Odyssey 10.274 · Book 10, lines 274–277
Hermes of the golden wand
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ὣς εἰπὼν παρὰ νηὸς ἀνήιον ἠδὲ θαλάσσης. ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ ἄρʼ ἔμελλον ἰὼν ἱερὰς ἀνὰ βήσσας Κίρκης ἵξεσθαι πολυφαρμάκου ἐς μέγα δῶμα, ἔνθα μοι Ἑρμείας χρυσόρραπις ἀντεβόλησεν
So having spoken I went up from the ship and the sea. But when, going up through the sacred glens, I was about to reach the great house of Circe rich in drugs, there Hermes of the golden wand met me,
Word by word
The setting
Odysseus leaves the beached ship and climbs alone toward Circe's hall through wooded ravines. Just before he arrives, a god steps into his path — Hermes, the messenger, marked by his golden wand.
A note on this passage
The narrative moves in one long stride: he leaves the shore, climbs the glens, and is nearly at the door when the meeting comes. The epithet πολυφάρμακος, ‘rich in drugs,’ is planted on Circe's house before we reach it — the danger named in advance.
Hermes arrives unbidden, which is itself the point. In Book 1 Athena watches over the household; here on the wild margins it is Hermes, god of roads, thresholds, and trickery, who steps in. The gods do not abandon Odysseus even at the edge of the human world — but the help now comes as a wayfarer's cunning, not a warrior's shield.
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