Ancient Greek · The Wanderings

Ὀδυσσείας μ

Book 12. The Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis; the Cattle of the Sun

The Sirens sing, and Odysseus hears them tied to the mast. The ship passes Scylla and Charybdis. His men kill the cattle of the Sun and drown.

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But when our ship left the stream of the river Ocean
Metre
αὐτὰρἐπεὶποταμοῖο‖λίπενῥόονὨκεανοῖο
αὐτὰρbutἀτάρ · particlesentence particle
ἐπεὶwhenἐπεί · conjunctionsubordinating conjunction
ποταμοῖοriver'sποταμός · genitive singular masculine nounmodifies ῥόον
λίπενleftλείπω · aorist active indicative, 3rd singular verbadverbial to δ᾽
Aorist marks the completed departure from Ocean's stream, a single decisive act.
ῥόονstreamῥόος · accusative singular masculine nounobject of λίπεν
Ὠκεανοῖοof OceanὨκεανός · genitive singular masculine nounmodifies ποταμοῖο
Ὠκεανός is the mythic river encircling the world, not the sea — genitive stacked on genitive (ποταμοῖο).
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and came again to the waves of the wide-wayed sea
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and to the Aeaean island, where are the dwellings of early-born Dawn
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and her dancing-grounds, and the risings of the Sun,
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there, coming ashore, we ran the ship up onto the sands,
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and we ourselves stepped out onto the breaking surf of the sea;
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and there we fell asleep and waited for the bright Dawn.
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And when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,
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then indeed I sent my companions to the house of Circe
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to bring back the corpse, Elpenor who had died.
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Quickly we cut logs where the headland jutted farthest out,
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and we buried him, grieving, shedding warm tears.
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But when the corpse had burned, and the dead man's armor,
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heaping up a mound and dragging a pillar onto it,
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we fixed at the top of the mound his well-fitted oar.
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We then saw to each of these things; nor indeed did Circe
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fail to learn that we had come from Hades, but very swiftly
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she came, having dressed herself; and with her her handmaids carried
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bread and meat in plenty and gleaming red wine.
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And standing in our midst the goddess divine spoke:
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"Reckless men, who went down alive into the house of Hades,
WordReckless ones A reproachful word for someone hard, stubborn, or rashly bold; Circe marvels that they dared the journey to the dead.
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twice-dying, when other men die only once.
WordTwice-dying A rare compound: they will die a second time, having already in a sense died by descending alive to Hades.
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But come now, eat food and drink wine
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here all the day long; and at the showing of Dawn
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you shall sail; and I will show you the way and each thing
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I will make clear, so that by no grievous contrivance of evil
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either on the sea or on the land you may suffer pain and woe."
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So she spoke, and our manly spirit was persuaded.
GrammarImperfect with augment ἐπεπείθετο is imperfect middle, 'was persuaded'; the prefixed ε- is the past-tense augment marking it as past.
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So then for that whole day, until the sun went down,
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we sat feasting on abundant meat and sweet wine.
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But when the sun went down and darkness came on,
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they lay down to sleep beside the stern-cables of the ship,
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but she, taking me by the hand, apart from my dear companions,
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made me sit, and reclined beside me, and asked me about everything;
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and I in turn told her all in due order.
WordIn due order Literally 'according to measure/portion'; a Homeric idiom for speaking properly, fittingly, point by point.
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And then queenly Circe spoke to me with words:
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"All these things have thus been brought to their end; but you, listen,
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as I shall tell you; and the god himself will bring it to your mind.
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First you will come to the Sirens, who bewitch all
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men, whoever comes to them.
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Whoever in ignorance draws near and hears the voice
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of the Sirens, for him his wife and little children
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never stand beside him on his homecoming, nor do they rejoice,
GrammarAorist participle, dative νοστήσαντι is an aorist participle agreeing with the dative 'for him': 'for the man who has come home.'
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but the Sirens bewitch him with their clear-toned song,
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sitting in a meadow; and round about is a great heap of bones
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of rotting men, and the skin shrivels upon them.
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But drive past them, and smear over the ears of your companions
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with honey-sweet wax kneaded soft, so that none may hear
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of the others; but you yourself may listen, if you wish,
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provided they bind you in the swift ship, hands and feet,
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upright in the mast-step, and let the rope-ends be fastened to the mast itself,
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so that you may take delight in hearing the voice of the two Sirens.
GrammarDual ending Σειρήνοιιν is a dual form, 'of the two Sirens'; Greek had a special dual number for pairs, used here for the pair of singers.
