"ἔνθα δὲ πῦρ κήαντες ἐθύσαμεν ἠδὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ
τυρῶν αἰνύμενοι φάγομεν, μένομέν τέ μιν ἔνδον
ἥμενοι, ἧος ἐπῆλθε νέμων. φέρε δ᾽ ὄβριμον ἄχθος
ὕλης ἀζαλέης, ἵνα οἱ ποτιδόρπιον εἴη,
ἔντοσθεν δ᾽ ἄντροιο βαλὼν ὀρυμαγδὸν ἔθηκεν·235
ἡμεῖς δὲ δείσαντες ἀπεσσύμεθ᾽ ἐς μυχὸν ἄντρου.
αὐτὰρ ὅ γ᾽ εἰς εὐρὺ σπέος ἤλασε πίονα μῆλα
πάντα μάλ᾽ ὅσσ᾽ ἤμελγε, τὰ δ᾽ ἄρσενα λεῖπε θύρηφιν,
ἀρνειούς τε τράγους τε, βαθείης ἔνδοθεν αὐλῆς.
αὐτὰρ ἔπειτ᾽ ἐπέθηκε θυρεὸν μέγαν ὑψόσ᾽ ἀείρας,240
ὄβριμον· οὐκ ἂν τόν γε δύω καὶ εἴκοσ᾽ ἄμαξαι
ἐσθλαὶ τετράκυκλοι ἀπ᾽ οὔδεος ὀχλίσσειαν·
τόσσην ἠλίβατον πέτρην ἐπέθηκε θύρῃσιν.
ἑζόμενος δ᾽ ἤμελγεν ὄις καὶ μηκάδας αἶγας,
πάντα κατὰ μοῖραν, καὶ ὑπ᾽ ἔμβρυον ἧκεν ἑκάστῃ.245
αὐτίκα δ᾽ ἥμισυ μὲν θρέψας λευκοῖο γάλακτος
πλεκτοῖς ἐν ταλάροισιν ἀμησάμενος κατέθηκεν,
ἥμισυ δ᾽ αὖτ᾽ ἔστησεν ἐν ἄγγεσιν, ὄφρα οἱ εἴη
πίνειν αἰνυμένῳ καί οἱ ποτιδόρπιον εἴη.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ σπεῦσε πονησάμενος τὰ ἃ ἔργα,250
καὶ τότε πῦρ ἀνέκαιε καὶ εἴσιδεν, εἴρετο δ᾽ ἡμέας·
‘ὦ ξεῖνοι, τίνες ἐστέ; πόθεν πλεῖθ᾽ ὑγρὰ κέλευθα;
ἦ τι κατὰ πρῆξιν ἦ μαψιδίως ἀλάλησθε,
οἷά τε ληιστῆρες, ὑπεὶρ ἅλα, τοί τ᾽ ἀλόωνται
ψυχὰς παρθέμενοι κακὸν ἀλλοδαποῖσι φέροντες;’255
ὣς ἔφαθ᾽, ἡμῖν δ᾽ αὖτε κατεκλάσθη φίλον ἦτορ,
δεισάντων φθόγγον τε βαρὺν αὐτόν τε πέλωρον.
ἀλλὰ καὶ ὥς μιν ἔπεσσιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπον·
‘ἡμεῖς τοι Τροίηθεν ἀποπλαγχθέντες Ἀχαιοὶ
παντοίοις ἀνέμοισιν ὑπὲρ μέγα λαῖτμα θαλάσσης,260
οἴκαδε ἱέμενοι, ἄλλην ὁδὸν ἄλλα κέλευθα
ἤλθομεν· οὕτω που Ζεὺς ἤθελε μητίσασθαι.
λαοὶ δ᾽ Ἀτρεΐδεω Ἀγαμέμνονος εὐχόμεθ᾽ εἶναι,
τοῦ δὴ νῦν γε μέγιστον ὑπουράνιον κλέος ἐστί·
τόσσην γὰρ διέπερσε πόλιν καὶ ἀπώλεσε λαοὺς265
πολλούς. ἡμεῖς δ᾽ αὖτε κιχανόμενοι τὰ σὰ γοῦνα
ἱκόμεθ᾽, εἴ τι πόροις ξεινήιον ἠὲ καὶ ἄλλως
δοίης δωτίνην, ἥ τε ξείνων θέμις ἐστίν.
