ὣς ὁ μὲν ἔνθα καθεῦδε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς

ὕπνῳ καὶ καμάτῳ ἀρημένος· αὐτὰρ Ἀθήνη

βῆ ῥ᾽ ἐς Φαιήκων ἀνδρῶν δῆμόν τε πόλιν τε,

οἳ πρὶν μέν ποτ᾽ ἔναιον ἐν εὐρυχόρῳ Ὑπερείῃ,

ἀγχοῦ Κυκλώπων ἀνδρῶν ὑπερηνορεόντων,5

οἵ σφεας σινέσκοντο, βίηφι δὲ φέρτεροι ἦσαν.

ἔνθεν ἀναστήσας ἄγε Ναυσίθοος θεοειδής,

εἷσεν δὲ Σχερίῃ, ἑκὰς ἀνδρῶν ἀλφηστάων,

ἀμφὶ δὲ τεῖχος ἔλασσε πόλει, καὶ ἐδείματο οἴκους,

καὶ νηοὺς ποίησε θεῶν, καὶ ἐδάσσατ᾽ ἀρούρας.10

ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν ἤδη κηρὶ δαμεὶς Ἄϊδόσδε βεβήκει,

Ἀλκίνοος δὲ τότ᾽ ἦρχε, θεῶν ἄπο μήδεα εἰδώς.

τοῦ μὲν ἔβη πρὸς δῶμα θεά, γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη,

νόστον Ὀδυσσῆι μεγαλήτορι μητιόωσα.

βῆ δ᾽ ἴμεν ἐς θάλαμον πολυδαίδαλον, ᾧ ἔνι κούρη15

κοιμᾶτ᾽ ἀθανάτῃσι φυὴν καὶ εἶδος ὁμοίη,

Ναυσικάα, θυγάτηρ μεγαλήτορος Ἀλκινόοιο,

πὰρ δὲ δύ᾽ ἀμφίπολοι, Χαρίτων ἄπο κάλλος ἔχουσαι,

σταθμοῖιν ἑκάτερθε· θύραι δ᾽ ἐπέκειντο φαειναί.

ἡ δ᾽ ἀνέμου ὡς πνοιὴ ἐπέσσυτο δέμνια κούρης,20

στῆ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς, καί μιν πρὸς μῦθον ἔειπεν,

εἰδομένη κούρῃ ναυσικλειτοῖο Δύμαντος,

ἥ οἱ ὁμηλικίη μὲν ἔην, κεχάριστο δὲ θυμῷ.

τῇ μιν ἐεισαμένη προσέφη γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·

"Ναυσικάα, τί νύ σ᾽ ὧδε μεθήμονα γείνατο μήτηρ;25

εἵματα μέν τοι κεῖται ἀκηδέα σιγαλόεντα,

σοὶ δὲ γάμος σχεδόν ἐστιν, ἵνα χρὴ καλὰ μὲν αὐτὴν

ἕννυσθαι, τὰ δὲ τοῖσι παρασχεῖν, οἵ κέ σ᾽ ἄγωνται.

ἐκ γάρ τοι τούτων φάτις ἀνθρώπους ἀναβαίνει

ἐσθλή, χαίρουσιν δὲ πατὴρ καὶ πότνια μήτηρ.30

ἀλλ᾽ ἴομεν πλυνέουσαι ἅμ᾽ ἠοῖ φαινομένηφι:

καί τοι ἐγὼ συνέριθος ἅμ᾽ ἕψομαι, ὄφρα τάχιστα

ἐντύνεαι, ἐπεὶ οὔ τοι ἔτι δὴν παρθένος ἔσσεαι·

ἤδη γάρ σε μνῶνται ἀριστῆες κατὰ δῆμον

πάντων Φαιήκων, ὅθι τοι γένος ἐστὶ καὶ αὐτῇ.35

ἀλλ᾽ ἄγ᾽ ἐπότρυνον πατέρα κλυτὸν ἠῶθι πρὸ

ἡμιόνους καὶ ἄμαξαν ἐφοπλίσαι, ἥ κεν ἄγῃσι

ζῶστρά τε καὶ πέπλους καὶ ῥήγεα σιγαλόεντα.

