English · Verse · Rhymed accentual long lines

William Morris

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: 1887 · Statistics corpus year: 1887 · All 24 books

147,844words

6,390distinct word forms

0.0432vocabulary variety (distinct ÷ total)

41.95average 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” 122 occurrences · Od. 1.125 and 2.129
“so he spake” 117 occurrences · Od. 2.1 and 2.129
“so he spake and” 82 occurrences · Od. 2.224 and 4.625
“o er the” 86 occurrences · Od. 1.178 and 1.230
“of the sea” 74 occurrences · Od. 1.44 and 1.125
“the house of” 74 occurrences · Od. 2.39 and 2.84
“the son of” 69 occurrences · Od. 1.44 and 1.365
“but when the” 68 occurrences · Od. 3.102 and 3.229
“e en as” 55 occurrences · Od. 1.1 and 1.125
“e en such” 46 occurrences · Od. 1.230 and 2.177

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 19%

τὴν μὲν ἰδὼν γήθησε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς·
Greek line · Od. 24.504
Whom the toil-stout valiant Odysseus beholding, failed not to rejoice;
Translation passage · Od. 24.504 · nearby words: beholding, failed, rejoice, stout
οὐδʼ ὕλαον προσιόντα. νόησε δὲ δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς
Greek line · Od. 16.5
THEM FOR THEIR ILL-DOINGS. EUMÆUS COMETH BACK TO TELEMACHUS AT THE BOOTH, AND TELLETH OF THE SPEEDING OF HIS
Translation passage · Od. 16.5 · nearby words: back, booth, cometh, doings
στῆ δὲ πρόσθʼ αὐτοῦ, ὁ δʼ ἀνείρετο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς·
Greek line · Od. 7.21
As a damsel tender of years that bare the pitcher’s load,
Translation passage · Od. 7.21 · nearby words: bare, damsel, load, pitcher

φίλος

philos recurring nearby word 18%

ἔνθʼ ἦλθεν φίλος υἱὸς Ὀδυσσῆος θείοιο,
Greek line · Od. 24.151
Whither came the loved son of Odysseus, the godlike, making the land
Translation passage · Od. 24.151 · nearby words: godlike, loved, making, whither
οὔ πω πᾶν εἴρητο ἔπος, ὅτε οἱ φίλος υἱὸς
Greek line · Od. 16.11
Both the fawning dogs, and the trampling of coming feet thereat,
Translation passage · Od. 16.11 · nearby words: both, coming, dogs, fawning
καὶ σύ, φίλος, μάλα γάρ σʼ ὁρόω καλόν τε μέγαν τε,
Greek line · Od. 1.301
Ægisthus the guileful of rede who his glorious sire had slain?
Translation passage · Od. 1.301 · nearby words: glorious, guileful, rede, sire

ἀμύμονος

amymonos recurring nearby word 19%

ἦ τοι μὲν Πηλῆος ἀμύμονος οὔ τι πέπυσμαι,
Greek line · Od. 11.505
’ Forsooth of Peleus the blameless no tidings may I tell,
Translation passage · Od. 11.505 · nearby words: blameless, forsooth, peleus, tidings
μεσσηγύς τε θόλου καὶ ἀμύμονος ἕρκεος αὐλῆς,
Greek line · Od. 22.442
Midways ’twixt the vaulted kitchen and the forecourt’s holy wall
Translation passage · Od. 22.442 · nearby words: forecourt, holy, kitchen, midways
μολπῆς τε γλυκερῆς καὶ ἀμύμονος ὀρχηθμοῖο.
Greek line · Od. 23.145
For the dancing-play the happy, and the music honey-sweet,
Translation passage · Od. 23.145 · nearby words: dancing, happy, honey, music

πεπνυμένος

pepnymenos recurring nearby word 66%

τὴν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
Greek line · Od. 17.45
But Telemachus the heedful made answer for his part :
Translation passage · Od. 17.45 · nearby words: answer, heedful, part
τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
Greek line · Od. 16.30
But a city-abider art thou, and thy will hereto hath it been
Translation passage · Od. 16.30 · nearby words: abider, art, been, city
Ἀμφίνομʼ, ἦ μάλα μοι δοκέεις πεπνυμένος εἶναι·
Greek line · Od. 18.125
" Amphinomus, surely I deem thee a man of wisdom and wit,
Translation passage · Od. 18.125 · nearby words: amphinomus, deem, surely, wisdom

κυδαλίμοιο

kydalimoio recurring nearby word 18%

ὡς τότʼ Ὀδυσσῆος περικήδετο κυδαλίμοιο
Greek line · Od. 3.219
In the days that were she cherished Odysseus, the glory of war,
Translation passage · Od. 3.219 · nearby words: cherished, days, glory, war
ἡ δʼ ἄχεϊ οὗ παιδὸς ἀπέφθιτο κυδαλίμοιο,
Greek line · Od. 15.358
Since she died through the grief she suffered because of her glorious son.
Translation passage · Od. 15.358 · nearby words: because, died, glorious, grief
Ἀμφίνομος δʼ Ὀδυσῆος ἐείσατο κυδαλίμοιο
Greek line · Od. 22.89
And then it was Amphinomus, who drew his whetted sword
Translation passage · Od. 22.89 · nearby words: amphinomus, drew, sword, whetted

Statistical comparison

Against its siblings

Morris turns the Odyssey toward northern romance in the atlas, using long rhymed couplets and a deliberately saga-colored vocabulary that includes “menfolk” and “fellow-farers.” The corpus contains 147844 words and 6390 distinct word forms. Its score-ranked formula list begins with “he spake and,” recorded 122 times; this first position does not mean it has the highest raw count. For scale within other English translations, Murray contains 133986 words. Read together, the atlas context and corpus evidence show how this version occupies its declared cohort without converting length, vocabulary counts, or recurrence into claims about merit, fidelity, intention, or reception. 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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