Letter 158

To Chryso-. Odysseus, after receiving from Aeolus the stored-up winds, was approaching rocky Ithaca and could already hear the sounds of home — when his companions, thinking the bag held treasure, untied it and unleashed a storm that blew them back across the sea. Something similar has happened to me. I was on the very point of coming to visit you when circumstances conspired to blow me off course. The visit that seemed so close has become impossible. Forgive me — I will try again when the winds are more favorable.

Letter 158: An Impossible Visit [1] To Chryso-... note [Otherwise unknown.] The son of Laertes, Odysseus of many wiles, after receiving from Aeolus the treasure-stores of winds, was approaching rocky Ithaca, and was already listening to the songs of birds, but through the contrivances of his comrades he was driven far away from his native place. [2] We, alas, hearing the song of birds and the barking of dogs, and being so near our friends themselves that we almost hear their talk, return home, deprived of those longed for, who long for us, and we acquiesce in a fortune that so tramples on us insatiably. [3] We are slaves to time, and we yield to circumstances whereby the intellect is overcome, and the soul made to suffer exceedingly under the pressure of necessity. And you yourself, sweetest of friends, who know well our love, since you love us, continue then to pray for us. Farewell.