why we still read homer

8/13/2019 Why We Still Read Homer

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Why Do We Still Read Homer?Author(s): ANDREW SZEGEDY-MASZAKSource: The American Scholar, Vol. 71, No. 1 (WINTER 2002), pp. 95-105Published by: The Phi Beta Kappa SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41213259.

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WhyDo We StillRead Homer?

ANDREW SZEGEDY-MASZAK

a professorfclassicaltudies. oday, hen hefield's ery ameseems obe accompanied y pufffdust nd the oft ustle foldbooksfalling part,t can be difficulto recapture ow mportanttheclassics ncewere nhigher ducationndin theculturet arge.Atthebeginningfthis entury,hegreat ambridgecholar . M. Cornfordreflected n theenduringllureof Greek nd Romanantiquity:Theancient lassics esembleheuniverse.hey realwayshere,ndtheyreverymuch he ame s ever. ut s thephilosophyfevery ew geputsfreshonstructionn theuniverse,o in the classics cholarshipindsperennialbject or ver reshndoriginalnterpretation."I find ornford'semarksoth ouchingndheartening,ven houghthe socialand academiccontextwithinwhichhe wrotewas so vastlydifferentrom ur own. n 1903,despite omemajoruniversityeforms,classical ntiquitytill erved s thematrix ithin hicheading ntellec-tuals oulddebate hemost rgentssues ftheir wn ime.Whetherhetopic thandwas theextension fdemocracy,r women's ights,r thedefinitionfvirtuen civilociety,r the nnoblingordestructiveeffectsofart, lassicalntecedentsnd allusionsweredeployed o reinforceheargument.William wartGladstone,ochoose an exceptionalxample,was notonly ne ofthe mostpowerfulnd energetic oliticiansn theVictorian orld ut lsothe uthor fnumerousrticlesndfour ooks nHomer, ne ofwhich StudiesnHomerweighsnatthree olumesndalmosteventeenundredages.AsRichardenkynsasnoted, omer ndpolitics ere ery loselyssociatedn Gladstone'sife. or nstance, hile^^ Andrewzegedy-Maszaks Professorf Classical tudiesndJaneA. Seney rofessorofGreektWesleyanniversity. 95

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THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR

Gladstonewaswritingne section of Studies nHomer, e was campaign-ing in Parliament gainstthe DivorceBill,so in thatchapterhe empha-sized the absence of divorce nHomericsociety.n thisregard,Gladstonewasunique only n theprominence f hisposition nd the ntensityfhisdedication. No matterwhatprofession studentwaspreparing or, e orshe wasexpectedto have someacquaintancewith heclassics.Francis Cornfordhimselfwas a source for much fresh nd originalinterpretation,specially fThucydides nd Plato.Brilliant s he was,hecould not,ofcourse,foresee he devastation fWorldWar ,whichbrokeout almostexactly decade afterhe deliveredthe addressfromwhichhavequoted. I do not mean to be flippant bout the horrible ufferingsentailedbythatwar when I saythatone of itscasualtieswas the secureprimacyfclassical tudies. rom ts ctive osition t the center f ntellec-tual ife, urdisciplinewas moved oa kindofhonorable emi-retirement.This does notmean,however,hat thas gone dormant.As Cornfordobserved,fresh nd original nterpretationeeps thefield alive. In fact,we are now n themiddle of an oddlyextensive evival fpopular nterestin classicalstudies.A fewyearsago NBC produced a two-night dysseyextravaganza. he program'sWebsite did givecreditwherecredit sdue;I quote verbatim:Time & dates:Sunday nd Monday,May18 & 19, 1997 (9-11 p.m.ET) onNBCExecutiveroducers:rancisordCoppola, red uchs, obert almi r.andNicholasMeyerProducer: yson ovellTeleplay y:Andrei onchalovskyndChristopherolimineBasedon the picpoemby:Homer

So far, o good, but to indicatethe level at whichthis entireenterprisewaspitched, might itea questionfrom he network's dysseyrivia uiz:Where s theParthenonocated? Troy RomeAthens IthacaThe correct nswer ouldwinyoua prize.The NBC Odysseyurned out to be an embarrassingmess,reducingHomer's wonderful aga to an incoherent eries of dopey or hystericalepisodes. Disney'sHerculeswas far more entertaining. he plot, pureDisney,has Hercules growout of adolescent clumsiness nto fullhero-hood, completewith riumph ver thecheerfullymalevolentHades and

