human
Can you continue this poem for me?
  by S. H. BUTCHER, M.A.
There would have been less controversy about the proper
method of Homeric translation, if critics bad 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 nettete, his command of every
conventional and favourite artifice. Without Chapman's
conceits, Homer's poems would hardly have been what the
Elizabethans took for poetry; without Pope's smoothness,
and Pope's points, the Iliad and Odyssey would have seemed
rude, and harsh in the age of Anne. These great
translations must always live as English poems. As
transcripts of Homer they are like pictures drawn from a
lost point of view. Chaque siecle depuis le xvi a ue de ce
cote son belveder different. Again, when Europe woke to a
sense, an almost exaggerated and certainly uncritical
sense, of the value of her songs of the people, of all the
ballads that Herder, Scott, Lonnrot, and the rest
collected, it was commonly said that Homer was a
ballad-minstrel, that the translator must imitate the
simplicity, and even adopt the formulae of the ballad.
Hence came the renderings of Maginn, the experiments of Mr.
Gladstone, and others. There was some excuse for the error
of critics who asked for a Homer in ballad rhyme. The Epic
poet, the poet of gods and heroes, did indeed inherit some
of the formulae of the earlier Volks-lied. Homer, like the
author of The Song of Roland, like the singers of the
Kalevala, uses constantly recurring epithets, and repeats,
word for word, certain emphatic passages, messages, and so
on. That custom is essential in the ballad, it is an
accident not the essence of the epic. The epic is a poem of
complete and elaborate art, but it still bears some
birthmarks, some signs of the early popular chant, out of
which it sprung, as the garden-rose springs from the wild
stock, When this is recognised the demand for ballad-like
simplicity and 'ballad-slang' ceases to exist, and then all
Homeric translations in the ballad manner cease to
represent our conception of Homer. After the belief in the
ballad manner follows the recognition of the romantic vein
in Homer, and, as a result, came Mr. Worsley's admirable
Odyssey. This masterly translation does all that can be
done for the Odyssey in the romantic style. The smoothness
of the verse, the wonderful closeness to the original,
reproduce all of Homer, in music and in meaning, that can
be rendered in English verse. There still, however, seems
an aspect Homeric poems, and a demand in connection with
Homer to be recognised, and to be satisfied.
Sainte-Beuve says, with reference probably to M. Leconte de
Lisle's prose version of the epics, that some people treat
the epics too much as if the were sagas. Now the Homeric
epics are sagas, but then they are the sagas of the divine
heroic age of Greece, and thus are told with an art which
is not the art of the Northern poets. The epics are stories
about the adventures of men living in most respects like
the men of our own race who dwelt in Iceland, Norway,
Denmark, and Sweden. The epics are, in a way, and as far as
manners and institutions are concerned, historical
documents. Whoever regards them in this way, must wish to
read them exactly as they have reached us, without modern
ornament, with nothing added or omitted. He must recognise,
with Mr. Matthew Arnold, that what he now wants, namely,
the simple truth about the matter of the poem, can only be
given in prose, 'for in a verse translation no original
work is any longer recognisable.' It is for this reason
that we have attempted to tell once more, in simple prose,
the story of Odysseus. We have tried to transfer, not all
the truth about the poem, but the historical truth, into
English. In this process Homer must lose at least half his
charm, his bright and equable speed, the musical current of
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
has aided us with many suggestions while the book was
passing through the press.
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
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
Wet owe our thanks to the Rev. E. Warre, of Eton College,
for certain corrections on nautical points. In particular,
he has convinced us that the raft of Odysseus in B. v. is a
raft strictly so called, and that it is not, under the
poet's description, elaborated into a ship, as has been
commonly supposed. The translation of the passage (B.
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
assume this knowledge in the hearers of the poems, and take
for granted some acquaintance with other legends, as with
the story of the Argonautic Expedition. Now that story
itself is a tissue of popular tales,--still current in many
distant lands,--but all woven by the Greek genius into the
history of Iason.
The history of the return of Odysseus as told in the
Odyssey, is in the same way, a tissue of old marchen.
These must have existed for an unknown length of time
before they gravitated into the cycle of the tale of Troy.
The extraordinary artistic skill with which legends and
myths, originally unconnected with each other, are woven
into the plot of the Odyssey, so that the marvels of savage
and barbaric fancy become indispensable parts of an
artistic whole, is one of the chief proofs of the unity of
authorship of that poem. We now go on to sketch the plot,
which is a marvel of construction.
Odysseus was the King of Ithaca, a small and rugged island
on the western coast of Greece. When he was but lately
married to Penelope, and while his only son Telemachus was
still an infant, the Trojan war began. It is scarcely
necessary to say that the object of this war, as conceived
of by the poets, was to win back Helen, the wife of
Menelaus, from Paris, the son of Priam, King of Troy. As
Menelaus was the brother of Agamemnon, the Emperor, so to
speak, or recognised chief of the petty kingdoms of
'Greece, the whole force of these kingdoms was at his
disposal. No prince came to the leaguer of Troy from a home
more remote than that of Odysseus. When Troy was taken, in
the tenth year of the war, his homeward voyage was the
longest and most perilous.
The action of the Odyssey occupies but the last six weeks
of the ten years during which Odysseus was wandering. Two
nights in these six weeks are taken up, however, by his own
narrative of his adventures (to the Phaeacians, p. xx) in
the previous ten years. With this explanatory narrative we
must begin, before coming to the regular action of the
poem.
After the fall of Troy, Odysseus touched at Ismarus, the
city of a Thracian people, whom he attacked and plundered,
but by whom he was at last repulsed. The north wind then
carried his ships to Malea, the extreme southern point of
Greece. Had he doubled Malea safely, he would probably have
reached Ithaca in a few days, would have found Penelope
unvexed by wooers, and Telemachus a boy of ten years old.
But this was not to be.
The 'ruinous winds' drove Odysseus and his ships for ten
days, and on the tenth they touched the land of the Lotus-
Eaters, whose flowery food causes sweet forgetfulness.
Lotus-land was possibly in Western Libya, but it is more
probable that ten days' voyage from the southern point of
Greece, brought Odysseus into an unexplored region of
but five days' sail from Crete.
Lotus-land, therefore, being ten days' sail from Malea, was
well over the limit of the discovered world. From this
country Odysseus went on till he reached the land of the
lawless Cyclopes, a pastoral people of giants. Later Greece
feigned that the Cyclopes dwelt near Mount Etna, in Sicily.
Homer leaves their place of abode in the vague.  Among the
Cyclopes, Odysseus had the adventure on which his whole
fortunes hinged. He destroyed the eye of the cannibal
giant, Polyphemus, a son of Poseidon, the God of the Sea.
To avenge this act, Poseidon drove Odysseus wandering for
ten long years, and only suffered him to land in Ithaca,
'alone, in evil case, to find troubles in his house.' This
is a very remarkable point in the plot. The story of the
crafty adventurer and the blinding of the giant, with the
punning device by which the hero escaped, exists in the
shape of a detached marchen or fairy-tale among races who
never heard of Homer. And when we find the story among
Oghuzians, Esthonians, Basques, and Celts, it seems natural
to suppose that these people did not break a fragment out
of the Odyssey, but that the author of the Odyssey took
possession of a legend out of the great traditional store
of fiction. From the wide distribution of the tale, there
is reason to suppose that it is older than Homer, and that
it was not originally told of Odysseus, but was attached to
his legend, as floating jests of unknown authorship are
attributed to eminent wits. It has been remarked with truth
that in this episode Odysseus acts out of character, that
he is foolhardy as well as cunning. Yet the author of the
Odyssey, so far from merely dove-tailing this story at
random into his narrative, has made his whole plot turn on
the injury to the Cyclops. Had he not foolishly exposed
himself and his companions, by his visit to the Cyclops,
Odysseus would never have been driven wandering for ten
weary years. The prayers of the blinded Cyclops were heard
and fulfilled by Poseidon.
From the land of the Cyclops, Odysseus and his company
sailed to the Isle of Aeolus, the king of the winds. This
place too is undefined; we only learn that, even with the
most favourable gale, it was ten days' sail from Ithaca. In
the Isle of Aeolus Odysseus abode for a month, and then
received from the king a bag in which all the winds were
bound, except that which was to waft the hero to his home.
This sort of bag was probably not unfamiliar to
superstitious Greek sailors who had dealings with witches,
like the modern wise women of the Lapps. The companions of
the hero opened the bag when Ithaca was in sight, the winds
rushed out, the ships were borne back to the Aeolian Isle,
and thence the hero was roughly dismissed by Aeolus. Seven
days' sail brought him to Lamos, a city of the cannibal
Laestrygonians. Their country, too, is in No-man's-land,
and nothing can be inferred from the fact that their
fountain was called Artacia, and that there was an Artacia
in Cyzicus. In Lamos a very important adventure befel
Odysseus. The cannibals destroyed all his fleet, save one
ship, with which he made his escape to the Isle of Circe.
Here the enchantress turned part of the crew into swine,
but Odysseus, by aid of the god Hermes, redeemed them, and
became the lover of Circe. This adventure, like the story
of the Cyclops, is a fairy tale of great antiquity. Dr.
shown that the story makes part of the collection of
Somadeva, a store of Indian tales, of which 1200 A.D. is
the approximate date. Circe appears as a Yackshini, and is
conquered when an adventurer seizes her flute whose magic
music turns men into beasts. The Indian Circe had the habit
of eating the animals into which she transformed men.
We must suppose that the affairs with the Cicones, the
Lotus-eaters, the Cyclops, Aeolus, and the Laestrygonians,
occupied most of the first year after the fall of Troy. A
year was then spent in the Isle of Circe, after which the
sailors were eager to make for home. Circe commanded them
to go down to Hades, to learn the homeward way from the
ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias. The descent into
hell, for some similar purpose, is common in the epics of
other races, such as the Finns, and the South-Sea
Islanders. The narrative of Odysseus's visit to the dead
(book xi) is one of the most moving passages in the whole
poem.
From Teiresias Odysseus learned that, if he would bring his
companions home, he must avoid injuring the sacred cattle
of the Sun, which pastured in the Isle of Thrinacia.  If
these were harmed, he would arrive in Ithaca alone, or in
the words of the Cyclops's prayer, I in evil plight, with
loss of all his company, on board the ship of strangers, to
find sorrow in his house.' On returning to the Isle Aeaean,
Odysseus was warned by Circe of the dangers he would
encounter. He and his friends set forth, escaped the Sirens
(a sort of mermaidens), evaded the Clashing Rocks, which
close on ships (a fable known to the Aztecs), passed Scylla
(the pieuvre of antiquity) with loss of some of the
company, and reached Thrinacia, the Isle of the Sun. Here
the company of Odysseus, constrained by hunger, devoured
the sacred kine of the Sun, for which offence they were
punished by a shipwreck, when all were lost save Odysseus.
He floated ten days on a raft, and then reached the isle of
the goddess Calypso, who kept him as her lover for eight
years.
The first two years after the fall of Troy are now
accounted for. They were occupied, as we have seen, by
adventures with the Cicones, the Lotus-eaters, the Cyclops,
Aeolus, the Laestrygonians, by a year's residence with
Circe, by the descent into Hades, the encounters with the
Sirens, and Scylla, and the fatal sojourn in the isle of
Thrinacia. We leave Odysseus alone, for eight years,
consuming his own heart, in the island paradise of Calypso.
In Ithaca, the hero's home, things seem to have passed
smoothly till about the sixth year after the fall of Troy.
Then the men of the younger generation, the island chiefs,
began to woo Penelope, and to vex her son Telemachus.
Laertes, the father of Odysseus, was too old to help, and
Penelope only gained time by her famous device of weaving
and unweaving the web. The wooers began to put compulsion
on the Queen, quartering themselves upon her, devouring her
substance, and insulting her by their relations with her
handmaids. Thus Penelope pined at home, amidst her wasting
possessions. Telemachus fretted in vain, and Odysseus was
devoured by grief and home-sickness in the isle of Calypso.
When he had lain there for nigh eight years, the action of
the Odyssey begins, and occupies about six weeks.
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.
Telemachus assembles the people, but he has not the heart
to carry out Athene's advice. He cannot send the wooers
away, nor turn his mother out of her house. He rather
weakly appeals to the wooers' consciences, and announces
his intention of going to seek his father. They answer with
scorn, but are warned of their fate, which is even at the
doors, by Halitherses. His prophecy (first made when
Odysseus set out for Troy) tallies with the prophecy of
Teiresias, and the prayer of the Cyclops. The reader will
observe a series of portents, prophecies, and omens, which
grow more numerous and admonishing as their doom draws
nearer to the wooers. Their hearts, however, are hardened,
and they mock at Telemachus, who, after an interview with
Athene, borrows a ship and secretly sets out for Pylos.
Athene accompanies him, and his friends man his galley.
DAY 3 (Book iii).
They reach Pylos, and are kindly received by the aged
Nestor, who has no news about Odysseus. After sacrifice,
Athene disappears.
DAY 4 (Book iii).
The fourth day is occupied with sacrifice, and the talk of
Nestor. In the evening Telemachus (leaving his ship and
friends at Pylos) drives his chariot into Pherae, half way
to Sparta; Peisistratus, the soil of Nestor, accompanies
Telemachus and Peisistratus arrive at Sparta, where
Menelaus and Helen receive them kindly.
Menelaus tells how he himself came home in the eighth year
after the fall of Troy. He had heard from Proteus, the Old
Man of the Sea, that Odysseus was alive, and a captive on
an island of the deep. Menelaus invites Telemachus to Stay
with him for eleven days or twelve, which Telemachus
declines to do. It will later appear that he made an even
longer stay at Sparta, though whether he changed his mind,
or whether we have here an inadvertence of the poet's it is
hard to determine. This blemish has been used as an
argument against the unity of authorship, but writers of
all ages have made graver mistakes.
On this same day (the sixth) the wooers in Ithaca learned
that Telemachus had really set out to I cruise after his
father.' They sent some of their number to lie in ambush
for him, in a certain strait which he was likely to pass on
his return to Ithaca. Penelope also heard of her son's
departure, but was consoled by a dream.
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
These days are occupied by Odysseus in making and launching
a raft; on the twelfth day from the beginning of the action
he leaves Calypso's isle. He sails for eighteen days, and
on the eighteenth day of his voyage (the twenty-ninth from
the beginning of the action), he sees Scheria. Poseidon
raises a storm against him, and it is not till the
thirty-second day from that in which Athene visited
Telemachus, that he lands in Scheria, the country of the
Phaeacians. Here he is again in fairy land. A rough, but
perfectly recognisable form of the Phaeacian myth, is found
in an Indian collection of marchen (already referred to) of
the twelfth century A.D. Here the Phaeacians are the
Vidyidhiris, and their old enemies the Cyclopes, are the
Rakshashas, a sort of giants. The Indian Odysseus, who
seeks the city of gold, passes by the home of an Indian
Aeolus, Satyavrata. His later adventures are confused, and
the Greek version retains only the more graceful fancies of
the marchen.
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.
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.'
Is spent by Odysseus in the swineherd's hut. Telemachus
reaches Pherae, half-way to Pylos.
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.
Telemachus reaches the Isle of Ithaca, sends his ship to
the city, but himself, by advice of Athene, makes for the
hut of Eumaeus, where he meets, but naturally does not
recognise, his disguised father. He sends Eumaeus to
Penelope with news of his arrival, and then Athene reveals
Odysseus to Telemachus. The two plot the death of the
wooers. Odysseus bids Telemachus remove, on a favourable
opportunity, the arms which were disposed as trophies on
the walls of the hall at home. (There is a slight
discrepancy between the words of this advice and the manner
in which it is afterwards executed.) During this interview,
the ship of Telemachus, the wooers who had been in ambush,
and Eumaeus, all reached the town of Ithaca. In the evening
Eumaeus returned to his hut, where Athene had again
disguised Odysseus.
DAY 40 (Books xvii, xviii, xix, xx).
The story is now hastening to its close, and many events
are crowded into the fortieth day. Telemachus goes from the
swineherd's hut to the city, and calls his guest,
Theoclymenus, to the palace. The second-sighted man
prophesies of the near revenge of Odysseus. In the
afternoon, Odysseus (still disguised) and Eumaeus reach the
city, the dog Argos recognises the hero, and dies. Odysseus
goes begging through his own hall, and is struck by
Antinous, the proudest of the wooers. Late in the day
Eumaeus goes home, and Odysseus fights with the braggart
beggar Irus. Still later, Penelope appears among the
wooers, and receives presents from them. When the wooers
have withdrawn, Odysseus and Telemachus remove the weapons
from the hall to the armoury. Afterwards Odysseus has an
interview with Penelope (who does not recognise him), but
he is recognised by his old nurse Eurycleia. Penelope
mentions her purpose to wed the man who on the following
day, the feast of the Archer-god Apollo, shall draw the bow
of Odysseus, and send an arrow through the holes in twelve
axe-blades, set up in a row. Thus the poet shows that
Odysseus has arrived in Ithaca not a day too soon. Odysseus
is comforted by a vision of Athene, and
DAY 41 (Books xx, xxi, xxii, xxiii).
by the ominous prayer uttered by a weary woman grinding at
the mill. The swineherd and the disloyal Melanthius arrive
at the palace. The wooers defer the plot to kill
Telemachus, as the day is holy to Apollo. Odysseus is led
up from his seat near the door to a place beside Telemachus
at the chief's table. The wooers mock Telemachus, and the
second-sighted Theoclymenus sees the ominous shroud of
death covering their bodies, and the walls dripping with
blood. He leaves the doomed company. In the trial of the
bow, none of the wooers can draw it; meanwhile Odysseus has
declared himself to the neatherd and the swineherd. The
former bars and fastens the outer gates of the court, the
latter bids Eurycleia bar the doors of the womens' chambers
which lead out of the hall. Odysseus now gets the bow into
his hands, strings it, sends the arrow through the
axe-blades, and then leaping on the threshold of stone,
deals his shafts among the wooers. Telemachus, the
neatherd, and Eumaeus, aiding him, he slaughters all the
crew, despite the treachery of Melanthius. The paramours of
the wooers are hanged, and Odysseus, after some delay, is
recognised by Penelope.
DAY 42 (Books xxiii, xxiv).
This day is occupied with the recognition of Odysseus by
his aged father Laertes, and with the futile attempt of the
kinsfolk of the wooers to avenge them on Odysseus. Athene
reconciles the feud, and the toils of Odysseus are
accomplished.
The reader has now before him a chronologically arranged
sketch of the action of the Odyssey. It is, perhaps,
apparent, even from this bare outline, that the composition
is elaborate and artistic, that the threads of the plot are
skilfully separated and combined. The germ of the whole
epic is probably the popular tale, known all over the
world, of the warrior who, on his return from a long
expedition, has great difficulty in making his prudent wife
recognise him. The incident occurs as a detached story in
China, and in most European countries it is told of a
crusader. 'We may suppose it to be older than the legend of
Troy, and to have gravitated into the cycle of that legend.
The years of the hero's absence are then filled up with
adventures (the Cyclops, Circe, the Phaeacians, the Sirens,
the descent into hell) which exist as scattered tales, or
are woven into the more elaborate epics of Gaels, Aztecs,
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.
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
And Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered her, and said, 'My
child, what word hath escaped the door of thy lips? Yea,
how should I forget divine Odysseus, who in understanding
is beyond mortals and beyond all men hath done sacrifice to
the deathless gods, who keep the wide heaven? Nay, but it
is Poseidon, the girdler of the earth, that hath been wroth
continually with quenchless anger for the Cyclops' sake
whom he blinded of his eye, even godlike Polyphemus whose
power is mightiest amongst all the Cyclopes. His mother was
the nymph Thoosa, daughter of Phorcys, lord of the
unharvested sea, and in the hollow caves she lay with
Poseidon. From that day forth Poseidon the earth-shaker
doth not indeed slay Odysseus, but driveth him wandering
from his own country. But come, let us here one and all
take good counsel as touching his returning, that he may be
got home; so shall Poseidon let go his displeasure, for he
will in no wise be able to strive alone against all, in
despite of all the deathless gods.'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him, and said:
'O father, our father Cronides, throned in the highest, if
indeed this thing is now well pleasing to the blessed gods,
that wise Odysseus should return to his own home, let us
then speed Hermes the Messenger, the slayer of Argos, to
the island of Ogygia. There with all speed let him declare
to the lady of the braided tresses our unerring counsel,
even the return of the patient Odysseus, that so he may
come to his home. But as for me I will go to Ithaca that I
may rouse his son yet the more, planting might in his
heart, to call an assembly of the long-haired Achaeans and
speak out to all the wooers who slaughter continually the
sheep of his thronging flocks, and his kine with trailing
feet and shambling gait. And I will guide him to Sparta and
to sandy Pylos to seek tidings of his dear father's return,
if peradventure he may hear thereof and that so he may be
had in good report among men.'
She spake and bound beneath her feet her lovely golden
sandals that wax not old, and bare her alike over the wet
sea and over the limitless land, swift as the breath of the
wind. And she seized her doughty spear, shod with sharp
bronze, weighty and huge and strong, wherewith she quells
the ranks of heroes with whomsoever she is wroth, the
daughter of the mighty sire. Then from the heights of
Olympus she came glancing down, and she stood in the land
of Ithaca, at the entry of the gate of Odysseus, on the
threshold of the courtyard, holding in her hand the spear
of bronze, in the semblance of a stranger, Mentes the
captain of the Taphians. And there she found the lordly
wooers: now they were taking their pleasure at draughts in
front of the doors, sitting on hides of oxen, which
themselves had slain. And of the henchmen and the ready
squires, some were mixing for them wine and water in bowls,
and some again were washing the tables with porous sponges
and were setting them forth, and others were carving flesh
in plenty.
And godlike Telemachus was far the first to descry her, for
he was sitting with a heavy heart among the wooers dreaming
on his good father, if haply he might come somewhence, and
make a scattering of the wooers there throughout the
palace, and himself get honour and bear rule among his own
possessions. Thinking thereupon, as he sat among wooers, he
saw Athene--and he went straight to the outer porch, for he
thought it blame in his heart that a stranger should stand
long at the gates: and halting nigh her he clasped her
right hand and took from her the spear of bronze, and
uttered his voice and spake unto her winged words:
'Hail, stranger, with us thou shalt be kindly entreated,
and thereafter, when thou hast tasted meat, thou shalt tell
us that whereof thou hast need.'
Therewith he led the way, and Pallas Athene followed. And
when they were now within the lofty house, he set her spear
that he bore against a tall pillar, within the polished
spear-stand, where stood many spears besides, even those of
Odysseus of the hardy heart; and he led the goddess and
seated her on a goodly carven chair, and spread a linen
cloth thereunder, and beneath was a footstool for the feet.
For himself he placed an inlaid seat hard by, apart from
the company of the wooers, lest the stranger should be
disquieted by the noise and should have a loathing for the
meal, being come among overweening men, and also that he
might ask him about his father that was gone from his home.
Then a handmaid bare water for the washing of hands in a
goodly golden ewer, and poured it forth over a silver basin
to wash withal, and drew to their side a polished table.
And a grave dame bare wheaten bread and set it by them, and
laid on the board many dainties, giving freely of such
things as she had by her. And a carver lifted and placed by
them platters of divers kinds of flesh, and nigh them he
set golden bowls, and a henchman walked to and fro pouring
out to them the wine.
Then in came the lordly wooers; and they sat them down in
rows on chairs, and on high seats, and henchmen poured
water on their hands, and maidservants piled wheaten bread
by them in baskets, and pages crowned the bowls with drink;
and they stretched forth their hands upon the good cheer
spread before them. Now when the wooers had put from them
the desire of meat and drink, they minded them of other
things, even of the song and dance: for these are the crown
of the feast. And a henchman placed a beauteous lyre in the
hands of Phemius, who was minstrel to the wooers despite
his will. Yea and as he touched the lyre he lifted up his
voice in sweet songs.{*}
{* Or, according to the ordinary interpretation of [Greek]:
So he touched the chords in prelude to his sweet singing.}
But Telemachus spake unto grey-eyed Athene, holding his
head close to her that those others might not hear: 'Dear
stranger, wilt thou of a truth be wroth at the word that I
shall say? Yonder men verily care for such things as these,
the lyre and song, lightly, as they that devour the
livelihood of another without atonement, of that man whose
white bones, it may be, lie wasting in the rain upon the
mainland, or the billow rolls them in the brine. Were but
these men to see him returned to Ithaca, they all would
pray rather for greater speed of foot than for gain of gold
and raiment. But now he hath perished, even so, an evil
doom, and for us is no comfort, no, not though any of
earthly men should say that he will come again. Gone is the
day of his returning! But come declare me this, and tell me
all plainly: Who art thou of the sons of men, and whence?
Where is thy city, where are they that begat thee? Say, on
what manner of ship didst thou come, and how did sailors
bring thee to Ithaca, and who did they avow themselves to
be, for in nowise do I deem that thou camest hither by
land.  And herein tell me true, that I may know for a
surety whether thou art a newcomer, or whether thou art a
guest of the house, seeing that many were the strangers
that came to our home, for that HE too had voyaged much
among men.'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Yea now,
I will plainly tell thee all. I avow me to be Mentes, son
of wise Anchialus, and I bear rule among the Taphians,
lovers of the oar. And now am I come to shore, as thou
seest, with ship and crew, sailing over the wine-dark sea,
unto men of strange speech, even to Temesa, {*} in quest of
copper, and my cargo is shining iron. And there my ship is
lying toward the upland, away from the city, in the harbour
of Rheithron beneath wooded Neion: and we declare ourselves
to be friends one of the other, and of houses friendly,
from of old. Nay, if thou wouldest be assured, go ask the
old man, the hero Laertes, who they say no more comes to
the city, but far away toward the upland suffers
affliction, with an ancient woman for his handmaid, who
sets by him meat and drink, whensoever weariness takes hold
of his limbs, as he creeps along the knoll of his vineyard
plot.  And now am I come; for verily they said that HE, thy
father, was among his people; but lo, the gods withhold him
from his way. For goodly Odysseus hath not yet perished on
the earth; but still, methinks, he lives and is kept on the
wide deep in a seagirt isle, and hard men constrain him,
wild folk that hold him, it may be, sore against his will.
But now of a truth will I utter my word of prophecy, as the
Immortals bring it into my heart and as I deem it will be
accomplished, though no soothsayer am I, nor skilled in the
signs of birds. Henceforth indeed for no long while shall
he be far from his own dear country, not though bonds of
iron bind him; he will advise him of a way to return, for
he is a man of many devices. But come, declare me this, and
tell me all plainly, whether indeed, so tall as thou art,
thou art sprung from the loins of Odysseus. Thy head surely
and they beauteous eyes are wondrous like to his, since
full many a time have we held converse together ere he
embarked for Troy, whither the others, aye the bravest of
the Argives, went in hollow ships. From that day forth
neither have I seen Odysseus, nor he me.'
{* Tamasia, in the mountainous centre of Cyprus.}
Then wise Telemachus answered her, and said: 'Yea, sir, now
will I plainly tell thee all. My mother verily saith that I
am his; for myself I know not, for never man yet knew of
himself his own descent. O that I had been the son of some
blessed man, whom old age overtook among his own
possessions! But now of him that is the most hapless of
mortal men, his son they say that I am, since thou dost
question me hereof.'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake unto him, and
said: 'Surely no nameless lineage have the gods ordained
for thee in days to come, since Penelope bore thee so
goodly a man. But come, declare me this, and tell it all
plainly. What feast, nay, what rout is this? What hast thou
to do therewith? Is it a clan drinking, or a wedding feast,
for here we have no banquet where each man brings his
share? In such wise, flown with insolence, do they seem to
me to revel wantonly through the house: and well might any
man be wroth to see so many deeds of shame, whatso wise man
came among them.'
Then wise Telemachus answered her, and said: 'Sir,
forasmuch as thou questionest me of these things and
inquirest thereof, our house was once like to have been
rich and honourable, while yet that man was among his
people. But now the gods willed it otherwise, in evil
purpose, who have made him pass utterly out of sight as no
man ever before.  Truly I would not even for his death make
so great sorrow, had he fallen among his fellows in the
land of the Trojans, or in the arms of his friends when he
had wound up the clew of war. Then would the whole Achaean
host have builded him a barrow, and even for his son would
he have won great glory in the after days. But now the
spirits of the storm have swept him away inglorious. He is
gone, lost to sight and hearsay, but for me hath he left
anguish and lamentation; nor henceforth is it for him alone
that I mourn and weep, since the gods have wrought for me
other sore distress. For all the noblest that are princes
in the isles, in Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus,
and as many as lord it in rocky Ithaca, all these woo my
mother and waste my house. But as for her she neither
refuseth the hated bridal, nor hath the heart to make an
end: so they devour and minish my house, and ere long will
they make havoc likewise of myself.'
Then in heavy displeasure spake unto him Pallas Athene:
'God help thee! thou art surely sore in need of Odysseus
that is afar, to stretch forth his hands upon the shameless
wooers.  If he could but come now and stand at the entering
in of the gate, with helmet and shield and lances twain, as
mighty a man as when first I marked him in our house
drinking and making merry what time he came up out of
Ephyra from Ilus son of Mermerus! For even thither had
Odysseus gone on his swift ship to seek a deadly drug, that
he might have wherewithal to smear his bronze-shod arrows:
but Ilus would in nowise give it to him, for he had in awe
the everliving gods. But my father gave it him, for he bare
him wondrous love. O that Odysseus might in such strength
consort with the wooers: so should they all have swift fate
and bitter wedlock! Howbeit these things surely lie on the
knees of the gods, whether he shall return or not, and take
vengeance in his halls. But I charge thee to take counsel
how thou mayest thrust forth the wooers from the hall. Come
now, mark and take heed unto my words. On the morrow call
the Achaean lords to the assembly, and declare thy saying
to all, and take the gods to witness. As for the wooers bid
them scatter them each one to his own, and for thy mother,
if her heart is moved to marriage, let her go back to the
hall of that mighty man her father, and her kinsfolk will
furnish a wedding feast, and array the gifts of wooing
exceeding many, all that should go back with a daughter
dearly beloved. And to thyself I will give a word of wise
counsel, if perchance thou wilt hearken. Fit out a ship,
the best thou hast, with twenty oarsmen, and go to inquire
concerning thy father that is long afar, if perchance any
man shall tell thee aught, or if thou mayest hear the voice
from Zeus, which chiefly brings tidings to men. Get thee
first to Pylos and inquire of goodly Nestor, and from
thence to Sparta to Menelaus of the fair hair, for he came
home the last of the mail-coated Achaeans. If thou shalt
hear news of the life and the returning of thy father, then
verily thou mayest endure the wasting for yet a year. But
if thou shalt hear that he is dead and gone, return then to
thine own dear country and pile his mound, and over it pay
burial rites, full many as is due, and give thy mother to a
husband. But when thou hast done this and made an end,
thereafter take counsel in thy mind and heart, how thou
mayest slay the wooers in thy halls, whether by guile or
openly; for thou shouldest not carry childish thoughts,
being no longer of years thereto. Or hast thou not heard
what renown the goodly Orestes gat him among all men in
that he slew the slayer of his father, guileful Aegisthus,
who killed his famous sire? And thou, too, my friend, for I
see that thou art very comely and tall, be valiant, that
even men unborn may praise thee. But I will now go down to
the swift ship and to my men, who methinks chafe much at
tarrying for me; and do thou thyself take heed and give ear
unto my words.'
Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Sir, verily
thou speakest these things out of a friendly heart, as a
father to his son, and never will I forget them. But now I
pray thee abide here, though eager to be gone, to the end
that after thou hast bathed and had all thy heart's desire,
thou mayest wend to the ship joyful in spirit, with a
costly gift and very goodly, to be an heirloom of my
giving, such as dear friends give to friends.'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Hold me
now no longer, that am eager for the way. But whatsoever
gift thine heart shall bid thee give me, when I am on my
way back let it be mine to carry home: bear from thy stores
a gift right goodly, and it shall bring thee the worth
thereof in return.'
So spake she and departed, the grey-eyed Athene, and like
an eagle of the sea she flew away, but in his spirit she
planted might and courage, and put him in mind of his
father yet more than heretofore. And he marked the thing
and was amazed, for he deemed that it was a god; and anon
he went among the wooers, a godlike man.
Now the renowned minstrel was singing to the wooers, and
they sat listening in silence; and his song was of the
pitiful return of the Achaeans, that Pallas Athene laid on
them as they came forth from Troy. And from her upper
chamber the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, caught the
glorious strain, and she went down the high stairs from her
chamber, not alone, for two of her handmaids bare her
company. Now when the fair lady had come unto the wooers,
she stood by the pillar of the well-builded roof holding up
her glistening tire before her face; and a faithful maiden
stood on either side her. Then she fell a weeping, and
spake unto the divine minstrel:
'Phemius, since thou knowest many other charms for mortals,
deeds of men and gods, which bards rehearse, some one of
these do thou sing as thou sittest by them, and let them
drink their wine in silence; but cease from this pitiful
strain, that ever wastes my heart within my breast, since
to me above all women hath come a sorrow comfortless. So
dear a head do I long for in constant memory, namely, that
man whose fame is noised abroad from Hellas to mid Argos.'
Then wise Telemachus answered her, and said: 'O my mother,
why then dost thou grudge the sweet minstrel to gladden us
as his spirit moves him? It is not minstrels who are in
fault, but Zeus, methinks, is in fault, who gives to men,
that live by bread, to each one as he will. As for him it
is no blame if he sings the ill-faring of the Danaans; for
men always prize that song the most, which rings newest in
their ears. But let thy heart and mind endure to listen,
for not Odysseus only lost in Troy the day of his
returning, but many another likewise perished. Howbeit go
to thy chamber and mind thine own housewiferies, the loom
and distaff, and bid thy handmaids ply their tasks. But
speech shall be for men, for all, but for me in chief; for
mine is the lordship in the house.'
Then in amaze she went back to her chamber, for she laid up
the wise saying of her son in her heart. She ascended to
her upper chamber with the women her handmaids, and then
was bewailing Odysseus, her dear lord, till grey-eyed
Athene cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids.
Now the wooers clamoured throughout the shadowy halls, and
each one uttered a prayer to be her bedfellow. And wise
Telemachus first spake among them:
'Wooers of my mother, men despiteful out of measure, let us
feast now and make merry and let there be no brawling; for,
lo, it is a good thing to list to a minstrel such as him,
like to the gods in voice. But in the morning let us all go
to the assembly and sit us down, that I may declare my
saying outright, to wit that ye leave these halls: and busy
yourselves with other feasts, eating your own substance,
going in turn from house to house. But if ye deem this a
likelier and a better thing, that one man's goods should
perish without atonement, then waste ye as ye will; and I
will call upon the everlasting gods, if haply Zeus may
grant that acts of recompense be made: so should ye
hereafter perish within the halls without atonement.'
