' αὖτε |210 ἀνδρὶ νέῳ καὶ καλὰ περὶ χροῒ εἵματ' ἔχοντι. |211 ῥηΐδιον δὲ θεοῖσι, τοὶ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσιν, |212 ἠμὲν κυδῆναι θνητὸν βροτὸν ἠδὲ κακῶσαι."
|172 Then spoke Athena, and she touched him [= Odysseus] with her gilded wand. |173 First she fabricated his mantle and his tunic to exist cleanly washed, |174 she made it exist that way, what he was wearing over his chest, and she augmented his size and his youthfulness. |175 His tan complexion came dorsum, and his jaws got firmed upward, |176 and night once again became the beard effectually his mentum. |177 And so she [= Athena], having done her work, went back where she came from, while |178 Odysseus headed for the shelter. His honey son [= Telemachus] marveled at him, |179 and, in his amazement, he [= Telemachus] cast his gaze abroad from him, in another direction, fearing that he [= Odysseus] might exist a god. |180 And he [= Telemachus] addressed him [= Odysseus], speaking winged words: |181 "As a different kind of person [alloio-], stranger, have you appeared [phainesthai] to me just now, different than before. |182 You have different wearing apparel and your complexion is no longer the same kind [homoio-]. |183 You must be some god, one of those gods who hold the wide heaven. |184 And so be gracious, in order that nosotros may give yous pleasing sacrifices |185 and golden gifts of adept workmanship. Have mercy on us." |186 And he [= Telemachus] was answered then by the one who suffered many things, the radiant Odysseus: |187 "I am not some god. Why exercise y'all liken [eïskein] me to the immortals? |188 But I am your father, for whom you mourn and |189 endure many pains, enduring the violent acts of men." |190 Having said these things, he kissed his son and let fall from his cheeks |191 a tear, letting it fall to the ground. Until so he had persisted in showing no sign of pity. |192 And Telemachus, since he was non yet convinced that he [= Odysseus] was his male parent, |193 once over again addressed him with words in answer: |194 "You are not Odysseus my father. Instead, some superhuman force |195 is enchanting me, and information technology makes me weep and mourn even more. |196 I say this because no mortal homo could craft these things that are happening to me, |197 no mortal could do these things by mode of his own devising, unless a god comes in person |198 and, if he so wishes, easily makes someone a young human or makes him an erstwhile human being. |199 Why, just a little while ago you were an old human wearing unseemly apparel, |200 but now you wait similar [= perfect of eïskein] the gods who hold the wide sky." |201 He was answered by Odysseus, the one with many kinds of craft, who addressed him thus: |202 "Telemachus, it does non seem right [= perfect of eïskein] for you to be amazed at your begetter who is right here inside [the shelter], |203 for y'all to exist amazed too much or to feel overwhelmed. |204 There volition never again be some unlike [allos] person who comes here, some different Odysseus, |205 only hither I am such [toiosde] as I am. I have had many bad things happen to me. I have been detoured in many unlike ways. |206 Only now I am here, having come back in the twentieth year to the state of my ancestors. |207 I tell you, this was the work of Athena, the giver of prizes, |208 who has made me be such [toios] as she wants me to exist, for she has the power. |209 One moment, she has made me to be looking like [enalinkios] a beggar, and then, the next moment, |210 like a young man who has beautiful clothes roofing his complexion. |211 It is easy for the gods, who agree the wide sky, |212 to brand a mortal man become exalted with radiance or to debase him.
(What follows is epitomized from MoM ii§§eighteen–20.) As before long as Odysseus has been stroked past the wand of Athena, his outward appearance—his khrōs 'complexion'—is no longer the same as information technology had been before, O.16.182. That is what Telemachus is saying to Odysseus. The son is amazed that the father no longer looks similar an old beggar. The word used here to express the idea of sameness is homoio- 'like to, same as', O.16.182. This word homoio-, derived from homó-, farther derives from the Indo-European form *somo– pregnant 'aforementioned'. In fact, the English language discussion same is cognate with the Greek word homó-. See the ballast comment at I.05.441. Because the complexion of Odysseus is no longer the same, he no longer looks the same. Now he looks unlike. He is now a different kind of person. In the wording of O.xvi.181, Odysseus the person is at present alloio- 'a different kind'. This word alloio- (ἀλλοῖο-) 'a different kind' is the reverse of homoio- (ὁμοῖο-) 'the same kind'. I note that the extension ‑io- (‑ιο-) of the adjectives homoio- (ὁμοῖο-) 'the same kind' and alloio- (ἀλλοῖο-) 'a different kind' is parallel to the extension ‑io- (‑ιο-) of the adjectives hoio- (oἷο-) 'what kind' and toio- (τοῖο-) 'that kind'. At O.xvi.205 and O.16.208 in the passage I have only quoted and translated, we likewise come across this significant of toio- 'that kind' in activeness. In this same passage, information technology is said that Odysseus looks like an sometime man or looks like a young human, whatever a divinity may wish, O.xvi.198. But when he looks like a young man for Telemachus to see, his son needs to avert his eyes because he sees what he now sees, O.16.179. What he now sees is that Odysseus at that moment looks not just similar a young man only also like a divinity. Relevant is the question that Odysseus asks his son at O.16.187: 'Why do yous liken [eïskein] me to the immortals?'… In respond to this question, Telemachus can rightly say at O.16.200: 'but now you lot expect like [= perfect of eïskein] the gods who concur the wide sky'. And, in terms of the ritual transformation of Odysseus by fashion of a sacred contact with the wand of the goddess Athena herself, this mortal not only looks similar i of the gods merely he actually becomes a god in the ritual moment marked by the similes that liken him to the god. So, the contexts of eïskein 'make likenesses, liken' at O.16.187 and O.16.200 show that Telemachus was justified in saying that Odysseus looks the same as a god after being touched by the wand of Athena. Similarly at O.03.464–468, there is a ritual transformation of Telemachus when he is bathed in a bathtub called an asaminthos, O.03.468. Every bit I note in the comment on O.03.464–468, here is what happens at O.03.468 to Telemachus every bit a result of this ritual bath: 'he [= Telemachus] emerged from the bathtub [asaminthos], looking the aforementioned every bit [homoio-] the immortals in shape' (ἔκ ῥ' ἀσαμίνθου βῆ δέμας ἀθανάτοισιν ὁμοῖος).
