"ὣς ἐφάμην, ὁ δέ μ᾽ αὐτίκ᾽ ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπε·

‘μὴ δή μοι θάνατόν γε παραύδα, φαίδιμ᾽ Ὀδυσσεῦ.

βουλοίμην κ᾽ ἐπάρουρος ἐὼν θητευέμεν ἄλλῳ,

ἀνδρὶ παρ᾽ ἀκλήρῳ, ᾧ μὴ βίοτος πολὺς εἴη,490

ἢ πᾶσιν νεκύεσσι καταφθιμένοισιν ἀνάσσειν.

ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε μοι τοῦ παιδὸς ἀγαυοῦ μῦθον ἐνίσπες,

ἢ ἕπετ᾽ ἐς πόλεμον πρόμος ἔμμεναι, ἦε καὶ οὐκί.

εἰπὲ δέ μοι Πηλῆος ἀμύμονος, εἴ τι πέπυσσαι,

ἢ ἔτ᾽ ἔχει τιμὴν πολέσιν μετὰ Μυρμιδόνεσσιν,495

ἦ μιν ἀτιμάζουσιν ἀν᾽ Ἑλλάδα τε Φθίην τε,

οὕνεκά μιν κατὰ γῆρας ἔχει χεῖράς τε πόδας τε.

οὐ γὰρ ἐγὼν ἐπαρωγὸς ὑπ᾽ αὐγὰς ἠελίοιο,

τοῖος ἐών, οἷός ποτ᾽ ἐνὶ Τροίῃ εὐρείῃ

πέφνον λαὸν ἄριστον, ἀμύνων Ἀργείοισιν·500

εἰ τοιόσδ᾽ ἔλθοιμι μίνυνθά περ ἐς πατέρος δῶ·

τῷ κέ τεῳ στύξαιμι μένος καὶ χεῖρας ἀάπτους,

οἳ κεῖνον βιόωνται ἐέργουσίν τ᾽ ἀπὸ τιμῆς.’

ὣς ἔφατ᾽, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ μιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπον·

‘ἦ τοι μὲν Πηλῆος ἀμύμονος οὔ τι πέπυσμαι,505

αὐτάρ τοι παιδός γε Νεοπτολέμοιο φίλοιο

πᾶσαν ἀληθείην μυθήσομαι, ὥς με κελεύεις·

αὐτὸς γάρ μιν ἐγὼ κοίλης ἐπὶ νηὸς ἐίσης

ἤγαγον ἐκ Σκύρου μετ᾽ ἐυκνήμιδας Ἀχαιούς.

ἦ τοι ὅτ᾽ ἀμφὶ πόλιν Τροίην φραζοίμεθα βουλάς,510

αἰεὶ πρῶτος ἔβαζε καὶ οὐχ ἡμάρτανε μύθων·

Νέστωρ ἀντίθεος καὶ ἐγὼ νικάσκομεν οἴω.

αὐτὰρ ὅτ᾽ ἐν πεδίῳ Τρώων μαρναίμεθ᾽ Ἀχαιοί,

οὔ ποτ᾽ ἐνὶ πληθυῖ μένεν ἀνδρῶν οὐδ᾽ ἐν ὁμίλῳ,

ἀλλὰ πολὺ προθέεσκε τὸ ὃν μένος οὐδενὶ εἴκων,515

πολλοὺς δ᾽ ἄνδρας ἔπεφνεν ἐν αἰνῇ δηιοτῆτι.

πάντας δ᾽ οὐκ ἂν ἐγὼ μυθήσομαι οὐδ᾽ ὀνομήνω,

ὅσσον λαὸν ἔπεφνεν ἀμύνων Ἀργείοισιν,

ἀλλ᾽ οἷον τὸν Τηλεφίδην κατενήρατο χαλκῷ,

ἥρω᾽ Εὐρύπυλον, πολλοὶ δ᾽ ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν ἑταῖροι520

Κήτειοι κτείνοντο γυναίων εἵνεκα δώρων.

κεῖνον δὴ κάλλιστον ἴδον μετὰ Μέμνονα δῖον.

