HOMER
ODYSSEY
Translated by Ian Johnston, Vancouver Island University,
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.
Revised Edition 2019
For a statement about copyright, publication details, and a Table of Contents for this translation of the Odyssey, please use this link: Odyssey, Table of Contents
For a Rich Text Format Version of the entire Odyssey, please use the following link: Odyssey [RTF]
BOOK SEVEN
ODYSSEUS AT THE COURT OF ALCINOUS IN PHAEACIA
[Nausicaa reaches the
palace; Odysseus sets out for the city and meets Athena on the way, disguised as
a young girl; she leads him to the palace; Odysseus admires Alcinous’s palace
and the nearby orchard; Odysseus enters the palace and talks to Arete, the
queen; the Phaeacians offer Odysseus a meal; Odysseus converses with Arete and
Alcinous, telling them of his voyage from Ogygia and his meeting with Nausicaa;
Alcinous offers to help Odysseus get home; servants prepare a bed for him, and
he goes to sleep out in the portico.]
Lord Odysseus, who had endured so much, prayed there,
while two strong mules took Nausicaa to her home.
After she had reached her father’s splendid palace,
she halted at the outer gates, while her brothers,
godlike men, crowded round her. They unhitched the
mules,
then brought the clothes inside. The girl went to her
room.
There her old chambermaid kindled a fire for her—
Eurymedusa, an old woman from Apeire.
Curved ships had carried her from there some years
ago,
when she’d been chosen as a prize for Alcinous,
10
[10]
because he ruled all the Phaeacians as their king
and people listened to him as if he were a god.
She had raised white-armed Nausicaa in the palace.
Now she lit the fire and set food out in the room.
Then Odysseus got up and set off for the town.
Athena took good care to veil him in thick mist,
so that no bold Phaeacian who ran into him
would cast verbal taunts and enquire about his name.
As he was about to enter the fine city,
gleaming-eyed Athena met him—she was disguised
20
as a girl carrying a pitcher. When she stopped
[20]
in front of him, noble Odysseus addressed her:
“My child, could you direct me
to the home
of the man called Alcinous. He’s the king
of people here, and I’m a foreigner,
visiting from a country far away.
I’ve suffered a great deal, and I don’t know
any of the men who own this city
or the farmland.”
Gleaming-eyed Athena
then said in reply:
“Honoured stranger,
30
in that case I’ll show you the very house
you’ve just questioned me about. It’s nearby,
close to my father’s home. Go quietly,
[30]
and I will lead the way. You must not look
at anyone or raise any questions.
The people here are not fond of strangers—
they do not extend a friendly welcome
to those from other lands, but put their trust
in their swift ships to carry them across
vast gulfs of the sea, something Poseidon
40
has permitted them, for their ships move fast,
as swift as birds in flight or as a thought.”
That said, Pallas Athena led
off rapidly—
he followed closely in the goddess’s footsteps.
The Phaeacians, men celebrated for their ships,
did not see him in their midst as he made his way
into the city. Athena, fearful goddess,
[40]
would not permit that. In her heart she cared for him,
so she cast around him a mysterious mist.
Odysseus was amazed when he saw the harbours,
50
well-tended ships, and the grounds for the assembly,
where those heroes gathered, alongside lofty walls,
topped with palisades—it was a marvellous sight.
When they reached the imposing palace of the king,
bright-eyed Athena was the first to speak:
“Honoured stranger,
here is the house you asked me to point out.
You’ll find Zeus-fostered kings in there feasting.
[50]
But go inside, and do not be afraid.
In a man, boldness is always better
at getting good results, even in the case
60
where he’s a stranger from another land.
Inside the palace, you’ll first greet the queen.
Her name is Arete, born of the same line
as Alcinous, the king. Originally,
Nausithous was born to the Earthshaker,
Poseidon, and to Periboea,
loveliest of women, youngest daughter
to great-hearted Eurymedon, once king
of the rebellious Giants. But he destroyed
his reckless people and was killed himself.
70
[60]
Poseidon then had sex with Periboea,
who bore him a son, courageous Nausithous,
who ruled Phaeacians and who had two sons,
Rhexenor and Alcinous. Rhexenor,
a married man but with no sons, was killed
by Apollo’s silver bow in his own home.
