Classics: The Odyssey - Quote Fragments

"Tell me..." (Book 1)

"Tell me Muse, the story of that resourceful man"

"He failed to save ... their own ..." (Book 1)

"He failed to save those comrades - their own transgressions brought them to their doom."

"What a ... that men should ... source of their troubles." (Book 1)

"What a lamentable thing it is that men should blame the gods and regard us as the source of their troubles." (Zeus)

"Aegisthus' fate is ... may all who ..." (Book 1)

"Aegisthus' fate is just what he deserved, may all who act as he did share his fate."

"Why are you ... Zeus?" (Book 1)

"Why are you at odds with Odysseus, Zeus?" (Athene)

"How could I ... admirable ... alive" (Book 1)

"How could I ever forget the admirable Odysseus? - the wisest man alive." (Zeus)

"Odysseus, who would give ..." (Book 1)

"Odysseus, who would give anything for the mere sight of the smoke rising up from his own land." (Athene)

"The great lady ... across her cheeks and ..." (Book 1)

"The great lady drew a fold of her shining veil across her cheeks and took her stand by a pillar" (Penelope)

"Sitting ... among ..." (Book 1)

"Sitting disconsolate among the suitors." (Telemachus)

"If he had ... he would've left ..." (Book 1)

"If he had fallen - he would've left me a great name for his son to inherit." (Telemachus)

"Mother - attend ... for I am ..." (Book 1)

"Mother - attend your own work, theloom and spindle - for I am master in this house." (Book 1)

"Poseidon - Pursued ..." (Book 1)

"Poseidon - pursued the heroic Odysseus with relentless malice."

"Sitting ... tormenting himself with ..." (Book 5)

"Sitting disconsolate on the shore- tormenting himself with tears and sighs and heartache." (Odysseus)

"Looking out..." (Book 5)

"Looking out across the sea with streaming eyes." (Odysseus)

"Cold ... lady" (Book 5)

"Cold lover, ardent lady" (Calypso)

"I know too well that ... compared with yours." (Book 5)

"I know too well that my wise Penelope's looks and stature are insignificant compared with yours." (Odysseus to Calypso)

"You are ... and unmatched ...you are outraged ..." (Book 5)

"You are hard-hearted, you gods, and unmatched for jealousy. You are outraged if a goddess sleeps openly with a man" (Calypso)

"I long to ... it is my ..." (Book 5)

"I long to reach my home and see the day of my return, it is my never-failing wish." (Odysseus)

"So let this... it only makes..." (Book 5)

"So let this new disaster come, it only makes one more." (Odysseus)

"If only I too could have ... but now it seems i was ..." (Book 5)

"If only I too could have met my fate and died on the day the Trojan hordes let fly - but now it seems i was predestined an ignoble death." (Odysseus)

"There is nothing ... than when ... man and wife" (Book 7)

"There is nothing better or finer than when two people of one heart and mind keep house as man and wife."

"She is also a ... she settles ..." (Book 7)

"She is also a wise woman - she settles even men's disputes" (Arete)

"Pears ... apple trees with ... sweet figs and ... Their fruit never ..." (Book 7)

"Pears and pomegranates, apple trees with glossy fruit, sweet figs and luxuriant olives. Their fruit never fails nor runs short, winter and summer alike." (Phaeacia)

"Such were the ... on Alcinous' home." (Book 7)

"Such were the glorious gifts the gods had bestowed on Alcinous' home."

"I have neither the ... of the immortal gods - but those of ..." (Book 7)

"I have neither the looks nor the stature of the immortal gods - but those of a human being" (Odysseus to Alcinous)

"Great Odysseus melted into tears - as a woman weeps..." (Book 8)

"Great Odysseus melted into tears - as a woman weeps, her arms flung round her darling husband, a man who fell in battle fighting for town and townsmen."

"I am Odysseus, Laertes' son, the whole world ... and my fame ..." (Book 9)

"I am Odysseus, Laertes' son, the whole world talks of my stratagems, and my fame has reached the heavens."

"Sacked this place and ... the women and ..." (Book 9)

"Sacked this place and destroyed it's menfolk - women and the vast plunder" (Cicones)

"All they now wanted was to stay where they were ..." (Book 9)

"All they now wanted was to stay where they were - and forget all thoughts of return" (Lotus-eaters)

"I then commanded the rest - to embark ... for fear that others of them might ..." (Book 9)

"I then commanded the rest - to embark with all speed on their fast ships, for fear that others of them might eat the lotus and think no more of home"

"The Cyclopes have no..." (Book 9)

"The Cyclopes have no assemblies for the making of laws."

"My name is..." (Book 9)

"My name is nobody" (Odysseus to the Cyclops)

"Cyclops - your eye was put out by ..." (Book 9)

"Cyclops - your eye was put out by Odysseus, sacker of cities, the son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca." (Odysseus to the Cyclops)

"We who have gone ... come ..." (Book 10)

"We who have gone every bit as far come home with empty hands" (Odysseus men on the bag of winds)

"An ... and a ... were my downfall." (Book 10)

"An untrustworthy crew and a fatal sleep were my downfall"

"Confronted by Antiphates' wife, a woman ..." (Book 10)

"Confronted by Antiphates' wife, a woman of mountainous proportions."

"... on one of my men to ..." (Book 10)

"Pouncing on one of my men to eat him for supper" (Laestrygonians)

"She introduced them to a ... to make them ..." (Book 10)

"She introduced them to a noxious drug to make them lose all memory of their native land" (Circe)

"With ... in her heart" (Book 10)

"With evil in her heart" (Circe)

"We stayed for a whole year ... meat" (Book 10)

"We stayed for a whole year, feasting on lavish quantities of meat" (Odysseus and men on Circe's island)

"Do not stay ..." (Book 10)

"Do not stay unwillingly" (Circe)

"You have told us the story ... with the artistry ..." (Book 11)

"You have told us the story - of your terrible misfortunes with the artistry of a bard"

"I beg you, master, to ... and not to sail away and ... nor leave me there ..." (Book 11)

"I beg you master, to remember me then and not to sail away and forsake me utterly nor leave me there unburied and unwept." (Elpenor)

"Three times, in my ... I started forward. Three times, like ... and left me ..." (Book 11)

"Three times, in my eagerness to clasp her to me I started forward. Three times, like a shadow or a dream, she slipped through my hands and left me pierced by an even sharper pain." (Odysseus and Anticleia)

"It was my ... my glorious Odysseus - that brought my ..." (Book 11)

"It was my heartache for you, my glorious Odysseus - that brought my life with all its sweetness to an end." (Anticleia)

"Obstinate ... again you are ..." (Book 12)

"Obstinate fool! again you are spoiling for a fight and looking for trouble." (Circe to Odysseus)

"No one who has listened has not been ..." (Book 12)

"No one who has listened has not been delighted and gone on his way a wiser man." (The Siren's Song)

"My men were ... there was no ..." (Book 12)

"My men were flung overboard - there was no homecoming for them: the god saw to that."

"The bright-eyed goddess ... at him and ..." (Book 13)

"The bright-eyed goddess smiled at him and caressed him with her hand." (Athene)

"Athene touched ... she withered ..." (Book 13)

"Athene touched him now with her wand, she withered the smooth skin."

"This is why I cannot ... you are so ..." (Book 13)

"This is why I cannot desert you - you are so persuasive, so quick-witted, so self-possessed." (Athene to Odysseus)

"We both know ... in the world of ... while I am ... among the ..." (Book 13)

"We both know how to get our way: in the world of men you have no rival - while I am pre-eminent among the gods for ingenuity." (Athene to Odysseus)

"Even though ... I still call him ..." (Book 14)

"Even though he is far away, I still call him my beloved master." (Eumaeus?)

