Odysseus Builds a Raft, Sets Sail, and Is Spotted by Poseidon — Odyssey §5.215-5.285 (Homer) | Greek text & English translation

πότνα θεά, μή μοι τόδε χώεο· οἶδα καὶ αὐτὸς

"Queenly goddess, be not wroth with me for this; I know it well myself,

πάντα μάλʼ, οὕνεκα σεῖο περίφρων Πηνελόπεια

all of it, that wise Penelope is inferior to you

εἶδος ἀκιδνοτέρη μέγεθός τʼ¹ εἰσάντα ἰδέσθαι·

in form and stature, to look upon face to face;

ἡ μὲν γὰρ βροτός ἐστι, σὺ δʼ ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀγήρως.

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

ἀλλὰ καὶ ὣς ἐθέλω καὶ ἐέλδομαι ἤματα πάντα

Yet even so I wish and long day after day

οἴκαδέ τʼ ἐλθέμεναι καὶ νόστιμον ἦμαρ ἰδέσθαι.

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

εἰ δʼ αὖ τις ῥαίῃσι³ θεῶν ἐνὶ οἴνοπι πόντῳ,

And if again some god shall shatter me on the wine-dark sea,

τλήσομαι ἐν στήθεσσιν ἔχων ταλαπενθέα θυμόν·

I will endure it, having in my breast a heart that suffers grief;

ἤδη γὰρ μάλα πολλὰ πάθον καὶ πολλὰ μόγησα

for already have I suffered very much and toiled much

κύμασι καὶ πολέμῳ· μετὰ καὶ τόδε τοῖσι γενέσθω.

amid waves and in war; let this too be added to those."

ὣς ἔφατʼ, ἠέλιος δʼ ἄρʼ ἔδυ καὶ ἐπὶ κνέφας ἦλθεν·

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

ἐλθόντες δʼ ἄρα τώ γε μυχῷ σπείους γλαφυροῖο

and they two went into the innermost recess of the hollow cave

τερπέσθην φιλότητι, παρʼ ἀλλήλοισι μένοντες.

and took their joy of love, abiding by each other's side.

ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,

And as soon as early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,

αὐτίχʼ ὁ μὲν χλαῖνάν τε χιτῶνά τε ἕννυτʼ Ὀδυσσεύς,

straightway Odysseus put on his cloak and tunic,

αὐτὴ δʼ ἀργύφεον φᾶρος μέγα ἕννυτο νύμφη,

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

λεπτὸν καὶ χαρίεν, περὶ δὲ ζώνην βάλετʼ ἰξυῖ

thin and graceful, and about her waist she cast a girdle

καλὴν χρυσείην, κεφαλῇ δʼ ἐφύπερθε καλύπτρην.

beautiful and golden, and on her head she put a veil.

καὶ τότʼ Ὀδυσσῆι μεγαλήτορι μήδετο πομπήν·

And then she planned the sending of great-hearted Odysseus;

δῶκέν οἱ πέλεκυν μέγαν, ἄρμενον ἐν παλάμῃσι,

she gave him a great ax, fitted to his hands,

χάλκεον, ἀμφοτέρωθεν ἀκαχμένον· αὐτὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ

of bronze, sharpened on both sides; and in it

στειλειὸν περικαλλὲς ἐλάινον, εὖ ἐναρηρός·

a very beautiful haft of olive wood, well fitted;

δῶκε δʼ ἔπειτα σκέπαρνον ἐύξοον· ἦρχε δʼ ὁδοῖο

and next she gave him a polished adze; and she led the way

νήσου ἐπʼ ἐσχατιῆς, ὅθι δένδρεα μακρὰ πεφύκει,

to the border of the island where tall trees grew,

κλήθρη τʼ αἴγειρός τʼ, ἐλάτη τʼ ἦν οὐρανομήκης,

alder and poplar and pine that reached to heaven,

αὖα πάλαι, περίκηλα, τά οἱ πλώοιεν⁴ ἐλαφρῶς.

long dry, very sere, that would float lightly for him.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ δεῖξʼ, ὅθι δένδρεα μακρὰ πεφύκει,

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

ἡ μὲν ἔβη πρὸς δῶμα Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων,

Calypso, the beautiful goddess, went back home,

αὐτὰρ ὁ τάμνετο δοῦρα· θοῶς δέ οἱ ἤνυτο ἔργον.

but he began to fell timbers, and his work went fast.

