Dutch · Verse · Dactylic hexameter

Carel Vosmaer

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

Atlas edition year: 1889 · Statistics corpus year: 1889 · All 24 books

128,485words
11,715distinct word forms
0.0912vocabulary variety (distinct ÷ total)
30.32average sentence length
Vosmaer compared with other hexameter verse translations Copper bars show this translation; pale bars show the peer median for four surface-form metrics. Vosmaer Peer median Words 128,485 median 115,528 Distinct word forms 11,715 median 11,298 Vocabulary variety 0.0912 median 0.0982 Average sentence length 30.32 median 26.02

Comparison basis: other hexameter verse translations (6 peers). Each metric has its own scale. Cross-language style-group values are descriptive only.

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. “alzoo sprak hij” 126 occurrences · Od. 1.125 and 1.365
  2. “alzoo sprak hij en” 78 occurrences · Od. 1.365 and 2.224
  3. “sprak hij en” 79 occurrences · Od. 1.365 and 2.224
  4. “de gevleugelde woorden” 51 occurrences · Od. 1.80 and 2.267
  5. “de schrandre telemachos weder” 32 occurrences · Od. 1.178 and 1.230
  6. “toen antwoordde hem” 38 occurrences · Od. 1.80 and 14.191
  7. “in de woning” 37 occurrences · Od. 1.325 and 1.365
  8. “alzoo sprak hij en allen” 22 occurrences · Od. 1.365 and 3.404
  9. “toen antwoordde hem weder de” 22 occurrences · Od. 14.191 and 14.360
  10. “de schrandre telemachos” 36 occurrences · Od. 1.178 and 1.230

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 6%
  • τὴν μὲν ἰδὼν γήθησε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς·
    Greek line · Od. 24.504
    Vreugde vervulde, haar ziende, den godlijken dulder Odusseus;
    Translation passage · Od. 24.504 · nearby words: dulder, godlijken, vervulde, vreugde
  • ὣς εἰπὼν ὑπὲρ οὐδὸν ἐβήσετο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
    Greek line · Od. 13.63
    Vreugd van uw kindren en volken, en koning Alkinoös’ echtheil.
    Translation passage · Od. 13.63 · nearby words: alkinoös, echtheil, kindren, koning
  • ἡ δʼ ἄρʼ ἐπʼ ὀφρύσι νεῦσε· νόησε δὲ δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
    Greek line · Od. 16.164
    Zonder geblaf, zacht gromden en vluchtten naar ’t eind van het hofpark.
    Translation passage · Od. 16.164 · nearby words: eind, geblaf, gromden, hofpark

τόξον

toxon recurring nearby word 8%
  • κλαῖε δὲ βουκόλος ἄλλοθʼ, ἐπεὶ ἴδε τόξον ἄνακτος.
    Greek line · Od. 21.83
    Weenende nam ze Eumaios en legde ze neder, en tranen
    Translation passage · Od. 21.83 · nearby words: eumaios, legde, nam, neder
  • ὣς ἄρʼ ἐφώνησεν καὶ ἀπὸ ἕο τόξον ἔθηκε,
    Greek line · Od. 21.163
    Huwe den man, die het meest voor haar geeft en door ’t lot haar beschikt werd.
    Translation passage · Od. 21.163 · nearby words: beschikt, geeft, huwe, lot
  • γυμνὸν τόξον ἔχων καὶ ἐπὶ νευρῆφιν ὀιστόν,
    Greek line · Od. 11.607
    Hield hij zijn boog ontbloot en den pijl op de pees in gereedheid,
    Translation passage · Od. 11.607 · nearby words: gereedheid, hield, ontbloot, pees

φίλος

philos recurring nearby word 11%
  • οὔ θην δὴ τοῦδʼ ἀνδρὸς Ὀδυσσῆος φίλος υἱὸς
    Greek line · Od. 3.352
    Maar dat de dierbare zoon diens edelen mans, van Odusseus,
    Translation passage · Od. 3.352 · nearby words: diens, dierbare, edelen, mans
  • οὔ πω πᾶν εἴρητο ἔπος, ὅτε οἱ φίλος υἱὸς
    Greek line · Od. 16.11
    Loopen hem blij te gemoet, en ik hoor het gedreun van een voetstap.
    Translation passage · Od. 16.11 · nearby words: blij, gedreun, gemoet, hoor
  • αἰδοῖός τε φίλος τε; πάρος γε μὲν οὔ τι θαμίζεις.
    Greek line · Od. 5.88
    - Waartoe komt gij, o Hermes, gij, voerend den goudenen kroonstaf,
    Translation passage · Od. 5.88 · nearby words: goudenen, hermes, komt, kroonstaf

πεπνυμένος

pepnymenos recurring nearby word 23%
  • τοῖσι δὲ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἦρχʼ ἀγορεύειν·
    Greek line · Od. 22.461
    Schrandre Telemachos echter begon tot zijn helpers, hun zeggend:
    Translation passage · Od. 22.461 · nearby words: begon, helpers, schrandre, zeggend
  • ὁ ξεῖνος μάλα μοι δοκέει πεπνυμένος εἶναι.
    Greek line · Od. 8.388
    Ziet, deez’ vreemdling schijnt mij bizonder verstandig te wezen.
    Translation passage · Od. 8.388 · nearby words: bizonder, deez, schijnt, verstandig
  • τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
    Greek line · Od. 15.154
    Tijdens den krijg, dien wij voerden, wij, zonen Achaia’s, in Troja.
    Translation passage · Od. 15.154 · nearby words: achaia, krijg, tijdens, troja

συβώτης

sybōtēs recurring nearby word 12%
  • ἔνθα οἱ ἦσαν ὕες μάλα μυρίαι, ᾗσι συβώτης
    Greek line · Od. 15.556
    Waar zich zijn kudden bevonden, de duizenden zwijnen, die zorgvol
    Translation passage · Od. 15.556 · nearby words: bevonden, duizenden, kudden, zorgvol
  • αἶψα δέ μιν διέχευαν· ὁ δʼ ὠμοθετεῖτο συβώτης,
    Greek line · Od. 14.427
    Sneden het wijders in stukken. De herder, bij ’t offeren voorgaand, L
    Translation passage · Od. 14.427 · nearby words: l, offeren, sneden, stukken
  • τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε συβώτης, ὄρχαμος ἀνδρῶν·
    Greek line · Od. 16.36
    Leeg van bekleeding en dek daar staat, en bevuild door het spinrag.
    Translation passage · Od. 16.36 · nearby words: bekleeding, bevuild, dek, leeg

Against its siblings

Vosmaer’s Dutch hexameter Odyssey, completed near the end of his life, joined his Iliad as a paired Homer that remained prominent for decades. The corpus contains 128485 words and 11715 distinct word forms. Its score-ranked formula list begins with “alzoo sprak hij,” recorded 126 times; this first position does not mean it has the highest raw count. For scale within other hexameter verse translations, Voß contains 109003 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.