καὶ δὲ σοὶ ὧδ᾽ αὐτῇ πολὺ κάλλιον ἠὲ πόδεσσιν

ἔρχεσθαι· πολλὸν γὰρ ἀπὸ πλυνοί εἰσι πόληος."40

ἡ μὲν ἄρ᾽ ὣς εἰποῦσ᾽ ἀπέβη γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη

Οὔλυμπόνδ᾽, ὅθι φασὶ θεῶν ἕδος ἀσφαλὲς αἰεὶ

ἔμμεναι. οὔτ᾽ ἀνέμοισι τινάσσεται οὔτε ποτ᾽ ὄμβρῳ

δεύεται οὔτε χιὼν ἐπιπίλναται, ἀλλὰ μάλ᾽ αἴθρη

πέπταται ἀνέφελος, λευκὴ δ᾽ ἐπιδέδρομεν αἴγλη·45

τῷ ἔνι τέρπονται μάκαρες θεοὶ ἤματα πάντα.

ἔνθ᾽ ἀπέβη γλαυκῶπις, ἐπεὶ διεπέφραδε κούρῃ.

    Athena, in disguise, comes to Nausicaa in a dream and tells her it's time to do the laundry.

    Odysseus has escaped from the powerful pull of Calypso, but his struggle with the forces of femininity is far from over. His next encounter will be with a charming young woman, fully human unlike the nymph he has left behind, but carrying much of the same potential to stall the hero’s return home.

    read full essay

    The Phaeacians represent a different form of living from either what we have seen in Ithaka at the beginning of the poem or more recently on Calypso’s exotic island. Like the nymph, they live far away from others and seem to represent a liminal position on the divine/human continuum, but their benign existence moves Odysseus and us closer to a fully human community, another existential waystation on the journey to Ithaka. After his motionless sojourn with Calypso, Odysseus now goes into action, sizing up his new surroundings and plotting his return to heroic status. Although it’s the shortest book in the poem, Odyssey 6 is also among the richest in thematic material, introducing motifs that will recur and build in significance, laying the foundation for Odysseus’s triumphant return to power in Ithaka.

    Having tucked Odysseus in under the twin olive bushes on the shore of Scheria, Athena now turns to the next part of her mission, to arrange a meeting with the Phaeacian princess, Nausicaa. But first, a short primer on the history and culture of the Phaeacians. They are, it seems, refugees of a sort, having escaped from the bullying of the “overbearing Cyclopes” (5). Their former home was Ὑπερείη “faraway place,” (4) and their flight from the Cyclopes did not take them any closer to other humans. Nausithoos, “Swift Boat,” brought them to Scheria and established a walled town with temples to the gods and divided up the land, a settled kingdom that Alkinoos now rules. Scheria thus joins Pylos, Sparta, and Ogygia as a foil for the troubled society in Ithaka we have glimpsed in the poem’s opening scenes.

    As Odysseus makes his way home, he encounters many different modes of living, each with its own particular customs, ranging along a continuum from the atomistic enclaves of the Cyclopes to the sophisticated royal culture of the Spartans; from the divine solitudes of Circe and Calypso, enlivened only by the other forms of life these powerful beings control, to the incestuous realm of Aeolus with its high walls and mated siblings; from the xenophobic Laestrygonians to the alluring Sirens. And, of course, from the world of the living to the world of the dead. The poet of the Odyssey seems to have an almost anthropological interest in the varieties of human and non-human organization. This focus, articulated through the poet’s analogical use of repeated forms, ensures that by the time we return with the hero to Ithaka, the society there appears against a rich backdrop of possibilities. But more than that, since the places Odysseus visits often reflect the character of their inhabitants—lush Sparta as the home of the somewhat jaded king and queen, the rigidly controlled environs of Aeolus’s kingdom mirroring the king’s function as keeper of the winds, the magical landscape of Calypso reflecting her uncanny powers—the array of different cultures also supplies a context for Odysseus’s complex and sometimes contradictory character.

    Athena’s encounter with Nausicaa is brimming with powerful symbols. The young princess has only a cameo role in the drama on Scheria, but who she is and what she says and does are crucial for our understanding not only of her but also, as we will see, of Penelope. Our first glimpse of her, snugly tucked away in her bedroom, speaks volumes if we know the poet’s traditional style. Her boudoir is richly ornamented, closed off by “shining doors.” She is herself “like the gods” in her beauty and stature. Outside the doorway are two handmaidens, their own beauty a gift from the Graces (15-19). The phrase θύραι … φαειναί (19) is associated in Homer and elsewhere in early Greek hexameter poetry with female sexuality (cf. Il. 14.169; Od. 10.230, 256, 312; Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 60, 236). When Circe opens the θύρας … φαεινὰς of her house to Odysseus’s hapless crewmen, it is a sexual invitation; when Eos closes the θύρας…φαεινὰς to her boudoir with Tithonus inside, that signals the end of their sex life. (See also Od. 5.192-227 essay.)

