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.
LOS DIOSES EN CONSEJO—LA VISITA DE MINERVA A ÍTACA—EL DESAFÍO DE TELÉMACO A LOS PRETENDIENTES.
Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy.
Háblame, oh Musa, de aquel ingenioso héroe que viajó por tierras lejanas y remotas tras haber saqueado la famosa ciudad de Troya.
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.
Muchas ciudades visitó, y muchos fueron los pueblos cuyos modos y costumbres llegó a conocer; además, sufrió mucho en el mar mientras intentaba salvar su propia vida y llevar a sus hombres sanos y salvos a casa; pero por más que hizo, no pudo salvarlos, pues perecieron por su propia y absoluta insensatez al devorar el ganado del dios del Sol, Hiperión; así el dios les impidió llegar alguna vez a su hogar.
Tell me, too, about all these things, oh daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.
Cuéntame también todas estas cosas, oh hija de Júpiter, de cualquier fuente que las conozcas.
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.
Así pues, todos los que habían escapado de la muerte en batalla o por naufragio habían llegado sanos y salvos a casa, excepto Ulises, quien, aunque anhelaba regresar junto a su esposa y a su patria, era retenido por la diosa Calipso, que lo había instalado en una gran caverna y deseaba casarse con él.
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.
Pero a medida que pasaban los años, llegó un momento en que los dioses decidieron que debía regresar a Ítaca; incluso entonces, sin embargo, cuando se hallaba entre los suyos, sus tribulaciones no habían terminado aún; no obstante, todos los dioses habían comenzado ya a compadecerse de él, excepto Neptuno, quien aún lo perseguía sin cesar y no le permitía llegar a casa.
Vocabulary
- DIOSES
- Gods; plural of dios, divine beings
- CONSEJO
- Council, advice, or assembly of leaders
- VISITA
- Visit; act of going to see someone
- MINERVA
- Minerva; Roman goddess of wisdom and war
- ÍTACA
- Ithaca; Greek island, home of Odysseus
- DESAFÍO
- Challenge, defiance; a difficult test faced
- TELÉMACO
- Telemachus; son of Odysseus in Greek epic
- PRETENDIENTES
- Suitors; men seeking to marry a woman
- Háblame
- Speak to me; imperative form of hablar
- Musa
- Muse; divine source of artistic inspiration
- aquel
- That (over there); demonstrative adjective referring distant
- ingenioso
- Ingenious, clever; showing creative intelligence and wit
- héroe
- Hero; a person of great courage or strength
- viajó
- Traveled; past tense of viajar, to travel
- tierras
- Lands, territories; plural of tierra meaning land
- lejanas
- Distant, far-off; feminine plural of lejano
- remotas
- Remote, faraway; feminine plural of remoto
- tras
- After, behind; preposition indicating following or pursuit
- haber
- To have; auxiliary verb used in compound tenses
- saqueado
- Sacked, plundered; past participle of saquear
- famosa
- Famous, renowned; feminine form of famoso
- ciudad
- City; an urban settlement or municipality
- Troya
- Troy; ancient city central to Greek epic myth
- Muchas
- Many; feminine plural of mucho, indicating quantity
- ciudades
- Cities; plural of ciudad, urban settlements
- visitó
- Visited; past tense of visitar, to visit
- muchos
- Many; masculine plural indicating large quantity
- fueron
- Were; past tense of ser, to be
- pueblos
- Peoples, towns; groups sharing culture or place
- cuyos
- Whose; relative possessive pronoun, masculine plural
- modos
- Ways, manners, modes; plural of modo
- costumbres
- Customs, habits; traditional practices of a society
- llegó
- Arrived, reached; past tense of llegar
- conocer
- To know, meet; to be familiar with something
- además
- Furthermore, besides, also; additive adverb in Spanish
- sufrió
- Suffered; past tense of sufrir, to suffer
- mucho
- Much, a lot; indicates large degree or quantity
- mar
- Sea; large body of salt water
- mientras
- While, whereas; conjunction indicating simultaneous actions
- intentaba
- Was trying; imperfect tense of intentar, to attempt
- salvar
- To save, rescue; to preserve from harm or danger
- propia
- Own; feminine form of propio, indicating possession
- vida
- Life; the state of being alive
- llevar
- To take, carry, bring; to transport someone somewhere
- hombres
- Men; plural of hombre, adult male person
- sanos
- Healthy, safe; masculine plural of sano
- salvos
- Safe, unharmed; masculine plural of salvo
- casa
- Home, house; place where one lives
- hizo
- Did, made; past tense of hacer
- pudo
- Could, was able; past tense of poder