He left an only daughter, Arete.
Alcinous made her his wife and honoured her
beyond all other women on this earth,
all the wives who now govern their own homes
80
under the direction of their husbands.
That’s how much she is honoured from the heart
by her dear children, by Alcinous himself,
[70]
and by the people, too, who look on her
as if she were a goddess, when they greet her
walking through the city. She does not lack
a fine intelligence, and for women
to whom she’s well disposed she can resolve
all disputes between them and their husbands.
So if you win her favour, there is hope
90
you’ll see your friends and make that journey back
to your own high-roofed home and native land.”
Bright-eyed Athena finished.
Then she went away,
across the restless sea, leaving lovely Scheria.
She came to Marathon and the streets of Athens
[80]
and entered the well-built home of Erechtheus.(1)
Odysseus moved towards Alcinous’ splendid home.
He stood there, his heart thinking over many things,
before he came up to the threshold made of bronze.
Above the high-vaulted home of brave Alcinous
100
here was a radiance, as if from sun or moon.
Bronze walls extended out well beyond the threshold
in various directions to the inner rooms.
They had a blue enamel cornice. Golden doors
blocked the way into the well-constructed palace.
The bronze threshold had silver doorposts set inside
and a silver lintel. The handles were of gold.
[90]
On both sides of the door stood gold and silver dogs,
ageless, immortal creatures who would not grow old,
created by Hephaestus’ matchless artistry,
110
to guard the palace of great-hearted Alcinous.(2)
On both sides within, seats were set against the wall,
from the doorway right through to the inner room,
with soft rugs covering them, elegantly woven
women’s handiwork. On these, Phaeacian leaders
would sit to eat and drink from their abundant stores.
Gold statues of young men stood on firm pedestals,
[100]
holding torches in their hands to give light at night
for people feasting in the hall. And Alcinous
had fifty female servants working in his home—
120
some toiling at the millstone ground up yellow grain,
some wove fabric, or sitting on stools, twisted yarn,
hands fluttering like leaves on a
tall poplar tree,
while olive oil dripped down.(3)
Just as Phaeacian men
have more skill than others at sailing a fast ship
across the sea, so their women are more adept
[110]
at working on the loom, for Athena gave them,
more so than all the rest, a skill with handiwork
and a keen intelligence. Beyond the courtyard,
but close to the door, stands an enormous orchard,
130
four measures of land, with a hedge on either side.(4)
Huge, richly laden trees grow there—pomegranates,
pears, and apple trees with glistening fruit, sweet
figs,
and fertile olive trees. And in this huge orchard
no fruit deteriorates or dies in winter time
or in the summer. It lasts all year long. West Wind,
as he blows in, is always bringing some fruits to life
and ripening others—pear growing above pear,
[120]
apple on apple, grapes in cluster after cluster,
and fig after fig. Inside that fruitful orchard,
140
Alcinous has a fertile vineyard planted, too.
In part of it, a sunny patch of level ground,
grapes are drying in the sun. In another place
men are gathering up and treading other grapes.
In front the unripened grapes are shedding blossoms,
while others are changing to a purple colour.
Beside the final row of vines there are trim beds
with all varieties of plant growing all year round.
There are two springs inside—one lets its water flow
throughout the garden, and on the opposite side
150
[130]
the other runs below the threshold of the yard,
where people of the town come to get their water,
beside the high-roofed palace. These glorious things
were gifts from the gods to the home of Alcinous.
Lord Odysseus, who had endured so much, stood there
and gazed around. When his heart had marvelled at it,
he moved quickly past the threshold into the house.
There he found Phaeacian counsellors and leaders
making libations to honour keen-eyed Hermes,
killer of Argus. They poured him a final tribute
160
whenever they intended to retire to bed.
Long-suffering Odysseus, still enclosed in mist,
the thick covering poured around him by Athena,
[140]
went through the hall until he came to Arete
and king Alcinous. With both his arms Odysseus
embraced the knees of Arete—at that moment
the miraculous mist dissolved away from him.
