d i a l o g u e

Οὖτις  O h   't i s   N o b o d y     





"Mi nombre es Nadie, dice Ulises, y esto lo salva del Cíclope".




"My name is Nobody, says Ulysses, and this saves him from the Cyclops."

51. A Manuscript of Ashes. Antonio Muñoz Molina

“Οὖτις ἐμοί γ ' ὄνομα· Οὖτιν δέ με κικλήσκουσι
μήτηρ ἠδὲ πατὴρ ἠδ᾿ ἄλλοι πάντες ἑταῖροι.”


“… My name is Noman; Noman is what my mother and father call me; so likewise do all 

my friends.” 

Odyssey 9.360...420


Nobody is my name. My father and mother call me Nobody, as do all the others who 

are my companions.

9.366-367. The Odyssey

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!
260. Emily Dickinson, 1830 - 1886

Greek has two ways of saying “nobody”. Syntax determines whether the speaker says οὖτις or μή τίς. Both expressions mean “nobody”.  The name of Athena’s mother, Metis (Greek Μῆτις), is is where the pun plays out. Odysseus uses a pun to show his cleverness.

http://cal.byu.edu/macfarlane/Odyssey/outis_in_cyclops_cave.pdf