Editing Odyssey (section)

==Background==

=== Composition ===
Many suggestions have been made for dating the ''Odyssey''{{'s}} composition, but there is no consensus. The Greeks began adopting a modified version of the [[Phoenician alphabet]] to create their own language during the 8th century BC.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|p=21}} The Homeric poems may have been one of the earliest products of that literacy; if this is so, they would have been composed towards the late 8th century BC.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|p=23}} Inscribed on a [[Nestor's Cup (Pithekoussai)|clay cup]] found in [[Ischia]], Italy, are the words "Nestor's cup, good to drink from".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Charlotte |author-link=Charlotte Higgins |date=13 November 2019 |title=From Carnage to a Camp Beauty Contest: The Endless Allure of Troy |url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/nov/13/carnage-camp-beauty-contest-endless-allure-troy-british-museum |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109174814/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/nov/13/carnage-camp-beauty-contest-endless-allure-troy-british-museum |archive-date=9 January 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> Some scholars, such as [[Calvert Watkins]], have tied this cup to a description of King [[Nestor's Cup (mythology)|Nestor's golden cup]] in the ''Iliad.''{{sfn|Watkins|1976|p=28}} If the cup is an allusion to the ''Iliad'', that poem's composition can be dated to at least 700–750 BC.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|p=21}}

Dating is similarly complicated by the fact that the Homeric poems, or sections of them, were performed regularly by rhapsodes for several hundred years.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|p=21}} The ''Odyssey'' as it exists today is likely not significantly different.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|p=23}} Aside from minor differences, the Homeric poems gained a canonical place in the institutions of ancient Athens by the 6th century.{{sfn|Davison|1955|pp=7–8}} In 566 BC, [[Pisistratus|Peisistratos]] instituted a civic and religious festival called the [[Panathenaic Games|Panathenaia]], which featured performances of Homeric poems.{{sfn|Davison|1955|pp=9–10}} These are significant because a "correct" version of the poems had to be performed, indicating that a particular version of the text had become canonised.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|loc=p. 21, "In 566 BCE, Pisistratus, the tyrant of the city (which was not yet a democracy), instituted a civic and religious festival, the Panathenaia, which included a poetic competition, featuring performances of the Homeric poems. The institution is particularly significant because we are told that the Homeric poems had to be performed "correctly", which implies the canonization of a particular written text of The Iliad and The Odyssey at this date."}}

=== Textual tradition ===
[[File:Demetrios Chalkokondyles - Detail of Angel Appearing to Zacharias by Domenico Ghirlandaio.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait by the Italian painter [[Domenico Ghirlandaio]] of the Greek Renaissance scholar [[Demetrios Chalkokondyles]], who produced the first printed edition of the ''Odyssey'' in 1488]]

In the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC, scholars affiliated with the [[Library of Alexandria]]—particularly [[Zenodotus]] and [[Aristarchus of Samothrace]]—edited the Homeric poems, wrote [[Scholia|commentaries]] on them, and helped establish them as canonical texts.<ref name="Haslam2012">{{Cite book |last=Haslam |first=Michael |title=The Homer Encyclopedia |date=2012 |isbn=978-1-4051-7768-9 |chapter=Text and Transmission |doi=10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1413}}</ref> Alexandrian scholar [[Didymus the Blind|Didymus]]'s commentary divided ancient editions of the Homeric texts into ''city editions'' or ''individual editions''. City editions were likely created within the city (perhaps as "official" versions) while individual editions were independently prepared  by scholars.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=112}} He mentions individual versions owned by [[Antimachus]], [[Aristophanes of Byzantium]], and [[Sosigenes the Peripatetic|Sosigenes]]; there is a record of city editions existing in [[Marseille|Argos]], [[Chios]], [[Crete]], [[Cyprus]] and [[Marseille]].{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=112}} Many editions were stored in the Library of Alexandria.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=114}} Throughout antiquity, both ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' were widely copied and used as [[textbook|school texts]] in lands where the Greek language was spoken.{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} They were probably a core part of the ancient Greek education system, certainly for the elite of [[Classical Athens]].{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|pp=411, 417}} 

Their influence in non-Greek territories fluctuated. The [[Roman Empire]] readily absorbed Homer into its own culture, spreading it east and west.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=411}} The subjects of both poems—[[Trojan War]] and its participants—were already critical historical and mythological references for Romans.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=417}} [[Alexander the Great]]'s conquests spread [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] cultural influence throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and it became read by every school child in the Greek world.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=417}} 

During the [[Middle Ages]], the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' remained widely studied; as with Classical Athens, they were used as school texts within the [[Byzantine Empire]].{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} The Byzantine scholar and archbishop [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathios of Thessalonike]] ({{Circa|1115|1195/6 AD}}) wrote exhaustive commentaries on both of the Homeric epics that were seen as authoritative by later generations;{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} his commentary on the ''Odyssey'' alone spans nearly 2,000 oversized pages in a twentieth-century edition.{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}} The first printed edition of the ''Odyssey'', known as the ''[[editio princeps]]'', was [[List of editiones principes in Greek|produced in 1488]] by the Greek scholar [[Demetrios Chalkokondyles]], who had been born in Athens and had studied in Constantinople.{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} His edition was printed in [[Milan]] by a Greek printer named Antonios Damilas.{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}}

