me of the Trojan War to Calypso’s island, approximately eight years. The story of Odysseus, before his homecoming, approximately 18 years, is condensed into the next two books. This condensation is also shown in the storytelling of Menalaos and Nestor when they tell their stories of other Archaen heroes. It is also significant that the entire section of Odysseus’s trials is told by Odysseus himself, rather than Homer, the narrator. There are several reasons for this. By making Odysseus a great storyteller, Homer adds to the evolution of the hero’s own fame. Odysseus can spread his own fame of how great he is and how much of a hero he really is. For example, the famous story of the Cyclopes, Polyphemus, was only known to his shipmates who traveled with him and Polyphemus himself. Alkinoos would not have known this story otherwise, if Odysseus had not told him. Not everyone knows of all the adventures that Odysseus has been through, except for Odysseus. His entire crew who did travel with him and live through his adventures has been killed. There would be no point in a hero who could not tell his story, because he would not have the ability to reveal the variety of heroic deeds he has done to his audience. What makes Odysseus a hero is the stories told about him that are spread throughout the land to make him known as a hero and a legend. Although Odysseus is not a braggart, he does hold himself in high esteem because he knows of his fame. He demonstrates this by saying, ‘Men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war: this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim.’ (Book IX, Line 21) Another reason for Odysseus being the storyteller of his past is because of the function of a poem during Antiquity Ages. Homer knew storytelling was an oral tradition, which involved a live audience, namely the Phaecians. The audience was being told by Odysseus himself, as if the audience, or reader, was part of Alkinoos&...
