4th to last paragraph of chapter IV of Homer's Odyssey,
Penelopeia talks to a goddess,
"If you are really divine and a god sent you here, tell me also about that unhappy man: is he still alive anywhere, does he see the light of the sun, or is he already dead and within the house of hades?"
The goddess(actually a kind of phantum generated by Athena - an angel) replies,
"I may not tell you for certain whether he is alive or dead; it is a bad thing to babble like the blowing wind."
Check out my first article about fear and evasive language below. The above is just my latest evidence for evasive language.
- Sophie and Silas - the first blog post talking about fear and evasive language <-- article link
more Odyssey goodies,
ReplyDeleteChapter III, paragrahp 25,
"but the death is the common lot, which not even gods can keep from a man they love, as soon as the lamentable fate of dolorous death gets hold of him."
Chapter V, paragraph 25, mentions the Pleides and the big dipper, and to navigate by them.