Here’s the full citation for the article on the excavations of the mask and the tripods & cauldrons at Ithaka:
Benton, Sylvia. BSA (The Annual of the British School at Athens) 35 (1934-1935): 45-73.
(It was actually published in 1938 by Macmillan & Co., and 1934-1935 marks the session, but it should be catalogued under the latter.)
The description of the mask is on page 54, with a plate on 55 showing a black and white photograph and a line drawing.
The top of the mask reads horizontally
ΕΥΧΗΝ Ο
ΔΥΣΣΕΙ
while the lower portion, of which the surface is completely gone, yields only Η and Ν at the ends of two vertical lines.
Based on this the following was proposed:
εὐχὴν Ὀδυσσεῖ, [ὁ δεῖνα ἀνέθ]η[κε]ν.
i.e., ‘Votive offering to Odysseus, so and so dedicated it.’
It seems to me a poor translation. If the reconstruction is at all correct it should say, ‘(so-and-so) set (this object) up (as) a vow to Odysseus.’
Anyone with anything to contribute? An updated bibliography? Thoughts on the controversy?