How did Homer’s marvelous epics, the great Greek tragedies and early Greek philosophy introduce the birth of consciousness and record its development? Through tiresome and pedestrian readings of the Iliad
and the Odyssey
, the plays of Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides, Danish literary critic Zeruneith attempts to answer these questions. He concludes rather simplistically that Homer’s account of Odysseus’ use of the wooden horse to win the Trojan War demonstrates the use of strategic reason, rather than brute physical force, and the development of a focus on the inner life rather than the body. Later Greek writers develop Homer’s insights about Odysseus’ mind through poetry (Sappho) and tragedy (Sophocles and others). According to Zeruneith, the turn inward develops most fully in the philosophy of Empedocles, Pythagoras and the Pre-Socratics, culminating in Socrates’ singular focus on reason as the definitive virtue. On balance, Zeruneith offers tired insights about Greek literature, and his thinly spun argument loses its way in his torturous retellings of the stories. (Sept.)
