"βῆ δ᾽ ἰέναι, ἅμα τῷ γε δύω καὶ εἴκοσ᾽ ἑταῖροι
κλαίοντες: κατὰ δ᾽ ἄμμε λίπον γοόωντας ὄπισθεν.
εὗρον δ᾽ ἐν βήσσῃσι τετυγμένα δώματα Κίρκης210
ξεστοῖσιν λάεσσι, περισκέπτῳ ἐνὶ χώρῳ·
ἀμφὶ δέ μιν λύκοι ἦσαν ὀρέστεροι ἠδὲ λέοντες,
τοὺς αὐτὴ κατέθελξεν, ἐπεὶ κακὰ φάρμακ᾽ ἔδωκεν.
οὐδ᾽ οἵ γ᾽ ὡρμήθησαν ἐπ᾽ ἀνδράσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἄρα τοί γε
οὐρῇσιν μακρῇσι περισσαίνοντες ἀνέσταν.215
ὡς δ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἂν ἀμφὶ ἄνακτα κύνες δαίτηθεν ἰόντα
σαίνωσ᾽, αἰεὶ γάρ τε φέρει μειλίγματα θυμοῦ,
ὣς τοὺς ἀμφὶ λύκοι κρατερώνυχες ἠδὲ λέοντες
σαῖνον· τοὶ δ᾽ ἔδεισαν, ἐπεὶ ἴδον αἰνὰ πέλωρα.
ἔσταν δ᾽ ἐν προθύροισι θεᾶς καλλιπλοκάμοιο,220
Κίρκης δ᾽ ἔνδον ἄκουον ἀειδούσης ὀπὶ καλῇ,
ἱστὸν ἐποιχομένης μέγαν ἄμβροτον, οἷα θεάων
λεπτά τε καὶ χαρίεντα καὶ ἀγλαὰ ἔργα πέλονται.
τοῖσι δὲ μύθων ἦρχε Πολίτης ὄρχαμος ἀνδρῶν,
ὅς μοι κήδιστος ἑτάρων ἦν κεδνότατός τε·225
‘ὦ φίλοι, ἔνδον γάρ τις ἐποιχομένη μέγαν ἱστὸν
καλὸν ἀοιδιάει, δάπεδον δ᾽ ἅπαν ἀμφιμέμυκεν,
ἢ θεὸς ἠὲ γυνή· ἀλλὰ φθεγγώμεθα θᾶσσον.’
ὣς ἄρ᾽ ἐφώνησεν, τοὶ δὲ φθέγγοντο καλεῦντες.
ἡ δ᾽ αἶψ᾽ ἐξελθοῦσα θύρας ὤιξε φαεινὰς230
καὶ κάλει: οἱ δ᾽ ἅμα πάντες ἀιδρείῃσιν ἕποντο·
Εὐρύλοχος δ᾽ ὑπέμεινεν, ὀισάμενος δόλον εἶναι.
εἷσεν δ᾽ εἰσαγαγοῦσα κατὰ κλισμούς τε θρόνους τε,
ἐν δέ σφιν τυρόν τε καὶ ἄλφιτα καὶ μέλι χλωρὸν
οἴνῳ Πραμνείῳ ἐκύκα· ἀνέμισγε δὲ σίτῳ235
φάρμακα λύγρ᾽, ἵνα πάγχυ λαθοίατο πατρίδος αἴης.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δῶκέν τε καὶ ἔκπιον, αὐτίκ᾽ ἔπειτα
ῥάβδῳ πεπληγυῖα κατὰ συφεοῖσιν ἐέργνυ.
οἱ δὲ συῶν μὲν ἔχον κεφαλὰς φωνήν τε τρίχας τε
καὶ δέμας, αὐτὰρ νοῦς ἦν ἔμπεδος, ὡς τὸ πάρος περ.240
ὣς οἱ μὲν κλαίοντες ἐέρχατο, τοῖσι δὲ Κίρκη
πάρ ῥ᾽ ἄκυλον βάλανόν τε βάλεν καρπόν τε κρανείης
ἔδμεναι, οἷα σύες χαμαιευνάδες αἰὲν ἔδουσιν.
