Sunday, March 24, 2024
Proof Against Enchantment
Homer, Odyssey 10.329 (Circe to Odysseus; tr. A.T. Murray):
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Nay, but the mind in thy breast is one not to be beguiled.Alfred Heubeck ad loc.:
σοὶ δέ τις ἐν στήθεσσιν ἀκήλητος νόος ἐστίν.
The line is modelled on Il. iii 63. Its authenticity has been disputed, both by Aristarchus and by modern critics, but there is no contradiction with 240, as often supposed. κηλέω is almost synonymous with θέλγω (cf. 213 n.; Odysseus' νόος remains ἀκήλητος in spite of the φάρμακα (318), unlike his companions', which Circe was able to bewitch (θέλγειν, κηλεῖν) but not destroy (it remains ἔμπεδος (240); cf. 235-42 n.).
