τὸν δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
"ξεῖν᾽, οὐ καλὸν ἔειπες· ἀτασθάλῳ ἀνδρὶ ἔοικας.
οὕτως οὐ πάντεσσι θεοὶ χαρίεντα διδοῦσιν
ἀνδράσιν, οὔτε φυὴν οὔτ᾽ ἂρ φρένας οὔτ᾽ ἀγορητύν.
ἄλλος μὲν γάρ τ᾽ εἶδος ἀκιδνότερος πέλει ἀνήρ,
ἀλλὰ θεὸς μορφὴν ἔπεσι στέφει, οἱ δέ τ᾽ ἐς αὐτὸν170
τερπόμενοι λεύσσουσιν· ὁ δ᾽ ἀσφαλέως ἀγορεύει
αἰδοῖ μειλιχίῃ, μετὰ δὲ πρέπει ἀγρομένοισιν,
ἐρχόμενον δ᾽ ἀνὰ ἄστυ θεὸν ὣς εἰσορόωσιν.
ἄλλος δ᾽ αὖ εἶδος μὲν ἀλίγκιος ἀθανάτοισιν,
ἀλλ᾽ οὔ οἱ χάρις ἀμφιπεριστέφεται ἐπέεσσιν,175
ὡς καὶ σοὶ εἶδος μὲν ἀριπρεπές, οὐδέ κεν ἄλλως
οὐδὲ θεὸς τεύξειε, νόον δ᾽ ἀποφώλιός ἐσσι.
ὤρινάς μοι θυμὸν ἐνὶ στήθεσσι φίλοισιν
εἰπὼν οὐ κατὰ κόσμον. ἐγὼ δ᾽ οὐ νῆις ἀέθλων,
ὡς σύ γε μυθεῖαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν πρώτοισιν ὀίω180
ἔμμεναι, ὄφρ᾽ ἥβῃ τε πεποίθεα χερσί τ᾽ ἐμῇσι.
νῦν δ᾽ ἔχομαι κακότητι καὶ ἄλγεσι· πολλὰ γὰρ ἔτλην
ἀνδρῶν τε πτολέμους ἀλεγεινά τε κύματα πείρων.
ἀλλὰ καὶ ὥς, κακὰ πολλὰ παθών, πειρήσομ᾽ ἀέθλων·
θυμοδακὴς γὰρ μῦθος, ἐπώτρυνας δέ με εἰπών."185
ἦ ῥα καὶ αὐτῷ φάρει ἀναΐξας λάβε δίσκον
μείζονα καὶ πάχετον, στιβαρώτερον οὐκ ὀλίγον περ
ἢ οἵῳ Φαίηκες ἐδίσκεον ἀλλήλοισι.
τόν ῥα περιστρέψας ἧκε στιβαρῆς ἀπὸ χειρός,
βόμβησεν δὲ λίθος· κατὰ δ᾽ ἔπτηξαν ποτὶ γαίῃ190
Φαίηκες δολιχήρετμοι, ναυσίκλυτοι ἄνδρες,
λᾶος ὑπὸ ῥιπῆς· ὁ δ᾽ ὑπέρπτατο σήματα πάντων
ῥίμφα θέων ἀπὸ χειρός. ἔθηκε δὲ τέρματ᾽ Ἀθήνη
ἀνδρὶ δέμας ἐικυῖα, ἔπος τ᾽ ἔφατ᾽ ἔκ τ᾽ ὀνόμαζεν·
"καί κ᾽ ἀλαός τοι, ξεῖνε, διακρίνειε τὸ σῆμα195
ἀμφαφόων, ἐπεὶ οὔ τι μεμιγμένον ἐστὶν ὁμίλῳ,
ἀλλὰ πολὺ πρῶτον. σὺ δὲ θάρσει τόνδε γ᾽ ἄεθλον·
οὔ τις Φαιήκων τόδε γ᾽ ἵξεται, οὐδ᾽ ὑπερήσει."
notes
Odysseus angrily takes up the challenge to enter a contest, and easily throws the discus farther than any of the other contestants.
