ὧς ὁ μὲν ἔνθ᾽ ἠρᾶτο πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
κούρην δὲ προτὶ ἄστυ φέρεν μένος ἡμιόνοιιν.
ἡ δ᾽ ὅτε δὴ οὗ πατρὸς ἀγακλυτὰ δώμαθ᾽ ἵκανε,
στῆσεν ἄρ᾽ ἐν προθύροισι, κασίγνητοι δέ μιν ἀμφὶς
ἵσταντ᾽ ἀθανάτοις ἐναλίγκιοι, οἵ ῥ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἀπήνης5
ἡμιόνους ἔλυον ἐσθῆτά τε ἔσφερον εἴσω.
αὐτὴ δ᾽ ἐς θάλαμον ἑὸν ἤιε· δαῖε δέ οἱ πῦρ
γρῆυς Ἀπειραίη, θαλαμηπόλος Εὐρυμέδουσα,
τήν ποτ᾽ Ἀπείρηθεν νέες ἤγαγον ἀμφιέλισσαι·
Ἀλκινόῳ δ᾽ αὐτὴν γέρας ἔξελον, οὕνεκα πᾶσιν10
Φαιήκεσσιν ἄνασσε, θεοῦ δ᾽ ὣς δῆμος ἄκουεν·
ἣ τρέφε Ναυσικάαν λευκώλενον ἐν μεγάροισιν.
ἥ οἱ πῦρ ἀνέκαιε καὶ εἴσω δόρπον ἐκόσμει.
καὶ τότ᾽ Ὀδυσσεὺς ὦρτο πόλινδ᾽ ἴμεν· ἀμφὶ δ᾽ Ἀθήνη
πολλὴν ἠέρα χεῦε φίλα φρονέουσ᾽ Ὀδυσῆι,15
μή τις Φαιήκων μεγαθύμων ἀντιβολήσας
κερτομέοι τ᾽ ἐπέεσσι καὶ ἐξερέοιθ᾽ ὅτις εἴη.
ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ ἄρ᾽ ἔμελλε πόλιν δύσεσθαι ἐραννήν,
ἔνθα οἱ ἀντεβόλησε θεά, γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη,
παρθενικῇ ἐικυῖα νεήνιδι, κάλπιν ἐχούσῃ.20
στῆ δὲ πρόσθ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ὁ δ᾽ ἀνείρετο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς·
"ὦ τέκος, οὐκ ἄν μοι δόμον ἀνέρος ἡγήσαιο
Ἀλκινόου, ὃς τοῖσδε μετ᾽ ἀνθρώποισι ἀνάσσει;
καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ ξεῖνος ταλαπείριος ἐνθάδ᾽ ἱκάνω
τηλόθεν ἐξ ἀπίης γαίης· τῷ οὔ τινα οἶδα25
ἀνθρώπων, οἳ τήνδε πόλιν καὶ γαῖαν ἔχουσιν."
τὸν δ᾽ αὖτε προσέειπε θεά, γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·
"τοιγὰρ ἐγώ τοι, ξεῖνε πάτερ, δόμον, ὅν με κελεύεις,
δείξω, ἐπεί μοι πατρὸς ἀμύμονος ἐγγύθι ναίει.
ἀλλ᾽ ἴθι σιγῇ τοῖον, ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὁδὸν ἡγεμονεύσω,30
μηδέ τιν᾽ ἀνθρώπων προτιόσσεο μηδ᾽ ἐρέεινε.
οὐ γὰρ ξείνους οἵδε μάλ᾽ ἀνθρώπους ἀνέχονται,
οὐδ᾽ ἀγαπαζόμενοι φιλέουσ᾽ ὅς κ᾽ ἄλλοθεν ἔλθῃ.
νηυσὶ θοῇσιν τοί γε πεποιθότες ὠκείῃσι
λαῖτμα μέγ᾽ ἐκπερόωσιν, ἐπεί σφισι δῶκ᾽ ἐνοσίχθων·35
τῶν νέες ὠκεῖαι ὡς εἰ πτερὸν ἠὲ νόημα."
notes
Athena cloaks Odysseus in mist as he enters the city, then, disguised as a little girl, she leads him to the palace.
