ὣς φάτο, τῆς δʼ εὔνησε γόον, σχέθε δʼ ὄσσε γόοιο.
ἡ δʼ ὑδρηναμένη, καθαρὰ χροῒ εἵμαθʼ ἑλοῦσα
εἰς ὑπερῷʼ ἀνέβαινε σὺν ἀμφιπόλοισι γυναιξίν,760
ἐν δʼ ἔθετʼ οὐλοχύτας κανέῳ, ἠρᾶτο δʼ Ἀθήνῃ·
κλῦθί μευ, αἰγιόχοιο Διὸς τέκος, Ἀτρυτώνη,
εἴ ποτέ τοι πολύμητις ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν Ὀδυσσεὺς
ἢ βοὸς ἢ ὄϊος κατὰ πίονα μηρίʼ ἔκηε,
τῶν νῦν μοι μνῆσαι, καί μοι φίλον υἷα σάωσον,765
μνηστῆρας δʼ ἀπάλαλκε κακῶς ὑπερηνορέοντας.
ὣς εἰποῦσʼ ὀλόλυξε, θεὰ δέ οἱ ἔκλυεν ἀρῆς.
μνηστῆρες δʼ ὁμάδησαν ἀνὰ μέγαρα σκιόεντα·
ὧδε δέ τις εἴπεσκε νέων ὑπερηνορεόντων·
ἦ μάλα δὴ γάμον ἄμμι πολυμνήστη βασίλεια770
ἀρτύει, οὐδέ τι οἶδεν ὅ οἱ φόνος υἷι τέτυκται.
ὣς ἄρα τις εἴπεσκε, τὰ δʼ οὐκ ἴσαν ὡς ἐτέτυκτο.
τοῖσιν δʼ Ἀντίνοος ἀγορήσατο καὶ μετέειπε·
δαιμόνιοι, μύθους μὲν ὑπερφιάλους ἀλέασθε
πάντας ὁμῶς, μή πού τις ἐπαγγείλῃσι καὶ εἴσω.775
ἀλλʼ ἄγε σιγῇ τοῖον ἀναστάντες τελέωμεν
μῦθον, ὃ δὴ καὶ πᾶσιν ἐνὶ φρεσὶν ἤραρεν ἡμῖν.
ὣς εἰπὼν ἐκρίνατʼ ἐείκοσι φῶτας ἀρίστους,
βὰν δʼ ἰέναι ἐπὶ νῆα θοὴν καὶ θῖνα θαλάσσης.
νῆα μὲν οὖν πάμπρωτον ἁλὸς βένθοσδε ἔρυσσαν,780
ἐν δʼ ἱστόν τʼ ἐτίθεντο καὶ ἱστία νηὶ μελαίνῃ,
ἠρτύναντο δʼ ἐρετμὰ τροποῖς ἐν δερματίνοισιν,
πάντα κατὰ μοῖραν, ἀνά θʼ ἱστία λευκὰ πέτασσαν·
τεύχεα δέ σφʼ ἤνεικαν ὑπέρθυμοι θεράποντες.
ὑψοῦ δʼ ἐν νοτίῳ τήν γʼ ὥρμισαν, ἐκ δʼ ἔβαν αὐτοί·785
ἔνθα δὲ δόρπον ἕλοντο, μένον δʼ ἐπὶ ἕσπερον ἐλθεῖν.
ἡ δʼ ὑπερωίῳ αὖθι περίφρων Πηνελόπεια
κεῖτʼ ἄρʼ ἄσιτος, ἄπαστος ἐδητύος ἠδὲ ποτῆτος,
ὁρμαίνουσʼ ἤ οἱ θάνατον φύγοι υἱὸς ἀμύμων,
ἦ ὅ γʼ ὑπὸ μνηστῆρσιν ὑπερφιάλοισι δαμείη.790
ὅσσα δὲ μερμήριξε λέων ἀνδρῶν ἐν ὁμίλῳ
δείσας, ὁππότε μιν δόλιον περὶ κύκλον ἄγωσι,
τόσσα μιν ὁρμαίνουσαν ἐπήλυθε νήδυμος ὕπνος·
εὗδε δʼ ἀνακλινθεῖσα, λύθεν δέ οἱ ἅψεα πάντα.
notes
The episode in Ithaca comes to a quiet close, with anxiety and menace still suffusing the royal palace.
read full essay
Penelope heeds Eurykleia’s advice, going upstairs to wash her face and put on fresh clothes, then praying to Athena, asking her to keep Telemachus safe from the suitors. The goddess comes to her in dream, disguised as her sister Iphime, and urges her to stop lamenting, since Telemachus, at least, will arrive home safely. Athena declines, however, to tell the queen if Odysseus is still alive. The suitors, meanwhile, pursue their plan to ambush Telemachus, lurking in a ship behind an island near Ithaka.