Εὐρύλοχος δ᾽ αἶψ᾽ ἦλθε θοὴν ἐπὶ νῆα μέλαιναν
ἀγγελίην ἑτάρων ἐρέων καὶ ἀδευκέα πότμον.245
οὐδέ τι ἐκφάσθαι δύνατο ἔπος ἱέμενός περ,
κῆρ ἄχεϊ μεγάλῳ βεβολημένος· ἐν δέ οἱ ὄσσε
δακρυόφιν πίμπλαντο, γόον δ᾽ ὠίετο θυμός.
ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δή μιν πάντες ἀγασσάμεθ᾽ ἐξερέοντες,
καὶ τότε τῶν ἄλλων ἑτάρων κατέλεξεν ὄλεθρον·250
‘ἤιομεν, ὡς ἐκέλευες, ἀνὰ δρυμά, φαίδιμ᾽ Ὀδυσσεῦ·
εὕρομεν ἐν βήσσῃσι τετυγμένα δώματα καλὰ
ξεστοῖσιν λάεσσι, περισκέπτῳ ἐνὶ χώρῳ.
ἔνθα δέ τις μέγαν ἱστὸν ἐποιχομένη λίγ᾽ ἄειδεν,
ἢ θεὸς ἠὲ γυνή· τοὶ δὲ φθέγγοντο καλεῦντες.255
ἡ δ᾽ αἶψ᾽ ἐξελθοῦσα θύρας ὤιξε φαεινὰς
καὶ κάλει· οἱ δ᾽ ἅμα πάντες ἀιδρείῃσιν ἕποντο·
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν ὑπέμεινα, ὀισάμενος δόλον εἶναι.
οἱ δ᾽ ἅμ᾽ ἀιστώθησαν ἀολλέες, οὐδέ τις αὐτῶν
ἐξεφάνη· δηρὸν δὲ καθήμενος ἐσκοπίαζον.’260
notes
Eurylochus and the other men reach the palace of Circe. Circe turns all of the men, except Eurylochus, into swine. Escaping, hereturns to Odysseus and explains what had happened.
Though Circe comes first in the chronology of the story (as opposed to the order of the poem), we inevitably see her through Calypso, whom we first glimpse as Hermes approaches her cave in Book 5:
read full essay
ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ τὴν νῆσον ἀφίκετο τηλόθ᾽ ἐοῦσαν,
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 ὀδώδει
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,
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,
πλησίαι ἀλλήλων τετραμμέναι ἄλλυδις ἄλλη.
ἀμφὶ δὲ λειμῶνες μαλακοὶ ἴου ἠδὲ σελίνου
θήλεον.
But when he finally came near to her faraway island,
stepping out of the dark blue sea he walked on land
until he could find the great cave where lived
the nymph with lovely hair. He found her within.
A fire burned in the great hearth, and the fragrance
of well-cut cedar and sweetwood burning spread
across the island. And the nymph was singing in clear voice,
weaving and working the loom with a golden shuttle.
The woods around the cave were bursting with blooms,
alder and black poplar and sweet-smelling cypress.
Long-winged birds made their nests there,
horned owls and hawks and chattering ravens,
sea birds, whose work is near the water.
A luxuriant vine spread around the opening
of the hollow cave, heavy with grapes.
And four fountains, all in a row, ran with clear water,
running side-by-side, turning one way and another.
And all around soft meadows bloomed with parsley
and violets.