αὐτὰρ ὅτ᾽ εἰς ἵππον κατεβαίνομεν, ὃν κάμ᾽ Ἐπειός,

Ἀργείων οἱ ἄριστοι, ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἐπὶ πάντα τέταλτο,

ἠμὲν ἀνακλῖναι πυκινὸν λόχον ἠδ᾽ ἐπιθεῖναι,525

ἔνθ᾽ ἄλλοι Δαναῶν ἡγήτορες ἠδὲ μέδοντες

δάκρυά τ᾽ ὠμόργνυντο τρέμον θ᾽ ὑπὸ γυῖα ἑκάστου·

κεῖνον δ᾽ οὔ ποτε πάμπαν ἐγὼν ἴδον ὀφθαλμοῖσιν

οὔτ᾽ ὠχρήσαντα χρόα κάλλιμον οὔτε παρειῶν

δάκρυ ὀμορξάμενον· ὁ δέ γε μάλα πόλλ᾽ ἱκέτευεν530

ἱππόθεν ἐξέμεναι, ξίφεος δ᾽ ἐπεμαίετο κώπην

καὶ δόρυ χαλκοβαρές, κακὰ δὲ Τρώεσσι μενοίνα.

ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ Πριάμοιο πόλιν διεπέρσαμεν αἰπήν,

μοῖραν καὶ γέρας ἐσθλὸν ἔχων ἐπὶ νηὸς ἔβαινεν

ἀσκηθής, οὔτ᾽ ἂρ βεβλημένος ὀξέι χαλκῷ535

οὔτ᾽ αὐτοσχεδίην οὐτασμένος, οἷά τε πολλὰ

γίγνεται ἐν πολέμῳ: ἐπιμὶξ δέ τε μαίνεται Ἄρης.’

    Odysseus meets the ghost of Achilles, who asks about his father Peleus and his son Neoptolemus. Odysseus says he knows nothing of the former, then praises the latter for his bravery.

    Achilles’s reply is characteristically blunt:

    read full essay

    "μὴ δή μοι θάνατόν γε παραύδα, φαίδιμ᾽ Ὀδυσσεῦ. 
    βουλοίμην κ᾽ ἐπάρουρος ἐὼν θητευέμεν ἄλλῳ, 
    ἀνδρὶ παρ᾽ ἀκλήρῳ, ᾧ μὴ βίοτος πολὺς εἴη, 
    ἢ πᾶσιν νεκύεσσι καταφθιμένοισιν ἀνάσσειν."

    "Don’t console me for being dead, shining Odysseus. 
    I would rather follow a plow, a serf for another man, 
    who is allotted no land and has little to live on, 
    than to rule as king over all the wasted dead."

    Odyssey 11.488–91

    This is another man entirely than the one in the Iliad who chooses glory over a long life, who strives always to have the highest status, willing to let his fellow Greek warriors die in his absence rather than back down to Agamemnon. Now, he yearns for life at any cost. The Achilles of the Iliad values his τιμή, the honor given him by others that certifies his status among his peers, above all else. Now, he would gladly sink to the lowest rung on the social ladder, that of a day laborer working for a tenant farmer who owns no land. (A slave, though owned by another, is at least a part of a household.)

    That Achilles would rather not be dead is hardly surprising—wouldn’t we all?—but the pointed rhetoric of his speech prompts further thought about the fit between a hero and the story he inhabits. Like the bitter reflections of Agamemnon, Achilles’s words here signal the dominant message of this katabasis, the superiority of Odysseus’s particular kind of heroism. He, not his former comrades, not even the great Achilles, is the hero this story needs. We are accustomed to describing famous characters in the Homeric epics as if their attitudes and behavior were consistent across both works: Achilles is always passionate in pursuit of what he thinks he deserves, regardless of the effects of his actions on himself and others; Odysseus exemplifies intelligent caution and self-restraint, in the service of manipulating others. But in fact, the portraits of both heroes in their respective poems reflect the interplay of those traits with the dominant rhetoric of each epic. The form of the story influences how characters, even the most famous ones, behave in it.

