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ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἱ δʼ ἄρα πάντες ἐπῄνεον ἠδʼ ἐκέλευον

πεμπέμεναι τὸν ξεῖνον, ἐπεὶ κατὰ μοῖραν ἔειπεν.

καὶ τότε κήρυκα προσέφη μένος Ἀλκινόοιο·

Ποντόνοε, κρητῆρα κερασσάμενος μέθυ νεῖμον

πᾶσιν ἀνὰ μέγαρον, ὄφρʼ εὐξάμενοι Διὶ πατρὶ

τὸν ξεῖνον πέμπωμεν ἑὴν ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν.

ὣς φάτο, Ποντόνοος δὲ μελίφρονα οἶνον ἐκίρνα,

νώμησεν δʼ ἄρα πᾶσιν ἐπισταδόν· οἱ δὲ θεοῖσιν

ἔσπεισαν μακάρεσσι, τοὶ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσιν,

αὐτόθεν ἐξ ἑδρέων. ἀνὰ δʼ ἵστατο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,

Ἀρήτῃ δʼ ἐν χειρὶ τίθει δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον,

καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

χαῖρέ μοι, ὦ βασίλεια, διαμπερές, εἰς ὅ κε γῆρας

ἔλθῃ καὶ θάνατος, τά τʼ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώποισι πέλονται.

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ νέομαι· σὺ δὲ τέρπεο τῷδʼ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ

παισί τε καὶ λαοῖσι καὶ Ἀλκινόῳ βασιλῆϊ.

ὣς εἰπὼν ὑπὲρ οὐδὸν ἐβήσετο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,

τῷ δʼ ἅμα κήρυκα προΐει μένος Ἀλκινόοιο,

ἡγεῖσθαι ἐπὶ νῆα θοὴν καὶ θῖνα θαλάσσης·

Ἀρήτη δʼ ἄρα οἱ δμῳὰς ἅμʼ ἔπεμπε γυναῖκας,

τὴν μὲν φᾶρος ἔχουσαν ἐϋπλυνὲς ἠδὲ χιτῶνα,

τὴν δʼ ἑτέρην χηλὸν πυκινὴν ἅμʼ ὄπασσε κομίζειν·

ἡ δʼ ἄλλη σῖτόν τʼ ἔφερεν καὶ οἶνον ἐρυθρόν.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ἐπὶ νῆα κατήλυθον ἠδὲ θάλασσαν,

αἶψα τά γʼ ἐν νηῒ γλαφυρῇ πομπῆες ἀγαυοὶ

δεξάμενοι κατέθεντο, πόσιν καὶ βρῶσιν ἅπασαν·

κὰδ δʼ ἄρʼ Ὀδυσσῆϊ στόρεσαν ῥῆγός τε λίνον τε

νηὸς ἐπʼ ἰκριόφιν γλαφυρῆς, ἵνα νήγρετον εὕδοι,

πρυμνῆς· ἂν δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐβήσετο καὶ κατέλεκτο

σιγῇ· τοὶ δὲ καθῖζον ἐπὶ κληῗσιν ἕκαστοι

κόσμῳ, πεῖσμα δʼ ἔλυσαν ἀπὸ τρητοῖο λίθοιο.

εὖθʼ οἱ ἀνακλινθέντες ἀνερρίπτουν ἅλα πηδῷ,

καὶ τῷ νήδυμος ὕπνος ἐπὶ βλεφάροισιν ἔπιπτε,

νήγρετος, ἥδιστος, θανάτῳ ἄγχιστα ἐοικώς.

ἡ δʼ, ὥς τʼ ἐν πεδίῳ τετράοροι ἄρσενες ἵπποι,

πάντες ἅμʼ ὁρμηθέντες ὑπὸ πληγῇσιν ἱμάσθλης,

ὑψόσʼ ἀειρόμενοι ῥίμφα πρήσσουσι κέλευθον,

ὣς ἄρα τῆς πρύμνη μὲν ἀείρετο, κῦμα δʼ ὄπισθε

πορφύρεον μέγα θῦε πολυφλοίσβοιο θαλάσσης.

ἡ δὲ μάλʼ ἀσφαλέως θέεν ἔμπεδον· οὐδέ κεν ἴρηξ

κίρκος ὁμαρτήσειεν, ἐλαφρότατος πετεηνῶν.

ὣς ἡ ῥίμφα θέουσα θαλάσσης κύματʼ ἔταμνεν,

ἄνδρα φέρουσα θεοῖς ἐναλίγκια μήδεʼ ἔχοντα·

ὃς πρὶν μὲν μάλα πολλὰ πάθʼ ἄλγεα ὃν κατὰ θυμὸν

ἀνδρῶν τε πτολέμους ἀλεγεινά τε κύματα πείρων,

δὴ τότε γʼ ἀτρέμας εὗδε, λελασμένος ὅσσʼ ἐπεπόνθει.

Odyssey. Homer. ed. A. T. Murray. London. 1919.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

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

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.) — 13.47 focus

So he spoke, and they all praised his words, and bade send the stranger on his way, since he had spoken fittingly. Then the mighty Alcinous spoke to the herald, saying: 50 “Pontonous, mix the bowl, and serve out wine to all in the hall, in order that, when we have made prayer to father Zeus, we may send forth the stranger to his own native land.” So he spoke, and Pontonous mixed the honey hearted wine and served out to all, coming up to each in turn; 55 and they poured libations to the blessed gods, who hold broad heaven, from where they sat. But goodly Odysseus arose, and placed in the hand of Arete the two-handled cup, and spoke, and addressed her with winged words: “Fare thee well, O queen, throughout all the years, till old age 60 and death come, which are the lot of mortals. As for me, I go my way, but do thou in this house have joy of thy children and thy people and Alcinous the king.” So the goodly Odysseus spake and passed over the threshold. And with him the mighty Alcinous sent forth a herald 65 to lead him to the swift ship and the shore of the sea. And Arete sent with him slave women, one bearing a newly washed cloak and a tunic, and another again she bade follow to bear the strong chest, and yet another bore bread and red wine. 70 But when they had come down to the ship and to the sea, straightway the lordly youths that were his escort took these things, and stowed them in the hollow ship, even all the food and drink. Then for Odysseus they spread a rug and a linen sheet on the deck of the hollow ship 75 at the stern, that he might sleep soundly; and he too went aboard, and laid him down in silence. Then they sat down on the benches, each in order, and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone. And as soon as they leaned back, and tossed the brine with their oarblades, sweet sleep fell upon his eyelids, 80 an unawakening sleep, most sweet, and most like to death. And as on a plain four yoked stallions spring forward all together beneath the strokes of the lash, and leaping on high swiftly accomplish their way, even so the stern of that ship leapt on high, and in her wake 85 the dark wave of the loud-sounding sea foamed mightily, and she sped safely and surely on her way; not even the circling hawk, the swiftest of winged things, could have kept pace with her. Thus she sped on swiftly and clove the waves of the sea, bearing a man the peer of the gods in counsel, 90 one who in time past had suffered many griefs at heart in passing through wars of men and the grievous waves; but now he slept in peace, forgetful of all that he had suffered.

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.) — 13.47 focus

47 Thus did he speak. His hearers all of them approved his saying and agreed that he should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken reasonably. Alkinoos therefore said to his servant, "Pontonoos, mix some wine and hand it round to everybody, that we may offer a prayer to father Zeus, and speed our guest upon his way."

53 Pontonoos mixed the wine and handed it to every one in turn; the others each from his own seat made a drink-offering to the blessed gods that live in heaven, but Odysseus rose and placed the double cup in the hands of queen Arete.

59 "Farewell, queen," said he, "henceforward and for ever, till age and death, the common lot of humankind, lay their hands upon you. I now take my leave; be happy in this house with your children, your people, and with king Alkinoos."

63 As he spoke he crossed the threshold, and Alkinoos sent a man to conduct him to his ship and to the sea shore. Arete also sent some maid servants with him - one with a clean shirt and cloak, another to carry his strong-box, and a third with grain and wine. When they got to the water side the crew took these things and put them on board, with all the meat and drink; but for Odysseus they spread a rug and a linen sheet on deck that he might sleep soundly in the stern of the ship. Then he too went on board and lay down without a word, but the crew took every man his place in order [ kosmos] and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone to which it had been bound. Thereon, when they began rowing out to sea, Odysseus fell into a deep, sweet, and almost deathlike slumber.

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 13.47 focus

Thus did he speak. His hearers all of them approved his saying and agreed that he should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken reasonably. Alkinoos therefore said to his servant, [50] “Pontonoos, mix some wine and hand it round to everybody, that we may offer a prayer to father Zeus, and speed our guest upon his way.”

Pontonoos mixed the wine and handed it to every one in turn; the others each from his own seat made a drink-offering [55] to the blessed gods that live in the sky, but Odysseus rose and placed the double cup in the hands of Queen Arete.

“Farewell, Queen,” said he, “henceforward and for ever, till age [60] and death, the common lot of humankind, lay their hands upon you. I now take my leave; be happy in this house with your children, your people, and with King Alkinoos.”

As he spoke he crossed the threshold, and Alkinoos sent a man [65] to conduct him to his ship and to the sea shore. Arete also sent some maid servants with him—one with a clean khiton and cloak, another to carry his strong-box, and a third with wheat and wine. [70] When they got to the water side the crew took these things and put them on board, with all the meat and drink; but for Odysseus they spread a rug and a linen sheet on deck that he might sleep [75] soundly in the stern of the ship. Then he too went on board and lay down without a word, but the crew took every man his place in order [ kosmos] and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone to which it had been bound. 78 When they [= the Phaeacian seafarers] began rowing out to sea, 79 he [= Odysseus] felt a sweet sleep falling upon his eyelids. [80] It was a deep sleep, the sweetest, and most similar to death.

81 Meanwhile, the ship was speeding ahead, just as a team of four stallions drawing a chariot over a plain 82 speeds ahead in unison as they all feel the stroke of the whip, 83galloping along smoothly, with feet raised high as they make their way forward, 84 so also the prow of the ship kept curving upward as if it were the neck of a stallion, and, behind the ship, waves that were [85] huge and seething raged in the waters of the roaring sea. 86The ship held steadily on its course, and not even a falcon, 87 raptor that he is, swiftest of all winged creatures, could have kept pace with it. 88 So did the ship cut its way smoothly through the waves, 89 carrying a man who was like the gods in his knowledge of clever ways, [90] who had beforehand suffered very many pains [ algea] in his heart [ thūmos], 91taking part in wars among men and forging through so many waves that cause pain, 92but now he was sleeping peacefully, forgetful of all he had suffered.

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873)) — 13.47 focus

He spake; the assembly all approved his words,

And bade send forth the stranger on his way,

Who spake so nobly. Then the mighty prince

Alcinoüs turned, and to the herald said:

"Now mix the wine, Pontonoüs, in a jar,

And bear a part to all beneath our roof,

That we with prayers to Father Jupiter

May send the stranger to his native land."

He spake; Pontonoüs mingled for the guests

The generous wine, and went with it to each,

Who poured it on the ground, from where they sat,

To all the dwellers of the ample heaven;

And then the great Ulysses, rising up,

Placed the round goblet in Aretè's hands,

And thus bespake the queen with winged words :-

"Farewell, O queen, through the long years, till age

And death, which are the lot of all, shall come.

Now I depart, but mayst thou, here among

Thy people, and the children of thy love,

And King Alcinoüs, lead a happy life!"

So spake the high-born chieftain, and withdrew,

And crossed the threshold. King Alcinoüs sent

A herald with him to direct his way

To the fleet ship and border of the deep.

Aretè also sent her servant-maids, -

One bearing a fresh cloak and tunic, one

A coffer nobly wrought, and yet a third

Bread and red wine; and when they reached the ship

Beside the sea, the diligent crew received

Their burdens, and bestowed within the hold

The food and drink, but spread upon the deck

And at the stern a mat and linen sheet,

That there Ulysses undisturbed might sleep.

He went on board and silently lay down,

While all the rowers in due order took

Their seats upon the benches. Loosing first

The hawser from the perforated rock,

They bent them to their task, and flung the brine

Up from the oar, while on the chieftain's lids

Lighted a sweet and deep and quiet sleep,

100

Most like to death. As, smitten by the lash,

Four harnessed stallions spring on high and dart

Across the plain together; so the prow

Rose leaping forward, while behind it rolled

A huge dark billow of the roaring sea.

105

Safely and steadily the galley ran,

Nor could a falcon, swiftest of the birds,

Have kept beside it, with such speed it flew,

Bearing a hero who was like the gods

In wisdom, and whose sufferings in the wars

110

And voyages among the furious waves

Were great and many, though he slumbered now

In peace, forgetful of misfortunes past.

English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858)) — 13.47 focus

'O thou, the first in merit and command!

'And you the peers and princes of the land!

'May every joy be yours! nor this the least,

'When due libation shall have crown'd the feast,
50

'Safe to my home to send your happy guest.

'Complete are now the bounties you have given,

'Be all those bounties but confirm'd by Heaven!

'So may I find, when all my wanderings cease,

'My consort blameless, and my friends in peace.
55

'On you be every bliss; and every day,

'In home-felt joys, delighted roll away:

'Yourselves, your wives, your long-descending race,

'May every god enrich with every grace!

'Sure fix'd on virtue may your nation stand,
60

'And public evil never touch the land!'

His words well weigh'd, the general voice approv'd

Benign, and instant his dismission mov'd.

The monarch to Pontonoüs gave the sign,

To fill the goblet high with rosy wine:

Alcinoüs

'Great Jove the Father first' (he cried) 'implore;

'Then send the stranger to his native shore.'

The luscious wine th' obedient herald brought;

Around the mansion flow'd the purple draught;

Each from his seat to each immortal pours,

Whom glory circles in the Olympian bowers.

Ulysses sole with air majestic stands,

The bowl presenting to Aretè's hands;

Then thus: 'O queen, farewell! be still possess'd

'Of dear remembrance, blessing still and bless'd!

'Till age and death shall gently call thee hence,

'(Sure fate of every mortal excellence!)

'Farewell! and joys successive ever spring

'To thee, to thine, the people and the king!'

Thus he: then parting prints the sandy shore

To the fair port: a herald march'd before,

Sent by Alcinoüs; of Aretè's train

Three chosen maids attend him to the main:

This does a tunic and white vest convey,

A various casket that, of rich inlay,

And bread and wine the third. The cheerful mates

Safe in the hollow poop dispose the cates:

Upon the deck soft painted robes they spread,

With linen cover'd, for the hero's bed.

He climb'd the lofty stern; then gently press'd

The swelling couch, and lay compos'd to rest.

Now placed in order, the Phaeacian train

Their cables loose, and launch into the main:

At once they bend, and strike their equal oars,

And leave the sinking hills and lessening shores.

While on the deck the chief in silence lies,

And pleasing slumbers steal upon his eyes.

As fiery coursers in the rapid race

Urged by fierce drivers through the dusty space,

Toss their high heads, and scour along the plain;

100

So mounts the bounding vessel o'er the main.

Back to the stern the parted billows flow,

And the black ocean foams and roars below.

Thus with spread sails the winged galley flies;

Less swift an eagle cuts the liquid skies;

105

Divine Ulysses was her sacred load,

A man in wisdom equal to a god!

Much danger, long and mighty toils he bore,

In storms by sea, and combats on the shore:

All which soft sleep now banish'd from his breast,

110

Wrapp'd in a pleasing, deep, and death-like rest.

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 13.47 focus

This said, they prais'd him all, and counsel gave

The stranger to conduct safe o'er the seas.

Alcinous then call'd for wine, and bad

Pontonous present it to each one,

Until unto the Gods all offer'd had,

That so Ulysses the sooner might be gone.

Pontonous brought wine, and carried it

From man to man, and each man drank his cup,

Blessing the Gods in order as they sit.

When all had drunk, Ulysses standeth up,

And speaking to queen Arete, he said:

Happy for ever may you be, O queen.

I take my leave. Be you for ever joy'd

In king Alcinous as you have been,

And in your children and your people all.

And when he this had said, away he went.

Alcinous did then a squire call,

Whom with Ulysses to the ship he sent.

Arete to her women sent. One brought

Fine bread and store of black wine of the best;

Another brought with her a cloak and coat;

Another brought, to lay them in, a chest,

Which by the mariners were quickly stow'd

Aboard the good ship, with the wine and bread.

And for Ulysses many rugs they strew'd

0' th' deck, astern, with linen at his head.

And then aboard lie went. When he was lain,

Their seats they take, and parted from the strand,

Reclining dash d with oars the liquid plain,

While sleep Ulysses bound had foot and hand.

As when four horses gallop o'er a plain,

The way runs swiftly by the coach's side;

So did the good ship mount upon the main,

And to the stem the water swiftly glide,

A hawk could hardly with it have kept pace,

A hawk that of all fowl the swiftest flies;

So swiftly ran the ship on th' ocean's face,

And with her breast the rising water slice;

Bearing a man for wisdom like a God,

That pass'd had fearful billows on the deep,

And many bloody paths of war had trod,

The thought whereof was now removed by sleep.

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 13.47 focus

Thus spake Alcinous, and pleased the rest;

When each man closed with home and sleep his feast.

But when the colour-giving light arose,

All to the ship did all their speeds dispose,

And wealth, that honest men makes, brought with them.

All which even he that wore the diadem

Stow'd in the ship himself, beneath the seats

The rowers sat in, stooping, lest their lets

In any of their labours he might prove.

Then home he turn'd, and after him did move

The whole assembly to expected feast.

Among whom he a sacrifice address'd,

And slew an ox, to weather-wielding Jove,

Beneath whose empire all things are, and move.

The thighs then roasting, they made glorious cheer,

Delighted highly; and amongst them there

The honour'd-of-the-people used his voice,

Divine Demodocus. Yet, through this choice

Of cheer and music, had Ulysses still

An eye directed to the eastern hill,

To see Him rising that illustrates all;

For now into his mind a fire did fall

Of thirst for home. And as in hungry vow

To needful food a man at fixed plow

To whom the black ox all day long hath turn'd

The stubborn fallows up, his stomach burn'd

With empty heat and appetite to food,

His knees afflicted with his spirit-spent blood)

At length the long-expected sun-set sees,

That he may sit to food, and rest his knees;

So to Ulysses set the friendly light

²³⁴

The sun afforded, with as wish'd a sight.

Who straight bespake that oar-affecting State,

But did in chief his speech appropriate

To him by name, that with their rule was crown'd.

"Alcinous, of all men most renown'd,

Dismiss me with as safe pass as you vow

(Your off'ring past) and may the Gods to you

In all contentment use as full a hand;

For now my landing here and stay shall stand

In all perfection with my heart's desire,

Both my so safe deduction to aspire,

And loving gifts; which may the Gods to me

As blest in use make as your acts are free,

Even to the finding firm in love, and life,

With all desired event, my friends, and wife.

When, as myself shall live delighted there,

May you with your wives rest as happy here,

Your sons and daughters, in particular state,

With every virtue render'd consummate;

And, in your general empire, may ill never

Approach your land, but good your good quit ever."

This all applauded, and all jointly cried:

"Dismiss the stranger! He hath dignified

With fit speech his dismission." Then the king

Thus charged the herald: "Fill for offering

A bowl of wine; which through the whole large house

Dispose to all men, that, propitious

Our father Jove made with our prayers, we may

Give home our guest in full and wished way."

This said, Pontonous commix'd a bowl

⁵⁶

Of such sweet wine as did delight the soul.

Which making sacred to the blessed Gods,

That hold in broad heaven their supreme abodes,

God-like Ulysses from his chair arose,

And in the hands of th' empress did impose

The all-round cup; to whom, fair spoke, he said:

"Rejoice, O queen, and be your joys repaid

By heaven, for me, till age and death succeed;

Both which inflict their most unwelcome need

100

On men and dames alike. And, first, for me,

I must from hence, to both: Live you here free,

And ever may all living blessings spring,

Your joy in children, subjects, and your king."

This said, divine Ulysses took his way;

105

Before whom the unalterable sway

Of king Alcinous' virtue did command

A herald's fit attendance to the strand,

And ship appointed. With him likewise went

Handmaids, by Arete's injunction sent.

110

One bore an out and in-weed, fair and sweet,

The other an embroider'd cabinet,

The third had bread to bear, and ruddy wine;

All which, at sea and ship arrived, resign

Their freight conferr'd. With fair attendants then,

115

The sheets and bedding of the man of men,

Within a cabin of the hollow keel,

Spread, and made soft, that sleep might sweetly seel

His restful eyes, he enter'd, and his bed

In silence took. The rowers ordered

120

Themselves in several seats, and then set gone

The ship, the gable from the hollow stone

Dissolved and weigh'd up, all, together, close

Then beat the sea. His lids in sweet repose

Sleep bound so fast, it scarce gave way to breath

125

Inexcitable, most dear, next of all to death.

