ODYSSEUS' S R

wel1-p,rtF)aH~d and touch-Udysseus has at last come the scene

had been his nurse, recog­strcmgler has won

hOlJSelkeeper to wash hisof hm;pit:ali:ty toward a tired

cold withwho is pf()bably

pelrhaps, like the is cvenremarks how astonish­

Udyss(~uS, rerrlen,1 bCI:ing hishis cfforts to

but he wants atignofClI1c:c. No sooner has the old woman

in her joyous she lets footover, she is about to out her

Odvss,eus restrains her threats and enc1earm,ents;recovers herself and conceals her emotion. t'elrlel0p'e, whose atten-

tion Athena's had diverted from the has observed

8

and 18

that of

'-..>l<nelU! a(:knowled,gment is to

HoJJinigen Foundation

made available for traJ1s1a:ting.

AU this is externalized and narrated in fashion.The two women express their in direct discourse. Fee1-

are, with admixture of the mostconsiderations upon human the connection be-tween and is clear, no contour is blurrcd. There isalso room and time for orderly, pel:lec;t!y wcl1-artlI2ulated, umlorrnlyilluminated of and gcs:tm:es;even in the dramatic moment of Homer does not omit totell the reader that it is with his hand that Odysseus takes theold woman the to her from spe:aking,that he draws her closer to him with his left.and men and stand out in a realm where

and not less evenm and thClUghts

3

,SEUS ODYSSEUS' SCAR

retard-

So it is the passagesets the infant

banqu<~t, the

U(lvs~;eus' scar is not ba~;ic2Iny dif­introduced ch:uacter,

it be in the

the and the reader's mind cOlnpletelybefore us. When the young Euryc;leaseus on his grandfather AutolYCliS'

a few lines earlier had the wanden~r's

enl:irelv vanished from the and from the reader's mind.'U'V,",U.''"' and not to this pal:tI(:ul~lr

on the subject ofit in direct

is not"retarclln/,( plroc(~dure is opj:losed,

of"retardillig elem1ent," the "going back and by means

in the Homeric poems, to be oppo~;ed

suspelilsi1/e toward a and doubt-to Homer when he that what he

existence and of in accord-their , Homer's goal is "already in every

pH)gr1css." But both Schiller ilnd Goethe raise Homer's prclcedUlreof a law for m and Scrullier's

above are meant to upon thein contradistinction from the tragic. Yet in both modern and ancient

there are works which are composed thl'oughl)utwith no element" in this sense on the withsuspense and which "rob us of our emotionalfreedom" power to the Andbesides it seems to me undemonstrable and this pro-cedure of Homeric was directed considerations oreven by an aesthetic of the sort Goethe andSchiller. The to be sure, is thatand is, the actual source of the eOllceptJon which

themselves and with them all writers deieisi.ve!!v influencedda:,sical aJlticjuil:y But the true cause of the of "retarda-

tion" to me to lie in the need of theHomeric to leave which it mentions half in darkness andunexternalized.

