The Odyssey Homecoming Quotes

"But my heart breaks for Odysseus,
that seasoned veteran cursed by fate so long –
far from his loved ones still, he suffers torments
off on a wave-washed island rising at the center of the seas.
…Atlas’ daughter it is who holds Odysseus captive,
luckless man – despite his tears, forever trying
to spellbind his heart with suave, seductive words
and wipe all thought of Ithaca from his mind."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 1, lines 57-60, 65-68. There is a strong theme of homecoming in The Odyssey, with Odysseus on a long, perious journey home after the end of the Trojan War. In this passage Athena, who has a special relationship with Odysseus, pleads with Zeus to allow the "cursed by fate" hero home. She says that he is being held captive on an island by the goddess Calypso, who is trying to wipe out all thoughts of his homeland. Calypso is portrayed in The Odyssey as embodying the feminine powers of seduction, manipulative language and beauty and using these to keep Odysseus on her island. Athena on the other hand employs her considerable power at a meeting of the gods to help Odysseus and persuade Zeus to allow him return home.

"I myself
am no stranger to prophecy – I can see it now!
Odysseus…all is working out for him, I say,
just as I said it would that day the Argives sailed
for Troy and the mastermind of battle boarded with them.
I said then: after many blows, and all his shipmates lost,
after twenty years had wheeled by, he would come home,
unrecognized by all…
and now, look, it all comes to pass!"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 2, lines 190-198. Ithacan prophet Halitherses predicts that Odysseus will come home after twenty years with all shipmates lost and nobody will recognize him. Odysseus’ incognito return is foreshadowed.

"Ah how fine it is, when a man is brought down,
to leave a son behind! Orestes took revenge,
he killed that cunning, murderous Aegisthus,
who’d killed his famous father."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 3, lines 222-225. Nestor relates to Telemachus the story of Agamemnon, murdered by his wife and her lover Aegisthus after his homecoming from the Trojan War. Agamemnon’s son subsequently took his revenge by killing Aegisthus. Nestor’s story is a warning to the young prince of the importance of protecting his home and family.

"So you,
dear boy, take care. Don’t rove from home too long,
too far, leaving your own holdings unprotected –
crowds in your palace so brazen
they’ll carve up all your wealth, devour it all,
and then your journey here will come to nothing."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 3, lines 352-357. Nestor advises Telemachus, who has left Ithaca in search of his father, not to stay away from home too long, leaving his property unprotected. He is urging Telemachus to get back to Ithaca before all his family wealth is devoured by the suitors.

"Wonderful!" the red-haired king cried out.
"The son of my dearest friend, here in my own house!
That man who performed a hundred feats of arms for me.
And I swore that when he came I’d give him a hero’s welcome,
him above all my comrades – if only Olympian Zeus,
farseeing Zeus, had granted us both safe passage
home across the sea in our swift trim ships.
Why, I’d have settled a city in Argos for him."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 4, lines 185-192. Menelaus is excited to have Telemachus, son of his great friend Odysseus, in his house. But Menelaus wishes that both himself and Odysseus had been given safe passage home by Zeus.

"You are our messenger, Hermes, sent on all our missions.
Announce to the nymph with lovely braids our fixed decree:
Odysseus journeys home – the exile must return.
But not in the convoy of the gods or mortal men.
No, on a lashed, makeshift raft and wrung with pains,
on the twentieth day he will make his landfall, fertile Scheria,
the land of Phaeacians, close kin to the gods themselves,
who with all their hearts will prize him like a god
and send him off in a ship to his own beloved land,
giving him bronze and hoards of gold and robes –
more plunder than he could ever have won from Troy
if Odysseus had returned intact with his fair share.
So his destiny ordains. He shall see his loved ones,
reach his high-roofed house, his native land at last"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 5, lines 33-46. Zeus instructs his son Hermes to deliver his command to Calypso concerning Odysseus. He has decreed that the exiled hero is to return home. But he is to make the journey alone and on a raft that he must build himself. Zeus also warns that Odysseus’ journey will not be an easy one, but full of pain. However, he prophecies that Odysseus will end up back in his homeland of Ithaca with many treasures, because that is his destiny.

"Now Zeus commands you to send him off with all good speed:
it is not his fate to die here, far from his own people.
Destiny still ordains that he shall see his loved ones,
reach his high-roofed house, his native land at last."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 5, lines 125-128. Hermes tells Calypso of Zeus’ command that she must release Odysseus. Destiny has ordained that the Greek hero will return to native land and home at last, Hermes says. This prophecy foreshadows that Odysseus will reach his home in Ithaca.

on the headland, sitting, still,
weeping, his eyes never dry, his sweet life flowing away
with the tears he wept for his foiled journey home,
since the nymph no longer pleased. In the nights, true,
he’d sleep with her in the arching cave – he had no choice –
unwilling lover alongside lover all too willing.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 5, lines 167-172. The goddess and nymph Calypso keeps Odysseus as a sex slave on her island of Ogygia for seven years. Here the narrator describes Odysseus’ typical day in captivity: weeping by day because he is prevented from returning home, and being an unwilling lover by night. This is an exception to the patriarchal world of the time, with the woman having the power and the man being her captive.