And as amids a fair field four brave horse

Before a chariot stung into their course

With fervent lashes of the smarting scourge,

That all their fire blows high, and makes them urge

130

To utmost speed the measure of their ground;

So bore the ship aloft her fiery bound;

About whom rush'd the billows black and vast,

In which the sea-roars burst. As firm as fast

She ply'd her course yet; nor her winged speed

135

The falcon-gentle could for pace exceed;

So cut she through the waves, and bore a man

Even with the Gods in counsels, that began

And spent his former life in all misease,

Battles of men, and rude waves of the seas,

140

Yet now securely slept, forgetting all.

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 13.47 focus

He ended; they unanimous, his speech

Applauded loud, and bade dismiss the guest

Who had so wisely spoken and so well.

Then thus Alcinoüs to his herald spake.

Pontonoüs! charging high the beaker, bear

To every guest beneath our roof the wine,

That, prayer preferr'd to the eternal Sire,

We may dismiss our inmate to his home.

Then bore Pontonoüs to every guest

The brimming cup; they, where they sat, perform'd

Libation due; but the illustrious Chief

Ulysses, from his seat arising, placed

A massy goblet in Areta's hand,

To whom in accents wing'd, grateful, he said.

Farewell, O Queen, a long farewell, till age

Arrive, and death, the appointed lot of all !

I go; but be this people, and the King

Alcinoüs, and thy progeny, thy joy

Yet many a year beneath this glorious roof!

So saying, the Hero through the palace-gate

Issued, whom, by Alcinoüs' command,

The royal herald to his vessel led.

Three maidens also of Areta's train

His steps attended; one, the robe well-bleach'd

And tunic bore; the corded coffer, one;

And food the third, with wine of crimson hue.

Arriving where the galley rode, each gave

Her charge to some brave mariner on board,

And all was safely stow'd. Meantime were spread

Linen and arras on the deck astern,

For his secure repose. And now the Chief

Himself embarking, silent lay'd him down.

Then every rower to his bench repair'd;

They drew the loosen'd cable from its hold

In the drill'd rock, and resupine, at once

With lusty strokes upturn'd the flashing waves.

His eye-lids soon sleep, falling as a dew,

Closed fast, death's simular, in sight the same.

She, as four harness'd stallions o'er the plain

Shooting together at the scourge's stroke,

Toss high their manes, and rapid scour along,

So mounted she the waves, while dark the flood

Roll'd after her of the resounding Deep.

100

Steady she ran and safe, passing in speed

The falcon, swiftest of the fowls of heaven;

With such rapidity she cut the waves,

An Hero bearing like the Gods above

In wisdom, one familiar long with woe

105

In fight sustain'd, and on the perilous flood,

Though sleeping now serenely, and resign'd

To sweet oblivion of all sorrow past.

English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911)) — 13 focus

ODYSSEY BOOK XIII

THUS did he end; and they sat all utterly silent and speechless,

Holden as 'twere by a spell in the shadowy hall of the palace.

Then King Alcinous outspake and in answer addressed him:

"Since now under the roof of my bronze-floored palace, Odysseus,

Safe thou art come, thou'lt never, methinks, go wandering further,

Ere to thy home thou return'st, however to hardship accustomed.

Now to you all and to each I announce this further injunction,

Each who is wont to partake of the glowing wine of the elders

Here in my banqueting-hall, and to list to the song of the minstrel :

Lo, in a polished coffer the raiment received by the stranger

Lieth, and fair things fashioned of gold, and the rest of the presents

Which Phaeacian lords of the council collected together.

Come, let us also present him a full-sized tripod and cauldron,

Each of us; then can we later, by making collection in public,

Win us repayment; 'tis hard when the one does favours for nothing."

Thus spake Alcinous and his speech was received with approval.

Each one then to his homestead departed to lay him to slumber.

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

Quickly they brought to the vessel the bronze that rejoiceth a mortal;

This did the powerful chief, King Alcinous, on the vessel

Going around stow under the benches away, to prevent it

Hindering any that rowed when amain at his oar he was pulling.

Then to the house of the king they betook them and set them a-feasting,

After the powerful monarch had given an ox to be slaughtered

Unto Cronion, the ruler of all, who dwells in the storm-cloud.

So when the thighs they had burnt they partook of a glorious banquet,

Making them merry, and harked to the strains of the godlike singer

Demodocus, blind bard by the people beloved; but Odysseus

Ever and ever was turning his eyes to the sun in its splendour,

Longing to hasten its setting, so eager he felt for departure.

Even as yearns for his supper a man when his wine-red oxen

All day long have tugged at a jointed plough in a fallow,

E'en as he joys when he seeth the sun's light sink to the setting,

So he can get to his food and his knee-joints ache as he walketh-

Thus did Odysseus rejoice when the sunlight sank to the setting.

Suddenly then to the lovers of ships, Phaeacia's nobles,

Chiefly to Alcinous these words addressing, he turned him:

"O King Alcinous, illustrious prince of the people,

Pour ye libation and bid me farewell !-farewell to you also !

Now it is all fulfilled as I wished in the depth of my bosom,

Escort and loving gifts—May the gods celestial grant me

Blessing therein! May I come to my home, and my peerless consort

There may I find still living and well, with the rest of my dear ones!

Ye too, bide ye at home with your wedded wives and your children,

Making them happy with love. May the gods prosperity grant you,

Every kind, and all that is ill dwell far from the people."

Thus did he speak, and they all assented and made resolution

Homeward the stranger to help, since duly and well he had spoken.

Then did the powerful king to his henchman turn and address him :

"Pontonoüs, come mix strong wine and serve us a bumper,

Plenty for all at the feast, that a prayer we may raise to the Father,

Ere we shall send our guest on his way to his distant homeland."

Thus did he speak; and a wine honey-hearted was mixed by the henchman;

Then to them all he dispensed it in turn; and they made a libation

Unto the blesséd immortals who dwell in the infinite heaven,

Pouring it there as they sat. Then rising, the godlike Odysseus

Into the hands of the queen gave over his twy-cupped goblet,

While uplifting his voice these swift-winged words he addressed her:

"Fare thee well, O queen, and be happy for ever, till lastly

Age shall befall thee, and death, which cometh to every mortal.

Now it is need that I go; but do thou live joyfully alway

Here in thy home with the monarch, thy lord, and thy children and people!"

These words said, stept over the threshold the godlike Odysseus,

Having beside him the herald whom Alcinous had commanded

Down to the shore of the sea and the swift-winged vessel to guide him.

Also had Arete told three of her women to follow.

One of them bare in her arms fresh raiment a cloak and a doublet;

Then was a second commissioned to carry the strong-made coffer,

While that the third had a burden of bread and of glittering red wine.

So, when at last they had come to the sea and arrived at the vessel,

Speedily then was it all by the high-born men of the escort

Taken aboard and bestowed in the hold with the wine and the viands.

