Reading Differences: The Odyssey and Juxtaposition

Abstract

This article comprises a discussion of four separate passages in Homer and some of the critical problems which each involves. My intention is not to produce a blueprint or set of rules for the interpretation of Homer, but rather — a more limited aim — to increase attention to the complex texture of the poetry of theOdyssey, and to the need for a critical practice alive to such complexity. The four passages are the speech of Amphimedon's ghost; the recognition scene between Odysseus and Argus; the story telling of Menelaus and Helen; and, finally, Odysseus' first speech to Nausicaa. Each passage opens questions about how Homer is read, and, in particular, about how what is often referred to as Homer's juxtapositional technique interrelates with the role of the reader in the activity of interpretation.