The Odyssey: Book 13 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGAHIJKLMNKBOPA LAQBQRKAQKSGGKTKUOVK WXAYZYYQUKYFYYYAAAYQ QRYYRARKA2AKYA2AAMKB 2WC2KKGFGKAD2QAQE2KF 2QG2KE2YYYYYYRYYRYYK MH2YKYF2KGVKXKAVWQYM XYYYQYKQYVQYYKAKI2KY KKQJ2YYYKQVWGYKGYMYX RYK2KYE2YL2KYRH2QGQM 2FYE2KYQE2YWAYKN2YYA GQMYE2KO2GP2YGRKK2YY QKKQ2MYRKYF2MYQQ2QQE 2KEYYYE2KYYKKKQ2YYAK WMR2M2KKYF2YNYE2YF2Y KYRKKE2YKKYYAGQKYYYA S2QYYXYYYKO2MQKE2KYY QGEE2KG2M2WVYYKAG2MY KQ2YKGE2QE2YKKH2QGYK KT2KU2KYYRKK| Thus did he speak and they all held their peace throughout the | A |
| covered cloister enthralled by the charm of his story till presently | B |
| Alcinous began to speak | C |
| Ulysses said he now that you have reached my house I doubt | D |
| not you will get home without further misadventure no matter how | E |
| much you have suffered in the past To you others however who come | F |
| here night after night to drink my choicest wine and listen to my | G |
| bard I would insist as follows Our guest has already packed up the | A |
| clothes wrought gold and other valuables which you have brought | H |
| for his acceptance let us now therefore present him further each | I |
| one of us with a large tripod and a cauldron We will recoup | J |
| ourselves by the levy of a general rate for private individuals | K |
| cannot be expected to bear the burden of such a handsome present | L |
| Every one approved of this and then they went home to bed each in | M |
| his own abode When the child of morning rosy fingered Dawn | N |
| appeared they hurried down to the ship and brought their cauldrons | K |
| with them Alcinous went on board and saw everything so securely | B |
| stowed under the ship's benches that nothing could break adrift and | O |
| injure the rowers Then they went to the house of Alcinous to get | P |
| dinner and he sacrificed a bull for them in honour of Jove who is the | A |
| lord of all They set the steaks to grill and made an excellent | L |
| dinner after which the inspired bard Demodocus who was a | A |
| favourite with every one sang to them but Ulysses kept on turning | Q |
| his eyes towards the sun as though to hasten his setting for he | B |
| was longing to be on his way As one who has been all day ploughing | Q |
| a fallow field with a couple of oxen keeps thinking about his supper | R |
| and is glad when night comes that he may go and get it for it is | K |
| all his legs can do to carry him even so did Ulysses rejoice when the | A |
| sun went down and he at once said to the Phaecians addressing | Q |
| himself more particularly to King Alcinous | K |
| Sir and all of you farewell Make your drink offerings and send | S |
| me on my way rejoicing for you have fulfilled my heart's desire by | G |
| giving me an escort and making me presents which heaven grant that I | G |
| may turn to good account may I find my admirable wife living in peace | K |
| among friends and may you whom I leave behind me give satisfaction to | T |
| your wives and children may heaven vouchsafe you every good grace | K |
| and may no evil thing come among your people | U |
| Thus did he speak His hearers all of them approved his saying and | O |
| agreed that he should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken | V |
| reasonably Alcinous therefore said to his servant Pontonous mix | K |
| some wine and hand it round to everybody that we may offer a prayer | W |
| to father Jove and speed our guest upon his way | X |
| Pontonous mixed the wine and handed it to every one in turn the | A |
| others each from his own seat made a drink offering to the blessed | Y |
| gods that live in heaven but Ulysses rose and placed the double cup | Z |
| in the hands of queen Arete | Y |
| Farewell queen said he henceforward and for ever till age and | Y |
| death the common lot of mankind lay their hands upon you I now take | Q |
| my leave be happy in this house with your children your people | U |
| and with king Alcinous | K |
| As he spoke he crossed the threshold and Alcinous sent a man to | Y |
| conduct him to his ship and to the sea shore Arete also sent some | F |
| maid servants with him one with a clean shirt and cloak another to | Y |
| carry his strong box and a third with corn and wine When they got to | Y |
| the water side the crew took these things and put them on board | Y |
| with all the meat and drink but for Ulysses they spread a rug and a | A |
| linen sheet on deck that he might sleep soundly in the stern of the | A |
| ship Then he too went on board and lay down without a word but the | A |
| crew took every man his place and loosed the hawser from the pierced | Y |
| stone to which it had been bound Thereon when they began rowing | Q |
| out to sea Ulysses fell into a deep sweet and almost deathlike | Q |
| slumber | R |
| The ship bounded forward on her way as a four in hand chariot | Y |
| flies over the course when the horses feel the whip Her prow curveted | Y |
| as it were the neck of a stallion and a great wave of dark blue water | R |
| seethed in her wake She held steadily on her course and even a | A |
| falcon swiftest of all birds could not have kept pace with her | R |
| Thus then she cut her way through the water carrying one who was as | K |
| cunning as the gods but who was now sleeping peacefully forgetful of | A2 |
| all that he had suffered both on the field of battle and by the | A |
| waves of the weary sea | K |
| When the bright star that heralds the approach of dawn began to | Y |
| show the ship drew near to land Now there is in Ithaca a haven of | A2 |
| the old merman Phorcys which lies between two points that break the | A |
| line of the sea and shut the harbour in These shelter it from the | A |
| storms of wind and sea that rage outside so that when once within | M |
| it a ship may lie without being even moored At the head of this | K |
| harbour there is a large olive tree and at no distance a fine | B2 |
| overarching cavern sacred to the nymphs who are called Naiads There | W |
| are mixing bowls within it and wine jars of stone and the bees hive | C2 |
| there Moreover there are great looms of stone on which the nymphs | K |
| weave their robes of sea purple very curious to see and at all times | K |
| there is water within it It has two entrances one facing North by | G |
| which mortals can go down into the cave while the other comes from | F |
| the South and is more mysterious mortals cannot possibly get in by | G |
| it it is the way taken by the gods | K |
| Into this harbour then they took their ship for they knew the | A |
| place She had so much way upon her that she ran half her own length | D2 |
| on to the shore when however they had landed the first thing | Q |
| they did was to lift Ulysses with his rug and linen sheet out of the | A |
| ship and lay him down upon the sand still fast asleep Then they took | Q |
| out the presents which Minerva had persuaded the Phaeacians to give | E2 |
| him when he was setting out on his voyage homewards They put these | K |
| all together by the root of the olive tree away from the road for | F2 |
| fear some passer by might come and steal them before Ulysses awoke | Q |
| and then they made the best of their way home again | G2 |
| But Neptune did not forget the threats with which he had already | K |
| threatened Ulysses so he took counsel with Jove Father Jove | E2 |
| said he I shall no longer be held in any sort of respect among you | Y |
| gods if mortals like the Phaeacians who are my own flesh and | Y |
| blood show such small regard for me I said I would Ulysses get | Y |
| home when he had suffered sufficiently I did not say that he should | Y |
| never get home at all for I knew you had already nodded your head | Y |
| about it and promised that he should do so but now they have brought | Y |
| him in a ship fast asleep and have landed him in Ithaca after | R |
| loading him with more magnificent presents of bronze gold and | Y |
| raiment than he would ever have brought back from Troy if he had | Y |
| had his share of the spoil and got home without misadventure | R |
| And Jove answered What O Lord of the Earthquake are you | Y |
| talking about The gods are by no means wanting in respect for you It | Y |
| would be monstrous were they to insult one so old and honoured as | K |
| you are As regards mortals however if any of them is indulging in | M |
| insolence and treating you disrespectfully it will always rest with | H2 |
| yourself to deal with him as you may think proper so do just as you | Y |
| please | K |
| I should have done so at once replied Neptune if I were not | Y |
| anxious to avoid anything that might displease you now therefore | F2 |
| I should like to wreck the Phaecian ship as it is returning from its | K |
| escort This will stop them from escorting people in future and I | G |
| should also like to bury their city under a huge mountain | V |
| My good friend answered Jove I should recommend you at the very | K |
| moment when the people from the city are watching the ship on her way | X |
| to turn it into a rock near the land and looking like a ship This | K |
| will astonish everybody and you can then bury their city under the | A |
| mountain | V |
| When earth encircling Neptune heard this he went to Scheria where | W |
| the Phaecians live and stayed there till the ship which was making | Q |
| rapid way had got close in Then he went up to it turned it into | Y |
| stone and drove it down with the flat of his hand so as to root it in | M |
| the ground After this he went away | X |
| The Phaeacians then began talking among themselves and one would | Y |
| turn towards his neighbour saying Bless my heart who is it that | Y |
| can have rooted the ship in the sea just as she was getting into port | Y |
| We could see the whole of her only moment ago | Q |