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But if you beg, and order your companions to loose you,
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then let them bind you with still more bonds.
GrammarThird-person imperative διδέντων is a third-person plural imperative, 'let them bind'; Greek can command people not present.
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But when your companions have driven past these,
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from there on I will no longer tell you continuously
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which of two ways your course shall be, but you yourself
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must take counsel in your heart; and I will tell you of both.
GrammarInfinitive as command The infinitive βουλεύειν stands for an imperative, 'you must take counsel'; Homer often uses the infinitive this way.
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On the one side there are overhanging cliffs, and against them
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the great wave of dark-eyed Amphitrite roars;
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the blessed gods call these the Wandering Rocks.
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By them not even winged things pass, nor the doves,
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the timid ones, that carry ambrosia to Father Zeus,
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but the smooth rock always takes one even of these away;
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and the Father sends in another to make up their number.
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From there no ship of men has yet escaped, whichever comes,
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but together the planks of ships and the bodies of men
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the waves of the sea carry off, along with blasts of deadly fire.
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One sea-faring ship alone has sailed past there,
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the Argo, of concern to all, sailing from Aeetes;
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and quickly even her the wave would have flung against the great rocks,
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but Hera sent her past, since Jason was dear to her.
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Now the two crags: the one reaches the broad heaven
GrammarThe two crags δύω is dual, marking exactly two crags; the men-de structure that follows contrasts 'the one' with 'the other.'
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with its sharp peak, and a cloud wraps it about,
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a dark one; this never draws away, nor does clear sky
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ever hold its peak, neither in summer nor in harvest-time.
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No mortal man could climb it nor set foot on it,
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not even if he had twenty hands and feet;
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for the rock is smooth, like polished stone.
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And in the middle of the crag there is a misty cave,
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turned toward the gloom, toward Erebus, just where you,
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must steer your hollow ship past it, glorious Odysseus.
GrammarVocative case Ὀδυσσεῦ is the vocative, the form for direct address; Circe speaks straight to Odysseus.
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Not even a man in his prime, from the hollow ship,
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shooting with the bow, could reach the hollow cave.
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There within dwells Scylla, dreadfully yelping.
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Her voice indeed is no greater than a newborn puppy's
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in size, but she herself is an evil monster; nor would anyone
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rejoice to see her, not even if a god should meet her.
GrammarOptative of potential Both verbs are aorist optatives with ἂν/κε implied: 'would rejoice,' 'should meet'; the optative expresses what could hypothetically happen.
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She has twelve feet, all of them dangling,
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and six necks exceedingly long, and on each
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a horrible head, and in it three rows of teeth,
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thick and crowded, full of black death.
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Up to her middle she is sunk down within the hollow cave,
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but she holds her heads out from the dreadful pit,
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and there she fishes, groping greedily about the crag,
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for dolphins and dogfish, and whatever larger creature she can seize,
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a sea-monster, of which deep-moaning Amphitrite breeds thousands.
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By her no sailors yet have ever boasted to have
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fled past unharmed with their ship; for she carries off, with each head,
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a man, having snatched him from the dark-prowed ship.
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The other crag you will see lying lower, Odysseus,
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close to each other; you could shoot an arrow across.
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On it there is a great wild fig tree, flourishing with leaves;
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and beneath it divine Charybdis sucks down the black water.
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Three times a day she sends it up, and three times she sucks it down
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terribly; may you not be there when she sucks it down,
GrammarOptative of wish τύχοις is an aorist optative with μή expressing a negative wish: 'may you not chance to be there.'
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for not even the Earth-shaker could save you from disaster.
GrammarEpithet of Poseidon ἐνοσίχθων, 'Earth-shaker,' is a standing epithet of Poseidon, the sea-god whose power even he could not use to rescue from Charybdis.
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But keeping very close to Scylla's crag, quickly
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drive your ship past, since it is far better
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to miss six companions in the ship than all of them at once.
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So she spoke; and I answered her in turn, saying:
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"Come now, goddess, tell me this truthfully:
GrammarAorist imperative ἐνίσπες is a second aorist imperative, 'tell!' — a brisk command to the goddess. Homer often uses the bare aorist imperative for a single, definite request.
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is there some way I might escape from deadly Charybdis,
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and yet fight that other one off, when she preys upon my men?"
GrammarOptative of wish/possibility ἀμυναίμην (middle optative of ἀμύνω) expresses a hoped-for possibility — 'I might ward her off.' The middle voice means defending on one's own behalf.
