Odyssey 2.430 · Book 2, lines 430–434
Libations, and the ship holds her way through the night
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δησάμενοι δʼ ἄρα ὅπλα θοὴν ἀνὰ νῆα μέλαιναν στήσαντο κρητῆρας ἐπιστεφέας οἴνοιο, λεῖβον δʼ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖς αἰειγενέτῃσιν, ἐκ πάντων δὲ μάλιστα Διὸς γλαυκώπιδι κούρῃ. παννυχίη μέν ῥʼ ἥ γε καὶ ἠῶ πεῖρε κέλευθον.
Then, when they had lashed fast the tackle throughout the swift black ship, they set up mixing-bowls brimming with wine, and poured libations to the immortal, everlasting gods — and out of them all, most of all to the grey-eyed daughter of Zeus. All night long, and on into the dawn, she cut her way along her path.
Word by word
The setting
With the sail drawing, the crew lash the gear fast, set out bowls brimming with wine, and pour offerings to the gods — most of all to Athena, whose wind carries them. Book 2 ends not on arrival but on motion, the ship holding her course through the night and into dawn.
A note on this passage
The crew make the gear fast, set out mixing-bowls filled to the brim, and pour wine to the everlasting gods — and, out of all of them, most to grey-eyed Athena. Then the last line lets the ship run: all night and on into the dawn she cleaves her path across the sea.
The undercurrent is a quiet gratitude that names its source. The men do not know, as the reader does, that Athena walks with Telemachus in disguise — yet their fullest offering goes to her, the very goddess whose wind is now in their sail. Book 2 closes on an image of trust rather than arrival: the goddess's breath, the crew's thanks, and an unbroken course held through the dark.
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