Abstract

This essay aims to illustrate the Sicilian episode of the "Italian Journey" emphasizing, more than the objective historical data, the suggestions generated by a strict comparison with the "Odyssey". Contrary to what criticism has so far maintained following Goethe himself, I would argue that it was not Sicily that evoked Homer for Goethe, but rather it was the Odyssey that gave the German poet the coordinates of what would become "his" Sicily. This "double vision" allowed the poet to weave into his travel book a series of mythical and fairy-tale elements, skillfully integrated in the narrative in a continuous game of references and suggestions. This key of interpretation of the curious process of indirect appropriation in the "Italian Journey" is supported by strong evidence if one considers primarily the literary value of the work.