{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_1727/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_1727","id":"gutenberg_1727","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1727","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Poetry","Classical Antiquity","Epic poetry, Greek -- Translations into English","Harvard Classics","Homer -- Translations into English","Odysseus, King of Ithaca (Mythological character)"],"text":"[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Odyssey\n\nby Homer\n\nrendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the\noriginal\n\nContents\n\n PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION\n PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION\n THE ODYSSEY\n BOOK I.\n BOOK II.\n BOOK III.\n BOOK IV.\n BOOK V.\n BOOK VI.\n BOOK VII.\n BOOK VIII.\n BOOK IX.\n BOOK X.\n BOOK XI.\n BOOK XII.\n BOOK XIII.\n BOOK XIV.\n BOOK XV.\n BOOK XVI.\n BOOK XVII.\n BOOK XVIII.\n BOOK XIX.\n BOOK XX.\n BOOK XXI.\n BOOK XXII.\n BOOK XXIII.\n BOOK XXIV.\n FOOTNOTES:\n\n\nAL PROFESSORE\nCAV. BIAGIO INGROIA,\nPREZIOSO ALLEATO\nL\u2019AUTORE RICONOSCENTE.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO FIRST EDITION\n\n\nThis translation is intended to supplement a work entitled \u201cThe\nAuthoress of the Odyssey\u201d, which I published in 1897. I could not give\nthe whole \u201cOdyssey\u201d in that book without making it unwieldy, I\ntherefore epitomised my translation, which was already completed and\nwhich I now publish in full.\n\nI shall not here argue the two main points dealt with in the work just\nmentioned; I have nothing either to add to, or to withdraw from, what I\nhave there written. The points in question are:\n\n(1) that the \u201cOdyssey\u201d was written entirely at, and drawn entirely\nfrom, the place now called Trapani on the West Coast of Sicily, alike\nas regards the Phaeacian and the Ithaca scenes; while the voyages of\nUlysses, when once he is within easy reach of Sicily, solve themselves\ninto a periplus of the island, practically from Trapani back to\nTrapani, via the Lipari islands, the Straits of Messina, and the island\nof Pantellaria.\n\n(2) That the poem was entirely written by a very young woman, who lived\nat the place now called Trapani, and introduced herself into her work\nunder the name of Nausicaa.\n\nThe main arguments on which I base the first of these somewhat\nstartling contentions, have been prominently and repeatedly before the\nEnglish and Italian public ever since they appeared (without rejoinder)\nin the \u201cAthenaeum\u201d for January 30 and February 20, 1892. Both\ncontentions were urged (also without rejoinder) in the Johnian \u201cEagle\u201d\nfor the Lent and October terms of the same year. Nothing to which I\nshould reply has reached me from any quarter, and knowing how anxiously\nI have endeavoured to learn the existence of any flaws in my argument,\nI begin to feel some confidence that, did such flaws exist, I should\nhave heard, at any rate about some of them, before now. Without,\ntherefore, for a moment pretending to think that scholars generally\nacquiesce in my conclusions, I shall act as thinking them little likely\nso to gainsay me as that it will be incumbent upon me to reply, and\nshall confine myself to translating the \u201cOdyssey\u201d for English readers,\nwith such notes as I think will be found useful. Among these I would\nespecially call attention to one on xxii. 465-473 which Lord Grimthorpe\nhas kindly allowed me to make public.\n\nI have repeated several of the illustrations used in \u201cThe Authoress of\nthe Odyssey\u201d, and have added two which I hope may bring the outer court\nof Ulysses\u2019 house more vividly before the reader. I should like to\nexplain that the presence of a man and a dog in one illustration is\naccidental, and was not observed by me till I developed the negative.\nIn an appendix I have also reprinted the paragraphs explanatory of the\nplan of Ulysses\u2019 house, together with the plan itself. The reader is\nrecommended to study this plan with some attention.\n\nIn the preface to my translation of the \u201cIliad\u201d I have given my views\nas to the main principles by which a translator should be guided, and\nneed not repeat them here, beyond pointing out that the initial liberty\nof translating poetry into prose involves the continual taking of more\nor less liberty throughout the translation; for much that is right in\npoetry is wrong in prose, and the exigencies of readable prose are the\nfirst things to be considered in a prose translation. That the reader,\nhowever, may see how far I have departed from strict construe, I will\nprint here Messrs. Butcher and Lang\u2019s translation of the sixty lines or\nso of the \u201cOdyssey.\u201d Their translation runs:\n\nTell me, Muse, of that man, so ready at need, who wandered far and\nwide, after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy, and many were the\nmen whose towns he saw and whose mind he learnt, yea, and many the woes\nhe suffered in his heart on the deep, striving to win his own life and\nthe return of his company. Nay, but even so he saved not his company,\nthough he desired it sore. For through the blindness of their own\nhearts they perished, fools, who devoured the oxen of Helios Hyperion:\nbut the god took from them their day of returning. Of these things,\ngoddess, daughter of Zeus, whencesoever thou hast heard thereof,\ndeclare thou even unto us.\n\n    Now all the rest, as many as fled from sheer destruction, were at\n    home, and had escaped both war and sea, but Odysseus only, craving\n    for his wife and for his homeward path, the lady nymph Calypso\n    held, that fair goddess, in her hollow caves, longing to have him\n    for her lord. But when now the year had come in the courses of the\n    seasons, wherein the gods had ordained that he should return home\n    to Ithaca, not even there was he quit of labours, not even among\n    his own; but all the gods had pity on him save Poseidon, who raged\n    continually against godlike Odysseus, till he came to his own\n    country. Howbeit Poseidon had now departed for the distant\n    Ethiopians, the Ethiopians that are sundered in twain, the\n    uttermost of men, abiding some where Hyperion sinks and some where\n    he rises. There he looked to receive his hecatomb of bulls and\n    rams, there he made merry sitting at the feast, but the other gods\n    were gathered in the halls of Olympian Zeus. Then among them the\n    father of men and gods began to speak, for he bethought him in his\n    heart of noble Aegisthus, whom the son of Agamemnon, far-famed\n    Orestes, slew. Thinking upon him he spake out among the Immortals:\n    \u2018Lo you now, how vainly mortal men do blame the gods! For of us\n    they say comes evil, whereas they even of themselves, through the\n    blindness of their own hearts, have sorrows beyond that which is\n    ordained. Even as of late Aegisthus, beyond that which was\n    ordained, took to him the wedded wife of the son of Atreus, and\n    killed her lord on his return, and that with sheer doom before his\n    eyes, since we had warned him by the embassy of Hermes the\n    keen-sighted, the slayer of Argos, that he should neither kill the\n    man, nor woo his wife. For the son of Atreus shall be avenged at\n    the hand of Orestes, so soon as he shall come to man\u2019s estate and\n    long for his own country. So spake Hermes, yet he prevailed not on\n    the heart of Aegisthus, for all his good will; but now hath he paid\n    one price for all.\u2019\n\n    And the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him, saying: \u2018O father,\n    our father Cronides, throned in the highest; that man assuredly\n    lies in a death that is his due; so perish likewise all who work\n    such deeds! But my heart is rent for wise Odysseus, the hapless\n    one, who far from his friends this long while suffereth affliction\n    in a sea-girt isle, where is the navel of the sea, a woodland isle,\n    and therein a goddess hath her habitation, the daughter of the\n    wizard Atlas, who knows the depths of every sea, and himself\n    upholds the tall pillars which keep earth and sky asunder. His\n    daughter it is that holds the hapless man in sorrow: and ever with\n    soft and guileful tales she is wooing him to forgetfulness of\n    Ithaca. But Odysseus yearning to see if it were but the smoke leap\n    upwards from his own land, hath a desire to die. As for thee, thine\n    heart regardeth it not at all, Olympian! What! Did not Odysseus by\n    the ships of the Argives make thee free offering of sacrifice in\n    the wide Trojan land? Wherefore wast thou then so wroth with him, O\n    Zeus?\u2019\n\n\nThe \u201cOdyssey\u201d (as every one knows) abounds in passages borrowed from\nthe \u201cIliad\u201d; I had wished to print these in a slightly different type,\nwith marginal references to the \u201cIliad,\u201d and had marked them to this\nend in my MS. I found, however, that the translation would be thus\nhopelessly scholasticised, and abandoned my intention. I would\nnevertheless urge on those who have the management of our University\npresses, that they would render a great service to students if they\nwould publish a Greek text of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d with the Iliadic passages\nprinted in a different type, and with marginal references. I have given\nthe British Museum a copy of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d with the Iliadic passages\nunderlined and referred to in MS.; I have also given an \u201cIliad\u201d marked\nwith all the Odyssean passages, and their references; but copies of\nboth the \u201cIliad\u201d and \u201cOdyssey\u201d so marked ought to be within easy reach\nof all students.\n\nAny one who at the present day discusses the questions that have arisen\nround the \u201cIliad\u201d since Wolf\u2019s time, without keeping it well before his\nreader\u2019s mind that the \u201cOdyssey\u201d was demonstrably written from one\nsingle neighbourhood, and hence (even though nothing else pointed to\nthis conclusion) presumably by one person only\u2014that it was written\ncertainly before 750, and in all probability before 1000 B.C.\u2014that the\nwriter of this very early poem was demonstrably familiar with the\n\u201cIliad\u201d as we now have it, borrowing as freely from those books whose\ngenuineness has been most impugned, as from those which are admitted to\nbe by Homer\u2014any one who fails to keep these points before his readers,\nis hardly dealing equitably by them. Any one on the other hand, who\nwill mark his \u201cIliad\u201d and his \u201cOdyssey\u201d from the copies in the British\nMuseum above referred to, and who will draw the only inference that\ncommon sense can draw from the presence of so many identical passages\nin both poems, will, I believe, find no difficulty in assigning their\nproper value to a large number of books here and on the Continent that\nat present enjoy considerable reputations. Furthermore, and this\nperhaps is an advantage better worth securing, he will find that many\npuzzles of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d cease to puzzle him on the discovery that they\narise from over-saturation with the \u201cIliad.\u201d\n\nOther difficulties will also disappear as soon as the development of\nthe poem in the writer\u2019s mind is understood. I have dealt with this at\nsome length in pp. 251-261 of \u201cThe Authoress of the Odyssey\u201d. Briefly,\nthe \u201cOdyssey\u201d consists of two distinct poems: (1) The Return of\nUlysses, which alone the Muse is asked to sing in the opening lines of\nthe poem. This poem includes the Phaeacian episode, and the account of\nUlysses\u2019 adventures as told by himself in Books ix.-xii. It consists of\nlines 1-79 (roughly) of Book i., of line 28 of Book v., and thence\nwithout intermission to the middle of line 187 of Book xiii., at which\npoint the original scheme was abandoned.\n\n(2) The story of Penelope and the suitors, with the episode of\nTelemachus\u2019 voyage to Pylos. This poem begins with line 80 (roughly) of\nBook i., is continued to the end of Book iv., and not resumed till\nUlysses wakes in the middle of line 187, Book xiii., from whence it\ncontinues to the end of Book xxiv.\n\nIn \u201cThe Authoress of the Odyssey\u201d, I wrote:\n\nthe introduction of lines xi., 115-137 and of line ix., 535, with the\nwriting a new council of the gods at the beginning of Book v., to take\nthe place of the one that was removed to Book i., 1-79, were the only\nthings that were done to give even a semblance of unity to the old\nscheme and the new, and to conceal the fact that the Muse, after being\nasked to sing of one subject, spend two-thirds of her time in singing a\nvery different one, with a climax for which no-one has asked her. For\nroughly the Return occupies eight Books, and Penelope and the Suitors\nsixteen.\n\n\nI believe this to be substantially correct.\n\nLastly, to deal with a very unimportant point, I observe that the\nLeipsic Teubner edition of 894 makes Books ii. and iii. end with a\ncomma. Stops are things of such far more recent date than the\n\u201cOdyssey,\u201d that there does not seem much use in adhering to the text in\nso small a matter; still, from a spirit of mere conservatism, I have\npreferred to do so. Why [Greek] at the beginnings of Books ii. and\nviii., and [Greek], at the beginning of Book vii. should have initial\ncapitals in an edition far too careful to admit a supposition of\ninadvertence, when [Greek] at the beginning of Books vi. and xiii., and\n[Greek] at the beginning of Book xvii. have no initial capitals, I\ncannot determine. No other Books of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d have initial capitals\nexcept the three mentioned unless the first word of the Book is a\nproper name.\n\nS. BUTLER.\n\n\n_July_ 25, 1900.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO SECOND EDITION\n\n\nButler\u2019s Translation of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d appeared originally in 1900, and\nThe Authoress of the Odyssey in 1897. In the preface to the new edition\nof \u201cThe Authoress\u201d, which is published simultaneously with this new\nedition of the Translation, I have given some account of the genesis of\nthe two books.\n\nThe size of the original page has been reduced so as to make both books\nuniform with Butler\u2019s other works; and, fortunately, it has been\npossible, by using a smaller type, to get the same number of words into\neach page, so that the references remain good, and, with the exception\nof a few minor alterations and rearrangements now to be enumerated so\nfar as they affect the Translation, the new editions are faithful\nreprints of the original editions, with misprints and obvious errors\ncorrected\u2014no attempt having been made to edit them or to bring them up\nto date.\n\n(a) The Index has been revised.\n\n(b) Owing to the reduction in the size of the page it has been\nnecessary to shorten some of the headlines, and here advantage has been\ntaken of various corrections of and additions to the headlines and\nshoulder-notes made by Butler in his own copies of the two books.\n\n(c) For the most part each of the illustrations now occupies a page,\nwhereas in the original editions they generally appeared two on the\npage. It has been necessary to reduce the plan of the House of Ulysses.\n\nOn page 153 of \u201cThe Authoress\u201d Butler says: \u201cNo great poet would\ncompare his hero to a paunch full of blood and fat, cooking before the\nfire (xx, 24-28).\u201d This passage is not given in the abridged Story of\nthe \u201cOdyssey\u201d at the beginning of the book, but in the Translation it\noccurs in these words:\n\n\u201cThus he chided with his heart, and checked it into endurance, but he\ntossed about as one who turns a paunch full of blood and fat in front\nof a hot fire, doing it first on one side then on the other, that he\nmay get it cooked as soon as possible; even so did he turn himself\nabout from side to side, thinking all the time how, single-handed as he\nwas, he should contrive to kill so large a body of men as the wicked\nsuitors.\u201d\n\nIt looks as though in the interval between the publication of \u201cThe\nAuthoress\u201d (1897) and of the Translation (1900) Butler had changed his\nmind; for in the first case the comparison is between Ulysses and a\npaunch full, etc., and in the second it is between Ulysses and a man\nwho turns a paunch full, etc. The second comparison is perhaps one\nwhich a great poet might make.\n\nIn seeing the works through the press I have had the invaluable\nassistance of Mr. A. T. Bartholomew of the University Library,\nCambridge, and of Mr. Donald S. Robertson, Fellow of Trinity College,\nCambridge. To both these friends I give my most cordial thanks for the\ncare and skill exercised by them. Mr. Robertson has found time for the\nlabour of checking and correcting all the quotations from and\nreferences to the \u201cIliad\u201d and \u201cOdyssey,\u201d and I believe that it could\nnot have been better performed. It was, I know, a pleasure for him; and\nit would have been a pleasure also for Butler if he could have known\nthat his work was being shepherded by the son of his old friend, Mr. H.\nR. Robertson, who more than half a century ago was a fellow-student\nwith him at Cary\u2019s School of Art in Streatham Street, Bloomsbury.\n\nHENRY FESTING JONES.\n\n 120 MAIDA VALE, W.9.\n4th _December_, 1921.\n\nTHE ODYSSEY\n\n\n\n\nBOOK I\n\n\nTHE GODS IN COUNCIL\u2014MINERVA\u2019S VISIT TO ITHACA\u2014THE CHALLENGE FROM\nTELEMACHUS TO THE SUITORS.\n\n\nTell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide\nafter he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit,\nand many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was\nacquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his\nown life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could\nnot save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in\neating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them\nfrom ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, oh\ndaughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.\n\nSo now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely\nhome except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his\nwife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him\ninto a large cave and wanted to marry him. But as years went by, there\ncame a time when the gods settled that he should go back to Ithaca;\neven then, however, when he was among his own people, his troubles were\nnot yet over; nevertheless all the gods had now begun to pity him\nexcept Neptune, who still persecuted him without ceasing and would not\nlet him get home.\n\nNow Neptune had gone off to the Ethiopians, who are at the world\u2019s end,\nand lie in two halves, the one looking West and the other East.1 He had\ngone there to accept a hecatomb of sheep and oxen, and was enjoying\nhimself at his festival; but the other gods met in the house of\nOlympian Jove, and the sire of gods and men spoke first. At that moment\nhe was thinking of Aegisthus, who had been killed by Agamemnon\u2019s son\nOrestes; so he said to the other gods:\n\n\u201cSee now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is after all nothing\nbut their own folly. Look at Aegisthus; he must needs make love to\nAgamemnon\u2019s wife unrighteously and then kill Agamemnon, though he knew\nit would be the death of him; for I sent Mercury to warn him not to do\neither of these things, inasmuch as Orestes would be sure to take his\nrevenge when he grew up and wanted to return home. Mercury told him\nthis in all good will but he would not listen, and now he has paid for\neverything in full.\u201d\n\nThen Minerva said, \u201cFather, son of Saturn, King of kings, it served\nAegisthus right, and so it would any one else who does as he did; but\nAegisthus is neither here nor there; it is for Ulysses that my heart\nbleeds, when I think of his sufferings in that lonely sea-girt island,\nfar away, poor man, from all his friends. It is an island covered with\nforest, in the very middle of the sea, and a goddess lives there,\ndaughter of the magician Atlas, who looks after the bottom of the\nocean, and carries the great columns that keep heaven and earth\nasunder. This daughter of Atlas has got hold of poor unhappy Ulysses,\nand keeps trying by every kind of blandishment to make him forget his\nhome, so that he is tired of life, and thinks of nothing but how he may\nonce more see the smoke of his own chimneys. You, sir, take no heed of\nthis, and yet when Ulysses was before Troy did he not propitiate you\nwith many a burnt sacrifice? Why then should you keep on being so angry\nwith him?\u201d\n\nAnd Jove said, \u201cMy child, what are you talking about? How can I forget\nUlysses than whom there is no more capable man on earth, nor more\nliberal in his offerings to the immortal gods that live in heaven? Bear\nin mind, however, that Neptune is still furious with Ulysses for having\nblinded an eye of Polyphemus king of the Cyclopes. Polyphemus is son to\nNeptune by the nymph Thoosa, daughter to the sea-king Phorcys;\ntherefore though he will not kill Ulysses outright, he torments him by\npreventing him from getting home. Still, let us lay our heads together\nand see how we can help him to return; Neptune will then be pacified,\nfor if we are all of a mind he can hardly stand out against us.\u201d\n\nAnd Minerva said, \u201cFather, son of Saturn, King of kings, if, then, the\ngods now mean that Ulysses should get home, we should first send\nMercury to the Ogygian island to tell Calypso that we have made up our\nminds and that he is to return. In the meantime I will go to Ithaca, to\nput heart into Ulysses\u2019 son Telemachus; I will embolden him to call the\nAchaeans in assembly, and speak out to the suitors of his mother\nPenelope, who persist in eating up any number of his sheep and oxen; I\nwill also conduct him to Sparta and to Pylos, to see if he can hear\nanything about the return of his dear father\u2014for this will make people\nspeak well of him.\u201d\n\nSo saying she bound on her glittering golden sandals, imperishable,\nwith which she can fly like the wind over land or sea; she grasped the\nredoubtable bronze-shod spear, so stout and sturdy and strong,\nwherewith she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her, and\ndown she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus, whereon forthwith\nshe was in Ithaca, at the gateway of Ulysses\u2019 house, disguised as a\nvisitor, Mentes, chief of the Taphians, and she held a bronze spear in\nher hand. There she found the lordly suitors seated on hides of the\noxen which they had killed and eaten, and playing draughts in front of\nthe house. Men-servants and pages were bustling about to wait upon\nthem, some mixing wine with water in the mixing-bowls, some cleaning\ndown the tables with wet sponges and laying them out again, and some\ncutting up great quantities of meat.\n\nTelemachus saw her long before any one else did. He was sitting moodily\namong the suitors thinking about his brave father, and how he would\nsend them flying out of the house, if he were to come to his own again\nand be honoured as in days gone by. Thus brooding as he sat among them,\nhe caught sight of Minerva and went straight to the gate, for he was\nvexed that a stranger should be kept waiting for admittance. He took\nher right hand in his own, and bade her give him her spear. \u201cWelcome,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cto our house, and when you have partaken of food you shall\ntell us what you have come for.\u201d\n\nHe led the way as he spoke, and Minerva followed him. When they were\nwithin he took her spear and set it in the spear-stand against a strong\nbearing-post along with the many other spears of his unhappy father,\nand he conducted her to a richly decorated seat under which he threw a\ncloth of damask. There was a footstool also for her feet,2 and he set\nanother seat near her for himself, away from the suitors, that she\nmight not be annoyed while eating by their noise and insolence, and\nthat he might ask her more freely about his father.\n\nA maid servant then brought them water in a beautiful golden ewer and\npoured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands, and she\ndrew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them bread,\nand offered them many good things of what there was in the house, the\ncarver fetched them plates of all manner of meats and set cups of gold\nby their side, and a manservant brought them wine and poured it out for\nthem.\n\n\nThen the suitors came in and took their places on the benches and\nseats.3 Forthwith men servants poured water over their hands, maids\nwent round with the bread-baskets, pages filled the mixing-bowls with\nwine and water, and they laid their hands upon the good things that\nwere before them. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink they\nwanted music and dancing, which are the crowning embellishments of a\nbanquet, so a servant brought a lyre to Phemius, whom they compelled\nperforce to sing to them. As soon as he touched his lyre and began to\nsing Telemachus spoke low to Minerva, with his head close to hers that\nno man might hear.\n\n\u201cI hope, sir,\u201d said he, \u201cthat you will not be offended with what I am\ngoing to say. Singing comes cheap to those who do not pay for it, and\nall this is done at the cost of one whose bones lie rotting in some\nwilderness or grinding to powder in the surf. If these men were to see\nmy father come back to Ithaca they would pray for longer legs rather\nthan a longer purse, for money would not serve them; but he, alas, has\nfallen on an ill fate, and even when people do sometimes say that he is\ncoming, we no longer heed them; we shall never see him again. And now,\nsir, tell me and tell me true, who you are and where you come from.\nTell me of your town and parents, what manner of ship you came in, how\nyour crew brought you to Ithaca, and of what nation they declared\nthemselves to be\u2014for you cannot have come by land. Tell me also truly,\nfor I want to know, are you a stranger to this house, or have you been\nhere in my father\u2019s time? In the old days we had many visitors for my\nfather went about much himself.\u201d\n\nAnd Minerva answered, \u201cI will tell you truly and particularly all about\nit. I am Mentes, son of Anchialus, and I am King of the Taphians. I\nhave come here with my ship and crew, on a voyage to men of a foreign\ntongue being bound for Temesa4 with a cargo of iron, and I shall bring\nback copper. As for my ship, it lies over yonder off the open country\naway from the town, in the harbour Rheithron5 under the wooded mountain\nNeritum.6 Our fathers were friends before us, as old Laertes will tell\nyou, if you will go and ask him. They say, however, that he never comes\nto town now, and lives by himself in the country, faring hardly, with\nan old woman to look after him and get his dinner for him, when he\ncomes in tired from pottering about his vineyard. They told me your\nfather was at home again, and that was why I came, but it seems the\ngods are still keeping him back, for he is not dead yet not on the\nmainland. It is more likely he is on some sea-girt island in mid ocean,\nor a prisoner among savages who are detaining him against his will. I\nam no prophet, and know very little about omens, but I speak as it is\nborne in upon me from heaven, and assure you that he will not be away\nmuch longer; for he is a man of such resource that even though he were\nin chains of iron he would find some means of getting home again. But\ntell me, and tell me true, can Ulysses really have such a fine looking\nfellow for a son? You are indeed wonderfully like him about the head\nand eyes, for we were close friends before he set sail for Troy where\nthe flower of all the Argives went also. Since that time we have never\neither of us seen the other.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy mother,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201ctells me I am son to Ulysses, but it\nis a wise child that knows his own father. Would that I were son to one\nwho had grown old upon his own estates, for, since you ask me, there is\nno more ill-starred man under heaven than he who they tell me is my\nfather.\u201d\n\nAnd Minerva said, \u201cThere is no fear of your race dying out yet, while\nPenelope has such a fine son as you are. But tell me, and tell me true,\nwhat is the meaning of all this feasting, and who are these people?\nWhat is it all about? Have you some banquet, or is there a wedding in\nthe family\u2014for no one seems to be bringing any provisions of his own?\nAnd the guests\u2014how atrociously they are behaving; what riot they make\nover the whole house; it is enough to disgust any respectable person\nwho comes near them.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d said Telemachus, \u201cas regards your question, so long as my father\nwas here it was well with us and with the house, but the gods in their\ndispleasure have willed it otherwise, and have hidden him away more\nclosely than mortal man was ever yet hidden. I could have borne it\nbetter even though he were dead, if he had fallen with his men before\nTroy, or had died with friends around him when the days of his fighting\nwere done; for then the Achaeans would have built a mound over his\nashes, and I should myself have been heir to his renown; but now the\nstorm-winds have spirited him away we know not whither; he is gone\nwithout leaving so much as a trace behind him, and I inherit nothing\nbut dismay. Nor does the matter end simply with grief for the loss of\nmy father; heaven has laid sorrows upon me of yet another kind; for the\nchiefs from all our islands, Dulichium, Same, and the woodland island\nof Zacynthus, as also all the principal men of Ithaca itself, are\neating up my house under the pretext of paying their court to my\nmother, who will neither point blank say that she will not marry,7 nor\nyet bring matters to an end; so they are making havoc of my estate, and\nbefore long will do so also with myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that so?\u201d exclaimed Minerva, \u201cthen you do indeed want Ulysses home\nagain. Give him his helmet, shield, and a couple of lances, and if he\nis the man he was when I first knew him in our house, drinking and\nmaking merry, he would soon lay his hands about these rascally suitors,\nwere he to stand once more upon his own threshold. He was then coming\nfrom Ephyra, where he had been to beg poison for his arrows from Ilus,\nson of Mermerus. Ilus feared the ever-living gods and would not give\nhim any, but my father let him have some, for he was very fond of him.\nIf Ulysses is the man he then was these suitors will have a short\nshrift and a sorry wedding.\n\n\u201cBut there! It rests with heaven to determine whether he is to return,\nand take his revenge in his own house or no; I would, however, urge you\nto set about trying to get rid of these suitors at once. Take my\nadvice, call the Achaean heroes in assembly to-morrow morning\u2014lay your\ncase before them, and call heaven to bear you witness. Bid the suitors\ntake themselves off, each to his own place, and if your mother\u2019s mind\nis set on marrying again, let her go back to her father, who will find\nher a husband and provide her with all the marriage gifts that so dear\na daughter may expect. As for yourself, let me prevail upon you to take\nthe best ship you can get, with a crew of twenty men, and go in quest\nof your father who has so long been missing. Some one may tell you\nsomething, or (and people often hear things in this way) some\nheaven-sent message may direct you. First go to Pylos and ask Nestor;\nthence go on to Sparta and visit Menelaus, for he got home last of all\nthe Achaeans; if you hear that your father is alive and on his way\nhome, you can put up with the waste these suitors will make for yet\nanother twelve months. If on the other hand you hear of his death, come\nhome at once, celebrate his funeral rites with all due pomp, build a\nbarrow to his memory, and make your mother marry again. Then, having\ndone all this, think it well over in your mind how, by fair means or\nfoul, you may kill these suitors in your own house. You are too old to\nplead infancy any longer; have you not heard how people are singing\nOrestes\u2019 praises for having killed his father\u2019s murderer Aegisthus? You\nare a fine, smart looking fellow; show your mettle, then, and make\nyourself a name in story. Now, however, I must go back to my ship and\nto my crew, who will be impatient if I keep them waiting longer; think\nthe matter over for yourself, and remember what I have said to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cit has been very kind of you to talk to me\nin this way, as though I were your own son, and I will do all you tell\nme; I know you want to be getting on with your voyage, but stay a\nlittle longer till you have taken a bath and refreshed yourself. I will\nthen give you a present, and you shall go on your way rejoicing; I will\ngive you one of great beauty and value\u2014a keepsake such as only dear\nfriends give to one another.\u201d\n\nMinerva answered, \u201cDo not try to keep me, for I would be on my way at\nonce. As for any present you may be disposed to make me, keep it till I\ncome again, and I will take it home with me. You shall give me a very\ngood one, and I will give you one of no less value in return.\u201d\n\nWith these words she flew away like a bird into the air, but she had\ngiven Telemachus courage, and had made him think more than ever about\nhis father. He felt the change, wondered at it, and knew that the\nstranger had been a god, so he went straight to where the suitors were\nsitting.\n\nPhemius was still singing, and his hearers sat rapt in silence as he\ntold the sad tale of the return from Troy, and the ills Minerva had\nlaid upon the Achaeans. Penelope, daughter of Icarius, heard his song\nfrom her room upstairs, and came down by the great staircase, not\nalone, but attended by two of her handmaids. When she reached the\nsuitors she stood by one of the bearing posts that supported the roof\nof the cloisters8 with a staid maiden on either side of her. She held a\nveil, moreover, before her face, and was weeping bitterly.\n\n\u201cPhemius,\u201d she cried, \u201cyou know many another feat of gods and heroes,\nsuch as poets love to celebrate. Sing the suitors some one of these,\nand let them drink their wine in silence, but cease this sad tale, for\nit breaks my sorrowful heart, and reminds me of my lost husband whom I\nmourn ever without ceasing, and whose name was great over all Hellas\nand middle Argos.\u201d9\n\n\u201cMother,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201clet the bard sing what he has a mind\nto; bards do not make the ills they sing of; it is Jove, not they, who\nmakes them, and who sends weal or woe upon mankind according to his own\ngood pleasure. This fellow means no harm by singing the ill-fated\nreturn of the Danaans, for people always applaud the latest songs most\nwarmly. Make up your mind to it and bear it; Ulysses is not the only\nman who never came back from Troy, but many another went down as well\nas he. Go, then, within the house and busy yourself with your daily\nduties, your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for\nspeech is man\u2019s matter, and mine above all others 10\u2014for it is I who am\nmaster here.\u201d\n\nShe went wondering back into the house, and laid her son\u2019s saying in\nher heart. Then, going upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she\nmourned her dear husband till Minerva shed sweet sleep over her eyes.\nBut the suitors were clamorous throughout the covered cloisters11, and\nprayed each one that he might be her bed fellow.\n\nThen Telemachus spoke, \u201cShameless,\u201d he cried, \u201cand insolent suitors,\nlet us feast at our pleasure now, and let there be no brawling, for it\nis a rare thing to hear a man with such a divine voice as Phemius has;\nbut in the morning meet me in full assembly that I may give you formal\nnotice to depart, and feast at one another\u2019s houses, turn and turn\nabout, at your own cost. If on the other hand you choose to persist in\nspunging upon one man, heaven help me, but Jove shall reckon with you\nin full, and when you fall in my father\u2019s house there shall be no man\nto avenge you.\u201d\n\nThe suitors bit their lips as they heard him, and marvelled at the\nboldness of his speech. Then, Antinous, son of Eupeithes, said, \u201cThe\ngods seem to have given you lessons in bluster and tall talking; may\nJove never grant you to be chief in Ithaca as your father was before\nyou.\u201d\n\nTelemachus answered, \u201cAntinous, do not chide with me, but, god willing,\nI will be chief too if I can. Is this the worst fate you can think of\nfor me? It is no bad thing to be a chief, for it brings both riches and\nhonour. Still, now that Ulysses is dead there are many great men in\nIthaca both old and young, and some other may take the lead among them;\nnevertheless I will be chief in my own house, and will rule those whom\nUlysses has won for me.\u201d\n\nThen Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered, \u201cIt rests with heaven to\ndecide who shall be chief among us, but you shall be master in your own\nhouse and over your own possessions; no one while there is a man in\nIthaca shall do you violence nor rob you. And now, my good fellow, I\nwant to know about this stranger. What country does he come from? Of\nwhat family is he, and where is his estate? Has he brought you news\nabout the return of your father, or was he on business of his own? He\nseemed a well to do man, but he hurried off so suddenly that he was\ngone in a moment before we could get to know him.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy father is dead and gone,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cand even if some\nrumour reaches me I put no more faith in it now. My mother does indeed\nsometimes send for a soothsayer and question him, but I give his\nprophecyings no heed. As for the stranger, he was Mentes, son of\nAnchialus, chief of the Taphians, an old friend of my father\u2019s.\u201d But in\nhis heart he knew that it had been the goddess.\n\nThe suitors then returned to their singing and dancing until the\nevening; but when night fell upon their pleasuring they went home to\nbed each in his own abode.12 Telemachus\u2019s room was high up in a tower13\nthat looked on to the outer court; hither, then, he hied, brooding and\nfull of thought. A good old woman, Euryclea, daughter of Ops, the son\nof Pisenor, went before him with a couple of blazing torches. Laertes\nhad bought her with his own money when she was quite young; he gave the\nworth of twenty oxen for her, and shewed as much respect to her in his\nhousehold as he did to his own wedded wife, but he did not take her to\nhis bed for he feared his wife\u2019s resentment.14 She it was who now\nlighted Telemachus to his room, and she loved him better than any of\nthe other women in the house did, for she had nursed him when he was a\nbaby. He opened the door of his bed room and sat down upon the bed; as\nhe took off his shirt15 he gave it to the good old woman, who folded it\ntidily up, and hung it for him over a peg by his bed side, after which\nshe went out, pulled the door to by a silver catch, and drew the bolt\nhome by means of the strap.16 But Telemachus as he lay covered with a\nwoollen fleece kept thinking all night through of his intended voyage\nand of the counsel that Minerva had given him.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK II\n\n\nASSEMBLY OF THE PEOPLE OF ITHACA\u2014SPEECHES OF TELEMACHUS AND OF THE\nSUITORS\u2014TELEMACHUS MAKES HIS PREPARATIONS AND STARTS FOR PYLOS WITH\nMINERVA DISGUISED AS MENTOR.\n\n\nNow when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared Telemachus\nrose and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet,\ngirded his sword about his shoulder, and left his room looking like an\nimmortal god. He at once sent the criers round to call the people in\nassembly, so they called them and the people gathered thereon; then,\nwhen they were got together, he went to the place of assembly spear in\nhand\u2014not alone, for his two hounds went with him. Minerva endowed him\nwith a presence of such divine comeliness that all marvelled at him as\nhe went by, and when he took his place in his father\u2019s seat even the\noldest councillors made way for him.\n\nAegyptius, a man bent double with age, and of infinite experience, was\nthe first to speak. His son Antiphus had gone with Ulysses to Ilius,\nland of noble steeds, but the savage Cyclops had killed him when they\nwere all shut up in the cave, and had cooked his last dinner for him.17\nHe had three sons left, of whom two still worked on their father\u2019s\nland, while the third, Eurynomus, was one of the suitors; nevertheless\ntheir father could not get over the loss of Antiphus, and was still\nweeping for him when he began his speech.\n\n\u201cMen of Ithaca,\u201d he said, \u201chear my words. From the day Ulysses left us\nthere has been no meeting of our councillors until now; who then can it\nbe, whether old or young, that finds it so necessary to convene us? Has\nhe got wind of some host approaching, and does he wish to warn us, or\nwould he speak upon some other matter of public moment? I am sure he is\nan excellent person, and I hope Jove will grant him his heart\u2019s\ndesire.\u201d\n\nTelemachus took this speech as of good omen and rose at once, for he\nwas bursting with what he had to say. He stood in the middle of the\nassembly and the good herald Pisenor brought him his staff. Then,\nturning to Aegyptius, \u201cSir,\u201d said he, \u201cit is I, as you will shortly\nlearn, who have convened you, for it is I who am the most aggrieved. I\nhave not got wind of any host approaching about which I would warn you,\nnor is there any matter of public moment on which I would speak. My\ngrievance is purely personal, and turns on two great misfortunes which\nhave fallen upon my house. The first of these is the loss of my\nexcellent father, who was chief among all you here present, and was\nlike a father to every one of you; the second is much more serious, and\nere long will be the utter ruin of my estate. The sons of all the chief\nmen among you are pestering my mother to marry them against her will.\nThey are afraid to go to her father Icarius, asking him to choose the\none he likes best, and to provide marriage gifts for his daughter, but\nday by day they keep hanging about my father\u2019s house, sacrificing our\noxen, sheep, and fat goats for their banquets, and never giving so much\nas a thought to the quantity of wine they drink. No estate can stand\nsuch recklessness; we have now no Ulysses to ward off harm from our\ndoors, and I cannot hold my own against them. I shall never all my days\nbe as good a man as he was, still I would indeed defend myself if I had\npower to do so, for I cannot stand such treatment any longer; my house\nis being disgraced and ruined. Have respect, therefore, to your own\nconsciences and to public opinion. Fear, too, the wrath of heaven, lest\nthe gods should be displeased and turn upon you. I pray you by Jove and\nThemis, who is the beginning and the end of councils, [do not] hold\nback, my friends, and leave me singlehanded18\u2014unless it be that my\nbrave father Ulysses did some wrong to the Achaeans which you would now\navenge on me, by aiding and abetting these suitors. Moreover, if I am\nto be eaten out of house and home at all, I had rather you did the\neating yourselves, for I could then take action against you to some\npurpose, and serve you with notices from house to house till I got paid\nin full, whereas now I have no remedy.\u201d19\n\nWith this Telemachus dashed his staff to the ground and burst into\ntears. Every one was very sorry for him, but they all sat still and no\none ventured to make him an angry answer, save only Antinous, who spoke\nthus:\n\n\u201cTelemachus, insolent braggart that you are, how dare you try to throw\nthe blame upon us suitors? It is your mother\u2019s fault not ours, for she\nis a very artful woman. This three years past, and close on four, she\nhad been driving us out of our minds, by encouraging each one of us,\nand sending him messages without meaning one word of what she says. And\nthen there was that other trick she played us. She set up a great\ntambour frame in her room, and began to work on an enormous piece of\nfine needlework. \u2018Sweet hearts,\u2019 said she, \u2018Ulysses is indeed dead,\nstill do not press me to marry again immediately, wait\u2014for I would not\nhave skill in needlework perish unrecorded\u2014till I have completed a pall\nfor the hero Laertes, to be in readiness against the time when death\nshall take him. He is very rich, and the women of the place will talk\nif he is laid out without a pall.\u2019\n\n\u201cThis was what she said, and we assented; whereon we could see her\nworking on her great web all day long, but at night she would unpick\nthe stitches again by torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three\nyears and we never found her out, but as time wore on and she was now\nin her fourth year, one of her maids who knew what she was doing told\nus, and we caught her in the act of undoing her work, so she had to\nfinish it whether she would or no. The suitors, therefore, make you\nthis answer, that both you and the Achaeans may understand\u2014\u2018Send your\nmother away, and bid her marry the man of her own and of her father\u2019s\nchoice\u2019; for I do not know what will happen if she goes on plaguing us\nmuch longer with the airs she gives herself on the score of the\naccomplishments Minerva has taught her, and because she is so clever.\nWe never yet heard of such a woman; we know all about Tyro, Alcmena,\nMycene, and the famous women of old, but they were nothing to your\nmother any one of them. It was not fair of her to treat us in that way,\nand as long as she continues in the mind with which heaven has now\nendowed her, so long shall we go on eating up your estate; and I do not\nsee why she should change, for she gets all the honour and glory, and\nit is you who pay for it, not she. Understand, then, that we will not\ngo back to our lands, neither here nor elsewhere, till she has made her\nchoice and married some one or other of us.\u201d\n\nTelemachus answered, \u201cAntinous, how can I drive the mother who bore me\nfrom my father\u2019s house? My father is abroad and we do not know whether\nhe is alive or dead. It will be hard on me if I have to pay Icarius the\nlarge sum which I must give him if I insist on sending his daughter\nback to him. Not only will he deal rigorously with me, but heaven will\nalso punish me; for my mother when she leaves the house will call on\nthe Erinyes to avenge her; besides, it would not be a creditable thing\nto do, and I will have nothing to say to it. If you choose to take\noffence at this, leave the house and feast elsewhere at one another\u2019s\nhouses at your own cost turn and turn about. If, on the other hand, you\nelect to persist in spunging upon one man, heaven help me, but Jove\nshall reckon with you in full, and when you fall in my father\u2019s house\nthere shall be no man to avenge you.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke Jove sent two eagles from the top of the mountain, and they\nflew on and on with the wind, sailing side by side in their own lordly\nflight. When they were right over the middle of the assembly they\nwheeled and circled about, beating the air with their wings and glaring\ndeath into the eyes of them that were below; then, fighting fiercely\nand tearing at one another, they flew off towards the right over the\ntown. The people wondered as they saw them, and asked each other what\nall this might be; whereon Halitherses, who was the best prophet and\nreader of omens among them, spoke to them plainly and in all honesty,\nsaying:\n\n\u201cHear me, men of Ithaca, and I speak more particularly to the suitors,\nfor I see mischief brewing for them. Ulysses is not going to be away\nmuch longer; indeed he is close at hand to deal out death and\ndestruction, not on them alone, but on many another of us who live in\nIthaca. Let us then be wise in time, and put a stop to this wickedness\nbefore he comes. Let the suitors do so of their own accord; it will be\nbetter for them, for I am not prophesying without due knowledge;\neverything has happened to Ulysses as I foretold when the Argives set\nout for Troy, and he with them. I said that after going through much\nhardship and losing all his men he should come home again in the\ntwentieth year and that no one would know him; and now all this is\ncoming true.\u201d\n\nEurymachus son of Polybus then said, \u201cGo home, old man, and prophesy to\nyour own children, or it may be worse for them. I can read these omens\nmyself much better than you can; birds are always flying about in the\nsunshine somewhere or other, but they seldom mean anything. Ulysses has\ndied in a far country, and it is a pity you are not dead along with\nhim, instead of prating here about omens and adding fuel to the anger\nof Telemachus which is fierce enough as it is. I suppose you think he\nwill give you something for your family, but I tell you\u2014and it shall\nsurely be\u2014when an old man like you, who should know better, talks a\nyoung one over till he becomes troublesome, in the first place his\nyoung friend will only fare so much the worse\u2014he will take nothing by\nit, for the suitors will prevent this\u2014and in the next, we will lay a\nheavier fine, sir, upon yourself than you will at all like paying, for\nit will bear hardly upon you. As for Telemachus, I warn him in the\npresence of you all to send his mother back to her father, who will\nfind her a husband and provide her with all the marriage gifts so dear\na daughter may expect. Till then we shall go on harassing him with our\nsuit; for we fear no man, and care neither for him, with all his fine\nspeeches, nor for any fortune-telling of yours. You may preach as much\nas you please, but we shall only hate you the more. We shall go back\nand continue to eat up Telemachus\u2019s estate without paying him, till\nsuch time as his mother leaves off tormenting us by keeping us day\nafter day on the tiptoe of expectation, each vying with the other in\nhis suit for a prize of such rare perfection. Besides we cannot go\nafter the other women whom we should marry in due course, but for the\nway in which she treats us.\u201d\n\nThen Telemachus said, \u201cEurymachus, and you other suitors, I shall say\nno more, and entreat you no further, for the gods and the people of\nIthaca now know my story. Give me, then, a ship and a crew of twenty\nmen to take me hither and thither, and I will go to Sparta and to Pylos\nin quest of my father who has so long been missing. Some one may tell\nme something, or (and people often hear things in this way) some\nheaven-sent message may direct me. If I can hear of him as alive and on\nhis way home I will put up with the waste you suitors will make for yet\nanother twelve months. If on the other hand I hear of his death, I will\nreturn at once, celebrate his funeral rites with all due pomp, build a\nbarrow to his memory, and make my mother marry again.\u201d\n\nWith these words he sat down, and Mentor20 who had been a friend of\nUlysses, and had been left in charge of everything with full authority\nover the servants, rose to speak. He, then, plainly and in all honesty\naddressed them thus:\n\n\u201cHear me, men of Ithaca, I hope that you may never have a kind and\nwell-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern you equitably; I\nhope that all your chiefs henceforward may be cruel and unjust, for\nthere is not one of you but has forgotten Ulysses, who ruled you as\nthough he were your father. I am not half so angry with the suitors,\nfor if they choose to do violence in the naughtiness of their hearts,\nand wager their heads that Ulysses will not return, they can take the\nhigh hand and eat up his estate, but as for you others I am shocked at\nthe way in which you all sit still without even trying to stop such\nscandalous goings on\u2014which you could do if you chose, for you are many\nand they are few.\u201d\n\nLeiocritus, son of Evenor, answered him saying, \u201cMentor, what folly is\nall this, that you should set the people to stay us? It is a hard thing\nfor one man to fight with many about his victuals. Even though Ulysses\nhimself were to set upon us while we are feasting in his house, and do\nhis best to oust us, his wife, who wants him back so very badly, would\nhave small cause for rejoicing, and his blood would be upon his own\nhead if he fought against such great odds. There is no sense in what\nyou have been saying. Now, therefore, do you people go about your\nbusiness, and let his father\u2019s old friends, Mentor and Halitherses,\nspeed this boy on his journey, if he goes at all\u2014which I do not think\nhe will, for he is more likely to stay where he is till some one comes\nand tells him something.\u201d\n\nOn this he broke up the assembly, and every man went back to his own\nabode, while the suitors returned to the house of Ulysses.\n\nThen Telemachus went all alone by the sea side, washed his hands in the\ngrey waves, and prayed to Minerva.\n\n\u201cHear me,\u201d he cried, \u201cyou god who visited me yesterday, and bade me\nsail the seas in search of my father who has so long been missing. I\nwould obey you, but the Achaeans, and more particularly the wicked\nsuitors, are hindering me that I cannot do so.\u201d\n\nAs he thus prayed, Minerva came close up to him in the likeness and\nwith the voice of Mentor. \u201cTelemachus,\u201d said she, \u201cif you are made of\nthe same stuff as your father you will be neither fool nor coward\nhenceforward, for Ulysses never broke his word nor left his work half\ndone. If, then, you take after him, your voyage will not be fruitless,\nbut unless you have the blood of Ulysses and of Penelope in your veins\nI see no likelihood of your succeeding. Sons are seldom as good men as\ntheir fathers; they are generally worse, not better; still, as you are\nnot going to be either fool or coward henceforward, and are not\nentirely without some share of your father\u2019s wise discernment, I look\nwith hope upon your undertaking. But mind you never make common cause\nwith any of those foolish suitors, for they have neither sense nor\nvirtue, and give no thought to death and to the doom that will shortly\nfall on one and all of them, so that they shall perish on the same day.\nAs for your voyage, it shall not be long delayed; your father was such\nan old friend of mine that I will find you a ship, and will come with\nyou myself. Now, however, return home, and go about among the suitors;\nbegin getting provisions ready for your voyage; see everything well\nstowed, the wine in jars, and the barley meal, which is the staff of\nlife, in leathern bags, while I go round the town and beat up\nvolunteers at once. There are many ships in Ithaca both old and new; I\nwill run my eye over them for you and will choose the best; we will get\nher ready and will put out to sea without delay.\u201d\n\nThus spoke Minerva daughter of Jove, and Telemachus lost no time in\ndoing as the goddess told him. He went moodily home, and found the\nsuitors flaying goats and singeing pigs in the outer court. Antinous\ncame up to him at once and laughed as he took his hand in his own,\nsaying, \u201cTelemachus, my fine fire-eater, bear no more ill blood neither\nin word nor deed, but eat and drink with us as you used to do. The\nAchaeans will find you in everything\u2014a ship and a picked crew to\nboot\u2014so that you can set sail for Pylos at once and get news of your\nnoble father.\u201d\n\n\u201cAntinous,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cI cannot eat in peace, nor take\npleasure of any kind with such men as you are. Was it not enough that\nyou should waste so much good property of mine while I was yet a boy?\nNow that I am older and know more about it, I am also stronger, and\nwhether here among this people, or by going to Pylos, I will do you all\nthe harm I can. I shall go, and my going will not be in vain\u2014though,\nthanks to you suitors, I have neither ship nor crew of my own, and must\nbe passenger not captain.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he snatched his hand from that of Antinous. Meanwhile the\nothers went on getting dinner ready about the buildings,21 jeering at\nhim tauntingly as they did so.\n\n\u201cTelemachus,\u201d said one youngster, \u201cmeans to be the death of us; I\nsuppose he thinks he can bring friends to help him from Pylos, or again\nfrom Sparta, where he seems bent on going. Or will he go to Ephyra as\nwell, for poison to put in our wine and kill us?\u201d\n\nAnother said, \u201cPerhaps if Telemachus goes on board ship, he will be\nlike his father and perish far from his friends. In this case we should\nhave plenty to do, for we could then divide up his property amongst us:\nas for the house we can let his mother and the man who marries her have\nthat.\u201d\n\nThis was how they talked. But Telemachus went down into the lofty and\nspacious store-room where his father\u2019s treasure of gold and bronze lay\nheaped up upon the floor, and where the linen and spare clothes were\nkept in open chests. Here, too, there was a store of fragrant olive\noil, while casks of old, well-ripened wine, unblended and fit for a god\nto drink, were ranged against the wall in case Ulysses should come home\nagain after all. The room was closed with well-made doors opening in\nthe middle; moreover the faithful old house-keeper Euryclea, daughter\nof Ops the son of Pisenor, was in charge of everything both night and\nday. Telemachus called her to the store-room and said:\n\n\u201cNurse, draw me off some of the best wine you have, after what you are\nkeeping for my father\u2019s own drinking, in case, poor man, he should\nescape death, and find his way home again after all. Let me have twelve\njars, and see that they all have lids; also fill me some well-sewn\nleathern bags with barley meal\u2014about twenty measures in all. Get these\nthings put together at once, and say nothing about it. I will take\neverything away this evening as soon as my mother has gone upstairs for\nthe night. I am going to Sparta and to Pylos to see if I can hear\nanything about the return of my dear father.\u201d\n\nWhen Euryclea heard this she began to cry, and spoke fondly to him,\nsaying, \u201cMy dear child, what ever can have put such notion as that into\nyour head? Where in the world do you want to go to\u2014you, who are the one\nhope of the house? Your poor father is dead and gone in some foreign\ncountry nobody knows where, and as soon as your back is turned these\nwicked ones here will be scheming to get you put out of the way, and\nwill share all your possessions among themselves; stay where you are\namong your own people, and do not go wandering and worrying your life\nout on the barren ocean.\u201d\n\n\u201cFear not, nurse,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cmy scheme is not without\nheaven\u2019s sanction; but swear that you will say nothing about all this\nto my mother, till I have been away some ten or twelve days, unless she\nhears of my having gone, and asks you; for I do not want her to spoil\nher beauty by crying.\u201d\n\nThe old woman swore most solemnly that she would not, and when she had\ncompleted her oath, she began drawing off the wine into jars, and\ngetting the barley meal into the bags, while Telemachus went back to\nthe suitors.\n\nThen Minerva bethought her of another matter. She took his shape, and\nwent round the town to each one of the crew, telling them to meet at\nthe ship by sundown. She went also to Noemon son of Phronius, and asked\nhim to let her have a ship\u2014which he was very ready to do. When the sun\nhad set and darkness was over all the land, she got the ship into the\nwater, put all the tackle on board her that ships generally carry, and\nstationed her at the end of the harbour. Presently the crew came up,\nand the goddess spoke encouragingly to each of them.\n\nFurthermore she went to the house of Ulysses, and threw the suitors\ninto a deep slumber. She caused their drink to fuddle them, and made\nthem drop their cups from their hands, so that instead of sitting over\ntheir wine, they went back into the town to sleep, with their eyes\nheavy and full of drowsiness. Then she took the form and voice of\nMentor, and called Telemachus to come outside.\n\n\u201cTelemachus,\u201d said she, \u201cthe men are on board and at their oars,\nwaiting for you to give your orders, so make haste and let us be off.\u201d\n\nOn this she led the way, while Telemachus followed in her steps. When\nthey got to the ship they found the crew waiting by the water side, and\nTelemachus said, \u201cNow my men, help me to get the stores on board; they\nare all put together in the cloister, and my mother does not know\nanything about it, nor any of the maid servants except one.\u201d\n\nWith these words he led the way and the others followed after. When\nthey had brought the things as he told them, Telemachus went on board,\nMinerva going before him and taking her seat in the stern of the\nvessel, while Telemachus sat beside her. Then the men loosed the\nhawsers and took their places on the benches. Minerva sent them a fair\nwind from the West,22 that whistled over the deep blue waves23 whereon\nTelemachus told them to catch hold of the ropes and hoist sail, and\nthey did as he told them. They set the mast in its socket in the cross\nplank, raised it, and made it fast with the forestays; then they\nhoisted their white sails aloft with ropes of twisted ox hide. As the\nsail bellied out with the wind, the ship flew through the deep blue\nwater, and the foam hissed against her bows as she sped onward. Then\nthey made all fast throughout the ship, filled the mixing bowls to the\nbrim, and made drink offerings to the immortal gods that are from\neverlasting, but more particularly to the grey-eyed daughter of Jove.\n\nThus, then, the ship sped on her way through the watches of the night\nfrom dark till dawn.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK III\n\n\nTELEMACHUS VISITS NESTOR AT PYLOS.\n\n\nbut as the sun was rising from the fair sea24 into the firmament of\nheaven to shed light on mortals and immortals, they reached Pylos the\ncity of Neleus. Now the people of Pylos were gathered on the sea shore\nto offer sacrifice of black bulls to Neptune lord of the Earthquake.\nThere were nine guilds with five hundred men in each, and there were\nnine bulls to each guild. As they were eating the inward meats25 and\nburning the thigh bones [on the embers] in the name of Neptune,\nTelemachus and his crew arrived, furled their sails, brought their ship\nto anchor, and went ashore.\n\nMinerva led the way and Telemachus followed her. Presently she said,\n\u201cTelemachus, you must not be in the least shy or nervous; you have\ntaken this voyage to try and find out where your father is buried and\nhow he came by his end; so go straight up to Nestor that we may see\nwhat he has got to tell us. Beg of him to speak the truth, and he will\ntell no lies, for he is an excellent person.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how, Mentor,\u201d replied Telemachus, \u201cdare I go up to Nestor, and how\nam I to address him? I have never yet been used to holding long\nconversations with people, and am ashamed to begin questioning one who\nis so much older than myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cSome things, Telemachus,\u201d answered Minerva, \u201cwill be suggested to you\nby your own instinct, and heaven will prompt you further; for I am\nassured that the gods have been with you from the time of your birth\nuntil now.\u201d\n\nShe then went quickly on, and Telemachus followed in her steps till\nthey reached the place where the guilds of the Pylian people were\nassembled. There they found Nestor sitting with his sons, while his\ncompany round him were busy getting dinner ready, and putting pieces of\nmeat on to the spits26 while other pieces were cooking. When they saw\nthe strangers they crowded round them, took them by the hand and bade\nthem take their places. Nestor\u2019s son Pisistratus at once offered his\nhand to each of them, and seated them on some soft sheepskins that were\nlying on the sands near his father and his brother Thrasymedes. Then he\ngave them their portions of the inward meats and poured wine for them\ninto a golden cup, handing it to Minerva first, and saluting her at the\nsame time.\n\n\u201cOffer a prayer, sir,\u201d said he, \u201cto King Neptune, for it is his feast\nthat you are joining; when you have duly prayed and made your drink\noffering, pass the cup to your friend that he may do so also. I doubt\nnot that he too lifts his hands in prayer, for man cannot live without\nGod in the world. Still he is younger than you are, and is much of an\nage with myself, so I will give you the precedence.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he handed her the cup. Minerva thought it very right and\nproper of him to have given it to herself first;27 she accordingly\nbegan praying heartily to Neptune. \u201cO thou,\u201d she cried, \u201cthat\nencirclest the earth, vouchsafe to grant the prayers of thy servants\nthat call upon thee. More especially we pray thee send down thy grace\non Nestor and on his sons; thereafter also make the rest of the Pylian\npeople some handsome return for the goodly hecatomb they are offering\nyou. Lastly, grant Telemachus and myself a happy issue, in respect of\nthe matter that has brought us in our ship to Pylos.\u201d\n\nWhen she had thus made an end of praying, she handed the cup to\nTelemachus and he prayed likewise. By and by, when the outer meats were\nroasted and had been taken off the spits, the carvers gave every man\nhis portion and they all made an excellent dinner. As soon as they had\nhad enough to eat and drink, Nestor, knight of Gerene, began to speak.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said he, \u201cthat our guests have done their dinner, it will be\nbest to ask them who they are. Who, then, sir strangers, are you, and\nfrom what port have you sailed? Are you traders? or do you sail the\nseas as rovers with your hand against every man, and every man\u2019s hand\nagainst you?\u201d\n\nTelemachus answered boldly, for Minerva had given him courage to ask\nabout his father and get himself a good name.\n\n\u201cNestor,\u201d said he, \u201cson of Neleus, honour to the Achaean name, you ask\nwhence we come, and I will tell you. We come from Ithaca under\nNeritum,28 and the matter about which I would speak is of private not\npublic import. I seek news of my unhappy father Ulysses, who is said to\nhave sacked the town of Troy in company with yourself. We know what\nfate befell each one of the other heroes who fought at Troy, but as\nregards Ulysses heaven has hidden from us the knowledge even that he is\ndead at all, for no one can certify us in what place he perished, nor\nsay whether he fell in battle on the mainland, or was lost at sea amid\nthe waves of Amphitrite. Therefore I am suppliant at your knees, if\nhaply you may be pleased to tell me of his melancholy end, whether you\nsaw it with your own eyes, or heard it from some other traveller, for\nhe was a man born to trouble. Do not soften things out of any pity for\nme, but tell me in all plainness exactly what you saw. If my brave\nfather Ulysses ever did you loyal service, either by word or deed, when\nyou Achaeans were harassed among the Trojans, bear it in mind now as in\nmy favour and tell me truly all.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy friend,\u201d answered Nestor, \u201cyou recall a time of much sorrow to my\nmind, for the brave Achaeans suffered much both at sea, while\nprivateering under Achilles, and when fighting before the great city of\nking Priam. Our best men all of them fell there\u2014Ajax, Achilles,\nPatroclus peer of gods in counsel, and my own dear son Antilochus, a\nman singularly fleet of foot and in fight valiant. But we suffered much\nmore than this; what mortal tongue indeed could tell the whole story?\nThough you were to stay here and question me for five years, or even\nsix, I could not tell you all that the Achaeans suffered, and you would\nturn homeward weary of my tale before it ended. Nine long years did we\ntry every kind of stratagem, but the hand of heaven was against us;\nduring all this time there was no one who could compare with your\nfather in subtlety\u2014if indeed you are his son\u2014I can hardly believe my\neyes\u2014and you talk just like him too\u2014no one would say that people of\nsuch different ages could speak so much alike. He and I never had any\nkind of difference from first to last neither in camp nor council, but\nin singleness of heart and purpose we advised the Argives how all might\nbe ordered for the best.\n\n\u201cWhen, however, we had sacked the city of Priam, and were setting sail\nin our ships as heaven had dispersed us, then Jove saw fit to vex the\nArgives on their homeward voyage; for they had not all been either wise\nor understanding, and hence many came to a bad end through the\ndispleasure of Jove\u2019s daughter Minerva, who brought about a quarrel\nbetween the two sons of Atreus.\n\n\u201cThe sons of Atreus called a meeting which was not as it should be, for\nit was sunset and the Achaeans were heavy with wine. When they\nexplained why they had called the people together, it seemed that\nMenelaus was for sailing homeward at once, and this displeased\nAgamemnon, who thought that we should wait till we had offered\nhecatombs to appease the anger of Minerva. Fool that he was, he might\nhave known that he would not prevail with her, for when the gods have\nmade up their minds they do not change them lightly. So the two stood\nbandying hard words, whereon the Achaeans sprang to their feet with a\ncry that rent the air, and were of two minds as to what they should do.\n\n\u201cThat night we rested and nursed our anger, for Jove was hatching\nmischief against us. But in the morning some of us drew our ships into\nthe water and put our goods with our women on board, while the rest,\nabout half in number, stayed behind with Agamemnon. We\u2014the other\nhalf\u2014embarked and sailed; and the ships went well, for heaven had\nsmoothed the sea. When we reached Tenedos we offered sacrifices to the\ngods, for we were longing to get home; cruel Jove, however, did not yet\nmean that we should do so, and raised a second quarrel in the course of\nwhich some among us turned their ships back again, and sailed away\nunder Ulysses to make their peace with Agamemnon; but I, and all the\nships that were with me pressed forward, for I saw that mischief was\nbrewing. The son of Tydeus went on also with me, and his crews with\nhim. Later on Menelaus joined us at Lesbos, and found us making up our\nminds about our course\u2014for we did not know whether to go outside Chios\nby the island of Psyra, keeping this to our left, or inside Chios, over\nagainst the stormy headland of Mimas. So we asked heaven for a sign,\nand were shown one to the effect that we should be soonest out of\ndanger if we headed our ships across the open sea to Euboea. This we\ntherefore did, and a fair wind sprang up which gave us a quick passage\nduring the night to Geraestus,29 where we offered many sacrifices to\nNeptune for having helped us so far on our way. Four days later Diomed\nand his men stationed their ships in Argos, but I held on for Pylos,\nand the wind never fell light from the day when heaven first made it\nfair for me.\n\n\u201cTherefore, my dear young friend, I returned without hearing anything\nabout the others. I know neither who got home safely nor who were lost\nbut, as in duty bound, I will give you without reserve the reports that\nhave reached me since I have been here in my own house. They say the\nMyrmidons returned home safely under Achilles\u2019 son Neoptolemus; so also\ndid the valiant son of Poias, Philoctetes. Idomeneus, again, lost no\nmen at sea, and all his followers who escaped death in the field got\nsafe home with him to Crete. No matter how far out of the world you\nlive, you will have heard of Agamemnon and the bad end he came to at\nthe hands of Aegisthus\u2014and a fearful reckoning did Aegisthus presently\npay. See what a good thing it is for a man to leave a son behind him to\ndo as Orestes did, who killed false Aegisthus the murderer of his noble\nfather. You too, then\u2014for you are a tall smart-looking fellow\u2014show your\nmettle and make yourself a name in story.\u201d\n\n\u201cNestor son of Neleus,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201chonour to the Achaean\nname, the Achaeans applaud Orestes and his name will live through all\ntime for he has avenged his father nobly. Would that heaven might grant\nme to do like vengeance on the insolence of the wicked suitors, who are\nill treating me and plotting my ruin; but the gods have no such\nhappiness in store for me and for my father, so we must bear it as best\nwe may.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy friend,\u201d said Nestor, \u201cnow that you remind me, I remember to have\nheard that your mother has many suitors, who are ill disposed towards\nyou and are making havoc of your estate. Do you submit to this tamely,\nor are public feeling and the voice of heaven against you? Who knows\nbut what Ulysses may come back after all, and pay these scoundrels in\nfull, either single-handed or with a force of Achaeans behind him? If\nMinerva were to take as great a liking to you as she did to Ulysses\nwhen we were fighting before Troy (for I never yet saw the gods so\nopenly fond of any one as Minerva then was of your father), if she\nwould take as good care of you as she did of him, these wooers would\nsoon some of them forget their wooing.\u201d\n\nTelemachus answered, \u201cI can expect nothing of the kind; it would be far\ntoo much to hope for. I dare not let myself think of it. Even though\nthe gods themselves willed it no such good fortune could befall me.\u201d\n\nOn this Minerva said, \u201cTelemachus, what are you talking about? Heaven\nhas a long arm if it is minded to save a man; and if it were me, I\nshould not care how much I suffered before getting home, provided I\ncould be safe when I was once there. I would rather this, than get home\nquickly, and then be killed in my own house as Agamemnon was by the\ntreachery of Aegisthus and his wife. Still, death is certain, and when\na man\u2019s hour is come, not even the gods can save him, no matter how\nfond they are of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cMentor,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cdo not let us talk about it any more.\nThere is no chance of my father\u2019s ever coming back; the gods have long\nsince counselled his destruction. There is something else, however,\nabout which I should like to ask Nestor, for he knows much more than\nany one else does. They say he has reigned for three generations so\nthat it is like talking to an immortal. Tell me, therefore, Nestor, and\ntell me true; how did Agamemnon come to die in that way? What was\nMenelaus doing? And how came false Aegisthus to kill so far better a\nman than himself? Was Menelaus away from Achaean Argos, voyaging\nelsewhither among mankind, that Aegisthus took heart and killed\nAgamemnon?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will tell you truly,\u201d answered Nestor, \u201cand indeed you have yourself\ndivined how it all happened. If Menelaus when he got back from Troy had\nfound Aegisthus still alive in his house, there would have been no\nbarrow heaped up for him, not even when he was dead, but he would have\nbeen thrown outside the city to dogs and vultures, and not a woman\nwould have mourned him, for he had done a deed of great wickedness; but\nwe were over there, fighting hard at Troy, and Aegisthus, who was\ntaking his ease quietly in the heart of Argos, cajoled Agamemnon\u2019s wife\nClytemnestra with incessant flattery.\n\n\u201cAt first she would have nothing to do with his wicked scheme, for she\nwas of a good natural disposition;30 moreover there was a bard with\nher, to whom Agamemnon had given strict orders on setting out for Troy,\nthat he was to keep guard over his wife; but when heaven had counselled\nher destruction, Aegisthus carried this bard off to a desert island and\nleft him there for crows and seagulls to batten upon\u2014after which she\nwent willingly enough to the house of Aegisthus. Then he offered many\nburnt sacrifices to the gods, and decorated many temples with\ntapestries and gilding, for he had succeeded far beyond his\nexpectations.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile Menelaus and I were on our way home from Troy, on good terms\nwith one another. When we got to Sunium, which is the point of Athens,\nApollo with his painless shafts killed Phrontis the steersman of\nMenelaus\u2019 ship (and never man knew better how to handle a vessel in\nrough weather) so that he died then and there with the helm in his\nhand, and Menelaus, though very anxious to press forward, had to wait\nin order to bury his comrade and give him his due funeral rites.\nPresently, when he too could put to sea again, and had sailed on as far\nas the Malean heads, Jove counselled evil against him and made it blow\nhard till the waves ran mountains high. Here he divided his fleet and\ntook the one half towards Crete where the Cydonians dwell round about\nthe waters of the river Iardanus. There is a high headland hereabouts\nstretching out into the sea from a place called Gortyn, and all along\nthis part of the coast as far as Phaestus the sea runs high when there\nis a south wind blowing, but after Phaestus the coast is more\nprotected, for a small headland can make a great shelter. Here this\npart of the fleet was driven on to the rocks and wrecked; but the crews\njust managed to save themselves. As for the other five ships, they were\ntaken by winds and seas to Egypt, where Menelaus gathered much gold and\nsubstance among people of an alien speech. Meanwhile Aegisthus here at\nhome plotted his evil deed. For seven years after he had killed\nAgamemnon he ruled in Mycene, and the people were obedient under him,\nbut in the eighth year Orestes came back from Athens to be his bane,\nand killed the murderer of his father. Then he celebrated the funeral\nrites of his mother and of false Aegisthus by a banquet to the people\nof Argos, and on that very day Menelaus came home,31 with as much\ntreasure as his ships could carry.\n\n\u201cTake my advice then, and do not go travelling about for long so far\nfrom home, nor leave your property with such dangerous people in your\nhouse; they will eat up everything you have among them, and you will\nhave been on a fool\u2019s errand. Still, I should advise you by all means\nto go and visit Menelaus, who has lately come off a voyage among such\ndistant peoples as no man could ever hope to get back from, when the\nwinds had once carried him so far out of his reckoning; even birds\ncannot fly the distance in a twelve-month, so vast and terrible are the\nseas that they must cross. Go to him, therefore, by sea, and take your\nown men with you; or if you would rather travel by land you can have a\nchariot, you can have horses, and here are my sons who can escort you\nto Lacedaemon where Menelaus lives. Beg of him to speak the truth, and\nhe will tell you no lies, for he is an excellent person.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke the sun set and it came on dark, whereon Minerva said,\n\u201cSir, all that you have said is well; now, however, order the tongues\nof the victims to be cut, and mix wine that we may make drink-offerings\nto Neptune, and the other immortals, and then go to bed, for it is bed\ntime. People should go away early and not keep late hours at a\nreligious festival.\u201d\n\nThus spoke the daughter of Jove, and they obeyed her saying. Men\nservants poured water over the hands of the guests, while pages filled\nthe mixing-bowls with wine and water, and handed it round after giving\nevery man his drink offering; then they threw the tongues of the\nvictims into the fire, and stood up to make their drink offerings. When\nthey had made their offerings and had drunk each as much as he was\nminded, Minerva and Telemachus were for going on board their ship, but\nNestor caught them up at once and stayed them.\n\n\u201cHeaven and the immortal gods,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cforbid that you should\nleave my house to go on board of a ship. Do you think I am so poor and\nshort of clothes, or that I have so few cloaks and as to be unable to\nfind comfortable beds both for myself and for my guests? Let me tell\nyou I have store both of rugs and cloaks, and shall not permit the son\nof my old friend Ulysses to camp down on the deck of a ship\u2014not while I\nlive\u2014nor yet will my sons after me, but they will keep open house as I\nhave done.\u201d\n\nThen Minerva answered, \u201cSir, you have spoken well, and it will be much\nbetter that Telemachus should do as you have said; he, therefore, shall\nreturn with you and sleep at your house, but I must go back to give\norders to my crew, and keep them in good heart. I am the only older\nperson among them; the rest are all young men of Telemachus\u2019 own age,\nwho have taken this voyage out of friendship; so I must return to the\nship and sleep there. Moreover to-morrow I must go to the Cauconians\nwhere I have a large sum of money long owing to me. As for Telemachus,\nnow that he is your guest, send him to Lacedaemon in a chariot, and let\none of your sons go with him. Be pleased to also provide him with your\nbest and fleetest horses.\u201d\n\nWhen she had thus spoken, she flew away in the form of an eagle, and\nall marvelled as they beheld it. Nestor was astonished, and took\nTelemachus by the hand. \u201cMy friend,\u201d said he, \u201cI see that you are going\nto be a great hero some day, since the gods wait upon you thus while\nyou are still so young. This can have been none other of those who\ndwell in heaven than Jove\u2019s redoubtable daughter, the Trito-born, who\nshewed such favour towards your brave father among the Argives. Holy\nqueen,\u201d he continued, \u201cvouchsafe to send down thy grace upon myself, my\ngood wife, and my children. In return, I will offer you in sacrifice a\nbroad-browed heifer of a year old, unbroken, and never yet brought by\nman under the yoke. I will gild her horns, and will offer her up to you\nin sacrifice.\u201d\n\nThus did he pray, and Minerva heard his prayer. He then led the way to\nhis own house, followed by his sons and sons in law. When they had got\nthere and had taken their places on the benches and seats, he mixed\nthem a bowl of sweet wine that was eleven years old when the\nhousekeeper took the lid off the jar that held it. As he mixed the\nwine, he prayed much and made drink offerings to Minerva, daughter of\nAegis-bearing Jove. Then, when they had made their drink offerings and\nhad drunk each as much as he was minded, the others went home to bed\neach in his own abode; but Nestor put Telemachus to sleep in the room\nthat was over the gateway along with Pisistratus, who was the only\nunmarried son now left him. As for himself, he slept in an inner room\nof the house, with the queen his wife by his side.\n\nNow when the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Nestor left\nhis couch and took his seat on the benches of white and polished marble\nthat stood in front of his house. Here aforetime sat Neleus, peer of\ngods in counsel, but he was now dead, and had gone to the house of\nHades; so Nestor sat in his seat sceptre in hand, as guardian of the\npublic weal. His sons as they left their rooms gathered round him,\nEchephron, Stratius, Perseus, Aretus, and Thrasymedes; the sixth son\nwas Pisistratus, and when Telemachus joined them they made him sit with\nthem. Nestor then addressed them.\n\n\u201cMy sons,\u201d said he, \u201cmake haste to do as I shall bid you. I wish first\nand foremost to propitiate the great goddess Minerva, who manifested\nherself visibly to me during yesterday\u2019s festivities. Go, then, one or\nother of you to the plain, tell the stockman to look me out a heifer,\nand come on here with it at once. Another must go to Telemachus\u2019 ship,\nand invite all the crew, leaving two men only in charge of the vessel.\nSome one else will run and fetch Laerceus the goldsmith to gild the\nhorns of the heifer. The rest, stay all of you where you are; tell the\nmaids in the house to prepare an excellent dinner, and to fetch seats,\nand logs of wood for a burnt offering. Tell them also to bring me some\nclear spring water.\u201d\n\nOn this they hurried off on their several errands. The heifer was\nbrought in from the plain, and Telemachus\u2019s crew came from the ship;\nthe goldsmith brought the anvil, hammer, and tongs, with which he\nworked his gold, and Minerva herself came to accept the sacrifice.\nNestor gave out the gold, and the smith gilded the horns of the heifer\nthat the goddess might have pleasure in their beauty. Then Stratius and\nEchephron brought her in by the horns; Aretus fetched water from the\nhouse in a ewer that had a flower pattern on it, and in his other hand\nhe held a basket of barley meal; sturdy Thrasymedes stood by with a\nsharp axe, ready to strike the heifer, while Perseus held a bucket.\nThen Nestor began with washing his hands and sprinkling the barley\nmeal, and he offered many a prayer to Minerva as he threw a lock from\nthe heifer\u2019s head upon the fire.\n\nWhen they had done praying and sprinkling the barley meal32 Thrasymedes\ndealt his blow, and brought the heifer down with a stroke that cut\nthrough the tendons at the base of her neck, whereon the daughters and\ndaughters in law of Nestor, and his venerable wife Eurydice (she was\neldest daughter to Clymenus) screamed with delight. Then they lifted\nthe heifer\u2019s head from off the ground, and Pisistratus cut her throat.\nWhen she had done bleeding and was quite dead, they cut her up. They\ncut out the thigh bones all in due course, wrapped them round in two\nlayers of fat, and set some pieces of raw meat on the top of them; then\nNestor laid them upon the wood fire and poured wine over them, while\nthe young men stood near him with five-pronged spits in their hands.\nWhen the thighs were burned and they had tasted the inward meats, they\ncut the rest of the meat up small, put the pieces on the spits and\ntoasted them over the fire.\n\nMeanwhile lovely Polycaste, Nestor\u2019s youngest daughter, washed\nTelemachus. When she had washed him and anointed him with oil, she\nbrought him a fair mantle and shirt,33 and he looked like a god as he\ncame from the bath and took his seat by the side of Nestor. When the\nouter meats were done they drew them off the spits and sat down to\ndinner where they were waited upon by some worthy henchmen, who kept\npouring them out their wine in cups of gold. As soon as they had had\nenough to eat and drink Nestor said, \u201cSons, put Telemachus\u2019s horses to\nthe chariot that he may start at once.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak, and they did even as he had said, and yoked the\nfleet horses to the chariot. The housekeeper packed them up a provision\nof bread, wine, and sweet meats fit for the sons of princes. Then\nTelemachus got into the chariot, while Pisistratus gathered up the\nreins and took his seat beside him. He lashed the horses on and they\nflew forward nothing loth into the open country, leaving the high\ncitadel of Pylos behind them. All that day did they travel, swaying the\nyoke upon their necks till the sun went down and darkness was over all\nthe land. Then they reached Pherae where Diocles lived, who was son to\nOrtilochus and grandson to Alpheus. Here they passed the night and\nDiocles entertained them hospitably. When the child of morning,\nrosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, they again yoked their horses and drove\nout through the gateway under the echoing gatehouse.34 Pisistratus\nlashed the horses on and they flew forward nothing loth; presently they\ncame to the corn lands of the open country, and in the course of time\ncompleted their journey, so well did their steeds take them.35\n\nNow when the sun had set and darkness was over the land,\n\n\n\n\nBOOK IV\n\n\nTHE VISIT TO KING MENELAUS, WHO TELLS HIS STORY\u2014MEANWHILE THE SUITORS\nIN ITHACA PLOT AGAINST TELEMACHUS.\n\n\nthey reached the low lying city of Lacedaemon, where they drove\nstraight to the abode of Menelaus36 [and found him in his own house,\nfeasting with his many clansmen in honour of the wedding of his son,\nand also of his daughter, whom he was marrying to the son of that\nvaliant warrior Achilles. He had given his consent and promised her to\nhim while he was still at Troy, and now the gods were bringing the\nmarriage about; so he was sending her with chariots and horses to the\ncity of the Myrmidons over whom Achilles\u2019 son was reigning. For his\nonly son he had found a bride from Sparta,37 the daughter of Alector.