OENOPS (ee’-nops): Ithacan, father of Leodes, ref.
OGYGIA (oh-ji’-ja): island in the center of the sea and home of Calypso, ref.
OICLES (oh-i’-kleez): father of Amphiaraus, ref.
OLYMPUS (o-lim’-pus): mountain in northeastern Thessaly, the home of the gods, ref.
ONETOR (o-nee’-tor): father of Phrontis, ref.
OPS (ops): son of Pisenor, father of Eurycleia, ref.
ORCHOMENOS (or-ko’-men-os): city of the Minyans, in east-central Greece, bordering on Boeotia, ref.
ORESTES (o-res’-teez): son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the avenger of his father, ref. See notes ref, ref, ref.
ORION (o-reye’-on): mythical hunter, loved by the Dawn, murdered by Artemis; and the constellation in his name, ref. See note ref.
ORMENUS (or’-men-us): father of Ctesius, grandfather of Eumaeus, ref.
ORSILOCHUS (or-si’-lo-kus): son of Idomeneus, ref.
ORTILOCHUS (or-ti’-lo-kus): father of Diocles, ref.
ORTYGIA (or-ti’-ja): legendary place where Artemis killed Orion, an island sometimes identified as Delos, ref.
OSSA (os’-a): mountain in Thessaly, ref.
OTUS (oh’-tus): giant, son of Iphimedeia and Poseidon, brother of Ephialtes, killed by Apollo, ref. See note ad loc.
PALLAS (pal’-as): epithet of Athena, ref.
PANDAREUS (pan-dar’-yoos): father of the nightingale, whose daughters were snatched away by the whirlwinds, ref. See note ad loc.
PANOPEUS (pan’-op-yoos): city in Phocis, ref.
PAPHOS (pa’-fos): city in Cyprus and a favorite haunt of Aphrodite, ref.
PARNASSUS (par-nas’-us): great mountain in central Greece, on the north side of the Gulf of Corinth; the oracle of Delphi was situated on its southern slope, ref.
PATROCLUS (pa-tro’-klus): son of Menoetius, brother-in-arms of Achilles, killed by Hector at Troy, ref. See note ref.
PELASGIANS (pe-laz’-junz): Trojan allies, a tribe located in Asia Minor, ref.
PELEUS (peel’-yoos): father by Thetis of Achilles, ref.
PELIAS (pe’-li-as): son of Poseidon and Tyro, king of Iolcus, ref.
PELION (pee’-li-on): mountain in Thessaly, home of the Centaurs, ref.
PENELOPE (pe-ne’-lo-pee): daughter of Icarius, wife of Odysseus, mother of Telemachus, queen of Ithaca, ref. See notes, passim.
PERIBOEA (pe-ri-bee’-a): daughter of Eurymedon, mother by Poseidon of Nausithous, ref.
PERICLYMENUS (per-ri-kli’-men-us): son of Neleus and Chloris, brother of Nestor, ref.
PERIMEDES (per-ri-mee’-deez): companion of Odysseus, ref.
PERO (pee’-roh): daughter of Neleus and Chloris, ref.
PERSE (pur’-see): nymph, daughter of Ocean, wife of Helios, mother of Aeetes and Circe, ref.
PERSEPHONE (pur-se’-fo-nee): goddess of the underworld, daughter of Demeter, and wife of Hades, ref.
PERSEUS (purs’-yoos): son of Nestor, ref.
PHAEACIANS (fee-ay’-shunz): ref, people of Alcinous and Arete, inhabitants of PHAEACIA (fee-ay’-sha), a kingdom whose alternative name is Scheria, ref.
PHAEDIMUS (fee’-di-mus): king of the Sidonians, friend of Menelaus, ref.
PHAEDRA (fee’-dra): wife of Theseus, heroine seen by Odysseus in the underworld, ref.
PHEAE (fe’-ee): town in Elis, ref.
PHAESTOS (fees’-tos): city in Crete, ref.
PHAËTHUSA (fay-e-thoo’-sa): nymph, daughter of Helios and Neaera, ref.
PHAROS (fa’-ros): island off the mouth of the Nile where Menelaus subdued Proteus, ref.
PHEMIUS (fee’-mi-us): son of Terpias, Ithacan bard, ref.
PHERA (fee’-ra): town between Pylos and Sparta, the home of Diocles, ref.
PHERAE (fee’-ree): town in Thessaly, the home of Eumelus, ref.
PHERES (fe’-reez): son of Cretheus and Tyro, ref.
