"ὣς ἔφατ᾽, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ μιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπον·

‘εἰ δ᾽ ἄγε δή μοι τοῦτο, θεά, νημερτὲς ἐνίσπες,

εἴ πως τὴν ὀλοὴν μὲν ὑπεκπροφύγοιμι Χάρυβδιν,

τὴν δέ κ᾽ ἀμυναίμην, ὅτε μοι σίνοιτό γ᾽ ἑταίρους.’

"ὣς ἐφάμην, ἡ δ᾽ αὐτίκ᾽ ἀμείβετο δῖα θεάων·115

‘σχέτλιε, καὶ δὴ αὖ τοι πολεμήια ἔργα μέμηλε

καὶ πόνος· οὐδὲ θεοῖσιν ὑπείξεαι ἀθανάτοισιν;

ἡ δέ τοι οὐ θνητή, ἀλλ᾽ ἀθάνατον κακόν ἐστι,

δεινόν τ᾽ ἀργαλέον τε καὶ ἄγριον οὐδὲ μαχητόν·

οὐδέ τις ἔστ᾽ ἀλκή· φυγέειν κάρτιστον ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς.120

ἢν γὰρ δηθύνῃσθα κορυσσόμενος παρὰ πέτρῃ,

δείδω, μή σ᾽ ἐξαῦτις ἐφορμηθεῖσα κίχῃσι

τόσσῃσιν κεφαλῇσι, τόσους δ᾽ ἐκ φῶτας ἕληται.

ἀλλὰ μάλα σφοδρῶς ἐλάαν, βωστρεῖν δὲ Κράταιιν,

μητέρα τῆς Σκύλλης, ἥ μιν τέκε πῆμα βροτοῖσιν·125

ἥ μιν ἔπειτ᾽ ἀποπαύσει ἐς ὕστερον ὁρμηθῆναι.

Θρινακίην δ᾽ ἐς νῆσον ἀφίξεαι· ἔνθα δὲ πολλαὶ

βόσκοντ᾽ Ἠελίοιο βόες καὶ ἴφια μῆλα,

ἑπτὰ βοῶν ἀγέλαι, τόσα δ᾽ οἰῶν πώεα καλά,

πεντήκοντα δ᾽ ἕκαστα. γόνος δ᾽ οὐ γίγνεται αὐτῶν,130

οὐδέ ποτε φθινύθουσι. θεαὶ δ᾽ ἐπιποιμένες εἰσίν,

νύμφαι ἐϋπλόκαμοι, Φαέθουσά τε Λαμπετίη τε,

ἃς τέκεν Ἠελίῳ Ὑπερίονι δῖα Νέαιρα.

τὰς μὲν ἄρα θρέψασα τεκοῦσά τε πότνια μήτηρ

Θρινακίην ἐς νῆσον ἀπῴκισε τηλόθι ναίειν,135

μῆλα φυλασσέμεναι πατρώια καὶ ἕλικας βοῦς.

τὰς εἰ μέν κ᾽ ἀσινέας ἐάᾳς νόστου τε μέδηαι,

ἦ τ᾽ ἂν ἔτ᾽ εἰς Ἰθάκην κακά περ πάσχοντες ἵκοισθε·

εἰ δέ κε σίνηαι, τότε τοι τεκμαίρομ᾽ ὄλεθρον,

νηί τε καὶ ἑτάροις· αὐτὸς δ᾽ εἴ πέρ κεν ἀλύξῃς,140

ὀψὲ κακῶς νεῖαι, ὀλέσας ἄπο πάντας ἑταίρους.’

ὣς ἔφατ᾽, αὐτίκα δὲ χρυσόθρονος ἤλυθεν Ἠώς.

ἡ μὲν ἔπειτ᾽ ἀνὰ νῆσον ἀπέστιχε δῖα θεάων·

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν ἐπὶ νῆα κιὼν ὤτρυνον ἑταίρους

αὐτούς τ᾽ ἀμβαίνειν ἀνά τε πρυμνήσια λῦσαι·145

οἱ δ᾽ αἶψ᾽ εἴσβαινον καὶ ἐπὶ κληῖσι καθῖζον.

