ἦμος δ᾽ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,

αὐτίχ᾽ ὁ μὲν χλαῖνάν τε χιτῶνά τε ἕννυτ᾽ Ὀδυσσεύς,

αὐτὴ δ᾽ ἀργύφεον φᾶρος μέγα ἕννυτο νύμφη,230

λεπτὸν καὶ χαρίεν, περὶ δὲ ζώνην βάλετ᾽ ἰξυῖ

καλὴν χρυσείην, κεφαλῇ δ᾽ ἐφύπερθε καλύπτρην.

καὶ τότ᾽ Ὀδυσσῆι μεγαλήτορι μήδετο πομπήν·

δῶκέν οἱ πέλεκυν μέγαν, ἄρμενον ἐν παλάμῃσι,

χάλκεον, ἀμφοτέρωθεν ἀκαχμένον· αὐτὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ235

στειλειὸν περικαλλὲς ἐλάινον, εὖ ἐναρηρός·

δῶκε δ᾽ ἔπειτα σκέπαρνον ἐύξοον· ἦρχε δ᾽ ὁδοῖο

νήσου ἐπ᾽ ἐσχατιῆς, ὅθι δένδρεα μακρὰ πεφύκει,

κλήθρη τ᾽ αἴγειρός τ᾽, ἐλάτη τ᾽ ἦν οὐρανομήκης,

αὖα πάλαι, περίκηλα, τά οἱ πλώοιεν ἐλαφρῶς.240

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ δεῖξ᾽, ὅθι δένδρεα μακρὰ πεφύκει,

ἡ μὲν ἔβη πρὸς δῶμα Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων,

αὐτὰρ ὁ τάμνετο δοῦρα· θοῶς δέ οἱ ἤνυτο ἔργον.

εἴκοσι δ᾽ ἔκβαλε πάντα, πελέκκησεν δ᾽ ἄρα χαλκῷ,

ξέσσε δ᾽ ἐπισταμένως καὶ ἐπὶ στάθμην ἴθυνεν.245

τόφρα δ᾽ ἔνεικε τέρετρα Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων·

τέτρηνεν δ᾽ ἄρα πάντα καὶ ἥρμοσεν ἀλλήλοισιν,

γόμφοισιν δ᾽ ἄρα τήν γε καὶ ἁρμονίῃσιν ἄρασσεν.

ὅσσον τίς τ᾽ ἔδαφος νηὸς τορνώσεται ἀνὴρ

φορτίδος εὐρείης, ἐὺ εἰδὼς τεκτοσυνάων,250

τόσσον ἔπ᾽ εὐρεῖαν σχεδίην ποιήσατ᾽ Ὀδυσσεύς.

ἴκρια δὲ στήσας, ἀραρὼν θαμέσι σταμίνεσσι,

ποίει· ἀτὰρ μακρῇσιν ἐπηγκενίδεσσι τελεύτα.

ἐν δ᾽ ἱστὸν ποίει καὶ ἐπίκριον ἄρμενον αὐτῷ·

πρὸς δ᾽ ἄρα πηδάλιον ποιήσατο, ὄφρ᾽ ἰθύνοι.255

φράξε δέ μιν ῥίπεσσι διαμπερὲς οἰσυΐνῃσι

κύματος εἶλαρ ἔμεν: πολλὴν δ᾽ ἐπεχεύατο ὕλην.

τόφρα δὲ φάρε᾽ ἔνεικε Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων,

ἱστία ποιήσασθαι· ὁ δ᾽ εὖ τεχνήσατο καὶ τά.

ἐν δ᾽ ὑπέρας τε κάλους τε πόδας τ᾽ ἐνέδησεν ἐν αὐτῇ,260

μοχλοῖσιν δ᾽ ἄρα τήν γε κατείρυσεν εἰς ἅλα δῖαν.

    Odysseus builds a boat.