Also they spread for Odysseus a rug and a wrapper of linen

Nigh to the stern, on the deck of the hollow vessel, to lie there

Soundly asleep; and he mounted the ship and composed him to slumber

Silently, while that the crew sat down on the benches in order,

Each in his place; and loosed from the mooring-stone was the hawser.

PATTEN WILSON
THE ARRIVAL AT ITHACA

Then, as they backward swung uptossing the brine with the oar-blades,

Softly a sleep profound spread over his slumbering eyelids,

Deep as a trance and surpassingly sweet—yea, death it resembled.

Now did the vessel as over a plain four stallion coursers

Harnessed abreast, 'neath strokes of the lash, come thundering onward,

Bounding aloft as they gallop apace their course to accomplish,

So did the stern of the ship go bounding aloft—and behind it

Mightily eddied the dark blue wave of the bellowing ocean.

Steadily onward she flew; not even the falcon that soareth,

Swiftest of birds of the air, might vie with the ship in her swiftness;

So did she speed on her way, right easily cleaving the billows,

Bearing a man who was like to the gods everlasting in wisdom,

One who had suffered already in heart full many a sorrow,

Tossed by the billows of war and the grievous waves of the ocean.

Now he is sleeping in peace, forgetful of all that he suffered.

So when the star was on high that of all is the brightest, and ofttimes

Comes as the herald of light when the newborn day is arising,

Voyaging over the waters the ship drew near to an island

Where is a haven of Phorcys, the ancient god of the ocean.

Here it is Ithacan land. Two capes jut forth from the coast-line,

High precipitous cliffs but aslope to the verge of the harbour,

Fending the monstrous surge of the rollers aroused by the storm-winds

Out in the open; but ever within unloosed from the cable

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Well-decked vessels can ride when they enter the bound of the roadstead.

Now at the head of the haven a long-leaved olive is growing,

Distant from which not far is a pleasant and shadowy grotto,

Hallowed haunt of the nymphs who are known as the fountain naiads.

Here in the depths of the cave are amphora vessels and wine-bowls

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Formed of the rock, and the bees hide here their treasures of honey;

Here stand, fashioned in stone, vast looms, where many a naiad

Weaveth her robes of the deep-sea purple, a wonder to gaze at.

Water perennial welleth within. Two mouths hath the cavern;

One to the North Wind looks and is easy for mortals to enter,

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One to the South, and is more for the gods; nor ever by this way

Entereth any of human race; 'tis a path for immortals.

Into the haven they rowed (they had known it before), and the vessel

Ran on the beach: to the half of her length on the sand was she driven,

Such was her speed, and such was the strength of the hands that impelled her.

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Out of the well-benched vessel when now they had stepped on the dry land,

First from the deck of the hollow ship uplifting Odysseus,

E'en as he lay in the rug and the glistering wrapper of linen,

Down on the sand of the shore, still heavy with slumber, they placed him.

Then from the vessel they landed the gifts that the king and the nobles,

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Moved by the noble Athena, bestowed when for home he departed.

These in a heap up-piling they left at the foot of the olive

Somewhat aside from the path, lest any that saw it in passing,

Ere that Odysseus awoke, might venture anigh and despoil him.

These now homeward returned.

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But the King Earth-shaking Poseidon

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Ne'er had forgotten the vows that he uttered when erst he had threatened

Godlike Odysseus, and turning to Zeus he demanded his counsel:

"Father Zeus! I can hope henceforth from the gods everlasting

Little respect, since men that be mortal so little respect me,

E'en Phaeacian folk—whose race from myself is descended.

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Lo, full many afflictions I vowed should fall on Odysseus

Ere to his home he returned—though wholly to stay his returning

Ne'er did I try from the moment thou gav'st thy consent and thy promise.

Now these men have borne him asleep in a swift-winged vessel

Over the sea and on Ithaca set him, and richly with presents

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Helped him with bronze and with gold and abundance of woven apparel-

Treasures so many as ne'er from the Trojans Odysseus had gained him

Had he returned unscathed with his well-won share in the booty."

Him forthwith gave answer the god who gathers the storm-clouds:

"Lo now, what is this word, Earth-shaker and Ruler of ocean?

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Thee nowise dishonour the gods. 'Twere difficult truly

Thee, who art eldest and best of us all, to assail with dishonour,

While if a mortal, obeying his hardy and arrogant nature,

Honours thee not, it is thine to avenge thee, or now or hereafter.

Act as thou willst as it seems to be best to the spirit within thee!"

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Then did the King Earth-shaking Poseidon address him in answer:

"Quickly enough had I done as thou say'st, O King of the storm-clouds,

Had I not held thee in awe and dreaded arousing thy anger.

Now I am minded to smite this fine Phaeacian vessel

While from the convoy she homeward returns in the mist-bound ocean;

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Yea I will smite her and teach them to stop and to stay with their convoys.

This will I do, and will whelm with the mass of a mountain the city."

Him forthwith gave answer the god who gathers the storm-clouds:

"Friend, as it seems to my mind, 'twere verily better and wiser,

Just at the moment when out of the city the whole of the people

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Watcheth her enter the harbour, to change her, anigh to the sea-shore,

Into a rock with the form of a vessel, that ever hereafter

Mortals shall wonder. Then whelm with the mass of a mountain the city !"

Now when he heard this saying the King Earth-shaker Poseidon

Went to the Scherian isle, where dwell Phaeacian people.

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Here he remained till anigh was the ship as she voyaged the ocean

Rapidly speeding along ; then the King Earth-shaker, approaching,

Suddenly changed her to stone and rooted her deep in the waters,

Smiting with downward stroke of the hand; and he turned and departed.

Uttering swift-winged words then turned them the one to the other

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All of the Scherian folk—those famous oarsmen and sailors-

Each man gazing the while at the man that was standing beside him :

"Ah me! who is it fettered the swift ship fast on the ocean

E'en as she entered the port? Just now she was visible plainly."

Thus spake one to the other, but how it had happened they knew not.

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Then King Alcinous rose up in the midst and harangued them:

"Lo now, surely the doom prophetic is falling upon me

Told by my sire, who was wont to proclaim that Poseidon was angered,

Jealous because we unfailingly offer an escort to all men.

'Some day'—so did he speak—'as a fine Phaeacian vessel

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Over the mist-bound deep from a convoy returns shall the sea-god

Smite her to pieces and whelm with the mass of a mountain the city.'

Such was the rede of my sire, and it all finds now a fulfilment.

Come now, hear what I say, and let all of us follow my counsel!

Never again let us give such convoy, if wandering mortals

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Come to the city; and now let us offer Poseidon atonement;

Twelve choice bulls let us slaughter in hope he may show us compassion,

Neither in anger o'erwhelm with the mass of a mountain the city."

So did he speak, and in fear they prepared them the bulls for oblation.

Thus then offering prayers to Poseidon, the king of the ocean,

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All of the best of the land, Phaeacia's princes and leaders,

Stood surrounding the altar.

And godlike Odysseus, awaking,

Opened his eyes on the land of his birth, nor yet did he know it,

Such long years had he wandered afar; and around him the goddess

Pallas Athena, the daughter of Zeus, poured mist to conceal him,

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Keeping him hidden until she had given him counsel in all things,

Lest that his wife might know him, or friends, or the men of the city,

Ere for transgression the suitors had paid complete satisfaction.

