"καὶ τότε δή μ᾽ ἐπέεσσι προσηύδα πότνια Κίρκη·
‘ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω πάντα πεπείρανται, σὺ δ᾽ ἄκουσον,
ὥς τοι ἐγὼν ἐρέω, μνήσει δέ σε καὶ θεὸς αὐτός.
Σειρῆνας μὲν πρῶτον ἀφίξεαι, αἵ ῥά τε πάντας
ἀνθρώπους θέλγουσιν, ὅτις σφεας εἰσαφίκηται.40
ὅς τις ἀιδρείῃ πελάσῃ καὶ φθόγγον ἀκούσῃ
Σειρήνων, τῷ δ᾽ οὔ τι γυνὴ καὶ νήπια τέκνα
οἴκαδε νοστήσαντι παρίσταται οὐδὲ γάνυνται,
ἀλλά τε Σειρῆνες λιγυρῇ θέλγουσιν ἀοιδῇ
ἥμεναι ἐν λειμῶνι, πολὺς δ᾽ ἀμφ᾽ ὀστεόφιν θὶς45
ἀνδρῶν πυθομένων, περὶ δὲ ῥινοὶ μινύθουσι.
ἀλλὰ παρεξελάαν, ἐπὶ δ᾽ οὔατ᾽ ἀλεῖψαι ἑταίρων
κηρὸν δεψήσας μελιηδέα, μή τις ἀκούσῃ
τῶν ἄλλων· ἀτὰρ αὐτὸς ἀκουέμεν αἴ κ᾽ ἐθέλῃσθα,
δησάντων σ᾽ ἐν νηὶ θοῇ χεῖράς τε πόδας τε50
ὀρθὸν ἐν ἱστοπέδῃ, ἐκ δ᾽ αὐτοῦ πείρατ᾽ ἀνήφθω,
ὄφρα κε τερπόμενος ὄπ᾽ ἀκούσῃς Σειρήνοιιν.
εἰ δέ κε λίσσηαι ἑτάρους λῦσαί τε κελεύῃς,
οἱ δέ σ᾽ ἔτι πλεόνεσσι τότ᾽ ἐν δεσμοῖσι διδέντων.
αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν δὴ τάς γε πάρεξ ἐλάσωσιν ἑταῖροι,55
ἔνθα τοι οὐκέτ᾽ ἔπειτα διηνεκέως ἀγορεύσω,
ὁπποτέρη δή τοι ὁδὸς ἔσσεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς
θυμῷ βουλεύειν· ἐρέω δέ τοι ἀμφοτέρωθεν.
ἔνθεν μὲν γὰρ πέτραι ἐπηρεφέες, προτὶ δ᾽ αὐτὰς
κῦμα μέγα ῥοχθεῖ κυανώπιδος Ἀμφιτρίτης·60
Πλαγκτὰς δή τοι τάς γε θεοὶ μάκαρες καλέουσι.
τῇ μέν τ᾽ οὐδὲ ποτητὰ παρέρχεται οὐδὲ πέλειαι
τρήρωνες, ταί τ᾽ ἀμβροσίην Διὶ πατρὶ φέρουσιν,
ἀλλά τε καὶ τῶν αἰὲν ἀφαιρεῖται λὶς πέτρη·
ἀλλ᾽ ἄλλην ἐνίησι πατὴρ ἐναρίθμιον εἶναι.65
τῇ δ᾽ οὔ πώ τις νηῦς φύγεν ἀνδρῶν, ἥ τις ἵκηται,
ἀλλά θ᾽ ὁμοῦ πίνακάς τε νεῶν καὶ σώματα φωτῶν
κύμαθ᾽ ἁλὸς φορέουσι πυρός τ᾽ ὀλοοῖο θύελλαι.
οἴη δὴ κείνη γε παρέπλω ποντοπόρος νηῦς,
Ἀργὼ πᾶσι μέλουσα, παρ᾽ Αἰήταο πλέουσα.70
καὶ νύ κε τὴν ἔνθ᾽ ὦκα βάλεν μεγάλας ποτὶ πέτρας,
ἀλλ᾽ Ἥρη παρέπεμψεν, ἐπεὶ φίλος ἦεν Ἰήσων.
notes
Circe gives Odysseus advice about how to get back to Ithaca, describing the Sirens and the Wandering Rocks.
