NP "Speak, Memory"

[Heikki Raudaskoski]

On Fri, 29 Dec 2000, Thomas wrote:
> 
> The word used in the first line of the Odyssey is "mousa", a term that just
> means "Muse", if I am not mistaken. The beginning of Homer's epic is a
> typical example of what the OED describes as follows: "In classical poetry
> the Muse is often invoked or referred to as if only one Muse were
> recognized. Hence often in modern poetic use." Memory would have been
> "Mnemosyne", which in Greek mythology is the mother of the nine Muses.
> Although Nabokov does not verbatim quote the beginning of the Odyssey, the
> title of his book is a traditional invocation of the Muse, and the phrasing
> inevitably points to the passage in Homer (which usually is translated into
> English as "Tell me, Muse").

I recalled as much myself when I ran into Stanley Lombardo's new
translation
(see http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/homer-lombardo.html) 
which I found myself browsing in Helsinki last summer and which
seems to have brainwashed me. So clever, this Stanley. But one
might as well ask if the switch from one of the daughters to the
mother is justified.

A Wonderful New Year to All of You!

Heikki