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To whom the Father of th' immortal powers,

Who swells the clouds, and gladdens earth with showers:

Jove

'Can mighty Neptune thus of man complain?

'Neptune, tremendous o'er the boundless main!
165

'Rever'd and awful e'en in heaven's abodes,

'Ancient and great! a god above the gods!

'If that low race offend thy power divine,

'(Weak, daring creatures!) is not vengeance thine?

'Go then, the guilty at thy will chastise.'
170

He said. The shaker of the earth replies:

Neptune

'This then I doom: to fix the gallant ship

'A mark of vengeance on the sable deep;

'To warn the thoughtless self-confiding train,

'No more unlicens'd thus to brave the main.
175

'Full in their port a shady hill shall rise,

'If such thy will.'—' We will it,' Jove replies.

Jove

'E'en when with transport, blackening all the strand,

'The swarming people hail their ship to land,

'Fix her for ever, a memorial stone:
180

'Still let her seem to sail, and seem alone.

'The trembling crowds shall see the sudden shade

'Of whelming mountains overhang their head!'

With that the god whose earthquakes rock the ground

Fierce to Phaeacia cross'd the vast profound.

185

Swift as a swallow sweeps the liquid way,

The winged pinnace shot along the sea.

The god arrests her with a sudden stroke,

And roots her down an everlasting rock.

Aghast the Scherians stand in deep surprise;

190

All press to speak, all question with their eyes.

What hands unseen the rapid bark restrain?

'And yet it swims, or seems to swim, the main!'

Thus they, unconscious of the deed divine:

Till great Alcinoüs, rising, own'd the sign.

195

Alcinoüs

'Behold the long-predestin'd day!' (he cries;)

'O certain faith of ancient prophecies!

'These ears have heard my royal sire disclose

'A dreadful story, big with future woes:

'How, mov'd with wrath, that careless we convey
200

'Promiscuous every guest to every bay,

'Stern Neptune raged; and how by his command

'Firm rooted in the surge a ship should stand,

'(A monument of wrath;) and mound on mound

'Should hide our walls, or whelm beneath the ground.
205

'The Fates have follow'd as declar'd the seer:

'Be humbled, nations! and your monarch hear.

'No more unlicens'd brave the deeps, no more

'With every stranger pass from shore to shore:

'On angry Neptune now for mercy call;
210

'To his high name let twelve black oxen fall.

'So may the god reverse his purpos'd will,

'Nor o'er our city hang the dreadful hill.'¹

Odyssey. Homer. London. 1858.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Current edition Experimental

English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)

Ὀδύσσεια Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey, Volume 1-2. Murray, A. T. (Augustus Taber), editor. London: William Heinmann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919.) — 13.139 focus

τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·

ὢ πόποι, ἐννοσίγαιʼ εὐρυσθενές, οἷον ἔειπες.

140

οὔ τί σʼ ἀτιμάζουσι θεοί· χαλεπὸν δέ κεν εἴη

πρεσβύτατον καὶ ἄριστον ἀτιμίῃσιν ἰάλλειν.

ἀνδρῶν δʼ εἴ πέρ τίς σε βίῃ καὶ κάρτεϊ εἴκων

οὔ τι τίει. σοὶ δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ ἐξοπίσω τίσις αἰεί.

ἔρξον ὅπως ἐθέλεις καί τοι φίλον ἔπλετο θυμῷ.

145

τὸν δʼ ἠμείβετʼ ἔπειτα Ποσειδάων ἐνοσίχθων·

αἶψά κʼ ἐγὼν ἔρξαιμι, κελαινεφές, ὡς ἀγορεύεις·

ἀλλὰ σὸν αἰεὶ θυμὸν ὀπίζομαι ἠδʼ ἀλεείνω.

