Who He Is
Odysseus is the king of Ithaca whom the poem asks of the Muse, in the first verse, as the man of many turns: he who wandered much and who has many expedients. He sacked Troy and, when the story begins, he is the only survivor of the war who has not yet returned home, held on an island by the nymph Calypso. He is the husband of Penelope, father of Telemachus and son of Laertes. At home, nobles from Ithaca and the neighboring islands court his wife and consume his goods. The poem defines him by cunning and speech more than by force, and makes him narrate against himself the losses of his companions. Behind everything runs a minimal and whole desire, that of seeing his own land again, and the wrath of Poseidon makes him wander far from his homeland.
Trajectory
In Book I, Odysseus does not appear, and the poem installs him as an absence. The proem asks the Muse for him by his epithet, polýtropos, and absolves him of the death of his companions before any adventure. In the council of the gods, Athena says he is held on the island of Calypso and desires to see at least the smoke of his land.
ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ / πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσεν·(1.1-2), tell me, Muse, of the man of many turns, who wandered far after sacking the sacred citadel of Troy.
αὐτῶν γὰρ σφετέρῃσιν ἀτασθαλίῃσιν ὄλοντο, / νήπιοι,(1.7-8), for they perished through their own folly, the fools.
αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεύς, / ἱέμενος καὶ καπνὸν ἀποθρῴσκοντα νοῆσαι / ἧς γαίης, θανέειν ἱμείρεται.(1.57-59), but Odysseus, longing to see at least the smoke rising from his land, yearns to die.
In Book II, he continues absent, but is measured by what he left behind: the seer Halitherses recalls that he foretold, when Odysseus departed, that he would return in the twentieth year, unknown to all, and Mentor accuses the people of forgetting a king who governed like a father.
φῆν κακὰ πολλὰ παθόντʼ, ὀλέσαντʼ ἄπο πάντας ἑταίρους, / ἄγνωστον πάντεσσιν ἐεικοστῷ ἐνιαυτῷ / οἴκαδʼ ἐλεύσεσθαι· τὰ δὲ δὴ νῦν πάντα τελεῖται.(2.174-176), said that after suffering many evils and losing all his companions, he would return home in the twentieth year, unknown to all; and now all of this is coming to pass.
νῦν δʼ ἄλλῳ δήμῳ νεμεσίζομαι, οἷον ἅπαντες / ἧσθʼ ἄνεῳ, ἀτὰρ οὔ τι καθαπτόμενοι ἐπέεσσι / παύρους μνηστῆρας καταπαύετε πολλοὶ ἐόντες.(2.239-241), but I am indignant at the rest of the people, for you all sit silent, and do not restrain with words, though you are many, the few suitors.
In Book III, Nestor answers what Telemachus came to seek, the testimony about the father: no one in Troy wanted to match wits with him, and the two never disagreed in counsel. Of his end, Nestor knows nothing.
ἔνθʼ οὔ τίς ποτε μῆτιν ὁμοιωθήμεναι ἄντην / ἤθελʼ, ἐπεί μάλα πολλὸν ἐνίκα δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς / παντοίοισι δόλοισι, πατὴρ τεός, εἰ ἐτεόν γε(3.120-122), there no one ever wished to match wits with him, for godlike Odysseus far outdid them with every kind of stratagem, your father.
In Book IV, Menelaus says he weeps for all the dead of Troy, but for one above the others, Odysseus. Helen tells that he entered Troy as a beggar and that only she recognized him, and Menelaus tells that, inside the horse, he held the mouth of Anticlus when the voice of the wives called the chiefs from outside. Finally, the account of Proteus gives the first sure news: Odysseus is on an island, weeping, held by Calypso.
ἀλλʼ Ὀδυσεὺς ἐπὶ μάστακα χερσὶ πίεζεν / νωλεμέως κρατερῇσι, σάωσε δὲ πάντας Ἀχαιούς(4.287-288), but Odysseus pressed his mouth with his hands, firm, without slack, and saved all the Achaeans.
τὸν δʼ ἴδον ἐν νήσῳ θαλερὸν κατὰ δάκρυ χέοντα, / νύμφης ἐν μεγάροισι Καλυψοῦς, ἥ μιν ἀνάγκῃ / ἴσχει· ὁ δʼ οὐ δύναται ἣν πατρίδα γαῖαν ἱκέσθαι(4.556-558), I saw him on an island, shedding abundant tears, in the palace of the nymph Calypso, who holds him by force; and he cannot reach his land.
In Book V, Odysseus appears for the first time, seated on the beach, weeping. At night he sleeps with Calypso out of constraint, and by day he gazes at the sea. When she offers him immortality, he concedes that Penelope is inferior in appearance and stature and keeps wanting to return. He builds the raft with an axe and an adze, sails seventeen days guided by the stars, and, in Poseidon's storm, laments not having died at Troy, where he would have had funeral rites and fame. He reaches the mouth of a river and begs the god of it, and the book closes with him covered with leaves like the ember under the ash.
πότνα θεά, μή μοι τόδε χώεο· οἶδα καὶ αὐτὸς / πάντα μάλʼ, οὕνεκα σεῖο περίφρων Πηνελόπεια / εἶδος ἀκιδνοτέρη μέγεθός τʼ εἰσάντα ἰδέσθαι· / ἡ μὲν γὰρ βροτός ἐστι, σὺ δʼ ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀγήρως. / ἀλλὰ καὶ ὣς ἐθέλω καὶ ἐέλδομαι ἤματα πάντα / οἴκαδέ τʼ ἐλθέμεναι καὶ νόστιμον ἦμαρ ἰδέσθαι(5.215-220), revered goddess, do not be angry with me for this: I myself know very well that prudent Penelope is inferior to you in appearance and in stature, as anyone who sees her face to face can tell; for she is mortal, and you are immortal and ageless. Yet even so, I want and desire every day to go home and see the day of return.
