Odyssey 5.162 · Book 5, lines 162–164
Build yourself a raft
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ἀλλʼ ἄγε δούρατα μακρὰ ταμὼν ἁρμόζεο χαλκῷ εὐρεῖαν σχεδίην· ἀτὰρ ἴκρια πῆξαι ἐπʼ αὐτῆς ὑψοῦ, ὥς σε φέρῃσιν ἐπʼ ἠεροειδέα πόντον.
But come, cut long beams, and fit them with bronze into a wide raft; and fasten cross-planks high upon it, so that it may carry you over the misty sea.
Word by word
The setting
Calypso continues, turning from comfort to instructions. There is no ship on Ogygia; if Odysseus is to leave, he must make his own craft. She tells him exactly how.
A note on this passage
The speech turns practical. There is no ship on the island, so Calypso gives a shipwright's recipe: cut long timbers, join them with bronze tools into a broad raft, deck it high so the waves break under it, not over it. Four lines of craft, plain and exact.
The undercurrent is that this is the true portrait of Odysseus. He is not only the man of tricks; he is the man who can make things — and his escape will be, literally, his own handiwork. The Iliad's heroes are handed their armor by gods; this hero saves himself with an axe and his own two hands. The detailed how-to here is the poem quietly telling you what kind of survivor he is.
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Odyssey 5.162 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/5.162/