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So I spoke; and at once the bright goddess answered me:
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"Reckless man, even now your mind is set on deeds of war
Wordschetlios A favorite word of address in Homer, half blame and half admiration: 'reckless one,' 'you incorrigible man.' Circe uses it of Odysseus's refusal to yield even to a monster.
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and on toil. Will you not give way even to the immortal gods?
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She is no mortal, but an undying evil,
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dreadful, grievous, savage, and not to be fought.
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There is no defense against her; to flee from her is best.
Wordalkê alkê is martial 'might' or the power to make a stand. Circe's point is brutal: against Scylla there is no alkê — courage is useless, only flight will serve.
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For if you linger to arm yourself beside the rock,
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I fear she may dart out at you again and seize you
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with all those heads of hers, and snatch away as many men.
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No, drive hard past, and cry aloud to Crataeis,
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Scylla's mother, who bore her as a bane to mortals;
Wordpêma — a bane pêma is 'ruin, calamity'; the phrase 'a bane to mortals' is a recurring Homeric tag for monsters and disasters.
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she will then keep her from rushing out a second time.
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Then you will come to the island of Thrinacia; there many
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cattle of the Sun graze, and his sturdy flocks of sheep —
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seven herds of cattle, and as many fine flocks of sheep,
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fifty in each. They bear no young,
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nor do they ever die off. Goddesses tend them as shepherds,
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fair-haired nymphs, Phaethousa and Lampetie,
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whom bright Neaera bore to Helios Hyperion.
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When their queenly mother had borne and reared them,
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she settled them far off on the island of Thrinacia, to dwell there
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and keep watch over their father's sheep and his crook-horned cattle.
Wordcrook-horned cattle ἕλιξ ('twisted, curved') is a standing epithet of cattle, describing their spiraling horns — one of Homer's concrete fixed phrases.
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If you leave these unharmed and keep your mind on your homecoming,
Wordnostos — homecoming nostos, 'the return home,' is the central theme of the whole poem. Circe makes the herds the test on which Odysseus's nostos depends.
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you may yet reach Ithaca, though you suffer hardships;
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but if you harm them, then I foretell ruin for you,
GrammarSubjunctive in a conditional σίνηαι is an aorist subjunctive in a future-more-vivid condition introduced by εἰ + κε: 'if you (should) harm them.' The subjunctive marks the case as a live, threatening possibility.
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for your ship and your men. And even if you yourself escape,
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you will come home late and in misery, having lost all your comrades."
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So she spoke; and at once golden-throned Dawn came.
Wordgolden-throned Dawn χρυσόθρονος, 'golden-throned,' is a standard epithet of Dawn (and of Hera), a formula marking the break of day.
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Then the bright goddess went away up the island;
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but I went down to the ship and roused my men
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to climb aboard themselves and loose the stern cables;
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and quickly they embarked and took their places at the oarlocks.
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Sitting in order, they struck the gray sea with their oars.
Wordthe gray sea πολιή ('gray, hoary') of the sea is a recurring Homeric epithet, picturing the pale foam-flecked water. The whole line is a formula repeated across the rowing scenes.
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And for us, astern of the dark-prowed ship,
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a fair following wind that filled the sail, a kindly comrade,
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was sent by fair-haired Circe, dread goddess with a human voice.
Wordaudêessa — speaking with a human voice αὐδήεσσα marks a goddess who speaks in human speech to mortals. It is the regular epithet of Circe and Calypso, distinguishing them from gods who keep their distance.
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At once we set each piece of tackle in order along the ship
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and sat down; and the wind and the helmsman held her on course.
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Then, grieving at heart, I spoke among my men:
Wordgrieving at heart ἀχνύμενος κῆρ ('grieved in heart,' with κῆρ as accusative of respect) is a formulaic phrase for Odysseus's sorrow, repeated through this book.
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"Friends, it is not right that only one or two should know
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the oracles that Circe, bright goddess, told me;
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so I will tell them, that knowing we may either die,
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or, escaping, flee death and our doom.
Wordkêr — doom of death κήρ is the personified death-spirit or appointed doom, often paired with θάνατος as here ('death and the kêr'). It names not just dying but the fate that brings it.
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First she bade us shun the wondrous Sirens,
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their voice and their flowering meadow.
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She bade me alone hear their voice; but bind me
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in a galling bond, that I may stay firmly there in place,
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upright against the mast-step, and let the rope-ends be made fast to it.
GrammarPerfect imperative ἀνήφθω is a third-person perfect passive imperative, 'let it stand fastened.' The perfect stresses the resulting fixed state, not the act of tying.
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And if I beg you and order you to set me free,
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then bind me fast with still more bonds."
