Odysseus Bourne

In the second half of the Odyssey, Odysseus tells elaborate lies to the goddess Athena, to the pigkeeper Eumaeus, to his wife Penelope, and to his father Laertes. He provides himself with a different identity for each audience.

He is a murderer in flight from Crete. No, he is the illegitimate son of a wealthy Cretan. No, he is Aethon, brother to the renowned Cretan warrior Idomeneus. No, he is Eperitus, son of Polypemon of Alybas. (Try saying that three times fast.)

The real Odysseus pretends to be someone he's not. What if the opposite were the case, though? What if someone had come to Ithaca claiming to be Odysseus but was in fact an imposter?

In this you may recognize the plot outline of a film called The Return of Martin Guerre (Le Retour de Martin Guerre), which Hollywood remade as Sommersby, with Jodie Foster and Richard Gere. It's also been made into a musical. You may not know, however, that these productions are based on a true story of false identity from 16th century France.

Martin Guerre was a peasant. He was accused of stealing grain and ran off, abandoning his wife Bertrande and their child. Eight years later he -- or someone claiming to be Martin Guerre -- returned. Bertrande accepted him as her long-lost husband. They lived together for three years and had more children.

An uncle became suspicious, though. Then a soldier turned up saying that the true Martin Guerre had lost a leg in battle. There was a trial. Guerre was acquitted, with Bertrande affirming his identity. But the uncle persisted and initiated a new trial. He claimed to have proof that the man was really a scoundrel named Arnaud du Tilh, known also as Pansette.

At the second trial, this man was able to relate intimate details of his early married life with Bertrande, before he disappeared for eight years. In addition, many witnesses claimed that he was indeed Martin Guerre, with many others disagreeing or expressing uncertainty. Bertrande, finally, although she had changed her mind about this man, refused to swear an oath that he was an imposter. Still, he was convicted and sentenced to death.

"Martin" appealed the verdict. Bertrande and the uncle were arrested on charges of perjury. The accused submitted to detailed questioning about his past and made no misstatements. It looked as though he would convince the judges and win his case on appeal.

And that's when the real Martin Guerre turned up. With one leg. Even though he could not remember details of his own past as well as the imposter, his entire family confirmed without a doubt that he was the genuine Martin Guerre. The imposter -- yes, the notorious Arnauld du Tilh -- confessed and was hanged in front of the Guerre home.

Incroyable, n' est-ce pas? Which raises this question: what if Odysseus had come home and immediately presented himself to Penelope as her long-lost husband? Do you get the sense that in Book 19, when Penelope interviews the beggar, she already suspects that this man may be her husband? But that this elaborate charade is somehow necessary for them both? 

Here's another question: is there a sense in which Odysseus -- the man who during his travels lost everything and became "Nobody"-- has to reconstruct his identity when he reaches home? Is that what he's doing in his so-called Cretan tales? Playing around with his identity, sorting out who he will now be?

Hmmm. Maybe, after all, this is what we mean by "identity." We tell a story about ourselves, and if it sounds good, that's who we decide to be.  

My name is Jim. To all appearances, I am a mild-mannered professor at a liberal arts college for women. In fact, I am a highly trained CIA operative on a mission to brainwash students into becoming classics majors and minors . . . 


-- Abbot