"ὣς ἐφάμην, ἡ δ᾽ αὐτίκ᾽ ἀπώμνυεν, ὡς ἐκέλευον.345
αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥ᾽ ὄμοσέν τε τελεύτησέν τε τὸν ὅρκον,
καὶ τότ᾽ ἐγὼ Κίρκης ἐπέβην περικαλλέος εὐνῆς.
ἀμφίπολοι δ᾽ ἄρα τέως μὲν ἐνὶ μεγάροισι πένοντο
τέσσαρες, αἵ οἱ δῶμα κάτα δρήστειραι ἔασι·
γίγνονται δ᾽ ἄρα ταί γ᾽ ἔκ τε κρηνέων ἀπό τ᾽ ἀλσέων350
ἔκ θ᾽ ἱερῶν ποταμῶν, οἵ τ᾽ εἰς ἅλαδε προρέουσι.
τάων ἡ μὲν ἔβαλλε θρόνοις ἔνι ῥήγεα καλὰ
πορφύρεα καθύπερθ᾽, ὑπένερθε δὲ λῖθ᾽ ὑπέβαλλεν·
ἡ δ᾽ ἑτέρη προπάροιθε θρόνων ἐτίταινε τραπέζας
ἀργυρέας, ἐπὶ δέ σφι τίθει χρύσεια κάνεια·355
ἡ δὲ τρίτη κρητῆρι μελίφρονα οἶνον ἐκίρνα
ἡδὺν ἐν ἀργυρέῳ, νέμε δὲ χρύσεια κύπελλα·
ἡ δὲ τετάρτη ὕδωρ ἐφόρει καὶ πῦρ ἀνέκαιε
πολλὸν ὑπὸ τρίποδι μεγάλῳ· ἰαίνετο δ᾽ ὕδωρ.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ ζέσσεν ὕδωρ ἐνὶ ἤνοπι χαλκῷ,360
ἔς ῥ᾽ ἀσάμινθον ἕσασα λό᾽ ἐκ τρίποδος μεγάλοιο,
θυμῆρες κεράσασα, κατὰ κρατός τε καὶ ὤμων,
ὄφρα μοι ἐκ κάματον θυμοφθόρον εἵλετο γυίων.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ λοῦσέν τε καὶ ἔχρισεν λίπ᾽ ἐλαίῳ,
ἀμφὶ δέ με χλαῖναν καλὴν βάλεν ἠδὲ χιτῶνα,365
εἷσε δέ μ᾽ εἰσαγαγοῦσα ἐπὶ θρόνου ἀργυροήλου
καλοῦ δαιδαλέου, ὑπὸ δὲ θρῆνυς ποσὶν ἦεν·
χέρνιβα δ᾽ ἀμφίπολος προχόῳ ἐπέχευε φέρουσα
καλῇ χρυσείῃ, ὑπὲρ ἀργυρέοιο λέβητος,
νίψασθαι· παρὰ δὲ ξεστὴν ἐτάνυσσε τράπεζαν.370
σῖτον δ᾽ αἰδοίη ταμίη παρέθηκε φέρουσα,
εἴδατα πόλλ᾽ ἐπιθεῖσα, χαριζομένη παρεόντων.
ἐσθέμεναι δ᾽ ἐκέλευεν· ἐμῷ δ᾽ οὐχ ἥνδανε θυμῷ,
ἀλλ᾽ ἥμην ἀλλοφρονέων, κακὰ δ᾽ ὄσσετο θυμός.
Κίρκη δ᾽ ὡς ἐνόησεν ἔμ᾽ ἥμενον οὐδ᾽ ἐπὶ σίτῳ375
χεῖρας ἰάλλοντα, κρατερὸν δέ με πένθος ἔχοντα,
ἄγχι παρισταμένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·
‘τίφθ᾽ οὕτως, Ὀδυσεῦ, κατ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἕζεαι ἶσος ἀναύδῳ,
θυμὸν ἔδων, βρώμης δ᾽ οὐχ ἅπτεαι οὐδὲ ποτῆτος;
ἦ τινά που δόλον ἄλλον ὀίεαι; οὐδέ τί σε χρὴ380
δειδίμεν· ἤδη γάρ τοι ἀπώμοσα καρτερὸν ὅρκον.’