ἀλλ᾽ αἰδεῖο, φέριστε, θεούς· ἱκέται δέ τοί εἰμεν,
Ζεὺς δ᾽ ἐπιτιμήτωρ ἱκετάων τε ξείνων τε,270
ξείνιος, ὃς ξείνοισιν ἅμ᾽ αἰδοίοισιν ὀπηδεῖ.’
ὣς ἐφάμην, ὁ δέ μ᾽ αὐτίκ᾽ ἀμείβετο νηλέι θυμῷ·
‘νήπιός εἰς, ὦ ξεῖν᾽, ἢ τηλόθεν εἰλήλουθας,
ὅς με θεοὺς κέλεαι ἢ δειδίμεν ἢ ἀλέασθαι·
οὐ γὰρ Κύκλωπες Διὸς αἰγιόχου ἀλέγουσιν275
οὐδὲ θεῶν μακάρων, ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτεροί εἰμεν·
οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐγὼ Διὸς ἔχθος ἀλευάμενος πεφιδοίμην
οὔτε σεῦ οὔθ᾽ ἑτάρων, εἰ μὴ θυμός με κελεύοι.
ἀλλά μοι εἴφ᾽ ὅπῃ ἔσχες ἰὼν ἐυεργέα νῆα,
ἤ που ἐπ᾽ ἐσχατιῆς, ἦ καὶ σχεδόν, ὄφρα δαείω.’280
notes
The monster arrives and questions Odysseus.
Ambiguities persist as the Greeks first perform a proper sacrifice, then settle, uninvited, into the cave and help themselves to some cheese while they await their host. He arrives with a crash, throwing down a huge stack of wood for his fire. The interlopers scatter in fear to the dark recesses of the cave, then watch as Polyphemus attends to his chores with his usual fastidious care.
Read full essay
Herding the female goats and sheep into the cave, leaving the males outside in their pens, he blocks the entrance to the cave with a huge boulder, then milks the sheep and goats, finally putting a lamb or kid under each female to nurse. Half of the milk goes into baskets for cheese, the other half into pails for his own meals.
Polyphemus’ monocular face, huge size, and cannibalistic eating habits would seem to mark him as an apt candidate for chaos monster, embodying and/or effecting a scrambling of the usual categories that define proper order in the universe. But what the Greeks witness here sends a different message: nurturing husbandry, careful sequestering of his flocks according to sex, judicious apportioning of the dairy products, all aimed at preserving the orderly categories that will ensure a fruitful harvest of resources. The poet seems determined to keep the monster’s status indeterminate.
Such a liminal figure is useful for Homer, as for all storytellers, drawing our attention to boundaries that define ordinary experience, prompting us to consider why they should happen to be where they are. Proteus the shapeshifter, also a shepherd, performs this function even more overtly (Od. 4.383–24). Because he can assume the form of many other elements in the universe, other creatures and even water and fire, Proteus defies easy categorization. Menelaus is told that in order to find out how to escape from Egypt, he must restrain this “Old Man of the Sea,” as he is called, preventing him from changing form. He must, in other words, find the knowledge he needs by bounding out the myriad alternate shapes—and thus, categories of existence— that Proteus can assume, confining the creature to one kind of being. By putting limits around what is potentially limitless, Menelaus can produce the requisite knowledge. The entire episode is a symbolic representation of the Greek paradigm for human civilization, imposing human order on the untamed forces of nature to channel its power for human use. That the Polyphemus episode does not fit as easily into this paradigm underscores the fact that the poet is not in this case looking for clarity but rather a fruitful ambiguity that trains our attention on the question so often raised by Greek literature: what does it mean to be human?