Odysseus first appears in person in Book 5, but the character gradually emerges in various ways in Books 1–4, in the eyes of others who know or have seen him since he left for Troy, but also in the various characters who foreshadow his presence, in particular Telemachus and Menelaus. The purpose of Telemachus’s journey to Pylos and Sparta, as arranged by Athena, is to learn about his father, if he is alive and if so, where he is. In the course of this quest, he—and we—also begin to learn something about who Odysseus is, thus providing a model for Telemachus as he grows into adulthood after being under the thumb of the obnoxious suitors. And grow up he must, because when he returns (his own nostos) he will either have to deal with the suitors himself or, if Odysseus makes it back alive, fight beside his father to restore order in Ithaka.
When Odysseus finally returns to triumph over his enemies in Ithaka, his words and actions are built on narrative forms that appear first in the Telemachia, reflecting the poet’s mastery of a traditional style that is based on repeated elements on all levels of the narrative, from words to phrases to typical scenes. Arriving at his own palace disguised as a beggar, Odysseus is the last of many iterations of the anonymous stranger who arrives in a new place and withholds his true identity, beginning with Athena in Book 1, followed by Telemachus in Pylos and Sparta, then the hero himself among the Phaeacians in Book 6–8 and his narration of his adventures after leaving Troy and in the cave of the Cyclops. In these various places, Odysseus is often threatened by another recurring character type, the detaining woman, who wants to keep him from completing his journey. Helen, in her brief but vivid scenes in Sparta, embodies the first version of both that threatening figure, powerful and mysterious.
The first episodes in Ithaka showcase a chaotic and dysfunctional household that can only be restored to order by the return of Odysseus or his son. Telemachus’s journey to Pylos and Sparta exposes him to two other postwar kingdoms, ruled by heroes who fought at Troy with his father. In the first, he finds a relatively healthy royal family, ruling a thriving society. Sparta presents a darker version, a failed nostos, with past resentments and Menelaus’s insecurities coloring the relationship between the king and queen. And finally, hovering over all three families is the disastrous example of Agamemnon’s fate, a chilling cautionary tale that appears several times in the course of the Telemachia, prompting us to wonder if Odysseus will survive his nostos, if Penelope will hold out or give in to a paramour as both Helen and Clytemnestra did, and finally if Telemachus will be willing and able to fill the role of the good son who avenges his father’s murder, as Orestes did for Agamemnon. These questions appear in the very first scenes of the poem and haunt the entire story of Odysseus’s return.
758 τῆς: “her,” that is, Penelope’s.
758 εὔνησε γόον: "put her worries to sleep" (LSJ εὐνάω 2).
758 σχέθε δ᾽ ὄσσε γόοιο: “and kept her eyes from weeping” (LSJ σχέθω II).
759 οὐλοχύτας κανέῳ: barley grains were often sprinkled before prayers and animal sacrifices in ancient Greece in order call on the gods and purify.
761 ἐν δ᾽ ἔθετ(ο): “placed (acc.) in (dat.),” tmesis > ἐντίθημι.
762 κλῦθί μευ ... ὑπερηνορέοντας: prayer structure in ancient Greece followed the formula: calling on the god(s), reminding them of any previous offerings/deeds, and then requesting the aid of the god(s).
764 κατὰ … ἔκηε: “burned up,” tmesis > κατακαίω.
765 μοι: ethical dat. (Smyth 1486).
765 σάωσον: 2nd sing. aor. imperat.
766 ἀπάλαλκε: aor. imperat.
770 ἄμμι: ἡμῖν.
771 ὅ: “that,” = ὅτι.
771 οἱ: “her,” dative of possession.
772 τὰ: “these things,” neut. pl., subject of the singular verb ἐτέτυκτο.
772 ἴσαν: 3rd pl. plupf. > οἶδα.
772 ἐκετυκτο: 3rd. sing. plup. pass. "to occur" (LSJ τεύχω II).
774 ἀλέασθε: 2nd pl. imperat. > ἀλέομαι.
776 τοῖον: “thus,” adverbial.
776 τελέωμεν / μῦθον: “let us accomplish our purpose” (LSJ μῦθος I.5).
777 ἤραρεν: “was pleasing to,” 3rd sing. aor. act. indic., intransitive > ἀραρίσκω (LSJ ἀραρίσκω B.IV), with dative.
781 ἐν … ἐτίθεντο: “placed (acc.) in (dat.),” tmesis > ἐντίθημι.
782 ἠρτύναντο: “got (acc.) ready,” > ἀρτύνω.
