τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε θεά, γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·

τοιγὰρ ἐγώ τοι ταῦτα μάλʼ ἀτρεκέως ἀγορεύσω.

Μέντης Ἀγχιάλοιο δαΐφρονος εὔχομαι εἶναι180

υἱός, ἀτὰρ Ταφίοισι φιληρέτμοισιν ἀνάσσω.

νῦν δʼ ὧδε ξὺν νηὶ κατήλυθον ἠδʼ ἑτάροισιν

πλέων ἐπὶ οἴνοπα πόντον ἐπʼ ἀλλοθρόους ἀνθρώπους,

ἐς Τεμέσην μετὰ χαλκόν, ἄγω δʼ αἴθωνα σίδηρον.

νηῦς δέ μοι ἥδʼ ἕστηκεν ἐπʼ ἀγροῦ νόσφι πόληος,185

ἐν λιμένι Ῥείθρῳ ὑπὸ Νηίῳ ὑλήεντι.

ξεῖνοι δʼ ἀλλήλων πατρώιοι εὐχόμεθʼ εἶναι

ἐξ ἀρχῆς, εἴ πέρ τε γέροντʼ εἴρηαι ἐπελθὼν

Λαέρτην ἥρωα, τὸν οὐκέτι φασὶ πόλινδε

ἔρχεσθʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀπάνευθεν ἐπʼ ἀγροῦ πήματα πάσχειν190

γρηὶ σὺν ἀμφιπόλῳ, ἥ οἱ βρῶσίν τε πόσιν τε

παρτιθεῖ, εὖτʼ ἄν μιν κάματος κατὰ γυῖα λάβῃσιν

ἑρπύζοντʼ ἀνὰ γουνὸν ἀλωῆς οἰνοπέδοιο.

νῦν δʼ ἦλθον· δὴ γάρ μιν ἔφαντʼ ἐπιδήμιον εἶναι,

σὸν πατέρʼ· ἀλλά νυ τόν γε θεοὶ βλάπτουσι κελεύθου.195

οὐ γάρ πω τέθνηκεν ἐπὶ χθονὶ δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,

ἀλλʼ ἔτι που ζωὸς κατερύκεται εὐρέι πόντῳ

νήσῳ ἐν ἀμφιρύτῃ, χαλεποὶ δέ μιν ἄνδρες ἔχουσιν

ἄγριοι, οἵ που κεῖνον ἐρυκανόωσʼ ἀέκοντα.

αὐτὰρ νῦν τοι ἐγὼ μαντεύσομαι, ὡς ἐνὶ θυμῷ200

ἀθάνατοι βάλλουσι καὶ ὡς τελέεσθαι ὀίω,

οὔτε τι μάντις ἐὼν οὔτʼ οἰωνῶν σάφα εἰδώς.

οὔ τοι ἔτι δηρόν γε φίλης ἀπὸ πατρίδος αἴης

ἔσσεται, οὐδʼ εἴ πέρ τε σιδήρεα δέσματʼ ἔχῃσιν·

φράσσεται ὥς κε νέηται, ἐπεὶ πολυμήχανός ἐστιν.205

ἀλλʼ ἄγε μοι τόδε εἰπὲ καὶ ἀτρεκέως κατάλεξον,

εἰ δὴ ἐξ αὐτοῖο τόσος πάϊς εἰς Ὀδυσῆος.

αἰνῶς μὲν κεφαλήν τε καὶ ὄμματα καλὰ ἔοικας

κείνῳ, ἐπεὶ θαμὰ τοῖον ἐμισγόμεθʼ ἀλλήλοισιν,

πρίν γε τὸν ἐς Τροίην ἀναβήμεναι, ἔνθα περ ἄλλοι210

Ἀργείων οἱ ἄριστοι ἔβαν κοίλῃς ἐνὶ νηυσίν·

ἐκ τοῦ δʼ οὔτʼ Ὀδυσῆα ἐγὼν ἴδον οὔτʼ ἔμʼ ἐκεῖνος.

τὴν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·

τοιγὰρ ἐγώ τοι, ξεῖνε, μάλʼ ἀτρεκέως ἀγορεύσω.

μήτηρ μέν τέ μέ φησι τοῦ ἔμμεναι, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ γε215

οὐκ οἶδʼ· οὐ γάρ πώ τις ἑὸν γόνον αὐτὸς ἀνέγνω.

