It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave men, and my eyes know none that they better love to look upon. It lies squat on the horizon, all highest up in the sea towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it towards dawn. I live in Ithaca, where there is a high mountain called Neritum, covered with forests and not far from it there is a group of islands very near to one another-Dulichium, Same, and the wooded island of Zacynthus. I am Odysseus son of Laertes, renowned among mankind for all manner of subtlety, so that my fame ascends to heaven. “Firstly, then, I will tell you my name that you too may know it, and one day, if I outlive this time of sorrow, may become my guests though I live so far away from all of you. Now, however, since you are inclined to ask the story of my sorrows, and rekindle my own sad memories in respect of them, I do not know how to begin, nor yet how to continue and conclude my tale, for the hand of heaven has been laid heavily upon me. This is indeed as fair a sight as a man can see. There is nothing better or more delightful than when a whole people make merry together, with the guests sitting orderly to listen, while the table is loaded with bread and meats, and the cup-bearer draws wine and fills his cup for every man. Odysseus declares himself and begins his storyĪND ODYSSEUS ANSWERED, “King Alcinous, it is a good thing to hear a bard with such a divine voice as this man has.
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