The Odyssey: Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original — Page 1
THE GODS IN COUNCIL—MINERVA'S VISIT TO ITHACA—THE CHALLENGE FROM TELEMACHUS TO THE SUITORS.
DIE GÖTTER IM RAT—MINERVAS BESUCH IN ITHAKA—DIE HERAUSFORDERUNG VON TELEMACH AN DIE FREIER.
Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy.
Erzähl mir, o Muse, von jenem erfindungsreichen Helden, der weit und breit gereist war, nachdem er die berühmte Stadt Troja geplündert hatte.
Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home.
Viele Städte besuchte er, und viele waren die Völker, deren Sitten und Gebräuche er kennenlernte; überdies litt er viel auf See, während er versuchte, sein eigenes Leben zu retten und seine Männer sicher nach Hause zu bringen; doch was er auch unternahm, er konnte seine Männer nicht retten, denn sie kamen durch ihre eigene törichte Dummheit um, als sie das Vieh des Sonnengottes Hyperion aßen; so verhinderte der Gott, dass sie jemals die Heimat erreichten.
Tell me, too, about all these things, oh daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.
Erzähl mir auch von all diesen Dingen, oh Tochter des Jupiter, aus welcher Quelle auch immer du sie kennst.
So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his wife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him into a large cave and wanted to marry him.
So waren nun alle, die dem Tod in der Schlacht oder durch Schiffbruch entronnen waren, sicher nach Hause gelangt, außer Odysseus, und er, obwohl er sich sehnte, zu seiner Frau und seiner Heimat zurückzukehren, wurde von der Göttin Kalypso festgehalten, die ihn in eine große Höhle gebracht hatte und ihn heiraten wollte.
But as years went by, there came a time when the gods settled that he should go back to Ithaca; even then, however, when he was among his own people, his troubles were not yet over; nevertheless all the gods had now begun to pity him except Neptune, who still persecuted him without ceasing and would not let him get home.
Doch als die Jahre vergingen, kam eine Zeit, in der die Götter beschlossen, dass er nach Ithaka zurückkehren solle; selbst dann jedoch, als er unter seinem eigenen Volk war, waren seine Leiden noch nicht vorbei; dennoch hatten alle Götter nun begonnen, Mitleid mit ihm zu haben, außer Neptun, der ihn noch immer unaufhörlich verfolgte und ihn nicht nach Hause kommen lassen wollte.
Vocabulary
- GÖTTER
- Gods; plural of Gott
- RAT
- Council, advice, or counsel
- MINERVAS
- Genitive of Minerva; Roman goddess of wisdom
- BESUCH
- Visit; the act of visiting someone or somewhere
- ITHAKA
- Ithaca; Greek island home of Odysseus
- HERAUSFORDERUNG
- Challenge; a demanding or difficult task
- TELEMACH
- Telemachus; son of Odysseus in Greek mythology
- FREIER
- Suitor; man seeking a woman's hand in marriage
- Erzähl
- Tell; imperative form of erzählen, to narrate
- Muse
- Muse; divine source of artistic inspiration
- jenem
- That; demonstrative pronoun in dative masculine
- erfindungsreichen
- Resourceful, inventive; full of clever ideas
- Helden
- Hero; brave or celebrated person, accusative form
- weit
- Far, wide; over a great distance
- breit
- Broad, wide; having great extent or span
- gereist
- Traveled; past participle of reisen, to travel
- nachdem
- After; subordinating conjunction indicating sequence
- berühmte
- Famous, renowned; well known to many people
- Stadt
- City, town; an urban settlement
- Troja
- Troy; ancient city central to Greek mythology
- geplündert
- Plundered, looted; past participle of plündern
- Städte
- Cities; plural of Stadt, urban settlements
- besuchte
- Visited; past tense of besuchen, to visit
- Völker
- Peoples, nations; plural of Volk
- deren
- Whose; genitive relative pronoun plural
- Sitten
- Customs, morals; social norms and traditions
- Gebräuche
- Customs, usages; established social practices
- kennenlernte
- Got to know; past tense of kennenlernen
- überdies
- Moreover, besides; in addition to what was said
- litt
- Suffered; past tense of leiden, to suffer
- See
- Sea; large body of salt water
- während
- While, during; conjunction indicating simultaneous action
- versuchte
- Tried, attempted; past tense of versuchen
- eigenes