\nThis son, Megapenthes, was born to him of a bondwoman, for heaven\nvouchsafed Helen no more children after she had borne Hermione, who was\nfair as golden Venus herself.\n\nSo the neighbours and kinsmen of Menelaus were feasting and making\nmerry in his house. There was a bard also to sing to them and play his\nlyre, while two tumblers went about performing in the midst of them\nwhen the man struck up with his tune.38\n\nTelemachus and the son of Nestor stayed their horses at the gate,\nwhereon Eteoneus servant to Menelaus came out, and as soon as he saw\nthem ran hurrying back into the house to tell his Master. He went close\nup to him and said, \u201cMenelaus, there are some strangers come here, two\nmen, who look like sons of Jove. What are we to do? Shall we take their\nhorses out, or tell them to find friends elsewhere as they best can?\u201d\n\nMenelaus was very angry and said, \u201cEteoneus, son of Boethous, you never\nused to be a fool, but now you talk like a simpleton. Take their horses\nout, of course, and show the strangers in that they may have supper;\nyou and I have staid often enough at other people\u2019s houses before we\ngot back here, where heaven grant that we may rest in peace\nhenceforward.\u201d\n\nSo Eteoneus bustled back and bade the other servants come with him.\nThey took their sweating steeds from under the yoke, made them fast to\nthe mangers, and gave them a feed of oats and barley mixed. Then they\nleaned the chariot against the end wall of the courtyard, and led the\nway into the house. Telemachus and Pisistratus were astonished when\nthey saw it, for its splendour was as that of the sun and moon; then,\nwhen they had admired everything to their heart\u2019s content, they went\ninto the bath room and washed themselves.\n\nWhen the servants had washed them and anointed them with oil, they\nbrought them woollen cloaks and shirts, and the two took their seats by\nthe side of Menelaus. A maid-servant brought them water in a beautiful\ngolden ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their\nhands; and she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought\nthem bread, and offered them many good things of what there was in the\nhouse, while the carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats and\nset cups of gold by their side.\n\nMenelaus then greeted them saying, \u201cFall to, and welcome; when you have\ndone supper I shall ask who you are, for the lineage of such men as you\ncannot have been lost. You must be descended from a line of\nsceptre-bearing kings, for poor people do not have such sons as you\nare.\u201d\n\nOn this he handed them39 a piece of fat roast loin, which had been set\nnear him as being a prime part, and they laid their hands on the good\nthings that were before them; as soon as they had had enough to eat and\ndrink, Telemachus said to the son of Nestor, with his head so close\nthat no one might hear, \u201cLook, Pisistratus, man after my own heart, see\nthe gleam of bronze and gold\u2014of amber,40 ivory, and silver. Everything\nis so splendid that it is like seeing the palace of Olympian Jove. I am\nlost in admiration.\u201d\n\nMenelaus overheard him and said, \u201cNo one, my sons, can hold his own\nwith Jove, for his house and everything about him is immortal; but\namong mortal men\u2014well, there may be another who has as much wealth as I\nhave, or there may not; but at all events I have travelled much and\nhave undergone much hardship, for it was nearly eight years before I\ncould get home with my fleet. I went to Cyprus, Phoenicia and the\nEgyptians; I went also to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the\nErembians, and to Libya where the lambs have horns as soon as they are\nborn, and the sheep lamb down three times a year. Every one in that\ncountry, whether master or man, has plenty of cheese, meat, and good\nmilk, for the ewes yield all the year round. But while I was travelling\nand getting great riches among these people, my brother was secretly\nand shockingly murdered through the perfidy of his wicked wife, so that\nI have no pleasure in being lord of all this wealth. Whoever your\nparents may be they must have told you about all this, and of my heavy\nloss in the ruin41 of a stately mansion fully and magnificently\nfurnished. Would that I had only a third of what I now have so that I\nhad stayed at home, and all those were living who perished on the plain\nof Troy, far from Argos. I often grieve, as I sit here in my house, for\none and all of them. At times I cry aloud for sorrow, but presently I\nleave off again, for crying is cold comfort and one soon tires of it.\nYet grieve for these as I may, I do so for one man more than for them\nall. I cannot even think of him without loathing both food and sleep,\nso miserable does he make me, for no one of all the Achaeans worked so\nhard or risked so much as he did. He took nothing by it, and has left a\nlegacy of sorrow to myself, for he has been gone a long time, and we\nknow not whether he is alive or dead. His old father, his\nlong-suffering wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus, whom he left\nbehind him an infant in arms, are plunged in grief on his account.\u201d\n\nThus spoke Menelaus, and the heart of Telemachus yearned as he\nbethought him of his father. Tears fell from his eyes as he heard him\nthus mentioned, so that he held his cloak before his face with both\nhands. When Menelaus saw this he doubted whether to let him choose his\nown time for speaking, or to ask him at once and find what it was all\nabout.\n\nWhile he was thus in two minds Helen came down from her high vaulted\nand perfumed room, looking as lovely as Diana herself. Adraste brought\nher a seat, Alcippe a soft woollen rug while Phylo fetched her the\nsilver work-box which Alcandra wife of Polybus had given her. Polybus\nlived in Egyptian Thebes, which is the richest city in the whole world;\nhe gave Menelaus two baths, both of pure silver, two tripods, and ten\ntalents of gold; besides all this, his wife gave Helen some beautiful\npresents, to wit, a golden distaff, and a silver work box that ran on\nwheels, with a gold band round the top of it. Phylo now placed this by\nher side, full of fine spun yarn, and a distaff charged with violet\ncoloured wool was laid upon the top of it. Then Helen took her seat,\nput her feet upon the footstool, and began to question her husband.42\n\n\u201cDo we know, Menelaus,\u201d said she, \u201cthe names of these strangers who\nhave come to visit us? Shall I guess right or wrong?\u2014but I cannot help\nsaying what I think. Never yet have I seen either man or woman so like\nsomebody else (indeed when I look at him I hardly know what to think)\nas this young man is like Telemachus, whom Ulysses left as a baby\nbehind him, when you Achaeans went to Troy with battle in your hearts,\non account of my most shameless self.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear wife,\u201d replied Menelaus, \u201cI see the likeness just as you do.\nHis hands and feet are just like Ulysses; so is his hair, with the\nshape of his head and the expression of his eyes. Moreover, when I was\ntalking about Ulysses, and saying how much he had suffered on my\naccount, tears fell from his eyes, and he hid his face in his mantle.\u201d\n\nThen Pisistratus said, \u201cMenelaus, son of Atreus, you are right in\nthinking that this young man is Telemachus, but he is very modest, and\nis ashamed to come here and begin opening up discourse with one whose\nconversation is so divinely interesting as your own. My father, Nestor,\nsent me to escort him hither, for he wanted to know whether you could\ngive him any counsel or suggestion. A son has always trouble at home\nwhen his father has gone away leaving him without supporters; and this\nis how Telemachus is now placed, for his father is absent, and there is\nno one among his own people to stand by him.\u201d\n\n\u201cBless my heart,\u201d replied Menelaus, \u201cthen I am receiving a visit from\nthe son of a very dear friend, who suffered much hardship for my sake.\nI had always hoped to entertain him with most marked distinction when\nheaven had granted us a safe return from beyond the seas. I should have\nfounded a city for him in Argos, and built him a house. I should have\nmade him leave Ithaca with his goods, his son, and all his people, and\nshould have sacked for them some one of the neighbouring cities that\nare subject to me. We should thus have seen one another continually,\nand nothing but death could have interrupted so close and happy an\nintercourse. I suppose, however, that heaven grudged us such great good\nfortune, for it has prevented the poor fellow from ever getting home at\nall.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak, and his words set them all a weeping. Helen wept,\nTelemachus wept, and so did Menelaus, nor could Pisistratus keep his\neyes from filling, when he remembered his dear brother Antilochus whom\nthe son of bright Dawn had killed. Thereon he said to Menelaus,\n\n\u201cSir, my father Nestor, when we used to talk about you at home, told me\nyou were a person of rare and excellent understanding. If, then, it be\npossible, do as I would urge you. I am not fond of crying while I am\ngetting my supper. Morning will come in due course, and in the forenoon\nI care not how much I cry for those that are dead and gone. This is all\nwe can do for the poor things. We can only shave our heads for them and\nwring the tears from our cheeks. I had a brother who died at Troy; he\nwas by no means the worst man there; you are sure to have known him\u2014his\nname was Antilochus; I never set eyes upon him myself, but they say\nthat he was singularly fleet of foot and in fight valiant.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour discretion, my friend,\u201d answered Menelaus, \u201cis beyond your years.\nIt is plain you take after your father. One can soon see when a man is\nson to one whom heaven has blessed both as regards wife and\noffspring\u2014and it has blessed Nestor from first to last all his days,\ngiving him a green old age in his own house, with sons about him who\nare both well disposed and valiant. We will put an end therefore to all\nthis weeping, and attend to our supper again. Let water be poured over\nour hands. Telemachus and I can talk with one another fully in the\nmorning.\u201d\n\nOn this Asphalion, one of the servants, poured water over their hands\nand they laid their hands on the good things that were before them.\n\nThen Jove\u2019s daughter Helen bethought her of another matter. She drugged\nthe wine with an herb that banishes all care, sorrow, and ill humour.\nWhoever drinks wine thus drugged cannot shed a single tear all the rest\nof the day, not even though his father and mother both of them drop\ndown dead, or he sees a brother or a son hewn in pieces before his very\neyes. This drug, of such sovereign power and virtue, had been given to\nHelen by Polydamna wife of Thon, a woman of Egypt, where there grow all\nsorts of herbs, some good to put into the mixing bowl and others\npoisonous. Moreover, every one in the whole country is a skilled\nphysician, for they are of the race of Paeeon. When Helen had put this\ndrug in the bowl, and had told the servants to serve the wine round,\nshe said:\n\n\u201cMenelaus, son of Atreus, and you my good friends, sons of honourable\nmen (which is as Jove wills, for he is the giver both of good and evil,\nand can do what he chooses), feast here as you will, and listen while I\ntell you a tale in season. I cannot indeed name every single one of the\nexploits of Ulysses, but I can say what he did when he was before Troy,\nand you Achaeans were in all sorts of difficulties. He covered himself\nwith wounds and bruises, dressed himself all in rags, and entered the\nenemy\u2019s city looking like a menial or a beggar, and quite different\nfrom what he did when he was among his own people. In this disguise he\nentered the city of Troy, and no one said anything to him. I alone\nrecognised him and began to question him, but he was too cunning for\nme. When, however, I had washed and anointed him and had given him\nclothes, and after I had sworn a solemn oath not to betray him to the\nTrojans till he had got safely back to his own camp and to the ships,\nhe told me all that the Achaeans meant to do. He killed many Trojans\nand got much information before he reached the Argive camp, for all\nwhich things the Trojan women made lamentation, but for my own part I\nwas glad, for my heart was beginning to yearn after my home, and I was\nunhappy about the wrong that Venus had done me in taking me over there,\naway from my country, my girl, and my lawful wedded husband, who is\nindeed by no means deficient either in person or understanding.\u201d\n\nThen Menelaus said, \u201cAll that you have been saying, my dear wife, is\ntrue. I have travelled much, and have had much to do with heroes, but I\nhave never seen such another man as Ulysses. What endurance too, and\nwhat courage he displayed within the wooden horse, wherein all the\nbravest of the Argives were lying in wait to bring death and\ndestruction upon the Trojans.43 At that moment you came up to us; some\ngod who wished well to the Trojans must have set you on to it and you\nhad Deiphobus with you. Three times did you go all round our hiding\nplace and pat it; you called our chiefs each by his own name, and\nmimicked all our wives\u2014Diomed, Ulysses, and I from our seats inside\nheard what a noise you made. Diomed and I could not make up our minds\nwhether to spring out then and there, or to answer you from inside, but\nUlysses held us all in check, so we sat quite still, all except\nAnticlus, who was beginning to answer you, when Ulysses clapped his two\nbrawny hands over his mouth, and kept them there. It was this that\nsaved us all, for he muzzled Anticlus till Minerva took you away\nagain.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow sad,\u201d exclaimed Telemachus, \u201cthat all this was of no avail to save\nhim, nor yet his own iron courage. But now, sir, be pleased to send us\nall to bed, that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon of sleep.\u201d\n\nOn this Helen told the maid servants to set beds in the room that was\nin the gatehouse, and to make them with good red rugs, and spread\ncoverlets on the top of them with woollen cloaks for the guests to\nwear. So the maids went out, carrying a torch, and made the beds, to\nwhich a man-servant presently conducted the strangers. Thus, then, did\nTelemachus and Pisistratus sleep there in the forecourt, while the son\nof Atreus lay in an inner room with lovely Helen by his side.\n\nWhen the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Menelaus rose\nand dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet, girded\nhis sword about his shoulders, and left his room looking like an\nimmortal god. Then, taking a seat near Telemachus he said:\n\n\u201cAnd what, Telemachus, has led you to take this long sea voyage to\nLacedaemon? Are you on public, or private business? Tell me all about\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have come, sir,\u201d replied Telemachus, \u201cto see if you can tell me\nanything about my father. I am being eaten out of house and home; my\nfair estate is being wasted, and my house is full of miscreants who\nkeep killing great numbers of my sheep and oxen, on the pretence of\npaying their addresses to my mother. Therefore, I am suppliant at your\nknees if haply you may tell me about my father\u2019s melancholy end,\nwhether you saw it with your own eyes, or heard it from some other\ntraveller; for he was a man born to trouble. Do not soften things out\nof any pity for myself, but tell me in all plainness exactly what you\nsaw. If my brave father Ulysses ever did you loyal service either by\nword or deed, when you Achaeans were harassed by the Trojans, bear it\nin mind now as in my favour and tell me truly all.\u201d\n\nMenelaus on hearing this was very much shocked. \u201cSo,\u201d he exclaimed,\n\u201cthese cowards would usurp a brave man\u2019s bed? A hind might as well lay\nher new born young in the lair of a lion, and then go off to feed in\nthe forest or in some grassy dell: the lion when he comes back to his\nlair will make short work with the pair of them\u2014and so will Ulysses\nwith these suitors. By father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, if Ulysses is\nstill the man that he was when he wrestled with Philomeleides in\nLesbos, and threw him so heavily that all the Achaeans cheered him\u2014if\nhe is still such and were to come near these suitors, they would have a\nshort shrift and a sorry wedding. As regards your questions, however, I\nwill not prevaricate nor deceive you, but will tell you without\nconcealment all that the old man of the sea told me.\n\n\u201cI was trying to come on here, but the gods detained me in Egypt, for\nmy hecatombs had not given them full satisfaction, and the gods are\nvery strict about having their dues. Now off Egypt, about as far as a\nship can sail in a day with a good stiff breeze behind her, there is an\nisland called Pharos\u2014it has a good harbour from which vessels can get\nout into open sea when they have taken in water\u2014and here the gods\nbecalmed me twenty days without so much as a breath of fair wind to\nhelp me forward. We should have run clean out of provisions and my men\nwould have starved, if a goddess had not taken pity upon me and saved\nme in the person of Idothea, daughter to Proteus, the old man of the\nsea, for she had taken a great fancy to me.\n\n\u201cShe came to me one day when I was by myself, as I often was, for the\nmen used to go with their barbed hooks, all over the island in the hope\nof catching a fish or two to save them from the pangs of hunger.\n\u2018Stranger,\u2019 said she, \u2018it seems to me that you like starving in this\nway\u2014at any rate it does not greatly trouble you, for you stick here day\nafter day, without even trying to get away though your men are dying by\ninches.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Let me tell you,\u2019 said I, \u2018whichever of the goddesses you may happen\nto be, that I am not staying here of my own accord, but must have\noffended the gods that live in heaven. Tell me, therefore, for the gods\nknow everything, which of the immortals it is that is hindering me in\nthis way, and tell me also how I may sail the sea so as to reach my\nhome.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Stranger,\u2019 replied she, \u2018I will make it all quite clear to you. There\nis an old immortal who lives under the sea hereabouts and whose name is\nProteus. He is an Egyptian, and people say he is my father; he is\nNeptune\u2019s head man and knows every inch of ground all over the bottom\nof the sea. If you can snare him and hold him tight, he will tell you\nabout your voyage, what courses you are to take, and how you are to\nsail the sea so as to reach your home. He will also tell you, if you so\nwill, all that has been going on at your house both good and bad, while\nyou have been away on your long and dangerous journey.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Can you show me,\u2019 said I, \u2018some stratagem by means of which I may\ncatch this old god without his suspecting it and finding me out? For a\ngod is not easily caught\u2014not by a mortal man.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Stranger,\u2019 said she, \u2018I will make it all quite clear to you. About\nthe time when the sun shall have reached mid heaven, the old man of the\nsea comes up from under the waves, heralded by the West wind that furs\nthe water over his head. As soon as he has come up he lies down, and\ngoes to sleep in a great sea cave, where the seals\u2014Halosydne\u2019s chickens\nas they call them\u2014come up also from the grey sea, and go to sleep in\nshoals all round him; and a very strong and fish-like smell do they\nbring with them. 44 Early to-morrow morning I will take you to this\nplace and will lay you in ambush. Pick out, therefore, the three best\nmen you have in your fleet, and I will tell you all the tricks that the\nold man will play you.\n\n\u201c\u2018First he will look over all his seals, and count them; then, when he\nhas seen them and tallied them on his five fingers, he will go to sleep\namong them, as a shepherd among his sheep. The moment you see that he\nis asleep seize him; put forth all your strength and hold him fast, for\nhe will do his very utmost to get away from you. He will turn himself\ninto every kind of creature that goes upon the earth, and will become\nalso both fire and water; but you must hold him fast and grip him\ntighter and tighter, till he begins to talk to you and comes back to\nwhat he was when you saw him go to sleep; then you may slacken your\nhold and let him go; and you can ask him which of the gods it is that\nis angry with you, and what you must do to reach your home over the\nseas.\u2019\n\n\u201cHaving so said she dived under the waves, whereon I turned back to the\nplace where my ships were ranged upon the shore; and my heart was\nclouded with care as I went along. When I reached my ship we got supper\nready, for night was falling, and camped down upon the beach.\n\n\u201cWhen the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, I took the\nthree men on whose prowess of all kinds I could most rely, and went\nalong by the sea-side, praying heartily to heaven. Meanwhile the\ngoddess fetched me up four seal skins from the bottom of the sea, all\nof them just skinned, for she meant playing a trick upon her father.\nThen she dug four pits for us to lie in, and sat down to wait till we\nshould come up. When we were close to her, she made us lie down in the\npits one after the other, and threw a seal skin over each of us. Our\nambuscade would have been intolerable, for the stench of the fishy\nseals was most distressing45\u2014who would go to bed with a sea monster if\nhe could help it?\u2014but here, too, the goddess helped us, and thought of\nsomething that gave us great relief, for she put some ambrosia under\neach man\u2019s nostrils, which was so fragrant that it killed the smell of\nthe seals.46\n\n\u201cWe waited the whole morning and made the best of it, watching the\nseals come up in hundreds to bask upon the sea shore, till at noon the\nold man of the sea came up too, and when he had found his fat seals he\nwent over them and counted them. We were among the first he counted,\nand he never suspected any guile, but laid himself down to sleep as\nsoon as he had done counting. Then we rushed upon him with a shout and\nseized him; on which he began at once with his old tricks, and changed\nhimself first into a lion with a great mane; then all of a sudden he\nbecame a dragon, a leopard, a wild boar; the next moment he was running\nwater, and then again directly he was a tree, but we stuck to him and\nnever lost hold, till at last the cunning old creature became\ndistressed, and said, \u2018Which of the gods was it, Son of Atreus, that\nhatched this plot with you for snaring me and seizing me against my\nwill? What do you want?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018You know that yourself, old man,\u2019 I answered, \u2018you will gain nothing\nby trying to put me off. It is because I have been kept so long in this\nisland, and see no sign of my being able to get away. I am losing all\nheart; tell me, then, for you gods know everything, which of the\nimmortals it is that is hindering me, and tell me also how I may sail\nthe sea so as to reach my home?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen,\u2019 he said, \u2018if you would finish your voyage and get home quickly,\nyou must offer sacrifices to Jove and to the rest of the gods before\nembarking; for it is decreed that you shall not get back to your\nfriends, and to your own house, till you have returned to the\nheaven-fed stream of Egypt, and offered holy hecatombs to the immortal\ngods that reign in heaven. When you have done this they will let you\nfinish your voyage.\u2019\n\n\u201cI was broken hearted when I heard that I must go back all that long\nand terrible voyage to Egypt;47 nevertheless, I answered, \u2018I will do\nall, old man, that you have laid upon me; but now tell me, and tell me\ntrue, whether all the Achaeans whom Nestor and I left behind us when we\nset sail from Troy have got home safely, or whether any one of them\ncame to a bad end either on board his own ship or among his friends\nwhen the days of his fighting were done.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Son of Atreus,\u2019 he answered, \u2018why ask me? You had better not know\nwhat I can tell you, for your eyes will surely fill when you have heard\nmy story. Many of those about whom you ask are dead and gone, but many\nstill remain, and only two of the chief men among the Achaeans perished\nduring their return home. As for what happened on the field of\nbattle\u2014you were there yourself. A third Achaean leader is still at sea,\nalive, but hindered from returning. Ajax was wrecked, for Neptune drove\nhim on to the great rocks of Gyrae; nevertheless, he let him get safe\nout of the water, and in spite of all Minerva\u2019s hatred he would have\nescaped death, if he had not ruined himself by boasting. He said the\ngods could not drown him even though they had tried to do so, and when\nNeptune heard this large talk, he seized his trident in his two brawny\nhands, and split the rock of Gyrae in two pieces. The base remained\nwhere it was, but the part on which Ajax was sitting fell headlong into\nthe sea and carried Ajax with it; so he drank salt water and was\ndrowned.\n\n\u201c\u2018Your brother and his ships escaped, for Juno protected him, but when\nhe was just about to reach the high promontory of Malea, he was caught\nby a heavy gale which carried him out to sea again sorely against his\nwill, and drove him to the foreland where Thyestes used to dwell, but\nwhere Aegisthus was then living. By and by, however, it seemed as\nthough he was to return safely after all, for the gods backed the wind\ninto its old quarter and they reached home; whereon Agamemnon kissed\nhis native soil, and shed tears of joy at finding himself in his own\ncountry.\n\n\u201c\u2018Now there was a watchman whom Aegisthus kept always on the watch, and\nto whom he had promised two talents of gold. This man had been looking\nout for a whole year to make sure that Agamemnon did not give him the\nslip and prepare war; when, therefore, this man saw Agamemnon go by, he\nwent and told Aegisthus, who at once began to lay a plot for him. He\npicked twenty of his bravest warriors and placed them in ambuscade on\none side the cloister, while on the opposite side he prepared a\nbanquet. Then he sent his chariots and horsemen to Agamemnon, and\ninvited him to the feast, but he meant foul play. He got him there, all\nunsuspicious of the doom that was awaiting him, and killed him when the\nbanquet was over as though he were butchering an ox in the shambles;\nnot one of Agamemnon\u2019s followers was left alive, nor yet one of\nAegisthus\u2019, but they were all killed there in the cloisters.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus spoke Proteus, and I was broken hearted as I heard him. I sat\ndown upon the sands and wept; I felt as though I could no longer bear\nto live nor look upon the light of the sun. Presently, when I had had\nmy fill of weeping and writhing upon the ground, the old man of the sea\nsaid, \u2018Son of Atreus, do not waste any more time in crying so bitterly;\nit can do no manner of good; find your way home as fast as ever you\ncan, for Aegisthus may be still alive, and even though Orestes has been\nbeforehand with you in killing him, you may yet come in for his\nfuneral.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn this I took comfort in spite of all my sorrow, and said, \u2018I know,\nthen, about these two; tell me, therefore, about the third man of whom\nyou spoke; is he still alive, but at sea, and unable to get home? or is\nhe dead? Tell me, no matter how much it may grieve me.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018The third man,\u2019 he answered, \u2018is Ulysses who dwells in Ithaca. I can\nsee him in an island sorrowing bitterly in the house of the nymph\nCalypso, who is keeping him prisoner, and he cannot reach his home for\nhe has no ships nor sailors to take him over the sea. As for your own\nend, Menelaus, you shall not die in Argos, but the gods will take you\nto the Elysian plain, which is at the ends of the world. There\nfair-haired Rhadamanthus reigns, and men lead an easier life than any\nwhere else in the world, for in Elysium there falls not rain, nor hail,\nnor snow, but Oceanus breathes ever with a West wind that sings softly\nfrom the sea, and gives fresh life to all men. This will happen to you\nbecause you have married Helen, and are Jove\u2019s son-in-law.\u2019\n\n\u201cAs he spoke he dived under the waves, whereon I turned back to the\nships with my companions, and my heart was clouded with care as I went\nalong. When we reached the ships we got supper ready, for night was\nfalling, and camped down upon the beach. When the child of morning,\nrosy-fingered Dawn appeared, we drew our ships into the water, and put\nour masts and sails within them; then we went on board ourselves, took\nour seats on the benches, and smote the grey sea with our oars. I again\nstationed my ships in the heaven-fed stream of Egypt, and offered\nhecatombs that were full and sufficient. When I had thus appeased\nheaven\u2019s anger, I raised a barrow to the memory of Agamemnon that his\nname might live for ever, after which I had a quick passage home, for\nthe gods sent me a fair wind.\n\n\u201cAnd now for yourself\u2014stay here some ten or twelve days longer, and I\nwill then speed you on your way. I will make you a noble present of a\nchariot and three horses. I will also give you a beautiful chalice that\nso long as you live you may think of me whenever you make a\ndrink-offering to the immortal gods.\u201d\n\n\u201cSon of Atreus,\u201d replied Telemachus, \u201cdo not press me to stay longer; I\nshould be contented to remain with you for another twelve months; I\nfind your conversation so delightful that I should never once wish\nmyself at home with my parents; but my crew whom I have left at Pylos\nare already impatient, and you are detaining me from them. As for any\npresent you may be disposed to make me, I had rather that it should be\na piece of plate. I will take no horses back with me to Ithaca, but\nwill leave them to adorn your own stables, for you have much flat\nground in your kingdom where lotus thrives, as also meadow-sweet and\nwheat and barley, and oats with their white and spreading ears; whereas\nin Ithaca we have neither open fields nor racecourses, and the country\nis more fit for goats than horses, and I like it the better for that.\n48 None of our islands have much level ground, suitable for horses, and\nIthaca least of all.\u201d\n\nMenelaus smiled and took Telemachus\u2019s hand within his own. \u201cWhat you\nsay,\u201d said he, \u201cshows that you come of good family. I both can, and\nwill, make this exchange for you, by giving you the finest and most\nprecious piece of plate in all my house. It is a mixing bowl by\nVulcan\u2019s own hand, of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with\ngold. Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it me in the course of a\nvisit which I paid him when I returned thither on my homeward journey.\nI will make you a present of it.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse [and guests kept coming to the king\u2019s house.\nThey brought sheep and wine, while their wives had put up bread for\nthem to take with them; so they were busy cooking their dinners in the\ncourts].49\n\nMeanwhile the suitors were throwing discs or aiming with spears at a\nmark on the levelled ground in front of Ulysses\u2019 house, and were\nbehaving with all their old insolence. Antinous and Eurymachus, who\nwere their ringleaders and much the foremost among them all, were\nsitting together when Noemon son of Phronius came up and said to\nAntinous,\n\n\u201cHave we any idea, Antinous, on what day Telemachus returns from Pylos?\nHe has a ship of mine, and I want it, to cross over to Elis: I have\ntwelve brood mares there with yearling mule foals by their side not yet\nbroken in, and I want to bring one of them over here and break him.\u201d\n\nThey were astounded when they heard this, for they had made sure that\nTelemachus had not gone to the city of Neleus. They thought he was only\naway somewhere on the farms, and was with the sheep, or with the\nswineherd; so Antinous said, \u201cWhen did he go? Tell me truly, and what\nyoung men did he take with him? Were they freemen or his own\nbondsmen\u2014for he might manage that too? Tell me also, did you let him\nhave the ship of your own free will because he asked you, or did he\ntake it without your leave?\u201d\n\n\u201cI lent it him,\u201d answered Noemon, \u201cwhat else could I do when a man of\nhis position said he was in a difficulty, and asked me to oblige him? I\ncould not possibly refuse. As for those who went with him they were the\nbest young men we have, and I saw Mentor go on board as captain\u2014or some\ngod who was exactly like him. I cannot understand it, for I saw Mentor\nhere myself yesterday morning, and yet he was then setting out for\nPylos.\u201d\n\nNoemon then went back to his father\u2019s house, but Antinous and\nEurymachus were very angry. They told the others to leave off playing,\nand to come and sit down along with themselves. When they came,\nAntinous son of Eupeithes spoke in anger. His heart was black with\nrage, and his eyes flashed fire as he said:\n\n\u201cGood heavens, this voyage of Telemachus is a very serious matter; we\nhad made sure that it would come to nothing, but the young fellow has\ngot away in spite of us, and with a picked crew too. He will be giving\nus trouble presently; may Jove take him before he is full grown. Find\nme a ship, therefore, with a crew of twenty men, and I will lie in wait\nfor him in the straits between Ithaca and Samos; he will then rue the\nday that he set out to try and get news of his father.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak, and the others applauded his saying; they then all\nof them went inside the buildings.\n\nIt was not long ere Penelope came to know what the suitors were\nplotting; for a man servant, Medon, overheard them from outside the\nouter court as they were laying their schemes within, and went to tell\nhis mistress. As he crossed the threshold of her room Penelope said:\n\u201cMedon, what have the suitors sent you here for? Is it to tell the\nmaids to leave their master\u2019s business and cook dinner for them? I wish\nthey may neither woo nor dine henceforward, neither here nor anywhere\nelse, but let this be the very last time, for the waste you all make of\nmy son\u2019s estate. Did not your fathers tell you when you were children,\nhow good Ulysses had been to them\u2014never doing anything high-handed, nor\nspeaking harshly to anybody? Kings may say things sometimes, and they\nmay take a fancy to one man and dislike another, but Ulysses never did\nan unjust thing by anybody\u2014which shows what bad hearts you have, and\nthat there is no such thing as gratitude left in this world.\u201d\n\nThen Medon said, \u201cI wish, Madam, that this were all; but they are\nplotting something much more dreadful now\u2014may heaven frustrate their\ndesign. They are going to try and murder Telemachus as he is coming\nhome from Pylos and Lacedaemon, where he has been to get news of his\nfather.\u201d\n\nThen Penelope\u2019s heart sank within her, and for a long time she was\nspeechless; her eyes filled with tears, and she could find no\nutterance. At last, however, she said, \u201cWhy did my son leave me? What\nbusiness had he to go sailing off in ships that make long voyages over\nthe ocean like sea-horses? Does he want to die without leaving any one\nbehind him to keep up his name?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d answered Medon, \u201cwhether some god set him on to it, or\nwhether he went on his own impulse to see if he could find out if his\nfather was dead, or alive and on his way home.\u201d\n\nThen he went downstairs again, leaving Penelope in an agony of grief.\nThere were plenty of seats in the house, but she had no heart for\nsitting on any one of them; she could only fling herself on the floor\nof her own room and cry; whereon all the maids in the house, both old\nand young, gathered round her and began to cry too, till at last in a\ntransport of sorrow she exclaimed,\n\n\u201cMy dears, heaven has been pleased to try me with more affliction than\nany other woman of my age and country. First I lost my brave and\nlion-hearted husband, who had every good quality under heaven, and\nwhose name was great over all Hellas and middle Argos, and now my\ndarling son is at the mercy of the winds and waves, without my having\nheard one word about his leaving home. You hussies, there was not one\nof you would so much as think of giving me a call out of my bed, though\nyou all of you very well knew when he was starting. If I had known he\nmeant taking this voyage, he would have had to give it up, no matter\nhow much he was bent upon it, or leave me a corpse behind him\u2014one or\nother. Now, however, go some of you and call old Dolius, who was given\nme by my father on my marriage, and who is my gardener. Bid him go at\nonce and tell everything to Laertes, who may be able to hit on some\nplan for enlisting public sympathy on our side, as against those who\nare trying to exterminate his own race and that of Ulysses.\u201d\n\nThen the dear old nurse Euryclea said, \u201cYou may kill me, Madam, or let\nme live on in your house, whichever you please, but I will tell you the\nreal truth. I knew all about it, and gave him everything he wanted in\nthe way of bread and wine, but he made me take my solemn oath that I\nwould not tell you anything for some ten or twelve days, unless you\nasked or happened to hear of his having gone, for he did not want you\nto spoil your beauty by crying. And now, Madam, wash your face, change\nyour dress, and go upstairs with your maids to offer prayers to\nMinerva, daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, for she can save him even\nthough he be in the jaws of death. Do not trouble Laertes: he has\ntrouble enough already. Besides, I cannot think that the gods hate the\nrace of the son of Arceisius so much, but there will be a son left to\ncome up after him, and inherit both the house and the fair fields that\nlie far all round it.\u201d\n\nWith these words she made her mistress leave off crying, and dried the\ntears from her eyes. Penelope washed her face, changed her dress, and\nwent upstairs with her maids. She then put some bruised barley into a\nbasket and began praying to Minerva.\n\n\u201cHear me,\u201d she cried, \u201cDaughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable. If\never Ulysses while he was here burned you fat thigh bones of sheep or\nheifer, bear it in mind now as in my favour, and save my darling son\nfrom the villainy of the suitors.\u201d\n\nShe cried aloud as she spoke, and the goddess heard her prayer;\nmeanwhile the suitors were clamorous throughout the covered cloister,\nand one of them said:\n\n\u201cThe queen is preparing for her marriage with one or other of us.\nLittle does she dream that her son has now been doomed to die.\u201d\n\nThis was what they said, but they did not know what was going to\nhappen. Then Antinous said, \u201cComrades, let there be no loud talking,\nlest some of it get carried inside. Let us be up and do that in\nsilence, about which we are all of a mind.\u201d\n\nHe then chose twenty men, and they went down to their ship and to the\nsea side; they drew the vessel into the water and got her mast and\nsails inside her; they bound the oars to the thole-pins with twisted\nthongs of leather, all in due course, and spread the white sails aloft,\nwhile their fine servants brought them their armour. Then they made the\nship fast a little way out, came on shore again, got their suppers, and\nwaited till night should fall.\n\nBut Penelope lay in her own room upstairs unable to eat or drink, and\nwondering whether her brave son would escape, or be overpowered by the\nwicked suitors. Like a lioness caught in the toils with huntsmen\nhemming her in on every side she thought and thought till she sank into\na slumber, and lay on her bed bereft of thought and motion.\n\nThen Minerva bethought her of another matter, and made a vision in the\nlikeness of Penelope\u2019s sister Iphthime daughter of Icarius who had\nmarried Eumelus and lived in Pherae. She told the vision to go to the\nhouse of Ulysses, and to make Penelope leave off crying, so it came\ninto her room by the hole through which the thong went for pulling the\ndoor to, and hovered over her head saying,\n\n\u201cYou are asleep, Penelope: the gods who live at ease will not suffer\nyou to weep and be so sad. Your son has done them no wrong, so he will\nyet come back to you.\u201d\n\nPenelope, who was sleeping sweetly at the gates of dreamland, answered,\n\u201cSister, why have you come here? You do not come very often, but I\nsuppose that is because you live such a long way off. Am I, then, to\nleave off crying and refrain from all the sad thoughts that torture me?\nI, who have lost my brave and lion-hearted husband, who had every good\nquality under heaven, and whose name was great over all Hellas and\nmiddle Argos; and now my darling son has gone off on board of a ship\u2014a\nfoolish fellow who has never been used to roughing it, nor to going\nabout among gatherings of men. I am even more anxious about him than\nabout my husband; I am all in a tremble when I think of him, lest\nsomething should happen to him, either from the people among whom he\nhas gone, or by sea, for he has many enemies who are plotting against\nhim, and are bent on killing him before he can return home.\u201d\n\nThen the vision said, \u201cTake heart, and be not so much dismayed. There\nis one gone with him whom many a man would be glad enough to have stand\nby his side, I mean Minerva; it is she who has compassion upon you, and\nwho has sent me to bear you this message.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said Penelope, \u201cif you are a god or have been sent here by\ndivine commission, tell me also about that other unhappy one\u2014is he\nstill alive, or is he already dead and in the house of Hades?\u201d\n\nAnd the vision said, \u201cI shall not tell you for certain whether he is\nalive or dead, and there is no use in idle conversation.\u201d\n\nThen it vanished through the thong-hole of the door and was dissipated\ninto thin air; but Penelope rose from her sleep refreshed and\ncomforted, so vivid had been her dream.\n\nMeantime the suitors went on board and sailed their ways over the sea,\nintent on murdering Telemachus. Now there is a rocky islet called\nAsteris, of no great size, in mid channel between Ithaca and Samos, and\nthere is a harbour on either side of it where a ship can lie. Here then\nthe Achaeans placed themselves in ambush.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK V\n\n\nCALYPSO\u2014ULYSSES REACHES SCHERIA ON A RAFT.\n\n\nAnd now, as Dawn rose from her couch beside Tithonus\u2014harbinger of light\nalike to mortals and immortals\u2014the gods met in council and with them,\nJove the lord of thunder, who is their king. Thereon Minerva began to\ntell them of the many sufferings of Ulysses, for she pitied him away\nthere in the house of the nymph Calypso.\n\n\u201cFather Jove,\u201d said she, \u201cand all you other gods that live in\neverlasting bliss, I hope there may never be such a thing as a kind and\nwell-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern equitably. I hope\nthey will be all henceforth cruel and unjust, for there is not one of\nhis subjects but has forgotten Ulysses, who ruled them as though he\nwere their father. There he is, lying in great pain in an island where\ndwells the nymph Calypso, who will not let him go; and he cannot get\nback to his own country, for he can find neither ships nor sailors to\ntake him over the sea. Furthermore, wicked people are now trying to\nmurder his only son Telemachus, who is coming home from Pylos and\nLacedaemon, where he has been to see if he can get news of his father.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat, my dear, are you talking about?\u201d replied her father, \u201cdid you\nnot send him there yourself, because you thought it would help Ulysses\nto get home and punish the suitors? Besides, you are perfectly able to\nprotect Telemachus, and to see him safely home again, while the suitors\nhave to come hurry-skurrying back without having killed him.\u201d\n\nWhen he had thus spoken, he said to his son Mercury, \u201cMercury, you are\nour messenger, go therefore and tell Calypso we have decreed that poor\nUlysses is to return home. He is to be convoyed neither by gods nor\nmen, but after a perilous voyage of twenty days upon a raft he is to\nreach fertile Scheria,50 the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of\nkin to the gods, and will honour him as though he were one of\nourselves. They will send him in a ship to his own country, and will\ngive him more bronze and gold and raiment than he would have brought\nback from Troy, if he had had all his prize money and had got home\nwithout disaster. This is how we have settled that he shall return to\nhis country and his friends.\u201d\n\nThus he spoke, and Mercury, guide and guardian, slayer of Argus, did as\nhe was told. Forthwith he bound on his glittering golden sandals with\nwhich he could fly like the wind over land and sea. He took the wand\nwith which he seals men\u2019s eyes in sleep or wakes them just as he\npleases, and flew holding it in his hand over Pieria; then he swooped\ndown through the firmament till he reached the level of the sea, whose\nwaves he skimmed like a cormorant that flies fishing every hole and\ncorner of the ocean, and drenching its thick plumage in the spray. He\nflew and flew over many a weary wave, but when at last he got to the\nisland which was his journey\u2019s end, he left the sea and went on by land\ntill he came to the cave where the nymph Calypso lived.\n\nHe found her at home. There was a large fire burning on the hearth, and\none could smell from far the fragrant reek of burning cedar and sandal\nwood. As for herself, she was busy at her loom, shooting her golden\nshuttle through the warp and singing beautifully. Round her cave there\nwas a thick wood of alder, poplar, and sweet smelling cypress trees,\nwherein all kinds of great birds had built their nests\u2014owls, hawks, and\nchattering sea-crows that occupy their business in the waters. A vine\nloaded with grapes was trained and grew luxuriantly about the mouth of\nthe cave; there were also four running rills of water in channels cut\npretty close together, and turned hither and thither so as to irrigate\nthe beds of violets and luscious herbage over which they flowed. 51\nEven a god could not help being charmed with such a lovely spot, so\nMercury stood still and looked at it; but when he had admired it\nsufficiently he went inside the cave.\n\nCalypso knew him at once\u2014for the gods all know each other, no matter\nhow far they live from one another\u2014but Ulysses was not within; he was\non the sea-shore as usual, looking out upon the barren ocean with tears\nin his eyes, groaning and breaking his heart for sorrow. Calypso gave\nMercury a seat and said: \u201cWhy have you come to see me,\nMercury\u2014honoured, and ever welcome\u2014for you do not visit me often? Say\nwhat you want; I will do it for you at once if I can, and if it can be\ndone at all; but come inside, and let me set refreshment before you.\u201d\n\nAs she spoke she drew a table loaded with ambrosia beside him and mixed\nhim some red nectar, so Mercury ate and drank till he had had enough,\nand then said:\n\n\u201cWe are speaking god and goddess to one another, and you ask me why I\nhave come here, and I will tell you truly as you would have me do. Jove\nsent me; it was no doing of mine; who could possibly want to come all\nthis way over the sea where there are no cities full of people to offer\nme sacrifices or choice hecatombs? Nevertheless I had to come, for none\nof us other gods can cross Jove, nor transgress his orders. He says\nthat you have here the most ill-starred of all those who fought nine\nyears before the city of King Priam and sailed home in the tenth year\nafter having sacked it. On their way home they sinned against\nMinerva,52 who raised both wind and waves against them, so that all his\nbrave companions perished, and he alone was carried hither by wind and\ntide. Jove says that you are to let this man go at once, for it is\ndecreed that he shall not perish here, far from his own people, but\nshall return to his house and country and see his friends again.\u201d\n\nCalypso trembled with rage when she heard this, \u201cYou gods,\u201d she\nexclaimed, \u201cought to be ashamed of yourselves. You are always jealous\nand hate seeing a goddess take a fancy to a mortal man, and live with\nhim in open matrimony. So when rosy-fingered Dawn made love to Orion,\nyou precious gods were all of you furious till Diana went and killed\nhim in Ortygia. So again when Ceres fell in love with Iasion, and\nyielded to him in a thrice-ploughed fallow field, Jove came to hear of\nit before so very long and killed Iasion with his thunderbolts. And now\nyou are angry with me too because I have a man here. I found the poor\ncreature sitting all alone astride of a keel, for Jove had struck his\nship with lightning and sunk it in mid ocean, so that all his crew were\ndrowned, while he himself was driven by wind and waves on to my island.\nI got fond of him and cherished him, and had set my heart on making him\nimmortal, so that he should never grow old all his days; still I cannot\ncross Jove, nor bring his counsels to nothing; therefore, if he insists\nupon it, let the man go beyond the seas again; but I cannot send him\nanywhere myself for I have neither ships nor men who can take him.\nNevertheless I will readily give him such advice, in all good faith, as\nwill be likely to bring him safely to his own country.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen send him away,\u201d said Mercury, \u201cor Jove will be angry with you and\npunish you\u201d.\n\nOn this he took his leave, and Calypso went out to look for Ulysses,\nfor she had heard Jove\u2019s message. She found him sitting upon the beach\nwith his eyes ever filled with tears, and dying of sheer home sickness;\nfor he had got tired of Calypso, and though he was forced to sleep with\nher in the cave by night, it was she, not he, that would have it so. As\nfor the day time, he spent it on the rocks and on the sea shore,\nweeping, crying aloud for his despair, and always looking out upon the\nsea. Calypso then went close up to him said:\n\n\u201cMy poor fellow, you shall not stay here grieving and fretting your\nlife out any longer. I am going to send you away of my own free will;\nso go, cut some beams of wood, and make yourself a large raft with an\nupper deck that it may carry you safely over the sea. I will put bread,\nwine, and water on board to save you from starving. I will also give\nyou clothes, and will send you a fair wind to take you home, if the\ngods in heaven so will it\u2014for they know more about these things, and\ncan settle them better than I can.\u201d\n\nUlysses shuddered as he heard her. \u201cNow goddess,\u201d he answered, \u201cthere\nis something behind all this; you cannot be really meaning to help me\nhome when you bid me do such a dreadful thing as put to sea on a raft.\nNot even a well found ship with a fair wind could venture on such a\ndistant voyage: nothing that you can say or do shall make me go on\nboard a raft unless you first solemnly swear that you mean me no\nmischief.\u201d\n\nCalypso smiled at this and caressed him with her hand: \u201cYou know a\ngreat deal,\u201d said she, \u201cbut you are quite wrong here. May heaven above\nand earth below be my witnesses, with the waters of the river Styx\u2014and\nthis is the most solemn oath which a blessed god can take\u2014that I mean\nyou no sort of harm, and am only advising you to do exactly what I\nshould do myself in your place. I am dealing with you quite\nstraightforwardly; my heart is not made of iron, and I am very sorry\nfor you.\u201d\n\nWhen she had thus spoken she led the way rapidly before him, and\nUlysses followed in her steps; so the pair, goddess and man, went on\nand on till they came to Calypso\u2019s cave, where Ulysses took the seat\nthat Mercury had just left. Calypso set meat and drink before him of\nthe food that mortals eat; but her maids brought ambrosia and nectar\nfor herself, and they laid their hands on the good things that were\nbefore them. When they had satisfied themselves with meat and drink,\nCalypso spoke, saying:\n\n\u201cUlysses, noble son of Laertes, so you would start home to your own\nland at once? Good luck go with you, but if you could only know how\nmuch suffering is in store for you before you get back to your own\ncountry, you would stay where you are, keep house along with me, and\nlet me make you immortal, no matter how anxious you may be to see this\nwife of yours, of whom you are thinking all the time day after day; yet\nI flatter myself that I am no whit less tall or well-looking than she\nis, for it is not to be expected that a mortal woman should compare in\nbeauty with an immortal.\u201d\n\n\u201cGoddess,\u201d replied Ulysses, \u201cdo not be angry with me about this. I am\nquite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so\nbeautiful as yourself. She is only a woman, whereas you are an\nimmortal. Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing\nelse. If some god wrecks me when I am on the sea, I will bear it and\nmake the best of it. I have had infinite trouble both by land and sea\nalready, so let this go with the rest.\u201d\n\nPresently the sun set and it became dark, whereon the pair retired into\nthe inner part of the cave and went to bed.\n\nWhen the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Ulysses put on\nhis shirt and cloak, while the goddess wore a dress of a light gossamer\nfabric, very fine and graceful, with a beautiful golden girdle about\nher waist and a veil to cover her head. She at once set herself to\nthink how she could speed Ulysses on his way. So she gave him a great\nbronze axe that suited his hands; it was sharpened on both sides, and\nhad a beautiful olive-wood handle fitted firmly on to it. She also gave\nhim a sharp adze, and then led the way to the far end of the island\nwhere the largest trees grew\u2014alder, poplar and pine, that reached the\nsky\u2014very dry and well seasoned, so as to sail light for him in the\nwater.53 Then, when she had shown him where the best trees grew,\nCalypso went home, leaving him to cut them, which he soon finished\ndoing. He cut down twenty trees in all and adzed them smooth, squaring\nthem by rule in good workmanlike fashion. Meanwhile Calypso came back\nwith some augers, so he bored holes with them and fitted the timbers\ntogether with bolts and rivets. He made the raft as broad as a skilled\nshipwright makes the beam of a large vessel, and he fixed a deck on top\nof the ribs, and ran a gunwale all round it. He also made a mast with a\nyard arm, and a rudder to steer with. He fenced the raft all round with\nwicker hurdles as a protection against the waves, and then he threw on\na quantity of wood. By and by Calypso brought him some linen to make\nthe sails, and he made these too, excellently, making them fast with\nbraces and sheets. Last of all, with the help of levers, he drew the\nraft down into the water.\n\nIn four days he had completed the whole work, and on the fifth Calypso\nsent him from the island after washing him and giving him some clean\nclothes. She gave him a goat skin full of black wine, and another\nlarger one of water; she also gave him a wallet full of provisions, and\nfound him in much good meat. Moreover, she made the wind fair and warm\nfor him, and gladly did Ulysses spread his sail before it, while he sat\nand guided the raft skilfully by means of the rudder. He never closed\nhis eyes, but kept them fixed on the Pleiads, on late-setting Bootes,\nand on the Bear\u2014which men also call the wain, and which turns round and\nround where it is, facing Orion, and alone never dipping into the\nstream of Oceanus\u2014for Calypso had told him to keep this to his left.\nDays seven and ten did he sail over the sea, and on the eighteenth the\ndim outlines of the mountains on the nearest part of the Phaeacian\ncoast appeared, rising like a shield on the horizon.\n\nBut King Neptune, who was returning from the Ethiopians, caught sight\nof Ulysses a long way off, from the mountains of the Solymi. He could\nsee him sailing upon the sea, and it made him very angry, so he wagged\nhis head and muttered to himself, saying, \u201cGood heavens, so the gods\nhave been changing their minds about Ulysses while I was away in\nEthiopia, and now he is close to the land of the Phaeacians, where it\nis decreed that he shall escape from the calamities that have befallen\nhim. Still, he shall have plenty of hardship yet before he has done\nwith it.\u201d\n\nThereon he gathered his clouds together, grasped his trident, stirred\nit round in the sea, and roused the rage of every wind that blows till\nearth, sea, and sky were hidden in cloud, and night sprang forth out of\nthe heavens. Winds from East, South, North, and West fell upon him all\nat the same time, and a tremendous sea got up, so that Ulysses\u2019 heart\nbegan to fail him. \u201cAlas,\u201d he said to himself in his dismay, \u201cwhat ever\nwill become of me? I am afraid Calypso was right when she said I should\nhave trouble by sea before I got back home. It is all coming true. How\nblack is Jove making heaven with his clouds, and what a sea the winds\nare raising from every quarter at once. I am now safe to perish. Blest\nand thrice blest were those Danaans who fell before Troy in the cause\nof the sons of Atreus. Would that I had been killed on the day when the\nTrojans were pressing me so sorely about the dead body of Achilles, for\nthen I should have had due burial and the Achaeans would have honoured\nmy name; but now it seems that I shall come to a most pitiable end.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke a sea broke over him with such terrific fury that the raft\nreeled again, and he was carried overboard a long way off. He let go\nthe helm, and the force of the hurricane was so great that it broke the\nmast half way up, and both sail and yard went over into the sea. For a\nlong time Ulysses was under water, and it was all he could do to rise\nto the surface again, for the clothes Calypso had given him weighed him\ndown; but at last he got his head above water and spat out the bitter\nbrine that was running down his face in streams. In spite of all this,\nhowever, he did not lose sight of his raft, but swam as fast as he\ncould towards it, got hold of it, and climbed on board again so as to\nescape drowning. The sea took the raft and tossed it about as Autumn\nwinds whirl thistledown round and round upon a road. It was as though\nthe South, North, East, and West winds were all playing battledore and\nshuttlecock with it at once.\n\nWhen he was in this plight, Ino daughter of Cadmus, also called\nLeucothea, saw him. She had formerly been a mere mortal, but had been\nsince raised to the rank of a marine goddess. Seeing in what great\ndistress Ulysses now was, she had compassion upon him, and, rising like\na sea-gull from the waves, took her seat upon the raft.\n\n\u201cMy poor good man,\u201d said she, \u201cwhy is Neptune so furiously angry with\nyou? He is giving you a great deal of trouble, but for all his bluster\nhe will not kill you. You seem to be a sensible person, do then as I\nbid you; strip, leave your raft to drive before the wind, and swim to\nthe Phaeacian coast where better luck awaits you. And here, take my\nveil and put it round your chest; it is enchanted, and you can come to\nno harm so long as you wear it. As soon as you touch land take it off,\nthrow it back as far as you can into the sea, and then go away again.\u201d\nWith these words she took off her veil and gave it him. Then she dived\ndown again like a sea-gull and vanished beneath the dark blue waters.\n\nBut Ulysses did not know what to think. \u201cAlas,\u201d he said to himself in\nhis dismay, \u201cthis is only some one or other of the gods who is luring\nme to ruin by advising me to quit my raft. At any rate I will not do so\nat present, for the land where she said I should be quit of all\ntroubles seemed to be still a good way off. I know what I will do\u2014I am\nsure it will be best\u2014no matter what happens I will stick to the raft as\nlong as her timbers hold together, but when the sea breaks her up I\nwill swim for it; I do not see how I can do any better than this.\u201d\n\nWhile he was thus in two minds, Neptune sent a terrible great wave that\nseemed to rear itself above his head till it broke right over the raft,\nwhich then went to pieces as though it were a heap of dry chaff tossed\nabout by a whirlwind. Ulysses got astride of one plank and rode upon it\nas if he were on horseback; he then took off the clothes Calypso had\ngiven him, bound Ino\u2019s veil under his arms, and plunged into the\nsea\u2014meaning to swim on shore. King Neptune watched him as he did so,\nand wagged his head, muttering to himself and saying, \u201cThere now, swim\nup and down as you best can till you fall in with well-to-do people. I\ndo not think you will be able to say that I have let you off too\nlightly.\u201d On this he lashed his horses and drove to Aegae where his\npalace is.\n\nBut Minerva resolved to help Ulysses, so she bound the ways of all the\nwinds except one, and made them lie quite still; but she roused a good\nstiff breeze from the North that should lay the waters till Ulysses\nreached the land of the Phaeacians where he would be safe.\n\nThereon he floated about for two nights and two days in the water, with\na heavy swell on the sea and death staring him in the face; but when\nthe third day broke, the wind fell and there was a dead calm without so\nmuch as a breath of air stirring. As he rose on the swell he looked\neagerly ahead, and could see land quite near. Then, as children rejoice\nwhen their dear father begins to get better after having for a long\ntime borne sore affliction sent him by some angry spirit, but the gods\ndeliver him from evil, so was Ulysses thankful when he again saw land\nand trees, and swam on with all his strength that he might once more\nset foot upon dry ground. When, however, he got within earshot, he\nbegan to hear the surf thundering up against the rocks, for the swell\nstill broke against them with a terrific roar. Everything was enveloped\nin spray; there were no harbours where a ship might ride, nor shelter\nof any kind, but only headlands, low-lying rocks, and mountain tops.\n\nUlysses\u2019 heart now began to fail him, and he said despairingly to\nhimself, \u201cAlas, Jove has let me see land after swimming so far that I\nhad given up all hope, but I can find no landing place, for the coast\nis rocky and surf-beaten, the rocks are smooth and rise sheer from the\nsea, with deep water close under them so that I cannot climb out for\nwant of foot hold. I am afraid some great wave will lift me off my legs\nand dash me against the rocks as I leave the water\u2014which would give me\na sorry landing. If, on the other hand, I swim further in search of\nsome shelving beach or harbour, a hurricane may carry me out to sea\nagain sorely against my will, or heaven may send some great monster of\nthe deep to attack me; for Amphitrite breeds many such, and I know that\nNeptune is very angry with me.\u201d\n\nWhile he was thus in two minds a wave caught him and took him with such\nforce against the rocks that he would have been smashed and torn to\npieces if Minerva had not shown him what to do. He caught hold of the\nrock with both hands and clung to it groaning with pain till the wave\nretired, so he was saved that time; but presently the wave came on\nagain and carried him back with it far into the sea\u2014tearing his hands\nas the suckers of a polypus are torn when some one plucks it from its\nbed, and the stones come up along with it\u2014even so did the rocks tear\nthe skin from his strong hands, and then the wave drew him deep down\nunder the water.\n\nHere poor Ulysses would have certainly perished even in spite of his\nown destiny, if Minerva had not helped him to keep his wits about him.\nHe swam seaward again, beyond reach of the surf that was beating\nagainst the land, and at the same time he kept looking towards the\nshore to see if he could find some haven, or a spit that should take\nthe waves aslant. By and by, as he swam on, he came to the mouth of a\nriver, and here he thought would be the best place, for there were no\nrocks, and it afforded shelter from the wind. He felt that there was a\ncurrent, so he prayed inwardly and said:\n\n\u201cHear me, O King, whoever you may be, and save me from the anger of the\nsea-god Neptune, for I approach you prayerfully. Any one who has lost\nhis way has at all times a claim even upon the gods, wherefore in my\ndistress I draw near to your stream, and cling to the knees of your\nriverhood. Have mercy upon me, O king, for I declare myself your\nsuppliant.\u201d\n\nThen the god staid his stream and stilled the waves, making all calm\nbefore him, and bringing him safely into the mouth of the river. Here\nat last Ulysses\u2019 knees and strong hands failed him, for the sea had\ncompletely broken him. His body was all swollen, and his mouth and\nnostrils ran down like a river with sea-water, so that he could neither\nbreathe nor speak, and lay swooning from sheer exhaustion; presently,\nwhen he had got his breath and came to himself again, he took off the\nscarf that Ino had given him and threw it back into the salt54 stream\nof the river, whereon Ino received it into her hands from the wave that\nbore it towards her. Then he left the river, laid himself down among\nthe rushes, and kissed the bounteous earth.\n\n\u201cAlas,\u201d he cried to himself in his dismay, \u201cwhat ever will become of\nme, and how is it all to end? If I stay here upon the river bed through\nthe long watches of the night, I am so exhausted that the bitter cold\nand damp may make an end of me\u2014for towards sunrise there will be a keen\nwind blowing from off the river. If, on the other hand, I climb the\nhill side, find shelter in the woods, and sleep in some thicket, I may\nescape the cold and have a good night\u2019s rest, but some savage beast may\ntake advantage of me and devour me.\u201d\n\nIn the end he deemed it best to take to the woods, and he found one\nupon some high ground not far from the water. There he crept beneath\ntwo shoots of olive that grew from a single stock\u2014the one an ungrafted\nsucker, while the other had been grafted. No wind, however squally,\ncould break through the cover they afforded, nor could the sun\u2019s rays\npierce them, nor the rain get through them, so closely did they grow\ninto one another. Ulysses crept under these and began to make himself a\nbed to lie on, for there was a great litter of dead leaves lying\nabout\u2014enough to make a covering for two or three men even in hard\nwinter weather. He was glad enough to see this, so he laid himself down\nand heaped the leaves all round him. Then, as one who lives alone in\nthe country, far from any neighbor, hides a brand as fire-seed in the\nashes to save himself from having to get a light elsewhere, even so did\nUlysses cover himself up with leaves; and Minerva shed a sweet sleep\nupon his eyes, closed his eyelids, and made him lose all memories of\nhis sorrows.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK VI\n\n\nTHE MEETING BETWEEN NAUSICAA AND ULYSSES.\n\n\nSo here Ulysses slept, overcome by sleep and toil; but Minerva went off\nto the country and city of the Phaeacians\u2014a people who used to live in\nthe fair town of Hypereia, near the lawless Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes\nwere stronger than they and plundered them, so their king Nausithous\nmoved them thence and settled them in Scheria, far from all other\npeople. He surrounded the city with a wall, built houses and temples,\nand divided the lands among his people; but he was dead and gone to the\nhouse of Hades, and King Alcinous, whose counsels were inspired of\nheaven, was now reigning. To his house, then, did Minerva hie in\nfurtherance of the return of Ulysses.\n\nShe went straight to the beautifully decorated bedroom in which there\nslept a girl who was as lovely as a goddess, Nausicaa, daughter to King\nAlcinous. Two maid servants were sleeping near her, both very pretty,\none on either side of the doorway, which was closed with well made\nfolding doors. Minerva took the form of the famous sea captain Dymas\u2019s\ndaughter, who was a bosom friend of Nausicaa and just her own age;\nthen, coming up to the girl\u2019s bedside like a breath of wind, she\nhovered over her head and said:\n\n\u201cNausicaa, what can your mother have been about, to have such a lazy\ndaughter? Here are your clothes all lying in disorder, yet you are\ngoing to be married almost immediately, and should not only be well\ndressed yourself, but should find good clothes for those who attend\nyou. This is the way to get yourself a good name, and to make your\nfather and mother proud of you. Suppose, then, that we make tomorrow a\nwashing day, and start at daybreak. I will come and help you so that\nyou may have everything ready as soon as possible, for all the best\nyoung men among your own people are courting you, and you are not going\nto remain a maid much longer. Ask your father, therefore, to have a\nwaggon and mules ready for us at daybreak, to take the rugs, robes, and\ngirdles, and you can ride, too, which will be much pleasanter for you\nthan walking, for the washing-cisterns are some way from the town.\u201d\n\nWhen she had said this Minerva went away to Olympus, which they say is\nthe everlasting home of the gods. Here no wind beats roughly, and\nneither rain nor snow can fall; but it abides in everlasting sunshine\nand in a great peacefulness of light, wherein the blessed gods are\nillumined for ever and ever. This was the place to which the goddess\nwent when she had given instructions to the girl.\n\nBy and by morning came and woke Nausicaa, who began wondering about her\ndream; she therefore went to the other end of the house to tell her\nfather and mother all about it, and found them in their own room. Her\nmother was sitting by the fireside spinning her purple yarn with her\nmaids around her, and she happened to catch her father just as he was\ngoing out to attend a meeting of the town council, which the Phaeacian\naldermen had convened. She stopped him and said:\n\n\u201cPapa dear, could you manage to let me have a good big waggon? I want\nto take all our dirty clothes to the river and wash them. You are the\nchief man here, so it is only right that you should have a clean shirt\nwhen you attend meetings of the council. Moreover, you have five sons\nat home, two of them married, while the other three are good looking\nbachelors; you know they always like to have clean linen when they go\nto a dance, and I have been thinking about all this.\u201d\n\nShe did not say a word about her own wedding, for she did not like to,\nbut her father knew and said, \u201cYou shall have the mules, my love, and\nwhatever else you have a mind for. Be off with you, and the men shall\nget you a good strong waggon with a body to it that will hold all your\nclothes.\u201d\n\nOn this he gave his orders to the servants, who got the waggon out,\nharnessed the mules, and put them to, while the girl brought the\nclothes down from the linen room and placed them on the waggon. Her\nmother prepared her a basket of provisions with all sorts of good\nthings, and a goat skin full of wine; the girl now got into the waggon,\nand her mother gave her also a golden cruse of oil, that she and her\nwomen might anoint themselves. Then she took the whip and reins and\nlashed the mules on, whereon they set off, and their hoofs clattered on\nthe road. They pulled without flagging, and carried not only Nausicaa\nand her wash of clothes, but the maids also who were with her.\n\nWhen they reached the water side they went to the washing cisterns,\nthrough which there ran at all times enough pure water to wash any\nquantity of linen, no matter how dirty. Here they unharnessed the mules\nand turned them out to feed on the sweet juicy herbage that grew by the\nwater side. They took the clothes out of the waggon, put them in the\nwater, and vied with one another in treading them in the pits to get\nthe dirt out. After they had washed them and got them quite clean, they\nlaid them out by the sea side, where the waves had raised a high beach\nof shingle, and set about washing themselves and anointing themselves\nwith olive oil. Then they got their dinner by the side of the stream,\nand waited for the sun to finish drying the clothes. When they had done\ndinner they threw off the veils that covered their heads and began to\nplay at ball, while Nausicaa sang for them. As the huntress Diana goes\nforth upon the mountains of Taygetus or Erymanthus to hunt wild boars\nor deer, and the wood nymphs, daughters of Aegis-bearing Jove, take\ntheir sport along with her (then is Leto proud at seeing her daughter\nstand a full head taller than the others, and eclipse the loveliest\namid a whole bevy of beauties), even so did the girl outshine her\nhandmaids.\n\nWhen it was time for them to start home, and they were folding the\nclothes and putting them into the waggon, Minerva began to consider how\nUlysses should wake up and see the handsome girl who was to conduct him\nto the city of the Phaeacians. The girl, therefore, threw a ball at one\nof the maids, which missed her and fell into deep water. On this they\nall shouted, and the noise they made woke Ulysses, who sat up in his\nbed of leaves and began to wonder what it might all be.\n\n\u201cAlas,\u201d said he to himself, \u201cwhat kind of people have I come amongst?\nAre they cruel, savage, and uncivilised, or hospitable and humane? I\nseem to hear the voices of young women, and they sound like those of\nthe nymphs that haunt mountain tops, or springs of rivers and meadows\nof green grass. At any rate I am among a race of men and women. Let me\ntry if I cannot manage to get a look at them.\u201d\n\nAs he said this he crept from under his bush, and broke off a bough\ncovered with thick leaves to hide his nakedness. He looked like some\nlion of the wilderness that stalks about exulting in his strength and\ndefying both wind and rain; his eyes glare as he prowls in quest of\noxen, sheep, or deer, for he is famished, and will dare break even into\na well fenced homestead, trying to get at the sheep\u2014even such did\nUlysses seem to the young women, as he drew near to them all naked as\nhe was, for he was in great want. On seeing one so unkempt and so\nbegrimed with salt water, the others scampered off along the spits that\njutted out into the sea, but the daughter of Alcinous stood firm, for\nMinerva put courage into her heart and took away all fear from her. She\nstood right in front of Ulysses, and he doubted whether he should go up\nto her, throw himself at her feet, and embrace her knees as a\nsuppliant, or stay where he was and entreat her to give him some\nclothes and show him the way to the town. In the end he deemed it best\nto entreat her from a distance in case the girl should take offence at\nhis coming near enough to clasp her knees, so he addressed her in\nhoneyed and persuasive language.\n\n\u201cO queen,\u201d he said, \u201cI implore your aid\u2014but tell me, are you a goddess\nor are you a mortal woman? If you are a goddess and dwell in heaven, I\ncan only conjecture that you are Jove\u2019s daughter Diana, for your face\nand figure resemble none but hers; if on the other hand you are a\nmortal and live on earth, thrice happy are your father and\nmother\u2014thrice happy, too, are your brothers and sisters; how proud and\ndelighted they must feel when they see so fair a scion as yourself\ngoing out to a dance; most happy, however, of all will he be whose\nwedding gifts have been the richest, and who takes you to his own home.\nI never yet saw any one so beautiful, neither man nor woman, and am\nlost in admiration as I behold you. I can only compare you to a young\npalm tree which I saw when I was at Delos growing near the altar of\nApollo\u2014for I was there, too, with much people after me, when I was on\nthat journey which has been the source of all my troubles. Never yet\ndid such a young plant shoot out of the ground as that was, and I\nadmired and wondered at it exactly as I now admire and wonder at\nyourself. I dare not clasp your knees, but I am in great distress;\nyesterday made the twentieth day that I had been tossing about upon the\nsea. The winds and waves have taken me all the way from the Ogygian\nisland,55 and now fate has flung me upon this coast that I may endure\nstill further suffering; for I do not think that I have yet come to the\nend of it, but rather that heaven has still much evil in store for me.\n\n\u201cAnd now, O queen, have pity upon me, for you are the first person I\nhave met, and I know no one else in this country. Show me the way to\nyour town, and let me have anything that you may have brought hither to\nwrap your clothes in. May heaven grant you in all things your heart\u2019s\ndesire\u2014husband, house, and a happy, peaceful home; for there is nothing\nbetter in this world than that man and wife should be of one mind in a\nhouse. It discomfits their enemies, makes the hearts of their friends\nglad, and they themselves know more about it than any one.\u201d\n\nTo this Nausicaa answered, \u201cStranger, you appear to be a sensible,\nwell-disposed person. There is no accounting for luck; Jove gives\nprosperity to rich and poor just as he chooses, so you must take what\nhe has seen fit to send you, and make the best of it. Now, however,\nthat you have come to this our country, you shall not want for clothes\nnor for anything else that a foreigner in distress may reasonably look\nfor. I will show you the way to the town, and will tell you the name of\nour people; we are called Phaeacians, and I am daughter to Alcinous, in\nwhom the whole power of the state is vested.\u201d\n\nThen she called her maids and said, \u201cStay where you are, you girls. Can\nyou not see a man without running away from him? Do you take him for a\nrobber or a murderer? Neither he nor any one else can come here to do\nus Phaeacians any harm, for we are dear to the gods, and live apart on\na land\u2019s end that juts into the sounding sea, and have nothing to do\nwith any other people. This is only some poor man who has lost his way,\nand we must be kind to him, for strangers and foreigners in distress\nare under Jove\u2019s protection, and will take what they can get and be\nthankful; so, girls, give the poor fellow something to eat and drink,\nand wash him in the stream at some place that is sheltered from the\nwind.\u201d\n\nOn this the maids left off running away and began calling one another\nback. They made Ulysses sit down in the shelter as Nausicaa had told\nthem, and brought him a shirt and cloak. They also brought him the\nlittle golden cruse of oil, and told him to go and wash in the stream.\nBut Ulysses said, \u201cYoung women, please to stand a little on one side\nthat I may wash the brine from my shoulders and anoint myself with oil,\nfor it is long enough since my skin has had a drop of oil upon it. I\ncannot wash as long as you all keep standing there. I am ashamed to\nstrip56 before a number of good looking young women.\u201d\n\nThen they stood on one side and went to tell the girl, while Ulysses\nwashed himself in the stream and scrubbed the brine from his back and\nfrom his broad shoulders. When he had thoroughly washed himself, and\nhad got the brine out of his hair, he anointed himself with oil, and\nput on the clothes which the girl had given him; Minerva then made him\nlook taller and stronger than before, she also made the hair grow thick\non the top of his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms;\nshe glorified him about the head and shoulders as a skilful workman who\nhas studied art of all kinds under Vulcan and Minerva enriches a piece\nof silver plate by gilding it\u2014and his work is full of beauty. Then he\nwent and sat down a little way off upon the beach, looking quite young\nand handsome, and the girl gazed on him with admiration; then she said\nto her maids:\n\n\u201cHush, my dears, for I want to say something. I believe the gods who\nlive in heaven have sent this man to the Phaeacians. When I first saw\nhim I thought him plain, but now his appearance is like that of the\ngods who dwell in heaven. I should like my future husband to be just\nsuch another as he is, if he would only stay here and not want to go\naway. However, give him something to eat and drink.\u201d\n\nThey did as they were told, and set food before Ulysses, who ate and\ndrank ravenously, for it was long since he had had food of any kind.\nMeanwhile, Nausicaa bethought her of another matter. She got the linen\nfolded and placed in the waggon, she then yoked the mules, and, as she\ntook her seat, she called Ulysses:\n\n\u201cStranger,\u201d said she, \u201crise and let us be going back to the town; I\nwill introduce you at the house of my excellent father, where I can\ntell you that you will meet all the best people among the Phaeacians.\nBut be sure and do as I bid you, for you seem to be a sensible person.\nAs long as we are going past the fields and farm lands, follow briskly\nbehind the waggon along with the maids and I will lead the way myself.\nPresently, however, we shall come to the town, where you will find a\nhigh wall running all round it, and a good harbour on either side with\na narrow entrance into the city, and the ships will be drawn up by the\nroad side, for every one has a place where his own ship can lie. You\nwill see the market place with a temple of Neptune in the middle of it,\nand paved with large stones bedded in the earth. Here people deal in\nship\u2019s gear of all kinds, such as cables and sails, and here, too, are\nthe places where oars are made, for the Phaeacians are not a nation of\narchers; they know nothing about bows and arrows, but are a sea-faring\nfolk, and pride themselves on their masts, oars, and ships, with which\nthey travel far over the sea.\n\n\u201cI am afraid of the gossip and scandal that may be set on foot against\nme later on; for the people here are very ill-natured, and some low\nfellow, if he met us, might say, \u2018Who is this fine-looking stranger\nthat is going about with Nausicaa? Where did she find him? I suppose\nshe is going to marry him. Perhaps he is a vagabond sailor whom she has\ntaken from some foreign vessel, for we have no neighbours; or some god\nhas at last come down from heaven in answer to her prayers, and she is\ngoing to live with him all the rest of her life. It would be a good\nthing if she would take herself off and find a husband somewhere else,\nfor she will not look at one of the many excellent young Phaeacians who\nare in love with her.\u2019 This is the kind of disparaging remark that\nwould be made about me, and I could not complain, for I should myself\nbe scandalised at seeing any other girl do the like, and go about with\nmen in spite of everybody, while her father and mother were still\nalive, and without having been married in the face of all the world.\n\n\u201cIf, therefore, you want my father to give you an escort and to help\nyou home, do as I bid you; you will see a beautiful grove of poplars by\nthe road side dedicated to Minerva; it has a well in it and a meadow\nall round it. Here my father has a field of rich garden ground, about\nas far from the town as a man\u2019s voice will carry. Sit down there and\nwait for a while till the rest of us can get into the town and reach my\nfather\u2019s house. Then, when you think we must have done this, come into\nthe town and ask the way to the house of my father Alcinous. You will\nhave no difficulty in finding it; any child will point it out to you,\nfor no one else in the whole town has anything like such a fine house\nas he has. When you have got past the gates and through the outer\ncourt, go right across the inner court till you come to my mother. You\nwill find her sitting by the fire and spinning her purple wool by\nfirelight. It is a fine sight to see her as she leans back against one\nof the bearing-posts with her maids all ranged behind her. Close to her\nseat stands that of my father, on which he sits and topes like an\nimmortal god. Never mind him, but go up to my mother, and lay your\nhands upon her knees if you would get home quickly. If you can gain her\nover, you may hope to see your own country again, no matter how distant\nit may be.\u201d\n\nSo saying she lashed the mules with her whip and they left the river.\nThe mules drew well, and their hoofs went up and down upon the road.\nShe was careful not to go too fast for Ulysses and the maids who were\nfollowing on foot along with the waggon, so she plied her whip with\njudgement. As the sun was going down they came to the sacred grove of\nMinerva, and there Ulysses sat down and prayed to the mighty daughter\nof Jove.\n\n\u201cHear me,\u201d he cried, \u201cdaughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable, hear\nme now, for you gave no heed to my prayers when Neptune was wrecking\nme. Now, therefore, have pity upon me and grant that I may find friends\nand be hospitably received by the Phaeacians.\u201d\n\nThus did he pray, and Minerva heard his prayer, but she would not show\nherself to him openly, for she was afraid of her uncle Neptune, who was\nstill furious in his endeavors to prevent Ulysses from getting home.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK VII\n\n\nRECEPTION OF ULYSSES AT THE PALACE OF KING ALCINOUS.\n\n\nThus, then, did Ulysses wait and pray; but the girl drove on to the\ntown. When she reached her father\u2019s house she drew up at the gateway,\nand her brothers\u2014comely as the gods\u2014gathered round her, took the mules\nout of the waggon, and carried the clothes into the house, while she\nwent to her own room, where an old servant, Eurymedusa of Apeira, lit\nthe fire for her. This old woman had been brought by sea from Apeira,\nand had been chosen as a prize for Alcinous because he was king over\nthe Phaeacians, and the people obeyed him as though he were a god.57\nShe had been nurse to Nausicaa, and had now lit the fire for her, and\nbrought her supper for her into her own room.\n\nPresently Ulysses got up to go towards the town; and Minerva shed a\nthick mist all round him to hide him in case any of the proud\nPhaeacians who met him should be rude to him, or ask him who he was.\nThen, as he was just entering the town, she came towards him in the\nlikeness of a little girl carrying a pitcher. She stood right in front\nof him, and Ulysses said:\n\n\u201cMy dear, will you be so kind as to show me the house of king Alcinous?\nI am an unfortunate foreigner in distress, and do not know one in your\ntown and country.\u201d\n\nThen Minerva said, \u201cYes, father stranger, I will show you the house you\nwant, for Alcinous lives quite close to my own father. I will go before\nyou and show the way, but say not a word as you go, and do not look at\nany man, nor ask him questions; for the people here cannot abide\nstrangers, and do not like men who come from some other place. They are\na sea-faring folk, and sail the seas by the grace of Neptune in ships\nthat glide along like thought, or as a bird in the air.\u201d\n\nOn this she led the way, and Ulysses followed in her steps; but not one\nof the Phaeacians could see him as he passed through the city in the\nmidst of them; for the great goddess Minerva in her good will towards\nhim had hidden him in a thick cloud of darkness. He admired their\nharbours, ships, places of assembly, and the lofty walls of the city,\nwhich, with the palisade on top of them, were very striking, and when\nthey reached the king\u2019s house Minerva said:\n\n\u201cThis is the house, father stranger, which you would have me show you.\nYou will find a number of great people sitting at table, but do not be\nafraid; go straight in, for the bolder a man is the more likely he is\nto carry his point, even though he is a stranger. First find the queen.