ὡς δὴ ἐγώ γʼ ὄφελον μάκαρός νύ τευ ἔμμεναι υἱὸς

ἀνέρος, ὃν κτεάτεσσιν ἑοῖς ἔπι γῆρας ἔτετμε.

νῦν δʼ ὃς ἀποτμότατος γένετο θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων,

τοῦ μʼ ἔκ φασι γενέσθαι, ἐπεὶ σύ με τοῦτʼ ἐρεείνεις.220

τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε θεά, γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·

οὐ μέν τοι γενεήν γε θεοὶ νώνυμνον ὀπίσσω

θῆκαν, ἐπεὶ σέ γε τοῖον ἐγείνατο Πηνελόπεια.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε μοι τόδε εἰπὲ καὶ ἀτρεκέως κατάλεξον·

τίς δαίς, τίς δὲ ὅμιλος ὅδʼ ἔπλετο; τίπτε δαί σε χρεώ;225

εἰλαπίνη ἠὲ γάμος; ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἔρανος τάδε γʼ ἐστίν·

ὥς τέ μοι ὑβρίζοντες ὑπερφιάλως δοκέουσι

δαίνυσθαι κατὰ δῶμα. νεμεσσήσαιτό κεν ἀνὴρ

αἴσχεα πόλλʼ ὁρόων, ὅς τις πινυτός γε μετέλθοι.

    Athena/Mentes answers Telemachus in convincing detail about his people, his mission, and how it brought him to Ithaka.

    read full essay

    As his story unfolds, we see the goddess making her way toward the crucial information she needs to impart, that Mentes is an old family friend of Odysseus, which allows her to step more easily into the role of advisor. The name the goddess chooses for her fictional persona already links her to Mentor, the elder Ithakan whom we will meet in Book 2 (225) and whom the goddess later impersonates (2.267). (The likely etymology for both names connects them to the root *men, “to think,” as in μέμονας and the Latin moneo.) The two characters are doublets, with a similar function in the story (e.g., Eurykelia/Eurymedousa, benevolent servants who nurture royal children; Melantho/Melanthius, unworthy servants who taunt the disguised Odysseus), but with one important difference: Mentes can respond to the situation in Ithaka as an outsider with a fresh perspective, while Mentor carries authority by virtue of his long association with the local scene. By creating both personae, Homer gives the goddess wider scope for weighing in on Telemachus’s dilemma.

    Athena’s response to Telemachus has much in common with the “false tales” that Odysseus will tell about himself when he reaches Ithaka. His stories are fictional but contain elements that we would recognize as similar to what we know of him from the preceding adventures, his bold, restless nature, the obstacles that appear in his path along the way home. (refer to Intro here?) Likewise, Athena’s autobiography must be fiction, and yet she does have a special relationship with Odysseus that prompts her to push Telemachus toward action. These parallels are part of the paradigm the poet begins to create with Athena’s appearance in Ithaka, of the stranger arriving in a new place, bringing exciting and sometimes dangerous changes, which Odysseus will perform over and over as he makes his way to Ithaka. Each iteration of the pattern will repeat elements from earlier examples while enriching them in their new context. Tracing this developing complex of meaning is the key to understanding how a poet like Homer could use repeated forms on multiple levels, verbal, thematic, and structural, to create an entirely new work of art within a traditional medium like early Greek hexameter poetry.

    Mentes/Athena has heard about the wretched existence of Laertes, Odysseus’s father. We—and Odysseus—will learn more about him from the hero’s mother Antikleia in the Underworld:

                            πατὴρ δὲ σὸς αὐτόθι μίμνει
    ἀγρῷ οὐδὲ πόλινδε κατέρχεται. οὐδέ οἱ εὐναὶ
    δέμνια καὶ χλαῖναι καὶ ῥήγεα σιγαλόεντα,
    ἀλλ᾽ ὅ γε χεῖμα μὲν εὕδει ὅθι δμῶες ἐνὶ οἴκῳ,
    ἐν κόνι ἄγχι πυρός κακὰ δὲ χροῒ εἵματα εἷται:
    αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν ἔλθῃσι θέρος τεθαλυῖά τ᾽ ὀπώρη,
    πάντῃ οἱ κατὰ γουνὸν ἀλωῆς οἰνοπέδοιο
    φύλλων κεκλιμένων χθαμαλαὶ βεβλήαται εὐναί.
    ἔνθ᾽ ὅ γε κεῖτ᾽ ἀχέων, μέγα δὲ φρεσὶ πένθος ἀέξει
    σὸν νόστον ποθέων, χαλεπὸν δ᾽ ἐπὶ γῆρας ἱκάνει.

