Ancient Greek · The Wanderings

Ὀδυσσείας η

Book 7. Odysseus at the Palace of Alkinoos

Odysseus enters the palace of Alcinous, clasps the queen's knees and sits in the ashes by the hearth. The Phaeacians promise to carry him home.

347 lines · 42 notes

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So there he prayed, much-enduring noble Odysseus,
Metre
ὧςὁμὲνἔνθἠρᾶτο‖πολύτλαςδῖοςὈδυσσεύς
ὧςsoὡς · adverbadverbial to ἠρᾶτο
ὁheὁ · nominative singular masculine pronounsubject
μὲν(marks contrast)μέν · particlesentence particle
ἔνθthereἔνθα · adverbadverbial to ἠρᾶτο
ἠρᾶτοprayedἀράομαι · imperfect medio-passive indicative, 3rd singular verbmain verb
Middle-voice ἀράομαι: praying is an act done for oneself.
πολύτλαςmuch-enduringπολύτλας · nominative singular masculine nounmodifies Ὀδυσσεύς
Stock Odysseus epithet, fixed metrical formula.
δῖοςnobleδῖος · nominative singular masculine adjectivemodifies Ὀδυσσεύς
ὈδυσσεύςOdysseusὈδυσσεύς · nominative singular masculine nounsubject
GrammarStandard epithet formula This nominative formula 'much-enduring noble Odysseus' fills the line's end and recurs throughout the poem. Such fixed phrases are the building blocks of oral hexameter.
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while the strength of the mule-pair carried the girl toward the city.
GrammarDual of the mule-pair The form is a genitive dual: the two mules act as a natural pair. Homeric Greek keeps the dual number for paired things.
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But when she had reached her father's glorious halls,
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she halted at the forecourt, and her brothers around her
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took their stand, men like the immortals, and from under the wagon they
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loosed the mules and carried the garments inside.
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She herself went to her own chamber; and a fire was kindled for her
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by an old woman of Apeira, the chambermaid Eurymedusa,
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whom long ago the rolling ships had brought from Apeira;
GrammarShips 'curved at both ends' A standard epithet for ships, suggesting hulls that curve up at prow and stern. Here it modifies the ships that carried the old woman.
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and they had chosen her out as a gift of honor for Alkinoos, because over all
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the Phaeacians he ruled, and the people heeded him as a god.
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She had reared white-armed Nausicaa in the halls.
Grammar'White-armed' A recurring epithet for women, here for Nausicaa. The bare white arm was a mark of beauty in Homeric description.
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She it was who kindled the fire for her and prepared her supper within.
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Just then Odysseus rose to go to the city; and around him Athena
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poured a thick mist, in her kindness toward Odysseus,
GrammarParticiple of intent The feminine participle (from φρονέω, 'thinking/intending') describes Athena 'thinking kindly,' modifying the subject of the main verb. Participles like this compress motive into a single word.
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so that none of the great-hearted Phaeacians, meeting him,
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might taunt him with words and ask who he was.
GrammarOptatives of purpose Both verbs are optative in a negative purpose clause after μή ('lest someone...'). The optative marks the action as feared rather than real.
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But when he was about to enter the lovely city,
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there the goddess met him, gray-eyed Athena,
Grammar'Gray-eyed Athena' Her signature epithet; γλαυκῶπις suggests bright, gleaming, owl-like eyes. It is one of the most frequent name-formulas in the poem.
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in the likeness of a young unmarried girl carrying a pitcher.
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She stood before him, and noble Odysseus questioned her:
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"My child, could you not guide me to the house of the man,
GrammarPolite optative The aorist optative with ἄν makes a courteous request ('would you guide me?') rather than a blunt command. It softens the asking.
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Alkinoos, who rules among these people here?
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For I come here a much-tried stranger,
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from far off, out of a distant land; so I know no one
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among the people who hold this city and land."
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Then in turn the goddess answered him, gray-eyed Athena:
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"Well then, father stranger, the house that you bid me
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point out, I will show you, for it stands near my own noble father's.
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But go on in silence like this, and I will lead the way,
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and look at none of the people, nor question anyone.
GrammarNegative commands Both verbs are imperatives under μηδέ ('and do not...'). Homer strings prohibitions together to warn the stranger sharply.