The excursus upon thefrom the many passag1cs

or even a appearingthick of a is des:crilJedupon the appearance

Perlelope's ehamb<~r, not

hOUlsekeeper recogrllzes the

5

ODYSSEUS' SCAR

~~~dwith andifferent world of forms. I

continues unl~hallell1ge:d

woman now touched it ..."), sceneoff is resumed. To be sure, in the case of such episodes

as the one we are a connection withthe theme would have but a connection

it have been all the easier had thecontent been that end in if, that is, the entireof the scar had been as a which awakens inOilvs:SC11IS' mind at this moment. It would have been per-

to the the scar had to be inserted twoat first mention of the word scar, where the motifs

"recollection" were at hand. ~"':=~~->l.I."'"

absioJul:e. Onefre<luent miOVllW back and

pel:sp,ectlve in time and but theimpn~ssion. The way in which any

observed in themtrodlucing epllso<ies, a construction with

every reader of Homer is it is used in the passage we are con-sid.ering, but can also be found in cases when the arcI>UllllC;t, To the word scar (v. there is attached a relative

..."), which into asylltachcal pal:enthesis; into this an sentence

un,exP<ecl:ed:lv himself gave him ..."),

lili.fug~!tm!.JllJbalf:·i1ll1lrnimlted~;era

to~:etJler in a

reachc~d the scene; UlLAce1U,

aml1vsis to be trace­phieuclml:;na in terms

the

7

remains in A isdes;ignlat(~d the where the sacrifice is to be performed;

nothlrlg about the journey that it took threewe are told in a way: Abraham and his

in the and "went unto" the of whichGod had told on the third he lifted up his eyes and saw the

from afar. That is indeed theoccurrence the which

its motivation lies in the fact theunil~Uelr1eSS still the !mj:)reS~l!on

thJrou:gh a vacuum; it is as if,

ODYSSEUS' SCAR

are set forth in many verses; and even on occasions whenone of their favorites or to

their anddetail.

"aj)pt:ar:>"),and that

utters an without asuch as is the rule in

0.1-111<1.11<1.111 too is made per-in which he answers God:

me to be sure, a most ex-pressi,re of obedience and readiness is but it is left to thereader to visualize it. Moreover the two are not on the samelevel: if we conceive of Abraham in the where itbe to him as or or bowing with out-

arms or God is not there too: Abraham's wordsand are directed toward the of the or U/JI'Vdl'U.

but in any case the dark from the voicecomes to him is not in the lOJ:egrOllnl:l.

After this God gives his and the itselfeveryone knows it unrons no in a few inde-

pelr1dc:nt sentences whose connection is of the most rudi-

mentary sort.~lI~in~~i~-'~~li~~~~i~~e..~;;;~~~~;11~~;:;'~~ tllat an llIlpJ(:ml~nt,

,us S R

homclgelo.ec)Us narrative pn)dllCedversion the openi:ng

it came to pass after theseAbraham! and he

open:ing startles us when we come tospeakt:rs? Weare not told.

no:rm,111y to be found to­in order to

must enter theWhence does he come,

He does not come,Aethiopial1ls, where he has been en­

anvtlllng of his reasons fordiscussed them

co11111cl:l; nor have theum:xp(::ct(~d and

con­corlcel)t of God to be ex­was not fixed in form and

his lack of local hatntation,maintained but even

eo:mr,arativeJy far more manifestL"l.n,,-,U world. The of God held by

their manner of compre-

to other person in theis he? do not know. He says, in-

Hebrew word means likeis not meant to indicate the actual

posltl:on in to who hascommand. Where he is aet:uaHy,

elsew'here, whether indoors or in the openna]:ral:or, the reader is not in­whcn God called to him is

realize the dlfterence, consider Hermes'cX:lm.pll::, where arrival and

Slt!latlon and the person

8 9

II

example of

course. The pelrsonal~es

does not serve, as does in to mamt1est,thClUghts-ctll the it serves to indicate thClUghtsmain God his command in direct disc01JfS,e,leaves his motives and his purpose unlexf-lre,;sec:!; n,Ul<"Udtu', recervmgthe says and does what has been told to do. Theconversation and Isaac on the way to the ofsacrifice is an of the silence and makes it an

more burdensome. The two of Isaac the wood andAbraham fire and a "went Isaacventures to ask about the ram, and gives the wen-knownanswer. Then the text "So went both ofEvenrthing remains unexI>re:,se1j.

It be dltllCU.!t,those of these two ~~!Y.Jm~:!f;Ilt

,ODYSSEUS SCAR

to know about him as a in theIUI1rJinated, so that it may become ap!)arlenttefJnpl:atJon is, and that God is

we see the slglmbcaJlce

o

SSE S' S

treatnleIllt; the inter­cry'staJli2~e into a

be\vitc;h us towe live with them in the reality of their lives; so as we are

readiIllg or hearing the poems, it does not matter whether we knowthat all this is " The oft-rer)ea'ted rep:roa(~h

that Homer is a liar takes from his eff,cctivc;ne:ss.need to on historical i~c_;~~~~;~f~i'i'

it ensnares us, weavlim,.,_...:;:;••.-r'C"•••• '.'0''';;;'

,ODYSSEUS SCAR

is from but the influence of his and hisfeelin,gs continues to affect even in his rebellion

dIsregard for the consequences of his in the magn:ihocntthe two messengers, both the and pSi1cho!c,gic:al

ba(~kgrolmd is the latter is never expressed.eXclm!J!e, how who sends Patroclus

loses almost all sophvsj(~aljly pres(;nt. But the most is

the of the individual this is to bemet with in or at most in the form of a conscious hesitationbetween two courses of in the com-

of the life is shown in the succession andalternation of whereas the writers are able to expressthe existence of various of consciousness and theconflict between them.

The Homeric poems, their linguistic, andabove all culture appears to be so much more highly de-veloped. are in their of human beings;and no Jess so in their relation to the real life which describe in

physical existence is to and theirpelrce'ptible to us. Betwceen

show usathletic contests and washing da'VS--lll

in their and

is pureElohistic text tcaches us

ap!Jlic:ation. It shows

Ro SSE US'

2 13

SSEU ODYSSEUS' SCAR

our own for a few hours,:.~~~~~:s)I~.~!yelrc;?!l1~:()lll: n'",1:ihl~"U1P are to fit our own life into its

om:seIvcs tube elements in its structure of universal his­inc:rea$ingly difficult the further our historical en-

vironment is removed from of the Biblical and if thesenevertheless maintain their claim to absolute it is inevitablethat themselves be transformation.This was for a time easy; as late as the EurojJean

it was Biblical events as roulin"JrH

phc~nolmellaof of int<~rpretat:ion them-fmmi.ng the basis for such a treatment. But too

in environment and the of a critical