    The last night of lovemaking marks a turning point. Having faced the inalterable fact of Zeus’s command and pressed Odysseus about his motives for leaving, Calypso seems to accept that she will have to let her lover go. From now on, Odysseus’s trajectory will be toward the human world of time and change.

    read full essay

    The Phaeacians will be the last waystation, isolated and exotic like Calypso but human, nevertheless. Odysseus will fill in the backstory for them and for us when he tells them about his adventures between Troy and Ogygia in Books 9–12. When Calypso and Odysseus rise from bed the next morning, they apply themselves to the task of building a boat, a quintessential task of human culture. Homer signals the change in tone with a return to a measured, traditional style:

    ἦμος δ᾽ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,
    αὐτίχ᾽ ὁ μὲν χλαῖνάν τε χιτῶνά τε ἕννυτ᾽ Ὀδυσσεύς,
    αὐτὴ δ᾽ ἀργύφεον φᾶρος μέγα ἕννυτο νύμφη,
    λεπτὸν καὶ χαρίεν, περὶ δὲ ζώνην βάλετ᾽ ἰξυῖ
    καλὴν χρυσείην, κεφαλῇ δ᾽ ἐφύπερθε καλύπτρην.

    Now when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,
    Odysseus put on an outer cloak and tunic,
    and the nymph wrapped herself in a long silvery robe,
    filmy and beautiful, and around her waist she drew a belt,
    of lovely gold, and on her head she fixed a veil.

    Odyssey 5.228–32

    The language here is formulaic, the nouns appearing with their familiar epithets, beginning with the common one-line formula for the coming of dawn. The sentence structure is also regular, with a high coincidence between verse structure and sentence structure and no harsh enjambment. In verses 231–32, a complete thought ending the previous verse is followed by runover adjectives that elaborate the thought but maintain the regular structure, one of the poet’s most familiar methods of composition. The overall effect of this style is to slow down the pace, with fewer verbs and more adjectives, and summon the familiar domestic world of the Homeric poems.

    Characteristically for his poetic practice, the poet has created the Calypso episode, so strikingly fresh and compelling, by working with what looks like a typical scene in Homeric poetry. In Book 10, later in the poem but earlier in the chronology of the story, Odysseus tells the story of his pleasant year with the witchy nymph Circe. He has relaxed with her for a year but is now nudged into action by his crew, who are eager to press on for home. He climbs into her bed and asks her to make good on her earlier promise to help him find his way home. She is happy to oblige but delivers some bad news: the Greeks must first travel to the Underworld, where Odysseus will consult with the seer Teiresias about what lies ahead. (Her detailed instructions apparently take all night and lovemaking is replaced by mapmaking):

    ὣς ἔφατ᾽, αὐτίκα δὲ χρυσόθρονος ἤλυθεν Ἠώς.
    ἀμφὶ δέ με χλαῖνάν τε χιτῶνά τε εἵματα ἕσσεν·
    αὐτὴ δ᾽ ἀργύφεον φᾶρος μέγα ἕννυτο νύμφη,
    λεπτὸν καὶ χαρίεν, περὶ δὲ ζώνην βάλετ᾽ ἰξυῖ
    καλὴν χρυσείην, κεφαλῇ δ᾽ ἐπέθηκε καλύπτρην.

    So she spoke, and then Dawn of the golden throne came.
    The nymph dressed me in an outer cloak and tunic,
    and the wrapped herself in a long silvery robe,
    filmy and beautiful, and around her waist she drew a belt,
    of lovely gold, and on her head she fixed a veil.

