The Odyssey 1732 Studios

Ancient Greek · The Wanderings

Ὀδυσσείας ε

Book 5. Calypso; Odysseus Builds a Raft and the Storm at Sea

Zeus orders Calypso to let Odysseus go. He builds a raft and sails seventeen days. Poseidon wrecks him, and he swims ashore at Scheria.

493 lines · 52 notes

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    Now Dawn rose from her bed beside lordly Tithonus

    Metre

    ἨὼςDawnἠώς · nominative singular feminine nounsubject of ὤρνυθ᾽

    Ἠώς, goddess of dawn — formulaic epic opening for a new day

    δandδέ · particlecoordinating word
    ἐκfromἐκ · prepositionpreposition
    λεχέωνbedλέχος · genitive plural neuter nounobject of ἐκ
    παρbesideπαρά · prepositionpreposition
    ἀγαυοῦlordlyἀγαυός · genitive singular masculine adjectivemodifies Τιθωνοῖο
    ΤιθωνοῖοTithonusΤιθωνός · genitive singular masculine nounadverbial to παρ᾽

    mortal husband of Dawn, granted immortality but not eternal youth

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    and stirred, to bring light to the immortals and to mortals;

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    and the gods were taking their seats in council, and among them

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    Zeus who thunders on high, whose power is greatest of all.

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    To them Athena spoke of the many sorrows of Odysseus,

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    remembering him; for it troubled her that he was in the nymph's halls:

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    "Father Zeus, and you other blessed gods who live forever,

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    let no sceptered king ever again be kind and gentle and mild,

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    nor knowing in his heart what is right,

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    but let him always be harsh and do unjust deeds;

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    since not one remembers godlike Odysseus

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    among the people he ruled, though he was gentle as a father.

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    But he lies on an island suffering bitter pains

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    in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who by force

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    holds him; and he cannot reach his native land,

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    for he has no oared ships beside him, no companions

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    who might send him on over the broad back of the sea.

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    And now they are bent on killing his beloved son

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    as he comes home; for he went after news of his father

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    to sacred Pylos and to glorious Lacedaemon."

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    Then Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered her and said:

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    "My child, what a word has escaped the barrier of your teeth!

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    For did you not yourself devise this plan,

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    that Odysseus should come back and take vengeance on those men?

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    As for Telemachus, send him on skillfully, for you can,

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    so that he may reach his native land unharmed,

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    and the suitors come back in their ship with their purpose foiled."

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    He spoke, and addressed Hermes, his dear son:

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    "Hermes, since in all else too you are our messenger,

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    tell the fair-haired nymph our unerring decree,

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    the homecoming of steadfast Odysseus, that he may return

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    with no escort of gods nor of mortal men;

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    but on a raft of many lashings, suffering hardships,

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    on the twentieth day he will reach fertile Scheria,

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    the land of the Phaeacians, who are kinsmen of the gods,

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    who will honor him in their hearts like a god,

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    and send him in a ship to his dear native land,

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    giving him bronze and gold in plenty, and clothing,

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    more than Odysseus would ever have carried off from Troy,

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    had he come home unharmed with his fair share of the spoil.

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    For this is his lot: to see his loved ones and to come

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    to his high-roofed house and his own native land."

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    So he spoke, and the guide, slayer of Argus, did not disobey.

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    At once he bound beneath his feet his fine sandals,

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    immortal, golden, that bore him over the waters

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    and over the boundless earth with the breath of the wind.

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    He took the wand with which he charms the eyes of men,

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    of whomever he wishes, and wakes others again from sleep.

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    Holding it in his hands, the strong slayer of Argus flew.

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    Setting foot on Pieria, he dropped from the upper air to the sea,

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    then sped over the waves like a gull,

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    which down the dread gulfs of the barren sea

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    hunting fish drenches its thick wings in the brine:

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    like it Hermes rode over the many waves.

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    But when he reached the island lying far off,

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    there he stepped from the violet sea onto the land

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    and went on, until he came to the great cave where the nymph

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    with the lovely hair dwelt; and he found her within.

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    A great fire was burning on the hearth, and far off the scent

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    of split cedar and incense-wood drifted across the island

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    as they burned; and within she was singing with a lovely voice

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    as she went to and fro at the loom, weaving with a golden shuttle.