| This was how they talked but they knew nothing about it and | Y |
| Alcinous said I remember now the old prophecy of my father He | K |
| said that Neptune would be angry with us for taking every one so | Q |
| safely over the sea and would one day wreck a Phaeacian ship as it | Y |
| was returning from an escort and bury our city under a high mountain | V |
| This was what my old father used to say and now it is all coming | Q |
| true Now therefore let us all do as I say in the first place we must | Y |
| leave off giving people escorts when they come here and in the next | Y |
| let us sacrifice twelve picked bulls to Neptune that he may have mercy | K |
| upon us and not bury our city under the high mountain When the | A |
| people heard this they were afraid and got ready the bulls | K |
| Thus did the chiefs and rulers of the Phaecians to king Neptune | I2 |
| standing round his altar and at the same time Ulysses woke up once | K |
| more upon his own soil He had been so long away that he did not | Y |
| know it again moreover Jove's daughter Minerva had made it a foggy | K |
| day so that people might not know of his having come and that she | K |
| might tell him everything without either his wife or his fellow | Q |
| citizens and friends recognizing him until he had taken his revenge | J2 |
| upon the wicked suitors Everything therefore seemed quite different | Y |
| to him the long straight tracks the harbours the precipices and | Y |
| the goodly trees appeared all changed as he started up and looked | Y |
| upon his native land So he smote his thighs with the flat of his | K |
| hands and cried aloud despairingly | Q |
| Alas he exclaimed among what manner of people am I fallen | V |
| Are they savage and uncivilized or hospitable and humane Where | W |
| shall I put all this treasure and which way shall I go I wish I | G |
| had stayed over there with the Phaeacians or I could have gone to | Y |
| some other great chief who would have been good to me and given me | K |
| an escort As it is I do not know where to put my treasure and I | G |
| cannot leave it here for fear somebody else should get hold of it | Y |
| In good truth the chiefs and rulers of the Phaeacians have not been | M |
| dealing fairly by me and have left me in the wrong country they said | Y |
| they would take me back to Ithaca and they have not done so may | X |
| Jove the protector of suppliants chastise them for he watches over | R |
| everybody and punishes those who do wrong Still I suppose I must | Y |
| count my goods and see if the crew have gone off with any of them | K2 |
| He counted his goodly coppers and cauldrons his gold and all his | K |
| clothes but there was nothing missing still he kept grieving about | Y |
| not being in his own country and wandered up and down by the shore of | E2 |
| the sounding sea bewailing his hard fate Then Minerva came up to | Y |
| him disguised as a young shepherd of delicate and princely mien | L2 |
| with a good cloak folded double about her shoulders she had sandals | K |
| on her comely feet and held a javelin in her hand Ulysses was glad | Y |
| when he saw her and went straight up to her | R |
| My friend said he you are the first person whom I have met with | H2 |
| in this country I salute you therefore and beg you to be will | Q |
| disposed towards me Protect these my goods and myself too for I | G |
| embrace your knees and pray to you as though you were a god Tell | Q |
| me then and tell me truly what land and country is this Who are | M2 |
| its inhabitants Am I on an island or is this the sea board of some | F |
| continent | Y |
| Minerva answered Stranger you must be very simple or must have | E2 |
| come from somewhere a long way off not to know what country this | K |
| is It is a very celebrated place and everybody knows it East and | Y |
| West It is rugged and not a good driving country but it is by no | Q |
| means a bid island for what there is of it It grows any quantity of | E2 |
| corn and also wine for it is watered both by rain and dew it | Y |
| breeds cattle also and goats all kinds of timber grow here and there | W |
| are watering places where the water never runs dry so sir the | A |
| name of Ithaca is known even as far as Troy which I understand to | Y |
| be a long way off from this Achaean country | K |
| Ulysses was glad at finding himself as Minerva told him in his own | N2 |
| country and he began to answer but he did not speak the truth and | Y |
| made up a lying story in the instinctive wiliness of his heart | Y |
| I heard of Ithaca said he when I was in Crete beyond the | A |
| seas and now it seems I have reached it with all these treasures I | G |
| have left as much more behind me for my children but am flying | Q |
| because I killed Orsilochus son of Idomeneus the fleetest runner in | M |
| Crete I killed him because he wanted to rob me of the spoils I had | Y |
