Odyssey, Book 12: Sirens and the Sun God’s Cattle
Homer · Greek original · new English translation and commentary by Text Atlas
Overview
Book 12 continues Odysseus’ apologos by returning from the Nekyia to Aeaea, where Elpenor’s burial fulfills the promise made below. Circe feeds the crew, privately receives Odysseus’ account, and supplies a sequence of warnings whose knowledge is never distributed evenly. The Siren protocol permits Odysseus alone to hear under bonds while the companions’ deafness and obedience preserve the ship. Circe then presents routes without safety: the Wandering Rocks admit only the divinely aided Argo, while the chosen strait requires passage between Charybdis’ total threat and Scylla’s predicted seizure of six companions. Odysseus asks to fight, is told flight is best, later conceals Scylla from the crew, arms anyway, and watches the six call him by name as they die. At Thrinacia, Tiresias’ and Circe’s conditional warning is remembered and finally disclosed, but Eurylochus’ argument from exhaustion and night sailing wins companion approval. An oath temporarily restrains them; a divinely driven storm, exhausted stores, and hunger persisting despite hunting for fish and birds narrow their choices without erasing the deliberate decision to kill Helios’ cattle. Eurylochus proposes sacrifice and future recompense, the companions improvise ritual materials, and Odysseus wakes to condemn both divine sleep and the deed. Lampetie reports; Helios demands fitting payment; Zeus promises destruction. This divine exchange reaches Odysseus only through Calypso’s report of Hermes. After six days of feasting, Zeus destroys ship and company. Odysseus survives on mast and keel, returns alone past Charybdis, escapes beneath the fig tree, and reaches Ogygia. His refusal to repeat Calypso’s story closes the apologoi’s voyage sequence by referring the Phaeacian audience back to a prior telling rather than narrating detention again.
Narrative arc
- the ship returns from Ocean to Aeaea and the crew completes Elpenor’s burning, mound, grave marker, and planted oar
- Circe arrives with attendants and provisions, calls the living visitors to Hades twice doomed, and promises route instruction
- Circe takes Odysseus apart, receives his ordered underworld account, and begins a private sequence of warnings
- the Siren danger joins enchanting song, lethal remains, optional hearing for Odysseus, and compulsory bonds maintained by the crew
- Circe presents the Wandering Rocks and the Argo’s divine exception before describing Scylla and Charybdis
- Odysseus asks to defend the companions by force, and Circe rejects combat in favor of rapid passage and appeal to Crataeis
- Circe repeats the conditional cattle warning substantially given by Tiresias and Dawn ends the consultation
- Odysseus relays only the Siren protocol, and the companions enact calm-water labor, wax, rowing, binding, and tightened restraint
- the Sirens promise pleasure and greater knowledge, but the crew preserves its prior command against Odysseus’ changed desire
- at the strait Odysseus restores rowing through Cyclops memory, directs the helmsman, withholds Scylla, arms, and fails to see her
- Scylla takes six companions who call their leader by name while the company’s attention is fixed on Charybdis
- the surviving crew reaches Thrinacia, hears the herds, remembers the warnings, and confronts Eurylochus’ argument for landing
- the companions approve landing, swear a binding oath, mourn Scylla’s victims, and become confined by Zeus’ storm
- after stores fail, hunger drives hunting, Odysseus withdraws to pray, the gods send sleep, and Eurylochus wins approval for sacrifice
- the cattle are killed through a recognizable but materially compromised rite, and Odysseus returns to the smell of roasting fat
- Lampetie reports to Helios, Helios demands compensation, Zeus promises the ship’s destruction, and Calypso later reports the exchange
- portents accompany six days of feasting before the crew launches on the seventh day
- Zeus’ storm and thunderbolt destroy the ship and companions, while the mast and keel become Odysseus’ survival craft
- the South Wind carries Odysseus back to Charybdis, where the fig tree, delayed regurgitation, and hand-rowing enable escape
- nine days of drifting lead to Ogygia, and Odysseus refuses to repeat the Calypso narrative already told in the hall
Central themes
- warning, memory, and the unequal distribution of life-preserving knowledge
- song, pleasure, knowledge, restraint, and lethal desire
- forced route choice and loss without a risk-free alternative
- leadership through command, persuasion, concealment, and retrospective judgment
- companion obedience, deliberation, oath, collective approval, and independent action
- hunger, exhaustion, bodily need, and responsibility under narrowing pressure
- ritual intention, substitution, violation, and divine property
- divine warning, storm, sleep, complaint, decision, and bounded responsibility
- monster violence and the preservation of victims as companions who speak and reach
- nostos as conditional survival rather than guaranteed homecoming
- material improvisation through wax, ropes, oars, mast, keel, hide, and tree
- apologos narration, report chains, compression, and refusal to repeat
Return to Aeaea and Elpenor’s burial 12.1–15
1αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ ποταμοῖο λίπεν ῥόον Ὠκεανοῖο
νηῦς, ἀπὸ δʼ ἵκετο κῦμα θαλάσσης εὐρυπόροιο
νῆσόν τʼ Αἰαίην, ὅθι τʼ Ἠοῦς ἠριγενείης
οἰκία καὶ χοροί εἰσι καὶ ἀντολαὶ Ἠελίοιο,
5νῆα μὲν ἔνθʼ ἐλθόντες ἐκέλσαμεν ἐν ψαμάθοισιν,
ἐκ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ βῆμεν ἐπὶ ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης·
ἔνθα δʼ ἀποβρίξαντες ἐμείναμεν Ἠῶ δῖαν.
ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,
δὴ τότʼ ἐγὼν ἑτάρους προΐειν ἐς δώματα Κίρκης
10οἰσέμεναι νεκρόν, Ἐλπήνορα τεθνηῶτα.
φιτροὺς δʼ αἶψα ταμόντες, ὅθʼ ἀκροτάτη πρόεχʼ ἀκτή,
θάπτομεν ἀχνύμενοι θαλερὸν κατὰ δάκρυ χέοντες.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ νεκρός τʼ ἐκάη καὶ τεύχεα νεκροῦ,
τύμβον χεύαντες καὶ ἐπὶ στήλην ἐρύσαντες
15πήξαμεν ἀκροτάτῳ τύμβῳ ἐυῆρες ἐρετμόν.
1“But when our ship had left the current of the river Ocean
and reached the swell of the broad-pathed sea,
and the island Aeaea, where early-born Dawn has
her home and dancing grounds, and where Helios rises,
5we came there and beached the ship in the sand.
We ourselves went ashore at the breaking edge of the sea,
and there we fell asleep and waited for radiant Dawn.
When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered,
I sent companions to Circe’s house
10to bring away the body of Elpenor, who lay dead.
They quickly cut logs where the headland jutted farthest out,
and we buried him in sorrow, shedding swelling tears.
When the dead man and the armor that was his had burned,
we heaped a mound, dragged a grave-stone onto it,
15and planted his well-shaped oar at the mound’s very top.
Commentary
Odysseus resumes his apologos as the ship leaves Ocean, returns to Aeaea, beaches, and waits for dawn. He sends companions to retrieve Elpenor’s body, and the group performs the promised burning and burial in grief. Mound, grave marker, and oar reproduce the material elements Elpenor requested in Book 11, so the return from the dead first becomes an obligation fulfilled for a dead companion. Familiar landing and dawn diction frame an exceptional voyage through recurrent maritime language.
12.1–8 The return from Ocean is carried by exact landing and dawn formulas already used in earlier voyage episodes. Lines 12.5 and 12.7 are byte-exact with 9.546 and 9.151; 12.6 is byte-exact with 9.150 and punctuation-normalized with 9.547. Line 12.8 is byte-exact at 2.1, 3.404, 3.491, 4.306, 4.431, 4.576, 5.228, 8.1, 9.152, 9.170, 9.307, 9.437, 9.560, and 10.187. Familiar beaching, shore, sleep, and dawn diction brings the ship back from the exceptional Nekyia through an ordinary voyage register, while the destination remains Aeaea and the apologos continues.
12.9–15 The crew fulfills Elpenor’s requested burial through differentiated labor and the exact material signs he named. Odysseus sends companions for the body; others cut wood; the group grieves, burns corpse and equipment, raises a mound, drags up a marker, and plants the oar at the top. The sequence answers 11.66-78 in material order and makes the dead companion’s former rowing labor his memorial sign. The narration uses collective action without erasing Odysseus’ initiating command.
Circe’s feast and underworld debrief 12.16–35
16ἡμεῖς μὲν τὰ ἕκαστα διείπομεν· οὐδʼ ἄρα Κίρκην
ἐξ Ἀίδεω ἐλθόντες ἐλήθομεν, ἀλλὰ μάλʼ ὦκα
ἦλθʼ ἐντυναμένη· ἅμα δʼ ἀμφίπολοι φέρον αὐτῇ
σῖτον καὶ κρέα πολλὰ καὶ αἴθοπα οἶνον ἐρυθρόν.
20ἡ δʼ ἐν μέσσῳ στᾶσα μετηύδα δῖα θεάων·
σχέτλιοι, οἳ ζώοντες ὑπήλθετε δῶμʼ Ἀίδαο,
δισθανέες, ὅτε τʼ ἄλλοι ἅπαξ θνῄσκουσʼ ἄνθρωποι.
ἀλλʼ ἄγετʼ ἐσθίετε βρώμην καὶ πίνετε οἶνον
αὖθι πανημέριοι· ἅμα δʼ ἠοῖ φαινομένηφι
25πλεύσεσθʼ· αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ δείξω ὁδὸν ἠδὲ ἕκαστα
σημανέω, ἵνα μή τι κακορραφίῃ ἀλεγεινῇ
ἢ ἁλὸς ἢ ἐπὶ γῆς ἀλγήσετε πῆμα παθόντες.
ὣς ἔφαθʼ, ἡμῖν δʼ αὖτʼ ἐπεπείθετο θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ.
ὣς τότε μὲν πρόπαν ἦμαρ ἐς ἠέλιον καταδύντα
30ἥμεθα δαινύμενοι κρέα τʼ ἄσπετα καὶ μέθυ ἡδύ·
ἦμος δʼ ἠέλιος κατέδυ καὶ ἐπὶ κνέφας ἦλθεν,
οἱ μὲν κοιμήσαντο παρὰ πρυμνήσια νηός,
ἡ δʼ ἐμὲ χειρὸς ἑλοῦσα φίλων ἀπονόσφιν ἑταίρων
εἷσέ τε καὶ προσέλεκτο καὶ ἐξερέεινεν ἕκαστα·
35αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ τῇ πάντα κατὰ μοῖραν κατέλεξα.
16We attended to each detail. Nor, when we returned from Hades,
did we escape Circe’s notice: she quickly
came dressed and ready, while her attendants brought with her
bread, abundant meat, and red wine that flashed like fire.
20The radiant goddess stood among us and said:
‘Hard men, you who went alive beneath the house of Hades—
twice doomed to die, while other mortals die only once—
come now, eat food and drink wine
here all day. At the first light of dawn
25you will sail; I will show you the road and mark out every detail,
so that no grievous scheme, at sea or on land,
will make you suffer pain and disaster.’
So she spoke, and once again our proud hearts were persuaded.
So all that day until the sun went down
30we sat feasting on boundless meat and sweet wine.
When the sun went down and darkness came on,
the others lay down beside the ship’s stern cables.
But she took me by the hand and led me apart from my companions,
seated me, lay beside me, and questioned me about everything.
35I told her the whole story in its proper order.
Commentary
Circe notices the company’s return, arrives prepared with attendants carrying food and wine, and calls the living visitors to Hades twice doomed before ordering a day of eating and drinking. She promises detailed route guidance for the next dawn. After the communal feast she takes Odysseus apart from the companions, seats and lies beside him, questions him about everything, and receives his ordered account. The next warning sequence therefore arises from a private debrief after collective hospitality.
12.16–28 Circe combines recognition, provisioning, extraordinary mortality language, and promised guidance before separating Odysseus from the crew. She notices the returning company, arrives dressed with attendants carrying staples, and stands among the men. Her “twice-dying” address distinguishes their living descent from ordinary human death, then redirects them to food and a dawn departure for which she will mark the road and details. Her speech owns both the mortality phrase and the preventive promise; the outer narration does not expand either into a system.
12.28–35 Exact persuasion and feast formulas from Books 2, 9, and 10 lead into a non-formulaic private debrief. Line 12.28 is byte-exact with 2.103 and 10.466. Line 12.29 is byte-exact at 9.161, 9.556, 10.183, and 10.476. Line 12.30 is byte-exact at 9.162, 9.557, 10.184, and 10.468, and punctuation-normalized at 10.477. Line 12.31 is byte-exact with 10.478. The repeated communal pattern ends when Circe takes Odysseus by the hand away from the companions and questions him. Formula establishes a shared feast before the narrative narrows to privileged knowledge.
Circe’s warning about the Sirens 12.36–54
36καὶ τότε δή μʼ ἐπέεσσι προσηύδα πότνια Κίρκη·
ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω πάντα πεπείρανται, σὺ δʼ ἄκουσον,
ὥς τοι ἐγὼν ἐρέω, μνήσει δέ σε καὶ θεὸς αὐτός.
Σειρῆνας μὲν πρῶτον ἀφίξεαι, αἵ ῥά τε πάντας
40ἀνθρώπους θέλγουσιν, ὅτις σφεας εἰσαφίκηται.
ὅς τις ἀιδρείῃ πελάσῃ καὶ φθόγγον ἀκούσῃ
Σειρήνων, τῷ δʼ οὔ τι γυνὴ καὶ νήπια τέκνα
οἴκαδε νοστήσαντι παρίσταται οὐδὲ γάνυνται,
ἀλλά τε Σειρῆνες λιγυρῇ θέλγουσιν ἀοιδῇ
45ἥμεναι ἐν λειμῶνι, πολὺς δʼ ἀμφʼ ὀστεόφιν θὶς
ἀνδρῶν πυθομένων, περὶ δὲ ῥινοὶ μινύθουσι.