    Achilles in the underworld reflects this interplay, valorizing with his speech the dominant values of the poem. Likewise, the version of Odysseus we find in the Iliad is not the man we’ve been prompted to admire in the Odyssey as he plots his homecoming. He is noted for his speech-making (Il.3.204-24) and takes part in a secret night raid in Book 10, but elsewhere he is honored for the same martial qualities as his fellow warriors. Faced with the prospect of imminent death at the hands of the Trojans, he ponders:

    "ὤ μοι ἐγὼ τί πάθω; μέγα μὲν κακὸν αἴ κε φέβωμαι 
    πληθὺν ταρβήσας: τὸ δὲ ῥίγιον αἴ κεν ἁλώω 
    μοῦνος: τοὺς δ᾽ ἄλλους Δαναοὺς ἐφόβησε Κρονίων. 
    ἀλλὰ τί ἤ μοι ταῦτα φίλος διελέξατο θυμός; 
    οἶδα γὰρ ὅττι κακοὶ μὲν ἀποίχονται πολέμοιο, 
    ὃς δέ κ᾽ ἀριστεύῃσι μάχῃ ἔνι τὸν δὲ μάλα χρεὼ. 
    ἑστάμεναι κρατερῶς, ἤ τ᾽ ἔβλητ᾽ ἤ τ᾽ ἔβαλ᾽ ἄλλον."

    "Alas, what will happen to me? A great evil if I should flee 
    in fear of the enemy throng; but worse still if I am taken 
    alone. The son of Kronos has routed the rest of the Danaans. 
    But why does my heart within me debate these things? 
    For I know that cowards run from the fighting, 
    but he who would win honor in battle must 
    stand his ground strongly, whether he be struck or strike down another."

    Iliad 11.404–11

    This monologue is one of four in the Iliad that follow the same basic pattern (see also Il. 17.91–105; 21.553–570; 22.99–130). A soldier faces the prospect of imminent death on the battlefield at the hands of the Trojans. He pauses to weigh his options: Should he run and live to fight another day, or stand and fight, preferring an honorable death to the shame of being branded a coward? The common language in all four speeches is the opening exclamation, ὤ μοι ἐγὼ(ν), and the phrase ἀλλὰ τί ἤ μοι ταῦτα φίλος διελέξατο θυμός, when the speaker breaks off his rumination and resolves to either run or stand firm. The most famous by far of the four is the last, Hector’s monologue before the walls of Troy, as Achilles bears down on him relentlessly across the plain. Those anguished reflections could be taken as a supreme example of the warrior’s code in the Iliad, as far from the cautious calculations of Odysseus in the Odyssey as can be imagined.

    Like Agamemnon, Achilles turns away from painful reflection about his powerlessness by asking about his son and father, both emblems of his masculine power. Their survival guarantees the continuation of his kleos. Thinking about Peleus leads him, however, to dark thoughts about his father’s own possible powerlessness before the attacks of his enemies. Is the old man still honored in Thessaly, or is he suffering because his son is not there to protect him? These gloomy thoughts recall verses from Achilles’s great speech to Priam in Iliad 24:

    "ὣς μὲν καὶ Πηλῆϊ θεοὶ δόσαν ἀγλαὰ δῶρα 
    ἐκ γενετῆς: πάντας γὰρ ἐπ᾽ ἀνθρώπους ἐκέκαστο 
    ὄλβῳ τε πλούτῳ τε, ἄνασσε δὲ Μυρμιδόνεσσι, 
    καί οἱ θνητῷ ἐόντι θεὰν ποίησαν ἄκοιτιν. 
    ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ καὶ τῷ θῆκε θεὸς κακόν, ὅττί οἱ οὔ τι 
    παίδων ἐν μεγάροισι γονὴ γένετο κρειόντων, 
    ἀλλ᾽ ἕνα παῖδα τέκεν παναώριον: οὐδέ νυ τόν γε 
    γηράσκοντα κομίζω, ἐπεὶ μάλα τηλόθι πάτρης 
    ἧμαι ἐνὶ Τροίῃ, σέ τε κήδων ἠδὲ σὰ τέκνα."

    "So the gods gave splendid gifts also to Peleus 
    from his birth, for he stood out among all men 
    in wealth and good fortune, and ruled over the Myrmidons, 
    and the gods gave him a divine wife, though was mortal. 
    But they also put evil upon him, because no 
    generation of strong children was born to him in his halls, 
    only one child, doomed to an untimely death. And I do not 
    care for him as he grows old, since far away from my fatherland 
    I sit in Troy, troubling you and your children."