783 κατὰ μοῖραν: "in order" (LSJ μοῖρα IV).
783 ἀνά … πέτασσαν: “spread,” tmesis > ἀναπετάννυμι.
785 ὑψοῦ δ᾽ ἐν νοτίῳ: “well out in the water” (LSJ νότιος). The ship lies at anchor out in the harbor.
786 μένον: “were waiting for (acc.) to (infin.),” unagumented 3rd pl. impf. > μένω (LSJ μένω II.2).
786 ἐπὶ … ἐλθεῖν: “to approach,” tmesis > ἐπέρχομαι.
787 ὑπερωίῳ: dative of place where > ὑπερῷον.
788 ἄπαστος: “abstaining from,” with genitive.
789 οἱ: dative of possession.
790 ὑπὸ: “at the hands of” (LSJ ὑπό II.1).
790 δαμείη: 3rd sing. aor. pass. opt. > δαμάζω.
791 ὅσσα: introducing a simile.
791 ὅσσα ... τόσσα: correlatives.
792 δείσας: “gripped by fear.” The aorist ( > δείδω) of the circumstantial participle has an ingressive force (Smyth 1924).
792 μιν δόλιον περὶ κύκλον ἄγωσι: “they lead a treacherous circle around him,” that is, the hunters close in around him (although some take δόλιον κύκλον as meaning a net). περὶ isn’t positioned to be read as anastrophe with μιν, leaving it either as in tmesis with ἄγωσι (LSJ περιἀγω) or, as Stanford takes it, an adverb.
794 λύθεν: 3rd pl. aor. pass. indic. > λύω. With the neuter plural subject ἅψεα.
vocabulary
εὐνάω εὐνάσω εὔνασα/ηὔνασα ––– ηὔνασμαι εὐνάσθην: to put to sleep
γόος –ου ὁ: weeping, wailing, lament
ὄσσε, τώ: the (two) eyes
ὑδραίνω ὑδρανοῦμαι ὑδρηνάμην: to bathe
καθαρός –ά –όν: clean
χρώς χρωτός, dat. χρωί ὁ: the skin
εἷμα –ατος τό: a garment
ὑπερῷον: the upper part of the house, the upper story760
ἀναβαίνω ἀναβήσομαι ἀνέβην ἀναβέβηκα ––– –––: to go up
ἀμφίπολος –ον: servant, slave
οὐλοχύται –ῶν αἱ: coarsely-ground barley
κάνεον –ου τό: a basket
ἀράομαι ἀράσομαι (Ion. ἀρήσομαι) ἠρησάμην ἤρᾱμαι: to pray to
Ἀθηνᾶ –ᾶς ἡ: Athena, goddess of wisdom
κλύω ––– κέκλυκα ––– ––– –––: to hear
αἰγίοχος –ον: aegis-bearing
Ζεύς Διός ὁ: Zeus, king of the gods
τέκος –ους τό: a child
Ἀτρυτώνη –ης ἡ: Unwearied; epithet of Athena
πολύμητις –ιος: of many counsels
μέγαρον –ου τό: a large room
Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey
ὄϊς ὄϊος ὁ/ἡ: sheep
πίων –ονος ὁ/ἡ: fat, plump
μηρία –ων τά: thighs
καίω καύσω ἔκαυσα –κέκαυκα κέκαυμαι ἐκαύθην: to burn
φίλος –η –ον: friend; loved, beloved, dear765
μνηστήρ –ῆρος ὁ: a suitor
ἀπάλαλκον (aor. with no pres. in use): to ward off
ὑπερηνορέων –οντος: arrogant, overbearing, violent
ὀλολύζω ὀλολύξω ὠλόλυξα: to cry to the gods with a loud voice, cry aloud (usually attributed to women)
θεά –ᾶς ἡ: a goddess
οὗ, οἷ, ἕ and encl. οὑ, οἱ, ἑ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ὁμαδέω ὁμαδήσω ὠμάδησα: to make a noise
σκιόεις –εσσα –εν: shady, shadowy
γάμος –ου ὁ: a wedding, wedding-feast770
πολυμνήστη –ης ἡ: much courted
βασίλεια –ας ἡ: a queen, princess
ἀρτύω ἀρτύσω ἤρτῡσα ἤρτῡκα ἤρτῡμαι ἠρτύθην: to arrange, devise, prepare
φόνος –ου ὁ: murder, homicide, slaughter
τεύχω τεύξω ἔτευξα τέτευχα τέτυγμαι ἐτύχθην: to make ready, make, build, work
ἄρα: particle: 'so'
Ἀντίνοος –ου ὁ: Antinous, one of the leaders among suitors of Penelope, he is outspoken and bold
ἀγοράομαι ἀγορήσομαι ἀγορησάμην: to meet or speak in assembly
μετεῖπον (aor. of μεταφωνέω): to speak among
δαιμόνιος [–α] –ον: good men, beguiling, marvelous
μῦθος –ου ὁ: word, speech
ὑπερφίαλος –ον: arrogant
ἀλέομαι ἀλήσομαι ἀλευάμην: to avoid, shun
ὁμῶς: equally, likewise, alike775
ἀπαγγέλλω ἀπαγγελῶ ἀπήγγειλα ἀπήγγελκα ἀπήγγελμαι ἀπηγγέλθην: report, announce
εἴσω (ἔσω): inside
ἄγε: come! come on! well!
