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The Authoress of the Odyssey, by Samuel Butler, [1922], at sacred-texts.com


p. xiv

Contents

CHAPTER I

 

IMPORTANCE OF THE ENQUIRY—THE STEPS WHEREBY I WAS LED TO MY CONCLUSIONS—THE MULTITUDE OF EARLY GREEK POETESSES REMOVES ANY à priori DIFFICULTY—THE MUSES AND MINERVA AS HEADS OF LITERATURE—MAN, RATHER THAN WOMAN, THE INTERLOPER Page

1

 

 

CHAPTER II

 

THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY

14

Book i.

The council of the gods—Telemachus and the suitors in the house of Ulysses

18

Book ii.

Assembly of the people of Ithaca—Telemachus starts for Pylos

21

Book iii.

Telemachus at the house of Nestor

23

Book iv.

Telemachus at the house of Menelaus—The suitors resolve to lie in wait for him as he returns, and murder him

24

Book v.

Ulysses in the island of Calypso—He leaves the island on a raft, and after great suffering reaches the land of the Phæacians

28

Book vi.

The meeting between Ulysses and Nausicaa

30

Book vii.

The splendours of the house of King Alcinous—Queen Arete wants to know how Ulysses got his shirt and cloak, for she knows them as her own work. Ulysses explains

34

Book viii.

The Phæacian games and banquet in honour of Ulysses

37

Book ix.

The voyages of Ulysses—The Cicons, Lotus-eaters, and the Cyclops Polyphemus

41

Book x.

Æolus—The Læstrygonians—Circe

46

Book xi.

Ulysses in the house of Hades

49

Book xii.

The Sirens—Scylla and Charybdis—The cattle of the Sun

53

 

p. xv

 

Book xiii.

Ulysses is taken back to Ithaca by the Phæacians Page

57

Book xiv.

Ulysses in the hut of Eumæus

60

Book xv.

Telemachus returns from Pylos, and on landing goes to the hut of Eumæus

63

Book xvi.

Ulysses and Telemachus become known to one another

66

Book xvii.

Telemachus goes to the town, and is followed by Eumæus and Ulysses, who is maltreated by the suitors

70

Book xviii.

The fight between Ulysses and Irus—The suitors make presents to Penelope—and ill-treat Ulysses

75

Book xix.

Ulysses converses with Penelope, and is recognised by Euryclea

78

Book xx.

Ulysses converses with Eumæus, and with his herdsman Philœtius—The suitors again maltreat him—Theoclymenus foretells their doom and leaves the house

83

Book xxi.

The trial of the bow and of the axes

87

Book xxii.

The killing of the suitors

90

Book xxiii.

Penelope comes down to see Ulysses, and being at last convinced that he is her husband, retires with him to their own old room—In the morning Ulysses, Telemachus, Philœtius, and Eumæus go to the house of Laertes

96

Book xxiv.

The Ghosts of the suitors in Hades—Ulysses sees his father—is attacked by the friends of the suitors—Laertes kills Eupeithes—Peace is made between him and the people of Ithaca

99

 

 

CHAPTER III

 

THE PREPONDERANCE OF WOMAN IN THE ODYSSEY

105

 

 

CHAPTER IV

 

JEALOUSY FOR THE HONOUR AND DIGNITY OF WOMAN—SEVERITY AGAINST THOSE WHO HAVE DISGRACED THEIR SEX—LOVE OF SMALL RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES—OF PREACHING—OF WHITE LIES AND SMALL PLAY-ACTING—OF HAVING THINGS BOTH WAYS—AND OF MONEY

115

p. xvi

 

 

 

CHAPTER V

 

ON THE QUESTION WHETHER OR NO PENELOPE IS BEING WHITEWASHED Page

125

 

 

CHAPTER VI

 

FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE CHARACTER OF PENELOPE—THE JOURNEY OF TELEMACHUS TO LACEDÆMON

134

 

 

CHAPTER VII

 

FURTHER INDICATIONS THAT THE WRITER IS A WOMAN—YOUNG, HEADSTRONG, AND UNMARRIED

142

 

 

CHAPTER VIII

 

THAT ITHACA AND SCHERIA ARE BOTH OF THEM DRAWN FROM TRAPANI AND ITS IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOURHOOD

158

 

 

CHAPTER IX

 

THE IONIAN AND THE ÆGADEAN ISLANDS—THE VOYAGES OF ULYSSES SHOWN TO BE PRACTICALLY A SAIL ROUND SICILY FROM TRAPANI TO TRAPANI

174

 

 

CHAPTER X

 

FURTHER DETAILS REGARDING THE VOYAGES OF ULYSSES, TO CONFIRM THE VIEW THAT THEY WERE A SAIL ROUND SICILY, BEGINNING AND ENDING WITH MT. ERYX AND TRAPANI

188

 

 

CHAPTER XI

 

WHO WAS THE WRITER?

200

 

 

CHAPTER XII

 

THE DATE OF THE POEM, AND A COMPARISON OF THE STATE OF THE NORTH WESTERN PART OF SICILY AS REVEALED TO US IN THE ODYSSEY, WITH THE ACCOUNT GIVEN BY THUCYDIDES OF THE SAME TERRITORY IN THE EARLIEST KNOWN TIMES

210

 

 

CHAPTER XIII

 

FURTHER EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF AN EARLY IONIAN SETTLEMENT AT OR CLOSE TO TRAPANI

225

p. xvii

 

 

 

CHAPTER XIV

 

THAT THE ILIAD WHICH THE WRITER OF THE ODYSSEY KNEW WAS THE SAME AS WHAT WE NOW HAVE Page

232

 

 

CHAPTER XV

 

THE ODYSSEY IN ITS RELATION TO THE OTHER POEMS OF THE TROJAN CYCLE, AND ITS DEVELOPMENT IN THE HANDS OF THE AUTHORESS

249

 

 

CHAPTER XVI

 

CONCLUSION

262


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