    Iliad 24.534–42

    In the Iliad, Achilles’s concern for Peleus is evidence of his movement toward accepting his own mortality, the goal he must reach to be made whole on the poem’s terms. He has been led to thinking about his father by Priam, who urges him to see the parallels between himself and Peleus, two old men who have lost the protection of their sons, and thus show compassion toward him. The context in the Odyssey is different. Achilles’s worry is part of his sorrow over losing his own power, and compassion for others carries little weight in his lament.

    Odysseus has no news of Peleus but delivers a lengthy encomium to Achilles’s son Neoptolemus. Handsome, brave, and a ruthlessly effective killer of Trojans, he was the best speaker among the Greeks after Nestor and Odysseus himself. The praise ends with an anecdote about the Trojan horse, as Odysseus recalls how Neoptolemus agitated to be released from the horse’s belly, so he could kill more Trojans. What goes unsaid is that the success of that gambit depended on Odysseus restraining Neoptolemus’s impetuous urges. There, as everywhere in the Odyssey, self-control is the key to victory, not unrestrained emotion. Odysseus, not Achilles.

     

    Further Reading

    Clay, J. 1983. The Wrath of Athena: Gods and Men in the Odyssey, 96–112. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Edwards, A.T. 1985. Achilles in the Odyssey. Beitrage zur klassischen Philologie 171.

    Pache, C.O. 2000. “War Games: Odysseus at Troy.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 100, 15–23.

     

    488  μοι θάνατόν γε παραύδα: imperat. >παραυδάω, "to speak consoling words to (dative of person) concerning (accusative of respect)." See Cunliffe παραυδάω 2.

    489  βουλοίμην κ᾽: potential optative (with ἄν/κε) used as an optative of wish (Smyth 1827).

    489  θητευέμεν: infin.

    489  ἄλλῳ: dative of interest.

    490  παρ(ά): “for,” with dative.

    490  ᾧ … εἴη: dative of possession in a conditional relative clause.

    490  βίοτος: “sustenance," rather than simply "life." 

    491  καταφθιμένοισι: “perished” (pleonastic with νεκύεσσι).

    491  ἀνάσσειν: takes a dative object.

    492  παιδὸς: i.e., Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles.

    492  ἐνίσπες: aor. sing. imperat. > ἐνέπω.

    493  ἕπετ(αι): supply μοι as the dative object.

    493  ἔμμεναι: = εἶναι, infinitive of result (Smyth 2011a).

    494  Πηλῆος ἀμύμονος: partitive gen., after τι (“something of…”).

    494  πέπυσσαι: 2nd pf. mid. > πυνθάνομαι.

    495  πολέσιν: = πολλοῖς.

    496  ἀν(ά): “throughout.”

    497  οὕνεκα: “since.”

    497  κατὰ … ἔχει: tmesis > κατέχω.

    499  τοῖος ἐὼν οἷός: “such as I was…”

    500  πέφνον: “slew,” > *φένω (LSJ θείνω II).

    500  Ἀργείοισιν: dative with ἀμύνων (“giving protection to,” “defending”).

    501  τοιόσδ(ε): "as such a man," in apposition with the first person subject of the verb ἔλθοιμι.

    501  εἰ … ἔλθοιμι, κε … στύξαιμι: future less vivid conditional.

    501  μίνυνθά περ: “even for a little while.” 

    501  δῶ: = δῶμα.

    502  τῷ: “then,” “under those circumstances.”

    502  τεῳ: “to anyone,” = τινι, indefinite pronoun.

    502  στύξαιμι μένος καὶ χείρας ἀάπτους: "I would make my strength and invincible hands hateful ..." The verb στυγέω in the sigmatic aorist, as here, means "to make (accusative) hateful to (dative)."

    503  οἳ: plural relative pronoun with singular antecedent τεῳ (Smyth 2502b).

    505  answering line 494.

    508  ἐΐσης: “balanced.”

    510  ὅτ´ … φραζοίμεθα βουλάς: “whenever we took counsel,” general temporal clause.

