Elias Fuchsel
Amherst College
Translator’s Note
In these vignettes of tormented mortals and tormenting monsters, I found myself wanting to stray from a literal translation quite a bit. To justify this, I claim the following translation aims only to capture the haunting, visceral events of a few Odyssean scenes. Any phrasal rearrangement or superfluous modernization is done in earnest pursuit of a contemporary translation of mythical suffering.
[English] Tantalus, Sisyphus, Heracles 11.582—614, Odyssey
And I saw Tantalus tormented.
He was standing in the harbor, stooped down so low
that his chin dipped in the water.
And he desired it eagerly—to drink!—But as many times as he brought his mouth to the water,
That many times the water disappeared from his lips, having been swallowed up by another—
Instead of water, black earth appeared at his feet—some god cursing the land dry.
And he desired it eagerly—to eat!—There was fruit hanging down from lofty trees—
ripe with pears and mulberries and apples,
sweet figs and flourishing olives—
But as many times as the old man reached up to them, seizing the fruit between his fingers,
That many times the winds would cast them from his grip, up to the shadowy clouds.
And I saw Sisyphus tormented.
He was toiling under a monstrous stone, both arms wrapped far around.
Yes—he was heaving, his hands and feet straining,
And he drove that stone up to the mountain’s peak—
But whenever he was just ready
to pass over the summit,
The mighty weight would turn back on him:
Then the shameless stone would roll back down to the ground.
And he would go on—pushing it up, extending himself to the peak, and sweat
Flowed down from his limbs, and dust stirred itself from his head.
After him, I noticed violent Heracles—
But just his shade—For the man himself was enjoying being among the deathless gods
In all their festivities, with fair-ankled Hebe at his side,
The daughter of great Zeus and golden-sandled Hera…
But around his spirit, corpses were shrieking—as though birds,
Bewildered at everything they saw: And he was like the black night,
Having his bow unadorned and his arrow nocked on his bow-string,
Always peering around terribly, as if about to shoot.
The baldric around his chest was incredible—
That golden belt, onto which the marvelous plans of the universe are drawn—
bears and pigs and lions with glaring eyes,
fighting and battles, murders and slaughters of men.
May the one who designed this scene never design anything again,
Whoever it was who crafted this with his own imagination.
[English] Scylla & Charybdis 12.85-110, Odyssey
Therein, Scylla lives—hear her terrible howling.
Her voice screeches like a newborn puppy,
She herself a wicked monster:
No one could ever rejoice in her presence, not even a god.
Look at her twelve feet—none have formed quite right;
With six necks extending up, and six terrible heads
with three times as many teeth in each—this creature, full of black death.
Her lower half is tucked inside a hollow cave,
But she holds those heads outside the terrible abyss—
And she was just peeking around the cliff there, fishing—
For dolphins and seals, of course—but if she could catch something better than a seal…
The goddess of the sea nourishes all those animals—until they reach her.
And when men sail past, not one may come back to boast that he’s seen her,
For she shall pick each man off his dark-blue prow, feasting.
The other rock is lower, Odysseus.
But they’re near to one another—you could shoot an arrow across.
On this rock is a great wild fig tree, leaves fully in bloom…
But under it, divine Charybdis swallows up the black water.
She swallows it three times a day,
and three times again she spews it up—
So terrible! May you never be there when she thirsts…
For not even the earth-shaker could protect you from her destruction.
You should rather sail by Scylla—go swiftly alongside her cliff—
Since it is indeed better by far
To mourn six men in your ship,
Rather than everyone all together.
[English] Sirens 12.184—191, Odyssey
Come to us, Odysseus, you glorious man!
We hear the Achaeans praising you—but come, sit down at your ship’s side
so that you may hear us too!
For not one of you may say he has sailed beside us in his dark ship
Until he hears how honey-sweet our voices can be!—
Not until then may he go off to enjoy his life, full of wisdom.
