This is a retelling of the Odyssey in the form a play commissioned by BBC Radio 4. It’s respectful of the Homeric tradition, but mixes that with modern idioms. It feels playful and ironic.
Armitage sticks with the chronology of the original so that the story is told from first Telemachus’s present perspective, then Odysseus’s present, then in flashback narrated by Odysseus, then back to Odysseus in the present. The play format means that each line spoken is preceded by the character’s name, and this slightly skews the sections of the story that Odysseus narrates to the Phaeacians (i.e. the flashbacks) so that they become indistinguishable from current events in the timeline as they are bring told. Armitage counters this by topping and tailing each flashback section with a short scene labelled ‘In the Hall of the Phaeacians’.
The theme of return is never less than front and centre. When Nausicaa tries to persuade Odysseus to stay and recuperate before heading back to Ithaca (after twenty years!) her mother, Arete, has this great line:
Haven’t you been listening?
Every step of the way something has tripped him up.
Opportunities have been traps.
Open doors have been prisons.
Invitations have been life sentences.
He won’t be sidetracked again.
We won’t offer the same temptation.
This beautifully captures Odysseus’s plight – bear in mind the importance of hospitality in ancient Greek culture. An invitation to stay would oblige Odysseus to do so. Odysseus replies:
So compassionate.
So… understanding.
Armitage’s version is great fun and beautifully crafted, written with enormous respect for the Homeric tradition, but not slavish adherence. The result is well worth a few hours of your reading time.
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