Odyssey 5.214 · Book 5, lines 214–218
Odysseus concedes the beauty, keeps the wish
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τὴν δʼ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·
Odysseus — πότνα θεά, μή μοι τόδε χώεο· οἶδα καὶ αὐτὸς πάντα μάλʼ, οὕνεκα σεῖο περίφρων Πηνελόπεια εἶδος ἀκιδνοτέρη μέγεθός τʼ εἰσάντα ἰδέσθαι· ἡ μὲν γὰρ βροτός ἐστι, σὺ δʼ ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀγήρως.
And answering her, resourceful Odysseus addressed her: Revered goddess, do not be angry with me over this. I myself know all this full well, that circumspect Penelope is feebler than you to look upon in form and stature; for she is mortal, and you are immortal and ageless.
Word by word
The setting
Odysseus answers Calypso's plea with the tact that names him — polymetis, 'resourceful.' He grants her point completely rather than deny it, then turns it. This is the first speech he makes in the poem to the goddess who has held him seven years.
A note on this passage
Odysseus answers like a diplomat. He does not argue the comparison Calypso made; he concedes it in full — of course Penelope is the lesser to look on, she is mortal and you are a deathless, ageless goddess. Granting the whole claim costs him nothing and disarms her. Only after the concession will the crucial 'but even so' arrive.
The undercurrent is the gap between what he admits and what he wants. He agrees that Calypso is more beautiful, immortal, unaging — every advantage — and none of it moves him. The speech quietly redefines the contest: it was never about which woman is finer, but about which life is his. He hands the goddess every prize except the one that matters.
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