ἑξῆς δ᾽ ἑζόμενοι πολιὴν ἅλα τύπτον ἐρετμοῖς.

ἡμῖν δ᾽ αὖ κατόπισθε νεὸς κυανοπρῴροιο

ἴκμενον οὖρον ἵει πλησίστιον, ἐσθλὸν ἑταῖρον,

Κίρκη ἐυπλόκαμος, δεινὴ θεὸς αὐδήεσσα.150

αὐτίκα δ᾽ ὅπλα ἕκαστα πονησάμενοι κατὰ νῆα

ἥμεθα· τὴν δ᾽ ἄνεμός τε κυβερνήτης τ᾽ ἴθυνε.

    Circe warns Odysseus about harming the Cattle of the Sun, then sends the Greeks on their way.

    Odysseus is not inclined to take Circe’s advice and resign himself to losing six of his crew. Couldn’t Circe tell him how to avoid Charybdis while keeping Skylla from killing any of his men? As she did when exclaiming over the return of the crew from Hades, Circe calls Odysseus σχέτλιε (116; cf., 12.21), the meaning of which ranges from “cruel” to “stubborn,” “enduring.” As Circe uses it here, the word seems to signal disapproval mixed with a certain grudging admiration.

    read full essay

    Despite Athena’s description of him as “sweet” (5.9, 12), when we see him at work in the story, Odysseus is seldom kind. What sparks admiration in others is rather his fierce determination to survive, to never give up. The tone of Circe’s response here is affectionate: “you won’t even back down from gods, you stubborn rascal.” Athena will sound the same way when she confronts him on Ithaka, admiring the way he lies to her (13.288–95). In both cases, the goddesses exhibit feelings toward Odysseus that smack of a mother’s exasperated love for her difficult son. This role for Athena is not new in the poem, but we note that Circe has come some distance from the would-be dominatrix of Book 10. Though Antikleia is dead, others step forward to look after the hero. (We may include Calypso in this category. She takes the same tone with Odysseus after he refuses her offer of immortality, though using different adjectives (5.180–83).)

    Thrinakia will be next, another test of the crew’s self-control. We have known since the poem’s opening verses that they will fail:

    πολλὰ δ᾽ ὅ γ᾽ ἐν πόντῳ πάθεν ἄλγεα ὃν κατὰ θυμόν, 
    ἀρνύμενος ἥν τε ψυχὴν καὶ νόστον ἑταίρων. 
    ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ὣς ἑτάρους ἐρρύσατο, ἱέμενός περ: 
    αὐτῶν γὰρ σφετέρῃσιν ἀτασθαλίῃσιν ὄλοντο, 
    νήπιοι, οἳ κατὰ βοῦς Ὑπερίονος Ἠελίοιο 
    ἤσθιον: αὐτὰρ ὁ τοῖσιν ἀφείλετο νόστιμον ἦμαρ.

    Many pains he suffered in his heart on the sea, 
    trying to protect his own life and the homecoming of his companions. 
    But he could not save his comrades, though he tried: 
    for they perished through their own blind folly, 
    fools, who ate the cattle of Helios, Hyperion’s son; 
    and he took away their homecoming day.

    Odyssey 1.4–9

    No suspense about the outcome of this encounter then, but the details of the episode signal its place in the larger plan of the poem. The first thing to notice is that the herd of cattle, at least, is all cows (πολλαὶ…βόες, 127–28) and their shepherds are also female. (The flocks of sheep do not figure in this recurring motif. The Greek sailors will eat only cattle.) Once again, we see the poet building his story by drawing on a recurring narrative pattern: Odysseus penetrating a feminized milieu and effecting his own rebirth from oblivion, in this case a place characterized by timeless immortality, like Ogygia. The series begins on Calypso’s island with Hermes in the role of male visitor, but thereafter Odysseus takes over, on Scheria, in the cave of Polyphemus, in the lair of Circe, and finally, in his own palace. The feminized nature of each place is marked variously, but the pattern remains the same.

