Expert: Maria - 11/4/2007

Question
hi there i have just finished reading the Odyssey and would love to see it written down in the greek or in the original Phoenician script if possible as it fascinates me. in particular 2 phrases which are my favourite in the book 1st is "sing in me muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud heights of Troy." and the second "My word. how mortals take the gods to task! All their allictions come from us, we hear. And what of their own failings? Greed and folly double the double the suffering in the lot of man"

i hope you can help put me in the right direction

Answer
FOLLOW UP

Hello David,
I found the site where you can see Homer’s lines written down in Greek using the Greek alphabet.

So for Odyssey, Book I, lines 1-5 (“Andra moi ennepe/ ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα ../Sing in me muse)  and lines 32-35 (“O popoi, hoion de nu theous brotoi.. / "ὢ πόποι, οἷον δή νυ θεοὺς βροτοὶ αἰτιόωνται/ My word. how mortals take the gods..“) see at:

http://www.mikrosapoplous.gr/homer/odm1.htm

Best regards,
Maria
____________________________________________

Hello,

First of all the original language of  The Odyssey as well as of The Iliad is ANCIENT GREEK, not Phoenician, of course, since the Greek borrowed their alphabet from the Phoenicians, but adapted it to their language.

As for the original Greek text of the English translations you mention, firstly I have to point out that the system does not allow the use of Greek letters and diacritic marks /accents and therefore I must use the Latin transliteration of the phrases we read in Homer’s Odyssey, Book I, lines 1-5 and 32-35.

So, here are the Greek quotes you are looking for:

Odyssey, Book I, lines 1-5:
“Andra moi ennepe, mousa, polutropon hos mala polla
planchthe, epei Troies hieron ptoliethron epersen.
pollon d' anthropon iden astea kai noon egno,
polla d'ho g'en pontôi pathen algea hon kata thumon,
arnumenos hen te psuchen kai noston hetairon".
(“Sing in me muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud heights of Troy”).

Odyssey, Book I, lines 32-35:
“O popoi, hoion de nu theous brotoi aitioontai:
ex hemeon gar phasi kak' emmenai, hoi de kai autoi
spheisin atasthalieisin huper moron alge echousin”
(“My word. how mortals take the gods to task! All their afflictions come from us, we hear. And what of their own failings? Greed and folly double the double the suffering in the lot of man" ).

Best regards,
Maria