Odyssey 8.559 · Book 8, lines 559–563
The ships that know men's minds
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ἀλλʼ αὐταὶ ἴσασι νοήματα καὶ φρένας ἀνδρῶν, καὶ πάντων ἴσασι πόλιας καὶ πίονας ἀγροὺς ἀνθρώπων, καὶ λαῖτμα τάχισθʼ ἁλὸς ἐκπερόωσιν ἠέρι καὶ νεφέλῃ κεκαλυμμέναι· οὐδέ ποτέ σφιν οὔτε τι πημανθῆναι ἔπι δέος οὔτʼ ἀπολέσθαι.
But they themselves know the thoughts and minds of men, and know the cities and rich fields of all men, and most swiftly cross the gulf of the sea, wrapped in mist and cloud; nor ever for them is there any fear of being harmed or of perishing.
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The setting
Alcinous finishes describing his people's magical ships: they read the minds of men, know every city and field, cross the deep sea wrapped in mist, and never fear damage or wreck.
A note on this passage
The ships are given something close to intelligence: they know men's thoughts, know every land, and cut the open gulf hidden in cloud, immune to harm. It is a sailor's paradise, and Alcinous tells it as plain fact, still proud, still innocent of what is coming.
Every clause here is the opposite of Odysseus's experience of the sea. He has been battered and nearly lost on it again and again; Poseidon has hunted him across it. The Phaeacians' fearless, unsinkable ships sit at the far pole from the hero's — which is exactly why the next lines darken. Such untouchable seafaring is precisely the thing a sea-god cannot forgive.
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