Does anyone here have a sensible explanation as to why Odysseus, a Greek of Ithaca, is able to freely converse with several different races of people, such as Alcinious the king when he is led to the palace by Nausikka who found him on the beach. Surely he coulndn't have learnt languages that fast, and that they could not all be Greek-speaking?
Also, why do many of the foreign races worship Greek gods? Surely they had little or no contact with Ithaca or Greece, except for the Phaecians who are sea-faring, and so it seems odd that Poseidon and Zeus are mentioned.
Similar thins happen in the Aeneid too. My theory is that both Aeneas and Odysseus are Trojan speakers, Aeneas because he is Trojan, Odysseus learning Trojan during the ten years of the Trojan War. The language of the Phaecians and also of Dido in the Aeneid, could be similar sounding and so both Aeneas and Odysseus could speak with them.
2006-09-30
06:24:29
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12 answers
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