Sing, Muse, of that wanderer who sunderedthe sacred walls of Troy and traveled
many sea-lanes while struggling for his
life and his men's return. His men, who
in their folly slew and consumed the holy
Cattle of the Sun, Hyperion, who
therefore spurned their journey home.
Now, Muse, begin the tale of that man
of many masquerades. Sing to us how he,
bereft of hearth and home, pined for his wife
in hallowed Calypso's cave, the divine Nymph,
eager him to wed and bed, but when
the circling seasons ran their wheel, they spun
the thread for his return to Ithaca.
Yet the gods determined that he would not
find his peace at home until all the gods
took pity upon him. At last all did,
save Poseidon, who grimly blocked the noble
wanderer until the man of masquerades
finally reached his native land, there to
find grim designs waiting for his return.
Sing, Muse, of that man of men and tell me
the story of the man whose own wisdom
and trickery wounded him and caused him
to languish far from the loving arms of
his wife. Sing to me the story of that
wanderer who sacked Troy and sundered her
heaven-built walls, only to be forced to roam
uncharted seas and visit strange lands
where he faced many grueling trials.
Sing to me of his great adventures among nations
of all manners, minds, fashions, and traditions.
Sing to me of a man, abandoned by the gods
after his men slew the sun god's sacred cattle,
who still proves himself worthy of song and story.
Sing, O Muse, of him in his glory. How after ten
long years at Troy trying to storm the many
towered city of Ilium, the gods
denied Odysseus return passage
home to his loving wife while other
comarades were led to safe haven where
they sleep free from the horror of war and
the sea. Tell me how the Nymph Calypso,
yearning for his love, trapped him by magic
in her caves, making him her lord and spouse.
[Odysseus Lands at Beach of Hades
by Theodoor van Thulden,
17th century Dutch artist]
Sing, Muse, why Poseidon, the god of the sea --
despite destiny -- blocks his passage home.
Explain why Poseidon spurned Zeus's council
determining Odysseus's fate and
sped to Ethiopia at the end
of the earth, feasting his festival
while the other gods obeyed the summons
of mighty Zeus.
[R. L. Eickhoff's Translation]
According to the OED, the first use of "invocation" in the English language occurs in Chaucer's HOUSE OF FAME (1394), where Chaucer writes: "I woll make invocation..Unto the god of sleepe anone." The invocation here is a likewise a calling or invoking of the aid of a deity. Invoking the muses is not uncommon, of course, among the poets. Dante, for example, invokes the muses in Canto II of THE INFERNO, with the lines:
ReplyDeleteO Muses, O high genius, aid me now!
O Memory that engraved the things I saw (Tr. Esolen)
Milton's double invocation at the beginning of PARADISE LOST calls upon the aid of the traditional muse and the Holy Spirit: "Sing, Heavenly Muse..."
The differences between the poet's voice (typically the first lines only, as in THE ODYSSEY), the Muses' voice (as the narrative voice), and characters' voices (usually given "in character" rather than as part of the narrative) indicate that the narrative structure of epic poems like THE ODYSSEY is structured as a storyteller telling a story from an omniscient point of view while providing plenty of characterization, allowing the characters' voices to enter as dialogue, and an often multilayered plot with central themes (many elements which we often associate with novels today).
Eikhoff's translation of the invocation provides a beautifully alliterative prayer with strong verbs and the rhythm of an incantation as well as the repetitive motion of an incantation: "Sing, Muse... Now, Muse... Sing to us... Sing, Muse... and tell me... Sing to me... Sing to me... Sing to me... Sing, O Muse... Tell me... Sing, Muse... Explain..." These addresses to the Muse are followed seven times with requests for singing/telling the/a story "of" Odysseus as hero, three times with requests for telling "how" Odysseus fared in his exploits, and the last two as requests for "why" Odysseus met with (Poseidon's) obstacles on the way home despite Zeus's (eventual) blessings on his journey.
The poet's requests for "the story" and "the tale" that shows Odysseus's heroism find their strongest expression in the poet's words in the middle of the invocation:
"Sing to me of a man, abandoned by the gods
after his men slew the sun god's sacred cattle,
who still proves himself worthy of song and story."
That we still consider the exploits of Odysseus "worthy of song and story" many centuries later is a testament to the strength of the poet's vision as well as the strength of the poem itself.
Gods/goddesses named in the invocation:
ReplyDelete1. Hyperion, later identified as "the sun god" (a first generation Titan)
2. Calypso, called "the divine Nymph" (a third generation Titan)
3. Poseidon (a second generation Titan)
4. Zeus (a second generation Titan)
5. perhaps most importantly -- the Muse (daughter of a first generation Titan [Mnemosyne] and Zeus) I need to do more work searching out the Muse (or the Muses) as they sometimes appear in this poem...
Epithets for Odysseus, for the classical Greek hero:
1. that wanderer who sundered the sacred walls of Troy (and traveled many sea-lanes while struggling for his life and his men's return)
2. man of many masquerades (x2)
3. that man of men
4. that wanderer who sacked Troy and sundered her Heaven-built walls (compare to #1)
5. a man abandoned by the gods... who still proves himself worthy of song and story
A comment on the reason for Odysseus' trials:
the man whose own wisdom
and trickery wounded him and caused him
to languish far from the loving arms of
his wife...
This is truly a story of gods and men and the interplay between them. Epic poetry deals with the larger ideas of what it means to be human (including the human relation with the divine). For more of that, I will turn from Homer to Dante.