    The obvious sexual imagery implied in the motif will be particularly resonant in this episode. The herds of Helios, we’re told, never vary in number. Circe tells Odysseus to sail on by Thrinakia and no wonder: no births—or rebirths—allowed. Ithaka will present a yet more intense version of this potential conflict between generation and stasis. Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, will penetrate the precincts of his own palace, which is without the guidance of masculine authority and subject to the awakening intelligence of Penelope, then eventually effect his own rebirth as king, husband, father, and son. At the same time, it becomes clear that the kingdom Athena wants to restore in Ithaka is one founded on the insistence that everything that existed before Odysseus left for Troy can be brought back again. Odysseus can rule in his family and his kingdom just as he once did. But the pressures for change are also powerful, Telemachus’ growth into manhood and maybe even Penelope’s taking of a new husband. The tension from these competing movements permeates the last six books of the poem.

    Dawn comes and Circe leaves with no apparent ceremony. The rest of the episode features familiar traditional language, as Odysseus and crew launch their ship and head out to sea. This seems a remarkably quiet end to the momentous interlude that began in Book 10. Circe’s last gesture is from afar:

    "ἡμῖν δ᾽ αὖ κατόπισθε νεὸς κυανοπρῴροιο 
    ἴκμενον οὖρον ἵει πλησίστιον, ἐσθλὸν ἑταῖρον, 
    Κίρκη ἐυπλόκαμος, δεινὴ θεὸς αὐδήεσσα."

    "But for us from behind the dark-prowed ship 
    Circe with lovely hair, dread goddess with human speech, 
    sent a following wind, an excellent companion, filling the sails."

    Odyssey 12.148–50

    These verses repeat verbatim the send-off Circe gives to the crew when they head for Hades (11.5–7), marking the boundaries of the katabasis.

    Circe will not appear again, and we should pause to admire the way the poet has used her mysterious presence to enliven and structure this part of his story. In creating his Circe, Homer modulates deftly through a series of mythical archetypes. When we first meet her, she exudes the dangerous, unchecked female sexuality that we have seen in Calypso. Her transformation of the first scouting party into pigs makes concrete the threats associated with the nymph in Book 5: emasculation, loss of personal autonomy and identity, subservience to female power. After the intervention of Hermes, she turns from a frightening witch into both a willing but subservient sexual partner and a nurturing, almost maternal presence. From then on, she plays the role of a boundary figure like Siduri in the Epic of Gilgamesh, marking the crew’s entrance and exit from the Underworld. By advising Odysseus about what awaits him in Hades, she resonates with what in a tragic narrative would be an anima figure, a female guide to the mysterious darkness awaiting the Greeks, a figure realized more fully in the Sibyl of Book 6 of Vergil’s Aeneid. We trace the various sources for the character of Circe by thumbing through our mythological dictionaries and scholarly commentaries. That the poet of the Odyssey could marshal this rich and varied tradition so seamlessly to tell his story is one measure of the unfathomable mystery of the poem’s creative power.

     

    Further Reading

    Dimock, G. 1989. The Unity of the Odyssey, 171–174. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.

    Morrison, J. 2003. A Companion to Homer’s Odyssey, 115–116. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    Page, D. 1973. Folktales in Homer’s Odyssey, 78–83. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Van Nortwick, T. 2008. The Unknown Odysseus: Alternate Worlds in Homer’s Odyssey, 61–62. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

     

    112  εἰ δ᾽ ἄγε: “come now!” (Smyth 2348).

    112  τοῦτο: the object of ἐνίσπες.

    112  ἐνίσπες: 2nd sing. imperat. > ἔνέπω.

    113  εἴ … ὑπεκπροφύγοιμι: indirect question, introduced by ἐνίσπες, with potential optative, in apposition to τοῦτο ("say this, if ...").

    114  κ᾽ ἀμυναίμην: “might ward off,” potential optative. The object of the verb is τὴν, “that (other) one” (i.e., Scylla).

    115  δῖα θεάων: "(most) radiant of goddesses," with a partitive genitive. The adjective has a superlative force (LSJ δῖος I.1).

    116  καὶ δὴ αὖ: “once again” (Smyth 2845).