Euryalus has poked the bear, and there will be consequences. But first, a homily from the sailor:
read full essay
τὸν δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
"ξεῖν᾽, οὐ καλὸν ἔειπες· ἀτασθάλῳ ἀνδρὶ ἔοικας.
οὕτως οὐ πάντεσσι θεοὶ χαρίεντα διδοῦσιν
ἀνδράσιν, οὔτε φυὴν οὔτ᾽ ἂρ φρένας οὔτ᾽ ἀγορητύν.
ἄλλος μὲν γάρ τ᾽ εἶδος ἀκιδνότερος πέλει ἀνήρ,
ἀλλὰ θεὸς μορφὴν ἔπεσι στέφει, οἱ δέ τ᾽ ἐς αὐτὸν
τερπόμενοι λεύσσουσιν· ὁ δ᾽ ἀσφαλέως ἀγορεύει
αἰδοῖ μειλιχίῃ, μετὰ δὲ πρέπει ἀγρομένοισιν,
ἐρχόμενον δ᾽ ἀνὰ ἄστυ θεὸν ὣς εἰσορόωσιν.
ἄλλος δ᾽ αὖ εἶδος μὲν ἀλίγκιος ἀθανάτοισιν,
ἀλλ᾽ οὔ οἱ χάρις ἀμφιπεριστέφεται ἐπέεσσιν,
ὡς καὶ σοὶ εἶδος μὲν ἀριπρεπές, οὐδέ κεν ἄλλως
οὐδὲ θεὸς τεύξειε, νόον δ᾽ ἀποφώλιός ἐσσι."
Glaring from under his brows, many-minded Odysseus spoke:
“Friend, that was not well said; you seem like a reckless man.
So it is that the gods do not give graces to all
men, neither in stature nor wits nor skill at speaking.
One man may be less handsome to look at,
but the god puts comeliness in his words, and others
look on him with delight; he speaks faultlessly,
with pleasing modesty, and stands out among those gathered,
and they look on him like a god as he goes through the town.
Another is beautiful, godlike to look upon,
But his words are not crowned with grace, as is the case
with you, whose beauty shines forth, and not even
a god would make it otherwise, but your mind is empty.”
Odyssey 8.165–77
A roundabout way to tell the young man he’s a nitwit, we might think. But the speech serves two purposes for the poet. It showcases Odysseus’s own skill as a speaker, but more importantly, it brings up again the theme of appearance and reality, which has surfaced so often before in the poem. The craggy sailor doesn’t look like much to the swaggering young men, but they’re in for a surprise.
Now comes the big moment. Rising up (ἀναΐξας, 186), the weathered stranger grabs an even bigger discus than the one the Phaeacians have been using and lets it fly. The poet has some fun with the next image:
βόμβησεν δὲ λίθος· κατὰ δ᾽ ἔπτηξαν ποτὶ γαίῃ
Φαίηκες δολιχήρετμοι, ναυσίκλυτοι ἄνδρες,
λᾶος ὑπὸ ῥιπῆς·
The stone hummed, and the Phaeacian men, who ply
the long oars, famous sailors, fell to the ground
as the stone flew over their heads.
Odyssey 8.190–92
The nasty hum of the discus while the spectators—including the two princes, one assumes— hit the deck is a delicious touch. But our immediate delight is only the beginning of the complex reaction this moment is meant to evoke. The powerful toss reveals the formidable force of an epic hero, and the function of the sailor’s homily on deceiving appearances becomes clear. Beneath all the grimy wrinkles lurks Odysseus. He is not identified here, because the poet is building slowly toward that big revelation, teasing us by raising expectations that will go unfulfilled a little longer. But the narrative rhythm replicates what we will see later in the evening and several times thereafter, the anonymous hero rising in the esteem of his hosts, gaining leverage until he reemerges as Odysseus. We see here the importance of having the princes speak for the sailor’s competitors. In the aristocratic view of epic heroism, excellence is inherited through blood, and some guy who washes up on shore naked is not expected to emerge victorious over royalty. Note that the first to hail the stranger’s mark is Athena, who always appears in support of the story she has arranged, Odysseus’s successful defeat of the suitors and the reestablishment of right order, with all its aristocratic hierarchies affirmed, in Ithaka.
