オデュッセイアと聖書

新刊物色中に遭遇した、ホメロスと旧約聖書を比較研究するという、なかなか面白そうな試み。両方とも古代中近東の文化的産出なので、ナラティブのジャンルが似てくるのは当然ではある。ギルガメッシュやエヌマ・エリシュなどには出てこない物語の比較がされていて興味深い。

Louden, Bruce. Homer's Odyssey and the Near East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Introduction

1. Divine councils and apocalyptic myth

2. Theoxeny: Odyssey i, 3, 13-22, and Genesis 18-19

3. Romance: The Odyssey and the myth of Joseph (Gen. 37, 39-47); Autolykos and Jacob

4. Odyssey 4: Helen and Rahab (Josh. 2); Menelaus and Jacob (Gen. 32:22-32)

5. Odyssey 5: Ogygia and creation myth; Kalypso and Ishtar

6. Odyssey 6-8,10-12, 13.1-187; Genesis 28-33; Argonautic myth: Odysseus and Nausikaa/Kirke; Jason and Medea; Jacob and Rachel

7. Odysseus and Jonah: sea-monsters and the fantastic voyage

8. The combat myth: Polyphemos and Humbaba

9. Catabasis, consultation, and the vision: Odyssey 11,1 Samuel 28, Gilgamesh 12, Aeneid 6, Plato's Allegory of the Cave, and the Book of Revelation

10. Thrinakia and Exodus 32: Odysseus and Moses, the people disobey their leader and rebel against god

11. The suitors and the depiction of impious men in wisdom literature

12. Odysseus and Jesus: the king returns, unrecognized and abused in his kingdom

13. Contained apocalypse: Odyssey 12,13, 22 and 24; Exodus 32 (and Gen. 18-19)

Conclusion

巻頭のアブストラクト

The Odyssey's larger plot is composed of a number of distinct genres of myth, all of which are extant in various Near Eastern cultures (Mesopotamian, West Semitic, Egyptian). Unexpectedly, the Near Eastern culture with which the Odyssey has the most parallels is the Old Testament. Consideration of how much of the Odyssey focuses on non-heroic episodes - hosts receiving guests, a king disguised as a beggar, recognition scenes between long-separated family members - reaffirms the Odyssey's parallels with the Bible. In particular this book argues that the Odyssey is in a dialogic relationship with Genesis, which features the same three types of myth that comprise the majority of the Odyssey, theoxeny, romance (Joseph in Egypt), and Argonautic myth (Jacob winning Rachel from Laban). The Odyssey also offers intriguing parallels to the Book of Jonah, and Odysseus' treatment by the suitors offers close parallels to the gospels' depiction of Christ in Jerusalem.

Homer's Odyssey and the Near East