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Now the fourth day came and all his work was done. And on the fifth the beautiful Calypso sent him on his way from the island after she had bathed him and clothed him in fragrant raiment. 265 On the raft the goddess put a skin of dark wine, and another, a great one, of water, and provisions, too, in a wallet. Therein she put abundance of dainties to satisfy his heart, and she sent forth a gentle wind and warm. Gladly then did goodly Odysseus spread his sail to the breeze; 270 and he sat and guided his raft skilfully with the steering-oar, nor did sleep fall upon his eyelids, as he watched the Pleiads, and late-setting Bootes, and the Bear, which men also call the Wain, which ever circles where it is and watches Orion, 275 and alone has no part in the baths of Ocean. For this star Calypso, the beautiful goddess, had bidden him to keep on the left hand as he sailed over the sea. For seventeen days then he sailed over the sea, and on the eighteenth appeared the shadowy mountains 280 of the land of the Phaeacians, where it lay nearest to him; and it shewed like unto a shield in the misty deep. But the glorious Earth-shaker, as he came back from the Ethiopians,¹ beheld him from afar, from the mountains of the Solymi: for Odysseus was seen of him sailing over the sea; and he waxed the more wroth in spirit, 285 and shook his head, and thus he spoke to his own heart: “Out on it! Surely the gods have changed their purpose regarding Odysseus, while I was among the Ethiopians. And lo, he is near to the land of the Phaeacians, where it is his fate to escape from the great bonds of the woe which has come upon him. 290 Aye, but even yet, methinks, I shall drive him to surfeit of evil.” So saying, he gathered the clouds, and seizing his trident in his hands troubled the sea, and roused all blasts of all manner of winds, and hid with clouds land and sea alike; and night rushed down from heaven. 295 Together the East Wind and the South Wind dashed, and the fierce-blowing West Wind and the North Wind , born in the bright heaven, rolling before him a mighty wave. Then were the knees of Odysseus loosened and his heart melted, and deeply moved he spoke to his own mighty spirit: “Ah me, wretched that I am! What is to befall me at the last? 300 I fear me that verily all that the goddess said was true, when she declared that on the sea, before ever I came to my native land, I should fill up my measure of woes; and lo, all this now is being brought to pass. In such wise does Zeus overcast the broad heaven with clouds, and has stirred up the sea, and the blasts 305 of all manner of winds sweep upon me; now is my utter destruction sure. Thrice blessed those Danaans, aye, four times blessed, who of old perished in the wide land of Troy , doing the pleasure of the sons of Atreus. Even so would that I had died and met my fate on that day when the throngs 310 of the Trojans hurled upon me bronze-tipped spears, fighting around the body of the dead son of Peleus. Then should I have got funeral rites, and the Achaeans would have spread my fame, but now by a miserable death was it appointed me to be cut off.”

Odyssey. Homer. A. T. Murray (Translator). London. 1919.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

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

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.) — 5.262 focus

τέτρατον ἦμαρ ἔην, καὶ τῷ τετέλεστο ἅπαντα·

τῷ δʼ ἄρα πέμπτῳ πέμπʼ ἀπὸ νήσου δῖα Καλυψώ,

εἵματά τʼ ἀμφιέσασα θυώδεα καὶ λούσασα.

ἐν δέ οἱ ἀσκὸν ἔθηκε θεὰ μέλανος οἴνοιο

265

τὸν ἕτερον, ἕτερον δʼ ὕδατος μέγαν, ἐν δὲ καὶ ᾖα

κωρύκῳ· ἐν δέ οἱ ὄψα τίθει μενοεικέα πολλά·

οὖρον δὲ προέηκεν ἀπήμονά τε λιαρόν τε.

γηθόσυνος δʼ οὔρῳ πέτασʼ ἱστία δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς.