The Sirens will be Odysseus’s next challenge. Seductive singers who lure sailors to their doom appear frequently in folktales about the sea. Such creatures are bound to be useful to this poet and in fact their appearance here is the distilled essence of a pervasive motif in the story. Singing is a gendered pursuit in the Odyssey (see essay on 9.161–92). Male bards, Phemios in Ithaka, Demodokos and Odysseus himself in the royal palace on Scheria, tell of the heroism and suffering of the Greeks returning from Troy. By their narratives they record the kleos that will preserve the nobility of the warriors for generations to come, models for masculine behavior. Female singers have quite a different function, inviting heroes to abandon their missions, to give in and rest. If they compose with words, we rarely hear them. Instead the music is usually mysteriously seductive, surrounding the hero with amorphous sound.
read full essay
Homer describes the power of the Sirens with θέλγω, “to charm, enchant,” (40, 44). As we might expect, Calypso too can enchant (Od. 1.57), as can Penelope (Od. 18.282). But the verb is not used only of beguiling females in the poem. Male gods have that power, of course: Hermes uses his magic wand to charm the eyes of humans (Od. 5.47; 24.3) and Telemachus imagines that some god may have bewitched him into believing the ragged stranger before him is his father (Od. 16.195). But an artful human storyteller can also weave a spell with his words, like the duplicitous bard who leads Clytemnestra astray in her husband’s absence (Od. 3.264) or, of course, the most accomplished raconteur in the poem, Odysseus himself (Od. 17.514). It is among the many tantalizing ironies in the poem that the hero, who is constantly fighting against the seductive female forces that would keep him from his home, practices his own kind of enchantment.
After the Sirens comes a somewhat confusing passage which describes the way past two different threats to the crew’s survival. Circe says that she will not tell Odysseus which of two courses he should pursue. She will describe each and he must choose, either to try sailing by the “wave of dark blue Amphitrite” (60), which drives ships against overhanging rocks, called the Πλάγκται (Clashing Rocks, 61) by the gods, or threading their way between Skylla, a monster with six heads who eats sailors, and Charybdis, a whirlpool that sucks ships down (73–110). The first alternative gets a much briefer treatment and we get the sense that Homer is struggling to juggle two separate mythical traditions here. Homer’s mention of the Argo’s mission (69–72) has prompted scholars to suggest that the Wandering Rocks may be from a version of the story of Jason and the Argonauts, earlier than the Odyssey and now lost. These moving rocks are apparently lethal to birds, crunching them as they fly over. One small detail prompts further thought: Every time one of the doves bringing ambrosia to Zeus perishes, the god replaces it, so that the total number of doves remains constant. As he did with the Elpenor episode, so here the poet seems to be introducing themes that will reappear in the cattle of the sun episode, which he has already singled out as particularly important (12.6–9). The cattle of Helios, we will be told, are divided into seven herds of fifty each and their number is neither increased by new births nor diminished by death. The total number (350) suggested to Aristotle that the cattle might correspond to the days of the year (appropriately for the sun god’s herd), in which case to kill any of the cows would be to attack time itself. No wonder the crew has to pay with their own lives.
Further Reading
Dimock, G. 1989. The Unity of the Odyssey, 163–166. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
Edwards, M.W. 1987. Homer: Poet of the Iliad, 23–28. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Heubeck, A. and A. Hoekstra, eds. 1989. A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey, vol. II, Books IX–XVI, 118–121. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Morrison, J. 2003. A Companion to Homer’s Odyssey, 113. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Page, D. 1973. Folktales in Homer’s Odyssey, 85–90. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
37 πεπείρανται: “have been gone through,” “have been experienced,” 3rd pl. pf. pass. > πειράω. An instance of a plural verb with a neuter plural subject (ταῦτα πάντα) (Smyth 959). Circe is probably referring to all the events of the journey to the Underworld which Odysseus has experienced.
37 ἄκουσον: imperat.
38 μνήσει: "will remind," 3rd sing. fut. act. indic. > μιμνήσκω.
39 ἀφίξεαι: Epic 2nd sing. fut. mid. > ἀφικνέομαι.