Odyssey 5.55–73
A delightful scene, fragrant and bursting with natural vitality. If we are familiar with the style of Homeric poetry, we sense some latent danger in the nymph’s singing and weaving, often the instruments of feminine seductiveness in the poem. But the threat is softened by the soothing flow of nature, birds swooping, water burbling, the hard edge of the cave’s opening wreathed in clustering grapes. There is, we feel, an order here, somehow driven by the nymph’s magical singing, but not a human order. Calypso welcomes Hermes with all the appropriate gestures of hospitality, food and drink before questions. The eerie mix of benign nature and vaguely threatening sexuality reflects the dynamic of the relationship—a mix of affection and compulsion—that we find between the nymph and her lover. Odysseus is under her control and must stay with her, even though he longs for home, but when Zeus commands the release of her captive, she does so under protest, in part at least because she has come to love him.
Our first encounter with Circe is equally revealing. The scouting party arrives at her house, sited in a clearing, built with polished stones. Wolves and lions—the two wild animals most often associated through similes in Homeric epic with the raw masculine force of human warriors—surround the crew, tamed by Circe’s drugs. Fawning like dogs, they wag their tails. Whereas Calypso seems to preside over a relatively benign realm, Circe’s environs reflect her control of darker forces, able to control the potency of the masculine warrior though the debilitating power of sexuality. When the hapless explorers call out to her, Circe “opens the shining doors” of her house (θύρας ὤιξε φαεινὰς, 230). The phrase—which is repeated at 256 and 312—elsewhere carries a strong flavor of sexual invitation (cf. Od. 6.18–19, 21.45–46, 22.201; Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 60, 236). And finally, of course, the subsequent porcine existence of the crew is a transparently allegorical reference to what sex can bring out in a man.
This aspect of Circe’s portrait aligns with a rich tradition of folktales that tell of a wicked witch who lives in the woods and turns humans into animals or birds. Homer tends to reduce the magical elements of folktales in his stories in favor of the more naturalistic tone of Greek epic. Thus, we hear no details about how the magic drug moly is supposed to protect Odysseus, only that it does so. A more apposite source for the poet would be the story in The Epic of Gilgamesh of Gilgamesh and the goddess of sexuality, Ishtar. The hero and his friend Enkidu have returned to Uruk from the Cedar Forest, flushed with triumph over the monster that lived there. Ishtar, perhaps attracted by all the testosterone in the air, invites Gilgamesh to be her consort and lover:
Come along, Gilgamesh, be my husband,
to me grant your lusciousness.
Be you my husband, and I will be your wife.
I have harnessed for you a chariot of lapis lazuli and gold
with wheels of gold and ‘horns’ of electrum (?).
It will be harnessed with great storming mountain mules!
Come into our house, with the fragrance of cedar.
Epic of Gilgamesh vi.1.1–7
(trans. Kovacs)
Gilgamesh’s answer is rather blunt, and in the event, unfortunately so. He declines the goddess’s offer, citing the bad end to which all of her lovers have come, the shepherd she turned into a wolf that his dogs tore to pieces, the gardener who ended up as a frog. In response, Ishtar convinces the god Anu to create the Bull of Heaven, who wreaks havoc on the citizens until Gilgamesh and Enkidu conquer the beast. Enkidu, flushed with triumph, tears off a leg from the bull and throws it in Ishtar’s face. She retaliates by having Enkidu grow sick and die.
Ishtar, like Circe, can apparently turn humans into animals, but perhaps more importantly, that power seems to be associated with her sexuality. In this, both figures make concrete a crucial link in the portrait of heroic masculinity that we find in early Greek poetry. Odysseus’s need for control mirrors Athena’s, a parallel articulated precisely in the Aeolus episode, as we have seen: the agent of the gods insists on keeping the winds in a bag, while Odysseus’s failure to control his men weakens the channeling of natural forces that lies at the heart of the Greeks’ model for human civilization. And since mortal women were thought by the Greeks to be closer to the forces of nature than men, their impulses, if left unchecked, could undermine human order. In this paradigm, divine female figures represent a particularly dangerous threat, susceptible to tides of emotion but existing beyond the control of mortals. Calypso’s very name, καλύψω, “I will cover up, smother,” marks the erasure of Odysseus’s mortal life that staying with her represents; Circe’s magic makes it more explicit: the loss of control that men can experience during sexual intercourse with women represents an existential threat to their very being, and by extension threatens the foundations of human civilization. As Odysseus prepares to make his own journey through the dark woods to Circe’s house, the path ahead looks dangerous.
Further Reading
Austin, N. 1975. Archery at the Dark of the Moon, 152–153. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Scully, S. 1987. “Doubling in the Tale of Odysseus.” Classical World 80, 401–417.
Thalman, W. 1992. The Odyssey: an Epic of Return, 75–78. New York: Twayne Publishers.
Tracy, S. 1990. The Story of the Odyssey, 64–67. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Van Nortwick, T. 1992. Somewhere I Have Never Travelled: The Second Self and the Hero’s Journey in Ancient Epic, 8–38. New York: Oxford University Press.
———2008. The Unknown Odysseus: Alternate Worlds in Homer’s Odyssey, 53–55. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
208 βῆ δ᾽ ἰέναι: “he started out to go,” infinitive of purpose.
208 ἅμα τῷ: “along with him.”
209 κατὰ … λίπον: “left … behind,” tmesis (separation of the preposition and verb in a compound verb), unaugmented 3rd pl. aor. > καταλείπω.
209 ἄμμε: = ἡμᾶς.
209 ὄπισθεν: “behind,” pleonastic.
210 τετυγμένα: “built.”
211 ξεστοῖσιν λάεσσι: dative of material (Smyth 1508c) with τετυγμένα.
212 μιν: “it” (the house). δώματα is a poetic plural treated as a singular (Monro 171; Smyth 1000a).
213 αὐτὴ: “she herself” (Circe).
214 ὁρμήθησαν ἐπ(ί): "rush at," "attack," 3rd pl. aor. pass. > ὁρμάω. For the voice, see LSJ ὁρμάω B.3.
214 τοί: “they” (the animals).
215 ἀνέσταν: “stood on their hind legs.”
216 ὡς δ᾽ ὅτε ἂν: “just as whenever …," introducing a simile in the form of a general temporal clause (ἄν + subj.) (Monro 238a).
217 φέρει: the master (ἄναξ) is the subject of the verb.
217 μειλίγματα θυμοῦ: “treats” (lit., “soothers of the spirit”).
218 ὣς: “in this way,” closing off the simile.
218 τοὺς ἀμφὶ: “around them” (Odysseus’s men).
218 κρατερώνυχες: “sharp-clawed.”
219 τοὶ: “they” (the men).
220 ἐν προθύροισι: “at the front door” (Monro 171).
221 Κίρκης … ἀειδούσης: genitive object (genitive of source) with ἄκουον.
221 ἀειδούσης: fem. pres. ptc. > ἀείδω, “to sing.”
221 ἄκουον: unaugmented 3rd pl. impf.
222 ἱστὸν: “loom,” or more specifically, the web or weft woven onto the loom.
222 ἐποιχομένης: "plying," "working at," fem. pres. ptc., modifying Κίρκης.
222 οἷα … ἔργα πέλονται: “such are the … works.”
222 θεάων: fem. gen. pl. > θέα, qualifying ἔργα.
223 ἔργα πέλονται: here the neuter plural subject takes a plural verb (Smyth 959).
224 μύθων: genitive object of ἦρχε.
227 καλὸν: adverbial accusative with ἀοιδιάει.
227 ἀμφιμέμυκεν: “is echoing all around,” 3rd sing. pf.
228 φθεγγώμεθα: hortatory subjunctive
229 τοὶ: “they”
231 κάλει: unaugmented impf.
231 ἀϊδρείῃσιν: “in their ignorance,” dative of cause (Smyth 1517)
232 ὀϊσάμενος: aor. ptc. > οἴομαι, introducing indirect discourse with infinitive.
233 εἷσεν: “she made them sit,” causal, aor. > ἵζω.
