TFBT: Combatants of the Titanomachy

“For the Titan gods and as many as sprang from Cronus had long been fighting together in stubborn war with heart-grieving toil, the lordly Titans from high Othyrs, but the gods, givers of good, whom rich-haired Rhea bare in union with Cronus, from Olympus.”    Hesiod, The Theogony 626

Perhaps the “thrice prayed for, most fair, best beloved” goddess Nyx suggested how Zeus might rescue his siblings.  Or perhaps it was the deep suggestions of Mother Earth that beguiled great Cronus the wily to bring up again his offspring.[i]  Or maybe when Zeus was full-grown, he took Metis, daughter of Ocean, to help him, and she gave Cronus a drug to swallow.[ii] Maybe Zeus’ mother Rhea assisted.[iii]  In any case Zeus, the youngest of Cronus’s children endeared himself with the older generation of deities called Titans, meaning The Strainers.  Zeus became their cup-bearer.  The potion that Zeus slipped into King Cronus’ cup made him “disgorge” the contents of his heavy stomach, including the gods Poseidon and Hades along with their sisters Hera, Demeter and Hestia.  They returned to the world fully grown and immediately declared war on Cronus and his brothers the Titans. The children of Cronus took up Mt. Olympus as their abode and the Titans took up Mount Othrys as a strong hold.  

So began the Titanomachy, but who were the combatants? 

Following Hesiod’s description of the Titanomachy in “The Theogony” the elder Titans who’d aided Cronus in his climb to power still stood by him, his brothers; heir-less Coeus (Intelligence) Crius (Ruler), Iapetos (The Piercer) and Hyperion(He who watches from above).  His brother Oceanus remained neutral in the Titanomachy as he did during the revolt against their father Uranus in revenge for his cruelty[iv].  It was Oceanus who fostered Hera and sheltered all the goddesses and Titanesses during the ten year long war that followed. (Hence none of the Titanesses were hurled into Tartarus).[v] 

·         Iapetos might have served as the general for the Titanic army.  Homer refers to him as enthroned next to Cronus in Tartarus[vi] and Valerius Flaccus mentions that the gods battled against Iapetus specifically.[vii] 
·         ML West reports that “the Sun-Titan refrained from assisting the Titans and was rewarded by being stationed in heaven instead of Tartarus. The deity in question was doubtless not Helios but Hyperion.”[viii],  Which would explain Homer’s habit of referring to the Sun-god as both Hyperion and Helios

According to Graves, Cronus’ time had passed and the second generation of Titans took over the leadership in their battle against the Olympians.  The mixed blood Titans took over the leadership of their cause; these were the sons of water nymphs rather than Titanesses. 

·         To Crius and Eurybia, the daughter of Pontus, were born sons of mixed-blood great Astraios (Starry), and Pallas (Warrior), and the son-less Perses (Destroyer) who was preeminent among all men in wisdom.  Astraios is the father by Eos daughter of Hyperion of the stars and four winds that pull Zeus chariot.  Several goatish giants named Pallas are slain by Zeus’ daughter Athena. None of the three are heard of after the Titanomachy and Eos is husbandless.
·         "Now Iapetos took to wife the neat-ankled maid Klymene, daughter of Okeanos, and went up with her into one bed. And she bare him a stout-hearted son, Atlas; also she bare very glorious Menoitios and clever Prometheus, full of various wiles, and scatter-brained Epimetheus."[ix]  All the Iapetides (sons of Iapetus) married Oceanides like their father did.  Atlas led the Titans in revolt against Zeus. [x] And as consequence for all eternity held up the sky as punishment.  For Menoitios’ hubris the far-seeing Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt and sent him down to Tartarus because of his mad presumption and exceeding pride, rather than being hurled in Tartarus and bound like the rest of the Titans. [xi] A daemon of a similar name later served as Hades shepherd. As to Prometheus;  "When first the heavenly powers were moved to wrath, and mutual dissension was stirred up among them-- it was then that [Prometheus], although advising them for the best, was unable to persuade the Titanes…they, disdaining counsels of craft.”  Through prophecy Prometheus knew the way in which the future was fated to come to pass. All though he argued with the Titans they did not pay any attention to his words. Consequently he joined the side of Zeus bring his brother Epimetheus with him."[xii]  Apparently he was the Titans’ herald for some time.[xiii] Prometheus would also be the god who procured celestial fire for early man. The sons of Iapetos were also described as possessing some of the worst of human traits: on an intellectual level, Prometheus is overly sly and crafty, Epimetheus a guileless fool, Atlas overly-daring and arrogant Menoitios prone to rash and violent actions. Their natural traits led each to their downfall.[xiv]

