Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Odyssey of Homer
The Odyssey of Homer
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Author: Homer
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER ***
{Transcriber's note:
The spelling and hyphenation in the original are inconsistent, and have
not been changed. A few obvious typographical errors have been corrected,
as listed at the end of the etext.}
THE ODYSSEY
OF HOMER
_Translated by_
WILLIAM
COWPER
LONDON: PUBLISHED
by J·M·DENT·&·SONS·LTD
AND IN NEW YORK
BY E·P·DUTTON & CO
BOOK I
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
[1] We are told that Homer was under obligations to Mentes, who had
frequently given him a passage in his ship to different countries which
he wished to see, for which reason he has here immortalised him.
[3] Ἔρανος, a convivial meeting, at which every man paid his proportion,
at least contributed something; but it seems to have been a meeting at
which strict sobriety was observed, else Pallas would not have inferred
from the noise and riot of this, that it was not such a one.
[4] Οσσα--a word spoken, with respect to the speaker, casually; but with
reference to the inquirer supposed to be sent for his information by the
especial appointment and providential favour of the Gods.
[5] There is in the Original an evident stress laid on the word Νήποινοι,
which is used in both places. It was a sort of Lex Talionis which
Telemachus hoped might be put in force against them; and that Jove would
demand no satisfaction for the lives of those who made him none for the
waste of his property.
BOOK II
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
BOOK III
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
[8] It is said to have been customary in the days of Homer, when the
Greeks retired from a banquet to their beds, to cut out the tongues of
the victims, and offer them to the Gods in particular who presided over
conversation.
BOOK IV
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
[9] Hesychius tells us, that the Greecians ornamented with much attention
the front wall of their courts for the admiration of passengers.
[13] Because Pisistratus was born after Antilochus had sailed to Troy.
[14] Proteus
[16] From the abruptness of this beginning, Virgil, probably, who has
copied the story, took the hint of his admired exordium.
[19] This transition from the third to the second person belongs to the
original, and is considered as a fine stroke of art in the poet, who
represents Penelope in the warmth of her resentment, forgetting where she
is, and addressing the suitors as if present.
[20] Mistaking, perhaps, the sound of her voice, and imagining that she
sang.--Vide Barnes in loco.
BOOK V
ARGUMENT
Mercury bears to Calypso a command from Jupiter that she dismiss Ulysses.
She, after some remonstrances, promises obedience, and furnishes him with
instruments and materials, with which he constructs a raft. He quits
Calypso's island; is persecuted by Neptune with dreadful tempests, but by
the assistance of a sea nymph, after having lost his raft, is enabled to
swim to Phæacia.
FOOTNOTES:
[22] The Translator finding himself free to chuse between ἀυδηέσσα and
ἠδηέσσα, has preferred the latter.
BOOK VI
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
[23] In the Original, she calls him, pappa! a more natural stile of
address and more endearing. But ancient as this appellative is, it is
also so familiar in modern use, that the Translator feared to hazard it.
[24] Neptune.
BOOK VII
ARGUMENT
Nausicaa returns from the river, whom Ulysses follows. He halts, by her
direction, at a small distance from the palace, which at a convenient
time he enters. He is well received by Alcinoüs and his Queen; and having
related to them the manner of his being cast on the shore of Scheria, and
received from Alcinoüs the promise of safe conduct home, retires to rest.
[25]
Καιροσέων δ' οθονεων ἀπολείβεται ὑγρον ἔλαιον.
Pope has given no translation of this line in the text of his work, but
has translated it in a note. It is variously interpreted by commentators;
the sense which is here given of it is that recommended by Eustathius.
[26] The Scholiast explains the passage thus--We resemble the Gods in
righteousness as much as the Cyclops and Giants resembled each other in
impiety. But in this sense of it there is something intricate and
contrary to Homer's manner. We have seen that they derived themselves
from Neptune, which sufficiently justifies the above interpretation.
