Il fiore della libertà: la Teichoscopia di Elena tra Omero e Ghiannis Ritsos

The Teichoscopia, an episode from Book III of the Iliad, is the first time Helen’s voice is heard in the poem. Homer gives the character the ability to recount the deeds of the heroes and their profiles: in this way, Helen’s voice aligns with a specific perspective, one that also blends with Homer’s point of view. In The Fourth Dimension, Ghiannis Ritsos revisits this episode within his mythopoesis, but he alters its meaning. Ritsos transforms the Teichoscopia, in Helen’s final day of life, into a quest for freedom that the now elderly woman ultimately achieves through death. In my paper, I analyze the reinterpretation and the explicit differences between Homer and Ritsos in the poetic construction of the Teichoscopia.