~~~~~~;~~/::~~!l.~~~;~,mlng. In story of it is not God'sinbervlention at the and the but even the factual and

elements that aretouched upon, and therefore theysubtle they demand them.

Since so much in the and since the readerknows that God is a his effort to it corlstcmtllyfinds new to feed upon. Doctrine and the search for en-iigllteJr:lment are connected with the physical side of thenarrative-the latter more than , indeed arein constant of their own reality, as soon halPp<:nedwhen reached such that real vanished.

If text of the Biblical is so greatly in need ofinter~)rejtatl.on on the basis of its own its claim to absoluteaul:hority forces it still further in the same direction. '-,,,,,_,,,,,,, see.lcin.g,

15

US CA ODYSSEUS' SCAR

shows himself andthese stories

HomericTes:tarrlent is incoffilpar,lbly

it is more Ob1/iOllSlycOInpcone:nts aU to one cOrlCel)t

interI)~ejtatilon. If certain elements survived which didimmt:di,ltelv took care of and so the

moment aware of the universal religi,o-histori,calgives the individual stories their

purpc)se. The the and horizontal disconnec-stories and of stories in relation to one an1othler,

the and the Odyssey, the is theircOIlne:chon, holds them all and which is en-

in Homer. Each of of the Testa-Adam to embodies a moment of this

connection. God formed these men to the cnd of embodv-his essence and and formation not coincide,

for the latter the lifehim the choice faHen. How the process is accom-

terrible trials such a formation can be seen fromof Abraham's sacrifice. Herein lies the reason the

of the Old Testament are so much moremuch more frauglltdistinct as mc!lviduals.

Bil)lical claim to abs:oluteint:en)re:tation is scorned and

anlCielQt It:gt:IIU~, and the doctrinebecomes a disem-

III

undergo(;s an incessant and active

the method of inter-other the The Homeric

delmite cIDm.plc:x of events whose boundaries indelimitelj; before it, beside and after

not can be conceivedl'estan1enet, on the

re]:lres:ent universal his-insilsteJot n:lationl-a rel:lticm cC)llst:antly redefined con-

6 17

events and lHeHlC',

uncertaljrl, which confuses the clearorientation of the has dis-

aDIDeflreld. The historical event we or learn from thetestiII10f:lY of those who witnessed it, runs much more con-tradic:tm"ily and not until it has results in a defi-nite domain are we with their to it to a certain

and how often the order to we think we have attainedbecomes doubtful how often we ask ourselves if the data beforeus have not led us to a far too classification of the on/::;m:alevents! arranges its material in a simple and straightforward

it detaches it from its historical context, so thatthe will not confuse it knows outlined men whoact from few and motives and the of whose teelinl~s

and actions remains In the legends of for ex-a stiff-necked and fanatical persecutor stands over anstiff-necked and fanatical and a situation so

rated-that is to so real and historical-as that in which thesecutor" himself in his celebrated letter to on the

of the is unfit for legend. And that is still a com-naJrati:veJlv case. Let the reader think of the history which weare ourselves anyone who, for evaluates the be-

of individual men and groups of men at the time of the riseNational in or the behavior of individual peo-

19

ODYSSEUS' SCAR

Testament comes closer andof the historical

much that is still rernai.ns,of David and but the most es-

which the narrators knew from their ownex~)eri.em;e or from firsthand Now the difference between

and is in most casesa dJthcult

imrnea:surdlbly for­eX<JlleIU, give us, if

recogrlizt:d as the prodll(;tindeed gen-

['estaulerlt stories aleglcndlary and

bec;oIIle what he is,the

difjreH~ntiah~d into fun indi­persoI1laliiry which the Old Testa­

those whom Godsome-

18

,SS us

ODYSSEUS' SCAR

sw:nately aplprehellde:d--a protlleITI which later shatters the frameworkhistorical cOlmp,oslltlCm and overruns it with prclphlec1V;

