The Odyssey Quotes
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OCR A-Level Classical Civilisation: World of the Hero
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‘Tell me, Muse, the story of that resourceful man who was driven to wander far and wide’
Book 1, opening line
‘He suffered great anguish on the high seas in his struggles to preserve his life and bring his comrades home’
Book 1, proem, anguish
‘It was their own transgression that brought them to their doom’
Book 1, proem, transgression
‘Odysseus alone was prevented from returning to the home and wife he yearned for’
Book 1, prevented from returning
‘all the gods pitied him’
Book 1, gods’ pity
‘What a lamentable thing it is that men should blame the gods and regard us as the source of their troubles, when it is their own transgressions which bring them suffering’
Book 1, blame the gods
‘It is for Odysseus that my heart is wrung, the wise and unlucky Odysseus’
Book 1, wise and unlucky
‘Odysseus, who would give anything for the mere sight of the smoke rising up from his own land, can only yearn for death’
Book 1, rising smoke
‘ever since Polyphemus was blinded, Poseidon the Earth-shaker has kept Odysseus in exile’
Book 1, reason for Poseidon’s exile of Odysseus
‘it is now the pleasure of the blessed gods that he wise Odysseus shall return to Ithaca’
Book 1, nostos is Odysseus’ fate
‘insolent Suitors’
Book 1, suitors
‘Telemachus the godlike youth’
Book 1, praise of Telemachus
‘Welcome, friend!”
Book 1, Telemachus’ xenia
‘They are living free off another man- a man whose white bodies are rotting in the rain upon some distant land or rolling in the salt sea waves’
Book 1, living off another man
‘he has come to some dreadful end’
Book 1, Telemachus believes Odysseus is dead
‘the gods must be hindering his return, because the good Odysseus is not dead, but alive somewhere on this earth’
Book 1, Mentes’ (Athena’s) reassurance
‘Your father will not be exiled much longer from the land he loves so well’
Book 1, Mentes’ (Athena’s) prophecy
‘endlessly resourceful’
Book 1, Mentes’ (Athena’s) description of Odysseus
‘the man whose son they say I am is the most unfortunate man that ever lived’
Book 1, most unfortunate
‘with Penelope as your mother, I cannot think that your house is doomed to an inglorious future;
Book 1, praise of Penelope
‘these banqueters in your house strike me as domineering and insolent’
Book 1, Mentes’ (Athena’s) description of the Suitors
‘His death itself, if he had fallen among his men at Troy or died in friendly arms at home with all his fighting done, would have caused me less distress’
Book 1, how Odysseus should have died
‘he would have left a great name for his son to inherit’
Book 1, honourable inheritance
‘though she hates the idea of remarrying, she cannot bring herself to take the final step of rejecting all the suitors or accepting one of them’
Book 1, Penelope’s remarriage
‘they are eating me out of house and home’
Book 1, impact of the suitors
‘such matters, of course, lie in the lap of the gods’
Book 1, fate
‘future generations will sing your praises’
Book 1, Mentes (Athena) to Telemachus on kleos
‘you have spoken to me like a father talking to his son’
Book 1, Mentes (Athena) as a father figure to Telemachus
‘the great lady drew a fold of her shining veil across her cheeks’
Book 1, Penelope’s purity
‘no one was dealt a heavier blow than I, who pass my days in mourning for the best of husbands’
Book 1, Penelope mourning Odysseus
‘Making decisions must be men’s concern, and mine in particular; for I am master in this house’
Book 1, Telemachus’ boldness/leadership
‘there she wept for Odysseus, her beloved husband, till bright eyed Athene closed her eyes in sweet sleep’
Book 1, Penelope’s grief
‘The imprisonment of Odysseus in Calypso’s home was heavy on Athene’s heart’
Book 5, Athene’s thoughts on Odysseus’ entrapment
‘Odysseus, that admirable King!”
Book 5, Athene’s praise of Odysseus
‘He is left to languish in misery in the island home of the Nymph Calypso, who keeps him captive there’
Book 5, Odysseus kept captive
‘The long-enduring Odysseus must now set out for home’
Book 5, Odysseus should go home
‘swooped down on the sea, and skimmed the waves like a sea-gull’
Book 5, Hermes travelling to Calypso’s island
‘Calypso was singing with her beautiful voice as she went to and fro at her loom’
Book 5, Calypso singing and weaving
‘It was indeed a spot where even an immortal visitor must pause to gaze in wonder and delight’
Book 5, Ogygia
‘lion-hearted Odysseus’
Book 5, Odysseus the lion
‘he was sitting disconsolate on the shore in his accustomed place, tormenting himself with tears and sighs and heartache, and looking out across the barren sea with streaming eyes.’
Book 5, Odysseus’ sadness
‘But first follow me inside and let me offer you hospitality’
Book 5, Calypso’s xenia
‘Zeus bids you send him off without delay. He is not doomed to end his days on the island’
Book 5, Hermes’ message
‘He is destined to see his friends and come to his high-roofed house and his native land once more’
Book 5, Odysseus’ fate
‘You are outraged if a goddess sleeps openly with a man even if she has chosen him as her husband’
Book 5, gendered double standards
‘a man whom I rescued from death’
Book 5, Calypso saved Odysseus
‘let him be gone across the barren water and good riddance to him!’