40 ὅτις … είσαφίκηται: indefinite, or conditional, relative clause, with aorist subjunctive without ἄν (Monro 282). Notice the shift from the plural antecedent ἀνθρώπους to the singular relative pronoun ὅτις, which has a collective force (Smyth 2502c).
41 ὅς τις … πελάσῃ καὶ … ἀκούσῃ: indefinite, or conditional, relative clause, with aorist subjunctive without ἄν (Monro 282).
41 ἀϊδρείῃ: dative of manner.
42 τῷ: dat. sing. demonstrative pron., object of compound verb παρίσταται.
42 οὔ τι: “not at all.”
43 νοστήσαντι: dat. sing. aor. ptc., agreeing with τῷ.
43 παρίσταται: sing. > παρίστημι; singular verb with both γυνή and νήπια τέκνα as its subjects.
45 ἥμεναι: pres. ptc. > ἧμαι.
45 πολὺς: “great,” “large,” modifying θὶς. Supply the verb ἔστι.
45 ἀμφ᾽: “around them.”
45 ὀστεόφιν: “(made) from…,” dative of material (Smyth 1508c), with θὶς.
46 περὶ: “around (the bones).”
46 ῥινοὶ μινύθουσι: “the skin shrivels,” distributive plural (Monro 171), more easily translated as singular.
47 παρεξελάαν: aor. infin. > παρεξελαύνω, used as an imperative. (Monro 241).
47 ἐπὶ … οὔατ᾽: “on the ears.”
47 ἀλεῖψαι: aor. infin.> ἀλείφω, used as an imperative.
48 μή τις … ἀκούσῃ: negative purpose clause with μή τις and subjunctive (Monro 281; Smyth 2193b).
49 τῶν ἄλλων: partitive gen., with τις in line 48.
49 αὐτὸς: “you yourself,” intensive.
49 ἀκουέμεν: complementary pres. infin., with ἐθέλῃσθα.
49 αἴ κε ἐθέλῃσθα: protasis of a future more vivid conditional (αἴ κε = ἐἀν).
49 ἐθέλῃσθα: 2nd sing. pres. act. subj. > ἐθέλω.
50 δησάντων: 3rd pl. imperat. > δέω.
50 χεῖρας τε πόδας τε: “hand and foot,” accusatives of respect.
51 ὀρθὸν: “standing up”; modifying σε (σ᾽) in line 50.
51 ἐκ ... αὐτοῦ: “from there” (i.e., the mast).
51 πείρατ᾽ ἀνήφθω: “let the ends (of the rope) be fastened,” 3rd sing. pf. pass. imperat. > ἀνάπτω.
52 ὄφρα … ἀκούῃς: purpose clause (ὄφρα = ἵνα).
52 Σειρήνοιϊν: gen. dual.
53 εἰ … κε λίσσηαι … κελεύῃς: protasis of a future more vivid conditional.
53 λίσσηαι: 2nd sing. pres. subj. mid. dep. > λίσσομαι.
54 οἱ: i.e., Odysseus’s men.
54 πλεόνεσσι: "more," > πολύς, comparative.
54 διδέντων: 3rd pl. imperat. > δίδημι.
55 ἐπὴν … ἐλάσωσιν: general temporal clause (ἐπήν = ἐπεὶ ἄν + subj.).
55 ἐλάσωσιν: 3rd pl. aor. act. subj. > ἐλαύνω (“to row”)
55 τὰς: i.e., the Sirens, object of παρέξ (anastrophe).
57 ὁπποτέρη … ὁδὸς: “which route”; indirect question.
58 βουλεύειν: infin., used as an imperative.
59 ἔνθεν: understand εἰσί. ἔνθεν μὲν introduces the Clashing Rocks, which represent the hazard Odysseus would face if he takes the first of the two routes that Circe describes. The description of the Clashing Rocks occupies lines 59-72. It is answered by οἱ δὲ in line 73, introducing the description of Scylla and Charybdis, the hazards Odysseus would face on the second of the two possible routes.
59 προτὶ: “against” (πρός).
61 καλέουσι: the verb takes an object and predicate accusative: "to call (acc.) (acc.)."