\nHer name is Arete, and she comes of the same family as her husband\nAlcinous. They both descend originally from Neptune, who was father to\nNausithous by Periboea, a woman of great beauty. Periboea was the\nyoungest daughter of Eurymedon, who at one time reigned over the\ngiants, but he ruined his ill-fated people and lost his own life to\nboot.\n\n\u201cNeptune, however, lay with his daughter, and she had a son by him, the\ngreat Nausithous, who reigned over the Phaeacians. Nausithous had two\nsons Rhexenor and Alcinous;58 Apollo killed the first of them while he\nwas still a bridegroom and without male issue; but he left a daughter\nArete, whom Alcinous married, and honours as no other woman is honoured\nof all those that keep house along with their husbands.\n\n\u201cThus she both was, and still is, respected beyond measure by her\nchildren, by Alcinous himself, and by the whole people, who look upon\nher as a goddess, and greet her whenever she goes about the city, for\nshe is a thoroughly good woman both in head and heart, and when any\nwomen are friends of hers, she will help their husbands also to settle\ntheir disputes. If you can gain her good will, you may have every hope\nof seeing your friends again, and getting safely back to your home and\ncountry.\u201d\n\nThen Minerva left Scheria and went away over the sea. She went to\nMarathon59 and to the spacious streets of Athens, where she entered the\nabode of Erechtheus; but Ulysses went on to the house of Alcinous, and\nhe pondered much as he paused a while before reaching the threshold of\nbronze, for the splendour of the palace was like that of the sun or\nmoon. The walls on either side were of bronze from end to end, and the\ncornice was of blue enamel. The doors were gold, and hung on pillars of\nsilver that rose from a floor of bronze, while the lintel was silver\nand the hook of the door was of gold.\n\nOn either side there stood gold and silver mastiffs which Vulcan, with\nhis consummate skill, had fashioned expressly to keep watch over the\npalace of king Alcinous; so they were immortal and could never grow\nold. Seats were ranged all along the wall, here and there from one end\nto the other, with coverings of fine woven work which the women of the\nhouse had made. Here the chief persons of the Phaeacians used to sit\nand eat and drink, for there was abundance at all seasons; and there\nwere golden figures of young men with lighted torches in their hands,\nraised on pedestals, to give light by night to those who were at table.\nThere are60 fifty maid servants in the house, some of whom are always\ngrinding rich yellow grain at the mill, while others work at the loom,\nor sit and spin, and their shuttles go backwards and forwards like the\nfluttering of aspen leaves, while the linen is so closely woven that it\nwill turn oil. As the Phaeacians are the best sailors in the world, so\ntheir women excel all others in weaving, for Minerva has taught them\nall manner of useful arts, and they are very intelligent.\n\nOutside the gate of the outer court there is a large garden of about\nfour acres with a wall all round it. It is full of beautiful\ntrees\u2014pears, pomegranates, and the most delicious apples. There are\nluscious figs also, and olives in full growth. The fruits never rot nor\nfail all the year round, neither winter nor summer, for the air is so\nsoft that a new crop ripens before the old has dropped. Pear grows on\npear, apple on apple, and fig on fig, and so also with the grapes, for\nthere is an excellent vineyard: on the level ground of a part of this,\nthe grapes are being made into raisins; in another part they are being\ngathered; some are being trodden in the wine tubs, others further on\nhave shed their blossom and are beginning to show fruit, others again\nare just changing colour. In the furthest part of the ground there are\nbeautifully arranged beds of flowers that are in bloom all the year\nround. Two streams go through it, the one turned in ducts throughout\nthe whole garden, while the other is carried under the ground of the\nouter court to the house itself, and the town\u2019s people draw water from\nit. Such, then, were the splendours with which the gods had endowed the\nhouse of king Alcinous.\n\nSo here Ulysses stood for a while and looked about him, but when he had\nlooked long enough he crossed the threshold and went within the\nprecincts of the house. There he found all the chief people among the\nPhaeacians making their drink offerings to Mercury, which they always\ndid the last thing before going away for the night.61 He went straight\nthrough the court, still hidden by the cloak of darkness in which\nMinerva had enveloped him, till he reached Arete and King Alcinous;\nthen he laid his hands upon the knees of the queen, and at that moment\nthe miraculous darkness fell away from him and he became visible. Every\none was speechless with surprise at seeing a man there, but Ulysses\nbegan at once with his petition.\n\n\u201cQueen Arete,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cdaughter of great Rhexenor, in my\ndistress I humbly pray you, as also your husband and these your guests\n(whom may heaven prosper with long life and happiness, and may they\nleave their possessions to their children, and all the honours\nconferred upon them by the state) to help me home to my own country as\nsoon as possible; for I have been long in trouble and away from my\nfriends.\u201d\n\nThen he sat down on the hearth among the ashes and they all held their\npeace, till presently the old hero Echeneus, who was an excellent\nspeaker and an elder among the Phaeacians, plainly and in all honesty\naddressed them thus:\n\n\u201cAlcinous,\u201d said he, \u201cit is not creditable to you that a stranger\nshould be seen sitting among the ashes of your hearth; every one is\nwaiting to hear what you are about to say; tell him, then, to rise and\ntake a seat on a stool inlaid with silver, and bid your servants mix\nsome wine and water that we may make a drink offering to Jove the lord\nof thunder, who takes all well disposed suppliants under his\nprotection; and let the housekeeper give him some supper, of whatever\nthere may be in the house.\u201d\n\nWhen Alcinous heard this he took Ulysses by the hand, raised him from\nthe hearth, and bade him take the seat of Laodamas, who had been\nsitting beside him, and was his favourite son. A maid servant then\nbrought him water in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a\nsilver basin for him to wash his hands, and she drew a clean table\nbeside him; an upper servant brought him bread and offered him many\ngood things of what there was in the house, and Ulysses ate and drank.\nThen Alcinous said to one of the servants, \u201cPontonous, mix a cup of\nwine and hand it round that we may make drink-offerings to Jove the\nlord of thunder, who is the protector of all well-disposed suppliants.\u201d\n\nPontonous then mixed wine and water, and handed it round after giving\nevery man his drink-offering. When they had made their offerings, and\nhad drunk each as much as he was minded, Alcinous said:\n\n\u201cAldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, hear my words. You\nhave had your supper, so now go home to bed. To-morrow morning I shall\ninvite a still larger number of aldermen, and will give a sacrificial\nbanquet in honour of our guest; we can then discuss the question of his\nescort, and consider how we may at once send him back rejoicing to his\nown country without trouble or inconvenience to himself, no matter how\ndistant it may be. We must see that he comes to no harm while on his\nhomeward journey, but when he is once at home he will have to take the\nluck he was born with for better or worse like other people. It is\npossible, however, that the stranger is one of the immortals who has\ncome down from heaven to visit us; but in this case the gods are\ndeparting from their usual practice, for hitherto they have made\nthemselves perfectly clear to us when we have been offering them\nhecatombs. They come and sit at our feasts just like one of our selves,\nand if any solitary wayfarer happens to stumble upon some one or other\nof them, they affect no concealment, for we are as near of kin to the\ngods as the Cyclopes and the savage giants are.\u201d62\n\nThen Ulysses said: \u201cPray, Alcinous, do not take any such notion into\nyour head. I have nothing of the immortal about me, neither in body nor\nmind, and most resemble those among you who are the most afflicted.\nIndeed, were I to tell you all that heaven has seen fit to lay upon me,\nyou would say that I was still worse off than they are. Nevertheless,\nlet me sup in spite of sorrow, for an empty stomach is a very\nimportunate thing, and thrusts itself on a man\u2019s notice no matter how\ndire is his distress. I am in great trouble, yet it insists that I\nshall eat and drink, bids me lay aside all memory of my sorrows and\ndwell only on the due replenishing of itself. As for yourselves, do as\nyou propose, and at break of day set about helping me to get home. I\nshall be content to die if I may first once more behold my property, my\nbondsmen, and all the greatness of my house.\u201d63\n\nThus did he speak. Every one approved his saying, and agreed that he\nshould have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken reasonably. Then when\nthey had made their drink offerings, and had drunk each as much as he\nwas minded they went home to bed every man in his own abode, leaving\nUlysses in the cloister with Arete and Alcinous while the servants were\ntaking the things away after supper. Arete was the first to speak, for\nshe recognised the shirt, cloak, and good clothes that Ulysses was\nwearing, as the work of herself and of her maids; so she said,\n\u201cStranger, before we go any further, there is a question I should like\nto ask you. Who, and whence are you, and who gave you those clothes?\nDid you not say you had come here from beyond the sea?\u201d\n\nAnd Ulysses answered, \u201cIt would be a long story Madam, were I to relate\nin full the tale of my misfortunes, for the hand of heaven has been\nlaid heavy upon me; but as regards your question, there is an island\nfar away in the sea which is called \u2018the Ogygian.\u2019 Here dwells the\ncunning and powerful goddess Calypso, daughter of Atlas. She lives by\nherself far from all neighbours human or divine. Fortune, however,\nbrought me to her hearth all desolate and alone, for Jove struck my\nship with his thunderbolts, and broke it up in mid-ocean. My brave\ncomrades were drowned every man of them, but I stuck to the keel and\nwas carried hither and thither for the space of nine days, till at last\nduring the darkness of the tenth night the gods brought me to the\nOgygian island where the great goddess Calypso lives. She took me in\nand treated me with the utmost kindness; indeed she wanted to make me\nimmortal that I might never grow old, but she could not persuade me to\nlet her do so.\n\n\u201cI stayed with Calypso seven years straight on end, and watered the\ngood clothes she gave me with my tears during the whole time; but at\nlast when the eighth year came round she bade me depart of her own free\nwill, either because Jove had told her she must, or because she had\nchanged her mind. She sent me from her island on a raft, which she\nprovisioned with abundance of bread and wine. Moreover she gave me good\nstout clothing, and sent me a wind that blew both warm and fair. Days\nseven and ten did I sail over the sea, and on the eighteenth I caught\nsight of the first outlines of the mountains upon your coast\u2014and glad\nindeed was I to set eyes upon them. Nevertheless there was still much\ntrouble in store for me, for at this point Neptune would let me go no\nfurther, and raised a great storm against me; the sea was so terribly\nhigh that I could no longer keep to my raft, which went to pieces under\nthe fury of the gale, and I had to swim for it, till wind and current\nbrought me to your shores.\n\n\u201cThere I tried to land, but could not, for it was a bad place and the\nwaves dashed me against the rocks, so I again took to the sea and swam\non till I came to a river that seemed the most likely landing place,\nfor there were no rocks and it was sheltered from the wind. Here, then,\nI got out of the water and gathered my senses together again. Night was\ncoming on, so I left the river, and went into a thicket, where I\ncovered myself all over with leaves, and presently heaven sent me off\ninto a very deep sleep. Sick and sorry as I was I slept among the\nleaves all night, and through the next day till afternoon, when I woke\nas the sun was westering, and saw your daughter\u2019s maid servants playing\nupon the beach, and your daughter among them looking like a goddess. I\nbesought her aid, and she proved to be of an excellent disposition,\nmuch more so than could be expected from so young a person\u2014for young\npeople are apt to be thoughtless. She gave me plenty of bread and wine,\nand when she had had me washed in the river she also gave me the\nclothes in which you see me. Now, therefore, though it has pained me to\ndo so, I have told you the whole truth.\u201d\n\nThen Alcinous said, \u201cStranger, it was very wrong of my daughter not to\nbring you on at once to my house along with the maids, seeing that she\nwas the first person whose aid you asked.\u201d\n\n\u201cPray do not scold her,\u201d replied Ulysses; \u201cshe is not to blame. She did\ntell me to follow along with the maids, but I was ashamed and afraid,\nfor I thought you might perhaps be displeased if you saw me. Every\nhuman being is sometimes a little suspicious and irritable.\u201d\n\n\u201cStranger,\u201d replied Alcinous, \u201cI am not the kind of man to get angry\nabout nothing; it is always better to be reasonable; but by Father\nJove, Minerva, and Apollo, now that I see what kind of person you are,\nand how much you think as I do, I wish you would stay here, marry my\ndaughter, and become my son-in-law. If you will stay I will give you a\nhouse and an estate, but no one (heaven forbid) shall keep you here\nagainst your own wish, and that you may be sure of this I will attend\ntomorrow to the matter of your escort. You can sleep64 during the whole\nvoyage if you like, and the men shall sail you over smooth waters\neither to your own home, or wherever you please, even though it be a\nlong way further off than Euboea, which those of my people who saw it\nwhen they took yellow-haired Rhadamanthus to see Tityus the son of\nGaia, tell me is the furthest of any place\u2014and yet they did the whole\nvoyage in a single day without distressing themselves, and came back\nagain afterwards. You will thus see how much my ships excel all others,\nand what magnificent oarsmen my sailors are.\u201d\n\nThen was Ulysses glad and prayed aloud saying, \u201cFather Jove, grant that\nAlcinous may do all as he has said, for so he will win an imperishable\nname among mankind, and at the same time I shall return to my country.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse. Then Arete told her maids to set a bed in the\nroom that was in the gatehouse, and make it with good red rugs, and to\nspread coverlets on the top of them with woollen cloaks for Ulysses to\nwear. The maids thereon went out with torches in their hands, and when\nthey had made the bed they came up to Ulysses and said, \u201cRise, sir\nstranger, and come with us for your bed is ready,\u201d and glad indeed was\nhe to go to his rest.\n\nSo Ulysses slept in a bed placed in a room over the echoing gateway;\nbut Alcinous lay in the inner part of the house, with the queen his\nwife by his side.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK VIII\n\n\nBANQUET IN THE HOUSE OF ALCINOUS\u2014THE GAMES.\n\n\nNow when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Alcinous\nand Ulysses both rose, and Alcinous led the way to the Phaeacian place\nof assembly, which was near the ships. When they got there they sat\ndown side by side on a seat of polished stone, while Minerva took the\nform of one of Alcinous\u2019 servants, and went round the town in order to\nhelp Ulysses to get home. She went up to the citizens, man by man, and\nsaid, \u201cAldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, come to the\nassembly all of you and listen to the stranger who has just come off a\nlong voyage to the house of King Alcinous; he looks like an immortal\ngod.\u201d\n\nWith these words she made them all want to come, and they flocked to\nthe assembly till seats and standing room were alike crowded. Every one\nwas struck with the appearance of Ulysses, for Minerva had beautified\nhim about the head and shoulders, making him look taller and stouter\nthan he really was, that he might impress the Phaeacians favourably as\nbeing a very remarkable man, and might come off well in the many trials\nof skill to which they would challenge him. Then, when they were got\ntogether, Alcinous spoke:\n\n\u201cHear me,\u201d said he, \u201caldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians,\nthat I may speak even as I am minded. This stranger, whoever he may be,\nhas found his way to my house from somewhere or other either East or\nWest. He wants an escort and wishes to have the matter settled. Let us\nthen get one ready for him, as we have done for others before him;\nindeed, no one who ever yet came to my house has been able to complain\nof me for not speeding on his way soon enough. Let us draw a ship into\nthe sea\u2014one that has never yet made a voyage\u2014and man her with two and\nfifty of our smartest young sailors. Then when you have made fast your\noars each by his own seat, leave the ship and come to my house to\nprepare a feast.65 I will find you in everything. I am giving these\ninstructions to the young men who will form the crew, for as regards\nyou aldermen and town councillors, you will join me in entertaining our\nguest in the cloisters. I can take no excuses, and we will have\nDemodocus to sing to us; for there is no bard like him whatever he may\nchoose to sing about.\u201d\n\nAlcinous then led the way, and the others followed after, while a\nservant went to fetch Demodocus. The fifty-two picked oarsmen went to\nthe sea shore as they had been told, and when they got there they drew\nthe ship into the water, got her mast and sails inside her, bound the\noars to the thole-pins with twisted thongs of leather, all in due\ncourse, and spread the white sails aloft. They moored the vessel a\nlittle way out from land, and then came on shore and went to the house\nof King Alcinous. The out houses,66 yards, and all the precincts were\nfilled with crowds of men in great multitudes both old and young; and\nAlcinous killed them a dozen sheep, eight full grown pigs, and two\noxen. These they skinned and dressed so as to provide a magnificent\nbanquet.\n\nA servant presently led in the famous bard Demodocus, whom the muse had\ndearly loved, but to whom she had given both good and evil, for though\nshe had endowed him with a divine gift of song, she had robbed him of\nhis eyesight. Pontonous set a seat for him among the guests, leaning it\nup against a bearing-post. He hung the lyre for him on a peg over his\nhead, and showed him where he was to feel for it with his hands. He\nalso set a fair table with a basket of victuals by his side, and a cup\nof wine from which he might drink whenever he was so disposed.\n\nThe company then laid their hands upon the good things that were before\nthem, but as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, the muse\ninspired Demodocus to sing the feats of heroes, and more especially a\nmatter that was then in the mouths of all men, to wit, the quarrel\nbetween Ulysses and Achilles, and the fierce words that they heaped on\none another as they sat together at a banquet. But Agamemnon was glad\nwhen he heard his chieftains quarrelling with one another, for Apollo\nhad foretold him this at Pytho when he crossed the stone floor to\nconsult the oracle. Here was the beginning of the evil that by the will\nof Jove fell both upon Danaans and Trojans.\n\nThus sang the bard, but Ulysses drew his purple mantle over his head\nand covered his face, for he was ashamed to let the Phaeacians see that\nhe was weeping. When the bard left off singing he wiped the tears from\nhis eyes, uncovered his face, and, taking his cup, made a\ndrink-offering to the gods; but when the Phaeacians pressed Demodocus\nto sing further, for they delighted in his lays, then Ulysses again\ndrew his mantle over his head and wept bitterly. No one noticed his\ndistress except Alcinous, who was sitting near him, and heard the heavy\nsighs that he was heaving. So he at once said, \u201cAldermen and town\ncouncillors of the Phaeacians, we have had enough now, both of the\nfeast, and of the minstrelsy that is its due accompaniment; let us\nproceed therefore to the athletic sports, so that our guest on his\nreturn home may be able to tell his friends how much we surpass all\nother nations as boxers, wrestlers, jumpers, and runners.\u201d\n\nWith these words he led the way, and the others followed after. A\nservant hung Demodocus\u2019s lyre on its peg for him, led him out of the\ncloister, and set him on the same way as that along which all the chief\nmen of the Phaeacians were going to see the sports; a crowd of several\nthousands of people followed them, and there were many excellent\ncompetitors for all the prizes. Acroneos, Ocyalus, Elatreus, Nauteus,\nPrymneus, Anchialus, Eretmeus, Ponteus, Proreus, Thoon, Anabesineus,\nand Amphialus son of Polyneus son of Tecton. There was also Euryalus\nson of Naubolus, who was like Mars himself, and was the best looking\nman among the Phaeacians except Laodamas. Three sons of Alcinous,\nLaodamas, Halios, and Clytoneus, competed also.\n\nThe foot races came first. The course was set out for them from the\nstarting post, and they raised a dust upon the plain as they all flew\nforward at the same moment. Clytoneus came in first by a long way; he\nleft every one else behind him by the length of the furrow that a\ncouple of mules can plough in a fallow field.67 They then turned to the\npainful art of wrestling, and here Euryalus proved to be the best man.\nAmphialus excelled all the others in jumping, while at throwing the\ndisc there was no one who could approach Elatreus. Alcinous\u2019s son\nLaodamas was the best boxer, and he it was who presently said, when\nthey had all been diverted with the games, \u201cLet us ask the stranger\nwhether he excels in any of these sports; he seems very powerfully\nbuilt; his thighs, calves, hands, and neck are of prodigious strength,\nnor is he at all old, but he has suffered much lately, and there is\nnothing like the sea for making havoc with a man, no matter how strong\nhe is.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are quite right, Laodamas,\u201d replied Euryalus, \u201cgo up to your guest\nand speak to him about it yourself.\u201d\n\nWhen Laodamas heard this he made his way into the middle of the crowd\nand said to Ulysses, \u201cI hope, Sir, that you will enter yourself for\nsome one or other of our competitions if you are skilled in any of\nthem\u2014and you must have gone in for many a one before now. There is\nnothing that does any one so much credit all his life long as the\nshowing himself a proper man with his hands and feet. Have a try\ntherefore at something, and banish all sorrow from your mind. Your\nreturn home will not be long delayed, for the ship is already drawn\ninto the water, and the crew is found.\u201d\n\nUlysses answered, \u201cLaodamas, why do you taunt me in this way? my mind\nis set rather on cares than contests; I have been through infinite\ntrouble, and am come among you now as a suppliant, praying your king\nand people to further me on my return home.\u201d\n\nThen Euryalus reviled him outright and said, \u201cI gather, then, that you\nare unskilled in any of the many sports that men generally delight in.\nI suppose you are one of those grasping traders that go about in ships\nas captains or merchants, and who think of nothing but of their outward\nfreights and homeward cargoes. There does not seem to be much of the\nathlete about you.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor shame, Sir,\u201d answered Ulysses, fiercely, \u201cyou are an insolent\nfellow\u2014so true is it that the gods do not grace all men alike in\nspeech, person, and understanding. One man may be of weak presence, but\nheaven has adorned this with such a good conversation that he charms\nevery one who sees him; his honeyed moderation carries his hearers with\nhim so that he is leader in all assemblies of his fellows, and wherever\nhe goes he is looked up to. Another may be as handsome as a god, but\nhis good looks are not crowned with discretion. This is your case. No\ngod could make a finer looking fellow than you are, but you are a fool.\nYour ill-judged remarks have made me exceedingly angry, and you are\nquite mistaken, for I excel in a great many athletic exercises; indeed,\nso long as I had youth and strength, I was among the first athletes of\nthe age. Now, however, I am worn out by labour and sorrow, for I have\ngone through much both on the field of battle and by the waves of the\nweary sea; still, in spite of all this I will compete, for your taunts\nhave stung me to the quick.\u201d\n\nSo he hurried up without even taking his cloak off, and seized a disc,\nlarger, more massive and much heavier than those used by the Phaeacians\nwhen disc-throwing among themselves.68 Then, swinging it back, he threw\nit from his brawny hand, and it made a humming sound in the air as he\ndid so. The Phaeacians quailed beneath the rushing of its flight as it\nsped gracefully from his hand, and flew beyond any mark that had been\nmade yet. Minerva, in the form of a man, came and marked the place\nwhere it had fallen. \u201cA blind man, Sir,\u201d said she, \u201ccould easily tell\nyour mark by groping for it\u2014it is so far ahead of any other. You may\nmake your mind easy about this contest, for no Phaeacian can come near\nto such a throw as yours.\u201d\n\nUlysses was glad when he found he had a friend among the lookers-on, so\nhe began to speak more pleasantly. \u201cYoung men,\u201d said he, \u201ccome up to\nthat throw if you can, and I will throw another disc as heavy or even\nheavier. If anyone wants to have a bout with me let him come on, for I\nam exceedingly angry; I will box, wrestle, or run, I do not care what\nit is, with any man of you all except Laodamas, but not with him\nbecause I am his guest, and one cannot compete with one\u2019s own personal\nfriend. At least I do not think it a prudent or a sensible thing for a\nguest to challenge his host\u2019s family at any game, especially when he is\nin a foreign country. He will cut the ground from under his own feet if\nhe does; but I make no exception as regards any one else, for I want to\nhave the matter out and know which is the best man. I am a good hand at\nevery kind of athletic sport known among mankind. I am an excellent\narcher. In battle I am always the first to bring a man down with my\narrow, no matter how many more are taking aim at him alongside of me.\nPhiloctetes was the only man who could shoot better than I could when\nwe Achaeans were before Troy and in practice. I far excel every one\nelse in the whole world, of those who still eat bread upon the face of\nthe earth, but I should not like to shoot against the mighty dead, such\nas Hercules, or Eurytus the Oechalian\u2014men who could shoot against the\ngods themselves. This in fact was how Eurytus came prematurely by his\nend, for Apollo was angry with him and killed him because he challenged\nhim as an archer. I can throw a dart farther than any one else can\nshoot an arrow. Running is the only point in respect of which I am\nafraid some of the Phaeacians might beat me, for I have been brought\ndown very low at sea; my provisions ran short, and therefore I am still\nweak.\u201d\n\nThey all held their peace except King Alcinous, who began, \u201cSir, we\nhave had much pleasure in hearing all that you have told us, from which\nI understand that you are willing to show your prowess, as having been\ndispleased with some insolent remarks that have been made to you by one\nof our athletes, and which could never have been uttered by any one who\nknows how to talk with propriety. I hope you will apprehend my meaning,\nand will explain to any one of your chief men who may be dining with\nyourself and your family when you get home, that we have an hereditary\naptitude for accomplishments of all kinds. We are not particularly\nremarkable for our boxing, nor yet as wrestlers, but we are singularly\nfleet of foot and are excellent sailors. We are extremely fond of good\ndinners, music, and dancing; we also like frequent changes of linen,\nwarm baths, and good beds, so now, please, some of you who are the best\ndancers set about dancing, that our guest on his return home may be\nable to tell his friends how much we surpass all other nations as\nsailors, runners, dancers, and minstrels. Demodocus has left his lyre\nat my house, so run some one or other of you and fetch it for him.\u201d\n\nOn this a servant hurried off to bring the lyre from the king\u2019s house,\nand the nine men who had been chosen as stewards stood forward. It was\ntheir business to manage everything connected with the sports, so they\nmade the ground smooth and marked a wide space for the dancers.\nPresently the servant came back with Demodocus\u2019s lyre, and he took his\nplace in the midst of them, whereon the best young dancers in the town\nbegan to foot and trip it so nimbly that Ulysses was delighted with the\nmerry twinkling of their feet.\n\nMeanwhile the bard began to sing the loves of Mars and Venus, and how\nthey first began their intrigue in the house of Vulcan. Mars made Venus\nmany presents, and defiled King Vulcan\u2019s marriage bed, so the sun, who\nsaw what they were about, told Vulcan. Vulcan was very angry when he\nheard such dreadful news, so he went to his smithy brooding mischief,\ngot his great anvil into its place, and began to forge some chains\nwhich none could either unloose or break, so that they might stay there\nin that place.69 When he had finished his snare he went into his\nbedroom and festooned the bed-posts all over with chains like cobwebs;\nhe also let many hang down from the great beam of the ceiling. Not even\na god could see them so fine and subtle were they. As soon as he had\nspread the chains all over the bed, he made as though he were setting\nout for the fair state of Lemnos, which of all places in the world was\nthe one he was most fond of. But Mars kept no blind look out, and as\nsoon as he saw him start, hurried off to his house, burning with love\nfor Venus.\n\nNow Venus was just come in from a visit to her father Jove, and was\nabout sitting down when Mars came inside the house, and said as he took\nher hand in his own, \u201cLet us go to the couch of Vulcan: he is not at\nhome, but is gone off to Lemnos among the Sintians, whose speech is\nbarbarous.\u201d\n\nShe was nothing loth, so they went to the couch to take their rest,\nwhereon they were caught in the toils which cunning Vulcan had spread\nfor them, and could neither get up nor stir hand or foot, but found too\nlate that they were in a trap. Then Vulcan came up to them, for he had\nturned back before reaching Lemnos, when his scout the sun told him\nwhat was going on. He was in a furious passion, and stood in the\nvestibule making a dreadful noise as he shouted to all the gods.\n\n\u201cFather Jove,\u201d he cried, \u201cand all you other blessed gods who live for\never, come here and see the ridiculous and disgraceful sight that I\nwill show you. Jove\u2019s daughter Venus is always dishonouring me because\nI am lame. She is in love with Mars, who is handsome and clean built,\nwhereas I am a cripple\u2014but my parents are to blame for that, not I;\nthey ought never to have begotten me. Come and see the pair together\nasleep on my bed. It makes me furious to look at them. They are very\nfond of one another, but I do not think they will lie there longer than\nthey can help, nor do I think that they will sleep much; there,\nhowever, they shall stay till her father has repaid me the sum I gave\nhim for his baggage of a daughter, who is fair but not honest.\u201d\n\nOn this the gods gathered to the house of Vulcan. Earth-encircling\nNeptune came, and Mercury the bringer of luck, and King Apollo, but the\ngoddesses staid at home all of them for shame. Then the givers of all\ngood things stood in the doorway, and the blessed gods roared with\ninextinguishable laughter, as they saw how cunning Vulcan had been,\nwhereon one would turn towards his neighbour saying:\n\n\u201cIll deeds do not prosper, and the weak confound the strong. See how\nlimping Vulcan, lame as he is, has caught Mars who is the fleetest god\nin heaven; and now Mars will be cast in heavy damages.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse, but King Apollo said to Mercury, \u201cMessenger\nMercury, giver of good things, you would not care how strong the chains\nwere, would you, if you could sleep with Venus?\u201d\n\n\u201cKing Apollo,\u201d answered Mercury, \u201cI only wish I might get the chance,\nthough there were three times as many chains\u2014and you might look on, all\nof you, gods and goddesses, but I would sleep with her if I could.\u201d\n\nThe immortal gods burst out laughing as they heard him, but Neptune\ntook it all seriously, and kept on imploring Vulcan to set Mars free\nagain. \u201cLet him go,\u201d he cried, \u201cand I will undertake, as you require,\nthat he shall pay you all the damages that are held reasonable among\nthe immortal gods.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not,\u201d replied Vulcan, \u201cask me to do this; a bad man\u2019s bond is bad\nsecurity; what remedy could I enforce against you if Mars should go\naway and leave his debts behind him along with his chains?\u201d\n\n\u201cVulcan,\u201d said Neptune, \u201cif Mars goes away without paying his damages,\nI will pay you myself.\u201d So Vulcan answered, \u201cIn this case I cannot and\nmust not refuse you.\u201d\n\nThereon he loosed the bonds that bound them, and as soon as they were\nfree they scampered off, Mars to Thrace and laughter-loving Venus to\nCyprus and to Paphos, where is her grove and her altar fragrant with\nburnt offerings. Here the Graces bathed her, and anointed her with oil\nof ambrosia such as the immortal gods make use of, and they clothed her\nin raiment of the most enchanting beauty.\n\nThus sang the bard, and both Ulysses and the seafaring Phaeacians were\ncharmed as they heard him.\n\nThen Alcinous told Laodamas and Halius to dance alone, for there was no\none to compete with them. So they took a red ball which Polybus had\nmade for them, and one of them bent himself backwards and threw it up\ntowards the clouds, while the other jumped from off the ground and\ncaught it with ease before it came down again. When they had done\nthrowing the ball straight up into the air they began to dance, and at\nthe same time kept on throwing it backwards and forwards to one\nanother, while all the young men in the ring applauded and made a great\nstamping with their feet. Then Ulysses said:\n\n\u201cKing Alcinous, you said your people were the nimblest dancers in the\nworld, and indeed they have proved themselves to be so. I was\nastonished as I saw them.\u201d\n\nThe king was delighted at this, and exclaimed to the Phaeacians,\n\u201cAldermen and town councillors, our guest seems to be a person of\nsingular judgement; let us give him such proof of our hospitality as he\nmay reasonably expect. There are twelve chief men among you, and\ncounting myself there are thirteen; contribute, each of you, a clean\ncloak, a shirt, and a talent of fine gold; let us give him all this in\na lump down at once, so that when he gets his supper he may do so with\na light heart. As for Euryalus he will have to make a formal apology\nand a present too, for he has been rude.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak. The others all of them applauded his saying, and\nsent their servants to fetch the presents. Then Euryalus said, \u201cKing\nAlcinous, I will give the stranger all the satisfaction you require. He\nshall have my sword, which is of bronze, all but the hilt, which is of\nsilver. I will also give him the scabbard of newly sawn ivory into\nwhich it fits. It will be worth a great deal to him.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he placed the sword in the hands of Ulysses and said, \u201cGood\nluck to you, father stranger; if anything has been said amiss may the\nwinds blow it away with them, and may heaven grant you a safe return,\nfor I understand you have been long away from home, and have gone\nthrough much hardship.\u201d\n\nTo which Ulysses answered, \u201cGood luck to you too my friend, and may the\ngods grant you every happiness. I hope you will not miss the sword you\nhave given me along with your apology.\u201d\n\nWith these words he girded the sword about his shoulders and towards\nsundown the presents began to make their appearance, as the servants of\nthe donors kept bringing them to the house of King Alcinous; here his\nsons received them, and placed them under their mother\u2019s charge. Then\nAlcinous led the way to the house and bade his guests take their seats.\n\n\u201cWife,\u201d said he, turning to Queen Arete, \u201cGo, fetch the best chest we\nhave, and put a clean cloak and shirt in it. Also, set a copper on the\nfire and heat some water; our guest will take a warm bath; see also to\nthe careful packing of the presents that the noble Phaeacians have made\nhim; he will thus better enjoy both his supper and the singing that\nwill follow. I shall myself give him this golden goblet\u2014which is of\nexquisite workmanship\u2014that he may be reminded of me for the rest of his\nlife whenever he makes a drink offering to Jove, or to any of the\ngods.\u201d70\n\nThen Arete told her maids to set a large tripod upon the fire as fast\nas they could, whereon they set a tripod full of bath water on to a\nclear fire; they threw on sticks to make it blaze, and the water became\nhot as the flame played about the belly of the tripod.71 Meanwhile\nArete brought a magnificent chest from her own room, and inside it she\npacked all the beautiful presents of gold and raiment which the\nPhaeacians had brought. Lastly she added a cloak and a good shirt from\nAlcinous, and said to Ulysses:\n\n\u201cSee to the lid yourself, and have the whole bound round at once, for\nfear any one should rob you by the way when you are asleep in your\nship.\u201d 72\n\nWhen Ulysses heard this he put the lid on the chest and made it fast\nwith a bond that Circe had taught him. He had done so before an upper\nservant told him to come to the bath and wash himself. He was very glad\nof a warm bath, for he had had no one to wait upon him ever since he\nleft the house of Calypso, who as long as he remained with her had\ntaken as good care of him as though he had been a god. When the\nservants had done washing and anointing him with oil, and had given him\na clean cloak and shirt, he left the bath room and joined the guests\nwho were sitting over their wine. Lovely Nausicaa stood by one of the\nbearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister, and admired him as\nshe saw him pass. \u201cFarewell stranger,\u201d said she, \u201cdo not forget me when\nyou are safe at home again, for it is to me first that you owe a ransom\nfor having saved your life.\u201d\n\nAnd Ulysses said, \u201cNausicaa, daughter of great Alcinous, may Jove the\nmighty husband of Juno, grant that I may reach my home; so shall I\nbless you as my guardian angel all my days, for it was you who saved\nme.\u201d\n\nWhen he had said this, he seated himself beside Alcinous. Supper was\nthen served, and the wine was mixed for drinking. A servant led in the\nfavourite bard Demodocus, and set him in the midst of the company, near\none of the bearing-posts supporting the cloister, that he might lean\nagainst it. Then Ulysses cut off a piece of roast pork with plenty of\nfat (for there was abundance left on the joint) and said to a servant,\n\u201cTake this piece of pork over to Demodocus and tell him to eat it; for\nall the pain his lays may cause me I will salute him none the less;\nbards are honoured and respected throughout the world, for the muse\nteaches them their songs and loves them.\u201d\n\nThe servant carried the pork in his fingers over to Demodocus, who took\nit and was very much pleased. They then laid their hands on the good\nthings that were before them, and as soon as they had had to eat and\ndrink, Ulysses said to Demodocus, \u201cDemodocus, there is no one in the\nworld whom I admire more than I do you. You must have studied under the\nMuse, Jove\u2019s daughter, and under Apollo, so accurately do you sing the\nreturn of the Achaeans with all their sufferings and adventures. If you\nwere not there yourself, you must have heard it all from some one who\nwas. Now, however, change your song and tell us of the wooden horse\nwhich Epeus made with the assistance of Minerva, and which Ulysses got\nby stratagem into the fort of Troy after freighting it with the men who\nafterwards sacked the city. If you will sing this tale aright I will\ntell all the world how magnificently heaven has endowed you.\u201d\n\nThe bard inspired of heaven took up the story at the point where some\nof the Argives set fire to their tents and sailed away while others,\nhidden within the horse,73 were waiting with Ulysses in the Trojan\nplace of assembly. For the Trojans themselves had drawn the horse into\ntheir fortress, and it stood there while they sat in council round it,\nand were in three minds as to what they should do. Some were for\nbreaking it up then and there; others would have it dragged to the top\nof the rock on which the fortress stood, and then thrown down the\nprecipice; while yet others were for letting it remain as an offering\nand propitiation for the gods. And this was how they settled it in the\nend, for the city was doomed when it took in that horse, within which\nwere all the bravest of the Argives waiting to bring death and\ndestruction on the Trojans. Anon he sang how the sons of the Achaeans\nissued from the horse, and sacked the town, breaking out from their\nambuscade. He sang how they overran the city hither and thither and\nravaged it, and how Ulysses went raging like Mars along with Menelaus\nto the house of Deiphobus. It was there that the fight raged most\nfuriously, nevertheless by Minerva\u2019s help he was victorious.\n\nAll this he told, but Ulysses was overcome as he heard him, and his\ncheeks were wet with tears. He wept as a woman weeps when she throws\nherself on the body of her husband who has fallen before his own city\nand people, fighting bravely in defence of his home and children. She\nscreams aloud and flings her arms about him as he lies gasping for\nbreath and dying, but her enemies beat her from behind about the back\nand shoulders, and carry her off into slavery, to a life of labour and\nsorrow, and the beauty fades from her cheeks\u2014even so piteously did\nUlysses weep, but none of those present perceived his tears except\nAlcinous, who was sitting near him, and could hear the sobs and sighs\nthat he was heaving. The king, therefore, at once rose and said:\n\n\u201cAldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, let Demodocus cease\nhis song, for there are those present who do not seem to like it. From\nthe moment that we had done supper and Demodocus began to sing, our\nguest has been all the time groaning and lamenting. He is evidently in\ngreat trouble, so let the bard leave off, that we may all enjoy\nourselves, hosts and guest alike. This will be much more as it should\nbe, for all these festivities, with the escort and the presents that we\nare making with so much good will are wholly in his honour, and any one\nwith even a moderate amount of right feeling knows that he ought to\ntreat a guest and a suppliant as though he were his own brother.\n\n\u201cTherefore, Sir, do you on your part affect no more concealment nor\nreserve in the matter about which I shall ask you; it will be more\npolite in you to give me a plain answer; tell me the name by which your\nfather and mother over yonder used to call you, and by which you were\nknown among your neighbours and fellow-citizens. There is no one,\nneither rich nor poor, who is absolutely without any name whatever, for\npeople\u2019s fathers and mothers give them names as soon as they are born.\nTell me also your country, nation, and city, that our ships may shape\ntheir purpose accordingly and take you there. For the Phaeacians have\nno pilots; their vessels have no rudders as those of other nations\nhave, but the ships themselves understand what it is that we are\nthinking about and want; they know all the cities and countries in the\nwhole world, and can traverse the sea just as well even when it is\ncovered with mist and cloud, so that there is no danger of being\nwrecked or coming to any harm. Still I do remember hearing my father\nsay that Neptune was angry with us for being too easy-going in the\nmatter of giving people escorts. He said that one of these days he\nshould wreck a ship of ours as it was returning from having escorted\nsome one,74 and bury our city under a high mountain. This is what my\nfather used to say, but whether the god will carry out his threat or no\nis a matter which he will decide for himself.\n\n\u201cAnd now, tell me and tell me true. Where have you been wandering, and\nin what countries have you travelled? Tell us of the peoples\nthemselves, and of their cities\u2014who were hostile, savage and\nuncivilised, and who, on the other hand, hospitable and humane. Tell us\nalso why you are made so unhappy on hearing about the return of the\nArgive Danaans from Troy. The gods arranged all this, and sent them\ntheir misfortunes in order that future generations might have something\nto sing about. Did you lose some brave kinsman of your wife\u2019s when you\nwere before Troy? a son-in-law or father-in-law\u2014which are the nearest\nrelations a man has outside his own flesh and blood? or was it some\nbrave and kindly-natured comrade\u2014for a good friend is as dear to a man\nas his own brother?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nBOOK IX\n\n\nULYSSES DECLARES HIMSELF AND BEGINS HIS STORY\u2014-THE CICONS, LOTOPHAGI,\nAND CYCLOPES.\n\n\nAnd Ulysses answered, \u201cKing Alcinous, it is a good thing to hear a bard\nwith such a divine voice as this man has. There is nothing better or\nmore delightful than when a whole people make merry together, with the\nguests sitting orderly to listen, while the table is loaded with bread\nand meats, and the cup-bearer draws wine and fills his cup for every\nman. This is indeed as fair a sight as a man can see. Now, however,\nsince you are inclined to ask the story of my sorrows, and rekindle my\nown sad memories in respect of them, I do not know how to begin, nor\nyet how to continue and conclude my tale, for the hand of heaven has\nbeen laid heavily upon me.\n\n\u201cFirstly, then, I will tell you my name that you too may know it, and\none day, if I outlive this time of sorrow, may become my guests though\nI live so far away from all of you. I am Ulysses son of Laertes,\nrenowned among mankind for all manner of subtlety, so that my fame\nascends to heaven. I live in Ithaca, where there is a high mountain\ncalled Neritum, covered with forests; and not far from it there is a\ngroup of islands very near to one another\u2014Dulichium, Same, and the\nwooded island of Zacynthus. It lies squat on the horizon, all highest\nup in the sea towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it\ntowards dawn.75 It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave men, and my\neyes know none that they better love to look upon. The goddess Calypso\nkept me with her in her cave, and wanted me to marry her, as did also\nthe cunning Aeaean goddess Circe; but they could neither of them\npersuade me, for there is nothing dearer to a man than his own country\nand his parents, and however splendid a home he may have in a foreign\ncountry, if it be far from father or mother, he does not care about it.\nNow, however, I will tell you of the many hazardous adventures which by\nJove\u2019s will I met with on my return from Troy.\n\n\u201cWhen I had set sail thence the wind took me first to Ismarus, which is\nthe city of the Cicons. There I sacked the town and put the people to\nthe sword. We took their wives and also much booty, which we divided\nequitably amongst us, so that none might have reason to complain. I\nthen said that we had better make off at once, but my men very\nfoolishly would not obey me, so they staid there drinking much wine and\nkilling great numbers of sheep and oxen on the sea shore. Meanwhile the\nCicons cried out for help to other Cicons who lived inland. These were\nmore in number, and stronger, and they were more skilled in the art of\nwar, for they could fight, either from chariots or on foot as the\noccasion served; in the morning, therefore, they came as thick as\nleaves and bloom in summer, and the hand of heaven was against us, so\nthat we were hard pressed. They set the battle in array near the ships,\nand the hosts aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another.76 So long\nas the day waxed and it was still morning, we held our own against\nthem, though they were more in number than we; but as the sun went\ndown, towards the time when men loose their oxen, the Cicons got the\nbetter of us, and we lost half a dozen men from every ship we had; so\nwe got away with those that were left.\n\n\u201cThence we sailed onward with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have\nescaped death though we had lost our comrades, nor did we leave till we\nhad thrice invoked each one of the poor fellows who had perished by the\nhands of the Cicons. Then Jove raised the North wind against us till it\nblew a hurricane, so that land and sky were hidden in thick clouds, and\nnight sprang forth out of the heavens. We let the ships run before the\ngale, but the force of the wind tore our sails to tatters, so we took\nthem down for fear of shipwreck, and rowed our hardest towards the\nland. There we lay two days and two nights suffering much alike from\ntoil and distress of mind, but on the morning of the third day we again\nraised our masts, set sail, and took our places, letting the wind and\nsteersmen direct our ship. I should have got home at that time unharmed\nhad not the North wind and the currents been against me as I was\ndoubling Cape Malea, and set me off my course hard by the island of\nCythera.\n\n\u201cI was driven thence by foul winds for a space of nine days upon the\nsea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters, who\nlive on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take\nin fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near\nthe ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to\nsee what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a\nthird man under them. They started at once, and went about among the\nLotus-eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus,\nwhich was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about\nhome, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to\nthem, but were for staying and munching lotus77 with the Lotus-eaters\nwithout thinking further of their return; nevertheless, though they\nwept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under\nthe benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of\nthem should taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to get home, so\nthey took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars.\n\n\u201cWe sailed hence, always in much distress, till we came to the land of\nthe lawless and inhuman Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes neither plant nor\nplough, but trust in providence, and live on such wheat, barley, and\ngrapes as grow wild without any kind of tillage, and their wild grapes\nyield them wine as the sun and the rain may grow them. They have no\nlaws nor assemblies of the people, but live in caves on the tops of\nhigh mountains; each is lord and master in his family, and they take no\naccount of their neighbours.\n\n\u201cNow off their harbour there lies a wooded and fertile island not quite\nclose to the land of the Cyclopes, but still not far. It is over-run\nwith wild goats, that breed there in great numbers and are never\ndisturbed by foot of man; for sportsmen\u2014who as a rule will suffer so\nmuch hardship in forest or among mountain precipices\u2014do not go there,\nnor yet again is it ever ploughed or fed down, but it lies a wilderness\nuntilled and unsown from year to year, and has no living thing upon it\nbut only goats. For the Cyclopes have no ships, nor yet shipwrights who\ncould make ships for them; they cannot therefore go from city to city,\nor sail over the sea to one another\u2019s country as people who have ships\ncan do; if they had had these they would have colonised the island,78\nfor it is a very good one, and would yield everything in due season.\nThere are meadows that in some places come right down to the sea shore,\nwell watered and full of luscious grass; grapes would do there\nexcellently; there is level land for ploughing, and it would always\nyield heavily at harvest time, for the soil is deep. There is a good\nharbour where no cables are wanted, nor yet anchors, nor need a ship be\nmoored, but all one has to do is to beach one\u2019s vessel and stay there\ntill the wind becomes fair for putting out to sea again. At the head of\nthe harbour there is a spring of clear water coming out of a cave, and\nthere are poplars growing all round it.\n\n\u201cHere we entered, but so dark was the night that some god must have\nbrought us in, for there was nothing whatever to be seen. A thick mist\nhung all round our ships;79 the moon was hidden behind a mass of clouds\nso that no one could have seen the island if he had looked for it, nor\nwere there any breakers to tell us we were close in shore before we\nfound ourselves upon the land itself; when, however, we had beached the\nships, we took down the sails, went ashore and camped upon the beach\ntill daybreak.\n\n\u201cWhen the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, we admired the\nisland and wandered all over it, while the nymphs Jove\u2019s daughters\nroused the wild goats that we might get some meat for our dinner. On\nthis we fetched our spears and bows and arrows from the ships, and\ndividing ourselves into three bands began to shoot the goats. Heaven\nsent us excellent sport; I had twelve ships with me, and each ship got\nnine goats, while my own ship had ten; thus through the livelong day to\nthe going down of the sun we ate and drank our fill, and we had plenty\nof wine left, for each one of us had taken many jars full when we\nsacked the city of the Cicons, and this had not yet run out. While we\nwere feasting we kept turning our eyes towards the land of the\nCyclopes, which was hard by, and saw the smoke of their stubble fires.\nWe could almost fancy we heard their voices and the bleating of their\nsheep and goats, but when the sun went down and it came on dark, we\ncamped down upon the beach, and next morning I called a council.\n\n\u201c\u2018Stay here, my brave fellows,\u2019 said I, \u2018all the rest of you, while I\ngo with my ship and exploit these people myself: I want to see if they\nare uncivilised savages, or a hospitable and humane race.\u2019\n\n\u201cI went on board, bidding my men to do so also and loose the hawsers;\nso they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars. When\nwe got to the land, which was not far, there, on the face of a cliff\nnear the sea, we saw a great cave overhung with laurels. It was a\nstation for a great many sheep and goats, and outside there was a large\nyard, with a high wall round it made of stones built into the ground\nand of trees both pine and oak. This was the abode of a huge monster\nwho was then away from home shepherding his flocks. He would have\nnothing to do with other people, but led the life of an outlaw. He was\na horrid creature, not like a human being at all, but resembling rather\nsome crag that stands out boldly against the sky on the top of a high\nmountain.\n\n\u201cI told my men to draw the ship ashore, and stay where they were, all\nbut the twelve best among them, who were to go along with myself. I\nalso took a goatskin of sweet black wine which had been given me by\nMaron, son of Euanthes, who was priest of Apollo the patron god of\nIsmarus, and lived within the wooded precincts of the temple. When we\nwere sacking the city we respected him, and spared his life, as also\nhis wife and child; so he made me some presents of great value\u2014seven\ntalents of fine gold, and a bowl of silver, with twelve jars of sweet\nwine, unblended, and of the most exquisite flavour. Not a man nor maid\nin the house knew about it, but only himself, his wife, and one\nhousekeeper: when he drank it he mixed twenty parts of water to one of\nwine, and yet the fragrance from the mixing-bowl was so exquisite that\nit was impossible to refrain from drinking. I filled a large skin with\nthis wine, and took a wallet full of provisions with me, for my mind\nmisgave me that I might have to deal with some savage who would be of\ngreat strength, and would respect neither right nor law.\n\n\u201cWe soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding, so we went\ninside and took stock of all that we could see. His cheese-racks were\nloaded with cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his pens could\nhold. They were kept in separate flocks; first there were the hoggets,\nthen the oldest of the younger lambs and lastly the very young ones80\nall kept apart from one another; as for his dairy, all the vessels,\nbowls, and milk pails into which he milked, were swimming with whey.\nWhen they saw all this, my men begged me to let them first steal some\ncheeses, and make off with them to the ship; they would then return,\ndrive down the lambs and kids, put them on board and sail away with\nthem. It would have been indeed better if we had done so but I would\nnot listen to them, for I wanted to see the owner himself, in the hope\nthat he might give me a present. When, however, we saw him my poor men\nfound him ill to deal with.\n\n\u201cWe lit a fire, offered some of the cheeses in sacrifice, ate others of\nthem, and then sat waiting till the Cyclops should come in with his\nsheep. When he came, he brought in with him a huge load of dry firewood\nto light the fire for his supper, and this he flung with such a noise\non to the floor of his cave that we hid ourselves for fear at the far\nend of the cavern. Meanwhile he drove all the ewes inside, as well as\nthe she-goats that he was going to milk, leaving the males, both rams\nand he-goats, outside in the yards. Then he rolled a huge stone to the\nmouth of the cave\u2014so huge that two and twenty strong four-wheeled\nwaggons would not be enough to draw it from its place against the\ndoorway. When he had so done he sat down and milked his ewes and goats,\nall in due course, and then let each of them have her own young. He\ncurdled half the milk and set it aside in wicker strainers, but the\nother half he poured into bowls that he might drink it for his supper.\nWhen he had got through with all his work, he lit the fire, and then\ncaught sight of us, whereon he said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Strangers, who are you? Where do sail from? Are you traders, or do\nyou sail the sea as rovers, with your hands against every man, and\nevery man\u2019s hand against you?\u2019\n\n\u201cWe were frightened out of our senses by his loud voice and monstrous\nform, but I managed to say, \u2018We are Achaeans on our way home from Troy,\nbut by the will of Jove, and stress of weather, we have been driven far\nout of our course. We are the people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, who\nhas won infinite renown throughout the whole world, by sacking so great\na city and killing so many people. We therefore humbly pray you to show\nus some hospitality, and otherwise make us such presents as visitors\nmay reasonably expect. May your excellency fear the wrath of heaven,\nfor we are your suppliants, and Jove takes all respectable travellers\nunder his protection, for he is the avenger of all suppliants and\nforeigners in distress.\u2019\n\n\u201cTo this he gave me but a pitiless answer, \u2018Stranger,\u2019 said he, \u2018you\nare a fool, or else you know nothing of this country. Talk to me,\nindeed, about fearing the gods or shunning their anger? We Cyclopes do\nnot care about Jove or any of your blessed gods, for we are ever so\nmuch stronger than they. I shall not spare either yourself or your\ncompanions out of any regard for Jove, unless I am in the humour for\ndoing so. And now tell me where you made your ship fast when you came\non shore. Was it round the point, or is she lying straight off the\nland?\u2019\n\n\u201cHe said this to draw me out, but I was too cunning to be caught in\nthat way, so I answered with a lie; \u2018Neptune,\u2019 said I, \u2018sent my ship on\nto the rocks at the far end of your country, and wrecked it. We were\ndriven on to them from the open sea, but I and those who are with me\nescaped the jaws of death.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe cruel wretch vouchsafed me not one word of answer, but with a\nsudden clutch he gripped up two of my men at once and dashed them down\nupon the ground as though they had been puppies. Their brains were shed\nupon the ground, and the earth was wet with their blood. Then he tore\nthem limb from limb and supped upon them. He gobbled them up like a\nlion in the wilderness, flesh, bones, marrow, and entrails, without\nleaving anything uneaten. As for us, we wept and lifted up our hands to\nheaven on seeing such a horrid sight, for we did not know what else to\ndo; but when the Cyclops had filled his huge paunch, and had washed\ndown his meal of human flesh with a drink of neat milk, he stretched\nhimself full length upon the ground among his sheep, and went to sleep.\nI was at first inclined to seize my sword, draw it, and drive it into\nhis vitals, but I reflected that if I did we should all certainly be\nlost, for we should never be able to shift the stone which the monster\nhad put in front of the door. So we stayed sobbing and sighing where we\nwere till morning came.\n\n\u201cWhen the child of morning, rosy-fingered dawn, appeared, he again lit\nhis fire, milked his goats and ewes, all quite rightly, and then let\neach have her own young one; as soon as he had got through with all his\nwork, he clutched up two more of my men, and began eating them for his\nmorning\u2019s meal. Presently, with the utmost ease, he rolled the stone\naway from the door and drove out his sheep, but he at once put it back\nagain\u2014as easily as though he were merely clapping the lid on to a\nquiver full of arrows. As soon as he had done so he shouted, and cried\n\u2018Shoo, shoo,\u2019 after his sheep to drive them on to the mountain; so I\nwas left to scheme some way of taking my revenge and covering myself\nwith glory.\n\n\u201cIn the end I deemed it would be the best plan to do as follows: The\nCyclops had a great club which was lying near one of the sheep pens; it\nwas of green olive wood, and he had cut it intending to use it for a\nstaff as soon as it should be dry. It was so huge that we could only\ncompare it to the mast of a twenty-oared merchant vessel of large\nburden, and able to venture out into open sea. I went up to this club\nand cut off about six feet of it; I then gave this piece to the men and\ntold them to fine it evenly off at one end, which they proceeded to do,\nand lastly I brought it to a point myself, charring the end in the fire\nto make it harder. When I had done this I hid it under dung, which was\nlying about all over the cave, and told the men to cast lots which of\nthem should venture along with myself to lift it and bore it into the\nmonster\u2019s eye while he was asleep. The lot fell upon the very four whom\nI should have chosen, and I myself made five. In the evening the wretch\ncame back from shepherding, and drove his flocks into the cave\u2014this\ntime driving them all inside, and not leaving any in the yards; I\nsuppose some fancy must have taken him, or a god must have prompted him\nto do so. As soon as he had put the stone back to its place against the\ndoor, he sat down, milked his ewes and his goats all quite rightly, and\nthen let each have her own young one; when he had got through with all\nthis work, he gripped up two more of my men, and made his supper off\nthem. So I went up to him with an ivy-wood bowl of black wine in my\nhands:\n\n\u201c\u2018Look here, Cyclops,\u2019 said I, you have been eating a great deal of\nman\u2019s flesh, so take this and drink some wine, that you may see what\nkind of liquor we had on board my ship. I was bringing it to you as a\ndrink-offering, in the hope that you would take compassion upon me and\nfurther me on my way home, whereas all you do is to go on ramping and\nraving most intolerably. You ought to be ashamed of yourself; how can\nyou expect people to come see you any more if you treat them in this\nway?\u2019\n\n\u201cHe then took the cup and drank. He was so delighted with the taste of\nthe wine that he begged me for another bowl full. \u2018Be so kind,\u2019 he\nsaid, \u2018as to give me some more, and tell me your name at once. I want\nto make you a present that you will be glad to have. We have wine even\nin this country, for our soil grows grapes and the sun ripens them, but\nthis drinks like Nectar and Ambrosia all in one.\u2019\n\n\u201cI then gave him some more; three times did I fill the bowl for him,\nand three times did he drain it without thought or heed; then, when I\nsaw that the wine had got into his head, I said to him as plausibly as\nI could: \u2018Cyclops, you ask my name and I will tell it you; give me,\ntherefore, the present you promised me; my name is Noman; this is what\nmy father and mother and my friends have always called me.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut the cruel wretch said, \u2018Then I will eat all Noman\u2019s comrades\nbefore Noman himself, and will keep Noman for the last. This is the\npresent that I will make him.\u2019\n\n\u201cAs he spoke he reeled, and fell sprawling face upwards on the ground.\nHis great neck hung heavily backwards and a deep sleep took hold upon\nhim. Presently he turned sick, and threw up both wine and the gobbets\nof human flesh on which he had been gorging, for he was very drunk.\nThen I thrust the beam of wood far into the embers to heat it, and\nencouraged my men lest any of them should turn faint-hearted. When the\nwood, green though it was, was about to blaze, I drew it out of the\nfire glowing with heat, and my men gathered round me, for heaven had\nfilled their hearts with courage. We drove the sharp end of the beam\ninto the monster\u2019s eye, and bearing upon it with all my weight I kept\nturning it round and round as though I were boring a hole in a ship\u2019s\nplank with an auger, which two men with a wheel and strap can keep on\nturning as long as they choose. Even thus did we bore the red hot beam\ninto his eye, till the boiling blood bubbled all over it as we worked\nit round and round, so that the steam from the burning eyeball scalded\nhis eyelids and eyebrows, and the roots of the eye sputtered in the\nfire. As a blacksmith plunges an axe or hatchet into cold water to\ntemper it\u2014for it is this that gives strength to the iron\u2014and it makes a\ngreat hiss as he does so, even thus did the Cyclops\u2019 eye hiss round the\nbeam of olive wood, and his hideous yells made the cave ring again. We\nran away in a fright, but he plucked the beam all besmirched with gore\nfrom his eye, and hurled it from him in a frenzy of rage and pain,\nshouting as he did so to the other Cyclopes who lived on the bleak\nheadlands near him; so they gathered from all quarters round his cave\nwhen they heard him crying, and asked what was the matter with him.\n\n\u201c\u2018What ails you, Polyphemus,\u2019 said they, \u2018that you make such a noise,\nbreaking the stillness of the night, and preventing us from being able\nto sleep? Surely no man is carrying off your sheep? Surely no man is\ntrying to kill you either by fraud or by force?\u2019\n\n\u201cBut Polyphemus shouted to them from inside the cave, \u2018Noman is killing\nme by fraud; no man is killing me by force.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Then,\u2019 said they, \u2018if no man is attacking you, you must be ill; when\nJove makes people ill, there is no help for it, and you had better pray\nto your father Neptune.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen they went away, and I laughed inwardly at the success of my\nclever stratagem, but the Cyclops, groaning and in an agony of pain,\nfelt about with his hands till he found the stone and took it from the\ndoor; then he sat in the doorway and stretched his hands in front of it\nto catch anyone going out with the sheep, for he thought I might be\nfoolish enough to attempt this.\n\n\u201cAs for myself I kept on puzzling to think how I could best save my own\nlife and those of my companions; I schemed and schemed, as one who\nknows that his life depends upon it, for the danger was very great. In\nthe end I deemed that this plan would be the best; the male sheep were\nwell grown, and carried a heavy black fleece, so I bound them\nnoiselessly in threes together, with some of the withies on which the\nwicked monster used to sleep. There was to be a man under the middle\nsheep, and the two on either side were to cover him, so that there were\nthree sheep to each man. As for myself there was a ram finer than any\nof the others, so I caught hold of him by the back, esconced myself in\nthe thick wool under his belly, and hung on patiently to his fleece,\nface upwards, keeping a firm hold on it all the time.\n\n\u201cThus, then, did we wait in great fear of mind till morning came, but\nwhen the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the male sheep\nhurried out to feed, while the ewes remained bleating about the pens\nwaiting to be milked, for their udders were full to bursting; but their\nmaster in spite of all his pain felt the backs of all the sheep as they\nstood upright, without being sharp enough to find out that the men were\nunderneath their bellies. As the ram was going out, last of all, heavy\nwith its fleece and with the weight of my crafty self, Polyphemus laid\nhold of it and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018My good ram, what is it that makes you the last to leave my cave this\nmorning? You are not wont to let the ewes go before you, but lead the\nmob with a run whether to flowery mead or bubbling fountain, and are\nthe first to come home again at night; but now you lag last of all. Is\nit because you know your master has lost his eye, and are sorry because\nthat wicked Noman and his horrid crew has got him down in his drink and\nblinded him? But I will have his life yet. If you could understand and\ntalk, you would tell me where the wretch is hiding, and I would dash\nhis brains upon the ground till they flew all over the cave. I should\nthus have some satisfaction for the harm this no-good Noman has done\nme.\u2019\n\n\u201cAs he spoke he drove the ram outside, but when we were a little way\nout from the cave and yards, I first got from under the ram\u2019s belly,\nand then freed my comrades; as for the sheep, which were very fat, by\nconstantly heading them in the right direction we managed to drive them\ndown to the ship. The crew rejoiced greatly at seeing those of us who\nhad escaped death, but wept for the others whom the Cyclops had killed.\nHowever, I made signs to them by nodding and frowning that they were to\nhush their crying, and told them to get all the sheep on board at once\nand put out to sea; so they went aboard, took their places, and smote\nthe grey sea with their oars. Then, when I had got as far out as my\nvoice would reach, I began to jeer at the Cyclops.\n\n\u201c\u2018Cyclops,\u2019 said I, \u2018you should have taken better measure of your man\nbefore eating up his comrades in your cave. You wretch, eat up your\nvisitors in your own house? You might have known that your sin would\nfind you out, and now Jove and the other gods have punished you.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe got more and more furious as he heard me, so he tore the top from\noff a high mountain, and flung it just in front of my ship so that it\nwas within a little of hitting the end of the rudder.81 The sea quaked\nas the rock fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised carried us\nback towards the mainland, and forced us towards the shore. But I\nsnatched up a long pole and kept the ship off, making signs to my men\nby nodding my head, that they must row for their lives, whereon they\nlaid out with a will. When we had got twice as far as we were before, I\nwas for jeering at the Cyclops again, but the men begged and prayed of\nme to hold my tongue.\n\n\u201c\u2018Do not,\u2019 they exclaimed, \u2018be mad enough to provoke this savage\ncreature further; he has thrown one rock at us already which drove us\nback again to the mainland, and we made sure it had been the death of\nus; if he had then heard any further sound of voices he would have\npounded our heads and our ship\u2019s timbers into a jelly with the rugged\nrocks he would have heaved at us, for he can throw them a long way.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut I would not listen to them, and shouted out to him in my rage,\n\u2018Cyclops, if any one asks you who it was that put your eye out and\nspoiled your beauty, say it was the valiant warrior Ulysses, son of\nLaertes, who lives in Ithaca.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn this he groaned, and cried out, \u2018Alas, alas, then the old prophecy\nabout me is coming true. There was a prophet here, at one time, a man\nboth brave and of great stature, Telemus son of Eurymus, who was an\nexcellent seer, and did all the prophesying for the Cyclopes till he\ngrew old; he told me that all this would happen to me some day, and\nsaid I should lose my sight by the hand of Ulysses. I have been all\nalong expecting some one of imposing presence and superhuman strength,\nwhereas he turns out to be a little insignificant weakling, who has\nmanaged to blind my eye by taking advantage of me in my drink; come\nhere, then, Ulysses, that I may make you presents to show my\nhospitality, and urge Neptune to help you forward on your journey\u2014for\nNeptune and I are father and son. He, if he so will, shall heal me,\nwhich no one else neither god nor man can do.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen I said, \u2018I wish I could be as sure of killing you outright and\nsending you down to the house of Hades, as I am that it will take more\nthan Neptune to cure that eye of yours.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn this he lifted up his hands to the firmament of heaven and prayed,\nsaying, \u2018Hear me, great Neptune; if I am indeed your own true begotten\nson, grant that Ulysses may never reach his home alive; or if he must\nget back to his friends at last, let him do so late and in sore plight\nafter losing all his men [let him reach his home in another man\u2019s ship\nand find trouble in his house.\u201982\n\n\u201cThus did he pray, and Neptune heard his prayer. Then he picked up a\nrock much larger than the first, swung it aloft and hurled it with\nprodigious force. It fell just short of the ship, but was within a\nlittle of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked as the rock\nfell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised drove us onwards on\nour way towards the shore of the island.\n\n\u201cWhen at last we got to the island where we had left the rest of our\nships, we found our comrades lamenting us, and anxiously awaiting our\nreturn. We ran our vessel upon the sands and got out of her on to the\nsea shore; we also landed the Cyclops\u2019 sheep, and divided them\nequitably amongst us so that none might have reason to complain. As for\nthe ram, my companions agreed that I should have it as an extra share;\nso I sacrificed it on the sea shore, and burned its thigh bones to\nJove, who is the lord of all. But he heeded not my sacrifice, and only\nthought how he might destroy both my ships and my comrades.\n\n\u201cThus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we feasted\nour fill on meat and drink, but when the sun went down and it came on\ndark, we camped upon the beach. When the child of morning rosy-fingered\nDawn appeared, I bade my men on board and loose the hawsers. Then they\ntook their places and smote the grey sea with their oars; so we sailed\non with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have escaped death though we\nhad lost our comrades.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK X\n\n\nAEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE.\n\n\n\u201cThence we went on to the Aeolian island where lives Aeolus son of\nHippotas, dear to the immortal gods. It is an island that floats (as it\nwere) upon the sea,83 iron bound with a wall that girds it. Now, Aeolus\nhas six daughters and six lusty sons, so he made the sons marry the\ndaughters, and they all live with their dear father and mother,\nfeasting and enjoying every conceivable kind of luxury. All day long\nthe atmosphere of the house is loaded with the savour of roasting meats\ntill it groans again, yard and all; but by night they sleep on their\nwell made bedsteads, each with his own wife between the blankets. These\nwere the people among whom we had now come.\n\n\u201cAeolus entertained me for a whole month asking me questions all the\ntime about Troy, the Argive fleet, and the return of the Achaeans. I\ntold him exactly how everything had happened, and when I said I must\ngo, and asked him to further me on my way, he made no sort of\ndifficulty, but set about doing so at once. Moreover, he flayed me a\nprime ox-hide to hold the ways of the roaring winds, which he shut up\nin the hide as in a sack\u2014for Jove had made him captain over the winds,\nand he could stir or still each one of them according to his own\npleasure. He put the sack in the ship and bound the mouth so tightly\nwith a silver thread that not even a breath of a side-wind could blow\nfrom any quarter. The West wind which was fair for us did he alone let\nblow as it chose; but it all came to nothing, for we were lost through\nour own folly.\n\n\u201cNine days and nine nights did we sail, and on the tenth day our native\nland showed on the horizon. We got so close in that we could see the\nstubble fires burning, and I, being then dead beat, fell into a light\nsleep, for I had never let the rudder out of my own hands, that we\nmight get home the faster. On this the men fell to talking among\nthemselves, and said I was bringing back gold and silver in the sack\nthat Aeolus had given me. \u2018Bless my heart,\u2019 would one turn to his\nneighbour, saying, \u2018how this man gets honoured and makes friends to\nwhatever city or country he may go. See what fine prizes he is taking\nhome from Troy, while we, who have travelled just as far as he has,\ncome back with hands as empty as we set out with\u2014and now Aeolus has\ngiven him ever so much more. Quick\u2014let us see what it all is, and how\nmuch gold and silver there is in the sack he gave him.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus they talked and evil counsels prevailed. They loosed the sack,\nwhereupon the wind flew howling forth and raised a storm that carried\nus weeping out to sea and away from our own country. Then I awoke, and\nknew not whether to throw myself into the sea or to live on and make\nthe best of it; but I bore it, covered myself up, and lay down in the\nship, while the men lamented bitterly as the fierce winds bore our\nfleet back to the Aeolian island.\n\n\u201cWhen we reached it we went ashore to take in water, and dined hard by\nthe ships. Immediately after dinner I took a herald and one of my men\nand went straight to the house of Aeolus, where I found him feasting\nwith his wife and family; so we sat down as suppliants on the\nthreshold. They were astounded when they saw us and said, \u2018Ulysses,\nwhat brings you here? What god has been ill-treating you? We took great\npains to further you on your way home to Ithaca, or wherever it was\nthat you wanted to go to.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus did they speak, but I answered sorrowfully, \u2018My men have undone\nme; they, and cruel sleep, have ruined me. My friends, mend me this\nmischief, for you can if you will.\u2019\n\n\u201cI spoke as movingly as I could, but they said nothing, till their\nfather answered, \u2018Vilest of mankind, get you gone at once out of the\nisland; him whom heaven hates will I in no wise help. Be off, for you\ncome here as one abhorred of heaven.\u2019 And with these words he sent me\nsorrowing from his door.\n\n\u201cThence we sailed sadly on till the men were worn out with long and\nfruitless rowing, for there was no longer any wind to help them. Six\ndays, night and day did we toil, and on the seventh day we reached the\nrocky stronghold of Lamus\u2014Telepylus, the city of the Laestrygonians,\nwhere the shepherd who is driving in his sheep and goats [to be milked]\nsalutes him who is driving out his flock [to feed] and this last\nanswers the salute. In that country a man who could do without sleep\nmight earn double wages, one as a herdsman of cattle, and another as a\nshepherd, for they work much the same by night as they do by day.84\n\n\u201cWhen we reached the harbour we found it land-locked under steep\ncliffs, with a narrow entrance between two headlands. My captains took\nall their ships inside, and made them fast close to one another, for\nthere was never so much as a breath of wind inside, but it was always\ndead calm. I kept my own ship outside, and moored it to a rock at the\nvery end of the point; then I climbed a high rock to reconnoitre, but\ncould see no sign neither of man nor cattle, only some smoke rising\nfrom the ground. So I sent two of my company with an attendant to find\nout what sort of people the inhabitants were.\n\n\u201cThe men when they got on shore followed a level road by which the\npeople draw their firewood from the mountains into the town, till\npresently they met a young woman who had come outside to fetch water,\nand who was daughter to a Laestrygonian named Antiphates. She was going\nto the fountain Artacia from which the people bring in their water, and\nwhen my men had come close up to her, they asked her who the king of\nthat country might be, and over what kind of people he ruled; so she\ndirected them to her father\u2019s house, but when they got there they found\nhis wife to be a giantess as huge as a mountain, and they were\nhorrified at the sight of her.\n\n\u201cShe at once called her husband Antiphates from the place of assembly,\nand forthwith he set about killing my men. He snatched up one of them,\nand began to make his dinner off him then and there, whereon the other\ntwo ran back to the ships as fast as ever they could. But Antiphates\nraised a hue-and-cry after them, and thousands of sturdy Laestrygonians\nsprang up from every quarter\u2014ogres, not men. They threw vast rocks at\nus from the cliffs as though they had been mere stones, and I heard the\nhorrid sound of the ships crunching up against one another, and the\ndeath cries of my men, as the Laestrygonians speared them like fishes\nand took them home to eat them. While they were thus killing my men\nwithin the harbour I drew my sword, cut the cable of my own ship, and\ntold my men to row with all their might if they too would not fare like\nthe rest; so they laid out for their lives, and we were thankful enough\nwhen we got into open water out of reach of the rocks they hurled at\nus. As for the others there was not one of them left.\n\n\u201cThence we sailed sadly on, glad to have escaped death, though we had\nlost our comrades, and came to the Aeaean island, where Circe lives\u2014a\ngreat and cunning goddess who is own sister to the magician Aeetes\u2014for\nthey are both children of the sun by Perse, who is daughter to Oceanus.\nWe brought our ship into a safe harbour without a word, for some god\nguided us thither, and having landed we lay there for two days and two\nnights, worn out in body and mind. When the morning of the third day\ncame I took my spear and my sword, and went away from the ship to\nreconnoitre, and see if I could discover signs of human handiwork, or\nhear the sound of voices. Climbing to the top of a high look-out I\nespied the smoke of Circe\u2019s house rising upwards amid a dense forest of\ntrees, and when I saw this I doubted whether, having seen the smoke, I\nwould not go on at once and find out more, but in the end I deemed it\nbest to go back to the ship, give the men their dinners, and send some\nof them instead of going myself.\n\n\u201cWhen I had nearly got back to the ship some god took pity upon my\nsolitude, and sent a fine antlered stag right into the middle of my\npath. He was coming down his pasture in the forest to drink of the\nriver, for the heat of the sun drove him, and as he passed I struck him\nin the middle of the back; the bronze point of the spear went clean\nthrough him, and he lay groaning in the dust until the life went out of\nhim. Then I set my foot upon him, drew my spear from the wound, and\nlaid it down; I also gathered rough grass and rushes and twisted them\ninto a fathom or so of good stout rope, with which I bound the four\nfeet of the noble creature together; having so done I hung him round my\nneck and walked back to the ship leaning upon my spear, for the stag\nwas much too big for me to be able to carry him on my shoulder,\nsteadying him with one hand. As I threw him down in front of the ship,\nI called the men and spoke cheeringly man by man to each of them. \u2018Look\nhere my friends,\u2019 said I, \u2018we are not going to die so much before our\ntime after all, and at any rate we will not starve so long as we have\ngot something to eat and drink on board.\u2019 On this they uncovered their\nheads upon the sea shore and admired the stag, for he was indeed a\nsplendid fellow. Then, when they had feasted their eyes upon him\nsufficiently, they washed their hands and began to cook him for dinner.\n\n\u201cThus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we stayed\nthere eating and drinking our fill, but when the sun went down and it\ncame on dark, we camped upon the sea shore. When the child of morning,\nrosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I called a council and said, \u2018My friends,\nwe are in very great difficulties; listen therefore to me. We have no\nidea where the sun either sets or rises,85 so that we do not even know\nEast from West. I see no way out of it; nevertheless, we must try and\nfind one. We are certainly on an island, for I went as high as I could\nthis morning, and saw the sea reaching all round it to the horizon; it\nlies low, but towards the middle I saw smoke rising from out of a thick\nforest of trees.\u2019\n\n\u201cTheir hearts sank as they heard me, for they remembered how they had\nbeen treated by the Laestrygonian Antiphates, and by the savage ogre\nPolyphemus. They wept bitterly in their dismay, but there was nothing\nto be got by crying, so I divided them into two companies and set a\ncaptain over each; I gave one company to Eurylochus, while I took\ncommand of the other myself. Then we cast lots in a helmet, and the lot\nfell upon Eurylochus; so he set out with his twenty-two men, and they\nwept, as also did we who were left behind.\n\n\u201cWhen they reached Circe\u2019s house they found it built of cut stones, on\na site that could be seen from far, in the middle of the forest. There\nwere wild mountain wolves and lions prowling all round it\u2014poor\nbewitched creatures whom she had tamed by her enchantments and drugged\ninto subjection. They did not attack my men, but wagged their great\ntails, fawned upon them, and rubbed their noses lovingly against\nthem.86 As hounds crowd round their master when they see him coming\nfrom dinner\u2014for they know he will bring them something\u2014even so did\nthese wolves and lions with their great claws fawn upon my men, but the\nmen were terribly frightened at seeing such strange creatures.\nPresently they reached the gates of the goddess\u2019s house, and as they\nstood there they could hear Circe within, singing most beautifully as\nshe worked at her loom, making a web so fine, so soft, and of such\ndazzling colours as no one but a goddess could weave. On this Polites,\nwhom I valued and trusted more than any other of my men, said, \u2018There\nis some one inside working at a loom and singing most beautifully; the\nwhole place resounds with it, let us call her and see whether she is\nwoman or goddess.