The Odyssey Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original
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Chapter 01
Preface
Preface
[Illustration] The Odyssey by Homer rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original Contents PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION THE ODYSSEY BOOK I. BOOK II. BOOK III. BOOK…
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Chapter 02
Book i., is continued to the end of Book iv., and not resumed till
Book i., is continued to the end of Book iv., and not resumed till
Ulysses wakes in the middle of line 187, Book xiii., from whence it continues to the end of Book xxiv. In “The Authoress of the Odyssey”, I wrote: the introduction of lines xi., 115-137 and of line ix., 535, with the …
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Chapter 03
BOOK I
BOOK I
THE GODS IN COUNCIL—MINERVA’S VISIT TO ITHACA—THE CHALLENGE FROM TELEMACHUS TO THE SUITORS. Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities d…
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Chapter 04
BOOK I (2)
BOOK I (2)
“Sir,” said Telemachus, “as regards your question, so long as my father was here it was well with us and with the house, but the gods in their displeasure have willed it otherwise, and have hidden him away more closel…
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Chapter 05
BOOK II
BOOK II
ASSEMBLY OF THE PEOPLE OF ITHACA—SPEECHES OF TELEMACHUS AND OF THE SUITORS—TELEMACHUS MAKES HIS PREPARATIONS AND STARTS FOR PYLOS WITH MINERVA DISGUISED AS MENTOR. Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, ap…
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Chapter 06
BOOK II (2)
BOOK II (2)
“Hear me, men of Ithaca, I hope that you may never have a kind and well-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern you equitably; I hope that all your chiefs henceforward may be cruel and unjust, for there is no…
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Chapter 07
BOOK III
BOOK III
TELEMACHUS VISITS NESTOR AT PYLOS. but as the sun was rising from the fair sea24 into the firmament of heaven to shed light on mortals and immortals, they reached Pylos the city of Neleus. Now the people of Pylos were…
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Chapter 08
BOOK III (2)
BOOK III (2)
“Mentor,” answered Telemachus, “do not let us talk about it any more. There is no chance of my father’s ever coming back; the gods have long since counselled his destruction. There is something else, however, about wh…
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Chapter 09
BOOK III (3)
BOOK III (3)
Meanwhile lovely Polycaste, Nestor’s youngest daughter, washed Telemachus. When she had washed him and anointed him with oil, she brought him a fair mantle and shirt,33 and he looked like a god as he came from the bat…
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Chapter 10
BOOK IV
BOOK IV
THE VISIT TO KING MENELAUS, WHO TELLS HIS STORY—MEANWHILE THE SUITORS IN ITHACA PLOT AGAINST TELEMACHUS. they reached the low lying city of Lacedaemon, where they drove straight to the abode of Menelaus36 [and found h…
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Chapter 11
BOOK IV (2)
BOOK IV (2)
“Menelaus, son of Atreus, and you my good friends, sons of honourable men (which is as Jove wills, for he is the giver both of good and evil, and can do what he chooses), feast here as you will, and listen while I tel…
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Chapter 12
BOOK IV (3)
BOOK IV (3)
“Then,’ he said, ‘if you would finish your voyage and get home quickly, you must offer sacrifices to Jove and to the rest of the gods before embarking; for it is decreed that you shall not get back to your friends, an…
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Chapter 13
BOOK IV (4)
BOOK IV (4)
“I do not know,” answered Medon, “whether some god set him on to it, or whether he went on his own impulse to see if he could find out if his father was dead, or alive and on his way home.” Then he went downstairs aga…
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Chapter 14
BOOK V
BOOK V
CALYPSO—ULYSSES REACHES SCHERIA ON A RAFT. And now, as Dawn rose from her couch beside Tithonus—harbinger of light alike to mortals and immortals—the gods met in council and with them, Jove the lord of thunder, who is…
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Chapter 15
BOOK V (2)
BOOK V (2)
When the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Ulysses put on his shirt and cloak, while the goddess wore a dress of a light gossamer fabric, very fine and graceful, with a beautiful golden girdle about her wa…
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Chapter 16
BOOK V (3)
BOOK V (3)
“Alas,” he cried to himself in his dismay, “what ever will become of me, and how is it all to end? If I stay here upon the river bed through the long watches of the night, I am so exhausted that the bitter cold and da…
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Chapter 17
BOOK VI
BOOK VI
THE MEETING BETWEEN NAUSICAA AND ULYSSES. So here Ulysses slept, overcome by sleep and toil; but Minerva went off to the country and city of the Phaeacians—a people who used to live in the fair town of Hypereia, near …
