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Dawn , out of her bed from beside noble Tithonus,

began to rouse herself, so that she might carry light to the undying gods and to mortals.

The gods started to take their seats in their places, and among them then was

Zeus, thunderer on high, and whose power is the greatest.

To them Athena began narrating the many troubles of Odysseus,

bringing these things to mind- for he was a concern to her, because he was in the house of the woman:

“Father Zeus and the other blessed gods, who exist forever,

let not anyone still be mild and kind with an eager mind,

the staff-holding king, and not knowing righteous things in his heart,

but may he always be harsh, and also may he perform evil things,

because not one has until now thought of god-like Odysseus

of the people for whom he was lord; he was kind like a father.

But yet that man lies on an island, suffering powerful sorrows

in the great rooms of the nymph Calypso, she who by force

holds him back: and still he is not able to return to his own ancestral land,

for there are no ships equipped with oars nor comrades with him

who might escort him home over the wide surface of the sea.

Again now they have done everything in their power to kill his beloved child,

as he returns home: now that man went after what people had heard of his father,

into most holy Pylos and into heavenly Lacedaemon.”

And answering her, Zeus the cloud-summoner spoke:

“My own child, what a speech of yours escaped from the fence of your teeth-

for did you not in truth to begin with plan this scheme yourself,

that surely Odysseus will exact vengeance on those people after arriving?

But you, get Telemachus home in your clever way, for you are able,

so that he, quite unhurt, may reach his own ancestral land,

and the suitors may depart back again in their ship.”

And then, facing Hermes, his beloved son, he began speaking:

“Hermes, of course since you for your part are a also messenger in other things,

say to the beautiful-haired nymph this authoritative decision:

the home-coming of Odysseus, he whose heart has endured much, so that he may return home

through the guidance both not of the gods and not of mortal humans;

instead that man, after all, suffering hardships, on a boat with many fastenings

may reach fertile Scheria on the twentieth day,

into the land of the Phaeacians, who are born closely-connected to the gods,

and who would show him respect to the highest degree in their heart, as they would a god,

and they will send him in a ship into the beloved ancestral land

having given him bronze and gold as well as clothing in heaps,

many things, as many as Odysseus would not have carried out for himself from Troy ever,

even if he had come without suffering, having collected his share out of the war-spoils.

For thus is his fate, both to see those who are dear and to return

into his high-ceilinged home, and into his own ancestral land.”

So he spoke, the messenger, the slayer of Argus, and he did not disobey.

At once then he bound under his feet his beautiful sandals,

the kind that are suited to a god, gold, those which used to bear him over both the water

and over the boundless land alongside the blasts of wind.

And he took hold of his wand, with which he also enchants the eyes of men,

of whomever he wishes, and also wakes again those who are sleeping.

Holding this between his hands, the powerful slayer of Argus began to fly,

Odyssey. Homer. ed. Amelia Parrish, ed. Gregory Crane. Medford, MA. 2023.

Current edition Experimental

English Bridge (Amelia Parrish and Gregory Crane, 2023) (OCR draft) (English) (English Bridge (Amelia Parrish and Gregory Crane, 2023))

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.) — 5.1 focus

Ἠὼς δʼ ἐκ λεχέων παρʼ ἀγαυοῦ Τιθωνοῖο

ὤρνυθʼ, ἵνʼ ἀθανάτοισι φόως φέροι ἠδὲ βροτοῖσιν·

οἱ δὲ θεοὶ θῶκόνδε καθίζανον, ἐν δʼ ἄρα τοῖσι

Ζεὺς ὑψιβρεμέτης, οὗ τε κράτος ἐστὶ μέγιστον.

τοῖσι δʼ Ἀθηναίη λέγε κήδεα πόλλʼ Ὀδυσῆος

μνησαμένη· μέλε γάρ οἱ ἐὼν ἐν δώμασι νύμφης·

Ζεῦ πάτερ ἠδʼ ἄλλοι μάκαρες θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες,

μή τις ἔτι πρόφρων ἀγανὸς καὶ ἤπιος ἔστω

σκηπτοῦχος βασιλεύς, μηδὲ φρεσὶν αἴσιμα εἰδώς,

ἀλλʼ αἰεὶ χαλεπός τʼ εἴη καὶ αἴσυλα ῥέζοι·

ὡς οὔ τις μέμνηται Ὀδυσσῆος θείοιο

λαῶν οἷσιν ἄνασσε, πατὴρ δʼ ὣς ἤπιος ἦεν.

ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν ἐν νήσῳ κεῖται κρατέρʼ ἄλγεα πάσχων

νύμφης ἐν μεγάροισι Καλυψοῦς, ἥ μιν ἀνάγκῃ

ἴσχει· ὁ δʼ οὐ δύναται ἣν πατρίδα γαῖαν ἱκέσθαι·

οὐ γάρ οἱ πάρα νῆες ἐπήρετμοι καὶ ἑταῖροι,

οἵ κέν μιν πέμποιεν ἐπʼ εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης.

νῦν αὖ παῖδʼ ἀγαπητὸν ἀποκτεῖναι μεμάασιν

οἴκαδε νισόμενον· ὁ δʼ ἔβη μετὰ πατρὸς ἀκουὴν

ἐς Πύλον ἠγαθέην ἠδʼ ἐς Λακεδαίμονα δῖαν.

τὴν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·

τέκνον ἐμόν, ποῖόν σε ἔπος φύγεν ἕρκος ὀδόντων.

οὐ γὰρ δὴ τοῦτον μὲν ἐβούλευσας νόον αὐτή,

ὡς ἦ τοι κείνους Ὀδυσεὺς ἀποτίσεται ἐλθών;

Τηλέμαχον δὲ σὺ πέμψον ἐπισταμένως, δύνασαι γάρ,

ὥς κε μάλʼ ἀσκηθὴς ἣν πατρίδα γαῖαν ἵκηται,

μνηστῆρες δʼ ἐν νηὶ· παλιμπετὲς ἀπονέωνται.

ἦ ῥα καὶ Ἑρμείαν, υἱὸν φίλον, ἀντίον ηὔδα·

Ἑρμεία, σὺ γὰρ αὖτε τά τʼ ἄλλα περ ἄγγελός ἐσσι,

νύμφῃ ἐυπλοκάμῳ εἰπεῖν νημερτέα βουλήν,

νόστον Ὀδυσσῆος ταλασίφρονος, ὥς κε νέηται

οὔτε θεῶν πομπῇ οὔτε θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων·

ἀλλʼ ὅ γʼ ἐπὶ σχεδίης πολυδέσμου πήματα πάσχων

ἤματί κʼ εἰκοστῷ Σχερίην ἐρίβωλον ἵκοιτο,

Φαιήκων ἐς γαῖαν, οἳ ἀγχίθεοι γεγάασιν,

οἵ κέν μιν περὶ κῆρι θεὸν ὣς τιμήσουσιν,

πέμψουσιν δʼ ἐν νηὶ φίλην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν,

χαλκόν τε χρυσόν τε ἅλις ἐσθῆτά τε δόντες,

πόλλʼ, ὅσʼ ἂν οὐδέ ποτε Τροίης ἐξήρατʼ Ὀδυσσεύς,

εἴ περ ἀπήμων ἦλθε, λαχὼν ἀπὸ ληίδος αἶσαν.

ὣς γάρ οἱ μοῖρʼ ἐστὶ φίλους τʼ ἰδέειν καὶ ἱκέσθαι

οἶκον ἐς ὑψόροφον καὶ ἑὴν ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν.

ὣς ἔφατʼ, οὐδʼ ἀπίθησε διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης.

αὐτίκʼ ἔπειθʼ ὑπὸ ποσσὶν ἐδήσατο καλὰ πέδιλα,

ἀμβρόσια χρύσεια, τά μιν φέρον ἠμὲν ἐφʼ ὑγρὴν

ἠδʼ ἐπʼ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν ἅμα πνοιῇς ἀνέμοιο.

εἵλετο δὲ ῥάβδον, τῇ τʼ ἀνδρῶν ὄμματα θέλγει,

ὧν ἐθέλει, τοὺς δʼ αὖτε καὶ ὑπνώοντας ἐγείρει.

τὴν μετὰ χερσὶν ἔχων πέτετο κρατὺς ἀργεϊφόντης.