νῦν αὖ Φαιήκων ἐθέλω περικαλλέα νῆα,

ἐκ πομπῆς ἀνιοῦσαν, ἐν ἠεροειδέϊ πόντῳ

150

ῥαῖσαι, ἵνʼ ἤδη σχῶνται, ἀπολλήξωσι δὲ πομπῆς

ἀνθρώπων, μέγα δέ σφιν ὄρος πόλει ἀμφικαλύψαι.

τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·

ὢ πέπον, ὡς μὲν ἐμῷ θυμῷ δοκεῖ εἶναι ἄριστα,

ὁππότε κεν δὴ πάντες ἐλαυνομένην προΐδωνται

155

λαοὶ ἀπὸ πτόλιος, θεῖναι λίθον ἐγγύθι γαίης

νηῒ θοῇ ἴκελον, ἵνα θαυμάζωσιν ἅπαντες

ἄνθρωποι, μέγα δέ σφιν ὄρος πόλει ἀμφικαλύψαι.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ τό γʼ ἄκουσε Ποσειδάων ἐνοσίχθων,

βῆ ῥʼ ἴμεν ἐς Σχερίην, ὅθι Φαίηκες γεγάασιν.

160

ἔνθʼ ἔμενʼ· ἡ δὲ μάλα σχεδὸν ἤλυθε ποντοπόρος νηῦς

ῥίμφα διωκομένη· τῆς δὲ σχεδὸν ἦλθʼ ἐνοσίχθων,

ὅς μιν λᾶαν ἔθηκε καὶ ἐρρίζωσεν ἔνερθε

χειρὶ καταπρηνεῖ ἐλάσας· ὁ δὲ νόσφι βεβήκει.

οἱ δὲ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔπεα πτερόεντʼ ἀγόρευον

165

Φαίηκες δολιχήρετμοι, ναυσίκλυτοι ἄνδρες.

ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκεν ἰδὼν ἐς πλησίον ἄλλον·

ὤ μοι, τίς δὴ νῆα θοὴν ἐπέδησʼ ἐνὶ πόντῳ

οἴκαδʼ ἐλαυνομένην; καὶ δὴ προὐφαίνετο πᾶσα.

ὣς ἄρα τις εἴπεσκε· τὰ δʼ οὐκ ἴσαν ὡς ἐτέτυκτο.

170

τοῖσιν δʼ Ἀλκίνοος ἀγορήσατο καὶ μετέειπεν·

ὢ πόποι, ἦ μάλα δή με παλαίφατα θέσφαθʼ ἱκάνει

πατρὸς ἐμοῦ, ὃς ἔφασκε Ποσειδάωνʼ ἀγάσασθαι

ἡμῖν, οὕνεκα πομποὶ ἀπήμονές εἰμεν ἁπάντων.

φῆ ποτὲ Φαιήκων ἀνδρῶν περικαλλέα, νῆα,

175

ἐκ πομπῆς ἀνιοῦσαν, ἐν ἠεροειδέϊ πόντῳ

ῥαισέμεναι, μέγα δʼ ἧμιν ὄρος πόλει ἀμφικαλύψειν.

ὣς ἀγόρευʼ ὁ γέρων· τὰ δὲ δὴ νῦν πάντα τελεῖται.

ἀλλʼ ἄγεθʼ, ὡς ἂν ἐγὼ εἴπω, πειθώμεθα πάντες·

πομπῆς μὲν παύσασθε βροτῶν, ὅτε κέν τις ἵκηται

180

ἡμέτερον προτὶ ἄστυ· Ποσειδάωνι δὲ ταύρους

δώδεκα κεκριμένους ἱερεύσομεν, αἴ κʼ ἐλεήσῃ,

μηδʼ ἡμῖν περίμηκες ὄρος πόλει ἀμφικαλύψῃ.

