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To her the power who bears the charming rod:

185

'Dismiss the man, nor irritate the god;

'Prevent the rage of him who reigns above,

'For what so dreadful as the wrath of Jove?'

Thus having said, he cut the cleaving sky,

And in a moment vanish'd from her eye.

190

The nymph, obedient to divine command,

To seek Ulysses paced along the sand,

Him pensive on the lonely beach she found,

With streaming eyes in briny torrents drown'd,

And inly pining for his native shore;

195

For now the soft enchantress pleas'd no more:

For now, reluctant, and constrain'd by charms,

Absent he lay in her desiring arms:

In slumber wore the heavy night away,

On rocks and shores consum'd the tedious day;

200

There sate all desolate, and sigh'd alone,

With echoing sorrows made the mountains groan,

And roll'd his eyes o'er all the restless main,

Till, dimm'd with rising grief, they stream'd again.

Here, on his musing mood the goddess press'd,

205

Approaching soft; and thus the chief address'd

CALYPSO

'Unhappy man! to wasting woes a prey,

'No more in sorrows languish life away:

'Free as the winds I give thee now to rove-

'Go, fell the timber of yon lofty grove,
210

'And form a raft, and build the rising ship,

'Sublime to bear thee o'er the gloomy deep.

'To store the vessel let the care be mine,

'With water from the rock, and rosy wine,

'And life-sustaining bread, and fair array,
215

'And prosperous gales to waft thee on the way.

'These, if the gods with my desire comply,

'(The gods, alas, more mighty far than I,

'And better skill'd in dark events to come,)

'In peace shall land thee at thy native home.'
220

With sighs Ulysses heard the words she spoke,

Then thus his melancholy silence broke:

ULYSSES

'Some other motive, goddess! sways thy mind,

'(Some close design, or turn of womankind,)

'Nor my return the end, nor this the way,¹
225

'On a slight raft to pass the swelling sea,

'Huge, horrid, vast! where scarce in safety sails

'The best-built ship, though Jove inspire the gales.

'The bold proposal how shall I fulfil,

'Dark as I am, unconscious of thy will?
230

'Swear, then, thou mean'st not what my soul forebodes;

'Swear by the solemn oath that binds the gods.'

Him, while he spoke, with smiles Calypso ey'd,

And gently grasp'd his hand, and thus replied:

CALYPSO

'This shows thee, friend, by old experience taught,
235

'And learn'd in all the wiles of human thought,

'How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise!

'But hear, O earth, and hear, ye sacred skies!

'And thou, O Styx! whose formidable floods

'Glide through the shades, and bind th' attesting gods!
240

'No form'd design, no meditated end,

'Lurks in the council of thy faithful friend;

'Kind the persuasion, and sincere my aim;

'The same my practice, were my fate the same.

'Heaven has not cursed me with a heart of steel,
245

'But given the sense to pity and to feel.'

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.) — 5.145 focus

τὴν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης·

145

οὕτω νῦν ἀπόπεμπε, Διὸς δʼ ἐποπίζεο μῆνιν,

μή πώς τοι μετόπισθε κοτεσσάμενος χαλεπήνῃ.

ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας ἀπέβη κρατὺς ἀργεϊφόντης·

ἡ δʼ ἐπʼ Ὀδυσσῆα μεγαλήτορα πότνια νύμφη

ἤιʼ, ἐπεὶ δὴ Ζηνὸς ἐπέκλυεν ἀγγελιάων.

150

τὸν δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπʼ ἀκτῆς εὗρε καθήμενον· οὐδέ ποτʼ ὄσσε

δακρυόφιν τέρσοντο, κατείβετο δὲ γλυκὺς αἰὼν

νόστον ὀδυρομένῳ, ἐπεὶ οὐκέτι ἥνδανε νύμφη.

ἀλλʼ ἦ τοι νύκτας μὲν ἰαύεσκεν καὶ ἀνάγκῃ

ἐν σπέσσι γλαφυροῖσι παρʼ οὐκ ἐθέλων ἐθελούσῃ·

155

ἤματα δʼ ἂμ πέτρῃσι καὶ ἠιόνεσσι καθίζων

δάκρυσι καὶ στοναχῇσι καὶ ἄλγεσι θυμὸν ἐρέχθων

πόντον ἐπʼ ἀτρύγετον δερκέσκετο δάκρυα λείβων.

ἀγχοῦ δʼ ἱσταμένη προσεφώνεε δῖα θεάων·

κάμμορε, μή μοι ἔτʼ ἐνθάδʼ ὀδύρεο, μηδέ τοι αἰὼν

160

φθινέτω· ἤδη γάρ σε μάλα πρόφρασσʼ ἀποπέμψω.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε δούρατα μακρὰ ταμὼν ἁρμόζεο χαλκῷ

εὐρεῖαν σχεδίην· ἀτὰρ ἴκρια πῆξαι ἐπʼ αὐτῆς

ὑψοῦ, ὥς σε φέρῃσιν ἐπʼ ἠεροειδέα πόντον.

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ σῖτον καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ οἶνον ἐρυθρὸν

165

ἐνθήσω μενοεικέʼ, ἅ κέν τοι λιμὸν ἐρύκοι,

εἵματά τʼ ἀμφιέσω· πέμψω δέ τοι οὖρον ὄπισθεν,

ὥς κε μάλʼ ἀσκηθὴς σὴν πατρίδα γαῖαν ἵκηαι,

αἴ κε θεοί γʼ ἐθέλωσι, τοὶ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσιν,

οἵ μευ φέρτεροί εἰσι νοῆσαί τε κρῆναί τε.

170

ὣς φάτο, ῥίγησεν δὲ πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,

καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

ἄλλο τι δὴ σύ, θεά, τόδε μήδεαι, οὐδέ τι πομπήν,

ἥ με κέλεαι σχεδίῃ περάαν μέγα λαῖτμα θαλάσσης,

δεινόν τʼ ἀργαλέον τε· τὸ δʼ οὐδʼ ἐπὶ νῆες ἐῖσαι

175

ὠκύποροι περόωσιν, ἀγαλλόμεναι Διὸς οὔρῳ.

οὐδʼ ἂν ἐγὼν ἀέκητι σέθεν σχεδίης ἐπιβαίην,

εἰ μή μοι τλαίης γε, θεά, μέγαν ὅρκον ὀμόσσαι

μή τί μοι αὐτῷ πῆμα κακὸν βουλευσέμεν ἄλλο.

ὣς φάτο, μείδησεν δὲ Καλυψὼ δῖα θεάων,

180

χειρί τέ μιν κατέρεξεν ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζεν·

ἦ δὴ ἀλιτρός γʼ ἐσσὶ καὶ οὐκ ἀποφώλια εἰδώς,

οἷον δὴ τὸν μῦθον ἐπεφράσθης ἀγορεῦσαι.

ἴστω νῦν τόδε γαῖα καὶ οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθε

καὶ τὸ κατειβόμενον Στυγὸς ὕδωρ, ὅς τε μέγιστος

185

ὅρκος δεινότατός τε πέλει μακάρεσσι θεοῖσι,

μή τί τοι αὐτῷ πῆμα κακὸν βουλευσέμεν ἄλλο.

ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν νοέω καὶ φράσσομαι, ἅσσʼ ἂν ἐμοί περ

αὐτῇ μηδοίμην, ὅτε με χρειὼ τόσον ἵκοι·

καὶ γὰρ ἐμοὶ νόος ἐστὶν ἐναίσιμος, οὐδέ μοι αὐτῇ

190

θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσι σιδήρεος, ἀλλʼ ἐλεήμων.

