ὣς ἔφατ᾽, οὐδ᾽ ἀπίθησε διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης.

αὐτίκ᾽ ἔπειθ᾽ ὑπὸ ποσσὶν ἐδήσατο καλὰ πέδιλα,

ἀμβρόσια χρύσεια, τά μιν φέρον ἠμὲν ἐφ᾽ ὑγρὴν45

ἠδ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν ἅμα πνοιῇς ἀνέμοιο.

εἵλετο δὲ ῥάβδον, τῇ τ᾽ ἀνδρῶν ὄμματα θέλγει,

ὧν ἐθέλει, τοὺς δ᾽ αὖτε καὶ ὑπνώοντας ἐγείρει.

τὴν μετὰ χερσὶν ἔχων πέτετο κρατὺς ἀργεϊφόντης.

Πιερίην δ᾽ ἐπιβὰς ἐξ αἰθέρος ἔμπεσε πόντῳ·50

σεύατ᾽ ἔπειτ᾽ ἐπὶ κῦμα λάρῳ ὄρνιθι ἐοικώς,

ὅς τε κατὰ δεινοὺς κόλπους ἁλὸς ἀτρυγέτοιο

ἰχθῦς ἀγρώσσων πυκινὰ πτερὰ δεύεται ἅλμῃ·

τῷ ἴκελος πολέεσσιν ὀχήσατο κύμασιν Ἑρμῆς.

ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ τὴν νῆσον ἀφίκετο τηλόθ᾽ ἐοῦσαν,55

ἔνθ᾽ ἐκ πόντου βὰς ἰοειδέος ἤπειρόνδε

ἤιεν, ὄφρα μέγα σπέος ἵκετο, τῷ ἔνι νύμφη

ναῖεν ἐυπλόκαμος· τὴν δ᾽ ἔνδοθι τέτμεν ἐοῦσαν.

πῦρ μὲν ἐπ᾽ ἐσχαρόφιν μέγα καίετο, τηλόσε δ᾽ ὀδμὴ

κέδρου τ᾽ εὐκεάτοιο θύου τ᾽ ἀνὰ νῆσον ὀδώδει60

δαιομένων· ἡ δ᾽ ἔνδον ἀοιδιάουσ᾽ ὀπὶ καλῇ

ἱστὸν ἐποιχομένη χρυσείῃ κερκίδ᾽ ὕφαινεν.

ὕλη δὲ σπέος ἀμφὶ πεφύκει τηλεθόωσα,

κλήθρη τ᾽ αἴγειρός τε καὶ εὐώδης κυπάρισσος.

ἔνθα δέ τ᾽ ὄρνιθες τανυσίπτεροι εὐνάζοντο,65

σκῶπές τ᾽ ἴρηκές τε τανύγλωσσοί τε κορῶναι

εἰνάλιαι, τῇσίν τε θαλάσσια ἔργα μέμηλεν.

ἡ δ᾽ αὐτοῦ τετάνυστο περὶ σπείους γλαφυροῖο

ἡμερὶς ἡβώωσα, τεθήλει δὲ σταφυλῇσι.

κρῆναι δ᾽ ἑξείης πίσυρες ῥέον ὕδατι λευκῷ,70

πλησίαι ἀλλήλων τετραμμέναι ἄλλυδις ἄλλη.

ἀμφὶ δὲ λειμῶνες μαλακοὶ ἴου ἠδὲ σελίνου

θήλεον. ἔνθα κ᾽ ἔπειτα καὶ ἀθάνατός περ ἐπελθὼν

θηήσαιτο ἰδὼν καὶ τερφθείη φρεσὶν ᾗσιν.

