Meta Description: Join Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle as they explore Book 4 of Homer’s Odyssey. From the awkward reunion of Menelaus and Helen to the shape-shifting Proteus, discover why this book is key to Telemachus’s journey.
Introduction: A Vortex in the Vomitorium
Welcome back to the “vomitorium,” listeners! In Episode 23 of the Ad Navseam Podcast, hosts Dr. Jeff Winkle and Dr. David Noe are hunkered down against a bitter “Arctic blast” hitting West Michigan. Whether you call it a “polar creep” or a “vortex” (a great Latin word, as Dr. Noe notes), it’s the perfect weather to stay inside and talk Homer.
This week, the hosts zoom in on Book 4 of the Odyssey. While often glossed over in favor of the monster-filled adventures later in the epic, Book 4 is a masterpiece of tension, storytelling, and foreshadowing. It features the original “wedding crashers,” a drug-wielding Helen of Troy, and a wrestling match with a seal-god.
Before diving in, a special shout-out goes to Joe Speier of Cincinnati, a diligent Greek student who submits his assignments with the regularity of the tides.
Wedding Crashers in Sparta
The episode picks up with Telemachus and his travel companion, Peisistratus (son of Nestor), arriving in Sparta. They find King Menelaus hosting a massive double wedding for his son and daughter.
Dr. Noe points out the irony: the Trojan War began at a wedding hosted by Menelaus (when Paris stole Helen), and here we are back at a wedding in Sparta. Despite the stress of the event, Menelaus welcomes the strangers, adhering to the sacred code of Xenia (hospitality).
Significantly, both Menelaus and Helen immediately recognize Telemachus by his resemblance to his father. For a young man suffering from a crisis of identity—”When will Dad be home?”—this validation from his father’s war buddies is crucial.
Helen and the Pharmacon
The reunion of Menelaus and Helen is… awkward. They are back together, but the scars of the war and her infidelity are palpable. The tension is so thick that Helen decides to chemically alter the mood.
The Drug from Egypt
Helen slips a pharmacon (drug) into the wine. As Dr. Winkle notes, she obtained this potent substance in Egypt, a land famous in antiquity for magic and medicine.
The drug is described as terrifyingly effective:
“Whoever drank wine laced with this drug would not be sad or shed a tear that day, not even if his own father and mother should lie there dead.”
Dr. Noe suggests this “inhuman” lack of emotion raises questions about Helen’s nature. Is she a witch? A goddess? Or just a woman who knows how to manipulate reality?
The Duel of Stories: Who is Telling the Truth?
Once the drug kicks in, the storytelling begins. Helen and Menelaus trade war stories about Odysseus, but their accounts paint very different pictures.
Helen’s Story: The Beggar
Helen claims that she alone recognized Odysseus when he snuck into Troy disguised as a beggar. She says she bathed him, gave him new clothes, and even swore an oath not to reveal him. She paints herself as a secret ally of the Greeks.
Menelaus’s Story: The Trojan Horse
Menelaus follows up with a story that subtly undermines her. He recounts sitting inside the Trojan Horse. He says Helen circled the horse, calling out the names of the Greek heroes and mimicking the voices of their wives to lure them out.
“Some god who favored the Trojans must have lured you on.”
Only Odysseus was able to keep the men quiet (clamping his hand over Anticlus’s mouth) to save them. The implication is clear: Helen was trying to get them killed. The juxtaposition of these stories highlights the “slippery” nature of truth in the Odyssey.
Proteus: The Old Man of the Sea
Menelaus then recounts his own difficult journey home. Stranded in Egypt, he had to consult Proteus, the shape-shifting Old Man of the Sea.
The Ambush
Guided by Proteus’s daughter, Eidothea, Menelaus and his men disguised themselves as seals to ambush the god. Dr. Noe laughs at the visceral detail Homer includes: the seals’ breath was “fetid” and terrible. They had to lay there in the stench waiting for noon.
When Proteus fell asleep, they jumped him. True to his nature, Proteus shifted into a lion, a snake, a panther, a boar, running water, and a tree. But Menelaus held on.
The Revelation
Proteus eventually yielded and revealed the crucial information: Odysseus is alive. He is being held captive on an island by the nymph Calypso. This is the news Telemachus has journeyed so far to hear.
Conclusion: The Stage is Set
The episode concludes with the realization that the “Telemachy” (Books 1-4) is now complete. Telemachus has grown up, faced the suitors, and gained the intelligence he needs.
Next week, the hosts promise to finally catch up with the man himself. We will travel to Ogygia to meet Calypso and see Odysseus weeping on the beach, looking for a way home.
Gustatory Parting Shot
Dr. Winkle leaves us with a philosophical thought from Plato:
“Knowledge is the food of the soul.”
Valete!
Resources
- Hackett Publishing: For excellent translations of Homer (like the Stanley Lombardo version used in this episode), use code AN2021 for 20% off at hackettpublishing.com.
- The Moss Method: Want to learn Greek to read these stories in the original? Check out Dr. Noe’s course at mossmethod.com. Use the Valentine’s special for a discount!
Ratio Coffee: Brewing coffee fit for a Spartan wedding. Use code ANCO for 15% off at ratiocoffee.com.