Translations (9)

Odyssey Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey, Volume 1-2. Murray, A. T. (Augustus Taber), translator. London: William Heinmann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919.) — 5.145 focus

145 Then again the messenger Argeiphontes answered her: “Even so send him forth now, and beware of the wrath of Zeus, lest haply he wax wroth and visit his anger upon thee hereafter.” So saying, the strong Argeiphontes departed, and the queenly nymph went to the great-hearted Odysseus, 150 when she had heard the message of Zeus. Him she found sitting on the shore, and his eyes were never dry of tears, and his sweet life was ebbing away, as he longed mournfully for his return, for the nymph was no longer pleasing in his sight. By night indeed he would sleep by her side perforce 155 in the hollow caves, unwilling beside the willing nymph, but by day he would sit on the rocks and the sands, racking his soul with tears and groans and griefs, and he would look over the unresting sea, shedding tears. Then coming close to him, the beautiful goddess addressed him: 160 “Unhappy man, sorrow no longer here, I pray thee, nor let thy life pine away; for even now with a ready heart will I send thee on thy way. Nay, come, hew with the axe long beams, and make a broad raft, and fasten upon it cross-planks for a deck well above it, that it may bear thee over the misty deep. 165 And I will place therein bread and water and red wine to satisfy thy heart, to keep hunger from thee. And I will clothe thee with raiment, and will send a fair wind behind thee, that all unscathed thou mayest return to thy native land, if it be the will of the gods who hold broad heaven; 170 for they are mightier than I both to purpose and to fulfil.” So she spoke, and much-enduring goodly Odysseus shuddered, and he spoke, and addressed her with winged words: “Some other thing, goddess, art thou planning in this, and not my sending, seeing that thou biddest me cross on a raft the great gulf of the sea, 175 dread and grievous, over which not even the shapely, swift-faring ships pass, rejoicing in the wind of Zeus. But I will not set foot on a raft in thy despite, unless thou, goddess, wilt bring thyself to swear a mighty oath that thou wilt not plot against me any fresh mischief to my hurt.” 180 So he spoke, but Calypso, the beautiful goddess, smiled, and stroked him with her hand, and spoke, and addressed him: “Verily thou art a knave, and not stunted in wit, that thou hast bethought thee to utter such a word. Now therefore let earth be witness to this, and the broad heaven above, 185 and the down-flowing water of the Styx, which is the greatest and most dread oath for the blessed gods, that I will not plot against thee any fresh mischief to thy hurt. Nay, I have such thoughts in mind, and will give such counsel, as I should devise for mine own self, if such need should come on me. 190 For I too have a mind that is righteous, and the heart in this breast of mine is not of iron, but hath compassion.”

Odyssey Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey: rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Butler, Samuel, 1835-1902, translator. Revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. London: A.C. Fifield, 1900.) — 5.160 focus

160 "My poor man, you shall not stay here grieving and fretting your life out any longer. I am going to send you away of my own free will; so go, cut some beams of wood, and make yourself a large raft with an upper deck that it may carry you safely over the sea. I will put bread, wine, and water on board to save you from starving. I will also give you clothes, and will send you a fair wind to take you home, if the gods in heaven so will it - for they know more about these things, and can settle them better than I can."

171 Odysseus shuddered as he heard her. "Now goddess," he answered, "there is something behind all this; you cannot be really meaning to help me home when you bid me do such a dreadful thing as put to sea on a raft. Not even a well-found ship with a fair wind could venture on such a distant voyage: nothing that you can say or do shall make me go on board a raft unless you first solemnly swear that you mean me no mischief."

180 Calypso smiled at this and caressed him with her hand: "You know a great deal," said she, "but you are quite wrong here. May heaven above and earth below be my witnesses, with the waters of the river Styx - and this is the most solemn oath which a blessed god can take - that I mean you no sort of harm, and am only advising you to do exactly what I should do myself in your place. My noos is favorable towards you; my heart is not made of iron, and I am very sorry for you."

