QUOTES FROM BOOK 9 OF THE ODYSSEY

“And suddenly the winds died away and there came a calm – a killing calm – a golden shimmer that shimmered but brought no help.”

“So the men sailed on in mourning, but with the oars held spraddled forward in the rowlocks and backs bent forward.”

“And they passed by the shore of the Sirens’ island, past the Sirens who enchant and bewitch all men who come near them, with their entrancing song.”

“And the men cried and clung to the ship’s deck, while all the time the ship drove on, quickly and safely.”

“And the men were glad when the ship was under sail again and they saw they were out of the reach of the Cyclops.”

“But Zeus thundered no answer – thundered high in the upper sky, and cloud built up and stood.”

“The deathless gods grudged me a safe return from Troy, in the ship they’d plotted to sink beneath the broad back of the sea.”

“Then a bird flew by, a blur of wings flashing, a pigeon with a curved back wheeling and darting, his feathers gleaming red as blood.”

“Now Zeus had set his heart on loth Tiresias, the prophet, seer of Thebes, to tell Odisseus his way home.”

“With a clash and a roar as the thundering waves of the river, they battered but I gave them a shout.”

“Hugest and hottest of fires that blazed in hell, that fire was more volcanic than any earth spawned or any man could raise.”

“I whirled the brand, then heaved it behind my back and from his place beneath my feet one more ghost howled, and his doom, his anguish.” FAMOUS QUOTES ABOUT BEING THE LIGHT

“Then by the dead we left, weeping and wailing, the queen’s men led us through the halls to chambers hung with royal robes and bedclothes redolent of perfume.”

“Of all creatures that the earth sustains none is more wretched than man.”

“But when morning dawned, rose-fingered and beautiful among goddesses, he called the children of Autolycus, his sons, nine of them, and his wife as well.”

“I saw the mother of the men of renown Sing graceful and loud at her weaving in the moonlight.”

“We came into the sacred island which the god has established there for his own pleasure.”

“Men come to this island and they become soft and indolent, with their minds at ease within them.”

“And such is my relentless anger, I’ll kill you in the foulest way I can.”

“And as we made our prayer and threw the burning heather, nectar and gleaming wine dripped from the cones.”

“Thundered and shook – the new moon – the one carved out by Cyclops -not like the other moons in the sky, not like the moon we know.”

“There they lived, reared their young and fed on the king’s bounty until the penguins grew so numerous the court could bear no more.”

“And I, I kept my bows drawn tight, for all my pitiful cunning, and let fly with a thousand arrows while he fell back – all around him, showering arrows, spitting blood.”