The Authoress of the Odyssey
by Samuel Butler
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Samuel Butler, scholar, painter, pioneer photographer, and novelist (including 'Erewhon' and 'The Way of All Flesh'), was one of the less orthodox of Victorian intellectual provocateurs, who confronted powerful orthodoxies such as the Church, the academic establishment, and scientific Darwinism. During the last decade of his productive life (he died in 1902), his main concern became the 'Homeric question'. In his youth, he had been a classical scholar at St John's College, Cambridge; but show more 'The Authoress of the Odyssey' [1897] is unlike any work of mainstream Victorian classics. His theory - that the Odyssey was written by a woman and (even more startlingly) by one who configured herself in the epic as the Phaeacian princess, Nausicaa - set him on collision course with all the 'orthodoxies' of the stuffy, patriarchal establishment of 'Oxbridge' scholarship. His exposition hesitates (brilliantly, or accidentally?) in the grey area between closely reasoned argument, eccentric tomfoolery and knowing polemics. The establishment never could determine whether to take it seriously or as an elaborate spoof of their own methodologies. Certainly, Butler himself never let on what his intentions were. Now, in an age when gender studies and reception theory have a compelling influence on readings of the classical world, this book has been made available again. It is a work that continues to challenge, provoke and amuse. With a new introduction by Tim Whitmarsh, himself a former Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, Reader in Greek Literature at the University of Exeter. show lessTags
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Samuel Butler (whom you may know from The Way of All Flesh or Erewhon) was a classical scholar and translator of Homer. Butler believed that the Odyssey and the Iliad were written by different authors, that the Odyssey was written two hundred years after the Iliad, and that it was, in fact, written by a woman. None of these theories can, of course, be proven or disproven, though the first two are now more widely accepted than in Butler's day. A thought-provoking and entertaining book.
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62+ Works 7,238 Members
The son of a clergyman and grandson of an Anglican bishop, Samuel Butler seemed destined for a life in the church. After graduating from Cambridge, however, he spent some time in New Zealand as a sheep-rancher. When he returned to England, he settled down as a journalist and writer. He engaged in many controversies over Darwinism. Butler is best show more known by two satirical novels, Erewhon (1872) and The Way of All Flesh (1903). Erewhon, an anagram for "nowhere," attacked contemporary attitudes in science, religion, and social mores. The Way of All Flesh was a study of the Pontifex family in a surprisingly modern tone. Erewhon Revisited (1901) continues his attack on religion. Another work, The Fair Haven (1873), is another subtle attack on religion, presented in the guise of a defense of the Gospels, though it actually undermines them. The Family Letters is a selection from the correspondence of Butler and his father, with several letters to and from his mother and sisters and one or two other relatives. Those between Butler and his father show how close the early part of The Way of All Flesh was to the events in the son's life. A brilliant, versatile writer, Butler was one of the most searching critics of his time. Butler died in 1902. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Is a study of
The Odyssey by Homer
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1897
- People/Characters
- Homer
- Epigraph
- "There is no single fact to justify a conviction," said Mr. Cock; whereon the Solicitor General replied that he did not rely upon any single fact, but upon a chain of facts, which all taken together left no possible means of ... (show all)escape.
'Times', Leader, Nov.16, 1894
(The prisoner was convicted) - Dedication
- Al Professore
Cav. Biagio Ingroia
prezioso alleato
l'Autore riconoscente
Classifications
- Genres
- Literature Studies and Criticism, Nonfiction, Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 883.01 — Literature & rhetoric Classical & modern Greek literatures Classical Greek epic poetry and fiction Pseudo-Callisthenes
- LCC
- PA4167 .B8 — Language and Literature Greek language and literature. Latin language and literature Greek literature Individual authors Homer
- BISAC
Statistics
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- 49
- Popularity
- 612,781
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.00)
- Languages
- English, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 5
