τέτρατον ἦμαρ ἔην, καὶ τῷ τετέλεστο ἅπαντα:

τῷ δ᾽ ἄρα πέμπτῳ πέμπ᾽ ἀπὸ νήσου δῖα Καλυψώ,

εἵματά τ᾽ ἀμφιέσασα θυώδεα καὶ λούσασα.

ἐν δέ οἱ ἀσκὸν ἔθηκε θεὰ μέλανος οἴνοιο265

τὸν ἕτερον, ἕτερον δ᾽ ὕδατος μέγαν, ἐν δὲ καὶ ᾖα

κωρύκῳ· ἐν δέ οἱ ὄψα τίθει μενοεικέα πολλά·

οὖρον δὲ προέηκεν ἀπήμονά τε λιαρόν τε.

γηθόσυνος δ᾽ οὔρῳ πέτασ᾽ ἱστία δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς.

αὐτὰρ ὁ πηδαλίῳ ἰθύνετο τεχνηέντως270

ἥμενος, οὐδέ οἱ ὕπνος ἐπὶ βλεφάροισιν ἔπιπτεν

Πληιάδας τ᾽ ἐσορῶντι καὶ ὀψὲ δύοντα Βοώτην

Ἄρκτον θ᾽, ἣν καὶ ἄμαξαν ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν,

ἥ τ᾽ αὐτοῦ στρέφεται καί τ᾽ Ὠρίωνα δοκεύει,

οἴη δ᾽ ἄμμορός ἐστι λοετρῶν Ὠκεανοῖο·275

τὴν γὰρ δή μιν ἄνωγε Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων,

ποντοπορευέμεναι ἐπ᾽ ἀριστερὰ χειρὸς ἔχοντα.

ἑπτὰ δὲ καὶ δέκα μὲν πλέεν ἤματα ποντοπορεύων,

ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῃ δ᾽ ἐφάνη ὄρεα σκιόεντα

γαίης Φαιήκων, ὅθι τ᾽ ἄγχιστον πέλεν αὐτῷ·280

εἴσατο δ᾽ ὡς ὅτε ῥινὸν ἐν ἠεροειδέι πόντῳ.

τὸν δ᾽ ἐξ Αἰθιόπων ἀνιὼν κρείων ἐνοσίχθων

τηλόθεν ἐκ Σολύμων ὀρέων ἴδεν· εἴσατο γάρ οἱ

πόντον ἐπιπλώων. ὁ δ᾽ ἐχώσατο κηρόθι μᾶλλον,

κινήσας δὲ κάρη προτὶ ὃν μυθήσατο θυμόν·285

"ὢ πόποι, ἦ μάλα δὴ μετεβούλευσαν θεοὶ ἄλλως

ἀμφ᾽ Ὀδυσῆι ἐμεῖο μετ᾽ Αἰθιόπεσσιν ἐόντος,

καὶ δὴ Φαιήκων γαίης σχεδόν, ἔνθα οἱ αἶσα

ἐκφυγέειν μέγα πεῖραρ ὀιζύος, ἥ μιν ἱκάνει.

ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι μέν μίν φημι ἅδην ἐλάαν κακότητος."290

ὣς εἰπὼν σύναγεν νεφέλας, ἐτάραξε δὲ πόντον

χερσὶ τρίαιναν ἑλών· πάσας δ᾽ ὀρόθυνεν ἀέλλας

παντοίων ἀνέμων, σὺν δὲ νεφέεσσι κάλυψε

γαῖαν ὁμοῦ καὶ πόντον· ὀρώρει δ᾽ οὐρανόθεν νύξ.

σὺν δ᾽ Εὖρός τε Νότος τ᾽ ἔπεσον Ζέφυρός τε δυσαὴς295

καὶ Βορέης αἰθρηγενέτης, μέγα κῦμα κυλίνδων.

καὶ τότ᾽ Ὀδυσσῆος λύτο γούνατα καὶ φίλον ἦτορ,

ὀχθήσας δ᾽ ἄρα εἶπε πρὸς ὃν μεγαλήτορα θυμόν·

"ὤ μοι ἐγὼ δειλός, τί νύ μοι μήκιστα γένηται;

δείδω μὴ δὴ πάντα θεὰ νημερτέα εἶπεν,300

ἥ μ᾽ ἔφατ᾽ ἐν πόντῳ, πρὶν πατρίδα γαῖαν ἱκέσθαι,

ἄλγε᾽ ἀναπλήσειν· τὰ δὲ δὴ νῦν πάντα τελεῖται.