Book 5, good riddance
‘His eyes were wet with weeping, as they always were’
Book 5, always crying
‘cold lover, ardent lady’
Book 5, Odysseus vs Calypso
‘my heart is not made of iron, I know what pity is’
Book 5, Calypso’s pity
‘that wife of yours, who is never out of your thoughts’
Book 5, Calypso mentions Penelope
‘there in each other’s arms they found pleasure in making love’
Book 5, sex
‘It was with a happy heart that the noble Odysseus spread his sail to catch the wind’
Book 5, happy heart
‘The sight of Odysseus sailing over the seas enraged him’
Book 5, Poseidon’s anger
‘He roused the stormy blasts of every wind that blows, and covered land and water alike with a canopy of cloud’
Book 5, Poseidon making a storm
‘Odysseus’s knees shook and his spirit failed’
Book 5, Odysseus’ reaction to the storm
‘Poor wretch that I am, what will become of me after all?’
Book 5, Odysseus’ self-pity
‘If only I too could have met my fate and died the day the Trojan hordes let fly at me with their bronze spears over Achilles’ corpse!’
Book 5, Odysseus wishes he had died at Toy
‘it seems I was predestined to an ignoble death’
Book 5, a death without kleos
‘Ino of the slim ankles’
Book 5, Ino
‘She took pity on the forlorn and afflicted Odysseus, rose from the water like a sea-gull on the wing, and settled on his raft’
Book 5, Ino’s pity
‘he shall not kill you, however hard he tries’
Book 5, Ino’s reassurance
‘Take off those clothes, leave your raft for the winds to play with, and swim for your life’
Book 5, Ino’s advice
‘With it’s divine protection you need not be afraid of injury or death’
Book 5, veil’s benefits
‘sitting astride like a rider on horseback’
Book 5, Odysseus sitting on the beam
‘Time and time again he thought he was doomed’
Book 5, doomed
‘He felt all the relief that a man’s children feel when their father, who has been in bed wasting away with a long, painful illness […] passes the crisis by the god’s will and they know that he will live’
Book 5, ill father simile
‘Take pity on me, Master. I am your suppliant’
Book 5, supplication to the gods upon landing
‘All his flesh was swollen and streams of brine gushed from his mouth and nostrils’
Book 5, Odysseus’ state after landing
‘Odysseus turned away from the river, threw himself down in the reeds and kissed the bountiful earth’
Book 5, Odysseus’ gratitude for landing
‘the much-enduring patient Odysseus’
Book 6, epithets of Odysseus
‘it was now the divinely inspired Alcinous who ruled them’
Book 6, praise for Alcinous
‘Nausicaa, tall and beautiful as a goddess’
Book 6, first description of Nausicaa
‘they threw off their headgear and began playing with a ball’
Book 6, the maids
‘She looked like Artemis the Archeress’
Book 6, Nausicaa’s goddess comparison
‘What people are there here? Hostile and uncivilised savages or kindly and god-fearing people?’
Book 6, civilisation vs barbarity
‘the noble Odysseus crept out from under the bushes, after breaking off with his great hand a leafy bough from the thicket to conceal his naked manhood’
Book 6, Odysseus’ modesty
‘he advanced on them like a mountain lion’
Book 6, lion simile
‘Grimy with salt, he was a gruesome sight, and the girls went scuttling off in every direction’
Book 6, Nausicaa’s maids are scared of Odysseus
‘she stood her ground and faced him’
Book 6, Nausicaa’s bravery
‘He decided that as the lady might take offence if he embraced her knees it would be better to keep his distance and courteously plead his case’
Book 6, Odysseus’ choice not to embrace Nausicaa
‘Princess, I am at your knees’
Book 6, supplication to Nausicaa
‘I am overcome with awe as I look at you’
Book 6, flattery of Nausicaa
‘I dare not clasp your knees, though my sufferings are serious enough’
Book 6, serious sufferings
‘Do direct me to the town and give me some rags to put round myself’
Book 6, Odysseus’ request to Nausicaa
‘your manners show you are not a bad man or a fool’
Book 6, manners
'There is no man on earth, nor ever will be, who would dare to set hostile feet on Phaecian soil. The gods are too fond of us for that’
Book 6, the gods like the Phaeacians
‘all strangers and beggars come under the protection of Zeus’
Book 6, Denis
‘I should be ashamed to stand naked in the presence of elegant ladies’
Book 6, shame and nudity
‘Athene, daughter of Zeus, made him seem taller and sturdier and caused the bushy locks to hang from his head thick as the petals of a hyacinth in bloom’
Book 6, Athena’s makeover
‘ he look like the gods that live in heaven’
Book 6, Nausicaa’s reaction to Odysseus’ makeover
‘Slip past him and clasp my mother’s knees if you wish to see the day of your homecoming’
Book 6, Nausicaa’s instructions
‘much-enduring Odysseus prayed in Athene’s grove’
Book 7, pious Odysseus
‘white-armed Nausicaa’
Book 7, epithet of Nausicaa
‘the people here have little affection for strangers and do not welcome visitors with open arms’
Book 7, hostility of the Phaeacians
‘shedding a magic mist round her favourite in her concern for his safety’
Book 7, Athena’s protection
‘it is the bold man who always succeeds in his enterprises’
Book 7, the bold man
‘Such is the extraordinary and heartfelt devotion which she has enjoyed in the past and still enjoys, both from her children and Alcinous himself, and from the people, who look on her as a goddess’
Book 7, devotion towards Arete
‘she settles even men’s disputes’
Book 7, Arete’s influence
‘Alcinous’ splendid dwelling’
Book 7, the Phaeacian palace