Rhapsody 4

Homer commentary

A sampling of comments on Odyssey Rhapsody 4

2017.04.06 / updated 2018.10.06 | By Gregory Nagy With the continued aid of the goddess Athena, young Telemachus now becomes an ideal guest for his new hosts, Menelaos together with Helen. The identity of Helen as a goddess becomes more evident now that she is back in Sparta. This divine identity will point to the future immortalization of the hero Menelaos by virtue of his winning back Helen as his… Read more

Homer commentary

A sampling of comments on Iliad Rhapsody 4

2016.07.21 / updated 2018.09.08 | By Gregory Nagy The Trojan War is being fought here as if for the very first time. There is a sense of novelty at first in contemplating all the violent woundings and deaths yet to follow. Of special interest is all the beautiful detail lavished on the wounding of Menelaos: it is as if his bleeding wound here could be pictured as the original trauma… Read more