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+Project Gutenberg Etext The Odyssey, by Homer, Butcher & Lang Tr
+#3 in our series by Homer
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+THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER
+
+DONE INTO ENGLISH PROSE
+
+by S. H. BUTCHER, M.A.
+
+AND
+
+A. LANG, M.A.
+
+April, 1999  [Etext #1728]
+[Date last updated: June 5, 2004]
+
+
+Project Gutenberg Etext The Odyssey, by Homer, Butcher & Lang Tr
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+Produced by Jim Tinsley <jtinsley@pobox.com>
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+
+
+THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER
+
+DONE INTO ENGLISH PROSE
+
+by S. H. BUTCHER, M.A.
+
+AND
+
+A. LANG, M.A.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+There would have been less controversy about the proper
+method of Homeric translation, if critics had recognised
+that the question is a purely relative one, that of Homer
+there can be no final translation. The taste and the
+literary habits of each age demand different qualities in
+poetry, and therefore a different sort of rendering of
+Homer. To the men of the time of Elizabeth, Homer would
+have appeared bald, it seems, and lacking in ingenuity, if
+he had been presented in his antique simplicity. For the
+Elizabethan age, Chapman supplied what was then necessary,
+and the mannerisms that were then deemed of the essence of
+poetry, namely, daring and luxurious conceits. Thus in
+Chapman's verse Troy must 'shed her towers for tears of
+overthrow,' and when the winds toss Odysseus about, their
+sport must be called 'the horrid tennis.'
+
+In the age of Anne, 'dignity' and 'correctness' had to be
+given to Homer, and Pope gave them by aid of his dazzling
+rhetoric, his antitheses, his _netteté_, his command of every
+conventional and favourite artifice. Without Chapman's
+conceits, Homer's poems would hardly have been what the
+Elizabethans took for poetry; without Pope's smoothness,
+and Pope's points, the Iliad and Odyssey would have seemed
+rude, and harsh in the age of Anne. These great
+translations must always live as English poems. As
+transcripts of Homer they are like pictures drawn from a
+lost point of view. Chaque siecle depuis le xvi a ue de ce
+cote son belveder different. Again, when Europe woke to a
+sense, an almost exaggerated and certainly uncritical
+sense, of the value of her songs of the people, of all the
+ballads that Herder, Scott, Lonnrot, and the rest
+collected, it was commonly said that Homer was a
+ballad-minstrel, that the translator must imitate the
+simplicity, and even adopt the formulae of the ballad.
+Hence came the renderings of Maginn, the experiments of Mr.
+Gladstone, and others. There was some excuse for the error
+of critics who asked for a Homer in ballad rhyme. The Epic
+poet, the poet of gods and heroes, did indeed inherit some
+of the formulae of the earlier Volks-lied. Homer, like the
+author of The Song of Roland, like the singers of the
+Kalevala, uses constantly recurring epithets, and repeats,
+word for word, certain emphatic passages, messages, and so
+on. That custom is essential in the ballad, it is an
+accident not the essence of the epic. The epic is a poem of
+complete and elaborate art, but it still bears some
+birthmarks, some signs of the early popular chant, out of
+which it sprung, as the garden-rose springs from the wild
+stock, When this is recognised the demand for ballad-like
+simplicity and 'ballad-slang' ceases to exist, and then all
+Homeric translations in the ballad manner cease to
+represent our conception of Homer. After the belief in the
+ballad manner follows the recognition of the romantic vein
+in Homer, and, as a result, came Mr. Worsley's admirable
+Odyssey. This masterly translation does all that can be
+done for the Odyssey in the romantic style. The smoothness
+of the verse, the wonderful closeness to the original,
+reproduce all of Homer, in music and in meaning, that can
+be rendered in English verse. There still, however, seems
+an aspect Homeric poems, and a demand in connection with
+Homer to be recognised, and to be satisfied.
+
+Sainte-Beuve says, with reference probably to M. Leconte de
+Lisle's prose version of the epics, that some people treat
+the epics too much as if the were sagas. Now the Homeric
+epics are sagas, but then they are the sagas of the divine
+heroic age of Greece, and thus are told with an art which
+is not the art of the Northern poets. The epics are stories
+about the adventures of men living in most respects like
+the men of our own race who dwelt in Iceland, Norway,
+Denmark, and Sweden. The epics are, in a way, and as far as
+manners and institutions are concerned, historical
+documents. Whoever regards them in this way, must wish to
+read them exactly as they have reached us, without modern
+ornament, with nothing added or omitted. He must recognise,
+with Mr. Matthew Arnold, that what he now wants, namely,
+the simple truth about the matter of the poem, can only be
+given in prose, 'for in a verse translation no original
+work is any longer recognisable.' It is for this reason
+that we have attempted to tell once more, in simple prose,
+the story of Odysseus. We have tried to transfer, not all
+the truth about the poem, but the historical truth, into
+English. In this process Homer must lose at least half his
+charm, his bright and equable speed, the musical current of
+that narrative, which, like the river of Egypt, flows from
+an indiscoverable source, and mirrors the temples and the
+palaces of unforgotten gods and kings. Without this music
+of verse, only a half truth about Homer can be told, but
+then it is that half of the truth which, at this moment, it
+seems most necessary to tell. This is the half of the truth
+that the translators who use verse cannot easily tell. They
+MUST be adding to Homer, talking with Pope about 'tracing
+the mazy lev'ret o'er the lawn,' or with Mr. Worsley about
+the islands that are 'stars of the blue Aegaean,' or with
+Dr. Hawtrey about 'the earth's soft arms,' when Homer says
+nothing at all about the 'mazy lev'ret,' or the 'stars of
+the blue Aegaean,' or the 'soft arms' of earth. It would be
+impertinent indeed to blame any of these translations in
+their place. They give that which the romantic reader of
+poetry, or the student of the age of Anne, looks for in
+verse; and without tags of this sort, a translation of
+Homer in verse cannot well be made to hold together.
+
+There can be then, it appears, no final English translation
+of Homer. In each there must be, in addition to what is
+Greek and eternal, the element of what is modern, personal,
+and fleeting. Thus we trust that there may be room for 'the
+pale and far-off shadow of a prose translation,' of which
+the aim is limited and humble. A prose translation cannot
+give the movement and the fire of a successful translation
+in verse; it only gathers, as it were, the crumbs which
+fall from the richer table, only tells the story, without
+the song. Yet to a prose translation is permitted, perhaps,
+that close adherence to the archaisms of the epic, which in
+verse become mere oddities. The double epithets, the
+recurring epithets of Homer, if rendered into verse, delay
+and puzzle the reader, as the Greek does not delay or
+puzzle him. In prose he may endure them, or even care to
+study them as the survivals of a stage of taste, which is
+to be found in its prime in the sagas. These double and
+recurring epithets of Homer are a softer form of the quaint
+Northern periphrases, which make the sea the 'swan's bath,'
+gold, the 'dragon's hoard,' men, the 'ring-givers,' and so
+on. We do not know whether it is necessary to defend our
+choice of a somewhat antiquated prose. Homer has no ideas
+which cannot be expressed in words that are 'old and
+plain,' and to words that are old and plain, and, as a
+rule, to such terms as, being used by the Translators of
+the Bible, are still not unfamiliar, we have tried to
+restrict ourselves. It may be objected, that the employment
+of language which does not come spontaneously to the lips,
+is an affectation out of place in a version of the Odyssey.
+To this we may answer that the Greek Epic dialect, like the
+English of our Bible, was a thing of slow growth and
+composite nature, that it was never a spoken language, nor,
+except for certain poetical purposes, a written language.
+Thus the Biblical English seems as nearly analogous to the
+Epic Greek, as anything that our tongue has to offer.
+
+The few foot-notes in this book are chiefly intended to
+make clear some passages where there is a choice of
+reading. The notes at the end, which we would like to have
+written in the form of essays, and in company with more
+complete philological and archaeological studies, are
+chiefly meant to elucidate the life of Homer's men. We have
+received much help from many friends, and especially from
+Mr. R. W. Raper, Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford and Mr.
+Gerald Balfour, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, who
+has aided us with many suggestions while the book was
+passing through the press.
+
+In the interpretation of B. i.411, ii.191, v.90, and 471,
+we have departed from the received view, and followed Mr.
+Raper, who, however, has not been able to read through the
+proof-sheets further than Book xii.
+
+We have adopted La Roche's text (Homeri Odyssea, J. La
+Roche, Leipzig, 1867), except in a few cases where we
+mention our reading in a foot-note.
+
+The Arguments prefixed to the Books are taken, with very
+slight alterations, from Hobbes' Translation of the
+Odyssey.
+
+It is hoped that the Introduction added to the second
+edition may illustrate the growth of those national legends
+on which Homer worked, and may elucidate the plot of the
+Odyssey.
+
+
+
+PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
+
+Wet owe our thanks to the Rev. E. Warre, of Eton College,
+for certain corrections on nautical points. In particular,
+he has convinced us that the raft of Odysseus in B. v. is a
+raft strictly so called, and that it is not, under the
+poet's description, elaborated into a ship, as has been
+commonly supposed. The translation of the passage (B.
+v.246-261) is accordingly altered.
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+COMPOSITION AND PLOT OF THE ODYSSEY.
+
+The Odyssey is generally supposed to be somewhat the later
+in date of the two most ancient Greek poems which are
+concerned with the events and consequences of the Trojan
+war. As to the actual history of that war, it may be said
+that nothing is known. We may conjecture that some contest
+between peoples of more or less kindred stocks, who
+occupied the isles and the eastern and western shores of
+the Aegean, left a strong impression on the popular fancy.
+Round the memories of this contest would gather many older
+legends, myths, and stories, not peculiarly Greek or even
+'Aryan,' which previously floated unattached, or were
+connected with heroes whose fame was swallowed up by that
+of a newer generation. It would be the work of minstrels,
+priests, and poets, as the national spirit grew conscious
+of itself, to shape all these materials into a definite
+body of tradition. This is the rule of development--first
+scattered stories, then the union of these into a NATIONAL
+legend. The growth of later national legends, which we are
+able to trace, historically, has generally come about in
+this fashion. To take the best known example, we are able
+to compare the real history of Charlemagne with the old
+epic poems on his life and exploits. In these poems we find
+that facts are strangely exaggerated, and distorted; that
+purely fanciful additions are made to the true records,
+that the more striking events of earlier history are
+crowded into the legend of Charles, that mere fairy tales,
+current among African as well as European peoples, are
+transmuted into false history, and that the anonymous
+characters of fairy tales are converted into historical
+personages. We can also watch the process by which feigned
+genealogies were constructed, which connected the princely
+houses of France with the imaginary heroes of the epics.
+The conclusion is that the poetical history of Charlemagne
+has only the faintest relations to the true history. And we
+are justified in supposing that, quite as little of the
+real history of events can be extracted from the tale of
+Troy, as from the Chansons de Geste.
+
+By the time the Odyssey was composed, it is certain that a
+poet had before him a well-arranged mass of legends and
+traditions from which he might select his materials. The
+author of the Iliad has an extremely full and curiously
+consistent knowledge of the local traditions of Greece, the
+memories which were cherished by Thebans, Pylians, people
+of Mycenae, of Argos, and so on. The Iliad and the Odyssey
+assume this knowledge in the hearers of the poems, and take
+for granted some acquaintance with other legends, as with
+the story of the Argonautic Expedition. Now that story
+itself is a tissue of popular tales,--still current in many
+distant lands,--but all woven by the Greek genius into the
+history of Iason.
+
+The history of the return of Odysseus as told in the
+Odyssey, is in the same way, a tissue of old marchen.
+These must have existed for an unknown length of time
+before they gravitated into the cycle of the tale of Troy.
+
+The extraordinary artistic skill with which legends and
+myths, originally unconnected with each other, are woven
+into the plot of the Odyssey, so that the marvels of savage
+and barbaric fancy become indispensable parts of an
+artistic whole, is one of the chief proofs of the unity of
+authorship of that poem. We now go on to sketch the plot,
+which is a marvel of construction.
+
+Odysseus was the King of Ithaca, a small and rugged island
+on the western coast of Greece. When he was but lately
+married to Penelope, and while his only son Telemachus was
+still an infant, the Trojan war began. It is scarcely
+necessary to say that the object of this war, as conceived
+of by the poets, was to win back Helen, the wife of
+Menelaus, from Paris, the son of Priam, King of Troy. As
+Menelaus was the brother of Agamemnon, the Emperor, so to
+speak, or recognised chief of the petty kingdoms of
+'Greece, the whole force of these kingdoms was at his
+disposal. No prince came to the leaguer of Troy from a home
+more remote than that of Odysseus. When Troy was taken, in
+the tenth year of the war, his homeward voyage was the
+longest and most perilous.
+
+The action of the Odyssey occupies but the last six weeks
+of the ten years during which Odysseus was wandering. Two
+nights in these six weeks are taken up, however, by his own
+narrative of his adventures (to the Phaeacians, p. xx) in
+the previous ten years. With this explanatory narrative we
+must begin, before coming to the regular action of the
+poem.
+
+After the fall of Troy, Odysseus touched at Ismarus, the
+city of a Thracian people, whom he attacked and plundered,
+but by whom he was at last repulsed. The north wind then
+carried his ships to Malea, the extreme southern point of
+Greece. Had he doubled Malea safely, he would probably have
+reached Ithaca in a few days, would have found Penelope
+unvexed by wooers, and Telemachus a boy of ten years old.
+But this was not to be.
+
+The 'ruinous winds' drove Odysseus and his ships for ten
+days, and on the tenth they touched the land of the Lotus-
+Eaters, whose flowery food causes sweet forgetfulness.
+Lotus-land was possibly in Western Libya, but it is more
+probable that ten days' voyage from the southern point of
+Greece, brought Odysseus into an unexplored region of
+fairy-land. Egypt, of which Homer had some knowledge, was
+but five days' sail from Crete.
+
+Lotus-land, therefore, being ten days' sail from Malea, was
+well over the limit of the discovered world. From this
+country Odysseus went on till he reached the land of the
+lawless Cyclopes, a pastoral people of giants. Later Greece
+feigned that the Cyclopes dwelt near Mount Etna, in Sicily.
+Homer leaves their place of abode in the vague.  Among the
+Cyclopes, Odysseus had the adventure on which his whole
+fortunes hinged. He destroyed the eye of the cannibal
+giant, Polyphemus, a son of Poseidon, the God of the Sea.
+To avenge this act, Poseidon drove Odysseus wandering for
+ten long years, and only suffered him to land in Ithaca,
+'alone, in evil case, to find troubles in his house.' This
+is a very remarkable point in the plot. The story of the
+crafty adventurer and the blinding of the giant, with the
+punning device by which the hero escaped, exists in the
+shape of a detached marchen or fairy-tale among races who
+never heard of Homer. And when we find the story among
+Oghuzians, Esthonians, Basques, and Celts, it seems natural
+to suppose that these people did not break a fragment out
+of the Odyssey, but that the author of the Odyssey took
+possession of a legend out of the great traditional store
+of fiction. From the wide distribution of the tale, there
+is reason to suppose that it is older than Homer, and that
+it was not originally told of Odysseus, but was attached to
+his legend, as floating jests of unknown authorship are
+attributed to eminent wits. It has been remarked with truth
+that in this episode Odysseus acts out of character, that
+he is foolhardy as well as cunning. Yet the author of the
+Odyssey, so far from merely dove-tailing this story at
+random into his narrative, has made his whole plot turn on
+the injury to the Cyclops. Had he not foolishly exposed
+himself and his companions, by his visit to the Cyclops,
+Odysseus would never have been driven wandering for ten
+weary years. The prayers of the blinded Cyclops were heard
+and fulfilled by Poseidon.
+
+From the land of the Cyclops, Odysseus and his company
+sailed to the Isle of Aeolus, the king of the winds. This
+place too is undefined; we only learn that, even with the
+most favourable gale, it was ten days' sail from Ithaca. In
+the Isle of Aeolus Odysseus abode for a month, and then
+received from the king a bag in which all the winds were
+bound, except that which was to waft the hero to his home.
+This sort of bag was probably not unfamiliar to
+superstitious Greek sailors who had dealings with witches,
+like the modern wise women of the Lapps. The companions of
+the hero opened the bag when Ithaca was in sight, the winds
+rushed out, the ships were borne back to the Aeolian Isle,
+and thence the hero was roughly dismissed by Aeolus. Seven
+days' sail brought him to Lamos, a city of the cannibal
+Laestrygonians. Their country, too, is in No-man's-land,
+and nothing can be inferred from the fact that their
+fountain was called Artacia, and that there was an Artacia
+in Cyzicus. In Lamos a very important adventure befel
+Odysseus. The cannibals destroyed all his fleet, save one
+ship, with which he made his escape to the Isle of Circe.
+Here the enchantress turned part of the crew into swine,
+but Odysseus, by aid of the god Hermes, redeemed them, and
+became the lover of Circe. This adventure, like the story
+of the Cyclops, is a fairy tale of great antiquity. Dr.
+Gerland, in his Alt Griechische Marchen in der Odyssee, his
+shown that the story makes part of the collection of
+Somadeva, a store of Indian tales, of which 1200 A.D. is
+the approximate date. Circe appears as a Yackshini, and is
+conquered when an adventurer seizes her flute whose magic
+music turns men into beasts. The Indian Circe had the habit
+of eating the animals into which she transformed men.
+
+We must suppose that the affairs with the Cicones, the
+Lotus-eaters, the Cyclops, Aeolus, and the Laestrygonians,
+occupied most of the first year after the fall of Troy. A
+year was then spent in the Isle of Circe, after which the
+sailors were eager to make for home. Circe commanded them
+to go down to Hades, to learn the homeward way from the
+ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias. The descent into
+hell, for some similar purpose, is common in the epics of
+other races, such as the Finns, and the South-Sea
+Islanders. The narrative of Odysseus's visit to the dead
+(book xi) is one of the most moving passages in the whole
+poem.
+
+From Teiresias Odysseus learned that, if he would bring his
+companions home, he must avoid injuring the sacred cattle
+of the Sun, which pastured in the Isle of Thrinacia.  If
+these were harmed, he would arrive in Ithaca alone, or in
+the words of the Cyclops's prayer, I in evil plight, with
+loss of all his company, on board the ship of strangers, to
+find sorrow in his house.' On returning to the Isle Aeaean,
+Odysseus was warned by Circe of the dangers he would
+encounter. He and his friends set forth, escaped the Sirens
+(a sort of mermaidens), evaded the Clashing Rocks, which
+close on ships (a fable known to the Aztecs), passed Scylla
+(the pieuvre of antiquity) with loss of some of the
+company, and reached Thrinacia, the Isle of the Sun. Here
+the company of Odysseus, constrained by hunger, devoured
+the sacred kine of the Sun, for which offence they were
+punished by a shipwreck, when all were lost save Odysseus.
+He floated ten days on a raft, and then reached the isle of
+the goddess Calypso, who kept him as her lover for eight
+years.
+
+The first two years after the fall of Troy are now
+accounted for. They were occupied, as we have seen, by
+adventures with the Cicones, the Lotus-eaters, the Cyclops,
+Aeolus, the Laestrygonians, by a year's residence with
+Circe, by the descent into Hades, the encounters with the
+Sirens, and Scylla, and the fatal sojourn in the isle of
+Thrinacia. We leave Odysseus alone, for eight years,
+consuming his own heart, in the island paradise of Calypso.
+
+In Ithaca, the hero's home, things seem to have passed
+smoothly till about the sixth year after the fall of Troy.
+Then the men of the younger generation, the island chiefs,
+began to woo Penelope, and to vex her son Telemachus.
+Laertes, the father of Odysseus, was too old to help, and
+Penelope only gained time by her famous device of weaving
+and unweaving the web. The wooers began to put compulsion
+on the Queen, quartering themselves upon her, devouring her
+substance, and insulting her by their relations with her
+handmaids. Thus Penelope pined at home, amidst her wasting
+possessions. Telemachus fretted in vain, and Odysseus was
+devoured by grief and home-sickness in the isle of Calypso.
+When he had lain there for nigh eight years, the action of
+the Odyssey begins, and occupies about six weeks.
+
+  DAY 1 (Book i).
+
+The ordained time has now arrived, when by the counsels of
+the Gods, Odysseus is to be brought home to free his house,
+to avenge himself on the wooers, and recover his kingdom.
+The chief agent in his restoration is Pallas Athene; the
+first book opens with her prayer to Zeus that Odysseus may
+be delivered. For this purpose Hermes is to be sent to
+Calypso to bid her release Odysseus, while Pallas Athene in
+the shape of Mentor, a friend of Odysseus, visits
+Telemachus in Ithaca. She bids him call an assembly of the
+people, dismiss the wooers to their homes, and his mother
+to her father's house, and go in quest of his own father,
+in Pylos, the city of Nestor, and Sparta, the home of
+Menelaus. Telemachus recognises the Goddess, and the first
+day closes.
+
+  DAY 2 (Book ii).
+
+Telemachus assembles the people, but he has not the heart
+to carry out Athene's advice. He cannot send the wooers
+away, nor turn his mother out of her house. He rather
+weakly appeals to the wooers' consciences, and announces
+his intention of going to seek his father. They answer with
+scorn, but are warned of their fate, which is even at the
+doors, by Halitherses. His prophecy (first made when
+Odysseus set out for Troy) tallies with the prophecy of
+Teiresias, and the prayer of the Cyclops. The reader will
+observe a series of portents, prophecies, and omens, which
+grow more numerous and admonishing as their doom draws
+nearer to the wooers. Their hearts, however, are hardened,
+and they mock at Telemachus, who, after an interview with
+Athene, borrows a ship and secretly sets out for Pylos.
+Athene accompanies him, and his friends man his galley.
+
+  DAY 3 (Book iii).
+
+They reach Pylos, and are kindly received by the aged
+Nestor, who has no news about Odysseus. After sacrifice,
+Athene disappears.
+
+  DAY 4 (Book iii).
+
+The fourth day is occupied with sacrifice, and the talk of
+Nestor. In the evening Telemachus (leaving his ship and
+friends at Pylos) drives his chariot into Pherae, half way
+to Sparta; Peisistratus, the soil of Nestor, accompanies
+him.
+
+  DAY 5 (Book iv).
+
+Telemachus and Peisistratus arrive at Sparta, where
+Menelaus and Helen receive them kindly.
+
+  DAY 6 (Book iv).
+
+Menelaus tells how he himself came home in the eighth year
+after the fall of Troy. He had heard from Proteus, the Old
+Man of the Sea, that Odysseus was alive, and a captive on
+an island of the deep. Menelaus invites Telemachus to Stay
+with him for eleven days or twelve, which Telemachus
+declines to do. It will later appear that he made an even
+longer stay at Sparta, though whether he changed his mind,
+or whether we have here an inadvertence of the poet's it is
+hard to determine. This blemish has been used as an
+argument against the unity of authorship, but writers of
+all ages have made graver mistakes.
+
+On this same day (the sixth) the wooers in Ithaca learned
+that Telemachus had really set out to I cruise after his
+father.' They sent some of their number to lie in ambush
+for him, in a certain strait which he was likely to pass on
+his return to Ithaca. Penelope also heard of her son's
+departure, but was consoled by a dream.
+
+  DAY 7 (Book v).
+
+The seventh day finds us again in Olympus. Athene again
+urges the release of Odysseus; and Hermes is sent to bid
+Calypso let the hero go. Zeus prophecies that after twenty
+days sailing, Odysseus will reach Scheria, and the
+hospitable Phaeacians, a people akin to the Gods, who will
+convey him to Ithaca. Hermes accomplishes the message to
+Calypso.
+
+  DAYS 8-12-32 (Book v).
+
+These days are occupied by Odysseus in making and launching
+a raft; on the twelfth day from the beginning of the action
+he leaves Calypso's isle. He sails for eighteen days, and
+on the eighteenth day of his voyage (the twenty-ninth from
+the beginning of the action), he sees Scheria. Poseidon
+raises a storm against him, and it is not till the
+thirty-second day from that in which Athene visited
+Telemachus, that he lands in Scheria, the country of the
+Phaeacians. Here he is again in fairy land. A rough, but
+perfectly recognisable form of the Phaeacian myth, is found
+in an Indian collection of marchen (already referred to) of
+the twelfth century A.D. Here the Phaeacians are the
+Vidyidhiris, and their old enemies the Cyclopes, are the
+Rakshashas, a sort of giants. The Indian Odysseus, who
+seeks the city of gold, passes by the home of an Indian
+Aeolus, Satyavrata. His later adventures are confused, and
+the Greek version retains only the more graceful fancies of
+the marchen.
+
+  DAY 33 (Book vi).
+
+Odysseus meets Nausicaa, daughter of Alcinous, the
+Phaeacian King, and by her aid, and that of Athene, is
+favourably received at the palace, and tells how he came
+from Calypso's island. His name is still unknown to his
+hosts.
+
+  DAY 34 (Books vii, viii, ix, x, xi, xii).
+
+The Phaeacians and Odysseus display their skill in sports.
+Nausicaa bids Odysseus farewell. Odysseus recounts to
+Alcinous, and Arete, the Queen, those adventures in the two
+years between the fall of Troy and his captivity in the
+island of Calypso, which we have already described (pp.
+xiii-xvii).
+
+  DAY 35 (Book xiii).
+
+Odysseus is conveyed to Ithaca, in the evening, on one of
+the magical barques of the Phaeacians.
+
+  DAY 36 (Books xiii, xiv, xv).
+
+He wakens in Ithaca, which he does not at first recognise
+He learns from Athene, for the first time, that the wooers
+beset his house. She disguises him as an old man, and bids
+him go to the hut of the swineherd Eumaeus, who is loyal to
+his absent lord. Athene then goes to Lacedaemon, to bring
+back Telemachus, who has now resided there for a month.
+Odysseus won the heart of Eumaeus, who of course did not
+recognise him, and slept in the swineherd's hut, while
+Athene was waking Telemachus, in Lacedaemon, and bidding
+him 'be mindful of his return.'
+
+  DAY 37 (Book xv).
+
+Is spent by Odysseus in the swineherd's hut. Telemachus
+reaches Pherae, half-way to Pylos.
+
+
+  DAY 38 (Book xv).
+
+Telemachus reaches Pylos, but does not visit Nestor. To
+save time he goes at once on board ship, taking with him an
+unfortunate outlaw, Theoclymenus, a second-sighted man, or
+the family of Melampus, in which the gift of prophecy was
+hereditary. The ship passed the Elian coast at night, and
+evaded the ambush of the wooers. Meanwhile Odysseus was
+sitting up almost till dawn, listening to the history of
+Eumaeus, the swineherd.
+
+  DAY 39 (Books xv, xvi).
+
+Telemachus reaches the Isle of Ithaca, sends his ship to
+the city, but himself, by advice of Athene, makes for the
+hut of Eumaeus, where he meets, but naturally does not
+recognise, his disguised father. He sends Eumaeus to
+Penelope with news of his arrival, and then Athene reveals
+Odysseus to Telemachus. The two plot the death of the
+wooers. Odysseus bids Telemachus remove, on a favourable
+opportunity, the arms which were disposed as trophies on
+the walls of the hall at home. (There is a slight
+discrepancy between the words of this advice and the manner
+in which it is afterwards executed.) During this interview,
+the ship of Telemachus, the wooers who had been in ambush,
+and Eumaeus, all reached the town of Ithaca. In the evening
+Eumaeus returned to his hut, where Athene had again
+disguised Odysseus.
+
+  DAY 40 (Books xvii, xviii, xix, xx).
+
+The story is now hastening to its close, and many events
+are crowded into the fortieth day. Telemachus goes from the
+swineherd's hut to the city, and calls his guest,
+Theoclymenus, to the palace. The second-sighted man
+prophesies of the near revenge of Odysseus. In the
+afternoon, Odysseus (still disguised) and Eumaeus reach the
+city, the dog Argos recognises the hero, and dies. Odysseus
+goes begging through his own hall, and is struck by
+Antinous, the proudest of the wooers. Late in the day
+Eumaeus goes home, and Odysseus fights with the braggart
+beggar Irus. Still later, Penelope appears among the
+wooers, and receives presents from them. When the wooers
+have withdrawn, Odysseus and Telemachus remove the weapons
+from the hall to the armoury. Afterwards Odysseus has an
+interview with Penelope (who does not recognise him), but
+he is recognised by his old nurse Eurycleia. Penelope
+mentions her purpose to wed the man who on the following
+day, the feast of the Archer-god Apollo, shall draw the bow
+of Odysseus, and send an arrow through the holes in twelve
+axe-blades, set up in a row. Thus the poet shows that
+Odysseus has arrived in Ithaca not a day too soon. Odysseus
+is comforted by a vision of Athene, and
+
+  DAY 41 (Books xx, xxi, xxii, xxiii).
+
+by the ominous prayer uttered by a weary woman grinding at
+the mill. The swineherd and the disloyal Melanthius arrive
+at the palace. The wooers defer the plot to kill
+Telemachus, as the day is holy to Apollo. Odysseus is led
+up from his seat near the door to a place beside Telemachus
+at the chief's table. The wooers mock Telemachus, and the
+second-sighted Theoclymenus sees the ominous shroud of
+death covering their bodies, and the walls dripping with
+blood. He leaves the doomed company. In the trial of the
+bow, none of the wooers can draw it; meanwhile Odysseus has
+declared himself to the neatherd and the swineherd. The
+former bars and fastens the outer gates of the court, the
+latter bids Eurycleia bar the doors of the womens' chambers
+which lead out of the hall. Odysseus now gets the bow into
+his hands, strings it, sends the arrow through the
+axe-blades, and then leaping on the threshold of stone,
+deals his shafts among the wooers. Telemachus, the
+neatherd, and Eumaeus, aiding him, he slaughters all the
+crew, despite the treachery of Melanthius. The paramours of
+the wooers are hanged, and Odysseus, after some delay, is
+recognised by Penelope.
+
+  DAY 42 (Books xxiii, xxiv).
+
+This day is occupied with the recognition of Odysseus by
+his aged father Laertes, and with the futile attempt of the
+kinsfolk of the wooers to avenge them on Odysseus. Athene
+reconciles the feud, and the toils of Odysseus are
+accomplished.
+
+The reader has now before him a chronologically arranged
+sketch of the action of the Odyssey. It is, perhaps,
+apparent, even from this bare outline, that the composition
+is elaborate and artistic, that the threads of the plot are
+skilfully separated and combined. The germ of the whole
+epic is probably the popular tale, known all over the
+world, of the warrior who, on his return from a long
+expedition, has great difficulty in making his prudent wife
+recognise him. The incident occurs as a detached story in
+China, and in most European countries it is told of a
+crusader. 'We may suppose it to be older than the legend of
+Troy, and to have gravitated into the cycle of that legend.
+The years of the hero's absence are then filled up with
+adventures (the Cyclops, Circe, the Phaeacians, the Sirens,
+the descent into hell) which exist as scattered tales, or
+are woven into the more elaborate epics of Gaels, Aztecs,
+Hindoos, Tartars, South-Sea Islanders, Finns, Russians,
+Scandinavians, and Eskimo. The whole is surrounded with the
+atmosphere of the kingly age of Greece, and the result is
+the Odyssey, with that unity of plot and variety of
+character which must have been given by one masterly
+constructive genius. The date at which the poet of the
+Odyssey lived may be approximately determined by his
+consistent descriptions of a peculiar and definite
+condition of society, which had ceased to exist in the
+ninth century B.C., and of a stage of art in which
+Phoenician and Assyrian influences predominated. (Die Kunst
+bei Homer. Brunn.) As to the mode of composition, it would
+not be difficult to show that at least the a priori Wolfian
+arguments against the early use of writing for literary
+purposes have no longer the cogency which they were once
+thought to possess. But this is matter for a separate
+investigation.
+
+
+
+
+
+The Odyssey
+
+
+
+Book I
+
+  In a Council of the Gods, Poseidon absent, Pallas procureth
+  an order for the restitution of Odysseus; and appearing to
+  his son Telemachus, in human shape, adviseth him to
+  complain of the Wooers before the Council of the people,
+  and then go to Pylos and Sparta to inquire about his
+  father.
+
+Tell me, Muse, of that man, so ready at need, who wandered
+far and wide, after he had sacked the sacred citadel of
+Troy, and many were the men whose towns he saw and whose
+mind he learnt, yea, and many the woes he suffered in his
+heart upon the deep, striving to win his own life and the
+return of his company.  Nay, but even so he saved not his
+company, though he desired it sore. For through the
+blindness of their own hearts they perished, fools, who
+devoured the oxen of Helios Hyperion: but the god took from
+them their day of returning. Of these things, goddess,
+daughter of Zeus, whencesoever thou hast heard thereof,
+declare thou even unto us.
+
+Now all the rest, as many as fled from sheer destruction,
+were at home, and had escaped both war and sea, but
+Odysseus only, craving for his wife and for his homeward
+path, the lady nymph Calypso held, that fair goddess, in
+her hollow caves, longing to have him for her lord. But
+when now the year had come in the courses of the seasons,
+wherein the gods had ordained that he should return home to
+Ithaca, not even there was he quit of labours, not even
+among his own; but all the gods had pity on him save
+Poseidon, who raged continually against godlike Odysseus,
+till he came to his own country. Howbeit Poseidon had now
+departed for the distant Ethiopians, the Ethiopians that
+are sundered in twain, the uttermost of men, abiding some
+where Hyperion sinks and some where he rises.  There he
+looked to receive his hecatomb of bulls and rams, there he
+made merry sitting at the feast, but the other gods were
+gathered in the halls of Olympian Zeus. Then among them the
+father of gods and men began to speak, for he bethought him
+in his heart of noble Aegisthus, whom the son of Agamemnon,
+far-famed Orestes, slew. Thinking upon him he spake out
+among the Immortals:
+
+'Lo you now, how vainly mortal men do blame the gods! For
+of us they say comes evil, whereas they even of themselves,
+through the blindness of their own hearts, have sorrows
+beyond that which is ordained. Even as of late Aegisthus,
+beyond that which was ordained, took to him the wedded wife
+of the son of Atreus, and killed her lord on his return,
+and that with sheer doom before his eyes, since we had
+warned him by the embassy of Hermes the keen-sighted, the
+slayer of Argos, that he should neither kill the man, nor
+woo his wife. For the son of Atreus shall be avenged at the
+hand of Orestes, so soon as he shall come to man's estate
+and long for his own country. So spake Hermes, yet he
+prevailed not on the heart of Aegisthus, for all his good
+will; but now hath he paid one price for all.'
+
+And the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him, saying: 'O
+father, our father Cronides, throned in the highest; that
+man assuredly lies in a death that is his due; so perish
+likewise all who work such deeds! But my heart is rent for
+wise Odysseus, that hapless one, who far from his friends
+this long while suffereth affliction in a seagirt isle,
+where is the navel of the sea, a woodland isle, and therein
+a goddess hath her habitation, the daughter of the wizard
+Atlas, who knows the depths of every sea, and himself
+upholds the tall pillars which keep earth and sky asunder.
+His daughter it is that holds the hapless man in sorrow:
+and ever with soft and guileful tales she is wooing him to
+forgetfulness of Ithaca. But Odysseus yearning to see if it
+were but the smoke leap upwards from his own land, hath a
+desire to die. As for thee, thine heart regardeth it not at
+all, Olympian! What! did not Odysseus by the ships of the
+Argives make thee free offering of sacrifice in the wide
+Trojan land? Wherefore wast thou then so wroth with him, O
+Zeus?'
+
+And Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered her, and said, 'My
+child, what word hath escaped the door of thy lips? Yea,
+how should I forget divine Odysseus, who in understanding
+is beyond mortals and beyond all men hath done sacrifice to
+the deathless gods, who keep the wide heaven? Nay, but it
+is Poseidon, the girdler of the earth, that hath been wroth
+continually with quenchless anger for the Cyclops' sake
+whom he blinded of his eye, even godlike Polyphemus whose
+power is mightiest amongst all the Cyclopes. His mother was
+the nymph Thoosa, daughter of Phorcys, lord of the
+unharvested sea, and in the hollow caves she lay with
+Poseidon. From that day forth Poseidon the earth-shaker
+doth not indeed slay Odysseus, but driveth him wandering
+from his own country. But come, let us here one and all
+take good counsel as touching his returning, that he may be
+got home; so shall Poseidon let go his displeasure, for he
+will in no wise be able to strive alone against all, in
+despite of all the deathless gods.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him, and said:
+'O father, our father Cronides, throned in the highest, if
+indeed this thing is now well pleasing to the blessed gods,
+that wise Odysseus should return to his own home, let us
+then speed Hermes the Messenger, the slayer of Argos, to
+the island of Ogygia. There with all speed let him declare
+to the lady of the braided tresses our unerring counsel,
+even the return of the patient Odysseus, that so he may
+come to his home. But as for me I will go to Ithaca that I
+may rouse his son yet the more, planting might in his
+heart, to call an assembly of the long-haired Achaeans and
+speak out to all the wooers who slaughter continually the
+sheep of his thronging flocks, and his kine with trailing
+feet and shambling gait. And I will guide him to Sparta and
+to sandy Pylos to seek tidings of his dear father's return,
+if peradventure he may hear thereof and that so he may be
+had in good report among men.'
+
+She spake and bound beneath her feet her lovely golden
+sandals that wax not old, and bare her alike over the wet
+sea and over the limitless land, swift as the breath of the
+wind. And she seized her doughty spear, shod with sharp
+bronze, weighty and huge and strong, wherewith she quells
+the ranks of heroes with whomsoever she is wroth, the
+daughter of the mighty sire. Then from the heights of
+Olympus she came glancing down, and she stood in the land
+of Ithaca, at the entry of the gate of Odysseus, on the
+threshold of the courtyard, holding in her hand the spear
+of bronze, in the semblance of a stranger, Mentes the
+captain of the Taphians. And there she found the lordly
+wooers: now they were taking their pleasure at draughts in
+front of the doors, sitting on hides of oxen, which
+themselves had slain. And of the henchmen and the ready
+squires, some were mixing for them wine and water in bowls,
+and some again were washing the tables with porous sponges
+and were setting them forth, and others were carving flesh
+in plenty.
+
+And godlike Telemachus was far the first to descry her, for
+he was sitting with a heavy heart among the wooers dreaming
+on his good father, if haply he might come somewhence, and
+make a scattering of the wooers there throughout the
+palace, and himself get honour and bear rule among his own
+possessions. Thinking thereupon, as he sat among wooers, he
+saw Athene--and he went straight to the outer porch, for he
+thought it blame in his heart that a stranger should stand
+long at the gates: and halting nigh her he clasped her
+right hand and took from her the spear of bronze, and
+uttered his voice and spake unto her winged words:
+
+'Hail, stranger, with us thou shalt be kindly entreated,
+and thereafter, when thou hast tasted meat, thou shalt tell
+us that whereof thou hast need.'
+
+Therewith he led the way, and Pallas Athene followed. And
+when they were now within the lofty house, he set her spear
+that he bore against a tall pillar, within the polished
+spear-stand, where stood many spears besides, even those of
+Odysseus of the hardy heart; and he led the goddess and
+seated her on a goodly carven chair, and spread a linen
+cloth thereunder, and beneath was a footstool for the feet.
+For himself he placed an inlaid seat hard by, apart from
+the company of the wooers, lest the stranger should be
+disquieted by the noise and should have a loathing for the
+meal, being come among overweening men, and also that he
+might ask him about his father that was gone from his home.
+
+Then a handmaid bare water for the washing of hands in a
+goodly golden ewer, and poured it forth over a silver basin
+to wash withal, and drew to their side a polished table.
+And a grave dame bare wheaten bread and set it by them, and
+laid on the board many dainties, giving freely of such
+things as she had by her. And a carver lifted and placed by
+them platters of divers kinds of flesh, and nigh them he
+set golden bowls, and a henchman walked to and fro pouring
+out to them the wine.
+
+Then in came the lordly wooers; and they sat them down in
+rows on chairs, and on high seats, and henchmen poured
+water on their hands, and maidservants piled wheaten bread
+by them in baskets, and pages crowned the bowls with drink;
+and they stretched forth their hands upon the good cheer
+spread before them. Now when the wooers had put from them
+the desire of meat and drink, they minded them of other
+things, even of the song and dance: for these are the crown
+of the feast. And a henchman placed a beauteous lyre in the
+hands of Phemius, who was minstrel to the wooers despite
+his will. Yea and as he touched the lyre he lifted up his
+voice in sweet songs.{*}
+
+{* Or, according to the ordinary interpretation of [Greek]:
+So he touched the chords in prelude to his sweet singing.}
+
+But Telemachus spake unto grey-eyed Athene, holding his
+head close to her that those others might not hear: 'Dear
+stranger, wilt thou of a truth be wroth at the word that I
+shall say? Yonder men verily care for such things as these,
+the lyre and song, lightly, as they that devour the
+livelihood of another without atonement, of that man whose
+white bones, it may be, lie wasting in the rain upon the
+mainland, or the billow rolls them in the brine. Were but
+these men to see him returned to Ithaca, they all would
+pray rather for greater speed of foot than for gain of gold
+and raiment. But now he hath perished, even so, an evil
+doom, and for us is no comfort, no, not though any of
+earthly men should say that he will come again. Gone is the
+day of his returning! But come declare me this, and tell me
+all plainly: Who art thou of the sons of men, and whence?
+Where is thy city, where are they that begat thee? Say, on
+what manner of ship didst thou come, and how did sailors
+bring thee to Ithaca, and who did they avow themselves to
+be, for in nowise do I deem that thou camest hither by
+land.  And herein tell me true, that I may know for a
+surety whether thou art a newcomer, or whether thou art a
+guest of the house, seeing that many were the strangers
+that came to our home, for that HE too had voyaged much
+among men.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Yea now,
+I will plainly tell thee all. I avow me to be Mentes, son
+of wise Anchialus, and I bear rule among the Taphians,
+lovers of the oar. And now am I come to shore, as thou
+seest, with ship and crew, sailing over the wine-dark sea,
+unto men of strange speech, even to Temesa, {*} in quest of
+copper, and my cargo is shining iron. And there my ship is
+lying toward the upland, away from the city, in the harbour
+of Rheithron beneath wooded Neion: and we declare ourselves
+to be friends one of the other, and of houses friendly,
+from of old. Nay, if thou wouldest be assured, go ask the
+old man, the hero Laertes, who they say no more comes to
+the city, but far away toward the upland suffers
+affliction, with an ancient woman for his handmaid, who
+sets by him meat and drink, whensoever weariness takes hold
+of his limbs, as he creeps along the knoll of his vineyard
+plot.  And now am I come; for verily they said that HE, thy
+father, was among his people; but lo, the gods withhold him
+from his way. For goodly Odysseus hath not yet perished on
+the earth; but still, methinks, he lives and is kept on the
+wide deep in a seagirt isle, and hard men constrain him,
+wild folk that hold him, it may be, sore against his will.
+But now of a truth will I utter my word of prophecy, as the
+Immortals bring it into my heart and as I deem it will be
+accomplished, though no soothsayer am I, nor skilled in the
+signs of birds. Henceforth indeed for no long while shall
+he be far from his own dear country, not though bonds of
+iron bind him; he will advise him of a way to return, for
+he is a man of many devices. But come, declare me this, and
+tell me all plainly, whether indeed, so tall as thou art,
+thou art sprung from the loins of Odysseus. Thy head surely
+and they beauteous eyes are wondrous like to his, since
+full many a time have we held converse together ere he
+embarked for Troy, whither the others, aye the bravest of
+the Argives, went in hollow ships. From that day forth
+neither have I seen Odysseus, nor he me.'
+
+{* Tamasia, in the mountainous centre of Cyprus.}
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered her, and said: 'Yea, sir, now
+will I plainly tell thee all. My mother verily saith that I
+am his; for myself I know not, for never man yet knew of
+himself his own descent. O that I had been the son of some
+blessed man, whom old age overtook among his own
+possessions! But now of him that is the most hapless of
+mortal men, his son they say that I am, since thou dost
+question me hereof.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake unto him, and
+said: 'Surely no nameless lineage have the gods ordained
+for thee in days to come, since Penelope bore thee so
+goodly a man. But come, declare me this, and tell it all
+plainly. What feast, nay, what rout is this? What hast thou
+to do therewith? Is it a clan drinking, or a wedding feast,
+for here we have no banquet where each man brings his
+share? In such wise, flown with insolence, do they seem to
+me to revel wantonly through the house: and well might any
+man be wroth to see so many deeds of shame, whatso wise man
+came among them.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered her, and said: 'Sir,
+forasmuch as thou questionest me of these things and
+inquirest thereof, our house was once like to have been
+rich and honourable, while yet that man was among his
+people. But now the gods willed it otherwise, in evil
+purpose, who have made him pass utterly out of sight as no
+man ever before.  Truly I would not even for his death make
+so great sorrow, had he fallen among his fellows in the
+land of the Trojans, or in the arms of his friends when he
+had wound up the clew of war. Then would the whole Achaean
+host have builded him a barrow, and even for his son would
+he have won great glory in the after days. But now the
+spirits of the storm have swept him away inglorious. He is
+gone, lost to sight and hearsay, but for me hath he left
+anguish and lamentation; nor henceforth is it for him alone
+that I mourn and weep, since the gods have wrought for me
+other sore distress. For all the noblest that are princes
+in the isles, in Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus,
+and as many as lord it in rocky Ithaca, all these woo my
+mother and waste my house. But as for her she neither
+refuseth the hated bridal, nor hath the heart to make an
+end: so they devour and minish my house, and ere long will
+they make havoc likewise of myself.'
+
+Then in heavy displeasure spake unto him Pallas Athene:
+'God help thee! thou art surely sore in need of Odysseus
+that is afar, to stretch forth his hands upon the shameless
+wooers.  If he could but come now and stand at the entering
+in of the gate, with helmet and shield and lances twain, as
+mighty a man as when first I marked him in our house
+drinking and making merry what time he came up out of
+Ephyra from Ilus son of Mermerus! For even thither had
+Odysseus gone on his swift ship to seek a deadly drug, that
+he might have wherewithal to smear his bronze-shod arrows:
+but Ilus would in nowise give it to him, for he had in awe
+the everliving gods. But my father gave it him, for he bare
+him wondrous love. O that Odysseus might in such strength
+consort with the wooers: so should they all have swift fate
+and bitter wedlock! Howbeit these things surely lie on the
+knees of the gods, whether he shall return or not, and take
+vengeance in his halls. But I charge thee to take counsel
+how thou mayest thrust forth the wooers from the hall. Come
+now, mark and take heed unto my words. On the morrow call
+the Achaean lords to the assembly, and declare thy saying
+to all, and take the gods to witness. As for the wooers bid
+them scatter them each one to his own, and for thy mother,
+if her heart is moved to marriage, let her go back to the
+hall of that mighty man her father, and her kinsfolk will
+furnish a wedding feast, and array the gifts of wooing
+exceeding many, all that should go back with a daughter
+dearly beloved. And to thyself I will give a word of wise
+counsel, if perchance thou wilt hearken. Fit out a ship,
+the best thou hast, with twenty oarsmen, and go to inquire
+concerning thy father that is long afar, if perchance any
+man shall tell thee aught, or if thou mayest hear the voice
+from Zeus, which chiefly brings tidings to men. Get thee
+first to Pylos and inquire of goodly Nestor, and from
+thence to Sparta to Menelaus of the fair hair, for he came
+home the last of the mail-coated Achaeans. If thou shalt
+hear news of the life and the returning of thy father, then
+verily thou mayest endure the wasting for yet a year. But
+if thou shalt hear that he is dead and gone, return then to
+thine own dear country and pile his mound, and over it pay
+burial rites, full many as is due, and give thy mother to a
+husband. But when thou hast done this and made an end,
+thereafter take counsel in thy mind and heart, how thou
+mayest slay the wooers in thy halls, whether by guile or
+openly; for thou shouldest not carry childish thoughts,
+being no longer of years thereto. Or hast thou not heard
+what renown the goodly Orestes gat him among all men in
+that he slew the slayer of his father, guileful Aegisthus,
+who killed his famous sire? And thou, too, my friend, for I
+see that thou art very comely and tall, be valiant, that
+even men unborn may praise thee. But I will now go down to
+the swift ship and to my men, who methinks chafe much at
+tarrying for me; and do thou thyself take heed and give ear
+unto my words.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Sir, verily
+thou speakest these things out of a friendly heart, as a
+father to his son, and never will I forget them. But now I
+pray thee abide here, though eager to be gone, to the end
+that after thou hast bathed and had all thy heart's desire,
+thou mayest wend to the ship joyful in spirit, with a
+costly gift and very goodly, to be an heirloom of my
+giving, such as dear friends give to friends.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Hold me
+now no longer, that am eager for the way. But whatsoever
+gift thine heart shall bid thee give me, when I am on my
+way back let it be mine to carry home: bear from thy stores
+a gift right goodly, and it shall bring thee the worth
+thereof in return.'
+
+So spake she and departed, the grey-eyed Athene, and like
+an eagle of the sea she flew away, but in his spirit she
+planted might and courage, and put him in mind of his
+father yet more than heretofore. And he marked the thing
+and was amazed, for he deemed that it was a god; and anon
+he went among the wooers, a godlike man.
+
+Now the renowned minstrel was singing to the wooers, and
+they sat listening in silence; and his song was of the
+pitiful return of the Achaeans, that Pallas Athene laid on
+them as they came forth from Troy. And from her upper
+chamber the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, caught the
+glorious strain, and she went down the high stairs from her
+chamber, not alone, for two of her handmaids bare her
+company. Now when the fair lady had come unto the wooers,
+she stood by the pillar of the well-builded roof holding up
+her glistening tire before her face; and a faithful maiden
+stood on either side her. Then she fell a weeping, and
+spake unto the divine minstrel:
+
+'Phemius, since thou knowest many other charms for mortals,
+deeds of men and gods, which bards rehearse, some one of
+these do thou sing as thou sittest by them, and let them
+drink their wine in silence; but cease from this pitiful
+strain, that ever wastes my heart within my breast, since
+to me above all women hath come a sorrow comfortless. So
+dear a head do I long for in constant memory, namely, that
+man whose fame is noised abroad from Hellas to mid Argos.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered her, and said: 'O my mother,
+why then dost thou grudge the sweet minstrel to gladden us
+as his spirit moves him? It is not minstrels who are in
+fault, but Zeus, methinks, is in fault, who gives to men,
+that live by bread, to each one as he will. As for him it
+is no blame if he sings the ill-faring of the Danaans; for
+men always prize that song the most, which rings newest in
+their ears. But let thy heart and mind endure to listen,
+for not Odysseus only lost in Troy the day of his
+returning, but many another likewise perished. Howbeit go
+to thy chamber and mind thine own housewiferies, the loom
+and distaff, and bid thy handmaids ply their tasks. But
+speech shall be for men, for all, but for me in chief; for
+mine is the lordship in the house.'
+
+Then in amaze she went back to her chamber, for she laid up
+the wise saying of her son in her heart. She ascended to
+her upper chamber with the women her handmaids, and then
+was bewailing Odysseus, her dear lord, till grey-eyed
+Athene cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids.
+
+Now the wooers clamoured throughout the shadowy halls, and
+each one uttered a prayer to be her bedfellow. And wise
+Telemachus first spake among them:
+
+'Wooers of my mother, men despiteful out of measure, let us
+feast now and make merry and let there be no brawling; for,
+lo, it is a good thing to list to a minstrel such as him,
+like to the gods in voice. But in the morning let us all go
+to the assembly and sit us down, that I may declare my
+saying outright, to wit that ye leave these halls: and busy
+yourselves with other feasts, eating your own substance,
+going in turn from house to house. But if ye deem this a
+likelier and a better thing, that one man's goods should
+perish without atonement, then waste ye as ye will; and I
+will call upon the everlasting gods, if haply Zeus may
+grant that acts of recompense be made: so should ye
+hereafter perish within the halls without atonement.'
+
+So spake he, and all that heard him bit their lips and
+marvelled at Telemachus, in that he spake boldly.
+
+Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him: 'Telemachus,
+in very truth the gods themselves instruct thee to be proud
+of speech and boldly to harangue. Never may Cronion make
+thee king in seagirt Ithaca, which thing is of inheritance
+thy right!'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Antinous,
+wilt thou indeed be wroth at the word that I shall say?
+Yea, at the hand of Zeus would I be fain to take even this
+thing upon me. Sayest thou that this is the worst hap that
+can befal a man? Nay, verily, it is no ill thing to be a
+king: the house of such an one quickly waxeth rich and
+himself is held in greater honour. Howsoever there are many
+other kings of the Achaeans in seagirt Ithaca, kings young
+and old; someone of them shall surely have this kingship
+since goodly Odysseus is dead. But as for me, I will be
+lord of our own house and thralls, that goodly Odysseus gat
+me with his spear.'
+
+Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered him, saying:
+'Telemachus, on the knees of the gods it surely lies, what
+man is to be king over the Achaeans in seagirt Ithaca. But
+mayest thou keep thine own possessions and be lord in thine
+own house! Never may that man come, who shall wrest from
+thee thy substance violently in thine own despite while
+Ithaca yet stands. But I would ask thee, friend, concerning
+the stranger--whence he is, and of what land he avows him
+to be? Where are his kin and his native fields? Doth he
+bear some tidings of thy father on his road, or cometh he
+thus to speed some matter of his own? In such wise did he
+start up, and lo, he was gone, nor tarried he that we
+should know him;--and yet he seemed no mean man to look
+upon.' {*}
+
+{* The [Greek] explains the expression of surprise at the
+sudden departure of the stranger.}
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Eurymachus,
+surely the day of my father's returning hath gone by.
+Therefore no more do I put faith in tidings, whencesoever
+they may come, neither have I regard unto any divination,
+whereof my mother may inquire at the lips of a diviner,
+when she hath bidden him to the hall. But as for that man,
+he is a friend of my house from Taphos, and he avows him to
+be Mentes, son of wise Anchialus, and he hath lordship
+among the Taphians, lovers of the oar.'
+
+So spake Telemachus, but in his heart he knew the deathless
+goddess. Now the wooers turned them to the dance and the
+delightsome song, and made merry, and waited till evening
+should come on. And as they made merry, dusk evening came
+upon them. Then they went each one to his own house to lie
+down to rest.
+
+But Telemachus, where his chamber was builded high up in
+the fair court, in a place with wide prospect, thither
+betook him to his bed, pondering many thoughts in his mind;
+and with him went trusty Eurycleia, and bare for him
+torches burning. She was the daughter of Ops, son of
+Peisenor, and Laertes bought her on a time with his wealth,
+while as yet she was in her first youth, and gave for her
+the worth of twenty oxen. And he honoured her even as he
+honoured his dear wife in the halls, but he never lay with
+her, for he shunned the wrath of his lady. She went with
+Telemachus and bare for him the burning torches: and of all
+the women of the household she loved him most, and she had
+nursed him when a little one. Then he opened the doors of
+the well-builded chamber and sat him on the bed and took
+off his soft doublet, and put it in the wise old woman's
+hands. So she folded the doublet and smoothed it, and hung
+it on a pin by the jointed bedstead, and went forth on her
+way from the room, and pulled to the door with the silver
+handle, and drew home the bar with the thong. There, all
+night through, wrapped in a fleece of wool, he meditated in
+his heart upon the journey that Athene had showed him.
+
+
+
+Book II
+
+  Telemachus complains in vain, and borrowing a ship, goes
+  secretly to Pylos by night. And how he was there received.
+
+Now so soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered,
+the dear son of Odysseus gat him up from his bed, and put
+on his raiment and cast his sharp sword about his shoulder,
+and beneath his smooth feet he bound his goodly sandals,
+and stept forth from his chamber in presence like a god.
+And straightway he bade the clear-voiced heralds to call
+the long-haired Achaeans to the assembly. And the heralds
+called the gathering, and the Achaeans were assembled
+quickly. Now when they were gathered and come together, he
+went on his way to the assembly holding in his hand a spear
+of bronze,--not alone he went, for two swift hounds bare
+him company. Then Athene shed on him a wondrous grace, and
+all the people marvelled at him as he came. And he sat him
+in his father's seat and the elders gave place to him.
+
+Then the lord Aegyptus spake among them first; bowed was he
+with age, and skilled in things past number. Now for this
+reason he spake that his dear son, the warrior Antiphus,
+had gone in the hollow ships to Ilios of the goodly steeds;
+but the savage Cyclops slew him in his hollow cave, and
+made of him then his latest meal. Three other sons Aegyptus
+had, and one consorted with the wooers, namely Eurynomus,
+but two continued in their father's fields; yet even so
+forgat he not that son, still mourning and sorrowing. So
+weeping for his sake he made harangue and spake among them:
+
+'Hearken now to me, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I
+shall say. Never hath our assembly or session been since
+the day that goodly Odysseus departed in the hollow ships.
+And now who was minded thus to assemble us? On what man
+hath such sore need come, of the young men or of the elder
+born? Hath he heard some tidings of the host now returning,
+which he might plainly declare to us, for that he first
+learned thereof, or doth he show forth and tell some other
+matter of the common weal? Methinks he is a true man--good
+luck be with him! Zeus vouchsafe him some good thing in his
+turn, even all his heart's desire!'
+
+So spake he, and the dear son of Odysseus was glad at the
+omen of the word; nor sat he now much longer, but he burned
+to speak, and he stood in mid assembly; and the herald
+Peisenor, skilled in sage counsels, placed the staff in his
+hands. Then he spake, accosting the old man first:
+
+'Old man, he is not far off, and soon shalt thou know it
+for thyself, he who called the folk together, even I: for
+sorrow hath come to me in chief. Neither have I heard any
+tidings of the host now returning, which I may plainly
+declare to you, for that I first learned thereof; neither
+do I show forth or tell any other matter of the common
+weal, but mine own need, for that evil hath befallen my
+house, a double woe. First, I have lost my noble sire, who
+sometime was king among you here, and was gentle as a
+father; and now is there an evil yet greater far, which
+surely shall soon make grievous havoc of my whole house and
+ruin all my livelihood. My mother did certain wooers beset
+sore against her will, even the sons of those men that here
+are the noblest. They are too craven to go to the house of
+her father Icarius, that he may himself set the bride-price
+for his daughter, and bestow her on whom he will, even on
+him who finds favour in his sight. But they resorting to
+our house day by day sacrifice oxen and sheep and fat
+goats, and keep revel, and drink the dark wine recklessly,
+and lo, our great wealth is wasted, for there is no man now
+alive such as Odysseus was, to keep ruin from the house. As
+for me I am nowise strong like him to ward mine own; verily
+to the end of my days {*} shall I be a weakling and all
+unskilled in prowess. Truly I would defend me if but
+strength were mine; for deeds past sufferance have now been
+wrought, and now my house is wasted utterly beyond pretence
+of right. Resent it in your own hearts, and have regard to
+your neighbours who dwell around, and tremble ye at the
+anger of the gods, lest haply they turn upon you in wrath
+at your evil deeds. {Or, lest they bring your evil deeds in
+wrath on your own heads.} I pray you by Olympian Zeus and
+by Themis, who looseth and gathereth the meetings of men,
+let be, my friends, and leave me alone to waste in bitter
+grief;-- unless it so be that my father, the good Odysseus,
+out of evil heart wrought harm to the goodly-greaved
+Achaeans, in quittance whereof ye now work me harm out of
+evil hearts, and spur on these men. Better for me that ye
+yourselves should eat up my treasures and my flocks. Were
+YE so to devour them, ere long would some recompense be
+made, for we would urge our plea throughout the town,
+begging back our substance, until all should be restored.
+But now without remedy are the pains that ye lay up in my
+heart.'
+
+{* Cf. B. xxi. 131. For the use of the 1st pers. pl. like
+our ROYAL plural, cf. B. xvi.44, Il. vii. 190.}
+
+So spake he in wrath, and dashed the staff to the ground,
+and brake forth in tears; and pity fell on all the people.
+Then all the others held their peace, and none had the
+heart to answer Telemachus with hard words, but Antinous
+alone made answer, saying:
+
+'Telemachus, proud of speech and unrestrained in fury, what
+is this thou hast said to put us to shame, and wouldest
+fasten on us reproach? Behold the fault is not in the
+Achaean wooers, but in thine own mother, for she is the
+craftiest of women. For it is now the third year, and the
+fourth is fast going by, since she began to deceive the
+minds of the Achaeans in their breasts. She gives hope to
+all, and makes promises to every man, and sends them
+messages, but her mind is set on other things. And she hath
+devised in her heart this wile besides; she set up in her
+halls a mighty web, fine of woof and very wide, whereat she
+would weave, and anon she spake among us:
+
+'"Ye princely youths, my wooers, now that the goodly
+Odysseus is dead, do ye abide patiently, how eager soever
+to speed on this marriage of mine, till I finish the robe.
+I would not that the threads perish to no avail, even this
+shroud for the hero Laertes, against the day when the
+ruinous doom shall bring him low, of death that lays men at
+their length. So shall none of the Achaean women in the
+land count it blame in me, as well might be, were he to lie
+without a winding-sheet, a man that had gotten great
+possessions."
+
+'So spake she, and our high hearts consented thereto. So
+then in the day time she would weave the mighty web, and in
+the night unravel the same, when she had let place the
+torches by her. Thus for the space of three years she hid
+the thing by craft and beguiled the minds of the Achaeans;
+but when the fourth year arrived and the seasons came
+round, then at the last one of her women who knew all
+declared it, and we found her unravelling the splendid web.
+Thus she finished it perforce and sore against her will.
+But as for thee, the wooers make thee answer thus, that
+thou mayest know it in thine own heart, thou and all the
+Achaeans! Send away thy mother, and bid her be married to
+whomsoever her father commands, and whoso is well pleasing
+unto her. But if she will continue for long to vex the sons
+of the Achaeans, pondering in her heart those things that
+Athene hath given her beyond women, knowledge of all fair
+handiwork, yea, and cunning wit, and wiles--so be it! Such
+wiles as hers we have never yet heard that any even of the
+women of old did know, of those that aforetime were
+fair-tressed Achaean ladies, Tyro, and Alcmene, and Mycene
+with the bright crown. Not one of these in the imaginations
+of their hearts was like unto Penelope, yet herein at least
+her imagining was not good. For in despite of her the
+wooers will devour thy living and thy substance, so long as
+she is steadfast in such purpose as the gods now put within
+her breast: great renown for herself she winneth, but for
+thee regret for thy much livelihood. But we will neither go
+to our own lands, nor otherwhere, till she marry that man
+whom she will of the Achaeans.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Antinous, I may
+in no wise thrust forth from the house, against her will,
+the woman that bare me, that reared me: while as for my
+father he is abroad on the earth, whether he be alive or
+dead. Moreover it is hard for me to make heavy restitution
+to Icarius, as needs I must, if of mine own will I send my
+mother away. For I shall have evil at his hand, at the hand
+of her father, and some god will give me more besides, for
+my mother will call down the dire Avengers as she departs
+from the house, and I shall have blame of men; surely then
+I will never speak this word. Nay, if your own heart, even
+yours, is indignant, quit ye my halls, and busy yourselves
+with other feasts, eating your own substance, and going in
+turn from house to house. But if ye deem this a likelier
+and a better thing, that one man's goods should perish
+without atonement, then waste ye as ye will: and I will
+call upon the everlasting gods, if haply Zeus may grant
+that acts of recompense be made: so should ye hereafter
+perish in the halls without atonement.'
+
+So spake Telemachus, and in answer to his prayer did Zeus,
+of the far borne voice, send forth two eagles in flight,
+from on high, from the mountain-crest. Awhile they flew as
+fleet as the blasts of the wind, side by side, with
+straining of their pinions. But when they had now reached
+the mid assembly, the place of many voices, there they
+wheeled about and flapped their strong wings, and looked
+down upon the heads of all, and destruction was in their
+gaze. Then tore they with their talons each the other's
+cheeks and neck on every side, and so sped to the right
+across the dwellings and the city of the people. And the
+men marvelled at the birds when they had sight of them, and
+pondered in their hearts the things that should come to
+pass. Yea and the old man, the lord Halitherses son of
+Mastor spake among them, for he excelled his peers in
+knowledge of birds, and in uttering words of fate. With
+good will he made harangue and spake among them:
+
+'Hearken to me now, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I
+shall say: and mainly to the wooers do I show forth and
+tell these things, seeing that a mighty woe is rolling upon
+them. For Odysseus shall not long be away from his friends,
+nay, even now, it may be, he is near, and sowing the seeds
+of death and fate for these men, every one; and he will be
+a bane to many another likewise of us who dwell in
+clear-seen Ithaca. But long ere that falls out let us
+advise us how we may make an end of their mischief; yea,
+let them of their own selves make an end, for this is the
+better way for them, as will soon be seen. For I prophesy
+not as one unproved, but with sure knowledge; verily, I
+say, that for him all things now are come to pass, even as
+I told him, what time the Argives embarked for Ilios, and
+with them went the wise Odysseus. I said that after sore
+affliction, with the loss of all his company, unknown to
+all, in the twentieth year he should come home. And behold,
+all these things now have an end.'
+
+And Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered him, saying: 'Go
+now, old man, get thee home and prophesy to thine own
+children, lest haply they suffer harm hereafter: but herein
+am I a far better prophet than thou. Howbeit there be many
+birds that fly to and fro under the sun's rays, but all are
+not birds of fate. Now as for Odysseus, he hath perished
+far away, as would that thou too with him hadst been cut
+off: so wouldst thou not have babbled thus much prophecy,
+nor wouldst thou hound on Telemachus that is already
+angered, expecting a gift for thy house, if perchance he
+may vouchsafe thee aught. But now will I speak out, and my
+word shall surely be accomplished. If thou that knowest
+much lore from of old, shalt beguile with words a younger
+man, and rouse him to indignation, first it shall be a
+great grief to him:--and yet he can count on no aid from
+these who hear him;--while upon thee, old man, we will lay
+a fine, that thou mayest pay it and chafe at heart, and
+sore pain shall be thine. And I myself will give a word of
+counsel to Telemachus in presence of you all. Let him
+command his mother to return to her father's house; and her
+kinsfolk will furnish a wedding feast, and array the gifts
+of wooing, exceeding many, all that should go back with a
+daughter dearly beloved. For ere that, I trow, we sons of
+the Achaeans will not cease from our rough wooing, since,
+come what may, we fear not any man, no, not Telemachus,
+full of words though he be, nor soothsaying do we heed,
+whereof thou, old man, pratest idly, and art hated yet the
+more. His substance too shall be woefully devoured, nor
+shall recompense ever be made, so long as she shall put off
+the Achaeans in the matter of her marriage; while we in
+expectation, from day to day, vie one with another for the
+prize of her perfection, nor go we after other women whom
+it were meet that we should each one wed.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him saying: 'Eurymachus, and
+ye others, that are lordly wooers, I entreat you no more
+concerning this nor speak thereof, for the gods have
+knowledge of it now and all the Achaeans. But come, give me
+a swift ship and twenty men, who shall accomplish for me my
+voyage to and fro. For I will go to Sparta and to sandy
+Pylos to inquire concerning the return of my father that is
+long afar, if perchance any man shall tell me aught, or if
+I may hear the voice from Zeus, that chiefly brings tidings
+to men. If I shall hear news of the life and the returning
+of my father, then verily I may endure the wasting for yet
+a year; but if I shall hear that he is dead and gone, let
+me then return to my own dear country, and pile his mound,
+and over it pay burial rites full many as is due, and I
+will give my mother to a husband.'
+
+So with that word he sat him down; then in the midst uprose
+Mentor, the companion of noble Odysseus. He it was to whom
+Odysseus, as he departed in the fleet, had given the charge
+over all his house, that it should obey the old man, and
+that he should keep all things safe. With good will he now
+made harangue and spake among them:
+
+'Hearken to me now, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I
+shall say. Henceforth let not any sceptred king be kind and
+gentle with all his heart, nor minded to do righteously,
+but let him alway be a hard man and work unrighteousness:
+for behold, there is none that remembereth divine Odysseus
+of the people whose lord he was, and was gentle as a
+father. Howsoever, it is not that I grudge the lordly
+wooers their deeds of violence in the evil devices of their
+heart. For at the hazard of their own heads they violently
+devour the household of Odysseus, and say of him that he
+will come no more again. But I am indeed wroth with the
+rest of the people, to see how ye all sit thus speechless,
+and do not cry shame upon the wooers, and put them down, ye
+that are so many and they so few.'
+
+And Leocritus, son of Euenor, answered him, saying: 'Mentor
+infatuate, with thy wandering wits, what word hast thou
+spoken, that callest upon them to put us down? Nay, it is a
+hard thing to fight about a feast, and that with men who
+are even more in number than you. Though Odysseus of Ithaca
+himself should come and were eager of heart to drive forth
+from the hall the lordly wooers that feast throughout his
+house, yet should his wife have no joy of his coming,
+though she yearns for him;--but even there should he meet
+foul doom, if he fought with those that outnumbered him; so
+thou hast not spoken aright. But as for the people, come
+now, scatter yourselves each one to his own lands, but
+Mentor and Halitherses will speed this man's voyage, for
+they are friends of his house from of old. Yet after all,
+methinks, that long time he will abide and seek tidings in
+Ithaca, and never accomplish this voyage.'
+
+Thus he spake, and in haste they broke up the assembly. So
+they were scattered each one to his own dwelling, while the
+wooers departed to the house of divine Odysseus.
+
+Then Telemachus, going far apart to the shore of the sea,
+laved his hands in the grey sea water, and prayed unto
+Athene, saying: 'Hear me, thou who yesterday didst come in
+thy godhead to our house, and badest me go in a ship across
+the misty seas, to seek tidings of the return of my father
+that is long gone: but all this my purpose do the Achaeans
+delay, and mainly the wooers in the naughtiness of their
+pride.'
+
+So spake he in prayer, and Athene drew nigh him in the
+likeness of Mentor, in fashion and in voice, and she spake
+and hailed him in winged words:
+
+'Telemachus, even hereafter thou shalt not be craven or
+witless, if indeed thou hast a drop of thy father's blood
+and a portion of his spirit; such an one was he to fulfil
+both word and work. Nor, if this be so, shall thy voyage be
+vain or unfulfilled. But if thou art not the very seed of
+him and of Penelope, then have I no hope that thou wilt
+accomplish thy desire. For few children, truly, are like
+their father; lo, the more part are worse, yet a few are
+better than the sire. But since thou shalt not even
+hereafter be craven or witless, nor hath the wisdom of
+Odysseus failed thee quite, so is there good hope of thine
+accomplishing this work. Wherefore now take no heed of the
+counsel or the purpose of the senseless wooers, for they
+are in no way wise or just: neither know they aught of
+death and of black fate, which already is close upon them,
+that they are all to perish in one day. But the voyage on
+which thy heart is set shall not long be lacking to
+thee--so faithful a friend of thy father am I, who will
+furnish thee a swift ship and myself be thy companion. But
+go thou to the house, and consort with the wooers, and make
+ready corn, and bestow all in vessels, the wine in jars and
+barley-flour, the marrow of men, in well-sewn skins; and I
+will lightly gather in the township a crew that offer
+themselves willingly. There are many ships, new and old, in
+seagirt Ithaca; of these I will choose out the best for
+thee, and we will quickly rig her and launch her on the
+broad deep.'
+
+So spake Athene, daughter of Zeus, and Telemachus made no
+long tarrying, when he had heard the voice of the goddess.
+He went on his way towards the house, heavy at heart, and
+there he found the noble wooers in the halls, flaying goats
+and singeing swine in the court. And Antinous laughed out
+and went straight to Telemachus, and clasped his hand and
+spake and hailed him:
+
+'Telemachus, proud of speech and unrestrained in fury, let
+no evil word any more be in thy heart, nor evil work, but
+let me see thee eat and drink as of old. And the Achaeans
+will make thee ready all things without fail, a ship and
+chosen oarsmen, that thou mayest come the quicker to fair
+Pylos, to seek tidings of thy noble father.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying, 'Antinous, in no
+wise in your proud company can I sup in peace, and make
+merry with a quiet mind. Is it a little thing, ye wooers,
+that in time past ye wasted many good things of my getting,
+while as yet I was a child? But now that I am a man grown,
+and learn the story from the lips of others, and my spirit
+waxeth within me, I will seek to let loose upon you evil
+fates, as I may, going either to Pylos for help, or abiding
+here in this township. Yea, I will go, nor vain shall the
+voyage be whereof I speak; a passenger on another's ship go
+I, for I am not to have a ship nor oarsmen of mine own; so
+in your wisdom ye have thought it for the better.'
+
+He spake and snatched his hand from out the hand of
+Antinous, lightly, and all the while the wooers were busy
+feasting through the house; and they mocked him and sharply
+taunted him, and thus would some proud youth speak:
+
+'In very truth Telemachus planneth our destruction. He will
+bring a rescue either from sandy Pylos, or even it may be
+from Sparta, so terribly is he set on slaying us. Or else
+he will go to Ephyra, a fruitful land, to fetch a poisonous
+drug that he may cast it into the bowl and make an end of
+all of us.'
+
+And again another proud youth would say: 'Who knows but
+that he himself if he goes hence on the hollow ship, may
+perish wandering far from his friends, even as Odysseus? So
+should we have yet more ado, for then must we divide among
+us all his substance, and moreover give the house to his
+mother to possess it, and to him whosoever should wed her.'
+
+So spake they; but he stepped down into the vaulted
+treasure-chamber of his father, a spacious room, where gold
+and bronze lay piled, and raiment in coffers, and fragrant
+olive oil in plenty. And there stood casks of sweet wine
+and old, full of the unmixed drink divine, all orderly
+ranged by the wall, ready if ever Odysseus should come
+home, albeit after travail and much pain. And the
+close-fitted doors, the folding doors, were shut, and night
+and day there abode within a dame in charge, who guarded
+all in the fulness of her wisdom, Eurycleia, daughter of
+Ops son of Peisenor. Telemachus now called her into the
+chamber and spake unto her, saying:
+
+'Mother, come draw off for me sweet wine in jars, the
+choicest next to that thou keepest mindful ever of that
+ill-fated one, Odysseus, of the seed of Zeus, if perchance
+he may come I know not whence, having avoided death and the
+fates. So fill twelve jars, and close each with his lid,
+and pour me barley-meal into well-sewn skins, and let there
+be twenty measures of the grain of bruised barley-meal. Let
+none know this but thyself! As for these things let them
+all be got together; for in the evening I will take them
+with me, at the time that my mother hath gone to her upper
+chamber and turned her thoughts to sleep. Lo, to Sparta I
+go and to sandy Pylos to seek tidings of my dear father's
+return, if haply I may hear thereof.'
+
+So spake he, and the good nurse Eurycleia wailed aloud, and
+making lament spake to him winged words: 'Ah, wherefore,
+dear child, hath such a thought arisen in thine heart? How
+shouldst thou fare over wide lands, thou that art an only
+child and well-beloved? As for him he hath perished,
+Odysseus of the seed of Zeus, far from his own country in
+the land of strangers. And yonder men, so soon as thou art
+gone, will devise mischief against thee thereafter, that
+thou mayest perish by guile, and they will share among them
+all this wealth of thine. Nay, abide here, settled on thine
+own lands: thou hast no need upon the deep unharvested to
+suffer evil and go wandering.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Take heart,
+nurse, for lo, this my purpose came not but of a god. But
+swear to tell no word thereof to my dear mother, till at
+least it shall be the eleventh or twelfth day from hence,
+or till she miss me of herself, and hear of my departure,
+that so she may not mar her fair face with her tears.'
+
+Thus he spake, and the old woman sware a great oath by the
+gods not to reveal it. But when she had sworn and done that
+oath, straightway she drew off the wine for him in jars,
+and poured barley-meal into well-sewn skins, and Telemachus
+departed to the house and consorted with the wooers.
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, turned to other
+thoughts. In the likeness of Telemachus she went all
+through the city, and stood by each one of the men and
+spake her saying, and bade them gather at even by the swift
+ship. Furthermore, she craved a swift ship of Noemon,
+famous son of Phronius, and right gladly he promised it.
+
+Now the sun sank and all the ways were darkened. Then at
+length she let drag the swift ship to the sea and stored
+within it all such tackling as decked ships carry. And she
+moored it at the far end of the harbour and the good
+company was gathered together, and the goddess cheered on
+all.
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, turned to other
+thoughts. She went on her way to the house of divine
+Odysseus; and there she shed sweet sleep upon the wooers
+and made them distraught in their drinking, and cast the
+cups from their hands. And they arose up to go to rest
+throughout the city, nor sat they yet a long while, for
+slumber was falling on their eyelids. Now grey eyed Athene
+spake unto Telemachus, and called him from out the
+fair-lying halls, taking the likeness of Mentor, both in
+fashion and in voice:
+
+'Telemachus, thy goodly-greaved companions are sitting
+already at their oars, it is thy despatch they are
+awaiting. Nay then, let us go, that we delay them not long
+from the way.'
+
+Therewith Pallas Athene led the way quickly, and he
+followed hard in the steps of the goddess. Now when they
+had come down to the ship and to the sea, they found the
+long-haired youths of the company on the shore; and the
+mighty prince Telemachus spake among them:
+
+'Come hither, friends, let us carry the corn on board, for
+all is now together in the room, and my mother knows nought
+thereof, nor any of the maidens of the house: one woman
+only heard my saying.'
+
+Thus he spake and led the way, and they went with him. So
+they brought all and stowed it in the decked ship,
+according to the word of the dear son of Odysseus. Then
+Telemachus climbed the ship, and Athene went before him,
+and behold, she sat her down in the stern, and near her sat
+Telemachus. And the men loosed the hawsers and climbed on
+board themselves and sat down upon the benches. And
+grey-eyed Athene sent them a favourable gale, a fresh West
+Wind, singing over the wine-dark sea.
+
+And Telemachus called unto his company and bade them lay
+hands on the tackling, and they hearkened to his call. So
+they raised the mast of pine tree and set it in the hole of
+the cross plank, and made it fast with forestays, and
+hauled up the white sails with twisted ropes of oxhide. And
+the wind filled the belly of the sail, and the dark wave
+seethed loudly round the stem of the running ship, and she
+fleeted over the wave, accomplishing her path. Then they
+made all fast in the swift black ship, and set mixing bowls
+brimmed with wine, and poured drink offering to the
+deathless gods that are from everlasting, and in chief to
+the grey eyed daughter of Zeus. So all night long and
+through the dawn the ship cleft her way.
+
+
+
+Book III
+
+  Nestor entertains Telemachus at Pylos and tells him how the
+  Greeks departed from Troy; and sends him for further
+  information to Sparta.
+
+Now the sun arose and left the lovely mere, speeding to the
+brazen heaven, to give light to the immortals and to mortal
+men on the earth, the graingiver, and they reached Pylos,
+the stablished castle of Neleus. There the people were
+doing sacrifice on the sea shore, slaying black bulls
+without spot to the dark-haired god, the shaker of the
+earth. Nine companies there were, and five hundred men sat
+in each, and in every company they held nine bulls ready to
+hand. Just as they had tasted the inner parts, and were
+burning the slices of the thighs on the altar to the god,
+the others were bearing straight to land, and brailed up
+the sails of the gallant ship, and moored her, and
+themselves came forth. And Telemachus too stept forth from
+the ship, and Athene led the way. And the goddess,
+grey-eyed Athene, spake first to him, saying:
+
+'Telemachus, thou needst not now be abashed, no, not one
+whit. For to this very end didst thou sail over the deep,
+that thou mightest hear tidings of thy father, even where
+the earth closed over him, and what manner of death he met.
+But come now, go straight to Nestor, tamer of horses: let
+us learn what counsel he hath in the secret of his heart.
+And beseech him thyself that he may give unerring answer;
+and he will not lie to thee, for he is very wise.'
+
+The wise Telemachus answered, saying: 'Mentor, and how
+shall I go, how shall I greet him, I, who am untried in
+words of wisdom? Moreover a young man may well be abashed
+to question an elder.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again:
+'Telemachus, thou shalt bethink thee of somewhat in thine
+own breast, and somewhat the god will give thee to say. For
+thou, methinks, of all men wert not born and bred without
+the will of the gods.'
+
+So spake Pallas Athene and led the way quickly; and he
+followed hard in the steps of the goddess. And they came to
+the gathering and the session of the men of Pylos. There
+was Nestor seated with his sons, and round him his company
+making ready the feast, and roasting some of the flesh and
+spitting other. Now when they saw the strangers, they went
+all together, and clasped their hands in welcome, and would
+have them sit down. First Peisistratus, son of Nestor, drew
+nigh, and took the hands of each, and made them to sit down
+at the feast on soft fleeces upon the sea sand, beside his
+brother Thrasymedes and his father. And he gave them messes
+of the inner meat, and poured wine into a golden cup, and
+pledging her, he spake unto Pallas Athene, daughter of
+Zeus, lord of the aegis:
+
+'Pray now, my guest, to the lord Poseidon, even as it is
+his feast whereon ye have chanced in coming hither. And
+when thou hast made drink offering and prayed, as is due,
+give thy friend also the cup of honeyed wine to make
+offering thereof, inasmuch as he too, methinks, prayeth to
+the deathless gods, for all men stand in need of the gods.
+Howbeit he is younger and mine own equal in years,
+therefore to thee first will I give the golden chalice.'
+
+Therewith he placed in her hand the cup of sweet wine. And
+Athene rejoiced in the wisdom and judgment of the man, in
+that he had given to her first the chalice of gold. And
+straightway she prayed, and that instantly, to the lord
+Poseidon:
+
+'Hear me, Poseidon, girdler of the earth, and grudge not
+the fulfilment of this labour in answer to our prayer. To
+Nestor first and to his sons vouchsafe renown, and
+thereafter grant to all the people of Pylos a gracious
+recompense for this splendid hecatomb. Grant moreover that
+Telemachus and I may return, when we have accomplished that
+for which we came hither with our swift black ship.'
+
+Now as she prayed on this wise, herself the while was
+fulfilling the prayer. And she gave Telemachus the fair
+two-handled cup; and in like manner prayed the dear son of
+Odysseus. Then, when the others had roasted the outer parts
+and drawn them off the spits, they divided the messes and
+shared the glorious feast. But when they had put from them
+the desire of meat and drink, Nestor of Gerenia, lord of
+chariots, first spake among them:
+
+'Now is the better time to enquire and ask of the strangers
+who they are, now that they have had their delight of food.
+Strangers, who are ye? Whence sail ye over the wet ways? On
+some trading enterprise, or at adventure do ye rove, even
+as sea-robbers, over the brine, for they wander at hazard
+of their own lives bringing bale to alien men?'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him and spake with courage,
+for Athene herself had put boldness in his heart, that he
+might ask about his father who was afar, and that he might
+be had in good report among men:
+
+'Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, thou
+askest whence we are, and I will surely tell thee all. We
+have come forth out of Ithaca that is below Neion; and this
+our quest whereof I speak is a matter of mine own, and not
+of the common weal. I follow after the far-spread rumour of
+my father, if haply I may hear thereof, even of the goodly
+steadfast Odysseus, who upon a time, men say, fought by thy
+side and sacked the city of the Trojans. For of all the
+others, as many as warred with the Trojans, we hear
+tidings, and where each one fell by a pitiful death; but
+even the death of this man Cronion hath left untold. For
+none can surely declare the place where he hath perished,
+whether he was smitten by foemen on the mainland, or lost
+upon the deep among the waves of Amphitrite. So now am I
+come hither to thy knees, if perchance thou art willing to
+tell me of his pitiful death, as one that saw it with thine
+own eyes, or heard the story from some other wanderer,--
+for his mother bare him to exceeding sorrow. And speak me
+no soft words in ruth or pity, but tell me plainly what
+sight thou didst get of him. Ah! I pray thee, if ever at
+all my father, noble Odysseus, made promise to thee of word
+or work, and fulfilled the same in the land of the Trojans,
+where ye Achaeans suffered affliction; these things, I pray
+thee, now remember and tell me truth.'