- Own; belonging to oneself, adjective form
- Leben
- Life; existence or the state of being alive
- retten
- To save, rescue; to preserve from danger
- Männer
- Men; plural of Mann, adult male persons
- sicher
- Safe, secure; free from danger or harm
- Hause
- Home; dative form of Haus in nach Hause
- bringen
- To bring; to carry or convey to a place
- doch
- But, yet, however; contrastive or emphatic particle
- unternahm
- Undertook; past tense of unternehmen, to attempt
- denn
- Because, for; causal coordinating conjunction
- durch
- Through, by means of; preposition of passage
- eigene
- Own; belonging to themselves, adjective form
- törichte
- Foolish, stupid; lacking good judgment or sense
- Dummheit
- Stupidity, foolishness; lack of intelligence or wisdom
- Vieh
- Cattle, livestock; farm animals collectively
- Sonnengottes
- Sun god; genitive of Sonnengott, solar deity
- Hyperion
- Hyperion; Titan god of the sun in mythology
- aßen
- Ate; past tense plural of essen, to eat
- verhinderte
- Prevented; past tense of verhindern, to prevent
- Gott
- God; supreme divine being or deity
- jemals
- Ever; at any point in time
- Heimat
- Homeland, home; place of origin or belonging
- erreichten
- Reached; past tense plural of erreichen, to reach
- Dingen
- Things; dative plural of Ding, object or matter
- Tochter
- Daughter; female child in relation to parents
- Jupiter
- Jupiter; king of Roman gods, equivalent of Zeus
- welcher
- Which, whatever; interrogative or relative pronoun
- Quelle
- Source, spring; origin of information or water
- immer
- Always, ever; at all times or continuously
- kennst
- Know; second-person singular of kennen, to know
- nun
- Now, well; temporal adverb or discourse particle
- Tod
- Death; the end of life
- Schlacht
- Battle, slaughter; armed combat between groups
- Schiffbruch
- Shipwreck; destruction of a ship at sea
- entronnen
- Escaped; past participle of entrinnen, to escape
- gelangt
- Arrived, reached; past participle of gelangen
- außer
- Except, besides; preposition meaning other than
- Odysseus
- Odysseus; Greek hero protagonist of the Odyssey
- obwohl
- Although, even though; concessive subordinating conjunction
- sehnte
- Longed; past tense of sich sehnen, to yearn
- Frau
- Wife, woman; adult female or married partner
- zurückzukehren
- To return; infinitive of zurückkehren, to go back
- Göttin
- Goddess; female divine being
- Kalypso
- Calypso; nymph who detained Odysseus on her island
- festgehalten
- Held back, detained; past participle of festhalten
- Höhle
- Cave, grotto; hollow space in rock or ground
- gebracht
- Brought; past participle of bringen, to bring
- heiraten
- To marry; to enter into marriage with someone
- wollte
- Wanted; past tense of wollen, to want
- Doch
- But, yet; contrastive or emphatic conjunction
- Jahre
- Years; plural of Jahr, unit of time
- vergingen
- Passed; past tense plural of vergehen, to pass
- Zeit
- Time; the continuous progression of existence
- Götter
- Gods; plural of Gott, divine beings
- beschlossen
- Decided; past participle of beschließen, to decide
- Ithaka
- Ithaca; Odysseus's island kingdom in Greece
- zurückkehren
- To return; to go back to a previous place
- solle
- Should; subjunctive of sollen, indicating reported speech
- selbst
- Even, himself; emphatic or reflexive particle
- jedoch
- However, yet; adversative adverb expressing contrast
- unter
- Under, among; preposition of position or group
- eigenen
- Own; belonging to oneself, declined adjective form
- Volk
- People, nation; a group sharing culture or homeland
- Leiden
- Suffering, hardship; pain or distress endured
- noch
- Still, yet; indicating continuation or addition
- vorbei
- Over, past; indicating something has ended
- dennoch
- Nevertheless, still; despite what was mentioned
- begonnen
- Begun; past participle of beginnen, to begin
- Mitleid
- Pity, compassion; sympathy for another's suffering
- Neptun
- Neptune; Roman god of the sea, enemy of Odysseus
- unaufhörlich
- Incessantly, relentlessly; without stopping or ceasing
- verfolgte
- Pursued; past tense of verfolgen, to pursue
- lassen
- To let, allow; to cause or permit something
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