ὡς δὴ ἐγώ γʼ ὄφελον θανέειν καὶ πότμον ἐπισπεῖν / ἤματι τῷ ὅτε μοι πλεῖστοι χαλκήρεα δοῦρα / Τρῶες ἐπέρριψαν περὶ Πηλεΐωνι θανόντι. / τῷ κʼ ἔλαχον κτερέων, καί μευ κλέος ἦγον Ἀχαιοί· / νῦν δέ με λευγαλέῳ θανάτῳ εἵμαρτο ἁλῶναι(5.308-312), so I should have died and met my fate on the day when, beside the body of the dead son of Peleus, the Trojans hurled at me their many bronze spears; I would have received funeral honors, and the Achaeans would have carried my fame; now I was destined to be taken by a wretched death.
αἰδοῖος μέν τʼ ἐστὶ καὶ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσιν / ἀνδρῶν ὅς τις ἵκηται ἀλώμενος, ὡς καὶ ἐγὼ νῦν / σόν τε ῥόον σά τε γούναθʼ ἱκάνω πολλὰ μογήσας. / ἀλλʼ ἐλέαιρε, ἄναξ· ἱκέτης δέ τοι εὔχομαι εἶναι(5.447-450), a man who arrives wandering is worthy of respect even to the immortal gods, as I now come to your current and to your knees, after much suffering. Have pity, lord: I declare myself your suppliant.
ὡς δʼ ὅτε τις δαλὸν σποδιῇ ἐνέκρυψε μελαίνῃ / ἀγροῦ ἐπʼ ἐσχατιῆς, ᾧ μὴ πάρα γείτονες ἄλλοι, / σπέρμα πυρὸς σώζων, ἵνα μή ποθεν ἄλλοθεν αὔοι, / ὣς Ὀδυσεὺς φύλλοισι καλύψατο(5.488-491), as when someone buries an ember in dark ash at the edge of a field, where there are no other neighbors, keeping the seed of fire so as not to have to kindle it elsewhere, so Odysseus covered himself with leaves.
In Book VI, he wakes to the cries of the girls and leaves the wood naked, covering himself with a branch. He asks himself whether the land belongs to the arrogant or to the hospitable. Before Nausicaa, he chooses to supplicate from afar, so as not to embarrass her, and with words that the narrator calls sweet and calculated.
ὤ μοι ἐγώ, τέων αὖτε βροτῶν ἐς γαῖαν ἱκάνω; / ἦ ῥʼ οἵ γʼ ὑβρισταί τε καὶ ἄγριοι οὐδὲ δίκαιοι, / ἦε φιλόξεινοι καί σφιν νόος ἐστὶ θεουδής(6.119-121), alas, the land of which mortals have I reached again? Are they arrogant, savage and lawless, or hospitable, with minds that fear the gods?
ὣς ἄρα οἱ φρονέοντι δοάσσατο κέρδιον εἶναι, / λίσσεσθαι ἐπέεσσιν ἀποσταδὰ μειλιχίοισι, / μή οἱ γοῦνα λαβόντι χολώσαιτο φρένα κούρη(6.145-147), so, as he pondered, it seemed more advantageous to him to plead with gentle words from afar, so that, if he took her knees, the girl would not be angered in her heart.
In Book VII, he enters the palace of Alcinous covered by a mist from Athena and embraces the knees of Queen Arete, and the mist dissolves. He asks only for an escort, denies being a god, and postpones his account because hunger makes him eat. He answers Arete only what she asks and does not say his name.
ἀμφὶ δʼ ἄρʼ Ἀρήτης βάλε γούνασι χεῖρας Ὀδυσσεύς, / καὶ τότε δή ῥʼ αὐτοῖο πάλιν χύτο θέσφατος ἀήρ(7.142-143), Odysseus cast his hands about Arete's knees, and then the divine mist dissolved from him.
Ἀλκίνοʼ, ἄλλο τί τοι μελέτω φρεσίν· οὐ γὰρ ἐγώ γε / ἀθανάτοισιν ἔοικα, τοὶ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσιν, / οὐ δέμας οὐδὲ φυήν, ἀλλὰ θνητοῖσι βροτοῖσιν. / οὕς τινας ὑμεῖς ἴστε μάλιστʼ ὀχέοντας ὀιζὺν / ἀνθρώπων, τοῖσίν κεν ἐν ἄλγεσιν ἰσωσαίμην(7.208-212), Alcinous, be concerned with something else: I am not like the immortals who hold the broad heaven, neither in body nor in form, but like mortal men. Those whom you know to bear the most misery among men, to them I would liken myself in suffering.
ἰδόντα με καὶ λίποι αἰὼν / κτῆσιν ἐμήν, δμῶάς τε καὶ ὑψερεφὲς μέγα δῶμα(7.224-225), and may life leave me only after I have seen my goods, my maids and the great house with its high roof.
In Book VIII, still nameless, he hides his face in his cloak when the bard Demodocus sings of his quarrel with Achilles. Offended by Euryalus, who takes him for a merchant, he answers with a theory about appearance and speech and hurls the discus beyond all marks. In the third song, he himself asks for the wooden horse, and the weeping the song wrings from him is what makes Alcinous demand his name.
ταῦτʼ ἄρʼ ἀοιδὸς ἄειδε περικλυτός· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς / πορφύρεον μέγα φᾶρος ἑλὼν χερσὶ στιβαρῇσι / κὰκ κεφαλῆς εἴρυσσε, κάλυψε δὲ καλὰ πρόσωπα· / αἴδετο γὰρ Φαίηκας ὑπʼ ὀφρύσι δάκρυα λείβων.(8.83-86), so the famous bard sang; but Odysseus, taking the great purple cloak in his strong hands, drew it over his head and covered his fair face, for he was ashamed before the Phaeacians, letting tears fall beneath his brows.