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So, telling each thing in turn, I made it plain to my men;
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and meanwhile the well-built ship swiftly drew near
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the island of the Sirens, for a fair, harmless wind sped her on.
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Then all at once the wind died, and a windless calm
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came on, and some god lulled the waves to rest.
GrammarAugmented aorist κοίμησε is the aorist of κοιμάω, 'lulled to sleep.' This is an unaugmented aorist — the augmented form would be ἐκοίμησε — Homer routinely drops the augment for metrical convenience. The aorist captures the single decisive act of the daimôn stilling the sea.
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My men stood up and furled the ship's sail,
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and stowed it in the hollow ship, and then to the oars
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they sat and whitened the water with the polished pine blades.
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But I, with the sharp bronze, took a great round cake of wax
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and cut it small, and kneaded it with my strong hands;
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soon the wax grew warm, for the great force pressed it,
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and the beam of the Sun, lord Hyperion's son;
Wordson of Hyperion Ὑπεριονίδης is the patronymic 'son of Hyperion,' a Titan name for the Sun. Homer uses both Hyperion himself and this patronymic for Helios.
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and one by one I smeared it over the ears of all my men.
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Then they bound me in the ship, hand and foot together,
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upright against the mast-step, and made the rope-ends fast to it;
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and they themselves sat and struck the gray sea with their oars.
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But when we were as far off as a man's shout carries,
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driving swiftly on, the speeding ship did not escape their notice
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as it neared, and they raised their clear-toned song:
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"Come here, far-famed Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans,
Wordpolyainos Odysseus πολύαινος, 'much-praised, of many tales,' is a flattering epithet the Sirens use to draw Odysseus in — fitting bait for a hero defined by his fame.
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halt your ship, that you may hear the voice of us two.
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For no one has ever yet passed by here in his black ship
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before he heard the honey-sweet voice from our lips,
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but he goes on his way delighted, and knowing more than before.
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For we know all that, in the wide land of Troy,
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the Argives and Trojans toiled through by the will of the gods,
Wordby the will of the gods θεῶν ἰότητι, 'by the gods' will,' is a fixed phrase attributing human suffering and outcomes to divine purpose.
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and we know whatever comes to pass on the bountiful earth."
Wordthe bountiful earth πουλυβότειρα, 'feeding many, nourishing,' is a standing epithet of the earth. The Sirens claim total knowledge of everything upon it.
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So they sang, sending forth their lovely voice; and my heart
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longed to listen, and I signaled my men to set me free,
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nodding with my brows; but they fell to and rowed harder.
GrammarPresent participle νευστάζων ('nodding, signaling') is a present participle showing action going on at the same time as the main verb — Odysseus keeps gesturing while begging silently to be loosed.
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At once Perimedes and Eurylochus rose up
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and bound me with more bonds and pressed them tighter still.
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But when they had rowed past them, and no longer
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could we hear the Sirens' voice or their song,
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at once my trusty comrades took away the wax
Wordtrusty comrades ἐρίηρες ἑταῖροι, 'faithful companions,' is one of the commonest Homeric formulas for a crew or band of followers.
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with which I had smeared their ears, and loosed me from my bonds.
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But when we had left that island behind, straightaway
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I saw smoke and a great wave, and heard a roar.
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Then, as the men took fright, the oars flew from their hands
GrammarGenitive absolute τῶν δεισάντων is a genitive absolute, 'they being afraid' — a participial clause set apart in the genitive to give the circumstance for the oars flying loose.
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and clattered down through the current; and the ship stood still
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right there, since no longer did their hands drive the tapered oars.
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But I went through the ship and urged my men on,
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with soothing words standing beside each man:
Wordwith soothing words μειλίχιος, 'gentle, honeyed,' modifying 'words,' is a formula for calming or kindly speech in Homer.
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"Friends, we are no strangers to trouble by now;
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this evil that comes is no greater than when the Cyclops
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penned us in his hollow cave by brute force.
Wordby brute force βίη is sheer physical might; the -φι ending is an old Homeric instrumental case-form, 'with mighty force.' The archaic ending is typical of the epic register.
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Yet even from there, by my courage, my counsel and my wit,
Wordcourage, counsel, and wit Odysseus credits not strength but aretê (excellence/valor), boulê (planning), and noos (mind) — the qualities that define him as the man of many devices.
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we escaped; and I think we shall remember this day too.
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Now come, let us all do as I say.
GrammarHortatory subjunctive πειθώμεθα is a first-person plural present subjunctive used as an exhortation: 'let us obey.' This is the standard way Greek says 'let us...'.