| got from Troy with so much trouble and danger both on the field of | E2 |
| battle and by the waves of the weary sea he said I had not served his | K |
| father loyally at Troy as vassal but had set myself up as an | O2 |
| independent ruler so I lay in wait for him and with one of my | G |
| followers by the road side and speared him as he was coming into town | P2 |
| from the country my It was a very dark night and nobody saw us it | Y |
| was not known therefore that I had killed him but as soon as I | G |
| had done so I went to a ship and besought the owners who were | R |
| Phoenicians to take me on board and set me in Pylos or in Elis | K |
| where the Epeans rule giving them as much spoil as satisfied them | K2 |
| They meant no guile but the wind drove them off their course and | Y |
| we sailed on till we came hither by night It was all we could do to | Y |
| get inside the harbour and none of us said a word about supper though | Q |
| we wanted it badly but we all went on shore and lay down just as we | K |
| were I was very tired and fell asleep directly so they took my goods | K |
| out of the ship and placed them beside me where I was lying upon | Q2 |
| the sand Then they sailed away to Sidonia and I was left here in | M |
| great distress of mind | Y |
| Such was his story but Minerva smiled and caressed him with her | R |
| hand Then she took the form of a woman fair stately and wise | K |
| He must be indeed a shifty lying fellow said she who could | Y |
| surpass you in all manner of craft even though you had a god for | F2 |
| your antagonist Dare devil that you are full of guile unwearying in | M |
| deceit can you not drop your tricks and your instinctive falsehood | Y |
| even now that you are in your own country again We will say no | Q |
| more however about this for we can both of us deceive upon | Q2 |
| occasion you are the most accomplished counsellor and orator among | Q |
| all mankind while I for diplomacy and subtlety have no equal among | Q |
| the gods Did you not know Jove's daughter Minerva me who have | E2 |
| been ever with you who kept watch over you in all your troubles | K |
| and who made the Phaeacians take so great a liking to you And now | E |
| again I am come here to talk things over with you and help you to | Y |
| hide the treasure I made the Phaeacians give you I want to tell you | Y |
| about the troubles that await you in your own house you have got to | Y |
| face them but tell no one neither man nor woman that you have | E2 |
| come home again Bear everything and put up with every man's | K |
| insolence without a word | Y |
| And Ulysses answered A man goddess may know a great deal but | Y |
| you are so constantly changing your appearance that when he meets | K |
| you it is a hard matter for him to know whether it is you or not This | K |
| much however I know exceedingly well you were very kind to me as | K |
| long as we Achaeans were fighting before Troy but from the day on | Q2 |
| which we went on board ship after having sacked the city of Priam and | Y |
| heaven dispersed us from that day Minerva I saw no more of you and | Y |
| cannot ever remember your coming to my ship to help me in a | A |
| difficulty I had to wander on sick and sorry till the gods | K |
| delivered me from evil and I reached the city of the Phaeacians where | W |
| you encouraged me and took me into the town And now I beseech you in | M |
| your father's name tell me the truth for I do not believe I am | R2 |
| really back in Ithaca I am in some other country and you are | M2 |
| mocking me and deceiving me in all you have been saying Tell me | K |
| then truly have I really got back to my own country | K |
| You are always taking something of that sort into your head | Y |
| replied Minerva and that is why I cannot desert you in your | F2 |
| afflictions you are so plausible shrewd and shifty Any one but | Y |
| yourself on returning from so long a voyage would at once have gone | N |
| home to see his wife and children but you do not seem to care about | Y |
| asking after them or hearing any news about them till you have | E2 |
| exploited your wife who remains at home vainly grieving for you | Y |
| and having no peace night or day for the tears she sheds on your | F2 |
| behalf As for my not coming near you I was never uneasy about you | Y |
| for I was certain you would get back safely though you would lose | K |
| all your men and I did not wish to quarrel with my uncle Neptune who | Y |
| never forgave you for having blinded his son I will now however | R |
| point out to you the lie of the land and you will then perhaps | K |
| believe me This is the haven of the old merman Phorcys and here is | K |
| the olive tree that grows at the head of it near it is the cave | E2 |
| sacred to the Naiads here too is the overarching cavern in which you | Y |