So spake he, and all that heard him bit their lips and
marvelled at Telemachus, in that he spake boldly.
Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him: 'Telemachus,
in very truth the gods themselves instruct thee to be proud
of speech and boldly to harangue. Never may Cronion make
thee king in seagirt Ithaca, which thing is of inheritance
thy right!'
Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Antinous,
wilt thou indeed be wroth at the word that I shall say?
Yea, at the hand of Zeus would I be fain to take even this
thing upon me. Sayest thou that this is the worst hap that
can befal a man? Nay, verily, it is no ill thing to be a
king: the house of such an one quickly waxeth rich and
himself is held in greater honour. Howsoever there are many
other kings of the Achaeans in seagirt Ithaca, kings young
and old; someone of them shall surely have this kingship
since goodly Odysseus is dead. But as for me, I will be
lord of our own house and thralls, that goodly Odysseus gat
me with his spear.'
Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered him, saying:
'Telemachus, on the knees of the gods it surely lies, what
man is to be king over the Achaeans in seagirt Ithaca. But
mayest thou keep thine own possessions and be lord in thine
own house! Never may that man come, who shall wrest from
thee thy substance violently in thine own despite while
Ithaca yet stands. But I would ask thee, friend, concerning
the stranger--whence he is, and of what land he avows him
to be? Where are his kin and his native fields? Doth he
bear some tidings of thy father on his road, or cometh he
thus to speed some matter of his own? In such wise did he
start up, and lo, he was gone, nor tarried he that we
should know him;--and yet he seemed no mean man to look
{* The [Greek] explains the expression of surprise at the
sudden departure of the stranger.}
Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Eurymachus,
surely the day of my father's returning hath gone by.
Therefore no more do I put faith in tidings, whencesoever
they may come, neither have I regard unto any divination,
whereof my mother may inquire at the lips of a diviner,
when she hath bidden him to the hall. But as for that man,
he is a friend of my house from Taphos, and he avows him to
be Mentes, son of wise Anchialus, and he hath lordship
among the Taphians, lovers of the oar.'
So spake Telemachus, but in his heart he knew the deathless
goddess. Now the wooers turned them to the dance and the
delightsome song, and made merry, and waited till evening
should come on. And as they made merry, dusk evening came
upon them. Then they went each one to his own house to lie
down to rest.
But Telemachus, where his chamber was builded high up in
the fair court, in a place with wide prospect, thither
betook him to his bed, pondering many thoughts in his mind;
and with him went trusty Eurycleia, and bare for him
torches burning. She was the daughter of Ops, son of
Peisenor, and Laertes bought her on a time with his wealth,
while as yet she was in her first youth, and gave for her
the worth of twenty oxen. And he honoured her even as he
honoured his dear wife in the halls, but he never lay with
her, for he shunned the wrath of his lady. She went with
Telemachus and bare for him the burning torches: and of all
the women of the household she loved him most, and she had
nursed him when a little one. Then he opened the doors of
the well-builded chamber and sat him on the bed and took
off his soft doublet, and put it in the wise old woman's
hands. So she folded the doublet and smoothed it, and hung
it on a pin by the jointed bedstead, and went forth on her
way from the room, and pulled to the door with the silver
handle, and drew home the bar with the thong. There, all
night through, wrapped in a fleece of wool, he meditated in
his heart upon the journey that Athene had showed him.
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.
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
had, and one consorted with the wooers, namely Eurynomus,
but two continued in their father's fields; yet even so
forgat he not that son, still mourning and sorrowing. So
weeping for his sake he made harangue and spake among them:
'Hearken now to me, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I
shall say. Never hath our assembly or session been since
the day that goodly Odysseus departed in the hollow ships.
And now who was minded thus to assemble us? On what man
hath such sore need come, of the young men or of the elder
born? Hath he heard some tidings of the host now returning,
which he might plainly declare to us, for that he first
learned thereof, or doth he show forth and tell some other
matter of the common weal? Methinks he is a true man--good
luck be with him! Zeus vouchsafe him some good thing in his
turn, even all his heart's desire!'
So spake he, and the dear son of Odysseus was glad at the
omen of the word; nor sat he now much longer, but he burned
to speak, and he stood in mid assembly; and the herald
Peisenor, skilled in sage counsels, placed the staff in his
hands. Then he spake, accosting the old man first:
'Old man, he is not far off, and soon shalt thou know it
for thyself, he who called the folk together, even I: for
sorrow hath come to me in chief. Neither have I heard any
tidings of the host now returning, which I may plainly
declare to you, for that I first learned thereof; neither
do I show forth or tell any other matter of the common
weal, but mine own need, for that evil hath befallen my
house, a double woe. First, I have lost my noble sire, who
sometime was king among you here, and was gentle as a
father; and now is there an evil yet greater far, which
surely shall soon make grievous havoc of my whole house and
ruin all my livelihood. My mother did certain wooers beset
sore against her will, even the sons of those men that here
are the noblest. They are too craven to go to the house of
her father Icarius, that he may himself set the bride-price
for his daughter, and bestow her on whom he will, even on
him who finds favour in his sight. But they resorting to
our house day by day sacrifice oxen and sheep and fat
goats, and keep revel, and drink the dark wine recklessly,
and lo, our great wealth is wasted, for there is no man now
alive such as Odysseus was, to keep ruin from the house. As
for me I am nowise strong like him to ward mine own; verily
to the end of my days {*} shall I be a weakling and all
unskilled in prowess. Truly I would defend me if but
strength were mine; for deeds past sufferance have now been
wrought, and now my house is wasted utterly beyond pretence
of right. Resent it in your own hearts, and have regard to
your neighbours who dwell around, and tremble ye at the
anger of the gods, lest haply they turn upon you in wrath
at your evil deeds. {Or, lest they bring your evil deeds in
wrath on your own heads.} I pray you by Olympian Zeus and
by Themis, who looseth and gathereth the meetings of men,
let be, my friends, and leave me alone to waste in bitter
grief;-- unless it so be that my father, the good Odysseus,
out of evil heart wrought harm to the goodly-greaved
Achaeans, in quittance whereof ye now work me harm out of
evil hearts, and spur on these men. Better for me that ye
yourselves should eat up my treasures and my flocks. Were
YE so to devour them, ere long would some recompense be
made, for we would urge our plea throughout the town,
begging back our substance, until all should be restored.
But now without remedy are the pains that ye lay up in my
{* Cf. B. xxi. 131. For the use of the 1st pers. pl. like
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
So spake he in prayer, and Athene drew nigh him in the
likeness of Mentor, in fashion and in voice, and she spake
and hailed him in winged words:
'Telemachus, even hereafter thou shalt not be craven or
witless, if indeed thou hast a drop of thy father's blood
and a portion of his spirit; such an one was he to fulfil
both word and work. Nor, if this be so, shall thy voyage be
vain or unfulfilled. But if thou art not the very seed of
him and of Penelope, then have I no hope that thou wilt
accomplish thy desire. For few children, truly, are like
their father; lo, the more part are worse, yet a few are
better than the sire. But since thou shalt not even
hereafter be craven or witless, nor hath the wisdom of
Odysseus failed thee quite, so is there good hope of thine
accomplishing this work. Wherefore now take no heed of the
counsel or the purpose of the senseless wooers, for they
are in no way wise or just: neither know they aught of
death and of black fate, which already is close upon them,
that they are all to perish in one day. But the voyage on
which thy heart is set shall not long be lacking to
thee--so faithful a friend of thy father am I, who will
furnish thee a swift ship and myself be thy companion. But
go thou to the house, and consort with the wooers, and make
ready corn, and bestow all in vessels, the wine in jars and
barley-flour, the marrow of men, in well-sewn skins; and I
will lightly gather in the township a crew that offer
themselves willingly. There are many ships, new and old, in
seagirt Ithaca; of these I will choose out the best for
thee, and we will quickly rig her and launch her on the
broad deep.'
So spake Athene, daughter of Zeus, and Telemachus made no
long tarrying, when he had heard the voice of the goddess.
He went on his way towards the house, heavy at heart, and
there he found the noble wooers in the halls, flaying goats
and singeing swine in the court. And Antinous laughed out
and went straight to Telemachus, and clasped his hand and
spake and hailed him:
'Telemachus, proud of speech and unrestrained in fury, let
no evil word any more be in thy heart, nor evil work, but
let me see thee eat and drink as of old. And the Achaeans
will make thee ready all things without fail, a ship and
chosen oarsmen, that thou mayest come the quicker to fair
Pylos, to seek tidings of thy noble father.'
Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying, 'Antinous, in no
wise in your proud company can I sup in peace, and make
merry with a quiet mind. Is it a little thing, ye wooers,
that in time past ye wasted many good things of my getting,
while as yet I was a child? But now that I am a man grown,
and learn the story from the lips of others, and my spirit
waxeth within me, I will seek to let loose upon you evil
fates, as I may, going either to Pylos for help, or abiding
here in this township. Yea, I will go, nor vain shall the
voyage be whereof I speak; a passenger on another's ship go
I, for I am not to have a ship nor oarsmen of mine own; so
in your wisdom ye have thought it for the better.'
He spake and snatched his hand from out the hand of
Antinous, lightly, and all the while the wooers were busy
feasting through the house; and they mocked him and sharply
taunted him, and thus would some proud youth speak:
'In very truth Telemachus planneth our destruction. He will
bring a rescue either from sandy Pylos, or even it may be
from Sparta, so terribly is he set on slaying us. Or else
he will go to Ephyra, a fruitful land, to fetch a poisonous
drug that he may cast it into the bowl and make an end of
all of us.'
And again another proud youth would say: 'Who knows but
that he himself if he goes hence on the hollow ship, may
perish wandering far from his friends, even as Odysseus? So
should we have yet more ado, for then must we divide among
us all his substance, and moreover give the house to his
mother to possess it, and to him whosoever should wed her.'
So spake they; but he stepped down into the vaulted
treasure-chamber of his father, a spacious room, where gold
and bronze lay piled, and raiment in coffers, and fragrant
olive oil in plenty. And there stood casks of sweet wine
and old, full of the unmixed drink divine, all orderly
ranged by the wall, ready if ever Odysseus should come
home, albeit after travail and much pain. And the
close-fitted doors, the folding doors, were shut, and night
and day there abode within a dame in charge, who guarded
all in the fulness of her wisdom, Eurycleia, daughter of
Ops son of Peisenor. Telemachus now called her into the
chamber and spake unto her, saying:
'Mother, come draw off for me sweet wine in jars, the
choicest next to that thou keepest mindful ever of that
ill-fated one, Odysseus, of the seed of Zeus, if perchance
he may come I know not whence, having avoided death and the
fates. So fill twelve jars, and close each with his lid,
and pour me barley-meal into well-sewn skins, and let there
be twenty measures of the grain of bruised barley-meal. Let
none know this but thyself! As for these things let them
all be got together; for in the evening I will take them
with me, at the time that my mother hath gone to her upper
chamber and turned her thoughts to sleep. Lo, to Sparta I
go and to sandy Pylos to seek tidings of my dear father's
return, if haply I may hear thereof.'
So spake he, and the good nurse Eurycleia wailed aloud, and
making lament spake to him winged words: 'Ah, wherefore,
dear child, hath such a thought arisen in thine heart? How
shouldst thou fare over wide lands, thou that art an only
child and well-beloved? As for him he hath perished,
Odysseus of the seed of Zeus, far from his own country in
the land of strangers. And yonder men, so soon as thou art
gone, will devise mischief against thee thereafter, that
thou mayest perish by guile, and they will share among them
all this wealth of thine. Nay, abide here, settled on thine
own lands: thou hast no need upon the deep unharvested to
suffer evil and go wandering.'
Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Take heart,
nurse, for lo, this my purpose came not but of a god. But
swear to tell no word thereof to my dear mother, till at
least it shall be the eleventh or twelfth day from hence,
or till she miss me of herself, and hear of my departure,
that so she may not mar her fair face with her tears.'
Thus he spake, and the old woman sware a great oath by the
gods not to reveal it. But when she had sworn and done that
oath, straightway she drew off the wine for him in jars,
and poured barley-meal into well-sewn skins, and Telemachus
departed to the house and consorted with the wooers.
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, turned to other
thoughts. In the likeness of Telemachus she went all
through the city, and stood by each one of the men and
spake her saying, and bade them gather at even by the swift
ship. Furthermore, she craved a swift ship of Noemon,
famous son of Phronius, and right gladly he promised it.
Now the sun sank and all the ways were darkened. Then at
length she let drag the swift ship to the sea and stored
within it all such tackling as decked ships carry. And she
moored it at the far end of the harbour and the good
company was gathered together, and the goddess cheered on
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.
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
'Hear me, Poseidon, girdler of the earth, and grudge not
the fulfilment of this labour in answer to our prayer. To
Nestor first and to his sons vouchsafe renown, and
thereafter grant to all the people of Pylos a gracious
recompense for this splendid hecatomb. Grant moreover that
Telemachus and I may return, when we have accomplished that
for which we came hither with our swift black ship.'
Now as she prayed on this wise, herself the while was
fulfilling the prayer. And she gave Telemachus the fair
two-handled cup; and in like manner prayed the dear son of
Odysseus. Then, when the others had roasted the outer parts
and drawn them off the spits, they divided the messes and
shared the glorious feast. But when they had put from them
the desire of meat and drink, Nestor of Gerenia, lord of
chariots, first spake among them:
'Now is the better time to enquire and ask of the strangers
who they are, now that they have had their delight of food.
Strangers, who are ye? Whence sail ye over the wet ways? On
some trading enterprise, or at adventure do ye rove, even
as sea-robbers, over the brine, for they wander at hazard
of their own lives bringing bale to alien men?'
Then wise Telemachus answered him and spake with courage,
for Athene herself had put boldness in his heart, that he
might ask about his father who was afar, and that he might
be had in good report among men:
'Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, thou
askest whence we are, and I will surely tell thee all. We
have come forth out of Ithaca that is below Neion; and this
our quest whereof I speak is a matter of mine own, and not
of the common weal. I follow after the far-spread rumour of
my father, if haply I may hear thereof, even of the goodly
steadfast Odysseus, who upon a time, men say, fought by thy
side and sacked the city of the Trojans. For of all the
others, as many as warred with the Trojans, we hear
tidings, and where each one fell by a pitiful death; but
even the death of this man Cronion hath left untold. For
none can surely declare the place where he hath perished,
whether he was smitten by foemen on the mainland, or lost
upon the deep among the waves of Amphitrite. So now am I
come hither to thy knees, if perchance thou art willing to
tell me of his pitiful death, as one that saw it with thine
own eyes, or heard the story from some other wanderer,--
for his mother bare him to exceeding sorrow. And speak me
no soft words in ruth or pity, but tell me plainly what
sight thou didst get of him. Ah! I pray thee, if ever at
all my father, noble Odysseus, made promise to thee of word
or work, and fulfilled the same in the land of the Trojans,
where ye Achaeans suffered affliction; these things, I pray
thee, now remember and tell me truth.'
Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, answered him: 'My
friend, since thou hast brought sorrow back to mind,
behold, this is the story of the woe which we endured in
that land, we sons of the Achaeans, unrestrained in fury,
and of all that we bore in wanderings after spoil, sailing
with our ships over the misty deep, wheresoever Achilles
led; and of all our war round the mighty burg of king
Priam. Yea and there the best of us were slain. There lies
valiant Aias, and there Achilles, and there Patroclus, the
peer of the gods in counsel, and there my own dear son,
strong and noble, Antilochus, that excelled in speed of
foot and in the fight. And many other ills we suffered
beside these; who of mortal men could tell the tale? Nay
none, though thou wert to abide here for five years, ay and
for six, and ask of all the ills which the goodly Achaeans
then endured. Ere all was told thou wouldst be weary and
turn to thine own country. For nine whole years we were
busy about them, devising their ruin with all manner of
craft; and scarce did Cronion bring it to pass. There never
a man durst match with him in wisdom, for goodly Odysseus
very far outdid the rest in all manner of craft, Odysseus
thy father, if indeed thou art his son,--amazement comes
upon me as I look at thee; for verily thy speech is like
unto his; none would say that a younger man would speak so
like an elder. Now look you, all the while that myself and
goodly Odysseus were there, we never spake diversely either
in the assembly or in the council, but always were of one
mind, and advised the Argives with understanding and sound
counsel, how all might be for the very best. But after we
had sacked the steep city of Priam, and had departed in our
ships, and a god had scattered the Achaeans, even then did
Zeus devise in his heart a pitiful returning for the
Argives, for in no wise were they all discreet or just.
Wherefore many of them met with an ill faring by reason of
the deadly wrath of the grey-eyed goddess, the daughter of
the mighty sire, who set debate between the two sons of
Atreus. And they twain called to the gathering of the host
all the Achaeans, recklessly and out of order, against the
going down of the sun; and lo, the sons of the Achaeans
came heavy with wine. And the Atreidae spake out and told
the reason wherefore they had assembled the host. Then
verily Menelaus charged all the Achaeans to bethink them of
returning over the broad back of the sea, but in no sort
did he please Agamemnon, whose desire was to keep back the
host and to offer holy hecatombs, that so he might appease
that dread wrath of Athene. Fool! for he knew not this,
that she was never to be won; for the mind of the
everlasting gods is not lightly turned to repentance. So
these twain stood bandying hard words; but the
goodly-greaved Achaeans sprang up with a wondrous din, and
twofold counsels found favour among them. So that one night
we rested, thinking hard things against each other, for
Zeus was fashioning for us a ruinous doom. But in the
morning, we of the one part drew our ships to the fair salt
sea, and put aboard our wealth, and the low-girdled Trojan
women. Now one half the people abode steadfastly there with
Agamemnon, son of Atreus, shepherd of the host; and half of
us embarked and drave to sea and swiftly the ships sailed,
for a god made smooth the sea with the depths thereof. And
when we came to Tenedos, we did sacrifice to the gods,
being eager for the homeward way; but Zeus did not yet
purpose our returning, nay, hard was he, that roused once
more an evil strife among us. Then some turned back their
curved ships, and went their way, even the company of
Odysseus, the wise and manifold in counsel, once again
showing a favour to Agamemnon, son of Atreus. But I fled on
with the squadron that followed me, for I knew how now the
god imagined mischief. And the warlike son of Tydeus fled
and roused his men thereto. And late in our track came
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
Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, answered him:
'Yea now, my child, I will tell thee the whole truth.
Verily thou guessest aright even of thyself how things
would have fallen out, if Menelaus of the fair hair, the
son of Atreus, when he came back from Troy, had found
Aegisthus yet alive in the halls. Then even in his death
would they not have heaped the piled earth over him, but
dogs and fowls of the air would have devoured him as he lay
on the plain far from the town. {*} Nor would any of the
Achaean women have bewailed him; so dread was the deed he
contrived. Now we sat in leaguer there, achieving many
adventures; but he the while in peace in the heart of
Argos, the pastureland of horses, spake ofttimes, tempting
her, to the wife of Agamemnon. Verily at the first she
would none of the foul deed, the fair Clytemnestra, for she
had a good understanding. Moreover there was with her a
minstrel, whom the son of Atreus straitly charged as he
went to Troy to have a care of his wife. But when at last
the doom of the gods bound her to her ruin, then did
Aegisthus carry the minstrel to a lonely isle, and left him
there to be the prey and spoil of birds; while as for her,
he led her to his house, a willing lover with a willing
lady. And he burnt many thigh slices upon the holy altars
of the gods, and hung up many offerings, woven-work and
gold, seeing that he had accomplished a great deed, beyond
all hope. Now we, I say, were sailing together on our way
from Troy, the son of Atreus and I, as loving friends. But
when we had reached holy Sunium, the headland of Athens,
there Phoebus Apollo slew the pilot of Menelaus with the
visitation of his gentle shafts, as he held between his
hands the rudder of the running ship, even Phrontis, son of
Onetor, who excelled the tribes of men in piloting a ship,
whenso the storm-winds were hurrying by. Thus was Menelaus
holden there, though eager for the way, till he might bury
his friend and pay the last rites over him. But when he in
his turn, faring over the wine-dark sea in hollow ships,
reached in swift course the steep mount of Malea, then it
was that Zeus of the far-borne voice devised a hateful
path, and shed upon them the breath of the shrill winds,
and great swelling waves arose like unto mountains. There
sundered he the fleet in twain, and part thereof he brought
nigh to Crete, where the Cydonians dwelt about the streams
of Iardanus. Now there is a certain cliff, smooth and sheer
towards the sea, on the border of Gortyn, in the misty
deep, where the South-West Wind drives a great wave against
the left headland, towards Phaestus, and a little rock
keeps back the mighty water. Thither came one part of the
fleet, and the men scarce escaped destruction, but the
ships were broken by the waves against the rock; while
those other five dark-prowed ships the wind and the water
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
{* Reading [Greek]. v. 1. '[Greek], which must be wrong.}
Thus he spake, and the sun went down and darkness came on.
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake among them,
saying: 'Yea, old man, thou hast told all this thy tale
aright. But come, cut up the tongues of the victims and mix
the wine, that we may pour forth before Poseidon and the
other deathless gods, and so may bethink us of sleep, for
it is the hour for sleep. For already has the light gone
beneath the west, and it is not seemly to sit long at a
banquet of the gods, but to be going home.'
So spake the daughter of Zeus, and they hearkened to her
voice. And the henchmen poured water over their hands, and
pages crowned the mixing bowls with drink, and served out
the wine to all, after they had first poured for libation
into each cup in turn; and they cast the tongues upon the
fire, and stood up and poured the drink-offering thereon.
But when they had poured forth and had drunken to their
heart's content, Athene and godlike Telemachus were both
set on returning to the hollow ship; but Nestor would have
stayed them, and accosted them, saying: 'Zeus forfend it,
and all the other deathless gods, that ye should depart
from my house to the swift ship, as from the dwelling of
one that is utterly without raiment or a needy man, who
hath not rugs or blankets many in his house whereon to
sleep softly, he or his guests. Nay not so, I have rugs and
fair blankets by me. Never, methinks, shall the dear son of
this man, even of Odysseus, lay him down upon the ship's
deck, while as yet I am alive, and my children after me are
left in my hall to entertain strangers, whoso may chance to
come to my house.'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again:
'Yea, herein hast thou spoken aright, dear father: and
Telemachus may well obey thee, for before all things this
is meet. Behold, he shall now depart with thee, that he may
sleep in thy halls; as for me I will go to the black ship,
that I may cheer my company and tell them all. For I avow
me to be the one elder among them; those others are but
younger men, who follow for love of him, all of them of
like age with the high-souled Telemachus. There will I lay
me down by the black hollow ship this night; but in the
morning I will go to the Cauconians high of heart, where
somewhat of mine is owing to me, no small debt nor of
yesterday. But do thou send this man upon his way with thy
chariot and thy son, since he hath come to thy house, and
give him horses the lightest of foot and chief in
strength.'
Therewith grey-eyed Athene departed in the semblance of a
sea-eagle; and amazement fell on all that saw it, and the
old man he marvelled when his eyes beheld it. And he took
the hand of Telemachus and spake and hailed him:
'My friend, methinks that thou wilt in no sort be a coward
and a weakling, if indeed in thy youth the gods thus follow
with thee to be thy guides. For truly this is none other of
those who keep the mansions of Olympus, save only the
daughter of Zeus, the driver of the spoil, the maiden
Trito-born, she that honoured thy good father too among the
Argives. Nay be gracious, queen, and vouchsafe a goodly
fame to me, even to me and to my sons and to my wife
revered. And I in turn will sacrifice to thee a yearling
heifer, broad of brow, unbroken, which man never yet hath
led beneath the yoke. Such an one will I offer to thee, and
gild her horns with gold.'
Even so he spake in prayer, and Pallas Athene heard him.
Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, led them, even
his sons and the husbands of his daughters, to his own fair
house. But when they had reached this prince's famous
halls, they sat down all orderly on seats and high chairs;
and when they were come, the old man mixed well for them a
bowl of sweet wine, which now in the eleventh year from the
vintaging the housewife opened, and unloosed the string
that fastened the lid. The old man let mix a bowl thereof,
and prayed instantly to Athene as he poured forth before
her, even to the daughter of Zeus, lord of the aegis.
But after they had poured forth and had drunken to their
heart's content, these went each one to his own house to
lie down to rest. But Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots,
would needs have Telemachus, son of divine Odysseus, to
sleep there on a jointed bedstead beneath the echoing
gallery, and by him Peisistratus of the good ashen spear,
leader of men, who alone of his sons was yet unwed in his
halls. As for him he slept within the inmost chamber of the
lofty house, and the lady his wife arrayed for him bedstead
and bedding.
So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered,
Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, gat him up from his
bed, and he went forth and sat him down upon the smooth
stones, which were before his lofty doors, all polished,
white and glistening, whereon Neleus sat of old, in counsel
the peer of the gods. Howbeit, stricken by fate, he had ere
now gone down to the house of Hades, and to-day Nestor of
Gerenia in his turn sat thereon, warder of the Achaeans,
with his staff in his hands. And about him his sons were
gathered and come together, issuing from their chambers,
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.
Telemachus' entertainment at Sparta, where Menelaus tells
him what befell many of the Greeks on their return; that
Odysseus was with Calypso in the isle Ogygia, as he was
told by Proteus.
And they came to Lacedaemon lying low among the caverned
hills, and drave to the dwelling of renowned Menelaus. Him
they found giving a feast in his house to many friends of
his kin, a feast for the wedding of his noble son and
daughter. His daughter he was sending to the son of
Achilles, cleaver of the ranks of men, for in Troy he first
had promised and covenanted to give her, and now the gods
were bringing about their marriage. So now he was speeding
her on her way with chariot and horses, to the famous city
of the Myrmidons, among whom her lord bare rule. And for
his son he was bringing to his home the daughter of Alector
out of Sparta, for his well-beloved son, strong
Megapenthes, {*} born of a slave woman, for the gods no
more showed promise of seed to Helen, from the day that she
bare a lovely child, Hermione, as fair as golden Aphrodite.
So they were feasting through the great vaulted hall, the
neighbours and the kinsmen of renowned Menelaus, making
merry; and among them a divine minstrel was singing to the
lyre, and as he began the song two tumblers in the company
whirled through the midst of them.
{* A son of sorrow: Tristram.}
Meanwhile those twain, the hero Telemachus and the splendid
son of Nestor, made halt at the entry of the gate, they and
their horses. And the lord Eteoneus came forth and saw
them, the ready squire of renowned Menelaus; and he went
through the palace to bear the tidings to the shepherd of
the people, and standing near spake to him winged words:
'Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, here are two strangers,
whosoever they be, two men like to the lineage of great
Zeus. Say, shall we loose their swift horses from under the
yoke, or send them onward to some other host who shall
receive them kindly?'
Then in sore displeasure spake to him Menelaus of the fair
hair: 'Eteoneus son of Boethous, truly thou wert not a fool
aforetime, but now for this once, like a child thou talkest
folly. Surely ourselves ate much hospitable cheer of other
men, ere we twain came hither, even if in time to come Zeus
haply give us rest from affliction. Nay go, unyoke the
horses of the strangers, and as for the men, lead them
forward to the house to feast with us.'
So spake he, and Eteoneus hasted from the hall, and called
the other ready squires to follow with him. So they loosed
the sweating horses from beneath the yoke, and fastened
them at the stalls of the horses, and threw beside them
spelt, and therewith mixed white barley, and tilted the
chariot against the shining faces of the gateway, and led
the men into the hall divine. And they beheld and marvelled
as they gazed throughout the palace of the king, the
fosterling of Zeus; for there was a gleam as it were of sun
or moon through the lofty palace of renowned Menelaus. But
after they had gazed their fill, they went to the polished
baths and bathed them. Now when the maidens had bathed them
and anointed them with olive oil, and cast about them thick
cloaks and doublets, they sat on chairs by Menelaus, son of
Atreus. And a handmaid bare water for the hands in a goodly
golden ewer, and poured it forth over a silver basin to
wash withal; and to their side she drew a polished table,
and a grave dame bare food and set it by them, and laid
upon the board many dainties, giving freely of such things
as she had by her, and a carver lifted and placed by them
platters of divers kinds of flesh, and nigh them he set
golden bowls. So Menelaus of the fair hair greeted the
twain and spake:
'Taste ye food and be glad, and thereafter when ye have
supped, we will ask what men ye are; for the blood of your
parents is not lost in you, but ye are of the line of men
that are sceptred kings, the fosterlings of Zeus; for no
churls could beget sons like you.'
So spake he, and took and set before them the fat ox-chine
roasted, which they had given him as his own mess by way of
honour. And they stretched forth their hands upon the good
cheer set before them. Now when they had put from them the
desire of meat and drink Telemachus spake to the son of
Nestor, holding his head close to him, that those others
might not hear:
'Son of Nestor, delight of my heart, mark the flashing of
bronze through the echoing halls, and the flashing of gold
and of amber and of silver and of ivory. Such like,
methinks, is the court of Olympian Zeus within, for the
world of things that are here; wonder comes over me as I
look thereon.'
And as he spake Menelaus of the fair hair was ware of him,
and uttering his voice spake to them winged words:
'Children dear, of a truth no one of mortal men may contend
with Zeus, for his mansions and his treasures are
everlasting: but of men there may be who will vie with me
in treasure, or there may be none. Yea, for after many a
woe and wanderings manifold, I brought my wealth home in
ships, and in the eighth year came hither. I roamed over
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
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
the houses. He gave two silver baths to Menelaus, and
tripods twain, ad ten talents of gold. And besides all
this, his wife bestowed on Helen lovely gifts; a golden
distaff did she give, and a silver basket with wheels
beneath, and the rims thereof were finished with gold. This
it was that the handmaid Phylo bare and set beside her,
filled with dressed yarn, and across it was laid a distaff
charged with wool of violet blue. So Helen sat her down in
the chair, and beneath was a footstool for the feet. And
anon she spake to her lord and questioned him of each
thing:
'Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, know we now who these men
avow themselves to be that have come under our roof? Shall
I dissemble or shall I speak the truth? Nay, I am minded to
tell it. None, I say, have I ever yet seen so like another,
man or woman--wonder comes over me as I look on him--as
this man is like the son of great-hearted Odysseus,
Telemachus, whom he left a new born child in his house,
when for the sake of me, shameless woman that I was, ye
Achaeans came up under Troy with bold war in your hearts.'
And Menelaus of the fair hair answered her, saying: 'Now I
too, lady, mark the likeness even as thou tracest it. For
such as these were his feet, such his hands, and the
glances of his eyes, and his head, and his hair withal.
Yea, and even now I was speaking of Odysseus, as I
remembered him, of all his woeful travail for my sake;
when, lo, he let fall a bitter tear beneath his brows, and
held his purple cloak up before his eyes.'
And Peisistratus, son of Nestor, answered him, saying:
'Menelaus, son of Atreus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the
host, assuredly this is the son of that very man, even as
thou sayest. But he is of a sober wit, and thinketh it
shame in his heart as on this his first coming to make show
of presumptuous words in the presence of thee, in whose
voice we twain delight as in the voice of a god. Now Nestor
of Gerenia, lord of chariots, sent me forth to be his guide
on the way: for he desired to see thee that thou mightest
put into his heart some word or work. For a son hath many
griefs in his halls when his father is away, if perchance
he hath none to stand by him. Even so it is now with
Telemachus; his father is away, nor hath he others in the
township to defend him from distress.'
And Menelaus of the fair hair answered him, and said: 'Lo
now, in good truth there has come unto my house the son of
a friend indeed, who for my sake endured many adventures.
And I thought to welcome him on his coming more nobly than
all the other Argives, if but Olympian Zeus, of the
far-borne voice, had vouchsafed us a return over the sea in
our swift ships,--that such a thing should be. And in Argos
I would have given him a city to dwell in, and stablished
for him a house, and brought him forth from Ithaca with his
substance and his son and all his people, making one city
desolate of those that lie around, and are in mine own
domain. Then ofttimes would we have held converse here, and
nought would have parted us, the welcoming and the
welcomed, {*} ere the black cloud of death overshadowed us.
Howsoever, the god himself, methinks, must have been
jealous hereof, who from that hapless man alone cut off his
returning.'
{* Mr. Evelyn Abbott of Balliol College has suggested to us
that [Greek] and [Greek] are here correlatives, and denote
respectively the parts of host and of guest. This is
sufficiently borne out by the usage of the words
elsewhere.}
So spake he, and in the hearts of all he stirred the desire
of lamentation. She wept, even Argive Helen the daughter of
Zeus, and Telemachus wept, and Menelaus the son of Atreus;
nay, nor did the son of Nestor keep tearless eyes. For he
bethought him in his heart of noble Antilochus, whom the
glorious son of the bright Dawn had slain. Thinking upon
him he spake winged words:
'Son of Atreus, the ancient Nestor in his own halls was
ever wont to say that thou wert wise beyond man's wisdom,
whensoever we made mention of thee and asked one another
concerning thee. And now, if it be possible, be persuaded
by me, who for one have no pleasure in weeping at supper
time--the new-born day will right soon be upon us. {*} Not
indeed that I deem it blame at all to weep for any mortal
who hath died and met his fate. Lo, this is now the only
due we pay to miserable men, to cut the hair and let the
tear fall from the cheek. For I too have a brother dead,
nowise the meanest of the Argives, and thou art like to
have known him, for as for me I never encountered him,
never beheld him. But men say that Antilochus outdid all,
being excellent in speed of foot and in the fight.'
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
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
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
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.
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
one day's voyage of a hollow ship, when shrill winds blow
fair in her wake. And therein is a good haven, whence men
launch the gallant ships into the deep when they have drawn
a store of deep black water. There the gods held me twenty
days, nor did the sea-winds ever show their breath, they
that serve to waft ships over the broad back of the sea.
And now would all our corn have been spent, and likewise
the strength of the men, except some goddess had taken pity
on me and saved me, Eidothee, daughter of mighty Proteus,
the ancient one of the sea. For most of all I moved her
heart, when she met me wandering alone apart from my
company, who were ever roaming round the isle, fishing with
bent hooks, for hunger was gnawing at their belly. So she
stood by, and spake and uttered her voice saying:
{* The only name for the Nile in Homer. Cf. Wilkinson,
'"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
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
'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
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
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
'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
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
So spake he, and Menelaus, of the loud war cry, smiled, and
caressed him with his hand, and spake and hailed him:
'Thou art of gentle blood, dear child, so gentle the words
thou speakest. Therefore I will make exchange of the
presents, as I may. Of the gifts, such as are treasures
stored in my house, I will give thee the goodliest and
greatest of price. I will give thee a mixing bowl
beautifully wrought; it is all of silver, and the lips
thereof are finished with gold, the work of Hephaestus; and
the hero Phaedimus, the king of the Sidonians, gave it me,
when his house sheltered me on my coming thither, and to
thee now would I give it.'
Even so they spake one to another, while the guests came to
the palace of the divine king. They drave their sheep, and
brought wine that maketh glad the heart of man: and their
wives with fair tire sent them wheaten bread. Thus were
these men preparing the feast in the halls.
But the wooers meantime were before the palace of Odysseus,
taking their pleasure in casting of weights and spears, on
a levelled place, as heretofore, in their insolence. And
Antinous and god-like Eurymachus were seated there, the
chief men of the wooers, who were far the most excellent of
all. And Noemon, son of Phromius, drew nigh to them and
spake unto Antinous and questioned him, saying:
'Antinous, know we at all, or know we not, when Telemachus
will return from sandy Pylos? He hath departed with a ship
of mine, and I have need thereof, to cross over into
spacious Elis, where I have twelve brood mares with hardy
mules unbroken at the teat; I would drive off one of these
and break him in.'
So spake he, and they were amazed, for they deemed not that
Telemachus had gone to Neleian Pylos, but that he was at
home somewhere in the fields, whether among the flocks, or
with the swineherd.
Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spake to him in turn:
'Tell me the plain truth; when did he go, and what noble
youths went with him? Were they chosen men of Ithaca or
hirelings and thralls of his own? He was in case to bring
even that about. And tell me this in good sooth, that I may
know for a surety: did he take thy black ship from thee
perforce against thy will? or didst thou give it him of
free will at his entreaty?
Then Noemon, son of Phromius, answered him saying: 'I gave
it him myself of free will. What can any man do, when such
an one, so bestead with care, begs a favour? it were hard
to deny the gift. The youths who next to us are noblest in
the land, even these have gone with him; and I marked their
leader on board ship, Mentor, or a god who in all things
resembled Mentor. But one matter I marvel at: I saw the
goodly Mentor here yesterday toward dawn, though already he
had embarked for Pylos.'
He spake and withal departed to his father's house. And the
proud spirits of these twain were angered, and they made
the wooers sit down together and cease from their games.
And among them spake Antinous, son of Eupeithes, in
displeasure; and his black heart was wholly filled with
rage, and his eyes were like flaming fire:
'Out on him, a proud deed hath Telemachus accomplished with
a high hand, even this journey, and we thought that he
would never bring it to pass! This lad hath clean gone
without more ado, in spite of us all; his ship he hath let
haul to the sea, and chosen the noblest in the township. He
will begin to be our bane even more than heretofore; but
may Zeus destroy his might, not ours, ere he reach the
measure of manhood! But come, give me a swift ship and
twenty men, that I may lie in watch and wait even for him
on his way home, in the strait between Ithaca and rugged
Samos, that so he may have a woeful end of his cruising in
quest of his father.'
So spake he, and they all assented thereto, and bade him to
the work. And thereupon they arose and went to the house of
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
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
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.
The Gods in council command Calypso by Hermes to send away
Odysseus on a raft of trees; and Poseidon, returning from
Ethiopia and seeing him on the coast of Phaeacia, scattered
his raft; and how by the help of Ino he was thrown ashore,
and slept on a heap of dry leaves till the next day.
Now the Dawn arose from her couch, from the side of the
lordly Tithonus, to bear light to the immortals and to
mortal men. And lo, the gods were gathering to session, and
among them Zeus, that thunders on high, whose might is
above all. And Athene told them the tale of the many woes
of Odysseus, recalling them to mind; for near her heart was
he that then abode in the dwelling of the nymph:
'Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for
ever, henceforth let not any sceptred king be kind and
gentle with all his heart, nor minded to do righteously,
but let him alway be a hard man and work unrighteousness,
for behold, there is none that remembereth divine Odysseus
of the people whose lord he was, and was gentle as a
father. Howbeit, as for him he lieth in an island suffering
strong pains, in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who
holdeth him perforce; so he may not reach his own country,
for he hath no ships by him with oars, and no companions to
send him on his way over the broad back of the sea. And
now, again, they are set on slaying his beloved son on his
homeward way, for he is gone to fair Pylos and to goodly
Lacedaemon, to seek tidings of his father.'
And Zeus, gatherer of the clouds, answered and spake unto
her: 'My child, what word hath escaped the door of thy
lips? Nay, didst thou not thyself plan this device, that
Odysseus may assuredly take vengeance on those men at his
coming? As for Telemachus, do thou guide him by thine art,
as well as thou mayest, that so he may come to his own
country all unharmed, and the wooers may return in their
ship with their labour all in vain.'
Therewith he spake to Hermes, his dear son: 'Hermes,
forasmuch as even in all else thou art our herald, tell
unto the nymph of the braided tresses my unerring counsel,
even the return of the patient Odysseus, how he is to come
to his home, with no furtherance of gods or of mortal men.
Nay, he shall sail on a well-bound raft, in sore distress,
and on the twentieth day arrive at fertile Scheria, even at
the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the
gods. And they shall give him all worship heartily as to a
god, and send him on his way in a ship to his own dear
country, with gifts of bronze and gold, and raiment in
plenty, much store, such as never would Odysseus have won
for himself out of Troy, yea, though he had returned unhurt
with the share of the spoil that fell to him. On such wise
is he fated to see his friends, and come to his high-roofed
home and his own country.'
So spake he, nor heedless was the messenger, the slayer of
Argos. Straightway he bound beneath his feet his lovely
golden sandals, that wax not old, that bare him alike over
the wet sea and over the limitless land, swift as the
breath of the wind. And he took the wand wherewith he lulls
the eyes of whomso he will, while others again he even
wakes from out of sleep. With this rod in his hand flew the
strong slayer of Argos. Above Pieria he passed and leapt
from the upper air into the deep. Then he sped along the
wave like the cormorant, that chaseth the fishes through
the perilous gulfs of the unharvested sea, and wetteth his
thick plumage in the brine. Such like did Hermes ride upon
the press of the waves. But when he had now reached that
far-off isle, he went forth from the sea of violet blue to
get him up into the land, till he came to a great cave,
wherein dwelt the nymph of the braided tresses: and he
found her within. And on the hearth there was a great fire
burning, and from afar through the isle was smelt the
fragrance of cleft cedar blazing, and of sandal wood. And
the nymph within was singing with a sweet voice as she
fared to and fro before the loom, and wove with a shuttle
of gold. And round about the cave there was a wood
blossoming, alder and poplar and sweet-smelling cypress.
And therein roosted birds long of wing, owls and falcons
and chattering sea-crows, which have their business in the
waters. And lo, there about the hollow cave trailed a
gadding garden vine, all rich with clusters. And fountains
four set orderly were running with clear water, hard by one
another, turned each to his own course. And all around soft
meadows bloomed of violets and parsley, yea, even a
deathless god who came thither might wonder at the sight
and be glad at heart. There the messenger, the slayer of
Argos, stood and wondered. Now when he had gazed at all
with wonder, anon he went into the wide cave; nor did
Calypso, that fair goddess, fail to know him, when she saw
him face to face; for the gods use not to be strange one to
another, the immortals, not though one have his habitation
far away. But he found not Odysseus, the greathearted,
within the cave, who sat weeping on the shore even as
aforetime, straining his soul with tears and groans and
griefs, and as he wept he looked wistfully over the
unharvested deep. And Calypso, that fair goddess,
questioned Hermes, when she had made him sit on a bright
shining seat:
'Wherefore, I pray thee, Hermes, of the golden wand, hast
thou come hither, worshipful and welcome, whereas as of old
thou wert not wont to visit me? Tell me all thy thought; my
heart is set on fulfilling it, if fulfil it I may, and if
it hath been fulfilled in the counsel of fate. But now
follow me further, that I may set before thee the
entertainment of strangers.'
Therewith the goddess spread a table with ambrosia and set
it by him, and mixed the ruddy nectar. So the messenger,
the slayer of Argos, did eat and drink. Now after he had
supped and comforted his soul with food, at the last he
answered, and spake to her on this wise:
'Thou makest question of me on my coming, a goddess of a
god, and I will tell thee this my saying truly, at thy
command. 'Twas Zeus that bade me come hither, by no will of
mine; nay, who of his free will would speed over such a
wondrous space of brine, whereby is no city of mortals that
do sacrifice to the gods, and offer choice hecatombs? But
surely it is in no wise possible for another god to go
beyond or to make void the purpose of Zeus, lord of the
aegis. He saith that thou hast with thee a man most
wretched beyond his fellows, beyond those men that round
the burg of Priam for nine years fought, and in the tenth
year sacked the city and departed homeward. Yet on the way
they sinned against Athene, and she raised upon them an
evil blast and long waves of the sea. Then all the rest of
his good company was lost, but it came to pass that the
wind bare and the wave brought him hither. And now Zeus
biddeth thee send him hence with what speed thou mayest,
for it is not ordained that he die away from his friends,
but rather it is his fate to look on them even yet, and to
come to his high-roofed home and his own country.'
So spake he, and Calypso, that fair goddess, shuddered and
uttered her voice, and spake unto him winged words: 'Hard
are ye gods and jealous exceeding, who ever grudge
goddesses openly to mate with men, if any make a mortal her
dear bed-fellow. Even so when rosy-fingered Dawn took Orion
for her lover, ye gods that live at ease were jealous
thereof, till chaste Artemis, of the golden throne, slew
him in Ortygia with the visitation of her gentle shafts. So
too when fair-tressed Demeter yielded to her love, and lay
with Iasion in the thrice-ploughed fallow-field, Zeus was
not long without tidings thereof, and cast at him with his
white bolt and slew him. So again ye gods now grudge that a
mortal man should dwell with me. Him I saved as he went all
alone bestriding the keel of a bark, for that Zeus had
crushed {*} and cleft his swift ship with a white bolt in
the midst of the wine-dark deep. There all the rest of his
good company was lost, but it came to pass that the wind
bare and the wave brought him hither. And him have I loved
and cherished, and I said that I would make him to know not
death and age for ever. Yet forasmuch as it is no wise
possible for another god to go beyond, or make void the
purpose of Zeus, lord of the aegis, let him away over the
unharvested seas, if the summons and the bidding be of
Zeus. But I will give him no despatch, not I, for I have no
ships by me with oars, nor company to bear him on his way
over the broad back of the sea. Yet will I be forward to
put this in his mind, and will hide nought, that all
unharmed he may come to his own country.'
{* It seems very doubtful whether [Greek] can bear this
meaning. The reading [Greek], 'smote,' preserved by the
Schol. is highly probable.}
Then the messenger, the slayer of Argos, answered her:
'Yea, speed him now upon his path and have regard unto the
wrath of Zeus, lest haply he be angered and bear hard on
thee hereafter.'
Therewith the great slayer of Argos departed, but the lady
nymph went on her way to the great-hearted Odysseus, when
she had heard the message of Zeus. And there she found him
sitting on the shore, and his eyes were never dry of tears,
and his sweet life was ebbing away as he mourned for his
return; for the nymph no more found favour in his sight.
Howsoever by night he would sleep by her, as needs he must,
in the hollow caves, unwilling lover by a willing lady. And
in the day-time he would sit on the rocks and on the beach,
straining his soul with tears, and groans, and griefs, and
through his tears he would look wistfully over the
unharvested deep. So standing near him that fair goddess
spake to him:
'Hapless man, sorrow no more I pray thee in this isle, nor
let thy good life waste away, for even now will I send thee
hence with all my heart. Nay, arise and cut long beams, and
fashion a wide raft with the axe, and lay deckings high
thereupon, that it may bear thee over the misty deep. And I
will place therein bread and water, and red wine to thy
heart's desire, to keep hunger far away. And I will put
raiment upon thee, and send a fair gale in thy wake, that
so thou mayest come all unharmed to thine own country, if
indeed it be the good pleasure of the gods who hold wide
heaven, who are stronger than I am both to will and to do.'
So she spake, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus shuddered,
and uttering his voice spake to her winged words: 'Herein,
goddess, thou hast plainly some other thought, and in no
wise my furtherance, for that thou biddest me to cross in a
raft the great gulf of the sea so dread and difficult,
which not even the swift gallant ships pass over rejoicing
in the breeze of Zeus. Nor would I go aboard a raft to
displeasure thee, unless thou wilt deign, O goddess, to
swear a great oath not to plan any hidden guile to mine own
So spake he, and Calypso, the fair goddess, smiled and
caressed him with her hand, and spake and hailed him:
'Knavish thou art, and no weakling {*} in wit, thou that
hast conceived and spoken such a word. Let earth be now
witness hereto, and the wide heaven above, and that falling
water of the Styx, the greatest oath and the most terrible
to the blessed gods, that I will not plan any hidden guile
to thine own hurt. Nay, but my thoughts are such, and such
will be my counsel, as I would devise for myself, if ever
so sore a need came over me. For I too have a righteous
mind, and my heart within me is not of iron, but pitiful
even as thine.'
weakling, in the literal sense as B. xi.249, xiv.212, or
metaphorical, as here and viii. 177.}
Therewith the fair goddess led the way quickly, and he
followed hard in the steps of the goddess. And they reached
the hollow cave, the goddess and the man; so he sat him
down upon the chair whence Hermes had arisen, and the nymph
placed by him all manner of food to eat and drink, such as
is meat for men. As for her she sat over against divine
Odysseus, and the handmaids placed by her ambrosia and
nectar. So they put forth their hands upon the good cheer
set before them. But after they had taken their fill of
meat and drink, Calypso, the fair goddess, spake first and
said:
'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
devices, so it is indeed thy wish to get thee home to thine
own dear country even in this hour? Good fortune go with
thee even so! Yet didst thou know in thine heart what a
measure of suffering thou art ordained to fulfil, or ever
thou reach thine own country, here, even here, thou wouldst
abide with me and keep this house, and wouldst never taste
of death, though thou longest to see thy wife, for whom
thou hast ever a desire day by day. Not in sooth that I
avow me to be less noble than she in form or fashion, for
it is in no wise meet that mortal women should match them
with immortals, in shape and comeliness.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered, and spake unto her:
'Be not wroth with me hereat, goddess and queen. Myself I
know it well, how wise Penelope is meaner to look upon than
thou, in comeliness and stature. But she is mortal and thou
knowest not age nor death. Yet even so, I wish and long day
by day to fare homeward and see the day of my returning.
Yea, and if some god shall wreck me in the wine-dark deep,
even so I will endure, with a heart within me patient of
affliction. For already have I suffered full much, and much
have I toiled in perils of waves and war; let this be added
to the tale of those.'
So spake he, and the sun sank and darkness came on. Then
they twain went into the chamber of the hollow rock, and
had their delight of love, abiding each by other.
So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, anon
Odysseus put on him a mantle and doublet, and the nymph
clad her in a great shining robe, light of woof and
gracious, and about her waist she cast a fair golden
girdle, and a veil withal upon her head. Then she
considered of the sending of Odysseus, the great-hearted.
She gave him a great axe, fitted to his grasp, an axe of
bronze double-edged, and with a goodly handle of olive wood
fastened well. Next she gave him a polished adze, and she
led the way to the border of the isle where tall trees
grew, alder and poplar, and pine that reacheth unto heaven,
seasoned long since and sere, that might lightly float for
him. Now after she had shown him where the tall trees grew,
Calypso, the fair goddess, departed homeward. And he set to
cutting timber, and his work went busily. Twenty trees in
all he felled, and then trimmed them with the axe of
bronze, and deftly smoothed them, and over them made
straight the line. Meanwhile Calypso, the fair goddess,
brought him augers, so he bored each piece and jointed them
together, and then made all fast with trenails and dowels.
Wide as is the floor of a broad ship of burden, which some
man well skilled in carpentry may trace him out, of such
beam did Odysseus fashion his broad raft. And thereat he
wrought, and set up the deckings, fitting them to the
close-set uprights, and finished them off with long
gunwales, and there he set a mast, and a yard-arm fitted
thereto, and moreover he made him a rudder to guide the
craft. And he fenced it with wattled osier withies from
stem to stern, to be a bulwark against the wave, and piled
up wood to back them. Meanwhile Calypso, the fair goddess,
brought him web of cloth to make him sails; and these too
he fashioned very skilfully. And he made fast therein
braces and halyards and sheets, and at last he pushed the
raft with levers down to the fair salt sea.
It was the fourth day when he had accomplished all. And,
lo, on the fifth, the fair Calypso sent him on his way from
the island, when she had bathed him and clad him in
fragrant attire. Moreover, the goddess placed on board the
ship two skins, one of dark wine, and another, a great one,
of water, and corn too in a wallet, and she set therein a
store of dainties to his heart's desire, and sent forth a
warm and gentle wind to blow. And goodly Odysseus rejoiced
as he set his sails to the breeze. So he sate and cunningly
guided the craft with the helm, nor did sleep fall upon his
eyelids, as he viewed the Pleiads and Bootes, that setteth
late, and the Bear, which they likewise call the Wain,
which turneth ever in one place, and keepeth watch upon
Orion, and alone hath no part in the baths of Ocean. This
star, Calypso, the fair goddess, bade him to keep ever on
the left as he traversed the deep. Ten days and seven he
sailed traversing the deep, and on the eighteenth day
appeared the shadowy hills of the land of the Phaeacians,
at the point where it lay nearest to him; and it showed
like a shield in the misty deep.
Now the lord, the shaker of the earth, on his way from the
Ethiopians espied him afar off from the mountains of the
Solymi: even thence he saw Odysseus as he sailed over the
deep; and he was mightily angered in spirit, and shaking
his head he communed with his own heart. 'Lo now, it must
be that the gods at the last have changed their purpose
concerning Odysseus, while I was away among the Ethiopians.
And now he is nigh to the Phaeacian land, where it is
ordained that he escape the great issues of the woe which
hath come upon him. But, methinks, that even yet I will
drive him far enough in the path of suffering.'
With that he gathered the clouds and troubled the waters of
the deep, grasping his trident in his hands; and he roused
all storms of all manner of winds, and shrouded in clouds
the land and sea: and down sped night from heaven. The East
Wind and the South Wind clashed, and the stormy West, and
the North, that is born in the bright air, rolling onward a
great wave. Then were the knees of Odysseus loosened and
his heart melted, and heavily he spake to his own great
spirit:
'Oh, wretched man that I am! what is to befal me at the
last? I fear that indeed the goddess spake all things
truly, who said that I should fill up the measure of sorrow
on the deep, or ever I came to mine own country; and lo,
all these things have an end. In such wise doth Zeus crown
the wide heaven with clouds, and hath troubled the deep,
and the blasts rush on of all the winds; yea, now is utter
doom assured me. Thrice blessed those Danaans, yea, four
times blessed, who perished on a time in wide Troy-land,
doing a pleasure to the sons of Atreus! Would to God that I
too had died, and met my fate on that day when the press of
Trojans cast their bronze-shod spears upon me, fighting for
the body of the son of Peleus! So should I have gotten my
dues of burial, and the Achaeans would have spread my fame;
but now it is my fate to be overtaken by a pitiful death.'
Even as he spake, the great wave smote down upon him,
driving on in terrible wise, that the raft reeled again.
And far therefrom he fell, and lost the helm from his hand;
and the fierce blast of the jostling winds came and brake
his mast in the midst, and sail and yard-arm fell afar into
the deep. Long time the water kept him under, nor could he
speedily rise from beneath the rush of the mighty wave:
for the garments hung heavy which fair Calypso gave him.
But late and at length he came up, and spat forth from his
mouth the bitter salt water, which ran down in streams from
his head. Yet even so forgat he not his raft, for all his
wretched plight, but made a spring after it in the waves,
and clutched it to him, and sat in the midst thereof,
avoiding the issues of death; and the great wave swept it
hither and thither along the stream. And as the North Wind
in the harvest tide sweeps the thistle-down along the
plain, and close the tufts cling each to other, even so the
winds bare the raft hither and thither along the main. Now
the South would toss it to the North to carry, and now
again the East would yield it to the West to chase.
But the daughter of Cadmus marked him, Ino of the fair
ankles, Leucothea, who in time past was a maiden of mortal
speech, but now in the depths of the salt sea she had
gotten her share of worship from the gods. She took pity on
Odysseus in his wandering and travail, and she rose, like a
sea-gull on the wing, from the depth of the mere, and sat
upon the well-bound raft and spake saying:
'Hapless one, wherefore was Poseidon, shaker of the earth,
so wondrous wroth with thee, seeing that he soweth for thee
the seeds of many evils? Yet shall he not make a full end
of thee, for all his desire. But do even as I tell thee,
and methinks thou art not witless. Cast off these garments,
and leave the raft to drift before the winds, but do thou
swim with thine hands and strive to win a footing on the
coast {*} of the Phaeacians, where it is decreed that thou
escape. Here, take this veil imperishable and wind it about
thy breast; so is there no fear that thou suffer aught or
perish. But when thou hast laid hold of the mainland with
thy hands, loose it from off thee and cast it into the
wine-dark deep far from the land, and thyself turn away.'
{* Lit. Strive after an arrival on the land, etc. [Greek]
originally meant going, journeying, and had no idea of
return. The earlier use survives here, and in Soph.
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
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.
Nausicaa, going to a river near that place to wash the
clothes of her father, mother, and brethren, while the
clothes were drying played with her maids at ball; and
Odysseus coming forth is fed and clothed, and led on his
way to the house of her father, King Alcinous.
So there he lay asleep, the steadfast goodly Odysseus,
fordone with toil and drowsiness. Meanwhile Athene went to
the land and the city of the Phaeacians, who of old, upon a
time, dwelt in spacious Hypereia; near the Cyclopes they
dwelt, men exceeding proud, who harried them continually,
being mightier than they. Thence the godlike Nausithous
made them depart, and he carried them away, and planted
them in Scheria, far off from men that live by bread. And
he drew a wall around the town, and builded houses and made
temples for the gods and meted out the fields. Howbeit ere
this had he been stricken by fate, and had gone down to the
house of Hades, and now Alcinous was reigning, with wisdom
granted by the gods. To his house went the goddess,
grey-eyed Athene, devising a return for the great-hearted
Odysseus. She betook her to the rich-wrought bower, wherein
was sleeping a maiden like to the gods in form and
comeliness, Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous, high of
heart. Beside her on either hand of the pillars of the door
were two handmaids, dowered with beauty from the Graces,
and the shining doors were shut.
But the goddess, fleet as the breath of the wind, swept
towards the couch of the maiden, and stood above her head,
and spake to her in the semblance of the daughter of a
famous seafarer, Dymas, a girl of like age with Nausicaa,
who had found grace in her sight. In her shape the
grey-eyed Athene spake to the princess, saying:
'Nausicaa, how hath thy mother so heedless a maiden to her
daughter? Lo, thou hast shining raiment that lies by thee
uncared for, and thy marriage day is near at hand, when
thou thyself must needs go beautifully clad, and have
garments to give to them who shall lead thee to the house
of the bridegroom! And, behold, these are the things whence
a good report goes abroad among men, wherein a father and
lady mother take delight. But come, let us arise and go
a-washing with the breaking of the day, and I will follow
with thee to be thy mate in the toil, that without delay
thou mayst get thee ready, since truly thou art not long to
be a maiden. Lo, already they are wooing thee, the noblest
youths of all the Phaeacians, among that people whence thou
thyself dost draw thy lineage. So come, beseech thy noble
father betimes in the morning to furnish thee with mules
and a wain to carry the men's raiment, and the robes, and
the shining coverlets. Yea and for thyself it is seemlier
far to go thus than on foot, for the places where we must
wash are a great way off the town.'
So spake the grey-eyed Athene, and departed to Olympus,
where, as they say, is the seat of the gods that standeth
fast for ever. Not by winds is it shaken, nor ever wet with
rain, nor doth the snow come nigh thereto, but most clear
air is spread about it cloudless, and the white light
floats over it. Therein the blessed gods are glad for all
their days, and thither Athene went when she had shown
forth all to the maiden.
Anon came the throned Dawn, and awakened Nausicaa of the
fair robes, who straightway marvelled on the dream, and
went through the halls to tell her parents, her father dear
and her mother. And she found them within, her mother
sitting by the hearth with the women her handmaids,
spinning yarn of sea-purple stain, but her father she met
as he was going forth to the renowned kings in their
council, whither the noble Phaeacians called him. Standing
close by her dear father she spake, saying: 'Father, dear,
couldst thou not lend me a high waggon with strong wheels,
that I may take the goodly raiment to the river to wash, so
much as I have lying soiled? Yea and it is seemly that thou
thyself, when thou art with the princes in council,
shouldest have fresh raiment to wear. Also, there are five
dear sons of thine in the halls, two married, but three are
lusty bachelors, and these are always eager for new-washen
garments wherein to go to the dances; for all these things
have I taken thought.'
This she said, because she was ashamed to speak of glad
marriage to her father; but he saw all and answered,
saying:
'Neither the mules nor aught else do I grudge thee, my
child. Go thy ways, and the thralls shall get thee ready a
high waggon with good wheels, and fitted with an upper
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
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.
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
'My child, couldst thou not lead me to the palace of the
lord Alcinous, who bears sway among this people? Lo, I am
come here, a stranger travel-worn from afar, from a distant
land; wherefore of the folk who possess this city and
country I know not any man.'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him saying:
'Yea now, father and stranger, I will show thee the house
that thou bidst me declare, for it lies near the palace of
my noble father; behold, be silent as thou goest, and I
will lead the way. And look on no man, nor question any.
For these men do not gladly suffer strangers, nor lovingly
entreat whoso cometh from a strange land. They trust to the
speed of their swift ships, wherewith they cross the great
gulf, for the Earth-shaker hath vouchsafed them this power.
Their ships are swift as the flight of a bird, or as a
thought.'
Therewith Pallas Athene led the way swiftly, and he
followed hard in the footsteps of the goddess. And it came
to pass that the Phaeacians, mariners renowned, marked him
not as he went down the city through their midst, for the
fair tressed Athene suffered it not, that awful goddess,
who shed a wondrous mist about him, for the favour that she
bare him in her heart. And Odysseus marvelled at the havens
and the gallant ships, yea and the places of assembly of
the heroes, and the long high walls crowned with palisades,
a marvel to behold. But when they had now come to the
famous palace of the king, the goddess, grey-eyed Athene,
spake first and said:
'Lo, here, father and stranger, is the house that thou
wouldst have me show thee: and thou shalt find kings at the
feast, the fosterlings of Zeus; enter then, and fear not in
thine heart, for the dauntless man is the best in every
adventure, even though he come from a strange land. Thou
shalt find the queen first in the halls; Arete is the name
whereby men call her, and she came even of those that begat
the king Alcinous. First Nausithous was son of Poseidon,
the Earth-shaker, and of Periboea, the comeliest of women,
youngest daughter of great-hearted Eurymedon, who once was
king among the haughty Giants. Howbeit, he destroyed his
infatuate people, and was himself destroyed; but Poseidon
lay with Periboea and begat a son, proud Nausithous, who
sometime was prince among the Phaeacians; and Nausithous
begat Rhexenor and Alcinous. While Rhexenor had as yet no
son, Apollo of the silver bow smote him, a groom new wed,
leaving in his halls one only child Arete; and Alcinous
took her to wife, and honoured her as no other woman in the
world is honoured, of all that now-a-days keep house under
the hand of their lords. Thus she hath, and hath ever had,
all worship heartily from her dear children and from her
lord Alcinous and from all the folk, who look on her as on
a goddess, and greet her with reverend speech, when she
goes about the town. Yea, for she too hath no lack of
understanding. To whomso she shows favour, even if they be
men, she ends their feuds. {*} If but her heart be kindly
disposed to thee, then is there good hope that thou mayest
see thy friends, and come to thy high-roofed home and thine
own country.'
{* And for the women she favours, she ends the feuds of
their lords also.}
Therewith grey-eyed Athene departed over the unharvested
seas, and left pleasant Scheria, and came to Marathon and
wide-wayed Athens, and entered the good house of
Erechtheus. Meanwhile Odysseus went to the famous palace of
Alcinous, and his heart was full of many thoughts as he
stood there or ever he had reached the threshold of bronze.
For there was a gleam as it were of sun or moon through the
high-roofed hall of great-hearted Alcinous. Brazen were the
walls which ran this way and that from the threshold to the
inmost chamber, and round them was a frieze of blue, and
golden were the doors that closed in the good house. Silver
were the door-posts that were set on the brazen threshold,
and silver the lintel thereupon, and the hook of the door
was of gold. And on either side stood golden hounds and
silver, which Hephaestus wrought by his cunning, to guard
the palace of great-hearted Alcinous, being free from death
and age all their days. And within were seats arrayed
against the wall this way and that, from the threshold even
to the inmost chamber, and thereon were spread light
coverings finely woven, the handiwork of women. There the
Phaeacian chieftains were wont to sit eating and drinking,
for they had continual store. Yea, and there were youths
fashioned in gold, standing on firm-set bases, with flaming
torches in their hands, giving light through the night to
the feasters in the palace. And he had fifty handmaids in
the house, and some grind the yellow grain on the
millstone, and others weave webs and turn the yarn as they
sit, restless as the leaves of the tall poplar tree: and
the soft olive oil drops off that linen, so closely is it
woven. For as the Phaeacian men are skilled beyond all
others in driving a swift ship upon the deep, even so are
the women the most cunning at the loom, for Athene hath
given them notable wisdom in all fair handiwork and cunning
wit. And without the courtyard hard by the door is a great
garden, off our ploughgates, and a hedge runs round on
either side. And there grow tall trees blossoming,
pear-trees and pomegranates, and apple-trees with bright
fruit, and sweet figs, and olives in their bloom. The fruit
of these trees never perisheth neither faileth, winter nor
summer, enduring through all the year. Evermore the West
Wind blowing brings some fruits to birth and ripens others.
Pear upon pear waxes old, and apple on apple, yea and
cluster ripens upon cluster of the grape, and fig upon fig.
There too hath he a fruitful vineyard planted, whereof the
one part is being dried by the heat, a sunny plot on level
ground, while other grapes men are gathering, and yet
others they are treading in the wine-press. In the foremost
row are unripe grapes that cast the blossom, and others
there be that are growing black to vintaging. There too,
skirting the furthest line, are all manner of garden beds,
planted trimly, that are perpetually fresh, and therein are
two fountains of water, whereof one scatters his streams
all about the garden, and the other runs over against it
beneath the threshold of the courtyard, and issues by the
lofty house, and thence did the townsfolk draw water. These
were the splendid gifts of the gods in the palace of
There the steadfast goodly Odysseus stood and gazed. But
when he had gazed at all and wondered, he passed quickly
over the threshold within the house. And he found the
captains and the counsellors of the Phaeacians pouring
forth wine to the keen-sighted god, the slayer of Argos;
for to him they poured the last cup when they were minded
to take rest. Now the steadfast goodly Odysseus went
through the hall, clad in a thick mist, which Athene shed
around him, till he came to Arete and the king Alcinous.
And Odysseus cast his hands about the knees of Arete, and
then it was that the wondrous mist melted from off him, and
a silence fell on them that were within the house at the
sight of him, and they marvelled as they beheld him. Then
Odysseus began his prayer:
'Arete, daughter of god-like Rhexenor, after many toils am
I come to thy husband and to thy knees and to these guests,
and may the gods vouchsafe them a happy life, and may each
one leave to his children after him his substance in his
halls and whatever dues of honour the people have rendered
unto him. But speed, I pray you, my parting, that I may
come the more quickly to mine own country, for already too
long do I suffer affliction far from my friends.'
Therewith he sat him down by the hearth in the ashes at the
fire, and behold, a dead silence fell on all. And at the
last the ancient lord Echeneus spake among them, an elder
of the Phaeacians, excellent in speech and skilled in much
wisdom of old time. With good will he made harangue and
spake among them:
'Alcinous, this truly is not the more seemly way, nor is it
fitting that the stranger should sit upon the ground in the
ashes by the hearth, while these men refrain them, waiting
thy word. Nay come, bid the stranger arise, and set him on
a chair inlaid with silver, and command the henchmen to mix
the wine, that we may pour forth likewise before Zeus,
whose joy is in the thunder, who attendeth upon reverend
suppliants. And let the housewife give supper to the
stranger out of such stores as be within.'
Now when the mighty king Alcinous heard this saying, he
took Odysseus, the wise and crafty, by the hand, and raised
him from the hearth, and set him on a shining chair, whence
he bade his son give place, valiant Laodamas, who sat next
him and was his dearest. And a handmaid bare water for the
hands in a goodly golden ewer, and poured it forth over a
silver basin to wash withal, and drew to his side a
polished table. And a grave dame bare wheaten bread and set
it by him and laid upon the board many dainties, giving
freely of such things as she had by her. So the steadfast
goodly Odysseus did eat and drink: and then the mighty
Alcinous spake unto the henchman:
'Pontonous, mix the bowl and serve out the wine to all in
the hall, that we may pour forth likewise before Zeus,
whose joy is in the thunder, who attendeth upon reverend
suppliants.'
So spake he, and Pontonous mixed the honey-hearted wine,
and served it out to all, when he had poured for libation
into each cup in turn. But when they had poured forth and
had drunken to their heart's content, Alcinous made
harangue and spake among them:
'Hear me, ye captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians,
that I may speak as my spirit bids me. Now that the feast
is over, go ye home and lie down to rest; and in the
morning we will call yet more elders together, and
entertain the stranger in the halls and do fair sacrifice
to the gods, and thereafter we will likewise bethink us of
the convoy, that so without pain or grief yonder stranger
may by our convoy reach his own country speedily and with
joy, even though he be from very far away. So shall he
suffer no hurt or harm in mid passage, ere he set foot on
his own land; but thereafter he shall endure such things as
Fate and the stern spinning women drew off the spindles for
him at his birth when his mother bare him. But if he is
some deathless god come down from heaven, then do the gods
herein imagine some new device against us. For always
heretofore the gods appear manifest amongst us, whensoever
we offer glorious hecatombs, and they feast by our side,
sitting at the same board; yea, and even if a wayfarer
going all alone has met with them, they use no disguise,
since we are near of kin to them, even as are the Cyclopes
and the wild tribes of the Giants.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying:
'Alcinous, that thought be far from thee! for I bear no
likeness either in form or fashion to the deathless gods,
who keep wide heaven, but to men that die. Whomsoever ye
know of human kind the heaviest laden with sorrow, to them
might I liken myself in my griefs. Yea, and I might tell of
yet other woes, even the long tale of toil that by the
gods' will I endured. But as for me, suffer me to sup,
afflicted as I am; for nought is there more shameless than
a ravening belly, which biddeth a man perforce be mindful
of him, though one be worn and sorrowful in spirit, even as
I have sorrow of heart; yet evermore he biddeth me eat and
drink and maketh me utterly to forget all my sufferings,
and commandeth me to take my fill. But do ye bestir you at
the breaking of the day, that so ye may set me, hapless as
I am, upon my country's soil, albeit after much suffering.
Ah, and may life leave me when I have had sight of mine own
possessions, my thralls, and my dwelling that is great and
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
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.