The rituals of hospitality resurface as Polyphemus catches sight of the intruders. We might expect a violent response, but again the poet surprises us:
ὦ ξεῖνοι, τίνες ἐστέ; πόθεν πλεῖθ᾽ ὑγρὰ κέλευθα;
ἦ τι κατὰ πρῆξιν ἦ μαψιδίως ἀλάλησθε,
οἷά τε ληιστῆρες, ὑπεὶρ ἅλα, τοί τ᾽ ἀλόωνται
ψυχὰς παρθέμενοι κακὸν ἀλλοδαποῖσι φέροντες;
Oh strangers, who are you? From where do you sail the watery waves?
Do you travel on business, or wander recklessly
like pirates, over the sea, roaming around,
risking your lives and bringing evil to those from other places?
Odyssey 9.252–55
The monster is in highly civilized company here. These words appear, verbatim, on the lips of Nestor, one of the poem’s exemplary hosts (3.71–74) and again in the post-Homeric Hymn to Apollo (452–55), from the mouth of the god himself. As it happens, Polyphemus is only a middling host in this case, since the strict protocol, observed elsewhere in the poem, is for the host to make the guest comfortable with food and drink before asking who he is (See e.g., 4.60–64). Nevertheless, though frightened, Odysseus takes his cue from Polyphemus’s flawed civility, describing the Greeks’ return from war and its attendant miseries. They are from the army of Agamemnon, whose fame stretches to the heavens, honored for his success in sacking Troy. Since the Cyclops seems familiar with civilized discourse, perhaps he will be moved by the plight of men who fought in a famous war. Hoping to build on the leverage that fame might afford them, Odysseus pulls out all the rhetorical stops. He and his crew are “at his knees” (266), in hopes that he will give them a “guest gift,” as is the custom in civilized society. They are suppliants, under the care of Zeus himself, who honors suppliants and guests, avenging any wrongs done to them. We note, however, that Odysseus does not reveal his name to the monster, a familiar tactic that will be crucial to his survival.
Odysseus’ gambit here has a second life in Sophocles’ Philoctetes, in a scene much influenced by the Cyclops episode. Philoctetes, a warrior headed for Troy, is bitten by a snake at the shrine of Asclepius, causing a festering wound that will not heal. Odysseus convinces the Greeks to abandon him on the remote and desolate island of Lemnos. A prophecy ten years later predicts that Troy will only fall if Philoctetes returns with his famous bow. Odysseus heads an expedition back to Lemnos, which includes Neoptolemus, son of the now-dead Achilles, to fetch the abandoned soldier. As the play opens, we see that Philoctetes has had to survive by hunting with his bow, scratching out a dismal, lonely existence, living in a cave. The Greeks come upon the cave when Philoctetes is out hunting and, like Odysseus and his crew, proceed to explore:
NEOPTOLEMUS
I see an empty dwelling, with no one there.
ODYSSEUS
Are there things needed for making a home inside?
NEOPTOLEMUS
Yes, trampled-down leaves as if for someone living there.
ODYSSEUS
The rest is empty, with nothing under the roof?
NEOPTOLEMUS
There’s a cup, made from one piece of wood, the work
of a bad craftsman, and stones for making a fire.
ODYSSEUS
Those treasures you mention must be his.
NEOPTOLEMUS
Aha! Here’s something else: rags being
dried by the sun, stained with pus from some sore.
Sophocles, Philoctetes 31–39
There is here, as in the Cyclops episode, a certain anthropological cast to the investigation. What kind of creature lives in such bare and solitary surroundings? When Philoctetes approaches soon after from his hunt, the Greeks are alarmed by the sound of his cries and stumbling footsteps. Is this cave creature some kind of primitive savage?
Philoctetes’s first words recall those of Polyphemus:
Hail, strangers!
Who are you, who have put in to this deserted land
that lacks a good harbor?
