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Ancient Greek, Greek Texts / 14.01.2022

Introduction: Although this, the third book of the "Odyssey", involves no action or dispute, it is remarkably readable and entertaining. Perhaps its central character is Nestor, the old king of Pylos, whose recollections, hospitable instincts, and love of the gods succeed in holding our attention throughout the book. Certainly he treats his visitors, the young Telemachus and the goddess Athene, albeit in the guise of Mentor, a former friend of Telemachus' father Odysseus, with considerable generosity. The beach, just north of  Pylos, on which Nestor is sacrificing black bulls...

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Ancient Greek, Greek Texts / 14.12.2021

Introduction: At the assembly which Telemachus calls at the beginning of this book, he is critical of the behaviour of the suitors, one of whom, Antinous, then blames Telemachus' mother, Penelope, for deceiving the suitors, and urges him to send her to her father so another marriage can be arranged for her. After Telemachus rejects this advice, the seer Halitherses interprets the flight of two eagles as indicating that the suitors are putting themselves at great risk by their misbehaviour, as Odysseus will soon be returning home to take his...

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Ancient Greek, Greek Texts / 20.11.2021

Introduction: One of the peculiarities of the "Odyssey" is that Odysseus, the Greek hero, whose travails are the subject of this book, does not actually make an appearance himself until Book V. Indeed, the first four books describe the plight of Odysseus' only son Telemachus in the prolonged absence of his father, and how he responds to the situation of great uncertainty in which he finds himself.  Because of his particular interest in the character of Odysseus, Sabidius has previously prioritised translations of Books V-XII, but, before embarking upon...

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Ancient Greek, Greek Texts / 29.10.2021

Introduction: Book XI sees the beginning of the third successive day of fighting, a very long day, which features the most sustained and violent episode of fighting in the "Iliad", and which continues until the end of Book XVIII, at which point the Achaeans' defensive wall has been breached, their ships fired, and Patroclus has been killed by Hector. All this is in fulfilment of Zeus' promise to Thetis that the Achaeans will be punished because of Agamemnon's mistreatment of her son, Achilles. Book XI is essential to the plot...

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Ancient Greek, Greek Texts / 07.04.2020

Introduction: The Hymn to Aphrodite is the fifth in a collection of thirty-three anonymous ancient Greek hymns celebrating individual gods, mostly dating to the seventh century B.C., shortly after the works of Homer and Hesiod had first been written down, and they are therefore among the oldest monuments of Ancient Greek literature. In antiquity they were uncritically attributed to Homer, the earliest reference to them coming from Thucydides (see Bk III. 104). Although it is now clear they were not written by Homer, they were composed in the old...

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Ancient Greek, Greek Texts / 17.03.2020

Introduction: The focus, and the main event, of this book is the tremendous one-to-one combat between the Trojan prince Hector and the the Greek hero Ajax, son of Telamon, or Ajax the Greater (see ll. 206-282). As in the case of the duel between Paris and Menelaus in Book III, the Greek had the better of the fighting, but neither warrior was significantly wounded. A significant theme of Book VII is the importance attached to the cremation of those killed in the fighting. In making his challenge to the...

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Ancient Greek, Greek Texts / 20.01.2020

Introduction: For information concerning Sabidius' previous translations of books of the "Odyssey", the reader is referred to the introduction to his translation of Book VIII, published on this blog on 22 October 2019. Now, Sabidius has returned to the "Odyssey" in order to translate the whole of Book V, the first book in which Odysseus, himself, actually appears. A brief summary of the content of this book is set out here. After a council of the gods in which Athene pleads to Jupiter that Odysseus should be released from his...

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Ancient Greek, Greek Texts / 29.07.2019

Introduction: In this translation piece Sabidius returns to Homer, whose last translated passage, the "Iliad" Book III, he published on 16 December 2012. Previous to that, he had published translations of the "Iliad" Book I on 12 March 2010 and Book VI on 5 June 2012 (See Sabidius.com). Book II of the "Iliad" commences with Zeus' plan to punish Agamemnon for his mistreatment of Achilles. He sends a false dream, in the apparent shape of Nestor, King of Pylos, Agamemnon's most trusted senior adviser, to assure him that...

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Ancient Greek, Greek Grammar / 01.06.2014

Sabidius has prepared this item as a tribute to his grandson Hector Charles Metcalfe. A number of epithets are used by Homer to describe the Trojan hero Hector in Homer's "Iliad". These are listed below, according as to whether they are general epithets that might apply to others as well or whether they have a more specific reference to the actual attributes of Hector himself. Of the latter, "Hector of the shining (or flashing) helmet" is perhaps the most common and best known, but the final book of the...

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Ancient Greek, Greek Texts / 16.12.2012

Introduction. Sabidius has previously translated Book I of the "Iliad" (20th March 2010) and Book VI (5th April 2012), and also on this blog is an extract from Book XVI (30th August 2010). Scanning, reading and then translating Homer's verse is invariably a great pleasure, and this particular book is no exception. After the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon in Book I, and the celebrated catalogue of ships in Book II, in which the various Greek contingents are listed, accompanied by a thumb-nail sketch of their leaders, Book III...

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