                              Your father remains there
    on his farm and never comes to the town. He has
    no bed, nor blankets and shining coverlets,
    but sleeps on the ground with the servants in the lodge,
    in the dirt by the fire, with rags for clothing.
    But when the summer comes, and the crops ripen,
    anywhere on a rise of the fruit-bearing earth
    the bed is thrown on a pile of fallen leaves.
    He lies there grieving, and great sadness grows in his mind,
    as he longs for your return. Harsh old age has come for him.

    Odyssey 11.187–96

    The portrait of old men in the Homeric poems is mixed. In the Iliad, Nestor and Phoenix are accorded respect for the wisdom that comes from long experience. More often, however, the physical decline that comes with age makes old men objects of amusement, like the elders who chirp like cicadas when Helen walks by (Il. 3.151–53) or pity, as when Priam imagines his own dogs tearing at his corpse (Il. 22.66-76). The pitiful condition of Laertes underscores the serious dysfunction that has settled on Ithaka in Odysseus’s absence. His condition is so debased that the possibility of his stepping in for his son, presumably a valid option in the circumstances, is never mentioned in the poem.

    Yet even as he scrabbles in the dirt, Laertes maintains a lonely outpost of fruitful right order for his son. After retaking the palace from the suitors, Odysseus finds his father in the country, cultivating his crops:

    ὦ γέρον οὐκ ἀδαημονίη σ᾽ ἔχει ἀμφιπολεύειν
    ὄρχατον, ἀλλ᾽ εὖ τοι κομιδὴ ἔχει, οὐδέ τι πάμπαν,
    οὐ φυτόν, οὐ συκέη, οὐκ ἄμπελος, οὐ μὲν ἐλαίη,
    οὐκ ὄγχνη οὐ πρασιή τοι ἄνευ κομιδῆς κατὰ κῆπον.

    Old man, you clearly are no beginner when it comes 
    to cultivating an orchard. Things are well cared for, nothing 
    lacks attention, no plant, no figs, no grape vine, no olives, 
    no pears, no vegetable of any kind goes without your care.

    Odyssey 24.244–47

    Though things are out of joint in the palace, Laertes preserves a harmony with the forces of nature, husbanding the energy of rebirth that will grow when his son returns. Eumaeus, the faithful swineherd with whom Odysseus will stay when he first returns to Ithaka, plays a similar role, maintaining his master’s flocks in a carefully managed compound, a residual cosmos that awaits the king’s return to reestablish order in the kingdom.

    Athena, still in disguise, now replays her initial encounter with Telemachus, but with the roles reversed. He began by saying that his father is lost forever and then asked about the stranger’s identity (158–77); now the goddess predicts that Odysseus will return soon and asks Telemachus about his identity (200–12). Telemachus’s reply widens the scope of the exchange—how can anyone know his own birth?—touching on the ever-present anxiety that runs under patriarchal societies surrounding the legitimacy of birth, the key to ensuring the passage of property from one generation to the next. This continual focus on issues of identity fits the immediate situation—care must be taken to ensure the safety and integrity of the household—but also launches one of the poem’s major themes. The Odyssey can be understood as a prolonged meditation on the mysteries of human identity: Who are we and what makes us what we are? The poem invites us to ponder two insistent questions about its hero. The first, “Where is Odysseus?” hovers over the royal household in Ithaka at the beginning and end of the story. The second and more challenging quandary appears as the stranger makes his way through many and varied societies on his way home: “Who is Odysseus?” The poem offers no firm answers, and indeed, the uncertainty about the returning hero is central to its enduring power.

    Athena now moves the conversation away from identity to another fruitful topic: What is going on in this household? Is this a wedding feast? Again, the reference is to immediate events, but points toward a continuing theme in the poem, marriage as the emblem of fruitful harmony emerging from past darkness. Telemachus will come upon a double wedding in Sparta when he visits Menelaus and Helen, a hint of some healing in that troubled household after the rupture that sparked the Trojan War (4.3–14). When he arrives at the island of the Phaeacians, Odysseus becomes the object of the royal princess’s desire for a husband, a perilous situation from which he barely escapes. In his first speech to Nausicaa on the beach, he asks for her help getting to the royal palace and offers a blessing in return:

    ἄστυ δέ μοι δεῖξον, δὸς δὲ ῥάκος ἀμφιβαλέσθαι,
    εἴ τί που εἴλυμα σπείρων ἔχες ἐνθάδ᾽ ἰοῦσα.
    σοὶ δὲ θεοὶ τόσα δοῖεν ὅσα φρεσὶ σῇσι μενοινᾷς,
    ἄνδρα τε καὶ οἶκον, καὶ ὁμοφροσύνην ὀπάσειαν
    ἐσθλήν: οὐ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ γε κρεῖσσον καὶ ἄρειον,
    ἢ ὅθ᾽ ὁμοφρονέοντε νοήμασιν οἶκον ἔχητον
    ἀνὴρ ἠδὲ γυνή: πόλλ᾽ ἄλγεα δυσμενέεσσι,
    χάρματα δ᾽ εὐμενέτῃσι, μάλιστα δέ τ᾽ ἔκλυον αὐτοί.

    Guide me to the town and give me some rags to wear 
    if you had any kind of cloth when you came here. 
    And may the gods give you everything you desire in your heart, 
    a husband and a home, and bestow on you sweet agreement too. 
    For nothing is stronger and better, than when man and a woman, 
    thinking just alike, keep a home together. 
    Much pain they give to their enemies and pleasure to their 
    friends. And their fame reaches far.

    Odyssey 6.178–85

    The “sweet agreement” (ὁμοφροσύνην, 181) Odysseus wishes for Nausicaa and her future husband is finally what he and Penelope achieve, hard-won but all the more sweet, when she finally acknowledges him after the suitors are dead (23.305–30). The role of marriage in a comic narrative, as the emblem of happiness and right order restored, begins here in western literature. If we listen closely, we can hear Mozart faintly in the distance.

     

    Further Reading

    Falkner, T. 1995. The Poetics of Old Age in Greek epic, Lyric, and Tragedy: Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

    Van Nortwick, T. 2008. Imagining Men: Ideals of Masculinity in Ancient Greek Culture, 134–135. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

    ———. 2008. The Unknown Odysseus: Alternate Worlds in Homer’s Odyssey, 74–77. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

     

    182  ὧδε: either of manner (“thus,” “as you can see”) or of place (“hither,” “here”). For a discussion of the latter possibility, see LSJ ὧδε II.

    184  Τεμέσην: according tο Strabo (6.1.5), Temesa was a Greek city on the west coast of southern Italy, although others have argued that Homer’s Temesa was in Cyprus, which was famous for its copper. See Smith Dictionary Temesa and Merry-Riddell-Monro. This line provides an interesting glimpse of trade in Homeric times.

    184  μετὰ: see μετά LSJ C.I.2.

    185  ἥδ(ε): probably accompanied by a gesture in the direction of the ship (Stanford, Merry-Riddell-Monro).

    185  ἐπ᾽ ἀγροῦ: glossed at Autenrieth ἐπί II(1).

    186  Ῥείθρῳ … Νηίῳ: nothing more specific is known about these locations on Ithaka.

    188  εἴ πέρ: “if only you could ask…,” introducing the protasis of a future more vivid condition. The apodosis of the condition is unstated, as Athena moves on to other things. 

    188  εἴρηαι: 2nd sing. pres. mid. subj. > ἔρομαι.

    190  ἔρχεσθ(αι): infin. > ἔρχομαι, in accuative-infinitive construction of indirect discourse. 

    190  ἐπ᾽ ἀγροῦ: see note on line 185.

    192  παρτιθεῖ: = παρατίθησι, 3rd sing. pres. act. indic. > παρατίθημι.

    192  εὖτ᾽ ἄν: “whenever,” introducing an indefinite temporal clause with subjunctive. 

    192  κατὰ … λάβῃσιν: 3rd sing. aor. act. subj., tmesis > καταλαμβάνω.

    192  γυῖα: accusative of respect. 

    193  ἑρπύζοντ(α): masc. acc. sing. ptc. > ἑρπύζω. In Homer, the verb is used “of persons weighed down by age or deep distress” (LSJ ἑρπύζω). 

    194  ἔφαντ(ο): the subject is a general, undefined 3rd person plural. 

