Ἠὼς δʼ ἐκ λεχέων παρʼ ἀγαυοῦ Τιθωνοῖο ὤρνυθʼ , ἵνʼ ἀθανάτοισι φόως φέροι ἠδὲ βροτοῖσιν · οἱ δὲ θεοὶ θῶκόνδε καθίζανον , ἐν δʼ ἄρα τοῖσι Ζεὺς ὑψιβρεμέτης , οὗ τε κράτος ἐστὶ μέγιστον . τοῖσι δʼ Ἀθηναίη λέγε κήδεα πόλλʼ Ὀδυσῆος μνησαμένη · μέλε γάρ οἱ ἐὼν ἐν δώμασι νύμφης · Ζεῦ πάτερ ἠδʼ ἄλλοι μάκαρες θεοὶ αἰὲν ἐόντες , μή τις ἔτι πρόφρων ἀγανὸς καὶ ἤπιος ἔστω σκηπτοῦχος βασιλεύς , μηδὲ φρεσὶν αἴσιμα εἰδώς , ἀλλʼ αἰεὶ χαλεπός τʼ εἴη καὶ αἴσυλα ῥέζοι · ὡς οὔ τις μέμνηται Ὀδυσσῆος θείοιο λαῶν οἷσιν ἄνασσε , πατὴρ δʼ ὣς ἤπιος ἦεν . ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν ἐν νήσῳ κεῖται κρατέρʼ ἄλγεα πάσχων νύμφης ἐν μεγάροισι Καλυψοῦς , ἥ μιν ἀνάγκῃ ἴσχει · ὁ δʼ οὐ δύναται ἣν πατρίδα γαῖαν ἱκέσθαι · οὐ γάρ οἱ πάρα νῆες ἐπήρετμοι καὶ ἑταῖροι , οἵ κέν μιν πέμποιεν ἐπʼ εὐρέα νῶτα θαλάσσης . νῦν αὖ παῖδʼ ἀγαπητὸν ἀποκτεῖναι μεμάασιν οἴκαδε νισόμενον · ὁ δʼ ἔβη μετὰ πατρὸς ἀκουὴν ἐς Πύλον ἠγαθέην ἠδʼ ἐς Λακεδαίμονα δῖαν .

Now Dawn arose from her couch from beside lordly Tithonus , to bear light to the immortals and to mortal men . And the gods were sitting down to council , and among them Zeus , who thunders on high , whose might is supreme .
To them Athena was recounting the many woes of Odysseus , as she called them to mind ; for it troubled her that he abode in the dwelling of the nymph : " Father Zeus , and ye other blessed gods that are forever , never henceforward let sceptred king with a ready heart be kind and gentle , nor let him heed righteousness in his mind ; but let him ever be harsh , and work unrighteousness , seeing that no one remembers divine Odysseus of the people whose lord he was ; yet gentle was he as a father . He verily abides in an island suffering grievous pains , in the halls of the nymph Calypso , who
keeps him perforce ; and he cannot return to his own land , for he has at hand no ships with oars and no comrades to send him on his way over the broad back of the sea . And now again they are minded to slay his well-loved son on his homeward way ; for he went in quest of tidings of his father
to sacred Pylos and to goodly Lacedaemon . "

And now , as Dawn rose from her couch beside Tithonos - harbinger of light alike to mortals and immortals - the gods met in council and with them , Zeus the lord of thunder , who is their king . Thereon Athena began to tell them of the many sufferings of Odysseus , for she pitied him away there in the house of the nymph Calypso . " Father Zeus , " said she , " and all you other gods that live in everlasting bliss , I hope there may never be such a thing as a kind and well-disposed ruler any more , nor one who will govern equitably . I hope they will be all henceforth cruel and unjust , for there is not one of his subjects who has not forgotten Odysseus , who ruled them as though he were their father . There he is , lying in great pain in an island where dwells the nymph Calypso , who will not let him go ; and he cannot get back to his own country , for he can find neither ships nor sailors to take him over the sea . Furthermore , wicked people are now trying to murder his only son Telemakhos , who is coming home from Pylos and Lacedaemon , where he has been to see if he can get news of his father . "