Odyssey 5.29 · Book 5, lines 29–30
Carry the unerring decree
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Zeus — Ἑρμεία σὺ γὰρ αὖτε τά τʼ ἄλλα περ ἄγγελός ἐσσι, νύμφῃ ἐυπλοκάμῳ εἰπεῖν νημερτέα βουλήν,
Hermes, since you are our messenger in all other matters too, tell the fair-haired nymph the unerring decree:
Word by word
The setting
Zeus begins his charge to Hermes. As the gods' standing herald, Hermes is to fly to Ogygia and announce to Calypso the fixed decision: Odysseus is to be released. The block ends as the order is being given.
A note on this passage
Zeus opens the commission. He addresses Hermes as the gods' standing messenger — the one who carries word 'in all other matters too' — and charges him to bring the decree to Calypso. The sentence breaks off mid-command, the order still being spoken as the block ends.
The key phrase is νημερτέα βουλήν, the 'unerring decree': what began as Athena's request is now Zeus's fixed and infallible will, no longer open to debate. And the tender epithet arrives at exactly the wrong moment for its bearer — Calypso is ἐυπλόκαμος, 'fair-tressed,' named for her beauty in the very line that dispatches the order to take her mortal lover away.
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