+
+Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, answered him: 'My
+friend, since thou hast brought sorrow back to mind,
+behold, this is the story of the woe which we endured in
+that land, we sons of the Achaeans, unrestrained in fury,
+and of all that we bore in wanderings after spoil, sailing
+with our ships over the misty deep, wheresoever Achilles
+led; and of all our war round the mighty burg of king
+Priam. Yea and there the best of us were slain. There lies
+valiant Aias, and there Achilles, and there Patroclus, the
+peer of the gods in counsel, and there my own dear son,
+strong and noble, Antilochus, that excelled in speed of
+foot and in the fight. And many other ills we suffered
+beside these; who of mortal men could tell the tale? Nay
+none, though thou wert to abide here for five years, ay and
+for six, and ask of all the ills which the goodly Achaeans
+then endured. Ere all was told thou wouldst be weary and
+turn to thine own country. For nine whole years we were
+busy about them, devising their ruin with all manner of
+craft; and scarce did Cronion bring it to pass. There never
+a man durst match with him in wisdom, for goodly Odysseus
+very far outdid the rest in all manner of craft, Odysseus
+thy father, if indeed thou art his son,--amazement comes
+upon me as I look at thee; for verily thy speech is like
+unto his; none would say that a younger man would speak so
+like an elder. Now look you, all the while that myself and
+goodly Odysseus were there, we never spake diversely either
+in the assembly or in the council, but always were of one
+mind, and advised the Argives with understanding and sound
+counsel, how all might be for the very best. But after we
+had sacked the steep city of Priam, and had departed in our
+ships, and a god had scattered the Achaeans, even then did
+Zeus devise in his heart a pitiful returning for the
+Argives, for in no wise were they all discreet or just.
+Wherefore many of them met with an ill faring by reason of
+the deadly wrath of the grey-eyed goddess, the daughter of
+the mighty sire, who set debate between the two sons of
+Atreus. And they twain called to the gathering of the host
+all the Achaeans, recklessly and out of order, against the
+going down of the sun; and lo, the sons of the Achaeans
+came heavy with wine. And the Atreidae spake out and told
+the reason wherefore they had assembled the host. Then
+verily Menelaus charged all the Achaeans to bethink them of
+returning over the broad back of the sea, but in no sort
+did he please Agamemnon, whose desire was to keep back the
+host and to offer holy hecatombs, that so he might appease
+that dread wrath of Athene. Fool! for he knew not this,
+that she was never to be won; for the mind of the
+everlasting gods is not lightly turned to repentance. So
+these twain stood bandying hard words; but the
+goodly-greaved Achaeans sprang up with a wondrous din, and
+twofold counsels found favour among them. So that one night
+we rested, thinking hard things against each other, for
+Zeus was fashioning for us a ruinous doom. But in the
+morning, we of the one part drew our ships to the fair salt
+sea, and put aboard our wealth, and the low-girdled Trojan
+women. Now one half the people abode steadfastly there with
+Agamemnon, son of Atreus, shepherd of the host; and half of
+us embarked and drave to sea and swiftly the ships sailed,
+for a god made smooth the sea with the depths thereof. And
+when we came to Tenedos, we did sacrifice to the gods,
+being eager for the homeward way; but Zeus did not yet
+purpose our returning, nay, hard was he, that roused once
+more an evil strife among us. Then some turned back their
+curved ships, and went their way, even the company of
+Odysseus, the wise and manifold in counsel, once again
+showing a favour to Agamemnon, son of Atreus. But I fled on
+with the squadron that followed me, for I knew how now the
+god imagined mischief. And the warlike son of Tydeus fled
+and roused his men thereto. And late in our track came
+Menelaus of the fair hair, who found us in Lesbos,
+considering about the long voyage, whether we should go
+sea-ward of craggy Chios, by the isle of Psyria, keeping
+the isle upon our left, or inside Chios past windy Mimas.
+So we asked the god to show us a sign, and a sign he
+declared to us, and bade us cleave a path across the middle
+sea to Euboea, that we might flee the swiftest way from
+sorrow. And a shrill wind arose and blew, and the ships ran
+most fleetly over the teeming ways, and in the night they
+touched at Geraestus. So there we sacrificed many thighs of
+bulls to Poseidon, for joy that we had measured out so
+great a stretch of sea. It was the fourth day when the
+company of Diomede son of Tydeus, tamer of horses, moored
+their gallant ships at Argos; but I held on for Pylos, and
+the breeze was never quenched from the hour that the god
+sent it forth to blow. Even so I came, dear child, without
+tidings, nor know I aught of those others, which of the
+Achaeans were saved and which were lost. But all that I
+hear tell of as I sit in our halls, thou shalt learn as it
+is meet, and I will hide nothing from thee. Safely, they
+say, came the Myrmidons the wild spearsmen, whom the famous
+son of high-souled Achilles led; and safely Philoctetes,
+the glorious son of Poias. And Idomeneus brought all his
+company to Crete, all that escaped the war, and from him
+the sea gat none. And of the son of Atreus even yourselves
+have heard, far apart though ye dwell, how he came, and how
+Aegisthus devised his evil end; but verily he himself paid
+a terrible reckoning. So good a thing it is that a son of
+the dead should still be left, even as that son also took
+vengeance on the slayer of his father, guileful Aegisthus,
+who slew his famous sire. And thou too, my friend, for I
+see thee very comely and tall, be valiant, that even men
+unborn may praise thee.'
+
+And wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Nestor, son of
+Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, verily and indeed he
+avenged himself, and the Achaeans shall noise his fame
+abroad, that even those may hear who are yet for to be. Oh
+that the gods would clothe me with such strength as his,
+that I might take vengeance on the wooers for their cruel
+transgression, who wantonly devise against me infatuate
+deeds! But the gods have woven for me the web of no such
+weal, for me or for my sire. But now I must in any wise
+endure it.'
+
+Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, made answer:
+'Dear friend, seeing thou dost call these things to my
+remembrance and speak thereof, they tell me that many
+wooers for thy mother's hand plan mischief within the halls
+in thy despite. Say, dost thou willingly submit thee to
+oppression, or do the people through the land hate thee,
+obedient to the voice of a god? Who knows but that Odysseus
+may some day come and requite their violence, either
+himself alone or all the host of the Achaeans with him? Ah,
+if but grey-eyed Athene were inclined to love thee, as once
+she cared exceedingly for the renowned Odysseus in the land
+of the Trojans, where we Achaeans were sore afflicted, for
+never yet have I seen the gods show forth such manifest
+love, as then did Pallas Athene standing manifest by him,--
+if she would be pleased so to love thee and to care for
+thee, then might certain of them clean forget their
+marriage.'
+
+And wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Old man, in no
+wise methinks shall this word be accomplished. This is a
+hard saying of thine, awe comes over me. Not for my hopes
+shall this thing come to pass, not even if the gods so
+willed it.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again:
+'Telemachus, what word hath escaped the door of thy lips?
+Lightly might a god, if so he would, bring a man safe home
+even from afar. Rather myself would I have travail and much
+pain ere I came home and saw the day of my returning, than
+come back and straightway perish on my own hearth-stone,
+even as Agamemnon perished by guile at the hands of his own
+wife and of Aegisthus. But lo you, death, which is common
+to all, the very gods cannot avert even from the man they
+love, when the ruinous doom shall bring him low of death
+that lays men at their length.'
+
+And wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Mentor, no
+longer let us tell of these things, sorrowful though we be.
+There is none assurance any more of his returning, but
+already have the deathless gods devised for him death and
+black fate. But now I would question Nestor, and ask him of
+another matter, as one who above all men knows judgments
+and wisdom: for thrice, men say, he hath been king through
+the generations of men; yea, like an immortal he seems to
+me to look upon. Nestor, son of Neleus, now tell me true:
+how died the son of Atreus, Agamemnon of the wide domain?
+Where was Menelaus? What death did crafty Aegisthus plan
+for him, in that he killed a man more valiant far than he?
+Or was Menelaus not in Argos of Achaia but wandering
+elsewhere among men, and that other took heart and slew
+Agamemnon?'
+
+Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, answered him:
+'Yea now, my child, I will tell thee the whole truth.
+Verily thou guessest aright even of thyself how things
+would have fallen out, if Menelaus of the fair hair, the
+son of Atreus, when he came back from Troy, had found
+Aegisthus yet alive in the halls. Then even in his death
+would they not have heaped the piled earth over him, but
+dogs and fowls of the air would have devoured him as he lay
+on the plain far from the town. {*} Nor would any of the
+Achaean women have bewailed him; so dread was the deed he
+contrived. Now we sat in leaguer there, achieving many
+adventures; but he the while in peace in the heart of
+Argos, the pastureland of horses, spake ofttimes, tempting
+her, to the wife of Agamemnon. Verily at the first she
+would none of the foul deed, the fair Clytemnestra, for she
+had a good understanding. Moreover there was with her a
+minstrel, whom the son of Atreus straitly charged as he
+went to Troy to have a care of his wife. But when at last
+the doom of the gods bound her to her ruin, then did
+Aegisthus carry the minstrel to a lonely isle, and left him
+there to be the prey and spoil of birds; while as for her,
+he led her to his house, a willing lover with a willing
+lady. And he burnt many thigh slices upon the holy altars
+of the gods, and hung up many offerings, woven-work and
+gold, seeing that he had accomplished a great deed, beyond
+all hope. Now we, I say, were sailing together on our way
+from Troy, the son of Atreus and I, as loving friends. But
+when we had reached holy Sunium, the headland of Athens,
+there Phoebus Apollo slew the pilot of Menelaus with the
+visitation of his gentle shafts, as he held between his
+hands the rudder of the running ship, even Phrontis, son of
+Onetor, who excelled the tribes of men in piloting a ship,
+whenso the storm-winds were hurrying by. Thus was Menelaus
+holden there, though eager for the way, till he might bury
+his friend and pay the last rites over him. But when he in
+his turn, faring over the wine-dark sea in hollow ships,
+reached in swift course the steep mount of Malea, then it
+was that Zeus of the far-borne voice devised a hateful
+path, and shed upon them the breath of the shrill winds,
+and great swelling waves arose like unto mountains. There
+sundered he the fleet in twain, and part thereof he brought
+nigh to Crete, where the Cydonians dwelt about the streams
+of Iardanus. Now there is a certain cliff, smooth and sheer
+towards the sea, on the border of Gortyn, in the misty
+deep, where the South-West Wind drives a great wave against
+the left headland, towards Phaestus, and a little rock
+keeps back the mighty water. Thither came one part of the
+fleet, and the men scarce escaped destruction, but the
+ships were broken by the waves against the rock; while
+those other five dark-prowed ships the wind and the water
+bare and brought nigh to Egypt. Thus Menelaus, gathering
+much livelihood and gold, was wandering there with his
+ships among men of strange speech, and even then Aegisthus
+planned that pitiful work at home. And for seven years he
+ruled over Mycenae, rich in gold, after he slew the son of
+Atreus, and the people were subdued unto him. But in the
+eighth year came upon him goodly Orestes back from Athens
+to be his bane, and slew the slayer of his father, guileful
+Aegisthus, who killed his famous sire. Now when he had
+slain him, he made a funeral feast to the Argives over his
+hateful mother, and over the craven Aegisthus. And on the
+selfsame day there came to him Menelaus of the loud
+war-cry, bringing much treasure, even all the freight of
+his ships. So thou, my friend, wander not long far away
+from home, leaving thy substance behind thee and men in thy
+house so wanton, lest they divide and utterly devour all
+thy wealth, and thou shalt have gone on a vain journey.
+Rather I bid and command thee to go to Menelaus, for he
+hath lately come from a strange country, from the land of
+men whence none would hope in his heart to return, whom
+once the storms have driven wandering into so wide a sea.
+Thence not even the birds can make their way in the space
+of one year, so great a sea it is and terrible. But go now
+with thy ship and with thy company, or if thou hast a mind
+to fare by land, I have a chariot and horses at thy
+service, yea and my sons to do thy will, who will be thy
+guides to goodly Lacedaemon, where is Menelaus of the fair
+hair. Do thou thyself entreat him, that he may give thee
+unerring answer. He will not lie to thee, for he is very
+wise.'
+
+{* Reading [Greek]. v. 1. '[Greek], which must be wrong.}
+
+Thus he spake, and the sun went down and darkness came on.
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake among them,
+saying: 'Yea, old man, thou hast told all this thy tale
+aright. But come, cut up the tongues of the victims and mix
+the wine, that we may pour forth before Poseidon and the
+other deathless gods, and so may bethink us of sleep, for
+it is the hour for sleep. For already has the light gone
+beneath the west, and it is not seemly to sit long at a
+banquet of the gods, but to be going home.'
+
+So spake the daughter of Zeus, and they hearkened to her
+voice. And the henchmen poured water over their hands, and
+pages crowned the mixing bowls with drink, and served out
+the wine to all, after they had first poured for libation
+into each cup in turn; and they cast the tongues upon the
+fire, and stood up and poured the drink-offering thereon.
+But when they had poured forth and had drunken to their
+heart's content, Athene and godlike Telemachus were both
+set on returning to the hollow ship; but Nestor would have
+stayed them, and accosted them, saying: 'Zeus forfend it,
+and all the other deathless gods, that ye should depart
+from my house to the swift ship, as from the dwelling of
+one that is utterly without raiment or a needy man, who
+hath not rugs or blankets many in his house whereon to
+sleep softly, he or his guests. Nay not so, I have rugs and
+fair blankets by me. Never, methinks, shall the dear son of
+this man, even of Odysseus, lay him down upon the ship's
+deck, while as yet I am alive, and my children after me are
+left in my hall to entertain strangers, whoso may chance to
+come to my house.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again:
+'Yea, herein hast thou spoken aright, dear father: and
+Telemachus may well obey thee, for before all things this
+is meet. Behold, he shall now depart with thee, that he may
+sleep in thy halls; as for me I will go to the black ship,
+that I may cheer my company and tell them all. For I avow
+me to be the one elder among them; those others are but
+younger men, who follow for love of him, all of them of
+like age with the high-souled Telemachus. There will I lay
+me down by the black hollow ship this night; but in the
+morning I will go to the Cauconians high of heart, where
+somewhat of mine is owing to me, no small debt nor of
+yesterday. But do thou send this man upon his way with thy
+chariot and thy son, since he hath come to thy house, and
+give him horses the lightest of foot and chief in
+strength.'
+
+Therewith grey-eyed Athene departed in the semblance of a
+sea-eagle; and amazement fell on all that saw it, and the
+old man he marvelled when his eyes beheld it. And he took
+the hand of Telemachus and spake and hailed him:
+
+'My friend, methinks that thou wilt in no sort be a coward
+and a weakling, if indeed in thy youth the gods thus follow
+with thee to be thy guides. For truly this is none other of
+those who keep the mansions of Olympus, save only the
+daughter of Zeus, the driver of the spoil, the maiden
+Trito-born, she that honoured thy good father too among the
+Argives. Nay be gracious, queen, and vouchsafe a goodly
+fame to me, even to me and to my sons and to my wife
+revered. And I in turn will sacrifice to thee a yearling
+heifer, broad of brow, unbroken, which man never yet hath
+led beneath the yoke. Such an one will I offer to thee, and
+gild her horns with gold.'
+
+Even so he spake in prayer, and Pallas Athene heard him.
+Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, led them, even
+his sons and the husbands of his daughters, to his own fair
+house. But when they had reached this prince's famous
+halls, they sat down all orderly on seats and high chairs;
+and when they were come, the old man mixed well for them a
+bowl of sweet wine, which now in the eleventh year from the
+vintaging the housewife opened, and unloosed the string
+that fastened the lid. The old man let mix a bowl thereof,
+and prayed instantly to Athene as he poured forth before
+her, even to the daughter of Zeus, lord of the aegis.
+
+But after they had poured forth and had drunken to their
+heart's content, these went each one to his own house to
+lie down to rest. But Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots,
+would needs have Telemachus, son of divine Odysseus, to
+sleep there on a jointed bedstead beneath the echoing
+gallery, and by him Peisistratus of the good ashen spear,
+leader of men, who alone of his sons was yet unwed in his
+halls. As for him he slept within the inmost chamber of the
+lofty house, and the lady his wife arrayed for him bedstead
+and bedding.
+
+So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered,
+Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, gat him up from his
+bed, and he went forth and sat him down upon the smooth
+stones, which were before his lofty doors, all polished,
+white and glistening, whereon Neleus sat of old, in counsel
+the peer of the gods. Howbeit, stricken by fate, he had ere
+now gone down to the house of Hades, and to-day Nestor of
+Gerenia in his turn sat thereon, warder of the Achaeans,
+with his staff in his hands. And about him his sons were
+gathered and come together, issuing from their chambers,
+Echephron and Stratius, and Perseus and Aretus and the
+godlike Thrasymedes. And sixth and last came the hero
+Peisistratus. And they led godlike Telemachus and set him
+by their side, and Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots,
+spake first among them:
+
+'Quickly, my dear children, accomplish my desire, that
+first of all the gods I may propitiate Athene, who came to
+me in visible presence to the rich feast of the god. Nay
+then, let one go to the plain for a heifer, that she may
+come as soon as may be, and that the neat-herd may drive
+her: and let another go to the black ship of high-souled
+Telemachus to bring all his company, and let him leave two
+men only. And let one again bid Laerces the goldsmith to
+come hither that he may gild the horns of the heifer. And
+ye others, abide ye here together and speak to the
+handmaids within that they make ready a banquet through our
+famous halls, and fetch seats and logs to set about the
+altar, and bring clear water.'
+
+Thus he spake and lo, they all hastened to the work. The
+heifer she came from the field, and from the swift gallant
+ship came the company of great-hearted Telemachus; the
+smith came holding in his hands his tools, the instruments
+of his craft, anvil and hammer and well-made pincers,
+wherewith he wrought the gold; Athene too came to receive
+her sacrifice. And the old knight Nestor gave gold, and the
+other fashioned it skilfully, and gilded therewith the
+horns of the heifer, that the goddess might be glad at the
+sight of her fair offering. And Stratius and goodly
+Echephron led the heifer by the horns. And Aretus came
+forth from the chamber bearing water for the washing of
+hands in a basin of flowered work, and in the other hand he
+held the barley-meal in a basket; and Thrasymedes,
+steadfast in the battle, stood by holding in his hand a
+sharp axe, ready to smite the heifer. And Perseus held the
+dish for the blood, and the old man Nestor, driver of
+chariots, performed the first rite of the washing of hands
+and the sprinkling of the meal, and he prayed instantly to
+Athene as he began the rite, casting into the fire the lock
+from the head of the victim.
+
+Now when they had prayed and tossed the sprinkled grain,
+straightway the son of Nestor, gallant Thrasymedes, stood
+by and struck the blow; and the axe severed the tendons of
+the neck and loosened the might of the heifer; and the
+women raised their cry, the daughters and the sons' wives
+and the wife revered of Nestor, Eurydice, eldest of the
+daughters of Clymenus. And now they lifted the victim's
+head from the wide-wayed earth, and held it so, while
+Peisistratus, leader of men, cut the throat. And after the
+black blood had gushed forth and the life had left the
+bones, quickly they broke up the body, and anon cut slices
+from the thighs all duly, and wrapt the same in the fat,
+folding them double, and laid raw flesh thereon. So that
+old man burnt them on the cleft wood, and poured over them
+the red wine, and by his side the young men held in their
+hands the five-pronged forks. Now after that the thighs
+were quite consumed and they had tasted the inner parts,
+they cut the rest up small and spitted and roasted it,
+holding the sharp spits in their hands.
+
+Meanwhile she bathed Telemachus, even fair Polycaste, the
+youngest daughter of Nestor, son of Neleus. And after she
+had bathed him and anointed him with olive oil, and cast
+about him a goodly mantle and a doublet, he came forth from
+the bath in fashion like the deathless gods. So he went and
+sat him down by Nestor, shepherd of the people.
+
+Now when they had roasted the outer flesh, and drawn it off
+the spits, they sat down and fell to feasting, and
+honourable men waited on them, pouring wine into the golden
+cups. But when they had put from them the desire of meat
+and drink, Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, first spake
+among them:
+
+'Lo now, my sons, yoke for Telemachus horses with flowing
+mane and lead them beneath the car, that he may get forward
+on his way.'
+
+Even so he spake, and they gave good heed and hearkened;
+and quickly they yoked the swift horses beneath the
+chariot. And the dame that kept the stores placed therein
+corn and wine and dainties, such as princes eat, the
+fosterlings of Zeus. So Telemachus stept up into the goodly
+car, and with him Peisistratus son of Nestor, leader of
+men, likewise climbed the car and grasped the reins in his
+hands, and he touched the horses with the whip to start
+them, and nothing loth the pair flew towards the plain, and
+left the steep citadel of Pylos. So all day long they
+swayed the yoke they bore upon their necks.
+
+Now the sun sank and all the ways were darkened. And they
+came to Pherae, to the house of Diocles, son of Orsilochus,
+the child begotten of Alpheus. There they rested for the
+night, and by them he set the entertainment of strangers.
+
+Now so soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered,
+they yoked the horses and mounted the inlaid car. And forth
+they drave from the gateway and the echoing gallery, and
+Peisistratus touched the horses with the whip to start
+them, and the pair flew onward nothing loth. So they came
+to the wheat-bearing plain, and thenceforth they pressed
+toward the end: in such wise did the swift horses speed
+forward. Now the sun sank and all the ways were darkened.
+
+
+
+Book IV
+
+  Telemachus' entertainment at Sparta, where Menelaus tells
+  him what befell many of the Greeks on their return; that
+  Odysseus was with Calypso in the isle Ogygia, as he was
+  told by Proteus.
+
+And they came to Lacedaemon lying low among the caverned
+hills, and drave to the dwelling of renowned Menelaus. Him
+they found giving a feast in his house to many friends of
+his kin, a feast for the wedding of his noble son and
+daughter. His daughter he was sending to the son of
+Achilles, cleaver of the ranks of men, for in Troy he first
+had promised and covenanted to give her, and now the gods
+were bringing about their marriage. So now he was speeding
+her on her way with chariot and horses, to the famous city
+of the Myrmidons, among whom her lord bare rule. And for
+his son he was bringing to his home the daughter of Alector
+out of Sparta, for his well-beloved son, strong
+Megapenthes, {*} born of a slave woman, for the gods no
+more showed promise of seed to Helen, from the day that she
+bare a lovely child, Hermione, as fair as golden Aphrodite.
+So they were feasting through the great vaulted hall, the
+neighbours and the kinsmen of renowned Menelaus, making
+merry; and among them a divine minstrel was singing to the
+lyre, and as he began the song two tumblers in the company
+whirled through the midst of them.
+
+{* A son of sorrow: Tristram.}
+
+Meanwhile those twain, the hero Telemachus and the splendid
+son of Nestor, made halt at the entry of the gate, they and
+their horses. And the lord Eteoneus came forth and saw
+them, the ready squire of renowned Menelaus; and he went
+through the palace to bear the tidings to the shepherd of
+the people, and standing near spake to him winged words:
+
+'Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, here are two strangers,
+whosoever they be, two men like to the lineage of great
+Zeus. Say, shall we loose their swift horses from under the
+yoke, or send them onward to some other host who shall
+receive them kindly?'
+
+Then in sore displeasure spake to him Menelaus of the fair
+hair: 'Eteoneus son of Boethous, truly thou wert not a fool
+aforetime, but now for this once, like a child thou talkest
+folly. Surely ourselves ate much hospitable cheer of other
+men, ere we twain came hither, even if in time to come Zeus
+haply give us rest from affliction. Nay go, unyoke the
+horses of the strangers, and as for the men, lead them
+forward to the house to feast with us.'
+
+So spake he, and Eteoneus hasted from the hall, and called
+the other ready squires to follow with him. So they loosed
+the sweating horses from beneath the yoke, and fastened
+them at the stalls of the horses, and threw beside them
+spelt, and therewith mixed white barley, and tilted the
+chariot against the shining faces of the gateway, and led
+the men into the hall divine. And they beheld and marvelled
+as they gazed throughout the palace of the king, the
+fosterling of Zeus; for there was a gleam as it were of sun
+or moon through the lofty palace of renowned Menelaus. But
+after they had gazed their fill, they went to the polished
+baths and bathed them. Now when the maidens had bathed them
+and anointed them with olive oil, and cast about them thick
+cloaks and doublets, they sat on chairs by Menelaus, son of
+Atreus. And a handmaid bare water for the hands in a goodly
+golden ewer, and poured it forth over a silver basin to
+wash withal; and to their side she drew a polished table,
+and a grave dame bare food and set it by them, and laid
+upon the board many dainties, giving freely of such things
+as she had by her, and a carver lifted and placed by them
+platters of divers kinds of flesh, and nigh them he set
+golden bowls. So Menelaus of the fair hair greeted the
+twain and spake:
+
+'Taste ye food and be glad, and thereafter when ye have
+supped, we will ask what men ye are; for the blood of your
+parents is not lost in you, but ye are of the line of men
+that are sceptred kings, the fosterlings of Zeus; for no
+churls could beget sons like you.'
+
+So spake he, and took and set before them the fat ox-chine
+roasted, which they had given him as his own mess by way of
+honour. And they stretched forth their hands upon the good
+cheer set before them. Now when they had put from them the
+desire of meat and drink Telemachus spake to the son of
+Nestor, holding his head close to him, that those others
+might not hear:
+
+'Son of Nestor, delight of my heart, mark the flashing of
+bronze through the echoing halls, and the flashing of gold
+and of amber and of silver and of ivory. Such like,
+methinks, is the court of Olympian Zeus within, for the
+world of things that are here; wonder comes over me as I
+look thereon.'
+
+And as he spake Menelaus of the fair hair was ware of him,
+and uttering his voice spake to them winged words:
+
+'Children dear, of a truth no one of mortal men may contend
+with Zeus, for his mansions and his treasures are
+everlasting: but of men there may be who will vie with me
+in treasure, or there may be none. Yea, for after many a
+woe and wanderings manifold, I brought my wealth home in
+ships, and in the eighth year came hither. I roamed over
+Cyprus and Phoenicia and Egypt, and reached the Aethiopians
+and Sidonians and Erembi and Libya, where lambs are horned
+from the birth. For there the ewes yean thrice within the
+full circle of a year; there neither lord nor shepherd
+lacketh aught of cheese or flesh or of sweet milk, but ever
+the flocks yield store of milk continual. While I was yet
+roaming in those lands, gathering much livelihood, meantime
+another slew my brother privily, at unawares, by the guile
+of his accursed wife. Thus, look you, I have no joy of my
+lordship among these my possessions: and ye are like to
+have heard hereof from your fathers, whosoever they be, for
+I have suffered much and let a house go to ruin that was
+stablished fair, and had in it much choice substance. I
+would that I had but a third part of those my riches, and
+dwelt in my halls, and that those men were yet safe, who
+perished of old in the wide land of Troy, far from Argos,
+the pastureland of horses. Howbeit, though I bewail them
+all and sorrow oftentimes as I sit in our halls,--awhile
+indeed I satisfy my soul with lamentation, and then again I
+cease; for soon hath man enough of chill lamentation--yet
+for them all I make no such dole, despite my grief, as for
+one only, who causes me to loathe both sleep and meat, when
+I think upon him. For no one of the Achaeans toiled so
+greatly as Odysseus toiled and adventured himself: but to
+him it was to be but labour and trouble, and to me grief
+ever comfortless for his sake, so long he is afar, nor know
+we aught, whether he be alive or dead. Yea methinks they
+lament him, even that old Laertes and the constant Penelope
+and Telemachus, whom he left a child new-born in his
+house.'
+
+So spake he, and in the heart of Telemachus he stirred a
+yearning to lament his father; and at his father's name he
+let a tear fall from his eyelids to the ground, and held up
+his purple mantle with both his hands before his eyes. And
+Menelaus marked him and mused in his mind and his heart
+whether he should leave him to speak of his father, or
+first question him and prove him in every word.
+
+While yet he pondered these things in his mind and in his
+heart, Helen came forth from her fragrant vaulted chamber,
+like Artemis of the golden arrows; and with her came
+Adraste and set for her the well-wrought chair, and Alcippe
+bare a rug of soft wool, and Phylo bare a silver basket
+which Alcandre gave her, the wife of Polybus, who dwelt in
+Thebes of Egypt, where is the chiefest store of wealth in
+the houses. He gave two silver baths to Menelaus, and
+tripods twain, ad ten talents of gold. And besides all
+this, his wife bestowed on Helen lovely gifts; a golden
+distaff did she give, and a silver basket with wheels
+beneath, and the rims thereof were finished with gold. This
+it was that the handmaid Phylo bare and set beside her,
+filled with dressed yarn, and across it was laid a distaff
+charged with wool of violet blue. So Helen sat her down in
+the chair, and beneath was a footstool for the feet. And
+anon she spake to her lord and questioned him of each
+thing:
+
+'Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, know we now who these men
+avow themselves to be that have come under our roof? Shall
+I dissemble or shall I speak the truth? Nay, I am minded to
+tell it. None, I say, have I ever yet seen so like another,
+man or woman--wonder comes over me as I look on him--as
+this man is like the son of great-hearted Odysseus,
+Telemachus, whom he left a new born child in his house,
+when for the sake of me, shameless woman that I was, ye
+Achaeans came up under Troy with bold war in your hearts.'
+
+And Menelaus of the fair hair answered her, saying: 'Now I
+too, lady, mark the likeness even as thou tracest it. For
+such as these were his feet, such his hands, and the
+glances of his eyes, and his head, and his hair withal.
+Yea, and even now I was speaking of Odysseus, as I
+remembered him, of all his woeful travail for my sake;
+when, lo, he let fall a bitter tear beneath his brows, and
+held his purple cloak up before his eyes.'
+
+And Peisistratus, son of Nestor, answered him, saying:
+'Menelaus, son of Atreus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the
+host, assuredly this is the son of that very man, even as
+thou sayest. But he is of a sober wit, and thinketh it
+shame in his heart as on this his first coming to make show
+of presumptuous words in the presence of thee, in whose
+voice we twain delight as in the voice of a god. Now Nestor
+of Gerenia, lord of chariots, sent me forth to be his guide
+on the way: for he desired to see thee that thou mightest
+put into his heart some word or work. For a son hath many
+griefs in his halls when his father is away, if perchance
+he hath none to stand by him. Even so it is now with
+Telemachus; his father is away, nor hath he others in the
+township to defend him from distress.'
+
+And Menelaus of the fair hair answered him, and said: 'Lo
+now, in good truth there has come unto my house the son of
+a friend indeed, who for my sake endured many adventures.
+And I thought to welcome him on his coming more nobly than
+all the other Argives, if but Olympian Zeus, of the
+far-borne voice, had vouchsafed us a return over the sea in
+our swift ships,--that such a thing should be. And in Argos
+I would have given him a city to dwell in, and stablished
+for him a house, and brought him forth from Ithaca with his
+substance and his son and all his people, making one city
+desolate of those that lie around, and are in mine own
+domain. Then ofttimes would we have held converse here, and
+nought would have parted us, the welcoming and the
+welcomed, {*} ere the black cloud of death overshadowed us.
+Howsoever, the god himself, methinks, must have been
+jealous hereof, who from that hapless man alone cut off his
+returning.'
+
+{* Mr. Evelyn Abbott of Balliol College has suggested to us
+that [Greek] and [Greek] are here correlatives, and denote
+respectively the parts of host and of guest. This is
+sufficiently borne out by the usage of the words
+elsewhere.}
+
+So spake he, and in the hearts of all he stirred the desire
+of lamentation. She wept, even Argive Helen the daughter of
+Zeus, and Telemachus wept, and Menelaus the son of Atreus;
+nay, nor did the son of Nestor keep tearless eyes. For he
+bethought him in his heart of noble Antilochus, whom the
+glorious son of the bright Dawn had slain. Thinking upon
+him he spake winged words:
+
+'Son of Atreus, the ancient Nestor in his own halls was
+ever wont to say that thou wert wise beyond man's wisdom,
+whensoever we made mention of thee and asked one another
+concerning thee. And now, if it be possible, be persuaded
+by me, who for one have no pleasure in weeping at supper
+time--the new-born day will right soon be upon us. {*} Not
+indeed that I deem it blame at all to weep for any mortal
+who hath died and met his fate. Lo, this is now the only
+due we pay to miserable men, to cut the hair and let the
+tear fall from the cheek. For I too have a brother dead,
+nowise the meanest of the Argives, and thou art like to
+have known him, for as for me I never encountered him,
+never beheld him. But men say that Antilochus outdid all,
+being excellent in speed of foot and in the fight.'
+
+{* Cf. B. xv.50}
+
+And Menelaus of the fair hair answered him, and said: 'My
+friend, lo, thou hast said all that a wise man might say or
+do, yea, and an elder than thou;--for from such a sire too
+thou art sprung, wherefore thou dost even speak wisely.
+Right easily known is that man's seed, for whom Cronion
+weaves the skein of luck at bridal and at birth: even as
+now hath he granted prosperity to Nestor for ever for all
+his days, that he himself should grow into a smooth old age
+in his halls, and his sons moreover should be wise and the
+best of spearsmen. But we will cease now the weeping which
+was erewhile made, and let us once more bethink us of our
+supper, and let them pour water over our hands. And again
+in the morning there will be tales for Telemachus and me to
+tell one to the other, even to the end.'
+
+So spake he, and Asphalion poured water over their hands,
+the ready squire of renowned Menelaus. And they put forth
+their hands upon the good cheer spread before them.
+
+Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, turned to new thoughts.
+Presently she cast a drug into the wine whereof they drank,
+a drug to lull all pain and anger, and bring forgetfulness
+of every sorrow. Whoso should drink a draught thereof, when
+it is mingled in the bowl, on that day he would let no tear
+fall down his cheeks, not though his mother and his father
+died, not though men slew his brother or dear son with the
+sword before his face, and his own eyes beheld it.
+Medicines of such virtue and so helpful had the daughter of
+Zeus, which Polydamna, the wife of Thon, had given her, a
+woman of Egypt, where earth the grain-giver yields herbs in
+greatest plenty, many that are healing in the cup, and many
+baneful. There each man is a leech skilled beyond all human
+kind; yea, for they are of the race of Paeeon. Now after
+she had cast in the drug and bidden pour forth of the wine,
+she made answer once again, and spake unto her lord:
+
+'Son of Atreus, Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, and lo, ye
+sons of noble men, forasmuch as now to one and now to
+another Zeus gives good and evil, for to him all things are
+possible,--now, verily, sit ye down and feast in the halls,
+and take ye joy in the telling of tales, and I will tell
+you one that fits the time. Now all of them I could not
+tell or number, so many as were the adventures of Odysseus
+of the hardy heart; but, ah, what a deed was this he
+wrought and dared in his hardiness in the land of the
+Trojans, where ye Achaeans suffered affliction. He subdued
+his body with unseemly stripes, and a sorry covering he
+cast about his shoulders, and in the fashion of a servant
+he went down into the wide-wayed city of the foemen, and he
+hid himself in the guise of another, a beggar, though in no
+wise such an one was he at the ships of the Achaeans. In
+this semblance he passed into the city of the Trojans, and
+they wist not who he was, and I alone knew him in that
+guise, and I kept questioning him, but in his subtlety he
+avoided me. But when at last I was about washing him and
+anointing him with olive oil, and had put on him raiment,
+and sworn a great oath not to reveal Odysseus amid the
+Trojans, ere he reached the swift ships and the huts, even
+then he told me all the purpose of the Achaeans. And after
+slaying many of the Trojans with the long sword, he
+returned to the Argives and brought back word again of all.
+Then the other Trojan women wept aloud, but my soul was
+glad, for already my heart was turned to go back again even
+to my home: and now at the last I groaned for the blindness
+that Aphrodite gave me, when she led me thither away from
+mine own country, forsaking my child and my bridal chamber
+and my lord, that lacked not aught whether for wisdom or
+yet for beauty.'
+
+And Menelaus of the fair hair answered her, saying: 'Verily
+all this tale, lady, thou hast duly told. Ere now have I
+learned the counsel and the thought of many heroes, and
+travelled over many a land, but never yet have mine eyes
+beheld any such man of heart as was Odysseus; such another
+deed as he wrought and dared in his hardiness even in the
+shapen horse, wherein sat all we chiefs of the Argives,
+bearing to the Trojans death and doom. Anon thou camest
+thither, and sure some god must have bidden thee, who
+wished to bring glory to the Trojans. Yea and godlike
+Deiphobus went with thee on thy way. Thrice thou didst go
+round about the hollow ambush and handle it, calling aloud
+on the chiefs of the Argives by name, and making thy voice
+like the voices of the wives of all the Argives. Now I and
+the son of Tydeus and goodly Odysseus sat in the midst and
+heard thy call; and verily we twain had a desire to start
+up and come forth or presently to answer from within; but
+Odysseus stayed and held us there, despite our eagerness.
+Then all the other sons of the Achaeans held their peace,
+but Anticlus alone was still minded to answer thee. Howbeit
+Odysseus firmly closed his mouth with strong hands, and so
+saved all the Achaeans, and held him until such time as
+Pallas Athene led thee back.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Menelaus, son
+of Atreus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the host, all the
+more grievous it is! for in no way did this courage ward
+from him pitiful destruction, not though his heart within
+him had been very iron. But come, bid us to bed, that
+forthwith we may take our joy of rest beneath the spell of
+sleep.'
+
+So spake he, and Argive Helen bade her handmaids set out
+bedsteads beneath the gallery, and fling on them fair
+purple blankets and spread coverlets above, and thereon lay
+thick mantles to be a clothing over all. So they went from
+the hall with torch in hand, and spread the beds, and the
+henchman led forth the guests. Thus they slept there in the
+vestibule of the house, the hero Telemachus and the
+splendid son of Nestor. But the son of Atreus slept, as his
+custom was, in the inmost chamber of the lofty house, and
+by him lay long-robed Helen, that fair lady.
+
+Soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, Menelaus
+of the loud war-shout gat him up from his bed and put on
+his raiment, and cast his sharp sword about his shoulder,
+and beneath his smooth feet bound his goodly sandals, and
+stept forth from his chamber, in presence like a god, and
+sat by Telemachus, and spake and hailed him:
+
+'To what end hath thy need brought thee hither, hero
+Telemachus, unto fair Lacedaemon, over the broad back of
+the sea? Is it a matter of the common weal or of thine own?
+Herein tell me the plain truth.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Menelaus, son
+of Atreus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the host, I have
+come if perchance thou mayest tell me some tidings of my
+father. My dwelling is being devoured and my fat lands are
+ruined, and of unfriendly men my house is full,--who
+slaughter continually my thronging flocks, and my kine with
+trailing feet and shambling gait,--none other than the
+wooers of my mother, despiteful out of measure. So now am I
+come hither to thy knees, if haply thou art willing to tell
+me of his pitiful death, as one that saw it perchance with
+thine own eyes, or heard the story from some other
+wanderer; for his mother bare him to exceeding sorrow. And
+speak me no soft words in ruth or pity, but tell me plainly
+how thou didst get sight of him. Ah, I pray thee, if ever
+at all my father, good Odysseus, made promise to thee of
+word or work and fulfilled the same in the land of the
+Trojans, where ye Achaeans suffered affliction, these
+things, I pray thee, now remember and tell me truth.'
+
+Then in heavy displeasure spake to him Menelaus of the fair
+hair: 'Out upon them, for truly in the bed of a
+brave-hearted man were they minded to lie, very cravens as
+they are! Even as when a hind hath couched her newborn
+fawns unweaned in a strong lion's lair, and searcheth out
+the mountain knees and grassy hollows, seeking pasture, and
+afterward the lion cometh back to his bed, and sendeth
+forth unsightly death upon that pair, even so shall
+Odysseus send forth unsightly death upon the wooers. Would
+to our father Zeus and Athene and Apollo, would that in
+such might as when of old in stablished Lesbos he rose up
+and wrestled a match with Philomeleides and threw him
+mightily, and all the Achaeans rejoiced; would that in such
+strength Odysseus might consort with the wooers: then
+should they all have swift fate, and bitter wedlock! But
+for that whereof thou askest and entreatest me, be sure I
+will not swerve from the truth in aught that I say, nor
+deceive thee; but of all that the ancient one of the sea,
+whose speech is sooth, declared to me, not a word will I
+hide or keep from thee.
+
+'In the river Aegyptus, {*} though eager I was to press
+onward home, the gods they stayed me, for that I had not
+offered them the acceptable sacrifice of hecatombs, and the
+gods ever desired that men should be mindful of their
+commandments. Now there is an island in the wash of the
+waves over against Aegyptus, and men call it Pharos, within
+one day's voyage of a hollow ship, when shrill winds blow
+fair in her wake. And therein is a good haven, whence men
+launch the gallant ships into the deep when they have drawn
+a store of deep black water. There the gods held me twenty
+days, nor did the sea-winds ever show their breath, they
+that serve to waft ships over the broad back of the sea.
+And now would all our corn have been spent, and likewise
+the strength of the men, except some goddess had taken pity
+on me and saved me, Eidothee, daughter of mighty Proteus,
+the ancient one of the sea. For most of all I moved her
+heart, when she met me wandering alone apart from my
+company, who were ever roaming round the isle, fishing with
+bent hooks, for hunger was gnawing at their belly. So she
+stood by, and spake and uttered her voice saying:
+
+{* The only name for the Nile in Homer. Cf. Wilkinson,
+Ancient Egyptians (1878), vol. i. p. 7.}
+
+'"Art thou so very foolish, stranger, and feeble-witted, or
+art thou wilfully remiss, and hast pleasure in suffering?
+So long time art thou holden in the isle and canst find no
+issue therefrom, while the heart of thy company faileth
+within them?"
+
+'Even so she spake, and I answered her saying: "I will
+speak forth, what goddess soever thou art, and tell thee
+that in no wise am I holden here by mine own will, but it
+needs must be that I have sinned against the deathless
+gods, who keep the wide heaven. Howbeit, do thou tell
+me--for the gods know all things--which of the immortals it
+is that binds me here and hath hindered me from my way, and
+declare as touching my returning how I may go over the
+teeming deep."
+
+'So I spake, and straightway the fair goddess made answer:
+"Yea now, sir, I will plainly tell thee all. Hither
+resorteth that ancient one of the sea, whose speech is
+sooth, the deathless Egyptian Proteus, who knows the depths
+of every sea, and is the thrall of Poseidon, and who, they
+say, is my father that begat me. If thou couldst but lay an
+ambush and catch him, he will surely declare to thee the
+way and the measure of thy path, and will tell thee of thy
+returning, how thou mayest go over the teeming deep. Yea,
+and he will show thee, O fosterling of Zeus, if thou wilt,
+what good thing and what evil hath been wrought in thy
+halls, whilst thou has been faring this long and grievous
+way."
+
+'So she spake, but I answered and said unto her: "Devise
+now thyself the ambush to take this ancient one divine,
+lest by any chance he see me first, or know of my coming,
+and avoid me. For a god is hard for mortal man to quell."
+
+'So spake I, and straightway the fair goddess made answer:
+"Yea now, sir, I will plainly tell thee all. So often as
+the sun in his course stands high in mid heaven, then forth
+from the brine comes the ancient one of the sea, whose
+speech is sooth, before the breath of the West Wind he
+comes, and the sea's dark ripple covers him. And when he is
+got forth, he lies down to sleep in the hollow of the
+caves. And around him the seals, the brood of the fair
+daughter of the brine, sleep all in a flock, stolen forth
+from the grey sea water, and bitter is the scent they
+breathe of the deeps of the salt sea. There will I lead
+thee at the breaking of the day, and couch you all orderly;
+so do thou choose diligently three of thy company, the best
+thou hast in thy decked ships. And I will tell thee all the
+magic arts of that old man. First, he will number the seals
+and go over them; but when he has told their tale and
+beheld them, he will lay him down in the midst, as a
+shepherd mid the sheep of his flock. So soon as ever ye
+shall see him couched, even then mind you of your might and
+strength, and hold him there, despite his eagerness and
+striving to be free. And he will make assay, and take all
+manner of shapes of things that creep upon the earth, of
+water likewise, and of fierce fire burning. But do ye grasp
+him steadfastly and press him yet the more, and at length
+when he questions thee in his proper shape, as he was when
+first ye saw him laid to rest, then, hero, hold thy strong
+hands, and let the ancient one go free, and ask him which
+of the gods is hard upon thee, and as touching thy
+returning, how thou mayest go over the teeming deep."
+
+'Therewith she dived beneath the heaving sea, but I betook
+me to the ships where they stood in the sand, and my heart
+was darkly troubled as I went. But after I had come down to
+the ship and to the sea, and we had made ready our supper
+and immortal night had come on, then did we lay us to rest
+upon the sea-beach. So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the
+rosy fingered, in that hour I walked by the shore of the
+wide-wayed sea, praying instantly to the gods; and I took
+with me three of my company, in whom I trusted most for
+every enterprise.
+
+'Meanwhile, so it was that she had plunged into the broad
+bosom of the sea, and had brought from the deep the skins
+of four sea-calves, and all were newly flayed, for she was
+minded to lay a snare for her father. She scooped lairs on
+the sea-sand, and sat awaiting us, and we drew very nigh
+her, and she made us all lie down in order, and cast a skin
+over each. There would our ambush have been most terrible,
+for the deadly stench of the sea bred seals distressed us
+sore: nay, who would lay him down by a beast of the sea?
+But herself she wrought deliverance, and devised a great
+comfort. She took ambrosia of a very sweet savour, and set
+it beneath each man's nostril, and did away with the stench
+of the beast. So all the morning we waited with steadfast
+heart, and the seals came forth in troops from the brine,
+and then they couched them all orderly by the sea-beach.
+And at high day the ancient one came forth from out of the
+brine, and found his fatted seals, yea and he went along
+their line and told their tale; and first among the
+sea-beasts he reckoned us, and guessed not that there was
+guile, and afterward he too laid him down. Then we rushed
+upon him with a cry, and cast our hands about him, nor did
+that ancient one forget his cunning. Now behold, at the
+first he turned into a bearded lion, and thereafter into a
+snake, and a pard, and a huge boar; then he took the shape
+of running water, and of a tall and flowering tree. We the
+while held him close with steadfast heart. But when now
+that ancient one of the magic arts was aweary, then at last
+he questioned me and spake unto me, saying:
+
+'"Which of the gods was it, son of Atreus, that aided thee
+with his counsel, that thou mightest waylay and take me
+perforce? What wouldest thou thereby?"
+
+'Even so he spake, but I answered him saying; "Old man,
+thou knowest all, wherefore dost thou question me thereof
+with crooked words? For lo, I am holden long time in this
+isle, neither can I find any issue therefrom, and my heart
+faileth within me. Howbeit do thou tell me--for the gods
+know all things--which of the immortals it is that bindeth
+me here, and hath hindered me from my way; and declare as
+touching my returning, how I may go over the teeming deep."
+
+'Even so I spake, and he straightway answered me, saying:
+"Nay, surely thou shouldest have done goodly sacrifice to
+Zeus and the other gods ere thine embarking, that with most
+speed thou mightst reach thy country, sailing over the
+wine-dark deep. For it is not thy fate to see thy friends,
+and come to thy stablished house and thine own country,
+till thou hast passed yet again within the waters of
+Aegyptus, the heaven-fed stream, and offered holy hecatombs
+to the deathless gods who keep the wide heaven. So shall
+the gods grant thee the path which thou desirest."
+
+'So spake he, but my spirit within me was broken, for that
+he bade me again to go to Aegyptus over the misty deep, a
+long and grievous way.
+
+'Yet even so I answered him saying: "Old man, all this will
+I do, according to thy word. But come, declare me this, and
+tell it all plainly. Did all those Achaeans return safe
+with their ships, all whom Nestor and I left as we went
+from Troy, or perished any by a shameful death aboard his
+own ship, or in the arms of his friends, after he had wound
+up the clew of war?"
+
+'So spake I, and anon he answered me, saying: "Son of
+Atreus, why dost thou straitly question me hereof? Nay, it
+is not for thy good to know or learn my thought; for I tell
+thee thou shalt not long be tearless, when thou hast heard
+it all aright. For many of these were taken, and many were
+left; but two only of the leaders of the mail-coated
+Achaeans perished in returning; as for the battle, thou
+thyself wast there. And one methinks is yet alive, and is
+holden on the wide deep. Aias in truth was smitten in the
+midst of his ships of the long oars. Poseidon at first
+brought him nigh to Gyrae, to the mighty rocks, and
+delivered him from the sea. And so he would have fled his
+doom, albeit hated by Athene, had he not let a proud word
+fall in the fatal darkening of his heart. He said that in
+the gods' despite he had escaped the great gulf of the sea;
+and Poseidon heard his loud boasting, and presently caught
+up his trident into his strong hands, and smote the rock
+Gyraean and cleft it in twain. And the one part abode in
+his place, but the other fell into the sea, the broken
+piece whereon Aias sat at the first, when his heart was
+darkened. And the rock bore him down into the vast and
+heaving deep; so there he perished when he had drunk of the
+salt sea water. But thy brother verily escaped the fates
+and avoided them in his hollow ships, for queen Hera saved
+him. But now when he was like soon to reach the steep mount
+of Malea, lo, the storm wind snatched him away and bore him
+over the teeming deep, making great moan, to the border of
+the country whereof old Thyestes dwelt, but now Aegisthus
+abode there, the son of Thyestes. But when thence too there
+showed a good prospect of safe returning, and the gods
+changed the wind to a fair gale, and they had reached home,
+then verily did Agamemnon set foot with joy upon his
+country's soil, and as he touched his own land he kissed
+it, and many were the hot tears he let fall, for he saw his
+land and was glad. And it was so that the watchman spied
+him from his tower, the watchman whom crafty Aegisthus had
+led and posted there, promising him for a reward two
+talents of gold. Now he kept watch for the space of a year,
+lest Agamemnon should pass by him when he looked not, and
+mind him of his wild prowess. So he went to the house to
+bear the tidings to the shepherd of the people. And
+straightway Aegisthus contrived a cunning treason. He chose
+out twenty of the best men in the township, and set an
+ambush, and on the further side of the hall he commanded to
+prepare a feast. Then with chariot and horses he went to
+bid to the feast Agamemnon, shepherd of the people; but
+caitiff thoughts were in his heart. He brought him up to
+his house, all unwitting of his doom, and when he had
+feasted him slew him, as one slayeth an ox at the stall.
+And none of the company of Atreides that were of his
+following were left, nor any of the men of Aegisthus, but
+they were all killed in the halls."
+
+'So spake he, and my spirit within me was broken, and I
+wept as I sat upon the sand, nor was I minded any more to
+live and see the light of the sun. But when I had taken my
+fill of weeping and grovelling on the ground, then spake
+the ancient one of the sea, whose speech is sooth:
+
+'"No more, son of Atreus, hold this long weeping without
+cease, for we shall find no help therein. Rather with all
+haste make essay that so thou mayest come to thine own
+country. For either thou shalt find Aegisthus yet alive, or
+it may be Orestes was beforehand with thee and slew him; so
+mayest thou chance upon his funeral feast."
+
+'So he spake, and my heart and lordly soul again were
+comforted for all my sorrow, and I uttered my voice and I
+spake to him winged words:
+
+'"Their fate I now know; but tell me of the third; who is
+it that is yet living and holden on the wide deep, or
+perchance is dead? and fain would I hear despite my
+sorrow."
+
+'So spake I, and straightway he answered, and said: "It is
+the son of Laertes, whose dwelling is in Ithaca; and I saw
+him in an island shedding big tears in the halls of the
+nymph Calypso, who holds him there perforce; so he may not
+come to his own country, for he has by him no ships with
+oars, and no companions to send him on his way over the
+broad back of the sea. But thou, Menelaus, son of Zeus, art
+not ordained to die and meet thy fate in Argos, the
+pasture-land of horses, but the deathless gods will convey
+thee to the Elysian plain and the world's end, where is
+Rhadamanthus of the fair hair, where life is easiest for
+men. No snow is there, nor yet great storm, nor any rain;
+but always ocean sendeth forth the breeze of the shrill
+West to blow cool on men; yea, for thou hast Helen to wife,
+and thereby they deem thee to be son of Zeus."
+
+'So spake he, and plunged into the heaving sea; but I
+betook me to the ships with my godlike company, and my
+heart was darkly troubled as I went. Now after I had come
+down to the ship and to the sea, and had made ready our
+supper, and immortal night had come on, then did we lay us
+to rest upon the sea-beach. So soon as early Dawn shone
+forth, the rosy-fingered, first of all we drew down our
+ships to the fair salt sea and placed the masts and the
+sails in the gallant ships, and the crew too climbed on
+board, and sat upon the benches and smote the grey sea
+water with their oars. Then back I went to the waters of
+Aegyptus, the heaven-fed stream, and there I moored the
+ships and offered the acceptable sacrifice of hecatombs. So
+when I had appeased the anger of the everlasting gods, I
+piled a barrow to Agamemnon, that his fame might never be
+quenched. So having fulfilled all, I set out for home, and
+the deathless gods gave me a fair wind, and brought me
+swiftly to mine own dear country. But lo, now tarry in my
+halls till it shall be the eleventh day hence or the
+twelfth. Then will I send thee with all honour on thy way,
+and give thee splendid gifts, three horses and a polished
+car; and moreover I will give thee a goodly chalice, that
+thou mayest pour forth before the deathless gods, and be
+mindful of me all the days of thy life.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Son of Atreus,
+nay, hold me not long time here. Yea even for a year would
+I be content to sit by thee, and no desire for home or
+parents would come upon me; for I take wondrous pleasure in
+thy tales and talk. But already my company wearieth in fair
+Pylos, and yet thou art keeping me long time here. And
+whatsoever gift thou wouldest give me, let it be a thing to
+treasure; but horses I will take none to Ithaca, but leave
+them here to grace thine own house, for thou art lord of a
+wide plain wherein is lotus great plenty, and therein is
+spear-reed and wheat and rye, and white and spreading
+barley. In Ithaca there are no wide courses, nor meadow
+land at all. It is a pasture-land of goats, and more
+pleasant in my sight than one that pastureth horses; for of
+the isles that lie and lean upon the sea, none are fit for
+the driving of horses, or rich in meadow land, and least of
+all is Ithaca.'
+
+So spake he, and Menelaus, of the loud war cry, smiled, and
+caressed him with his hand, and spake and hailed him:
+
+'Thou art of gentle blood, dear child, so gentle the words
+thou speakest. Therefore I will make exchange of the
+presents, as I may. Of the gifts, such as are treasures
+stored in my house, I will give thee the goodliest and
+greatest of price. I will give thee a mixing bowl
+beautifully wrought; it is all of silver, and the lips
+thereof are finished with gold, the work of Hephaestus; and
+the hero Phaedimus, the king of the Sidonians, gave it me,
+when his house sheltered me on my coming thither, and to
+thee now would I give it.'
+
+Even so they spake one to another, while the guests came to
+the palace of the divine king. They drave their sheep, and
+brought wine that maketh glad the heart of man: and their
+wives with fair tire sent them wheaten bread. Thus were
+these men preparing the feast in the halls.
+
+But the wooers meantime were before the palace of Odysseus,
+taking their pleasure in casting of weights and spears, on
+a levelled place, as heretofore, in their insolence. And
+Antinous and god-like Eurymachus were seated there, the
+chief men of the wooers, who were far the most excellent of
+all. And Noemon, son of Phromius, drew nigh to them and
+spake unto Antinous and questioned him, saying:
+
+'Antinous, know we at all, or know we not, when Telemachus
+will return from sandy Pylos? He hath departed with a ship
+of mine, and I have need thereof, to cross over into
+spacious Elis, where I have twelve brood mares with hardy
+mules unbroken at the teat; I would drive off one of these
+and break him in.'
+
+So spake he, and they were amazed, for they deemed not that
+Telemachus had gone to Neleian Pylos, but that he was at
+home somewhere in the fields, whether among the flocks, or
+with the swineherd.
+
+Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spake to him in turn:
+'Tell me the plain truth; when did he go, and what noble
+youths went with him? Were they chosen men of Ithaca or
+hirelings and thralls of his own? He was in case to bring
+even that about. And tell me this in good sooth, that I may
+know for a surety: did he take thy black ship from thee
+perforce against thy will? or didst thou give it him of
+free will at his entreaty?
+
+Then Noemon, son of Phromius, answered him saying: 'I gave
+it him myself of free will. What can any man do, when such
+an one, so bestead with care, begs a favour? it were hard
+to deny the gift. The youths who next to us are noblest in
+the land, even these have gone with him; and I marked their
+leader on board ship, Mentor, or a god who in all things
+resembled Mentor. But one matter I marvel at: I saw the
+goodly Mentor here yesterday toward dawn, though already he
+had embarked for Pylos.'
+
+He spake and withal departed to his father's house. And the
+proud spirits of these twain were angered, and they made
+the wooers sit down together and cease from their games.
+And among them spake Antinous, son of Eupeithes, in
+displeasure; and his black heart was wholly filled with
+rage, and his eyes were like flaming fire:
+
+'Out on him, a proud deed hath Telemachus accomplished with
+a high hand, even this journey, and we thought that he
+would never bring it to pass! This lad hath clean gone
+without more ado, in spite of us all; his ship he hath let
+haul to the sea, and chosen the noblest in the township. He
+will begin to be our bane even more than heretofore; but
+may Zeus destroy his might, not ours, ere he reach the
+measure of manhood! But come, give me a swift ship and
+twenty men, that I may lie in watch and wait even for him
+on his way home, in the strait between Ithaca and rugged
+Samos, that so he may have a woeful end of his cruising in
+quest of his father.'
+
+So spake he, and they all assented thereto, and bade him to
+the work. And thereupon they arose and went to the house of
+Odysseus.
+
+Now it was no long time before Penelope heard of the
+counsel that the wooers had devised in the deep of their
+heart. For the henchman Medon told her thereof, who stood
+without the court and heard their purposes, while they were
+weaving their plot within. So he went on his way through
+the halls to bring the news to Penelope; and as he stept
+down over the threshold, Penelope spake unto him:
+
+'Henchman, wherefore have the noble wooers sent thee forth?
+Was it to tell the handmaids of divine Odysseus to cease
+from their work, and prepare a banquet for them? Nay, after
+thus much wooing, never again may they come together, but
+here this day sup for their last and latest time; all ye
+who assemble so often, and waste much livelihood, the
+wealth of wise Telemachus! Long ago when ye were children,
+ye marked not your fathers' telling, what manner of man was
+Odysseus among them, one that wrought no iniquity toward
+any man, nor spake aught unrighteous in the township, as is
+the wont of divine kings. One man a king is like to hate,
+another he might chance to love. But never did he do aught
+at all presumptuously to any man. Nay, it is plain what
+spirit ye are of, and your unseemly deeds are manifest to
+all, nor is there any gratitude left for kindness done.'
+
+Then Medon, wise of heart, answered her: 'Would, oh queen,
+that this were the crowning evil! But the wooers devise
+another far greater and more grievous, which I pray the son
+of Cronos may never fulfil! They are set on slaying
+Telemachus with the edge of the sword on his homeward way;
+for he is gone to fair Pylos and goodly Lacedaemon, to seek
+tidings of his father.'
+
+So spake he, but her knees were loosened where she stood,
+and her heart melted within her, and long time was she
+speechless, and lo, her eyes were filled with tears and the
+voice of her utterance was stayed. And at the last she
+answered him and said:
+
+'Henchman, wherefore I pray thee is my son departed? There
+is no need that he should go abroad on swift ships, that
+serve men for horses on the sea, and that cross the great
+wet waste. Is it that even his own name may no more be left
+upon earth?'
+
+Then Medon, wise of heart, answered her: 'I know not
+whether some god set him on or whether his own spirit
+stirred him to go to Pylos to seek tidings of his father's
+return, or to hear what end he met.'
+
+He spake, and departed through the house of Odysseus, and
+on her fell a cloud of consuming grief; so that she might
+no more endure to seat her on a chair, whereof there were
+many in the house, but there she crouched on the threshold
+of her well-builded chamber, wailing piteously, and her
+handmaids round her made low moan, as many as were in the
+house with her, young and old. And Penelope spake among
+them pouring forth her lamentation:
+
+'Hear me, my friends, for the Olympian sire hath given me
+pain exceedingly beyond all women who were born and bred in
+my day. For erewhile I lost my noble lord of the lion
+heart, adorned with all perfection among the Danaans, my
+good lord, whose fame is noised abroad from Hellas to mid
+Argos. And now again the storm-winds have snatched away my
+well-beloved son without tidings from our halls, nor heard
+I of his departure. Oh, women, hard of heart, that even ye
+did not each one let the thought come into your minds, to
+rouse me from my couch when he went to the black hollow
+ship, though ye knew full well thereof! For had I heard
+that he was purposing this journey, verily he should have
+stayed here still, though eager to be gone, or have left me
+dead in the halls. Howbeit let some one make haste to call
+the ancient Dolius, my thrall, whom my father gave me ere
+yet I had come hither, who keepeth my garden of trees. So
+shall he go straightway and sit by Laertes, and tell him
+all, if perchance Laertes may weave some counsel in his
+heart, and go forth and make his plaint to the people, who
+are purposed to destroy his seed, and the seed of god-like
+Odysseus.'
+
+Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered her: 'Dear lady,
+aye, slay me if thou wilt with the pitiless sword or let me
+yet live on in the house,--yet will I not hide my saying
+from thee. I knew all this, and gave him whatsoever he
+commanded, bread and sweet wine. And he took a great oath
+of me not to tell thee till at least the twelfth day should
+come, or thou thyself shouldst miss him and hear of his
+departure, that thou mightest not mar thy fair flesh with
+thy tears. But now, wash thee in water, and take to thee
+clean raiment and ascend to thy upper chamber with the
+women thy handmaids, and pray to Athene, daughter of Zeus,
+lord of the aegis. For so may she save him even from death.
+And heap not troubles on an old man's trouble; for the seed
+of the son of Arceisius, is not, methinks, utterly hated by
+the blessed gods, but someone will haply yet remain to
+possess these lofty halls, and the fat fields far away.'
+
+So spake she, and lulled her queen's lamentation, and made
+her eyes to cease from weeping. So she washed her in water,
+and took to her clean raiment, and ascended to the upper
+chamber with the women her handmaids, and placed the meal
+for sprinkling in a basket, and prayed unto Athene:
+
+'Hear me, child of Zeus, lord of the aegis, unwearied
+maiden! If ever wise Odysseus in his halls burnt for thee
+fat slices of the thighs of heifer or of sheep, these
+things, I pray thee, now remember, and save my dear son,
+and ward from him the wooers in the naughtiness of their
+pride.'
+
+Therewith she raised a cry, and the goddess heard her
+prayer. But the wooers clamoured through the shadowy halls,
+and thus would some proud youth say:
+
+'Verily this queen of many wooers prepareth our marriage,
+nor knoweth at all how that for her son death hath been
+ordained.'
+
+Thus would certain of them speak, but they knew not how
+these things were ordained. And Antinous made harangue and
+spake among them:
+
+'Good sirs, my friends, shun all disdainful words alike,
+lest someone hear and tell it even in the house. But come
+let us arise, and in silence accomplish that whereof we
+spake, for the counsel pleased us every one.'
+
+Therewith he chose twenty men that were the best, and they
+departed to the swift ship and the sea-banks. So first of
+all they drew the ship down to the deep water, and placed
+the mast and sails in the black ship, and fixed the oars in
+leathern loops all orderly, and spread forth the white
+sails. And squires, haughty of heart, bare for them their
+arms. And they moored her high out in the shore water, and
+themselves disembarked. There they supped and waited for
+evening to come on.
+
+But the wise Penelope lay there in her upper chamber,
+fasting and tasting neither meat nor drink, musing whether
+her noble son should escape death, or even fall before the
+proud wooers. And as a lion broods all in fear among the
+press of men, when they draw the crafty ring around him, so
+deeply was she musing when deep sleep came over her. And
+she sank back in sleep and all her joints were loosened.
+
+Now the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, turned to other
+thoughts. She made a phantom, and fashioned it after the
+likeness of a woman, Iphthime, daughter of great-hearted
+Icarius, whom Eumelus wedded, whose dwelling was in Pherae.
+And she sent it to the house of divine Odysseus to bid
+Penelope, amid her sorrow and lamenting, to cease from her
+weeping and tearful lamentation. So the phantom passed into
+the chamber by the thong of the bolt, and stood above her
+head and spake unto her, saying:
+
+'Sleepest thou, Penelope, stricken at heart? Nay, even the
+gods who live at ease suffer thee not to wail or be
+afflicted, seeing that thy son is yet to return; for no
+sinner is he in the eyes of the gods.'
+
+Then wise Penelope made her answer as she slumbered very
+softly at the gates of dreams:
+
+'Wherefore, sister, hast thou come hither, that before wert
+not wont to come, for thou hast thine habitation very far
+away? Biddest thou me indeed to cease from the sorrows and
+pains, so many that disquiet my heart and soul? Erewhile I
+lost my noble lord of the lion heart, adorned with all
+perfection among the Danaans, my true lord, whose fame is
+noised abroad from Hellas to mid Argos. And now, again, my
+well-beloved son is departed on his hollow ship, poor
+child, not skilled in toils or in the gatherings of men.
+For him I sorrow yet more than for my lord, and I tremble
+and fear for him lest aught befal him, whether, it may be,
+amid that folk where he is gone, or in the deep. For many
+foemen devise evil against him, and go about to kill him,
+or ever he come to his own country.'
+
+And the dim phantom answered her, and said: 'Take courage,
+and be not so sorely afraid. For lo, such a friend goes to
+guide him, as all men pray to stand by them, for that she
+hath the power, even Pallas Athene. And she pitieth thee in
+thy sorrow, and now hath sent me forth to speak these words
+to thee.'
+
+And wise Penelope answered her, saying: 'If thou art indeed
+a god, and hast heard the word of a god, come, I pray thee,
+and tell me tidings concerning that ill-fated man, whether
+perchance he is yet alive and sees the light of the sun, or
+hath already died, and is a dweller in the house of Hades.'
+
+And the dim phantom answered her and said: 'Concerning him
+I will not tell thee all the tale, whether he be alive or
+dead; it is ill to speak words light as wind.'
+
+Therewith the phantom slipped away by the bolt of the door
+and passed into the breath of the wind. And the daughter of
+Icarius started up from sleep; and her heart was cheered,
+so clear was the vision that sped toward her in the dead of
+the night.
+
+Meanwhile the wooers had taken ship and were sailing over
+the wet ways, pondering in their hearts sheer death for
+Telemachus. Now there is a rocky isle in the mid sea,
+midway between Ithaca and rugged Samos, Asteris, a little
+isle; and there is a harbour therein with a double
+entrance, where ships may ride. There the Achaeans abode
+lying in wait for Telemachus.
+
+
+
+Book V
+
+  The Gods in council command Calypso by Hermes to send away
+  Odysseus on a raft of trees; and Poseidon, returning from
+  Ethiopia and seeing him on the coast of Phaeacia, scattered
+  his raft; and how by the help of Ino he was thrown ashore,
+  and slept on a heap of dry leaves till the next day.
+
+Now the Dawn arose from her couch, from the side of the
+lordly Tithonus, to bear light to the immortals and to
+mortal men. And lo, the gods were gathering to session, and
+among them Zeus, that thunders on high, whose might is
+above all. And Athene told them the tale of the many woes
+of Odysseus, recalling them to mind; for near her heart was
+he that then abode in the dwelling of the nymph:
+
+'Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for
+ever, henceforth let not any sceptred king be kind and
+gentle with all his heart, nor minded to do righteously,
+but let him alway be a hard man and work unrighteousness,
+for behold, there is none that remembereth divine Odysseus
+of the people whose lord he was, and was gentle as a
+father. Howbeit, as for him he lieth in an island suffering
+strong pains, in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who
+holdeth him perforce; so he may not reach his own country,
+for he hath no ships by him with oars, and no companions to
+send him on his way over the broad back of the sea. And
+now, again, they are set on slaying his beloved son on his
+homeward way, for he is gone to fair Pylos and to goodly
+Lacedaemon, to seek tidings of his father.'
+
+And Zeus, gatherer of the clouds, answered and spake unto
+her: 'My child, what word hath escaped the door of thy
+lips? Nay, didst thou not thyself plan this device, that
+Odysseus may assuredly take vengeance on those men at his
+coming? As for Telemachus, do thou guide him by thine art,
+as well as thou mayest, that so he may come to his own
+country all unharmed, and the wooers may return in their
+ship with their labour all in vain.'
+
+Therewith he spake to Hermes, his dear son: 'Hermes,
+forasmuch as even in all else thou art our herald, tell
+unto the nymph of the braided tresses my unerring counsel,
+even the return of the patient Odysseus, how he is to come
+to his home, with no furtherance of gods or of mortal men.
+Nay, he shall sail on a well-bound raft, in sore distress,
+and on the twentieth day arrive at fertile Scheria, even at
+the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the
+gods. And they shall give him all worship heartily as to a
+god, and send him on his way in a ship to his own dear
+country, with gifts of bronze and gold, and raiment in
+plenty, much store, such as never would Odysseus have won
+for himself out of Troy, yea, though he had returned unhurt
+with the share of the spoil that fell to him. On such wise
+is he fated to see his friends, and come to his high-roofed
+home and his own country.'
+
+So spake he, nor heedless was the messenger, the slayer of
+Argos. Straightway he bound beneath his feet his lovely
+golden sandals, that wax not old, that bare him alike over
+the wet sea and over the limitless land, swift as the
+breath of the wind. And he took the wand wherewith he lulls
+the eyes of whomso he will, while others again he even
+wakes from out of sleep. With this rod in his hand flew the
+strong slayer of Argos. Above Pieria he passed and leapt
+from the upper air into the deep. Then he sped along the
+wave like the cormorant, that chaseth the fishes through
+the perilous gulfs of the unharvested sea, and wetteth his
+thick plumage in the brine. Such like did Hermes ride upon
+the press of the waves. But when he had now reached that
+far-off isle, he went forth from the sea of violet blue to
+get him up into the land, till he came to a great cave,
+wherein dwelt the nymph of the braided tresses: and he
+found her within. And on the hearth there was a great fire
+burning, and from afar through the isle was smelt the
+fragrance of cleft cedar blazing, and of sandal wood. And
+the nymph within was singing with a sweet voice as she
+fared to and fro before the loom, and wove with a shuttle
+of gold. And round about the cave there was a wood
+blossoming, alder and poplar and sweet-smelling cypress.
+And therein roosted birds long of wing, owls and falcons
+and chattering sea-crows, which have their business in the
+waters. And lo, there about the hollow cave trailed a
+gadding garden vine, all rich with clusters. And fountains
+four set orderly were running with clear water, hard by one
+another, turned each to his own course. And all around soft
+meadows bloomed of violets and parsley, yea, even a
+deathless god who came thither might wonder at the sight
+and be glad at heart. There the messenger, the slayer of
+Argos, stood and wondered. Now when he had gazed at all
+with wonder, anon he went into the wide cave; nor did
+Calypso, that fair goddess, fail to know him, when she saw
+him face to face; for the gods use not to be strange one to
+another, the immortals, not though one have his habitation
+far away. But he found not Odysseus, the greathearted,
+within the cave, who sat weeping on the shore even as
+aforetime, straining his soul with tears and groans and
+griefs, and as he wept he looked wistfully over the
+unharvested deep. And Calypso, that fair goddess,
+questioned Hermes, when she had made him sit on a bright
+shining seat:
+
+'Wherefore, I pray thee, Hermes, of the golden wand, hast
+thou come hither, worshipful and welcome, whereas as of old
+thou wert not wont to visit me? Tell me all thy thought; my
+heart is set on fulfilling it, if fulfil it I may, and if
+it hath been fulfilled in the counsel of fate. But now
+follow me further, that I may set before thee the
+entertainment of strangers.'
+
+Therewith the goddess spread a table with ambrosia and set
+it by him, and mixed the ruddy nectar. So the messenger,
+the slayer of Argos, did eat and drink. Now after he had
+supped and comforted his soul with food, at the last he
+answered, and spake to her on this wise:
+
+'Thou makest question of me on my coming, a goddess of a
+god, and I will tell thee this my saying truly, at thy
+command. 'Twas Zeus that bade me come hither, by no will of
+mine; nay, who of his free will would speed over such a
+wondrous space of brine, whereby is no city of mortals that
+do sacrifice to the gods, and offer choice hecatombs? But
+surely it is in no wise possible for another god to go
+beyond or to make void the purpose of Zeus, lord of the
+aegis. He saith that thou hast with thee a man most
+wretched beyond his fellows, beyond those men that round
+the burg of Priam for nine years fought, and in the tenth
+year sacked the city and departed homeward. Yet on the way
+they sinned against Athene, and she raised upon them an
+evil blast and long waves of the sea. Then all the rest of
+his good company was lost, but it came to pass that the
+wind bare and the wave brought him hither. And now Zeus
+biddeth thee send him hence with what speed thou mayest,
+for it is not ordained that he die away from his friends,
+but rather it is his fate to look on them even yet, and to
+come to his high-roofed home and his own country.'
+
+So spake he, and Calypso, that fair goddess, shuddered and
+uttered her voice, and spake unto him winged words: 'Hard
+are ye gods and jealous exceeding, who ever grudge
+goddesses openly to mate with men, if any make a mortal her
+dear bed-fellow. Even so when rosy-fingered Dawn took Orion
+for her lover, ye gods that live at ease were jealous
+thereof, till chaste Artemis, of the golden throne, slew
+him in Ortygia with the visitation of her gentle shafts. So
+too when fair-tressed Demeter yielded to her love, and lay
+with Iasion in the thrice-ploughed fallow-field, Zeus was
+not long without tidings thereof, and cast at him with his
+white bolt and slew him. So again ye gods now grudge that a
+mortal man should dwell with me. Him I saved as he went all
+alone bestriding the keel of a bark, for that Zeus had
+crushed {*} and cleft his swift ship with a white bolt in
+the midst of the wine-dark deep. There all the rest of his
+good company was lost, but it came to pass that the wind
+bare and the wave brought him hither. And him have I loved
+and cherished, and I said that I would make him to know not
+death and age for ever. Yet forasmuch as it is no wise
+possible for another god to go beyond, or make void the
+purpose of Zeus, lord of the aegis, let him away over the
+unharvested seas, if the summons and the bidding be of
+Zeus. But I will give him no despatch, not I, for I have no
+ships by me with oars, nor company to bear him on his way
+over the broad back of the sea. Yet will I be forward to
+put this in his mind, and will hide nought, that all
+unharmed he may come to his own country.'
+
+{* It seems very doubtful whether [Greek] can bear this
+meaning. The reading [Greek], 'smote,' preserved by the
+Schol. is highly probable.}
+
+Then the messenger, the slayer of Argos, answered her:
+'Yea, speed him now upon his path and have regard unto the
+wrath of Zeus, lest haply he be angered and bear hard on
+thee hereafter.'
+
+Therewith the great slayer of Argos departed, but the lady
+nymph went on her way to the great-hearted Odysseus, when
+she had heard the message of Zeus. And there she found him
+sitting on the shore, and his eyes were never dry of tears,
+and his sweet life was ebbing away as he mourned for his
+return; for the nymph no more found favour in his sight.
+Howsoever by night he would sleep by her, as needs he must,
+in the hollow caves, unwilling lover by a willing lady. And
+in the day-time he would sit on the rocks and on the beach,
+straining his soul with tears, and groans, and griefs, and
+through his tears he would look wistfully over the
+unharvested deep. So standing near him that fair goddess
+spake to him:
+
+'Hapless man, sorrow no more I pray thee in this isle, nor
+let thy good life waste away, for even now will I send thee
+hence with all my heart. Nay, arise and cut long beams, and
+fashion a wide raft with the axe, and lay deckings high
+thereupon, that it may bear thee over the misty deep. And I
+will place therein bread and water, and red wine to thy
+heart's desire, to keep hunger far away. And I will put
+raiment upon thee, and send a fair gale in thy wake, that
+so thou mayest come all unharmed to thine own country, if
+indeed it be the good pleasure of the gods who hold wide
+heaven, who are stronger than I am both to will and to do.'
+
+So she spake, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus shuddered,
+and uttering his voice spake to her winged words: 'Herein,
+goddess, thou hast plainly some other thought, and in no
+wise my furtherance, for that thou biddest me to cross in a
+raft the great gulf of the sea so dread and difficult,
+which not even the swift gallant ships pass over rejoicing
+in the breeze of Zeus. Nor would I go aboard a raft to
+displeasure thee, unless thou wilt deign, O goddess, to
+swear a great oath not to plan any hidden guile to mine own
+hurt.'
+
+So spake he, and Calypso, the fair goddess, smiled and
+caressed him with her hand, and spake and hailed him:
+
+'Knavish thou art, and no weakling {*} in wit, thou that
+hast conceived and spoken such a word. Let earth be now
+witness hereto, and the wide heaven above, and that falling
+water of the Styx, the greatest oath and the most terrible
+to the blessed gods, that I will not plan any hidden guile
+to thine own hurt. Nay, but my thoughts are such, and such
+will be my counsel, as I would devise for myself, if ever
+so sore a need came over me. For I too have a righteous
+mind, and my heart within me is not of iron, but pitiful
+even as thine.'
+
+{* [Greek], from root [Greek], 'ill-grown,' i. e. a
+weakling, in the literal sense as B. xi.249, xiv.212, or
+metaphorical, as here and viii. 177.}
+
+Therewith the fair goddess led the way quickly, and he
+followed hard in the steps of the goddess. And they reached
+the hollow cave, the goddess and the man; so he sat him
+down upon the chair whence Hermes had arisen, and the nymph
+placed by him all manner of food to eat and drink, such as
+is meat for men. As for her she sat over against divine
+Odysseus, and the handmaids placed by her ambrosia and
+nectar. So they put forth their hands upon the good cheer
+set before them. But after they had taken their fill of
+meat and drink, Calypso, the fair goddess, spake first and
+said:
+
+'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
+devices, so it is indeed thy wish to get thee home to thine
+own dear country even in this hour? Good fortune go with
+thee even so! Yet didst thou know in thine heart what a
+measure of suffering thou art ordained to fulfil, or ever
+thou reach thine own country, here, even here, thou wouldst
+abide with me and keep this house, and wouldst never taste
+of death, though thou longest to see thy wife, for whom
+thou hast ever a desire day by day. Not in sooth that I
+avow me to be less noble than she in form or fashion, for
+it is in no wise meet that mortal women should match them
+with immortals, in shape and comeliness.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered, and spake unto her:
+'Be not wroth with me hereat, goddess and queen. Myself I
+know it well, how wise Penelope is meaner to look upon than
+thou, in comeliness and stature. But she is mortal and thou
+knowest not age nor death. Yet even so, I wish and long day
+by day to fare homeward and see the day of my returning.
+Yea, and if some god shall wreck me in the wine-dark deep,
+even so I will endure, with a heart within me patient of
+affliction. For already have I suffered full much, and much
+have I toiled in perils of waves and war; let this be added
+to the tale of those.'
+
+So spake he, and the sun sank and darkness came on. Then
+they twain went into the chamber of the hollow rock, and
+had their delight of love, abiding each by other.
+
+So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, anon
+Odysseus put on him a mantle and doublet, and the nymph
+clad her in a great shining robe, light of woof and
+gracious, and about her waist she cast a fair golden
+girdle, and a veil withal upon her head. Then she
+considered of the sending of Odysseus, the great-hearted.
+She gave him a great axe, fitted to his grasp, an axe of
+bronze double-edged, and with a goodly handle of olive wood
+fastened well. Next she gave him a polished adze, and she
+led the way to the border of the isle where tall trees
+grew, alder and poplar, and pine that reacheth unto heaven,
+seasoned long since and sere, that might lightly float for
+him. Now after she had shown him where the tall trees grew,
+Calypso, the fair goddess, departed homeward. And he set to
+cutting timber, and his work went busily. Twenty trees in
+all he felled, and then trimmed them with the axe of
+bronze, and deftly smoothed them, and over them made
+straight the line. Meanwhile Calypso, the fair goddess,
+brought him augers, so he bored each piece and jointed them
+together, and then made all fast with trenails and dowels.
+Wide as is the floor of a broad ship of burden, which some
+man well skilled in carpentry may trace him out, of such
+beam did Odysseus fashion his broad raft. And thereat he
+wrought, and set up the deckings, fitting them to the
+close-set uprights, and finished them off with long
+gunwales, and there he set a mast, and a yard-arm fitted
+thereto, and moreover he made him a rudder to guide the
+craft. And he fenced it with wattled osier withies from
+stem to stern, to be a bulwark against the wave, and piled
+up wood to back them. Meanwhile Calypso, the fair goddess,
+brought him web of cloth to make him sails; and these too
+he fashioned very skilfully. And he made fast therein
+braces and halyards and sheets, and at last he pushed the
+raft with levers down to the fair salt sea.
+
+It was the fourth day when he had accomplished all. And,
+lo, on the fifth, the fair Calypso sent him on his way from
+the island, when she had bathed him and clad him in
+fragrant attire. Moreover, the goddess placed on board the
+ship two skins, one of dark wine, and another, a great one,
+of water, and corn too in a wallet, and she set therein a
+store of dainties to his heart's desire, and sent forth a
+warm and gentle wind to blow. And goodly Odysseus rejoiced
+as he set his sails to the breeze. So he sate and cunningly
+guided the craft with the helm, nor did sleep fall upon his
+eyelids, as he viewed the Pleiads and Bootes, that setteth
+late, and the Bear, which they likewise call the Wain,
+which turneth ever in one place, and keepeth watch upon
+Orion, and alone hath no part in the baths of Ocean. This
+star, Calypso, the fair goddess, bade him to keep ever on
+the left as he traversed the deep. Ten days and seven he
+sailed traversing the deep, and on the eighteenth day
+appeared the shadowy hills of the land of the Phaeacians,
+at the point where it lay nearest to him; and it showed
+like a shield in the misty deep.
+
+Now the lord, the shaker of the earth, on his way from the
+Ethiopians espied him afar off from the mountains of the
+Solymi: even thence he saw Odysseus as he sailed over the
+deep; and he was mightily angered in spirit, and shaking
+his head he communed with his own heart. 'Lo now, it must
+be that the gods at the last have changed their purpose
+concerning Odysseus, while I was away among the Ethiopians.
+And now he is nigh to the Phaeacian land, where it is
+ordained that he escape the great issues of the woe which
+hath come upon him. But, methinks, that even yet I will
+drive him far enough in the path of suffering.'
+
+With that he gathered the clouds and troubled the waters of
+the deep, grasping his trident in his hands; and he roused
+all storms of all manner of winds, and shrouded in clouds
+the land and sea: and down sped night from heaven. The East
+Wind and the South Wind clashed, and the stormy West, and
+the North, that is born in the bright air, rolling onward a
+great wave. Then were the knees of Odysseus loosened and
+his heart melted, and heavily he spake to his own great
+spirit:
+
+'Oh, wretched man that I am! what is to befal me at the
+last? I fear that indeed the goddess spake all things
+truly, who said that I should fill up the measure of sorrow
+on the deep, or ever I came to mine own country; and lo,
+all these things have an end. In such wise doth Zeus crown
+the wide heaven with clouds, and hath troubled the deep,
+and the blasts rush on of all the winds; yea, now is utter
+doom assured me. Thrice blessed those Danaans, yea, four
+times blessed, who perished on a time in wide Troy-land,
+doing a pleasure to the sons of Atreus! Would to God that I
+too had died, and met my fate on that day when the press of
+Trojans cast their bronze-shod spears upon me, fighting for
+the body of the son of Peleus! So should I have gotten my
+dues of burial, and the Achaeans would have spread my fame;
+but now it is my fate to be overtaken by a pitiful death.'
+
+Even as he spake, the great wave smote down upon him,
+driving on in terrible wise, that the raft reeled again.
+And far therefrom he fell, and lost the helm from his hand;
+and the fierce blast of the jostling winds came and brake
+his mast in the midst, and sail and yard-arm fell afar into
+the deep. Long time the water kept him under, nor could he
+speedily rise from beneath the rush of the mighty wave:
+for the garments hung heavy which fair Calypso gave him.
+But late and at length he came up, and spat forth from his
+mouth the bitter salt water, which ran down in streams from
+his head. Yet even so forgat he not his raft, for all his
+wretched plight, but made a spring after it in the waves,
+and clutched it to him, and sat in the midst thereof,
+avoiding the issues of death; and the great wave swept it
+hither and thither along the stream. And as the North Wind
+in the harvest tide sweeps the thistle-down along the
+plain, and close the tufts cling each to other, even so the
+winds bare the raft hither and thither along the main. Now
+the South would toss it to the North to carry, and now
+again the East would yield it to the West to chase.
+
+But the daughter of Cadmus marked him, Ino of the fair
+ankles, Leucothea, who in time past was a maiden of mortal
+speech, but now in the depths of the salt sea she had
+gotten her share of worship from the gods. She took pity on
+Odysseus in his wandering and travail, and she rose, like a
+sea-gull on the wing, from the depth of the mere, and sat
+upon the well-bound raft and spake saying:
+
+'Hapless one, wherefore was Poseidon, shaker of the earth,
+so wondrous wroth with thee, seeing that he soweth for thee
+the seeds of many evils? Yet shall he not make a full end
+of thee, for all his desire. But do even as I tell thee,
+and methinks thou art not witless. Cast off these garments,
+and leave the raft to drift before the winds, but do thou
+swim with thine hands and strive to win a footing on the
+coast {*} of the Phaeacians, where it is decreed that thou
+escape. Here, take this veil imperishable and wind it about
+thy breast; so is there no fear that thou suffer aught or
+perish. But when thou hast laid hold of the mainland with
+thy hands, loose it from off thee and cast it into the
+wine-dark deep far from the land, and thyself turn away.'