Odysseus rises to begin the next part of his journey and the energy of this new adventure rises with him:
καὶ τότ᾽ Ὀδυσσεὺς ὦρτο πόλινδ᾽ ἴμεν· ἀμφὶ δ᾽ Ἀθήνη
πολλὴν ἠέρα χεῦε φίλα φρονέουσ᾽ Ὀδυσῆι,
μή τις Φαιήκων μεγαθύμων ἀντιβολήσας
κερτομέοι τ᾽ ἐπέεσσι καὶ ἐξερέοιθ᾽ ὅτις εἴη.
Then Odysseus rose to go to the city; and Athena
with kind intention poured around him a thick mist,
lest one of the greathearted Phaeacians accost him
with taunts and ask where he came from.
Odyssey 7.14–17
read full essay
This simple movement marking a crucial moment might recall another rising, of Achilles as he reenters the battlefield to avenge Patroclus:
αὐτὰρ Ἀχιλλεὺς ὦρτο Διῒ φίλος: ἀμφὶ δ᾽ Ἀθήνη
ὤμοις ἰφθίμοισι βάλ᾽ αἰγίδα θυσσανόεσσαν,
ἀμφὶ δέ οἱ κεφαλῇ νέφος ἔστεφε δῖα θεάων
χρύσεον, ἐκ δ᾽ αὐτοῦ δαῖε φλόγα παμφανόωσαν.
But Achilles, dear to Zeus, rose up; and Athena
threw the richly tasseled aegis around his broad shoulders,
and the bright goddess crowned his head with a golden
cloud, and out of it flared a brilliant flame.
Iliad 18. 203–6
Like Achilles, Odysseus has been slowly emerging from isolation, making his way toward the venue where his powers will be fully tested. Athena provides each hero with an extra blanket of protection, which reflects the parts of his essential nature that he will draw upon to finish his heroic journey. Achilles incarnates fire, the explosive power that drives him and will ultimately destroy him. Odysseus, by contrast, works from under cover, concealing his plans and his identity until circumstances favor his emerging. That work begins in earnest on the island of Scheria.
After a glance at Odysseus praying in the grove, Homer wraps up Nausicaa’s story. The strong mules carry her safely to the palace, where her brothers wait to empty the wagon and tend to the animals. By verse seven, she is tucked safely back into her cozy bedroom and her childhood nurse Eurymedousa has the fire going. With this brief scene, the poet rounds off the ring composition that begins at the doors of Nausicaa’s bedroom in Book 6 (13–24). Here, as there, familiar domesticity prompts an ornamented style, with traditional epithets falling into place. (See essay on 6.1–47.) Her father’s palace is “glorious” (ἀγακλυτὰ, 3), her brothers are “like the gods” (ἀθανάτοις ἐναλίγκιοι, 6), “balanced ships” (νέες … ἀμφιέλισσαι, 9) brought her nurse as a gift for Alkinous. We will not see Eurymedusa again, but the poet’s deliberate pace makes room for a fleeting glimpse of her history as she passes by, much like the defeated warriors in the Iliad whose death prompts a poignant vignette when they disappear (e.g., Il. 5.45–84). The excitement at the beach, bringing a stranger into Scheria’s remote kingdom and testing the emerging maturity of the young princess, recedes to make way for the first full iteration of the story that will cycle repeatedly through the poem from this point forward, the progress of the hero from obscurity to glorious renown.
Books 6 and 7 function as a pivot in the developing story, looking both backward and forward. When he first appears on Calypso’s island, Odysseus is one of a series of figures in the poem who are trapped in some way and struggle to move forward: Menelaus is becalmed in Egypt; Telemachus is stuck in Ithaka, unable to control the suitors; Penelope is closed away in her bedroom, mired in grief; Odysseus is Calypso’s captive lover on Ogygia. The Nausicaa episode looks back to the seven years on Ogygia, with Odysseus in a reduced state, hoping a powerful female figure will help him on his way home. Though naïve, Nausicaa might well pose a threat to Odysseus’s newfound freedom, if her dreams of marrying the stranger were to be realized. At the same time, the nameless hero’s infiltration of the royal household on Scheria alters the repeated cycle of stasis and release in an important way. So far, Odysseus has appeared as the victim of anonymity enforced by more powerful forces. From now on, however, we will see him voluntarily withholding his identity when entering a new place, as a way of establishing leverage over the people he meets. The best-known example of this gambit is the hero’s punning manipulation of Polyphemus the Cyclops (9.364–414; see also the essays on Book 9.360–408 and 409–60), earlier in the chronology of the story but still to come in the poem’s structure. There we thrill to the triumph of mêtis (intelligence) over brute force, cheering as Odysseus taunts the wounded monster. The polarity of namelessness and heroic glory in that episode runs through the rest of the poem and is a crucial part of the poet’s reflection on the varieties of human experience.