    The hint of sexuality we might get from Nausicaa’s doorway is quickly dispelled by the presence of the two maidens flanking it. In Homeric epic, a series of recurring motifs is centered around the theme of “accompaniment.” For a Homeric male, to be flanked by retainers is a sign of his being in his proper status with the right authority. In Book 24 of the Iliad, when Achilles leaps to his feet to attend to Hector’s corpse at the behest of Priam, he is accompanied by two θεράποντες (Il. 24.572), one sign that he is taking up again the leadership role that he relinquished when he stormed out of the Greek camp after quarreling with Agamemnon (Il. 1.245–303). Homeric women, when they go out in public, must be accompanied by maidservants, a sign of their modesty and, for virgins, their chastity. When Penelope descends to talk to the suitors in Book 18, she has her two ἀμφίπολοι right beside her (18.307). We will see this motif at work later when Nausicaa first meets Odysseus on the beach. For now, the presence of the two ἀμφίπολοι (18) guarding her “shining doors” suggests that any latent sexuality is firmly under control.

    A locked door is no challenge for Athena, who wafts into Nausicaa’s bedroom like a puff of wind. The psychic visitation that follows is a familiar event in Homeric poetry. The goddess assumes a nonthreatening disguise and nudges the sleeping princess toward acting on impulses that are usually understood in the world of the Homeric poems to be already present, however submerged, in Nausicaa’s mind. The scene type is flexible enough to cover various situations, with the divine visitor appearing as an eidolon, a kind of ghost (Il. 23.65–106), as an evil dream (Il. 2.5–34), as an anonymous woman in an easily penetrable disguise (Od. 20.30–53) or, as here, a trusted friend (Od. 4.796–807). The most important parallel, as we will see, is Athena’s elaborate visitation in Book 18 (158–205) where the goddess impels Penelope toward a fateful meeting with the suitors.

    Interventions like Athena’s here are consistent with the Homeric practice of having the gods initiate significant human action. The meeting that the goddess is arranging will propel Odysseus toward the royal palace and eventually Ithaka. Nausicaa’s character and situation will resonate in various ways throughout the rest of the poem, forming a paradigm for the second courtship of Odysseus and Penelope, which must happen before the hero can finally retake possession of his kingdom. (See Introduction: Odysseus as Trickster and The Trickster Vanishes.) Finally, Nausicaa’s awakening sexuality is the foundation, as we will see, for the more complex reemergence of Penelope from her quiescent seclusion, unleashing the emotional energy that drives her decisions about the mysterious beggar. Tracing the afterlife of Nausicaa in the poem is a good way to observe Homer employing the full potential in his traditional style, seeding the ground with thematic material that will sprout and grow throughout the story.

    Athena’s message is the same one that all such visitations are meant to deliver in one form or another: “Still sleeping? You have work to do!” In this case, the work will be in the service of Nausicaa’s coming of age as a young woman. Her marriage is not far off! She must look her best and cultivate a good reputation. The imperatives that her “friend” invokes here are social, attached to the proper role for a young woman in Greek society, sanctioned, as Athena assures her, by her mother (25). The other kinds of feelings that might be bubbling up in a young princess are left unsaid here, though they are clear enough to us: she is beginning to be curious about her emerging sexuality. Both the goddess and later Odysseus play on these latter impulses for their own purposes, as we will see. In the next scene, between Nausicaa and the brine-encrusted stranger, the poet will offer a brilliantly subtle portrait of a girl on the cusp of sexual awareness.

    Her message delivered, the goddess wafts away:

    ἡ μὲν ἄρ᾽ ὣς εἰποῦσ᾽ ἀπέβη γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη
    Οὔλυμπόνδ᾽, ὅθι φασὶ θεῶν ἕδος ἀσφαλὲς αἰεὶ
    ἔμμεναι. οὔτ᾽ ἀνέμοισι τινάσσεται οὔτε ποτ᾽ ὄμβρῳ
    δεύεται οὔτε χιὼν ἐπιπίλναται, ἀλλὰ μάλ᾽ αἴθρη
    πέπταται ἀνέφελος, λευκὴ δ᾽ ἐπιδέδρομεν αἴγλη·
    τῷ ἔνι τέρπονται μάκαρες θεοὶ ἤματα πάντα.