Hyperion wedded glorious Euryphaessa, his own sister, who bare him lovely children, rosy-armed Eos (Dawn) and rich-tressed Selene (Moon) and tireless Helios (Sun)."  Although no specific reference is made to the pure-blood Titan Helios in the Titanomachy, (there are few specific references in Hesiod’s report in the Theogony) we can assume Helios participated based on the honors and lands gifted to him and his sisters when the spoils of war were divided. His sister Selene and Eos because the goddesses of the moon and dawn respectively.

Zeus managed to convince the River Styx and the pure-blood Titaness brother-less Hecate to join the Olympian cause, but no female deity is recorded participating in the battles.  This males-only protocol is in sharp contrast to the universal involvement of the gods and goddesses in the Gigantomachy.  Styx, the deathless daughter of Oceanus brought her daughters Nike (Victory) and Bia (Force) and sons Cratos (Strength) and Zelos (Rivalry), to stand alongside the gods. Zeus rewarded her by making her streams the agent of the binding oath of the gods. It’s possible that Cratos and Zelos participated in battle.

Earth prophesied victory to Zeus if he should have as allies those who had been hurled down to Tartarus. So he slew their jailoress the snakish Campe, and loosed the bonds of the Hecatoncheires and Cyclopes from confinement in Tartarus.  In gratitude, the hundred-handed giants, Briareos, blameless Cottus speaker for the brothers [xv] and Gyes insatiate for war joined the battle.  Strong Briareos, would most famously aid Thetis in loosing the bonds of Zeus at a later revolt

And the Cyclopes overbearing in spirit, Brontes (Thunder), Steropes (Lightning Bolt) and stubborn-hearted Arges (Vivid Flash), then gave Zeus thunder and lightning and a thunderbolt, and on Hades they bestowed a helmet of invisibility and on Poseidon a trident. Armed with these weapons the gods overcame the Titans, shut them up in Tartarus,

The gods of the sea, great Thaumas and proud Phorcus, and their brother truthful Nereus seemed to retain their honors, but it is noteworthy that Poseidon became “ruler of the deep, briny-swirling seas”.  Maybe they followed the example of the Great River Oceanus and maintained neutrality.  The sole exception to the Pontides neutrality was Thaumas’ daughter Iris who became a messenger for the Olympians, while her sister Arce, became messenger for the Titans. After the victory Zeus tore off her wings before throwing her into Tartarus[xvi]

Jenny Strauss Clay observed[xvii] “Gaia, whose line(age) remains completely separate from that of Chaos – intercourse between these two fundamentally opposite cosmic entities seems impossible”.  The Fates decreed that some specific members of these clans could not meet.[xviii]  So we should not expect involvement from the children of the Night.

So in summary; the combatants for the Titans were probably; the elder Titans; Cronus, Coeus, Crius, Iapetos and the mixed-blood Titans; Astraios, Pallas, Perses, Atlas and Menoitios.  For the Olympians the elder Titan Hyperion and probably his son Helios, Cronus’ sons; Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, the Hecatoncheires; Briareos, Cottus and Gyes, the Cyclopes; Brontes, Steropes and Arges and maybe the sons of Pallas; Cratos and Zelos  In an abstract sense; those with foresight; the far-seeing god overcame leadership, intelligence and craftsmanship.  Fire and lightning overcame a stubborn, prideful soldiery.