Translations (8)

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.) — 13.139 focus

Then Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered him, and said: 140 “Ah me, thou shaker of the earth, wide of sway, what a thing hast thou said! The gods do thee no dishonor; hard indeed would it be to assail with dishonor our eldest and best. But as for men, if any one, yielding to his might and strength, fails to do thee honor in aught, thou mayest ever take vengeance, even thereafter. 145 Do as thou wilt, and as is thy good pleasure.” Then Poseidon, the earth-shaker, answered him: “Straightway should I have done as thou sayest, thou god of the dark clouds, but I ever dread and avoid thy wrath. But now I am minded to smite the fair ship of the Phaeacians, 150 as she comes back from his convoy on the misty deep, that hereafter they may desist and cease from giving convoy to men, and to fling a great mountain about their city.” Then Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered him and said: “Lazy one, hear what seems best in my sight. 155 When all the people are looking forth from the city upon her as she speeds on her way, then do thou turn her to stone hard by the land—a stone in the shape of a swift ship, that all men may marvel; and do thou fling a great mountain about their city.” Now when Poseidon, the earth-shaker, heard this 160 he went his way to Scheria , where the Phaeacians dwell, and there he waited. And she drew close to shore, the seafaring ship, speeding swiftly on her way. Then near her came the Earth-shaker and turned her to stone, and rooted her fast beneath by a blow of the flat of his hand, and then he was gone. 165 But they spoke winged words to one another, the Phaeacians of the long oars, men famed for their ships. And thus would one speak, with a glance at his neighbor: “Ah me, who has now bound our swift ship on the sea as she sped homeward? Lo, she was in plain sight.” 170 So would one of them speak, but they knew not how these things were to be. Then Alcinous addressed their company and said: “Lo now, verily the oracles of my father, uttered long ago, have come upon me. He was wont to say that Poseidon was wroth with us because we give safe convoy to all men. 175 He said that some day, as a beautiful ship of the Phaeacians was returning from a convoy over the misty deep, Poseidon would smite her, and would fling a great mountain about our town. So that old man spoke, and lo, now all this is being brought to pass. But now come, as I bid let us all obey. 180 Cease ye to give convoy to mortals, when anyone comes to our city, and let us sacrifice to Poseidon twelve choice bulls, if haply he may take pity, and not fling a lofty mountain about our town.”

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.) — 13.139 focus

139 And Zeus answered, "What, O Lord of the Earthquake, are you talking about? The gods are by no means wanting in respect for you. It would be monstrous were they to insult one so old and honored as you are. As regards mortals, however, if any of them is indulging in insolence [ biê] and treating you disrespectfully, it will always rest with yourself to deal with him as you may think proper, so do just as you please."

146 "I should have done so at once," replied Poseidon, "if I were not anxious to avoid anything that might displease you; now, therefore, I should like to wreck the Phaeacian ship as it is returning from its escort. This will stop them from escorting people in future; and I should also like to envelop their city under a huge mountain."

153 "My good friend," answered Zeus, "I should recommend you at the very moment when the people from the city are watching the ship on her way, to turn it into a rock near the land and looking like a ship. This will astonish everybody, and you can then envelop their city under the mountain."

159 When earth-encircling Poseidon heard this he went to Scheria where the Phaeacians live, and stayed there till the ship, which was making rapid way, had got close-in. Then he went up to it, turned it into stone, and drove it down with the flat of his hand so as to root it in the ground. After this he went away.

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 13.139 focus

And Zeus answered, [140] “What, O Lord of the Earthquake, are you talking about? The gods are by no means wanting in respect for you. It would be monstrous were they to insult one so old and honored as you are. As regards mortals, however, if any of them is indulging in insolence [ biē] and treating you disrespectfully, it will always rest with yourself to deal with him as you may think proper, [145] do as you wish and as was pleasing to your heart.”

“I should have done so at once,” replied Poseidon, shaker of the Earth, “if I were not anxious to avoid anything that might displease you; 149 so now I want to smash the very beautiful ship of the Phaeacians [150] when it comes back, in a misty crossing of the sea, from its conveying mission, 151 so that these people [= the Phaeacians] will hold off, at long last, and stop their practice of conveying 152 humans. And I want to make a huge mountain envelop their city.”