    Speaking thus, gray-eyed Athena went away
    to Olympus, where the gods’ home stands unchanging,
    forever. It is neither shaken by winds nor dampened
    by rain, nor does snow ever pile up, but the bright air
    spreads cloudless away, and the white light runs over it.
    There the blessed gods take their pleasure every day.

    Odyssey 6.41–46

    Some Classical scholars have been suspicious of this passage, citing its scale and unusual vocabulary for describing the gods’ home. But this modulation of our perspective is normal for Homer, who likes to pull in close and then zoom away, speed up and slow down, to mark a shift between two modes of existence. When Zeus sends Hermes to liberate Odysseus from Calypso, the shift from the timeless world of Olympus to the nymph’s remote island is marked by the messenger god’s laborious donning of his sandals and long journey across the pathless deep. Here, the poet pulls our attention abruptly from the busy life of the young princess, pressed by the urgencies of time and circumstance, toward the magical static beauty of Olympus where the gods live at their unending ease. The sudden shift leaves us suspended in time and space, suddenly looking down at the polite rituals of Phaeacian society as if from a long distance, both physically and existentially. What conclusions we are to draw about the differences between these two venues is not obvious, only that each offers the chance to think about the other with some detachment.

     

    Further Reading

    Heubeck, A. Hainsworth, J. and S. West (ed.) 1989. A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey, vol. I, Books I-VIII, 289–292. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Nagler. M. 1974. Spontaneity and Tradition: The Oral Art of Homer, 64–76.Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Segal, C. 1962. “The Phaeacians and the Symbolism of Odysseus’ Return.” Arion 1: 17–64.

    Tracy, S. 1990. The Story of the Odyssey, 38–39. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Van Nortwick, T. 1979. “Penelope and Nausicaa.” Transactions of the American Philological Association 109: 269–276.

     

    σινέσκοντο: “used to plunder,” unaugmented iterative impf. > σίνομαι.

    ἔνθεν ἀναστήσας: “forcing them (the Phaeacians) to migrate from there” (LSJ ἀνίστημι Α.ΙΙΙ.2).

    ἄγε: 3rd sing. impf. act. indic.

    εἷσεν: “settled (them),” 3rd sing. aor. act. indic. > ἴζω.

    ἀμφὶ: with πόλει.

    ἔλασσε: “laid out,” unaugmented 3rd sing. aor. act. indic. > ἐλαύνω (LSJ ἐλαύνω III.2 and Autenrieth).

    12  θεῶν ἄπο: anastrophe.

    12  εἰδώς: nom. masc. sing. pres. act. ptc. > οἶδα. οἶδα, usually as a participle with a neuter plural substantive, can be used to describe a person’s character or disposition, a use specific to Homer (Autenrieth εἴδω).

    13  τοῦ: “his,” with δῶμα.

    14  μητιόωσα: nom. fem. sing. pres. act. ptc. > μητιάω, agreeing with Ἀθήνη.

    15  βῆ δ᾽ ἴμεν: “she set out to go.” ἴμεν: infin. > εἶμι. This formulation (ingressive aor. > βαίνω + infinitive of purpose > εἶμι) appears 50 times in Homer.

    15  ᾧ ἔνι: “in which,” anastrophe.

    16  κοιμᾶτ(ο): unaugmented 3rd sing. impf. mid. indic. > κοιμάω.

    16  φυὴν καὶ εἶδος: accusatives of respect.

    18  πὰρ: “beside her (were).”

    18  Χαρίτων ἄπο: anastrophe.

    19  σταθμοῖιν ἑκάτερθε: “on either side of the doorposts.” σταθμοῖιν is dual.

    19  ἐπέκειντο: 3rd pl. impf. mid./pass. indic. > ἐπίκειμαι (LSJ ἐπίκειμαι I).

    20  : i.e., Athena.

    20  ἀνέμου ὡς πνοιὴ: a tiny simile.

    20  ἐπέσσυτο: “hurried to,” unaugmented 3rd sing. impf. mid. indic. > ἐπισεύω.

    20  δέμνια: accusative of goal of motion, or “terminal accusative” (Smyth 1588).

    22  εἰδομένη κούρῃ: “likening herself to the daughter …,” “taking the form of the daughter …”

    23  οἱ: i.e., to Nausicaa.