ἀλλὰ παρεξελάαν, ἐπὶ δʼ οὔατʼ ἀλεῖψαι ἑταίρων
κηρὸν δεψήσας μελιηδέα, μή τις ἀκούσῃ
τῶν ἄλλων· ἀτὰρ αὐτὸς ἀκουέμεν αἴ κʼ ἐθέλῃσθα,
50δησάντων σʼ ἐν νηὶ θοῇ χεῖράς τε πόδας τε
ὀρθὸν ἐν ἱστοπέδῃ, ἐκ δʼ αὐτοῦ πείρατʼ ἀνήφθω,
ὄφρα κε τερπόμενος ὄπʼ ἀκούσῃς Σειρήνοιιν.
εἰ δέ κε λίσσηαι ἑτάρους λῦσαί τε κελεύῃς,
οἱ δέ σʼ ἔτι πλεόνεσσι τότʼ ἐν δεσμοῖσι διδέντων.
36Then queenly Circe addressed me with these words:
‘All this has now been brought to completion. Listen, then,
to what I will tell you; a god himself will bring it back to mind.
First you will reach the Sirens, who enchant
40every human being who comes near them.
Whoever draws close in ignorance and hears
the Sirens’ voice—his wife and infant children
will never stand beside him when he comes home or rejoice,
for the Sirens enchant him with their clear-toned song
45as they sit in a meadow. Around them lies a great heap of bones
from rotting men, and the skins shrivel over them.
But drive on past. Knead honey-sweet wax
and smear it over your companions’ ears, so none of the others hears.
You yourself may listen, if that is your desire.
50Have them bind you in the swift ship, hand and foot,
upright in the mast-step, with the rope-ends tied to the mast,
so that you may hear the Sirens’ voice and take your pleasure.
If you beg your companions and order them to release you,
then let them bind you fast with still more bonds.
Commentary
Circe marks the underworld task as complete, tells Odysseus to listen, and says a god will recall her words to him. Her first warning joins the Sirens’ enchanting voice to lost homecoming and a meadow surrounded by human remains. The crew must pass with waxed ears, while Odysseus may choose to hear only if bound upright to the mast and subjected to tighter restraint when he asks for release. Pleasure and knowledge are thus approached through a deliberately unequal safety protocol.
12.36–46 Circe frames the Sirens through completion, future recollection, lost homecoming, and visible human remains before any song is heard. She declares the Nekyia completed, commands attention, and says a god will bring her words to mind. The Sirens enchant every arriver, but the first consequence named is that wife and infant children do not receive the traveler home. Clear song in a meadow stands beside bones, rot, and shrinking skins. The warning therefore supplies lethal framing that the Sirens’ later self-presentation omits.
12.39–46 The Greek differentiates enchantment, voice, and song while joining them to ignorance and bodily decay. The verb thelgō governs the Sirens’ effect on those who arrive; phthongos marks what the ignorant traveler hears; aoidē names the clear song that enchants. These are related pressures, not one interchangeable technical term. The meadow and vocal clarity do not soften the explicit heap of bones, rotting men, and diminishing skins. Translation should keep attraction and outcome in the same field.
12.47–54 The Siren protocol deliberately distributes risk, desire, and authority unequally between leader and companions. The companions are to hear nothing; Odysseus may hear if he wishes. They must bind him hand and foot upright at the mast, and his later pleas and orders are pre-authorized as signals for tighter restraint rather than release. Circe gives the crew authority to disobey their commander’s future command in order to preserve his prior decision and the collective passage.
The Wandering Rocks and the Argo 12.55–72
55αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν δὴ τάς γε παρὲξ ἐλάσωσιν ἑταῖροι,
ἔνθα τοι οὐκέτʼ ἔπειτα διηνεκέως ἀγορεύσω,
ὁπποτέρη δή τοι ὁδὸς ἔσσεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς
θυμῷ βουλεύειν· ἐρέω δέ τοι ἀμφοτέρωθεν.
ἔνθεν μὲν γὰρ πέτραι ἐπηρεφέες, προτὶ δʼ αὐτὰς
60κῦμα μέγα ῥοχθεῖ κυανώπιδος Ἀμφιτρίτης·
Πλαγκτὰς δή τοι τάς γε θεοὶ μάκαρες καλέουσι.
τῇ μέν τʼ οὐδὲ ποτητὰ παρέρχεται οὐδὲ πέλειαι
τρήρωνες, ταί τʼ ἀμβροσίην Διὶ πατρὶ φέρουσιν,
ἀλλά τε καὶ τῶν αἰὲν ἀφαιρεῖται λὶς πέτρη·
65ἀλλʼ ἄλλην ἐνίησι πατὴρ ἐναρίθμιον εἶναι.
τῇ δʼ οὔ πώ τις νηῦς φύγεν ἀνδρῶν, ἥ τις ἵκηται,
ἀλλά θʼ ὁμοῦ πίνακάς τε νεῶν καὶ σώματα φωτῶν
κύμαθʼ ἁλὸς φορέουσι πυρός τʼ ὀλοοῖο θύελλαι.
οἴη δὴ κείνη γε παρέπλω ποντοπόρος νηῦς,
70Ἀργὼ πᾶσι μέλουσα, παρʼ Αἰήταο πλέουσα.
καὶ νύ κε τὴν ἔνθʼ ὦκα βάλεν μεγάλας ποτὶ πέτρας,
ἀλλʼ Ἥρη παρέπεμψεν, ἐπεὶ φίλος ἦεν Ἰήσων.
55Once your companions have driven the ship beyond them,
I will no longer tell you in one unbroken account
which road will be yours. You yourself
must deliberate in your heart; I will describe both ways.
On one side rise overhanging rocks, and against them
60a great wave of dark-eyed Amphitrite roars.
The blessed gods call them the Wandering Rocks.
Not even winged creatures pass that way—not even the timid doves
that carry ambrosia to father Zeus.
The smooth rock always snatches one of these away,
65but the Father sends another to keep their number full.
No ship of men that reaches those rocks has ever escaped.
Instead, the waves of the sea and storms of destructive fire carry
wreckage from ships and bodies of men together.
Only one seagoing ship ever sailed past them:
70the Argo, known to all, as she sailed away from Aeetes.
Even her the wave would quickly have dashed against the great rocks,
but Hera sent her through because Jason was dear to her.
Commentary
Beyond the Sirens, Circe refuses to assign one continuous road and tells Odysseus to deliberate after hearing both alternatives. The first is marked by overhanging rocks, roaring wave, losses among Zeus’ doves, human wreckage, and destructive fire. The blessed gods call these rocks the Wandering Rocks. Only the famous Argo passed, and Circe attributes that exception to Hera’s aid for Jason. The named precedent establishes divine exception without locating the rocks in a modern landscape.
12.55–65 The Wandering Rocks are a divine name inside Circe’s branching route description, not an identified modern location. Circe says she will describe both ways and leaves the final deliberation to Odysseus’ thumos. Overhanging rocks, Amphitrite’s roaring wave, Zeus’ doves, and replacement of the lost bird establish scale and repeated danger. The proper name Planctae belongs to the blessed gods’ vocabulary within her speech. These are narrative coordinates sufficient for choice, not an external map.
12.62–72 The Argo is introduced as a famous prior exception whose passage depends explicitly on Hera’s care for Jason. After even Zeus’ doves lose one member and human ships leave wreckage and bodies, Circe names one seagoing vessel known to all. The wave nearly destroys it as well; Hera sends it through because Jason is dear to her. The reference establishes a remembered voyage and exceptional divine escort within the poem, but it does not import the Argo’s full story or make the route generally survivable.
Scylla and Charybdis described 12.73–110
73οἱ δὲ δύω σκόπελοι ὁ μὲν οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἱκάνει
ὀξείῃ κορυφῇ, νεφέλη δέ μιν ἀμφιβέβηκε
75κυανέη· τὸ μὲν οὔ ποτʼ ἐρωεῖ, οὐδέ ποτʼ αἴθρη
κείνου ἔχει κορυφὴν οὔτʼ ἐν θέρει οὔτʼ ἐν ὀπώρῃ.
οὐδέ κεν ἀμβαίη βροτὸς ἀνὴρ οὐδʼ ἐπιβαίη,
οὐδʼ εἴ οἱ χεῖρές τε ἐείκοσι καὶ πόδες εἶεν·
πέτρη γὰρ λίς ἐστι, περιξεστῇ ἐικυῖα.
80μέσσῳ δʼ ἐν σκοπέλῳ ἔστι σπέος ἠεροειδές,
πρὸς ζόφον εἰς Ἔρεβος τετραμμένον, ᾗ περ ἂν ὑμεῖς
νῆα παρὰ γλαφυρὴν ἰθύνετε, φαίδιμʼ Ὀδυσσεῦ.
οὐδέ κεν ἐκ νηὸς γλαφυρῆς αἰζήιος ἀνὴρ
τόξῳ ὀιστεύσας κοῖλον σπέος εἰσαφίκοιτο.
85ἔνθα δʼ ἐνὶ Σκύλλη ναίει δεινὸν λελακυῖα.
τῆς ἦ τοι φωνὴ μὲν ὅση σκύλακος νεογιλῆς
γίγνεται, αὐτὴ δʼ αὖτε πέλωρ κακόν· οὐδέ κέ τίς μιν
γηθήσειεν ἰδών, οὐδʼ εἰ θεὸς ἀντιάσειεν.
τῆς ἦ τοι πόδες εἰσὶ δυώδεκα πάντες ἄωροι,
90ἓξ δέ τέ οἱ δειραὶ περιμήκεες, ἐν δὲ ἑκάστῃ
σμερδαλέη κεφαλή, ἐν δὲ τρίστοιχοι ὀδόντες
πυκνοὶ καὶ θαμέες, πλεῖοι μέλανος θανάτοιο.
μέσση μέν τε κατὰ σπείους κοίλοιο δέδυκεν,
ἔξω δʼ ἐξίσχει κεφαλὰς δεινοῖο βερέθρου,
95αὐτοῦ δʼ ἰχθυάᾳ, σκόπελον περιμαιμώωσα,
δελφῖνάς τε κύνας τε, καὶ εἴ ποθι μεῖζον ἕλῃσι
κῆτος, ἃ μυρία βόσκει ἀγάστονος Ἀμφιτρίτη.
τῇ δʼ οὔ πώ ποτε ναῦται ἀκήριοι εὐχετόωνται
παρφυγέειν σὺν νηί· φέρει δέ τε κρατὶ ἑκάστῳ
100φῶτʼ ἐξαρπάξασα νεὸς κυανοπρῴροιο.
τὸν δʼ ἕτερον σκόπελον χθαμαλώτερον ὄψει, Ὀδυσσεῦ.
πλησίον ἀλλήλων· καί κεν διοϊστεύσειας.
τῷ δʼ ἐν ἐρινεὸς ἔστι μέγας, φύλλοισι τεθηλώς·
τῷ δʼ ὑπὸ δῖα Χάρυβδις ἀναρροιβδεῖ μέλαν ὕδωρ.
105τρὶς μὲν γάρ τʼ ἀνίησιν ἐπʼ ἤματι, τρὶς δʼ ἀναροιβδεῖ
δεινόν· μὴ σύ γε κεῖθι τύχοις, ὅτε ῥοιβδήσειεν·
οὐ γάρ κεν ῥύσαιτό σʼ ὑπὲκ κακοῦ οὐδʼ ἐνοσίχθων.
ἀλλὰ μάλα Σκύλλης σκοπέλῳ πεπλημένος ὦκα
νῆα παρὲξ ἐλάαν, ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτερόν ἐστιν
110ἓξ ἑτάρους ἐν νηὶ ποθήμεναι ἢ ἅμα πάντας.
73On the other way stand two cliffs. One reaches the broad heaven
with its sharp peak, and a dark cloud surrounds it.
75The cloud never draws away, and clear sky never holds
the summit, neither in summer nor at harvest-time.
No mortal man could climb it or find footing there,
not even if he had twenty hands and twenty feet,
for the rock is smooth, as if it had been polished.
80Halfway up the cliff is a misty cave,
turned toward the gloom of Erebus. Past it you must
steer your hollow ship, illustrious Odysseus.
No strong young man shooting an arrow from the hollow ship
could reach the deep cave.
85There Scylla lives, yelping terribly.
Her voice is only like that of a newborn puppy,
but she herself is a monstrous evil. No one would rejoice
at seeing her—not even a god who met her.
She has twelve feet, all dangling loose,
90and six enormously long necks; on each
is a dreadful head, and in it three rows of teeth,
close-packed and crowded, full of black death.
Her middle is sunk deep inside the hollow cave,
but she thrusts her heads out from the terrible chasm
95and fishes there, ranging greedily around the cliff
for dolphins and dogfish, or some larger
sea-beast among the countless creatures groaning Amphitrite feeds.
No sailors have ever boasted that their ship passed her unharmed,
for with each head she snatches up
100a man from the dark-prowed ship.
The other cliff you will see is lower, Odysseus,
and the two stand close together—within an arrow’s flight.
On it grows a great fig tree, luxuriant with leaves,
and beneath it radiant Charybdis sucks down the black water.
105Three times a day she spews it up, and three times she sucks it down
terribly. May you not be there when she swallows,
for not even the Earthshaker could save you from that ruin.
Keep your ship very close to Scylla’s cliff instead
and row swiftly past, since it is far better
110to mourn six companions in the ship than all of them together.’
Commentary
Circe’s second route places a cloud-covered high cliff and inaccessible cave opposite a lower cliff with a leafy fig tree over Charybdis. Scylla’s puppy-like sound contrasts with a body of twelve loose-hanging feet, six long necks, crowded teeth, and heads that fish from the cave. Charybdis alternately spews and swallows the sea three times daily, and Circe says even Poseidon could not save a ship caught at the downward moment. She therefore directs Odysseus close to Scylla and explicitly compares mourning six companions with losing everyone.
12.73–84 The high cliff and westward cave are scaled through impossibility rather than offered as surveyable terrain. The sharp peak reaches heaven, permanent dark cloud denies seasonal clarity, polished smoothness defeats even an imagined many-limbed climber, and an arrow from the ship cannot reach the cave. Its turn toward gloom and Erebus supplies orientation inside Circe’s warning. Hyperbolic inaccessibility and directional language establish maritime danger without selecting a real-world cliff.
12.85–100 Scylla’s sound and body are deliberately dissonant, and the loose-hanging feet should not be regularized into a coherent animal model. Her voice is measured against a newborn puppy, while she is called a monstrous evil that even a god would not enjoy seeing. Twelve feet are all aōroi, six necks carry lethal heads, and only the middle remains within the cave as the heads fish around the cliff. The sense of dangling looseness preserves a local bodily pressure without pretending the description is anatomically systematic.
12.101–110 Circe presents a forced comparison between total destruction at Charybdis and the anticipated loss of six at Scylla. The cliffs stand within an arrow’s flight. Charybdis’ threefold cycle includes a downward moment from which even the Earthshaker cannot rescue Odysseus. Circe therefore orders close passage by Scylla and says mourning six is much better than mourning everyone together. The calculation is explicit and source-bound; it is not the narrator’s declaration that the six are expendable or that leadership bears no cost.
12.105–110 Threefold release and swallowing drive rapidly into Circe’s compact six-versus-all conclusion. The repeated triad gives Charybdis a cyclical temporal shape before the negative wish and failed rescue proposition narrow the moment of danger. Rapid imperatives then move the ship close to Scylla, and the final comparative balances six companions against the whole company. The audible structure turns repeated naturalized action into an immediate command choice without claiming complete scansion.
Odysseus asks to fight Scylla 12.111–126
111ὣς ἔφατʼ, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ μιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπον·
εἰ δʼ ἄγε δή μοι τοῦτο, θεά, νημερτὲς ἐνίσπες,
εἴ πως τὴν ὀλοὴν μὲν ὑπεκπροφύγοιμι Χάρυβδιν,
τὴν δέ κʼ ἀμυναίμην, ὅτε μοι σίνοιτό γʼ ἑταίρους.
115ὣς ἐφάμην, ἡ δʼ αὐτίκʼ ἀμείβετο δῖα θεάων·
σχέτλιε, καὶ δὴ αὖ τοι πολεμήια ἔργα μέμηλε
καὶ πόνος· οὐδὲ θεοῖσιν ὑπείξεαι ἀθανάτοισιν;
ἡ δέ τοι οὐ θνητή, ἀλλʼ ἀθάνατον κακόν ἐστι,
δεινόν τʼ ἀργαλέον τε καὶ ἄγριον οὐδὲ μαχητόν·
120οὐδέ τις ἔστʼ ἀλκή· φυγέειν κάρτιστον ἀπʼ αὐτῆς.
ἢν γὰρ δηθύνῃσθα κορυσσόμενος παρὰ πέτρῃ,
δείδω, μή σʼ ἐξαῦτις ἐφορμηθεῖσα κίχῃσι
τόσσῃσιν κεφαλῇσι, τόσους δʼ ἐκ φῶτας ἕληται.
ἀλλὰ μάλα σφοδρῶς ἐλάαν, βωστρεῖν δὲ Κράταιιν,
125μητέρα τῆς Σκύλλης, ἥ μιν τέκε πῆμα βροτοῖσιν·
ἥ μιν ἔπειτʼ ἀποπαύσει ἐς ὕστερον ὁρμηθῆναι.
111So she spoke, and I answered her:
‘Come, goddess, tell me this truly:
if somehow I escape destructive Charybdis,
can I fend Scylla off when she attacks my companions?’
115So I spoke, and the radiant goddess answered at once:
‘Desperate man, are deeds of war and struggle
still your concern? Will you not yield even to the immortal gods?
She is no mortal creature but a deathless evil,
terrible, hard to endure, savage, and not to be fought.
120There is no defense against her; flight is best.
If you linger beside the rock while putting on your armor,
I fear she will spring out and reach you again
with all those heads, and snatch away as many men.
Row past with all your force, and cry aloud to Crataeis,
125Scylla’s mother, who bore her as a bane to mortals.
She will restrain her from attacking you a second time.
Commentary
Odysseus accepts the need to escape Charybdis but asks whether he can defend the companions when Scylla attacks. Circe rebukes his continuing investment in warlike action and calls Scylla a deathless evil that cannot be fought. Lingering to arm risks a second equal seizure. The prescribed response is rapid rowing and a cry to Scylla’s mother Crataeis, whom Circe says will prevent another attack. Combat, flight, speed, prayer, and maternal restraint remain distinct parts of Circe’s answer.
12.111–120 Odysseus reframes predicted loss as a combat problem, and Circe identifies that reflex as misplaced against Scylla. His question first accepts escape from Charybdis and then asks whether he can defend the companions during Scylla’s attack. Circe calls him desperate and asks whether war and struggle still occupy him and whether he will yield even to immortals. Her answer denies Scylla mortality, fightability, and any effective defense. The exchange exposes protective intent and martial habit together rather than reducing the question to one trait.
12.121–126 Circe replaces armor with speed and an appeal to Crataeis, whose promised restraint is limited to preventing a second attack. Lingering to arm would allow Scylla to strike again with the same number of heads. Circe orders forceful rowing and a cry to the mother who bore Scylla as a bane to mortals. The promised result is specifically that Crataeis will stop a later onset. The speech does not promise recovery of the first six, identify a cult, or explain the relation between mother and monster beyond birth and restraint.
Thrinacia and the cattle warning 12.127–142
127Θρινακίην δʼ ἐς νῆσον ἀφίξεαι· ἔνθα δὲ πολλαὶ
βόσκοντʼ Ἠελίοιο βόες καὶ ἴφια μῆλα,
ἑπτὰ βοῶν ἀγέλαι, τόσα δʼ οἰῶν πώεα καλά,
130πεντήκοντα δʼ ἕκαστα. γόνος δʼ οὐ γίγνεται αὐτῶν,
οὐδέ ποτε φθινύθουσι. θεαὶ δʼ ἐπιποιμένες εἰσίν,
νύμφαι ἐυπλόκαμοι, Φαέθουσά τε Λαμπετίη τε,
ἃς τέκεν Ἠελίῳ Ὑπερίονι δῖα Νέαιρα.
τὰς μὲν ἄρα θρέψασα τεκοῦσά τε πότνια μήτηρ
135Θρινακίην ἐς νῆσον ἀπῴκισε τηλόθι ναίειν,
μῆλα φυλασσέμεναι πατρώια καὶ ἕλικας βοῦς.
τὰς εἰ μέν κʼ ἀσινέας ἐάᾳς νόστου τε μέδηαι,
ἦ τʼ ἂν ἔτʼ εἰς Ἰθάκην κακά περ πάσχοντες ἵκοισθε·
εἰ δέ κε σίνηαι, τότε τοι τεκμαίρομʼ ὄλεθρον,
140νηί τε καὶ ἑτάροις· αὐτὸς δʼ εἴ πέρ κεν ἀλύξῃς,
ὀψὲ κακῶς νεῖαι, ὀλέσας ἄπο πάντας ἑταίρους.
ὣς ἔφατʼ, αὐτίκα δὲ χρυσόθρονος ἤλυθεν Ἠώς.
127Then you will reach the island Thrinacia, where many
cattle of Helios graze, and sturdy sheep:
seven herds of cattle and as many beautiful flocks of sheep,
130fifty in each. No young are born from them,
nor do they ever diminish. Their shepherds are goddesses,
nymphs with lovely hair, Phaethousa and Lampetie,
whom radiant Neaera bore to Helios Hyperion.
After their queenly mother had borne and raised them,
135she sent them to live far away on the island Thrinacia,
guarding their father’s sheep and spiral-horned cattle.
If you leave them unharmed and keep your mind on your return,
you may still reach Ithaca, though you suffer.
But if you harm them, I foretell destruction
140for your ship and companions. Even if you yourself escape,
you will return late and in misery, after losing all your companions.’
So she spoke, and at once Dawn came, enthroned in gold.
Commentary
Circe describes Helios’ undiminishing cattle and sheep in fixed groups watched by his daughters Phaethousa and Lampetie, whom Neaera bore and settled far away on Thrinacia. She then repeats Tiresias’ conditional structure substantially line for line: leave the animals unharmed and keep attention on return, or face ship and companion destruction with only a late and miserable solitary homecoming still possible. The warning binds divine property, companion restraint, and nostos without assigning the later violation in advance. Dawn ends the instruction.
12.127–136 Helios’ animals are defined by fixed abundance, non-reproduction, non-decline, and the labor of his divine daughters. Seven cattle herds and seven sheep flocks each contain fifty; no offspring appear and no animals diminish. Phaethousa and Lampetie are named as shepherd goddesses, daughters of Helios and Neaera, and their mother settles them far away to guard paternal animals. The scene joins female divine labor, family property, and marvel without making the nymphs decorative or reconstructing an economy.
12.137–142 Circe substantially repeats Tiresias’ cattle warning with exact and punctuation-normalized lines. Line 12.137 is byte-exact with 11.110, and 12.139 with 11.112. Lines 12.140-141 are punctuation-normalized exact with 11.113-114, while 12.138 closely adapts 11.111. The speaker changes from Tiresias below to Circe on Aeaea, but the conditional alternatives, ship-and-companion destruction, and solitary delayed return remain stable. Repetition makes the warning doubly transmitted before the act.
12.137–142 The warning makes restraint a condition of shared homecoming while preserving an asymmetry in possible survival. Leaving the animals unharmed and keeping thought on nostos permits the group to reach Ithaca through suffering. Harming them changes the forecast to destruction for ship and companions, with only Odysseus’ possible escape and miserable late return. The syntax does not identify a future killer in advance, but it makes the consequences collective and the leader’s survival exceptional.
Departure and selective crew briefing 12.143–164
143ἡ μὲν ἔπειτʼ ἀνὰ νῆσον ἀπέστιχε δῖα θεάων·
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼν ἐπὶ νῆα κιὼν ὤτρυνον ἑταίρους
145αὐτούς τʼ ἀμβαίνειν ἀνά τε πρυμνήσια λῦσαι·
οἱ δʼ αἶψʼ εἴσβαινον καὶ ἐπὶ κληῖσι καθῖζον.
ἑξῆς δʼ ἑζόμενοι πολιὴν ἅλα τύπτον ἐρετμοῖς.
ἡμῖν δʼ αὖ κατόπισθε νεὸς κυανοπρῴροιο
ἴκμενον οὖρον ἵει πλησίστιον, ἐσθλὸν ἑταῖρον,
150Κίρκη ἐυπλόκαμος, δεινὴ θεὸς αὐδήεσσα.
αὐτίκα δʼ ὅπλα ἕκαστα πονησάμενοι κατὰ νῆα
ἥμεθα· τὴν δʼ ἄνεμός τε κυβερνήτης τʼ ἴθυνε.
δὴ τότʼ ἐγὼν ἑτάροισι μετηύδων ἀχνύμενος κῆρ·
ὦ φίλοι, οὐ γὰρ χρὴ ἕνα ἴδμεναι οὐδὲ δύʼ οἴους
155θέσφαθʼ ἅ μοι Κίρκη μυθήσατο, δῖα θεάων·
ἀλλʼ ἐρέω μὲν ἐγών, ἵνα εἰδότες ἤ κε θάνωμεν
ἤ κεν ἀλευάμενοι θάνατον καὶ κῆρα φύγοιμεν.
Σειρήνων μὲν πρῶτον ἀνώγει θεσπεσιάων
φθόγγον ἀλεύασθαι καὶ λειμῶνʼ ἀνθεμόεντα.
160οἶον ἔμʼ ἠνώγει ὄπʼ ἀκουέμεν· ἀλλά με δεσμῷ
δήσατʼ ἐν ἀργαλέῳ, ὄφρʼ ἔμπεδον αὐτόθι μίμνω,
ὀρθὸν ἐν ἱστοπέδῃ, ἐκ δʼ αὐτοῦ πείρατʼ ἀνήφθω.
εἰ δέ κε λίσσωμαι ὑμέας λῦσαί τε κελεύω,
ὑμεῖς δὲ πλεόνεσσι τότʼ ἐν δεσμοῖσι πιέζειν.
143The radiant goddess then went away across the island,
while I went to the ship and urged my companions
145to embark themselves and cast off the stern cables.
They boarded at once and took their seats at the thole-pins,
and sitting in order they struck the gray sea with their oars.
Behind our dark-prowed ship, meanwhile,
a following wind to fill the sail, a trusty companion,
150sent by Circe of the lovely hair, the formidable goddess with a human voice.
When we had worked each piece of gear into place throughout the ship,
we sat while the wind and helmsman kept her on her course.
Then I addressed my companions, grieving at heart:
‘Friends, it is not right that only one or two should know
155the prophecies Circe, radiant among goddesses, told me.
I will tell you, so that with knowledge we may either die
or, steering clear, escape death and doom.
First she commands us to avoid the wondrous Sirens’
voice and their meadow bright with flowers.
160She told me alone to hear their song, but you must
bind me in a painful bond, so that I stay fixed there,
upright in the mast-step, with the rope-ends tied to the mast.
If I beg you and order you to release me,
then press me tight with still more bonds.’
Commentary
Circe departs across the island, and Odysseus leads a formulaically familiar embarkation. Circe sends the following wind, and wind with helmsman directs the ship. Odysseus then tells the companions that one or two should not monopolize prophetic knowledge and frames disclosure as preparation either for death or escape. What he actually relays is the Siren danger and the command that he alone hear while they bind and, if necessary, restrain him more tightly. The announced principle of shared knowledge therefore exceeds the content of this speech.