Wherefore utterly strange was the land to the eyes of its master,

All of the clambering paths and all of the sheltering havens,

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Lofty precipitous crags and the bloom of luxuriant forests.

Hastily rising he stood and gazing around on his homeland

Uttered a pitiful groan and on both of his thighs in despondence

Smote with a downward stroke of the hands and made lamentation:

"Ah me, what is the folk whose country I now am arrived at ?

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Dwell here savages wanton and wild, despisers of justice ?

Have they a love for the stranger and hearts that revere the immortals?

Whither to carry my treasure I know not at all ; and myself too

Where shall I turn me? I would 'twere back in the Scherian island

Just as it was; and perchance I had found some powerful monarch

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Elsewhere, ready to grant me a welcome and give me an escort.

Now I am truly in doubt to bestow it. I Airs like not

Leaving it here as a find and a welcome booty for others.

Nay but in sooth not at all like lovers of wisdom and justice

Acted, methinks, those high Phaeacian nobles and princes,

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Bringing me thus to a land unknown; for they promised to bring me

Unto the far-seen Ithacan isle, and the promise is broken.

Zeus I beseech to requite it, the suppliant's god, who is watching

Ever the deeds of mankind and punisheth every sinner.

Well now, come, I will look to the presents and reckon the number;

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Haply departing they took of the things on the hollow vessel."

These words said, he inspected the tripods and beautiful cauldrons,

Numbering all, and the gold and the woven and exquisite garments.

Nothing he missed of them all, and with joyless thoughts of his homeland

Slowly he wandered along by the shore of the bellowing ocean

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Uttering many a moan.

Then approached him the goddess Athene

Likened in form to a youth who tendeth the sheep on a pasture,

Having a delicate beauty of mien, as the son of a chieftain;

Twofold over her shoulders a well-wrought mantle she carried;

Sandals she wore on her fair white feet, and a lance she was holding.

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Then as he saw her Odysseus rejoiced and advancing to meet her

Lifted in welcome his voice, and with swift-winged words he addressed her :

"Friend, since thou art the first I have lighted upon in the country,

Welcome!—for truly I hope that thou com'st with a friendly intention-

Rescue this treasure of mine, and myself too! Lo, I beseech thee

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Even as wert thou a god, at thy knees as a suppliant falling.

Also relate me the truth—for I fain would know it for certain :

What is this land? What people and natives dwell in the country?

One of the far-seen isles peradventure? or one of the beaches

Sloping adown to the sea on the fertile coast of the mainland?"

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Him forthwith gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:

"Foolish thou seemst, O stranger, or else thou art come from a distance,

Seeing thou askest the name of the land. So utterly nameless

Sooth it is not. There's many and many a mortal that knows it-

Every mortal that dwells in the east, whence dawneth the sunrise,

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Every mortal behind in the west, where fadeth the daylight.

Truly the island is rugged—not fit for the driving of horses-

Still, not utterly poor, though lacking in open expanses.

Corn in amazing abundance it groweth, and also the wine-grape

Ripens, and ever with rain and with freshening dew it is moistened.

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Good is the isle as a pasture for goats and for kine, and it beareth

Every manner of wood and hath watering-places that fail not.

Therefore, stranger, hath Ithaca's name reached even to Troyland,

Though right far, it is said, 'tis away from the shores of Achaea."

So did she speak, and it joyed long-suffering godlike Odysseus,

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Yea he rejoiced in the land of his birth when he heard what she told him,

Pallas Athena, the daughter of Zeus who beareth the aegis.

Then uplifting his voice these swift-winged words he addressed her ;

Yet no truth did he speak, for he curbed it before it was uttered,

Keeping, as ever, control of the mind right cunning within him:

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"Ah yes, Ithaca's name I have heard far over the ocean,

E'en in the broad-spread island of Creta, from which I am come now,

I and this treasure of mine; and as much did I leave for my children,

Flying the land; for the son I had killed of a prince of the country,

Orsilochus swift-footed, who conquered in fleetness of running

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Every mortal that liveth on bread in the isle of the Cretans.

Him I had killed—for he wished to deprive me of all of my booty

Gotten at Troy, in the winning whereof great toil I had suffered,

Tossed on the billows of war and the grievous waves of the ocean-

Wished it because I refused as attendant to follow his father

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There in the Trojan land, and had captained a band of my fellows.

So with my bronze-shod spear I attacked him whenas he was coming

Home from the fields, waylaying him close to the road with a comrade.

Black was the night that enshrouded the heaven; no mortal perceived us;

None was aware of the deed I had done when of life I bereft him.

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Now no sooner the man with my sharp-edged spear I had murdered,

Straight to a ship I betook me of proud Phoenician sea-folk;

Them I entreated, and gave them of spoil that delighteth a mortal,

Earnestly begging them take me aboard of the vessel and land me

Either at Pylos or Elis the fair, where rule the Epeans.

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Thither to come howbeit withheld them the might of the storm-wind,

Much as they wished it; nor acted they willingly thus to deceive me.

Out of the course thus driven, at night we arrived at this island.

Toilfully rowing ahead to a harbour we came, and exhausted,

Wholly forgetful of food, though needing sorely a supper,

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Stepped from the vessel and, just as we were, lay down on the sea-shore.

Now when in slumber refreshing I sank outworn with my labours,

Carrying all of my goods from the hollow vessel, they placed them

Here at my side, where sleeping I lay on the sands of the sea-shore.

Then, embarking again, for the flourishing city of Sidon

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Started, and here I am left with a heart that is heavy with trouble."

Thus had he spoken when, smiling, the grey-eyed goddess Athene

Touched him with gentle caress; and she changed to the form of a woman

Beautiful, stately, and gifted with deftness in exquisite handwork.

Then uplifting her voice these swift-winged words she addressed him :

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"Truly a master in craft were one that excelled thee in cunning!

Conquered in guile were e'en the immortal who happened to meet thee.

Ah, thou audacious inventor of falsehood, insatiate trickster,

Even at home, as it seemeth, thou mean'st not to cease from deceiving,

Weaving thy fables, wherein from the ground of thy heart thou delightest.

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Come, let us speak no longer thereof! We are both of us practised

Weavers of wiles for of all of mankind thou art easily foremost

Both in thy counsels and speech, and amid the immortals I win me

Fame for my wit and my wiles. Yet how didst thou fail to discern me,

Pallas Athena, the daughter of Zeus—that goddess who always

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Stands at thy side and defends thee in every hardship and danger,

Ay and who gained thee the love and the favour of all the Phaeacians?

Now am I come that we two may take some counsel together,

Also in safety to bring these gifts that the lordly Phaeacians

Gave at thy homeward departing (for such was my will and intention),

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Yea and in order to tell thee of all thou art destined to suffer

E'en in thy well-built home—So resign thee to fate and endure it!

Nor do thou utter a word to a man of them all or a woman,

Telling that home thou art come from thy wanderings. Suffer in silence !

