The Returns of Odysseus: Colonization and Ethnicity
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This remarkably rich and multifaceted study of early Greek exploration makes an original contribution to current discussions of the encounters between Greeks and non-Greeks. Focusing in particular on myths about Odysseus and other heroes who visited foreign lands on their mythical voyages homeward after the Trojan War, Irad Malkin shows how these stories functioned to mediate encounters and conceptualize ethnicity and identity during the Archaic and Classical periods. Synthesizing a wide range of archaeological, mythological, and literary sources, this exceptionally learned book strengthens our understanding of early Greek exploration and city-founding along the coasts of the Western Mediterranean, reconceptualizes the role of myth in ancient societies, and revitalizes our understanding of ethnicity in antiquity.
Malkin shows how the figure of Odysseus became a proto-colonial hero whose influence transcended the Greek-speaking world. The return-myths constituted a generative mythology, giving rise to oral poems, stories, iconographic imagery, rituals, historiographical interpretation, and the articulation of ethnic identities. Reassessing the role of Homer and alternative return-myths, the book argues for the active historical function of myth and collective representations and traces their changing roles through a spectrum of colonial perceptions—from the proto-colonial, through justifications of expansion and annexation, and up to decolonization.
The Returns of Odysseus: Colonization and Ethnicity Review
The thesis of Irad Malkin's book deals with the issues of colonization and ethnicity during the Archaic period of Greek history covering the six hundred year period between the ninth and fourth century BCE, and that myth was an integral part of these activities. Malkin stipulates that it was during this period, especially during the course of the ninth century, that Greek colonization, trade and exploration were prevalent within the Aegean and Mediterranean. Malkin employs Classical literature and myth, as well as archaeology, to sustain his argument. Malkin's concern is with the impact myth has on history and not on "the history behind the myth" (5).
Malkin has two theories to explain Greek colonization. One presupposes some event or cause creating a need for an entire population to relocate in a veritable exodus. The second scenario is centered on mother cities, a metropolis, establishing colonial base cities, `polis'. Malkin suggests that the Trojan War was an incipient cause to the Greek explosion onto the world scene, i.e., the Mediterranean, likening Greek colonialism to the "Big Bang" theory. Malkin also suggests that the Trojan War marked the beginning of Greek self-identity.
Malkin writes: "'Nostos' myths [a `nostos' (`nostoi' - [p]) was a returning hero] provided cultural and ethnic mediation with non-Greeks and, once integrated, often came to provide the terms of self-perception for native populations" (1). Malkin persuasively illustrates how the tales of the `nostoi' are a reflection of the mindset of migrating Greeks during the Archaic period. The tales of the `nostoi' are at once the cause and justification for Greek colonization, and the `nostoi' are themselves part of the migration. It is the author's contention that these returning warriors of Homeric legend prompted Greek migration and the founding of new, Greek colonies.
Malkin's premise is founded on the stories of Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, Hesiod, Aristotle and others. Malkin explains how the Greeks used myths of the `nostoi' to establish paradigms and create stereotypes, correct or incorrect, about alien domains and the ethnicity, culture and the politics of peoples inhabiting those domains. These stereotypes enabled the Greeks to tangibly relate to the world beyond their experience. Malkin further suggests that by creating these stereotypical images of alien cultures, the Greeks created a sense of what it meant to be Greek, i.e., they stereotyped themselves. Malkin argues also that this stereotypical self-identity was in turn employed by non-Greeks to understand and interact with Greeks. The Greek concept of "Greek" would come to full fruition during the Classical period of Greek history when Greeks begin to recognize alien cultures as "absolute others" (5-6, 17). "[I]t is the fifth century that sees the emergence of `oppositional' definition of Hellenism . . . . It should be emphasized that the Greek-barbarian antithesis appears in connection with . . .[not with founding a colony] but with its subsequent 'peripheral' expansion at the expense of others" (27).
Malkin, and others, identify pre-Persian War Hellenic ethnicity as an 'aggregative' ethnicity: a culture wherein there was a limited acquiescence of similarities between peer groups. During the Classical period, as per Malkin, Greeks bonded together not so much by defining what they had in common, but by transcending their differences and focusing on how they, whether Ionian or Dorian, were more not like other, 'oppositional' cultures, e.g., the Persians. Malkin employs the notion of another author, Federick Barth, when he writes "an oppositional model is very useful for group definition; specifically he [Barth] claims that there is no `core ethnicity' and one should look instead for conceptual boundaries that an ethnic group creates against others" (61).
The principal `nostoi' tale that Malkin discusses is the "Odyssey". Malkin stipulates that during the Archaic period "Odysseus was meaningful as a `protocolonial hero' to exploring Greeks as early as the ninth and the first half of the eighth century" (2). Malkin compares Odysseus with Herackles and suggests that Odysseus' exploits opened the seas as a frontier to Greek exploration and exploitation similar to the way Herackles' labors opened up land to colonization and settlement. The spacious void of the unknown was there-to-fore populated with mythical creatures that ceased to hazard adventurers once properly challenged, e.g., the Sirens threw themselves into the sea once Odysseus did not heed their song. The implicit moral to these tales was that there would be fame and fortune to any man wily enough to trust his life to the fortunes of the winds. Malkin believes the `nostoi' were significant, because they sailed beyond the horizon and lived to return. They were trailblazers. Their tales beckoned to others to follow in their footsteps.
Malkin maintains that many of the Greek `nostoi' served as mythical progenitors for alien races; thus, explaining how and why these peoples came into being. To exemplify this notion Malkin cites instances regarded as relevant by the Greeks: a) Herackles and Dionysos progeny inhabited India; b) the Trojan hero Aeneas' progeny became the Romans; and c) among Odysseus' progeny, according to extant non-Homeric verse, were the Etruscans and perhaps the Phrygians. Malkin believes that "it is perfectly legitimate to claim that myths and cults were `used' as justification of either territorial appropriations or political domination as long as such uses are explicit . . . such as the one Dorieus used for his claims in western Sicily (Herackles left there a city for his descendants, Dorieus being one of them ) . . ." (20).
Malkin examines why and if the Greeks created `nostos' genealogies for other cultures and if and why these genealogies were accepted. The simplest recapitulation of Malkin's point is to state that some cultures were impressionable because they had not established an identity for themselves, e.g., the Etruscans. Others, e.g., the Persians, were not susceptible to Greek `labeling' because they had a history, a `full past', and sense of unique cultural identification. Malkin extends Elias Bickerman's hypothesis that "Greek ethnographic myths had the authority of scientific inquiry" (176) to explain instances of cultural subordination occurring during the Archaic period. Malkin also states that by adopting the projected Greek image as their own, other cultures may have been co-opting Greek culture, and - in the notable case of the Romans - the Etruscan heritage foisted upon them. The Romans chose to `descend' from the Trojan prince Aeneas and not the Hellenic Nostos Odysseus.
To underscore how culture or ethnicity can be `projected' onto others, Malkin includes the anecdotal tale of the Hurons, a Native American tribe, residing in what is today Quebec. By the mid-twentieth century, the Hurons had ceased to exist as an identifiably separate ethnic group. They spoke French and dressed as other contemporary citizens of Quebec. Fewer than 1,500 could identify themselves as Huron. For political reasons these few set themselves to the task of re-establishing their ethnic identity. Huron culture had been completely subordinated by European traditions. Herein lay the irony. In order to restore their Native American identity, these few Huron had to resort to French historical and anthropological sources: a reflection of Huron lifestyle from the 17th - 19th centuries based on French perceptions. Hence, today's Huron are pursuing a cultural lifestyle that has been "projected" onto them by the French. As another instance, Malkin suggests that modern Palestinians are adopting the Jewish projected view of non-Jewish Canaanites to define themselves.
Malkin also examines the archaeological record. He describes the topography of the island of Ithaki and details how Ithaki must have been important for providing safe harbors for coasting vessels during the ninth century BCE. He suggests there is some controversy, but not much, about the issue of regarding present day Ithaki as the one and the same as Odysseus' Ithaca. Malkin remarks that arguments to the contrary are unsubstantiated.
Malkin delves into the reciprocal commercial dealings between Ithaca and Corinth; plus, the especially close relationship Ithaca had with Euboia that Malkin believes to be borne out by archaeological finds. Malkin believes that Ithaca itself was originally an early colony, but subsequently it emerged as a crossroads. He entertains the notion that Corinth may have used Ithaca as a port of call for its own westward colonization. While discussing Ithaca, Malkin considers the significance of thirteen (or twelve?) tripods discovered in the 1930s by Sylvia Benton. He proposes that these tripods were dedications made by Ithacans or possibly by visiting traders in honor of Odysseus since the style and form of some of the tripods are similar to types known to be Corinthian. This, he says, is important because it might reflect a "proto-pan-Hellenic tradition" (118).
To sustain this precept, Malkin cites numerous references in the "Odyssey" to the fact that Ithaca was a port of call for many adventurer-travelers, Mentes being but the foremost. Malkin recalls from the "Odyssey" the tale of king Pheidon's boat preparing for a voyage by way of Ithaca to Doulchion to demonstrate both the pedestrian nature of such a voyage and Ithaca's position as a commonly visited port.
