Book 5

rosy-fingered Dawn rose up from her bed, from beside lordly Tithonus,to bring light to the deathless gods and to mortal men;and the gods were taking their seats in assembly, and among themwas Zeus who thunders on high, whose power is greatest of all.And among them Athena was recounting the many sorrows of Odysseus,remembering him; for she grieved that he dwelt in the halls of the nymph."Father Zeus, and you other blessed gods who live forever,let no sceptered king hereafter be kindly, gentle, and mild,nor one who knows righteous things within his heart;but let him always be harsh and do deeds of outrage,since no one remembers godlike Odysseus,of the peoples he ruled — and he was gentle as a father.But he lies on an island, suffering mighty sorrows,in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who holds him by forceand will not let him go; and he cannot reach his own fatherland,for he has no oared ships beside him, nor companionswho might send him over the broad back of the sea.And now they are eager to slay his dear sonas he comes home; and he went to seek tidings of his fatherto holy Pylos and to shining Lacedaemon."Then the cloud-gatherer Zeus answered her and said:"My child, what word has escaped the fence of your teeth?Was it not you yourself who devised this purpose,that Odysseus should come and take vengeance on those men?And Telemachus — send him yourself with skill, for you have the power,so that he may reach his own fatherland wholly unharmed,and the suitors may sail home again,defeated back the way they came." So he spoke, and to his dear son Hermes he said:"Hermes, since you are in all else too our messenger,speak to the fair-tressed nymph a sure counsel,the homecoming of steadfast-hearted Odysseus, that he may returnwith no escort from gods or from mortal men;but let him on a close-bound raft, suffering pains,come on the twentieth day to fertile Scheria,to the land of the Phaeacians, who are near kin to the gods;they will honor him in their hearts as though he were a god,and will send him in a ship to his dear fatherland,giving him bronze and gold in plenty and raiment,gifts as many as Odysseus never carried off from Troy,even if he had come home unscathed, taking his allotted share of the spoil.For so it is his fate to see his loved ones and to cometo his high-roofed house and to his own fatherland."So he spoke, and the slayer of Argus did not disobey him.At once he bound beneath his feet his beautiful sandals,immortal, golden, which bear him over the wet seaand over the boundless land with the blasts of the wind.And he took the wand with which he charms the eyes of men,of whom he will, and wakes others again though they sleep.Holding this in his hands, the strong slayer of Argus flew.Over Pieria he passed, and swooped down from the upper air upon the sea;then he rushed upon the waves, like a gullthat over the terrible gulfs of the barren seahunts fish and dips its thick feathers in the brine.Like that bird, Hermes rode over the many waves.But when he came to the island that lay far off,there he stepped out of the violet sea onto the mainlandand went on until he came to the great cave, wherein the nymphof the fair tresses dwelt; and he found her within.A great fire was burning on the hearth, and far away the smellof split cedar and juniper spread over the islandas they burned; and she within, singing with a beautiful voice,paced at the loom and wove with a golden shuttle.And a wood grew flourishing all about the cave,alder and poplar and sweet-smelling cypress.There too the long-winged birds made their beds,owls and hawks and sea-crows of the long tongue,sea-birds whose business is upon the water.And around the hollow cave a thriving vine was spread,in its prime, and it flourished with clusters of grapes.And four springs flowed in a row with white water,close to one another, each turned its own way.And round about, soft meadows of violet and parsleybloomed. There even an immortal, coming upon it,would marvel at the sight and delight in his heart.There the slayer of Argus stood and marveled.But when he had marveled at all with his heart,at once he went into the wide cave. And seeing him face to face,Calypso, the shining among goddesses, did not fail to know him;for the immortal gods never fail to know one another,even if one has his halls far off.But he did not find great-hearted Odysseus within,but he sat weeping on the shore, where he had always sat,wasting his heart with tears and groans and sorrows,and gazing over the barren sea, shedding tears.And Calypso, the shining among goddesses, questioned Hermes,having seated him on a bright and shining throne:"Why have you come to me, Hermes of the golden wand,honored and dear? You do not come here often.Speak what is in your mind; my heart bids me accomplish it,if I can accomplish it, and if it is to be accomplished.But come further in, so that I may set guest-gifts before you."So speaking, the goddess set out a table before him,filling it with ambrosia, and mixed the red nectar.And the slayer of Argus drank and ate.But when he had dined and cheered his heart with food,then he answered her and spoke these words:"You ask me, a god, why I have come, goddess; and Iwill tell you the matter truly; for you bid me.Zeus sent me here against my will,and who would willingly run across so great a stretch of salt water,measureless as it is? No city of mortals is near at hand, no menwho offer sacrifices to the gods and chosen hecatombs.But there is no way at all to evade the mind of aegis-bearing Zeusor to slip past it, for any other god.He says a man is here, the most wretched of all others,of those men who fought around the city of Priamfor nine years, and in the tenth sacked the city and wenthome; but on the homeward way they sinned against Athena,who roused against them a foul wind and long waves.There all the rest of his noble companions perished,but the wind and the wave brought him here.Him he now bids you send away as quickly as may be;for it is not his fate to perish here, far from his loved ones,but it is still his fate to see his loved ones and to cometo his high-roofed house and his own fatherland."So he spoke, and Calypso shuddered, the shining among goddesses,and speaking to him she addressed him with winged words:"Hard are you gods, and jealous beyond all others,you who are jealous when goddesses lie with menopenly, if one makes a mortal her dear husband.So when rosy-fingered Dawn took Orion,all the while you