…when the blessed gods had finished their toil, and settled by force their struggle for honours with the Titans, they pressed far-seeing Olympian Zeus to reign and to rule over them, by Earth's prompting. So he divided their dignities amongst them. Hesiod, The Theogony 881  ... (they) threw the lots (Poseidon) received the grey sea as (his) abode, Hades drew the murky darkness, Zeus, however, drew the wide sky of brightness and clouds; the earth is common to all, and spacious Olympus." Iliad 15.187

  

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[i] Hesiod Th. 493ff.,

[ii] Apollodorus, Library [1.2.1]

[iii] The Universe, the Gods, and Men: Ancient Greek Myths Told by Jean-Pierre Vernant, Page 18

[iv] Virgil, Aeneid 6.580

[v] Aaron J. Atsma, www.theoi.com Oceanus

[vi] (Iliad 8.479)

[vii] Argonautica 1.563)

[viii] ML West 'EUMELOS': A CORINTHIAN EPIC CYCLE?* referencing Virgil Aeneid 6.580

[ix] Hesiod, Theogony 507  

[x] Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 150

[xi] Hesiod, Theogony 507

[xii] Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 200 

[xiii] Eumelus, Fragment 5 (from Hesychius Lexicon 1. 387) "Ithas: The Titanes' herald, Prometheus. Some write Ithax."

[xiv] Aaron J. Atsma www.theoi.com  

[xv] Hesiod, Theogony 654

[xvi] Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History Bk6 as summarized in Photius, Myriobiblon 190

[xvii] Hesiod’s Cosmos , page 16

[xviii] Ovid, Metamorphoses, 8.791

VftSW: My Dark Angel

Right before church I walked my Black Labrador, Derby. On the way home ahead of us walked a young couple with a toddler enjoying a sunny patch in the fall day. As we approached they got the stout little toddler out of his backpack.

“Look quick,” I recommended to the young mother. ”before you know it he’ll be asking to borrow the car keys and drive a way.“

As the stout little blonde tottered our way, he bawled out; “Bawg dawg!”

All three of us adults encouraged his understanding. His parents tried to explain about showing a dog your hand first if you wanted to pet it. I assured them that Derby was friendly. For her part she knelt down, because she likes children and wants to make herself look less threatening. The parents offered her nose the back of their hands too. The little boy laughed to see Derby’s tongue flicker out in response and joyously touched the shiny, dusty, black fur. His curiosity sated he looks up at us adults and said, “Where’s the other person?”

There had been no one else around us on the street.


　

VftSW: Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls

First, let me say, “Wow!” As a reader, I truly appreciate an anthology with over a dozen authors and still consistently top quality writing throughout! Which is what you get with this

“Understandingthe Dead Sea Scrolls” edited by Hershel Shanks.

In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd found the first six of the “Dead Sea” Scrolls.  In the literary land-rush that followed scholars and shepherd discovered hundreds upon hundreds of scrolls.  The vast majority of which were in hundreds and hundreds of fragments.  They were stored in eleven caves somewhere around 70 A.D.  The essays in “Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls” start with the history of the find, literary genealogy of scrolls, the cloak and dagger business of antiquities, the Israeli war for independence, the cut-throat politics of academia, the controversy, reconstruction and conspiracy theories surrounding the scrolls.  Somewhere in there, the authors manage to discuss various finds and their significance.  The editor wisely arranged the articles to build on the reader’s growing knowledge on these topics in preparation for the ever-growing complexity and controversy of the Dead Sea Scroll discussions.

Now for some tid-bits, I found along the way.

·        Dead Sea Scroll 3Q15 is a treasure map written on a sheet of almost pure copper.  The treasure?  The treasure of the Temple in Jerusalem, hidden before the destruction of the Temple by the Romans. 