εἴκοσι δʼ ἔκβαλε πάντα, πελέκκησεν δʼ ἄρα χαλκῷ,

Twenty trees in all did he fell, and axed them with the bronze,

ξέσσε δʼ ἐπισταμένως καὶ ἐπὶ στάθμην ἴθυνεν.

and planed them skillfully, and made them straight by a line.

τόφρα δʼ ἔνεικε τέρετρα Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων·

Meanwhile Calypso, the beautiful goddess, brought him augers;

τέτρηνεν δʼ ἄρα πάντα καὶ ἥρμοσεν ἀλλήλοισιν,

and he bored all the timbers and fitted them to one another,

γόμφοισιν δʼ ἄρα τήν γε καὶ ἁρμονίῃσιν ἄρασσεν.

and with pegs and joints he hammered it together.

ὅσσον τίς τʼ ἔδαφος νηὸς τορνώσεται ἀνὴρ

As wide as a man well-skilled in carpentry curves the floor

φορτίδος εὐρείης, ἐὺ εἰδὼς τεκτοσυνάων,

of a broad merchant ship,

τόσσον ἔπʼ εὐρεῖαν σχεδίην ποιήσατʼ Ὀδυσσεύς.

so wide did Odysseus make his broad raft.

ἴκρια δὲ στήσας, ἀραρὼν θαμέσι σταμίνεσσι,

And he set up the deck-beams, fitting them to close-set ribs,

ποίει· ἀτὰρ μακρῇσιν ἐπηγκενίδεσσι τελεύτα.

and made it; and he finished it with long gunwales.

ἐν δʼ ἱστὸν ποίει καὶ ἐπίκριον ἄρμενον αὐτῷ·

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

πρὸς δʼ ἄρα πηδάλιον ποιήσατο, ὄφρʼ ἰθύνοι.

and furthermore he made a rudder, that he might steer it.

φράξε δέ μιν ῥίπεσσι διαμπερὲς οἰσυΐνῃσι

And he fenced it from stem to stern with willow osiers

κύματος εἶλαρ ἔμεν⁵· πολλὴν δʼ ἐπεχεύατο ὕλην.

to be a defense against the wave; and he heaped up much brushwood.

τόφρα δὲ φάρεʼ ἔνεικε Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων,

Meanwhile Calypso, the beautiful goddess, brought him cloth

ἱστία ποιήσασθαι· ὁ δʼ εὖ τεχνήσατο καὶ τά.

to make sails; and he fashioned these too skillfully.

ἐν δʼ ὑπέρας τε κάλους τε πόδας τʼ ἐνέδησεν ἐν αὐτῇ,

And he bound in it braces and halyards and sheets,

μοχλοῖσιν δʼ ἄρα τήν γε κατείρυσεν εἰς ἅλα δῖαν.

and then with levers he dragged it down into the wondrous sea.

τέτρατον ἦμαρ ἔην, καὶ τῷ τετέλεστο ἅπαντα·

It was the fourth day, and all his work was finished;

τῷ δʼ ἄρα πέμπτῳ πέμπʼ ἀπὸ νήσου δῖα Καλυψώ,

and on the fifth the beautiful Calypso sent him on his way from the island,

εἵματά τʼ ἀμφιέσασα θυώδεα καὶ λούσασα.

when she had bathed him and clad him in fragrant garments.

ἐν δέ οἱ ἀσκὸν ἔθηκε θεὰ μέλανος οἴνοιο

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

τὸν ἕτερον, ἕτερον δʼ ὕδατος μέγαν, ἐν δὲ καὶ ᾖα

a second and a larger one of water, and provisions too

κωρύκῳ· ἐν δέ οἱ ὄψα τίθει μενοεικέα πολλά·

in a wallet; and she packed for him many pleasing dainties;

οὖρον δὲ προέηκεν ἀπήμονά τε λιαρόν τε.

and she sent a wind that was harmless and warm.