PHIDON (feye’-don): king of Thesprotia, ref.
PHILOCTETES (fi-lok-tee’-teez): son of Poias, the great archer of the Trojan War, commander of the Thessalians, marooned on Lemnos suffering from an infected snakebite, ref. See note ad loc.
PHILOETIUS (fi-lee’-shus): cowherd loyal to Odysseus, ref.
PHILOMELIDES (fi-lo-me-leye’-deez): wrestler in Lesbos, thrown by Odysseus, ref.
PHOEBUS (fee’-bus): epithet of Apollo, translated as Lord Apollo, ref.
PHOENICIANS (fee-ni’-shunz): ref, people of PHOENICIA (fee-ni’-sha), a country on the coast of Syria, ref.
PHORCYS (for’-seez): an old god of the sea, father of Thoosa, ref.
PHRONIUS (fron’-i-us): father of Noëmon, ref.
PHRONTIS (fron’-tis): son of Onetor, helmsman of Menelaus, ref.
PHTHIA (ftheye’-a): sector of southern Thessaly, kingdom of Peleus and home of Achilles, ref.
PHYLACE (fil’-a-see): home of Iphiclus in Thessaly, ref.
PHYLACUS (fil’-a-kus): hero of Phylace, ref.
PHYLO (feye’-loh): handmaid of Helen, ref.
PIERIA (pi-e’-ree-a): area north of Mount Olympus in Thessaly, ref.
PIRAEUS (peye-ree’-us): Ithacan, friend of Telemachus, host of Theoclymenus, ref.
PIRITHOUS (peye-ri’-tho-us): son of Zeus, king of the Lapiths, ref. See note ad loc.
PISANDER (peye-san’-der): suitor, son of Polyctor, killed by Philoetius, ref.
PISENOR (peye-see’-nor): (1) father of Ops, ref. (2) Ithacan herald, ref.
PISISTRATUS (peye-si’-stra-tus): son of Nestor, who accompanies Telemachus to Sparta, ref.
PLEIADES (pleye’-a-deez): constellation, ref. See note ad loc.
PLOWMAN: constellation, ref. See note ad loc.
POIAS (poi’-as): father of Philoctetes, ref
POLITES (po-leye’-teez): companion of Odysseus, ref.
POLYBUS (pol’-i-bus): (1) father of Eurymachus, ref. (2) A man of Egyptian Thebes, visited by Menelaus and Helen, ref. (3) Phaeacian craftsman, ref. (4) Suitor killed by Eumaeus, ref.
POLYCASTE (po-li-kas’-tee): youngest daughter of Nestor, ref.
POLYCTOR (po-lik’-tor): (1) builder of a well on Ithaca, ref. (2) Father of Pisander, ref.
POLYDAMNA (po-li-dam’-na): wife of Thon, an Egyptian, ref.
POLYDEUCES (po-li-dyoo’-seez): brother of Helen and Castor (1), ref. See note ad loc.
POLYPHEMUS (po-li-fee’-mus): Cyclops, son of Poseidon and Thoosa, blinded by Odysseus, ref.
POLYPHIDES (po-li-feye’-deez): son of the prophet Mantius, and father of Theoclymenus, ref.
POLYTHERSES (po-li-thur’-seez): father of Ctessipus, ref.
PONTONOUS (pon-ton’-o-us): herald of Alcinous, ref.
POSEIDON (po-seye’-don): god of the sea, son of Cronus and Rhea, younger brother of Zeus, father of Polyphemus, throughout the Odyssey an inveterate enemy of Odysseus, ref.
PRAMNIAN WINE (pram’-ni-an): dispensed by Circe, and a wine often used medicinally, ref.
PRIAM (preye’-am): king of Troy, son of Laomedon of the line of Dardanus, father of Hector and Paris, ref. See note ref.
PROCRIS (pro’-kris): daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens, and seen by Odysseus in the underworld, ref.
PROTEUS (proh’-tyoos): the Old Man of the Sea, servant of Poseidon and father of Eidothea, ref.
PSYRIE (psi’-ri-ee): island off the northern coast of Chios, ref.
PYLIANS (peye’-li-unz): ref, people of PYLOS (peye’-los), Nestor’s capital city and also the region surrounding it in the southwestern Peloponnese, ref.
PYTHO (peye’-thoh): place in Phocis sacred to Apollo, his sanctuary and oracle on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, and later called Delphi, ref.
RHADAMANTHYS (ra-da-man’-this): son of Zeus and Europa, brother of Minos, and the justicer who rules the Elysian Fields, ref.
