Commentarii ad Homeri Odysseam alongside Homer's Odyssey (24 books · 12,107 lines)
Archbishop Eustathius of Thessalonica (c. 1115–1195/6 CE) produced the most extensive surviving commentary on Homer's Odyssey . This reading environment presents all 24 books of the Παρεκβολαί alongside Homer's Greek text, the Murray–Wyatt English translation, and the Modern Greek version of I. Πολυλάς (1881–1886). Click any Greek word to look it up in Perseus or Logeion .
α Book 1
Athena Inspires the Prince
Ἀθηνᾶς παραίνεσις πρὸς Τηλέμαχον
On Olympus the gods debate Odysseus' fate; Athena visits Telemachus in disguise and rouses him to seek news of his father.
β Book 2
Telemachus Sets Sail
Ἰθακησίων ἐκκλησία· Τηλεμάχου ἀποδημία
Telemachus calls an assembly of the Ithacans, denounces the suitors, and sails by night for Pylos with Athena disguised as Mentor.
γ Book 3
At the Court of Pylos
Τὰ ἐν Πύλῳ
Nestor receives Telemachus, recounts the homecomings of the Achaeans after Troy, and sends him on by chariot to Sparta.
δ Book 4
The King and Queen of Sparta
Τὰ ἐν Λακεδαίμονι
Menelaus and Helen entertain Telemachus and Pisistratus; Menelaus tells how he wrested news of Odysseus from the sea-god Proteus.
ε Book 5
Odysseus — Nymph and Shipwreck
Ὀδυσσέως σχεδία
Hermes orders Calypso to release Odysseus; he builds a raft, sails for seventeen days, is wrecked by Poseidon, and swims to Scheria.
ζ Book 6
The Princess and the Stranger
Ὀδυσσέως ἄφιξις εἰς Φαίακας
Nausicaa, daughter of Alcinous, finds the naked, brine-encrusted Odysseus on the shore of the Phaeacians and brings him toward the city.
η Book 7
Phaeacia's Halls and Gardens
Ὀδυσσέως εἴσοδος πρὸς Ἀλκίνουν
Athena guides Odysseus through Scheria; he supplicates Queen Arete and is welcomed by King Alcinous in his marvellous palace.
θ Book 8
A Day for Songs and Contests
Ὀδυσσέως σύστασις πρὸς Φαίακας
The Phaeacians hold games and feasting; the bard Demodocus sings of Troy and the wooden horse, and Odysseus weeps, his identity nearly betrayed.
ι Book 9
In the One-Eyed Giant's Cave
Ἀλκίνου ἀπόλογοι· Κικόνες, Λωτοφάγοι, Κύκλωψ
Odysseus begins his tale: the sack of Ismarus, the Lotus-Eaters, and the blinding of Polyphemus, which earns him the wrath of Poseidon.
κ Book 10
The Bewitching Queen of Aeaea
Τὰ περὶ Αἰόλου, Λαιστρυγόνων, καὶ Κίρκης
Aeolus' bag of winds, the cannibal Laestrygonians who destroy all but one ship, and the year spent on Aeaea with the witch-goddess Circe.
λ Book 11
The Kingdom of the Dead
Νέκυια
At the edge of the world Odysseus summons the shades: Tiresias prophesies his return, and he speaks with his mother, Agamemnon, Achilles, and Ajax.
μ Book 12
The Cattle of the Sun
Σειρῆνες· Σκύλλα καὶ Χάρυβδις· βόες Ἡλίου
Past the Sirens, between Scylla and Charybdis; on Thrinacia his crew slaughter Helios' cattle and are destroyed, leaving Odysseus alone.
ν Book 13
Ithaca at Last
Ὀδυσσέως ἀπόπλους παρὰ Φαιάκων
The Phaeacians ferry Odysseus home and are punished by Poseidon; Athena disguises Odysseus as a beggar and plots the suitors' destruction.
ξ Book 14
The Loyal Swineherd
Ὀδυσσέως πρὸς Εὔμαιον ὁμιλία
The disguised Odysseus is welcomed by Eumaeus the swineherd; he tells a long false Cretan tale and tests his old servant's loyalty.
ο Book 15
The Prince Sets Sail for Home
Τηλεμάχου πρὸς Εὔμαιον ἄφιξις
Athena hurries Telemachus from Sparta back to Ithaca, evading the suitors' ambush; he arrives at Eumaeus' hut to meet his unrecognised father.
π Book 16
Father and Son
Τηλεμάχου ἀναγνωρισμός
In the swineherd's hut Odysseus reveals himself to Telemachus; together they begin to plan the killing of the suitors.
ρ Book 17
Stranger at the Gates
Τηλεμάχου ἐπάνοδος εἰς Ἰθάκην
Disguised as a beggar, Odysseus enters his own halls; the old hound Argos recognises him and dies, and he endures Antinous' insults.
σ Book 18
The Beggar-King of Ithaca
Ὀδυσσέως καὶ Ἴρου πυγμή
Odysseus boxes the bullying beggar Irus, warns the suitor Amphinomus, and watches Penelope draw lavish gifts from the suitors.
τ Book 19
Penelope and Her Guest
Ὀδυσσέως καὶ Πηνελόπης ὁμιλία· τὰ νίπτρα
Penelope interviews the stranger by the hearth; while washing his feet, the old nurse Eurycleia recognises Odysseus by his boyhood scar.
υ Book 20
Portents Gather
Τὰ πρὸ τῆς μνηστηροφονίας
Through a sleepless night and an ominous dawn the omens accumulate; the suitors mock the seer Theoclymenus, who foretells their doom.
φ Book 21
Odysseus Strings His Bow
Τόξου θέσις
Penelope sets the contest of the great bow; one by one the suitors fail, and the beggar at last takes up the weapon and strings it with ease.
χ Book 22
Slaughter in the Hall
Μνηστηροφονία
Odysseus throws off his disguise and, with Telemachus, Eumaeus, and Philoetius, slays every suitor; the unfaithful maids are hanged.
ψ Book 23
The Great Rooted Bed
Ὀδυσσέως ὑπὸ Πηνελόπης ἀναγνωρισμός
Penelope, slow to believe, tests Odysseus with the secret of their marriage-bed rooted in a living olive trunk; husband and wife are reunited.
ω Book 24
Peace
Σπονδαί
The suitors' shades descend to Hades; Odysseus reveals himself to his father Laertes; the kinsmen of the slain attack, and Athena imposes peace.