ἔνθα στὰς θηεῖτο διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης.75

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ πάντα ἑῷ θηήσατο θυμῷ,

αὐτίκ᾽ ἄρ᾽ εἰς εὐρὺ σπέος ἤλυθεν. οὐδέ μιν ἄντην

ἠγνοίησεν ἰδοῦσα Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων·

οὐ γάρ τ᾽ ἀγνῶτες θεοὶ ἀλλήλοισι πέλονται

ἀθάνατοι, οὐδ᾽ εἴ τις ἀπόπροθι δώματα ναίει.80

οὐδ᾽ ἄρ᾽ Ὀδυσσῆα μεγαλήτορα ἔνδον ἔτετμεν,

ἀλλ᾽ ὅ γ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀκτῆς κλαῖε καθήμενος, ἔνθα πάρος περ,

δάκρυσι καὶ στοναχῇσι καὶ ἄλγεσι θυμὸν ἐρέχθων.

πόντον ἐπ᾽ ἀτρύγετον δερκέσκετο δάκρυα λείβων.

Ἑρμείαν δ᾽ ἐρέεινε Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων,85

ἐν θρόνῳ ἱδρύσασα φαεινῷ σιγαλόεντι·

"τίπτε μοι, Ἑρμεία χρυσόρραπι, εἰλήλουθας

αἰδοῖός τε φίλος τε; πάρος γε μὲν οὔ τι θαμίζεις.

αὔδα ὅ τι φρονέεις· τελέσαι δέ με θυμὸς ἄνωγεν,

εἰ δύναμαι τελέσαι γε καὶ εἰ τετελεσμένον ἐστίν.90

ἀλλ᾽ ἕπεο προτέρω, ἵνα τοι πὰρ ξείνια θείω."

    A description of Kalypso and her island. Kalypso welcomes Hermes.

    Homer launches Hermes’s journey to Calypso’s island with a characteristically expansive description, taking seven verses to tell us that the god put on his sandals and picked up his wand:

    read full essay

    ὣς ἔφατ᾽, οὐδ᾽ ἀπίθησε διάκτορος ἀργεϊφόντης.
    αὐτίκ᾽ ἔπειθ᾽ ὑπὸ ποσσὶν ἐδήσατο καλὰ πέδιλα,
    ἀμβρόσια χρύσεια, τά μιν φέρον ἠμὲν ἐφ᾽ ὑγρὴν>
    ἠδ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν ἅμα πνοιῇς ἀνέμοιο.
    εἵλετο δὲ ῥάβδον, τῇ τ᾽ ἀνδρῶν ὄμματα θέλγει,
    ὧν ἐθέλει, τοὺς δ᾽ αὖτε καὶ ὑπνώοντας ἐγείρει.
    τὴν μετὰ χερσὶν ἔχων πέτετο κρατὺς ἀργεϊφόντης.

    [Zeus] spoke and the messenger, slayer of Argos, did not disobey.
    Right away he tied under his feet the beautiful sandals,
    ambrosial and golden, that carried him over the water
    and across the boundless earth like a puff of wind.
    He took up the wand, with which he enchants the eyes
    of mortals, whomever he wishes, and then wakes them from sleep.
    Taking this in this hand, the strong slayer of Argos flew off.

    Odyssey 5.43–49

    Ornamental epithets slow the pace of the story, lingering on the gleaming, divine footwear and the magical powers of the wand. Homer uses his leisurely traditional style here to mark an important transition. After the urgent discussion on Olympus, these verses shift our attention to a more timeless world of beautiful objects that symbolize the unchanging power of the gods.

    Virgil, always a brilliant student of Homer, puts these verses to powerful use:

    Dīxerat. Ille patris magnī pārēre parābat
    imperiō; et prīmum pedibus tālāria nectit
    aurea, quae sublīmem ālīs sīve aequora suprā
    seu terram rapidō pariter cum flāmine portant.
    Tum virgam capit: hāc animās ille ēvocat Orcō
    pallentēs, aliās sub Tartara trīstia mittit,
    dat somnōs adimitque, et lūmina morte resignat.