RHEXENOR (rex-ee’-nor): son of Nausithous, brother of Alcinous, father of Arete, ref.
RITHRON (reye’-thron): harbor on the coast of Ithaca, ref.
RUMOR: personified as the messenger of Zeus, ref.
&
nbsp; SALMONEUS (sal-mohn’-yoos): son of Aeolus (2), father of Tyro, ref.
SAME (sam’-ee): island off the western coast of Greece (later called Cephallenia), near Ithaca in the kingdom of Odysseus, ref.
SCHERIA (ske’-ri-a): island of the Phaeacians, ref.
SCYLLA (sil’-a): man-eating monster that lives in a cliffside cavern opposite the whirlpool of Charybdis, ref.
SCYROS (skeye’-ros): island in the central Aegean off the coast of Euboea, ref.
SICILIANS: ref, people of SICILY, the large island just off the southern tip of Italy in the Mediterranean, ref.
SIDONIANS (seye-do’-ni-unz): ref, people of SIDON (seye’-don), a city in Phoenicia, ref.
SINTIANS (sin’-chunz): friends of Hephaestus in Lemnos, ref.
SIRENS: enchantresses of the sea, whose song can tempt a sailor to his ruin, ref.
SISYPHUS (sis’-i-fus): legendary figure doomed in the underworld to rolling a boulder up an incline and forever failing to surmount its crest, ref. See note ad loc.
SOLYMI (so’-li-meye): Lycian mountain range in Asia Minor, ref.
SOUNION (soon’-yun): southeasternmost cape of Attica, near Athens, ref.
SPARTA (spar’-ta): capital city of Lacedaemon, the home of Menelaus and Helen, ref.
SPRINGS: place on the western coast of Greece, across from Ithaca, ref.
STRATIUS (stra’-shus): son of Nestor, ref.
STYX (stix): river in the underworld, by which the gods swear their binding oaths, ref. See notes ad loc. and ref.
SYRIE (si’-ri-ee): place of unknown location, perhaps an island, perhaps a country; the original home of Eumaeus, ref.
TANTALUS (tan’-ta-lus): legendary figure doomed to eternal thirst and hunger in the underworld, ref. See note ad loc.
TAPHIANS (ta’-fi-unz): ref, sea-trading people of TAPHOS (ta’-fos), uncertainly located on or near the western coast of Greece, ref.
TAYGETUS (tay-i’-ge-tus): mountain range in Lacedaemon, ref.
TELAMON (tel’-a-mon): father of Great Ajax, ref.
TELEMACHUS (te-lem’-a-kus): grandson of Laertes and Anticleia, son of Odysseus and Penelope, heir to the throne of Ithaca, ref. See notes, passim.
TELEMUS (tee’-le-mus): prophet of the Cyclops, ref.
TELEPHUS (tee’-le-fus): father of Eurypylus, ref.
TELEPYLUS (tee-le’-pi-lus): city of the Laestrygonians, ref.
TEMESE (te’-me-see): place of unknown location, perhaps in Cyprus, and invented by Athena disguised as Mentes, ref.
TENEDOS (ten’-e-dos): island in the northeastern Aegean off the coast of Troy, ref.
TERPIS (ter’-pis): father of Phemius, ref.
THEBES (theebz): (1) city in Egypt, famous for its wealth and hundred gates, ref. (2) Seven-gated city in Boeotia, ref.
THEMIS (the’-mis): goddess whose province is established law and custom, ref.
THEOCLYMENUS (the-o-kli’-men-us): Argive seer of prophetic lineage, son of Polyphides, ref.
THESEUS (thees’-yoos): son of Aegeus, king of Athens, who abducted Ariadne from Crete, ref.
THESPROTIANS (thes-proh’-shunz): ref, people of THESPROTIA ( thes-proh’-sha), a district in northwestern Greece, ref.
THETIS (the’-tis): sea-goddess, daughter of Nereus, married to Peleus and by him the mother of Achilles, ref.
THOAS (thoh’-as): Achaean, son of Andraemon, commander of the Aetolians at Troy, ref.
THON (thohn): Egyptian, husband of Polydamna, ref.
THOOSA (tho-oh’-sa): sea-nymph, daughter of Phorcys, mother by Poseidon of Polyphemus, ref.
THRACE (thrays): a country north of the Aegean and the Hellespont, ref.
THRASYMEDES (thra-si-mee’-deez): son of Nestor, brother of Antilochus and Pisistratus, ref.