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey called her and she came down, unfastened the door, and bade them\nenter. They, thinking no evil, followed her, all except Eurylochus, who\nsuspected mischief and staid outside. When she had got them into her\nhouse, she set them upon benches and seats and mixed them a mess with\ncheese, honey, meal, and Pramnian wine, but she drugged it with wicked\npoisons to make them forget their homes, and when they had drunk she\nturned them into pigs by a stroke of her wand, and shut them up in her\npig-styes. They were like pigs\u2014head, hair, and all, and they grunted\njust as pigs do; but their senses were the same as before, and they\nremembered everything.\n\n\u201cThus then were they shut up squealing, and Circe threw them some\nacorns and beech masts such as pigs eat, but Eurylochus hurried back to\ntell me about the sad fate of our comrades. He was so overcome with\ndismay that though he tried to speak he could find no words to do so;\nhis eyes filled with tears and he could only sob and sigh, till at last\nwe forced his story out of him, and he told us what had happened to the\nothers.\n\n\u201c\u2018We went,\u2019 said he, \u2018as you told us, through the forest, and in the\nmiddle of it there was a fine house built with cut stones in a place\nthat could be seen from far. There we found a woman, or else she was a\ngoddess, working at her loom and singing sweetly; so the men shouted to\nher and called her, whereon she at once came down, opened the door, and\ninvited us in. The others did not suspect any mischief so they followed\nher into the house, but I staid where I was, for I thought there might\nbe some treachery. From that moment I saw them no more, for not one of\nthem ever came out, though I sat a long time watching for them.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen I took my sword of bronze and slung it over my shoulders; I also\ntook my bow, and told Eurylochus to come back with me and shew me the\nway. But he laid hold of me with both his hands and spoke piteously,\nsaying, \u2018Sir, do not force me to go with you, but let me stay here, for\nI know you will not bring one of them back with you, nor even return\nalive yourself; let us rather see if we cannot escape at any rate with\nthe few that are left us, for we may still save our lives.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Stay where you are, then,\u2019 answered I, \u2018eating and drinking at the\nship, but I must go, for I am most urgently bound to do so.\u2019\n\n\u201cWith this I left the ship and went up inland. When I got through the\ncharmed grove, and was near the great house of the enchantress Circe, I\nmet Mercury with his golden wand, disguised as a young man in the\nhey-day of his youth and beauty with the down just coming upon his\nface. He came up to me and took my hand within his own, saying, \u2018My\npoor unhappy man, whither are you going over this mountain top, alone\nand without knowing the way? Your men are shut up in Circe\u2019s pigstyes,\nlike so many wild boars in their lairs. You surely do not fancy that\nyou can set them free? I can tell you that you will never get back and\nwill have to stay there with the rest of them. But never mind, I will\nprotect you and get you out of your difficulty. Take this herb, which\nis one of great virtue, and keep it about you when you go to Circe\u2019s\nhouse, it will be a talisman to you against every kind of mischief.\n\n\u201c\u2018And I will tell you of all the wicked witchcraft that Circe will try\nto practice upon you. She will mix a mess for you to drink, and she\nwill drug the meal with which she makes it, but she will not be able to\ncharm you, for the virtue of the herb that I shall give you will\nprevent her spells from working. I will tell you all about it. When\nCirce strikes you with her wand, draw your sword and spring upon her as\nthough you were going to kill her. She will then be frightened, and\nwill desire you to go to bed with her; on this you must not point blank\nrefuse her, for you want her to set your companions free, and to take\ngood care also of yourself, but you must make her swear solemnly by all\nthe blessed gods that she will plot no further mischief against you, or\nelse when she has got you naked she will unman you and make you fit for\nnothing.\u2019\n\n\u201cAs he spoke he pulled the herb out of the ground and shewed me what it\nwas like. The root was black, while the flower was as white as milk;\nthe gods call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it, but the gods\ncan do whatever they like.\n\n\u201cThen Mercury went back to high Olympus passing over the wooded island;\nbut I fared onward to the house of Circe, and my heart was clouded with\ncare as I walked along. When I got to the gates I stood there and\ncalled the goddess, and as soon as she heard me she came down, opened\nthe door, and asked me to come in; so I followed her\u2014much troubled in\nmy mind. She set me on a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver,\nthere was a footstool also under my feet, and she mixed a mess in a\ngolden goblet for me to drink; but she drugged it, for she meant me\nmischief. When she had given it me, and I had drunk it without its\ncharming me, she struck me with her wand. \u2018There now,\u2019 she cried, \u2018be\noff to the pigstye, and make your lair with the rest of them.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut I rushed at her with my sword drawn as though I would kill her,\nwhereon she fell with a loud scream, clasped my knees, and spoke\npiteously, saying, \u2018Who and whence are you? from what place and people\nhave you come? How can it be that my drugs have no power to charm you?\nNever yet was any man able to stand so much as a taste of the herb I\ngave you; you must be spell-proof; surely you can be none other than\nthe bold hero Ulysses, who Mercury always said would come here some day\nwith his ship while on his way home from Troy; so be it then; sheathe\nyour sword and let us go to bed, that we may make friends and learn to\ntrust each other.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd I answered, \u2018Circe, how can you expect me to be friendly with you\nwhen you have just been turning all my men into pigs? And now that you\nhave got me here myself, you mean me mischief when you ask me to go to\nbed with you, and will unman me and make me fit for nothing. I shall\ncertainly not consent to go to bed with you unless you will first take\nyour solemn oath to plot no further harm against me.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo she swore at once as I had told her, and when she had completed her\noath then I went to bed with her.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile her four servants, who are her housemaids, set about their\nwork. They are the children of the groves and fountains, and of the\nholy waters that run down into the sea. One of them spread a fair\npurple cloth over a seat, and laid a carpet underneath it. Another\nbrought tables of silver up to the seats, and set them with baskets of\ngold. A third mixed some sweet wine with water in a silver bowl and put\ngolden cups upon the tables, while the fourth brought in water and set\nit to boil in a large cauldron over a good fire which she had lighted.\nWhen the water in the cauldron was boiling,87 she poured cold into it\ntill it was just as I liked it, and then she set me in a bath and began\nwashing me from the cauldron about the head and shoulders, to take the\ntire and stiffness out of my limbs. As soon as she had done washing me\nand anointing me with oil, she arrayed me in a good cloak and shirt and\nled me to a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver; there was a\nfootstool also under my feet. A maid servant then brought me water in a\nbeautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin for me to wash\nmy hands, and she drew a clean table beside me; an upper servant\nbrought me bread and offered me many things of what there was in the\nhouse, and then Circe bade me eat, but I would not, and sat without\nheeding what was before me, still moody and suspicious.\n\n\u201cWhen Circe saw me sitting there without eating, and in great grief,\nshe came to me and said, \u2018Ulysses, why do you sit like that as though\nyou were dumb, gnawing at your own heart, and refusing both meat and\ndrink? Is it that you are still suspicious? You ought not to be, for I\nhave already sworn solemnly that I will not hurt you.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd I said, \u2018Circe, no man with any sense of what is right can think\nof either eating or drinking in your house until you have set his\nfriends free and let him see them. If you want me to eat and drink, you\nmust free my men and bring them to me that I may see them with my own\neyes.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhen I had said this she went straight through the court with her wand\nin her hand and opened the pigstye doors. My men came out like so many\nprime hogs and stood looking at her, but she went about among them and\nanointed each with a second drug, whereon the bristles that the bad\ndrug had given them fell off, and they became men again, younger than\nthey were before, and much taller and better looking. They knew me at\nonce, seized me each of them by the hand, and wept for joy till the\nwhole house was filled with the sound of their halloa-ballooing, and\nCirce herself was so sorry for them that she came up to me and said,\n\u2018Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, go back at once to the sea where you\nhave left your ship, and first draw it on to the land. Then, hide all\nyour ship\u2019s gear and property in some cave, and come back here with\nyour men.\u2019\n\n\u201cI agreed to this, so I went back to the sea shore, and found the men\nat the ship weeping and wailing most piteously. When they saw me the\nsilly blubbering fellows began frisking round me as calves break out\nand gambol round their mothers, when they see them coming home to be\nmilked after they have been feeding all day, and the homestead resounds\nwith their lowing. They seemed as glad to see me as though they had got\nback to their own rugged Ithaca, where they had been born and bred.\n\u2018Sir,\u2019 said the affectionate creatures, \u2018we are as glad to see you back\nas though we had got safe home to Ithaca; but tell us all about the\nfate of our comrades.\u2019\n\n\u201cI spoke comfortingly to them and said, \u2018We must draw our ship on to\nthe land, and hide the ship\u2019s gear with all our property in some cave;\nthen come with me all of you as fast as you can to Circe\u2019s house, where\nyou will find your comrades eating and drinking in the midst of great\nabundance.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn this the men would have come with me at once, but Eurylochus tried\nto hold them back and said, \u2018Alas, poor wretches that we are, what will\nbecome of us? Rush not on your ruin by going to the house of Circe, who\nwill turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions, and we shall have to\nkeep guard over her house. Remember how the Cyclops treated us when our\ncomrades went inside his cave, and Ulysses with them. It was all\nthrough his sheer folly that those men lost their lives.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhen I heard him I was in two minds whether or no to draw the keen\nblade that hung by my sturdy thigh and cut his head off in spite of his\nbeing a near relation of my own; but the men interceded for him and\nsaid, \u2018Sir, if it may so be, let this fellow stay here and mind the\nship, but take the rest of us with you to Circe\u2019s house.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn this we all went inland, and Eurylochus was not left behind after\nall, but came on too, for he was frightened by the severe reprimand\nthat I had given him.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile Circe had been seeing that the men who had been left behind\nwere washed and anointed with olive oil; she had also given them\nwoollen cloaks and shirts, and when we came we found them all\ncomfortably at dinner in her house. As soon as the men saw each other\nface to face and knew one another, they wept for joy and cried aloud\ntill the whole palace rang again. Thereon Circe came up to me and said,\n\u2018Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, tell your men to leave off crying; I\nknow how much you have all of you suffered at sea, and how ill you have\nfared among cruel savages on the mainland, but that is over now, so\nstay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and\nhearty as you were when you left Ithaca; for at present you are\nweakened both in body and mind; you keep all the time thinking of the\nhardships you have suffered during your travels, so that you have no\nmore cheerfulness left in you.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus did she speak and we assented. We stayed with Circe for a whole\ntwelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity both of meat and wine. But\nwhen the year had passed in the waning of moons and the long days had\ncome round, my men called me apart and said, \u2018Sir, it is time you began\nto think about going home, if so be you are to be spared to see your\nhouse and native country at all.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus did they speak and I assented. Thereon through the livelong day\nto the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and wine, but\nwhen the sun went down and it came on dark the men laid themselves down\nto sleep in the covered cloisters. I, however, after I had got into bed\nwith Circe, besought her by her knees, and the goddess listened to what\nI had got to say. \u2018Circe,\u2019 said I, \u2018please to keep the promise you made\nme about furthering me on my homeward voyage. I want to get back and so\ndo my men, they are always pestering me with their complaints as soon\nas ever your back is turned.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd the goddess answered, \u2018Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, you shall\nnone of you stay here any longer if you do not want to, but there is\nanother journey which you have got to take before you can sail\nhomewards. You must go to the house of Hades and of dread Proserpine to\nconsult the ghost of the blind Theban prophet Teiresias, whose reason\nis still unshaken. To him alone has Proserpine left his understanding\neven in death, but the other ghosts flit about aimlessly.\u2019\n\n\u201cI was dismayed when I heard this. I sat up in bed and wept, and would\ngladly have lived no longer to see the light of the sun, but presently\nwhen I was tired of weeping and tossing myself about, I said, \u2018And who\nshall guide me upon this voyage\u2014for the house of Hades is a port that\nno ship can reach.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018You will want no guide,\u2019 she answered; \u2018raise your mast, set your\nwhite sails, sit quite still, and the North Wind will blow you there of\nitself. When your ship has traversed the waters of Oceanus, you will\nreach the fertile shore of Proserpine\u2019s country with its groves of tall\npoplars and willows that shed their fruit untimely; here beach your\nship upon the shore of Oceanus, and go straight on to the dark abode of\nHades. You will find it near the place where the rivers Pyriphlegethon\nand Cocytus (which is a branch of the river Styx) flow into Acheron,\nand you will see a rock near it, just where the two roaring rivers run\ninto one another.\n\n\u201c\u2018When you have reached this spot, as I now tell you, dig a trench a\ncubit or so in length, breadth, and depth, and pour into it as a\ndrink-offering to all the dead, first, honey mixed with milk, then\nwine, and in the third place water\u2014sprinkling white barley meal over\nthe whole. Moreover you must offer many prayers to the poor feeble\nghosts, and promise them that when you get back to Ithaca you will\nsacrifice a barren heifer to them, the best you have, and will load the\npyre with good things. More particularly you must promise that\nTeiresias shall have a black sheep all to himself, the finest in all\nyour flocks.\n\n\u201c\u2018When you shall have thus besought the ghosts with your prayers, offer\nthem a ram and a black ewe, bending their heads towards Erebus; but\nyourself turn away from them as though you would make towards the\nriver. On this, many dead men\u2019s ghosts will come to you, and you must\ntell your men to skin the two sheep that you have just killed, and\noffer them as a burnt sacrifice with prayers to Hades and to\nProserpine. Then draw your sword and sit there, so as to prevent any\nother poor ghost from coming near the spilt blood before Teiresias\nshall have answered your questions. The seer will presently come to\nyou, and will tell you about your voyage\u2014what stages you are to make,\nand how you are to sail the sea so as to reach your home.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt was day-break by the time she had done speaking, so she dressed me\nin my shirt and cloak. As for herself she threw a beautiful light\ngossamer fabric over her shoulders, fastening it with a golden girdle\nround her waist, and she covered her head with a mantle. Then I went\nabout among the men everywhere all over the house, and spoke kindly to\neach of them man by man: \u2018You must not lie sleeping here any longer,\u2019\nsaid I to them, \u2018we must be going, for Circe has told me all about it.\u2019\nAnd on this they did as I bade them.\n\n\u201cEven so, however, I did not get them away without misadventure. We had\nwith us a certain youth named Elpenor, not very remarkable for sense or\ncourage, who had got drunk and was lying on the house-top away from the\nrest of the men, to sleep off his liquor in the cool. When he heard the\nnoise of the men bustling about, he jumped up on a sudden and forgot\nall about coming down by the main staircase, so he tumbled right off\nthe roof and broke his neck, and his soul went down to the house of\nHades.\n\n\u201cWhen I had got the men together I said to them, \u2018You think you are\nabout to start home again, but Circe has explained to me that instead\nof this, we have got to go to the house of Hades and Proserpine to\nconsult the ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe men were broken-hearted as they heard me, and threw themselves on\nthe ground groaning and tearing their hair, but they did not mend\nmatters by crying. When we reached the sea shore, weeping and lamenting\nour fate, Circe brought the ram and the ewe, and we made them fast hard\nby the ship. She passed through the midst of us without our knowing it,\nfor who can see the comings and goings of a god, if the god does not\nwish to be seen?\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XI\n\n\nTHE VISIT TO THE DEAD.88\n\n\n\u201cThen, when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship into the\nwater and got her mast and sails into her; we also put the sheep on\nboard and took our places, weeping and in great distress of mind.\nCirce, that great and cunning goddess, sent us a fair wind that blew\ndead aft and staid steadily with us keeping our sails all the time well\nfilled; so we did whatever wanted doing to the ship\u2019s gear and let her\ngo as the wind and helmsman headed her. All day long her sails were\nfull as she held her course over the sea, but when the sun went down\nand darkness was over all the earth, we got into the deep waters of the\nriver Oceanus, where lie the land and city of the Cimmerians who live\nenshrouded in mist and darkness which the rays of the sun never pierce\nneither at his rising nor as he goes down again out of the heavens, but\nthe poor wretches live in one long melancholy night. When we got there\nwe beached the ship, took the sheep out of her, and went along by the\nwaters of Oceanus till we came to the place of which Circe had told us.\n\n\u201cHere Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, while I drew my sword\nand dug the trench a cubit each way. I made a drink-offering to all the\ndead, first with honey and milk, then with wine, and thirdly with\nwater, and I sprinkled white barley meal over the whole, praying\nearnestly to the poor feckless ghosts, and promising them that when I\ngot back to Ithaca I would sacrifice a barren heifer for them, the best\nI had, and would load the pyre with good things. I also particularly\npromised that Teiresias should have a black sheep to himself, the best\nin all my flocks. When I had prayed sufficiently to the dead, I cut the\nthroats of the two sheep and let the blood run into the trench, whereon\nthe ghosts came trooping up from Erebus\u2014brides,89 young bachelors, old\nmen worn out with toil, maids who had been crossed in love, and brave\nmen who had been killed in battle, with their armour still smirched\nwith blood; they came from every quarter and flitted round the trench\nwith a strange kind of screaming sound that made me turn pale with\nfear. When I saw them coming I told the men to be quick and flay the\ncarcasses of the two dead sheep and make burnt offerings of them, and\nat the same time to repeat prayers to Hades and to Proserpine; but I\nsat where I was with my sword drawn and would not let the poor feckless\nghosts come near the blood till Teiresias should have answered my\nquestions.\n\n\u201cThe first ghost that came was that of my comrade Elpenor, for he had\nnot yet been laid beneath the earth. We had left his body unwaked and\nunburied in Circe\u2019s house, for we had had too much else to do. I was\nvery sorry for him, and cried when I saw him: \u2018Elpenor,\u2019 said I, \u2018how\ndid you come down here into this gloom and darkness? You have got here\non foot quicker than I have with my ship.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Sir,\u2019 he answered with a groan, \u2018it was all bad luck, and my own\nunspeakable drunkenness. I was lying asleep on the top of Circe\u2019s\nhouse, and never thought of coming down again by the great staircase\nbut fell right off the roof and broke my neck, so my soul came down to\nthe house of Hades. And now I beseech you by all those whom you have\nleft behind you, though they are not here, by your wife, by the father\nwho brought you up when you were a child, and by Telemachus who is the\none hope of your house, do what I shall now ask you. I know that when\nyou leave this limbo you will again hold your ship for the Aeaean\nisland. Do not go thence leaving me unwaked and unburied behind you, or\nI may bring heaven\u2019s anger upon you; but burn me with whatever armour I\nhave, build a barrow for me on the sea shore, that may tell people in\ndays to come what a poor unlucky fellow I was, and plant over my grave\nthe oar I used to row with when I was yet alive and with my messmates.\u2019\nAnd I said, \u2018My poor fellow, I will do all that you have asked of me.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus, then, did we sit and hold sad talk with one another, I on the\none side of the trench with my sword held over the blood, and the ghost\nof my comrade saying all this to me from the other side. Then came the\nghost of my dead mother Anticlea, daughter to Autolycus. I had left her\nalive when I set out for Troy and was moved to tears when I saw her,\nbut even so, for all my sorrow I would not let her come near the blood\ntill I had asked my questions of Teiresias.\n\n\u201cThen came also the ghost of Theban Teiresias, with his golden sceptre\nin his hand. He knew me and said, \u2018Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, why,\npoor man, have you left the light of day and come down to visit the\ndead in this sad place? Stand back from the trench and withdraw your\nsword that I may drink of the blood and answer your questions truly.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo I drew back, and sheathed my sword, whereon when he had drank of\nthe blood he began with his prophecy.\n\n\u201c\u2018You want to know,\u2019 said he, \u2018about your return home, but heaven will\nmake this hard for you. I do not think that you will escape the eye of\nNeptune, who still nurses his bitter grudge against you for having\nblinded his son. Still, after much suffering you may get home if you\ncan restrain yourself and your companions when your ship reaches the\nThrinacian island, where you will find the sheep and cattle belonging\nto the sun, who sees and gives ear to everything. If you leave these\nflocks unharmed and think of nothing but of getting home, you may yet\nafter much hardship reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, then I forewarn\nyou of the destruction both of your ship and of your men. Even though\nyou may yourself escape, you will return in bad plight after losing all\nyour men, [in another man\u2019s ship, and you will find trouble in your\nhouse, which will be overrun by high-handed people, who are devouring\nyour substance under the pretext of paying court and making presents to\nyour wife.\n\n\u201c\u2018When you get home you will take your revenge on these suitors; and\nafter you have killed them by force or fraud in your own house, you\nmust take a well made oar and carry it on and on, till you come to a\ncountry where the people have never heard of the sea and do not even\nmix salt with their food, nor do they know anything about ships, and\noars that are as the wings of a ship. I will give you this certain\ntoken which cannot escape your notice. A wayfarer will meet you and\nwill say it must be a winnowing shovel that you have got upon your\nshoulder; on this you must fix the oar in the ground and sacrifice a\nram, a bull, and a boar to Neptune.90 Then go home and offer hecatombs\nto all the gods in heaven one after the other. As for yourself, death\nshall come to you from the sea, and your life shall ebb away very\ngently when you are full of years and peace of mind, and your people\nshall bless you. All that I have said will come true].\u201991\n\n\u201c\u2018This,\u2019 I answered, \u2018must be as it may please heaven, but tell me and\ntell me and tell me true, I see my poor mother\u2019s ghost close by us; she\nis sitting by the blood without saying a word, and though I am her own\nson she does not remember me and speak to me; tell me, Sir, how I can\nmake her know me.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018That,\u2019 said he, \u2018I can soon do. Any ghost that you let taste of the\nblood will talk with you like a reasonable being, but if you do not let\nthem have any blood they will go away again.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn this the ghost of Teiresias went back to the house of Hades, for\nhis prophecyings had now been spoken, but I sat still where I was until\nmy mother came up and tasted the blood. Then she knew me at once and\nspoke fondly to me, saying, \u2018My son, how did you come down to this\nabode of darkness while you are still alive? It is a hard thing for the\nliving to see these places, for between us and them there are great and\nterrible waters, and there is Oceanus, which no man can cross on foot,\nbut he must have a good ship to take him. Are you all this time trying\nto find your way home from Troy, and have you never yet got back to\nIthaca nor seen your wife in your own house?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Mother,\u2019 said I, \u2018I was forced to come here to consult the ghost of\nthe Theban prophet Teiresias. I have never yet been near the Achaean\nland nor set foot on my native country, and I have had nothing but one\nlong series of misfortunes from the very first day that I set out with\nAgamemnon for Ilius, the land of noble steeds, to fight the Trojans.\nBut tell me, and tell me true, in what way did you die? Did you have a\nlong illness, or did heaven vouchsafe you a gentle easy passage to\neternity? Tell me also about my father, and the son whom I left behind\nme, is my property still in their hands, or has some one else got hold\nof it, who thinks that I shall not return to claim it? Tell me again\nwhat my wife intends doing, and in what mind she is; does she live with\nmy son and guard my estate securely, or has she made the best match she\ncould and married again?\u2019\n\n\u201cMy mother answered, \u2018Your wife still remains in your house, but she is\nin great distress of mind and spends her whole time in tears both night\nand day. No one as yet has got possession of your fine property, and\nTelemachus still holds your lands undisturbed. He has to entertain\nlargely, as of course he must, considering his position as a\nmagistrate,92 and how every one invites him; your father remains at his\nold place in the country and never goes near the town. He has no\ncomfortable bed nor bedding; in the winter he sleeps on the floor in\nfront of the fire with the men and goes about all in rags, but in\nsummer, when the warm weather comes on again, he lies out in the\nvineyard on a bed of vine leaves thrown any how upon the ground. He\ngrieves continually about your never having come home, and suffers more\nand more as he grows older. As for my own end it was in this wise:\nheaven did not take me swiftly and painlessly in my own house, nor was\nI attacked by any illness such as those that generally wear people out\nand kill them, but my longing to know what you were doing and the force\nof my affection for you\u2014this it was that was the death of me.\u201993\n\n\u201cThen I tried to find some way of embracing my poor mother\u2019s ghost.\nThrice I sprang towards her and tried to clasp her in my arms, but each\ntime she flitted from my embrace as it were a dream or phantom, and\nbeing touched to the quick I said to her, \u2018Mother, why do you not stay\nstill when I would embrace you? If we could throw our arms around one\nanother we might find sad comfort in the sharing of our sorrows even in\nthe house of Hades; does Proserpine want to lay a still further load of\ngrief upon me by mocking me with a phantom only?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018My son,\u2019 she answered, \u2018most ill-fated of all mankind, it is not\nProserpine that is beguiling you, but all people are like this when\nthey are dead. The sinews no longer hold the flesh and bones together;\nthese perish in the fierceness of consuming fire as soon as life has\nleft the body, and the soul flits away as though it were a dream. Now,\nhowever, go back to the light of day as soon as you can, and note all\nthese things that you may tell them to your wife hereafter.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus did we converse, and anon Proserpine sent up the ghosts of the\nwives and daughters of all the most famous men. They gathered in crowds\nabout the blood, and I considered how I might question them severally.\nIn the end I deemed that it would be best to draw the keen blade that\nhung by my sturdy thigh, and keep them from all drinking the blood at\nonce. So they came up one after the other, and each one as I questioned\nher told me her race and lineage.\n\n\u201cThe first I saw was Tyro. She was daughter of Salmoneus and wife of\nCretheus the son of Aeolus.94 She fell in love with the river Enipeus\nwho is much the most beautiful river in the whole world. Once when she\nwas taking a walk by his side as usual, Neptune, disguised as her\nlover, lay with her at the mouth of the river, and a huge blue wave\narched itself like a mountain over them to hide both woman and god,\nwhereon he loosed her virgin girdle and laid her in a deep slumber.\nWhen the god had accomplished the deed of love, he took her hand in his\nown and said, \u2018Tyro, rejoice in all good will; the embraces of the gods\nare not fruitless, and you will have fine twins about this time twelve\nmonths. Take great care of them. I am Neptune, so now go home, but hold\nyour tongue and do not tell any one.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen he dived under the sea, and she in due course bore Pelias and\nNeleus, who both of them served Jove with all their might. Pelias was a\ngreat breeder of sheep and lived in Iolcus, but the other lived in\nPylos. The rest of her children were by Cretheus, namely, Aeson,\nPheres, and Amythaon, who was a mighty warrior and charioteer.\n\n\u201cNext to her I saw Antiope, daughter to Asopus, who could boast of\nhaving slept in the arms of even Jove himself, and who bore him two\nsons Amphion and Zethus. These founded Thebes with its seven gates, and\nbuilt a wall all round it; for strong though they were they could not\nhold Thebes till they had walled it.\n\n\u201cThen I saw Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon, who also bore to Jove\nindomitable Hercules; and Megara who was daughter to great King Creon,\nand married the redoubtable son of Amphitryon.\n\n\u201cI also saw fair Epicaste mother of king Oedipodes whose awful lot it\nwas to marry her own son without suspecting it. He married her after\nhaving killed his father, but the gods proclaimed the whole story to\nthe world; whereon he remained king of Thebes, in great grief for the\nspite the gods had borne him; but Epicaste went to the house of the\nmighty jailor Hades, having hanged herself for grief, and the avenging\nspirits haunted him as for an outraged mother\u2014to his ruing bitterly\nthereafter.\n\n\u201cThen I saw Chloris, whom Neleus married for her beauty, having given\npriceless presents for her. She was youngest daughter to Amphion son of\nIasus and king of Minyan Orchomenus, and was Queen in Pylos. She bore\nNestor, Chromius, and Periclymenus, and she also bore that marvellously\nlovely woman Pero, who was wooed by all the country round; but Neleus\nwould only give her to him who should raid the cattle of Iphicles from\nthe grazing grounds of Phylace, and this was a hard task. The only man\nwho would undertake to raid them was a certain excellent seer,95 but\nthe will of heaven was against him, for the rangers of the cattle\ncaught him and put him in prison; nevertheless when a full year had\npassed and the same season came round again, Iphicles set him at\nliberty, after he had expounded all the oracles of heaven. Thus, then,\nwas the will of Jove accomplished.\n\n\u201cAnd I saw Leda the wife of Tyndarus, who bore him two famous sons,\nCastor breaker of horses, and Pollux the mighty boxer. Both these\nheroes are lying under the earth, though they are still alive, for by a\nspecial dispensation of Jove, they die and come to life again, each one\nof them every other day throughout all time, and they have the rank of\ngods.\n\n\u201cAfter her I saw Iphimedeia wife of Aloeus who boasted the embrace of\nNeptune. She bore two sons Otus and Ephialtes, but both were short\nlived. They were the finest children that were ever born in this world,\nand the best looking, Orion only excepted; for at nine years old they\nwere nine fathoms high, and measured nine cubits round the chest. They\nthreatened to make war with the gods in Olympus, and tried to set Mount\nOssa on the top of Mount Olympus, and Mount Pelion on the top of Ossa,\nthat they might scale heaven itself, and they would have done it too if\nthey had been grown up, but Apollo, son of Leto, killed both of them,\nbefore they had got so much as a sign of hair upon their cheeks or\nchin.\n\n\u201cThen I saw Phaedra, and Procris, and fair Ariadne daughter of the\nmagician Minos, whom Theseus was carrying off from Crete to Athens, but\nhe did not enjoy her, for before he could do so Diana killed her in the\nisland of Dia on account of what Bacchus had said against her.\n\n\u201cI also saw Maera and Clymene and hateful Eriphyle, who sold her own\nhusband for gold. But it would take me all night if I were to name\nevery single one of the wives and daughters of heroes whom I saw, and\nit is time for me to go to bed, either on board ship with my crew, or\nhere. As for my escort, heaven and yourselves will see to it.\u201d\n\nHere he ended, and the guests sat all of them enthralled and speechless\nthroughout the covered cloister. Then Arete said to them:\u2014\n\n\u201cWhat do you think of this man, O Phaeacians? Is he not tall and good\nlooking, and is he not clever? True, he is my own guest, but all of you\nshare in the distinction. Do not be in a hurry to send him away, nor\nniggardly in the presents you make to one who is in such great need,\nfor heaven has blessed all of you with great abundance.\u201d\n\nThen spoke the aged hero Echeneus who was one of the oldest men among\nthem, \u201cMy friends,\u201d said he, \u201cwhat our august queen has just said to us\nis both reasonable and to the purpose, therefore be persuaded by it;\nbut the decision whether in word or deed rests ultimately with King\nAlcinous.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe thing shall be done,\u201d exclaimed Alcinous, \u201cas surely as I still\nlive and reign over the Phaeacians. Our guest is indeed very anxious to\nget home, still we must persuade him to remain with us until to-morrow,\nby which time I shall be able to get together the whole sum that I mean\nto give him. As regards his escort it will be a matter for you all, and\nmine above all others as the chief person among you.\u201d\n\nAnd Ulysses answered, \u201cKing Alcinous, if you were to bid me to stay\nhere for a whole twelve months, and then speed me on my way, loaded\nwith your noble gifts, I should obey you gladly and it would redound\ngreatly to my advantage, for I should return fuller-handed to my own\npeople, and should thus be more respected and beloved by all who see me\nwhen I get back to Ithaca.\u201d\n\n\u201cUlysses,\u201d replied Alcinous, \u201cnot one of us who sees you has any idea\nthat you are a charlatan or a swindler. I know there are many people\ngoing about who tell such plausible stories that it is very hard to see\nthrough them, but there is a style about your language which assures me\nof your good disposition. Moreover you have told the story of your own\nmisfortunes, and those of the Argives, as though you were a practiced\nbard; but tell me, and tell me true, whether you saw any of the mighty\nheroes who went to Troy at the same time with yourself, and perished\nthere. The evenings are still at their longest, and it is not yet bed\ntime\u2014go on, therefore, with your divine story, for I could stay here\nlistening till tomorrow morning, so long as you will continue to tell\nus of your adventures.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlcinous,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cthere is a time for making speeches, and\na time for going to bed; nevertheless, since you so desire, I will not\nrefrain from telling you the still sadder tale of those of my comrades\nwho did not fall fighting with the Trojans, but perished on their\nreturn, through the treachery of a wicked woman.\n\n\u201cWhen Proserpine had dismissed the female ghosts in all directions, the\nghost of Agamemnon son of Atreus came sadly up to me, surrounded by\nthose who had perished with him in the house of Aegisthus. As soon as\nhe had tasted the blood, he knew me, and weeping bitterly stretched out\nhis arms towards me to embrace me; but he had no strength nor substance\nany more, and I too wept and pitied him as I beheld him. \u2018How did you\ncome by your death,\u2019 said I, \u2018King Agamemnon? Did Neptune raise his\nwinds and waves against you when you were at sea, or did your enemies\nmake an end of you on the main land when you were cattle-lifting or\nsheep-stealing, or while they were fighting in defence of their wives\nand city?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Ulysses,\u2019 he answered, \u2018noble son of Laertes, I was not lost at sea\nin any storm of Neptune\u2019s raising, nor did my foes despatch me upon the\nmainland, but Aegisthus and my wicked wife were the death of me between\nthem. He asked me to his house, feasted me, and then butchered me most\nmiserably as though I were a fat beast in a slaughter house, while all\naround me my comrades were slain like sheep or pigs for the wedding\nbreakfast, or picnic, or gorgeous banquet of some great nobleman. You\nmust have seen numbers of men killed either in a general engagement, or\nin single combat, but you never saw anything so truly pitiable as the\nway in which we fell in that cloister, with the mixing bowl and the\nloaded tables lying all about, and the ground reeking with our blood. I\nheard Priam\u2019s daughter Cassandra scream as Clytemnestra killed her\nclose beside me. I lay dying upon the earth with the sword in my body,\nand raised my hands to kill the slut of a murderess, but she slipped\naway from me; she would not even close my lips nor my eyes when I was\ndying, for there is nothing in this world so cruel and so shameless as\na woman when she has fallen into such guilt as hers was. Fancy\nmurdering her own husband! I thought I was going to be welcomed home by\nmy children and my servants, but her abominable crime has brought\ndisgrace on herself and all women who shall come after\u2014even on the good\nones.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd I said, \u2018In truth Jove has hated the house of Atreus from first to\nlast in the matter of their women\u2019s counsels. See how many of us fell\nfor Helen\u2019s sake, and now it seems that Clytemnestra hatched mischief\nagainst you too during your absence.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Be sure, therefore,\u2019 continued Agamemnon, \u2018and not be too friendly\neven with your own wife. Do not tell her all that you know perfectly\nwell yourself. Tell her a part only, and keep your own counsel about\nthe rest. Not that your wife, Ulysses, is likely to murder you, for\nPenelope is a very admirable woman, and has an excellent nature. We\nleft her a young bride with an infant at her breast when we set out for\nTroy. This child no doubt is now grown up happily to man\u2019s estate,96\nand he and his father will have a joyful meeting and embrace one\nanother as it is right they should do, whereas my wicked wife did not\neven allow me the happiness of looking upon my son, but killed me ere I\ncould do so. Furthermore I say\u2014and lay my saying to your heart\u2014do not\ntell people when you are bringing your ship to Ithaca, but steal a\nmarch upon them, for after all this there is no trusting women. But now\ntell me, and tell me true, can you give me any news of my son Orestes?\nIs he in Orchomenus, or at Pylos, or is he at Sparta with Menelaus\u2014for\nI presume that he is still living.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd I said, \u2018Agamemnon, why do you ask me? I do not know whether your\nson is alive or dead, and it is not right to talk when one does not\nknow.\u2019\n\n\u201cAs we two sat weeping and talking thus sadly with one another the\nghost of Achilles came up to us with Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax\nwho was the finest and goodliest man of all the Danaans after the son\nof Peleus. The fleet descendant of Aeacus knew me and spoke piteously,\nsaying, \u2018Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, what deed of daring will you\nundertake next, that you venture down to the house of Hades among us\nsilly dead, who are but the ghosts of them that can labour no more?\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd I said, \u2018Achilles, son of Peleus, foremost champion of the\nAchaeans, I came to consult Teiresias, and see if he could advise me\nabout my return home to Ithaca, for I have never yet been able to get\nnear the Achaean land, nor to set foot in my own country, but have been\nin trouble all the time. As for you, Achilles, no one was ever yet so\nfortunate as you have been, nor ever will be, for you were adored by\nall us Argives as long as you were alive, and now that you are here you\nare a great prince among the dead. Do not, therefore, take it so much\nto heart even if you are dead.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Say not a word,\u2019 he answered, \u2018in death\u2019s favour; I would rather be a\npaid servant in a poor man\u2019s house and be above ground than king of\nkings among the dead. But give me news about my son; is he gone to the\nwars and will he be a great soldier, or is this not so? Tell me also if\nyou have heard anything about my father Peleus\u2014does he still rule among\nthe Myrmidons, or do they show him no respect throughout Hellas and\nPhthia now that he is old and his limbs fail him? Could I but stand by\nhis side, in the light of day, with the same strength that I had when I\nkilled the bravest of our foes upon the plain of Troy\u2014could I but be as\nI then was and go even for a short time to my father\u2019s house, any one\nwho tried to do him violence or supersede him would soon rue it.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I have heard nothing,\u2019 I answered, \u2018of Peleus, but I can tell you all\nabout your son Neoptolemus, for I took him in my own ship from Scyros\nwith the Achaeans. In our councils of war before Troy he was always\nfirst to speak, and his judgement was unerring. Nestor and I were the\nonly two who could surpass him; and when it came to fighting on the\nplain of Troy, he would never remain with the body of his men, but\nwould dash on far in front, foremost of them all in valour. Many a man\ndid he kill in battle\u2014I cannot name every single one of those whom he\nslew while fighting on the side of the Argives, but will only say how\nhe killed that valiant hero Eurypylus son of Telephus, who was the\nhandsomest man I ever saw except Memnon; many others also of the\nCeteians fell around him by reason of a woman\u2019s bribes. Moreover, when\nall the bravest of the Argives went inside the horse that Epeus had\nmade, and it was left to me to settle when we should either open the\ndoor of our ambuscade, or close it, though all the other leaders and\nchief men among the Danaans were drying their eyes and quaking in every\nlimb, I never once saw him turn pale nor wipe a tear from his cheek; he\nwas all the time urging me to break out from the horse\u2014grasping the\nhandle of his sword and his bronze-shod spear, and breathing fury\nagainst the foe. Yet when we had sacked the city of Priam he got his\nhandsome share of the prize money and went on board (such is the\nfortune of war) without a wound upon him, neither from a thrown spear\nnor in close combat, for the rage of Mars is a matter of great chance.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhen I had told him this, the ghost of Achilles strode off across a\nmeadow full of asphodel, exulting over what I had said concerning the\nprowess of his son.\n\n\u201cThe ghosts of other dead men stood near me and told me each his own\nmelancholy tale; but that of Ajax son of Telamon alone held aloof\u2014still\nangry with me for having won the cause in our dispute about the armour\nof Achilles. Thetis had offered it as a prize, but the Trojan prisoners\nand Minerva were the judges. Would that I had never gained the day in\nsuch a contest, for it cost the life of Ajax, who was foremost of all\nthe Danaans after the son of Peleus, alike in stature and prowess.\n\n\u201cWhen I saw him I tried to pacify him and said, \u2018Ajax, will you not\nforget and forgive even in death, but must the judgement about that\nhateful armour still rankle with you? It cost us Argives dear enough to\nlose such a tower of strength as you were to us. We mourned you as much\nas we mourned Achilles son of Peleus himself, nor can the blame be laid\non anything but on the spite which Jove bore against the Danaans, for\nit was this that made him counsel your destruction\u2014come hither,\ntherefore, bring your proud spirit into subjection, and hear what I can\ntell you.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe would not answer, but turned away to Erebus and to the other\nghosts; nevertheless, I should have made him talk to me in spite of his\nbeing so angry, or I should have gone on talking to him,97 only that\nthere were still others among the dead whom I desired to see.\n\n\u201cThen I saw Minos son of Jove with his golden sceptre in his hand\nsitting in judgement on the dead, and the ghosts were gathered sitting\nand standing round him in the spacious house of Hades, to learn his\nsentences upon them.\n\n\u201cAfter him I saw huge Orion in a meadow full of asphodel driving the\nghosts of the wild beasts that he had killed upon the mountains, and he\nhad a great bronze club in his hand, unbreakable for ever and ever.\n\n\u201cAnd I saw Tityus son of Gaia stretched upon the plain and covering\nsome nine acres of ground. Two vultures on either side of him were\ndigging their beaks into his liver, and he kept on trying to beat them\noff with his hands, but could not; for he had violated Jove\u2019s mistress\nLeto as she was going through Panopeus on her way to Pytho.\n\n\u201cI saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus, who stood in a lake that\nreached his chin; he was dying to quench his thirst, but could never\nreach the water, for whenever the poor creature stooped to drink, it\ndried up and vanished, so that there was nothing but dry ground\u2014parched\nby the spite of heaven. There were tall trees, moreover, that shed\ntheir fruit over his head\u2014pears, pomegranates, apples, sweet figs and\njuicy olives, but whenever the poor creature stretched out his hand to\ntake some, the wind tossed the branches back again to the clouds.\n\n\u201cAnd I saw Sisyphus at his endless task raising his prodigious stone\nwith both his hands. With hands and feet he tried to roll it up to the\ntop of the hill, but always, just before he could roll it over on to\nthe other side, its weight would be too much for him, and the pitiless\nstone98 would come thundering down again on to the plain. Then he would\nbegin trying to push it up hill again, and the sweat ran off him and\nthe steam rose after him.\n\n\u201cAfter him I saw mighty Hercules, but it was his phantom only, for he\nis feasting ever with the immortal gods, and has lovely Hebe to wife,\nwho is daughter of Jove and Juno. The ghosts were screaming round him\nlike scared birds flying all whithers. He looked black as night with\nhis bare bow in his hands and his arrow on the string, glaring around\nas though ever on the point of taking aim. About his breast there was a\nwondrous golden belt adorned in the most marvellous fashion with bears,\nwild boars, and lions with gleaming eyes; there was also war, battle,\nand death. The man who made that belt, do what he might, would never be\nable to make another like it. Hercules knew me at once when he saw me,\nand spoke piteously, saying, \u2018My poor Ulysses, noble son of Laertes,\nare you too leading the same sorry kind of life that I did when I was\nabove ground? I was son of Jove, but I went through an infinity of\nsuffering, for I became bondsman to one who was far beneath me\u2014a low\nfellow who set me all manner of labours. He once sent me here to fetch\nthe hell-hound\u2014for he did not think he could find anything harder for\nme than this, but I got the hound out of Hades and brought him to him,\nfor Mercury and Minerva helped me.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn this Hercules went down again into the house of Hades, but I stayed\nwhere I was in case some other of the mighty dead should come to me.\nAnd I should have seen still other of them that are gone before, whom I\nwould fain have seen\u2014Theseus and Pirithous\u2014glorious children of the\ngods, but so many thousands of ghosts came round me and uttered such\nappalling cries, that I was panic stricken lest Proserpine should send\nup from the house of Hades the head of that awful monster Gorgon. On\nthis I hastened back to my ship and ordered my men to go on board at\nonce and loose the hawsers; so they embarked and took their places,\nwhereon the ship went down the stream of the river Oceanus. We had to\nrow at first, but presently a fair wind sprang up.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XII\n\n\nTHE SIRENS, SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS, THE CATTLE OF THE SUN.\n\n\n\u201cAfter we were clear of the river Oceanus, and had got out into the\nopen sea, we went on till we reached the Aeaean island where there is\ndawn and sun-rise as in other places. We then drew our ship on to the\nsands and got out of her on to the shore, where we went to sleep and\nwaited till day should break.\n\n\u201cThen, when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I sent\nsome men to Circe\u2019s house to fetch the body of Elpenor. We cut firewood\nfrom a wood where the headland jutted out into the sea, and after we\nhad wept over him and lamented him we performed his funeral rites. When\nhis body and armour had been burned to ashes, we raised a cairn, set a\nstone over it, and at the top of the cairn we fixed the oar that he had\nbeen used to row with.\n\n\u201cWhile we were doing all this, Circe, who knew that we had got back\nfrom the house of Hades, dressed herself and came to us as fast as she\ncould; and her maid servants came with her bringing us bread, meat, and\nwine. Then she stood in the midst of us and said, \u2018You have done a bold\nthing in going down alive to the house of Hades, and you will have died\ntwice, to other people\u2019s once; now, then, stay here for the rest of the\nday, feast your fill, and go on with your voyage at daybreak tomorrow\nmorning. In the meantime I will tell Ulysses about your course, and\nwill explain everything to him so as to prevent your suffering from\nmisadventure either by land or sea.\u2019\n\n\u201cWe agreed to do as she had said, and feasted through the livelong day\nto the going down of the sun, but when the sun had set and it came on\ndark, the men laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables of the\nship. Then Circe took me by the hand and bade me be seated away from\nthe others, while she reclined by my side and asked me all about our\nadventures.\n\n\u201c\u2018So far so good,\u2019 said she, when I had ended my story, \u2018and now pay\nattention to what I am about to tell you\u2014heaven itself, indeed, will\nrecall it to your recollection. First you will come to the Sirens who\nenchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close\nand hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never\nwelcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to\ndeath with the sweetness of their song. There is a great heap of dead\nmen\u2019s bones lying all around, with the flesh still rotting off them.\nTherefore pass these Sirens by, and stop your men\u2019s ears with wax that\nnone of them may hear; but if you like you can listen yourself, for you\nmay get the men to bind you as you stand upright on a cross piece half\nway up the mast,99 and they must lash the rope\u2019s ends to the mast\nitself, that you may have the pleasure of listening. If you beg and\npray the men to unloose you, then they must bind you faster.\n\n\u201c\u2018When your crew have taken you past these Sirens, I cannot give you\ncoherent directions100 as to which of two courses you are to take; I\nwill lay the two alternatives before you, and you must consider them\nfor yourself. On the one hand there are some overhanging rocks against\nwhich the deep blue waves of Amphitrite beat with terrific fury; the\nblessed gods call these rocks the Wanderers. Here not even a bird may\npass, no, not even the timid doves that bring ambrosia to Father Jove,\nbut the sheer rock always carries off one of them, and Father Jove has\nto send another to make up their number; no ship that ever yet came to\nthese rocks has got away again, but the waves and whirlwinds of fire\nare freighted with wreckage and with the bodies of dead men. The only\nvessel that ever sailed and got through, was the famous Argo on her way\nfrom the house of Aetes, and she too would have gone against these\ngreat rocks, only that Juno piloted her past them for the love she bore\nto Jason.\n\n\u201c\u2018Of these two rocks the one reaches heaven and its peak is lost in a\ndark cloud. This never leaves it, so that the top is never clear not\neven in summer and early autumn. No man though he had twenty hands and\ntwenty feet could get a foothold on it and climb it, for it runs sheer\nup, as smooth as though it had been polished. In the middle of it there\nis a large cavern, looking West and turned towards Erebus; you must\ntake your ship this way, but the cave is so high up that not even the\nstoutest archer could send an arrow into it. Inside it Scylla sits and\nyelps with a voice that you might take to be that of a young hound, but\nin truth she is a dreadful monster and no one\u2014not even a god\u2014could face\nher without being terror-struck. She has twelve mis-shapen feet, and\nsix necks of the most prodigious length; and at the end of each neck\nshe has a frightful head with three rows of teeth in each, all set very\nclose together, so that they would crunch any one to death in a moment,\nand she sits deep within her shady cell thrusting out her heads and\npeering all round the rock, fishing for dolphins or dogfish or any\nlarger monster that she can catch, of the thousands with which\nAmphitrite teems. No ship ever yet got past her without losing some\nmen, for she shoots out all her heads at once, and carries off a man in\neach mouth.\n\n\u201c\u2018You will find the other rock lie lower, but they are so close\ntogether that there is not more than a bow-shot between them. [A large\nfig tree in full leaf101 grows upon it], and under it lies the sucking\nwhirlpool of Charybdis. Three times in the day does she vomit forth her\nwaters, and three times she sucks them down again; see that you be not\nthere when she is sucking, for if you are, Neptune himself could not\nsave you; you must hug the Scylla side and drive ship by as fast as you\ncan, for you had better lose six men than your whole crew.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Is there no way,\u2019 said I, \u2018of escaping Charybdis, and at the same\ntime keeping Scylla off when she is trying to harm my men?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018You dare devil,\u2019 replied the goddess, \u2018you are always wanting to\nfight somebody or something; you will not let yourself be beaten even\nby the immortals. For Scylla is not mortal; moreover she is savage,\nextreme, rude, cruel and invincible. There is no help for it; your best\nchance will be to get by her as fast as ever you can, for if you dawdle\nabout her rock while you are putting on your armour, she may catch you\nwith a second cast of her six heads, and snap up another half dozen of\nyour men; so drive your ship past her at full speed, and roar out\nlustily to Crataiis who is Scylla\u2019s dam, bad luck to her; she will then\nstop her from making a second raid upon you.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018You will now come to the Thrinacian island, and here you will see\nmany herds of cattle and flocks of sheep belonging to the sun-god\u2014seven\nherds of cattle and seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in each\nflock. They do not breed, nor do they become fewer in number, and they\nare tended by the goddesses Phaethusa and Lampetie, who are children of\nthe sun-god Hyperion by Neaera. Their mother when she had borne them\nand had done suckling them sent them to the Thrinacian island, which\nwas a long way off, to live there and look after their father\u2019s flocks\nand herds. If you leave these flocks unharmed, and think of nothing but\ngetting home, you may yet after much hardship reach Ithaca; but if you\nharm them, then I forewarn you of the destruction both of your ship and\nof your comrades; and even though you may yourself escape, you will\nreturn late, in bad plight, after losing all your men.\u2019\n\n\u201cHere she ended, and dawn enthroned in gold began to show in heaven,\nwhereon she returned inland. I then went on board and told my men to\nloose the ship from her moorings; so they at once got into her, took\ntheir places, and began to smite the grey sea with their oars.\nPresently the great and cunning goddess Circe befriended us with a fair\nwind that blew dead aft, and staid steadily with us, keeping our sails\nwell filled, so we did whatever wanted doing to the ship\u2019s gear, and\nlet her go as wind and helmsman headed her.\n\n\u201cThen, being much troubled in mind, I said to my men, \u2018My friends, it\nis not right that one or two of us alone should know the prophecies\nthat Circe has made me, I will therefore tell you about them, so that\nwhether we live or die we may do so with our eyes open. First she said\nwe were to keep clear of the Sirens, who sit and sing most beautifully\nin a field of flowers; but she said I might hear them myself so long as\nno one else did. Therefore, take me and bind me to the crosspiece half\nway up the mast; bind me as I stand upright, with a bond so fast that I\ncannot possibly break away, and lash the rope\u2019s ends to the mast\nitself. If I beg and pray you to set me free, then bind me more tightly\nstill.\u2019\n\n\u201cI had hardly finished telling everything to the men before we reached\nthe island of the two Sirens,102 for the wind had been very favourable.\nThen all of a sudden it fell dead calm; there was not a breath of wind\nnor a ripple upon the water, so the men furled the sails and stowed\nthem; then taking to their oars they whitened the water with the foam\nthey raised in rowing. Meanwhile I look a large wheel of wax and cut it\nup small with my sword. Then I kneaded the wax in my strong hands till\nit became soft, which it soon did between the kneading and the rays of\nthe sun-god son of Hyperion. Then I stopped the ears of all my men, and\nthey bound me hands and feet to the mast as I stood upright on the\ncross piece; but they went on rowing themselves. When we had got within\nearshot of the land, and the ship was going at a good rate, the Sirens\nsaw that we were getting in shore and began with their singing.\n\n\u201c\u2018Come here,\u2019 they sang, \u2018renowned Ulysses, honour to the Achaean name,\nand listen to our two voices. No one ever sailed past us without\nstaying to hear the enchanting sweetness of our song\u2014and he who listens\nwill go on his way not only charmed, but wiser, for we know all the\nills that the gods laid upon the Argives and Trojans before Troy, and\ncan tell you everything that is going to happen over the whole world.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey sang these words most musically, and as I longed to hear them\nfurther I made signs by frowning to my men that they should set me\nfree; but they quickened their stroke, and Eurylochus and Perimedes\nbound me with still stronger bonds till we had got out of hearing of\nthe Sirens\u2019 voices. Then my men took the wax from their ears and\nunbound me.\n\n\u201cImmediately after we had got past the island I saw a great wave from\nwhich spray was rising, and I heard a loud roaring sound. The men were\nso frightened that they loosed hold of their oars, for the whole sea\nresounded with the rushing of the waters,103 but the ship stayed where\nit was, for the men had left off rowing. I went round, therefore, and\nexhorted them man by man not to lose heart.\n\n\u201c\u2018My friends,\u2019 said I, \u2018this is not the first time that we have been in\ndanger, and we are in nothing like so bad a case as when the Cyclops\nshut us up in his cave; nevertheless, my courage and wise counsel saved\nus then, and we shall live to look back on all this as well. Now,\ntherefore, let us all do as I say, trust in Jove and row on with might\nand main. As for you, coxswain, these are your orders; attend to them,\nfor the ship is in your hands; turn her head away from these steaming\nrapids and hug the rock, or she will give you the slip and be over\nyonder before you know where you are, and you will be the death of us.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo they did as I told them; but I said nothing about the awful monster\nScylla, for I knew the men would not go on rowing if I did, but would\nhuddle together in the hold. In one thing only did I disobey Circe\u2019s\nstrict instructions\u2014I put on my armour. Then seizing two strong spears\nI took my stand on the ship\u2019s bows, for it was there that I expected\nfirst to see the monster of the rock, who was to do my men so much\nharm; but I could not make her out anywhere, though I strained my eyes\nwith looking the gloomy rock all over and over.\n\n\u201cThen we entered the Straits in great fear of mind, for on the one hand\nwas Scylla, and on the other dread Charybdis kept sucking up the salt\nwater. As she vomited it up, it was like the water in a cauldron when\nit is boiling over upon a great fire, and the spray reached the top of\nthe rocks on either side. When she began to suck again, we could see\nthe water all inside whirling round and round, and it made a deafening\nsound as it broke against the rocks. We could see the bottom of the\nwhirlpool all black with sand and mud, and the men were at their wits\nends for fear. While we were taken up with this, and were expecting\neach moment to be our last, Scylla pounced down suddenly upon us and\nsnatched up my six best men. I was looking at once after both ship and\nmen, and in a moment I saw their hands and feet ever so high above me,\nstruggling in the air as Scylla was carrying them off, and I heard them\ncall out my name in one last despairing cry. As a fisherman, seated,\nspear in hand, upon some jutting rock104 throws bait into the water to\ndeceive the poor little fishes, and spears them with the ox\u2019s horn with\nwhich his spear is shod, throwing them gasping on to the land as he\ncatches them one by one\u2014even so did Scylla land these panting creatures\non her rock and munch them up at the mouth of her den, while they\nscreamed and stretched out their hands to me in their mortal agony.\nThis was the most sickening sight that I saw throughout all my voyages.\n\n\u201cWhen we had passed the [Wandering] rocks, with Scylla and terrible\nCharybdis, we reached the noble island of the sun-god, where were the\ngoodly cattle and sheep belonging to the sun Hyperion. While still at\nsea in my ship I could bear the cattle lowing as they came home to the\nyards, and the sheep bleating. Then I remembered what the blind Theban\nprophet Teiresias had told me, and how carefully Aeaean Circe had\nwarned me to shun the island of the blessed sun-god. So being much\ntroubled I said to the men, \u2018My men, I know you are hard pressed, but\nlisten while I tell you the prophecy that Teiresias made me, and how\ncarefully Aeaean Circe warned me to shun the island of the blessed\nsun-god, for it was here, she said, that our worst danger would lie.\nHead the ship, therefore, away from the island.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe men were in despair at this, and Eurylochus at once gave me an\ninsolent answer. \u2018Ulysses,\u2019 said he, \u2018you are cruel; you are very\nstrong yourself and never get worn out; you seem to be made of iron,\nand now, though your men are exhausted with toil and want of sleep, you\nwill not let them land and cook themselves a good supper upon this\nisland, but bid them put out to sea and go faring fruitlessly on\nthrough the watches of the flying night. It is by night that the winds\nblow hardest and do so much damage; how can we escape should one of\nthose sudden squalls spring up from South West or West, which so often\nwreck a vessel when our lords the gods are unpropitious? Now,\ntherefore, let us obey the behests of night and prepare our supper here\nhard by the ship; to-morrow morning we will go on board again and put\nout to sea.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. I saw that\nheaven meant us a mischief and said, \u2018You force me to yield, for you\nare many against one, but at any rate each one of you must take his\nsolemn oath that if he meet with a herd of cattle or a large flock of\nsheep, he will not be so mad as to kill a single head of either, but\nwill be satisfied with the food that Circe has given us.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey all swore as I bade them, and when they had completed their oath\nwe made the ship fast in a harbour that was near a stream of fresh\nwater, and the men went ashore and cooked their suppers. As soon as\nthey had had enough to eat and drink, they began talking about their\npoor comrades whom Scylla had snatched up and eaten; this set them\nweeping and they went on crying till they fell off into a sound sleep.\n\n\u201cIn the third watch of the night when the stars had shifted their\nplaces, Jove raised a great gale of wind that flew a hurricane so that\nland and sea were covered with thick clouds, and night sprang forth out\nof the heavens. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn,\nappeared, we brought the ship to land and drew her into a cave wherein\nthe sea-nymphs hold their courts and dances, and I called the men\ntogether in council.\n\n\u201c\u2018My friends,\u2019 said I, \u2018we have meat and drink in the ship, let us\nmind, therefore, and not touch the cattle, or we shall suffer for it;\nfor these cattle and sheep belong to the mighty sun, who sees and gives\near to everything.\u2019 And again they promised that they would obey.\n\n\u201cFor a whole month the wind blew steadily from the South, and there was\nno other wind, but only South and East.105 As long as corn and wine\nheld out the men did not touch the cattle when they were hungry; when,\nhowever, they had eaten all there was in the ship, they were forced to\ngo further afield, with hook and line, catching birds, and taking\nwhatever they could lay their hands on; for they were starving. One\nday, therefore, I went up inland that I might pray heaven to show me\nsome means of getting away. When I had gone far enough to be clear of\nall my men, and had found a place that was well sheltered from the\nwind, I washed my hands and prayed to all the gods in Olympus till by\nand by they sent me off into a sweet sleep.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile Eurylochus had been giving evil counsel to the men, \u2018Listen\nto me,\u2019 said he, \u2018my poor comrades. All deaths are bad enough but there\nis none so bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the best of these\ncows and offer them in sacrifice to the immortal gods? If we ever get\nback to Ithaca, we can build a fine temple to the sun-god and enrich it\nwith every kind of ornament; if, however, he is determined to sink our\nship out of revenge for these horned cattle, and the other gods are of\nthe same mind, I for one would rather drink salt water once for all and\nhave done with it, than be starved to death by inches in such a desert\nisland as this is.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. Now the cattle,\nso fair and goodly, were feeding not far from the ship; the men,\ntherefore, drove in the best of them, and they all stood round them\nsaying their prayers, and using young oak-shoots instead of\nbarley-meal, for there was no barley left. When they had done praying\nthey killed the cows and dressed their carcasses; they cut out the\nthigh bones, wrapped them round in two layers of fat, and set some\npieces of raw meat on top of them. They had no wine with which to make\ndrink-offerings over the sacrifice while it was cooking, so they kept\npouring on a little water from time to time while the inward meats were\nbeing grilled; then, when the thigh bones were burned and they had\ntasted the inward meats, they cut the rest up small and put the pieces\nupon the spits.\n\n\u201cBy this time my deep sleep had left me, and I turned back to the ship\nand to the sea shore. As I drew near I began to smell hot roast meat,\nso I groaned out a prayer to the immortal gods. \u2018Father Jove,\u2019 I\nexclaimed, \u2018and all you other gods who live in everlasting bliss, you\nhave done me a cruel mischief by the sleep into which you have sent me;\nsee what fine work these men of mine have been making in my absence.\u2019\n\n\u201cMeanwhile Lampetie went straight off to the sun and told him we had\nbeen killing his cows, whereon he flew into a great rage, and said to\nthe immortals, \u2018Father Jove, and all you other gods who live in\neverlasting bliss, I must have vengeance on the crew of Ulysses\u2019 ship:\nthey have had the insolence to kill my cows, which were the one thing I\nloved to look upon, whether I was going up heaven or down again. If\nthey do not square accounts with me about my cows, I will go down to\nHades and shine there among the dead.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Sun,\u2019 said Jove, \u2018go on shining upon us gods and upon mankind over\nthe fruitful earth. I will shiver their ship into little pieces with a\nbolt of white lightning as soon as they get out to sea.\u2019\n\n\u201cI was told all this by Calypso, who said she had heard it from the\nmouth of Mercury.\n\n\u201cAs soon as I got down to my ship and to the sea shore I rebuked each\none of the men separately, but we could see no way out of it, for the\ncows were dead already. And indeed the gods began at once to show signs\nand wonders among us, for the hides of the cattle crawled about, and\nthe joints upon the spits began to low like cows, and the meat, whether\ncooked or raw, kept on making a noise just as cows do.\n\n\u201cFor six days my men kept driving in the best cows and feasting upon\nthem, but when Jove the son of Saturn had added a seventh day, the fury\nof the gale abated; we therefore went on board, raised our masts,\nspread sail, and put out to sea. As soon as we were well away from the\nisland, and could see nothing but sky and sea, the son of Saturn raised\na black cloud over our ship, and the sea grew dark beneath it. We did\nnot get on much further, for in another moment we were caught by a\nterrific squall from the West that snapped the forestays of the mast so\nthat it fell aft, while all the ship\u2019s gear tumbled about at the bottom\nof the vessel. The mast fell upon the head of the helmsman in the\nship\u2019s stern, so that the bones of his head were crushed to pieces, and\nhe fell overboard as though he were diving, with no more life left in\nhim.\n\n\u201cThen Jove let fly with his thunderbolts, and the ship went round and\nround, and was filled with fire and brimstone as the lightning struck\nit. The men all fell into the sea; they were carried about in the water\nround the ship, looking like so many sea-gulls, but the god presently\ndeprived them of all chance of getting home again.\n\n\u201cI stuck to the ship till the sea knocked her sides from her keel\n(which drifted about by itself) and struck the mast out of her in the\ndirection of the keel; but there was a backstay of stout ox-thong still\nhanging about it, and with this I lashed the mast and keel together,\nand getting astride of them was carried wherever the winds chose to\ntake me.\n\n\u201c[The gale from the West had now spent its force, and the wind got into\nthe South again, which frightened me lest I should be taken back to the\nterrible whirlpool of Charybdis. This indeed was what actually\nhappened, for I was borne along by the waves all night, and by sunrise\nhad reached the rock of Scylla, and the whirlpool. She was then sucking\ndown the salt sea water,106 but I was carried aloft toward the fig\ntree, which I caught hold of and clung on to like a bat. I could not\nplant my feet anywhere so as to stand securely, for the roots were a\nlong way off and the boughs that overshadowed the whole pool were too\nhigh, too vast, and too far apart for me to reach them; so I hung\npatiently on, waiting till the pool should discharge my mast and raft\nagain\u2014and a very long while it seemed. A jury-man is not more glad to\nget home to supper, after having been long detained in court by\ntroublesome cases, than I was to see my raft beginning to work its way\nout of the whirlpool again. At last I let go with my hands and feet,\nand fell heavily into the sea, hard by my raft on to which I then got,\nand began to row with my hands. As for Scylla, the father of gods and\nmen would not let her get further sight of me\u2014otherwise I should have\ncertainly been lost.107\n\n\u201cHence I was carried along for nine days till on the tenth night the\ngods stranded me on the Ogygian island, where dwells the great and\npowerful goddess Calypso. She took me in and was kind to me, but I need\nsay no more about this, for I told you and your noble wife all about it\nyesterday, and I hate saying the same thing over and over again.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XIII\n\n\nULYSSES LEAVES SCHERIA AND RETURNS TO ITHACA.\n\n\nThus did he speak, and they all held their peace throughout the covered\ncloister, enthralled by the charm of his story, till presently Alcinous\nbegan to speak.\n\n\u201cUlysses,\u201d said he, \u201cnow that you have reached my house I doubt not you\nwill get home without further misadventure no matter how much you have\nsuffered in the past. To you others, however, who come here night after\nnight to drink my choicest wine and listen to my bard, I would insist\nas follows. Our guest has already packed up the clothes, wrought\ngold,108 and other valuables which you have brought for his acceptance;\nlet us now, therefore, present him further, each one of us, with a\nlarge tripod and a cauldron. We will recoup ourselves by the levy of a\ngeneral rate; for private individuals cannot be expected to bear the\nburden of such a handsome present.\u201d\n\nEvery one approved of this, and then they went home to bed each in his\nown abode. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared they\nhurried down to the ship and brought their cauldrons with them.\nAlcinous went on board and saw everything so securely stowed under the\nship\u2019s benches that nothing could break adrift and injure the rowers.\nThen they went to the house of Alcinous to get dinner, and he\nsacrificed a bull for them in honour of Jove who is the lord of all.\nThey set the steaks to grill and made an excellent dinner, after which\nthe inspired bard, Demodocus, who was a favourite with every one, sang\nto them; but Ulysses kept on turning his eyes towards the sun, as\nthough to hasten his setting, for he was longing to be on his way. As\none who has been all day ploughing a fallow field with a couple of oxen\nkeeps thinking about his supper and is glad when night comes that he\nmay go and get it, for it is all his legs can do to carry him, even so\ndid Ulysses rejoice when the sun went down, and he at once said to the\nPhaeacians, addressing himself more particularly to King Alcinous:\n\n\u201cSir, and all of you, farewell. Make your drink-offerings and send me\non my way rejoicing, for you have fulfilled my heart\u2019s desire by giving\nme an escort, and making me presents, which heaven grant that I may\nturn to good account; may I find my admirable wife living in peace\namong friends,109 and may you whom I leave behind me give satisfaction\nto your wives and children;110 may heaven vouchsafe you every good\ngrace, and may no evil thing come among your people.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak. His hearers all of them approved his saying and\nagreed that he should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken\nreasonably. Alcinous therefore said to his servant, \u201cPontonous, mix\nsome wine and hand it round to everybody, that we may offer a prayer to\nfather Jove, and speed our guest upon his way.\u201d\n\nPontonous mixed the wine and handed it to every one in turn; the others\neach from his own seat made a drink-offering to the blessed gods that\nlive in heaven, but Ulysses rose and placed the double cup in the hands\nof queen Arete.\n\n\u201cFarewell, queen,\u201d said he, \u201chenceforward and for ever, till age and\ndeath, the common lot of mankind, lay their hands upon you. I now take\nmy leave; be happy in this house with your children, your people, and\nwith king Alcinous.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he crossed the threshold, and Alcinous sent a man to\nconduct him to his ship and to the sea shore. Arete also sent some\nmaidservants with him\u2014one with a clean shirt and cloak, another to\ncarry his strong box, and a third with corn and wine. When they got to\nthe water side the crew took these things and put them on board, with\nall the meat and drink; but for Ulysses they spread a rug and a linen\nsheet on deck that he might sleep soundly in the stern of the ship.\nThen he too went on board and lay down without a word, but the crew\ntook every man his place and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone\nto which it had been bound. Thereon, when they began rowing out to sea,\nUlysses fell into a deep, sweet, and almost deathlike slumber.111\n\nThe ship bounded forward on her way as a four in hand chariot flies\nover the course when the horses feel the whip. Her prow curvetted as it\nwere the neck of a stallion, and a great wave of dark blue water\nseethed in her wake. She held steadily on her course, and even a\nfalcon, swiftest of all birds, could not have kept pace with her. Thus,\nthen, she cut her way through the water, carrying one who was as\ncunning as the gods, but who was now sleeping peacefully, forgetful of\nall that he had suffered both on the field of battle and by the waves\nof the weary sea.\n\nWhen the bright star that heralds the approach of dawn began to show,\nthe ship drew near to land.112 Now there is in Ithaca a haven of the\nold merman Phorcys, which lies between two points that break the line\nof the sea and shut the harbour in. These shelter it from the storms of\nwind and sea that rage outside, so that, when once within it, a ship\nmay lie without being even moored. At the head of this harbour there is\na large olive tree, and at no great distance a fine overarching cavern\nsacred to the nymphs who are called Naiads.113 There are mixing bowls\nwithin it and wine-jars of stone, and the bees hive there. Moreover,\nthere are great looms of stone on which the nymphs weave their robes of\nsea purple\u2014very curious to see\u2014and at all times there is water within\nit. It has two entrances, one facing North by which mortals can go down\ninto the cave, while the other comes from the South and is more\nmysterious; mortals cannot possibly get in by it, it is the way taken\nby the gods.\n\nInto this harbour, then, they took their ship, for they knew the\nplace.114 She had so much way upon her that she ran half her own length\non to the shore;115 when, however, they had landed, the first thing\nthey did was to lift Ulysses with his rug and linen sheet out of the\nship, and lay him down upon the sand still fast asleep. Then they took\nout the presents which Minerva had persuaded the Phaeacians to give him\nwhen he was setting out on his voyage homewards. They put these all\ntogether by the root of the olive tree, away from the road, for fear\nsome passer by116 might come and steal them before Ulysses awoke; and\nthen they made the best of their way home again.\n\nBut Neptune did not forget the threats with which he had already\nthreatened Ulysses, so he took counsel with Jove. \u201cFather Jove,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cI shall no longer be held in any sort of respect among you gods,\nif mortals like the Phaeacians, who are my own flesh and blood, show\nsuch small regard for me. I said I would let Ulysses get home when he\nhad suffered sufficiently. I did not say that he should never get home\nat all, for I knew you had already nodded your head about it, and\npromised that he should do so; but now they have brought him in a ship\nfast asleep and have landed him in Ithaca after loading him with more\nmagnificent presents of bronze, gold, and raiment than he would ever\nhave brought back from Troy, if he had had his share of the spoil and\ngot home without misadventure.\u201d\n\nAnd Jove answered, \u201cWhat, O Lord of the Earthquake, are you talking\nabout? The gods are by no means wanting in respect for you. It would be\nmonstrous were they to insult one so old and honoured as you are. As\nregards mortals, however, if any of them is indulging in insolence and\ntreating you disrespectfully, it will always rest with yourself to deal\nwith him as you may think proper, so do just as you please.\u201d\n\n\u201cI should have done so at once,\u201d replied Neptune, \u201cif I were not\nanxious to avoid anything that might displease you; now, therefore, I\nshould like to wreck the Phaeacian ship as it is returning from its\nescort. This will stop them from escorting people in future; and I\nshould also like to bury their city under a huge mountain.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy good friend,\u201d answered Jove, \u201cI should recommend you at the very\nmoment when the people from the city are watching the ship on her way,\nto turn it into a rock near the land and looking like a ship. This will\nastonish everybody, and you can then bury their city under the\nmountain.\u201d\n\nWhen earth-encircling Neptune heard this he went to Scheria where the\nPhaeacians live, and stayed there till the ship, which was making rapid\nway, had got close in. Then he went up to it, turned it into stone, and\ndrove it down with the flat of his hand so as to root it in the ground.\nAfter this he went away.\n\nThe Phaeacians then began talking among themselves, and one would turn\ntowards his neighbour, saying, \u201cBless my heart, who is it that can have\nrooted the ship in the sea just as she was getting into port? We could\nsee the whole of her only a moment ago.\u201d\n\nThis was how they talked, but they knew nothing about it; and Alcinous\nsaid, \u201cI remember now the old prophecy of my father. He said that\nNeptune would be angry with us for taking every one so safely over the\nsea, and would one day wreck a Phaeacian ship as it was returning from\nan escort, and bury our city under a high mountain. This was what my\nold father used to say, and now it is all coming true.117 Now therefore\nlet us all do as I say; in the first place we must leave off giving\npeople escorts when they come here, and in the next let us sacrifice\ntwelve picked bulls to Neptune that he may have mercy upon us, and not\nbury our city under the high mountain.\u201d When the people heard this they\nwere afraid and got ready the bulls.\n\nThus did the chiefs and rulers of the Phaeacians pray to king Neptune,\nstanding round his altar; and at the same time118 Ulysses woke up once\nmore upon his own soil. He had been so long away that he did not know\nit again; moreover, Jove\u2019s daughter Minerva had made it a foggy day, so\nthat people might not know of his having come, and that she might tell\nhim everything without either his wife or his fellow citizens and\nfriends recognising him119 until he had taken his revenge upon the\nwicked suitors. Everything, therefore, seemed quite different to\nhim\u2014the long straight tracks, the harbours, the precipices, and the\ngoodly trees, appeared all changed as he started up and looked upon his\nnative land. So he smote his thighs with the flat of his hands and\ncried aloud despairingly.\n\n\u201cAlas,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201camong what manner of people am I fallen? Are\nthey savage and uncivilised or hospitable and humane? Where shall I put\nall this treasure, and which way shall I go? I wish I had staid over\nthere with the Phaeacians; or I could have gone to some other great\nchief who would have been good to me and given me an escort. As it is I\ndo not know where to put my treasure, and I cannot leave it here for\nfear somebody else should get hold of it. In good truth the chiefs and\nrulers of the Phaeacians have not been dealing fairly by me, and have\nleft me in the wrong country; they said they would take me back to\nIthaca and they have not done so: may Jove the protector of suppliants\nchastise them, for he watches over everybody and punishes those who do\nwrong. Still, I suppose I must count my goods and see if the crew have\ngone off with any of them.\u201d\n\nHe counted his goodly coppers and cauldrons, his gold and all his\nclothes, but there was nothing missing; still he kept grieving about\nnot being in his own country, and wandered up and down by the shore of\nthe sounding sea bewailing his hard fate. Then Minerva came up to him\ndisguised as a young shepherd of delicate and princely mien, with a\ngood cloak folded double about her shoulders; she had sandals on her\ncomely feet and held a javelin in her hand. Ulysses was glad when he\nsaw her, and went straight up to her.\n\n\u201cMy friend,\u201d said he, \u201cyou are the first person whom I have met with in\nthis country; I salute you, therefore, and beg you to be well disposed\ntowards me. Protect these my goods, and myself too, for I embrace your\nknees and pray to you as though you were a god. Tell me, then, and tell\nme truly, what land and country is this? Who are its inhabitants? Am I\non an island, or is this the sea board of some continent?