Monday, July 06, 2026
A Puzzle
Here is the end of book 2 (lines 430-434) of Homer's Odyssey in Daniel Mendelsohn's new translation (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2025), followed by the Greek:
‹Older
Once they had bound fast the tackle on the swift-running, black-hulled shipAs I construe the English in line 433, "she of the bright owl-eyes" is in apposition to "the daughter of Zeus" (i.e. Athena), and "the daughter of Zeus" is the object of the presposition "to". But "she of the bright owl-eyes" is a nominative phrase, and how, therefore, can it be the object of a preposition? That, to me, is the puzzle. Probably I'm just too obtuse to understand. After all, Mendelsohn's grasp of English and Greek is obviously superior to mine, and what looks to me like a grammatical error must have some explanation. I just can't see it.
They set out two-handled jars that were filled to the brim with wine
And poured libations out to the deathless gods everlasting—
Above all to the daughter of Zeus, she of the bright owl-eyes.
All through the night and into the dawn the ship cut her way.
δησάμενοι δ᾽ ἄρα ὅπλα θοὴν ἀνὰ νῆα μέλαιναν
στήσαντο κρητῆρας ἐπιστεφέας οἴνοιο,
λεῖβον δ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖς αἰειγενέτῃσιν,
ἐκ πάντων δὲ μάλιστα Διὸς γλαυκώπιδι κούρῃ.
παννυχίη μέν ῥ᾽ ἥ γε καὶ ἠῶ πεῖρε κέλευθον.