·        One of the first scrolls found is the  Temple Scroll which some scholars believe was a sixth book of the Pentateuch on  the same level of authority as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

·        Whenever a scriptural passage is repeated, it is because of some new point contained in it.

·        The Dead Sea Scrolls might contain  the lost books of the Bible referenced in 1 Chronicles 28:19.

·        There are copies sometimes several copies of every book in the Old Testament, except Esther.  Esther is the only book of the Hebrew Bible that does not mention God. 

Oh and by the way, the custodians of all these desert libraries were “monks” of a Jewish sect called the Essene.  There is no mention of Jesus, John the Baptist or the Gospels.  Nevertheless, the Dead Sea Scrolls and this marvelous book, provide plenty of insights into scripture, Christianity, Judaism and to the world into which Our Lord was born.  

VftSW: Is That Cute or What?

I don’t know if this is the sweetest thing or the saddest. 

I stepped into my darkened garage this morning.  My Black Labrador wasn’t waiting at the door for me.  Sitting on the doorstep apparently makes Derby feel closer to us.  When she came to greet me, sleep still hung about her like a warm blanket, until her squinting eyes and fluttering lashes chased it away. 

 Only she hadn’t come from the direction of her bed.  Over the weekend, I’d been clearly as friends’s property of invading alders.  When I got home sweat and rain ran through all my clothes and wood chips snuck in everywhere.  My wife brought my robe and I stripped in the garage.  Derby had been sleeping on my piled clothes.

Is that cute or what?

VftSW: Neutering the Almighty

Originally, our congregation belonged to the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America. (Now we are in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.) We still say the King James version of the Lords Prayer, because, well that’s the way the Lord said it, right? In other words we are a conservative congregation. So, this morning the pastor comes out without his robe on. No, not naked. He wore a nice dress shirt, slacks and tie, but come on, we are High Church. I was being kind of grumpy about this as the service progressed. Admittedly it was summer time. Well, not any more, this is Labor Day weekend. What’s his excuse? Of course, that’s Satan way, cracking congregations apart over little things.


His sermon was based on Mark 7. The Pharisees and scribes came out to see the Lord. They asked why his disciples didn’t wash their hands before dinner. Just a question right? The Lord lays into them and calls them hypocrites. He quotes Isaiah, condemning them for “teaching human precepts as doctrines.” Mark 7:3 explains that Jesus was talking about human tradition like washing hands before dinner, washing food you bought at the market before eating it and washing dishes, pots and pans.

  As a parent, I mumbled sarcastically to myself, “Thanks, Lord!”

This is a common complaint with pastor’s sermons. He bases them on the Gospel reading for the day rather than the Old Testament. A bunch of unemployed, bachelors with no responsibilities wrote the Gospels. No patriarch or prophet ever said anything encouraging his children not to wash their hands before dinner!

I still pondered saying something about pastor’s robe, but figured he follow the Almighty’s example, get indignant and call me a hypocrite by quoting Isaiah. .

The service moved on. We got to the new version of the “Great Thanksgiving” We use to sing, “It is right to give Him thanks and praise.” But, in this politically correct age, they’ve changed it to “It is right to sing our thanks and praise.” Sort of neutering the Almighty. We had a big thing recently about gay clergy too. Many congregations left the ELCA over the issue. We get our shorts in a knot over a lot of stuff Jesus didn’t think was important enough to discuss.

So, all this rumbled through my mind, when communion started. We sing while people go up to the railing around the altar in groups to take the wine and bread. I started singing the first song, still thinking about the whole don’t-wash-your-hands things.

“Well,” I say to myself, “I certainly hope your daughters were not here today, pastor.”

