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Look'd rosy forth, Ulysses then in haste

Put on his vest and mantle, and the nymph

275

Her snowy vesture of transparent woof,

Graceful, redundant; to her waist she bound

Her golden zone, and veil'd her beauteous head,

Then, musing, plann'd the noble Chief's return.

She gave him, fitted to the grasp, an axe

280

Of iron, ponderous, double edged, with haft

Of olive-wood, inserted firm, and wrought

With curious art. Then, placing in his hand

A polish'd adze, she led, herself, the way

To her isle's utmost verge, where tallest trees

285

But dry long since and sapless stood, which best

Might serve his purposes, as buoyant most,

The alder, poplar, and cloud-piercing fir.

To that tall grove she led and left him there,

Seeking her grot again. Then slept not He,

290

But, swinging with both hands the axe, his task

Soon finish'd; trees full twenty to the ground

He cast, which, dexterous, with his adze he smooth'd,

The knotted surface chipping by a line.

Meantime the lovely Goddess to his aid

295

Sharp augers brought, with which he bored the beams,

Then, side by side placing them, fitted each

To other, and with long cramps join'd them all.

Broad as an artist, skill'd in naval works,

The bottom of a ship of burthen spreads,

300

Such breadth Ulysses to his raft assign'd.

He deck'd her over with long planks, upborne

On massy beams; He made the mast, to which

He added suitable the yard; he framed

Rudder and helm to regulate her course,

305

With wicker-work he border'd all her length

For safety, and much ballast stow'd within.

Meantime, Calypso brought him for a sail

Fittest materials, which he also shaped,

And to his sail due furniture annex'd

310

Of cordage strong, foot-ropes and ropes aloft,

Then heaved her down with levers to the Deep.

Odyssey. Homer. ed. Robert Southey. London. 1837.

Current edition Experimental

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) (English) (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)

Ὀδύσσεια Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey, Volume 1-2. Murray, A. T. (Augustus Taber), editor. London: William Heinmann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919.) — 5.228 focus

ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,

αὐτίχʼ ὁ μὲν χλαῖνάν τε χιτῶνά τε ἕννυτʼ Ὀδυσσεύς,

αὐτὴ δʼ ἀργύφεον φᾶρος μέγα ἕννυτο νύμφη,

230

λεπτὸν καὶ χαρίεν, περὶ δὲ ζώνην βάλετʼ ἰξυῖ

καλὴν χρυσείην, κεφαλῇ δʼ ἐφύπερθε καλύπτρην.

καὶ τότʼ Ὀδυσσῆι μεγαλήτορι μήδετο πομπήν·

δῶκέν οἱ πέλεκυν μέγαν, ἄρμενον ἐν παλάμῃσι,

χάλκεον, ἀμφοτέρωθεν ἀκαχμένον· αὐτὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ

235

στειλειὸν περικαλλὲς ἐλάινον, εὖ ἐναρηρός·

δῶκε δʼ ἔπειτα σκέπαρνον ἐύξοον· ἦρχε δʼ ὁδοῖο

νήσου ἐπʼ ἐσχατιῆς, ὅθι δένδρεα μακρὰ πεφύκει,

κλήθρη τʼ αἴγειρός τʼ, ἐλάτη τʼ ἦν οὐρανομήκης,

αὖα πάλαι, περίκηλα, τά οἱ πλώοιεν ἐλαφρῶς.

240

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ δεῖξʼ, ὅθι δένδρεα μακρὰ πεφύκει,

ἡ μὲν ἔβη πρὸς δῶμα Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων,

αὐτὰρ ὁ τάμνετο δοῦρα· θοῶς δέ οἱ ἤνυτο ἔργον.

εἴκοσι δʼ ἔκβαλε πάντα, πελέκκησεν δʼ ἄρα χαλκῷ,

ξέσσε δʼ ἐπισταμένως καὶ ἐπὶ στάθμην ἴθυνεν.

245

τόφρα δʼ ἔνεικε τέρετρα Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων·

τέτρηνεν δʼ ἄρα πάντα καὶ ἥρμοσεν ἀλλήλοισιν,

γόμφοισιν δʼ ἄρα τήν γε καὶ ἁρμονίῃσιν ἄρασσεν.

ὅσσον τίς τʼ ἔδαφος νηὸς τορνώσεται ἀνὴρ

φορτίδος εὐρείης, ἐὺ εἰδὼς τεκτοσυνάων,

250

τόσσον ἔπʼ εὐρεῖαν σχεδίην ποιήσατʼ Ὀδυσσεύς.

ἴκρια δὲ στήσας, ἀραρὼν θαμέσι σταμίνεσσι,

ποίει· ἀτὰρ μακρῇσιν ἐπηγκενίδεσσι τελεύτα.

ἐν δʼ ἱστὸν ποίει καὶ ἐπίκριον ἄρμενον αὐτῷ·

πρὸς δʼ ἄρα πηδάλιον ποιήσατο, ὄφρʼ ἰθύνοι.

255

φράξε δέ μιν ῥίπεσσι διαμπερὲς οἰσυΐνῃσι

κύματος εἶλαρ ἔμεν· πολλὴν δʼ ἐπεχεύατο ὕλην.

τόφρα δὲ φάρεʼ ἔνεικε Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων,

ἱστία ποιήσασθαι· ὁ δʼ εὖ τεχνήσατο καὶ τά.

ἐν δʼ ὑπέρας τε κάλους τε πόδας τʼ ἐνέδησεν ἐν αὐτῇ,

260

μοχλοῖσιν δʼ ἄρα τήν γε κατείρυσεν εἰς ἅλα δῖαν.

Translations (9)

Odyssey Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey, Volume 1-2. Murray, A. T. (Augustus Taber), translator. London: William Heinmann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919.) — 5.228 focus

As soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, straightway Odysseus put on a cloak and a tunic, 230 and the nymph clothed herself in a long white robe, finely woven and beautiful, and about her waist she cast a fair girdle of gold, and on her head a veil above. Then she set herself to plan the sending of the great-hearted Odysseus. She gave him a great axe, well fitted to his hands, 235 an axe of bronze, sharpened on both sides; and in it was a beautiful handle of olive wood, securely fastened; and thereafter she gave him a polished adze. Then she led the way to the borders of the island where tall trees were standing, alder and popular and fir, reaching to the skies, 240 long dry and well-seasoned, which would float for him lightly. But when she had shewn him where the tall trees grew, Calypso, the beautiful goddess, returned homewards, but he fell to cutting timbers, and his work went forward apace. Twenty trees in all did he fell, and trimmed them with the axe; 245 then he cunningly smoothed them all and made them straight to the line. Meanwhile Calypso, the beautiful goddess, brought him augers; and he bored all the pieces and fitted them to one another, and with pegs and morticings did he hammer it together. Wide as a man well-skilled in carpentry marks out the curve of the hull of a freight-ship, 250 broad of beam, even so wide did Odysseus make his raft. And he set up the deck-beams, bolting them to the close-set ribs, and laboured on; and he finished the raft with long gunwales. In it he set a mast and a yard-arm, fitted to it, 255 and furthermore made him a steering-oar, wherewith to steer. Then he fenced in the whole from stem to stern with willow withes to be a defence against the wave, and strewed much brush thereon.¹ Meanwhile Calypso, the beautiful goddess, brought him cloth to make him a sail, and he fashioned that too with skill. 260 And he made fast in the raft braces and halyards and sheets, and then with levers² forced it down into the bright sea.