192 When she had thus spoken she led the way rapidly before him, and Odysseus followed in her steps; so the pair, goddess and man, went on and on till they came to Calypso's cave, where Odysseus took the seat that Hermes had just left. Calypso set meat and drink before him of the food that mortals eat; but her maids brought ambrosia and nectar for herself, and they laid their hands on the good things that were before them. When they had satisfied themselves with meat and drink, Calypso spoke, saying:

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 5.145 focus

“Then send him away,” said Hermes, “and fear the mēnis of Zeus, lest he grow angry and punish you.”

Then he took his leave, [150] and Kalypsō went out to look for great-hearted Odysseus, for she had heard Zeus’ message. She found him sitting upon the beach with his eyes ever filled with tears, his sweet life wasting away as he wept for his homecoming [ nostos]; for he had got tired of Kalypsō, and though he was forced to sleep with her [155] in the cave by night, it was she, not he, that would have it so. As for the daytime, he spent it on the rocks and on the sea-shore, weeping, crying aloud for his despair, and always looking out upon the sea. Kalypsō then went close up to him said:

[160] “My poor man, you shall not stay here grieving and fretting your life out any longer. I am going to send you away of my own free will; so go, cut some beams of wood, and make yourself a large raft with an upper deck that it may carry you safely over the sea. [165] I will put bread, wine, and water on board to save you from starving. I will also give you clothes, and will send you a fair wind to take you home, if the gods in the sky so will it— [170] for they know more about these things, and can settle them better than I can.”

Long-suffering great Odysseus shuddered as he heard her. “Now goddess,” he answered, “there is something behind all this; 173 when you devise this you are devising something else, and it’s not sending me on my way home when you bid me do such a dreadful [ deinon] thing as put to sea [175] on a raft. Not even a well-found ship with a fair wind could venture on such a distant voyage: nothing that you can say or do shall make me go on board a raft unless you first solemnly swear that you mean me no mischief.”

[180] Kalypsō, shining among divinities, smiled at this and caressed him with her hand: “You know a great deal,” said she, “but you are quite wrong here. May the sky above and earth below be my witnesses, [185] with the waters of the river Styx—and this is the most solemn oath which a blessed god can take—that I mean you no sort of harm, 188 but I think and ponder only the kinds of things 189 that I would devise for myself if I were in such need. [190] I have a decent disposition [ noos] and my 191 heart [ thūmos] is not of iron. It’s a compassionate heart.”

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873)) — 5.145 focus

The herald Argus-queller answered her : -

"Dismiss him thus, and bear in mind the wrath

Of Jove, lest it be kindled against thee."

180

Thus having said, the mighty Argicide

Departed; and the nymph, who now had heard

The doom of Jove, sought the great-hearted man,

Ulysses. Him she found beside the deep,

Seated alone, with eyes from which the tears

185

Were never dried; for now no more the nymph

Delighted him; he wasted his sweet life

In yearning for his home. Night after night

He slept constrained within the hollow cave,

The unwilling by the fond; and day by day

190

He sat upon the rocks that edged the shore,

And in continual weeping and in sighs

And vain repinings wore the hours away,

Gazing through tears upon the barren deep.

The glorious goddess stood by him and spake :-

195

"Unhappy! sit no longer sorrowing here,

Nor waste life thus. Lo! I most willingly

Dismiss thee hence. Rise, hew down trees, and bind

Their trunks with brazen clamps into a raft,

And fasten planks above, a lofty floor,

200

That it may bear thee o'er the dark-blue deep.

Bread will I put on board, water, and wine,

Red wine, that cheers the heart, - and wrap thee well

In garments, and send after thee the wind,

That safely thou attain thy native shore,

205

If so the gods permit thee, who abide

In the broad heaven above, and better know

By far than I, and far more wisely judge."

Ulysses, the great sufferer, as she spake

Shuddered, and thus with winged words replied:-

210

"Some other purpose than to send me home

Is in thy heart, O goddess, bidding me

To cross this frightful sea upon a raft,

This perilous sea, where never even ships

Pass with their rapid keels, though Jove bestow

215

The wind that glads the seaman. Nay, I climb

No raft, against thy wish, unless thou swear

The great oath of the gods that thou in this

Dost meditate no other harm to me."

