The Odyssey - Invocation (by Homer)

Sing, Muse, of that wanderer who sundered
the sacred walls of Troy and traveled
many sea-lanes while struggling for his
life and his men's return.  His men, who
in their folly slew and consumed the holy
Cattle of the Sun, Hyperion, who
therefore spurned their journey home.

Now, Muse, begin the tale of that man
of many masquerades. Sing to us how he,
bereft of hearth and home, pined for his wife
in hallowed Calypso's cave, the divine Nymph,
eager him to wed and bed, but when
the circling seasons ran their wheel, they spun
the thread for his return to Ithaca.

Yet the gods determined that he would not
find his peace at home until all the gods
took pity upon him.  At last all did,
save Poseidon, who grimly blocked the noble
wanderer until the man of masquerades
finally reached his native land, there to
find grim designs waiting for his return.

Sing, Muse, of that man of men and tell me
the story of the man whose own wisdom
and trickery wounded him and caused him
to languish far from the loving arms of
his wife.  Sing to me the story of that
wanderer who sacked Troy and sundered her
heaven-built walls, only to be forced to roam
uncharted seas and visit strange lands
where he faced many grueling trials.

Sing to me of his great adventures among nations
of all manners, minds, fashions, and traditions.
Sing to me of a man, abandoned by the gods
after his men slew the sun god's sacred cattle,
who still proves himself worthy of song and story.

Sing, O Muse, of him in his glory. How after ten
long years at Troy trying to storm the many
towered city of Ilium, the gods
denied Odysseus return passage
home to his loving wife while other
comarades were led to safe haven where
they sleep free from the horror of war and
the sea. Tell me how the Nymph Calypso,
yearning for his love, trapped him by magic
in her caves, making him her lord and spouse.





[Odysseus Lands at Beach of Hades
 by Theodoor van Thulden,
17th century Dutch artist]









Sing, Muse, why Poseidon, the god of the sea --
despite destiny -- blocks his passage home.
Explain why Poseidon spurned Zeus's council
determining Odysseus's fate and
sped to Ethiopia at the end
of the earth, feasting his festival
while the other gods obeyed the summons
of mighty Zeus.


[R. L. Eickhoff's Translation]