\u201d\n\nMinerva answered, \u201cStranger, you must be very simple, or must have come\nfrom somewhere a long way off, not to know what country this is. It is\na very celebrated place, and everybody knows it East and West. It is\nrugged and not a good driving country, but it is by no means a bad\nisland for what there is of it. It grows any quantity of corn and also\nwine, for it is watered both by rain and dew; it breeds cattle also and\ngoats; all kinds of timber grow here, and there are watering places\nwhere the water never runs dry; so, sir, the name of Ithaca is known\neven as far as Troy, which I understand to be a long way off from this\nAchaean country.\u201d\n\nUlysses was glad at finding himself, as Minerva told him, in his own\ncountry, and he began to answer, but he did not speak the truth, and\nmade up a lying story in the instinctive wiliness of his heart.\n\n\u201cI heard of Ithaca,\u201d said he, \u201cwhen I was in Crete beyond the seas, and\nnow it seems I have reached it with all these treasures. I have left as\nmuch more behind me for my children, but am flying because I killed\nOrsilochus son of Idomeneus, the fleetest runner in Crete. I killed him\nbecause he wanted to rob me of the spoils I had got from Troy with so\nmuch trouble and danger both on the field of battle and by the waves of\nthe weary sea; he said I had not served his father loyally at Troy as\nvassal, but had set myself up as an independent ruler, so I lay in wait\nfor him with one of my followers by the road side, and speared him as\nhe was coming into town from the country. It was a very dark night and\nnobody saw us; it was not known, therefore, that I had killed him, but\nas soon as I had done so I went to a ship and besought the owners, who\nwere Phoenicians, to take me on board and set me in Pylos or in Elis\nwhere the Epeans rule, giving them as much spoil as satisfied them.\nThey meant no guile, but the wind drove them off their course, and we\nsailed on till we came hither by night. It was all we could do to get\ninside the harbour, and none of us said a word about supper though we\nwanted it badly, but we all went on shore and lay down just as we were.\nI was very tired and fell asleep directly, so they took my goods out of\nthe ship, and placed them beside me where I was lying upon the sand.\nThen they sailed away to Sidonia, and I was left here in great distress\nof mind.\u201d\n\nSuch was his story, but Minerva smiled and caressed him with her hand.\nThen she took the form of a woman, fair, stately, and wise, \u201cHe must be\nindeed a shifty lying fellow,\u201d said she, \u201cwho could surpass you in all\nmanner of craft even though you had a god for your antagonist. Dare\ndevil that you are, full of guile, unwearying in deceit, can you not\ndrop your tricks and your instinctive falsehood, even now that you are\nin your own country again? We will say no more, however, about this,\nfor we can both of us deceive upon occasion\u2014you are the most\naccomplished counsellor and orator among all mankind, while I for\ndiplomacy and subtlety have no equal among the gods. Did you not know\nJove\u2019s daughter Minerva\u2014me, who have been ever with you, who kept watch\nover you in all your troubles, and who made the Phaeacians take so\ngreat a liking to you? And now, again, I am come here to talk things\nover with you, and help you to hide the treasure I made the Phaeacians\ngive you; I want to tell you about the troubles that await you in your\nown house; you have got to face them, but tell no one, neither man nor\nwoman, that you have come home again. Bear everything, and put up with\nevery man\u2019s insolence, without a word.\u201d\n\nAnd Ulysses answered, \u201cA man, goddess, may know a great deal, but you\nare so constantly changing your appearance that when he meets you it is\na hard matter for him to know whether it is you or not. This much,\nhowever, I know exceedingly well; you were very kind to me as long as\nwe Achaeans were fighting before Troy, but from the day on which we\nwent on board ship after having sacked the city of Priam, and heaven\ndispersed us\u2014from that day, Minerva, I saw no more of you, and cannot\never remember your coming to my ship to help me in a difficulty; I had\nto wander on sick and sorry till the gods delivered me from evil and I\nreached the city of the Phaeacians, where you encouraged me and took me\ninto the town.120 And now, I beseech you in your father\u2019s name, tell me\nthe truth, for I do not believe I am really back in Ithaca. I am in\nsome other country and you are mocking me and deceiving me in all you\nhave been saying. Tell me then truly, have I really got back to my own\ncountry?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are always taking something of that sort in your head,\u201d replied\nMinerva, \u201cand that is why I cannot desert you in your afflictions; you\nare so plausible, shrewd and shifty. Any one but yourself on returning\nfrom so long a voyage would at once have gone home to see his wife and\nchildren, but you do not seem to care about asking after them or\nhearing any news about them till you have exploited your wife, who\nremains at home vainly grieving for you, and having no peace night or\nday for the tears she sheds on your behalf. As for my not coming near\nyou, I was never uneasy about you, for I was certain you would get back\nsafely though you would lose all your men, and I did not wish to\nquarrel with my uncle Neptune, who never forgave you for having blinded\nhis son.121 I will now, however, point out to you the lie of the land,\nand you will then perhaps believe me. This is the haven of the old\nmerman Phorcys, and here is the olive tree that grows at the head of\nit; [near it is the cave sacred to the Naiads;122 here too is the\noverarching cavern in which you have offered many an acceptable\nhecatomb to the nymphs, and this is the wooded mountain Neritum.\u201d\n\nAs she spoke the goddess dispersed the mist and the land appeared. Then\nUlysses rejoiced at finding himself again in his own land, and kissed\nthe bounteous soil; he lifted up his hands and prayed to the nymphs,\nsaying, \u201cNaiad nymphs, daughters of Jove, I made sure that I was never\nagain to see you, now therefore I greet you with all loving\nsalutations, and I will bring you offerings as in the old days, if\nJove\u2019s redoubtable daughter will grant me life, and bring my son to\nmanhood.\u201d\n\n\u201cTake heart, and do not trouble yourself about that,\u201d rejoined Minerva,\n\u201clet us rather set about stowing your things at once in the cave, where\nthey will be quite safe. Let us see how we can best manage it all.\u201d\n\nTherewith she went down into the cave to look for the safest hiding\nplaces, while Ulysses brought up all the treasure of gold, bronze, and\ngood clothing which the Phaeacians had given him. They stowed\neverything carefully away, and Minerva set a stone against the door of\nthe cave. Then the two sat down by the root of the great olive, and\nconsulted how to compass the destruction of the wicked suitors.\n\n\u201cUlysses,\u201d said Minerva, \u201cnoble son of Laertes, think how you can lay\nhands on these disreputable people who have been lording it in your\nhouse these three years, courting your wife and making wedding presents\nto her, while she does nothing but lament your absence, giving hope and\nsending encouraging messages123 to every one of them, but meaning the\nvery opposite of all she says.\u201d\n\nAnd Ulysses answered, \u201cIn good truth, goddess, it seems I should have\ncome to much the same bad end in my own house as Agamemnon did, if you\nhad not given me such timely information. Advise me how I shall best\navenge myself. Stand by my side and put your courage into my heart as\non the day when we loosed Troy\u2019s fair diadem from her brow. Help me now\nas you did then, and I will fight three hundred men, if you, goddess,\nwill be with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrust me for that,\u201d said she, \u201cI will not lose sight of you when once\nwe set about it, and I imagine that some of those who are devouring\nyour substance will then bespatter the pavement with their blood and\nbrains. I will begin by disguising you so that no human being shall\nknow you; I will cover your body with wrinkles; you shall lose all your\nyellow hair; I will clothe you in a garment that shall fill all who see\nit with loathing; I will blear your fine eyes for you, and make you an\nunseemly object in the sight of the suitors, of your wife, and of the\nson whom you left behind you. Then go at once to the swineherd who is\nin charge of your pigs; he has been always well affected towards you,\nand is devoted to Penelope and your son; you will find him feeding his\npigs near the rock that is called Raven124 by the fountain Arethusa,\nwhere they are fattening on beechmast and spring water after their\nmanner. Stay with him and find out how things are going, while I\nproceed to Sparta and see your son, who is with Menelaus at Lacedaemon,\nwhere he has gone to try and find out whether you are still alive.\u201d125\n\n\u201cBut why,\u201d said Ulysses, \u201cdid you not tell him, for you knew all about\nit? Did you want him too to go sailing about amid all kinds of hardship\nwhile others are eating up his estate?\u201d\n\nMinerva answered, \u201cNever mind about him, I sent him that he might be\nwell spoken of for having gone. He is in no sort of difficulty, but is\nstaying quite comfortably with Menelaus, and is surrounded with\nabundance of every kind. The suitors have put out to sea and are lying\nin wait for him, for they mean to kill him before he can get home. I do\nnot much think they will succeed, but rather that some of those who are\nnow eating up your estate will first find a grave themselves.\u201d\n\nAs she spoke Minerva touched him with her wand and covered him with\nwrinkles, took away all his yellow hair, and withered the flesh over\nhis whole body; she bleared his eyes, which were naturally very fine\nones; she changed his clothes and threw an old rag of a wrap about him,\nand a tunic, tattered, filthy, and begrimed with smoke; she also gave\nhim an undressed deer skin as an outer garment, and furnished him with\na staff and a wallet all in holes, with a twisted thong for him to\nsling it over his shoulder.\n\nWhen the pair had thus laid their plans they parted, and the goddess\nwent straight to Lacedaemon to fetch Telemachus.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XIV\n\n\nULYSSES IN THE HUT WITH EUMAEUS.\n\n\nUlysses now left the haven, and took the rough track up through the\nwooded country and over the crest of the mountain till he reached the\nplace where Minerva had said that he would find the swineherd, who was\nthe most thrifty servant he had. He found him sitting in front of his\nhut, which was by the yards that he had built on a site which could be\nseen from far. He had made them spacious126 and fair to see, with a\nfree run for the pigs all round them; he had built them during his\nmaster\u2019s absence, of stones which he had gathered out of the ground,\nwithout saying anything to Penelope or Laertes, and he had fenced them\non top with thorn bushes. Outside the yard he had run a strong fence of\noaken posts, split, and set pretty close together, while inside he had\nbuilt twelve styes near one another for the sows to lie in. There were\nfifty pigs wallowing in each stye, all of them breeding sows; but the\nboars slept outside and were much fewer in number, for the suitors kept\non eating them, and the swineherd had to send them the best he had\ncontinually. There were three hundred and sixty boar pigs, and the\nherdsman\u2019s four hounds, which were as fierce as wolves, slept always\nwith them. The swineherd was at that moment cutting out a pair of\nsandals127 from a good stout ox hide. Three of his men were out herding\nthe pigs in one place or another, and he had sent the fourth to town\nwith a boar that he had been forced to send the suitors that they might\nsacrifice it and have their fill of meat.\n\nWhen the hounds saw Ulysses they set up a furious barking and flew at\nhim, but Ulysses was cunning enough to sit down and loose his hold of\nthe stick that he had in his hand: still, he would have been torn by\nthem in his own homestead had not the swineherd dropped his ox hide,\nrushed full speed through the gate of the yard and driven the dogs off\nby shouting and throwing stones at them. Then he said to Ulysses, \u201cOld\nman, the dogs were likely to have made short work of you, and then you\nwould have got me into trouble. The gods have given me quite enough\nworries without that, for I have lost the best of masters, and am in\ncontinual grief on his account. I have to attend swine for other people\nto eat, while he, if he yet lives to see the light of day, is starving\nin some distant land. But come inside, and when you have had your fill\nof bread and wine, tell me where you come from, and all about your\nmisfortunes.\u201d\n\nOn this the swineherd led the way into the hut and bade him sit down.\nHe strewed a good thick bed of rushes upon the floor, and on the top of\nthis he threw the shaggy chamois skin\u2014a great thick one\u2014on which he\nused to sleep by night. Ulysses was pleased at being made thus welcome,\nand said \u201cMay Jove, sir, and the rest of the gods grant you your\nheart\u2019s desire in return for the kind way in which you have received\nme.\u201d\n\nTo this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, \u201cStranger, though a still\npoorer man should come here, it would not be right for me to insult\nhim, for all strangers and beggars are from Jove. You must take what\nyou can get and be thankful, for servants live in fear when they have\nyoung lords for their masters; and this is my misfortune now, for\nheaven has hindered the return of him who would have been always good\nto me and given me something of my own\u2014a house, a piece of land, a good\nlooking wife, and all else that a liberal master allows a servant who\nhas worked hard for him, and whose labour the gods have prospered as\nthey have mine in the situation which I hold. If my master had grown\nold here he would have done great things by me, but he is gone, and I\nwish that Helen\u2019s whole race were utterly destroyed, for she has been\nthe death of many a good man. It was this matter that took my master to\nIlius, the land of noble steeds, to fight the Trojans in the cause of\nking Agamemnon.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he bound his girdle round him and went to the styes where\nthe young sucking pigs were penned. He picked out two which he brought\nback with him and sacrificed. He singed them, cut them up, and spitted\nthem; when the meat was cooked he brought it all in and set it before\nUlysses, hot and still on the spit, whereon Ulysses sprinkled it over\nwith white barley meal. The swineherd then mixed wine in a bowl of\nivy-wood, and taking a seat opposite Ulysses told him to begin.\n\n\u201cFall to, stranger,\u201d said he, \u201con a dish of servant\u2019s pork. The fat\npigs have to go to the suitors, who eat them up without shame or\nscruple; but the blessed gods love not such shameful doings, and\nrespect those who do what is lawful and right. Even the fierce\nfreebooters who go raiding on other people\u2019s land, and Jove gives them\ntheir spoil\u2014even they, when they have filled their ships and got home\nagain live conscience-stricken, and look fearfully for judgement; but\nsome god seems to have told these people that Ulysses is dead and gone;\nthey will not, therefore, go back to their own homes and make their\noffers of marriage in the usual way, but waste his estate by force,\nwithout fear or stint. Not a day or night comes out of heaven, but they\nsacrifice not one victim nor two only, and they take the run of his\nwine, for he was exceedingly rich. No other great man either in Ithaca\nor on the mainland is as rich as he was; he had as much as twenty men\nput together. I will tell you what he had. There are twelve herds of\ncattle upon the main land, and as many flocks of sheep, there are also\ntwelve droves of pigs, while his own men and hired strangers feed him\ntwelve widely spreading herds of goats. Here in Ithaca he runs even\nlarge flocks of goats on the far end of the island, and they are in the\ncharge of excellent goat herds. Each one of these sends the suitors the\nbest goat in the flock every day. As for myself, I am in charge of the\npigs that you see here, and I have to keep picking out the best I have\nand sending it to them.\u201d\n\nThis was his story, but Ulysses went on eating and drinking ravenously\nwithout a word, brooding his revenge. When he had eaten enough and was\nsatisfied, the swineherd took the bowl from which he usually drank,\nfilled it with wine, and gave it to Ulysses, who was pleased, and said\nas he took it in his hands, \u201cMy friend, who was this master of yours\nthat bought you and paid for you, so rich and so powerful as you tell\nme? You say he perished in the cause of King Agamemnon; tell me who he\nwas, in case I may have met with such a person. Jove and the other gods\nknow, but I may be able to give you news of him, for I have travelled\nmuch.\u201d\n\nEumaeus answered, \u201cOld man, no traveller who comes here with news will\nget Ulysses\u2019 wife and son to believe his story. Nevertheless, tramps in\nwant of a lodging keep coming with their mouths full of lies, and not a\nword of truth; every one who finds his way to Ithaca goes to my\nmistress and tells her falsehoods, whereon she takes them in, makes\nmuch of them, and asks them all manner of questions, crying all the\ntime as women will when they have lost their husbands. And you too, old\nman, for a shirt and a cloak would doubtless make up a very pretty\nstory. But the wolves and birds of prey have long since torn Ulysses to\npieces, or the fishes of the sea have eaten him, and his bones are\nlying buried deep in sand upon some foreign shore; he is dead and gone,\nand a bad business it is for all his friends\u2014for me especially; go\nwhere I may I shall never find so good a master, not even if I were to\ngo home to my mother and father where I was bred and born. I do not so\nmuch care, however, about my parents now, though I should dearly like\nto see them again in my own country; it is the loss of Ulysses that\ngrieves me most; I cannot speak of him without reverence though he is\nhere no longer, for he was very fond of me, and took such care of me\nthat wherever he may be I shall always honour his memory.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy friend,\u201d replied Ulysses, \u201cyou are very positive, and very hard of\nbelief about your master\u2019s coming home again, nevertheless I will not\nmerely say, but will swear, that he is coming. Do not give me anything\nfor my news till he has actually come, you may then give me a shirt and\ncloak of good wear if you will. I am in great want, but I will not take\nanything at all till then, for I hate a man, even as I hate hell fire,\nwho lets his poverty tempt him into lying. I swear by king Jove, by the\nrites of hospitality, and by that hearth of Ulysses to which I have now\ncome, that all will surely happen as I have said it will. Ulysses will\nreturn in this self same year; with the end of this moon and the\nbeginning of the next he will be here to do vengeance on all those who\nare ill treating his wife and son.\u201d\n\nTo this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, \u201cOld man, you will neither\nget paid for bringing good news, nor will Ulysses ever come home; drink\nyour wine in peace, and let us talk about something else. Do not keep\non reminding me of all this; it always pains me when any one speaks\nabout my honoured master. As for your oath we will let it alone, but I\nonly wish he may come, as do Penelope, his old father Laertes, and his\nson Telemachus. I am terribly unhappy too about this same boy of his;\nhe was running up fast into manhood, and bade fare to be no worse man,\nface and figure, than his father, but some one, either god or man, has\nbeen unsettling his mind, so he has gone off to Pylos to try and get\nnews of his father, and the suitors are lying in wait for him as he is\ncoming home, in the hope of leaving the house of Arceisius without a\nname in Ithaca. But let us say no more about him, and leave him to be\ntaken, or else to escape if the son of Saturn holds his hand over him\nto protect him. And now, old man, tell me your own story; tell me also,\nfor I want to know, who you are and where you come from. Tell me of\nyour town and parents, what manner of ship you came in, how crew\nbrought you to Ithaca, and from what country they professed to come\u2014for\nyou cannot have come by land.\u201d\n\nAnd Ulysses answered, \u201cI will tell you all about it. If there were meat\nand wine enough, and we could stay here in the hut with nothing to do\nbut to eat and drink while the others go to their work, I could easily\ntalk on for a whole twelve months without ever finishing the story of\nthe sorrows with which it has pleased heaven to visit me.\n\n\u201cI am by birth a Cretan; my father was a well to do man, who had many\nsons born in marriage, whereas I was the son of a slave whom he had\npurchased for a concubine; nevertheless, my father Castor son of Hylax\n(whose lineage I claim, and who was held in the highest honour among\nthe Cretans for his wealth, prosperity, and the valour of his sons) put\nme on the same level with my brothers who had been born in wedlock.\nWhen, however, death took him to the house of Hades, his sons divided\nhis estate and cast lots for their shares, but to me they gave a\nholding and little else; nevertheless, my valour enabled me to marry\ninto a rich family, for I was not given to bragging, or shirking on the\nfield of battle. It is all over now; still, if you look at the straw\nyou can see what the ear was, for I have had trouble enough and to\nspare. Mars and Minerva made me doughty in war; when I had picked my\nmen to surprise the enemy with an ambuscade I never gave death so much\nas a thought, but was the first to leap forward and spear all whom I\ncould overtake. Such was I in battle, but I did not care about farm\nwork, nor the frugal home life of those who would bring up children. My\ndelight was in ships, fighting, javelins, and arrows\u2014things that most\nmen shudder to think of; but one man likes one thing and another\nanother, and this was what I was most naturally inclined to. Before the\nAchaeans went to Troy, nine times was I in command of men and ships on\nforeign service, and I amassed much wealth. I had my pick of the spoil\nin the first instance, and much more was allotted to me later on.\n\n\u201cMy house grew apace and I became a great man among the Cretans, but\nwhen Jove counselled that terrible expedition, in which so many\nperished, the people required me and Idomeneus to lead their ships to\nTroy, and there was no way out of it, for they insisted on our doing\nso. There we fought for nine whole years, but in the tenth we sacked\nthe city of Priam and sailed home again as heaven dispersed us. Then it\nwas that Jove devised evil against me. I spent but one month happily\nwith my children, wife, and property, and then I conceived the idea of\nmaking a descent on Egypt, so I fitted out a fine fleet and manned it.\nI had nine ships, and the people flocked to fill them. For six days I\nand my men made feast, and I found them many victims both for sacrifice\nto the gods and for themselves, but on the seventh day we went on board\nand set sail from Crete with a fair North wind behind us though we were\ngoing down a river. Nothing went ill with any of our ships, and we had\nno sickness on board, but sat where we were and let the ships go as the\nwind and steersmen took them. On the fifth day we reached the river\nAegyptus; there I stationed my ships in the river, bidding my men stay\nby them and keep guard over them while I sent out scouts to reconnoitre\nfrom every point of vantage.\n\n\u201cBut the men disobeyed my orders, took to their own devices, and\nravaged the land of the Egyptians, killing the men, and taking their\nwives and children captive. The alarm was soon carried to the city, and\nwhen they heard the war cry, the people came out at daybreak till the\nplain was filled with horsemen and foot soldiers and with the gleam of\narmour. Then Jove spread panic among my men, and they would no longer\nface the enemy, for they found themselves surrounded. The Egyptians\nkilled many of us, and took the rest alive to do forced labour for\nthem. Jove, however, put it in my mind to do thus\u2014and I wish I had died\nthen and there in Egypt instead, for there was much sorrow in store for\nme\u2014I took off my helmet and shield and dropped my spear from my hand;\nthen I went straight up to the king\u2019s chariot, clasped his knees and\nkissed them, whereon he spared my life, bade me get into his chariot,\nand took me weeping to his own home. Many made at me with their ashen\nspears and tried to kill me in their fury, but the king protected me,\nfor he feared the wrath of Jove the protector of strangers, who\npunishes those who do evil.\n\n\u201cI stayed there for seven years and got together much money among the\nEgyptians, for they all gave me something; but when it was now going on\nfor eight years there came a certain Phoenician, a cunning rascal, who\nhad already committed all sorts of villainy, and this man talked me\nover into going with him to Phoenicia, where his house and his\npossessions lay. I stayed there for a whole twelve months, but at the\nend of that time when months and days had gone by till the same season\nhad come round again, he set me on board a ship bound for Libya, on a\npretence that I was to take a cargo along with him to that place, but\nreally that he might sell me as a slave and take the money I fetched. I\nsuspected his intention, but went on board with him, for I could not\nhelp it.\n\n\u201cThe ship ran before a fresh North wind till we had reached the sea\nthat lies between Crete and Libya; there, however, Jove counselled\ntheir destruction, for as soon as we were well out from Crete and could\nsee nothing but sea and sky, he raised a black cloud over our ship and\nthe sea grew dark beneath it. Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts\nand the ship went round and round and was filled with fire and\nbrimstone as the lightning struck it. The men fell all into the sea;\nthey were carried about in the water round the ship looking like so\nmany sea-gulls, but the god presently deprived them of all chance of\ngetting home again. I was all dismayed. Jove, however, sent the ship\u2019s\nmast within my reach, which saved my life, for I clung to it, and\ndrifted before the fury of the gale. Nine days did I drift but in the\ndarkness of the tenth night a great wave bore me on to the Thesprotian\ncoast. There Pheidon king of the Thesprotians entertained me hospitably\nwithout charging me anything at all\u2014for his son found me when I was\nnearly dead with cold and fatigue, whereon he raised me by the hand,\ntook me to his father\u2019s house and gave me clothes to wear.\n\n\u201cThere it was that I heard news of Ulysses, for the king told me he had\nentertained him, and shown him much hospitality while he was on his\nhomeward journey. He showed me also the treasure of gold, and wrought\niron that Ulysses had got together. There was enough to keep his family\nfor ten generations, so much had he left in the house of king Pheidon.\nBut the king said Ulysses had gone to Dodona that he might learn Jove\u2019s\nmind from the god\u2019s high oak tree, and know whether after so long an\nabsence he should return to Ithaca openly, or in secret. Moreover the\nking swore in my presence, making drink-offerings in his own house as\nhe did so, that the ship was by the water side, and the crew found,\nthat should take him to his own country. He sent me off however before\nUlysses returned, for there happened to be a Thesprotian ship sailing\nfor the wheat-growing island of Dulichium, and he told those in charge\nof her to be sure and take me safely to King Acastus.\n\n\u201cThese men hatched a plot against me that would have reduced me to the\nvery extreme of misery, for when the ship had got some way out from\nland they resolved on selling me as a slave. They stripped me of the\nshirt and cloak that I was wearing, and gave me instead the tattered\nold clouts in which you now see me; then, towards nightfall, they\nreached the tilled lands of Ithaca, and there they bound me with a\nstrong rope fast in the ship, while they went on shore to get supper by\nthe sea side. But the gods soon undid my bonds for me, and having drawn\nmy rags over my head I slid down the rudder into the sea, where I\nstruck out and swam till I was well clear of them, and came ashore near\na thick wood in which I lay concealed. They were very angry at my\nhaving escaped and went searching about for me, till at last they\nthought it was no further use and went back to their ship. The gods,\nhaving hidden me thus easily, then took me to a good man\u2019s door\u2014for it\nseems that I am not to die yet awhile.\u201d\n\nTo this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, \u201cPoor unhappy stranger, I\nhave found the story of your misfortunes extremely interesting, but\nthat part about Ulysses is not right; and you will never get me to\nbelieve it. Why should a man like you go about telling lies in this\nway? I know all about the return of my master. The gods one and all of\nthem detest him, or they would have taken him before Troy, or let him\ndie with friends around him when the days of his fighting were done;\nfor then the Achaeans would have built a mound over his ashes and his\nson would have been heir to his renown, but now the storm winds have\nspirited him away we know not whither.\n\n\u201cAs for me I live out of the way here with the pigs, and never go to\nthe town unless when Penelope sends for me on the arrival of some news\nabout Ulysses. Then they all sit round and ask questions, both those\nwho grieve over the king\u2019s absence, and those who rejoice at it because\nthey can eat up his property without paying for it. For my own part I\nhave never cared about asking anyone else since the time when I was\ntaken in by an Aetolian, who had killed a man and come a long way till\nat last he reached my station, and I was very kind to him. He said he\nhad seen Ulysses with Idomeneus among the Cretans, refitting his ships\nwhich had been damaged in a gale. He said Ulysses would return in the\nfollowing summer or autumn with his men, and that he would bring back\nmuch wealth. And now you, you unfortunate old man, since fate has\nbrought you to my door, do not try to flatter me in this way with vain\nhopes. It is not for any such reason that I shall treat you kindly, but\nonly out of respect for Jove the god of hospitality, as fearing him and\npitying you.\u201d\n\nUlysses answered, \u201cI see that you are of an unbelieving mind; I have\ngiven you my oath, and yet you will not credit me; let us then make a\nbargain, and call all the gods in heaven to witness it. If your master\ncomes home, give me a cloak and shirt of good wear, and send me to\nDulichium where I want to go; but if he does not come as I say he will,\nset your men on to me, and tell them to throw me from yonder precipice,\nas a warning to tramps not to go about the country telling lies.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd a pretty figure I should cut then,\u201d replied Eumaeus, \u201cboth now and\nhereafter, if I were to kill you after receiving you into my hut and\nshowing you hospitality. I should have to say my prayers in good\nearnest if I did; but it is just supper time and I hope my men will\ncome in directly, that we may cook something savoury for supper.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse, and presently the swineherds came up with the\npigs, which were then shut up for the night in their styes, and a\ntremendous squealing they made as they were being driven into them. But\nEumaeus called to his men and said, \u201cBring in the best pig you have,\nthat I may sacrifice him for this stranger, and we will take toll of\nhim ourselves. We have had trouble enough this long time feeding pigs,\nwhile others reap the fruit of our labour.\u201d\n\nOn this he began chopping firewood, while the others brought in a fine\nfat five year old boar pig, and set it at the altar. Eumaeus did not\nforget the gods, for he was a man of good principles, so the first\nthing he did was to cut bristles from the pig\u2019s face and throw them\ninto the fire, praying to all the gods as he did so that Ulysses might\nreturn home again. Then he clubbed the pig with a billet of oak which\nhe had kept back when he was chopping the firewood, and stunned it,\nwhile the others slaughtered and singed it. Then they cut it up, and\nEumaeus began by putting raw pieces from each joint on to some of the\nfat; these he sprinkled with barley meal, and laid upon the embers;\nthey cut the rest of the meat up small, put the pieces upon the spits\nand roasted them till they were done; when they had taken them off the\nspits they threw them on to the dresser in a heap. The swineherd, who\nwas a most equitable man, then stood up to give every one his share. He\nmade seven portions; one of these he set apart for Mercury the son of\nMaia and the nymphs, praying to them as he did so; the others he dealt\nout to the men man by man. He gave Ulysses some slices cut lengthways\ndown the loin as a mark of especial honour, and Ulysses was much\npleased. \u201cI hope, Eumaeus,\u201d said he, \u201cthat Jove will be as well\ndisposed towards you as I am, for the respect you are showing to an\noutcast like myself.\u201d\n\nTo this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, \u201cEat, my good fellow, and\nenjoy your supper, such as it is. God grants this, and withholds that,\njust as he thinks right, for he can do whatever he chooses.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he cut off the first piece and offered it as a burnt\nsacrifice to the immortal gods; then he made them a drink-offering, put\nthe cup in the hands of Ulysses, and sat down to his own portion.\nMesaulius brought them their bread; the swineherd had brought this man\non his own account from among the Taphians during his master\u2019s absence,\nand had paid for him with his own money without saying anything either\nto his mistress or Laertes. They then laid their hands upon the good\nthings that were before them, and when they had had enough to eat and\ndrink, Mesaulius took away what was left of the bread, and they all\nwent to bed after having made a hearty supper.\n\nNow the night came on stormy and very dark, for there was no moon. It\npoured without ceasing, and the wind blew strong from the West, which\nis a wet quarter, so Ulysses thought he would see whether Eumaeus, in\nthe excellent care he took of him, would take off his own cloak and\ngive it him, or make one of his men give him one. \u201cListen to me,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cEumaeus and the rest of you; when I have said a prayer I will tell\nyou something. It is the wine that makes me talk in this way; wine will\nmake even a wise man fall to singing; it will make him chuckle and\ndance and say many a word that he had better leave unspoken; still, as\nI have begun, I will go on. Would that I were still young and strong as\nwhen we got up an ambuscade before Troy. Menelaus and Ulysses were the\nleaders, but I was in command also, for the other two would have it so.\nWhen we had come up to the wall of the city we crouched down beneath\nour armour and lay there under cover of the reeds and thick brushwood\nthat grew about the swamp. It came on to freeze with a North wind\nblowing; the snow fell small and fine like hoar frost, and our shields\nwere coated thick with rime. The others had all got cloaks and shirts,\nand slept comfortably enough with their shields about their shoulders,\nbut I had carelessly left my cloak behind me, not thinking that I\nshould be too cold, and had gone off in nothing but my shirt and\nshield. When the night was two-thirds through and the stars had shifted\ntheir places, I nudged Ulysses who was close to me with my elbow, and\nhe at once gave me his ear.\n\n\u201c\u2018Ulysses,\u2019 said I, \u2018this cold will be the death of me, for I have no\ncloak; some god fooled me into setting off with nothing on but my\nshirt, and I do not know what to do.\u2019\n\n\u201cUlysses, who was as crafty as he was valiant, hit upon the following\nplan:\n\n\u201c\u2018Keep still,\u2019 said he in a low voice, \u2018or the others will hear you.\u2019\nThen he raised his head on his elbow.\n\n\u201c\u2018My friends,\u2019 said he, \u2018I have had a dream from heaven in my sleep. We\nare a long way from the ships; I wish some one would go down and tell\nAgamemnon to send us up more men at once.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn this Thoas son of Andraemon threw off his cloak and set out running\nto the ships, whereon I took the cloak and lay in it comfortably enough\ntill morning. Would that I were still young and strong as I was in\nthose days, for then some one of you swineherds would give me a cloak\nboth out of good will and for the respect due to a brave soldier; but\nnow people look down upon me because my clothes are shabby.\u201d\n\nAnd Eumaeus answered, \u201cOld man, you have told us an excellent story,\nand have said nothing so far but what is quite satisfactory; for the\npresent, therefore, you shall want neither clothing nor anything else\nthat a stranger in distress may reasonably expect, but to-morrow\nmorning you have to shake your own old rags about your body again, for\nwe have not many spare cloaks nor shirts up here, but every man has\nonly one. When Ulysses\u2019 son comes home again he will give you both\ncloak and shirt, and send you wherever you may want to go.\u201d\n\nWith this he got up and made a bed for Ulysses by throwing some\ngoatskins and sheepskins on the ground in front of the fire. Here\nUlysses lay down, and Eumaeus covered him over with a great heavy cloak\nthat he kept for a change in case of extraordinarily bad weather.\n\nThus did Ulysses sleep, and the young men slept beside him. But the\nswineherd did not like sleeping away from his pigs, so he got ready to\ngo outside, and Ulysses was glad to see that he looked after his\nproperty during his master\u2019s absence. First he slung his sword over his\nbrawny shoulders and put on a thick cloak to keep out the wind. He also\ntook the skin of a large and well fed goat, and a javelin in case of\nattack from men or dogs. Thus equipped he went to his rest where the\npigs were camping under an overhanging rock that gave them shelter from\nthe North wind.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XV\n\n\nMINERVA SUMMONS TELEMACHUS FROM LACEDAEMON\u2014HE MEETS WITH THEOCLYMENUS\nAT PYLOS AND BRINGS HIM TO ITHACA\u2014ON LANDING HE GOES TO THE HUT OF\nEUMAEUS.\n\n\nBut Minerva went to the fair city of Lacedaemon to tell Ulysses\u2019 son\nthat he was to return at once. She found him and Pisistratus sleeping\nin the forecourt of Menelaus\u2019s house; Pisistratus was fast asleep, but\nTelemachus could get no rest all night for thinking of his unhappy\nfather, so Minerva went close up to him and said:\n\n\u201cTelemachus, you should not remain so far away from home any longer,\nnor leave your property with such dangerous people in your house; they\nwill eat up everything you have among them, and you will have been on a\nfool\u2019s errand. Ask Menelaus to send you home at once if you wish to\nfind your excellent mother still there when you get back. Her father\nand brothers are already urging her to marry Eurymachus, who has given\nher more than any of the others, and has been greatly increasing his\nwedding presents. I hope nothing valuable may have been taken from the\nhouse in spite of you, but you know what women are\u2014they always want to\ndo the best they can for the man who marries them, and never give\nanother thought to the children of their first husband, nor to their\nfather either when he is dead and done with. Go home, therefore, and\nput everything in charge of the most respectable woman servant that you\nhave, until it shall please heaven to send you a wife of your own. Let\nme tell you also of another matter which you had better attend to. The\nchief men among the suitors are lying in wait for you in the Strait128\nbetween Ithaca and Samos, and they mean to kill you before you can\nreach home. I do not much think they will succeed; it is more likely\nthat some of those who are now eating up your property will find a\ngrave themselves. Sail night and day, and keep your ship well away from\nthe islands; the god who watches over you and protects you will send\nyou a fair wind. As soon as you get to Ithaca send your ship and men on\nto the town, but yourself go straight to the swineherd who has charge\nof your pigs; he is well disposed towards you, stay with him,\ntherefore, for the night, and then send him to Penelope to tell her\nthat you have got back safe from Pylos.\u201d\n\nThen she went back to Olympus; but Telemachus stirred Pisistratus with\nhis heel to rouse him, and said, \u201cWake up Pisistratus, and yoke the\nhorses to the chariot, for we must set off home.\u201d129\n\nBut Pisistratus said, \u201cNo matter what hurry we are in we cannot drive\nin the dark. It will be morning soon; wait till Menelaus has brought\nhis presents and put them in the chariot for us; and let him say good\nbye to us in the usual way. So long as he lives a guest should never\nforget a host who has shown him kindness.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke day began to break, and Menelaus, who had already risen,\nleaving Helen in bed, came towards them. When Telemachus saw him he put\non his shirt as fast as he could, threw a great cloak over his\nshoulders, and went out to meet him. \u201cMenelaus,\u201d said he, \u201clet me go\nback now to my own country, for I want to get home.\u201d\n\nAnd Menelaus answered, \u201cTelemachus, if you insist on going I will not\ndetain you. I do not like to see a host either too fond of his guest or\ntoo rude to him. Moderation is best in all things, and not letting a\nman go when he wants to do so is as bad as telling him to go if he\nwould like to stay. One should treat a guest well as long as he is in\nthe house and speed him when he wants to leave it. Wait, then, till I\ncan get your beautiful presents into your chariot, and till you have\nyourself seen them. I will tell the women to prepare a sufficient\ndinner for you of what there may be in the house; it will be at once\nmore proper and cheaper for you to get your dinner before setting out\non such a long journey. If, moreover, you have a fancy for making a\ntour in Hellas or in the Peloponnese, I will yoke my horses, and will\nconduct you myself through all our principal cities. No one will send\nus away empty handed; every one will give us something\u2014a bronze tripod,\na couple of mules, or a gold cup.\u201d\n\n\u201cMenelaus,\u201d replied Telemachus, \u201cI want to go home at once, for when I\ncame away I left my property without protection, and fear that while\nlooking for my father I shall come to ruin myself, or find that\nsomething valuable has been stolen during my absence.\u201d\n\nWhen Menelaus heard this he immediately told his wife and servants to\nprepare a sufficient dinner from what there might be in the house. At\nthis moment Eteoneus joined him, for he lived close by and had just got\nup; so Menelaus told him to light the fire and cook some meat, which he\nat once did. Then Menelaus went down into his fragrant store room,130\nnot alone, but Helen went too, with Megapenthes. When he reached the\nplace where the treasures of his house were kept, he selected a double\ncup, and told his son Megapenthes to bring also a silver mixing bowl.\nMeanwhile Helen went to the chest where she kept the lovely dresses\nwhich she had made with her own hands, and took out one that was\nlargest and most beautifully enriched with embroidery; it glittered\nlike a star, and lay at the very bottom of the chest. 131 Then they all\ncame back through the house again till they got to Telemachus, and\nMenelaus said, \u201cTelemachus, may Jove, the mighty husband of Juno, bring\nyou safely home according to your desire. I will now present you with\nthe finest and most precious piece of plate in all my house. It is a\nmixing bowl of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with gold,\nand it is the work of Vulcan. Phaedimus king of the Sidonians made me a\npresent of it in the course of a visit that I paid him while I was on\nmy return home. I should like to give it to you.\u201d\n\nWith these words he placed the double cup in the hands of Telemachus,\nwhile Megapenthes brought the beautiful mixing bowl and set it before\nhim. Hard by stood lovely Helen with the robe ready in her hand.\n\n\u201cI too, my son,\u201d said she, \u201chave something for you as a keepsake from\nthe hand of Helen; it is for your bride to wear upon her wedding day.\nTill then, get your dear mother to keep it for you; thus may you go\nback rejoicing to your own country and to your home.\u201d\n\nSo saying she gave the robe over to him and he received it gladly. Then\nPisistratus put the presents into the chariot, and admired them all as\nhe did so. Presently Menelaus took Telemachus and Pisistratus into the\nhouse, and they both of them sat down to table. A maid servant brought\nthem water in a beautiful golden ewer, and poured it into a silver\nbasin for them to wash their hands, and she drew a clean table beside\nthem; an upper servant brought them bread and offered them many good\nthings of what there was in the house. Eteoneus carved the meat and\ngave them each their portions, while Megapenthes poured out the wine.\nThen they laid their hands upon the good things that were before them,\nbut as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink Telemachus and\nPisistratus yoked the horses, and took their places in the chariot.\nThey drove out through the inner gateway and under the echoing\ngatehouse of the outer court, and Menelaus came after them with a\ngolden goblet of wine in his right hand that they might make a\ndrink-offering before they set out. He stood in front of the horses and\npledged them, saying, \u201cFarewell to both of you; see that you tell\nNestor how I have treated you, for he was as kind to me as any father\ncould be while we Achaeans were fighting before Troy.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will be sure, sir,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cto tell him everything as\nsoon as we see him. I wish I were as certain of finding Ulysses\nreturned when I get back to Ithaca, that I might tell him of the very\ngreat kindness you have shown me and of the many beautiful presents I\nam taking with me.\u201d\n\nAs he was thus speaking a bird flew on his right hand\u2014an eagle with a\ngreat white goose in its talons which it had carried off from the farm\nyard\u2014and all the men and women were running after it and shouting. It\ncame quite close up to them and flew away on their right hands in front\nof the horses. When they saw it they were glad, and their hearts took\ncomfort within them, whereon Pisistratus said, \u201cTell me, Menelaus, has\nheaven sent this omen for us or for you?\u201d\n\nMenelaus was thinking what would be the most proper answer for him to\nmake, but Helen was too quick for him and said, \u201cI will read this\nmatter as heaven has put it in my heart, and as I doubt not that it\nwill come to pass. The eagle came from the mountain where it was bred\nand has its nest, and in like manner Ulysses, after having travelled\nfar and suffered much, will return to take his revenge\u2014if indeed he is\nnot back already and hatching mischief for the suitors.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay Jove so grant it,\u201d replied Telemachus, \u201cif it should prove to be\nso, I will make vows to you as though you were a god, even when I am at\nhome.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he lashed his horses and they started off at full speed\nthrough the town towards the open country. They swayed the yoke upon\ntheir necks and travelled the whole day long till the sun set and\ndarkness was over all the land. Then they reached Pherae, where Diocles\nlived who was son of Ortilochus, the son of Alpheus. There they passed\nthe night and were treated hospitably. When the child of morning,\nrosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, they again yoked their horses and their\nplaces in the chariot. They drove out through the inner gateway and\nunder the echoing gatehouse of the outer court. Then Pisistratus lashed\nhis horses on and they flew forward nothing loath; ere long they came\nto Pylos, and then Telemachus said:\n\n\u201cPisistratus, I hope you will promise to do what I am going to ask you.\nYou know our fathers were old friends before us; moreover, we are both\nof an age, and this journey has brought us together still more closely;\ndo not, therefore, take me past my ship, but leave me there, for if I\ngo to your father\u2019s house he will try to keep me in the warmth of his\ngood will towards me, and I must go home at once.\u201d\n\nPisistratus thought how he should do as he was asked, and in the end he\ndeemed it best to turn his horses towards the ship, and put Menelaus\u2019s\nbeautiful presents of gold and raiment in the stern of the vessel. Then\nhe said, \u201cGo on board at once and tell your men to do so also before I\ncan reach home to tell my father. I know how obstinate he is, and am\nsure he will not let you go; he will come down here to fetch you, and\nhe will not go back without you. But he will be very angry.\u201d\n\nWith this he drove his goodly steeds back to the city of the Pylians\nand soon reached his home, but Telemachus called the men together and\ngave his orders. \u201cNow, my men,\u201d said he, \u201cget everything in order on\nboard the ship, and let us set out home.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak, and they went on board even as he had said. But as\nTelemachus was thus busied, praying also and sacrificing to Minerva in\nthe ship\u2019s stern, there came to him a man from a distant country, a\nseer, who was flying from Argos because he had killed a man. He was\ndescended from Melampus, who used to live in Pylos, the land of sheep;\nhe was rich and owned a great house, but he was driven into exile by\nthe great and powerful king Neleus. Neleus seized his goods and held\nthem for a whole year, during which he was a close prisoner in the\nhouse of king Phylacus, and in much distress of mind both on account of\nthe daughter of Neleus and because he was haunted by a great sorrow\nthat dread Erinys had laid upon him. In the end, however, he escaped\nwith his life, drove the cattle from Phylace to Pylos, avenged the\nwrong that had been done him, and gave the daughter of Neleus to his\nbrother. Then he left the country and went to Argos, where it was\nordained that he should reign over much people. There he married,\nestablished himself, and had two famous sons Antiphates and Mantius.\nAntiphates became father of Oicleus, and Oicleus of Amphiaraus, who was\ndearly loved both by Jove and by Apollo, but he did not live to old\nage, for he was killed in Thebes by reason of a woman\u2019s gifts. His sons\nwere Alcmaeon and Amphilochus. Mantius, the other son of Melampus, was\nfather to Polypheides and Cleitus. Aurora, throned in gold, carried off\nCleitus for his beauty\u2019s sake, that he might dwell among the immortals,\nbut Apollo made Polypheides the greatest seer in the whole world now\nthat Amphiaraus was dead. He quarrelled with his father and went to\nlive in Hyperesia, where he remained and prophesied for all men.\n\nHis son, Theoclymenus, it was who now came up to Telemachus as he was\nmaking drink-offerings and praying in his ship. \u201cFriend,\u201d said he, \u201cnow\nthat I find you sacrificing in this place, I beseech you by your\nsacrifices themselves, and by the god to whom you make them, I pray you\nalso by your own head and by those of your followers tell me the truth\nand nothing but the truth. Who and whence are you? Tell me also of your\ntown and parents.\u201d\n\nTelemachus said, \u201cI will answer you quite truly. I am from Ithaca, and\nmy father is Ulysses, as surely as that he ever lived. But he has come\nto some miserable end. Therefore I have taken this ship and got my crew\ntogether to see if I can hear any news of him, for he has been away a\nlong time.\u201d\n\n\u201cI too,\u201d answered Theoclymenus, \u201cam an exile, for I have killed a man\nof my own race. He has many brothers and kinsmen in Argos, and they\nhave great power among the Argives. I am flying to escape death at\ntheir hands, and am thus doomed to be a wanderer on the face of the\nearth. I am your suppliant; take me, therefore, on board your ship that\nthey may not kill me, for I know they are in pursuit.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not refuse you,\u201d replied Telemachus, \u201cif you wish to join us.\nCome, therefore, and in Ithaca we will treat you hospitably according\nto what we have.\u201d\n\nOn this he received Theoclymenus\u2019 spear and laid it down on the deck of\nthe ship. He went on board and sat in the stern, bidding Theoclymenus\nsit beside him; then the men let go the hawsers. Telemachus told them\nto catch hold of the ropes, and they made all haste to do so. They set\nthe mast in its socket in the cross plank, raised it and made it fast\nwith the forestays, and they hoisted their white sails with sheets of\ntwisted ox hide. Minerva sent them a fair wind that blew fresh and\nstrong to take the ship on her course as fast as possible. Thus then\nthey passed by Crouni and Chalcis.\n\nPresently the sun set and darkness was over all the land. The vessel\nmade a quick passage to Pheae and thence on to Elis, where the Epeans\nrule. Telemachus then headed her for the flying islands,132 wondering\nwithin himself whether he should escape death or should be taken\nprisoner.\n\nMeanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd were eating their supper in the\nhut, and the men supped with them. As soon as they had had to eat and\ndrink, Ulysses began trying to prove the swineherd and see whether he\nwould continue to treat him kindly, and ask him to stay on at the\nstation or pack him off to the city; so he said:\n\n\u201cEumaeus, and all of you, to-morrow I want to go away and begin begging\nabout the town, so as to be no more trouble to you or to your men. Give\nme your advice therefore, and let me have a good guide to go with me\nand show me the way. I will go the round of the city begging as I needs\nmust, to see if any one will give me a drink and a piece of bread. I\nshould like also to go to the house of Ulysses and bring news of her\nhusband to Queen Penelope. I could then go about among the suitors and\nsee if out of all their abundance they will give me a dinner. I should\nsoon make them an excellent servant in all sorts of ways. Listen and\nbelieve when I tell you that by the blessing of Mercury who gives grace\nand good name to the works of all men, there is no one living who would\nmake a more handy servant than I should\u2014to put fresh wood on the fire,\nchop fuel, carve, cook, pour out wine, and do all those services that\npoor men have to do for their betters.\u201d\n\nThe swineherd was very much disturbed when he heard this. \u201cHeaven help\nme,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cwhat ever can have put such a notion as that into\nyour head? If you go near the suitors you will be undone to a\ncertainty, for their pride and insolence reach the very heavens. They\nwould never think of taking a man like you for a servant. Their\nservants are all young men, well dressed, wearing good cloaks and\nshirts, with well looking faces and their hair always tidy, the tables\nare kept quite clean and are loaded with bread, meat, and wine. Stay\nwhere you are, then; you are not in anybody\u2019s way; I do not mind your\nbeing here, no more do any of the others, and when Telemachus comes\nhome he will give you a shirt and cloak and will send you wherever you\nwant to go.\u201d\n\nUlysses answered, \u201cI hope you may be as dear to the gods as you are to\nme, for having saved me from going about and getting into trouble;\nthere is nothing worse than being always on the tramp; still, when men\nhave once got low down in the world they will go through a great deal\non behalf of their miserable bellies. Since, however, you press me to\nstay here and await the return of Telemachus, tell me about Ulysses\u2019\nmother, and his father whom he left on the threshold of old age when he\nset out for Troy. Are they still living or are they already dead and in\nthe house of Hades?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will tell you all about them,\u201d replied Eumaeus, \u201cLaertes is still\nliving and prays heaven to let him depart peacefully in his own house,\nfor he is terribly distressed about the absence of his son, and also\nabout the death of his wife, which grieved him greatly and aged him\nmore than anything else did. She came to an unhappy end133 through\nsorrow for her son: may no friend or neighbour who has dealt kindly by\nme come to such an end as she did. As long as she was still living,\nthough she was always grieving, I used to like seeing her and asking\nher how she did, for she brought me up along with her daughter Ctimene,\nthe youngest of her children; we were boy and girl together, and she\nmade little difference between us. When, however, we both grew up, they\nsent Ctimene to Same and received a splendid dowry for her. As for me,\nmy mistress gave me a good shirt and cloak with a pair of sandals for\nmy feet, and sent me off into the country, but she was just as fond of\nme as ever. This is all over now. Still it has pleased heaven to\nprosper my work in the situation which I now hold. I have enough to eat\nand drink, and can find something for any respectable stranger who\ncomes here; but there is no getting a kind word or deed out of my\nmistress, for the house has fallen into the hands of wicked people.\nServants want sometimes to see their mistress and have a talk with her;\nthey like to have something to eat and drink at the house, and\nsomething too to take back with them into the country. This is what\nwill keep servants in a good humour.\u201d\n\nUlysses answered, \u201cThen you must have been a very little fellow,\nEumaeus, when you were taken so far away from your home and parents.\nTell me, and tell me true, was the city in which your father and mother\nlived sacked and pillaged, or did some enemies carry you off when you\nwere alone tending sheep or cattle, ship you off here, and sell you for\nwhatever your master gave them?\u201d\n\n\u201cStranger,\u201d replied Eumaeus, \u201cas regards your question: sit still, make\nyourself comfortable, drink your wine, and listen to me. The nights are\nnow at their longest; there is plenty of time both for sleeping and\nsitting up talking together; you ought not to go to bed till bed time,\ntoo much sleep is as bad as too little; if any one of the others wishes\nto go to bed let him leave us and do so; he can then take my master\u2019s\npigs out when he has done breakfast in the morning. We too will sit\nhere eating and drinking in the hut, and telling one another stories\nabout our misfortunes; for when a man has suffered much, and been\nbuffeted about in the world, he takes pleasure in recalling the memory\nof sorrows that have long gone by. As regards your question, then, my\ntale is as follows:\n\n\u201cYou may have heard of an island called Syra that lies over above\nOrtygia,134 where the land begins to turn round and look in another\ndirection.135 It is not very thickly peopled, but the soil is good,\nwith much pasture fit for cattle and sheep, and it abounds with wine\nand wheat. Dearth never comes there, nor are the people plagued by any\nsickness, but when they grow old Apollo comes with Diana and kills them\nwith his painless shafts. It contains two communities, and the whole\ncountry is divided between these two. My father Ctesius son of Ormenus,\na man comparable to the gods, reigned over both.\n\n\u201cNow to this place there came some cunning traders from Phoenicia (for\nthe Phoenicians are great mariners) in a ship which they had freighted\nwith gewgaws of all kinds. There happened to be a Phoenician woman in\nmy father\u2019s house, very tall and comely, and an excellent servant;\nthese scoundrels got hold of her one day when she was washing near\ntheir ship, seduced her, and cajoled her in ways that no woman can\nresist, no matter how good she may be by nature. The man who had\nseduced her asked her who she was and where she came from, and on this\nshe told him her father\u2019s name. \u2018I come from Sidon,\u2019 said she, \u2018and am\ndaughter to Arybas, a man rolling in wealth. One day as I was coming\ninto the town from the country, some Taphian pirates seized me and took\nme here over the sea, where they sold me to the man who owns this\nhouse, and he gave them their price for me.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe man who had seduced her then said, \u2018Would you like to come along\nwith us to see the house of your parents and your parents themselves?\nThey are both alive and are said to be well off.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I will do so gladly,\u2019 answered she, \u2018if you men will first swear me a\nsolemn oath that you will do me no harm by the way.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey all swore as she told them, and when they had completed their\noath the woman said, \u2018Hush; and if any of your men meets me in the\nstreet or at the well, do not let him speak to me, for fear some one\nshould go and tell my master, in which case he would suspect something.\nHe would put me in prison, and would have all of you murdered; keep\nyour own counsel therefore; buy your merchandise as fast as you can,\nand send me word when you have done loading. I will bring as much gold\nas I can lay my hands on, and there is something else also that I can\ndo towards paying my fare. I am nurse to the son of the good man of the\nhouse, a funny little fellow just able to run about. I will carry him\noff in your ship, and you will get a great deal of money for him if you\ntake him and sell him in foreign parts.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn this she went back to the house. The Phoenicians stayed a whole\nyear till they had loaded their ship with much precious merchandise,\nand then, when they had got freight enough, they sent to tell the\nwoman. Their messenger, a very cunning fellow, came to my father\u2019s\nhouse bringing a necklace of gold with amber beads strung among it; and\nwhile my mother and the servants had it in their hands admiring it and\nbargaining about it, he made a sign quietly to the woman and then went\nback to the ship, whereon she took me by the hand and led me out of the\nhouse. In the fore part of the house she saw the tables set with the\ncups of guests who had been feasting with my father, as being in\nattendance on him; these were now all gone to a meeting of the public\nassembly, so she snatched up three cups and carried them off in the\nbosom of her dress, while I followed her, for I knew no better. The sun\nwas now set, and darkness was over all the land, so we hurried on as\nfast as we could till we reached the harbour, where the Phoenician ship\nwas lying. When they had got on board they sailed their ways over the\nsea, taking us with them, and Jove sent then a fair wind; six days did\nwe sail both night and day, but on the seventh day Diana struck the\nwoman and she fell heavily down into the ship\u2019s hold as though she were\na sea gull alighting on the water; so they threw her overboard to the\nseals and fishes, and I was left all sorrowful and alone. Presently the\nwinds and waves took the ship to Ithaca, where Laertes gave sundry of\nhis chattels for me, and thus it was that ever I came to set eyes upon\nthis country.\u201d\n\nUlysses answered, \u201cEumaeus, I have heard the story of your misfortunes\nwith the most lively interest and pity, but Jove has given you good as\nwell as evil, for in spite of everything you have a good master, who\nsees that you always have enough to eat and drink; and you lead a good\nlife, whereas I am still going about begging my way from city to city.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse, and they had only a very little time left for\nsleep, for it was soon daybreak. In the mean time Telemachus and his\ncrew were nearing land, so they loosed the sails, took down the mast,\nand rowed the ship into the harbour.136 They cast out their mooring\nstones and made fast the hawsers; they then got out upon the sea shore,\nmixed their wine, and got dinner ready. As soon as they had had enough\nto eat and drink Telemachus said, \u201cTake the ship on to the town, but\nleave me here, for I want to look after the herdsmen on one of my\nfarms. In the evening, when I have seen all I want, I will come down to\nthe city, and to-morrow morning in return for your trouble I will give\nyou all a good dinner with meat and wine.\u201d 137\n\nThen Theoclymenus said, \u201cAnd what, my dear young friend, is to become\nof me? To whose house, among all your chief men, am I to repair? or\nshall I go straight to your own house and to your mother?\u201d\n\n\u201cAt any other time,\u201d replied Telemachus, \u201cI should have bidden you go\nto my own house, for you would find no want of hospitality; at the\npresent moment, however, you would not be comfortable there, for I\nshall be away, and my mother will not see you; she does not often show\nherself even to the suitors, but sits at her loom weaving in an upper\nchamber, out of their way; but I can tell you a man whose house you can\ngo to\u2014I mean Eurymachus the son of Polybus, who is held in the highest\nestimation by every one in Ithaca. He is much the best man and the most\npersistent wooer, of all those who are paying court to my mother and\ntrying to take Ulysses\u2019 place. Jove, however, in heaven alone knows\nwhether or no they will come to a bad end before the marriage takes\nplace.\u201d\n\nAs he was speaking a bird flew by upon his right hand\u2014a hawk, Apollo\u2019s\nmessenger. It held a dove in its talons, and the feathers, as it tore\nthem off,138 fell to the ground midway between Telemachus and the ship.\nOn this Theoclymenus called him apart and caught him by the hand.\n\u201cTelemachus,\u201d said he, \u201cthat bird did not fly on your right hand\nwithout having been sent there by some god. As soon as I saw it I knew\nit was an omen; it means that you will remain powerful and that there\nwill be no house in Ithaca more royal than your own.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wish it may prove so,\u201d answered Telemachus. \u201cIf it does, I will show\nyou so much good will and give you so many presents that all who meet\nyou will congratulate you.\u201d\n\nThen he said to his friend Piraeus, \u201cPiraeus, son of Clytius, you have\nthroughout shown yourself the most willing to serve me of all those who\nhave accompanied me to Pylos; I wish you would take this stranger to\nyour own house and entertain him hospitably till I can come for him.\u201d\n\nAnd Piraeus answered, \u201cTelemachus, you may stay away as long as you\nplease, but I will look after him for you, and he shall find no lack of\nhospitality.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he went on board, and bade the others do so also and loose\nthe hawsers, so they took their places in the ship. But Telemachus\nbound on his sandals, and took a long and doughty spear with a head of\nsharpened bronze from the deck of the ship. Then they loosed the\nhawsers, thrust the ship off from land, and made on towards the city as\nthey had been told to do, while Telemachus strode on as fast as he\ncould, till he reached the homestead where his countless herds of swine\nwere feeding, and where dwelt the excellent swineherd, who was so\ndevoted a servant to his master.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XVI\n\n\nULYSSES REVEALS HIMSELF TO TELEMACHUS.\n\n\nMeanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd had lit a fire in the hut and were\nwere getting breakfast ready at daybreak, for they had sent the men out\nwith the pigs. When Telemachus came up, the dogs did not bark but\nfawned upon him, so Ulysses, hearing the sound of feet and noticing\nthat the dogs did not bark, said to Eumaeus:\n\n\u201cEumaeus, I hear footsteps; I suppose one of your men or some one of\nyour acquaintance is coming here, for the dogs are fawning upon him and\nnot barking.\u201d\n\nThe words were hardly out of his mouth before his son stood at the\ndoor. Eumaeus sprang to his feet, and the bowls in which he was mixing\nwine fell from his hands, as he made towards his master. He kissed his\nhead and both his beautiful eyes, and wept for joy. A father could not\nbe more delighted at the return of an only son, the child of his old\nage, after ten years\u2019 absence in a foreign country and after having\ngone through much hardship. He embraced him, kissed him all over as\nthough he had come back from the dead, and spoke fondly to him saying:\n\n\u201cSo you are come, Telemachus, light of my eyes that you are. When I\nheard you had gone to Pylos I made sure I was never going to see you\nany more. Come in, my dear child, and sit down, that I may have a good\nlook at you now you are home again; it is not very often you come into\nthe country to see us herdsmen; you stick pretty close to the town\ngenerally. I suppose you think it better to keep an eye on what the\nsuitors are doing.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it, old friend,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cbut I am come now because\nI want to see you, and to learn whether my mother is still at her old\nhome or whether some one else has married her, so that the bed of\nUlysses is without bedding and covered with cobwebs.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe is still at the house,\u201d replied Eumaeus, \u201cgrieving and breaking\nher heart, and doing nothing but weep, both night and day continually.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he took Telemachus\u2019 spear, whereon he crossed the stone\nthreshold and came inside. Ulysses rose from his seat to give him place\nas he entered, but Telemachus checked him; \u201cSit down, stranger,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cI can easily find another seat, and there is one here who will lay\nit for me.\u201d\n\nUlysses went back to his own place, and Eumaeus strewed some green\nbrushwood on the floor and threw a sheepskin on top of it for\nTelemachus to sit upon. Then the swineherd brought them platters of\ncold meat, the remains from what they had eaten the day before, and he\nfilled the bread baskets with bread as fast as he could. He mixed wine\nalso in bowls of ivy-wood, and took his seat facing Ulysses. Then they\nlaid their hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon\nas they had had enough to eat and drink Telemachus said to Eumaeus,\n\u201cOld friend, where does this stranger come from? How did his crew bring\nhim to Ithaca, and who were they?\u2014for assuredly he did not come here by\nland.\u201d\n\nTo this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, \u201cMy son, I will tell you the\nreal truth. He says he is a Cretan, and that he has been a great\ntraveller. At this moment he is running away from a Thesprotian ship,\nand has taken refuge at my station, so I will put him into your hands.\nDo whatever you like with him, only remember that he is your\nsuppliant.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am very much distressed,\u201d said Telemachus, \u201cby what you have just\ntold me. How can I take this stranger into my house? I am as yet young,\nand am not strong enough to hold my own if any man attacks me. My\nmother cannot make up her mind whether to stay where she is and look\nafter the house out of respect for public opinion and the memory of her\nhusband, or whether the time is now come for her to take the best man\nof those who are wooing her, and the one who will make her the most\nadvantageous offer; still, as the stranger has come to your station I\nwill find him a cloak and shirt of good wear, with a sword and sandals,\nand will send him wherever he wants to go. Or if you like you can keep\nhim here at the station, and I will send him clothes and food that he\nmay be no burden on you and on your men; but I will not have him go\nnear the suitors, for they are very insolent, and are sure to ill treat\nhim in a way that would greatly grieve me; no matter how valiant a man\nmay be he can do nothing against numbers, for they will be too strong\nfor him.\u201d\n\nThen Ulysses said, \u201cSir, it is right that I should say something\nmyself. I am much shocked about what you have said about the insolent\nway in which the suitors are behaving in despite of such a man as you\nare. Tell me, do you submit to such treatment tamely, or has some god\nset your people against you? May you not complain of your brothers\u2014for\nit is to these that a man may look for support, however great his\nquarrel may be? I wish I were as young as you are and in my present\nmind; if I were son to Ulysses, or, indeed, Ulysses himself, I would\nrather some one came and cut my head off, but I would go to the house\nand be the bane of every one of these men.139 If they were too many for\nme\u2014I being single-handed\u2014I would rather die fighting in my own house\nthan see such disgraceful sights day after day, strangers grossly\nmaltreated, and men dragging the women servants about the house in an\nunseemly way, wine drawn recklessly, and bread wasted all to no purpose\nfor an end that shall never be accomplished.\u201d\n\nAnd Telemachus answered, \u201cI will tell you truly everything. There is no\nenmity between me and my people, nor can I complain of brothers, to\nwhom a man may look for support however great his quarrel may be. Jove\nhas made us a race of only sons. Laertes was the only son of Arceisius,\nand Ulysses only son of Laertes. I am myself the only son of Ulysses\nwho left me behind him when he went away, so that I have never been of\nany use to him. Hence it comes that my house is in the hands of\nnumberless marauders; for the chiefs from all the neighbouring islands,\nDulichium, Same, Zacynthus, as also all the principal men of Ithaca\nitself, are eating up my house under the pretext of paying court to my\nmother, who will neither say point blank that she will not marry, nor\nyet bring matters to an end, so they are making havoc of my estate, and\nbefore long will do so with myself into the bargain. The issue,\nhowever, rests with heaven. But do you, old friend Eumaeus, go at once\nand tell Penelope that I am safe and have returned from Pylos. Tell it\nto herself alone, and then come back here without letting any one else\nknow, for there are many who are plotting mischief against me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI understand and heed you,\u201d replied Eumaeus; \u201cyou need instruct me no\nfurther, only as I am going that way say whether I had not better let\npoor Laertes know that you are returned. He used to superintend the\nwork on his farm in spite of his bitter sorrow about Ulysses, and he\nwould eat and drink at will along with his servants; but they tell me\nthat from the day on which you set out for Pylos he has neither eaten\nnor drunk as he ought to do, nor does he look after his farm, but sits\nweeping and wasting the flesh from off his bones.\u201d\n\n\u201cMore\u2019s the pity,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cI am sorry for him, but we\nmust leave him to himself just now. If people could have everything\ntheir own way, the first thing I should choose would be the return of\nmy father; but go, and give your message; then make haste back again,\nand do not turn out of your way to tell Laertes. Tell my mother to send\none of her women secretly with the news at once, and let him hear it\nfrom her.\u201d\n\nThus did he urge the swineherd; Eumaeus, therefore, took his sandals,\nbound them to his feet, and started for the town. Minerva watched him\nwell off the station, and then came up to it in the form of a\nwoman\u2014fair, stately, and wise. She stood against the side of the entry,\nand revealed herself to Ulysses, but Telemachus could not see her, and\nknew not that she was there, for the gods do not let themselves be seen\nby everybody. Ulysses saw her, and so did the dogs, for they did not\nbark, but went scared and whining off to the other side of the yards.\nShe nodded her head and motioned to Ulysses with her eyebrows; whereon\nhe left the hut and stood before her outside the main wall of the\nyards. Then she said to him:\n\n\u201cUlysses, noble son of Laertes, it is now time for you to tell your\nson: do not keep him in the dark any longer, but lay your plans for the\ndestruction of the suitors, and then make for the town. I will not be\nlong in joining you, for I too am eager for the fray.\u201d\n\nAs she spoke she touched him with her golden wand. First she threw a\nfair clean shirt and cloak about his shoulders; then she made him\nyounger and of more imposing presence; she gave him back his colour,\nfilled out his cheeks, and let his beard become dark again. Then she\nwent away and Ulysses came back inside the hut. His son was astounded\nwhen he saw him, and turned his eyes away for fear he might be looking\nupon a god.\n\n\u201cStranger,\u201d said he, \u201chow suddenly you have changed from what you were\na moment or two ago. You are dressed differently and your colour is not\nthe same. Are you some one or other of the gods that live in heaven? If\nso, be propitious to me till I can make you due sacrifice and offerings\nof wrought gold. Have mercy upon me.\u201d\n\nAnd Ulysses said, \u201cI am no god, why should you take me for one? I am\nyour father, on whose account you grieve and suffer so much at the\nhands of lawless men.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he kissed his son, and a tear fell from his cheek on to the\nground, for he had restrained all tears till now. But Telemachus could\nnot yet believe that it was his father, and said:\n\n\u201cYou are not my father, but some god is flattering me with vain hopes\nthat I may grieve the more hereafter; no mortal man could of himself\ncontrive to do as you have been doing, and make yourself old and young\nat a moment\u2019s notice, unless a god were with him. A second ago you were\nold and all in rags, and now you are like some god come down from\nheaven.\u201d\n\nUlysses answered, \u201cTelemachus, you ought not to be so immeasurably\nastonished at my being really here. There is no other Ulysses who will\ncome hereafter. Such as I am, it is I, who after long wandering and\nmuch hardship have got home in the twentieth year to my own country.\nWhat you wonder at is the work of the redoubtable goddess Minerva, who\ndoes with me whatever she will, for she can do what she pleases. At one\nmoment she makes me like a beggar, and the next I am a young man with\ngood clothes on my back; it is an easy matter for the gods who live in\nheaven to make any man look either rich or poor.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he sat down, and Telemachus threw his arms about his father\nand wept. They were both so much moved that they cried aloud like\neagles or vultures with crooked talons that have been robbed of their\nhalf fledged young by peasants. Thus piteously did they weep, and the\nsun would have gone down upon their mourning if Telemachus had not\nsuddenly said, \u201cIn what ship, my dear father, did your crew bring you\nto Ithaca? Of what nation did they declare themselves to be\u2014for you\ncannot have come by land?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will tell you the truth, my son,\u201d replied Ulysses. \u201cIt was the\nPhaeacians who brought me here. They are great sailors, and are in the\nhabit of giving escorts to any one who reaches their coasts. They took\nme over the sea while I was fast asleep, and landed me in Ithaca, after\ngiving me many presents in bronze, gold, and raiment. These things by\nheaven\u2019s mercy are lying concealed in a cave, and I am now come here on\nthe suggestion of Minerva that we may consult about killing our\nenemies. First, therefore, give me a list of the suitors, with their\nnumber, that I may learn who, and how many, they are. I can then turn\nthe matter over in my mind, and see whether we two can fight the whole\nbody of them ourselves, or whether we must find others to help us.\u201d\n\nTo this Telemachus answered, \u201cFather, I have always heard of your\nrenown both in the field and in council, but the task you talk of is a\nvery great one: I am awed at the mere thought of it; two men cannot\nstand against many and brave ones. There are not ten suitors only, nor\ntwice ten, but ten many times over; you shall learn their number at\nonce. There are fifty-two chosen youths from Dulichium, and they have\nsix servants; from Same there are twenty-four; twenty young Achaeans\nfrom Zacynthus, and twelve from Ithaca itself, all of them well born.\nThey have with them a servant Medon, a bard, and two men who can carve\nat table. If we face such numbers as this, you may have bitter cause to\nrue your coming, and your revenge. See whether you cannot think of some\none who would be willing to come and help us.\u201d\n\n\u201cListen to me,\u201d replied Ulysses, \u201cand think whether Minerva and her\nfather Jove may seem sufficient, or whether I am to try and find some\none else as well.\u201d\n\n\u201cThose whom you have named,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201care a couple of good\nallies, for though they dwell high up among the clouds they have power\nover both gods and men.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese two,\u201d continued Ulysses, \u201cwill not keep long out of the fray,\nwhen the suitors and we join fight in my house. Now, therefore, return\nhome early to-morrow morning, and go about among the suitors as before.\nLater on the swineherd will bring me to the city disguised as a\nmiserable old beggar. If you see them ill treating me, steel your heart\nagainst my sufferings; even though they drag me feet foremost out of\nthe house, or throw things at me, look on and do nothing beyond gently\ntrying to make them behave more reasonably; but they will not listen to\nyou, for the day of their reckoning is at hand. Furthermore I say, and\nlay my saying to your heart; when Minerva shall put it in my mind, I\nwill nod my head to you, and on seeing me do this you must collect all\nthe armour that is in the house and hide it in the strong store room.\nMake some excuse when the suitors ask you why you are removing it; say\nthat you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke, inasmuch as\nit is no longer what it was when Ulysses went away, but has become\nsoiled and begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly that you\nare afraid Jove may set them on to quarrel over their wine, and that\nthey may do each other some harm which may disgrace both banquet and\nwooing, for the sight of arms sometimes tempts people to use them. But\nleave a sword and a spear apiece for yourself and me, and a couple of\noxhide shields so that we can snatch them up at any moment; Jove and\nMinerva will then soon quiet these people. There is also another\nmatter; if you are indeed my son and my blood runs in your veins, let\nno one know that Ulysses is within the house\u2014neither Laertes, nor yet\nthe swineherd, nor any of the servants, nor even Penelope herself. Let\nyou and me exploit the women alone, and let us also make trial of some\nother of the men servants, to see who is on our side and whose hand is\nagainst us.\u201d\n\n\u201cFather,\u201d replied Telemachus, \u201cyou will come to know me by and by, and\nwhen you do you will find that I can keep your counsel. I do not think,\nhowever, the plan you propose will turn out well for either of us.\nThink it over. It will take us a long time to go the round of the farms\nand exploit the men, and all the time the suitors will be wasting your\nestate with impunity and without compunction. Prove the women by all\nmeans, to see who are disloyal and who guiltless, but I am not in\nfavour of going round and trying the men. We can attend to that later\non, if you really have some sign from Jove that he will support you.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse, and meanwhile the ship which had brought\nTelemachus and his crew from Pylos had reached the town of Ithaca. When\nthey had come inside the harbour they drew the ship on to the land;\ntheir servants came and took their armour from them, and they left all\nthe presents at the house of Clytius. Then they sent a servant to tell\nPenelope that Telemachus had gone into the country, but had sent the\nship to the town to prevent her from being alarmed and made unhappy.\nThis servant and Eumaeus happened to meet when they were both on the\nsame errand of going to tell Penelope. When they reached the House, the\nservant stood up and said to the queen in the presence of the waiting\nwomen, \u201cYour son, Madam, is now returned from Pylos\u201d; but Eumaeus went\nclose up to Penelope, and said privately all that her son had bidden\nhim tell her. When he had given his message he left the house with its\noutbuildings and went back to his pigs again.\n\nThe suitors were surprised and angry at what had happened, so they went\noutside the great wall that ran round the outer court, and held a\ncouncil near the main entrance. Eurymachus, son of Polybus, was the\nfirst to speak.\n\n\u201cMy friends,\u201d said he, \u201cthis voyage of Telemachus\u2019s is a very serious\nmatter; we had made sure that it would come to nothing. Now, however,\nlet us draw a ship into the water, and get a crew together to send\nafter the others and tell them to come back as fast as they can.\u201d\n\nHe had hardly done speaking when Amphinomus turned in his place and saw\nthe ship inside the harbour, with the crew lowering her sails, and\nputting by their oars; so he laughed, and said to the others, \u201cWe need\nnot send them any message, for they are here. Some god must have told\nthem, or else they saw the ship go by, and could not overtake her.\u201d\n\nOn this they rose and went to the water side. The crew then drew the\nship on shore; their servants took their armour from them, and they\nwent up in a body to the place of assembly, but they would not let any\none old or young sit along with them, and Antinous, son of Eupeithes,\nspoke first.\n\n\u201cGood heavens,\u201d said he, \u201csee how the gods have saved this man from\ndestruction. We kept a succession of scouts upon the headlands all day\nlong, and when the sun was down we never went on shore to sleep, but\nwaited in the ship all night till morning in the hope of capturing and\nkilling him; but some god has conveyed him home in spite of us. Let us\nconsider how we can make an end of him. He must not escape us; our\naffair is never likely to come off while he is alive, for he is very\nshrewd, and public feeling is by no means all on our side. We must make\nhaste before he can call the Achaeans in assembly; he will lose no time\nin doing so, for he will be furious with us, and will tell all the\nworld how we plotted to kill him, but failed to take him. The people\nwill not like this when they come to know of it; we must see that they\ndo us no hurt, nor drive us from our own country into exile. Let us try\nand lay hold of him either on his farm away from the town, or on the\nroad hither. Then we can divide up his property amongst us, and let his\nmother and the man who marries her have the house. If this does not\nplease you, and you wish Telemachus to live on and hold his father\u2019s\nproperty, then we must not gather here and eat up his goods in this\nway, but must make our offers to Penelope each from his own house, and\nshe can marry the man who will give the most for her, and whose lot it\nis to win her.\u201d\n\nThey all held their peace until Amphinomus rose to speak. He was the\nson of Nisus, who was son to king Aretias, and he was foremost among\nall the suitors from the wheat-growing and well grassed island of\nDulichium; his conversation, moreover, was more agreeable to Penelope\nthan that of any of the other suitors, for he was a man of good natural\ndisposition. \u201cMy friends,\u201d said he, speaking to them plainly and in all\nhonestly, \u201cI am not in favour of killing Telemachus. It is a heinous\nthing to kill one who is of noble blood. Let us first take counsel of\nthe gods, and if the oracles of Jove advise it, I will both help to\nkill him myself, and will urge everyone else to do so; but if they\ndissuade us, I would have you hold your hands.