Odyssey 9.74 · Book 9, lines 74–78

Two days pinned down, then Dawn

ἔνθα δύω νύκτας δύο τʼ ἤματα συνεχὲς αἰεὶ κείμεθʼ, ὁμοῦ καμάτῳ τε καὶ ἄλγεσι θυμὸν ἔδοντες. ἀλλʼ ὅτε δὴ τρίτον ἦμαρ ἐυπλόκαμος τέλεσʼ Ἠώς, ἱστοὺς στησάμενοι ἀνά θʼ ἱστία λεύκʼ ἐρύσαντες ἥμεθα, τὰς δʼ ἄνεμός τε κυβερνῆταί τʼ ἴθυνον.

There, for two nights and two days on end without a break, we lay, eating our heart at once with weariness and with pains. But when at last fair-tressed Dawn brought the third day, we set up the masts, and hauled up the white sails, and sat; and the wind and the helmsmen kept them on course.

Word by word

ἔνθαénthathereδύωdýōtwoνύκταςnýktasnightsδύοdýotwoτʼt’andἤματαḗmatadaysσυνεχὲςsynechèsunbrokenαἰεὶaieìalwaysκείμεθʼkeímeth’we lay,ὁμοῦhomoûat onceκαμάτῳkamátōiwith wearinessτεte(both)καὶkaìandἄλγεσιálgesipainsθυμὸνthymònour heartἔδοντεςédonteseating.ἀλλʼall’butὅτεhótewhenδὴdḕ(at last)τρίτονtrítona thirdἦμαρêmardayἐυπλόκαμοςeüplókamosfair-tressedτέλεσʼtéles’broughtἨώςĒṓsDawn,ἱστοὺςhistoùsthe mastsστησάμενοιstēsámenoihaving set upἀνάaná(up)θʼth’andἱστίαhistíathe sailsλεύκʼleúk’whiteἐρύσαντεςerýsanteshaving hauledἥμεθαhḗmethawe sat,τὰςtàsthemδʼd’(and)ἄνεμόςánemósthe windτεte(both)κυβερνῆταίkybernêtaíand the helmsmenτʼt’(and)ἴθυνονíthynonkept steering.

The setting

Driven back and battered, the fleet is pinned on shore for two days while the crew lies helpless, until the third dawn lets them rig the ships and make sail again.

A note on this passage

Two days of nothing, then the routine of getting under way. The men lie on the beach 'eating their heart' with exhaustion and grief; when the third dawn comes they step the masts, haul the white sails, and let wind and steersmen carry the ships. The passage swings from paralysis to competent motion in a single line.

The turn is marked by a formula. ἐυπλόκαμος Ἠώς — 'fair-tressed Dawn' — arrives with her fixed pretty epithet over a crew that has just spent two days in misery, and the serene phrase lifts them out of it. The gap between the calm formula and the men's state is exactly the point: Dawn does not care, and yet Dawn is what ends the ordeal. Homer's own image, 'eating the heart,' is the ache the epithet passes over.

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