    So he spoke. That god prepared to obey the command
    of his mighty father; first he bound to his feet the golden
    sandals that carry him aloft on their wings, swiftly
    over the sea or the land with the blowing wind.
    Then he took up his wand, by which the god calls back
    pallid souls from the dead and sends others down to misty Tartarus;
    he calls them from sleep and opens their eyes in death.

    Aeneid 4.238–44

    The Odyssey’s poet wants us to pause over his verses, slowing the pace of the plot and preparing us for a different world. Virgil, as he so often does when conjuring Homer’s poems, has a darker vision. Aeneas, recently emerged from a winter spent with Dido, marvels at the buildings surging up in Carthage under the queen’s leadership. Jupiter, meanwhile, goaded by the ranting of Dido’s jilted suitor, senses that Aeneas’s mission to bring the Trojans to Italy may be in jeopardy. He sends Mercury (the Roman Hermes) down to deliver his command: Aeneas must leave at once for Italy. No more dawdling with the queen. The allusions to Homer equate Dido, a selfless leader whom Juno and Venus have manipulated into falling in love with Aeneas, with Calypso, a divine nymph intent on keeping a mortal lover for herself. Dido, arguably the noblest of all the heroes in the Aeneid, is reduced to a pawn in the cruel game the goddesses play with her and Aeneas. She will die soon—committing suicide with Aeneas’s sword—while Calypso lives on after Odysseus leaves, momentarily disappointed but immortal. The dynamic that Virgil’s allusion highlights, between divine immortality and human existence, bounded by time and circumstance, will be at the heart of Odysseus’s encounter with Calypso.

    His equipment secured, Hermes launches from Pieria, a peak near Olympus. As he flies over the sea, the poet compares him to a tern, dipping its wings into the sea, skimming over the water looking for fish. The arresting image of the god floating over the waves, perhaps dragging a sandal through the brine, can obscure the fact that Homeric gods regularly beam themselves in and out of the human world, without suiting up and laboriously making their way (e.g., Od. 1.96–104). That we are invited to contemplate Hermes in flight, with his special gear, suggests that the poet wants to impress upon us how far the god must go to reach Calypso’s island (τηλόθ᾽ ἐοῦσαν, 55). Like many of the places Odysseus passes through on his way home, Ogygia is a wholly mythical island. The important thing we are to keep in mind is not only that the nymph’s home is far away from where other humans live but that even gods must make a long trip to get there.

    Hermes finds Calypso in her cave, singing and spinning wool. Cedar wood burns in the hearth, releasing a sweet fragrance that wafts out over a fecund and exotic landscape, woods teeming with alder, poplar, and fragrant cypress through which birds flit, meadows thick with violets and parsley. At the cave’s mouth are four springs, all in a row, and around the opening grapes vines cluster, heavy with fruit. There is order here, but not human order. The burbling springs and darting birds, the woods and flowers, all seem to respond to the nymph’s magical, beguiling voice. Calypso’s power over nature is expressed through the senses: fragrance, physical beauty, and music. Her music contrasts tellingly with songs of bards like Phemius in Book 1 (325–27), whose subject is usually the famous deeds of men. While their art is always in the service of human memory, preserving the self-asserting, heroic acts that found and secure civilization, the power of Calypso’s singing is aimed at exerting an extra-human control over nature, creating a seductive venue in which men forget their mortality and its imperatives. This is the music of the Sirens, who draw men to their doom with alluring songs. Odysseus, we will later learn, has escaped their power on his way to Ogygia, only to fall under its spell again (12.39–54; 165200; 447–50).