ἄλλος μὲν γάρ τʼ εἶδος ἀκιδνότερος πέλει ἀνήρ, / ἀλλὰ θεὸς μορφὴν ἔπεσι στέφει, οἱ δέ τʼ ἐς αὐτὸν / τερπόμενοι λεύσσουσιν· ὁ δʼ ἀσφαλέως ἀγορεύει / αἰδοῖ μειλιχίῃ, μετὰ δὲ πρέπει ἀγρομένοισιν, / ἐρχόμενον δʼ ἀνὰ ἄστυ θεὸν ὣς εἰσορόωσιν.(8.169-173), for one man may be weaker in appearance, but a god crowns his words with beauty, and those who look upon him gaze with delight; he speaks with assurance, with sweet modesty, and stands out among the assembled, and when he walks through the city they look on him as on a god.
ἀλλʼ ἄγε δὴ μετάβηθι καὶ ἵππου κόσμον ἄεισον / δουρατέου, τὸν Ἐπειὸς ἐποίησεν σὺν Ἀθήνῃ, / ὅν ποτʼ ἐς ἀκρόπολιν δόλον ἤγαγε δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς / ἀνδρῶν ἐμπλήσας οἵ ῥʼ Ἴλιον ἐξαλάπαξαν.(8.492-495), but come, change the subject and sing of the making of the wooden horse, which Epeius built with Athena, and which godlike Odysseus led as a ruse to the citadel, having filled it with men who destroyed Ilion.
In Book IX, he says his name before any adventure and tells, against himself, that his companions, fools, did not obey him at Ismarus, and that he did not listen to them in the cave of the Cyclops, because he wanted to see the owner and receive gifts. He blinds the Cyclops with the stake and escapes beneath the ram. He first says his name is Nobody and then, already at sea, shouts the true name with lineage and address.
εἴμʼ Ὀδυσεὺς Λαερτιάδης, ὃς πᾶσι δόλοισι / ἀνθρώποισι μέλω, καί μευ κλέος οὐρανὸν ἵκει.(9.19-20), I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, who for all my stratagems am a subject among men, and my fame reaches the sky.
ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ οὐ πιθόμην, ἦ τʼ ἂν πολὺ κέρδιον ἦεν, / ὄφρʼ αὐτόν τε ἴδοιμι, καὶ εἴ μοι ξείνια δοίη.(9.228-229), but I did not obey (and it would have been far more profitable), so that I might see him and see whether he would give me gifts of hospitality.
Οὖτις ἐμοί γʼ ὄνομα· Οὖτιν δέ με κικλήσκουσι / μήτηρ ἠδὲ πατὴρ ἠδʼ ἄλλοι πάντες ἑταῖροι.(9.366-367), Nobody is my name: Nobody is what my mother, my father and all my companions call me.
Κύκλωψ, αἴ κέν τίς σε καταθνητῶν ἀνθρώπων / ὀφθαλμοῦ εἴρηται ἀεικελίην ἀλαωτύν, / φάσθαι Ὀδυσσῆα πτολιπόρθιον ἐξαλαῶσαι, / υἱὸν Λαέρτεω, Ἰθάκῃ ἔνι οἰκίʼ ἔχοντα.(9.502-505), Cyclops, if any mortal asks you about the shameful blindness of your eye, say that it was Odysseus, sacker of cities, son of Laertes, who has his house in Ithaca, who blinded you.
In Book X, he sees the fires of Ithaca on the tenth day and falls asleep, and the companions open the bag of winds. Awakened amid the tempest, he chooses to endure. He loses the whole fleet except one ship among the Laestrygonians and, with the herb Hermes gives him, overcomes the potion of Circe, who recognizes him by his endurance.
ἠὲ πεσὼν ἐκ νηὸς ἀποφθίμην ἐνὶ πόντῳ, / ἦ ἀκέων τλαίην καὶ ἔτι ζωοῖσι μετείην. / ἀλλʼ ἔτλην καὶ ἔμεινα,(10.51-53), whether I would fall from the ship and perish in the sea, or silently endure and remain among the living. But I endured and stayed,
σοὶ δέ τις ἐν στήθεσσιν ἀκήλητος νόος ἐστίν. / ἦ σύ γʼ Ὀδυσσεύς ἐσσι πολύτροπος,(10.329-330), you have in your breast a mind that no spell can bind. You are surely Odysseus, the man of many turns,
In Book XI, he goes down alive to Hades on Circe's order. Tiresias prophesies to him a late and wretched return, without companions, and the house taken over. His mother, Anticleia, tells him that she died of longing for him, and he tries three times to embrace her. Agamemnon advises him not to reveal to his wife the whole story he knows.
εἰ δέ κε σίνηαι, τότε τοι τεκμαίρομʼ ὄλεθρον, / νηί τε καὶ ἑτάροις. αὐτὸς δʼ εἴ πέρ κεν ἀλύξῃς, / ὀψὲ κακῶς νεῖαι, ὀλέσας ἄπο πάντας ἑταίρους, / νηὸς ἐπʼ ἀλλοτρίης· δήεις δʼ ἐν πήματα οἴκῳ,(11.112-115), but if you harm them, then I foretell the ruin of your ship and companions. And you yourself, even if you escape, will return late and in misery, having lost all your companions, on another's ship; and you will find disasters in your house,
τρὶς μὲν ἐφωρμήθην, ἑλέειν τέ με θυμὸς ἀνώγει, / τρὶς δέ μοι ἐκ χειρῶν σκιῇ εἴκελον ἢ καὶ ὀνείρῳ / ἔπτατʼ.(11.206-208), three times I lunged, and my heart urged me to hold her; three times she flew from my hands, like a shadow or a dream.
τῷ νῦν μή ποτε καὶ σὺ γυναικί περ ἤπιος εἶναι· / μή οἱ μῦθον ἅπαντα πιφαυσκέμεν, ὅν κʼ ἐὺ εἰδῇς, / ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν φάσθαι, τὸ δὲ καὶ κεκρυμμένον εἶναι.(11.441-443), therefore, never be gentle with your wife, nor tell her the whole story that you know well: tell one part, and let the other remain hidden.
In Book XII, he hears the Sirens while tied to the mast, and signals with his brows to be released. He hides from the men the danger of Scylla. On the island of the Sun, he gives way to those who want to land and makes them all swear not to touch the cattle. He sleeps, and the oath is broken.