"So then,
royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, man of exploits,
still eager to leave at once and hurry back
to your own home, your beloved native land?
Good luck to you, even so. Farewell!
But if you only knew, down deep, what pains
are fated to fill your cup before you reach that shore,
you’d stay right here, preside in our house with me
and be immortal."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 5, lines 223-231. Begging Odysseus to stay with her, Calypso tries to seduce him with the offer of immortality and promise to save him from future woes. His journey back to his homeland will be filled with pain, she prophesies. This foreshadows that the rest of Odysseus’ journey to Ithaca without his crew will be a very difficult one.

"Ah great goddess
…don’t be angry with me,
please. All that you say is true, how well I know.
Look at my wise Penelope. She falls far short of you,
your beauty, stature. She is mortal after all
and you, you never age or die…
Nevertheless I long – I pine, all my days –
to travel home and see the dawn of my return.
And if a god will wreck me yet again on the wine-dark sea,
I can bear that too, with a spirit tempered to endure.
Much have I suffered, labored long and hard by now
in the waves and wars. Add this to the total –
bring the trial on!"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 5, lines 236-246. In the tug of war for Odysseus’ heart, it is Penelope who wins over Calypso. Odysseus declines the goddess’ offer to stay with her and be immortal. This shows how powerful a woman Penelope is. Odysseus longs to be back home with her in Ithaca, no matter what trials he faces along the way. Ultimately his loyalty to family and homeland is more important than anything Calypso can offer.

"But at dawn we call the elders in to full assembly,
host our guest in the palace, sacrifice to the gods
and then we turn our minds to his passage home,
so under our convoy our new friend can travel back
to his own land – no toil, no troubles – soon,
rejoicing, even if his home’s a world away."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 7, lines 224-229. Alcinous makes an important announcement to the lords and captains of Phaeacia. He tells his people that they will meet first thing in the morning to help Odysseus get back to his homeland. Alcinous shows himself to be a very generous host, even before he knows Odysseus’ identity.

"Farewell, my friend! And when you are at home,
home in your own land, remember me at times.
Mainly to me you owe the gift of life."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 8, lines 518-520. Nausicaa asks Odysseus to remember that when he is home he owes her the gift of life. Essentially she saved the shipwrecked Odysseus after he was washed up on the Phaeacian shore and is one of the key people to help him get back on his way home. This is one of those gentle and poignant moments in a story that has its fair share of slaughter and violence.

Odysseus rose to the moment deftly, gently:
"Nausicaa, daughter of generous King Alcinous,
may Zeus the Thunderer, Hera’s husband, grant it so –
that I travel home and see the dawn of my return.
Even at home I’ll pray to you as a deathless goddess
all my days to come. You saved my life, dear girl."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 8, lines 521-526. Odysseus thanks Nausicaa for saving his life and says that he will be always be grateful to her. We know that Nausicaa would like someone like Odysseus to be her husband. But Odysseus is determined to leave Phaeacia and the princess and he prays to Zeus that he makes it home to Ithaca.

"I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, known to the world
for every kind of craft – my fame has reached the skies.
Sunny Ithaca is my home. Atop her stands our seamark,
Mount Neriton’s leafy ridges shimmering in the wind.
Around her a ring of islands circle side-by-side,
Dulichion, Same, wooded Zacynthus too, but mine
lies low and away, the farthest out to sea,
rearing into the western dusk
while the others face the east and breaking day.
Mine is a rugged land but good for raising sons –
and I myself, I know no sweeter sight on earth
than a man’s own native country."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 9, lines 21-32. Odysseus, who is in disguise, reveals his true identity to King Alcinous and the Phaeacians. While his guile and fame are known throughout the world, Odysseus is more interested in reaching home in Ithaca than achieving further fame and glory. This passage provides us with an insight into who Odysseus really is, and how after all his heroic adventures he now believes that there is simply no place like home. The heroes of The Iiad and The Odyssey lived by the ancient warrior code of kleos, meaning renown or glory, often attained in battle. But home now means more to Odysseus.

"So off they went and soon enough
they mingled among the natives, Lotus-eaters, Lotus-eaters
who had no notion of killing my companions, not at all,
they simply gave them the lotus to taste instead…
Any crewman who ate the lotus, the honey-sweet fruit,
lost all desire to send a message back, much less return,
their only wish to linger there with the Lotus-eaters,
grazing on lotus, all memory of the journey home
dissolved forever."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 9, lines 102-110. The Lotus Eaters is an episode in which Odysseus and his men stop off at an island and barely escape from it. They are not in direct danger from the inhabitants, who turn out to be a gentle people. But the threat comes from the enemy within: human nature and the desire for the forbidden fruit. The natives eat the sweet lotus fruit, which acts like a drowsy narcotic, causing people to live in a dreamy and carefree state. When Odysseus’ men taste the intoxicating fruit, they are hooked. They lose all memory and care about returning home and just want to feed on more lotus.