    23  ἔην: = ἤν.

    23  κεχάριστο: “was pleasing,” 3rd sing. plupf. mid./pass. indic. > χαρίζομαι.

    24  τῇ … ἐεισαμένη: echoing εἰδομένη κούρῃ in line 22.

    25  μεθήμονα: predicate, agreeing with σ(ε).

    26  κεῖται: singular verb with neuter plural subject (εἵματα).

    28  τὰ: “some (fine clothing),” understand the pronoun as referring to εἵματα καλὰ, inferred from lines 26-27.

    28  οἵ κέ σ᾽ ἄγωνται: “those who will accompany you.” Future more vivid conditional relative clause. This refers to the retinue that accompanies the bride and bridegroom back to their home.

    29  τούτων: “these things,” “things like these."

    29  ἀνθρώπους ἀναβαίνει: “goes abroad among men” (Autenrieth ἀναβαίνω).

    31  ἴομεν: short-vowel hortatory subj. (Smyth 1797) > εἶμι.

    31  πλυνέουσαι: fem. nom. pl. fut. act. ptc., expressing purpose (Smyth 2065).

    32  ὄφρα: introducing a purpose clause.

    33  ἐντύνεαι: “prepare yourself,” 2nd sing. pres. mid. short-vowel subj. > ἐντύνω, in a purpose clause.

    33  ἔτι δὴν: “for much longer.”

    33  ἔσσεαι: 2nd sing. fut. mid. indic. > εἰμί.

    34  μνῶνται: “woo,” 3rd pl. pres. mid./pass. indic. > μνἀομαι (LSJ μνάομαι II).

    35  τοι … αὐτῇ: dative of possession.

    36  ἄγ᾽ ἐπότρυνον: “come, urge …,” ἄγε regularly proceeds an imperative, as here.

    36  ἠῶθι πρὸ: “before dawn.”

    37  ἥ κεν ἄγῃσι …: “to carry …,” relative clause of purpose, or final relative clause (Smyth 2554).

    39  σοὶ … κάλλιον … / ἔρχεσθαι: “it is better for you to go …,” understand the verb ἐστί.

    39  ὧδ(ε): “in this way,” i.e., riding in the cart.

    39  πόδεσσιν: “on foot,” dative of means.

    40  πολλὸν … ἀπὸ … πόληος: “far from the city.” πόληος = πόλιος.

    42  φασὶ: introducing indirect discourse with accusative and infinitive. The subject of the verb is a general “they.”

    44  δεύεται: “is drenched” > δεύω (LSJ δεύω A)

    45  ἐπιδέδρομεν: “is spread over (everything),” 3rd sing. pf. act. indic. > ἐπιτρέχω (LSJ ἐπιτρέχω II.2).

    46  τῷ ἔνι: “in it,” anastrophe.

    46  ἤματα πάντα: accusative of extent of time.

    47  διεπέφραδε: “told everything to,” 3rd sing. aor. act. indic. > διαφράζω.

    καθεύδω (imperf. ἐκάθευδον or καθηῦδον) καθευδήσω — — — —: to lie down to sleep, sleep

    πολύτλας –αντος: having borne much, much-enduring

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

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

    ὕπνος –ου ὁ: sleep; sleepiness

    κάματος –ου ὁ: fatigue, exhaustion; effort

    ἀρημένος -η -ον: worn out, beaten, prostrate

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet, consequently

    Ἀθήνη –ης ἡ: Athena

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

    Φαίαξ –ακος ὁ: a Phaeacian

    μέν: on the one hand, on the other hand

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

    εὐρύχορος –ον: broad, spacious

    Ὑπέρεια –ας ἡ: High-land, the abode of the Phaeacians before they migrated to Scheria

    ἀγχοῦ: near, nigh

    Κύκλωψ –πος ὁ: Cyclops

    ὑπερηνορέων –οντος: arrogant, overbearing, violent 5

    σφεῖς: they

    σίνομαι σινήσομαι ἐσινάμην σέσιμμαι: to plunder, waste, pillage

    βίη –ης dat. βίηφι ἡ: violence, force

    φέρτερος –η –ον: (comp. > ἀγαθός) better, braver, more valiant

    ἔνθεν: from here, from there

    ἀνίστημι ἀνστήσω ἀνέστησα (or ἀνέστην) ἀνέστηκα ἀνέσταμαι ἀνεστάθην: make stand, set up; stand up