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You, with your oars, strike the deep surf of the sea,
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sitting at the oarlocks, in hope that somehow Zeus
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may grant us to escape and flee this doom.
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And you, helmsman, I charge you thus — take it
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to heart, since you handle the hollow ship's steering-oar.
GrammarMiddle imperative βάλλευ is a present middle imperative, 'put (it) for yourself,' i.e. 'lay it to heart.' The middle voice marks the action as done in one's own interest.
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Keep the ship clear of this smoke and surge,
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and hug the rock, lest she slip away from you
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by darting off that way and hurling us into ruin.
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So I spoke, and they quickly obeyed my words.
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But I said no more of Scylla, that hopeless grief,
Word"hopeless grief" ἄπρηκτος means "that cannot be dealt with, against which nothing can be done"; ἀνίη is anguish or trouble. Odysseus hides the threat because there is no defense against it.
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for fear that, in their terror, my comrades might leave off
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their rowing and huddle themselves down inside the ship.
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And just then I forgot Circe's hard command,
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for she had told me by no means to arm myself;
GrammarMiddle infinitive θωρήσσεσθαι is a middle-voice infinitive, "to arm oneself." The middle voice marks the subject acting upon himself, here putting on his own armor.
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but I put on my glorious armor and, taking two long spears
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in my hands, I went up onto the ship's foredeck,
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at the prow; for from there I expected she would first appear,
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Scylla of the rock, who was bringing doom upon my comrades.
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But nowhere could I make her out, and my eyes grew weary
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as I peered in every direction toward the misty rock.
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So we sailed up the narrow strait, groaning aloud:
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on this side was Scylla, and on the other dread Charybdis
Grammarmen ... de contrast The pairing ἔνθεν μὲν ... ἑτέρωθι δὲ sets the two monsters on opposite sides in balanced clauses, the classic Greek "on the one hand ... on the other."
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terribly sucked down the salt water of the sea.
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Whenever she spewed it up, like a cauldron over a great fire
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she would seethe all over, churning, and high overhead the spray
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fell on the topmost crags on both the rocks.
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But whenever she gulped down the salt water of the sea,
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she would show all churning within, and around the rock
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she roared terribly, and below the earth showed through,
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dark with sand; and pale fear seized my men.
Word"pale fear" χλωρόν means greenish-yellow, pale; χλωρὸν δέος is a fixed Homeric phrase for the bloodless terror that drains the face of color.
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We kept our eyes on her, in fear of destruction;
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and meanwhile Scylla snatched from the hollow ship six of my
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comrades, the ones who were best in strength of hand and might.
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Looking toward the swift ship and after my comrades,
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I now caught sight of their feet and hands above me
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as they were lifted on high; and they cried out, calling me
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by name, for the last time then, grieving at heart.
Word"by name" A rare Homeric adverb meaning "calling each by his very name." It heightens the pathos: the doomed men name Odysseus personally in their last cry.
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As when a fisherman on a jutting headland, with a long rod,
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casting bait as a trap for the little fish,
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sends down into the sea the horn of an ox of the field,
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then catches one writhing and flings it ashore,
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so they were drawn up writhing toward the rocks;
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and there at her doorway she devoured them as they shrieked,
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stretching out their hands to me in their terrible struggle.
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That was the most pitiful sight I saw with my own eyes
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of all I suffered while searching out the paths of the sea.
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But when we had fled from the rocks and dread Charybdis
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and Scylla, straightaway then to the god's flawless island
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we came; and there were the fine broad-browed cattle
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and many sturdy flocks of Hyperion the Sun.
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And then, while still at sea in my black ship,
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I heard the lowing of the cattle penned in their stalls
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and the bleating of the sheep; and into my heart fell the word
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of the blind seer, Theban Teiresias,
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and of Aeaean Circe, who had charged me strictly,
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again and again, to shun the island of the Sun who gladdens mortals.
WordEpithet of the Sun τερψίμβροτος, "delighting mortals," is a standing epithet of Helios. Here it is bitterly ironic: this delight-giving god's island will bring the crew's death.
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And then I spoke among my comrades, grieving at heart:
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"Hear my words, comrades, hard pressed though you are,
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so that I may tell you the prophecies of Teiresias
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and of Aeaean Circe, who charged me strictly,
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again and again, to shun the island of the Sun who gladdens mortals;
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for there, she said, our most terrible harm would be.
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So drive the black ship onward, past the island."
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So I spoke, and their hearts were broken within them.
Word"their hearts were broken" κατακλάω is literally "to shatter, break down." The idiom "their dear heart was crushed" expresses sudden despair, a recurring Homeric formula.
