Odyssey 5.322 · Book 5, lines 322–326

Spitting brine, back to the raft

ὀψὲ δὲ δή ῥʼ ἀνέδυ, στόματος δʼ ἐξέπτυσεν ἅλμην πικρήν, ἥ οἱ πολλὴ ἀπὸ κρατὸς κελάρυζεν. ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὣς σχεδίης ἐπελήθετο, τειρόμενός περ ἀλλὰ μεθορμηθεὶς ἐνὶ κύμασιν ἐλλάβετʼ αὐτῆς, ἐν μέσσῃ δὲ καθῖζε τέλος θανάτου ἀλεείνων.

At last he came up, and spat from his mouth the bitter brine, which streamed in floods down off his head. Yet not even so did he forget the raft, worn out though he was, but striking out after it through the waves he caught hold of it, and sat down in the middle, shunning the end of death.

Word by word

ὀψὲopsèat lastδὲdè(and)δήdḗ(now)ῥʼrh’(then)ἀνέδυanédyhe came up,στόματοςstómatosout of his mouthδʼd’(and)ἐξέπτυσενexéptysenhe spatἅλμηνhálmēnthe brineπικρήνpikrḕnbitter,ἥhḗwhichοἱhoioff himπολλὴpollḕin floodsἀπὸapòfromκρατὸςkratòshis headκελάρυζενkeláryzenstreamed.ἀλλʼall’yetοὐδʼoud’not evenὣςhṑssoσχεδίηςschedíēsthe raftἐπελήθετοepelḗthetodid he forget,τειρόμενόςteirómenósworn outπερperthoughἀλλὰallàbutμεθορμηθεὶςmethormētheìsstriking out after itἐνὶenìinκύμασινkýmasinthe wavesἐλλάβετʼellábet’he caught holdαὐτῆςautêsof it,ἐνeninμέσσῃméssēithe middleδὲdè(and)καθῖζεkathîzehe sat downτέλοςtélosthe endθανάτουthanátouof deathἀλεείνωνaleeínōnshunning.

The setting

Odysseus fights up from underwater. Coughing out sea-water, exhausted, he refuses to let go of the raft — swims back to it, hauls himself aboard, and sits in its middle to keep death at bay.

A note on this passage

He surfaces at last and spits out the bitter sea-water that pours off his head. Worn out as he is, he does not lose track of the raft: he strikes back out through the waves, catches hold of it, and hauls himself to the middle, keeping death off a little longer.

This is the first time in the poem we actually watch Odysseus endure, and it defines him. He is exhausted, half-drowned, stripped of every tool — and his answer is not despair but a plain physical act: get back to the wreckage and hold on. 'Shunning the end that is death' catches his whole method. He does not defeat the sea; he refuses, one motion at a time, to let it finish him.

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Odyssey 5.322 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/5.322/