For we know everything—we know all about how the Argives and Trojans struggle
in broad Troy—by the gods’ will!
All this we know: All that happens on your precious earth.
[Greek] Tantalus, Sisyphus, Heracles 11.582—614, Odyssey
καὶ μὴν Τάνταλον εἰσεῖδον κρατέρ᾽ ἄλγε᾽ ἔχοντα
ἑστεῶτ᾽ ἐν λίμνῃ: ἡ δὲ προσέπλαζε γενείῳ:
στεῦτο δὲ διψάων, πιέειν δ᾽ οὐκ εἶχεν ἑλέσθαι:
ὁσσάκι γὰρ κύψει᾽ ὁ γέρων πιέειν μενεαίνων,
τοσσάχ᾽ ὕδωρ ἀπολέσκετ᾽ ἀναβροχέν, ἀμφὶ δὲ ποσσὶ
γαῖα μέλαινα φάνεσκε, καταζήνασκε δὲ δαίμων.
δένδρεα δ᾽ ὑψιπέτηλα κατὰ κρῆθεν χέε καρπόν,
ὄγχναι καὶ ῥοιαὶ καὶ μηλέαι ἀγλαόκαρποι
συκέαι τε γλυκεραὶ καὶ ἐλαῖαι τηλεθόωσαι:
τῶν ὁπότ᾽ ἰθύσει᾽ ὁ γέρων ἐπὶ χερσὶ μάσασθαι,
τὰς δ᾽ ἄνεμος ῥίπτασκε ποτὶ νέφεα σκιόεντα.
καὶ μὴν Σίσυφον εἰσεῖδον κρατέρ᾽ ἄλγε᾽ ἔχοντα
λᾶαν βαστάζοντα πελώριον ἀμφοτέρῃσιν.
ἦ τοι ὁ μὲν σκηριπτόμενος χερσίν τε ποσίν τε
λᾶαν ἄνω ὤθεσκε ποτὶ λόφον: ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε μέλλοι
ἄκρον ὑπερβαλέειν, τότ᾽ ἀποστρέψασκε κραταιίς:
αὖτις ἔπειτα πέδονδε κυλίνδετο λᾶας ἀναιδής.
αὐτὰρ ὅ γ᾽ ἂψ ὤσασκε τιταινόμενος, κατὰ δ᾽ ἱδρὼς
ἔρρεεν ἐκ μελέων, κονίη δ᾽ ἐκ κρατὸς ὀρώρει.
τὸν δὲ μετ᾽ εἰσενόησα βίην Ἡρακληείην,
εἴδωλον: αὐτὸς δὲ μετ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι
τέρπεται ἐν θαλίῃς καὶ ἔχει καλλίσφυρον Ἥβην,
παῖδα Διὸς μεγάλοιο καὶ Ἥρης χρυσοπεδίλου.
605ἀμφὶ δέ μιν κλαγγὴ νεκύων ἦν οἰωνῶν ὥς,
πάντοσ᾽ ἀτυζομένων: ὁ δ᾽ ἐρεμνῇ νυκτὶ ἐοικώς,
γυμνὸν τόξον ἔχων καὶ ἐπὶ νευρῆφιν ὀιστόν,
δεινὸν παπταίνων, αἰεὶ βαλέοντι ἐοικώς.
σμερδαλέος δέ οἱ ἀμφὶ περὶ στήθεσσιν ἀορτὴρ
χρύσεος ἦν τελαμών, ἵνα θέσκελα ἔργα τέτυκτο,
ἄρκτοι τ᾽ ἀγρότεροί τε σύες χαροποί τε λέοντες,
ὑσμῖναί τε μάχαι τε φόνοι τ᾽ ἀνδροκτασίαι τε.
μὴ τεχνησάμενος μηδ᾽ ἄλλο τι τεχνήσαιτο,
ὃς κεῖνον τελαμῶνα ἑῇ ἐγκάτθετο τέχνῃ.