234 ἐν δέ: either “inside, “in the house” (Steadman); or “mixed (acc. dry ingredients) in (dat. wet ingredient),” tmesis with ἐκύκα(ε), impf. > ἐγκυκἀω. In the latter case, the ἐν would appear to govern οἴνῳ Πραμνείῳ. A mixture of cheese, barley, honey, and wine was known as κυκεών.
234 σφιν: "for them," dative of interest.
236 ἵνα … λαθοίατο: purpose clause with optative in secondary sequence.
236 λαθοίατο: 3rd pl. aor. mid./pass. opt. > λανθάνω, with genitive object (Smyth 1356).
238 πεπληγυῖα: fem. nom. sing. pf. act. ptc. > πλήσσω / πλήττω.
238 κατὰ … ἐέργνυ: “she shut (them) in,” tmesis, 3rd sing. impf. > κατείργω. Understand Odysseus's men as the object.
240 ἔμπεδος: "unchanged."
240 ὡς … περ: “just as …”
241 ἐέρχατο: 3rd pl. plupf. pass. > ἔργνυμι/εἴργω.
241 τοῖσι: dat. with πάρ … ἔβαλεν.
242 πάρ … ἔβαλεν: “threw to,” tmesis > παραβάλλω.
242 ἀκυλον βάλανόν τε: both words mean “acorn,” either from different species of oak (Quercus ilex and Q. robur respectively) or merely a Homeric pleonasm.
243 ἔδμεναι: infinitive of purpose (Smyth 2008, 2009).
243 οἷα: “the sort of things…”
245 ἐρέων: fut. ptc. > λέγω, expressing purpose.
246 τι … ἔπος: “any word.”
246 δύνατο: unaugmented impf.
246 ἱεμένος περ: “though eager,” pres. mid. ptc. > ἵημι. For the middle meaning “to be eager,” see LSJ ἵημι II.2.
247 κῆρ: accusative of respect.
247 ἐν … πίμπλαντο: “were filled,” tmesis, impf. pass. > ἐμπίμπλημι.
247 οἱ: 3rd person pron. sing., dative of possession.
247 ὄσσε: nom. dual.
248 δακρυόφιν: dat. pl., dative of means (Smyth 1508b). For the ending -φιν used for instrumental datives, see Monro 93.
248 ὠΐετο: “thought about” > οἴομαι.
249 μιν ... ἐξερέοντες: "questioning him."
249 ἀγασσάμεθ(α): unaugmented impf.
251 ἤιομεν: 1st pl. impf. act. indic. > εἶμι
251 ἀνὰ: “through.”
252–58 summarizes lines 210–32.
252 see line 210.
253 see line 211.
254 see lines 226–27.
254 λίγ(α): “in a clear voice.”
255 see lines 228–29.
256–57 see lines 230–31
258 see line 232.
259 ἀϊστώθησαν: “disappeared,” 3rd pl. aor. pass. > ἀϊστόω.
260: ἐξεφάνη: “appeared,” 3rd sing. aor. pass. > ἐκφαίνω
vocabulary
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion
κλαίω/κλάω κλαύσομαι/κλαήσω ἔκλαυσα ––– κέκλαυμαι/κέκλαυσμαι ἐκλαύσθην: weep, cry
γοάω γοήσω ἐγόησα/γόον ––– ––– ἐγοήθην: to wail, groan, weep
ὄπι(σ)θε(ν): from behind, behind, afterward, hereafter; adv. or prep. +gen.
