Monday, October 21, 2013

What two epithets does the prophet use to describe Odysseus?

I assume that this question refers to the prophet
Teiresias in Book XIof The
Odyssey.
If so, this is a very straight forward answer. Upon
meeting Odysseus in Hades, the blind prophet Teiresias refers to Odysseus as
master of land ways and sea ways” and as the “man of
woe
” (this second epithet perhaps being the most famous “nickname” for Odysseus).
Any basic understanding of the tale of Odysseus makes these epithets easy to understand. Odysseus
is perhaps the most famous traveler in history and has earned the title of master of land a sea.
And as far as the epithet man of woe goes, well…In the annals of literature perhaps only Frodo
Baggins in The Lord of the Rings has suffered as much as
Odysseus.

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