γηθόσυνος δʼ οὔρῳ πέτασʼ ἱστία δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς.

Joyfully then noble Odysseus spread his sails to the breeze,

αὐτὰρ ὁ πηδαλίῳ ἰθύνετο τεχνηέντως

and he guided his raft with the rudder skillfully,

ἥμενος, οὐδέ οἱ ὕπνος ἐπὶ βλεφάροισιν ἔπιπτεν

as he sat, nor did sleep fall upon his eyelids

Πληιάδας τʼ ἐσορῶντι καὶ ὀψὲ δύοντα Βοώτην

as he watched the Pleiads, and late-setting Bootes,

Ἄρκτον θʼ, ἣν καὶ ἄμαξαν ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν,

and the Bear, which men also call the Wain,

ἥ τʼ αὐτοῦ στρέφεται καί τʼ Ὠρίωνα δοκεύει,

which turns in its place and watches Orion,

οἴη δʼ ἄμμορός ἐστι λοετρῶν Ὠκεανοῖο·

and alone has no share in the baths of Ocean.

τὴν γὰρ δή μιν ἄνωγε Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων,

For Calypso, the beautiful goddess, had charged him

ποντοπορευέμεναι ἐπʼ ἀριστερὰ χειρὸς ἔχοντα.

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

ἑπτὰ δὲ καὶ δέκα μὲν πλέεν ἤματα ποντοπορεύων,

For seventeen days he sailed over the sea,

ὀκτωκαιδεκάτῃ δʼ ἐφάνη ὄρεα σκιόεντα

and on the eighteenth appeared the shadowy mountains

γαίης Φαιήκων, ὅθι τʼ ἄγχιστον πέλεν αὐτῷ·

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

εἴσατο δʼ ὡς ὅτε ῥινὸν⁶ ἐν ἠεροειδέι πόντῳ.

and it looked like a shield in the misty sea.

τὸν δʼ ἐξ Αἰθιόπων ἀνιὼν κρείων ἐνοσίχθων

But the lord, the shaker of the earth, as he came from the Ethiopians,

τηλόθεν ἐκ Σολύμων ὀρέων ἴδεν· εἴσατο γάρ οἱ

saw him from afar from the mountains of the Solymi; for Odysseus was seen

πόντον ἐπιπλώων. ὁ δʼ ἐχώσατο κηρόθι μᾶλλον,

by him sailing over the sea. And he waxed more wroth in his heart,

κινήσας δὲ κάρη προτὶ ὃν μυθήσατο θυμόν·

and shaking his head he spoke to his own heart:"

Syntax notes6 items

5.217εἶδος ... μέγεθός τʼ
The accusatives εἶδος and μέγεθος are accusatives of specification (respect), qualifying the comparative adjective ἀκιδνοτέρη to mean 'inferior in appearance and stature'.
5.220ἐλθένμεναι καὶ ... ἰδέσθαι
The infinitives ἐλθέμεναι (Homeric form) and ἰδέσθαι function as the direct objects of the verbs ἐθέλω καὶ ἐέλδομαι in the preceding line.
5.221ῥαίῃσι
The 3rd person singular present subjunctive (Homeric form). The conditional particle εἰ with the subjunctive introduces a future hypothetical or general condition, where Attic Greek would typically require ἤν or ἐάν.
5.240τά οἱ πλώοιεν
The antecedent of the neuter plural relative pronoun τά is the list of trees in the preceding line. The optative πλώοιεν is used in a relative clause of characteristic, describing wood of such a quality that it would float lightly.
5.257ἔμεν
The infinitive ἔμεν (Homeric form of εἶναι) is an infinitive of purpose, expressing the intended result ('to be a defense').
5.281ὡς ὅτε ῥινὸν
The formula ὡς ὅτε is a Homeric idiom introducing a simile ('as when'). Here the appearance of the mountains is compared to a shield (ῥινός, literally 'ox-hide') rising from the misty sea.

Model: gemini-3.5-flashurn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.humanitext-grc2:5.215-5.285