Selected Works Used Books & Sheet Music

Selected Works Used Books & Sheet Music Selected Works Used Books & Sheet Music is located in the historic Fine Arts Building, which has been an arts colony for more than a century.

Taking the antique, human operated elevator to the second floor will find our collection of used books.

10/31/2024

It’s Tuesday, and time for more Homer - the translation of Book IV of the Odyssey continues. To recap - Telemachos is in Sparta to learn what he can of the fate of Odysseus, and Menelaos, finishing the story of his return from Troy, has just told Telemachos that his father is alive but stranded on Kalypso’s island.

But come now stay on in my palace,
so that the eleventh and the twelfth day might come;
and then I will send you forth with honor, and give you splendid gifts,
three horses and a chariot with a well-polished haft; but then
I will give a beautiful cup, so that you might pour libations to the gods
everlasting, remembering me all of your days.’
And astute Telemachos spoke in reply to him:
‘Oh son of Atreus, do not keep me here for a long time.
For even for a year would I stay seated beside you,
and neither would longing for my home nor my parents take hold of me;
for I strongly delight in listening to your words and your stories.
But truly my companions are in distress concerning me
in most sacred Pylos; and you keep me here a long time.
The gift you may give me, let it be an heirloom;
but the horses I will not lead into Ithaca, but will leave them to be
a delight for you yourself; for you rule over wide fields,
in which grows much clover, and savory sedges
and wheat and spelt and broad-eared barley.
But in Ithaca, there is neither wide suitable ground for horses nor meadows;
browsed by goats is it, rather than charming horse country.
For not any of the islands that lean into the sea are
suitable for horses nor well meadowed; And Ithaca most of all.

10/29/2024

It’s Tuesday, and time for more Homer - the translation of Book IV of the Odyssey continues. To recap - Telemachos is in Sparta to learn what he can of the fate of Odysseus, and Menelaos here continues his story of his own struggle to return home.

And so I went to the ship together with the god-like companions,
and going my heart was troubled by many things.
But when we came down to the ship and the sea,
we made ready the evening meal, and divine night had come on;
then we were lulled to sleep at the breaker-line of the sea.
And when the early morning, rose-fretted dawn sky came,
first of all we dragged the ship into the god-like sea.
and we set the mast in place and the sails on the symmetrical ship;
and then going on board ourselves they sat on the rower benches;
and one after another seated there they struck the grey sea with the oars.
And back we went to Aiguptos, Zeus-fed river,
moored the ships, and performed sacred hecatombs,
but when I put an end to the anger of the gods that are forever,
I heaped up a memorial to Agamemnon, so that his fame might be inextinguishable.
Having completed these things I left, and the gods gave me a fair wind,
swiftly conducting me to the dear land of my fathers.

10/24/2024

It’s Thursday, and time for more Homer - the translation of Book IV of the Odyssey continues. To recap - Telemachos is in Sparta to learn what he can of the fate of Odysseus, and Menelaos here continues his story of his own struggle to return home, and what the Old Man of the Sea told him.

Thus he spoke, and my heart and the manly soul
in my chest again were warmed with gladness, even though grieving;
and speaking winged words to him I said:
These men indeed I know; tell me the name of the third one,
who is detained still living on the broad sea
or perhaps has died; even though grieving I wish to hear.
So I spoke, and straight away replying he said;
the son of Laertes, who dwells in a house in Ithaka;
him I saw on an island shedding fat tears
in the palace of the Nymph Kalypso, she by force
detains him; and he is powerless to go to his homeland;
for he has neither ships furnished with oars nor companions,
who might convey him upon the broad back of the sea.
But you, oh Zeus cherished Menelaos, it is not ordained that
you die in horse pasturing Argos and meet your fate there,
but to the Elysian fields and the ends of the earth
will the gods send you, where dwells fair-haired Rhodamanthus,
where the course of life is easiest for men,
no snow, no winter storms nor ever rainstorms,
but always does Oceanos send the clear whistling wind of Zephuros
cooling and reviving men with fresh air,
because you have Helen and to them you are the son-in-law of Zeus.
Thus he spoke and dived under the swells of the sea.

10/22/2024

It’s Tuesday, and time for more Homer - the translation of Book IV of the Odyssey continues. To recap - Telemachos is in Sparta to learn what he can of the fate of Odysseus, and Menelaos here continues his story of his own struggle to return home, and what the Old Man of the Sea told him.

