English · Verse · Blank verse

William Cullen Bryant

A surface-form portrait of this Odyssey: corpus scale, recurring wording, line-window variation around Greek forms, and a comparison with other English translations.

Atlas edition year: 1871 · Statistics corpus year: 1871 · All 24 books

118,115words

6,934distinct word forms

0.0587vocabulary variety (distinct ÷ total)

25.38average sentence length

Comparison basis: other English translations (12 peers). Each metric has its own scale. Cross-language style-group values are descriptive only.

Repeated wording

The translator’s formulas

The ten repeated phrases of three to six words that rank highest when we multiply how often each phrase appears by its length. Overlapping phrases can describe the same recurring line.

“he spake and” 94 occurrences · Od. 1.125 and 2.39
“the son of” 49 occurrences · Od. 1.178 and 1.230
“ulysses the sagacious” 46 occurrences · Od. 5.192 and 7.198
“ulysses the sagacious answered” 31 occurrences · Od. 5.192 and 7.198
“o er the” 41 occurrences · Od. 1.80 and 1.178
“ulysses the sagacious answered thus” 24 occurrences · Od. 7.198 and 8.121
“of all the” 39 occurrences · Od. 1.80 and 3.102
“the blue eyed” 39 occurrences · Od. 1.44 and 1.80
“blue eyed pallas” 35 occurrences · Od. 1.80 and 1.125
“and all the” 33 occurrences · Od. 2.177 and 2.388

Line-window evidence

One Greek word, many choices

Each card follows one Greek word into three visibly different passages in this translation. The Greek line containing the word appears first, followed by the nearby passage in the translation. The listed nearby words show recurring context, not direct translations of the Greek word.

δῖος

dios recurring nearby word 3%

ἔνθα καθέζετʼ ἔπειτα πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς.
Greek line · Od. 19.102
shall say, And answer me, for I have much to ask.”
Translation passage · Od. 19.102 · nearby words: answer, ask, much, say
ὣς εἰπὼν κλισίηνδʼ ἡγήσατο δῖος ὑφορβός,
Greek line · Od. 14.48
On these a wild goat’s shaggy hide to make A soft and ample
Translation passage · Od. 14.48 · nearby words: ample, goat, hide, shaggy
υἱέες Αὐτολύκου· μετὰ τοῖσι δὲ δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς
Greek line · Od. 19.437
airy heights. The sun, new risen From the deep ocean’s
Translation passage · Od. 19.437 · nearby words: airy, heights, new, ocean

πεπνυμένος

pepnymenos recurring nearby word 6%

τοῖσι δὲ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἤρχετο μύθων·
Greek line · Od. 15.502
and hunger ceased, Discreet Telemachus bespake the crew:—
Translation passage · Od. 15.502 · nearby words: bespake, ceased, crew, discreet
τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
Greek line · Od. 4.593
Three steeds, a polished chariot, and a cup Of price,
Translation passage · Od. 4.593 · nearby words: chariot, cup, polished, price
τὴν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
Greek line · Od. 1.306
growth— Be also bold, that men hereafter born May give
Translation passage · Od. 1.306 · nearby words: also, bold, born, growth

φίλος

philos recurring nearby word 5%

αὐτὰρ ἐπὴν ἔλθῃσιν Ὀδυσσῆος φίλος υἱός,
Greek line · Od. 15.337
Eumasus, keeper of the swine, Didst answer in
Translation passage · Od. 15.337 · nearby words: answer, didst, eumasus, keeper
ὦ πόποι, ὡς ὅδε πᾶσι φίλος καὶ τίμιός ἐστιν
Greek line · Od. 10.38
of Hippotas, rich gifts Of gold and silver. Standing
Translation passage · Od. 10.38 · nearby words: gifts, gold, hippotas, rich
αἴθʼ οὕτως, Εὔμαιε, φίλος Διὶ πατρὶ γένοιο
Greek line · Od. 15.341
crew, whose insolence And riot reach the iron vault of
Translation passage · Od. 15.341 · nearby words: crew, insolence, iron, reach

τόξον

toxon recurring nearby word 8%

ἥμενος, οὐδέ τι τοῦ σκοποῦ ἤμβροτον οὐδέ τι τόξον
Greek line · Od. 21.425
missed The rings, nor found it hard to bend the bow;
Translation passage · Od. 21.425 · nearby words: bend, found, hard, missed
μνῶνται, οὐδέ τι τόξον ἐΰξοον ἐντανύουσιν·
Greek line · Od. 21.326
beggar-man, Who draws the bow with ease, and sends a shaft
Translation passage · Od. 21.326 · nearby words: beggar, draws, ease, sends
ὅς οἱ τόξον ἔδωκε. τὸ δʼ οὔ ποτε δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς
Greek line · Od. 21.38
trenchant sword and massive lance, A pledge of
Translation passage · Od. 21.38 · nearby words: lance, massive, pledge, sword

συβώτης

sybōtēs recurring nearby word 12%

λυγρὰ δὲ εἵματα ἕσσε περὶ χροΐ, μή ἑ συβώτης
Greek line · Od. 16.457
weeds, Lest that the swineherd, knowing at a
Translation passage · Od. 16.457 · nearby words: knowing, lest, swineherd, weeds
τέσσαρες, οὓς ἔθρεψε συβώτης, ὄρχαμος ἀνδρῶν.
Greek line · Od. 14.22
sandals, which he carved and shaped From a stained ox-hide,
Translation passage · Od. 14.22 · nearby words: carved, hide, ox, sandals
σῖτον δέ σφιν ἔνειμε Μεσαύλιος, ὅν ῥα συβώτης
Greek line · Od. 14.449
Without the order of Penelope Or old Laertes; from the
Translation passage · Od. 14.449 · nearby words: laertes, old, order, penelope

Statistical comparison

Against its siblings

Bryant’s American blank verse retains Latin names and a grave register; the atlas situates it as a major poetic Odyssey from the translator’s later career. The corpus contains 118115 words and 6934 distinct word forms. Its score-ranked formula list begins with “he spake and,” recorded 94 times; this first position does not mean it has the highest raw count. For scale within other English translations, Murray contains 133986 words. This is a bounded comparison: the history identifies the translation’s formal setting, while the statistics locate its scale and verbal patterning among the peers actually declared in the source. These measures offer a compact view of the textual evidence available here. The emphasis remains on directly observable features of the supplied corpora.

Keep the edition in context.

Open its full atlas record, or read it beside the Greek and the other bundled translations in Skald.

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