ὣς ἔφατ᾽, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ μιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπον:
‘ὦ Κίρκη, τίς γάρ κεν ἀνήρ, ὃς ἐναίσιμος εἴη,
πρὶν τλαίη πάσσασθαι ἐδητύος ἠδὲ ποτῆτος,
πρὶν λύσασθ᾽ ἑτάρους καὶ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἰδέσθαι;385
ἀλλ᾽ εἰ δὴ πρόφρασσα πιεῖν φαγέμεν τε κελεύεις,
λῦσον, ἵν᾽ ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἴδω ἐρίηρας ἑταίρους.’
notes
Circe swears the oath, and Odysseus enters Circe’s household where he encounters her housemaids. Odysseus refuses Circe’s entertainment until she sets his men free.
Dumbfounded by the hero’s immunity to her drugs, Circe assumes that her guest must be Odysseus, the invader Hermes warned her about. She tries to lure him to her bed anyway, but he resists: He will not have sex with her while his men remain pigs, nor will he risk being naked and thus “unmanned” (ἀνήνορα, 10.341) by her. Being naked makes a man vulnerable in the Odyssey.
read full essay
Water is itself “feminine” in the Greeks’ gendered division of the world, amorphous, flowing across the clean boundaries that define things masculine. Athena twice intervenes to beautify Odysseus, making him look bigger, his hair gleaming with curls like hyacinth blossoms. In both cases, the hero has just emerged from a bath, and the goddess’s gesture adds extra allure at the moment when nakedness might make him vulnerable (6.229–37; 23.152–63). In two other moments when he is bathed but not pumped up by Athena, the peril of being recognized surfaces. When Telemachus visits Sparta in Book 4, Helen tells the story of how she bathed Odysseus at Troy and he revealed his true identity to her; when Penelope orders a young servant girl to bathe his feet in Book 19, he demands that Eurykleia, his old nanny, be the one to wash his feet and even then she comes close to blowing his cover (4.252–56; 19.317–48, 467–90)
Behind this recurrent narrative pattern in the poem, we encounter the shadow of another widespread belief in ancient Greek culture, that having sex with a goddess will render a man impotent at best or even kill him. The author of the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, a poem roughly contemporary with the Odyssey, makes excellent use of this anxiety. Anchises, a scion of the Trojan royal family, is out on Mount Ida herding sheep, when Aphrodite, disguised as a young virgin, timidly approaches. He hails her, asking if she is a mortal or a goddess, reeling off a list of deities she resembles. She replies that she is no goddess, just an ordinary girl, the daughter of Otreus, who has been snatched away by Hermes while playing with her girlfriends. The god told her that she is to be Anchises’s wife, and she is acting under a “powerful compulsion” (Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 130). But before they consummate their marriage, he should take her back to his parents for their approval and send word to her parents, too. He responds forcefully: She will indeed be his wife, but first, no man or god could keep him from sleeping with her right now! The goddess shyly consents and after the lovemaking resumes her divine form, teasingly waking him. He is appropriately frightened:
ὣς φάθ᾽: ὃ δ᾽ ἐξ ὕπνοιο μάλ᾽ ἐμμαπέως ὑπάκουσεν.
ὡς δὲ ἴδεν δειρήν τε καὶ ὄμματα κάλ᾽ Ἀφροδίτης,
τάρβησέν τε καὶ ὄσσε παρακλιδὸν ἔτραπεν ἄλλῃ:
ἂψ δ᾽ αὖτις χλαίνῃ τε καλύψατο καλὰ πρόσωπα
καί μιν λισσόμενος ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα:
"αὐτίκα σ᾽ ὡς τὰ πρῶτα, θεά, ἴδον ὀφθαλμοῖσιν,
ἔγνων ὡς θεὸς ἦσθα: σὺ δ᾽ οὐ νημερτὲς ἔειπες.
