Odyssey 5.68 · Book 5, lines 68–69
The vine heavy with grapes
Read the full text in our reader
ἡ δʼ αὐτοῦ τετάνυστο περὶ σπείους γλαφυροῖο ἡμερὶς ἡβώωσα, τεθήλει δὲ σταφυλῇσι.
And right there a cultivated vine in its prime was trained about the hollow cave, and it teemed with clusters of grapes.
Word by word
The setting
Still cataloguing the marvels around Calypso's cave: after the trees and birds, the vine trained over its mouth.
A note on this passage
One more marvel: a garden vine, in the full vigour of its youth, trained right over the mouth of the hollow cave and hanging heavy with ripe grapes. The detail crowns the picture of ease — the cave itself is dressed in fruit.
The word for the vine is pointed: ἡμερίς, a cultivated, ‘tame’ vine, not a wild one. On a remote island with no farmer, the growth is nonetheless ordered and fruitful, as if nature here does the work of cultivation by itself. That effortless abundance is the mark of a divine place — and a subtle reminder that everything Calypso offers, Odysseus need not labour for. Which is precisely why he must refuse it.
Read the full commentary — and tap any word for its dictionary entry — in the interlinear reader.
Open Odyssey 5.68 in the full reader
Always open passages in the reader
From the Great Library
You are reading a page of the Odyssey — the whole book is free in our interlinear reader.
The Great Library Project presses the classics in their original languages, glossed word by word — free to read, always. Browse the whole library.
Also on our shelves:
Odyssey 5.68 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/5.68/