οἵοισιν νεφέεσσι περιστέφει οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν

Ζεύς, ἐτάραξε δὲ πόντον, ἐπισπέρχουσι δ᾽ ἄελλαι

παντοίων ἀνέμων. νῦν μοι σῶς αἰπὺς ὄλεθρος.305

τρὶς μάκαρες Δαναοὶ καὶ τετράκις, οἳ τότ᾽ ὄλοντο

Τροίῃ ἐν εὐρείῃ χάριν Ἀτρεΐδῃσι φέροντες.

ὡς δὴ ἐγώ γ᾽ ὄφελον θανέειν καὶ πότμον ἐπισπεῖν

ἤματι τῷ ὅτε μοι πλεῖστοι χαλκήρεα δοῦρα

Τρῶες ἐπέρριψαν περὶ Πηλεΐωνι θανόντι.310

τῷ κ᾽ ἔλαχον κτερέων, καί μευ κλέος ἦγον Ἀχαιοί·

νῦν δέ με λευγαλέῳ θανάτῳ εἵμαρτο ἁλῶναι."

    Odysseus sails from Kalypso's island to Phaeacia, but Poseidon sends a storm to prevent him from reaching shore. 

    The shipbuilding has taken four days, and on the fifth Odysseus is ready to launch. Calypso, whose resentment has apparently given way to good will, sends him off with a following wind and ample provisions:

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    τῷ δ᾽ ἄρα πέμπτῳ πέμπ᾽ ἀπὸ νήσου δῖα Καλυψώ,
    εἵματά τ᾽ ἀμφιέσασα θυώδεα καὶ λούσασα.
    ἐν δέ οἱ ἀσκὸν ἔθηκε θεὰ μέλανος οἴνοιο
    τὸν ἕτερον, ἕτερον δ᾽ ὕδατος μέγαν, ἐν δὲ καὶ ᾖα
    κωρύκῳ· ἐν δέ οἱ ὄψα τίθει μενοεικέα πολλά·
    οὖρον δὲ προέηκεν ἀπήμονά τε λιαρόν τε.

    On the fifth day divine Calypso sent him from the island,
    bathing him and wrapping him in fragrant clothing.
    The goddess put two skins on board, one of dark wine,
    while the other held water, and in a bag was food,
    the sort of provisions to put strength in a man;
    and she sent a following breeze, warm and gentle.

    Odyssey 5.263–68

    With these last gifts, we may sense that Calypso’s resignation to Odysseus’s destiny may not be absolute. She bathes him, a seemingly tender gesture, and yet being bathed by a woman can make a man vulnerable in the Odyssey. Water itself is feminine in the gendered division of the world as the Greeks saw it, amorphous, flowing across the clean boundaries that define things masculine. We hear from Helen that she got Odysseus to reveal his plans to her after bathing and dressing him (4.252–56). Later, he has a near miss when his old nurse washes his feet and recognizes him from his scar (19.467–90). When Nausicaa offers Odysseus a bath and clean clothes after he washes up on shore, he politely refuses on the grounds that it would be improper for young girls to see him naked. But we note that Athena chooses to enhance Odysseus’s appearance right after the bath, making him look younger and stronger, something the goddess does only there and once more in the poem, when Odysseus has been bathed after the slaughter of the suitors (6.232–35 = 23.159–62). In both cases, the goddess senses that her hero might need a little extra leverage after being bathed. Likewise, to be “wrapped” (ἀμφιέσασα) in anything by Calypso could be trouble, and especially when the clothes are “fragrant” (θυώδεα), perhaps carrying a scent the feminine power of which lingers. The import of these seemingly harmless gestures will soon be clear.

    Odysseus sails happily away, continuing his mastery of the natural world, skillfully (τεχνηέντως) steering his boat through the waves, plotting his course by the stars. On the eighteenth day out, with the Phaeacians’ island in sight, comes a reckoning, as Poseidon, returning from a sojourn with the Ethiopians, spies Odysseus from afar. We know he is angry at Odysseus for blinding his son Polyphemus the Cyclops (1.68–71) and now there will be payback, as the god sends a storm to rip the boat apart, using the power of the elements to attack human order with chaos:

    ὣς εἰπὼν σύναγεν νεφέλας, ἐτάραξε δὲ πόντον
    χερσὶ τρίαιναν ἑλών· πάσας δ᾽ ὀρόθυνεν ἀέλλας
    παντοίων ἀνέμων, σὺν δὲ νεφέεσσι κάλυψε
    γαῖαν ὁμοῦ καὶ πόντον· ὀρώρει δ᾽ οὐρανόθεν νύξ.
    σὺν δ᾽ Εὖρός τε Νότος τ᾽ ἔπεσον Ζέφυρός τε δυσαὴς
    καὶ Βορέης αἰθρηγενέτης, μέγα κῦμα κυλίνδων.

    So saying, he slammed the clouds together and stirred up
    the sea, grabbing the trident with both hands and rousing gales
    from all the winds at once; he smothered the earth and sea
    with clouds, and black night rushed down from heaven.
    East Wind and South Wind crashed together, and the raging West Wind
    and the North Wind born from bright air rolled up a great wave.

    Odyssey 5.291–96

    Poseidon’s appearance here is consistent with the usual function of the gods in the Odyssey. In the Iliad, where the narrative urges us always toward recognizing the fact of human mortality as the ultimate source of meaning in the cosmos, the easy life of the gods frequently serves as a foil for the tragic nature of human existence. The Odyssey’s dominant rhetoric, by contrast, asks us to accept the return to right order, disturbed by Odysseus’s absence at Troy, as the ultimate goal of the narrative. The gods serve this imperative, helping or hindering the hero’s progress. In this sense, the most important deities in the poem are Athena and Poseidon, with Zeus refereeing between them.

    The promising turn back toward human civilization symbolized by building the boat seems to have been wiped out by the god’s pique. Odysseus ruefully concludes that Calypso’s warning to him was right: much pain lies between him and Ithaka (5.206–10). In his despair, he wistfully regrets not having had a heroic death at Troy:

    "τρὶς μάκαρες Δαναοὶ καὶ τετράκις, οἳ τότ᾽ ὄλοντο
    Τροίῃ ἐν εὐρείῃ χάριν Ἀτρεΐδῃσι φέροντες.
    ὡς δὴ ἐγώ γ᾽ ὄφελον θανέειν καὶ πότμον ἐπισπεῖν
    ἤματι τῷ ὅτε μοι πλεῖστοι χαλκήρεα δοῦρα
    Τρῶες ἐπέρριψαν περὶ Πηλεΐωνι θανόντι.
    τῷ κ᾽ ἔλαχον κτερέων, καί μευ κλέος ἦγον Ἀχαιοί·
    νῦν δέ με λευγαλέῳ θανάτῳ εἵμαρτο ἁλῶναι."

    "Three and four times blessed were those Danaans who died
    in wide Troy bringing favor to the sons of Atreus.
    Oh that I had died and met my destiny
    on that day when so many of the Trojans flung
    their bronze-tipped spears at me as I stood over the dead son of Peleus.
    I would have had my rites and the Achaeans would have given me glory.
    Now I will receive as my lot to be taken by a dismal death."

    Odyssey 5.306–12

    Yearning for glory as a hedge against the anonymous death he seems to be facing, Odysseus steps back into his warrior persona from the Iliad. There, surrounded by Trojans, he contemplates the choice between fighting on against heavy odds or saving himself:

    "ὤ μοι ἐγὼ τί πάθω; μέγα μὲν κακὸν αἴ κε φέβωμαι
    πληθὺν ταρβήσας: τὸ δὲ ῥίγιον αἴ κεν ἁλώω
    μοῦνος: τοὺς δ᾽ ἄλλους Δαναοὺς ἐφόβησε Κρονίων.
    ἀλλὰ τί ἤ μοι ταῦτα φίλος διελέξατο θυμός;
    οἶδα γὰρ ὅττι κακοὶ μὲν ἀποίχονται πολέμοιο,
    ὃς δέ κ᾽ ἀριστεύῃσι μάχῃ ἔνι τὸν δὲ μάλα χρεὼ
    ἑστάμεναι κρατερῶς, ἤ τ᾽ ἔβλητ᾽ ἤ τ᾽ ἔβαλ᾽ ἄλλον."

    "Alas, what will happen to me? It will be a great evil if I run,
    fearing their numbers, but deadlier still if I am taken
    alone, since the son of Kronos has driven the rest of the Greeks to flight.
    But why does my heart within me debate these things?
    For I know that it is the cowards who run from battle,
    and he who would win honor in battle must
    stand firm, whether he be struck or strike down another."

    Iliad 11.404–10

    Through the tragic lens of the Iliad, the choice Odysseus faces there seems plain: ignominious survival or glorious death. In the event, he chooses to stand fast and is wounded but lives on to become the most famous survivor in western literature. His speech here, in the wake of Poseidon’s attack, is part of the definitive chain of events that begins in his delicate conversation with Calypso. He is presented there with another stark choice: unending but anonymous comfort or the perilous pursuit of his limited existence in time. His response is the first of many in the story, all aimed at avoiding the threat of being made into nothing, either through literal death or the existential erasure that constantly looms before him. That Homer shines such a bright light on this choice tells us it is definitive for our understanding of Odysseus.

    As is so often the case, looking back from Virgil’s response to a passage from Homeric epic widens the context for our understanding of the source. In the midst of a storm arranged by his nemesis Juno, Aeneas channels Odysseus:

    Extemplō Aenēae solvuntur frīgore membra;
    ingemit et duplicēs tendēns ad sīdera palmās
    tālia vōce refert: "Ō terque quaterque beātī,
    quīs ante ōra patrum Trōiae sub moenibus altīs
    contigit oppetere! ō Danaüm fortissime gentis
    Tӯdīdē! Mēne Īliacīs occumbere campīs
    nōn potuisse tuāque animam hanc effundere dextrā,
    saevus ubi Aeacidae tēlō iacet Hector, ubi ingēns
    Sarpēdōn, ubi tot Simois correpta sub undīs
    scūta virum galeāsque et fortia corpora volvit!"

    Suddenly Aeneas’s body is limp with fear;
    he groans, and stretching both hands toward the sky,
    he speaks these words: “O three- and four-times blessed,
    those who met their deaths under Troy’s high walls,
    before the faces of their parents. O son of Tydeus,
    strongest of the Greek race! Was I not to able to die
    on Ilion’s fields, to expend my soul by your right hand,
    when fierce Hector and huge Sarpedon fell by the spear of Achilles,
    when shields and helmets and strong bodies of men
    rolled under the waves of the river Simois?”

    Aeneid 1.92–101

    Aeneas is by any measure a reluctant hero, dutifully but not avidly shouldering his fated task of leading the Trojan exiles to a new home. He too will decline an offer from a woman he has been wintering with, the Carthaginian queen Dido, in favor of pressing on for “home,” in this case a new one he knows nothing about. But it seems clear that Aeneas, unlike his Homeric model, would rather stay with this woman, at least in preference to soldiering on toward the unknown. Jupiter orders him to leave Dido, a message that makes his hair stand on end in fear. He then tells his lover (in a speech that establishes him as at least tone-deaf if not a cad) that if he had his way, he would have stayed and died at Troy (Aen. 4.331–61).

    Aeneas would have preferred to die in Troy less because he is hungry for glory than because he yearns for the connection to his family and friends. For Odysseus in this moment, we sense—though he is certainly determined to get back home—the balance tips the other way. The Calypso episode is all about the threat of losing his heroic identity in an endless, anonymous existence.

     

    Further Reading

    Austin, N. 1975. Archery at the Dark of the Moon, 139. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Carson, A. 1990. “Putting Her in Her Place: Women, Dirt, and Desire.” In Before Sexuality: The Construction of Erotic Experience in the Ancient World, D. Halperin, J. Winkler and F. Zeitlin (eds), 135–169. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

     

    262  τῷ ...  ἅπαντα: dative of agent, neuter plural subject of singular verb. 

    262  τετέλεστο: 3rd sing. plupf. pass. indic. > τελέω.

    263  τῷ … πέμπτῳ: dative of time when, understand ἤματι.

    263  πέμπ(ε): unaugmented 3rd sing. impf. act. indic. Understand μιν (i.e., Odysseus) as the object.

    264  ἀμφιέσασα: fem. nom. sing. pres. act. ptc. > ἀμφιέννυμι. The verb takes a double accusative of the person clothed and the article of clothing. Understand μιν as the object of this participle and of λούσασα.

    265  ἐν … ἔθηκε: “she placed on board,” tmesis > ἐντίθημι.

    265  οἱ: dative of interest.

    266  τὸν ἕτερον … ἕτερον: “one (wineskin) of … another of …”

    266  ᾖα: “provisions, food,” neut. acc. pl.

    267  ἐν … τίθει: unaugmented 3rd sing. impf. act. indic. > ἐντίθημι. Like line 265, but with a change of tense.

    268  προέηκεν: 3rd sing. aor. act. indic. > προίημι. The subject is still Calypso.

    269  πέτασ(ε): “spread (the sails),” unaugmented 3rd sing. aor. act. indic. > πετάννυμι.

    270  πηδαλίῳ … / ἥμενος: “sitting at the rudder,” dative of place where.

    271  οἱ: dative of possession with βλεφάροισιν (“his eyelids”), or more broadly a dative of interest.