ἀλλά σε πρὸς Ζηνὸς γουνάζομαι αἰγιόχοιο,
μή με ζῶντ᾽ ἀμενηνὸν ἐν ἀνθρώποισιν ἐάσῃς
ναίειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐλέαιρ᾽: ἐπεὶ οὐ βιοθάλμιος ἀνὴρ
γίγνεται, ὅς τε θεαῖς εὐνάζεται ἀθανάτῃσι."
So she spoke. He heard and quickly woke up.
When he saw the neck and lovely eyes of Aphrodite,
he was frightened and turned his eyes away.
Covering his handsome face again with a cloak,
he beseeched her with winged words:
“Right away when my eyes fell upon you, goddess,
I knew you were divine! But you did not tell the truth.
Yet I beg you by Zeus who bears the aegis,
don’t let me be alive but strengthless among men.
Take pity on me, since a man is not potent
who goes to bed with an immortal goddess!”
Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 180–90
However we may feel about the sexual power dynamics that underlie this story, the encounter between Anchises and Aphrodite is filled with delicious ironies, generated by reversed gender roles. The manly prince is seduced by a timid virgin, who is in fact the goddess of sexuality, all because Zeus, the number one philanderer in the universe, has taken revenge on the goddess for “making” him sleep with mortal women (Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 36–52). Anchises, once he realizes his mistake, hides his face like a virgin with a veil.
The same themes appear in the Circe episode, without the light, comic touch of the hymn poet: the anxiety of mortals in the presence of gods, the male fear of emasculation by powerful female forces. Anchises is spared in the end, because Aphrodite—much to her chagrin—has become pregnant with his son, the hero Aeneas, and she has no interest in parenting (Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 256–80). Odysseus escapes harm because Hermes supplies protection for the hero before he meets Circe. As we have seen, the timing of this intervention is integral to the tone of the entire episode. Once the threat of emasculation is removed, the sexual energy between Odysseus and the witch goes with it, leaving little basis for emotional connection between the two, beyond the hero’s gratitude for her help. In this sense, the witch stands in for Athena, a powerful goddess who can help Odysseus but asks for little in return. By contrast, although Calypso says she has come love to her captive, the intensity of their final exchanges is colored by energy from the nymph’s power over Odysseus.
The relative blandness of Circe’s relationship with Odysseus prompts comparison with—surprisingly enough—Penelope. Once the tension between the queen and the anonymous beggar dissipates with her acceptance of his identity as her husband, she becomes a much less vivid character than the resourceful wife who asserts her independence with the contest of the bow. In this sense, the entire Circe episode offers a microcosmic view of the Odyssey’s return story. First, the hero must assert himself in a way that brings recognition of his kleos, putting him in control of the situation in general and a woman in particular. Then he lives comfortably with a beautiful woman who provides him with the comforts of home. Penelope will prove to be far from a two-dimensional character and winning her over will take more than the brandishing of a sword, but the parallels between her and Circe are intriguing. Both are subject to divine influence that makes them easier for Odysseus to win over (Virgil puts this dynamic to a much darker use in his portrayal of Venus’s manipulation of Dido at Aeneid 1.657–94); after the testing of the hero, which results in the reaffirmation of his identity, both companions are affectionate, completely supportive, and—once subdued—not vividly interesting. That much of the energy goes out of the Circe episode once she is neutralized tells us something important about the role of sexual tension in the poet’s portrayal of masculine heroism. In any event, Homer has other uses for the character of Circe, as the parallels to Siduri indicate.
The consolation motif surfaces once more after the elaborate description of dinner preparation in the witch’s household. Odysseus, though seated at the table, will not touch any of the meal until his men are returned to their human form, which is to say, according to the paradigm, until their death as humans is reversed. Circe’s acquiescence marks the end of any existential threat to the guests and the beginning of their extended vacation from danger.