From a different perspective, the sailor’s winning toss can appear as the triumph of an underdog, upsetting the social hierarchy, represented by the royal princes. This view reflects the world of the anonymous stranger, an outsider who enters the settled precincts of the powerful and injects new energy. Odysseus occupies this persona for most of the poem, infiltrating various societies and effecting changes that are not always welcome to the locals. The wisdom and richness of the Odyssey has everything to do with the poet’s ability to keep both perspectives, and the values they dramatize, alive in the story (see the Introduction).
An analogous situation later in the poem, for which this one is the paradigm, prompts the same kind of dualling perspectives. Iros, a mean-tempered beggar, comes across Odysseus, himself now disguised as a beggar in rags, in the forecourt of the royal palace in Ithaka and orders him to scram. Odysseus tries to defuse the tension at first, offering to share the doorway to the palace. Iros continues to fling insults at the newcomer until Antinous, a leader of the suitors, notices the dispute:
ὦ φίλοι, οὐ μέν πώ τι πάρος τοιοῦτον ἐτύχθη,
οἵην τερπωλὴν θεὸς ἤγαγεν ἐς τόδε δῶμα.
ὁ ξεῖνός τε καὶ Ἶρος ἐρίζετον ἀλλήλοιϊν
χερσὶ μαχέσσασθαι: ἀλλὰ ξυνελάσσομεν ὦκα.
Friends, never has anything happened to match this,
the entertainment a god has brought to this house.
The stranger and Iros are threatening to fight
each other hand-to-hand. Let’s hurry it along.
Odyssey 18.36–39
The dynamic we see on Scheria recurs here, a sympathetic stranger confronted by a younger man, on whose side are local aristocrats spoiling for a fight. If anything, the edginess is more pronounced here, as the visitor is more of an outsider, his opponent is nastier, and the spectators are clearly eager for bloodshed.
After some further discussion of the arrangements for the fight, with Euryalus and Antinous, the two leaders of the arrogant suitors on one side and Telemachus on the other, the stranger steps into the ring:
ὣς ἔφαθ᾽, οἱ δ᾽ ἄρα πάντες ἐπῄνεον: αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς
ζώσατο μὲν ῥάκεσιν περὶ μήδεα, φαῖνε δὲ μηροὺς
καλούς τε μεγάλους τε, φάνεν δέ οἱ εὐρέες ὦμοι
στήθεά τε στιβαροί τε βραχίονες: αὐτὰρ Ἀθήνη
ἄγχι παρισταμένη μέλε᾽ ἤλδανε ποιμένι λαῶν.
μνηστῆρες δ᾽ ἄρα πάντες ὑπερφιάλως ἀγάσαντο:
So [Telemachus] spoke, and they all agreed. But Odysseus
tucked up his rags around his loins, and his thighs appeared,
splendid and huge, and his wide shoulders shown forth
and his chest and brawny arms; but Athena,
standing beside the shepherd of the people made his limbs bigger.
And the suitors in their arrogance all gazed at him, astonished.
Odyssey 18.67–72
Once again, appearances have been deceptive; once again, Athena is on hand to strengthen her favorite’s case; and once again, the underdog wins, flattening the hapless Iros with one punch, much to the delight of the suitors, to whom this is all a game. Verses 68–70 here echo Laodamas’ assessment of the sailor he invites to join the contest in Book 8:
φυήν γε μὲν οὐ κακός ἐστι,
μηρούς τε κνήμας τε καὶ ἄμφω χεῖρας ὕπερθεν
αὐχένα τε στιβαρὸν μέγα τε σθένος·
His build is not bad,
thighs and lower legs and both arms above
and thick neck and strong chest;
Odyssey 8.134–36
The Phaeacian games, like so much of Books 7 and 8, are part of the paradigm Homer is establishing for later events in Ithaka. When tracking this kind of technique in the poem, we need to step back from the particulars of the two venues, Scheria and Ithaka, and listen for the underlying rhythms and structures. The beggar who fascinates Penelope in Ithaka is walking in the footsteps of that sailor who washes up on the Phaeacian beach and wins over both the nubile princess and her mother the queen. Both personae have one foot in the bright heroic world that Athena is intent on reestablishing with Odysseus reinstalled as king, husband, father, and son, and one in the unglamorous but wider world of the outsider, the wanderer, the adventurer, where Odysseus lives for most of the story. Both worlds are alive in the poem simultaneously, available to us as we follow Odysseus home.