    272  ἐσορῶντι: “as he looked at,” masc. dat. sing. pres. act. ptc. > εἰσοράω. Agrees with οἱ in line 271.

    273  ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν: “they call by another name, namely …,” “they also call …” The subject is a general “they.”

    274  αὐτοῦ στρέφεται: “circles in the same place,” of the rotation of the the Big Dipper (Ἄρκτος) around the North Star.

    275  ἄμμορός: “without a share of …,” with genitive. The Big Dipper alone (οἴη) never sets below the horizon.

    276  τὴν … / … ἐπ᾽ ἀριστερὰ χειρὸς ἔχοντα: “having this star (τὴν) on his left-hand side.” τὴν is the object of ἔχονται, which agrees with μιν.

    276  ἔχονται: masc. acc. sing. ptc.

    278  πλέεν: unaugmented 3rd sing. impf. act. indic. > πλέω.

    279  ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῃ: dative of time when. Understand ἤματι.

    279  ἐφάνη: “appeared,” 3rd sing. aor. pass. indic., with a neuter plural subject (ὄρεα).

    280  πέλεν: “it was,” unaugmented 3rd sing. impf. act. indic. > πελέω.

    281  εἴσατο: “it appeared,” “it looked,” 3rd sing. aor. mid. indic. > *εἴδω.

    281  ὡς ὅτε ῥινὸν: “like a shield,” simile.

    282  τὸν: i.e., Odysseus.

    282  ἐξ Αἰθιόπων: “from the land of the Ethiopians.” In Book 1 (1.22) we learn that Poseidon has gone to visit the land of the Ethiopians.

    283  ἐκ Σολύμων ὀρέων: “from the mountains of the Solymoi.” The Solymoi were a tribe inhabiting Lycia, in southern Anatolia.

    283  εἴσατο γάρ οἱ: “for he (Odysseus) was seen by him (Poseidon)…”  οἱ is a dative of agent.

    283  εἴσατο: 3rd sing. aor. mid. indic. > *εἴδω.

    284  : i.e., Poseidon.

    285  κινήσας δὲ κάρη: “shaking his head,” a sign of anger.

    285  προτὶ ὃν … θυμόν: “to his own heart.” Poseidon delivers a soliloquy. Stanford points out that there are six soliloquies in Book 5, and only four others in the rest of the Odyssey.

    286  μετεβούλευσαν … ἄλλως: “changed their plans.”

    287  ἀμφ᾽ Ὀδυσῆι: “concerning Odysseus.”

    287  ἐμεῖο … ἐόντος: genitive absolute.

    288  σχεδόν: understand the verb ἐστί, with Odysseus as the subject.

    288  οἱ αἶσα / ἐκφυγέειν: “it is his fate to …,” understand the verb ἐστί.

    290  μίν φημι ἅδην ἐλάαν κακότητος: “I say that I will drive him to his fill of misery.” φημι introduces indirect discourse with accusative and infinitive, but the subject of the infinitive (ἐλάαν) is the same as the subject of φημι, and thus goes unexpressed. μίν is the object of the infinitive. 

    290  ἐλάαν: aor. act. infin. > ἐλαύνω.

    292  ἑλών: “grasping,” nom. masc. sing. aor. act. ptc. > αἱρέω.

    293  σὺν … κάλυψε: either tmesis > συνκαλύπτω (“cover”), or σὺν is adverbial (“together”).

    294  ὀρώρει: “rose,” unaugmented 3rd sing. plupf. act. indic. > ὄρνυμι, with imperfect sense (Smyth 1952a).

    295  σὺν … ἔπεσον: either tmesis > συμπίπτω (“clash together”), or σὺν is adverbial (“together”).

    296  κυλίνδων: the participle is singular, so perhaps goes only with the nearest subject (Βορέης), but probably refers to all of the winds collectively.

    297  λύτο: 3rd sing. aor. pass. indic. > λύω; singular verb with both neuter plural (γούνατα) and singular (ἦτορ) subjects.

    298  εἶπε πρὸς ὃν μεγαλήτορα θυμόν: introducing the first of Odysseus’ four soliloquies in Book 5.

    299  τί νύ μοι μήκιστα γένηται;: “what is to become of me at last?” (LSJ μήκιστος 3).

    300  δείδω μὴ … θεὰ … εἶπεν: “I fear that the goddess said…,” a clause of fearing with the (aor.) indicative, expressing the fear that something was actually the case in the past (Smyth 2233b, citing this passage).

    301  μ(ε) ἔφατ᾽ … / ἄλγε(α) ἀναπλήσειν: indirect discourse with accusative (με) and infinitive, (ἀναπλήσειν). ἄλγε(α) is the object of the infinitive.

    302  τελεῖται: 3rd sing. pres. pass. indic. > τελέω, singular verb with a neuter plural subject (τὰ … πάτα).

    303  οἵοισιν νεφέεσσι: “With what clouds …!” An exclamation of astonishment (Smyth 2682).

    305  σῶς: “certain.” Understand the verb ἐστί.

    308  ὄφελον θανέειν … : “I wish that I had died …,” ὄφελον + aor. infin., expresses an unattainable wish (Smyth 1781).

    310  ἐπέρριψαν: 3rd pl. aor. act. indic. > ἐπιρρίπτω, with dative object (μοι in line 309).

    310  περὶ Πηλεΐωνι θανόντι: “around the dead son of Peleus” (i.e., around the corpse of Achilles).

    311  τῷ: “in that case.”

    311  κ᾽ ἔλαχον … καί … ἦγον: κε + aor. indic., denoting past potential (“would have”) (Smyth 1784).

    311  ἔλαχον κτερέων: λανχάνω + gen., “to have a share of …”

    311  μευ κλέος ἦγον: “would have spread (lit., led) my fame far and wide…” (LSJ ἄγω I.8).

    312  εἵμαρτο: “it has fallen to my lot,” 3rd sing. plupf. pass. indic. > μείρομαι, with complementary infinitive.

    312  ἁλῶναι: “to be seized,” aor. infin. > ἁλίσκομαι.

    τέταρτος –η –ον: fourth

    ἦμαρ –ατος τό: day

    τελέω τελῶ or τελέσω ἐτέλεσα τετέλεκα τετέλεσμαι ἐτελέσθην: to finish, complete, carry out

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

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

    εἷμα –ατος τό: clothing

    ἀμφιάζω ἀμφιάσω ἠμφίασα: to clothe

    θυώδης –ες: smelling of incense, sweet-smelling

    λούω λούσομαι ἔλουσα λέλουμαι: to wash; (mid.) to wash myself, bathe

    οὗ, οἷ, ἕ and encl. οὑ, οἱ, ἑ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself265

    ἀσκός –οῦ ὁ: a wine-skin; leather purse

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    μέλας μέλαινα μέλαν: black, dark, obscure

    οἶνος –ου ὁ: wine

    ἤια –ατος τό: provisions for a journey

    κώρυκος –ου ὁ: a leather sack

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

    ὄψον –ου τό: cooked meat

    μενοεικής –ές: pleasing, splendid, lavish

    οὖρος –ου ὁ: a fair wind

    προίημι προήσω προῆκα προεῖκα προεῖμαι προείθην: to send ahead; to shoot

    ἀπήμων –ον gen. –ονος: unharmed, unhurt; doing no harm; favorable

    λιαρός –ά –όν: warm

    γηθόσυνος [–η] –ον: joyful, glad at

    οὖρος –ου ὁ: a fair wind

    πεταννύω/πετάννυμι πετῶ ἐπέτασα πεπέτακα πέπταμαι ἐπετάσθην: to spread out

    ἱστίον –ου τό: a sail

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

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

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet, consequently270

    πηδάλιον –ου τό: a rudder

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

    τεχνήεις –εσσα –εν: cunningly wrought; skillfully

    ἧμαι (or κάθημαι) ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: sit

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

    ὕπνος –ου ὁ: sleep, sleepiness

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

    Πλειάδες –ων αἱ: the Pleiads

    εἰσοράω εἰσόψομαι εἰσεῖδον εἰσεόρακα/εἰσεώρακα/εἰσόπωπα εἰσεόραμαι/εἰσεώραμαι/εἰσῶμμαι εἰσώφθην: to look into, look upon, view, behold

    ὀψέ: late; too late; at last

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

    Βοώτης –ου ὁ: Bootes, the ploughman

    Ἄρκτος–ου ἡ: The Bear, Big Dipper

    ἄμαξα –ης ἡ: wagon, cart

    ἐπίκλησις –εως ἡ: a surname; by name

    αὐτοῦ: at the very place, here, there

    στρέφω στρέψω ἔστρεψα ––– ἔστραμμαι ἐστράφθην: to turn

    Ὠρίων –ωνος ὁ: Orīon, the mighty hunter, beloved of Eos

    δοκεύω δοκεύσω ἐδόκευσα: to keep an eye upon, watch narrowly

    οἷος –α –ον: (such a kind) as; for οἷός τε see οἷος III.2275

    ἄμμορος –ον: without share of

    λουτρόν –οῦ τό : a bath, bathing place

    Ὠκεανός –οῦ ὁ: Oceanus

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

    ἀνώγω: to command, order

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

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    ποντοπορεύω ποντοπορεύσω ποντοπόρευσα: to pass over the sea