Further Reading
Carson, A. 1990. “Putting Her in Her Place: Women, Dirt, and Desire.” In Before Sexuality: The Construction of Erotic Experience in the Ancient World. Ed. D. Halperin, J. Winkler, and F. Zeitlin, 135–169. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Dimock, G. 1989. The Unity of the Odyssey, 126–128. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
Van Nortwick, T. 2008. The Unknown Odysseus: Alternate Worlds in Homer’s Odyssey, 57. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
345 ἀπώμνυεν: 3rd sing. impf. act. > ἀπόμνυμι.
349 αἵ: the antecedent is ἀμφίπολοι.
349 οἱ: “her,” dative of possession.
349 δῶμα κάτα: “throughout the house,” “in the house,” anastrophe (the preposition follows its noun, causing the accent on the preposition to fall back onto the first syllable).
349 δρήστειραι: "as house servants," predicate.
349 ἔασι: = εἰσί, 3rd pl. pres. > εἰμί.
350 ταί: “they” (i.e., the handmaidens, who turn out to be nymphs), 3rd pers. pron.
351 εἰς ἅλαδε: the εἰς is redundant. -δε is a directional suffix.
352 τάων … ἡ μὲν … ἡ δ᾽ ἑτέρη … ἡ δὲ τρίτη … ἡ δὲ τετάρτη: “of these, one ….” τάων is a partitive genitive, and the following seven lines describe the four parts of the whole (i.e., the handmaidens).
352 θρόνοις ἔνι: anastrophe.
353 καθύπερθ(ε): “on top.”
353 λῖθ᾽: = λῖτα, acc. > λῖς, ὁ, "sheet, cover."
354 ἐτίταινε: “spread,” “set up.”
355 τίθει: unaugmented impf.
356–57 κρητῆρι ... / ... ἐν ἀργυρέῳ: ἐν ἀργυρέῳ κρητῆρι.
357 νέμε: = ἔνεμε, unaugmented impf.
359 πολλὸν: “large.”
360 ζέσσεν: unaugmented 3rd sing. aor. > ζέω.
361 ἕσασα: “having made me sit,” fem. aor. ptc. > ἵζω. Understand με as the object of the participle and the verb λόε.
361 λό(ε): = ἔλοε, unaugmented 3rd sing. impf. > λούω
362 θυμῆρες κεράσασα: “having mixed the water to a pleasing temperature.” θυμῆρες is a neuter predicate adjective agreeing with the unexpressed object ὕδωρ.
362 κατὰ: “down over,” with genitive.
363 ὄφρα … εἵλετο: “until she took …”
363 ἐκ: with γυίων.
364 λίπ(α) ἐλαίῳ: "generously with oil," "with a generous amount of oil," a frequent formula in Homer (see also 10.450).
365 βάλεν: “wrapped,” = ἔβαλεν.
366 εἷσε: “she made me sit,” causal, aor. > ἵζω. Repetition of line 314.
367 ὑπὸ: "underneath," adverbial.
367 ποσὶν: “for my feet,” dat. pl. > πούς.
367 ἦεν: ἦν. Repetition of line 315.
368 χέρνιβα: object of the verb ἐπέχευε and the participle φέρουσα.
368 προχόῳ: dative of instrument ("with") or locative dative ("in").
370 νίψασθαι: infinitive of purpose > νίζω.
370 παρὰ: “beside me.”
370 ἐτάνυσσε: “she drew up,” “spread” > τανύω.
372 χαριζομένη παρεόντων: “giving freely of her provisions” (lit., “of the things at hand”).
372 παρεόντων: gen. pl. ptc. > πάρειμι (see εἰμί). For this use of the genitive, both genitive of material and partitive genitive, see Monro 151e.
373 ἐσθέμεναι: infin. > ἔσθω. Understand με as the accusative subject of the infinitive.
373 οὐχ ἥνδανε: “it was not pleasing,” impersonal.
374 ἥμην: 1st sing. impf. > ἧμαι.
374 κακὰ δ᾽ ὄσσετο: “foresaw bad things.”
374 ὄσσετο: unaugmented 3rd sing. impf.
375 ὡς: "when."
378 τίφθ᾽: = τίπτε or τί ποτε, "why?"
