Odyssey 10.67 · Book 10, lines 67–69
“Make it right, friends”
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ὣς φάσαν, αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ μετεφώνεον ἀχνύμενος κῆρ·
Odysseus — ἄασάν μʼ ἕταροί τε κακοὶ πρὸς τοῖσί τε ὕπνος σχέτλιος. ἀλλʼ ἀκέσασθε, φίλοι· δύναμις γὰρ ἐν ὑμῖν.
So they spoke; but I, grieving at heart, spoke among them: My evil companions ruined me, and besides them merciless sleep. But make it right, friends; for the power is in you.
Word by word
The setting
Odysseus answers the household's question. He names the cause of the disaster plainly — his crew, and the sleep that overcame him — and then asks the one thing left to ask: give me a second wind home.
A note on this passage
Odysseus tells the truth and still shades it. He blames the crew and blames sleep — both real — but not the choice to sleep at the tiller in sight of home. Then he turns the confession into a request: you have the power, so heal it. It is the plea of a man with nothing left but the goodwill of his host.
The undercurrent is how much rides on that word 'power.' In this world a host's help is not a favour but a resource, and Odysseus appeals to it openly. He is asking Aeolus to spend his gift twice. The reader already senses that a wind granted once, and squandered, will not be granted again.
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