Praise be, we've made it to Book 7!
For the starting-off point this week, I thought it would be interesting to discuss book divisions a little bit. I remember reading somewhere (though I can't remember where) that the book divisions are pretty arbitrary but that there are some patterns, like the sun going down at the end of one book and Dawn arriving at the beginning of the next. I thought it was interesting that Book 7 begins with almost a duplicate of Book 6's opening line (ὣς ὁ μὲν ἔνθα καθεῦδε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς) so I gathered together all of the first lines from the Odyssey (box below). I notice that there are a couple of other paired openings (Books 11/12, 19/20) and three books begin with identical verses (Books 2, 8 and 17). αὐτὰρ is the first word of six books.
Given that lots of the formulas in these opening lines are used frequently in the middle of books as well, to what extent is the opening line of the book being marked as distinct?
Is the division into books actually important at all for our reading of the text?
1 ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ
2 ἦμος δ᾽ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,
3 Ἠέλιος δ᾽ ἀνόρουσε, λιπὼν περικαλλέα λίμνην,
4 οἱ δ᾽ ἷξον κοίλην Λακεδαίμονα κητώεσσαν,
5 Ἠὼς δ᾽ ἐκ λεχέων παρ᾽ ἀγαυοῦ Τιθωνοῖο
6 ὣς ὁ μὲν ἔνθα καθεῦδε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς
7 ὧς ὁ μὲν ἔνθ᾽ ἠρᾶτο πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς
8 ἦμος δ᾽ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,
9 τὸν δ᾽ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς:
10 ‘Αἰολίην δ᾽ ἐς νῆσον ἀφικόμεθ᾽: ἔνθα δ᾽ ἔναιεν
11 ‘αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥ᾽ ἐπὶ νῆα κατήλθομεν ἠδὲ θάλασσαν,
12 ‘αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ ποταμοῖο λίπεν ῥόον Ὠκεανοῖο
13 ὣς ἔφαθ᾽, οἱ δ᾽ ἄρα πάντες ἀκὴν ἐγένοντο σιωπῇ,
14 αὐτὰρ ὁ ἐκ λιμένος προσέβη τρηχεῖαν ἀταρπὸν
15 ἡ δ᾽ εἰς εὐρύχορον Λακεδαίμονα Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη
16 τὼ δ᾽ αὖτ᾽ ἐν κλισίῃ Ὀδυσεὺς καὶ δῖος ὑφορβὸς
17 ἦμος δ᾽ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,
18 ἦλθε δ᾽ ἐπὶ πτωχὸς πανδήμιος, ὃς κατὰ ἄστυ
19 αὐτὰρ ὁ ἐν μεγάρῳ ὑπελείπετο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
20 αὐτὰρ ὁ ἐν προδόμῳ εὐνάζετο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς:
21 τῇ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἐπὶ φρεσὶ θῆκε θεὰ γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη,
22 αὐτὰρ ὁ γυμνώθη ῥακέων πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς,
23 γρηῢς δ᾽ εἰς ὑπερῷ᾽ ἀνεβήσετο καγχαλόωσα,
24 Ἑρμῆς δὲ ψυχὰς Κυλλήνιος ἐξεκαλεῖτο