378 κατ(ά) ... ἕζεαι: "sit down," or "sit still," tmesis > καθέζομαι.
378 ἶσος ἀναύδῳ: “like someone without a voice.”
379 οὐχ ἅπτεαι: “you don’t touch,” followed by partitive genitives.
379 ἅπτεαι: 2nd sing. pres. mid. > ἅπτω.
380 ἦ τινά … ὀΐεαι: “do you think this is another trick?”
380 ὀΐεαι: 2nd sing. pres. dep. > οἴομαι, ὀΐομαι.
380 τί: “at all,” indefinite pronoun, accented because of the following enclitic.
381 δειδίμεν: pres. act. infin.
381 ἀπώμοσα: "I swore," aor. act. > ἀπόμνυμι.
383–84 τίς … κεν ἀνήρ ... / ... τλαίη: “what man would dare …?” direct question with potential optative, functioning as the main clause (apodosis) of a future less vivid conditional relative.
383 ὅς … εἴη: “who is…,” future less vivid conditional relative clause.
383 ἐναίσιμος: “righteous.”
384 πρὶν: the first πρὶν anticipates the second (Smyth 2440a). If translated, it can be translated as “first.”
384 πάσσασθαι: “eat,” “partake of,” with partitive genitive; aor. infin. > πατέομαι.
385 πρὶν: “before,” followed by infinitives (Monro 236; Smyth 2453).
385 λύσασθ(αι): aor. mid. infin. > λύω.
386–87 εἰ … κελεύεις, / λῦσον: present simple conditional with an imperative in the apodosis (Smyth 2300f).
386 πρόφρασσα: “earnestly,” Epic fem. adj. > πρόφρων.
386 φαγέμεν: aor. infin.
387 λῦσον: aor. imperat. The object, ἐρίηρας ἑταίρους, is incorporated into the purpose clause.
387 ἵν(α) … ἴδω: purpose clause.
vocabulary
ἀπόμνυμι ἀπομοῦμαι/ἀπομόσω ἀπώμοσα ἀπομώμοκα – ἀπωμόθην/ἀπωμόσθην: to take an oath not to do something, swear off, deny with an oath 345
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
ὄμνυμι (or ὀμνύω) ὀμοῦμαι ὤμοσα ὀμώμοκα ὀμώμο(σ)μαι ὠμόθην: to swear
ὅρκος –ου ὁ: oath
Κίρκη –ης ἡ: Circe, the enchantress, daughter of Helius, sister of Aeētes, dwelling in the isle of Aeaea
ἐπιβαίνω ἐπιβήσομαι ἐπέβην ἐπιβέβηκα ––– –––: to go on, enter, step up, mount, board (a ship) + gen.
περικαλλής –ές: very beautiful
εὐνή εὐνῆς ἡ: pallet, bed, den; (pl.) stones (to anchor a ship), anchors
ἀμφίπολος –ου ἡ: female attendant, handmaid
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
τέως: so long, meanwhile, the while
μέγαρον –ου τό: a large room, hall, feast-hall
πένομαι – – – – –: to get tired out, be busy with, work with exhaustion or pain; (trans.) to prepare, work or busy oneself over
ἕ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)
δρήστειρα –ας ἡ: female laborer, servant woman
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus 350
κρήνη –ης ἡ: a well, spring, fountain
ἄλσος –ους τό: a glade
ἅλαδε: to or into the sea
προρέω προρεύσομαι προέρευσα: to flow forward
θρόνος –ου ὁ: arm-chair
ῥῆγος –ους τό: a rug, blanket
πορφύρεος –η –ον: agitated; dyed purple
καθύπερθε (Ion. κατ–): from above, down from above
ὑπένερθε: underneath, beneath