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.) — 5.1 focus

1 Now Dawn arose from her couch from beside lordly Tithonus, to bear light to the immortals and to mortal men. And the gods were sitting down to council, and among them Zeus, who thunders on high, whose might is supreme. 5 To them Athena was recounting the many woes of Odysseus, as she called them to mind; for it troubled her that he abode in the dwelling of the nymph: “Father Zeus, and ye other blessed gods that are forever, never henceforward let sceptred king with a ready heart be kind and gentle, nor let him heed righteousness in his mind; 10 but let him ever be harsh, and work unrighteousness, seeing that no one remembers divine Odysseus of the people whose lord he was; yet gentle was he as a father. He verily abides in an island suffering grievous pains, in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who 15 keeps him perforce; and he cannot return to his own land, for he has at hand no ships with oars and no comrades to send him on his way over the broad back of the sea. And now again they are minded to slay his well-loved son on his homeward way; for he went in quest of tidings of his father 20 to sacred Pylos and to goodly Lacedaemon .” Then Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered her, and said: “My child, what a word has escaped the barrier of thy teeth! Didst thou not thyself devise this plan, that verily Odysseus might take vengeance on these men at his coming? 25 But concerning Telemachus, do thou guide him in thy wisdom, for thou canst, that all unscathed he may reach his native land, and the wooers may come back in their ship baffled in their purpose.” He spoke, and said to Hermes, his dear son:“Hermes, do thou now, seeing that thou art at other times our messenger, 30 declare to the fair-tressed nymph our fixed resolve, even the return of Odysseus of the steadfast heart, that he may return with guidance neither of gods nor of mortal men, but that on a stoutly-bound raft, suffering woes, he may come on the twentieth day to deep-soiled Scheria , 35 the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the gods. These shall heartily shew him all honor, as if he were a god, and shall send him in a ship to his dear native land, after giving him stores of bronze and gold and raiment, more than Odysseus would ever have won for himself from Troy , 40 if he had returned unscathed with his due share of the spoil. For in this wise it is his fate to see his friends, and reach his high-roofed house and his native land.” So he spoke, and the messenger, Argeiphontes, failed not to hearken. Straightway he bound beneath his feet his beautiful sandals, 45 immortal, golden, which were wont to bear him over the waters of the sea and over the boundless land swift as the blasts of the wind. And he took the wand wherewith he lulls to sleep the eyes of whom he will, while others again he awakens even out of slumber. With this in his hand the strong Argeiphontes flew.

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.) — 5.1 focus

1 And now, as Dawn rose from her couch beside Tithonos - harbinger of light alike to mortals and immortals - the gods met in council and with them, Zeus the lord of thunder, who is their king. Thereon Athena began to tell them of the many sufferings of Odysseus, for she pitied him away there in the house of the nymph Calypso.

7 "Father Zeus," said she, "and all you other gods that live in everlasting bliss, I hope there may never be such a thing as a kind and well-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern equitably. I hope they will be all henceforth cruel and unjust, for there is not one of his subjects who has not forgotten Odysseus, who ruled them as though he were their father. There he is, lying in great pain in an island where dwells the nymph Calypso, who will not let him go; and he cannot get back to his own country, for he can find neither ships nor sailors to take him over the sea. Furthermore, wicked people are now trying to murder his only son Telemakhos, who is coming home from Pylos and Lacedaemon , where he has been to see if he can get news of his father."

21 "What, my dear, are you talking about?" replied her father. "Did you not send him there yourself, because you thought [ noos] it would help Odysseus to get home and punish the suitors? Besides, you are perfectly able to protect Telemakhos, and to see him safely home again, while the suitors have to come hurrying back without having killed him."

28 When he had thus spoken, he said to his son Hermes, "Hermes, you are our messenger, go therefore and tell Calypso we have decreed that poor Odysseus is to return home [ nostos]. He is to be convoyed neither by gods nor men, but after a perilous voyage of twenty days upon a raft he is to reach fertile Scheria , the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the gods, and will honor him as though he were one of ourselves. They will send him in a ship to his own country, and will give him more bronze and gold and raiment than he would have brought back from Troy , if he had had all his prize wealth and had got home without disaster. This is how we have settled that he shall return to his country and his friends."

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 5.1 focus

And now, as Dawn rose from her couch beside haughty Tithonos—harbinger of light alike to mortals and immortals—the gods met in council and with them, Zeus the lord of thunder, who is their king. [5] Then Athena began to tell them of the many sufferings of Odysseus, for she pitied him away there in the house of the nymph Kalypsō.

“Father Zeus,” said she, “and all you other gods that live in everlasting bliss, I hope there may never be such a thing as a kind and well-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern equitably. [10] I hope they will be all henceforth cruel and unjust, for there is not one of his subjects who has not forgotten godlike Odysseus, who ruled them as though he were their father. There he is, lying in great pain in an island where dwells the nymph Kalypsō, who will not let him go; [15] and he cannot get back to his own country, for he can find neither ships nor sailors to take him over the sea. Furthermore, wicked people are now trying to murder his only son Telemachus, [20] who is coming home from Pylos and glorious Lacedaemon, where he has been to see if he can get news of his father.”

“What, my dear, are you talking about?” replied her father. “Did you not send him there yourself, because you thought [ noos] it would help Odysseus to get home and punish the suitors? [25] Besides, you are perfectly able to protect Telemachus, and to see him safely home again, while the suitors have to come hurrying back without having killed him.”

When he had thus spoken, he said to his beloved son Hermes, “Hermes, you are our messenger, [30] go therefore and tell Kalypsō we have decreed that poor enduring Odysseus is to return home [ nostos]. He is to be convoyed neither by gods nor men, but after a perilous voyage of twenty days upon a raft he is to reach fertile Skheria, [35] the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the gods, and will honor him as though he were one of ourselves. They will send him in a ship to his own country, and will give him more bronze and gold and raiment than he would have brought back from Troy, [40] if he had had all his prize wealth and had got home without disaster. This is how we have settled that he shall return to his country and his friends.”

Thus he spoke, and Hermes, guide and guardian, slayer of Argos, did as he was told. Right away he bound on his glittering golden sandals [45] with which he could fly like the wind over land and sea. He took the wand with which he seals men’s eyes in sleep or wakes them just as he pleases, and flew holding it in his hand over Pieria; [50]

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873)) — 5.1 focus

AURORA, rising from her couch beside

The famed Tithonus, brought the light of day

To men and to immortals. Then the gods

Came to their seats in council. With them came

High-thundering Jupiter, amongst them all

The mightiest. Pallas, mindful of the past,

Spake of Ulysses and his many woes,

Grieved that he still was with the island nymph : -

"O father Jove, and all ye blessed ones

Who live forever! let not sceptred king

Henceforth be gracious, mild, and merciful

And righteous; rather be he deaf to prayer

And prone to deeds of wrong, since no one now

Remembers the divine Ulysses more

Among the people over whom he ruled

Benignly, like a father. Still he lies,

Weighed down by many sorrows, in the isle

And dwelling of Calypso, who so long

Constrains his stay. To his dear native land

Depart he cannot; ship arrayed with oars

And seamen has he none, to bear him o'er

The breast of the broad ocean. Nay, even now,

Against his well-beloved son a plot

Is laid, to slay him as he journeys home

From Pylos the divine, and from the walls

Of famous Sparta, whither he had gone

To gather tidings of his father's fate."

Then answered her the Ruler of the storms :-

"My child, what words are these that pass thy lips?

Was not thy long-determined counsel this, —

That in good time Ulysses should return,

To be avenged? Guide, then, Telemachus

Wisely, - for so thou canst, - that, all unharmed,

He reach his native land, and, in their barks,

Homeward the suitor-train retrace their way."

He spake, and turned to Hermes, his dear son:-

"Hermes, - for thou in this my messenger

Art, as in all things, to the bright-haired nymph

Make known my steadfast purpose, the return

Of suffering Ulysses. Neither gods

Nor men shall guide his voyage. On a raft,

Made firm with bands, he shall depart and reach,

After long hardships, on the twentieth day,

The fertile shore of Scheria, on whose isle

Dwell the Phæacians, kinsmen of the gods.

They like a god shall honor him, and thence

Send him to his loved country in a ship,

With ample gifts of brass and gold, and store

Of raiment, - wealth like which he ne'er had brought

From conquered Ilion, had he reached his home

Safely, with all his portion of the spoil.

So is it preordained that he behold

His friends again, and stand once more within

His high-roofed palace, on his native soil."

