Allegories of the Odyssey
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Allegories of the Odyssey
（Dumbarton Oaks medieval library, 56）
Harvard University Press, 2019
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Note
Text in Greek with English translation on facing pages; introduction and notes in English
Includes bibliographical references (p. 337-339) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey were central to the educational system of Byzantium, yet the religion and culture of the Homeric epics-even the ancient Greek language itself-had become almost unrecognizable to Byzantine Greek readers coming to the texts nearly two millennia later. The scholar, poet, and teacher John Tzetzes (ca. 1110-1180) joined the extensive tradition of interpreting Homer by producing his Allegories of the Iliad, dedicated to the foreign-born empress Eirene. Tzetzes later composed the Allegories of the Odyssey, a more advanced verse commentary, to explain Odysseus's journey and the pagan gods and marvels he encountered. Through historical allegory, the gods become ancient kings deified by the pagan poet; through astrological interpretation, they become planets whose positions and movements affect human life; through moral allegory Athena represents wisdom, Aphrodite desire. This edition presents the first translation of the Allegories of the Odyssey into any language.
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