Further Reading
Dimock, G. 1989. The Unity of the Odyssey, 96–99. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
Fenik, B. 1974. Studies in the Odyssey, 153–171. Hermes Einzelschriften 30. Wiesbaden: F. Steiner.
165 ὑπόδρα ἰδὼν: "looking grimly" (lit., "from under the brows"). A common formula for an angry look.
167 χαρίεντα: substantive neut. acc. pl. adj.
168 φυὴν … φρένας … ἀγορητύν: in apposition to χαρίεντα, enumerating the potential gifts of the gods.
169 εἶδος: accusative of respect.
170 ἔπεσι: dat. pl. > ἔπος. Depending on the metrical requirements of the line, the dative plural can be ἔπεσι, ἔπεσσι, or ἐπέεσσι (as in line 175).
170 στέφει: “puts (acc.) around (dat.),” here, a way of saying the god makes him a graceful speaker.
170 οἱ: “men,” substantive. The τ(ε) that follows is the untranslatable Homeric τε.
172 μετὰ δὲ πρέπει: "distinguishes himself among," tmesis > μεταπρέπω, with dative.
173 ἐρχόμενον … εἰσορόωσιν: the subject switches back to the οἱ of line 170, and the participle ἐρχόμενον agrees with an unexpressed object μιν, “him” (referring to the ὁ in line 171).
173 θεὸν ὣς: anastrophe.
174 εἶδος: accusative of respect. Understand πέλει (ἐστί) with this line, as in 169.
175 ἐπέεσσιν: dative with the compound verb ἀμφιπεριστέφεται.
176 σοὶ: dative of possession. Understand ἐστί as the verb.
176 οὐδέ κεν ἄλλως / οὐδὲ θεὸς τεύξειε: “the god would not make it otherwise,” i.e., would change nothing about your appearance. Potential optative. For the emphatic repetition of οὐδέ, see note on line 32.
177 νόον: accusative of respect.
178 ὤρινάς: 2nd sing. aor. act. indic. > ὀρίνω.
180 μυθεῖαι: 2nd sing. pres. mid. indic. > μυθέομαι.
180 ὀίω / ἔμμεναι: “I think that I was …,” indirect discourse with accusative and infinitive. The accusative is omitted because it refers to the same person as the subject of the main verb. ἔμμεναι must be translated as a past tense because of the pluperfect πεποίθεα in 181 and the contrasting νῦν δ᾽ in 182.
181 ὄφρ᾽ : “as long as …,” introducing a temporal clause with indicative (Smyth 2395).
181 πεποίθεα: “I had trust in,” 1st sing. plupf. act. indic. > πείθω. For the pluperfect with a dative, see Cunliffe πείθω 5b.
181 ἐμῇσι: “in my …,” possessive adj.
182 ἔχομαι: “I am held,” “I am hindered,” with datives of means.
183 πείρων: “passing through,” with the preceding accusatives as its objects > πείρω.
184 ἀλλὰ καὶ ὥς: “but even so …”
184 παθών: “although I have suffered,” concessive participle (Smyth 2066).
185 θυμοδακὴς γὰρ μῦθος: understand ἦν, “was.”
186 αὐτῷ φάρει: “with his cloak as it was,” “cloak and all,” the “sociative dative” (Monro 144) or “comitative dative” (Smyth 1525), an idiomatic use of the dative with αὐτός.
186 λάβε: unaugmented aor.
187 οὐκ ὀλίγον περ: “not just a little,” ὀλίγον is an adverbial accusative of “measure and degree” (Smyth 1609) modifying the adjective στιβαρώτερον.
188 ἢ οἵῳ: “than (a discus of the sort) with which…,” understand δίσκον, line 186, as the antecedent of οἵῳ.
190 βόμβησεν δὲ λίθος: “the stone went whizzing through the air.” The verb is used elsewhere for the roar of the sea, the rolling of thunder, the buzzing of bees, and the sound of oars crashing through the water.