Sophocles, Philoctetes 219–21
In the exchange that follows, Sophocles presents his “monster” in an entirely sympathetic light, playing against the implications of the Polyphemus paradigm. He greets the strangers warmly, expresses delight at hearing the Greek language, “most beloved of sounds” (234). When Neoptolemus identifies himself, Philoctetes declares him to be the “child of the dearest father,” from “a dear land” (242). He is at pains to identify himself as a patriotic Greek soldier, not some frightening derelict. The rehabilitation of Philoctetes that begins here proceeds through the rest of the play, until he emerges as the divinely ordained hero who seals Troy’s doom. Sophocles has clearly thought carefully about the Cyclops episode, incorporating into his play much of the irony generated by Homer’s deceptively civilized cave dweller. And Polyphemus, like Philoctetes, will undergo some rehabilitation before the Greeks leave.
The savage returns in Polyphemus’s reply to Odysseus’s request for hospitality. Odysseus is a fool (νήπιός, 273) or someone from far away indeed, to expect leniency from him. The Cyclopes are much stronger than the gods and have no need to respect any of them, even Zeus. He will treat the Greeks any way he wants. Nothing we have heard suggests that the Cyclopes are in fact more powerful than the gods. Rather, Polyphemus’ arrogance primes us for the retribution we know is coming. As the episode develops, we will see that the norms of hospitality keep surfacing as paradigm against which the poet casts his complex meditation on heroism and the nature of human civilization.
Further Reading
Edwards, M.W. 1975. “Type Scenes and Homeric Hospitality.” Transactions of the American Philological Association 105: 51–72.
Lateiner, D. 1993. “The Suitors’ Take: Manners and Power in Ithaca.” Colby Quarterly 29: 172–196.
Reece, S. 1994. The Stranger's Welcome: Oral Theory and the Aesthetics of the Homeric Hospitality Scene, 123–144. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Thalmanν, W. 1992. The Odyssey: Αn Εpic of Return, 131–132. New York: Twayne Publishers.
Van Nortwick, T. 2015. Late Sophocles: The Hero’s Evolution in Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus, 43–52. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
231 κήαντες: = Att. καύσαντες, aor. ptc. > καίω.
232 τυρῶν: partitive genitive, as in line 225.
233 ἧος: “until” (ἕως).
233 ἐπῆλθε νέμων: “he came back (from) grazing (his sheep).” The participle agrees with the implied subject of ἐπῆλθε, the Cyclops.
234 ὕλης: “firewood.”
234 οἱ: 3rd pers. personal pron., dative of advantage.
235 βαλὼν: understand ὄβριμον ἄχθος as the object.
235 ἔθηκεν: “he made” ( = ἐποίησε).
236 ἀπεσσύμεθ(α): “fled,” syncopated aor. 2 pass. > ἀποσεύω.
237 ὅ: definite article used personal pron. (referring to the Cyclops) as commonly in Homer (Monro 256).
238 μάλ(α): adds emphasis to πάντα.
238 λεῖπε: impf. = Att. ἔλειπε.
238 θύρηφιν: “at the doors,” dative of place where (Smyth 280).
239 ἔνδοθεν: "within." Most editors of Homer print ἔκτοθεν, "outside of," but M.L. West made a convincing case for the correction.
241-2 οὐκ ἂν … / ὀχλίσσειαν: potential optative.
241 τόν: refers to θυρεὸν in line 240.
243 τόσσην: “so great a ….”
243 ἐπέθηκε θύρῃσιν: “he set in place in the doorway.” θύρῃσιν is the dative expected after ἐπιτίθημι, “to place something (τι) on something else (τινι).”
244 ὄις: acc. pl. (see LSJ ὄις).
245 κατὰ μοῖραν: "in order" (see LSJ μοῖρα IV).
245 ἔμβρυον: “her young,” “a lamb.”
245 ὑπ᾽… ἧκεν: tmesis > ὑφίημι, "to place under."
245 ἑκάστῃ: the expected dative after ὑφίημι, “to place something (τι) under something else (τινι).”
246 θρέψας: “having curdled” (LSJ τρέφω I, “thicken or congeal a liquid”). Rennet is used to separate milk into solid curds for cheese-making and liquid whey. In the world described by Homer some part of the fig was evidently used as rennet.