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
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,
Amphialus, son of Polyneus, son of Tekton, and likewise
Euryalus, the peer of murderous Ares, the son of Naubolus,
who in face and form was goodliest of all the Phaeacians
next to noble Laodamas. And there stood up the three sons
of noble Alcinous, Laodamas, and Halius, and god-like
Clytoneus. And behold, these all first tried the issue in
the foot race. From the very start they strained at utmost
speed: and all together they flew forward swiftly, raising
the dust along the plain. And noble Clytoneus was far the
swiftest of them all in running, and by the length of the
furrow that mules cleave in a fallow field, {*} so far did
he shoot to the front, and came to the crowd by the lists,
while those others were left behind. Then they made trial
of strong wrestling, and here in turn Euryalus excelled all
the best. And in leaping Amphialus was far the foremost,
and Elatreus in weight-throwing, and in boxing Laodamas,
the good son of Alcinous. Now when they had all taken their
pleasure in the games, Laodamas, son of Alcinous, spake
among them:
{* The distance here indicated seems to be that which the
mule goes in ploughing, without pausing to take breath.}
'Come, my friends, let us ask the stranger whether he is
skilled or practised in any sport. Ill fashioned, at least,
he is not in his thighs and sinewy legs and hands withal,
and his stalwart neck and mighty strength: yea and he lacks
not youth, but is crushed by many troubles. For I tell thee
there is nought else worse than the sea to confound a man,
how hardy soever he may be.'
And Euryalus in turn made answer, and said: 'Laodamas,
verily thou hast spoken this word in season. Go now thyself
and challenge him, and declare thy saying.'
Now when the good son of Alcinous heard this, he went and
stood in the midst, and spake unto Odysseus: 'Come, do thou
too, father and stranger, try thy skill in the sports, if
haply thou art practised in any; and thou art like to have
knowledge of games, for there is no greater glory for a man
while yet he lives, than that which he achieves by hand and
foot. Come, then, make essay, and cast away care from thy
soul: thy journey shall not now be long delayed; lo, thy
ship is even now drawn down to the sea, and the men of thy
company are ready.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying;
'Laodamas, wherefore do ye mock me, requiring this thing of
me? Sorrow is far nearer my heart than sports, for much
have I endured and laboured sorely in time past, and now I
sit in this your gathering, craving my return, and making
my prayer to the king and all the people.'
And Euryalus answered, and rebuked him to his face: 'No
truly, stranger, nor do I think thee at all like one that
is skilled in games, whereof there are many among men,
rather art thou such an one as comes and goes in a benched
ship, a master of sailors that are merchantmen, one with a
memory for his freight, or that hath the charge of a cargo
homeward bound, and of greedily gotten gains; thou seemest
not a man of thy hands.'
Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on him and
said: 'Stranger, thou hast not spoken well; thou art like a
man presumptuous. So true it is that the gods do not give
every gracious gift to all, neither shapeliness, nor
wisdom, nor skilled speech. For one man is feebler than
another in presence, yet the god crowns his words with
beauty, and men behold him and rejoice, and his speech runs
surely on his way with a sweet modesty, and he shines forth
among the gathering of his people, and as he passes through
the town men gaze on him as a god. Another again is like
the deathless gods for beauty, but his words have no crown
of grace about them; even as thou art in comeliness
pre-eminent, nor could a god himself fashion thee for the
better, but in wit thou art a weakling. Yea, thou hast
stirred my spirit in my breast by speaking thus amiss. I am
not all unversed in sports, as thy words go, but methinks I
was among the foremost while as yet I trusted in my youth
and my hands, but now am I holden in misery and pains: for
I have endured much in passing through the wars of men and
the grievous waves of the sea. Yet even so, for all my
affliction, I will essay the games, for thy word hath
bitten to the quick, and thou hast roused me with thy
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, 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
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
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
'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.'
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
'The wind that bare me from Ilios brought me nigh to the
Cicones, even to Ismarus, whereupon I sacked their city and
slew the people. And from out the city we took their wives
and much substance, and divided them amongst us, that none
through me might go lacking his proper share. Howbeit,
thereafter I commanded that we should flee with a swift
foot, but my men in their great folly hearkened not. There
was much wine still a drinking, and still they slew many
flocks of sheep by the seashore and kine with trailing feet
and shambling gait. Meanwhile the Cicones went and raised a
cry to other Cicones their neighbours, dwelling inland, who
were more in number than they and braver withal: skilled
they were to fight with men from chariots, and when need
was on foot. So they gathered in the early morning as thick
as leaves and flowers that spring in their season--yea and
in that hour an evil doom of Zeus stood by us, ill-fated
men, that so we might be sore afflicted. They set their
battle in array by the swift ships, and the hosts cast at
one another with their bronze-shod spears. So long as it
was morn and the sacred day waxed stronger, so long we
abode their assault and beat them off, albeit they
outnumbered us. But when the sun was wending to the time of
the loosing of cattle, then at last the Cicones drave in
the Achaeans and overcame them, and six of my
goodly-greaved company perished from each ship: but the
remnant of us escaped death and destiny.
'Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart, yet glad as men
saved from death, albeit we had lost our dear companions.
Nor did my curved ships move onward ere we had called
thrice on each of those our hapless fellows, who died at
the hands of the Cicones on the plain. Now Zeus, gatherer
of the clouds, aroused the North Wind against our ships
with a terrible tempest, and covered land and sea alike
with clouds, and down sped night from heaven. Thus the
ships were driven headlong, and their sails were torn to
shreds by the might of the wind. So we lowered the sails
into the hold, in fear of death, but rowed the ships
landward apace. There for two nights and two days we lay
continually, consuming our hearts with weariness and
sorrow. But when the fair-tressed Dawn had at last brought
the full light of the third day, we set up the masts and
hoisted the white sails and sat us down, while the wind and
the helmsman guided the ships. And now I should have come
to mine own country all unhurt, but the wave and the stream
of the sea and the North Wind swept me from my course as I
was doubling Malea, and drave me wandering past Cythera.
'Thence for nine whole days was I borne by ruinous winds
over the teeming deep; but on the tenth day we set foot on
the land of the lotus-eaters, who eat a flowery food. So we
stepped ashore and drew water, and straightway my company
took their midday meal by the swift ships. Now when we had
tasted meat and drink I sent forth certain of my company to
go and make search what manner of men they were who here
live upon the earth by bread, and I chose out two of my
fellows, and sent a third with them as herald. Then
straightway they went and mixed with the men of the
lotus-eaters, and so it was that the lotus-eaters devised
not death for our fellows, but gave them of the lotus to
taste. Now whosoever of them did eat the honey-sweet fruit
of the lotus, had no more wish to bring tidings nor to come
back, but there he chose to abide with the lotus-eating
men, ever feeding on the lotus, and forgetful of his
homeward way. Therefore I led them back to the ships
weeping, and sore against their will, and dragged them
beneath the benches, and bound them in the hollow barques.
But I commanded the rest of my well-loved company to make
speed and go on board the swift ships, lest haply any
should eat of the lotus and be forgetful of returning.
Right soon they embarked, and sat upon the benches, and
sitting orderly they smote the grey sea water with their
oars.
'Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart. And we came to
the land of the Cyclopes, a froward and a lawless folk, who
trusting to the deathless gods plant not aught with their
hands, neither plough: but, behold, all these things spring
for them in plenty, unsown and untilled, wheat, and barley,
and vines, which bear great clusters of the juice of the
grape, and the rain of Zeus gives them increase. These have
neither gatherings for council nor oracles of law, but they
dwell in hollow caves on the crests of the high hills, and
each one utters the law to his children and his wives, and
they reck not one of another.
'Now there is a waste isle stretching without the harbour
of the land of the Cyclopes, neither nigh at hand nor yet
afar off, a woodland isle, wherein are wild goats
unnumbered, for no path of men scares them, nor do hunters
resort thither who suffer hardships in the wood, as they
range the mountain crests. Moreover it is possessed neither
by flocks nor by ploughed lands, but the soil lies unsown
evermore and untilled, desolate of men, and feeds the
bleating goats. For the Cyclopes have by them no ships with
vermilion cheek, not yet are there shipwrights in the
island, who might fashion decked barques, which should
accomplish all their desire, voyaging to the towns of men
(as ofttimes men cross the sea to one another in ships),
who might likewise have made of their isle a goodly
settlement. Yea, it is in no wise a sorry land, but would
bear all things in their season; for therein are soft water
meadows by the shores of the grey salt sea, and there the
vines know no decay, and the land is level to plough;
thence might they reap a crop exceeding deep in due season,
for verily there is fatness beneath the soil. Also there is
a fair haven, where is no need of moorings, either to cast
anchor or to fasten hawsers, but men may run the ship on
the beach, and tarry until such time as the sailors are
minded to be gone, and favourable breezes blow. Now at the
head of the harbour is a well of bright water issuing from
a cave, and round it are poplars growing. Thither we
sailed, and some god guided us through the night, for it
was dark and there was no light to see, a mist lying deep
about the ships, nor did the moon show her light from
heaven, but was shut in with clouds. No man then beheld
that island, neither saw we the long waves rolling to the
beach, till we had run our decked ships ashore. And when
our ships were beached, we took down all their sails, and
ourselves too stept forth upon the strand of the sea, and
there we fell into sound sleep and waited for the bright
'So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, in
wonder at the island we roamed over the length thereof: and
the Nymphs, the daughters of Zeus, lord of the aegis,
started the wild goats of the hills, that my company might
have wherewith to sup. Anon we took to us our curved bows
from out the ships and long spears, and arrayed in three
bands we began shooting at the goats; and the god soon gave
us game in plenty. Now twelve ships bare me company, and to
each ship fell nine goats for a portion, but for me alone
they set ten apart.
'Thus we sat there the livelong day until the going down of
the sun, feasting on abundant flesh and on sweet wine. For
the red wine was not yet spent from out the ships, but
somewhat was yet therein, for we had each one drawn off
large store thereof in jars, when we took the sacred
citadel of the Cicones. And we looked across to the land of
the Cyclopes, who dwell nigh, and to the smoke, and to the
voice of the men, and of the sheep and of the goats. And
when the sun had sunk and darkness had come on, then we
laid us to rest upon the sea-beach. So soon as early Dawn
shone forth, the rosy-fingered, then I called a gathering
of my men, and spake among them all:
'"Abide here all the rest of you, my dear companions; but I
will go with mine own ship and my ship's company, and make
proof of these men, what manner of folk they are, whether
froward, and wild, and unjust, or hospitable and of
god-fearing mind."
'So I spake, and I climbed the ship's side, and bade my
company themselves to mount, and to loose the hawsers. So
they soon embarked and sat upon the benches, and sitting
orderly smote the grey sea water with their oars. Now when
we had come to the land that lies hard by, we saw a cave on
the border near to the sea, lofty and roofed over with
laurels, and there many flocks of sheep and goats were used
to rest. And about it a high outer court was built with
stones, deep bedded, and with tall pines and oaks with
their high crown of leaves. And a man was wont to sleep
therein, of monstrous size, who shepherded his flocks alone
and afar, and was not conversant with others, but dwelt
apart in lawlessness of mind. Yea, for he was a monstrous
thing and fashioned marvellously, nor was he like to any
man that lives by bread, but like a wooded peak of the
towering hills, which stands out apart and alone from
others.
'Then I commanded the rest of my well-loved company to
tarry there by the ship, and to guard the ship, but I chose
out twelve men, the best of my company, and sallied forth.
Now I had with me a goat-skin of the dark wine and sweet
which Maron, son of Euanthes, had given me, the priest of
Apollo, the god that watched over Ismarus. And he gave it,
for that we had protected him with his wife and child
reverently; for he dwelt in a thick grove of Phoebus
Apollo. And he made me splendid gifts; he gave me seven
talents of gold well wrought, and he gave me a mixing bowl
of pure silver, and furthermore wine which he drew off in
twelve jars in all, sweet wine unmingled, a draught divine;
nor did any of his servants or of his handmaids in the
house know thereof, but himself and his dear wife and one
housedame only. And as often as they drank that red wine
honey sweet, he would fill one cup and pour it into twenty
measures of water, and a marvellous sweet smell went up
from the mixing bowl: then truly it was no pleasure to
refrain.
'With this wine I filled a great skin, and bare it with me,
and corn too I put in a wallet, for my lordly spirit
straightway had a boding that a man would come to me, a
strange man, clothed in mighty strength, one that knew not
judgment and justice. {*}
{* Literally, knowing neither dooms, nor ordinances of
'Soon we came to the cave, but we found him not within; he
was shepherding his fat flocks in the pastures. So we went
into the cave, and gazed on all that was therein. The
baskets were well laden with cheeses, and the folds were
thronged with lambs and kids; each kind was penned by
itself, the firstlings apart, and the summer lambs apart,
apart too the younglings of the flock. Now all the vessels
swam with whey, the milk-pails and the bowls, the
well-wrought vessels whereinto he milked. My company then
spake and besought me first of all to take of the cheeses
and to return, and afterwards to make haste and drive off
the kids and lambs to the swift ships from out the pens,
and to sail over the salt sea water. Howbeit I hearkened
not (and far better would it have been), but waited to see
the giant himself, and whether he would give me gifts as a
stranger's due. Yet was not his coming to be with joy to my
company.
'Then we kindled a fire, and made burnt-offering, and
ourselves likewise took of the cheeses, and did eat, and
sat waiting for him within till he came back, shepherding
his flocks. And he bore a grievous weight of dry wood,
against supper time. This log he cast down with a din
inside the cave, and in fear we fled to the secret place of
the rock. As for him, he drave his fat flocks into the wide
cavern, even all that he was wont to milk; but the males
both of the sheep and of the goats he left without in the
deep yard. Thereafter he lifted a huge doorstone and
weighty, and set it in the mouth of the cave, such an one
as two and twenty good four-wheeled wains could not raise
from the ground, so mighty a sheer rock did he set against
the doorway. Then he sat down and milked the ewes and
bleating goats, all orderly, and beneath each ewe he placed
her young. And anon he curdled one half of the white milk,
and massed it together, and stored it in wicker-baskets,
and the other half he let stand in pails, that he might
have it to take and drink against supper time. Now when he
had done all his work busily, then he kindled the fire
anew, and espied us, and made question:
'"Strangers, who are ye? Whence sail ye over the wet ways?
On some trading enterprise or at adventure do ye rove, even
as sea-robbers over the brine, for at hazard of their own
lives they wander, bringing bale to alien men."
'So spake he, but as for us our heart within us was broken
for terror of the deep voice and his own monstrous shape;
yet despite all I answered and spake unto him, saying:
'"Lo, we are Achaeans, driven wandering from Troy, by all
manner of winds over the great gulf of the sea; seeking our
homes we fare, but another path have we come, by other
ways: even such, methinks, was the will and the counsel of
Zeus. And we avow us to be the men of Agamemnon, son of
Atreus, whose fame is even now the mightiest under heaven,
so great a city did he sack, and destroyed many people; but
as for us we have lighted here, and come to these thy
knees, if perchance thou wilt give us a stranger's gift, or
make any present, as is the due of strangers. Nay, lord,
have regard to the gods, for we are thy suppliants; and
Zeus is the avenger of suppliants and sojourners, Zeus, the
god of the stranger, who fareth in the company of reverend
strangers."
'So I spake, and anon he answered out of his pitiless
heart: "Thou art witless, my stranger, or thou hast come
from afar, who biddest me either to fear or shun the gods.
For the Cyclopes pay no heed to Zeus, lord of the aegis,
nor to the blessed gods, for verily we are better men than
they. Nor would I, to shun the enmity of Zeus, spare either
thee or thy company, unless my spirit bade me. But tell me
where thou didst stay thy well-wrought ship on thy coming?
Was it perchance at the far end of the island, or hard by,
that I may know?"
'So he spake tempting me, but he cheated me not, who knew
full much, and I answered him again with words of guile:
'"As for my ship, Poseidon, the shaker of the earth, brake
it to pieces, for he cast it upon the rocks at the border
of your country, and brought it nigh the headland, and a
wind bare it thither from the sea. But I with these my men
escaped from utter doom."
'So I spake, and out of his pitiless heart he answered me
not a word, but sprang up, and laid his hands upon my
fellows, and clutching two together dashed them, as they
had been whelps, to the earth, and the brain flowed forth
upon the ground, and the earth was wet. Then cut he them up
piecemeal, and made ready his supper. So he ate even as a
mountain-bred lion, and ceased not, devouring entrails and
flesh and bones with their marrow. And we wept and raised
our hands to Zeus, beholding the cruel deeds; and we were
at our wits' end. And after the Cyclops had filled his huge
maw with human flesh and the milk he drank thereafter, he
lay within the cave, stretched out among his sheep.
'So I took counsel in my great heart, whether I should draw
near, and pluck my sharp sword from my thigh, and stab him
in the breast, where the midriff holds the liver, feeling
for the place with my hand. But my second thought withheld
me, for so should we too have perished even there with
utter doom. For we should not have prevailed to roll away
with our hands from the lofty door the heavy stone which he
set there. So for that time we made moan, awaiting the
bright Dawn.
'Now when early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, again
he kindled the fire and milked his goodly flocks all
orderly, and beneath each ewe set her lamb. Anon when he
had done all his work busily, again he seized yet other two
men and made ready his mid-day meal. And after the meal,
lightly he moved away the great door-stone, and drave his
fat flocks forth from the cave, and afterwards he set it in
his place again, as one might set the lid on a quiver. Then
with a loud whoop, the Cyclops turned his fat flocks
towards the hills; but I was left devising evil in the deep
of my heart, if in any wise I might avenge me, and Athene
grant me renown.
'And this was the counsel that showed best in my sight.
There lay by a sheep-fold a great club of the Cyclops, a
club of olive wood, yet green, which he had cut to carry
with him when it should be seasoned. Now when we saw it we
likened it in size to the mast of a black ship of twenty
oars, a wide merchant vessel that traverses the great sea
gulf, so huge it was to view in bulk and length. I stood
thereby and cut off from it a portion as it were a fathom's
length, and set it by my fellows, and bade them fine it
down, and they made it even, while I stood by and sharpened
it to a point, and straightway I took it and hardened it in
the bright fire. Then I laid it well away, and hid it
beneath the dung, which was scattered in great heaps in the
depths of the cave. And I bade my company cast lots among
them, which of them should risk the adventure with me, and
lift the bar and turn it about in his eye, when sweet sleep
came upon him. And the lot fell upon those four whom I
myself would have been fain to choose, and I appointed
myself to be the fifth among them. In the evening he came
shepherding his flocks of goodly fleece, and presently he
drave his fat flocks into the cave each and all, nor left
he any without in the deep court-yard, whether through some
foreboding, or perchance that the god so bade him do.
Thereafter he lifted the huge door-stone and set it in the
mouth of the cave, and sitting down he milked the ewes and
bleating goats, all orderly, and beneath each ewe he placed
her young. Now when he had done all his work busily, again
he seized yet other two and made ready his supper. Then I
stood by the Cyclops and spake to him, holding in my hands
an ivy bowl of the dark wine:
'"Cyclops, take and drink wine after thy feast of man's
meat, that thou mayest know what manner of drink this was
that our ship held. And lo, I was bringing it thee as a
drink offering, if haply thou mayest take pity and send me
on my way home, but thy mad rage is past all sufferance. O
hard of heart, how may another of the many men there be
come ever to thee again, seeing that thy deeds have been
lawless?"
'So I spake, and he took the cup and drank it off, and
found great delight in drinking the sweet draught, and
asked me for it yet a second time:
'"Give it me again of thy grace, and tell me thy name
straightway, that I may give thee a stranger's gift,
wherein thou mayest be glad. Yea for the earth, the
grain-giver, bears for the Cyclopes the mighty clusters of
the juice of the grape, and the rain of Zeus gives them
increase, but this is a rill of very nectar and ambrosia."
'So he spake, and again I handed him the dark wine. Thrice
I bare and gave it him, and thrice in his folly he drank it
to the lees. Now when the wine had got about the wits of
the Cyclops, then did I speak to him with soft words:
'"Cyclops, thou askest me my renowned name, and I will
declare it unto thee, and do thou grant me a stranger's
gift, as thou didst promise. Noman is my name, and Noman
they call me, my father and my mother and all my fellows."
'So I spake, and straightway he answered me out of his
pitiless heart:
'"Noman will I eat last in the number of his fellows, and
the others before him: that shall be thy gift."
'Therewith he sank backwards and fell with face upturned,
and there he lay with his great neck bent round, and sleep,
that conquers all men, overcame him. And the wine and the
fragments of men's flesh issued forth from his mouth, and
he vomited, being heavy with wine. Then I thrust in that
stake under the deep ashes, until it should grow hot, and I
spake to my companions comfortable words, lest any should
hang back from me in fear. But when that bar of olive wood
was just about to catch fire in the flame, green though it
was, and began to glow terribly, even then I came nigh, and
drew it from the coals, and my fellows gathered about me,
and some god breathed great courage into us. For their part
they seized the bar of olive wood, that was sharpened at
the point, and thrust it into his eye, while I from my
place aloft turned it about, as when a man bores a ship's
beam with a drill while his fellows below spin it with a
strap, which they hold at either end, and the auger runs
round continually. Even so did we seize the fiery-pointed
brand and whirled it round in his eye, and the blood flowed
about the heated bar. And the breath of the flame singed
his eyelids and brows all about, as the ball of the eye
burnt away, and the roots thereof crackled in the flame.
And as when a smith dips an axe or adze in chill water with
a great hissing, when he would temper it--for hereby anon
comes the strength of iron--even so did his eye hiss round
the stake of olive. And he raised a great and terrible cry,
that the rock rang around, and we fled away in fear, while
he plucked forth from his eye the brand bedabbled in much
blood. Then maddened with pain he cast it from him with his
hands, and called with a loud voice on the Cyclopes, who
dwelt about him in the caves along the windy heights. And
they heard the cry and flocked together from every side,
and gathering round the cave asked him what ailed him:
'"What hath so distressed thee, Polyphemus, that thou
criest thus aloud through the immortal night, and makest us
sleepless? Surely no mortal driveth off thy flocks against
thy will: surely none slayeth thyself by force or craft?"
'And the strong Polyphemus spake to them again from out the
cave: "My friends, Noman is slaying me by guile, nor at all
by force."
'And they answered and spake winged words: "If then no man
is violently handling thee in thy solitude, it can in no
wise be that thou shouldest escape the sickness sent by
mighty Zeus. Nay, pray thou to thy father, the lord
'On this wise they spake and departed; and my heart within
me laughed to see how my name and cunning counsel had
beguiled them. But the Cyclops, groaning and travailing in
pain, groped with his hands, and lifted away the stone from
the door of the cave, and himself sat in the entry, with
arms outstretched to catch, if he might, any one that was
going forth with his sheep, so witless, methinks, did he
hope to find me. But I advised me how all might be for the
very best, if perchance I might find a way of escape from
death for my companions and myself, and I wove all manner
of craft and counsel, as a man will for his life, seeing
that great mischief was nigh. And this was the counsel that
showed best in my sight. The rams of the flock were well
nurtured and thick of fleece, great and goodly, with wool
dark as the violet. Quietly I lashed them together with
twisted withies, whereon the Cyclops slept, that lawless
monster. Three together I took: now the middle one of the
three would bear each a man, but the other twain went on
either side, saving my fellows. Thus every three sheep bare
their man. But as for me I laid hold of the back of a young
ram who was far the best and the goodliest of all the
flock, and curled beneath his shaggy belly there I lay, and
so clung face upward, grasping the wondrous fleece with a
steadfast heart. So for that time making moan we awaited
the bright Dawn.
'So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, then
did the rams of the flock hasten forth to pasture, but the
ewes bleated unmilked about the pens, for their udders were
swollen to bursting. Then their lord, sore stricken with
pain, felt along the backs of all the sheep as they stood
up before him, and guessed not in his folly how that my men
were bound beneath the breasts of his thick-fleeced flocks.
Last of all the sheep came forth the ram, cumbered with his
wool, and the weight of me and my cunning. And the strong
Polyphemus laid his hands on him and spake to him saying:
'"Dear ram, wherefore, I pray thee, art thou the last of
all the flocks to go forth from the cave, who of old wast
not wont to lag behind the sheep, but wert ever the
foremost to pluck the tender blossom of the pasture, faring
with long strides, and wert still the first to come to the
streams of the rivers, and first did long to return to the
homestead in the evening? But now art thou the very last.
Surely thou art sorrowing for the eye of thy lord, which an
evil man blinded, with his accursed fellows, when he had
subdued my wits with wine, even Noman, whom I say hath not
yet escaped destruction. Ah, if thou couldst feel as I, and
be endued with speech, to tell me where he shifts about to
shun my wrath; then should he be smitten, and his brains be
dashed against the floor here and there about the cave, and
my heart be lightened of the sorrows which Noman, nothing
worth, hath brought me!"
'Therewith he sent the ram forth from him, and when we had
gone but a little way from the cave and from the yard,
first I loosed myself from under the ram and then I set my
fellows free. And swiftly we drave on those stiff-shanked
sheep, so rich in fat, and often turned to look about, till
we came to the ship. And a glad sight to our fellows were
we that had fled from death, but the others they would have
bemoaned with tears; howbeit I suffered it not, but with
frowning brows forbade each man to weep. Rather I bade them
to cast on board the many sheep with goodly fleece, and to
sail over the salt sea water. So they embarked forthwith,
and sate upon the benches, and sitting orderly smote the
grey sea water with their oars. But when I had not gone so
far, but that a man's shout might be heard, then I spoke
unto the Cyclops taunting him:
'"Cyclops, so thou wert not to eat the company of a
weakling by main might in thy hollow cave! Thine evil deeds
were very sure to find thee out, thou cruel man, who hadst
no shame to eat thy guests within thy gates, wherefore Zeus
hath requited thee, and the other gods."
'So I spake, and he was mightily angered at heart, and he
brake off the peak of a great hill and threw it at us, and
it fell in front of the dark-prowed ship. {*} And the sea
heaved beneath the fall of the rock, and the backward flow
of the wave bare the ship quickly to the dry land, with the
wash from the deep sea, and drave it to the shore. Then I
caught up a long pole in my hands, and thrust the ship from
off the land, and roused my company, and with a motion of
the head bade them dash in with their oars, that so we
might escape our evil plight. So they bent to their oars
and rowed on. But when we had now made twice the distance
over the brine, I would fain have spoken to the Cyclops,
but my company stayed me on every side with soft words,
saying:
{* We have omitted line 483, as required by the sense. It
is introduced here from line 540.}
'"Foolhardy that thou art, why wouldst thou rouse a wild
man to wrath, who even now hath cast so mighty a throw
towards the deep and brought our ship back to land, yea and
we thought that we had perished {*} even there? If he had
heard any of us utter sound or speech he would have crushed
our heads and our ship timbers with a cast of a rugged
stone, so mightily he hurls."
do we think that the aorist infinitive after a verb of
saying can bear a future sense. The aorist infinitive after
favour; the infinitive there is in fact a noun in the
genitive case.}
'So spake they, but they prevailed not on my lordly spirit,
and I answered him again from out an angry heart:
'"Cyclops, if any one of mortal men shall ask thee of the
unsightly blinding of thine eye, say that it was Odysseus
that blinded it, the waster of cities, son of Laertes,
whose dwelling is in Ithaca."
'So I spake, and with a moan he answered me, saying:
'"Lo now, in very truth the ancient oracles have come upon
me. There lived here a soothsayer, a noble man and a
mighty, Telemus, son of Eurymus, who surpassed all men in
soothsaying, and waxed old as a seer among the Cyclopes. He
told me that all these things should come to pass in the
aftertime, even that I should lose my eyesight at the hand
of Odysseus. But I ever looked for some tall and goodly man
to come hither, clad in great might, but behold now one
that is a dwarf, a man of no worth and a weakling, hath
blinded me of my eye after subduing me with wine. Nay come
hither, Odysseus, that I may set by thee a stranger's
cheer, and speed thy parting hence, that so the
Earth-shaker may vouchsafe it thee, for his son am I, and
he avows him for my father. And he himself will heal me, if
it be his will; and none other of the blessed gods or of
mortal men."
'Even so he spake, but I answered him, and said: "Would god
that I were as sure to rob thee of soul and life, and send
thee within the house of Hades, as I am that not even the
Earth-shaker will heal thine eye!"
'So I spake, and then he prayed to the lord Poseidon
stretching forth his hands to the starry heaven: "Hear me,
Poseidon, girdler of the earth, god of the dark hair, if
indeed I be thine, and thou avowest thee my sire,--grant
that he may never come to his home, even Odysseus, waster
of cities, the son of Laertes, whose dwelling is in Ithaca;
yet if he is ordained to see his friends and come unto his
well-builded house, and his own country, late may he come
in evil case, with the loss of all his company, in the ship
of strangers, and find sorrows in his house."
'So he spake in prayer, and the god of the dark locks heard
him. And once again he lifted a stone, far greater than the
first, and with one swing he hurled it, and he put forth a
measureless strength, and cast it but a little space behind
the dark-prowed ship, and all but struck the end of the
rudder. And the sea heaved beneath the fall of the rock,
but the wave bare on the ship and drave it to the further
shore.
'But when he had now reached that island, where all our
other decked ships abode together, and our company were
gathered sorrowing, expecting us evermore, on our coming
thither we ran our ship ashore upon the sand, and ourselves
too stept forth upon the sea beach. Next we took forth the
sheep of the Cyclops from out the hollow ship, and divided
them, that none through me might go lacking his proper
share. But the ram for me alone my goodly-greaved company
chose out, in the dividing of the sheep, and on the shore I
offered him up to Zeus, even to the son of Cronos, who
dwells in the dark clouds, and is lord of all, and I burnt
the slices of the thighs. But he heeded not the sacrifice,
but was devising how my decked ships and my dear company
might perish utterly. Thus for that time we sat the
livelong day, until the going down of the sun, feasting on
abundant flesh and sweet wine. And when the sun had sunk
and darkness had come on, then we laid us to rest upon the
sea beach. So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the
rosy-fingered, I called to my company, and commanded them
that they should themselves climb the ship and loose the
hawsers. So they soon embarked and sat upon the benches,
and sitting orderly smote the grey sea water with their
oars.
'Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart, yet glad as men
saved from death, albeit we had lost our dear companions.
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
'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
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
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
'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
'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
'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
'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
'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?'
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
'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
'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
'Even so she spake, and I answered her, and said: "O my
mother, necessity was on me to come down to the house of
Hades to seek to the spirit of Theban Teiresias. For not
yet have I drawn near to the Achaean shore, nor yet have I
set foot on mine own country, but have been wandering
evermore in affliction, from the day that first I went with
goodly Agamemnon to Ilios of the fair steeds, to do battle
with the Trojans. But come, declare me this and plainly
tell it all. What doom overcame thee of death that lays men
at their length? Was it a slow disease, or did Artemis the
archer slay thee with the visitation of her gentle shafts?
And tell me of my father and my son, that I left behind me;
doth my honour yet abide with them, or hath another already
taken it, while they say that I shall come home no more?
And tell me of my wedded wife, of her counsel and her
purpose, doth she abide with her son and keep all secure,
or hath she already wedded the best of the Achaeans?"
'Even so I spake, and anon my lady mother answered me: "Yea
verily, she abideth with steadfast spirit in thy halls; and
wearily for her the nights wane always and the days in
shedding of tears. But the fair honour that is thine no man
hath yet taken; but Telemachus sits at peace on his
demesne, and feasts at equal banquets, whereof it is meet
that a judge partake, for all men bid him to their house.
And thy father abides there in the field, and goes not down
to the town, nor lies he on bedding or rugs or shining
blankets, but all the winter he sleeps, where sleep the
thralls in the house, in the ashes by the fire, and is clad
in sorry raiment. But when the summer comes and the rich
harvest-tide, his beds of fallen leaves are strewn lowly
all about the knoll of his vineyard plot. There he lies
sorrowing and nurses his mighty grief, for long desire of
thy return, and old age withal comes heavy upon him. Yea
and even so did I too perish and meet my doom. It was not
the archer goddess of the keen sight, who slew me in my
halls with the visitation of her gentle shafts, nor did any
sickness come upon me, such as chiefly with a sad wasting
draws the spirit from the limbs; nay, it was my sore
longing for thee, and for thy counsels, great Odysseus, and
for thy loving-kindness, that reft me of sweet life."
'So spake she, and I mused in my heart and would fain have
embraced the spirit of my mother dead. Thrice I sprang
towards her, and was minded to embrace her; thrice she
flitted from my hands as a shadow or even as a dream, and
sharp grief arose ever at my heart. And uttering my voice I
spake to her winged words:
'"Mother mine, wherefore dost thou not abide me who am
eager to clasp thee, that even in Hades we twain may cast
our arms each about the other, and have our fill of chill
lament? Is this but a phantom that the high goddess
Persephone hath sent me, to the end that I may groan for
more exceeding sorrow?"
'So spake I, and my lady mother answered me anon: "Ah me,
my child, of all men most ill-fated, Persephone, the
daughter of Zeus, doth in no wise deceive thee, but even on
this wise it is with mortals when they die. For the sinews
no more bind together the flesh and the bones, but the
great force of burning fire abolishes these, so soon as the
life hath left the white bones, and the spirit like a dream
flies forth and hovers near. But haste with all thine heart
toward the sunlight, and mark all this, that even hereafter
thou mayest tell it to thy wife."
'Thus we twain held discourse together; and lo, the women
came up, for the high goddess Persephone sent them forth,
all they that had been the wives and daughters of mighty
men. And they gathered and flocked about the black blood,
and I took counsel how I might question them each one. And
this was the counsel that showed best in my sight. I drew
my long hanger from my stalwart thigh, and suffered them
not all at one time to drink of the dark blood. So they
drew nigh one by one, and each declared her lineage, and I
made question of all.
'Then verily did I first see Tyro, sprung of a noble sire,
who said that she was the child of noble Salmoneus, and
declared herself the wife of Cretheus, son of Aeolus. She
loved a river, the divine Enipeus, far the fairest of the
floods that run upon the earth, and she would resort to the
fair streams of Enipeus. And it came to pass that the
girdler of the world, the Earth-shaker, put on the shape of
the god, and lay by the lady at the mouths of the whirling
stream. Then the dark wave stood around them like a
hill-side bowed, and hid the god and the mortal woman. And
he undid her maiden girdle, and shed a slumber over her.
Now when the god had done the work of love, he clasped her
hand and spake and hailed her:
'"Woman, be glad in our love, and when the year comes round
thou shalt give birth to glorious children,--for not weak
are the embraces of the gods,--and do thou keep and cherish
them. And now go home and hold thy peace, and tell it not:
but behold, I am Poseidon, shaker of the earth."
'Therewith he plunged beneath the heaving deep. And she
conceived and bare Pelias and Neleus, who both grew to be
mighty men, servants of Zeus. Pelias dwelt in wide Iolcos,
and was rich in flocks; and that other abode in sandy
Pylos. And the queen of women bare yet other sons to
Cretheus, even Aeson and Pheres and Amythaon, whose joy was
in chariots.
