Verse

Odyssey

Book 4, Line 554 by Samuel Butler (English)

"‘The third man,’ he answered, ‘is Odysseus who dwells in Ithaca . I can see him in an island sorrowing bitterly in the house of the nymph Calypso, who is keeping him prisoner, and he cannot reach his home for he has no ships nor sailors to take him over the sea. As for your own end, Menelaos, you shall not die in Argos , but the gods will take you to the Elysian plain, which is at the ends of the world. There fair-haired Rhadamanthus reigns, and men lead an easier life than any where else in the world, for in Elysium there falls not rain, nor hail, nor snow, but Okeanos breathes ever with a West wind that sings softly from the sea, and gives fresh life to all men. This will happen to you because you have married Helen, and are Zeus’ son-in-law.’

OdysseyBook 4, Line 554Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 4

HomerProseID odyssey-odyssey-butler-en-prose-4-554

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Samuel Butler's public-domain English prose Odyssey via Perseus canonical TEI; prose segments are assigned to their source line span.