(the) American (Novel of)

232 Thomas Thorp
Beside myself Deucalion sired Prince Idomeneus,
who set sail for Troy in his beaked ships of war,
escorting Atreus’ sons. My own name is Aethon.
I am the younger-born. (19:205–208)
In the first version of the lie he was the murderer of Idomeneus’s son. In
the second version he was Castor, the illegitimate son of a wealthy Cretan,
who had made his fortune in piracy and joined with Idomeneus as a leader
of the Cretan contingent at Troy. In the third version he is the brother of
Idomeneus and he is able to make his way into Penelope’s heart by
proving that he had met Odysseus, a claim made credible by the fact that
he is able to describe the cloak and pin that Odysseus was wearing when
he left for Troy. Of course to the extent that this identification renders
his story credible, it would also seem to prove that he may not have seen
Odysseus for twenty years. The stunning accuracy of the cloak and pin
description does not support the credibility of his subsequent claim that
he had seen Odysseus’s treasure, and only just missed seeing the man
himself, only days earlier in Thesprotia. 17 What is being achieved in this
complex of lies? Why does he continue to lie to Penelope?
The first lie (Athena) had invoked the legendary form of an
etiquette depicted as an ethos of war and righteous murder. The second
lie (Eumaeus) depicted a transitional passage that mimics Odysseus’s
own voyage from war to Ithaca. The key to appreciating the politological
significance of the third lie (Penelope) is to note what seems to be an
unnecessary complication. Given that the critical fact at play here is
Odysseus’s imminent return, why does he claim to be the brother of
Idomeneus and to have met Odysseus, an event that would have occurred
twenty years earlier?
As I suggested above, if Odysseus is to reestablish order on Ithaca
he must do so without declaring, first, that he is who he is. Rather, he
must first establish a minimal order in which it will be possible for him
to retake his proper position as king. Only the king can reestablish order
(draw the bow), but the king can return, as king, only if there is an order
within which he can take that position. The aporia is characteristic of any
account of political legitimacy: the original establishment of justice requires
a prior idea of justice in terms of which the original act can justify itself.
The complication that our man is the brother of Idomeneus is the ideal
lie to confront this aporia. When Odysseus had landed on Crete, he had