    512  νικάσκομεν: “used to surpass,” unaugmented iterative impf.

    512  οἴω: “alone,” dual > οἶος.

    513  ὅτ᾽ … μαρναίμεθ᾽: general temporal clause.

    514  μένεν: unaugmented impf.

    515  προθέεσκε:  “would run forward,” unaugmented iterative impf.

    515  τὸ ὃν: “his.”

    517  οὐκ ἂν ἐγὼ μυθήσομαι οὐδ᾽ ὀνομήνω: in Homer, ἄν (or κεν) + subj. is occasionally used in place of the future indicative in independent sentence (Monro 326; Smyth 1813). Compare with line 328.

    519  οἷον: “how,” indirect question.

    520  κτείνοντο: unaugmented impf. pass.

    521  γυναίων εἵνεκα δώρων: according to some ancient sources, Priam sent gifts to Eurypylus’s mother to bribe her into sending her son to fight at Troy.

    522  μετ(ά): “after,” “second only to.”

    522  Μέμνονα: Memon was an Ethiopian king who fought on the side of the Trojans.

    523  ἵππον: i.e., the wooden horse.

    523  κάμ(ε): “labored over,” = ἔκαμε, unaugmented 3rd sing. aor. > κάμνω.

    524  ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἐπι … ἐτέταλτο: “had been assigned to me.”

    524  ἐπι … ἐτέταλτο: tmesis, 3rd sing. plupf. pass. > ἐπιτέλλω.

    524  πάντ᾽: πάντα, neuter plural nominative subject of the singular verb ἐπιτέλλω.

    525  ἀνακλῖναι … ἐπιθεῖναι: either “to open … to close” (the usual meaning of the verbs, typically with reference to a door), or (following Cunliffe) “to delay … to set in motion” the ambush (λόχον, the actual object of the infinitives). The infinitives explain πάντα in 524. Stanford says this line has long been suspected of being "an inept interpolation" of Iliad 5.751. The meaning seems to be that Odysseus's job is to open and close the door of the wooden horse, thereby initiating the ambush.

    527  τρέμον: = ἔτρεμον, unaugmented 3rd pl. impf. The subject is γυῖα.

    527  ὑπὸ … ἑκάστου: “beneath each man.”

    529  χρόα κάλλιμον: accusative of respect.

    529  παρειῶν: “from his cheeks,” genitive of separation.

    530  μάλα πόλλ(ά): “very often.”

    530  ἱκέτευεν: “was begging.”

    531  ἐξέμεναι: "to go out from," infin. > ἔξειμι.

    531  ἐπεμαίετο κώπην: “kept touching the hilt.”

    535  βεβλημένος: “struck,” pf. pass. ptc. > βάλλω.

    536  αὐτοσχεδίην: “in hand-to-hand (combat),” accusative of respect.

    536  οἷά τε πολλὰ: “such as often…” The τε is the untranslatable epic τε (Smyth 2970).

    537  τε: the "gnomic τε" marking a generalizing or proverbial statement (Monro 332).

    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

    παραυδάω παραυδήσω παρηύδησα παρηύδηκα παρηύδημαι παρηυδήθην: to address so as to console

    φαίδιμος –ον: shining

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

    ἐπάρουρος –ον: attached to the soil

    θητεύω θητεύσω ἐθήτευσα: to be a serf

    ἄκληρος –ον: without much land, poor 490

    βίοτος –ου ὁ: life, sustenance, livelihood

    νέκυς –υος τό: dead body, corpse

    καταφθίω καταφθίσω κατέφθισα κατέφθικα κατέφθιμαι: to ruin, destroy; (pass.) to perish, die

    ἀνάσσω ἀνάξω ἤναξα: to be king, lord, or master of, rule over, reign

    ἄγε: come! come on! well!