All the Phaeacians in the palace were struck dumb,
as they gazed upon the man, overcome with wonder
at the sight. Odysseus then made this entreaty:
170
“Arete, daughter of godlike
Rhexenor,
I’ve come to you and to your husband here,
to your knees, in supplication to you—
a man who has undergone much hardship—
and to those feasting here. May gods grant them
happiness in life. May they each pass on
riches in their homes to all their children,
[150]
and noble honours given by the people.
Please rouse yourself to help me travel home,
to get back quickly to my native soil.
180
For a long time I have been in great distress
and far away from friends.”
Odysseus finished.
Then he sat down by the fire, right on the ashes
inside the hearth. All the people there were silent.
No one said a word. Then, finally, an old man,
lord Echeneus, a Phaeacian elder statesman,
a skillful orator full of ancient wisdom,
with their common good in mind, spoke up and said:
“Alcinous, it is not at all
appropriate
or to our credit that this stranger sits
190
[160]
on the ground at our hearth, in the ashes.
The people here are holding themselves back,
waiting for your word. Come, tell the stranger
to get up. Then invite the man to sit
on a silver-studded chair. Tell the heralds
to mix wine, so we may make an offering
to thunder-loving Zeus, who accompanies
all pious suppliants. And tell the steward
to provide this stranger with a dinner
from what she has in store.”
When he heard these words,
200
courageous, kingly Alcinous stretched out his hand,
reaching for Odysseus, that wise and crafty man,
raised him from the hearth, and invited him to sit
in a shining chair, after he had asked his son,
handsome Laodamas, the son he loved the most,
[170]
who sat beside him, to stand up and offer it.
An attendant carried in a fine gold pitcher,
then poured some water into a silver basin,
so that he could wash his hands. A polished table
was set up beside him, and then the housekeeper,
210
a well-respected female servant, brought in food,
set it in front of him, with many tempting treats
offered freely from her store. And so Odysseus,
that noble, long-suffering man, could eat and drink.
Then royal Alcinous called out to his herald:
“Pontonous, prepare wine in
the mixing bowl,
then serve it to all people in the hall,
so we may pour libations out to Zeus,
[180]
who loves lightning, for he accompanies
all pious suppliants.”
Once Alcinous said this,
220
Pontonous prepared the honeyed wine and poured out
the first drops for libation into every cup
They made their offering and drank their fill of wine,
Then Alcinous addressed the gathering and said:
“You Phaeacians counsellors
and leaders,
pay attention to me so I can say
the things the heart here in my chest commands.
Now that all of you have finished eating,
return back to your homes and get some rest.
In the morning we’ll summon an assembly
230
with more elders, entertain this stranger
[190]
here in our home, and also sacrifice
choice offerings to the gods. After that,
we’ll think about how we can send him off,
so that this stranger, with us escorting him,
without further pain or effort, may reach
his native home, no matter how far distant.
Meanwhile he’ll not suffer harm or trouble,
not before he sets foot on his own land.
After that, he’ll undergo all those things
240
Destiny and the dreaded spinning Fates
spun in the thread for him when he
was born,
when his mother gave him birth.(5)
However,
if he’s a deathless one come down from heaven,
then gods are planning something different.
[200]
So far they’ve always shown themselves to us
in their true form, when we offer up to them
a splendid sacrifice. They dine with us,
sitting in the very chairs we also use.
If someone travelling all by himself
250
meets them, they don’t hide their true identity,
because we are close relatives of theirs,
like Cyclopes and wild tribes of Giants.”(6)
Resourceful Odysseus then answered Alcinous:
“Alcinous, you should not
concern yourself
about what you’ve just said—for I’m not like
the immortal gods who hold wide heaven,
not in my form or shape. I’m like mortal men.
[210]
If, among human beings, you know some
who bear a truly heavy weight of trouble,
260
I might compare myself with them for grief.
Indeed, I could recount a longer story—
all those hardships I have had to suffer
from the gods. But let me eat my dinner,
though I’m in great distress. For there’s nothing
more shameless than an unhappy stomach,
which bids a man to think about its needs,
even if he’s sad or many troubles
sit heavy on his heart, the way my spirit
is now full of sorrow, yet my belly
270
is always telling me to eat and drink,
[220]
forgetting everything I’ve had to bear,
and forcing me to gorge myself with food.
