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Between Word and Deed:
Hidden Thoughts in the Odyssey* |
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One of the main characteristics of narrative fiction, one which sets it apart both from other literary genres and from real life, is its capacity to portray the unspoken thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of a person other than the speaker. This capacity has been effectively exploited by writers in various ways, one of which is to acquaint the reader with a character's secret inner life, which differs considerably from his outward behaviour, his words and gestures. A novel which immediately springs to mind here is Dostoyevski's Crime and Punishment, in which the reader shares with Raskolnikov his terrible secret. Other noteworthy examples are the novels of Virginia Woolf and James Joyce, in which the technique of unspoken thought even acquires thematic centrality. In this paper I will argue that yet another famous narrative text should be added to this list: the Odyssey. As far as I know, this work has not yet figured in discussions of the technique by literary theorists; rather, it is suggested that we are dealing here with a relatively recent, novelistic device.1 This is less surprising, when we realize that even Homerists seem to be largely unaware of the existence of unspoken thought in Homer, as may be gathered from statements like the following: |
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So wird der Mensch mit seinem Tun identisch, und er läßt sich von seinem Tun her vollständig und vollgültig erfassen; er hat keine verborgenen Tiefen . . . In dem sachlichen Bericht den das alte Epos vom Tun und Reden der Menschen erstattet, wird alles ausgesagt was die Menschen sind, weil sie eben nur das sind was sie tun und reden und leiden.
(Fränkel 1951: 1123) |
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* I would like to thank Mrs. A.M. van Erp Taalman Kip and S.R. van der Mije for their comments and suggestions, and Mrs. B. Fasting for her correction of my English. The research for this article was made possible by a fellowship from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. |
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1 Scholes and Kellogg (1966) 17581 only mention the Homeric monologue, which, however, is not unspoken; according to Kahler (1973) 15, epic is concerned primarily with deeds and physical incidents; Cohn (1978) discusses only novels from the period 18501950. |
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