αὐτὰρ ὁ πηδαλίῳ ἰθύνετο τεχνηέντως

270

ἥμενος, οὐδέ οἱ ὕπνος ἐπὶ βλεφάροισιν ἔπιπτεν

Πληιάδας τʼ ἐσορῶντι καὶ ὀψὲ δύοντα Βοώτην

Ἄρκτον θʼ, ἣν καὶ ἄμαξαν ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν,

ἥ τʼ αὐτοῦ στρέφεται καί τʼ Ὠρίωνα δοκεύει,

οἴη δʼ ἄμμορός ἐστι λοετρῶν Ὠκεανοῖο·

275

τὴν γὰρ δή μιν ἄνωγε Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων,

ποντοπορευέμεναι ἐπʼ ἀριστερὰ χειρὸς ἔχοντα.

ἑπτὰ δὲ καὶ δέκα μὲν πλέεν ἤματα ποντοπορεύων,

ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῃ δʼ ἐφάνη ὄρεα σκιόεντα

γαίης Φαιήκων, ὅθι τʼ ἄγχιστον πέλεν αὐτῷ·

280

εἴσατο δʼ ὡς ὅτε ῥινὸν ἐν ἠεροειδέι πόντῳ.

τὸν δʼ ἐξ Αἰθιόπων ἀνιὼν κρείων ἐνοσίχθων

τηλόθεν ἐκ Σολύμων ὀρέων ἴδεν· εἴσατο γάρ οἱ

πόντον ἐπιπλώων. ὁ δʼ ἐχώσατο κηρόθι μᾶλλον,

κινήσας δὲ κάρη προτὶ ὃν μυθήσατο θυμόν·

285

ὢ πόποι, ἦ μάλα δὴ μετεβούλευσαν θεοὶ ἄλλως

ἀμφʼ Ὀδυσῆι ἐμεῖο μετʼ Αἰθιόπεσσιν ἐόντος,

καὶ δὴ Φαιήκων γαίης σχεδόν, ἔνθα οἱ αἶσα

ἐκφυγέειν μέγα πεῖραρ ὀιζύος, ἥ μιν ἱκάνει.

ἀλλʼ ἔτι μέν μίν φημι ἅδην ἐλάαν κακότητος.

290

ὣς εἰπὼν σύναγεν νεφέλας, ἐτάραξε δὲ πόντον

χερσὶ τρίαιναν ἑλών· πάσας δʼ ὀρόθυνεν ἀέλλας

παντοίων ἀνέμων, σὺν δὲ νεφέεσσι κάλυψε

γαῖαν ὁμοῦ καὶ πόντον· ὀρώρει δʼ οὐρανόθεν νύξ.

σὺν δʼ Εὖρός τε Νότος τʼ ἔπεσον Ζέφυρός τε δυσαὴς

295

καὶ Βορέης αἰθρηγενέτης, μέγα κῦμα κυλίνδων.

καὶ τότʼ Ὀδυσσῆος λύτο γούνατα καὶ φίλον ἦτορ,

ὀχθήσας δʼ ἄρα εἶπε πρὸς ὃν μεγαλήτορα θυμόν·

ὤ μοι ἐγὼ δειλός, τί νύ μοι μήκιστα γένηται;

δείδω μὴ δὴ πάντα θεὰ νημερτέα εἶπεν,

300

ἥ μʼ ἔφατʼ ἐν πόντῳ, πρὶν πατρίδα γαῖαν ἱκέσθαι,

ἄλγεʼ ἀναπλήσειν· τὰ δὲ δὴ νῦν πάντα τελεῖται.

οἵοισιν νεφέεσσι περιστέφει οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν

Ζεύς, ἐτάραξε δὲ πόντον, ἐπισπέρχουσι δʼ ἄελλαι

παντοίων ἀνέμων. νῦν μοι σῶς αἰπὺς ὄλεθρος.

305

τρὶς μάκαρες Δαναοὶ καὶ τετράκις, οἳ τότʼ ὄλοντο

Τροίῃ ἐν εὐρείῃ χάριν Ἀτρεΐδῃσι φέροντες.

ὡς δὴ ἐγώ γʼ ὄφελον θανέειν καὶ πότμον ἐπισπεῖν

ἤματι τῷ ὅτε μοι πλεῖστοι χαλκήρεα δοῦρα

Τρῶες ἐπέρριψαν περὶ Πηλεΐωνι θανόντι.

310

τῷ κʼ ἔλαχον κτερέων, καί μευ κλέος ἦγον Ἀχαιοί·

νῦν δέ με λευγαλέῳ θανάτῳ εἵμαρτο ἁλῶναι.

Translations (9)

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.) — 5.262 focus

262 In four days he had completed the whole work, and on the fifth Calypso sent him from the island after washing him and giving him some clean clothes. She gave him a goat skin full of black wine, and another larger one of water; she also gave him a wallet full of provisions, and found him in much good meat. Moreover, she made the wind fair and warm for him, and gladly did Odysseus spread his sail before it, while he sat and guided the raft skillfully by means of the rudder. He never closed his eyes, but kept them fixed on the Pleiads, on late-setting Boötes, and on the Bear - which men also call the Wain, and which turns round and round where it is, facing Orion, and alone never dipping into the stream of Okeanos - for Calypso had told him to keep this to his left. Seventeen days did he sail over the sea, and on the eighteenth the dim outlines of the mountains on the nearest part of the Phaeacian coast appeared, rising like a shield on the horizon.

282 But lord Poseidon, who was returning from the Ethiopians, caught sight of Odysseus a long way off, from the mountains of the Solymi. He could see him sailing upon the sea, and it made him very angry, so he wagged his head and muttered to himself, saying, heavens, so the gods have been changing their minds about Odysseus while I was away in Ethiopia , and now he is close to the land of the Phaeacians, where it is decreed that he shall escape from the calamities that have befallen him. Still, he shall have plenty of hardship yet before he has done with it."

291 Thereon he gathered his clouds together, grasped his trident, stirred it round in the sea, and roused the rage of every wind that blows till earth, sea, and sky were hidden in cloud, and night sprang forth out of the heavens. Winds from East, South, North, and West fell upon him all at the same time, and a tremendous sea got up, so that Odysseus’ heart began to fail him. "Alas," he said to himself in his dismay, "what ever will become of me? I am afraid Calypso was right when she said I should have trouble by sea before I got back home. It is all coming true. How black is Zeus making heaven with his clouds, and what a sea the winds are raising from every quarter at once. I am now safe to perish. Blest and thrice blest were those Danaans who fell before Troy in the cause of [ kharis] the sons of Atreus. Would that had been killed on the day when the Trojans were pressing me so sorely about the dead body of Achilles, for then I should have had due burial and the Achaeans would have honored my name [ kleos]; but now it seems that I shall come to a most pitiable end."

313 As he spoke a sea broke over him with such terrific fury that the raft reeled again, and he was carried overboard a long way off. He let go the helm, and the force of the wind was so great that it broke the mast half way up, and both sail and yard went over into the sea. For a long time Odysseus was under water, and it was all he could do to rise to the surface again, for the clothes Calypso had given him weighed him down; but at last he got his head above water and spat out the bitter brine that was running down his face in streams. In spite of all this, however, he did not lose sight of his raft, but swam as fast as he could towards it, got hold of it, and climbed on board again so as to escape drowning. The sea took the raft and tossed it about as Autumn winds whirl thistledown round and round upon a road. (It was as though the South, North, East, and West winds were all at once tossing it back and forth.)

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 5.262 focus

In four days he had completed the whole work, and on the fifth shining Kalypsō sent him from the island after washing him and giving him some clean clothes. [265] She gave him a goat skin full of black wine, and another larger one of water; she also gave him a wallet full of provisions, and found him much good meat. Moreover, she made the wind fair and warm for him, and gladly did glorious Odysseus spread his sail before it, [270] while he sat and guided the raft skillfully by means of the rudder. He never closed his eyes, but kept them fixed on the Pleiades, on late-setting Boötes, and on the Bear—which men also call the wagon, and which turns round and round where it is, facing Orion: [275] she alone has no share in the baths of Okeanos —for Kalypsō, bright among goddesses, had told him to keep this to his left. Seventeen days did he sail over the sea, and on the eighteenth the dim outlines of the mountains [280] on the nearest part of the Phaeacian coast appeared, rising like a shield on the horizon.

But lord Poseidon, the strong Earthshaker, who was returning from the Ethiopians, caught sight of Odysseus a long way off, from the mountains of the Solymoi. He could see him sailing upon the sea, and it made him very angry, [285] so he wagged his head and muttered to himself, saying, “Heavens, so the gods have been changing their minds about Odysseus while I was away in Ethiopia, and now he is close to the land of the Phaeacians, where it is decreed that he shall escape from the calamities that have befallen him. [290] Still, he shall have plenty of hardship yet before he has done with it.”

Then he gathered his clouds together, grasped his trident, stirred it round in the sea, and roused the rage of every wind that blows till earth, sea, and sky were hidden in cloud, and night sprang forth out of the sky. [295] Winds from East, South, North, and West fell upon him all at the same time, and a tremendous sea got up, so that Odysseus’ heart began to fail him. “Alas,” he said to himself in his dismay, “what ever will become of me? [300] I am afraid Kalypsō was right when she said I should have trouble by sea before I got back home. It is all coming true. How black is Zeus making the sky with his clouds, and what a sea the winds [305] are raising from every quarter at once. I am now safe to perish. Blest and thrice blest were those Danaans who fell at Troy in the cause [ kharis] of the sons of Atreus. Would that I had been killed on the day when the Trojans [310] were pressing me so sorely about the dead body of Achilles, for then I should have had due burial 311 and then the Achaeans would have carried on my [ kleos]; but now it seems that I shall come to a most pitiable end.”

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873)) — 5.262 focus

'T was the fourth day. His labors now were done,

And on the fifth the goddess from her isle

315

Dismissed him, newly from the bath, arrayed

In garments given by her, that shed perfumes.

A skin of dark red wine she put on board,

A larger one of water, and for food

A basket, stored with viands such as please

320

The appetite. A friendly wind and soft

She sent before. The great Ulysses spread

His canvas joyfully to catch the breeze,

And sat and guided with nice care the helm,

Gazing with fixed eye on the Pleiades,

325

Boötes setting late, and the Great Bear,

By others called the Wain, which, wheeling round,

Looks ever toward Orion, and alone

Dips not into the waters of the deep.

For so Calypso, glorious goddess, bade

330

That on his ocean journey he should keep

That constellation ever on his left.

Now seventeen days were in the voyage past,

And on the eighteenth shadowy heights appeared,

The nearest point of the Phæacian land,

335

Lying on the dark ocean like a shield.

But mighty Neptune, coming from among

The Ethiopians, saw him. Far away

He saw, from mountain-heights of Solyma,

The voyager, and burned with fiercer wrath,

340

And shook his head, and said within himself :-

"Strange! now I see the gods have new designs

For this Ulysses, formed while I was yet

In Ethiopia. He draws near the land

Of the Phæacians, where it is decreed

345

He shall o'erpass the boundary of his woes ;

But first, I think, he will have much to bear."

He spake, and round about him called the clouds

And roused the ocean, wielding in his hand

The trident, - summoned all the hurricanes

350

Of all the winds, and covered earth and sky

At once with mists, while from above the night

Fell suddenly. The east wind and the south

Pushed forth at once, with the strong-blowing west,

And the clear north rolled up his mighty waves.

355

Ulysses trembled in his knees and heart,

And thus to his great soul, lamenting, said:

"What will become of me? unhappy man!

I fear that all the goddess said was true,

Foretelling what disasters should o'ertake

360

My voyage ere I reach my native land.