    Odyssey 10.541–45

    This passage is as closely parallel as it can be to the description of Calypso and Odysseus above, given the slight change in the situation in Book 10 (Circe has just spoken, Calypso has not; Circe dresses the hero, Calypso does not.). In both cases, Odysseus has just spent the last of many nights with a powerful female deity, a “detaining woman” who has agreed to release him and help him find his way back to Ithaka. The poem’s structure—as opposed to the chronology of the story—invites us to view Circe through Calypso. Both are potential threats to the hero’s return; both attempt to use sexual conquest as a method of control. Calypso succeeds for a time, but before Odysseus encounters Circe, Hermes supplies him with the magic drug moly, which makes him immune to Circe’s power (10.281306). When Odysseus comes looking for the crewmen Circe has turned into pigs, the witch’s welcome is elaborate:

    ἔστην δ᾽ εἰνὶ θύρῃσι θεᾶς καλλιπλοκάμοιο·
    ἔνθα στὰς ἐβόησα, θεὰ δέ μευ ἔκλυεν αὐδῆς.
    ἡ δ᾽ αἶψ᾽ ἐξελθοῦσα θύρας ὤιξε φαεινὰς
    καὶ κάλει· αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν ἑπόμην ἀκαχήμενος ἦτορ.
    εἷσε δέ μ᾽ εἰσαγαγοῦσα ἐπὶ θρόνου ἀργυροήλου
    καλοῦ δαιδαλέου· ὑπὸ δὲ θρῆνυς ποσὶν ἦεν·
    τεῦχε δέ μοι κυκεῶ χρυσέῳ δέπᾳ, ὄφρα πίοιμι,>
    ἐν δέ τε φάρμακον ἧκε, κακὰ φρονέουσ᾽ ἐνὶ θυμῷ.
    αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δῶκέν τε καὶ ἔκπιον, οὐδέ μ᾽ ἔθελξε,
    ῥάβδῳ πεπληγυῖα ἔπος τ᾽ ἔφατ᾽ ἔκ τ᾽ ὀνόμαζεν·
    ‘ἔρχεο νῦν συφεόνδε, μετ᾽ ἄλλων λέξο ἑταίρων."

    I stood at the doorway of the lovely-haired goddess,
    and standing there, I shouted, and the goddess heard my voice.
    She came and quickly threw open the shining doors
    and called, inviting me in. I followed, much disturbed in my heart.
    Leading me in, she offered me a chair with silver studs,
    lovely and highly wrought, with a stool for my feet.
    Then she made me a potion to drink in a golden cup,
    and with evil thoughts in her heart put a drug in it.
    She gave it to me and I drank it, but it did not enchant me.
    Striking me with her wand, she spoke and named me:
    “Now go into the sty and sleep with your companions.”

    Odyssey 10. 310–20

    “Opening the shining doors,” (312) is a gesture with sexual overtones in early Greek hexameter poetry (cf. 10.230, 256; 6.18–19; Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 60, 236); Circe’s offer of a seat and drink mimics proper gestures of hospitality, but masks malign intent. When Odysseus draws his sword, the sexual symbolism continues:

    ἡ δὲ μέγα ἰάχουσα ὑπέδραμε καὶ λάβε γούνων,
    καί μ᾽ ὀλοφυρομένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
    "τίς πόθεν εἶς ἀνδρῶν; πόθι τοι πόλις ἠδὲ τοκῆες;
    θαῦμά μ᾽ ἔχει ὡς οὔ τι πιὼν τάδε φάρμακ᾽ ἐθέλχθης·
    οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδέ τις ἄλλος ἀνὴρ τάδε φάρμακ᾽ ἀνέτλη,
    ὅς κε πίῃ καὶ πρῶτον ἀμείψεται ἕρκος ὀδόντων.
    σοὶ δέ τις ἐν στήθεσσιν ἀκήλητος νόος ἐστίν.
    ἦ σύ γ᾽ Ὀδυσσεύς ἐσσι πολύτροπος, ὅν τέ μοι αἰεὶ
    φάσκεν ἐλεύσεσθαι χρυσόρραπις ἀργεϊφόντης
    ἐκ Τροίης ἀνιόντα θοῇ σὺν νηὶ μελαίνῃ.
    ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε δὴ κολεῷ μὲν ἄορ θέο, νῶι δ᾽ ἔπειτα
    εὐνῆς ἡμετέρης ἐπιβείομεν, ὄφρα μιγέντε
    εὐνῇ καὶ φιλότητι πεποίθομεν ἀλλήλοισιν."