247 ἀμησάμενος: “having collected,” mid. > ἀμάω.
248 ὄφρα οἱ εἴη / πίνειν αἰνυμένῳ: "so that he might (have it) to take and drink."
248 εἴη: optative in a purpose clause introduced by ὄφρα, rather than by the usual ἵνα, ὅπως, or ὡς (Smyth 2193.a).
248 οἱ: 3rd person pron., dative of possession.
249 πίνειν: infinitive with an impersonal verb (Monro 233), εἴη in the previous line.
250 σπεῦσε πονησάμενος: “had busily performed” (Montgomery).
250 τὰ ἃ: “his” (LSJ ἑός; Monro 254).
251 εἴρετο: “he asked,” = Att. ἤρετο, impf. > ἔρομαι or εἴρομαι.
252 πλεῖθ’: πλεῖτε > πλέω.
253 ἦ: introduces a question with a tone of surprise or indignation (Monro 338).
253 τι κατὰ πρῆξιν: “οn some business.”
253 ἀλάλησθε: pf. > αλάομαι, with present sense as usual (Monro 28).
254 οἷά: “like.”
254 ληϊστῆρες: “pirates” > λῃστήρ; = Att. λῃσταί ( > λῃστής).
254 ὑπεὶρ: ὑπέρ, ultima lengthened for metrical reasons.
255 ψυχὰς παρθέμενοι: “risking their lives.”
265 παρθέμενοι: aor. mid. ptc. > παρατίθημι.
256 ἡμῖν: “our,” possessive dat., describing ἦτορ, which is collective singular referring to the hearts of Odysseus and his men.
256 κατεκλάσθη: aor. pass. > κατακλάω “to break down, overcome.”
257 δεισάντων: the genitive participle refers to the possessive dative pronoun ἡμῖν, possible since the genitive is the regular case expressing possession.
258 ἀλλὰ καὶ ὥς: "but even so."
261 ἄλλην … ἄλλα: “along another ... over another,” accusative of extent of space (Smyth 1581, Monro 138).
262 οὕτω που: “so it would seem,” “so, I suppose,” indicating a conjecture.
263 εὐχόμεθ᾽ εἶναι: “we profess ourselves,” “we boast that we are,” a common phrase in Homer (see lines 519 and 529).
264 τοῦ: “whose,” definite article used as a relative pronoun (Monro 262).
264 μέγιστον ὑπουράνιον: pred. nom. adjs.
266 δ᾽ αὖτε: “on the other hand.”
266 κιχανόμενοι: "reaching," i.e., "visiting."
266 σὰ: “your” (possessive adj. > σός). By saying that he and his men have come “to your knees,” Odysseus implies that they are suppliants. He makes this explicit in line 269.
267 εἴ τι πόροις: “on the chance that you might provide,” or “in the hope that you might provide,” εἴ + opt., related to an optative of wish (Goodell 477; Smyth 2354).
268 ἥ τε … θέμις ἐστίν: “as is the custom,” with generalizing τε (Monro 332).
269 αἰδεῖο: "respect," = Att. αἰδοῦ, mid. imperat. > αἰδέομαι.
269 φέριστε: a term of great respect. Wilson (2018) translates, "sir, my lord."
269 τοί: dat. 2nd pers. sing. pron., rather than the particle τοι.
271 ξείνιος: “(the god) of strangers.” ξείνιος ( = Att. ξένιος) was a common epithet of Zeus.
273 εἰς: “you are” ( = εἶ), enclitic (Monro 87).
273 ἢ τηλόθεν εἰλήλουθας: "or have you come from afar," and thus are ignorant of our ways.
272 εἰλήλουθας: = Att. ἐλήλυθας, pf. > ἔρχομαι.
274 ὅς ... κέλεαι: "since you urge me" (LSJ ὅς IV.3).
274 κέλεαι: = κέλεσαι, 2nd pers. sing. pres. indic. > κέλομαι. Introduces an accusative and infinitive construction as usual, like its synonym κελεύω (LSJ κέλομαι).
274 δειδίμεν: infin. > δείδω.
274 ἀλέασθαι: "to shun," aor. infin. > ἀλέομαι.
275 Διὸς … ἀλέγουσιν: ἀλέγω, “to care about,” takes a genitive, as usual.
277-8 οὐδ᾽ ἂν … πεφιδοίμεν / … εἰ … κελεύοι: future less vivid conditional (Goodell 651).
277 πεφιδοίμεν: aor. 2 opt. > φείδομαι, “to spare the life of” + gen. For the form, compare aorist optative δοῖμεν > δίδωμι.
277 ἀλευάμενος: aor. mid. ptc. > ἀλέομαι.
279 ἔσχες: “you kept” (i.e., moored).
280 ἐπ᾽ ἐσχατιῆς: "at a remote part (of the island)."
280 δαείω: "so that I might learn," aorist subjunctive (LSJ *δάω) in a purpose clause introduced by ὄφρα, rather than the usual ἵνα, ὅπως, or ὡς (Smyth 2193.a).
vocabulary
καίω καύσω ἔκαυσα –κέκαυκα κέκαυμαι ἐκαύθην: to light, kindle, burn
ἠδέ: and
τυρός –οῦ ὁ: cheese
αἴνυμαι – – – – –: to take, seize (+ acc. or gen.)
ἔφαγον (aor. with no pres. in use): to eat, devour
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it
ἔνδον: within, at home
ἧμαι (or κάθημαι) ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: sit
ἐπέρχομαι ἔπειμι ἐπῆλθον ἐπελήλυθα ––– –––: to approach, arrive; to encounter, come up against, attack
νέμω νεμῶ ἔνειμα νενέμηκα νενέμημαι ἐνεμήθην: to distribute, assign, give out; to pasture or tend flocks; (mid.) to possess, enjoy, inhabit, feed upon
ὄβριμος [–α] –ον: strong, mighty; (of things) heavy
ἄχθος –ους τό: a weight, burden, load
ὕλη –ης ἡ: woods, forest; firewood
ἀζαλέος –α –ον: dry, parched
ἕ: himself, herself, itself
ποτιδόρπιος –ον: that is used to prepare meals, for dinner
ἔντοσθε: from within
ἄντρον –ου τό: a cave, cavern
ὀρυμαγδός –οῦ ὁ: a loud noise, din 235
δείδω δείσομαι ἔδεισα δέδοικα (or δίδια) ––– –––: fear
ἀποσεύω ἀποσεύσω ἀπέσσυα: (mid.-pass.) to run off, escape
μυχός –οῦ ὁ: the innermost place, inmost nook
ἄντρον –ου τό: a cave, cavern
ἀτάρ: but, yet
εὐρύς –εῖα –ύ: broad
σπέος –ους τό: a cave, cavern, grotto
πίων –ονος ὁ/ἡ: fat, plump; rich, opulent
μῆλον –ου τό: sheep or goat
ἀμέλγω ἀμέλξω ἤμελξα: to milk
ἄρσην ἄρσενος: male
θύρα –ας ἡ: door
ἀρνειός –οῦ ὁ: ram, wether (3-year old ram)
τράγος –ου ὁ: a he-goat
βαθύς βαθεῖα βαθύ: deep, high
ἔκτοθεν: from without, outside
αὐλή –ῆς ἡ: courtyard; enclosure for livestock; court, residence
ἀτάρ: but, yet
