Syuzhet Maps -Fagles and Butler

The syuzhet maps show the extent to which The Odyssey establishes a non-chronological model for epic – starting 'in media res' – in the middle of things – with the Telemacheia, or 'Story of Telemachus', which focuses on Odysseus’s son as he journeys away from home to seek his father. This sets the scene initially in Ithaca and introduces Odysseus from an external perspective. The Odyssey has a complicated narrative; lies, exaggerations and tricks compete with one another in a fractured timeline. The syuzhet maps displayed here register this formal complexity. Odysseus himself doesn’t appear until Book 5, which introduces his journey home via the utopian Phaeacia (‘King Alcinous’ palace’ /‘house of Alcinous’). Books 9 to 12 constitute the chronological ‘beginning’ of the tale (the starting point for the fabula). So Odysseus’ first three years of travel, when he encounters the Cyclops, the sirens, lotus eaters and Circe, are told in retrospective as Odysseus recounts his tale to Alcinous.

In both maps, this warped timeline creates a looping effect, as the narrative tells of Odysseus’ return, by means of analepsis, in Book 13, to the present day. The nodes and edges of the syuzhet maps are further multiplied by the poem’s subplots: Telemachus’ journey to Pylos; Penelope’s dealing with the suitors; and by the bards’ tales. By plotting spatially, rather than chronologically, the syuzhet maps take the text on its own terms. As a result, on both maps, the spaces of Odysseus’ exile are marginalised (top; right).