    195  βλάπτουσι: for this verb with the genitive, see LSJ βλάπτω A.I.2.

    201  βάλλουσι: "put", 3rd plu. pres. act. subj. > βάλλω

    201  ὡς: "that/how"

    202  οἰωνῶν σάφα εἰδώς: reference to augury. Augurs were able to give prophecies and communicate with the gods by analyzing the movement and behavior of birds.

    204  εἴ πέρ: “even if.” The condition is a future more vivid with εἰ in place of ἐάν in the protasis (Smyth 2327) and a future indicative in the apodosis (2326a).

    205  ὥς κε νέηται: ὡς, “how,” after a verb of thinking or knowing (Smyth 2578c). The construction with ὡς usually takes an indicative, but here it takes the Homeric “anticipatory subjunctive” with κε, which is equivalent to a future indicative (Smyth 1810). Note that the accent on ὥς is a result of the enclitic κε.

    206  formulaic line, repeated on line 169.

    207  τόσος: "so very," modifying πάϊς.

    207  εἰς: see note for line 170.

    208  αἰνῶς: see LSJ αἰνός II.

    208  κεφαλήν τε καὶ ὄμματα: accusatives of respect. 

    209  θαμὰ τοῖον: “every so often” (LSJ τοῖος V).

    212  ἐκ τοῦ: “since then” (LSJ ἐκ A.II).

    215  τοῦ: understand υἱὸν τοῦ as predicate with μέ in the indirect statement. τοῦ is a possessive pronoun, “his,” referring to Odysseus. 

    216  ἑὸν: possessive adj.

    216  ἀνέγνω: 3rd sing. aor. act. indic. > ἀναγιγνώσκω. For the forms of the aorist, see Smyth 682.

    217  ὄφελον: ὤφελον (unaugmented) with the infinitive, indicating an unattainable wish (Smyth 1781).

    217  τευ: indefinite adj. = τινός or του (Smyth 334D).

    218  ἔπι: anastrophe (Smyth 175a).

    218  ἔτετμε: aor., with the force of a present (LSJ τέτμον).

    219 ὃς: the relative clause is placed before its antecedent, τοῦ. In prose, lines 219–20 could be restructured as: φασί με γενέσθαι [υἱὸν] ἐκ τοῦ [ἄνδρὸς] ὃς ἀποτμότατος ἐγένετο θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων.

    220  ἔκ: with τοῦ, anastrophe (Smyth 175a).

    222  ὀπίσσω: LSJ ὀπίσω II. 

    223  τοῖον: "so great," agreeing with σέ.

    224  formulaic line, repeated on line 169.

    225  τίπτε δέ σε χρεώ;: "what need comes to you?" understand some verb such as ἱκάνει with χρεώ as its subject (LSJ χρεώ I.2).

    226  ἔρανος τάδε γ᾽ ἐστίν: the neuter plural demonstrative pronoun (τάδε) with the singular verb is not attracted to the masculine case of the noun (ἔρανος). See Smyth 1239a. An ἔρανος is a kind of potluck, a meal to which each person has contributed a share. This is very different from the situation in the house of Odysseus.

    227  ὥς τέ: "and so," (LSJ τε C.4) or most likely an adverb of comparison, “just as,” with the participle ὑβρίζοντες (Smyth 2087b).

    228  νεμεσσήσαιτό κεν … / … ὅς τις … μετέλθοι: future less vivid conditional relative (Smyth 2566).

    αὖτε: again

    προσεῖπον (aor. 2 of προσαγορεύω and προσφωνέω); Εp. προσέειπον: to speak to one, address, accost

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: a goddess

    γλαυκῶπις –ιδος: with gleaming eyes, brighteyed

    Ἀθηνᾶ –ᾶς ἡ: Athena

    τοιγάρ: so then, wherefore, therefore, accordingly

    ἀτρεκής –ές: real, genuine

    ἀγορεύω ἀγορεύσω ἠγόρευσα ἠγόρευκα ἠγόρευμαι ἠγορεύθην: to speak, say

    Μέντης –ου ὁ: Mentes, leader of the Ciconians, under whose form Athena visits Telemachus180

    Ἀγχίαλος –ου ὁ: Anchialus

    δαίφρων –ον: fiery-hearted, warlike

    εὔχομαι εὔξομαι ηὐξάμην ηὖγμαι: to pray, offer prayers, pay one's vows, make a vow

