Inner Mediterranean Sea and Outer Ocean. Maritime Spaces in ›Herzog Ernst‹ (B) and Homer’s ›Odyssey‹

Abstract

This article juxtaposes two sea voyages from pre-modern travel narratives: the voyage section of the MHG verse epic ›Herzog Ernst‹ (B) and Homer’s ›Odyssey‹. The subject of the analysis are the movements of the travelling characters as well as their encounters with semi- and unfamiliar communities during their sea voyage. The comparison is intended to show that in both travel narratives two disparate maritime spaces can be distinguished, in which the two complexes of familiarity, certainty, unambiguity on the one hand and strangeness, uncertainty and ambiguity on the other are contrasted. Their conception is oriented towards the (real-geographical) difference between the Mediterranean Sea and the outer ocean.