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Chapter 18
BOOK VI (2)
BOOK VI (2)
Then they stood on one side and went to tell the girl, while Ulysses washed himself in the stream and scrubbed the brine from his back and from his broad shoulders. When he had thoroughly washed himself, and had got t…
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Chapter 19
BOOK VII
BOOK VII
RECEPTION OF ULYSSES AT THE PALACE OF KING ALCINOUS. Thus, then, did Ulysses wait and pray; but the girl drove on to the town. When she reached her father’s house she drew up at the gateway, and her brothers—comely as…
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Chapter 20
BOOK VII (2)
BOOK VII (2)
Thus did he speak. Every one approved his saying, and agreed that he should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken reasonably. Then when they had made their drink offerings, and had drunk each as much as he was min…
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Chapter 21
BOOK VIII
BOOK VIII
BANQUET IN THE HOUSE OF ALCINOUS—THE GAMES. Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Alcinous and Ulysses both rose, and Alcinous led the way to the Phaeacian place of assembly, which was near the …
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Chapter 22
BOOK VIII (2)
BOOK VIII (2)
They all held their peace except King Alcinous, who began, “Sir, we have had much pleasure in hearing all that you have told us, from which I understand that you are willing to show your prowess, as having been disple…
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Chapter 23
BOOK VIII (3)
BOOK VIII (3)
When he had said this, he seated himself beside Alcinous. Supper was then served, and the wine was mixed for drinking. A servant led in the favourite bard Demodocus, and set him in the midst of the company, near one o…
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Chapter 24
BOOK IX
BOOK IX
ULYSSES DECLARES HIMSELF AND BEGINS HIS STORY—-THE CICONS, LOTOPHAGI, AND CYCLOPES. And Ulysses answered, “King Alcinous, it is a good thing to hear a bard with such a divine voice as this man has. There is nothing be…
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Chapter 25
BOOK IX (2)
BOOK IX (2)
“We lit a fire, offered some of the cheeses in sacrifice, ate others of them, and then sat waiting till the Cyclops should come in with his sheep. When he came, he brought in with him a huge load of dry firewood to li…
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Chapter 26
BOOK IX (3)
BOOK IX (3)
“‘My good ram, what is it that makes you the last to leave my cave this morning? You are not wont to let the ewes go before you, but lead the mob with a run whether to flowery mead or bubbling fountain, and are the fi…
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Chapter 27
BOOK X
BOOK X
AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE. “Thence we went on to the Aeolian island where lives Aeolus son of Hippotas, dear to the immortal gods. It is an island that floats (as it were) upon the sea,83 iron bound with a wall …
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Chapter 28
BOOK X (2)
BOOK X (2)
“They called her and she came down, unfastened the door, and bade them enter. They, thinking no evil, followed her, all except Eurylochus, who suspected mischief and staid outside. When she had got them into her house…
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Chapter 29
BOOK X (3)
BOOK X (3)
“Thus did she speak and we assented. We stayed with Circe for a whole twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity both of meat and wine. But when the year had passed in the waning of moons and the long days had come …
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Chapter 30
BOOK XI
BOOK XI
THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88 “Then, when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship into the water and got her mast and sails into her; we also put the sheep on board and took our places, weeping and in great distr…
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Chapter 31
BOOK XI (2)
BOOK XI (2)
“The first I saw was Tyro. She was daughter of Salmoneus and wife of Cretheus the son of Aeolus.94 She fell in love with the river Enipeus who is much the most beautiful river in the whole world. Once when she was tak…
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Chapter 32
BOOK XI (3)
BOOK XI (3)
“And I said, ‘Achilles, son of Peleus, foremost champion of the Achaeans, I came to consult Teiresias, and see if he could advise me about my return home to Ithaca, for I have never yet been able to get near the Achae…
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Chapter 33
BOOK XII
BOOK XII
THE SIRENS, SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS, THE CATTLE OF THE SUN. “After we were clear of the river Oceanus, and had got out into the open sea, we went on till we reached the Aeaean island where there is dawn and sun-rise as i…
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Chapter 34
BOOK XII (2)
BOOK XII (2)
“Then we entered the Straits in great fear of mind, for on the one hand was Scylla, and on the other dread Charybdis kept sucking up the salt water. As she vomited it up, it was like the water in a cauldron when it is…
