The Odyssey: Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original — Page 2
Now Neptune had gone off to the Ethiopians, who are at the world's end, and lie in two halves, the one looking West and the other East.1 He had gone there to accept a hecatomb of sheep and oxen, and was enjoying himself at his festival; but the other gods met in the house of Olympian Jove, and the sire of gods and men spoke first.
Ora Nettuno era andato dagli Etiopi, che si trovano ai confini del mondo, e giacciono in due metà, una rivolta a Occidente e l'altra a Oriente. Era andato là per ricevere un'ecatombe di pecore e buoi, e si stava godendo la sua festa; ma gli altri dèi si riunirono nella casa di Giove Olimpico, e il padre degli dèi e degli uomini parlò per primo.
At that moment he was thinking of Aegisthus, who had been killed by Agamemnon's son Orestes; so he said to the other gods:
In quel momento stava pensando a Egisto, che era stato ucciso da Oreste, figlio di Agamennone; così disse agli altri dèi:
"See now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is after all nothing but their own folly.
«Vedete ora come gli uomini danno la colpa a noi dèi per ciò che in fondo non è altro che la loro stessa follia.
Look at Aegisthus; he must needs make love to Agamemnon's wife unrighteously and then kill Agamemnon, though he knew it would be the death of him;
Guardate Egisto; doveva per forza amoreggiare ingiustamente con la moglie di Agamennone e poi uccidere Agamennone, benché sapesse che ciò gli sarebbe costato la vita;
for I sent Mercury to warn him not to do either of these things, inasmuch as Orestes would be sure to take his revenge when he grew up and wanted to return home.
poiché io mandai Mercurio ad avvertirlo di non fare nessuna di queste cose, dal momento che Oreste avrebbe certamente cercato vendetta quando fosse cresciuto e avesse voluto tornare in patria.
Mercury told him this in all good will but he would not listen, and now he has paid for everything in full.
Mercurio glielo disse con tutta la buona volontà, ma egli non volle ascoltare, e ora ha pagato per tutto per intero.
Vocabulary
- Ora
- Now; at the present moment
- Nettuno
- Neptune; Roman god of the sea
- era
- Was; third person singular imperfect of essere
- andato
- Gone; past participle of andare
- dagli
- From the; contraction of da and gli
- che
- That, who, which; common conjunction or pronoun
- si
- Reflexive pronoun; oneself, themselves
- trovano
- Are found; third person plural of trovarsi
- ai
- At the, to the; contraction of a and i
- confini
- Borders, boundaries, edges of a territory
- del
- Of the; contraction of di and il
- mondo
- World; the earth or universe
- e
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- giacciono
- Lie, are situated; third person plural of giacere
- in
- In, inside; basic preposition of location
- due
- Two; the number 2
- metà
- Half; one of two equal parts
- una
- One, a; feminine indefinite article or numeral
- rivolta
- Turned, facing; directed toward a direction
- a
- To, at; basic Italian preposition
- Occidente
- West; the western direction or region
- l'altra
- The other; feminine singular definite article plus altra
- Oriente
- East; the eastern direction or region
- Era
- Was; imperfect tense of essere, he/she/it was
- là
- There; indicating a place away from speaker
- per
- For, in order to; common Italian preposition
- ricevere
- To receive; to accept or get something
- di
- Of, from; very common Italian preposition
- pecore
- Sheep; plural of pecora
- buoi
- Oxen; plural of bue, male bovine animals
- stava
- Was staying, was; imperfect of stare
- godendo
- Enjoying; gerund of godere
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- sua
- His, her, its; feminine possessive adjective
- festa
- Festival, feast, celebration, party
- ma
- But; adversative conjunction
- gli
- The; masculine plural definite article, also indirect pronoun
- altri
- Others; other people or things
- dèi
- Gods; plural of dio, divine beings
- riunirono
- Gathered, assembled; past tense of riunirsi
- nella
- In the; contraction of in and la
- casa
- House, home; a place of residence
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article
- padre
- Father; male parent
- degli
- Of the; contraction of di and gli
- uomini
- Men; plural of uomo, adult males
- parlò
- Spoke; third person singular past of parlare
- primo
- First; ordinal number, before all others
- In
- In; preposition indicating location or time
- quel
- That; masculine singular demonstrative adjective
- momento
- Moment; a brief point in time
- pensando
- Thinking; gerund of pensare
- stato
- Been; past participle of essere
- ucciso
- Killed; past participle of uccidere
- da
- By, from; Italian preposition of origin or agent
- figlio
- Son; male child of a parent
- così
- So, thus, in this way
- disse
- Said; third person singular past of dire
- agli
- To the; contraction of a and gli
- Vedete
- You see; second person plural present of vedere
- ora
- Now; at the current time
- come
- How, as, like; conjunction or adverb
- danno
- Give, blame; third person plural of dare
- colpa
- Blame, fault, guilt
- noi
- Us, we; first person plural pronoun
- ciò
- That, this; neuter demonstrative pronoun
- fondo
- Bottom, depth; also: at bottom, fundamentally
- non
- Not; basic negation adverb
- è
- Is; third person singular present of essere
- altro
- Other, else, another thing
- loro
- Their, them; third person plural pronoun
- stessa
- Same, very; feminine form of stesso
- follia
- Madness, folly, recklessness
- Guardate
- Look, see; imperative plural of guardare
- doveva
- Had to, was supposed to; imperfect of dovere
- forza
- Force, strength; also: necessarily, by necessity
- amoreggiare
- To make love, to flirt, to have an affair
- ingiustamente
- Unjustly, unfairly, wrongfully
- con
- With; basic Italian preposition
- moglie
- Wife; a married woman
- poi
- Then, afterward; temporal adverb
- uccidere
- To kill; to cause death
- benché
- Although, even though; concessive conjunction
- sapesse
- Knew; imperfect subjunctive of sapere
- sarebbe
- Would be; conditional of essere
- costato
- Cost; past participle of costare
- vita
- Life; existence of a living being
- poiché
- Since, because; causal conjunction
- io
- I; first person singular subject pronoun
- mandai
- I sent; first person singular past of mandare
- ad
- To, at; variant of a before vowels
- avvertirlo
- To warn him; infinitive of avvertire plus pronoun
- fare
- To do, to make; common Italian infinitive
- nessuna
- None, not any; feminine negative pronoun
- queste
- These; feminine plural demonstrative adjective
- cose
- Things; plural of cosa
- dal
- From the; contraction of da and il
- avrebbe
- Would have; conditional of avere
- certamente
- Certainly, surely, definitely
- cercato
- Sought, looked for; past participle of cercare
- vendetta
- Revenge, vengeance; retribution for a wrong
- quando
- When; temporal conjunction or adverb
- fosse
- Were, had been; imperfect subjunctive of essere
- cresciuto
- Grown up; past participle of crescere
- avesse
- Had; imperfect subjunctive of avere
- voluto
- Wanted, wished; past participle of volere
- tornare
- To return, to go back
- patria
- Homeland, fatherland, native country
- glielo
- It to him/her; combined indirect and direct pronoun
- tutta
- All, entire; feminine form of tutto
- buona
- Good; feminine form of buono
- volontà
- Will, willingness, desire to act
- egli
- He; formal third person singular subject pronoun
- volle
- Wanted; third person singular past of volere
- ascoltare
- To listen, to hear attentively
- ha
- Has; third person singular present of avere
- pagato
- Paid; past participle of pagare
- tutto
- All, everything, entire
- intero
- Entire, whole, complete
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →