Letters Never Sent: An Epistolary Exploration of the Odyssey
This year I had the opportunity to pitch and undertake a creative project with the Department of Classics. The project needed to be linked in some way to classical literature or art, and to be in some kind of creative format, i.e not an essay. The cumulative output of my creative project is a selection of five letters each by ‘Telemachus' and ‘Odysseus’, accompanied by two intercessions from ‘Penelope’ and concluding with a summary of Telemachus’ progress. Taken as an epistolary narrative, they are intended to create a fulsome picture of the evolving relationship between Telemachus and Odysseus, while also exploring the multifaceted concept of ‘nostos’ (a sense of longing for home).
Although the predetermined plot of the Odyssey meant that letters could not be passed between the two characters, the interiority of letter writing seemed an ideal mechanism for close character study. The inspiration for Telemachus and Odysseus writing ‘letters that were never sent’ was drawn from therapeutic letter-writing, utilised in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). For Telemachus this would be prompted by a therapist figure and Penelope, while for Odysseus it would be more of a self-induced coping mechanism.
As I do not know enough ancient Greek to produce an original translation, it felt necessary to study multiple versions of The Odyssey. Comparing three translations of the text - Robert Fagles (1996), E.V. Rieu (2003), and Emily Wilson (2018) - alongside Simon Armitage’s theatrical adaptation, The Odyssey: Missing Presumed Dead (2015), I constructed a composite baseline to identify which plot touchstones would frame Odysseus' and Telemachus’ letters. This method also allowed me to chart the build up of ‘nostos’ for both characters, which informed the order of the letters. I also researched Homeric speech and the construction of rhetoric, but consciously chose not to apply these formulas when composing the letters, since I wanted them to feel modern and accessible.
Despite using a digital presentation tool to compose the letter series, I wanted to differentiate the ‘handwriting’ of each character using calligraphy fonts. I also attempted to select appropriate ‘paper’: Telemachus writes on a clean notebook, while Odysseus writes on scraps of aged paper that he could theoretically have found around Calypso’s island. The intercessions of Penelope on sticky notes were prompted by my realisation that incorporating her more fully would over-complicate the aims of this project. However, I felt it was necessary to establish her presence in both the narrative and Telemachus’ life. Sticky notes, hastily written and stuck on her teenage son’s door, seemed to parallel the disconnect between Penelope and Telemachus depicted in the first books of the Odyssey.
With regards to historical and cultural context, scholars believe The Odyssey was composed in an oral tradition (Foley 2007, 1-4), originating as epic poetry, performed or sung by bards like those in Homer’s epic. Since no oral performance has survived antiquity, this shift in medium from oral to text did not factor heavily in my project. The use of the epistolary form also required a shift in genre; I exchanged epic for more introspective character study. To make this change successfully, without creating a disconnect from the original text, both Odysseus and Telemachus needed to feel fully formed as individuals.
To identify the core traits of these individuals, I systematically analysed each translation and highlighted moments of characterisation. I compared the adverbs used when a character spoke; for example, Telemachus speaks to Athena “moodily” (Hom. Od. 1.230) in Wilson but “read[il]y… took up” (Hom. Od. 1.267) her idea in Fagles. This exercise allowed me to pinpoint the influence of a translator upon the text. Whenever the two translators agreed I took note. I used a combination of these shared characteristics to create a ‘character bible’ for Telemachus and Odysseus, which I could refer to, ensuring continuity across the letters.
The next concern for the project was the emotional evolution each character would undergo. For this I tapped into my personal experiences as a young person who has participated in CBT. I felt it was important to portray Telemachus’ initial reluctance to engage with the conceit of writing letters that could not be sent, as this is a common response for adolescents (White & Murray 2002, 116-120). Using the ‘strike-through’ function allowed for further subtext, as Telemachus’ uncertainties are exposed by his crossed out words. Researching how ‘creative techniques’ are employed in therapy for trauma-survivors, and those with depression and anxiety, reinforced that this was an appropriate medium for both Telemachus and Odysseus. Themes of trauma and displacement recurred throughout my research into these techniques, pairing well with the concept of ‘nostos’ that had already been established.
The physical displacement expressed in Odysseus’ initial letters is emphasised by his references to known quantities – the geographical landscape of Ithaca and notable inhabitants. Recalling familiar spaces such as this can act as a grounding technique (Van der Kolk 1994, 253-260), but I wanted to complicate these memories with a sense of loss and loneliness. As Odysseus is a grown man who has been to war, he would be conscious that the world may have changed without him. The decision to keep him in a constant state of questioning until he left Calypso’s island was deliberate. Odysseus’ transition from despair to uncertainty and onward to determination parallels his geographic location. As such, Odysseus’ final letter not only marks his physical homecoming, but also foreshadows the impending emotional homecoming that will occur upon his reunion with his wife and son. The letters are intended to chart Odysseus’ growing awareness that his longing is not only for a place, but for his people – the family around which that location is centred.
Constructing this epistolary series during the coronavirus pandemic added a surreal layer to the process, since so little has been happening in-person. The current resurgence of handwritten letters among my peers partially inspired my concept. Letters not only provide respite from screens, they also feel more personal than typed script. The isolation enforced by the pandemic means that physical letters are imbued with a sense of nostos, as we are dislocated from our homes and families.
In undertaking this project, I aimed to give a fresh voice to Odysseus and Telemachus in a format other than a direct translation of the text. I also set out to explore the concept and construct of nostos and longing in the Odyssey. Utilising the creative epistolary device provided greater capacity for emotional interiority and reflection. My hope is that this format facilitates an introspective but accessible approach to the relationship between Odysseus and Telemachus. I also believe the use of letters carries extra resonance with current contemporary efforts to retain relationships in the socially isolated context of the pandemic.
Further reading
Homer. (2018). The Odyssey. tr. Emily Wilson. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Homer. (2003). The Odyssey. tr. E. Rieu and D. Rieu. London: Penguin Books.
Homer. (1996). The Odyssey. tr. Robert Fagles. London: Penguin Books.
Armitage, S. (2015). The Odyssey: Missing Presumed Dead. London: Faber and Faber.
Foley, J. (2007). ‘"Reading" Homer through oral tradition’. College Literature, 34(2), 1-28.
van der Kolk, Bessel A. (1994). 'The body keeps the score: memory and the evolving psychobiology of posttraumatic stress', Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 1:5, 253-265. (doi: 10.3109/10673229409017088)
White, V. E. and Murray, M.A. (2002). ‘Passing notes: the use of therapeutic letter writing in counseling adolescents’. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 24, 166-76.
Megan Saunders Smith (she/her)
Megan is studying Classical Civilisation and English Literature at Trinity College Dublin