    Everything here signals both beauty and, in the masculine imagination of this poem, seductive danger. Weaving and singing like Calypso’s are both associated with feminine wiles in the Odyssey. As the fragrance of the burning wood wafts around her, the nymph sits on a shining chair and will offer her guest a cup of ambrosia. In early Greek poetry, the combination of fragrance, ambrosia, and shining cloth is always associated with trickery. This is a decidedly feminine milieu, as the Greeks understood gender: an enclosed, womblike cave set in a space articulated by natural growth. The boundaries of nature and culture, a crucial polarity in the Greeks’ characterization of human experience and gender in particular, are blurred here: the springs are “all in a row” (70), but they gush forth amorphous water; the grape vines around the cave’s entrance soften the stone and mask its contours. Human civilization is a masculine project in Greek myth, the product of the imposition, by human intelligence, of limits to channel the power of nature and create meaning. The feminine world that Calypso inhabits threatens the hard edges of those boundaries, obscuring their control and the meaning they generate.

    Having touched down, Hermes marvels at the exotic venue. Such are its wonders that even gods are amazed, the poet tells us. When he enters the cave, Calypso recognizes him immediately, because immortals always know each other, even if they live far apart. Calypso has questions for him, but first she must offer him the appropriate hospitality. All this attention to how gods behave and what they do in each other’s presence invites us to think about the parameters of their existence as opposed to the limits of human life, about how the nymph’s exotic existence fits with that of the Olympian gods and, by implication, with the experience of mortals. By insisting on the remoteness of Calypso’s island from both humans and gods, the poet establishes Ogygia as a way station in more than one way: geographically but also existentially; it is a place where the boundaries of human and divine are blurred, prompting us to focus on the most enduring question raised by all early Greek literature: what does it mean to be human?

     

    Further Reading

    Austin, N. 1975. Archery at the Dark of the Moon, 138–152. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Pantelia, M. 1993. “Spinning and Weaving: Ideas of Domestic Order in Homer.” American Journal of Philology 114: 493–500.

    Van Nortwick, T. 1980. “Apollonos Apate Associative Imagery in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes.” Classical World 74: 1–5.

    ———.1992. Somewhere I Have Never Travelled: The Second Self and the Hero’s Journey in Ancient Epic, 96–107. New York: Oxford University Press.

    ———.2008. The Unknown Odysseus: Alternate Worlds in Homer’s Odyssey, 14–15. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Vernant, J.-P. (1982) 1996. “The Refusal of Odysseus.” In Reading the Odyssey, edited by S. Schein, 185–189.  Reprinted. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

     

    44  ὑπὸ ποσσὶν ἐδήσατο: “fastened under his feet,” “strapped onto his feet.” ὑπὸ … ἐδήσατο could also be tmesis > ὐποδέω, which in the middle is the verb regularly used for putting on shoes.

    45  τά: rel. pron.; the antecedent is πέδιλα.

    45  ὑγρὴν: “the sea,” substantive of the adjective ὑγρός, -ά, -όν.

    46  ἅμα πνοιῇς: “along with the blowings.” πνοιῇς is an alternate form of the dative plural (see paradigm for βουλή). ἅμα, as a preposition, takes the dative.

    48  ὧν ἐθέλει: “whom he wishes (to enchant).” The relative pronoun (ὧν) is attracted to the case of its antecedent (ἀνδρῶν). On attraction, see Smyth 2522.

    48  τοὺς δ᾽ αὖτε: “but others in their turn,” in contrast to the ones he enchants.

    48  καὶ: “even,” or “also.”

    50  πόντῳ: dat.; object of the compound verb ἐμπίπτω.

    51  λάρῳ ὄρνιθι: “a sea bird,” “a gull.” The dative is with ἐοικώς.

    52  ὅς: i.e., the sea bird. Lines 52–53 fill out the simile introduced in line 51.

    53  ἰχθῦς: acc. pl.; object of the participle ἀγρώσσων.

    53  ἅλμῃ: dative of place where.

    54  τῷ ἴκελος: signaling the end of the simile. The antecedent of τῷ is the sea bird.

    54  πολέεσσιν … κύμασιν: “by…,” dat. pl., dative of means; πολέεσσιν > πολύ.

    56  ἰοειδέος: gen.; the adjective, “violet-colored,” is a frequent epithet of the sea.