64 τῶν … ἀφαιρεῖται: “takes them away,” “eliminates them” > ἀφαιρέω + gen. The genitive is properly partitive, “takes away (one) of them.”
65 ἄλλην: i.e., another (replacement) dove.
66 τῇ δ᾽: answering τῇ μέν in line 62. An example of anaphora, or the repetition of a word at the beginning of successive clauses (Smyth 3010).
66 ἥ τις ἵκηται: indefinite relative clause (subj. without ἄν). ἥ τις refers to a ship (νηῦς).
69 παρέπλω: 3rd sing. aor. act. indic. > παραπλέω (an Epic aor. 2 form).
70 πᾶσι μέλουσα: “known to all” (lit., “being a concern for all”). Sometimes appearing as a single word, πασιμέλουσα.
71 κε … βάλεν: “would have thrown,” κε (ἄν) + aor., expressing past potential (Monro 324; Smyth 1784). The subject of βἀλεν is the neuter plural κύματα in line 68.
71 τὴν: i.e., the ship
71 ποτὶ: πρὸς
vocabulary
προσαυδάω προσαυδήσω προσηύδησα προσηύδηκα προσηύδημαι προσηυδήθην: to speak to, address, accost
πότνια –ας ἡ: mistress, queen
Κίρκη –ης ἡ: Circe, the enchantress, daughter of Helius, sister of Aeētes, dwelling in the isle of Aeaea
ἐρῶ εἴρηκα ἐρρήθην: to say, tell, speak
Σειρήν –ῆνος ἡ: a Siren
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
θέλγω θέλξω ἔθελξα ἐθέλχθην: to bewitch 40
σφεῖς: they
εἰσαφικνέομαι (Ion. ἐσαπικνέομαι) εἰσαφίξομαι εἰσαφικόμην εἰσαφικόμην: to come into
ἀϊδρείη –ης ἡ: want of knowledge, ignorance
πελάζω πελάσω ἐπέλασα ––– ––– ἐπελάσθην: (trans.) to bring, carry, conduct (to an indicated place); (intrans.) to draw near, approach
φθόγγος –ου ὁ: sound; voice
Σειρήν –ῆνος ἡ: a Siren
νήπιος –α –ον: infant, child; silly, ignorant, without foresight
οἴκαδε: homeward
νοστέω νοστήσω ἐνόστησα νενόστηκα: return home
παρίστημι παρήσω παρέστησα (or παρέστην) παρέστηκα παρέσταμαι παρεστάθην: to stand by or near
γάνυμαι γανύσσομαι γεγάνυμαι: to be glad, be happy, rejoice; to be happy for, rejoice in (+ dat.)
Σειρήν –ῆνος ἡ: a Siren
λιγυρός –ά –όν: clear, whistling
θέλγω θέλξω ἔθελξα ἐθέλχθην: to bewitch
ἀοιδή –ῆς ἡ: song, a singing
ἧμαι (or κάθημαι) ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: sit 45
λειμών –ῶνος ὁ: grassland, meadow, field
ὀστέον –ου τό: a bone
θίς θινός ὁ: shore, beach
πύθω πύσω ἔπῡσα ––– ––– –––: to make rot, to rot
ῥινός –οῦ ἡ: the skin
μινύθω – – – – –: to make smaller
παρεξελαύνω παρεξελῶ παρεξήλασα παρεξελήλακα παρεξελήλαμαι παρεξηλάθην: to drive out past, to pass, pass by
οὖς ὠτός τό: ear
ἀλείφω ἀλείψω ἤλειψα ἀλήλιφα ἀλήλιμμαι ἠλείφθην: to anoint, smear
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion
κηρός –οῦ ὁ: bees-wax
δέψω δεψήσω ἐδέψησα: to work or knead (until something is soft)
μελιηδής –ές: honey-sweet
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet, consequently
θοός –ή –όν: swift 50
ἱστοπέδη –ης ἡ: base of the mast
πεῖραρ –ατος τό: border, limit
