SKALD Palmer · 1891 All analyses Translation Atlas Reader’s guide

English · Prose · Literary prose

George Herbert Palmer

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: 1884 · Statistics corpus year: 1891 · All 24 books

116,728words
6,545distinct word forms
0.0561vocabulary variety (distinct ÷ total)
22.84average sentence length
Palmer compared with other English translations Copper bars show this translation; pale bars show the peer median for four surface-form metrics. Palmer Peer median Words 116,728 median 123,889.5 Distinct word forms 6,545 median 6,844.5 Vocabulary variety 0.0561 median 0.0577 Average sentence length 22.84 median 27.28

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.

  1. “the son of” 106 occurrences · Od. 1.1 and 1.178
  2. “he spoke and” 96 occurrences · Od. 1.365 and 2.39
  3. “then answered him” 64 occurrences · Od. 1.44 and 1.80
  4. “in winged words” 55 occurrences · Od. 1.125 and 2.267
  5. “clear eyed athene” 51 occurrences · Od. 1.44 and 1.80
  6. “the house of” 50 occurrences · Od. 1.365 and 2.39
  7. “then said to him” 37 occurrences · Od. 1.178 and 3.1
  8. “and speaking in winged words” 29 occurrences · Od. 1.125 and 2.267
  9. “long tried royal odysseus” 36 occurrences · Od. 5.145 and 5.313
  10. “then wise odysseus answered” 36 occurrences · Od. 5.192 and 7.198

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 13%
  • δὴ τότε μερμήριξε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς
    Greek line · Od. 18.90
    ring they led him, and both men raised their fists. Then long-tried royal Odysseus doubted whether to strike
    Translation passage · Od. 18.90 · nearby words: both, doubted, fists, led
  • κοῦροι, ἐμοὶ μνηστῆρες, ἐπεὶ θάνε δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
    Greek line · Od. 19.141
    now is dead, forbear to urge my marriage till I complete this robe, — its threads must not be wasted, —
    Translation passage · Od. 19.141 · nearby words: complete, dead, forbear, marriage
  • οὐ γάρ πω τέθνηκεν ἐπὶ χθονὶ δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
    Greek line · Od. 1.196
    drink whenever weariness weighs down his knees, as he creeps about his slope of garden ground. Even now
    Translation passage · Od. 1.196 · nearby words: creeps, drink, garden, ground

φίλος

philos recurring nearby word 9%
  • Τηλέμαχος, φίλος υἱὸς Ὀδυσσῆος θείοιο·
    Greek line · Od. 15.554
    ordered by Telemachus, the son of princely Odysseus. But him, meanwhile, his feet bore swiftly onward
    Translation passage · Od. 15.554 · nearby words: bore, feet, meanwhile, onward
  • ἔνθα δʼ ἐμὸς φίλος υἱός, ἅμα κρατερὸς καὶ ἀμύμων,
    Greek line · Od. 3.111
    my own son, so strong and gallant, Antilochus, exceeding swift of foot, a famous fighter. And many other woes
    Translation passage · Od. 3.111 · nearby words: antilochus, exceeding, famous, fighter
  • ἤδη γὰρ τετέλεσται ἅ μοι φίλος ἤθελε θυμός,
    Greek line · Od. 13.40
    speaking to Alcinoüs especially he said: "Mighty Alcinoüs, renowned of all, pour a libation and send me
    Translation passage · Od. 13.40 · nearby words: alcinoüs, especially, libation, mighty

τόξον

toxon recurring nearby word 18%
  • ὣς εἰπὼν τόξον μὲν ἀπὸ ἕο θῆκε χαμᾶζε,
    Greek line · Od. 21.136
    the bow and stood it on the ground, leaning it on the firm-set polished door. The swift shaft, too, he
    Translation passage · Od. 21.136 · nearby words: door, firm, ground, leaning
  • γυμνὸν τόξον ἔχων καὶ ἐπὶ νευρῆφιν ὀιστόν,
    Greek line · Od. 11.607
    and golden-sandaled Here. Around him rose a clamor of the dead, like that of birds, fleeing all ways
    Translation passage · Od. 11.607 · nearby words: around, birds, clamor, dead
  • εἰ δὴ τοῦτό γε τόξον ἀριστῆας κεκαδήσει
    Greek line · Od. 21.170
    words and harsh! Vexatious words to hear! As if this bow must rob our chiefs of life and breath because
    Translation passage · Od. 21.170 · nearby words: breath, chiefs, harsh, hear

συβώτης

sybōtēs recurring nearby word 6%
  • ἦλθον ἀπὸ κρήνης· ἐπὶ δέ σφισιν ἦλθε συβώτης
    Greek line · Od. 20.162
    skillfully split logs of wood; there came the women also, returning from the well. After them came the
    Translation passage · Od. 20.162 · nearby words: also, logs, returning, skillfully
  • ἀντίθεοι μνηστῆρες, ἐπεὶ προΐαλλε συβώτης
    Greek line · Od. 14.18
    much fewer, lay outside. On these the gallant suitors feasted and kept their number small; for daily
    Translation passage · Od. 14.18 · nearby words: daily, feasted, fewer, gallant
  • τοῖσι δὲ μύθων ἦρχε συβώτης, ὄρχαμος ἀνδρῶν·
    Greek line · Od. 17.184
    myself would rather leave you as a watchman for the farm; but of him I stand in fear and awe, lest he
    Translation passage · Od. 17.184 · nearby words: awe, farm, fear, leave

πεπνυμένος

pepnymenos recurring nearby word 47%
  • τὴν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
    Greek line · Od. 1.345
    miss, ever remembering one whose fame is wide through Hellas and mid-Argos." Then answered her discreet
    Translation passage · Od. 1.345 · nearby words: argos, discreet, fame, hellas
  • τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
    Greek line · Od. 17.77
    and share my father’s goods, I had rather you yourself should keep and enjoy the gifts than any one
    Translation passage · Od. 17.77 · nearby words: any, enjoy, gifts, goods
  • τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα
    Greek line · Od. 3.75
    as the pirates roam the seas, risking their lives and bringing ill to strangers?" Then answered him
    Translation passage · Od. 3.75 · nearby words: bringing, ill, lives, pirates

Statistical comparison

Against its siblings

Palmer’s American prose Odyssey grew from a partial publication into a complete classroom text, framed by the atlas as supple and faintly rhythmic in construction. The corpus contains 116728 words and 6545 distinct word forms. Its score-ranked formula list begins with “the son of,” recorded 106 times; this first position does not mean it has the highest raw count. For scale within other English translations, Murray contains 133986 words. The result is a clearer profile of form and corpus patterning, grounded in the stated comparison group and careful not to treat measured differences as judgments about literary success or accuracy. These measures offer a compact view of the textual evidence available here. The emphasis remains on directly observable features of the supplied corpora.

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