    57  ἤϊεν: 3rd sing. impf. > εἶμι.

    57  ὄφρα: “until…,” followed by an aorist.

    57  τῷ ἔνι: anastrophe (i.e., the preposition comes after its object).

    59  ἐσχαρόφιν: dat. pl.; translated as a singular (Smyth 1000a).

    60  ὀδώδει: pluperf. > ὄζω, with the force of an imperfect.

    61  δαιομένων: “as they burned,” masc. gen. pl. ptc. mid. > δαίω, circumstantial. The genitive plural encompasses the two genitive singulars in line 60 (κέδρου, θύου).

    61  : i.e., Calypso.

    62  ἱστὸν ἐποιχομένη: “plying the loom,” “working at the loom.” The verb ἐποίχομαι properly refers to the action of walking back and forth in front of the loom to pass the shuttle through the warp.

    62  κερκίδ(ι): fem. dat. sing.

    63  σπέος ἀμφὶ: = ἀμφὶ σπέος. The preposition ἀμφί can follow its object without a change of accent (anastrophe).

    63  τηλεθόωσα: “flourishing,” sing. pres. act. fem. ptc. > τηλεθάνω.

    66  κορῶναι / εἰνάλιαι: “sea crows.”

    67  μέμηλεν: “are a concern,” 3rd sing. pf. act. indic., with present force. The singular verb has a neuter plural subject (θαλάσσια ἔργα).

    68  ἡ δ᾽ αὐτοῦ: “and right there.” ἡ δ᾽ indicates the addition of a new element to the description.

    68  τετάνυστο: 3rd sing. pluperf. act. indic. > τανύω, with imperfect force.

    69  τεθήλει: 3rd sing. pluperf. act. indic. > θάλλω, with imperfect force. The subject is ἡμερίς.

    71  πλησίαι ἀλλήλων: “next to one another.”

    71  τετραμμέναι ἄλλυδις ἄλλη: “turned in all directions.” Presumably this means that the water from the fountains was flowing in all directions.

    71  τετραμμέναι: fem. nom. pl. mid./pass. ptc. > τρέπω. 

    72  ἀμφὶ: “all around.”

    73  κ(ε) … / θηήσαιτο: “would marvel,” potential opt. 

    73  θηήσαιτο: 3rd sing. aor. opt. mid./pass. dep. > θεάομαι.

    73  καὶ ἀθάνατός περ: “even an immortal god.”

    74  τερφθείη: 3rd sing. aor. opt. pass. > τέρπω.

    74  ᾗσιν: “in his…,” possessive adj. fem. dat. pl.

    75  θηεῖτο: 3rd sing. impf. indic. > θεάομαι.

    76  ἑῷ … θυμῷ: dative of place where.

    76  θηήσατο: “marveled at” > θεάομαι.

    77  οὐδέ … / ἠγνοίησεν: “recognized,” “knew well” (lit., “didn’t not recognize”). 

    77  ἠγνοίησεν: 3rd sing. aor. indic. act. > ἀγνοέω.

    77  μιν: the object of both ἠγνοίησεν and ἰδοῦσα.

    80  οὐδ᾽ εἴ: “not even if.”

    82  : “he,” i.e., Odysseus.

    82  κλαῖε: unaugmented 3rd sing. impf. act. indic.

    82  ἔνθα πάρος περ: “just where (he was) before,” i.e., Odysseus is often to be found sitting on the shore.

    84  δερκέσκετο: “he kept on looking,” 3rd sing. impf. indic. mid., iterative.

    86  ἱδρύσασα: the object of this participle is Hermes.

    88  αἰδοῖός τε φίλος τε: “(an) honored and welcome (guest).”

    88  τι: “at all.”

    89  τελέσαι: “το accomplish (it),” understand as the object of this infinitive a pronoun standing in for ὅ τι φρονέεις, “the thing you have in mind.”