ἐπιτίθημι ἐπιθήσω ἐπέθηκα ἐπιτέθηκα ––– ἐπετέθην: lay/put upon, set up, apply oneself
θυρεός –οῦ ὁ: a stone put against a door
ὑψόσε: aloft, on high, up high
ἀείρω ἀρῶ ἤειρα ––– ἤερμαι ἠέρθην: to lift, heave, raise up 240
ὄβριμος [–α] –ον: strong, mighty; (of things) heavy
ἄμαξα –ης ἡ: wagon, cart
ἐσθλός –ή –όν: good
τετράκυκλος –ον: four-wheeled
οὖδας –ους τό: the surface of the earth, the ground, earth
ὀχλίζω ὀχλίσω ὤχλισα: to move by a lever, to heave up
τόσος –η –ον: so great, so vast
ἠλίβατος –ον: high, steep, precipitous
πέτρα –ας ἡ: rock, cliffs, shelf of rock
ἐπιτίθημι ἐπιθήσω ἐπέθηκα ἐπιτέθηκα ––– ἐπετέθην: lay/put upon, set up, apply oneself
θύρα –ας ἡ: door
ἕζομαι – – – – –: sit down
ἀμέλγω ἀμέλξω ἤμελξα: to milk
ὄϊς ὄϊος ὁ/ἡ: sheep
μηκάς –άδος: bleating
αἴξ αἰγός ὁ/ἡ: goat
μοῖρα –ας ἡ: part, portion, lot, fate
ἔμβρυον –ου τό: a young one, new-born lamb; embryo 245
ἥμισυς ἡμίσεια ἥμισυ: half
λευκός –ή –όν: white; light, bright
γάλα –ακτος τό: milk
πλεκτός –ή –όν: interwoven, coiled
τάλαρος –ου ὁ: a basket
ἀμάω ἀμήσω ἤμησα ἤμηκα ἤμημαι ἠμάθην: reap, mow down
κατατίθημι καταθήσω κατέθηκα κατατέθηκα κατατέθην: put down; (mid.) lay aside, store up
αὖτε: again
ἄγγος –ους τό: a vessel
ὄφρα: while; until; so that; ὄφρα … τόφρα, while … for so long
ἕ: himself, herself, itself
αἴνυμαι – – – – –: to take, seize (+ acc. or gen.)
ποτιδόρπιος –ον: that is used to prepare meals, for dinner
ἀτάρ: but, yet
σπεύδω σπεύσω ἔσπευσα ἔσπευκα ἔσπευσμαι ἔσπευθην: to hurry; to strive, do one's utmost
πονέω πονέσω/πονήσω ἐπόνεσα/ἐπόνησα πεπόνηκα πεπόνημαι ἐπονήθην: to work; to labor over, prepare
ἑός ἑή ἑόν: his, her, own 250
ἀνακαίω ἀνακαίσω ἀνέκαυσα: to light up
εἰσοράω εἰσόψομαι εἰσεῖδον εἰσεόρακα/εἰσεώρακα/εἰσόπωπα εἰσεόραμαι/εἰσεώραμαι/εἰσῶμμαι εἰσώφθην: to look into, look upon, view, behold
πόθεν: from where? whence?
ὑγρός –ά –όν: wet, moist, running, fluid
κέλευθος –ου ἡ: path, with neuter plural κέλευθα
μαψιδίως: randomly, senselessly, rashly, recklessly, insolently
ἀλάλημαι (perf. of ἀλάομαι): to wander
οἷος –α –ον: such as, of what sort, like, (exclam.) what a!, how! ; οἷός τε (+infin.) fit or able to; οἷόν τε (+infin.) it is possible to
λῃστήρ –ῆρος ὁ: robber, pirate
ἅλς ἁλός ὁ: salt (m.); sea (f.)
ἀλάομαι ἀλήσομαι ἀλάλημαι ἠλήθην: to wander, stray
παρατίθημι παραθήσω παρέθηκα παρατέθηκα ––– παρετέθην: place beside, provide, set before
ἀλλοδαπός –ή –όν: from another country, foreign 255
αὖτε: again
κατακλάω κατακλάσω κατέκλασα – κατακέκλασμαι κατεκλάσθην: to break, shatter
ἦτορ τό: the heart
δείδω δείσομαι ἔδεισα δέδοικα (or δίδια) ––– –––: fear
φθόγγος –ου ὁ: sound; voice
πέλωρος [–η] –ον: monstrous, prodigious, huge, gigantic
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it
ἀμείβω ἀμείψω ἤμειψα ἤμειφα ἤμειμμαι ἠμείφθην: to respond, answer; to exchange; (mid.) to take turns, alternate
προσεῖπον (aor. 2 of προσαγορεύω and προσφωνέω); Εp. προσέειπον: to speak to one, address, accost
τοι: let me tell you, surely
Τροίηθεν: from Troy
ἀποπλάζω ἀποπλάγξω ἀπέπλαγξα (aor. pass.) ἀπεπλάγχθην: to divert, distract; (aor. pass.) to be diverted, get lost
Ἀχαιός –ά –όν: Achaian, Greek
παντοῖος –α –ον: of all sorts
ἄνεμος –ου ὁ: wind
λαῖτμα –ατος τό: the depths of the sea 260
οἴκαδε: homeward
κέλευθος –ου ἡ: path, with neuter plural κέλευθα
Ζεύς Διός ὁ: Zeus
μητίομαι μητίσομαι ἐμητισάμην: to devise, contrive, plan
Ἀτρείδης –ου ὁ: son of Atreus
Ἀγαμέμνων –ονος ὁ: Agamemnon
εὔχομαι εὔξομαι ηὐξάμην ηὖγμαι: to pray; to make a vow, promise; to declare, affirm; to glory in, boast of (for good reason)
ὑπουράνιος –ον: of the sky; rising to the sky
κλέος –ους τό: glory
τόσος –η –ον: so great, so vast
διαπέρθω διαπέρσω διέπερσα/διέπραθον: to destroy utterly, sack, lay waste 265
αὖτε: again
κιχάνω κιχήσομαι ἔκιχον: to reach, overtake, meet with (+ acc.)
γόνυ γόνατος τό: knee
ἱκνέομαι ἵξομαι ἱκόμην ––– ἷγμαι –––: to come
πόρω ––– ἔπορον ––– ––– –––: to offer, furnish, supply, give; (pf. pass. 3 sing.) it is fated
ξεινήιον –ου τό: guest gift
δωτίνη –ης ἡ: a gift, present
θέμις –ιστος ἡ: norm, custom; right, law
αἰδέομαι αἰδέσομαι ᾐδεσάμην –––– ᾔδεσμαι ᾐδέσθην: to respect, revere, honor
φέριστος –η –ον: bravest, best
ἱκέτης –ου ὁ: suppliant
ἐπιτιμήτωρ –ορος ὁ: an avenger
ξείνιος –α –ον: belonging to a friend and guest, hospitable; protector of guests (epithet of Zeus) 270
αἰδοῖος –α –ον: respectable, venerable; respectful
ὀπηδέω – – – – –: to follow, accompany, attend
ἀμείβω ἀμείψω ἤμειψα ἤμειφα ἤμειμμαι ἠμείφθην: to respond, answer; to exchange; (mid.) to take turns, alternate
νηλής –ές: pitiless, ruthless
νήπιος –α –ον: infant, child; silly, ignorant, without foresight
τηλόθεν: from afar, from a foreign land
κέλομαι κελήσομαι ἐκελησάμην ἐκεκλόμην: command, urge on, exhort, call to
δείδω δείσομαι ἔδεισα δέδοικα (or δίδια) ––– –––: fear
ἀλέομαι ἀλήσομαι ἀλευάμην: to avoid, shun
Κύκλωψ –πος ὁ: Cyclops
αἰγίοχος –ον: aegis-holding
ἀλέγω – – – – –: to trouble oneself, have a care 275
μάκαρ μάκαρος: blessed, happy
φέρτερος –η –ον: better, braver
ἔχθος –ους τό: hate, hatred
ἀλέομαι ἀλήσομαι ἀλευάμην: to avoid, shun
φείδομαι φεισόμαι ἐφεισάμην ––– πέφεισμαι ἐφείσθην: to spare (+ gen.)
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion
ὅπῃ: in which direction, where; in what way, how
εὐεργής –ές: well-wrought, well-made
ἐσχατιά –ᾶς ἡ: the furthest part, edge, border, verge
σχεδόν: near; almost
ὄφρα: while; until; so that; ὄφρα … τόφρα, while … for so long
δάω δαήσω ἐδάην δεδάηκα: to learn 280