ABSTRACT
In this essay I examine the self-reflective quality of the Odyssey by focusing on literal instances of making, or craft (technē), in the poem, concentrating in particular on the craft of the wooden horse. I argue that this object serves as something of a mise en abyme for the poem and its take on the relationship between creation, self-creation, deception and revelation. The horse, I contend, also contains keys to reading other parts of the epic, such as the Sirens’ song, Penelope’s “web” that she weaves and unweaves each night, and the marriage bed in Ithaca.