He spake; Calypso, glorious goddess, smiled,

220

And smoothed his forehead with her hand, and said: -

"Perverse, and slow to see where guile is not!

How could thy heart permit thee thus to speak?

Now bear me witness, Earth, and ye broad Heavens

Above us, and ye waters of the Styx

225

That flow beneath us, mightiest oath of all,

And most revered by all the blessed gods,

That I design no other harm to thee,

But that I plan for thee, and counsel thee

What I would do were I in need like thine.

230

I bear a juster mind; my bosom holds

A pitying heart, and not a heart of steel."

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 5.145 focus

'Tis well, said Mercury; send him now hence;

The manner how, is left unto your will.

Be wise, and do not Jupiter incense,

135

Lest he upon you bring a greater ill.

This said, away went Mercury. And she

Unto Ulysses went to the sea-side.

Himself lamenting sitting there was he,

And when she came his eyes were not yet dried.

140

For now he lov'd the nymph less than before,

And lay with her a-nights unwillingly ;

A-days he weeping sat upon the shore,

And on tli' unbounded sea oft cast his eye.

Then to him said the nymph: Poor man, alas !

145

No longer weep, but fall your work unto;

For on a raft you are the sea to pass,

And I will tell you what you are to do.

Cut down great trees, and them together join

With bands of brass; and on them make a deck;

150

And on it I will lay both bread and wine,

And water fresh, hunger and thirst to check.

And garments I will give you, and a wind,

That you may safe go home and speedily;

Unless the Gods be of another mind,

155

For stronger they and wiser are than I.

At this Ulysses troubled was, and said,

I looked for a convoy me to waft;

For on this sea a man would be afraid

Though in a ship; much more upon a raft.

160

I will not therefore pass upon a raft,

Unless to do me no more hurt you swear.

And when he had said that, Calypso laugh'd,

And of his head she stroked down the hair.

You are, she said, a true bird of the nest,

165

As by your answer very well I see:

By Heaven and by Earth I do protest,

And Styx, which is the greatest oath can be,

IT! never anything hereafter do

That shall procure you hurt in any case;

170

And what at present I advise you to,

I would myself do, were I in your place:

For why, the Fates I also must obey,

And in my breast no iron heart I bear.

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 5.145 focus

"Vouchsafe it so," said heaven's ambassador,

"And deign it quickly. By all means abhor

195

T' incense Jove's wrath against thee, that with grace

He may hereafter all thy wish embrace."

Thus took the Argus-killing God his wings.

And since the reverend Nymph these awful things

Receiv'd from Jove, she to Ulysses went;

200

Whom she ashore found, drown'd in discontent,

His eyes kept never dry he did so mourn,

And waste his dear age for his wish'd return;

Which still without the cause he used to do,

Because he could not please the Goddess so.

205

At night yet, forc'd, together took their rest,

The willing Goddess and th' unwilling Guest;

But he all day in rocks, and on the shore,

The vex'd sea view'd, and did his fate deplore.

Him, now, the Goddess coming near bespake:

210

"Unhappy man, no more discomfort take

For my constraint of thee, nor waste thine age,

I now will passing freely disengage

Thy irksome stay here. Come then, fell thee wood,

And build a ship, to save thee from the flood.

215

I'll furnish thee with fresh wave, bread, and wine

Ruddy and sweet, that will the piner pine,

Put garments on thee, give thee winds foreright,

That every way thy home-bent appetite

May safe attain to it; if so it please

220

At all parts all the heaven-housed Deities,

That more in power are, more in skill, than I,

And more can judge what fits humanity."

He stood amaz'd at this strange change in her,

And said: "O Goddess! Thy intents prefer

225

Some other project than my parting hence,

Commanding things of too high consequence

For my performance, that myself should build

A ship of power, my home-assays to shield

Against the great sea of such dread to pass;

230

Which not the best built ship that ever was

Will pass exulting, when such winds, as Jove

Can thunder up, their trims and tacklings prove.

But could I build one, I would ne'er aboard,

Thy will opposed, nor, won, without thy word,

235

Given in the great oath of the Gods to me,

Not to beguile me in the least degree."

The Goddess smiled, held hard his hand, and said:

"O y' are a shrewd one, and so habited

In taking heed thou know'st not what it is

240

To be unwary, nor use words amiss.

How hast thou charm'd me, were I ne'er so sly!

Let earth know then, and heaven, so broad, so high,

And th' under-sunk waves of th' infernal stream,

(Which is an oath, as terribly supreme,

245

As any God swears) that I had no thought

But stood with what I spake, nor would have wrought,

Nor counsell'd, any act against thy good;

But ever diligently weigh'd, and stood

On those points in persuading thee, that I

250

Would use myself in such extremity.

For my mind simple is, and innocent,

Not given by cruel sleights to circumvent,

Nor bear I in my breast a heart of steel,

But with the sufferer willing suffrance feel."

255

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 5.145 focus

Then Hermes thus, the messenger of heaven.

170

Act as thou say'st, fearing the frown of Jove,

Lest, if provoked, he spare not even thee.

So saying, the dauntless Argicide withdrew,

And she (Jove's mandate heard) all-graceful went,

Seeking the brave Ulysses; on the shore

175

She found him seated; tears succeeding tears

Deluged his eyes, while, hopeless of return,

Life's precious hours to eating cares he gave

Continual, with the nymph now charm'd no more.

Yet, cold as she was amorous, still he pass'd

180

His nights beside her in the hollow grot,

Constrain'd, and day by day the rocks among

Which lined the shore heart-broken sat, and oft

While wistfully he eyed the barren Deep,

Wept, groan'd, desponded, sigh'd, and wept again.

185

Then, drawing near, thus spake the nymph divine.

Unhappy! weep not here, nor life consume

In anguish; go; thou hast my glad consent.

Arise to labour; hewing down the trunks

Of lofty trees, fashion them with the axe

190

To a broad raft, which closely floor'd above,

Shall hence convey thee o'er the gloomy Deep.

Bread, water, and the red grape's cheering juice

Myself will put on board, which shall preserve

Thy life from famine; I will also give

195

New raiment for thy limbs, and will dispatch

Winds after thee to waft thee home unharm'd,

If such the pleasure of the Gods who dwell

In yonder boundless heaven, superior far

To me, in knowledge and in skill to judge.

200

She ceased; but horror at that sound the heart

Chill'd of Ulysses, and in accents wing'd

With wonder, thus the noble Chief replied.

Ah! other thoughts than of my safe return

Employ thee, Goddess, now, who bid'st me pass

205

The perilous gulf of Ocean on a raft,

That wild expanse terrible, which even ships

Pass not, though form'd to cleave their way with ease,

And joyful in propitious winds from Jove.

No, let me never, in despite of thee,

210

Embark on board a raft, nor till thou swear,

Oh Goddess! the inviolable oath,

That future mischief thou intend'st me none.

He said; Calypso, beauteous Goddess, smiled,

And, while she spake, stroking his cheek, replied.

215

Thou dost asperse me rudely, and excuse

Of ignorance hast none, far better taught;

What words were these? How could'st thou thus reply?

Now hear me, Earth, and the wide Heaven above!

Hear, too, ye waters of the Stygian stream

220

Under the earthy, (By which the blessed Gods

Swear trembling, and revere the aweful oath!)

That future mischief I intend thee none.

No, my designs concerning thee are such

As, in an exigence resembling thine,

225

Myself, most sure, should for myself conceive.

I have a mind more equal, not of steel

My heart is form'd, but much to pity inclined.