Since the late 19th century, many papyri containing fragments of the ''Odyssey'' have been found in Egypt, some with content different from later medieval versions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Daley |first=Jason |date=11 July 2018 |title=Oldest Greek Fragment of Homer Discovered on Clay Tablet |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-greek-fragment-homer-discovered-clay-tablet-180969602/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223253/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-greek-fragment-homer-discovered-clay-tablet-180969602/ |archive-date=23 January 2019 |access-date=29 July 2022 |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref> In 2018, the [[Ministry of Culture and Sports (Greece)|Greek Cultural Ministry]] revealed  a clay tablet discovered near the [[Temple of Zeus, Olympia|Temple of Zeus]] at Olympia, containing 13 verses from the ''Odyssey''{{'s}} 14th book. While it was initially reported to date from the 3rd century AD, the date is unconfirmed.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tagaris |first=Karolina |date=10 July 2018 |editor-last=Heavens |editor-first=Andrew |title='Oldest known extract' of Homer's Odyssey discovered in Greece |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-archaeology-odyssey/oldest-known-extract-of-homers-odyssey-discovered-in-greece-idUSKBN1K01QM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324125157/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-archaeology-odyssey/oldest-known-extract-of-homers-odyssey-discovered-in-greece-idUSKBN1K01QM |archive-date=24 March 2019 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=10 July 2018 |title=Homer Odyssey: Oldest extract discovered on clay tablet |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44779492 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901203416/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44779492 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

=== Influences ===
[[File:Humbaba_deamon-AO_9034-IMG_0655-black.jpg|left|thumb|Terracotta plaque of the Mesopotamian ogre [[Humbaba]], believed to be a possible inspiration for the figure of Polyphemus]]
Scholars have seen strong influences from Near Eastern mythology and literature in the ''Odyssey''.{{sfn|West|1997|p=403}} [[Martin Litchfield West|Martin West]] notes substantial parallels between the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' and the ''Odyssey''.{{sfn|West|1997|pp=402–417}} Both Odysseus and [[Gilgamesh]] are known for traveling to the ends of the earth and on their journeys go to the land of the dead.{{sfn|West|1997|p=405}} On his voyage to the underworld, Odysseus follows instructions given to him by [[Circe]], who is located at the edges of the world and is associated through imagery with the sun.{{sfn|West|1997|p=406}} Like Odysseus, Gilgamesh gets directions on how to reach the land of the dead from a divine helper: the goddess [[Siduri]], who, like Circe, dwells by the sea at the ends of the earth, whose home is also associated with the sun. Gilgamesh reaches Siduri's house by passing through a tunnel underneath Mt. [[Mashu]], the high mountain from which the sun comes into the sky.{{sfn|West|1997|p=410}} West argues that the similarity of Odysseus' and Gilgamesh's journeys to the edges of the earth are the result of the influence of the Gilgamesh epic upon the ''Odyssey''.{{sfn|West|1997|p=417}}

In 1914, [[Paleontology|paleontologist]] [[Othenio Abel]] surmised the origins of the Cyclops to be the result of ancient Greeks finding an elephant skull.{{sfn|Mayor|2000|p={{page needed|date=July 2022}}}} The enormous nasal passage in the middle of the forehead could have looked like the eye socket of a giant, to those who had never seen a living elephant.{{sfn|Mayor|2000|p={{page needed|date=July 2022}}}} Classical scholars, on the other hand, have long known that the story of the Cyclops was originally a [[Fairy tale|folk tale]], which existed independently of the ''Odyssey'' and which became part of it at a later date. Similar stories are found in cultures across Europe and the Middle East.{{sfn|Anderson|2000|pp=127–131}} According to this explanation, the Cyclops was originally simply a giant or ogre, much like [[Humbaba]] in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.{{sfn|Anderson|2000|pp=127–131}} Graham Anderson suggests that the addition about it having only one eye was invented to explain how the creature was so easily blinded.{{sfn|Anderson|2000|pp=124–125}}

=== Geography ===
{{Main|Homer's Ithaca|Geography of the Odyssey}}

Scholars are divided on whether any of the places visited by Odysseus are real.{{sfn|Fox|2008}} The events in the main sequence of the ''Odyssey'' (excluding Odysseus's [[Story within a story|embedded narrative]] of his wanderings) have been said to take place across the [[Peloponnese]] and the [[Ionian Islands]].<ref name="auto">[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'', 1.2.15, cited in {{harvnb|Finley|1976|p=33}}</ref> Many have attempted to map Odysseus's journey, but largely agree that the landscapes—especially those described in books 9 to 11—include too many mythical elements to be truly mappable.<ref name="Zazzera">{{Cite web |last=Zazzera |first=Elizabeth Della |date=27 February 2019 |title=The Geography of the Odyssey |url=https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/geography-odyssey |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008231344/https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/geography-odyssey |archive-date=8 October 2020 |access-date=29 July 2022 |website=Lapham's Quarterly}}</ref> For instance, there are challenges ascertaining whether Odysseus's homeland of Ithaca is the same island that is now called {{Langx|grc|Ithakē|label=none|italic=yes}} (modern Greek: {{Langx|grc|Ιθάκη|label=none}});<ref name="auto" /> the same is true of the route described by Odysseus to the Phaeacians and their island of [[Scheria]].{{sfn|Fox|2008}} British classicist [[Peter Jones (classicist)|Peter Jones]] writes that the poem was likely updated many times by oral story-tellers across several centuries before it was written down, making it "virtually impossible" to say "in what sense [the poem] reflects a historical society or accurate geographical knowledge".{{Sfn|Jones|1996|p=xi}} Modern scholars tend to explore Odysseus's journey metaphorically rather than literally.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|pp=275}}