Odyssey Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey: rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Butler, Samuel, 1835-1902, translator. Revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. London: A.C. Fifield, 1900.) — 5.203 focus

203 "Odysseus, noble son of Laertes , so you would start home to your own land at once? Good luck go with you, but if you could only know how much suffering is in store for you before you get back to your own country, you would stay where you are, keep house along with me, and let me make you immortal, no matter how anxious you may be to see this wife of yours, of whom you are thinking all the time, day after day; yet I flatter myself that I am no whit less tall or well-looking than she is, for it is not to be expected that a mortal woman should compare in beauty with an immortal."

214 "Goddess," replied Odysseus, "do not be angry with me about this. I am quite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so beautiful as yourself. She is only a woman, whereas you are an immortal. Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing else. If some god wrecks me when I am on the sea, I will bear it and make the best of it. I have had infinite trouble both by land and sea already, so let this go with the rest."

225 Presently the sun set and it became dark, whereon the pair retired into the inner part of the cave and went to bed.

228 When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Odysseus put on his shirt and cloak, while the goddess wore a dress of a light gossamer fabric, very fine and graceful, with a beautiful golden girdle about her waist and a veil to cover her head. She at once set herself to think how she could speed Odysseus on his way. So she gave him a great bronze axe that suited his hands; it was sharpened on both sides, and had a beautiful olive-wood handle fitted firmly on to it. She also gave him a sharp adze, and then led the way to the far end of the island where the largest trees grew - alder, poplar and pine, that reached the sky - very dry and well seasoned, so as to sail light for him in the water. Then, when she had shown him where the best trees grew, Calypso went home, leaving him to cut them, which he soon finished doing. He cut down twenty trees in all and adzed them smooth, squaring them by rule in good workmanlike fashion. Meanwhile Calypso came back with some augers, so he bored holes with them and fitted the timbers together with bolts and rivets. He made the raft as broad as a skilled shipwright makes the beam of a large vessel, and he filed a deck on top of the ribs, and ran a gunwale all round it. He also made a mast with a yard arm, and a rudder to steer with. He fenced the raft all round with wicker hurdles as a protection against the waves, and then he threw on a quantity of wood. By and by Calypso brought him some linen to make the sails, and he made these too, excellently, making them fast with braces and sheets. Last of all, with the help of levers, he drew the raft down into the water.

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 5.228 focus

When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Odysseus put on his khiton and cloak, [230] while the goddess wore a dress of a light gossamer fabric, very fine and graceful, with a beautiful golden waistband about her waist and a veil to cover her head. She at once set herself to think how she could speed great-hearted Odysseus on his way. So she gave him a great bronze axe that suited his hands; [235] it was sharpened on both sides, and had a beautiful olive-wood handle fitted firmly on to it. She also gave him a sharp adze, and then led the way to the far end of the island where the largest trees grew—alder, poplar and pine, that reached the sky— [240] very dry and well seasoned, so as to sail light for him in the water. Then, when she had shown him where the best trees grew, Kalypsō, shining among divinities, went home, leaving him to cut them, which he soon finished doing. He cut down twenty trees in all and adzed them smooth, [245] squaring them by rule in good workmanlike fashion. Meanwhile Kalypsō, the shining goddess, came back with some augers, so he bored holes with them and fitted the timbers together with bolts and rivets. He made the raft as broad as a skilled shipwright [250] makes the beam of a large vessel, and he filed a deck on top of the ribs, and ran a gunwale all round it. He also made a mast with a yard arm, [255] and a rudder to steer with. He fenced the raft all round with wicker hurdles as a protection against the waves, and then he threw on a quantity of wood. By and by Kalypsō, the shining goddess, brought him some linen to make the sails, and he made these too, excellently, [260] making them fast with braces and sheets. Last of all, with the help of levers, he drew the raft down into the water.

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873)) — 5.228 focus

But when the child of Dawn,

Aurora, rosy-fingered, looked abroad,

275

Ulysses put his vest and mantle on ;

The nymph too, in a robe of silver-white,

Ample, and delicate, and beautiful,

Arrayed herself, and round about her loins

Wound a fair golden girdle, drew a veil

280

Over her head, and planned to send away

Magnanimous Ulysses. She bestowed

A heavy axe, of steel and double-edged,

Well fitted to the hand, the handle wrought

Of olive-wood, firm set and beautiful.

285

A polished adze she gave him next, and led

The way to a far corner of the isle,

Where lofty trees, alders and poplars, stood,

And firs that reached the clouds, sapless and dry

Long since, and fitter thus to ride the waves.

290

Then, having shown where grew the tallest trees,

Calypso, glorious goddess, sought her home.

Trees then he felled, and soon the task was done.

Twenty in all he brought to earth, and squared

Their trunks with the sharp steel, and carefully

295

He smoothed their sides, and wrought them by a line.

Calypso, gracious goddess, having brought

Wimbles, he bored the beams, and, fitting them

Together, made them fast with nails and clamps.

As when some builder, skilful in his art,

300

Frames for a ship of burden the broad keel,

Such ample breadth Ulysses gave the raft.

Upon the massy beams he reared a deck,

And floored it with long planks from end to end.

On this a mast he raised, and to the mast

305

Fitted a yard; he shaped a rudder next,

To guide the raft along her course, and round

With woven work of willow-boughs he fenced

Her sides against the dashings of the sea.

Calypso, gracious goddess, brought him store

310

Of canvas, which he fitly shaped to sails,

And, rigging her with cords and ropes and stays,

Heaved her with levers into the great deep.

English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858)) — 5.228 focus

When rosy morning call'd them from their rest,

Ulysses robed him in the cloak and vest.

295

The nymph's fair head a veil transparent grac'd,

Her swelling loins a radiant zone embrac'd

With flowers of gold: an under robe, unbound,

In snowy waves flow'd glittering on the ground.

Forth issuing thus, she gave him first to wield

300

A weighty axe, with truest temper steel'd,

And double-edg'd; the handle smooth and plain,

Wrought of the clouded olive's easy grain;

And next, a wedge to drive with sweepy sway:

Then to the neighbouring forest led the way.