    Ναυσίθοος –ου ὁ: Nausithous, a son of Poseidon, the father of Alcinous, colonizes the Phaeacians in Scheria

    θεοειδής –ές: god-like

    ἵζω εἵσομαι εἷσα/ἵζησα ἵζηκα: to take a seat, sit down; cause to take a seat

    Σχερία –ας ἡ: Scheria, the country of the Phaeacians

    ἑκάς: far, afar, far off

    ἀλφηστής –οῦ ὁ: working for one's daily bread, laborious, enterprising

    δέμω ἔδειμα δέδμημαι: to build

    δατέομαι δάσομαι ἐδασάμην δέδασμαι: to divide among themselves 10

    ἄρουρα –ας ἡ: plowed or arable land; πατρίς ἄρουρα fatherland, homeland

    κήρ κηρός ἡ: doom, death, fate

    δαμάζω δαμάσω ἐδάμασα δεδάμακα δεδάμασμαι/δέδμημα ἐδαμάσθην/ἐδμήθην: to overpower, tame, conquer, subdue

    ᾍδης –ου ὁ: Hades

    Ἀλκίνοος –ου ὁ: Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians in Scheria, a grandson of Poseidon

    μῆδος –ους τό: counsels, plans, arts, schemes; (pl.) genitalia

    δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)

    γλαυκῶπις –ιδος: gleaming - eyed

    Ἀθήνη –ης ἡ: Athena

    νόστος –ου ὁ: return (home)

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

    μεγαλήτωρ –ορος: great - hearted, proud

    μητιάω μητιήσω ἐμητίησα: to meditate, deliberate, debate

    θάλαμος or θάλᾶμος –ου ὁ: chamber, inner part of the house (usually reserved for women); bedchamber (of the mistress of the house); nuptial chamber 15

    πολυδαίδαλος –ον: elaborately worked, skillfully worked, very decorated

    κόρη (or κούρη) –ης ἡ: girl, maiden; daughter

    κοιμάω κοιμήσω ἐκοίμησα κεκοίμηκα κεκοίμημαι ἐκοιμήθην: (act.) to put to bed, lull; (mid. and pass.) to go to bed, lay down

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

    φυή –ῆς ἡ: bodily form, sature, physique (commonly connoting comeliness)

    Ναυσικάα –ας ἡ: Nausicaa, the Phaeacian princess, daughter of Alcinous and Arēte

    μεγαλήτωρ –ορος: great - hearted, proud

    Ἀλκίνοος –ου ὁ: Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians in Scheria, a grandson of Poseidon

    ἀμφίπολος –ου ἡ: female attendant, handmaid

    Χάρις –ιτος ἡ: Charis, Grace

    κάλλος –ους τό: beauty; pl. beautiful things

    σταθμός –οῦ ὁ: stall, pen fold (for animals); door, doorpost

    ἑκάτερθε: on each side, on either hand

    θύρα –ας ἡ: door

    ἐπίκειμαι ἐπικείσομαι: to lie on, to lie nearby (off the coast of)

    φαεινός –ή –όν: bright, brilliant, radiant

    ἄνεμος –ου ὁ: wind 20

    πνο(ι)ή –ῆς ἡ: a blowing, blast, breeze

    ἐπισεύω ἐπισεύσω ἐπέσσυα: to put in motion against, set upon

    δέμνιον –ου τό: bed

    κόρη (or κούρη) –ης ἡ: girl, maiden; daughter

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

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

    μῦθος –ου ὁ: spoken thing, speech, plan, story

    εἴδομαι εἴσομαι εἰσάμην: to be visible, appear; to seem; to become similar to + DAT.

    κόρη (or κούρη) –ης ἡ: girl, maiden; daughter

    ναυσικλειτός –ή –όν: famed for ships

    Δύμας –αντος ἡ: Dymas

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

    ὁμηλικία –ας ἡ: those of the same age, oneʼs friends, comrades

    χαρίζομαι χαρίσομαι ἐχαρισάμην κεχάρισμαι ––– ἐχαρίσθην: to please, gain favor with (+dat.)