    116  τοι … μέμηλε: “have become your concern” ( > μέλω + dat.), with neuter plural subject.

    117  ὑπείξεαι: 2nd sing. fut. mid. ( > ὑπείκω).

    118  : i.e., Scylla.

    121  ἢν … δηθύνῃσθα: ἐάν + subj.. The conditional is a future more vivid, and the tense of the verb in the apodosis (δείδω) is a “present of anticipation” (Smyth 1879, 2326b).

    121  κορυσσόμενος: “arming yourself.”

    122  κίχῃσι: 3rd sing. pres. subj., in a clause of fearing.

    123  τόσσῃσιν: “with so many …”

    123  ἐκ … ἕληται: tmesis, aor. subj. > ἐξαιρέω, in a clause of fearing.

    124  ἐλάαν: infin. > ἐλαύνω, used as an imperative.

    124  βωστρεῖν: infin., used as an imperative.

    125 πῆμα: "as a cause of suffering," in apposition to μιν.

    126  ἀποπαύσει: παύω (ἀποπαύω) + infin. means “to prevent (acc.) from doing something (infin.)” (Smyth 2140).

    126  ἐς ὕστερον: “again," "a second time.”

    135  ναίειν: infinitive of purpose.

    136  φυλασσέμεναι: infinitive of purpose.

    137  εἰ ..κ᾽ … ἐάᾳς … τε μέδηαι, / … ἂν … ἵκοισθε: mixed conditional. The protasis, ἐάν (εἰ κε) + subj., belongs to a future more vivid, while the apodosis, ἄν + opt., belongs to a future less vivid.

    137  ἐάᾳς: pres. subj. > ἐάω. The verb takes an object and a predicate accusative.

    137  μέδηαι: 2nd sing. pres. subj. > μέδομαι, with genitive object.

    139  εἰ … κε σίνηαι, ... τεκμαίρομ(αι): ἐάν + subj. The conditional is a future more vivid, and the tense of the verb in the apodosis (τεκμαίρομαι) is a “present of anticipation” (Smyth 1879, 2326b).

    140  αυτός δ᾽ εἴ πέρ κεν ἀλύξῃς ... ...: "and even if you yourself escape ..." Protasis of a future more vivid conditional.

    141  νεῖαι: 2nd sing. fut. mid. > νέομαι.

    141  ὀλέσας ἄπο: tmesis > ἀπόλλυμι.

    143  ἀνὰ νῆσον: "up the island," "up through the island."

    145  ἀνά ... λῦσαι: tmesis > ἀναλύω.

    147  τύπτον: unaugmented 3rd pl. impf. act. indic.

    148  κατόπισθε: “behind,” with genitive.

    149  ἵει: “sent”; 3rd sing. impf., contracted form. The form is identical to the present active, but Homer never employs the “historical present” (Smyth 1883).

    151  ὅπλα ἕκαστα: “all the tackle” (i.e., rigging, cables, etc.).

    152  ἴθυνε: “was steering,” 3rd sing. impf. act. indic.

    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

    ἄγε: come! come on! well!

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    νημερτής –ές: unerring, infallible; (adv.) truthfully

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

    ὀλοός –ή –όν: destroying, destructive, fatal, deadly, murderous

    ὑπεκπροφεύγω ὑπεκπροφευξοῦμαι/ὑπεκπροφεύξομαι ὑπεκπροέφυγον ὑπεκπροπέφευγα: to flee away secretly, escape and flee

    Χάρυβδις –εως ἡ: Charybdis, the whirlpool opposite Scylla

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

    σίνομαι σινήσομαι ἐσινάμην σέσιμμαι: to do harm

    ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion

    ἀμείβω ἀμείψω ἤμειψα ἤμειφα ἤμειμμαι ἠμείφθην: to respond, answer; to exchange; (mid.) to take turns, alternate; to change, place, pass 115

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    σχέτλιος –α –ον: strong, unwearying; stubborn, cruel, merciless

    πολεμήϊος –α –ον: warlike

    μέλω μέλησω ἐμέλησα μεμέληκα ––– –––: be an object of care or interest

    ὑπείκω ὑπείξω ὑπεῖξα ––– ––– –––: to yield, submit (+ dat.); to withdraw, retire (+ gen.)