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Chapter 35
BOOK XIII
BOOK XIII
ULYSSES LEAVES SCHERIA AND RETURNS TO ITHACA. Thus did he speak, and they all held their peace throughout the covered cloister, enthralled by the charm of his story, till presently Alcinous began to speak. “Ulysses,” …
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Chapter 36
BOOK XIII (2)
BOOK XIII (2)
Minerva answered, “Stranger, you must be very simple, or must have come from somewhere a long way off, not to know what country this is. It is a very celebrated place, and everybody knows it East and West. It is rugge…
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Chapter 37
BOOK XIV
BOOK XIV
ULYSSES IN THE HUT WITH EUMAEUS. Ulysses now left the haven, and took the rough track up through the wooded country and over the crest of the mountain till he reached the place where Minerva had said that he would fin…
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Chapter 38
BOOK XIV (2)
BOOK XIV (2)
“My house grew apace and I became a great man among the Cretans, but when Jove counselled that terrible expedition, in which so many perished, the people required me and Idomeneus to lead their ships to Troy, and ther…
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Chapter 39
BOOK XIV (3)
BOOK XIV (3)
Now the night came on stormy and very dark, for there was no moon. It poured without ceasing, and the wind blew strong from the West, which is a wet quarter, so Ulysses thought he would see whether Eumaeus, in the exc…
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Chapter 40
BOOK XV
BOOK XV
MINERVA SUMMONS TELEMACHUS FROM LACEDAEMON—HE MEETS WITH THEOCLYMENUS AT PYLOS AND BRINGS HIM TO ITHACA—ON LANDING HE GOES TO THE HUT OF EUMAEUS. But Minerva went to the fair city of Lacedaemon to tell Ulysses’ son th…
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Chapter 41
BOOK XV (2)
BOOK XV (2)
Thus did he speak, and they went on board even as he had said. But as Telemachus was thus busied, praying also and sacrificing to Minerva in the ship’s stern, there came to him a man from a distant country, a seer, wh…
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Chapter 42
BOOK XV (3)
BOOK XV (3)
“On this she went back to the house. The Phoenicians stayed a whole year till they had loaded their ship with much precious merchandise, and then, when they had got freight enough, they sent to tell the woman. Their m…
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Chapter 43
BOOK XVI
BOOK XVI
ULYSSES REVEALS HIMSELF TO TELEMACHUS. Meanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd had lit a fire in the hut and were were getting breakfast ready at daybreak, for they had sent the men out with the pigs. When Telemachus came…
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Chapter 44
BOOK XVI (2)
BOOK XVI (2)
To this Telemachus answered, “Father, I have always heard of your renown both in the field and in council, but the task you talk of is a very great one: I am awed at the mere thought of it; two men cannot stand agains…
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Chapter 45
BOOK XVII
BOOK XVII
TELEMACHUS AND HIS MOTHER MEET—ULYSSES AND EUMAEUS COME DOWN TO THE TOWN, AND ULYSSES IS INSULTED BY MELANTHIUS—HE IS RECOGNISED BY THE DOG ARGOS—HE IS INSULTED AND PRESENTLY STRUCK BY ANTINOUS WITH A STOOL—PENELOPE D…
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Chapter 46
BOOK XVII (2)
BOOK XVII (2)
“Fountain nymphs,” he cried, “children of Jove, if ever Ulysses burned you thigh bones covered with fat whether of lambs or kids, grant my prayer that heaven may send him home. He would soon put an end to the swaggeri…
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Chapter 47
BOOK XVII (3)
BOOK XVII (3)
“Sit where you are, and eat your victuals in silence, or be off elsewhere,” shouted Antinous. “If you say more I will have you dragged hand and foot through the courts, and the servants shall flay you alive.” The othe…
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Chapter 48
BOOK XVIII
BOOK XVIII
THE FIGHT WITH IRUS—ULYSSES WARNS AMPHINOMUS—PENELOPE GETS PRESENTS FROM THE SUITORS—THE BRAZIERS—ULYSSES REBUKES EURYMACHUS. Now there came a certain common tramp who used to go begging all over the city of Ithaca, a…
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Chapter 49
BOOK XVIII (2)
BOOK XVIII (2)
“I am not surprised, my dear mother, at your displeasure,” replied Telemachus, “I understand all about it and know when things are not as they should be, which I could not do when I was younger; I cannot, however, beh…
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Chapter 50
BOOK XIX
BOOK XIX
TELEMACHUS AND ULYSSES REMOVE THE ARMOUR—ULYSSES INTERVIEWS PENELOPE—EURYCLEA WASHES HIS FEET AND RECOGNISES THE SCAR ON HIS LEG—PENELOPE TELLS HER DREAM TO ULYSSES. Ulysses was left in the cloister, pondering on the …
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Chapter 51
BOOK XIX (2)
BOOK XIX (2)
“Madam,” answered Ulysses, “it is such a long time ago that I can hardly say. Twenty years are come and gone since he left my home, and went elsewhither; but I will tell you as well as I can recollect. Ulysses wore a …