λῖς, dat. λιτί, acc. λῖτα, ὁ: sheet, cover
ὑποβάλλω ὑποβαλῶ ὑπέβαλον ὑποβέβληκα ὑποβέβλημαι ὑπεβλήθην: to throw, put
προπάροιθε: before, in front of
θρόνος –ου ὁ: arm-chair
τιταίνω – – – – –: to stretch; to set out
τράπεζα –ης ἡ: table; dinner
ἀργύρεος –α or –έη –ον: silver, of silver 355
σφεῖς: they
χρύσεος –η –ον: golden, gold-inlaid
κάνεον –ου τό: basket, usually of reed
κρητήρ –ῆρος ὁ: large vessel for mixing water and wine
μελίφρων –ον: sweet to the mind, delicious
οἶνος –ου ὁ: wine
κιρνάω – – – – –: to mix
ἀργύρεος –α or –έη –ον: silver, of silver
νέμω νεμῶ ἔνειμα νενέμηκα νενέμημαι ἐνεμήθην: to distribute, assign, give out; to pasture or tend flocks; (mid.) to possess, enjoy, inhabit, feed upon, manage
χρύσεος –η –ον: golden, gold-inlaid
κύπελλον –ου τό: goblet, cup
φορέω φορέσω/φορήσω ἐφόρεσα/ἐφόρησα πεφόρηκα πεφόρημαι ἐφορήθην: to bear, carry
ἀνακαίω ἀνακαίσω ἀνέκαυσα: to light up
τρίπους –ποδος ὁ: tripod; three-footed, of or with three feet
ἰαίνω ἰανῶ ἴηνα – – ἰάνθην: to heat
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet 360
ζέω ζέσω ἔζεσα ἔζεσμαι ἐζέσθην: boil, seethe
ἦνοψ –οπος: gleaming, glittering
χαλκός –οῦ ὁ: bronze, copper, weapon
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
ἀσάμινθος –ου ἡ: a bathing-tub
ἵζω εἵσομαι εἷσα/ἵζησα ἵζηκα: to take a seat, sit down; cause to take a seat
λούω λούσομαι ἔλουσα λέλουμαι: to wash; (mid.) to wash myself, bathe
τρίπους –ποδος ὁ: tripod; three-footed, of or with three feet
θυμαρής –ές: pleasing, to one's liking
κεραννύω/κεράννυμι κερῶ ἐκέρασα κεκέρακα κέκραμαι ἐκεράσθην/ἐκράθην: to mix, mingle
κράς –ατός τό: head, top, highest point
ὦμος ὤμου ὁ: shoulder
ὄφρα: while; until; so that; ὄφρα … τόφρα, while … for so long
κάματος –ου ὁ: fatigue, exhaustion; effort
θυμοφθόρος –ον: destroying the soul, life-destroying
γυῖον –ου τό: only pl., joints
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
λούω λούσομαι ἔλουσα λέλουμαι: to wash; (mid.) to wash myself, bathe
χρίω χρίσω ἔχρισα κέχρικα κέχριμαι ἐχρίσθην: to rub, anoint
λίπα: richly, plentifully, generously
ἔλαιον –ου τό: olive-oil
χλαῖνα –ης ἡ: cloak, mantle 365
ἠδέ: and
χιτών –ῶνος ὁ: inner garment
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
θρόνος –ου ὁ: arm-chair
ἀργυρόηλος –ον: silver-studded
δαιδάλεος –α –ον: artistically crafted
θρῆνυς –υος ἡ: a footstool
χέρνιψ –ιβος ἡ: water for washing the hands
ἀμφίπολος –ου ἡ: female attendant, handmaid
πρόχοος –ου ὁ/ἡ: a pitcher
ἐπιχέω ἐπιχέω ἐπέχεα ἐπικέχυκα ἐπικέχυμαι ἐπεχύθην: to pour water over
χρύσεος –η –ον: golden, gold-inlaid
ἀργύρεος –α or –έη –ον: silver, of silver
λέβης –ητος ὁ: a kettle
νίζω νίψω ἔνιψα ––– νένιμμαι ἐνίφθην: to wash the hands 370
ξεστός –ή –όν: smoothed, polished, wrought
τανύω τανύσω ἐτάνυσα – τετάνυσμαι ἐτανύσθην: to stretch, extend, lie (in a geographical sense); to set up