Now are her words fulfilled. How Jupiter

Wraps the great heaven in clouds and stirs the deep

To tumult! Wilder grow the hurricanes

Of all the winds, and now my fate is sure.

365

Thrice happy, four times happy, they who fell

On Troy's wide field, warring for Atreus' sons:

O, had I met my fate and perished there,

That very day on which the Trojan host,

Around the dead Achilles, hurled at me

370

Their brazen javelins, I had then received

Due burial, and great glory with the Greeks ;

Now must I die a miserable death."

English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858)) — 5.262 focus

Four days were past, and now, the work complete,

Shone the fifth morn, when from her sacred seat

335

The nymph dismiss'd him, (odorous garments given,

And bathed in fragrant oils that breath'd of heaven :)

Then fill'd two goat-skins with her hands divine,

With water one, and one with sable wine:

Of every kind provisions heav'd aboard;

340

And the full decks with copious viands stor'd.

The goddess, last, a gentle breeze supplies,

To curl old Ocean, and to warm the skies.

And now, rejoicing in the prosperous gales,

With beating heart Ulysses spreads his sails:¹

345

Placed at the helm he sate, and mark'd the skies,

Nor clos'd in sleep his ever-watchful eyes.

There view'd the Pleiads, and the Northern Team,

And great Orion's more refulgent beam,

To which, around the axle of the sky,

350

The Bear, revolving, points his golden eye:

Who shines exalted on th' ethereal plain,

Nor bathes his blazing forehead in the main.

Far on the left those radiant fires to keep

The nymph directed, as he sail'd the deep.

355

Full seventeen nights he cut the foamy way:

The distant land appear'd the following day:

Then swell'd to sight Phaeacia's dusky coast,

And woody mountains, half in vapours lost;

That lay before him indistinct and vast,

360

Like a broad shield amid the watery waste.

But him, thus voyaging the deeps below,

From far, on Solyme's aërial brow,²

The king of ocean saw, and seeing burn'd,

(From Aethiopia's happy climes return'd;)³

365

The raging monarch shook his azure head,

And thus in secret to his soul he said:

NEPTUNE

'Heavens! how uncertain are the powers on high!

'Is then revers'd the sentence of the sky,

'In one man's favour: while a distant guest
370

'I shar'd secure the Ethiopian feast?

'Behold how near Phaeacia's land he draws!

'The land affix'd by Fate's eternal laws

'To end his toils. Is then our anger vain ?

'No; if this sceptre yet commands the main.'
375

He spoke, and high the forky trident hurl'd,

Rolls clouds on clouds, and stirs the watery world,

At once the face of earth and sea deforms,

Swells all the winds, and rouses all the storms.

Down rush'd the night: east, west, together roar;

380

And south and north roll mountains to the shore:

Then shook the hero, to despair resign'd,

And question'd thus his yet unconquer'd mind:

ULYSSES

'Wretch that I am! what farther fates attend

'This life of toils, and what my destin'd end?
385

'Too well, alas! the island goddess knew

'On the black sea what perils should ensue.

'New horrors now this destin'd head enclose;

'Unfill'd is yet the measure of my woes:

'With what a cloud the brows of heaven are crown'd!
390

'What raging winds! what roaring waters round!

''Tis Jove himself the swelling tempest rears;

'Death, present death, on every side appears.

'Happy! thrice happy! who, in battle slain,

'Press'd, in Atrides' cause, the Trojan plain!
395

'Oh! had I died before that well-fought wall;

'Had some distinguish'd day renown'd my fall;

'(Such as was that when showers of javelins fled

'From conquering Troy around Achilles dead;)

'All Greece had paid me solemn funerals then,
400

'And spread my glory with the sons of men.

'A shameful fate now hides my hapless head,

'Unwept, unnoted, and for ever dead!"⁴

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 5.262 focus

Four days in making of the raft he spent;

When he had done, and all his work had wrought,

Upon the fifth the nymph away him sent.