Kleos, “glory,” is the foundation of the heroic status that Athena is intent on restoring for Odysseus in Ithaka, but along the way home, anonymity affords Odysseus a freedom of movement that is vital to his eventual triumph. When Odysseus chooses to leave Calypso, he affirms his need for the renown that his heroic identity creates. But one measure of the supreme intelligence that makes him who he is will be the ability to wield his identity as an instrument of control over those who would keep him from home.
Further Reading
Dimock, G. 1989. The Unity of the Odyssey, 83–84. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
Heubeck, A. and A. Hoekstra. 1989. A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey, vol. II, Books IX–XVI, 316–319. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thalmann, W. 1992. The Odyssey: An Epic of Return, 56–58. New York: Twayne Publishers.
Tracy, S. 1990. The Story of the Odyssey, 44–46. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Van Nortwick, T. 2008. The Unknown Odysseus: Alternate Worlds in Homer’s Odyssey, 28–30. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
2 προτὶ: = πρὸς.
2 ἡμιόνοιιν: gen. dual.
3 οὗ: “of her,” possessive adj.
4 μιν ἀμφὶς: “around her.”
5 ἵσταντ(ο): 3rd pl. impf. mid./pass. indic. > ἵστημι.
5 ὑπ(ο): “out from under,” with genitive.
7 ἑὸν: “her,” possessive adj.
7 ἤιε: 3rd sing. impf. act. indic. > εἶμι.
7 δαῖε: unaugmented impf.
7 οἱ: “for her,” dative of interest.
10 γέρας: “as a gift,” neut. acc. pred., with αὐτὴν.
10 ἔξελον: 3rd pl. aor. act. indic. > ἐξαιρέω. Understand the men who sailed the ships in line 9 as the subjects of the verb.
11 θεοῦ δ᾽ ὣς: “like a god.” The genitive θεοῦ agrees with the unexpressed genitive (“him”) object of ἄκουεν.
14 ἀμφὶ: “around him.”
15 φίλα φρονέουσ᾽ Ὀδυσῆι: “having friendly intentions toward Odysseus.”
15 φίλα: neut. pl. acc., used adverbially. For φρονέω + adv. + dat. see Autenrieth φρονέω.
16 μή τις … / κερτομέοι τ᾽ … καὶ ἐξερέοιθ᾽ ...: negative purpose clause (“so that … not,” “lest”) with optatives in secondary sequence, after the aorist (unaugmented) main verb χεῦε.
17 ὅτις εἴη: indirect question with optative in secondary sequence.
22 οὐκ ἄν … ἡγήσαιο: “could you not lead …?” potential optative in a question (Smyth 1831). The line echoes 6.300, where Nausicaa tells Odysseus that a child could show him the way to the house of Alcinous (ἃν πάϊς ἡγήσαιτο).
25 τῷ: “therefore.”
29 μοι: dative of possession.
29 ἐγγύθι: with the preceding genitives.
30 σιγῇ τοῖον: “ever so quietly.” τοῖον is adverbial.
31 προτιόσσεο … ἐρέεινε: imperatives.
32 οἵδε: i.e., the Phaeaecians.
32 ἀνέχονται: “put up with” (LSJ ἀνέχω C.II.2).
33 ὅς κ᾽ ἄλλοθεν ἔλθῃ: “whoever comes …,” future more vivid conditional relative clause (Smyth 2565) with the antecedent omitted (Smyth 2530).
34 πεποιθότες: “trusting in,” + dat., perf. act. ptc. > πείθω.