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

    εἴδομαι εἴσομαι εἰσάμην: to be visible, appear; to seem; to know, understand

    πρόσφημι πρόσφησω προσέφησα: to speak to, address

    γλαυκῶπις –ιδος: gleaming - eyed

    Ἀθήνη –ης ἡ: Athena

    Ναυσικάα –ας ἡ: Nausicaa, the Phaeacian princess, daughter of Alcinous and Arēte 25

    μεθήμων –ον: remiss, careless

    γείνομαι ––– ἐγεινάμην ––– ––– –––: to be born; to beget, give birth to

    εἷμα –ατος τό: clothing

    ἀκηδής –ές: uncared for, unburied

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

    γάμος –ου ὁ: marriage, wedding

    σχεδόν: near; almost

    ἕννυμι ἕσσω ἕσσα: clothe, put on clothing

    τοι: let me tell you, surely

    φάτις –εως ἡ: voice, rumor, fame, reputation

    ἀναβαίνω ἀναβήσομαι ἀνέβην ἀναβέβηκα ––– –––: to board, go up

    ἐσθλός –ή –όν: good 30

    πότνια –ας ἡ: mistress, queen

    πλύνω πλυνῶ ἔπλυνα πέπλυκα πέπλυμαι ἐπλύθην/ἐπλύνθην: to wash, clean

    ἠώς ἠοῦς ἡ: dawn; Dawn

    συνέριθος –ου ἡ: helper, fellow-laborer

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

    ἐντύνω ἐντυνῶ ἔντυνα – – –: to equip, deck out, get ready

    τοι: let me tell you, surely

    δήν: long, for a long while

    παρθένος –ου ἡ: a maid, maiden, virgin, girl

    μνάομαι (Ion. μνῶμαι) μέμνημαι μεμνήσομαι ἐμνήσθην: to woo

    ἀριστεύς –έως ὁ: the best man; (plur.) leaders

    Φαίαξ –ακος ὁ: a Phaeacian 35

    ὅθι: where

    ἄγε: come! come on! well!

    ἐποτρύνω ἐποτρυνῶ ἐπώτρυνα: to urge on, exhort (mid.) hasten on with 

    κλuτός –ή –όν: illustrious, glorious

    ἠώς ἠοῦς ἡ: dawn; Dawn

    ἠμίονος –ου ὁ: mule

    ἄμαξα –ης ἡ: wagon, cart

    ἐφοπλίζω ἐφοπλιοῦμαι/ἐφοπλίσομαι ἐφώπλισα ἐφώπλικα ἐφώπλισμαι ἐφωπλίσθην: to equip, get ready, prepare

    ζῶστρον –ου τό: a belt, girdle

    πέπλος –ου ὁ: a robe; any wiven cloth

    ῥῆγος –ους τό: a rug, blanket

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

    πλυνός –οῦ ὁ: washing trough, place for doing laundry40

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

    ἀποβαίνω ἀποβήσομαι ἀποέβην ἀποβέβηκα ––– –––: to leave, go away

    γλαυκῶπις –ιδος: gleaming - eyed

    Ἀθήνη –ης ἡ: Athena

    Ὄλυμπόνδε: to Olympus

    ὅθι: where

    ἕδος –ους τό: a sitting-place

    ἀσφαλής –ές: not liable to fall, immoveable, steadfast, firm

    ἄνεμος –ου ὁ: wind

    τινάσσω τινάξω ἐτίναξα ––– τετίναγμαι ἐτινάχθην: to shake

    ὄμβρος –ου ὁ: storm of rain, thunder-storm

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

    χιών –όνος ἡ: snow

    ἐπιπίλναμαι – – – – –: to come near

    αἴθρη –ης ἡ: clear sky, fair weather

    πεταννύω/πετάννυμι πετῶ ἐπέτασα πεπέτακα πέπταμαι ἐπετάσθην: to spread out 45

    ἀνέφελος –ον: unclouded, cloudless

    λευκός –ή –όν: white; light, bright

    ἐπιτρέχω ἐπιδραμοῦμαι/ἐπιθεύσομαι ἐπέδραμον ἐπιδεδράμηκα: to run upon

    αἴγλη –ης ἡ: the light of the sun, radiance

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

    μάκαρ μάκαρος: blessed, happy; blessed ones, gods

    ἦμαρ –ατος τό: day

    ἀποβαίνω ἀποβήσομαι ἀποέβην ἀποβέβηκα ––– –––: to leave, go away

    γλαυκῶπις –ιδος: gleaming - eyed

    διαφράζω διαφράσω διέφρασα διαπέφρακα διαπέφρασμαι διεφράσθη: to explain, tell

    κόρη (or κούρη) –ης ἡ: girl, maiden; daughter

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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/vi-1-47