[Greek] Scylla & Charybdis 12.85-110, Odyssey
ἔνθα δ᾽ ἐνὶ Σκύλλη ναίει δεινὸν λελακυῖα.
τῆς ἦ τοι φωνὴ μὲν ὅση σκύλακος νεογιλῆς
γίγνεται, αὐτὴ δ᾽ αὖτε πέλωρ κακόν: οὐδέ κέ τίς μιν
γηθήσειεν ἰδών, οὐδ᾽ εἰ θεὸς ἀντιάσειεν.
τῆς ἦ τοι πόδες εἰσὶ δυώδεκα πάντες ἄωροι,
ἓξ δέ τέ οἱ δειραὶ περιμήκεες, ἐν δὲ ἑκάστῃ
σμερδαλέη κεφαλή, ἐν δὲ τρίστοιχοι ὀδόντες
πυκνοὶ καὶ θαμέες, πλεῖοι μέλανος θανάτοιο.
μέσση μέν τε κατὰ σπείους κοίλοιο δέδυκεν,
ἔξω δ᾽ ἐξίσχει κεφαλὰς δεινοῖο βερέθρου,
αὐτοῦ δ᾽ ἰχθυάᾳ, σκόπελον περιμαιμώωσα,
δελφῖνάς τε κύνας τε, καὶ εἴ ποθι μεῖζον ἕλῃσι
κῆτος, ἃ μυρία βόσκει ἀγάστονος Ἀμφιτρίτη.
τῇ δ᾽ οὔ πώ ποτε ναῦται ἀκήριοι εὐχετόωνται
παρφυγέειν σὺν νηί: φέρει δέ τε κρατὶ ἑκάστῳ
φῶτ᾽ ἐξαρπάξασα νεὸς κυανοπρῴροιο.
τὸν δ᾽ ἕτερον σκόπελον χθαμαλώτερον ὄψει, Ὀδυσσεῦ.
πλησίον ἀλλήλων: καί κεν διοϊστεύσειας.
τῷ δ᾽ ἐν ἐρινεὸς ἔστι μέγας, φύλλοισι τεθηλώς:
τῷ δ᾽ ὑπὸ δῖα Χάρυβδις ἀναρροιβδεῖ μέλαν ὕδωρ.
τρὶς μὲν γάρ τ᾽ ἀνίησιν ἐπ᾽ ἤματι, τρὶς δ᾽ ἀναροιβδεῖ
δεινόν: μὴ σύ γε κεῖθι τύχοις, ὅτε ῥοιβδήσειεν:
οὐ γάρ κεν ῥύσαιτό σ᾽ ὑπὲκ κακοῦ οὐδ᾽ ἐνοσίχθων.
ἀλλὰ μάλα Σκύλλης σκοπέλῳ πεπλημένος ὦκα
νῆα παρὲξ ἐλάαν, ἐπεὶ ἦ πολὺ φέρτερόν ἐστιν
ἓξ ἑτάρους ἐν νηὶ ποθήμεναι ἢ ἅμα πάντας.
[Greek] Sirens 12.184—191, Odyssey
δεῦρ᾽ ἄγ᾽ ἰών, πολύαιν᾽ Ὀδυσεῦ, μέγα κῦδος Ἀχαιῶν,
νῆα κατάστησον, ἵνα νωιτέρην ὄπ ἀκούσῃς.
οὐ γάρ πώ τις τῇδε παρήλασε νηὶ μελαίνῃ,
πρίν γ᾽ ἡμέων μελίγηρυν ἀπὸ στομάτων ὄπ᾽ ἀκοῦσαι,
ἀλλ᾽ ὅ γε τερψάμενος νεῖται καὶ πλείονα εἰδώς.
ἴδμεν γάρ τοι πάνθ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἐνὶ Τροίῃ εὐρείῃ
Ἀργεῖοι Τρῶές τε θεῶν ἰότητι μόγησαν,
ἴδμεν δ᾽, ὅσσα γένηται ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ.