Odyssey 10.23 · Book 10, lines 23–27

The silver cord, and the doom foretold

νηὶ δʼ ἐνὶ γλαφυρῇ κατέδει μέρμιθι φαεινῇ ἀργυρέῃ, ἵνα μή τι παραπνεύσῃ ὀλίγον περ· αὐτὰρ ἐμοὶ πνοιὴν Ζεφύρου προέηκεν ἀῆναι, ὄφρα φέροι νῆάς τε καὶ αὐτούς· οὐδʼ ἄρʼ ἔμελλεν ἐκτελέειν· αὐτῶν γὰρ ἀπωλόμεθʼ ἀφραδίῃσιν.

And in the hollow ship he lashed it down with a shining cord of silver, so that nothing should leak out, not even a little; but for me he sent forth the breath of the West Wind to blow, so that it might carry the ships and us as well; but it was not destined to be fulfilled; for by our own folly we perished.

Word by word

νηὶnēìin the shipδʼd’(and)ἐνὶenì(in)γλαφυρῇglaphyrêihollowκατέδειkatédeihe lashed it downμέρμιθιmérmithiwith a cordφαεινῇphaeinêishiningἀργυρέῃargyréēiof silver,ἵναhínaso thatμήmḗnotτιtianythingπαραπνεύσῃparapneúsēishould leak outὀλίγονolígona littleπερpereven·αὐτὰρautàrbutἐμοὶemoìfor meπνοιὴνpnoiḕnthe breathΖεφύρουZephýrouof the West Windπροέηκενproéēkenhe sent forthἀῆναιaênaito blow,ὄφραóphraso thatφέροιphéroiit might carryνῆάςnêásthe shipsτεte(both)καὶkaìandαὐτούςautoúsus as well·οὐδʼoud’but notἄρʼár’(as it proved)ἔμελλενémellenwas it destinedἐκτελέεινekteléeinto be fulfilled·αὐτῶνautônby our ownγὰρgàr(for)ἀπωλόμεθʼapōlómeth’we perishedἀφραδίῃσινaphradíēisinthrough folly.

The setting

The bag is lashed shut in the ship so not a breath escapes; Aeolus sends a West Wind to carry them home. But the narrator breaks in: it was not to be — they would be lost by their own folly.

A note on this passage

The bag is stowed and lashed down with a bright silver cord so not a breath can escape, and Aeolus sends a following West Wind to carry ship and men home. Then the narrator cuts ahead of his own story: it was never to be fulfilled — by their own folly they were lost.

Odysseus tells the disaster before he tells it, and he assigns the blame precisely: not the gift, not the god, but ‘our own folly.’ It is the note Zeus struck in the poem's first council — that men bring ruin on themselves beyond their share. The silver cord, the sealed hide, the fair wind: everything needed for home is in hand, and the loss will come from inside the ship.

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Odyssey 10.23 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/10.23/