gods who live at ease were jealous of him,until in Ortygia pure Artemis of the golden thronecame upon him with her gentle arrows and slew him.And so when Demeter of the fair tresses, yieldingin her heart, lay with Iasion in love and in bedin a thrice-plowed field, nor was Zeus long without word of it,who struck him with a bright thunderbolt and slew him.So now you gods are jealous of me, that a mortal man is with me.Him I saved, when he was clinging to the keel alone,after Zeus had struck his swift ship with a bright thunderboltand shattered it in the midst of the wine-dark sea.There all the rest of his noble companions perished,but the wind and the wave brought him here.Him I loved and cherished, and I said I would make himimmortal and ageless for all his days.But since there is no way at all to evade the mind of aegis-bearing Zeusor to slip past it, for any other god,let him go, if that god urges and bids him,over the barren sea; but I will not send him on any path.For I have no oared ships beside me, nor companionswho might send him over the broad back of the sea.But I will gladly advise him, and conceal nothing,so that he may reach his own fatherland wholly unharmed."Then the slayer of Argus answered her and said:"Send him away now, then, and fear the wrath of Zeus,lest he be angry with you hereafter and make it hard for you."So speaking, the strong slayer of Argus departed;and the queenly nymph went to great-hearted Odysseus,now that she had heard the message of Zeus.And she found him sitting on the shore; his eyes were neverdry of tears, and his sweet life was draining awayas he wept for his homecoming, since the nymph no longer pleased him.Truly he slept at night, and by compulsion,in the hollow caves, unwilling beside the willing one;but by day he would sit on the rocks and the shores,wasting his heart with tears and groans and sorrows,and gazing over the barren sea, shedding tears.And standing near him, the shining among goddesses spoke:"Unhappy man, do not grieve here any longer, and do not let your lifewaste away; for now I will send you off with a ready heart.Come, cut long timbers and fit them with bronzeinto a broad raft; and build a deck upon ithigh up, so that it may carry you over the misty sea.And I will put aboard food and water and red wine,heart-cheering things, which will hold off hunger from you,and I will clothe you in garments; and I will send a fair wind behind you,so that you may reach your own fatherland wholly unharmed,if the gods are willing, who hold the broad heaven,who are stronger than I to devise and to accomplish."So she spoke, and much-enduring shining Odysseus shuddered,and speaking to her he addressed her with winged words:"Goddess, you are devising something else here, and no escort,when you bid me cross the great gulf of the sea on a raft,a terrible and painful thing; not even well-built shipscross it, swift as they are, exulting in the wind of Zeus.And I would not set foot on a raft against your will,unless you would dare, goddess, to swear me a great oaththat you will not devise some other evil harm against me myself."So he spoke, and Calypso smiled, the shining among goddesses,and stroked him with her hand, and spoke and called him by name:"Ah, you are a rogue, and no fool, to have thoughtto speak such a word as this.Let the earth now know this, and the broad heaven above,and the downward-flowing water of the Styx, which is the greatestand most terrible oath for the blessed gods:that I will not devise some other evil harm against you yourself.But I think and devise such things asI would devise for myself, when such need came upon me.For my mind too is righteous, and in my own breastmy heart is not of iron, but is pitiful."So speaking, the shining among goddesses led the wayswiftly; and he followed in the footsteps of the goddess.And they came to the hollow cave, the god and the man;and he sat down there on the throne from which Hermes had risen,and the nymph set all manner of food before him,to eat and to drink, such things as mortal men eat;and she sat down facing godlike Odysseus,and her maids set ambrosia and nectar beside her.And they reached out their hands to the good things set before them.But when they had taken their pleasure in food and drink,then Calypso began to speak among them, the shining among goddesses:"Zeus-born son of Laertes, much-devising Odysseus,so now you are eager to go home to your dear fatherlandat once? Farewell to you, then, even so.If you but knew in your heart how many sorrowsit is your fate to fill up before you reach your fatherland,you would stay here with me and keep this house,and be immortal, though you long to seeyour wife, for whom you yearn all your days.I do not claim to be in any way worse than she is,neither in body nor in stature; for it is not seemlyfor mortal women to contend with immortal goddesses in body and form."Then much-devising Odysseus answered her and said:"Queenly goddess, do not be angry with me for this; I myself knowall this full well: that thoughtful Penelopeis less in beauty and in stature, seen beside you.For she is mortal, and you are immortal and ageless.But even so I wish and long all my daysto go home and to see the day of my return.And if some god smashes me on the wine-dark sea,I will endure it, holding a patient heart in my breast.For already I have suffered many things and toiled muchin waves and in war; let this too be added to those."So he spoke, and the sun set and darkness came on;and the two went into the inner part of the hollow caveand took their pleasure in love, staying beside one another.And when early-born rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,at once Odysseus put on his cloak and tunic,and the nymph herself put on a great silvery robe,fine and lovely, and about her waist she cast a beltbeautiful and golden, and over her head a veil.And then she began to plan the escort for great-hearted Odysseus:she gave him a great axe, fitted to his hands,of bronze, sharpened on both sides; and in itwas a very beautiful handle of olive wood, well fitted.Then she gave him a polished adze; and she led the wayto the farthest edge of the island, where tall trees grew,alder and poplar and fir that reached to the sky,dry long since and seasoned through, that would float lightly for him.But when she had shown him where the tall trees grew,Calypso went back toward her house, the shining among goddesses,and he cut the timbers; and quickly his work was finished.He brought out twenty in all and hewed them with the bronze,and smoothed them skillfully and trued them to a line.Meanwhile Calypso brought him augers, the shining among goddesses;and he bored them all through and fitted them to one another,and he hammered it fast with pegs and with joints.As much as a man shapes the bottom of a broad merchant ship,one who knows carpentry well,so much did Odysseus make of the broad raft.And he set up the deck, fitting it with close-set stanchions,and made it; and he finished it with long side-beams.And in it he made a mast and a yard fitted to it,and he made a steering-oar besides, to steer her by.And he fenced it through and through with osier wickerto be a shield against the waves; and he heaped on much timber.Meanwhile Calypso brought him cloth, the shining among goddesses,to make sails withal; and those too he fashioned well.And in it he bound braces and ropes and sheets,and he hauled it down with levers into the shining sea.It was the fourth day, and all things were finished for him;and on the fifth the shining Calypso sent him from the island,having bathed him and clothed him in sweet-smelling garments.And the goddess put aboard a skin of dark wine,one of the two, and the other a great one of water, and a sackof grain; and she set out many heart-cheering foods for him.And she sent a wind, harmless and gentle.And glad at the wind, shining Odysseus spread his sails.And he steered her skillfully with the steering-oar,sitting; and sleep never fell upon his eyelids,as he watched the Pleiades and the late-setting Bear-wardand the Bear, which men also call the Wagon by name,which turns in its own place and watches for Orion,and alone has no share in the baths of Ocean.For Calypso, the shining among goddesses, had told himto keep it on his left hand as he crossed the sea.Seventeen days he sailed, crossing the sea;and on the eighteenth the shadowy mountains appeared,the land of the Phaeacians, where it lay nearest to him;and it looked like a shield of hide in the misty sea.And the lord Earthshaker, coming back from the Ethiopians,saw it from far off, from the Solymi mountains; for it appearedto him as he sailed upon the sea. And he was angrier in his heart,and shaking his head he spoke to his own heart:"Ah, surely the gods have changed their counselabout Odysseus, while I was among the Ethiopians,and now he is near the land of the Phaeacians, where it is his fateto escape the great limit of the misery that comes upon him.But still I think I will drive him deep into misery."So saying, he gathered the clouds and stirred up the sea,taking his trident in his hands; and he roused all the blastsof every kind of wind, and with clouds he coveredboth land and sea together; and night rushed down from heaven.And the East Wind and the South Wind fell upon him, and the harsh West Windand the North Wind born in the clear air, rolling a great wave.And then the knees of Odysseus gave way, and his dear heart,and troubled he spoke to his own great-hearted spirit:"Ah, wretched me — what will become of me at the last?I fear the goddess told me all things truly,she who said that on the sea, before I reach my fatherland,I would fill up sorrows; and now all this is being fulfilled.With what clouds Zeus wraps the broad heaven round,and he has stirred the sea, and the blasts rush onof every kind of wind. Now my sure destruction is at hand.Thrice blessed and four times are the Danaans who died then,in broad Troy, bringing joy to the sons of Atreus.Would that I too had died and met my fateon that day when the most of the Trojans hurledtheir bronze-tipped spears at me around the fallen son of Peleus.Then I would have had my funeral rites, and the Achaeans would carry my fame;but now it is my fate to be caught in a wretched death."So speaking, a great wave struck him on the crest,rushing terribly upon him, and spun the raft around.He himself fell far from the raft, and the steering-oarhe let go from his hands; and the mast in the middle was brokenby the terrible squall that came as the winds mixed together,and the sail and the yard fell far away into the sea.And it held him beneath the water a long while, and he could notrise up quickly from the rush of the great wave;for the garments weighed him down, which shining Calypso had given him.At last he came up, and spat the bitter brinefrom his mouth, which poured in quantity from his head.But not even so did he forget the raft, though he was spent,but he rushed back through the waves and caught hold of it,and sat down in the middle of it, shunning the doom of death.And the great wave carried it along the current this way and that.And as when in late summer the North Wind carries thistledownacross the plain, and the tufts hold close to one another,so the winds carried it across the deep this way and that;sometimes the South Wind threw it to the North Wind to carry,and sometimes again the East Wind yielded to the West Wind to pursue.And the daughter of Cadmus saw him, fair-ankled Ino,Leucothea, who once was a mortal with a human voice,but now in the depths of the sea has a share of the honor of the gods.She pitied Odysseus as he wandered, holding sorrows,and she rose up from the water like a shearwater in flight,and sat upon the close-bound raft and spoke a word:"Unhappy man, why is Poseidon the Earthshakerso terribly angry with you, that he plants so many evils for you?He will not destroy you, though he is very eager to.But do exactly this — you do not seem to me to be a fool:strip off these garments and leave the raft to be carried by the winds,and lay hold with your hands and strive for your homecomingto the land of the Phaeacians, where it is your fate to escape.There, spread this veil beneath your chest,an immortal thing; and you need not fear to suffer or to perish.But when you have laid hold of the mainland with your hands,loosen it again and throw it into the wine-dark sea,far from the land, and turn away yourself."So speaking, the goddess gave him the veil,and she herself dove back into the surging sealike a shearwater; and the dark wave covered her.But much-enduring shining Odysseus pondered,and troubled he spoke to his own great-hearted spirit:"Ah, me — lest one of the immortals is weaving a snare for me again,one who bids me leave the raft.But I will not obey, not yet, since with my eyes I sawthe land far off, where she said escape was for me.But I will do exactly this, and it seems to me best:as long as the timbers hold together in their joints,so long will I stay here and endure, suffering sorrows;but when the wave shakes the raft apart for me,then I will swim, since nothing better is at hand to plan."While he was turning these things over in his mind and heart,Poseidon the Earthshaker roused a great wave against him,terrible and painful and towering, and drove it at him.And as when a violent wind shakes a heap of dry chaffon the threshing floor, and scatters it all this way and that,so it scattered the long timbers of the raft. But Odysseusclimbed astride a single timber, riding it like a horse,and stripped off the garments that shining Calypso had given him.And at once he spread the veil beneath his chest,and himself fell face down into the salt sea, stretching out his hands,eager to swim. And the lord Earthshaker saw him,and shaking his head he spoke to his own heart:"So now, having suffered many evils, go wandering over the sea,until you come among men who are reared by Zeus.But not even so do I think you will make light of your misery."So speaking, he lashed his beautiful-maned horses,and came to Aegae, where his famous house stands.But Athena, the daughter of Zeus, thought of another thing.She bound fast the paths of the other winds,and commanded them all to cease and to sleep;and she roused the swift North Wind, and broke the waves before him,until Zeus-born Odysseus, escaping death and the fates,might come among the Phaeacians who love the oar.There for two nights and two days on the solid swellhe drifted, and many times his heart foresaw destruction.But when the fair-tressed Dawn brought the third day to its end,then the wind ceased, and there came a windless calm,and he saw land close by,gazing sharply ahead as he was lifted by the great wave.And as when life appears welcome to children,when their father lies in sickness, suffering mighty sorrows,wasting away a long time, and a hateful spirit besets him,and then the gods gladly release him from his misery,so welcome seemed the land and the wood to Odysseus,and he swam eagerly to set his feet upon the mainland.But when he was as far off as a man's voice carries,he heard the booming of the sea against the rocks;for the great wave roared against the dry land,bellowing terribly, and all was wrapped in the foam of the sea;for there were no harbors to hold ships, nor anchorages,but jutting headlands and rocks and cliffs;and then the knees of Odysseus gave way, and his dear heart,and troubled he spoke to his own great-hearted spirit:"Ah me, since Zeus has granted me to see unexpected land,and I have cut across this gulf and come through,no way out of the gray sea appears anywhere;for outside stand sharp cliffs, and about them the waveroars with the surf, and the smooth rock rises up,and the sea is deep close in, and there is no way with my feetto stand on both of them and escape the misery.Lest as I come out a great wave snatch me and cast meagainst the jagged rock; and my effort will be useless.But if I swim further on, in the hope that I may findsloping shores and harbors of the sea,I fear that a squall may snatch me up againand carry me over the fish-filled sea, groaning heavily,or some great sea-monster may be roused against me by a godout of the sea, such as famous Amphitrite breeds in numbers.For I know well how the famous Earthshaker hates me."While he was turning these things over in his mind and heart,meanwhile a great wave carried him toward the rough shore.There his skin would have been torn from him and his bones crushed,had not the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, put it in his mind;rushing forward he caught at the rock with both hands,and clung to it groaning, until the great wave had passed by.And so he escaped that one, but the backwash wave struckhim again as it rushed on, and cast him far out into the sea.And as when a polypus is dragged from its hole,and the thick pebbles cling to its suckers,so from his bold hands against the rockshis skin was torn away; and the great wave covered him.Then wretched Odysseus would have perished beyond his fate,had not bright-eyed Athena given him understanding.Rising up out of the wave that gushes toward the mainland,he swam along, looking toward land, if somewhere he might findsloping shores and harbors of the sea.But when he came swimming to the mouth of a fair-flowing river,there where the place seemed best to him,smooth of rocks, and there was shelter from the wind,he knew the stream flowing out and prayed in his heart:"Hear me, lord, whoever you are; I come to you, much-prayed-to,fleeing from the sea and the rebuke of Poseidon.Reverend even among the immortal gods is any manwho comes as a wanderer, as I now cometo your stream and your knees, having toiled much.But have pity, lord; I declare myself your suppliant."So he spoke, and the river at once checked its stream and stayed its wave,and made a calm before him, and saved himinto the river's mouth. And he bent both kneesand his strong hands; for his dear heart was overcome by the sea.His whole skin was swollen, and much seawater gushedfrom his mouth and nostrils; and he lay breathless and speechless,with little strength left, and terrible weariness came upon him.But when he had breathed again and the spirit gathered in his chest,then he loosed the veil of the goddess from himself.And he let it fall into the sea-swelling river,and a great wave carried it back down the stream, and quickly Inoreceived it in her dear hands; and he, turning aside from the river,leaned down in a bed of rushes and kissed the life-giving earth.And troubled he spoke to his own great-hearted spirit:"Ah me, what shall I suffer? What will become of me at the last?If I keep a painful watch through the night by the river,lest together the wicked frost and the soft dewovercome me and drain my spirit with faintness,and a cold breeze blows from the river before dawn,but if I go up the slope and lie down in the shady wood,in the thick bushes, if cold and weariness let me goand sweet sleep comes over me,I fear that I may become the prey and spoil of wild beasts."So as he thought it over, this seemed to him better:he went into the wood, and found it near the waterin an open place; and he crept under two bushesthat had grown from one spot; one was wild olive, the other was cultivated olive.The strength of the wet-blowing winds could not blow through them,nor did the shining sun ever strike them with its rays,nor did rain pass through; so thick were they,grown one through the other. Under them Odysseuscrept. And at once he heaped up a bed with his dear hands,a broad one; for there was a pile of leaves in abundance,enough to shelter two or three menin the winter season, even if it were very harsh.Seeing it, much-enduring shining Odysseus rejoiced,and he lay down in the middle of it, and heaped a pile of leaves over himself.And as when a man hides a firebrand in black ashesat the farthest edge of a field, where there are no neighbors near,saving the seed of fire, so that it may not be kindled from elsewhere,so Odysseus covered himself with leaves; and Athenapoured sleep over his eyes, so that she might put an end to himmost quickly, covering his dear eyelids from the toil of weariness.

Dawn got up out of her bed, from beside noble Tithonus,to bring light to the gods and to people.The gods were sitting down in council, and among themwas Zeus, who thunders high above and has the greatest power.Athena started telling them how much Odysseus had suffered,because she remembered him and felt bad that he was stuck in the nymph's house."Father Zeus, and all you other gods who live forever,let no king with a scepter ever be kind and gentle again,or care about what is right in his heart.Let him always be cruel instead, and treat people badly,since nobody remembers godlike Odysseus,not the people he used to rule, though he was gentle as a father.He is stuck on an island, suffering terrible pain,in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who keeps him there by forceand will not let him go. He cannot get back to his own homeland,because he has no ships with oars, no crewto carry him over the wide back of the sea.And now they are planning to kill his sonon his way home. He went to ask about his fatherin holy Pylos and bright Sparta."Zeus, the cloud-gatherer, answered her:"My child, what kind of thing did you just say?Weren't you the one who planned this —that Odysseus would come back and pay those men back?Send Telemachus off yourself. You know how, and you can do it.Make sure he gets to his own homeland safe and sound,and let the suitors sail home againwith nothing, the way they came." Then he spoke to his dear son Hermes:"Hermes, you are our messenger for everything else too,so go tell the beautiful-haired nymph exactly what I have decided —Odysseus is going home, so that he may returnwith no escort from gods or from people.He will suffer on a well-built raft,and on the twentieth day reach fertile Scheria,the land of the Phaeacians, who are close to the gods.They will honor him from the heart as if he were a god,and they will send him home in a ship to his own country,giving him plenty of bronze, gold, and clothes,more than Odysseus ever got out of Troy,even if he had come home safe with his share of the loot.That is his fate: to see the people he loves and reachhis high-roofed house and his own homeland."He spoke, and Hermes the guide did not disobey.Right away he tied on his beautiful sandals,the immortal golden ones that carry him over the waterand over the endless land as fast as the wind blows.He picked up the wand that charms people's eyes,whoever he wants, and wakes others up again when they sleep.Holding it in his hands, strong Hermes flew.He passed over Pieria and dropped from the sky down to the sea.He skimmed the waves like a seagullthat hunts fish over the dangerous baysof the barren sea and dips its thick feathers in the salt water.Like that bird, Hermes rode over the many waves.When he reached the island far out in the sea,he stepped out of the dark water onto landand walked until he came to the big cave where the nymphwith the beautiful hair lived. He found her inside.A big fire was burning on the hearth, and the smell of burningsplit cedar and juniper drifted far across the island.Inside, she was singing with a lovely voice,walking back and forth at her loom, weaving with a gold shuttle.A lush forest grew all around the cave:alder, poplar, and sweet-smelling cypress.Long-winged birds roosted there too,owls, hawks, and long-tongued sea crows,sea birds that spend their lives on the water.A young vine grew all around the hollow cave,in full bloom, heavy with grapes.Four springs flowed side by side with clear water,close to each other, each running its own way.Soft meadows of violets and parsleybloomed all around. Even a god coming therewould stare at it and be glad in his heart.Hermes stood there and stared.When he had looked at everything he wanted,he went right into the wide cave. Calypso,the shining goddess, saw him and knew him at once,because gods always recognize each other,even if one of them lives far away.He did not find great-hearted Odysseus inside.Odysseus was sitting on the shore crying, like always,wearing his heart down with tears and groans and grief,staring out over the barren sea, crying.Calypso, the shining goddess, asked Hermes questionsafter she sat him down on a bright, gleaming throne:"Why have you come to me, Hermes with the golden wand?You are honored and welcome. You do not visit often.Tell me what you have in mind. I want to do it for youif I can, and if it can be done.Come further inside, so I can give you something to eat."The goddess said this and set a table in front of himfull of ambrosia, and mixed red nectar.Hermes, the guide, ate and drank.When he had eaten and filled his heart with food,he answered her with these words:"You are asking a god why he came, goddess. I willtell you the truth, since you asked me to.Zeus made me come here. I did not want to.Who would willingly run across so much salty water,so much you cannot measure it? There is no town of people nearby,nobody who makes sacrifices and burns offerings to the gods.But no other god can get around the mind of Zeusor avoid it.He says there is a man here, the most miserable of everyone,one of the men who fought around Priam's cityfor nine years, and in the tenth they sacked the city and wenthome. But on the way home they insulted Athena,and she stirred up a bad wind and long waves against them.Every one of his good companions died there,and the wind and the waves brought him here.Zeus says to send him away as fast as you can,because it is not his fate to die here, away from the people he loves.He is still fated to see his loved ones and reachhis high-roofed house and his own homeland."He spoke, and Calypso, the shining goddess, shuddered,and answered him with these words:"You gods are cruel, and more jealous than anyone else.You get angry when goddesses sleep with menout in the open, when a goddess makes a mortal her husband.When rosy-fingered Dawn took Orion,you gods who live easy lives were jealous of heruntil pure Artemis with the golden throne, in Ortygia,came at him with her gentle arrows and killed him.And when beautiful-haired Demeter gave inin her heart and slept with Iasion in love and in bedin a field plowed three times, Zeus found out soon enoughand struck him down with a bright thunderbolt and killed him.So now you gods are jealous of me for keeping a mortal man.I saved him. He was riding the keel aloneafter Zeus hit his fast ship with a bright thunderboltand smashed it in the middle of the wine-dark sea.Every one of his good companions died there,and the wind and the waves brought him here.I loved him and took care of him. I said I would make himimmortal and never old, for all his days.But since no other god can get around the mind of Zeusor avoid it,let him go, if Zeus is pushing him and telling him to,out over the barren sea. I will not send him myself.I have no ships with oars, no crewto carry him over the wide back of the sea.But I will gladly tell him what to do, and hide nothing,so he gets to his own homeland safe and sound."Hermes, the guide, answered her:"Send him off now, then, and watch out for Zeus's anger,so he does not get furious later and make life hard for you."He said this and left, strong Hermes.The queenly nymph went to great-hearted Odysseusafter she heard Zeus's message.She found him sitting on the shore. His eyes were neverdry of tears, and his sweet life was draining awaywhile he cried for home, because the nymph no longer pleased him.At night he slept with her, and he had no choice,in the hollow caves, unwilling next to the willing one.During the day he would sit on the rocks and the beaches,wearing his heart down with tears and groans and grief,staring out over the barren sea, crying.She stood near him and spoke to him:"You poor man, do not cry here anymore, and do not let your lifewaste away. I will send you off right now, gladly.Come on: cut some long logs and fit them togetherinto a wide raft. Build a deck on top of it,up high, so it carries you over the misty sea.I will put food and water and red wineon board, plenty to keep hunger away from you,and I will give you clothes. I will send a good wind behind you,so you reach your own homeland safe and sound,if the gods are willing, the ones who hold the wide sky,who are better than me at planning and finishing things."He heard this, and much-enduring shining Odysseus shuddered,and answered her with these words:"Goddess, you have something else in mind here, not an escort.You are telling me to cross the huge gulf of the sea on a raft,a terrible and painful thing. Even solid shipsdo not cross it, though they are fast and love a wind from Zeus.I will not step onto a raft against your will,unless you, goddess, dare to swear me a great oaththat you will not plot some other bad thing against me."He spoke, and Calypso, the shining goddess, smiledand stroked him with her hand, and said:"You are a rogue, and no fool, to have thought upa speech like that to make.Let the earth know this now, and the wide sky above,and the water of the Styx that flows down, which is the greatestand most terrible oath for the blessed gods:I will not plot any other bad thing against you.I will think and plan the same kind of thingsI would plan for myself, if I needed them that badly.My mind is fair too, and in my own chestmy heart is not made of iron. I have pity."She said this and led the wayquickly, and he followed in the goddess's footsteps.The god and the man came to the hollow cave,and he sat down on the throne Hermes had gotten up from,and the nymph set out all kinds of food in front of him,to eat and drink, the kind of food mortal men eat.She sat down facing godlike Odysseus,and her maids put ambrosia and nectar beside her.They reached out their hands to the food set in front of them.When they had had enough food and drink,Calypso, the shining goddess, started talking to them:"Son of Laertes, born of Zeus, clever Odysseus,so you really want to go home to your own countryright now? Well, good luck to you even so.If you knew in your heart how many troublesit is your fate to pile up before you reach your homeland,you would stay here with me and watch over this house,and you would be immortal, even though you long to seeyour wife, the one you want every single day.I do not claim to be worse than her at all,not in body and not in looks, since it is not rightfor mortal women to compete with immortal goddesses in body and beauty."Clever Odysseus answered her:"Goddess, do not be angry with me about this. I knowall of this very well myself: that wise Penelopeis smaller and less beautiful when you stand side by side.She is mortal, and you are immortal and never grow old.But even so I want and long every dayto go home and see the day I get back.And if some god smashes me on the wine-dark sea,I will put up with it and keep a patient heart in my chest.I have already suffered a lot and worked hardin waves and in war. Let this be added to that."He spoke, and the sun set and darkness came.The two of them went to the back of the hollow caveand enjoyed each other in love, staying side by side.When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,right away Odysseus put on his cloak and tunic,and the nymph herself put on a big silvery robe,thin and lovely, and she put a belt around her waist,a beautiful gold one, and over her head a veil.Then she started planning how to send Odysseus off.She gave him a big axe that fit his hands,a bronze one, sharpened on both sides, and on itwas a really beautiful olive-wood handle, fitted on well.Then she gave him a polished adze, and she led the wayto the far end of the island, where tall trees grew:alder, poplar, and fir that reached up to the sky,dry long ago and seasoned through, so they would float easily for him.When she had shown him where the tall trees grew,Calypso, the shining goddess, went back to her house,and he cut the logs. He got the work done quickly.He brought out twenty of them and cut them with the bronze axe,smoothed them carefully, and straightened them with a line.Meanwhile Calypso, the shining goddess, brought him drills.He drilled all the logs through and fitted them to each other,and he hammered it tight with pegs and joints.A man who knows carpentry well shapes the bottom of a wide cargo shipjust so,and that is how Odysseus built the wide raft.He set up the deck, fitting it with close-set supports,and finished it off with long side beams.He made a mast in it and a yard that fit it,and he made a steering oar besides, so he could steer.He fenced the whole thing with woven willowto be a shield against the waves, and he piled on plenty of wood.Meanwhile Calypso, the shining goddess, brought him clothto make sails, and he made those well too.He tied braces and ropes and sheets on it,and dragged it down with levers into the shining sea.It was the fourth day, and everything was finished.On the fifth, shining Calypso sent him off the island,after bathing him and giving him sweet-smelling clothes.The goddess put a skin of dark wine on board,one of the two, and a big one of water, and a sackof grain. She set out plenty of food for him, the kind that fills you up.She sent a wind, harmless and gentle.Glad about the wind, shining Odysseus spread his sails.He steered her skillfully with the steering oar,sitting down. Sleep never fell on his eyelidswhile he watched the Pleiades and the Bear-ward, which sets late,and the Bear, which people also call the Wagon,which turns in place and watches for Orion,and is the only one that has no share in the baths of Ocean.Calypso, the shining goddess, had told himto keep it on his left side as he crossed the sea.He sailed seventeen days, crossing the sea,and on the eighteenth the shadowy mountains appeared,the land of the Phaeacians, which lay closest to him,and it looked like a shield of hide in the misty sea.The lord Earthshaker was coming back from the Ethiopiansand saw it far off, from the Solymi mountains, because he spotted itas he sailed on the sea. He got even angrier in his heart,and he shook his head and said to himself:"So then, the gods have clearly changed their plansabout Odysseus while I was away with the Ethiopians,and he is already near the land of the Phaeacians, where it is his fateto get past the great limit of the misery that has come on him.But I still think I will drive him deep into trouble."He said this and gathered the clouds and stirred up the sea,taking his trident in his hands, and he stirred up every blastof every kind of wind, and with clouds he coveredthe land and the sea together, and night rushed down from the sky.The East Wind and the South Wind fell on him, and the harsh West Windand the North Wind born in clear air, rolling up a huge wave.Then Odysseus' knees went weak, and his heart too,and troubled he said to himself:"Poor me, what is going to happen to me in the end?I am afraid the goddess told me the exact truth,the one who said that on the sea, before I get home,I would get a bellyful of trouble. Now it is all coming true.Look how Zeus wraps the wide sky in clouds,and he has stirred up the sea, and the blasts rush onfrom every kind of wind. Now my death is certain.The Greeks who died back then were lucky three and four times over,the ones who died in wide Troy, pleasing the sons of Atreus.I wish I had died there and met my fateon the day when the most Trojansthrew their bronze-tipped spears at me around the fallen son of Peleus.Then I would have gotten a funeral, and the Greeks would spread my fame.But now it is my fate to be caught by a miserable death."While he said this, a huge wave hit him on the crest,rushing on terribly, and spun the raft around.He himself fell far from the raft, and the steering oarhe let go out of his hands. The mast broke in the middlewhen the terrible squall came, with the winds all mixed together,and the sail and the yard fell far off into the sea.It held him under the water a long time, and he could notcome up fast from the rush of that huge wave,because his clothes weighed him down, the ones shining Calypso gave him.At last he came up and spat the bitter salt waterout of his mouth, and it poured off his head in streams.But even so, worn out as he was, he did not forget the raft,but he rushed back through the waves and grabbed hold of it,and sat down in the middle of it, dodging death.The huge wave carried it along the current, this way and that.Like when the North Wind in late summer carries thistledownacross a field, and the tufts stick to each other,that is how the winds carried it over the deep, this way and that.Sometimes the South Wind threw it to the North Wind to carry,and sometimes the East Wind gave way to the West Wind chasing it.The daughter of Cadmus saw him, fair-ankled Ino,Leucothea, who used to be a mortal woman with a human voice,and now in the depths of the sea has a share of the gods' honor.She felt sorry for Odysseus as he wandered, holding his sorrows,and she rose up out of the water like a diving bird in flight,and sat on the well-built raft and said:"You poor man, why is Poseidon the Earthshakerso terribly angry at you, that he keeps making so much trouble for you?He will not kill you, even though he wants to very badly.Just do exactly this, because you do not seem stupid to me:take off these clothes and leave the raft to be carried by the winds,and strike out with your hands and swim for home,for the land of the Phaeacians, where it is your fate to escape.There, spread this veil under your chest,an immortal one, and you have no need to fear suffering or dying.But once you lay hold of the mainland with your hands,loosen it again and throw it into the wine-dark sea,far from the land, and turn away yourself."She said this, and the goddess gave him the veil,and she herself dove back into the surging sealike a diving bird, and the dark wave covered her.Much-enduring shining Odysseus thought it over,and troubled he said to himself:"This is bad. What if one of the gods is weaving a trap for me again,one who tells me to get off the raft?But I will not obey, not yet, since with my own eyes I sawthe land far off, where she said escape was for me.But I will do exactly this, and it seems best to me:as long as the logs hold together in their joints,I will stay right here and put up with it, suffering pain.But when the wave shakes the raft apart for me,then I will swim, since there is nothing better at hand to plan."While he was turning this over in his mind and heart,Poseidon the Earthshaker stirred up a huge wave against him,terrible and painful and towering, and drove it at him.Like when a violent wind shakes a pile of dry chaffon a threshing floor, and scatters it all this way and that,that is how it scattered the raft's long logs. But Odysseusclimbed on top of a single log, riding it like a horse,and stripped off the clothes shining Calypso had given him.Right away he spread the veil under his chest,and he himself fell face down into the salt sea, stretching out his hands,eager to swim. The lord Earthshaker saw him,and he shook his head and said to himself:"So now, after suffering many evils, go wandering over the sea,until you mix with men who are raised by Zeus.But not even so do I think you will laugh off your trouble."He said this and whipped his beautiful-maned horses,and came to Aegae, where his famous house is.But Athena, the daughter of Zeus, thought of something else.She tied up the paths of the other windsand ordered them all to stop and go to sleep.She stirred up the swift North Wind and broke the waves in front of him,until Zeus-born Odysseus, escaping death and doom,could reach the Phaeacians who love the oar.For two nights and two days on the solid swellhe drifted, and many times his heart saw death coming.But when beautiful-haired Dawn finished the third day,then the wind stopped, and there came a windless calm,and he saw land close by,looking sharply ahead as he was lifted by the huge wave.Like when life looks welcome to children,when their father lies in sickness, suffering terrible pain,wasting away for a long time, and a hateful spirit is on him,and then the gods gladly set him free from his misery,that is how welcome the land and the woods looked to Odysseus,and he swam eagerly to set his feet on the mainland.But when he was as far off as a shout carries,he heard the sea crashing against the rocks,because the huge wave roared against the dry land,bellowing terribly, and everything was wrapped in sea foam.There were no harbors for ships, no anchorages,but jutting headlands and rocks and cliffs.Then Odysseus' knees went weak, and his heart too,and troubled he said to himself:"Poor me, Zeus has let me see land I had given up on,and I have cut across this gulf and made it through,but there is no way out of the gray sea anywhere.Outside there are sharp cliffs, and around them the waveroars with the surf, and the smooth rock rises up,and the water is deep close in, and there is no way with my feetto stand on both of them and escape this misery.If I climb out, a huge wave might grab me and throw meagainst the jagged rock, and my effort will be wasted.But if I swim further on, in the hope that I may findslanted shorelines and harbors of the sea,I am afraid a squall will snatch me up againand carry me over the fish-filled sea, groaning heavily,or a god will send some huge sea monster at meout of the sea, the kind famous Amphitrite breeds in numbers,because I know well how the famous Earthshaker hates me."While he was turning this over in his mind and heart,meanwhile a huge wave carried him toward the rough shore.There his skin would have been scraped off and his bones crushed,if the goddess, bright-eyed Athena, had not put it in his mind.He rushed forward and grabbed the rock with both hands,and he held on groaning until the huge wave passed by.So he escaped that one, but the backwash wavestruck him again as it rushed on, and threw him far out into the sea.Like when an octopus is dragged out of its hole,and the pebbles stick thick to its suckers,that is how his skin was torn off his strong handsagainst the rocks, and the huge wave covered him.Then miserable Odysseus would have died beyond his fate,if bright-eyed Athena had not given him understanding.He came up out of the wave that gushes toward the mainlandand swam along the shore, looking toward land, hoping to findslanted shorelines and harbors of the sea.Then he came swimming to the mouth of a fair-flowing river,the very spot that seemed best to him,smooth of rocks, and there was shelter from the wind.He knew the stream flowing out and prayed in his heart:"Hear me, lord, whoever you are. I come to you, much prayed to,fleeing from the sea and the rebuke of Poseidon.Any man who comes as a wanderer is respectedeven by the immortal gods, and that is how I come nowto your stream and your knees, after much hard work.But have pity, lord. I declare myself your suppliant."He said this, and the river at once stopped its stream and checked its wave,and made a calm in front of him, and saved himat the river's mouth. He bent both kneesand his strong hands, because his dear heart was overcome by the sea.His whole skin was swollen, and a lot of sea watergushed from his mouth and nostrils, and he lay there breathless and speechless,barely alive, and terrible exhaustion came over him.But when he breathed again and the spirit gathered in his chest,then he untied the goddess's veil from himselfand let it fall into the river that swells with the sea,and a huge wave carried it back down the stream, and quickly Inocaught it in her own hands. He turned aside from the riverand lay down in a bed of reeds and kissed the life-giving earth.Troubled, he said to himself:"Poor me, what do I suffer now? What will happen to me in the end?If I keep a miserable watch all night by the river,in case the wicked frost and the soft dew togetherovercome me and drain my spirit while I am weak,and a cold breeze blows from the river before dawn,but if I go up the slope and lie down in the shady woods,in the thick bushes, and if the cold and the tiredness let me goand sweet sleep comes over me,I am afraid I will become the prey and the prize of wild animals."So as he thought it over, this seemed better to him.He went into the woods, and found them near the waterin an open place, and he crawled under two bushesthat had grown from the same spot, one wild olive and one cultivated olive.The strength of the wet-blowing winds could not blow through them,and the shining sun never hit them with its rays,and rain never passed through. They were so thick,grown through each other. Under them Odysseuscrawled. Right away he piled up a bed with his own hands,a wide one, because there was a huge pile of leaves,enough to shelter two or three menin the winter season, even if it were very harsh.Seeing it, much-enduring shining Odysseus was glad,and he lay down in the middle of it and piled leaves over himself.Like when a man hides a firebrand in black ashesat the edge of a field, where there are no neighbors near,saving the seed of fire, so that it is not kindled from somewhere else,that is how Odysseus covered himself with leaves, and Athenapoured sleep over his eyes, so that she might put an end to himmost quickly, covering his dear eyelids from his toil and weariness.