ὣς φάσαν ἱεῖσαι ὄπα κάλλιμον· αὐτὰρ ἐμὸν κῆρ / ἤθελʼ ἀκουέμεναι, λῦσαί τʼ ἐκέλευον ἑταίρους / ὀφρύσι νευστάζων· οἱ δὲ προπεσόντες ἔρεσσον. / αὐτίκα δʼ ἀνστάντες Περιμήδης Εὐρύλοχός τε / πλείοσί μʼ ἐν δεσμοῖσι δέον μᾶλλόν τε πίεζον.(12.192-196), They spoke, letting loose their lovely voice. My heart wished to hear them, and I told my companions to untie me, signaling with my brows; they, bending forward, rowed. At once Perimedes and Eurylochus rose and bound me with more cords and pressed them tighter.
Σκύλλην δʼ οὐκέτʼ ἐμυθεόμην, ἄπρηκτον ἀνίην, / μή πώς μοι δείσαντες ἀπολλήξειαν ἑταῖροι / εἰρεσίης, ἐντὸς δὲ πυκάζοιεν σφέας αὐτούς. / καὶ τότε δὴ Κίρκης μὲν ἐφημοσύνης ἀλεγεινῆς / λανθανόμην, ἐπεὶ οὔ τί μʼ ἀνώγει θωρήσσεσθαι· / αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ καταδὺς κλυτὰ τεύχεα καὶ δύο δοῦρε / μάκρʼ ἐν χερσὶν ἑλὼν εἰς ἴκρια νηὸς ἔβαινον(12.223-229), I no longer spoke of Scylla, an unremediable distress, lest my companions, seized with fear, stop rowing and hide below. And then I forgot Circe's grim command, for she had ordered me not to arm myself; I put on my glorious armor, took two long spears in my hands and climbed onto the foredeck.
καὶ τότε δὴ γίγνωσκον ὃ δὴ κακὰ μήδετο δαίμων, / καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδων· / Εὐρύλοχʼ, ἦ μάλα δή με βιάζετε μοῦνον ἐόντα. / ἀλλʼ ἄγε νῦν μοι πάντες ὀμόσσατε καρτερὸν ὅρκον· / εἴ κέ τινʼ ἠὲ βοῶν ἀγέλην ἢ πῶυ μέγʼ οἰῶν / εὕρωμεν, μή πού τις ἀτασθαλίῃσι κακῇσιν / ἢ βοῦν ἠέ τι μῆλον ἀποκτάνῃ· ἀλλὰ ἕκηλοι / ἐσθίετε βρώμην, τὴν ἀθανάτη πόρε Κίρκη.(12.295-302), Then I understood that a god was plotting evil, and, addressing him with winged words, I said: "Eurylochus, you truly force me, alone as I am. Come, all of you swear to me a firm oath: if we find any herd of cattle or a great flock of sheep, let no one, out of wicked folly, kill an ox or a sheep; but eat in peace the food that immortal Circe gave us."
In Book XIII, the Phaeacians leave him sleeping in Ithaca, and he wakes without recognizing the land, because Athena poured mist around him. He lies to the first person he meets, who is the goddess herself. She describes him as insatiable in tricks, who would not drop them even at home, and says that what holds him back is the pleasure of testing his wife before knowing anything.
ὁ δʼ ἔγρετο δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς / εὕδων ἐν γαίῃ πατρωΐῃ, οὐδέ μιν ἔγνω, / ἤδη δὴν ἀπεών· περὶ γὰρ θεὸς ἠέρα χεῦε / Παλλὰς Ἀθηναίη, κούρη Διός, ὄφρα μιν αὐτὸν / ἄγνωστον τεύξειεν ἕκαστά τε μυθήσαιτο, / μή μιν πρὶν ἄλοχος γνοίη ἀστοί τε φίλοι τε, / πρὶν πᾶσαν μνηστῆρας ὑπερβασίην ἀποτῖσαι.(13.187-193), And the godlike Odysseus woke, sleeping on his paternal land, and did not recognize it, having been absent so long; for the goddess Pallas Athena, daughter of Zeus, had poured mist around him, to make him unrecognizable and to tell him everything, so that neither his wife, nor the citizens, nor his friends would know him before the suitors paid for all their insolence.
κερδαλέος κʼ εἴη καὶ ἐπίκλοπος ὅς σε παρέλθοι / ἐν πάντεσσι δόλοισι, καὶ εἰ θεὸς ἀντιάσειε. / σχέτλιε, ποικιλομῆτα, δόλων ἆτʼ, οὐκ ἄρʼ ἔμελλες, / οὐδʼ ἐν σῇ περ ἐὼν γαίῃ, λήξειν ἀπατάων / μύθων τε κλοπίων, οἵ τοι πεδόθεν φίλοι εἰσίν.(13.291-295), Sly and furtive would be whoever could outdo you in every trick, even if a god met you. Stubborn, of many turns, insatiable in deceits, not even in your own land would you give up tricks and furtive words, which have been dear to you from the root.
ἀσπασίως γάρ κʼ ἄλλος ἀνὴρ ἀλαλήμενος ἐλθὼν / ἵετʼ ἐνὶ μεγάροις ἰδέειν παῖδάς τʼ ἄλοχόν τε· / σοὶ δʼ οὔ πω φίλον ἐστὶ δαήμεναι οὐδὲ πυθέσθαι, / πρίν γʼ ἔτι σῆς ἀλόχου πειρήσεαι, ἥ τέ τοι αὔτως / ἧσται ἐνὶ μεγάροισι, ὀϊζυραὶ δέ οἱ αἰεὶ / φθίνουσιν νύκτες τε καὶ ἤματα δάκρυ χεούσῃ.(13.333-338), Another man, after wandering and arriving, would hasten with joy to see his children and wife in the palace; but you do not yet wish to learn or to be informed, before you test your wife, who remains seated in the halls as before, and for whom nights and days are consumed in sorrow, as she sheds tears.
