Allegories of the Odyssey

Homer's <i>Iliad</i> and <i>Odyssey</i> were central to the educational system of Byzantium yet the religion and culture of the Homeric epics--even the ancient Greek language itself--had become almost unrecognizable to Byzantine Greek readers coming to the texts nearly two millennia later. The scholar poet and teacher John Tzetzes (ca. 1110-1180) joined the extensive tradition of interpreting Homer by producing his <i>Allegories of the</i> Iliad dedicated to the foreign-born empress Eirene. Tzetzes later composed the <i>Allegories of the</i> Odyssey a more advanced verse commentary to explain Odysseus's journey and the pagan gods and marvels he encountered. Through historical allegory the gods become ancient kings deified by the pagan poet; through astrological interpretation they become planets whose positions and movements affect human life; through moral allegory Athena represents wisdom Aphrodite desire. This edition presents the first translation of the <i>Allegories of the</i> Odyssey into any language.