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak, and his words pleased them well, so they rose\nforthwith and went to the house of Ulysses, where they took their\naccustomed seats.\n\nThen Penelope resolved that she would show herself to the suitors. She\nknew of the plot against Telemachus, for the servant Medon had\noverheard their counsels and had told her; she went down therefore to\nthe court attended by her maidens, and when she reached the suitors she\nstood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister\nholding a veil before her face, and rebuked Antinous saying:\n\n\u201cAntinous, insolent and wicked schemer, they say you are the best\nspeaker and counsellor of any man your own age in Ithaca, but you are\nnothing of the kind. Madman, why should you try to compass the death of\nTelemachus, and take no heed of suppliants, whose witness is Jove\nhimself? It is not right for you to plot thus against one another. Do\nyou not remember how your father fled to this house in fear of the\npeople, who were enraged against him for having gone with some Taphian\npirates and plundered the Thesprotians who were at peace with us? They\nwanted to tear him in pieces and eat up everything he had, but Ulysses\nstayed their hands although they were infuriated, and now you devour\nhis property without paying for it, and break my heart by wooing his\nwife and trying to kill his son. Leave off doing so, and stop the\nothers also.\u201d\n\nTo this Eurymachus son of Polybus answered, \u201cTake heart, Queen Penelope\ndaughter of Icarius, and do not trouble yourself about these matters.\nThe man is not yet born, nor never will be, who shall lay hands upon\nyour son Telemachus, while I yet live to look upon the face of the\nearth. I say\u2014and it shall surely be\u2014that my spear shall be reddened\nwith his blood; for many a time has Ulysses taken me on his knees, held\nwine up to my lips to drink, and put pieces of meat into my hands.\nTherefore Telemachus is much the dearest friend I have, and has nothing\nto fear from the hands of us suitors. Of course, if death comes to him\nfrom the gods, he cannot escape it.\u201d He said this to quiet her, but in\nreality he was plotting against Telemachus.\n\nThen Penelope went upstairs again and mourned her husband till Minerva\nshed sleep over her eyes. In the evening Eumaeus got back to Ulysses\nand his son, who had just sacrificed a young pig of a year old and were\nhelping one another to get supper ready; Minerva therefore came up to\nUlysses, turned him into an old man with a stroke of her wand, and clad\nhim in his old clothes again, for fear that the swineherd might\nrecognise him and not keep the secret, but go and tell Penelope.\n\nTelemachus was the first to speak. \u201cSo you have got back, Eumaeus,\u201d\nsaid he. \u201cWhat is the news of the town? Have the suitors returned, or\nare they still waiting over yonder, to take me on my way home?\u201d\n\n\u201cI did not think of asking about that,\u201d replied Eumaeus, \u201cwhen I was in\nthe town. I thought I would give my message and come back as soon as I\ncould. I met a man sent by those who had gone with you to Pylos, and he\nwas the first to tell the news to your mother, but I can say what I saw\nwith my own eyes; I had just got on to the crest of the hill of Mercury\nabove the town when I saw a ship coming into harbour with a number of\nmen in her. They had many shields and spears, and I thought it was the\nsuitors, but I cannot be sure.\u201d\n\nOn hearing this Telemachus smiled to his father, but so that Eumaeus\ncould not see him.\n\nThen, when they had finished their work and the meal was ready, they\nate it, and every man had his full share so that all were satisfied. As\nsoon as they had had enough to eat and drink, they laid down to rest\nand enjoyed the boon of sleep.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XVII\n\n\nTELEMACHUS AND HIS MOTHER MEET\u2014ULYSSES AND EUMAEUS COME DOWN TO THE\nTOWN, AND ULYSSES IS INSULTED BY MELANTHIUS\u2014HE IS RECOGNISED BY THE DOG\nARGOS\u2014HE IS INSULTED AND PRESENTLY STRUCK BY ANTINOUS WITH A\nSTOOL\u2014PENELOPE DESIRES THAT HE SHALL BE SENT TO HER.\n\n\nWhen the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Telemachus\nbound on his sandals and took a strong spear that suited his hands, for\nhe wanted to go into the city. \u201cOld friend,\u201d said he to the swineherd,\n\u201cI will now go to the town and show myself to my mother, for she will\nnever leave off grieving till she has seen me. As for this unfortunate\nstranger, take him to the town and let him beg there of any one who\nwill give him a drink and a piece of bread. I have trouble enough of my\nown, and cannot be burdened with other people. If this makes him angry\nso much the worse for him, but I like to say what I mean.\u201d\n\nThen Ulysses said, \u201cSir, I do not want to stay here; a beggar can\nalways do better in town than country, for any one who likes can give\nhim something. I am too old to care about remaining here at the beck\nand call of a master. Therefore let this man do as you have just told\nhim, and take me to the town as soon as I have had a warm by the fire,\nand the day has got a little heat in it. My clothes are wretchedly\nthin, and this frosty morning I shall be perished with cold, for you\nsay the city is some way off.\u201d\n\nOn this Telemachus strode off through the yards, brooding his revenge\nupon the suitors. When he reached home he stood his spear against a\nbearing-post of the cloister, crossed the stone floor of the cloister\nitself, and went inside.\n\nNurse Euryclea saw him long before any one else did. She was putting\nthe fleeces on to the seats, and she burst out crying as she ran up to\nhim; all the other maids came up too, and covered his head and\nshoulders with their kisses. Penelope came out of her room looking like\nDiana or Venus, and wept as she flung her arms about her son. She\nkissed his forehead and both his beautiful eyes, \u201cLight of my eyes,\u201d\nshe cried as she spoke fondly to him, \u201cso you are come home again; I\nmade sure I was never going to see you any more. To think of your\nhaving gone off to Pylos without saying anything about it or obtaining\nmy consent. But come, tell me what you saw.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not scold me, mother,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cnor vex me, seeing\nwhat a narrow escape I have had, but wash your face, change your dress,\ngo upstairs with your maids, and promise full and sufficient hecatombs\nto all the gods if Jove will only grant us our revenge upon the\nsuitors. I must now go to the place of assembly to invite a stranger\nwho has come back with me from Pylos. I sent him on with my crew, and\ntold Piraeus to take him home and look after him till I could come for\nhim myself.\u201d\n\nShe heeded her son\u2019s words, washed her face, changed her dress, and\nvowed full and sufficient hecatombs to all the gods if they would only\nvouchsafe her revenge upon the suitors.\n\nTelemachus went through, and out of, the cloisters spear in hand\u2014not\nalone, for his two fleet dogs went with him. Minerva endowed him with a\npresence of such divine comeliness that all marvelled at him as he went\nby, and the suitors gathered round him with fair words in their mouths\nand malice in their hearts; but he avoided them, and went to sit with\nMentor, Antiphus, and Halitherses, old friends of his father\u2019s house,\nand they made him tell them all that had happened to him. Then Piraeus\ncame up with Theoclymenus, whom he had escorted through the town to the\nplace of assembly, whereon Telemachus at once joined them. Piraeus was\nfirst to speak: \u201cTelemachus,\u201d said he, \u201cI wish you would send some of\nyour women to my house to take away the presents Menelaus gave you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe do not know, Piraeus,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cwhat may happen. If\nthe suitors kill me in my own house and divide my property among them,\nI would rather you had the presents than that any of those people\nshould get hold of them. If on the other hand I managed to kill them, I\nshall be much obliged if you will kindly bring me my presents.\u201d\n\nWith these words he took Theoclymenus to his own house. When they got\nthere they laid their cloaks on the benches and seats, went into the\nbaths, and washed themselves. When the maids had washed and anointed\nthem, and had given them cloaks and shirts, they took their seats at\ntable. A maid servant then brought them water in a beautiful golden\newer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands;\nand she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them\nbread and offered them many good things of what there was in the house.\nOpposite them sat Penelope, reclining on a couch by one of the\nbearing-posts of the cloister, and spinning. Then they laid their hands\non the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had\nenough to eat and drink Penelope said:\n\n\u201cTelemachus, I shall go upstairs and lie down on that sad couch, which\nI have not ceased to water with my tears, from the day Ulysses set out\nfor Troy with the sons of Atreus. You failed, however, to make it clear\nto me before the suitors came back to the house, whether or no you had\nbeen able to hear anything about the return of your father.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will tell you then truth,\u201d replied her son. \u201cWe went to Pylos and\nsaw Nestor, who took me to his house and treated me as hospitably as\nthough I were a son of his own who had just returned after a long\nabsence; so also did his sons; but he said he had not heard a word from\nany human being about Ulysses, whether he was alive or dead. He sent\nme, therefore, with a chariot and horses to Menelaus. There I saw\nHelen, for whose sake so many, both Argives and Trojans, were in\nheaven\u2019s wisdom doomed to suffer. Menelaus asked me what it was that\nhad brought me to Lacedaemon, and I told him the whole truth, whereon\nhe said, \u2018So, then, these cowards would usurp a brave man\u2019s bed? A hind\nmight as well lay her new-born young in the lair of a lion, and then go\noff to feed in the forest or in some grassy dell. The lion, when he\ncomes back to his lair, will make short work with the pair of them, and\nso will Ulysses with these suitors. By father Jove, Minerva, and\nApollo, if Ulysses is still the man that he was when he wrestled with\nPhilomeleides in Lesbos, and threw him so heavily that all the Greeks\ncheered him\u2014if he is still such, and were to come near these suitors,\nthey would have a short shrift and a sorry wedding. As regards your\nquestion, however, I will not prevaricate nor deceive you, but what the\nold man of the sea told me, so much will I tell you in full. He said he\ncould see Ulysses on an island sorrowing bitterly in the house of the\nnymph Calypso, who was keeping him prisoner, and he could not reach his\nhome, for he had no ships nor sailors to take him over the sea.\u2019 This\nwas what Menelaus told me, and when I had heard his story I came away;\nthe gods then gave me a fair wind and soon brought me safe home again.\u201d\n\nWith these words he moved the heart of Penelope. Then Theoclymenus said\nto her:\n\n\u201cMadam, wife of Ulysses, Telemachus does not understand these things;\nlisten therefore to me, for I can divine them surely, and will hide\nnothing from you. May Jove the king of heaven be my witness, and the\nrites of hospitality, with that hearth of Ulysses to which I now come,\nthat Ulysses himself is even now in Ithaca, and, either going about the\ncountry or staying in one place, is enquiring into all these evil deeds\nand preparing a day of reckoning for the suitors. I saw an omen when I\nwas on the ship which meant this, and I told Telemachus about it.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay it be even so,\u201d answered Penelope; \u201cif your words come true, you\nshall have such gifts and such good will from me that all who see you\nshall congratulate you.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs, or\naiming with spears at a mark on the levelled ground in front of the\nhouse, and behaving with all their old insolence. But when it was now\ntime for dinner, and the flock of sheep and goats had come into the\ntown from all the country round, 140 with their shepherds as usual,\nthen Medon, who was their favourite servant, and who waited upon them\nat table, said, \u201cNow then, my young masters, you have had enough sport,\nso come inside that we may get dinner ready. Dinner is not a bad thing,\nat dinner time.\u201d\n\nThey left their sports as he told them, and when they were within the\nhouse, they laid their cloaks on the benches and seats inside, and then\nsacrificed some sheep, goats, pigs, and a heifer, all of them fat and\nwell grown.141 Thus they made ready for their meal. In the meantime\nUlysses and the swineherd were about starting for the town, and the\nswineherd said, \u201cStranger, I suppose you still want to go to town\nto-day, as my master said you were to do; for my own part I should have\nliked you to stay here as a station hand, but I must do as my master\ntells me, or he will scold me later on, and a scolding from one\u2019s\nmaster is a very serious thing. Let us then be off, for it is now broad\nday; it will be night again directly and then you will find it\ncolder.\u201d142\n\n\u201cI know, and understand you,\u201d replied Ulysses; \u201cyou need say no more.\nLet us be going, but if you have a stick ready cut, let me have it to\nwalk with, for you say the road is a very rough one.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he threw his shabby old tattered wallet over his shoulders,\nby the cord from which it hung, and Eumaeus gave him a stick to his\nliking. The two then started, leaving the station in charge of the dogs\nand herdsmen who remained behind; the swineherd led the way and his\nmaster followed after, looking like some broken down old tramp as he\nleaned upon his staff, and his clothes were all in rags. When they had\ngot over the rough steep ground and were nearing the city, they reached\nthe fountain from which the citizens drew their water. This had been\nmade by Ithacus, Neritus, and Polyctor. There was a grove of\nwater-loving poplars planted in a circle all round it, and the clear\ncold water came down to it from a rock high up,143 while above the\nfountain there was an altar to the nymphs, at which all wayfarers used\nto sacrifice. Here Melanthius son of Dolius overtook them as he was\ndriving down some goats, the best in his flock, for the suitors\u2019\ndinner, and there were two shepherds with him. When he saw Eumaeus and\nUlysses he reviled them with outrageous and unseemly language, which\nmade Ulysses very angry.\n\n\u201cThere you go,\u201d cried he, \u201cand a precious pair you are. See how heaven\nbrings birds of the same feather to one another. Where, pray, master\nswineherd, are you taking this poor miserable object? It would make any\none sick to see such a creature at table. A fellow like this never won\na prize for anything in his life, but will go about rubbing his\nshoulders against every man\u2019s door post, and begging, not for swords\nand cauldrons144 like a man, but only for a few scraps not worth\nbegging for. If you would give him to me for a hand on my station, he\nmight do to clean out the folds, or bring a bit of sweet feed to the\nkids, and he could fatten his thighs as much as he pleased on whey; but\nhe has taken to bad ways and will not go about any kind of work; he\nwill do nothing but beg victuals all the town over, to feed his\ninsatiable belly. I say, therefore\u2014and it shall surely be\u2014if he goes\nnear Ulysses\u2019 house he will get his head broken by the stools they will\nfling at him, till they turn him out.\u201d\n\nOn this, as he passed, he gave Ulysses a kick on the hip out of pure\nwantonness, but Ulysses stood firm, and did not budge from the path.\nFor a moment he doubted whether or no to fly at Melanthius and kill him\nwith his staff, or fling him to the ground and beat his brains out; he\nresolved, however, to endure it and keep himself in check, but the\nswineherd looked straight at Melanthius and rebuked him, lifting up his\nhands and praying to heaven as he did so.\n\n\u201cFountain nymphs,\u201d he cried, \u201cchildren of Jove, if ever Ulysses burned\nyou thigh bones covered with fat whether of lambs or kids, grant my\nprayer that heaven may send him home. He would soon put an end to the\nswaggering threats with which such men as you go about insulting\npeople\u2014gadding all over the town while your flocks are going to ruin\nthrough bad shepherding.\u201d\n\nThen Melanthius the goatherd answered, \u201cYou ill conditioned cur, what\nare you talking about? Some day or other I will put you on board ship\nand take you to a foreign country, where I can sell you and pocket the\nmoney you will fetch. I wish I were as sure that Apollo would strike\nTelemachus dead this very day, or that the suitors would kill him, as I\nam that Ulysses will never come home again.\u201d\n\nWith this he left them to come on at their leisure, while he went\nquickly forward and soon reached the house of his master. When he got\nthere he went in and took his seat among the suitors opposite\nEurymachus, who liked him better than any of the others. The servants\nbrought him a portion of meat, and an upper woman servant set bread\nbefore him that he might eat. Presently Ulysses and the swineherd came\nup to the house and stood by it, amid a sound of music, for Phemius was\njust beginning to sing to the suitors. Then Ulysses took hold of the\nswineherd\u2019s hand, and said:\n\n\u201cEumaeus, this house of Ulysses is a very fine place. No matter how far\nyou go, you will find few like it. One building keeps following on\nafter another. The outer court has a wall with battlements all round\nit; the doors are double folding, and of good workmanship; it would be\na hard matter to take it by force of arms. I perceive, too, that there\nare many people banqueting within it, for there is a smell of roast\nmeat, and I hear a sound of music, which the gods have made to go along\nwith feasting.\u201d\n\nThen Eumaeus said, \u201cYou have perceived aright, as indeed you generally\ndo; but let us think what will be our best course. Will you go inside\nfirst and join the suitors, leaving me here behind you, or will you\nwait here and let me go in first? But do not wait long, or some one may\nsee you loitering about outside, and throw something at you. Consider\nthis matter I pray you.\u201d\n\nAnd Ulysses answered, \u201cI understand and heed. Go in first and leave me\nhere where I am. I am quite used to being beaten and having things\nthrown at me. I have been so much buffeted about in war and by sea that\nI am case-hardened, and this too may go with the rest. But a man cannot\nhide away the cravings of a hungry belly; this is an enemy which gives\nmuch trouble to all men; it is because of this that ships are fitted\nout to sail the seas, and to make war upon other people.\u201d\n\nAs they were thus talking, a dog that had been lying asleep raised his\nhead and pricked up his ears. This was Argos, whom Ulysses had bred\nbefore setting out for Troy, but he had never had any work out of him.\nIn the old days he used to be taken out by the young men when they went\nhunting wild goats, or deer, or hares, but now that his master was gone\nhe was lying neglected on the heaps of mule and cow dung that lay in\nfront of the stable doors till the men should come and draw it away to\nmanure the great close; and he was full of fleas. As soon as he saw\nUlysses standing there, he dropped his ears and wagged his tail, but he\ncould not get close up to his master. When Ulysses saw the dog on the\nother side of the yard, he dashed a tear from his eyes without Eumaeus\nseeing it, and said:\n\n\u201cEumaeus, what a noble hound that is over yonder on the manure heap:\nhis build is splendid; is he as fine a fellow as he looks, or is he\nonly one of those dogs that come begging about a table, and are kept\nmerely for show?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis hound,\u201d answered Eumaeus, \u201cbelonged to him who has died in a far\ncountry. If he were what he was when Ulysses left for Troy, he would\nsoon show you what he could do. There was not a wild beast in the\nforest that could get away from him when he was once on its tracks. But\nnow he has fallen on evil times, for his master is dead and gone, and\nthe women take no care of him. Servants never do their work when their\nmaster\u2019s hand is no longer over them, for Jove takes half the goodness\nout of a man when he makes a slave of him.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he went inside the buildings to the cloister where the\nsuitors were, but Argos died as soon as he had recognised his master.\n\nTelemachus saw Eumaeus long before any one else did, and beckoned him\nto come and sit beside him; so he looked about and saw a seat lying\nnear where the carver sat serving out their portions to the suitors; he\npicked it up, brought it to Telemachus\u2019s table, and sat down opposite\nhim. Then the servant brought him his portion, and gave him bread from\nthe bread-basket.\n\nImmediately afterwards Ulysses came inside, looking like a poor\nmiserable old beggar, leaning on his staff and with his clothes all in\nrags. He sat down upon the threshold of ash-wood just inside the doors\nleading from the outer to the inner court, and against a bearing-post\nof cypress-wood which the carpenter had skilfully planed, and had made\nto join truly with rule and line. Telemachus took a whole loaf from the\nbread-basket, with as much meat as he could hold in his two hands, and\nsaid to Eumaeus, \u201cTake this to the stranger, and tell him to go the\nround of the suitors, and beg from them; a beggar must not be\nshamefaced.\u201d\n\nSo Eumaeus went up to him and said, \u201cStranger, Telemachus sends you\nthis, and says you are to go the round of the suitors begging, for\nbeggars must not be shamefaced.\u201d\n\nUlysses answered, \u201cMay King Jove grant all happiness to Telemachus, and\nfulfil the desire of his heart.\u201d\n\nThen with both hands he took what Telemachus had sent him, and laid it\non the dirty old wallet at his feet. He went on eating it while the\nbard was singing, and had just finished his dinner as he left off. The\nsuitors applauded the bard, whereon Minerva went up to Ulysses and\nprompted him to beg pieces of bread from each one of the suitors, that\nhe might see what kind of people they were, and tell the good from the\nbad; but come what might she was not going to save a single one of\nthem. Ulysses, therefore, went on his round, going from left to right,\nand stretched out his hands to beg as though he were a real beggar.\nSome of them pitied him, and were curious about him, asking one another\nwho he was and where he came from; whereon the goatherd Melanthius\nsaid, \u201cSuitors of my noble mistress, I can tell you something about\nhim, for I have seen him before. The swineherd brought him here, but I\nknow nothing about the man himself, nor where he comes from.\u201d\n\nOn this Antinous began to abuse the swineherd. \u201cYou precious idiot,\u201d he\ncried, \u201cwhat have you brought this man to town for? Have we not tramps\nand beggars enough already to pester us as we sit at meat? Do you think\nit a small thing that such people gather here to waste your master\u2019s\nproperty\u2014and must you needs bring this man as well?\u201d\n\nAnd Eumaeus answered, \u201cAntinous, your birth is good but your words\nevil. It was no doing of mine that he came here. Who is likely to\ninvite a stranger from a foreign country, unless it be one of those who\ncan do public service as a seer, a healer of hurts, a carpenter, or a\nbard who can charm us with his singing? Such men are welcome all the\nworld over, but no one is likely to ask a beggar who will only worry\nhim. You are always harder on Ulysses\u2019 servants than any of the other\nsuitors are, and above all on me, but I do not care so long as\nTelemachus and Penelope are alive and here.\u201d\n\nBut Telemachus said, \u201cHush, do not answer him; Antinous has the\nbitterest tongue of all the suitors, and he makes the others worse.\u201d\n\nThen turning to Antinous he said, \u201cAntinous, you take as much care of\nmy interests as though I were your son. Why should you want to see this\nstranger turned out of the house? Heaven forbid; take something and\ngive it him yourself; I do not grudge it; I bid you take it. Never mind\nmy mother, nor any of the other servants in the house; but I know you\nwill not do what I say, for you are more fond of eating things yourself\nthan of giving them to other people.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you mean, Telemachus,\u201d replied Antinous, \u201cby this swaggering\ntalk? If all the suitors were to give him as much as I will, he would\nnot come here again for another three months.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he drew the stool on which he rested his dainty feet from\nunder the table, and made as though he would throw it at Ulysses, but\nthe other suitors all gave him something, and filled his wallet with\nbread and meat; he was about, therefore, to go back to the threshold\nand eat what the suitors had given him, but he first went up to\nAntinous and said:\n\n\u201cSir, give me something; you are not, surely, the poorest man here; you\nseem to be a chief, foremost among them all; therefore you should be\nthe better giver, and I will tell far and wide of your bounty. I too\nwas a rich man once, and had a fine house of my own; in those days I\ngave to many a tramp such as I now am, no matter who he might be nor\nwhat he wanted. I had any number of servants, and all the other things\nwhich people have who live well and are accounted wealthy, but it\npleased Jove to take all away from me. He sent me with a band of roving\nrobbers to Egypt; it was a long voyage and I was undone by it. I\nstationed my ships in the river Aegyptus, and bade my men stay by them\nand keep guard over them, while I sent out scouts to reconnoitre from\nevery point of vantage.\n\n\u201cBut the men disobeyed my orders, took to their own devices, and\nravaged the land of the Egyptians, killing the men, and taking their\nwives and children captives. The alarm was soon carried to the city,\nand when they heard the war-cry, the people came out at daybreak till\nthe plain was filled with soldiers horse and foot, and with the gleam\nof armour. Then Jove spread panic among my men, and they would no\nlonger face the enemy, for they found themselves surrounded. The\nEgyptians killed many of us, and took the rest alive to do forced\nlabour for them; as for myself, they gave me to a friend who met them,\nto take to Cyprus, Dmetor by name, son of Iasus, who was a great man in\nCyprus. Thence I am come hither in a state of great misery.\u201d\n\nThen Antinous said, \u201cWhat god can have sent such a pestilence to plague\nus during our dinner? Get out, into the open part of the court,145 or I\nwill give you Egypt and Cyprus over again for your insolence and\nimportunity; you have begged of all the others, and they have given you\nlavishly, for they have abundance round them, and it is easy to be free\nwith other people\u2019s property when there is plenty of it.\u201d\n\nOn this Ulysses began to move off, and said, \u201cYour looks, my fine sir,\nare better than your breeding; if you were in your own house you would\nnot spare a poor man so much as a pinch of salt, for though you are in\nanother man\u2019s, and surrounded with abundance, you cannot find it in you\nto give him even a piece of bread.\u201d\n\nThis made Antinous very angry, and he scowled at him saying, \u201cYou shall\npay for this before you get clear of the court.\u201d With these words he\nthrew a footstool at him, and hit him on the right shoulder blade near\nthe top of his back. Ulysses stood firm as a rock and the blow did not\neven stagger him, but he shook his head in silence as he brooded on his\nrevenge. Then he went back to the threshold and sat down there, laying\nhis well filled wallet at his feet.\n\n\u201cListen to me,\u201d he cried, \u201cyou suitors of Queen Penelope, that I may\nspeak even as I am minded. A man knows neither ache nor pain if he gets\nhit while fighting for his money, or for his sheep or his cattle; and\neven so Antinous has hit me while in the service of my miserable belly,\nwhich is always getting people into trouble. Still, if the poor have\ngods and avenging deities at all, I pray them that Antinous may come to\na bad end before his marriage.\u201d\n\n\u201cSit where you are, and eat your victuals in silence, or be off\nelsewhere,\u201d shouted Antinous. \u201cIf you say more I will have you dragged\nhand and foot through the courts, and the servants shall flay you\nalive.\u201d\n\nThe other suitors were much displeased at this, and one of the young\nmen said, \u201cAntinous, you did ill in striking that poor wretch of a\ntramp: it will be worse for you if he should turn out to be some\ngod\u2014and we know the gods go about disguised in all sorts of ways as\npeople from foreign countries, and travel about the world to see who do\namiss and who righteously.\u201d146\n\nThus said the suitors, but Antinous paid them no heed. Meanwhile\nTelemachus was furious about the blow that had been given to his\nfather, and though no tear fell from him, he shook his head in silence\nand brooded on his revenge.\n\nNow when Penelope heard that the beggar had been struck in the\nbanqueting-cloister, she said before her maids, \u201cWould that Apollo\nwould so strike you, Antinous,\u201d and her waiting woman Eurynome\nanswered, \u201cIf our prayers were answered not one of the suitors would\never again see the sun rise.\u201d Then Penelope said, \u201cNurse,147 I hate\nevery single one of them, for they mean nothing but mischief, but I\nhate Antinous like the darkness of death itself. A poor unfortunate\ntramp has come begging about the house for sheer want. Every one else\nhas given him something to put in his wallet, but Antinous has hit him\non the right shoulder-blade with a footstool.\u201d\n\nThus did she talk with her maids as she sat in her own room, and in the\nmeantime Ulysses was getting his dinner. Then she called for the\nswineherd and said, \u201cEumaeus, go and tell the stranger to come here, I\nwant to see him and ask him some questions. He seems to have travelled\nmuch, and he may have seen or heard something of my unhappy husband.\u201d\n\nTo this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, \u201cIf these Achaeans, Madam,\nwould only keep quiet, you would be charmed with the history of his\nadventures. I had him three days and three nights with me in my hut,\nwhich was the first place he reached after running away from his ship,\nand he has not yet completed the story of his misfortunes. If he had\nbeen the most heaven-taught minstrel in the whole world, on whose lips\nall hearers hang entranced, I could not have been more charmed as I sat\nin my hut and listened to him. He says there is an old friendship\nbetween his house and that of Ulysses, and that he comes from Crete\nwhere the descendants of Minos live, after having been driven hither\nand thither by every kind of misfortune; he also declares that he has\nheard of Ulysses as being alive and near at hand among the\nThesprotians, and that he is bringing great wealth home with him.\u201d\n\n\u201cCall him here, then,\u201d said Penelope, \u201cthat I too may hear his story.\nAs for the suitors, let them take their pleasure indoors or out as they\nwill, for they have nothing to fret about. Their corn and wine remain\nunwasted in their houses with none but servants to consume them, while\nthey keep hanging about our house day after day sacrificing our oxen,\nsheep, and fat goats for their banquets, and never giving so much as a\nthought to the quantity of wine they drink. No estate can stand such\nrecklessness, for we have now no Ulysses to protect us. If he were to\ncome again, he and his son would soon have their revenge.\u201d\n\nAs she spoke Telemachus sneezed so loudly that the whole house\nresounded with it. Penelope laughed when she heard this, and said to\nEumaeus, \u201cGo and call the stranger; did you not hear how my son sneezed\njust as I was speaking? This can only mean that all the suitors are\ngoing to be killed, and that not one of them shall escape. Furthermore\nI say, and lay my saying to your heart: if I am satisfied that the\nstranger is speaking the truth I shall give him a shirt and cloak of\ngood wear.\u201d\n\nWhen Eumaeus heard this he went straight to Ulysses and said, \u201cFather\nstranger, my mistress Penelope, mother of Telemachus, has sent for you;\nshe is in great grief, but she wishes to hear anything you can tell her\nabout her husband, and if she is satisfied that you are speaking the\ntruth, she will give you a shirt and cloak, which are the very things\nthat you are most in want of. As for bread, you can get enough of that\nto fill your belly, by begging about the town, and letting those give\nthat will.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will tell Penelope,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cnothing but what is strictly\ntrue. I know all about her husband, and have been partner with him in\naffliction, but I am afraid of passing through this crowd of cruel\nsuitors, for their pride and insolence reach heaven. Just now,\nmoreover, as I was going about the house without doing any harm, a man\ngave me a blow that hurt me very much, but neither Telemachus nor any\none else defended me. Tell Penelope, therefore, to be patient and wait\ntill sundown. Let her give me a seat close up to the fire, for my\nclothes are worn very thin\u2014you know they are, for you have seen them\never since I first asked you to help me\u2014she can then ask me about the\nreturn of her husband.\u201d\n\nThe swineherd went back when he heard this, and Penelope said as she\nsaw him cross the threshold, \u201cWhy do you not bring him here, Eumaeus?\nIs he afraid that some one will ill-treat him, or is he shy of coming\ninside the house at all? Beggars should not be shamefaced.\u201d\n\nTo this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, \u201cThe stranger is quite\nreasonable. He is avoiding the suitors, and is only doing what any one\nelse would do. He asks you to wait till sundown, and it will be much\nbetter, madam, that you should have him all to yourself, when you can\nhear him and talk to him as you will.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe man is no fool,\u201d answered Penelope, \u201cit would very likely be as he\nsays, for there are no such abominable people in the whole world as\nthese men are.\u201d\n\nWhen she had done speaking Eumaeus went back to the suitors, for he had\nexplained everything. Then he went up to Telemachus and said in his ear\nso that none could overhear him, \u201cMy dear sir, I will now go back to\nthe pigs, to see after your property and my own business. You will look\nto what is going on here, but above all be careful to keep out of\ndanger, for there are many who bear you ill will. May Jove bring them\nto a bad end before they do us a mischief.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d replied Telemachus, \u201cgo home when you have had your\ndinner, and in the morning come here with the victims we are to\nsacrifice for the day. Leave the rest to heaven and me.\u201d\n\nOn this Eumaeus took his seat again, and when he had finished his\ndinner he left the courts and the cloister with the men at table, and\nwent back to his pigs. As for the suitors, they presently began to\namuse themselves with singing and dancing, for it was now getting on\ntowards evening.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XVIII\n\n\nTHE FIGHT WITH IRUS\u2014ULYSSES WARNS AMPHINOMUS\u2014PENELOPE GETS PRESENTS\nFROM THE SUITORS\u2014THE BRAZIERS\u2014ULYSSES REBUKES EURYMACHUS.\n\n\nNow there came a certain common tramp who used to go begging all over\nthe city of Ithaca, and was notorious as an incorrigible glutton and\ndrunkard. This man had no strength nor stay in him, but he was a great\nhulking fellow to look at; his real name, the one his mother gave him,\nwas Arnaeus, but the young men of the place called him Irus,148 because\nhe used to run errands for any one who would send him. As soon as he\ncame he began to insult Ulysses, and to try and drive him out of his\nown house.\n\n\u201cBe off, old man,\u201d he cried, \u201cfrom the doorway, or you shall be dragged\nout neck and heels. Do you not see that they are all giving me the\nwink, and wanting me to turn you out by force, only I do not like to do\nso? Get up then, and go of yourself, or we shall come to blows.\u201d\n\nUlysses frowned on him and said, \u201cMy friend, I do you no manner of\nharm; people give you a great deal, but I am not jealous. There is room\nenough in this doorway for the pair of us, and you need not grudge me\nthings that are not yours to give. You seem to be just such another\ntramp as myself, but perhaps the gods will give us better luck by and\nby. Do not, however, talk too much about fighting or you will incense\nme, and old though I am, I shall cover your mouth and chest with blood.\nI shall have more peace tomorrow if I do, for you will not come to the\nhouse of Ulysses any more.\u201d\n\nIrus was very angry and answered, \u201cYou filthy glutton, you run on\ntrippingly like an old fish-fag. I have a good mind to lay both hands\nabout you, and knock your teeth out of your head like so many boar\u2019s\ntusks. Get ready, therefore, and let these people here stand by and\nlook on. You will never be able to fight one who is so much younger\nthan yourself.\u201d\n\nThus roundly did they rate one another on the smooth pavement in front\nof the doorway,149 and when Antinous saw what was going on he laughed\nheartily and said to the others, \u201cThis is the finest sport that you\never saw; heaven never yet sent anything like it into this house. The\nstranger and Irus have quarreled and are going to fight, let us set\nthem on to do so at once.\u201d\n\nThe suitors all came up laughing, and gathered round the two ragged\ntramps. \u201cListen to me,\u201d said Antinous, \u201cthere are some goats\u2019 paunches\ndown at the fire, which we have filled with blood and fat, and set\naside for supper; he who is victorious and proves himself to be the\nbetter man shall have his pick of the lot; he shall be free of our\ntable and we will not allow any other beggar about the house at all.\u201d\n\nThe others all agreed, but Ulysses, to throw them off the scent, said,\n\u201cSirs, an old man like myself, worn out with suffering, cannot hold his\nown against a young one; but my irrepressible belly urges me on, though\nI know it can only end in my getting a drubbing. You must swear,\nhowever that none of you will give me a foul blow to favour Irus and\nsecure him the victory.\u201d\n\nThey swore as he told them, and when they had completed their oath\nTelemachus put in a word and said, \u201cStranger, if you have a mind to\nsettle with this fellow, you need not be afraid of any one here.\nWhoever strikes you will have to fight more than one. I am host, and\nthe other chiefs, Antinous and Eurymachus, both of them men of\nunderstanding, are of the same mind as I am.\u201d\n\nEvery one assented, and Ulysses girded his old rags about his loins,\nthus baring his stalwart thighs, his broad chest and shoulders, and his\nmighty arms; but Minerva came up to him and made his limbs even\nstronger still. The suitors were beyond measure astonished, and one\nwould turn towards his neighbour saying, \u201cThe stranger has brought such\na thigh out of his old rags that there will soon be nothing left of\nIrus.\u201d\n\nIrus began to be very uneasy as he heard them, but the servants girded\nhim by force, and brought him [into the open part of the court] in such\na fright that his limbs were all of a tremble. Antinous scolded him and\nsaid, \u201cYou swaggering bully, you ought never to have been born at all\nif you are afraid of such an old broken down creature as this tramp is.\nI say, therefore\u2014and it shall surely be\u2014if he beats you and proves\nhimself the better man, I shall pack you off on board ship to the\nmainland and send you to king Echetus, who kills every one that comes\nnear him. He will cut off your nose and ears, and draw out your\nentrails for the dogs to eat.\u201d\n\nThis frightened Irus still more, but they brought him into the middle\nof the court, and the two men raised their hands to fight. Then Ulysses\nconsidered whether he should let drive so hard at him as to make an end\nof him then and there, or whether he should give him a lighter blow\nthat should only knock him down; in the end he deemed it best to give\nthe lighter blow for fear the Achaeans should begin to suspect who he\nwas. Then they began to fight, and Irus hit Ulysses on the right\nshoulder; but Ulysses gave Irus a blow on the neck under the ear that\nbroke in the bones of his skull, and the blood came gushing out of his\nmouth; he fell groaning in the dust, gnashing his teeth and kicking on\nthe ground, but the suitors threw up their hands and nearly died of\nlaughter, as Ulysses caught hold of him by the foot and dragged him\ninto the outer court as far as the gate-house. There he propped him up\nagainst the wall and put his staff in his hands. \u201cSit here,\u201d said he,\n\u201cand keep the dogs and pigs off; you are a pitiful creature, and if you\ntry to make yourself king of the beggars any more you shall fare still\nworse.\u201d\n\nThen he threw his dirty old wallet, all tattered and torn over his\nshoulder with the cord by which it hung, and went back to sit down upon\nthe threshold; but the suitors went within the cloisters, laughing and\nsaluting him, \u201cMay Jove, and all the other gods,\u201d said they, \u201cgrant you\nwhatever you want for having put an end to the importunity of this\ninsatiable tramp. We will take him over to the mainland presently, to\nking Echetus, who kills every one that comes near him.\u201d\n\nUlysses hailed this as of good omen, and Antinous set a great goat\u2019s\npaunch before him filled with blood and fat. Amphinomus took two loaves\nout of the bread-basket and brought them to him, pledging him as he did\nso in a golden goblet of wine. \u201cGood luck to you,\u201d he said, \u201cfather\nstranger, you are very badly off at present, but I hope you will have\nbetter times by and by.\u201d\n\nTo this Ulysses answered, \u201cAmphinomus, you seem to be a man of good\nunderstanding, as indeed you may well be, seeing whose son you are. I\nhave heard your father well spoken of; he is Nisus of Dulichium, a man\nboth brave and wealthy. They tell me you are his son, and you appear to\nbe a considerable person; listen, therefore, and take heed to what I am\nsaying. Man is the vainest of all creatures that have their being upon\nearth. As long as heaven vouchsafes him health and strength, he thinks\nthat he shall come to no harm hereafter, and even when the blessed gods\nbring sorrow upon him, he bears it as he needs must, and makes the best\nof it; for God almighty gives men their daily minds day by day. I know\nall about it, for I was a rich man once, and did much wrong in the\nstubbornness of my pride, and in the confidence that my father and my\nbrothers would support me; therefore let a man fear God in all things\nalways, and take the good that heaven may see fit to send him without\nvain glory. Consider the infamy of what these suitors are doing; see\nhow they are wasting the estate, and doing dishonour to the wife, of\none who is certain to return some day, and that, too, not long hence.\nNay, he will be here soon; may heaven send you home quietly first that\nyou may not meet with him in the day of his coming, for once he is here\nthe suitors and he will not part bloodlessly.\u201d\n\nWith these words he made a drink-offering, and when he had drunk he put\nthe gold cup again into the hands of Amphinomus, who walked away\nserious and bowing his head, for he foreboded evil. But even so he did\nnot escape destruction, for Minerva had doomed him to fall by the hand\nof Telemachus. So he took his seat again at the place from which he had\ncome.\n\nThen Minerva put it into the mind of Penelope to show herself to the\nsuitors, that she might make them still more enamoured of her, and win\nstill further honour from her son and husband. So she feigned a mocking\nlaugh and said, \u201cEurynome, I have changed my mind, and have a fancy to\nshow myself to the suitors although I detest them. I should like also\nto give my son a hint that he had better not have anything more to do\nwith them. They speak fairly enough but they mean mischief.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear child,\u201d answered Eurynome, \u201call that you have said is true, go\nand tell your son about it, but first wash yourself and anoint your\nface. Do not go about with your cheeks all covered with tears; it is\nnot right that you should grieve so incessantly; for Telemachus, whom\nyou always prayed that you might live to see with a beard, is already\ngrown up.\u201d\n\n\u201cI know, Eurynome,\u201d replied Penelope, \u201cthat you mean well, but do not\ntry and persuade me to wash and to anoint myself, for heaven robbed me\nof all my beauty on the day my husband sailed; nevertheless, tell\nAutonoe and Hippodamia that I want them. They must be with me when I am\nin the cloister; I am not going among the men alone; it would not be\nproper for me to do so.\u201d\n\nOn this the old woman150 went out of the room to bid the maids go to\ntheir mistress. In the meantime Minerva bethought her of another\nmatter, and sent Penelope off into a sweet slumber; so she lay down on\nher couch and her limbs became heavy with sleep. Then the goddess shed\ngrace and beauty over her that all the Achaeans might admire her. She\nwashed her face with the ambrosial loveliness that Venus wears when she\ngoes dancing with the Graces; she made her taller and of a more\ncommanding figure, while as for her complexion it was whiter than sawn\nivory. When Minerva had done all this she went away, whereon the maids\ncame in from the women\u2019s room and woke Penelope with the sound of their\ntalking.\n\n\u201cWhat an exquisitely delicious sleep I have been having,\u201d said she, as\nshe passed her hands over her face, \u201cin spite of all my misery. I wish\nDiana would let me die so sweetly now at this very moment, that I might\nno longer waste in despair for the loss of my dear husband, who\npossessed every kind of good quality and was the most distinguished man\namong the Achaeans.\u201d\n\nWith these words she came down from her upper room, not alone but\nattended by two of her maidens, and when she reached the suitors she\nstood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister,\nholding a veil before her face, and with a staid maid servant on either\nside of her. As they beheld her the suitors were so overpowered and\nbecame so desperately enamoured of her, that each one prayed he might\nwin her for his own bed fellow.\n\n\u201cTelemachus,\u201d said she, addressing her son, \u201cI fear you are no longer\nso discreet and well conducted as you used to be. When you were younger\nyou had a greater sense of propriety; now, however, that you are grown\nup, though a stranger to look at you would take you for the son of a\nwell to do father as far as size and good looks go, your conduct is by\nno means what it should be. What is all this disturbance that has been\ngoing on, and how came you to allow a stranger to be so disgracefully\nill-treated? What would have happened if he had suffered serious injury\nwhile a suppliant in our house? Surely this would have been very\ndiscreditable to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not surprised, my dear mother, at your displeasure,\u201d replied\nTelemachus, \u201cI understand all about it and know when things are not as\nthey should be, which I could not do when I was younger; I cannot,\nhowever, behave with perfect propriety at all times. First one and then\nanother of these wicked people here keeps driving me out of my mind,\nand I have no one to stand by me. After all, however, this fight\nbetween Irus and the stranger did not turn out as the suitors meant it\nto do, for the stranger got the best of it. I wish Father Jove,\nMinerva, and Apollo would break the neck of every one of these wooers\nof yours, some inside the house and some out; and I wish they might all\nbe as limp as Irus is over yonder in the gate of the outer court. See\nhow he nods his head like a drunken man; he has had such a thrashing\nthat he cannot stand on his feet nor get back to his home, wherever\nthat may be, for he has no strength left in him.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse. Eurymachus then came up and said, \u201cQueen\nPenelope, daughter of Icarius, if all the Achaeans in Iasian Argos\ncould see you at this moment, you would have still more suitors in your\nhouse by tomorrow morning, for you are the most admirable woman in the\nwhole world both as regards personal beauty and strength of\nunderstanding.\u201d\n\nTo this Penelope replied, \u201cEurymachus, heaven robbed me of all my\nbeauty whether of face or figure when the Argives set sail for Troy and\nmy dear husband with them. If he were to return and look after my\naffairs, I should both be more respected and show a better presence to\nthe world. As it is, I am oppressed with care, and with the afflictions\nwhich heaven has seen fit to heap upon me. My husband foresaw it all,\nand when he was leaving home he took my right wrist in his hand\u2014\u2018Wife,\u2019\nhe said, \u2018we shall not all of us come safe home from Troy, for the\nTrojans fight well both with bow and spear. They are excellent also at\nfighting from chariots, and nothing decides the issue of a fight sooner\nthan this. I know not, therefore, whether heaven will send me back to\nyou, or whether I may not fall over there at Troy. In the meantime do\nyou look after things here. Take care of my father and mother as at\npresent, and even more so during my absence, but when you see our son\ngrowing a beard, then marry whom you will, and leave this your present\nhome.\u2019 This is what he said and now it is all coming true. A night will\ncome when I shall have to yield myself to a marriage which I detest,\nfor Jove has taken from me all hope of happiness. This further grief,\nmoreover, cuts me to the very heart. You suitors are not wooing me\nafter the custom of my country. When men are courting a woman who they\nthink will be a good wife to them and who is of noble birth, and when\nthey are each trying to win her for himself, they usually bring oxen\nand sheep to feast the friends of the lady, and they make her\nmagnificent presents, instead of eating up other people\u2019s property\nwithout paying for it.\u201d\n\nThis was what she said, and Ulysses was glad when he heard her trying\nto get presents out of the suitors, and flattering them with fair words\nwhich he knew she did not mean.\n\nThen Antinous said, \u201cQueen Penelope, daughter of Icarius, take as many\npresents as you please from any one who will give them to you; it is\nnot well to refuse a present; but we will not go about our business nor\nstir from where we are, till you have married the best man among us\nwhoever he may be.\u201d\n\nThe others applauded what Antinous had said, and each one sent his\nservant to bring his present. Antinous\u2019s man returned with a large and\nlovely dress most exquisitely embroidered. It had twelve beautifully\nmade brooch pins of pure gold with which to fasten it. Eurymachus\nimmediately brought her a magnificent chain of gold and amber beads\nthat gleamed like sunlight. Eurydamas\u2019s two men returned with some\nearrings fashioned into three brilliant pendants which glistened most\nbeautifully; while king Pisander son of Polyctor gave her a necklace of\nthe rarest workmanship, and every one else brought her a beautiful\npresent of some kind.\n\nThen the queen went back to her room upstairs, and her maids brought\nthe presents after her. Meanwhile the suitors took to singing and\ndancing, and stayed till evening came. They danced and sang till it\ngrew dark; they then brought in three braziers151 to give light, and\npiled them up with chopped firewood very old and dry, and they lit\ntorches from them, which the maids held up turn and turn about. Then\nUlysses said:\n\n\u201cMaids, servants of Ulysses who has so long been absent, go to the\nqueen inside the house; sit with her and amuse her, or spin, and pick\nwool. I will hold the light for all these people. They may stay till\nmorning, but shall not beat me, for I can stand a great deal.\u201d\n\nThe maids looked at one another and laughed, while pretty Melantho\nbegan to gibe at him contemptuously. She was daughter to Dolius, but\nhad been brought up by Penelope, who used to give her toys to play\nwith, and looked after her when she was a child; but in spite of all\nthis she showed no consideration for the sorrows of her mistress, and\nused to misconduct herself with Eurymachus, with whom she was in love.\n\n\u201cPoor wretch,\u201d said she, \u201care you gone clean out of your mind? Go and\nsleep in some smithy, or place of public gossips, instead of chattering\nhere. Are you not ashamed of opening your mouth before your betters\u2014so\nmany of them too? Has the wine been getting into your head, or do you\nalways babble in this way? You seem to have lost your wits because you\nbeat the tramp Irus; take care that a better man than he does not come\nand cudgel you about the head till he pack you bleeding out of the\nhouse.\u201d\n\n\u201cVixen,\u201d replied Ulysses, scowling at her, \u201cI will go and tell\nTelemachus what you have been saying, and he will have you torn limb\nfrom limb.\u201d\n\nWith these words he scared the women, and they went off into the body\nof the house. They trembled all over, for they thought he would do as\nhe said. But Ulysses took his stand near the burning braziers, holding\nup torches and looking at the people\u2014brooding the while on things that\nshould surely come to pass.\n\nBut Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment cease their\ninsolence, for she wanted Ulysses to become even more bitter against\nthem; she therefore set Eurymachus son of Polybus on to gibe at him,\nwhich made the others laugh. \u201cListen to me,\u201d said he, \u201cyou suitors of\nQueen Penelope, that I may speak even as I am minded. It is not for\nnothing that this man has come to the house of Ulysses; I believe the\nlight has not been coming from the torches, but from his own head\u2014for\nhis hair is all gone, every bit of it.\u201d\n\nThen turning to Ulysses he said, \u201cStranger, will you work as a servant,\nif I send you to the wolds and see that you are well paid? Can you\nbuild a stone fence, or plant trees? I will have you fed all the year\nround, and will find you in shoes and clothing. Will you go, then? Not\nyou; for you have got into bad ways, and do not want to work; you had\nrather fill your belly by going round the country begging.\u201d\n\n\u201cEurymachus,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cif you and I were to work one against\nthe other in early summer when the days are at their longest\u2014give me a\ngood scythe, and take another yourself, and let us see which will last\nthe longer or mow the stronger, from dawn till dark when the mowing\ngrass is about. Or if you will plough against me, let us each take a\nyoke of tawny oxen, well-mated and of great strength and endurance:\nturn me into a four acre field, and see whether you or I can drive the\nstraighter furrow. If, again, war were to break out this day, give me a\nshield, a couple of spears and a helmet fitting well upon my\ntemples\u2014you would find me foremost in the fray, and would cease your\ngibes about my belly. You are insolent and cruel, and think yourself a\ngreat man because you live in a little world, and that a bad one. If\nUlysses comes to his own again, the doors of his house are wide, but\nyou will find them narrow when you try to fly through them.\u201d\n\nEurymachus was furious at all this. He scowled at him and cried, \u201cYou\nwretch, I will soon pay you out for daring to say such things to me,\nand in public too. Has the wine been getting into your head or do you\nalways babble in this way? You seem to have lost your wits because you\nbeat the tramp Irus.\u201d With this he caught hold of a footstool, but\nUlysses sought protection at the knees of Amphinomus of Dulichium, for\nhe was afraid. The stool hit the cupbearer on his right hand and\nknocked him down: the man fell with a cry flat on his back, and his\nwine-jug fell ringing to the ground. The suitors in the covered\ncloister were now in an uproar, and one would turn towards his\nneighbour, saying, \u201cI wish the stranger had gone somewhere else, bad\nluck to him, for all the trouble he gives us. We cannot permit such\ndisturbance about a beggar; if such ill counsels are to prevail we\nshall have no more pleasure at our banquet.\u201d\n\nOn this Telemachus came forward and said, \u201cSirs, are you mad? Can you\nnot carry your meat and your liquor decently? Some evil spirit has\npossessed you. I do not wish to drive any of you away, but you have had\nyour suppers, and the sooner you all go home to bed the better.\u201d\n\nThe suitors bit their lips and marvelled at the boldness of his speech;\nbut Amphinomus the son of Nisus, who was son to Aretias, said, \u201cDo not\nlet us take offence; it is reasonable, so let us make no answer.\nNeither let us do violence to the stranger nor to any of Ulysses\u2019\nservants. Let the cupbearer go round with the drink-offerings, that we\nmay make them and go home to our rest. As for the stranger, let us\nleave Telemachus to deal with him, for it is to his house that he has\ncome.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak, and his saying pleased them well, so Mulius of\nDulichium, servant to Amphinomus, mixed them a bowl of wine and water\nand handed it round to each of them man by man, whereon they made their\ndrink-offerings to the blessed gods: Then, when they had made their\ndrink-offerings and had drunk each one as he was minded, they took\ntheir several ways each of them to his own abode.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XIX\n\n\nTELEMACHUS AND ULYSSES REMOVE THE ARMOUR\u2014ULYSSES INTERVIEWS\nPENELOPE\u2014EURYCLEA WASHES HIS FEET AND RECOGNISES THE SCAR ON HIS\nLEG\u2014PENELOPE TELLS HER DREAM TO ULYSSES.\n\n\nUlysses was left in the cloister, pondering on the means whereby with\nMinerva\u2019s help he might be able to kill the suitors. Presently he said\nto Telemachus, \u201cTelemachus, we must get the armour together and take it\ndown inside. Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you have\nremoved it. Say that you have taken it to be out of the way of the\nsmoke, inasmuch as it is no longer what it was when Ulysses went away,\nbut has become soiled and begrimed with soot. Add to this more\nparticularly that you are afraid Jove may set them on to quarrel over\ntheir wine, and that they may do each other some harm which may\ndisgrace both banquet and wooing, for the sight of arms sometimes\ntempts people to use them.\u201d\n\nTelemachus approved of what his father had said, so he called nurse\nEuryclea and said, \u201cNurse, shut the women up in their room, while I\ntake the armour that my father left behind him down into the store\nroom. No one looks after it now my father is gone, and it has got all\nsmirched with soot during my own boyhood. I want to take it down where\nthe smoke cannot reach it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wish, child,\u201d answered Euryclea, \u201cthat you would take the management\nof the house into your own hands altogether, and look after all the\nproperty yourself. But who is to go with you and light you to the\nstore-room? The maids would have done so, but you would not let them.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe stranger,\u201d said Telemachus, \u201cshall show me a light; when people\neat my bread they must earn it, no matter where they come from.\u201d\n\nEuryclea did as she was told, and bolted the women inside their room.\nThen Ulysses and his son made all haste to take the helmets, shields,\nand spears inside; and Minerva went before them with a gold lamp in her\nhand that shed a soft and brilliant radiance, whereon Telemachus said,\n\u201cFather, my eyes behold a great marvel: the walls, with the rafters,\ncrossbeams, and the supports on which they rest are all aglow as with a\nflaming fire. Surely there is some god here who has come down from\nheaven.\u201d\n\n\u201cHush,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201chold your peace and ask no questions, for\nthis is the manner of the gods. Get you to your bed, and leave me here\nto talk with your mother and the maids. Your mother in her grief will\nask me all sorts of questions.\u201d\n\nOn this Telemachus went by torch-light to the other side of the inner\ncourt, to the room in which he always slept. There he lay in his bed\ntill morning, while Ulysses was left in the cloister pondering on the\nmeans whereby with Minerva\u2019s help he might be able to kill the suitors.\n\nThen Penelope came down from her room looking like Venus or Diana, and\nthey set her a seat inlaid with scrolls of silver and ivory near the\nfire in her accustomed place. It had been made by Icmalius and had a\nfootstool all in one piece with the seat itself; and it was covered\nwith a thick fleece: on this she now sat, and the maids came from the\nwomen\u2019s room to join her. They set about removing the tables at which\nthe wicked suitors had been dining, and took away the bread that was\nleft, with the cups from which they had drunk. They emptied the embers\nout of the braziers, and heaped much wood upon them to give both light\nand heat; but Melantho began to rail at Ulysses a second time and said,\n\u201cStranger, do you mean to plague us by hanging about the house all\nnight and spying upon the women? Be off, you wretch, outside, and eat\nyour supper there, or you shall be driven out with a firebrand.\u201d\n\nUlysses scowled at her and answered, \u201cMy good woman, why should you be\nso angry with me? Is it because I am not clean, and my clothes are all\nin rags, and because I am obliged to go begging about after the manner\nof tramps and beggars generally? I too was a rich man once, and had a\nfine house of my own; in those days I gave to many a tramp such as I\nnow am, no matter who he might be nor what he wanted. I had any number\nof servants, and all the other things which people have who live well\nand are accounted wealthy, but it pleased Jove to take all away from\nme; therefore, woman, beware lest you too come to lose that pride and\nplace in which you now wanton above your fellows; have a care lest you\nget out of favour with your mistress, and lest Ulysses should come\nhome, for there is still a chance that he may do so. Moreover, though\nhe be dead as you think he is, yet by Apollo\u2019s will he has left a son\nbehind him, Telemachus, who will note anything done amiss by the maids\nin the house, for he is now no longer in his boyhood.\u201d\n\nPenelope heard what he was saying and scolded the maid, \u201cImpudent\nbaggage,\u201d said she, \u201cI see how abominably you are behaving, and you\nshall smart for it. You knew perfectly well, for I told you myself,\nthat I was going to see the stranger and ask him about my husband, for\nwhose sake I am in such continual sorrow.\u201d\n\nThen she said to her head waiting woman Eurynome, \u201cBring a seat with a\nfleece upon it, for the stranger to sit upon while he tells his story,\nand listens to what I have to say. I wish to ask him some questions.\u201d\n\nEurynome brought the seat at once and set a fleece upon it, and as soon\nas Ulysses had sat down Penelope began by saying, \u201cStranger, I shall\nfirst ask you who and whence are you? Tell me of your town and\nparents.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cwho on the face of the whole earth can dare\nto chide with you? Your fame reaches the firmament of heaven itself;\nyou are like some blameless king, who upholds righteousness, as the\nmonarch over a great and valiant nation: the earth yields its wheat and\nbarley, the trees are loaded with fruit, the ewes bring forth lambs,\nand the sea abounds with fish by reason of his virtues, and his people\ndo good deeds under him. Nevertheless, as I sit here in your house, ask\nme some other question and do not seek to know my race and family, or\nyou will recall memories that will yet more increase my sorrow. I am\nfull of heaviness, but I ought not to sit weeping and wailing in\nanother person\u2019s house, nor is it well to be thus grieving continually.\nI shall have one of the servants or even yourself complaining of me,\nand saying that my eyes swim with tears because I am heavy with wine.\u201d\n\nThen Penelope answered, \u201cStranger, heaven robbed me of all beauty,\nwhether of face or figure, when the Argives set sail for Troy and my\ndear husband with them. If he were to return and look after my affairs\nI should be both more respected and should show a better presence to\nthe world. As it is, I am oppressed with care, and with the afflictions\nwhich heaven has seen fit to heap upon me. The chiefs from all our\nislands\u2014Dulichium, Same, and Zacynthus, as also from Ithaca itself, are\nwooing me against my will and are wasting my estate. I can therefore\nshow no attention to strangers, nor suppliants, nor to people who say\nthat they are skilled artisans, but am all the time broken-hearted\nabout Ulysses. They want me to marry again at once, and I have to\ninvent stratagems in order to deceive them. In the first place heaven\nput it in my mind to set up a great tambour-frame in my room, and to\nbegin working upon an enormous piece of fine needlework. Then I said to\nthem, \u2018Sweethearts, Ulysses is indeed dead, still, do not press me to\nmarry again immediately; wait\u2014for I would not have my skill in\nneedlework perish unrecorded\u2014till I have finished making a pall for the\nhero Laertes, to be ready against the time when death shall take him.\nHe is very rich, and the women of the place will talk if he is laid out\nwithout a pall.\u2019 This was what I said, and they assented; whereon I\nused to keep working at my great web all day long, but at night I would\nunpick the stitches again by torch light. I fooled them in this way for\nthree years without their finding it out, but as time wore on and I was\nnow in my fourth year, in the waning of moons, and many days had been\naccomplished, those good for nothing hussies my maids betrayed me to\nthe suitors, who broke in upon me and caught me; they were very angry\nwith me, so I was forced to finish my work whether I would or no. And\nnow I do not see how I can find any further shift for getting out of\nthis marriage. My parents are putting great pressure upon me, and my\nson chafes at the ravages the suitors are making upon his estate, for\nhe is now old enough to understand all about it and is perfectly able\nto look after his own affairs, for heaven has blessed him with an\nexcellent disposition. Still, notwithstanding all this, tell me who you\nare and where you come from\u2014for you must have had father and mother of\nsome sort; you cannot be the son of an oak or of a rock.\u201d\n\nThen Ulysses answered, \u201cMadam, wife of Ulysses, since you persist in\nasking me about my family, I will answer, no matter what it costs me:\npeople must expect to be pained when they have been exiles as long as I\nhave, and suffered as much among as many peoples. Nevertheless, as\nregards your question I will tell you all you ask. There is a fair and\nfruitful island in mid-ocean called Crete; it is thickly peopled and\nthere are ninety cities in it: the people speak many different\nlanguages which overlap one another, for there are Achaeans, brave\nEteocretans, Dorians of three-fold race, and noble Pelasgi. There is a\ngreat town there, Cnossus, where Minos reigned who every nine years had\na conference with Jove himself.152 Minos was father to Deucalion, whose\nson I am, for Deucalion had two sons Idomeneus and myself. Idomeneus\nsailed for Troy, and I, who am the younger, am called Aethon; my\nbrother, however, was at once the older and the more valiant of the\ntwo; hence it was in Crete that I saw Ulysses and showed him\nhospitality, for the winds took him there as he was on his way to Troy,\ncarrying him out of his course from cape Malea and leaving him in\nAmnisus off the cave of Ilithuia, where the harbours are difficult to\nenter and he could hardly find shelter from the winds that were then\nraging. As soon as he got there he went into the town and asked for\nIdomeneus, claiming to be his old and valued friend, but Idomeneus had\nalready set sail for Troy some ten or twelve days earlier, so I took\nhim to my own house and showed him every kind of hospitality, for I had\nabundance of everything. Moreover, I fed the men who were with him with\nbarley meal from the public store, and got subscriptions of wine and\noxen for them to sacrifice to their heart\u2019s content. They stayed with\nme twelve days, for there was a gale blowing from the North so strong\nthat one could hardly keep one\u2019s feet on land. I suppose some\nunfriendly god had raised it for them, but on the thirteenth day the\nwind dropped, and they got away.\u201d\n\nMany a plausible tale did Ulysses further tell her, and Penelope wept\nas she listened, for her heart was melted. As the snow wastes upon the\nmountain tops when the winds from South East and West have breathed\nupon it and thawed it till the rivers run bank full with water, even so\ndid her cheeks overflow with tears for the husband who was all the time\nsitting by her side. Ulysses felt for her and was sorry for her, but he\nkept his eyes as hard as horn or iron without letting them so much as\nquiver, so cunningly did he restrain his tears. Then, when she had\nrelieved herself by weeping, she turned to him again and said: \u201cNow,\nstranger, I shall put you to the test and see whether or no you really\ndid entertain my husband and his men, as you say you did. Tell me,\nthen, how he was dressed, what kind of a man he was to look at, and so\nalso with his companions.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cit is such a long time ago that I can\nhardly say. Twenty years are come and gone since he left my home, and\nwent elsewhither; but I will tell you as well as I can recollect.\nUlysses wore a mantle of purple wool, double lined, and it was fastened\nby a gold brooch with two catches for the pin. On the face of this\nthere was a device that shewed a dog holding a spotted fawn between his\nfore paws, and watching it as it lay panting upon the ground. Every one\nmarvelled at the way in which these things had been done in gold, the\ndog looking at the fawn, and strangling it, while the fawn was\nstruggling convulsively to escape.153 As for the shirt that he wore\nnext his skin, it was so soft that it fitted him like the skin of an\nonion, and glistened in the sunlight to the admiration of all the women\nwho beheld it. Furthermore I say, and lay my saying to your heart, that\nI do not know whether Ulysses wore these clothes when he left home, or\nwhether one of his companions had given them to him while he was on his\nvoyage; or possibly some one at whose house he was staying made him a\npresent of them, for he was a man of many friends and had few equals\namong the Achaeans. I myself gave him a sword of bronze and a beautiful\npurple mantle, double lined, with a shirt that went down to his feet,\nand I sent him on board his ship with every mark of honour. He had a\nservant with him, a little older than himself, and I can tell you what\nhe was like; his shoulders were hunched,154 he was dark, and he had\nthick curly hair. His name was Eurybates, and Ulysses treated him with\ngreater familiarity than he did any of the others, as being the most\nlike-minded with himself.\u201d\n\nPenelope was moved still more deeply as she heard the indisputable\nproofs that Ulysses laid before her; and when she had again found\nrelief in tears she said to him, \u201cStranger, I was already disposed to\npity you, but henceforth you shall be honoured and made welcome in my\nhouse. It was I who gave Ulysses the clothes you speak of. I took them\nout of the store room and folded them up myself, and I gave him also\nthe gold brooch to wear as an ornament. Alas! I shall never welcome him\nhome again. It was by an ill fate that he ever set out for that\ndetested city whose very name I cannot bring myself even to mention.\u201d\n\nThen Ulysses answered, \u201cMadam, wife of Ulysses, do not disfigure\nyourself further by grieving thus bitterly for your loss, though I can\nhardly blame you for doing so. A woman who has loved her husband and\nborne him children, would naturally be grieved at losing him, even\nthough he were a worse man than Ulysses, who they say was like a god.\nStill, cease your tears and listen to what I can tell you. I will hide\nnothing from you, and can say with perfect truth that I have lately\nheard of Ulysses as being alive and on his way home; he is among the\nThesprotians, and is bringing back much valuable treasure that he has\nbegged from one and another of them; but his ship and all his crew were\nlost as they were leaving the Thrinacian island, for Jove and the\nsun-god were angry with him because his men had slaughtered the\nsun-god\u2019s cattle, and they were all drowned to a man. But Ulysses stuck\nto the keel of the ship and was drifted on to the land of the\nPhaeacians, who are near of kin to the immortals, and who treated him\nas though he had been a god, giving him many presents, and wishing to\nescort him home safe and sound. In fact Ulysses would have been here\nlong ago, had he not thought better to go from land to land gathering\nwealth; for there is no man living who is so wily as he is; there is no\none can compare with him. Pheidon king of the Thesprotians told me all\nthis, and he swore to me\u2014making drink-offerings in his house as he did\nso\u2014that the ship was by the water side and the crew found who would\ntake Ulysses to his own country. He sent me off first, for there\nhappened to be a Thesprotian ship sailing for the wheat-growing island\nof Dulichium, but he showed me all the treasure Ulysses had got\ntogether, and he had enough lying in the house of king Pheidon to keep\nhis family for ten generations; but the king said Ulysses had gone to\nDodona that he might learn Jove\u2019s mind from the high oak tree, and know\nwhether after so long an absence he should return to Ithaca openly or\nin secret. So you may know he is safe and will be here shortly; he is\nclose at hand and cannot remain away from home much longer;\nnevertheless I will confirm my words with an oath, and call Jove who is\nthe first and mightiest of all gods to witness, as also that hearth of\nUlysses to which I have now come, that all I have spoken shall surely\ncome to pass. Ulysses will return in this self same year; with the end\nof this moon and the beginning of the next he will be here.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay it be even so,\u201d answered Penelope; \u201cif your words come true you\nshall have such gifts and such good will from me that all who see you\nshall congratulate you; but I know very well how it will be. Ulysses\nwill not return, neither will you get your escort hence, for so surely\nas that Ulysses ever was, there are now no longer any such masters in\nthe house as he was, to receive honourable strangers or to further them\non their way home. And now, you maids, wash his feet for him, and make\nhim a bed on a couch with rugs and blankets, that he may be warm and\nquiet till morning. Then, at day break wash him and anoint him again,\nthat he may sit in the cloister and take his meals with Telemachus. It\nshall be the worse for any one of these hateful people who is uncivil\nto him; like it or not, he shall have no more to do in this house. For\nhow, sir, shall you be able to learn whether or no I am superior to\nothers of my sex both in goodness of heart and understanding, if I let\nyou dine in my cloisters squalid and ill clad? Men live but for a\nlittle season; if they are hard, and deal hardly, people wish them ill\nso long as they are alive, and speak contemptuously of them when they\nare dead, but he that is righteous and deals righteously, the people\ntell of his praise among all lands, and many shall call him blessed.\u201d\n\nUlysses answered, \u201cMadam, I have foresworn rugs and blankets from the\nday that I left the snowy ranges of Crete to go on shipboard. I will\nlie as I have lain on many a sleepless night hitherto. Night after\nnight have I passed in any rough sleeping place, and waited for\nmorning. Nor, again, do I like having my feet washed; I shall not let\nany of the young hussies about your house touch my feet; but, if you\nhave any old and respectable woman who has gone through as much trouble\nas I have, I will allow her to wash them.\u201d\n\nTo this Penelope said, \u201cMy dear sir, of all the guests who ever yet\ncame to my house there never was one who spoke in all things with such\nadmirable propriety as you do. There happens to be in the house a most\nrespectable old woman\u2014the same who received my poor dear husband in her\narms the night he was born, and nursed him in infancy. She is very\nfeeble now, but she shall wash your feet.\u201d \u201cCome here,\u201d said she,\n\u201cEuryclea, and wash your master\u2019s age-mate; I suppose Ulysses\u2019 hands\nand feet are very much the same now as his are, for trouble ages all of\nus dreadfully fast.\u201d\n\nOn these words the old woman covered her face with her hands; she began\nto weep and made lamentation saying, \u201cMy dear child, I cannot think\nwhatever I am to do with you. I am certain no one was ever more\ngod-fearing than yourself, and yet Jove hates you. No one in the whole\nworld ever burned him more thigh bones, nor gave him finer hecatombs\nwhen you prayed you might come to a green old age yourself and see your\nson grow up to take after you: yet see how he has prevented you alone\nfrom ever getting back to your own home. I have no doubt the women in\nsome foreign palace which Ulysses has got to are gibing at him as all\nthese sluts here have been gibing at you. I do not wonder at your not\nchoosing to let them wash you after the manner in which they have\ninsulted you; I will wash your feet myself gladly enough, as Penelope\nhas said that I am to do so; I will wash them both for Penelope\u2019s sake\nand for your own, for you have raised the most lively feelings of\ncompassion in my mind; and let me say this moreover, which pray attend\nto; we have had all kinds of strangers in distress come here before\nnow, but I make bold to say that no one ever yet came who was so like\nUlysses in figure, voice, and feet as you are.\u201d\n\n\u201cThose who have seen us both,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201chave always said we\nwere wonderfully like each other, and now you have noticed it too.\u201d\n\nThen the old woman took the cauldron in which she was going to wash his\nfeet, and poured plenty of cold water into it, adding hot till the bath\nwas warm enough. Ulysses sat by the fire, but ere long he turned away\nfrom the light, for it occurred to him that when the old woman had hold\nof his leg she would recognise a certain scar which it bore, whereon\nthe whole truth would come out. And indeed as soon as she began washing\nher master, she at once knew the scar as one that had been given him by\na wild boar when he was hunting on Mt. Parnassus with his excellent\ngrandfather Autolycus\u2014who was the most accomplished thief and perjurer\nin the whole world\u2014and with the sons of Autolycus. Mercury himself had\nendowed him with this gift, for he used to burn the thigh bones of\ngoats and kids to him, so he took pleasure in his companionship. It\nhappened once that Autolycus had gone to Ithaca and had found the child\nof his daughter just born. As soon as he had done supper Euryclea set\nthe infant upon his knees and said, \u201cAutolycus, you must find a name\nfor your grandson; you greatly wished that you might have one.\u201d\n\n\u201cSon-in-law and daughter,\u201d replied Autolycus, \u201ccall the child thus: I\nam highly displeased with a large number of people in one place and\nanother, both men and women; so name the child \u2018Ulysses,\u2019 or the child\nof anger. When he grows up and comes to visit his mother\u2019s family on\nMt. Parnassus, where my possessions lie, I will make him a present and\nwill send him on his way rejoicing.\u201d\n\nUlysses, therefore, went to Parnassus to get the presents from\nAutolycus, who with his sons shook hands with him and gave him welcome.\nHis grandmother Amphithea threw her arms about him, and kissed his\nhead, and both his beautiful eyes, while Autolycus desired his sons to\nget dinner ready, and they did as he told them. They brought in a five\nyear old bull, flayed it, made it ready and divided it into joints;\nthese they then cut carefully up into smaller pieces and spitted them;\nthey roasted them sufficiently and served the portions round. Thus\nthrough the livelong day to the going down of the sun they feasted, and\nevery man had his full share so that all were satisfied; but when the\nsun set and it came on dark, they went to bed and enjoyed the boon of\nsleep.\n\nWhen the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the sons of\nAutolycus went out with their hounds hunting, and Ulysses went too.\nThey climbed the wooded slopes of Parnassus and soon reached its breezy\nupland valleys; but as the sun was beginning to beat upon the fields,\nfresh-risen from the slow still currents of Oceanus, they came to a\nmountain dell. The dogs were in front searching for the tracks of the\nbeast they were chasing, and after them came the sons of Autolycus,\namong whom was Ulysses, close behind the dogs, and he had a long spear\nin his hand. Here was the lair of a huge boar among some thick\nbrushwood, so dense that the wind and rain could not get through it,\nnor could the sun\u2019s rays pierce it, and the ground underneath lay thick\nwith fallen leaves. The boar heard the noise of the men\u2019s feet, and the\nhounds baying on every side as the huntsmen came up to him, so he\nrushed from his lair, raised the bristles on his neck, and stood at bay\nwith fire flashing from his eyes. Ulysses was the first to raise his\nspear and try to drive it into the brute, but the boar was too quick\nfor him, and charged him sideways, ripping him above the knee with a\ngash that tore deep though it did not reach the bone. As for the boar,\nUlysses hit him on the right shoulder, and the point of the spear went\nright through him, so that he fell groaning in the dust until the life\nwent out of him. The sons of Autolycus busied themselves with the\ncarcass of the boar, and bound Ulysses\u2019 wound; then, after saying a\nspell to stop the bleeding, they went home as fast as they could. But\nwhen Autolycus and his sons had thoroughly healed Ulysses, they made\nhim some splendid presents, and sent him back to Ithaca with much\nmutual good will. When he got back, his father and mother were rejoiced\nto see him, and asked him all about it, and how he had hurt himself to\nget the scar; so he told them how the boar had ripped him when he was\nout hunting with Autolycus and his sons on Mt. Parnassus.\n\nAs soon as Euryclea had got the scarred limb in her hands and had well\nhold of it, she recognised it and dropped the foot at once. The leg\nfell into the bath, which rang out and was overturned, so that all the\nwater was spilt on the ground; Euryclea\u2019s eyes between her joy and her\ngrief filled with tears, and she could not speak, but she caught\nUlysses by the beard and said, \u201cMy dear child, I am sure you must be\nUlysses himself, only I did not know you till I had actually touched\nand handled you.\u201d\n\nAs she spoke she looked towards Penelope, as though wanting to tell her\nthat her dear husband was in the house, but Penelope was unable to look\nin that direction and observe what was going on, for Minerva had\ndiverted her attention; so Ulysses caught Euryclea by the throat with\nhis right hand and with his left drew her close to him, and said,\n\u201cNurse, do you wish to be the ruin of me, you who nursed me at your own\nbreast, now that after twenty years of wandering I am at last come to\nmy own home again? Since it has been borne in upon you by heaven to\nrecognise me, hold your tongue, and do not say a word about it to any\none else in the house, for if you do I tell you\u2014and it shall surely\nbe\u2014that if heaven grants me to take the lives of these suitors, I will\nnot spare you, though you are my own nurse, when I am killing the other\nwomen.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy child,\u201d answered Euryclea, \u201cwhat are you talking about? You know\nvery well that nothing can either bend or break me. I will hold my\ntongue like a stone or a piece of iron; furthermore let me say, and lay\nmy saying to your heart, when heaven has delivered the suitors into\nyour hand, I will give you a list of the women in the house who have\nbeen ill-behaved, and of those who are guiltless.\u201d\n\nAnd Ulysses answered, \u201cNurse, you ought not to speak in that way; I am\nwell able to form my own opinion about one and all of them; hold your\ntongue and leave everything to heaven.\u201d\n\nAs he said this Euryclea left the cloister to fetch some more water,\nfor the first had been all spilt; and when she had washed him and\nanointed him with oil, Ulysses drew his seat nearer to the fire to warm\nhimself, and hid the scar under his rags. Then Penelope began talking\nto him and said:\n\n\u201cStranger, I should like to speak with you briefly about another\nmatter. It is indeed nearly bed time\u2014for those, at least, who can sleep\nin spite of sorrow. As for myself, heaven has given me a life of such\nunmeasurable woe, that even by day when I am attending to my duties and\nlooking after the servants, I am still weeping and lamenting during the\nwhole time; then, when night comes, and we all of us go to bed, I lie\nawake thinking, and my heart becomes a prey to the most incessant and\ncruel tortures. As the dun nightingale, daughter of Pandareus, sings in\nthe early spring from her seat in shadiest covert hid, and with many a\nplaintive trill pours out the tale how by mishap she killed her own\nchild Itylus, son of king Zethus, even so does my mind toss and turn in\nits uncertainty whether I ought to stay with my son here, and safeguard\nmy substance, my bondsmen, and the greatness of my house, out of regard\nto public opinion and the memory of my late husband, or whether it is\nnot now time for me to go with the best of these suitors who are wooing\nme and making me such magnificent presents. As long as my son was still\nyoung, and unable to understand, he would not hear of my leaving my\nhusband\u2019s house, but now that he is full grown he begs and prays me to\ndo so, being incensed at the way in which the suitors are eating up his\nproperty. Listen, then, to a dream that I have had and interpret it for\nme if you can. I have twenty geese about the house that eat mash out of\na trough,155 and of which I am exceedingly fond. I dreamed that a great\neagle came swooping down from a mountain, and dug his curved beak into\nthe neck of each of them till he had killed them all. Presently he\nsoared off into the sky, and left them lying dead about the yard;\nwhereon I wept in my dream till all my maids gathered round me, so\npiteously was I grieving because the eagle had killed my geese. Then he\ncame back again, and perching on a projecting rafter spoke to me with\nhuman voice, and told me to leave off crying. \u2018Be of good courage,\u2019 he\nsaid, \u2018daughter of Icarius; this is no dream, but a vision of good omen\nthat shall surely come to pass. The geese are the suitors, and I am no\nlonger an eagle, but your own husband, who am come back to you, and who\nwill bring these suitors to a disgraceful end.\u2019 On this I woke, and\nwhen I looked out I saw my geese at the trough eating their mash as\nusual.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis dream, Madam,\u201d replied Ulysses, \u201ccan admit but of one\ninterpretation, for had not Ulysses himself told you how it shall be\nfulfilled? The death of the suitors is portended, and not one single\none of them will escape.