At which point I covered my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Scripture directs us to make a joyful noise unto the Lord but sometimes my vocalizations aren’t that joyful. So people around me would think nothing of me praying instead. Of course, if they peered over the edge of their hymnals, they would see me laughing in my hands. Pastor’s daughters hadn’t been sitting in his lap during children’s sermon. They actually weren’t here. Talk about a hypocrite! I was red with laughter and feeling frustrated with event. I began to pray in earnest. I prayed on pleasant things; like the young family I’d met earlier in the morning.

Right before church I walked my Black Labrador, Derby. On the way home ahead of us walked a young couple with a toddler enjoying a sunny patch in the fall day. As we approached they got the stout little toddler out of his backpack.

“Look quick,” I recommended to the young mother. ”before you know it he’ll be asking to borrow the car keys and drive a way.“

As the stout little blonde tottered our way, he bawled out; “Bawg dawg!”

All three of us adults encouraged his understanding. His parents tried to explain about showing a dog your hand first if you wanted to pet it. I assured them that Derby was friendly. For her part she knelt down, because she likes children and wants to make herself look less threatening. The parents offered her nose the back of their hands too. The little boy laughed to see Derby’s tongue flicker out in response and joyously touched the shiny, dusty, black fur. His curiosity sated he looks up at us adults and said, “Where’s the other person?”

There had been no one else around us on the street.

I offered “Someone must have an imaginary friend.”

They assured me he had many. Reflecting back at that moment from my pew, I recalled that imaginary friends are really just what we call children’s guardian angels. I suspect that the child saw my guardian angel and that through all the petty turmoil in my thoughts this morning, the Holy Spirit sat with me all along.

I rose for communion with a clean heart and renewed spirits.

　

　

TFBT: A Most Dangerous Sea and the Beauteous Scarf

Below is one of the pivotal scenes in Odysseus’ long journey home and the point at which he leaves behind the fiefs and realms of the gods for those of mortal men. Leucothea’s short cameo and brief words in the scene leave quite a few questions for the average reader.  Who is she?  What is with the veil?   Why isn’t she afraid of Poseidon’s wrath? Why did she save Odysseus? 

But Leucothea, the White Goddess, saw him, she who once had mortal speech as Ino of the slender ankles, Cadmus’ daughter, but now in the deep is honored by the gods. She pitied Odysseus, driven on, surrounded by dangers, and she rose from the waves like a sea mew on the wing, settled on the close-knit raft, and spoke to him:  ‘Poor wretch, why has Poseidon, the Earth-Shaker, dealt you such fierce suffering, sowing the seed of endless misery for you? Yet for all his anger, he shall not destroy you quite. You seem a man of sense, so do as I tell you. Strip off these clothes, and let the wind take your raft, while you swim hard towards the Phaeacian coast, where you are destined to escape the waves. And take this veil, and wind it round your waist. It has divine power, and you need not fear injury or death. But when you clasp the land, unwind it once more, and cast it far out onto the wine-dark sea, and turn your eyes away.’  The Odyssey 5.22-30 Homer

Leucothea was once the princess Ino of seven-gated Thebes in Ancient Greece.  Running from the wrath of her husband, she with her child Melicertes leapt into the sea where her new sisters the Nereids graciously received them and Zeus deified them as Leucothea and Palaemon.  Keep in mind that even as Ino, she was no mere mortal.  Ino was the aunt and foster mother of the Olympian deity Dionysus.  Her mother was born to two other Olympians.  One sister was a goddess and another nephew also a god.  Still Leucothea had been mortal once. 

