Irony in the Odyssey: A Literary Device
Irony in the Odyssey was used by its author, Homer, in writing his epic poem. Irony refers to a situation expressing a contrast between reality and expectation. As a figure of speech, irony has three common kinds: verbal irony, situational irony, and dramatic irony. Let us start and discover the depth of the irony that was utilized in the Odyssey.
Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony in the Odyssey is simply defined as an occurrence in which the audience or reader knows the full significance of a character’s words or actions, but this significance is unknown to the characters. It creates tension when a situation or speech is understood by the audience or readers but is not fully grasped by the characters.
Dramatic irony lets the audiences or readers be involved in the story as it encourages them to fear the moment the characters learn the truth that the audiences or readers already know. In this book, Homer typically uses this kind of irony to sustain the audience’s interest, maintain excitement, and develop curiosity.
The dramatic irony was primarily used in ancient Greece, especially in tragedy, such as in Homer’s Odyssey. For better understanding, we list some examples of dramatic irony present throughout the Odyssey.
In Book 9
One of the examples of dramatic irony in the Odyssey Book 9 was when Odysseus and the members of his crew were held captive inside the cave of Polyphemus the Cyclops, particularly the time they blinded the giant and then tried to escape using the sheep while Polyphemus did not realize it.
This passage displays dramatic irony as Polyphemus did not know that his captives have already broken out of the cave while he was hurting and crying for help. This part, of Polyphemus not realizing was a part of the dramatic irony that the author has set, because the reader knows this, but the character who is living in the story is not fully grasping what is happening.
In Book 17
On the other hand, this type of irony has also been repeated in Book 17 of The Odyssey, when Penelope tells her son Telemachus that she hopes for Odysseus to return home so that he and Telemachus could punish the suitors.
This scene consists of dramatic irony because Odysseus is already back in Ithaca but is in disguise as a beggar, and he already has ideas on how to kill all the suitors. The key notion would be how the reader is conscious that he has returned to the home island, but the character, in this case Penelope, doesn’t know about it yet.
Another example is when Antinous says in book 17 that the beggar, who is Odysseus, is eating all the goods of the house when the truth is that he and other suitors are the ones consuming all of Odysseus’ food and staying in his home. Again, the reader is aware but the character isn’t.
Verbal Irony
Verbal irony is a figure of speech described as when a character says one thing but really means something else. It is when the literal meaning of what the speaker says is different or sometimes opposite to what they actually mean. This is called verbal irony. It is the most common form of irony, such that when people mention “irony,” they often refer to this one.
In verbal irony, there exists a disparity between the meaning of what the character says and what the situation points out the character really means by it. If we will compare it to dramatic irony, we have a discrepancy between the characters’ understanding of the situation and how the audience understands it. Verbal irony has four common types; sarcasm, Socratic irony, understatement, and overstatement.
One example of verbal irony in the Odyssey can be found in Book 9. It was the moment when Odysseus tells Polyphemus that his name was “Nobody,” but he was really nobody because he was the King of Ithaca. Odysseus’ statement was not conforming to what he really intended to say.
Book 17 also shows verbal irony when Antinous mocked Eumaeus by calling him “Your highness,” which he did not really mean, when in fact Eumaeus has a higher status than Antinous recognizes because he is the King’s swineherd.
Situational Irony
It is key to know that situational irony refers to the irony of an occasion that is contrasting with what is expected. It is when something happens that is different from what everyone expects.
An example is when Odysseus returns to Ithaca in disguise as an old beggar. This is considered one of the examples of situational irony in the Odyssey because readers would have thought that Penelope would be happy to see him after several years of waiting and longing for him. On the other hand, the situation brought up a messy moment that ironically, there was a turn of events, because he came as a beggar, until this point it is situational irony.
Other Figures of Speech
Aside from irony, there are other figures of speech that were used in the Odyssey essay that are often intertwined or confused with irony itself. Homer also includes allusion in the Odyssey, which is an act of making an indirect reference to a person, event, or thing.
It is when we hint at something and expect the other person to understand what we are referencing. It is like passing a signal that audiences or readers sometimes do not notice if they are not reading carefully or paying attention.
Alliteration in the Odyssey is a key poetic feature and is described as the purposeful repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of essential words that are close together. It emphasizes certain words, which add interest to the readers or listeners.
Meanwhile, assonance in the Odyssey refers to the repetition of a vowel or diphthong sound within a line of a poem, which creates internal rhyming. Hyperbole in the Odyssey is described as extreme exaggeration to show emphasis. In poetry, this is used to heighten emotions but is not meant to be literal. Finally, personification in the Odyssey is when non-living things are given human characteristics.
In addition, Homer also uses literary techniques, such as foreshadowing in the Odyssey, which was used to express an indication or give a hint of what is to come later in the story, and diction in the Odyssey, which is the linguistic choice used by authors to tell a story or to convey an idea.
Conclusion
Authors use irony and other figures of speech to generate participation from the audience. Such methods give the readers motivation to keep turning the pages. Here’s a quick sum up of what we covered:
- Irony has three kinds: dramatic irony, verbal irony, and situational irony.
- Dramatic irony occurs when the characters don’t know about something the audiences do.
- When the character says one thing but really means something else, it is considered verbal irony.
- Situational irony takes place when something happens, but everyone expects something different.
- Homer also uses other types of figures of speech in his literary work.
Homer’s The Odyssey has given its readers so much entertainment by utilizing several figures of speech and some literary techniques. We can see the effectiveness of these tools, as The Odyssey is still widely read and scrutinized up to this day.