In Book XIV, he arrives disguised as a beggar at the hut of the swineherd Eumaeus. He sits down before the dogs by cunning and swears, by Zeus, that the master will return this very year. Eumaeus does not believe him, and at night Odysseus tests him with a story about a cloak.
ἐξαπίνης δʼ Ὀδυσῆα ἴδον κύνες ὑλακόμωροι. / οἱ μὲν κεκλήγοντες ἐπέδραμον· αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς / ἕζετο κερδοσύνῃ, σκῆπτρον δέ οἱ ἔκπεσε χειρός.(14.29-31), suddenly the dogs of loud baying saw Odysseus; they rushed at him barking, but Odysseus, with cunning, sat down, and his staff fell from his hand.
τοῦδʼ αὐτοῦ λυκάβαντος ἐλεύσεται ἐνθάδʼ Ὀδυσσεύς. / τοῦ μὲν φθίνοντος μηνός, τοῦ δʼ ἱσταμένοιο, / οἴκαδε νοστήσει, καὶ τίσεται ὅς τις ἐκείνου / ἐνθάδʼ ἀτιμάζει ἄλοχον καὶ φαίδιμον υἱόν.(14.161-164), in this very year Odysseus will come here: with the waning month and the one that begins, he will return home and take vengeance on whoever here dishonors his wife and his illustrious son.
τοῖς δʼ Ὀδυσεὺς μετέειπε, συβώτεω πειρητίζων, / εἴ πώς οἱ ἐκδὺς χλαῖναν πόροι, ἤ τινʼ ἑταίρων / ἄλλον ἐποτρύνειεν, ἐπεί ἑο κήδετο λίην·(14.459-461), among them Odysseus spoke, testing the swineherd, to see whether by chance he would give him his cloak, stripping it off, or would urge one of the companions to do so, since Eumaeus cared for him too much.
In Book XV, Odysseus hears Eumaeus speak of Laertes, who prays to Zeus that life may leave him, and of the mother, dead of grief. He tests the swineherd once more, offering himself to serve the suitors.
τοῖς δʼ Ὀδυσεὺς μετέειπε, συβώτεω πειρητίζων, / ἤ μιν ἔτʼ ἐνδυκέως φιλέοι μεῖναί τε κελεύοι / αὐτοῦ ἐνὶ σταθμῷ, ἦ ὀτρύνειε πόλινδε·(15.304-306), among them Odysseus spoke, testing the swineherd, whether he would still welcome him warmly and bid him stay there in the hut, or would urge him to go to the city.
Λαέρτης μὲν ἔτι ζώει, Διὶ δʼ εὔχεται αἰεὶ / θυμὸν ἀπὸ μελέων φθίσθαι οἷς ἐν μεγάροισιν· / ἐκπάγλως γὰρ παιδὸς ὀδύρεται οἰχομένοιο(15.353-355), Laertes is still alive, but always prays to Zeus that life may leave his limbs in his house; for he weeps immoderately for the son who has gone.
In Book XVI, Athena makes him young again, and he presents himself to his son: he is not a god, he is the father. Telemachus does not accept it, and Odysseus explains the change as the work of Athena. Father and son weep together, and he lays out the plan: to return to the city as a beggar, endure the insult and tell no one that he has returned, not even Penelope.
οὔ τίς τοι θεός εἰμι· τί μʼ ἀθανάτοισιν ἐΐσκεις; / ἀλλὰ πατὴρ τεός εἰμι, τοῦ εἵνεκα σὺ στεναχίζων / πάσχεις ἄλγεα πολλά, βίας ὑποδέγμενος ἀνδρῶν.(16.187-189), I am no god: why do you liken me to the immortals? But I am your father, for whom you groan and suffer many pains, enduring the violence of men.
οὐ μὲν γάρ τοι ἔτʼ ἄλλος ἐλεύσεται ἐνθάδʼ Ὀδυσσεύς, / ἀλλʼ ὅδʼ ἐγὼ τοιόσδε, παθὼν κακά, πολλὰ δʼ ἀληθείς, / ἤλυθον εἰκοστῷ ἔτεϊ ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν.(16.204-206), for no other Odysseus will come here; but here I am, just as I am, after suffering evils and much wandering, and I came in the twentieth year to my native land.
εἰ ἐτεόν γʼ ἐμός ἐσσι καὶ αἵματος ἡμετέροιο, / μή τις ἔπειτʼ Ὀδυσῆος ἀκουσάτω ἔνδον ἐόντος, / μήτʼ οὖν Λαέρτης ἴστω τό γε μήτε συβώτης / μήτε τις οἰκήων μήτʼ αὐτὴ Πηνελόπεια,(16.300-303), if you are truly mine and of my blood, let no one hear that Odysseus is inside the house, nor Laertes know it, nor the swineherd, nor any of the servants, nor Penelope herself,
In Book XVII, the goatherd Melanthius kicks him on the road, and he considers killing him but restrains himself. The dog Argos, lying abandoned on the dung, recognizes him and wags its tail, and Odysseus can only wipe away a tear to one side. In the hall, he takes Antinous's footstool on his shoulder and stands firm as a rock.
ἀλλʼ ἔμενʼ ἀσφαλέως· ὁ δὲ μερμήριξεν Ὀδυσσεὺς / ἠὲ μεταΐξας ῥοπάλῳ ἐκ θυμὸν ἕλοιτο, / ἦ πρὸς γῆν ἐλάσειε κάρη ἀμφουδὶς ἀείρας. / ἀλλʼ ἐπετόλμησε, φρεσὶ δʼ ἔσχετο·(17.235-238), but he stood firm; and Odysseus pondered whether, leaping upon him, he would take his life with the staff, or would seize him by the head and dash him to the ground. But he endured and restrained himself in his heart;
οὐρῇ μέν ῥʼ ὅ γʼ ἔσηνε καὶ οὔατα κάββαλεν ἄμφω, / ἆσσον δʼ οὐκέτʼ ἔπειτα δυνήσατο οἷο ἄνακτος / ἐλθέμεν· αὐτὰρ ὁ νόσφιν ἰδὼν ἀπομόρξατο δάκρυ,(17.302-304), he wagged his tail and lowered both ears, but could no longer come near his master; and Odysseus, looking aside, wiped away a tear,
ὁ δʼ ἐστάθη ἠΰτε πέτρη / ἔμπεδον, οὐδʼ ἄρα μιν σφῆλεν βέλος Ἀντινόοιο, / ἀλλʼ ἀκέων κίνησε κάρη, κακὰ βυσσοδομεύων.(17.463-465), and he stood firm as a rock, motionless; Antinous's missile did not make him stagger, but he shook his head in silence, plotting evils.