305

On the lone island's utmost verge there stood

Of poplars, pines, and firs, a lofty wood,

Whose leafless summits to the skies aspire,

Scorch'd by the sun, or sear'd by heavenly fire:

(Already dried.) These pointing out to view,

310

The nymph just show'd him, and with tears withdrew.

Now toils the hero: trees on trees o'erthrown

Fall crackling round him, and the forests groan:

Sudden, full twenty on the plain are strow'd,

And lopp'd and lighten'd of their branchy load.

315

At equal angles these disposed to join,

He smooth'd and squar'd them by the rule and line.

(The wimbles for the work Calypso found)

With those he pierced them, and with clinchers bound.

Long and capacious as a shipwright forms

320

Some bark's broad bottom to out-ride the storms,

So large he built the raft; then ribb'd it strong

From space to space, and nail'd the planks along;

These form'd the sides: the deck he fashion'd last;

Then o'er the vessel raised the taper mast,

325

With crossing sail-yards dancing in the wind;

And to the helm the guiding rudder join'd;

(With yielding osiers fenced, to break the force

Of surging waves, and steer the steady course.)

Thy loom, Calypso! for the future sails

330

Supplied the cloth, capacious of the gales.

With stays and cordage last he rigg'd the ship,

And, roll'd on levers, launch'd her in the deep.

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 5.228 focus

And when the morning was again displayed,

205

Ulysses cloth'd himself with cloak and coat;

The nymph herself in a great robe array'd

Of dainty stuff with gold all over wrought,

Which on her loins a golden girdle tied,

And cover'd with a golden scarf her head.

210

And how Ulysses o'er the sea so wide

Should safely pass, she there considered.

Then puts a plainer and an axe in's hand,

Two-edged, with a haft of olive-tree.

Then show'd him where the greatest trees did stand,

215

And all the way before him walked she.

And when they were arrived at the wood,

Beeches they find, poplars, and fir-trees high,

Already dry, that lie light on the flood.

Calypso to her cavern back did hie.

220

Meanwhile Ulysses twenty trees brought low,

And hewed them, and plain'd them skilfully,

And laid them on the ground all in a row,

At corners square, and of one length they lie.

And then with wimbles back Calypso came;

225

Then pierced them, and set them one to one,

And with strong joints and nails fast bound the same.

And by the time that all this he had done,

As a good ship as broad it was and long.

Then for his decks he placed stoops upright

230

On every side, and many to be strong ;

And laid upon them planks at equal height.

Then made his mast, and set it up on end,

His rudder, and a place to sit and guide,

And laid on boughs from waves it to defend,

235

And all his cordage made of good cow-hide,

And then with levers set his raft afloat.

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 5.228 focus

The early Morn up, up he rose, put on

His in and out weed. She herself enchaces

305

Amidst a white robe, full of all the Graces,

Ample, and pleated thick like fishy scales;

A golden girdle then her waist impales;

Her head a veil decks; and abroad they come.

And now began Ulysses to go home.

310

A great axe first she gave, that two ways cut,

In which a fair well-polish'd helm was put,

That from an olive bough receiv'd his frame.

A plainer then. Then led she, till they came

To lofty woods that did the isle confine.

315

The fir tree, poplar, and heaven-scaling pine,

Had there their offspring. Of which, those that were

Of driest matter, and grew longest there,

He choos'd for lighter sail. This place thus shown,

The Nymph turn'd home. He fell to felling down,

320

And twenty trees he stoop'd in little space,

Plain'd, used his plumb, did all with artful grace.

In mean time did Calypso wimbles bring.

He bor'd, closed, nail'd, and order'd every thing,

And took how much a ship-wright will allow

325

A ship of burden (one that best doth know

What fits his art) so large a keel he cast,

Wrought up her decks, and hatches, side-boards, mast,

With willow watlings arm'd her to resist

The billows outrage, added all she miss'd,

330

Sail-yards, and stern for guide. The Nymph then brought

Linen for sails, which with dispatch he wrought,

Gables, and halsters, tacklings. All the frame

English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911)) — 5 focus

ODYSSEY BOOK V

WHILE that the Morn from the couch of her consort, lordly Tithonus,

Newly arisen was bringing the daylight to men and immortals,

Unto a session of council the deities gathered, and midst them

Sat high thundering Zeus, whose might of them all is the greatest.

Then did Athena begin of Odysseus, his many afflictions

Calling to mind, for it grieved her to think of him still with the sea-nymph :

"Father Zeus and ye other immortals eternally blesséd,

Never be kindly affectioned again, nor loving and gentle,

Any that beareth the sceptre as king, nor righteously minded!

Nay, let him rather be hard and be cruel and practise injustice !

So is it true that the godlike Odysseus by none is remembered,

None of the people he governed and lovingly ruled as a father.

Now on an island he lieth, and cruel the pain that he suffers,

Held in Calypso's halls; for the sea-nymph still with compulsion

Keepeth him there all hopeless of reaching the land of his fathers,

Since no ship well-fitted with oars he possesseth or shipmates,

Such as to help him to traverse the wide expanses of ocean.

Also his dearly-belovéd, his son, they are meaning to murder

While he is voyaging homeward; for hoping to hear of his father

Lately he journeyed to Pylos the fair and divine Lacedaemon."

Her then in turn gave answer the Father who gathers the storm-clouds :

"Nay but my child, what word by the door of thy lips hath escaped thee?

Surely the plan was devised, and by none but thyself, that Odysseus

Safely returned to his home should wreak his revenge on the suitors.

Telemachus do thou guard with thy guidance (for well thou art able)

So that without all harm he shall come to the land of his fathers,

While all baffled the suitors return once more in the vessel."

These words uttered, to Hermes, his well-loved son, he addressed him:

"Hermes for ever as herald thou bear'st the behests of immortals—

Bring to the fair-tressed nymph our will's immutable verdict,

Even that patient Odysseus return and arrive at his homeland,

Neither by furthering aid of the gods nor of men that be mortal—

Nay, on a firm-lashed raft shall he sail and with sufferings many

Days full twenty shall drift, till he come to the Scherian island,

Land of a nation akin to the gods, Phaeacian people;

These in their hearts will revere him and honour him like an immortal,

Yea and will send him again in a ship to his well-loved homeland,

Giving him many a present of bronze and of gold and of raiment,

Riches so great as he never had won from the land of the Trojans

Had he returned unscathed and received full share of the booty.

Thus is he fated his friends once more to revisit and once more

Win to his high-roofed home and arrive at the land of his fathers.”