BOOK VIII
ARGUMENT
[27] Agamemnon having inquired at Delphos, at what time the Trojan war
would end, was answered that the conclusion of it should happen at a time
when a dispute should arise between two of his principal commanders. That
dispute occurred at the time here alluded to, Achilles recommending force
as most likely to reduce the city, and Ulysses stratagem.
[29] In boxing.
BOOK IX
ARGUMENT
Ulysses discovers himself to the Phæacians, and begins the history of his
adventures. He destroys Ismarus, city of the Ciconians; arrives among the
Lotophagi; and afterwards at the land of the Cyclops. He is imprisoned by
Polypheme in his cave, who devours six of his companions; intoxicates the
monster with wine, blinds him while he sleeps, and escapes from him.
FOOTNOTES:
[33] Λινως
[34] Clarke, who has preserved this name in his marginal version,
contends strenuously, and with great reason, that Outis ought not to be
translated, and in a passage which he quotes from the _Acta eruditorum_,
we see much fault found with Giphanius and other interpreters of Homer
for having translated it. It is certain that in Homer the word is
declined not as ουτις-τινος which signifies no man, but as ουτις-τιδος
making ουτιν in the accusative, consequently as a proper name. It is
sufficient that the ambiguity was such as to deceive the friends of the
Cyclops. Outis is said by some (perhaps absurdly) to have been a name
given to Ulysses on account of his having larger ears than common.
[35] Outis, as a _name_ could only denote him who bore it; but as a
_noun_, it signifies _no man_, which accounts sufficiently for the
ludicrous mistake of his brethren.
[36]
προπεσοντες
------Olli certamine summo
Procumbunt.
VIRGIL
[37] The seeming incongruity of this line with line 560, is reconciled by
supposing that Ulysses exerted his voice, naturally loud, in an
extraordinary manner on this second occasion. See Clarke.
BOOK X
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
[39] The word has the authority of Shakspeare, and signifies overhanging.
BOOK XI
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
[40] Milton.
[43] Mistaking the oar for a corn-van. A sure indication of his ignorance
of maritime concerns.
[45] Iphicles had been informed by the Oracles that he should have no
children till instructed by a prophet how to obtain them; a service which
Melampus had the good fortune to render him.
[46] Apollo.
[47] Bacchus accused her to Diana of having lain with Theseus in his
temple, and the Goddess punished her with death.
[49] This is surely one of the most natural strokes to be found in any
Poet. Convinced, for a moment, by the virtues of Penelope, he mentioned
her with respect; but recollecting himself suddenly, involves even her in
his general ill opinion of the sex, begotten in him by the crimes of
Clytemnestra.
[50] Another most beautiful stroke of nature. Ere yet Ulysses has had
opportunity to answer, the very thought that Peleus may possibly be
insulted, fires him, and he takes the whole for granted. Thus is the
impetuous character of Achilles sustained to the last moment!
[55] The two first lines of the following book seem to ascertain the true
meaning of the conclusion of this, and to prove sufficiently that by
Ὠκεανὸς here Homer could not possibly intend any other than a river. In
those lines he tells us in the plainest terms that _the ship left the
stream of the river Oceanus, and arrived in the open sea_. Diodorus
Siculus informs us that Ὠκεανὸς had been a name anciently given to the
Nile. See Clarke.
BOOK XII
ARGUMENT
Ulysses, pursuing his narrative, relates his return from the shades to
Circe's island, the precautions given him by that Goddess, his escape
from the Sirens, and from Scylla and Charybdis; his arrival in Sicily,
where his companions, having slain and eaten the oxen of the Sun, are
afterward shipwrecked and lost; and concludes the whole with an account
of his arrival, alone, on the mast of his vessel, at the island of
Calypso.
FOOTNOTES:
[56] They passed the line through a pipe of horn, to secure it against
the fishes' bite.
[58] He had therefore held by the fig-tree from sunrise till afternoon.
BOOK XIII
ARGUMENT
Minerva meets him on the shore, enables him to recollect his country,
which, till enlightened by her, he believed to be a country strange to
him, and they concert together the means of destroying the suitors. The
Goddess then repairs to Sparta to call thence Telemachus, and Ulysses, by
her aid disguised like a beggar, proceeds towards the cottage of Eumæus.
FOOTNOTES:
[60] Homer dates all the fictions of Ulysses from Crete, as if he meant
to pass a similar censure on the Cretans to that quoted by St.
Paul--κρητες αει ψευσαι.
BOOK XIV
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
[62] It may be proper to suggest that Ulysses was lord of part of the
continent opposite to Ithaca--viz.--of the peninsula Nericus or Leuca,
which afterward became an island, and is now called Santa Maura. F.
[63] Mercury.
BOOK XV
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
[65] Iphyclus the son of Phylacus had seized and detained cattle
belonging to Neleus; Neleus ordered his nephew Melampus to recover them,
and as security for his obedience seized on a considerable part of his
possessions. Melampus attempted the service, failed, and was cast into
prison; but at length escaping, accomplished his errand, vanquished
Neleus in battle, and carried off his daughter Pero, whom Neleus had
promised to the brother of Melampus, but had afterward refused her.
[66] His wife Eryphyle, bribed by Polynices, persuaded him, though aware
that death awaited him at that city, to go to Thebes, where he fell
accordingly.
[71] The anchors were lodged on the shore, not plunged as ours.
BOOK XVI
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
BOOK XVII
ARGUMENT
Telemachus returns to the city, and relates to his mother the principal
passages of his voyage; Ulysses, conducted by Eumæus, arrives there also,
and enters among the suitors, having been known only by his old dog
Argus, who dies at his feet. The curiosity of Penelope being excited by
the account which Eumæus gives her of Ulysses, she orders him immediately
into her presence, but Ulysses postpones the interview till evening, when
the suitors having left the palace, there shall be no danger of
interruption. Eumæus returns to his cottage.
FOOTNOTES:
[73] Proteus.
[74] The hearth was the altar on which the lares or household-gods were
worshipped.
[75] That he might begin auspiciously. Wine was served in the same
direction. F.
[77]
Ει δη που τις επουρανιος θεος εσι
[78] This seems added by Eumæus to cut off from Ulysses the hope that
might otherwise tempt him to use fiction.
BOOK XVIII
ARGUMENT
The beggar Irus arrives at the palace; a combat takes place between him
and Ulysses, in which Irus is by one blow vanquished. Penelope appears to
the suitors, and having reminded them of the presents which she had a
right to expect from them, receives a gift from each. Eurymachus,
provoked by a speech of Ulysses, flings a foot-stool at him, which knocks
down the cup-bearer; a general tumult is the consequence, which
continues, till by the advice of Telemachus, seconded by Amphinomus, the
suitors retire to their respective homes.
FOOTNOTES:
[80] This seems the sort of laughter intended by the word Αχρειον.
BOOK XIX
ARGUMENT
Ulysses and Telemachus remove the arms from the hall to an upper-chamber.
The Hero then confers with Penelope, to whom he gives a fictitious
narrative of his adventures. Euryclea, while bathing Ulysses, discovers
him by a scar on his knee, but he prevents her communication of that
discovery to Penelope.
FOOTNOTES:
[83] Homer's morals seem to allow to a good man dissimulation, and even
an ambiguous oath, should they be necessary to save him from a villain.
Thus in Book XX. Telemachus swears by Zeus, that he does not hinder his
mother from marrying whom she pleases of the wooers, though at the same
time he is plotting their destruction with his father. F.
[85] She intended to slay the son of her husband's brother Amphion,
incited to it by the envy of his wife, who had six children, while
herself had only two, but through mistake she slew her own son Itylus,
and for her punishment was transformed by Jupiter into a nightingale.
[86] The difference of the two substances may perhaps serve to account
for the preference given in this case to the gate of horn; horn being
transparent, and as such emblematical of truth, while ivory, from its
whiteness, promises light, but is, in fact, opaque. F.
BOOK XX
ARGUMENT
Ulysses, doubting whether he shall destroy or not the women servants who
commit lewdness with the suitors, resolves at length to spare them for
the present. He asks an omen from Jupiter, and that he would grant him
also to hear some propitious words from the lips of one in the family.
His petitions are both answered. Preparation is made for the feast.
Whilst the suitors sit at table, Pallas smites them with a horrid frenzy.
Theoclymenus, observing the strange effects of it, prophesies their
destruction, and they deride his prophecy.
But in the vestibule the Hero lay
On a bull's-hide undress'd, o'er which he spread
The fleece of many a sheep slain by the Greeks,
And, cover'd by the household's governess
With a wide cloak, composed himself to rest.
Yet slept he not, but meditating lay
Woe to his enemies. Meantime, the train
Of women, wonted to the suitors' arms,
Issuing all mirth and laughter, in his soul
FOOTNOTES:
[88] That is, how shall I escape the vengeance of their kindred?
[95] Who had sought refuge in the ship of Telemachus when he left Sparta,
and came with him to Ithaca.
BOOK XXI
ARGUMENT
Penelope proposes to the suitors a contest with the bow, herself the
prize. They prove unable to bend the bow; when Ulysses having with some
difficulty possessed himself of it, manages it with the utmost ease, and
dispatches his arrow through twelve rings erected for the trial.
FOOTNOTES:
[97] The reader will of course observe, that the whole of this process
implies a sort of mechanism very different from that with which we are
acquainted.--The translation, I believe, is exact.
[98] This first attempt of Telemachus and the suitors was not an attempt
to shoot, but to lodge the bow-string on the opposite horn, the bow
having been released at one end, and slackened while it was laid by.
[99] Antinoüs prescribes to them this manner of rising to the trial for
the good omen's sake, the left-hand being held unpropitious.
[100] The δεσμὸς seems to have been a strap designed to close the only
aperture by which the bolt could be displaced, and the door opened.
BOOK XXII
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
[107] So called because he was worshipped within the Ἐρκος or wall that
surrounded the court.
BOOK XXIII
ARGUMENT
FOOTNOTES:
[108] The proof consisted in this--that the bed being attached to the
stump of an olive tree still rooted, was immovable, and Ulysses having
made it himself, no person present, he must needs be apprized of the
impossibility of her orders, if he were indeed Ulysses; accordingly, this
demonstration of his identity satisfies all her scruples.
[110] Aristophanes the grammarian and Aristarchus chose that the Odyssey
should end here; but the story is not properly concluded till the tumult
occasioned by the slaughter of so many Princes being composed, Ulysses
finds himself once more in peaceful possession of his country.
BOOK XXIV
ARGUMENT
Mercury conducts the souls of the suitors down to Ades. Ulysses discovers
himself to Laertes, and quells, by the aid of Minerva, an insurrection of
the people resenting the death of the suitors.
FOOTNOTES:
[111]
Τρίζουσαι--τετριγῦιαι--the ghosts
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets.
SHAKSPEARE.
[112]
MILTON.
[113] The fruit is here used for the tree that bore it, as it is in the
Greek; the Latins used the same mode of expression, neither is it
uncommon in our own language.
[114] Τίς νύ μοι ἡμέρη ἥδε;--So Cicero, who seems to translate it--Proh
dii immortales! Quis hic illuxit dies! See Clarke in loco.
NOTES
NOTE I.
NOTE II.
Others translate, "And from the sea shall thy own death come," suggesting
that Ulysses after all was lost at sea. This is the rendering followed by
Tennyson in his poem "Ulysses" (and see Dante, _Inferno_, Canto xxvi.).
It is a more natural translation of the Greek, and gives a far more
wonderful vista for the close of the Wanderer's life.
NOTE III.
Bk. xix. l. 712 (Hom. xix. l. 573).--The word πελέκεας, for which Cowper
gives as a paraphrase "spikes, crested with a ring," elsewhere means
_axes_, and ought so to be translated here. For since Cowper's day an
axe-head of the Mycenæan period has been discovered _with the blade
pierced_ so as to form a hole through which an arrow could pass. (See
Tsountas and Manatt, _The Mycenæan Age_.) Axes of this type were not
known to Cowper, and hence the hypothesis in his text. He realised
correctly the essential conditions of the feat proposed: the axes must
have been set up, one behind the other, in the way he suggested for his
ringed stakes.
NOTE IV.
In l. 141 (l. 128 in the Greek) the word translated "street" by Cowper is
usually rendered "corridor."
F. M. S.
EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY
Bacon's Essays, 10
" Advancement of Learning, 719
Bonaventura's The Little Flowers, The Life of St. Francis, etc., 485
Cellini's Autobiography, 51
Coleridge's Biographia, 11
" Golden Book, 43
" Lectures on Shakespeare, 162
Cook's Voyages, 99
Curtis and Robinson's Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights, 249
Emerson's Essays, 12
" Representative Men, 279
" Nature, Conduct of Life, etc., 322
" Society and Solitude, etc., 567
" Poems, 715
Froissart's Chronicles, 57
Gaskell's Cranford, 83
" Charlotte Bronte, 318
" Sylvia's Lovers, 524
" Mary Barton, 598
" Cousin Phillis, etc., 615
" North and South, 680
Green's Short History of the English People, 727, 728. The cloth
edition is in 2 vols. or 1 vol. All other editions are in 1 vol.
Hakluyt's Voyages, 264, 265, 313, 314, 338, 339, 388, 389
Heimskringla, 717
Koran, 380
Latimer's Sermons, 40
Lytton's Harold, 15
" Last of the Barons, 18
" Last Days of Pompeii, 80
" Pilgrims of the Rhine, 390
" Rienzi, 532
Plato's Republic, 64
" Dialogues, 456, 457
Sand's (George) The Devil's Pool, and François the Waif, 534
Sheridan's Plays, 95
Thackeray's Esmond, 73
" Vanity Fair, 298
" Christmas Books, 359
" Pendennis, 425, 426
" Newcomes, 465, 466
" The Virginians, 507, 508
" English Humorists, and The Four Georges, 610
" Roundabout Papers, 687
Tolstoy's Master and Man, and Other Parables and Tales, 469
" War and Peace, 525-527
" Childhood, Boyhood and Youth, 591
" Anna Karenina, 612, 613
Trench's On the Study of Words and English Past and Present, 788
White's Selborne, 48
Literary and Historical Atlases: Europe, 496; America, 553; Asia, 633;
Africa and Australasia, 662
* * * * *
{Transcriber's note:
The spelling and hyphenation in the original are inconsistent, and have
not been changed. A few obvious typographical errors have been corrected,
as listed below.
Book III, line 447. "My frend's own son" no change made.
Book IV, line 454. "thou must be ideot born" no change made.
Book IX, Argument. "binds him while he sleeps" changed to "blinds him
while he sleeps".
Book IX, line 428, footnote. "It is certian" changed to "It is certain".
Book XV, line 276. Footnote marker missing from original.
Book XVII, line 378. "in one moment thou shouldst" no change made.
Book XVII, line 508. "(whencesoe'er they came" closing bracket added.
Book XIX, line 317. "(with these hands" closing bracket added.
Book XXIII, line 209. "with his own bands" changed to "with his own
hands".
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER ***
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or
distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is
owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments
must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License. You must require such a user to return or
destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
Project Gutenberg-tm works.
- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
1.F.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
http://www.gutenberg.org