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Article: Homer's Odyssey, Books 19 and 23: early recognition; a solution to the enigmas of ivory and horns, and the test of the bed.
- Article from:
- College Literature
- Article date:
- March 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 West Chester University. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The meaning of Penelope's remarks to Odysseus, disguised as a stranger, that dreams that pass through the gate of ivory are false and without fulfillment while those that pass through the gate of horns are true and will lead to achievement (Odyssey 19.560-67) has eluded Homeric scholars for over a thousand years. In the eleventh century the classical scholar John Italus was brought before the emperor in Constantinople to explain their meaning and was frustrated by his inability to do so (Eustathius 1826, 219). In the twelfth century Eustathius, in his commentaries on the Odyssey, refers to them as inexplicable--an enigma (218-19). Joseph Russo recently pointed out that ...