    90  τετελεσμένον ἐστίν: “it is practicable” (Autenrieth) or “there is precedent for it” (Stanford). . A periphrastic construction (Smyth 1961).

    90  τετελεσμένον: neut. sing. perf. mid./pass. ptc.

    91  ἕπεο προτέρω: “come in” (lit., “follow further”). 

    91  ἕπεο: 2nd sing. pres. mid./pass. dep. imperat. > ἕπομαι.

    91  ἵνα … πἀρ … θείω: “so that I might offer,” purpose clause. 

    91  πάρ … θείω: = παραθείω, tmesis, 1st sing. aor. act. subj. > παρατίθημι.

    91  τοι: “to you,” > σύ.

    Πιερία –ας ἡ: Pieria, a district in the North of Thessaly50

    ἐπιβαίνω ἐπιβήσομαι ἐπέβην ἐπιβέβηκα ––– –––: to go on, enter, step up, mount, board (a ship) + gen.

    αἰθήρ –έρος ὁ/ἡ: ether, the brighter purer air, the sky

    ἐμπίπτω ἐμπεσοῦμαι ἐμέπεσον ἐμπέπτωκα ––– –––: fall on, attack, light upon

    πόντος –ου ὁ: sea, open sea

    σεύω σεύσω ἔσσευα – ἔσσυμαι ἐσσύθην/ἐσύθην: to shake, push, hurl; to drive back, chase, hunt; (mid. pass.) to hurl oneself, leap, rush, be eager

    κῦμα –ατος τό: wave

    λάρος –ου ὁ: a sea bird (gull? cormorant?)

    ὄρνις ὄρνιθος ὁ/ἡ: bird, omen

    κόλπος –ου ὁ: bosom; gulf

    ἅλς ἁλός ὁ: salt (m.); sea (f.)

    ἀτρύγετος [–η] –ον: yielding no harvest, unfruitful, barren

    ἰχθυς –ύος ὁ/ἡ: fish

    ἀγρώσσω/ἀγρεύω ἀγρεύσω ἤγρευσα – – ἠγρεύθην: to catch

    πυκ(ι)νός –ή –όν: thick, bushy, dense; prudent, wise, smart, shrewd

    πτερόν –οῦ τό: wing

    δεύω δεύσω ἔδευσα ––– δέδευμαι ἐδεύθην: to wet, drench

    ἅλμη –ης ἡ: sea-water, brine

    ἴκελος –η –ον: like, resembling

    ὀχέω ὀχήσω ὤκχησα ὠχήθην: to uphold, sustain, endure

    κῦμα –ατος τό: wave

    Ἑρμῆς (or Ἑρμείας) –οῦ ὁ: Hermes, herm

    τηλόθι: afar, at a distance55

    πόντος –ου ὁ: sea, open sea

    ἰοειδής –ές: violet-colored, purple

    ἤπειρόνδε: to the mainland

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

    σπέος gen. σπείους, dat. σπῆι, pl. dat. σπέσσι and σπήεσσι, τό: a cave, cavern, grotto

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

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

    ναίω – – – – –: dwell, inhabit, be situated

    ἐϋπλόκαμος –ον: fairhaired

    ἔνδοθι: within, at home

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

    ἐσχάρα –ας ἡ: the hearth, fire-place

    καίω καύσω ἔκαυσα –κέκαυκα κέκαυμαι ἐκαύθην: to light, kindle, burn

    τηλόσε: to a distance, far away

    ὀσμή –ῆς ἡ: a smell, scent, odour

    κέδρος –ου ἡ: the cedar-tree60

    εὐκέατος –ον: easy to cleave

    θύον –ου τό: scented wood

    ὄζω ὀζέσω/ὀζήσω ὤζεσα/ὤζησα ὤζηκα/ὄδωδα: to emit an odor (good or bad), be fragrant

    δαίω – – – – –: to set on fire, blaze (of the eyes); to divide; (mid.) to distribute