Thus when he spake, Hermeias the Messenger, Slayer of Argus,

Quickly obeyed, and he bound to his ankles the beautiful sandals,

Golden, immortal, that carry him over the waters of ocean

Swift as the blast of a storm, and across earth's boundless expanses;

Took then his wand, with the which men's eyes he entranceth to slumber

E'en as he wills, while others again from their sleep he awaketh.

So with the rod in his hand the redoubtable Slayer of Argus

Flew, till above the Piërian land from the sky to the ocean

Plunging he sped mid the waves of the sea, as a cormorant speedeth

Over the perilous gulfs of the barren expanses of ocean,

Chasing the fishes and drenching in salt sea water its plumage.

Thus Hermeias was borne mid the infinite throng of the billows,

Till at the last he arrived at the shore of that far-off island.

Here from the violet depths of the ocean emerging he mounted

Into the island until he was come to a cavern capacious,

Home of the fair-tressed nymph of the sea; and he found her within it.

High from a hearth shot upward a flame, and widely around it

Odours of splintered cedar and juniper over the island

Spread as it blazed; and within with a beautiful voice she was singing,

Moving in front of her loom, and with shuttle of gold she was weaving.

Close to the cavern and clustered around it was growing a coppice;

Alder was there and poplar and cypress of delicate perfume.

Many a long-winged bird in the copse found covert at night-time,

Many a falcon and owl, and crook-billed chattering sea-crows,

Birds of the brine which busy themselves with a life on the ocean.

Here too, stretching in front of the hollow mouth of the cavern,

Trailed a luxuriant vine rich-laden with many a cluster.

Four bright runnels of water arose from a neighbouring fountain,

Each one nigh to the other but turned to a different channel.

Spreading around soft meadows with violets blossomed and parsley

Richly bedight—yea e'en an immortal, if haply he came there,

All might wondering view and rejoice in his heart to behold it.

Here stood gazing in wonder the Messenger, Slayer of Argus,

Till at the last, when his spirit was fully contented with gazing,

Into the wide-mouthed cavern he entered; and standing before her

Straightway known was the god to the beautiful goddess Calypso,

Seeing that never unknown is a deity unto another,

None of the spirits immortal, not e'en if he dwells at a distance.

Not inside of the cavern he found great-hearted Odysseus.

Out on the beach he was sitting and weeping, as ever aforetime,

Painfully racking his soul with his grieving and groaning and weeping,

Gazing with tears in his eyes at the barren expanse of the ocean.

Now with a question addressed him the beautiful goddess Calypso,

After the god on a polished and glittering chair she had seated:

"God of the golden wand, Hermeias, revered and belovéd,

Say now, why art thou come? Thou steppedst rarely aforetime.

Tell me the whole of thy thought. I am bid by my heart to fulfil it,

What to fulfil I am able, if Fate shall permit the fulfilment.

Now come, follow within! I will give thee a welcome as guest-friend."

These words uttered the goddess, and placing a table beside him

Full of ambrosia, mixed him of rich red nectar a goblet.

Soon was he drinking and eating, the Messenger, Slayer of Argus.

Now when at length he had supped and contented his spirit with eating,

Unto the goddess he turned and thus he addressed her in answer:

"Thou who art goddess hast questioned a god on his coming, and therefore

All that as message I bear will I truly relate, as thou biddest.

Zeus hath commanded me hither to come, and I came but unwilling.

Who would willingly cross such spaces of salt sea water?

100

Terrible, endless! and never at hand was a city of mortals

Where to the gods oblation of choice fat victims is offered.

Ah but the mind and the purpose of Zeus who beareth the aegis

None can evade or annul, not even another immortal.

Here in thy home is a man, he asserts, most wretched of all men,

105

All of the others who fought at the siege of the city of Priam

Nine long years—In the tenth, when the city was sacked, they departed

Homeward; but during the voyage they sinned and offended Athene;

Therefore roused she the wind and enormous billows against them.

Then did the rest, yea all of his brave companions, perish;

110

Hither alone he was borne by the stress of the wind and the billows

Him Zeus bids thee to send on his way—and as quickly as may be.

Destiny willeth it not that he die here far from his dear ones,

Since he is fated his friends once more to revisit and once more

Win to his high-roofed home and arrive at the land of his fathers.”

115

Thus did he speak and she shuddered, the beautiful goddess Calypso ;

Then upraised she her voice and with swift-winged words she addressed him :

"Truly ye gods are cruel of heart and exceedingly jealous!

Ever ye grudge that a goddess shall mate with a man that is mortal,

Openly though it be done and she take him as consort and love him.

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Thus when Orion was chosen by Morning, the roseate-fingered,

All of you gods were jealous, who live at your ease in the heaven,

Till in Ortygia's isle chaste Artemis, golden-enthronéd,

Launching her painless shafts assailed him and suddenly slew him.

Also with Iasion when the fair-tressed goddess Demeter,

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Yielding herself to desire, was united in tender embracements,

While in a thrice-ploughed fallow they lay, right quickly perceived it

Zeus; and he cast with the blinding bolt of his thunder and slew him.

Now once more ye are jealous, ye gods, that I live with a mortal,

Even the man that I saved as he clung to the keel of his vessel

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Sole—for the swift-winged ship with the blinding bolt of his thunder

Zeus in the midst of the wine-dark ocean had smitten and shattered.

Then did the rest, yea all of his brave companions, perish;

Hither alone was he borne by the stress of the wind and the billows.

Him did I tenderly cherish and nourish, and also I promised

135

Even to make him immortal and ageless for ever and ever.

Ah but the mind and the purpose of Zeus who beareth the aegis

None can evade or annul, not even another immortal.

So, let him go!—since such is the will and command of the Father—

Over the wastes of the sea let him go! No aid can I give him,

140

Since I possess no ships well fitted with oars and with rowers,

Such as to help him to traverse the wide expanses of ocean.

Yet will I readily prompt him thereto, nor will practise concealment,

So that without all harm he shall come to the land of his fathers."

Her then in turn gave answer the Messenger, Slayer of Argus:

145

"Well now, speed his departing, and slight not the wrath of the Father,

Lest peradventure hereafter in anger he send thee affliction."

These words uttered, departed the valiant Slayer of Argus.

Then great-hearted Odysseus to seek did the lady Calypso

Quickly betake her, as soon as she heard the behest of the Father.

150

Him still sitting she found on the shore; incessant the teardrops

Flooded his eyes, and ebbing away was his life and its sweetness,

While for his homeland he pined, no longer in love with the sea-nymph.

Truly at night he had ever (not finding a means of refusal)

Slept by her side in the cave, unwilling indeed—but she willed it.

155

All day long howbeit he sat on the rocks or the shingle

Painfully racking his soul with his grieving and groaning and weeping,

Gazing with tears in his eyes at the barren expanse of the ocean.