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Whyo We till ead omer?romancewith hewinsomeMegara.The radio and TV ads featuredperkyinglewhose efrain as Who uttheglad ngladiator?ercules "must dmit hat wasmildly isappointedhat he cartoon idnot n-clude thepart f themythnwhichHercules oesberserk nd murdershiswife nd children. hatprobably ouldhavetaken oo muchof thegladoutofgladiatoror amilyiewing.Speakingof gladiators, did not see the recent word-and-sandalblockbuster,utmy lassicistolleagues pent lot of time nd band-widthdebatingt on various n-linediscussion roups.Theyseemedevenlyplitbetween hosewhocheerfullysserted hatwe shouldap-plaudanythinghatdraws ublicattentiono our little orner f aca-deme ndthosewhogloomilyecried hefilm's istoricalnaccuracies.tis easyand amusing o makefun ofsuchobviously iddy ommercialexcess, ike the film'svirtual-realityersionof the ancientRomancityscapenwhich,omeclaim, hedomeof St.Peter's sclearly isible.Nonetheless,n this nstance tendtoagreewith hemoreoptimisticfaction. do notthinkhat popular ulture"snecessarilycontradic-tionnterms,nd fGladiatoriakindledome nterestn Romanhistory,so much hebetter.Classicaltudies,owever,ave lsobeenplayingmore erious ole ncontemporaryulture.t sstriking,or xample,hatwithin fewmonthsof tspublicationn1996,Robert agles's rilliantew ranslationf theOdysseyecamea bona fidebest-seller. henFaglescame to read atWesleyan, here teach,he wasgreeted yan overflowingnd hugelyenthusiasticudience,many f whosemembers ere arryingis book.As a rough-and-readyaugeofthis ranslation'sontinuingopularity,nAmazon.comankingast utumn utthepaperbackdition fFagles'sOdysseyt3,470 utof possible everal undred housand; or ompari-son,Anita iamant's iblical ovelTheRedTentccupied henumbernespot mongpaperbacks, hileCharles razier'superbnovelColdMoun-tain,tructuredn theOdyssey,as t6,728.That'snotbadforHomer.I would ike to use the OdysseyHomer'sepic poem,not theTVshow as a kind f estasefor ome onsiderationfwhere lassicaltudiesstand oday. ora few pecificopics, will hoosea representativelderapproachndthen ketchhemodernersionhereof.ama historian,ota Homeric cholar,owhat ollowss necessarilyelectivendpartialndquitebroad-brushbutnot, hope,distorting.hope itwillalso givesome deaofwhy estill eadHomer.

thenineteenthentury,herewasa pervasiveelief hat heHo-meric oemswerefundamentallyistoricalocuments.n thewordsof thehistorianrank urner,Everyignificantictorianommentatorbelievedhatndescribingndcriticizingomeric haracters,eligionrsociety,e wasdealing itherwith vents hathad actuallyccurred r97