He spake; the herald Argicide obeyed,

And hastily beneath his feet he bound

The fair, ambrosial golden sandals, worn

To bear him over ocean like the wind,

And o'er the boundless land. His wand he took,

Wherewith he softly seals the eyes of men,

And opens them at will from sleep. With this

In hand, the mighty Argus-queller flew,

And, lighting on Pieria, from the sky

Plunged downward to the deep, and skimmed its face

Like hovering seamew, that on the broad gulfs

Of the unfruitful ocean seeks her prey,

And often dips her pinions in the brine;

English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858)) — 5.1 focus

THE saffron morn, with early blushes spread,

Now rose refulgent from Tithonus' bed;

With new-born day to gladden mortal sight,

And gild the courts of heaven with sacred light.

Then met th' eternal synod of the sky,

Before the god, who thunders from on high,

Supreme in might, sublime in majesty.

Pallas, to these, deplores th' unequal fates

Of wise Ulysses, and his toils relates:

Her hero's danger touch'd the pitying power,

The nymph's seducements, and the magic bower.

MINERVA

Thus she began her plaint. 'Immortal Jove!

'And you who fill the blissful seats above!

'Let kings no more with gentle mercy sway,

'Or bless a people willing to obey,
15

'But crush the nations with an iron rod,

'And every monarch be the scourge of God;

'If from your thoughts Ulysses you remove,

'Who rul’d his subjects with a father's love.

'Sole in an isle, encircled by the main,
20

'Abandon'd, banish'd from his native reign,

'Unbless'd he sighs, detain'd by lawless charms,

'And press'd unwilling in Calypso's arms.

'Nor friends are there, nor vessels to convey,

'Nor oars to cut th' immeasurable way.
25

'And now fierce traitors, studious to destroy

'His only son, their ambush'd fraud employ;

'Who, pious, following his great father's fame,

'To sacred Pylos and to Sparta came.'

JUPITER

'What words are these?' (replied the power who forms
30

'The clouds of night, and darkens heaven with storms;)

'Is not already in thy soul decreed,

'The chief's return shall make the guilty bleed?

'What cannot Wisdom do? Thou may'st restore

'The son in safety to his native shore;
35

'While the fell foes, who late in ambush lay,

'With fraud defeated measure back their way.'

Then thus to Hermes the command was given.

'Hermes, thou chosen messenger of heaven!

'Go, to the nymph be these our orders borne.

''Tis Jove's decree, Ulysses shall return:

'The patient man shall view his old abodes,

'Nor help'd by mortal hand, nor guiding gods:

'In twice ten days shall fertile Scheria find,¹

'Alone, and floating to the wave and wind.

'The bold Phaeacians there, whose haughty line

'Is mix'd with gods, half human, half divine,

'The chief shall honour as some heavenly guest,

'And swift transport him to his place of rest.

'His vessels loaded with a plenteous store

'Of brass, of vestures, and resplendent ore,

'(A richer prize than if his joyful isle

'Received him charged with Ilion's noble spoil,)

'His friends, his country, he shall see, though late;

'Such is our sovereign will, and such is fate.'

He spoke. The god who mounts the winged winds

Fast to his feet the golden pinions binds,

That high through fields of air his flight sustain

O'er the wide earth, and o'er the boundless main.

He grasps the wand that causes sleep to fly,

Or in soft slumber seals the wakeful eye:

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 5.1 focus

Up rose Aurora from Tithonus' bed,

Before the Gods and men to bear her light.

The Gods were then to council gathered,

And Jove amongst them of the greatest might.

And there before them Pallas open laid

The painful life Ulysses did endure.

O Jove, and all ye blessed Gods, she said,

Henceforth his people let no king enure

To gentle government, but keep them down,

And to their honesty no longer trust,

That of Ulysses are forgetful grown,

Whose government so gentle was and just.

And now he pent up lieth in an isle

Where dwells Calypso ; and to come away

Has neither ship nor men, and all the while

Weeping for sorrow forc'd he is to stay.

The suitors also seek to kill his son,

And lie to meet him in his coming home;

For why, to Pyle and Sparta he is gone,

To hear what of his father is become.

Why, child, said Jove, why say you this to me ?

'Twas you that sent Telemachus away ;

And you consenting were to our decree,

Ulysses should come back and th' wooers slay.