190 κατὰ … ἔπτηξαν: "cowered in fear," tmesis, 3rd pl. aor. act. indic. > καταπτήσσω.
192 λᾶος: gen. sing. > λᾶας.
192 ὁ: i.e., the stone discus.
192 σήματα: “the marks,” markings on the the ground to indicate where each discus in the competition has landed.
193 θέων: “speeding” (lit., “running”), nom. masc. sing. pres. act. ptc. > θέω.
193 τέρματ᾽: “the marks,” synonymous with σήματα.
194 δέμας: accusative of respect.
194 ἔπος τ᾽ ἔφατ᾽ ἔκ τ᾽ ὀνόμαζεν: “addressed him out loud,” a common line-ending formula in Homer.
195 καί … ἀλας: “even a blind man …”
195 κ᾽ … διακρνειε: “could distinguish,” potential optative.
196 μεμιγμένον ἐστὶν: 3rd sing. pf. pass. indic., periphrastic form > μίγνυμι (for the periphrastic form of the perfect passive, see Smyth 599d-e).
196 ὁμίλῳ: “with the crowd,” implying that the marks where the Phaeaecians’ discuses fell are all crowded together.
197 θάρσει: “have confidence in,” 2nd sing. pres. act. imperat. > θαρσέω, with accusative.
198 τόδε: referring to the σῆμα, the mark of Odysseus’s discus (line 195).
198 ὑπερήσει: 3rd sing. fut. act. indic. > ὑπερίημι.
vocabulary
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus 165
ὑπόδρα: from under
πρόσφημι πρόσφησω προσέφησα: to speak to, address
πολύμητις –ιος: of many counsels
Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey
ἀτάσθαλος –ον: presumptuous, reckless, arrogant
χαρίεις –ίεσσα –ίεν: graceful, charming, beautiful
φυή –ῆς ἡ: growth, stature
οὔτι: in no wise
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
φρήν φρενός ἡ: diaphragm; heart, mind, wits
οὔτι: in no wise
ἀγορητύς –ύος ἡ: the gift of speaking, eloquence
ἀκιδνός –ή –όν: weak, feeble, faint, less highly regarded
πέλω ––– ἔπλον ––– ––– –––: to be (the aor. has pres. signif.)
μορφή –ῆς ἡ: form, shape, beauty 170
στέφω στέψω ἔστεψα ––– ἔστεμμαι ἐστέφθην: to put round
τέρπω τέρψω ἔτερψα ––– ––– ἐτάρφθην/ἐτέρφθην: to delight; (mid./pass.) to have one's full of
λεύσσω ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: to look
ἀσφαλής –ές: not liable to fall, immoveable, steadfast, firm
ἀγορεύω ἀγορεύσω ἠγόρευσα ἠγόρευκα ἠγόρευμαι ἠγορεύθην: to speak, say
αἰδώς αἰδοῦς ἡ: a sense of shame, shame, modesty, self-respect
μειλίχιος [–α] –ον: gentle, mild, soothing
πρέπω πρἐψω ἐπρέψα: to be clearly seen, to resemble, to seem (πρέπει it is fitting)
ἀγείρω ἀγερῶ ἤγειρα ἀγήγερμαι ἠγέρθην: gather, collect
ἄστυ ἄστεως τό: town
εἰσοράω εἰσόψομαι εἰσεῖδον εἰσεόρακα/εἰσεώρακα/εἰσόπωπα εἰσεόραμαι/εἰσεώραμαι/εἰσῶμμαι εἰσώφθην: to look into, look upon, view, behold
ἀλίγκιος –ον: resembling, like
ἀθάνατος –ον: immortal, deathless; (plur.) the gods
οὗ, οἷ, ἕ and encl. οὑ, οἱ, ἑ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself 175
ἀμφιπεριστέφομαι ἀμφιπεριστέψομαι ἀμφιπερεστεψάμην: to adorn
ἀριπρεπής –ές: clearly visible, shining; notable
