The Ethics Of Revenge And The Meanings Of The Odyssey

281 Pages·2019·2.987 MB·English

by  Alexander C. Loney

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The Ethics of Revenge
and the Meanings of the Odyssey
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The Ethics
of Revenge and
the Meanings of
the Odyssey
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ALEXANDER C. LONEY
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1
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© Oxford University Press 2019
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CIP data is on file at the Library of Congress
ISBN 978– 0– 19– 090967– 3
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Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
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To Emily
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Contents
Preface ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
PART I
1. The Archaic Context of Vengeance 13
2. Vengeance in the Odyssey: tisis as Narrative 49
PART II
3. Three Narratives of Divine Vengeance 77
4. Odysseus’ Terrifying Revenge 119
PART III
5. The Multiple Meanings of Odysseus’ Triumphs 173
6. The End of the Odyssey and of Revenge 193
Bibliography 227
Index Locorum 243
General Index 257
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Preface
I benefited from the careful and judicious help of many in bringing this
book to its telos. From its first conception to publication, this book has taken
nearly as long to complete as Odysseus’ journey home. Along the way, I have
benefited from the advice and criticism of so many that I am sure to forget to
name some of them here. Please forgive the oversight. Before listing all those who
are to be thanked, I must say, as is customary, that none can be blamed for any
shortcomings or errors in the book.
In the very early stages of this project’s development, José González was a
tireless sounding board, patiently listening to me try out various disconnected
threads of different ideas. Later, as I gave to him in quick succession lengthy drafts
of chapters, he would promptly turn each of them around with detailed, careful
comments. I would also like to thank the incisive, critical reading that early
versions of the project received by Peter Burian, Carla Antonaccio, and William
Johnson. While at Duke University, my initial work was supported by the
Franklin Humanities Institute as well as the Kenan Institute for Ethics. Various
parts of this project have had other patient readers and auditors in its earlier
stages: Diskin Clay, Casey Dué, Douglas Olson, Paul Griffiths, Jenny Strauss
Clay, Ruth Scodel, Kirk Ormand, Gregory Nagy, Ornella Rossi, Irene Peirano.
In its more advanced stages, Egbert Bakker, Pauline LeVen, Victor Bers, Douglas
Cairns, David Elmer, Erwin Cook, Jonathan Ready, Ryan Kemp, Mark Jonas,
Matthew Farrelly, and the participants of MACTe read or heard portions of the
project and helped— some in very small ways, others quite significantly— to im-
prove the final product. At a crucial, late stage in the revision process, I received
some much- needed help from Justin Arft and Tobias Myers. Joel Christensen and
Lilah Grace Canevaro kindly shared with me pre- publication versions of their new
work. Portions of the work were also heard by audiences at Xavier University, the
University of Wisconsin– Madison, the University of St Andrews, Yale University,
the University of California– Santa Barbara, Brigham Young University, and
Wheaton College, as well as at meetings of the Society for Classical Studies, the
Classical Association of the Middle West and South, the Classical Association of