Coming anigh now spake and addressed him the beautiful goddess:

"Ill-starred mortal, remain no longer with me on my island,

160

Wailing and pining to death! I am ready to speed thy departure.

Come now, fell with the axe tall timber and join it together

Into a broad-beamed raft, and a bulwark fix thou upon it

High, that in safety it carry thee over the mist-bound ocean.

Then on the raft will I place wheat-bread, sweet water and red wine,

165

Food that delighteth the heart of a man and appeaseth his hunger.

Raiment to clothe thee withal will I give, and a breeze will I send thee,

Such as shall bring thee in safety again to the land of thy fathers,

Should the immortals be willing who dwell in the infinite heaven,

Since they are stronger than I to devise what they will and perform it."

170

Thus did she speak and he shuddered, the patient and godlike Odysseus;

Then upraised he his voice and with swift-winged words he addressed her :

"Other is here thy device, O goddess—not homeward to send me—

While on a raft thou bidd'st me retraverse a gulf of the ocean

Such in its terrors and perils that never a well-built vessel

175

Voyaging swiftly and gladdened by Zeus-sent breezes will cross it.

Ne'er will I mount on a raft—still less if it give thee displeasure—

Art thou not willing to swear me an oath and solemnly promise

Never against me to plot a device that is evil to harm me."

Thus did he speak, and smiling the beautiful goddess Calypso

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Touched him with gentle caress, then opened her lips and addressed him:

"Truly thou seemest a rogue—not at all with the wits of a weakling—

Craftily thus to devise in thy heart these words thou hast uttered.

Well—be my witness the earth and the infinite heaven above us,

Yea and the water of Styx which floweth beneath us—the greatest,

185

Most terrific of oaths e'en sworn by the blessed immortals—

Ne'er will I plot a device that is evil against thee to harm thee.

Nay, what I think and intend to advise is exactly the counsel

I to myself would give, were suchlike need to befall me.

Also in me is a mind which loves what is fair and is seemly,

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Nor is the heart in my bosom of iron; it feeleth compassion."

These words uttered, at once went forward the beautiful goddess,

Hastily leading the way, and he followed the steps of the sea-nymph.

Soon they arrived, both goddess and man, in the shade of the cavern.

Here did Odysseus recline on the chair from the which had arisen

195

Hermes, and near him the nymph laid out all manner of viands,

Many a meat and a drink—such food as is eaten by mortals.

Then on a chair she reclined full fronting the godlike Odysseus,

While that her maiden attendants ambrosia brought her and nectar.

Now did they stretch forth hands to the food that was lying before them,

200

Till, when at last they had lost all longing for meat and the wine-cup,

Once more made a beginning the beautiful goddess Calypso :

"Zeus-born son of Laertes, thou wise and wileful Odysseus,

Dost thou indeed so wish to the well-loved land of thy fathers

Now forthwith to return? E'en so, good fortune attend thee!

205

Yet, if thou knewst in thy heart what measure of woe and affliction

Still it is fated for thee to fulfil ere reaching thy homeland,

Here thou'ldst wish to remain, and to rule as the lord of my household,

Yea and be made an immortal—how strong soever thy yearnings

After thy consort—for whom thou art sighing for ever and alway.

210

Ay and forsooth not less am I able to boast me of beauty

Either of form or of favour—for surely it never beseemeth

Earth-born women to vie with immortals in form and in feature."

Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:

"Goddess and queen, O speak not in anger! I know it myself too—

215

Well do I know it that likened to thee wise Penelopeia

Seems less comely in face and in form less noble to look on.

She is an earth-born woman and thou art immortal and ageless.

Still e'en so, it is true, I am longing and yearning for ever

After my home, and I dream of the dawn of the day of returning.

220

E'en if a god should shatter my raft on the wine-dark ocean,

All will I bear, for the heart in my bosom disdaineth disaster.

Much I have suffered already, and many a peril and hardship

Seen on the sea and in war: let this to the number be added!"

Thus did he speak, and the sun went down, and the darkness descended.

225

Then did the twain to an inner recess of the cavern betake them.

Here they delighted in love and abode right gladly together.

Now when the morning was newly arisen, the roseate-fingered,

Forthwith donned his apparel Odysseus, his tunic and mantle,

While that the nymph threw round her a garment of glistering whiteness,

230

Delicate, lovely; and over her waist then fastened a girdle,

Beautiful, fashioned of gold; and her head in a hood she enveloped.

Then she bethought her to send on his way great-hearted Odysseus.

Firstly a great wood-axe, in his hands well fitted, she gave him,

Fashioned of bronze, two-edged; and firmly inserted within it

235

Fixed was a helve of the wood of an olive, of wonderful beauty.

PATTEN WILSON.
THE BUILDING OF THE RAFT

Also she gave him an adze well-sharpened, and going before him

Led to an end of the isle where tall straight timber was growing;

Alder was there and poplar and pine which reacheth to heaven,

Dry long since, well-seasoned and buoyant to float on the water.

240

After the spot she had shown where tall straight timber was growing;

Homeward again she betook her, the beautiful goddess Calypso.

Then did he hew him his rafters, and quickly the work made headway.

Twenty the trees that he felled, and he lopp'd all clean with the wood-axe,

Planed them and cut all straight to the line with the skill of a master.

245

Now meanwhile she had brought to him borers, the goddess Calypso,

So that he bored each beam, and fitting the one to the other

Hammered and joined all firmly together with clamps and with tree-nails.

Even as much as a man who is versed in the craft of a shipwright,

Making a broad-beamed hull, might measure him off for the bottom,

250

Such for his broad-beamed raft was the platform made by Odysseus.

Bulwarks too he erected and strengthened with many an upright,

Coping them off from above in the whole of their length with a gunwale;

Made then a mast and shipped it, and hoisted and fitted the yardarm;

Fashioned moreover a rudder to guide its course in the waters;

255

Fenced it around from the stem to the stern with a wattle of osiers,

Making it safe from the waves; and he covered it over with boarding.

Now meanwhile she had brought to him canvas, the goddess Calypso,

Bidding him fashion the sails, and he wrought these skilfully also,

Binding upon them the sheets; and he rigged her with braces and halyards,

260

Then with his handspikes hove her down to the vast salt ocean.

Now was the fourth day come, and all of his labour was ended;

So on the fifth day sped his departing the goddess Calypso,

Bathing him first and arraying him freshly in fragrant apparel.

Then to the raft she conveyed dark wine in a bottle of goat-skin

265

—One was of wine and another, a greater, of water—and viands

Stowed in a wallet; and many a toothsome relish she added.

Then did she send him a favouring breeze both gentle and kindly.

Now exulting his sails to the breeze spread godlike Odysseus.