“My good friend,” answered Zeus, “I should recommend you [155] at the very moment [155] when all the people of the city look out and see the ship sailing in, 156 turn it into a rock, just as it is about to reach land. 157 Make it look like a swift ship, so that people will look at it with wonder 158 —all of humanity will do so; and make the huge mountain envelop their city.”

When earth-encircling Poseidon heard this he went [160] to Skheria where the Phaeacians live, and stayed there till the ship, which was making rapid way, had got close-in. Then he went up to it, turned it into stone, and drove it down with the flat of his hand so as to root it in the ground. After this he went away. [165] The Phaeacians of the long oars then began talking among themselves, and one would turn towards his neighbor, saying, “Who is it that can have rooted the ship in the sea just as she was getting into port? We could see the whole of her only a moment ago.”

[170] This was how they talked, but they knew nothing about it; and Alkinoos said, “I remember now the old prophecy of my father. He said that Poseidon would be angry with us for taking every one so safely over the sea, [175] He once said that he [Poseidon] will smash the very beautiful ship of the Phaeacian men 176 when it comes back, in a misty crossing of the sea, from its conveying mission, 177 and that he will make a huge mountain envelop our city. 178That is what the old man said. And now you and I see that all these things are being brought to fulfillment. 179 But come, let us all comply with exactly what I am about to say. [180] In the first place we must leave off giving people escorts when they come here, and in the next let us sacrifice twelve picked [ krinein] bulls to Poseidon 182 in hopes that he will take pity 183 and will not make the tall mountain envelop our city.”

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873)) — 13.139 focus

Then cloud-compelling Jupiter replied :

"Earth-shaker, ruler of a mighty realm !

170

What hast thou said? The gods deny thee not

Due honor; perilous it were for them

To show contempt for one who stands in age

And might above them all. But if among

The sons of men be one who puts such trust

175

In his own strength as not to honor thee,

Do as seems good to thee, and as thou wilt."

Promptly the god who shakes the shores replied;

"What thou dost bid me I would do at once,

But that I fear and would avoid thy wrath.

180

I would destroy that fair Phæacian bark

In its return across the misty sea

From bearing home Ulysses, that no more

May the Phæacians lend an escort thus

To wandering men, and I would also cause

185

A lofty mount to rise and hide their town."

Then spake again the Cloud-compeller Jove :

"Thus were it best, my brother: when the crowd

Of citizens already see the ship

Approaching, then transform it to a rock

190

In semblance of a galley, that they all

May gaze in wonder; thus wilt thou have caused

A lofty mount to stand before their town."

This when the shaker of the shores had heard,

He flew to Scheria, the Phæacian isle,

195

And stood, until that galley, having crossed

The sea, came swiftly scudding. He drew near

And smote it with his open palm, and made

The ship a rock, fast rooted in the bed

Of the deep sea, and then he went his way.

200

Then winged words were spoken in that throng

Of the Phæacians, wielders of long oars,

And far renowned in feats of seamanship.

And, looking on each other, thus they said : -

"Ha! what has stayed our good ship on the sea?

205

This moment we beheld her hastening home."

'T was thus they talked, unweeting of the cause.

But then Alcinoüs to the assembly said : -

"Yes! now I call to mind the ancient words

Of prophecy, —- my father's, who was wont

210

To say that Neptune sorely is displeased

That we should give to every man who comes

Safe escort to his home. In coming times,

Such was my father's prophecy, - the god

Would yet destroy a well-appointed bark

215

Of the Phæacians on the misty deep

Returning from an escort, and would cause

A lofty mount to stand before our town.

So prophesied the aged man; his words

Are here fulfilled. Now do as I appoint,

220

And let us all obey. Henceforth refrain

From bearing to their homes the strangers thrown

Upon our coast; and let us sacrifice

To Neptune twelve choice bullocks of the herd,

That he may pity us, nor hide our town

225

With a huge mountain from the sight of men."

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 13.139 focus

Then answered Jove: Neptune, what's this you say?