    Crying out, she ran under the sword and grasped my knees,
    and in her distress she spoke to me and uttered winged words:
    “Who are you and where are you from, what city, what parents?
    Wonder grips me that you drank my drugs and are not
    enchanted; for no other man could resist these drugs,
    once he drank them and they passed the barrier of his teeth.
    The mind in you is proof against enchantment.
    You must be Odysseus, man of many turns, who
    the Slayer of Argos with his golden wand kept saying
    would come from Troy with your dark ship.
    But come now, sheathe your sword, and let us two
    climb up on my bed, so we might mingle there
    in lovemaking and trust each other.

    Odyssey 10.323–35

    This negotiation, so transparently symbolic, is a gendered power struggle. Circe plans to take away Odysseus’s human form, turning him into another pig alongside his unfortunate crewmen, an erasure of his fundamental identity that echoes his captivity on Calypso’s island. Though we have seen earlier (10.212–19) that she has all kinds of animals roaming around her land, a porcine existence seems a to reflect what lust can bring out in a man’s nature. The moly that Hermes has supplied blocks her power and she submits immediately, her posture and his phallic sword suggesting that he has neutralized her sexual power with his own self-assertion. At this point, Circe ceases to be a threat to Odysseus’s manhood and human identity, becoming instead a generous helpmeet, freeing his crew from animal form and offering him sex without strings attached. With this shift in her persona, the figure of detaining woman fades, to be replaced by other mythical paradigms and much of the energy in her relationship with Odysseus goes with it.

    Later in Book 5, we will see that Odysseus encounters a second nymph and enters into another gendered power negotiation. For now, the focus shifts, as Calypso supplies the hero with the tools to convert trees into a boat to sail away in. Homer’s description highlights the civilizing force of the work. Odysseus uses the tools to limit and shape the natural growth of the trees, cutting, straightening, smoothing, until nature’s power is channeled into new forms that serve human needs. The magical, harmonious profusion of Calypso’s world is made to fit different symmetries for new purposes. The axe handle fits both the craftsman’s palms and its blade; the adze is polished smooth. After he cuts down the trees, Odysseus strips the bark and planes off the natural curves to make straight deck boards, which he fits to the uprights. He makes a rudder, so he can make the boat go straight; he covers the sides with wattles, to keep the water out. The boat itself reflects how the Greeks understood the process by which human civilization comes into being, the imposition of human intelligence on the raw power of nature. Now it will carry the hero away from the timeless realm of Calypso toward the human world created in Ithaka.

     

    Further Reading

    Nagy, G. 1979. The Best of the Achaeans, 298–300; 311. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Russo, J. 1966. “The Structural Formula in Homeric Verse.” Yale Classical Studies 20: 219–240.

     

    229  ἕννυτ(ο): “put on,” “dressed himself in” > ἕννυμι. The same verb is used in line 230, but with Calypso as the subject.

    231  περὶ … ἰξυῖ: “around her waist.” Because of the separation between the preposition and its object, περὶ … (ἐ)βάλετ(ο) could also be taken as tmesis > περιβάλλω, “to put around.”

    232  κεφαλῇ: dative of place where. Understand the verb ἐβάλετο.

    234  ἄρμενον ἐν παλάμῃσι: “well-fitted to (in) his hands.” 

    234  ἄρμενον: acc. sing. masc. ptc. mid.

    235  ἐν αὐτῷ: “on it (there was),” understand the verb ἦν.

    236  ἐναρηρός: “fitted in,” pf. act. ptc. masc. nom. sing. > ἐναραρίσκω.

    237  ἦρχε δ᾽ ὁδοῖο: “she led the way” (LSJ ἄρχω A.I.4, citing this passage).

    238  πεφύκει: “grow.” The perfect indicates a permanent state, and the singular verb has the neuter plural δένδρεα as its subject.

    240  αὖα πάλαι: “long since dry.” The neuter adjective αὖα agrees with δένδρεα in line 238.