E'en though bitter the pain and deep the indignity, bear it!"

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

"Difficult 'twere for the mortal thou meetest, goddess, to know thee,

Though right clever he were, for thou cloth'st thee in every semblance.

This howbeit I know, that thou gavest me favour aforetime,

While in the country of Troy were warring the sons of Achaea;

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Yet, when at last we had plundered the steep-built city of Priam,

After the Greeks had embarked on the ships and a god had dispersed them,

Never again I beheld thee, thou daughter of Zeus, nor perceived thee

Mounting aboard of my vessel in order to save me from sorrow.

Cherishing deep in my bosom a heart that was stricken with anguish,

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Ever I wandered, until the immortals from evil released me,

Even till thou thyself in the rich Phaeacian country

Gavest me comforting words and didst show me the way in the city.

Now in the name of the Father I beg thee to tell me for never

May I believe I am come to the far-seen Ithacan island;

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Nay, in a foreign land I am roaming, and merely to mock me

This thou art saying, and cheating my soul with an empty illusion-

Tell me the truth! Am I come to the dear-loved land of my fathers?"

Him forthwith gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:

"Ever and alway the same suspicious thoughts in thy bosom !

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This is the reason I ne'er can desert thee in all thy affliction,

Since thou art wary and ready of wit and surpassing in prudence.

Gladly had many a man, thus safely returned from a far land,

Hastened him home in the longing to look on his wife and his children;

Nowise such is thy wish—nor to listen and learn from another,

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Ere thou hast tested thy wife to the full; but she sitteth, as alway,

There in thy palace halls, and filled with the gloom of her sadness

Waneth the day and waneth the night, while ever she weepeth.

Truly I ne'er had a doubt—nay, deep in my spirit I knew it,

Knew thy return was assured, though lost were all of thy comrades;

340

Yet was I all unwilling to strive with my father's brother,

Even Poseidon, who cherished at heart such anger against thee,

Raging because of his well-loved son, whom thou reftest of eyesight.

Come now, look on the scene and assure thee 'tis Ithaca's island!

Here is the haven of Phorcys, the ancient god of the ocean !

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There, at the head of the harbour, a high-branch'd olive is growing,

Distant from which not far is a pleasant shadowy grotto,

Sacred haunt of the nymphs that are known as the fountain naiads;

There is the cave with its roof high-arched where often aforetime

Unto the nymphs thou hast made full many a perfect oblation.

350

There too, clothed in its forests, the mountain of Neriton riseth."

These words spoken, she scattered the mist and uncovered the landscape.

Then exulted in joy long-suffering godlike Odysseus;

Yea he rejoiced and embracing the earth, dear mother of harvests,

Uttered a prayer to the nymphs, uplifting his hands to the heaven :

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'Fountain Naiads, ye daughters of Zeus, I had verily never

Hoped to behold you again. With the vows of affection I greet you;

Yea and oblation of gifts we shall make you, as often aforetime,

Should but the daughter of Zeus, the bestower of booty, Athene,

Graciously grant me to live, and my son to arrive at his manhood."

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Then once more made answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene :

"Take thou courage, nor suffer thy heart herein to be anxious!

Now let us carry the gifts to the depth of this wonderful grotto;

There we will hide them at once, since there we can leave them in safety;

Then let us twain take counsel together to act for the wisest."

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Thus when the goddess had spoken she plunged in the shadowy cavern

Eagerly searching for places of hiding; and quickly Odysseus

Bringing the whole of his treasure—the gold and the bronze adamantine,

Fine-wrought garments as well, that Phaeacian nobles had given-

Stowed them away; and a boulder was set in the door by the goddess,

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Pallas Athena, the daughter of Zeus who beareth the aegis.

Then did the twain at the base of the sacred olive recline them,

There to consult, devising the doom of the insolent suitors.

First of the twain to begin was the grey-eyed goddess Athene:

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

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Think how best with a strong right hand these suitors to punish,

Shamelessly lording it still, as for three long years, in thy palace,

Wooing thy godlike wife and offering presents as lovers,

While with continual grief in her heart, as she waits for thy coming,

All she befooleth with hopes, and she giveth her promise to each one

380

Sending him many a message; but things far other she longs for."

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

"Lo now, just as it happ'd to Atrides, King Agamemnon!

Just his terrible doom in my halls I was fated to suffer,

Hadst thou not told me of all, O goddess, and duly advised me.

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Now come, weave me a plan, how best I may hope to requite them.

Stand thou too by my side, and with dauntless courage endue me,

E'en as at Troy, when we loosened her shining tiara of towers.

Art thou so eager to stand, O grey-eyed goddess, beside me,

Then am I ready enough three hundred foes to encounter,

390

Having thy favour, my lady and goddess, to help and befriend me."

Him forthwith gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:

"Yea assuredly still I befriend thee, and ne'er shall forsake thee

Then, when at last we shall come to the work; and if much I mistake not,

Soon with his blood and his brains the unmeasured earth will bespatter

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Many a man of the suitors, who now are wasting thy substance.

Come, I will change thy appearance that none shall be able to know thee;

All of the fair smooth flesh on thy pliant limbs will I wither,

Shrivel the yellow hair from thy head and wrap thee in raiment

Beggarly, such that a man might hacker at any that wore it.

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Lustreless too will I make thine eyes, once gleaming in beauty,

So that a thing of contempt thou'lt seem to the whole of the suitors,

Yea to thy wife and the son thou didst leave as a babe in thy palace.

Now for thyself 'twere best to betake thee at first to the swineherd,

Even the thrall who attends to thy pigs. He is full of devotion

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Both for thyself and thy son and the wise-souled Penelopeia.

Sitting in charge of the swine thou'lt find him—the herd that is feeding

Nigh to the Raven's Rock at the side of the spring Arethusa,

Eating the acorns wherein they delight, and drinking the fountain's

Dark sweet water—a food that doth nourish luxuriant fatness.

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Here by the side of the swineherd remain and question him fully,

While I betake me to Sparta, the city of beautiful women,

Telemachus to recall; for thy son, thy beloved, Odysseus,

Thither, to wide Lacedaemon, is gone and to prince Menelaus,

Tidings of thee to discover, if still on the earth thou art living."

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

'Why hast thou said to him nought of the truth, though fully thou knewst it?

Was't to compel him to wander with sufferings, like to his father,

Over the wastes of the sea, while strangers devour his possessions?"

Him forthwith gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:

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"Let not the thought of thy son too grievously trouble thy spirit.

I myself was his guide, for I wished him to win by the journey

Manly renown. Nor imagine he suffereth hardship. In comfort

Now in Atrides' palace he sits in the midst of abundance.

True, in their black-hulled ship these youths are lying in ambush

425

Eager to kill him before he arrives at the land of his fathers;

Yet do I reck not thereof, for the earth far sooner shall swallow

Many a one of the wooers who daily consume thy possessions."