Odysseus is of course, the long-suffering hero of the Odyssey.  He spent 10 years at the siege of Troy and was in his tenth year trying to get home to his wife Penelope.  Just prior to this scene Odysseus was released from the care of the lovely Calypso.  The goddess Calypso loved the hero, going so far as to say, “make your home with me, and be immortal, no matter how much you long to see that wife you yearn for day after day…Then resourceful Odysseus replied to her: ‘Great goddess, do not be angry at what I say. I know myself that wise Penelope is less than you, it’s true, in looks and stature, being a mortal, while you are immortal and ever young. Even so I yearn day after day, longing to reach home, and see the hour of my return.”[i] Calypso with a little nudge from the gods of Olympus, helped the hero on his way, she “bathed him and dressed him in scented clothes, and watched him set out (on a raft). The goddess had placed a skin filled with dark wine on board, and a larger one of water, and a bag of provisions, full of many good things to content his heart, and she sent a fine breeze, warm and gentle” [ii]

As to the veil, goddesses used them in many ways.  Medea used her silver veil to avoid seeing Jason murder her brother.  It also protected her from the blood splatter to follow. [iii]Amidst tragedy in her son’s life Thetis when summed to Olympus made sure to cover her head with “a dark-hued veil, than which was no raiment more black” [iv] In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter;  sharp grief seized the mother's heart; she tore the head-dress upon her ambrosial hair, and threw her dark veil down…” when her daughter was kidnapped.  When she found out her brother was party to the crime; in her anger at Zeus, Demeter veiled herself in clouds and she deserted the gatherings of the gods.  Apollonius Rhodius records[v] that in an attempted rape, the Giant Tityus, boldly dragged off the Titaness Leto by her veil.  Upon the ramparts of Troy Helen, sister to the Castor and Polydeuces recalling all she left behind one day “veiled herself in white linen and, weeping large tears, she left her room.”[vi]

As Aphrodite famously lent her girdle (cestus) to Hera for magical purposes in the Iliad, so Leucothea chooses to lend the drowning hero something he can tie about his waist. The imperishable veils of the goddess come in shades of saffron, night, shining,    celestial blue and star-spangled.  Walter Burkett in several books suggests that Leucothea’s veil was purple due to her association with the mysteries of Samothrace. [vii]  Initiates into the Mystery wore similar purple garb “to protect themselves from the danger of the sea”. [viii]

Poseidon is the god of the sea, reputed to be as powerful as his brother Zeus, king of the gods.  And his heart was full of anger against the storm tossed hero, because of Odysseus’ blinding of his son the one-eyed giant Polyphemus.[ix] Admittedly, Polyphemus ate several of Odysseus’s crewmates and it was all a matter of self-dense, but gods aren’t overly understanding.   As witnessed by the debate over the patronage of Argos by Hera and Poseidon.  When the River Inachus and two neighboring rivers judged against Poseidon, the sea god drained the water from their beds.[x]  So, we might wonder at Leucothea’s calmness before the quick-tempered master of the deep. 

 Her calm before the storm-tossing and earth-shaking Olympian might have to do with what she was and what she did. Leucothea was a “demi-god” or demi-goddess more accurately.  Born of Harmonia; daughter of Ares and Aphrodite and the hero Cadmus, she was half deity and half mortal. The demi-gods generally classified as mortal, were not the weaklings the gods make them out to be.  Apollo for one made the rather snide comment in Book 21 of the Iliad “wretched mortals, now full of life, eating the earth’s fruit, now fading away and falling like the leaves”

However, when the Giants attacked Olympus, the gods would have lost the war for supremacy of the universe except for two things.  One, if the giants found the herb of invulnerability they would win.  Or if the gods could enlist the aid of Heracles; the greatest of the demi-gods.  Zeus forbade Helios, Selene and Eos (Sun, Moon and the Dawn herself) to shine while he found the herb.  According Hesiod in the Theogony, Heracles and the demi-god (turned Olympian) Dionysus joined the side of the Olympian.  But evidence from the decoration of major temples suggest that Achilles, Bootes, and the Discouri, all demi-gods also joined the gods.  So, let’s do the math here.  If the giants are more powerful than the gods and the demigods are mightier than the giants.  That could lead some demigods to think they are more powerful than the gods.  See “Five Reasons for Fighting the Fates” for additional arguments.