\u201d\n\nAnd Penelope answered, \u201cStranger, dreams are very curious and\nunaccountable things, and they do not by any means invariably come\ntrue. There are two gates through which these unsubstantial fancies\nproceed; the one is of horn, and the other ivory. Those that come\nthrough the gate of ivory are fatuous, but those from the gate of horn\nmean something to those that see them. I do not think, however, that my\nown dream came through the gate of horn, though I and my son should be\nmost thankful if it proves to have done so. Furthermore I say\u2014and lay\nmy saying to your heart\u2014the coming dawn will usher in the ill-omened\nday that is to sever me from the house of Ulysses, for I am about to\nhold a tournament of axes. My husband used to set up twelve axes in the\ncourt, one in front of the other, like the stays upon which a ship is\nbuilt; he would then go back from them and shoot an arrow through the\nwhole twelve. I shall make the suitors try to do the same thing, and\nwhichever of them can string the bow most easily, and send his arrow\nthrough all the twelve axes, him will I follow, and quit this house of\nmy lawful husband, so goodly and so abounding in wealth. But even so, I\ndoubt not that I shall remember it in my dreams.\u201d\n\nThen Ulysses answered, \u201cMadam, wife of Ulysses, you need not defer your\ntournament, for Ulysses will return ere ever they can string the bow,\nhandle it how they will, and send their arrows through the iron.\u201d\n\nTo this Penelope said, \u201cAs long, sir, as you will sit here and talk to\nme, I can have no desire to go to bed. Still, people cannot do\npermanently without sleep, and heaven has appointed us dwellers on\nearth a time for all things. I will therefore go upstairs and recline\nupon that couch which I have never ceased to flood with my tears from\nthe day Ulysses set out for the city with a hateful name.\u201d\n\nShe then went upstairs to her own room, not alone, but attended by her\nmaidens, and when there, she lamented her dear husband till Minerva\nshed sweet sleep over her eyelids.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XX\n\n\nULYSSES CANNOT SLEEP\u2014PENELOPE\u2019S PRAYER TO DIANA\u2014THE TWO SIGNS FROM\nHEAVEN\u2014EUMAEUS AND PHILOETIUS ARRIVE\u2014THE SUITORS DINE\u2014CTESIPPUS THROWS\nAN OX\u2019S FOOT AT ULYSSES\u2014THEOCLYMENUS FORETELLS DISASTER AND LEAVES THE\nHOUSE.\n\n\nUlysses slept in the cloister upon an undressed bullock\u2019s hide, on the\ntop of which he threw several skins of the sheep the suitors had eaten,\nand Eurynome156 threw a cloak over him after he had laid himself down.\nThere, then, Ulysses lay wakefully brooding upon the way in which he\nshould kill the suitors; and by and by, the women who had been in the\nhabit of misconducting themselves with them, left the house giggling\nand laughing with one another. This made Ulysses very angry, and he\ndoubted whether to get up and kill every single one of them then and\nthere, or to let them sleep one more and last time with the suitors.\nHis heart growled within him, and as a bitch with puppies growls and\nshows her teeth when she sees a stranger, so did his heart growl with\nanger at the evil deeds that were being done: but he beat his breast\nand said, \u201cHeart, be still, you had worse than this to bear on the day\nwhen the terrible Cyclops ate your brave companions; yet you bore it in\nsilence till your cunning got you safe out of the cave, though you made\nsure of being killed.\u201d\n\nThus he chided with his heart, and checked it into endurance, but he\ntossed about as one who turns a paunch full of blood and fat in front\nof a hot fire, doing it first on one side and then on the other, that\nhe may get it cooked as soon as possible, even so did he turn himself\nabout from side to side, thinking all the time how, single handed as he\nwas, he should contrive to kill so large a body of men as the wicked\nsuitors. But by and by Minerva came down from heaven in the likeness of\na woman, and hovered over his head saying, \u201cMy poor unhappy man, why do\nyou lie awake in this way? This is your house: your wife is safe inside\nit, and so is your son who is just such a young man as any father may\nbe proud of.\u201d\n\n\u201cGoddess,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201call that you have said is true, but I am\nin some doubt as to how I shall be able to kill these wicked suitors\nsingle handed, seeing what a number of them there always are. And there\nis this further difficulty, which is still more considerable. Supposing\nthat with Jove\u2019s and your assistance I succeed in killing them, I must\nask you to consider where I am to escape to from their avengers when it\nis all over.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor shame,\u201d replied Minerva, \u201cwhy, any one else would trust a worse\nally than myself, even though that ally were only a mortal and less\nwise than I am. Am I not a goddess, and have I not protected you\nthroughout in all your troubles? I tell you plainly that even though\nthere were fifty bands of men surrounding us and eager to kill us, you\nshould take all their sheep and cattle, and drive them away with you.\nBut go to sleep; it is a very bad thing to lie awake all night, and you\nshall be out of your troubles before long.\u201d\n\nAs she spoke she shed sleep over his eyes, and then went back to\nOlympus.\n\nWhile Ulysses was thus yielding himself to a very deep slumber that\neased the burden of his sorrows, his admirable wife awoke, and sitting\nup in her bed began to cry. When she had relieved herself by weeping\nshe prayed to Diana saying, \u201cGreat Goddess Diana, daughter of Jove,\ndrive an arrow into my heart and slay me; or let some whirlwind snatch\nme up and bear me through paths of darkness till it drop me into the\nmouths of over-flowing Oceanus, as it did the daughters of Pandareus.\nThe daughters of Pandareus lost their father and mother, for the gods\nkilled them, so they were left orphans. But Venus took care of them,\nand fed them on cheese, honey, and sweet wine. Juno taught them to\nexcel all women in beauty of form and understanding; Diana gave them an\nimposing presence, and Minerva endowed them with every kind of\naccomplishment; but one day when Venus had gone up to Olympus to see\nJove about getting them married (for well does he know both what shall\nhappen and what not happen to every one) the storm winds came and\nspirited them away to become handmaids to the dread Erinyes. Even so I\nwish that the gods who live in heaven would hide me from mortal sight,\nor that fair Diana might strike me, for I would fain go even beneath\nthe sad earth if I might do so still looking towards Ulysses only, and\nwithout having to yield myself to a worse man than he was. Besides, no\nmatter how much people may grieve by day, they can put up with it so\nlong as they can sleep at night, for when the eyes are closed in\nslumber people forget good and ill alike; whereas my misery haunts me\neven in my dreams. This very night methought there was one lying by my\nside who was like Ulysses as he was when he went away with his host,\nand I rejoiced, for I believed that it was no dream, but the very truth\nitself.\u201d\n\nOn this the day broke, but Ulysses heard the sound of her weeping, and\nit puzzled him, for it seemed as though she already knew him and was by\nhis side. Then he gathered up the cloak and the fleeces on which he had\nlain, and set them on a seat in the cloister, but he took the bullock\u2019s\nhide out into the open. He lifted up his hands to heaven, and prayed,\nsaying \u201cFather Jove, since you have seen fit to bring me over land and\nsea to my own home after all the afflictions you have laid upon me,\ngive me a sign out of the mouth of some one or other of those who are\nnow waking within the house, and let me have another sign of some kind\nfrom outside.\u201d\n\nThus did he pray. Jove heard his prayer and forthwith thundered high up\namong the clouds from the splendour of Olympus, and Ulysses was glad\nwhen he heard it. At the same time within the house, a miller-woman\nfrom hard by in the mill room lifted up her voice and gave him another\nsign. There were twelve miller-women whose business it was to grind\nwheat and barley which are the staff of life. The others had ground\ntheir task and had gone to take their rest, but this one had not yet\nfinished, for she was not so strong as they were, and when she heard\nthe thunder she stopped grinding and gave the sign to her master.\n\u201cFather Jove,\u201d said she, \u201cyou, who rule over heaven and earth, you have\nthundered from a clear sky without so much as a cloud in it, and this\nmeans something for somebody; grant the prayer, then, of me your poor\nservant who calls upon you, and let this be the very last day that the\nsuitors dine in the house of Ulysses. They have worn me out with labour\nof grinding meal for them, and I hope they may never have another\ndinner anywhere at all.\u201d\n\nUlysses was glad when he heard the omens conveyed to him by the woman\u2019s\nspeech, and by the thunder, for he knew they meant that he should\navenge himself on the suitors.\n\nThen the other maids in the house rose and lit the fire on the hearth;\nTelemachus also rose and put on his clothes. He girded his sword about\nhis shoulder, bound his sandals on to his comely feet, and took a\ndoughty spear with a point of sharpened bronze; then he went to the\nthreshold of the cloister and said to Euryclea, \u201cNurse, did you make\nthe stranger comfortable both as regards bed and board, or did you let\nhim shift for himself?\u2014for my mother, good woman though she is, has a\nway of paying great attention to second-rate people, and of neglecting\nothers who are in reality much better men.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not find fault child,\u201d said Euryclea, \u201cwhen there is no one to find\nfault with. The stranger sat and drank his wine as long as he liked:\nyour mother did ask him if he would take any more bread and he said he\nwould not. When he wanted to go to bed she told the servants to make\none for him, but he said he was such a wretched outcast that he would\nnot sleep on a bed and under blankets; he insisted on having an\nundressed bullock\u2019s hide and some sheepskins put for him in the\ncloister and I threw a cloak over him myself.\u201d157\n\nThen Telemachus went out of the court to the place where the Achaeans\nwere meeting in assembly; he had his spear in his hand, and he was not\nalone, for his two dogs went with him. But Euryclea called the maids\nand said, \u201cCome, wake up; set about sweeping the cloisters and\nsprinkling them with water to lay the dust; put the covers on the\nseats; wipe down the tables, some of you, with a wet sponge; clean out\nthe mixing-jugs and the cups, and go for water from the fountain at\nonce; the suitors will be here directly; they will be here early, for\nit is a feast day.\u201d\n\nThus did she speak, and they did even as she had said: twenty of them\nwent to the fountain for water, and the others set themselves busily to\nwork about the house. The men who were in attendance on the suitors\nalso came up and began chopping firewood. By and by the women returned\nfrom the fountain, and the swineherd came after them with the three\nbest pigs he could pick out. These he let feed about the premises, and\nthen he said good-humouredly to Ulysses, \u201cStranger, are the suitors\ntreating you any better now, or are they as insolent as ever?\u201d\n\n\u201cMay heaven,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201crequite to them the wickedness with\nwhich they deal high-handedly in another man\u2019s house without any sense\nof shame.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse; meanwhile Melanthius the goatherd came up, for\nhe too was bringing in his best goats for the suitors\u2019 dinner; and he\nhad two shepherds with him. They tied the goats up under the gatehouse,\nand then Melanthius began gibing at Ulysses. \u201cAre you still here,\nstranger,\u201d said he, \u201cto pester people by begging about the house? Why\ncan you not go elsewhere? You and I shall not come to an understanding\nbefore we have given each other a taste of our fists. You beg without\nany sense of decency: are there not feasts elsewhere among the\nAchaeans, as well as here?\u201d\n\nUlysses made no answer, but bowed his head and brooded. Then a third\nman, Philoetius, joined them, who was bringing in a barren heifer and\nsome goats. These were brought over by the boatmen who are there to\ntake people over when any one comes to them. So Philoetius made his\nheifer and his goats secure under the gatehouse, and then went up to\nthe swineherd. \u201cWho, Swineherd,\u201d said he, \u201cis this stranger that is\nlately come here? Is he one of your men? What is his family? Where does\nhe come from? Poor fellow, he looks as if he had been some great man,\nbut the gods give sorrow to whom they will\u2014even to kings if it so\npleases them.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he went up to Ulysses and saluted him with his right hand;\n\u201cGood day to you, father stranger,\u201d said he, \u201cyou seem to be very\npoorly off now, but I hope you will have better times by and by. Father\nJove, of all gods you are the most malicious. We are your own children,\nyet you show us no mercy in all our misery and afflictions. A sweat\ncame over me when I saw this man, and my eyes filled with tears, for he\nreminds me of Ulysses, who I fear is going about in just such rags as\nthis man\u2019s are, if indeed he is still among the living. If he is\nalready dead and in the house of Hades, then, alas! for my good master,\nwho made me his stockman when I was quite young among the\nCephallenians, and now his cattle are countless; no one could have done\nbetter with them than I have, for they have bred like ears of corn;\nnevertheless I have to keep bringing them in for others to eat, who\ntake no heed to his son though he is in the house, and fear not the\nwrath of heaven, but are already eager to divide Ulysses\u2019 property\namong them because he has been away so long. I have often thought\u2014only\nit would not be right while his son is living\u2014of going off with the\ncattle to some foreign country; bad as this would be, it is still\nharder to stay here and be ill-treated about other people\u2019s herds. My\nposition is intolerable, and I should long since have run away and put\nmyself under the protection of some other chief, only that I believe my\npoor master will yet return, and send all these suitors flying out of\nthe house.\u201d\n\n\u201cStockman,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cyou seem to be a very well-disposed\nperson, and I can see that you are a man of sense. Therefore I will\ntell you, and will confirm my words with an oath. By Jove, the chief of\nall gods, and by that hearth of Ulysses to which I am now come, Ulysses\nshall return before you leave this place, and if you are so minded you\nshall see him killing the suitors who are now masters here.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf Jove were to bring this to pass,\u201d replied the stockman, \u201cyou should\nsee how I would do my very utmost to help him.\u201d\n\nAnd in like manner Eumaeus prayed that Ulysses might return home.\n\nThus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors were hatching a plot to\nmurder Telemachus: but a bird flew near them on their left hand\u2014an\neagle with a dove in its talons. On this Amphinomus said, \u201cMy friends,\nthis plot of ours to murder Telemachus will not succeed; let us go to\ndinner instead.\u201d\n\nThe others assented, so they went inside and laid their cloaks on the\nbenches and seats. They sacrificed the sheep, goats, pigs, and the\nheifer, and when the inward meats were cooked they served them round.\nThey mixed the wine in the mixing-bowls, and the swineherd gave every\nman his cup, while Philoetius handed round the bread in the bread\nbaskets, and Melanthius poured them out their wine. Then they laid\ntheir hands upon the good things that were before them.\n\nTelemachus purposely made Ulysses sit in the part of the cloister that\nwas paved with stone;158 he gave him a shabby looking seat at a little\ntable to himself, and had his portion of the inward meats brought to\nhim, with his wine in a gold cup. \u201cSit there,\u201d said he, \u201cand drink your\nwine among the great people. I will put a stop to the gibes and blows\nof the suitors, for this is no public house, but belongs to Ulysses,\nand has passed from him to me. Therefore, suitors, keep your hands and\nyour tongues to yourselves, or there will be mischief.\u201d\n\nThe suitors bit their lips, and marvelled at the boldness of his\nspeech; then Antinous said, \u201cWe do not like such language but we will\nput up with it, for Telemachus is threatening us in good earnest. If\nJove had let us we should have put a stop to his brave talk ere now.\u201d\n\nThus spoke Antinous, but Telemachus heeded him not. Meanwhile the\nheralds were bringing the holy hecatomb through the city, and the\nAchaeans gathered under the shady grove of Apollo.\n\nThen they roasted the outer meat, drew it off the spits, gave every man\nhis portion, and feasted to their heart\u2019s content; those who waited at\ntable gave Ulysses exactly the same portion as the others had, for\nTelemachus had told them to do so.\n\nBut Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment drop their\ninsolence, for she wanted Ulysses to become still more bitter against\nthem. Now there happened to be among them a ribald fellow, whose name\nwas Ctesippus, and who came from Same. This man, confident in his great\nwealth, was paying court to the wife of Ulysses, and said to the\nsuitors, \u201cHear what I have to say. The stranger has already had as\nlarge a portion as any one else; this is well, for it is not right nor\nreasonable to ill-treat any guest of Telemachus who comes here. I will,\nhowever, make him a present on my own account, that he may have\nsomething to give to the bath-woman, or to some other of Ulysses\u2019\nservants.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he picked up a heifer\u2019s foot from the meat-basket in which\nit lay, and threw it at Ulysses, but Ulysses turned his head a little\naside, and avoided it, smiling grimly Sardinian fashion159 as he did\nso, and it hit the wall, not him. On this Telemachus spoke fiercely to\nCtesippus, \u201cIt is a good thing for you,\u201d said he, \u201cthat the stranger\nturned his head so that you missed him. If you had hit him I should\nhave run you through with my spear, and your father would have had to\nsee about getting you buried rather than married in this house. So let\nme have no more unseemly behaviour from any of you, for I am grown up\nnow to the knowledge of good and evil and understand what is going on,\ninstead of being the child that I have been heretofore. I have long\nseen you killing my sheep and making free with my corn and wine: I have\nput up with this, for one man is no match for many, but do me no\nfurther violence. Still, if you wish to kill me, kill me; I would far\nrather die than see such disgraceful scenes day after day\u2014guests\ninsulted, and men dragging the women servants about the house in an\nunseemly way.\u201d\n\nThey all held their peace till at last Agelaus son of Damastor said,\n\u201cNo one should take offence at what has just been said, nor gainsay it,\nfor it is quite reasonable. Leave off, therefore, ill-treating the\nstranger, or any one else of the servants who are about the house; I\nwould say, however, a friendly word to Telemachus and his mother, which\nI trust may commend itself to both. \u2018As long,\u2019 I would say, \u2018as you had\nground for hoping that Ulysses would one day come home, no one could\ncomplain of your waiting and suffering160 the suitors to be in your\nhouse. It would have been better that he should have returned, but it\nis now sufficiently clear that he will never do so; therefore talk all\nthis quietly over with your mother, and tell her to marry the best man,\nand the one who makes her the most advantageous offer. Thus you will\nyourself be able to manage your own inheritance, and to eat and drink\nin peace, while your mother will look after some other man\u2019s house, not\nyours.\u2019\u201d\n\nTo this Telemachus answered, \u201cBy Jove, Agelaus, and by the sorrows of\nmy unhappy father, who has either perished far from Ithaca, or is\nwandering in some distant land, I throw no obstacles in the way of my\nmother\u2019s marriage; on the contrary I urge her to choose whomsoever she\nwill, and I will give her numberless gifts into the bargain, but I dare\nnot insist point blank that she shall leave the house against her own\nwishes. Heaven forbid that I should do this.\u201d\n\nMinerva now made the suitors fall to laughing immoderately, and set\ntheir wits wandering; but they were laughing with a forced laughter.\nTheir meat became smeared with blood; their eyes filled with tears, and\ntheir hearts were heavy with forebodings. Theoclymenus saw this and\nsaid, \u201cUnhappy men, what is it that ails you? There is a shroud of\ndarkness drawn over you from head to foot, your cheeks are wet with\ntears; the air is alive with wailing voices; the walls and roof-beams\ndrip blood; the gate of the cloisters and the court beyond them are\nfull of ghosts trooping down into the night of hell; the sun is blotted\nout of heaven, and a blighting gloom is over all the land.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily. Eurymachus\nthen said, \u201cThis stranger who has lately come here has lost his senses.\nServants, turn him out into the streets, since he finds it so dark\nhere.\u201d\n\nBut Theoclymenus said, \u201cEurymachus, you need not send any one with me.\nI have eyes, ears, and a pair of feet of my own, to say nothing of an\nunderstanding mind. I will take these out of the house with me, for I\nsee mischief overhanging you, from which not one of you men who are\ninsulting people and plotting ill deeds in the house of Ulysses will be\nable to escape.\u201d\n\nHe left the house as he spoke, and went back to Piraeus who gave him\nwelcome, but the suitors kept looking at one another and provoking\nTelemachus by laughing at the strangers. One insolent fellow said to\nhim, \u201cTelemachus, you are not happy in your guests; first you have this\nimportunate tramp, who comes begging bread and wine and has no skill\nfor work or for hard fighting, but is perfectly useless, and now here\nis another fellow who is setting himself up as a prophet. Let me\npersuade you, for it will be much better to put them on board ship and\nsend them off to the Sicels to sell for what they will bring.\u201d\n\nTelemachus gave him no heed, but sat silently watching his father,\nexpecting every moment that he would begin his attack upon the suitors.\n\nMeanwhile the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, had had a rich seat\nplaced for her facing the court and cloisters, so that she could hear\nwhat every one was saying. The dinner indeed had been prepared amid\nmuch merriment; it had been both good and abundant, for they had\nsacrificed many victims; but the supper was yet to come, and nothing\ncan be conceived more gruesome than the meal which a goddess and a\nbrave man were soon to lay before them\u2014for they had brought their doom\nupon themselves.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XXI\n\n\nTHE TRIAL OF THE AXES, DURING WHICH ULYSSES REVEALS HIMSELF TO EUMAEUS\nAND PHILOETIUS\n\n\nMinerva now put it in Penelope\u2019s mind to make the suitors try their\nskill with the bow and with the iron axes, in contest among themselves,\nas a means of bringing about their destruction. She went upstairs and\ngot the store-room key, which was made of bronze and had a handle of\nivory; she then went with her maidens into the store-room at the end of\nthe house, where her husband\u2019s treasures of gold, bronze, and wrought\niron were kept, and where was also his bow, and the quiver full of\ndeadly arrows that had been given him by a friend whom he had met in\nLacedaemon\u2014Iphitus the son of Eurytus. The two fell in with one another\nin Messene at the house of Ortilochus, where Ulysses was staying in\norder to recover a debt that was owing from the whole people; for the\nMessenians had carried off three hundred sheep from Ithaca, and had\nsailed away with them and with their shepherds. In quest of these\nUlysses took a long journey while still quite young, for his father and\nthe other chieftains sent him on a mission to recover them. Iphitus had\ngone there also to try and get back twelve brood mares that he had\nlost, and the mule foals that were running with them. These mares were\nthe death of him in the end, for when he went to the house of Jove\u2019s\nson, mighty Hercules, who performed such prodigies of valour, Hercules\nto his shame killed him, though he was his guest, for he feared not\nheaven\u2019s vengeance, nor yet respected his own table which he had set\nbefore Iphitus, but killed him in spite of everything, and kept the\nmares himself. It was when claiming these that Iphitus met Ulysses, and\ngave him the bow which mighty Eurytus had been used to carry, and which\non his death had been left by him to his son. Ulysses gave him in\nreturn a sword and a spear, and this was the beginning of a fast\nfriendship, although they never visited at one another\u2019s houses, for\nJove\u2019s son Hercules killed Iphitus ere they could do so. This bow,\nthen, given him by Iphitus, had not been taken with him by Ulysses when\nhe sailed for Troy; he had used it so long as he had been at home, but\nhad left it behind as having been a keepsake from a valued friend.\n\nPenelope presently reached the oak threshold of the store-room; the\ncarpenter had planed this duly, and had drawn a line on it so as to get\nit quite straight; he had then set the door posts into it and hung the\ndoors. She loosed the strap from the handle of the door, put in the\nkey, and drove it straight home to shoot back the bolts that held the\ndoors;161 these flew open with a noise like a bull bellowing in a\nmeadow, and Penelope stepped upon the raised platform, where the chests\nstood in which the fair linen and clothes were laid by along with\nfragrant herbs: reaching thence, she took down the bow with its bow\ncase from the peg on which it hung. She sat down with it on her knees,\nweeping bitterly as she took the bow out of its case, and when her\ntears had relieved her, she went to the cloister where the suitors\nwere, carrying the bow and the quiver, with the many deadly arrows that\nwere inside it. Along with her came her maidens, bearing a chest that\ncontained much iron and bronze which her husband had won as prizes.\nWhen she reached the suitors, she stood by one of the bearing-posts\nsupporting the roof of the cloister, holding a veil before her face,\nand with a maid on either side of her. Then she said:\n\n\u201cListen to me you suitors, who persist in abusing the hospitality of\nthis house because its owner has been long absent, and without other\npretext than that you want to marry me; this, then, being the prize\nthat you are contending for, I will bring out the mighty bow of\nUlysses, and whomsoever of you shall string it most easily and send his\narrow through each one of twelve axes, him will I follow and quit this\nhouse of my lawful husband, so goodly, and so abounding in wealth. But\neven so I doubt not that I shall remember it in my dreams.\u201d\n\nAs she spoke, she told Eumaeus to set the bow and the pieces of iron\nbefore the suitors, and Eumaeus wept as he took them to do as she had\nbidden him. Hard by, the stockman wept also when he saw his master\u2019s\nbow, but Antinous scolded them. \u201cYou country louts,\u201d said he, \u201csilly\nsimpletons; why should you add to the sorrows of your mistress by\ncrying in this way? She has enough to grieve her in the loss of her\nhusband; sit still, therefore, and eat your dinners in silence, or go\noutside if you want to cry, and leave the bow behind you. We suitors\nshall have to contend for it with might and main, for we shall find it\nno light matter to string such a bow as this is. There is not a man of\nus all who is such another as Ulysses; for I have seen him and remember\nhim, though I was then only a child.\u201d\n\nThis was what he said, but all the time he was expecting to be able to\nstring the bow and shoot through the iron, whereas in fact he was to be\nthe first that should taste of the arrows from the hands of Ulysses,\nwhom he was dishonouring in his own house\u2014egging the others on to do so\nalso.\n\nThen Telemachus spoke. \u201cGreat heavens!\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cJove must have\nrobbed me of my senses. Here is my dear and excellent mother saying she\nwill quit this house and marry again, yet I am laughing and enjoying\nmyself as though there were nothing happening. But, suitors, as the\ncontest has been agreed upon, let it go forward. It is for a woman\nwhose peer is not to be found in Pylos, Argos, or Mycene, nor yet in\nIthaca nor on the mainland. You know this as well as I do; what need\nhave I to speak in praise of my mother? Come on, then, make no excuses\nfor delay, but let us see whether you can string the bow or no. I too\nwill make trial of it, for if I can string it and shoot through the\niron, I shall not suffer my mother to quit this house with a stranger,\nnot if I can win the prizes which my father won before me.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he sprang from his seat, threw his crimson cloak from him,\nand took his sword from his shoulder. First he set the axes in a row,\nin a long groove which he had dug for them, and had made straight by\nline.162 Then he stamped the earth tight round them, and everyone was\nsurprised when they saw him set them up so orderly, though he had never\nseen anything of the kind before. This done, he went on to the pavement\nto make trial of the bow; thrice did he tug at it, trying with all his\nmight to draw the string, and thrice he had to leave off, though he had\nhoped to string the bow and shoot through the iron. He was trying for\nthe fourth time, and would have strung it had not Ulysses made a sign\nto check him in spite of all his eagerness. So he said:\n\n\u201cAlas! I shall either be always feeble and of no prowess, or I am too\nyoung, and have not yet reached my full strength so as to be able to\nhold my own if any one attacks me. You others, therefore, who are\nstronger than I, make trial of the bow and get this contest settled.\u201d\n\nOn this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door [that led\ninto the house] with the arrow standing against the top of the bow.\nThen he sat down on the seat from which he had risen, and Antinous\nsaid:\n\n\u201cCome on each of you in his turn, going towards the right from the\nplace at which the cupbearer begins when he is handing round the wine.\u201d\n\nThe rest agreed, and Leiodes son of Oenops was the first to rise. He\nwas sacrificial priest to the suitors, and sat in the corner near the\nmixing-bowl. 163 He was the only man who hated their evil deeds and was\nindignant with the others. He was now the first to take the bow and\narrow, so he went on to the pavement to make his trial, but he could\nnot string the bow, for his hands were weak and unused to hard work,\nthey therefore soon grew tired, and he said to the suitors, \u201cMy\nfriends, I cannot string it; let another have it, this bow shall take\nthe life and soul out of many a chief among us, for it is better to die\nthan to live after having missed the prize that we have so long striven\nfor, and which has brought us so long together. Some one of us is even\nnow hoping and praying that he may marry Penelope, but when he has seen\nthis bow and tried it, let him woo and make bridal offerings to some\nother woman, and let Penelope marry whoever makes her the best offer\nand whose lot it is to win her.\u201d\n\nOn this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door,164 with\nthe arrow standing against the tip of the bow. Then he took his seat\nagain on the seat from which he had risen; and Antinous rebuked him\nsaying:\n\n\u201cLeiodes, what are you talking about? Your words are monstrous and\nintolerable; it makes me angry to listen to you. Shall, then, this bow\ntake the life of many a chief among us, merely because you cannot bend\nit yourself? True, you were not born to be an archer, but there are\nothers who will soon string it.\u201d\n\nThen he said to Melanthius the goatherd, \u201cLook sharp, light a fire in\nthe court, and set a seat hard by with a sheep skin on it; bring us\nalso a large ball of lard, from what they have in the house. Let us\nwarm the bow and grease it\u2014we will then make trial of it again, and\nbring the contest to an end.\u201d\n\nMelanthius lit the fire, and set a seat covered with sheep skins beside\nit. He also brought a great ball of lard from what they had in the\nhouse, and the suitors warmed the bow and again made trial of it, but\nthey were none of them nearly strong enough to string it. Nevertheless\nthere still remained Antinous and Eurymachus, who were the ringleaders\namong the suitors and much the foremost among them all.\n\nThen the swineherd and the stockman left the cloisters together, and\nUlysses followed them. When they had got outside the gates and the\nouter yard, Ulysses said to them quietly:\n\n\u201cStockman, and you swineherd, I have something in my mind which I am in\ndoubt whether to say or no; but I think I will say it. What manner of\nmen would you be to stand by Ulysses, if some god should bring him back\nhere all of a sudden? Say which you are disposed to do\u2014to side with the\nsuitors, or with Ulysses?\u201d\n\n\u201cFather Jove,\u201d answered the stockman, \u201cwould indeed that you might so\nordain it. If some god were but to bring Ulysses back, you should see\nwith what might and main I would fight for him.\u201d\n\nIn like words Eumaeus prayed to all the gods that Ulysses might return;\nwhen, therefore, he saw for certain what mind they were of, Ulysses\nsaid, \u201cIt is I, Ulysses, who am here. I have suffered much, but at\nlast, in the twentieth year, I am come back to my own country. I find\nthat you two alone of all my servants are glad that I should do so, for\nI have not heard any of the others praying for my return. To you two,\ntherefore, will I unfold the truth as it shall be. If heaven shall\ndeliver the suitors into my hands, I will find wives for both of you,\nwill give you house and holding close to my own, and you shall be to me\nas though you were brothers and friends of Telemachus. I will now give\nyou convincing proofs that you may know me and be assured. See, here is\nthe scar from the boar\u2019s tooth that ripped me when I was out hunting on\nMt. Parnassus with the sons of Autolycus.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he drew his rags aside from the great scar, and when they\nhad examined it thoroughly, they both of them wept about Ulysses, threw\ntheir arms round him, and kissed his head and shoulders, while Ulysses\nkissed their hands and faces in return. The sun would have gone down\nupon their mourning if Ulysses had not checked them and said:\n\n\u201cCease your weeping, lest some one should come outside and see us, and\ntell those who are within. When you go in, do so separately, not both\ntogether; I will go first, and do you follow afterwards; let this\nmoreover be the token between us; the suitors will all of them try to\nprevent me from getting hold of the bow and quiver; do you, therefore,\nEumaeus, place it in my hands when you are carrying it about, and tell\nthe women to close the doors of their apartment. If they hear any\ngroaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house, they must not\ncome out; they must keep quiet, and stay where they are at their work.\nAnd I charge you, Philoetius, to make fast the doors of the outer\ncourt, and to bind them securely at once.\u201d\n\nWhen he had thus spoken, he went back to the house and took the seat\nthat he had left. Presently, his two servants followed him inside.\n\nAt this moment the bow was in the hands of Eurymachus, who was warming\nit by the fire, but even so he could not string it, and he was greatly\ngrieved. He heaved a deep sigh and said, \u201cI grieve for myself and for\nus all; I grieve that I shall have to forgo the marriage, but I do not\ncare nearly so much about this, for there are plenty of other women in\nIthaca and elsewhere; what I feel most is the fact of our being so\ninferior to Ulysses in strength that we cannot string his bow. This\nwill disgrace us in the eyes of those who are yet unborn.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall not be so, Eurymachus,\u201d said Antinous, \u201cand you know it\nyourself. Today is the feast of Apollo throughout all the land; who can\nstring a bow on such a day as this? Put it on one side\u2014as for the axes\nthey can stay where they are, for no one is likely to come to the house\nand take them away: let the cupbearer go round with his cups, that we\nmay make our drink-offerings and drop this matter of the bow; we will\ntell Melanthius to bring us in some goats tomorrow\u2014the best he has; we\ncan then offer thigh bones to Apollo the mighty archer, and again make\ntrial of the bow, so as to bring the contest to an end.\u201d\n\nThe rest approved his words, and thereon men servants poured water over\nthe hands of the guests, while pages filled the mixing-bowls with wine\nand water and handed it round after giving every man his\ndrink-offering. Then, when they had made their offerings and had drunk\neach as much as he desired, Ulysses craftily said:\u2014\n\n\u201cSuitors of the illustrious queen, listen that I may speak even as I am\nminded. I appeal more especially to Eurymachus, and to Antinous who has\njust spoken with so much reason. Cease shooting for the present and\nleave the matter to the gods, but in the morning let heaven give\nvictory to whom it will. For the moment, however, give me the bow that\nI may prove the power of my hands among you all, and see whether I\nstill have as much strength as I used to have, or whether travel and\nneglect have made an end of it.\u201d\n\nThis made them all very angry, for they feared he might string the bow,\nAntinous therefore rebuked him fiercely saying, \u201cWretched creature, you\nhave not so much as a grain of sense in your whole body; you ought to\nthink yourself lucky in being allowed to dine unharmed among your\nbetters, without having any smaller portion served you than we others\nhave had, and in being allowed to hear our conversation. No other\nbeggar or stranger has been allowed to hear what we say among\nourselves; the wine must have been doing you a mischief, as it does\nwith all those who drink immoderately. It was wine that inflamed the\nCentaur Eurytion when he was staying with Peirithous among the\nLapithae. When the wine had got into his head, he went mad and did ill\ndeeds about the house of Peirithous; this angered the heroes who were\nthere assembled, so they rushed at him and cut off his ears and\nnostrils; then they dragged him through the doorway out of the house,\nso he went away crazed, and bore the burden of his crime, bereft of\nunderstanding. Henceforth, therefore, there was war between mankind and\nthe centaurs, but he brought it upon himself through his own\ndrunkenness. In like manner I can tell you that it will go hardly with\nyou if you string the bow: you will find no mercy from any one here,\nfor we shall at once ship you off to king Echetus, who kills every one\nthat comes near him: you will never get away alive, so drink and keep\nquiet without getting into a quarrel with men younger than yourself.\u201d\n\nPenelope then spoke to him. \u201cAntinous,\u201d said she, \u201cit is not right that\nyou should ill-treat any guest of Telemachus who comes to this house.\nIf the stranger should prove strong enough to string the mighty bow of\nUlysses, can you suppose that he would take me home with him and make\nme his wife? Even the man himself can have no such idea in his mind:\nnone of you need let that disturb his feasting; it would be out of all\nreason.\u201d\n\n\u201cQueen Penelope,\u201d answered Eurymachus, \u201cwe do not suppose that this man\nwill take you away with him; it is impossible; but we are afraid lest\nsome of the baser sort, men or women among the Achaeans, should go\ngossiping about and say, \u2018These suitors are a feeble folk; they are\npaying court to the wife of a brave man whose bow not one of them was\nable to string, and yet a beggarly tramp who came to the house strung\nit at once and sent an arrow through the iron.\u2019 This is what will be\nsaid, and it will be a scandal against us.\u201d\n\n\u201cEurymachus,\u201d Penelope answered, \u201cpeople who persist in eating up the\nestate of a great chieftain and dishonouring his house must not expect\nothers to think well of them. Why then should you mind if men talk as\nyou think they will? This stranger is strong and well-built, he says\nmoreover that he is of noble birth. Give him the bow, and let us see\nwhether he can string it or no. I say\u2014and it shall surely be\u2014that if\nApollo vouchsafes him the glory of stringing it, I will give him a\ncloak and shirt of good wear, with a javelin to keep off dogs and\nrobbers, and a sharp sword. I will also give him sandals, and will see\nhim sent safely wherever he wants to go.\u201d\n\nThen Telemachus said, \u201cMother, I am the only man either in Ithaca or in\nthe islands that are over against Elis who has the right to let any one\nhave the bow or to refuse it. No one shall force me one way or the\nother, not even though I choose to make the stranger a present of the\nbow outright, and let him take it away with him. Go, then, within the\nhouse and busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your\ndistaff, and the ordering of your servants. This bow is a man\u2019s matter,\nand mine above all others, for it is I who am master here.\u201d\n\nShe went wondering back into the house, and laid her son\u2019s saying in\nher heart. Then going upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she\nmourned her dear husband till Minerva sent sweet sleep over her\neyelids.\n\nThe swineherd now took up the bow and was for taking it to Ulysses, but\nthe suitors clamoured at him from all parts of the cloisters, and one\nof them said, \u201cYou idiot, where are you taking the bow to? Are you out\nof your wits? If Apollo and the other gods will grant our prayer, your\nown boarhounds shall get you into some quiet little place, and worry\nyou to death.\u201d\n\nEumaeus was frightened at the outcry they all raised, so he put the bow\ndown then and there, but Telemachus shouted out at him from the other\nside of the cloisters, and threatened him saying, \u201cFather Eumaeus,\nbring the bow on in spite of them, or young as I am I will pelt you\nwith stones back to the country, for I am the better man of the two. I\nwish I was as much stronger than all the other suitors in the house as\nI am than you, I would soon send some of them off sick and sorry, for\nthey mean mischief.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily, which put\nthem in a better humour with Telemachus; so Eumaeus brought the bow on\nand placed it in the hands of Ulysses. When he had done this, he called\nEuryclea apart and said to her, \u201cEuryclea, Telemachus says you are to\nclose the doors of the women\u2019s apartments. If they hear any groaning or\nuproar as of men fighting about the house, they are not to come out,\nbut are to keep quiet and stay where they are at their work.\u201d\n\nEuryclea did as she was told and closed the doors of the women\u2019s\napartments.\n\nMeanwhile Philoetius slipped quietly out and made fast the gates of the\nouter court. There was a ship\u2019s cable of byblus fibre lying in the\ngatehouse, so he made the gates fast with it and then came in again,\nresuming the seat that he had left, and keeping an eye on Ulysses, who\nhad now got the bow in his hands, and was turning it every way about,\nand proving it all over to see whether the worms had been eating into\nits two horns during his absence. Then would one turn towards his\nneighbour saying, \u201cThis is some tricky old bow-fancier; either he has\ngot one like it at home, or he wants to make one, in such workmanlike\nstyle does the old vagabond handle it.\u201d\n\nAnother said, \u201cI hope he may be no more successful in other things than\nhe is likely to be in stringing this bow.\u201d\n\nBut Ulysses, when he had taken it up and examined it all over, strung\nit as easily as a skilled bard strings a new peg of his lyre and makes\nthe twisted gut fast at both ends. Then he took it in his right hand to\nprove the string, and it sang sweetly under his touch like the\ntwittering of a swallow. The suitors were dismayed, and turned colour\nas they heard it; at that moment, moreover, Jove thundered loudly as a\nsign, and the heart of Ulysses rejoiced as he heard the omen that the\nson of scheming Saturn had sent him.\n\nHe took an arrow that was lying upon the table165\u2014for those which the\nAchaeans were so shortly about to taste were all inside the quiver\u2014he\nlaid it on the centre-piece of the bow, and drew the notch of the arrow\nand the string toward him, still seated on his seat. When he had taken\naim he let fly, and his arrow pierced every one of the handle-holes of\nthe axes from the first onwards till it had gone right through them,\nand into the outer courtyard. Then he said to Telemachus:\n\n\u201cYour guest has not disgraced you, Telemachus. I did not miss what I\naimed at, and I was not long in stringing my bow. I am still strong,\nand not as the suitors twit me with being. Now, however, it is time for\nthe Achaeans to prepare supper while there is still daylight, and then\notherwise to disport themselves with song and dance which are the\ncrowning ornaments of a banquet.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he made a sign with his eyebrows, and Telemachus girded on\nhis sword, grasped his spear, and stood armed beside his father\u2019s seat.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XXII\n\n\nTHE KILLING OF THE SUITORS\u2014THE MAIDS WHO HAVE MISCONDUCTED THEMSELVES\nARE MADE TO CLEANSE THE CLOISTERS AND ARE THEN HANGED.\n\n\nThen Ulysses tore off his rags, and sprang on to the broad pavement\nwith his bow and his quiver full of arrows. He shed the arrows on to\nthe ground at his feet and said, \u201cThe mighty contest is at an end. I\nwill now see whether Apollo will vouchsafe it to me to hit another mark\nwhich no man has yet hit.\u201d\n\nOn this he aimed a deadly arrow at Antinous, who was about to take up a\ntwo-handled gold cup to drink his wine and already had it in his hands.\nHe had no thought of death\u2014who amongst all the revellers would think\nthat one man, however brave, would stand alone among so many and kill\nhim? The arrow struck Antinous in the throat, and the point went clean\nthrough his neck, so that he fell over and the cup dropped from his\nhand, while a thick stream of blood gushed from his nostrils. He kicked\nthe table from him and upset the things on it, so that the bread and\nroasted meats were all soiled as they fell over on to the ground.166\nThe suitors were in an uproar when they saw that a man had been hit;\nthey sprang in dismay one and all of them from their seats and looked\neverywhere towards the walls, but there was neither shield nor spear,\nand they rebuked Ulysses very angrily. \u201cStranger,\u201d said they, \u201cyou\nshall pay for shooting people in this way: you shall see no other\ncontest; you are a doomed man; he whom you have slain was the foremost\nyouth in Ithaca, and the vultures shall devour you for having killed\nhim.\u201d\n\nThus they spoke, for they thought that he had killed Antinous by\nmistake, and did not perceive that death was hanging over the head of\nevery one of them. But Ulysses glared at them and said:\n\n\u201cDogs, did you think that I should not come back from Troy? You have\nwasted my substance,167 have forced my women servants to lie with you,\nand have wooed my wife while I was still living. You have feared\nneither God nor man, and now you shall die.\u201d\n\nThey turned pale with fear as he spoke, and every man looked round\nabout to see whither he might fly for safety, but Eurymachus alone\nspoke.\n\n\u201cIf you are Ulysses,\u201d said he, \u201cthen what you have said is just. We\nhave done much wrong on your lands and in your house. But Antinous who\nwas the head and front of the offending lies low already. It was all\nhis doing. It was not that he wanted to marry Penelope; he did not so\nmuch care about that; what he wanted was something quite different, and\nJove has not vouchsafed it to him; he wanted to kill your son and to be\nchief man in Ithaca. Now, therefore, that he has met the death which\nwas his due, spare the lives of your people. We will make everything\ngood among ourselves, and pay you in full for all that we have eaten\nand drunk. Each one of us shall pay you a fine worth twenty oxen, and\nwe will keep on giving you gold and bronze till your heart is softened.\nUntil we have done this no one can complain of your being enraged\nagainst us.\u201d\n\nUlysses again glared at him and said, \u201cThough you should give me all\nthat you have in the world both now and all that you ever shall have, I\nwill not stay my hand till I have paid all of you in full. You must\nfight, or fly for your lives; and fly, not a man of you shall.\u201d\n\nTheir hearts sank as they heard him, but Eurymachus again spoke saying:\n\n\u201cMy friends, this man will give us no quarter. He will stand where he\nis and shoot us down till he has killed every man among us. Let us then\nshow fight; draw your swords, and hold up the tables to shield you from\nhis arrows. Let us have at him with a rush, to drive him from the\npavement and doorway: we can then get through into the town, and raise\nsuch an alarm as shall soon stay his shooting.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he drew his keen blade of bronze, sharpened on both sides,\nand with a loud cry sprang towards Ulysses, but Ulysses instantly shot\nan arrow into his breast that caught him by the nipple and fixed itself\nin his liver. He dropped his sword and fell doubled up over his table.\nThe cup and all the meats went over on to the ground as he smote the\nearth with his forehead in the agonies of death, and he kicked the\nstool with his feet until his eyes were closed in darkness.\n\nThen Amphinomus drew his sword and made straight at Ulysses to try and\nget him away from the door; but Telemachus was too quick for him, and\nstruck him from behind; the spear caught him between the shoulders and\nwent right through his chest, so that he fell heavily to the ground and\nstruck the earth with his forehead. Then Telemachus sprang away from\nhim, leaving his spear still in the body, for he feared that if he\nstayed to draw it out, some one of the Achaeans might come up and hack\nat him with his sword, or knock him down, so he set off at a run, and\nimmediately was at his father\u2019s side. Then he said:\n\n\u201cFather, let me bring you a shield, two spears, and a brass helmet for\nyour temples. I will arm myself as well, and will bring other armour\nfor the swineherd and the stockman, for we had better be armed.\u201d\n\n\u201cRun and fetch them,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cwhile my arrows hold out, or\nwhen I am alone they may get me away from the door.\u201d\n\nTelemachus did as his father said, and went off to the store room where\nthe armour was kept. He chose four shields, eight spears, and four\nbrass helmets with horse-hair plumes. He brought them with all speed to\nhis father, and armed himself first, while the stockman and the\nswineherd also put on their armour, and took their places near Ulysses.\nMeanwhile Ulysses, as long as his arrows lasted, had been shooting the\nsuitors one by one, and they fell thick on one another: when his arrows\ngave out, he set the bow to stand against the end wall of the house by\nthe door post, and hung a shield four hides thick about his shoulders;\non his comely head he set his helmet, well wrought with a crest of\nhorse-hair that nodded menacingly above it,168 and he grasped two\nredoubtable bronze-shod spears.\n\nNow there was a trap door169 on the wall, while at one end of the\npavement170 there was an exit leading to a narrow passage, and this\nexit was closed by a well-made door. Ulysses told Philoetius to stand\nby this door and guard it, for only one person could attack it at a\ntime. But Agelaus shouted out, \u201cCannot some one go up to the trap door\nand tell the people what is going on? Help would come at once, and we\nshould soon make an end of this man and his shooting.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis may not be, Agelaus,\u201d answered Melanthius, \u201cthe mouth of the\nnarrow passage is dangerously near the entrance to the outer court. One\nbrave man could prevent any number from getting in. But I know what I\nwill do, I will bring you arms from the store-room, for I am sure it is\nthere that Ulysses and his son have put them.\u201d\n\nOn this the goatherd Melanthius went by back passages to the store-room\nof Ulysses\u2019 house. There he chose twelve shields, with as many helmets\nand spears, and brought them back as fast as he could to give them to\nthe suitors. Ulysses\u2019 heart began to fail him when he saw the\nsuitors171 putting on their armour and brandishing their spears. He saw\nthe greatness of the danger, and said to Telemachus, \u201cSome one of the\nwomen inside is helping the suitors against us, or it may be\nMelanthius.\u201d\n\nTelemachus answered, \u201cThe fault, father, is mine, and mine only; I left\nthe store room door open, and they have kept a sharper look out than I\nhave. Go, Eumaeus, put the door to, and see whether it is one of the\nwomen who is doing this, or whether, as I suspect, it is Melanthius the\nson of Dolius.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse. Meanwhile Melanthius was again going to the\nstore room to fetch more armour, but the swineherd saw him and said to\nUlysses who was beside him, \u201cUlysses, noble son of Laertes, it is that\nscoundrel Melanthius, just as we suspected, who is going to the store\nroom. Say, shall I kill him, if I can get the better of him, or shall I\nbring him here that you may take your own revenge for all the many\nwrongs that he has done in your house?\u201d\n\nUlysses answered, \u201cTelemachus and I will hold these suitors in check,\nno matter what they do; go back both of you and bind Melanthius\u2019 hands\nand feet behind him. Throw him into the store room and make the door\nfast behind you; then fasten a noose about his body, and string him\nclose up to the rafters from a high bearing-post,172 that he may linger\non in an agony.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak, and they did even as he had said; they went to the\nstore room, which they entered before Melanthius saw them, for he was\nbusy searching for arms in the innermost part of the room, so the two\ntook their stand on either side of the door and waited. By and by\nMelanthius came out with a helmet in one hand, and an old dry-rotted\nshield in the other, which had been borne by Laertes when he was young,\nbut which had been long since thrown aside, and the straps had become\nunsewn; on this the two seized him, dragged him back by the hair, and\nthrew him struggling to the ground. They bent his hands and feet well\nbehind his back, and bound them tight with a painful bond as Ulysses\nhad told them; then they fastened a noose about his body and strung him\nup from a high pillar till he was close up to the rafters, and over him\ndid you then vaunt, O swineherd Eumaeus saying, \u201cMelanthius, you will\npass the night on a soft bed as you deserve. You will know very well\nwhen morning comes from the streams of Oceanus, and it is time for you\nto be driving in your goats for the suitors to feast on.\u201d\n\nThere, then, they left him in very cruel bondage, and having put on\ntheir armour they closed the door behind them and went back to take\ntheir places by the side of Ulysses; whereon the four men stood in the\ncloister, fierce and full of fury; nevertheless, those who were in the\nbody of the court were still both brave and many. Then Jove\u2019s daughter\nMinerva came up to them, having assumed the voice and form of Mentor.\nUlysses was glad when he saw her and said, \u201cMentor, lend me your help,\nand forget not your old comrade, nor the many good turns he has done\nyou. Besides, you are my age-mate.\u201d\n\nBut all the time he felt sure it was Minerva, and the suitors from the\nother side raised an uproar when they saw her. Agelaus was the first to\nreproach her. \u201cMentor,\u201d he cried, \u201cdo not let Ulysses beguile you into\nsiding with him and fighting the suitors. This is what we will do: when\nwe have killed these people, father and son, we will kill you too. You\nshall pay for it with your head, and when we have killed you, we will\ntake all you have, in doors or out, and bring it into hotch-pot with\nUlysses\u2019 property; we will not let your sons live in your house, nor\nyour daughters, nor shall your widow continue to live in the city of\nIthaca.\u201d\n\nThis made Minerva still more furious, so she scolded Ulysses very\nangrily.173 \u201cUlysses,\u201d said she, \u201cyour strength and prowess are no\nlonger what they were when you fought for nine long years among the\nTrojans about the noble lady Helen. You killed many a man in those\ndays, and it was through your stratagem that Priam\u2019s city was taken.\nHow comes it that you are so lamentably less valiant now that you are\non your own ground, face to face with the suitors in your own house?\nCome on, my good fellow, stand by my side and see how Mentor, son of\nAlcimus shall fight your foes and requite your kindnesses conferred\nupon him.\u201d\n\nBut she would not give him full victory as yet, for she wished still\nfurther to prove his own prowess and that of his brave son, so she flew\nup to one of the rafters in the roof of the cloister and sat upon it in\nthe form of a swallow.\n\nMeanwhile Agelaus son of Damastor, Eurynomus, Amphimedon, Demoptolemus,\nPisander, and Polybus son of Polyctor bore the brunt of the fight upon\nthe suitors\u2019 side; of all those who were still fighting for their lives\nthey were by far the most valiant, for the others had already fallen\nunder the arrows of Ulysses. Agelaus shouted to them and said, \u201cMy\nfriends, he will soon have to leave off, for Mentor has gone away after\nhaving done nothing for him but brag. They are standing at the doors\nunsupported. Do not aim at him all at once, but six of you throw your\nspears first, and see if you cannot cover yourselves with glory by\nkilling him. When he has fallen we need not be uneasy about the\nothers.\u201d\n\nThey threw their spears as he bade them, but Minerva made them all of\nno effect. One hit the door post; another went against the door; the\npointed shaft of another struck the wall; and as soon as they had\navoided all the spears of the suitors Ulysses said to his own men, \u201cMy\nfriends, I should say we too had better let drive into the middle of\nthem, or they will crown all the harm they have done us by killing us\noutright.\u201d\n\nThey therefore aimed straight in front of them and threw their spears.\nUlysses killed Demoptolemus, Telemachus Euryades, Eumaeus Elatus, while\nthe stockman killed Pisander. These all bit the dust, and as the others\ndrew back into a corner Ulysses and his men rushed forward and regained\ntheir spears by drawing them from the bodies of the dead.\n\nThe suitors now aimed a second time, but again Minerva made their\nweapons for the most part without effect. One hit a bearing-post of the\ncloister; another went against the door; while the pointed shaft of\nanother struck the wall. Still, Amphimedon just took a piece of the top\nskin from off Telemachus\u2019s wrist, and Ctesippus managed to graze\nEumaeus\u2019s shoulder above his shield; but the spear went on and fell to\nthe ground. Then Ulysses and his men let drive into the crowd of\nsuitors. Ulysses hit Eurydamas, Telemachus Amphimedon, and Eumaeus\nPolybus. After this the stockman hit Ctesippus in the breast, and\ntaunted him saying, \u201cFoul-mouthed son of Polytherses, do not be so\nfoolish as to talk wickedly another time, but let heaven direct your\nspeech, for the gods are far stronger than men. I make you a present of\nthis advice to repay you for the foot which you gave Ulysses when he\nwas begging about in his own house.\u201d\n\nThus spoke the stockman, and Ulysses struck the son of Damastor with a\nspear in close fight, while Telemachus hit Leocritus son of Evenor in\nthe belly, and the dart went clean through him, so that he fell forward\nfull on his face upon the ground. Then Minerva from her seat on the\nrafter held up her deadly aegis, and the hearts of the suitors quailed.\nThey fled to the other end of the court like a herd of cattle maddened\nby the gadfly in early summer when the days are at their longest. As\neagle-beaked, crook-taloned vultures from the mountains swoop down on\nthe smaller birds that cower in flocks upon the ground, and kill them,\nfor they cannot either fight or fly, and lookers on enjoy the\nsport\u2014even so did Ulysses and his men fall upon the suitors and smite\nthem on every side. They made a horrible groaning as their brains were\nbeing battered in, and the ground seethed with their blood.\n\nLeiodes then caught the knees of Ulysses and said, \u201cUlysses I beseech\nyou have mercy upon me and spare me. I never wronged any of the women\nin your house either in word or deed, and I tried to stop the others. I\nsaw them, but they would not listen, and now they are paying for their\nfolly. I was their sacrificing priest; if you kill me, I shall die\nwithout having done anything to deserve it, and shall have got no\nthanks for all the good that I did.\u201d\n\nUlysses looked sternly at him and answered, \u201cIf you were their\nsacrificing priest, you must have prayed many a time that it might be\nlong before I got home again, and that you might marry my wife and have\nchildren by her. Therefore you shall die.\u201d\n\nWith these words he picked up the sword that Agelaus had dropped when\nhe was being killed, and which was lying upon the ground. Then he\nstruck Leiodes on the back of his neck, so that his head fell rolling\nin the dust while he was yet speaking.\n\nThe minstrel Phemius son of Terpes\u2014he who had been forced by the\nsuitors to sing to them\u2014now tried to save his life. He was standing\nnear towards the trap door,174 and held his lyre in his hand. He did\nnot know whether to fly out of the cloister and sit down by the altar\nof Jove that was in the outer court, and on which both Laertes and\nUlysses had offered up the thigh bones of many an ox, or whether to go\nstraight up to Ulysses and embrace his knees, but in the end he deemed\nit best to embrace Ulysses\u2019 knees. So he laid his lyre on the ground\nbetween the mixing bowl 175 and the silver-studded seat; then going up\nto Ulysses he caught hold of his knees and said, \u201cUlysses, I beseech\nyou have mercy on me and spare me. You will be sorry for it afterwards\nif you kill a bard who can sing both for gods and men as I can. I make\nall my lays myself, and heaven visits me with every kind of\ninspiration. I would sing to you as though you were a god, do not\ntherefore be in such a hurry to cut my head off. Your own son\nTelemachus will tell you that I did not want to frequent your house and\nsing to the suitors after their meals, but they were too many and too\nstrong for me, so they made me.\u201d\n\nTelemachus heard him, and at once went up to his father. \u201cHold!\u201d he\ncried, \u201cthe man is guiltless, do him no hurt; and we will spare Medon\ntoo, who was always good to me when I was a boy, unless Philoetius or\nEumaeus has already killed him, or he has fallen in your way when you\nwere raging about the court.\u201d\n\nMedon caught these words of Telemachus, for he was crouching under a\nseat beneath which he had hidden by covering himself up with a freshly\nflayed heifer\u2019s hide, so he threw off the hide, went up to Telemachus,\nand laid hold of his knees.\n\n\u201cHere I am, my dear sir,\u201d said he, \u201cstay your hand therefore, and tell\nyour father, or he will kill me in his rage against the suitors for\nhaving wasted his substance and been so foolishly disrespectful to\nyourself.\u201d\n\nUlysses smiled at him and answered, \u201cFear not; Telemachus has saved\nyour life, that you may know in future, and tell other people, how\ngreatly better good deeds prosper than evil ones. Go, therefore,\noutside the cloisters into the outer court, and be out of the way of\nthe slaughter\u2014you and the bard\u2014while I finish my work here inside.\u201d\n\nThe pair went into the outer court as fast as they could, and sat down\nby Jove\u2019s great altar, looking fearfully round, and still expecting\nthat they would be killed. Then Ulysses searched the whole court\ncarefully over, to see if anyone had managed to hide himself and was\nstill living, but he found them all lying in the dust and weltering in\ntheir blood. They were like fishes which fishermen have netted out of\nthe sea, and thrown upon the beach to lie gasping for water till the\nheat of the sun makes an end of them. Even so were the suitors lying\nall huddled up one against the other.\n\nThen Ulysses said to Telemachus, \u201cCall nurse Euryclea; I have something\nto say to her.\u201d\n\nTelemachus went and knocked at the door of the women\u2019s room. \u201cMake\nhaste,\u201d said he, \u201cyou old woman who have been set over all the other\nwomen in the house. Come outside; my father wishes to speak to you.\u201d\n\nWhen Euryclea heard this she unfastened the door of the women\u2019s room\nand came out, following Telemachus. She found Ulysses among the corpses\nbespattered with blood and filth like a lion that has just been\ndevouring an ox, and his breast and both his cheeks are all bloody, so\nthat he is a fearful sight; even so was Ulysses besmirched from head to\nfoot with gore. When she saw all the corpses and such a quantity of\nblood, she was beginning to cry out for joy, for she saw that a great\ndeed had been done; but Ulysses checked her, \u201cOld woman,\u201d said he,\n\u201crejoice in silence; restrain yourself, and do not make any noise about\nit; it is an unholy thing to vaunt over dead men. Heaven\u2019s doom and\ntheir own evil deeds have brought these men to destruction, for they\nrespected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor poor, who came\nnear them, and they have come to a bad end as a punishment for their\nwickedness and folly. Now, however, tell me which of the women in the\nhouse have misconducted themselves, and who are innocent.\u201d176\n\n\u201cI will tell you the truth, my son,\u201d answered Euryclea. \u201cThere are\nfifty women in the house whom we teach to do things, such as carding\nwool, and all kinds of household work. Of these, twelve in all177 have\nmisbehaved, and have been wanting in respect to me, and also to\nPenelope. They showed no disrespect to Telemachus, for he has only\nlately grown and his mother never permitted him to give orders to the\nfemale servants; but let me go upstairs and tell your wife all that has\nhappened, for some god has been sending her to sleep.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo not wake her yet,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cbut tell the women who have\nmisconducted themselves to come to me.\u201d\n\nEuryclea left the cloister to tell the women, and make them come to\nUlysses; in the meantime he called Telemachus, the stockman, and the\nswineherd. \u201cBegin,\u201d said he, \u201cto remove the dead, and make the women\nhelp you. Then, get sponges and clean water to swill down the tables\nand seats. When you have thoroughly cleansed the whole cloisters, take\nthe women into the space between the domed room and the wall of the\nouter court, and run them through with your swords till they are quite\ndead, and have forgotten all about love and the way in which they used\nto lie in secret with the suitors.\u201d\n\nOn this the women came down in a body, weeping and wailing bitterly.\nFirst they carried the dead bodies out, and propped them up against one\nanother in the gatehouse. Ulysses ordered them about and made them do\ntheir work quickly, so they had to carry the bodies out. When they had\ndone this, they cleaned all the tables and seats with sponges and\nwater, while Telemachus and the two others shovelled up the blood and\ndirt from the ground, and the women carried it all away and put it out\nof doors. Then when they had made the whole place quite clean and\norderly, they took the women out and hemmed them in the narrow space\nbetween the wall of the domed room and that of the yard, so that they\ncould not get away: and Telemachus said to the other two, \u201cI shall not\nlet these women die a clean death, for they were insolent to me and my\nmother, and used to sleep with the suitors.\u201d\n\nSo saying he made a ship\u2019s cable fast to one of the bearing-posts that\nsupported the roof of the domed room, and secured it all around the\nbuilding, at a good height, lest any of the women\u2019s feet should touch\nthe ground; and as thrushes or doves beat against a net that has been\nset for them in a thicket just as they were getting to their nest, and\na terrible fate awaits them, even so did the women have to put their\nheads in nooses one after the other and die most miserably.178 Their\nfeet moved convulsively for a while, but not for very long.\n\nAs for Melanthius, they took him through the cloister into the inner\ncourt. There they cut off his nose and his ears; they drew out his\nvitals and gave them to the dogs raw, and then in their fury they cut\noff his hands and his feet.\n\nWhen they had done this they washed their hands and feet and went back\ninto the house, for all was now over; and Ulysses said to the dear old\nnurse Euryclea, \u201cBring me sulphur, which cleanses all pollution, and\nfetch fire also that I may burn it, and purify the cloisters. Go,\nmoreover, and tell Penelope to come here with her attendants, and also\nall the maidservants that are in the house.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll that you have said is true,\u201d answered Euryclea, \u201cbut let me bring\nyou some clean clothes\u2014a shirt and cloak. Do not keep these rags on\nyour back any longer. It is not right.\u201d\n\n\u201cFirst light me a fire,\u201d replied Ulysses.\n\nShe brought the fire and sulphur, as he had bidden her, and Ulysses\nthoroughly purified the cloisters and both the inner and outer courts.\nThen she went inside to call the women and tell them what had happened;\nwhereon they came from their apartment with torches in their hands, and\npressed round Ulysses to embrace him, kissing his head and shoulders\nand taking hold of his hands. It made him feel as if he should like to\nweep, for he remembered every one of them.179\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XXIII\n\n\nPENELOPE EVENTUALLY RECOGNISES HER HUSBAND\u2014EARLY IN THE MORNING\nULYSSES, TELEMACHUS, EUMAEUS, AND PHILOETIUS LEAVE THE TOWN.\n\n\nEuryclea now went upstairs laughing to tell her mistress that her dear\nhusband had come home. Her aged knees became young again and her feet\nwere nimble for joy as she went up to her mistress and bent over her\nhead to speak to her. \u201cWake up Penelope, my dear child,\u201d she exclaimed,\n\u201cand see with your own eyes something that you have been wanting this\nlong time past. Ulysses has at last indeed come home again, and has\nkilled the suitors who were giving so much trouble in his house, eating\nup his estate and ill treating his son.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy good nurse,\u201d answered Penelope, \u201cyou must be mad. The gods\nsometimes send some very sensible people out of their minds, and make\nfoolish people become sensible. This is what they must have been doing\nto you; for you always used to be a reasonable person. Why should you\nthus mock me when I have trouble enough already\u2014talking such nonsense,\nand waking me up out of a sweet sleep that had taken possession of my\neyes and closed them? I have never slept so soundly from the day my\npoor husband went to that city with the ill-omened name. Go back again\ninto the women\u2019s room; if it had been any one else who had woke me up\nto bring me such absurd news I should have sent her away with a severe\nscolding. As it is your age shall protect you.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear child,\u201d answered Euryclea, \u201cI am not mocking you. It is quite\ntrue as I tell you that Ulysses is come home again. He was the stranger\nwhom they all kept on treating so badly in the cloister. Telemachus\nknew all the time that he was come back, but kept his father\u2019s secret\nthat he might have his revenge on all these wicked people.\u201d\n\nThen Penelope sprang up from her couch, threw her arms round Euryclea,\nand wept for joy. \u201cBut my dear nurse,\u201d said she, \u201cexplain this to me;\nif he has really come home as you say, how did he manage to overcome\nthe wicked suitors single handed, seeing what a number of them there\nalways were?\u201d\n\n\u201cI was not there,\u201d answered Euryclea, \u201cand do not know; I only heard\nthem groaning while they were being killed. We sat crouching and\nhuddled up in a corner of the women\u2019s room with the doors closed, till\nyour son came to fetch me because his father sent him. Then I found\nUlysses standing over the corpses that were lying on the ground all\nround him, one on top of the other. You would have enjoyed it if you\ncould have seen him standing there all bespattered with blood and\nfilth, and looking just like a lion. But the corpses are now all piled\nup in the gatehouse that is in the outer court, and Ulysses has lit a\ngreat fire to purify the house with sulphur. He has sent me to call\nyou, so come with me that you may both be happy together after all; for\nnow at last the desire of your heart has been fulfilled; your husband\nis come home to find both wife and son alive and well, and to take his\nrevenge in his own house on the suitors who behaved so badly to him.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear nurse,\u201d said Penelope, \u201cdo not exult too confidently over all\nthis. You know how delighted every one would be to see Ulysses come\nhome\u2014more particularly myself, and the son who has been born to both of\nus; but what you tell me cannot be really true. It is some god who is\nangry with the suitors for their great wickedness, and has made an end\nof them; for they respected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor\npoor, who came near them, and they have come to a bad end in\nconsequence of their iniquity; Ulysses is dead far away from the\nAchaean land; he will never return home again.\u201d\n\nThen nurse Euryclea said, \u201cMy child, what are you talking about? but\nyou were all hard of belief and have made up your mind that your\nhusband is never coming, although he is in the house and by his own\nfire side at this very moment. Besides I can give you another proof;\nwhen I was washing him I perceived the scar which the wild boar gave\nhim, and I wanted to tell you about it, but in his wisdom he would not\nlet me, and clapped his hands over my mouth; so come with me and I will\nmake this bargain with you\u2014if I am deceiving you, you may have me\nkilled by the most cruel death you can think of.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear nurse,\u201d said Penelope, \u201chowever wise you may be you can hardly\nfathom the counsels of the gods. Nevertheless, we will go in search of\nmy son, that I may see the corpses of the suitors, and the man who has\nkilled them.\u201d\n\nOn this she came down from her upper room, and while doing so she\nconsidered whether she should keep at a distance from her husband and\nquestion him, or whether she should at once go up to him and embrace\nhim. When, however, she had crossed the stone floor of the cloister,\nshe sat down opposite Ulysses by the fire, against the wall at right\nangles180 [to that by which she had entered], while Ulysses sat near\none of the bearing-posts, looking upon the ground, and waiting to see\nwhat his brave wife would say to him when she saw him. For a long time\nshe sat silent and as one lost in amazement. At one moment she looked\nhim full in the face, but then again directly, she was misled by his\nshabby clothes and failed to recognise him,181 till Telemachus began to\nreproach her and said:\n\n\u201cMother\u2014but you are so hard that I cannot call you by such a name\u2014why\ndo you keep away from my father in this way? Why do you not sit by his\nside and begin talking to him and asking him questions? No other woman\ncould bear to keep away from her husband when he had come back to her\nafter twenty years of absence, and after having gone through so much;\nbut your heart always was as hard as a stone.\u201d\n\nPenelope answered, \u201cMy son, I am so lost in astonishment that I can\nfind no words in which either to ask questions or to answer them. I\ncannot even look him straight in the face. Still, if he really is\nUlysses come back to his own home again, we shall get to understand one\nanother better by and by, for there are tokens with which we two are\nalone acquainted, and which are hidden from all others.\u201d\n\nUlysses smiled at this, and said to Telemachus, \u201cLet your mother put me\nto any proof she likes; she will make up her mind about it presently.\nShe rejects me for the moment and believes me to be somebody else,\nbecause I am covered with dirt and have such bad clothes on; let us,\nhowever, consider what we had better do next. When one man has killed\nanother\u2014even though he was not one who would leave many friends to take\nup his quarrel\u2014the man who has killed him must still say good bye to\nhis friends and fly the country; whereas we have been killing the stay\nof a whole town, and all the picked youth of Ithaca. I would have you\nconsider this matter.\u201d\n\n\u201cLook to it yourself, father,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cfor they say you\nare the wisest counsellor in the world, and that there is no other\nmortal man who can compare with you. We will follow you with right good\nwill, nor shall you find us fail you in so far as our strength holds\nout.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will say what I think will be best,\u201d answered Ulysses. \u201cFirst wash\nand put your shirts on; tell the maids also to go to their own room and\ndress; Phemius shall then strike up a dance tune on his lyre, so that\nif people outside hear, or any of the neighbours, or some one going\nalong the street happens to notice it, they may think there is a\nwedding in the house, and no rumours about the death of the suitors\nwill get about in the town, before we can escape to the woods upon my\nown land. Once there, we will settle which of the courses heaven\nvouchsafes us shall seem wisest.\u201d\n\nThus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. First they washed\nand put their shirts on, while the women got ready. Then Phemius took\nhis lyre and set them all longing for sweet song and stately dance. The\nhouse re-echoed with the sound of men and women dancing, and the people\noutside said, \u201cI suppose the queen has been getting married at last.\nShe ought to be ashamed of herself for not continuing to protect her\nhusband\u2019s property until he comes home.\u201d182\n\nThis was what they said, but they did not know what it was that had\nbeen happening. The upper servant Eurynome washed and anointed Ulysses\nin his own house and gave him a shirt and cloak, while Minerva made him\nlook taller and stronger than before; she also made the hair grow thick\non the top of his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms;\nshe glorified him about the head and shoulders just as a skilful\nworkman who has studied art of all kinds under Vulcan or Minerva\u2014and\nhis work is full of beauty\u2014enriches a piece of silver plate by gilding\nit. He came from the bath looking like one of the immortals, and sat\ndown opposite his wife on the seat he had left. \u201cMy dear,\u201d said he,\n\u201cheaven has endowed you with a heart more unyielding than woman ever\nyet had. No other woman could bear to keep away from her husband when\nhe had come back to her after twenty years of absence, and after having\ngone through so much. But come, nurse, get a bed ready for me; I will\nsleep alone, for this woman has a heart as hard as iron.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear,\u201d answered Penelope, \u201cI have no wish to set myself up, nor to\ndepreciate you; but I am not struck by your appearance, for I very well\nremember what kind of a man you were when you set sail from Ithaca.\nNevertheless, Euryclea, take his bed outside the bed chamber that he\nhimself built. Bring the bed outside this room, and put bedding upon it\nwith fleeces, good coverlets, and blankets.\u201d\n\nShe said this to try him, but Ulysses was very angry and said, \u201cWife, I\nam much displeased at what you have just been saying. Who has been\ntaking my bed from the place in which I left it? He must have found it\na hard task, no matter how skilled a workman he was, unless some god\ncame and helped him to shift it. There is no man living, however strong\nand in his prime, who could move it from its place, for it is a\nmarvellous curiosity which I made with my very own hands. There was a\nyoung olive growing within the precincts of the house, in full vigour,\nand about as thick as a bearing-post. I built my room round this with\nstrong walls of stone and a roof to cover them, and I made the doors\nstrong and well-fitting. Then I cut off the top boughs of the olive\ntree and left the stump standing. This I dressed roughly from the root\nupwards and then worked with carpenter\u2019s tools well and skilfully,\nstraightening my work by drawing a line on the wood, and making it into\na bed-prop. I then bored a hole down the middle, and made it the\ncentre-post of my bed, at which I worked till I had finished it,\ninlaying it with gold and silver; after this I stretched a hide of\ncrimson leather from one side of it to the other. So you see I know all\nabout it, and I desire to learn whether it is still there, or whether\nany one has been removing it by cutting down the olive tree at its\nroots.\u201d\n\nWhen she heard the sure proofs Ulysses now gave her, she fairly broke\ndown. She flew weeping to his side, flung her arms about his neck, and\nkissed him. \u201cDo not be angry with me Ulysses,\u201d she cried, \u201cyou, who are\nthe wisest of mankind. We have suffered, both of us. Heaven has denied\nus the happiness of spending our youth, and of growing old, together;\ndo not then be aggrieved or take it amiss that I did not embrace you\nthus as soon as I saw you. I have been shuddering all the time through\nfear that someone might come here and deceive me with a lying story;\nfor there are many very wicked people going about. Jove\u2019s daughter\nHelen would never have yielded herself to a man from a foreign country,\nif she had known that the sons of Achaeans would come after her and\nbring her back. Heaven put it in her heart to do wrong, and she gave no\nthought to that sin, which has been the source of all our sorrows. Now,\nhowever, that you have convinced me by showing that you know all about\nour bed (which no human being has ever seen but you and I and a single\nmaidservant, the daughter of Actor, who was given me by my father on my\nmarriage, and who keeps the doors of our room) hard of belief though I\nhave been I can mistrust no longer.\u201d\n\nThen Ulysses in his turn melted, and wept as he clasped his dear and\nfaithful wife to his bosom. As the sight of land is welcome to men who\nare swimming towards the shore, when Neptune has wrecked their ship\nwith the fury of his winds and waves; a few alone reach the land, and\nthese, covered with brine, are thankful when they find themselves on\nfirm ground and out of danger\u2014even so was her husband welcome to her as\nshe looked upon him, and she could not tear her two fair arms from\nabout his neck. Indeed they would have gone on indulging their sorrow\ntill rosy-fingered morn appeared, had not Minerva determined otherwise,\nand held night back in the far west, while she would not suffer Dawn to\nleave Oceanus, nor to yoke the two steeds Lampus and Phaethon that bear\nher onward to break the day upon mankind.\n\nAt last, however, Ulysses said, \u201cWife, we have not yet reached the end\nof our troubles. I have an unknown amount of toil still to undergo. It\nis long and difficult, but I must go through with it, for thus the\nshade of Teiresias prophesied concerning me, on the day when I went\ndown into Hades to ask about my return and that of my companions. But\nnow let us go to bed, that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon\nof sleep.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall go to bed as soon as you please,\u201d replied Penelope, \u201cnow\nthat the gods have sent you home to your own good house and to your\ncountry. But as heaven has put it in your mind to speak of it, tell me\nabout the task that lies before you. I shall have to hear about it\nlater, so it is better that I should be told at once.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cwhy should you press me to tell you?\nStill, I will not conceal it from you, though you will not like it. I\ndo not like it myself, for Teiresias bade me travel far and wide,\ncarrying an oar, till I came to a country where the people have never\nheard of the sea, and do not even mix salt with their food. They know\nnothing about ships, nor oars that are as the wings of a ship. He gave\nme this certain token which I will not hide from you. He said that a\nwayfarer should meet me and ask me whether it was a winnowing shovel\nthat I had on my shoulder. On this, I was to fix my oar in the ground\nand sacrifice a ram, a bull, and a boar to Neptune; after which I was\nto go home and offer hecatombs to all the gods in heaven, one after the\nother. As for myself, he said that death should come to me from the\nsea, and that my life should ebb away very gently when I was full of\nyears and peace of mind, and my people should bless me. All this, he\nsaid, should surely come to pass.\u201d\n\nAnd Penelope said, \u201cIf the gods are going to vouchsafe you a happier\ntime in your old age, you may hope then to have some respite from\nmisfortune.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse. Meanwhile Eurynome and the nurse took torches\nand made the bed ready with soft coverlets; as soon as they had laid\nthem, the nurse went back into the house to go to her rest, leaving the\nbed chamber woman Eurynome183 to show Ulysses and Penelope to bed by\ntorch light. When she had conducted them to their room she went back,\nand they then came joyfully to the rites of their own old bed.\nTelemachus, Philoetius, and the swineherd now left off dancing, and\nmade the women leave off also. They then laid themselves down to sleep\nin the cloisters.\n\nWhen Ulysses and Penelope had had their fill of love they fell talking\nwith one another. She told him how much she had had to bear in seeing\nthe house filled with a crowd of wicked suitors who had killed so many\nsheep and oxen on her account, and had drunk so many casks of wine.\nUlysses in his turn told her what he had suffered, and how much trouble\nhe had himself given to other people. He told her everything, and she\nwas so delighted to listen that she never went to sleep till he had\nended his whole story.\n\nHe began with his victory over the Cicons, and how he thence reached\nthe fertile land of the Lotus-eaters. He told her all about the Cyclops\nand how he had punished him for having so ruthlessly eaten his brave\ncomrades; how he then went on to Aeolus, who received him hospitably\nand furthered him on his way, but even so he was not to reach home, for\nto his great grief a hurricane carried him out to sea again; how he\nwent on to the Laestrygonian city Telepylos, where the people destroyed\nall his ships with their crews, save himself and his own ship only.