![]() ![]() But let me tell you of my sad voyage back from Troy, that Zeus had willed. Surely nothing is sweeter than a man’s own parents and country, even though he lives in a wealthy house, in a foreign land far from those parents. Calypso, the lovely goddess, kept me there in her echoing caves, because she wished me for her husband, and in the same way Circe, the Aeaean witch, detained me in her palace, longing to make me hers: but they failed to move my heart. It’s a rugged land, but nurtures fine young men: and speaking for myself I know nothing sweeter than one’s own country. Ithaca itself lies low in the sea, furthest towards the west, while the others are separate, towards the dawn and the rising sun. My home is under Ithaca’s clear skies: our Mount Neriton, clothed with whispering forest is visible from afar: and clustered round it are many isles, Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus. I am Odysseus, Laertes’ son, known to all for my stratagems, and my fame has reached the heavens. How shall I start and end my tale? First let me give you my name, so you all know, and if I escape from pitiless fate later, I will play host to you, though I live far off. It seems the loveliest thing of all to me.īut your heart prompts you to ask of my sad troubles, and make me weep and groan the more. I say myself there is nothing more delightful than when all the people feel this joy, and the banqueters sit in their rows, listening to the minstrel in the hall, tables in front of them laden with meat and bread, while the steward pours wine from the bowl, and carries it round and fills the cups. Resourceful Odysseus answered the king, saying: ‘Lord Alcinous, most illustrious of men, it is a fine thing, in truth, to hear a bard such as this, with a godlike voice.
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