Die Ithakalandschaft in Od. 13

Abstract

This paper offers a new interpretation of three descriptions of Ithaca’s landscape inOd. 13 (96-112; 237-249; 344-351) by linking them with other passages through careful verbal comparisons. The article begins with an analysis of the harbor of Phorkys, suggesting a parallel with the harbor of the Laestrygonians, which is similarly deceptive; Odysseus will have many more trials to face. The second part of the paper interprets Athena’s first description as reminiscent of Odysseus’s own at the beginning of hisApologoi, while the third part elaborates on the role of Athena’s second description, comparing it with the narrator’s version by drawing on Bühler’s term ofdeixisand Bakhtin’s notion of thechronotopos. The parallel between Odysseus’s recognition of Ithaca and Penelope’s recognition of Odysseus demonstrates the extent to which the description of Ithaca shapes the narrative dynamics of theOdyssey.