Man in the Middle Voice

MARTIN CLASSICAL LECTURES

New Series, Volume 1

The Martin Classical Lectures are delivered annually

at Oberlin College
on a foundation established by his many friends
in honor of Charles Beebe Martin,
for forty-five years a teacher of classical literature
and classical art in Oberlin.
Man in the Middle Voice

NAME AND NARRATION

IN THE ODYSSEY

John Peradotto

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

 Copyright 0 1990 by Trustees of Oberlin College
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
I n the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Oxford

All Rights Reserved

Libra7 of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationData

Peradotto, John
Man in the middle voice : name and narration in the Odyssey /
John Peradotto.
p. cm.-(Martin classical lectures ; new ser., v. 1)
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Homer. Odyssey. 2. Odysseus (Greek mythology) in literature.
3. Names, Personal, in literature. 4. Narration (Rhetoric)
I. Title. 11. Series.
PA25.M3 new ser., vol. 1
[PA4 1671 883.0 1 - d c 2 0 90-34569

ISBN 0-69 1-06830-5 (alk. paper)

This book has been composed in Linotron Baskerville

Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,

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Printed in the United States of America by Princeton University Press,

Princeton, New Jersey
1 3 5 7 9 1 0 8 6 4 2
For Erin, Monica, Noreen, and Nicole
"MSABU,what is there in books?"
As an illustration, I told him the story from the Odyssey
of the hero and Polyphemus, and of how Odysseus had
called himself Noman, had put out Polyphemus' eye, and
had escaped tied up under the belly of a ram. . . .
"How did he," he asked, "say the word, Noman, in his
own language? Say it."
"He said Outis," I told him. "He called himself Outis,
which in his language means Noman."
"Must you write about the same thing?" he asked me.
"No," I said, "people can write of anything they like. I
might write of you."
Kamante who had opened up in the course of the talk,
here suddenly closed again, he looked down himself and
asked me in a low voice, what part of him I would write
about.
"I might write about the time when you were ill and
were out with the sheep on the plain," I said, "what did you
think of then?"
His eyes wandered over the room, up and down; in the
end he said vaguely: "Sejui7-I know not.
"Were you afraid?" I asked him.
After a pause, "Yes," he said firmly, "all the boys on the
plain are afraid sometimes."
"Of what were you afraid?" I said.
Kamante stood silent for a little while, his face became
collected and deep, his eyes gazed inward. Then he looked
at me with a little wry grimace:
"Of Outis," he said. "The boys on the plain are afraid of
Outis."
-1sak Dinesen, Out of Africa
 CONTENTS

Preface

CHAPTER1
Polysemantor:
Polytlm: The
Po,!'yarbtos: Texts,
T hEnds ofPhilology, Ideology
the Odyssey
e Unhallowed Name of Odysseus
CHAPTER
CHAPTER 26
4
Polyainos:
Outis: T h eMyth
Polytropos: The vs. Folktale
Naming of of
Noman-clature thethe
Subject
Self
CHAPER53
CHAPTER

Index of Homeric Passages

Index of Greek Words
Index of Names and Subjects