Go you and bring Telemachus from Pyle,

And send the suitors home that lie in's way;

And Mercury, said he, go you the while

And tell the nymph Calypso what I say.

The Gods in council sitting ordered have,

Ulysses shall return to Ithaca.

And first upon a raft himself shall save,

Without a convoy in Phaeacia

In twenty days; and there be honoured,

And to his country richly sent away,

With brass, and gold, and garments furnished,

More than his share had mounted to at Troy,

Though he had brought it thence all safely home;

For why, by destiny ordain'd it is

That to his friends he honourably come.

No sooner Jupiter had spoken this,

But that his shoes upon his feet he binds,

Ambrosian, golden shoes, wherewith he flies

On land or water, swifter than the winds.

Then takes the rod wherewith upon the eyes

Of mortals he lays on or takes off sleep,

And with his rod in hand j ump'd down to th' hill

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 5.1 focus

AURORA rose from high-born Tithon's bed,

That men and Gods might be illustrated,

And then the Deities sat. Imperial Jove,

That makes the horrid murmur beat above,

Took place past all, whose height for ever springs,

And from whom flows th' eternal power of things.

Then Pallas, mindful of Ulysses, told

The many cares that in Calypso's hold

He still sustain'd, when he had felt before

So much affliction, and such dangers more.

" O Father," said she, " and ye Ever-blest,

Give never king hereafter interest

In any aid of yours, by serving you,

By being gentle, human, just, but grow

Rude, and for ever scornful of your rights,

All justice ordering by their appetites,

Since he, that ruled as it in right behoved,

That all his subjects as his children loved,

Finds you so thoughtless of him and his birth.

Thus men begin to say, ye rule in earth,

And grudge at what ye let him undergo,

Who yet the least part of his suff'rance know:

Thrall'd in an island, shipwrack'd in his tears,

And, in the fancies that Calypso bears,

Bound from his birthright, all his shipping gone,

And of his soldiers not retaining one.

And now his most-lov'd son's life doth inflame

Their slaught'rous envies; since his father's fame

He puts in pursuit, and is gone as far

As sacred Pylos, and the singular

Dame-breeding Sparta." This, with this reply,

The Cloud-assembler answer'd: "What words fly

Thine own remembrance, daughter? Hast not thou

The counsel given thyself, that told thee how

Ulysses shall with his return address

His Wooers wrongs? And, for the safe access

His son shall make to his innative port,

Do thou direct it, in as curious sort

As thy wit serves thee; it obeys thy powers;

And in their ship return the speedless Wooers."

Then turn'd he to his issue Mercury,

And said: "Thou hast made good our ambassy

To th' other Statists, to the Nymph then now,

On whose fair head a tuft of gold doth grow,

Bear our true-spoken counsel, for retreat

Of patient Ulysses; who shall get

No aid from us, nor any mortal man,

But in a patch'd-up skiff (built as he can,

And suffering woes enough) the twentieth day

At fruitful Scheria let him breathe his way,

With the Phæacians, that half Deities live,

Who like a God will honour him, and give

His wisdom clothes, and ship, and brass, and gold,

More than for gain of Troy he ever told;

Where, at the whole division of the prey,

If he a saver were, or got away

Without a wound, if he should grudge, 'twas well.

But th' end shall crown all; therefore Fate will deal

So well with him, to let him land, and see

His native earth, friends, house, and family."

Thus charged he; nor Argicides denied,

But to his feet his fair wing'd shoes he tied,

Ambrosian, golden, that in his command

Put either sea, or the unmeasured land,

With pace as speedy as a puft of wind.

Then up his rod went, with which he declined

The eyes of any waker, when he pleased,

And any sleeper, when he wish'd, diseased.

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 5.1 focus

AURORA from beside her glorious mate

Tithonus now arose, light to dispense

Through earth and heaven, when the assembled Gods

In council sat, o'er whom high-thundering Jove

Presided, mightiest of the Powers above.

Amid them, Pallas on the numerous woes

Descanted of Ulysses, whom she saw

With grief, still prison'd in Calypso's isle.

Jove, Father, hear me, and ye other Powers

Who live for ever, hear! Be never King

Henceforth to gracious acts inclined, humane,

Or righteous, but let every sceptred hand

Rule merciless, and deal in wrong alone,

Since none of all his people whom he sway'd

With such paternal gentleness and love

Remembers, now, divine Ulysses more.