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

    τοι: let me tell you, surely

    θνητός –ή –όν: mortal

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

    ἀργαλέος –α –ον: hard to endure or deal with, difficult

    ἄγριος –α –ον: savage; wild; fierce

    μαχητός –ή –όν: to be fought with

    ἀλκή –ής ἡ: defense, resistance; strength, courage 120

    κράτιστος –η –ον: strongest, best

    δηθύνω – – – – –: to tarry, be long, delay

    κορύσσω κορύσω ἐκόρυσσα: (act.) to arm someone; (mid.) to arm oneself, to prepare to fight

    πέτρη –ης ἡ: rock, cliffs, shelf of rock

    δείδω δείσομαι ἔδεισα δέδοικα (or δίδια) ––– –––: to fear

    ἐξαῦτις: over again, once more, anew

    ἐφορμάω ἐφορμήσω ἐφώρμησα ἐφώρμηκα ἐφώρμημαι ἐφωρμήθην: to stir up, rouse against; to be eager, desire

    κιχάνω κιχήσομαι ἔκιχον: to reach, overtake, meet with (+ acc.)

    τόσος –η –ον: so great, so vast

    τόσος –η –ον: so great, so vast

    φώς φωτός ὁ: man

    σφοδρός [–ά] –όν: vehement, violent, excessive; (adv.) vigorously, forcefully

    βωστρέω βωστρήσω ἐβώστρησα: to call on

    Κράταιις –ίδος ἡ: Krataiis, Mighty one, mother of Scylla

    Σκύλλη –ης ἡ: Scylla, a cave-dwelling sea monster 125

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

    πῆμα –ατος τό: suffering, misery, calamity, woe, bane; cause of suffering

    βροτός –οῦ ὁ: mortal

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

    ἀποπαύω ἀποπαύσω ἀπέπαυσα ἀποπέπαυκα ἀποπέπαυμαι ἀπεπαύθην/ἀπεπαύσθην: to stop

    Θρινακίη –ης ἡ: Thrinacia, a fabulous island, the pasture of the cattle of the Sun

    βόσκω βοσκήσω ἐβόσκησα βεβόσκηκα βεβόσκημαι ἐβοσκήθην: (act.) to feed; (mid.) to feed oneself; (trans.) to feed someone

    ἴφιος –α –ον: stout, fat

    μῆλον –ου τό: sheep or goat; (plur.) flock

    βοάω βοήσομαι ἐβόησα βεβόηκα βεβόημαι ἐβοήθην: to shout, roar

    ἀγέλη –ης ἡ: a herd

    τόσος –η –ον: so great, so vast

    ὄϊς ὄϊος ὁ/ἡ: sheep

    πῶυ –ους τό: a flock

    πεντήκοντα: fifty 130

    γόνος –ου ὁ: that which is begotten, offspring, a child, lineage

    φθινύθω – – – – –: to perish, waste away; to waste, consume

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    ἐπιποιμήν –ένος ὁ/ἡ: a chief shepherd

    νύμφη –ης ἡ: a young wife, bride; nymph, a divinity of waters or woods

    ἐϋπλόκαμος –ον: fairhaired

    Φαέθουσα –ης ἡ: Phaethusa, daughter of Helius and Neaera

    Λαμπετίη –ης ἡ: Lampetia, a nymph, daughter of Helius

    Ὑπερίων –ονος ὁ: Hyperion, the Sun-god

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

    Νέαιρα –ας ἡ: Neaera, a nymph, the mother of Lampetie and Phaethūsa by Helius

    ἄρα: now, then, next, thus

    πότνια –ας ἡ: mistress, queen

    Θρινακίη –ης ἡ: Thrinacia, a fabulous island, the pasture of the cattle of the Sun 135