The Gods neglect you not. It cannot be,

That are the eldest and of greatest sway

135

Of any of them. If man injure thee,

To take revenge enough your own pow'r is.

I will not hinder you, do what you please.

To Jupiter then Neptune answer'd this;

I could, O Jove, have been reveng'd with ease,

140

But that I fear'd you would offended be.

And now 111 tell you what I mean to do.

As soon as I the ship returning see,

I'll fix it, that they may no more do so;

Besides, their city with a hill 111 hide.

145

O but, said Jupiter, were it my case,

When from the city people all espied

The ship hard by, I would a rock there place

In likeness of a ship not far from land,

To make men wonder, and then round about

150

The city make a mighty mountain stand.

This said by Jove, the God of Seas went out

To Scheria, where the Phaeacians

First planted were. The ship came swiftly on,

And on it Neptune laid his mighty hands.

155

And roots it in the sea, turn'd into stone.

The rowers t' one another say, What's this?

Who hath our good ship fixed in the water?

And yet above the water still it is.

Thus said they, but knew nothing of the matter.

160

Then spake Alcinous. Performed, said he,

Is what long since I heard my father say,

That Neptune angry was that strangers we,

Whoe'er they were, do to their homes convey,

And threatened had with a great hill to hide

165

The city, and destroy the passage-boat.

This by my father then was prophecied,

And now, you see, at last about 'tis brought.

Therefore be rul'd by me. Convoy no more;

But let us unto Neptune sacrifice

170

Twelve chosen bullocks, and his grace implore

To set no hill there.

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 13.139 focus

The Shower-dissolver answer'd: "What a speech

Hath pass'd thy palate, O thou great in reach

Of wrackful empire! Far the Gods remain

From scorn of thee, for 'twere a work of pain

210

To prosecute with ignominies one

That sways our ablest and most ancient throne.

For men, if any so beneath in power

Neglect thy high will, now, or any hour

That moves hereafter, take revenge to thee,

215

Soothe all thy will, and be thy pleasure free."

"Why then," said he, "thou blacker of the fumes

That dim the sun, my licens'd power resumes

Act from thy speech; but I observe so much

And fear thy pleasure, that, I dare not touch

220

At any inclination of mine own,

Till thy consenting influence be known.

But now this curious-built Phæacian ship,

Returning from her convoy, I will strip

Of all her fleeting matter, and to stone

225

Transform and fix it, just when she hath gone

Her full time home, and jets before their prease

In all her trim, amids the sable seas,

That they may cease to convoy strangers still,

When they shall see so like a mighty hill

230

Their glory stick before their city's grace,

And my hands cast a mask before her face."

"O friend," said Jove, "it shows to me the best

Of all earth's objects, that their whole prease, drest

In all their wonder, near their town shall stand,

235

And stare upon a stone, so near the land,

So like a ship, and dam up all their lights,

As if a mountain interposed their sights."

When Neptune heard this, he for Scheria went,

Whence the Phæacians took their first descent.

240

Which when he reach'd, and, in her swiftest pride,

The water-treader by the city's side

Come cutting close, close he came swiftly on,

Took her in violent hand, and to a stone

²³

Turn'd all her sylvan substance; all below

245

Firm'd her with roots, and left her. This strange show

When the Phæacians saw, they stupid stood,

And ask'd each other, who amids the flood

Could fix their ship so in her full speed home,

And quite transparent make her bulk become?

250

Thus talk'd they; but were far from knowing how

These things had issue. Which their king did show,

And said: "O friends, the ancient prophecies

My father told to me, to all our eyes

Are now in proof. He said, the time would come,

255

When Neptune, for our safe conducting home

All sorts of strangers, out of envy fired,

Would meet our fairest ship as she retired,

And all the goodly shape and speed we boast

Should like a mountain stand before us lost,

260

Amids the moving waters; which we see

Perform'd in full end to our prophecy.