But when Dawn appears, you can stir yourselves
to set me in my miserable state
back on my own soil, for all I’ve suffered.
If I can see my goods again, my slaves,
my large and high-roofed home, then let life end.”
Once Odysseus finished, they
all approved his words,
and, because he’d spoken well and to the point,
280
agreed their guest should be escorted on his way.
Then, after they had poured libations and had drunk
to their heart’s content, each of them returned back
home
to get some rest.
In the hall, Odysseus was left
[230]
sitting by Arete and godlike Alcinous.
Servants cleared away the remnants of the feast.
White-armed Arete spoke first, for when she observed
his cloak and tunic, she recognized his lovely clothes
as ones made by her servant women and herself.
So she spoke to him—her words had wings:
“Stranger,
290
first of all, I’ll ask you this: Who are you?
What people do you come from? And those clothes—
who gave them to you? Did you not tell us
you came here wandering across the sea?”
Resourceful Odysseus then answered her and said: [240]
“O queen, it would be hard to
tell the story
of my miseries from start to finish—
heavenly gods have given me so many.
But in answer to what you have asked me
I can tell you this. There is an island
300
called Ogygia far off in the sea.
On it lives a cunning, fearful goddess,
fair-haired Calypso, Atlas’s daughter.
None of the gods associates with her,
nor any mortal men. One of the gods
led me in my misfortune to her hearth.
I was alone, for Zeus had struck my ship
with his bright lightning bolt and shattered it,
right in the middle of the wine-dark sea.
[250]
All my other fine companions perished,
310
but I clung to the keel of my curved ship
and drifted for nine days. The tenth black night,
gods brought me to Ogygia, the island
where that fair-haired, fearful goddess lives—
I mean Calypso. She received me kindly,
loved and fed me. She promised she’d make me
an immortal—ageless for eternity.
But she never won the heart inside my chest.
I stayed there seven years, the entire time,
always soaking the immortal clothing
320
Calypso gave me with my constant tears.
[260]
But, as the circling years kept moving past me,
the eighth year came. Then she commanded me,
with her encouragement, to sail back home—
either because she’d got some news from Zeus,
or else her mind had changed. She sent me off
on a well-lashed raft, and she provided
many things—food and sweet wine. She dressed me
in immortal clothing, and sent a wind,
a warm and gentle breeze. Seventeen days
330
I sailed across the sea. On the eighteenth
the shadowy mountains of your country
came in sight, and my fond heart was happy.
[270]
But I had no luck—I still had to bear
great torments, which the Shaker of the Earth,
Poseidon, sent at me. He stirred up winds
against me, blocked my route, and shook the sea
in an amazing way. The surging waves
did not allow the raft to carry me,
for all my heavy groaning, since that storm
340
smashed my raft to pieces. But I swam on,
cutting through the gulf, until wind and wave
pushed me ahead and left me on your shore.
If I’d tried to land there, the pounding surf
would have tossed me up onshore, throwing me
against huge rocks in a perilous place
So I moved back again, kept on swimming,
[280]
until I reached a river, which I thought
the best place I could land—it had no rocks,
and there was shelter from the wind, as well.
350
I staggered out and fell down on the beach,
gasping for breath. Immortal night arrived.
So I climbed up from that heaven-fed stream,
gathered leaves around me in the bushes,
and fell asleep. Some god poured over me
an endless sleep, so there among the leaves,
my fond exhausted heart slept through the night,
past daybreak and noon—not until the sun
was in decline did that sweet sleep release me.
Then I observed your daughter’s servant girls
360
[290]
playing on the shore, and she was with them,
looking like a goddess. I pleaded with her,
and she revealed no lack of noble sense,
the sort you would not hope to come across
at a first encounter with one so young—
for youthful people act so thoughtlessly.
She gave me lots of food and gleaming wine,
bathed me in the river, and gave me clothes.
Though I’m in pain, I’ve told the truth in this.”
Alcinous then answered him and said:
“Stranger,
370
my child was truly negligent this time.
She did not escort you with her servants
[300]
here to our home, although it was to her
that you first made your plea.”
Resourceful Odysseus
then said in answer to the king:
“My lord,
in this you must not criticize your daughter,
I beg you, for she is quite innocent.