Keeping the raft to her course by the helm with the skill of a sailor

270

Seated he steered (nor a moment did drowsiness fall on his eyelids),

Holding the Pleiads in view and the autumn-setting Boötes,

Holding moreover the Bear, that is called by the name of the Wagon.

(Ever she circles around and around on the watch for Orion,

Having alone of the stars no share in the baths of the ocean.)

275

Her—since thus had commanded the beautiful goddess Calypso—

Voyaging over the ocean he steadily held on the left hand.

Seven and ten was the number of days that he voyaged the waters,

Till on the eighteenth day he beheld far shadowy mountains,

Where was arising the land Phaeacia nearest before him,

280

Like to a vapoury rack, as it loomed on the mist-bound ocean.

Now from the Aethiop people returning, the King Earth-shaker

Forth of the far-off hills of the Solymi looked, and beheld him

Voyaging over the sea, and, enraged more fiercely than ever,

Wagging his head in his wrath, spake thus to the spirit within him:

285

"Lo now! Truly it seemeth the gods have altered their counsels

Touching Odysseus, when I was away with the Aethiop people.

Now he is nigh to the land Phaeacia, where he is fated

Out of affliction's net to escape, that was closing around him;

Yet shall I force him, I promise, to suffer his fill of misfortune."

290

Thus as he spake he collected the clouds and stirred up the ocean,

Both hands seizing the trident, and wakened to fury the tempests,

Every wind of the heaven. All covered and darkened with storm-rack

Earth was at once and the sea, while down from the sky fell midnight.

Wildly together they rushed—East, South, and the furious West Wind,

295

Air-born Boreas too, with a huge wave rolling before him.

Then were loosened the limbs and the inmost heart of Odysseus,

While distracted he spake to the valiant spirit within him:

"Ah, poor wretch that I am! What fate in the end will befall me?

Verily now do I fear that she spake too truly, the goddess,

300

Saying that here on the sea, ere reaching the land of my fathers,

Woes to the full I shall suffer. It surely is finding fulfilment.

Lo, how mighty the rack wherewith envelops the welkin

Zeus; and he stirreth the deep, and down come sweeping the storm-blasts,

Every wind of the heaven. Now sheer destruction is certain.

305

O thrice happy and four times they, those heroes who perished

Once on the Trojan plain for the sake of the lordly Atridae!

There, O, would I had died and my destined doom had encountered,

Yea on the day when so many a bronze-shod spear of the Trojans

Hurtled around me bestriding the body of fallen Achilles!

310

So had I gained death-rites and th' Achaeans had held me in honour.

Now by a pitiful doom overwhelmed I am fated to perish."

E'en as he spake from aloft came crashing a billow enormous

Bursting terrific upon him and whirling the quivering raft round.

Far from the raft he was swept by the wave, and the rudder in falling

315

Loosed from the grip of his hand, while clean in the middle the mast snapt,

Smit by the terrible blast of the winds which met in a cyclone.

Far off on to the waves down clattered the sail with the yardarm.

Long did it keep him below in the depths of the water, unable

Swiftly to rise, held back by the rush of the mountainous rollers,

320

Weighed down too by his garment, the gift of the goddess Calypso.

Slowly at last he arose, and the pungent brine of the billow

Spat from his mouth, while down from his head in a flood it was streaming.

Neither forgat he the raft e'en then, though sorely exhausted.

Making a dash in the water he reached it and clutched it, and climbing

325

Sat him amidships down, thus saved from the jaws of destruction,

While on the great sea-rollers she tossed, swept hither and thither.

Even as Boreas sweepeth in autumn the down of the thistles

Over a plain, all closely entangled together in masses,

So now over the sea winds carried her hither and thither.

330

Now for a space she was left by the North as a sport for the South Wind,

Now by the East for a time to the West the pursuit was abandoned.

Seeing his peril the daughter of Cadmus with beautiful ankles,

Ino Leucothëe—erstwhile an articulate mortal,

Now in the depths of the brine by the gods as a deity honoured—

335

Pitied Odysseus, as thus he was tossed by the storm and distracted.

So as a gannet, uprising on wings from the waste of the waters,

Down on the firm-lashed raft she alighted and spake to him, saying:

"Tell me, unfortunate, how doth it hap Earth-shaking Poseidon

Thus exceedingly rageth and sends thee so many misfortunes?

340

Nay but he ne'er shall destroy thee, how much soever he yearneth.

Lo now, this shalt thou do—for thou seemst not lacking in wisdom.

Doff these garments, and letting the raft drift loose to the storm-wind

Leave her, and trust to thy hands; they shall bring thee in safety by swimming

Unto the Scherian land, where destiny grants thee a refuge.

345

Take this scarf—'tis a tissue ambrosial. Bind it around thee

Over thy breast, and thou needst not fear to be harmed and to perish.

Then—so soon as thy hands have grasped securely the dry land,

Loosen the scarf and flinging it back in the wine-dark ocean

Far from the edge of the shore, make haste from the spot to avert thee."

350

So did she speak, and, leaving the garment behind her, the goddess

Plunged in the billowing flood once more of the waters of ocean,

Like to a gannet; and quickly the dark wave hid her beneath it.

Then did he ponder in doubt, long-suffering godlike Odysseus,

While despondent he spake to the valiant spirit within him:

355

"Ah woe! Surely again some snare contriveth against me

One of the gods, thus bidding me leap from my firm-lashed vessel.

Nay, not yet will I do it, for still at a distance I noticed

Lying the land where Fate (as she said) is to grant me a refuge.

Lo now, this will I do—for I think it is certainly better:

360

While that the timbers shall hold them in all their jointings together,

Here on the raft I shall stay and endure all hardships and perils;

Should howbeit the waves break all of the vessel in pieces,

Then will I swim. I can find no better device and precaution."

Whilst these things in his mind and his spirit he still was revolving

365

Sent an enormous roller the King Earth-shaking Poseidon.

Terrible, irresistible, vaulted, it toppled upon him.

Even as chaff that is lying in heaps, when a violent storm-gust

Seizes the light dry husks and scatters them hither and thither,

Thus did the wave send flying the beams of the raft; but Odysseus

370

Mounting on one of the timbers bestrode it, as riding a racer,

Stripping himself of his garment, the gift of the goddess Calypso.

Hastily over his breast then binding the scarf of the sea-nymph

Into the water he plunged, both hands extended before him,

Eager to swim. But the King Earth-shaking Poseidon, who saw it,

375

Wagging his head in his wrath spake thus to the spirit within him:

"There! thou hast suffered already and now go toss on the ocean!

Swim till thou reachest the dwellings of earth-born children of heaven!

Not e'en there, do I think, thou'lt carelessly prate of disaster."

Thus in his anger he spake, and, lashing his long-maned horses,

380

Swiftly was there where standeth his glorious temple at Aegae.