Hear then my counsel, and obey me then:

Renounce henceforth our convoy home of men,

Whoever shall hereafter greet our town;

265

And to th' offended Deity's renown

Twelve chosen oxen let us sacred make,

That he may pity us, and from us take

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 13.139 focus

What hast thou spoken, Shaker of the shores,

Wide-ruling Neptune? Fear not; thee the Gods

Will ne'er despise; dangerous were the deed

To cast dishonour on a God by birth

More ancient, and more potent far than they.

165

But if, profanely rash, a mortal man

Should dare to slight thee, to avenge the wrong

Some future day is ever in thy power.

Accomplish all thy pleasure, thou art free.

Him answer'd then the Shaker of the shores.

170

Jove cloud-enthroned! that pleasure I would soon

Perform as thou hast said, but that I watch

Thy mind continual, fearful to offend.

My purpose is, now to destroy amid

The dreary Deep yon fair Phæacian bark,

175

Return'd from safe conveyance of her freight;

So shall they waft such wanderers home no more,

And she shall hide their city, to a rock

Transform'd of mountainous o'ershadowing size.

Him then Jove answer'd, gatherer of the clouds.

180

Perform it, O my brother, and the deed

Thus done, shall best be done ;- What time the people

Shall from the city her approach descry,

Fix her to stone transform'd, but still in shape

A gallant bark, near to the coast, that all

185

May wonder, seeing her transform'd to stone

Of size to hide their city from the view.

These words once heard, the Shaker of the shores

Instant to Scheria, maritime abode

Of the Phæacians, went. Arrived, he watch'd.

190

And now the flying bark full near approach'd,

When Neptune, meeting her, with outspread palm

Depress'd her at a stroke, and she became

Deep-rooted stone. Then Neptune went his way.

Phæacia's ship-ennobled sons meantime

195

Conferring stood, and thus in accents wing'd,

The amazed spectator to his fellow spake.

Ah! who hath sudden check'd the vessel's course

Homeward? This moment she was all in view.

Thus they, unconscious of the cause, to whom

200

Alcinoüs, instructing them, replied.

Ye Gods! a prophecy now strikes my mind

With force, my father's. He was wont to say-

Neptune resents it, that we safe conduct

Natives of every region to their home.

205

He also spake, prophetic, of a day

When a Phæacian gallant bark, return'd

After conveyance of a stranger hence,

Should perish in the dreary Deep, and changed

To a huge mountain, cover all the town.

210

So spake my father, all whose words we see

This day fulfill'd. Thus, therefore, act we all

Unanimous; henceforth no longer bear

The stranger home, when such shall here arrive;

And we will sacrifice, without delay,

215

Twelve chosen bulls to Neptune, if, perchance,

He will commiserate us, and forbear

To hide our town behind a mountain's height.

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

135

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!"

145

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.

160

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

175

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

180

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,

185

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,

190

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,

195

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 ?

200

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

205

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,

210

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;

215

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

220

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.

225

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

230

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?"

235

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,

240

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.

245

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,

250

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:

255

"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

260

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

265

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.

270

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.

275

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,

280

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

285

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 :

290

"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.

295

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

300

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),

305

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!"

310

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;

315

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,

320

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;

325

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 !

330

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,

335

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 !

345

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 :

355

'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."

360

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."

365

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,

370

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,

375

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.

385

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

395

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.

400

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

405

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.

410

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."

415

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:

420

"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,

430

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

Notes on the current edition

Odyssey

1. Homer does not tell us that the last denunciation of covering the town with a mountain, was fulfilled; it is probable that it was averted by the piety of Alcinoüs. Pope.

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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comment on the petrification of the ship of the Phaeacians’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’ as the premier example of landmark poetics involving the theme of petrification (in the context of analyzing the petrified serpent in I.02)

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Complying with the reaction of Zeus to the original two-part plan of revenge, Poseidon proceeds to turn the returning ship into a rock at O.13.160–164. The first part of Poseidon's two-part plan has now been accomplished, although in modified form, in compliance with the Will of Zeus. The ship has been petrified at the approach to the harbor, instead of being ‘smashed’ at midsea.

