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Charles Segal argues in his Singers, Heroes, and Gods in the Odyssey that Odysseus' return to Ithaca is a return to himself. This works in several dimensions. Through the second half of the epic, various characters reconstruct the story of Odysseus' life - the story of his naming and the origin of the scar are told in the famous scene where his nursemaid Eurycleia washes his feet; Penelope talks about the early married life with Odysseus; finally, he returns to his father, a return to the origin. Along the way, he is also restoring the network of relations that make him who he is - with his son, with Eumaeus the faithful swineherd, with Laertes his father, ultimately with Penelope. And his possessions are put back into his control - the bow and the house and the bed. Having been reduced to nothing, he is restored to everything, and is more the man for the loss and return.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 06:11 PM
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