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Odysseus is ever described as a man of many wiles, and he often lies. Is it possible to make sense out of the narrative of the Odyssey if we were to assume that every supernatural adventure Odysseus narrates in the Great Wanderings (Books 9-12) is a lie? Are there any elements of those stories that are vouched for by “Homer” as the narrator of the Odyssey? Conversely, in the sections of the later books, when we as readers know that Odysseus is lying to Eumaios, Euryclea, and Penelope about his identity, his stories are totally devoid of all fairy-tale elements, and are completely plausible, though in fact false. Can you work out any consistent standard to judge when Odysseus is telling the truth and when he may be lying? And in a different, though related direction, when, in Book 24, Odysseus encounters his father Laertes, there is no longer any danger, and no longer any need for Odysseus to be careful or deceitful; why then does the bard make Odysseus decide to lie to his father?
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