    240  τά οἱ πλώοιεν: “which would float for him.” The optative in the relative clause expresses an expected outcome (Monro 304). 

    240  πλώοιεν: 3rd pl. pres. act. opt. > πλώω (Ion. form of πλέω).

    241  δεῖξ(ε): = ἔδειξε, unaugmented 3rd sing. aor. act. indic.

    243  οἱ ἤνυτο ἔργον: “his work was finished.” 

    243  οἱ: dative of possession. 

    243  ἤνυτο: 3rd sing. impf. pass. indic. > ἀνύω.

    244  εἴκοσι: i.e., trees.

    244  ἔκβαλε: “he felled,” 3rd sing. aor. act. indic. > ἐκβάλλω.

    244  πάντα: “in all,” “total.”

    245  ἐπὶ στάθμην ἴθυνεν: “straightened it to the chalk line.” Odysseus snapped a chalk line to make a straight cut.

    246  τόφρα: “meanwhile.”

    248  γόμφοισιν … καὶ ἁρμονίῃσιν: “with pegs and joints,” datives of means.

    248  τήν: i.e., the raft (σχεδίη).

    249  ὅσσον τίς τ᾽ ἔδαφος νηὸς τορνώσεται ἀνὴρ: lit., “as large as some man measures out the hull of a ship…,” i.e., “as large as the hull of a ship that some man (a shipbuilder) measures out…” ὅσσον is answered by τόσσον ἔπ(ι) in line 251 (“as large as … so large …”).

    249  τορνώσεται: the aorist is common in similes (Smyth 1935), as is the subjunctive (Smyth 2483).

    250  φορτίδος εὐρείης: in apposition to νηὸς in line 249.

    250  ἐὺ εἰδὼς τεκτοσυνάων: “highly skilled in carpentry.” *εἴδω + gen. means “to have knowledge of, to have skill in.”

    251  τόσσον ἔπ(ι): “up to such a size,” “so large.” ἔπ(ι), anastrophe.

    252  ἴκρια δὲ στήσας: “standing up the deck,” "assembling the deck.”

    252  ἀραρὼν: masc. sing. aor. act. ptc. > ἀραρίσκω.

    252  θαμέσι σταμίνεσσι: dative of means.

    253  μακρῇσιν ἐπηγκενίδεσσι: dative of means.

    254  ἐν: understand ἐν σχεδίῃ.

    254  ἄρμενον αὐτῷ: “attached to it” (i.e., to the mast).

    255  πρὸς δ᾽: “and in addition” (LSJ πρός D).

    255  ὄφρ᾽ ἰθύνοι: “in order to steer,” purpose clause with optative in secondary sequence.

    256  φράξε: “he enclosed” > φράσσω.

    256  ῥίπεσσι … οἰσυΐνῃσι: “with wicker-work made of willow branches,” dative of means.

    257  κύματος εἶλαρ ἔμεν: “to be a shelter from the waves”; ἔμεν = εἶναι, infinitive of purpose.

    257  πολλὴν δ᾽ ἐπεχεύατο ὕλην: “he threw brushwood into the bottom” (Rouse, quoted by Stanford) or “(he) set it (much wood) outside the wicker-work as additional protection” (Cunliffe).

    258  τόφρα: “meanwhile.”

    258  φάρε᾽: φάρεα.

    259  ποιήσασθαι: “to make for himself,” infinitive of purpose.

    260  ἐν δ᾽: “and in addition” (LSJ ἐν C.3).

    260  ὑπέρας τε κάλους τε πόδας τ᾽: “braces and halyards and sheets,” various types of ropes used to raise, lower, and position the sail.

    260  ἐν αὐτῇ: “in it” (i.e., the raft).

    261  μοχλοῖσιν: “with crowbars,” dative of means.

    261  τήν: i.e., the raft.