+
+{* Lit. Strive after an arrival on the land, etc. [Greek]
+originally meant going, journeying, and had no idea of
+return. The earlier use survives here, and in Soph.
+Philoct. 43, Eur. Iph. Aul. 1261. Similarly, perhaps,
+[Greek] in Odyssey iv.619, xv.119, and [Greek] frequently}
+
+With that the goddess gave the veil, and for her part dived
+back into the heaving deep, like a sea-gull: and the dark
+wave closed over her. But the steadfast goodly Odysseus
+pondered, and heavily he spake to his own brave spirit:
+
+'Ah, woe is me! Can it be that some one of the immortals is
+weaving a new snare for me, that she bids me quit my raft?
+Nay verily, I will not yet obey, for I had sight of the
+shore yet a long way off, where she told me that I might
+escape. I am resolved what I will do;--and methinks on this
+wise it is best. So long as the timbers abide in the
+dowels, so long will I endure steadfast in affliction, but
+so soon as the wave hath shattered my raft asunder, I will
+swim, for meanwhile no better counsel may be.'
+
+While yet he pondered these things in his heart and soul,
+Poseidon, shaker of the earth, stirred against him a great
+wave, terrible and grievous, and vaulted from the crest,
+and therewith smote him. And as when a great tempestuous
+wind tosseth a heap of parched husks, and scatters them
+this way and that, even so did the wave scatter the long
+beams of the raft. But Odysseus bestrode a single beam, as
+one rideth on a courser, and stript him of the garments
+which fair Calypso gave him. And presently he wound the
+veil beneath his breast, and fell prone into the sea,
+outstretching his hands as one eager to swim. And the lord,
+the shaker of the earth, saw him and shook his head, and
+communed with his own soul. 'Even so, after all thy
+sufferings, go wandering over the deep, till thou shalt
+come among a people, the fosterlings of Zeus. Yet for all
+that I deem not that thou shalt think thyself too lightly
+afflicted.' Therewith he lashed his steeds of the flowing
+manes, and came to Aegae, where is his lordly home.
+
+But Athene, daughter of Zeus, turned to new thoughts.
+Behold, she bound up the courses of the other winds, and
+charged them all to cease and be still; but she roused the
+swift North and brake the waves before him, that so
+Odysseus, of the seed of Zeus, might mingle with the
+Phaeacians, lovers of the oar, avoiding death and the
+fates.
+
+So for two nights and two days he was wandering in the
+swell of the sea, and much his heart boded of death. But
+when at last the fair-tressed Dawn brought the full light
+of the third day, thereafter the breeze fell, and lo, there
+was a breathless calm, and with a quick glance ahead, (he
+being upborne on a great wave,) he saw the land very near.
+And even as when most welcome to his children is the sight
+of a father's life, who lies in sickness and strong pains
+long wasting away, some angry god assailing him; and to
+their delight the gods have loosed him from his trouble; so
+welcome to Odysseus showed land and wood; and he swam
+onward being eager to set foot on the strand. But when he
+was within earshot of the shore, and heard now the thunder
+of the sea against the reefs--for the great wave crashed
+against the dry land belching in terrible wise, and all was
+covered with foam of the sea,--for there were no harbours
+for ships nor shelters, but jutting headlands and reefs and
+cliffs; then at last the knees of Odysseus were loosened
+and his heart melted, and in heaviness he spake to his own
+brave spirit:
+
+'Ah me! now that beyond all hope Zeus hath given me sight
+of land, and withal I have cloven my way through this gulf
+of the sea, here there is no place to land on from out of
+the grey water. For without are sharp crags, and round them
+the wave roars surging, and sheer the smooth rock rises,
+and the sea is deep thereby, so that in no wise may I find
+firm foothold and escape my bane, for as I fain would go
+ashore, the great wave may haply snatch and dash me on the
+jagged rock--and a wretched endeavour that would be. But if
+I swim yet further along the coast to find, if I may, spits
+that take the waves aslant and havens of the sea, I fear
+lest the storm-winds catch me again and bear me over the
+teeming deep, making heavy moan; or else some god may even
+send forth against me a monster from out of the shore
+water; and many such pastureth the renowned Amphitrite. For
+I know how wroth against me hath been the great Shaker of
+the Earth.'
+
+Whilst yet he pondered these things in his heart and mind,
+a great wave bore him to the rugged shore. There would he
+have been stript of his skin and all his bones been broken,
+but that the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, put a thought into
+his heart. He rushed in, and with both his hands clutched
+the rock, whereto he clung till the great wave went by. So
+he escaped that peril, but again with backward wash it
+leapt on him and smote him and cast him forth into the
+deep. And as when the cuttlefish is dragged forth from his
+chamber, the many pebbles clinging to his suckers, even so
+was the skin stript from his strong hand against the rocks,
+and the great wave closed over him. There of a truth would
+luckless Odysseus have perished beyond that which was
+ordained, had not grey-eyed Athene given him sure counsel.
+He rose from the line of the breakers that belch upon the
+shore, and swam outside, ever looking landwards, to find,
+if he might, spits that take the waves aslant, and havens
+of the sea. But when he came in his swimming over against
+the mouth of a fair-flowing river, whereby the place seemed
+best in his eyes, smooth of rocks, and withal there was a
+covert from the wind, Odysseus felt the river running, and
+prayed to him in his heart:
+
+'Hear me, O king, whosoever thou art; unto thee am I come,
+as to one to whom prayer is made, while I flee the rebukes
+of Poseidon from the deep. Yea, reverend even to the
+deathless gods is that man who comes as a wanderer, even as
+I now have come to thy stream and to thy knees after much
+travail. Nay pity me, O king; for I avow myself thy
+suppliant.'
+
+So spake he, and the god straightway stayed his stream and
+withheld his waves, and made the water smooth before him,
+and brought him safely to the mouths of the river. And his
+knees bowed and his stout hands fell, for his heart was
+broken by the brine. And his flesh was all swollen and a
+great stream of sea water gushed up through his mouth and
+nostrils. So he lay without breath or speech, swooning,
+such terrible weariness came upon him. But when now his
+breath returned and his spirit came to him again, he loosed
+from off him the veil of the goddess, and let it fall into
+the salt flowing river. And the great wave bare it back
+down the stream, and lightly Ino caught it in her hands.
+Then Odysseus turned from the river, and fell back in the
+reeds, and kissed earth, the grain-giver, and heavily he
+spake unto his own brave spirit:
+
+'Ah, woe is me! What is to betide me? What shall happen
+unto me at the last? If I watch the river bed all through
+the careful night, I fear that the bitter frost and fresh
+dew may overcome me, as I breathe forth my life for
+faintness, for the river breeze blows cold betimes in the
+morning. But if I climb the hill-side up to the shady wood,
+and there take rest in the thickets, though perchance the
+cold and weariness leave hold of me, and sweet sleep may
+come over me, I fear lest of wild beasts I become the spoil
+and prey.'
+
+So as he thought thereon this seemed to him the better way.
+He went up to the wood, and found it nigh the water in a
+place of wide prospect. So he crept beneath twin bushes
+that grew from one stem, both olive trees, one of them wild
+olive. Through these the force of the wet winds blew never,
+neither did the bright sun light on it with his rays, nor
+could the rain pierce through, so close were they twined
+either to other; and thereunder crept Odysseus and anon he
+heaped together with his hands a broad couch; for of fallen
+leaves there was great plenty, enough to cover two or three
+men in winter time, however hard the weather. And the
+steadfast goodly Odysseus beheld it and rejoiced, and he
+laid him in the midst thereof and flung over him the fallen
+leaves. And as when a man hath hidden away a brand in the
+black embers at an upland farm, one that hath no neighbours
+nigh, and so saveth the seed of fire, that he may not have
+to seek a light otherwhere, even so did Odysseus cover him
+with the leaves. And Athene shed sleep upon his eyes, that
+so it might soon release him from his weary travail,
+overshadowing his eyelids.
+
+
+
+Book VI
+
+  Nausicaa, going to a river near that place to wash the
+  clothes of her father, mother, and brethren, while the
+  clothes were drying played with her maids at ball; and
+  Odysseus coming forth is fed and clothed, and led on his
+  way to the house of her father, King Alcinous.
+
+So there he lay asleep, the steadfast goodly Odysseus,
+fordone with toil and drowsiness. Meanwhile Athene went to
+the land and the city of the Phaeacians, who of old, upon a
+time, dwelt in spacious Hypereia; near the Cyclopes they
+dwelt, men exceeding proud, who harried them continually,
+being mightier than they. Thence the godlike Nausithous
+made them depart, and he carried them away, and planted
+them in Scheria, far off from men that live by bread. And
+he drew a wall around the town, and builded houses and made
+temples for the gods and meted out the fields. Howbeit ere
+this had he been stricken by fate, and had gone down to the
+house of Hades, and now Alcinous was reigning, with wisdom
+granted by the gods. To his house went the goddess,
+grey-eyed Athene, devising a return for the great-hearted
+Odysseus. She betook her to the rich-wrought bower, wherein
+was sleeping a maiden like to the gods in form and
+comeliness, Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous, high of
+heart. Beside her on either hand of the pillars of the door
+were two handmaids, dowered with beauty from the Graces,
+and the shining doors were shut.
+
+But the goddess, fleet as the breath of the wind, swept
+towards the couch of the maiden, and stood above her head,
+and spake to her in the semblance of the daughter of a
+famous seafarer, Dymas, a girl of like age with Nausicaa,
+who had found grace in her sight. In her shape the
+grey-eyed Athene spake to the princess, saying:
+
+'Nausicaa, how hath thy mother so heedless a maiden to her
+daughter? Lo, thou hast shining raiment that lies by thee
+uncared for, and thy marriage day is near at hand, when
+thou thyself must needs go beautifully clad, and have
+garments to give to them who shall lead thee to the house
+of the bridegroom! And, behold, these are the things whence
+a good report goes abroad among men, wherein a father and
+lady mother take delight. But come, let us arise and go
+a-washing with the breaking of the day, and I will follow
+with thee to be thy mate in the toil, that without delay
+thou mayst get thee ready, since truly thou art not long to
+be a maiden. Lo, already they are wooing thee, the noblest
+youths of all the Phaeacians, among that people whence thou
+thyself dost draw thy lineage. So come, beseech thy noble
+father betimes in the morning to furnish thee with mules
+and a wain to carry the men's raiment, and the robes, and
+the shining coverlets. Yea and for thyself it is seemlier
+far to go thus than on foot, for the places where we must
+wash are a great way off the town.'
+
+So spake the grey-eyed Athene, and departed to Olympus,
+where, as they say, is the seat of the gods that standeth
+fast for ever. Not by winds is it shaken, nor ever wet with
+rain, nor doth the snow come nigh thereto, but most clear
+air is spread about it cloudless, and the white light
+floats over it. Therein the blessed gods are glad for all
+their days, and thither Athene went when she had shown
+forth all to the maiden.
+
+Anon came the throned Dawn, and awakened Nausicaa of the
+fair robes, who straightway marvelled on the dream, and
+went through the halls to tell her parents, her father dear
+and her mother. And she found them within, her mother
+sitting by the hearth with the women her handmaids,
+spinning yarn of sea-purple stain, but her father she met
+as he was going forth to the renowned kings in their
+council, whither the noble Phaeacians called him. Standing
+close by her dear father she spake, saying: 'Father, dear,
+couldst thou not lend me a high waggon with strong wheels,
+that I may take the goodly raiment to the river to wash, so
+much as I have lying soiled? Yea and it is seemly that thou
+thyself, when thou art with the princes in council,
+shouldest have fresh raiment to wear. Also, there are five
+dear sons of thine in the halls, two married, but three are
+lusty bachelors, and these are always eager for new-washen
+garments wherein to go to the dances; for all these things
+have I taken thought.'
+
+This she said, because she was ashamed to speak of glad
+marriage to her father; but he saw all and answered,
+saying:
+
+'Neither the mules nor aught else do I grudge thee, my
+child. Go thy ways, and the thralls shall get thee ready a
+high waggon with good wheels, and fitted with an upper
+frame.'
+
+Therewith he called to his men, and they gave ear, and
+without the palace they made ready the smooth-running
+mule-wain, and led the mules beneath the yoke, and
+harnessed them under the car, while the maiden brought
+forth from her bower the shining raiment. This she stored
+in the polished car, and her mother filled a basket with
+all manner of food to the heart's desire, dainties too she
+set therein, and she poured wine into a goat-skin bottle,
+while Nausicaa climbed into the wain. And her mother gave
+her soft olive oil also in a golden cruse, that she and her
+maidens might anoint themselves after the bath. Then
+Nausicaa took the whip and the shining reins, and touched
+the mules to start them; then there was a clatter of hoofs,
+and on they strained without flagging, with their load of
+the raiment and the maiden. Not alone did she go, for her
+attendants followed with her.
+
+Now when they were come to the beautiful stream of the
+river, where truly were the unfailing cisterns, and bright
+water welled up free from beneath, and flowed past, enough
+to wash the foulest garments clean, there the girls
+unharnessed the mules from under the chariot, and turning
+them loose they drove them along the banks of the eddying
+river to graze on the honey-sweet clover. Then they took
+the garments from the wain, in their hands, and bore them
+to the black water, and briskly trod them down in the
+trenches, in busy rivalry. Now when they had washed and
+cleansed all the stains, they spread all out in order along
+the shore of the deep, even where the sea, in beating on
+the coast, washed the pebbles clean. Then having bathed and
+anointed them well with olive oil, they took their mid-day
+meal on the river's banks, waiting till the clothes should
+dry in the brightness of the sun. Anon, when they were
+satisfied with food, the maidens and the princess, they
+fell to playing at ball, casting away their tires, and
+among them Nausicaa of the white arms began the song. And
+even as Artemis, the archer, moveth down the mountain,
+either along the ridges of lofty Taygetus or Erymanthus,
+taking her pastime in the chase of boars and swift deer,
+and with her the wild wood-nymphs disport them, the
+daughters of Zeus, lord of the aegis, and Leto is glad at
+heart, while high over all she rears her head and brows,
+and easily may she be known,--but all are fair; even so the
+girl unwed outshone her maiden company.
+
+But when now she was about going homewards, after yoking
+the mules and folding up the goodly raiment, then grey-eyed
+Athene turned to other thoughts, that so Odysseus might
+awake, and see the lovely maiden, who should be his guide
+to the city of the Phaeacian men. So then the princess
+threw the ball at one of her company; she missed the girl,
+and cast the ball into the deep eddying current, whereat
+they all raised a piercing cry. Then the goodly Odysseus
+awoke and sat up, pondering in his heart and spirit:
+
+'Woe is me! to what men's land am I come now? say, are they
+froward, and wild, and unjust, or are they hospitable, and
+of God-fearing mind? How shrill a cry of maidens rings
+round me, of the nymphs that hold the steep hill-tops, and
+the river-springs, and the grassy water meadows! It must
+be, methinks, that I am near men of human speech. Go to, I
+myself will make trial and see.'
+
+Therewith the goodly Odysseus crept out from under the
+coppice, having broken with his strong hand a leafy bough
+from the thick wood, to hold athwart his body, that it
+might hide his nakedness withal. And forth he sallied like
+a lion mountain-bred, trusting in his strength, who fares
+out blown and rained upon, with flaming eyes; amid the kine
+he goes or amid the sheep or in the track of the wild deer;
+yea, his belly bids him go even to the good homestead to
+make assay upon the flocks. Even so Odysseus was fain to
+draw nigh to the fair-tressed maidens, all naked as he was,
+such need had come upon him. But he was terrible in their
+eyes, being marred with the salt sea foam, and they fled
+cowering here and there about the jutting spits of shore.
+And the daughter of Alcinous alone stood firm, for Athene
+gave her courage of heart, and took all trembling from her
+limbs. So she halted and stood over against him, and
+Odysseus considered whether he should clasp the knees of
+the lovely maiden, and so make his prayer, or should stand
+as he was, apart, and beseech her with smooth words, if
+haply she might show him the town, and give him raiment.
+And as he thought within himself, it seemed better to stand
+apart, and beseech her with smooth words, lest the maiden
+should be angered with him if he touched her knees: so
+straightway he spake a sweet and cunning word:
+
+'I supplicate thee, O queen, whether thou art a goddess or
+a mortal! If indeed thou art a goddess of them that keep
+the wide heaven; to Artemis, then, the daughter of great
+Zeus, I mainly liken thee, for beauty and stature and
+shapeliness. But if thou art one of the daughters of men
+who dwell on earth, thrice blessed are thy father and thy
+lady mother, and thrice blessed thy brethren. Surely their
+souls ever glow with gladness for thy sake, each time they
+see thee entering the dance, so fair a flower of maidens.
+But he is of heart the most blessed beyond all other who
+shall prevail with gifts of wooing, and lead thee to his
+home. Never have mine eyes beheld such an one among
+mortals, neither man nor woman; great awe comes upon me as
+I look on thee. Yet in Delos once I saw as goodly a thing:
+a young sapling of a palm tree springing by the altar of
+Apollo. For thither too I went, and much people with me, on
+that path where my sore troubles were to be. Yea, and when
+I looked thereupon, long time I marvelled in spirit,--for
+never grew there yet so goodly a shoot from ground,--even
+in such wise as I wonder at thee, lady, and am astonied and
+do greatly fear to touch thy knees, though grievous sorrow
+is upon me. Yesterday, on the twentieth day, I escaped from
+the wine-dark deep, but all that time continually the wave
+bare me, and the vehement winds drave, from the isle
+Ogygia. And now some god has cast me on this shore, that
+here too, methinks, some evil may betide me; for I trow not
+that trouble will cease; the gods ere that time will yet
+bring many a thing to pass. But, queen, have pity on me,
+for after many trials and sore to thee first of all am I
+come, and of the other folk, who hold this city and land, I
+know no man. Nay show me the town, give me an old garment
+to cast about me, if thou hadst, when thou camest here, any
+wrap for the linen. And may the gods grant thee all thy
+heart's desire: a husband and a home, and a mind at one
+with his may they give--a good gift, for there is nothing
+mightier and nobler than when man and wife are of one heart
+and mind in a house, a grief to their foes, and to their
+friends great joy, but their own hearts know it best.'
+
+Then Nausicaa of the white arms answered him, and said:
+'Stranger, forasmuch as thou seemest no evil man nor
+foolish--and it is Olympian Zeus himself that giveth weal
+to men, to the good and to the evil, to each one as he
+will, and this thy lot doubtless is of him, and so thou
+must in anywise endure it:--and now, since thou hast come
+to our city and our land, thou shalt not lack raiment, nor
+aught else that is the due of a hapless suppliant, when he
+has met them who can befriend him. And I will show thee the
+town, and name the name of the people. The Phaeacians hold
+this city and land, and I am the daughter of Alcinous,
+great of heart, on whom all the might and force of the
+Phaeacians depend.'
+
+Thus she spake, and called to her maidens of the fair
+tresses: 'Halt, my maidens, whither flee ye at the sight of
+a man? Ye surely do not take him for an enemy? That mortal
+breathes not, and never will be born, who shall come with
+war to the land of the Phaeacians, for they are very dear
+to the gods. Far apart we live in the wash of the waves,
+the outermost of men, and no other mortals are conversant
+with us. Nay, but this man is some helpless one come hither
+in his wanderings, whom now we must kindly entreat, for all
+strangers and beggars are from Zeus, and a little gift is
+dear. So, my maidens, give the stranger meat and drink, and
+bathe him in the river, where withal is a shelter from the
+winds.'
+
+So she spake, but they had halted and called each to the
+other, and they brought Odysseus to the sheltered place,
+and made him sit down, as Nausicaa bade them, the daughter
+of Alcinous, high of heart. Beside him they laid a mantle,
+and a doublet for raiment, and gave him soft olive oil in
+the golden cruse, and bade him wash in the streams of the
+river. Then goodly Odysseus spake among the maidens,
+saying: 'I pray you stand thus apart, while I myself wash
+the brine from my shoulders, and anoint me with olive oil,
+for truly oil is long a stranger to my skin. But in your
+sight I will not bathe, for I am ashamed to make me naked
+in the company of fair-tressed maidens.'
+
+Then they went apart and told all to their lady. But with
+the river water the goodly Odysseus washed from his skin
+the salt scurf that covered his back and broad shoulders,
+and from his head he wiped the crusted brine of the barren
+sea. But when he had washed his whole body, and anointed
+him with olive oil, and had clad himself in the raiment
+that the unwedded maiden gave him, then Athene, the
+daughter of Zeus, made him greater and more mighty to
+behold, and from his head caused deep curling locks to
+flow, like the hyacinth flower. And as when some skilful
+man overlays gold upon silver--one that Hephaestus and
+Pallas Athene have taught all manner of craft, and full of
+grace is his handiwork--even so did Athene shed grace about
+his head and shoulders.
+
+Then to the shore of the sea went Odysseus apart, and sat
+down, glowing in beauty and grace, and the princess
+marvelled at him, and spake among her fair-tressed maidens,
+saying:
+
+'Listen, my white-armed maidens, and I will say somewhat.
+Not without the will of all the gods who hold Olympus hath
+this man come among the godlike Phaeacians. Erewhile he
+seemed to me uncomely, but now he is like the gods that
+keep the wide heaven. Would that such an one might be
+called my husband, dwelling here, and that it might please
+him here to abide! But come, my maidens, give the stranger
+meat and drink.'
+
+Thus she spake, and they gave ready ear and hearkened, and
+set beside Odysseus meat and drink, and the steadfast
+goodly Odysseus did eat and drink eagerly, for it was long
+since he had tasted food.
+
+Now Nausicaa of the white arms had another thought. She
+folded the raiment and stored it in the goodly wain, and
+yoked the mules strong of hoof, and herself climbed into
+the car. Then she called on Odysseus, and spake and hailed
+him: 'Up now, stranger, and rouse thee to go to the city,
+that I may convey thee to the house of my wise father,
+where, I promise thee, thou shalt get knowledge of all the
+noblest of the Phaeacians. But do thou even as I tell thee,
+and thou seemest a discreet man enough. So long as we are
+passing along the fields and farms of men, do thou fare
+quickly with the maidens behind the mules and the chariot,
+and I will lead the way. But when we set foot within the
+city,--whereby goes a high wall with towers, and there is a
+fair haven on either side of the town, and narrow is the
+entrance, and curved ships are drawn up on either hand of
+the mole, for all the folk have stations for their vessels,
+each man one for himself. And there is the place of
+assembly about the goodly temple of Poseidon, furnished
+with heavy stones, deep bedded in the earth. There men look
+to the gear of the black ships, hawsers and sails, and
+there they fine down the oars. For the Phaeacians care not
+for bow nor quiver, but for masts, and oars of ships, and
+gallant barques, wherein rejoicing they cross the grey sea.
+Their ungracious speech it is that I would avoid, lest some
+man afterward rebuke me, and there are but too many
+insolent folk among the people. And some one of the baser
+sort might meet me and say: "Who is this that goes with
+Nausicaa, this tall and goodly stranger? Where found she
+him? Her husband he will be, her very own. Either she has
+taken in some shipwrecked wanderer of strange men,--for no
+men dwell near us; or some god has come in answer to her
+instant prayer; from heaven has he descended, and will have
+her to wife for evermore. Better so, if herself she has
+ranged abroad and found a lord from a strange land, for
+verily she holds in no regard the Phaeacians here in this
+country, the many men and noble who are her wooers." So
+will they speak, and this would turn to my reproach. Yea,
+and I myself would think it blame of another maiden who did
+such things in despite of her friends, her father and
+mother being still alive, and was conversant with men
+before the day of open wedlock. But, stranger, heed well
+what I say, that as soon as may be thou mayest gain at my
+father's hands an escort and a safe return. Thou shalt find
+a fair grove of Athene, a poplar grove near the road, and a
+spring wells forth therein, and a meadow lies all around.
+There is my father's demesne, and his fruitful close,
+within the sound of a man's shout from the city. Sit thee
+down there and wait until such time as we may have come
+into the city, and reached the house of my father. But when
+thou deemest that we are got to the palace, then go up to
+the city of the Phaeacians, and ask for the house of my
+father Alcinous, high of heart. It is easily known, and a
+young child could be thy guide, for nowise like it are
+builded the houses of the Phaeacians, so goodly is the
+palace of the hero Alcinous. But when thou art within the
+shadow of the halls and the court, pass quickly through the
+great chamber, till thou comest to my mother, who sits at
+the hearth in the light of the fire, weaving yarn of
+sea-purple stain, a wonder to behold. Her chair is leaned
+against a pillar, and her maidens sit behind her. And there
+my father's throne leans close to hers, wherein he sits and
+drinks his wine, like an immortal. Pass thou by him, and
+cast thy hands about my mother's knees, that thou mayest
+see quickly and with joy the day of thy returning, even if
+thou art from a very far country. If but her heart be
+kindly disposed toward thee, then is there hope that thou
+shalt see thy friends, and come to thy well-builded house,
+and to thine own country.'
+
+She spake, and smote the mules with the shining whip, and
+quickly they left behind them the streams of the river. And
+well they trotted and well they paced, and she took heed to
+drive in such wise that the maidens and Odysseus might
+follow on foot, and cunningly she plied the lash. Then the
+sun set, and they came to the famous grove, the sacred
+place of Athene; so there the goodly Odysseus sat him down.
+Then straightway he prayed to the daughter of mighty Zeus:
+'Listen to me, child of Zeus, lord of the aegis, unwearied
+maiden; hear me even now, since before thou heardest not
+when I was smitten on the sea, when the renowned
+Earth-shaker smote me. Grant me to come to the Phaeacians
+as one dear, and worthy of pity.'
+
+So he spake in prayer, and Pallas Athene heard him; but she
+did not yet appear to him face to face, for she had regard
+unto her father's brother, who furiously raged against the
+godlike Odysseus, till he should come to his own country.
+
+
+
+Book VII
+
+  Odysseus being received at the house of the king Alcinous,
+  the queen after supper, taking notice of his garments,
+  gives him occasion to relate his passage thither on the
+  raft. Alcinous promises him a convoy for the morrow.
+
+So he prayed there, the steadfast goodly Odysseus, while
+the two strong mules bare the princess to the town. And
+when she had now come to the famous palace of her father,
+she halted at the gateway, and round her gathered her
+brothers, men like to the immortals, and they loosed the
+mules from under the car, and carried the raiment within.
+But the maiden betook her to her chamber; and an aged dame
+from Aperaea kindled the fire for her, Eurymedusa, the
+handmaid of the chamber, whom the curved ships upon a time
+had brought from Aperaea; and men chose her as a prize for
+Alcinous, seeing that he bare rule over all the Phaeacians,
+and the people hearkened to him as to a god. She waited on
+the white-armed Nausicaa in the palace halls; she was wont
+to kindle the fire and prepare the supper in the inner
+chamber.
+
+At that same hour Odysseus roused him to go to the city,
+and Athene shed a deep mist about Odysseus for the favour
+that she bare him, lest any of the Phaeacians, high of
+heart, should meet him and mock him in sharp speech, and
+ask him who he was. But when he was now about to enter the
+pleasant city, then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, met him,
+in the fashion of a young maiden carrying a pitcher, and
+she stood over against him, and goodly Odysseus inquired of
+her:
+
+'My child, couldst thou not lead me to the palace of the
+lord Alcinous, who bears sway among this people? Lo, I am
+come here, a stranger travel-worn from afar, from a distant
+land; wherefore of the folk who possess this city and
+country I know not any man.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him saying:
+'Yea now, father and stranger, I will show thee the house
+that thou bidst me declare, for it lies near the palace of
+my noble father; behold, be silent as thou goest, and I
+will lead the way. And look on no man, nor question any.
+For these men do not gladly suffer strangers, nor lovingly
+entreat whoso cometh from a strange land. They trust to the
+speed of their swift ships, wherewith they cross the great
+gulf, for the Earth-shaker hath vouchsafed them this power.
+Their ships are swift as the flight of a bird, or as a
+thought.'
+
+Therewith Pallas Athene led the way swiftly, and he
+followed hard in the footsteps of the goddess. And it came
+to pass that the Phaeacians, mariners renowned, marked him
+not as he went down the city through their midst, for the
+fair tressed Athene suffered it not, that awful goddess,
+who shed a wondrous mist about him, for the favour that she
+bare him in her heart. And Odysseus marvelled at the havens
+and the gallant ships, yea and the places of assembly of
+the heroes, and the long high walls crowned with palisades,
+a marvel to behold. But when they had now come to the
+famous palace of the king, the goddess, grey-eyed Athene,
+spake first and said:
+
+'Lo, here, father and stranger, is the house that thou
+wouldst have me show thee: and thou shalt find kings at the
+feast, the fosterlings of Zeus; enter then, and fear not in
+thine heart, for the dauntless man is the best in every
+adventure, even though he come from a strange land. Thou
+shalt find the queen first in the halls; Arete is the name
+whereby men call her, and she came even of those that begat
+the king Alcinous. First Nausithous was son of Poseidon,
+the Earth-shaker, and of Periboea, the comeliest of women,
+youngest daughter of great-hearted Eurymedon, who once was
+king among the haughty Giants. Howbeit, he destroyed his
+infatuate people, and was himself destroyed; but Poseidon
+lay with Periboea and begat a son, proud Nausithous, who
+sometime was prince among the Phaeacians; and Nausithous
+begat Rhexenor and Alcinous. While Rhexenor had as yet no
+son, Apollo of the silver bow smote him, a groom new wed,
+leaving in his halls one only child Arete; and Alcinous
+took her to wife, and honoured her as no other woman in the
+world is honoured, of all that now-a-days keep house under
+the hand of their lords. Thus she hath, and hath ever had,
+all worship heartily from her dear children and from her
+lord Alcinous and from all the folk, who look on her as on
+a goddess, and greet her with reverend speech, when she
+goes about the town. Yea, for she too hath no lack of
+understanding. To whomso she shows favour, even if they be
+men, she ends their feuds. {*} If but her heart be kindly
+disposed to thee, then is there good hope that thou mayest
+see thy friends, and come to thy high-roofed home and thine
+own country.'
+
+{* And for the women she favours, she ends the feuds of
+their lords also.}
+
+Therewith grey-eyed Athene departed over the unharvested
+seas, and left pleasant Scheria, and came to Marathon and
+wide-wayed Athens, and entered the good house of
+Erechtheus. Meanwhile Odysseus went to the famous palace of
+Alcinous, and his heart was full of many thoughts as he
+stood there or ever he had reached the threshold of bronze.
+For there was a gleam as it were of sun or moon through the
+high-roofed hall of great-hearted Alcinous. Brazen were the
+walls which ran this way and that from the threshold to the
+inmost chamber, and round them was a frieze of blue, and
+golden were the doors that closed in the good house. Silver
+were the door-posts that were set on the brazen threshold,
+and silver the lintel thereupon, and the hook of the door
+was of gold. And on either side stood golden hounds and
+silver, which Hephaestus wrought by his cunning, to guard
+the palace of great-hearted Alcinous, being free from death
+and age all their days. And within were seats arrayed
+against the wall this way and that, from the threshold even
+to the inmost chamber, and thereon were spread light
+coverings finely woven, the handiwork of women. There the
+Phaeacian chieftains were wont to sit eating and drinking,
+for they had continual store. Yea, and there were youths
+fashioned in gold, standing on firm-set bases, with flaming
+torches in their hands, giving light through the night to
+the feasters in the palace. And he had fifty handmaids in
+the house, and some grind the yellow grain on the
+millstone, and others weave webs and turn the yarn as they
+sit, restless as the leaves of the tall poplar tree: and
+the soft olive oil drops off that linen, so closely is it
+woven. For as the Phaeacian men are skilled beyond all
+others in driving a swift ship upon the deep, even so are
+the women the most cunning at the loom, for Athene hath
+given them notable wisdom in all fair handiwork and cunning
+wit. And without the courtyard hard by the door is a great
+garden, off our ploughgates, and a hedge runs round on
+either side. And there grow tall trees blossoming,
+pear-trees and pomegranates, and apple-trees with bright
+fruit, and sweet figs, and olives in their bloom. The fruit
+of these trees never perisheth neither faileth, winter nor
+summer, enduring through all the year. Evermore the West
+Wind blowing brings some fruits to birth and ripens others.
+Pear upon pear waxes old, and apple on apple, yea and
+cluster ripens upon cluster of the grape, and fig upon fig.
+There too hath he a fruitful vineyard planted, whereof the
+one part is being dried by the heat, a sunny plot on level
+ground, while other grapes men are gathering, and yet
+others they are treading in the wine-press. In the foremost
+row are unripe grapes that cast the blossom, and others
+there be that are growing black to vintaging. There too,
+skirting the furthest line, are all manner of garden beds,
+planted trimly, that are perpetually fresh, and therein are
+two fountains of water, whereof one scatters his streams
+all about the garden, and the other runs over against it
+beneath the threshold of the courtyard, and issues by the
+lofty house, and thence did the townsfolk draw water. These
+were the splendid gifts of the gods in the palace of
+Alcinous.
+
+There the steadfast goodly Odysseus stood and gazed. But
+when he had gazed at all and wondered, he passed quickly
+over the threshold within the house. And he found the
+captains and the counsellors of the Phaeacians pouring
+forth wine to the keen-sighted god, the slayer of Argos;
+for to him they poured the last cup when they were minded
+to take rest. Now the steadfast goodly Odysseus went
+through the hall, clad in a thick mist, which Athene shed
+around him, till he came to Arete and the king Alcinous.
+And Odysseus cast his hands about the knees of Arete, and
+then it was that the wondrous mist melted from off him, and
+a silence fell on them that were within the house at the
+sight of him, and they marvelled as they beheld him. Then
+Odysseus began his prayer:
+
+'Arete, daughter of god-like Rhexenor, after many toils am
+I come to thy husband and to thy knees and to these guests,
+and may the gods vouchsafe them a happy life, and may each
+one leave to his children after him his substance in his
+halls and whatever dues of honour the people have rendered
+unto him. But speed, I pray you, my parting, that I may
+come the more quickly to mine own country, for already too
+long do I suffer affliction far from my friends.'
+
+Therewith he sat him down by the hearth in the ashes at the
+fire, and behold, a dead silence fell on all. And at the
+last the ancient lord Echeneus spake among them, an elder
+of the Phaeacians, excellent in speech and skilled in much
+wisdom of old time. With good will he made harangue and
+spake among them:
+
+'Alcinous, this truly is not the more seemly way, nor is it
+fitting that the stranger should sit upon the ground in the
+ashes by the hearth, while these men refrain them, waiting
+thy word. Nay come, bid the stranger arise, and set him on
+a chair inlaid with silver, and command the henchmen to mix
+the wine, that we may pour forth likewise before Zeus,
+whose joy is in the thunder, who attendeth upon reverend
+suppliants. And let the housewife give supper to the
+stranger out of such stores as be within.'
+
+Now when the mighty king Alcinous heard this saying, he
+took Odysseus, the wise and crafty, by the hand, and raised
+him from the hearth, and set him on a shining chair, whence
+he bade his son give place, valiant Laodamas, who sat next
+him and was his dearest. And a handmaid bare water for the
+hands in a goodly golden ewer, and poured it forth over a
+silver basin to wash withal, and drew to his side a
+polished table. And a grave dame bare wheaten bread and set
+it by him and laid upon the board many dainties, giving
+freely of such things as she had by her. So the steadfast
+goodly Odysseus did eat and drink: and then the mighty
+Alcinous spake unto the henchman:
+
+'Pontonous, mix the bowl and serve out the wine to all in
+the hall, that we may pour forth likewise before Zeus,
+whose joy is in the thunder, who attendeth upon reverend
+suppliants.'
+
+So spake he, and Pontonous mixed the honey-hearted wine,
+and served it out to all, when he had poured for libation
+into each cup in turn. But when they had poured forth and
+had drunken to their heart's content, Alcinous made
+harangue and spake among them:
+
+'Hear me, ye captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians,
+that I may speak as my spirit bids me. Now that the feast
+is over, go ye home and lie down to rest; and in the
+morning we will call yet more elders together, and
+entertain the stranger in the halls and do fair sacrifice
+to the gods, and thereafter we will likewise bethink us of
+the convoy, that so without pain or grief yonder stranger
+may by our convoy reach his own country speedily and with
+joy, even though he be from very far away. So shall he
+suffer no hurt or harm in mid passage, ere he set foot on
+his own land; but thereafter he shall endure such things as
+Fate and the stern spinning women drew off the spindles for
+him at his birth when his mother bare him. But if he is
+some deathless god come down from heaven, then do the gods
+herein imagine some new device against us. For always
+heretofore the gods appear manifest amongst us, whensoever
+we offer glorious hecatombs, and they feast by our side,
+sitting at the same board; yea, and even if a wayfarer
+going all alone has met with them, they use no disguise,
+since we are near of kin to them, even as are the Cyclopes
+and the wild tribes of the Giants.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying:
+'Alcinous, that thought be far from thee! for I bear no
+likeness either in form or fashion to the deathless gods,
+who keep wide heaven, but to men that die. Whomsoever ye
+know of human kind the heaviest laden with sorrow, to them
+might I liken myself in my griefs. Yea, and I might tell of
+yet other woes, even the long tale of toil that by the
+gods' will I endured. But as for me, suffer me to sup,
+afflicted as I am; for nought is there more shameless than
+a ravening belly, which biddeth a man perforce be mindful
+of him, though one be worn and sorrowful in spirit, even as
+I have sorrow of heart; yet evermore he biddeth me eat and
+drink and maketh me utterly to forget all my sufferings,
+and commandeth me to take my fill. But do ye bestir you at
+the breaking of the day, that so ye may set me, hapless as
+I am, upon my country's soil, albeit after much suffering.
+Ah, and may life leave me when I have had sight of mine own
+possessions, my thralls, and my dwelling that is great and
+high!'
+
+So spake he, and they all assented thereto, and bade send
+the stranger on his way, for that he had spoken aright. Now
+when they had poured forth and had drunken to their hearts'
+content, they went each one to his house to lay them to
+rest. But goodly Odysseus was left behind in the hall, and
+by him sat Arete and godlike Alcinous; and the maids
+cleared away the furniture of the feast; and white-armed
+Arete first spake among them. For she knew the mantle and
+the doublet, when she saw the goodly raiment that she
+herself had wrought with the women her handmaids. So she
+uttered her voice and spake to him winged words:
+
+'Sir, I am bold to ask thee first of this. Who art thou of
+the sons of men, and whence? Who gave thee this raiment?
+Didst thou not say indeed that thou camest hither wandering
+over the deep?'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her, and said:
+''Tis hard, O queen, to tell my griefs from end to end, for
+that the gods of heaven have given me griefs in plenty. But
+this will I declare to thee, whereof thou dost question and
+inquire. There is an isle, Ogygia, that lies far off in the
+sea; there dwells the daughter of Atlas, crafty Calypso, of
+the braided tresses, an awful goddess, nor is any either of
+gods or mortals conversant with her. Howbeit, some god
+brought me to her hearth, wretched man that I am, all
+alone, for that Zeus with white bolt crushed my swift ship
+and cleft it in the midst of the wine-dark deep. There all
+the rest of my good company was lost, but I clung with fast
+embrace about the keel of the curved ship, and so was I
+borne for nine whole days. And on the tenth dark night the
+gods brought me nigh the isle Ogygia, where Calypso of the
+braided tresses dwells, an awful goddess. She took me in,
+and with all care she cherished me and gave me sustenance,
+and said that she would make me to know not death nor age
+for all my days; but never did she win my heart within me.
+There I abode for seven years continually, and watered with
+my tears the imperishable raiment that Calypso gave me. But
+when the eighth year came round in his course, then at last
+she urged and bade me to be gone, by reason of a message
+from Zeus, or it may be that her own mind was turned. So
+she sent me forth on a well-bound raft, and gave me
+plenteous store, bread and sweet wine, and she clad me in
+imperishable raiment, and sent forth a warm and gentle wind
+to blow. For ten days and seven I sailed, traversing the
+deep, and on the eighteenth day the shadowy hills of your
+land showed in sight, and my heart was glad,--wretched that
+I was--for surely I was still to be the mate of much
+sorrow. For Poseidon, shaker of the earth, stirred up the
+same, who roused against me the winds and stopped my way,
+and made a wondrous sea to swell, nor did the wave suffer
+me to be borne upon my raft, as I made ceaseless moan. Thus
+the storm winds shattered the raft, but as for me I cleft
+my way through the gulf yonder, till the wind bare and the
+water brought me nigh your coast. Then as I strove to land
+upon the shore, the wave had overwhelmed me, dashing me
+against the great rocks and a desolate place, but at length
+I gave way and swam back, till I came to the river, where
+the place seemed best in mine eyes, smooth of rocks, and
+withal there was a shelter from the wind. And as I came out
+I sank down, gathering to me my spirit, and immortal night
+came on. Then I gat me forth and away from the heaven-fed
+river, and laid me to sleep in the bushes and strewed
+leaves about me, and the god shed over me infinite sleep.
+There among the leaves I slept, stricken at heart, all the
+night long, even till the morning and mid-day. And the sun
+sank when sweet sleep let me free. And I was aware of the
+company of thy daughter disporting them upon the sand, and
+there was she in the midst of them like unto the goddesses.
+To her I made my supplication, and she showed no lack of a
+good understanding, behaving so as thou couldst not hope
+for in chancing upon one so young; for the younger folk
+lack wisdom always. She gave me bread enough and red wine,
+and let wash me in the river and bestowed on me these
+garments. Herein, albeit in sore distress, have I told thee
+all the truth.'
+
+And Alcinous answered again, and spake saying: 'Sir, surely
+this was no right thought of my daughter, in that she
+brought thee not to our house with the women her handmaids,
+though thou didst first entreat her grace.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered, and said unto him:
+'My lord, chide not, I pray thee, for this the blameless
+maiden. For indeed she bade me follow with her company, but
+I would not for fear and very shame, lest perchance thine
+heart might be clouded at the sight; for a jealous race
+upon the earth are we, the tribes of men.'
+
+And Alcinous answered yet again, and spake saying: 'Sir, my
+heart within me is not of such temper as to have been wroth
+without a cause: due measure in all things is best. Would
+to father Zeus, and Athene, and Apollo, would that so
+goodly a man as thou art, and like-minded with me, thou
+wouldst wed my daughter, and be called my son, here
+abiding: so would I give thee house and wealth, if thou
+wouldst stay of thine own will: but against thy will shall
+none of the Phaeacians keep thee: never be this
+well-pleasing in the eyes of father Zeus! And now I ordain
+an escort for thee on a certain day, that thou mayst surely
+know, and that day the morrow. Then shalt thou lay thee
+down overcome by sleep, and they the while shall smite the
+calm waters, till thou come to thy country and thy house,
+and whatsoever place is dear to thee, even though it be
+much farther than Euboea, which certain of our men say is
+the farthest of lands, they who saw it, when they carried
+Rhadamanthus, of the fair hair, to visit Tityos, son of
+Gaia. Even thither they went, and accomplished the journey
+on the self-same day and won home again, and were not
+weary. And now shalt thou know for thyself how far my ships
+are the best, and how my young men excel at tossing the
+salt water with the oar-blade.'
+
+So spake he, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus rejoiced;
+and then he uttered a word in prayer, and called aloud to
+Zeus: 'Father Zeus, oh that Alcinous may fulfil all that he
+hath said, so may his fame never be quenched upon the
+earth, the grain-giver, and I should come to mine own
+land!'
+
+Thus they spake one to the other. And white-armed Arete
+bade her handmaids set out bedsteads beneath the gallery,
+and cast fair purple blankets over them, and spread
+coverlets above, and thereon lay thick mantles to be a
+clothing over all. So they went from the hall with torch in
+hand. But when they had busied them and spread the good
+bedstead, they stood by Odysseus and called unto him,
+saying:
+
+'Up now, stranger, and get thee to sleep, thy bed is made'
+
+So spake they, and it seemed to him that rest was wondrous
+good. So he slept there, the steadfast goodly Odysseus, on
+the jointed bedstead, beneath the echoing gallery. But
+Alcinous laid him down in the innermost chamber of the high
+house, and by him the lady his wife arrayed bedstead and
+bedding.
+
+
+
+Book VIII
+
+  The next day's entertainment of Odysseus, where he sees
+  them contend in wrestling and other exercises, and upon
+  provocation took up a greater stone than that which they
+  were throwing, and overthrew them all. Alcinous and the
+  lords give him presents. And how the king asked his name,
+  his country, and his adventures.
+
+Now when early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, then
+the mighty king Alcinous gat him up from his bed; and
+Odysseus, of the seed of Zeus, likewise uprose, the waster
+of cities. And the mighty king Alcinous led the way to the
+assembly place of the Phaeacians, which they had
+established hard by the ships. So when they had come
+thither, and sat them down on the polished stones close by
+each other, Pallas Athene went on her way through the town,
+in the semblance of the herald of wise Alcinous, devising a
+return for the great-hearted Odysseus. Then standing by
+each man she spake, saying:
+
+'Hither now get ye to the assembly, ye captains and
+counsellors of the Phaeacians, that ye may learn concerning
+the stranger, who hath lately come to the palace of wise
+Alcinous, in his wanderings over the deep, and his form is
+like the deathless gods.'
+
+Therewith she aroused the spirit and desire of each one,
+and speedily the meeting-places and seats were filled with
+men that came to the gathering: yea, and many an one
+marvelled at the sight of the wise son of Laertes, for
+wondrous was the grace Athene poured upon his head and
+shoulders, and she made him greater and more mighty to
+behold, that he might win love and worship and honour among
+all the Phaeacians, and that he might accomplish many
+feats, wherein the Phaeacians made trial of Odysseus. Now
+when they were gathered and come together, Alcinous made
+harangue and spake among them:
+
+'Harken, ye captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians, and
+I will say that which my spirit within me bids me utter.
+This stranger, I know not who he is, hath come to my house
+in his wandering, whether from the men of the dawning or
+the westward, and he presses for a convoy, and prays that
+it be assured to him. So let us, as in time past, speed on
+the convoy. For never, nay never, doth any man who cometh
+to my house, abide here long in sorrow for want of help
+upon his way. Nay, come let us draw down a black ship to
+the fair salt sea, for her first voyage, and let them
+choose fifty and two noble youths throughout the township,
+who have been proved heretofore the best. And when ye have
+made fast the oars upon the benches, step all a shore, and
+thereafter come to our house, and quickly fall to feasting;
+and I will make good provision for all. To the noble youths
+I give this commandment; but ye others, sceptred kings,
+come to my fair dwelling, that we may entertain the
+stranger in the halls, and let no man make excuse.
+Moreover, bid hither the divine minstrel, Demodocus, for
+the god hath given minstrelsy to him as to none other, to
+make men glad in what way soever his spirit stirs him to
+sing.'
+
+He spake and led the way, and the sceptred kings
+accompanied him, while the henchmen went for the divine
+minstrel. And chosen youths, fifty and two, departed at his
+command, to the shore of the unharvested sea. But after
+they had gone down to the ship and to the sea, first of all
+they drew the ship down to the deep water, and placed the
+mast and sails in the black ship, and fixed the oars in
+leathern loops, all orderly, and spread forth the white
+sails. And they moored her high out in the shore water, and
+thereafter went on their way to the great palace of the
+wise Alcinous. Now the galleries and the courts and the
+rooms were thronged with men that came to the gathering,
+for there were many, young and old. Then Alcinous
+sacrificed twelve sheep among them, and eight boars with
+flashing tusks, and two oxen with trailing feet. These they
+flayed and made ready, and dressed a goodly feast.
+
+Then the henchman drew near, leading with him the beloved
+minstrel, whom the muse loved dearly, and she gave him both
+good and evil; of his sight she reft him, but granted him
+sweet song. Then Pontonous, the henchman, set for him a
+high chair inlaid with silver, in the midst of the guests,
+leaning it against the tall pillar, and he hung the loud
+lyre on a pin, close above his head, and showed him how to
+lay his hands on it. And close by him he placed a basket,
+and a fair table, and a goblet of wine by his side, to
+drink when his spirit bade him. So they stretched forth
+their hands upon the good cheer spread before them. But
+after they had put from them the desire of meat and drink,
+the Muse stirred the minstrel to sing the songs of famous
+men, even that lay whereof the fame had then reached the
+wide heaven, namely, the quarrel between Odysseus and
+Achilles, son of Peleus; how once on a time they contended
+in fierce words at a rich festival of the gods, but
+Agamemnon, king of men, was inly glad when the noblest of
+the Achaeans fell at variance. For so Phoebus Apollo in his
+soothsaying had told him that it must be, in goodly Pytho,
+what time he crossed the threshold of stone, to seek to the
+oracle. For in those days the first wave of woe was rolling
+on Trojans and Danaans through the counsel of great Zeus.
+
+This song it was that the famous minstrel sang; but
+Odysseus caught his great purple cloak with his stalwart
+hands, and drew it down over his head, and hid his comely
+face, for he was ashamed to shed tears beneath his brows in
+presence of the Phaeacians. Yea, and oft as the divine
+minstrel paused in his song, Odysseus would wipe away the
+tears, and draw the cloak from off his head, and take the
+two-handled goblet and pour forth before the gods. But
+whensoever he began again, and the chiefs of the Phaeacians
+stirred him to sing, in delight at the lay, again would
+Odysseus cover up his head and make moan. Now none of all
+the company marked him weeping, but Alcinous alone noted it
+and was ware thereof as he sat by him and heard him
+groaning heavily. And presently he spake among the
+Phaeacians, masters of the oar:
+
+'Hearken, ye captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians,
+now have our souls been satisfied with the good feast, and
+with the lyre, which is the mate of the rich banquet. Let
+us go forth anon, and make trial of divers games, that the
+stranger may tell his friends, when home he returneth, how
+greatly we excel all men in boxing, and wrestling, and
+leaping, and speed of foot.'
+
+He spake, and led the way, and they went with him. And the
+henchman hung the loud lyre on the pin, and took the hand
+of Demodocus, and let him forth from the hall, and guided
+him by the same way, whereby those others, the chiefs of
+the Phaeacians, had gone to gaze upon the games. So they
+went on their way to the place of assembly, and with them a
+great company innumerable; and many a noble youth stood up
+to play. There rose Acroneus, and Ocyalus, and Elatreus,
+and Nauteus, and Prymneus, and Anchialus, and Eretmeus, and
+Ponteus, and Proreus, Thoon, and Anabesineus, and
+Amphialus, son of Polyneus, son of Tekton, and likewise
+Euryalus, the peer of murderous Ares, the son of Naubolus,
+who in face and form was goodliest of all the Phaeacians
+next to noble Laodamas. And there stood up the three sons
+of noble Alcinous, Laodamas, and Halius, and god-like
+Clytoneus. And behold, these all first tried the issue in
+the foot race. From the very start they strained at utmost
+speed: and all together they flew forward swiftly, raising
+the dust along the plain. And noble Clytoneus was far the
+swiftest of them all in running, and by the length of the
+furrow that mules cleave in a fallow field, {*} so far did
+he shoot to the front, and came to the crowd by the lists,
+while those others were left behind. Then they made trial
+of strong wrestling, and here in turn Euryalus excelled all
+the best. And in leaping Amphialus was far the foremost,
+and Elatreus in weight-throwing, and in boxing Laodamas,
+the good son of Alcinous. Now when they had all taken their
+pleasure in the games, Laodamas, son of Alcinous, spake
+among them:
+
+{* The distance here indicated seems to be that which the
+mule goes in ploughing, without pausing to take breath.}
+
+'Come, my friends, let us ask the stranger whether he is
+skilled or practised in any sport. Ill fashioned, at least,
+he is not in his thighs and sinewy legs and hands withal,
+and his stalwart neck and mighty strength: yea and he lacks
+not youth, but is crushed by many troubles. For I tell thee
+there is nought else worse than the sea to confound a man,
+how hardy soever he may be.'
+
+And Euryalus in turn made answer, and said: 'Laodamas,
+verily thou hast spoken this word in season. Go now thyself
+and challenge him, and declare thy saying.'
+
+Now when the good son of Alcinous heard this, he went and
+stood in the midst, and spake unto Odysseus: 'Come, do thou
+too, father and stranger, try thy skill in the sports, if
+haply thou art practised in any; and thou art like to have
+knowledge of games, for there is no greater glory for a man
+while yet he lives, than that which he achieves by hand and
+foot. Come, then, make essay, and cast away care from thy
+soul: thy journey shall not now be long delayed; lo, thy
+ship is even now drawn down to the sea, and the men of thy
+company are ready.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying;
+'Laodamas, wherefore do ye mock me, requiring this thing of
+me? Sorrow is far nearer my heart than sports, for much
+have I endured and laboured sorely in time past, and now I
+sit in this your gathering, craving my return, and making
+my prayer to the king and all the people.'
+
+And Euryalus answered, and rebuked him to his face: 'No
+truly, stranger, nor do I think thee at all like one that
+is skilled in games, whereof there are many among men,
+rather art thou such an one as comes and goes in a benched
+ship, a master of sailors that are merchantmen, one with a
+memory for his freight, or that hath the charge of a cargo
+homeward bound, and of greedily gotten gains; thou seemest
+not a man of thy hands.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on him and
+said: 'Stranger, thou hast not spoken well; thou art like a
+man presumptuous. So true it is that the gods do not give
+every gracious gift to all, neither shapeliness, nor
+wisdom, nor skilled speech. For one man is feebler than
+another in presence, yet the god crowns his words with
+beauty, and men behold him and rejoice, and his speech runs
+surely on his way with a sweet modesty, and he shines forth
+among the gathering of his people, and as he passes through
+the town men gaze on him as a god. Another again is like
+the deathless gods for beauty, but his words have no crown
+of grace about them; even as thou art in comeliness
+pre-eminent, nor could a god himself fashion thee for the
+better, but in wit thou art a weakling. Yea, thou hast
+stirred my spirit in my breast by speaking thus amiss. I am
+not all unversed in sports, as thy words go, but methinks I
+was among the foremost while as yet I trusted in my youth
+and my hands, but now am I holden in misery and pains: for
+I have endured much in passing through the wars of men and
+the grievous waves of the sea. Yet even so, for all my
+affliction, I will essay the games, for thy word hath
+bitten to the quick, and thou hast roused me with thy
+saying.'
+
+He spake, and clad even as he was in his mantle leaped to
+his feet, and caught up a weight larger than the rest, a
+huge weight heavier far than those wherewith the Phaeacians
+contended in casting. With one whirl he sent it from his
+stout hand, and the stone flew hurtling: and the
+Phaeacians, of the long oars, those mariners renowned,
+crouched to earth beneath the rushing of the stone. Beyond
+all the marks it flew, so lightly it sped from his hand,
+and Athene in the fashion of a man marked the place, and
+spake and hailed him:
+
+'Yea, even a blind man, stranger, might discern that token
+if he groped for it, for it is in no wise lost among the
+throng of the others, but is far the first; for this bout
+then take heart: not one of the Phaeacians shall attain
+thereunto or overpass it.'
+
+So spake she; and the steadfast goodly Odysseus rejoiced
+and was glad, for that he saw a true friend in the lists.
+Then with a lighter heart he spake amid the Phaeacians:
+
+'Now reach ye this throw, young men, if ye may; and soon,
+methinks, will I cast another after it, as far or yet
+further. And whomsoever of the rest his heart and spirit
+stir thereto, hither let him come and try the issue with
+me, in boxing or in wrestling or even in the foot race, I
+care not which, for ye have greatly angered me: let any of
+all the Phaeacians come save Laodamas alone, for he is mine
+host: who would strive with one that entreated him kindly?
+Witless and worthless is the man, whoso challengeth his
+host that receiveth him in a strange land, he doth but maim
+his own estate. But for the rest, I refuse none and hold
+none lightly, but I fain would know and prove them face to
+face. For I am no weakling in all sports, even in the feats
+of men. I know well how to handle the polished bow, and
+ever the first would I be to shoot and smite my man in the
+press of foes, even though many of my company stood by, and
+were aiming at the enemy. Alone Philoctetes in the Trojan
+land surpassed me with the bow in our Achaean archery. But
+I avow myself far more excellent than all besides, of the
+mortals that are now upon the earth and live by bread. Yet
+with the men of old time I would not match me, neither with
+Heracles nor with Eurytus of Oechalia, who contended even
+with the deathless gods for the prize of archery. Wherefore
+the great Eurytus perished all too soon, nor did old age
+come on him in his halls, for Apollo slew him in his wrath,
+seeing that he challenged him to shoot a match. And with
+the spear I can throw further than any other man can shoot
+an arrow. Only I doubt that in the foot race some of the
+Phaeacians may outstrip me, for I have been shamefully
+broken in many waters, seeing that there was no continual
+sustenance on board; wherefore my knees are loosened.'
+
+So spake he and all kept silence; and Alcinous alone
+answered him, saying:
+
+'Stranger, forasmuch as these thy words are not ill-taken
+in our gathering, but thou wouldest fain show forth the
+valour which keeps thee company, being angry that yonder
+man stood by thee in the lists, and taunted thee, in such
+sort as no mortal would speak lightly of thine excellence,
+who had knowledge of sound words; nay now, mark my speech;
+so shalt thou have somewhat to tell another hero, when with
+thy wife and children thou suppest in thy halls, and
+recallest our prowess, what deeds Zeus bestoweth even upon
+us from our fathers' days even until now. For we are no
+perfect boxers, nor wrestlers, but speedy runners, and the
+best of seamen; and dear to us ever is the banquet, and the
+harp, and the dance, and changes of raiment, and the warm
+bath, and love, and sleep. Lo, now arise, ye dancers of the
+Phaeacians, the best in the land, and make sport, that so
+the stranger may tell his friends, when he returneth home,
+how far we surpass all men besides in seamanship, and speed
+of foot, and in the dance and song. And let one go quickly,
+and fetch for Demodocus the loud lyre which is lying
+somewhere in our halls.'
+
+So spake Alcinous the godlike, and the henchman rose to
+bear the hollow lyre from the king's palace. Then stood up
+nine chosen men in all, the judges of the people, who were
+wont to order all things in the lists aright. So they
+levelled the place for the dance, and made a fair ring and
+a wide. And the henchman drew near bearing the loud lyre to
+Demodocus, who gat him into the midst, and round him stood
+boys in their first bloom, skilled in the dance, and they
+smote the good floor with their feet. And Odysseus gazed at
+the twinklings of the feet, and marvelled in spirit.
+
+Now as the minstrel touched the lyre, he lifted up his
+voice in sweet song, and he sang of the love of Ares and
+Aphrodite, of the fair crown, how at the first they lay
+together in the house of Hephaestus privily; and Ares gave
+her many gifts, and dishonoured the marriage bed of the
+lord Hephaestus. And anon there came to him one to report
+the thing, even Helios, that had seen them at their
+pastime. Now when Hephaestus heard the bitter tidings, he
+went his way to the forge, devising evil in the deep of his
+heart, and set the great anvil on the stithy, and wrought
+fetters that none might snap or loosen, that the lovers
+might there unmoveably remain. Now when he had forged the
+crafty net in his anger against Ares, he went on his way to
+the chamber where his marriage bed was set out, and strewed
+his snares all about the posts of the bed, and many too
+were hung aloft from the main beam, subtle as spiders'
+webs, so that none might see them, even of the blessed
+gods: so cunningly were they forged. Now after he had done
+winding the snare about the bed, he made as though he would
+go to Lemnos, that stablished castle, and this was far the
+dearest of all lands in his sight. But Ares of the golden
+rein kept no blind watch, what time he saw Hephaestus, the
+famed craftsman, depart afar. So he went on his way to the
+house of renowned Hephaestus, eager for the love of crowned
+Cytherea. Now she was but newly come from her sire, the
+mighty Cronion, and as it chanced had sat her down; and
+Ares entered the house, and clasped her hand, and spake,
+and hailed her:
+
+'Come, my beloved, let us to bed, and take our pleasure of
+love, for Hephaestus is no longer among his own people;
+methinks he is already gone to Lemnos, to the Sintians, men
+of savage speech.'
+
+So spake he, and a glad thing it seemed to her to lie with
+him. So they twain went to the couch, and laid them to
+sleep, and around them clung the cunning bonds of skilled
+Hephaestus, so that they could not move nor raise a limb.
+Then at the last they knew it, when there was no way to
+flee. Now the famous god of the strong arms drew near to
+them, having turned him back ere he reached the land of
+Lemnos. For Helios had kept watch, and told him all. So
+heavy at heart he went his way to his house, and stood at
+the entering in of the gate, and wild rage gat hold of him,
+and he cried terribly, and shouted to all the gods:
+
+'Father Zeus, and ye other blessed gods, that live for
+ever, come hither, that ye may see a mirthful thing and a
+cruel, for that Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, ever
+dishonours me by reason of my lameness, and sets her heart
+on Ares the destroyer, because he is fair and straight of
+limb, but as for me, feeble was I born. Howbeit, there is
+none to blame but my father and mother,--would they had
+never begotten me! But now shall ye see where these have
+gone up into my bed, and sleep together in love; and I am
+troubled at the sight. Yet, methinks, they will not care to
+lie thus even for a little while longer, despite their
+great love. Soon will they have no desire to sleep
+together, but the snare and the bond shall hold them, till
+her sire give back to me the gifts of wooing, one and all,
+those that I bestowed upon him for the hand of his
+shameless girl; for that his daughter is fair, but without
+discretion.'
+
+So spake he; and lo, the gods gathered together to the
+house of the brazen floor. Poseidon came, the girdler of
+the earth, and Hermes came, the bringer of luck, and prince
+Apollo came, the archer. But the lady goddesses abode each
+within her house for shame. So the gods, the givers of good
+things, stood in the porch: and laughter unquenchable arose
+among the blessed gods, as they beheld the sleight of
+cunning Hephaestus. And thus would one speak, looking to
+his neighbour:
+
+'Ill deed, ill speed! The slow catcheth the swift! Lo, how
+Hephaestus, slow as he is, hath overtaken Ares, albeit he
+is the swiftest of the gods that hold Olympus, by his craft
+hath he taken him despite his lameness; wherefore surely
+Ares oweth the fine of the adulterer.' Thus they spake one
+to the other. But the lord Apollo, son of Zeus, spake to
+Hermes:
+
+'Hermes, son of Zeus, messenger and giver of good things,
+wouldst thou be fain, aye, pressed by strong bonds though
+it might be, to lie on the couch by golden Aphrodite?'
+
+Then the messenger, the slayer of Argos, answered him: 'I
+would that this might be, Apollo, my prince of archery! So
+might thrice as many bonds innumerable encompass me about,
+and all ye gods be looking on and all the goddesses, yet
+would I lie by golden Aphrodite.'
+
+So spake he, and laughter rose among the deathless gods.
+Howbeit, Poseidon laughed not, but was instant with
+Hephaestus, the renowned artificer, to loose the bonds of
+Ares: and he uttered his voice, and spake to him winged
+words:
+
+'Loose him, I pray thee, and I promise even as thou biddest
+me, that he shall himself pay all fair forfeit in the
+presence of the deathless gods.'
+
+Then the famous god of the strong arms answered him:
+'Require not this of me, Poseidon, girdler of the earth.
+Evil are evil folk's pledges to hold. How could I keep thee
+bound among the deathless gods, if Ares were to depart,
+avoiding the debt and the bond?'
+
+Then Poseidon answered him, shaker of the earth:
+'Hephaestus, even if Ares avoid the debt and flee away, I
+myself will pay thee all.'
+
+Then the famous god of the strong arms answered him: 'It
+may not be that I should say thee nay, neither is it meet.'
+
+Therewith the mighty Hephaestus loosed the bonds, and the
+twain, when they were freed from that strong bond, sprang
+up straightway, and departed, he to Thrace, but
+laughter-loving Aphrodite went to Paphos of Cyprus, where
+is her precinct and fragrant altar. There the Graces bathed
+and anointed her with oil imperishable, such as is laid
+upon the everlasting gods. And they clad her in lovely
+raiment, a wonder to see.
+
+This was the song the famous minstrel sang; and Odysseus
+listened and was glad at heart, and likewise did the
+Phaeacians, of the long oars, those mariners renowned.
+
+Then Alcinous bade Halius and Laodamas dance alone, for
+none ever contended with them. So when they had taken in
+their hands the goodly ball of purple hue, that cunning
+Polybus had wrought for them, the one would bend backwards,
+and throw it towards the shadowy clouds; and the other
+would leap upward from the earth, and catch it lightly in
+his turn, before his feet touched the ground. Now after
+they had made trial of throwing the ball straight up, the
+twain set to dance upon the bounteous earth, tossing the
+ball from hand to hand, and the other youths stood by the
+lists and beat time, and a great din uprose.
+
+Then it was that goodly Odysseus spake unto Alcinous: 'My
+lord Alcinous, most notable among all the people, thou
+didst boast thy dancers to be the best in the world, and
+lo, thy words are fulfilled; I wonder as I look on them.'
+
+So spake he, and the mighty king Alcinous rejoiced and
+spake at once among the Phaeacians, masters of the oar:
+
+'Hearken ye, captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians,
+this stranger seems to me a wise man enough. Come then, let
+us give him a stranger's gift, as is meet. Behold, there
+are twelve glorious princes who rule among this people and
+bear sway, and I myself am the thirteenth. Now each man
+among you bring a fresh robe and a doublet, and a talent of
+fine gold, and let us speedily carry all these gifts
+together, that the stranger may take them in his hands, and
+go to supper with a glad heart. As for Euryalus, let him
+yield amends to the man himself, with soft speech and with
+a gift, for his was no gentle saying.'
+
+So spake he, and they all assented thereto, and would have
+it so. And each one sent forth his henchman to fetch his
+gift, and Euryalus answered the king and spake, saying:
+
+'My lord Alcinous, most notable among all the people, I
+will make atonement to thy guest according to thy word. I
+will give him a hanger all of bronze, with a silver hilt
+thereto, and a sheath of fresh-sawn ivory covers it about,
+and it shall be to him a thing of price.'
+
+Therewith he puts into his hands the hanger dight with
+silver, and uttering his voice spake to him winged words:
+'Hail, stranger and father; and if aught grievous hath been
+spoken, may the storm-winds soon snatch and bear it away.
+But may the gods grant thee to see thy wife and to come to
+thine own country, for all too long has thou endured
+affliction away from thy friends.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Thou
+too, my friend, all hail; and may the gods vouchsafe thee
+happiness, and mayst thou never miss this sword which thou
+hast given me, thou that with soft speech hast yielded me
+amends.'
+
+He spake and hung about his shoulders the silver-studded
+sword. And the sun sank, and the noble gifts were brought
+him. Then the proud henchmen bare them to the palace of
+Alcinous, and the sons of noble Alcinous took the fair
+gifts, and set them by their reverend mother. And the
+mighty king Alcinous led the way, and they came in and sat
+them down on the high seats. And the mighty Alcinous spake
+unto Arete:
+
+'Bring me hither, my lady, a choice coffer, the best thou
+hast, and thyself place therein a fresh robe and a doublet,
+and heat for our guest a cauldron on the fire, and warm
+water, that after the bath the stranger may see all the
+gifts duly arrayed which the noble Phaeacians bare hither,
+and that he may have joy in the feast, and in hearing the
+song of the minstrelsy. Also I will give him a beautiful
+golden chalice of mine own, that he may be mindful of me
+all the days of his life when he poureth the drink-offering
+to Zeus and to the other gods.'
+
+So spake he, and Arete bade her handmaids to set a great
+cauldron on the fire with what speed they might. And they
+set the cauldron for the filling of the bath on the blazing
+fire, and poured water therein, and took faggots and
+kindled them beneath. So the fire began to circle round the
+belly of the cauldron, and the water waxed hot. Meanwhile
+Arete brought forth for her guest the beautiful coffer from
+the treasure chamber, and bestowed fair gifts therein,
+raiment and gold, which the Phaeacians gave him. And with
+her own hands she placed therein a robe and goodly doublet,
+and uttering her voice spake to him winged words:
+
+'Do thou now look to the lid, and quickly tie the knot,
+lest any man spoil thy goods by the way, when presently
+thou fallest on sweet sleep travelling in thy black ship.'
+
+Now when the steadfast goodly Odysseus heard this saying,
+forthwith he fixed on the lid, and quickly tied the curious
+knot, which the lady Circe on a time had taught him. Then
+straightway the housewife bade him go to the bath and bathe
+him; and he saw the warm water and was glad, for he was not
+wont to be so cared for, from the day that he left the
+house of fair-tressed Calypso, but all that while he had
+comfort continually as a god.
+
+Now after the maids had bathed him and anointed him with
+olive oil, and had cast a fair mantle and a doublet upon
+him, he stept forth from the bath, and went to be with the
+chiefs at their wine. And Nausicaa, dowered with beauty by
+the gods, stood by the pillar of the well-builded roof, and
+marvelled at Odysseus, beholding him before her eyes, and
+she uttered her voice and spake to him winged words:
+
+'Farewell, stranger, and even in thine own country bethink
+thee of me upon a time, for that to me first thou owest the
+ransom of life.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying:
+'Nausicaa, daughter of great-hearted Alcinous, yea, may
+Zeus, the thunderer, the lord of Here, grant me to reach my
+home and see the day of my returning; so would I, even
+there, do thee worship as to a god, all my days for
+evermore, for thou, lady, hast given me my life.'
+
+He spake and sat him in the high seat by king Alcinous. And
+now they were serving out the portions and mixing the wine.
+Then the henchmen drew nigh leading the sweet minstrel,
+Demodocus, that was had in honour of the people. So he set
+him in the midst of the feasters, and made him lean against
+a tall column. Then to the henchman spake Odysseus of many
+counsels, for he had cut off a portion of the chine of a
+white-toothed boar, whereon yet more was left, with rich
+fat on either side:
+
+'Lo, henchman, take this mess, and hand it to Demodocus,
+that he may eat, and I will bid him hail, despite my
+sorrow. For minstrels from all men on earth get their meed
+of honour and worship; inasmuch as the Muse teacheth them
+the paths of song, and loveth the tribe of minstrels.'
+
+Thus he spake, and the henchman bare the mess, and set it
+upon the knees of the lord Demodocus, and he took it, and
+was glad at heart. Then they stretched forth their hands
+upon the good cheer set before them. Now after they had put
+from them the desire of meat and drink, then Odysseus of
+many counsels spake to Demodocus, saying:
+
+'Demodocus, I praise thee far above all mortal men, whether
+it be the Muse, the daughter of Zeus, that taught thee, or
+even Apollo, for right duly dost thou chant the faring of
+the Achaeans, even all that they wrought and suffered, and
+all their travail, as if, methinks, thou hadst been
+present, or heard the tale from another. Come now, change
+thy strain, and sing of the fashioning of the horse of
+wood, which Epeius made by the aid of Athene, even the
+guileful thing, that goodly Odysseus led up into the
+citadel, when he had laden it with the men who wasted
+Ilios. If thou wilt indeed rehearse me this aright, so will
+I be thy witness among all men, how the god of his grace
+hath given thee the gift of wondrous song.'
+
+So spake he, and the minstrel, being stirred by the god,
+began and showed forth his minstrelsy. He took up the tale
+where it tells how the Argives of the one part set fire to
+their huts, and went aboard their decked ships and sailed
+away, while those others, the fellowship of renowned
+Odysseus, were now seated in the assembly-place of the
+Trojans, all hidden in the horse, for the Trojans
+themselves had dragged him to the citadel. So the horse
+stood there, while seated all around him the people spake
+many things confusedly and three ways their counsel looked;
+either to cleave the hollow timber with the pitiless spear,
+or to drag it to the brow of the hill, and hurl it from the
+rocks, or to leave it as a mighty offering to appease the
+gods. And on this wise it was to be at the last. For the
+doom was on them to perish when their city should have
+closed upon the great horse of wood, wherein sat all the
+bravest of the Argives, bearing to the Trojans death and
+destiny. And he sang how the sons of the Achaeans poured
+forth from the horse, and left the hollow lair, and sacked
+the burg. And he sang how and where each man wasted the
+town, and of Odysseus, how he went like Ares to the house
+of Deiphobus with godlike Menelaus. It was there, he said,
+that Odysseus adventured the most grievous battle, and in
+the end prevailed, by grace of great-hearted Athene.
+
+This was the song that the famous minstrel sang. But the
+heart of Odysseus melted, and the tear wet his cheeks
+beneath the eyelids. And as a woman throws herself wailing
+about her dear lord, who hath fallen before his city and
+the host, warding from his town and his children the
+pitiless day; and she beholds him dying and drawing
+difficult breath, and embracing his body wails aloud, while
+the foemen behind smite her with spears on back and
+shoulders and lead her up into bondage, to bear labour and
+trouble, and with the most pitiful grief her cheeks are
+wasted; even so pitifully fell the tears beneath the brows
+of Odysseus. Now none of all the company marked him
+weeping; but Alcinous alone noted it, and was ware thereof,
+as he sat nigh him and heard him groaning heavily. And
+presently he spake among the Phaeacians, masters of the
+oar:
+
+'Hearken, ye captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians,
+and now let Demodocus hold his hand from the loud lyre, for
+this song of his is nowise pleasing alike to all. From the
+time that we began to sup, and that the divine minstrel was
+moved to sing, ever since hath yonder stranger never ceased
+from woeful lamentation: sore grief, methinks, hath
+encompassed his heart. Nay, but let the minstrel cease,
+that we may all alike make merry, hosts and guest, since it
+is far meeter so. For all these things are ready for the
+sake of the honourable stranger, even the convoy and the
+loving gifts which we give him out of our love. In a
+brother's place stand the stranger and the suppliant, to
+him whose wits have even a little range, wherefore do thou
+too hide not now with crafty purpose aught whereof I ask
+thee; it were more meet for thee to tell it out. Say, what
+is the name whereby they called thee at home, even thy
+father and thy mother, and others thy townsmen and the
+dwellers round about? For there is none of all mankind
+nameless, neither the mean man nor yet the noble, from the
+first hour of his birth, but parents bestow a name on every
+man so soon as he is born. Tell me too of thy land, thy
+township, and thy city, that our ships may conceive of
+their course to bring thee thither. For the Phaeacians have
+no pilots nor any rudders after the manner of other ships,
+but their barques themselves understand the thoughts and
+intents of men; they know the cities and fat fields of
+every people, and most swiftly they traverse the gulf of
+the salt sea, shrouded in mist and cloud, and never do they
+go in fear of wreck or ruin. Howbeit I heard upon a time
+this word thus spoken by my father Nausithous, who was wont
+to say that Poseidon was jealous of us for that we give
+safe escort to all men. He said that the god would some day
+smite a well-wrought ship of the Phaeacians as she came
+home from a convoy over the misty deep, and would
+overshadow our city with a great mountain. Thus that
+ancient one would speak, and thus the god may bring it
+about, or leave it undone, according to the good pleasure
+of his will. But come now, declare me this and plainly tell
+it all; whither wast thou borne wandering, and to what
+shores of men thou camest; tell me of the people and of
+their fair-lying cities, of those whoso are hard and wild
+and unjust, and of those likewise who are hospitable and of
+a god-fearing mind. Declare, too, wherefore thou dost weep
+and mourn in spirit at the tale of the faring of the Argive
+Danaans and the lay of Ilios. All this the gods have
+fashioned, and have woven the skein of death for men, that
+there might be a song in the ears even of the folk of
+aftertime. Hadst thou even a kinsman by marriage that fell
+before Ilios, a true man, a daughter's husband or wife's
+father, such as are nearest us after those of our own stock
+and blood? Or else, may be, some loving friend, a good man
+and true; for a friend with an understanding heart is no
+whit worse than a brother.'
+
+
+
+Book IX
+
+  Odysseus relates, first, what befell him amongst the
+  Cicones at Ismarus; secondly, amongst the Lotophagi;
+  thirdly, how he was used by the Cyclops Polyphemus.
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'King
+Alcinous, most notable of all the people, verily it is a
+good thing to list to a minstrel such as this one, like to
+the gods in voice. Nay, as for me, I say that there is no
+more gracious or perfect delight than when a whole people
+makes merry, and the men sit orderly at feast in the halls
+and listen to the singer, and the tables by them are laden
+with bread and flesh, and a wine-bearer drawing the wine
+serves it round and pours it into the cups. This seems to
+me well-nigh the fairest thing in the world. But now thy
+heart was inclined to ask of my grievous troubles, that I
+may mourn for more exceeding sorrow. What then shall I tell
+of first, what last, for the gods of heaven have given me
+woes in plenty? Now, first, will I tell my name, that ye
+too may know it, and that I, when I have escaped the
+pitiless day, may yet be your host, though my home is in a
+far country. I am ODYSSEUS, SON OF LAERTES, who am in men's
+minds for all manner of wiles, and my fame reaches unto
+heaven. And I dwell in clear-seen Ithaca, wherein is a
+mountain Neriton, with trembling forest leaves, standing
+manifest to view, and many islands lie around, very near
+one to the other, Dulichium and Same, and wooded Zacynthus.
+Now Ithaca lies low, furthest up the sea-line toward the
+darkness, but those others face the dawning and the sun: a
+rugged isle, but a good nurse of noble youths; and for
+myself I can see nought beside sweeter than a man's own
+country. Verily Calypso, the fair goddess, would fain have
+kept me with her in her hollow caves, longing to have me
+for her lord; and likewise too, guileful Circe of Aia,
+would have stayed me in her halls, longing to have me for
+her lord. But never did they prevail upon my heart within
+my breast. So surely is there nought sweeter than a man's
+own country and his parents, even though he dwell far off
+in a rich home, in a strange land, away from them that
+begat him. But come, let me tell thee too of the troubles
+of my journeying, which Zeus laid on me as I came from
+Troy.
+
+'The wind that bare me from Ilios brought me nigh to the
+Cicones, even to Ismarus, whereupon I sacked their city and
+slew the people. And from out the city we took their wives
+and much substance, and divided them amongst us, that none
+through me might go lacking his proper share. Howbeit,
+thereafter I commanded that we should flee with a swift
+foot, but my men in their great folly hearkened not. There
+was much wine still a drinking, and still they slew many
+flocks of sheep by the seashore and kine with trailing feet
+and shambling gait. Meanwhile the Cicones went and raised a
+cry to other Cicones their neighbours, dwelling inland, who
+were more in number than they and braver withal: skilled
+they were to fight with men from chariots, and when need
+was on foot. So they gathered in the early morning as thick
+as leaves and flowers that spring in their season--yea and
+in that hour an evil doom of Zeus stood by us, ill-fated
+men, that so we might be sore afflicted. They set their
+battle in array by the swift ships, and the hosts cast at
+one another with their bronze-shod spears. So long as it
+was morn and the sacred day waxed stronger, so long we
+abode their assault and beat them off, albeit they
+outnumbered us. But when the sun was wending to the time of
+the loosing of cattle, then at last the Cicones drave in
+the Achaeans and overcame them, and six of my
+goodly-greaved company perished from each ship: but the
+remnant of us escaped death and destiny.
+
+'Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart, yet glad as men
+saved from death, albeit we had lost our dear companions.
+Nor did my curved ships move onward ere we had called
+thrice on each of those our hapless fellows, who died at
+the hands of the Cicones on the plain. Now Zeus, gatherer
+of the clouds, aroused the North Wind against our ships
+with a terrible tempest, and covered land and sea alike
+with clouds, and down sped night from heaven. Thus the
+ships were driven headlong, and their sails were torn to
+shreds by the might of the wind. So we lowered the sails
+into the hold, in fear of death, but rowed the ships
+landward apace. There for two nights and two days we lay
+continually, consuming our hearts with weariness and
+sorrow. But when the fair-tressed Dawn had at last brought
+the full light of the third day, we set up the masts and
+hoisted the white sails and sat us down, while the wind and
+the helmsman guided the ships. And now I should have come
+to mine own country all unhurt, but the wave and the stream
+of the sea and the North Wind swept me from my course as I
+was doubling Malea, and drave me wandering past Cythera.
+
+'Thence for nine whole days was I borne by ruinous winds
+over the teeming deep; but on the tenth day we set foot on
+the land of the lotus-eaters, who eat a flowery food. So we
+stepped ashore and drew water, and straightway my company
+took their midday meal by the swift ships. Now when we had
+tasted meat and drink I sent forth certain of my company to
+go and make search what manner of men they were who here
+live upon the earth by bread, and I chose out two of my
+fellows, and sent a third with them as herald. Then
+straightway they went and mixed with the men of the
+lotus-eaters, and so it was that the lotus-eaters devised
+not death for our fellows, but gave them of the lotus to
+taste. Now whosoever of them did eat the honey-sweet fruit
+of the lotus, had no more wish to bring tidings nor to come
+back, but there he chose to abide with the lotus-eating
+men, ever feeding on the lotus, and forgetful of his
+homeward way. Therefore I led them back to the ships
+weeping, and sore against their will, and dragged them
+beneath the benches, and bound them in the hollow barques.
+But I commanded the rest of my well-loved company to make
+speed and go on board the swift ships, lest haply any
+should eat of the lotus and be forgetful of returning.
+Right soon they embarked, and sat upon the benches, and
+sitting orderly they smote the grey sea water with their
+oars.
+
+'Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart. And we came to
+the land of the Cyclopes, a froward and a lawless folk, who
+trusting to the deathless gods plant not aught with their
+hands, neither plough: but, behold, all these things spring
+for them in plenty, unsown and untilled, wheat, and barley,
+and vines, which bear great clusters of the juice of the
+grape, and the rain of Zeus gives them increase. These have
+neither gatherings for council nor oracles of law, but they
+dwell in hollow caves on the crests of the high hills, and
+each one utters the law to his children and his wives, and
+they reck not one of another.
+
+'Now there is a waste isle stretching without the harbour
+of the land of the Cyclopes, neither nigh at hand nor yet
+afar off, a woodland isle, wherein are wild goats
+unnumbered, for no path of men scares them, nor do hunters
+resort thither who suffer hardships in the wood, as they
+range the mountain crests. Moreover it is possessed neither
+by flocks nor by ploughed lands, but the soil lies unsown
+evermore and untilled, desolate of men, and feeds the
+bleating goats. For the Cyclopes have by them no ships with
+vermilion cheek, not yet are there shipwrights in the
+island, who might fashion decked barques, which should
+accomplish all their desire, voyaging to the towns of men
+(as ofttimes men cross the sea to one another in ships),
+who might likewise have made of their isle a goodly
+settlement. Yea, it is in no wise a sorry land, but would
+bear all things in their season; for therein are soft water
+meadows by the shores of the grey salt sea, and there the
+vines know no decay, and the land is level to plough;
+thence might they reap a crop exceeding deep in due season,
+for verily there is fatness beneath the soil. Also there is
+a fair haven, where is no need of moorings, either to cast
+anchor or to fasten hawsers, but men may run the ship on
+the beach, and tarry until such time as the sailors are
+minded to be gone, and favourable breezes blow. Now at the
+head of the harbour is a well of bright water issuing from
+a cave, and round it are poplars growing. Thither we
+sailed, and some god guided us through the night, for it
+was dark and there was no light to see, a mist lying deep
+about the ships, nor did the moon show her light from
+heaven, but was shut in with clouds. No man then beheld
+that island, neither saw we the long waves rolling to the
+beach, till we had run our decked ships ashore. And when
+our ships were beached, we took down all their sails, and
+ourselves too stept forth upon the strand of the sea, and
+there we fell into sound sleep and waited for the bright
+Dawn.
+
+'So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, in
+wonder at the island we roamed over the length thereof: and
+the Nymphs, the daughters of Zeus, lord of the aegis,
+started the wild goats of the hills, that my company might
+have wherewith to sup. Anon we took to us our curved bows
+from out the ships and long spears, and arrayed in three
+bands we began shooting at the goats; and the god soon gave
+us game in plenty. Now twelve ships bare me company, and to
+each ship fell nine goats for a portion, but for me alone
+they set ten apart.
+
+'Thus we sat there the livelong day until the going down of
+the sun, feasting on abundant flesh and on sweet wine. For
+the red wine was not yet spent from out the ships, but
+somewhat was yet therein, for we had each one drawn off
+large store thereof in jars, when we took the sacred
+citadel of the Cicones. And we looked across to the land of
+the Cyclopes, who dwell nigh, and to the smoke, and to the
+voice of the men, and of the sheep and of the goats. And
+when the sun had sunk and darkness had come on, then we
+laid us to rest upon the sea-beach. So soon as early Dawn
+shone forth, the rosy-fingered, then I called a gathering
+of my men, and spake among them all:
+
+'"Abide here all the rest of you, my dear companions; but I
+will go with mine own ship and my ship's company, and make
+proof of these men, what manner of folk they are, whether
+froward, and wild, and unjust, or hospitable and of
+god-fearing mind."