And right away Aigisthos considered a deceitful plan;
picking out among the people twenty of the best men
he posted them in ambush, and on the other side he ordered a banquet be prepared.
So he went to summon Agamemon, shepherd of the people,
with horses and chariots, considering anxiously a disgraceful plan.
And he not knowing was led to destruction, and he killed him
feasting, as one kills an ox at the feeding trough.
Nor was any of the companions of the son of Atreus left, they who followed him,
nor any of those of Aigisthos, but were killed in the palace.
So he spoke, and the dear heart within me broke,
and I wept sitting on the sand, nor did my heart
still wish to live nor see the light of the sun.
But when weeping and writhing were sated in me,
then the unerring old man of the sea said to me:
no more at length, son of Atreus, weep this way
unceasingly, since then we don’t accomplish anything; but straight away
make the attempt so that you might go to your homeland.
For you might find him alive, or perhaps Orestes
getting there sooner killed him; and you might meet him by chance at a funeral.

10/19/2024

It’s Saturday, and time for more Homer - the translation of Book IV of the Odyssey continues. To recap - Telemachos is in Sparta to learn what he can of the fate of Odysseus, and Menelaos here continues his story of his own struggle to return home, and the attempt to trap the Old Man of the Sea and learn his secrets.

Aias indeed was destroyed along with his long-oared ships.
Poseidon first drove him upon the great
Gyraean rock, and yet preserved him from fatality at sea;
And he would have gotten clear from the threat of doom, even though Athena hated him;
had he not thrown out boastful words and been greatly blinded by infatuation;
for he said it was in spite of the gods that he escaped the great gulf of the sea.
But Poseidon heard him speaking boastfully;
then straight away taking the trident into his powerful hands
he hurled it at the Gyraean rock, and split it apart;
and one part of it remained, and the part that broke off fell in the sea,
indeed on that part Aias was sitting on when at first he was so blinded by delusion;
and it bore him under the boundless sea with its rising waves.
And so then he was destroyed, when he drank the salt water.
But your brother somehow escaped and evaded doom
in the hollow ships; for lady Hera saved him.
But when presently he was about to come to the steep mountain of
Maleia, then a furious storm snatching him up
on the fish-teeming sea bore him groaning greatly,
to the border of the land, where Thyestes had his home
in the past, but at that time the son of Thyestes Aigisthos lived.
But then he was showed a safe path home from there,
and the gods wheeled the wind around and rejoicing, they reached home,
and he kissed the fatherland, touching it; and many hot tears fell from him,
when he saw the welcome sight of his home land.
But a spy saw him from a lookout position, he indeed seated
where crafty-minded Aigisthos led him, and promised him a reward
of two talents of gold; and he kept watch for a year
lest going past he escaped notice, as he was mindful of his furious strength.
And he went bearing a message to the house of the shepherd of the people.

10/15/2024

It’s Tuesday, and time for more Homer - the translation of Book IV of the Odyssey continues. To recap - Telemachos is in Sparta to learn what he can of the fate of Odysseus, and Menelaos here continues his story of his own struggle to return home, and the attempt to trap the Old Man of the Sea and learn his secrets.

So I spoke, and straight away replying to me he said:
‘What you should have done before boarding the ships was
perform sacred sacrifices to Zeus and the other gods, so that
you might come to your fatherland sailing on the wine-dark sea.
For it is not your fate to see your friends and reach your
well-built house and your native land
until you have travelled again to the waters of Aiguptos, Zeus-fed river,
and perform rites and offer a sacred hecatomb to the
deathless gods, they who hold wide heaven.
And then the gods will grant you your path home, which you desire eagerly.’
So he spoke, but the heart within me was broken,
for he commanded me to go again upon the cloud-streaked sea
to Aiguptos, a long and troublesome journey.
But even so I said to him replying:
‘All these things will be carried out in this manner, old man, as you urge me.
But come, tell me and recount at length the truth,
if all the Achaians came unharmed together with their ships,
those who Nestor and I left behind going from Troy,
or did any die a bitter death on their ship,
or in the arms of friends, when the war wound to a close.’
So I spoke, and straight away replying to me he said:
‘Oh son of Atreus, why do you ask me these things? Neither is it your fate
to know, nor to learn my mind; nor do I think you will be
free from weeping, when you come to know everything fully.
For many of them were slain, and many were left;
but alone two leaders of the bronze-clad Achaians
perished on their journey home; and as for during the war you were present for that.
And one still alive is held back somewhere on the wide sea.

10/12/2024

It’s Saturday, and time for more Homer - the translation of Book IV of the Odyssey continues. To recap - Telemachos is in Sparta to learn what he can of the fate of Odysseus, and Menelaos here continues his story of his own struggle to return home, and the attempt to trap the Old Man of the Sea and learn his secrets.