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    Around the cave a wood had grown up flourishing,

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    alder and poplar and fragrant cypress.

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    There long-winged birds roosted,

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    owls and hawks and long-tongued crows

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    of the sea, whose business is upon the waters.

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    And there about the hollow cave was trained and spread

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    a thriving garden vine, luxuriant with clusters of grapes.

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    Four springs in a row flowed with clear water,

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    close to one another, turned each a different way.

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    And all around soft meadows of violet and parsley

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    were blooming. There even an immortal coming upon it

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    would gaze in wonder at the sight, and be glad in his heart.

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    There the guide, slayer of Argus, stood and gazed.

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    But when he had marveled at everything in his heart,

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    at once he went into the wide cave. And face to face

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    Calypso, bright among goddesses, knew him at sight;

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    for the immortal gods are not unknown to one another,

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    even if one of them dwells in a house far away.

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    But great-hearted Odysseus he did not find within,

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    for he sat weeping on the shore, as before,

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    racking his heart with tears and groans and griefs,

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    and gazed out over the barren sea, shedding tears.

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    Calypso, bright among goddesses, questioned Hermes,

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    after she had seated him on a shining, polished chair:

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    "Why have you come to me, Hermes of the golden wand,

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    honored and dear? Before now you have not come often.

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    Say what is in your mind; my heart bids me do it,

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    if I can do it, and if it is a thing that can be done.

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    But come further in, that I may set hospitality before you."

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    So saying, the goddess set out a table beside him,

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    filling it with ambrosia, and mixed the red nectar.

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    Then the guide, slayer of Argus, drank and ate.

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    But when he had dined and satisfied his heart with food,

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    then indeed he answered her with these words:

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    "You ask me why I have come, goddess to god; and I

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    will tell you the matter truly, since you bid me.

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    Zeus commanded me to come here, against my will;

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    for who would willingly run across so great a stretch

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    of salt water, unspeakably vast? No city of mortals is near,

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    men who offer sacrifices to the gods and choice hecatombs.

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    But there is no way at all for another god to slip past

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    or thwart the purpose of Zeus who holds the aegis.

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    He says a man is here with you, most wretched of all

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    those men who fought around Priam's city

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    nine years, and in the tenth sacked the city and went

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    homeward; but on the return they sinned against Athena,

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    who roused against them an evil wind and high waves.

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    There all the rest of his noble companions perished,

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    but this man the wind and the wave bore here and brought him near.

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    Him now Zeus bids you send away as quickly as you can,

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    for it is not his destiny to die here, far from his own people,

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    but it is still his lot to see his loved ones and reach

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    his high-roofed house and his own native land.

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    So he spoke, and Calypso, shining among goddesses, shuddered,

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    and speaking to him she addressed him with winged words:

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    Cruel are you, gods, and jealous beyond all others,

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    you who begrudge goddesses lying openly beside men,

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    in the open, if one makes a man her dear bedfellow.

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    So it was when rosy-fingered Dawn chose Orion:

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    so long the gods who live at ease begrudged her,

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    until in Ortygia chaste, golden-throned Artemis

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    assailed him with her gentle arrows and slew him.

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    So too when fair-haired Demeter, yielding to her heart,

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    joined with Iasion in love and on his bed

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    in the thrice-plowed fallow; nor for long did Zeus

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    remain unaware, and he slew him with a cast of his blazing thunderbolt.

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    So now again you begrudge me, gods, that a mortal man is with me.

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    Him I rescued as he straddled the keel, alone,

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    after Zeus, with his blazing thunderbolt,

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    had struck his swift ship and shattered it in the middle of the wine-dark sea.

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    There all the rest of his brave companions perished,

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    but this man the wind and the wave bore here and brought him near.

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    Him I loved and cherished, and I kept saying

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    I would make him immortal and ageless for all his days.

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    But since it is in no way possible for the mind of aegis-bearing Zeus

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    to be evaded or thwarted by another god,

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    let him go, if that one urges and commands it,

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    over the barren sea; but I will send him off nowhere myself,

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    for I have no ships fitted with oars and no companions

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    who might convey him over the broad back of the sea.