240

But first she bath'd him, and with clothes array'd,

Fine and perfum'd. Then wine of pleasant taste

One goat-skin full upon the raft she laid,

And one of water, greater, by it plac'd;

And sweetmeats, and good flesh of ev'ry kind.

245

And after he his sails had hoist and spread,

She fill'd them with a warm and cheerful wind.

Then he astern sat down and governed,

And on Bootes look'd, and Pleiades,

And on the Bear, which people call the Wain,

250

Which dogs Orion rising from the seas,

But she herself ne'er dives into the main.

This Bear she bade him leave on the left hand.

Then sev'nteen days he sail'd, on th* eighteenth day

He came in sight of the Phœacian land,

255

In that part where it nearest to him lay,

Which look'd as 'twere upon the sea a skin.

But now by Neptune, who returning was,

Ulysses' raft from Solymi was seen,

For o'er those mountains Neptune was to pass;

260

Who, wounded at the sight, with anger keen,

Thus said unto himself: What, what, I find,

While I in Ethiopia have been,

The Gods about this man have chang'd their mind.

The isle Phœacia is near at hand,

265

In which he destin'd is himself to save.

But yet, I think, before he be on land,

He struggle shall with many a lusty wave.

Then with his trident he the sea enraged,

And made a night of clouds the sea upon,

270

And 'gainst Ulysses all the Winds engaged,

And from their quarters they came out each one,

Eurus, and Notus, Zephyr, Boreas,

Each one a mighty wave against him rolled.

And then Ulysses' heart near broken was,

275

And with himself, himself he thus condoled.

Ah me, what will become of me at last!

I fear the nymph Calypso all this knew,

Who told me then that as I homeward pass'd

I should meet danger. Now I find it true.

280

With what thick clouds Jove cover'd has the sky!

In what a tumult is the sea! And how

On ev'ry side the winds the water ply

And storm ! My death, I see, is certain now.

Thrice, four times, Argives, happy were you, who

285

For Agamemnon's sake were slain. Would I

At Troy in battle my life lost had too,

I' th' show'r of spears about Achilles' body;

Then had I had a noble funeral,

And great among the Greeks had been my fame.

290

But now a wretched death will me befal,

For ever will unheard of be my name.

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 5.262 focus

In four days' space to full perfection came.

¹²³⁴⁵

The fifth day, they dismiss'd him from the shore,

335

Weeds neat, and odorous, gave him, victuals store,

Wine, and strong waters, and a prosp'rous wind,

To which, Ulysses, fit-to-be-divin'd,

His sails expos'd, and hoised. Off he gat;

And cheerful was he. At the stern he sat,

340

And steer'd right artfully. Nor sleep could seize

His eye-lids. He beheld the Pleiades;

The Bear, surnam'd the Wain, that round doth move

About Orion, and keeps still above

The billowy ocean; the slow-setting star

345

Bootes call'd, by some the waggoner.

Calypso warn'd him he his course should steer

Still to his left hand. Seventeen days did clear

The cloudy night's command in his moist way,

And by the eighteenth light he might display

350

The shady hills of the Phæacian shore,

For which, as to his next abode, he bore.

The country did a pretty figure yield,

And look'd from off the dark seas like a shield.

Imperious Neptune, making his retreat

355

From th' Æthiopian earth, and taking seat

Upon the mountains of the Solymi,

From thence, far off discovering, did descry

Ulysses his fields ploughing. All on fire

The sight straight set his heart, and made desire

360

Of wreak run over, it did boil so high.

When, his head nodding, " O impiety,"

He cried out, "now the Gods' inconstancy

Is most apparent, altering their designs

⁶

Since I the Æthiops saw, and here confines

365

To this Ulysses' fate his misery.

The great mark, on which all his hopes rely,

Lies in Phæacia. But I hope he shall

Feel woe at height, ere that dead calm befall."