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Whyo We till ead omer?poemsof thesocietynd its ystemf values s a coherent ne."Finleywas Marxistred-baitedut of tenured ositiontRutgers uringheMcCarthy ears), s well as an expert n the ancient conomy; ut hismethod s anythingut doctrinaires he analyzes inship elations,ta-tusand wealth, nd the ethical nd religious alues that nformheHomeric oems.Hisscholarship asnotaimed tweighinghetruth rfalsehood feveryfactual"tatement Is therereally wide-mouthedcave nearthebeach at Ithaca?Did chariots aveone or two xles? butatseekinghedetails fHomeric arrativenformationbout ocietyndideology.The picture hat mergess,as Finley aid, coherent; ut of coursethatdoesnot mean that t s simple runitary. e find socialsystembasedon small roups,edby warriorlite, heheroes,whocontrol hebest ands ndpossess hemostmpressiveuxury oods.Beneath hemaremultipleevels fkinand retainers,hosepositionsre defined ytheir elationso the eader nd reinforcedy n elaborate ocialproto-col.Among heheroes, here xists swell complicatedetofcompeti-tive ndcooperativeractices,angingrom arfarend athleticonteststo ntermarriageogift ivingnd theritual xtensionndacceptance fhospitalityxenia).Earlier cholars,ncluding ladstone, adnotedtheexistence f suchcustoms,utFinley roughthem ogethern a newsynthesis.e showed hatHomeric ocietywas neither urefantasy,mythic ever-neverand,norpuresunbakedMycenaean eality,utarecreationf old storiesna worldwhosemainfeatureshepoet's udi-ence wouldhaverecognizeds itsown.Finley,moreover,everost ightofwhywe still eadHomer: thepre-eminencefHomer ies nthe caleon whichhe worked;n theeleganceand structuraloherence f hiscomplexnarrative,n thevirtuosityithwhichhe varied herepeatedtypicalcenes; n hisfeeling ortone and tempo .. in short,n thefreshness ithwhichhe both nvented nd manipulated hathe hadinherited."his s not badsummaryfFinley'swn chievement.While heanalysisfHomeric alues nd societyemains rich reafor cholarlynvestigation,t alsocontinuesoaccompany hatwe wouldthinkf smore trictlyiteraryriticism.n 1962Robert agles o-editeda collection fcriticalssays,tories,nd poemson Homer.The essaysinclude uch cknowledgedlassicss ErichAuerbach'studyfHomericnarrativeechnique,The ScarofOdysseus."n the scenethat ives heessayts itle, enelopehas ordered heold servanturykleiao wash hefeet f herhusband,who s still isguiseds a beggar. sEurykleiaetsaboutherwork,hesees onOdysseus's high scar,nflictedong go bya wildboar.The narrativeumps mmediatelyo an account ftheboarhunt,and then ust as quicklyback to the royalchambers,whereEurykleiatartsocry ut n oyuntilOdysseus lampshis hand aroundherthroat,orbiddinger tospeak.Auerbach ses this ittle pisode s

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thebasis or discussionfHomeric arrativeime, hich, eargues,s aconstant ndvivid resent. agles's nthologylso contains ome excel-lentexamples f the old NewCriticism,here losereadings usedtoestablishatternsf mage, ymbol,ndmetaphor.do notwish odispar-age suchapproaches, ormany f theseessays,ikeAuerbach's, avebecome lassicsntheir wnrightnd are still eferredowith espect.Since the1960s,whenthebibliographynHomeric cholarship asalready uge, t has grown xponentially,ithhundreds f books andthousands f rticles.riticalmethodologyaspassed hrougheminism,structuralism,ost-structuralism,econstruction,ewhistoricism,ndpost-colonialism.gain, minute xamplewillhaveto stand nfor hewhole. n 1996,Princeton niversityresspublished volume alledReading heOdyssey:electnterpretivessays. he editor, ethSchein,statesinhisprefacewhat hecollectionntends odo: "The tencontributionsreflect ivemajor nterpretiveoncerns f modernOdysseycholarship:thepoem'sprogrammaticepresentationf socialand religiousnstitu-tions nd values onecanhearthe nfluence fFinley ere] its ransfor-mation ffolktalesndtraditionaltoriesnto picadventures;tsrepre-sentation fgenderrolesand,in particular,fPenelope; tsnarrativestrategiesndform;nd itsrelation o the liad, speciallyo that pic'sdistinctiveonceptionfheroism."people know boutthe Odyssey'sdventure ooks, n which

OdysseusncountersheCyclops,heSirens,nd Circe ndmakeshiswaydown to and back from heunderworld. hese stories re sofamiliarhat twould eem hatittle ew ouldbe said bout hem.WhataboutPolyphemus,hemassive,ne-eyed,olitary,heepherding,anni-balistic iant?n thenineteenthentury,s Richard enkynsaspointedout,Trollope'sharacterosiahCrawleyound arallels etween heCy-clops torynd that fSamson: It s the ame tory.reat ower educedto mpotence,reat loryomisery,y hehandoffate, Necessity,s theGreeks alledher; hegoddess hatwillnotbe shunned."notherwords,Polyphemussa tragic ero, nd his tale moral able.He has alsobeenallegorized s an embodiment funrestrainediolence nd appetite,whosebrutalitys brutallyunished nd psychologizeds thebaser m-pulseswithin s all.His blinding asbeenequatedwith astration. nthe ther ide, omehave eentheCyclopss a noble avagewhosedylliclife sdisrupted ythemeddlesomentrusionfOdysseusnd his crew.Polyphemus ay e all that nd scertainly orebesides.Workingn thefoundationaidbyFinley who notedtheCyclopes'lack f griculture,ssembly,ndformalizedospitalitythe rench cholarPierreVidal-Naquetasused thePolyphemuspisodeas a central le-mentnhis nalysisf andandsacrificentheOdyssey.puzzlingpithetappliedto theCyclops s that he does not eat bread."Vidal-Naquetioo



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Whyo We till ead omer?explainshat hismeans hat yclopes o not ngage nagriculturalaborbut nstead repurely astoral. significantorollarys that hey o notperformacrifice:The Cyclopeshaveno regardfor Zeus or for theblessedgods,"boastsPolyphemus.or Homer'sGreek udience,Vidal-Naquet rgues, he bsenceofthese wo ultural racticesworkingheland and performingacrificemarks heCyclops s non-human,venmorethan do hisgreat ize and monstrousppearance.Polyphemus'scannibalisms also a direct arallel o hisspecies'non-participationnagriculture.nlikehumanbeings, e doesnot evenusefire ocookhisfood.Vidal-Naquetas madeexcellent se of someof themethods fstructuralismndanthropologyo lluminate hat e calls religiousndmythical eanings." yobservinghepresence, r absence, fagricul-ture ndsacrifice,ne canchartOdysseus'sransitionrom herecogniz-ably umanworld o theutterlyantastic.The otherfiguremostpeople recallfrom he Odysseys,ofcourse,Penelope. n thetraditionaliew,he is passive, owerless,nd unques-tionablyaithful.lthoughttractivend admittedlylever,s shown yherstratagemokeepthe suitorstbaybyweavingndunravelingheshroud orherfather-in-law,he s one-dimensional.n his 1886 ntroduc-tion oHomer,. C.Jebb,ikemost fhiscontemporaries,ad little osayabouther: Penelope is]loyal nder ongtrial oher ong-absentord";she and Odysseus vince a pure and tender onception f conjugalaffection."nd that's bout t. As recentlys the 1950s, he couldbedescribed s "littlemore thana convenientmythologicallyvailablecharacter.'Now, owever,ehave cquired nappreciationfPenelope's ontroloverher ownplaceandher ownplot. t haslongbeenrecognizedhatsheis a match orherwanderingmate n cunningntelligenceculmi-natingnhertrickingim ntorevealing is dentityas wellas in herabilityo controlher expressionsf emotion.After ll,muchof theOdysseyependson dissimulation,n not etting our nemies, r evenyourfriends, nowyour dentityr your ntentions. ne scholarhasdrawn persuasiveomparison etween ocial life n the Odysseyndmodern illageife nGreece,where istractionroutrighteceptionstheprincipalmeans fmaintainingne'sprivacy.Takingheir uefrom hemanifestontentfthe tory,ontemporarycritics ave lso cometoemphasizeheopenness ftheOdyssey,tsnarra-tivendeterminacy,nwhich enelope's haracterlays key ole.Withinthefirsthirty-fiveines fBookOne,wehearofthe tarkestontrasto ahusband'shappyhomecoming:hemurder fOdysseus's omrade-in-armsAgamemnonyhiswife lytemnestra.his tory eepsreappearingthroughouthe poem and serves, ontinuously,s a potentcounter-example nd an open possibility. henOdysseus oes to Hades, theshadeofAgamemnon arns im, There s notrustingnwomen."n the

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newevaluationfPenelope, heis muchmore ndependentndmuchshiftierhan hewasbefore.In one scene,forexample, he adornsherself,ppearsbefore hesuitors,nd solicits iftsromhem, ith he mplicitromisehathewillmarry hoeverroves imself ost enerous. omer ells sonly hat sOdysseus bserves er n action,he is silently elighted,dmiring erguile: luring iftsrom er suitors ow, enchantingheir eartswithsuave eductive ords but all thewhilewith omethinglseinmind."Such moderncritics s Marilyn atz,SheilaMurnaghan,nd NancyFelsonhave hown hatwedo not havetoacceptOdysseus'self-servinginterpretationf his wife's ehavior.imilarly,t is Penelopewho nsti-gates heclimacticrcheryontestnBook Nineteen. lthough e knowthat his hallengewill ead directlyo theslaughterf thesuitorsndOdysseus'sestorations lord of hishousehold,we mustnow acknowl-edge, s Schein ays,hat enelopeproposes hetest infull reparationfor er mminent arriageo one ofherwooers."Morebroadly,hen,wetheaudience re sure boutwhat he outcome fOdysseus'seturn illbe; yet hepoemitself eeps presentinghetantalizingossibilityhatPenelopewilldecide that he'swaitedongenough, inish eavingheshroud,hoose successor usband,nd,as a lastresort,endOdysseusback toHades,this imeforgood. In thesenewviews fPenelope,weseem to have osttheperfectmoral xemplar,heparagon fwomanlyvirtue. ut would rgue hatwhatwe have ost nuplift e havemore

than made up for n interest nd complexity.er recurrentpithet,"thoughtfulenelope," asacquired wholenew pectrumfmeanings.fromobbingheOdysseyf ts uthority,hese ariousnterpretiveapproaches eemtome to confirmheepic's amazing ensityndsheer taying ower.Noteveryonegrees. n 1998, wo lassicists,ictorDavis Hanson andJohnHeath,made a splashwith book called WhoKilledHomer?ts subtitle ontains he authors' entralmessage: TheDemise fClassical ducation nd theRecoveryfGreekValues." riefly,the authors ontend hat lassical tudies ave ufferedheir rastic e-

cline n enrollmentnd influence rincipallyecause of classicists. e-servingheirfiercest irefortheir cademiccolleagues,Hanson andHeathargue hat lassical cholars ave bandoned hechampioningf"Greek alues."H&H, as they ave come to be known,ummarizeuch"underlyingulturalssumptions"n theform f sevenprinciples:heseparationf cience ndphilosophyrom eligiousndpoliticaluthor-ity alongwith eligion'separationrom nd subordinationopoliticalauthority)civilian ontrol fmilitaryower,onstitutionalnd consen-sualgovernment,aithntheaverage itizen, rotectionfprivaterop-ertyromovernmentnterference,ndtheprotectionfdissent ndcon-stant uestioning.n place of "Greekwisdom," laimH&H, modernIO2



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Whyo We till ead omer?professorsave ubstitutedelf-promotingareerism,eedlesslybscureand argon-ladencholarship,nd a rigidlyxclusivei.e.,politicallyor-rect) agenda brewedout of multiculturalism,eminism,nd literarytheory.As in the TV Odysseynd Disney'sHercules,ne can certainlyindinstancesfrisiblexcessn moderncholarship,nd Hanson nd Heathhave omenastyunwith t.One ofthepassages hey uotewill uffice:"If .. a female riticcceptsOdysseus'nvitationoseeherself,ikeAreteor Penelope, s an honoredmember f theaudienceforhisstory,heruns he risk f gnoringhe inkbetween hishonor nd an insidiousclassprivilegehat solates erfrom thergroups f women." his canonlymeanthat scholarwho s a womanmust ot llowherselfoenjoyOdysseus'stories ncritically,ecause shewillthenbe colludingn asystemhat ppresses omen. hewarningeems o me todenigratehevery cholarst ismeant o protect. nnecessarys suchan injunctionmay e,at least t s expressedn understandableanguage. omeothercontemporaryritingn classics s so theoreticallyophisticated,ndthereforercane, hatt s accessiblenly o a small andof nitiates.Still, hese hots reeasywhenthetargetsre cardboard utouts.ntheir elentlesslyegative olemic,H&H misrepresentuch ontempo-rary cholarshipnd ignoremuchofwhat s bestand most nfluential.Theydo not somuch s mention group fFrench cholars,ncludingVidal-Naquet,hosework asgiven newdirectionndenergyoGreekstudies.t s true hatwithinlassicaltudieshere recareerismndself-promotion,nd theyhouldnotbe rewarded;hatwehave tobe morescrupulousn balancing rofessionalismnd pedagogy; hatthere refads ndfashionsnscholarship,s in almost nythinglse.As for heselast,however,do notshareH&H's alarm nd disdain, ecause havegreat aithn thefilteringower f time.The analyseshat remerelytrendy illgo thewayofyesterday'solyestereisure uitand today'spromiscuousattoosndbodypiercings;heywillbe slightlymbarrass-ingfootnotesn thehistoryf thediscipline. he work hatmakesgenuine, nduringontributionillcontinue o be readand used.Toreturno another f ourearlier xamples, inley'sWorldfOdysseusaspublished lmost iftyears go,andmany f tsconclusions avebeenrefinedreven uperseded; et t s still nprint,till eing ssigned ostudents,till eing eferredoby cholars.

MacNeice,whowasfor time professorfclassics, asalsoabrilliantoet, ndin a long utobiographicaloemcalled"AutumnJournal" e writesboutthe pproachingollege ermndtheprospectofacting nceagainas "impresariof theAncientGreeks."With uefulbutsharp-edgedumor, e etches hestandard utline fwhy tudyingclassicssgoodfor ou:103



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TheGloryhatwasGreece: ut t na syllabus,rade tPagebypageTotrain hemind reven opoint moralForthepresentge:Models f ogic nd ucidity,ignity,anity,Thegoldenmeanbetweenpposinglls . .So thehumanistnhisroomwith acobean anelsChewing ispipeand ookingn a lazy uadChops heAncientWorld o turn sermonTo thegreaterloryfGod.Ifyou think bout it,this s not too farfrom heunderlyingustificationpropellingWhoKilledHomer? ut MacNeice findsthe traditional iewsunsatisfactory:

But can donothingouseful rsosimple;Thesedead aredeadAndwhen should ememberheparagonsfHellasI thinknsteadOf the rooks,he dventurers,he pportunists,Thecarelessthletesnd thefancy oys,Thehair-splitters,hepedants,hehard-boiledkepticsAndtheAgora ndthenoiseOf thedemagoguesnd the uacks; nd thewomen ouringLibations ver ravesAnd he rimmerstDelphi nd thedummiestSparta nd astlyI thinkf he laves.Andhow necan magineneselfmong hemI donotknow;Itwas llsounimaginablyifferentAnd ll solong go.

Whilewe no longerlook to Homer fordirectmoral or religious n-struction, eadingthe epics allows (or requires) us to make a powerfuleffort fthe ntellect nd the magination ocomprehendhissociety nditsvalues. knowfrommyownexperienceofworkingwith tudents hatHomer still ngagestheir ttention. fter ll, lestweforget,heepicsaregreat tories; hey fford pleasuremoreenduring han do enjoyablebutephemeralpop entertainments.believethatone ofthe most mportantthingswe teacherscan do forour students s to engage themin thatpleasureand help themto see how thesestoriesreflect he livesof realpeople, even na world sounimaginably ifferentAnd all so long ago."It is strikinghattherecontinue to be suchsubstantial hanges n thewaywe see theancientworld, venthoughour core textshaveremained104



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Whyo We till ead omer?the amefor enturies.usts intheOdysseyheblood of sacrificedullenables theghostsn Hades to speak,our own deas,as scholars ndstudents,rovidebloodfor heghosts"f ntiquity.s Francis ornfordso eloquently eclared,new theoreticalpproaches nd newanalyticmethods fferfreshndoriginalnterpretation."heykeeprevivingheoldtexts,makinghempeak onewgenerations.Inmanyways,hen, eadingHomer mbodieswhat findmost nter-estingnd appealing bout classical tudies r,morebroadly,bout ib-eral education. t necessarilyombines raditionnd innovation,isci-plineand experimentation,nd so one of the most mportantenefitsthattcangive s, fwe attend o t, sversatility.t thereforeffers moreextensiveetofcomparisonsnd metaphorshana morenarrowlyo-cusedpre-professionalrainingan. In the world f work nd civicre-sponsibilitynwhichwe ive, nd which ur studentsregoing oenter,accessto sucha broadrange fapproachesdeally llows or n equallybroadrangeof creative esponses o problems.f, ikeOdysseus,we"learn heminds fmany eople,"wecan become"skilledn allways fcontending." hat snota bad functionalefinitionf iberal earning,and it s a partial utsignificantarrantor ontinuingo readHomerthroughouthe wenty-firstenturyndbeyond.

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why we still read homer

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