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    But of my own goodwill I will counsel him, and hide nothing,

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    so that quite unharmed he may reach his own native land.

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    Then the guide, slayer of Argos, answered her:

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    So send him off now, and beware the wrath of Zeus,

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    lest he grow angry with you afterward and turn harsh.

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    So speaking the mighty slayer of Argos departed,

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    and the lady nymph went toward great-hearted Odysseus,

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    since she had heeded the message of Zeus.

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    She found him sitting on the shore, and never were his eyes

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    dry of tears; his sweet life was draining away

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    as he mourned for his homecoming, since the nymph no longer pleased him.

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    By night, to be sure, he would sleep, even against his will,

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    in the hollow caves, unwilling beside her willing;

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    but by day, sitting on the rocks and the beaches,

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    tearing his heart with tears and groans and griefs,

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    he gazed out on the barren sea, shedding tears.

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    Standing near, the shining goddess spoke to him:

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    Ill-fated man, do not grieve here any longer, nor let your life

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    waste away; for now with all goodwill I will send you on your way.

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    Come, cut long beams with bronze and fit together

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    a wide raft; and fasten cross-planks upon it

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    up high, so that it may carry you over the misty sea.

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    And I will stow bread and water and red wine,

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    abundant, to keep hunger from you,

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    and I will clothe you in garments, and send a fair wind behind you,

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    so that quite unharmed you may reach your own native land,

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    if the gods are willing, those who hold broad heaven,

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    who are stronger than I both to plan and to bring about.

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    So she spoke, and much-enduring noble Odysseus shuddered,

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    and speaking to her he addressed her with winged words:

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    Some other thing, goddess, you are plotting here, and not my passage,

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    you who bid me cross on a raft the great gulf of the sea,

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    dreadful and grievous; not even trim, balanced ships

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    cross it, swift-sailing though they are, rejoicing in a wind from Zeus.

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    Nor would I, against your will, set foot upon a raft,

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    unless you would consent, goddess, to swear a great oath

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    that you will plot no other evil harm against me.

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    So he spoke, and Calypso, shining among goddesses, smiled,

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    and she stroked him with her hand and spoke and called him by name:

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    You are a rogue indeed, and no fool in your thinking,

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    to have thought to speak such a speech as this.

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    Let earth now be my witness to this, and broad heaven above,

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    and the down-flowing water of the Styx, which is the greatest

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    and most dread oath there is for the blessed gods,

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    that I will plot no other evil harm against you.

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    But I intend, and will counsel, only such things as I would

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    devise for myself, were such great need to come upon me;

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    for my mind too is righteous, and the heart within me

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    in my breast is not of iron, but full of pity.

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    So speaking the shining goddess led the way

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    swiftly, and he then walked behind in the god's footsteps.

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    They came to the hollow cave, the goddess and the man,

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    and he sat down there upon the chair from which

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    Hermes had risen, and the nymph set beside him every food,

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    to eat and drink, such things as mortal men eat;

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    and she herself sat opposite godlike Odysseus,

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    and beside her the handmaids set ambrosia and nectar.

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    They put forth their hands to the good things laid ready before them.

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    But when they had taken their fill of food and drink,

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    then Calypso, shining among goddesses, began to speak:

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    Zeus-born son of Laertes, resourceful Odysseus,

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    so you wish to go now, at once, to your home

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    and your dear native land? Even so, fare you well.

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    Yet if you knew in your heart how many sorrows

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    it is your destiny to fill up before you reach your native land,

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    you would stay right here with me and keep this house

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    and be immortal, however much you long to see

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    your wife, for whom you yearn each and every day.

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    Yet I claim to be in no way inferior to her,

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    neither in body nor in stature, since it is not fitting at all

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    for mortal women to vie with immortals in body and form.

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    Then in answer resourceful Odysseus addressed her:

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    Lady goddess, do not be angry with me over this. I myself know

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    all of it well, that prudent Penelope is

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    less impressive than you in looks and stature to behold;

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    for she is a mortal, while you are immortal and ageless.

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    But even so I wish and long, each and every day,

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    to go home and to see the day of my return.

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    But if some god should wreck me on the wine-dark sea,

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    I will endure it, holding in my breast a heart that bears up under grief;

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    for already I have suffered much and toiled through much

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    on the waves and in war; let this too be added to those.