In the light of this analysis, I offer a general formulation: for a mortal to appear like an immortal to other mortals is to get a divinity in a ritual moment of epiphany—equally marked past the similes that make mortals equal to divinities in that ritual moment. [[GN 2017.07.06 via MoM 2§17.]]
O.sixteen.214
subject heading(southward): amphi-khu– 'pouring all over'; dissolving while weeping
The image of 'pouring all over' someone whom yous are embracing, as expressed hither past way of the verb amphi-khu-, extends from the thought of dissolving in tears: when you are weeping, pouring out your tears from your eyes, it is as if your whole self were dissoving into tears, which can then 'pour all over' that dear someone whom y'all are embracing. The metaphor of dissolving while weeping, every bit here, tin can also be found at O.08.527. See likewise the comment at O.19.204–212. [[GN 2017.07.06 via HC 2§344n.]]
O.16.283
subject heading(s): noeîn 'take note (of), notice'; neuein 'nod'
The human activity of noticing is here once more connected with a special signal: neuein 'nod'; see the comment on I.16.164. [[GN 2017.07.06 via BA 51.]]
O.sixteen.418–432
subject field heading(south): Antinoos every bit the ultimate ingrate; reciprocity; dēmos 'community, district'
As Penelope says in her words of blame directed at Antinoos here, this suitor of hers violates the rules of reciprocity more blatantly than whatever of the other suitors. That is because he shows no gratitude for the kindness that Odysseus as king had shown to Eupeithes, the father of Antinoos, back when Eupeithes was a refugee seeking the favor of Odysseus the king. In the story every bit told all as well briefly past Penelope, O.16.424–429, this man Eupeithes had once sought refuge at the palace of Odysseus, asking the king to protect his food-supply, which was about to exist expropriated, O.16.429. The threat of expropriation came from the dēmos 'customs', described hither as beingness very angry at Eupeithes, O.sixteen.425. Just Odysseus had intervened and prevented the expropriation, O.16.430. That is why it is at present all the more outrageous, says Penelope at O.16.431, that the son of the same man whose livelihood had thus been saved by a beneficent king should now turn right around and expropriate the livelihood of his family'southward benefactor, since Antinoos and the other suitors are now consuming the livelihood of Odysseus, depleting the resource of that generous rex. That is bad plenty, says Penelope, but Antinoos goes even farther, much further: this ingrate also makes advances at the king's wife and even plots the murder of the male monarch's son, O.16.431–432. [[GN 2017.07.09 via BA 233.]]
Bibliographical Abbreviations
BA = Best of the Achaeans, Nagy 1979/1999.
GMP = Greek Mythology and Poetics, Nagy 1990b.
H24H = The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, Nagy 2013
HC = Homer the Classic, Nagy 2009|2008
HPC = Homer the Preclassic, Nagy 2010|2009
HQ = Homeric Questions, Nagy 1996b
60 minutes = Homeric Responses, Nagy 2003
LSJ = Liddell, H. G., R. Scott, and H. S. Jones. 1940. A Greek-English language Lexicon. 9th ed. Oxford.
MoM = Masterpieces of Metonymy, Nagy 2016|2015
PasP = Poetry as Functioning, Nagy 1996a
PH = Pindar's Homer, Nagy 1990a
Bibliography
See the dynamic Bibliography forAHCIP.
Inventory of terms and names
See the dynamic Inventory of terms and names for AHCIP.
Source: https://classical-inquiries.chs.harvard.edu/a-sampling-of-comments-on-odyssey-rhapsody-16/
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