ἀνάπτω ἀνάψω ἀνῆψα ––– ἀνῆμμαι ἀνήφθην: to attach, tie, fasten
ὄφρα: while; until; so that; ὄφρα … τόφρα, while … for so long
τέρπω τέρψω ἔτερψα ––– ––– ἐτάρφθην/ἐτέρφθην: to delight; (mid./pass.) to have one's full of
ὄψ ὀπός ἡ: a voice
Σειρήν –ῆνος ἡ: a Siren
λίσσομαι ––– ἐλλισάμην/ἐλιτόμην ––– ––– –––: to pray, beg; to beseech with prayer
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion
δεσμός –οῦ ὁ (pl. δεσμά): a bond
δίδημι – – – – –: to bind, fetter
ἀτάρ (or αὐτάρ): but, yet 55
ἐπήν = ἐπεὶ ἄν: when, after
παρέξ or παρέκ: beyond, past; outside, before; out and away; beside, alongside
ἑταῖρος –ου ὁ: comrade, companion
διηνεκής –ές: continuous, unbroken; (adv.) from beginning to end, fully
ἀγορεύω ἀγορεύσω ἠγόρευσα ἠγόρευκα ἠγόρευμαι ἠγορεύθην: to speak, say
ὁπ(π)ότερος –α –ον: whichever of two
ἐρῶ εἴρηκα ἐρρήθην: to say, tell, speak
ἀμφοτέρωθεν: on both sides, in both directions
ἔνθεν: from here, from there
πέτρη –ης ἡ: rock, cliffs, shelf of rock
ἐπηρεφής –ές: overhanging
κῦμα –ατος τό: wave 60
ῥοχθέω – – – – –: to dash with a roaring sound
κυανῶπις –ιδος: dark-looking
Ἀμφιτρίτη –ης ἡ: Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, personifying the element
Πλαγκταί –ῶν αἱ: the Clashing Rocks
τοι: let me tell you, surely
μάκαρ μάκαρος: blessed, happy; blessed ones, gods
τῃ (dat. fem. of ὁ): here, there
ποτητός –ή –όν: flying, winged
παρέρχομαι παρεῖμι παρῆλθον παρελήλυθα ––– –––: to go by, beside, outstrip, pass over
πέλεια –ας ἡ: pigeon, dove
τρήρων –ωνος: timorous, shy
ἀμβροσίη –ης ἡ: ambrosia
Ζεύς Διός ὁ: Zeus
λίς ἡ: smooth, shiny
πέτρη –ης ἡ: rock, cliffs, shelf of rock
ἐνίημι ἐνήσω ἐνῆκα ἐνεῖκα ἐνεῖμαι ἐνείθην: to launch a ship into the sea; to send in, set out 65
ἐναρίθμιος –ον: in the number, to make up the number
πω: up to this time, yet
ἱκνέομαι ἵξομαι ἱκόμην ––– ἷγμαι –––: to come, reach
ὁμοῦ: together, at the same place or time
πίναξ –ακος ὁ: a board, plank
φώς φωτός ὁ: man
κῦμα –ατος τό: wave
ἅλς ἁλός ὁ: salt (m.); sea (f.)
φορέω φορέσω/φορήσω ἐφόρεσα/ἐφόρησα πεφόρηκα πεφόρημαι ἐφορήθην: to bear, carry
ὀλοός –ή –όν: destroying, destructive, fatal, deadly, murderous
θύελλα –ης ἡ: storm, eruption
οἶος –α –ον: alone
παραπλέω παραπλευσοῦμαι/παραπλεύσομαι παρέπλευσα παραπέπλευκα: to sail by; sail past; sail along
ποντοπόρος –ον: passing over the sea, seafaring
Ἀργώ –οῦς ἡ: the ship named Argo 70
μέλω μέλησω ἐμέλησα μεμέληκα ––– –––: be an object of care or interest
Αἰήτης –ου ὁ: Aeetes, King of Colchis, brother of Circe and father of Medea, from whom Jason took the Golden Fleece
ὦκα: quickly, swiftly, fast
πέτρη –ης ἡ: rock, cliffs, shelf of rock
Ἥρα –ας (Ion. Ἥρη) ἡ: Hera
παραπέμπω παραπέμψω παραπέπομφα παραπέπομφα παραπέπεμμαι παρεπέμφθην: to send past, convey past
Ἰάσων –ονος ὁ: Jason, an Aiolid, son of Aison, of Iolkos, leader of the Argonauts, reared by Cheiron