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For these men do not at all tolerate strangers,
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nor do they welcome with affection whoever comes from elsewhere.
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Trusting in their swift, fast ships
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they cross the great gulf of the sea, for the Earth-shaker granted it to them;
Word'Earth-shaker' A standing epithet of Poseidon, god of the sea and of earthquakes. Here it explains the Phaeacians' gift for seafaring.
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their ships are swift as a wing or a thought."
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So having spoken, Pallas Athena led the way
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quickly; and he then walked behind in the footsteps of the goddess.
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Now the Phaeacians, famed for their ships, did not notice him
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as he came through the city among them; for Athena
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the fair-haired, the dread goddess, would not allow it, she who upon him a mist
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wondrous poured down, in the kindness of her heart.
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And Odysseus marveled at the harbors and the balanced ships,
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and at the gathering-places of the heroes themselves, and the long walls,
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high, fitted with palisades, a wonder to behold.
GrammarEpexegetic infinitive The middle infinitive ἰδέσθαι ('to behold') is an epexegetic infinitive: it specifies in what respect the walls are a wonder ('a wonder in the beholding of them'), not an infinitive of result. Homer often caps a description with this admiring formula.
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But when they reached the king's glorious halls,
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the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, was the first to speak among them:
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"This here, father stranger, is the house that you bid me
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point out; and you will find the kings, nurtured by Zeus,
Word'Nurtured by Zeus' A common epithet for kings, asserting that royal authority is divinely fostered. It dignifies the Phaeacian nobles.
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feasting at their banquet; but go inside, and do not in your heart
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be afraid; for a bold man fares better in all
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his undertakings, even if he has come from somewhere else.
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The mistress you will reach first in the halls;
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Arete is her name, used of her, and from the same
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parents she springs who fathered King Alkinoos.
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Nausithoos first Poseidon the Earth-shaker
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begot, and Periboia, in beauty the best of women,
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the youngest daughter of great-hearted Eurymedon,
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who once was king over the overweening Giants.
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But he destroyed his reckless people, and was destroyed himself;
GrammarActive versus middle voice ὤλεσε (active) is 'he destroyed,' while ὤλετο (middle) is 'he perished/was destroyed himself.' The same root contrasts doing harm and suffering it.
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and Poseidon lay with her and begot a son,
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great-hearted Nausithoos, who was king among the Phaeacians;
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and Nausithoos fathered Rhexenor and Alkinoos.
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The former, while still without a son, silver-bowed Apollo struck down,
Word'Silver-bowed' Apollo A fixed epithet of Apollo, the archer-god whose arrows bring sudden death. Here it marks him as the cause of Rhexenor's killing.
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a bridegroom in his hall, leaving behind one only child,
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Arete; and her Alkinoos made his wife,
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and honored her as no other woman on earth is honored,
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of all the women who now keep house under their husbands.
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So is she heartily honored, and has been,
GrammarPerfect of lasting honor The perfect passive 'she has been honored' marks a state still in force: the honor began in the past and continues now. The perfect names a present condition produced by past action.
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both by her dear children and by Alkinoos himself
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and by the people, who, looking on her as a god,
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greet her with words whenever she walks through the city.
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For she herself lacks nothing of good sense,
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and for those she favors she settles quarrels even among men.
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If she should be kindly disposed toward you in her heart,
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then there is hope for you to see your dear ones and to reach
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your high-roofed home and your native land."
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So having spoken, gray-eyed Athena departed
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over the barren sea, and left lovely Scheria,
Word'Barren' sea A recurring epithet of the sea, traditionally rendered 'barren' or 'unharvested'—a wide waste that yields no crop. It colors the sea as bleak and untamed.
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and came to Marathon and broad-streeted Athens,
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and entered the strong-built house of Erechtheus. But Odysseus
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went toward the famous halls of Alkinoos; and his heart
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stirred with many thoughts as he stood, before he reached the bronze threshold.
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For there was a radiance as of the sun or the moon
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throughout the high-roofed house of great-hearted Alkinoos.
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For walls of bronze ran this way and that,
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from the threshold to the innermost room, and around them a cornice of blue enamel;
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golden doors enclosed the well-built house within;
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silver doorposts stood on the bronze threshold,
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and the lintel above was silver, and the door-handle gold.
