Odyssey 5.348 · Book 5, lines 348–350
'When you reach land, throw it back'
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αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν χείρεσσιν ἐφάψεαι ἠπείροιο, ἂψ ἀπολυσάμενος βαλέειν εἰς οἴνοπα πόντον πολλὸν ἀπʼ ἠπείρου, αὐτὸς δʼ ἀπονόσφι τραπέσθαι.
But when you lay hold of the mainland with your hands, then unbind it and cast it back into the wine-dark sea, far from the shore, and turn yourself away.
Word by word
The setting
Leucothea finishes her instructions with the condition attached to the gift: the moment Odysseus's hands touch solid ground, he must unbind the veil, fling it far out into the sea, and turn his face away as he does.
A note on this passage
The rescue comes with a return clause. The veil is a loan, not a keepsake: the instant his hands find land, Odysseus must loose it, throw it far back into the deep, and — the odd, exact detail — look away while he does it. The gift saves him only if he gives it back.
The averted face is the telling stroke. Sacred things pass between the mortal and immortal worlds under strict rules, and one of them is that you do not watch the holy object cross back over. To turn away is to admit the veil was never his, only lent for the crossing — and to keep the bargain clean. The sea that nearly killed him is also the god's, and what came out of it must be returned to it untouched by a backward look.
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