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diff --git a/1728-0.txt b/1728-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e0f60f --- /dev/null +++ b/1728-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13113 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1728 *** +The Odyssey + + + +by Homer + +DONE INTO ENGLISH PROSE + +by + +S. H. BUTCHER, M.A. +_Fellow and Protector of University College, Oxford_ +_Late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge_ + +AND + +A. LANG, M.A. +_Late Fellow of Merton College, Oxford_ + + +Contents + + + PREFACE. + PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. + INTRODUCTION. + + The Odyssey + BOOK I. + BOOK II. + BOOK III. + BOOK IV. + BOOK V. + BOOK VI. + BOOK VII. + BOOK VIII. + BOOK IX. + BOOK X. + BOOK XI. + BOOK XII. + BOOK XIII. + BOOK XIV. + BOOK XV. + BOOK XVI. + BOOK XVII. + BOOK XVIII. + BOOK XIX. + BOOK XX. + BOOK XXI. + BOOK XXII. + BOOK XXIII. + BOOK XXIV. + + + + +As one that for a weary space has lain + Lulled by the song of Circe and her wine + In gardens near the pale of Proserpine, +Where that Ææan isle forgets the main, +And only the low lutes of love complain, + And only shadows of wan lovers pine, + As such an one were glad to know the brine +Salt on his lips, and the large air again, +So gladly, from the songs of modern speech + Men turn, and see the stars, and feel the free + Shrill wind beyond the close of heavy flowers, + And through the music of the languid hours +They hear like Ocean on a western beach + The surge and thunder of the Odyssey. + + +A. L. + + + + +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 siècle depuis le xvie +a eu de ce côté son belvéder différent_. 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 they 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 have 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. + +We 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 _märchen_. 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 Cyclôpes, a pastoral people of +giants. Later Greece feigned that the Cyclôpes dwelt near Mount Etna, +in Sicily. Homer leaves their place of abode in the vague. Among the +Cyclôpes, 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 _märchen_ 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 Circé. 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 Circé. This adventure, like the +story of the Cyclops, is a fairy tale of great antiquity. Dr. Gerland, +in his _Alt Griechische Märchen in der Odyssee_, has 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. Circé appears as a +Yackshini, and is conquered when an adventurer seizes her flute whose +magic music turns men into beasts. The Indian Circé 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 +Circé, after which the sailors were eager to make for home. Circé +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, “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 Circé 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 Circé, 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 son 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 “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 _märchen_ (already referred +to) of the twelfth century A.D. Here the Phaeacians are the +Vidyâdhâris, and their old enemies the Cyclôpes, 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 _märchen_. + + 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, Circé, 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 Cyclôpes. His mother was the nymph Thoösa, 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.[1] + + [1] Or, according to the ordinary interpretation of ἀνεβάλλετο: 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,[2] 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 Neïon: 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.” + + [2] 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.”[3] + + [3] The γὰρ 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[4] 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.[5] 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.” + + [4] Cf. B. xxi. 131. For the use of the 1st pers. pl. like our _royal_ + plural, cf. B. xvi. 44, Il. vii. 190. + + + [5] Or, lest they bring your evil deeds in wrath on your own heads. + + +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 Noëmon, 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 Neïon; 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.[6] +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.” + + [6] Reading ἄστεος. v. 1. Ἄργεος, 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,[7] 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. + + [7] 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,[8] 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.” + + [8] Mr. Evelyn Abbott of Balliol College has suggested to us that + φιλέοντε and τερπομένω 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.[9] 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.” + + [9] 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,[10] 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: + + [10] 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 Noëmon, 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 Noëmon, 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[11] 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.” + + [11] It seems very doubtful whether ἔλσας can bear this meaning. The + reading ἐλάσας, “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[12] 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.” + + [12] ἀποφώλιος, from root φυ, “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[13] +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.” + + [13] Lit. Strive after an arrival on the land, etc. νόστος 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, νοστεῖν in Odyssey iv. 619, xv. 119, and νέεσθαι + 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 Cyclôpes 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.[14] 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.” + + [14] v. l. ᾗσιν. 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 Cyclôpes 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,[15] 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: + + [15] 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 Cyclôpes, 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 Cyclôpes, 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 +Cyclôpes 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 +Cyclôpes, 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.[16] + + [16] 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 Cyclôpes 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 Cyclôpes 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 +Cyclôpes, 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.[17] 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: + + [17] 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[18] 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.’ + + [18] 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 ἐλπωρή (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 Cyclôpes. 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. + +image + + + + +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[19] 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. + + [19] 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[20] 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.’ + + [20] ἐπάρουρος 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[21] 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.’ + + [21] See Lenormant, Premières 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,[22] that is ever unbroken. + + [22] ἔχων in strict grammar agrees with αὐτὸς in 574, but this is + 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,[23] 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.’ + + [23] Reading ἐπὶ, not ἔπει 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.[24] 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.” + + [24] Reading ἄνθρωπον, not ἄνθρωπος. + + +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[25] 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.” + + [25] Reading ἐύμορφόν. + + +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,[26] +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.” + + [26] 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[27] 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.” + + [27] Reading ὅ πού τις. + + +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,[28] as they +pelt him through the house.” + + [28] Reading πλευραί. + + +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[29] 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: + + [29] ἀμφουδὶς is perhaps best taken as an adverb in -δις formed from + ἀμφὶ, though some letters of the word are still left obscure. Most + modern commentators, however, derive it from ἀμφὶ and οὖδας “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,[30] and the voice of the lyre is heard +there, which the gods have made to be the mate of the feast.” + + [30] Reading ἀνήνοφεν. + + +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[31] call in this +man too?” + + [31] πόθι can hardly have a _local_ meaning here. If retained, it must + be nearly equivalent to πού, “it seems,” with a touch of irony. Cf. i. + 348. The v. 1. προτὶ = πρὸς 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.[32] For there are no mortal men, methinks, +so wanton as these, and none that devise such infatuate deeds.” + + [32] Placing at colon at ξεῖνος, and reading ὥς περ ἂν εἴη (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[33] that head of his, for there are no hairs on it, nay +never so thin.” + + [33] Accepting the conjecture κὰκ = κατὰ for the MSS. καὶ. + + +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 and 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[34] 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.” + + [34] Reading τοῦ. + + +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.”[35] + + [35] Reading ἄλφοιν, which is a correction. Or keeping the MSS. ἄλφοι, + “and this should bring thee in a goodly price,” the subject to ἄλφοι + 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[36] 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.” + + [36] The accepted interpretation of ἐπισχεσίη (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 + ἐπέχω in Od. xix. 71, xxii. 75, of ἐπίσχειν in Il. xvii. 465, and of + ἐπισχόμενος in Od. xxii. 15, suggests rather for ἐπισχεσίη 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:[37]—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.” + + [37] Placing a colon at ἐέλδωρ. + + +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[38] of the sword. So +he started and ran and came quickly to his father, and stood by him, +and spake winged words: + + [38] Or, reading προπρηνέα, 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,[39] 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.” + + [39] 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,[40] 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.” + + [40] Reading σφῶι . . . . ἀμφοτέρω. + + +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,[41] 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.” + + [41] Reading πρῶι. + + +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,[42] 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.” + + [42] Supplying ὄρχατον from the preceding clause as object to ἔχει. + 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 THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1728 *** |