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And at once Eurylochus answered me with hateful words:
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"You are a hard man, Odysseus. Your strength is great, and your limbs
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never tire; truly you must be made all of iron,
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you who will not let your comrades, worn down with weariness and sleep,
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set foot on land, where once again
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on this sea-girt island we might cook a savory supper,
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but instead bid us wander on through the swift night just so,
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driven from the island over the misty sea.
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Out of the night come cruel winds, the ruin of ships;
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how could anyone escape sheer destruction,
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if suddenly a blast of wind should come,
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of the South Wind or the ill-blowing West, which most of all
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shatter a ship, against the will of the lordly gods?
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No, for now let us yield to the black night
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and make ready our supper, staying beside the swift ship;
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and at dawn we will go aboard and put out on the wide sea."
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So spoke Eurylochus, and the other comrades agreed.
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And then I knew that some god was plotting evil,
Worddaimon δαίμων denotes a divine power, often a nameless or hostile one working against a mortal. Odysseus senses unseen divine malice behind the crew's stubbornness.
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and I spoke to him with winged words:
Grammar"winged words" ἔπεα πτερόεντα is among the most famous Homeric formulaic epithets, picturing words that fly from speaker to hearer. It recurs throughout the epics as a speech-introducing formula.
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"Eurylochus, you press me hard, since I stand alone.
298
But come now, all of you swear me a binding oath:
GrammarAorist imperative ὀμόσσατε is an aorist imperative, "swear!" The aorist commands the act as a single decisive deed rather than an ongoing one.
299
if we come upon some herd of cattle or great flock of sheep,
300
let no one, in wicked recklessness,
Wordatasthalia ἀτασθαλίη is reckless, presumptuous wickedness, the wanton folly that brings ruin. It is the key word for the crew's later crime against the Sun's cattle.
301
kill any ox or sheep; but, content,
302
eat the food that immortal Circe provided."
303
So I spoke, and at once they swore, as I commanded.
304
But when they had sworn and completed the oath,
305
we moored the well-built ship in a sheltered harbor
306
near a spring of sweet water, and the comrades disembarked
307
from the ship, and then skillfully prepared their supper.
308
But when they had put away the desire for food and drink,
GrammarFormulaic line "When they had put from themselves the desire for drink and food" is a recurring Homeric meal-formula. ἕντο is a middle aorist, marking the men dismissing their own appetite.
309
they remembered then and wept for their dear comrades,
310
the ones whom Scylla had snatched from the hollow ship and devoured;
311
and as they wept, sweet sleep came over them.
312
When it was the third watch of the night, and the stars had crossed the sky,
313
Zeus the cloud-gatherer roused a raging wind
Grammar"cloud-gathering Zeus" νεφεληγερέτα is a standing epithet of Zeus, "gatherer of clouds." The -α ending is an old Homeric nominative form for this masculine title.
314
in a furious storm, and with clouds he covered
315
land and sea alike; and night rose up from the heavens.
316
When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,
Grammar"rosy-fingered Dawn" The famous formula ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς fills the line-end and marks daybreak throughout the Odyssey. Such repeated noun-epithet phrases are building blocks of oral hexameter.
317
we drew the ship into a hollow cave and moored her.
318
There were the fair dancing-floors and seats of the nymphs;
319
and then I called an assembly and spoke among them:
320
"My friends, there is food and drink aboard the swift ship;
321
so let us keep our hands off these cattle, lest we suffer harm;
GrammarHortatory subjunctive ἀπεχώμεθα is a present subjunctive used hortatively, "let us hold off." The first-person plural subjunctive urges the group to a shared course of action.
322
for these cattle and sturdy flocks belong to a dread god,
323
the Sun, who sees all things and hears all things."
324
So I spoke, and their proud spirit was won over.
325
But for a whole month the South Wind blew without ceasing, nor did any other
326
wind arise after that, except the East Wind and the South.
327
Now while they still had grain and red wine,
328
they kept their hands off the cattle, longing to stay alive.
Word"longing to stay alive" λιλαίομαι is "to long for, desire eagerly"; βίοτος here means life itself. The men spare the cattle only as long as their own survival does not depend on eating them.
329
But when all the provisions had been used up from the ship,
330
and they roamed in search of game, driven by need,
331
fish and birds, whatever might come to their hands,
332
with bent fishhooks, for hunger gnawed at their bellies.
Wordbent hooks The phrase names the curved metal fishhooks the starving men resort to, a vivid concrete detail of their desperation.
333
Then I went off up the island, to pray to the gods,
334
in hope that one of them might show me a way to return home.
335
But when, going through the island, I had given my comrades the slip,
336
I washed my hands where there was shelter from the wind,
337
and prayed to all the gods who hold Olympus;
Grammarimperfect of prayer ἠρώμην is imperfect middle of ἀράομαι, 'I was praying.' The imperfect frames the prayer as ongoing action interrupted by what follows.
338
but they poured sweet sleep over my eyelids.
339
Meanwhile Eurylochus began laying an evil plan before the men:
340
"Hear my words, comrades, for all the hardship you suffer.
341
All deaths are hateful to wretched mortals,
342
but most pitiful of all is to die of hunger and meet one's doom.
Wordto meet one's doom A formulaic Homeric phrase, literally 'to draw on one's fate,' meaning to die. πότμος is one's appointed death.
343
So come, let us drive off the best of the Sun's cattle
344
and sacrifice them to the immortals who hold the wide heaven.
345
And if we reach Ithaca, our native land,
346
we will at once build a rich temple to Hyperion the Sun
347
and set in it many fine offerings.
348
But if, angered over his straight-horned cattle,
349
he wishes to wreck our ship, and the other gods follow him,
350
I would rather lose my life at one gulp against the wave
Wordgaping at the wave χανών (aorist participle of χάσκω, 'gape, open the mouth') pictures the drowning man's mouth open to the water — a single quick death preferred to slow starvation.
351
than waste away slowly here on a desert island."
352
So spoke Eurylochus, and the other comrades approved.
353
At once they drove off the best of the Sun's cattle
354
from nearby, for not far from the dark-prowed ship
355
the fine sleek broad-browed cattle were grazing.
356
They stood around them and prayed to the gods,
357
having plucked tender leaves from a high-crowned oak;
358
for they had no white barley aboard the well-benched ship.
359
And when they had prayed and cut the throats and flayed them,
360
they cut out the thigh-bones and wrapped them in fat,
361
making a double fold, and laid raw flesh upon them.
362
They had no wine to pour over the burning offerings,
363
but pouring libations of water they roasted all the entrails.
364
And when the thigh-bones were burned and they had tasted the inner parts,
365
they cut up the rest and pierced it on spits.
366
Just then sweet sleep rushed away from my eyelids,
367
and I set out to go to the swift ship and the shore of the sea.
368
But when, as I went, I drew near the curved ship,
369
then the sweet smell of roasting fat came drifting round me.
370
I groaned aloud and cried out to the immortal gods:
371
"Father Zeus, and you other blessed gods who live forever,
372
truly you have lulled me into ruin with this pitiless sleep.
Wordatê: ruinous folly ἄτη is the blinding delusion or ruin that the gods send; here the very sleep that 'lulled' Odysseus has delivered him to disaster.
373
My comrades, left behind, have plotted a monstrous deed."
374
Swiftly a messenger came to Hyperion the Sun,
375
Lampetie of the trailing robe, that we had killed his cattle.
376
At once, enraged at heart, he spoke among the immortals:
377
"Father Zeus, and you other blessed gods who live forever,
378
take vengeance now on the comrades of Odysseus, son of Laertes,
379
who have insolently killed my cattle, in which I
380
took delight as I went up into the starry heaven,
381
and again as I turned back toward earth from the sky.
382
If they do not pay me fitting recompense for the cattle,
383
I will go down into Hades and shine among the dead."
384
Then Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered him and said:
Grammarcloud-gatherer Zeus A standing epithet of Zeus. The fixed form fits the hexameter and recurs across the epic whenever Zeus speaks.
385
"Sun, keep on shining among the immortals
386
and for mortal men upon the grain-giving earth.
387
As for these men, soon I will strike their swift ship with a blazing thunderbolt
388
and shatter it to pieces in the middle of the wine-dark sea."
Wordwine-dark sea οἶνοψ, 'wine-faced,' is Homer's recurring epithet for the deep sea. We keep the familiar English 'wine-dark.'
389
This I heard from Calypso of the lovely hair;
390
she said she herself had heard it from Hermes the guide.
391
But when I had come down to the ship and the sea,
392
I rebuked them, going from one to another, but no remedy
393
could we find, for the cattle were already dead.
394
Then at once the gods showed them portents:
395
the hides crawled, and the flesh on the spits bellowed,
396
both roasted and raw, and there came a sound like cattle lowing.