βῆσσα –ης ἡ: deep valley, mountain gorge 210
τεύχω τεύξω ἔτευξα τέτευχα τέτυγμαι ἐτύχθην: to make, build, prepare, fasten; to bring about
δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)
Κίρκη –ης ἡ: Circe, the enchantress, daughter of Helius, sister of Aeētes, dwelling in the isle of Aeaea
ξεστός –ή –όν: smoothed, polished, wrought
λᾶας –ου ὁ: stone
περίσκεπτος –ον: to be seen on all sides, far-seen, conspicuous
χῶρος –ου ὁ: place, a piece of ground
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
λύκος ὁ: wolf
ὀρέστερος –α –ον: of the mountains (poet. for ὀρεινός)
ἠδέ: and
λέων λέοντος ὁ: lion
καταθέλγω καταθέλξω κατέθελξα: to captivate, charm, bewitch
φάρμακον –ου τό: drug
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
οὐρά –ᾶς ἡ: the tail 215
περισαίνω περισανῶ περιέσηνα: to wag the tail round, fawn upon
ἀνίστημι ἀνστήσω ἀνέστησα (or ἀνέστην) ἀνέστηκα ἀνέσταμαι ἀνεστάθην: make stand, set up; stand up
ἄναξ –ακτος ὁ: ruler, lord
κύων κυνός ὁ/ἡ: dog
δαίτηθεν: from a feast
σαίνω ––– ἔσανα/ἔσηνα ––– ––– –––: to wag the tail, fawn
μείλιγμα –ατος τό: anything that serves to soothe, a treat
λύκος ὁ: wolf
κρατερῶνυξ –υχος: strong-hoofed, solid-hoofed, with strong claws
ἠδέ: and
λέων λέοντος ὁ: lion
σαίνω ––– ἔσανα/ἔσηνα ––– ––– –––: to wag the tail, fawn
δείδω δείσομαι ἔδεισα δέδοικα (or δίδια) ––– –––: to fear
αἰνός –ή –όν: dread, grim
πέλωρον –ου τό: a monster, prodigy
πρόθυρον –ου τό: the front-door, the door leading from the αὐλή 220
θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess
καλλιπλόκαμος –ον: with beautiful locks
Κίρκη –ης ἡ: Circe, the enchantress, daughter of Helius, sister of Aeētes, dwelling in the isle of Aeaea
ἔνδον: within, inside, at home
ᾄσομαι ᾖσα ᾖσμαι ᾔσθην: sing
ὄψ ὀπός ἡ: a voice
ἱστός –οῦ ὁ: mast, beam; loom
ἐποίχομαι ἐποιχήσομαι ἐπῴχημαι: to go towards, approach; to ply (the loom)
ἄμβροτος –ον: immortal, divine
θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess
λεπτός –ή –όν: (husked, threshed) fine, thin, delicate, subtle
χαρίεις –ίεσσα –ίεν: graceful, charming, beautiful
ἀγλαός –ή –όν: splendid, shining, bright
πέλω ––– ἔπλον ––– ––– –––: to be (the aor. has pres. signif.)
μῦθος –ου ὁ: spoken thing, speech, plan, story
ἄρχω ἅρξω ἦρξα ἦρχα ἦργμαι ἦρχθην: begin, rule (+gen.)
Πολίτης –ου ὁ: Polites, a son of Priam, or, a companion of Odysseus
ὄρχαμος –ου ὁ: leader, commander, warlord
κήδιστος –η –ον: very close to one's heart, dearest, most worthy of affection 225
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion
κεδνός –ή –όν: careful, diligent, sage, trusty
ἔνδον: within, inside, at home
ἐποίχομαι ἐποιχήσομαι ἐπῴχημαι: to go towards, approach; to ply (the loom)
ἱστός –οῦ ὁ: mast, beam; loom
ἀοιδιάω – – – – –: to sing