    ἀριστερός –ά –όω: left, on the left

    ἦμαρ –ατος τό: day

    ποντοπορεύω ποντοπορεύσω ποντοπόρευσα: to pass over the sea

    ὀκτωκαιδέκατος: eighteenth

    σκιόεις –εσσα –εν: shady, shadowy

    γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district280

    Φαίαξ –ακος ὁ: a Phaeacian

    ὅθι: where

    ἄγχιστος –η –ον: nearest

    πέλω ––– ἔπλον ––– ––– –––: to be (the aor. has pres. signif.)

    εἴδω/ὀράω ὄψομαι εἶδον ἑόρακα ἑώρακα/ὄπωπα ἑόραμαι/ἑώραμαι/ὦμμαι ὤφθην: see

    ῥινόν –οῦ τό: a hide; shield

    ἠεροειδής –ές: of dark and cloudy look, cloud-streaked

    πόντος –ου ὁ: sea, open sea

    Αἰθίοψ –οπος ὁ : Ethiopian

    ἄνειμι: go up, reach; return

    κρείων fem. -ουσα: commanding, kingly; (as subst.) ruler

    ἐνοσίχθων –ονος ὁ: earth-shaker (epithet of Poseidon)

    τηλόθεν: from afar, from a foreign land

    Σόλυμοι –ων οἱ: Solymi, a Lycian tribe

    εἴδω/ὀράω ὄψομαι εἶδον ἑόρακα ἑώρακα/ὄπωπα ἑόραμαι/ἑώραμαι/ὦμμαι ὤφθην: see

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

    πόντος –ου ὁ: sea, open sea

    ἐπιπλέω ἐπιπλευσοῦμαι/ἐπιπλεύσομαι ἐπέπλευσα ἐπιπέπλευκα: to sail through (+ acc.)

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

    κηρόθι: in the heart, with all the heart, heartily

    κάρα –ατος τό: the head285

    ἑός ἑή ἑόν: his, her, own

    μυθέομαι μυθήσομαι μεμύθημαι ἐμυθήθην: speak or talk of, describe, explain, relate

    πόποι: alas! alack! well-a-day!

    μεταβουλεύω μεταβουλεύσω: to alter one's plans, change one's mind

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

    Αἰθίοψ –οπος ὁ : Ethiopian

    Φαίαξ –ακος ὁ: a Phaeacian

    γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district

    σχεδόν: near; almost

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

    αἶσα –ης ἡ: destiny; norm, rule; portion share

    ἐκφεύγω ἐκφεύξομαι ἔκφυγον ἐκφεύγα ––– –––: flee out, escape

    πεῖραρ –ατος τό: border, limit

    ὀϊζύς: sorrow, grief, distress, hardship

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

    ἱκάνω ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: to come to, arrive at, reach

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

    ἅδην: (adv.) to the full290

    δέω δήσω ἔδησα δέδηκα ––– –––: to tie, fasten

    κακότης –ητος ἡ: badness

    συνάγω συνάξω συνήγαγον συνῆχα συνῆγμαι συνήχθην: to bring together, gather together, collect, convene

