Odyssey 5.103 · Book 5, lines 103–104
No god slips past the will of Zeus
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ἀλλὰ μάλʼ οὔ πως ἔστι Διὸς νόον αἰγιόχοιο οὔτε παρεξελθεῖν ἄλλον θεὸν οὔθʼ ἁλιῶσαι.
But in no way at all is it possible for another god to evade or thwart the mind of Zeus, the aegis-bearer.
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The setting
Hermes states the law that binds even the immortals: the purpose of Zeus cannot be sidestepped or thwarted, not by any other god.
A note on this passage
Hermes ends the preamble with the flat fact that overrides his own reluctance and Calypso's wishes alike: the will of Zeus cannot be got round. Two verbs cover the options — you cannot slip past it, and you cannot make it miscarry — and both are denied.
The undercurrent is hierarchy. Even a god has no move here; the aegis-bearing father stands above the other immortals as they stand above men. It quietly frames everything that follows: Calypso will rage and grieve, but the outcome is already fixed. Her freedom in this scene is only the freedom to consent to what she cannot prevent.
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