He, in yon distant isle a sufferer lies

Of hopeless sorrow, through constraint the guest

Still of the nymph Calypso, without means

Or power to reach his native shores again,

Alike of gallant barks and friends deprived,

Who might conduct him o'er the spacious Deep.

Nor this is all, but enemies combine

To slay his son ere yet he can return

From Pylus, whither he hath gone to learn

There, or in Sparta, tidings of his Sire.

To whom the cloud-assembler God replied.

What word hath pass'd thy lips, daughter beloved?

Hast thou not purposed that arriving soon

At home, Ulysses shall destroy his foes?

Guide thou, Telemachus, (for well thou canst,)

That he may reach secure his native coast,

And that the suitors baffled may return.

He ceased, and thus to Hermes spake, his son.

Hermes! (for thou art herald of our will

At all times,) to yon bright-hair'd nymph convey

Our fixt resolve, that brave Ulysses thence

Depart, uncompanied by God or man.

Borne on a corded raft, and suffering woe

Extreme, he on the twentieth day shall reach,

Not sooner, Scherie the deep-soil'd, possess'd

By the Phæacians, kinsmen of the Gods.

They, as a God shall reverence the Chief,

And in a bark of theirs shall send him thence

To his own home, much treasure, brass and gold

And raiment giving him, to an amount

Surpassing all that, had he safe return'd,

He should by lot have shared of Ilium's spoil.

Thus fate appoints Ulysses to regain

His country, his own palace, and his friends.

He ended, nor the Argicide refused,

Messenger of the skies; his sandals fair,

Ambrosial, golden, to his feet he bound,

Which o'er the moist wave, rapid as the wind,

Bear him, and o'er the illimitable earth,

Then took his rod with which, at will, all eyes

He closes soft, or opes them wide again.

So arm'd, forth flew the valiant Argicide.

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?

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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,

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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;

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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.”

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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

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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,

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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:

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"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.

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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.

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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,

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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,

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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."

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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

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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,

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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

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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,

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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!

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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.

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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—

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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,

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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

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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

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—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

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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,

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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:

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"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."

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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,

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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.

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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!

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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

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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,

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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

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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.

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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—

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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.

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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."

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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:

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"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:

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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

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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

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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,

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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,

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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.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Douglas Frame

reference to Homeric passage where nóos is connected to traditional sense of return.

source

citation of Phaeacian epithet, ankhítheoi, “close to the gods”

source

Gregory Nagy

Only here in the Odyssey is the hero Tīthōnos ever mentioned, O.05.001. In the Iliad, there is a parallel mention of Tīthōnos at I.11.001. The wording of O.05.001–002 here matches the wording of I.11.001–002. The story of the abduction of Tīthōnos by Ēōs, goddess of dawn, is told in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 218–238. The liaison between the mortal man Tīthōnos and the immortal goddess Ēōs is parallel to the liaison between the mortal man Anchises and the immortal goddess Aphrodite. And, as a result of both these affairs, the mortal man is permanently damaged. In the case of Tīthōnos, he loses his youth though he holds on to life, but old age renders him immobile, as we read in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, verse 234. In the case of Anchises, he too is afflicted with immobility—which is why his son Aeneas has to carry him on his shoulders in ancient depictions of that hero’s escape from Troy together with his family (for a splendid example, I refer to a vase painting dated to the early fifth century BCE, British Museum inventory number 1836.0224.138). Such stories of permanent damage are relevant to the story of the affair between Odysseus and the goddess Calypso. In sum, the fact that Rhapsody 5 begins with a reference to an affair between a mortal man and an immortal goddess indicates the dangers that now threaten Odysseus.

source

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

Leonard Muellner

comment on overlap between Hermes and Athena (here, Athena’s wearing Hermes’ sandals), in the context of analyzing her reminding of Hermes in O.13.221ff.

source

Homer Odyssey 5.1

ed. Amelia Parrish, ed. Gregory Crane

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Experimental

ODYSSEY BOOK V

PATTEN WILSON.
THE BUILDING OF THE RAFT

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Experimental

ODYSSEY BOOK V

PATTEN WILSON. THE BUILDING OF THE RAFT

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

PATTEN WILSON.
THE BUILDING OF THE RAFT