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Chapter 52
BOOK XIX (3)
BOOK XIX (3)
When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the sons of Autolycus went out with their hounds hunting, and Ulysses went too. They climbed the wooded slopes of Parnassus and soon reached its breezy upland v…
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Chapter 53
BOOK XX
BOOK XX
ULYSSES CANNOT SLEEP—PENELOPE’S PRAYER TO DIANA—THE TWO SIGNS FROM HEAVEN—EUMAEUS AND PHILOETIUS ARRIVE—THE SUITORS DINE—CTESIPPUS THROWS AN OX’S FOOT AT ULYSSES—THEOCLYMENUS FORETELLS DISASTER AND LEAVES THE HOUSE. U…
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Chapter 54
BOOK XX (2)
BOOK XX (2)
“Stockman,” answered Ulysses, “you seem to be a very well-disposed person, and I can see that you are a man of sense. Therefore I will tell you, and will confirm my words with an oath. By Jove, the chief of all gods, …
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Chapter 55
BOOK XXI
BOOK XXI
THE TRIAL OF THE AXES, DURING WHICH ULYSSES REVEALS HIMSELF TO EUMAEUS AND PHILOETIUS Minerva now put it in Penelope’s mind to make the suitors try their skill with the bow and with the iron axes, in contest among the…
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Chapter 56
BOOK XXI (2)
BOOK XXI (2)
“Cease your weeping, lest some one should come outside and see us, and tell those who are within. When you go in, do so separately, not both together; I will go first, and do you follow afterwards; let this moreover b…
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Chapter 57
BOOK XXII
BOOK XXII
THE KILLING OF THE SUITORS—THE MAIDS WHO HAVE MISCONDUCTED THEMSELVES ARE MADE TO CLEANSE THE CLOISTERS AND ARE THEN HANGED. Then Ulysses tore off his rags, and sprang on to the broad pavement with his bow and his qui…
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Chapter 58
BOOK XXII (2)
BOOK XXII (2)
Meanwhile Agelaus son of Damastor, Eurynomus, Amphimedon, Demoptolemus, Pisander, and Polybus son of Polyctor bore the brunt of the fight upon the suitors’ side; of all those who were still fighting for their lives th…
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Chapter 59
BOOK XXII (3)
BOOK XXII (3)
She brought the fire and sulphur, as he had bidden her, and Ulysses thoroughly purified the cloisters and both the inner and outer courts. Then she went inside to call the women and tell them what had happened; whereo…
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Chapter 60
BOOK XXIII
BOOK XXIII
PENELOPE EVENTUALLY RECOGNISES HER HUSBAND—EARLY IN THE MORNING ULYSSES, TELEMACHUS, EUMAEUS, AND PHILOETIUS LEAVE THE TOWN. Euryclea now went upstairs laughing to tell her mistress that her dear husband had come home…
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Chapter 61
BOOK XXIII (2)
BOOK XXIII (2)
When she heard the sure proofs Ulysses now gave her, she fairly broke down. She flew weeping to his side, flung her arms about his neck, and kissed him. “Do not be angry with me Ulysses,” she cried, “you, who are the …
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Chapter 62
BOOK XXIV
BOOK XXIV
THE GHOSTS OF THE SUITORS IN HADES—ULYSSES AND HIS MEN GO TO THE HOUSE OF LAERTES—THE PEOPLE OF ITHACA COME OUT TO ATTACK ULYSSES, BUT MINERVA CONCLUDES A PEACE. Then Mercury of Cyllene summoned the ghosts of the suit…
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Chapter 63
BOOK XXIV (2)
BOOK XXIV (2)
He then took off his armour and gave it to Eumaeus and Philoetius, who went straight on to the house, while he turned off into the vineyard to make trial of his father. As he went down into the great orchard, he did n…
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Chapter 64
BOOK XXIV (3)
BOOK XXIV (3)
“Men of Ithaca, it is all your own fault that things have turned out as they have; you would not listen to me, nor yet to Mentor, when we bade you check the folly of your sons who were doing much wrong in the wantonne…
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Chapter 65
BOOK XXIV (4)
BOOK XXIV (4)
[31] [ The Greek is {Greek} cf. “Iliad” ii. 408 {Greek} Surely the {Greek} of the Odyssean passage was due to the {Greek} of the “Iliad.” No other reason suggests itself for the making Menelaus return on the very day …
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Chapter 66
BOOK XXIV (5)
BOOK XXIV (5)
[65] [ There were two classes—the lower who were found in provisions which they had to cook for themselves in the yards and outer precincts, where they would also eat—and the upper who would eat in the cloisters of th…
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Chapter 67
BOOK XXIV (6)
BOOK XXIV (6)
[102] [ For the reasons which enable us to identify the island of the two Sirens with the Lipari island now Salinas—the ancient Didyme, or “twin” island—see The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp. 195, 196. The two Sirens d…
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Chapter 68
BOOK XXIV (7)
BOOK XXIV (7)
[155] [ This is how geese are now fed in Sicily, at any rate in summer, when the grass is all burnt up. I have never seen them grazing.] [156] [ Lower down (line 143) Euryclea says it was herself that had thrown the c…
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