"Hear me –
Poseidon, god of the sea-blue mane who rocks the earth!
If I really am your son and you claim to be my father –
come, grant that Odysseus, raider of cities,
Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca,
never reaches home. Or if he’s fated to see
his people once again and reach his well-built house
and his own native country, let him come home late
and come a broken man – all shipmates lost,
alone in a stranger’s ship –
and let him find a world of pain at home!"
So he prayed
and the god of the sea-blue mane, Poseidon, heard his prayer.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 9, lines 585-596. Polyphemus prays to his father Poseidon for justice after Odysseus blinds him. His powwerful prayer sets up Odysseus’ fate of suffering for many more years to come. The powerful god of the sea, in revenge for wounding his son, curses Odysseus to endure an additional ten years at sea before he finally returns to his homeland.

And there we sat at ease,
day in, day out, till a year had run its course,
feasting on sides of meat and drafts of heady wine…
But then, when the year was gone and the seasons wheeled by
and the months waned and the long days came round again,
my loyal comrades took me aside and prodded,
"Captain, this is madness!
High time you thought of your own home at last,
if it really is your fate to make it back alive
and reach your well-built house and native land."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 10, lines 514-523. Odysseus is so seduced by the opulent life he enjoys with beautiful enchantress Circe, that after a year of living together as husband and wife, his homesick men have to beg him to leave her and head back home. This speaks of a certain disloyalty to his wife Penelope, who has been fighting off suitors back home in Ithaca.

"Royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, old campaigner,
stay on no more in my house against your will.
But first another journey calls. You must travel down
to the House of Death and the awesome one, Persephone,
there to consult the ghost of Tiresias, seer of Thebes,
the great blind prophet whose mind remains unshaken.
Even in death – Persephone has given him wisdom,
everlasting vision to him and him alone…
the rest of the dead are empty, flitting shades."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 10, lines 537-545. When Odysseus asks Circe for help in getting home, the immortal goddess tells him that he must first make a journey to the underworld. She tells him that he needs to consult there with the ghost of Tiresias, the blind Theban prophet.

"Soon, soon
the great seer will appear before you, captain of armies:
he will tell you the way to go, the stages of your voyage,
how you can cross the swarming sea and reach home at last."
And with those words Dawn rose on her golden throne.

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 10, lines 592-596. Circe tells Odysseus that to make it home he must travel to the House of Death to speak to the prophet Tiresias, who will tell him the way to go. The goddess is helping Odysseus get back to Ithaca. The last line features the personification of dawn.

"A sweet smooth journey home, renowned Odysseus,
that is what you seek
but a god will make it hard for you – I know –
you will never escape the one who shakes the earth,
quaking with anger at you still, still enraged
because you blinded the Cyclops, his dear son."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 111-116. Prophet Tiresias warns Odysseus that Poseidon will make his journey home to Ithaca difficult, because he blinded the god’s son Polyphemus. His prophecy foreshadows the misfortunes and pain that Odysseus has yet to face.

"There you will find them grazing,
herds and fat flocks, the cattle of Helios,
god of the sun who sees all, hears all things.
Leave the beasts unharmed, your mind set on home,
and you all may still reach Ithaca – bent with hardship,
true – but harm them in any way, and I can see it now:
your ship destroyed, your men destroyed as well."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 122-128. The prophet Tiresias warns Odysseus and his men not to kill and eat the cattle of the sun god Helios. If they leave them unharmed, they may all still reach home. But slaughter them and Tiresias prophesies that a grim fate awaits them: their ship destroyed with all of Odysseus’ men. There is much foreshadowing here.

"Alcinous, majesty, shining among your island people,
if you would urge me now to stay here one whole year
then speed me home weighed down with lordly gifts,
I’d gladly have it so. Better by far, that way.
The fuller my arms on landing there at home,
the more respected, well received I’d be
by all who saw me sailing back to Ithaca."

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 404-410. Odysseus says that it is preferable to land in Ithaca laden down with wealthy gifts, so that he is better received and respected when he returns home. For that reason he tells Alcinous that he would wait a year in Phaeacia if the king wished it.

"So,
there’s nothing more deadly, bestial than a woman
set on works like these – what a monstrous thing
she plotted, slaughtered her own lawful husband!
Why, I expected, at least, some welcome home
from all my children, all my household slaves
when I came sailing back again…But she –
the queen hell-bent on outrage – bathes in shame
not only herself but the whole breed of womankind,
even the honest ones to come, forever down the years!"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 483-492. Agamemnon’s ghost goes on a rant against women, believing that his wife Clytemnestra’s treacherous behavior stains the reputation of women everywhere. Agamemnon describes how his homecoming from the Trojan war was met, not with the expected warm welcome, but a plot by his wife to kill him.

"I tell you this – bear it in mind, you must –
when you reach your homeland steer your ship
into port in secret, never out in the open…
the time for trusting women’s gone forever!"

– Homer

The Odyssey, Book 11, lines 515-518. The ghost of Agamemnon advises Odysseus to sail home into Ithaca in secret and not to tell his wife. Agamemnon doesn’t want the same thing to happen to Odysseus as happened him. Agamemnon arrived home to a treacherous wife plotting to kill him and Odysseus doesn’t know if Penelope will welcome him and still be loyal to him.
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