    ἀγαυός –ή –όν: illustrious, noble

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

    ἐνέπω ἐνισπήσω/ἐνίψω ἔνισπον ––– ––– –––: to tell, tell of, relate, describe

    πρόμος –ου ὁ: the foremost man

    Πηλεύς –έως ὁ: Peleus, son of Aeacus

    ἀμύμων –ον: blameless, noble, excellent

    Μυρμιδόνες –ων οἱ: Myrmidons 495

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

    ἀτιμάζω ἀτιμάσω ἠτίμασα ἠτίμακα ἠτίμασμαι ἠτιμάσθην: to fail to honor, dishonor

    Ἕλλας –αδος ἡ: Greece

    Φθία –ας ἡ: Phthia in Thessaly, the home of Achilles

    οὕνεκα: on account of which, wherefore

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

    γῆρας –ως τό: old age

    ἐπαρωγός –οῦ ὁ: a helper, aider

    αὐγή –ῆς ἡ: the light of the sun, sunlight

    τοῖος –α –ον: quality, such, such-like

    Τροίη –ης ἡ: Troy

    εὐρύς –εῖα –ύ: broad

    φένω ––– ἔπεφνον: to strike, wound; slay 500

    ἀμύνω ἀμυνῶ ἤμυνα ἤμυκα ἤμυμαι ἠμύνηθην: to ward off, avert; to defend (+ dat. or gen.)

    Ἀργεῖος –η –ον: Argive, of or from Argos (Greece)

    μίνυνθα: a little, very little; a little while

    δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)

    τῷ: then, in that case; for this reason, thus

    στυγέω στυγήσω ἔστυγον σεστύγηκα σεστύγημαι ἐστυγήθην: hate

    μένος –ους τό: might

    ἄαπτος –ον: not to be touched, resistless, invincible

    βιάω βιώσομαι ἐβίωσα/ἐβίων βεβίωκα βεβίωμαι ἐβιώθην: to constrain

    ἔργω/εἴργω εἴρξω εἶρξα –– εἶργμαι εἴρχθην: to keep away from

    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

    τοι: let me tell you, surely 505

    Πηλεύς –έως ὁ: Peleus, son of Aeacus

    ἀμύμων –ον: blameless, noble, excellent

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet

    Νεοπτόλεμος –ου ὁ: Neoptolemus, ‘new-warrior’

    μυθέομαι μυθήσομαι μεμύθημαι ἐμυθήθην: speak or talk of, describe, explain, relate

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

    κοῖλος –η –ον: hollow

    ἔισος –η –ον: alike, equal

    Σκῦρος –ου ἡ: Scyros, an island northwest of Chios

    ἐϋκνήμις –ιδος: having lovely greaves

    Ἀχαιός –ά –όν: Achaean, Greek

    τοι: let me tell you, surely 510

    Τροίη –ης ἡ: Troy

    βάζω βάξω ἔβαξα: to speak, say

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

    Νέστωρ –ορος ὁ: Nestor, the aged king of Pylos, son of Neleus and Chloris

    ἀντίθεος –η –ον: godlike

    οἶος –α –ον: alone

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet

    πεδίον –ου τό: plain

    Τρώς Τρωός ὁ: Trojan

    μάρναμαι – – – – –: fight; contend, wrangle

    χαλκός –οῦ ὁ: bronze, copper, weapon

    πληθύς –ύος ἡ: fullness, a throng, a crowd

    ὅμιλος –ου ὁ: crowd

    προθέω προθεύσομαι ––– ––– ––– –––: run forward 515

    ἑός ἑή ἑόν: his, her, own

    μένος –ους τό: might

    εἴκω εἴκξω εἶξα ––– ––– –––: to yield (+ dat.)

    φένω ––– ἔπεφνον: to strike, wound; slay

    αἰνός –ή –όν: dread, grim

    δηιοτής –ῆτος ἡ: battle-strife, battle, death

    μυθέομαι μυθήσομαι μεμύθημαι ἐμυθήθην: speak or talk of, describe, explain, relate

    ὀνομαίνω οὐνομανῶ ὠνόμηνα: to name

    φένω ––– ἔπεφνον: to strike, wound; slay

    ἀμύνω ἀμυνῶ ἤμυνα ἤμυκα ἤμυμαι ἠμύνηθην: to ward off, avert; to defend (+ dat. or gen.)

