Sulla soglia dell’Odissea

This introduction approaches the Odyssey through the recurrent image of the threshold, beginning with Cape Malea, where Odysseus’ recognisable Mediterranean route gives way to a symbolic geography of wandering, temptation, violence, and death. It examines the symmetrical organisation of the hero’s adventures, the contrast between fabulous wanderings and Odysseus’ realistic Cretan tales, and the central role of hospitality in defining both order and its perversions. Particular attention is paid to Telemachus and Penelope, to the poem’s oral and Near Eastern background, and to the distinctive poetics of Odyssean performance. The essay also explores human and divine responsibility, Odysseus’ emergence as a narrator and quasi-bard, the poem’s dialogue with the Iliad, and its imaginative engagement with alterity, defeat, and heroic identity. Odysseus’ final appearance on the threshold of the hall anticipates a further passage towards recognition, love, and a conclusion that the poem itself refuses fully to close.