Book V · Episode 4 of 5

Adrift on the Sea

Ino aids Odysseus, Poseidon curses him

Scenes

1. Ino Gives a Magic Veil — Cormorant Ino gives Odysseus her veil
   • Ino pities him and rises as a cormorant
   • She insists Poseidon cannot kill him
   • Ino urges him to strip and swim ashore
   • He must bind her veil beneath his chest
   • He must cast it back without looking behind
2. The Raft Breaks Apart — Poseidon shatters raft, Odysseus swims
   • Odysseus suspects Ino’s advice may be a trap
   • He resolves to cling to the raft
   • Poseidon scatters the timbers like chaff
   • Straddling a beam, he strips his clothes
   • He binds Ino’s veil beneath his breast
3. Poseidon’s Parting Curse — Poseidon curses Odysseus, drives to Aegae
   • Poseidon tells him to drift with mischance
   • He warns that his suffering will not be light
   • The god drives his horses onward to Aegae
   • His glittering palace stands there
4. Adrift Off a Rocky Coast — Odysseus drifts, sights Phaeacia’s cliffs
   • Athena calms every wind except the north
   • He drifts two days and nights expecting death
   • He rejoices like a sick man’s children
   • Surf thunders against sheer cliffs, no harbor
   • He fears a sea monster lurking to seize him