    ἀτάρ: but, yet

    Τάφιοι –ων οἱ: the Taphians, inhabitants of Taphos, notorious for their piracy

    φιλήρετμος –ον: loving the oar

    ἀνάσσω ἀνάξω ἤναξα: to be lord, master, owner, to rule, in

    κατέρχομαι κατελεύσομαι/κάτειμι κατῆλθον κατελήλυθα ––– –––: to go down from

    ἠδέ: and

    ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: a comrade, companion, mate

    οἶνοψ –οπος: wine-coloured, wine-dark

    πόντος –ου ὁ: the sea

    ἀλλόθροος –ον: speaking a strange tongue, foreign

    Τεμέση –ης ἡ: Temesa, a town celebrated for its copper mines, perhaps in Cyprus

    χαλκός –οῦ ὁ: copper

    αἴθων –ωνος: fiery, burning, blazing, shining

    σίδηρος –ου ὁ: iron

    ἀγρός –οῦ ὁ: fields, lands185

    νόσφι: aloof, apart, afar, away

    λιμήν –ένος ὁ: a harbor

    Ῥείθρῳ: Rheithron, the harbor of Ithaca

    Νήϊον –ου τό: Mt. Neium, in Ithaca

    ὑλήεις –εσσα –εν: woody, wooded

    πατρῷος –α –ον (Ion. πατρώϊος): of or belonging to the father

    γέρων –οντος ὁ: an old man (in apposition as adj., old)

    ἐπέρχομαι ἔπειμι ἐπῆλθον ἐπελήλυθα ––– –––: come near; come upon

    Λαέρτης or Λάρτιος –ου ὁ: Laertes, son of Arcīsius, and father of Odysseus, king in Ithaca

    ἥρως ἥρωος ὁ: hero

    πόλινδε: into or to the city

    ἀπάνευθε: afar off, far away190

    πῆμα –ατος τό: suffering, misery, calamity, woe, bane

    γραῦς γρᾱός ἡ: an old woman

    ἀμφίπολος –ον: enslaved person, handmaid

    οὗ, οἷ, ἕ and encl. οὑ, οἱ, ἑ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself

    βρῶσις –εως ἡ: food

    πόσις –ιος ἡ: drink

    παρατίθημι παραθήσω παρέθηκα παρατέθηκα ––– παρετέθην: to place beside

    εὖτε: when, at the time when

    μιν: him, her, it

    κάματος –ου ὁ: toil, trouble, labour

    γυῖον –ου τό: a limb

    ἑρπύζω ἑρπύσω/ἕρψω εἵρπυσα/εἷρψα: to creep, crawl, hobble

    γουνός –οῦ ὁ: a hill

    ἀλωή –ῆς ἡ: orchard, garden

    οἰνόπεδος –ον: with soil fit to produce wine, wine-producing

    ἐπιδήμιος –ον: among the people

    βλάπτω βλάψω ἔβλαψα βέβλαφα βέβλαμμαι ἐβλάφθην (or ἐβλάβην): harm, disable, damage195

    κέλευθος –ου ἡ: a road, way, path, track

    πω: [+neg.] (adv.) never yet, in no way, not at all

    χθών χθονός ἡ: the earth, ground

    δῖος –α –ον: godlike

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

    ζωός (Ion. ζώς) –ή –όν: alive, living

    κατερύκω κατερύξω κατέρυξα/κατήρυξα/κατερύκακον/κατηρύκακον: to hold back, detain

    εὐρύς –εῖα –ύ: wide, broad

    ἀμφίρυτος –ον: flowed around, sea-girt

    ἄγριος –α –ον: wild, harsh

    ἐρυκανάω/ἐρύκω ἐρύξω ἔρυξα/ἤρυξα/ἐρύκακον/ἠρύκακον: to restrain, withhold

    ἀέκων –ουσα –ον: against one's will, unwilling

    μαντεύομαι μαντεύσομαι ἐμαντευσάμην μεμάντευμαι: to divine, prophesy, presage200

    ἀθάνατος –ον: immortal

    τελέω τελῶ or τελέσω ἐτέλεσα τετέλεκα τετέλεσμαι ἐτελέσθην: to complete, fulfil, accomplish

    τι: [indefinite] at all

    μάντις –εως ὁ: prophet

    οἰωνός –οῦ ὁ: a large bird, bird of prey

    τοι: let me tell you, surely, verily

    δηρός –ά –όν: long, too long

    φίλος –η –ον: loved, beloved, dear

    αἶα –ας ἡ: land

    σιδήρεος –α –ον: made of iron

    δέσμα –ατος τό: a bond, fetter

    νέομαι ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: to go205

    πολυμήχανος –ον: full of resources, inventive, ever-ready

    ἄγε: come! come on! well!