36 ὡς εἰ: “as if,” “like,” introducing a simile. Understand the verb εἰσί with νέες.
vocabulary
ἀράομαι ἀράσομαι (Ion. ἀρήσομαι) ἠρησάμην ἤρᾱμαι: to pray to
πολύτλας –αντος: having borne much, much-enduring
δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining
Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey
κόρη (or κούρη) –ης ἡ: girl, maiden; daughter
ἄστυ ἄστεως τό: town
μένος –ους τό: might
ἠμίονος –ου ὁ: mule
ἑός ἑή ἑόν: his, her, own
ἀγακλυτός –όν: very famous
δῶμα –ατος τό: house (often in plural)
ἱκάνω ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: to come to, arrive at, reach
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
πρόθυρον –ου τό: the front-door, the door leading from the αὐλή
κασίγνητος –ου ὁ or –η –ον: a brother; adj of a brother; sibling
μιν: (accusative singular third person pronoun) him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ἀμφίς: on both sides; apart, asunder
ἀθάνατος –ον: immortal, deathless; (plur.) the gods 5
ἐναλίγκιος [–η] –ον: like, resembling
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
ἀπήνη –ης ἡ: a four-wheeled wagon
ἠμίονος –ου ὁ: mule
ἐσθής –ῆτος ἡ: dress, clothing
εἰσφέρω εἰσοίσω εἰσήνεγκα εἰσενήνοχα εἰσενήνεγμαι εἰσηνέχθην: to bring in, to propose (a question, a law), to pay tax (εἰσφορά)
εἴσω (or ἔσω): in, into, inside
θάλαμος or θάλᾶμος –ου ὁ: chamber, inner part of the house (usually reserved for women); bedchamber (of the mistress of the house); nuptial chamber
ἑός ἑή ἑόν: his, her, own
δαίω – – – – –: to set on fire, blaze (of the eyes); to divide; (mid.) to distribute
οὗ, οἷ, ἕ and encl. οὑ, οἱ, ἑ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
γραῦς γρᾱός ἡ: an old woman
Ἀπειραῖος –α –ον: Apeiraean
θαλαμηπόλος –ου ἡ: a chamber-maid, waiting maid
Εὐρυμέδουσα –ης ἡ: Eurymedusa, an attendant of queen Arēte
Ἀπείρηθεν: from Apeire
ἀμφιέλισσα (fem. only): curved on both sides, concave (of ships)
Ἀλκίνοος –ου ὁ: Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians in Scheria, a grandson of Poseidon 10
γέρας –ως τό: prize, privilege, sovereignty, honor
ἐξαιρέω ἐξαιρήσω ἐξεῖλον ἐξῄρηκα ἐξῄρημαι ἐξῃρέθην: to take out, choose, deliver; to set aside for (+ dat.)
οὕνεκα: on account of which, wherefore
Φαίαξ –ακος ὁ: a Phaeacian
ἀνάσσω ἀνάξω ἤναξα: to be king, lord, or master of, rule over, reign
Ναυσικάα –ας ἡ: Nausicaa, the Phaeacian princess, daughter of Alcinous and Arēte
λευκώλενος –ον: white-armed
μέγαρον –ου τό: a large room, hall, feast-hall
οὗ, οἷ, ἕ and encl. οὑ, οἱ, ἑ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ἀνακαίω ἀνακαίσω ἀνέκαυσα: to light up
εἴσω (or ἔσω): in, into, inside
δόρπον –ου τό: the evening meal
κοσμέω κοσμήσω ἐκόσμησα κεκόσμηκα κεκόσμημαι ἐκοσμήθην: to arrange, organize, lay out
Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey
ὄρνυμι ὄρσω ὦρσα ὄρωρα ὀρώρεμαι –––: to stir up, move; (mid.) to rise, get up
πόλινδε: into or to the city
Ἀθήνη –ης ἡ: Athena
ἀήρ ἀέρος ὁ: mist, vapor, haze, cloud 15