She did indeed tell me to follow her
with her attendants, but I was unwilling,
afraid and shamed, in case, when you saw us,
380
you might be offended, for on this earth
groups of men are quick to lose their temper.”
Alcinous said in answer to Odysseus:
“Stranger,
the heart here in my chest is not like that.
It does not get incensed without a reason.
It’s better in all things to show restraint.
[310]
By Father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo,
I wish, given the kind of man you are,
one who in his mind thinks just as I do,
you’d marry my child and become my son,
390
and then remain here. I’d give you a home
and wealth, as well, if you would chose to stay.
But no Phaeacian will detain you here
against your will. No. May that never be
the will of Father Zeus. I’ll set a time,
so you can know for certain when you’re leaving—
let’s say tomorrow. While you lie asleep,
they’ll carry you across the tranquil sea,
until you reach your native land and home,
or whatever place you wish, even though
400
[320]
it may take them far past Euboea.
Some of our people who saw that island
when they carried fair-haired Rhadamanthus
to visit Tityus, son of Gaea,
say it is the most remote of places.(7)
They went there and, without any effort,
finished the journey home in the same day.
So you, too, will discover for yourself
I have the finest ships and young men, too,
whose oar blades make the briny waters foam.”
410
Alcinous finished.
Long-suffering lord Odysseus
was pleased and spoke out in prayer, saying:
“Father Zeus,
[330]
may Alcinous complete all he has said.
Then on this grain-fostering earth his fame
will never be extinguished, and I will reach
my native land once more.”
As they conversed like this,
white-armed Arete commanded her attendants
to set a bed outside, under the portico,
laying on top of it lovely purple blankets
with coverlets spread out on them, and finally,
420
over these, some woollen cloaks to keep him warm.
The servants left the chamber, torches in their hands.
Once they had hurried to arrange the well-made bed,
[340]
they came to call Odysseus, saying:
“Stranger,
come now and rest. Your bed has been prepared.”
When they said this, he
welcomed thoughts of going to sleep.
So long-suffering lord Odysseus lay down there,
on the bed, beneath the echoing portico.
But Alcinous rested in an inner chamber
in the high-roofed home—his lady wife lay there, too,
430
stretched out beside him, sharing their marriage bed.
ENDNOTES
(1)
Erechtheus: a legendary early king of Athens. [Back
to Text]
(2)
Hephaestus: a divine son
of Zeus, the artisan god, celebrated for his craftsmanship, especially with
metals. [Back to Text]
(3)
Olive oil was and in some places
still is an important ingredient in some weaving processes, working as a mild
bleaching agent and strengthening the fibres. [Back
to Text]
(4)
The size of the orchard is not
clear. The phrase “four measures” is often translated as “four acres.”
[Back to Text]
(5)
The three Fates, who are sisters,
are called Atropos, Lachesis, and Clotho. At a person’s birth they allot his or
her share of pain and suffering and good. According to some accounts, Clotho
sets the wool around the spindle, Lachesis spins the yarn, and Atropos cuts the
thread when death comes. The Olympian gods cannot or will not alter the
decisions of the Fates. [Back
to Text]
(6)
The Cyclopes are divinely born
creatures of ambiguous origin, who supported Zeus in his struggle against his
father, Cronos; they are famous for having only one eye in their foreheads and
for being gigantic, aggressive, and uncivilized. The Giants are divine, often
monstrous, creatures created from the castration of Uranus, the first ruling
god. They fought against Zeus and were imprisoned deep in Tartarus.
[Back to Text]
(7)
Euboea is a large island off the
coast of Attica, near Athens. The fact that the Phaeacians think of it as very
remote suggests that they are located far off to the south or west, perhaps off
the west coast of Greece. Rhadamanthus is a divine son of Zeus and Europa, so
famous for his wise judgment that the gods made him part of an underworld trio
(along with Aeacus and Minos) who judged the dead. Tityus, sometimes called a
son of Zeus, is famous for his attempted rape of Leto, as a result of which he
was killed by Leto’s children, Apollo and Artemis, and is eternally punished in
the underworld (as we see later in the poem). Gaea (or Gaia) is the primordial
deity representing Earth. [Back
to Text]
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