    ἦμος: when, while

    ἠριγένεια –ας ἡ: early-born, child of morn

    ῥοδοδάκτυλος –ον: rosy-fingered

    ἠώς ἠοῦς ἡ: dawn; Dawn

    χλαῖνα –ης ἡ: cloak, mantle

    χιτών –ῶνος ὁ: tunic

    ἕννυμι ἕσσω ἕσσα: clothe, put on clothing

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

    ἀργύφεος –η –ον: silver-white230

    φᾶρος –ους τό: cloak

    ἕννυμι ἕσσω ἕσσα: clothe, put on clothing

    νύμφη –ης ἡ: a young wife, bride; nymph, a divinity of waters or woods

    λεπτός –ή –όν: (husked, threshed) fine, thin, delicate, subtle

    χαρίεις –ίεσσα –ίεν: graceful, charming, beautiful

    ζώνη –ης ἡ: a belt, girdle

    ἰξύς –ύος ἡ: the waist

    χρύσεος –η –ον: golden, gold-inlaid

    ἐφύπερθε: above, atop, above

    καλύπτρα –ας ἡ: a woman's veil

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

    μεγαλήτωρ –ορος: great - hearted, proud

    μήδομαι μήσομαι ἐμησάμην: to meditate, prepare, plot

    πομπή –ῆς ἡ: escort, guidance; arrangement for one's departure

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

    πέλεκυς –εως ὁ: an axe

    ἀραρίσκω/ἄρω ἄρσω ἦρσα ἄραρα/ἄρηρα ἀρήρεμαι ἤρθην: fit on or together, join, fit with

    παλάμη –ης ἡ: the palm of the hand, the hand

    χάλκεος –α –ον: of bronze235

    ἀμφοτέρωθεν: on both sides, in both directions

    ἀκαχμένος –η –ον: sharpened

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet, consequently

    στειλειόν –οῦ τό: the handle

    περικαλλής –ές: very beautiful

    ἐλάϊνος –η –ον: of olive-wood

    ἐναραρίσκω ἐνάρσω ἐνῆρσα/ἐνήραρον ἐνάραρα/ἐνάρηρα ἐναρήρεμαι ἐνήρθην: to fit

    σκέπαρνον –ου τό: a carpenter's axe

    εὔξοος –ον: with polished handle

    ἄρχω ἅρξω ἦρξα ἦρχα ἦργμαι ἦρχθην: begin, rule (+gen.)

    ἐσχατιά –ᾶς ἡ: the furthest part, edge, border, verge

    ὅθι: where

    δένδρεον –ου or δένδρον –ου or δένδρος –ους τό: a tree

    κλήθρα –ας ἡ: the alder

    αἴγειρος –ου ἡ: black poplar tree

    ἐλάτη –ης ἡ: the silver fir (pinus picea)

    οὐρανομήκης –ες: high as heaven, shooting up to heaven, exceeding high

    αὖος [–η] –ον: dry240

    πάλαι: long ago, in olden time, in days of yore, in time gone by

    περίκηλος –ον: exceeding dry

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

    ἐλαφρός –ά –όν: light, nimble, gentle, mild, unsteady, fickle

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet, consequently

    ὅθι: where

    δένδρεον –ου or δένδρον –ου or δένδρος –ους τό: a tree

    δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)

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

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet, consequently

    δόρυ δόρατος τό: spear; timber, beam (of a ship)

    θοός –ή –όν: swift

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

    αἰνύω – – – – –: to accomplish, finish

    ἐκβάλλω ἐκβαλῶ ἐξέβαλον ἐκβέβληκα ἐκβέβλημαι ἐξεβλήθην: to throw

    πελεκάω πελεκήσω ἐπελέκκησα: to hew

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

    χαλκός –οῦ ὁ: bronze, copper, weapon

    ξέω ξέσω ἔξεσα – ἔξεσμαι ἐξέσθην: to smooth245

    ἐπισταμένως: skillfully

    στάθμη –ης ἡ: a carpenter's line

    ἰθύνω ἴθυνα ἴθυμμαι ἰθύνθην: to straighten; guide directly, steer

    τόφρα: at that very moment, so long; tόφρα … ὄφρα, as long as … until

    τέρετρον –ου τό: a borer, auger

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

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    τετραίνω/τιτραίνω/τιτράω τετρανῶ/τρήσω ἐτέτρηνα/ἔτρησα – τέτρημαι ἐτετράνθην/ἐτρήθην: to bore through, pierce, perforate

