Homer · tr. Bryant, 1871

Book V · Episode 3 of 5

Voyage and Shipwreck

Odysseus sails, Poseidon wrecks raft

Scenes

  1. Building and Launching the Raft — Odysseus builds raft, sails to Phaeacia
    • Calypso arms him with an axe and an adze
    • He fells twenty trees and squares the trunks
    • The raft gets a mast, rudder, and sails
    • Freshly bathed, he stocks wine and food
    • He steers by the stars for seventeen days
  2. Poseidon Spots Odysseus — Poseidon spots Odysseus, rages at gods
    • Poseidon returns home from the Ethiopians
    • He spies Odysseus from the heights of Solyma
    • He suspects the gods plotted while away
    • Phaeacia is fated to end his troubles
    • Poseidon vows Odysseus will suffer still more
  3. Poseidon Wrecks the Raft — Poseidon snaps mast, Odysseus clings
    • Poseidon summons every wind with his trident
    • Odysseus wishes he’d died gloriously at Troy
    • A huge wave hurls him overboard
    • The mast snaps and the sail scatters
    • He surfaces and swims back to the wreck