But she saved us and thought of a great stratagem to aid us;
bringing ambrosia she placed under all our noses
the very sweet smell, and it destroyed the stench of the sea creature.
And all morning long we waited with fortitude in our heart;
and the seals came from the sea together in throngs. They then
one after the other lay down beside the surf of the ocean.
And at mid-day the old man came from the sea, and found his fat seals,
and he went to them and told out their number
and he counted us first amidst the sea creatures, nor did his heart
suspect the existence of a trap; and then he himself lay down to sleep.
And we with a shout set upon him, and threw our arms
around him; nor did the old man forget his deceitful cunning,
but indeed first he became a thick maned lion,
but then a serpent and a leopard and then a great wild boar;
and then he became flowing water and then a lofty branching tree.
But we held him unmoved with fortitude in our heart.
But when the old man skilled in cunning tricks grew weary,
then asking questions he addressed me with words;
who of the gods, oh son of Atreus, took counsel with you
so that lying in wait you might seize hold of me unwillingly? Of what do you have need?
So he spoke, and replying to him I said:
‘You know, old man, so why do you, turning evasively away from the point, say this?
Truly for such a long time I am detained in this island, nor can I find any end to it,
and the spirit in my heart grows ever smaller.
But you tell me, as the gods know all things,
who of the immortals binds as with fetters and hinders me from my path,
and homeward journey, how I will set out upon the fish-teeming sea.’

10/10/2024

It’s Thursday, and time for more Homer - the translation of Book IV of the Odyssey continues. To recap - Telemachos is in Sparta to learn what he can of the fate of Odysseus, and Menelaos here continues his story of his own struggle to return home, and the attempt to trap the Old Man of the Sea and learn his secrets.

First he will number the seals and account for them;
but when he has counted them all on five fingers and looked to them,
he will lie down to sleep in the midst of them, as a shepherd among his sheep.
Now when you first see him composing himself to sleep,
then take care to have strength and power in yourselves,
and there hold him struggling quick and keen to escape.
He will try to appear to become all things, whatsoever walks
on four feet on the earth or lives in water or even divine consuming fire;
but you hold him unmoved, and grip him more firmly.
But when he himself speaks and asks you questions,
looking the same way he did when he was going to sleep,
then set free your mighty hold on the old man,
hero, and ask which one of the gods oppresses you,
and about your homeward journey, how you will go over the fish teeming sea.
Thus speaking, she dived beneath the rising waves of the sea.
So I went to the ship, where it was beached on the sand,
and much was my heart troubled going back.
But when I came down to the ship and the sea,
we prepared the evening meal, and sweet-scented divine night descended;
And when the early morning, rose-fretted dawn sky came,
then I went along the shore of the sea with it’s broad ways
imploring many gods; and I led three companions
in whom I placed most trust for any straight-on adventure.
In the mean time, she had plunged beneath the bosom of the sea,
and bore four skins of seals from the deep;
and all were newly flayed; and so she contrived a trap for her father.
She having scooped out beds in the sand of the sea
sat waiting; and we ourselves came very close to her;
and one after the other she had us crouch in them, and threw upon each of us a seal skin.
There a most difficult ambush was put in place, for the smell
of the sea-bred seals was most dreadful.
For who would lie down to go to sleep beside a monster of the sea?

10/08/2024

It’s Tuesday, and time for more Homer - the translation of Book IV of the Odyssey continues. To recap - Telemachos is in Sparta to learn what he can of the fate of Odysseus, and Menelaos here continues his story of his own struggle to return home.

Thus I said, and directly the resplendent goddess replied:
So then I will tell you, stranger, very truthfully.
Without fail someone comes here regularly, the old man of the sea,
deathless Egyptian Proteus, he who knows
the depth of every sea, the servant of Poseidon;
who they say is my father and who bore me.
If ever you are able, having lain in wait, to seize hold of him,
he could tell you your way and the measure of your path
and homeward journey, how you will set out upon the fish-teeming sea.
And might tell you, Zeus nurtured, if you wish it,
what has been wrought in your halls, either evil or good,
while you have been gone on a long and grievous path.’
So she spoke, then I replied to her, saying:
‘Now show me how, you yourself, your way to trap the divine old man,
lest somehow he catch sight of me beforehand and know to avoid me;
for it is a hard thing for a mortal man to overpower a god.
Thus I spoke, and straightaway the resplendent goddess replied:
‘Therefore I will tell you, stranger, the complete truth.
When the sun has travelled to the middle of the sky,
at this time the old man of the sea without fail emerges from the water
under the ruffling waves of the west wind, hidden by the dark ripples,
coming out, he lulls himself to sleep in the hollow caves;
and around him seals, beautiful sea-born daughters of Amphitrite
lie down to sleep crowded together, having emerged from the grey water,
breathing forth the bitter smell of the many deeps of the sea.
Having led you to this place at the time the sun makes his appearance,
I will lay you all down one after the other; and you choose well three companions,
they the best you have from the well-benched ship.
And I will tell you all the cunning wiles of that old man.

10/05/2024

It’s Saturday, and time for more Homer. The translation of Book IV of the Odyssey continues - to recap, Telemachos is in Sparta visiting Menelaos and Helen to learn of Odysseus’ fate, and Menelaos continues his story:

It was then in Egypt being eager to return home the gods held me back,
since I didn’t perform sacrifices of perfect hecatombs to them.
And the gods always wished men to be mindful of their laws.
Now, there is an island in the boisterous surging sea
in front of the Nile, and they call it Pharos, at
so great a distance as a hollow ship all day long
would make, if a clear whistling breeze might blow on it from behind;
in a harbor with good mooring, from where they launch balanced ships
into the sea, having drawn a supply of fresh water.
There the gods held me for twenty days, nor did a fair wind
make an appearance to blow seaward, such as come round to speed
the pilots of ships on the broad back of the sea.
And now at this time all the ship’s stores would have been ruined and the strength of the men,
if not one of the gods had not lamented my state and saved me,
the valiant daughter of Proteus, old man of the sea,
Eidothea; for I touched her heart most of all,
who encountered me straying alone in desperation apart from my companions;
they who constantly wandered around the island trying to fish
with the bent hooks, as hunger pinched their stomachs hard.
And standing near me she spoke words and said:
‘Are you a fool, oh stranger, and so weak minded,
that either of free will you have given up, or do you delight to feel suffering?
Thus for a long time you have been held back on the island, nor are you
able to find a solution, and the endurance of your companions grows smaller.’
So she spoke, but I replied to her and said:
‘I will indeed tell you, whoever you are among the goddesses,
that I am not at all willingly detained here, but it is likely
I have sinned against the deathless ones, they who hold broad heaven.
But you tell me, as the gods know all things,
who of the immortals binds as with fetters and hinders me from my path,
and homeward journey, how I will set out upon the fish-teeming sea.’

10/03/2024

It’s Thursday and time for more Homer. The translation of Book IV of the Odyssey continues - to recap, Telemachos is in Sparta visiting Menelaos and Helen, to learn what he can of Odysseus’ fate. Telemachos has just recounted his troubles with the suitors and asked for advice.

And blonde haired Menelaos, greatly moved to anger, replied to him:
Alas, these men wished to lay in the bed of a very
stout-hearted man, when they themselves are cowardly.
As when a deer lulls to sleep in the lair of a powerful lion
her tender fawns, new born, still suckling
while she roams the mountain valleys and grassy ravines
grazing, and he then enters into his thicket bed,
and to both of them he lets loose a terrible fate,
so will Odysseus let loose a terrible fate on these men.
If only, by Father Zeus and Athena and Apollo,
he were in such strength as once in well situated Le**os
standing up, he wrestled in competitive strife with Philomeleides
and threw him down powerfully, and all the Achaians rejoiced,
if only that Odysseus would meet the suitors in battle;
all of them would have been born to an early death and a blood-drenched marriage banquet.
These things you ask me and request, indeed I will neither
turn aside to speak of other things, nor cheat;
but indeed the things the old man of the sea told me in unerring truth,
not one thing will I either hide nor conceal a word.

10/01/2024

It’s Tuesday and time for more Homer. The translation of book IV of the Odyssey continues - to recap, Telemachos is in Sparta visiting Menelaos to learn what he can of Odysseus’ fate. Menelaos and Helen have been recounting stories of Odysseus’ bravery and intelligence.

When the early morning, rose-fretted dawn sky came,
up from his bed rose Menelaos, of the great war shout,
clothing himself in raiment, and over his shoulders he fitted his sharp sword,
and upon his anointed feet he tied beautiful sandals,
and he went from his chamber resembling, if a comparison was made, like a god,
and sat beside Telemachos and spoke to him and called him by name:
‘What need has led you here, oh noble Telemachos,
into god-like Lacedaemon, upon the wide back of the sea:
was it a public matter or personal? Tell me the unerring truth.’
And then astute Telemachos spoke in reply:
‘Oh son of Atreus Menelaos, nurtured by Zeus, file leader of the people,
I came, if perhaps you might tell me some tidings of my father.
My home is being devoured, and my rich estates have been destroyed,
and my house is full of ill-intentioned men, and they constantly
are slaughtering my thick-thronging sheep and shambling curved-horned oxen,
the wooers of my mother, having an overwhelming disregard for decency.
For that reason now I come as a suppliant to your knees, if you would be willing
to tell me of his miserable death, if somewhere you saw this
with your own eyes, or if from another you heard an account
of his wanderings; for beyond all others his mother bore him to misery.
And don’t soften anything sparing my feelings nor take pity on me,
but tell me at length how you saw him face to face.
I entreat you, if ever my father noble Odysseus having made a promise to you fulfilled his word
in the land of the Trojans, where you Achaians suffered calamities;
recollect for me now these things, and speak the clear truth to me.’

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