'And after her I saw Antiope, daughter of Asopus, and her
boast was that she had slept even in the arms of Zeus, and
she bare two sons, Amphion and Zethus, who founded first
the place of seven-gated Thebes, and they made of it a
fenced city, for they might not dwell in spacious Thebes
unfenced, for all their valiancy.
'Next to her I saw Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, who lay in
the arms of mighty Zeus, and bare Heracles of the
lion-heart, steadfast in the fight. And I saw Megara,
daughter of Creon, haughty of heart, whom the strong and
tireless son of Amphitryon had to wife.
'And I saw the mother of Oedipodes, fair Epicaste, who
wrought a dread deed unwittingly, being wedded to her own
son, and he that had slain his own father wedded her, and
straightway the gods made these things known to men. Yet he
abode in pain in pleasant Thebes, ruling the Cadmaeans, by
reason of the deadly counsels of the gods. But she went
down to the house of Hades, the mighty warder; yea, she
tied a noose from the high beam aloft, being fast holden in
sorrow; while for him she left pains behind full many, even
all that the Avengers of a mother bring to pass.
'And I saw lovely Chloris, whom Neleus wedded on a time for
her beauty, and brought gifts of wooing past number. She
was the youngest daughter of Amphion, son of Iasus, who
once ruled mightily in Minyan Orchomenus. And she was queen
of Pylos, and bare glorious children to her lord, Nestor
and Chromius, and princely Periclymenus, and stately Pero
too, the wonder of all men. All that dwelt around were her
wooers; but Neleus would not give her, save to him who
should drive off from Phylace the kine of mighty Iphicles,
with shambling gait and broad of brow, hard cattle to
drive. And none but the noble seer {*} took in hand to
drive them; but a grievous fate from the gods fettered him,
even hard bonds and the herdsmen of the wild. But when at
length the months and days were being fulfilled, as the
year returned upon his course, and the seasons came round,
then did mighty Iphicles set him free, when he had spoken
out all the oracles; and herein was the counsel of Zeus
being accomplished.
'And I saw Lede, the famous bed-fellow of Tyndareus, who
bare to Tyndareus two sons, hardy of heart, Castor tamer of
steeds, and Polydeuces the boxer. These twain yet live, but
the quickening earth is over them; and even in the nether
world they have honour at the hand of Zeus. And they
possess their life in turn, living one day and dying the
next, and they have gotten worship even as the gods.
'And after her I beheld Iphimedeia, bed-fellow of Aloeus,
who said that she had lain with Poseidon, and she bare
children twain, but short of life were they, godlike Otus
and far-famed Ephialtes. Now these were the tallest men
that earth, the graingiver, ever reared, and far the
goodliest after the renowned Orion. At nine seasons old
they were of breadth nine cubits, and nine fathoms in
height. They it was who threatened to raise even against
the immortals in Olympus the din of stormy war. They strove
to pile Ossa on Olympus, and on Ossa Pelion with the
trembling forest leaves, that there might be a pathway to
the sky. Yea, and they would have accomplished it, had they
reached the full measure of manhood. But the son of Zeus,
whom Leto of the fair locks bare, destroyed the twain, ere
the down had bloomed beneath their temples, and darkened
their chins with the blossom of youth.
'And Phaedra and Procris I saw, and fair Ariadne, the
daughter of wizard Minos, whom Theseus on a time was
bearing from Crete to the hill of sacred Athens, yet had he
no joy of her; for Artemis slew her ere that in sea-girt
Dia, by reason of the witness of Dionysus.
'And Maera and Clymene I saw, and hateful Eriphyle, who
took fine gold for the price of her dear lord's life. But I
cannot tell or name all the wives and daughters of the
heroes that I saw; ere that, the immortal night would wane.
Nay, it is even now time to sleep, whether I go to the
swift ship to my company or abide here: and for my convoy
you and the gods will care.'
So spake he, and dead silence fell on all, and they were
spell-bound throughout the shadowy halls. Then Arete of the
white arms first spake among them: 'Phaeacians, what think
you of this man for comeliness and stature, and within for
wisdom of heart? Moreover he is my guest, though every one
of you hath his share in this honour. Wherefore haste not
to send him hence, and stint not these your gifts for one
that stands in such sore need of them; for ye have much
treasure stored in your halls by the grace of the gods.'
Then too spake among them the old man, lord Echeneus, that
was an elder among the Phaeacians: 'Friends, behold, the
speech of our wise queen is not wide of the mark, nor far
from our deeming, so hearken ye thereto. But on Alcinous
here both word and work depend.'
Then Alcinous made answer, and spake unto him: 'Yea, the
word that she hath spoken shall hold, if indeed I am yet to
live and bear rule among the Phaeacians, masters of the
oar. Howbeit let the stranger, for all his craving to
return, nevertheless endure to abide until the morrow, till
I make up the full measure of the gift; and men shall care
for his convoy, all men, but I in chief, for mine is the
lordship in the land.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: My lord
Alcinous, most notable of all the people, if ye bade me
tarry here even for a year, and would speed my convoy and
give me splendid gifts, even that I would choose; and
better would it be for me to come with a fuller hand to
mine own dear country, so should I get more love and
worship in the eyes of all men, whoso should see me after I
was returned to Ithaca.'
And Alcinous answered him, saying: 'Odysseus, in no wise do
we deem thee, we that look on thee, to be a knave or a
cheat, even as the dark earth rears many such broadcast,
fashioning lies whence none can even see his way therein.
But beauty crowns thy words, and wisdom is within thee; and
thy tale, as when a minstrel sings, thou hast told with
skill, the weary woes of all the Argives and of thine own
self. But come, declare me this and plainly tell it all.
Didst thou see any of thy godlike company who went up at
the same time with thee to Ilios and there met their doom?
Behold, the night is of great length, unspeakable, and the
time for sleep in the hall is not yet; tell me therefore of
those wondrous deeds. I could abide even till the bright
dawn, so long as thou couldst endure to rehearse me these
woes of thine in the hall.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: 'My
lord Alcinous, most notable of all the people, there is a
time for many words and there is a time for sleep. But if
thou art eager still to listen, I would not for my part
grudge to tell thee of other things more pitiful still,
even the woes of my comrades, those that perished
afterward, for they had escaped with their lives from the
dread war-cry of the Trojans, but perished in returning by
the will of an evil woman.
'Now when holy Persephone had scattered this way and that
the spirits of the women folk, thereafter came the soul of
Agamemnon, son of Atreus, sorrowing; and round him others
were gathered, the ghosts of them who had died with him in
the house of Aegisthus and met their doom. And he knew me
straightway when he had drunk the dark blood, yea, and he
wept aloud, and shed big tears as he stretched forth his
hands in his longing to reach me. But it might not be, for
he had now no steadfast strength nor power at all in
moving, such as was aforetime in his supple limbs.
'At the sight of him I wept and was moved with compassion,
and uttering my voice, spake to him winged words: "Most
renowned son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, say what
doom overcame thee of death that lays men at their length?
Did Poseidon smite thee in thy ships, raising the dolorous
blast of contrary winds, or did unfriendly men do thee hurt
upon the land, whilst thou wert cutting off their oxen and
fair flocks of sheep, or fighting to win a city and the
women thereof?"
'So spake I, and straightway he answered, and said unto me:
"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
devices, it was not Poseidon that smote me in my ships, and
raised the dolorous blast of contrary winds, nor did
unfriendly men do me hurt upon the land, but Aegisthus it
was that wrought me death and doom and slew me, with the
aid of my accursed wife, as one slays an ox at the stall,
after he had bidden me to his house, and entertained me at
a feast. Even so I died by a death most pitiful, and round
me my company likewise were slain without ceasing, like
swine with glittering tusks which are slaughtered in the
house of a rich and mighty man, whether at a wedding
banquet or a joint-feast or a rich clan-drinking. Ere now
hast thou been at the slaying of many a man, killed in
single fight or in strong battle, yet thou wouldst have
sorrowed the most at this sight, how we lay in the hall
round the mixing-bowl and the laden boards, and the floor
all ran with blood. And most pitiful of all that I heard
was the voice of the daughter of Priam, of Cassandra, whom
hard by me the crafty Clytemnestra slew. Then I strove to
raise my hands as I was dying upon the sword, but to earth
they fell. And that shameless one turned her back upon me,
and had not the heart to draw down my eyelids with her
fingers nor to close my mouth. So surely is there nought
more terrible and shameless than a woman who imagines such
evil in her heart, even as she too planned a foul deed,
fashioning death for her wedded lord. Verily I had thought
to come home most welcome to my children and my thralls;
but she, out of the depth of her evil knowledge, hath shed
shame on herself and on all womankind, which shall be for
ever, even on the upright."
'Even so he spake, but I answered him, saying: "Lo now, in
very sooth, hath Zeus of the far-borne voice wreaked
wondrous hatred on the seed of Atreus through the counsels
of woman from of old. For Helen's sake so many of us
perished, and now Clytemnestra hath practised treason
against thee, while yet thou wast afar off."
'Even so I spake, and anon he answered me, saying:
"Wherefore do thou too, never henceforth be soft even to
thy wife, neither show her all the counsel that thou
knowest, but a part declare and let part be hid. Yet shalt
not thou, Odysseus, find death at the hand of thy wife, for
she is very discreet and prudent in all her ways, the wise
Penelope, daughter of Icarius. Verily we left her a bride
new wed when we went to the war, and a child was at her
breast, who now, methinks, sits in the ranks of men, happy
in his lot, for his dear father shall behold him on his
coming, and he shall embrace his sire as is meet. But us
for my wife, she suffered me not so much as to have my fill
of gazing on my son; ere that she slew me, even her lord.
And yet another thing will I tell thee, and do thou ponder
it in thy heart. Put thy ship to land in secret, and not
openly, on the shore of thy dear country; for there is no
more faith in woman. But come, declare me this and plainly
tell it all, if haply ye hear of my son as yet living,
either, it may be, in Orchomenus or in sandy Pylos, or
perchance with Menelaus in wide Sparta, for goodly Orestes
hath not yet perished on the earth."
'Even so he spake, but I answered him, saying: "Son of
Atreus, wherefore dost thou ask me straitly of these
things? Nay I know not at all, whether he be alive or dead;
it is ill to speak words light as wind."
'Thus we twain stood sorrowing, holding sad discourse,
while the big tears fell fast: and therewithal came the
soul of Achilles, son of Peleus, and of Patroclus and of
noble Antilochus and of Aias, who in face and form was
goodliest of all the Danaans, after the noble son of
Peleus. And the spirit of the son of Aeacus, fleet of foot,
knew me again, and making lament spake to me winged words:
'"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
devices, man overbold, what new deed and hardier than this
wilt thou devise in thy heart? How durst thou come down to
the house of Hades, where dwell the senseless dead, the
phantoms of men outworn?"
'So he spake, but I answered him: "Achilles, son of Peleus,
mightiest far of the Achaeans, I am come hither to seek to
Teiresias, if he may tell me any counsel, how I may come to
rugged Ithaca. For not yet have I come nigh the Achaean
land, nor set foot on mine own soil, but am still in evil
case; while as for thee, Achilles, none other than thou
wast heretofore the most blessed of men, nor shall any be
hereafter. For of old, in the days of thy life, we Argives
gave thee one honour with the gods, and now thou art a
great prince here among the dead. Wherefore let not thy
death be any grief to thee, Achilles."
'Even so I spake, and he straightway answered me, and said:
"Nay, speak not comfortably to me of death, oh great
Odysseus. Rather would I live on ground {*} as the hireling
of another, with a landless man who had no great
livelihood, than bear sway among all the dead that be
departed. But come, tell me tidings of that lordly son of
mine--did he follow to the war to be a leader or not? And
tell me of noble Peleus, if thou hast heard aught,--is he
yet held in worship among the Myrmidons, or do they
dishonour him from Hellas to Phthia, for that old age binds
him hand and foot? For I am no longer his champion under
the sun, so mighty a man as once I was, when in wide Troy I
slew the best of the host, and succoured the Argives. Ah!
could I but come for an hour to my father's house as then I
was, so would I make my might and hands invincible, to be
hateful to many an one of those who do him despite and keep
him from his honour."
{* [Greek] seems to mean 'upon the earth,' 'above ground,'
as opposed to the dead who are below, rather than 'bound to
the soil,' in which sense most commentators take it.}
'Even so he spake, but I answered him saying: "As for noble
Peleus, verily I have heard nought of him; but concerning
thy dear son Neoptolemus, I will tell thee all the truth,
according to thy word. It was I that led him up out of
Scyros in my good hollow ship, in the wake of the
goodly-greaved Achaeans. Now oft as we took counsel around
Troy town, he was ever the first to speak, and no word
missed the mark; the godlike Nestor and I alone surpassed
him. But whensoever we Achaeans did battle on the plain of
Troy, he never tarried behind in the throng or the press of
men, but ran out far before us all, yielding to none in
that might of his. And many men he slew in warfare dread;
but I could not tell of all or name their names, even all
the host he slew in succouring the Argives; but, ah, how he
smote with the sword that son of Telephus, the hero
Eurypylus, and many Ceteians {*} of his company were slain
around him, by reason of a woman's bribe. He truly was the
comeliest man that ever I saw, next to goodly Memnon. And
again when we, the best of the Argives, were about to go
down into the horse which Epeus wrought, and the charge of
all was laid on me, both to open the door of our good
ambush and to shut the same, then did the other princes and
counsellors of the Danaans wipe away the tears, and the
limbs of each one trembled beneath him, but never once did
I see thy son's fair face wax pale, nor did he wipe the
tears from his cheeks: but he besought me often to let him
go forth from the horse, and kept handling his sword-hilt,
and his heavy bronze-shod spear, and he was set on mischief
against the Trojans. But after we had sacked the steep city
of Priam, he embarked unscathed with his share of the
spoil, and with a noble prize; he was not smitten with the
sharp spear, and got no wound in close fight: and many such
chances there be in war, for Ares rageth confusedly."
{* See Lenormant, Premieres Civilisations, vol. i. p.289.}
'So I spake, and the spirit of the son of Aeacus, fleet of
foot, passed with great strides along the mead of asphodel,
rejoicing in that I had told him of his son's renown.
'But lo, other spirits of the dead that be departed stood
sorrowing, and each one asked of those that were dear to
them. The soul of Aias, son of Telamon, alone stood apart
being still angry for the victory wherein I prevailed
against him, in the suit by the ships concerning the arms
of Achilles, that his lady mother had set for a prize; and
the sons of the Trojans made award and Pallas Athene. Would
that I had never prevailed and won such a prize! So goodly
a head hath the earth closed over, for the sake of those
arms, even over Aias, who in beauty and in feats of war was
of a mould above all the other Danaans, next to the noble
son of Peleus. To him then I spake softly, saying:
'"Aias, son of noble Telamon, so art thou not even in death
to forget thy wrath against me, by reason of those arms
accursed, which the gods set to be the bane of the Argives?
What a tower of strength fell in thy fall, and we Achaeans
cease not to sorrow for thee, even as for the life of
Achilles, son of Peleus! Nay, there is none other to blame,
but Zeus, who hath borne wondrous hate to the army of the
Danaan spearsmen, and laid on thee thy doom. Nay, come
hither, my lord, that thou mayest hear my word and my
speech; master thy wrath and thy proud spirit."
'So I spake, but he answered me not a word and passed to
Erebus after the other spirits of the dead that be
departed. Even then, despite his anger, would he have
spoken to me or I to him, but my heart within me was minded
to see the spirits of those others that were departed.
'There then I saw Minos, glorious son of Zeus, wielding a
golden sceptre, giving sentence from his throne to the
dead, while they sat and stood around the prince, asking
his dooms through the wide-gated house of Hades.
'And after him I marked the mighty Orion driving the wild
beasts together over the mead of asphodel, the very beasts
that himself had slain on the lonely hills, with a strong
mace all of bronze in his hands, {*} that is ever unbroken.
{* [Greek] in strict grammar agrees with [Greek] in 574,
but this merely by attraction, for in sense it refers not
to the living man, but to his phantom.}
'And I saw Tityos, son of renowned Earth, lying on a
levelled ground, and he covered nine roods as he lay, and
vultures twain beset him one on either side, and gnawed at
his liver, piercing even to the caul, but he drave them not
away with his hands. For he had dealt violently with Leto,
the famous bedfellow of Zeus, as she went up to Pytho
through the fair lawns of Panopeus.
'Moreover I beheld Tantalus in grievous torment, standing
in a mere and the water came nigh unto his chin. And he
stood straining as one athirst, but he might not attain to
the water to drink of it. For often as that old man stooped
down in his eagerness to drink, so often the water was
swallowed up and it vanished away, and the black earth
still showed at his feet, for some god parched it evermore.
And tall trees flowering shed their fruit overhead, pears
and pomegranates and apple trees with bright fruit, and
sweet figs and olives in their bloom, whereat when that old
man reached out his hands to clutch them, the wind would
toss them to the shadowy clouds.
'Yea and I beheld Sisyphus in strong torment, grasping a
monstrous stone with both his hands. He was pressing
thereat with hands and feet, and trying to roll the stone
upward toward the brow of the hill. But oft as he was about
to hurl it over the top, the weight would drive him back,
so once again to the plain rolled the stone, the shameless
thing. And he once more kept heaving and straining, and the
sweat the while was pouring down his limbs, and the dust
rose upwards from his head.
'And after him I descried the mighty Heracles, his phantom,
I say; but as for himself he hath joy at the banquet among
the deathless gods, and hath to wife Hebe of the fair
ankles, child of great Zeus, and of Here of the golden
sandals. And all about him there was a clamour of the dead,
as it were fowls flying every way in fear, and he like
black Night, with bow uncased, and shaft upon the string,
fiercely glancing around, like one in the act to shoot. And
about his breast was an awful belt, a baldric of gold,
whereon wondrous things were wrought, bears and wild boars
and lions with flashing eyes, and strife and battles and
slaughters and murders of men. Nay, now that he hath
fashioned this, never another may he fashion, whoso stored
in his craft the device of that belt! And anon he knew me
when his eyes beheld me, and making lament he spake unto me
winged words:
'"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
devices: ah! wretched one, dost thou too lead such a life
of evil doom, as I endured beneath the rays of the sun? I
was the son of Zeus Cronion, yet had I trouble beyond
measure, for I was subdued unto a man far worse than I. And
he enjoined on me hard adventures, yea and on a time he
sent me hither to bring back the hound of hell; for he
devised no harder task for me than this. I lifted the hound
and brought him forth from out of the house of Hades; and
Hermes sped me on my way and the grey-eyed Athene."
'Therewith he departed again into the house of Hades, but I
abode there still, if perchance some one of the hero folk
besides might come, who died in old time. Yea and I should
have seen the men of old, whom I was fain to look on,
Theseus and Peirithous, renowned children of the gods. But
ere that might be the myriad tribes of the dead thronged up
together with wondrous clamour: and pale fear gat hold of
me, lest the high goddess Persephone should send me the
head of the Gorgon, that dread monster, from out of Hades.
'Straightway then I went to the ship, and bade my men mount
the vessel, and loose the hawsers. So speedily they went on
board, and sat upon the benches. And the wave of the flood
bore the barque down the stream of Oceanus, we rowing
first, and afterwards the fair wind was our convoy.
Odysseus, his passage by the Sirens, and by Scylla and
Charybdis. The sacrilege committed by his men in the isle
Thrinacia. The destruction of his ships and men. How he
swam on a plank nine days together, and came to Ogygia,
where he stayed seven years with Calypso.
'Now after the ship had left the stream of the river
Oceanus, and was come to the wave of the wide sea, and the
isle Aeaean, where is the dwelling place of early Dawn and
her dancing grounds, and the land of sunrising, upon our
coming thither we beached the ship in the sand, and
ourselves too stept ashore on the sea beach. There we fell
on sound sleep and awaited the bright Dawn.
'So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, I
sent forth my fellows to the house of Circe to fetch the
body of the dead Elpenor. And speedily we cut billets of
wood and sadly we buried him, where the furthest headland
runs out into the sea, shedding big tears. But when the
dead man was burned and the arms of the dead, we piled a
barrow and dragged up thereon a pillar, and on the topmost
mound we set the shapen oar.
'Now all that task we finished, and our coming from out of
Hades was not unknown to Circe, but she arrayed herself and
speedily drew nigh, and her handmaids with her bare flesh
and bread in plenty and dark red wine. And the fair goddess
stood in the midst and spake in our ears, saying:
'"Men overbold, who have gone alive into the house of
Hades, to know death twice, while all men else die once for
all. Nay come, eat ye meat and drink wine here all day
long; and with the breaking of the day ye shall set sail,
and myself I will show you the path and declare each thing,
that ye may not suffer pain or hurt through any grievous
ill-contrivance by sea or on the land."
'So spake she, and our lordly souls consented thereto. Thus
for that time we sat the livelong day, until the going down
of the sun, feasting on abundant flesh and on sweet wine.
Now when the sun sank and darkness came on, my company laid
them to rest by the hawsers of the ship. Then she took me
by the hand and led me apart from my dear company, and made
me to sit down and laid herself at my feet, and asked all
my tale. And I told her all in order duly. Then at the last
the Lady Circe spake unto me, saying:
'"Even so, now all these things have an end; do thou then
hearken even as I tell thee, and the god himself shall
bring it back to thy mind. To the Sirens first shalt thou
come, who bewitch all men, whosoever shall come to them.
Whoso draws nigh them unwittingly and hears the sound of
the Sirens' voice, never doth he see wife or babes stand by
him on his return, nor have they joy at his coming; but the
Sirens enchant him with their clear song, sitting in the
meadow, and all about is a great heap of bones of men,
corrupt in death, and round the bones the skin is wasting.
But do thou drive thy ship past, and knead honey-sweet wax,
and anoint therewith the ears of thy company, lest any of
the rest hear the song; but if thou myself art minded to
hear, let them bind thee in the swift ship hand and foot,
upright in the mast-stead, and from the mast let rope-ends
be tied, that with delight thou mayest hear the voice of
the Sirens. And if thou shalt beseech thy company and bid
them to loose thee, then let them bind thee with yet more
bonds. But when thy friends have driven thy ship past
these, I will not tell thee fully which path shall
thenceforth be thine, but do thou thyself consider it, and
I will speak to thee of either way. On the one side there
are beetling rocks, and against them the great wave roars
of dark-eyed Amphitrite. These, ye must know, are they the
blessed gods call the Rocks Wandering. By this way even
winged things may never pass, nay, not even the cowering
doves that bear ambrosia to Father Zeus, but the sheer rock
evermore takes away one even of these, and the Father sends
in another to make up the tale. Thereby no ship of men ever
escapes that comes thither, but the planks of ships and the
bodies of men confusedly are tossed by the waves of the sea
and the storms of ruinous fire. One ship only of all that
fare by sea hath passed that way, even Argo, that is in all
men's minds, on her voyage from Aeetes. And even her the
wave would lightly have cast there upon the mighty rocks,
but Here sent her by for love of Jason.
'"On the other part are two rocks, whereof the one reaches
with sharp peak to the wide heaven, and a dark cloud
encompasses it; this never streams away, and there is no
clear air about the peak neither in summer nor in harvest
tide. No mortal man may scale it or set foot thereon, not
though he had twenty hands and feet. For the rock is
smooth, and sheer, as it were polished. And in the midst of
the cliff is a dim cave turned to Erebus, towards the place
of darkness, whereby ye shall even steer your hollow ship,
noble Odysseus. Not with an arrow from a bow might a man in
his strength reach from his hollow ship into that deep
cave. And therein dwelleth Scylla, yelping terribly. Her
voice indeed is no greater than the voice of a new-born
whelp, but a dreadful monster is she, nor would any look on
her gladly, not if it were a god that met her. Verily she
hath twelve feet all dangling down; and six necks exceeding
long, and on each a hideous head, and therein three rows of
teeth set thick and close, full of black death. Up to her
middle is she sunk far down in the hollow cave, but forth
she holds her heads from the dreadful gulf, and there she
fishes, swooping round the rock, for dolphins or sea-dogs,
or whatso greater beast she may anywhere take, whereof the
deep-voiced Amphitrite feeds countless flocks. Thereby no
sailors boast that they have fled scatheless ever with
their ship, for with each head she carries off a man, whom
she hath snatched from out the dark-prowed ship.
'"But that other cliff, Odysseus, thou shalt note, lying
lower, hard by the first: thou couldest send an arrow
across. And thereon is a great fig-tree growing, in fullest
leaf, and beneath it mighty Charybdis sucks down black
water, for thrice a day she spouts it forth, and thrice a
day she sucks it down in terrible wise. Never mayest thou
be there when she sucks the water, for none might save thee
then from thy bane, not even the Earth-Shaker! But take
heed and swiftly drawing nigh to Scylla's rock drive the
ship past, since of a truth it is far better to mourn six
of thy company in the ship, than all in the selfsame hour."
'So spake she, but I answered, and said unto her: "Come I
pray thee herein, goddess, tell me true, if there be any
means whereby I might escape from the deadly Charybdis and
avenge me on that other, when she would prey upon my
company."
'So spake I, and that fair goddess answered me: "Man
overbold, lo, now again the deeds of war are in thy mind
and the travail thereof. Wilt thou not yield thee even to
the deathless gods? As for her, she is no mortal, but an
immortal plague, dread, grievous, and fierce, and not to be
fought with; and against her there is no defence; flight is
the bravest way. For if thou tarry to do on thine armour by
the cliff, I fear lest once again she sally forth and catch
at thee with so many heads, and seize as many men as
before. So drive past with all thy force, and call on
Cratais, mother of Scylla, which bore her for a bane to
mortals. And she will then let her from darting forth
thereafter.
'"Then thou shalt come unto the isle Thrinacia; there are
the many kine of Helios and his brave flocks feeding, seven
herds of kine and as many goodly flocks of sheep, and fifty
in each flock. They have no part in birth or in corruption,
and there are goddesses to shepherd them, nymphs with fair
tresses, Phaethusa and Lampetie whom bright Neaera bare to
Helios Hyperion. Now when the lady their mother had borne
and nursed them, she carried them to the isle Thrinacia to
dwell afar, that they should guard their father's flocks
and his kine with shambling gait. If thou doest these no
hurt, being heedful of thy return, truly ye may even yet
reach Ithaca, albeit in evil case. But if thou hurtest
them, I foreshow ruin for thy ship and for thy men, and
even though thou shouldest thyself escape, late shalt thou
return in evil plight with the loss of all thy company."
'So spake she, and anon came the golden-throned Dawn. Then
the fair goddess took her way up the island. But I departed
to my ship and roused my men themselves to mount the vessel
and loose the hawsers. And speedily they went aboard and
sat upon the benches, and sitting orderly smote the grey
sea water with their oars. And in the wake of our
dark-prowed ship she sent a favouring wind that filled the
sails, a kindly escort,--even Circe of the braided tresses,
a dread goddess of human speech. And straightway we set in
order the gear throughout the ship and sat us down, and the
wind and the helmsman guided our barque.
'Then I spake among my company with a heavy heart:
"Friends, forasmuch as it is not well that one or two alone
should know of the oracles that Circe, the fair goddess,
spake unto me, therefore will I declare them, that with
foreknowledge we may die, or haply shunning death and
destiny escape. First she bade us avoid the sound of the
voice of the wondrous Sirens, and their field of flowers,
and me only she bade listen to their voices. So bind ye me
in a hard bond, that I may abide unmoved in my place,
upright in the mast-stead, and from the mast let rope-ends
be tied, and if I beseech and bid you to set me free, then
do ye straiten me with yet more bonds."
'Thus I rehearsed these things one and all, and declared
them to my company. Meanwhile our good ship quickly came to
the island of the Sirens twain, for a gentle breeze sped
her on her way. Then straightway the wind ceased, and lo,
there was a windless calm, and some god lulled the waves.
Then my company rose up and drew in the ship's sails, and
stowed them in the hold of the ship, while they sat at the
oars and whitened the water with their polished pine
blades. But I with my sharp sword cleft in pieces a great
circle of wax, and with my strong hands kneaded it. And
soon the wax grew warm, for that my great might constrained
it, and the beam of the lord Helios, son of Hyperion. And I
anointed therewith the ears of all my men in their order,
and in the ship they bound me hand and foot upright in the
mast-stead, and from the mast they fastened rope-ends and
themselves sat down, and smote the grey sea water with
their oars. But when the ship was within the sound of a
man's shout from the land, we fleeing swiftly on our way,
the Sirens espied the swift ship speeding toward them, and
they raised their clear-toned song:
'"Hither, come hither, renowned Odysseus, great glory of
the Achaeans, here stay thy barque, that thou mayest listen
to the voice of us twain. For none hath ever driven by this
way in his black ship, till he hath heard from our lips the
voice sweet as the honeycomb, and hath had joy thereof and
gone on his way the wiser. For lo, we know all things, all
the travail that in wide Troy-land the Argives and Trojans
bare by the gods' designs, yea, and we know all that shall
hereafter be upon the fruitful earth."
'So spake they uttering a sweet voice, and my heart was
fain to listen, and I bade my company unbind me, nodding at
them with a frown, but they bent to their oars and rowed
on. Then straight uprose Perimedes and Eurylochus and bound
me with more cords and straitened me yet the more.  Now
when we had driven past them, nor heard we any longer the
sound of the Sirens or their song, forthwith my dear
company took away the wax wherewith I had anointed their
ears and loosed me from my bonds.
'But so soon as we left that isle, thereafter presently I
saw smoke and a great wave, and heard the sea roaring. Then
for very fear the oars flew from their hands, and down the
stream they all splashed, and the ship was holden there,
for my company no longer plied with their hands the
tapering oars. But I paced the ship and cheered on my men,
as I stood by each one and spake smooth words:
'"Friends, forasmuch as in sorrow we are not all unlearned,
truly this is no greater woe that is upon us, {*} than when
the Cyclops penned us by main might in his hollow cave; yet
even thence we made escape by my manfulness, even by my
counsel and my wit, and some day I think that this
adventure too we shall remember. Come now, therefore, let
us all give ear to do according to my word. Do ye smite the
deep surf of the sea with your oars, as ye sit on the
benches, if peradventure Zeus may grant us to escape from
and shun this death. And as for thee, helmsman, thus I
charge thee, and ponder it in thine heart seeing that thou
wieldest the helm of the hollow ship. Keep the ship well
away from this smoke and from the wave and hug the rocks,
lest the ship, ere thou art aware, start from her course to
the other side, and so thou hurl us into ruin."
{* Reading [Greek], not [Greek] with La Roche.}
'So I spake, and quickly they hearkened to my words. But of
Scylla I told them nothing more, a bane none might deal
with, lest haply my company should cease from rowing for
fear, and hide them in the hold. In that same hour I
suffered myself to forget the hard behest of Circe, in that
she bade me in nowise be armed; but I did on my glorious
harness and caught up two long lances in my hands, and went
on the decking of the prow, for thence methought that
Scylla of the rock would first be seen, who was to bring
woe on my company. Yet could I not spy her anywhere, and my
eyes waxed weary for gazing all about toward the darkness
of the rock.
"Next we began to sail up the narrow strait lamenting. For
on the one hand lay Scylla, and on the other mighty
Charybdis in terrible wise sucked down the salt sea water.
As often as she belched it forth, like a cauldron on a
great fire she would seethe up through all her troubled
deeps, and overhead the spray fell on the tops of either
cliff. But oft as she gulped down the salt sea water,
within she was all plain to see through her troubled deeps,
and the rock around roared horribly and beneath the earth
was manifest swart with sand, and pale fear gat hold on my
men. Toward her, then, we looked fearing destruction; but
Scylla meanwhile caught from out my hollow ship six of my
company, the hardiest of their hands and the chief in
might. And looking into the swift ship to find my men, even
then I marked their feet and hands as they were lifted on
high, and they cried aloud in their agony, and called me by
my name for that last time of all. Even as when as fisher
on some headland lets down with a long rod his baits for a
snare to the little fishes below, casting into the deep the
horn of an ox of the homestead, and as he catches each
flings it writhing ashore, so writhing were they borne
upward to the cliff. And there she devoured them shrieking
in her gates, they stretching forth their hands to me in
the dread death-struggle. And the most pitiful thing was
this that mine eyes have seen of all my travail in
searching out the paths of the sea.
'Now when we had escaped the Rocks and dread Charybdis and
Scylla, thereafter we soon came to the fair island of the
god; where were the goodly kine, broad of brow, and the
many brave flocks of Helios Hyperion. Then while as yet I
was in my black ship upon the deep, I heard the lowing of
the cattle being stalled and the bleating of the sheep, and
on my mind there fell the saying of the blind seer, Theban
Teiresias, and of Circe of Aia, who charged me very
straitly to shun the isle of Helios, the gladdener of the
world. Then I spake out among my company in sorrow of
heart:
'"Hear my words, my men, albeit in evil plight, that I may
declare unto you the oracles of Teiresias and of Circe of
Aia, who very straitly charged me to shun the isle of
Helios, the gladdener of the world. For there she said the
most dreadful mischief would befal us. Nay, drive ye then
the black ship beyond and past that isle."
'So spake I, and their heart was broken within them. And
Eurylochus straightway answered me sadly, saying:
'"Hardy art thou, Odysseus, of might beyond measure, and
thy limbs are never weary; verily thou art fashioned all of
iron, that sufferest not thy fellows, foredone with toil
and drowsiness, to set foot on shore, where we might
presently prepare us a good supper in this sea-girt island.
But even as we are thou biddest us fare blindly through the
sudden night, and from the isle go wandering on the misty
deep. And strong winds, the bane of ships, are born of the
night. How could a man escape from utter doom, if there
chanced to come a sudden blast of the South Wind, or of the
boisterous West, which mainly wreck ships, beyond the will
of the gods, the lords of all? Howbeit for this present let
us yield to the black night, and we will make ready our
supper abiding by the swift ship, and in the morning we
will climb on board, and put out into the broad deep."
'So spake Eurylochus, and the rest of my company consented
thereto. Then at the last I knew that some god was indeed
imagining evil, and I uttered my voice and spake unto him
winged words:
'"Eurylochus, verily ye put force upon me, being but one
among you all. But come, swear me now a mighty oath, one
and all, to the intent that if we light on a herd of kine
or a great flock of sheep, none in the evil folly of his
heart may slay any sheep or ox; but in quiet eat ye the
meat which the deathless Circe gave."
