SKALD Voß · 1781 All analyses Translation Atlas Reader’s guide

German · Verse · German dactylic hexameter

Johann Heinrich Voß

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: 1781 · Statistics corpus year: 1781 · All 24 books

109,003words
11,565distinct word forms
0.1061vocabulary variety (distinct ÷ total)
20.96average sentence length
Voß compared with other hexameter verse translations Copper bars show this translation; pale bars show the peer median for four surface-form metrics. Voß Peer median Words 109,003 median 122,464.5 Distinct word forms 11,565 median 11,373 Vocabulary variety 0.1061 median 0.0908 Average sentence length 20.96 median 27.78

Comparison basis: other hexameter verse translations (6 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. “also sprach er” 175 occurrences · Od. 1.125 and 1.365
  2. “also sprach er und” 104 occurrences · Od. 1.125 and 2.309
  3. “sprach er und” 104 occurrences · Od. 1.125 and 2.309
  4. “und sprach die geflügelten worte” 59 occurrences · Od. 1.80 and 2.267
  5. “der verständige jüngling telemachos sagte dagegen” 43 occurrences · Od. 1.178 and 1.230
  6. “und der verständige jüngling telemachos sagte” 43 occurrences · Od. 1.178 and 1.230
  7. “ihm antwortete drauf” 82 occurrences · Od. 3.102 and 3.184
  8. “sprach die geflügelten worte” 59 occurrences · Od. 1.80 and 2.267
  9. “und sprach die geflügelten” 59 occurrences · Od. 1.80 and 2.267
  10. “antwortete drauf der” 76 occurrences · Od. 1.44 and 3.102

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%
  • γήθησέν τʼ ἄρʼ ἔπειτα πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς.
    Greek line · Od. 21.414
    Freudig vernahm das Wunder der herrliche Dulder Odysseus,
    Translation passage · Od. 21.414 · nearby words: dulder, freudig, herrliche, vernahm
  • ὣς φάτο, γήθησεν δὲ πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
    Greek line · Od. 13.250
    Und das, sagen sie, liegt sehr fern vom achaiischen Lande!
    Translation passage · Od. 13.250 · nearby words: achaiischen, fern, lande, liegt
  • οἴσων τεύχεα καλά. νόησε δὲ δῖος ὑφορβός,
    Greek line · Od. 22.162
    Schöne Waffen zu holen. Ihn merkte der treffliche Sauhirt,
    Translation passage · Od. 22.162 · nearby words: holen, merkte, sauhirt, schöne

τόξον

toxon recurring nearby word 13%
  • τόξον· ἐλεγχείη δὲ καὶ ἐσσομένοισι πυθέσθαι.
    Greek line · Od. 21.255
    Spannen kann! Hohnlachend wird selbst der Enkel es hören!
    Translation passage · Od. 21.255 · nearby words: enkel, hohnlachend, hören, kann
  • κλαῖε μάλα λιγέως, ἐκ δʼ ᾕρεε τόξον ἄνακτος.
    Greek line · Od. 21.56
    Hub laut an zu weinen, und zog ihn hervor aus der Scheide.
    Translation passage · Od. 21.56 · nearby words: hervor, hub, laut, scheide
  • γυμνὸν τόξον ἔχων καὶ ἐπὶ νευρῆφιν ὀιστόν,
    Greek line · Od. 11.607
    Hielt den entblößten Bogen gespannt, und den Pfeil auf der Senne,
    Translation passage · Od. 11.607 · nearby words: entblößten, gespannt, hielt, pfeil

φίλος

philos recurring nearby word 20%
  • ὦ φίλος, οὔ σε ἔολπα κακὸν καὶ ἄναλκιν ἔσεσθαι,
    Greek line · Od. 3.375
    Lieber, ich hoffe, du wirst nicht feige werden noch kraftlos;
    Translation passage · Od. 3.375 · nearby words: feige, hoffe, kraftlos, lieber
  • αἰδοῖός τε φίλος τε; πάρος γε μὲν οὔ τι θαμίζεις.
    Greek line · Od. 5.88
    Hermes, Geehrter, Geliebter? Denn sonst besuchst du mich niemals.
    Translation passage · Od. 5.88 · nearby words: besuchst, geehrter, geliebter, hermes
  • ἐνθάδε ναιετάων φίλος εἴη καὶ φίλα ἔρδοι.
    Greek line · Od. 15.360
    Welcher in diesem Lande mir Liebes und Gutes getan hat.
    Translation passage · Od. 15.360 · nearby words: diesem, getan, gutes, lande

ἀμύμονος

amymonos recurring nearby word 15%
  • ἱστίη τʼ Ὀδυσῆος ἀμύμονος, ἣν ἀφικάνω·
    Greek line · Od. 14.159
    Und Odysseus’ heiliger Herd, zu welchem ich fliehe:
    Translation passage · Od. 14.159 · nearby words: fliehe, heiliger, herd, welchem
  • ἦ τοι μὲν Πηλῆος ἀμύμονος οὔ τι πέπυσμαι,
    Greek line · Od. 11.505
    Keine Kunde hab’ ich vom großen Peleus vernommen.
    Translation passage · Od. 11.505 · nearby words: hab, keine, kunde, peleus
  • ἦ πολὺ χείρονες ἄνδρες ἀμύμονος ἀνδρὸς ἄκοιτιν
    Greek line · Od. 21.325
    Weichliche Männer werben um jenes gewaltigen Mannes
    Translation passage · Od. 21.325 · nearby words: gewaltigen, jenes, mannes, weichliche

κυδαλίμοιο

kydalimoio recurring nearby word 27%
  • πρὸς δʼ ἄρα δώματʼ ἔλων Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο.
    Greek line · Od. 4.2
    Lenkten darauf zur Burg Menelaos’ des Ehregekrönten.
    Translation passage · Od. 4.2 · nearby words: burg, darauf, ehregekrönten, lenkten
  • οἰνοχόει δʼ υἱὸς Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο.
    Greek line · Od. 15.141
    Und sie erhoben die Hände zum leckerbereiteten Mahle.
    Translation passage · Od. 15.141 · nearby words: erhoben, hände, leckerbereiteten, mahle
  • ἡ δʼ ἄχεϊ οὗ παιδὸς ἀπέφθιτο κυδαλίμοιο,
    Greek line · Od. 15.358
    Diese starb vor Gram um ihren berühmten Odysseus,
    Translation passage · Od. 15.358 · nearby words: berühmten, gram, ihren, starb

Statistical comparison

Against its siblings

Voß stands in the atlas as the German hexameter benchmark, repeatedly revised and influential enough that later German Homers had to engage with its metrical choice. The corpus contains 109003 words and 11565 distinct word forms. Its score-ranked formula list begins with “also sprach er,” recorded 175 times; this first position does not mean it has the highest raw count. For scale within other hexameter verse translations, Cotterill contains 145162 words. The comparison therefore joins publication history to observable corpus structure, keeping the historical portrait vivid while letting the measurements describe only textual scale, lexical distribution, and repeated phrasing. 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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