THRINACIA (thri-nay’-sha): mythical island of Helios, the sungod, where he pastured his sacred cattle, ref.
THYESTES (theye-es’-teez): brother of Atreus, father of Aegisthus, ref.
TIRESIAS (teye-ree’-si-as): blind seer of Thebes (2), who retains his prophetic powers even in the underworld, ref.
TITHONUS (ti-thoh’-nus): husband of the Dawn, son of Laomedon and elder brother of Priam, ref.
TITYUS (ti’-ti-yus): legendary figure doomed to eternal torture in the underworld for having violated Leto, mother of Artemis and Apollo, ref. See note ad loc.
TROJANS (troh’-junz): ref, people of the Troad and their allies arrayed against the Achaeans in the Trojan War; as well as the people of TROY (troy), capital city of the Troad, and alternatively called Ilium, ref.
TYDEUS (teye’-dyoos): son of Oeneus, father of Diomedes, ref.
TYNDAREUS (tin-dar’-yoos): husband of Leda, father of Clytemnestra, Castor and Polydeuces, ref.
TYRO (teye’-roh): daughter of Salmoneus, wife of Cretheus, mother by Poseidon of Pelias and Neleus, ref.
WAGON: constellation, also called the Great Bear and the Big Dipper, ref. See note ref.
ZACYNTHUS (za-kin’-thus): island off the western coast of Greece, south of Ithaca, in the kingdom of Odysseus, ref.
ZETHUS (zee’-thus): son of Zeus and Antiope, builder of Thebes (2) with his brother Amphion (1), and father of Itylus, ref.
ZEUS (zyoos): king of the gods, son of Cronus and Rhea, brother and husband of Hera, father of the Olympians and many mortals too. His spheres include the sky and the weather, hospitality and the rights of guests and suppliants, the punishment of injustice, the sending of omens, and the governance of the universe, controlled to some extent by Fate as well, ref. See notes, passim.
* The line numbers here and throughout, unless otherwise indicated, refer to the Fagles translations of the Odyssey and the Iliad, where the line numbers of the Greek text will be found at the top of every page.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
THE SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION OF HOMERIC NAMES
HOMER: THE ODYSSEY
BOOK ONE
BOOK TWO
BOOK THREE
BOOK FOUR
BOOK FIVE
BOOK SIX
BOOK SEVEN
BOOK EIGHT
BOOK NINE
BOOK TEN
BOOK ELEVEN
BOOK TWELVE
BOOK THIRTEEN
BOOK FOURTEEN
BOOK FIFTEEN
BOOK SIXTEEN
BOOK SEVENTEEN
BOOK EIGHTEEN
BOOK NINETEEN
BOOK TWENTY
BOOK TWENTY-ONE
BOOK TWENTY-TWO
BOOK TWENTY-THREE
BOOK TWENTY-FOUR
NOTES
TRANSLATOR’S POSTSCRIPT
THE GENEALOGY OF THE ROYAL HOUSE OF ODYSSEUS
THE GENEALOGY OF THE ROYAL HOUSE OF PHAEACIA
THE GENEALOGY OF THEOCLYMENUS
THE GENEALOGY OF TYRO
TEXTUAL VARIANTS FROM THE OXFORD CLASSICAL TEXT
NOTES ON THE TRANSLATION
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
PRONOUNCING GLOSSARY
Praise for The Odyssey
“Did the world need one more translation of the Odyssey? Yes. In Robert Fagles’ lucid, muscular verse, these ancient measures stalk across the page in march time, from the first sight of ‘young Dawn with her rose-red fingers’ to the moment when the last suitor has been slaughtered and Odysseus takes Penelope to bed.”
—Newsweek
“To re-create a world where everything is living, down to the chairs and table-linens, is very nearly as difficult as to create it. Fagles does this with triumphant assurance; every arrowhead flashes lightning, every bush burns: Homer is with us.”
—James Dickey
“Fagles’ fresh translation of Homer’s classic is enough to make you tune out the Smashing Pumpkins and turn off Melrose Place. The peerless epic about the travels of Odysseus remains as mesmerizing as when it was first chanted on Greek hillsides almost 2,700 years ago.”
—People magazine
“F
agles capture[s] the sheer energy of a story that sweeps on like a tidal wave over twenty-four books and 12,000 lines. He unravels Homer’s complex structure like Penelope at her loom . . . compelling the reader forward. Fagles’ expertise with the dialogue is unmistakable. In his hands, characters spring to life through speech.”
The Odyssey(Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) Page 61