Thus when Athena had spoken, her wand she extended and touched him;

All of the fair smooth flesh on his limbs of his body she withered,

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Shrivelled the yellow hair from his head, and the whole of his person,

Every limb, with the skin of a man right agéd she covered ;

Lustreless too did she make those eyes, once gleaming in beauty;

Round him in stead of his raiment she wrapt vile rags and a doublet

Hanging in tatters and filthy, with smoke all foully besmutted,

435

Over him cast as a mantle the hide of a timorous roe-deer

Naked of hair, and she gave him a staff and a beggarly wallet

Terribly tattered and torn; and thereon was a cord to suspend it.

Thus, their counsellings ended, they parted, the goddess Athene

Going to fair Lacedaemon to seek for the son of Odysseus.

440

New Alexandria Commentaries

Gregory Nagy

The storytelling of Odysseus has come to an end, and he will now be sent home to Ithaca by his hosts, Alkinoos and the Phaeacians. Sailing through the night in a ship provided by king Alkinoos, Odysseus is in a deep sleep, which is compared to death itself. At the precise moment when the ship reaches the shores of his homeland, Ithaca, Odysseus will ‘come to’, experiencing a mystical return to light and life.

draft js image error “Ulysses Asleep Laid on his Own Coast by the Phaeacian Sailors” (1805). John Flaxman (English, 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.

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|78 εὖθ’ οἳ ἀνακλινθέντες ἀνερρίπτουν ἅλα πηδῷ, |79 καὶ τῷ νήδυμος ὕπνος ἐπὶ βλεφάροισιν ἔπιπτε, |80 νήγρετος ἥδιστος, θανάτῳ ἄγχιστα ἐοικώς. |81 ἡ δ’, ὥς τ’ ἐν πεδίῳ τετράοροι ἄρσενες ἵπποι, |82 πάντες ἅμ’ ὁρμηθέντες ὑπὸ πληγῇσιν ἱμάσθλης |83 ὑψόσ’ ἀειρόμενοι ῥίμφα πρήσσουσι κέλευθον, |84 ὣς ἄρα τῆς πρύμνη μὲν ἀείρετο, κῦμα δ’ ὄπισθεν |85 πορφύρεον μέγα θῦε πολυφλοίσβοιο θαλάσσης. |86 ἡ δὲ μάλ’ ἀσφαλέως θέεν ἔμπεδον· οὐδέ κεν ἴρηξ |87 κίρκος ὁμαρτήσειεν, ἐλαφρότατος πετεηνῶν· |88 ὣς ἡ ῥίμφα θέουσα θαλάσσης κύματ’ ἔταμνεν, |89 ἄνδρα φέρουσα θεοῖσ’ ἐναλίγκια μήδε’ ἔχοντα, |90 ὃς πρὶν μὲν μάλα πολλὰ πάθ’ ἄλγεα ὃν κατὰ θυμόν, |91 ἀνδρῶν τε πτολέμους ἀλεγεινά τε κύματα πείρων· |92 δὴ τότε γ’ ἀτρέμας εὗδε, λελασμένος ὅσσ’ ἐπεπόνθει. |93 εὖτ’ ἀστὴρ ὑπερέσχε φαάντατος, ὅς τε μάλιστα |94 ἔρχεται ἀγγέλλων φάος Ἠοῦς ἠριγενείης, |95 τῆμος δὴ νήσῳ προσεπίλνατο ποντοπόρος νηῦς.

|78 When they [= the Phaeacian seafarers] began rowing out to sea, |79 he [= Odysseus] felt a sweet sleep falling upon his eyelids. |80 It was a deep sleep, the sweetest, and most similar to death. |81 Meanwhile, the ship was speeding ahead, just as a team of four stallions drawing a chariot over a plain |82 speeds ahead in unison as they all feel the stroke of the whip, |83 gallopping along smoothly, with feet raised high as they make their way forward, |84 so also the prow of the ship kept curving upward as if it were the neck of a stallion, and, behind the ship, waves that were |85 huge and seething raged in the waters of the roaring sea. |86 The ship held steadily on its course, and not even a falcon, |87 raptor that he is, swiftest of all winged creatures, could have kept pace with it. |88 So did the ship cut its way smoothly through the waves, |89 carrying a man who was like the gods in his knowledge of clever ways, |90 who had beforehand suffered very many pains [algea] in his heart [thūmos], |91 taking part in wars among men and forging through so many waves that cause pain, |92 but now he was sleeping peacefully, forgetful of all he had suffered. |93 And when the brightest of all stars began to show, the one that, more than any other star, |94 comes to announce the light of the Dawn born in her earliness, |95 that is when the ship, famed for its travels over the seas, drew near to the island.

(The following is epitomized from H24H 10§§11–12.) The very idea of consciousness as conveyed by nóos is derived from the metaphor of returning to light from darkness, as encapsulated in the moment of waking up from sleep, or of regaining consciousness after losing consciousness, that is, of ‘coming to’. See the comment on O.01.003; also on O.09.082–104. This metaphor of coming to is at work not only in the meaning of nóos in the sense of consciousness but also in the meaning of nostos in the sense of returning from darkness and death to light and life. See the comment on O.01.005. Remarkably, these two meanings converge at one single point in the master myth of the Odyssey. It happens here at O.13.078-095, when Odysseus finally reaches his homeland of Ithaca. Odysseus has been sailing home on a ship provided by the Phaeacians, against the will of the god Poseidon, and the hero falls into a deep sleep that most resembles death itself, O.13.079–080. This sleep makes him momentarily unconscious: he ‘forgets’, as expressed by the verb lēth-, O.13.092, all the algea, ‘pains’, of his past journeys through so many different cities of so many different people, O.13.090-091. Then, at the very moment when the ship reaches the shore of Ithaca, the hero’s homeland, the morning star appears, heralding the coming of dawn, O.13.093–095. The Phaeacians hurriedly leave Odysseus on the beach where they placed him, still asleep, when they landed, O.13.119, and, once they sail away, he wakes up there, O.13.187. So, the moment of the hero’s homecoming, which is synchronized with the moment of sunrise, is now further synchronized with a moment of awakening from a sleep that most resembles death.

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Homeric references to four-horse chariots are confined to contexts having to do with chariot racing. For chariot fighting, two-horse chariots are the Homeric norm. For exceptions, see the comments on I.05.263–273 and on I.08.185.

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Leonard Muellner

analysis of the formulas with the three places where eukhesthai + dative has the shape eukh ˘ ˘ – [=short short long], as in this verse

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in a list of examples of eukhesthai + dative (formulas which report prayers)

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Homer Odyssey 13.47

ed. A. T. Murray

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Current edition Perseus

Alcinoüs

'Great Jove the Father first' (he cried) 'implore;

'Then send the stranger to his native shore.'

ODYSSEY BOOK XIII

PATTEN WILSON
THE ARRIVAL AT ITHACA

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Alcinoüs 'Great Jove the Father first' (he cried) 'implore; 'Then send the stranger to his native shore.'

ODYSSEY BOOK XIII

PATTEN WILSON THE ARRIVAL AT ITHACA

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

Alcinoüs

'Great Jove the Father first' (he cried) 'implore;

'Then send the stranger to his native shore.'

PATTEN WILSON
THE ARRIVAL AT ITHACA