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On either side there were dogs of gold and silver,
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which Hephaistos had fashioned with his cunning skill
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to guard the house of great-hearted Alkinoos,
GrammarHomeric infinitive of purpose The form φυλασσέμεναι ('to guard') is an old epic infinitive expressing purpose: the dogs were made in order to guard. The lengthened ending is typical of Homeric verse.
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deathless and ageless for all their days.
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Inside, thrones were set against the wall this way and that,
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from the threshold to the innermost room, all along; and on them robes
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fine and well-spun were thrown, the work of women.
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There the leaders of the Phaeacians used to sit
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drinking and eating; for they had plenty always on hand.
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And golden youths upon well-built pedestals
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stood holding blazing torches in their hands,
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lighting the nights throughout the halls for the banqueters.
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He has fifty serving-women throughout the house,
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some of whom grind the yellow grain at the mill,
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while others weave at the looms and twirl the spindles,
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sitting, like the leaves of a tall poplar tree;
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and from the close-woven linen the moist oil drips off.
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As far as the Phaeacians beyond all men are skilled
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at driving a swift ship over the sea, so too the women
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are skilled at the loom; for above all Athena gave to them
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to know lovely handiwork, and gave them excellent minds.
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Outside the courtyard, near the gates, is a great orchard,
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of four acres, and a hedge runs round it on both sides.
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There tall trees grow, flourishing in their bloom,
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pears and pomegranates and apple trees with glistening fruit,
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sweet fig trees and olives in full luxuriance.
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Of these the fruit never spoils nor fails,
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winter or summer, all year long; but always
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the breathing West Wind brings some to birth and ripens others.
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Pear ripens upon pear, and apple upon apple,
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and so too grape cluster upon cluster, and fig upon fig.
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There too his fruitful vineyard is rooted,
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one part of which, a warm drying-floor on level ground,
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is dried by the sun, while elsewhere they gather the grapes,
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and elsewhere tread them; in front are the unripe grapes
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shedding their blossom, while others are just turning dark.
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There along the last row are tidy garden plots
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of every kind, blooming bright the whole year through;
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and in it are two springs: one spreads through all the garden,
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while the other, on the far side, runs beneath the courtyard threshold
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toward the lofty house, where the townspeople drew their water.
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Such were the gods' splendid gifts in the house of Alcinous.
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There much-enduring noble Odysseus stood and marveled.
GrammarImperfect of gazing The imperfect tense pictures Odysseus standing and gazing in wonder over a stretch of time, not in a single instant. Homer often uses the imperfect to dwell on a continuing action.
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But when he had marveled at it all in his heart,
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quickly he stepped over the threshold into the house.
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He found the leaders and counselors of the Phaeacians
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pouring libations from their cups to the keen-eyed Slayer of Argus,
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to whom they poured last of all, whenever they were minded for bed.
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Then much-enduring noble Odysseus went through the hall,
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wrapped in the thick mist Athena had poured around him,
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until he reached Arete and king Alcinous.
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Odysseus threw his arms about the knees of Arete,
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and then the divine mist flowed back away from him.
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They fell silent, seeing the man there in the hall,
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and gazed in wonder. But Odysseus made his plea:
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"Arete, daughter of godlike Rhexenor,
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to your husband and to your knees I come, after much suffering,
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and to these your guests; may the gods grant them prosperity
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in their lives, and may each hand down to his children
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the wealth in his halls and the honor the people gave him.
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But for me, urge an escort, that I may reach my homeland
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soon, for long now I suffer hardships far from my friends."
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So speaking he sat down at the hearth among the ashes,
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beside the fire, and they all fell hushed in silence.
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At last the old hero Echeneus spoke among them,
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who was the eldest of the Phaeacian men
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and excelled in speech, knowing many old things;
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with good will toward them he addressed the gathering and said:
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"Alcinous, this is neither fitting nor seemly for you,
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that a stranger should sit on the ground at the hearth among the ashes,
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while these men hold back, waiting upon your word.
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Come now, raise the stranger up and seat him
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on a silver-studded chair, and bid the heralds
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mix wine, so that to Zeus who delights in thunder
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we may pour libation, who attends honored suppliants;
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and let the housekeeper give the stranger supper from what is within."
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When the sacred might of Alcinous heard this,
Word"The sacred might of Alcinous" A periphrasis meaning simply "mighty Alcinous." Homer often names a hero's "might" or "force" in place of the hero himself, a dignified epic idiom.