But, Leucothea had another reason to be confident that she could rescue Odyssey without retribution from Poseidon. It was her job.  After the defeat of the Titans, the victors gathered at the city of Mecone, elected Zeus king and divided all the honors and privileges.  Each god, man and beast was given inviolate rights and the gods their various domains.   Consider what Laura Slatkin has to say in The Power of Thetis, “The most startling silence in the voluble divine community of the Iliad is the absence of any reproach made to Thetis for her drastic intervention in the war.”   That might be because Thetis was in some way exercising the authority granted her years before.  Thetis like Leucothea is a rescuer of those fallen into the sea. “She there received Dionysus on his flight from Lycurgus, and the god, in his gratitude, presented her with a golden urn. When Hephaestus was thrown down from heaven, he was likewise received by Thetis.”[xi] Leucothea’s area of responsibility; her sphere of influence was rescuing mortals adrift on the briny deep with “her son Palaemon they help sailors beset by storms."[xii] .  Rescue seemed to be the specialty of demi-gods.  Witness Glaucus of Anthedon in Boeotia, a fisherman, who had the good luck to eat a part of the divine herb, which Cronus sowed, and which made Glaucus immortal marine deity.[xiii] Another example is the brothers of Helen of Troy, Castor and Polydeuces, also called the Dioscuri  “The Dioscuri are deliverers of men on earth and of swift-going ships when stormy gales rage over the ruthless sea.”[xiv].  Rescuing sailors was there job and in general, they could expect interference on occasion from other deities but no outright denial of their prerogatives.

Additionally in answer to the question of who Leucothea is, Mills sees her as an agent of limnality.[xv]  She aids Odysseus in his transition from the goddesses Circe and Calypso via herself a demi-goddess at birth to the mortal women Princess Nausicaa and Queen Penelope.  From the sea to the shore.  From life through the gray waters of death to life again. From eternal life as a god to inevitable death as a man.

So, now Odysseus’ rescue continues.

His knees gave way, and his arms fell slack, his strength exhausted by the sea. All his flesh was swollen, and streams of brine oozed from his mouth and nostrils. So he lay there, breathless, speechless, with barely energy enough to stir. But as he revived his spirits rose, and he unwound the goddess’s veil and dropped it into the ocean-bound flow: the current sweeping it downstream, so it was soon in Ino’s hands. Odysseus turned from the river, sank into the reeds and kissed the earth, giver of crops: and deeply shaken he communed with his valiant spirit: Bk V:452-456

Our naked hero is soon rescued and dressed by Princess Nausicaa of Phaeacia. Why was the goddess Leucothea insistent on getting her scarf back?  Because, according to Donald H. Mills it was magical.  “”The focus of this gift centers on the immortal and life-giving veil she offers the hero…it has the implicit power to confer immortally (hence) she says to Odysseus, “there is no need for you to suffer, nor to perish.” [xvi]  It was magic just like the herb Glaucus consumed that him invulnerable to death.  Like the ambrosia and nectar, Calypso offered Odysseus at their final meal.  To keep Leucothea’s veil had the same effect as staying with Calypso and wearing her scented garments, to become a god.  Which meant Odysseus lost himself, his glorious destiny, his famous return and the loving arms of his wife Penelope

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[i] Odyssey Bk V 198-202. 

[ii] Odyssey Bk V:264

[iii] Argonautica of Apollonious 4.468-474 

[iv] Iliad 24.93

[v] Argonautica 1.758

[vi] Iliad Bk III:131

[vii] Homo Necans page 132,   Greek Religion page 267

[viii] Scholiast to Apollonius Rhodius 1.917

[ix] Homer, Odyssey 13.341

[x] Pausanias, Description of Greece 2. 15. 4

[xi] Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology  

[xii] Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 28 : 

[xiii] Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.  

[xiv] Homeric Hymn 27 to the Dioscuri

[xv] The Hero and the Sea: Patterns of Chaos in Ancient Myth

[xvi]The Hero and the Sea: Patterns of Chaos in Ancient Myth