δάπεδον –ου τό: surface, pavement, floor
ἀμφιμυκάομαι ἀμφιμυκήσομαι ἀμφεμυκησάμην: to echo, resound
φθέγγομαι φθέγξομαι ἐφθεγξάμην ἔφθεγμαι ––– ἐφθεγξάσθην: to make a sound, speak, scream
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
φωνέω φωνήσω ἐφώνησα πεφώνηκα πεφώνημαι ἐφωνήθην: to make a sound, speak
φθέγγομαι φθέγξομαι ἐφθεγξάμην ἔφθεγμαι ––– ἐφθεγξάσθην: to make a sound, speak, scream
αἶψα: rapidly, speedily, suddenly 230
ἐξέρχομαι ἐξελεύσομαι ἐξῆλθον ἐξελήλυθα ––– –––: to go/come out, go forth
θύρα –ας ἡ: door
οἴγω οἴξω ᾦξα ᾦχα ᾦγμαι ᾤχθην: to open
φαεινός –ή –όν : bright, brilliant, radiant
ἀϊδρείη –ης ἡ: want of knowledge, ignorance
Εὐρύλοχος –ου ὁ: Eurylochus, a cousin and companion of Odysseus
ὑπομένω ὑπομενῶ ὑπέμεινα ὑπομεμένηκα ––– –––: to stay behind, survive, abide
δόλος –ου ὁ: scheme, plot, deception, trickery
ἵζω εἵσομαι εἷσα/ἵζησα ἵζηκα: to take a seat, sit down; cause to take a seat
εἰσάγω εἰσάξω εἰσήγαγον εἰσαγήοχα εἰσῆγμαι εἰσήχθην: to lead in, bring before
κλισμός –οῦ ὁ: a couch
θρόνος –ου ὁ: arm-chair
σφεῖς: they
τυρός –οῦ ὁ: cheese
ἄλφιτον –ου τό: barley flower (usually plur.)
μέλι –ιτος τό: honey
χλωρός –ά –όν: greenish-yellow; pale
οἶνος –ου ὁ: wine 235
Πράμνειος –α –ον: Pramnian
κυκάω κυκήσω ἐκυκησα ––– ––– ἐκυκήθην: to stir up
ἀναμίγνυμι ἀναμίξω ἀνέμμιξα: to mix up, mix together
σῖτος –ου ὁ: grain; bread
φάρμακον –ου τό: drug
λυγρός –ά –όν: sad, mournful, miserable
πάγχυ: quite, wholly, entirely, altogether
αἶα –ας ἡ: land
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
ἐκπίνω ἐκπίομαι ἐκέπιον ἐκπέπωκα ἐκπέπομαι ἐκεπόθην: to drink
ῥάβδος –ου ὁ: a rod, wand, stick, switch
πλήττω πλήξω ἔπληξα πέπληγα πέπληγμαι ἐπλήγην (–επλάγην): strike, smite
συφεός –οῦ ὁ: a hog-sty
ἔργνυμι/εἴργω εἴρξω/εἵρξω εἶρξα/εἷρξα ––– εἶργμαι/εἷργμαι εἴρχθην/εἵρχθην: to confine
ὗς (or σῦς) ὑός (or συός) ὁ/ἡ: swine, hog; (f.) sow
θρίξ τριχός ἡ: hair, bristle
δέμας –ατος τό: the (physical frame, form of the) body 240
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
ἔμπεδος –ον: firm-set, steadfast, constant, unchanged; (in neuter as adverb) firmly, steadily
πάρος: before, formerly
κλαίω/κλάω κλαύσομαι/κλαήσω ἔκλαυσα ––– κέκλαυμαι/κέκλαυσμαι ἐκλαύσθην: weep, cry
ἔργνυμι/εἴργω εἴρξω/εἵρξω εἶρξα/εἷρξα ––– εἶργμαι/εἷργμαι εἴρχθην/εἵρχθην: to confine
Κίρκη –ης ἡ: Circe, the enchantress, daughter of Helius, sister of Aeētes, dwelling in the isle of Aeaea
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
ἄκυλος –ου ὁ: an acorn
βάλανος –ου ἡ: an acorn
καρπός –οῦ ὁ: fruit (of the earth), produce
κράνεια –ας ἡ: the cornel-tree, dog-wood
ἔδω ἔδομαι ἤδα ἔδηδα ἐδήδοται ἠδέσθην: to eat
ὗς (or σῦς) ὑός (or συός) ὁ/ἡ: swine, hog; (f.) sow
χαμαιεύνης –ου: sleeping on the ground