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At this midpoint in the ongoing narrative about the fate of the Phaeacians, we see their reaction to the petrifaction of their ship. They are in shock: awestruck as they are, they cannot understand how this disaster could have happened to them, O.13.165–169.

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|175 φῆ ποτε Φαιήκων ἀνδρῶν περικαλλέα νῆα |176 ἐκ πομπῆς ἀνιοῦσαν ἐν ἠεροηδέι πόντῳ |177 ῥαισέμεναι, μέγα δ᾿ ἧμιν ὄρος πόλει ἀμφικαλύψειν

|175 He [= Nausithoos] once said that he [Poseidon] will smash the very beautiful ship of the Phaeacian men |176 when it comes back, in a misty crossing of the sea, from its conveying mission, |177 and that he will make a huge mountain envelop our city.

Alkinoos, king of the Phaeacians, has comprehended what is still in the process of happening. He explains to the Phaeacians that he now understands a prophecy that his father Nausithoos had once told him: it must have been this present disaster, Alkinoos says, that his father had prophesied to him—along with that other disaster still waiting to be narrated in the Odyssey, which is, the occlusion of the Phaeacians from the world of the present. Such an occlusion will happen if Zeus arranges for a huge mountain to envelop the city of the Phaeacians, thus blocking their harbor from access to the sea.

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|178 ὣς ἀγόρευ᾿ ὁ γέρων. τὰ δὲ δὴ νῦν πάντα τελεῖται. |179 ἀλλ᾿ ἄγεθ᾿, ὥς ἂν ἐγὼ εἴπω, πειθώμεθα πάντες.

|178 That is what the old man said. And now you and I see that all these things are being brought to fulfillment. |179 But come, let us all comply with exactly what I am about to say.

The audience of our Odyssey already knows this prophecy as recapitulated in O.13.173–177, because Alkinoos had already "quoted" it to Odysseus at O.08.565-569. The textual transmission of O.08.565–569 and O.13 173–177 leaves the two passages matching almost exactly, word for word. There is some degree of non-matching, though: for example, the ship is εὐεργέα ‘well-built’ in most manuscripts at O.08.567 vs. περικαλλέα ‘very beautiful’ in most manuscripts at O.13.175, while the mutually alternative forms are attested in a minority of manuscripts at both places. In terms of oral poetics, such variation may be justified even where the “quoting” of a character’s words happens to be a narrative requirement of the composition, as it is here. At that earlier point in the narrative, however, Alkinoos had said something in addition, which he does not say now (O.08.570–571):

|570 ὣς ἀγόρευ᾿ ὁ γέρων. τὰ δέ κεν θεὸς ἢ τελέσειεν, |57 ἤ κ᾿ ἀτέλεστ᾿ εἴη, ὥς οἱ φῦλον ἔπλετο θυμῷ

|570 That is what the old man said. And the god [Poseidon] could either bring these things to fulfillment |571 or they could be left unfulfilled, however it was pleasing to his heart.

Now, instead of “repeating” this part of the old man’s prophecy, Alkinoos commands the Phaeacians to take immediate action, as we see from the wording of O.13.178–179, quoted and translated above. When Alkinoos had first “quoted” the prophecy of his father at O.08.570–571, the “quotation” had left a loophole: Poseidon may or may not bring ‘these things’ to fulfillment, as he wishes. But now at O.13.178–179 there is the greatest urgency, and Alkinoos exclaims hyperbolically that ‘all these things are being brought to fulfillment’. The rhetorical point of this hyperbole is to motivate the Phaeacians to take immediate action. Even though the half-hopeful words of Alkinoos at O.08.570–571 are not repeated but are replaced by the increasingly desperate words of O.13.178–179, there is still a trace of hope—provided that the Phaeacians take immediate action by following the emergency orders of Alkinoos, which are formulated in the verses that immediately follow, O.13.180–182.