\nThen he told of cunning Circe and her craft, and how he sailed to the\nchill house of Hades, to consult the ghost of the Theban prophet\nTeiresias, and how he saw his old comrades in arms, and his mother who\nbore him and brought him up when he was a child; how he then heard the\nwondrous singing of the Sirens, and went on to the wandering rocks and\nterrible Charybdis and to Scylla, whom no man had ever yet passed in\nsafety; how his men then ate the cattle of the sun-god, and how Jove\ntherefore struck the ship with his thunderbolts, so that all his men\nperished together, himself alone being left alive; how at last he\nreached the Ogygian island and the nymph Calypso, who kept him there in\na cave, and fed him, and wanted him to marry her, in which case she\nintended making him immortal so that he should never grow old, but she\ncould not persuade him to let her do so; and how after much suffering\nhe had found his way to the Phaeacians, who had treated him as though\nhe had been a god, and sent him back in a ship to his own country after\nhaving given him gold, bronze, and raiment in great abundance. This was\nthe last thing about which he told her, for here a deep sleep took hold\nupon him and eased the burden of his sorrows.\n\nThen Minerva bethought her of another matter. When she deemed that\nUlysses had had both of his wife and of repose, she bade gold-enthroned\nDawn rise out of Oceanus that she might shed light upon mankind. On\nthis, Ulysses rose from his comfortable bed and said to Penelope,\n\u201cWife, we have both of us had our full share of troubles, you, here, in\nlamenting my absence, and I in being prevented from getting home though\nI was longing all the time to do so. Now, however, that we have at last\ncome together, take care of the property that is in the house. As for\nthe sheep and goats which the wicked suitors have eaten, I will take\nmany myself by force from other people, and will compel the Achaeans to\nmake good the rest till they shall have filled all my yards. I am now\ngoing to the wooded lands out in the country to see my father who has\nso long been grieved on my account, and to yourself I will give these\ninstructions, though you have little need of them. At sunrise it will\nat once get abroad that I have been killing the suitors; go upstairs,\ntherefore,184 and stay there with your women. See nobody and ask no\nquestions.\u201d185\n\nAs he spoke he girded on his armour. Then he roused Telemachus,\nPhiloetius, and Eumaeus, and told them all to put on their armour also.\nThis they did, and armed themselves. When they had done so, they opened\nthe gates and sallied forth, Ulysses leading the way. It was now\ndaylight, but Minerva nevertheless concealed them in darkness and led\nthem quickly out of the town.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK XXIV\n\n\nTHE GHOSTS OF THE SUITORS IN HADES\u2014ULYSSES AND HIS MEN GO TO THE HOUSE\nOF LAERTES\u2014THE PEOPLE OF ITHACA COME OUT TO ATTACK ULYSSES, BUT MINERVA\nCONCLUDES A PEACE.\n\n\nThen Mercury of Cyllene summoned the ghosts of the suitors, and in his\nhand he held the fair golden wand with which he seals men\u2019s eyes in\nsleep or wakes them just as he pleases; with this he roused the ghosts\nand led them, while they followed whining and gibbering behind him. As\nbats fly squealing in the hollow of some great cave, when one of them\nhas fallen out of the cluster in which they hang, even so did the\nghosts whine and squeal as Mercury the healer of sorrow led them down\ninto the dark abode of death. When they had passed the waters of\nOceanus and the rock Leucas, they came to the gates of the sun and the\nland of dreams, whereon they reached the meadow of asphodel where dwell\nthe souls and shadows of them that can labour no more.\n\nHere they found the ghost of Achilles son of Peleus, with those of\nPatroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax, who was the finest and handsomest man\nof all the Danaans after the son of Peleus himself.\n\nThey gathered round the ghost of the son of Peleus, and the ghost of\nAgamemnon joined them, sorrowing bitterly. Round him were gathered also\nthe ghosts of those who had perished with him in the house of\nAegisthus; and the ghost of Achilles spoke first.\n\n\u201cSon of Atreus,\u201d it said, \u201cwe used to say that Jove had loved you\nbetter from first to last than any other hero, for you were captain\nover many and brave men, when we were all fighting together before\nTroy; yet the hand of death, which no mortal can escape, was laid upon\nyou all too early. Better for you had you fallen at Troy in the hey-day\nof your renown, for the Achaeans would have built a mound over your\nashes, and your son would have been heir to your good name, whereas it\nhas now been your lot to come to a most miserable end.\u201d\n\n\u201cHappy son of Peleus,\u201d answered the ghost of Agamemnon, \u201cfor having\ndied at Troy far from Argos, while the bravest of the Trojans and the\nAchaeans fell round you fighting for your body. There you lay in the\nwhirling clouds of dust, all huge and hugely, heedless now of your\nchivalry. We fought the whole of the livelong day, nor should we ever\nhave left off if Jove had not sent a hurricane to stay us. Then, when\nwe had borne you to the ships out of the fray, we laid you on your bed\nand cleansed your fair skin with warm water and with ointments. The\nDanaans tore their hair and wept bitterly round about you. Your mother,\nwhen she heard, came with her immortal nymphs from out of the sea, and\nthe sound of a great wailing went forth over the waters so that the\nAchaeans quaked for fear. They would have fled panic-stricken to their\nships had not wise old Nestor whose counsel was ever truest checked\nthem saying, \u2018Hold, Argives, fly not sons of the Achaeans, this is his\nmother coming from the sea with her immortal nymphs to view the body of\nher son.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus he spoke, and the Achaeans feared no more. The daughters of the\nold man of the sea stood round you weeping bitterly, and clothed you in\nimmortal raiment. The nine muses also came and lifted up their sweet\nvoices in lament\u2014calling and answering one another; there was not an\nArgive but wept for pity of the dirge they chaunted. Days and nights\nseven and ten we mourned you, mortals and immortals, but on the\neighteenth day we gave you to the flames, and many a fat sheep with\nmany an ox did we slay in sacrifice around you. You were burnt in\nraiment of the gods, with rich resins and with honey, while heroes,\nhorse and foot, clashed their armour round the pile as you were\nburning, with the tramp as of a great multitude. But when the flames of\nheaven had done their work, we gathered your white bones at daybreak\nand laid them in ointments and in pure wine. Your mother brought us a\ngolden vase to hold them\u2014gift of Bacchus, and work of Vulcan himself;\nin this we mingled your bleached bones with those of Patroclus who had\ngone before you, and separate we enclosed also those of Antilochus, who\nhad been closer to you than any other of your comrades now that\nPatroclus was no more.\n\n\u201cOver these the host of the Argives built a noble tomb, on a point\njutting out over the open Hellespont, that it might be seen from far\nout upon the sea by those now living and by them that shall be born\nhereafter. Your mother begged prizes from the gods, and offered them to\nbe contended for by the noblest of the Achaeans. You must have been\npresent at the funeral of many a hero, when the young men gird\nthemselves and make ready to contend for prizes on the death of some\ngreat chieftain, but you never saw such prizes as silver-footed Thetis\noffered in your honour; for the gods loved you well. Thus even in death\nyour fame, Achilles, has not been lost, and your name lives evermore\namong all mankind. But as for me, what solace had I when the days of my\nfighting were done? For Jove willed my destruction on my return, by the\nhands of Aegisthus and those of my wicked wife.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse, and presently Mercury came up to them with the\nghosts of the suitors who had been killed by Ulysses. The ghosts of\nAgamemnon and Achilles were astonished at seeing them, and went up to\nthem at once. The ghost of Agamemnon recognised Amphimedon son of\nMelaneus, who lived in Ithaca and had been his host, so it began to\ntalk to him.\n\n\u201cAmphimedon,\u201d it said, \u201cwhat has happened to all you fine young men\u2014all\nof an age too\u2014that you are come down here under the ground? One could\npick no finer body of men from any city. Did Neptune raise his winds\nand waves against you when you were at sea, or did your enemies make an\nend of you on the mainland when you were cattle-lifting or\nsheep-stealing, or while fighting in defence of their wives and city?\nAnswer my question, for I have been your guest. Do you not remember how\nI came to your house with Menelaus, to persuade Ulysses to join us with\nhis ships against Troy? It was a whole month ere we could resume our\nvoyage, for we had hard work to persuade Ulysses to come with us.\u201d\n\nAnd the ghost of Amphimedon answered, \u201cAgamemnon, son of Atreus, king\nof men, I remember everything that you have said, and will tell you\nfully and accurately about the way in which our end was brought about.\nUlysses had been long gone, and we were courting his wife, who did not\nsay point blank that she would not marry, nor yet bring matters to an\nend, for she meant to compass our destruction: this, then, was the\ntrick she played us. She set up a great tambour frame in her room and\nbegan to work on an enormous piece of fine needlework. \u2018Sweethearts,\u2019\nsaid she, \u2018Ulysses is indeed dead, still, do not press me to marry\nagain immediately; wait\u2014for I would not have my skill in needlework\nperish unrecorded\u2014till I have completed a pall for the hero Laertes,\nagainst the time when death shall take him. He is very rich, and the\nwomen of the place will talk if he is laid out without a pall.\u2019 This is\nwhat she said, and we assented; whereupon we could see her working upon\nher great web all day long, but at night she would unpick the stitches\nagain by torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three years without\nour finding it out, but as time wore on and she was now in her fourth\nyear, in the waning of moons and many days had been accomplished, one\nof her maids who knew what she was doing told us, and we caught her in\nthe act of undoing her work, so she had to finish it whether she would\nor no; and when she showed us the robe she had made, after she had had\nit washed,186 its splendour was as that of the sun or moon.\n\n\u201cThen some malicious god conveyed Ulysses to the upland farm where his\nswineherd lives. Thither presently came also his son, returning from a\nvoyage to Pylos, and the two came to the town when they had hatched\ntheir plot for our destruction. Telemachus came first, and then after\nhim, accompanied by the swineherd, came Ulysses, clad in rags and\nleaning on a staff as though he were some miserable old beggar. He came\nso unexpectedly that none of us knew him, not even the older ones among\nus, and we reviled him and threw things at him. He endured both being\nstruck and insulted without a word, though he was in his own house; but\nwhen the will of Aegis-bearing Jove inspired him, he and Telemachus\ntook the armour and hid it in an inner chamber, bolting the doors\nbehind them. Then he cunningly made his wife offer his bow and a\nquantity of iron to be contended for by us ill-fated suitors; and this\nwas the beginning of our end, for not one of us could string the\nbow\u2014nor nearly do so. When it was about to reach the hands of Ulysses,\nwe all of us shouted out that it should not be given him, no matter\nwhat he might say, but Telemachus insisted on his having it. When he\nhad got it in his hands he strung it with ease and sent his arrow\nthrough the iron. Then he stood on the floor of the cloister and poured\nhis arrows on the ground, glaring fiercely about him. First he killed\nAntinous, and then, aiming straight before him, he let fly his deadly\ndarts and they fell thick on one another. It was plain that some one of\nthe gods was helping them, for they fell upon us with might and main\nthroughout the cloisters, and there was a hideous sound of groaning as\nour brains were being battered in, and the ground seethed with our\nblood. This, Agamemnon, is how we came by our end, and our bodies are\nlying still uncared for in the house of Ulysses, for our friends at\nhome do not yet know what has happened, so that they cannot lay us out\nand wash the black blood from our wounds, making moan over us according\nto the offices due to the departed.\u201d\n\n\u201cHappy Ulysses, son of Laertes,\u201d replied the ghost of Agamemnon, \u201cyou\nare indeed blessed in the possession of a wife endowed with such rare\nexcellence of understanding, and so faithful to her wedded lord as\nPenelope the daughter of Icarius. The fame, therefore, of her virtue\nshall never die, and the immortals shall compose a song that shall be\nwelcome to all mankind in honour of the constancy of Penelope. How far\notherwise was the wickedness of the daughter of Tyndareus who killed\nher lawful husband; her song shall be hateful among men, for she has\nbrought disgrace on all womankind even on the good ones.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse in the house of Hades deep down within the\nbowels of the earth. Meanwhile Ulysses and the others passed out of the\ntown and soon reached the fair and well-tilled farm of Laertes, which\nhe had reclaimed with infinite labour. Here was his house, with a\nlean-to running all round it, where the slaves who worked for him slept\nand sat and ate, while inside the house there was an old Sicel woman,\nwho looked after him in this his country-farm. When Ulysses got there,\nhe said to his son and to the other two:\n\n\u201cGo to the house, and kill the best pig that you can find for dinner.\nMeanwhile I want to see whether my father will know me, or fail to\nrecognise me after so long an absence.\u201d\n\nHe then took off his armour and gave it to Eumaeus and Philoetius, who\nwent straight on to the house, while he turned off into the vineyard to\nmake trial of his father. As he went down into the great orchard, he\ndid not see Dolius, nor any of his sons nor of the other bondsmen, for\nthey were all gathering thorns to make a fence for the vineyard, at the\nplace where the old man had told them; he therefore found his father\nalone, hoeing a vine. He had on a dirty old shirt, patched and very\nshabby; his legs were bound round with thongs of oxhide to save him\nfrom the brambles, and he also wore sleeves of leather; he had a goat\nskin cap on his head, and was looking very woe-begone. When Ulysses saw\nhim so worn, so old and full of sorrow, he stood still under a tall\npear tree and began to weep. He doubted whether to embrace him, kiss\nhim, and tell him all about his having come home, or whether he should\nfirst question him and see what he would say. In the end he deemed it\nbest to be crafty with him, so in this mind he went up to his father,\nwho was bending down and digging about a plant.\n\n\u201cI see, sir,\u201d said Ulysses, \u201cthat you are an excellent gardener\u2014what\npains you take with it, to be sure. There is not a single plant, not a\nfig tree, vine, olive, pear, nor flower bed, but bears the trace of\nyour attention. I trust, however, that you will not be offended if I\nsay that you take better care of your garden than of yourself. You are\nold, unsavoury, and very meanly clad. It cannot be because you are idle\nthat your master takes such poor care of you, indeed your face and\nfigure have nothing of the slave about them, and proclaim you of noble\nbirth. I should have said that you were one of those who should wash\nwell, eat well, and lie soft at night as old men have a right to do;\nbut tell me, and tell me true, whose bondman are you, and in whose\ngarden are you working? Tell me also about another matter. Is this\nplace that I have come to really Ithaca? I met a man just now who said\nso, but he was a dull fellow, and had not the patience to hear my story\nout when I was asking him about an old friend of mine, whether he was\nstill living, or was already dead and in the house of Hades. Believe me\nwhen I tell you that this man came to my house once when I was in my\nown country and never yet did any stranger come to me whom I liked\nbetter. He said that his family came from Ithaca and that his father\nwas Laertes, son of Arceisius. I received him hospitably, making him\nwelcome to all the abundance of my house, and when he went away I gave\nhim all customary presents. I gave him seven talents of fine gold, and\na cup of solid silver with flowers chased upon it. I gave him twelve\nlight cloaks, and as many pieces of tapestry; I also gave him twelve\ncloaks of single fold, twelve rugs, twelve fair mantles, and an equal\nnumber of shirts. To all this I added four good looking women skilled\nin all useful arts, and I let him take his choice.\u201d\n\nHis father shed tears and answered, \u201cSir, you have indeed come to the\ncountry that you have named, but it is fallen into the hands of wicked\npeople. All this wealth of presents has been given to no purpose. If\nyou could have found your friend here alive in Ithaca, he would have\nentertained you hospitably and would have requited your presents amply\nwhen you left him\u2014as would have been only right considering what you\nhad already given him. But tell me, and tell me true, how many years is\nit since you entertained this guest\u2014my unhappy son, as ever was? Alas!\nHe has perished far from his own country; the fishes of the sea have\neaten him, or he has fallen a prey to the birds and wild beasts of some\ncontinent. Neither his mother, nor I his father, who were his parents,\ncould throw our arms about him and wrap him in his shroud, nor could\nhis excellent and richly dowered wife Penelope bewail her husband as\nwas natural upon his death bed, and close his eyes according to the\noffices due to the departed. But now, tell me truly for I want to know.\nWho and whence are you\u2014tell me of your town and parents? Where is the\nship lying that has brought you and your men to Ithaca? Or were you a\npassenger on some other man\u2019s ship, and those who brought you here have\ngone on their way and left you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will tell you everything,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cquite truly. I come\nfrom Alybas, where I have a fine house. I am son of king Apheidas, who\nis the son of Polypemon. My own name is Eperitus; heaven drove me off\nmy course as I was leaving Sicania, and I have been carried here\nagainst my will. As for my ship it is lying over yonder, off the open\ncountry outside the town, and this is the fifth year since Ulysses left\nmy country. Poor fellow, yet the omens were good for him when he left\nme. The birds all flew on our right hands, and both he and I rejoiced\nto see them as we parted, for we had every hope that we should have\nanother friendly meeting and exchange presents.\u201d\n\nA dark cloud of sorrow fell upon Laertes as he listened. He filled both\nhands with the dust from off the ground and poured it over his grey\nhead, groaning heavily as he did so. The heart of Ulysses was touched,\nand his nostrils quivered as he looked upon his father; then he sprang\ntowards him, flung his arms about him and kissed him, saying, \u201cI am he,\nfather, about whom you are asking\u2014I have returned after having been\naway for twenty years. But cease your sighing and lamentation\u2014we have\nno time to lose, for I should tell you that I have been killing the\nsuitors in my house, to punish them for their insolence and crimes.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you really are my son Ulysses,\u201d replied Laertes, \u201cand have come\nback again, you must give me such manifest proof of your identity as\nshall convince me.\u201d\n\n\u201cFirst observe this scar,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cwhich I got from a boar\u2019s\ntusk when I was hunting on Mt. Parnassus. You and my mother had sent me\nto Autolycus, my mother\u2019s father, to receive the presents which when he\nwas over here he had promised to give me. Furthermore I will point out\nto you the trees in the vineyard which you gave me, and I asked you all\nabout them as I followed you round the garden. We went over them all,\nand you told me their names and what they all were. You gave me\nthirteen pear trees, ten apple trees, and forty fig trees; you also\nsaid you would give me fifty rows of vines; there was corn planted\nbetween each row, and they yield grapes of every kind when the heat of\nheaven has been laid heavy upon them.\u201d\n\nLaertes\u2019 strength failed him when he heard the convincing proofs which\nhis son had given him. He threw his arms about him, and Ulysses had to\nsupport him, or he would have gone off into a swoon; but as soon as he\ncame to, and was beginning to recover his senses, he said, \u201cO father\nJove, then you gods are still in Olympus after all, if the suitors have\nreally been punished for their insolence and folly. Nevertheless, I am\nmuch afraid that I shall have all the townspeople of Ithaca up here\ndirectly, and they will be sending messengers everywhere throughout the\ncities of the Cephallenians.\u201d\n\nUlysses answered, \u201cTake heart and do not trouble yourself about that,\nbut let us go into the house hard by your garden. I have already told\nTelemachus, Philoetius, and Eumaeus to go on there and get dinner ready\nas soon as possible.\u201d\n\nThus conversing the two made their way towards the house. When they got\nthere they found Telemachus with the stockman and the swineherd cutting\nup meat and mixing wine with water. Then the old Sicel woman took\nLaertes inside and washed him and anointed him with oil. She put him on\na good cloak, and Minerva came up to him and gave him a more imposing\npresence, making him taller and stouter than before. When he came back\nhis son was surprised to see him looking so like an immortal, and said\nto him, \u201cMy dear father, some one of the gods has been making you much\ntaller and better-looking.\u201d\n\nLaertes answered, \u201cWould, by Father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, that I\nwere the man I was when I ruled among the Cephallenians, and took\nNericum, that strong fortress on the foreland. If I were still what I\nthen was and had been in our house yesterday with my armour on, I\nshould have been able to stand by you and help you against the suitors.\nI should have killed a great many of them, and you would have rejoiced\nto see it.\u201d\n\nThus did they converse; but the others, when they had finished their\nwork and the feast was ready, left off working, and took each his\nproper place on the benches and seats. Then they began eating; by and\nby old Dolius and his sons left their work and came up, for their\nmother, the Sicel woman who looked after Laertes now that he was\ngrowing old, had been to fetch them. When they saw Ulysses and were\ncertain it was he, they stood there lost in astonishment; but Ulysses\nscolded them good naturedly and said, \u201cSit down to your dinner, old\nman, and never mind about your surprise; we have been wanting to begin\nfor some time and have been waiting for you.\u201d\n\nThen Dolius put out both his hands and went up to Ulysses. \u201cSir,\u201d said\nhe, seizing his master\u2019s hand and kissing it at the wrist, \u201cwe have\nlong been wishing you home: and now heaven has restored you to us after\nwe had given up hoping. All hail, therefore, and may the gods prosper\nyou.187 But tell me, does Penelope already know of your return, or\nshall we send some one to tell her?\u201d\n\n\u201cOld man,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cshe knows already, so you need not\ntrouble about that.\u201d On this he took his seat, and the sons of Dolius\ngathered round Ulysses to give him greeting and embrace him one after\nthe other; then they took their seats in due order near Dolius their\nfather.\n\nWhile they were thus busy getting their dinner ready, Rumour went round\nthe town, and noised abroad the terrible fate that had befallen the\nsuitors; as soon, therefore, as the people heard of it they gathered\nfrom every quarter, groaning and hooting before the house of Ulysses.\nThey took the dead away, buried every man his own, and put the bodies\nof those who came from elsewhere on board the fishing vessels, for the\nfishermen to take each of them to his own place. They then met angrily\nin the place of assembly, and when they were got together Eupeithes\nrose to speak. He was overwhelmed with grief for the death of his son\nAntinous, who had been the first man killed by Ulysses, so he said,\nweeping bitterly, \u201cMy friends, this man has done the Achaeans great\nwrong. He took many of our best men away with him in his fleet, and he\nhas lost both ships and men; now, moreover, on his return he has been\nkilling all the foremost men among the Cephallenians. Let us be up and\ndoing before he can get away to Pylos or to Elis where the Epeans rule,\nor we shall be ashamed of ourselves for ever afterwards. It will be an\neverlasting disgrace to us if we do not avenge the murder of our sons\nand brothers. For my own part I should have no more pleasure in life,\nbut had rather die at once. Let us be up, then, and after them, before\nthey can cross over to the main land.\u201d\n\nHe wept as he spoke and every one pitied him. But Medon and the bard\nPhemius had now woke up, and came to them from the house of Ulysses.\nEvery one was astonished at seeing them, but they stood in the middle\nof the assembly, and Medon said, \u201cHear me, men of Ithaca. Ulysses did\nnot do these things against the will of heaven. I myself saw an\nimmortal god take the form of Mentor and stand beside him. This god\nappeared, now in front of him encouraging him, and now going furiously\nabout the court and attacking the suitors whereon they fell thick on\none another.\u201d\n\nOn this pale fear laid hold of them, and old Halitherses, son of\nMastor, rose to speak, for he was the only man among them who knew both\npast and future; so he spoke to them plainly and in all honesty,\nsaying,\n\n\u201cMen of Ithaca, it is all your own fault that things have turned out as\nthey have; you would not listen to me, nor yet to Mentor, when we bade\nyou check the folly of your sons who were doing much wrong in the\nwantonness of their hearts\u2014wasting the substance and dishonouring the\nwife of a chieftain who they thought would not return. Now, however,\nlet it be as I say, and do as I tell you. Do not go out against\nUlysses, or you may find that you have been drawing down evil on your\nown heads.\u201d\n\nThis was what he said, and more than half raised a loud shout, and at\nonce left the assembly. But the rest stayed where they were, for the\nspeech of Halitherses displeased them, and they sided with Eupeithes;\nthey therefore hurried off for their armour, and when they had armed\nthemselves, they met together in front of the city, and Eupeithes led\nthem on in their folly. He thought he was going to avenge the murder of\nhis son, whereas in truth he was never to return, but was himself to\nperish in his attempt.\n\nThen Minerva said to Jove, \u201cFather, son of Saturn, king of kings,\nanswer me this question\u2014What do you propose to do? Will you set them\nfighting still further, or will you make peace between them?\u201d\n\nAnd Jove answered, \u201cMy child, why should you ask me? Was it not by your\nown arrangement that Ulysses came home and took his revenge upon the\nsuitors? Do whatever you like, but I will tell you what I think will be\nmost reasonable arrangement. Now that Ulysses is revenged, let them\nswear to a solemn covenant, in virtue of which he shall continue to\nrule, while we cause the others to forgive and forget the massacre of\ntheir sons and brothers. Let them then all become friends as\nheretofore, and let peace and plenty reign.\u201d\n\nThis was what Minerva was already eager to bring about, so down she\ndarted from off the topmost summits of Olympus.\n\nNow when Laertes and the others had done dinner, Ulysses began by\nsaying, \u201cSome of you go out and see if they are not getting close up to\nus.\u201d So one of Dolius\u2019s sons went as he was bid. Standing on the\nthreshold he could see them all quite near, and said to Ulysses, \u201cHere\nthey are, let us put on our armour at once.\u201d\n\nThey put on their armour as fast as they could\u2014that is to say Ulysses,\nhis three men, and the six sons of Dolius. Laertes also and Dolius did\nthe same\u2014warriors by necessity in spite of their grey hair. When they\nhad all put on their armour, they opened the gate and sallied forth,\nUlysses leading the way.\n\nThen Jove\u2019s daughter Minerva came up to them, having assumed the form\nand voice of Mentor. Ulysses was glad when he saw her, and said to his\nson Telemachus, \u201cTelemachus, now that you are about to fight in an\nengagement, which will show every man\u2019s mettle, be sure not to disgrace\nyour ancestors, who were eminent for their strength and courage all the\nworld over.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou say truly, my dear father,\u201d answered Telemachus, \u201cand you shall\nsee, if you will, that I am in no mind to disgrace your family.\u201d\n\nLaertes was delighted when he heard this. \u201cGood heavens,\u201d he exclaimed,\n\u201cwhat a day I am enjoying: I do indeed rejoice at it. My son and\ngrandson are vying with one another in the matter of valour.\u201d\n\nOn this Minerva came close up to him and said, \u201cSon of Arceisius\u2014-best\nfriend I have in the world\u2014pray to the blue-eyed damsel, and to Jove\nher father; then poise your spear and hurl it.\u201d\n\nAs she spoke she infused fresh vigour into him, and when he had prayed\nto her he poised his spear and hurled it. He hit Eupeithes\u2019 helmet, and\nthe spear went right through it, for the helmet stayed it not, and his\narmour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground.\nMeantime Ulysses and his son fell upon the front line of the foe and\nsmote them with their swords and spears; indeed, they would have killed\nevery one of them, and prevented them from ever getting home again,\nonly Minerva raised her voice aloud, and made every one pause. \u201cMen of\nIthaca,\u201d she cried, \u201ccease this dreadful war, and settle the matter at\nonce without further bloodshed.\u201d\n\nOn this pale fear seized every one; they were so frightened that their\narms dropped from their hands and fell upon the ground at the sound of\nthe goddess\u2019 voice, and they fled back to the city for their lives. But\nUlysses gave a great cry, and gathering himself together swooped down\nlike a soaring eagle. Then the son of Saturn sent a thunderbolt of fire\nthat fell just in front of Minerva, so she said to Ulysses, \u201cUlysses,\nnoble son of Laertes, stop this warful strife, or Jove will be angry\nwith you.\u201d\n\nThus spoke Minerva, and Ulysses obeyed her gladly. Then Minerva assumed\nthe form and voice of Mentor, and presently made a covenant of peace\nbetween the two contending parties.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] [ Black races are evidently known to the writer as stretching all\nacross Africa, one half looking West on to the Atlantic, and the other\nEast on to the Indian Ocean.]\n\n[2] [ The original use of the footstool was probably less to rest the\nfeet than to keep them (especially when bare) from a floor which was\noften wet and dirty.]\n\n[3] [ The \u03b8\u03c1\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 or seat, is occasionally called \u201chigh,\u201d as being\nhigher than the \u03b8\u03c1\u1fc6\u03bd\u03c5\u03c2 or low footstool. It was probably no higher than\nan ordinary chair is now, and seems to have had no back.]\n\n[4] [ Temesa was on the West Coast of the toe of Italy, in what is now\nthe gulf of Sta Eufemia. It was famous in remote times for its copper\nmines, which, however, were worked out when Strabo wrote.]\n\n[5] [ i.e. \u201cwith a current in it\u201d\u2014see illustrations and map near the\nend of bks. v. and vi. respectively.]\n\n[6] [ Reading \u039d\u03b7\u03c1\u03af\u03c4\u1ff3 for \u039d\u03b7\u03af\u1ff3, cf. \u201cOd.\u201d iii. 81 where the same mistake\nis made, and xiii. 351 where the mountain is called Neritum, the same\nplace being intended both here and in book xiii.]\n\n[7] [ It is never plausibly explained why Penelope cannot do this, and\nfrom bk. ii. it is clear that she kept on deliberately encouraging the\nsuitors, though we are asked to believe that she was only fooling\nthem.]\n\n[8] [ See note on \u201cOd.\u201d i. 365.]\n\n[9] [ Middle Argos means the Peleponnese which, however, is never so\ncalled in the \u201cIliad\u201d. I presume \u201cmiddle\u201d means \u201cmiddle between the two\nGreek-speaking countries of Asia Minor and Sicily, with South Italy\u201d;\nfor that parts of Sicily and also large parts, though not the whole of\nSouth Italy, were inhabited by Greek-speaking races centuries before\nthe Dorian colonisations can hardly be doubted. The Sicians, and also\nthe Sicels, both of them probably spoke Greek.]\n\n[10] [ cf. \u201cIl.\u201d vi. 490-495. In the \u201cIliad\u201d it is \u201cwar,\u201d not \u201cspeech,\u201d\nthat is a man\u2019s matter. It argues a certain hardness, or at any rate\ndislike of the \u201cIliad\u201d on the part of the writer of the \u201cOdyssey,\u201d that\nshe should have adopted Hector\u2019s farewell to Andromache here, as\nelsewhere in the poem, for a scene of such inferior pathos.]\n\n[11] [ \u03bc\u03ad\u03b3\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1 \u03c3\u03ba\u03b9\u03bf\u03ad\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1 The whole open court with the covered cloister\nrunning round it was called \u03bc\u03ad\u03b3\u03b1\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd, or \u03bc\u03ad\u03b3\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1, but the covered part\nwas distinguished by being called \u201cshady\u201d or \u201cshadow-giving\u201d. It was in\nthis part that the tables for the suitors were laid. The Fountain Court\nat Hampton Court may serve as an illustration (save as regards the use\nof arches instead of wooden supports and rafters) and the arrangement\nis still common in Sicily. The usual translation \u201cshadowy\u201d or \u201cdusky\u201d\nhalls, gives a false idea of the scene.]\n\n[12] [ The reader will note the extreme care which the writer takes to\nmake it clear that none of the suitors were allowed to sleep in\nUlysses\u2019 house.]\n\n[13] [ See Appendix; g, in plan of Ulysses\u2019 house.]\n\n[14] [ I imagine this passage to be a rejoinder to \u201cIl.\u201d xxiii. 702-705\nin which a tripod is valued at twelve oxen, and a good useful maid of\nall work at only four. The scrupulous regard of Laertes for his wife\u2019s\nfeelings is of a piece with the extreme jealousy for the honour of\nwoman, which is manifest throughout the \u201cOdyssey\u201d.]\n\n[15] [ \u03c7\u03b9\u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd\u03b1 \u201cThe \u03c7\u03b9\u03c4\u03ce\u03bd, or _tunica_, was a shirt or shift, and served\nas the chief under garment of the Greeks and Romans, whether men or\nwomen.\u201d Smith\u2019s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, under\n\u201cTunica\u201d.]\n\n[16] [ Doors fastened to all intents and purposes as here described may\nbe seen in the older houses at Trapani. There is a slot on the outer\nside of the door by means of which a person who has left the room can\nshoot the bolt. My bedroom at the Albergo Centrale was fastened in this\nway.]\n\n[17] [ \u03c0\u03cd\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd \u03b4\u2019 \u1f61\u03c0\u03bb\u03af\u03c3\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf \u03b4\u03cc\u03c1\u03c0\u03bf\u03bd. So we vulgarly say \u201chad cooked his\ngoose,\u201d or \u201chad settled his hash.\u201d \u00c6gyptius cannot of course know of\nthe fate Antiphus had met with, for there had as yet been no news of or\nfrom Ulysses.]\n\n[18] [ \u201cIl.\u201d xxii. 416. \u03c3\u03c7\u03ad\u03c3\u03b8\u03b5 \u03c6\u03af\u03bb\u03bf\u03b9, \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03bc\u2019 \u03bf\u1f37\u03bf\u03bd \u1f10\u03ac\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5...... The\nauthoress has bungled by borrowing these words verbatim from the\n\u201cIliad\u201d, without prefixing the necessary \u201cdo not,\u201d which I have\nsupplied.]\n\n[19] [ i.e. you have money, and could pay when I got judgment, whereas\nthe suitors are men of straw.]\n\n[20] [ cf. \u201cIl.\u201d ii. 76. \u1f26 \u03c4\u03bf\u03b9 \u1f44 \u03b3\u2019 \u1f66\u03c2 \u03b5\u1f76\u03c0\u1f7c\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u2019 \u1f04\u03c1\u2019 \u1f14\u03b6\u03b5\u03c4\u03bf \u03c4\u03bf\u1fd6\u03c3\u03b9 \u03b4\u2019\n\u1f00\u03bd\u03ad\u03c3\u03c4\u03b7\n\u039d\u03ad\u03c3\u03c4\u03c9\u03c1, \u1f44\u03c2 \u1fe5\u03b1.......................................\n\u1f44 \u03c3\u03c6\u03b9\u03bd \u1f10\u1f7a \u03c6\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03ad\u03c9\u03bd \u1f00\u03b3\u03bf\u03c1\u03ae\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ad\u03b5\u03b9\u03c0\u03b5\u03bd.\nThe Odyssean passage runs\u2014\n\u201c\u1f26 \u03c4\u03bf\u03b9 \u1f44 \u03b3\u2019 \u1f66\u03c2 \u03b5\u1f76\u03c0\u1f7c\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u2019 \u1f04\u03c1\u2019 \u1f14\u03b6\u03b5\u03c4\u03bf \u03c4\u03bf\u1fd6\u03c3\u03b9 \u03b4\u2019 \u1f00\u03bd\u03ad\u03c3\u03c4\u03b7\n\u039c\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c1 \u1f44\u03c2 \u1fe5\u2019.......................................\n\u1f44 \u03c3\u03c6\u03b9\u03bd \u1f10\u1f7a \u03c6\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03ad\u03c9\u03bd \u1f00\u03b3\u03bf\u03c1\u03ae\u03c3\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ad\u03b5\u03b9\u03c0\u03b5\u03bd.\nIs it possible not to suspect that the name Mentor was coined upon that\nof Nestor?]\n\n[21] [ i.e. in the outer court, and in the uncovered part of the inner\nhouse.]\n\n[22] [ This would be fair from Sicily, which was doing duty for Ithaca\nin the mind of the writer, but a North wind would have been preferable\nfor a voyage from the real Ithaca to Pylos.]\n\n[23] [ \u03ba\u03b5\u03bb\u03ac\u03b4\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u2019 \u1f10\u03c0\u1f76 \u03bf\u1f76\u03bd\u03bf\u03c0\u03b1 \u03c0\u03cc\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd The wind does not whistle over\nwaves. It only whistles through rigging or some other obstacle that\ncuts it.]\n\n[24] [ cf. \u201cIl.\u201d v.20. \u1f38\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b4\u2019 \u1f00\u03c0\u03cc\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b5 \u03bb\u03b9\u03c0\u1f7c\u03bd \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03ad\u03b1 \u03b4\u03af\u03c6\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd, the\nOdyssean line is \u1f20\u03ad\u03bb\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b4\u2019 \u1f00\u03bd\u03cc\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b5 \u03bb\u03b9\u03c0\u1f7c\u03bd \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03ad\u03b1 \u03bb\u03af\u03bc\u03bd\u03b7\u03bd. There can\nbe no doubt that the Odyssean line was suggested by the Iliadic, but\nnothing can explain why Id\u00e6us jumping from his chariot should suggest\nto the writer of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d the sun jumping from the sea. The\nprobability is that she never gave the matter a thought, but took the\nline in question as an effect of saturation with the \u201cIliad,\u201d and of\nunconscious cerebration. The \u201cOdyssey\u201d contains many such examples.]\n\n[25] [ The heart, liver, lights, kidneys, etc. were taken out from the\ninside and eaten first as being more readily cooked; the {Greek}, or\nbone meat, was cooking while the {Greek} or inward parts were being\neaten. I imagine that the thigh bones made a kind of gridiron, while at\nthe same time the marrow inside them got cooked.]\n\n[26] [ i.e. skewers, either single, double, or even five pronged. The\nmeat would be pierced with the skewer, and laid over the ashes to\ngrill\u2014the two ends of the skewer being supported in whatever way\nconvenient. Meat so cooking may be seen in any eating house in Smyrna,\nor any Eastern town. When I rode across the Troad from the Dardanelles\nto Hissarlik and Mount Ida, I noticed that my dragoman and his men did\nall our outdoor cooking exactly in the Odyssean and Iliadic fashion.]\n\n[27] [ cf. \u201cIl.\u201d xvii. 567. {Greek} The Odyssean lines are\u2014{Greek}]\n\n[28] [ Reading {Greek} for {Greek}, cf. \u201cOd.\u201d i. 186.]\n\n29[] [ The geography of the \u00c6gean as above described is correct, but is\nprobably taken from the lost poem, the Nosti, the existence of which is\nreferred to \u201cOd.\u201d i. 326, 327 and 350, &c. A glance at the map will\nshow that heaven advised its supplicants quite correctly.]\n\n[30] [ The writer\u2014ever jealous for the honour of women\u2014extenuates\nClytemnestra\u2019s guilt as far as possible, and explains it as due to her\nhaving been left unprotected, and fallen into the hands of a wicked\nman.]\n\n[31] [ The Greek is {Greek} cf. \u201cIliad\u201d ii. 408 {Greek} Surely the\n{Greek} of the Odyssean passage was due to the {Greek} of the \u201cIliad.\u201d\nNo other reason suggests itself for the making Menelaus return on the\nvery day of the feast given by Orestes. The fact that in the \u201cIliad\u201d\nMenelaus came to a banquet without waiting for an invitation,\ndetermines the writer of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d to make him come to a banquet,\nalso uninvited, but as circumstances did not permit of his having been\ninvited, his coming uninvited is shown to have been due to chance. I do\nnot think the authoress thought all this out, but attribute the\nstrangeness of the coincidence to unconscious cerebration and\nsaturation.]\n\n[32] [ cf. \u201cIl.\u201d I. 458, II. 421. The writer here interrupts an Iliadic\npassage (to which she returns immediately) for the double purpose of\ndwelling upon the slaughter of the heifer, and of letting Nestor\u2019s wife\nand daughter enjoy it also. A male writer, if he was borrowing from the\n\u201cIliad,\u201d would have stuck to his borrowing.]\n\n[33] [ cf. \u201cIl.\u201d xxiv. 587, 588 where the lines refer to the washing\nthe dead body of Hector.]\n\n[34] [ See illustration on opposite page. The yard is typical of many\nthat may be seen in Sicily. The existing ground-plan is probably\nunmodified from Odyssean, and indeed long pre-Odyssean times, but the\nearlier buildings would have no arches, and would, one would suppose,\nbe mainly timber. The Odyssean {Greek} were the sheds that ran round\nthe yard as the arches do now. The {Greek} was the one through which\nthe main entrance passed, and which was hence \u201cnoisy,\u201d or\nreverberating. It had an upper story in which visitors were often\nlodged.]\n\n[35] [ This journey is an impossible one. Telemachus and Pisistratus\nwould have been obliged to drive over the Taygetus range, over which\nthere has never yet been a road for wheeled vehicles. It is plain\ntherefore that the audience for whom the \u201cOdyssey\u201d was written was one\nthat would be unlikely to know anything about the topography of the\nPeloponnese, so that the writer might take what liberties she chose.]\n\n[36] [ The lines which I have enclosed in brackets are evidently an\nafterthought\u2014added probably by the writer herself\u2014for they evince the\nsame instinctively greater interest in anything that may concern a\nwoman, which is so noticeable throughout the poem. There is no further\nsign of any special festivities nor of any other guests than Telemachus\nand Pisistratus, until lines 621-624 (ordinarily enclosed in brackets)\nare abruptly introduced, probably with a view of trying to carry off\nthe introduction of the lines now in question.\n\nThe addition was, I imagine, suggested by a desire to excuse and\nexplain the non-appearance of Hermione in bk. xv., as also of both\nHermione and Megapenthes in the rest of bk. iv. Megapenthes in bk. xv.\nseems to be still a bachelor: the presumption therefore is that bk. xv.\nwas written before the story of his marriage here given. I take it he\nis only married here because his sister is being married. She having\nbeen properly attended to, Megapenthes might as well be married at the\nsame time. Hermione could not now be less than thirty.\n\nI have dealt with this passage somewhat more fully in my \u201cAuthoress of\nthe Odyssey\u201d, p. 136-138. See also p. 256 of the same book.]\n\n[37] [ Sparta and Lacedaemon are here treated as two different places,\nthough in other parts of the poem it is clear that the writer\nunderstands them as one. The catalogue in the \u201cIliad,\u201d which the writer\nis here presumably following, makes the same mistake (\u201cIl.\u201d ii. 581,\n582)]\n\n[38] [ These last three lines are identical with \u201cIl.\u201d vxiii. 604-606.]\n\n[39] [ From the Greek {Greek} it is plain that Menelaus took up the\npiece of meat with his fingers.]\n\n[40] [ Amber is never mentioned in the \u201cIliad.\u201d Sicily, where I suppose\nthe \u201cOdyssey\u201d to have been written, has always been, and still is, one\nof the principal amber producing countries. It was probably the only\none known in the Odyssean age. See \u201cThe Authoress of the Odyssey,\u201d\nLongmans 1898, p. 186.]\n\n[41] [ This no doubt refers to the story told in the last poem of the\nCypria about Paris and Helen robbing Menelaus of the greater part of\nhis treasures, when they sailed together for Troy.]\n\n[42] [ It is inconceivable that Helen should enter thus, in the middle\nof supper, intending to work with her distaff, if great festivities\nwere going on. Telemachus and Pisistratus are evidently dining en\nfamille.]\n\n[43] [ In the Italian insurrection of 1848, eight young men who were\nbeing hotly pursued by the Austrian police hid themselves inside\nDonatello\u2019s colossal wooden horse in the Salone at Padua, and remained\nthere for a week being fed by their confederates. In 1898 the last\nsurvivor was carried round Padua in triumph.]\n\n[44] [ The Greek is {Greek}. Is it unfair to argue that the writer is a\nperson of somewhat delicate sensibility, to whom a strong smell of fish\nis distasteful?]\n\n[45] [ The Greek is {Greek}. I believe this to be a hit at the writer\u2019s\nown countrymen who were of Phocaean descent, and the next following\nline to be a rejoinder to complaints made against her in bk. vi.\n273-288, to the effect that she gave herself airs and would marry none\nof her own people. For that the writer of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d was the person\nwho has been introduced into the poem under the name of Nausicaa, I\ncannot bring myself to question. I may remind English readers that\n{Greek} (i.e. phoca) means \u201cseal.\u201d Seals almost always appear on\nPhocaean coins.]\n\n[46] [ Surely here again we are in the hands of a writer of delicate\nsensibility. It is not as though the seals were stale; they had only\njust been killed. The writer, however is obviously laughing at her own\ncountrymen, and insulting them as openly as she dares.]\n\n[47] [ We were told above (lines 356, 357) that it was only one day\u2019s\nsail.]\n\n[48] [ I give the usual translation, but I do not believe the Greek\nwill warrant it. The Greek reads {Greek}.\n\nThis is usually held to mean that Ithaca is an island fit for breeding\ngoats, and on that account more delectable to the speaker than it would\nhave been if it were fit for breeding horses. I find little authority\nfor such a translation; the most equitable translation of the text as\nit stands is, \u201cIthaca is an island fit for breeding goats, and\ndelectable rather than fit for breeding horses; for not one of the\nislands is good driving ground, nor well meadowed.\u201d Surely the writer\ndoes not mean that a pleasant or delectable island would not be fit for\nbreeding horses? The most equitable translation, therefore, of the\npresent text being thus halt and impotent, we may suspect corruption,\nand I hazard the following emendation, though I have not adopted it in\nmy translation, as fearing that it would be deemed too fanciful. I\nwould read:\u2014{Greek}.\n\nAs far as scanning goes the {Greek} is not necessary; {Greek} iv. 72,\n(Footnote Greek) iv. 233, to go no further afield than earlier lines of\nthe same book, give sufficient authority for {Greek}, but the {Greek}\nwould not be redundant; it would emphasise the surprise of the\ncontrast, and I should prefer to have it, though it is not very\nimportant either way. This reading of course should be translated\n\u201cIthaca is an island fit for breeding goats, and (by your leave) itself\na horseman rather than fit for breeding horses\u2014for not one of the\nislands is good and well meadowed ground.\u201d\n\nThis would be sure to baffle the Alexandrian editors. \u201cHow,\u201d they would\nask themselves, \u201ccould an island be a horseman?\u201d and they would cast\nabout for an emendation. A visit to the top of Mt. Eryx might perhaps\nmake the meaning intelligible, and suggest my proposed restoration of\nthe text to the reader as readily as it did to myself.\n\nI have elsewhere stated my conviction that the writer of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d\nwas familiar with the old Sican city at the top of Mt. Eryx, and that\nthe Aegadean islands which are so striking when seen thence did duty\nwith her for the Ionian islands\u2014Marettimo, the highest and most\nwesterly of the group, standing for Ithaca. When seen from the top of\nMt. Eryx Marettimo shows as it should do according to \u201cOd.\u201d ix. 25, 26,\n\u201con the horizon, all highest up in the sea towards the West,\u201d while the\nother islands lie \u201csome way off it to the East.\u201d As we descend to\nTrapani, Marettimo appears to sink on to the top of the island of\nLevanzo, behind which it disappears. My friend, the late Signor E.\nBiaggini, pointed to it once as it was just standing on the top of\nLevanzo, and said to me \u201cCome cavalca bene\u201d (\u201cHow well it rides\u201d), and\nthis immediately suggested my emendation to me. Later on I found in the\nhymn to the Pythian Apollo (which abounds with tags taken from the\n\u201cOdyssey\u201d) a line ending {Greek} which strengthened my suspicion that\nthis was the original ending of the second of the two lines above under\nconsideration.]\n\n[49] [ See note on line 3 of this book. The reader will observe that\nthe writer has been unable to keep the women out of an interpolation\nconsisting only of four lines.]\n\n[50] [ Scheria means a piece of land jutting out into the sea. In my\n\u201cAuthoress of the Odyssey\u201d I thought \u201cJutland\u201d would be a suitable\ntranslation, but it has been pointed out to me that \u201cJutland\u201d only\nmeans the land of the Jutes.]\n\n[51] [ Irrigation as here described is common in gardens near Trapani.\nThe water that supplies the ducts is drawn from wells by a mule who\nturns a wheel with buckets on it.]\n\n[52] [ There is not a word here about the cattle of the sun-god.]\n\n[53] [ The writer evidently thought that green, growing wood might also\nbe well seasoned.]\n\n[54] [ The reader will note that the river was flowing with salt water\ni.e. that it was tidal.]\n\n[55] [ Then the Ogygian island was not so far off, but that Nausicaa\nmight be assumed to know where it was.]\n\n[56] [ Greek {Greek}]\n\n[57] [ I suspect a family joke, or sly allusion to some thing of which\nwe know nothing, in this story of Eurymedusa\u2019s having been brought from\nApeira. The Greek word \u201capeiros\u201d means \u201cinexperienced,\u201d \u201cignorant.\u201d Is\nit possible that Eurymedusa was notoriously incompetent?]\n\n[58] [ Polyphemus was also son to Neptune, see \u201cOd.\u201d ix. 412, 529. he\nwas therefore half brother to Nausithous, half uncle to King Alcinous,\nand half great uncle to Nausicaa.]\n\n[59] [ It would seem as though the writer thought that Marathon was\nclose to Athens.]\n\n[60] [ Here the writer, knowing that she is drawing (with\nembellishments) from things actually existing, becomes impatient of\npast tenses and slides into the present.]\n\n[61] [ This is hidden malice, implying that the Phaeacian magnates were\nno better than they should be. The final drink-offering should have\nbeen made to Jove or Neptune, not to the god of thievishness and\nrascality of all kinds. In line 164 we do indeed find Echeneus\nproposing that a drink-offering should be made to Jove, but Mercury is\nevidently, according to our authoress, the god who was most likely to\nbe of use to them.]\n\n[62] [ The fact of Alcinous knowing anything about the Cyclopes\nsuggests that in the writer\u2019s mind Scheria and the country of the\nCyclopes were not very far from one another. I take the Cyclopes and\nthe giants to be one and the same people.]\n\n[63] [ \u201cMy property, etc.\u201d The authoress is here adopting an Iliadic\nline (xix. 333), and this must account for the absence of all reference\nto Penelope. If she had happened to remember \u201cIl.\u201d v. 213, she would\ndoubtless have appropriated it by preference, for that line reads \u201cmy\ncountry, _my wife_, and all the greatness of my house.\u201d]\n\n[64] [ The at first inexplicable sleep of Ulysses (bk. xiii. 79, etc.)\nis here, as also in viii. 445, being obviously prepared. The writer\nevidently attached the utmost importance to it. Those who know that the\nharbour which did duty with the writer of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d for the one in\nwhich Ulysses landed in Ithaca, was only about 2 miles from the place\nin which Ulysses is now talking with Alcinous, will understand why the\nsleep was so necessary.]\n\n[65] [ There were two classes\u2014the lower who were found in provisions\nwhich they had to cook for themselves in the yards and outer precincts,\nwhere they would also eat\u2014and the upper who would eat in the cloisters\nof the inner court, and have their cooking done for them.]\n\n[66] [ Translation very dubious. I suppose the {Greek} here to be the\ncovered sheds that ran round the outer courtyard. See illustrations at\nthe end of bk. iii.]\n\n[67] [ The writer apparently deems that the words \u201cas compared with\nwhat oxen can plough in the same time\u201d go without saying. Not so the\nwriter of the \u201cIliad\u201d from which the Odyssean passage is probably\ntaken. He explains that mules can plough quicker than oxen (\u201cIl.\u201d x.\n351-353)]\n\n[68] [ It was very fortunate that such a disc happened to be there,\nseeing that none like it were in common use.]\n\n[69] [ \u201cIl.\u201d xiii. 37. Here, as so often elsewhere in the \u201cOdyssey,\u201d\nthe appropriation of an Iliadic line which is not quite appropriate\npuzzles the reader. The \u201cthey\u201d is not the chains, nor yet Mars and\nVenus. It is an overflow from the Iliadic passage in which Neptune\nhobbles his horses in bonds \u201cwhich none could either unloose or break\nso that they might stay there in that place.\u201d If the line would have\nscanned without the addition of the words \u201cso that they might stay\nthere in that place,\u201d they would have been omitted in the \u201cOdyssey.\u201d]\n\n[70] [ The reader will note that Alcinous never goes beyond saying that\nhe is going to give the goblet; he never gives it. Elsewhere in both\n\u201cIliad\u201d and \u201cOdyssey\u201d the offer of a present is immediately followed by\nthe statement that it was given and received gladly\u2014Alcinous actually\ndoes give a chest and a cloak and shirt\u2014probably also some of the corn\nand wine for the long two-mile voyage was provided by him\u2014but it is\nquite plain that he gave no talent and no cup.]\n\n[71] [ \u201cIl.\u201d xviii. 344-349. These lines in the \u201cIliad\u201d tell of the\npreparation for washing the body of Patroclus, and I am not pleased\nthat the writer of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d should have adopted them here.]\n\n[72] [ see note [64] : ]\n\n[73] [ see note [43] : ]\n\n[74] [ The reader will find this threat fulfilled in bk. xiii]\n\n[75] [ If the other islands lay some distance away from Ithaca (which\nthe word {Greek} suggests), what becomes of the \u03c0\u03cc\u03c1\u03b8\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2 or gut between\nIthaca and Samos which we hear of in Bks. iv. and xv.? I suspect that\nthe authoress in her mind makes Telemachus come back from Pylos to the\nLilybaean promontory and thence to Trapani through the strait between\nthe _Isola Grande_ and the mainland\u2014the island of Asteria being the one\non which Motya afterwards stood.]\n\n[76] [ \u201cIl.\u201d xviii. 533-534. The sudden lapse into the third person\nhere for a couple of lines is due to the fact that the two Iliadic\nlines taken are in the third person.]\n\n[77] [ cf. \u201cIl.\u201d ii. 776. The words in both \u201cIliad\u201d and \u201cOdyssey\u201d are\n[Footnote Greek]. In the \u201cIliad\u201d they are used of the horses of\nAchilles\u2019 followers as they stood idle, \u201cchamping lotus.\u201d]\n\n[78] [ I take all this passage about the Cyclopes having no ships to be\nsarcastic\u2014meaning, \u201cYou people of Drepanum have no excuse for not\ncolonising the island of Favognana, which you could easily do, for you\nhave plenty of ships, and the island is a very good one.\u201d For that the\nisland so fully described here is the Aegadean or \u201cgoat\u201d island of\nFavognana, and that the Cyclopes are the old Sican inhabitants of Mt.\nEryx should not be doubted.]\n\n[79] [ For the reasons why it was necessary that the night should be so\nexceptionally dark see \u201cThe Authoress of the Odyssey\u201d pp. 188-189.]\n\n[80] [ None but such lambs as would suck if they were with their\nmothers would be left in the yard. The older lambs should have been out\nfeeding. The authoress has got it all wrong, but it does not matter.\nSee \u201cThe Authoress of the Odyssey\u201d p. 148.]\n\n[81] [ This line is enclosed in brackets in the received text, and is\nomitted (with note) by Messrs. Butcher & Lang. But lines enclosed in\nbrackets are almost always genuine; all that brackets mean is that the\nbracketed passage puzzled some early editor, who nevertheless found it\ntoo well established in the text to venture on omitting it. In the\npresent case the line bracketed is the very last which a full-grown\nmale editor would be likely to interpolate. It is safer to infer that\nthe writer, a young woman, not knowing or caring at which end of the\nship the rudder should be, determined to make sure by placing it at\nboth ends, which we shall find she presently does by repeating it (line\n340) at the stern of the ship. As for the two rocks thrown, the first I\ntake to be the Asinelli, see map facing p. 80. The second I see as the\ntwo contiguous islands of the Formiche, which are treated as one, see\nmap facing p. 108. The Asinelli is an island shaped like a boat, and\npointing to the island of Favognana. I think the authoress\u2019s\ncompatriots, who probably did not like her much better that she did\nthem, jeered at the absurdity of Ulysses\u2019 conduct, and saw the Asinelli\nor \u201cdonkeys,\u201d not as the rock thrown by Polyphemus, but as the boat\nitself containing Ulysses and his men.]\n\n[82] [ This line exists in the text here but not in the corresponding\npassage xii. 141. I am inclined to think it is interpolated (probably\nby the poetess herself) from the first of lines xi. 115-137, which I\ncan hardly doubt were added by the writer when the scheme of the work\nwas enlarged and altered. See \u201cThe Authoress of the Odyssey\u201d pp.\n254-255.]\n\n[83] [ \u201cFloating\u201d (\u03c0\u03bb\u03c9\u03c4\u1fc7) is not to be taken literally. The island\nitself, as apart from its inhabitants, was quite normal. There is no\nindication of its moving during the month that Ulysses stayed with\nAeolus, and on his return from his unfortunate voyage, he seems to have\nfound it in the same place. The \u03c0\u03bb\u03c9\u03c4\u1fc7 in fact should no more be pressed\nthan \u03b8\u03bf\u1fc7\u03c3\u03b9 as applied to islands, \u201cOdyssey\u201d xv. 299\u2014where they are\ncalled \u201cflying\u201d because the ship would fly past them. So also the\n\u201cWanderers,\u201d as explained by Buttmann; see note on \u201cOdyssey\u201d xii. 57.]\n\n[84] [ Literally \u201cfor the ways of the night and of the day are near.\u201d I\nhave seen what Mr. Andrew Lang says (\u201cHomer and the Epic,\u201d p. 236, and\n\u201cLongman\u2019s Magazine\u201d for January, 1898, p. 277) about the \u201camber route\u201d\nand the \u201cSacred Way\u201d in this connection; but until he gives his grounds\nfor holding that the Mediterranean peoples in the Odyssean age used to\ngo far North for their amber instead of getting it in Sicily, where it\nis still found in considerable quantities, I do not know what weight I\nought to attach to his opinion. I have been unable to find grounds for\nasserting that B.C. 1000 there was any commerce between the\nMediterranean and the \u201cFar North,\u201d but I shall be very ready to learn\nif Mr. Lang will enlighten me. See \u201cThe Authoress of the Odyssey\u201d pp.\n185-186.]\n\n[85] [ One would have thought that when the sun was driving the stag\ndown to the water, Ulysses might have observed its whereabouts.]\n\n[86] [ See Hobbes of Malmesbury\u2019s translation.]\n\n[87] [ \u201cIl.\u201d vxiii. 349. Again the writer draws from the washing the\nbody of Patroclus\u2014which offends.]\n\n[88] [ This visit is wholly without topographical significance.]\n\n[89] [ Brides presented themselves instinctively to the imagination of\nthe writer, as the phase of humanity which she found most interesting.]\n\n[90] [ Ulysses was, in fact, to become a missionary and preach Neptune\nto people who knew not his name. I was fortunate enough to meet in\nSicily a woman carrying one of these winnowing shovels; it was not much\nshorter than an oar, and I was able at once to see what the writer of\nthe \u201cOdyssey\u201d intended.]\n\n[91] [ I suppose the lines I have enclosed in brackets to have been\nadded by the author when she enlarged her original scheme by the\naddition of books i.-iv. and xiii. (from line 187)-xxiv. The reader\nwill observe that in the corresponding passage (xii. 137-141) the\nprophecy ends with \u201cafter losing all your comrades,\u201d and that there is\nno allusion to the suitors. For fuller explanation see \u201cThe Authoress\nof the Odyssey\u201d pp. 254-255.]\n\n[92] [ The reader will remember that we are in the first year of\nUlysses\u2019 wanderings, Telemachus therefore was only eleven years old.\nThe same anachronism is made later on in this book. See \u201cThe Authoress\nof the Odyssey\u201d pp. 132-133.]\n\n[93] [ Tradition says that she had hanged herself. Cf. \u201cOdyssey\u201d xv.\n355, etc.]\n\n[94] [ Not to be confounded with Aeolus king of the winds.]\n\n[95] [ Melampus, vide book xv. 223, etc.]\n\n[96] [ I have already said in a note on bk. xi. 186 that at this point\nof Ulysses\u2019 voyage Telemachus could only be between eleven and twelve\nyears old.]\n\n[97] [ Is the writer a man or a woman?]\n\n[98] [ Cf. \u201cIl.\u201d iv. 521, {Greek}. The Odyssean line reads, {Greek}.\nThe famous dactylism, therefore, of the Odyssean line was probably\nsuggested by that of the Ileadic rather than by a desire to accommodate\nsound to sense. At any rate the double coincidence of a dactylic line,\nand an ending {Greek}, seems conclusive as to the familiarity of the\nwriter of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d with the Iliadic line.]\n\n[99] [ Off the coast of Sicily and South Italy, in the month of May, I\nhave seen men fastened half way up a boat\u2019s mast with their feet\nresting on a crosspiece, just large enough to support them. From this\npoint of vantage they spear sword-fish. When I saw men thus employed I\ncould hardly doubt that the writer of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d had seen others\nlike them, and had them in her mind when describing the binding of\nUlysses. I have therefore with some diffidence ventured to depart from\nthe received translation of \u1f30\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c0\u03ad\u03b4\u03b7 (cf. Alcaeus frag. 18, where,\nhowever, it is very hard to say what \u1f30\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c0\u03ad\u03b4\u03b1\u03bd means). In Sophocles\u2019\nLexicon I find a reference to Chrysostom (l, 242, A. Ed. Benedictine\nParis 1834-1839) for the word \u1f30\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c0\u03cc\u03b4\u03b7, which is probably the same as\n\u1f30\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c0\u03ad\u03b4\u03b7, but I have looked for the passage in vain.]\n\n[100] [ The writer is at fault here and tries to put it off on Circe.\nWhen Ulysses comes to take the route prescribed by Circe, he ought to\npass either the Wanderers or some other difficulty of which we are not\ntold, but he does not do so. The Planctae, or Wanderers, merge into\nScylla and Charybdis, and the alternative between them and something\nuntold merges into the alternative whether Ulysses had better choose\nScylla or Charybdis. Yet from line 260, it seems we are to consider the\nWanderers as having been passed by Ulysses; this appears even more\nplainly from xxiii. 327, in which Ulysses expressly mentions the\nWandering rocks as having been between the Sirens and Scylla and\nCharybdis. The writer, however, is evidently unaware that she does not\nquite understand her own story; her difficulty was perhaps due to the\nfact that though Trapanese sailors had given her a fair idea as to\nwhere all her other localities really were, no one in those days more\nthan in our own could localise the Planctae, which in fact, as Buttmann\nhas argued, were derived not from any particular spot, but from\nsailors\u2019 tales about the difficulties of navigating the group of the\nAeolian islands as a whole (see note on \u201cOd.\u201d x. 3). Still the matter\nof the poor doves caught her fancy, so she would not forgo them. The\nwhirlwinds of fire and the smoke that hangs on Scylla suggests allusion\nto Stromboli and perhaps even Etna. Scylla is on the Italian side, and\ntherefore may be said to look West. It is about 8 miles thence to the\nSicilian coast, so Ulysses may be perfectly well told that after\npassing Scylla he will come to the Thrinacian island or Sicily.\nCharybdis is transposed to a site some few miles to the north of its\nactual position.]\n\n[101] [ I suppose this line to have been intercalated by the author\nwhen lines 426-446 were added.]\n\n[102] [ For the reasons which enable us to identify the island of the\ntwo Sirens with the Lipari island now Salinas\u2014the ancient Didyme, or\n\u201ctwin\u201d island\u2014see The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp. 195, 196. The two\nSirens doubtless were, as their name suggests, the whistling gusts, or\navalanches of air that at times descend without a moment\u2019s warning from\nthe two lofty mountains of Salinas\u2014as also from all high points in the\nneighbourhood.]\n\n[103] [ See Admiral Smyth on the currents in the Straits of Messina,\nquoted in \u201cThe Authoress of the Odyssey,\u201d p. 197.]\n\n[104] [ In the islands of Favognana and Marettimo off Trapani I have\nseen men fish exactly as here described. They chew bread into a paste\nand throw it into the sea to attract the fish, which they then spear.\nNo line is used.]\n\n[105] [ The writer evidently regards Ulysses as on a coast that looked\nEast at no great distance south of the Straits of Messina somewhere,\nsay, near Tauromenium, now Taormina.]\n\n[106] [ Surely there must be a line missing here to tell us that the\nkeel and mast were carried down into Charybdis. Besides, the aorist\n{Greek} in its present surrounding is perplexing. I have translated it\nas though it were an imperfect; I see Messrs. Butcher and Lang\ntranslate it as a pluperfect, but surely Charybdis was in the act of\nsucking down the water when Ulysses arrived.]\n\n[107] [ I suppose the passage within brackets to have been an\nafterthought but to have been written by the same hand as the rest of\nthe poem. I suppose xii. 103 to have been also added by the writer when\nshe decided on sending Ulysses back to Charybdis. The simile suggests\nthe hand of the wife or daughter of a magistrate who had often seen her\nfather come in cross and tired.]\n\n[108] [ Gr. \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u03af\u03b4\u03b1\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2. This puts coined money out of the question,\nbut nevertheless implies that the gold had been worked into ornaments\nof some kind.]\n\n[109] [ I suppose Teiresias\u2019 prophecy of bk. xi. 114-120 had made no\nimpression on Ulysses. More probably the prophecy was an afterthought,\nintercalated, as I have already said, by the authoress when she changed\nher scheme.]\n\n[110] [ A male writer would have made Ulysses say, not \u201cmay you give\nsatisfaction to your wives,\u201d but \u201cmay your wives give satisfaction to\nyou.\u201d]\n\n[111] [ See note [64].]\n\n[112] [ The land was in reality the shallow inlet, now the salt works\nof S. Cusumano\u2014the neighbourhood of Trapani and Mt. Eryx being made to\ndo double duty, both as Scheria and Ithaca. Hence the necessity for\nmaking Ulysses set out after dark, fall instantly into a profound\nsleep, and wake up on a morning so foggy that he could not see anything\ntill the interviews between Neptune and Jove and between Ulysses and\nMinerva should have given the audience time to accept the situation.\nSee illustrations and map near the end of bks. v. and vi.\nrespectively.]\n\n[113] [ This cave, which is identifiable with singular completeness, is\nnow called the \u201cgrotta del toro,\u201d probably a corruption of \u201ctesoro,\u201d\nfor it is held to contain a treasure. See The Authoress of the Odyssey,\npp. 167-170.]\n\n[114] [ Probably they would.]\n\n[115] [ Then it had a shallow shelving bottom.]\n\n[116] [ Doubtless the road would pass the harbour in Odyssean times as\nit passes the salt works now; indeed, if there is to be a road at all\nthere is no other level ground which it could take. See map above\nreferred to.]\n\n[117] [ The rock at the end of the Northern harbour of Trapani, to\nwhich I suppose the writer of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d to be here referring, still\nbears the name Malconsiglio\u2014\u201cthe rock of evil counsel.\u201d There is a\nlegend that it was a ship of Turkish pirates who were intending to\nattack Trapani, but the \u201cMadonna di Trapani\u201d crushed them under this\nrock just as they were coming into port. My friend Cavaliere\nGiannitrapani of Trapani told me that his father used to tell him when\nhe was a boy that if he would drop exactly three drops of oil on to the\nwater near the rock, he would see the ship still at the bottom. The\nlegend is evidently a Christianised version of the Odyssean story,\nwhile the name supplies the additional detail that the disaster\nhappened in consequence of an evil counsel.]\n\n[118] [ It would seem then that the ship had got all the way back from\nIthaca in about a quarter of an hour.]\n\n[119] [ And may we not add \u201cand also to prevent his recognising that he\nwas only in the place where he had met Nausicaa two days earlier.\u201d]\n\n[120] [ All this is to excuse the entire absence of Minerva from books\nix.-xii., which I suppose had been written already, before the\nauthoress had determined on making Minerva so prominent a character.]\n\n[121] [ We have met with this somewhat lame attempt to cover the\nwriter\u2019s change of scheme at the end of bk. vi.]\n\n[122] [ I take the following from The Authoress of the Odyssey, p. 167.\n\u201cIt is clear from the text that there were two [caves] not one, but\nsome one has enclosed in brackets the two lines in which the second\ncave is mentioned, I presume because he found himself puzzled by having\na second cave sprung upon him when up to this point he had only been\ntold of one.\n\n\u201cI venture to think that if he had known the ground he would not have\nbeen puzzled, for there are two caves, distant about 80 or 100 yards\nfrom one another.\u201d The cave in which Ulysses hid his treasure is, as I\nhave already said, identifiable with singular completeness. The other\ncave presents no special features, neither in the poem nor in nature.]\n\n[123] [ There is no attempt to disguise the fact that Penelope had long\ngiven encouragement to the suitors. The only defence set up is that she\ndid not really mean to encourage them. Would it not have been wiser to\nhave tried a little discouragement?]\n\n[124] [ See map near the end of bk. vi. _Ruccazz\u00f9 dei corvi_ of course\nmeans \u201cthe rock of the ravens.\u201d Both name and ravens still exist.]\n\n[125] [ See The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp. 140, 141. The real reason\nfor sending Telemachus to Pylos and Lacedaemon was that the authoress\nmight get Helen of Troy into her poem. He was sent at the only point in\nthe story at which he could be sent, so he must have gone then or not\nat all.]\n\n[126] [ The site I assign to Eumaeus\u2019s hut, close to the _Ruccazz\u00f9 dei\ncorvi_, is about 2,000 feet above the sea, and commands an extensive\nview.]\n\n[127] [ Sandals such as Eumaeus was making are still worn in the\nAbruzzi and elsewhere. An oblong piece of leather forms the sole: holes\nare cut at the four corners, and through these holes leathern straps\nare passed, which are bound round the foot and cross-gartered up the\ncalf.]\n\n[128] [ See note [75] : ]\n\n[129] [ Telemachus like many another good young man seems to expect\nevery one to fetch and carry for him.]\n\n[130] [ \u201cIl.\u201d vi. 288. The store room was fragrant because it was made\nof cedar wood. See \u201cIl.\u201d xxiv. 192.]\n\n[131] [ cf. \u201cIl.\u201d vi. 289 and 293-296. The dress was kept at the bottom\nof the chest as one that would only be wanted on the greatest\noccasions; but surely the marriage of Hermione and of Megapenthes (bk,\niv. _ad init_.) might have induced Helen to wear it on the preceding\nevening, in which case it could hardly have got back. We find no hint\nhere of Megapenthes\u2019 recent marriage.]\n\n[132] [ See note [83].]\n\n[133] [ cf. \u201cOd.\u201d xi. 196, etc.]\n\n[134] [ The names Syra and Ortygia, on which island a great part of the\nDoric Syracuse was originally built, suggest that even in Odyssean\ntimes there was a prehistoric Syracuse, the existence of which was\nknown to the writer of the poem.]\n\n[135] [ Literally \u201cwhere are the turnings of the sun.\u201d Assuming, as we\nmay safely do, that the Syra and Ortygia of the \u201cOdyssey\u201d refer to\nSyracuse, it is the fact that not far to the South of these places the\nland turns sharply round, so that mariners following the coast would\nfind the sun upon the other side of their ship to that on which they\u2019d\nhad it hitherto.\n\nMr. A. S. Griffith has kindly called my attention to Herod iv. 42,\nwhere, speaking of the circumnavigation of Africa by Phoenician\nmariners under Necos, he writes:\n\n\u201cOn their return they declared\u2014I for my part do not believe them, but\nperhaps others may\u2014that in sailing round Libya [i.e. Africa] they had\nthe sun upon their right hand. In this way was the extent of Libya\nfirst discovered.\n\n\u201cI take it that Eumaeus was made to have come from Syracuse because the\nwriter thought she rather ought to have made something happen at\nSyracuse during her account of the voyages of Ulysses. She could not,\nhowever, break his long drift from Charybdis to the island of\nPantellaria; she therefore resolved to make it up to Syracuse in\nanother way.\u201d\n\nModern excavations establish the existence of two and only two\npre-Dorian communities at Syracuse; they were, so Dr. Orsi informed me,\nat Plemmirio and Cozzo Pantano. See The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp.\n211-213.]\n\n[136] [ This harbour is again evidently the harbour in which Ulysses\nhad landed, i.e. the harbour that is now the salt works of S.\nCusumano.]\n\n[137] [ This never can have been anything but very niggardly pay for\nsome eight or nine days\u2019 service. I suppose the crew were to consider\nthe pleasure of having had a trip to Pylos as a set off. There is no\ntrace of the dinner as having been actually given, either on the\nfollowing or any other morning.]\n\n[138] [ No hawk can tear its prey while it is on the wing.]\n\n[139] [ The text is here apparently corrupt, and will not make sense as\nit stands. I follow Messrs. Butcher & Lang in omitting line 101.]\n\n[140] [ i.e. to be milked, as in South Italian and Sicilian towns at\nthe present day.]\n\n[141] [ The butchering and making ready the carcases took place partly\nin the outer yard and partly in the open part of the inner court.]\n\n[142] [ These words cannot mean that it would be afternoon soon after\nthey were spoken. Ulysses and Eumaeus reached the town which was \u201csome\nway off\u201d (xvii. 25) in time for the suitor\u2019s early meal (xvii. 170 and\n176) say at ten or eleven o\u2019 clock. The context of the rest of the book\nshows this. Eumaeus and Ulysses, therefore, cannot have started later\nthan eight or nine, and Eumaeus\u2019s words must be taken as an\nexaggeration for the purpose of making Ulysses bestir himself.]\n\n[143] [ I imagine the fountain to have been somewhere about where the\nchurch of the _Madonna di Trapani_ now stands, and to have been fed\nwith water from what is now called the Fontana Diffali on Mt. Eryx.]\n\n[144] [ From this and other passages in the \u201cOdyssey\u201d it appears that\nwe are in an age anterior to the use of coined money\u2014an age when\ncauldrons, tripods, swords, cattle, chattels of all kinds, measures of\ncorn, wine, or oil, etc. etc., not to say pieces of gold, silver,\nbronze, or even iron, wrought more or less, but unstamped, were the\nnearest approach to a currency that had as yet been reached.]\n\n[145] [ Gr. \u1f10\u03c2 \u03bc\u03ad\u03c3\u03c3\u03bf\u03bd.]\n\n[146] [ I correct these proofs abroad and am not within reach of\nHesiod, but surely this passage suggests acquaintance with the Works\nand Ways, though it by no means compels it.]\n\n[147] [ It would seem as though Eurynome and Euryclea were the same\nperson. See note 156]\n\n[148] [ It is plain, therefore, that Iris was commonly accepted as the\nmessenger of the gods, though our authoress will never permit her to\nfetch or carry for any one.]\n\n[149] [ i.e. the doorway leading from the inner to the outer court.]\n\n[150] [See note 156]\n\n[151] [ These, I imagine, must have been in the open part of the inner\ncourtyard, where the maids also stood, and threw the light of their\ntorches into the covered cloister that ran all round it. The smoke\nwould otherwise have been intolerable.]\n\n[152] [ Translation very uncertain; vide Liddell and Scott, under\n{Greek}]\n\n[153] [ See photo on opposite page.]\n\n[154] [ cf. \u201cIl.\u201d ii. 184, and 217, 218. An additional and well-marked\nfeature being wanted to convince Penelope, the writer has taken the\nhunched shoulders of Thersites (who is mentioned immediately after\nEurybates in the \u201cIliad\u201d) and put them on to Eurybates\u2019 back.]\n\n[155] [ This is how geese are now fed in Sicily, at any rate in summer,\nwhen the grass is all burnt up. I have never seen them grazing.]\n\n[156] [ Lower down (line 143) Euryclea says it was herself that had\nthrown the cloak over Ulysses\u2014for the plural should not be taken as\nimplying more than one person. The writer is evidently still\nfluctuating between Euryclea and Eurynome as the name for the old\nnurse. She probably originally meant to call her Euryclea, but finding\nit not immediately easy to make Euryclea scan in xvii. 495, she hastily\ncalled her Eurynome, intending either to alter this name later or to\nchange the earlier Euryclea\u2019s into Eurynome. She then drifted in to\nEurynome as convenience further directed, still nevertheless hankering\nafter Euryclea, till at last she found that the path of least\nresistance would lie in the direction of making Eurynome and Euryclea\ntwo persons. Therefore in xxiii. 289-292 both Eurynome and \u201cthe nurse\u201d\n(who can be none other than Euryclea) come on together. I do not say\nthat this is feminine, but it is not unfeminine.]\n\n[157] [ See note [156]]\n\n[158] [ This, I take it, was immediately in front of the main entrance\nof the inner courtyard into the body of the house.]\n\n[159] [ This is the only allusion to Sardinia in either \u201cIliad\u201d or\n\u201cOdyssey.\u201d]\n\n[160] [ The normal translation of the Greek word would be \u201cholding\nback,\u201d \u201ccurbing,\u201d \u201crestraining,\u201d but I cannot think that the writer\nmeant this\u2014she must have been using the word in its other sense of\n\u201chaving,\u201d \u201cholding,\u201d \u201ckeeping,\u201d \u201cmaintaining.\u201d]\n\n[161] [ I have vainly tried to realise the construction of the\nfastening here described.]\n\n[162] [ See plan of Ulysses\u2019 house in the appendix. It is evident that\nthe open part of the court had no flooring but the natural soil.]\n\n[163] [ See plan of Ulysses\u2019 house, and note [175].]\n\n[164] [ i.e. the door that led into the body of the house.]\n\n[165] [ This was, no doubt, the little table that was set for Ulysses,\n\u201cOd.\u201d xx. 259.\n\nSurely the difficulty of this passage has been overrated. I suppose the\niron part of the axe to have been wedged into the handle, or bound\nsecurely to it\u2014the handle being half buried in the ground. The axe\nwould be placed edgeways towards the archer, and he would have to shoot\nhis arrow through the hole into which the handle was fitted when the\naxe was in use. Twelve axes were placed in a row all at the same\nheight, all exactly in front of one another, all edgeways to Ulysses\nwhose arrow passed through all the holes from the first onward. I\ncannot see how the Greek can bear any other interpretation, the words\nbeing, {Greek}\n\n\u201cHe did not miss a single hole from the first onwards.\u201d {Greek}\naccording to Liddell and Scott being \u201cthe hole for the handle of an\naxe, etc.,\u201d while {Greek} (\u201cOd.\u201d v. 236) is, according to the same\nauthorities, the handle itself. The feat is absurdly impossible, but\nour authoress sometimes has a soul above impossibilities.]\n\n[166] [ The reader will note how the spoiling of good food distresses\nthe writer even in such a supreme moment as this.]\n\n[167] [ Here we have it again. Waste of substance comes first.]\n\n[168] [ cf. \u201cIl.\u201d iii. 337 and three other places. It is strange that\nthe author of the \u201cIliad\u201d should find a little horse-hair so alarming.\nPossibly enough she was merely borrowing a common form line from some\nearlier poet\u2014or poetess\u2014for this is a woman\u2019s line rather than a\nman\u2019s.]\n\n[169] [ Or perhaps simply \u201cwindow.\u201d See plan in the appendix.]\n\n[170] [ i.e. the pavement on which Ulysses was standing.]\n\n[171] [ The interpretation of lines 126-143 is most dubious, and at\nbest we are in a region of melodrama: cf., however, i. 425, etc. from\nwhich it appears that there was a tower in the outer court, and that\nTelemachus used to sleep in it. The \u1f40\u03c1\u03c3\u03bf\u03b8\u03cd\u03c1\u03b1 I take to be a door, or\ntrap door, leading on to the roof above Telemachus\u2019s bed room, which we\nare told was in a place that could be seen from all round\u2014or it might\nbe simply a window in Telemachus\u2019s room looking out into the street.\nFrom the top of the tower the outer world was to be told what was going\non, but people could not get in by the \u1f40\u03c1\u03c3\u03bf\u03b8\u03cd\u03c1\u03b1: they would have to\ncome in by the main entrance, and Melanthius explains that the mouth of\nthe narrow passage (which was in the lands of Ulysses and his friends)\ncommanded the only entrance by which help could come, so that there\nwould be nothing gained by raising an alarm.\n    As for the \u1fe5\u1ff6\u03b3\u03b5\u03c2 of line 143, no commentator ancient or modern has\n    been able to say what was intended\u2014but whatever they were,\n    Melanthius could never carry twelve shields, twelve helmets, and\n    twelve spears. Moreover, where he could go the others could go\n    also. If a dozen suitors had followed Melanthius into the house\n    they could have attacked Ulysses in the rear, in which case, unless\n    Minerva had intervened promptly, the \u201cOdyssey\u201d would have had a\n    different ending. But throughout the scene we are in a region of\n    extravagance rather than of true fiction\u2014it cannot be taken\n    seriously by any but the very serious, until we come to the episode\n    of Phemius and Medon, where the writer begins to be at home again.]\n\n[172] [ I presume it was intended that there should be a hook driven\ninto the bearing-post.]\n\n[173] [ What for?]\n\n[174] [ Gr: {Greek}. This is not {Greek}.]\n\n[175] [ From lines 333 and 341 of this book, and lines 145 and 146 of\nbk. xxi we can locate the approach to the {Greek} with some certainty.]\n\n[176] [ But in xix. 500-502 Ulysses scolded Euryclea for offering\ninformation on this very point, and declared himself quite able to\nsettle it for himself.]\n\n[177] [ There were a hundred and eight Suitors.]\n\n[178] [ Lord Grimthorpe, whose understanding does not lend itself to\neasy imposition, has been good enough to write to me about my\nconviction that the \u201cOdyssey\u201d was written by a woman, and to send me\nremarks upon the gross absurdity of the incident here recorded. It is\nplain that all the authoress cared about was that the women should be\nhanged: as for attempting to realise, or to make her readers realise,\nhow the hanging was done, this was of no consequence. The reader must\ntake her word for it and ask no questions. Lord Grimthorpe wrote:\n\n\u201cI had better send you my ideas about Nausicaa\u2019s hanging of the maids\n(not \u2018maidens,\u2019 of whom Froude wrote so well in his \u2018Science of\nHistory\u2019) before I forget it all. Luckily for me Liddell & Scott have\nspecially translated most of the doubtful words, referring to this very\nplace.\n\n\u201cA ship\u2019s cable. I don\u2019t know how big a ship she meant, but it must\nhave been a very small one indeed if its \u2018cable\u2019 could be used to tie\ntightly round a woman\u2019s neck, and still more round a dozen of them \u2018in\na row,\u2019 besides being strong enough to hold them and pull them all up.\n\n\u201cA dozen average women would need the weight and strength of more than\na dozen strong heavy men even over the best pulley hung to the roof\nover them; and the idea of pulling them up by a rope hung anyhow round\na pillar {Greek} is absurdly impossible; and how a dozen of them could\nbe hung dangling round one post is a problem which a senior wrangler\nwould be puzzled to answer... She had better have let Telemachus use\nhis sword as he had intended till she changed his mind for him.\u201d]\n\n[179] [ Then they had all been in Ulysses\u2019 service over twenty years;\nperhaps the twelve guilty ones had been engaged more recently.]\n\n[180] [ Translation very doubtful\u2014cf. \u201cIt.\u201d xxiv. 598.]\n\n[181] [ But why could she not at once ask to see the scar, of which\nEuryclea had told her, or why could not Ulysses have shown it to her?]\n\n[182] [ The people of Ithaca seem to have been as fond of carping as\nthe Phaeacians were in vi. 273, etc.]\n\n[183] [ See note [156]. Ulysses\u2019s bed room does not appear to have been\nupstairs, nor yet quite within the house. Is it possible that it was\n\u201cthe domed room\u201d round the outside of which the erring maids were, for\naught we have heard to the contrary, still hanging?]\n\n[184] [ Ulysses bedroom in the mind of the writer is here too\napparently down stairs.]\n\n[185] [ Penelope having been now sufficiently whitewashed, disappears\nfrom the poem.]\n\n[186] [ So practised a washerwoman as our authoress doubtless knew that\nby this time the web must have become such a wreck that it would have\ngone to pieces in the wash.]\n\nA lady points out to me, just as these sheets are leaving my hands,\nthat no really good needlewoman\u2014no one, indeed, whose work or character\nwas worth consideration\u2014could have endured, no matter for what reason,\nthe unpicking of her day\u2019s work, day after day for between three and\nfour years.]\n\n[187] [ We must suppose Dolius not yet to know that his son Melanthius\nhad been tortured, mutilated, and left to die by Ulysses\u2019 orders on the\npreceding day, and that his daughter Melantho had been hanged. Dolius\nwas probably exceptionally simple-minded, and his name was ironical. So\non Mt. Eryx I was shown a man who was always called Sonza Malizia or\n\u201cGuileless\u201d\u2014he being held exceptionally cunning.]","title":"The Odyssey: Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":129571}