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

ODYSSEY BOOK V

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

Newly arisen was bringing the daylight to men and immortals,

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

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

Then did Athena begin of Odysseus, his many afflictions

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

"Father Zeus and ye other immortals eternally blesséd,

Never be kindly affectioned again, nor loving and gentle,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Even that patient Odysseus return and arrive at his homeland,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Over the perilous gulfs of the barren expanses of ocean,

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

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

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

Here from the violet depths of the ocean emerging he mounted

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

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

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

Odours of splintered cedar and juniper over the island

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

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

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

Alder was there and poplar and cypress of delicate perfume.

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

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

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

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

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

Four bright runnels of water arose from a neighbouring fountain,

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

Spreading around soft meadows with violets blossomed and parsley

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

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

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

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

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

Straightway known was the god to the beautiful goddess Calypso,

Seeing that never unknown is a deity unto another,

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

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

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

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

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

Now with a question addressed him the beautiful goddess Calypso,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who would willingly cross such spaces of salt sea water?

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

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

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

None can evade or annul, not even another immortal.

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

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

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

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

Therefore roused she the wind and enormous billows against them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Launching her painless shafts assailed him and suddenly slew him.

Also with Iasion when the fair-tressed goddess Demeter,

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Yielding herself to desire, was united in tender embracements,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

None can evade or annul, not even another immortal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lest peradventure hereafter in anger he send thee affliction."

These words uttered, departed the valiant Slayer of Argus.

Then great-hearted Odysseus to seek did the lady Calypso

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coming anigh now spake and addressed him the beautiful goddess:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thus did he speak, and smiling the beautiful goddess Calypso

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While that her maiden attendants ambrosia brought her and nectar.

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

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

Once more made a beginning the beautiful goddess Calypso :

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Well do I know it that likened to thee wise Penelopeia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here they delighted in love and abode right gladly together.

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

Forthwith donned his apparel Odysseus, his tunic and mantle,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PATTEN WILSON.
THE BUILDING OF THE RAFT

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

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

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

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

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

Homeward again she betook her, the beautiful goddess Calypso.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bulwarks too he erected and strengthened with many an upright,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bathing him first and arraying him freshly in fragrant apparel.

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

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

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

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

Now exulting his sails to the breeze spread godlike Odysseus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Her—since thus had commanded the beautiful goddess Calypso—

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

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

Till on the eighteenth day he beheld far shadowy mountains,

Where was arising the land Phaeacia nearest before him,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While distracted he spake to the valiant spirit within him:

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

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

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

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

Lo, how mighty the rack wherewith envelops the welkin

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hurtled around me bestriding the body of fallen Achilles!

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

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

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

Bursting terrific upon him and whirling the quivering raft round.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Even as Boreas sweepeth in autumn the down of the thistles

Over a plain, all closely entangled together in masses,

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

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

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

Seeing his peril the daughter of Cadmus with beautiful ankles,

Ino Leucothëe—erstwhile an articulate mortal,

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

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

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

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

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

Thus exceedingly rageth and sends thee so many misfortunes?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While despondent he spake to the valiant spirit within him:

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"Ah woe! Surely again some snare contriveth against me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sent an enormous roller the King Earth-shaking Poseidon.

Terrible, irresistible, vaulted, it toppled upon him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Swiftly was there where standeth his glorious temple at Aegae.

Then did Athena the daughter of Zeus plan other devices.

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

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

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

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Heaven-descended Odysseus to rescue from death and destruction,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whose dear father was lying in sickness and suffering anguish,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Headlands only he saw and reefs and crags overhanging.