'est:arrlent, in so far as it is concerned withthr,ou~:h all three domains: historical rej:loritinl?;,

and historical the:olclgy.Connected with the matters discussed is the fact that the Greek

text seems more limited and more static inaction

scene we there appears, asideUc:!yssells and Euryclea, a slave whomseus' father Laertes had bought long like the swineherdl<;u.m<:leus, has her life in the service of Laertes' like Eu-maeus, she is connected with their she loves andshares their interests and But noteelm/;s of her own; she has the and of her master.Eumaeus though he still remembers that he was born a freemanand indeed of a noble house was stolen as a notin fact but also in his own no longer a life his own, he isentm;!v involved in the life of his masters, Yet these two characters

ones whom Homer to life who do not toThus we become conscious of the fact that in the

HCimc:ric poems life is enacted among thepear in the role of servants to that class. The ruling class isso and still itself so involved in the activitiesof domestic that one is sometimes to their rank. But

are a sort of feudal aristocracy, whose men dividetheir lives between war, hunting, councils, and teashng,while the women supervise the maids in the house. As a social In\"LU'C,

this world is completely stable; wars take place only between differentgroups of the ruling class; ever pushes up from below. In the

stories of the Old Testament the condition is domi-nant but since the involved are individual nomadic orhalf-nomadic tribal the social a much less stableimprc:ssion; class distinctions are not As soon as the

after the exodus from isdISCer'lll!J!e, it is often in it frequently intervenes in

as a whole but also in groups and thr,ou~:h

sCI)ar:ate individuals who come the ofprc)phecy seem in the politico-religious spcmt:am:ity

We receive the that the movements emerg-

21

cOIltr;ldH~tory mo­amblg.U01JS glcoping on the

does a more or lessand even

20

SSE US'

Ill-<i\.;LUd'lV unse:palrat<~d but '"'aJJ....d'Jy

ODYSSEUS' SCAR

and the everyday are not

of the COIICej)tocc:up;aticm with the prclbk;maltic,

Homer's realism of course, not to be eqllah;drealism in geller2l!; for the which did not

de\relcm until no such leisurely and externalized de-scription of in there was noroom for soon encountered thephem)m1ena of historical "rrlUlltilayel~edne!is" of

prclbl<:;m, and dealt them in its in Romannew and native COII1Ce:pts are added. We shall into

ch:mges in the of theoccasion on the the basic tendencies of theHomeric style, which we have to work remained effec-tive and determinant down into late anitiqllitv

Since we are the two the HClml~ric and the Old Testa-as we have taken them as ~~1!(;d proC!UCltS, as

we have dis;re~:an:led p",orHf-h;~N

and thus have left untouched whetherpe,cu]iariti(~s were theirs the or are to be re-

or in to influences. Within the limitsof our pu:rpClse, a consideration of is not forit is in full which in earlythe two their upon the rep-resentation ofthe

sublime influence of God herethe realms of the sublime

SSE US' seA

of must have been of aeven of the later democra-

far more eleme:nbll.prclfOtmd his;toriciity and the more pf(lfOlmd

is connected another im-HOlme:r: U;dUA'(';!)I, that a different cOIlce'pti()ll

sltl~!i~Il:5f,.i! to be found here. ~~"""~",,.L,

22 23

I I

BY ERICH AUEI\BACH

a new introduction by f',uwaro W. Said

iltip·th-/\nniwrwrv EditWll

SENTATION OF

ESTERN L TE URE

IRANSLA:n:n FROM THE GERMA.N

BY WILLARD R. TRASK

E REP

IN

PRINCE'ION UNIVERSITY PRESS

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\lIerhllch. Ilrlch, I

1':lIgllsh

the \\'cstem litcr,Jl\1IT / h:' r;:rieh i\ucrbdch ;

lLl!\sbted from the (:Ul1Llll h\ \\'ilLnd R 'Tr:LSk ; \\'ith ;1 nc\\ introduction b\· Echvard \V.

50th ;lI1Il1H.TSdr\ ed

p cm

lllt'hldes bib]j()guphicd references and index

rphk cilk. paper)

;111(1 cnlicislll Reali!\ in litcr,lfllre

lille

in literature.

I)J 2

Data IS Il\allahle

\\,\\\\, pll prcss.IHI !leeton, cd u

III the Unrted of

l) 8 h ,[