    ἀποικίζω ἀποικιῶ ἀπῴκισα ἀπῴκικα ἀπῴκισμαι ἀπῳκίσθην: to move to a new home

    τηλόθι: afar, at a distance

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

    μῆλον –ου τό: sheep or goat; (plur.) flock

    πατρῷος –α –ον (Ion. πατρώϊος): of or belonging to the father

    ἕλιξ –ικος: with curving horns; twisted, curving

    ἀσῐνής –ές: unhurt, unharmed

    νόστος –ου ὁ: return (home)

    μέδομαι μεδήσομαι μεδησάμην: to provide for, think on, be mindful of

    Ἰθάκη –ης ἡ: Ithaca, the home of Odysseus, an island on the West coast of Greece

    ἱκνέομαι ἵξομαι ἱκόμην ––– ἷγμαι –––: to come, reach

    σίνομαι σινήσομαι ἐσινάμην σέσιμμαι: to do harm

    τεκμαίρομαι τεκμαροῦμαι ἐτεκμηράμην: to ordain, settle upon; to foretell

    ὄλεθρος –ου ὁ: ruin, destruction, death

    ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion 140

    ἀλύσκω ἀλύξω ἤλυξα ––– ––– –––: to flee from, shun, avoid, forsake

    ὀψέ: late; too late; at last

    νέομαι ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: to return (often in present with future sense), go home, go

    ὄλλυμι ὀλῶ ὤλεσα (or ὠλόμην) ὀλώλεκα (or ὄλωλα) ––– –––: to demolish, kill; to lose, suffer the loss of (+ acc.); (mid.) to die, perish, be killed

    ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion

    χρυσόθρονος –ον: gold-enthroned

    ἠώς ἠοῦς ἡ: dawn; Dawn

    ἀποστείχω ἀποστείξω ἀπέστιχον: to go, come, walk, proceed

    δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining

    θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess

    ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet

    κίω – – – – –: go, go away

    ὀτρύνω ὀτρυνῶ ὤτρυνα ––– ––– –––: to urge on

    ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion

    ἀναβαίνω ἀναβήσομαι ἀνέβην ἀναβέβηκα ––– –––: to board, go up 145

    πρυμνήσια –ων τά: mooring cables (of a ship)

    αἶψα: rapidly, speedily, suddenly

    εἰσβαίνω (Ion. ἐσβαίνω) εἰσβήσομαι εἰσέβην εἰσβέβηκα ––– –––: to go into

    κληΐς κληῖδος ἡ: bolt; (pl.) oarlocks

    καθίζω (Ion. κατίζω) καθιῶ (Ion. κατίσω) καθῖσα/ἐκάθισα (or κατῖσα) κεκάθικα: to sit down; to set, place

    ἑξῆς: one after another, in order, in a row

    ἕζομαι – – – – –: to sit down

    πολιός –ή –όν: white

    ἅλς ἁλός ὁ: salt (m.); sea (f.)

    τύπτω τύψω ἔτυψα τέτῠφα (or τετύπτηκα) τέτυμμαι ἐτύφθην (or ἐτυπτήθην or ἐτύπην): to beat, strike

    ἐρετμόν –οῦ τό: oar

    κατόπισθεν: behind, after, in the rear

    κυανόπρῳρος –ον: with dark-blue prow, dark-prowed

    ἴκμενος –ον: following, favourable

    οὖρος –ου ὁ: a fair wind

    πλησίστιος –ον: filling the sails

    ἐσθλός –ή –όν: good

    ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion

    Κίρκη –ης ἡ: Circe, the enchantress, daughter of Helius, sister of Aeētes, dwelling in the isle of Aeaea 150

    ἐϋπλόκαμος –ον: fairhaired

    αὐδήεις –εσσα –εν: speaking with human voice

    πονέω πονέσω/πονήσω ἐπόνεσα/ἐπόνησα πεπόνηκα πεπόνημαι ἐπονήθην: to work; to labor over, prepare; (mid.) to busy oneself with; to put in order

    ἧμαι (or κάθημαι) ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: sit

    ἄνεμος –ου ὁ: wind

    κυβερνήτης –ου ὁ: a steersman, helmsman, pilot

    ἰθύνω ἴθυνα ἴθυμμαι ἰθύνθην: to straighten; guide directly, steer

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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/xii-111-152