σιγή –ῆς ἡ: silence
τοῖος –α –ον: such
ἀνίστημι ἀνστήσω ἀνέστησα (or ἀνέστην) ἀνέστηκα ἀνέσταμαι ἀνεστάθην: to make to stand up, stand up
τελέω τελῶ or τελέσω ἐτέλεσα τετέλεκα τετέλεσμαι ἐτελέσθην: to complete, fulfil, accomplish
φρήν φρενός ἡ: the heart, mind
ἀραρίσκω/ἄρω ἄρσω ἦρσα ἄραρα/ἄρηρα ἀρήρεμαι ἤρθην: to join, please, gratify
φώς φωτός ὁ: a man
θοός –ή –όν: quick, nimble
θίς θινός ὁ: the shore, surf
πάμπρωτος –η –ον: first of all, the very first780
ἅλς ἁλός ὁ: the sea
βένθος –ους τό: the depth
εἰρύω/ἐρύω ἐρύσω/ἐρύω εἴρυσα/ἔρυσα/ἔρυσσα εἴρυσα/ἔρυσα/ἔρυσσα –– –– εἰρύσθην: to pull, draw, drag
ἱστός –οῦ ὁ: mast, beam
ἱστίον –ου τό: a sail
μέλας μέλαινα μέλαν: black, dark
ἀρτύνω ἀρτυνῶ ἤρτυνα – – ἀρτύνθην: to arrange, prepare, devise
ἐρετμόν –οῦ τό: oar
τροπός –οῦ ὁ: strap
δερμάτινος –η –ον: leather
μοῖρα –ας ἡ: order, part, portion
λευκός –ή –όν: white, light
πεταννύω/πετάννυμι πετῶ ἐπέτασα πεπέτακα πέπταμαι ἐπετάσθην: to spread out
τεῦχος –ους τό: arms, gear
σφεῖς: they
ὑπέρθυμος –ον: high-minded, bold, arrogant
θεράπων –ονος ὁ: attendant, servant
ὑψοῦ: aloft, on high, afloat785
νότιος [–α] –ον: wet, damp, moist
ὀρμίζω ὁρμιοῦμαι ὥρμισα – ὥρμισμαι ὡρμίσθην: to anchor, moor
δόρπον –ου τό: the evening meal
ἕσπερος –ον: evening
αὖθι: (right) there, at once, on the spot
περίφρων –ον: very thoughtful, very careful
Πηνελόπεια –ας ἡ: Penelope, the daughter of Icarius, and wife of Odysseus
ἄσιτος –ον: without food
ἄπαστος –ον: fasting, abstaining
ἐδητύς –ύος ἡ: food, meat
ἠδέ: and
ποτής –ῆτος ἡ: drink
ὁρμαίνω ὁρμανῶ ὥρμηνα: to ponder
ἀμύμων –ον: blameless, noble, excellent
δαμάζω δαμάσω ἐδάμασα δεδάμακα δεδάμασμαι/δέδμημα ἐδαμάσθην/ἐδμήθην: to overpower, conquer, subdue790
μερμηρίζω μερμηρίξω ἐμερμήριξα: to be full of cares, to be anxious
λέων λέοντος ὁ: a lion
ὅμιλος –ου ὁ: a crowd
δείδω δείσομαι ἔδεισα δέδοικα (or δίδια) ––– –––: to fear
ὁπότε: when
μιν: him, her, it
δόλιος –α –ον: crafty, deceitful, treacherous
τόσος –η –ον: so great, so much
ἐπέρχομαι ἔπειμι ἐπῆλθον ἐπελήλυθα ––– –––: to come near, come upon
νήδυμος –ον: sweet, delightful
ὕπνος –ου ὁ: sleep, sleepiness
εὕδω εὑδήσω εὕδησα: to sleep, lie down to sleep
ἀνακλίνω ἀνακλινῶ ἀνέκλινα ἀνακέκλικα ἀνακέκλιμαι ἀνεκλίθην: to recline
ἅψος –ους τό: a joint