Odyssey 6.181 · Book 6, lines 181–185

A blessing: oneness of heart

ἄνδρα τε καὶ οἶκον, καὶ ὁμοφροσύνην ὀπάσειαν ἐσθλήν· οὐ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ γε κρεῖσσον καὶ ἄρειον, ἢ ὅθʼ ὁμοφρονέοντε νοήμασιν οἶκον ἔχητον ἀνὴρ ἠδὲ γυνή· πόλλʼ ἄλγεα δυσμενέεσσι, χάρματα δʼ εὐμενέτῃσι, μάλιστα δέ τʼ ἔκλυον αὐτοί.

a husband and a home, and goodly oneness of heart may the gods grant; for nothing is stronger and better than that — than when two of one mind in thought keep a house, a man and a woman: many griefs to their foes, and joys to their well-wishers; but they themselves hear of it most of all.

Word by word

ἄνδραándraa husbandτεte(both)καὶkaìandοἶκονoîkona home,καὶkaìandὁμοφροσύνηνhomophrosýnēnoneness of heartὀπάσειανopáseianmay [they] grantἐσθλήνesthlḗngoodly·οὐouno[thing]μὲνmèn(indeed)γὰρgàr(for)τοῦtoûthan thatγεge(at least)κρεῖσσονkreîssonstrongerκαὶkaìandἄρειονáreionbetter,ἢḗthanὅθʼhóth’whenὁμοφρονέοντεhomophronéontetwo of one mindνοήμασινnoḗmasinin thoughtοἶκονoîkona houseἔχητονéchētonthe two keepἀνὴρanḕra manἠδὲēdèandγυνήgynḗa woman·πόλλʼpóll’manyἄλγεαálgeagriefsδυσμενέεσσιdysmenéessito their foes,χάρματαchármata[and] joysδʼd’(and)εὐμενέτῃσιeumenétēisito their well-wishers,μάλισταmálistamost of allδέdé(but)τʼt’(and)ἔκλυονéklyonthey hear [of it]αὐτοίautoíthey themselves.

The setting

Odysseus, washed ashore naked and suppliant, has begged the young princess Nausicaa for mercy and clothing. Here he ends his appeal — not by asking for himself, but by wishing her the best gift he can name.

A note on this passage

Odysseus ends his plea not with a request for himself but with a blessing for the girl who found him: may the gods give her a husband and a house, and — the crowning wish — homophrosyne, oneness of mind between wife and man. He seals it with a maxim: nothing on earth is stronger or better than that shared life.

The word ὁμοφροσύνη is the point. A naked castaway with no house of his own is the one who names the household ideal, and the marriage he describes is the one waiting for him — Odysseus and Penelope, famous in the poem for exactly this likeness of mind. He blesses Nausicaa with the very thing he is struggling home to reclaim, and she, unmarried, hears her own future named by a stranger.

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Odyssey 6.181 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/6.181/