- salvarlos
- To save them; salvar combined with them pronoun
- pues
- Since, because, well; causal conjunction or filler
- perecieron
- Perished, died; past tense of perecer
- absoluta
- Absolute, complete; feminine form of absoluto
- insensatez
- Foolishness, folly; lack of good sense or judgment
- devorar
- To devour, consume greedily; eat voraciously
- ganado
- Cattle, livestock; farm animals kept for use
- dios
- God; a divine being worshipped by believers
- Sol
- Sun; the star at center of our system
- Hiperión
- Hyperion; Titan god of the sun in mythology
- así
- Thus, so, in this way; adverb of manner
- impidió
- Prevented, stopped; past tense of impedir
- llegar
- To arrive, reach; to get to a destination
- alguna
- Some, any; feminine singular indefinite adjective
- vez
- Time, occasion; instance of something happening
- hogar
- Home, hearth; one's dwelling place or household
- Cuéntame
- Tell me; imperative of contar with me pronoun
- también
- Also, too; additive adverb meaning as well
- todas
- All; feminine plural of todo, indicating entirety
- estas
- These; feminine plural demonstrative adjective
- cosas
- Things; plural of cosa, general objects or matters
- hija
- Daughter; female offspring; also term of address
- Júpiter
- Jupiter; Roman king of the gods, Zeus equivalent
- cualquier
- Any, whichever; indefinite adjective before a noun
- fuente
- Source, fountain; origin of information or water
- conozcas
- You may know; present subjunctive of conocer
- Así
- Thus, so; adverb meaning in this manner
- todos
- All, everyone; masculine plural of todo
- habían
- Had; third person plural imperfect of haber
- escapado
- Escaped; past participle of escapar, to escape
- muerte
- Death; the end of life
- batalla
- Battle; a fight between opposing military forces
- naufragio
- Shipwreck; destruction of a ship at sea
- llegado
- Arrived; past participle of llegar, to arrive
- excepto
- Except, excluding; preposition indicating an exception
- Ulises
- Ulysses; Roman name for the hero Odysseus
- quien
- Who; relative pronoun referring to a person
- aunque
- Although, even though; concessive conjunction
- anhelaba
- Longed for, yearned; imperfect tense of anhelar
- regresar
- To return, go back; to come back to origin
- junto
- Together, next to; near or alongside someone
- esposa
- Wife, spouse; a woman in a marriage
- patria
- Homeland, fatherland; one's native country
- era
- Was; third person singular imperfect of ser
- retenido
- Retained, held back; past participle of retener
- diosa
- Goddess; a female divine being
- Calipso
- Calypso; nymph goddess who detained Odysseus
- había
- Had; third person singular imperfect of haber
- instalado
- Installed, settled; past participle of instalar
- gran
- Great, large; adjective indicating size or importance
- caverna
- Cavern, cave; a large natural underground chamber
- deseaba
- Desired, wanted; imperfect tense of desear
- casarse
- To get married; reflexive form of casar
- medida
- Measure; a la medida means as time goes on
- pasaban
- Were passing; imperfect tense of pasar
- años
- Years; plural of año, unit of time
- momento
- Moment; a brief or specific point in time
- dioses
- Gods; plural of dios, divine beings
- decidieron
- Decided; past tense of decidir, to decide
- debía
- Should, must; imperfect tense of deber
- Ítaca
- Ithaca; Greek island, homeland of Odysseus
- incluso
- Even, including; adverb adding emphasis or inclusion
- entonces
- Then, at that time; adverb indicating time
- sin
- Without; preposition indicating absence or lack
- embargo
- Embargo; sin embargo means nevertheless, however
- cuando
- When; conjunction or adverb of time
- hallaba
- Was found, was; imperfect tense of hallarse
- entre
- Between, among; preposition indicating position
- suyos
- His own, theirs; masculine plural possessive pronoun
- tribulaciones
- Tribulations; great troubles or suffering endured
- terminado
- Finished, ended; past participle of terminar
- aún
- Still, yet; adverb indicating continuation
- obstante
- No obstante means nevertheless; despite something
- comenzado
- Begun; past participle of comenzar, to begin
- ya
- Already, now; adverb indicating time or change
- compadecerse
- To take pity, feel compassion; reflexive of compadecer
- Neptuno
- Neptune; Roman god of the sea, Poseidon equivalent
- perseguía
- Was pursuing, chasing; imperfect tense of perseguir
- cesar
- To cease, stop; to come to an end
- permitía
- Was allowing, permitted; imperfect tense of permitir
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