'So I spake, and straightway they swore to refrain as I
commanded them. Now after they had sworn and done that
oath, we stayed our well-builded ship in the hollow harbour
near to a well of sweet water, and my company went forth
from out the ship and deftly got ready supper. But when
they had put from them the desire of meat and drink,
thereafter they fell a weeping as they thought upon their
dear companions whom Scylla had snatched from out the
hollow ship and so devoured. And deep sleep came upon them
amid their weeping. And when it was the third watch of the
night, and the stars had crossed the zenith, Zeus the
cloud-gatherer roused against them an angry wind with
wondrous tempest, and shrouded in clouds land and sea
alike, and from heaven sped down the night. Now when early
Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, we beached the ship,
and dragged it up within a hollow cave, where were the fair
dancing grounds of the nymphs and the places of their
session. Thereupon I ordered a gathering of my men and
spake in their midst, saying:
'"Friends, forasmuch as there is yet meat and drink in the
swift ship, let us keep our hands off those kine, lest some
evil thing befal us. For these are the kine and the brave
flocks of a dread god, even of Helios, who overseeth all
and overheareth all things."
'So I spake, and their lordly spirit hearkened thereto.
Then for a whole month the South Wind blew without ceasing,
and no other wind arose, save only the East and the South.
'Now so long as my company still had corn and red wine,
they refrained them from the kine, for they were fain of
life. But when the corn was now all spent from out the
ship, and they went wandering with barbed hooks in quest of
game, as needs they must, fishes and fowls, whatsoever
might come to their hand, for hunger gnawed at their belly,
then at last I departed up the isle, that I might pray to
the gods, if perchance some one of them might show me a way
of returning. And now when I had avoided my company on my
way through the island, I laved my hands where was a
shelter from the wind, and prayed to all the gods that hold
Olympus. But they shed sweet sleep upon my eyelids. And
Eurylochus the while set forth an evil counsel to my
company:
'"Hear my words, my friends, though ye be in evil case.
Truly every shape of death is hateful to wretched mortals,
but to die of hunger and so meet doom is most pitiful of
all. Nay come, we will drive off the best of the kine of
Helios and will do sacrifice to the deathless gods who keep
wide heaven. And if we may yet reach Ithaca, our own
country, forthwith will we rear a rich shrine to Helios
Hyperion, and therein would we set many a choice offering.
But if he be somewhat wroth for his cattle with straight
horns, and is fain to wreck our ship, and the other gods
follow his desire, rather with one gulp at the wave would I
cast my life away, than be slowly straitened to death in a
desert isle."
'So spake Eurylochus, and the rest of the company consented
thereto. Forthwith they drave off the best of the kine of
Helios that were nigh at hand, for the fair kine of
shambling gait and broad of brow were feeding no great way
from the dark-prowed ship. Then they stood around the
cattle and prayed to the gods, plucking the fresh leaves
from an oak of lofty boughs, for they had no white barley
on board the decked ship. Now after they had prayed and cut
the throats of the kine and flayed them, they cut out
slices of the thighs and wrapped them in the fat, making a
double fold, and thereon they laid raw flesh. Yet had they
no pure wine to pour over the flaming sacrifices, but they
made libation with water and roasted the entrails over the
fire. Now after the thighs were quite consumed and they had
tasted the inner parts, they cut the rest up small and
spitted it on spits. In the same hour deep sleep sped from
my eyelids and I sallied forth to the swift ship and the
sea-banks. But on my way as I drew near to the curved ship,
the sweet savour of the fat came all about me; and I
groaned and spake out before the deathless gods:
'"Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for
ever, verily to my undoing ye have lulled me with a
ruthless sleep, and my company abiding behind have imagined
a monstrous deed."
'Then swiftly to Helios Hyperion came Lampetie of the long
robes, with the tidings that we had slain his kine. And
straight he spake with angry heart amid the Immortals:
'"Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for
ever, take vengeance I pray you on the company of Odysseus,
son of Laertes, that have insolently slain my cattle,
wherein I was wont to be glad as I went toward the starry
heaven, and when I again turned earthward from the
firmament. And if they pay me not full atonement for the
cattle, I will go down to Hades and shine among the dead."
'And Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered him, saying: "Helios,
do thou, I say, shine on amidst the deathless gods, and
amid mortal men upon the earth, the grain-giver. But as for
me, I will soon smite their swift ship with my white bolt,
and cleave it in pieces in the midst of the wine-dark
'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.'
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
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
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
So spake he and the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, smiled, and
caressed him with her hand; and straightway she changed to
the semblance of a woman, fair and tall, and skilled in
splendid handiwork. And uttering her voice she spake unto
him winged words:
'Crafty must he be, and knavish, who would outdo thee in
all manner of guile, even if it were a god encountered
thee. Hardy man, subtle of wit, of guile insatiate, so thou
wast not even in thine own country to cease from thy
sleights and knavish words, which thou lovest from the
bottom of thine heart! But come, no more let us tell of
these things, being both of us practised in deceits, for
that thou art of all men far the first in counsel and in
discourse, and I in the company of all the gods win renown
for my wit and wile. Yet thou knewest not me, Pallas
Athene, daughter of Zeus, who am always by thee and guard
thee in all adventures. Yea, and I made thee to be beloved
of all the Phaeacians. And now am I come hither to contrive
a plot with thee and to hide away the goods, that by my
counsel and design the noble Phaeacians gave thee on thy
homeward way. And I would tell thee how great a measure of
trouble thou art ordained to fulfil within thy well-builded
house. But do thou harden thy heart, for so it must be, and
tell none neither man nor woman of all the folk, that thou
hast indeed returned from wandering, but in silence endure
much sorrow, submitting thee to the despite of men.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Hard is
it, goddess, for a mortal man that meets thee to discern
thee, howsoever wise he be; for thou takest upon thee every
shape. But this I know well, that of old thou wast kindly
to me, so long as we sons of the Achaeans made war in Troy.
But so soon as we had sacked the steep city of Priam and
had gone on board our ships, and the god had scattered the
Achaeans, thereafter I have never beheld thee, daughter of
Zeus, nor seen thee coming on board my ship, to ward off
sorrow from me--but I wandered evermore with a stricken
heart, till the gods delivered me from my evil case--even
till the day when, within the fat land of the men of
Phaeacia, thou didst comfort me with thy words, and thyself
didst lead me to their city. And now I beseech thee in thy
father's name to tell me: for I deem not that I am come to
clear-seen Ithaca, but I roam over some other land, and
methinks that thou speakest thus to mock me and beguile my
mind. Tell me whether in very deed I am come to mine own
dear country.'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Yea,
such a thought as this is ever in thy breast. Wherefore I
may in no wise leave thee in thy grief, so courteous art
thou, so ready of wit and so prudent. Right gladly would
any other man on his return from wandering have hasted to
behold his children and his wife in his halls; but thou
hast no will to learn or to hear aught, till thou hast
furthermore made trial of thy wife, who sits as ever in her
halls, and wearily for her the nights wane always and the
days, in shedding of tears. But of this I never doubted,
but ever knew it in my heart that thou wouldest come home
with the loss of all thy company. Yet, I tell thee, I had
no mind to be at strife with Poseidon, my own father's
brother, who laid up wrath in his heart against thee, being
angered at the blinding of his dear son. But come, and I
will show thee the place of the dwelling of Ithaca, that
thou mayst be assured. Lo, here is the haven of Phorcys,
the ancient one of the sea, and here at the haven's head is
the olive tree with spreading leaves, and hard by it is the
pleasant cave and shadowy, sacred to the nymphs that are
called the Naiads. Yonder, behold, is the roofed cavern,
where thou offeredst many an acceptable sacrifice of
hecatombs to the nymphs; and lo, this hill is Neriton, all
clothed in forest.'
Therewith the goddess scattered the mist, and the land
appeared. Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus was glad
rejoicing in his own land, and he kissed the earth, the
grain-giver. And anon he prayed to the nymphs, and lifted
up his hands, saying:
'Ye Naiad nymphs, daughters of Zeus, never did I think to
look on you again, but now be ye greeted in my loving
prayers: yea, and gifts as aforetime I will give, if the
daughter of Zeus, driver of the spoil, suffer me of her
grace myself to live, and bring my dear son to manhood.'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again: 'Be
of good courage, and let not thy heart be careful about
these things. But come, let us straightway set thy goods in
the secret place of the wondrous cave, that there they may
abide for thee safe. And let us for ourselves advise us how
all may be for the very best.'
Therewith the goddess plunged into the shadowy cave,
searching out the chambers of the cavern. Meanwhile
Odysseus brought up his treasure, the gold and the
unyielding bronze and fair woven raiment, which the
Phaeacians gave him. And these things he laid by with care,
and Pallas Athene, daughter of Zeus, lord of the aegis, set
a stone against the door of the cave. Then they twain sat
down by the trunk of the sacred olive tree, and devised
death for the froward wooers. And the goddess, grey-eyed
Athene, spake first, saying:
'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
devices, advise thee how thou mayest stretch forth thine
hands upon the shameless wooers, who now these three years
lord it through thy halls, as they woo thy godlike wife and
proffer the gifts of wooing. And she, that is ever
bewailing her for thy return, gives hope to all and makes
promises to every man and sends them messages, but her mind
is set on other things.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered her, saying:
'Lo now, in very truth I was like to have perished in my
halls by the evil doom of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, hadst
not thou, goddess, declared me each thing aright. Come
then, weave some counsel whereby I may requite them; and
thyself stand by me, and put great boldness of spirit
within me, even as in the day when we loosed the shining
coronal of Troy. If but thou wouldest stand by me with such
eagerness, thou grey-eyed goddess, I would war even with
three hundred men, with thee my lady and goddess, if thou
of thy grace didst succour me the while.'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Yea,
verily I will be near thee nor will I forget thee,
whensoever we come to this toil: and methinks that certain
of the wooers that devour thy livelihood shall bespatter
the boundless earth with blood and brains. But come, I will
make thee such-like that no man shall know thee. Thy fair
skin I will wither on thy supple limbs, and make waste thy
yellow hair from off thy head, and wrap thee in a foul
garment, such that one would shudder to see a man therein.
And I will dim thy two eyes, erewhile so fair, in such wise
that thou mayest be unseemly in the sight of all the wooers
and of thy wife and son, whom thou didst leave in thy
halls. And do thou thyself first of all go unto the
swineherd, who tends thy swine, loyal and at one with thee,
and loves thy son and constant Penelope. Him shalt thou
find sitting by the swine, as they are feeding near the
rock of Corax and the spring Arethusa, and there they eat
abundance of acorns and drink the black water, things
whereby swine grow fat and well-liking. There do thou abide
and sit by the swine, and find out all, till I have gone to
Sparta, the land of fair women, to call Telemachus thy dear
son, Odysseus, who hath betaken himself to spacious
Lacedaemon, to the house of Menelaus to seek tidings of
thee, whether haply thou are yet alive.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Nay,
wherefore then didst thou not tell him, seeing thou hast
knowledge of all? Was it, perchance, that he too may wander
in sorrow over the unharvested seas, and that others may
consume his livelihood?'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Nay, let
him not be heavy on thy heart. I myself was his guide, that
by going thither he might win a good report. Lo, he knows
no toil, but he sits in peace in the palace of the son of
Atreus, and has boundless store about him. Truly the young
men with their black ship they lie in wait, and are eager
to slay him ere he come to his own country. But this,
methinks, shall never be. Yea, sooner shall the earth close
over certain of the wooers that devour thy livelihood.'
Therewith Athene touched him with her wand. His fair flesh
she withered on his supple limbs, and made waste his yellow
hair from off his head, and over all his limbs she cast the
skin of an old man, and dimmed his two eyes, erewhile so
fair. And she changed his raiment to a vile wrap and a
doublet, torn garments and filthy, stained with foul smoke.
And over all she clad him with the great bald hide of a
swift stag, and she gave him a staff and a mean tattered
scrip, and a cord therewith to hang it.
And after they twain had taken this counsel together, they
parted; and she now went to goodly Lacedaemon to fetch the
Odysseus, in the form of a beggar, goes to Eumaeus, the
master of his swine, where he is well used and tells a
feigned story, and informs himself of the behaviour of the
wooers.
But Odysseus fared forth from the haven by the rough track,
up the wooded country and through the heights, where Athene
had showed him that he should find the goodly swineherd,
who cared most for his substance of all the thralls that
goodly Odysseus had gotten.
Now he found him sitting at the vestibule of the house,
where his courtyard was builded high, in a place with wide
prospect; a great court it was and a fair, with free range
round it. This the swineherd had builded by himself for the
swine of his lord who was afar, and his mistress and the
old man Laertes knew not of it. With stones from the quarry
had he builded it, and coped it with a fence of white
thorn, and he had split an oak to the dark core, and
without he had driven stakes the whole length thereof on
either side, set thick and close; and within the courtyard
he made twelve styes hard by one another to be beds for the
swine, and in each stye fifty grovelling swine were penned,
brood swine; but the boars slept without. Now these were
far fewer in number, the godlike wooers minishing them at
their feasts, for the swineherd ever sent in the best of
all the fatted hogs. And their tale was three hundred and
three-score. And by them always slept four dogs, as fierce
as wild beasts, which the swineherd had bred, a master of
men. Now he was fitting sandals to his feet, cutting a good
brown oxhide, while the rest of his fellows, three in all,
were abroad this way and that, with the droves of swine;
while the fourth he had sent to the city to take a boar to
the proud wooers, as needs he must, that they might
sacrifice it and satisfy their soul with flesh.
And of a sudden the baying dogs saw Odysseus, and they ran
at him yelping, but Odysseus in his wariness sat him down,
and let the staff fall from his hand. There by his own
homestead would he have suffered foul hurt, but the
swineherd with quick feet hasted after them, and sped
through the outer door, and let the skin fall from his
hand. And the hounds he chid and drave them this way and
that, with a shower of stones, and he spake unto his lord,
saying:
'Old man, truly the dogs went nigh to be the death of thee
all of a sudden, so shouldest thou have brought shame on
me. Yea, and the gods have given me other pains and griefs
enough. Here I sit, mourning and sorrowing for my godlike
lord, and foster the fat swine for others to eat, while he
craving, perchance, for food, wanders over some land and
city of men of a strange speech, if haply he yet lives and
beholds the sunlight. But come with me, let us to the inner
steading, old man, that when thy heart is satisfied with
bread and wine, thou too mayest tell thy tale and declare
whence thou art, and how many woes thou hast endured.'
Therewith the goodly swineherd led him to the steading, and
took him in and set him down, and strewed beneath him thick
brushwood, and spread thereon the hide of a shaggy wild
goat, wide and soft, which served himself for a mattress.
And Odysseus rejoiced that he had given him such welcome,
and spake and hailed him:
'May Zeus, O stranger, and all the other deathless gods
grant thee thy dearest wish, since thou hast received me
heartily!'
Then, O swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou answer him, saying:
'Guest of mine, it were an impious thing for me to slight a
stranger, even if there came a meaner man than thou; for
from Zeus are all strangers and beggars; and a little gift
from such as we, is dear; for this is the way with thralls,
who are ever in fear when young lords like ours bear rule
over them. For surely the gods have stayed the returning of
my master, who would have loved me diligently, and given me
somewhat of my own, a house and a parcel of ground, and a
comely {*} wife, such as a kind lord gives to his man, who
hath laboured much for him and the work of whose hands God
hath likewise increased, even as he increaseth this work of
mine whereat I abide. Therefore would my lord have rewarded
me greatly, had he grown old at home. But he hath perished,
as I would that all the stock of Helen had perished
utterly, forasmuch as she hath caused the loosening of many
a man's knees. For he too departed to Ilios of the goodly
steeds, to get atonement for Agamemnon, that so he might
war with the Trojans.'
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
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
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
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
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
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
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,
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.
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
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
'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
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
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
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
'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
'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
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.
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
So he spake, and Odysseus went back and sat him down again.
And the swineherd strewed for Telemachus green brushwood
below, and a fleece thereupon, and there presently the dear
son of Odysseus sat him down. Next the swineherd set by
them platters of roast flesh, the fragments that were left
from the meal of yesterday. And wheaten bread he briskly
heaped up in baskets, and mixed the honey-sweet wine in a
goblet of ivy wood, and himself sat down over against
divine Odysseus. So they stretched forth their hands upon
the good cheer set before them. Now when they had put from
them the desire of meat and drink, Telemachus spake to the
goodly swineherd, saying:
'Father, whence came this stranger to thee? How did sailors
bring him to Ithaca? and who did they avow them to be? For
in no wise, I deem, did he come hither by land.'
Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Yea now,
my son, I will tell thee all the truth. Of wide Crete he
avows him to be by lineage, and he says that round many
cities of mortals he has wandered at adventure; even so has
some god spun for him the thread of fate. But now, as a
runaway from a ship of the Thesprotians, has he come to my
steading, and I will give him to thee for thy man; do with
him as thou wilt; he avows him for thy suppliant.'
Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Eumaeus, verily
a bitter word is this that thou speakest. How indeed shall
I receive this guest in my house? Myself I am young, and
trust not yet to my strength of hands to defend me against
the man who does violence without a cause. And my mother
has divisions of heart, whether to abide here with me and
keep the house, respecting the bed of her lord and the
voice of the people, or straightway to go with whomsoever
of the Achaeans that woo her in the halls is the best man,
and gives most bridal gifts. But behold, as for this guest
of thine, now that he has come to thy house, I will clothe
him in a mantle and a doublet, goodly raiment, and I will
give him a two-edged sword, and shoes for his feet, and
send him on his way, whithersoever his heart and his spirit
bid him go. Or, if thou wilt, hold him here in the steading
and take care of him, and raiment I will send hither, and
all manner of food to eat, that he be not ruinous to thee
and to thy fellows. But thither into the company of the
wooers would I not suffer him to go, for they are exceeding
full of infatuate insolence, lest they mock at him, and
that would be a sore grief to me. And hard it is for one
man, how valiant soever, to achieve aught among a
multitude, for verily they are far the stronger.'
Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him: 'My
friend, since it is indeed my right to answer thee withal,
of a truth my heart is rent as I hear your words, such
infatuate deeds ye say the wooers devise in the halls, in
despite of thee, a man so noble. Say, dost thou willingly
submit thee to oppression, or do the people through the
township hate thee, obedient to the voice of a god? Or hast
thou cause to blame thy brethren, in whose battle a man
puts trust, even if a great feud arise? Ah, would that I
had the youth, as now I have the spirit, and were either
the son of noble Odysseus or Odysseus' very self, {*}
straightway then might a stranger sever my head from off my
neck, if I went not to the halls of Odysseus, son of
Laertes, and made myself the bane of every man among them!
But if they should overcome me by numbers, being but one
man against so many, far rather would I die slain in mine
own halls, than witness for ever these unseemly deeds,
strangers shamefully entreated, and men haling the
handmaidens in foul wise through the fair house, and wine
drawn wastefully and the wooers devouring food all
recklessly without avail, at a work that knows no ending.'
{* We omit line 101, which spoils the sense of the passage,
and was rejected by antiquity.}
Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Yea now,
stranger I will plainly tell thee all. There is no grudge
and hatred borne my by the whole people, neither have I
cause to blame my brethren, in whose battle a man puts
trust, even if a great feud arise. For thus, as thou seest,
Cronion has made us a house of but one heir. Arceisius got
him one only son Laertes, and one only son Odysseus was
begotten of his father, and Odysseus left me the only child
of his getting in these halls, and had no joy of me;
wherefore now are foemen innumerable in the house. For all
the noblest that are princes in the islands, in Dulichium
and Same and wooded Zacynthus, and as many as lord it in
rocky Ithaca, all these woo my mother and waste my house.
But as for her she neither refuseth the hated bridal, nor
hath the heart to make and end; so they devour and minish
my house; and ere long will they make havoc likewise of
myself. Howbeit these things surely lie on the knees of the
gods. Nay, father, but do thou go with haste and tell the
constant Penelope that she hath got me safe and that I am
come up out of Pylos. As for me, I will tarry here, and do
thou return hither when thou hast told the tidings to her
alone; but of the other Achaeans let no man learn it, for
there be many that devise mischief against me.'
Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'I mark, I
heed, all this thou speakest to one with understanding. But
come, declare me this and tell it plainly; whether or no I
shall go the same road with tidings to Laertes, that
hapless man, who till lately, despite his great sorrow for
Odysseus' sake, yet had oversight of the tillage, and did
eat and drink with the thralls in his house, as often as
his heart within him bade him. But now, from the day that
thou wentest in thy ship to Pylos, never to this hour, they
say, hath he so much as eaten and drunken, nor looked to
the labours of the field, but with groaning and lamentation
he sits sorrowing, and the flesh wastes away about his
Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'All the more
grievous it is! yet will we let him be, though we sorrow
thereat. For if men might in any wise have all their will,
we should before ought else choose the day of my father's
returning. But do thou when thou hast told the tidings come
straight back, and go not wandering through the fields
after Laertes. But speak to my mother that with all speed
she send forth the house-dame her handmaid, secretly, for
she might bear tidings to the old man.'
With that word he roused the swineherd, who took his
sandals in his hands and bound them beneath his feet and
departed for the city. Now Athene noted Eumaeus the
swineherd pass from the steading, and she drew nigh in the
semblance of a woman fair and tall, and skilled in splendid
handiwork. And she stood in presence manifest to Odysseus
over against the doorway of the hut; but it was so that
Telemachus saw her not before him and marked her not; for
the gods in no wise appear visibly to all. But Odysseus was
ware of her and the dogs likewise, which barked not, but
with a low whine shrank cowering to the far side of the
steading. Then she nodded at him with bent brows, and
goodly Odysseus perceived it, and came forth from the room,
past the great wall of the yard, and stood before her, and
Athene spake to him, saying:
'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
devices, now is the hour to reveal thy word to thy son, and
hide it not, that ye twain having framed death and doom for
the wooers, may fare to the famous town. Nor will I, even
I, be long away from you, being right eager for battle.'
Therewith Athene touched him with her golden wand. First
she cast about his breast a fresh linen robe and a doublet,
and she increased his bulk and bloom. Dark his colour grew
again, and his cheeks filled out, and the black beard
spread thick around his chin.
Now she, when she had so wrought, withdrew again, but
Odysseus went into the hut, and his dear son marvelled at
him and looked away for very fear lest it should be a god,
and he uttered his voice and spake to him winged words:
'Even now, stranger, thou art other in my sight than that
thou wert a moment since, and other garments thou hast, and
the colour of thy skin is no longer the same. Surely thou
art a god of those that keep the wide heaven. Nay then, be
gracious, that we may offer to thee well-pleasing
sacrifices and golden gifts, beautifully wrought; and spare
us I pray thee.'
Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying:
'Behold, no god am I; why likenest thou me to the
immortals? nay, thy father am I, for whose sake thou
sufferest many pains and groanest sore, and submittest thee
to the despite of men,'
At the word he kissed his son, and from his cheeks let a
tear fall to earth: before, he had stayed the tears
continually. But Telemachus (for as yet he believed not
that it was his father) answered in turn and spake, saying:
'Thou art not Odysseus my father, but some god beguiles me,
that I may groan for more exceeding sorrow. For it cannot
be that a mortal man should contrive this by the aid of his
own wit, unless a god were himself to visit him, and
lightly of his own will to make him young or old. For
truly, but a moment gone, thou wert old and foully clad,
but now thou art like the gods who keep the wide heaven.'
Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying:
'Telemachus, it fits thee not to marvel overmuch that thy
father is come home, or to be amazed. Nay for thou shalt
find no other Odysseus come hither any more; but lo, I, all
as I am, after sufferings and much wandering have come in
the twentieth year to mine own country. Behold, this is the
work of Athene, driver of the spoil, who makes me such
manner of man as she will,--for with her it is possible,--
now like a beggar, and now again like a young man, and one
clad about in rich raiment. Easy it is for the gods who
keep the wide heaven to glorify or to abase a mortal man.'
With this word then he sat down again; but Telemachus,
flinging himself upon his noble father's neck, mourned and
shed tears, and in both their hearts arose the desire of
lamentation. And they wailed aloud, more ceaselessly than
birds, sea-eagles or vultures of crooked claws, whose
younglings the country folk have taken from the nest, ere
yet they are fledged. Even so pitifully fell the tears
beneath their brows. And now would the sunlight have gone
down upon their sorrowing, had not Telemachus spoken to his
father suddenly:
'And in what manner of ship, father dear, did sailors at
length bring thee hither to Ithaca? and who did they avow
them to be? For in no wise, I deem, didst thou come hither
by land.'
And the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him: 'Yea now,
my child, I will tell thee all the truth. The Phaeacians
brought me hither, mariners renowned, who speed other men
too upon their way, whosoever comes to them. Asleep in the
swift ship they bore me over the seas and set me down in
Ithaca, and gave me splendid gifts, bronze and gold in
plenty and woven raiment. And these treasures are lying by
the gods' grace in the caves. But now I am come hither by
the promptings of Athene, that we may take counsel for the
slaughter of the foemen. But come, tell me all the tale of
the wooers and their number, that I may know how many and
what men they be, and that so I may commune with my good
heart and advise me, whether we twain shall be able alone
to make head against them without aid, or whether we should
even seek succour of others.'
Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Verily, father,
I have ever heard of thy great fame, for a warrior hardy of
thy hands, and sage in counsel. But this is a hard saying
of thine: awe comes over me; for it may not be that two men
should do battle with many men and stalwart. For of the
wooers there are not barely ten nor twice ten only, but
many a decad more: and straight shalt thou learn the tale
of them ere we part. From Dulichium there be two and fifty
chosen lords, and six serving men go with them; and out of
Same four and twenty men; and from Zacynthus there are
twenty lords of the Achaeans; and from Ithaca itself full
twelve men of the best, and with them Medon the henchman,
and the divine minstrel, and two squires skilled in carving
viands. If we shall encounter all these within the halls,
see thou to it, lest bitter and baneful for us be the
vengeance thou takest on their violence at thy coming. But
do thou, if thou canst think of some champion, advise thee
of any that may help us with all his heart.'
Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying:
'Yea now, I will tell thee, and do thou mark and listen to
me, and consider whether Athene with Father Zeus will
suffice for us twain, or whether I shall cast about for
some other champion.'
Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Valiant
helpers, in sooth, are these two thou namest, whose seat is
aloft in the clouds, and they rule among all men and among
the deathless gods!'
Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him: 'Yet will
the twain not long keep aloof from the strong tumult of
war, when between the wooers and us in my halls is held the
trial of the might of Ares. But as now, do thou go homeward
at the breaking of the day, and consort with the proud
wooers. As for me, the swineherd will lead me to the town
later in the day, in the likeness of a beggar, a wretched
man and an old. And if they shall evil entreat me in the
house, let thy heart harden itself to endure while I am
shamefully handled, yea even if they drag me by the feet
through the house to the doors, or cast at me and smite me:
still do thou bear the sight. Howbeit thou shalt surely bid
them cease from their folly, exhorting them with smooth
words; yet no whit will they hearken, nay for the day of
their doom is at hand. Yet another thing will I tell thee,
and do thou ponder it in thy heart. When Athene, of deep
counsel, shall put it into my heart, I will nod to thee
with my head and do thou note it, and carry away all thy
weapons of war that lie in the halls, and lay them down
every one in the secret place of the lofty chamber. And
when the wooers miss them and ask thee concerning them,
thou shalt beguile them with soft words, saying:
'"Out of the smoke I laid them by, since they were no
longer like those that Odysseus left behind him of old when
he went to Troy, but they are wholly marred: so mightily
hath passed upon them the vapour of fire. Moreover Cronion
hath put into my heart this other and greater care, that
perchance, when ye are heated with wine, ye set a quarrel
between you and wound one the other and thereby shame the
feast and the wooing; for iron of itself draws a man
thereto." But for us twain alone leave two swords and two
spears and two shields of oxhide to grasp, that we may rush
upon the arms and seize them; and then shall Pallas Athene
and Zeus the counsellor enchant the wooers to their ruin.
Yet another thing will I tell thee, and do thou ponder it
in thy heart. If in very truth thou art my son and of our
blood, then let no man hear that Odysseus is come home;
neither let Laertes know it, nor the swineherd nor any of
the household nor Penelope herself, but let me and thee
alone discover the intent of the women. Yea, and we would
moreover make trial of certain of the men among the
thralls, and learn who {*} of them chances to honour us and
to fear us heartily, and who regards us not at all and
holds even thee in no esteem, so noble a man as thou art.'
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
'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
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.
Telemachus relates to his mother what he had heard at Pylos
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
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
Even so he spake, and they rose up and departed, and were
obedient to his word. Now when they were come into the
fair-lying house, they laid aside their mantles on the
chairs and high seats, and they sacrificed great sheep and
stout goats, yea, and the fatlings of the boars and an
heifer of the herd, and got ready the feast.
Now all this while Odysseus and the goodly swineherd were
bestirring them to go from the field to the city; and the
swineherd, a master of men, spake first saying:
'Well, my friend, forasmuch as I see thou art eager to be
going to the city to-day, even as my master gave command;--
though myself I would well that thou shouldest be left here
to keep the steading, but I hold him in reverence and fear,
lest he chide me afterwards, and grievous are the rebukes
of masters--come then, let us go on our way, for lo, the
day is far spent, and soon wilt thou find it colder toward
evening.'
Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'I
mark, I heed: all this thou speakest to one with
understanding. But let us be going, and be thou my guide
withal to the end. And if thou hast anywhere a staff ready
cut, give it me to lean upon, for truly ye said that
slippery was the way.'
Therewith he cast about his shoulders a mean scrip, all
tattered, and a cord withal to hang it, and Eumaeus gave
him a staff to his mind. So these twain went on their way,
and the dogs and the herdsmen stayed behind to guard the
steading. And the swineherd led his lord to the city in the
guise of a beggar, a wretched man and an old, leaning on a
staff; and sorry was the raiment wherewith he was clothed
upon. But as they fared along the rugged path they drew
near to the town, and came to the fair flowing spring, with
a basin fashioned, whence the people of the city drew
water. This well Ithacus and Neritus and Polyctor had
builded. And around it was a thicket of alders that grow by
the waters, all circlewise, and down the cold stream fell
from a rock on high, and above was reared an altar to the
Nymphs, whereat all wayfarers made offering. In that place
Melanthius, son of Dolius, met them, leading his goats to
feast the wooers, the best goats that were in all the
herds; and two herdsmen bare him company. Now when he saw
them he reviled them, and spake and hailed them, in
terrible and evil fashion, and stirred the heart of
Odysseus, saying:
'Now in very truth the vile is leading the vile, for god
brings ever like to like! Say, whither art thou leading
this glutton,--thou wretched swineherd,--this plaguy
beggar, a kill-joy of the feast? He is one to stand about
and rub his shoulders against many doorposts, begging for
scraps of meat, not for swords or cauldrons. If thou
wouldst give me the fellow to watch my steading and sweep
out the stalls, and carry fresh fodder to the kids, then he
might drink whey and get him a stout thigh. Howbeit, since
he is practised only in evil, he will not care to betake
him to the labour of the farm, but rather chooses to go
louting through the land asking alms to fill his insatiate
belly. But now I will speak out and my word shall surely be
accomplished. If ever he fares to the house of divine
Odysseus, many a stool that men's hands hurl shall fly
about his head, and break upon his ribs, {*} as they pelt
him through the house.'
Therewith, as he went past, he kicked Odysseus on the hip,
in his witlessness, yet he drave him not from the path, but
he abode steadfast. And Odysseus pondered whether he should
rush upon him and take away his life with the staff, or
lift him in his grasp {*} and smite his head to the earth.
Yet he hardened his heart to endure and refrained himself.
And the swineherd looked at the other and rebuked him, and
lifting up his hands prayed aloud:
{* [Greek] is perhaps best taken as an adverb in [Greek]
formed from [Greek], though some letters of the word are
still left obscure. Most modern commentators, however,
derive it from [Greek] and [Greek] 'near the ground; hence,
in this context, 'lift him by the feet.'}
'Nymphs of the well-water, daughters of Zeus, if ever
Odysseus burned on your altars pieces of the thighs of rams
or kids, in their covering of rich fat, fulfil for me this
wish:--oh that he, even he, may come home, and that some
god may bring him! Then would he scatter all thy bravery,
which now thou flauntest insolently, wandering ever about
the city, while evil shepherds destroy the flock.'
Then Melanthius, the goatherd, answered: 'Lo now, what a
word has this evil-witted dog been saying! Some day I will
take him in a black decked ship far from Ithaca, that he
may bring me in much livelihood. Would God that Apollo, of
the silver bow, might smite Telemachus to-day in the halls,
or that he might fall before the wooers, so surely as for
Odysseus the day of returning has in a far land gone by!'
So he spake and left them there as they walked slowly on.
But Melanthius stepped forth, and came very speedily to the
house of the prince, and straightway he went in and sat
down among the wooers, over against Eurymachus, who chiefly
showed him kindness. And they that ministered set by him a
portion of flesh, and the grave dame brought wheaten bread
and set it by him to eat. Now Odysseus and the goodly
swineherd drew near and stood by, and the sound of the
hollow lyre rang around them, for Phemius was lifting up
his voice amid the company in song, and Odysseus caught the
swineherd by the hand, and spake, saying:
'Eumaeus, verily this is the fair house of Odysseus, and
right easily might it be known and marked even among many.
There is building beyond building, and the court of the
house is cunningly wrought with a wall and battlements, and
well-fenced are the folding doors; no man may hold it in
disdain. And I see that many men keep revel within, for the
savour of the fat rises upward, {*} and the voice of the
lyre is heard there, which the gods have made to be the
mate of the feast.'
Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Easily
thou knowest it, for indeed thou never lackest
understanding. But come, let us advise us, how things shall
fall out here. Either do thou go first within the
fair-lying halls, and join the company of the wooers, so
will I remain here, or if thou wilt, abide here, and I will
go before thy face, and tarry not long, lest one see thee
without, and hurl at thee or strike thee. Look well to
this, I bid thee.'
Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying: 'I
mark, I heed, all this thou speakest to one with
understanding. Do thou then go before me, and I will remain
here, for well I know what it is to be smitten and hurled
at. My heart is full of hardiness, for much evil have I
suffered in perils of waves and war; let this be added to
the tale of those. But a ravening belly may none conceal, a
thing accursed, that works much ill for men. For this cause
too the benched ships are furnished, that bear mischief to
foemen over the unharvested seas.'
Thus they spake one to the other. And lo, a hound raised up
his head and pricked his ears, even where he lay, Argos,
the hound of Odysseus, of the hardy heart, which of old
himself had bred, but had got no joy of him, for ere that,
he went to sacred Ilios. Now in time past the young men
used to lead the hound against wild goats and deer and
hares; but as then, despised he lay (his master being afar)
in the deep dung of mules and kine, whereof an ample bed
was spread before the doors, till the thralls of Odysseus
should carry it away to dung therewith his wide demesne.
There lay the dog Argos, full of vermin. Yet even now when
he was ware of Odysseus standing by, he wagged his tail and
dropped both his ears, but nearer to his master he had not
now the strength to draw. But Odysseus looked aside and
wiped away a tear that he easily hid from Eumaeus, and
straightway he asked him, saying:
'Eumaeus, verily this is a great marvel, this hound lying
here in the dung. Truly he is goodly of growth, but I know
not certainly if he have speed with this beauty, or if he
be comely only, like as are men's trencher dogs that their
lords keep for the pleasure of the eye.'
Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'In very
truth this is the dog of a man that has died in a far land.
If he were what once he was in limb and in the feats of the
chase, when Odysseus left him to go to Troy, soon wouldst
thou marvel at the sight of his swiftness and his strength.
There was no beast that could flee from him in the deep
places of the wood, when he was in pursuit; for even on a
track he was the keenest hound. But now he is holden in an
evil case, and his lord hath perished far from his own
country, and the careless women take no charge of him. Nay,
thralls are no more inclined to honest service when their
masters have lost the dominion, for Zeus, of the far-borne
voice, takes away the half of a man's virtue, when the day
of slavery comes upon him.'
Therewith he passed within the fair-lying house, and went
straight to the hall, to the company of the proud wooers.
But upon Argos came the fate of black death even in the
hour that he beheld Odysseus again, in the twentieth year.
Now godlike Telemachus was far the first to behold the
swineherd as he came into the hall, and straightway then he
beckoned and called him to his side. So Eumaeus looked
about and took a settle that lay by him, where the carver
was wont to sit dividing much flesh among the wooers that
were feasting in the house. This seat he carried and set by
the table of Telemachus over against him, and there sat
down himself. And the henchman took a mess and served it
him, and wheaten bread out of the basket.
And close behind him Odysseus entered the house in the
guise of a beggar, a wretched man and an old, leaning on
his staff, and clothed on with sorry raiment. And he sat
down on the ashen threshold within the doorway, leaning
against a pillar of cypress wood, which the carpenter on a
time had deftly planed, and thereon made straight the line.
And Telemachus called the swineherd to him, and took a
whole loaf out of the fair basket, and of flesh so much as
his hands could hold in their grasp, saying:
'Take and give this to the stranger, and bid him go about
and beg himself of all the wooers in their turn, for shame
is an ill mate of a needy man.'
So he spake, and the swineherd went when he heard that
saying, and stood by and spake to him winged words:
'Stranger, Telemachus gives thee these and bids thee go
about and beg of all the wooers in their turn, for, he
says, "shame ill becomes a beggar man."'
Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him and said: 'King
Zeus, grant me that Telemachus may be happy among men, and
may he have all his heart's desire!'
Therewith he took the gift in both hands, and set it there
before his feet on his unsightly scrip. Then he ate meat so
long as the minstrel was singing in the halls. When he had
done supper, and the divine minstrel was ending his song,
then the wooers raised a clamour through the halls; but
Athene stood by Odysseus, son of Laertes, and moved him to
go gathering morsels of bread among the wooers, and learn
which were righteous and which unjust. Yet not even so was
she fated to redeem one man of them from an evil doom. So
he set out, beginning on the right, to ask of each man,
stretching out his hand on every side, as though he were a
beggar from of old. And they in pity gave him somewhat, and
were amazed at the man, asking one another who he was and
whence he came?
Then Melanthius, the goatherd, spake among them:
'Listen, ye wooers of the renowned queen, concerning this
stranger, for verily I have seen him before. The swineherd
truly was his guide hither, but of him I have no certain
knowledge, whence he avows him to be born.'
So spake he, but Antinous rebuked the swineherd, saying:
'Oh notorious swineherd, wherefore, I pray thee, didst thou
bring this man to the city? Have we not vagrants enough
besides, plaguy beggars, kill-joys of the feast? Dost thou
count it a light thing that they assemble here and devour
the living of thy master, but thou must needs {*} call in
this man too?'
{* [Greek] can hardly have a local meaning here. If
retained, it must be nearly equivalent to [Greek], 'it
seems,' with a touch of irony. Cf. i.348. The v. 1. [Greek]
is a simpler reading, but by no means certain.}
Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Antinous,
no fair words are these of thine, noble though thou art.
For who ever himself seeks out and bids to the feast a
stranger from afar, save only one of those that are
craftsmen of the people, a prophet or a healer of ills, or
a shipwright or even a godlike minstrel, who can delight
all with his song? Nay, these are the men that are welcome
over all the wide earth. But none would call a beggar to
the banquet, to waste his substance. But thou art ever hard
above all the other wooers to the servants of Odysseus,
and, beyond all, to me; but behold, I care not, so long as
my mistress, the constant Penelope, lives in the halls and
godlike Telemachus.'
Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Be silent,
answer him not, I pray thee, with many words, for Antinous
is wont ever to chide us shamefully with bitter speech,
yea, and urges the others thereto.'
Therewithal he spake winged words to Antinous: 'Antinous,
verily thou hast a good care for me, as it were a father
for his son, thou that biddest me drive our guest from the
hall with a harsh command. God forbid that such a thing
should be! Take somewhat and give it him: lo, I grudge it
not; nay, I charge thee to do it. And herein regard not my
mother, nor any of the thralls that are in the house of
divine Odysseus. Nay, but thou hast no such thought in thy
heart, for thou art far more fain to eat thyself than to
give to another.'
Then Antinous answered him and spake, saying: 'Telemachus,
proud of speech, and unrestrained in fury, what word hast
thou spoken? If all the wooers should vouchsafe him as much
as I, this house would keep him far enough aloof even for
three months' space.'
So he spake, and seized the footstool whereon he rested his
sleek feet as he sat at the feast, and showed it from
beneath the table where it lay. But all the others gave
somewhat and filled the wallet with bread and flesh; yea,
and even now, Odysseus as he returned to the threshold, was
like to escape scot free, making trial of the Achaeans, but
he halted by Antinous, and spake to him, saying:
'Friend, give me somewhat; for methinks thou art not the
basest of the Achaeans, but the best man of them all, for
thou art like a king. Wherefore thou shouldest give me a
portion of bread, and that a better than the others; so
would I make thee renowned over all the wide earth. For I
too, once had a house of mine own among men, a rich man
with a wealthy house, and many a time would I give to a
wanderer, what manner of man soever he might be, and in
whatsoever need he came. And I had thralls out of number,
and all else in plenty, wherewith folk live well and have a
name for riches. But Zeus, the son of Cronos, made me
desolate of all,--for surely it was his will,--who sent me
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
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
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
assistant
Sure, a continuation for this poem could be:
  words of yearning joy to mortals, and they have a ceaseless
desire to hear him, so long as he will sing; even so he
charmed me, sitting by me in the halls. He says that he is
a friend of Odysseus and of his house, one that dwells in
Crete, where is the race of Minos. Thence he has come
hither even now, with sorrow by the way, onward and yet
onward wandering; and he stands to it that he has heard
tidings of Odysseus nigh at hand and yet alive in the fat
land of the men of Thesprotia; and he is bringing many
treasures to his home.'
Then wise Penelope answered him, saying: 'Go, call him
hither, that he may speak to me face to face. But let these
men sit in the doorway and take their pleasure, or even
here in the house, since their heart is glad. For their own
wealth lies unspoiled at home, bread and sweet wine, and
thereon do their servants feed. But they resorting to our
house day by day sacrifice oxen and sheep and fat goats,
and keep revel and drink the dark wine recklessly; and, lo,
our great wealth is wasted, for there is no man now alive,
such as Odysseus was, to keep ruin from the house. Oh, if
Odysseus might come again to his own country; soon would he
and his son avenge the violence of these men!'
Even so she spake, and Telemachus sneezed loudly, and
around the roof rang wondrously. And Penelope laughed, and
straightway spake to Eumaeus winged words:
'Go, call me the stranger, even so, into my presence. Dost
thou not mark how my son has sneezed a blessing on all my
words? Wherefore no half-wrought doom shall befal the
wooers every one, nor shall any avoid death and the fates.
Yet another thing will I say, and do thou ponder it in thy
heart. If I shall find that he himself speaks nought but
truth, I will clothe him with a mantle and a doublet,
goodly raiment.'
So she spake, and the swineherd departed when he heard that
saying, and stood by the stranger and spake winged words:
'Father and stranger, wise Penelope, the mother of
Telemachus, is calling for thee, and her mind bids her
inquire as touching her lord, albeit she has sorrowed much
already. And if she shall find that thou dost speak nought
but truth, she will clothe thee in a mantle and a doublet,
whereof thou standest most in need. Moreover thou shalt beg
thy bread through the land and shalt fill thy belly, and
whosoever will, shall give to thee.'
Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying:
'Eumaeus, soon would I tell all the truth to the daughter
of Icarius, wise Penelope, for well I know his story, and
we have borne our travail together. But I tremble before
the throng of the froward wooers, whose outrage and
violence reach even to the iron heaven. For even now, as I
was going through the house, when this man struck and
pained me sore, and that for no ill deed, neither
Telemachus nor any other kept off the blow. Wherefore now,
bid Penelope tarry in the chambers, for all her eagerness,
till the going down of the sun, and then let her ask me
concerning her lord, as touching the day of his returning,
and let her give me a seat yet nearer to the fire, for
behold, I have sorry raiment, and thou knowest it thyself,
since I made my supplication first to thee.'
Even so he spake, and the swineherd departed when he heard
that saying. And as he crossed the threshold Penelope spake
to him:
'Thou bringest him not, Eumaeus: what means the wanderer
hereby? Can it be that he fears some one out of measure, or
is he even ashamed of tarrying in the house? A shamefaced
man makes a bad beggar.'
Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'He speaks
aright, and but as another would deem, in that he shuns the
outrage of overweening men. Rather would he have thee wait
till the going down of the sun. Yea, and it is far meeter
for thyself, O queen, to utter thy word to the stranger
alone, and to listen to his speech.'
Then the wise Penelope answered: 'Not witless is the
stranger; even as he deems, so it well may be. {*} For
there are no mortal men, methinks, so wanton as these, and
none that devise such infatuate deeds.'
{* Placing at colon at [Greek], and reading [Greek] (cf.
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.
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
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
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
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
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
seasoned long since and sere, and new split with the axe.
And midway by the braziers they placed torches, and the
maids of Odysseus, of the hardy heart, held up the lights
in turn. Then the prince Odysseus of many counsels himself
spake among them saying:
'Ye maidens of Odysseus, the lord so long afar, get ye into
the chambers where the honoured queen abides, and twist the
yarn at her side, and gladden her heart as ye sit in the
chamber, or card the wools with your hands; but I will
minister light to all these that are here. For even if they
are minded to wait the throned Dawn, they shall not outstay
me, so long enduring am I.'
So he spake, but they laughed and looked one at the other.
And the fair Melantho chid him shamefully, Melantho that
Dolius begat, but Penelope reared, and entreated her
tenderly as she had been her own child, and gave her
playthings to her heart's desire. Yet, for all that, sorrow
for Penelope touched not her heart, but she loved
Eurymachus and was his paramour. Now she chid Odysseus with
railing words:
'Wretched guest, surely thou art some brain-struck man,
seeing that thou dost not choose to go and sleep at a
smithy, or at some place of common resort, but here thou
pratest much and boldly among many lords and hast no fear
at heart. Verily wine has got about thy wits, or perchance
thou art always of this mind, and so thou dost babble idly.
Art thou beside thyself for joy, because thou hast beaten
the beggar Irus? Take heed lest a better man than Irus rise
up presently against thee, to lay his mighty hands about
thy head and bedabble thee with blood, and send thee hence
from the house.'
Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on her, and
said: 'Yea, straight will I go yonder and tell Telemachus
hereof, thou shameless thing, for this thy speech, that
forthwith he may cut thee limb from limb.'
So he spake, and with his saying scared away the women, who
fled through the hall, and the knees of each were loosened
for fear, for they deemed that his words were true. But
Odysseus took his stand by the burning braziers, tending
the lights, and gazed on all the men: but far other matters
he pondered in his heart, things not to be unfulfilled.
Now Athene would in no wise suffer the lordly wooers to
abstain from biting scorn, that the pain might sink yet the
deeper into the heart of Odysseus, son of Laertes. So
Eurymachus, son of Polybus, began to speak among them,
girding at Odysseus, and so made mirth for his friends:
'Hear me ye wooers of the queen renowned, that I may say
that which my spirit within me bids me. Not without the
gods' will has this man come to the house of Odysseus;
methinks at least that the torchlight flares forth from {*}
that head of his, for there are no hairs on it, nay never
so thin.'
{* Accepting the conjecture [Greek] = [Greek] for the MSS.
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.
Telemachus removes the arms out of the hall. Odysseus
disburseth with Penelope. And is known by his nurse, but
concealed. And the hunting of the boar upon that occasion
related.
Now the goodly Odysseus was left behind in the hall,
devising with Athene's aid the slaying of the wooers, and
straightway he spake winged words to Telemachus:
'Telemachus, we must needs lay by the weapons of war
within, every one; and when the wooers miss them and ask
thee concerning them, thou shalt beguile them with soft
words, saying:
'Out of the smoke I laid them by, since they were no longer
like those that Odysseus left behind him of old, when he
went to Troy, but they are wholly marred, so mightily hath
passed upon them the vapour of fire. Moreover some god hath
put into my heart this other and greater care, that
perchance when ye are heated with wine, ye set a quarrel
between you and wound one the other, and thereby shame the
feast and the wooing; for iron of itself draws a man
thereto.'
Thus he spake, and Telemachus hearkened to his dear father,
and called forth to him the nurse Eurycleia and spake to
her, saying:
'Nurse, come now I pray thee, shut up the women in their
chambers till I shall have laid by in the armoury the
goodly weapons of my father, which all uncared for the
smoke dims in the hall, since my father went hence, and I
was still but a child. Now I wish to lay them by where the
vapour of the fire will not reach them.'
Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered him, saying: 'Ah, my
child, if ever thou wouldest but take careful thought in
such wise as to mind the house, and guard all this wealth!
But come, who shall fetch the light and bear it, if thou
hast thy way, since thou wouldest not that the maidens, who
might have given light, should go before thee?'
Then wise Telemachus made answer to her: 'This stranger
here, for I will keep no man in idleness who eats of my
bread, even if he have come from afar.'
Thus he spake, and wingless her speech remained, and she
closed the doors of the fair-lying chambers. Then they
twain sprang up, Odysseus and his renowned son, and set to
carry within the helmets and the bossy shields, and the
sharp-pointed spears; and before them Pallas Athene bare a
golden cresset and cast a most lovely light. Thereon
Telemachus spake to his father suddenly:
'Father, surely a great marvel is this that I behold with
mine eyes; meseems, at least, that the walls of the hall
and the fair main-beams of the roof and the cross-beams of
pine, and the pillars that run aloft, are bright as it were
with flaming fire. Verily some god is within, of those that
hold the wide heaven.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered him and said: 'Hold
thy peace and keep thy thoughts in check and ask not
hereof. Lo, this is the wont of the gods that hold Olympus.
But do thou go and lay thee down, and I will abide here,
that I may yet further provoke the maids ant thy mother to
answer; and she in her sorrow will ask me concerning each
thing, one by one.'
So he spake, and Telemachus passed out through the hall to
his chamber to lie down, by the light of the flaming
torches, even to the chamber where of old he took his rest,
when sweet sleep came over him. There now too he lay down
and awaited the bright Dawn. But goodly Odysseus was left
behind in the hall, devising with Athene's aid the slaying
of the wooers.
Now forth from her chamber came the wise Penelope, like
Artemis or golden Aphrodite, and they set a chair for her
hard by before the fire, where she was wont to sit, a chair
well-wrought and inlaid with ivory and silver, which on a
time the craftsman Icmalius had fashioned, and had joined
thereto a footstool, that was part of the chair, whereon a
great fleece was used to be laid. Here then, the wise
Penelope sat her down, and next came white-armed handmaids
from the women's chamber, and began to take away the many
fragments of food, and the tables and the cups whence the
proud lords had been drinking, and they raked out the fire
from the braziers on to the floor, and piled many fresh
logs upon them, to give light and warmth.
Then Melantho began to revile Odysseus yet a second time,
saying: 'Stranger, wilt thou still be a plague to us here,
circling round the house in the night, and spying the
women? Nay, get thee forth, thou wretched thing, and be
thankful for thy supper, or straightway shalt thou even be
smitten with a torch and so fare out of the doors.'
Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on her, and
said: 'Good woman, what possesses thee to assail me thus
out of an angry heart? Is it because I go filthy and am
clothed about in sorry raiment, and beg through the land,
for necessity is laid on me? This is the manner of beggars
and of wandering men. For I too once had a house of mine
own among men, a rich man with a wealthy house, and many a
time would I give to a wanderer, what manner of man soever
he might be, and in whatsoever need he came. And I had
countless thralls, and all else in plenty, whereby folk
live well and have a name for riches. But Zeus, the son of
Cronos, made me desolate of all, for surely it was his
will. Wherefore, woman, see lest some day thou too lose all
thy fine show wherein thou now excellest among the
handmaids, as well may chance, if thy mistress be provoked
to anger with thee, or if Odysseus come home, for there is
yet a place for hope. And even if he hath perished as ye
deem, and is never more to return, yet by Apollo's grace he
hath a son like him, Telemachus, and none of the women
works wantonness in his halls without his knowledge, for he
is no longer of an age not to mark it,
Thus he spake, and the wise Penelope heard him, and rebuked
the handmaid, and spake and hailed her:
'Thou reckless thing and unabashed, be sure thy great sin
is not hidden from me, and thy blood shall be on thine own
head for the same! Four thou knewest right well, in that
thou hadst heard it from my lips, how that I was minded to
ask the stranger in my halls for tidings of my lord; for I
am grievously afflicted.'
Therewith she spake likewise to the housedame, Eurynome,
saying:
'Eurynome, bring hither a settle with a fleece thereon,
that the stranger may sit and speak with me and hear my
words, for I would ask him all his story.'
So she spake, and the nurse made haste and brought a
polished settle, and cast a fleece thereon; and then the
steadfast goodly Odysseus sat him down there, and the wise
Penelope spake first, saying:
'Stranger, I will make bold first to ask thee this: who art
thou of the sons of men, and whence? Where is thy city, and
where are they that begat thee?'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said: 'Lady,
no one of mortal men in the wide world could find fault
with thee, for lo, thy fame goes up to the wide heaven, as
doth the fame of a blameless king, one that fears the gods
and reigns among many men and mighty, maintaining right,
and the black earth bears wheat and barley, and the trees
are laden with fruit, and the sheep bring forth and fail
not, and the sea gives store of fish, and all out of his
good guidance, and the people prosper under him. Wherefore
do thou ask me now in thy house all else that thou wilt,
but inquire not concerning my race and mine own country,
lest as I think thereupon thou fill my heart the more with
pains, for I am a man of many sorrows. Moreover it beseems
me not to sit weeping and wailing in another's house, for
it is little good to mourn always without ceasing, lest
perchance one of the maidens, or even thyself, be angry
with me and say that I swim in tears, as one that is heavy
with wine.'
Then wise Penelope answered him, and said: 'Stranger,
surely my excellence, both of face and form, the gods
destroyed, in the day when the Argives embarked for Ilios,
and with them went my lord Odysseus. If but he might come
and watch over this my life, greater and fairer thus would
be my fame! But now am I in sorrow, such a host of ills
some god has sent against me. For all the noblest that are
princes in the isles, in Dulichium and Same and wooded
Zacynthus, and they that dwell around even in clear-seen
Ithaca, these are wooing me against my will, and devouring
the house. Wherefore I take no heed of strangers, nor
suppliants, nor at all of heralds, the craftsmen of the
people. But I waste my heart away in longing for Odysseus;
so they speed on my marriage and I weave a web of wiles.
First some god put it into my heart to set up a great web
in the halls, and thereat to weave a robe fine of woof and
very wide; and anon I spake among them, saying: "Ye
princely youths, my wooers, now that goodly Odysseus is
dead, do ye abide patiently, how eager soever to speed on
this marriage of mine, till I finish the robe. I would not
that the threads perish to no avail, even this shroud for
the hero Laertes, against the day when the ruinous doom
shall bring him low, of death that lays men at their
length. So shall none of the Achaean women in the land
count it blame in me, as well might be, were he to lie
without a winding sheet, a man that had gotten great
possessions."
'So spake I, and their high hearts consented thereto. So
then in the daytime I would weave the mighty web, and in
the night unravel the same, when I had let place the
torches by me. Thus for the space of three years I hid the
thing by craft and beguiled the minds of the Achaeans. But
when the fourth year arrived, and the seasons came round as
the months waned, and many days were accomplished, then it
was that by help of the handmaids, shameless things and
reckless, the wooers came and trapped me, and chid me
loudly. Thus did I finish the web by no will of mine, for
so I must. And now I can neither escape the marriage nor
devise any further counsel, and my parents are instant with
me to marry, and my son chafes that these men devour his
livelihood, as he takes note of all; for by this time he
has come to man's estate; and is full able to care for a
household, for one to which Zeus vouchsafes honour. But
even so tell me of thine own stock, whence thou art, for
thou art not sprung of oak or rock, whereof old tales
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,
him I shall never welcome back, returned home to his own
dear country. Wherefore with an evil fate it was that
Odysseus went hence in the hollow ship to see that evil
Ilios, never to be named.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Wife
revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, destroy not now thy
fair flesh any more, nor waste thy heart with weeping for
thy lord;--not that I count it any blame in thee, for many
a woman weeps that has lost her wedded lord, to whom she
has borne children in her love,--albeit a far other man
than Odysseus, who, they say, is like the gods. Nay, cease
from thy lamenting, and lay up my word in thy heart; for I
will tell thee without fail, and will hide nought, how but
lately I heard tell of the return of Odysseus, that he is
nigh at hand, and yet alive in the fat land of the men of
Thesprotia, and is bringing with him many choice treasures,
as he begs through the land. But he has lost his dear
companions and his hollow ship on the wine-dark sea, on his
way from the isle Thrinacia: for Zeus and Helios had a
grudge against him, because his company had slain the kine
of Helios. They for their part all perished in the wash of
the sea, but the wave cast him on the keel of the ship out
upon the coast, on the land of the Phaeacians that are near
of kin to the gods, and they did him all honour heartily as
unto a god, and gave him many gifts, and themselves would
fain have sent him scathless home. Yea and Odysseus would
have been here long since, but he thought it more
profitable to gather wealth, as he journeyed over wide
lands; so truly is Odysseus skilled in gainful arts above
all men upon earth, nor may any mortal men contend with
him. So Pheidon king of the Thesprotians told me. Moreover
he sware, in mine own presence, as he poured the
drink-offering in his house, that the ship was drawn down
to the sea and his company were ready, who were to convey
him to his own dear country. But me he first sent off, for
it chanced that a ship of the Thesprotians was on her way
to Dulichium, a land rich in grain. And he showed me all
the wealth that Odysseus had gathered, yea it would suffice
for his children after him, even to the tenth generation,
so great were the treasures he had stored in the chambers
of the king. As for him he had gone, he said, to Dodona to
hear the counsel of Zeus, from the high leafy oak tree of
the god, how he should return to his own dear country,
having now been long afar, whether openly or by stealth.
'In this wise, as I tell thee, he is safe and will come
shortly, and very near he is and will not much longer be
far from his friends and his own country; yet withal I will
give thee my oath on it. Zeus be my witness first, of gods
the highest and best, and the hearth of noble Odysseus
whereunto I am come, that all these things shall surely be
accomplished even as I tell thee. In this same year
Odysseus shall come hither, as the old moon wanes and the
new is born.'
Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Ah! stranger, would that
this word may be accomplished. Soon shouldst thou be aware
of kindness and many a gift at my hands, so that whoso met
with thee would call thee blessed. But on this wise my
heart has a boding, and so it shall be. Neither shall
Odysseus come home any more, nor shalt thou gain an escort
hence, since there are not now such masters in the house as
Odysseus was among men,--if ever such an one there was,--
to welcome guests revered and speed them on their way. But
do ye, my handmaids, wash this man's feet and strew a couch
for him, bedding and mantles and shining blankets, that
well and warmly he may come to the time of golden-throned
Dawn. And very early in the morning bathe him and anoint
him, that within the house beside Telemachus he may eat
meat, sitting quietly in the hall. And it shall be the
worse for any hurtful man of the wooers, that vexes the
stranger, yea he shall not henceforth profit himself here,
for all his sore anger. For how shalt thou learn concerning
me, stranger, whether indeed I excel all women in wit and
thrifty device, if all unkempt and evil clad thou sittest
at supper in my halls? Man's life is brief enough! And if
any be a hard man and hard at heart, all men cry evil on
him for the time to come, while yet he lives, and all men
mock him when he is dead. But if any be a blameless man and
blameless of heart, his guests spread abroad his fame over
the whole earth and many people call him noble.'
Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said: 'O
wife revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, mantles verily
and shining blankets are hateful to me, since first I left
behind me the snowy hills of Crete, voyaging in the
long-oared galley; nay, I will lie as in time past I was
used to rest through the sleepless nights. For full many a
night I have lain on an unsightly bed, and awaited the
bright throned Dawn. And baths for the feet are no longer
my delight, nor shall any women of those who are serving
maidens in thy house touch my foot, unless there chance to
be some old wife, true of heart, one that has borne as much
trouble as myself; I would not grudge such an one to touch
my feet.'
Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Dear stranger, for never
yet has there come to my house, of strangers from afar, a
dearer man or so discreet as thou, uttering so heedfully
the words of wisdom. I have an ancient woman of an
understanding heart, that diligently nursed and tended that
hapless man my lord, she took him in her arms in the hour
when his mother bare him. She will wash thy feet, albeit
her strength is frail. Up now, wise Eurycleia, and wash
this man, whose years are the same as thy master's. Yea and
perchance such even now are the feet of Odysseus, and such
too his hands, for quickly men age in misery.'
So she spake, and the old woman covered her face with her
hands and shed hot tears, and spake a word of lamentation,
saying:
'Ah, woe is me, child, for thy sake, all helpless that I
am! Surely Zeus hated thee above all men, though thou hadst
a god-fearing spirit! For never yet did any mortal burn so
many fat pieces of the thigh and so many choice hecatombs
to Zeus, whose joy is in the thunder, as thou didst give to
him, praying that so thou mightest grow to a smooth old age
and rear thy renowned son. But now from thee alone hath
Zeus wholly cut off the day of thy returning.  Haply at him
too did the women mock in a strange land afar, whensoever
he came to the famous palace of any lord, even as here
these shameless ones all mock at thee. To shun their
insults and many taunts it is that thou sufferest them not
to wash thy feet, but the daughter of Icarius, wise
Penelope, hath bidden me that am right willing to this
task. Wherefore I will wash thy feet, both for Penelope's
sake and for thine own, for that my heart within me is
moved and troubled. But come, mark the word that I shall
speak. Many strangers travel-worn have ere now come hither,
but I say that I have never seen any so like another, as
thou art like Odysseus, in fashion in voice and in feet.'
Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Old
wife, even so all men declare, that have beheld us twain,
that we favour each other exceedingly, even as thou dost
mark and say.'
Thereupon the crone took the shining cauldron, wherefrom
{*} she set to wash his feet, and poured in much cold water
and next mingled therewith the warm. Now Odysseus sat aloof
from the hearth, and of a sudden he turned his face to the
darkness, for anon he had a misgiving of heart lest when
she handled him she might know the scar again, and all
should be revealed. Now she drew near her lord to wash him,
and straightway she knew the scar of the wound, that the
boar had dealt him with his white tusk long ago, when
Odysseus went to Parnassus to see Autolycus, and the sons
of Autolycus, his mother's noble father, who outdid all men
in thievery and skill in swearing. This skill was the gift
of the god himself, even Hermes, for that he burned to him
the well-pleasing sacrifice of the thighs of lambs and
kids; wherefore Hermes abetted him gladly. Now Autolycus
once had gone to the rich land of Ithaca, and found his
daughter's son a child new-born, and when he was making an
end of supper, behold, Eurycleia set the babe on his knees,
and spake and hailed him: 'Autolycus find now a name
thyself to give thy child's own son; for lo, he is a child
of many prayers.'
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
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
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.
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
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
'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
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
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
So spake Amphinomus, and his saying pleased them well. They
passed into the halls of godlike Odysseus and laid by their
mantles on the chairs and high seats, and sacrificed great
sheep and stout goats and the fatlings of the boars and the
heifer of the herd; then they roasted the entrails and
served them round and mixed wine in the bowl, and the
swineherd set a cup by each man. And Philoetius, a master
of men, handed them wheaten bread in beautiful baskets, and
Melanthius poured out the wine. So they put forth their
hands on the good cheer set before them.
Now Telemachus, in his crafty purpose, made Odysseus to sit
down within the stablished hall by the threshold of stone,
and placed for him a mean settle and a little table. He set
by him his mess of the entrails, and poured wine into a
golden cup and spake to him, saying:
'There, sit thee down, drinking thy wine among the lords,
and the taunts and buffets of all the wooers I myself will
ward off from thee, for this is no house of public resort,
but the very house of Odysseus, and for me he won it. But,
ye wooers, refrain your minds from rebukes and your hands
from buffets, that no strife and feud may arise.'
So he said, and they all bit their lips and marvelled at
Telemachus, in that he spake boldly. Then Antinous, son of
Eupeithes, spake among them, saying:
'Hard though the word be, let us accept it, Achaeans, even
the word of Telemachus, though mightily he threatens us in
his speech. For Zeus Cronion hath hindered us of our
purpose, else would we have silenced him in our halls,
shrill orator as he is.'
So spake Antinous, but Telemachus took no heed of his
words. Now the henchmen were leading through the town the
holy hecatomb of the gods, and lo, the long-haired Achaeans
were gathered beneath the shady grove of Apollo, the prince
of archery.
Now when they had roasted the outer flesh and drawn it off
the spits, they divided the messes and shared the glorious
feast. And beside Odysseus they that waited set an equal
share, the same as that which fell to themselves, for so
Telemachus commanded, the dear son of divine Odysseus.
Now Athene would in nowise suffer the lordly wooers to
abstain from biting scorn, that the pain might sink yet the
deeper into the heart of Odysseus, son of Laertes. There
was among the wooers a man of a lawless heart, Ctesippus
was his name, and in Same was his home, who trusting,
forsooth, to his vast possessions, was wooing the wife of
Odysseus the lord long afar. And now he spake among the
proud wooers:
'Hear me, ye lordly wooers, and I will say somewhat. The
stranger verily has long had his due portion, as is meet,
an equal share; for it is not fair nor just to rob the
guests of Telemachus of their right, whosoever they may be
that come to this house. Go to then, I also will bestow on
him a stranger's gift, that he in turn may give a present
either to the bath-woman, or to any other of the thralls
within the house of godlike Odysseus.'
Therewith he caught up an ox's foot from the dish, where it
lay, and hurled it with strong hand. But Odysseus lightly
avoided it with a turn of his head, and smiled right grimly
in his heart, and the ox's foot smote the well-builded
wall. Then Telemachus rebuked Ctesippus, saying:
'Verily, Ctesippus, it has turned out happier for thy
heart's pleasure as it is! Thou didst not smite the
stranger, for he himself avoided that which was cast at
him, else surely would I have struck thee through the midst
with the sharp spear, and in place of wedding banquet thy
father would have had to busy him about a funeral feast in
this place. Wherefore let no man make show of unseemly
deeds in this my house, for now I have understanding to
discern both good and evil, but in time past I was yet a
child. But as needs we must, we still endure to see these
deeds, while sheep are slaughtered and wine drunken and
bread devoured, for hard it is for one man to restrain
many. But come, no longer work me harm out of an evil
heart; but if ye be set on slaying me, even me, with the
sword, even that would I rather endure, and far better
would it be to die than to witness for ever these unseemly
deeds--strangers shamefully entreated, and men haling the
handmaidens in foul wise through the fair house.'
So he spake, and they were all hushed in silence. And late
and at last spake among them Agelaus, son of Damastor:
'Friends, when a righteous word has been spoken, none
surely would rebuke another with hard speech and be angry.
Misuse ye not this stranger, nor any of the thralls that
are in the house of godlike Odysseus. But to Telemachus
himself I would speak a soft word and to his mother, if
perchance it may find favour with the mind of those twain.
So long as your hearts within you had hope of the wise
Odysseus returning to his own house, so long none could be
wroth that ye waited and held back the wooers in the halls,
for so had it been better, if Odysseus had returned and
come back to his own home. But now the event is plain, that
he will return no more. Go then, sit by thy mother and tell
her all, namely, that she must wed the best man that wooes
her, and whose gives most gifts; so shalt thou with
gladness live on the heritage of thy father, eating and
drinking, while she cares for another's house.'
Then wise Telemachus answered, and said: 'Nay by Zeus,
Agelaus, and by the griefs of my father, who far away
methinks from Ithaca has perished or goes wandering, in
nowise do I delay my mother's marriage; nay, I bid her be
married to what man she will, and withal I offer gifts
without number. But I do indeed feel shame to drive her
forth from the hall, despite her will, by a word of
compulsion; God forbid that ever this should be.'
So spake Telemachus, but among the wooers Pallas Athene
roused laughter unquenchable, and drave their wits
wandering. And now they were laughing with alien lips, and
blood-bedabbled was the flesh they ate, and their eyes were
filled with tears and their soul was fain of lamentation.
Then the godlike Theoclymenus spake among them:
'Ah, wretched men, what woe is this ye suffer? Shrouded in
night are your heads and your faces and your knees, and
kindled is the voice of wailing, and all cheeks are wet
with tears, and the walls and the fair main-beams of the
roof are sprinkled with blood. And the porch is full, and
full is the court, of ghosts that hasten hellwards beneath
the gloom, and the sun has perished out of heaven, and an
evil mist has overspread the world.'
So spake he, and they all laughed sweetly at him. Then
Eurymachus, son of Polybus, began to speak to them, saying:
'The guest that is newly come from a strange land is beside
himself. Quick, ye young men, and convey him forth out of
doors, that he may go to the place of the gathering, since
here he finds it dark as night.'
Then godlike Theoclymenus answered him: 'Eurymachus, in
nowise do I seek guides of thee to send me on my way. Eyes
have I, and ears, and both my feet, and a stable mind in my
breast of no mean fashioning. With these I will go forth,
for I see evil coming on you, which not one man of the
wooers may avoid or shun, of all you who in the house of
divine Odysseus deal insolently with men and devise
infatuate deeds.'
Therewith he went forth from out the fair-lying halls, and
came to Peiraeus who received him gladly. Then all the
wooers, looking one at the other, provoked Telemachus to
anger, laughing at his guests. And thus some one of the
haughty youths would speak:
'Telemachus, no man is more luckless than thou in his
guests, seeing thou keepest such a filthy wanderer,
whosoever he be, always longing for bread and wine, and
skilled in no peaceful work nor any deed of war, but a mere
burden of the earth. And this other fellow again must stand
up to play the seer! Nay, but if thou wouldest listen to
me, much better it were. Let us cast these strangers on
board a benched ship, and send them to the Sicilians,
whence they would fetch thee their price.' {*}
{* Reading [Greek], which is a correction. Or keeping the
MSS. [Greek] 'and this should bring thee in a goodly
price,' the subject to [Greek] being, probably, THE SALE,
which is suggested by the context.}
So spake the wooers, but he heeded not their words, in
silence he looked towards his father, expecting evermore
the hour when he should stretch forth his hands upon the
shameless wooers.
Now the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, had set her
fair chair over against them, and heard the words of each
one of the men in the halls. For in the midst of laughter
they had got ready the midday meal, a sweet meal and
abundant, for they had sacrificed many cattle. But never
could there be a banquet less gracious than that supper,
such an one as the goddess and the brave man were soon to
spread for them; for that they had begun the devices of
shame.
Penelope bringeth forth her husband's bow, which the
suitors could not bend, but was bent by Odysseus.
Now the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, put it into the heart of
the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, to set the bow and
the axes of grey iron, for the wooers in the halls of
Odysseus, to be the weapons of the contest, and the
beginning of death. So she descended the tall staircase of
her chamber, and took the well-bent key in her strong hand,
a goodly key of bronze, whereon was a handle of ivory. And
she betook her, with her handmaidens, to the
treasure-chamber in the uttermost part of the house, where
lay the treasures of her lord, bronze and gold and
well-wrought iron. And there lay the back-bent bow and the
quiver for the arrows, and many shafts were therein, winged
for death, gifts of a friend of Odysseus, that met with him
in Lacedaemon, Iphitus son of Eurytus, a man like to the
gods. These twain fell in with one another in Messene, in
the house of wise Ortilochus. Now Odysseus had gone thither
to recover somewhat that was owing to him from all the
people, for the men of Messene had lifted three hundred
sheep in benched ships from out of Ithaca, with the
shepherds of the flock. In quest of these it was that
Odysseus went on a far embassy, being yet a lad; for his
father and the other elders sent him forth. Moreover,
Iphitus came thither in his search for twelve brood mares,
which he had lost, with sturdy mules at the teat. These
same it was that brought him death and destiny in the
latter end, when he came to the child of Zeus, hardy of
heart, the man Heracles, that had knowledge of great
adventures, who smote Iphitus though his guest in his
house, in his frowardness, and had no regard for the
vengeance of the gods, nor for the table which he spread
before him; for after the meal he slew him, his guest
though he was, and kept for himself in the halls the horses
strong of hoof. After these was Iphitus asking, when he met
with Odysseus, and he gave him the bow, which of old great
Eurytus bare and had left at his death to his son in his
lofty house. And Odysseus gave Iphitus a sharp sword and a
mighty spear, for the beginning of a loving friendship; but
never had they acquaintance one of another at the board;
ere that might be, the son of Zeus slew Iphitus son of
Eurytus, a man like to the immortals, the same that gave
Odysseus the bow. But goodly Odysseus would never take it
with him on the black ships, as he went to the wars, but
the bow was laid by at home in the halls as a memorial of a
dear guest, and he carried it on his own land.
Now when the fair lady had come even to the
treasure-chamber, and had stept upon the threshold of oak,
which the carpenter had on a time planed cunningly, and
over it had made straight the line,--doorposts also had he
fitted thereby, whereon he set shining doors,--anon she
quickly loosed the strap from the handle of the door, and
thrust in the key, and with a straight aim shot back the
bolts. And even as a bull roars that is grazing in a
meadow, so mightily roared the fair doors smitten by the
key; and speedily they flew open before her. Then she stept
on to the high floor, where the coffers stood, wherein the
fragrant raiment was stored. Thence she stretched forth her
hand, and took the bow from off the pin, all in the bright
case which sheathed it around. And there she sat down, and
set the case upon her knees, and cried aloud and wept, and
took out the bow of her lord. Now when she had her fill of
tearful lament, she set forth to go to the hall to the
company of the proud wooers, with the back-bent bow in her
hands, and the quiver for the arrows, and many shafts were
therein winged for death. And her maidens along with her
bare a chest, wherein lay much store of iron and bronze,
the gear of combat of their lord. Now when the fair lady
had come unto the wooers, she stood by the pillar of the
well-builded roof, holding up her glistening tire before
her face; and a faithful maiden stood on either side of
her, and straightway she spake out among the wooers and
declared her word, saying:
'Hear me, ye lordly wooers, who have vexed this house, that
ye might eat and drink here evermore, forasmuch as the
master is long gone, nor could ye find any other mark {*}
for your speech, but all your desire was to wed me and take
me to wife. Nay come now, ye wooers, seeing that this is
the prize that is put before you. I will set forth for you
the great bow of divine Odysseus, and whoso shall most
easily string the bow in his hands, and shoot through all
twelve axes, with him will I go and forsake this house,
this house of my wedlock, so fair and filled with all
livelihood, which methinks I shall yet remember, aye, in a
{* The accepted interpretation of [Greek] (a word which
occurs only here) is 'pretext'; but this does not agree
with any of the meanings of the verb from which the noun is
derived. The usage of [Greek] in Od. xix. 71, xxii. 75, of
suggests rather for [Greek] the idea of 'aiming at a
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
So spake he, but his heart within him hoped that he would
string the bow, and shoot through the iron. Yet verily, he
was to be the first that should taste the arrow at the
hands of the noble Odysseus, whom but late he was
dishonouring as he sat in the halls, and was inciting all
his fellows to do likewise.
Then the mighty prince Telemachus spake among them, saying:
'Lo now, in very truth, Cronion has robbed me of my wits!
My dear mother, wise as she is, declares that she will go
with a stranger and forsake this house; yet I laugh and in
my silly heart I am glad. Nay come now, ye wooers, seeing
that this is the prize which is set before you, a lady, the
like of whom there is not now in the Achaean land, neither
in sacred Pylos, nor in Argos, nor in Mycenae, nor yet in
Ithaca, nor in the dark mainland. Nay but ye know all this
yourselves,--why need I praise my mother? Come therefore,
delay not the issue with excuses, nor hold much longer
aloof from the drawing of the bow, that we may see the
thing that is to be. Yea and I myself would make trial of
this bow. If I shall string it, and shoot through the iron,
then should I not sorrow if my lady mother were to quit
these halls and go with a stranger, seeing that I should be
left behind, well able now to lift my father's goodly gear
of combat.'
Therewith he cast from off his neck his cloak of scarlet,
and sprang to his full height, and put away the sword from
his shoulders. First he dug a good trench and set up the
axes, one long trench for them all, and over it he made
straight the line and round about stamped in the earth. And
amazement fell on all that beheld how orderly he set the
axes, though never before had he seen it so. Then he went
and stood by the threshold and began to prove the bow.
Thrice he made it to tremble in his great desire to draw
it, and thrice he rested from his effort, though still he
hoped in his heart to string the bow, and shoot through the
iron. And now at last he might have strung it, mightily
straining thereat for the fourth time, but Odysseus nodded
frowning and stayed him, for all his eagerness. Then the
strong prince Telemachus spake among them again:
'Lo you now, even to the end of my days I shall be a coward
and a weakling, or it may be I am too young, and have as
yet no trust in my hands to defend me from such an one as
does violence without a cause. But come now, ye who are
mightier men than I, essay the bow and let us make an end
of the contest.'
Therewith he put the bow from him on the ground, leaning it
against the smooth and well-compacted doors, and the swift
shaft he propped hard by against the fair bow-tip, and then
he sat down once more on the high seat, whence he had
risen.
Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spake among them, saying:
'Rise up in order, all my friends, beginning from the left,
even from the place whence the wine is poured.'
So spake Antinous, and the saying pleased them well. Then
first stood up Leiodes, son of Oenops, who was their
soothsayer and ever sat by the fair mixing bowl at the
extremity of the hall; he alone hated their infatuate deeds
and was indignant with all the wooers. He now first took
the bow and the swift shaft, and he went and stood by the
threshold, and began to prove the bow; but he could not
bend it; or ever that might be, his hands grew weary with
the straining, his unworn, delicate hands; so he spake
among the wooers, saying:
'Friends, of a truth I cannot bend it, let some other take
it. Ah, many of our bravest shall this bow rob of spirit
and of life, since truly it is far better for us to die,
than to live on and to fail of that for which we assemble
evermore in this place, day by day expecting the prize.
Many there be even now that hope in their hearts and desire
to wed Penelope, the bedfellow of Odysseus: but when such
an one shall make trial of the bow and see the issue,
thereafter let him woo some other fair-robed Achaean woman
with his bridal gifts and seek to win her. So may our lady
wed the man that gives most gifts, and comes as the chosen
of fate.'
So he spake, and put from him the bow leaning it against
the smooth and well-compacted doors, and the swift shaft he
propped hard by against the fair bow-tip, and then he sat
down once more on the high seat, whence he had risen.
But Antinous rebuked him, and spake and hailed him:
'Leiodes, what word hath escaped the door of thy lips; a
hard word, and a grievous? Nay, it angers me to hear it,
and to think that a bow such as this shall rob our bravest
of spirit and of life, and all because thou canst not draw
it. For I tell thee that thy lady mother bare thee not of
such might as to draw a bow and shoot arrows: but there be
others of the proud wooers that shall draw it soon.'
So he spake, and commanded Melanthius, the goatherd,
saying: 'Up now, light a fire in the halls, Melanthius; and
place a great settle by the fire and a fleece thereon, and
bring forth a great ball of lard that is within, that we
young men may warm and anoint the bow therewith and prove
it, and make an end of the contest.'
So he spake, and Melanthius soon kindled the never-resting
fire, and drew up a settle and placed it near, and put a
fleece thereon, and he brought forth a great ball of lard
that was within. Therewith the young men warmed the bow,
and made essay, but could not string it, for they were
greatly lacking of such might. And Antinous still held to
the task and godlike Eurymachus, chief men among the
wooers, who were far the most excellent of all.
But those other twain went forth both together from the
house, the neatherd and the swineherd of godlike Odysseus;
and Odysseus passed out after them. But when they were now
gotten without the gates and the courtyard, he uttered his
voice and spake to them in gentle words:
'Neatherd and thou swineherd, shall I say somewhat or keep
it to myself? Nay, my spirit bids me declare it. What
manner of men would ye be to help Odysseus, if he should
come thus suddenly, I know not whence, and some god were to
bring him? Would ye stand on the side of the wooers or of
Odysseus? Tell me even as your heart and spirit bid you.'
Then the neatherd answered him, saying: 'Father Zeus, if
but thou wouldst fulfil this wish: {*}--oh, that that man
might come, and some god lead him hither! So shouldest thou
know what my might is, and how my hands follow to obey.'
{* Placing a colon at [Greek]}
In like manner Eumaeus prayed to all the gods that wise
Odysseus might return to his own home.
Now when he knew for a surety what spirit they were of,
once more he answered and spake to them, saying:
'Behold, home am I come, even I; after much travail and
sore am I come in the twentieth year to mine own country.
And I know how that my coming is desired by you alone of
all my thralls, for from none besides have I heard a prayer
that I might return once more to my home. And now I will
tell you all the truth, even as it shall come to pass. If
the god shall subdue the proud wooers to my hands, I will
bring you each one a wife, and will give you a heritage of
your own and a house builded near to me, and ye twain shall
be thereafter in mine eyes as the brethren and companions
of Telemachus. But behold, I will likewise show you a most
manifest token, that ye may know me well and be certified
in heart, even the wound that the boar dealt me with his
white tusk long ago, when I went to Parnassus with the sons
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
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
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.
The killing of the wooers.
Then Odysseus of many counsels stripped him of his rags and
leaped on to the great threshold with his bow and quiver
full of arrows, and poured forth all the swift shafts there
before his feet, and spake among the wooers:
'Lo, now is this terrible trial ended at last; and now will
I know of another mark, which never yet man has smitten, if
perchance I may hit it and Apollo grant me renown.'
With that he pointed the bitter arrow at Antinous. Now he
was about raising to his lips a fair twy-eared chalice of
gold, and behold, he was handling it to drink of the wine,
and death was far from his thoughts. For who among men at
feast would deem that one man amongst so many, how hardy
soever he were, would bring on him foul death and black
fate? But Odysseus aimed and smote him with the arrow in
the throat, and the point passed clean out through his
delicate neck, and he fell sidelong and the cup dropped
from his hand as he was smitten, and at once through his
nostrils there came up a thick jet of slain man's blood,
and quickly he spurned the table from him with his foot,
and spilt the food on the ground, and the bread and the
roast flesh were defiled. Then the wooers raised a clamour
through the halls when they saw the man fallen, and they
leaped from their high seats, as men stirred by fear, all
through the hall, peering everywhere along the well-builded
walls, and nowhere was there a shield or mighty spear to
lay hold on. Then they reviled Odysseus with angry words:
'Stranger, thou shootest at men to thy hurt. Never again
shalt thou enter other lists, now is utter doom assured
thee. Yea, for now hast thou slain the man that was far the
best of all the noble youths in Ithaca; wherefore vultures
shall devour thee here.'
So each one spake, for indeed they thought that Odysseus
had not slain him wilfully; but they knew not in their
folly that on their own heads, each and all of them, the
bands of death had been made fast. Then Odysseus of many
counsels looked fiercely on them, and spake:
'Ye dogs, ye said in your hearts that I should never more
come home from the land of the Trojans, in that ye wasted
my house, and lay with the maidservants by force, and
traitorously wooed my wife while I was yet alive, and ye
had no fear of the gods, that hold the wide heaven, nor of
the indignation of men hereafter. But now the bands of
death have been made fast upon you one and all.'
Even so he spake, and pale fear gat hold on the limbs of
all, and each man looked about, where he might shun utter
doom. And Eurymachus alone answered him, and spake: 'If
thou art indeed Odysseus of Ithaca, come home again, with
right thou speakest thus, of all that the Achaeans have
wrought, many infatuate deeds in thy halls and many in the
field. Howbeit, he now lies dead that is to blame for all,
Antinous; for he brought all these things upon us, not as
longing very greatly for the marriage nor needing it sore,
but with another purpose, that Cronion has not fulfilled
for him, namely, that he might himself be king over all the
land of stablished Ithaca, and he was to have lain in wait
for thy son and killed him. But now he is slain after his
deserving, and do thou spare thy people, even thine own;
and we will hereafter go about the township and yield thee
amends for all that has been eaten and drunken in thy
halls, each for himself bringing atonement of twenty oxen
worth, and requiting thee in gold and bronze till thy heart
is softened, but till then none may blame thee that thou
art angry.'
Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on him, and
said: 'Eurymachus, not even if ye gave me all your
heritage, all that ye now have, and whatsoever else ye
might in any wise add thereto, not even so would I
henceforth hold my hands from slaying, ere the wooers had
paid for all their transgressions. And now the choice lies
before you, whether to fight in fair battle or to fly, if
any may avoid death and the fates. But there be some,
methinks, that shall not escape from utter doom.'
He spake, and their knees were straightway loosened and
their hearts melted within them. And Eurymachus spake among
them yet again:
'Friends, it is plain that this man will not hold his
unconquerable hands, but now that he has caught up the
polished bow and quiver, he will shoot from the smooth
threshold, till he has slain us all; wherefore let us take
thought for the delight of battle. Draw your blades, and
hold up the tables to ward off the arrows of swift death,
and let us all have at him with one accord, and drive him,
if it may be, from the threshold and the doorway and then
go through the city, and quickly would the cry be raised.
Thereby should this man soon have shot his latest bolt.'
Therewith he drew his sharp two-edged sword of bronze, and
leapt on Odysseus with a terrible cry, but in the same
moment goodly Odysseus shot the arrow forth and struck him
on the breast by the pap, and drave the swift shaft into
his liver. So he let the sword fall from his hand, and
grovelling over the table he bowed and fell, and spilt the
food and the two-handled cup on the floor. And in his agony
he smote the ground with his brow, and spurning with both
his feet he overthrew the high seat, and the mist of death
was shed upon his eyes.
Then Amphinomus made at renowned Odysseus, setting straight
at him, and drew his sharp sword, if perchance he might
make him give ground from the door. But Telemachus was
beforehand with him, and cast and smote him from behind
with a bronze-shod spear between the shoulders, and drave
it out through the breast, and he fell with a crash and
struck the ground full with his forehead. Then Telemachus
sprang away, leaving the long spear fixed in Amphinomus,
for he greatly dreaded lest one of the Achaeans might run
upon him with his blade, and stab him as he drew forth the
spear, or smite him with a down stroke {*} of the sword. So
he started and ran and came quickly to his father, and
stood by him, and spake winged words:
{* Or, reading [Greek], smite him as he stooped over the
'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
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
Then wise Telemachus answered him: 'My father, it is I that
have erred herein and none other is to blame, for I left
the well-fitted door of the chamber open, and there has
been one of them but too quick to spy it. Go now, goodly
Eumaeus, and close the door of the chamber, and mark if it
be indeed one of the women that does this mischief, or
Melanthius, son of Dolius, as methinks it is.'
Even so they spake one to the other. And Melanthius, the
goatherd, went yet again to the chamber to bring the fair
armour. But the goodly swineherd was ware thereof, and
quickly he spake to Odysseus who stood nigh him:
'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus, of many
devices, lo, there again is that baleful man, whom we
ourselves suspect, going to the chamber; do thou tell me
truly, shall I slay him if I prove the better man, or bring
him hither to thee, that he may pay for the many
transgressions that he has devised in thy house?'
Then Odysseus of many counsels answered saying: 'Verily, I
and Telemachus will keep the proud wooers within the halls,
for all their fury, but do ye twain tie his feet and arms
behind his back and cast him into the chamber, and close
the doors after you,{*} and make fast to his body a twisted
rope, and drag him up the lofty pillar till he be near the
roof beams, that he may hang there and live for long, and
suffer grievous torment.'
{* Or, as Mr. Merry suggests in his note, 'tie boards
behind him' as a method of torture. He compares Aristoph.
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
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
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
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
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.
Odysseus maketh himself known to Penelope, tells his
adventures briefly, and in the morning goes to Laertes
and makes himself known to him.
Then the ancient woman went up into the upper chamber
laughing aloud, to tell her mistress how her dear lord was
within, and her knees moved fast for joy, and her feet
stumbled one over the other; and she stood above the lady's
head and spake to her, saying:
'Awake, Penelope, dear child, that thou mayest see with
thine own eyes that which thou desirest day by day.
Odysseus hath come, and hath got him to his own house,
though late hath he come, and hath slain the proud wooers
that troubled his house, and devoured his substance, and
oppressed his child.'
Then wise Penelope answered her: 'Dear nurse, the gods have
made thee distraught, the gods that can make foolish even
the wisdom of the wise, and that stablish the simple in
understanding. They it is that have marred thy reason,
though heretofore thou hadst a prudent heart. Why dost thou
mock me, who have a spirit full of sorrow, to speak these
wild words, and rousest me out of sweet slumber, that had
bound me and overshadowed mine eyelids? Never yet have I
slept so sound since the day that Odysseus went forth to
see that evil Ilios, never to be named. Go to now, get thee
down and back to the women's chamber, for if any other of
the maids of my house had come and brought me such tidings,
and wakened me from sleep, straightway would I have sent
her back woefully to return within the women's chamber; but
this time thine old age shall stand thee in good stead.'
Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered her: 'I mock thee
not, dear child, but in very deed Odysseus is here, and
hath come home, even as I tell thee. He is that guest on
whom all men wrought such dishonour in the halls. But long
ago Telemachus was ware of him, that he was within the
house, yet in his prudence he hid the counsels of his
father, that he might take vengeance on the violence of the
haughty wooers.'
Thus she spake, and then was Penelope glad, and leaping
from her bed she fell on the old woman's neck, and let fall
the tears from her eyelids, and uttering her voice spake to
her winged words: 'Come, dear nurse, I pray thee, tell me
all truly--if indeed he hath come home as thou sayest--how
he hath laid his hands on the shameless wooers, he being
but one man, while they abode ever in their companies
within the house.'
Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered her: 'I saw not, I
wist not, only I heard the groaning of men slain. And we in
an inmost place of the well-builded chambers sat all
amazed, and the close-fitted doors shut in the room, till
thy son called me from the chamber, for his father sent him
out to that end. Then I found Odysseus standing among the
slain, who around him, stretched on the hard floor, lay one
upon the other; it would have comforted thy heart to see
him, all stained like a lion with blood and soil of battle.
And now are all the wooers gathered in an heap by the gates
of the court, while he is purifying his fair house with
brimstone, and hath kindled a great fire, and hath sent me
forth to call thee. So come with me, that ye may both enter
into your heart's delight, {*} for ye have suffered much
affliction. And even now hath this thy long desire been
fulfilled; thy lord hath come alive to his own hearth, and
hath found both thee and his son in the halls; and the
wooers that wrought him evil he hath slain, every man of
them in his house.'
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
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
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.
The Ithacans bury the wooers, and sitting in council
resolve on revenge. And coming near the house of Laertes,
are met by Odysseus, and Laertes with Telemachus and
servants, the whole number twelve, and are overcome,
and submit.
Now Cyllenian Hermes called forth from the halls the souls
of the wooers, and he held in his hand his wand that is
fair and golden, wherewith he lulls the eyes of men, of
whomso he will, while others again he even wakens out of
sleep. Herewith he roused and led the souls who followed
gibbering. And even as bats flit gibbering in the secret
place of a wondrous cave, when one has fallen down from the
cluster on the rock, where they cling each to each up
aloft, even so the souls gibbered as they fared together,
and Hermes, the helper, led them down the dank ways. Past
the streams of Oceanus and the White Rock, past the gates
of the Sun they sped and the land of dreams, and soon they
came to the mead of asphodel, where dwell the souls, the
phantoms of men outworn. There they found the soul of
Achilles son of Peleus, and the souls of Patroclus, and of
noble Antilochus, and of Aias, who in face and form was
goodliest of all the Danaans after the noble son of Peleus.
So these were flocking round Achilles, and the spirit of
Agamemnon, son of Atreus, drew nigh sorrowful; and about
him were gathered all the other shades, as many as perished
with him in the house of Aegisthus, and met their doom.
Now the soul of the son of Peleus spake to him first,
saying:
'Son of Atreus, verily we deemed that thou above all other
heroes wast evermore dear to Zeus, whose joy is in the
thunder, seeing that thou wast lord over warriors, many and
mighty men, in the land of the Trojans where we Achaeans
suffered affliction. But lo, thee too was deadly doom to
visit early, {*} the doom that none avoids of all men born.
Ah, would that in the fulness of thy princely honour, thou
hadst met death and fate in the land of the Trojans! So
would all the Achaean host have builded thee a barrow, yea
and for thy son thou wouldst have won great glory in the
aftertime. But now it has been decreed for thee to perish
by a most pitiful death.'
Then the soul of the son of Atreus answered, and spake:
'Happy art thou son of Peleus, godlike Achilles, that didst
die in Troy-land far from Argos, and about thee fell
others, the best of the sons of Trojans and Achaeans,
fighting for thy body; but thou in the whirl of dust layest
mighty and mightily fallen, forgetful of thy chivalry. And
we strove the livelong day, nor would we ever have ceased
from the fight, if Zeus had not stayed us with a tempest.
Anon when we had borne thee to the ships from out of the
battle, we laid thee on a bier and washed thy fair flesh
clean with warm water and unguents, and around thee the
Danaans shed many a hot tear and shore their hair. And
forth from the sea came thy mother with the deathless
maidens of the waters, when they heard the tidings; and a
wonderful wailing rose over the deep, and trembling fell on
the limbs of all the Achaeans. Yea, and they would have
sprung up and departed to the hollow ships, had not one
held them back that knew much lore from of old, Nestor,
whose counsel proved heretofore the best. Out of his good
will he made harangue, and spake among them:
'"Hold, ye Argives, flee not, young lords of the Achaeans.
Lo, his mother from the sea is she that comes, with the
deathless maidens of the waters, to behold the face of her
dead son."
'So he spake, and the high-hearted Achaeans ceased from
their flight. Then round thee stood the daughters of the
ancient one of the sea, holding a pitiful lament, and they
clad thee about in raiment incorruptible. And all the nine
Muses one to the other replying with sweet voices began the
dirge; there thou wouldest not have seen an Argive but
wept, so mightily rose up the clear chant. Thus for
seventeen days and nights continually did we all bewail
thee, immortal gods and mortal men. On the eighteenth day
we gave thy body to the flames, and many well-fatted sheep
we slew around thee, and kine of shambling gait. So thou
wert burned in the garments of the gods, and in much
unguents and in sweet honey, and many heroes of the
Achaeans moved mail-clad around the pyre when thou wast
burning, both footmen and horse, and great was the noise
that arose. But when the flame of Hephaestus had utterly
abolished thee, lo, in the morning we gathered together thy
white bones, Achilles, and bestowed them in unmixed wine
and in unguents. Thy mother gave a twy-handled golden urn,
and said that it was the gift of Dionysus, and the
workmanship of renowned Hephaestus. Therein lie thy white
bones, great Achilles, and mingled therewith the bones of
Patroclus son of Menoetias, that is dead, but apart is the
dust of Antilochus, whom thou didst honour above all thy
other companions, after Patroclus that was dead. Then over
them did we pile a great and goodly tomb, we the holy host
of Argive warriors, high on a jutting headland over wide
Hellespont, that it might be far seen from off the sea by
men that now are, and by those that shall be hereafter.
Then thy mother asked the gods for glorious prizes in the
games, and set them in the midst of the lists for the
champions of the Achaeans. In days past thou hast been at
the funeral games of many a hero, whenso, after some king's
death, the young men gird themselves and make them ready
for the meed of victory; but couldst thou have seen these
gifts thou wouldst most have marvelled in spirit, such
glorious prizes did the goddess set there to honour thee,
even Thetis, the silver-footed; for very dear wert thou to
the gods. Thus not even in death hast thou lost thy name,
but to thee shall be a fair renown for ever among all men,
Achilles. But what joy have I now herein, that I have wound
up the clew of war, for on my return Zeus devised for me an
evil end at the hands of Aegisthus and my wife accursed?'
So they spake one to the other. And nigh them came the
Messenger, the slayer of Argos, leading down the ghosts of
the wooers by Odysseus slain, and the two heroes were
amazed at the sight and went straight toward them. And the
soul of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, knew the dear son of
Melaneus, renowned Amphimedon, who had been his host,
having his dwelling in Ithaca. The soul of the son of
Atreus spake to him first, saying:
'Amphimedon, what hath befallen you, that ye have come
beneath the darkness of earth, all of you picked men and of
like age? it is even as though one should choose out and
gather together the best warriors in a city. Did Poseidon
smite you in your ships and rouse up contrary winds and the
long waves? Or did unfriendly men, perchance, do you hurt
upon the land as ye were cutting off their oxen and fair
flocks of sheep, or while they fought to defend their city
and the women thereof? Answer and tell me, for I avow me a
friend of thy house. Rememberest thou not the day when I
came to your house in Ithaca with godlike Menelaus, to urge
Odysseus to follow with me to Ilios on the decked ships?
And it was a full month ere we had sailed all across the
wide sea, for scarce could we win to our cause Odysseus,
waster of cities.'
Then the ghost of Amphimedon answered him, and spake: 'Most
famous son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, I remember
all these things, O fosterling of Zeus, as thou declarest
them, and I in turn will tell thee all the tale well and
truly, even our death and evil end, on what wise it befell.
We wooed the wife of Odysseus that was long afar, and she
neither refused the hated bridal nor was minded to make an
end, devising for us death and black fate. Also this other
wile she contrived in her heart. She set up in her halls a
mighty web, fine of woof and very wide, whereat she would
weave, and anon she spake among us:
'"Ye princely youths, my wooers, now that goodly Odysseus
is dead, do ye abide patiently, how eager soever to speed
on this marriage of mine, till I finish the robe. I would
not that the threads perish to no avail, even this shroud
for the hero Laertes, against the day when the ruinous doom
shall bring him low, of death that lays men at their
length. So shall none of the Achaean women in the land
count it blame in me, as well might be, were he to lie
without a winding-sheet, a man that had gotten great
possessions."
'So spake she, and our high hearts consented thereto. So
then in the daytime she would weave the mighty web, and in
the night unravel the same, when she had let place the
torches by her. Thus for the space of three years she hid
the thing by guile and won the minds of the Achaeans; but
when the fourth year arrived and the seasons came round, as
the months waned and many days were accomplished, then it
was that one of her women who knew all declared it, and we
found her unravelling the splendid web. Thus she finished
it perforce and sore against her will. Now when she brought
the robe to light, after she had woven the great web and
washed it, and it shone even as sun or moon, at that very
hour some evil god led Odysseus, I know not whence, to the
upland farm, where the swineherd abode in his dwelling.
Thither too came the dear son of divine Odysseus out of
sandy Pylos, voyaging with his black ship. These twain
framed an evil death for the wooers, and came to the
renowned town. Odysseus verily came the later, and
Telemachus went before and led the way. Now the swineherd
brought Odysseus clad in vile raiment, in the likeness of a
beggar, a wretched man and an old, leaning on a staff, and
behold, he was clad about in sorry raiment. And none of us,
not even the elders, could know him for that he was, on
this his sudden appearing, but with evil words we assailed
him and hurled things at him. Yet for a while he hardened
his heart to endure both the hurlings and the evil words in
his own halls; but at the last, when the spirit of Zeus,
lord of the aegis, aroused him, by the help of Telemachus
he took up all the goodly weapons, and laid them by in the
inner chamber and drew the bolts. Next in his great craft
he bade his wife to offer his bow and store of grey iron to
the wooers to be the weapons of our contest, luckless that
we were, and the beginning of death. Now not one of us
could stretch the string of the strong bow; far short we
fell of that might. But when the great bow came to the
hands of Odysseus, then we all clamoured and forbade to
give him the bow, how much soever he might speak, but
Telemachus alone was instant with him and commanded him to
take it. Then he took the bow into his hands, the steadfast
goodly Odysseus, and lightly he strung it, and sent the
arrow through the iron. Then straight he went to the
threshold and there took his stand, and poured forth the
swift arrows, glancing terribly around, and smote the king
Antinous. Thereafter on the others he let fly his bolts,
winged for death, with straight aim, and the wooers fell
thick one upon another. Then was it known how that some god
was their helper, for pressing on as their passion drave
them, they slew the men right and left through the halls,
and thence there arose a hideous moaning, as heads were
smitten and the floor all ran with blood. So we perished,
Agamemnon, and even now our bodies lie uncared for in the
halls of Odysseus, for the friends of each one at home as
yet know nought, even they who might wash the black-clotted
blood out of our wounds, and lay out the bodies and wail
the dirge, for that is the due of the dead.'
Then the ghost of the son of Atreus answered him: 'Ah,
happy son of Laertes, Odysseus of many devices, yea, for a
wife most excellent hast thou gotten, so good was the
wisdom of constant Penelope, daughter of Icarius, that was
duly mindful of Odysseus, her wedded lord. Wherefore the
fame of her virtue shall never perish, but the immortals
will make a gracious song in the ears of men on earth to
the fame of constant Penelope. In far other wise did the
daughter of Tyndareus devise ill deeds, and slay her wedded
lord, and hateful shall the song of her be among men, and
an evil repute hath she brought upon all womankind, even on
the upright.'
Even so these twain spake one to the other, standing in the
house of Hades, beneath the secret places of the earth.
Now when those others had gone down from the city, quickly
they came to the rich and well-ordered farm land of
Laertes, that he had won for himself of old, as the prize
of great toil in war. There was his house, and all about it
ran the huts wherein the thralls were wont to eat and dwell
and sleep, bondsmen that worked his will. And in the house
there was an old Sicilian woman, who diligently cared for
the old man, in the upland far from the city. There
Odysseus spake to his thralls and to his son, saying:
'Do ye now get you within the well-builded house, and
quickly sacrifice the best of the swine for the midday
meal, but I will make trial of my father, whether he will
know me again and be aware of me when he sees me, or know
me not, so long have I been away,'
Therewith he gave the thralls his weapons of war. Then they
went speedily to the house, while Odysseus drew near to the
fruitful vineyard to make trial of his father. Now he found
not Dolius there, as he went down into the great garden,
nor any of the thralls nor of their sons. It chanced that
they had all gone to gather stones for a garden fence, and
the old man at their head. So he found his father alone in
the terraced vineyard, digging about a plant. He was
clothed in a filthy doublet, patched and unseemly, with
clouted leggings of oxhide bound about his legs, against
the scratches of the thorns, and long sleeves over his
hands by reason of the brambles, and on his head he wore a
goatskin cap, and so he nursed his sorrow. Now when the
steadfast goodly Odysseus saw his father thus wasted with
age and in great grief of heart, he stood still beneath a
tall pear tree and let fall a tear. Then he communed with
his heart and soul, whether he should fall on his father's
neck and kiss him, and tell him all, how he had returned
and come to his own country, or whether he should first
question him and prove him in every word. And as he thought
within himself, this seemed to him the better way, namely,
first to prove his father and speak to him sharply. So with
this intent the goodly Odysseus went up to him. Now he was
holding his head down and kept digging about the plant,
while his renowned son stood by him and spake, saying:
'Old man, thou hast no lack of skill in tending a garden;
lo, thou carest well for all, {*} nor is there aught
whatsoever, either plant or fig-tree, or vine, yea, or
olive, or pear, or garden-bed in all the close, that is not
well seen to. Yet another thing will I tell thee and lay
not up wrath thereat in thy heart. Thyself art scarce so
well cared for, but a pitiful old age is on thee, and
withal thou art withered and unkempt, and clad unseemly. It
cannot be to punish thy sloth that thy master cares not for
thee; there shows nothing of the slave about thy face and
stature, for thou art like a kingly man, even like one who
should lie soft, when he has washed and eaten well, as is
the manner of the aged. But come declare me this and
plainly tell it all. Whose thrall art thou, and whose
garden dost thou tend? Tell me moreover truly, that I may
surely know, if it be indeed to Ithaca that I am now come,
as one yonder told me who met with me but now on the way
hither. He was but of little understanding, for he deigned
not to tell me all nor to heed my saying, when I questioned
him concerning my friend, whether indeed he is yet alive or
is even now dead and within the house of Hades. For I will
declare it and do thou mark and listen: once did I kindly
entreat a man in mine own dear country, who came to our
home, and never yet has any mortal been dearer of all the
strangers that have drawn to my house from afar. He
declared him to be by lineage from out of Ithaca, and said
that his own father was Laertes son of Arceisius. So I led
him to our halls and gave him good entertainment, with all
loving-kindness, out of the plenty that was within. Such
gifts too I gave him as are the due of guests; of well
wrought gold I gave him seven talents, and a mixing bowl of
flowered work, all of silver, and twelve cloaks of single
fold, and as many coverlets, and as many goodly mantles and
doublets to boot, and besides all these, four women skilled
in all fair works and most comely, the women of his
{* Supplying [Greek] from the preceding clause as object to
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
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
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
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
His fertile waters, murmuring evermore
Of gods dethroned, and empires of the Past.