τράπεζα –ης ἡ: table; dinner
σῖτος –ου ὁ: grain; bread
αἰδοῖος –α –ον: respectable, venerable; respectful
ταμίη –ης ἡ: a housekeeper
παρατίθημι παραθήσω παρέθηκα παρατέθηκα ––– παρετέθην: to place beside, provide, set before
εἶδαρ –ατος τό: food
ἐπιτίθημι ἐπιθήσω ἐπέθηκα ἐπιτέθηκα ––– ἐπετέθην: to lay/put upon, set up, apply oneself
χαρίζομαι χαρίσομαι ἐχαρισάμην κεχάρισμαι ––– ἐχαρίσθην: to do a kindness, favor, gratify, give freely
ἔσθω φαγήσω/ἔδομαι ἔφαγον ἐδήδοκα ἐδήδεμαι/ἐδήδεσμαι ἠδέσθην: to eat
ἁνδάνω ἁδήσω ἅδον/ἕαδον ἅδηκα/ἕαδα: to please, delight, gratify
ἧμαι (or κάθημαι) ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: sit
ἀλλοφρονέω – – – – –: to think of other things, to give no heed
ὄσσομαι – – – – –: to see
νοέω νοοῦμαι ––– ––– ––– –––: perceive, observe, think 375
ἧμαι (or κάθημαι) ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: sit
σῖτος –ου ὁ: grain; bread
ἰάλλω ἰαλῶ ἴηλα ––– ––– –––: to throw, hurl, fling
κρατερός –ά –όν: strong, powerful, mighty
πένθος –ους τό: grief, sadness, sorrow
ἄγχι: near
παρίστημι παρήσω παρέστησα (or παρέστην) παρέστηκα παρέσταμαι παρεστάθην: to stand by or near
πτερόεις πτερόεσσα πτερόεν: winged
προσαυδάω προσαυδήσω προσηύδησα προσηύδηκα προσηύδημαι προσηυδήθην: to speak to, address, accost
τίπτε: why? (τί ποτε)
Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
ἕζομαι – – – – –: to sit down
ἄναυδος –ον: speechless, silent
ἔδω ἔδομαι ἤδα ἔδηδα ἐδήδοται ἠδέσθην: to eat
βρώμη –ης ἡ: food
ἅπτω ἅψω ἧψα ––– ἧμμαι ἥφθην: to fasten; to kindle; (mid.) to touch (+ gen.)
ποτής –ῆτος ἡ: a drinking, drink
δόλος –ου ὁ: scheme, plot, deception, trickery 380
δείδω δείσομαι ἔδεισα δέδοικα (or δίδια) ––– –––: to fear
ἀπόμνυμι ἀπομοῦμαι/ἀπομόσω ἀπώμοσα ἀπομώμοκα – ἀπωμόθην/ἀπωμόσθην: to take an oath to not do something swear off, deny with an oath
καρτερός –ά –όν : strong; fierce
ὅρκος –ου ὁ: oath
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ἀμείβω ἀμείψω ἤμειψα ἤμειφα ἤμειμμαι ἠμείφθην: to respond, answer; to exchange; (mid.) to take turns, alternate; to change, place, pass
προσεῖπον (aor. 2 of προσαγορεύω and προσφωνέω); Εp. προσέειπον: to speak to one, address, accost
ἐναίσιμος –ον: fateful (bringing omens); just, righteous
τλάω τλήσομαι ἔτλην τέτληκα –––– ––––: to tolerate, endure, resist; to dare; to have the courage (+ infin.); (part.) τετληώς
πατέομαι πάσομαι ἐπασάμην πέπασμαι: to eat
ἐδητύς –ύος ἡ: meat, food
ἠδέ: and
ποτής –ῆτος ἡ: a drinking, drink
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion 385
πρόφρων –ον: kindly-spirited, well-intentioned; ready for action, purposefully, intentionally
ἔφαγον (aor. with no pres. in use): to eat, devour
ἐρίηρος –ον: faithful, devoted, trusty
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion