Verse

Odyssey

Book 5, Line 436 by Samuel Butler (English)

Here poor Odysseus would have certainly perished even in spite of his own destiny, if Athena had not helped him to keep his wits about him. He swam seaward again, beyond reach of the surf that was beating against the land, and at the same time he kept looking towards the shore to see if he could find some haven, or a spit that should take the waves aslant. By and by, as he swam on, he came to the mouth of a river, and here he thought would be the best place, for there were no rocks, and it afforded shelter from the wind. He felt that there was a current, so he prayed inwardly and said:

OdysseyBook 5, Line 436Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 5

HomerProseID odyssey-odyssey-butler-en-prose-5-436

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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.