ἔδω ἔδομαι ἤδα ἔδηδα ἐδήδοται ἠδέσθην: to eat
Εὐρύλοχος –ου ὁ: Eurylochus, a cousin and companion of Odysseus
αἶψα: rapidly, speedily, suddenly
θοός –ή –όν: swift
μέλας μέλαινα μέλαν: black, dark, obscure
ἀγγελία –ας ἡ: a message, tidings, news 245
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion
ἐρῶ εἴρηκα ἐρρήθην: to say, tell, speak
ἀδευκής –ές: not sweet, bitter, cruel
πότμος –ου ὁ: that which befalls one, one's lot, destiny; death
ἔκφημι ἐκφήσω ἐξέφησα: to speak out
κῆρ κῆρος τό: heart, mind
ἄχος –ους τό: anguish, distress
βεβόλημαι (perf. with no pres. in use): to be stricken
ἕ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ὄσσε, τώ: eyes
δάκρυον –ου τό: a tear
πίμπλημι πλήσω ἔπλησα πέπληκα πέπλησμαι ἐπλήσθην: to fill
γόος –ου ὁ: wailing, lamentation
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ἄγαμαι ἀγασθήσομαι ἠγασάμην ἠγάσθην: to wonder, be astonished
ἐξερέω ἐξερήσω ἐξέρασα: to inquire, ask
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion 250
καταλέγω καταλέξω κατέλεξα κατείλοχα κατείλεγμαι κατελέχθην: to recount, tell at length and in order; (mid.) καταλέχομαι to lie down
ὄλεθρος –ου ὁ: ruin, destruction, death
δρυμός –οῦ ὁ: wood, thicket, forest (neuter pl. δρυμά)
φαίδιμος –ον: shining
Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey
βῆσσα –ης ἡ: deep valley, mountain gorge
τεύχω τεύξω ἔτευξα τέτευχα τέτυγμαι ἐτύχθην: to make, build, prepare, fasten; to bring about
δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)
ξεστός –ή –όν: smoothed, polished, wrought
λᾶας –ου ὁ: stone
περίσκεπτος –ον: to be seen on all sides, far-seen, conspicuous
χῶρος –ου ὁ: place, a piece of ground
ἱστός –οῦ ὁ: mast, beam; loom
ἐποίχομαι ἐποιχήσομαι ἐπῴχημαι: to go towards, approach; to ply (the loom)
λίγα: in loud clear tone
ᾄσομαι ᾖσα ᾖσμαι ᾔσθην: sing
φθέγγομαι φθέγξομαι ἐφθεγξάμην ἔφθεγμαι ––– ἐφθεγξάσθην: to make a sound, speak, scream 255
αἶψα: rapidly, speedily, suddenly
ἐξέρχομαι ἐξελεύσομαι ἐξῆλθον ἐξελήλυθα ––– –––: to go/come out, go forth
θύρα –ας ἡ: door
οἴγω οἴξω ᾦξα ᾦχα ᾦγμαι ᾤχθην: to open
φαεινός –ή –όν : bright, brilliant, radiant
ἀϊδρείη –ης ἡ: want of knowledge, ignorance
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
ὑπομένω ὑπομενῶ ὑπέμεινα ὑπομεμένηκα ––– –––: to stay behind, survive, abide
δόλος –ου ὁ: scheme, plot, deception, trickery
ἀϊστόω ἀϊστώσω ἠΐστωσα/ᾔστωσα ––– ––– ἠϊστώθην: to render invisible, wipe out; (pass.) to vanish
ἀολλής –ές: all together, in throngs or crowds
ἐκφαίνω ἐκφανῶ ἐξέφηνα ἐκπέφηνα ἐκπέφασμαι ἐξεφάν(θ)ην: to shew forth, bring to light, disclose, reveal, make manifest 260
δηρός –ά –όν: long, too long
κάθημαι καθήσομαι ––– ––– ––– ––– imp: ἐκαθήμην: be seated, sit; reside
σκοπιάζω – – – – –: to look about one, spy from a high place