Odyssey 2.203 · Book 2, lines 203–207

The house bled dry

χρήματα δʼ αὖτε κακῶς βεβρώσεται, οὐδέ ποτʼ ἶσα ἔσσεται, ὄφρα κεν ἥ γε διατρίβῃσιν Ἀχαιοὺς ὃν γάμον· ἡμεῖς δʼ αὖ ποτιδέγμενοι ἤματα πάντα εἵνεκα τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐριδαίνομεν, οὐδὲ μετʼ ἄλλας ἐρχόμεθʼ, ἃς ἐπιεικὲς ὀπυιέμεν ἐστὶν ἑκάστῳ.

And the wealth, meanwhile, will be foully devoured, nor will there ever be recompense, as long as she puts off the Achaeans over her marriage; and we, in turn, waiting all our days, for the sake of her worth we contend, and do not go after other women, whom it were fitting for each to wed.

Word by word

χρήματαchrḗmatathe wealthδʼd’(and)αὖτεaûtemeanwhileκακῶςkakôsfoullyβεβρώσεταιbebrṓsetaiwill be devoured,οὐδέoudénorποτʼpot’everἶσαîsarecompenseἔσσεταιéssetaiwill there be,ὄφραóphraas long asκενken(epic modal particle) = ἄνἥhḗsheγεge(for her part)διατρίβῃσινdiatríbēisinputs offἈχαιοὺςAchaioùsthe Achaeansὃνhònover herγάμονgámonmarriage·ἡμεῖςhēmeîsweδʼd’(and)αὖaûin turnποτιδέγμενοιpotidégmenoiwaitingἤματαḗmatadaysπάνταpántaallεἵνεκαheínekafor the sake ofτῆςtêsherἀρετῆςaretêsworthἐριδαίνομενeridaínomenwe contend,οὐδὲoudèand notμετʼmet’afterἄλλαςállasother womenἐρχόμεθʼerchómeth’do we go,ἃςhàswhomἐπιεικὲςepieikèsit were fittingὀπυιέμενopyiémento wedἐστὶνestìnit isἑκάστῳhekástōifor each.

The setting

Eurymachus ends his speech by tallying the cost of Penelope's refusal: the estate is being eaten up while she stalls, and the suitors wait on, day after day, contending for her and taking no other brides.

A note on this passage

The closing note is the reckoning of loss: the household's wealth keeps being consumed, with no return, for as long as Penelope puts the suitors off; meanwhile they wait every day, vying for her, and refuse the other women each of them could rightly marry.

Eurymachus blames the waste on her delay — a clean reversal, since it is the suitors themselves who are devouring the house. And notice the word for her ‘worth’: ἀρετή, the term that names heroic excellence elsewhere in Greek, here priced like a commodity, the value of a wife men compete to acquire. The same word that crowns a warrior is used to appraise a woman as a prize.

Read the full commentary — and tap any word for its dictionary entry — in the interlinear reader.

Open Odyssey 2.203 in the full reader

Always open passages in the reader

From the Great Library

You are reading a page of the Odyssey — the whole book is free in our interlinear reader.

The Great Library Project presses the classics in their original languages, glossed word by word — free to read, always. Browse the whole library.

Also on our shelves:

❦

Odyssey 2.203 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/2.203/