    καταλέγω καταλέξω κατέλεξα κατείλοχα κατείλεγμαι κατελέχθην: recount, tell at length and in order

    τόσος –η –ον: so very, so great, so vast

    αἰνός –ή –όν: strangely

    ὄμμα –ατος τό: the eye

    θαμά: often, oft-times

    τοῖος –α –ον: thus, so much

    Τροία –ας ἡ: Troy210

    ἀναβαίνω ἀναβήσομαι ἀνέβην ἀναβέβηκα ––– –––: to go up, mount, to go up to

    Ἀργεῖος –η –ον: Argive, of/from Argos

    κοῖλος –η –ον: hollow, hollowed

    Τηλέμαχος –ου ὁ: Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and Penelope

    πέπνυμαι (old Epic perf. pass. of πνέω with pres. sense): to be wise, be prudent

    ἀντίος –α or –ιη –ον: in reply; set against, opposite, facing (+ gen.)

    αὐδάω (ηὔδων) αὐδήσω ηὔδησα ηὔδηκα ηὔδημαι ηὔδάθην: to utter sounds, speak215

    ἑός ἑή ἑόν: his, her own

    γόνος –ου ὁ: parentage, ancestry, lineage

    ἀναγιγνώσκω ἀναγνώσομαι ἀνέγνων ἀνέγνωκα ἀνέγνωσμαι ἀνεγνώσθην: know well, perceive

    ὀφείλω ὀφειλήσω ὤφελον ὠφείληκα ––– ὠφειλήθην: (strong aor. only, with complem. inf.) would that... (to express unattainable wish)

    μάκαρ μάκαρος: blessed, happy

    κτέανον –ου or κτέαρ –ατος τό: possessions, property

    γῆρας –ως τό: old age

    τέτμον (aor. without any pres. in use): to overtake, reach, come up to, find

    ἄποτμος –ον: unhappy, ill-starred

    θνητός –ή –όν: mortal

    ἔγωγε: I indeed220

    ἐρεείνω – – – – –: to ask

    γενεά ᾶς Ion. γενεή ῆς ἡ: race, stock, family

    νώνυμος –ον: nameless, unknown, inglorious

    ὀπίσω: in the future, back

    γείνομαι ––– ἐγεινάμην ––– ––– –––: to be born; to beget

    Πηνελόπεια –ας ἡ: Penelope, the daughter of Icarius, and wife of Odysseus

    δαίς δαιτός ἡ: feast, banquet, meal225

    ὅμιλος –ου ὁ: any assembled crowd, a throng of people

    πέλω ––– ἔπλον ––– ––– –––: to be

    τίπτε: why, which?

    χρεώ –οῦς ἡ: want, need, necessity

    εἰλαπίνη –ης ἡ: a feast

    γάμος –ου ὁ: a wedding, wedding-feast

    ἔρανος –ου ὁ: a meal to which each contributed his share

    ὑβρίζω ὑβριζιῶ ὕβρισα ὕβρικα ὕβρισμαι ὑβρίσθην: insult, offend, disrespect

    ὑπερφίαλος –ον: arrogant, overbearing, overweening

    δαίνυμι δαίσω ἔδαισα: to have a feast

    δῶμα –ατος τό: a house

    νεμεσάω νεμεσήσω ἐνεμέσησα: to feel just resentment, to be wroth at undeserved

    αἶσχος –ους τό: shame, disgrace

    πινυτός –ή –όν: wise, prudent, discreet, understanding

    μετέρχομαι μετελεύσομαι/μέτειμι μετῆλθον μετελήλυθα: to come across, mingle with, go among (+ dat.); to pursue (+ μετά + acc.)

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    Suggested Citation

    Thomas Van Nortwick and Rob Hardy, Homer: Odyssey 5–12. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2024. ISBN: 978-1-947822-17-7 https://dcc.dickinson.edu/homer-odyssey/i-178-229