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he took skilled, crafty-minded Odysseus by the hand,
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raised him from the hearth and seated him on a shining chair,
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having made his son rise, manly Laodamas,
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who sat next to him, for he loved him most of all.
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A handmaid brought water in a beautiful golden pitcher
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and poured it over a silver basin
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for him to wash, and drew up a polished table beside him.
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The honored housekeeper brought bread and set it by him,
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laying out many dishes, freely giving of her store.
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And much-enduring noble Odysseus drank and ate.
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Then the might of Alcinous spoke to the herald:
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"Pontonous, mix a bowl of wine and serve it
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to all in the hall, so that to Zeus who delights in thunder
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we may pour libation, who attends honored suppliants."
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So he spoke, and Pontonous mixed the honey-hearted wine
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and served it to all, pouring first drops into each cup.
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But when they had made libation and drunk as much as their hearts desired,
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Alcinous addressed the gathering and spoke among them:
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"Hear me, leaders and counselors of the Phaeacians,
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that I may say what the heart in my breast commands.
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For now, having feasted, go home and lie down to rest;
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and at dawn, summoning more of the elders,
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we will entertain the stranger in the halls, and to the gods
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we will make fine sacrifices, and afterward of his escort
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we will take thought, so that the stranger, without toil or grief,
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may under our escort reach his own homeland,
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rejoicing, swiftly, even if it lies very far away,
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and may suffer no harm or trouble along the way,
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before he sets foot on his own land; but there afterward
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he will suffer whatever fate and the heavy Spinners
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spun for him with their thread at his birth, when his mother bore him.
GrammarParticiple: "as he was being born" This present participle agrees with the man and sets the time of the Fates' spinning: at the moment of his birth. Participles often carry such temporal force in Greek.
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But if he is one of the immortals come down from heaven,
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then the gods are now devising some new thing for us.
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For before now the gods have always appeared to us plainly,
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whenever we offer them glorious hecatombs,
WordHecatomb Literally "a hundred oxen," though the word came to mean any great public sacrifice. It signals lavish offerings worthy of the gods' notice.
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and they feast among us, sitting just where we do.
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And even if some lone traveler meets one of them,
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they hide nothing, since we are near kin to them,
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as are the Cyclopes and the wild tribes of the Giants."
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Then resourceful Odysseus answered him and said:
GrammarEpithet "of many counsels" Polymetis, "of many devices," is one of Odysseus' standing epithets, marking his cleverness. Such formulaic epithets help fit the name to the meter of the line.
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"Alcinous, let some other thought concern your mind; for I
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am not like the immortals who hold the wide heaven,
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neither in build nor in stature, but like mortal men.
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Whomever you know to bear the heaviest misery
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of mortals, to those I would liken myself in my sorrows.
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Indeed, I could tell of even more troubles still,
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all that I have endured by the will of the gods.
Word"By the will of the gods" A common Homeric phrase attributing events to divine will. Odysseus frames his sufferings as fated, not mere accident.
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But let me eat my supper, grieved though I am;
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for there is nothing more shameless than the hateful belly,
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which compels a man to remember it of necessity,
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even one worn out and carrying grief in his heart,
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as I too carry grief in my heart, yet it forever
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bids me eat and drink, and makes me forget all
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it makes me forget all that I have suffered, and commands me to fill it.
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But do you bestir yourselves at the first showing of dawn,
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so that you may set me, luckless as I am, upon my own soil,
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for all I have suffered. And though I die, let life leave me once I have seen
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my possessions, my slaves, and my great high-roofed house.
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So he spoke, and they all approved, and urged
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that the stranger be given escort, since he had spoken fittingly.
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But when they had poured libations and drunk as much as their hearts desired,
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they went off to lie down, each man to his own house,
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but in the hall there remained the noble Odysseus,
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and beside him sat Arete and godlike Alkinoos,
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the two of them; and the maids were clearing away the vessels of the feast.
GrammarDual verb for the pair Hesthen is a dual form: it denotes exactly two people seated, here Arete and Alkinoos. Homer uses the dual for natural pairs.
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Then white-armed Arete was the first among them to speak,
GrammarEpithet "white-armed" Leukolenos, "white-armed," is a recurring formulaic epithet for noble women in Homer, applied here to Arete and elsewhere to Hera and Nausicaa.
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for she recognized, when she saw them, the cloak and tunic, the fine garments,
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which she herself had made together with her serving women.
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And she spoke and addressed him with winged words:
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"Stranger, this I will ask you myself, first of all:
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Who are you among men, and from where? Who gave you these garments?
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Did you not say you came here wandering over the sea?"
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Then resourceful Odysseus answered her and said:
GrammarEpithet "of many counsels" Polymetis, "of many devices/counsels," is Odysseus's signature epithet, marking his cunning intelligence. It recurs as a formula introducing his replies.
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"It is hard, O queen, to tell from end to end
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my sorrows, since the gods of heaven have given me so many.
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But this I will tell you, what you ask and inquire of me.
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There is an island, Ogygia, that lies far off in the sea.
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There the daughter of Atlas, guileful Calypso,
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lives, fair-tressed, a dread goddess; and no one,
Word"Dread goddess" Deine theos means an awesome, formidable goddess, not an evil one. The adjective conveys power that inspires fear and reverence.
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neither of gods nor of mortal men, has dealings with her.
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But a divine power brought wretched me to her hearth,
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alone, since with a blazing thunderbolt
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Zeus struck my swift ship and shattered it in the midst of the wine-dark sea.
GrammarEpithet "wine-dark sea" Oinops pontos, "wine-faced/wine-dark sea," is a famous Homeric color-epithet. Here it appears in the dative case with the preposition en.
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There all my other brave companions perished,
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but I, taking in my arms the keel of my curved ship,
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was carried for nine days; and on the tenth, in the black night,
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the gods brought me near the island of Ogygia, where Calypso
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lives, fair-tressed, a dread goddess, who took me in
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and tended me kindly and cherished me, and kept saying
GrammarImperfects of ongoing care These three imperfect verbs describe repeated, continuous action over time: she kept loving, nourishing, and saying. The imperfect aspect paints the duration of Calypso's care.
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she would make me immortal and ageless for all my days;
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but never did she persuade the heart in my breast.
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There I stayed seven years unbroken, and ever with my tears
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I would wet the immortal clothes that Calypso had given me.
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But when the eighth year came round upon me in its turn,
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then she urged and commanded me to depart,
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by message of Zeus, or else her own mind had changed.
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She sent me off on a raft bound with many fastenings, and gave me much:
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bread and sweet wine, and she clothed me in immortal garments,
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and sent forth a wind, gentle and warm.
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Seventeen days I sailed, traversing the sea,
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and on the eighteenth there appeared the shadowy mountains
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of your land, and my dear heart rejoiced,
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ill-fated as I was; for I was still to meet with great
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misery, which Poseidon the earth-shaker stirred up against me,
GrammarEpithet "earth-shaker" Enosichthon, "earth-shaker," is Poseidon's standard epithet, marking his power over earthquakes and the sea. It is a fixed formulaic phrase.
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who set the winds upon me and barred my way,
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and roused the sea past all telling, nor did the wave
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let me, groaning bitterly, be carried along upon my raft.
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Then the storm scattered it; but I,
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swimming, cut through this gulf, until the wind
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and the water bore me on and brought me near your land.
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There, as I tried to come ashore, the wave would have overwhelmed me on the dry land,
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flinging me against the great rocks in a dismal place;
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but I drew back and swam again, until I came
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to a river, where the ground seemed best to me,
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smooth and free of rocks, and there was shelter from the wind.
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I struggled out, gathering my strength, and immortal night
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came on. Then I, away from the heaven-fed river,
Word"Heaven-fed" river Diipetes describes a river as "fallen from Zeus," i.e. fed by rain from the sky. It is a traditional epithet for rivers in Homer.
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having climbed out, lay down to sleep in the bushes, and around me leaves
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I heaped; and a god poured boundless sleep over me.
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There among the leaves, with my dear heart grieved,
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I slept all night long, and through the dawn and to midday.
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The sun was sinking when sweet sleep released me.
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And on the shore I noticed the serving maids of your daughter
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at play, and among them she herself, like the goddesses.
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I made my plea to her; and she in no way failed of good judgment,
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such as you would not expect a younger person, meeting you,
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to show; for the young are always thoughtless.
Word"They are thoughtless" Aphradeo means to lack sense or prudence, to act without forethought. Odysseus gently excuses the young as naturally heedless.
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She gave me bread in plenty and sparkling wine,
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and bathed me in the river and gave me these garments.
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This, grieved though I am, I have told you in truth."
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Then Alkinoos answered him and said:
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"Stranger, in this at least my child did not judge what was fitting,
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in that she did not bring you, with her serving women,
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to our house; yet it was to her you first made your plea."
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Then resourceful Odysseus answered him and said:
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"Hero, do not for this reproach the blameless girl;
GrammarNegative imperative Me ... neikee is a prohibition: "do not reproach." Homer forms the negative command with me plus the imperative.
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for she did indeed bid me follow along with her maids,
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but I would not, out of fear and shame,
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lest perhaps your heart should be angered at the sight;
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for we tribes of men upon the earth are quick to take offense."
Word"Prone to jealousy" Dyszelos means easily made jealous or suspicious. Odysseus offers a tactful general truth to excuse his caution.
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Then Alkinoos answered him and said:
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"Stranger, the heart in my breast is not the kind
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to be angered without cause; in all things due measure is better.
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Would, O Father Zeus and Athena and Apollo,
GrammarWish with optative Ai gar introduces a wish; the construction reaches its verb echemen ("to have/hold") at line 313. Such wishes for the future are expressed with the optative or, as here, an infinitive of wish.
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that, being such as you are, and thinking as I myself do,
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you might have my daughter, and be called my son-in-law,
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staying here; and I would give you a house and possessions,
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if you stayed willingly; but against your will no one of the Phaeacians
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shall hold you here: may that never be dear to Father Zeus.
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Your escort I appoint for this time, that you may know it well,
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for tomorrow; and then, while you, overcome by sleep,
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lie at rest, my men shall row the calm sea, until you reach
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your homeland and house, or wherever else may be dear to you,
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even if it lies much farther off than Euboea,
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which those of our people who saw it say is the most distant of all,
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when they carried fair-haired Rhadamanthys
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to visit Tityos, the son of Gaia.
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And there they went, and without weariness accomplished it,
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on that same day, and made their way back home again.
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You yourself will know in your heart how far the best
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are my ships, and my young men at tossing up the sea with the oar-blade."
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So he spoke, and much-enduring noble Odysseus rejoiced,
GrammarEpithet "much-enduring" Polytlas, "much-enduring," with dios, "noble," forms a fixed name-formula for Odysseus that fills the verse-end. It recurs throughout the poem.
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and praying he spoke, and uttered his word and called by name:
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"Father Zeus, grant that Alkinoos may bring all to pass that he has spoken;
GrammarWish in the optative The aorist optative with αἴθʼ ("would that") expresses a wish: "may he accomplish." Homer uses the optative for prayers and longings.
332
then over the grain-giving earth his fame would be
333
unquenchable, and I would reach my native land."
WordUnquenchable glory κλέος ἄσβεστον, "glory that cannot be put out," is a core heroic idea: deathless fame won through deeds and preserved in song.
334
So they spoke such things to one another;
335
and white-armed Arete ordered her handmaids
GrammarFormulaic epithet "white-armed" λευκώλενος ("white-armed") is a recurring epithet for noble women like Arete and Hera, marking high status and beauty.
336
to set bedding beneath the portico, and to throw on fine
337
purple blankets, and to spread coverlets over them,
338
and to lay thick woolen cloaks on top for covering.
339
They went out from the hall holding torches in their hands;
GrammarParticiple of attendant circumstance ἔχουσαι ("holding") is a present participle, feminine plural, describing how the maids went out: torches in hand.
340
and when, working briskly, they had spread the sturdy bed,
341
they came to Odysseus' side and urged him with words:
342
"Rise up to your rest, stranger; your bed is made."
GrammarImperative "rise" ὄρσο is an aorist middle imperative, "rouse yourself, get up," a brisk command suited to the maids' summons.
343
So they spoke, and to him it seemed welcome to lie down and sleep.
344
So there he slept, much-enduring noble Odysseus,
Grammar"Much-enduring noble Odysseus" A standard line-ending formula. πολύτλας ("much-enduring") is Odysseus' signature epithet, fitting his suffering.
345
in a corded bedstead beneath the echoing portico;
346
but Alkinoos lay down in the inner chamber of the high house,
347
and beside him his lady wife prepared the couch and bed.

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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