In Book XVIII, he defeats the beggar Irus, but first demands an oath that no one will help him, and he strikes lightly so that the Achaeans will not notice. He warns Amphinomus, who has been kind to him, that the matter will not be settled without blood, and answers Eurymachus with the image of doors too narrow for flight.
δὴ τότε μερμήριξε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς / ἢ ἐλάσειʼ ὥς μιν ψυχὴ λίποι αὖθι πεσόντα, / ἦέ μιν ἦκʼ ἐλάσειε τανύσσειέν τʼ ἐπὶ γαίῃ. / ὧδε δέ οἱ φρονέοντι δοάσσατο κέρδιον εἶναι, / ἦκʼ ἐλάσαι, ἵνα μή μιν ἐπιφρασσαίατʼ Ἀχαιοί.(18.90-94), then the much-enduring, godlike Odysseus pondered whether he should strike him so that his life would leave him right there, fallen, or whether he should strike him lightly and stretch him on the ground. And it seemed better to him, as he thought it over, to strike lightly, so that the Achaeans would not notice.
οὐ γὰρ ἀναιμωτί γε διακρινέεσθαι ὀΐω / μνηστῆρας καὶ κεῖνον, ἐπεί κε μέλαθρον ὑπέλθῃ.(18.149-150), for I do not think the suitors and that man will part without blood, when he enters under the roof.
εἰ δʼ Ὀδυσεὺς ἔλθοι καὶ ἵκοιτʼ ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν, / αἶψά κέ τοι τὰ θύρετρα, καὶ εὐρέα περ μάλʼ ἐόντα, / φεύγοντι στείνοιτο διὲκ προθύροιο θύραζε.(18.384-386), if Odysseus came and reached his homeland, at once the doors, however wide they were, would be too narrow for you, as you fled through the vestibule outward.
In Book XIX, questioned by Penelope, he lies with true details and hides his tears behind eyes like horn or iron. When the nurse washes him, he turns toward the shadow so that she will not see the scar, and when Eurycleia recognizes it, he seizes her by the throat and forces her to silence.
αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς / θυμῷ μὲν γοόωσαν ἑὴν ἐλέαιρε γυναῖκα, / ὀφθαλμοὶ δʼ ὡς εἰ κέρα ἕστασαν ἠὲ σίδηρος / ἀτρέμας ἐν βλεφάροισι· δόλῳ δʼ ὅ γε δάκρυα κεῦθεν.(19.209-212), in his spirit Odysseus pitied his wife as she moaned, but his eyes, as if they were horn or iron, stayed motionless under the lids; with cunning he hid his tears.
ἷζεν ἐπʼ ἐσχαρόφιν, ποτὶ δὲ σκότον ἐτράπετʼ αἶψα· / αὐτίκα γὰρ κατὰ θυμὸν ὀΐσατο, μή ἑ λαβοῦσα / οὐλὴν ἀμφράσσαιτο καὶ ἀμφαδὰ ἔργα γένοιτο. / νίζε δʼ ἄρʼ ἆσσον ἰοῦσα ἄναχθʼ ἑόν· αὐτίκα δʼ ἔγνω / οὐλήν, τήν ποτέ μιν σῦς ἤλασε λευκῷ ὀδόντι(19.389-393), she sat down by the hearth and at once turned toward the shadow; for at once she sensed in her heart that, if she touched him, she might perceive the scar, and the deeds would come to light. Drawing nearer, she washed her master, and at once she recognized the scar that a boar had once inflicted on him with its white tusk.
ὧδε γὰρ ἐξερέω, καὶ μὴν τετελεσμένον ἔσται· / εἴ χʼ ὑπʼ ἐμοί γε θεὸς δαμάσῃ μνηστῆρας ἀγαυούς, / οὐδὲ τροφοῦ οὔσης σεῦ ἀφέξομαι, ὁππότʼ ἂν ἄλλας / δμῳὰς ἐν μεγάροισ ἐμοῖς κτείνωμι γυναῖκας.(19.487-490), for so I will speak, and it will be fulfilled: if by my hand a god subdues the noble suitors, I will not spare you, though you are my nurse, when I kill the other maidservants in my halls.
In Book XX, on the eve, he does not sleep. He weighs whether to kill at once the maids who sleep with the suitors, and orders his heart to endure, recalling the Cyclops. He asks Athena where he will flee after killing them, and asks Zeus for a sign.
τέτλαθι δή, κραδίη· καὶ κύντερον ἄλλο ποτʼ ἔτλης. / ἤματι τῷ ὅτε μοι μένος ἄσχετος ἤσθιε Κύκλωψ / ἰφθίμους ἑτάρους· σὺ δʼ ἐτόλμας, ὄφρα σε μῆτις / ἐξάγαγʼ ἐξ ἄντροιο ὀϊόμενον θανέεσθαι.(20.18-21), endure, heart! You have endured something even more vile, on the day the Cyclops, of irresistible strength, devoured my brave companions; you held on, until the plan drew you out of the cave, when you thought you would die.
πρὸς δʼ ἔτι καὶ τόδε μεῖζον ἐνὶ φρεσὶ μερμηρίζω· / εἴ περ γὰρ κτείναιμι Διός τε σέθεν τε ἕκητι, / πῆ κεν ὑπεκπροφύγοιμι; τά σε φράζεσθαι ἄνωγα.(20.41-43), yet another, greater worry I turn over in my breast: if I kill them, by the will of Zeus and of yourself, where could I escape? I ask you to consider this.
