Odyssey 5.39 · Book 5, lines 39–42
Gifts beyond Troy — for it is his fate
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πόλλʼ, ὅσʼ ἂν οὐδέ ποτε Τροίης ἐξήρατʼ Ὀδυσσεύς, εἴ περ ἀπήμων ἦλθε, λαχὼν ἀπὸ ληίδος αἶσαν. ὣς γάρ οἱ μοῖρʼ ἐστὶ φίλους τʼ ἰδέειν καὶ ἱκέσθαι οἶκον ἐς ὑψόροφον καὶ ἑὴν ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν.
much treasure, as much as Odysseus would never have won from Troy, even had he come unscathed home, winning by lot his share of the spoils. For thus it is his fate to see his dear ones and to reach his high-roofed home and his own native land.
Word by word
The setting
The end of Zeus's speech to Hermes. He promises the Phaeacians' parting-gifts will outweigh whatever Odysseus might have brought home from the sack of Troy — because it is simply fated that he see his family again and reach his own house.
A note on this passage
Zeus closes his instructions by measuring the reward. The Phaeacian gifts will be greater than any plunder Odysseus could have carried off from Troy, even in the best case — home safe, his full lot of the spoils in hand. Then the reason, flat and final: it is fated for him to see his own and reach his high-roofed hall.
The load-bearing word is αἶσα, ‘allotted share’ — the same idea twice over. First it is his portion of war-booty; then it becomes his portion of life itself, his fate to come home. Greek does not separate the two: what is measured out to a man at the sack of a city and what is measured out to him by destiny are one kind of thing. The homecoming is not luck. It is owed.
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