"They cried ... than" (Book 16)

"They cried aloud piercingly and more convulsively than birds of prey." (Odysseus and Telemachus)

"All-seeing Zeus takes ... on the day ..." (Book 17)

"All-seeing Zeus takes half the good out of a man on the day he becomes a slave." (Eumaeus)

"The black ... the moment he ..." (Book 17)

"The black hand of death descended on him the moment he caught sight of Odysseus - after twenty years." (Argus)

"Odysseus was delighted ... from her ..." (Book 18)

"Odysseus was delighted at her words because she was extorting gifts from her suitors" (Penelope)

"It was this scar ..." (Book 19)

"It was this scar that the old woman felt and recognised" (Eurycleia)

"My loveliness of ... the gods ... went with them." (Book 19)

"My loveliness of face and form - the gods destroyed when the Argives embarked for Ilium and my husband Odysseus went with them." (Penelope)

"She wept ... til Athene ..." (Book 19)

"Se wept for Odysseus, her beloved husband, til Athene shed sweet sleep on her eyelids." (Penelope)

"Weeping, they flung ... and showered ..." (Book 21)

"Weeping they flung their arms around wise Odysseus' head and showered him with kisses." (Slaves)

"If the powers above let me ... I'll find ... give you ... and ..." (Book 21)

"If the powers above let me overthrow these arrogant suitors, I'll find each of you a wife, give you possessions and build you houses." (Odysseus to the slaves)

"As a ... skilled at the ... easily stretches ..." (Book 21)

"As a minstrel skilled at the lyre and in song easily stretches a string round a new leather strap - so he strung the great bow." (Odysseus)

"Not an ... did he ..." (Book 21)

"Not an ax did he miss" (Odysseus)

"You... One and all your ..." (Book 22)

"You Dogs! One and all your fate is sealed" (Odysseus to the suitors)

"Spattered with ... like a ..." (Book 22)

"Spattered with blood and gore like a lion" (Odysseus)

"So there the ... one upon another." (Book 22)

"So there the suitors lay in heaps one upon another."

"Bind ... him for a while." (Book 22)

"Bind Melanthius' hands and feet - torture him for a while." (Odysseus)

"With a ... they sliced ... they ripped ..." (Book 22)

"With a pitiless knife they sliced his nose and ears off; they ripped away his genitals as raw meat for the dogs." (Telemachus to Melanthius)

"What a ... woman - my wife's heart ..." (Book 23)

"What a strange woman - my wife's heart is as hard as iron." (Penelope)

"What a strange ..." (Book 23)

"What a strange man you are." (Penelope)

"So I have shown you ..." (Book 23)

"So i have shown you the secret" (of the bed)

"You have convinced my ..." (Book 23)

"You have convinced my unbelieving heart" (Penelope)

"It's like the moment when ... is seen by ..." (Book 23)

"It's like the moment when blissful land is seen by struggling sailors" (Odysseus and Penelope)

"Her .. around his .. never ..." (Book 23)

"Her white arms around his neck never quite let go." (Odysseus and Penelope)

"The glory of her ... will not ..." (Book 24)

"The glory of her virtue will not fade with the years." (Agamemnon about Penelope)

"What a ... with Clytemnestra" (Book 24)

"What a contrast with Clytemnestra" (Agamemnon about Penelope)

"When Odysseus saw how ... and realised the ... the tears ..." (Book 24)

"When Odysseus saw how old and worn his father looked and realised the depth of his misery - the tears came into his eyes."

"He thought it better to start by ..." (Book 24)

"He thought it better to start by testing him with words that would rouse him." (Odysseus to Laertes)

"I was only a little boy at the time .. asking about ... as we wound our way through these very trees ..." (Book 24)

"I was only a little boy at the time trotting after you - asking about this and that, as we wound our way through these very trees you told me all their names."

"At these words Laertes' ... and his ..." (Book 24)

"At these words Laertes' knees gave way and his heart melted."