Ζεῦ πάτερ, εἴ μʼ ἐθέλοντες ἐπὶ τραφερήν τε καὶ ὑγρὴν / ἤγετʼ ἐμὴν ἐς γαῖαν, ἐπεί μʼ ἐκακώσατε λίην, / φήμην τίς μοι φάσθω ἐγειρομένων ἀνθρώπων / ἔνδοθεν, ἔκτοσθεν δὲ Διὸς τέρας ἄλλο φανήτω.(20.98-101), Father Zeus, if of your own will you brought me by land and sea to my own country, after so greatly afflicting me, let someone among the men who wake within the house speak a word of omen, and let another portent of Zeus appear outside.
In Book XXI, he reveals himself to the two faithful servants, showing them the scar. He asks the suitors for the bow, examines it on every side and strings it as one tunes a lyre. He shoots while seated and passes through the twelve axes.
ἔνδον μὲν δὴ ὅδʼ αὐτὸς ἐγώ, κακὰ πολλὰ μογήσας / ἤλυθον εἰκοστῷ ἔτεϊ ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν.(21.207-208), here inside I stand myself, after suffering many evils; in the twentieth year I came to my native land.
ὡς ὅτʼ ἀνὴρ φόρμιγγος ἐπιστάμενος καὶ ἀοιδῆς / ῥηϊδίως ἐτάνυσσε νέῳ περὶ κόλλοπι χορδήν, / ἅψας ἀμφοτέρωθεν ἐϋστρεφὲς ἔντερον οἰός, / ὣς ἄρʼ ἄτερ σπουδῆς τάνυσεν μέγα τόξον Ὀδυσσεύς.(21.406-409), as when a man who knows the lyre and song easily stretches a cord around a new peg, fastening the well-twisted sheep-gut at both ends, so without effort Odysseus stretched the great bow.
αὐτόθεν ἐκ δίφροιο καθήμενος, ἧκε δʼ ὀϊστὸν / ἄντα τιτυσκόμενος, πελέκεων δʼ οὐκ ἤμβροτε πάντων / πρώτης στειλειῆς, διὰ δʼ ἀμπερὲς ἦλθε θύραζε / ἰὸς χαλκοβαρής(21.420-423), right there, seated on the bench, he let fly the arrow, aiming straight ahead, and missed none of the axes, from the very first socket; the bronze-weighted shaft passed straight through and out.
In Book XXII, he throws off his rags and kills Antinous, who was raising his cup. He refuses the compensation Eurymachus offers, because what he demands is the excess. He spares the bard Phemius and the herald Medon, condemns the seer Leodes, and restrains Eurycleia's joy before the dead.
ὄφρα πίοι οἴνοιο· φόνος δέ οἱ οὐκ ἐνὶ θυμῷ / μέμβλετο· τίς κʼ οἴοιτο μετʼ ἀνδράσι δαιτυμόνεσσι / μοῦνον ἐνὶ πλεόνεσσι, καὶ εἰ μάλα καρτερὸς εἴη, / οἷ τεύξειν θάνατόν τε κακὸν καὶ κῆρα μέλαιναν;(22.11-14), to drink wine; death was not in his heart. Who would have imagined that a single man, among so many diners, however strong he might be, would bring on them a wretched death and black fate?
Εὐρύμαχʼ, οὐδʼ εἴ μοι πατρώϊα πάντʼ ἀποδοῖτε, / ὅσσα τε νῦν ὔμμʼ ἐστὶ καὶ εἴ ποθεν ἄλλʼ ἐπιθεῖτε, / οὐδέ κεν ὣς ἔτι χεῖρας ἐμὰς λήξαιμι φόνοιο / πρὶν πᾶσαν μνηστῆρας ὑπερβασίην ἀποτῖσαι. / νῦν ὑμῖν παράκειται ἐναντίον ἠὲ μάχεσθαι / ἢ φεύγειν, ὅς κεν θάνατον καὶ κῆρας ἀλύξῃ·(22.61-66), Eurymachus, not even if you gave back all my father's goods, everything you now have, and added still more from elsewhere, would I hold back my hands from the slaughter before the suitors had paid for all their excess. Now it lies before you to fight face to face or to flee, whoever may escape death and doom.
θάρσει, ἐπεὶ δή σʼ οὗτος ἐρύσσατο καὶ ἐσάωσεν, / ὄφρα γνῷς κατὰ θυμόν, ἀτὰρ εἴπῃσθα καὶ ἄλλῳ, / ὡς κακοεργίης εὐεργεσίη μέγʼ ἀμείνων.(22.372-374), take heart, for this man drew you out and saved you, so that you may know in your heart, and tell another as well, how much a kindness is better than a wrong.
οὐχ ὁσίη κταμένοισιν ἐπʼ ἀνδράσιν εὐχετάασθαι. / τούσδε δὲ μοῖρʼ ἐδάμασσε θεῶν καὶ σχέτλια ἔργα· / οὔ τινα γὰρ τίεσκον ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων, / οὐ κακὸν οὐδὲ μὲν ἐσθλόν, ὅτις σφέας εἰσαφίκοιτο· / τῷ καὶ ἀτασθαλίῃσιν ἀεικέα πότμον ἐπέσπον.(22.412-416), it is not lawful to glory over slain men. Fate of the gods and cruel deeds overpowered these: they honored none of the men of the earth, neither bad nor good, who came to them; therefore, through their insolence, they met an unworthy fate.
In Book XXIII, Penelope tests him by ordering the bed moved, and he describes the bed built around the olive tree. After the recognition, he warns that a boundless labor remains, the journey of the oar that Tiresias prophesied. The two spend the night telling each other what they suffered.
