When, as an aspiring writer, you set out for Ithaka you take that first step. By taking the first step you set yourself apart from the mass. It is the experience, the journey, which will change you.
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon-don't be afraid of them:
you'll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon-you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you're seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind-
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you're destined for.
But don't hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you're old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you've gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you'll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
C.P. Cavafy – translated by Edmund Keeley & Philip Sherrard
Ithaka itself is simply an excuse for a long journey. It is all about the journey. There is no hurry and you cannot get lost for there is no destination. Rather you arrive where you are meant to be. The journey itself is immensely important.
I am Odysseus, Laertes' son, world-famed
For stratagems: my name has reached the heavens.
Bright Ithaca is my home: it has a mountain,
Leaf-quivering Neriton, far visible.
Around are many islands, close to each other,
Doulichion and Same and wooded Zacynthos.
Ithaca itself lies low, furthest to sea
Towards dusk; the rest, apart, face dawn and sun.
Odyssey 9.19-26, translated by James Diggle
Odysseus Unbound
Homer's Ithaca Possibly Found
Het gedicht is ook vertaald in het Nederlands, in verschillende versies:
Als je vertrekt op je tocht naar Ithaka
smeek dat je weg lang mag zijn,
vol avonturen en kennis. (lees meer)
Als je op je tocht naar Ithaka vertrekt,
Smeek dat je weg heel lang mag zijn,
vol avonturen, vol ervaring. (lees meer)
Als je de tocht aanvaardt naar Ithaka,
wens dat de weg dan lang mag zijn,
vol wederwaardigheden, vol belevenissen. (lees meer)
Morgaine LeFaye 