Odyssey 9.142 · Book 9, lines 142–145
In by night, blind in the mist
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ἔνθα κατεπλέομεν, καί τις θεὸς ἡγεμόνευεν νύκτα διʼ ὀρφναίην, οὐδὲ προυφαίνετʼ ἰδέσθαι· ἀὴρ γὰρ περὶ νηυσὶ βαθεῖʼ ἦν, οὐδὲ σελήνη οὐρανόθεν προύφαινε, κατείχετο δὲ νεφέεσσιν.
There we sailed in, and some god was guiding us through the murky night, nor did anything show itself to see; for deep mist lay about the ships, nor did the moon shine forth from heaven, but was covered over with clouds.
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The setting
The narrative resumes: Odysseus's ships make their landfall. They sail into the harbour in darkness, guided by some god, through a night so thick with mist that they can see nothing at all.
A note on this passage
After the long survey, the action: they sail in. And the arrival is blind. A god steers them through a murky night; deep mist wraps the ships, no moon breaks the clouds, and there is nothing to see. They reach the perfect harbour without ever laying eyes on it.
The undercurrent is how little the men govern their own safety. They come to the good shore not by seamanship but because some god guided them in the dark — the same anonymous divine help that so often carries Odysseus, and the same darkness that keeps the danger ahead unseen. Arrival and ignorance come together: they are exactly where they need to be, and they cannot see a thing.
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