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

While distracted he spake to the valiant spirit within him:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Or peradventure a god might send some monster against me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Now had the hapless Odysseus despite all destiny perished,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

E'en by the gods everlasting is every mortal respected

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

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

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

450

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

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

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

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

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

455

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

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

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

Forthwith loosing again from his bosom the scarf of the goddess

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

460

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

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

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

Thus distracted he spake to the valiant spirit within him:

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

465

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

May not the dangerous rime and abundant dews of the morning

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

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

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

470

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

Cold and weariness gone and sweet sleep stealing upon me,

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

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

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

475

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

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

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

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

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

480

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

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

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

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

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

485

This then seeing with joy, long-suffering godlike Odysseus

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

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

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

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

490

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

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

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

English Bridge (Amelia Parrish and Gregory Crane, 2023) (OCR draft) Experimental (English Bridge (Amelia Parrish and Gregory Crane, 2023)) — 5.145 focus

To her in return the messenger and slayer of Argus spoke:

145

“In just this way- now send him back, and watch yourself against the wrath of Zeus,

lest he, having developed a grudge against you in any way, may be harsh afterwards.”

Having spoken in this way, the mighty slayer of Argus then left.

That woman, the revered nymph, towards great-spirited Odysseus

made her way, after she listened to the message of Zeus.

150

She found tbat man sitting on the shore: and his two eyes were not ever

dry from his tears, and sweet life kept dripping away

from him, mourning his return home, since the nymph was not still pleasing

But in fact, on one hand, night after night he again and again he would lie and indeed by compulsion

in the hollow caves — he, not willing, beside a woman who was willing;

155

on the other hand day after day, sitting on the rocks and beaches,

through tears, and through groans, and through pains, shattering his heart.

He would constantly spend his time looking out over the barren sea, pouring out tears.

Coming to a stop nearby, she began to talk to him, goddess among goddesses:

“Ill-fated one, do not grieve here with me still, and let your life not

160

waste away: for now, entirely in good faith, I will send you on your way.

But come— having cut long beams with the bronze ax, join together

a wide boat, and then fix for yourself deck-beams on it,

so that it may carry you high up over the misty sea.

On the other hand, as for me, prepared food and water and red wine

165

I will place within in suitable amounts, which might keep away hunger for you;

and I will dress you in clothing, and for you from behind I will send a helpful wind,

so that you quite unhurt might arrive at your own ancestral land,

if indeed the gods may be willing — those who hold the wide heavens,

those ones are more powerful than me both in planning and in accomplishing.”

170

So she spoke, but he shuddered, much-suffering godlike Odysseus,

and, having spoken winged words, he addressed her:

“For your part, you, goddess, certainly are planning something else right now and not sending me on my way in any way,

you who command me to cross over the great abyss of the sea on a boat,

both fearsome and difficult: and over this the well-balanced swift-travelling ships also do not

175

cross over, taking delight in the helpful wind of Zeus.

And I, for my part, would not set foot on a boat against the will of you,

if you at least would not be prevailed upon, goddess, to swear for me a great oath,

not to plan any other evil suffering for me myself.”

So he spoke, and she broke out into a smile, Calypso, goddess among goddesses.

180

She both stroked him with her hand, and began speaking with authority; she called out to him familiarly:

“You really are a wicked man for sure, and you knowing things that are not useless,

since you decided to perform a speech like this.

Now let the earth know this thing, and the wide heavens from above,

and the rushing-down water of the Styx, which is both the greatest

185

and the most fearsome oath that exists for the blessed gods—

that I will not plan any other evil misery for you yourself.

But certainly I have these things in mind, and I will call attention to them, just as that which

I might plan for me certainly, for my own self, when so great a need may come to me.

In fact my mind, you may be sure[ ], is honest, and not for me myself

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is the heart in my chest iron, but filled with pity.”

Notes on the current edition

Odyssey

1. He had long been unable to obtain his dismission with the most urgent entreaties; this voluntary kindness therefore seems suspicious. Pope.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Gregory Nagy

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

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

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

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

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The goddess Artemis shoots Orion with her arrows.

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

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

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

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Leonard Muellner

analysis of divine mēnis at sexual transgressions (regarding the triangle of a goddess, a mortal, and Zeus, representing the gods as a group – notion of social solidarity in connection with mēnis)

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analysis of divine mēnis at sexual transgressions (regarding amphadiēn as “with the knowledge of Zeus”)

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analysis of divine mēnis at sexual transgressions (regarding amphadiēn)

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