Odyssey 7.133 · Book 7, lines 133–135
Odysseus on the threshold, gazing
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ἔνθα στὰς θηεῖτο πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς. αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ δὴ πάντα ἑῷ θηήσατο θυμῷ, καρπαλίμως ὑπὲρ οὐδὸν ἐβήσετο δώματος εἴσω.
There, standing, much-enduring noble Odysseus gazed in wonder. But when indeed he had gazed at all things in his own heart, swiftly he stepped over the threshold, into the house.
Word by word
The setting
The catalogue of marvels ends and the action resumes. Odysseus, wrapped in Athena's mist, has been standing outside; now, having looked his fill, he crosses into the hall itself.
A note on this passage
The catalogue stops and the man moves. Odysseus has stood outside taking it all in; the line marks the exact turn — when he had gazed his fill — and then, swiftly, he steps over the threshold into the hall.
The repeated verb 'to gaze in wonder' does real work: even Odysseus, who watched Troy fall and met monsters up close, stops to marvel. And the epithet held over him is much-enduring, the fixed word for the man of suffering, set here beside pure delight. The formula reminds us who is looking: not a tourist but a survivor, stealing one moment of beauty before he must beg.
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Odyssey 7.133 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/odyssey/7.133/