IL RACCONTO MENZOGNERO DI ODISSEO A LAERTE: ODISSEA XXIV 303-314

The second part of the Odyssey (books XIII-XXIV) describes Odysseus’s return to Ithaca. In order to reconquer his own kingdom, the hero hides his real identity and creates five different stories which he tells to the different characters he meets (Athena, Eumaeus, the Suitors, Penelope and Laertes). Of these five tales, Laertes’s scene takes on great importance due to the doubts it rose and to the differences compared to the other μῦθοι. The biggest difficulty is in the apparent uselessness of the lie – when Odysseus has re-established his reign over Ithaca – which gives pain to the father after the slaughter of the Suitors. The aim of this contribution is to make a comparison between the tale for Laertes and the other lying tales, by explaining common aspects and differences, and to show the purpose of the speech for the father, which is considered as a functional part of the plot of the poem and perfectly integrated with the other tales in spite of his originality. In fact, the speech for Laerte concludes a complicated Ringkomposition capable of connecting the twelve books of the second half of Odissey.