Homer
The Odyssey;
or
The Ten Years’ Wandering of Odusseus
After the Ten Years’ Siege of Troy
Reproduced
in Dramatic Blank Verse
T.
S. Norgate
Edinburgh 1863
[Sample
from the Opening of the Poem]
THE
ODYSSEY OF HOMER
SYNOPSIS
OF THE POEM.
“I
told him how that after many troubles
And
losing all his comrades, he himself,
In
the twentieth year,—unknown to everyone,—
Should
reach his home: and now at last all this
Is
on accomplishment.”
BOOK
ii. 174-178
ARGUMENT
OF THE FIRST BOOK. A
An
assembly of the gods is held, on the subject of sending Odusseus home to Ithaca
from the island of Calypso, where he has been detained about seven years. Accordingly,
Athênè, the goddess of wisdom, under the form of Mentês, lord of the Taphians,
goes down to Ithaca,—engages Telemachus, Odusseus’ son, in coversation, and
exhorts him to set out in search of his father, first to Nestor, king of Pylos,
and then to Menelaüs, king of Sparta. After
giving him clear instructions, she departs. The suitors’
banquet and revels are set forth.
ALPHA:
the assembly of the gods: Athênè
Visits Telemachus, and gives him Courage,
And Wisdom for his guide: the suitor’s revels.
______
The
travelled Man of many a turn,—driven far,
Far
wandering, when he had sacked Troy’s sacred Town;
Tell
me, O Muse, his tale; how too he conned
The
manners of mankind, and visited
Full
many a City, and how on the deep he suffered
Many
a heart-pang, striving to secure
5 His
own and comrades’ lives and safe return,
Yet
them he rescued not, howe’er desirous;
For
by their own blind folly they all perished:
Fools
that they were! to eat the
Sun-god’s herds;
So,
Hyperion, he who Walks above,
Bereft
them of their day of home-return!
Whereof,
from whatsoever source, O goddess,
10 Daughter
of Zeus, vouchsafe to tell e’en Us!—
Already
now at home were all the others
Who
safe through war and sea had scaped hard death.
Yearning
for home-return and wife, This Man
Was
alone stayed by a Nymph to hollow caves
Lady
Calypso, fair of goddesses,
15 Longing
for him to abide and be her lord.
But
when at length the years had run their rounds,
And
the time came, predestined by the gods
For
his return to Ithaca and home,
No,
not e’en then was he released from troubles,
E’en
when amongst his friends: the gods indeed
Were
all, all save Poseidon, pitying him;
20 While
He with wrath relentlessly pursued
Godlike
Odusseus e’en to his own dear land.
Gone
was Poseidon now howe’er to visit
The
far off Æthiopians: (outermost
Of
men the Æthiopians, and asunder
In
twain divided,—to the setting sun
25 Are
these, while others dwell towards the rising:)
To
accept a hecatomb of bulls and rams
Gone
was he thither; and at feast and merry
There
was he sitting. The other
gods meanwhile
Were
in Olympian Jove’s high court assembled;
When
thus began the sire of men and gods;
For
thinking was he of blemishless Ægisthus,
30 Whom
Agamemnon’s far-famed son Orestès
Had
put to death; and Zeus remembering this
Spake
thus among the Deathless ones: “O Strange!
‘What
blame those mortals cast upon us gods!
‘They
say that ills come forth from Us, while They,
‘By
their own impious folly, undergo
‘Ills
beyond those of Fate. As
now, forsooth,
35 ‘Quite
beyond Fate, Ægisthus wooed and married
‘Atreidès’
wedded wife, and slew Atreidès
‘On
his returning home: the murderer knew
‘Sheer
death o’erhanging him, for we forewarned him
‘And
sent the keen-eyed
Argus-killer, Hermès,
‘With
warning not to murder Agamemnon
‘Nor
woo his wife: for, for Atreidès’ death
40 ‘Sure
vengeance should there be from prince Orestès,
‘Whene’er
should He have come to man’s estate
‘And
yearn to obtain his own inheritance.
‘Such
was the word of Hermès: kindly-minded,
‘He
yet persuaded not Ægisthus’ heart,
‘Who
therefore now has paid full penalties.”
Review Comment
Norgate’s
is surely one of the odder Victorian attempts to render Homer’s Greek into
English—a quality symbolized by the curious paraphernalia at the start of the
book and by his decision to spell the hero’s name Odusseus. He
also includes the line numbers of the Greek text rather than of his own verse
and places them to the left of the text. A
quick reading of a few lines raises some serious questions about Norgate’s
command of acceptably idiomatic English, even given the tradition of translating
Homer into very odd-sounding English. Enough said.
To
access the full text of the Norgate translation, please use the following link: Norgate
Odyssey.
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