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    So he spoke, and the sun set and darkness came on;

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    and the two of them, going into the inmost recess of the hollow cave,

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    took their pleasure in love, remaining beside each other.

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    And when early-born rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,

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    at once Odysseus put on his cloak and tunic,

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    and the nymph herself put on a great silvery-white robe,

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    fine and graceful, and around her waist she cast a belt,

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    beautiful and golden, and over her head a veil.

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    And then she set about planning the sending of great-hearted Odysseus.

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    She gave him a great axe, well fitted to his palms,

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    of bronze, sharpened on both sides; and set in it

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    was a beautiful handle of olive-wood, firmly fixed;

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    then she gave him a well-polished adze; and she led the way

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    to the far edge of the island, where tall trees were growing,

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    alder and poplar, and fir that reached to the sky,

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    long dry, thoroughly seasoned, that would sail light for him.

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    But when she had shown him where the tall trees grew,

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    Calypso, fair among goddesses, went back to her home,

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    while he cut the beams; and swiftly the work was done for him.

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    He felled twenty in all, and trimmed them with the bronze,

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    and planed them skillfully, and made them straight to the line.

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    Meanwhile Calypso, fair among goddesses, brought augers;

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    and he bored through all the pieces and fitted them to one another,

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    and with pegs and joints he hammered the raft together.

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    As wide as a man marks out the floor of a ship,

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    a broad freighter, one well skilled in carpentry,

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    so broad did Odysseus make his raft.

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    He set up the deck-planks, fitting them to close-set ribs,

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    and worked on; and he finished it off with long gunwales.

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    In it he made a mast and a yard-arm fitted to it,

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    and besides he made a steering-oar, to steer her with.

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    He fenced it from end to end with willow wickerwork

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    to be a defense against the wave; and he piled on much brush.

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    Meanwhile Calypso, fair among goddesses, brought cloth

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    to make sails; and these too he fashioned well.

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    And he bound in it the braces and halyards and sheets,

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    and with levers he hauled her down into the bright sea.

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    It was the fourth day, and by then everything was finished;

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    and on the fifth, fair Calypso sent him from the island,

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    after she had clothed him in fragrant garments and bathed him.

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    And the goddess put on board for him a skin of dark wine,

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    one of them, and another large one of water, and provisions too

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    in a sack; and she set many tasty foods in it to his liking;

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    and she sent forth a fair wind, gentle and warm.

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    Rejoicing in the wind, noble Odysseus spread his sails.

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    And he steered with the steering-oar skillfully,

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    sitting there, and sleep did not fall upon his eyelids

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    as he watched the Pleiades and late-setting Boötes

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    and the Bear, which men also call by the name of the Wain,

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    which turns round in place and keeps watch on Orion,

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    and alone has no share in the baths of Ocean.

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    For Calypso, fair among goddesses, had told him

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    to keep it on his left hand as he sailed the sea.

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    For seventeen days he sailed, voyaging over the sea,

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    and on the eighteenth there appeared the shadowy mountains

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    of the land of the Phaeacians, where it lay nearest to him;

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    and it showed like a shield on the misty sea.

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    But the lord earth-shaker, returning from the Ethiopians,

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    saw him from afar, from the mountains of the Solymi; for he came into view

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    as he sailed the sea. And Poseidon grew yet angrier in his heart,

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    and shaking his head he spoke to his own spirit:

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    "Well now! Surely the gods have changed their plans about Odysseus

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    while I was away among the Ethiopians;

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    and now he is near the land of the Phaeacians, where it is his fate

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    to escape the great extremity of the misery that has come upon him.

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    But still I think I can drive him to his fill of trouble yet."

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    So speaking, he gathered the clouds together, and stirred up the sea,

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    gripping his trident in his hands; and he roused all the blasts

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    of winds of every kind, and shrouded with clouds

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    both land and sea alike; and night rushed down from heaven.

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    Together fell the East Wind and the South, and the ill-blowing West,

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    and the North Wind, born of clear sky, rolling a great wave before it.

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    And then the knees of Odysseus were loosened, and his own heart,

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    and in distress he spoke to his own great-hearted spirit:

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    "Wretched me! What in the end is to become of me?

