02 - Couple's Therapy: A Reconsideration of Helen's (In)fidelity in Odyssey 4

My paper examines repetition in Odyssey 4 as evidence for a retroactive reading of Helen's fidelity. As Froma Zeitlin (1995) notes, only obliquely in Book 4 does the epic approach the conundrum of Helen's adultery. In the banquet speeches, the conflict between Helen's self-characterization as an ally (4.240-64) and Menelaos' characterization of her as a traitor (4.266-89) presents readers with an interpretive deadlock. Scholars resolve the gap by reading liability of character (West in Heubeck 1988) and falsehood (Alden 2017) into Helen's speech. Douglas Olson (1989) further evaluates Menelaos' speech as "right", and Helen's as "wrong". Focusing instead on the surprising unity between the two speeches, I show how Odyssey 4 resolves Helen's initial duplicity in subsequent passages. For example - in a striking parallel to the tradition of Helen's phantom image at Troy - Book 4 presents Iphthime as a simultaneous dream-image (εἴδωλον) at Ithaka and married woman at Pherai (4.796-801). I suggest that the link between Iphthime's dream-image and Helen's true form in Odyssey 4 alludes to the non-Homeric myth of Helen as an εἴδωλον.

But what is the effect of reading Iphthime's εἴδωλον against Helen in Odyssey 4? I argue that Iphthime works - like Helen's εἴδωλον in non-Homeric authors - to resolve the impasse in Helen's alternating allegiance. I show how the εἴδωλον of the faithful wife, Iphthime, recasts Helen as a figure of fidelity. More specifically, how does the retroactive reading resolve Helen's initial duplicity in the banquet speeches? I refer to the "patrilocal" marriage in Homer as a way of reinscribing Helen's alternating allegiance within a framework of fidelity. Iphthime's presence at Pherai and appearance at Ithaka exemplifies the patrilocal custom of relocating a bride from her family of origin to her husband's estate. Odyssey 4 connects Helen and Iphthime by dividing both women across multiple communities. Legitimizing Helen's speech, the resemblance calls for a reinterpretation of Helen's allegiance to Troy and Sparta by reframing her adultery in terms of the non-transgressive patrilocal marriage.

I draw on the Lacanian notion of antagonism between institution and individual (i.e. Symbolic vs. Imaginary) to account for the surprising unity between alternating allegiance and fidelity. Helen in Book 4 reflects Lacan's observation that patriarchal societies use women as objects of exchange to strengthen kinship bonds (Lacan 1988, Lévi-Strauss 1969). With this theoretical model, I interrogate allegiance and fidelity in Helen's vocal imitation beside the Trojan horse (4.277-87). As the heroes wait to ambush the city, she nearly lures them from the horse by imitating their wives' voices. The false presence of Argive wives at Troy again divides Homeric women across multiple communities. I further argue that Helen's voice combines alternating allegiance and fidelity in the same act: calling the names of all the heroes including Menelaos, she suggests simultaneous infidelity with the Argives and fidelity to her former husband. With these examples, I advance the interpretation that the Odyssey rehabilitates Helen's character by exposing the antagonism between personal and cultural bonds.

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Presenters

Mason Barto, Duke University

  SCS-46