An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic

by Daniel Mendelsohn

But the wordplay in this remarkable passage is more intricate than any translation can convey, as I went on to explain. Odysseus tells the Cyclops that his name is “Nobody.” Now, the Greek word for “nobody” or “no one” is outis: ou means “not,” and tis is the indefinite pronoun “one.” Ou-tis, “no-one.” Odysseus, outis. The name Odysseus gives to the Cyclops is actually a kind of slurred version of his actual name. Nina said, It’s an alias, but it’s also sort of his real name. He’s both lying and telling the truth at the same time. Yes, I said. That’s a great point. But it’s even better than that. Think about the word “nobody.” In English, when you ask a question to which the answer will be “nobody,” you have to use the pronoun “anybody”—as in “Is anybody home?” “No, nobody’s home.” Greek has more or less the same syntactical feature. In Greek, one way to convey “is anybody” is actually a two-word phrase, mê tis, pronounced may tiss. That, in fact, is the phrase the Cyclops’ neighbors use when they rush up and ask him if anybody is stealing his sheep or trying to murder him: “Is anybody [mê tis] killing you?” To which he replies, “No, nobody [outis] is killing me.” I paused for breath and was pleased to see that they were a bit breathless themselves, waiting for whatever the payoff was going to be. I asked them to think about what Nina said, about how by calling himself Outis, “Nobody,” he’s both telling the truth and lying at the same time. This was not only because outis ...