Object-Oriented Odysseus

Odysseus is shown to be a liminal figure, far from home, yet unable to put down roots elsewhere, torn between women, their agent objects, and the potential lives they represent. As a unique male character in the Homeric poems, Odysseus expresses himself through objects in a unique way that is coloured by the female sphere and so points to the very cause of his liminality. This chapter focuses closely on one particular object, the chest given to Odysseus by Arete in Odyssey 8 that becomes a trigger of nostalgic reverie; and on one boundary point between person and thing, the hand. It examines how Odysseus uses, creates, and merges with objects—and how he repurposes them, changing their identity as much as his own. Odysseus’ propensity for repurposing is tracked also in simile, with the reconceptualizing function of simile mobilized especially in relation to the man of many turns.