    Ἀργεῖος –η –ον: Argive, of or from Argos (Greece)

    Τηλεφίδης –ου ὁ: Telephides, son of Telephus, Eurypylus

    κατεναίρομαι κατεναροῦμαι κατενηράμην ––– κατενῆρμαι κατενήρθην: to kill, slay, murder

    χαλκός –οῦ ὁ: bronze, copper, weapon

    ἥρως ἥρωος ὁ: hero, warrior 520

    Εὐρύπυλος –ου ὁ: Eurypylus, son of Euaemon

    ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion

    Κήτειοι –ων οἱ: Cetei, a people of Mysia

    κτείνω κτενῶ ἔκτεινα ἀπέκτονα ––– –––: kill

    γύναιος –α –ον: made to a woman

    δῶρον –ου τό: gift

    Μέμνων –ονος ὁ: Memnon

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet

    καταβαίνω καταβήσομαι κατέβην καταβέβηκα ––– –––: step down, go down

    κάμνω καμοῦμαι ἔκαμον κεκήμακα ––– –––: to build, make, produce; to toil, suffer; (mid.) to become exhausted, become worn out; (aor. plur. partic.) those who have been worn out, to be dead

    Ἐπειός –οῦ ὁ: Epeius, builder of the wooden horse; an Epeian

    Ἀργεῖος –η –ον: Argive, of or from Argos (Greece)

    ἐπιτέλλω ἐπέτειλα: to enjoin, lay command or order upon, charge, impose

    ἠμέν: both.. (and), as well.. (as) 525

    ἀνακλίνω ἀνακλινῶ ἀνέκλινα ἀνακέκλικα ἀνακέκλιμαι ἀνεκλίθην: to lean

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

    λόχος –ου ὁ: an ambush

    ἠδέ: and

    ἐπιτίθημι ἐπιθήσω ἐπέθηκα ἐπιτέθηκα ––– ἐπετέθην: to lay/put upon, set up, apply oneself

    Δαναοί –ῶν οἱ: the Danaans

    ἡγήτωρ –ορος ὁ: a leader, commander, chief

    ἠδέ: and

    μέδων –οντος ὁ: a guardian, lord

    δάκρυον –ου τό: a tear

    ὀμόργνυμι ὀμόρξω ὤμορξα: to wipe

    τρέμω ––– ––– τετρέμηκα ––– –––: to tremble

    γυῖον –ου τό: only pl., joints

    πάμπαν: quite, wholly, altogether

    ὠχράω ὠχρήσω ὤχρησα: to turn pale

    χρώς χρωτός ὁ: the surface of the body, the skin

    κάλλιμος –ον: beautiful

    παρειά –ᾶς ἡ: the cheek

    δάκρυον –ου τό: a tear 530

    ὀμόργνυμι ὀμόρξω ὤμορξα: to wipe

    ἱκετεύω ἱκετεύσω ἱκέτευσα ἱκέτευκα: to approach as a suppliant; to beg

    ἱππόθεν: forth from the horse

    ἔξειμι: to go out

    ξίφος –ους τό: sword

    ἐπιμαίομαι ἐπιμάσσομαι ἐπεμασσάμην: to seek (by hand), feel for, palpate, touch

    κώπη –ης ἡ: hilt, handle

    δόρυ δόρατος τό: spear; timber, beam (of a ship)

    χαλκοβαρής –ές: heavy with bronze

    Τρώς Τρωός ὁ: Trojan

    μενοινάω ––– μενοίνησα ––– ––– –––: to desire eagerly, to be bent on

    Πρίαμος –ου ὁ: Priam

    διαπέρθω διαπέρσω διέπερσα/διέπραθον: to destroy utterly, sack, lay waste

    αἰπός –ή –όν: high, lofty

    μοῖρα –ας ἡ: part, portion, lot, fate

    γέρας –ως τό: prize, privilege, sovereignty

    ἐσθλός –ή –όν: good

    ἀσκηθής –ές: unhurt, unharmed, unscathed 535

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

    χαλκός –οῦ ὁ: bronze, copper, weapon

    αὐτοσχέδιος [–α] –ον: hand to hand

    οὐτάζω οὐτάσω οὔτησα: to wound

    ἐπιμίξ: in confusion, indiscriminately

    μαίνομαι ἔμηνα μέμηνα ἐμάνην: to rage, be mad

    Ἄρης –εως ὁ: Ares

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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/xi-486-537