Quotes from work
The Odyssey (Cowper)

Homér Original title Ὀδύσσεια

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other Homeric epic. The Odyssey is fundamental to the modern Western canon; it is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature, while the Iliad is the oldest. Scholars believe the Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia.The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus , king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed Odysseus has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres or Proci, who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage.

“He will tell you no lies, for he is an excellent person.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

III. 328 (tr. Samuel Butler).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

“The fleeting shadows of the dead.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

X. 521 (tr. G. A. Schomberg).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

“The gods don't hand out all their gifts at once,
not build and brains and flowing speech to all.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

VIII. 167–168 (tr. Robert Fagles).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

“He kissed his son, and a tear fell from his cheek on to the ground, for he had restrained all tears till now.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

XVI. 190–191 (tr. Samuel Butler).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

“I far excel every one else in the whole world,
of those who still eat bread upon the face of the earth.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

VIII. 221–222 (tr. Samuel Butler).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

“Such desire is in him
merely to see the hearthsmoke leaping upward
from his own island, that he longs to die.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

I. 58–59 (tr. Robert Fitzgerald).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

“If indeed there be a god in heaven.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

XVII. 484 (tr. S. H. Butcher and Andrew Lang).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

“Hardship can age a person overnight.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

XIX. 360 (tr. Robert Fagles).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

“It's light work for the gods who rule the skies
to exalt a mortal man or bring him low.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

XVI. 211–212 (tr. Robert Fagles).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

“And may the gods accomplish your desire:
a home, a husband, and harmonious
converse with him – the best thing in the world
being a strong house held in serenity
where man and wife agree. Woe to their enemies,
joy to their friends! But all this they know best.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

VI. 180–185 (tr. Robert Fitzgerald); Odysseus to Nausicaa.
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

“Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds,
many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea,
fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

I. 1–5 (tr. Robert Fagles).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)

“Two gates there are for our evanescent dreams,
one is made of ivory, the other made of horn.
Those that pass through the ivory cleanly carved
are will-o'-the-wisps, their message bears no fruit.
The dreams that pass through the gates of polished horn
are fraught with truth, for the dreamer who can see them.”

Homér The Odyssey (Cowper)

Δοιαὶ γάρ τε πύλαι ἀμενηνῶν εἰσὶν ὀνείρων·
αἱ μὲν γὰρ κεράεσσι τετεύχαται, αἱ δ' ἐλέφαντι.
οἵ ῥ' ἐλεφαίρονται, ἔπε' ἀκράαντα φέροντες·
οἳ δὲ διὰ ξεστῶν κεράων ἔλθωσι θύραζε,
οἵ ῥ' ἔτυμα κραίνουσι, βροτῶν ὅτε κέν τις ἴδηται.
XIX. 563–568 (tr. Robert Fagles); spoken by Penelope.
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)