τεύχω τεύξω ἔτευξα τέτευχα τέτυγμαι ἐτύχθην: to make, build, prepare, fasten; to bring about, to be
νόος νόου ὁ: mind, perception
ἀποφώλιος –ον: empty, vain, idle, useless, fruitless
ὀρίνω ὀρινῶ ὤρινα: to stir, raise, agitate
στῆθος –ους τό: breast, chest; (pl.) heart, spirit
νῆϊς –ϊδος: unknowing of, unpractised in
ἆθλος –ου ὁ: contest, test of strength, task
μυθέομαι μυθήσομαι μεμύθημαι ἐμυθήθην: speak or talk of, describe, explain, relate 180
ὄφρα: while; until; so that; ὄφρα … τόφρα, while … for so long
ἥβη –ης ἡ: manhood, youthful prime, youth
κακότης –ητος ἡ: badness
ἄλγος –ους τό: pain
τλάω τλήσομαι ἔτλην τέτληκα –––– ––––: to tolerate, endure, resist; to dare; to have the courage (+ infin.); (part.) τετληώς
ἀλεγεινός –ή –όν: hard
κῦμα –ατος τό: wave
πείρω πειρῶ ἔπειρα – πέπαρμαι ἐπάρην: to pierce quite through
ἆθλος –ου ὁ: contest, test of strength, task
θυμοδακής –ές: biting the heart
μῦθος –ου ὁ: spoken thing, speech, plan, story 185
ἐποτρύνω ἐποτρυνῶ ἐπώτρυνα: to urge on, extort; (mid.) hasten on with
ἠμί – – – – –: I say
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
φᾶρος –ους τό: cloak
ἀναΐσσω/ἀνᾴσσω/ἀνᾴττω ἀνᾴξω ἀνῇξα: to start up, rise quickly
δίσκος –ου ὁ: discus, quoit , of metal or stone
πάχετος –ον: massive
στιβαρός –ά –όν: compact, strong, stout, sturdy
οἷος –α –ον: (such a kind) as; for οἷός τε see οἷος III.2
Φαίαξ –ακος ὁ: a Phaeacian
δισκέω δισκήσω ἐδίσκησα: to engage in a contest of throwing discus
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
περιστρέφω περιστρέψω περιέστρεψα περιέστροφα περιέστραμμαι περιεστρέφθην: to whirl round
στιβαρός –ά –όν: compact, strong, stout, sturdy
βομβέω βομβήσω ἐβόμβησα: to make a booming, humming noise, to sound deep 190
πτήσσω πτήξω ἔπτηξα ἔπτηχα ––– –––: to frighten, scare, alarm
γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district
Φαίαξ –ακος ὁ: a Phaeacian
δολιχήρετμος –ον: long-oared
ναυσικλυτός –όν: famed for ships, famous by sea
λᾶας –ου ὁ: stone
ῥιπή –ῆς ἡ: the swing
ὑπερπέτομαι ὑπερπτήσομαι ὑπερεπόμην ––– ὑπερπεπόταμαι/ὑπερπεπότημαι ὑπερεπετάσθην: to fly over
σῆμα –ατος τό: a sign, mark, token
ῥίμφα: lightly, swiftly, fleetly
θέω θεύσομαι ἔδραμον δεδράμηκα ––– –––: to run, speed, move forward
τέρμα –ατος τό: an end, boundary
Ἀθήνη –ης ἡ: Athena
δέμας –ατος τό: the (physical frame, form of the) body
ἀλαός –όν: blind 195
τοι: let me tell you, surely
διακρίνω διακρινῶ διέκρινα διακέκρικα διακέκριμαι διεκρίθην: separate, distinguish
σῆμα –ατος τό: a sign, mark, token
ἀμφαφάω – – – – –: to handle
ὅμιλος –ου ὁ: crowd
θαρσέω θαρσήσω ἐθάρσησα ἐθάρσηκα ἐθάρσημαι ἐθαρήθην: to be of good courage, take courage
ἆθλος –ου ὁ: contest, test of strength, task
Φαίαξ –ακος ὁ: a Phaeacian
ἱκνέομαι ἵξομαι ἱκόμην ––– ἷγμαι –––: to come, reach
ὑπερίημι ὑπερήσω ὑπερῆκα ὑπερεῖκα ὑπερεῖμαι ὑπερείθην: to outdo