Volume 19, 2007 - Brown University

Hide and Seek with the Homeric Narrator in the Iliad and the Odyssey 3
“haughty” reflects her opinion of the suitors. Similarly, the description of the
scene conveys a lazy atmosphere with greedy, gluttonous, and arrogant suitors.
They live off Odysseus’ lands and subsist on his produce and possessions,
striving for his most prized possession, his wife. The juxtaposition of the “hardworking
henchmen” and the image of the lazy suitors furthermore emphasizes
the latter’s sloth. However, “hard-working henchmen” is most likely an epithet,
chosen for purposes of meter rather than for the significance of the adjective
itself. Even so, by focalizing the scene through the eyes of Athena, the Homeric
narrator is able to pass judgment on the repulsiveness of the suitors, while
remaining hidden.
The level of information we receive through focalization directly corresponds
to the knowledge of the focalized character. Due to the fact that Athena is
immortal, she is more knowledgeable than a mortal character. While scenes
that are focalized through mortal characters are more likely to be restricted
and limited in knowledge, the gods, like Homer, are better informed and can
manipulate knowledge. Disguised as Mentes, Athena is able to witness the
scene with immunity; she recognizes others while remaining unrecognized.
The disguise itself plays a role in the game of focalization; though the characters
in the scene view Mentes, the narratees view the scene through the eyes
of a god, not only increasing their confidence in what they see, but also creating
the sense that they are present and more knowledgeable than the mortal
characters.
In Book 3 of the Odyssey, Telemachos’ arrival at Pylos with Athena and
the sailors depicts secondary focalization. “They came to Pylos, Neleus’ strongfounded
citadel, where the people on the shore of the sea were making sacrifice
of bulls who were all black to the dark-haired Earthshaker” (Od. 3.4-6). The narratee
visualizes the sacrifice and observes the land through the perception of the
Telemachos, Athena, and the sailors. Homer’s reluctance to enter the scene creates
a restriction. We view the scene through a specific, limited lens, which
restricts our vision and forces us to focus on the sacrifice and actions of the
inhabitants of the land. The restriction is apparent in the very fact that the narratees
receive no background information on the location and do not know the
names of the characters performing the sacrifice on shore. Nevertheless, the narratees’
involuntarily restriction of knowledge brings them to the same level of
knowledge as the characters, thereby increasing the narratees’ proximity to the
text. In addition, the secondary focalization acts as a means of distancing the
narrator from the characters. The detailed description of the sacrifice brings us
down to an earthly level, leading us closer to the action. “[They] were making
sacrifice of bulls who were all black” (Od. 3.5-6). The seemingly unnecessary
preciseness with which the scene is described has a useful function: it gives the
sense that the character is experiencing the scene as opposed to narrating it—
that is, remembering it from a later perspective. This aspect draws us closer to
the narrative and encourages our involvement in the scene.