    ἔνδον: within, inside, at home

    ἀοιδιάω – – – – –: to sing

    ὄψ ὀπός ἡ: a voice

    ἱστός –οῦ ὁ: mast, beam; loom

    ἐποίχομαι ἐποιχήσομαι ἐπῴχημαι: to go towards, approach; to ply (the loom)

    χρύσεος –η –ον: golden, gold-inlaid

    κερκίς –ίδος ἡ: shuttle

    ὑφαίνω ὑφανῶ ὕφανα/ὕφηνα ὕφαγκα ὕφασμαι ὑφάνθην: to weave

    ὕλη –ης ἡ: woods, forest; firewood

    σπέος gen. σπείους, dat. σπῆι, pl. dat. σπέσσι and σπήεσσι, τό: a cave, cavern, grotto

    τηλεθάω – – – – –: (in the pres. partic.) blooming, flourishing

    κλήθρα –ας ἡ: the alder

    αἴγειρος –ου ἡ: black poplar tree

    εὐώδης –ες: sweet-smelling, fragrant

    κυπάρισσος –ου ἡ: a cypress

    ὄρνις ὄρνιθος ὁ/ἡ: bird, omen65

    τανυσίπτερος –ον: with extended wings, long-winged

    εὐνάζω εὐνάσω εὔνασα/ηὔνασα ––– ηὔνασμαι εὐνάσθην: to lay

    σκώψ σκωπός ὁ: owl

    ἱέραξ –ακος ὁ: a hawk, falcon

    τανύγλωσσος –ον: long-tongued, chattering

    κορώνη –ης ἡ: sea-crow; door handle

    ἐνάλιος [–α] –ον: in, on, of the sea

    θαλάσσιος [–α] –ον: of, in, on, from the sea

    μέλω μέλησω ἐμέλησα μεμέληκα ––– –––: be an object of care or interest

    αὐτοῦ: at the very place, here, there

    τανύω τανύσω ἐτάνυσα – τετάνυσμαι ἐτανύσθην: to stretch, extend, lie (in a geographical sense); to set up; to strain

    σπέος gen. σπείους, dat. σπῆι, pl. dat. σπέσσι and σπήεσσι, τό: a cave, cavern, grotto

    γλαφῠρός –ά –όν: hollow, deep

    ἡμερίς –ίδος ἡ: the cultivated vine

    ἡβάω ἡβήσω ἥβησα ἥβηκα: to be young, to be in the prime of youth

    θάλλω θαλλήσω ἔθηλα τέθηλα ––– –––: to bloom, abound, to be luxuriant

    σταφυλή –ῆς ἡ: a bunch of grapes

    κρήνη –ης ἡ: a well, spring, fountain70

    ἑξῆς: one after another, in order, in a row

    πίσυρες: four

    ῥέω ῥυήσομαι ––– ἐρρύηκα ––– ἐρρύην: to flow, run, stream

    λευκός –ή –όν: white; light, bright

    πλησίος –α –ον: near

    ἄλλυδις: elsewhere, here and there, in another direction

    λειμών –ῶνος ὁ: grassland, meadow, field

    μαλακός –ή –όν: soft

    ἴον ἴου τό: the violet

    ἠδέ: and

    σέλινον –ου τό: parsley

    θηλέω θηλήσω ἐθήλησα: to be full of

    ἀθάνατος –ον: immortal, deathless; (plur.) the gods

    ἐπέρχομαι ἔπειμι ἐπῆλθον ἐπελήλυθα ––– –––: to approach, arrive; to encounter, come up against, attack

    θεάομαι θεάσομαι ἐθεσάμην ––– τεθέαμαι ἐθεσαμήθην: to look on, behold, view (with wonder)

    τέρπω τέρψω ἔτερψα ––– ––– ἐτάρφθην/ἐτέρφθην: to delight; (mid./pass.) to have one's full of

