Josef Kavalier's Odyssey : Homeric Echoes in Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Author: Levine Daniel  

Publisher: Springer Publishing Company

ISSN: 1073-0508

Source: International Journal of the Classical Tradition, Vol.17, Iss.4, 2010-12, pp. : 526-555

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Abstract

This paper shows that the numerous parallels between Michael Chabon's Pulitzer-Prize winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay</i> (2000) and the Odyssey</i> portray the novel's hero as a Jewish Odysseus. It illustrates how Chabon's work contains episodes, structures and character typologies that correspond to numerous exemplars in the Odyssey</i>, including the Telemachia</i> (Od</i>. 1-4), Kyklopeia</i> (Od</i>. 9), Nekuia</i> (Od</i>. 11), Anagnorismos</i> (Od</i>. 16), Toxou Thesis</i> / Mnesterophonia</i> (Od</i>. 21-22), and the “Wrath of Poseidon.” In addition, the novel's main female character shares similar characteristics with Penelope. A preoccupation with “escape” is central to the novel, reflecting one of the essential themes of the epic and the specialty of its hero. Chabon himself invites a study of this sort, having recently written that the Odyssey</i> and its hero form the original paradigm for the “Adventure Story” — especially where Jewish characters are concerned (2007.201-203).