Alex
GOTTESMAN Odysseus' Sardonic Smile and
the Gift that Bites Back
This paper considers Odysseus'
puzzling sardonic smile in light of ancient Greek myths
of territorial expropriation. The suitor Ktesippos throws
an ox-hoof at Odysseus, who is disguised as a beggar, and
calls it a "guest-gift [xeinion]."
Odysseus evades the hoof easily then he smiles, Homer
says, "very sardonically [mala sardanion]"
(Od. 20. 299-302).
This smile has perplexed scholars since antiquity.
I will not attempt to explain
what a "sardonic smile" looks like, nor what it means in
itself. Instead I will focus on why the specific
interaction between Ktesippos and Odysseus is singularly
marked out. The key is in the mock "gift-exchange"
between Ktesippos and Odysseus' alter ego, the beggar
Aithon. A comparison with three myths will reveal its
significance. The myths of Aletes in Korinth (Sch. Pind.
N. 7. 155a),
Perdikkas in Makedonia (Hdt. 8. 137-9), and Temon in
Ainiania (Plut. Mor. 293f-294c), to
my knowledge, have not been brought to bear on the
question of Odysseus' sardonic smile, but they are
relevant. All three myths concern conquest and
expropriation. All three involve kings in lowly guise
(beggars or serfs) in a foreign land. While in such guise
the kings are insulted by an inhabitant or the local king
with the "gift" of an ambiguous object: Aletes begs for
food and is given dirt instead; Temon likewise; and
Perdikkas is given dirt instead of his due wages. Each
myth's respective narrative makes clear that the
unwitting exchange presages the subsequent expropriation
of the donor's territory at the hands of the recipient.
I suggest that Odysseus'
sardonic smile should be read as reflecting the awareness
that Ktesippos' hoof-toss&emdash;along with his mockingly
calling it a "gift"&emdash;signaled the inevitable
reconquest of Odysseus' house and property from the
occupying suitors.