    φρήν φρενός ἡ: diaphragm; heart, mind, wits

    θεάομαι θεάσομαι ἐθεσάμην ––– τεθέαμαι ἐθεσαμήθην: to look on, behold, view (with wonder)75

    διάκτορος –ου ὁ: the Messenger

    Ἀργειφόντης –ου ὁ: slayer of Argus, epithet of Hermes

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet, consequently

    ἑός ἑή ἑόν: his, her, own

    θεάομαι θεάσομαι ἐθεσάμην ––– τεθέαμαι ἐθεσαμήθην: to look on, behold, view (with wonder)

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

    εὐρύς –εῖα –ύ: broad

    σπέος gen. σπείους, dat. σπῆι, pl. dat. σπέσσι and σπήεσσι, τό: a cave, cavern, grotto

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

    ἄντην: against, over against, in front of; face to face

    ἀγνοέω ἀγνοήσω ἠγνόησα ἠγνόηκα ἠγνόημαι ἠγνοήθην: not to perceive, be ignorant of

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

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    ἀγνώς –ῶτος: unknown, ignorant

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

    ἀθάνατος –ον: immortal, deathless; (plur.) the gods80

    ἀπόπροθι: far away

    δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)

    ναίω – – – – –: dwell, inhabit, be situated

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

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

    μεγαλήτωρ –ορος: great - hearted, proud

    ἔνδον: within, inside, at home

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

    ἀκτή –ῆς ἡ: headland, foreland, promontory

    κλαίω/κλάω κλαύσομαι/κλαήσω ἔκλαυσα ––– κέκλαυμαι/κέκλαυσμαι ἐκλαύσθην: weep, cry

    κάθημαι καθήσομαι ––– ––– ––– ––– imp ἐκαθήμην: be seated, sit; reside

    πάρος: before, formerly

    δάκρυον –ου τό: a tear

    στοναχή –ῆς ἡ: a groaning, wailing

    ἄλγος –ους τό: pain

    ἐρέχθω – – – – –: to rend, break

    πόντος –ου ὁ: sea, open sea

    ἀτρύγετος [–η] –ον: yielding no harvest, unfruitful, barren

    δέρκομαι δέρξομαι ἐδερξάμην/ἐδρακόμην δέδορκα ––– ἐδέρχθην/ἐδράκην: to watch, observe; to see the light (be alive); to discern, notice, perceive

    δάκρυον –ου τό: a tear

    λείβω ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: to pour, pour forth

    Ἑρμῆς (or Ἑρμείας) –οῦ ὁ: Hermes, herm85

    ἐρεείνω – – – – –: to ask

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

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    θρόνος –ου ὁ: arm-chair

    ἱδρύω ἱδρύσω ἵδυρσα ἵδρυκα ἵδρυμαι ἱδρύθην: to make to sit down, to seat

    φαεινός –ή –όν: bright, brilliant, radiant

    σιγαλόεις –εσσα –εν: glossy, glittering, shining, splendid

    τίπτε: why? (τί ποτε)

    Ἑρμῆς (or Ἑρμείας) –οῦ ὁ: Hermes, herm

    χρυσόρραπις –ιδος: with wand of gold

    αἰδοῖος –α –ον: having a claim to compassion or reverence 

    φίλος –η –ον: friend; loved, beloved, dear

    πάρος: before, formerly

    θαμίζω – – – – –: to come often

    αὐδάω (ηὔδων) αὐδήσω ηὔδησα ηὔδηκα ηὔδημαι ηὔδάθην: speak

    τελέω τελῶ or τελέσω ἐτέλεσα τετέλεκα τετέλεσμαι ἐτελέσθην: to finish, complete, carry out90

    ἀνώγω: to command, order

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

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

    προτέρω: further, forwards

    ξένιος –α –ον: belonging to a friend and guest, hospitable

    article nav
    Previous
    Next

    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-43-91