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    I fear that the goddess spoke all things truly,

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    who said that on the sea, before I reached my native land,

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    I would fill up my measure of griefs; and now all of it is coming to pass.

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    With such clouds Zeus is crowning the wide heaven

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    and has stirred up the sea, and the blasts press hard,

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    of every kind of wind. Now my sheer destruction is certain.

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    Three times blessed the Danaans, and four times, who perished then

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    in wide Troy, bringing a favor to the sons of Atreus.

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    Would that I too had died and met my doom

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    on that day when in throngs the Trojans hurled at me

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    their bronze-tipped spears around the dead son of Peleus.

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    Then I would have had funeral rites, and the Achaeans would have spread my fame;

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    but now it is my lot to be caught by a wretched death."

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    Even as he spoke, a great wave struck him down from on high,

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    rushing terribly, and spun the raft around.

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    Far from the raft he himself fell, and the steering-oar

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    flew from his hands; and the mast was snapped in the middle

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    by a fearful squall of mingled winds that came down upon it,

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    and far off the sail and yard-arm fell into the sea.

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    And the wave held him under for a long time, nor was he able

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    to come up quickly from beneath the rush of the mighty wave;

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    for the clothes weighed him down that fair Calypso had given him.

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    At last he came up, and spat the brine from his mouth,

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    the bitter brine that streamed down in floods from his head.

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    Yet even so he did not forget his raft, worn out as he was,

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    but lunging after it among the waves he laid hold of it,

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    and sat down in its middle, avoiding the end that is death.

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    And the great wave carried it along the current, this way and that.

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    As when in autumn the North Wind drives thistledown over the plain,

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    and the tufts cling thickly to one another,

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    so the winds bore the raft this way and that across the sea.

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    Now the South Wind would fling it to the North to carry,

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    and now again the East Wind would yield it to the West to chase.

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    But the daughter of Cadmus saw him, Ino of the lovely ankles,

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    Leucothea, who once was a mortal of human speech,

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    but now in the deeps of the sea has won her share of honor from the gods.

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    She took pity on Odysseus as he drifted in his sufferings,

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    and like a sea-gull on the wing she rose up from the swell,

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    sat upon the close-bound raft, and spoke her word:

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    "Poor man, why does Poseidon the earth-shaker rage at you

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    so terribly, that he sows so many troubles for you?

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    Yet he will not destroy you, however much he longs to.

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    Just do as I say — you seem to me no fool:

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    strip off these clothes and let the raft drive before the winds,

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    leave it behind, and with your arms swim hard for the homecoming

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    to the land of the Phaeacians, where it is your fate to escape.

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    Here, stretch this veil beneath your breast —

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    it is immortal; you need have no fear of suffering or of dying.

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    But when with your hands you take hold of the mainland,

  349. 349

    untie it again and throw it into the wine-dark sea,

  350. 350

    far out from the land, and turn yourself away."

  351. 351

    So speaking the goddess gave him the veil,

  352. 352

    and she herself plunged back into the surging sea,

  353. 353

    like a sea-gull; and the dark wave closed over her.

  354. 354

    But much-enduring noble Odysseus pondered,

  355. 355

    and troubled he spoke to his own great-hearted spirit:

  356. 356

    "Oh no — let it not be that some immortal is weaving me a trick again,

  357. 357

    telling me to step off my raft.

  358. 358

    No, I will not obey yet, since I saw with my own eyes

  359. 359

    that the land is far off, where she said my refuge lies.

  360. 360

    So I will do this — it seems to me the best:

  361. 361

    as long as the timbers hold together in their joinings,

  362. 362

    so long I will stay here and endure my sufferings;

  363. 363

    but once the wave has shaken the raft to pieces under me,

  364. 364

    I will swim, since there is nothing better to plan ahead."

  365. 365

    While he turned this over in his mind and heart,

  366. 366

    Poseidon the earth-shaker raised up a great wave against him,

  367. 367

    dreadful and crushing, arched overhead, and drove it down upon him.

  368. 368

    As when a gusting wind shakes a heap of dry chaff

  369. 369

    and scatters it this way and that,

  370. 370

    so the wave scattered the raft's long timbers. But Odysseus

  371. 371

    mounted astride a single beam, riding it like a horse,

  372. 372

    and stripped off the clothes that noble Calypso had given him.

