Odyssey 5.241 · Book 5, lines 241–243
She shows the timber; he takes up the axe
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αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ δεῖξʼ, ὅθι δένδρεα μακρὰ πεφύκει, ἡ μὲν ἔβη πρὸς δῶμα Καλυψώ, δῖα θεάων, αὐτὰρ ὁ τάμνετο δοῦρα· θοῶς δέ οἱ ἤνυτο ἔργον.
But when at last she had shown him where the tall trees grew, she went to the house of Calypso, shining among goddesses; but he kept cutting timbers, and swiftly the work sped on for him.
Word by word
The setting
Hermes has ordered Calypso to release Odysseus, and she has sworn to help him go. Now she keeps her word: she leads him to the grove of tall trees at the island's edge so he can build the raft that will carry him off Ogygia.
A note on this passage
Calypso keeps her word. She leads Odysseus to the far end of the island where the tall timber stands, points it out, and goes home; he takes up the axe at once, and the work runs swiftly under his hands. Two subjects, cleanly split: she shows, he cuts.
The quiet thing is what kind of hero we are meeting. This is nearly the first action we watch Odysseus perform, and it is not a spear-cast but joinery — measuring, felling, the labor going fast because he knows how. The Iliad's heroes are defined by how they kill; the Odyssey introduces its man by how he builds. The nymph who kept him now hands him the means to leave.
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Odyssey 5.241 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/5.241/