397
Then for six days my trusty comrades
398
feasted, having driven off the best of the Sun's cattle;
399
but when Zeus, son of Cronos, brought on the seventh day,
400
then at last the wind ceased raging in its storm,
401
and we quickly embarked and put out onto the wide sea,
402
having set up the mast and hauled up the white sails.
403
But when we had left the island behind, and no other
404
land appeared, but only sky and sea,
405
then the son of Cronos set a dark cloud
406
above the hollow ship, and the sea grew dark beneath it.
407
She ran on for no long time, for swiftly there came
408
the shrieking West Wind, raging in a great storm,
409
and the squall of wind snapped both forestays
410
of the mast; the mast fell backward, and all the tackle
411
tumbled into the bilge. And in the ship's stern
412
it struck the helmsman's head, and crushed the bones
413
of his skull all together; and like a diver
Wordlike a diver The simile compares the helmsman's headlong fall from the deck to an acrobat or diver plunging — a brief, grim image of his death.
414
he plunged from the deck, and his proud spirit left his bones.
415
Zeus thundered at the same moment and hurled his bolt at the ship;
416
she shuddered through all her frame, struck by the bolt of Zeus,
Grammarpassive participle πληγεῖσα is an aorist passive participle, 'having been struck,' agreeing with the ship (feminine). It marks the ship as the receiver of Zeus's blow.
417
and was filled with sulfur, and the men fell from the ship.
418
Like sea-crows they were tossed about the black ship
419
on the waves, and the god took away their homecoming.
Wordnostos: homecoming νόστος, the return home, is the central goal of the whole epic. Here the god strips it from the crew entirely.
420
But I kept ranging about the ship, until the surge
421
tore the sides from the keel, and the wave bore it bare,
422
and snapped the mast off against the keel. But upon it
423
a backstay had been thrown, made of an ox's hide;
424
with this I lashed the two together, keel and mast alike,
425
and sitting on them I was carried by the deadly winds.
426
There, then, the West Wind ceased raging in its storm,
427
and the South Wind came on swiftly, bringing grief to my heart,
428
so that I should measure my way back again to deadly Charybdis.
429
All night I was borne along, and as the sun rose
430
I came to the rock of Scylla and to dread Charybdis.
431
She was sucking down the salt water of the sea;
432
but I, lifted high up toward the tall fig tree,
433
clung fast to it like a bat. I had no place
Wordlike a bat The homely simile of a bat clinging to a fig tree — small and helpless against the whirlpool — undercuts the heroic scale with a vivid everyday image.
434
either to plant my feet firmly or to climb up;
435
for the roots were far off, and the branches hung high above,
436
long and great, overshadowing Charybdis.
437
I held on without flinching, waiting until she should vomit back
438
the mast and keel again; and to my longing they came
439
late. At the hour when a man rises from the assembly for his supper,
440
after deciding the many disputes of contending young men,
441
then at last the timbers reappeared from out of Charybdis.
Wordcame into view An aorist passive of a verb of appearing, vividly marking the moment the mast and keel resurfaced after Charybdis swallowed and disgorged the sea.
442
I let myself drop down from above, feet and hands together,
443
and splashed down in the middle, just clear of the long timbers,
444
and sitting astride them I rowed onward with my own hands.
Grammardative of means "With my own hands" stands in the dative, naming the instrument of the rowing. The Homeric form ἐμῇσι is an older variant of the possessive.
445
But the father of men and gods did not let Scylla
446
catch sight of me; for otherwise I would not have escaped sheer destruction.
Grammarunreal past condition The aorist indicative with κεν expresses a contrary-to-fact result: had Scylla seen him, he would not have escaped. The particle κεν marks the potential.
447
From there I was carried for nine days, and on the tenth night
448
the gods brought me to the island of Ogygia, where Calypso
449
dwells, the fair-haired one, a dread goddess with mortal speech,
Wordwith mortal speech An epithet for goddesses like Calypso and Circe who can speak with human voice. It marks them as goddesses who interact directly and conversationally with mortals.
450
who loved me and cared for me. But why tell you this tale again?
451
For just yesterday I told it in your house,
Grammarimperfect of telling The imperfect describes the act of narrating as something done over the course of yesterday's gathering. The augment ἐ- marks the past tense.
452
to you and to your noble wife; and it is hateful to me
453
to tell again as a tale things already plainly spoken.
Grammarperfect participle "Things that have been said" is a perfect passive participle, stressing the completed, standing state of the already-told story. Odysseus refuses to repeat what is now settled and known.

The particulars

The text: Ὀδύσσεια, Homer. The Wanderings.
Translation: Public-domain Greek (Homer, ancient; text via the Perseus Digital Library). English translation © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC.
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