The Odyssey by Homer
Translated by Barry B. Powell
This online edition created by Madeline Sigler
From The Essential Books' Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
Book V Lines 259-291
Introduction
In this portion of the Odyssey, Poseidon returns from spending time with the Aethiopians and sees Odysseus who is approaching the land of the Phaeacians. Odysseus is fated to end the trials of his journey once he reaches this land. Angry because Odysseus had blinded the Cyclops, his son, Poseidon decides to prolong his return home and prevent him from reaching the land of the Phaeacians where his fate would then be realized. The pa**age includes a thorough description of Poseidon conjuring up the sea. A large wave collides with Odysseus' ship and the pa**age ends with Odysseus proclaiming that he feared the prediction of his great suffering before his return home was true. He declares that he would have preferred dying in the Trojan War instead of suffering through his eminent trials.
This pa**age of the Odyssey is important to the poem as a whole because it is a critical moment in Odysseus' journey. Odysseus' fate of reaching the land of Phaeacians cannot be changed, but in order to punish him, Poseidon intervenes and prolongs his voyage therefore suspending his fate. This pa**age is interesting to look at because is also includes a detailed account of the god Poseidon's powers. The story of Odysseus is literally and epic one. Countless allusions lead to the Odyssey. This pa**age is the pivotal scene where Odysseus is propelled into his journey.
Annotation
For seventeen days he sailed,
but on the eighteenth appeared the shadowy mountains of the nearest
part of the land of the Phaeacians. It looked like a shield on the misty sea.
But the lord, the earth-shaker, coming back from the Aethiopians,
saw him from afar, from the mountains of the Solymi. He saw
Odysseus sailing over the sea, and he grew more angry in his heart,
and he shook his head and spoke to his spirit: “Well, I see that
the gods have changed their minds concerning Odysseus
while I was among the Aethiopians! And now he is near the land
of the Phaeacians, where it is his fate to escape the trial
of misery which has come upon him. But even yet, I think,
I will give him his fill of evil!”
So saying he gathered together
great clouds. Taking his trident in his hands, he stirred up the sea
and he roused all the blasts of every kind of wind, and he hid
the earth together with the sea in clouds. Night rushed down
from heaven. East Wind and South Wind dashed together,
and the wild-blowing West Wind and North Wind, born in a clear sky,
rolled out a gigantic wave.
And then Odysseus' limbs were
loosened and his heart shivered, and, groaning, he spoke
to his great-hearted spirit: “Alas, wretched me, what is going
to happen to me last? I am afraid all that the goddess said is true
when she said that I would suffer terribly before I came
to the land of my fathers. And now all this is coming to pa**!
Zeus overcasts the broad heaven with such mighty clouds,
and he has stirred up the sea, and the blasts of all kinds of winds
drive on. Now dire destruction is near. Three-times blessed,
and four times, are the Danaäns, who died in broad Troy, bringing
pleasure to the sons of Atreus. Would that I had died and followed
my fate on that day when gangs of Trojans hurled their bronze
spears at me as I fought over Achilles, the dead son of Peleus.
Then I would have received proper funeral rites, and the Achaeans
would have spread my fame. As it is, I am doomed to be taken
by an unhappy d**h.
Works Cited
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Belarde, Victoria. "The Rationale of Epithets and The Irrational of Patronymics." Harvard University. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. .
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http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/homerodyssey/g/072509Odysseus.htm
http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Odyssey5.htm
http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/poseidon.html
"Odysseus and the Cyclops." Greek Myths Greek Mythology. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. .
Parada, Carlos. "Phaeacians - Greek Mythology Link." Phaeacians - Greek Mythology Link. 1 Jan. 1997. Web. 16 Feb. 2015. .
Powell, Barry B. "Book 5. Odysseus and Kalypso." Homer's Iliad and Odyssey: The Essential Books. New York: Oxford UP, 2015. Print.
University, Harvard. "New Light on the Homeric Question: The Phaeacians Unmasked." QP Douglas Frame,. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. .
Wheeler. "Literary Terms and Definitions." Literary Terms and Definitions. 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. .
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