+
+'So I spake, and I climbed the ship's side, and bade my
+company themselves to mount, and to loose the hawsers. So
+they soon embarked and sat upon the benches, and sitting
+orderly smote the grey sea water with their oars. Now when
+we had come to the land that lies hard by, we saw a cave on
+the border near to the sea, lofty and roofed over with
+laurels, and there many flocks of sheep and goats were used
+to rest. And about it a high outer court was built with
+stones, deep bedded, and with tall pines and oaks with
+their high crown of leaves. And a man was wont to sleep
+therein, of monstrous size, who shepherded his flocks alone
+and afar, and was not conversant with others, but dwelt
+apart in lawlessness of mind. Yea, for he was a monstrous
+thing and fashioned marvellously, nor was he like to any
+man that lives by bread, but like a wooded peak of the
+towering hills, which stands out apart and alone from
+others.
+
+'Then I commanded the rest of my well-loved company to
+tarry there by the ship, and to guard the ship, but I chose
+out twelve men, the best of my company, and sallied forth.
+Now I had with me a goat-skin of the dark wine and sweet
+which Maron, son of Euanthes, had given me, the priest of
+Apollo, the god that watched over Ismarus. And he gave it,
+for that we had protected him with his wife and child
+reverently; for he dwelt in a thick grove of Phoebus
+Apollo. And he made me splendid gifts; he gave me seven
+talents of gold well wrought, and he gave me a mixing bowl
+of pure silver, and furthermore wine which he drew off in
+twelve jars in all, sweet wine unmingled, a draught divine;
+nor did any of his servants or of his handmaids in the
+house know thereof, but himself and his dear wife and one
+housedame only. And as often as they drank that red wine
+honey sweet, he would fill one cup and pour it into twenty
+measures of water, and a marvellous sweet smell went up
+from the mixing bowl: then truly it was no pleasure to
+refrain.
+
+'With this wine I filled a great skin, and bare it with me,
+and corn too I put in a wallet, for my lordly spirit
+straightway had a boding that a man would come to me, a
+strange man, clothed in mighty strength, one that knew not
+judgment and justice. {*}
+
+{* Literally, knowing neither dooms, nor ordinances of
+law.}
+
+'Soon we came to the cave, but we found him not within; he
+was shepherding his fat flocks in the pastures. So we went
+into the cave, and gazed on all that was therein. The
+baskets were well laden with cheeses, and the folds were
+thronged with lambs and kids; each kind was penned by
+itself, the firstlings apart, and the summer lambs apart,
+apart too the younglings of the flock. Now all the vessels
+swam with whey, the milk-pails and the bowls, the
+well-wrought vessels whereinto he milked. My company then
+spake and besought me first of all to take of the cheeses
+and to return, and afterwards to make haste and drive off
+the kids and lambs to the swift ships from out the pens,
+and to sail over the salt sea water. Howbeit I hearkened
+not (and far better would it have been), but waited to see
+the giant himself, and whether he would give me gifts as a
+stranger's due. Yet was not his coming to be with joy to my
+company.
+
+'Then we kindled a fire, and made burnt-offering, and
+ourselves likewise took of the cheeses, and did eat, and
+sat waiting for him within till he came back, shepherding
+his flocks. And he bore a grievous weight of dry wood,
+against supper time. This log he cast down with a din
+inside the cave, and in fear we fled to the secret place of
+the rock. As for him, he drave his fat flocks into the wide
+cavern, even all that he was wont to milk; but the males
+both of the sheep and of the goats he left without in the
+deep yard. Thereafter he lifted a huge doorstone and
+weighty, and set it in the mouth of the cave, such an one
+as two and twenty good four-wheeled wains could not raise
+from the ground, so mighty a sheer rock did he set against
+the doorway. Then he sat down and milked the ewes and
+bleating goats, all orderly, and beneath each ewe he placed
+her young. And anon he curdled one half of the white milk,
+and massed it together, and stored it in wicker-baskets,
+and the other half he let stand in pails, that he might
+have it to take and drink against supper time. Now when he
+had done all his work busily, then he kindled the fire
+anew, and espied us, and made question:
+
+'"Strangers, who are ye? Whence sail ye over the wet ways?
+On some trading enterprise or at adventure do ye rove, even
+as sea-robbers over the brine, for at hazard of their own
+lives they wander, bringing bale to alien men."
+
+'So spake he, but as for us our heart within us was broken
+for terror of the deep voice and his own monstrous shape;
+yet despite all I answered and spake unto him, saying:
+
+'"Lo, we are Achaeans, driven wandering from Troy, by all
+manner of winds over the great gulf of the sea; seeking our
+homes we fare, but another path have we come, by other
+ways: even such, methinks, was the will and the counsel of
+Zeus. And we avow us to be the men of Agamemnon, son of
+Atreus, whose fame is even now the mightiest under heaven,
+so great a city did he sack, and destroyed many people; but
+as for us we have lighted here, and come to these thy
+knees, if perchance thou wilt give us a stranger's gift, or
+make any present, as is the due of strangers. Nay, lord,
+have regard to the gods, for we are thy suppliants; and
+Zeus is the avenger of suppliants and sojourners, Zeus, the
+god of the stranger, who fareth in the company of reverend
+strangers."
+
+'So I spake, and anon he answered out of his pitiless
+heart: "Thou art witless, my stranger, or thou hast come
+from afar, who biddest me either to fear or shun the gods.
+For the Cyclopes pay no heed to Zeus, lord of the aegis,
+nor to the blessed gods, for verily we are better men than
+they. Nor would I, to shun the enmity of Zeus, spare either
+thee or thy company, unless my spirit bade me. But tell me
+where thou didst stay thy well-wrought ship on thy coming?
+Was it perchance at the far end of the island, or hard by,
+that I may know?"
+
+'So he spake tempting me, but he cheated me not, who knew
+full much, and I answered him again with words of guile:
+
+'"As for my ship, Poseidon, the shaker of the earth, brake
+it to pieces, for he cast it upon the rocks at the border
+of your country, and brought it nigh the headland, and a
+wind bare it thither from the sea. But I with these my men
+escaped from utter doom."
+
+'So I spake, and out of his pitiless heart he answered me
+not a word, but sprang up, and laid his hands upon my
+fellows, and clutching two together dashed them, as they
+had been whelps, to the earth, and the brain flowed forth
+upon the ground, and the earth was wet. Then cut he them up
+piecemeal, and made ready his supper. So he ate even as a
+mountain-bred lion, and ceased not, devouring entrails and
+flesh and bones with their marrow. And we wept and raised
+our hands to Zeus, beholding the cruel deeds; and we were
+at our wits' end. And after the Cyclops had filled his huge
+maw with human flesh and the milk he drank thereafter, he
+lay within the cave, stretched out among his sheep.
+
+'So I took counsel in my great heart, whether I should draw
+near, and pluck my sharp sword from my thigh, and stab him
+in the breast, where the midriff holds the liver, feeling
+for the place with my hand. But my second thought withheld
+me, for so should we too have perished even there with
+utter doom. For we should not have prevailed to roll away
+with our hands from the lofty door the heavy stone which he
+set there. So for that time we made moan, awaiting the
+bright Dawn.
+
+'Now when early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, again
+he kindled the fire and milked his goodly flocks all
+orderly, and beneath each ewe set her lamb. Anon when he
+had done all his work busily, again he seized yet other two
+men and made ready his mid-day meal. And after the meal,
+lightly he moved away the great door-stone, and drave his
+fat flocks forth from the cave, and afterwards he set it in
+his place again, as one might set the lid on a quiver. Then
+with a loud whoop, the Cyclops turned his fat flocks
+towards the hills; but I was left devising evil in the deep
+of my heart, if in any wise I might avenge me, and Athene
+grant me renown.
+
+'And this was the counsel that showed best in my sight.
+There lay by a sheep-fold a great club of the Cyclops, a
+club of olive wood, yet green, which he had cut to carry
+with him when it should be seasoned. Now when we saw it we
+likened it in size to the mast of a black ship of twenty
+oars, a wide merchant vessel that traverses the great sea
+gulf, so huge it was to view in bulk and length. I stood
+thereby and cut off from it a portion as it were a fathom's
+length, and set it by my fellows, and bade them fine it
+down, and they made it even, while I stood by and sharpened
+it to a point, and straightway I took it and hardened it in
+the bright fire. Then I laid it well away, and hid it
+beneath the dung, which was scattered in great heaps in the
+depths of the cave. And I bade my company cast lots among
+them, which of them should risk the adventure with me, and
+lift the bar and turn it about in his eye, when sweet sleep
+came upon him. And the lot fell upon those four whom I
+myself would have been fain to choose, and I appointed
+myself to be the fifth among them. In the evening he came
+shepherding his flocks of goodly fleece, and presently he
+drave his fat flocks into the cave each and all, nor left
+he any without in the deep court-yard, whether through some
+foreboding, or perchance that the god so bade him do.
+Thereafter he lifted the huge door-stone and set it in the
+mouth of the cave, and sitting down he milked the ewes and
+bleating goats, all orderly, and beneath each ewe he placed
+her young. Now when he had done all his work busily, again
+he seized yet other two and made ready his supper. Then I
+stood by the Cyclops and spake to him, holding in my hands
+an ivy bowl of the dark wine:
+
+'"Cyclops, take and drink wine after thy feast of man's
+meat, that thou mayest know what manner of drink this was
+that our ship held. And lo, I was bringing it thee as a
+drink offering, if haply thou mayest take pity and send me
+on my way home, but thy mad rage is past all sufferance. O
+hard of heart, how may another of the many men there be
+come ever to thee again, seeing that thy deeds have been
+lawless?"
+
+'So I spake, and he took the cup and drank it off, and
+found great delight in drinking the sweet draught, and
+asked me for it yet a second time:
+
+'"Give it me again of thy grace, and tell me thy name
+straightway, that I may give thee a stranger's gift,
+wherein thou mayest be glad. Yea for the earth, the
+grain-giver, bears for the Cyclopes the mighty clusters of
+the juice of the grape, and the rain of Zeus gives them
+increase, but this is a rill of very nectar and ambrosia."
+
+'So he spake, and again I handed him the dark wine. Thrice
+I bare and gave it him, and thrice in his folly he drank it
+to the lees. Now when the wine had got about the wits of
+the Cyclops, then did I speak to him with soft words:
+
+'"Cyclops, thou askest me my renowned name, and I will
+declare it unto thee, and do thou grant me a stranger's
+gift, as thou didst promise. Noman is my name, and Noman
+they call me, my father and my mother and all my fellows."
+
+'So I spake, and straightway he answered me out of his
+pitiless heart:
+
+'"Noman will I eat last in the number of his fellows, and
+the others before him: that shall be thy gift."
+
+'Therewith he sank backwards and fell with face upturned,
+and there he lay with his great neck bent round, and sleep,
+that conquers all men, overcame him. And the wine and the
+fragments of men's flesh issued forth from his mouth, and
+he vomited, being heavy with wine. Then I thrust in that
+stake under the deep ashes, until it should grow hot, and I
+spake to my companions comfortable words, lest any should
+hang back from me in fear. But when that bar of olive wood
+was just about to catch fire in the flame, green though it
+was, and began to glow terribly, even then I came nigh, and
+drew it from the coals, and my fellows gathered about me,
+and some god breathed great courage into us. For their part
+they seized the bar of olive wood, that was sharpened at
+the point, and thrust it into his eye, while I from my
+place aloft turned it about, as when a man bores a ship's
+beam with a drill while his fellows below spin it with a
+strap, which they hold at either end, and the auger runs
+round continually. Even so did we seize the fiery-pointed
+brand and whirled it round in his eye, and the blood flowed
+about the heated bar. And the breath of the flame singed
+his eyelids and brows all about, as the ball of the eye
+burnt away, and the roots thereof crackled in the flame.
+And as when a smith dips an axe or adze in chill water with
+a great hissing, when he would temper it--for hereby anon
+comes the strength of iron--even so did his eye hiss round
+the stake of olive. And he raised a great and terrible cry,
+that the rock rang around, and we fled away in fear, while
+he plucked forth from his eye the brand bedabbled in much
+blood. Then maddened with pain he cast it from him with his
+hands, and called with a loud voice on the Cyclopes, who
+dwelt about him in the caves along the windy heights. And
+they heard the cry and flocked together from every side,
+and gathering round the cave asked him what ailed him:
+
+'"What hath so distressed thee, Polyphemus, that thou
+criest thus aloud through the immortal night, and makest us
+sleepless? Surely no mortal driveth off thy flocks against
+thy will: surely none slayeth thyself by force or craft?"
+
+'And the strong Polyphemus spake to them again from out the
+cave: "My friends, Noman is slaying me by guile, nor at all
+by force."
+
+'And they answered and spake winged words: "If then no man
+is violently handling thee in thy solitude, it can in no
+wise be that thou shouldest escape the sickness sent by
+mighty Zeus. Nay, pray thou to thy father, the lord
+Poseidon."
+
+'On this wise they spake and departed; and my heart within
+me laughed to see how my name and cunning counsel had
+beguiled them. But the Cyclops, groaning and travailing in
+pain, groped with his hands, and lifted away the stone from
+the door of the cave, and himself sat in the entry, with
+arms outstretched to catch, if he might, any one that was
+going forth with his sheep, so witless, methinks, did he
+hope to find me. But I advised me how all might be for the
+very best, if perchance I might find a way of escape from
+death for my companions and myself, and I wove all manner
+of craft and counsel, as a man will for his life, seeing
+that great mischief was nigh. And this was the counsel that
+showed best in my sight. The rams of the flock were well
+nurtured and thick of fleece, great and goodly, with wool
+dark as the violet. Quietly I lashed them together with
+twisted withies, whereon the Cyclops slept, that lawless
+monster. Three together I took: now the middle one of the
+three would bear each a man, but the other twain went on
+either side, saving my fellows. Thus every three sheep bare
+their man. But as for me I laid hold of the back of a young
+ram who was far the best and the goodliest of all the
+flock, and curled beneath his shaggy belly there I lay, and
+so clung face upward, grasping the wondrous fleece with a
+steadfast heart. So for that time making moan we awaited
+the bright Dawn.
+
+'So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, then
+did the rams of the flock hasten forth to pasture, but the
+ewes bleated unmilked about the pens, for their udders were
+swollen to bursting. Then their lord, sore stricken with
+pain, felt along the backs of all the sheep as they stood
+up before him, and guessed not in his folly how that my men
+were bound beneath the breasts of his thick-fleeced flocks.
+Last of all the sheep came forth the ram, cumbered with his
+wool, and the weight of me and my cunning. And the strong
+Polyphemus laid his hands on him and spake to him saying:
+
+'"Dear ram, wherefore, I pray thee, art thou the last of
+all the flocks to go forth from the cave, who of old wast
+not wont to lag behind the sheep, but wert ever the
+foremost to pluck the tender blossom of the pasture, faring
+with long strides, and wert still the first to come to the
+streams of the rivers, and first did long to return to the
+homestead in the evening? But now art thou the very last.
+Surely thou art sorrowing for the eye of thy lord, which an
+evil man blinded, with his accursed fellows, when he had
+subdued my wits with wine, even Noman, whom I say hath not
+yet escaped destruction. Ah, if thou couldst feel as I, and
+be endued with speech, to tell me where he shifts about to
+shun my wrath; then should he be smitten, and his brains be
+dashed against the floor here and there about the cave, and
+my heart be lightened of the sorrows which Noman, nothing
+worth, hath brought me!"
+
+'Therewith he sent the ram forth from him, and when we had
+gone but a little way from the cave and from the yard,
+first I loosed myself from under the ram and then I set my
+fellows free. And swiftly we drave on those stiff-shanked
+sheep, so rich in fat, and often turned to look about, till
+we came to the ship. And a glad sight to our fellows were
+we that had fled from death, but the others they would have
+bemoaned with tears; howbeit I suffered it not, but with
+frowning brows forbade each man to weep. Rather I bade them
+to cast on board the many sheep with goodly fleece, and to
+sail over the salt sea water. So they embarked forthwith,
+and sate upon the benches, and sitting orderly smote the
+grey sea water with their oars. But when I had not gone so
+far, but that a man's shout might be heard, then I spoke
+unto the Cyclops taunting him:
+
+'"Cyclops, so thou wert not to eat the company of a
+weakling by main might in thy hollow cave! Thine evil deeds
+were very sure to find thee out, thou cruel man, who hadst
+no shame to eat thy guests within thy gates, wherefore Zeus
+hath requited thee, and the other gods."
+
+'So I spake, and he was mightily angered at heart, and he
+brake off the peak of a great hill and threw it at us, and
+it fell in front of the dark-prowed ship. {*} And the sea
+heaved beneath the fall of the rock, and the backward flow
+of the wave bare the ship quickly to the dry land, with the
+wash from the deep sea, and drave it to the shore. Then I
+caught up a long pole in my hands, and thrust the ship from
+off the land, and roused my company, and with a motion of
+the head bade them dash in with their oars, that so we
+might escape our evil plight. So they bent to their oars
+and rowed on. But when we had now made twice the distance
+over the brine, I would fain have spoken to the Cyclops,
+but my company stayed me on every side with soft words,
+saying:
+
+{* We have omitted line 483, as required by the sense. It
+is introduced here from line 540.}
+
+'"Foolhardy that thou art, why wouldst thou rouse a wild
+man to wrath, who even now hath cast so mighty a throw
+towards the deep and brought our ship back to land, yea and
+we thought that we had perished {*} even there? If he had
+heard any of us utter sound or speech he would have crushed
+our heads and our ship timbers with a cast of a rugged
+stone, so mightily he hurls."
+
+{* Neither in this passage nor in B ii.171 nor in B xx.121
+do we think that the aorist infinitive after a verb of
+saying can bear a future sense. The aorist infinitive after
+[Greek] (ii.280, vii.76) is hardly an argument in its
+favour; the infinitive there is in fact a noun in the
+genitive case.}
+
+'So spake they, but they prevailed not on my lordly spirit,
+and I answered him again from out an angry heart:
+
+'"Cyclops, if any one of mortal men shall ask thee of the
+unsightly blinding of thine eye, say that it was Odysseus
+that blinded it, the waster of cities, son of Laertes,
+whose dwelling is in Ithaca."
+
+'So I spake, and with a moan he answered me, saying:
+
+'"Lo now, in very truth the ancient oracles have come upon
+me. There lived here a soothsayer, a noble man and a
+mighty, Telemus, son of Eurymus, who surpassed all men in
+soothsaying, and waxed old as a seer among the Cyclopes. He
+told me that all these things should come to pass in the
+aftertime, even that I should lose my eyesight at the hand
+of Odysseus. But I ever looked for some tall and goodly man
+to come hither, clad in great might, but behold now one
+that is a dwarf, a man of no worth and a weakling, hath
+blinded me of my eye after subduing me with wine. Nay come
+hither, Odysseus, that I may set by thee a stranger's
+cheer, and speed thy parting hence, that so the
+Earth-shaker may vouchsafe it thee, for his son am I, and
+he avows him for my father. And he himself will heal me, if
+it be his will; and none other of the blessed gods or of
+mortal men."
+
+'Even so he spake, but I answered him, and said: "Would god
+that I were as sure to rob thee of soul and life, and send
+thee within the house of Hades, as I am that not even the
+Earth-shaker will heal thine eye!"
+
+'So I spake, and then he prayed to the lord Poseidon
+stretching forth his hands to the starry heaven: "Hear me,
+Poseidon, girdler of the earth, god of the dark hair, if
+indeed I be thine, and thou avowest thee my sire,--grant
+that he may never come to his home, even Odysseus, waster
+of cities, the son of Laertes, whose dwelling is in Ithaca;
+yet if he is ordained to see his friends and come unto his
+well-builded house, and his own country, late may he come
+in evil case, with the loss of all his company, in the ship
+of strangers, and find sorrows in his house."
+
+'So he spake in prayer, and the god of the dark locks heard
+him. And once again he lifted a stone, far greater than the
+first, and with one swing he hurled it, and he put forth a
+measureless strength, and cast it but a little space behind
+the dark-prowed ship, and all but struck the end of the
+rudder. And the sea heaved beneath the fall of the rock,
+but the wave bare on the ship and drave it to the further
+shore.
+
+'But when he had now reached that island, where all our
+other decked ships abode together, and our company were
+gathered sorrowing, expecting us evermore, on our coming
+thither we ran our ship ashore upon the sand, and ourselves
+too stept forth upon the sea beach. Next we took forth the
+sheep of the Cyclops from out the hollow ship, and divided
+them, that none through me might go lacking his proper
+share. But the ram for me alone my goodly-greaved company
+chose out, in the dividing of the sheep, and on the shore I
+offered him up to Zeus, even to the son of Cronos, who
+dwells in the dark clouds, and is lord of all, and I burnt
+the slices of the thighs. But he heeded not the sacrifice,
+but was devising how my decked ships and my dear company
+might perish utterly. Thus for that time we sat the
+livelong day, until the going down of the sun, feasting on
+abundant flesh and sweet wine. And when the sun had sunk
+and darkness had come on, then we laid us to rest upon the
+sea beach. So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the
+rosy-fingered, I called to my company, and commanded them
+that they should themselves climb the ship and loose the
+hawsers. So they soon embarked and sat upon the benches,
+and sitting orderly smote the grey sea water with their
+oars.
+
+'Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart, yet glad as men
+saved from death, albeit we had lost our dear companions.
+
+
+
+Book X
+
+  Odysseus, his entertainment by Aeolus, of whom he received
+  a fair wind for the present, and all the rest of the winds
+  tied up in a bag; which his men untying, flew out, and
+  carried him back to Aeolus, who refused to receive him. His
+  adventure at Laestrygonia with Antiphates, where of twelve
+  ships he lost eleven, men and all. How he went thence to
+  the Isle of Aea, where half of his men were turned by Circe
+  into swine, and how he went himself, and by the help of
+  Hermes recovered them and stayed with Circe a year.
+
+'Then we came to the isle Aeolian, where dwelt Aeolus, son
+of Hippotas, dear too the deathless gods, in a floating
+island, and all about it is a wall of bronze unbroken, and
+the cliff runs up sheer from the sea. His twelve children
+to abide there in his halls, six daughters and six lusty
+sons; and, behold, he gave his daughters to his sons to
+wife. And they feast evermore by their dear father and
+their kind mother, and dainties innumerable lie ready to
+their hands. And the house is full of the savour of
+feasting, and the noise thereof rings round, yea in the
+courtyard, by day, and in the night they sleep each one by
+his chaste wife in coverlets and on jointed bedsteads. So
+then we came to their city and their goodly dwelling, and
+the king entreated me kindly for a whole month, and sought
+out each thing, Ilios and the ships of the Argives, and the
+return of the Achaeans. So I told him all the tale in order
+duly. But when I in turn took the word and asked of my
+journey, and bade him send me on my way, he too denied me
+not, but furnished an escort. He gave me a wallet, made of
+the hide of an ox of nine seasons old, which he let flay,
+and therein he bound the ways of all the noisy winds; for
+him the son of Cronos made keeper of the winds, either to
+lull or to rouse what blasts he will. And he made it fast
+in the hold of the ship with a shining silver thong, that
+not the faintest breath might escape. Then he sent forth
+the blast of the West Wind to blow for me, to bear our
+ships and ourselves upon our way; but this he was never to
+bring to pass, for we were undone through our own
+heedlessness.
+
+'For nine whole days we sailed by night and day
+continually, and now on the tenth day my native land came
+in sight, and already we were so near that we beheld the
+folk tending the beacon fires. Then over me there came
+sweet slumber in my weariness, for all the time I was
+holding the sheet, nor gave it to any of my company, that
+so we might come quicker to our own country. Meanwhile my
+company held converse together, and said that I was
+bringing home for myself gold and silver, gifts from Aeolus
+the high-hearted son of Hippotas. And thus would they speak
+looking each man to his neighbour:
+
+'"Lo now, how beloved he is and highly esteemed among all
+men, to the city and land of whomsoever he may come. Many
+are the goodly treasures he taketh with him out of the
+spoil from Troy, while we who have fulfilled like
+journeying with him return homeward bringing with us but
+empty hands. And now Aeolus hath given unto him these
+things freely in his love. Nay come, let us quickly see
+what they are, even what wealth of gold and silver is in
+the wallet."
+
+'So they spake, and the evil counsel of my company
+prevailed. They loosed the wallet, and all the winds brake
+forth. And the violent blast seized my men, and bare them
+towards the high seas weeping, away from their own country;
+but as for me, I awoke and communed with my great heart,
+whether I should cast myself from the ship and perish in
+the deep, or endure in silence and abide yet among the
+living. Howbeit I hardened my heart to endure, and muffling
+my head I lay still in the ship. But the vessels were
+driven by the evil storm-wind back to the isle Aeolian, and
+my company made moan.
+
+'There we stepped ashore and drew water, and my company
+presently took their midday meal by the swift ships. Now
+when we had tasted bread and wine, I took with me a herald
+and one of my company, and went to the famous dwelling of
+Aeolus: and I found him feasting with his wife and
+children. So we went in and sat by the pillars of the door
+on the threshold, and they all marvelled and asked us:
+
+'"How hast thou come hither, Odysseus? What evil god
+assailed thee? Surely we sent thee on thy way with all
+diligence, that thou mightest get thee to thine own country
+and thy home, and whithersoever thou wouldest."
+
+'Even so they said, but I spake among them heavy at heart:
+"My evil company hath been my bane, and sleep thereto
+remorseless. Come, my friends, do ye heal the harm, for
+yours is the power."
+
+'So I spake, beseeching them in soft words, but they held
+their peace. And the father answered, saying: "Get thee
+forth from the island straightway, thou that art the most
+reprobate of living men. Far be it from me to help or to
+further that man whom the blessed gods abhor! Get thee
+forth, for lo, thy coming marks thee hated by the deathless
+gods."
+
+'Therewith he sent me forth from the house making heavy
+moan. Thence we sailed onwards stricken at heart. And the
+spirit of the men was spent beneath the grievous rowing by
+reason of our vain endeavour, for there was no more any
+sign of a wafting wind. So for the space of six days we
+sailed by night and day continually, and on the seventh we
+came to the steep stronghold of Lamos, Telepylos of the
+Laestrygons, where herdsman hails herdsman as he drives in
+his flock, and the other who drives forth answers the call.
+There might a sleepless man have earned a double wage, the
+one as neat-herd, the other shepherding white flocks: so
+near are the outgoings of the night and of the day.
+Thither when he had come to the fair haven, whereabout on
+both sides goes one steep cliff unbroken and jutting
+headlands over against each other stretch forth at the
+mouth of the harbour, and strait is the entrance; thereinto
+all the others steered their curved ships. Now the vessels
+were bound within the hollow harbour each hard by other,
+for no wave ever swelled within it, great or small, but
+there was a bright calm all around. But I alone moored my
+dark ship without the harbour, at the uttermost point
+thereof, and made fast the hawser to a rock. And I went up
+a craggy hill, a place of out-look, and stood thereon:
+thence there was no sign of the labour of men or oxen, only
+we saw the smoke curling upward from the land. Then I sent
+forth certain of my company to go and search out what
+manner of men they were who here live upon the earth by
+bread, choosing out two of my company and sending a third
+with them as herald. Now when they had gone ashore, they
+went along a level road whereby wains were wont to draw
+down wood from the high hills to the town. And without the
+town they fell in with a damsel drawing water, the noble
+daughter of Laestrygonian Antiphates. She had come down to
+the clear-flowing spring Artacia, for thence it was custom
+to draw water to the town. So they stood by her and spake
+unto her, and asked who was king of that land, and who they
+were he ruled over. Then at once she showed them the
+high-roofed hall of her father. Now when they had entered
+the renowned house, they found his wife therein: she was
+huge of bulk as a mountain peak and was loathly in their
+sight. Straightway she called the renowned Antiphates, her
+lord, from the assembly-place, and he contrived a pitiful
+destruction for my men. Forthwith he clutched up one of my
+company and made ready his midday meal, but the other twain
+sprang up and came in flight to the ships. Then he raised
+the war cry through the town, and the valiant Laestrygons
+at the sound thereof, flocked together from every side, a
+host past number, not like men but like the Giants. They
+cast at us from the cliffs with great rocks, each of them a
+man's burden, and anon there arose from the fleet an evil
+din of men dying and ships shattered withal. And like folk
+spearing fishes they bare home their hideous meal. While as
+yet they were slaying my friends within the deep harbour, I
+drew my sharp sword from my thigh, and with it cut the
+hawsers of my dark-prowed ship. Quickly then I called to my
+company, and bade them dash in with the oars, that we might
+clean escape this evil plight. And all with one accord they
+tossed the sea water with the oar-blade, in dread of death,
+and to my delight my barque flew forth to the high seas
+away from the beetling rocks, but those other ships were
+lost there, one and all.
+
+'Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart, yet glad as men
+saved from death, albeit we had lost our dear companions.
+And we came to the isle Aeaean, where dwelt Circe of the
+braided tresses, an awful goddess of mortal speech, own
+sister to the wizard Aeetes. Both were begotten of Helios,
+who gives light to all men, and their mother was Perse,
+daughter of Oceanus. There on the shore we put in with our
+ship into the sheltering haven silently, and some god was
+our guide. Then we stept ashore, and for two days and two
+nights lay there, consuming our own hearts for weariness
+and pain. But when now the fair-tressed Dawn had brought
+the full light of the third day, then did I seize my spear
+and my sharp sword, and quickly departing from the ship I
+went up unto a place of wide prospect, if haply I might see
+any sign of the labour of men and hear the sound of their
+speech. So I went up a craggy hill, a place of out-look,
+and I saw the smoke rising from the broad-wayed earth in
+the halls of Circe, through the thick coppice and the
+woodland. Then I mused in my mind and heart whether I
+should go and make discovery, for that I had seen the smoke
+and flame. And as I thought thereon this seemed to me the
+better counsel, to go first to the swift ship and to the
+sea-banks, and give my company their midday meal, and then
+send them to make search. But as I came and drew nigh to
+the curved ship, some god even then took pity on me in my
+loneliness, and sent a tall antlered stag across my very
+path. He was coming down from his pasture in the woodland
+to the river to drink, for verily the might of the sun was
+sore upon him. And as he came up from out of the stream, I
+smote him on the spine in the middle of the back, and the
+brazen shaft went clean through him, and with a moan he
+fell in the dust, and his life passed from him. Then I set
+my foot on him and drew forth the brazen shaft from the
+wound, and laid it hard by upon the ground and let it lie.
+Next I broke withies and willow twigs, and wove me a rope a
+fathom in length, well twisted from end to end, and bound
+together the feet of the huge beast, and went to the black
+ship bearing him across my neck, and leaning on a spear,
+for it was in no wise possible to carry him on my shoulder
+with the one hand, for he was a mighty quarry. And I threw
+him down before the ship and roused my company with soft
+words, standing by each man in turn:
+
+'"Friends, for all our sorrows we shall not yet a while go
+down to the house of Hades, ere the coming of the day of
+destiny; go to then, while as yet there is meat and drink
+in the swift ship, let us take thought thereof, that we be
+not famished for hunger."
+
+'Even so I spake, and they speedily hearkened to my words.
+They unmuffled their heads, and there on the shore of the
+unharvested sea gazed at the stag, for he was a mighty
+quarry. But after they had delighted their eyes with the
+sight of him, they washed their hands and got ready the
+glorious feast. So for that time we sat the livelong day
+till the going down of the sun, feasting on abundant flesh
+and sweet wine. But when the sun sank and darkness had come
+on, then we laid us to rest upon the sea beach. So soon as
+early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, I called a
+gathering of my men and spake in the ears of them all:
+
+'"Hear my works, my fellows, despite your evil case. My
+friends, lo, now we know not where is the place of darkness
+or of dawning, nor where the Sun, that gives light to men,
+goes beneath the earth, nor where he rises; therefore let
+us advise us speedily if any counsel yet may be: as for me,
+I deem there is none. For I went up a craggy hill, a place
+of out-look, and saw the island crowned about with the
+circle of the endless sea, the isle itself lying low; and
+in the midst thereof mine eyes beheld the smoke through the
+thick coppice and the woodland."
+
+'Even so I spake, but their spirit within them was broken,
+as they remembered the deeds of Antiphates the
+Laestrygonian, and all the evil violence of the haughty
+Cyclops, the man-eater. So they wept aloud shedding big
+tears. Howbeit no avail came of their weeping.
+
+'Then I numbered my goodly-greaved company in two bands,
+and appointed a leader for each, and I myself took the
+command of the one part, and godlike Eurylochus of the
+other. And anon we shook the lots in a brazen-fitted
+helmet, and out leapt the lot of proud Eurylochus. So he
+went on his way, and with him two and twenty of my
+fellowship all weeping; and we were left behind making
+lament. In the forest glades they found the halls of Circe
+builded, of polished stone, in a place with wide prospect.
+And all around the palace mountain-bred wolves and lions
+were roaming, whom she herself had bewitched with evil
+drugs that she gave them. Yet the beasts did not set on my
+men, but lo, they ramped about them and fawned on them,
+wagging their long tails. And as when dogs fawn about their
+lord when he comes from the feast, for he always brings
+them the fragments that soothe their mood, even so the
+strong-clawed wolves and the lions fawned around them; but
+they were affrighted when they saw the strange and terrible
+creatures. So they stood at the outer gate of the
+fair-tressed goddess, and within they heard Circe singing
+in a sweet voice, as she fared to and fro before the great
+web imperishable, such as is the handiwork of goddesses,
+fine of woof and full of grace and splendour. Then Polites,
+a leader of men, the dearest to me and the trustiest of all
+my company, first spake to them:
+
+'"Friends, forasmuch as there is one within that fares to
+and fro before a mighty web singing a sweet song, so that
+all the floor of the hall makes echo, a goddess she is or a
+woman; come quickly and cry aloud to her."
+
+'He spake the word and they cried aloud and called to her.
+And straightway she came forth and opened the shining doors
+and bade them in, and all went with her in their
+heedlessness. But Eurylochus tarried behind, for he guessed
+that there was some treason. So she led them in and set
+them upon chairs and high seats, and made them a mess of
+cheese and barley-meal and yellow honey with Pramnian wine,
+and mixed harmful drugs with the food to make them utterly
+forget their own country. Now when she had given them the
+cup and they had drunk it off, presently she smote them
+with a wand, and in the styes of the swine she penned them.
+So they had the head and voice, the bristles and the shape
+of swine, but their mind abode even as of old. Thus were
+they penned there weeping, and Circe flung them acorns and
+mast and fruit of the cornel tree to eat, whereon wallowing
+swine do always batten.
+
+'Now Eurylochus came back to the swift black ship to bring
+tidings of his fellows, and of their unseemly doom. Not a
+word could he utter, for all his desire, so deeply smitten
+was he to the heart with grief, and his eyes were filled
+with tears and his soul was fain of lamentation. But when
+we all had pressed him with our questions in amazement,
+even then he told the fate of the remnant of our company.
+
+'"We went, as thou didst command, through the coppice,
+noble Odysseus: we found within the forest glades the fair
+halls, builded of polished stone, in a place with wide
+prospect. And there was one that fared before a mighty web
+and sang a clear song, a goddess she was or a woman, and
+they cried aloud and called to her. And straightway she
+came forth, and opened the shining doors and bade them in,
+and they all went with her in their heedlessness. But I
+tarried behind, for I guessed that there was some treason.
+Then they vanished away one and all, nor did any of them
+appear again, though I sat long time watching."
+
+'So spake he, whereon I cast about my shoulder my
+silver-studded sword, a great blade of bronze, and slung my
+bow about me and bade him lead me again by the way that he
+came. But he caught me with both hands, and by my knees he
+besought me, and bewailing him spake to me winged words:
+
+'"Lead me not thither against my will, oh fosterling of
+Zeus, but leave me here! For well I know thou shalt thyself
+return no more, nor bring any one of all thy fellowship;
+nay, let us flee the swifter with those that be here, for
+even yet may we escape the evil day."
+
+'On this wise he spake, but I answered him, saying:
+"Eurylochus, abide for thy part here in this place, eating
+and drinking by the black hollow ship: but I will go forth,
+for a strong constraint is laid on me."
+
+'With that I went up from the ship and the sea-shore. But
+lo, when in my faring through the sacred glades I was now
+drawing near to the great hall of the enchantress Circe,
+then did Hermes, of the golden wand, meet me as I
+approached the house, in the likeness of a young man with
+the first down on his lip, the time when youth is most
+gracious. So he clasped my hand and spake and hailed me:
+
+'"Ah, hapless man, whither away again, all alone through
+the wolds, thou that knowest not this country? And thy
+company yonder in the hall of Circe are penned in the guise
+of swine, in their deep lairs abiding. Is it in hope to
+free them that thou art come hither? Nay, methinks, thou
+thyself shalt never return but remain there with the
+others. Come then, I will redeem thee from thy distress,
+and bring deliverance. Lo, take this herb of virtue, and go
+to the dwelling of Circe, that it may keep from thy head
+the evil day. And I will tell thee all the magic sleight of
+Circe. She will mix thee a potion and cast drugs into the
+mess; but not even so shall she be able to enchant thee; so
+helpful is this charmed herb that I shall give thee, and I
+will tell thee all. When it shall be that Circe smites thee
+with her long wand, even then draw thou thy sharp sword
+from thy thigh, and spring on her, as one eager to slay
+her. And she will shrink away and be instant with thee to
+lie with her. Thenceforth disdain not thou the bed of the
+goddess, that she may deliver thy company and kindly
+entertain thee. But command her to swear a mighty oath by
+the blessed gods, that she will plan nought else of
+mischief to thine own hurt, lest she make thee a dastard
+and unmanned, when she hath thee naked."
+
+'Therewith the slayer of Argos gave me the plant that he
+had plucked from the ground, and he showed me the growth
+thereof. It was black at the root, but the flower was like
+to milk. Moly the gods call it, but it is hard for mortal
+men to dig; howbeit with the gods all things are possible.
+
+'Then Hermes departed toward high Olympus, up through the
+woodland isle, but as for me I held on my way to the house
+of Circe, and my heart was darkly troubled as I went. So I
+halted in the portals of the fair-tressed goddess; there I
+stood and called aloud and the goddess heard my voice, who
+presently came forth and opened the shining doors and bade
+me in, and I went with her heavy at heart. So she led me in
+and set me on a chair with studs of silver, a goodly carven
+chair, and beneath was a footstool for the feet. And she
+made me a potion in a golden cup, that I might drink, and
+she also put a charm therein, in the evil counsel of her
+heart.
+
+'Now when she had given it and I had drunk it off and was
+not bewitched, she smote me with her wand and spake and
+hailed me:
+
+'"Go thy way now to the stye, couch thee there with the
+rest of thy company."
+
+'So spake she, but I drew my sharp sword from my thigh and
+sprang upon Circe, as one eager to slay her. But with a
+great cry she slipped under, and clasped my knees, and
+bewailing herself spake to me winged words:
+
+'"Who art thou of the sons of men, and whence? Where is thy
+city? Where are they that begat thee? I marvel to see how
+thou hast drunk of this charm, and wast nowise subdued.
+Nay, for there lives no man else that is proof against this
+charm, whoso hath drunk thereof, and once it hath passed
+his lips. But thou hast, methinks, a mind within thee that
+may not be enchanted. Verily thou art Odysseus, ready at
+need, whom he of the golden wand, the slayer of Argos, full
+often told me was to come hither, on his way from Troy with
+his swift black ship. Nay come, put thy sword into the
+sheath, and thereafter let us go up into my bed, that
+meeting in love and sleep we may trust each the other."
+
+'So spake she, but I answered her, saying: "Nay, Circe, how
+canst thou bid me be gentle to thee, who hast turned my
+company into swine within thy halls, and holding me here
+with a guileful heart requirest me to pass within thy
+chamber and go up into thy bed, that so thou mayest make me
+a dastard and unmanned when thou hast me naked? Nay, never
+will I consent to go up into thy bed, except thou wilt
+deign, goddess, to swear a mighty oath, that thou wilt plan
+nought else of mischief to mine own hurt."
+
+'So I spake, and she straightway swore the oath not to harm
+me, as I bade her. But when she had sworn and had done that
+oath, then at last I went up into the beautiful bed of
+Circe.
+
+'Now all this while her handmaids busied them in the halls,
+four maidens that are her serving women in the house. They
+are born of the wells and of the woods and of the holy
+rivers, that flow forward into the salt sea. Of these one
+cast upon the chairs goodly coverlets of purple above, and
+spread a linen cloth thereunder. And lo, another drew up
+silver tables to the chairs, and thereon set for them
+golden baskets. And a third mixed sweet honey-hearted wine
+in a silver bowl, and set out cups of gold. And a fourth
+bare water, and kindled a great fire beneath the mighty
+cauldron. So the water waxed warm; but when it boiled in
+the bright brazen vessel, she set me in a bath and bathed
+me with water from out a great cauldron, pouring it over
+head and shoulders, when she had mixed it to a pleasant
+warmth, till from my limbs she took away the consuming
+weariness. Now after she had bathed me and anointed me well
+with olive oil, and cast about me a fair mantle and a
+doublet, she led me into the halls and set me on a chair
+with studs of silver, a goodly carven chair, and beneath
+was a footstool for the feet. And a handmaid bare water for
+the hands in a goodly golden ewer, and poured it forth over
+a silver basin to wash withal; and to my side she drew a
+polished table, and a grave dame bare wheaten bread and set
+it by me, and laid on the board many dainties, giving
+freely of such things as she had by her. And she bade me
+eat, but my soul found no pleasure therein. I sat with
+other thoughts, and my heart had a boding of ill.
+
+'Now when Circe saw that I sat thus, and that I put not
+forth my hands to the meat, and that I was mightily
+afflicted, she drew near to me and spake to me winged
+words:
+
+'"Wherefore thus, Odysseus, dost thou sit there like a
+speechless man, consuming thine own soul, and dost not
+touch meat nor drink? Dost thou indeed deem there is some
+further guile? Nay, thou hast no cause to fear, for already
+I have sworn thee a strong oath not to harm thee."
+
+'So spake she, but I answered her, saying: "Oh, Circe, what
+righteous man would have the heart to taste meat and drink
+ere he had redeemed his company, and beheld them face to
+face? But if in good faith thou biddest me eat and drink,
+then let them go free, that mine eyes may behold my dear
+companions."
+
+'So I spake, and Circe passed out through the hall with the
+wand in her hand, and opened the doors of the stye, and
+drave them forth in the shape of swine of nine seasons old.
+There they stood before her, and she went through their
+midst, and anointed each one of them with another charm.
+And lo, from their limbs the bristles dropped away,
+wherewith the venom had erewhile clothed them, that lady
+Circe gave them. And they became men again, younger than
+before they were, and goodlier far, and taller to behold.
+And they all knew me again and each one took my hands, and
+wistful was the lament that sank into their souls, and the
+roof around rang wondrously. And even the goddess herself
+was moved with compassion.
+
+'Then standing nigh me the fair goddess spake unto me: "Son
+of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
+depart now to thy swift ship and the sea-banks. And first
+of all, draw ye up the ship ashore, and bestow the goods in
+the caves and all the gear. And thyself return again, and
+bring with thee thy dear companions."
+
+'So spake she, and my lordly spirit consented thereto. So I
+went on my way to the swift ship and the sea-banks, and
+there I found my dear company on the swift ship lamenting
+piteously, shedding big tears. And as when calves of the
+homestead gather round the droves of kine that have
+returned to the yard, when they have had their fill of
+pasture, and all with one accord frisk before them, and the
+folds may no more contain them, but with a ceaseless lowing
+they skip about their dams, so flocked they all about me
+weeping, when their eyes beheld me. Yea, and to their
+spirit it was as though they had got to their dear country,
+and the very city of rugged Ithaca, where they were born
+and reared.
+
+'Then making lament they spake to me winged words: "O
+fosterling of Zeus, we were none otherwise glad at thy
+returning, than if we had come to Ithaca, our own country.
+Nay come, of our other companions tell us the tale of their
+ruin."
+
+'So spake they, but I answered them with soft words:
+"Behold, let us first of all draw up the ship ashore, and
+bestow our goods in the caves and all our gear. And do ye
+bestir you, one and all, to go with me, that ye may see
+your fellows in the sacred dwelling of Circe, eating and
+drinking, for they have continual store."
+
+'So spake I, and at once they hearkened to my words, but
+Eurylochus alone would have holden all my companions, and
+uttering his voice he spake to them winged words:
+
+'"Wretched men that we are! whither are we going? Why are
+your hearts so set on sorrow that ye should go down to the
+hall of Circe, who will surely change us all to swine, or
+wolves, or lions, to guard her great house perforce,
+according to the deeds that the Cyclops wrought, when
+certain of our company went to his inmost fold, and with
+them went Odysseus, ever hardy, for through the blindness
+of his heart did they too perish?"
+
+'So spake he, but I mused in my heart whether to draw my
+long hanger from my stout thigh, and therewith smite off
+his head and bring it to the dust, albeit he was very near
+of kin to me; but the men of my company stayed me on every
+side with soothing words:
+
+'"Prince of the seed of Zeus, as for this man, we will
+suffer him, if thou wilt have it so, to abide here by the
+ship and guard the ship; but as for us, be our guide to the
+sacred house of Circe."
+
+'So they spake and went up from the ship and the sea. Nay,
+nor yet was Eurylochus left by the hollow ship, but he went
+with us, for he feared my terrible rebuke.
+
+'Meanwhile Circe bathed the rest of my company in her halls
+with all care, and anointed them well with olive oil; and
+cast thick mantles and doublets about them. And we found
+them all feasting nobly in the halls. And when they saw and
+knew each other face to face, they wept and mourned, and
+the house rang around. Then she stood near me, that fair
+goddess, and spake saying:
+
+'"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
+devices, no more now wake this plenteous weeping: myself I
+know of all the pains ye endured upon the teeming deep, and
+the great despite done you by unkindly men upon the land.
+Nay come, eat ye meat and drink wine, till your spirit
+shall return to you again, as it was when first ye left
+your own country of rugged Ithaca; but now are ye wasted
+and wanting heart, mindful evermore of your sore wandering,
+nor has your heart ever been merry, for very grievous hath
+been your trial."
+
+'So spake she, and our lordly spirit consented thereto. So
+there we sat day by day for the full circle of a year,
+feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine. But when now a
+year had gone, and the seasons returned as the months
+waned, and the long days came in their course, then did my
+dear company call me forth, and say:
+
+'"Good sir, now is it high time to mind thee of thy native
+land, if it is ordained that thou shalt be saved, and come
+to thy lofty house and thine own country."
+
+'So spake they and my lordly spirit consented thereto. So
+for that time we sat the livelong day till the going down
+of the sun, feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine. But
+when the sun sank and darkness came on, they laid them to
+rest throughout the shadowy halls.
+
+'But when I had gone up into the fair bed of Circe, I
+besought her by her knees, and the goddess heard my speech,
+and uttering my voice I spake to her winged words: "Circe,
+fulfil for me the promise which thou madest me to send me
+on my homeward way. Now is my spirit eager to be gone, and
+the spirit of my company, that wear away my heart as they
+mourn around me, when haply thou art gone from us."
+
+'So spake I, and the fair goddess answered me anon: "Son of
+Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
+tarry ye now no longer in my house against your will; but
+first must ye perform another journey, and reach the
+dwelling of Hades and of dread Persephone to seek to the
+spirit of Theban Teiresias, the blind soothsayer, whose
+wits abide steadfast. To him Persephone hath given
+judgment, even in death, that he alone should have
+understanding; but the other souls sweep shadow-like
+around."
+
+'Thus spake she, but as for me, my heart was broken, and I
+wept as I sat upon the bed, and my soul had no more care to
+live and to see the sunlight. But when I had my fill of
+weeping and grovelling, then at the last I answered and
+spake unto her saying: "And who, Circe, will guide us on
+this way? for no man ever yet sailed to hell in a black
+ship."
+
+'So spake I, and the fair goddess answered me anon: "Son of
+Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
+nay, trouble not thyself for want of a guide, by thy ship
+abiding, but set up the mast and spread abroad the white
+sails and sit thee down; and the breeze of the North Wind
+will bear thy vessel on her way. But when thou hast now
+sailed in thy ship across the stream Oceanus, where is a
+waste shore and the groves of Persephone, even tall poplar
+trees and willows that shed their fruit before the season,
+there beach thy ship by deep eddying Oceanus, but go
+thyself to the dank house of Hades. Thereby into Acheron
+flows Pyriphlegethon, and Cocytus, a branch of the water of
+the Styx, and there is a rock, and the meeting of the two
+roaring waters. So, hero, draw nigh thereto, as I command
+thee, and dig a trench as it were a cubit in length and
+breadth, and about it pour a drink-offering to all the
+dead, first with mead and thereafter with sweet wine, and
+for the third time with water, and sprinkle white meal
+thereon; and entreat with many prayers the strengthless
+heads of the dead, and promise that on thy return to Ithaca
+thou wilt offer in thy halls a barren heifer, the best thou
+hast, and will fill the pyre with treasure, and wilt
+sacrifice apart, to Teiresias alone, a black ram without
+spot, the fairest of your flock. But when thou hast with
+prayers made supplication to the lordly races of the dead,
+then offer up a ram and a black ewe, bending their heads
+towards Erebus and thyself turn thy back, with thy face set
+for the shore of the river. Then will many spirits come to
+thee of the dead that be departed. Thereafter thou shalt
+call to thy company and command them to flay the sheep
+which even now lie slain by the pitiless sword, and to
+consume them with fire, and to make prayer to the gods, to
+mighty Hades and to dread Persephone. And thyself draw the
+sharp sword from thy thigh and sit there, suffering not the
+strengthless heads of the dead to draw nigh to the blood,
+ere thou hast word of Teiresias. Then the seer will come to
+thee quickly, leader of the people; he will surely declare
+to thee the way and the measure of thy path, and as
+touching thy returning, how thou mayst go over the teeming
+deep."
+
+'So spake she, and anon came the golden throned Dawn. Then
+she put on me a mantle and a doublet for raiment, and the
+nymph clad herself in a great shining robe, light of woof
+and gracious, and about her waist she cast a fair golden
+girdle, and put a veil upon her head. But I passed through
+the halls and roused my men with smooth words, standing by
+each one in turn:
+
+'"Sleep ye now no more nor breathe sweet slumber; but let
+us go on our way, for surely she hath shown me all, the
+lady Circe."
+
+'So spake I, and their lordly soul consented thereto. Yet
+even thence I led not my company safe away. There was one,
+Elpenor, the youngest of us all, not very valiant in war
+neither steadfast in mind. He was lying apart from the rest
+of my men on the housetop of Circe's sacred dwelling, very
+fain of the cool air, as one heavy with wine. Now when he
+heard the noise of the voices and of the feet of my fellows
+as they moved to and fro, he leaped up of a sudden and
+minded him not to descend again by the way of the tall
+ladder, but fell right down from the roof, and his neck was
+broken from the bones of the spine, and his spirit went
+down to the house of Hades.
+
+'Then I spake among my men as they went on their way,
+saying: "Ye deem now, I see, that ye are going to your own
+dear country; but Circe hath showed us another way, even to
+the dwelling of Hades and of dread Persephone, to seek to
+the spirit of Theban Teiresias."
+
+'Even so I spake, but their heart within them was broken,
+and they sat them down even where they were, and made
+lament and tore their hair. Howbeit no help came of their
+weeping.
+
+'But as we were now wending sorrowful to the swift ship and
+the sea-banks, shedding big tears, Circe meanwhile had gone
+her ways and made fast a ram and a black ewe by the dark
+ship, lightly passing us by: who may behold a god against
+his will, whether going to or fro?'
+
+
+
+Book XI
+
+  Odysseus, his descent into hell, and discourses with the
+  ghosts of the deceased heroes.
+
+'Now when we had gone down to the ship and to the sea,
+first of all we drew the ship unto the fair salt water and
+placed the mast and sails in the black ship, and took those
+sheep and put them therein, and ourselves too climbed on
+board, sorrowing, and shedding big tears. And in the wake
+of our dark-prowed ship she sent a favouring wind that
+filled the sails, a kindly escort,--even Circe of the
+braided tresses, a dread goddess of human speech. And we
+set in order all the gear throughout the ship and sat us
+down; and the wind and the helmsman guided our barque. And
+all day long her sails were stretched in her seafaring; and
+the sun sank and all the ways were darkened.
+
+'She came to the limits of the world, to the deep-flowing
+Oceanus. There is the land and the city of the Cimmerians,
+shrouded in mist and cloud, and never does the shining sun
+look down on them with his rays, neither when he climbs up
+the starry heavens, nor when again he turns earthward from
+the firmament, but deadly night is outspread over miserable
+mortals. Thither we came and ran the ship ashore and took
+out the sheep; but for our part we held on our way along
+the stream of Oceanus, till we came to the place which
+Circe had declared to us.
+
+'There Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, but I
+drew my sharp sword from my thigh, and dug a pit, as it
+were a cubit in length and breadth, and about it poured a
+drink-offering to all the dead, first with mead and
+thereafter with sweet wine, and for the third time with
+water. And I sprinkled white meal thereon, and entreated
+with many prayers the strengthless heads of the dead, and
+promised that on my return to Ithaca I would offer in my
+halls a barren heifer, the best I had, and fill the pyre
+with treasure, and apart unto Teiresias alone sacrifice a
+black ram without spot, the fairest of my flock. But when I
+had besought the tribes of the dead with vows and prayers,
+I took the sheep and cut their throats over the trench, and
+the dark blood flowed forth, and lo, the spirits of the
+dead that be departed gathered them from out of Erebus.
+Brides and youths unwed, and old men of many and evil days,
+and tender maidens with grief yet fresh at heart; and many
+there were, wounded with bronze-shod spears, men slain in
+fight with their bloody mail about them. And these many
+ghosts flocked together from every side about the trench
+with a wondrous cry, and pale fear gat hold on me. Then did
+I speak to my company and command them to flay the sheep
+that lay slain by the pitiless sword, and to consume them
+with fire, and to make prayer to the gods, to mighty Hades
+and to dread Persephone, and myself I drew the sharp sword
+from my thigh and sat there, suffering not the strengthless
+heads of the dead to draw nigh to the blood, ere I had word
+of Teiresias.
+
+'And first came the soul of Elpenor, my companion, that had
+not yet been buried beneath the wide-wayed earth; for we
+left the corpse behind us in the hall of Circe, unwept and
+unburied, seeing that another task was instant on us. At
+the sight of him I wept and had compassion on him, and
+uttering my voice spake to him winged words: "Elpenor, how
+hast thou come beneath the darkness and the shadow? Thou
+hast come fleeter on foot than I in my black ship."
+
+'So spake I, and with a moan he answered me, saying: "Son
+of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
+an evil doom of some god was my bane and wine out of
+measure. When I laid me down on the house-top of Circe I
+minded me not to descend again by the way of the tall
+ladder, but fell right down from the roof, and my neck was
+broken off from the bones of the spine, and my spirit went
+down to the house of Hades. And now I pray thee in the name
+of those whom we left, who are no more with us, thy wife,
+and thy sire who cherished thee when as yet thou wert a
+little one, and Telemachus, whom thou didst leave in thy
+halls alone; forasmuch as I know that on thy way hence from
+out the dwelling of Hades, thou wilt stay thy well-wrought
+ship at the isle Aeaean, even then, my lord, I charge thee
+to think on me. Leave me not unwept and unburied as thou
+goest hence, nor turn thy back upon me, lest haply I bring
+on thee the anger of the gods. Nay, burn me there with mine
+armour, all that is mine, and pile me a barrow on the shore
+of the grey sea, the grave of a luckless man, that even men
+unborn may hear my story. Fulfil me this and plant upon the
+barrow mine oar, wherewith I rowed in the days of my life,
+while yet I was among my fellows."
+
+'Even so he spake, and I answered him saying: "All this,
+luckless man, will I perform for thee and do."
+
+'Even so we twain were sitting holding sad discourse, I on
+the one side, stretching forth my sword over the blood,
+while on the other side the ghost of my friend told all his
+tale.
+
+'Anon came up the soul of my mother dead, Anticleia, the
+daughter of Autolycus the great-hearted, whom I left alive
+when I departed for sacred Ilios. At the sight of her I
+wept, and was moved with compassion, yet even so, for all
+my sore grief, I suffered her not to draw nigh to the
+blood, ere I had word of Teiresias.
+
+'Anon came the soul of Theban Teiresias, with a golden
+sceptre in his hand, and he knew me and spake unto me: "Son
+of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
+what seekest thou NOW, wretched man, wherefore hast thou
+left the sunlight and come hither to behold the dead and a
+land desolate of joy? Nay, hold off from the ditch and draw
+back thy sharp sword, that I may drink of the blood and
+tell thee sooth."
+
+'So spake he and I put up my silver-studded sword into the
+sheath, and when he had drunk the dark blood, even then did
+the noble seer speak unto me, saying: "Thou art asking of
+thy sweet returning, great Odysseus, but that will the god
+make hard for thee; for methinks thou shalt not pass
+unheeded by the Shaker of the Earth, who hath laid up wrath
+in his heart against thee, for rage at the blinding of his
+dear son. Yet even so, through many troubles, ye may come
+home, if thou wilt restrain thy spirit and the spirit of
+thy men so soon as thou shalt bring thy well-wrought ship
+nigh to the isle Thrinacia, fleeing the sea of violet blue,
+when ye find the herds of Helios grazing and his brave
+flocks, of Helios who overseeth all and overheareth all
+things. If thou doest these no hurt, being heedful of thy
+return, so may ye yet reach Ithaca, albeit in evil case.
+But if thou hurtest them, I foreshow ruin for thy ship and
+for thy men, and even though thou shalt thyself escape,
+late shalt thou return in evil plight, with the loss of all
+thy company, on board the ship of strangers, and thou shalt
+find sorrows in thy house, even proud men that devour thy
+living, while they woo thy godlike wife and offer the gifts
+of wooing. Yet I tell thee, on thy coming thou shalt avenge
+their violence. But when thou hast slain the wooers in thy
+halls, whether by guile, or openly with the edge of the
+sword, thereafter go thy way, taking with thee a shapen
+oar, till thou shalt come to such men as know not the sea,
+neither eat meat savoured with salt; yea, nor have they
+knowledge of ships of purple cheek, nor shapen oars which
+serve for wings to ships. And I will give thee a most
+manifest token, which cannot escape thee. In the day when
+another wayfarer shall meet thee and say that thou hast a
+winnowing fan on thy stout shoulder, even then make fast
+thy shapen oar in the earth and do goodly sacrifice to the
+lord Poseidon, even with a ram and a bull and a boar, the
+mate of swine, and depart for home and offer holy hecatombs
+to the deathless gods that keep the wide heaven, to each in
+order due. And from the sea shall thine own death come, the
+gentlest death that may be, which shall end thee foredone
+with smooth old age, and the folk shall dwell happily
+around thee. This that I say is sooth."
+
+'So spake he, and I answered him, saying: "Teiresias, all
+these threads, methinks, the gods themselves have spun. But
+come, declare me this and plainly tell me all. I see here
+the spirit of my mother dead; lo, she sits in silence near
+the blood, nor deigns to look her son in the face nor speak
+to him! Tell me, prince, how may she know me again that I
+am he?"
+
+'So spake I, and anon he answered me, and said: "I will
+tell thee an easy saying, and will put it in thy heart.
+Whomsoever of the dead that be departed thou shalt suffer
+to draw nigh to the blood, he shall tell thee sooth; but if
+thou shalt grudge any, that one shall go to his own place
+again." Therewith the spirit of the prince Teiresias went
+back within the house of Hades, when he had told all his
+oracles. But I abode there steadfastly, till my mother drew
+nigh and drank the dark blood; and at once she knew me, and
+bewailing herself spake to me winged words:
+
+'"Dear child, how didst thou come beneath the darkness and
+the shadow, thou that art a living man? Grievous is the
+sight of these things to the living, for between us and you
+are great rivers and dreadful streams; first, Oceanus,
+which can no wise be crossed on foot, but only if one have
+a well wrought ship. Art thou but now come hither with thy
+ship and thy company in thy long wanderings from Troy? and
+hast thou not yet reached Ithaca, nor seen thy wife in thy
+halls?"
+
+'Even so she spake, and I answered her, and said: "O my
+mother, necessity was on me to come down to the house of
+Hades to seek to the spirit of Theban Teiresias. For not
+yet have I drawn near to the Achaean shore, nor yet have I
+set foot on mine own country, but have been wandering
+evermore in affliction, from the day that first I went with
+goodly Agamemnon to Ilios of the fair steeds, to do battle
+with the Trojans. But come, declare me this and plainly
+tell it all. What doom overcame thee of death that lays men
+at their length? Was it a slow disease, or did Artemis the
+archer slay thee with the visitation of her gentle shafts?
+And tell me of my father and my son, that I left behind me;
+doth my honour yet abide with them, or hath another already
+taken it, while they say that I shall come home no more?
+And tell me of my wedded wife, of her counsel and her
+purpose, doth she abide with her son and keep all secure,
+or hath she already wedded the best of the Achaeans?"
+
+'Even so I spake, and anon my lady mother answered me: "Yea
+verily, she abideth with steadfast spirit in thy halls; and
+wearily for her the nights wane always and the days in
+shedding of tears. But the fair honour that is thine no man
+hath yet taken; but Telemachus sits at peace on his
+demesne, and feasts at equal banquets, whereof it is meet
+that a judge partake, for all men bid him to their house.
+And thy father abides there in the field, and goes not down
+to the town, nor lies he on bedding or rugs or shining
+blankets, but all the winter he sleeps, where sleep the
+thralls in the house, in the ashes by the fire, and is clad
+in sorry raiment. But when the summer comes and the rich
+harvest-tide, his beds of fallen leaves are strewn lowly
+all about the knoll of his vineyard plot. There he lies
+sorrowing and nurses his mighty grief, for long desire of
+thy return, and old age withal comes heavy upon him. Yea
+and even so did I too perish and meet my doom. It was not
+the archer goddess of the keen sight, who slew me in my
+halls with the visitation of her gentle shafts, nor did any
+sickness come upon me, such as chiefly with a sad wasting
+draws the spirit from the limbs; nay, it was my sore
+longing for thee, and for thy counsels, great Odysseus, and
+for thy loving-kindness, that reft me of sweet life."
+
+'So spake she, and I mused in my heart and would fain have
+embraced the spirit of my mother dead. Thrice I sprang
+towards her, and was minded to embrace her; thrice she
+flitted from my hands as a shadow or even as a dream, and
+sharp grief arose ever at my heart. And uttering my voice I
+spake to her winged words:
+
+'"Mother mine, wherefore dost thou not abide me who am
+eager to clasp thee, that even in Hades we twain may cast
+our arms each about the other, and have our fill of chill
+lament? Is this but a phantom that the high goddess
+Persephone hath sent me, to the end that I may groan for
+more exceeding sorrow?"
+
+'So spake I, and my lady mother answered me anon: "Ah me,
+my child, of all men most ill-fated, Persephone, the
+daughter of Zeus, doth in no wise deceive thee, but even on
+this wise it is with mortals when they die. For the sinews
+no more bind together the flesh and the bones, but the
+great force of burning fire abolishes these, so soon as the
+life hath left the white bones, and the spirit like a dream
+flies forth and hovers near. But haste with all thine heart
+toward the sunlight, and mark all this, that even hereafter
+thou mayest tell it to thy wife."
+
+'Thus we twain held discourse together; and lo, the women
+came up, for the high goddess Persephone sent them forth,
+all they that had been the wives and daughters of mighty
+men. And they gathered and flocked about the black blood,
+and I took counsel how I might question them each one. And
+this was the counsel that showed best in my sight. I drew
+my long hanger from my stalwart thigh, and suffered them
+not all at one time to drink of the dark blood. So they
+drew nigh one by one, and each declared her lineage, and I
+made question of all.
+
+'Then verily did I first see Tyro, sprung of a noble sire,
+who said that she was the child of noble Salmoneus, and
+declared herself the wife of Cretheus, son of Aeolus. She
+loved a river, the divine Enipeus, far the fairest of the
+floods that run upon the earth, and she would resort to the
+fair streams of Enipeus. And it came to pass that the
+girdler of the world, the Earth-shaker, put on the shape of
+the god, and lay by the lady at the mouths of the whirling
+stream. Then the dark wave stood around them like a
+hill-side bowed, and hid the god and the mortal woman. And
+he undid her maiden girdle, and shed a slumber over her.
+Now when the god had done the work of love, he clasped her
+hand and spake and hailed her:
+
+'"Woman, be glad in our love, and when the year comes round
+thou shalt give birth to glorious children,--for not weak
+are the embraces of the gods,--and do thou keep and cherish
+them. And now go home and hold thy peace, and tell it not:
+but behold, I am Poseidon, shaker of the earth."
+
+'Therewith he plunged beneath the heaving deep. And she
+conceived and bare Pelias and Neleus, who both grew to be
+mighty men, servants of Zeus. Pelias dwelt in wide Iolcos,
+and was rich in flocks; and that other abode in sandy
+Pylos. And the queen of women bare yet other sons to
+Cretheus, even Aeson and Pheres and Amythaon, whose joy was
+in chariots.
+
+'And after her I saw Antiope, daughter of Asopus, and her
+boast was that she had slept even in the arms of Zeus, and
+she bare two sons, Amphion and Zethus, who founded first
+the place of seven-gated Thebes, and they made of it a
+fenced city, for they might not dwell in spacious Thebes
+unfenced, for all their valiancy.
+
+'Next to her I saw Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, who lay in
+the arms of mighty Zeus, and bare Heracles of the
+lion-heart, steadfast in the fight. And I saw Megara,
+daughter of Creon, haughty of heart, whom the strong and
+tireless son of Amphitryon had to wife.
+
+'And I saw the mother of Oedipodes, fair Epicaste, who
+wrought a dread deed unwittingly, being wedded to her own
+son, and he that had slain his own father wedded her, and
+straightway the gods made these things known to men. Yet he
+abode in pain in pleasant Thebes, ruling the Cadmaeans, by
+reason of the deadly counsels of the gods. But she went
+down to the house of Hades, the mighty warder; yea, she
+tied a noose from the high beam aloft, being fast holden in
+sorrow; while for him she left pains behind full many, even
+all that the Avengers of a mother bring to pass.
+
+'And I saw lovely Chloris, whom Neleus wedded on a time for
+her beauty, and brought gifts of wooing past number. She
+was the youngest daughter of Amphion, son of Iasus, who
+once ruled mightily in Minyan Orchomenus. And she was queen
+of Pylos, and bare glorious children to her lord, Nestor
+and Chromius, and princely Periclymenus, and stately Pero
+too, the wonder of all men. All that dwelt around were her
+wooers; but Neleus would not give her, save to him who
+should drive off from Phylace the kine of mighty Iphicles,
+with shambling gait and broad of brow, hard cattle to
+drive. And none but the noble seer {*} took in hand to
+drive them; but a grievous fate from the gods fettered him,
+even hard bonds and the herdsmen of the wild. But when at
+length the months and days were being fulfilled, as the
+year returned upon his course, and the seasons came round,
+then did mighty Iphicles set him free, when he had spoken
+out all the oracles; and herein was the counsel of Zeus
+being accomplished.
+
+{* Melampus}
+
+'And I saw Lede, the famous bed-fellow of Tyndareus, who
+bare to Tyndareus two sons, hardy of heart, Castor tamer of
+steeds, and Polydeuces the boxer. These twain yet live, but
+the quickening earth is over them; and even in the nether
+world they have honour at the hand of Zeus. And they
+possess their life in turn, living one day and dying the
+next, and they have gotten worship even as the gods.
+
+'And after her I beheld Iphimedeia, bed-fellow of Aloeus,
+who said that she had lain with Poseidon, and she bare
+children twain, but short of life were they, godlike Otus
+and far-famed Ephialtes. Now these were the tallest men
+that earth, the graingiver, ever reared, and far the
+goodliest after the renowned Orion. At nine seasons old
+they were of breadth nine cubits, and nine fathoms in
+height. They it was who threatened to raise even against
+the immortals in Olympus the din of stormy war. They strove
+to pile Ossa on Olympus, and on Ossa Pelion with the
+trembling forest leaves, that there might be a pathway to
+the sky. Yea, and they would have accomplished it, had they
+reached the full measure of manhood. But the son of Zeus,
+whom Leto of the fair locks bare, destroyed the twain, ere
+the down had bloomed beneath their temples, and darkened
+their chins with the blossom of youth.
+
+'And Phaedra and Procris I saw, and fair Ariadne, the
+daughter of wizard Minos, whom Theseus on a time was
+bearing from Crete to the hill of sacred Athens, yet had he
+no joy of her; for Artemis slew her ere that in sea-girt
+Dia, by reason of the witness of Dionysus.
+
+'And Maera and Clymene I saw, and hateful Eriphyle, who
+took fine gold for the price of her dear lord's life. But I
+cannot tell or name all the wives and daughters of the
+heroes that I saw; ere that, the immortal night would wane.
+Nay, it is even now time to sleep, whether I go to the
+swift ship to my company or abide here: and for my convoy
+you and the gods will care.'
+
+So spake he, and dead silence fell on all, and they were
+spell-bound throughout the shadowy halls. Then Arete of the
+white arms first spake among them: 'Phaeacians, what think
+you of this man for comeliness and stature, and within for
+wisdom of heart? Moreover he is my guest, though every one
+of you hath his share in this honour. Wherefore haste not
+to send him hence, and stint not these your gifts for one
+that stands in such sore need of them; for ye have much
+treasure stored in your halls by the grace of the gods.'
+
+Then too spake among them the old man, lord Echeneus, that
+was an elder among the Phaeacians: 'Friends, behold, the
+speech of our wise queen is not wide of the mark, nor far
+from our deeming, so hearken ye thereto. But on Alcinous
+here both word and work depend.'
+
+Then Alcinous made answer, and spake unto him: 'Yea, the
+word that she hath spoken shall hold, if indeed I am yet to
+live and bear rule among the Phaeacians, masters of the
+oar. Howbeit let the stranger, for all his craving to
+return, nevertheless endure to abide until the morrow, till
+I make up the full measure of the gift; and men shall care
+for his convoy, all men, but I in chief, for mine is the
+lordship in the land.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: My lord
+Alcinous, most notable of all the people, if ye bade me
+tarry here even for a year, and would speed my convoy and
+give me splendid gifts, even that I would choose; and
+better would it be for me to come with a fuller hand to
+mine own dear country, so should I get more love and
+worship in the eyes of all men, whoso should see me after I
+was returned to Ithaca.'
+
+And Alcinous answered him, saying: 'Odysseus, in no wise do
+we deem thee, we that look on thee, to be a knave or a
+cheat, even as the dark earth rears many such broadcast,
+fashioning lies whence none can even see his way therein.
+But beauty crowns thy words, and wisdom is within thee; and
+thy tale, as when a minstrel sings, thou hast told with
+skill, the weary woes of all the Argives and of thine own
+self. But come, declare me this and plainly tell it all.
+Didst thou see any of thy godlike company who went up at
+the same time with thee to Ilios and there met their doom?
+Behold, the night is of great length, unspeakable, and the
+time for sleep in the hall is not yet; tell me therefore of
+those wondrous deeds. I could abide even till the bright
+dawn, so long as thou couldst endure to rehearse me these
+woes of thine in the hall.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: 'My
+lord Alcinous, most notable of all the people, there is a
+time for many words and there is a time for sleep. But if
+thou art eager still to listen, I would not for my part
+grudge to tell thee of other things more pitiful still,
+even the woes of my comrades, those that perished
+afterward, for they had escaped with their lives from the
+dread war-cry of the Trojans, but perished in returning by
+the will of an evil woman.
+
+'Now when holy Persephone had scattered this way and that
+the spirits of the women folk, thereafter came the soul of
+Agamemnon, son of Atreus, sorrowing; and round him others
+were gathered, the ghosts of them who had died with him in
+the house of Aegisthus and met their doom. And he knew me
+straightway when he had drunk the dark blood, yea, and he
+wept aloud, and shed big tears as he stretched forth his
+hands in his longing to reach me. But it might not be, for
+he had now no steadfast strength nor power at all in
+moving, such as was aforetime in his supple limbs.
+
+'At the sight of him I wept and was moved with compassion,
+and uttering my voice, spake to him winged words: "Most
+renowned son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, say what
+doom overcame thee of death that lays men at their length?
+Did Poseidon smite thee in thy ships, raising the dolorous
+blast of contrary winds, or did unfriendly men do thee hurt
+upon the land, whilst thou wert cutting off their oxen and
+fair flocks of sheep, or fighting to win a city and the
+women thereof?"
+
+'So spake I, and straightway he answered, and said unto me:
+"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
+devices, it was not Poseidon that smote me in my ships, and
+raised the dolorous blast of contrary winds, nor did
+unfriendly men do me hurt upon the land, but Aegisthus it
+was that wrought me death and doom and slew me, with the
+aid of my accursed wife, as one slays an ox at the stall,
+after he had bidden me to his house, and entertained me at
+a feast. Even so I died by a death most pitiful, and round
+me my company likewise were slain without ceasing, like
+swine with glittering tusks which are slaughtered in the
+house of a rich and mighty man, whether at a wedding
+banquet or a joint-feast or a rich clan-drinking. Ere now
+hast thou been at the slaying of many a man, killed in
+single fight or in strong battle, yet thou wouldst have
+sorrowed the most at this sight, how we lay in the hall
+round the mixing-bowl and the laden boards, and the floor
+all ran with blood. And most pitiful of all that I heard
+was the voice of the daughter of Priam, of Cassandra, whom
+hard by me the crafty Clytemnestra slew. Then I strove to
+raise my hands as I was dying upon the sword, but to earth
+they fell. And that shameless one turned her back upon me,
+and had not the heart to draw down my eyelids with her
+fingers nor to close my mouth. So surely is there nought
+more terrible and shameless than a woman who imagines such
+evil in her heart, even as she too planned a foul deed,
+fashioning death for her wedded lord. Verily I had thought
+to come home most welcome to my children and my thralls;
+but she, out of the depth of her evil knowledge, hath shed
+shame on herself and on all womankind, which shall be for
+ever, even on the upright."
+
+'Even so he spake, but I answered him, saying: "Lo now, in
+very sooth, hath Zeus of the far-borne voice wreaked
+wondrous hatred on the seed of Atreus through the counsels
+of woman from of old. For Helen's sake so many of us
+perished, and now Clytemnestra hath practised treason
+against thee, while yet thou wast afar off."
+
+'Even so I spake, and anon he answered me, saying:
+"Wherefore do thou too, never henceforth be soft even to
+thy wife, neither show her all the counsel that thou
+knowest, but a part declare and let part be hid. Yet shalt
+not thou, Odysseus, find death at the hand of thy wife, for
+she is very discreet and prudent in all her ways, the wise
+Penelope, daughter of Icarius. Verily we left her a bride
+new wed when we went to the war, and a child was at her
+breast, who now, methinks, sits in the ranks of men, happy
+in his lot, for his dear father shall behold him on his
+coming, and he shall embrace his sire as is meet. But us
+for my wife, she suffered me not so much as to have my fill
+of gazing on my son; ere that she slew me, even her lord.
+And yet another thing will I tell thee, and do thou ponder
+it in thy heart. Put thy ship to land in secret, and not
+openly, on the shore of thy dear country; for there is no
+more faith in woman. But come, declare me this and plainly
+tell it all, if haply ye hear of my son as yet living,
+either, it may be, in Orchomenus or in sandy Pylos, or
+perchance with Menelaus in wide Sparta, for goodly Orestes
+hath not yet perished on the earth."
+
+'Even so he spake, but I answered him, saying: "Son of
+Atreus, wherefore dost thou ask me straitly of these
+things? Nay I know not at all, whether he be alive or dead;
+it is ill to speak words light as wind."
+
+'Thus we twain stood sorrowing, holding sad discourse,
+while the big tears fell fast: and therewithal came the
+soul of Achilles, son of Peleus, and of Patroclus and of
+noble Antilochus and of Aias, who in face and form was
+goodliest of all the Danaans, after the noble son of
+Peleus. And the spirit of the son of Aeacus, fleet of foot,
+knew me again, and making lament spake to me winged words:
+
+'"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
+devices, man overbold, what new deed and hardier than this
+wilt thou devise in thy heart? How durst thou come down to
+the house of Hades, where dwell the senseless dead, the
+phantoms of men outworn?"
+
+'So he spake, but I answered him: "Achilles, son of Peleus,
+mightiest far of the Achaeans, I am come hither to seek to
+Teiresias, if he may tell me any counsel, how I may come to
+rugged Ithaca. For not yet have I come nigh the Achaean
+land, nor set foot on mine own soil, but am still in evil
+case; while as for thee, Achilles, none other than thou
+wast heretofore the most blessed of men, nor shall any be
+hereafter. For of old, in the days of thy life, we Argives
+gave thee one honour with the gods, and now thou art a
+great prince here among the dead. Wherefore let not thy
+death be any grief to thee, Achilles."
+
+'Even so I spake, and he straightway answered me, and said:
+"Nay, speak not comfortably to me of death, oh great
+Odysseus. Rather would I live on ground {*} as the hireling
+of another, with a landless man who had no great
+livelihood, than bear sway among all the dead that be
+departed. But come, tell me tidings of that lordly son of
+mine--did he follow to the war to be a leader or not? And
+tell me of noble Peleus, if thou hast heard aught,--is he
+yet held in worship among the Myrmidons, or do they
+dishonour him from Hellas to Phthia, for that old age binds
+him hand and foot? For I am no longer his champion under
+the sun, so mighty a man as once I was, when in wide Troy I
+slew the best of the host, and succoured the Argives. Ah!
+could I but come for an hour to my father's house as then I
+was, so would I make my might and hands invincible, to be
+hateful to many an one of those who do him despite and keep
+him from his honour."
+
+{* [Greek] seems to mean 'upon the earth,' 'above ground,'
+as opposed to the dead who are below, rather than 'bound to
+the soil,' in which sense most commentators take it.}
+
+'Even so he spake, but I answered him saying: "As for noble
+Peleus, verily I have heard nought of him; but concerning
+thy dear son Neoptolemus, I will tell thee all the truth,
+according to thy word. It was I that led him up out of
+Scyros in my good hollow ship, in the wake of the
+goodly-greaved Achaeans. Now oft as we took counsel around
+Troy town, he was ever the first to speak, and no word
+missed the mark; the godlike Nestor and I alone surpassed
+him. But whensoever we Achaeans did battle on the plain of
+Troy, he never tarried behind in the throng or the press of
+men, but ran out far before us all, yielding to none in
+that might of his. And many men he slew in warfare dread;
+but I could not tell of all or name their names, even all
+the host he slew in succouring the Argives; but, ah, how he
+smote with the sword that son of Telephus, the hero
+Eurypylus, and many Ceteians {*} of his company were slain
+around him, by reason of a woman's bribe. He truly was the
+comeliest man that ever I saw, next to goodly Memnon. And
+again when we, the best of the Argives, were about to go
+down into the horse which Epeus wrought, and the charge of
+all was laid on me, both to open the door of our good
+ambush and to shut the same, then did the other princes and
+counsellors of the Danaans wipe away the tears, and the
+limbs of each one trembled beneath him, but never once did
+I see thy son's fair face wax pale, nor did he wipe the
+tears from his cheeks: but he besought me often to let him
+go forth from the horse, and kept handling his sword-hilt,
+and his heavy bronze-shod spear, and he was set on mischief
+against the Trojans. But after we had sacked the steep city
+of Priam, he embarked unscathed with his share of the
+spoil, and with a noble prize; he was not smitten with the
+sharp spear, and got no wound in close fight: and many such
+chances there be in war, for Ares rageth confusedly."
+
+{* See Lenormant, Premieres Civilisations, vol. i. p.289.}
+
+'So I spake, and the spirit of the son of Aeacus, fleet of
+foot, passed with great strides along the mead of asphodel,
+rejoicing in that I had told him of his son's renown.
+
+'But lo, other spirits of the dead that be departed stood
+sorrowing, and each one asked of those that were dear to
+them. The soul of Aias, son of Telamon, alone stood apart
+being still angry for the victory wherein I prevailed
+against him, in the suit by the ships concerning the arms
+of Achilles, that his lady mother had set for a prize; and
+the sons of the Trojans made award and Pallas Athene. Would
+that I had never prevailed and won such a prize! So goodly
+a head hath the earth closed over, for the sake of those
+arms, even over Aias, who in beauty and in feats of war was
+of a mould above all the other Danaans, next to the noble
+son of Peleus. To him then I spake softly, saying:
+
+'"Aias, son of noble Telamon, so art thou not even in death
+to forget thy wrath against me, by reason of those arms
+accursed, which the gods set to be the bane of the Argives?
+What a tower of strength fell in thy fall, and we Achaeans
+cease not to sorrow for thee, even as for the life of
+Achilles, son of Peleus! Nay, there is none other to blame,
+but Zeus, who hath borne wondrous hate to the army of the
+Danaan spearsmen, and laid on thee thy doom. Nay, come
+hither, my lord, that thou mayest hear my word and my
+speech; master thy wrath and thy proud spirit."
+
+'So I spake, but he answered me not a word and passed to
+Erebus after the other spirits of the dead that be
+departed. Even then, despite his anger, would he have
+spoken to me or I to him, but my heart within me was minded
+to see the spirits of those others that were departed.
+
+'There then I saw Minos, glorious son of Zeus, wielding a
+golden sceptre, giving sentence from his throne to the
+dead, while they sat and stood around the prince, asking
+his dooms through the wide-gated house of Hades.
+
+'And after him I marked the mighty Orion driving the wild
+beasts together over the mead of asphodel, the very beasts
+that himself had slain on the lonely hills, with a strong
+mace all of bronze in his hands, {*} that is ever unbroken.
+
+{* [Greek] in strict grammar agrees with [Greek] in 574,
+but this merely by attraction, for in sense it refers not
+to the living man, but to his phantom.}
+
+'And I saw Tityos, son of renowned Earth, lying on a
+levelled ground, and he covered nine roods as he lay, and
+vultures twain beset him one on either side, and gnawed at
+his liver, piercing even to the caul, but he drave them not
+away with his hands. For he had dealt violently with Leto,
+the famous bedfellow of Zeus, as she went up to Pytho
+through the fair lawns of Panopeus.
+
+'Moreover I beheld Tantalus in grievous torment, standing
+in a mere and the water came nigh unto his chin. And he
+stood straining as one athirst, but he might not attain to
+the water to drink of it. For often as that old man stooped
+down in his eagerness to drink, so often the water was
+swallowed up and it vanished away, and the black earth
+still showed at his feet, for some god parched it evermore.
+And tall trees flowering shed their fruit overhead, pears
+and pomegranates and apple trees with bright fruit, and
+sweet figs and olives in their bloom, whereat when that old
+man reached out his hands to clutch them, the wind would
+toss them to the shadowy clouds.
+
+'Yea and I beheld Sisyphus in strong torment, grasping a
+monstrous stone with both his hands. He was pressing
+thereat with hands and feet, and trying to roll the stone
+upward toward the brow of the hill. But oft as he was about
+to hurl it over the top, the weight would drive him back,
+so once again to the plain rolled the stone, the shameless
+thing. And he once more kept heaving and straining, and the
+sweat the while was pouring down his limbs, and the dust
+rose upwards from his head.
+
+'And after him I descried the mighty Heracles, his phantom,
+I say; but as for himself he hath joy at the banquet among
+the deathless gods, and hath to wife Hebe of the fair
+ankles, child of great Zeus, and of Here of the golden
+sandals. And all about him there was a clamour of the dead,
+as it were fowls flying every way in fear, and he like
+black Night, with bow uncased, and shaft upon the string,
+fiercely glancing around, like one in the act to shoot. And
+about his breast was an awful belt, a baldric of gold,
+whereon wondrous things were wrought, bears and wild boars
+and lions with flashing eyes, and strife and battles and
+slaughters and murders of men. Nay, now that he hath
+fashioned this, never another may he fashion, whoso stored
+in his craft the device of that belt! And anon he knew me
+when his eyes beheld me, and making lament he spake unto me
+winged words:
+
+'"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
+devices: ah! wretched one, dost thou too lead such a life
+of evil doom, as I endured beneath the rays of the sun? I
+was the son of Zeus Cronion, yet had I trouble beyond
+measure, for I was subdued unto a man far worse than I. And
+he enjoined on me hard adventures, yea and on a time he
+sent me hither to bring back the hound of hell; for he
+devised no harder task for me than this. I lifted the hound
+and brought him forth from out of the house of Hades; and
+Hermes sped me on my way and the grey-eyed Athene."
+
+'Therewith he departed again into the house of Hades, but I
+abode there still, if perchance some one of the hero folk
+besides might come, who died in old time. Yea and I should
+have seen the men of old, whom I was fain to look on,
+Theseus and Peirithous, renowned children of the gods. But
+ere that might be the myriad tribes of the dead thronged up
+together with wondrous clamour: and pale fear gat hold of
+me, lest the high goddess Persephone should send me the
+head of the Gorgon, that dread monster, from out of Hades.
+
+'Straightway then I went to the ship, and bade my men mount
+the vessel, and loose the hawsers. So speedily they went on
+board, and sat upon the benches. And the wave of the flood
+bore the barque down the stream of Oceanus, we rowing
+first, and afterwards the fair wind was our convoy.
+
+
+
+Book XII
+
+  Odysseus, his passage by the Sirens, and by Scylla and
+  Charybdis. The sacrilege committed by his men in the isle
+  Thrinacia. The destruction of his ships and men. How he
+  swam on a plank nine days together, and came to Ogygia,
+  where he stayed seven years with Calypso.
+
+'Now after the ship had left the stream of the river
+Oceanus, and was come to the wave of the wide sea, and the
+isle Aeaean, where is the dwelling place of early Dawn and
+her dancing grounds, and the land of sunrising, upon our
+coming thither we beached the ship in the sand, and
+ourselves too stept ashore on the sea beach. There we fell
+on sound sleep and awaited the bright Dawn.
+
+'So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, I
+sent forth my fellows to the house of Circe to fetch the
+body of the dead Elpenor. And speedily we cut billets of
+wood and sadly we buried him, where the furthest headland
+runs out into the sea, shedding big tears. But when the
+dead man was burned and the arms of the dead, we piled a
+barrow and dragged up thereon a pillar, and on the topmost
+mound we set the shapen oar.
+
+'Now all that task we finished, and our coming from out of
+Hades was not unknown to Circe, but she arrayed herself and
+speedily drew nigh, and her handmaids with her bare flesh
+and bread in plenty and dark red wine. And the fair goddess
+stood in the midst and spake in our ears, saying:
+
+'"Men overbold, who have gone alive into the house of
+Hades, to know death twice, while all men else die once for
+all. Nay come, eat ye meat and drink wine here all day
+long; and with the breaking of the day ye shall set sail,
+and myself I will show you the path and declare each thing,
+that ye may not suffer pain or hurt through any grievous
+ill-contrivance by sea or on the land."
+
+'So spake she, and our lordly souls consented thereto. Thus
+for that time we sat the livelong day, until the going down
+of the sun, feasting on abundant flesh and on sweet wine.
+Now when the sun sank and darkness came on, my company laid
+them to rest by the hawsers of the ship. Then she took me
+by the hand and led me apart from my dear company, and made
+me to sit down and laid herself at my feet, and asked all
+my tale. And I told her all in order duly. Then at the last
+the Lady Circe spake unto me, saying:
+
+'"Even so, now all these things have an end; do thou then
+hearken even as I tell thee, and the god himself shall
+bring it back to thy mind. To the Sirens first shalt thou
+come, who bewitch all men, whosoever shall come to them.
+Whoso draws nigh them unwittingly and hears the sound of
+the Sirens' voice, never doth he see wife or babes stand by
+him on his return, nor have they joy at his coming; but the
+Sirens enchant him with their clear song, sitting in the
+meadow, and all about is a great heap of bones of men,
+corrupt in death, and round the bones the skin is wasting.
+But do thou drive thy ship past, and knead honey-sweet wax,
+and anoint therewith the ears of thy company, lest any of
+the rest hear the song; but if thou myself art minded to
+hear, let them bind thee in the swift ship hand and foot,
+upright in the mast-stead, and from the mast let rope-ends
+be tied, that with delight thou mayest hear the voice of
+the Sirens. And if thou shalt beseech thy company and bid
+them to loose thee, then let them bind thee with yet more
+bonds. But when thy friends have driven thy ship past
+these, I will not tell thee fully which path shall
+thenceforth be thine, but do thou thyself consider it, and
+I will speak to thee of either way. On the one side there
+are beetling rocks, and against them the great wave roars
+of dark-eyed Amphitrite. These, ye must know, are they the
+blessed gods call the Rocks Wandering. By this way even
+winged things may never pass, nay, not even the cowering
+doves that bear ambrosia to Father Zeus, but the sheer rock
+evermore takes away one even of these, and the Father sends
+in another to make up the tale. Thereby no ship of men ever
+escapes that comes thither, but the planks of ships and the
+bodies of men confusedly are tossed by the waves of the sea
+and the storms of ruinous fire. One ship only of all that
+fare by sea hath passed that way, even Argo, that is in all
+men's minds, on her voyage from Aeetes. And even her the
+wave would lightly have cast there upon the mighty rocks,
+but Here sent her by for love of Jason.
+
+'"On the other part are two rocks, whereof the one reaches
+with sharp peak to the wide heaven, and a dark cloud
+encompasses it; this never streams away, and there is no
+clear air about the peak neither in summer nor in harvest
+tide. No mortal man may scale it or set foot thereon, not
+though he had twenty hands and feet. For the rock is
+smooth, and sheer, as it were polished. And in the midst of
+the cliff is a dim cave turned to Erebus, towards the place
+of darkness, whereby ye shall even steer your hollow ship,
+noble Odysseus. Not with an arrow from a bow might a man in
+his strength reach from his hollow ship into that deep
+cave. And therein dwelleth Scylla, yelping terribly. Her
+voice indeed is no greater than the voice of a new-born
+whelp, but a dreadful monster is she, nor would any look on
+her gladly, not if it were a god that met her. Verily she
+hath twelve feet all dangling down; and six necks exceeding
+long, and on each a hideous head, and therein three rows of
+teeth set thick and close, full of black death. Up to her
+middle is she sunk far down in the hollow cave, but forth
+she holds her heads from the dreadful gulf, and there she
+fishes, swooping round the rock, for dolphins or sea-dogs,
+or whatso greater beast she may anywhere take, whereof the
+deep-voiced Amphitrite feeds countless flocks. Thereby no
+sailors boast that they have fled scatheless ever with
+their ship, for with each head she carries off a man, whom
+she hath snatched from out the dark-prowed ship.
+
+'"But that other cliff, Odysseus, thou shalt note, lying
+lower, hard by the first: thou couldest send an arrow
+across. And thereon is a great fig-tree growing, in fullest
+leaf, and beneath it mighty Charybdis sucks down black
+water, for thrice a day she spouts it forth, and thrice a
+day she sucks it down in terrible wise. Never mayest thou
+be there when she sucks the water, for none might save thee
+then from thy bane, not even the Earth-Shaker! But take
+heed and swiftly drawing nigh to Scylla's rock drive the
+ship past, since of a truth it is far better to mourn six
+of thy company in the ship, than all in the selfsame hour."
+
+'So spake she, but I answered, and said unto her: "Come I
+pray thee herein, goddess, tell me true, if there be any
+means whereby I might escape from the deadly Charybdis and
+avenge me on that other, when she would prey upon my
+company."
+
+'So spake I, and that fair goddess answered me: "Man
+overbold, lo, now again the deeds of war are in thy mind
+and the travail thereof. Wilt thou not yield thee even to
+the deathless gods? As for her, she is no mortal, but an
+immortal plague, dread, grievous, and fierce, and not to be
+fought with; and against her there is no defence; flight is
+the bravest way. For if thou tarry to do on thine armour by
+the cliff, I fear lest once again she sally forth and catch
+at thee with so many heads, and seize as many men as
+before. So drive past with all thy force, and call on
+Cratais, mother of Scylla, which bore her for a bane to
+mortals. And she will then let her from darting forth
+thereafter.
+
+'"Then thou shalt come unto the isle Thrinacia; there are
+the many kine of Helios and his brave flocks feeding, seven
+herds of kine and as many goodly flocks of sheep, and fifty
+in each flock. They have no part in birth or in corruption,
+and there are goddesses to shepherd them, nymphs with fair
+tresses, Phaethusa and Lampetie whom bright Neaera bare to
+Helios Hyperion. Now when the lady their mother had borne
+and nursed them, she carried them to the isle Thrinacia to
+dwell afar, that they should guard their father's flocks
+and his kine with shambling gait. If thou doest these no
+hurt, being heedful of thy return, truly ye may even yet
+reach Ithaca, albeit in evil case. But if thou hurtest
+them, I foreshow ruin for thy ship and for thy men, and
+even though thou shouldest thyself escape, late shalt thou
+return in evil plight with the loss of all thy company."
+
+'So spake she, and anon came the golden-throned Dawn. Then
+the fair goddess took her way up the island. But I departed
+to my ship and roused my men themselves to mount the vessel
+and loose the hawsers. And speedily they went aboard and
+sat upon the benches, and sitting orderly smote the grey
+sea water with their oars. And in the wake of our
+dark-prowed ship she sent a favouring wind that filled the
+sails, a kindly escort,--even Circe of the braided tresses,
+a dread goddess of human speech. And straightway we set in
+order the gear throughout the ship and sat us down, and the
+wind and the helmsman guided our barque.
+
+'Then I spake among my company with a heavy heart:
+"Friends, forasmuch as it is not well that one or two alone
+should know of the oracles that Circe, the fair goddess,
+spake unto me, therefore will I declare them, that with
+foreknowledge we may die, or haply shunning death and
+destiny escape. First she bade us avoid the sound of the
+voice of the wondrous Sirens, and their field of flowers,
+and me only she bade listen to their voices. So bind ye me
+in a hard bond, that I may abide unmoved in my place,
+upright in the mast-stead, and from the mast let rope-ends
+be tied, and if I beseech and bid you to set me free, then
+do ye straiten me with yet more bonds."
+
+'Thus I rehearsed these things one and all, and declared
+them to my company. Meanwhile our good ship quickly came to
+the island of the Sirens twain, for a gentle breeze sped
+her on her way. Then straightway the wind ceased, and lo,
+there was a windless calm, and some god lulled the waves.
+Then my company rose up and drew in the ship's sails, and
+stowed them in the hold of the ship, while they sat at the
+oars and whitened the water with their polished pine
+blades. But I with my sharp sword cleft in pieces a great
+circle of wax, and with my strong hands kneaded it. And
+soon the wax grew warm, for that my great might constrained
+it, and the beam of the lord Helios, son of Hyperion. And I
+anointed therewith the ears of all my men in their order,
+and in the ship they bound me hand and foot upright in the
+mast-stead, and from the mast they fastened rope-ends and
+themselves sat down, and smote the grey sea water with
+their oars. But when the ship was within the sound of a
+man's shout from the land, we fleeing swiftly on our way,
+the Sirens espied the swift ship speeding toward them, and
+they raised their clear-toned song:
+
+'"Hither, come hither, renowned Odysseus, great glory of
+the Achaeans, here stay thy barque, that thou mayest listen
+to the voice of us twain. For none hath ever driven by this
+way in his black ship, till he hath heard from our lips the
+voice sweet as the honeycomb, and hath had joy thereof and
+gone on his way the wiser. For lo, we know all things, all
+the travail that in wide Troy-land the Argives and Trojans
+bare by the gods' designs, yea, and we know all that shall
+hereafter be upon the fruitful earth."
+
+'So spake they uttering a sweet voice, and my heart was
+fain to listen, and I bade my company unbind me, nodding at
+them with a frown, but they bent to their oars and rowed
+on. Then straight uprose Perimedes and Eurylochus and bound
+me with more cords and straitened me yet the more.  Now
+when we had driven past them, nor heard we any longer the
+sound of the Sirens or their song, forthwith my dear
+company took away the wax wherewith I had anointed their
+ears and loosed me from my bonds.
+
+'But so soon as we left that isle, thereafter presently I
+saw smoke and a great wave, and heard the sea roaring. Then
+for very fear the oars flew from their hands, and down the
+stream they all splashed, and the ship was holden there,
+for my company no longer plied with their hands the
+tapering oars. But I paced the ship and cheered on my men,
+as I stood by each one and spake smooth words:
+
+'"Friends, forasmuch as in sorrow we are not all unlearned,
+truly this is no greater woe that is upon us, {*} than when
+the Cyclops penned us by main might in his hollow cave; yet
+even thence we made escape by my manfulness, even by my
+counsel and my wit, and some day I think that this
+adventure too we shall remember. Come now, therefore, let
+us all give ear to do according to my word. Do ye smite the
+deep surf of the sea with your oars, as ye sit on the
+benches, if peradventure Zeus may grant us to escape from
+and shun this death. And as for thee, helmsman, thus I
+charge thee, and ponder it in thine heart seeing that thou
+wieldest the helm of the hollow ship. Keep the ship well
+away from this smoke and from the wave and hug the rocks,
+lest the ship, ere thou art aware, start from her course to
+the other side, and so thou hurl us into ruin."
+
+{* Reading [Greek], not [Greek] with La Roche.}
+
+'So I spake, and quickly they hearkened to my words. But of
+Scylla I told them nothing more, a bane none might deal
+with, lest haply my company should cease from rowing for
+fear, and hide them in the hold. In that same hour I
+suffered myself to forget the hard behest of Circe, in that
+she bade me in nowise be armed; but I did on my glorious
+harness and caught up two long lances in my hands, and went
+on the decking of the prow, for thence methought that
+Scylla of the rock would first be seen, who was to bring
+woe on my company. Yet could I not spy her anywhere, and my
+eyes waxed weary for gazing all about toward the darkness
+of the rock.
+
+"Next we began to sail up the narrow strait lamenting. For
+on the one hand lay Scylla, and on the other mighty
+Charybdis in terrible wise sucked down the salt sea water.
+As often as she belched it forth, like a cauldron on a
+great fire she would seethe up through all her troubled
+deeps, and overhead the spray fell on the tops of either
+cliff. But oft as she gulped down the salt sea water,
+within she was all plain to see through her troubled deeps,
+and the rock around roared horribly and beneath the earth
+was manifest swart with sand, and pale fear gat hold on my
+men. Toward her, then, we looked fearing destruction; but
+Scylla meanwhile caught from out my hollow ship six of my
+company, the hardiest of their hands and the chief in
+might. And looking into the swift ship to find my men, even
+then I marked their feet and hands as they were lifted on
+high, and they cried aloud in their agony, and called me by
+my name for that last time of all. Even as when as fisher
+on some headland lets down with a long rod his baits for a
+snare to the little fishes below, casting into the deep the
+horn of an ox of the homestead, and as he catches each
+flings it writhing ashore, so writhing were they borne
+upward to the cliff. And there she devoured them shrieking
+in her gates, they stretching forth their hands to me in
+the dread death-struggle. And the most pitiful thing was
+this that mine eyes have seen of all my travail in
+searching out the paths of the sea.
+
+'Now when we had escaped the Rocks and dread Charybdis and
+Scylla, thereafter we soon came to the fair island of the
+god; where were the goodly kine, broad of brow, and the
+many brave flocks of Helios Hyperion. Then while as yet I
+was in my black ship upon the deep, I heard the lowing of
+the cattle being stalled and the bleating of the sheep, and
+on my mind there fell the saying of the blind seer, Theban
+Teiresias, and of Circe of Aia, who charged me very
+straitly to shun the isle of Helios, the gladdener of the
+world. Then I spake out among my company in sorrow of
+heart:
+
+'"Hear my words, my men, albeit in evil plight, that I may
+declare unto you the oracles of Teiresias and of Circe of
+Aia, who very straitly charged me to shun the isle of
+Helios, the gladdener of the world. For there she said the
+most dreadful mischief would befal us. Nay, drive ye then
+the black ship beyond and past that isle."
+
+'So spake I, and their heart was broken within them. And
+Eurylochus straightway answered me sadly, saying:
+
+'"Hardy art thou, Odysseus, of might beyond measure, and
+thy limbs are never weary; verily thou art fashioned all of
+iron, that sufferest not thy fellows, foredone with toil
+and drowsiness, to set foot on shore, where we might
+presently prepare us a good supper in this sea-girt island.
+But even as we are thou biddest us fare blindly through the
+sudden night, and from the isle go wandering on the misty
+deep. And strong winds, the bane of ships, are born of the
+night. How could a man escape from utter doom, if there
+chanced to come a sudden blast of the South Wind, or of the
+boisterous West, which mainly wreck ships, beyond the will
+of the gods, the lords of all? Howbeit for this present let
+us yield to the black night, and we will make ready our
+supper abiding by the swift ship, and in the morning we
+will climb on board, and put out into the broad deep."
+
+'So spake Eurylochus, and the rest of my company consented
+thereto. Then at the last I knew that some god was indeed
+imagining evil, and I uttered my voice and spake unto him
+winged words:
+
+'"Eurylochus, verily ye put force upon me, being but one
+among you all. But come, swear me now a mighty oath, one
+and all, to the intent that if we light on a herd of kine
+or a great flock of sheep, none in the evil folly of his
+heart may slay any sheep or ox; but in quiet eat ye the
+meat which the deathless Circe gave."
+
+'So I spake, and straightway they swore to refrain as I
+commanded them. Now after they had sworn and done that
+oath, we stayed our well-builded ship in the hollow harbour
+near to a well of sweet water, and my company went forth
+from out the ship and deftly got ready supper. But when
+they had put from them the desire of meat and drink,
+thereafter they fell a weeping as they thought upon their
+dear companions whom Scylla had snatched from out the
+hollow ship and so devoured. And deep sleep came upon them
+amid their weeping. And when it was the third watch of the
+night, and the stars had crossed the zenith, Zeus the
+cloud-gatherer roused against them an angry wind with
+wondrous tempest, and shrouded in clouds land and sea
+alike, and from heaven sped down the night. Now when early
+Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, we beached the ship,
+and dragged it up within a hollow cave, where were the fair
+dancing grounds of the nymphs and the places of their
+session. Thereupon I ordered a gathering of my men and
+spake in their midst, saying:
+
+'"Friends, forasmuch as there is yet meat and drink in the
+swift ship, let us keep our hands off those kine, lest some
+evil thing befal us. For these are the kine and the brave
+flocks of a dread god, even of Helios, who overseeth all
+and overheareth all things."
+
+'So I spake, and their lordly spirit hearkened thereto.
+Then for a whole month the South Wind blew without ceasing,
+and no other wind arose, save only the East and the South.
+
+'Now so long as my company still had corn and red wine,
+they refrained them from the kine, for they were fain of
+life. But when the corn was now all spent from out the
+ship, and they went wandering with barbed hooks in quest of
+game, as needs they must, fishes and fowls, whatsoever
+might come to their hand, for hunger gnawed at their belly,
+then at last I departed up the isle, that I might pray to
+the gods, if perchance some one of them might show me a way
+of returning. And now when I had avoided my company on my
+way through the island, I laved my hands where was a
+shelter from the wind, and prayed to all the gods that hold
+Olympus. But they shed sweet sleep upon my eyelids. And
+Eurylochus the while set forth an evil counsel to my
+company:
+
+'"Hear my words, my friends, though ye be in evil case.
+Truly every shape of death is hateful to wretched mortals,
+but to die of hunger and so meet doom is most pitiful of
+all. Nay come, we will drive off the best of the kine of
+Helios and will do sacrifice to the deathless gods who keep
+wide heaven. And if we may yet reach Ithaca, our own
+country, forthwith will we rear a rich shrine to Helios
+Hyperion, and therein would we set many a choice offering.
+But if he be somewhat wroth for his cattle with straight
+horns, and is fain to wreck our ship, and the other gods
+follow his desire, rather with one gulp at the wave would I
+cast my life away, than be slowly straitened to death in a
+desert isle."
+
+'So spake Eurylochus, and the rest of the company consented
+thereto. Forthwith they drave off the best of the kine of
+Helios that were nigh at hand, for the fair kine of
+shambling gait and broad of brow were feeding no great way
+from the dark-prowed ship. Then they stood around the
+cattle and prayed to the gods, plucking the fresh leaves
+from an oak of lofty boughs, for they had no white barley
+on board the decked ship. Now after they had prayed and cut
+the throats of the kine and flayed them, they cut out
+slices of the thighs and wrapped them in the fat, making a
+double fold, and thereon they laid raw flesh. Yet had they
+no pure wine to pour over the flaming sacrifices, but they
+made libation with water and roasted the entrails over the
+fire. Now after the thighs were quite consumed and they had
+tasted the inner parts, they cut the rest up small and
+spitted it on spits. In the same hour deep sleep sped from
+my eyelids and I sallied forth to the swift ship and the
+sea-banks. But on my way as I drew near to the curved ship,
+the sweet savour of the fat came all about me; and I
+groaned and spake out before the deathless gods:
+
+'"Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for
+ever, verily to my undoing ye have lulled me with a
+ruthless sleep, and my company abiding behind have imagined
+a monstrous deed."
+
+'Then swiftly to Helios Hyperion came Lampetie of the long
+robes, with the tidings that we had slain his kine. And
+straight he spake with angry heart amid the Immortals:
+
+'"Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for
+ever, take vengeance I pray you on the company of Odysseus,
+son of Laertes, that have insolently slain my cattle,
+wherein I was wont to be glad as I went toward the starry
+heaven, and when I again turned earthward from the
+firmament. And if they pay me not full atonement for the
+cattle, I will go down to Hades and shine among the dead."
+
+'And Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered him, saying: "Helios,
+do thou, I say, shine on amidst the deathless gods, and
+amid mortal men upon the earth, the grain-giver. But as for
+me, I will soon smite their swift ship with my white bolt,
+and cleave it in pieces in the midst of the wine-dark
+deep."
+
+'This I heard from Calypso of the fair hair; and she said
+that she herself had heard it from Hermes the Messenger.
+
+'But when I had come down to the ship and to the sea, I
+went up to my companions and rebuked them one by one; but
+we could find no remedy, the cattle were dead and gone. And
+soon thereafter the gods showed forth signs and wonders to
+my company. The skins were creeping, and the flesh
+bellowing upon the spits, both the roast and raw, and there
+was a sound as the voice of kine.
+
+'Then for six days my dear company feasted on the best of
+the kine of Helios which they had driven off. But when
+Zeus, son of Cronos, had added the seventh day thereto,
+thereafter the wind ceased to blow with a rushing storm,
+and at once we climbed the ship and launched into the broad
+deep, when we had set up the mast and hoisted the white
+sails.
+
+'But now when we left that isle nor any other land
+appeared, but sky and sea only, even then the son of Cronos
+stayed a dark cloud above the hollow ship, and beneath it
+the deep darkened. And the ship ran on her way for no long
+while, for of a sudden came the shrilling West, with the
+rushing of a great tempest, and the blast of wind snapped
+the two forestays of the mast, and the mast fell backward
+and all the gear dropped into the bilge. And behold, on the
+hind part of the ship the mast struck the head of the pilot
+and brake all the bones of his skull together, and like a
+diver he dropt down from the deck, and his brave spirit
+left his bones. In that same hour Zeus thundered and cast
+his bolt upon the ship, and she reeled all over being
+stricken by the bolt of Zeus, and was filled with sulphur,
+and lo, my company fell from out the vessel. Like sea-gulls
+they were borne round the black ship upon the billows, and
+the god reft them of returning.
+
+'But I kept pacing through my ship, till the surge loosened
+the sides from the keel, and the wave swept her along
+stript of her tackling, and brake her mast clean off at the
+keel. Now the backstay fashioned of an oxhide had been
+flung thereon; therewith I lashed together both keel and
+mast, and sitting thereon I was borne by the ruinous winds.
+
+'Then verily the West Wind ceased to blow with a rushing
+storm, and swiftly withal the South Wind came, bringing
+sorrow to my soul, that so I might again measure back that
+space of sea, the way to deadly Charybdis. All the night
+was I borne, but with the rising of the sun I came to the
+rock of Scylla, and to dread Charybdis. Now she had sucked
+down her salt sea water, when I was swung up on high to the
+tall fig-tree whereto I clung like a bat, and could find no
+sure rest for my feet nor place to stand, for the roots
+spread far below and the branches hung aloft out of reach,
+long and large, and overshadowed Charybdis. Steadfast I
+clung till she should spew forth mast and keel again; and
+late they came to my desire. At the hour when a man rises
+up from the assembly and goes to supper, one who judges the
+many quarrels of the young men that seek to him for law, at
+that same hour those timbers came forth to view from out
+Charybdis. And I let myself drop down hands and feet, and
+plunged heavily in the midst of the waters beyond the long
+timbers, and sitting on these I rowed hard with my hands.
+But the father of gods and of men suffered me no more to
+behold Scylla, else I should never have escaped from utter
+doom.
+
+'Thence for nine days was I borne, and on the tenth night
+the gods brought me nigh to the isle of Ogygia, where
+dwells Calypso of the braided tresses, an awful goddess of
+mortal speech, who took me in and entreated me kindly. But
+why rehearse all this tale? For even yesterday I told it to
+thee and to thy noble wife in thy house; and it liketh me
+not twice to tell a plain-told tale.'
+
+
+
+Book XIII
+
+  Odysseus, sleeping, is set ashore at Ithaca by the
+  Phaeacians, and waking knows it not. Pallas, in the form of
+  a shepherd, helps to hide his treasure. The ship that
+  conveyed him is turned into a rock, and Odysseus by Pallas
+  is instructed what to do, and transformed into an old
+  beggarman.
+
+So spake he, and dead silence fell on all, and they were
+spell-bound throughout the shadowy halls. Thereupon
+Alcinous answered him, and spake, saying:
+
+'Odysseus, now that thou hast come to my high house with
+floor of bronze, never, methinks, shalt thou be driven from
+thy way ere thou returnest, though thou hast been sore
+afflicted. And for each man among you, that in these halls
+of mine drink evermore the dark wine of the elders, and
+hearken to the minstrel, this is my word and command.
+Garments for the stranger are already laid up in a polished
+coffer, with gold curiously wrought, and all other such
+gifts as the counsellors of the Phaeacians bare hither.
+Come now, let us each of us give him a great tripod and a
+cauldron, and we in turn will gather goods among the people
+and get us recompense; for it were hard that one man should
+give without repayment.'
+
+So spake Alcinous, and the saying pleased them well. Then
+they went each one to his house to lay him down to rest;
+but so soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered,
+they hasted to the ship and bare the bronze, the joy of
+men. And the mighty king Alcinous himself went about the
+ship and diligently bestowed the gifts beneath the benches,
+that they might not hinder any of the crew in their rowing,
+when they laboured at their oars. Then they betook them to
+the house of Alcinous and fell to feasting. And the mighty
+king Alcinous sacrificed before them an ox to Zeus, the son
+of Cronos, that dwells in the dark clouds, who is lord of
+all. And when they had burnt the pieces of the thighs, they
+shared the glorious feast and made merry, and among them
+harped the divine minstrel Demodocus, whom the people
+honoured. But Odysseus would ever turn his head toward the
+splendour of the sun, as one fain to hasten his setting:
+for verily he was most eager to return. And as when a man
+longs for his supper, for whom all day long two dark oxen
+drag through the fallow field the jointed plough, yea and
+welcome to such an one the sunlight sinketh, that so he may
+get him to supper, for his knees wax faint by the way, even
+so welcome was the sinking of the sunlight to Odysseus.
+Then straight he spake among the Phaeacians, masters of the
+oar, and to Alcinous in chief he made known his word,
+saying:
+
+'My lord Alcinous, most notable of all the people, pour ye
+the drink offering, and send me safe upon my way, and as
+for you, fare ye well. For now have I all that my heart
+desired, an escort and loving gifts. May the gods of heaven
+give me good fortune with them, and may I find my noble
+wife in my home with my friends unharmed, while ye, for
+your part, abide here and make glad your wedded wives and
+children; and may the gods vouchsafe all manner of good,
+and may no evil come nigh the people!'
+
+So spake he, and they all consented thereto and bade send
+the stranger on his way, in that he had spoken aright. Then
+the mighty Alcinous spake to the henchman: 'Pontonous, mix
+the bowl and serve out the wine to all in the hall, that we
+may pray to Father Zeus, and send the stranger on his way
+to his own country.'
+
+So spake he, and Pontonous mixed the honey-hearted wine,
+and served it to all in turn. And they poured forth before
+the blessed gods that keep wide heaven, even there as they
+sat. Then goodly Odysseus uprose, and placed in Arete's
+hand the two-handled cup, and uttering his voice spake to
+her winged words:
+
+'Fare thee well, O queen, all the days of thy life, till
+old age come and death, that visit all mankind. But I go
+homeward, and do thou in this thy house rejoice in thy
+children and thy people and Alcinous the king.'
+
+Therewith goodly Odysseus stept over the threshold. And
+with him the mighty Alcinous sent forth a henchman to guide
+him to the swift ship and the sea-banks. And Arete sent in
+this train certain maidens of her household, one bearing a
+fresh robe and a doublet, and another she joined to them to
+carry the strong coffer, and yet another bare bread and red
+wine. Now when they had come down to the ship and to the
+sea, straightway the good men of the escort took these
+things and laid them by in the hollow ship, even all the
+meat and drink. Then they strewed for Odysseus a rug and a
+sheet of linen, on the decks of the hollow ship, in the
+hinder part thereof, that he might sleep sound. Then he too
+climbed aboard and laid him down in silence, while they sat
+upon the benches, every man in order, and unbound the
+hawser from the pierced stone. So soon as they leant
+backwards and tossed the sea water with the oar blade, a
+deep sleep fell upon his eyelids, a sound sleep, very
+sweet, and next akin to death. And even as on a plain a
+yoke of four stallions comes springing all together beneath
+the lash, leaping high and speedily accomplishing the way,
+so leaped the stern of that ship, and the dark wave of the
+sounding sea rushed mightily in the wake, and she ran ever
+surely on her way, nor could a circling hawk keep pace with
+her, of winged things the swiftest. Even thus she lightly
+sped and cleft the waves of the sea, bearing a man whose
+counsel was as the counsel of the gods, one that erewhile
+had suffered much sorrow of heart, in passing through the
+wars of men, and the grievous waves; but for that time he
+slept in peace, forgetful of all that he had suffered.
+
+So when the star came up, that is brightest of all, and
+goes ever heralding the light of early Dawn, even then did
+the seafaring ship draw nigh the island. There is in the
+land of Ithaca a certain haven of Phorcys, the ancient one
+of the sea, and thereby are two headlands of sheer cliff,
+which slope to the sea on the haven's side and break the
+mighty wave that ill winds roll without, but within, the
+decked ships ride unmoored when once they have reached the
+place of anchorage. Now at the harbour's head is a
+long-leaved olive tree, and hard by is a pleasant cave and
+shadowy, sacred to the nymphs, that are called the Naiads.
+And therein are mixing bowls and jars of stone, and there
+moreover do bees hive. And there are great looms of stone,
+whereon the nymphs weave raiment of purple stain, a marvel
+to behold, and therein are waters welling evermore. Two
+gates there are to the cave, the one set toward the North
+Wind whereby men may go down, but the portals toward the
+South pertain rather to the gods, whereby men may not
+enter: it is the way of the immortals.
+
+Thither they, as having knowledge of that place, let drive
+their ship; and now the vessel in full course ran ashore,
+half her keel's length high; so well was she sped by the
+hands of the oarsmen. Then they alighted from the benched
+ship upon the land, and first they lifted Odysseus from out
+the hollow ship, all as he was in the sheet of linen and
+the bright rug, and laid him yet heavy with slumber on the
+sand. And they took forth the goods which the lordly
+Phaeacians had given him on his homeward way by grace of
+the great-hearted Athene. These they set in a heap by the
+trunk of the olive tree, a little aside from the road, lest
+some wayfaring man, before Odysseus awakened, should come
+and spoil them. Then themselves departed homeward again.
+But the shaker of the earth forgat not the threats,
+wherewith at the first he had threatened god like Odysseus,
+and he inquired into the counsel of Zeus, saying:
+
+'Father Zeus, I for one shall no longer be of worship among
+the deathless gods, when mortal men hold me in no regard,
+even Phaeacians, who moreover are of mine own lineage. Lo,
+now I said that after much affliction Odysseus should come
+home, for I had no mind to rob him utterly of his return,
+when once thou hadst promised it and given assent; but
+behold, in his sleep they have borne him in a swift ship
+over the sea, and set him down in Ithaca, and given him
+gifts out of measure, bronze and gold in plenty and woven
+raiment, much store, such as never would Odysseus have won
+for himself out of Troy; yea, though he had returned unhurt
+with the share of the spoil that fell to him.'
+
+And Zeus, the cloud gatherer, answered him saying: 'Lo,
+now, shaker of the earth, of widest power, what a word hast
+thou spoken! The gods nowise dishonour thee; hard would it
+be to assail with dishonour our eldest and our best. But if
+any man, giving place to his own hardihood and strength,
+holds thee not in worship, thou hast always thy revenge for
+the same, even in the time to come. Do thou as thou wilt,
+and as seems thee good.'
+
+Then Poseidon, shaker of the earth, answered him:
+'Straightway would I do even as thou sayest, O god of the
+dark clouds; but thy wrath I always hold in awe and avoid.
+Howbeit, now I fain would smite a fair ship of the
+Phaeacians, as she comes home from a convoy on the misty
+deep, that thereby they may learn to hold their hands, and
+cease from giving escort to men; and I would overshadow
+their city with a great mountain.'
+
+And Zeus the gatherer of the clouds, answered him, saying:
+'Friend, learn now what seems best in my sight. At an hour
+when the folk are all looking forth from the city at the
+ship upon her way, smite her into a stone hard by the land;
+a stone in the likeness of a swift ship, that all mankind
+may marvel, and do thou overshadow their city with a great
+mountain.'
+
+Now when Poseidon, shaker of the earth, heard this saying,
+he went on his way to Scheria, where the Phaeacians dwell.
+There he abode awhile; and lo, she drew near, the seafaring
+ship, lightly sped upon her way. Then nigh her came the
+shaker of the earth, and he smote her into a stone, and
+rooted her far below with the down-stroke of his hand; and
+he departed thence again.
+
+Then one to the other they spake winged words, the
+Phaeacians of the long oars, mariners renowned. And thus
+would they speak, looking each man to his neighbour:
+
+'Ah me! who is this that fettered our swift ship on the
+deep as she drave homewards? Even now she stood full in
+sight.'
+
+Even so they would speak; but they knew not how these
+things were ordained. And Alcinous made harangue and spake
+among them:
+
+'Lo now, in very truth the ancient oracles of my father
+have come home to me. He was wont to say that Poseidon was
+jealous of us, for that we give safe escort to all men. He
+said that the day would come when the god would smite a
+fair ship of the Phaeacians, as she came home from a convoy
+on the misty deep, and overshadow our city with a great
+mountain. Thus that ancient one would speak; and lo, all
+these things now have an end. But come, let us all give ear
+and do according to my word. Cease ye from the convoy of
+mortals, whensoever any shall come unto our town, and let
+us sacrifice to Poseidon twelve choice bulls, if perchance
+he may take pity, neither overshadow our city with a great
+mountain.'
+
+So spake he, and they were dismayed and got ready the
+bulls. Thus were they praying to the lord Poseidon, the
+princes and counsellors of the land of the Phaeacians, as
+they stood about the altar.
+
+Even then the goodly Odysseus awoke where he slept on his
+native land; nor knew he the same again, having now been
+long afar, for around him the goddess had shed a mist, even
+Pallas Athene, daughter of Zeus, to the end that she might
+make him undiscovered for that he was, and might expound to
+him all things, that so his wife should not know him
+neither his townsmen and kinsfolk, ere the wooers had paid
+for all their transgressions. Wherefore each thing showed
+strange to the lord of the land, the long paths and the
+sheltering havens and the steep rocks and the trees in
+their bloom. So he started up, and stood and looked upon
+his native land, and then he made moan withal, and smote on
+both his thighs with the down-stroke of his hands, and
+making lament, he spake, saying:
+
+'Oh, woe is me, unto what mortals' land am I now come? Say,
+are they froward, and wild, and unjust, or hospitable and
+of a god-fearing mind? Whither do I bear all this treasure?
+Yea, where am I wandering myself? Oh that the treasure had
+remained with the Phaeacians where it was, so had I come to
+some other of the mighty princes, who would have entreated
+me kindly and sent me on my way. But now I know not where
+to bestow these things, nor yet will I leave them here
+behind, lest haply other men make spoil of them. Ah then,
+they are not wholly wise or just, the princes and
+counsellors of the Phaeacians, who carried me to a strange
+land. Verily they promised to bring me to clear-seen
+Ithaca, but they performed it not. May Zeus requite them,
+the god of suppliants, seeing that he watches over all men
+and punishes the transgressor! But come, I will reckon up
+these goods and look to them, lest the men be gone, and
+have taken aught away upon their hollow ship.'
+
+Therewith he set to number the fair tripods and the
+cauldrons and the gold and the goodly woven raiment; and of
+all these he lacked not aught, but he bewailed him for his
+own country, as he walked downcast by the shore of the
+sounding sea, and made sore lament. Then Athene came nigh
+him in the guise of a young man, the herdsman of a flock, a
+young man most delicate, such as are the sons of kings. And
+she had a well-wrought mantle that fell in two folds about
+her shoulders, and beneath her smooth feet she had sandals
+bound, and a javelin in her hands. And Odysseus rejoiced as
+he saw her, and came over against her, and uttering his
+voice spake to her winged words:
+
+'Friend, since thou art the first that I have chanced on in
+this land, hail to thee, and with no ill-will mayest thou
+meet me! Nay, save this my substance and save me too, for
+to thee as to a god I make prayer, and to thy dear knees
+have I come. And herein tell me true, that I may surely
+know. What land, what people is this? what men dwell
+therein? Surely, methinks, it is some clear seen isle, or a
+shore of the rich mainland that lies and leans upon the
+deep.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again:
+'Thou art witless, stranger, or thou art come from afar, if
+indeed thou askest of this land; nay, it is not so very
+nameless but that many men know it, both all those who
+dwell toward the dawning and the sun, and they that abide
+over against the light toward the shadowy west. Verily it
+is rough and not fit for the driving of horses, yet is it
+not a very sorry isle, though narrow withal. For herein is
+corn past telling, and herein too wine is found, and the
+rain is on it evermore, and the fresh dew. And it is good
+for feeding goats and feeding kine; all manner of wood is
+here, and watering-places unfailing are herein. Wherefore,
+stranger, the name of Ithaca hath reached even unto
+Troy-land, which men say is far from this Achaean shore.'
+
+So spake she, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus was glad,
+and had joy in his own country, according to the word of
+Pallas Athene, daughter of Zeus, lord of the aegis. And he
+uttered his voice and spake unto her winged words; yet he
+did not speak the truth, but took back the word that was on
+his lips, for quick and crafty was his wit within his
+breast:
+
+'Of Ithaca have I heard tell, even in broad Crete, far over
+the seas; and now have I come hither myself with these my
+goods. And I left as much again to my children, when I
+turned outlaw for the slaying of the dear son of Idomeneus,
+Orsilochus, swift of foot, who in wide Crete was the
+swiftest of all men that live by bread. Now he would have
+despoiled me of all that booty of Troy, for the which I had
+endured pain of heart, in passing through the wars of men,
+and the grievous waves of the sea, for this cause that I
+would not do a favour to his father, and make me his squire
+in the land of the Trojans, but commanded other fellowship
+of mine own. So I smote him with a bronze-shod spear as he
+came home from the field, lying in ambush for him by the
+wayside, with one of my companions. And dark midnight held
+the heavens, and no man marked us, but privily I took his
+life away. Now after I had slain him with the sharp spear,
+straightway I went to a ship and besought the lordly
+Phoenicians, and gave them spoil to their hearts' desire. I
+charged them to take me on board, and land me at Pylos or
+at goodly Elis where the Epeans bear rule. Howbeit of a
+truth, the might of the wind drave them out of their
+course, sore against their will, nor did they wilfully play
+me false. Thence we were driven wandering, and came hither
+by night. And with much ado we rowed onward into harbour,
+nor took we any thought of supper, though we stood sore in
+need thereof, but even as we were we stept ashore and all
+lay down. Then over me there came sweet slumber in my
+weariness, but they took forth my goods from the hollow
+ship, and set them by me where I myself lay upon the sands.
+Then they went on board, and departed for the fair-lying
+land of Sidon; while as for me I was left stricken at
+heart.'
+
+So spake he and the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, smiled, and
+caressed him with her hand; and straightway she changed to
+the semblance of a woman, fair and tall, and skilled in
+splendid handiwork. And uttering her voice she spake unto
+him winged words:
+
+'Crafty must he be, and knavish, who would outdo thee in
+all manner of guile, even if it were a god encountered
+thee. Hardy man, subtle of wit, of guile insatiate, so thou
+wast not even in thine own country to cease from thy
+sleights and knavish words, which thou lovest from the
+bottom of thine heart! But come, no more let us tell of
+these things, being both of us practised in deceits, for
+that thou art of all men far the first in counsel and in
+discourse, and I in the company of all the gods win renown
+for my wit and wile. Yet thou knewest not me, Pallas
+Athene, daughter of Zeus, who am always by thee and guard
+thee in all adventures. Yea, and I made thee to be beloved
+of all the Phaeacians. And now am I come hither to contrive
+a plot with thee and to hide away the goods, that by my
+counsel and design the noble Phaeacians gave thee on thy
+homeward way. And I would tell thee how great a measure of
+trouble thou art ordained to fulfil within thy well-builded
+house. But do thou harden thy heart, for so it must be, and
+tell none neither man nor woman of all the folk, that thou
+hast indeed returned from wandering, but in silence endure
+much sorrow, submitting thee to the despite of men.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Hard is
+it, goddess, for a mortal man that meets thee to discern
+thee, howsoever wise he be; for thou takest upon thee every
+shape. But this I know well, that of old thou wast kindly
+to me, so long as we sons of the Achaeans made war in Troy.
+But so soon as we had sacked the steep city of Priam and
+had gone on board our ships, and the god had scattered the
+Achaeans, thereafter I have never beheld thee, daughter of
+Zeus, nor seen thee coming on board my ship, to ward off
+sorrow from me--but I wandered evermore with a stricken
+heart, till the gods delivered me from my evil case--even
+till the day when, within the fat land of the men of
+Phaeacia, thou didst comfort me with thy words, and thyself
+didst lead me to their city. And now I beseech thee in thy
+father's name to tell me: for I deem not that I am come to
+clear-seen Ithaca, but I roam over some other land, and
+methinks that thou speakest thus to mock me and beguile my
+mind. Tell me whether in very deed I am come to mine own
+dear country.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Yea,
+such a thought as this is ever in thy breast. Wherefore I
+may in no wise leave thee in thy grief, so courteous art
+thou, so ready of wit and so prudent. Right gladly would
+any other man on his return from wandering have hasted to
+behold his children and his wife in his halls; but thou
+hast no will to learn or to hear aught, till thou hast
+furthermore made trial of thy wife, who sits as ever in her
+halls, and wearily for her the nights wane always and the
+days, in shedding of tears. But of this I never doubted,
+but ever knew it in my heart that thou wouldest come home
+with the loss of all thy company. Yet, I tell thee, I had
+no mind to be at strife with Poseidon, my own father's
+brother, who laid up wrath in his heart against thee, being
+angered at the blinding of his dear son. But come, and I
+will show thee the place of the dwelling of Ithaca, that
+thou mayst be assured. Lo, here is the haven of Phorcys,
+the ancient one of the sea, and here at the haven's head is
+the olive tree with spreading leaves, and hard by it is the
+pleasant cave and shadowy, sacred to the nymphs that are
+called the Naiads. Yonder, behold, is the roofed cavern,
+where thou offeredst many an acceptable sacrifice of
+hecatombs to the nymphs; and lo, this hill is Neriton, all
+clothed in forest.'
+
+Therewith the goddess scattered the mist, and the land
+appeared. Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus was glad
+rejoicing in his own land, and he kissed the earth, the
+grain-giver. And anon he prayed to the nymphs, and lifted
+up his hands, saying:
+
+'Ye Naiad nymphs, daughters of Zeus, never did I think to
+look on you again, but now be ye greeted in my loving
+prayers: yea, and gifts as aforetime I will give, if the
+daughter of Zeus, driver of the spoil, suffer me of her
+grace myself to live, and bring my dear son to manhood.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again: 'Be
+of good courage, and let not thy heart be careful about
+these things. But come, let us straightway set thy goods in
+the secret place of the wondrous cave, that there they may
+abide for thee safe. And let us for ourselves advise us how
+all may be for the very best.'
+
+Therewith the goddess plunged into the shadowy cave,
+searching out the chambers of the cavern. Meanwhile
+Odysseus brought up his treasure, the gold and the
+unyielding bronze and fair woven raiment, which the
+Phaeacians gave him. And these things he laid by with care,
+and Pallas Athene, daughter of Zeus, lord of the aegis, set
+a stone against the door of the cave. Then they twain sat
+down by the trunk of the sacred olive tree, and devised
+death for the froward wooers. And the goddess, grey-eyed
+Athene, spake first, saying:
+
+'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
+devices, advise thee how thou mayest stretch forth thine
+hands upon the shameless wooers, who now these three years
+lord it through thy halls, as they woo thy godlike wife and
+proffer the gifts of wooing. And she, that is ever
+bewailing her for thy return, gives hope to all and makes
+promises to every man and sends them messages, but her mind
+is set on other things.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered her, saying:
+
+'Lo now, in very truth I was like to have perished in my
+halls by the evil doom of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, hadst
+not thou, goddess, declared me each thing aright. Come
+then, weave some counsel whereby I may requite them; and
+thyself stand by me, and put great boldness of spirit
+within me, even as in the day when we loosed the shining
+coronal of Troy. If but thou wouldest stand by me with such
+eagerness, thou grey-eyed goddess, I would war even with
+three hundred men, with thee my lady and goddess, if thou
+of thy grace didst succour me the while.'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Yea,
+verily I will be near thee nor will I forget thee,
+whensoever we come to this toil: and methinks that certain
+of the wooers that devour thy livelihood shall bespatter
+the boundless earth with blood and brains. But come, I will
+make thee such-like that no man shall know thee. Thy fair
+skin I will wither on thy supple limbs, and make waste thy
+yellow hair from off thy head, and wrap thee in a foul
+garment, such that one would shudder to see a man therein.
+And I will dim thy two eyes, erewhile so fair, in such wise
+that thou mayest be unseemly in the sight of all the wooers
+and of thy wife and son, whom thou didst leave in thy
+halls. And do thou thyself first of all go unto the
+swineherd, who tends thy swine, loyal and at one with thee,
+and loves thy son and constant Penelope. Him shalt thou
+find sitting by the swine, as they are feeding near the
+rock of Corax and the spring Arethusa, and there they eat
+abundance of acorns and drink the black water, things
+whereby swine grow fat and well-liking. There do thou abide
+and sit by the swine, and find out all, till I have gone to
+Sparta, the land of fair women, to call Telemachus thy dear
+son, Odysseus, who hath betaken himself to spacious
+Lacedaemon, to the house of Menelaus to seek tidings of
+thee, whether haply thou are yet alive.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Nay,
+wherefore then didst thou not tell him, seeing thou hast
+knowledge of all? Was it, perchance, that he too may wander
+in sorrow over the unharvested seas, and that others may
+consume his livelihood?'
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Nay, let
+him not be heavy on thy heart. I myself was his guide, that
+by going thither he might win a good report. Lo, he knows
+no toil, but he sits in peace in the palace of the son of
+Atreus, and has boundless store about him. Truly the young
+men with their black ship they lie in wait, and are eager
+to slay him ere he come to his own country. But this,
+methinks, shall never be. Yea, sooner shall the earth close
+over certain of the wooers that devour thy livelihood.'
+
+Therewith Athene touched him with her wand. His fair flesh
+she withered on his supple limbs, and made waste his yellow
+hair from off his head, and over all his limbs she cast the
+skin of an old man, and dimmed his two eyes, erewhile so
+fair. And she changed his raiment to a vile wrap and a
+doublet, torn garments and filthy, stained with foul smoke.
+And over all she clad him with the great bald hide of a
+swift stag, and she gave him a staff and a mean tattered
+scrip, and a cord therewith to hang it.
+
+And after they twain had taken this counsel together, they
+parted; and she now went to goodly Lacedaemon to fetch the
+son of Odysseus.
+
+
+
+Book XIV
+
+  Odysseus, in the form of a beggar, goes to Eumaeus, the
+  master of his swine, where he is well used and tells a
+  feigned story, and informs himself of the behaviour of the
+  wooers.
+
+But Odysseus fared forth from the haven by the rough track,
+up the wooded country and through the heights, where Athene
+had showed him that he should find the goodly swineherd,
+who cared most for his substance of all the thralls that
+goodly Odysseus had gotten.
+
+Now he found him sitting at the vestibule of the house,
+where his courtyard was builded high, in a place with wide
+prospect; a great court it was and a fair, with free range
+round it. This the swineherd had builded by himself for the
+swine of his lord who was afar, and his mistress and the
+old man Laertes knew not of it. With stones from the quarry
+had he builded it, and coped it with a fence of white
+thorn, and he had split an oak to the dark core, and
+without he had driven stakes the whole length thereof on
+either side, set thick and close; and within the courtyard
+he made twelve styes hard by one another to be beds for the
+swine, and in each stye fifty grovelling swine were penned,
+brood swine; but the boars slept without. Now these were
+far fewer in number, the godlike wooers minishing them at
+their feasts, for the swineherd ever sent in the best of
+all the fatted hogs. And their tale was three hundred and
+three-score. And by them always slept four dogs, as fierce
+as wild beasts, which the swineherd had bred, a master of
+men. Now he was fitting sandals to his feet, cutting a good
+brown oxhide, while the rest of his fellows, three in all,
+were abroad this way and that, with the droves of swine;
+while the fourth he had sent to the city to take a boar to
+the proud wooers, as needs he must, that they might
+sacrifice it and satisfy their soul with flesh.
+
+And of a sudden the baying dogs saw Odysseus, and they ran
+at him yelping, but Odysseus in his wariness sat him down,
+and let the staff fall from his hand. There by his own
+homestead would he have suffered foul hurt, but the
+swineherd with quick feet hasted after them, and sped
+through the outer door, and let the skin fall from his
+hand. And the hounds he chid and drave them this way and
+that, with a shower of stones, and he spake unto his lord,
+saying:
+
+'Old man, truly the dogs went nigh to be the death of thee
+all of a sudden, so shouldest thou have brought shame on
+me. Yea, and the gods have given me other pains and griefs
+enough. Here I sit, mourning and sorrowing for my godlike
+lord, and foster the fat swine for others to eat, while he
+craving, perchance, for food, wanders over some land and
+city of men of a strange speech, if haply he yet lives and
+beholds the sunlight. But come with me, let us to the inner
+steading, old man, that when thy heart is satisfied with
+bread and wine, thou too mayest tell thy tale and declare
+whence thou art, and how many woes thou hast endured.'
+
+Therewith the goodly swineherd led him to the steading, and
+took him in and set him down, and strewed beneath him thick
+brushwood, and spread thereon the hide of a shaggy wild
+goat, wide and soft, which served himself for a mattress.
+And Odysseus rejoiced that he had given him such welcome,
+and spake and hailed him:
+
+'May Zeus, O stranger, and all the other deathless gods
+grant thee thy dearest wish, since thou hast received me
+heartily!'
+
+Then, O swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou answer him, saying:
+'Guest of mine, it were an impious thing for me to slight a
+stranger, even if there came a meaner man than thou; for
+from Zeus are all strangers and beggars; and a little gift
+from such as we, is dear; for this is the way with thralls,
+who are ever in fear when young lords like ours bear rule
+over them. For surely the gods have stayed the returning of
+my master, who would have loved me diligently, and given me
+somewhat of my own, a house and a parcel of ground, and a
+comely {*} wife, such as a kind lord gives to his man, who
+hath laboured much for him and the work of whose hands God
+hath likewise increased, even as he increaseth this work of
+mine whereat I abide. Therefore would my lord have rewarded
+me greatly, had he grown old at home. But he hath perished,
+as I would that all the stock of Helen had perished
+utterly, forasmuch as she hath caused the loosening of many
+a man's knees. For he too departed to Ilios of the goodly
+steeds, to get atonement for Agamemnon, that so he might
+war with the Trojans.'
+
+{* Reading [Greek]}
+
+Therewith he quickly bound up his doublet with his girdle,
+and went his way to the styes, where the tribes of the
+swine were penned. Thence he took and brought forth two,
+and sacrificed them both, and singed them and cut them
+small, and spitted them. And when he had roasted all, he
+bare and set it by Odysseus, all hot as it was upon the
+spits, and he sprinkled thereupon white barley-meal. Then
+in a bowl of ivywood he mixed the honey-sweet wine, and
+himself sat over against him and bade him fall to:
+
+'Eat now, stranger, such fare as thralls have to hand, even
+flesh of sucking pigs; but the fatted hogs the wooers
+devour, for they know not the wrath of the gods nor any
+pity. Verily the blessed gods love not froward deeds, but
+they reverence justice and the righteous acts of men. Yet
+even foes and men unfriendly, that land on a strange coast,
+and Zeus grants them a prey, and they have laden their
+ships and depart for home; yea, even on their hearts falls
+strong fear of the wrath of the gods. But lo you, these men
+know somewhat,--for they have heard an utterance of a god
+--, even the tidings of our lord's evil end, seeing that
+they are not minded justly to woo, nor to go back to their
+own, but at ease they devour our wealth with insolence, and
+now there is no sparing. For every day and every night that
+comes from Zeus, they make sacrifice not of one victim
+only, nor of two, and wine they draw and waste it
+riotously. For surely his livelihood was great past
+telling, no lord in the dark mainland had so much, nor any
+in Ithaca itself; nay, not twenty men together have wealth
+so great, and I will tell thee the sum thereof. Twelve
+herds of kine upon the mainland, as many flocks of sheep,
+as many droves of swine, as many ranging herds of goats,
+that his own shepherds and strangers pasture. And ranging
+herds of goats, eleven in all, graze here by the extremity
+of the island with trusty men to watch them. And day by day
+each man of these ever drives one of the flock to the
+wooers, whichsoever seems the best of the fatted goats. But
+as for me I guard and keep these swine and I choose out for
+them, as well as I may, the best of the swine and send it
+hence.'
+
+So spake he, but Odysseus ceased not to eat flesh and drink
+wine right eagerly and in silence, and the while was sowing
+the seeds of evil for the wooers. Now when he had well
+eaten and comforted his heart with food, then the herdsman
+filled him the bowl out of which he was wont himself to
+drink, and he gave it him brimming with wine, and he took
+it and was glad at heart, and uttering his voice spake to
+him winged words:
+
+'My friend, who was it then that bought thee with his
+wealth, a man so exceedingly rich and mighty as thou
+declarest? Thou saidest that he perished to get atonement
+for Agamemnon; tell me, if perchance I may know him, being
+such an one as thou sayest. For Zeus, methinks, and the
+other deathless gods know whether I may bring tidings of
+having seen him; for I have wandered far.'
+
+Then the swineherd, a master of men, answered him: 'Old
+man, no wanderer who may come hither and bring tidings of
+him can win the ear of his wife and his dear son; but
+lightly do vagrants lie when they need entertainment, and
+care not to tell truth. Whosoever comes straying to the
+land of Ithaca, goes to my mistress and speaks words of
+guile. And she receives him kindly and lovingly and
+inquires of all things, and the tears fall from her eyelids
+for weeping, as is meet for a woman when her lord hath died
+afar. And quickly enough wouldst thou too, old man, forge a
+tale, if any would but give thee a mantle and a doublet for
+raiment. But as for him, dogs and swift fowls are like
+already to have torn his skin from the bones, and his
+spirit hath left him. Or the fishes have eaten him in the
+deep, and there lie his bones swathed in sand-drift on the
+shore. Yonder then hath he perished, but for his friends
+nought is ordained but care, for all, but for me in chief.
+For never again shall I find a lord so gentle, how far
+soever I may go, not though again I attain unto the house
+of my father and my mother, where at first I was born, and
+they nourished me themselves and with their own hands they
+reared me. Nor henceforth it is not for these that I sorrow
+so much, though I long to behold them with mine eyes in
+mine own country, but desire comes over me for Odysseus who
+is afar. His name, stranger, even though he is not here, it
+shameth me to speak, for he loved me exceedingly, and cared
+for me at heart; nay, I call him "worshipful," albeit he is
+far hence.'
+
+Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus spake to him again: 'My
+friend, forasmuch as thou gainsayest utterly, and sayest
+that henceforth he will not come again, and thine heart is
+ever slow to believe, therefore will I tell thee not
+lightly but with an oath, that Odysseus shall return. And
+let me have the wages of good tidings as soon as ever he in
+his journeying shall come hither to his home. Then clothe
+me in a mantle and a doublet, goodly raiment. But ere that,
+albeit I am sore in need I will not take aught, for hateful
+to me even as the gates of hell, is that man, who under
+stress of poverty speaks words of guile. Now be Zeus my
+witness before any god, and the hospitable board and the
+hearth of noble Odysseus whereunto I am come, that all
+these things shall surely be accomplished even as I tell
+thee. In this same year Odysseus shall come hither; as the
+old moon wanes and the new is born shall he return to his
+home, and shall take vengeance on all who here dishonour
+his wife and noble son.'
+
+Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Old man,
+it is not I then, that shall ever pay thee these wages of
+good tidings, nor henceforth shall Odysseus ever come to
+his home. Nay drink in peace, and let us turn our thoughts
+to other matters, and bring not these to my remembrance,
+for surely my heart within me is sorrowful whenever any man
+puts me in mind of my true lord. But as for thine oath, we
+will let it go by; yet, oh that Odysseus may come according
+to my desire, and the desire of Penelope and of that old
+man Laertes and godlike Telemachus! But now I make a
+comfortless lament for the boy begotten of Odysseus, even
+for Telemachus. When the gods had reared him like a young
+sapling, and I thought that he would be no worse man among
+men than his dear father, glorious in form and face, some
+god or some man marred his good wits within him, and he
+went to fair Pylos after tidings of his sire. And now the
+lordly wooers lie in wait for him on his way home, that the
+race of godlike Arceisius may perish nameless out of
+Ithaca. Howbeit, no more of him now, whether he shall be
+taken or whether he shall escape, and Cronion stretch out
+his hand to shield him. But come, old man, do thou tell me
+of thine own troubles. And herein tell me true, that I may
+surely know. Who art thou of the sons of men, and whence?
+Where is thy city, where are they that begat thee? Say on
+what manner of ship didst thou come, and how did sailors
+bring thee to Ithaca, and who did they avow them to be? For
+in nowise do I deem that thou camest hither by land.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Yea
+now, I will tell thee all most plainly. Might we have food
+and sweet wine enough to last for long, while we abide
+within thy hut to feast thereon in quiet, and others betake
+them to their work; then could I easily speak for a whole
+year, nor yet make a full end of telling all the troubles
+of my spirit, all the travail I have wrought by the will of
+the gods.
+
+'I avow that I come by lineage from wide Crete, and am the
+son of a wealthy man. And many other sons he had born and
+bred in the halls, lawful born of a wedded wife; but the
+mother that bare me was a concubine bought with a price.
+Yet Castor son of Hylax, of whose blood I avow me to be,
+gave me no less honour than his lawful sons. Now he at the
+time got worship even as a god from the Cretans in the
+land, for wealth and riches and sons renowned. Howbeit the
+fates of death bare him away to the house of Hades, and his
+gallant sons divided among them his living and cast lots
+for it. But to me they gave a very small gift and assigned
+me a dwelling, and I took unto me a wife, the daughter of
+men that had wide lands, by reason of my valour, for that I
+was no weakling nor a dastard; but now all my might has
+failed me, yet even so I deem that thou mightest guess from
+seeing the stubble what the grain has been, for of trouble
+I have plenty and to spare. But then verily did Ares and
+Athene give me boldness and courage to hurl through the
+press of men, whensoever I chose the best warriors for an
+ambush, sowing the seeds of evil for my foes; no boding of
+death was ever in my lordly heart, but I would leap out the
+foremost and slay with the spear whoso of my foes was less
+fleet of foot than I. Such an one was I in war, but the
+labour of the field I never loved, nor home-keeping thrift,
+that breeds brave children, but galleys with their oars
+were dear to me, and wars and polished shafts and darts--
+baneful things whereat others use to shudder. But that,
+methinks, was dear to me which the god put in my heart, for
+divers men take delight in divers deeds. For ere ever the
+sons of the Achaeans had set foot on the land of Troy, I
+had nine times been a leader of men and of swift-faring
+ships against a strange people, and wealth fell ever to my
+hands. Of the booty I would choose out for me all that I
+craved, and much thereafter I won by lot. So my house got
+increase speedily, and thus I waxed dread and honourable
+among the Cretans. But when Zeus, of the far-borne voice,
+devised at the last that hateful path which loosened the
+knees of many a man in death, then the people called on me
+and on renowned Idomeneus to lead the ships to Ilios, nor
+was there any way whereby to refuse, for the people's voice
+bore hard upon us. There we sons of the Achaeans warred for
+nine whole years, and then in the tenth year we sacked the
+city of Priam, and departed homeward with our ships, and a
+god scattered the Achaeans. But Zeus, the counsellor,
+devised mischief against me, wretched man that I was! For
+one month only I abode and had joy in my children and my
+wedded wife, and all that I had; and thereafter my spirit
+bade me fit out ships in the best manner and sail to Egypt
+with my godlike company. Nine ships I fitted out and the
+host was gathered quickly; and then for six days my dear
+company feasted, and I gave them many victims that they
+might sacrifice to the gods and prepare a feast for
+themselves. But on the seventh day we set sail from wide
+Crete, with a North Wind fresh and fair, and lightly we ran
+as it were down stream, yea and no harm came to any ship of
+mine, but we sat safe and hale, while the wind and the
+pilots guided the barques. And on the fifth day we came to
+the fair-flowing Aegyptus, and in the river Aegyptus I
+stayed my curved ships. Then verily I bade my dear
+companions to abide there by the ships and to guard them,
+and I sent forth scouts to range the points of outlook. But
+my men gave place to wantonness, being the fools of their
+own force, and soon they fell to wasting the fields of the
+Egyptians, exceeding fair, and led away their wives and
+infant children and slew the men. And the cry came quickly
+to the city, and the people hearing the shout came forth at
+the breaking of the day, and all the plain was filled with
+footmen and chariots and with the glitter of bronze. And
+Zeus, whose joy is in the thunder, sent an evil panic upon
+my company, and none durst stand and face the foe, for
+danger encompassed us on every side. There they slew many
+of us with the edge of the sword, and others they led up
+with them alive to work for them perforce. But as for me,
+Zeus himself put a thought into my heart; would to God that
+I had rather died, and met my fate there in Egypt, for
+sorrow was still mine host! Straightway I put off my
+well-wrought helmet from my head, and the shield from off
+my shoulders, and I cast away my spear from my hand, and I
+came over against the chariots of the king, and clasped and
+kissed his knees, and he saved me and delivered me, and
+setting me on his own chariot took me weeping to his home.
+Truly many an one made at me with their ashen spears, eager
+to slay me, for verily they were sore angered. But the king
+kept them off and had respect unto the wrath of Zeus, the
+god of strangers, who chiefly hath displeasure at evil
+deeds. So for seven whole years I abode with their king,
+and gathered much substance among the Egyptians, for they
+all gave me gifts. But when the eighth year came in due
+season, there arrived a Phoenician practised in deceit, a
+greedy knave, who had already done much mischief among men.
+He wrought on me with his cunning, and took me with him
+until he came to Phoenicia, where was his house and where
+his treasures lay. There I abode with him for the space of
+a full year. But when now the months and days were
+fulfilled, as the year came round and the seasons returned,
+he set me aboard a seafaring ship for Libya, under colour
+as though I was to convey a cargo thither with him, but his
+purpose was to sell me in Libya, and get a great price. So
+I went with him on board, perforce, yet boding evil. And
+the ship ran before a North Wind fresh and fair, through
+the mid sea over above Crete, and Zeus contrived the
+destruction of the crew. But when we left Crete, and no
+land showed in sight but sky and sea only, even then the
+son of Cronos stayed a dark cloud over the hollow ship, and
+the deep grew dark beneath it. And in the same moment Zeus
+thundered and smote his bolt into the ship, and she reeled
+all over being stricken by the bolt of Zeus, and was filled
+with fire and brimstone, and all the crew fell overboard.
+And like sea-gulls they were borne hither and thither on
+the waves about the black ship, and the god cut off their
+return. But in this hour of my affliction Zeus himself put
+into my hands the huge mast of the dark-prowed ship, that
+even yet I might escape from harm. So I clung round the
+mast and was borne by the ruinous winds. For nine days was
+I borne, and on the tenth black night the great rolling
+wave brought me nigh to the land of the Thesprotians. There
+the king of the Thesprotians, the lord Pheidon, took me in
+freely, for his dear son lighted on me and raised me by the
+hand and led me to his house, foredone with toil and the
+keen air, till he came to his father's palace. And he
+clothed me in a mantle and a doublet for raiment.
+
+'There I heard tidings of Odysseus, for the king told me
+that he had entertained him, and kindly entreated him on
+his way to his own country; and he showed me all the wealth
+that Odysseus had gathered, bronze and gold and
+well-wrought iron; yea it would suffice for his children
+after him even to the tenth generation, so great were the
+treasures he had stored in the chambers of the king. He had
+gone, he said, to Dodona to hear the counsel of Zeus, from
+the high leafy oak tree of the god, how he should return to
+the fat land of Ithaca after long absence, whether openly
+or by stealth. Moreover, he sware, in mine own presence, as
+he poured the drink offering in his house, that the ship
+was drawn down to the sea and his company were ready, who
+were to convey him to his own dear country. But ere that,
+he sent me off, for it chanced that a ship of the
+Thesprotians was starting for Dulichium, a land rich in
+grain. Thither he bade them bring me with all diligence to
+the king Acastus. But an evil counsel concerning me found
+favour in their sight, that even yet I might reach the
+extremity of sorrow. When the seafaring ship had sailed a
+great way from the land, anon they sought how they might
+compass for me the day of slavery. They stript me of my
+garments, my mantle and a doublet, and changed my raiment
+to a vile wrap and doublet, tattered garments, even those
+thou seest now before thee; and in the evening they reached
+the fields of clear-seen Ithaca. There in the decked ship
+they bound me closely with a twisted rope, and themselves
+went ashore, and hasted to take supper by the sea-banks.
+Meanwhile the gods themselves lightly unclasped my bands,
+and muffling my head with the wrap I slid down the smooth
+lading-plank, and set my breast to the sea and rowed hard
+with both hands as I swam, and very soon I was out of the
+water and beyond their reach. Then I went up where there
+was a thicket, a wood in full leaf, and lay there
+crouching. And they went hither and thither making great
+moan; but when now it seemed to them little avail to go
+further on their quest, they departed back again aboard
+their hollow ship. And the gods themselves hid me easily
+and brought me nigh to the homestead of a wise man; for
+still, methinks, I am ordained to live on.'
+
+Then didst thou make answer to him, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Ah!
+wretched guest, verily thou hast stirred my heart with the
+tale of all these things, of thy sufferings and thy
+wanderings. Yet herein, methinks, thou speakest not aright,
+and never shalt thou persuade me with the tale about
+Odysseus; why should one in thy plight lie vainly? Well I
+know of mine own self, as touching my lord's return, that
+he was utterly hated by all the gods, in that they smote
+him not among the Trojans nor in the arms of his friends,
+when he had wound up the clew of war. So should the whole
+Achaean host have builded him a barrow; yea and for his son
+would he have won great glory in the after days; but now
+all ingloriously the spirits of the storm have snatched him
+away. But as for me I dwell apart by the swine and go not
+to the city, unless perchance wise Penelope summons me
+thither, when tidings of my master are brought I know not
+whence. Now all the people sit round and straitly question
+the news-bearer, both such as grieve for their lord that is
+long gone, and such as rejoice in devouring his living
+without atonement. But I have no care to ask or to inquire,
+since the day that an Aetolian cheated me with his story,
+one who had slain his man and wandered over wide lands and
+came to my steading, and I dealt lovingly with him. He said
+that he had seen my master among the Cretans at the house
+of Idomeneus, mending his ships which the storms had
+broken. And he said that he would come home either by the
+summer or the harvest-tide, bringing much wealth with the
+godlike men of his company. And thou too, old man of many
+sorrows, seeing that some god hath brought thee to me, seek
+not my grace with lies, nor give me any such comfort; not
+for this will I have respect to thee or hold thee dear, but
+only for the fear of Zeus, the god of strangers, and for
+pity of thyself.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Verily
+thy heart within thee is slow to believe, seeing that even
+with an oath I have not won thee, nor find credence with
+thee. But come now, let us make a covenant; and we will
+each one have for witnesses the gods above, who hold
+Olympus. If thy lord shall return to this house, put on me
+a mantle and doublet for raiment, and send me on my way to
+Dulichium, whither I had a desire to go. But if thy lord
+return not according to my word, set thy thralls upon me,
+and cast me down from a mighty rock, that another beggar in
+his turn may beware of deceiving.'
+
+And the goodly swineherd answered him, saying: 'Yea
+stranger, even so should I get much honour and good luck
+among men both now and ever hereafter, if after bringing
+thee to my hut and giving thee a stranger's cheer, I should
+turn again and slay thee and take away thy dear life. Eager
+indeed thereafter should I be to make a prayer to Zeus the
+son of Cronos! But now it is supper-time, and would that my
+fellows may speedily be at home, that we may make ready a
+dainty supper within the hut.'
+
+Thus they spake one to the other. And lo, the swine and the
+swineherds drew nigh. And the swine they shut up to sleep
+in their lairs, and a mighty din arose as the swine were
+being stalled. Then the goodly swineherd called to his
+fellows, saying:
+
+'Bring the best of the swine, that I may sacrifice it for a
+guest of mine from a far land: and we too will have good
+cheer therewith, for we have long suffered and toiled by
+reason of the white-tusked swine, while others devour the
+fruit of our labour without atonement.'
+
+Therewithal he cleft logs with the pitiless axe, and the
+others brought in a well-fatted boar of five years old; and
+they set him by the hearth nor did the swineherd forget the
+deathless gods, for he was of an understanding heart. But
+for a beginning of sacrifice he cast bristles from the head
+of the white-tusked boar upon the fire, and prayed to all
+the gods that wise Odysseus might return to his own house.
+Then he stood erect, and smote the boar with a billet of
+oak which he had left in the cleaving, and the boar yielded
+up his life. Then they cut the throat and singed the
+carcass and quickly cut it up, and the swineherd took a
+first portion from all the limbs, and laid the raw flesh on
+the rich fat. And some pieces he cast into the fire after
+sprinkling them with bruised barley-meal, and they cut the
+rest up small, and pierced it, and spitted and roasted it
+carefully, and drew it all off from the spits, and put the
+whole mess together on trenchers. Then the swineherd stood
+up to carve, for well he knew what was fair, and he cut up
+the whole and divided it into seven portions. One, when he
+had prayed, he set aside for the nymphs and for Hermes son
+of Maia, and the rest he distributed to each. And he gave
+Odysseus the portion of honour, the long back of the
+white-tusked boar, and the soul of his lord rejoiced at
+this renown, and Odysseus of many counsels hailed him
+saying:
+
+'Eumaeus, oh that thou mayest so surely be dear to father
+Zeus, as thou art to me, seeing that thou honourest me with
+a good portion, such an one as I am!'
+
+Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus:
+
+'Eat, luckless stranger, and make merry with such fare as
+is here. And one thing the god will give and another
+withhold, even as he will, for with him all things are
+possible.'
+
+So he spake, and made burnt offering of the hallowed parts
+to the everlasting gods, and poured the dark wine for a
+drink offering, and set the cup in the hands of Odysseus,
+the waster of cities, and sat down by his own mess. And
+Mesaulius bare them wheaten bread, a thrall that the
+swineherd had gotten all alone, while his lord was away,
+without the knowledge of his mistress and the old Laertes:
+yea he had bought him of the Taphians with his own
+substance. So they stretched forth their hands upon the
+good cheer spread before them. Now after they had put from
+them the desire of meat and drink, Mesaulius cleared away
+the bread, and they, now that they had eaten enough of
+bread and flesh, were moved to go to rest.
+
+Now it was so that night came on foul with a blind moon,
+and Zeus rained the whole night through, and still the
+great West Wind, the rainy wind, was blowing. Then Odysseus
+spake among them that he might make trial of the swineherd,
+and see whether he would take off his own mantle and give
+it to him or bid one of his company strip, since he cared
+for him so greatly:
+
+'Listen now, Eumaeus, and all of you his companions, with a
+prayer will I utter my word; so bids me witless wine, which
+drives even the wisest to sing and to laugh softly, and
+rouses him to dance, yea and makes him to speak out a word
+which were better unspoken. Howbeit, now that I have broken
+into speech, I will not hide aught. Oh that I were young,
+and my might were steadfast, as in the day when we arrayed
+our ambush and led it beneath Troy town! And Odysseus, and
+Menelaus son of Atreus, were leaders and with them I was a
+third in command; for so they bade me. Now when we had come
+to the city and the steep wall, we lay about the citadel in
+the thick brushwood, crouching under our arms among the
+reeds and the marsh land, and behold, the night came on
+foul, with frost, as the North Wind went down, while the
+snow fell from above, and crusted like rime, bitter cold,
+and the ice set thick about our shields. Now the others all
+had mantles and doublets, and slept in peace with their
+shields buckled close about their shoulders; but I as I
+went forth had left my mantle behind with my men, in my
+folly, thinking that even so I should not be cold: so I
+came with only my shield and bright leathern apron. But
+when it was now the third watch of the night and the stars
+had passed the zenith, in that hour I spake unto Odysseus
+who was nigh me, and thrust him with my elbow, and he
+listened straightway:
+
+'"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
+devices, verily I shall cease from among living men, for
+this wintry cold is slaying me, seeing that I have no
+mantle. Some god beguiled me to wear a doublet only, and
+henceforth is no way of escape."
+
+'So I spake, and he apprehended a thought in his heart,
+such an one as he was in counsel and in fight. So he
+whispered and spake to me, saying:
+
+'"Be silent now, lest some other Achaeans hear thee."
+Therewith he raised his head upon his elbow, and spake,
+saying: "Listen, friends, a vision from a god came to me in
+my sleep. Lo, we have come very far from the ships; I would
+there were one to tell it to Agamemnon, son of Atreus,
+shepherd of the host, if perchance he may send us hither a
+greater company from the ships."
+
+'So spake he, and Thoas, son of Andraemon, rose up quickly
+and cast off his purple mantle. And he started to run unto
+the ships, but I lay gladly in his garment, and the
+golden-throned Dawn showed her light. Oh! that I were young
+as then and my might steadfast! Then should some of the
+swineherds in the homestead give me a mantle, alike for
+love's sake and for pity of a good warrior. But now they
+scorn me for that sorry raiment is about my body.'
+
+Then didst thou make answer, O swineherd Eumaeus: 'Old man,
+the tale that thou hast told in his praise is very good,
+and so far thou hast not misspoken aught, nor uttered a
+word unprofitably. Wherefore for this night thou shalt lack
+neither raiment nor aught else that is the due of a hapless
+suppliant, when he has met them that can befriend him. But
+in the morning thou shalt go shuffling in thine own rags,
+for there are not many mantles here or changes of doublet;
+for each man hath but one coat. But when the dear son of
+Odysseus comes, he himself will give thee a mantle and
+doublet for raiment, and send thee whithersoever thy heart
+and spirit bid.'
+
+With that he sprang up and set a bed for Odysseus near the
+fire, and thereon he cast skins of sheep and goats. There
+Odysseus laid him down and Eumaeus cast a great thick
+mantle over him, which he had ever by him for a change of
+covering, when any terrible storm should arise.
+
+So there Odysseus slept, and the young men slept beside
+him. But the swineherd had no mind to lie there in a bed
+away from the boars. So he made him ready to go forth and
+Odysseus was glad, because he had a great care for his
+master's substance while he was afar. First he cast his
+sharp sword about his strong shoulders, then he clad him in
+a very thick mantle, to keep the wind away; and he caught
+up the fleece of a great and well-fed goat, and seized his
+sharp javelin, to defend him against dogs and men. Then he
+went to lay him down even where the white-tusked boars were
+sleeping, beneath the hollow of the rock, in a place of
+shelter from the North Wind.
+
+
+
+Book XV
+
+  Pallas sends home Telemachus from Lacedaemon with the
+  presents given him by Menelaus. Telemachus landed, goes
+  first to Eumaeus.
+
+Now Pallas Athene went to the wide land of Lacedaemon, to
+put the noble son of the great-hearted Odysseus in mind of
+his return, and to make him hasten his coming. And she
+found Telemachus, and the glorious son of Nestor, couched
+at the vestibule of the house of famous Menelaus. The son
+of Nestor truly was overcome with soft sleep, but sweet
+sleep gat not hold of Telemachus, but, through the night
+divine, careful thoughts for his father kept him wakeful.
+And grey-eyed Athene stood nigh him and spake to him,
+saying:
+
+'Telemachus, it is no longer meet that thou shouldest
+wander far from thy home, leaving thy substance behind
+thee, and men in thy house so wanton, lest they divide and
+utterly devour all thy wealth, and thou shalt have gone on
+a vain journey. But come, rouse with all haste Menelaus, of
+the loud war-cry, to send thee on thy way, that thou mayest
+even yet find thy noble mother in her home. For even now
+her father and her brethren bid her wed Eurymachus, for he
+outdoes all the wooers in his presents, and hath been
+greatly increasing his gifts of wooing. So shall she take
+no treasure from thy house despite thy will. Thou knowest
+of what sort is the heart of a woman within her; all her
+desire is to increase the house of the man who takes her to
+wife, but of her former children and of her own dear lord
+she has no more memory once he is dead, and she asks
+concerning him no more. Go then, and thyself place all thy
+substance in the care of the handmaid who seems to thee the
+best, till the day when the gods shall show thee a glorious
+bride. Now another word will I tell thee, and do thou lay
+it up in thine heart. The noblest of the wooers lie in wait
+for thee of purpose, in the strait between Ithaca and
+rugged Samos, eager to slay thee before thou come to thine
+own country. But this, methinks, will never be; yea, sooner
+shall the earth close over certain of the wooers that
+devour thy livelihood. Nay, keep thy well-wrought ship far
+from those isles, and sail by night as well as day, and he
+of the immortals who hath thee in his keeping and
+protection will send thee a fair breeze in thy wake. But
+when thou hast touched the nearest shore of Ithaca, send
+thy ship and all thy company forward to the city, but for
+thy part seek first the swineherd who keeps thy swine,
+loyal and at one with thee. There do thou rest the night,
+and bid him go to the city to bear tidings of thy coming to
+the wise Penelope, how that she hath got thee safe, and
+thou art come up out of Pylos.'
+
+Therewith she departed to high Olympus. But Telemachus woke
+the son of Nestor out of sweet sleep, touching him with his
+heel, and spake to him, saying:
+
+'Awake, Peisistratus, son of Nestor, bring up thy horses of
+solid hoof, and yoke them beneath the car, that we may get
+forward on the road.'
+
+Then Peisistratus, son of Nestor, answered him, saying:
+'Telemachus, we may in no wise drive through the dark
+night, how eager soever to be gone; nay, soon it will be
+dawn. Tarry then, till the hero, the son of Atreus,
+spear-famed Menelaus, brings gifts, and sets them on the
+car, and bespeaks thee kindly, and sends thee on thy way.
+For of him a guest is mindful all the days of his life,
+even of the host that shows him loving-kindness.'
+
+So spake he, and anon came the golden-throned Dawn. And
+Menelaus, of the loud war cry, drew nigh to them, new risen
+from his bed, by fair-haired Helen. Now when the dear son
+of Odysseus marked him, he made haste and girt his shining
+doublet about him, and the hero cast a great mantle over
+his mighty shoulders, and went forth at the door, and
+Telemachus, dear son of divine Odysseus, came up and spake
+to Menelaus, saying:
+
+'Menelaus, son of Atreus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the
+people, even now do thou speed me hence, to mine own dear
+country; for even now my heart is fain to come home again.'
+
+Then Menelaus, of the loud war cry, answered him:
+'Telemachus, as for me, I will not hold thee a long time
+here, that art eager to return; nay, I think it shame even
+in another host, who loves overmuch or hates overmuch.
+Measure is best in all things. He does equal wrong who
+speeds a guest that would fain abide, and stays one who is
+in haste to be gone. Men should lovingly entreat the
+present guest and speed the parting. But abide till I bring
+fair gifts and set them on the car and thine own eyes
+behold them, and I bid the women to prepare the midday meal
+in the halls, out of the good store they have within.
+Honour and glory it is for us, and gain withal for thee,
+that ye should have eaten well ere ye go on your way, over
+vast and limitless lands. What and if thou art minded to
+pass through Hellas and mid Argos? So shall I too go with
+thee, and yoke thee horses and lead thee to the towns of
+men, and none shall send us empty away, but will give us
+some one thing to take with us, either a tripod of goodly
+bronze or a cauldron, or two mules or a golden chalice.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him saying: 'Menelaus, son of
+Atreus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the people, rather
+would I return even now to mine own land, for I left none
+behind to watch over my goods when I departed. I would not
+that I myself should perish on the quest of my godlike
+father, nor that any good heir-loom should be lost from my
+halls.'
+
+Now when Menelaus, of the loud war cry, heard this saying,
+straightway he bade his wife and maids to prepare the
+midday meal in the halls, out of the good store they had by
+them. Then Eteoneus, son of Boethous, came nigh him, just
+risen from his bed, for he abode not far from him. Him
+Menelaus of the loud war cry bade kindle the fire and roast
+of the flesh; and he hearkened and obeyed. Then the prince
+went down into the fragrant treasure chamber, not alone,
+for Helen went with him, and Megapenthes. Now, when they
+came to the place where the treasures were stored, then
+Atrides took a two-handled cup, and bade his son
+Megapenthes to bear a mixing bowl of silver. And Helen
+stood by the coffers, wherein were her robes of curious
+needlework which she herself had wrought. Then Helen, the
+fair lady, lifted one and brought it out, the widest and
+most beautifully embroidered of all, and it shone like a
+star, and lay far beneath the rest.
+
+Then they went forth through the house till they came to
+Telemachus; and Menelaus, of the fair hair, spake to him
+saying:
+
+'Telemachus, may Zeus the thunderer, and the lord of Here,
+in very truth bring about thy return according to the
+desire of thy heart. And of the gifts, such as are
+treasures stored in my house, I will give thee the
+goodliest and greatest of price. I will give thee a mixing
+bowl beautifully wrought; it is all of silver and the lips
+thereof are finished with gold, the work of Hephaestus; and
+the hero Phaedimus the king of the Sidonians, gave it to me
+when his house sheltered me, on my coming thither. This cup
+I would give to thee.'
+
+Therewith the hero Atrides set the two-handled cup in his
+hands. And the strong Megapenthes bare the shining silver
+bowl and set it before him. And Helen came up, beautiful
+Helen, with the robe in her hands, and spake and hailed
+him:
+
+'Lo! I too give thee this gift, dear child, a memorial of
+the hands of Helen, against the day of thy desire, even of
+thy bridal, for thy bride to wear it. But meanwhile let it
+lie by thy dear mother in her chamber. And may joy go with
+thee to thy well-builded house, and thine own country.'
+
+With that she put it into his hands, and he took it and was
+glad. And the hero Peisistratus took the gifts and laid
+them in the chest of the car, and gazed on all and
+wondered. Then Menelaus of the fair hair led them to the
+house. Then they twain sat them down on chairs and high
+seats, and a handmaid bare water for the hands in a goodly
+golden ewer, and poured it forth over a silver basin to
+wash withal, and drew to their side a polished table. And a
+grave dame bare wheaten bread and set it by them, and laid
+on the board many dainties, giving freely of such things as
+she had by her. And the son of Boethous carved by the board
+and divided the messes, and the son of renowned Menelaus
+poured forth the wine. So they stretched forth their hands
+upon the good cheer set before them. Now when they had put
+from them the desire of meat and drink, then did Telemachus
+and the glorious son of Nestor yoke the horses and climb
+into the inlaid car. And they drave forth from the gateway
+and the echoing gallery. After these Menelaus, of the fair
+hair, the son of Atreus, went forth bearing in his right
+hand a golden cup of honey-hearted wine, that they might
+pour a drink-offering ere they departed. And he stood
+before the horses and spake his greeting:
+
+'Farewell, knightly youths, and salute in my name Nestor,
+the shepherd of the people; for truly he was gentle to me
+as a father, while we sons of the Achaeans warred in the
+land of Troy.'
+
+And wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Yea verily, O
+fosterling of Zeus, we will tell him all on our coming even
+as thou sayest. Would God that when I return to Ithaca I
+may find Odysseus in his home and tell him all, so surely
+as now I go on my way having met with all loving-kindness
+at thy hands, and take with me treasures many and goodly!'
+
+And even as he spake a bird flew forth at his right hand,
+an eagle that bare in his claws a great white goose, a tame
+fowl from the yard, and men and women followed shouting.
+But the bird drew near them and flew off to the right,
+across the horses, and they that saw it were glad, and
+their hearts were all comforted within them. And
+Peisistratus, son of Nestor, first spake among them:
+
+'Consider, Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the
+people, whether god hath showed forth this sign for us
+twain, or for thee thyself.'
+
+So spake he, and the warrior Menelaus pondered thereupon,
+how he should take heed to answer, and interpret it aright.
+
+And long-robed Helen took the word and spake, saying: 'Hear
+me, and I will prophesy as the immortals put it into my
+heart, and as I deem it will be accomplished. Even as
+yonder eagle came down from the hill, the place of his
+birth and kin, and snatched away the goose that was
+fostered in the house, even so shall Odysseus return home
+after much trial and long wanderings and take vengeance;
+yea, or even now is he at home and sowing the seeds of evil
+for all the wooers.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Now may Zeus
+ordain it so, Zeus the thunderer and the lord of Here. Then
+would I do thee worship, as to a god, even in my home
+afar.'
+
+He spake and smote the horses with the lash, and they sped
+quickly towards the plain, in eager course through the
+city. So all day long they swayed the yoke they bore upon
+their necks. And the sun sank, and all the ways were
+darkened. And they came to Pherae, to the house of Diocles,
+son of Orsilochus, the child begotten of Alpheus. There
+they rested for the night, and by them he set the
+entertainment of strangers.
+
+Now so soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered,
+they yoked the horses and mounted the inlaid car. And forth
+they drave from the gateway and the echoing gallery. And he
+touched the horses with the whip to start them, and the
+pair flew onward nothing loth. And soon thereafter they
+reached the steep hold of Pylos. Then Telemachus spake unto
+the son of Nestor, saying:
+
+'Son of Nestor, in what wise mightest thou make me a
+promise and fulfil my bidding? For we claim to be friends
+by reason of our fathers' friendship from of old. Moreover
+we are equals in age, and this journey shall turn to our
+greater love. Take me not hence past my ship, O fosterling
+of Zeus, but leave me there, lest that old man keep me in
+his house in my despite, out of his eager kindness, for I
+must go right quickly home.'
+
+So spake he, and the some of Nestor communed with his own
+heart how he might make promise, and duly fulfil the same.
+So as he thought thereon, in this wise it seemed to him
+best. He turned back his horses toward the swift ship and
+the sea-banks, and took forth the fair gifts and set them
+in the hinder part of the ship, the raiment and the gold
+which Menelaus gave him. And he called to Telemachus and
+spake to him winged words:
+
+'Now climb the ship with all haste, and bid all thy company
+do likewise, ere I reach home and bring the old man word.
+For well I know in my mind and heart that, being so wilful
+of heart, he will not let thee go, but he himself will come
+hither to bid thee to his house, and methinks that he will
+not go back without thee; for very wroth will he be despite
+thine excuse.'
+
+Thus he spake, and drave the horses with the flowing manes
+back to the town of the Pylians, and came quickly to the
+halls. And Telemachus called to his companions and
+commanded them, saying:
+
+'Set ye the gear in order, my friends, in the black ship,
+and let us climb aboard that we may make way upon our
+course.'
+
+So spake he, and they gave good heed and hearkened. Then
+straightway they embarked and sat upon the benches.
+
+Thus was he busy hereat and praying and making
+burnt-offering to Athene, by the stern of the ship, when
+there drew nigh him one from a far country, that had slain
+his man and was fleeing from out of Argos. He was a
+soothsayer, and by his lineage he came of Melampus, who of
+old time abode in Pylos, mother of flocks, a rich man and
+one that had an exceeding goodly house among the Pylians,
+but afterward he had come to the land of strangers, fleeing
+from his country and from Neleus, the great-hearted, the
+proudest of living men, who kept all his goods for a full
+year by force. All that time Melampus lay bound with hard
+bonds in the halls of Phylacus, suffering strong pains for
+the sake of the daughter of Neleus, and for the dread
+blindness of soul which the goddess, the Erinnys of the
+dolorous stroke, had laid on him. Howsoever he escaped his
+fate, and drave away the lowing kine from Phylace to Pylos,
+and avenged the foul deed upon godlike Neleus, and brought
+the maiden home to his own brother to wife. As for him, he
+went to a country of other men, to Argos, the pastureland
+of horses; for there truly it was ordained that he should
+dwell, bearing rule over many of the Argives. There he
+wedded a wife, and builded him a lofty house, and begat
+Antiphates and Mantius, two mighty sons. Now Antiphates
+begat Oicles the great-hearted, and Oicles Amphiaraus, the
+rouser of the host, whom Zeus, lord of the aegis, and
+Apollo loved with all manner of love. Yet he reached not
+the threshold of old age, but died in Thebes by reason of a
+woman's gifts. And the sons born to him were Alcmaeon and
+Amphilochus. But Mantius begat Polypheides and Cleitus; but
+it came to pass that the golden-throned Dawn snatched away
+Cleitus for his very beauty's sake, that he might dwell
+with the Immortals.
+
+And Apollo made the high-souled Polypheides a seer, far the
+chief of human kind, Amphiaraus being now dead. He removed
+his dwelling to Hypheresia, being angered with his father,
+and here he abode and prophesied to all men.
+
+This man's son it was, Theoclymenus by name, that now drew
+nigh and stood by Telemachus. And he found him pouring a
+drink-offering and praying by the swift black ship, and
+uttering his voice he spake to him winged words:
+
+'Friend, since I find thee making burnt-offering in this
+place, I pray thee, by thine offerings and by the god, and
+thereafter by thine own head, and in the name of the men of
+thy company answer my question truly and hide it not. Who
+art thou of the sons of men and whence? Where is thy city,
+where are they that begat thee?'
+
+And wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Yea now,
+stranger, I will plainly tell thee all. Of Ithaca am I by
+lineage, and my father is Odysseus, if ever such an one
+there was, but now hath he perished by an evil fate.
+Wherefore I have taken my company and a black ship, and
+have gone forth to hear word of my father that has been
+long afar.'
+
+Then godlike Theoclymenus spake to him again: 'Even so I
+too have fled from my country, for the manslaying of one of
+mine own kin. And many brethren and kinsmen of the slain
+are in Argos, the pastureland of horses, and rule mightily
+over the Achaeans. Wherefore now am I an exile to shun
+death and black fate at their hands, for it is my doom yet
+to wander among men. Now set me on board ship, since I
+supplicate thee in my flight, lest they slay me utterly;
+for methinks they follow hard after me.'
+
+And wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Surely I will
+not drive thee away from our good ship, if thou art fain to
+come. Follow thou with us then, and in Ithaca thou shalt be
+welcome to such things as we have.'
+
+Therewith he took from him his spear of bronze, and laid it
+along the deck of the curved ship, and himself too climbed
+the seafaring ship. Then he sat him down in the stern and
+made Theoclymenus to sit beside him; and his company loosed
+the hawsers. Then Telemachus called unto his company, and
+bade them lay hands on the tackling, and speedily they
+hearkened to his call. So they raised the mast of pine
+tree, and set it in the hole of the cross plank and made it
+fast with forestays, and hauled up the white sails with
+twisted ropes of ox-hide. And grey-eyed Athene sent them a
+favouring breeze, rushing violently through the clear sky
+that the ship might speedily finish her course over the
+salt water of the sea. So they passed by Crouni and
+Chalcis, a land of fair streams.
+
+And the sun set and all the ways were darkened. And the
+vessel drew nigh to Pheae, being sped before the breeze of
+Zeus, and then passed goodly Elis where the Epeans bear
+rule. From thence he drave on again to the Pointed Isles,
+pondering whether he should escape death or be cut off.
+
+Now Odysseus and the goodly swineherd were supping in the
+hut, and the other men sat at meat with them. So when they
+had put from them the desire of meat and drink, Odysseus
+spake among them, to prove the swineherd, whether he would
+still entertain him diligently, and bid him abide there in
+the steading or send him forward to the city:
+
+'Listen now, Eumaeus, and all the others of the company. In
+the morning I would fain be gone to the town to go a
+begging, that I be not ruinous to thyself and thy fellows.
+Now advise me well, and lend me a good guide by the way to
+lead me thither; and through the city will I wander alone
+as needs I must, if perchance one may give me a cup of
+water and a morsel of bread. Moreover I would go to the
+house of divine Odysseus and bear tidings to the wise
+Penelope, and consort with the wanton wooers, if haply they
+might grant me a meal out of the boundless store that they
+have by them. Lightly might I do good service among them,
+even all that they would. For lo! I will tell thee and do
+thou mark and listen. By the favour of Hermes, the
+messenger, who gives grace and glory to all men's work, no
+mortal may vie with me in the business of a serving-man, in
+piling well a fire, in cleaving dry faggots, and in carving
+and roasting flesh and in pouring of wine, those offices
+wherein meaner men serve their betters.'
+
+Then didst thou speak to him in heaviness of heart,
+swineherd Eumaeus: 'Ah! wherefore, stranger, hath such a
+thought arisen in thine heart? Surely thou art set on
+perishing utterly there, if thou wouldest indeed go into
+the throng of the wooers, whose outrage and violence
+reacheth even to the iron heaven! Not such as thou are
+their servants; they that minister to them are young and
+gaily clad in mantles and in doublets, and their heads are
+anointed with oil and they are fair of face, and the
+polished boards are laden with bread and flesh and wine.
+Nay, abide here, for none is vexed by thy presence, neither
+I nor any of my fellows that are with me. But when the dear
+son of Odysseus comes, he himself will give thee a mantle
+and a doublet for raiment, and will send thee whithersoever
+thy heart and spirit bid thee go.'
+
+Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him: 'Oh, that
+thou mayst so surely be dear to father Zeus as thou art to
+me, in that thou didst make me to cease from wandering and
+dread woe! For there is no other thing more mischievous to
+men than roaming; yet for their cursed belly's need men
+endure sore distress, to whom come wandering and
+tribulation and pain. But behold now, since thou stayest me
+here, and biddest me wait his coming, tell me of the mother
+of divine Odysseus, and of the father whom at his departure
+he left behind him on the threshold of old age; are they,
+it may be, yet alive beneath the sunlight, or already dead
+and within the house of Hades?'
+
+Then spake to him the swineherd, a master of men: 'Yea now,
+stranger, I will plainly tell thee all. Laertes yet lives,
+and prays evermore to Zeus that his life may waste from out
+his limbs within his halls. For he has wondrous sorrow for
+his son that is far away, and for the wedded lady his wise
+wife, whose death afflicted him in chief and brought him to
+old age before his day. Now she died of very grief for her
+son renowned, by an evil death, so may no man perish who
+dwells here and is a friend to me in word and deed! So long
+as she was on earth, though in much sorrow, I was glad to
+ask and enquire concerning her, for that she herself had
+reared me along with long-robed Ctimene, her noble
+daughter, the youngest of her children. With her I was
+reared, and she honoured me little less than her own. But
+when we both came to the time of our desire, to the flower
+of age, thereupon they sent her to Same, and got a great
+bride-price; but my lady clad me in a mantle and a doublet,
+raiment very fair, and gave me sandals for my feet and sent
+me forth to the field, and right dear at heart she held me.
+But of these things now at last am I lacking; yet the
+blessed gods prosper the work of mine own hands, whereat I
+abide. Of this my substance I have eaten and drunken and
+given to reverend strangers. But from my lady I may hear
+naught pleasant, neither word nor deed, for evil hath
+fallen on her house, a plague of froward men; yet thralls
+have a great desire to speak before their mistress and find
+out all eat and drink, and moreover to carry off somewhat
+with them to the field, such things as ever comfort the
+heart of a thrall.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Ah,
+Eumaeus, how far then didst thou wander from thine own
+country and thy parents while as yet thou wast but a child!
+But come, declare me this and plainly tell it all. Was a
+wide-wayed town of men taken and sacked, wherein dwelt thy
+father and thy lady mother, or did unfriendly men find thee
+lonely, tending sheep or cattle, and shipped thee thence,
+and sold thee into the house of thy master here, who paid
+for thee a goodly price?'
+
+Then spake to him the swineherd, a master of men: Stranger,
+since thou askest and questionest me hereof, give heed now
+in silence and make merry, and abide here drinking wine.
+Lo, the nights now are of length untold. Time is there to
+sleep, and time to listen and be glad; thou needest not
+turn to bed before the hour; even too much sleep is
+vexation of spirit. But for the rest, let him whose heart
+and mind bid him, go forth and slumber, and at the dawning
+of the day let him break his fast, and follow our master's
+swine. But let us twain drink and feast within the
+steading, and each in his neighbour's sorrows take delight,
+recalling them, for even the memory of griefs is a joy to a
+man who hath been sore tried and wandered far. Wherefore I
+will tell thee that whereof thou askest and dost question
+me.
+
+'There is a certain isle called Syria, if haply thou hast
+heard tell of it, over above Ortygia, and there are the
+turning-places of the sun. It is not very great in compass,
+though a goodly isle, rich in herds, rich in flocks, with
+plenty of corn and wine. Dearth never enters the land, and
+no hateful sickness falls on wretched mortals. But when the
+tribes of men grow old in that city, then comes Apollo of
+the silver bow, with Artemis, and slays them with the
+visitation of his gentle shafts. In that isle are two
+cities, and the whole land is divided between them, and my
+father was king over the twain, Ctesius son of Ormenus, a
+man like to the Immortals.
+
+'Thither came the Phoenicians, mariners renowned, greedy
+merchant men, with countless gauds in a black ship. Now in
+my father's house was a Phoenician woman, tall and fair and
+skilled in bright handiwork; this woman the Phoenicians
+with their sleights beguiled. First as she was washing
+clothes, one of them lay with her in love by the hollow
+ship, for love beguiles the minds of womankind, even of the
+upright. Then he asked her who she was and whence she came,
+and straightway she showed him the lofty home of my father,
+saying:
+
+'"From out of Sidon I avow that I come, land rich in
+bronze, and I am the daughter of Arybas, the deeply
+wealthy. But Taphians, who were sea-robbers, laid hands on
+me and snatched me away as I came in from the fields, and
+brought me hither and sold me into the house of my master,
+who paid for me a goodly price."
+
+'Then the man who had lain with her privily, answered:
+"Say, wouldst thou now return home with us, that thou mayst
+look again on the lofty house of thy father and mother and
+on their faces? For truly they yet live, and have a name
+for wealth."
+
+'Then the woman answered him and spake, saying: "Even this
+may well be, if ye sailors will pledge me an oath to bring
+me home in safety."
+
+'So spake she, and they all swore thereto as she bade them.
+Now when they had sworn and done that oath, again the woman
+spake among them and answered, saying:
+
+'"Hold your peace now, and let none of your fellows speak
+to me and greet me, if they meet me in the street, or even
+at the well, lest one go and tell it to the old man at
+home, and he suspect somewhat and bind me in hard bonds and
+devise death for all of you. But keep ye the matter in
+mind, and speed the purchase of your homeward freight. And
+when your ship is freighted with stores, let a message come
+quickly to me at the house; for I will likewise bring gold,
+all that comes under my hand. Yea and there is another
+thing that I would gladly give for my fare. I am nurse to
+the child of my lord in the halls, a most cunning little
+boy, that runs out and abroad with me. Him would I bring on
+board ship, and he should fetch you a great price,
+wheresoever ye take him for sale among men of strange
+speech."
+
+'Therewith she went her way to the fair halls. But they
+abode among us a whole year, and got together much wealth
+in their hollow ship. And when their hollow ship was now
+laden to depart, they sent a messenger to tell the tidings
+to the woman. There came a man versed in craft to my
+father's house, with a golden chain strung here and there
+with amber beads. Now the maidens in the hall and my lady
+mother were handling the chain and gazing on it, and
+offering him their price; but he had signed silently to the
+woman, and therewithal gat him away to the hollow ship.
+Then she took me by the hand and led me forth from the
+house. And at the vestibule of the house she found the cups
+and the tables of the guests that had been feasting, who
+were in waiting on my father. They had gone forth to the
+session and the place of parley of the people. And she
+straightway hid three goblets in her bosom, and bare them
+away, and I followed in my innocence. Then the sun sank and
+all the ways were darkened and we went quickly and came to
+the good haven, where was the swift ship of the
+Phoenicians. So they climbed on board and took us up with
+them, and sailed over the wet ways, and Zeus sent us a
+favouring wind. For six days we sailed by day and night
+continually; but when Zeus, son of Cronos, added the
+seventh day thereto, then Artemis, the archer, smote the
+woman that she fell, as a sea-swallow falls, with a plunge
+into the hold. And they cast her forth to be the prey of
+seals and fishes, but I was left stricken at heart. And
+wind and water bare them and brought them to Ithaca, where
+Laertes bought me with his possessions. And thus it chanced
+that mine eyes beheld this land.'
+
+Then Odysseus, of the seed of Zeus, answered him saying:
+
+'Eumaeus, verily thou hast stirred my heart within me with
+the tale of all these things, of all the sorrow of heart
+thou hast endured. Yet surely Zeus hath given thee good as
+well as evil, since after all these adventures thou hast
+come to the house of a kindly man, who is careful to give
+thee meat and drink and right well thou livest. But I have
+come hither still wandering through the many towns of men.'
+
+Thus they spake one with the other. Then they laid them
+down to sleep for no long while, but for a little space,
+for soon came the throned Dawn. But on the shore the
+company of Telemachus were striking their sails, and took
+down the mast quickly and rowed the ship on to anchorage.
+And they cast anchors and made fast the hawsers, and
+themselves too stept forth upon the strand of the sea, and
+made ready the midday meal, and mixed the dark wine. Now
+when they had put from them the desire of meat and drink,
+wise Telemachus first spake among them:
+
+'Do ye now drive the black ship to the city, while I will
+go to the fields and to the herdsmen, and at even I will
+return to the city, when I have seen my lands. And in the
+morning I will set by you the wages of the voyage, a good
+feast of flesh and of sweet wine.'
+
+Then godlike Theoclymenus answered him: 'And whither shall
+I go, dear child? To what man's house shall I betake me, of
+such as are lords in rocky Ithaca? Shall I get me straight
+to thy mother and to thy home?'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'In other case I
+would bid thee go even to our own house; for there is no
+lack of cheer for strangers, but now would it be worse for
+thyself, forasmuch as I shall be away nor would my mother
+see thee. For she comes not often in sight of the wooers in
+the house, but abides apart from them in her upper chamber,
+and weaves at her web. Yet there is one whom I will tell
+thee of, to whom thou mayst go, Eurymachus the glorious son
+of wise Polybus, whom now the men of Ithaca look upon, even
+as if he were a god. For he is far the best man of them
+all, and is most eager to wed my mother and to have the
+sovereignty of Odysseus. Howbeit, Olympian Zeus, that
+dwells in the clear sky, knows hereof, whether or no he
+will fulfill for them the evil day before their marriage.'
+
+Now even as he spake, a bird flew out on the right, a hawk,
+the swift messenger of Apollo. In his talons he held a dove
+and plucked her, and shed the feathers down to the earth,
+midway between the ship and Telemachus himself. Then
+Theoclymenus called him apart from his fellows, and clasped
+his hand and spake and hailed him:
+
+'Telemachus, surely not without the god's will hath the
+bird flown out on the right, for I knew when I saw him that
+he was a bird of omen. There is no other house more kingly
+than yours in the land of Ithaca; nay, ye have ever the
+mastery.'
+
+And wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Ah, stranger,
+would that this word may be accomplished! Soon shouldest
+thou be aware of kindness and many a gift at my hands, so
+that whoso met with thee would call thee blessed.'
+
+Then he spake to Piraeus, his trusty companion: 'Piraeus,
+son of Clytius, thou that at other seasons hearkenest to me
+above all my company who went with me to Pylos, even now, I
+pray, lead this stranger home with thee, and give heed to
+treat him lovingly and with worship in thy house till I
+come.'
+
+Then Piraeus, spearsman renowned, answered him saying:
+'Telemachus, why, even if thou shouldest tarry here long,
+yet will I entertain this man, and he shall have no lack of
+stranger's cheer.'
+
+Therewith he went on board, and bade his men themselves to
+mount and loose the hawsers. And quickly they embarked and
+sat upon the benches. And Telemachus bound his goodly
+sandals beneath his feet, and seized a mighty spear, shod
+with sharp bronze, from the deck of the ship and his men
+loosed the hawsers. So they thrust off and sailed to the
+city, as Telemachus bade them, the dear son of divine
+Odysseus. But swiftly his feet bore him on his forward way,
+till he came to the court, where were his swine out of
+number; and among them the good swineherd slept, a man
+loyal to his lords.
+
+
+
+Book XVI
+
+  Telemachus sends Eumaeus to the city to tell his mother of
+  his return. And how, in the meantime, Odysseus discovers
+  himself to his son.
+
+Now these twain, Odysseus and the goodly swineherd, within
+the hut had kindled a fire, and were making ready breakfast
+at the dawn, and had sent forth the herdsmen with the
+droves of swine. And round Telemachus the hounds, that love
+to bark, fawned and barked not, as he drew nigh. And goodly
+Odysseus took note of the fawning of the dogs, and the
+noise of footsteps fell upon his ears. Then straight he
+spake to Eumaeus winged words:
+
+'Eumaeus, verily some friend or some other of thy familiars
+will soon be here, for the dogs do not bark but fawn
+around, and I catch the sound of footsteps.'
+
+While the word was yet on his lips, his own dear son stood
+at the entering in of the gate. Then the swineherd sprang
+up in amazement, and out of his hands fell the vessels
+wherewith he was busied in mingling the dark wine. And he
+came over against his master and kissed his head and both
+his beautiful eyes and both his hands, and he let a great
+tear fall. And even as a loving father welcomes his son
+that has come in the tenth year from a far country, his
+only son and well-beloved, for whose sake he has had great
+sorrow and travail, even so did the goodly swineherd fall
+upon the neck of godlike Telemachus, and kiss him all over
+as one escaped from death, and he wept aloud and spake to
+him winged words:
+
+'Thou art come, Telemachus, a sweet light in the dark;
+methought I should see thee never again, after thou hadst
+gone in thy ship to Pylos. Nay now enter, dear child, that
+my heart may be glad at the sight of thee in mine house,
+who hast newly come from afar. For thou dost not often
+visit the field and the herdsmen, but abidest in the town;
+so it seems has thy good pleasure been, to look on the
+ruinous throng of the wooers.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'So be it,
+father, as thou sayest; and for thy sake am I come hither
+to see thee with mine eyes, and to hear from thy lips
+whether my mother yet abides in the halls or another has
+already wedded her, and the couch of Odysseus, perchance,
+lies in lack of bedding and deep in foul spider-webs.'
+
+Then the swineherd, a master of men, answered him: 'Yea
+verily, she abides with patient spirit in thy halls, and
+wearily for her the nights wane always and the days, in
+shedding of tears.'
+
+So he spake and took from him the spear of bronze. Then
+Telemachus passed within and crossed the threshold of
+stone. As he came near, his father Odysseus arose from his
+seat to give him place; but Telemachus, on his part, stayed
+him and spake saying:
+
+'Be seated, stranger, and we will find a seat some other
+where in our steading, and there is a man here to set it
+for us.'
+
+So he spake, and Odysseus went back and sat him down again.
+And the swineherd strewed for Telemachus green brushwood
+below, and a fleece thereupon, and there presently the dear
+son of Odysseus sat him down. Next the swineherd set by
+them platters of roast flesh, the fragments that were left
+from the meal of yesterday. And wheaten bread he briskly
+heaped up in baskets, and mixed the honey-sweet wine in a
+goblet of ivy wood, and himself sat down over against
+divine Odysseus. So they stretched forth their hands upon
+the good cheer set before them. Now when they had put from
+them the desire of meat and drink, Telemachus spake to the
+goodly swineherd, saying:
+
+'Father, whence came this stranger to thee? How did sailors
+bring him to Ithaca? and who did they avow them to be? For
+in no wise, I deem, did he come hither by land.'
+
+Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Yea now,
+my son, I will tell thee all the truth. Of wide Crete he
+avows him to be by lineage, and he says that round many
+cities of mortals he has wandered at adventure; even so has
+some god spun for him the thread of fate. But now, as a
+runaway from a ship of the Thesprotians, has he come to my
+steading, and I will give him to thee for thy man; do with
+him as thou wilt; he avows him for thy suppliant.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Eumaeus, verily
+a bitter word is this that thou speakest. How indeed shall
+I receive this guest in my house? Myself I am young, and
+trust not yet to my strength of hands to defend me against
+the man who does violence without a cause. And my mother
+has divisions of heart, whether to abide here with me and
+keep the house, respecting the bed of her lord and the
+voice of the people, or straightway to go with whomsoever
+of the Achaeans that woo her in the halls is the best man,
+and gives most bridal gifts. But behold, as for this guest
+of thine, now that he has come to thy house, I will clothe
+him in a mantle and a doublet, goodly raiment, and I will
+give him a two-edged sword, and shoes for his feet, and
+send him on his way, whithersoever his heart and his spirit
+bid him go. Or, if thou wilt, hold him here in the steading
+and take care of him, and raiment I will send hither, and
+all manner of food to eat, that he be not ruinous to thee
+and to thy fellows. But thither into the company of the
+wooers would I not suffer him to go, for they are exceeding
+full of infatuate insolence, lest they mock at him, and
+that would be a sore grief to me. And hard it is for one
+man, how valiant soever, to achieve aught among a
+multitude, for verily they are far the stronger.'
+
+Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him: 'My
+friend, since it is indeed my right to answer thee withal,
+of a truth my heart is rent as I hear your words, such
+infatuate deeds ye say the wooers devise in the halls, in
+despite of thee, a man so noble. Say, dost thou willingly
+submit thee to oppression, or do the people through the
+township hate thee, obedient to the voice of a god? Or hast
+thou cause to blame thy brethren, in whose battle a man
+puts trust, even if a great feud arise? Ah, would that I
+had the youth, as now I have the spirit, and were either
+the son of noble Odysseus or Odysseus' very self, {*}
+straightway then might a stranger sever my head from off my
+neck, if I went not to the halls of Odysseus, son of
+Laertes, and made myself the bane of every man among them!
+But if they should overcome me by numbers, being but one
+man against so many, far rather would I die slain in mine
+own halls, than witness for ever these unseemly deeds,
+strangers shamefully entreated, and men haling the
+handmaidens in foul wise through the fair house, and wine
+drawn wastefully and the wooers devouring food all
+recklessly without avail, at a work that knows no ending.'
+
+{* We omit line 101, which spoils the sense of the passage,
+and was rejected by antiquity.}
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Yea now,
+stranger I will plainly tell thee all. There is no grudge
+and hatred borne my by the whole people, neither have I
+cause to blame my brethren, in whose battle a man puts
+trust, even if a great feud arise. For thus, as thou seest,
+Cronion has made us a house of but one heir. Arceisius got
+him one only son Laertes, and one only son Odysseus was
+begotten of his father, and Odysseus left me the only child
+of his getting in these halls, and had no joy of me;
+wherefore now are foemen innumerable in the house. For all
+the noblest that are princes in the islands, in Dulichium
+and Same and wooded Zacynthus, and as many as lord it in
+rocky Ithaca, all these woo my mother and waste my house.
+But as for her she neither refuseth the hated bridal, nor
+hath the heart to make and end; so they devour and minish
+my house; and ere long will they make havoc likewise of
+myself. Howbeit these things surely lie on the knees of the
+gods. Nay, father, but do thou go with haste and tell the
+constant Penelope that she hath got me safe and that I am
+come up out of Pylos. As for me, I will tarry here, and do
+thou return hither when thou hast told the tidings to her
+alone; but of the other Achaeans let no man learn it, for
+there be many that devise mischief against me.'
+
+Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'I mark, I
+heed, all this thou speakest to one with understanding. But
+come, declare me this and tell it plainly; whether or no I
+shall go the same road with tidings to Laertes, that
+hapless man, who till lately, despite his great sorrow for
+Odysseus' sake, yet had oversight of the tillage, and did
+eat and drink with the thralls in his house, as often as
+his heart within him bade him. But now, from the day that
+thou wentest in thy ship to Pylos, never to this hour, they
+say, hath he so much as eaten and drunken, nor looked to
+the labours of the field, but with groaning and lamentation
+he sits sorrowing, and the flesh wastes away about his
+bones.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'All the more
+grievous it is! yet will we let him be, though we sorrow
+thereat. For if men might in any wise have all their will,
+we should before ought else choose the day of my father's
+returning. But do thou when thou hast told the tidings come
+straight back, and go not wandering through the fields
+after Laertes. But speak to my mother that with all speed
+she send forth the house-dame her handmaid, secretly, for
+she might bear tidings to the old man.'
+
+With that word he roused the swineherd, who took his
+sandals in his hands and bound them beneath his feet and
+departed for the city. Now Athene noted Eumaeus the
+swineherd pass from the steading, and she drew nigh in the
+semblance of a woman fair and tall, and skilled in splendid
+handiwork. And she stood in presence manifest to Odysseus
+over against the doorway of the hut; but it was so that
+Telemachus saw her not before him and marked her not; for
+the gods in no wise appear visibly to all. But Odysseus was
+ware of her and the dogs likewise, which barked not, but
+with a low whine shrank cowering to the far side of the
+steading. Then she nodded at him with bent brows, and
+goodly Odysseus perceived it, and came forth from the room,
+past the great wall of the yard, and stood before her, and
+Athene spake to him, saying:
+
+'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
+devices, now is the hour to reveal thy word to thy son, and
+hide it not, that ye twain having framed death and doom for
+the wooers, may fare to the famous town. Nor will I, even
+I, be long away from you, being right eager for battle.'
+
+Therewith Athene touched him with her golden wand. First
+she cast about his breast a fresh linen robe and a doublet,
+and she increased his bulk and bloom. Dark his colour grew
+again, and his cheeks filled out, and the black beard
+spread thick around his chin.
+
+Now she, when she had so wrought, withdrew again, but
+Odysseus went into the hut, and his dear son marvelled at
+him and looked away for very fear lest it should be a god,
+and he uttered his voice and spake to him winged words:
+
+'Even now, stranger, thou art other in my sight than that
+thou wert a moment since, and other garments thou hast, and
+the colour of thy skin is no longer the same. Surely thou
+art a god of those that keep the wide heaven. Nay then, be
+gracious, that we may offer to thee well-pleasing
+sacrifices and golden gifts, beautifully wrought; and spare
+us I pray thee.'
+
+Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying:
+'Behold, no god am I; why likenest thou me to the
+immortals? nay, thy father am I, for whose sake thou
+sufferest many pains and groanest sore, and submittest thee
+to the despite of men,'
+
+At the word he kissed his son, and from his cheeks let a
+tear fall to earth: before, he had stayed the tears
+continually. But Telemachus (for as yet he believed not
+that it was his father) answered in turn and spake, saying:
+
+'Thou art not Odysseus my father, but some god beguiles me,
+that I may groan for more exceeding sorrow. For it cannot
+be that a mortal man should contrive this by the aid of his
+own wit, unless a god were himself to visit him, and
+lightly of his own will to make him young or old. For
+truly, but a moment gone, thou wert old and foully clad,
+but now thou art like the gods who keep the wide heaven.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying:
+'Telemachus, it fits thee not to marvel overmuch that thy
+father is come home, or to be amazed. Nay for thou shalt
+find no other Odysseus come hither any more; but lo, I, all
+as I am, after sufferings and much wandering have come in
+the twentieth year to mine own country. Behold, this is the
+work of Athene, driver of the spoil, who makes me such
+manner of man as she will,--for with her it is possible,--
+now like a beggar, and now again like a young man, and one
+clad about in rich raiment. Easy it is for the gods who
+keep the wide heaven to glorify or to abase a mortal man.'
+
+With this word then he sat down again; but Telemachus,
+flinging himself upon his noble father's neck, mourned and
+shed tears, and in both their hearts arose the desire of
+lamentation. And they wailed aloud, more ceaselessly than
+birds, sea-eagles or vultures of crooked claws, whose
+younglings the country folk have taken from the nest, ere
+yet they are fledged. Even so pitifully fell the tears
+beneath their brows. And now would the sunlight have gone
+down upon their sorrowing, had not Telemachus spoken to his
+father suddenly:
+
+'And in what manner of ship, father dear, did sailors at
+length bring thee hither to Ithaca? and who did they avow
+them to be? For in no wise, I deem, didst thou come hither
+by land.'
+
+And the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him: 'Yea now,
+my child, I will tell thee all the truth. The Phaeacians
+brought me hither, mariners renowned, who speed other men
+too upon their way, whosoever comes to them. Asleep in the
+swift ship they bore me over the seas and set me down in
+Ithaca, and gave me splendid gifts, bronze and gold in
+plenty and woven raiment. And these treasures are lying by
+the gods' grace in the caves. But now I am come hither by
+the promptings of Athene, that we may take counsel for the
+slaughter of the foemen. But come, tell me all the tale of
+the wooers and their number, that I may know how many and
+what men they be, and that so I may commune with my good
+heart and advise me, whether we twain shall be able alone
+to make head against them without aid, or whether we should
+even seek succour of others.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Verily, father,
+I have ever heard of thy great fame, for a warrior hardy of
+thy hands, and sage in counsel. But this is a hard saying
+of thine: awe comes over me; for it may not be that two men
+should do battle with many men and stalwart. For of the
+wooers there are not barely ten nor twice ten only, but
+many a decad more: and straight shalt thou learn the tale
+of them ere we part. From Dulichium there be two and fifty
+chosen lords, and six serving men go with them; and out of
+Same four and twenty men; and from Zacynthus there are
+twenty lords of the Achaeans; and from Ithaca itself full
+twelve men of the best, and with them Medon the henchman,
+and the divine minstrel, and two squires skilled in carving
+viands. If we shall encounter all these within the halls,
+see thou to it, lest bitter and baneful for us be the
+vengeance thou takest on their violence at thy coming. But
+do thou, if thou canst think of some champion, advise thee
+of any that may help us with all his heart.'
+
+Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying:
+'Yea now, I will tell thee, and do thou mark and listen to
+me, and consider whether Athene with Father Zeus will
+suffice for us twain, or whether I shall cast about for
+some other champion.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Valiant
+helpers, in sooth, are these two thou namest, whose seat is
+aloft in the clouds, and they rule among all men and among
+the deathless gods!'
+
+Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him: 'Yet will
+the twain not long keep aloof from the strong tumult of
+war, when between the wooers and us in my halls is held the
+trial of the might of Ares. But as now, do thou go homeward
+at the breaking of the day, and consort with the proud
+wooers. As for me, the swineherd will lead me to the town
+later in the day, in the likeness of a beggar, a wretched
+man and an old. And if they shall evil entreat me in the
+house, let thy heart harden itself to endure while I am
+shamefully handled, yea even if they drag me by the feet
+through the house to the doors, or cast at me and smite me:
+still do thou bear the sight. Howbeit thou shalt surely bid
+them cease from their folly, exhorting them with smooth
+words; yet no whit will they hearken, nay for the day of
+their doom is at hand. Yet another thing will I tell thee,
+and do thou ponder it in thy heart. When Athene, of deep
+counsel, shall put it into my heart, I will nod to thee
+with my head and do thou note it, and carry away all thy
+weapons of war that lie in the halls, and lay them down
+every one in the secret place of the lofty chamber. And
+when the wooers miss them and ask thee concerning them,
+thou shalt beguile them with soft words, saying:
+
+'"Out of the smoke I laid them by, since they were no
+longer like those that Odysseus left behind him of old when
+he went to Troy, but they are wholly marred: so mightily
+hath passed upon them the vapour of fire. Moreover Cronion
+hath put into my heart this other and greater care, that
+perchance, when ye are heated with wine, ye set a quarrel
+between you and wound one the other and thereby shame the
+feast and the wooing; for iron of itself draws a man
+thereto." But for us twain alone leave two swords and two
+spears and two shields of oxhide to grasp, that we may rush
+upon the arms and seize them; and then shall Pallas Athene
+and Zeus the counsellor enchant the wooers to their ruin.
+Yet another thing will I tell thee, and do thou ponder it
+in thy heart. If in very truth thou art my son and of our
+blood, then let no man hear that Odysseus is come home;
+neither let Laertes know it, nor the swineherd nor any of
+the household nor Penelope herself, but let me and thee
+alone discover the intent of the women. Yea, and we would
+moreover make trial of certain of the men among the
+thralls, and learn who {*} of them chances to honour us and
+to fear us heartily, and who regards us not at all and
+holds even thee in no esteem, so noble a man as thou art.'
+
+{* Reading [Greek]}
+
+Then his renowned son answered him, and said: 'O my father,
+of a truth thou shalt learn, methinks, even hereafter what
+spirit I am of, for no whit doth folly possess me. But I
+deem not that this device of thine will be gainful to us
+twain, so I bid thee to give heed. For thou shalt be long
+time on thy road to little purpose, making trial of each
+man, while thou visitest the farm lands; but at ease in thy
+halls the wooers devour thy goods with insolence, and now
+there is no sparing. Howbeit I would have thee take
+knowledge of the women, who they be that dishonour thee,
+and who are guiltless. But of the men I would not that we
+should make trial in the steadings, but that we should see
+to this task afterwards, if indeed thou knowest some sign
+from Zeus, lord of the aegis.'
+
+Thus they spake one to the other. And now the well-builded
+ship was being brought to land at Ithaca, the ship that
+bare Telemachus from Pylos with all his company. When they
+were now come within the deep harbour, the men drew up the
+black ship on the shore, while squires, haughty of heart,
+bare away their weapons, and straightway carried the
+glorious gifts to the house of Clytius. Anon they sent
+forward a herald to the house of Odysseus to bear the
+tidings to prudent Penelope, namely, how Telemachus was in
+the field, and had bidden the ship sail to the city, lest
+the noble queen should be afraid, and let the round tears
+fall. So these two met, the herald and the goodly
+swineherd, come on the same errand to tell all to the lady.
+Now when they were got to the house of the divine king, the
+herald spake out among all the handmaids saying:
+
+'Verily, O queen, thy son hath come out of Pylos.'
+
+But the swineherd went up to Penelope, and told her all
+that her dear son had bidden him say. So, when he had
+declared all that had been enjoined him, he went on his way
+to the swine and left the enclosure and the hall.
+
+Now the wooers were troubled and downcast in spirit, and
+forth they went from the hall past the great wall of the
+court, and there in front of the gates they held their
+session. And Eurymachus son of Polybus first spake among
+them saying:
+
+'Verily, friends, a proud deed hath Telemachus accomplished
+with a high hand, even this journey, and we said that he
+should never bring it to pass. But come, launch we a black
+ship, the best there is, and let us get together oarsmen of
+the sea, who shall straightway bear word to our friends to
+return home with speed.'
+
+The word was yet on his lips, when Amphinomus turned in his
+place and saw the ship within the deep harbour, and the men
+lowering the sails and with the oars in their hands. Then
+sweetly he laughed out and spake among his fellows:
+
+'Nay, let us now send no message any more, for lo, they are
+come home. Either some god has told them all or they
+themselves have seen the ship of Telemachus go by, and have
+not been able to catch her.'
+
+Thus he spake, and they arose and went to the sea-banks.
+Swiftly the men drew up the black ship on the shore, and
+squires, haughty of heart, bare away their weapons. And the
+wooers all together went to the assembly-place, and
+suffered none other to sit with them, either of the young
+men or of the elders. Then Antinous spake among them, the
+son of Eupeithes:
+
+'Lo now, how the gods have delivered this man from his evil
+case! All day long did scouts sit along the windy
+headlands, ever in quick succession, and at the going down
+of the sun we never rested for a night upon the shore, but
+sailing with our swift ship on the high seas we awaited the
+bright Dawn, as we lay in wait for Telemachus, that we
+might take and slay the man himself; but meanwhile some god
+has brought him home. But even here let us devise an evil
+end for him, even for Telemachus, and let him not escape
+out of our hands, for methinks that while he lives we shall
+never achieve this task of ours. For he himself has
+understanding in counsel and wisdom, and the people no
+longer show us favour in all things. Nay come, before he
+assembles all the Achaeans to the gathering; for methinks
+that he will in nowise be slack, but will be exceeding
+wroth, and will stand up and speak out among them all, and
+tell how we plotted against him sheer destruction but did
+not overtake him. Then will they not approve us, when they
+hear these evil deeds. Beware then lest they do us a harm,
+and drive us forth from our country, and we come to the
+land of strangers. Nay, but let us be beforehand and take
+him in the field far from the city, or by the way; and let
+us ourselves keep his livelihood and his possessions,
+making fair division among us, but the house we would give
+to his mother to keep and to whomsoever marries her. But if
+this saying likes you not, but ye chose rather that he
+should live and keep the heritage of his father, no longer
+then let us gather here and eat all his store of pleasant
+substance, but let each one from his own hall woo her with
+his bridal gifts and seek to win her; so should she wed the
+man that gives the most and comes as the chosen of fate.'
+
+So he spake, and they all held their peace. Then Amphinomus
+made harangue and spake out among them; he was the famous
+son of Nisus the prince, the son of Aretias, and he led the
+wooers that came from out Dulichium, a land rich in wheat
+and in grass, and more than all the rest his words were
+pleasing to Penelope, for he was of an understanding mind.
+And now of his good will he made harangue, and spake among
+them:
+
+'Friends, I for one would not choose to kill Telemachus; it
+is a fearful thing to slay one of the stock of kings! Nay,
+first let us seek to the counsel of the gods, and if the
+oracles of great Zeus approve, myself I will slay him and
+bid all the rest to aid. But if the gods are disposed to
+avert it, I bid you to refrain.'
+
+So spake Amphinomus, and his saying pleased them well. Then
+straightway they arose and went to the house of Odysseus,
+and entering in sat down on the polished seats.
+
+Then the wise Penelope had a new thought, namely, to show
+herself to the wooers, so despiteful in their insolence;
+for she had heard of the death of her son that was to be in
+the halls, seeing that Medon the henchman had told her of
+it; who heard their counsels. So she went on her way to the
+hall, with the women her handmaids. Now when that fair lady
+had come unto the wooers, she stood by the pillar of the
+well-builded roof, holding up her glistening tire before
+her face, and rebuked Antinous and spake and hailed him:
+
+'Antinous, full of all insolence, deviser of mischief! and
+yet they say that in the land of Ithaca thou art chiefest
+among thy peers in counsel and in speech. Nay, no such man
+dost thou show thyself. Fool! why indeed dost thou contrive
+death and doom for Telemachus, and hast no regard unto
+suppliants who have Zeus to witness? Nay but it is an
+impious thing to contrive evil one against another. What!
+knowest thou not of the day when thy father fled to this
+house in fear of the people, for verily they were exceeding
+wroth against him, because he had followed with Taphian sea
+robbers and harried the Thesprotians, who were at peace
+with us. So they wished to destroy thy father and wrest
+from him his dear life, and utterly to devour all his great
+and abundant livelihood; but Odysseus stayed and withheld
+them, for all their desire. His house thou now consumest
+without atonement, and his wife thou wooest, and wouldst
+slay his son, and dost greatly grieve me. But I bid thee
+cease, and command the others to do likewise.'
+
+Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered her saying:
+'Daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, take courage, and let
+not thy heart be careful for these things. The man is not,
+nor shall be, nor ever shall be born, that shall stretch
+forth his hands against Telemachus, thy son, while I live
+and am on earth and see the light. For thus will I declare
+to thee, and it shall surely come to pass. Right quickly
+shall the black blood of such an one flow about our spear;
+for Odysseus, waster of cities, of a truth did many a time
+set me too upon his knees, and gave me roasted flesh into
+my hand, and held the red wine to my lips. Wherefore
+Telemachus is far the dearest of all men to me, and I bid
+him have no fear of death, not from the wooers' hands; but
+from the gods none may avoid it.'
+
+Thus he spake comforting her, but was himself the while
+framing death for her son.
+
+Now she ascended to her shining upper chamber, and then was
+bewailing Odysseus, her dear lord, till grey-eyed Athene
+cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids.
+
+And in the evening the goodly swineherd came back to
+Odysseus and his son, and they made ready and served the
+supper, when they had sacrificed a swine of a year old.
+Then Athene drew near Odysseus, son of Laertes, and smote
+him with her wand, and made him into an old man again. In
+sorry raiment she clad him about his body, lest the
+swineherd should look on him and know him, and depart to
+tell the constant Penelope, and not keep the matter in his
+heart.
+
+Then Telemachus spake first to the swineherd, saying:
+'Thou hast come, goodly Eumaeus. What news is there in the
+town? Are the lordly wooers now come in from their ambush,
+or do they still watch for me as before on my homeward
+way?'
+
+Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'I had no
+mind to go down the city asking and inquiring hereof; my
+heart bade me get me home again, as quick as might be, when
+once I had told the tidings. And the swift messenger from
+thy company joined himself unto me, the henchman, who was
+the first to tell the news to thy mother. Yet this, too, I
+know, if thou wouldest hear; for I beheld it with mine
+eyes. Already had I come in my faring above the city, where
+is the hill Hermaean, when I marked a swift ship entering
+our haven, and many men there were in her, and she was
+laden with shields and two-headed spears, and methought
+they were the wooers, but I know not at all.'
+
+So spake he, and the mighty prince Telemachus smiled, and
+glanced at his father, while he shunned the eye of the
+swineherd.
+
+Now when they had ceased from the work and got supper
+ready, they fell to feasting, and their hearts lacked not
+ought of the equal banquet. But when they had put from them
+the desire of meat and drink, they bethought them of rest,
+and took the boon of sleep.
+
+
+
+Book XVII
+
+  Telemachus relates to his mother what he had heard at Pylos
+  and Sparta.
+
+So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, then
+Telemachus, the dear son of divine Odysseus, bound beneath
+his feet his goodly sandals, and took up his mighty spear
+that fitted his grasp, to make for the city; and he spake
+to his swineherd, saying:
+
+'Verily, father, I am bound for the city, that my mother
+may see me, for methinks that she will not cease from
+grievous wailing and tearful lament, until she beholds my
+very face. But this command I give thee: Lead this
+stranger, the hapless one, to the city, that there he may
+beg his meat, and whoso chooses will give him a morsel of
+bread and a cup of water. As for myself, I can in no wise
+suffer every guest who comes to me, so afflicted am I in
+spirit. But if the stranger be sore angered hereat, the
+more grievous will it be for himself; howbeit I for one
+love to speak the truth.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'I too,
+my friend, have no great liking to be left behind here. It
+is better that a beggar should beg his meat in the town
+than in the fields, and whoso chooses will give it me. For
+I am not now of an age to abide at the steading, and to
+obey in all things the word of the master. Nay go, and this
+man that thou biddest will lead me, so soon as I shall be
+warmed with the fire, and the sun waxes hot. For woefully
+poor are these garments of mine, and I fear lest the hoar
+frost of the dawn overcome me; moreover ye say the city is
+far away.'
+
+So he spake, and Telemachus passed out through the
+steading, stepping forth at a quick pace, and was sowing
+the seeds of evil for the wooers. Now when he was come to
+the fair-lying house, he set his spear against the tall
+pillar and leaned it there, and himself went in and crossed
+the threshold of stone.
+
+And the nurse Eurycleia saw him far before the rest, as she
+was strewing skin coverlets upon the carven chairs, and
+straightway she drew near him, weeping, and all the other
+maidens of Odysseus, of the hardy heart, were gathered
+about him, and kissed him lovingly on the head and
+shoulders. Now wise Penelope came forth from her chamber,
+like Artemis or golden Aphrodite, and cast her arms about
+her dear son, and fell a weeping, and kissed his face and
+both his beautiful eyes, and wept aloud, and spake to him
+winged words:
+
+'Thou art come, Telemachus, a sweet light in the dark;
+methought I should see thee never again, after thou hadst
+gone in thy ship to Pylos, secretly and without my will, to
+seek tidings of thy dear father. Come now, tell me, what
+sight thou didst get of him?'
+
+And wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Mother mine,
+wake not wailing in my soul, nor stir the heart within the
+breast of me, that have but now fled from utter death. Nay,
+but wash thee in water, and take to thee fresh raiment, and
+go aloft to thine upper chamber with the women thy
+handmaids, and vow to all the gods an acceptable sacrifice
+of hecatombs, if haply Zeus may grant that deeds of
+requital be made. But I will go to the assembly-place to
+bid a stranger to our house, one that accompanied me as I
+came hither from Pylos. I sent him forward with my godlike
+company, and commanded Piraeus to lead him home, and to
+take heed to treat him lovingly and with worship till I
+should come.'
+
+Thus he spake, and wingless her speech remained. And she
+washed her in water, and took to her fresh raiment, and
+vowed to all the gods an acceptable sacrifice of hecatombs,
+if haply Zeus might grant that deeds of requital should be
+made.
+
+Now Telemachus went out through the hall with the spear in
+his hand: and two swift hounds bare him company. And Athene
+shed on him a wondrous grace, and all the people marvelled
+at him as he came. And the lordly wooers gathered about him
+with fair words on their lips, but brooding evil in the
+deep of their heart. Then he avoided the great press of the
+wooers, but where Mentor sat, and Antiphus, and
+Halitherses, who were friends of his house from of old,
+there he went and sat down; and they asked him of all his
+adventures. Then Piraeus, the famed spearsman, drew nigh,
+leading the stranger to the assembly-place by the way of
+the town; and Telemachus kept not aloof from him long, but
+went up to him.
+
+Then Piraeus first spake to him, saying: 'Bestir the women
+straightway to go to my house, that I may send thee the
+gifts that Menelaus gave thee.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Piraeus, we
+know not how these matters will fall out. If the lordly
+wooers shall slay me by guile in the halls, and divide
+among them the heritage of my father, then I should wish
+thee to keep and enjoy the gifts thyself, rather than any
+of these. But if I shall sow the seeds of death and fate
+for the wooers, then gladly bring me to the house the gifts
+that I will gladly take.'
+
+Therewith he led the travel-worn stranger to the house. Now
+when they came to the fair-lying palace, they laid aside
+their mantles on the chairs and high seats, and went to the
+polished baths, and bathed them. So when the maidens had
+bathed them and anointed them with olive oil, and cast
+about them thick mantles and doublets, they came forth from
+the baths, and sat upon the seats. Then the handmaid bare
+water for the hands in a goodly golden ewer, and poured it
+forth over a silver basin to wash withal, and drew to their
+side a polished table. And the grave dame bare wheaten
+bread, and set it by them, and laid on the board many
+dainties, giving freely of such things as she had by her.
+And the mother of Telemachus sat over against him by the
+pillar of the hall, leaning against a chair, and spinning
+the slender threads from the yarn. And they stretched forth
+their hands upon the good cheer set before them. Now when
+they had put from them the desire of meat and drink, the
+wise Penelope first spake among them:
+
+'Telemachus, verily I will go up to my upper chamber, and
+lay me in my bed, the place of my groanings, that is ever
+watered by my tears, since the day that Odysseus departed
+with the sons of Atreus for Ilios. Yet thou hadst no care
+to tell me clearly, before the lordly wooers came to this
+house, concerning the returning of thy father, if haply
+thou hast heard thereof.'
+
+And wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Yea now, mother,
+I will tell thee all the truth. We went to Pylos and to
+Nestor, the shepherd of the people, and he received me in
+his lofty house, and was diligent to entreat me lovingly,
+as a father might his son that had but newly come from
+strange lands after many years; even so diligently he cared
+for me with his renowned sons. Yet he said that he had
+heard no word from any man on earth concerning Odysseus, of
+the hardy heart, whether alive or dead. But he sent me
+forward on my way with horses and a chariot, well compact,
+to Menelaus, son of Atreus, spearman renowned. There I saw
+Argive Helen, for whose sake the Argives and Trojans bore
+much travail by the gods' designs. Then straightway
+Menelaus, of the loud war-cry, asked me on what quest I had
+come to goodly Lacedaemon. And I told him all the truth.
+Then he made answer, and spake, saying:
+
+'"Out upon them, for truly in the bed of a brave-hearted
+man were they minded to lie, very cravens as they are! Even
+as when a hind hath couched her newborn fawns unweaned in a
+strong lion's lair, and searcheth out the mountain-knees
+and grassy hollows, seeking pasture; and afterward the lion
+cometh back to his bed, and sendeth forth unsightly death
+upon that pair, even so shall Odysseus send forth unsightly
+death upon the wooers. Would to our father Zeus, and
+Athene, and Apollo, would that in such might as when of old
+in stablished Lesbos he rose up in strife and wrestled with
+Philomeleides, and threw him mightily, and all the Achaeans
+rejoiced; would that in such strength Odysseus might
+consort with the wooers; then should they all have swift
+fate and bitter wedlock! But for that whereof thou askest
+and entreatest me, be sure I will not swerve from the truth
+in aught that I say, nor deceive thee; but of all that the
+ancient one of the sea, whose speech is sooth, declared to
+me, not a word will I hide or keep from thee. He said that
+he saw Odysseus in an island, suffering strong pains in the
+halls of the nymph Calypso, who holds him there perforce;
+so that he may not come to his own country, for he has by
+him no ships with oars, and no companions to send him on
+his way over the broad back of the sea." So spake Menelaus,
+son of Atreus, spearsman renowned. Then having fulfilled
+all, I set out for home, and the deathless gods gave me a
+fair wind, and brought me swiftly to mine own dear
+country.'
+
+So he spake, and stirred her heart within her breast. And
+next the godlike Theoclymenus spake among them:
+
+'O wife revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, verily he hath
+no clear knowledge; but my word do thou mark, for I will
+prophesy to thee most truly and hide nought. Now Zeus be
+witness before any god, and this hospitable board and this
+hearth of noble Odysseus, whereunto I am come, that
+Odysseus is even now of a surety in his own country,
+resting or faring, learning of these evil deeds, and sowing
+the seeds of evil for all the wooers. So clear was the omen
+of the bird that I saw as I sat on the decked ship, and I
+proclaimed it to Telemachus.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him, saying: 'Ah, stranger,
+would that this thy word may be accomplished! Soon
+shouldest thou be aware of kindness and of many a gift at
+my hands, so that whoso met with thee would call thee
+blessed.'
+
+Thus they spake one to the other. But the wooers meantime
+were before the palace of Odysseus, taking their pleasure
+in casting of weights and of spears on a levelled place, as
+heretofore, in their insolence. But when it was now the
+hour for supper, and the flocks came home from the fields
+all around, and the men led them whose custom it was, then
+Medon, who of all the henchmen was most to their mind, and
+was ever with them at the feast, spake to them, saying:
+
+'Noble youths, now that ye have had sport to your hearts'
+content, get you into the house, that we may make ready a
+feast; for truly it is no bad thing to take meat in
+season.'
+
+Even so he spake, and they rose up and departed, and were
+obedient to his word. Now when they were come into the
+fair-lying house, they laid aside their mantles on the
+chairs and high seats, and they sacrificed great sheep and
+stout goats, yea, and the fatlings of the boars and an
+heifer of the herd, and got ready the feast.
+
+Now all this while Odysseus and the goodly swineherd were
+bestirring them to go from the field to the city; and the
+swineherd, a master of men, spake first saying:
+
+'Well, my friend, forasmuch as I see thou art eager to be
+going to the city to-day, even as my master gave command;--
+though myself I would well that thou shouldest be left here
+to keep the steading, but I hold him in reverence and fear,
+lest he chide me afterwards, and grievous are the rebukes
+of masters--come then, let us go on our way, for lo, the
+day is far spent, and soon wilt thou find it colder toward
+evening.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'I
+mark, I heed: all this thou speakest to one with
+understanding. But let us be going, and be thou my guide
+withal to the end. And if thou hast anywhere a staff ready
+cut, give it me to lean upon, for truly ye said that
+slippery was the way.'
+
+Therewith he cast about his shoulders a mean scrip, all
+tattered, and a cord withal to hang it, and Eumaeus gave
+him a staff to his mind. So these twain went on their way,
+and the dogs and the herdsmen stayed behind to guard the
+steading. And the swineherd led his lord to the city in the
+guise of a beggar, a wretched man and an old, leaning on a
+staff; and sorry was the raiment wherewith he was clothed
+upon. But as they fared along the rugged path they drew
+near to the town, and came to the fair flowing spring, with
+a basin fashioned, whence the people of the city drew
+water. This well Ithacus and Neritus and Polyctor had
+builded. And around it was a thicket of alders that grow by
+the waters, all circlewise, and down the cold stream fell
+from a rock on high, and above was reared an altar to the
+Nymphs, whereat all wayfarers made offering. In that place
+Melanthius, son of Dolius, met them, leading his goats to
+feast the wooers, the best goats that were in all the
+herds; and two herdsmen bare him company. Now when he saw
+them he reviled them, and spake and hailed them, in
+terrible and evil fashion, and stirred the heart of
+Odysseus, saying:
+
+'Now in very truth the vile is leading the vile, for god
+brings ever like to like! Say, whither art thou leading
+this glutton,--thou wretched swineherd,--this plaguy
+beggar, a kill-joy of the feast? He is one to stand about
+and rub his shoulders against many doorposts, begging for
+scraps of meat, not for swords or cauldrons. If thou
+wouldst give me the fellow to watch my steading and sweep
+out the stalls, and carry fresh fodder to the kids, then he
+might drink whey and get him a stout thigh. Howbeit, since
+he is practised only in evil, he will not care to betake
+him to the labour of the farm, but rather chooses to go
+louting through the land asking alms to fill his insatiate
+belly. But now I will speak out and my word shall surely be
+accomplished. If ever he fares to the house of divine
+Odysseus, many a stool that men's hands hurl shall fly
+about his head, and break upon his ribs, {*} as they pelt
+him through the house.'
+
+{* Reading [Greek]}
+
+Therewith, as he went past, he kicked Odysseus on the hip,
+in his witlessness, yet he drave him not from the path, but
+he abode steadfast. And Odysseus pondered whether he should
+rush upon him and take away his life with the staff, or
+lift him in his grasp {*} and smite his head to the earth.
+Yet he hardened his heart to endure and refrained himself.
+And the swineherd looked at the other and rebuked him, and
+lifting up his hands prayed aloud:
+
+{* [Greek] is perhaps best taken as an adverb in [Greek]
+formed from [Greek], though some letters of the word are
+still left obscure. Most modern commentators, however,
+derive it from [Greek] and [Greek] 'near the ground; hence,
+in this context, 'lift him by the feet.'}
+
+'Nymphs of the well-water, daughters of Zeus, if ever
+Odysseus burned on your altars pieces of the thighs of rams
+or kids, in their covering of rich fat, fulfil for me this
+wish:--oh that he, even he, may come home, and that some
+god may bring him! Then would he scatter all thy bravery,
+which now thou flauntest insolently, wandering ever about
+the city, while evil shepherds destroy the flock.'
+
+Then Melanthius, the goatherd, answered: 'Lo now, what a
+word has this evil-witted dog been saying! Some day I will
+take him in a black decked ship far from Ithaca, that he
+may bring me in much livelihood. Would God that Apollo, of
+the silver bow, might smite Telemachus to-day in the halls,
+or that he might fall before the wooers, so surely as for
+Odysseus the day of returning has in a far land gone by!'
+
+So he spake and left them there as they walked slowly on.
+But Melanthius stepped forth, and came very speedily to the
+house of the prince, and straightway he went in and sat
+down among the wooers, over against Eurymachus, who chiefly
+showed him kindness. And they that ministered set by him a
+portion of flesh, and the grave dame brought wheaten bread
+and set it by him to eat. Now Odysseus and the goodly
+swineherd drew near and stood by, and the sound of the
+hollow lyre rang around them, for Phemius was lifting up
+his voice amid the company in song, and Odysseus caught the
+swineherd by the hand, and spake, saying:
+
+'Eumaeus, verily this is the fair house of Odysseus, and
+right easily might it be known and marked even among many.
+There is building beyond building, and the court of the
+house is cunningly wrought with a wall and battlements, and
+well-fenced are the folding doors; no man may hold it in
+disdain. And I see that many men keep revel within, for the
+savour of the fat rises upward, {*} and the voice of the
+lyre is heard there, which the gods have made to be the
+mate of the feast.'
+
+{* Reading [Greek]}
+
+Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Easily
+thou knowest it, for indeed thou never lackest
+understanding. But come, let us advise us, how things shall
+fall out here. Either do thou go first within the
+fair-lying halls, and join the company of the wooers, so
+will I remain here, or if thou wilt, abide here, and I will
+go before thy face, and tarry not long, lest one see thee
+without, and hurl at thee or strike thee. Look well to
+this, I bid thee.'
+
+Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying: 'I
+mark, I heed, all this thou speakest to one with
+understanding. Do thou then go before me, and I will remain
+here, for well I know what it is to be smitten and hurled
+at. My heart is full of hardiness, for much evil have I
+suffered in perils of waves and war; let this be added to
+the tale of those. But a ravening belly may none conceal, a
+thing accursed, that works much ill for men. For this cause
+too the benched ships are furnished, that bear mischief to
+foemen over the unharvested seas.'
+
+Thus they spake one to the other. And lo, a hound raised up
+his head and pricked his ears, even where he lay, Argos,
+the hound of Odysseus, of the hardy heart, which of old
+himself had bred, but had got no joy of him, for ere that,
+he went to sacred Ilios. Now in time past the young men
+used to lead the hound against wild goats and deer and
+hares; but as then, despised he lay (his master being afar)
+in the deep dung of mules and kine, whereof an ample bed
+was spread before the doors, till the thralls of Odysseus
+should carry it away to dung therewith his wide demesne.
+There lay the dog Argos, full of vermin. Yet even now when
+he was ware of Odysseus standing by, he wagged his tail and
+dropped both his ears, but nearer to his master he had not
+now the strength to draw. But Odysseus looked aside and
+wiped away a tear that he easily hid from Eumaeus, and
+straightway he asked him, saying:
+
+'Eumaeus, verily this is a great marvel, this hound lying
+here in the dung. Truly he is goodly of growth, but I know
+not certainly if he have speed with this beauty, or if he
+be comely only, like as are men's trencher dogs that their
+lords keep for the pleasure of the eye.'
+
+Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'In very
+truth this is the dog of a man that has died in a far land.
+If he were what once he was in limb and in the feats of the
+chase, when Odysseus left him to go to Troy, soon wouldst
+thou marvel at the sight of his swiftness and his strength.
+There was no beast that could flee from him in the deep
+places of the wood, when he was in pursuit; for even on a
+track he was the keenest hound. But now he is holden in an
+evil case, and his lord hath perished far from his own
+country, and the careless women take no charge of him. Nay,
+thralls are no more inclined to honest service when their
+masters have lost the dominion, for Zeus, of the far-borne
+voice, takes away the half of a man's virtue, when the day
+of slavery comes upon him.'
+
+Therewith he passed within the fair-lying house, and went
+straight to the hall, to the company of the proud wooers.
+But upon Argos came the fate of black death even in the
+hour that he beheld Odysseus again, in the twentieth year.
+
+Now godlike Telemachus was far the first to behold the
+swineherd as he came into the hall, and straightway then he
+beckoned and called him to his side. So Eumaeus looked
+about and took a settle that lay by him, where the carver
+was wont to sit dividing much flesh among the wooers that
+were feasting in the house. This seat he carried and set by
+the table of Telemachus over against him, and there sat
+down himself. And the henchman took a mess and served it
+him, and wheaten bread out of the basket.
+
+And close behind him Odysseus entered the house in the
+guise of a beggar, a wretched man and an old, leaning on
+his staff, and clothed on with sorry raiment. And he sat
+down on the ashen threshold within the doorway, leaning
+against a pillar of cypress wood, which the carpenter on a
+time had deftly planed, and thereon made straight the line.
+And Telemachus called the swineherd to him, and took a
+whole loaf out of the fair basket, and of flesh so much as
+his hands could hold in their grasp, saying:
+
+'Take and give this to the stranger, and bid him go about
+and beg himself of all the wooers in their turn, for shame
+is an ill mate of a needy man.'
+
+So he spake, and the swineherd went when he heard that
+saying, and stood by and spake to him winged words:
+
+'Stranger, Telemachus gives thee these and bids thee go
+about and beg of all the wooers in their turn, for, he
+says, "shame ill becomes a beggar man."'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him and said: 'King
+Zeus, grant me that Telemachus may be happy among men, and
+may he have all his heart's desire!'
+
+Therewith he took the gift in both hands, and set it there
+before his feet on his unsightly scrip. Then he ate meat so
+long as the minstrel was singing in the halls. When he had
+done supper, and the divine minstrel was ending his song,
+then the wooers raised a clamour through the halls; but
+Athene stood by Odysseus, son of Laertes, and moved him to
+go gathering morsels of bread among the wooers, and learn
+which were righteous and which unjust. Yet not even so was
+she fated to redeem one man of them from an evil doom. So
+he set out, beginning on the right, to ask of each man,
+stretching out his hand on every side, as though he were a
+beggar from of old. And they in pity gave him somewhat, and
+were amazed at the man, asking one another who he was and
+whence he came?
+
+Then Melanthius, the goatherd, spake among them:
+
+'Listen, ye wooers of the renowned queen, concerning this
+stranger, for verily I have seen him before. The swineherd
+truly was his guide hither, but of him I have no certain
+knowledge, whence he avows him to be born.'
+
+So spake he, but Antinous rebuked the swineherd, saying:
+'Oh notorious swineherd, wherefore, I pray thee, didst thou
+bring this man to the city? Have we not vagrants enough
+besides, plaguy beggars, kill-joys of the feast? Dost thou
+count it a light thing that they assemble here and devour
+the living of thy master, but thou must needs {*} call in
+this man too?'
+
+{* [Greek] can hardly have a local meaning here. If
+retained, it must be nearly equivalent to [Greek], 'it
+seems,' with a touch of irony. Cf. i.348. The v. 1. [Greek]
+is a simpler reading, but by no means certain.}
+
+Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Antinous,
+no fair words are these of thine, noble though thou art.
+For who ever himself seeks out and bids to the feast a
+stranger from afar, save only one of those that are
+craftsmen of the people, a prophet or a healer of ills, or
+a shipwright or even a godlike minstrel, who can delight
+all with his song? Nay, these are the men that are welcome
+over all the wide earth. But none would call a beggar to
+the banquet, to waste his substance. But thou art ever hard
+above all the other wooers to the servants of Odysseus,
+and, beyond all, to me; but behold, I care not, so long as
+my mistress, the constant Penelope, lives in the halls and
+godlike Telemachus.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Be silent,
+answer him not, I pray thee, with many words, for Antinous
+is wont ever to chide us shamefully with bitter speech,
+yea, and urges the others thereto.'
+
+Therewithal he spake winged words to Antinous: 'Antinous,
+verily thou hast a good care for me, as it were a father
+for his son, thou that biddest me drive our guest from the
+hall with a harsh command. God forbid that such a thing
+should be! Take somewhat and give it him: lo, I grudge it
+not; nay, I charge thee to do it. And herein regard not my
+mother, nor any of the thralls that are in the house of
+divine Odysseus. Nay, but thou hast no such thought in thy
+heart, for thou art far more fain to eat thyself than to
+give to another.'
+
+Then Antinous answered him and spake, saying: 'Telemachus,
+proud of speech, and unrestrained in fury, what word hast
+thou spoken? If all the wooers should vouchsafe him as much
+as I, this house would keep him far enough aloof even for
+three months' space.'
+
+So he spake, and seized the footstool whereon he rested his
+sleek feet as he sat at the feast, and showed it from
+beneath the table where it lay. But all the others gave
+somewhat and filled the wallet with bread and flesh; yea,
+and even now, Odysseus as he returned to the threshold, was
+like to escape scot free, making trial of the Achaeans, but
+he halted by Antinous, and spake to him, saying:
+
+'Friend, give me somewhat; for methinks thou art not the
+basest of the Achaeans, but the best man of them all, for
+thou art like a king. Wherefore thou shouldest give me a
+portion of bread, and that a better than the others; so
+would I make thee renowned over all the wide earth. For I
+too, once had a house of mine own among men, a rich man
+with a wealthy house, and many a time would I give to a
+wanderer, what manner of man soever he might be, and in
+whatsoever need he came. And I had thralls out of number,
+and all else in plenty, wherewith folk live well and have a
+name for riches. But Zeus, the son of Cronos, made me
+desolate of all,--for surely it was his will,--who sent me
+with wandering sea-robbers to go to Egypt, a far road, to
+my ruin. And in the river Aegyptus I stayed my curved
+ships. Then verily I bade my loved companions to abide
+there by the ships, and to guard the ship, and I sent forth
+scouts to range the points of outlook. Now they gave place
+to wantonness, being the fools of their own force, and soon
+they fell to wasting the fields of the Egyptians, exceeding
+fair, and carried away their wives and infant children, and
+slew the men. And the cry came quickly to the city, and the
+people heard the shout and came forth at the breaking of
+the day; and all the plain was filled with footmen and
+horsemen and with the glitter of bronze. And Zeus, whose
+joy is in the thunder, sent an evil panic upon my company,
+and none durst stand and face the foe: for danger
+encompassed us on every side. There they slew many of us
+with the edge of the sword, and others they led up with
+them alive to work for them perforce. But they gave me to a
+friend who met them, to take to Cyprus, even to Dmetor son
+of Iasus, who ruled mightily over Cyprus; and thence,
+behold, am I now come hither in sore distress.'
+
+Then Antinous answered, and spake, saying: 'What god hath
+brought this plague hither to trouble the feast? Stand
+forth thus in the midst, away from my table, lest thou come
+soon to a bitter Egypt and a sad Cyprus; for a bold beggar
+art thou and a shameless. Thou standest by all in turn and
+recklessly they give to thee, for they hold not their hand
+nor feel any ruth in giving freely of others' goods, for
+that each man has plenty by him.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels drew back and answered him:
+'Lo now, I see thou hast not wisdom with thy beauty! From
+out of thine own house thou wouldest not give even so much
+as a grain of salt to thy suppliant, thou who now even at
+another's board dost sit, and canst not find it in thy
+heart to take of the bread and give it me, where there is
+plenty to thy hand.'
+
+He spake, and Antinous was mightily angered at heart, and
+looked fiercely on him and spake winged words:
+
+'Henceforth, methinks, thou shalt not get thee out with
+honour from the hall, seeing thou dost even rail upon me.'
+
+Therewith he caught up the foot-stool and smote Odysseus at
+the base of the right shoulder by the back. But he stood
+firm as a rock, nor reeled he beneath the blow of Antinous,
+but shook his head in silence, brooding evil in the deep of
+his heart. Then he went back to the threshold, and sat him
+there, and laid down his well-filled scrip, and spake among
+the wooers:
+
+'Hear me, ye wooers of the renowned queen, and I will say
+what my spirit within me bids me. Verily there is neither
+pain nor grief of heart, when a man is smitten in battle
+fighting for his own possessions, whether cattle or white
+sheep. But now Antinous hath stricken me for my wretched
+belly's sake, a thing accursed, that works much ill for
+men. Ah, if indeed there be gods and Avengers of beggars,
+may the issues of death come upon Antinous before his
+wedding!'
+
+Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him: 'Sit and eat
+thy meat in quiet, stranger, or get thee elsewhere, lest
+the young men drag thee by hand or foot through the house
+for thy evil words, and strip all thy flesh from off thee.'
+
+Even so he spake, and they were all exceeding wroth at his
+word. And on this wise would one of the lordly young men
+speak:
+
+'Antinous, thou didst ill to strike the hapless wanderer,
+doomed man that thou art,--if indeed there be a god in
+heaven. Yea and the gods, in the likeness of strangers from
+far countries, put on all manner of shapes, and wander
+through the cities, beholding the violence and the
+righteousness of men.'
+
+So the wooers spake, but he heeded not their words. Now
+Telemachus nursed in his heart a mighty grief at the
+smiting of Odysseus, yet he let no tear fall from his
+eyelids to the ground, but shook his head in silence,
+brooding evil in the deep of his heart.
+
+Now when wise Penelope heard of the stranger being smitten
+in the halls, she spake among her maidens, saying:
+
+'Oh that Apollo, the famed archer, may so smite thee
+thyself, Antinous!'
+
+And the house-dame, Eurynome, answered her, saying: 'Oh
+that we might win fulfilment of our prayers! So should not
+one of these men come to the fair-throned Dawn.'
+
+And wise Penelope answered her: 'Nurse, they are all
+enemies, for they all devise evil continually, but of them
+all Antinous is the most like to black fate. Some hapless
+stranger is roaming about the house, begging alms of the
+men, as his need bids him; and all the others filled his
+wallet and gave him somewhat, but Antinous smote him at the
+base of the right shoulder with a stool.'
+
+So she spake among her maidens, sitting in her chamber,
+while goodly Odysseus was at meat. Then she called to her
+the goodly swineherd and spake, saying:
+
+'Go thy way, goodly Eumaeus, and bid the stranger come
+hither, that I may speak him a word of greeting, and ask
+him if haply he has heard tidings of Odysseus of the hardy
+heart, or seen him with his eyes; for he seems like one
+that has wandered far.'
+
+Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Queen, oh
+that the Achaeans would hold their peace! so would he charm
+thy very heart, such things doth he say. For I kept him
+three nights and three days I held him in the steading, for
+to me he came first when he fled from the ship, yet he had
+not made an end of the tale of his affliction. Even as when
+a man gazes on a singer, whom the gods have taught to sing
+words of yearning joy to mortals, and they have a ceaseless
+desire to hear him, so long as he will sing; even so he
+charmed me, sitting by me in the halls. He says that he is
+a friend of Odysseus and of his house, one that dwells in
+Crete, where is the race of Minos. Thence he has come
+hither even now, with sorrow by the way, onward and yet
+onward wandering; and he stands to it that he has heard
+tidings of Odysseus nigh at hand and yet alive in the fat
+land of the men of Thesprotia; and he is bringing many
+treasures to his home.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him, saying: 'Go, call him
+hither, that he may speak to me face to face. But let these
+men sit in the doorway and take their pleasure, or even
+here in the house, since their heart is glad. For their own
+wealth lies unspoiled at home, bread and sweet wine, and
+thereon do their servants feed. But they resorting to our
+house day by day sacrifice oxen and sheep and fat goats,
+and keep revel and drink the dark wine recklessly; and, lo,
+our great wealth is wasted, for there is no man now alive,
+such as Odysseus was, to keep ruin from the house. Oh, if
+Odysseus might come again to his own country; soon would he
+and his son avenge the violence of these men!'
+
+Even so she spake, and Telemachus sneezed loudly, and
+around the roof rang wondrously. And Penelope laughed, and
+straightway spake to Eumaeus winged words:
+
+'Go, call me the stranger, even so, into my presence. Dost
+thou not mark how my son has sneezed a blessing on all my
+words? Wherefore no half-wrought doom shall befal the
+wooers every one, nor shall any avoid death and the fates.
+Yet another thing will I say, and do thou ponder it in thy
+heart. If I shall find that he himself speaks nought but
+truth, I will clothe him with a mantle and a doublet,
+goodly raiment.'
+
+So she spake, and the swineherd departed when he heard that
+saying, and stood by the stranger and spake winged words:
+
+'Father and stranger, wise Penelope, the mother of
+Telemachus, is calling for thee, and her mind bids her
+inquire as touching her lord, albeit she has sorrowed much
+already. And if she shall find that thou dost speak nought
+but truth, she will clothe thee in a mantle and a doublet,
+whereof thou standest most in need. Moreover thou shalt beg
+thy bread through the land and shalt fill thy belly, and
+whosoever will, shall give to thee.'
+
+Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying:
+'Eumaeus, soon would I tell all the truth to the daughter
+of Icarius, wise Penelope, for well I know his story, and
+we have borne our travail together. But I tremble before
+the throng of the froward wooers, whose outrage and
+violence reach even to the iron heaven. For even now, as I
+was going through the house, when this man struck and
+pained me sore, and that for no ill deed, neither
+Telemachus nor any other kept off the blow. Wherefore now,
+bid Penelope tarry in the chambers, for all her eagerness,
+till the going down of the sun, and then let her ask me
+concerning her lord, as touching the day of his returning,
+and let her give me a seat yet nearer to the fire, for
+behold, I have sorry raiment, and thou knowest it thyself,
+since I made my supplication first to thee.'
+
+Even so he spake, and the swineherd departed when he heard
+that saying. And as he crossed the threshold Penelope spake
+to him:
+
+'Thou bringest him not, Eumaeus: what means the wanderer
+hereby? Can it be that he fears some one out of measure, or
+is he even ashamed of tarrying in the house? A shamefaced
+man makes a bad beggar.'
+
+Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'He speaks
+aright, and but as another would deem, in that he shuns the
+outrage of overweening men. Rather would he have thee wait
+till the going down of the sun. Yea, and it is far meeter
+for thyself, O queen, to utter thy word to the stranger
+alone, and to listen to his speech.'
+
+Then the wise Penelope answered: 'Not witless is the
+stranger; even as he deems, so it well may be. {*} For
+there are no mortal men, methinks, so wanton as these, and
+none that devise such infatuate deeds.'
+
+{* Placing at colon at [Greek], and reading [Greek] (cf.
+xix.312).}
+
+So she spake, and the goodly swineherd departed into the
+throng of the wooers, when he had showed her all his
+message. And straightway he spake to Telemachus winged
+words, holding his head close to him, that the others might
+not hear:
+
+'Friend, I am going hence to look after thy swine and the
+things of the farm, thy livelihood and mine; but do thou
+take charge of all that is here. Yet first look to thyself
+and take heed that no evil comes nigh thee, for many of the
+Achaeans have ill will against us, whom may Zeus confound
+before their mischief falls on us!'
+
+And wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Even so shall
+it be, father; and do thou get thee on thy way, when thou
+hast supped. And in the morning come again, and bring fair
+victims for sacrifice. And all these matters will be a care
+to me and to the deathless gods.'
+
+Thus he spake, and the other sat down again on the polished
+settle; and when he had satisfied his heart with meat and
+drink, he went on his way to the swine, leaving the courts
+and the hall full of feasters; and they were making merry
+with dance and song, for already it was close on eventide.
+
+
+
+Book XVIII
+
+  The fighting at fists of Odysseus with Irus. His
+  admonitions to Amphinomus. Penelope appears before the
+  wooers, and draws presents from them.
+
+Then up came a common beggar, who was wont to beg through
+the town of Ithaca, one that was known among all men for
+ravening greed, for his endless eating and drinking, yet he
+had no force or might, though he was bulky enough to look
+on. Arnaeus was his name, for so had his good mother given
+it him at his birth, but all the young men called him Irus,
+because he ran on errands, whensoever any might bid him. So
+now he came, and would have driven Odysseus from his own
+house, and began reviling him, and spake winged words:
+
+'Get thee hence, old man, from the doorway, lest thou be
+even haled out soon by the foot. Seest thou not that all
+are now giving me the wink, and bidding me drag thee forth?
+Nevertheless, I feel shame of the task. Nay get thee up,
+lest our quarrel soon pass even to blows.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on him, and
+spake saying: 'Sir, neither in deed nor word do I harm
+thee, nor do I grudge that any should give to thee, yea
+though it were a good handful. But this threshold will hold
+us both, and thou hast no need to be jealous for the sake
+of other men's goods. Thou seemest to me to be a wanderer,
+even as I am, and the gods it is that are like to give us
+gain. Only provoke me not overmuch to buffeting, lest thou
+anger me, and old though I be I defile thy breast and lips
+with blood. Thereby should I have the greater quiet
+to-morrow, for methinks that thou shalt never again come to
+the hall of Odysseus, son of Laertes'.
+
+Then the beggar Irus spake unto him in anger: 'Lo now, how
+trippingly and like an old cinder-wife this glutton speaks,
+on whom I will work my evil will, and smite him right and
+left, and drive all the teeth from his jaws to the ground,
+like the tusks of a swine that spoils the corn. Gird
+thyself now, that even these men all may know our mettle in
+fight. Nay, how shouldst thou do battle with a younger man
+than thou?'
+
+Thus did they whet each the other's rage right manfully
+before the lofty doors upon the polished threshold. And the
+mighty prince Antinous heard the twain, and sweetly he
+laughed out, and spake among the wooers:
+
+'Friends, never before has there been such a thing; such
+goodly game has a god brought to this house. The stranger
+yonder and Irus are bidding each other to buffets. Quick,
+let us match them one against the other.'
+
+Then all at the word leaped up laughing, and gathered round
+the ragged beggars, and Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spake
+among them saying: 'Hear me, ye lordly wooers, and I will
+say somewhat. Here are goats' bellies lying at the fire,
+that we laid by at supper-time and filled with fat and
+blood. Now whichsoever of the twain wins, and shows himself
+the better man, let him stand up and take his choice of
+these puddings. And further, he shall always eat at our
+feasts, nor will we suffer any other beggar to come among
+us and ask for alms.'
+
+So spake Antinous, and the saying pleased them well. Then
+Odysseus of many counsels spake among them craftily:
+
+'Friends, an old man and foredone with travail may in no
+wise fight with a younger. But my belly's call is urgent on
+me, that evil-worker, to the end that I may be subdued with
+stripes. But come now, swear me all of you a strong oath,
+so that none, for the sake of shewing a favour to Irus, may
+strike me a foul blow with heavy hand and subdue me by
+violence to my foe.'
+
+So he spake, and they all swore not to strike him, as he
+bade them. Now when they had sworn and done that oath, the
+mighty prince Telemachus once more spake among them:
+
+'Stranger, if thy heart and lordly spirit urge thee to rid
+thee of this fellow, then fear not any other of the
+Achaeans, for whoso strikes thee shall have to fight with
+many. Thy host am I, and the princes consent with me,
+Antinous and Eurymachus, men of wisdom both.'
+
+So spake he and they all consented thereto. Then Odysseus
+girt his rags about his loins, and let his thighs be seen,
+goodly and great, and his broad shoulders and breast and
+mighty arms were manifest. And Athene came nigh and made
+greater the limbs of the shepherd of the people. Then the
+wooers were exceedingly amazed, and thus would one speak
+looking to his neighbour:
+
+'Right soon will Irus, un-Irused, have a bane of his own
+bringing, such a thigh as that old man shows from out his
+rags!'
+
+So they spake, and the mind of Irus was pitifully stirred;
+but even so the servants girded him and led him out
+perforce in great fear, his flesh trembling on his limbs.
+Then Antinous chid him, and spake and hailed him:
+
+'Thou lubber, better for thee that thou wert not now, nor
+ever hadst been born, if indeed thou tremblest before this
+man, and art so terribly afraid; an old man too he is, and
+foredone with the travail that is come upon him. But I will
+tell thee plainly, and it shall surely be accomplished. If
+this man prevail against thee and prove thy master, I will
+cast thee into a black ship, and send thee to the mainland
+to Echetus the king, the maimer of all mankind, who will
+cut off thy nose and ears with the pitiless steel, and draw
+out thy vitals and give them raw to dogs to rend.'
+
+So he spake, and yet greater trembling gat hold of the
+limbs of Irus, and they led him into the ring, and the
+twain put up their hands. Then the steadfast goodly
+Odysseus mused in himself whether he should smite him in
+such wise that his life should leave his body, even there
+where he fell, or whether he should strike him lightly, and
+stretch him on the earth. And as he thought thereon, this
+seemed to him the better way, to strike lightly, that the
+Achaeans might not take note of him, who he was. Then the
+twain put up their hands, and Irus struck at the right
+shoulder, but the other smote him on his neck beneath the
+ear, and crushed in the bones, and straightway the red
+blood gushed up through his mouth, and with a moan he fell
+in the dust, and drave together his teeth as he kicked the
+ground. But the proud wooers threw up their hands, and died
+outright for laughter. Then Odysseus seized him by the
+foot, and dragged him forth through the doorway, till he
+came to the courtyard and the gates of the gallery, and he
+set him down and rested him against the courtyard wall, and
+put his staff in his hands, and uttering his voice spake to
+him winged words:
+
+'Sit thou there now, and scare off swine and dogs, and let
+not such an one as thou be lord over strangers and beggars,
+pitiful as thou art, lest haply some worse thing befal
+thee.'
+
+Thus he spake, and cast about his shoulders his mean scrip
+all tattered, and the cord therewith to hang it, and he gat
+him back to the threshold, and sat him down there again.
