Mountains in the Apologue: Figures of Isolation in Society, Space, and Time

Abstract

While recent studies in the Homeric poems have explored the connotative value of topographic features (e.g. the sea, caves, etc.) and material objects (e.g. the bow, the olive tree, etc.) in the narratives, the significance of mountains has not been addressed. This study illustrates the pervasiveness of these spatial units in the Apologue, Books 9 to 12, of Homer’s Odyssey and then goes on to explore the associations of isolation — from topographic, social, and temporal perspectives — which these units garner through their contexts and deployment.