Odyssey 1.74 · Book 1, lines 74–79
Let us all plan his homecoming
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ἐκ τοῦ δὴ Ὀδυσῆα Ποσειδάων ἐνοσίχθων οὔ τι κατακτείνει, πλάζει δʼ ἀπὸ πατρίδος αἴης. ἀλλʼ ἄγεθʼ, ἡμεῖς οἵδε περιφραζώμεθα πάντες νόστον, ὅπως ἔλθῃσι· Ποσειδάων δὲ μεθήσει ὃν χόλον· οὐ μὲν γάρ τι δυνήσεται ἀντία πάντων ἀθανάτων ἀέκητι θεῶν ἐριδαινέμεν οἶος.
From that time on Poseidon the earth-shaker does not at all kill Odysseus, but drives him wandering from his native land. But come now, let us all here take thought of his homecoming, how he may return; and Poseidon will let go his anger — for he will not be able, against all the immortal gods, against their will, to fight alone.
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The setting
Zeus finishes the account: Poseidon harasses Odysseus but stops short of killing him. Now the father of the gods proposes action — and reassures the council that no single god can hold out against all the rest.
A note on this passage
Zeus closes the case and proposes the remedy. Poseidon torments Odysseus but stops short of killing him, so the gods are free to act. Zeus calls the council to plan the νόστος, the homecoming that is the poem's engine, and predicts that Poseidon will in the end relent.
The undercurrent is a limit on divine power. Even the sea-god cannot fight the whole assembly alone. Homer's Olympus is a politics, not a monarchy: outcomes are negotiated, and Odysseus's return is less a rescue than a motion carried over a single dissenting god.
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