This said; he, begging, gather'd clouds from land,

370

Frighted the seas up, snatch'd into his hand

His horrid trident, and aloft did toss,

Of all the winds, all storms he could engross,

All earth took into sea with clouds, grim Night

Fell tumbling headlong from the cope of light,

375

The East and South winds justled in the air,

The violent Zephyr, and North making-fair,

Rolled up the waves before them. And then bent

Ulysses' knees, then all his spirit was spent.

In which despair, he thus spake: "Woe is me!

380

What was I born to, man of misery!

Fear tells me now, that, all the Goddess said,

Truth's self will author, that Fate would he paid

Grief's whole sum due from me, at sea, before

I reach'd the dear touch of my country's shore.

385

With what clouds Jove heaven's heighten'd forehead binds!

How tyrannize the wraths of all the winds!

How all the tops he bottoms with the deeps,

And in the bottoms all the tops he steeps!

Thus dreadful is the presence of our death.

390

Thrice four times blest were they that sunk beneath

Their fates at Troy, and did to nought contend

But to renown Atrides with their end!

⁷⁸

I would to God, my hour of death and fate

That day had held the power to terminate,

395

When showers of darts my life bore undepress'd

About divine Æacides deceased!

Then had I been allotted to have died,

By all the Greeks with funerals glorified,

(Whence death, encouraging good life, had grown)

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Where now I die, by no man mourn'd nor known."

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 5.262 focus

He finish'd all his work on the fourth day,

And on the fifth, Calypso, nymph divine,

Dismiss'd him from her isle, but laved him first,

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And cloath'd him in sweet-scented garments new.

Two skins the Goddess also placed on board,

One charged with crimson wine, and ampler one

With water, nor a bag with food replete

Forgot, nutritious, grateful to the taste,

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Nor yet, her latest gift, a gentle gale

And manageable, which Ulysses spread,

Exulting, all his canvas to receive.

Beside the helm he sat, steering expert,

Nor sleep fell ever on his eyes that watch'd

325

Intent the Pleiads, tardy in decline

Bootes, and the Bear, call'd else the Wain,

Which, in his polar prison circling, looks

Direct toward Orion, and alone

Of these sinks never to the briny Deep.

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That star the lovely Goddess bade him hold

Continual on his left through all his course.

Ten days and seven, he, navigating, cleaved

The brine, and on the eighteenth day, at length,

The shadowy mountains of Phæacia's land

335

Descried, where nearest to his course it lay

Like a broad buckler on the waves afloat.

But Neptune, now returning from the land

Of Æthiopia, mark'd him on his raft

Skimming the billows, from the mountain-tops

340

Of distant Solyma With tenfold wrath

Inflamed that sight he view'd, his brows he shook,

And thus within himself, indignant, spake.

So then—new counsels in the skies, it seems,

Propitious to Ulysses, have prevail'd

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Since Æthiopia hath been my abode.

He sees Phæacia nigh, where he must leap

The boundary of his woes; but ere that hour

Arrive, I will ensure him many a groan.

So saying, he grasp'd his trident, gather'd dense

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The clouds and troubled ocean; every storm

From every point he summon'd, earth and sea

Darkening, and the night fell black from heaven.

The East, the South, the heavy-blowing West,

And the cold North-wind clear, assail'd at once

355

His raft, and heaved on high the billowy flood.

All hope, all courage, in that moment, lost,

The Hero thus within himself complain'd.

Wretch that I am, what destiny at last

Attends me! much I fear the Goddess' words

360

All true, which threaten'd me with numerous ills

On the wide sea, ere I should reach my home.

Behold them all fulfill'd! With what a storm

Jove hangs the heavens, and agitates the Deep!

The winds combined beat on me. Now I sink!

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Thrice blest, and more than thrice, Achaia's sons

At Ilium slain for the Atridæ' sake!

Ah, would to heaven that, dying, I had felt

That day the stroke of fate, when me the dead

Achilles guarding, with a thousand spears

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Troy's furious host assail'd! Funereal rites

I then had shared, and praise from every Greek,

Whom now the most inglorious death awaits.