Then did Athena the daughter of Zeus plan other devices.

Staying the furious courses of all of the rest of the storm-winds,

Bidding them cease and be still and peacefully lay them to slumber,

Boreas swift she aroused, and she whitened the billows before him,

385

Heaven-descended Odysseus to rescue from death and destruction,

Wafting him home to the lovers of oars, Phaeacia's sea-folk.

So two days and two nights did he toss on the mountainous billows

Drifting, and oft in his spirit the coming of death he foreboded,

Till, when the third day rose from the lap of the fair-tressed morning,

390

Then of a sudden abated the wind, and it ceased, and a calm spread

Breathless around, and the land once more much nearer he sighted,

Gazing intently ahead when aloft on the crest of a billow.

Welcome as life, when again it returneth, appeareth to children

Whose dear father was lying in sickness and suffering anguish,

395

Withering slowly away, by the wrath of a deity wounded:

E'en as they welcome him back, by the gods set free from his trouble,

So to Odysseus was welcome the sight of the land and the forests.

Strongly he swam, in his longing to tread with his feet on the dry land,

Till, when as far from the shore as the voice of a shouter will carry,

400

Sudden he heard on the reefs and the shingle the thunder of surges.

Here was a terrible surf that was crashing on rocks of the mainland,

Horribly belching, and all was enwrapped in the foam of the salt spray;

Neither a haven was there for the mooring and shelter of shipping;

Headlands only he saw and reefs and crags overhanging.

405

Then were loosened the limbs and the inmost heart of Odysseus,

While distracted he spake to the valiant spirit within him:

"Ah me! Lo, of the land unhoped-for vision had granted

Zeus, and far I had cloven my way in the gulf of the ocean;

Now from the grey salt sea no place for a landing appeareth;

410

All outside it is rugged with crags, and around them the billows

Thunder and surge, where steeply and smoothly the precipice rises.

Near it the water is deep, nor might one hope to discover

Hold for the feet, whereby to escape from the jaws of destruction;

So that I fear some roller enormous will seize me and hurl me

415

On to the sharp-jagg'd rocks, and vain would prove my endeavour.

Ay, but if further along I shall swim in the hope to alight on

Beaches that slope to the water or sheltering creeks of the ocean

Much do I fear some blast of the wind may seize me and bear me,

Heavily groaning, away once more to the home of the fishes;

420

Or peradventure a god might send some monster against me

Out of the brine, where feedeth her sea-droves Amphitrite.

How I am hated I know by the King Earth-shaking Poseidon."

Whilst these things in his mind and his spirit he still was revolving,

On to the rock-bound shore he was borne by a billow enormous.

425

Here had his skin been stript and his bones all broken in pieces,

Had not the thought been put in his heart by the goddess Athene

Suddenly forward to dart and to clutch with his hands on a boulder,

Clinging to which with a groan he awaited the rush of the roller.

This he withstood and escaped it; but seaward recoiling the billow

430

Leapt on him, smote him and hurled him away far out on the ocean.

E'en as it haps when a cuttle is dragged from its hole by a fisher

While to its tentacle-tips full many a pebble is clinging,

Thus by the jags of the rock from the strong bold hands of Odysseus

Stript was the skin as the mountainous billow descended upon him.

435

Now had the hapless Odysseus despite all destiny perished,

Had not a fortunate thought been sent by the goddess Athene.

Steering him clear of the surf of the surge that was thundering landward

Further he coasted along and he gazed at the land to discover

Beaches that slope to the water or sheltering creeks of the ocean.

440

Then at the last to the mouth of a river of beautiful waters

Swimming he came, and here he believed was the place for a landing;

Smooth was the rockless beach, and withal from the wind was a covert;

Soon too, feeling the stream of the river, he prayed in his spirit:

"Hear me, whoever thou be'st, O King! As thy suppliant I too

445

Pray thee to succour me fleeing the deep and the threats of Poseidon.

E'en by the gods everlasting is every mortal respected

Should he as wanderer come to entreat them for succour, as I now

Come to thy river and fall at thy knees, outworn with my labours.

Nay now pity me, prince, for thy suppliant, lo, I avow me."

450

Thus did he pray, and it slackened the might of its billowy current,

Spreading before him a calm; and the deity brought him in safety

Unto the beach at the mouth of the stream—but his knees and his stout hands

Powerless drooped, for the sea had his inmost heart overmastered;

Swollen was all of the flesh of his body, and plentiful sea-brine

455

Oozed in his mouth and his nostrils, and long time breathless and speechless

Swooning he lay on the ground, for a terrible weariness seized him.

Now when at last he revived and the soul was recalled to the senses,

Forthwith loosing again from his bosom the scarf of the goddess

Into the midst of the tide of the sea-tinged river he launched it.

460

Down on the current a great wave bore it, and speedily Ino

Held it again in her hands. Then back from the river he turned him,

Knelt on the rushes, and kissing the earth, dear mother of harvests,

Thus distracted he spake to the valiant spirit within him:

"Ah me! what shall betide? What fate in the end will befall me?

465

Here if the whole of the night I shall anxiously watch by the river,

May not the dangerous rime and abundant dews of the morning

Master the soul that within me already is gasping for faintness?

Cold too breathes ere morning ariseth the breeze of the river.

Should I however, ascending the slope to the shade of the forest,

470

Seek to recline me and rest in the thick of the bushes, I fear me,

Cold and weariness gone and sweet sleep stealing upon me,

Unto the ravening beasts I shall fall as a prey and a booty."

Thus as he pondered thereon this plan seemed surely the better :

Up to a coppice he went, and he found trees nigh to the water

475

Standing apart in the open, and 'neath two bushes he hid him

Sprung from the selfsame stock—true olive and wilding of olive.

These did the might of the wind ne'er breathe through laden with moisture,

Neither did ever the sun with the shafts of his radiance pierce them,

Nor did the rain drip through them at all, so densely together

480

Woven the one with the other they grew; and beneath them Odysseus

Crept, and anon with his hands he had raked him a litter together

Spacious and deep; for of leafage was lying a plentiful downfall,

Such as for two or for three might offer enough of protection

During the season of storms, how bitter soever the weather.

485

This then seeing with joy, long-suffering godlike Odysseus

Laid him to rest in the midst of the leaves, and he piled them around him.

E'en as a man might cover a brand with the blackened ashes

Out on a bound of his farm, where living is none of his neighbours,

Guarding the seed of the fire (else must he rekindle from elsewhere),

490

So did he cover him closely with leaves; and the goddess Athene

Poured on his eyes sweet sleep, for she wished right soon to release him

Out of his weary exhaustion; and gently she covered his eyelids.

English Bridge (Amelia Parrish and Gregory Crane, 2023) (OCR draft) Experimental (English Bridge (Amelia Parrish and Gregory Crane, 2023)) — 5.228 focus

When early rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,

at once he on the one hand put on both a cloak and a tunic, Odysseus,

while she herself put on a great shining mantle, the nymph,

230

delicate and graceful, and around her waist she tossed on herself a belt,

beautiful and golden, and a veil on top of her head.

Then she began to plan her contribution to the journey for great-spirited Odysseus-

she gave to him a great ax, closely fitted in the palms of his hands,

made of bronze, sharpened on both sides. Looking more closely, on the ax itself

235

was a handle, very beautiful, made of olive-wood, well fastened.

And she gave to him afterwards a carpenter’s ax of polished metal; and she began to lead the way

over the edge of the island, where the trees had grown tall,

both alder and black poplar, and also fir, were as high as the heavens-

dry for a long time, well-seasoned. These would float lightly for him.

240

As for her, after she revealed the place where the trees had grown tall,

she on the one hand walked towards her house, Calypso, goddess among goddesses,

while he began to cut for himself planks. His work was accomplished quickly.

And twenty he cut down in total, and then he axed them with bronze,

and he smoothed them skillfully, and also straightened them upon a level line.

245

During that time she brought chisels, Calypso, goddess among goddesses,:

he chiseled holes into them all and joined them to each other,

and with wooden pegs and fastenings he hammered together that boat.

As great as any man might round off the base of a ship-

a wide cargo vessel-- well knowing the practices of carpentry,

250

so great Odysseus built for himself the wide boat upon this.

Having raised the deck-platform, having fitting them to the close-set ribs,

he continued building, and then he began finishing by means of the long gunwale planks.

Then he began building a mast and yard-arm, fastened onto it.

Besides, then also he built for himself a rudder, so that he could steer.

255

He fortified it thoroughly with willow wicker-work,

to be a defense from the swell; he heaped up for himself much brush.

During that time, she brought textiles, Calypso, divine of goddesses,

to make for himself sails; those things too he crafted for himself skillfully.

The sails’ upper braces and the cables and the sails’ feet he tied in on the ship itself,

260

and with levers he then hauled down this into the divine sea.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Douglas Frame

analysis of original notion of verb halṓō, “to be seized by death”

source

Gregory Nagy

The rhapsody starts with the releasing of Odysseus by one goddess and ends with the mystical saving of his life by a second goddess, who is Leukotheā, the White Goddess. The beautiful Leukotheā saves Odysseus by undoing her hair and giving him as a life-saver the veil that had held her curls in place. As for the first goddess, who is Calypso, her action in releasing Odysseus from their mutual love affair becomes another life-saver for him. That is because the chances of success for such an affair between a mortal man and an immortal goddess would have been minimal, as we will see by observing other myths that tell about other such affairs. If the liaison of Odysseus with Calypso had continued, it is a certainty that he would have been killed off, just as Orion had died because of his liaison with Ēōs the goddess of the dawn.

draft js image error “Leucothea, the White Goddess, Preserving Ulysses” (1805). John Flaxman (1755–1826). Purchased as part of the Oppé Collection with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, 1996. Image via the Tate.

source

The verb heleto ‘took’ referring here at O.05.121 to the seduction of Orion by Ēōs the goddess of the dawn is neutral in comparison to other verbs indicating an abduction by force, as when Ēōs hērpasen ‘seized’ Tīthōnos in Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 218. For more on the links of heroes like Orion and Tithōnos with Ēōs, see the comment on O.15.250–251.

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The myth about the liaison between the mortal man Orion and the immortal goddess Ēōs is retold by Calypso herself as an example of the double standard shown by the divine powers in not tolerating a relationship where the immortal lover of a mortal is female, not male. It is to be noted that Ēōs, at the moment when she takes the initiative in seducing Orion at O.05.121, is described with the epithet rhododaktulos ‘rosy-fingered’ instead of the epithet thugatēr Dios ‘daughter of Zeus’, which would have been appropriate if the seducer had been a goddess like Aphrodite. See the anchor comment at O.12.001–010.

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The goddess Artemis shoots Orion with her arrows.

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At O.05.136, Calypso says that she was intending to make Odysseus athanatos ‘immortal’ and agērōs ‘ageless’. Similarly in Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 214, Zeus when he abducts Ganymedes makes him athanatos ‘immortal’ and agērōs ‘ageless’. By contrast, in Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 221, Ēōs forgets to ask for agelessness after she abducts Tīthōnos and asks only that her mortal lover be athanatos ‘immortal’. So, she forgot to ask that he should have lasting hēbē ‘youth’, Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 224.

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At O.05.160, aiōn ‘life-force, lifetime’ is a potential recycling of time: see the comment on I.01.052. But such a recycling is threatened at O.05.161 by a linear prolongation of life, which would result in what is indicated here by the verb phthinesthai ‘wilt, perish’.

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For a god to swear by the Styx is to reaffirm the absolute permanence of its waters, as indicated by the epithet aphthito- ‘imperishable’ in Hesiod Theogony 389, 397, 805. See the comment on I.02.046; also the comment on Homeric Hymn to Demeter 259, where Demeter swears by the Styx that she would have made the child Demophon athanatos ‘immortal’ and agērōs, 260, if the mother of this child had not spoiled what the goddess intended.

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We see here a specialized sense of this noun harmoniā ‘joint’, derived from the root ar- as in arariskein ‘join’.

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If Odysseus could read the stars correctly, he would see that the constellation of Orion shows him what would have happened if his liaison with Calypso had been prolonged: Odysseus too would have been killed off, like Orion. The astral configuration of Orion the Hunter and Arktos the Bear here at O.05.273–275 is pictured also at I.18.487–489. The stars in this configuration are re-enacting the myth of Orion: how Ēōs the goddess of dawn made Orion her lover and how the goddess Artemis the huntress then shot Orion with her arrows and killed him. The myth, as we have already seen, is narrated at O.05.121–124. A special point of interest in the description of Arktos the Bear at O.05.274—also at I.18.488—is the expression dokeuei: it appears that this she-bear is ‘taking aim’ at Orion. It can be argued that this pose of Arktos the she-bear reveals her to be a stand-in for the goddess Artemis herself at the moment when the goddess takes aim at Orion in order to shoot him dead with her arrows. It can also be argued that the dangerous liaison of Ēōs with Orion at O.05.121–124 is viewed as a relevant parallel to the liaison of Calypso with Odysseus.

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The formulation of this wish shows that Odysseus is longing to be defined by an epic that is limited to the happenings in the Trojan War, excluding the happenings that he experiences in the Odyssey. But this is not to be. For Odysseus to be hero in his own epic, he must have a safe homecoming from Troy.

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Leonard Muellner

analysis of divine mēnis at sexual transgressions (regarding amphadiēn)

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