12.143–152 Exact embarkation and wind lines reverse Book 11’s closing voyage and continue earlier Book 9 departures. Line 12.145 is byte-exact with 9.562 and punctuation-normalized with 9.178 and 11.637. Line 12.146 is byte-exact with 11.638 and punctuation-normalized at 9.103, 9.179, 9.471, and 9.563. Line 12.147 is byte-exact at 4.580, 9.104, 9.180, 9.472, and 9.564. Lines 12.148-149 repeat 11.6-7 exactly; 12.150 is punctuation-normalized with 10.136; and 12.152 is byte-exact with 11.10. Formula carries the crew from return to renewed departure under the same goddess’s wind.
12.153–164 Odysseus announces shared prophetic knowledge but relays only the Siren protocol before later withholding Scylla explicitly. He says one or two should not know alone and promises speech so the group may knowingly die or escape. The content that follows names the Sirens, their meadow, his unique hearing, and the crew’s duty to bind and tighten. Scylla, Charybdis, the Wandering Rocks, and the cattle are absent from this address. The later statement at 12.223-225 confirms deliberate non-disclosure of Scylla but does not explain every other omission.
Calm, wax, and bonds 12.165–180
165ἦ τοι ἐγὼ τὰ ἕκαστα λέγων ἑτάροισι πίφαυσκον·
τόφρα δὲ καρπαλίμως ἐξίκετο νηῦς ἐυεργὴς
νῆσον Σειρήνοιιν· ἔπειγε γὰρ οὖρος ἀπήμων.
αὐτίκʼ ἔπειτʼ ἄνεμος μὲν ἐπαύσατο ἠδὲ γαλήνη
ἔπλετο νηνεμίη, κοίμησε δὲ κύματα δαίμων.
170ἀνστάντες δʼ ἕταροι νεὸς ἱστία μηρύσαντο
καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐν νηὶ γλαφυρῇ θέσαν, οἱ δʼ ἐπʼ ἐρετμὰ
ἑζόμενοι λεύκαινον ὕδωρ ξεστῇς ἐλάτῃσιν.
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ κηροῖο μέγαν τροχὸν ὀξέι χαλκῷ
τυτθὰ διατμήξας χερσὶ στιβαρῇσι πίεζον·
175αἶψα δʼ ἰαίνετο κηρός, ἐπεὶ κέλετο μεγάλη ἲς
Ἠελίου τʼ αὐγὴ Ὑπεριονίδαο ἄνακτος·
ἑξείης δʼ ἑτάροισιν ἐπʼ οὔατα πᾶσιν ἄλειψα.
οἱ δʼ ἐν νηί μʼ ἔδησαν ὁμοῦ χεῖράς τε πόδας τε
ὀρθὸν ἐν ἱστοπέδῃ, ἐκ δʼ αὐτοῦ πείρατʼ ἀνῆπτον·
180αὐτοὶ δʼ ἑζόμενοι πολιὴν ἅλα τύπτον ἐρετμοῖς.
165So I spoke, revealing every detail to my companions.
Meanwhile our well-built ship swiftly reached
the Sirens’ island, for the harmless wind drove her on.
Then all at once the wind fell and a breathless calm
came over the sea; some divine power lulled the waves.
170My companions rose and furled the ship’s sails,
stowed them in the hollow vessel, then sat at the oars
and whitened the water with their polished blades.
I cut a great wheel of wax into small pieces
with sharp bronze, then kneaded them in my strong hands.
175The wax quickly softened under the mighty force
of the rays of lord Helios Hyperion.
Going down the line, I smeared it over every companion’s ears.
Inside the ship they bound me, hands and feet together,
upright in the mast-step, with the rope-ends tied to the mast.
180Then they sat and struck the gray sea with their oars.
Commentary
Odysseus retrospectively says he revealed every detail while the ship reaches the Sirens. Wind stops abruptly, an unnamed divine power stills the waves, and the companions shift from sail to oars. Odysseus cuts and kneads wax warmed by Helios, moves along the crew to seal every ear, and is bound hand and foot upright at the mast. The companions perform ordered, skilled, bodily labor throughout, and the exact repetition of Circe’s mast instruction marks deliberate enactment rather than spontaneous improvisation.
12.165–180 The companions’ skilled sequence turns Circe’s instructions into collective shipboard action. When wind and waves cease, companions furl and stow sail, move to the oars, and whiten the water. Odysseus cuts, kneads, and warms wax, then seals every ear. The companions bind his hands and feet, fix him at the mast, and resume rowing. Human labor occupies each stage, while the unnamed divine power’s calm changes propulsion rather than replacing agency.
12.168–180 Abrupt stillness gives way to a measured sequence of furling, stowing, rowing, cutting, kneading, smearing, binding, and resumed rowing. Wind cessation and breathless calm compress the first turn; the syntax then distributes ordered actions across crew and leader. The warming wax slows the material preparation before every companion receives it, and the repeated mast posture closes in renewed oar movement. Cadence makes safety procedural and bodily without requiring exhaustive scansion.
The Sirens’ song and the crew’s obedience 12.181–200
181ἀλλʼ ὅτε τόσσον ἀπῆμεν ὅσον τε γέγωνε βοήσας,
ῥίμφα διώκοντες, τὰς δʼ οὐ λάθεν ὠκύαλος νηῦς
ἐγγύθεν ὀρνυμένη, λιγυρὴν δʼ ἔντυνον ἀοιδήν·
δεῦρʼ ἄγʼ ἰών, πολύαινʼ Ὀδυσεῦ, μέγα κῦδος Ἀχαιῶν,
185νῆα κατάστησον, ἵνα νωιτέρην ὄπ ἀκούσῃς.
οὐ γάρ πώ τις τῇδε παρήλασε νηὶ μελαίνῃ,
πρίν γʼ ἡμέων μελίγηρυν ἀπὸ στομάτων ὄπʼ ἀκοῦσαι,
ἀλλʼ ὅ γε τερψάμενος νεῖται καὶ πλείονα εἰδώς.
ἴδμεν γάρ τοι πάνθʼ ὅσʼ ἐνὶ Τροίῃ εὐρείῃ
190Ἀργεῖοι Τρῶές τε θεῶν ἰότητι μόγησαν,
ἴδμεν δʼ, ὅσσα γένηται ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ.
ὣς φάσαν ἱεῖσαι ὄπα κάλλιμον· αὐτὰρ ἐμὸν κῆρ
ἤθελʼ ἀκουέμεναι, λῦσαί τʼ ἐκέλευον ἑταίρους
ὀφρύσι νευστάζων· οἱ δὲ προπεσόντες ἔρεσσον.
195αὐτίκα δʼ ἀνστάντες Περιμήδης Εὐρύλοχός τε
πλείοσί μʼ ἐν δεσμοῖσι δέον μᾶλλόν τε πίεζον.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ τάς γε παρήλασαν, οὐδʼ ἔτʼ ἔπειτα
φθογγῆς Σειρήνων ἠκούομεν οὐδέ τʼ ἀοιδῆς,
αἶψʼ ἀπὸ κηρὸν ἕλοντο ἐμοὶ ἐρίηρες ἑταῖροι,
200ὅν σφιν ἐπʼ ὠσὶν ἄλειψʼ, ἐμέ τʼ ἐκ δεσμῶν ἀνέλυσαν.
181But when we were as far away as a man’s shout will carry,
driving swiftly on, our fast ship rising close beside them
did not escape the Sirens’ notice, and they began their clear song:
‘Come here, much-praised Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans!
185Bring your ship to rest, so that you may hear our voices.
No one has ever sailed past here in a black ship
before hearing the honey-sweet voice from our lips.
He goes on his way delighted and knowing more,
for we know all that in broad Troy
190the Argives and Trojans suffered by the gods’ will,
and we know whatever happens upon the earth that feeds so many.’
So they sang, sending forth their beautiful voices, and my heart
longed to listen. I ordered my companions to release me,
signaling with my brows, but they bent forward and rowed.
195Perimedes and Eurylochus at once stood up,
bound me with more ropes, and drew them tighter.
When they had rowed beyond the Sirens
and we could no longer hear their voice or song,
my loyal companions quickly took out the wax
200I had smeared over their ears and freed me from my bonds.
Commentary
At shouting distance the Sirens notice the ship and address Odysseus by name and Achaean glory. They promise that every passer hears, departs delighted, and knows more, grounding their claim in Troy’s suffering under divine will and in knowledge of events across the earth. Odysseus’ heart desires continued listening, and he orders release by brow signals. The deaf companions row on; Perimedes and Eurylochus stand, add ropes, and tighten them. Once the song is inaudible, the crew removes wax and releases him. Prior command defeats present command.
12.181–191 The Sirens construct a persuasive account of universal practice and knowledge inside their direct song. They notice the ship, summon Odysseus by name and public glory, and claim that no black ship passes before hearing them. The advertised outcome is delight and increased knowledge, followed by claims to know suffering at Troy under divine will and everything that occurs on earth. These assertions are the Sirens’ inducement; Circe’s bones and lost-home warning remain outside their self-description.
12.184–191 Praise, honeyed sound, delight, and knowing more make the Sirens’ offer attractive without lexicalizing that attraction as safety. Odysseus is called much-praised and a great Achaean glory before the ship is told to stop. Their mouths produce a honey-sweet voice; the hearer is said to return delighted and knowing more; repeated forms of “we know” authorize Troy and world claims. The lexical cluster associates song with kleos-like public identity and epistemic gain, while the lethal consequence remains supplied by Circe rather than their speech.
12.192–200 The companions preserve Odysseus’ prior command against his present command and thereby exercise delegated agency. His heart wants to continue hearing, and he orders release through eyebrow signals. The rowers bend forward instead. Perimedes and Eurylochus stand, add more bonds, and tighten them, exactly fulfilling the pre-authorized counter-command. Only after voice and song disappear do loyal companions remove wax and release him. Obedience here requires temporary disobedience to the leader’s changed desire.
Terror at the strait and Scylla concealed 12.201–225
201ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ τὴν νῆσον ἐλείπομεν, αὐτίκʼ ἔπειτα
καπνὸν καὶ μέγα κῦμα ἴδον καὶ δοῦπον ἄκουσα.
τῶν δʼ ἄρα δεισάντων ἐκ χειρῶν ἔπτατʼ ἐρετμά,
βόμβησαν δʼ ἄρα πάντα κατὰ ῥόον· ἔσχετο δʼ αὐτοῦ
205νηῦς, ἐπεὶ οὐκέτʼ ἐρετμὰ προήκεα χερσὶν ἔπειγον.
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ διὰ νηὸς ἰὼν ὤτρυνον ἑταίρους
μειλιχίοις ἐπέεσσι παρασταδὸν ἄνδρα ἕκαστον·
ὦ φίλοι, οὐ γάρ πώ τι κακῶν ἀδαήμονές εἰμεν·
οὐ μὲν δὴ τόδε μεῖζον ἕπει κακόν, ἢ ὅτε Κύκλωψ
210εἴλει ἐνὶ σπῆι γλαφυρῷ κρατερῆφι βίηφιν·
ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔνθεν ἐμῇ ἀρετῇ, βουλῇ τε νόῳ τε,
ἐκφύγομεν, καί που τῶνδε μνήσεσθαι ὀίω.
νῦν δʼ ἄγεθʼ, ὡς ἂν ἐγὼ εἴπω, πειθώμεθα πάντες.
ὑμεῖς μὲν κώπῃσιν ἁλὸς ῥηγμῖνα βαθεῖαν
215τύπτετε κληίδεσσιν ἐφήμενοι, αἴ κέ ποθι Ζεὺς
δώῃ τόνδε γʼ ὄλεθρον ὑπεκφυγέειν καὶ ἀλύξαι·
σοὶ δέ, κυβερνῆθʼ, ὧδʼ ἐπιτέλλομαι· ἀλλʼ ἐνὶ θυμῷ
βάλλευ, ἐπεὶ νηὸς γλαφυρῆς οἰήια νωμᾷς.
τούτου μὲν καπνοῦ καὶ κύματος ἐκτὸς ἔεργε
220νῆα, σὺ δὲ σκοπέλου ἐπιμαίεο, μή σε λάθῃσι
κεῖσʼ ἐξορμήσασα καὶ ἐς κακὸν ἄμμε βάλῃσθα.
ὣς ἐφάμην, οἱ δʼ ὦκα ἐμοῖς ἐπέεσσι πίθοντο.
Σκύλλην δʼ οὐκέτʼ ἐμυθεόμην, ἄπρηκτον ἀνίην,
μή πώς μοι δείσαντες ἀπολλήξειαν ἑταῖροι
225εἰρεσίης, ἐντὸς δὲ πυκάζοιεν σφέας αὐτούς.
201But as we were leaving the island, at once
I saw smoke and a great wave and heard a crash.
The men were terrified, and the oars flew from their hands;
all of them boomed in the current. The ship stopped there,
205since their hands no longer drove the long oars onward.
I moved through the ship and urged my companions on,
standing beside each man and speaking gentle words:
‘Friends, we are not altogether inexperienced in disaster.
This evil before us is no greater than when the Cyclops
210penned us inside his hollow cave with brutal force.
Yet even from there, by my prowess, counsel, and intelligence,
we escaped, and I think someday we will remember this.
Come now, let all of us obey as I direct.
Strike the deep breaking swell of the sea with your oars,
215seated at the thole-pins, in case Zeus somehow grants us
escape and refuge from this destruction.
Helmsman, I give you this command—take it to heart,
since you control the steering gear of the hollow ship.
Keep the vessel outside that smoke and wave,
220and aim her toward the cliff. Do not let her sheer away there
without your noticing and cast us into disaster.’
So I spoke, and they quickly obeyed my words.
I did not tell them of Scylla, that anguish no action could avert,
for fear my companions would stop rowing in terror
225and huddle together inside the ship.
Commentary
As soon as the Sirens’ island recedes, smoke, wave, and crash terrify the rowers into dropping their oars and stopping the ship. Odysseus moves beside each man with gentle words, recalls their escape from the Cyclops through his prowess, counsel, and intelligence, and directs renewed rowing. He gives the helmsman a specific course away from smoke and wave and toward the cliff. The men obey. Odysseus then explicitly says he withheld Scylla because fear would have stopped rowing and driven the crew inward. The omission is strategic by his own account.
12.201–216 Odysseus converts sensory panic into renewed labor by narrating the Cyclops escape as evidence of his leadership. Smoke, wave, and crash cause the oars to fly from hands and the ship to stop. Moving through the vessel, Odysseus addresses each man gently, says the company is not inexperienced in evils, and ranks the present danger below Polyphemus’ cave. He credits escape there to his own prowess, counsel, and noos, then orders all to obey. The retrospective is motivational self-presentation, not a neutral summary of Book 9’s distributed actions.
12.206–222 Exact gentle-word and obedience frames from Book 10 support a repeated command scene while the threat and information available have changed. Line 12.207 is byte-exact with 10.173 and 10.547, where Odysseus likewise stands beside each man with gentle words. Line 12.222 is byte-exact with 10.428 and punctuation-normalized with 10.178. The recurrent frames surround a new steering command at the strait and make obedience audible, but the crew here does not know the concealed Scylla risk.
12.217–225 Odysseus gives the helmsman precise directional responsibility while withholding the danger that makes the selected cliff lethal. The helmsman controls the steering gear and is told to avoid smoke and wave while aiming toward the cliff. The men obey before Odysseus states that he did not tell them of Scylla because their fear would interrupt rowing and make them huddle inside. Command competence is therefore exercised under unequal knowledge. The counterfactual panic is Odysseus’ rationale, not a reaction the crew is allowed to test.
Armed reflex and the loss of six companions 12.226–259
226καὶ τότε δὴ Κίρκης μὲν ἐφημοσύνης ἀλεγεινῆς
λανθανόμην, ἐπεὶ οὔ τί μʼ ἀνώγει θωρήσσεσθαι·
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ καταδὺς κλυτὰ τεύχεα καὶ δύο δοῦρε
μάκρʼ ἐν χερσὶν ἑλὼν εἰς ἴκρια νηὸς ἔβαινον
230πρῴρης· ἔνθεν γάρ μιν ἐδέγμην πρῶτα φανεῖσθαι
Σκύλλην πετραίην, ἥ μοι φέρε πῆμʼ ἑτάροισιν.
οὐδέ πῃ ἀθρῆσαι δυνάμην, ἔκαμον δέ μοι ὄσσε
πάντῃ παπταίνοντι πρὸς ἠεροειδέα πέτρην.
ἡμεῖς μὲν στεινωπὸν ἀνεπλέομεν γοόωντες·
235ἔνθεν μὲν Σκύλλη, ἑτέρωθι δὲ δῖα Χάρυβδις
δεινὸν ἀνερροίβδησε θαλάσσης ἁλμυρὸν ὕδωρ.
ἦ τοι ὅτʼ ἐξεμέσειε, λέβης ὣς ἐν πυρὶ πολλῷ
πᾶσʼ ἀναμορμύρεσκε κυκωμένη, ὑψόσε δʼ ἄχνη
ἄκροισι σκοπέλοισιν ἐπʼ ἀμφοτέροισιν ἔπιπτεν·
240ἀλλʼ ὅτʼ ἀναβρόξειε θαλάσσης ἁλμυρὸν ὕδωρ,
πᾶσʼ ἔντοσθε φάνεσκε κυκωμένη, ἀμφὶ δὲ πέτρη
δεινὸν ἐβεβρύχει, ὑπένερθε δὲ γαῖα φάνεσκε
ψάμμῳ κυανέη· τοὺς δὲ χλωρὸν δέος ᾕρει.
ἡμεῖς μὲν πρὸς τὴν ἴδομεν δείσαντες ὄλεθρον·
245τόφρα δέ μοι Σκύλλη γλαφυρῆς ἐκ νηὸς ἑταίρους
ἓξ ἕλεθʼ, οἳ χερσίν τε βίηφί τε φέρτατοι ἦσαν.
σκεψάμενος δʼ ἐς νῆα θοὴν ἅμα καὶ μεθʼ ἑταίρους
ἤδη τῶν ἐνόησα πόδας καὶ χεῖρας ὕπερθεν
ὑψόσʼ ἀειρομένων· ἐμὲ δὲ φθέγγοντο καλεῦντες
250ἐξονομακλήδην, τότε γʼ ὕστατον, ἀχνύμενοι κῆρ.
ὡς δʼ ὅτʼ ἐπὶ προβόλῳ ἁλιεὺς περιμήκεϊ ῥάβδῳ
ἰχθύσι τοῖς ὀλίγοισι δόλον κατὰ εἴδατα βάλλων
ἐς πόντον προΐησι βοὸς κέρας ἀγραύλοιο,
ἀσπαίροντα δʼ ἔπειτα λαβὼν ἔρριψε θύραζε,
255ὣς οἵ γʼ ἀσπαίροντες ἀείροντο προτὶ πέτρας·
αὐτοῦ δʼ εἰνὶ θύρῃσι κατήσθιε κεκληγῶτας
χεῖρας ἐμοὶ ὀρέγοντας ἐν αἰνῇ δηιοτῆτι·
οἴκτιστον δὴ κεῖνο ἐμοῖς ἴδον ὀφθαλμοῖσι
πάντων, ὅσσʼ ἐμόγησα πόρους ἁλὸς ἐξερεείνων.
226Then I forgot Circe’s painful command,
for she had not told me to arm myself.
I put on my splendid armor, took two long spears
in my hands, and climbed onto the ship’s foredeck.
230There I expected her to show herself first—
rock-dwelling Scylla, who was to bring disaster upon my companions.
But nowhere could I see her, and my eyes grew weary
as I searched every part of the misty rock.
We sailed up the narrow strait in lamentation.
235On one side was Scylla, on the other radiant Charybdis,
terribly sucking down the sea’s salt water.
Whenever she spewed it out, the whole sea seethed and churned
like a cauldron over a great fire, and the foam flew high
to fall upon the tops of both cliffs.
240But whenever she sucked down the sea’s salt water,
her whole depth appeared in its turbulence; the rock around her
roared terribly, and far below the ground appeared
dark with sand. Pale fear seized the men.
We stared toward her in terror of destruction.
245Meanwhile Scylla snatched six companions from the hollow ship,
the strongest men there in hands and bodily force.
When I looked back toward the swift ship and my companions,
I saw their feet and hands already high above me
as they were lifted into the air. They cried out and called me
250by name for the last time, their hearts in anguish.
As when a fisherman on a jutting rock, with an enormously long rod,
casts bait among the little fish as a snare,
throwing an ox-horn into the sea,
then seizes a writhing fish and flings it ashore—
255so they were lifted writhing toward the cliff.
There at her entrance Scylla devoured them as they shrieked
and reached their hands toward me in that terrible struggle.
That was the most pitiful sight my eyes ever saw
in all I suffered while searching out the pathways of the sea.
Commentary
Odysseus says he forgot Circe’s command against arming, dons armor, takes two spears, and watches the misty rock until his eyes tire. The company enters the narrow water lamenting. Charybdis’ visible turbulence, roar, foam, and exposed sandy depth draw everyone’s terrified gaze; meanwhile Scylla takes the six strongest companions unseen. Odysseus looks back to see limbs raised overhead and hears each victim call him by name for the last time. A fishing simile makes them writhing prey lifted toward the rock, where they reach toward him while being devoured. He names this his most pitiful sight.
12.226–233 Odysseus’ armor is an acknowledged lapse into the combat response Circe had just rejected. He says he forgot her painful command because she had not told him to arm, then puts on splendid equipment, takes two spears, and climbs to the foredeck expecting Scylla. The weapons do not improve perception: his eyes tire from searching the misty rock, and Scylla remains unseen until she has acted. Protective intention, forgetfulness, martial identity, and practical futility coexist.
12.234–246 Visible Charybdis captures the company’s attention while Scylla acts in the temporal interval marked as “meanwhile.” The ship enters lamenting between the threats. Charybdis sucks, spews, boils, foams, exposes depth, and makes the rock roar; pale fear seizes the men, who look toward her as destruction. The narration then uses tophra to reveal that during this fixation Scylla has taken six companions. Attention is a narrative condition of surprise, not proof that Charybdis intentionally collaborates with Scylla.
12.234–250 Charybdis’ repeated turbulence delays Scylla’s entrance until the sudden upward image of hands, feet, and named cries. Spewing and swallowing clauses recur with cauldron, foam, roaring rock, exposed ground, and collective fear. The turn to Scylla is abrupt: six are already taken, and Odysseus’ backward look catches extremities lifted above him before voices call his name. The pacing shifts from large environmental motion to individual bodies and sound without claiming complete scansion.
12.245–259 The six victims remain companions with strength, voices, names for their leader, reaching hands, and a final claim on witness. They are selected in narration as strongest in hands and bodily force, not as faceless numerical payment. Lifted alive, they call Odysseus by name for the last time and reach toward him while Scylla eats them. The fisherman simile makes them small prey within another agent’s technique, yet their cries and hands resist dehumanization. Odysseus’ judgment of the sight as most pitiful remains his retrospective testimony.
Approach to Thrinacia and renewed warning 12.260–277
260αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πέτρας φύγομεν δεινήν τε Χάρυβδιν
Σκύλλην τʼ, αὐτίκʼ ἔπειτα θεοῦ ἐς ἀμύμονα νῆσον
ἱκόμεθʼ· ἔνθα δʼ ἔσαν καλαὶ βόες εὐρυμέτωποι,
πολλὰ δὲ ἴφια μῆλʼ Ὑπερίονος Ἠελίοιο.
δὴ τότʼ ἐγὼν ἔτι πόντῳ ἐὼν ἐν νηὶ μελαίνῃ
265μυκηθμοῦ τʼ ἤκουσα βοῶν αὐλιζομενάων
οἰῶν τε βληχήν· καί μοι ἔπος ἔμπεσε θυμῷ
μάντηος ἀλαοῦ, Θηβαίου Τειρεσίαο,
Κίρκης τʼ Αἰαίης, ἥ μοι μάλα πόλλʼ ἐπέτελλε
νῆσον ἀλεύασθαι τερψιμβρότου Ἠελίοιο.
270δὴ τότʼ ἐγὼν ἑτάροισι μετηύδων ἀχνύμενος κῆρ·
κέκλυτέ μευ μύθων κακά περ πάσχοντες ἑταῖροι,
ὄφρʼ ὑμῖν εἴπω μαντήια Τειρεσίαο
Κίρκης τʼ Αἰαίης, ἥ μοι μάλα πόλλʼ ἐπέτελλε
νῆσον ἀλεύασθαι τερψιμβρότου Ἠελίοιο·
275ἔνθα γὰρ αἰνότατον κακὸν ἔμμεναι ἄμμιν ἔφασκεν.
ἀλλὰ παρὲξ τὴν νῆσον ἐλαύνετε νῆα μέλαιναν.
ὣς ἐφάμην, τοῖσιν δὲ κατεκλάσθη φίλον ἦτορ.
260When we had escaped the rocks, dreadful Charybdis,
and Scylla, we soon reached the god’s faultless island.
There were Helios Hyperion’s beautiful broad-browed cattle
and many sturdy sheep.
While I was still at sea in the black ship,
265I heard the lowing of cattle penned for the night
and the bleating of sheep. Then the words struck my heart
of the blind prophet, Theban Tiresias,
and of Circe of Aeaea, who had repeatedly commanded me
to avoid the island of Helios, who brings delight to mortals.
270Then I addressed my companions, grieving at heart:
‘Hear my declaration, companions, though you suffer hardships,
so I may tell you the prophecies of Tiresias
and Circe of Aeaea, who repeatedly commanded me
to avoid the island of Helios, who brings delight to mortals.
275For there, she said, the most terrible evil awaits us.
Drive the black ship past the island.’
So I spoke, and their dear hearts broke within them.
Commentary
After escaping the strait, the survivors reach Helios’ island. Before landing, Odysseus hears cattle and sheep and is struck inwardly by the words of Tiresias and Circe. He addresses the suffering companions, now disclosing both prophetic authorities and saying Circe repeatedly ordered avoidance because the worst evil awaited there. His practical command is to drive past. The remembered wording repeats internally as narration becomes speech, but the warning arrives when the island is already present to the senses. The companions’ hearts break.
12.260–274 Internal byte-exact and punctuation-normalized repetition turns remembered warning into direct crew speech at the approach to Thrinacia. Line 12.268 is byte-exact with 12.273. Lines 12.269 and 12.274 differ only in final punctuation, so they are punctuation-normalized exact rather than byte-exact. Odysseus moves from inward recollection to spoken warning; the paired authorities are Tiresias and Circe, and the repeated Circe clause stresses her many commands to avoid Helios’ island. The formulaic relay remains verbally exact apart from that punctuation, while Tiresias’ fuller conditional structure stands behind the summary Odysseus now gives the crew.
12.264–277 The cattle’s sound activates prophecy before landing, and Odysseus finally tells the crew that the island itself should be avoided. Lowing and bleating reach the ship while it is still at sea; the words of Tiresias and Circe strike Odysseus’ thumos. His address acknowledges companion suffering, names both prophetic sources, identifies the worst evil as awaiting there, and orders passage beyond the island. The companions’ hearts break, showing reception of the warning but not yet their answer. Knowledge arrives before landing but after route pressure has become immediate.
Eurylochus argues for landing and the crew swears 12.278–303
278αὐτίκα δʼ Εὐρύλοχος στυγερῷ μʼ ἠμείβετο μύθῳ·
σχέτλιός εἰς, Ὀδυσεῦ· περί τοι μένος, οὐδέ τι γυῖα
280κάμνεις· ἦ ῥά νυ σοί γε σιδήρεα πάντα τέτυκται,
ὅς ῥʼ ἑτάρους καμάτῳ ἁδηκότας ἠδὲ καὶ ὕπνῳ
οὐκ ἐάᾳς γαίης ἐπιβήμεναι, ἔνθα κεν αὖτε
νήσῳ ἐν ἀμφιρύτῃ λαρὸν τετυκοίμεθα δόρπον,
ἀλλʼ αὔτως διὰ νύκτα θοὴν ἀλάλησθαι ἄνωγας
285νήσου ἀποπλαγχθέντας ἐν ἠεροειδέι πόντῳ.
ἐκ νυκτῶν δʼ ἄνεμοι χαλεποί, δηλήματα νηῶν,
γίγνονται· πῇ κέν τις ὑπεκφύγοι αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον,
ἤν πως ἐξαπίνης ἔλθῃ ἀνέμοιο θύελλα,
ἢ Νότου ἢ Ζεφύροιο δυσαέος, οἵ τε μάλιστα
290νῆα διαρραίουσι θεῶν ἀέκητι ἀνάκτων.
ἀλλʼ ἦ τοι νῦν μὲν πειθώμεθα νυκτὶ μελαίνῃ
δόρπον θʼ ὁπλισόμεσθα θοῇ παρὰ νηὶ μένοντες,
ἠῶθεν δʼ ἀναβάντες ἐνήσομεν εὐρέι πόντῳ.
ὣς ἔφατʼ Εὐρύλοχος, ἐπὶ δʼ ᾔνεον ἄλλοι ἑταῖροι.
295καὶ τότε δὴ γίγνωσκον ὃ δὴ κακὰ μήδετο δαίμων,
καί μιν φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδων·
Εὐρύλοχʼ, ἦ μάλα δή με βιάζετε μοῦνον ἐόντα.
ἀλλʼ ἄγε νῦν μοι πάντες ὀμόσσατε καρτερὸν ὅρκον·
εἴ κέ τινʼ ἠὲ βοῶν ἀγέλην ἢ πῶυ μέγʼ οἰῶν
300εὕρωμεν, μή πού τις ἀτασθαλίῃσι κακῇσιν
ἢ βοῦν ἠέ τι μῆλον ἀποκτάνῃ· ἀλλὰ ἕκηλοι
ἐσθίετε βρώμην, τὴν ἀθανάτη πόρε Κίρκη.
ὣς ἐφάμην, οἱ δʼ αὐτίκʼ ἀπώμνυον, ὡς ἐκέλευον.
278Eurylochus at once answered me with a hateful speech:
‘You are a hard man, Odysseus. Your strength is beyond measure, and your limbs
280never tire—surely your whole body is made of iron.
Your companions are worn out by labor and want of sleep,
yet you will not let them set foot on land, where once again
on a sea-girt island we could prepare a pleasant supper.
Instead, you order us to wander blindly through the swift night,
285driven from the island over the misty sea.
Out of the night come difficult winds, the destroyers of ships.
How could anyone escape sheer destruction
if a squall of wind suddenly rises—
a blast of the South Wind or hard-blowing Zephyr, which above all
290shatter ships even against the will of the lordly gods?
Come, this time let us obey the black night.
We will prepare supper and stay beside the swift ship;
at dawn we will embark and launch into the broad sea.’
So Eurylochus spoke, and the other companions approved.
295Then I recognized the ruin a divine power was devising,
and I addressed Eurylochus with winged words:
‘Eurylochus, you are forcing me, alone as I am.
Come, all of you now swear me a binding oath:
if we find a herd of cattle or a great flock of sheep,
300no one in wicked recklessness is to kill
any cow or sheep. Eat in peace instead
the food immortal Circe provided.’
So I spoke, and at once they swore as I commanded.
Commentary
Eurylochus calls Odysseus hard and iron-bodied, contrasting the leader’s apparently tireless strength with companions exhausted by labor and sleep deprivation. His proposed landing promises supper and avoids night sailing exposed to sudden destructive winds. The other companions approve. Odysseus interprets a divine power as devising ruin, then tells Eurylochus the group is forcing him because he stands alone. He accepts landing only after every companion swears a binding oath that no one will kill cattle or sheep through ruinous recklessness and that they will eat Circe’s stores instead. The oath is immediately completed.
12.278–294 Eurylochus grounds his opposition in unequal endurance, sleep deprivation, food, darkness, and maritime risk rather than denying the warning. He calls Odysseus hard and iron-bodied because the leader does not tire as the companions do. His proposal is landfall, supper, and departure at dawn; his objection to continuing is sudden wind at night, especially from South or Zephyr. He does not claim the cattle are safe to kill here. The other companions approve a bounded rest argument whose later consequences do not erase its stated bodily and navigational reasons.
12.286–293 Eurylochus’ night-wind warning is source-bound maritime reasoning, not a scientific weather system. He names difficult winds as ship destroyers and imagines sudden squall from South or hard-blowing Zephyr, even against divine will. His practical alternative is to remain beside the ship, prepare supper, and launch at dawn. Darkness, island, open sea, and named winds form the argument’s geography without deciding whether the prediction is meteorologically probable or divinely contradicted.
12.294–303 Crew approval turns Eurylochus’ speech into collective pressure that Odysseus answers with a negotiated oath. The companions praise the proposal; Odysseus says a divine power is devising evil, then tells Eurylochus that “you” plural force him while he stands alone. He does not retain unilateral control. Instead he establishes a condition for consent to landing and orders all to swear. The completed oath is therefore both command and agreement produced under an explicit leader-group power conflict.
12.298–303 The oath names ruinous atasthalia as the motive field of any individual killer within a collectively sworn prohibition. All companions swear, but the prohibition says that no one should kill a cow or sheep through evil recklessness. The singular potential offender sits inside a plural oath and a shared alternative of eating Circe’s provisions. The wording recalls the proem’s attribution of loss to companions’ own atasthalia at 1.7-9 without erasing the later storm, hunger, persuasion, and group action.
Landing, mourning, and storm confinement 12.304–324
304αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ὄμοσάν τε τελεύτησάν τε τὸν ὅρκον,
305στήσαμεν ἐν λιμένι γλαφυρῷ ἐυεργέα νῆα
ἄγχʼ ὕδατος γλυκεροῖο, καὶ ἐξαπέβησαν ἑταῖροι
νηός, ἔπειτα δὲ δόρπον ἐπισταμένως τετύκοντο.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο,
μνησάμενοι δὴ ἔπειτα φίλους ἔκλαιον ἑταίρους,
310οὓς ἔφαγε Σκύλλη γλαφυρῆς ἐκ νηὸς ἑλοῦσα·
κλαιόντεσσι δὲ τοῖσιν ἐπήλυθε νήδυμος ὕπνος.
ἦμος δὲ τρίχα νυκτὸς ἔην, μετὰ δʼ ἄστρα βεβήκει,
ὦρσεν ἔπι ζαῆν ἄνεμον νεφεληγερέτα Ζεὺς
λαίλαπι θεσπεσίῃ, σὺν δὲ νεφέεσσι κάλυψε
315γαῖαν ὁμοῦ καὶ πόντον· ὀρώρει δʼ οὐρανόθεν νύξ.
ἦμος δʼ ἠριγένεια φάνη ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς,
νῆα μὲν ὡρμίσαμεν κοῖλον σπέος εἰσερύσαντες.
ἔνθα δʼ ἔσαν νυμφέων καλοὶ χοροὶ ἠδὲ θόωκοι·
καὶ τότʼ ἐγὼν ἀγορὴν θέμενος μετὰ μῦθον ἔειπον·
320ὦ φίλοι, ἐν γὰρ νηὶ θοῇ βρῶσίς τε πόσις τε
ἔστιν, τῶν δὲ βοῶν ἀπεχώμεθα, μή τι πάθωμεν·
δεινοῦ γὰρ θεοῦ αἵδε βόες καὶ ἴφια μῆλα,
Ἠελίου, ὃς πάντʼ ἐφορᾷ καὶ πάντʼ ἐπακούει.
ὣς ἐφάμην, τοῖσιν δʼ ἐπεπείθετο θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ.
304When they had sworn and made the oath complete,
305we moored the well-built ship in a hollow harbor
near fresh water. The companions disembarked,
then skillfully prepared their supper.
When they had satisfied their desire for food and drink,
they remembered and mourned their dear companions,
310whom Scylla had snatched from the hollow ship and eaten.
As they wept, sweet sleep came over them.
When a third of the night was left and the stars had crossed the sky,
cloud-gathering Zeus roused a raging wind against us
with a tremendous squall and shrouded in clouds
315both land and sea; night swept down from heaven.
When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered,
we drew the ship into a hollow cave and moored her.
There were the nymphs’ beautiful dancing grounds and seats.
Then I called an assembly and spoke among them:
320‘Friends, there is food and drink inside the swift ship.
Let us keep away from the cattle, so we suffer no harm,
for these cattle and sturdy sheep belong to a fearsome god—
Helios, who sees everything and hears everything.’
So I spoke, and their proud hearts were persuaded.
Commentary
After completing the oath, the crew moors near fresh water, prepares supper, remembers the six companions eaten by Scylla, and falls asleep while mourning. During the night Zeus raises a raging wind, tremendous squall, cloud, and darkness over land and sea. At dawn they draw the ship into a cave associated with the nymphs’ dancing grounds and seats. Odysseus calls an assembly, points to remaining shipboard food and drink, and renews the command to avoid the animals because Helios sees and hears all. The companions are again persuaded before provisions fail.
12.304–311 The companions complete the oath, eat permitted food, mourn Scylla’s victims, and sleep before any cattle violation occurs. The oath is both sworn and fulfilled as an oath act. The ship is moored near fresh water, supper is prepared skillfully, and satisfied companions remember those Scylla ate. Grief leads into sleep. This interval matters because the group does not break the vow immediately upon landing; restraint and mourning precede the prolonged storm and depletion that alter their condition.
12.312–324 Zeus is explicit agent of the storm that confines the crew, while Odysseus’ renewed warning again secures temporary persuasion. Cloud-gathering Zeus raises raging wind, tremendous squall, cloud, and heaven-sent darkness. At dawn the crew shelters the ship in a cave associated with nymphs. Odysseus assembles them, points to remaining food and drink, and grounds restraint in Helios’ ownership and total seeing and hearing. Their proud thumos is persuaded again. Divine confinement increases pressure but has not yet compelled violation.
Stores fail and Odysseus falls asleep 12.325–339
325μῆνα δὲ πάντʼ ἄλληκτος ἄη Νότος, οὐδέ τις ἄλλος
γίγνετʼ ἔπειτʼ ἀνέμων εἰ μὴ Εὖρός τε Νότος τε.
οἱ δʼ ἧος μὲν σῖτον ἔχον καὶ οἶνον ἐρυθρόν,
τόφρα βοῶν ἀπέχοντο λιλαιόμενοι βιότοιο.
ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ νηὸς ἐξέφθιτο ἤια πάντα,
330καὶ δὴ ἄγρην ἐφέπεσκον ἀλητεύοντες ἀνάγκῃ,
ἰχθῦς ὄρνιθάς τε, φίλας ὅ τι χεῖρας ἵκοιτο,
γναμπτοῖς ἀγκίστροισιν, ἔτειρε δὲ γαστέρα λιμός·
δὴ τότʼ ἐγὼν ἀνὰ νῆσον ἀπέστιχον, ὄφρα θεοῖσιν
εὐξαίμην, εἴ τίς μοι ὁδὸν φήνειε νέεσθαι.
335ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ διὰ νήσου ἰὼν ἤλυξα ἑταίρους,
χεῖρας νιψάμενος, ὅθʼ ἐπὶ σκέπας ἦν ἀνέμοιο,
ἠρώμην πάντεσσι θεοῖς οἳ Ὄλυμπον ἔχουσιν·
οἱ δʼ ἄρα μοι γλυκὺν ὕπνον ἐπὶ βλεφάροισιν ἔχευαν.
Εὐρύλοχος δʼ ἑτάροισι κακῆς ἐξήρχετο βουλῆς·
325For a whole month the South Wind blew without pause;
no other wind arose except Eurus and the South.
As long as the men had bread and red wine,
they kept away from the cattle, though they longed for sustenance.
But when all the ship’s provisions had been consumed,
330they ranged about hunting under the pressure of need—
fish and birds, whatever their hands could reach—
with bent hooks, while hunger tormented their bellies.
Then I went off across the island to pray to the gods,
in case one of them might reveal a road for my return.
335When I had crossed the island and escaped my companions’ notice,
I washed my hands where there was shelter from the wind
and prayed to all the gods who hold Olympus.
They poured sweet sleep over my eyelids.
Meanwhile Eurylochus began giving the companions ruinous counsel:
Commentary
For a full month the South Wind persists, with only Eurus joining it. While bread and wine remain, desire for sustenance does not overcome restraint. Once all stores are consumed, the companions range under necessity for fish and birds with hooks, while hunger torments their bellies. Odysseus crosses the island to pray for a path home, deliberately moving beyond his companions’ notice, washes, and appeals to the Olympian gods. They pour sleep over him. In his absence and under that divinely imposed sleep, Eurylochus begins the counsel that changes the group’s action.
12.325–332 Restraint holds while stores remain, then necessity and hunger shift the companions from provisions to uncertain hunting. For a month adverse winds persist. Bread and wine permit the men to keep away from cattle despite desire for sustenance. Only after every provision is consumed do they wander under anankē, taking fish and birds with bent hooks whenever their hands can reach them. Hunger acts on the belly, giving bodily pressure a concrete sequence without making the later killing automatic.
12.333–339 Odysseus’ withdrawal to seek divine guidance creates the absence in which Eurylochus takes the speaking initiative. He crosses the island, escapes companion notice, washes in wind shelter, and prays to every Olympian for a route home. The gods answer not with a route but by pouring sweet sleep over his eyelids. The narration then turns immediately to Eurylochus beginning bad counsel. Divine sleep removes Odysseus from deliberation, but Eurylochus remains grammatical agent of the speech and companions of their approval.
Eurylochus urges the cattle sacrifice 12.340–352
340κέκλυτέ μευ μύθων κακά περ πάσχοντες ἑταῖροι.
πάντες μὲν στυγεροὶ θάνατοι δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσι,
λιμῷ δʼ οἴκτιστον θανέειν καὶ πότμον ἐπισπεῖν.
ἀλλʼ ἄγετʼ, Ἠελίοιο βοῶν ἐλάσαντες ἀρίστας
ῥέξομεν ἀθανάτοισι, τοὶ οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἔχουσιν.
345εἰ δέ κεν εἰς Ἰθάκην ἀφικοίμεθα, πατρίδα γαῖαν,
αἶψά κεν Ἠελίῳ Ὑπερίονι πίονα νηὸν
τεύξομεν, ἐν δέ κε θεῖμεν ἀγάλματα πολλὰ καὶ ἐσθλά.
εἰ δὲ χολωσάμενός τι βοῶν ὀρθοκραιράων
νῆʼ ἐθέλῃ ὀλέσαι, ἐπὶ δʼ ἕσπωνται θεοὶ ἄλλοι,
350βούλομʼ ἅπαξ πρὸς κῦμα χανὼν ἀπὸ θυμὸν ὀλέσσαι,
ἢ δηθὰ στρεύγεσθαι ἐὼν ἐν νήσῳ ἐρήμῃ.
ὣς ἔφατʼ Εὐρύλοχος, ἐπὶ δʼ ᾔνεον ἄλλοι ἑταῖροι.
340‘Hear my declaration, companions, though you suffer hardships.
All forms of death are hateful to wretched mortals,
but death by starvation is the most pitiful fate of all.
Come, let us drive off the best cattle of Helios
and sacrifice them to the immortals who hold the broad heaven.
345If we reach Ithaca, our native land,
we will at once build a rich temple to Helios Hyperion
and set within it many fine and precious offerings.
But if, angered over the straight-horned cattle,
he chooses to destroy our ship and the other gods consent,
350I would rather open my mouth once to the wave and lose my life
than waste away slowly on a deserted island.’
So Eurylochus spoke, and the other companions approved.
Commentary
Eurylochus reuses an address to suffering companions and ranks death by starvation as the most pitiful mortal death. He proposes taking the best cattle and sacrificing them to all the Olympian gods, promises a rich temple and offerings to Helios if they reach Ithaca, and accepts the possibility that Helios with divine consent may destroy the ship. His stated preference is one sudden death in the wave over prolonged wasting on the island. The companions approve in the same formula that closed his landing speech. Deliberation, anticipated punishment, and collective assent are explicit.
12.340–352 Eurylochus’ second successful appeal repeats both its opening address and the crew-approval closure. Line 12.340 is punctuation-normalized exact with 10.189 and internally with 12.271. Line 12.352 is byte-exact with 12.294, which closed Eurylochus’ landing speech. The same suffering-companion address and approval formula now frame a different proposal: not rest beside the ship, but slaughter, sacrifice, promised temple, and accepted risk of destruction.
12.340–352 Eurylochus openly weighs starvation against sacrilege and chooses a plan that anticipates possible divine destruction. He calls every death hateful but starvation most pitiful. The proposed sacrifice seeks to redirect the cattle toward all immortals, with a rich Helios temple promised after homecoming. Yet he explicitly imagines Helios’ anger, other gods’ consent, ship destruction, and his own preference for sudden wave-death over slow wasting. The companions approve a known risk, not an act represented as consequence-free.
The cattle are killed and the sacrifice improvised 12.353–367
353αὐτίκα δʼ Ἠελίοιο βοῶν ἐλάσαντες ἀρίστας
ἐγγύθεν, οὐ γὰρ τῆλε νεὸς κυανοπρῴροιο
355βοσκέσκονθʼ ἕλικες καλαὶ βόες εὐρυμέτωποι·
τὰς δὲ περίστησάν τε καὶ εὐχετόωντο θεοῖσιν,
φύλλα δρεψάμενοι τέρενα δρυὸς ὑψικόμοιο·
οὐ γὰρ ἔχον κρῖ λευκὸν ἐυσσέλμου ἐπὶ νηός.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ εὔξαντο καὶ ἔσφαξαν καὶ ἔδειραν,
360μηρούς τʼ ἐξέταμον κατά τε κνίσῃ ἐκάλυψαν
δίπτυχα ποιήσαντες, ἐπʼ αὐτῶν δʼ ὠμοθέτησαν.
οὐδʼ εἶχον μέθυ λεῖψαι ἐπʼ αἰθομένοις ἱεροῖσιν,
ἀλλʼ ὕδατι σπένδοντες ἐπώπτων ἔγκατα πάντα.
αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ κατὰ μῆρʼ ἐκάη καὶ σπλάγχνα πάσαντο,
365μίστυλλόν τʼ ἄρα τἆλλα καὶ ἀμφʼ ὀβελοῖσιν ἔπειραν.
καὶ τότε μοι βλεφάρων ἐξέσσυτο νήδυμος ὕπνος,
βῆν δʼ ἰέναι ἐπὶ νῆα θοὴν καὶ θῖνα θαλάσσης.
353They immediately drove off the best of Helios’s cattle,
from nearby, since not far from the dark-prowed ship
355the beautiful spiral-horned, broad-browed cattle grazed.
They stood around the victims and prayed to the gods,
plucking tender leaves from a high-crowned oak,
for they had no white barley aboard the well-benched ship.
When they had prayed, slaughtered the cattle, and flayed them,
360they cut out the thighbones and covered them with fat
folding it twice, then laid raw strips of flesh upon it.
They had no wine to pour over the burning sacrifice,
so they made libations with water and roasted all the entrails.
When the thighbones had burned and they had tasted the inner parts,
365they cut the rest into pieces and threaded them on spits.
At that moment sweet sleep rushed away from my eyelids,
and I began walking toward the swift ship and the seashore.
Commentary
The companions immediately drive off the best nearby cattle. They surround the victims and pray, but material scarcity alters the rite: tender oak leaves replace barley, and water replaces wine. They nevertheless slaughter, flay, cut thighbones, fold fat, place raw flesh, burn the divine portion, taste the inner parts, divide the rest, and put it on spits. Several lines exactly or nearly repeat the sacrifice at Pylos in Book 3, making the substitutions more visible rather than less. Odysseus’ divinely sent sleep ends only after the irreversible killing and initial ritual actions.
12.353–365 Exact Book 3 sacrificial lines recur inside a rite whose missing barley and wine are explicitly exposed. Line 12.361 is byte-exact with 3.458, 12.364 with 3.461, and 12.365 punctuation-normalized with 3.462. The repeated folding, raw placement, burning, tasting, cutting, and spitting occur after oak leaves replace barley and water replaces wine. Formula makes the procedure recognizable, while the local substitutions and violated ownership prevent the scene from becoming an ordinary repetition of the Pylian sacrifice.
12.353–365 The companions perform a deliberate but materially compromised sacrifice rather than an unstructured killing. They select the best nearby cattle, stand around them, pray, slaughter, flay, prepare thighbones and fat, place raw strips, burn, taste entrails, divide meat, and use spits. Tender oak leaves substitute for absent barley, and water for absent wine. The substitutions show intention to preserve ritual sequence under scarcity, but neither prayer nor form cancels the oath, Helios’ ownership, or the warned consequence.
Odysseus returns and Helios demands repayment 12.368–390
368ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ σχεδὸν ἦα κιὼν νεὸς ἀμφιελίσσης,
καὶ τότε με κνίσης ἀμφήλυθεν ἡδὺς ἀυτμή.
370οἰμώξας δὲ θεοῖσι μέγʼ ἀθανάτοισι γεγώνευν·
Ζεῦ πάτερ ἠδʼ ἄλλοι μάκαρες θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες,
ἦ με μάλʼ εἰς ἄτην κοιμήσατε νηλέι ὕπνῳ.
οἱ δʼ ἕταροι μέγα ἔργον ἐμητίσαντο μένοντες.
ὠκέα δʼ Ἠελίῳ Ὑπερίονι ἄγγελος ἦλθε
375Λαμπετίη τανύπεπλος, ὅ οἱ βόας ἔκταμεν ἡμεῖς.
αὐτίκα δʼ ἀθανάτοισι μετηύδα χωόμενος κῆρ·
Ζεῦ πάτερ ἠδʼ ἄλλοι μάκαρες θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες,
τῖσαι δὴ ἑτάρους Λαερτιάδεω Ὀδυσῆος,
οἵ μευ βοῦς ἔκτειναν ὑπέρβιον, ᾗσιν ἐγώ γε
380χαίρεσκον μὲν ἰὼν εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀστερόεντα,
ἠδʼ ὁπότʼ ἂψ ἐπὶ γαῖαν ἀπʼ οὐρανόθεν προτραποίμην.
εἰ δέ μοι οὐ τίσουσι βοῶν ἐπιεικέʼ ἀμοιβήν,
δύσομαι εἰς Ἀίδαο καὶ ἐν νεκύεσσι φαείνω.
τὸν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη νεφεληγερέτα Ζεύς·
385Ἠέλιʼ, ἦ τοι μὲν σὺ μετʼ ἀθανάτοισι φάεινε
καὶ θνητοῖσι βροτοῖσιν ἐπὶ ζείδωρον ἄρουραν·
τῶν δέ κʼ ἐγὼ τάχα νῆα θοὴν ἀργῆτι κεραυνῷ
τυτθὰ βαλὼν κεάσαιμι μέσῳ ἐνὶ οἴνοπι πόντῳ.
ταῦτα δʼ ἐγὼν ἤκουσα Καλυψοῦς ἠυκόμοιο·
390ἡ δʼ ἔφη Ἑρμείαο διακτόρου αὐτὴ ἀκοῦσαι.
368But when on my way I was close to the double-ended ship,
the sweet smell of roasting fat enveloped me.
370I groaned and cried aloud to the deathless gods:
‘Father Zeus and you other blessed gods who live forever,
you put me under pitiless sleep—to my ruin!
My companions stayed behind and devised a monstrous deed.’
A swift messenger came to Helios Hyperion—
375long-robed Lampetie—with word that we had killed his cattle.
At once Helios, angered at heart, addressed the immortals:
‘Father Zeus and you other blessed gods who live forever,
punish the companions of Laertes’ son Odysseus.
In their arrogance they killed my cattle, in which I always
380took delight as I traveled into the starry heaven
and whenever I turned back from heaven toward the earth.
Unless they pay me fitting compensation for the cattle,
I will go down to Hades and shine among the dead.’
Cloud-gathering Zeus answered him:
385‘Helios, keep shining among the immortals
and for mortal men upon the grain-giving earth.
I will soon strike their swift ship with a blazing thunderbolt
and split it apart in the middle of the wine-dark sea.’
This I heard from Calypso of the lovely hair;
390she said she herself had heard it from Hermes the guide.
Commentary
As Odysseus nears the ship, the smell of fat reveals the act. He cries to Zeus and the gods that they sent pitiless sleep as ruin, then assigns the companions the monstrous deed. Lampetie swiftly informs Helios that “we” killed the cattle, preserving Odysseus’ collective retrospective grammar within his narration. Helios directly charges Odysseus’ companions, calls their act arrogant, demands fitting compensation for animals that delight him, and threatens to shine among the dead. Zeus answers that Helios should remain above and promises to split the ship with lightning. Odysseus explicitly learned this exchange from Calypso, who attributed it to Hermes.
12.368–373 Odysseus divides blame between the gods who slept him and the companions who acted during his absence. The smell of fat reaches him before sight of the deed. He cries to Zeus and the other gods that they put him into destructive sleep, then says the companions remained and devised the great act. These are successive attributions inside his apologos: divine agency explains incapacitation, while mortal agency names planning and action. Neither clause by itself supplies a complete causal account.
12.371–390 A repeated divine invocation passes from Odysseus to Helios before an adapted Zeus answer frame closes the exchange. Lines 12.371 and 12.377 are byte-exact with 5.7 and 8.306 and with each other, but the speakers and requests differ: Odysseus protests sleep, while Helios demands punishment. Zeus’ answer at 12.384 is adapted from 1.63 and 5.21 by changing the addressed gender. Formula links mortal complaint, divine complaint, and sovereign response without equating their authority or outcomes.
12.374–390 Helios frames the cattle as cherished property requiring compensation, and Zeus independently chooses the instrument of destruction. Lampetie reports that “we” killed the animals; Helios charges Odysseus’ companions with arrogant killing, describes delight in the herds during his heavenly movement, and demands a fitting return. His threat is withdrawal below to shine among the dead. Zeus tells him to continue shining and promises a thunderbolt against the ship. Odysseus then marks the entire exchange as Calypso’s report from Hermes, not direct divine audition.
Portents, six days of feasting, and departure 12.391–402
391αὐτὰρ ἐπεί ῥʼ ἐπὶ νῆα κατήλυθον ἠδὲ θάλασσαν,
νείκεον ἄλλοθεν ἄλλον ἐπισταδόν, οὐδέ τι μῆχος
εὑρέμεναι δυνάμεσθα, βόες δʼ ἀποτέθνασαν ἤδη.
τοῖσιν δʼ αὐτίκʼ ἔπειτα θεοὶ τέραα προύφαινον·
395εἷρπον μὲν ῥινοί, κρέα δʼ ἀμφʼ ὀβελοῖσι μεμύκει,
ὀπταλέα τε καὶ ὠμά, βοῶν δʼ ὣς γίγνετο φωνή.
ἑξῆμαρ μὲν ἔπειτα ἐμοὶ ἐρίηρες ἑταῖροι
δαίνυντʼ Ἠελίοιο βοῶν ἐλάσαντες ἀρίστας·
ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ ἕβδομον ἦμαρ ἐπὶ Ζεὺς θῆκε Κρονίων,
400καὶ τότʼ ἔπειτʼ ἄνεμος μὲν ἐπαύσατο λαίλαπι θύων,
ἡμεῖς δʼ αἶψʼ ἀναβάντες ἐνήκαμεν εὐρέι πόντῳ,
ἱστὸν στησάμενοι ἀνά θʼ ἱστία λεύκʼ ἐρύσαντες.
391When I had come down to the ship and the sea,
I rebuked the men one after another, but we could find
no remedy: the cattle were already dead.
The gods at once displayed portents among them:
395the hides began to crawl, and the meat around the spits began to low,
both roasted and raw, and a sound like cattle’s voices arose.
For six days my loyal companions feasted
after driving off the best of Helios’s cattle.
But when Zeus son of Cronus brought the seventh day,
400the wind stopped raging in a squall.
We embarked at once and launched into the broad sea,
stepping the mast and hauling up the white sails.
Commentary
Odysseus reaches the ship, rebukes companions one by one, and finds no remedy because the cattle are already dead. The gods display portents: hides crawl and meat on the spits sounds like cattle whether raw or roasted. The companions nevertheless feast on selected cattle for six days. On the seventh, Zeus ends the raging wind, and the company embarks, steps the mast, raises sail, and leaves the island. The interval preserves sustained participation after the first act rather than compressing violation into one moment.
12.391–402 Irreversibility, portent, continued feasting, and delayed departure extend the cattle violation across seven days. Odysseus rebukes companions individually but finds no remedy because the animals are dead. Crawling hides and lowing flesh mark abnormality, yet the group eats the best cattle for six days. Zeus ends the squall on the seventh, after which they launch and raise sail. The narrative therefore preserves repeated consumption and a divine opening for departure rather than moving directly from slaughter to punishment.
Zeus destroys the ship and company 12.403–419
403ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ τὴν νῆσον ἐλείπομεν, οὐδέ τις ἄλλη
φαίνετο γαιάων, ἀλλʼ οὐρανὸς ἠδὲ θάλασσα,
405δὴ τότε κυανέην νεφέλην ἔστησε Κρονίων
νηὸς ὕπερ γλαφυρῆς, ἤχλυσε δὲ πόντος ὑπʼ αὐτῆς.
ἡ δʼ ἔθει οὐ μάλα πολλὸν ἐπὶ χρόνον· αἶψα γὰρ ἦλθε
κεκληγὼς Ζέφυρος μεγάλῃ σὺν λαίλαπι θύων,
ἱστοῦ δὲ προτόνους ἔρρηξʼ ἀνέμοιο θύελλα
410ἀμφοτέρους· ἱστὸς δʼ ὀπίσω πέσεν, ὅπλα τε πάντα
εἰς ἄντλον κατέχυνθʼ. ὁ δʼ ἄρα πρυμνῇ ἐνὶ νηὶ
πλῆξε κυβερνήτεω κεφαλήν, σὺν δʼ ὀστέʼ ἄραξε
πάντʼ ἄμυδις κεφαλῆς· ὁ δʼ ἄρʼ ἀρνευτῆρι ἐοικὼς
κάππεσʼ ἀπʼ ἰκριόφιν, λίπε δʼ ὀστέα θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ.
415Ζεὺς δʼ ἄμυδις βρόντησε καὶ ἔμβαλε νηὶ κεραυνόν·
ἡ δʼ ἐλελίχθη πᾶσα Διὸς πληγεῖσα κεραυνῷ,
ἐν δὲ θεείου πλῆτο, πέσον δʼ ἐκ νηὸς ἑταῖροι.
οἱ δὲ κορώνῃσιν ἴκελοι περὶ νῆα μέλαιναν
κύμασιν ἐμφορέοντο, θεὸς δʼ ἀποαίνυτο νόστον.
403But when we had left the island and no other
land appeared, but only sky and sea,
405the son of Cronus set a dark cloud
above the hollow ship, and beneath it the sea grew dark.
She did not run for long. Shrieking Zephyr soon came
blowing with a tremendous squall.
The storm-wind snapped both forestays of the mast;
410the mast fell backward, and all the gear
spilled down into the bilge. At the stern of the ship
the mast struck the helmsman’s head and crushed
all the bones of his skull together. Like a diver
he plunged from the deck, and his proud spirit left his bones.
415Zeus thundered at the same moment and struck the ship with a thunderbolt.
She spun completely around under Zeus’s blow
and filled with sulfur; the companions fell from the ship.
Like crows they were carried by the waves
around the black ship, and a god took away their homecoming.
Commentary
Once no land remains visible, Zeus places a dark cloud above the ship and darkens the sea. Zephyr arrives with a violent squall, snaps the forestays, and drives the mast backward. The mast first crushes the helmsman’s skull and casts him from the deck; his thumos leaves his bones. Zeus then thunders and strikes the ship, which spins, fills with sulfur, and throws the companions into the sea. They move around the wreck like crows. The closing statement says a god removed their homecoming, leaving the agent grammatically indefinite even after Zeus’ named blow.
12.403–419 The destruction unfolds in stages: isolation from land, Zeus’ cloud, Zephyr’s rigging failure, the helmsman’s death, then the thunderbolt and mass fall. Sky and sea replace visible land before Zeus sets darkness over the ship. Zephyr’s squall snaps both forestays; the mast falls backward and first kills the helmsman by crushing his skull. Zeus thunders at the same moment as the bolt strikes, the ship spins and fills with sulfur, and companions fall into the waves. Separating these stages preserves named agents and prevents every death from being assigned to one undifferentiated instant.
12.413–419 The helmsman’s thumos leaves his bones, while the final god who removes nostos remains grammatically indefinite. After the crushed skull and diver simile, proud thumos departs from the bones. The local sequence makes thumos life-force at death without fixing its meaning elsewhere. The companions then fall and drift like crows, and the closing theos is unnamed when nostos is taken away. Zeus is the immediately preceding named striker, but the line itself does not repeat his name.
The wreckage carries Odysseus back 12.420–430
420αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ διὰ νηὸς ἐφοίτων, ὄφρʼ ἀπὸ τοίχους
λῦσε κλύδων τρόπιος, τὴν δὲ ψιλὴν φέρε κῦμα,
ἐκ δέ οἱ ἱστὸν ἄραξε ποτὶ τρόπιν. αὐτὰρ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ
ἐπίτονος βέβλητο, βοὸς ῥινοῖο τετευχώς·
τῷ ῥʼ ἄμφω συνέεργον, ὁμοῦ τρόπιν ἠδὲ καὶ ἱστόν,
425ἑζόμενος δʼ ἐπὶ τοῖς φερόμην ὀλοοῖς ἀνέμοισιν.
ἔνθʼ ἦ τοι Ζέφυρος μὲν ἐπαύσατο λαίλαπι θύων,
ἦλθε δʼ ἐπὶ Νότος ὦκα, φέρων ἐμῷ ἄλγεα θυμῷ,
ὄφρʼ ἔτι τὴν ὀλοὴν ἀναμετρήσαιμι Χάρυβδιν.
παννύχιος φερόμην, ἅμα δʼ ἠελίῳ ἀνιόντι
430ἦλθον ἐπὶ Σκύλλης σκόπελον δεινήν τε Χάρυβδιν.
420I kept moving through the ship until the surge tore
the vessel’s sides from the keel and the wave carried the bare keel on.
It broke the mast against the keel. A backstay
made from an ox’s hide had fallen over it;
with this I bound the two together, keel and mast,
425and sat astride them, carried along by the destructive winds.
Then Zephyr ceased blowing in a squall,
but the South Wind quickly came, bringing pain to my heart,
so that I had to measure out the course past deadly Charybdis once more.
All night long I drifted, and at sunrise
430I came to Scylla’s cliff and dreadful Charybdis.
Commentary
Odysseus moves through the breaking ship until the sides separate from the keel. The wave carries the bare keel, breaks the mast against it, and leaves an ox-hide backstay available. Odysseus binds mast and keel together, sits astride them, and is carried by destructive winds. When Zephyr stops, the South Wind arrives and forces him to travel past Charybdis again. He drifts all night and reaches the strait at sunrise. Survival depends on material remnants and changing winds, not a restored crew or ship.
12.420–430 Odysseus’ solitary survival begins through improvised use of wreckage rather than through intact command or divine transport. As surge separates sides from keel and breaks mast against it, an ox-hide backstay remains. Odysseus binds mast and keel and rides them. Destructive winds carry him; Zephyr stops, South arrives, and the new course forces a second encounter with Charybdis. The material sequence narrows heroic survival to fastening, sitting, enduring, and drifting after every companion and ordinary ship function are gone.
The fig tree above Charybdis and escape 12.431–446
431ἡ μὲν ἀνερροίβδησε θαλάσσης ἁλμυρὸν ὕδωρ·
αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ ποτὶ μακρὸν ἐρινεὸν ὑψόσʼ ἀερθείς,
τῷ προσφὺς ἐχόμην ὡς νυκτερίς. οὐδέ πῃ εἶχον
οὔτε στηρίξαι ποσὶν ἔμπεδον οὔτʼ ἐπιβῆναι·
435ῥίζαι γὰρ ἑκὰς εἶχον, ἀπήωροι δʼ ἔσαν ὄζοι,
μακροί τε μεγάλοι τε, κατεσκίαον δὲ Χάρυβδιν.
νωλεμέως δʼ ἐχόμην, ὄφρʼ ἐξεμέσειεν ὀπίσσω
ἱστὸν καὶ τρόπιν αὖτις· ἐελδομένῳ δέ μοι ἦλθον
ὄψʼ· ἦμος δʼ ἐπὶ δόρπον ἀνὴρ ἀγορῆθεν ἀνέστη
440κρίνων νείκεα πολλὰ δικαζομένων αἰζηῶν,
τῆμος δὴ τά γε δοῦρα Χαρύβδιος ἐξεφαάνθη.
ἧκα δʼ ἐγὼ καθύπερθε πόδας καὶ χεῖρε φέρεσθαι,
μέσσῳ δʼ ἐνδούπησα παρὲξ περιμήκεα δοῦρα,
ἑζόμενος δʼ ἐπὶ τοῖσι διήρεσα χερσὶν ἐμῇσι.
445Σκύλλην δʼ οὐκέτʼ ἔασε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε
εἰσιδέειν· οὐ γάρ κεν ὑπέκφυγον αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον.
431She was sucking down the sea’s salt water.
I sprang high toward the tall fig tree
and clung to it like a bat. Nowhere could I
plant my feet securely or climb onto it,
435for its roots were far away and its branches hung high,
long and great, overshadowing Charybdis.
I clung without pause until she should spew back
the mast and keel. They came at last, though I longed for them—
late—as late as the hour a man rises from the assembly for supper
440after judging the many disputes brought by young men.
Then the timbers appeared from Charybdis.
I let my hands and feet drop from above
and fell with a crash in the middle beside the long beams.
I sat upon them and rowed with my hands.
445The father of gods and men did not allow me
to see Scylla again, for then I could not have escaped sheer destruction.
Commentary
As Charybdis swallows the sea, Odysseus springs to the tall fig tree and clings like a bat. Its distant roots and high branches deny footing or ascent, so suspension replaces stable refuge. He waits until Charybdis returns mast and keel; the delay is measured through a judge rising from assembly for supper after many disputes. Odysseus drops, crashes beside the timbers, sits on them, and rows with his hands. Zeus prevents him from seeing Scylla again, which Odysseus says preserves escape from otherwise certain destruction.
12.431–446 The fig tree offers suspension rather than secure refuge, and escape depends on Charybdis returning the same wreckage that carried Odysseus there. Odysseus leaps while the sea is swallowed and clings like a bat. He cannot brace his feet or climb because roots and branches are inaccessible. He must wait for mast and keel to reappear, then drop among them and row with his hands. Zeus’ final contribution is negative and bounded: Odysseus does not see Scylla again, which he says would have prevented escape.
12.437–444 Prolonged clinging expands through the assembly-and-supper comparison before a rapid fall, impact, seating, and hand-rowing release. Continuous holding and longing delay the timbers. Their lateness is measured by a judge who rises only after resolving many young men’s disputes, stretching danger through a familiar social day. Once the wood appears, Odysseus lets go, falls with a crash, lands beside it, mounts, and rows by hand. The cadence contracts sharply after the extended wait without claiming exhaustive scansion.
Ogygia and the refusal to repeat Calypso’s tale 12.447–453
447ἔνθεν δʼ ἐννῆμαρ φερόμην, δεκάτῃ δέ με νυκτὶ
νῆσον ἐς Ὠγυγίην πέλασαν θεοί, ἔνθα Καλυψὼ
ναίει ἐυπλόκαμος, δεινὴ θεὸς αὐδήεσσα,
450ἥ μʼ ἐφίλει τʼ ἐκόμει τε. τί τοι τάδε μυθολογεύω;
ἤδη γάρ τοι χθιζὸς ἐμυθεόμην ἐνὶ οἴκῳ
σοί τε καὶ ἰφθίμῃ ἀλόχῳ· ἐχθρὸν δέ μοί ἐστιν
αὖτις ἀριζήλως εἰρημένα μυθολογεύειν.
447From there I drifted for nine days; on the tenth night
the gods brought me near the island Ogygia, where Calypso
of the lovely hair lives, the formidable goddess with a human voice,
450who loved and cared for me. Why should I tell you this story?
Only yesterday I told it here in your house
to you and your strong wife. It is hateful to me
to tell again in full what has already been plainly told.”
Commentary
Odysseus drifts for nine days, reaches Ogygia on the tenth night through unnamed gods, and identifies Calypso with a formula closely related to Circe’s divine epithet. He says she loved and cared for him, then asks why he should narrate the episode because he told it in the Phaeacian house the previous day to Alcinous and Arete. His dislike of repeating what has already been clearly told marks performance economy and closes the apologoi’s central voyage sequence. The compressed care statement does not cancel Book 5’s explicit unwillingness and constraint.
12.447–453 The Ogygia transition repeats Book 7’s retrospective before Odysseus refuses a second full narration of Calypso. Line 12.448 is byte-exact with 7.254, while 12.447 closely adapts 7.253. Line 12.449 is an adapted goddess formula related to 10.136, where ναίει replaces Κίρκη, and adaptively to 7.255. Book 7’s transition said Calypso took him in; Book 12 adds that she loved and cared for him, then stops because the Phaeacian hosts heard the account the previous day. The recurrence closes the voyage narrative, but scene-level comparison with 5.151-227 preserves explicit unwillingness, compulsion, and desire for home.