While thus he spake, a billow on his head

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:

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.

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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,

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,

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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

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!

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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,

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

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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,

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:

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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."

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,

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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

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—

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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."

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

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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.

English Bridge (Amelia Parrish and Gregory Crane, 2023) (OCR draft) Experimental (English Bridge (Amelia Parrish and Gregory Crane, 2023)) — 5.262 focus

It was the fourth day when all things had been completed by him;

then on the fifth she had him begin his journey from the island, divine Calypso,

having put around him sweet-smelling clothes and having bathed him.

Inside the goddess placed for him a leather container- of dark wine,

265

this one- and another large one of water, and also food in

a leather sack: inside she was packing many strength-giving cooked meats for him.

She sent forth a favorable wind, both gentle and warm.

Rejoicing, god-like Odysseus opened wide his sails to the wind.

He then began to steer himself with the rudder with practiced skill,

270

sitting. And sleep did not ever fall upon his eyelids,

looking towards the Pleiades, and after a long time the sinking Bootes,

and the Great Bear, which also they call by another name, the wagon,

and it both circles around herself in that spot and also watches Orion.

It alone is without of the cleansing waters of Oceanus;

275

Regarding this constellation, in fact, Calypso, goddess among goddesses, had ordered him

to pass over the sea while keeping it on the left side of his hand.

And, first, for seven and ten days he kept sailing, passing over the sea,

but then on the eighteenth day shadowy mountains appeared

of the land of Phaeacian , where it was nearest to him:

280

it became visible just like a skin on the misty sea.

But that man the ruling Earth-shaker, coming back from the Ethiopians,

saw from far away, out of the mountains of the Solymi, for he became visible to him,

sailing over the sea. And he became even more greatly angered in his heart,

having shaken his head, he addressed a speech to his own spirit :

285

“Are you kidding me? Surely the gods greatly changed their plans in a different direction

regarding Odysseus, while I was among the Ethiopians.

And now he is near the land of the Phaeacians; there his lot

is to escape the great fated share of suffering which comes upon him.

All the same I state my intention in fact still to drive him towards his fill of hardship.”

290

Having spoken thus, he began to bring together clouds, and he stirred up the sea

after seizing his trident with his hands: he began to rouse all the gusts

of every kind of wind, and with the clouds he covered over

the land and the sea at once. And night had come down from heaven.

At once both the East Wind and South Wind came crashing down, and the stormy West Wind,

295

and also the North Wind, born from ether, rolling a great wave.

Then the knees of Odysseus and his dear heart gave out,

and, agitated, he spoke to his great-spirited heart:

“Oh me, for my part I am filled with fear. What now would finally happen to me?

I fear that all the things the goddess said are correct:

300

she stated that on the sea, before I return to the land that belonged to my fathers,

I will have my fill of suffering. And now all these things are being fulfilled.

With such clouds he encircles the wide heavens,

Zeus. And he stirred the sea; and they pile on, the gusts

of winds of all kinds. Now steep death is certain for me.

305

Three times blessed the Danaans, even four times, who were lost then

in wide Troy, bringing happiness to the sons of Atreus.

So I, for my part, ought to have died and to have met my fate

on that day when at me the greatest number cast bronze-covered spears,

the Trojans, around the son of Peleus after dying.

310

In that case I would have had my share of funeral gifts, and the Achaeans would be advancing my own fame;

but it had been fated to be taken now by miserable death.”

Notes on the current edition

Odyssey

1. 1

New Alexandria Commentaries

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

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.

source

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.

source

Homer Odyssey 5.262

A. T. Murray (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

ODYSSEY BOOK V

PATTEN WILSON.
THE BUILDING OF THE RAFT

Notes on the current edition

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

ODYSSEY BOOK V

PATTEN WILSON. THE BUILDING OF THE RAFT

Notes on the current edition

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

PATTEN WILSON.
THE BUILDING OF THE RAFT