+Now the wooers went within laughing sweetly, and greeted
+him, saying:
+
+'May Zeus, stranger, and all the other deathless gods give
+thee thy dearest wish, even all thy heart's desire, seeing
+that thou hast made that insatiate one to cease from his
+begging in the land! Soon will we take him over to the
+mainland, to Echetus the king, the maimer of all mankind.'
+
+So they spake, and goodly Odysseus rejoiced in the omen of
+the words. And Antinous set by him the great pudding,
+stuffed with fat and blood, and Amphinomus took up two
+loaves from the basket, and set them by him and pledged him
+in a golden cup, and spake saying:
+
+'Father and stranger, hail! may happiness be thine in the
+time to come; but as now, thou art fast holden in many
+sorrows.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying:
+'Amphinomus, verily thou seemest to me a prudent man
+enough; for such too was the father of whom thou art
+sprung, for I have heard the fair fame of him, how that
+Nisus of Dulichium was a good man and a rich, and his son
+they say thou art, and thou seemest a man of understanding.
+Wherefore I will tell thee, and do thou mark and listen to
+me. Nought feebler doth the earth nurture than man, of all
+the creatures that breathe and move upon the face of the
+earth. Lo, he thinks that he shall never suffer evil in
+time to come, while the gods give him happiness, and his
+limbs move lightly. But when again the blessed gods have
+wrought for him sorrow, even so he bears it, as he must,
+with a steadfast heart. For the spirit of men upon the
+earth is even as their day, that comes upon them from the
+father of gods and men. Yea, and I too once was like to
+have been prosperous among men, but many an infatuate deed
+I did, giving place to mine own hardihood and strength, and
+trusting to my father and my brethren. Wherefore let no man
+for ever be lawless any more, but keep quietly the gifts of
+the gods, whatsoever they may give. Such infatuate deeds do
+I see the wooers devising, as they waste the wealth, and
+hold in no regard the wife of a man, who, methinks, will
+not much longer be far from his friends and his own land;
+nay he is very near. But for thee, may some god withdraw
+thee hence to thy home, and mayst thou not meet him in the
+day when he returns to his own dear country! For not
+without blood, as I deem, will they be sundered, the wooers
+and Odysseus, when once he shall have come beneath his own
+roof.'
+
+Thus he spake, and poured an offering and then drank of the
+honey-sweet wine, and again set the cup in the hands of the
+arrayer of the people. But the other went back through the
+hall, sad at heart and bowing his head; for verily his soul
+boded evil. Yet even so he avoided not his fate, for Athene
+had bound him likewise to be slain outright at the hands
+and by the spear of Telemachus. So he sat down again on the
+high seat whence he had arisen.
+
+Now the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, put it into the heart of
+the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, to show herself to
+the wooers, that she might make their heart all flutter
+with hope, and that she might win yet more worship from her
+lord and her son than heretofore. To she laughed an idle
+laugh, and spake to the nurse, and hailed her, saying:
+
+'Eurynome, my heart yearns, though before I had no such
+desire, to show myself to the wooers, hateful as they are.
+I would also say a word to my son, that will be for his
+weal, namely, that he should not for ever consort with the
+proud wooers, who speak friendly with their lips, but
+imagine evil in the latter end.'
+
+Then the housewife, Eurynome, spake to her saying: 'Yea my
+child, all this thou hast spoken as is meet. Go then, and
+declare thy word to thy son and hide it not, but first wash
+thee and anoint thy face, and go not as thou art with thy
+cheeks all stained with tears. Go, for it is little good to
+sorrow always, and never cease. And lo, thy son is now of
+an age to hear thee, he whom thou hast above all things
+prayed the gods that thou mightest see with a beard upon
+his chin.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered her, saying: 'Eurynome, speak
+not thus comfortably to me, for all thy love, bidding me to
+wash and be anointed with ointment. For the gods that keep
+Olympus destroyed my bloom, since the day that he departed
+in the hollow ships. But bid Autonoe and Hippodameia come
+to me, to stand by my side in the halls. Alone I will not
+go among men, for I am ashamed.'
+
+So she spake, and the old woman passed through the chamber
+to tell the maidens, and hasten their coming.
+
+Thereon the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, had another thought.
+She shed a sweet slumber over the daughter of Icarius, who
+sank back in sleep, and all her joints were loosened as she
+lay in the chair, and the fair goddess the while was giving
+her gifts immortal, that all the Achaeans might marvel at
+her. Her fair face first she steeped with beauty
+imperishable, such as that wherewith the crowned Cytherea
+is anointed, when she goes to the lovely dances of the
+Graces. And she made her taller and greater to behold, and
+made her whiter than new-sawn ivory. Now when she had
+wrought thus, that fair goddess departed, and the
+white-armed handmaidens came forth from the chamber and
+drew nigh with a sound of voices. Then sweet sleep left
+hold of Penelope, and she rubbed her cheeks with her hands,
+and said:
+
+'Surely soft slumber wrapped me round, most wretched though
+I be. Oh! that pure Artemis would give me so soft a death
+even now, that I might no more waste my life in sorrow of
+heart, and longing for the manifold excellence of my dear
+lord, for that he was foremost of the Achaeans.'
+
+With this word she went down from the shining upper
+chamber, not alone, for two handmaidens likewise bare her
+company. But when the fair lady had now come to the wooers,
+she stood by the pillar of the well-builded roof, holding
+her glistening tire before her face, and on either side of
+her stood a faithful handmaid. And straightway the knees of
+the wooers were loosened, and their hearts were enchanted
+with love, and each one uttered a prayer that he might be
+her bed-fellow. But she spake to Telemachus, her dear son:
+
+'Telemachus, thy mind and thy thoughts are no longer stable
+as they were. While thou wast still a child, thou hadst a
+yet quicker and more crafty wit, but now that thou art
+great of growth, and art come to the measure of manhood,
+and a stranger looking to thy stature and thy beauty might
+say that thou must be some rich man's son, thy mind and thy
+thoughts are no longer right as of old. For lo, what manner
+of deed has been done in these halls, in that thou hast
+suffered thy guest to be thus shamefully dealt with. How
+would it be now, if the stranger sitting thus in our house,
+were to come to some harm all through this evil handling?
+Shame and disgrace would be thine henceforth among men.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered her: 'Mother mine, as to this
+matter I count it no blame that thou art angered. Yet have
+I knowledge and understanding of each thing, of the good
+and of the evil; but heretofore I was a child. Howbeit I
+cannot devise all things according to wisdom, for these men
+in their evil counsel drive me from my wits, on this side
+and on that, and there is none to aid me. Howsoever this
+battle between Irus and the stranger did not fall out as
+the wooers would have had it, but the stranger proved the
+better man. Would to Father Zeus and Athene and Apollo,
+that the wooers in our halls were even now thus vanquished,
+and wagging their heads, some in the court, and some within
+the house, and that the limbs of each man were loosened in
+such fashion as Irus yonder sits now, by the courtyard
+gates wagging his head, like a drunken man, and cannot
+stand upright on his feet, nor yet get him home to his own
+place, seeing that his limbs are loosened!'
+
+Thus they spake one to another. But Eurymachus spake to
+Penelope, saying:
+
+'Daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, if all the Achaeans in
+Iasian Argos could behold thee, even a greater press of
+wooers would feast in your halls from to-morrow's dawn,
+since thou dost surpass all women in beauty and stature,
+and within in wisdom of mind.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Eurymachus, surely my
+excellence, both of face and form, the gods destroyed in
+the day when the Argives embarked for Ilios, and with them
+went my lord Odysseus. If but he might come and watch over
+this my life, greater thus would be my fame and fairer! But
+now am I in sorrow; such a host of ills some god has sent
+against me. Ah, well do I remember, when he set forth and
+left his own country, how he took me by the right hand at
+the wrist and spake, saying:
+
+'"Lady, methinks that all the goodly-greaved Achaeans will
+not win a safe return from Troy; for the Trojans too, they
+say, are good men at arms, as spearsmen, and bowmen, and
+drivers of fleet horses, such as ever most swiftly
+determine the great strife of equal battle. Wherefore I
+know not if the gods will suffer me to return, or whether I
+shall be cut off there in Troy; so do thou have a care for
+all these things. Be mindful of my father and my mother in
+the halls, even as now thou art, or yet more than now,
+while I am far away. But when thou seest thy son a bearded
+man, marry whom thou wilt and leave thine own house."
+
+'Even so did he speak, and now all these things have an
+end. The night shall come when a hateful marriage shall
+find me out, me most luckless, whose good hap Zeus has
+taken away. But furthermore this sore trouble has come on
+my heart and soul; for this was not the manner of wooers in
+time past. Whoso wish to woo a good lady and the daughter
+of a rich man, and vie one with another, themselves bring
+with them oxen of their own and goodly flocks, a banquet
+for the friends of the bride, and they give the lady
+splendid gifts, but do not devour another's livelihood
+without atonement.'
+
+Thus she spake, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus rejoiced
+because she drew from them gifts, and beguiled their souls
+with soothing words, while her heart was set on other
+things.
+
+Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered her again:
+'Daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, the gifts which any of
+the Achaeans may choose to bring hither, do thou take; for
+it were ill to withhold a gift. But we for our part will
+neither go to our lands nor otherwhere, before thou art
+wedded to the best man of the Achaeans.'
+
+So spake Antinous, and the saying pleased them well, and
+each man sent a henchman to bring his gifts. For Antinous
+his henchman bare a broidered robe, great and very fair,
+wherein were golden brooches, twelve in all, fitted with
+well bent clasps. And the henchman straightway bare
+Eurymachus a golden chain of curious work, strung with
+amber beads, shining like the sun. And his squires bare for
+Eurydamas a pair of ear-rings, with three drops well
+wrought, and much grace shone from them. And out of the
+house of Peisander the prince, the son of Polyctor, the
+squire brought a necklet, a very lovely jewel. And likewise
+the Achaeans brought each one some other beautiful gift.
+
+Then the fair lady went aloft to her upper chamber, and her
+attendant maidens bare for her the lovely gifts, while the
+wooers turned to dancing and the delight of song, and
+therein took their pleasure, and awaited the coming of
+eventide. And dark evening came on them at their pastime.
+Anon they set up three braziers in the halls, to give them
+light, and on these they laid firewood all around, faggots
+seasoned long since and sere, and new split with the axe.
+And midway by the braziers they placed torches, and the
+maids of Odysseus, of the hardy heart, held up the lights
+in turn. Then the prince Odysseus of many counsels himself
+spake among them saying:
+
+'Ye maidens of Odysseus, the lord so long afar, get ye into
+the chambers where the honoured queen abides, and twist the
+yarn at her side, and gladden her heart as ye sit in the
+chamber, or card the wools with your hands; but I will
+minister light to all these that are here. For even if they
+are minded to wait the throned Dawn, they shall not outstay
+me, so long enduring am I.'
+
+So he spake, but they laughed and looked one at the other.
+And the fair Melantho chid him shamefully, Melantho that
+Dolius begat, but Penelope reared, and entreated her
+tenderly as she had been her own child, and gave her
+playthings to her heart's desire. Yet, for all that, sorrow
+for Penelope touched not her heart, but she loved
+Eurymachus and was his paramour. Now she chid Odysseus with
+railing words:
+
+'Wretched guest, surely thou art some brain-struck man,
+seeing that thou dost not choose to go and sleep at a
+smithy, or at some place of common resort, but here thou
+pratest much and boldly among many lords and hast no fear
+at heart. Verily wine has got about thy wits, or perchance
+thou art always of this mind, and so thou dost babble idly.
+Art thou beside thyself for joy, because thou hast beaten
+the beggar Irus? Take heed lest a better man than Irus rise
+up presently against thee, to lay his mighty hands about
+thy head and bedabble thee with blood, and send thee hence
+from the house.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on her, and
+said: 'Yea, straight will I go yonder and tell Telemachus
+hereof, thou shameless thing, for this thy speech, that
+forthwith he may cut thee limb from limb.'
+
+So he spake, and with his saying scared away the women, who
+fled through the hall, and the knees of each were loosened
+for fear, for they deemed that his words were true. But
+Odysseus took his stand by the burning braziers, tending
+the lights, and gazed on all the men: but far other matters
+he pondered in his heart, things not to be unfulfilled.
+
+Now Athene would in no wise suffer the lordly wooers to
+abstain from biting scorn, that the pain might sink yet the
+deeper into the heart of Odysseus, son of Laertes. So
+Eurymachus, son of Polybus, began to speak among them,
+girding at Odysseus, and so made mirth for his friends:
+
+'Hear me ye wooers of the queen renowned, that I may say
+that which my spirit within me bids me. Not without the
+gods' will has this man come to the house of Odysseus;
+methinks at least that the torchlight flares forth from {*}
+that head of his, for there are no hairs on it, nay never
+so thin.'
+
+{* Accepting the conjecture [Greek] = [Greek] for the MSS.
+[Greek]}
+
+He spake and withal addressed Odysseus, waster of cities:
+'Stranger, wouldest thou indeed be my hireling, if I would
+take thee for my man, at an upland farm, and thy wages
+shall be assured thee, and there shalt thou gather stones
+for walls and plant tall trees? There would I provide thee
+bread continual, and clothe thee with raiment, and give
+thee shoes for thy feet. Howbeit, since thou art practised
+only in evil, thou wilt not care to go to the labours of
+the field, but wilt choose rather to go louting through the
+land, that thou mayst have wherewithal to feed thine
+insatiate belly.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him and said:
+'Eurymachus, would that there might be a trial of labour
+between us twain, in the season of spring, when the long
+days begin! In the deep grass might it be, and I should
+have a crooked scythe, and thou another like it, that we
+might try each the other in the matter of labour, fasting
+till late eventide, and grass there should be in plenty. Or
+would again, that there were oxen to drive, the best there
+may be, large and tawny, both well filled with fodder, of
+equal age and force to bear the yoke and of strength
+untiring! And it should be a field of four ploughgates, and
+the clod should yield before the ploughshare. Then
+shouldest thou see me, whether or no I would cut a clean
+furrow unbroken before me. Or would that this very day
+Cronion might waken war whence he would, and that I had a
+shield and two spears, and a helmet all of bronze, close
+fitting on my temples! Then shouldest thou see me mingling
+in the forefront of the battle, nor speak and taunt me with
+this my belly. Nay, thou art exceeding wanton and thy heart
+is hard, and thou thinkest thyself some great one and
+mighty, because thou consortest with few men and feeble.
+Ah, if Odysseus might but return and come to his own
+country, right soon would yonder doors full wide as they
+are, prove all too strait for thee in thy flight through
+the doorway!'
+
+Thus he spake, and Eurymachus waxed yet the more wroth at
+heart, and looking fiercely on him spake to him winged
+words:
+
+'Ah, wretch that thou art, right soon will I work thee
+mischief, so boldly thou pratest among many lords, and hast
+no fear at heart. Verily wine has got about thy wits, or
+perchance thou art always of this mind, and so thou dost
+babble idly. Art thou beside thyself for joy, because thou
+hast beaten the beggar Irus?'
+
+Therewith he caught up a footstool, but Odysseus sat him
+down at the knees of Amphinomus of Dulichium, in dread of
+Eurymachus. And Eurymachus cast and smote the cup-bearer on
+the right hand, and the ladle cup dropped to the ground
+with a clang, while the young man groaned and fell
+backwards in the dust. Then the wooers clamoured through
+the shadowy halls, and thus one would say looking to his
+neighbour:
+
+'Would that our wandering guest had perished otherwhere, or
+ever he came hither; so should he never have made all this
+tumult in our midst! But now we are all at strife about
+beggars, and there will be no more joy of the good feast,
+for worse things have their way.'
+
+Then the mighty prince Telemachus spake among them:
+
+'Sirs, ye are mad; now doth your mood betray that ye have
+eaten and drunken; some one of the gods is surely moving
+you. Nay, now that ye have feasted well, go home and lay
+you to rest, since your spirit so bids; for as for me, I
+drive no man hence.'
+
+Thus he spake, and they all bit their lips and marvelled at
+Telemachus, in that he spake boldly. Then Amphinomus made
+harangue, and spake among them, Amphinomus, the famous son
+of Nisus the prince, the son of Aretias:
+
+'Friends, when a righteous word has been spoken, none
+surely would rebuke another with hard speech and be angry.
+Misuse ye not this stranger, neither any of the thralls
+that are in the house of godlike Odysseus. But come, let
+the wine-bearer pour for libation into each cup in turn,
+that after the drink-offering we may get us home to bed.
+But the stranger let us leave in the halls of Odysseus for
+a charge to Telemachus: for to his home has he come.'
+
+Thus he spake, and his word was well-pleasing to them all.
+Then the lord Mulius mixed for them the bowl, the henchman
+out of Dulichium, who was squire of Amphinomus. And he
+stood by all and served it to them in their turn; and they
+poured forth before the blessed gods, and drank the
+honey-sweet wine. Now when they had poured forth and had
+drunken to their hearts' content, they departed to lie
+down, each one to his own house.
+
+
+
+Book XIX
+
+  Telemachus removes the arms out of the hall. Odysseus
+  disburseth with Penelope. And is known by his nurse, but
+  concealed. And the hunting of the boar upon that occasion
+  related.
+
+Now the goodly Odysseus was left behind in the hall,
+devising with Athene's aid the slaying of the wooers, and
+straightway he spake winged words to Telemachus:
+
+'Telemachus, we must needs lay by the weapons of war
+within, every one; and when the wooers miss them and ask
+thee concerning them, thou shalt beguile them with soft
+words, saying:
+
+'Out of the smoke I laid them by, since they were no longer
+like those that Odysseus left behind him of old, when he
+went to Troy, but they are wholly marred, so mightily hath
+passed upon them the vapour of fire. Moreover some god hath
+put into my heart this other and greater care, that
+perchance when ye are heated with wine, ye set a quarrel
+between you and wound one the other, and thereby shame the
+feast and the wooing; for iron of itself draws a man
+thereto.'
+
+Thus he spake, and Telemachus hearkened to his dear father,
+and called forth to him the nurse Eurycleia and spake to
+her, saying:
+
+'Nurse, come now I pray thee, shut up the women in their
+chambers till I shall have laid by in the armoury the
+goodly weapons of my father, which all uncared for the
+smoke dims in the hall, since my father went hence, and I
+was still but a child. Now I wish to lay them by where the
+vapour of the fire will not reach them.'
+
+Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered him, saying: 'Ah, my
+child, if ever thou wouldest but take careful thought in
+such wise as to mind the house, and guard all this wealth!
+But come, who shall fetch the light and bear it, if thou
+hast thy way, since thou wouldest not that the maidens, who
+might have given light, should go before thee?'
+
+Then wise Telemachus made answer to her: 'This stranger
+here, for I will keep no man in idleness who eats of my
+bread, even if he have come from afar.'
+
+Thus he spake, and wingless her speech remained, and she
+closed the doors of the fair-lying chambers. Then they
+twain sprang up, Odysseus and his renowned son, and set to
+carry within the helmets and the bossy shields, and the
+sharp-pointed spears; and before them Pallas Athene bare a
+golden cresset and cast a most lovely light. Thereon
+Telemachus spake to his father suddenly:
+
+'Father, surely a great marvel is this that I behold with
+mine eyes; meseems, at least, that the walls of the hall
+and the fair main-beams of the roof and the cross-beams of
+pine, and the pillars that run aloft, are bright as it were
+with flaming fire. Verily some god is within, of those that
+hold the wide heaven.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him and said: 'Hold
+thy peace and keep thy thoughts in check and ask not
+hereof. Lo, this is the wont of the gods that hold Olympus.
+But do thou go and lay thee down, and I will abide here,
+that I may yet further provoke the maids ant thy mother to
+answer; and she in her sorrow will ask me concerning each
+thing, one by one.'
+
+So he spake, and Telemachus passed out through the hall to
+his chamber to lie down, by the light of the flaming
+torches, even to the chamber where of old he took his rest,
+when sweet sleep came over him. There now too he lay down
+and awaited the bright Dawn. But goodly Odysseus was left
+behind in the hall, devising with Athene's aid the slaying
+of the wooers.
+
+Now forth from her chamber came the wise Penelope, like
+Artemis or golden Aphrodite, and they set a chair for her
+hard by before the fire, where she was wont to sit, a chair
+well-wrought and inlaid with ivory and silver, which on a
+time the craftsman Icmalius had fashioned, and had joined
+thereto a footstool, that was part of the chair, whereon a
+great fleece was used to be laid. Here then, the wise
+Penelope sat her down, and next came white-armed handmaids
+from the women's chamber, and began to take away the many
+fragments of food, and the tables and the cups whence the
+proud lords had been drinking, and they raked out the fire
+from the braziers on to the floor, and piled many fresh
+logs upon them, to give light and warmth.
+
+Then Melantho began to revile Odysseus yet a second time,
+saying: 'Stranger, wilt thou still be a plague to us here,
+circling round the house in the night, and spying the
+women? Nay, get thee forth, thou wretched thing, and be
+thankful for thy supper, or straightway shalt thou even be
+smitten with a torch and so fare out of the doors.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on her, and
+said: 'Good woman, what possesses thee to assail me thus
+out of an angry heart? Is it because I go filthy and am
+clothed about in sorry raiment, and beg through the land,
+for necessity is laid on me? This is the manner of beggars
+and of wandering men. For I too once had a house of mine
+own among men, a rich man with a wealthy house, and many a
+time would I give to a wanderer, what manner of man soever
+he might be, and in whatsoever need he came. And I had
+countless thralls, and all else in plenty, whereby folk
+live well and have a name for riches. But Zeus, the son of
+Cronos, made me desolate of all, for surely it was his
+will. Wherefore, woman, see lest some day thou too lose all
+thy fine show wherein thou now excellest among the
+handmaids, as well may chance, if thy mistress be provoked
+to anger with thee, or if Odysseus come home, for there is
+yet a place for hope. And even if he hath perished as ye
+deem, and is never more to return, yet by Apollo's grace he
+hath a son like him, Telemachus, and none of the women
+works wantonness in his halls without his knowledge, for he
+is no longer of an age not to mark it,
+
+Thus he spake, and the wise Penelope heard him, and rebuked
+the handmaid, and spake and hailed her:
+
+'Thou reckless thing and unabashed, be sure thy great sin
+is not hidden from me, and thy blood shall be on thine own
+head for the same! Four thou knewest right well, in that
+thou hadst heard it from my lips, how that I was minded to
+ask the stranger in my halls for tidings of my lord; for I
+am grievously afflicted.'
+
+Therewith she spake likewise to the housedame, Eurynome,
+saying:
+
+'Eurynome, bring hither a settle with a fleece thereon,
+that the stranger may sit and speak with me and hear my
+words, for I would ask him all his story.'
+
+So she spake, and the nurse made haste and brought a
+polished settle, and cast a fleece thereon; and then the
+steadfast goodly Odysseus sat him down there, and the wise
+Penelope spake first, saying:
+
+'Stranger, I will make bold first to ask thee this: who art
+thou of the sons of men, and whence? Where is thy city, and
+where are they that begat thee?'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said: 'Lady,
+no one of mortal men in the wide world could find fault
+with thee, for lo, thy fame goes up to the wide heaven, as
+doth the fame of a blameless king, one that fears the gods
+and reigns among many men and mighty, maintaining right,
+and the black earth bears wheat and barley, and the trees
+are laden with fruit, and the sheep bring forth and fail
+not, and the sea gives store of fish, and all out of his
+good guidance, and the people prosper under him. Wherefore
+do thou ask me now in thy house all else that thou wilt,
+but inquire not concerning my race and mine own country,
+lest as I think thereupon thou fill my heart the more with
+pains, for I am a man of many sorrows. Moreover it beseems
+me not to sit weeping and wailing in another's house, for
+it is little good to mourn always without ceasing, lest
+perchance one of the maidens, or even thyself, be angry
+with me and say that I swim in tears, as one that is heavy
+with wine.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him, and said: 'Stranger,
+surely my excellence, both of face and form, the gods
+destroyed, in the day when the Argives embarked for Ilios,
+and with them went my lord Odysseus. If but he might come
+and watch over this my life, greater and fairer thus would
+be my fame! But now am I in sorrow, such a host of ills
+some god has sent against me. For all the noblest that are
+princes in the isles, in Dulichium and Same and wooded
+Zacynthus, and they that dwell around even in clear-seen
+Ithaca, these are wooing me against my will, and devouring
+the house. Wherefore I take no heed of strangers, nor
+suppliants, nor at all of heralds, the craftsmen of the
+people. But I waste my heart away in longing for Odysseus;
+so they speed on my marriage and I weave a web of wiles.
+First some god put it into my heart to set up a great web
+in the halls, and thereat to weave a robe fine of woof and
+very wide; and anon I spake among them, saying: "Ye
+princely youths, my wooers, now that goodly Odysseus is
+dead, do ye abide patiently, how eager soever to speed on
+this marriage of mine, till I finish the robe. I would not
+that the threads perish to no avail, even this shroud for
+the hero Laertes, against the day when the ruinous doom
+shall bring him low, of death that lays men at their
+length. So shall none of the Achaean women in the land
+count it blame in me, as well might be, were he to lie
+without a winding sheet, a man that had gotten great
+possessions."
+
+'So spake I, and their high hearts consented thereto. So
+then in the daytime I would weave the mighty web, and in
+the night unravel the same, when I had let place the
+torches by me. Thus for the space of three years I hid the
+thing by craft and beguiled the minds of the Achaeans. But
+when the fourth year arrived, and the seasons came round as
+the months waned, and many days were accomplished, then it
+was that by help of the handmaids, shameless things and
+reckless, the wooers came and trapped me, and chid me
+loudly. Thus did I finish the web by no will of mine, for
+so I must. And now I can neither escape the marriage nor
+devise any further counsel, and my parents are instant with
+me to marry, and my son chafes that these men devour his
+livelihood, as he takes note of all; for by this time he
+has come to man's estate; and is full able to care for a
+household, for one to which Zeus vouchsafes honour. But
+even so tell me of thine own stock, whence thou art, for
+thou art not sprung of oak or rock, whereof old tales
+tell.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said:
+
+'O wife revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, wilt thou
+never have done asking me about mine own race? Nay, but I
+will tell thee: yet surely thou wilt give me over to
+sorrows yet more than those wherein I am holden, for so it
+ever is when a man has been afar from his own country, so
+long as now I am, wandering in sore pain to many cities of
+mortals. Yet even so I will tell thee what thou askest and
+inquirest. There is a land called Crete in the midst of the
+wine-dark sea, a fair land and a rich, begirt with water,
+and therein are many men innumerable, and ninety cities.
+And all have not the same speech, but there is confusion of
+tongues; there dwell Achaeans and there too Cretans of
+Crete, high of heart, and Cydonians there and Dorians of
+waving plumes and goodly Pelasgians. And among these cities
+is the mighty city Cnosus, wherein Minos when he was nine
+years old began to rule, he who held converse with great
+Zeus, and was the father of my father, even of Deucalion,
+high of heart. Now Deucalion begat me and Idomeneus the
+prince. Howbeit, he had gone in his beaked ships up into
+Ilios, with the sons of Atreus; but my famed name is
+Aethon, being the younger of the twain and he was the first
+born and the better man. There I saw Odysseus, and gave him
+guest-gifts, for the might of the wind bare him too to
+Crete, as he was making for Troy land, and had driven him
+wandering past Malea. So he stayed his ships in Amnisus,
+whereby is the cave of Eilithyia, in havens hard to win,
+and scarce he escaped the tempest. Anon he came up to the
+city and asked for Idomeneus, saying that he was his friend
+and held by him in love and honour. But it was now the
+tenth or the eleventh dawn since Idomeneus had gone in his
+beaked ships up into Ilios. Then I led him to the house,
+and gave him good entertainment with all loving-kindness
+out of the plenty in my house, and for him and for the rest
+of his company, that went with him, I gathered and gave
+barley meal and dark wine out of the public store, and oxen
+to sacrifice to his heart's desire.  There the goodly
+Achaeans abode twelve days, for the strong North Wind
+penned them there, and suffered them not to stay upon the
+coast, for some angry god had roused it. On the thirteenth
+day the wind fell, and then they lifted anchor.'
+
+So he told many a false tale in the likeness of truth, and
+her tears flowed as she listened, and her flesh melted. And
+even as the snow melts in the high places of the hills, the
+snow that the South-East wind has thawed, when the West has
+scattered it abroad, and as it wastes the river streams run
+full, even so her fair cheeks melted beneath her tears, as
+she wept her own lord, who even then was sitting by her.
+Now Odysseus had compassion of heart upon his wife in her
+lamenting, but his eyes kept steadfast between his eyelids
+as it were horn or iron, and craftily he hid his tears. But
+she, when she had taken her fill of tearful lamentation,
+answered him in turn and spake, saying:
+
+'Friend as thou art, even now I think to make trial of
+thee, and learn whether in very truth thou didst entertain
+my lord there in thy halls with his godlike company, as
+thou sayest. Tell me what manner of raiment he was clothed
+in about his body, and what manner of man he was himself,
+and tell me of his fellows that went with him.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Lady,
+it is hard for one so long parted from him to tell thee all
+this, for it is now the twentieth year since he went
+thither and left my country. Yet even so I will tell thee
+as I see him in spirit. Goodly Odysseus wore a thick purple
+mantle, twofold, which had a brooch fashioned in gold, with
+two sheathes for the pins, and on the face of it was a
+curious device: a hound in his forepaws held a dappled fawn
+and gazed on it as it writhed. And all men marvelled at the
+workmanship, how, wrought as they were in gold, the hound
+was gazing on the fawn and strangling it, and the fawn was
+writhing with his feet and striving to flee. Moreover, I
+marked the shining doublet about his body, like the gleam
+over the skin of a dried onion, so smooth it was, and
+glistering as the sun; truly many women looked thereon and
+wondered. Yet another thing will I tell thee, and do thou
+ponder it in thy heart. I know not if Odysseus was thus
+clothed upon at home, or if one of his fellows gave him the
+raiment as he went on board the swift ship, or even it may
+be some stranger, seeing that to many men was Odysseus
+dear, for few of the Achaeans were his peers. I, too, gave
+him a sword of bronze, and a fair purple mantle with double
+fold, and a tasseled doublet, and I sent him away with all
+honour on his decked ship. Moreover, a henchman bare him
+company, somewhat older than he, and I will tell thee of
+him too, what manner of man he was. He was
+round-shouldered, black-skinned, and curly-headed, his name
+Eurybates; and Odysseus honoured him above all his company,
+because in all things he was like-minded with himself.'
+
+So he spake, and in her heart he stirred yet more the
+desire of weeping, as she knew the certain tokens that
+Odysseus showed her. So when she had taken her fill of
+tearful lament, then she answered him, and spake saying:
+
+'Now verily, stranger, thou that even before wert held in
+pity, shalt be dear and honourable in my halls, for it was
+I who gave him these garments, as judging from thy words,
+and folded them myself, and brought them from the chamber,
+and added besides the shining brooch to be his jewel. But
+him I shall never welcome back, returned home to his own
+dear country. Wherefore with an evil fate it was that
+Odysseus went hence in the hollow ship to see that evil
+Ilios, never to be named.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Wife
+revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, destroy not now thy
+fair flesh any more, nor waste thy heart with weeping for
+thy lord;--not that I count it any blame in thee, for many
+a woman weeps that has lost her wedded lord, to whom she
+has borne children in her love,--albeit a far other man
+than Odysseus, who, they say, is like the gods. Nay, cease
+from thy lamenting, and lay up my word in thy heart; for I
+will tell thee without fail, and will hide nought, how but
+lately I heard tell of the return of Odysseus, that he is
+nigh at hand, and yet alive in the fat land of the men of
+Thesprotia, and is bringing with him many choice treasures,
+as he begs through the land. But he has lost his dear
+companions and his hollow ship on the wine-dark sea, on his
+way from the isle Thrinacia: for Zeus and Helios had a
+grudge against him, because his company had slain the kine
+of Helios. They for their part all perished in the wash of
+the sea, but the wave cast him on the keel of the ship out
+upon the coast, on the land of the Phaeacians that are near
+of kin to the gods, and they did him all honour heartily as
+unto a god, and gave him many gifts, and themselves would
+fain have sent him scathless home. Yea and Odysseus would
+have been here long since, but he thought it more
+profitable to gather wealth, as he journeyed over wide
+lands; so truly is Odysseus skilled in gainful arts above
+all men upon earth, nor may any mortal men contend with
+him. So Pheidon king of the Thesprotians told me. Moreover
+he sware, in mine own presence, as he poured the
+drink-offering in his house, that the ship was drawn down
+to the sea and his company were ready, who were to convey
+him to his own dear country. But me he first sent off, for
+it chanced that a ship of the Thesprotians was on her way
+to Dulichium, a land rich in grain. And he showed me all
+the wealth that Odysseus had gathered, yea it would suffice
+for his children after him, even to the tenth generation,
+so great were the treasures he had stored in the chambers
+of the king. As for him he had gone, he said, to Dodona to
+hear the counsel of Zeus, from the high leafy oak tree of
+the god, how he should return to his own dear country,
+having now been long afar, whether openly or by stealth.
+
+'In this wise, as I tell thee, he is safe and will come
+shortly, and very near he is and will not much longer be
+far from his friends and his own country; yet withal I will
+give thee my oath on it. Zeus be my witness first, of gods
+the highest and best, and the hearth of noble Odysseus
+whereunto I am come, that all these things shall surely be
+accomplished even as I tell thee. In this same year
+Odysseus shall come hither, as the old moon wanes and the
+new is born.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Ah! stranger, would that
+this word may be accomplished. Soon shouldst thou be aware
+of kindness and many a gift at my hands, so that whoso met
+with thee would call thee blessed. But on this wise my
+heart has a boding, and so it shall be. Neither shall
+Odysseus come home any more, nor shalt thou gain an escort
+hence, since there are not now such masters in the house as
+Odysseus was among men,--if ever such an one there was,--
+to welcome guests revered and speed them on their way. But
+do ye, my handmaids, wash this man's feet and strew a couch
+for him, bedding and mantles and shining blankets, that
+well and warmly he may come to the time of golden-throned
+Dawn. And very early in the morning bathe him and anoint
+him, that within the house beside Telemachus he may eat
+meat, sitting quietly in the hall. And it shall be the
+worse for any hurtful man of the wooers, that vexes the
+stranger, yea he shall not henceforth profit himself here,
+for all his sore anger. For how shalt thou learn concerning
+me, stranger, whether indeed I excel all women in wit and
+thrifty device, if all unkempt and evil clad thou sittest
+at supper in my halls? Man's life is brief enough! And if
+any be a hard man and hard at heart, all men cry evil on
+him for the time to come, while yet he lives, and all men
+mock him when he is dead. But if any be a blameless man and
+blameless of heart, his guests spread abroad his fame over
+the whole earth and many people call him noble.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said: 'O
+wife revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, mantles verily
+and shining blankets are hateful to me, since first I left
+behind me the snowy hills of Crete, voyaging in the
+long-oared galley; nay, I will lie as in time past I was
+used to rest through the sleepless nights. For full many a
+night I have lain on an unsightly bed, and awaited the
+bright throned Dawn. And baths for the feet are no longer
+my delight, nor shall any women of those who are serving
+maidens in thy house touch my foot, unless there chance to
+be some old wife, true of heart, one that has borne as much
+trouble as myself; I would not grudge such an one to touch
+my feet.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Dear stranger, for never
+yet has there come to my house, of strangers from afar, a
+dearer man or so discreet as thou, uttering so heedfully
+the words of wisdom. I have an ancient woman of an
+understanding heart, that diligently nursed and tended that
+hapless man my lord, she took him in her arms in the hour
+when his mother bare him. She will wash thy feet, albeit
+her strength is frail. Up now, wise Eurycleia, and wash
+this man, whose years are the same as thy master's. Yea and
+perchance such even now are the feet of Odysseus, and such
+too his hands, for quickly men age in misery.'
+
+So she spake, and the old woman covered her face with her
+hands and shed hot tears, and spake a word of lamentation,
+saying:
+
+'Ah, woe is me, child, for thy sake, all helpless that I
+am! Surely Zeus hated thee above all men, though thou hadst
+a god-fearing spirit! For never yet did any mortal burn so
+many fat pieces of the thigh and so many choice hecatombs
+to Zeus, whose joy is in the thunder, as thou didst give to
+him, praying that so thou mightest grow to a smooth old age
+and rear thy renowned son. But now from thee alone hath
+Zeus wholly cut off the day of thy returning.  Haply at him
+too did the women mock in a strange land afar, whensoever
+he came to the famous palace of any lord, even as here
+these shameless ones all mock at thee. To shun their
+insults and many taunts it is that thou sufferest them not
+to wash thy feet, but the daughter of Icarius, wise
+Penelope, hath bidden me that am right willing to this
+task. Wherefore I will wash thy feet, both for Penelope's
+sake and for thine own, for that my heart within me is
+moved and troubled. But come, mark the word that I shall
+speak. Many strangers travel-worn have ere now come hither,
+but I say that I have never seen any so like another, as
+thou art like Odysseus, in fashion in voice and in feet.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Old
+wife, even so all men declare, that have beheld us twain,
+that we favour each other exceedingly, even as thou dost
+mark and say.'
+
+Thereupon the crone took the shining cauldron, wherefrom
+{*} she set to wash his feet, and poured in much cold water
+and next mingled therewith the warm. Now Odysseus sat aloof
+from the hearth, and of a sudden he turned his face to the
+darkness, for anon he had a misgiving of heart lest when
+she handled him she might know the scar again, and all
+should be revealed. Now she drew near her lord to wash him,
+and straightway she knew the scar of the wound, that the
+boar had dealt him with his white tusk long ago, when
+Odysseus went to Parnassus to see Autolycus, and the sons
+of Autolycus, his mother's noble father, who outdid all men
+in thievery and skill in swearing. This skill was the gift
+of the god himself, even Hermes, for that he burned to him
+the well-pleasing sacrifice of the thighs of lambs and
+kids; wherefore Hermes abetted him gladly. Now Autolycus
+once had gone to the rich land of Ithaca, and found his
+daughter's son a child new-born, and when he was making an
+end of supper, behold, Eurycleia set the babe on his knees,
+and spake and hailed him: 'Autolycus find now a name
+thyself to give thy child's own son; for lo, he is a child
+of many prayers.'
+
+{* Reading [Greek]}
+
+Then Autolycus made answer and spake: 'My daughter and my
+daughter's lord, give ye him whatsoever name I tell you.
+Forasmuch as I am come hither in wrath against many a one,
+both man and woman, over the fruitful earth, wherefore let
+the child's name be "a man of wrath," Odysseus. But when
+the child reaches his full growth, and comes to the great
+house of his mother's kin at Parnassus, whereby are my
+possessions, I will give him a gift out of these and send
+him on his way rejoicing.'
+
+Therefore it was that Odysseus went to receive the splendid
+gifts. And Autolycus and the sons of Autolycus grasped his
+hands and greeted him with gentle words, and Amphithea, his
+mother's mother, clasped him in her arms and kissed his
+face and both his fair eyes. Then Autolycus called to his
+renowned sons to get ready the meal, and they hearkened to
+the call. So presently they led in a five-year-old bull,
+which they flayed and busily prepared, and cut up all the
+limbs and deftly chopped them small, and pierced them with
+spits and roasted them cunningly, dividing the messes. So
+for that livelong day they feasted till the going down of
+the sun, and their soul lacked not ought of the equal
+banquet. But when the sun sank and darkness came on, they
+laid them to rest and took the boon of sleep.
+
+Now so soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered,
+they all went forth to the chase, the hounds and the sons
+of Autolycus, and with them went the goodly Odysseus. So
+they fared up the steep hill of wood-clad Parnassus, and
+quickly they came to the windy hollows. Now the sun was but
+just striking on the fields, and was come forth from the
+soft flowing stream of deep Oceanus. Then the beaters
+reached a glade of the woodland, and before them went the
+hounds tracking a scent, but behind came the sons of
+Autolycus, and among them goodly Odysseus followed close on
+the hounds, swaying a long spear. Thereby in a thick lair
+was a great boar lying, and through the coppice the force
+of the wet winds blew never, neither did the bright sun
+light on it with his rays, nor could the rain pierce
+through, so thick it was, and of fallen leaves there was
+great plenty therein. Then the tramp of the men's feet and
+of the dogs' came upon the boar, as they pressed on in the
+chase, and forth from his lair he sprang towards them with
+crest well bristled and fire shining in his eyes, and stood
+at bay before them all. Then Odysseus was the first to rush
+in, holding his spear aloft in his strong hand, most eager
+to stab him; but the boar was too quick and drave a gash
+above the knee, ripping deep into the flesh with his tusk
+as he charged sideways, but he reached not to the bone of
+the man. Then Odysseus aimed well and smote him on his
+right shoulder, so that the point of the bright spear went
+clean through, and the boar fell in the dust with a cry,
+and his life passed from him. Then the dear sons of
+Autolycus began to busy them with the carcase, and as for
+the wound of the noble godlike Odysseus, they bound it up
+skilfully, and stayed the black blood with a song of
+healing, and straight-way returned to the house of their
+dear father. Then Autolycus and the sons of Autolycus got
+him well healed of his hurt, and gave him splendid gifts,
+and quickly sent him with all love to Ithaca, gladly
+speeding a glad guest. There his father and lady mother
+were glad of his returning, and asked him of all his
+adventures, and of his wound how he came by it, and duly he
+told them all, namely how the boar gashed him with his
+white tusk in the chase, when he had gone to Parnassus with
+the sons of Autolycus.
+
+Now the old woman took the scarred limb and passed her
+hands down it, and knew it by the touch and let the foot
+drop suddenly, so that the knee fell into the bath, and the
+brazen vessel rang, being turned over on the other side,
+and behold, the water was spilled on the ground. Then joy
+and anguish came on her in one moment, and both her eyes
+filled up with tears, and the voice of her utterance was
+stayed, and touching the chin of Odysseus she spake to him,
+saying:
+
+'Yea verily, thou art Odysseus, my dear child, and I knew
+thee not before, till I had handled all the body of my
+lord.'
+
+Therewithal she looked towards Penelope, as minded to make
+a sign that her husband was now home. But Penelope could
+not meet her eyes nor take note of her, for Athene had bent
+her thoughts to other things. But Odysseus feeling for the
+old woman's throat gript it with his right hand and with
+the other drew her closer to him and spake, saying:
+
+'Woman, why wouldest thou indeed destroy me? It was thou
+that didst nurse me there at thine own breast, and now
+after travail and much pain I am come in the twentieth year
+to mine own country. But since thou art ware of me, and the
+god has put this in thy heart, be silent, lest another
+learn the matter in the halls. For on this wise I will
+declare it, and it shall surely be accomplished:--if the
+gods subdue the lordly wooers unto me, I will not hold my
+hand from thee, my nurse though thou art, when I slay the
+other handmaids in my halls.'
+
+Then wise Eurycleia answered, saying: 'My child, what word
+hath escaped the door of thy lips? Thou knowest how firm is
+my spirit and unyielding, and I will keep me fast as
+stubborn stone or iron. Yet another thing will I tell thee,
+and do thou ponder it in thine heart. If the gods subdue
+the lordly wooers to thy hand, then will I tell thee all
+the tale of the women in the halls, which of them dishonour
+thee and which be guiltless.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Nurse,
+wherefore I pray thee wilt thou speak of these? Thou
+needest not, for even I myself will mark them well and take
+knowledge of each. Nay, do thou keep thy saying to thyself,
+and leave the rest to the gods.'
+
+Even so he spake, and the old woman passed forth from the
+hall to bring water for his feet, for that first water was
+all spilled. So when she had washed him and anointed him
+well with olive-oil, Odysseus again drew up his settle
+nearer to the fire to warm himself, and covered up the scar
+with his rags. Then the wise Penelope spake first, saying:
+
+'Stranger, there is yet a little thing I will make bold to
+ask thee, for soon will it be the hour for pleasant rest,
+for him on whomsoever sweet sleep falls, though he be heavy
+with care. But to me has the god given sorrow, yea sorrow
+measureless, for all the day I have my fill of wailing and
+lamenting, as I look to mine own housewiferies and to the
+tasks of the maidens in the house. But when night comes and
+sleep takes hold of all, I lie on my couch, and shrewd
+cares, thick thronging about my inmost heart, disquiet me
+in my sorrowing. Even as when the daughter of Pandareus,
+the nightingale of the greenwood, sings sweet in the first
+season of the spring, from her place in the thick leafage
+of the trees, and with many a turn and trill she pours
+forth her full-voiced music bewailing her child, dear
+Itylus, whom on a time she slew with the sword unwitting,
+Itylus the son of Zethus the prince; even as her song, my
+troubled soul sways to and fro. Shall I abide with my son,
+and keep all secure, all the things of my getting, my
+thralls and great high-roofed home, having respect unto the
+bed of my lord and the voice of the people, or even now
+follow with the best of the Achaeans that woos me in the
+halls, and gives a bride-price beyond reckoning? Now my
+son, so long as he was a child and light of heart, suffered
+me not to marry and leave the house of my husband; but now
+that he is great of growth, and is come to the full measure
+of manhood, lo now he prays me to go back home from these
+walls, being vexed for his possessions that the Achaeans
+devour before his eyes. But come now, hear a dream of mine
+and tell me the interpretation thereof. Twenty geese I have
+in the house, that eat wheat, coming forth from the water,
+and I am gladdened at the sight. Now a great eagle of
+crooked beak swooped from the mountain, and brake all their
+necks and slew them; and they lay strewn in a heap in the
+halls, while he was borne aloft to the bright air. Thereon
+I wept and wailed, in a dream though it was, and around me
+were gathered the fair-tressed Achaean women as I made
+piteous lament, for that the eagle had slain my geese. But
+he came back and sat him down on a jutting point of the
+roof-beam, and with the voice of a man he spake, and stayed
+my weeping:
+
+'"Take heart, O daughter of renowned Icarius; this is no
+dream but a true vision, that shall be accomplished for
+thee. The geese are the wooers, and I that before was the
+eagle am now thy husband come again, who will let slip
+unsightly death upon all the wooers." With that word sweet
+slumber let me go, and I looked about, and beheld the geese
+in the court pecking their wheat at the trough, where they
+were wont before.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said:
+'Lady, none may turn aside the dream to interpret it
+otherwise, seeing that Odysseus himself hath showed thee
+how he will fulfil it. For the wooers destruction is
+clearly boded, for all and every one; not a man shall avoid
+death and the fates.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Stranger, verily dreams
+are hard, and hard to be discerned; nor are all things
+therein fulfilled for men. Twain are the gates of shadowy
+dreams, the one is fashioned of horn and one of ivory. Such
+dreams as pass through the portals of sawn ivory are
+deceitful, and bear tidings that are unfulfilled. But the
+dreams that come forth through the gates of polished horn
+bring a true issue, whosoever of mortals beholds them. Yet
+methinks my strange dream came not thence; of a truth that
+would be most welcome to me and to my son. But another
+thing will I tell thee, and do thou ponder it in thy heart.
+Lo, even now draws nigh the morn of evil name, that is to
+sever me from the house of Odysseus, for now I am about to
+ordain for a trial those axes that he would set up in a row
+in his halls, like stays of oak in ship-building, twelve in
+all, and he would stand far apart and shoot his arrow
+through them all. And now I will offer this contest to the
+wooers; whoso shall most easily string the bow in his
+hands, and shoot through all twelve axes, with him will I
+go and forsake this house, this house of my wedlock, so
+fair and filled with all livelihood, which methinks I shall
+yet remember, aye, in a dream.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said: 'Wife
+revered of Odysseus son of Laertes, no longer delay this
+contest in thy halls; for, lo, Odysseus of many counsels
+will be here, before these men, for all their handling of
+this polished bow, shall have strung it, and shot the arrow
+through the iron.'
+
+Then the wise Penelope answered him: 'Stranger, if only
+thou wert willing still to sit beside me in the halls and
+to delight me, not upon my eyelids would sleep be shed. But
+men may in no wise abide sleepless ever, for the immortals
+have made a time for all things for mortals on the
+grain-giving earth. Howbeit I will go aloft to my upper
+chamber, and lay me on my bed, the place of my groanings,
+that is ever watered by my tears, since the day that
+Odysseus went to see that evil Ilios, never to be named.
+There will I lay me down, but do thou lie in this house;
+either strew thee somewhat on the floor, or let them lay
+bedding for thee.'
+
+Therewith she ascended to her shining upper chamber, not
+alone, for with her likewise went her handmaids. So she
+went aloft to her upper chamber with the women her
+handmaids, and there was bewailing Odysseus, her dear lord,
+till grey-eyed Athene cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids.
+
+
+
+Book XX
+
+  Pallas and Odysseus consult of the killing of the wooers.
+
+But the goodly Odysseus laid him down to sleep in the
+vestibule of the house. He spread an undressed bull's hide
+on the ground and above it many fleeces of sheep, that the
+Achaeans were wont to slay in sacrifice, and Eurynome threw
+a mantle over him where he lay. There Odysseus lay wakeful,
+with evil thoughts against the wooers in his heart. And the
+women came forth from their chamber, that aforetime were
+wont to lie with the wooers, making laughter and mirth
+among themselves. Then the heart of Odysseus was stirred
+within his breast, and much he communed with his mind and
+soul, whether he should leap forth upon them and deal death
+to each, or suffer them to lie with the proud wooers, now
+for the last and latest time. And his heart growled
+sullenly within him. And even as a bitch stands over her
+tender whelps growling, when she spies a man she knows not,
+and she is eager to assail him, so growled his heart within
+him in his wrath at their evil deeds. Then he smote upon
+his breast and rebuked his own heart, saying:
+
+'Endure, my heart; yea, a baser thing thou once didst bear,
+on that day when the Cyclops, unrestrained in fury,
+devoured the mighty men of my company; but still thou didst
+endure till thy craft found a way for thee forth from out
+the cave, where thou thoughtest to die.'
+
+So spake he, chiding his own spirit within him, and his
+heart verily abode steadfast in obedience to his word. But
+Odysseus himself lay tossing this way and that. And as when
+a man by a great fire burning takes a paunch full of fat
+and blood, and turns it this way and that and longs to have
+it roasted most speedily, so Odysseus tossed from side to
+side, musing how he might stretch forth his hands upon the
+shameless wooers, being but one man against so many. Then
+down from heaven came Athene and drew nigh him, fashioned
+in the likeness of a woman. And she stood over his head and
+spake to him, saying:
+
+'Lo now again, wherefore art thou watching, most luckless
+of all men living? Is not this thy house and is not thy
+wife there within and thy child, such a son as men wish to
+have for their own?'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Yea,
+goddess, all this thou hast spoken as is meet. But my heart
+within me muses in some measure upon this, how I may
+stretch forth my hands upon the shameless wooers, being but
+one man, while they abide ever in their companies within.
+Moreover this other and harder matter I ponder in my heart:
+even if I were to slay them by thy will and the will of
+Zeus, whither should I flee from the avengers? Look well to
+this, I pray thee.'
+
+Then answered the goddess, grey-eyed Athene: 'O hard of
+belief! yea, many there be that trust even in a weaker
+friend than I am, in one that is a mortal and knows not
+such craft as mine; but I am a god, that preserve thee to
+the end, in all manner of toils. And now I will tell thee
+plainly; even should fifty companies of mortal men compass
+us about eager to slay us in battle, even their kine
+shouldst thou drive off and their brave flocks. But let
+sleep in turn come over thee; to wake and to watch all
+night, this too is vexation of spirit; and soon shalt thou
+rise from out of thy troubles.'
+
+So she spake and poured slumber upon his eyelids, but for
+her part the fair goddess went back to Olympus.
+
+While sleep laid hold of him loosening the cares of his
+soul, sleep that loosens the limbs of men, his good wife
+awoke and wept as she sat on her soft bed. But when she had
+taken her fill of weeping, to Artemis first the fair lady
+made her prayer:
+
+'Artemis, lady and goddess, daughter of Zeus, would that
+even now thou wouldst plant thy shaft within my breast and
+take my life away, even in this hour! Or else, would that
+the stormwind might snatch me up, and bear me hence down
+the dusky ways, and cast me forth where the back-flowing
+Oceanus mingles with the sea. It should be even as when the
+stormwinds bare away the daughters of Pandareus. Their
+father and their mother the gods had slain, and the maidens
+were left orphans in the halls, and fair Aphrodite
+cherished them with curds and sweet honey and delicious
+wine. And Here gave them beauty and wisdom beyond the lot
+of women, and holy Artemis dowered them with stature, and
+Athene taught them skill in all famous handiwork. Now while
+fair Aphrodite was wending to high Olympus, to pray that a
+glad marriage might be accomplished for the maidens,--and
+to Zeus she went whose joy is in the thunder, for he knows
+all things well, what the fates give and deny to mortal
+men--in the meanwhile the spirits of the storm snatched
+away these maidens, and gave them to be handmaids to the
+hateful Erinyes. Would that in such wise they that hold the
+mansions of Olympus would take me from the sight of men, or
+that fair-stressed Artemis would strike me, that so with a
+vision of Odysseus before mine eyes I might even pass
+beneath the dreadful earth, nor ever make a baser man's
+delight! But herein is an evil that may well be borne,
+namely, when a man weeps all the day long in great sorrow
+of heart, but sleep takes him in the night, for sleep makes
+him forgetful of all things, of good and evil, when once it
+has overshadowed his eyelids. But as for me, even the
+dreams that the gods send upon me are evil. For
+furthermore, this very night one seemed to lie by my side,
+in the likeness of my lord, as he was when he went with the
+host, and then was my heart glad, since methought it was no
+vain dream but a clear vision at the last.'
+
+So she spake, and anon came the golden throned Dawn. Now
+goodly Odysseus caught the voice of her weeping, and then
+he fell a musing, and it seemed to him that even now she
+knew him and was standing by his head. So he took up the
+mantle and the fleeces whereon he was lying, and set them
+on a high seat in the hall, and bare out the bull's hide
+out of doors and laid it there, and lifting up his hands he
+prayed to Zeus:
+
+'Father Zeus, if ye gods of your good will have led me over
+wet and dry, to mine own country, after ye had plagued me
+sore, let some one I pray of the folk that are waking show
+me a word of good omen within, and without let some sign
+also be revealed to me from Zeus.'
+
+So he spake in prayer, and Zeus, the counsellor, heard him.
+Straightway he thundered from shining Olympus, from on high
+from the place of clouds; and goodly Odysseus was glad.
+Moreover a woman, a grinder at the mill, uttered a voice of
+omen from within the house hard by, where stood the mills
+of the shepherd of the people. At these handmills twelve
+women in all plied their task, making meal of barley and of
+wheat, the marrow of men. Now all the others were asleep,
+for they had ground out their task of grain, but one alone
+rested not yet, being the weakest of all. She now stayed
+her quern and spake a word, a sign to her lord:
+
+'Father Zeus, who rulest over gods and men, loudly hast
+thou thundered from the starry sky, yet nowhere is there a
+cloud to be seen: this surely is a portent thou art showing
+to some mortal. Fulfil now, I pray thee, even to miserable
+me, the word that I shall speak. May the wooers, on this
+day, for the last and latest time make their sweet feasting
+in the halls of Odysseus! They that have loosened my knees
+with cruel toil to grind their barley meal, may they now
+sup their last!'
+
+Thus she spake, and goodly Odysseus was glad in the omen of
+the voice and in the thunder of Zeus; for he thought that
+he had gotten his vengeance on the guilty.
+
+Now the other maidens in the fair halls of Odysseus had
+gathered, and were kindling on the hearth the never-resting
+fire. And Telemachus rose from his bed, a godlike man, and
+put on his raiment, and slung a sharp sword about his
+shoulders, and beneath his shining feet he bound his goodly
+sandals. And he caught up his mighty spear shod with sharp
+bronze, and went and stood by the threshold, and spake to
+Eurycleia:
+
+'Dear nurse, have ye honoured our guest in the house with
+food and couch, or does he lie uncared for, as he may? For
+this is my mother's way, wise as she is: blindly she
+honours one of mortal men, even the worse, but the better
+she sends without honour away.'
+
+Then the prudent Eurycleia answered: 'Nay, my child, thou
+shouldst not now blame her where no blame is. For the
+stranger sat and drank wine, so long as he would, and of
+food he said he was no longer fain, for thy mother asked
+him. Moreover, against the hour when he should bethink him
+of rest and sleep, she bade the maidens strew for him a
+bed. But he, as one utterly wretched and ill-fated, refused
+to lie on a couch and under blankets, but on an undressed
+hide and on the fleeces of sheep he slept in the vestibule,
+and we cast a mantle over him.'
+
+So she spake, and Telemachus passed out through the hall
+with his lance in his hand, and two fleet dogs bare him
+company. He went on his way to the assembly-place to join
+the goodly-greaved Achaeans. But the good lady Eurycleia,
+daughter of Ops son of Peisenor, called aloud to her
+maidens:
+
+'Come hither, let some of you go busily and sweep the hall,
+and sprinkle it, and on the fair-fashioned seats throw
+purple coverlets, and others with sponges wipe all the
+tables clean, and cleanse the mixing bowls and well-wrought
+double beakers, and others again go for water to the well,
+and return with it right speedily. For the wooers will not
+long be out of the hall but will return very early, for it
+is a feast day, yea for all the people.'
+
+So she spake, and they all gave ready ear and hearkened.
+Twenty of them went to the well of dark water, and the
+others there in the halls were busy with skilful hands.
+
+Then in came the serving-men of the Achaeans. Thereon they
+cleft the faggots well and cunningly, while, behold, the
+women came back from the well. Then the swineherd joined
+them leading three fatted boars, the best in all the flock.
+These he left to feed at large in the fair courts, but as
+for him he spake to Odysseus gently, saying:
+
+'Tell me, stranger, do the Achaeans at all look on thee
+with more regard, or do they dishonour thee in the halls,
+as heretofore?'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying:
+
+'Oh, that the gods, Eumaeus, may avenge the scorn wherewith
+these men deal insolently, and devise infatuate deeds in
+another's house, and have no place for shame!'
+
+On such wise they spake one to another. And Melanthius drew
+near them, the goatherd, leading the goats that were most
+excellent in all the herds to be a dinner for the wooers,
+and two shepherds bare him company. So he tethered the
+goats beneath the echoing gallery, and himself spake to
+Odysseus and taunted him, saying:
+
+'Stranger, wilt thou still be a plague to us here in the
+hall, with thy begging of men, and wilt not get thee gone?
+In no wise do I think we twain will be sundered, till we
+taste each the other's fists, for thy begging is out of all
+order. Also there are elsewhere other feasts of the
+Achaeans.'
+
+So he spake, but Odysseus of many counsels answered him not
+a word, but in silence he shook his head, brooding evil in
+the deep of his heart.
+
+Moreover a third man came up, Philoetius, a master of men,
+leading a barren heifer for the wooers and fatted goats.
+Now ferrymen had brought them over from the mainland,
+boatmen who send even other folks on their way, whosoever
+comes to them. The cattle he tethered carefully beneath the
+echoing gallery, and himself drew close to the swineherd,
+and began to question him:
+
+'Swineherd, who is this stranger but newly come to our
+house? From what men does he claim his birth? Where are his
+kin and his native fields? Hapless is he, yet in fashion he
+is like a royal lord; but the gods mar the goodliness of
+wandering men, when even for kings they have woven the web
+of trouble.'
+
+So he spake, and came close to him offering his right hand
+in welcome, and uttering his voice spake to him winged
+words:
+
+'Father and stranger, hail! may happiness be thine in the
+time to come; but as now, thou art fast holden in many
+sorrows! Father Zeus, none other god is more baneful than
+thou; thou hast no compassion on men, that are of thine own
+begetting, but makest them to have fellowship with evil and
+with bitter pains. The sweat brake out on me when I beheld
+him, and mine eyes stand full of tears for memory of
+Odysseus, for he too, methinks, is clad in such vile
+raiment as this, and is wandering among men, if haply he
+yet lives and sees the sunlight. But if he be dead already
+and in the house of Hades, then woe is me for the noble
+Odysseus, who set me over his cattle while I was but a lad
+in the land of the Cephallenians. And now these wax
+numberless; in no better wise could the breed of
+broad-browed cattle of any mortal increase, even as the
+ears of corn. But strangers command me to be ever driving
+these for themselves to devour, and they care nothing for
+the heir in the house, nor tremble at the vengeance of the
+gods, for they are eager even now to divide among
+themselves the possessions of our lord who is long afar.
+Now my heart within my breast often revolves this thing.
+Truly it were an evil deed, while a son of the master is
+yet alive, to get me away to the land of strangers, and go
+off, with cattle and all, to alien men. But this is more
+grievous still, to abide here in affliction watching over
+the herds of other men. Yea, long ago I would have fled and
+gone forth to some other of the proud kings, for things are
+now past sufferance; but still my thought is of that
+hapless one, if he might come I know not whence, and make a
+scattering of the wooers in the halls.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying:
+
+'Neatherd, seeing thou art not like to an evil man or a
+foolish, and of myself I mark how that thou hast gotten
+understanding of heart, therefore I will tell thee
+somewhat, and swear a great oath to confirm it. Be Zeus now
+my witness before any god, and the hospitable board and the
+hearth of noble Odysseus, whereunto I am come, that while
+thou art still in this place Odysseus shall come home, and
+thou shalt see with thine eyes, if thou wilt, the slaying
+of the wooers who lord it here.'
+
+Then the neatherd made answer, saying:
+
+'Ah, would, stranger, that Cronion may accomplish this
+word! So shouldst thou know what my might is, and how my
+hands follow to obey.'
+
+In like manner Eumaeus prayed to all the gods, that wise
+Odysseus might return to his own home.
+
+On such wise they spake one to the other, but the wooers at
+that time were framing death and doom for Telemachus. Even
+so there came by them a bird on their left, an eagle of
+lofty flight, with a cowering dove in his clutch. Then
+Amphinomus made harangue and spake among them:
+
+'Friends, this counsel of ours will not go well, namely,
+the slaying of Telemachus; rather let us bethink us of the
+feast.'
+
+So spake Amphinomus, and his saying pleased them well. They
+passed into the halls of godlike Odysseus and laid by their
+mantles on the chairs and high seats, and sacrificed great
+sheep and stout goats and the fatlings of the boars and the
+heifer of the herd; then they roasted the entrails and
+served them round and mixed wine in the bowl, and the
+swineherd set a cup by each man. And Philoetius, a master
+of men, handed them wheaten bread in beautiful baskets, and
+Melanthius poured out the wine. So they put forth their
+hands on the good cheer set before them.
+
+Now Telemachus, in his crafty purpose, made Odysseus to sit
+down within the stablished hall by the threshold of stone,
+and placed for him a mean settle and a little table. He set
+by him his mess of the entrails, and poured wine into a
+golden cup and spake to him, saying:
+
+'There, sit thee down, drinking thy wine among the lords,
+and the taunts and buffets of all the wooers I myself will
+ward off from thee, for this is no house of public resort,
+but the very house of Odysseus, and for me he won it. But,
+ye wooers, refrain your minds from rebukes and your hands
+from buffets, that no strife and feud may arise.'
+
+So he said, and they all bit their lips and marvelled at
+Telemachus, in that he spake boldly. Then Antinous, son of
+Eupeithes, spake among them, saying:
+
+'Hard though the word be, let us accept it, Achaeans, even
+the word of Telemachus, though mightily he threatens us in
+his speech. For Zeus Cronion hath hindered us of our
+purpose, else would we have silenced him in our halls,
+shrill orator as he is.'
+
+So spake Antinous, but Telemachus took no heed of his
+words. Now the henchmen were leading through the town the
+holy hecatomb of the gods, and lo, the long-haired Achaeans
+were gathered beneath the shady grove of Apollo, the prince
+of archery.
+
+Now when they had roasted the outer flesh and drawn it off
+the spits, they divided the messes and shared the glorious
+feast. And beside Odysseus they that waited set an equal
+share, the same as that which fell to themselves, for so
+Telemachus commanded, the dear son of divine Odysseus.
+
+Now Athene would in nowise suffer the lordly wooers to
+abstain from biting scorn, that the pain might sink yet the
+deeper into the heart of Odysseus, son of Laertes. There
+was among the wooers a man of a lawless heart, Ctesippus
+was his name, and in Same was his home, who trusting,
+forsooth, to his vast possessions, was wooing the wife of
+Odysseus the lord long afar. And now he spake among the
+proud wooers:
+
+'Hear me, ye lordly wooers, and I will say somewhat. The
+stranger verily has long had his due portion, as is meet,
+an equal share; for it is not fair nor just to rob the
+guests of Telemachus of their right, whosoever they may be
+that come to this house. Go to then, I also will bestow on
+him a stranger's gift, that he in turn may give a present
+either to the bath-woman, or to any other of the thralls
+within the house of godlike Odysseus.'
+
+Therewith he caught up an ox's foot from the dish, where it
+lay, and hurled it with strong hand. But Odysseus lightly
+avoided it with a turn of his head, and smiled right grimly
+in his heart, and the ox's foot smote the well-builded
+wall. Then Telemachus rebuked Ctesippus, saying:
+
+'Verily, Ctesippus, it has turned out happier for thy
+heart's pleasure as it is! Thou didst not smite the
+stranger, for he himself avoided that which was cast at
+him, else surely would I have struck thee through the midst
+with the sharp spear, and in place of wedding banquet thy
+father would have had to busy him about a funeral feast in
+this place. Wherefore let no man make show of unseemly
+deeds in this my house, for now I have understanding to
+discern both good and evil, but in time past I was yet a
+child. But as needs we must, we still endure to see these
+deeds, while sheep are slaughtered and wine drunken and
+bread devoured, for hard it is for one man to restrain
+many. But come, no longer work me harm out of an evil
+heart; but if ye be set on slaying me, even me, with the
+sword, even that would I rather endure, and far better
+would it be to die than to witness for ever these unseemly
+deeds--strangers shamefully entreated, and men haling the
+handmaidens in foul wise through the fair house.'
+
+So he spake, and they were all hushed in silence. And late
+and at last spake among them Agelaus, son of Damastor:
+
+'Friends, when a righteous word has been spoken, none
+surely would rebuke another with hard speech and be angry.
+Misuse ye not this stranger, nor any of the thralls that
+are in the house of godlike Odysseus. But to Telemachus
+himself I would speak a soft word and to his mother, if
+perchance it may find favour with the mind of those twain.
+So long as your hearts within you had hope of the wise
+Odysseus returning to his own house, so long none could be
+wroth that ye waited and held back the wooers in the halls,
+for so had it been better, if Odysseus had returned and
+come back to his own home. But now the event is plain, that
+he will return no more. Go then, sit by thy mother and tell
+her all, namely, that she must wed the best man that wooes
+her, and whose gives most gifts; so shalt thou with
+gladness live on the heritage of thy father, eating and
+drinking, while she cares for another's house.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered, and said: 'Nay by Zeus,
+Agelaus, and by the griefs of my father, who far away
+methinks from Ithaca has perished or goes wandering, in
+nowise do I delay my mother's marriage; nay, I bid her be
+married to what man she will, and withal I offer gifts
+without number. But I do indeed feel shame to drive her
+forth from the hall, despite her will, by a word of
+compulsion; God forbid that ever this should be.'
+
+So spake Telemachus, but among the wooers Pallas Athene
+roused laughter unquenchable, and drave their wits
+wandering. And now they were laughing with alien lips, and
+blood-bedabbled was the flesh they ate, and their eyes were
+filled with tears and their soul was fain of lamentation.
+Then the godlike Theoclymenus spake among them:
+
+'Ah, wretched men, what woe is this ye suffer? Shrouded in
+night are your heads and your faces and your knees, and
+kindled is the voice of wailing, and all cheeks are wet
+with tears, and the walls and the fair main-beams of the
+roof are sprinkled with blood. And the porch is full, and
+full is the court, of ghosts that hasten hellwards beneath
+the gloom, and the sun has perished out of heaven, and an
+evil mist has overspread the world.'
+
+So spake he, and they all laughed sweetly at him. Then
+Eurymachus, son of Polybus, began to speak to them, saying:
+
+'The guest that is newly come from a strange land is beside
+himself. Quick, ye young men, and convey him forth out of
+doors, that he may go to the place of the gathering, since
+here he finds it dark as night.'
+
+Then godlike Theoclymenus answered him: 'Eurymachus, in
+nowise do I seek guides of thee to send me on my way. Eyes
+have I, and ears, and both my feet, and a stable mind in my
+breast of no mean fashioning. With these I will go forth,
+for I see evil coming on you, which not one man of the
+wooers may avoid or shun, of all you who in the house of
+divine Odysseus deal insolently with men and devise
+infatuate deeds.'
+
+Therewith he went forth from out the fair-lying halls, and
+came to Peiraeus who received him gladly. Then all the
+wooers, looking one at the other, provoked Telemachus to
+anger, laughing at his guests. And thus some one of the
+haughty youths would speak:
+
+'Telemachus, no man is more luckless than thou in his
+guests, seeing thou keepest such a filthy wanderer,
+whosoever he be, always longing for bread and wine, and
+skilled in no peaceful work nor any deed of war, but a mere
+burden of the earth. And this other fellow again must stand
+up to play the seer! Nay, but if thou wouldest listen to
+me, much better it were. Let us cast these strangers on
+board a benched ship, and send them to the Sicilians,
+whence they would fetch thee their price.' {*}
+
+{* Reading [Greek], which is a correction. Or keeping the
+MSS. [Greek] 'and this should bring thee in a goodly
+price,' the subject to [Greek] being, probably, THE SALE,
+which is suggested by the context.}
+
+So spake the wooers, but he heeded not their words, in
+silence he looked towards his father, expecting evermore
+the hour when he should stretch forth his hands upon the
+shameless wooers.
+
+Now the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, had set her
+fair chair over against them, and heard the words of each
+one of the men in the halls. For in the midst of laughter
+they had got ready the midday meal, a sweet meal and
+abundant, for they had sacrificed many cattle. But never
+could there be a banquet less gracious than that supper,
+such an one as the goddess and the brave man were soon to
+spread for them; for that they had begun the devices of
+shame.
+
+
+
+Book XXI
+
+  Penelope bringeth forth her husband's bow, which the
+  suitors could not bend, but was bent by Odysseus.
+
+Now the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, put it into the heart of
+the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, to set the bow and
+the axes of grey iron, for the wooers in the halls of
+Odysseus, to be the weapons of the contest, and the
+beginning of death. So she descended the tall staircase of
+her chamber, and took the well-bent key in her strong hand,
+a goodly key of bronze, whereon was a handle of ivory. And
+she betook her, with her handmaidens, to the
+treasure-chamber in the uttermost part of the house, where
+lay the treasures of her lord, bronze and gold and
+well-wrought iron. And there lay the back-bent bow and the
+quiver for the arrows, and many shafts were therein, winged
+for death, gifts of a friend of Odysseus, that met with him
+in Lacedaemon, Iphitus son of Eurytus, a man like to the
+gods. These twain fell in with one another in Messene, in
+the house of wise Ortilochus. Now Odysseus had gone thither
+to recover somewhat that was owing to him from all the
+people, for the men of Messene had lifted three hundred
+sheep in benched ships from out of Ithaca, with the
+shepherds of the flock. In quest of these it was that
+Odysseus went on a far embassy, being yet a lad; for his
+father and the other elders sent him forth. Moreover,
+Iphitus came thither in his search for twelve brood mares,
+which he had lost, with sturdy mules at the teat. These
+same it was that brought him death and destiny in the
+latter end, when he came to the child of Zeus, hardy of
+heart, the man Heracles, that had knowledge of great
+adventures, who smote Iphitus though his guest in his
+house, in his frowardness, and had no regard for the
+vengeance of the gods, nor for the table which he spread
+before him; for after the meal he slew him, his guest
+though he was, and kept for himself in the halls the horses
+strong of hoof. After these was Iphitus asking, when he met
+with Odysseus, and he gave him the bow, which of old great
+Eurytus bare and had left at his death to his son in his
+lofty house. And Odysseus gave Iphitus a sharp sword and a
+mighty spear, for the beginning of a loving friendship; but
+never had they acquaintance one of another at the board;
+ere that might be, the son of Zeus slew Iphitus son of
+Eurytus, a man like to the immortals, the same that gave
+Odysseus the bow. But goodly Odysseus would never take it
+with him on the black ships, as he went to the wars, but
+the bow was laid by at home in the halls as a memorial of a
+dear guest, and he carried it on his own land.
+
+Now when the fair lady had come even to the
+treasure-chamber, and had stept upon the threshold of oak,
+which the carpenter had on a time planed cunningly, and
+over it had made straight the line,--doorposts also had he
+fitted thereby, whereon he set shining doors,--anon she
+quickly loosed the strap from the handle of the door, and
+thrust in the key, and with a straight aim shot back the
+bolts. And even as a bull roars that is grazing in a
+meadow, so mightily roared the fair doors smitten by the
+key; and speedily they flew open before her. Then she stept
+on to the high floor, where the coffers stood, wherein the
+fragrant raiment was stored. Thence she stretched forth her
+hand, and took the bow from off the pin, all in the bright
+case which sheathed it around. And there she sat down, and
+set the case upon her knees, and cried aloud and wept, and
+took out the bow of her lord. Now when she had her fill of
+tearful lament, she set forth to go to the hall to the
+company of the proud wooers, with the back-bent bow in her
+hands, and the quiver for the arrows, and many shafts were
+therein winged for death. And her maidens along with her
+bare a chest, wherein lay much store of iron and bronze,
+the gear of combat of their lord. Now when the fair lady
+had come unto the wooers, she stood by the pillar of the
+well-builded roof, holding up her glistening tire before
+her face; and a faithful maiden stood on either side of
+her, and straightway she spake out among the wooers and
+declared her word, saying:
+
+'Hear me, ye lordly wooers, who have vexed this house, that
+ye might eat and drink here evermore, forasmuch as the
+master is long gone, nor could ye find any other mark {*}
+for your speech, but all your desire was to wed me and take
+me to wife. Nay come now, ye wooers, seeing that this is
+the prize that is put before you. I will set forth for you
+the great bow of divine Odysseus, and whoso shall most
+easily string the bow in his hands, and shoot through all
+twelve axes, with him will I go and forsake this house,
+this house of my wedlock, so fair and filled with all
+livelihood, which methinks I shall yet remember, aye, in a
+dream.'
+
+{* The accepted interpretation of [Greek] (a word which
+occurs only here) is 'pretext'; but this does not agree
+with any of the meanings of the verb from which the noun is
+derived. The usage of [Greek] in Od. xix. 71, xxii. 75, of
+[Greek] in Il. xvii. 465, and of [Greek] in Od. xxii. 15,
+suggests rather for [Greek] the idea of 'aiming at a
+mark.'}
+
+So spake she, and commanded Eumaeus, the goodly swineherd,
+to set the bow for the wooers and the axes of grey iron.
+And Eumaeus took them with tears, and laid them down; and
+otherwhere the neatherd wept, when he beheld the bow of his
+lord. Then Antinous rebuked them, and spake and hailed
+them:
+
+'Foolish boors, whose thoughts look not beyond the day, ah,
+wretched pair, wherefore now do ye shed tears, and stir the
+soul of the lady within her, when her heart already lies
+low in pain, for that she has lost her dear lord? Nay sit,
+and feast in silence, or else get ye forth and weep, and
+leave the bow here behind, to be a terrible contest for the
+wooers, for methinks that this polished bow does not
+lightly yield itself to be strung. For there is no man
+among all these present such as Odysseus was, and I myself
+saw him, yea I remember it well, though I was still but a
+child.'
+
+So spake he, but his heart within him hoped that he would
+string the bow, and shoot through the iron. Yet verily, he
+was to be the first that should taste the arrow at the
+hands of the noble Odysseus, whom but late he was
+dishonouring as he sat in the halls, and was inciting all
+his fellows to do likewise.
+
+Then the mighty prince Telemachus spake among them, saying:
+'Lo now, in very truth, Cronion has robbed me of my wits!
+My dear mother, wise as she is, declares that she will go
+with a stranger and forsake this house; yet I laugh and in
+my silly heart I am glad. Nay come now, ye wooers, seeing
+that this is the prize which is set before you, a lady, the
+like of whom there is not now in the Achaean land, neither
+in sacred Pylos, nor in Argos, nor in Mycenae, nor yet in
+Ithaca, nor in the dark mainland. Nay but ye know all this
+yourselves,--why need I praise my mother? Come therefore,
+delay not the issue with excuses, nor hold much longer
+aloof from the drawing of the bow, that we may see the
+thing that is to be. Yea and I myself would make trial of
+this bow. If I shall string it, and shoot through the iron,
+then should I not sorrow if my lady mother were to quit
+these halls and go with a stranger, seeing that I should be
+left behind, well able now to lift my father's goodly gear
+of combat.'
+
+Therewith he cast from off his neck his cloak of scarlet,
+and sprang to his full height, and put away the sword from
+his shoulders. First he dug a good trench and set up the
+axes, one long trench for them all, and over it he made
+straight the line and round about stamped in the earth. And
+amazement fell on all that beheld how orderly he set the
+axes, though never before had he seen it so. Then he went
+and stood by the threshold and began to prove the bow.
+Thrice he made it to tremble in his great desire to draw
+it, and thrice he rested from his effort, though still he
+hoped in his heart to string the bow, and shoot through the
+iron. And now at last he might have strung it, mightily
+straining thereat for the fourth time, but Odysseus nodded
+frowning and stayed him, for all his eagerness. Then the
+strong prince Telemachus spake among them again:
+
+'Lo you now, even to the end of my days I shall be a coward
+and a weakling, or it may be I am too young, and have as
+yet no trust in my hands to defend me from such an one as
+does violence without a cause. But come now, ye who are
+mightier men than I, essay the bow and let us make an end
+of the contest.'
+
+Therewith he put the bow from him on the ground, leaning it
+against the smooth and well-compacted doors, and the swift
+shaft he propped hard by against the fair bow-tip, and then
+he sat down once more on the high seat, whence he had
+risen.
+
+Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spake among them, saying:
+'Rise up in order, all my friends, beginning from the left,
+even from the place whence the wine is poured.'
+
+So spake Antinous, and the saying pleased them well. Then
+first stood up Leiodes, son of Oenops, who was their
+soothsayer and ever sat by the fair mixing bowl at the
+extremity of the hall; he alone hated their infatuate deeds
+and was indignant with all the wooers. He now first took
+the bow and the swift shaft, and he went and stood by the
+threshold, and began to prove the bow; but he could not
+bend it; or ever that might be, his hands grew weary with
+the straining, his unworn, delicate hands; so he spake
+among the wooers, saying:
+
+'Friends, of a truth I cannot bend it, let some other take
+it. Ah, many of our bravest shall this bow rob of spirit
+and of life, since truly it is far better for us to die,
+than to live on and to fail of that for which we assemble
+evermore in this place, day by day expecting the prize.
+Many there be even now that hope in their hearts and desire
+to wed Penelope, the bedfellow of Odysseus: but when such
+an one shall make trial of the bow and see the issue,
+thereafter let him woo some other fair-robed Achaean woman
+with his bridal gifts and seek to win her. So may our lady
+wed the man that gives most gifts, and comes as the chosen
+of fate.'
+
+So he spake, and put from him the bow leaning it against
+the smooth and well-compacted doors, and the swift shaft he
+propped hard by against the fair bow-tip, and then he sat
+down once more on the high seat, whence he had risen.
+
+But Antinous rebuked him, and spake and hailed him:
+'Leiodes, what word hath escaped the door of thy lips; a
+hard word, and a grievous? Nay, it angers me to hear it,
+and to think that a bow such as this shall rob our bravest
+of spirit and of life, and all because thou canst not draw
+it. For I tell thee that thy lady mother bare thee not of
+such might as to draw a bow and shoot arrows: but there be
+others of the proud wooers that shall draw it soon.'
+
+So he spake, and commanded Melanthius, the goatherd,
+saying: 'Up now, light a fire in the halls, Melanthius; and
+place a great settle by the fire and a fleece thereon, and
+bring forth a great ball of lard that is within, that we
+young men may warm and anoint the bow therewith and prove
+it, and make an end of the contest.'
+
+So he spake, and Melanthius soon kindled the never-resting
+fire, and drew up a settle and placed it near, and put a
+fleece thereon, and he brought forth a great ball of lard
+that was within. Therewith the young men warmed the bow,
+and made essay, but could not string it, for they were
+greatly lacking of such might. And Antinous still held to
+the task and godlike Eurymachus, chief men among the
+wooers, who were far the most excellent of all.
+
+But those other twain went forth both together from the
+house, the neatherd and the swineherd of godlike Odysseus;
+and Odysseus passed out after them. But when they were now
+gotten without the gates and the courtyard, he uttered his
+voice and spake to them in gentle words:
+
+'Neatherd and thou swineherd, shall I say somewhat or keep
+it to myself? Nay, my spirit bids me declare it. What
+manner of men would ye be to help Odysseus, if he should
+come thus suddenly, I know not whence, and some god were to
+bring him? Would ye stand on the side of the wooers or of
+Odysseus? Tell me even as your heart and spirit bid you.'
+
+Then the neatherd answered him, saying: 'Father Zeus, if
+but thou wouldst fulfil this wish: {*}--oh, that that man
+might come, and some god lead him hither! So shouldest thou
+know what my might is, and how my hands follow to obey.'
+
+{* Placing a colon at [Greek]}
+
+In like manner Eumaeus prayed to all the gods that wise
+Odysseus might return to his own home.
+
+Now when he knew for a surety what spirit they were of,
+once more he answered and spake to them, saying:
+
+'Behold, home am I come, even I; after much travail and
+sore am I come in the twentieth year to mine own country.
+And I know how that my coming is desired by you alone of
+all my thralls, for from none besides have I heard a prayer
+that I might return once more to my home. And now I will
+tell you all the truth, even as it shall come to pass. If
+the god shall subdue the proud wooers to my hands, I will
+bring you each one a wife, and will give you a heritage of
+your own and a house builded near to me, and ye twain shall
+be thereafter in mine eyes as the brethren and companions
+of Telemachus. But behold, I will likewise show you a most
+manifest token, that ye may know me well and be certified
+in heart, even the wound that the boar dealt me with his
+white tusk long ago, when I went to Parnassus with the sons
+of Autolycus.'
+
+Therewith he drew aside the rags from the great scar. And
+when the twain had beheld it and marked it well, they cast
+their arms about the wise Odysseus, and fell a weeping; and
+kissed him lovingly on head and shoulders. And in like
+manner Odysseus too kissed their heads and hands. And now
+would the sunlight have gone down upon their sorrowing, had
+not Odysseus himself stayed them saying:
+
+'Cease ye from weeping and lamentation, lest some one come
+forth from the hall and see us, and tell it likewise in the
+house. Nay, go ye within one by one and not both together,
+I first and you following, and let this be the token
+between us. All the rest, as many as are proud wooers, will
+not suffer that I should be given the bow and quiver; do
+thou then, goodly Eumaeus, as thou bearest the bow through
+the hall, set it in my hands and speak to the women that
+they bar the well-fitting doors of their chamber. And if
+any of them hear the sound of groaning or the din of men
+within our walls, let them not run forth but abide where
+they are in silence at their work. But on thee, goodly
+Philoetius, I lay this charge, to bolt and bar the outer
+gate of the court and swiftly to tie the knot.'
+
+Therewith he passed within the fair-lying halls, and went
+and sat upon the settle whence he had risen. And likewise
+the two thralls of divine Odysseus went within.
+
+And now Eurymachus was handling the bow, warming it on this
+side and on that at the light of the fire; yet even so he
+could not string it, and in his great heart he groaned
+mightily; and in heaviness of spirit he spake and called
+aloud, saying:
+
+'Lo you now, truly am I grieved for myself and for you all!
+Not for the marriage do I mourn so greatly, afflicted
+though I be; there are many Achaean women besides, some in
+sea-begirt Ithaca itself and some in other cities. Nay, but
+I grieve, if indeed we are so far worse than godlike
+Odysseus in might, seeing that we cannot bend the bow. It
+will be a shame even for men unborn to hear thereof.'
+
+Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him: 'Eurymachus,
+this shall not be so, and thou thyself too knowest it. For
+to-day the feast of the archer god is held in the land, a
+holy feast. Who at such a time would be bending bows? Nay,
+set it quietly by; what and if we should let the axes all
+stand as they are? None methinks will come to the hall of
+Odysseus, son of Laertes, and carry them away. Go to now,
+let the wine-bearer pour for libation into each cup in
+turn, that after the drink-offering we may set down the
+curved bow. And in the morning bid Melanthius, the
+goatherd, to lead hither the very best goats in all his
+herds, that we may lay pieces of the thighs on the altar of
+Apollo the archer, and assay the bow and make an end of the
+contest.'