θάμνος ἔφυ τανύφυλλος ἐλαίης ἕρκεος ἐντός, / ἀκμηνὸς θαλέθων· πάχετος δʼ ἦν ἠΰτε κίων. / τῷ δʼ ἐγὼ ἀμφιβαλὼν θάλαμον δέμον, ὄφρʼ ἐτέλεσσα, / πυκνῇσιν λιθάδεσσι, καὶ εὖ καθύπερθεν ἔρεψα, / κολλητὰς δʼ ἐπέθηκα θύρας, πυκινῶς ἀραρυίας.(23.190-194), within the enclosure grew an olive tree with long leaves, vigorous, in full vigor; its trunk was thick as a column. Around it I built the chamber, until I finished it, with close-set stones, roofed it well over, and set in doors, closely fitted together.
ὦ γύναι, οὐ γάρ πω πάντων ἐπὶ πείρατʼ ἀέθλων / ἤλθομεν, ἀλλʼ ἔτʼ ὄπισθεν ἀμέτρητος πόνος ἔσται, / πολλὸς καὶ χαλεπός, τὸν ἐμὲ χρὴ πάντα τελέσσαι.(23.248-250), woman, we have not yet reached the end of all the trials: a boundless labor still lies ahead, much and hard, which I must complete in full.
αὐτὰρ ὁ διογενὴς Ὀδυσεὺς ὅσα κήδεʼ ἔθηκεν / ἀνθρώποις ὅσα τʼ αὐτὸς ὀϊζύσας ἐμόγησε, / πάντʼ ἔλεγʼ· ἡ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐτέρπετʼ ἀκούουσʼ, οὐδέ οἱ ὕπνος / πῖπτεν ἐπὶ βλεφάροισι πάρος καταλέξαι ἅπαντα.(23.306-309), and Odysseus, descended from Zeus, in turn told everything of the evils he had inflicted on men and of all that he himself had suffered, enduring; she delighted in hearing, and sleep did not fall upon her eyelids before he had told everything.
In Book XXIV, in his father's orchard, Odysseus hesitates between embracing him and testing him, and begins with words of mockery. When the old man weeps, he reveals himself and gives news of the slaughter. In the end, he pursues the Ithacans until Athena, in the form of Mentor, puts an end to the fight.
μερμήριξε δʼ ἔπειτα κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμὸν / κύσσαι καὶ περιφῦναι ἑὸν πατέρʼ, ἠδὲ ἕκαστα / εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἔλθοι καὶ ἵκοιτʼ ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν, / ἦ πρῶτʼ ἐξερέοιτο ἕκαστά τε πειρήσαιτο. / ὧδε δέ οἱ φρονέοντι δοάσσατο κέρδιον εἶναι, / πρῶτον κερτομίοις ἐπέεσσιν πειρηθῆναι.(24.235-240), then he hesitated in his mind and in his heart, whether he would kiss and embrace his father and tell him everything, how he had come and reached his homeland, or whether he would first question him and put him to the test. So, on reflection, it seemed to him more advantageous to test him first with words of mockery.
κεῖνος μέν τοι ὅδʼ αὐτὸς ἐγώ, πάτερ, ὃν σὺ μεταλλᾷς, / ἤλυθον εἰκοστῷ ἔτεϊ ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν. / ἀλλʼ ἴσχεο κλαυθμοῖο γόοιό τε δακρυόεντος. / ἐκ γάρ τοι ἐρέω· μάλα δὲ χρὴ σπευδέμεν ἔμπης· / μνηστῆρας κατέπεφνον ἐν ἡμετέροισι δόμοισι, / λώβην τινύμενος θυμαλγέα καὶ κακὰ ἔργα.(24.321-326), the one you are asking about, father, is myself; I came in the twentieth year to my native land. But stop your weeping and tearful lament. I will tell you, for there is need for great haste: I have killed the suitors in our house, avenging the insult that grieves the heart and their wicked deeds.
ἴσχεσθε πτολέμου, Ἰθακήσιοι, ἀργαλέοιο, / ὥς κεν ἀναιμωτί γε διακρινθῆτε τάχιστα.(24.531-532), cease the grievous war, men of Ithaca, so that you may part as quickly as possible without shedding blood.
Themes Embodied
Odysseus embodies Home, exile and return: the whole poem is what it costs to come back, and the desire that moves him is to see the land, the house and the wife. He embodies Identity, which the poem treats as something lost and proved: he hides his name among the Phaeacians, calls himself Nobody to the Cyclops, returns as a beggar and is recognized only by signs, the scar, the bed, the trees of the orchard. He embodies Truth and lies, because he deceives almost everyone, with true details, and because he counts against himself the losses of the voyage. Vengeance and Family join at the end, when he demands from the suitors the excess and finds again his son, his wife and his father. Loyalty and betrayal measure him by those who stayed on his side, Eumaeus, Eurycleia and Philoetius, and by those who did not.
The poem shows Odysseus's cunning as strength and as cost at once. Athena describes it, in Book XIII, as a habit he does not drop even at home, and the same resources that save him cost him companions: the name shouted at the Cyclops, the wish to see the owner in the cave, the secret about Scylla. Both readings hold: cunning as the virtue that brings him home, and as the limit of one who cannot stop testing and hiding, not even before his own wife and his own father.
Relationships
- Penelope: the wife he wants to see again and tests before making himself known, and who tests him first with the bed.
- Telemachus: the son he finds only grown and to whom he asks that he endure the insult to a beggar.
- Athena: the goddess who protects him, disguises him and describes him as her equal in cunning.
- Poseidon: the god who makes him wander, for having blinded his son.
- Polyphemus: the Cyclops to whom he says his name is Nobody and whose curse follows him until his return.
- Calypso and Circe: the two goddesses who want him as husband and help him leave.
- Eumaeus and Eurycleia: the servants who welcome him without knowing and then recognize him.
- Laertes: the father he finds in the orchard, alive and in mourning.
- Tiresias: the seer who tells him, in Hades, how the return will be and what comes after.
- Zeus and Alcinous: the god who decides the return and the king who gives him escort and gifts.