  373. 373

    At once he stretched the veil beneath his breast,

  374. 374

    and flung himself face-forward into the sea, spreading his arms,

  375. 375

    eager to swim. And the lord earth-shaker saw him,

  376. 376

    and shaking his head he spoke to his own spirit:

  377. 377

    "So now, after suffering many evils, drift over the sea,

  378. 378

    until you come among men nurtured by Zeus.

  379. 379

    Even so, I think you will not make light of your misery."

  380. 380

    So speaking he whipped his fair-maned horses,

  381. 381

    and came to Aegae, where his famous halls stand.

  382. 382

    But Athena, daughter of Zeus, had other thoughts.

  383. 383

    She bound back the paths of all the other winds,

  384. 384

    and bade them all cease and lie down to rest;

  385. 385

    but she roused a swift North Wind and broke down the waves before it,

  386. 386

    so that Zeus-born Odysseus might come among the oar-loving Phaeacians,

  387. 387

    escaping death and the spirits of doom.

  388. 388

    There for two nights and two days on the heaving wave

  389. 389

    he drifted, and again and again his heart foresaw destruction.

  390. 390

    But when fair-haired Dawn brought the third day to its fullness,

  391. 391

    then at last the wind died down, and a windless calm

  392. 392

    came over the sea; and he caught sight of land close by,

  393. 393

    looking out sharply, lifted high upon a great wave.

  394. 394

    As when life returns, welcome, to children whose father

  395. 395

    has lain in sickness, suffering hard pains,

  396. 396

    wasting long, while a hateful god assailed him,

  397. 397

    and then, welcome, the gods free him from his misery —

  398. 398

    so welcome to Odysseus appeared the land and its trees,

  399. 399

    and he swam, straining to set foot upon the mainland.

  400. 400

    But when he was as far off as a man's shout can carry,

  401. 401

    he heard the thud of the sea against the reefs;

  402. 402

    for the great wave roared against the dry land,

  403. 403

    belching dreadfully, and everything was wrapped in salt spray;

  404. 404

    for there were no harbors to hold ships, nor any roadsteads,

  405. 405

    but jutting headlands, reefs, and crags.

  406. 406

    And then Odysseus's knees gave way and his heart sank,

  407. 407

    and troubled he spoke to his own great-hearted spirit:

  408. 408

    "Alas, now that Zeus has granted me to see land beyond all hope,

  409. 409

    and I have cut my way across this gulf and crossed it through,

  410. 410

    no way out of the gray sea appears toward dry ground;

  411. 411

    for offshore are sharp crags, and all around the wave

  412. 412

    roars and breaks, and the rock runs up sheer and smooth,

  413. 413

    and the sea is deep close in, and there is no way to plant

  414. 414

    both feet and stand and escape from disaster;

  415. 415

    I fear that, as I climb out, a great wave may snatch me

  416. 416

    and hurl me against the stony rock, and my effort will be in vain.

  417. 417

    But if I swim still farther along, in hope of finding

  418. 418

    shelving beaches and harbors of the sea,

  419. 419

    I am afraid a squall may snatch me up once more

  420. 420

    and carry me back over the fish-filled sea, groaning heavily,

  421. 421

    or some great god may rouse a sea-monster against me

  422. 422

    out of the deep, such as glorious Amphitrite breeds in plenty;

  423. 423

    for I know how the glorious earth-shaker rages at me."

  424. 424

    While he turned this over in his mind and heart,

  425. 425

    a great wave bore him toward the rugged shore.

  426. 426

    There the skin would have been stripped from him and his bones crushed,

  427. 427

    had not the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, put it in his mind:

  428. 428

    with both hands he rushed and seized the rock,

  429. 429

    and clung to it groaning until the great wave passed by.

  430. 430

    So that one he escaped; but the backwash struck him again

  431. 431

    as it rushed on, and flung him far out into the sea.

  432. 432

    As when an octopus is dragged from its lair

  433. 433

    and thick pebbles cling to its suckers,

  434. 434

    so the skin from his bold hands was stripped

  435. 435

    against the rocks; and the great wave closed over him.