    νεφέλη –ης ἡ: cloud

    ταράσσω ταράξω ἐτάραξα τετάραχα τετάραγμαι ἐταράχθην: to stir, stir up, trouble

    πόντος –ου ὁ: sea, open sea

    τρίαινα –ας ἡ: a trident

    ὀροθύνω ὀροθυνῶ ὠρόθυνα: to stir up, rouse, urge on, excite

    ἄελλα –ης ἡ: a stormy wind, whirlwind, eddy

    παντοῖος –α –ον: of all sorts

    ἄνεμος –ου ὁ: wind

    νέφος –ους τό: a cloud

    καλύπτω καλύψω ἐκάλυψα κεκάλυμμαι ἐκαλύφθην: to cover, enclose

    γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district

    ὁμοῦ: together, at the same place or time

    πόντος –ου ὁ: sea, open sea

    ὄρνυμι ὄρσω ὦρσα ὄρωρα ὀρώρεμαι –––: to stir up, move; (mid.) to rise, get up

    οὐρανόθεν: from heaven, down from heaven

    Εὖρος –ου ὁ: the East wind295

    Νότος –ου ὁ: the South Wind

    Ζέφυρος –ου ὁ: Zephyrus, the west wind

    δυσαής –ές: ill-blowing, stormy

    Βορέης Βορέαο ὁ: Boreas, North Wind

    αἰθρηγενής –ές : born in ether, sprung from ether

    κῦμα –ατος τό: wave

    κυλίνδω ἐκύλισα κεκύλισμαι ἐκυλίσθην: to roll, roll along; to wallow

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

    γόνυ γόνατος (or γουνός) τό: knee

    ἦτορ τό: the heart

    ὀχθέω ὀχθήσω ὤχθησα: to be sorely angered, to be vexed in spirit

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

    ἑός ἑή ἑόν: his, her, own

    μεγαλήτωρ –ορος: great - hearted, proud

    δειλός –ή –όν: wretched, unfortunate, miserable; base, cowardly, vile

    μήκιστος –η –ον: tallest, greatest, largest

    δείδω δείσομαι ἔδεισα δέδοικα (or δίδια) ––– –––: to fear300

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    νημερτής –ές: unerring, infallible

    πόντος –ου ὁ: sea, open sea

    γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district

    ἱκνέομαι ἵξομαι ἱκόμην ––– ἷγμαι –––: to come, reach

    ἄλγος –ους τό: pain

    ἀναπίμπλημι ἀναπλήσω ἀνέπλησα ἀναπέπληκα ἀναπέπλησμαι ἀνεπλήσθην: to fill up; to fulfill one's destiny; to have one's fill of (+acc)

    τελέω τελῶ or τελέσω ἐτέλεσα τετέλεκα τετέλεσμαι ἐτελέσθην: to finish, complete, carry out

    οἷος –α –ον : (such a kind) as; for οἷός τε see οἷος III.2

    νέφος –ους τό: a cloud

    περιστέφω περιστέψω περιέστεψα – περιέστεμμαι περιεστέφθην: to enwreathe, surround

    εὐρύς –εῖα –ύ: broad

    Ζεύς Διός ὁ: Zeus

    ταράσσω ταράξω ἐτάραξα τετάραχα τετάραγμαι ἐταράχθην: to stir, stir up, trouble

    πόντος –ου ὁ: sea, open sea

    ἐπισπέρχω ἐπισπέρξω ἐπέσπερξα – – ἐσπέρχθην: to urge on

    ἄελλα –ης ἡ: a stormy wind, whirlwind, eddy

    παντοῖος –α –ον: of all sorts305

    ἄνεμος –ου ὁ: wind

    σῶς ὁ or ἡ σῶν τό: safe; inevitable

    αἰπύς –εῖα –ύ: steep, high; total

    ὄλεθρος –ου ὁ: ruin, destruction, death

    τρίς: thrice

    μάκαρ μάκαρος: blessed, happy; blessed ones, gods

    Δαναοί –ῶν οἱ: the Danaans

    τετράκις: four times

    ὄλλυμι ὀλῶ ὤλεσα (or ὠλόμην) ὀλώλεκα (or ὄλωλα) ––– –––: to demolish, kill; to lose, suffer the loss of (+ acc.); (mid.) to die, perish, be killed

    Τροία –ας ἡ: Troy310

    εὐρύς –εῖα –ύ: broad

    Ἀτρείδης –ου ὁ: son of Atreus

    ὀφείλω ὀφειλήσω ὤφελον ὠφείληκα ––– ὠφειλήθην: to owe, be obliged, ought

    πότμος –ου ὁ: that which befalls one, one's lot, destiny; death

    ἐφέπω ἐφέψω ἔπεσπον ––– ––– –––: to follow, pursue; to frequent, go often to, range over

    ἦμαρ –ατος τό: day

    χαλκήρης –ες: of bronze, tipped with bronze

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

    Τρώς Τρωός ὁ: Trojan

    ἐπιρρίπτω ἐπιρρίψω ἐπέρριψα ἐπέρριφα: to cast at

    Πηλεΐων –ωνος ὁ: son of Peleus (i.e. Achilles)

    τῷ: then, in that case; for this reason, thus

    λαγχάνω λήξομαι ἔλαχον εἴληχα ––– –––: to obtain by lot, have as portion; to fall by lot to

    κτέρεα –ων τά: funeral gifts

    κλέος –ους τό: glory

    Ἀχαιός –ά –όν: Achaean, Greek

    λευγαλέος –α –ον: wretched, miserable

    μείρομαι μορήσω ἔμμορον μεμόρηκα: to receive as one's portion

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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-262-312