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

    ἁρμόζω ἁρμόσω ἥρμοσα ἥρμοκα ἥρμοσμαι ἡρμόσθην : to fit together, join

    γόμφος –ου ὁ: a bolt

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

    ἁρμονία –ας ἡ: a fastening

    ἀράσσω ἀράξω ἤραξα ––– ––– ἠράχθην: to knock, beat, strike; to hammer together

    ἔδαφος –εος τό: the bottom, foundation, base

    τορνόομαι τορνώσομαι ἐτορνωσάμην: to mark off with the τόρνος

    φορτίς –ίδος: for cargo, mercantile (of a ship)250

    εὐρύς –εῖα –ύ: broad

    τεκτοσύνη –ης ἡ: the art of a joiner, carpentry

    τόσος –η –ον: so great, so vast

    εὐρύς –εῖα –ύ: broad

    σχεδία –ας ἡ: a raft, float

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

    ἴκρια –ων τά: the half-decks

    ἀραρίσκω/ἄρω ἄρσω ἦρσα ἄραρα/ἄρηρα ἀρήρεμαι ἤρθην: fit on or together, join, fit with

    θαμέες –ω[ν]: crowded, close-set, thick

    στᾰμίν or στᾰμίς ὁ nom. pl. σταμίνες: (pl.) the ribs or frame-timbers of a ship, which stand up from the keel

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet, consequently

    ἐπηγκενίδες –ων αἱ: the uppermost planks of a ship

    ἱστός –οῦ ὁ: mast, beam; loom

    ἐπίκριον –ου τό: the yard-arm

    ἀραρίσκω/ἄρω ἄρσω ἦρσα ἄραρα/ἄρηρα ἀρήρεμαι ἤρθην: fit on or together, join, fit with

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus255

    πηδάλιον –ου τό: a rudder

    ὄφρα: while; until; so that; ὄφρα … τόφρα, while … for so long

    ἰθύνω ἴθυνα ἴθυμμαι ἰθύνθην: to straighten; guide directly, steer

    φράσσω/φράττω φράξω ἔφραξα πέφραγα/πέφρακα πέφραγμαι ἐφράχθην: to fence in, hedge round

    μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself

    ῥίψ ῥιπός ἡ: plaited work, wicker-work, a mat

    διαμπερές: continuous

    οἰσύινος –α –ον: branches of a willow tree

    κῦμα –ατος τό: wave

    εἶλαρ τό: a close covering, shelter, defence

    ἐπιχέω ἐπιχέω ἐπέχεα ἐπικέχυκα ἐπικέχυμαι ἐπεχύθην: to pour water over; to heap up

    ὕλη –ης ἡ: woods, forest; firewood

    τόφρα: at that very moment, so long; tόφρα … ὄφρα, as long as … until

    φᾶρος –ους τό: cloak

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

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    ἱστίον –ου τό: a sail

    τεχνάομαι τεχνήσομαι ἐτεχνησάμην ––– τετέχνημαι ἐτεχνήθην: to make by art, to execute skilfully

    ὑπέρα –ας ἡ: an upper rope260

    κάλως κάλω ὁ: a reefing rope, reef

    ἐνδέω ἐνδήσω ἐνεδέησα ἐνδεδέηκα ἐνδέδεμαι ἐνεδεήθην: to bind in, on

    μοχλός –οῦ ὁ: lever, bar, stake, pole

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

    κατερύω κατερύσω κατέρυσα/κατέρυσσα κατειρύσθην: to draw

    ἅλς ἁλός ὁ: salt (m.); sea (f.)

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

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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/v-228-261