χέω χέω ἔχεα or ἔχευα κέχυκα κέχυμαι ἐχύθην: to pour, shed
φίλος –η –ον: friend; loved, beloved, dear
Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey
Φαίαξ –ακος ὁ: a Phaeacian
μεγάθυμος –ον: high-minded
ἀντιβολέω ἀντιβολήσω ἠντεβόλησα ––– ––– ἠντεβολήθην: to meet by chance, encounter
κερτομέω κερτομήσω ––– ––– ––– –––: to taunt
ἐξέρομαι ἐξερήσομαι ἐξηρόμην ––– ––– –––: inquire into
ἄρα: now, then, next, thus
δὐω δύσω έδυσα/ἔδυν δέδυκα δέδυμαι εδύθην: plunge in, go into, sink
ἐραννός –ή –όν : lovely
οὗ, οἷ, ἕ and encl. οὑ, οἱ, ἑ: him, her, it; himself, herself, itself
ἀντιβολέω ἀντιβολήσω ἠντεβόλησα ––– ––– ἠντεβολήθην: to meet by chance, encounter
θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess
γλαυκῶπις –ιδος: gleaming - eyed
Ἀθήνη –ης ἡ: Athena
παρθενικός –ή –όν: of a παρθένος, an unmarried girl 20
νεᾶνις –ιδος ἡ: a young woman, girl, maiden
κάλπις –ιδος ἡ: a vessel for drawing water, a pitcher
πρόσθεν: before, in front of
ἀνέρομαι ἀνερήσομαι ἀνηράσθην ἀνήρασμαι: to enquire of, question
δῖος –α –ον: divine, godlike, shining
Ὀδυσσεύς –έως ὁ: Odysseus, king of Ithaca, hero of the Odyssey
τέκος –ους τό: child
δόμος –ου ὁ: house, home
Ἀλκίνοος –ου ὁ: Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians in Scheria, a grandson of Poseidon
ἀνάσσω ἀνάξω ἤναξα: to be king, lord, or master of, rule over, reign
ταλαπείριος –ον: subject to many trials, much-suffering
ἐνθάδε: to here, to there
ἱκάνω ––– ––– ––– ––– –––: to come to, arrive at, reach
τηλόθεν: from afar, from a foreign land 25
ἄπιος –ου ἡ: distant, far away
γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district
τῷ: then, in that case; for this reason, thus
γαίη –ης ἡ: land, region, district
αὖτε: in turn, moreover, still, again, on the other hand
προσεῖπον (aor. 2 of προσαγορεύω and προσφωνέω); Εp. προσέειπον: to speak to one, address, accost
θεά –ᾶς ἡ: goddess
γλαυκῶπις –ιδος: gleaming - eyed
Ἀθήνη –ης ἡ: Athena
τοιγάρ: so then, wherefore, therefore, accordingly
δόμος –ου ὁ: house, home
ἀμύμων –ον: blameless, noble, excellent
ἐγγύθι: hard by, near
ναίω – – – – –: dwell, inhabit, be situated
σιγή –ῆς ἡ: silence 30
τοῖος –α –ον: quality, such, such-like
ἡγεμονεύω ἡγεμονεύσω ἡγεμόνευσα: to lead, guide, conduct
προτιόσσομαι – – – – –: to look at
ἐρεείνω – – – – –: to ask
ἀνέχω ἀνέξω (or ἀνσχήσω) ἀνέσχον ἀνέσχηκα ––– –––: raise up
ἀγαπάζω/ἀγαπάω ἀγαπήσω ἠγάπησα ἠγάπηκα ἠγάπημαι ἠγαπήθην: to treat with affection, shew affection to
φιλέω φιλήσω ἐφίλησα πεφίλημαι ἐφιλήθην: to love, hold dear; to entertain as a guest
ἄλλοθεν: from elsewhere
θοός –ή –όν: swift
ὠκύς ὠκεῖα ὠκύ: quick, swift, fast
λαῖτμα –ατος τό: the depths of the sea 35
ἐκπεράω ἐκπεράσω ἐξεπέρασα ἐκπεπέρακα ––– –––: to pass over, cross; pass through, penetrate, pierce
σφεῖς: they
ἐνοσίχθων –ονος ὁ: earth-shaker (epithet of Poseidon)
ὠκύς ὠκεῖα ὠκύ: quick, swift, fast
πτερόν –οῦ τό: wing
νόημα –ατος τό: thought, idea notion; mind; purpose, design, intention; device