+
+So spake Antinous, and the saying pleased them well. Then
+the henchmen poured water on their hands, and pages crowned
+the mixing-bowls with drink, and served out the wine to
+all, when they had poured for libation into each cup in
+turn. But when they had poured forth and had drunken to
+their hearts' desire, Odysseus of many counsels spake among
+them out of a crafty heart, saying:
+
+'Hear me, ye wooers of the renowned queen, that I may say
+that which my heart within me bids. And mainly to
+Eurymachus I make my prayer and to the godlike Antinous,
+forasmuch as he has spoken even this word aright, namely,
+that for this present ye cease from your archery and leave
+the issue to the gods; and in the morning the god will give
+the victory to whomsoever he will. Come therefore, give me
+the polished bow, that in your presence I may prove my
+hands and strength, whether I have yet any force such as
+once was in my supple limbs, or whether my wanderings and
+needy fare have even now destroyed it.'
+
+So spake he and they all were exceeding wroth, for fear
+lest he should string the polished bow. And Antinous
+rebuked him, and spake and hailed him:
+
+'Wretched stranger, thou hast no wit, nay never so little.
+Art thou not content to feast at ease in our high company,
+and to lack not thy share of the banquet, but to listen to
+our speech and our discourse, while no guest and beggar
+beside thee hears our speech? Wine it is that wounds thee,
+honey sweet wine, that is the bane of others too, even of
+all who take great draughts and drink out of measure. Wine
+it was that darkened the mind even of the Centaur, renowned
+Eurytion, in the hall of high-hearted Peirithous, when he
+went to the Lapithae; and after that his heart was darkened
+with wine, he wrought foul deeds in his frenzy, in the
+house of Peirithous. Then wrath fell on all the heroes, and
+they leaped up and dragged him forth through the porch,
+when they had shorn off his ears and nostrils with the
+pitiless sword, and then with darkened mind he bare about
+with him the burden of his sin in foolishness of heart.
+Thence was the feud begun between the Centaurs and mankind;
+but first for himself gat he hurt, being heavy with wine.
+And even so I declare great mischief unto thee if thou
+shalt string the bow, for thou shalt find no courtesy at
+the hand of anyone in our land, and anon we will send thee
+in a black ship to Echetus, the maimer of all men, and
+thence thou shalt not be saved alive. Nay then, drink at
+thine ease, and strive not still with men that are younger
+than thou.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Antinous, truly it is not
+fair nor just to rob the guests of Telemachus of their due,
+whosoever he may be that comes to this house. Dost thou
+think if yonder stranger strings the great bow of Odysseus,
+in the pride of his might and of his strength of arm, that
+he will lead me to his home and make me his wife? Nay he
+himself, methinks, has no such hope in his breast; so, as
+for that, let not any of you fret himself while feasting in
+this place; that were indeed unmeet.'
+
+Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered her, saying:
+'Daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, it is not that we deem
+that he will lead thee to his home,--far be such a thought
+from us,--but we dread the speech of men and women, lest
+some day one of the baser sort among the Achaeans say:
+"Truly men far too mean are wooing the wife of one that is
+noble, nor can they string the polished bow. But a stranger
+and a beggar came in his wanderings, and lightly strung the
+bow, and shot through the iron." Thus will they speak, and
+this will turn to our reproach.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Eurymachus, never can
+there be fair fame in the land for those that devour and
+dishonour the house of a prince, but why make ye this thing
+into a reproach? But, behold, our guest is great of growth
+and well-knit, and avows him to be born the son of a good
+father. Come then, give ye him the polished bow, that we
+may see that which is to be. For thus will I declare my
+saying, and it shall surely come to pass. If he shall
+string the bow and Apollo grant him renown, I will clothe
+him in a mantle and a doublet, goodly raiment, and I will
+give him a sharp javelin to defend him against dogs and
+men, and a two-edged sword and sandals to bind beneath his
+feet, and I will send him whithersoever his heart and
+spirit bid him go.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'My mother, as
+for the bow, no Achaean is mightier than I to give or to
+deny it to whomso I will, neither as many as are lords in
+rocky Ithaca nor in the isles on the side of Elis, the
+pastureland of horses. Not one of these shall force me in
+mine own despite, if I choose to give this bow, yea once
+and for all, to the stranger to bear away with him. But do
+thou go to thine own chamber and mind thine own
+housewiferies, the loom and distaff, and bid thine
+handmaids ply their tasks. But the bow shall be for men,
+for all, but for me in chief, for mine is the lordship in
+the house.'
+
+Then in amaze she went back to her chamber, for she laid up
+the wise saying of her son in her heart. She ascended to
+her upper chamber with the women her handmaids, and then
+was bewailing Odysseus, her dear lord, till grey-eyed
+Athene cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids.
+
+Now the goodly swineherd had taken the curved bow, and was
+bearing it, when the wooers all cried out upon him in the
+halls. And thus some one of the haughty youths would speak:
+'Whither now art thou bearing the curved bow, thou wretched
+swineherd, crazed in thy wits? Lo, soon shall the swift
+hounds of thine own breeding eat thee hard by thy swine,
+alone and away from men, if Apollo will be gracious to us
+and the other deathless gods.'
+
+Even so they spake, and he took and set down the bow in
+that very place, being affrighted because many cried out on
+him in the halls. Then Telemachus from the other side spake
+threateningly, and called aloud:
+
+'Father, bring hither the bow, soon shalt thou rue it that
+thou servest many masters. Take heed, lest I that am
+younger than thou pursue thee to the field, and pelt thee
+with stones, for in might I am the better. If only I were
+so much mightier in strength of arm than all the wooers
+that are in the halls, soon would I send many an one forth
+on a woeful way from out our house, for they imagine
+mischief against us.'
+
+So he spake, and all the wooers laughed sweetly at him, and
+ceased now from their cruel anger toward Telemachus. Then
+the swineherd bare the bow through the hall, and went up to
+wise Odysseus, and set it in his hands. And he called forth
+the nurse Eurycleia from the chamber and spake to her:
+
+'Wise Eurycleia, Telemachus bids thee bar the well-fitting
+doors of thy chamber, and if any of the women hear the
+sound of groaning or the din of men within our walls, let
+them not go forth, but abide where they are in silence at
+their work.'
+
+So he spake, and wingless her speech remained, and she
+barred the doors of the fair-lying chambers.
+
+Then Philoetius hasted forth silently from the house, and
+barred the outer gates of the fenced court. Now there lay
+beneath the gallery the cable of a curved ship, fashioned
+of the byblus plant, wherewith he made fast the gates, and
+then himself passed within. Then he went and sat on the
+settle whence he had risen, and gazed upon Odysseus. He
+already was handling the bow, turning it every way about,
+and proving it on this side and on that, lest the worms
+might have eaten the horns when the lord of the bow was
+away. And thus men spake looking each one to his neighbour:
+
+'Verily he has a good eye, and a shrewd turn for a bow!
+Either, methinks, he himself has such a bow lying by at
+home or else he is set on making one, in such wise does he
+turn it hither and thither in his hands, this evil-witted
+beggar.'
+
+And another again of the haughty youths would say: 'Would
+that the fellow may have profit thereof, just so surely as
+he shall ever prevail to bend this bow!'
+
+So spake the wooers, but Odysseus of many counsels had
+lifted the great bow and viewed it on every side, and even
+as when a man that is skilled in the lyre and in
+minstrelsy, easily stretches a cord about a new peg, after
+tying at either end the twisted sheep-gut, even so Odysseus
+straightway bent the great bow, all without effort, and
+took it in his right hand and proved the bow-string, which
+rang sweetly at the touch, in tone like a swallow. Then
+great grief came upon the wooers, and the colour of their
+countenance was changed, and Zeus thundered loud showing
+forth his tokens. And the steadfast goodly Odysseus was
+glad thereat, in that the son of deep-counselling Cronos
+had sent him a sign. Then he caught up a swift arrow which
+lay by his table, bare, but the other shafts were stored
+within the hollow quiver, those whereof the Achaeans were
+soon to taste. He took and laid it on the bridge of the
+bow, and held the notch and drew the string, even from the
+settle whereon he sat, and with straight aim shot the shaft
+and missed not one of the axes, beginning from the first
+axe-handle, and the bronze-weighted shaft passed clean
+through and out at the last. Then he spake to Telemachus,
+saying:
+
+'Telemachus, thy guest that sits in the halls does thee no
+shame. In nowise did I miss my mark, nor was I wearied with
+long bending of the bow. Still is my might steadfast--not
+as the wooers say scornfully to slight me. But now is it
+time that supper too be got ready for the Achaeans, while
+it is yet light, and thereafter must we make other sport
+with the dance and the lyre, for these are the crown of the
+feast.'
+
+Therewith he nodded with bent brows, and Telemachus, the
+dear son of divine Odysseus, girt his sharp sword about him
+and took the spear in his grasp, and stood by his high seat
+at his father's side, armed with the gleaming bronze.
+
+
+
+Book XXII
+
+  The killing of the wooers.
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels stripped him of his rags and
+leaped on to the great threshold with his bow and quiver
+full of arrows, and poured forth all the swift shafts there
+before his feet, and spake among the wooers:
+
+'Lo, now is this terrible trial ended at last; and now will
+I know of another mark, which never yet man has smitten, if
+perchance I may hit it and Apollo grant me renown.'
+
+With that he pointed the bitter arrow at Antinous. Now he
+was about raising to his lips a fair twy-eared chalice of
+gold, and behold, he was handling it to drink of the wine,
+and death was far from his thoughts. For who among men at
+feast would deem that one man amongst so many, how hardy
+soever he were, would bring on him foul death and black
+fate? But Odysseus aimed and smote him with the arrow in
+the throat, and the point passed clean out through his
+delicate neck, and he fell sidelong and the cup dropped
+from his hand as he was smitten, and at once through his
+nostrils there came up a thick jet of slain man's blood,
+and quickly he spurned the table from him with his foot,
+and spilt the food on the ground, and the bread and the
+roast flesh were defiled. Then the wooers raised a clamour
+through the halls when they saw the man fallen, and they
+leaped from their high seats, as men stirred by fear, all
+through the hall, peering everywhere along the well-builded
+walls, and nowhere was there a shield or mighty spear to
+lay hold on. Then they reviled Odysseus with angry words:
+
+'Stranger, thou shootest at men to thy hurt. Never again
+shalt thou enter other lists, now is utter doom assured
+thee. Yea, for now hast thou slain the man that was far the
+best of all the noble youths in Ithaca; wherefore vultures
+shall devour thee here.'
+
+So each one spake, for indeed they thought that Odysseus
+had not slain him wilfully; but they knew not in their
+folly that on their own heads, each and all of them, the
+bands of death had been made fast. Then Odysseus of many
+counsels looked fiercely on them, and spake:
+
+'Ye dogs, ye said in your hearts that I should never more
+come home from the land of the Trojans, in that ye wasted
+my house, and lay with the maidservants by force, and
+traitorously wooed my wife while I was yet alive, and ye
+had no fear of the gods, that hold the wide heaven, nor of
+the indignation of men hereafter. But now the bands of
+death have been made fast upon you one and all.'
+
+Even so he spake, and pale fear gat hold on the limbs of
+all, and each man looked about, where he might shun utter
+doom. And Eurymachus alone answered him, and spake: 'If
+thou art indeed Odysseus of Ithaca, come home again, with
+right thou speakest thus, of all that the Achaeans have
+wrought, many infatuate deeds in thy halls and many in the
+field. Howbeit, he now lies dead that is to blame for all,
+Antinous; for he brought all these things upon us, not as
+longing very greatly for the marriage nor needing it sore,
+but with another purpose, that Cronion has not fulfilled
+for him, namely, that he might himself be king over all the
+land of stablished Ithaca, and he was to have lain in wait
+for thy son and killed him. But now he is slain after his
+deserving, and do thou spare thy people, even thine own;
+and we will hereafter go about the township and yield thee
+amends for all that has been eaten and drunken in thy
+halls, each for himself bringing atonement of twenty oxen
+worth, and requiting thee in gold and bronze till thy heart
+is softened, but till then none may blame thee that thou
+art angry.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on him, and
+said: 'Eurymachus, not even if ye gave me all your
+heritage, all that ye now have, and whatsoever else ye
+might in any wise add thereto, not even so would I
+henceforth hold my hands from slaying, ere the wooers had
+paid for all their transgressions. And now the choice lies
+before you, whether to fight in fair battle or to fly, if
+any may avoid death and the fates. But there be some,
+methinks, that shall not escape from utter doom.'
+
+He spake, and their knees were straightway loosened and
+their hearts melted within them. And Eurymachus spake among
+them yet again:
+
+'Friends, it is plain that this man will not hold his
+unconquerable hands, but now that he has caught up the
+polished bow and quiver, he will shoot from the smooth
+threshold, till he has slain us all; wherefore let us take
+thought for the delight of battle. Draw your blades, and
+hold up the tables to ward off the arrows of swift death,
+and let us all have at him with one accord, and drive him,
+if it may be, from the threshold and the doorway and then
+go through the city, and quickly would the cry be raised.
+Thereby should this man soon have shot his latest bolt.'
+
+Therewith he drew his sharp two-edged sword of bronze, and
+leapt on Odysseus with a terrible cry, but in the same
+moment goodly Odysseus shot the arrow forth and struck him
+on the breast by the pap, and drave the swift shaft into
+his liver. So he let the sword fall from his hand, and
+grovelling over the table he bowed and fell, and spilt the
+food and the two-handled cup on the floor. And in his agony
+he smote the ground with his brow, and spurning with both
+his feet he overthrew the high seat, and the mist of death
+was shed upon his eyes.
+
+Then Amphinomus made at renowned Odysseus, setting straight
+at him, and drew his sharp sword, if perchance he might
+make him give ground from the door. But Telemachus was
+beforehand with him, and cast and smote him from behind
+with a bronze-shod spear between the shoulders, and drave
+it out through the breast, and he fell with a crash and
+struck the ground full with his forehead. Then Telemachus
+sprang away, leaving the long spear fixed in Amphinomus,
+for he greatly dreaded lest one of the Achaeans might run
+upon him with his blade, and stab him as he drew forth the
+spear, or smite him with a down stroke {*} of the sword. So
+he started and ran and came quickly to his father, and
+stood by him, and spake winged words:
+
+{* Or, reading [Greek], smite him as he stooped over the
+corpse.}
+
+'Father, lo, now I will bring thee a shield and two spears
+and a helmet all of bronze, close fitting on the temples,
+and when I return I will arm myself, and likewise give arms
+to the swineherd and to the neatherd yonder: for it is
+better to be clad in full armour.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Run and
+bring them while I have arrows to defend me, lest they
+thrust me from the doorway, one man against them all.'
+
+So he spake, and Telemachus obeyed his dear father, and
+went forth to the chamber, where his famous weapons were
+lying. Thence he took out four shields and eight spears,
+and four helmets of bronze, with thick plumes of horse
+hair, and he started to bring them and came quickly to his
+father. Now he girded the gear of bronze about his own body
+first, and in like manner the two thralls did on the goodly
+armour, and stood beside the wise and crafty Odysseus. Now
+he, so long as he had arrows to defend him, kept aiming and
+smote the wooers one by one in his house, and they fell
+thick one upon another. But when the arrows failed the
+prince in his archery, he leaned his bow against the
+doorpost of the stablished hall, against the shining faces
+of the entrance. As for him he girt his fourfold shield
+about his shoulders and bound on his mighty head a well
+wrought helmet, with horse hair crest, and terribly the
+plume waved aloft. And he grasped two mighty spears tipped
+with bronze.
+
+Now there was in the well-builded wall a certain postern
+raised above the floor, and there by the topmost level of
+the threshold of the stablished hall, was a way into an
+open passage, closed by well-fitted folding doors. So
+Odysseus bade the goodly swineherd stand near thereto and
+watch the way, for thither there was but one approach. Then
+Agelaus spake among them, and declared his word to all:
+
+'Friends, will not some man climb up to the postern, and
+give word to the people, and a cry would be raised
+straightway; so should this man soon have shot his latest
+bolt?'
+
+Then Melanthius, the goatherd, answered him, saying: 'It
+may in no wise be, prince Agelaus; for the fair gate of the
+courtyard is terribly nigh, and perilous is the entrance to
+the passage, and one man, if he were valiant, might keep
+back a host. But come, let me bring you armour from the
+inner chamber, that ye may be clad in hauberks, for,
+methinks, within that room and not elsewhere did Odysseus
+and his renowned son lay by the arms.'
+
+Therewith Melanthius, the goatherd, climbed up by the
+clerestory of the hall to the inner chambers of Odysseus,
+whence he took twelve shields and as many spears, and as
+many helmets of bronze with thick plumes of horse hair, and
+he came forth and brought them speedily, and gave them to
+the wooers. Then the knees of Odysseus were loosened and
+his heart melted within him, when he saw them girding on
+the armour and brandishing the long spears in their hands,
+and great, he saw, was the adventure. Quickly he spake to
+Telemachus winged words:
+
+'Telemachus, sure I am that one of the women in the halls
+is stirring up an evil battle against us, or perchance it
+is Melanthius.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him: 'My father, it is I that
+have erred herein and none other is to blame, for I left
+the well-fitted door of the chamber open, and there has
+been one of them but too quick to spy it. Go now, goodly
+Eumaeus, and close the door of the chamber, and mark if it
+be indeed one of the women that does this mischief, or
+Melanthius, son of Dolius, as methinks it is.'
+
+Even so they spake one to the other. And Melanthius, the
+goatherd, went yet again to the chamber to bring the fair
+armour. But the goodly swineherd was ware thereof, and
+quickly he spake to Odysseus who stood nigh him:
+
+'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus, of many
+devices, lo, there again is that baleful man, whom we
+ourselves suspect, going to the chamber; do thou tell me
+truly, shall I slay him if I prove the better man, or bring
+him hither to thee, that he may pay for the many
+transgressions that he has devised in thy house?'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered saying: 'Verily, I
+and Telemachus will keep the proud wooers within the halls,
+for all their fury, but do ye twain tie his feet and arms
+behind his back and cast him into the chamber, and close
+the doors after you,{*} and make fast to his body a twisted
+rope, and drag him up the lofty pillar till he be near the
+roof beams, that he may hang there and live for long, and
+suffer grievous torment.'
+
+{* Or, as Mr. Merry suggests in his note, 'tie boards
+behind him' as a method of torture. He compares Aristoph.
+Thesm. 931,940.}
+
+So he spake, and they gave good heed and hearkened. So they
+went forth to the chamber, but the goatherd who was within
+knew not of their coming. Now he was seeking for the armour
+in the secret place of the chamber, but they twain stood in
+waiting on either side the doorposts. And when Melanthius,
+the goatherd, was crossing the threshold with a goodly helm
+in one hand, and in the other a wide shield and an old,
+stained with rust, the shield of the hero Laertes that he
+bare when he was young--but at that time it was laid by,
+and the seams of the straps were loosened,--then the twain
+rushed on him and caught him, and dragged him in by the
+hair, and cast him on the floor in sorrowful plight, and
+bound him hand and foot in a bitter bond, tightly winding
+each limb behind his back, even as the son of Laertes bade
+them, the steadfast goodly Odysseus. And they made fast to
+his body a twisted rope, and dragged him up the lofty
+pillar till he came near the roof beams. Then didst thou
+speak to him and gird at him, swineherd Eumaeus:
+
+'Now in good truth, Melanthius, shalt thou watch all night,
+lying in a soft bed as beseems thee, nor shall the
+early-born Dawn escape thy ken, when she comes forth from
+the streams of Oceanus, on her golden throne, in the hour
+when thou art wont to drive the goats to make a meal for
+the wooers in the halls.'
+
+So he was left there, stretched tight in the deadly bond.
+But they twain got into their harness, and closed the
+shining door, and went to Odysseus, wise and crafty chief.
+There they stood breathing fury, four men by the threshold,
+while those others within the halls were many and good
+warriors. Then Athene, daughter of Zeus, drew nigh them,
+like Mentor in fashion and in voice, and Odysseus was glad
+when he saw her and spake, saying:
+
+'Mentor, ward from us hurt, and remember me thy dear
+companion, that befriended thee often, and thou art of like
+age with me.'
+
+So he spake, deeming the while that it was Athene, summoner
+of the host. But the wooers on the other side shouted in
+the halls, and first Agelaus son of Damastor rebuked
+Athene, saying:
+
+'Mentor, let not the speech of Odysseus beguile thee to
+fight against the wooers, and to succour him. For methinks
+that on this wise we shall work our will. When we shall
+have slain these men, father and son, thereafter shalt thou
+perish with them, such deeds thou art set on doing in these
+halls; nay, with thine own head shalt thou pay the price.
+But when with the sword we shall have overcome your
+violence, we will mingle all thy possessions, all that thou
+hast at home or in the field, with the wealth of Odysseus,
+and we will not suffer thy sons nor thy daughters to dwell
+in the halls, nor thy good wife to gad about in the town of
+Ithaca.'
+
+So spake he, and Athene was mightily angered at heart, and
+chid Odysseus in wrathful words: 'Odysseus, thou hast no
+more steadfast might nor any prowess, as when for nine
+whole years continually thou didst battle with the Trojans
+for high born Helen, of the white arms, and many men thou
+slewest in terrible warfare, and by thy device the
+wide-wayed city of Priam was taken. How then, now that thou
+art come to thy house and thine own possessions, dost thou
+bewail thee and art of feeble courage to stand before the
+wooers? Nay, come hither, friend, and stand by me, and I
+will show thee a thing, that thou mayest know what manner
+of man is Mentor, son of Alcimus, to repay good deeds in
+the ranks of foemen.'
+
+She spake, and gave him not yet clear victory in full, but
+still for a while made trial of the might and prowess of
+Odysseus and his renowned son. As for her she flew up to
+the roof timber of the murky hall, in such fashion as a
+swallow flies, and there sat down.
+
+Now Agelaus, son of Damastor, urged on the wooers, and
+likewise Eurynomus and Amphimedon and Demoptolemus and
+Peisandrus son of Polyctor, and wise Polybus, for these
+were in valiancy far the best men of the wooers, that still
+lived and fought for their lives; for the rest had fallen
+already beneath the bow and the thick rain of arrows. Then
+Agelaus spake among them, and made known his word to all:
+
+'Friends, now at last will this man hold his unconquerable
+hands. Lo, now has Mentor left him and spoken but vain
+boasts, and these remain alone at the entrance of the
+doors. Wherefore now, throw not your long spears all
+together, but come, do ye six cast first, if perchance Zeus
+may grant us to smite Odysseus and win renown. Of the rest
+will we take no heed, so soon as that man shall have
+fallen.'
+
+So he spake and they all cast their javelins, as he bade
+them, eagerly; but behold, Athene so wrought that they were
+all in vain. One man smote the doorpost of the stablished
+hall, and another the well-fastened door, and the ashen
+spear of yet another wooer, heavy with bronze, stuck fast
+in the wall. So when they had avoided all the spears of the
+wooers, the steadfast goodly Odysseus began first to speak
+among them:
+
+'Friends, now my word is that we too cast and hurl into the
+press of the wooers, that are mad to slay and strip us
+beyond the measure of their former iniquities.'
+
+So he spake, and they all took good aim and threw their
+sharp spears, and Odysseus smote Demoptolemus, and
+Telemachus Euryades, and the swineherd slew Elatus, and the
+neatherd Peisandrus. Thus they all bit the wide floor with
+their teeth, and the wooers fell back into the inmost part
+of the hall. But the others dashed upon them and drew forth
+the shafts from the bodies of the dead.
+
+Then once more the wooers threw their sharp spears eagerly;
+but behold, Athene so wrought that many of them were in
+vain. One man smote the door-post of the stablished hall,
+and another the well-fastened door, and the ashen spear of
+another wooer, heavy with bronze, struck in the wall. Yet
+Amphimedon hit Telemachus on the hand by the wrist lightly,
+and the shaft of bronze wounded the surface of the skin.
+And Ctesippus grazed the shoulder of Eumaeus with a long
+spear high above the shield, and the spear flew over and
+fell to the ground. Then again Odysseus, the wise and
+crafty, he and his men cast their swift spears into the
+press of the wooers, and now once more Odysseus, waster of
+cities, smote Eurydamas, and Telemachus Amphimedon, and the
+swineherd slew Polybus, and last, the neatherd struck
+Ctesippus in the breast and boasted over him, saying:
+
+'O son of Polytherses, thou lover of jeering, never give
+place at all to folly to speak so big, but leave thy case
+to the gods, since in truth they are far mightier than
+thou. This gift is thy recompense for the ox-foot that thou
+gavest of late to the divine Odysseus, when he went begging
+through the house.'
+
+So spake the keeper of the shambling kine. Next Odysseus
+wounded the son of Damastor in close fight with his long
+spear, and Telemachus wounded Leocritus son of Euenor,
+right in the flank with his lance, and drave the bronze
+point clean through, that he fell prone and struck the
+ground full with his forehead. Then Athene held up her
+destroying aegis on high from the roof, and their minds
+were scared, and they fled through the hall, like a drove
+of kine that the flitting gadfly falls upon and scatters
+hither and thither in spring time, when the long days
+begin. But the others set on like vultures of crooked claws
+and curved beak, that come forth from the mountains and
+dash upon smaller birds, and these scour low in the plain,
+stooping in terror from the clouds, while the vultures
+pounce on them and slay them, and there is no help nor way
+of flight, and men are glad at the sport; even so did the
+company of Odysseus set upon the wooers and smite them
+right and left through the hall; and there rose a hideous
+moaning as their heads were smitten, and the floor all ran
+with blood.
+
+Now Leiodes took hold of the knees of Odysseus eagerly, and
+besought him and spake winged words: 'I entreat thee by thy
+knees, Odysseus, and do thou show mercy on me and have
+pity. For never yet, I say, have I wronged a maiden in thy
+halls by froward word or deed, nay I bade the other wooers
+refrain, whoso of them wrought thus. But they hearkened not
+unto me to keep their hands from evil. Wherefore they have
+met a shameful death through their own infatuate deeds.
+Yet I, the soothsayer among them, that have wrought no
+evil, shall fall even as they, for no grace abides for good
+deeds done.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels looked askance at him, and
+said: 'If indeed thou dost avow thee to be the soothsayer
+of these men, thou art like to have often prayed in the
+halls that the issue of a glad return might be far from me,
+and that my dear wife should follow thee and bear thee
+children; wherefore thou shalt not escape the bitterness of
+death.'
+
+Therewith he caught up a sword in his strong hand, that lay
+where Agelaus had let it fall to the ground when he was
+slain, and drave it clean through his neck, and as he yet
+spake his head fell even to the dust.
+
+But the son of Terpes, the minstrel, still sought how he
+might shun black fate, Phemius, who sang among the wooers
+of necessity. He stood with the loud lyre in his hand hard
+by the postern gate, and his heart was divided within him,
+whether he should slip forth from the hall and sit down by
+the well-wrought altar of great Zeus of the household
+court, whereon Laertes and Odysseus had burnt many pieces
+of the thighs of oxen, or should spring forward and beseech
+Odysseus by his knees. And as he thought thereupon this
+seemed to him the better way, to embrace the knees of
+Odysseus, son of Laertes. So he laid the hollow lyre on the
+ground between the mixing-bowl and the high seat inlaid
+with silver, and himself sprang forward and seized Odysseus
+by the knees, and besought him and spake winged words:
+
+'I entreat thee by thy knees, Odysseus, and do thou show
+mercy on me and have pity. It will be a sorrow to thyself
+in the aftertime if thou slayest me who am a minstrel, and
+sing before gods and men. Yea none has taught me but
+myself, and the god has put into my heart all manner of
+lays, and methinks I sing to thee as to a god, wherefore be
+not eager to cut off my head. And Telemachus will testify
+of this, thine own dear son, that not by mine own will or
+desire did I resort to thy house to sing to the wooers at
+their feasts; but being so many and stronger than I they
+led me by constraint.'
+
+So he spake, and the mighty prince Telemachus heard him and
+quickly spake to his father at his side: 'Hold thy hand,
+and wound not this blameless man with the sword; and let us
+save also the henchman Medon, that ever had charge of me in
+our house when I was a child, unless perchance Philoetius
+or the swineherd have already slain him, or he hath met
+thee in thy raging through the house.'
+
+So he spake, and Medon, wise of heart, heard him. For he
+lay crouching beneath a high seat, clad about in the
+new-flayed hide of an ox and shunned black fate. So he rose
+up quickly from under the seat, and cast off the ox-hide,
+and sprang forth and caught Telemachus by the knees, and
+besought him and spake winged words:
+
+'Friend, here am I; prithee stay thy hand and speak to thy
+father, lest he harm me with the sharp sword in the
+greatness of his strength, out of his anger for the wooers
+that wasted his possessions in the halls, and in their
+folly held thee in no honour.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels smiled on him and said: 'Take
+courage, for lo, he has saved thee and delivered thee, that
+thou mayst know in thy heart, and tell it even to another,
+how far more excellent are good deeds than evil. But go
+forth from the halls and sit down in the court apart from
+the slaughter, thou and the full-voiced minstrel, till I
+have accomplished all that I must needs do in the house.'
+
+Therewith the two went forth and gat them from the hall. So
+they sat down by the altar of great Zeus, peering about on
+every side, still expecting death. And Odysseus peered all
+through the house, to see if any man was yet alive and
+hiding away to shun black fate. But he found all the sort
+of them fallen in their blood in the dust, like fishes that
+the fishermen have drawn forth in the meshes of the net
+into a hollow of the beach from out the grey sea, and all
+the fish, sore longing for the salt sea waves, are heaped
+upon the sand, and the sun shines forth and takes their
+life away; so now the wooers lay heaped upon each other.
+Then Odysseus of many counsels spake to Telemachus:
+
+'Telemachus, go, call me the nurse Eurycleia, that I may
+tell her a word that is on my mind.'
+
+So he spake, and Telemachus obeyed his dear father, and
+smote at the door, and spake to the nurse Eurycleia: 'Up
+now, aged wife, that overlookest all the women servants in
+our halls, come hither, my father calls thee and has
+somewhat to say to thee.'
+
+Even so he spake, and wingless her speech remained, and she
+opened the doors of the fair-lying halls, and came forth,
+and Telemachus led the way before her. So she found
+Odysseus among the bodies of the dead, stained with blood
+and soil of battle, like a lion that has eaten of an ox of
+the homestead and goes on his way, and all his breast and
+his cheeks on either side are flecked with blood, and he is
+terrible to behold; even so was Odysseus stained, both
+hands and feet. Now the nurse, when she saw the bodies of
+the dead and the great gore of blood, made ready to cry
+aloud for joy, beholding so great an adventure. But
+Odysseus checked and held her in her eagerness, and
+uttering his voice spake to her winged words:
+
+'Within thine own heart rejoice, old nurse, and be still,
+and cry not aloud; for it is an unholy thing to boast over
+slain men. Now these hath the destiny of the gods overcome,
+and their own cruel deeds, for they honoured none of
+earthly men, neither the bad nor yet the good, that came
+among them. Wherefore they have met a shameful death
+through their own infatuate deeds. But come, tell me the
+tale of the women in my halls, which of them dishonour me,
+and which be guiltless.'
+
+Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered him: 'Yea now, my
+child, I will tell thee all the truth. Thou hast fifty
+women-servants in thy halls, that we have taught the ways
+of housewifery, how to card wool and to bear bondage. Of
+these twelve in all have gone the way of shame, and honour
+not me, nor their lady Penelope. And Telemachus hath but
+newly come to his strength, and his mother suffered him not
+to take command over the women in this house. But now, let
+me go aloft to the shining upper chamber, and tell all to
+thy wife, on whom some god hath sent a sleep.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Wake
+her not yet, but bid the women come hither, who in time
+past behaved themselves unseemly.'
+
+So he spake, and the old wife passed through the hall, to
+tell the women and to hasten their coming. Then Odysseus
+called to him Telemachus, and the neatherd, and the
+swineherd, and spake to them winged words:
+
+'Begin ye now to carry out the dead, and bid the women help
+you, and thereafter cleanse the fair high seats and the
+tables with water and porous sponges. And when ye have set
+all the house in order, lead the maidens without the
+stablished hall, between the vaulted room and the goodly
+fence of the court, and there slay them with your long
+blades, till they shall have all given up the ghost and
+forgotten the love that of old they had at the bidding of
+the wooers, in secret dalliance.'
+
+Even so he spake, and the women came all in a crowd
+together, making a terrible lament and shedding big tears.
+So first they carried forth the bodies of the slain, and
+set them beneath the gallery of the fenced court, and
+propped them one on another; and Odysseus himself hasted
+the women and directed them, and they carried forth the
+dead perforce. Thereafter they cleansed the fair high seats
+and the tables with water and porous sponges. And
+Telemachus, and the neatherd, and the swineherd, scraped
+with spades the floor of the well-builded house, and,
+behold, the maidens carried all forth and laid it without
+the doors.
+
+Now when they had made an end of setting the hall in order,
+they led the maidens forth from the stablished hall, and
+drove them up in a narrow space between the vaulted room
+and the goodly fence of the court, whence none might avoid;
+and wise Telemachus began to speak to his fellows, saying:
+'God forbid that I should take these women's lives by a
+clean death, these that have poured dishonour on my head
+and on my mother, and have lain with the wooers.'
+
+With that word he tied the cable of a dark-prowed ship to a
+great pillar and flung it round the vaulted room, and
+fastened it aloft, that none might touch the ground with
+her feet. And even as when thrushes, long of wing, or doves
+fall into a net that is set in a thicket, as they seek to
+their roosting-place, and a loathly bed harbours them, even
+so the women held their heads all in a row, and about all
+their necks nooses were cast, that they might die by the
+most pitiful death. And they writhed with their feet for a
+little space, but for no long while.
+
+Then they led out Melanthius through the doorway and the
+court, and cut off his nostrils and his ears with the
+pitiless sword, and drew forth his vitals for the dogs to
+devour raw, and cut off his hands and feet in their cruel
+anger.
+
+Thereafter they washed their hands and feet, and went into
+the house to Odysseus, and all the adventure was over. So
+Odysseus called to the good nurse Eurycleia: 'Bring
+sulphur, old nurse, that cleanses all pollution and bring
+me fire, that I may purify the house with sulphur, and do
+thou bid Penelope come here with her handmaidens, and tell
+all the women to hasten into the hall.'
+
+Then the good nurse Eurycleia made answer: 'Yea, my child,
+herein thou hast spoken aright. But go to, let me bring
+thee a mantle and a doublet for raiment, and stand not thus
+in the halls with thy broad shoulders wrapped in rags; it
+were blame in thee so to do.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'First
+let a fire now be made me in the hall.'
+
+So he spake, and the good nurse Eurycleia was not slow to
+obey, but brought fire and brimstone; and Odysseus
+thoroughly purged the women's chamber and the great hall
+and the court.
+
+Then the old wife went through the fair halls of Odysseus
+to tell the women, and to hasten their coming. So they came
+forth from their chamber with torches in their hands, and
+fell about Odysseus, and embraced him and kissed and
+clasped his head and shoulders and his hands lovingly, and
+a sweet longing came on him to weep and moan, for he
+remembered them every one.
+
+
+
+Book XXIII
+
+  Odysseus maketh himself known to Penelope, tells his
+  adventures briefly, and in the morning goes to Laertes
+  and makes himself known to him.
+
+Then the ancient woman went up into the upper chamber
+laughing aloud, to tell her mistress how her dear lord was
+within, and her knees moved fast for joy, and her feet
+stumbled one over the other; and she stood above the lady's
+head and spake to her, saying:
+
+'Awake, Penelope, dear child, that thou mayest see with
+thine own eyes that which thou desirest day by day.
+Odysseus hath come, and hath got him to his own house,
+though late hath he come, and hath slain the proud wooers
+that troubled his house, and devoured his substance, and
+oppressed his child.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered her: 'Dear nurse, the gods have
+made thee distraught, the gods that can make foolish even
+the wisdom of the wise, and that stablish the simple in
+understanding. They it is that have marred thy reason,
+though heretofore thou hadst a prudent heart. Why dost thou
+mock me, who have a spirit full of sorrow, to speak these
+wild words, and rousest me out of sweet slumber, that had
+bound me and overshadowed mine eyelids? Never yet have I
+slept so sound since the day that Odysseus went forth to
+see that evil Ilios, never to be named. Go to now, get thee
+down and back to the women's chamber, for if any other of
+the maids of my house had come and brought me such tidings,
+and wakened me from sleep, straightway would I have sent
+her back woefully to return within the women's chamber; but
+this time thine old age shall stand thee in good stead.'
+
+Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered her: 'I mock thee
+not, dear child, but in very deed Odysseus is here, and
+hath come home, even as I tell thee. He is that guest on
+whom all men wrought such dishonour in the halls. But long
+ago Telemachus was ware of him, that he was within the
+house, yet in his prudence he hid the counsels of his
+father, that he might take vengeance on the violence of the
+haughty wooers.'
+
+Thus she spake, and then was Penelope glad, and leaping
+from her bed she fell on the old woman's neck, and let fall
+the tears from her eyelids, and uttering her voice spake to
+her winged words: 'Come, dear nurse, I pray thee, tell me
+all truly--if indeed he hath come home as thou sayest--how
+he hath laid his hands on the shameless wooers, he being
+but one man, while they abode ever in their companies
+within the house.'
+
+Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered her: 'I saw not, I
+wist not, only I heard the groaning of men slain. And we in
+an inmost place of the well-builded chambers sat all
+amazed, and the close-fitted doors shut in the room, till
+thy son called me from the chamber, for his father sent him
+out to that end. Then I found Odysseus standing among the
+slain, who around him, stretched on the hard floor, lay one
+upon the other; it would have comforted thy heart to see
+him, all stained like a lion with blood and soil of battle.
+And now are all the wooers gathered in an heap by the gates
+of the court, while he is purifying his fair house with
+brimstone, and hath kindled a great fire, and hath sent me
+forth to call thee. So come with me, that ye may both enter
+into your heart's delight, {*} for ye have suffered much
+affliction. And even now hath this thy long desire been
+fulfilled; thy lord hath come alive to his own hearth, and
+hath found both thee and his son in the halls; and the
+wooers that wrought him evil he hath slain, every man of
+them in his house.'
+
+{* Reading [Greek] . . . [Greek].}
+
+Then wise Penelope answered her: 'Dear nurse, boast not yet
+over them with laughter. Thou knowest how welcome the sight
+of him would be in the halls to all, and to me in chief,
+and to his son that we got between us. But this is no true
+tale, as thou declarest it, nay but it is one of the
+deathless gods that hath slain the proud wooers, in wrath
+at their bitter insolence and evil deeds. For they honoured
+none of earthly men, neither the good nor yet the bad, that
+came among them. Wherefore they have suffered an evil doom
+through their own infatuate deeds. But Odysseus, far away
+hath lost his homeward path to the Achaean land, and
+himself is lost.'
+
+Then the good nurse Eurycleia made answer to her: 'My
+child, what word hath escaped the door of thy lips, in that
+thou saidest that thy lord, who is even now within, and by
+his own hearthstone, would return no more? Nay, thy heart
+is ever hard of belief. Go to now, and I will tell thee
+besides a most manifest token, even the scar of the wound
+that the boar on a time dealt him with his white tusk.
+This I spied while washing his feet, and fain I would have
+told it even to thee, but he laid his hand on my mouth, and
+in the fulness of his wisdom suffered me not to speak. But
+come with me and I will stake my life on it; and if I play
+thee false, do thou slay me by a death most pitiful.'
+
+Then wise Penelope made answer to her: 'Dear nurse, it is
+hard for thee, how wise soever, to observe the purposes of
+the everlasting gods. None the less let us go to my child,
+that I may see the wooers dead, and him that slew them.'
+
+With that word she went down from the upper chamber, and
+much her heart debated, whether she should stand apart, and
+question her dear lord or draw nigh, and clasp and kiss his
+head and hands. But when she had come within and had
+crossed the threshold of stone, she sat down over against
+Odysseus, in the light of the fire, by the further wall.
+Now he was sitting by the tall pillar, looking down and
+waiting to know if perchance his noble wife would speak to
+him, when her eyes beheld him. But she sat long in silence,
+and amazement came upon her soul, and now she would look
+upon him steadfastly with her eyes, and now again she knew
+him not, for that he was clad in vile raiment. And
+Telemachus rebuked her, and spake and hailed her:
+
+'Mother mine, ill mother, of an ungentle heart, why turnest
+thou thus away from my father, and dost not sit by him and
+question him and ask him all? No other woman in the world
+would harden her heart to stand thus aloof from her lord,
+who after much travail and sore had come to her in the
+twentieth year to his own country. But thy heart is ever
+harder than stone.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him, saying: 'Child, my mind is
+amazed within me, and I have no strength to speak, nor to
+ask him aught, nay nor to look on him face to face. But if
+in truth this be Odysseus, and he hath indeed come home,
+verily we shall be ware of each other the more surely, for
+we have tokens that we twain know, even we, secret from all
+others.'
+
+So she spake, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus smiled, and
+quickly he spake to Telemachus winged words: 'Telemachus,
+leave now thy mother to make trial of me within the
+chambers; so shall she soon come to a better knowledge than
+heretofore. But now I go filthy, and am clad in vile
+raiment, wherefore she has me in dishonour, and as yet will
+not allow that I am he. Let us then advise us how all may
+be for the very best. For whoso has slain but one man in a
+land, even that one leaves not many behind him to take up
+the feud for him, turns outlaw and leaves his kindred and
+his own country; but we have slain the very stay of the
+city, the men who were far the best of all the noble youths
+in Ithaca. So this I bid thee consider.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Father, see
+thou to this, for they say that thy counsel is far the best
+among men, nor might any other of mortal men contend with
+thee. But right eagerly will we go with thee now, and I
+think we shall not lack prowess, so far as might is ours.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Yea
+now, I will tell on what wise methinks it is best. First,
+go ye to the bath and array you in your doublets, and bid
+the maidens in the chambers to take to them their garments.
+Then let the divine minstrel, with his loud lyre in hand,
+lead off for us the measure of the mirthful dance. So shall
+any man that hears the sound from without, whether a
+wayfarer or one of those that dwell around, say that it is
+a wedding feast. And thus the slaughter of the wooers shall
+not be noised abroad through the town before we go forth to
+our well-wooded farm-land. Thereafter shall we consider
+what gainful counsel the Olympian may vouchsafe us.'
+
+So he spake, and they gave good ear and hearkened to him.
+So first they went to the bath, and arrayed them in
+doublets, and the women were apparelled, and the divine
+minstrel took the hollow harp, and aroused in them the
+desire of sweet song and of the happy dance. Then the great
+hall rang round them with the sound of the feet of dancing
+men and of fair-girdled women. And whoso heard it from
+without would say:
+
+'Surely some one has wedded the queen of many wooers. Hard
+of heart was she, nor had she courage to keep the great
+house of her wedded lord continually till his coming.'
+
+Even so men spake, and knew not how these things were
+ordained. Meanwhile, the house-dame Eurynome had bathed the
+great-hearted Odysseus within his house, and anointed him
+with olive-oil, and cast about him a goodly mantle and a
+doublet. Moreover Athene shed great beauty from his head
+downwards, and made him greater and more mighty to behold,
+and from his head caused deep curling locks to flow, like
+the hyacinth flower. And as when some skilful man overlays
+gold upon silver, one that Hephaestus and Pallas Athene
+have taught all manner of craft, and full of grace is his
+handiwork, even so did Athene shed grace about his head and
+shoulders, and forth from the bath he came, in form like to
+the immortals. Then he sat down again on the high seat,
+whence he had arisen, over against his wife, and spake to
+her, saying:
+
+'Strange lady, surely to thee above all womankind the
+Olympians have given a heart that cannot be softened. No
+other woman in the world would harden her heart to stand
+thus aloof from her husband, who after much travail and
+sore had come to her, in the twentieth year, to his own
+country. Nay come, nurse, strew a bed for me to lie all
+alone, for assuredly her spirit within her is as iron.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him again: 'Strange man, I have
+no proud thoughts nor do I think scorn of thee, nor am I
+too greatly astonied, but I know right well what manner of
+man thou wert, when thou wentest forth out of Ithaca, on
+the long-oared galley. But come, Eurycleia, spread for him
+the good bedstead outside the stablished bridal chamber
+that he built himself. Thither bring ye forth the good
+bedstead and cast bedding thereon, even fleeces and rugs
+and shining blankets.'
+
+So she spake and made trial of her lord, but Odysseus in
+sore displeasure spake to his true wife, saying: 'Verily a
+bitter word is this, lady, that thou hast spoken. Who has
+set my bed otherwhere? Hard it would be for one, how
+skilled so ever, unless a god were to come that might
+easily set it in another place, if so he would. But of men
+there is none living, howsoever strong in his youth, that
+could lightly upheave it, for a great token is wrought in
+the fashioning of the bed, and it was I that made it and
+none other. There was growing a bush of olive, long of
+leaf, and most goodly of growth, within the inner court,
+and the stem as large as a pillar. Round about this I built
+the chamber, till I had finished it, with stones close set,
+and I roofed it over well and added thereto compacted doors
+fitting well. Next I sheared off all the light wood of the
+long-leaved olive, and rough-hewed the trunk upwards from
+the root, and smoothed it around with the adze, well and
+skilfully, and made straight the line thereto and so
+fashioned it into the bedpost, and I bored it all with the
+auger. Beginning from this bedpost, I wrought at the
+bedstead till I had finished it, and made it fair with
+inlaid work of gold and of silver and of ivory. Then I made
+fast therein a bright purple band of oxhide. Even so I
+declare to thee this token, and I know not, lady, if the
+bedstead be yet fast in his place, or if some man has cut
+away the stem of the olive tree, and set the bedstead
+otherwhere.'
+
+So he spake, and at once her knees were loosened, and her
+heart melted within her, as she knew the sure tokens that
+Odysseus showed her. Then she fell a weeping, and ran
+straight toward him and cast her hands about his neck, and
+kissed his head and spake, saying:
+
+'Be not angry with me, Odysseus, for thou wert ever at
+other times the wisest of men. It is the gods that gave us
+sorrow, the gods who begrudged us that we should abide
+together and have joy of our youth, and come to the
+threshold of old age. So now be not wroth with me hereat
+nor full of indignation, because at the first, when I saw
+thee, I did not welcome thee straightway. For always my
+heart within my breast shuddered, for fear lest some man
+should come and deceive me with his words, for many they be
+that devise gainful schemes and evil. Nay even Argive
+Helen, daughter of Zeus, would not have lain with a
+stranger, and taken him for a lover, had she known that the
+warlike sons of the Achaeans would bring her home again to
+her own dear country. Howsoever, it was the god that set
+her upon this shameful deed; nor ever, ere that, did she
+lay up in her heart the thought of this folly, a bitter
+folly, whence on us too first came sorrow. But now that
+thou hast told all the sure tokens of our bed, which never
+was seen by mortal man, save by thee and me and one maiden
+only, the daughter of Actor, that my father gave me ere yet
+I had come hither, she who kept the doors of our strong
+bridal chamber, even now dost thou bend my soul, all
+ungentle as it is.'
+
+Thus she spake, and in his heart she stirred yet a greater
+longing to lament, and he wept as he embraced his beloved
+wife and true. And even as when the sight of land is
+welcome to swimmers, whose well-wrought ship Poseidon hath
+smitten on the deep, all driven with the wind and swelling
+waves, and but a remnant hath escaped the grey sea-water
+and swum to the shore, and their bodies are all crusted
+with the brine, and gladly have they set foot on land and
+escaped an evil end; so welcome to her was the sight of her
+lord, and her white arms she would never quite let go from
+his neck. And now would the rosy-fingered Dawn have risen
+upon their weeping, but the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, had
+other thoughts. The night she held long in the utmost West,
+and on the other side she stayed the golden-throned Dawn by
+the stream Oceanus, and suffered her not to harness the
+swift-footed steeds that bear light to men, Lampus and
+Phaethon, the steeds ever young, that bring the morning.
+
+Then at the last, Odysseus of many counsels spake to his
+wife, saying: 'Lady, we have not yet come to the issue of
+all our labours; but still there will be toil unmeasured,
+long and difficult, that I must needs bring to a full end.
+Even so the spirit of Teiresias foretold to me, on that day
+when I went down into the house of Hades, to inquire after
+a returning for myself and my company. Wherefore come,
+lady, let us to bed, that forthwith we may take our joy of
+rest beneath the spell of sweet sleep.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Thy bed verily shall be
+ready whensoever thy soul desires it, forasmuch as the gods
+have indeed caused thee to come back to thy stablished home
+and thine own country. But now that thou hast noted it and
+the god has put it into thy heart, come, tell me of this
+ordeal, for methinks the day will come when I must learn
+it, and timely knowledge is no hurt.'
+
+And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Ah, why
+now art thou so instant with me to declare it? Yet I will
+tell thee all and hide nought. Howbeit thy heart shall have
+no joy of it, as even I myself have no pleasure therein.
+For Teiresias bade me fare to many cities of men, carrying
+a shapen oar in my hands, till I should come to such men as
+know not the sea, neither eat meat savoured with salt, nor
+have they knowledge of ships of purple cheek nor of shapen
+oars, which serve for wings to ships. And he told me this
+with manifest token, which I will not hide from thee. In
+the day when another wayfarer should meet me and say that I
+had a winnowing fan on my stout shoulder, even then he bade
+me make fast my shapen oar in the earth, and do goodly
+sacrifice to the lord Poseidon, even with a ram and a bull
+and a boar, the mate of swine, and depart for home, and
+offer holy hecatombs to the deathless gods, that keep the
+wide heaven, to each in order due. And from the sea shall
+mine own death come, the gentlest death that may be, which
+shall end me, foredone, with smooth old age, and the folk
+shall dwell happily around. All this, he said, was to be
+fulfilled.'
+
+Then wise Penelope answered him saying: 'If indeed the gods
+will bring about for thee a happier old age at the last,
+then is there hope that thou mayest yet have an escape from
+evil.'
+
+Thus they spake one to the other. Meanwhile, Eurynome and
+the nurse spread the bed with soft coverlets, by the light
+of the torches burning. But when they had busied them and
+spread the good bed, the ancient nurse went back to her
+chamber to lie down, and Eurynome, the bower-maiden, guided
+them on their way to the couch, with torches in her hands,
+and when she had led them to the bridal-chamber she
+departed. And so they came gladly to the rites of their
+bed, as of old. But Telemachus, and the neatherd, and the
+swineherd stayed their feet from dancing, and made the
+women to cease, and themselves gat them to rest through the
+shadowy halls.
+
+Now when the twain had taken their fill of sweet love, they
+had delight in the tales, which they told one to the other.
+The fair lady spoke of all that she had endured in the
+halls at the sight of the ruinous throng of wooers, who for
+her sake slew many cattle, kine and goodly sheep; and many
+a cask of wine was broached. And in turn, Odysseus, of the
+seed of Zeus, recounted all the griefs he had wrought on
+men, and all his own travail and sorrow, and she was
+delighted with the story, and sweet sleep fell not upon her
+eyelids till the tale was ended.
+
+He began by setting forth how he overcame the Cicones, and
+next arrived at the rich land of the Lotus-eaters, and all
+that the Cyclops wrought, and what a price he got from him
+for the good companions that he devoured, and showed no
+pity. Then how he came to Aeolus, who received him gladly
+and sent him on his way; but it was not yet ordained that
+he should reach his own country, for the storm-wind seized
+him again, and bare him over the teeming seas, making
+grievous moan. Next how he came to Telepylus of the
+Laestrygonians, who brake his ships and slew all his
+goodly-greaved companions, and Odysseus only escaped with
+his black ship. Then he told all the wiles and many
+contrivances of Circe, and how in a benched ship he fared
+to the dank house of Hades, to seek to the soul of Theban
+Teiresias. There he beheld all those that had been his
+companions, and his mother who bore him and nurtured him,
+while yet he was a little one. Then how he heard the song
+of the full-voiced Sirens, and came to the Rocks Wandering,
+and to terrible Charybdis, and to Scylla, that never yet
+have men avoided scatheless. Next he told how his company
+slew the kine of Helios, and how Zeus, that thunders on
+high, smote the swift ship with the flaming bolt, and the
+good crew perished all together, and he alone escaped from
+evil fates. And how he came to the isle Ogygia, and to the
+nymph Calypso, who kept him there in her hollow caves,
+longing to have him for her lord, and nurtured him and said
+that she would make him never to know death or age all his
+days: yet she never won his heart within his breast. Next
+how with great toil he came to the Phaeacians, who gave him
+all worship heartily, as to a god, and sent him with a ship
+to his own dear country, with gifts of bronze, and of gold,
+and raiment in plenty. This was the last word of the tale,
+when sweet sleep came speedily upon him, sleep that loosens
+the limbs of men, unknitting the cares of his soul.
+
+Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, turned to new thoughts.
+When she deemed that Odysseus had taken his fill of love
+and sleep, straightway she aroused from out Oceanus the
+golden-throned Dawn, to bear light to men. Then Odysseus
+gat him from his soft bed, and laid this charge on his
+wife, saying:
+
+'Lady, already have we had enough of labours, thou and I;
+thou, in weeping here, and longing for my troublous return,
+I, while Zeus and the other gods bound me fast in pain,
+despite my yearning after home, away from mine own country.
+But now that we both have come to the bed of our desire,
+take thou thought for the care of my wealth within the
+halls. But as for the sheep that the proud wooers have
+slain, I myself will lift many more as spoil, and others
+the Achaeans will give, till they fill all my folds. But
+now, behold, I go to the well-wooded farm-land, to see my
+good father, who for love of me has been in sorrow
+continually. And this charge I lay on thee, lady, too wise
+though thou art to need it. Quickly will the bruit go forth
+with the rising sun, the bruit concerning the wooers, whom
+I slew in the halls. Wherefore ascend with the women thy
+handmaids into the upper chamber, and sit there and look on
+no man, nor ask any question.'
+
+Therewith he girded on his shoulder his goodly armour, and
+roused Telemachus and the neatherd and the swineherd, and
+bade them all take weapons of war in their hands. So they
+were not disobedient to his word, but clad themselves in
+mail, and opened the doors and went forth, and Odysseus led
+the way. And now there was light over all the earth; but
+them Athene hid in night, and quickly conducted out of the
+town.
+
+
+
+Book XXIV
+
+  The Ithacans bury the wooers, and sitting in council
+  resolve on revenge. And coming near the house of Laertes,
+  are met by Odysseus, and Laertes with Telemachus and
+  servants, the whole number twelve, and are overcome,
+  and submit.
+
+Now Cyllenian Hermes called forth from the halls the souls
+of the wooers, and he held in his hand his wand that is
+fair and golden, wherewith he lulls the eyes of men, of
+whomso he will, while others again he even wakens out of
+sleep. Herewith he roused and led the souls who followed
+gibbering. And even as bats flit gibbering in the secret
+place of a wondrous cave, when one has fallen down from the
+cluster on the rock, where they cling each to each up
+aloft, even so the souls gibbered as they fared together,
+and Hermes, the helper, led them down the dank ways. Past
+the streams of Oceanus and the White Rock, past the gates
+of the Sun they sped and the land of dreams, and soon they
+came to the mead of asphodel, where dwell the souls, the
+phantoms of men outworn. There they found the soul of
+Achilles son of Peleus, and the souls of Patroclus, and of
+noble Antilochus, and of Aias, who in face and form was
+goodliest of all the Danaans after the noble son of Peleus.
+
+So these were flocking round Achilles, and the spirit of
+Agamemnon, son of Atreus, drew nigh sorrowful; and about
+him were gathered all the other shades, as many as perished
+with him in the house of Aegisthus, and met their doom.
+Now the soul of the son of Peleus spake to him first,
+saying:
+
+'Son of Atreus, verily we deemed that thou above all other
+heroes wast evermore dear to Zeus, whose joy is in the
+thunder, seeing that thou wast lord over warriors, many and
+mighty men, in the land of the Trojans where we Achaeans
+suffered affliction. But lo, thee too was deadly doom to
+visit early, {*} the doom that none avoids of all men born.
+Ah, would that in the fulness of thy princely honour, thou
+hadst met death and fate in the land of the Trojans! So
+would all the Achaean host have builded thee a barrow, yea
+and for thy son thou wouldst have won great glory in the
+aftertime. But now it has been decreed for thee to perish
+by a most pitiful death.'
+
+{* Reading [Greek]}
+
+Then the soul of the son of Atreus answered, and spake:
+'Happy art thou son of Peleus, godlike Achilles, that didst
+die in Troy-land far from Argos, and about thee fell
+others, the best of the sons of Trojans and Achaeans,
+fighting for thy body; but thou in the whirl of dust layest
+mighty and mightily fallen, forgetful of thy chivalry. And
+we strove the livelong day, nor would we ever have ceased
+from the fight, if Zeus had not stayed us with a tempest.
+Anon when we had borne thee to the ships from out of the
+battle, we laid thee on a bier and washed thy fair flesh
+clean with warm water and unguents, and around thee the
+Danaans shed many a hot tear and shore their hair. And
+forth from the sea came thy mother with the deathless
+maidens of the waters, when they heard the tidings; and a
+wonderful wailing rose over the deep, and trembling fell on
+the limbs of all the Achaeans. Yea, and they would have
+sprung up and departed to the hollow ships, had not one
+held them back that knew much lore from of old, Nestor,
+whose counsel proved heretofore the best. Out of his good
+will he made harangue, and spake among them:
+
+'"Hold, ye Argives, flee not, young lords of the Achaeans.
+Lo, his mother from the sea is she that comes, with the
+deathless maidens of the waters, to behold the face of her
+dead son."
+
+'So he spake, and the high-hearted Achaeans ceased from
+their flight. Then round thee stood the daughters of the
+ancient one of the sea, holding a pitiful lament, and they
+clad thee about in raiment incorruptible. And all the nine
+Muses one to the other replying with sweet voices began the
+dirge; there thou wouldest not have seen an Argive but
+wept, so mightily rose up the clear chant. Thus for
+seventeen days and nights continually did we all bewail
+thee, immortal gods and mortal men. On the eighteenth day
+we gave thy body to the flames, and many well-fatted sheep
+we slew around thee, and kine of shambling gait. So thou
+wert burned in the garments of the gods, and in much
+unguents and in sweet honey, and many heroes of the
+Achaeans moved mail-clad around the pyre when thou wast
+burning, both footmen and horse, and great was the noise
+that arose. But when the flame of Hephaestus had utterly
+abolished thee, lo, in the morning we gathered together thy
+white bones, Achilles, and bestowed them in unmixed wine
+and in unguents. Thy mother gave a twy-handled golden urn,
+and said that it was the gift of Dionysus, and the
+workmanship of renowned Hephaestus. Therein lie thy white
+bones, great Achilles, and mingled therewith the bones of
+Patroclus son of Menoetias, that is dead, but apart is the
+dust of Antilochus, whom thou didst honour above all thy
+other companions, after Patroclus that was dead. Then over
+them did we pile a great and goodly tomb, we the holy host
+of Argive warriors, high on a jutting headland over wide
+Hellespont, that it might be far seen from off the sea by
+men that now are, and by those that shall be hereafter.
+Then thy mother asked the gods for glorious prizes in the
+games, and set them in the midst of the lists for the
+champions of the Achaeans. In days past thou hast been at
+the funeral games of many a hero, whenso, after some king's
+death, the young men gird themselves and make them ready
+for the meed of victory; but couldst thou have seen these
+gifts thou wouldst most have marvelled in spirit, such
+glorious prizes did the goddess set there to honour thee,
+even Thetis, the silver-footed; for very dear wert thou to
+the gods. Thus not even in death hast thou lost thy name,
+but to thee shall be a fair renown for ever among all men,
+Achilles. But what joy have I now herein, that I have wound
+up the clew of war, for on my return Zeus devised for me an
+evil end at the hands of Aegisthus and my wife accursed?'
+
+So they spake one to the other. And nigh them came the
+Messenger, the slayer of Argos, leading down the ghosts of
+the wooers by Odysseus slain, and the two heroes were
+amazed at the sight and went straight toward them. And the
+soul of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, knew the dear son of
+Melaneus, renowned Amphimedon, who had been his host,
+having his dwelling in Ithaca. The soul of the son of
+Atreus spake to him first, saying:
+
+'Amphimedon, what hath befallen you, that ye have come
+beneath the darkness of earth, all of you picked men and of
+like age? it is even as though one should choose out and
+gather together the best warriors in a city. Did Poseidon
+smite you in your ships and rouse up contrary winds and the
+long waves? Or did unfriendly men, perchance, do you hurt
+upon the land as ye were cutting off their oxen and fair
+flocks of sheep, or while they fought to defend their city
+and the women thereof? Answer and tell me, for I avow me a
+friend of thy house. Rememberest thou not the day when I
+came to your house in Ithaca with godlike Menelaus, to urge
+Odysseus to follow with me to Ilios on the decked ships?
+And it was a full month ere we had sailed all across the
+wide sea, for scarce could we win to our cause Odysseus,
+waster of cities.'
+
+Then the ghost of Amphimedon answered him, and spake: 'Most
+famous son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, I remember
+all these things, O fosterling of Zeus, as thou declarest
+them, and I in turn will tell thee all the tale well and
+truly, even our death and evil end, on what wise it befell.
+We wooed the wife of Odysseus that was long afar, and she
+neither refused the hated bridal nor was minded to make an
+end, devising for us death and black fate. Also this other
+wile she contrived in her heart. She set up in her halls a
+mighty web, fine of woof and very wide, whereat she would
+weave, and anon she spake among us:
+
+'"Ye princely youths, my wooers, now that goodly Odysseus
+is dead, do ye abide patiently, how eager soever to speed
+on this marriage of mine, till I finish the robe. I would
+not that the threads perish to no avail, even this shroud
+for the hero Laertes, against the day when the ruinous doom
+shall bring him low, of death that lays men at their
+length. So shall none of the Achaean women in the land
+count it blame in me, as well might be, were he to lie
+without a winding-sheet, a man that had gotten great
+possessions."
+
+'So spake she, and our high hearts consented thereto. So
+then in the daytime she would weave the mighty web, and in
+the night unravel the same, when she had let place the
+torches by her. Thus for the space of three years she hid
+the thing by guile and won the minds of the Achaeans; but
+when the fourth year arrived and the seasons came round, as
+the months waned and many days were accomplished, then it
+was that one of her women who knew all declared it, and we
+found her unravelling the splendid web. Thus she finished
+it perforce and sore against her will. Now when she brought
+the robe to light, after she had woven the great web and
+washed it, and it shone even as sun or moon, at that very
+hour some evil god led Odysseus, I know not whence, to the
+upland farm, where the swineherd abode in his dwelling.
+Thither too came the dear son of divine Odysseus out of
+sandy Pylos, voyaging with his black ship. These twain
+framed an evil death for the wooers, and came to the
+renowned town. Odysseus verily came the later, and
+Telemachus went before and led the way. Now the swineherd
+brought Odysseus clad in vile raiment, in the likeness of a
+beggar, a wretched man and an old, leaning on a staff, and
+behold, he was clad about in sorry raiment. And none of us,
+not even the elders, could know him for that he was, on
+this his sudden appearing, but with evil words we assailed
+him and hurled things at him. Yet for a while he hardened
+his heart to endure both the hurlings and the evil words in
+his own halls; but at the last, when the spirit of Zeus,
+lord of the aegis, aroused him, by the help of Telemachus
+he took up all the goodly weapons, and laid them by in the
+inner chamber and drew the bolts. Next in his great craft
+he bade his wife to offer his bow and store of grey iron to
+the wooers to be the weapons of our contest, luckless that
+we were, and the beginning of death. Now not one of us
+could stretch the string of the strong bow; far short we
+fell of that might. But when the great bow came to the
+hands of Odysseus, then we all clamoured and forbade to
+give him the bow, how much soever he might speak, but
+Telemachus alone was instant with him and commanded him to
+take it. Then he took the bow into his hands, the steadfast
+goodly Odysseus, and lightly he strung it, and sent the
+arrow through the iron. Then straight he went to the
+threshold and there took his stand, and poured forth the
+swift arrows, glancing terribly around, and smote the king
+Antinous. Thereafter on the others he let fly his bolts,
+winged for death, with straight aim, and the wooers fell
+thick one upon another. Then was it known how that some god
+was their helper, for pressing on as their passion drave
+them, they slew the men right and left through the halls,
+and thence there arose a hideous moaning, as heads were
+smitten and the floor all ran with blood. So we perished,
+Agamemnon, and even now our bodies lie uncared for in the
+halls of Odysseus, for the friends of each one at home as
+yet know nought, even they who might wash the black-clotted
+blood out of our wounds, and lay out the bodies and wail
+the dirge, for that is the due of the dead.'
+
+Then the ghost of the son of Atreus answered him: 'Ah,
+happy son of Laertes, Odysseus of many devices, yea, for a
+wife most excellent hast thou gotten, so good was the
+wisdom of constant Penelope, daughter of Icarius, that was
+duly mindful of Odysseus, her wedded lord. Wherefore the
+fame of her virtue shall never perish, but the immortals
+will make a gracious song in the ears of men on earth to
+the fame of constant Penelope. In far other wise did the
+daughter of Tyndareus devise ill deeds, and slay her wedded
+lord, and hateful shall the song of her be among men, and
+an evil repute hath she brought upon all womankind, even on
+the upright.'
+
+Even so these twain spake one to the other, standing in the
+house of Hades, beneath the secret places of the earth.
+
+Now when those others had gone down from the city, quickly
+they came to the rich and well-ordered farm land of
+Laertes, that he had won for himself of old, as the prize
+of great toil in war. There was his house, and all about it
+ran the huts wherein the thralls were wont to eat and dwell
+and sleep, bondsmen that worked his will. And in the house
+there was an old Sicilian woman, who diligently cared for
+the old man, in the upland far from the city. There
+Odysseus spake to his thralls and to his son, saying:
+
+'Do ye now get you within the well-builded house, and
+quickly sacrifice the best of the swine for the midday
+meal, but I will make trial of my father, whether he will
+know me again and be aware of me when he sees me, or know
+me not, so long have I been away,'
+
+Therewith he gave the thralls his weapons of war. Then they
+went speedily to the house, while Odysseus drew near to the
+fruitful vineyard to make trial of his father. Now he found
+not Dolius there, as he went down into the great garden,
+nor any of the thralls nor of their sons. It chanced that
+they had all gone to gather stones for a garden fence, and
+the old man at their head. So he found his father alone in
+the terraced vineyard, digging about a plant. He was
+clothed in a filthy doublet, patched and unseemly, with
+clouted leggings of oxhide bound about his legs, against
+the scratches of the thorns, and long sleeves over his
+hands by reason of the brambles, and on his head he wore a
+goatskin cap, and so he nursed his sorrow. Now when the
+steadfast goodly Odysseus saw his father thus wasted with
+age and in great grief of heart, he stood still beneath a
+tall pear tree and let fall a tear. Then he communed with
+his heart and soul, whether he should fall on his father's
+neck and kiss him, and tell him all, how he had returned
+and come to his own country, or whether he should first
+question him and prove him in every word. And as he thought
+within himself, this seemed to him the better way, namely,
+first to prove his father and speak to him sharply. So with
+this intent the goodly Odysseus went up to him. Now he was
+holding his head down and kept digging about the plant,
+while his renowned son stood by him and spake, saying:
+
+'Old man, thou hast no lack of skill in tending a garden;
+lo, thou carest well for all, {*} nor is there aught
+whatsoever, either plant or fig-tree, or vine, yea, or
+olive, or pear, or garden-bed in all the close, that is not
+well seen to. Yet another thing will I tell thee and lay
+not up wrath thereat in thy heart. Thyself art scarce so
+well cared for, but a pitiful old age is on thee, and
+withal thou art withered and unkempt, and clad unseemly. It
+cannot be to punish thy sloth that thy master cares not for
+thee; there shows nothing of the slave about thy face and
+stature, for thou art like a kingly man, even like one who
+should lie soft, when he has washed and eaten well, as is
+the manner of the aged. But come declare me this and
+plainly tell it all. Whose thrall art thou, and whose
+garden dost thou tend? Tell me moreover truly, that I may
+surely know, if it be indeed to Ithaca that I am now come,
+as one yonder told me who met with me but now on the way
+hither. He was but of little understanding, for he deigned
+not to tell me all nor to heed my saying, when I questioned
+him concerning my friend, whether indeed he is yet alive or
+is even now dead and within the house of Hades. For I will
+declare it and do thou mark and listen: once did I kindly
+entreat a man in mine own dear country, who came to our
+home, and never yet has any mortal been dearer of all the
+strangers that have drawn to my house from afar. He
+declared him to be by lineage from out of Ithaca, and said
+that his own father was Laertes son of Arceisius. So I led
+him to our halls and gave him good entertainment, with all
+loving-kindness, out of the plenty that was within. Such
+gifts too I gave him as are the due of guests; of well
+wrought gold I gave him seven talents, and a mixing bowl of
+flowered work, all of silver, and twelve cloaks of single
+fold, and as many coverlets, and as many goodly mantles and
+doublets to boot, and besides all these, four women skilled
+in all fair works and most comely, the women of his
+choice.'
+
+{* Supplying [Greek] from the preceding clause as object to
+[Greek]. Other constructions are possible.}
+
+Then his father answered him, weeping: 'Stranger, thou art
+verily come to that country whereof thou askest, but
+outrageous men and froward hold it. And these thy gifts,
+thy countless gifts, thou didst bestow in vain. For if thou
+hadst found that man yet living in the land of Ithaca he
+would have sent thee on thy way with good return of thy
+presents, and with all hospitality, as is due to the man
+that begins the kindness. But come, declare me this and
+plainly tell me all; how many years are passed since thou
+didst entertain him, thy guest ill-fated and my child,--if
+ever such an one there was,--hapless man, whom far from his
+friends and his country's soil, the fishes, it may be, have
+devoured in the deep sea, or on the shore he has fallen the
+prey of birds and beasts. His mother wept not over him nor
+clad him for burial, nor his father, we that begat him. Nor
+did his bride, whom men sought with rich gifts, the
+constant Penelope, bewail her lord upon the bier, as was
+meet, nor closed his eyes, as is the due of the departed.
+Moreover, tell me this truly, that I may surely know, who
+art thou and whence of the sons of men? Where is thy city
+and where are they that begat thee? Where now is thy swift
+ship moored, that brought thee thither with thy godlike
+company? Hast thou come as a passenger on another's ship,
+while they set thee ashore and went away?
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: 'Yea
+now, I will tell thee all most plainly. From out of Alybas
+I come, where I dwell in a house renowned, and am the son
+of Apheidas the son of Polypemon, the prince, and my own
+name is Eperitus. But some god drave me wandering hither
+from Sicania against my will, and yonder my ship is moored
+toward the upland away from the city. But for Odysseus,
+this is now the fifth year since he went thence and
+departed out of my country. Ill-fated was he, and yet he
+had birds of good omen when he fared away, birds on the
+right; wherefore I sped him gladly on his road, and gladly
+he departed, and the heart of us twain hoped yet to meet in
+friendship on a day and to give splendid gifts.'
+
+So he spake, and on the old man fell a black cloud of
+sorrow. With both his hands he clutched the dust and ashes
+and showered them on his gray head, with ceaseless
+groaning. Then the heart of Odysseus was moved, and up
+through his nostrils throbbed anon the keen sting of sorrow
+at the sight of his dear father. And he sprang towards him
+and fell on his neck and kissed him, saying:
+
+'Behold, I here, even I, my father, am the man of whom thou
+askest; in the twentieth year am I come to mine own
+country. But stay thy weeping and tearful lamentation, for
+I will tell thee all clearly, though great need there is of
+haste. I have slain the wooers in our halls and avenged
+their bitter scorn and evil deeds.'
+
+Then Laertes answered him and spake, saying: 'If thou art
+indeed Odysseus, mine own child, that art come hither, show
+me now a manifest token, that I may be assured.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Look
+first on this scar and consider it, that the boar dealt me
+with his white tusk on Parnassus, whither I had gone, and
+thou didst send me forth, thou and my lady mother, to
+Autolycus my mother's father, to get the gifts which when
+he came hither he promised and covenanted to give me. But
+come, and I will even tell thee the trees through all the
+terraced garden, which thou gavest me once for mine own,
+and I was begging of thee this and that, being but a little
+child, and following thee through the garden. Through these
+very trees we were going, and thou didst tell me the names
+of each of them. Pear-trees thirteen thou gavest me and ten
+apple-trees and figs two-score, and, as we went, thou didst
+name the fifty rows of vines thou wouldest give me, whereof
+each one ripened at divers times, with all manner of
+clusters on their boughs, when the seasons of Zeus wrought
+mightily on them from on high.'
+
+So he spake, and straightway his knees were loosened, and
+his heart melted within him, as he knew the sure tokens
+that Odysseus showed him. About his dear son he cast his
+arms, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus caught him fainting
+to his breast. Now when he had got breath and his spirit
+came to him again, once more he answered and spake, saying:
+
+'Father Zeus, verily ye gods yet bear sway on high Olympus,
+if indeed the wooers have paid for their infatuate pride!
+But now my heart is terribly afraid, lest straightway all
+the men of Ithaca come up against us here, and haste to
+send messengers everywhere to the cities of the
+Cephallenians.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Take
+courage, and let not thy heart be careful about these
+matters. But come, let us go to the house that lies near
+the garden, for thither I sent forward Telemachus and the
+neatherd and the swineherd to get ready the meal as
+speedily as may be.'
+
+After these words the twain set out to the goodly halls.
+Now when they had come to the fair-lying house, they found
+Telemachus and the neatherd and the swineherd carving much
+flesh, and mixing the dark wine. Meanwhile the Sicilian
+handmaid bathed high-hearted Laertes in his house, and
+anointed him with olive-oil, and cast a fair mantle about
+him. Then Athene drew nigh, and made greater the limbs of
+the shepherd of the people, taller she made him than before
+and mightier to behold. Then he went forth from the bath,
+and his dear son marvelled at him, beholding him like to
+the deathless gods in presence. And uttering his voice he
+spake to him winged words:
+
+'Father, surely one of the gods that are from everlasting
+hath made thee goodlier and greater to behold.'
+
+Then wise Laertes answered him, saying: 'Ah, would to
+father Zeus and Athene and Apollo, that such as I was when
+I took Nericus, the stablished castle on the foreland of
+the continent, being then the prince of the Cephallenians,
+would that in such might, and with mail about my shoulders,
+I had stood to aid thee yesterday in our house, and to beat
+back the wooers; so should I have loosened the knees of
+many an one of them in the halls, and thou shouldest have
+been gladdened in thine inmost heart!'
+
+So they spake each with the other. But when the others had
+ceased from their task and made ready the feast, they sat
+down all orderly on chairs and on high seats. Then they
+began to put forth their hands on the meat, and the old man
+Dolius drew nigh, and the old man's sons withal came tired
+from their labour in the fields, for their mother, the aged
+Sicilian woman, had gone forth and called them, she that
+saw to their living and diligently cared for the old man,
+now that old age had laid hold on him. So soon as they
+looked on Odysseus and took knowledge of him, they stood
+still in the halls in great amazement. But Odysseus
+addressed them in gentle words, saying:
+
+'Old man, sit down to meat and do ye forget your
+marvelling, for long have we been eager to put forth our
+hands on the food, as we abode in the hall alway expecting
+your coming.'
+
+So he spake, and Dolius ran straight toward him stretching
+forth both his hands, and he grasped the hand of Odysseus
+and kissed it on the wrist, and uttering his voice spake to
+him winged words:
+
+'Beloved, forasmuch as thou hast come back to us who sore
+desired thee, and no longer thought to see thee, and the
+gods have led thee home again;--hail to thee and welcome
+manifold, and may the gods give thee all good fortune!
+Moreover tell me this truly, that I may be assured, whether
+wise Penelope yet knows well that thou hast come back
+hither, or whether we shall dispatch a messenger.'
+
+Then Odysseus of many counsels answered saying: 'Old man,
+already she knows all; what need to busy thyself herewith?'
+
+Thereon the other sat him down again on his polished
+settle. And in like wise the sons of Dolius gathered about
+the renowned Odysseus, and greeted him well and clasped his
+hands, and then sat down all orderly by Dolius their
+father.
+
+So they were busy with the meal in the halls. Now Rumour
+the messenger went swiftly all about the city, telling the
+tale of the dire death and fate of the wooers. And the
+people heard it, and all at once gathered together from
+every side with sighing and groaning before the house of
+Odysseus. And each brought forth his dead from the halls,
+and buried them; but those that came out of other cities
+they placed on swift ships and sent with fisherfolk, each
+to be carried to his own home. As for them they all fared
+together to the assembly-place, in sorrow of heart. When
+they were all gathered and come together, Eupeithes arose
+and spake among them, for a comfortless grief lay heavy on
+his heart for his son Antinous, the first man that goodly
+Odysseus had slain. Weeping for him he made harangue and
+spake among them:
+
+'Friends, a great deed truly hath this man devised against
+the Achaeans. Some with his ships he led away, many men,
+and noble, and his hollow ships hath he lost, and utterly
+lost of his company, and others again, and those far the
+best of the Cephallenians he hath slain on his coming home.
+Up now, before ever he gets him swiftly either to Pylos or
+to fair Elis, where the Epeians bear sway, let us go forth;
+else even hereafter shall we have shame of face for ever.
+For a scorn this is even for the ears of men unborn to
+hear, if we avenge not ourselves on the slayers of our sons
+and of our brethren. Life would no more be sweet to me, but
+rather would I die straightway and be with the departed.
+Up, let us be going, lest these fellows be beforehand with
+us and get them over the sea.'
+
+Thus he spake weeping, and pity fell on all the Achaeans.
+Then came near to them Medon and the divine minstrel, forth
+from the halls of Odysseus, for that sleep had let them go.
+They stood in the midst of the gathering, and amazement
+seized every man. Then Medon, wise of heart, spake among
+them, saying:
+
+'Hearken to me now, ye men of Ithaca, for surely Odysseus
+planned not these deeds without the will of the gods. Nay I
+myself beheld a god immortal, who stood hard by Odysseus,
+in the perfect semblance of Mentor; now as a deathless god
+was he manifest in front of Odysseus, cheering him, and yet
+again scaring the wooers he stormed through the hall, and
+they fell thick one on another.'
+
+Thus he spake, and pale fear gat hold of the limbs of all.
+Then the old man, the lord Halitherses, spake among them,
+the son of Mastor, for he alone saw before and after. Out
+of his good will be made harangue and spake among them,
+saying:
+
+'Hearken to me now, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I
+will say. Through your own cowardice, my friends, have
+these deeds come to pass. For ye obeyed not me, nor Mentor,
+the shepherd of the people, to make your sons cease from
+their foolish ways. A great villainy they wrought in their
+evil infatuation, wasting the wealth and holding in no
+regard the wife of a prince, while they deemed that he
+would never more come home. And now let things be on this
+wise, and obey my counsel. Let us not go forth against him,
+lest haply some may find a bane of their own bringing.'
+
+So he spake, but they leapt up with a great cry, the more
+part of them, while the rest abode there together; for his
+counsel was not to the mind of the more part, but they gave
+ear to Eupeithes, and swiftly thereafter they rushed for
+their armour. So when they had arrayed them in shining
+mail, they assembled together in front of the spacious
+town. And Eupeithes led them in his witlessness, for he
+thought to avenge the slaying of his son, yet himself was
+never to return, but then and there to meet his doom.
+
+Now Athene spake to Zeus, the son of Cronos, saying: 'O
+Father, our father Cronides, throned in the highest, answer
+and tell me what is now the hidden counsel of thy heart?
+Wilt thou yet further rouse up evil war and the terrible
+din of battle, or art thou minded to set them at one again
+in friendship?'
+
+Then Zeus, the gatherer of the clouds, answered her saying:
+'My child, why dost thou thus straitly question me, and ask
+me this? Nay didst not thou thyself devise this very
+thought, namely, that Odysseus should indeed take vengeance
+on these men at his coming? Do as thou wilt, but I will
+tell thee of the better way. Now that goodly Odysseus hath
+wreaked vengeance on the wooers, let them make a firm
+covenant together with sacrifice, and let him be king all
+his days, and let us bring about oblivion of the slaying of
+their children and their brethren; so may both sides love
+one another as of old, and let peace and wealth abundant be
+their portion.'
+
+Therewith he roused Athene to yet greater eagerness, and
+from the peaks of Olympus she came glancing down.
+
+Now when they had put from them the desire of honey-sweet
+food, the steadfast goodly Odysseus began to speak among
+them, saying:
+
+'Let one go forth and see, lest the people be already
+drawing near against us.'
+
+So he spake, and the son of Dolius went forth at his
+bidding, and stood on the outer threshold and saw them all
+close at hand. Then straightway he spake to Odysseus winged
+words:
+
+'Here they be, close upon us! Quick, let us to arms!'
+
+Thereon they rose up and arrayed them in their harness,
+Odysseus and his men being four, and the six sons of
+Dolius, and likewise Laertes and Dolius did on their
+armour, grey-headed as they were, warriors through stress
+of need. Now when they had clad them in shining mail, they
+opened the gates and went forth and Odysseus led them.
+
+Then Athene, daughter of Zeus, drew near them in the
+likeness of Mentor, in fashion and in voice. And the
+steadfast goodly Odysseus beheld her and was glad, and
+straightway he spake to Telemachus his dear son:
+
+'Telemachus, soon shalt thou learn this, when thou thyself
+art got to the place of the battle where the best men try
+the issue,--namely, not to bring shame on thy father's
+house, on us who in time past have been eminent for might
+and hardihood over all the world.'
+
+Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Thou shalt see
+me, if thou wilt, dear father, in this my mood no whit
+disgracing thy line, according to thy word.'
+
+So spake he, and Laertes was glad and spake, saying: 'What
+a day has dawned for me, kind gods; yea, a glad man am I!
+My son and my son's son are vying with one another in
+valour.'
+
+Then grey-eyed Athene stood beside Laertes, and spake to
+him: 'O son of Arceisius that art far the dearest of all my
+friends, pray first to the grey-eyed maid and to father
+Zeus, then swing thy long spear aloft and hurl its
+straightway.'
+
+Therewith Pallas Athene breathed into him great strength.
+Then he prayed to the daughter of mighty Zeus, and
+straightway swung his long spear aloft and hurled it, and
+smote Eupeithes through his casque with the cheek-piece of
+bronze. The armour kept not out the spear that went clean
+through, and he fell with a crash, and his arms rattled
+about his body. Then Odysseus and his renowned son fell on
+the fore-fighters, and smote them with swords and
+two-headed spears. And now would they have slain them all
+and cut off their return, had not Athene called aloud, the
+daughter of Zeus lord of the aegis, and stayed all the host
+of the enemy, saying:
+
+'Hold your hands from fierce fighting, ye men of Ithaca,
+that so ye may be parted quickly, without bloodshed.'
+
+So spake Athene, and pale fear gat hold of them all. The
+arms flew from their hands in their terror and fell all
+upon the ground, as the goddess uttered her voice. To the
+city they turned their steps, as men fain of life, and the
+steadfast goodly Odysseus with a terrible cry gathered
+himself together and hurled in on them, like an eagle of
+lofty flight. Then in that hour the son of Cronos cast
+forth a flaming bolt, and it fell at the feet of the
+grey-eyed goddess, the daughter of the mighty Sire. Then
+grey-eyed Athene spake to Odysseus, saying:
+
+'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
+devices, refrain thee now and stay the strife of
+even-handed war, lest perchance the son of Cronos be angry
+with thee, even Zeus of the far-borne voice.'
+
+So spake Athene, and he obeyed and was glad at heart. And
+thereafter Pallas Athene set a covenant between them with
+sacrifice, she, the daughter of Zeus lord of the aegis, in
+the likeness of Mentor, both in fashion and in voice.
+
+
+ Homer, thy song men liken to the sea,
+     With every note of music in his tone,
+     With tides that wash the dim dominion
+ Of Hades, and light waves that laugh in glee
+ Around the isles enchanted: nay, to me
+     Thy verse seems as the River of source unknown
+     That glasses Egypt's temples overthrown,
+ In his sky-nurtur'd stream, eternally.
+ No wiser we than men of heretofore
+     To find thy mystic fountains guarded fast;
+ Enough--thy flood makes green our human shore
+     As Nilus, Egypt, rolling down his vast,
+ His fertile waters, murmuring evermore
+     Of gods dethroned, and empires of the Past.
+
+A. L.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg Etext The Odyssey, by Homer, Butcher & Lang Tr
+
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