| have offered many an acceptable hecatomb to the nymphs and this is | K |
| the wooded mountain Neritum | K |
| As she spoke the goddess dispersed the mist and the land appeared | Y |
| Then Ulysses rejoiced at finding himself again in his own land and | Y |
| kissed the bounteous soil he lifted up his hands and prayed to the | A |
| nymphs saying Naiad nymphs daughters of Jove I made sure that I | G |
| was never again to see you now therefore I greet you with all | Q |
| loving salutations and I will bring you offerings as in the old days | K |
| if Jove's redoubtable daughter will grant me life and bring my son to | Y |
| manhood | Y |
| Take heart and do not trouble yourself about that rejoined | Y |
| Minerva let us rather set about stowing your things at once in the | A |
| cave where they will be quite safe Let us see how we can best manage | S2 |
| it all | Q |
| Therewith she went down into the cave to look for the safest | Y |
| hiding places while Ulysses brought up all the treasure of gold | Y |
| bronze and good clothing which the Phaecians had given him They | X |
| stowed everything carefully away and Minerva set a stone against | Y |
| the door of the cave Then the two sat down by the root of the great | Y |
| olive and consulted how to compass the destruction of the wicked | Y |
| suitors | K |
| Ulysses said Minerva noble son of Laertes think how you can | O2 |
| lay hands on these disreputable people who have been lording it in | M |
| your house these three years courting your wife and making wedding | Q |
| presents to her while she does nothing but lament your absence | K |
| giving hope and sending your encouraging messages to every one of | E2 |
| them but meaning the very opposite of all she says' | K |
| And Ulysses answered In good truth goddess it seems I should | Y |
| have come to much the same bad end in my own house as Agamemnon did | Y |
| if you had not given me such timely information Advise me how I shall | Q |
| best avenge myself Stand by my side and put your courage into my | G |
| heart as on the day when we loosed Troy's fair diadem from her brow | E |
| Help me now as you did then and I will fight three hundred men if | E2 |
| you goddess will be with me | K |
| Trust me for that said she I will not lose sight of you when | G2 |
| once we set about it and I would imagine that some of those who are | M2 |
| devouring your substance will then bespatter the pavement with their | W |
| blood and brains I will begin by disguising you so that no human | V |
| being shall know you I will cover your body with wrinkles you | Y |
| shall lose all your yellow hair I will clothe you in a garment that | Y |
| shall fill all who see it with loathing I will blear your fine eyes | K |
| for you and make you an unseemly object in the sight of the | A |
| suitors of your wife and of the son whom you left behind you Then | G2 |
| go at once to the swineherd who is in charge of your pigs he has been | M |
| always well affected towards you and is devoted to Penelope and | Y |
| your son you will find him feeding his pigs near the rock that is | K |
| called Raven by the fountain Arethusa where they are fattening on | Q2 |
| beechmast and spring water after their manner Stay with him and | Y |
| find out how things are going while I proceed to Sparta and see | K |
| your son who is with Menelaus at Lacedaemon where he has gone to try | G |
| and find out whether you are still alive | E2 |
| But why said Ulysses did you not tell him for you knew all | Q |
| about it Did you want him too to go sailing about amid all kinds of | E2 |
| hardship while others are eating up his estate | Y |
| Minerva answered Never mind about him I sent him that he might be | K |
| well spoken of for having gone He is in no sort of difficulty but is | K |
| staying quite comfortably with Menelaus and is surrounded with | H2 |
| abundance of every kind The suitors have put out to sea and are lying | Q |
| in wait for him for they mean to kill him before he can get home I | G |
| do not much think they will succeed but rather that some of those who | Y |
| are now eating up your estate will first find a grave themselves | K |
| As she spoke Minerva touched him with her wand and covered him | K |
| with wrinkles took away all his yellow hair and withered the flesh | T2 |
| over his whole body she bleared his eyes which were naturally very | K |
| fine ones she changed his clothes and threw an old rag of a wrap | U2 |
| about him and a tunic tattered filthy and begrimed with smoke she | K |
| also gave him an undressed deer skin as an outer garment and | Y |
| furnished him with a staff and a wallet all in holes with a twisted | Y |
| thong for him to sling it over his shoulder | R |
| When the pair had thus laid their plans they parted and the goddess | K |
| went straight to Lacedaemon to fetch Telemachus | K |
Homer
(1)
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