Homer The Odyssey

1 Homer The Odyssey Translated by Ian Johnston Homer The Odyssey Translated by Ian Johnston Malaspina University-College Nanaimo, BC. Canada Front Cover Illustration by Ian Crowe Richer Resources Publications Arlington, Virginia Homer The Odyssey copyright 2006 by Richer Resources Publications Second Edition (January 2007) Second Printing (May 2007). All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part without express permission from the publisher except for brief excerpts in review. The full text of this volume is available for download on the web at: ~johnstoi/ Reprint requests and requests for additional copies of this book can be addressed to Richer Resources Publications 1926 N.

2 Woodrow Street Arlington, Virginia 22207. or via our website at: ISBN 978-0-9776269-9-1. Library of Congress Control Number 2006927447. Published by Richer Resources Publications Arlington, Virginia Printed by Replika Press Pvt Ltd. For Colleen Translator's Note This text uses the traditional Latinate spellings and common English equivalents for the Greek names, , Achilles, Clytaemnestra, Achaeans, Menelaus, rather than modern renditions which strive to stay more closely to the Greek: Akhilleus, Klytaimnestra, Akhaians, Menelaos, and so on, with the exception of a very few names of gods ( , Cronos) and a few others.

3 And where there is a common English rendition of the name ( , Ajax, Troy), I have used that. A dieresis over a vowel indicates that it is pronounced by itself ( , De phobus is pronounced Day-ee-phobus not Day-phobus or Dee-phobus ). In the line numbers of this translation, the short indented lines are normally included with the shorter lines above them, so that the two partial lines count as a single line. The line numbers are between twenty-five and thirty percent higher than the lines in the Greek text. The numbers in the text indicate links to explanatory footnotes at the bottom of the page.

4 These have been provided by the translator. Table of Contents Book 1: Athena Visits Ithaca .. 7. Book 2: Telemachus Prepares for his Voyage .. 25. Book 3: Telemachus Visits Nestor in Pylos .. 42. Book 4: Telemachus Visits Menelaus in Sparta .. 62. Book 5: Odysseus Leaves Calypso's Island and Reaches Phaeacia . 97. Book 6: Odysseus and Nausicaa .. 115. Book 7: Odysseus at the Court of Alcinous in Phaeacia .. 127. Book 8: Odysseus is Entertained in Phaeacia .. 141. Book 9: Ismarus, the Lotus Eaters, and the Cyclops .. 164. Book 10: Aeolus, the Laestrygonians, and Circe.

5 186. Book 11: Odysseus Meets the Shades of the Dead .. 208. Book 12: The Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, The Cattle of the Sun 234. Book 13: Odysseus Leaves Phaeacia and Reaches Ithaca .. 252. Book 14: Odysseus Meets Eumaeus .. 269. Book 15: Telemachus Returns to Ithaca .. 290. Book 16: Odysseus Reveals Himself to Telemachus .. 312. Book 17: Odysseus Goes to the Palace as a Beggar .. 331. Book 18: Odysseus and Irus the Beggar .. 356. Book 19: Eurycleia Recognizes Odysseus .. 373. Book 20: Odysseus Prepares for his Revenge .. 396. Book 21: The Contest With Odysseus' Bow.

6 412. Book 22: The Killing of the Suitors .. 430. Book 23: Odysseus and Penelope .. 450. Book 24: Zeus and Athena End the Fighting .. 465. Appendices .. 487. 7. Book One Athena Visits Ithaca [The invocation to the Muse; the gods discuss Odysseus and decide he should return; Athena goes to Ithaca to encourage Telemachus, speaks to him disguised as Mentes, offering advice about dealing with his mother and the suitors and suggesting he go on a trip to Pylos and Sparta; Penelope speaks to Phemius, the singer, asking him to change the song; Telemachus criticizes her; Penelope goes upstairs; Eurycleia carries the lit torches to escort Telemachus to his rooms.]

7 ]. Muse, speak to me now of that resourceful man who wandered far and wide after ravaging the sacred citadel of Troy. He came to see many people's cities, where he learned their customs, while on the sea his spirit suffered many torments, as he fought to save his life and lead his comrades home. But though he wanted to, he could not rescue them . they all died from their own stupidity, the fools. They feasted on the cattle of Hyperion, god of the sun that's why he snatched away their chance 10. of getting home someday. So now, daughter of Zeus, tell us his story, starting anywhere you The other warriors, all those who had escaped being utterly destroyed, were now back safely home, facing no more dangers from battle or the sea.

8 But Odysseus, who longed to get back to his wife and reach his home, was being held in a hollow cave by that mighty nymph Calypso, noble goddess, who wished to make Odysseus her husband. But as the seasons came and went, the year arrived 20. in which, according to what gods had once ordained, he was to get back to Ithaca, his home . not that he would be free from troubles even there, among his family. The gods pitied Odysseus, all except Poseidon, who kept up his anger 1. The Muses, the divine patrons of the arts, are daughters of Zeus. 8. against godlike Odysseus and did not relent until he reached his native land.

9 But at that moment, Poseidon was among the Ethiopians, a long way off, those same Ethiopians, the most remote of people, who live divided 30. in two different groups, one where Hyperion goes down, the other where he rises. Poseidon went there to receive a sacrificial offering to him . bulls and rams and was sitting at a banquet, enjoying himself. But other gods had gathered in the great hall of Olympian Zeus. Among them all, the father of gods and men was first to speak. In his heart he was remembering royal Aegisthus, whom Orestes, Agamemnon's famous son, had With him in mind, Zeus addressed the gods: 40.

10 It's disgraceful how these humans blame the gods. They say their tribulations come from us, when they themselves, through their own foolishness, bring hardships which are not decreed by Fate. Now there's Aegisthus, who took for himself the wife of Agamemnon, Atreus' son, and then murdered him, once the man came home. None of that was set by Fate. Aegisthus knew his acts would bring about his total ruin. We'd sent Hermes earlier to speak to him. 50. The keen-eyed killer of Argus told him not to slay the man or seduce his wife,2. for Orestes would avenge the son of Atreus, once he grew up and longed for his own land.