12.364-396 | Dickinson College Commentaries

"αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ κατὰ μῆρε κάη καὶ σπλάγχνα πάσαντο,

μίστυλλόν τ᾽ ἄρα τἆλλα καὶ ἀμφ᾽ ὀβελοῖσιν ἔπειραν.365

καὶ τότε μοι βλεφάρων ἐξέσσυτο νήδυμος ὕπνος,

βῆν δ᾽ ἰέναι ἐπὶ νῆα θοὴν καὶ θῖνα θαλάσσης.

ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ σχεδὸν ἦα κιὼν νεὸς ἀμφιελίσσης,

καὶ τότε με κνίσης ἀμφήλυθεν ἡδὺς ἀυτμή.

οἰμώξας δὲ θεοῖσι μετ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι γεγώνευν·370

‘Ζεῦ πάτερ ἠδ᾽ ἄλλοι μάκαρες θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες,

ἦ με μάλ᾽ εἰς ἄτην κοιμήσατε νηλέι ὕπνῳ.

οἱ δ᾽ ἕταροι μέγα ἔργον ἐμητίσαντο μένοντες.’

ὠκέα δ᾽ Ἠελίῳ Ὑπερίονι ἄγγελος ἦλθε

Λαμπετίη τανύπεπλος, ὅ οἱ βόας ἔκταμεν ἡμεῖς.375

αὐτίκα δ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι μετηύδα χωόμενος κῆρ·

‘Ζεῦ πάτερ ἠδ᾽ ἄλλοι μάκαρες θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες,

τῖσαι δὴ ἑτάρους Λαερτιάδεω Ὀδυσῆος,

οἵ μευ βοῦς ἔκτειναν ὑπέρβιον, ᾗσιν ἐγώ γε

χαίρεσκον μὲν ἰὼν εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀστερόεντα,380

ἠδ᾽ ὁπότ᾽ ἂψ ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἀπ᾽ οὐρανόθεν προτραποίμην.

εἰ δέ μοι οὐ τίσουσι βοῶν ἐπιεικέ᾽ ἀμοιβήν,

δύσομαι εἰς Ἀίδαο καὶ ἐν νεκύεσσι φαείνω.’

τὸν δ᾽ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·

‘ Ἠέλι᾽, ἦ τοι μὲν σὺ μετ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι φάεινε385

καὶ θνητοῖσι βροτοῖσιν ἐπὶ ζείδωρον ἄρουραν·

τῶν δέ κ᾽ ἐγὼ τάχα νῆα θοὴν ἀργῆτι κεραυνῷ

τυτθὰ βαλὼν κεάσαιμι μέσῳ ἐνὶ οἴνοπι πόντῳ.’

ταῦτα δ᾽ ἐγὼν ἤκουσα Καλυψοῦς ἠυκόμοιο·

ἡ δ᾽ ἔφη Ἑρμείαο διακτόρου αὐτὴ ἀκοῦσαι.390

αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥ᾽ ἐπὶ νῆα κατήλυθον ἠδὲ θάλασσαν,

νείκεον ἄλλοθεν ἄλλον ἐπισταδόν, οὐδέ τι μῆχος

εὑρέμεναι δυνάμεσθα, βόες δ᾽ ἀποτέθνασαν ἤδη.

τοῖσιν δ᾽ αὐτίκ᾽ ἔπειτα θεοὶ τέραα προύφαινον·

εἷρπον μὲν ῥινοί, κρέα δ᾽ ἀμφ᾽ ὀβελοῖσι μεμύκει,395

ὀπταλέα τε καὶ ὠμά, βοῶν δ᾽ ὣς γίγνετο φωνή.

notes

Odysseus is awakened by the smell of cooking meat. Lampetia tells her father Helios of the Greeks’ transgression. He complains to Zeus, who promises punishment for the crew.

Awake from his nap, Odysseus heads back to the ship, only to encounter yet another dangerously seductive fragrance. The temptation that overwhelmed his crew seems to be carried by the savor of cooking cattle. These are female cows (καλαὶ βόες, 12.262), tended by nymphs. The savor “surrounds” Odysseus, like the female voices (θῆλυς ἀυτή, 6.121) that swirl around him on the beach at Scheria. Once more before the final destruction of his ship and crew, a seductive female force wafts around him, threatening to blur the clear outlines of his heroic resolve.

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The nymph shepherdess Lampetia, “Sunny,” tattles to Helios, who complains to Zeus, threatening to move his sunshine to the land of the dead, another cosmic dislocation that the crew’s transgression could bring on. Zeus assures Helios that he will take care of the situation. In his role as sky god, he will unleash yet another destructive storm on the hapless sailors. The exchange takes us back once more to the beginning of the poem, where the crew’s folly and consequent destruction are announced (1.7). As we near the end of Odysseus’s story, the poet circles back to its beginnings. Homer has not drawn attention to any of the inconsistencies, from a naturalistic point of view, that pop up in the course of Odysseus recounting of the adventures in 9–12 (for instance how he knows what Eurylochus says to the crew when he (Odysseus) is sleeping) so it is somewhat surprising that Odysseus fastidiously tells his audience that he knows of the conversation between Zeus and Helios because Calypso told him later. As the story of Odysseus’s adventures ends, Homer gently reminds us that there are layers of narrators guiding us and that the present storyteller will relinquish control to the poet again soon.

Once discovered by their captain, the crew members blame each other halfheartedly, but there is no remedy now. A resigned mood seems to hang over their feasting, as if they know these will be their last meals together. Distortion of the natural order continues as the gods send creepy portents, rippling flesh on the spits, bellowing like the mooing of cows.

Further Reading

Segal, C. (1992) 1996. “Divine Justice in the Odyssey: Poseidon, Cyclops, and Helios.” In Reading the Odyssey, edited by S. Schein, 191–199. Reprint. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

364 κατὰ … κάη: tmesis, 3rd sing. aor. pass. > κατακαίω, “to burn up.” The subject is dual.

364 μῆρε: dual > μηρός, ὁ.

364 πάσαντο: 3rd pl. aor. mid. > πατέομαι.

365 ἀμφ(ί): “on both sides,” i.e., the meat is pierced so the spit passes through from one side to the other.

366 ἐξέσσυτο: “fled,” “left,” 3rd sing. impf. > ἐκσεύομαι.

367 βῆν δ᾽ ἰέναι: “I set out to go. A repetition of 10.407.

370 θεοῖσι μετ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι: "among the immortal gods" is strange, since Odysseus not, in fact, among the gods. It may mean that he makes his voice heard among the gods. Or perhaps we should accept the emendation μέγ᾽, "greatly" or "loudly."

372 με ... εἰς ἄτην: "to my hurt" (Cunliffe ἄτη 4).

373 μέγα: here, “outrageous,” “evil.”

374 ὠκέα: adverbial acc.

375 ὅ: ὅτι, in indirect discourse, introduced by a verb of announcing implied by the noun ἄγγελος (i.e., "and announced that ...").

375 οἱ: dative of possession.

375 ἔκταμεν: 1st pl. aor. > κτείνω, “to kill” (not from ἐκτέμνω).

376 μετηύδα: 3rd sing. impf. The subject is Helios.

378 τῖσαι: “make (acc.) pay,” “punish,” 2nd aor. mid. imperat. > τίνω.

379 ὑπέρβιον: “insolently,” “hubristically,” adverbial acc.

379 ᾗσιν: rel. pron., the antecedent is βοῦς (contraction of βόας). The dative object of χαίρεσκον.

380 χαίρεσκον: “used to rejoice,” “used to take pleasure,” unaugmented iterative impf. > χαίρω.

381 προτραποίμην: “turn,” 1st sing. aor. mid. opt. > προτρέπω, in a general temporal clause in secondary sequence.

382 τίσουσι: here, simply “pay,” 3rd pl. fut. act. indic., in an “emotional future condition” (Smyth 2328).

383 εἰς Ἁΐδαο: “into the house of Hades.” Helios threatens to withdraw his light from the upper world and take it to the Underworld if Odysseus's men aren't punished.

383 φαείνω: "I shine." Helios shifts to the present as his threat becomes even more vivid and emotional. Smyth (1879) calls this the “present of anticipation,” which is “used instead of the future in statements of what is immediate, likely, certain, or threatening.”

387 κ(ε) … κεάσαιμι: potential opt. > κεάζω.

388 τυτθὰ: "into little pieces," with κεάσαιμι.

388 βαλὼν: "striking," with ἀργῆτι κεραυνῷ in line 387.

389 Καλυψοῦς: “from …,” genitive of source. Hermes reported the conversation of Zeus and Helios to Calypso (line 390), who reported it to Odysseus.

392 νείκεον: “I started to blame …,” unaugmented 1st sing. inchoative impf.

392 ἄλλοθεν ἄλλον ἐπισταδὸν: “standing next to a man on one side and another man on another side,” “left and right.”

393 εὑρέμεναι: aor. infin. > εὑρίσκω.

393 δυνάμεσθα: unaugmented 1st pl. impf.

393 ἀποτέθνασαν: 3rd pl. plupf. > ἀποθνῄσκω.

394 τέραα: = τέρατα.

395 ῥινοί: i.e., the hides of the slaughtered cattle.

395 μεμύκει: unaugmented 3rd sing. plupf., with imperfect sense; singular verb with neuter plural subject.

vocabulary

ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet

καίω καύσω ἔκαυσα –κέκαυκα κέκαυμαι ἐκαύθην: to light, kindle, burn

σπλάγχνον –ου τό: the inward parts

πατέομαι πάσομαι ἐπασάμην πέπασμαι: to eat

μιστύλλω – – – – –: to cut up 365

ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

ὀβελός –οῦ ὁ: a spit

πείρω πειρῶ ἔπειρα – πέπαρμαι ἐπάρην: to pierce quite through, fix

βλέφαρον –ου τό: eyelid (mostly in plur.)

ἐκσεύομαι ἐκσεύσομαι ἐξέσσυμαι ἐξεσύθην: to rush out

νήδυμος –ον: sweet, delightful;

ὕπνος –ου ὁ: sleep

θοός –ή –όν: swift

θίς θινός ὁ: shore, beach

σχεδόν: near; almost

κίω – – – – –: go, go away

ἀμφιέλισσα (fem. only): rowed on both sides

κνῖσα –ης ἡ: fat; scent or smoke of burnt sacrifice

ἀμφέρχομαι ἀμφελεύσομαι ἀμφῆλθον ἀμφιλήλυθα: to come round one, surround

ἀϋτμή –ῆς ἡ: breath, puff, air, gust

οἰμώζω οἰμώξομαι ᾤμωξα ––– ––– –––: to wail aloud, lament 370

ἀθάνατος –ον: immortal, deathless; (plur.) the gods

γεγωνέω γεγωνήσω ἐγεγώνησα γέγωνα: to tell out, proclaim

Ζεύς Διός ὁ: Zeus

ἠδέ: and

μάκαρ μάκαρος: blessed, happy; blessed ones, gods

ἄτη –ης ἡ: blindness, destruction

κοιμάω κοιμήσω ἐκοίμησα κεκοίμηκα κεκοίμημαι ἐκοιμήθην: (act.) to put to bed, lull; (mid. and pass.) to go to bed, lay down

νηλής –ές: pitiless, ruthless

ὕπνος –ου ὁ: sleep

ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion

μητίομαι μητίσομαι ἐμητισάμην: to devise, contrive, plan

ὠκύς ὠκεῖα ὠκύ: quick, swift, fast

Ὑπερίων –ονος ὁ: Hyperion, the Sun-god

ἄγγελος –ου ὁ: messenger

Λαμπετίη –ης ἡ: Lampetia, a nymph, daughter of Helius 375

τανύπεπλος –ον: with flowing peplos

ἕ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself

ἐκτάμνω, aor. ἐξέταμον or ἔκταμε: to cut out

ἀθάνατος –ον: immortal, deathless; (plur.) the gods

μεταυδάω μεταυδήσω μετηύδησα μετηύδηκα μετηύδημαι μετηυδήθην: to speak among

χώομαι χώσομαι ἐχωσάμην – κέχωσμαι ἐχώσθην: to be angry, indignant

κῆρ κῆρος τό: heart, mind

Ζεύς Διός ὁ: Zeus

ἠδέ: and

μάκαρ μάκαρος: blessed, happy; blessed ones, gods

τίνω τείσω ἔτεισα/ἔτισα τέτεικα/τέτικα τέτεισμαι/τέτισμαι ἐτείσθην/ἐτίσθην: to pay, pay for, atone; (mid.) to make pay, punish, avenge oneself

ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion

Λαερτιάδης –ου ὁ: son of Laertes (Odysseus)

Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey

ἐκτείνω ἐκτενῶ ἐξέτεινα ἐκτέτακα ἐκτέταμαι ἐξετάθην: kill

ὑπέρβιος –ον: (adv.) insolently, recklessly, lawlessly

ἀστερόεις –εσσα –εν: starred, starry 380

ἠδέ: and

ὁπότε: when

ἄψ: back

γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district

οὐρανόθεν: from heaven, down from heaven

προτρέπω προτρέψω πρέτρεψα προτέτροφα προτέτραμμαι πρετράφθην (or πρετράπην): (mid. to go, turn

ἐπιεικής –ές: fitting, meet, suitable

ἀμοιβή –ῆς ἡ: a requital, recompense, compensation, return, payment

δὐω δύσω έδυσα/ἔδυν δέδυκα δέδυμαι εδύθην: plunge in, go into, sink

ᾍδης –ου ὁ: Hades

νέκυς –υος τό: dead body, corpse

ἀπαμείβομαι ἀπαμείψομαι ἀπημειψάμην ἀπημείφθην: to reply, answer

πρόσφημι πρόσφησω προσέφησα: to speak to, address

νεφεληγερέτα –ου ὁ: cloud-gatherer

Ζεύς Διός ὁ: Zeus

τοι: let me tell you, surely 385

ἀθάνατος –ον: immortal, deathless; (plur.) the gods

θνητός –ή –όν: mortal

βροτός –οῦ ὁ: mortal

ζείδωρος –ον: wheat-producing, fertile

ἄρουρα –ας ἡ: plowed or arable land; πατρίς ἄρουρα fatherland, homeland

τάχα: quickly; perhaps

θοός –ή –όν: swift

ἀργής –ῆτος: bright, glancing

κεραυνός –οῦ ὁ: a thunderbolt

τυτθός [–ή] –όν: little, small

κεάζω κεάσσω ἐκέασσα – – ἐκεάσθην: to split, cleave

οἶνοψ –οπος: wine-coloured, wine-dark

πόντος –ου ὁ: sea, open sea

Καλυψώ –οῦς ἡ: Calypso, a goddess, daughter of Atlas

εὔκομος –ον: fair-haired

Ἑρμῆς (or Ἑρμείας) –οῦ ὁ: Hermes, herm 390

διάκτορος –ου ὁ: the Messenger

ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet

ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

κατέρχομαι κατελεύσομαι/κάτειμι κατῆλθον κατελήλυθα ––– –––: to go down, descend; to go towards the shore

ἠδέ: and

νεικέω νεικέσω ἐνείκεσα: to quarrel

ἄλλοθεν: from elsewhere

ἐπισταδόν: standing over each in turn

μῆχος –ους τό: a means, expedient, remedy

τέρας –ατος τό: portent, monster

προφαίνω προφανῶ πρέφηνα προπέφηνα προπέφασμαι πρεφάν(θ)ην: to show, put into view; (mid.-pass.) to appear to the view

ἕρπω/ἑρπύζω ἕρψω/ἑρπύσω εἵρπυσα ––– ––– –––: to creep, crawl 395

ῥινός –οῦ ἡ: the skin

κρέας κρέως and κρέατος, gen. pl. κρειῶν, τό: meat, piece of meat

ὀβελός –οῦ ὁ: a spit

μυκάομαι μυκήσομαι ἐμυκησάμην: to moo, bellow, roar

ὀπταλέος –α –ον: roasted, broiled

ὠμός –ή –όν: raw

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