  436. 436

    There wretched Odysseus would have died beyond his fated doom,

  437. 437

    had not bright-eyed Athena given him presence of mind.

  438. 438

    Rising up from under the wave that belched against the land,

  439. 439

    he swam along outside it, looking toward the land, in hope of finding

  440. 440

    shelving beaches and harbors of the sea.

  441. 441

    But when, swimming on, he reached the mouth of a fair-flowing river,

  442. 442

    the spot seemed best to him of all,

  443. 443

    smooth and free of rocks, and there was shelter from the wind.

  444. 444

    He recognized the river streaming out, and prayed within his heart:

  445. 445

    "Hear me, lord, whoever you are. As one much prayed to I come to you,

  446. 446

    fleeing out of the sea from Poseidon's threats.

  447. 447

    Even to the immortal gods that man is held in reverence

  448. 448

    who comes as a wanderer, as I too come now

  449. 449

    to your stream and your knees, after much suffering.

  450. 450

    Have mercy, lord. I declare myself your suppliant."

  451. 451

    So he spoke, and at once the god stayed his stream and checked the wave,

  452. 452

    and made a calm before him, and brought him safely

  453. 453

    to the river's outflow. Then he bent both his knees

  454. 454

    and his sturdy hands, for the sea had broken his very heart.

  455. 455

    All his flesh was swollen, and the sea gushed out in streams

  456. 456

    from his mouth and nostrils. Breathless and speechless

  457. 457

    he lay, barely alive, and a dreadful weariness came over him.

  458. 458

    But when he caught his breath and the spirit gathered again in his chest,

  459. 459

    then he loosed the goddess's veil from himself

  460. 460

    and let it go into the river that flows to the sea,

  461. 461

    and a great wave bore it back down the current, and at once Ino

  462. 462

    received it in her own hands. Then, drawing back from the river,

  463. 463

    he sank down among the rushes and kissed the grain-giving earth.

  464. 464

    Then, troubled, he spoke to his own great-hearted spirit:

  465. 465

    "Ah, wretched me, what will become of me? What is to happen to me in the end?

  466. 466

    If I keep watch through the wretched night by the river,

  467. 467

    I fear the cruel frost and soaking dew together

  468. 468

    may overcome my faint, gasping spirit in my weakness,

  469. 469

    for a cold breeze blows from the river just before dawn.

  470. 470

    But if I climb the slope to the shadowy wood

  471. 471

    and lie down to sleep in the thick brush, if the chill

  472. 472

    and weariness let me go and sweet sleep comes over me,

  473. 473

    I fear I may become prey and spoil for the wild beasts."

  474. 474

    As he pondered, this seemed to him the better course:

  475. 475

    he set out for the wood, and found it near the water

  476. 476

    in a clearing, and crept under a double thicket

  477. 477

    grown from one stock: one a wild olive, the other a cultivated olive.

  478. 478

    Through these no force of the wet, blustering winds could blow,

  479. 479

    nor did the blazing sun ever strike them with its rays,

  480. 480

    nor could rain pierce them through, so thickly

  481. 481

    had they grown, intertwined with one another. Beneath them Odysseus

  482. 482

    crept. At once he heaped up a bed with his own hands,

  483. 483

    a broad one, for there was a great drift of leaves,

  484. 484

    enough to shelter two men or even three

  485. 485

    in the winter season, however hard it might be.

  486. 486

    Much-enduring noble Odysseus rejoiced to see it,

  487. 487

    and he lay down in the middle and heaped a drift of leaves over himself.

  488. 488

    As when a man buries a glowing brand in the black ashes

  489. 489

    at the edge of a farm, with no neighbors near at hand,

  490. 490

    saving the seed of fire, so he need not kindle it from elsewhere,

  491. 491

    so Odysseus covered himself with leaves. And over him Athena

  492. 492

    poured sleep upon his eyes, that she might free him as soon as could be

  493. 493

    from his grievous weariness, closing his dear eyelids about.

The particulars

The text
Ὀδύσσεια, Homer. The Wanderings.
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Public-domain Greek (Homer, ancient; text via the Perseus Digital Library). English translation © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC.
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Two whoopie pies and a pine. An inside joke.