Odyssey 7.117 · Book 7, lines 117–120

The fruit that never fails

τάων οὔ ποτε καρπὸς ἀπόλλυται οὐδʼ ἀπολείπει χείματος οὐδὲ θέρευς, ἐπετήσιος· ἀλλὰ μάλʼ αἰεὶ Ζεφυρίη πνείουσα τὰ μὲν φύει, ἄλλα δὲ πέσσει. ὄγχνη ἐπʼ ὄγχνῃ γηράσκει, μῆλον δʼ ἐπὶ μήλῳ,

Of these the fruit never perishes nor fails in winter nor in summer, but lasts all year long; and ever, always the West Wind, breathing, brings some to birth and ripens others. Pear grows ripe on pear, apple upon apple.

Word by word

τάωνtáōnof theseοὔoúneverποτεpoteeverκαρπὸςkarpòsthe fruitἀπόλλυταιapóllytaiperishesοὐδʼoud’norἀπολείπειapoleípeifailsχείματοςcheímatosin winterοὐδὲoudènorθέρευςthéreusin summer,ἐπετήσιοςepetḗsiosthe whole year through·ἀλλὰallàbutμάλʼmál’everαἰεὶaieìalwaysΖεφυρίηZephyríēthe West Windπνείουσαpneíousabreathingτὰtàsomeμὲνmèn(…)φύειphýeibrings to birth,ἄλλαállaothersδὲdè(and)πέσσειpésseiripens.ὄγχνηónchnēpearἐπʼep’uponὄγχνῃónchnēipearγηράσκειgēráskeigrows ripe,μῆλονmêlonappleδʼd’(and)ἐπὶepìuponμήλῳmḗlōiapple,

The setting

The marvel of the garden is spelled out: its fruit never spoils and never runs out, winter or summer. The West Wind, blowing all year, ripens one crop while it swells the next — pear following pear, apple after apple.

A note on this passage

Now the enchantment is named outright. The fruit of this garden neither rots nor gives out, in any season; the West Wind blows the year round, and while it ripens one crop it is already starting the next. The line "pear grows ripe on pear, apple upon apple" makes the cycle almost dizzy — growth and harvest folded into one endless moment.

The undercurrent is what this abundance says about Phaeacia. A land with no winter and no hungry gap is a land outside ordinary mortal time — closer to the gods' ease than to a farmer's year. It is beautiful and it is not quite human, and that is the point: Odysseus is passing through the last marvel before he returns to a world where crops fail, seasons bite, and nothing comes without labour.

Read the full commentary — and tap any word for its dictionary entry — in the interlinear reader.

Open Odyssey 7.117 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 7.117 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/7.117/