Outis

Outis (transliteration of Ancient Greek Οὖτις, in capitals ΟΥΤΙΣ, from οὔτις "nobody" or "no one")[1] is an often used pseudonym. Artists, writers and others in public life use this pseudonym in order to hide their identity. The Latin equivalent Nemo is also often used.

Origin of the name

Blinding of the Cyclops

"Οὖτις" was used as a pseudonym by the Homeric hero Odysseus, when he fought the Cyclops Polyphemus, and had put out the monster's eye. Polyphemus shouted in pain to the other Cyclopes of the island that "Nobody" was trying to kill him, so no one came to his rescue. The story of the Cyclops can be found in the Odyssey, book 9 (in the Cyclopeia). The name Nobody can be found in five different lines of Chapter 9. First of all in line 366:

Then in line 369:

Then in line 408:

In line 455:

And in line 460:

Uses of the pseudonym Outis

Edgar Allan Poe
Hablot Knight Browne: illustration for David Copperfield
"Orosz doubles even himself: from time to time, he signs his works as Utisz, the pseudonym borrowed from Cyclopeia. The most artful Greek, Odysseus, also used as a pseudonym the word meaning No-man, and as we know, with that exchange of names, then Polyphemos the Cyclops’ eye came into the world. The gouging out of the eye, or deception to the eye, also accompanied the works of Orosz/Utisz, if only metaphorically. Trompe l’oeil – we refer with an art historical expression to those images in which illusion guides the gaze. Orosz often uses such artifice, though he is completely aware of the danger of these deceptive procedures. He put it this way at a symposium a few years back: I hope my intentions are clear, in the ambitions of a Hungarian artist at the turn of the century, who does not tell the truth only to be caught in the act." (Introduction by Guy d'Obonner)

Uses of the pseudonym Nemo

Camille Claudel
Captain Nemo
Little Nemo

Other "Nobody" pseudonyms

See also

References

  1. οὔτις. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  2. Ljungquist, Kent (2009). A Further Note on Lawrence Labree. The Edgar Allan Poe Review Vol. 10, No. 2 , pp. 122-128.

External links

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