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King Alkinoos here orders the Phaeacians to do two things without delay: to resolve never again to engage in the otherworldly pompē ‘conveying’ of mortals back to their real world, O.13.180, and to offer a sacrifice of twelve bulls to Poseidon, O.13.180–182. The Phaeacians must do these two things before the second of the two disasters should happen, which is, the blocking of their harbor by a huge mountain.

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The Phaeacians immediately proceed to make sacrifice to the sea god, supplicating him, O.13.184–187. At this sacrifice, we may presume that they do indeed resolve never again to engage in the otherworldly “conveying” of mortals back to their “real” world. Such a resolution by the Phaeacians would of course cancel their own otherworldly status as mediators between the inner world of the narrative and the outer world of “reality” as implicit in the “present” time when the narration of epic is actually happening.

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|182 … αἴ κ᾿ ἐλεήσῃ |183 μηδ᾿ ἥμιν περίμηκες ὄρος πόλει ἀμφικαλύψῃ

|182 … in hopes that he [Poseidon] will take pity |183 and will not make the tall mountain envelop our city.

The hope, Alkinoos says here, is that Poseidon may still take pity and stop his plan.

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So, what will happen to the Phaeacians according to the narrative? We cannot be completely certain. The Homeric narrative about the Phaeacians breaks off here at O.13.187, at the very moment when they are offering sacrifice and praying to Poseidon to take pity on them. The narrative break takes place most abruptly, dramatically, and even exceptionally—at mid-verse. In the first part of the verse at O.13.187, the Phaeacians are last seen standing around the sacrificial altar; in the second part of the verse, Odysseus has just woken up in Ithaca. A new phase of the hero’s experiences has just begun in the “real” world of Ithaca.

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Leonard Muellner

among examples of formal divergence between phrases which are functionally parallel but occur in spoken dialogue as against narrative (transformations of (A) paralleled in a secular series, of which this verse is an example)

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in a list of examples of eukhesthai + dative

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Homer Odyssey 13.139

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Neptune

'This then I doom: to fix the gallant ship

'A mark of vengeance on the sable deep;

'To warn the thoughtless self-confiding train,

'No more unlicens'd thus to brave the main.
175

'Full in their port a shady hill shall rise,

'If such thy will.'—' We will it,' Jove replies.

Jove

'E'en when with transport, blackening all the strand,

'The swarming people hail their ship to land,

'Fix her for ever, a memorial stone:
180

'Still let her seem to sail, and seem alone.

'The trembling crowds shall see the sudden shade

'Of whelming mountains overhang their head!'

Current edition Experimental

ODYSSEY BOOK XIII

PATTEN WILSON
THE ARRIVAL AT ITHACA

Notes on the current edition

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Neptune 'This then I doom: to fix the gallant ship 'A mark of vengeance on the sable deep; 'To warn the thoughtless self-confiding train, 'No more unlicens'd thus to brave the main. 175 'Full in their port a shady hill shall rise, 'If such thy will.'—' We will it,' Jove replies.

Jove 'E'en when with transport, blackening all the strand, 'The swarming people hail their ship to land, 'Fix her for ever, a memorial stone: 180 'Still let her seem to sail, and seem alone. 'The trembling crowds shall see the sudden shade 'Of whelming mountains overhang their head!'

Current edition Experimental

ODYSSEY BOOK XIII

PATTEN WILSON THE ARRIVAL AT ITHACA

Notes on the current edition

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

Neptune

'This then I doom: to fix the gallant ship

'A mark of vengeance on the sable deep;

'To warn the thoughtless self-confiding train,

'No more unlicens'd thus to brave the main.
175

'Full in their port a shady hill shall rise,

'If such thy will.'—' We will it,' Jove replies.

Jove

'E'en when with transport, blackening all the strand,

'The swarming people hail their ship to land,

'Fix her for ever, a memorial stone:
180

'Still let her seem to sail, and seem alone.

'The trembling crowds shall see the sudden shade

'Of whelming mountains overhang their head!'

PATTEN WILSON
THE ARRIVAL AT ITHACA