To further elucidate his claim that myth was an important part of the Greek colonial equation, Malkin goes into great detail describing images rendered on Archaic pottery which he refers to as `narrative specific' images (pertaining to the narratives of the Trojan Cycle and not generic, everyday themes: `stock images') that would serve to conceptually engage viewers who saw the work. "The painting did not tell a story, but it did remind observers of one" (42). He maintains most of these images focus on the Trojan Cycle. A number of pictures on Greek pottery from the Archaic period he directly ascribes to knowledge of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" prior to Homer. Referencing the archaeological record, e.g., the Aristonothos Krater, Malkin states that these Greeks and the Etruscans were aware of the Homeric epics. After an extensive discussion of Hellenic pottery types that have been found in the archaeological record; plus, Classical references to Greek colonies in Sicily, e.g., Messapia, Corcyra, and Pithekoussai, Malkin states that "Euboian Greeks, and more narrowly Eretrians were present in both Pithekoussai and Corcyra" (86) by the mid-eighth century. This is earlier than previously supposed.
Once he has established that there was a Greek, Euboian (Ionian), presence in Italy, Malkin turns to the linguistic devolution of the Greek "Odysseus" to the Latin "Ulysses." Malkin also states that the Etruscans adopted Odysseus as their own under the name of Utuze, but Malkin leans towards believing that it was the Corinthian (Dorian) variant, ��� ��(Olytteus), that intrigued the Latins. In spite of this, Malkin concludes that there was a tremendous Phokaian (Ionian) presence in the west, and credits the Phokaians for introducing the Greek pantheon to the Etruscans. Malkin credits the Euboians for introducing the Etruscans to the Phoenician alphabet.
Malkin examines other `nostoi' against the backdrop of historical knowledge. He discerns a difference between how the 'Nostoi' Philoktetes and Epeios are used as justification for expansion into alien territories, as in the case of Kroton in Italy. Plus, they served to vindicate acts, even sacrilegious acts, in conflicts with other Greeks, as in the case of Metapontion's destruction of Siris in Italy. Yet, they did not serve in foundation myths as did Odysseus.
'Nostos' Diomedes, according to Malkin, had a cult following that was pervasive through out the Adriatic. He suggests that this is perhaps a reflection of the purported promotion of Diomedes by king Dionysios I of Syracuse to justify his effort to dominate the Northern Adriatic. Malkin also notes that Diomedes was considered the founder of many non-Greek cities citing sources from the fourth century. Malkin reports that it was "Roman colonization of the late fourth century and early third centuries that was responsible for the dissemination of Diomedes as city founder" (257). But Diomedes was not Odysseus. "Odysseus had the "Odyssey" that served as a powerful common framework of association and could translate the world of the unfamiliar into patterns of recognition in the course of the travels of the most famous hero. Diomedes had no "Odyssey" but the range of applications of Diomedes in the Adriatic and the variety of those employing them was to prove greater" (242).
Malkin also suggests that Diomedes death, as well as his companions' demise, might be symbolic of a failed colonial experience in Sicily or Italy. He underscores this theme by recalling a story from Herodotus' "The History". According to Herodotus, a great many Phokaians from the colony in Corsica were made prisoners, and they were taken to Caire by their Phoenician captors. There, the Phokaians were subsequently stoned to death; thus, ending the experiment.
Malkin concludes with an appendix. Herein, Malkin again addresses the oral-flux versus the written-`fixity' issue, and the issue of when Homer put to paper the "Odyssey" and the "Iliad" on paper; was it the eighth, ninth, or the tenth century? The author believes Homer wrote his epic in the ninth century. He also discusses the import of the Phoenician alphabet. Some historians argue that the Phoenician alphabet was adopted and adapted by the Greeks to capture their great epos. Malkin suggests instead that the idea of writing down the epos came with the alphabet. This practice had been going on in the Near East for some time. The oldest extant instance was "Gilgamesh" and the more contemporaneous "Ugarit" epics were written around 1400 BCE.
I believe Malkin offers unique insights into an ancient subject. However, his book is not popular history, and it is definitely geared for reading by the academe. His book was challenging reading. He does not deal in a matter of fact manner with each tenet of his thesis. Instead, tenets of his argument are woven into each chapter like threads of a finely woven tapestry; hence, the overall impression is like that of a fine tapestry. The book is a fine work when considered overall-but it is nigh impossible to follow any one thread from beginning to end. I feel that his tenets were much like the myths he was citing, and that he at times was stretching credibility. Never-the-less, his insights are relevant and should not be discounted. This is a book that I would recommend with qualification.
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