{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_59750/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_59750","id":"gutenberg_59750","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59750","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Odysseus, King of Ithaca (Mythological character) -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"Produced by D A Alexander, Stephen Hutcheson, and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n(This file was produced from images generously made\navailable by the Library of Congress)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n             [Illustration: _MERCURY DESCENDING TO EARTH_]\n\n                    _Life Stories for Young People_\n\n\n\n\n                           ULYSSES OF ITHACA\n\n\n                     _Translated from the German of\n                         Karl Friedrich Becker_\n\n                                   BY\n                            GEORGE P. UPTON\n         _Author of \u201cMusical Memories,\u201d \u201cStandard Operas,\u201d etc.\n              Translator of \u201cMemories,\u201d \u201cImmensee,\u201d etc._\n\n                        WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n                  [Illustration: A. C. McCLURG & CO.]\n\n                                CHICAGO\n                          A. C. McCLURG & CO.\n                                  1912\n\n                               Copyright\n                          A. C. McClurg & Co.\n                                  1912\n                       Published September, 1912\n\n                         THE \u00b7 PLIMPTON \u00b7 PRESS\n                              [W \u00b7 D \u00b7 O]\n                       NORWOOD \u00b7 MASS \u00b7 U \u00b7 S \u00b7 A\n\n\n\n\n                          Translator\u2019s Preface\n\n\nMany years ago Karl Friedrich Becker wrote a series of romances of the\nancient world for German boys and girls, of which \u201cUlysses\u201d and\n\u201cAchilles\u201d in the present series of \u201cLife Stories for Young People\u201d form\nan important part. They became great favorites in their day and still\npreserve their interest, so that in a sense they may be called classics.\nThe masterly manner in which the author has presented the old gods and\nheroes from the human point of view and the atmosphere of the old days\nof mythology, as well as the thrill of the adventurous narrative and the\ndeep human interest of the story, should commend them also to American\nboys and girls. None of the ancient stories is more entrancing than that\nof Ulysses and the vicissitudes he had to endure in his effort to return\nto Ithaca after the Trojan war, and of the patience, sweetness, and\nfaithfulness of Penelope, as she waited year after year for the return\nof her lord, while her life was made wretched by the unwelcome and often\nbrutal solicitations of her numerous suitors, as well as of her final\nhappiness when Ulysses returned and wreaked deserved vengeance upon her\npersecutors. Incidentally also the reader will enjoy the charming\ndescriptions of his adventures with Calypso and the beautiful Nausicaa,\nhis escape from the monstrous Cyclops, the fascinating Circe, and his\nthrilling experiences in passing Scylla and Charybdis. It is a story\nreplete with interest, delightfully told.\n\n                                                                G. P. U.\n\nChicago, _July, 1912_\n\n\n\n\n                                Contents\n\n\n  Chapter                                                           Page\n  I Penelope waiting for Ulysses\u2014The Suitors\u2014Telemachus,\n          encouraged by Athene, sets sail                             11\n  II Telemachus visits Nestor and Menelaus\u2014The Suitors prepare an\n          Ambush                                                      21\n  III Calypso allows Ulysses to go home\u2014Poseidon sends a\n          storm\u2014Ulysses is wrecked upon the Island of Scheria         37\n  IV Nausicaa                                                         43\n  V Ulysses visits the King of the Ph\u00e6acians                          49\n  VI Ulysses among the Ph\u00e6acians                                      55\n  VII Ulysses tells his Story\u2014The Lotus-Eaters, Polyphemus, Circe,\n          Scylla, and Charybdis\u2014The Visit to Hades                    64\n  VIII Ulysses is taken sleeping to Ithaca by the Ph\u00e6acians\u2014Athene\n          Counsels him\u2014He comes to Eum\u00e6us                             96\n  IX Telemachus leaves Sparta and lands in Ithaca                    108\n  X Arrival of Telemachus\u2014Ulysses reveals himself to his Son         113\n  XI Ulysses and the Goatherd\u2014The Dog Argos\u2014Ulysses in the Hall\n          among the Suitors                                          117\n  XII Ulysses and Irus, the Beggar                                   124\n  XIII Ulysses and Penelope                                          130\n  XIV Penelope arranges the Decisive Contest                         136\n  XV Ulysses\u2019 Revenge                                                147\n  XVI Ulysses reveals himself to Penelope                            152\n  XVII Ulysses goes to Laertes\u2014His Father\u2019s Conflict with the\n          Friends of the slain Suitors\u2014Great Sacrifice and\n          Festival in Ithaca                                         158\n\n\n\n\n                             Illustrations\n\n\n  Mercury Descending to Earth                             _Frontispiece_\n  The Blinding of Polyphemus                                          72\n  Invocation of the Shades in Hades                                   86\n  Ulysses Reveals himself to Penelope                                156\n\n\n\n\n                           Ulysses of Ithaca\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter I\n   Penelope waiting for Ulysses\u2014The Suitors\u2014Telemachus, encouraged by\n                           Athene, sets sail\n\n\nWorld-renowned Troy had fallen. After a siege of ten long years the\nunited forces of the Greeks had sacked and burned the city. The princes,\nhaving thus satisfied their thirst for revenge, now longed for home, and\nputting to sea with their ships, soon sailed away with their companions.\nSome reached home in safety, others were tossed to and fro upon stormy\nseas, wandered about for years, and never succeeded in reaching their\nnative land. Agamemnon, the bravest of the surviving heroes, met a still\nmore terrible fate. Joyfully he had gazed once more upon his ancestral\nhome, and thanking the gods for his safe return, hastened impetuously to\nthe arms of his beloved spouse Clytemnestra, not knowing that the\nfaithless one had wed another during his absence. The false one received\nhim with feigned tenderness and presented him with a refreshing draught;\nhe disrobed, drank with deep emotion from the old familiar goblet, and\nstretched his weary limbs luxuriously upon the soft cushions. Alas!\nwhile the unsuspecting hero slept, the despoiler of his fortune and his\nspouse suddenly fell upon him with a sword and slew him.\n\nHow different is the story of the noble Penelope, the beautiful wife of\nUlysses! He was king of the isle of Ithaca, off the western coast of\nGreece, and had been drawn into the war against Troy. Ever since her\nhusband had set sail, a number of the young princes of Ithaca and the\nneighboring islands had beset her with proposals for her hand. She was\nyoung and beautiful and had great wealth in sheep and cattle, goats and\nswine, so that whoever wed her might hope, by taking Ulysses\u2019 place as\nchief of the island, to rule over the minor princes. This was a tempting\nprospect and the young men used every means in their power to persuade\nthe beautiful queen to return to her father\u2019s house as a widow, so that\nthey might formally demand her hand according to ancient custom.\nUlysses, they said, would never return. But it was not easy for the\nsuitors to banish the image of her beloved husband from the heart of\nthis devoted wife. She could not so lightly break the tie in which she\nhad found her youthful happiness. He will surely return, she thought,\nand though she wept day and night for fear and longing, this hope\ncheered her anxious soul. Year after year passed and still the war went\non. At last news reached Ithaca that Troy had fallen and the heroes were\nreturning. Fresh hope now filled the heart of the faithful wife, but\nanother year passed, and still another, and no ship brought back her\nlord.\n\nPenelope talked with every stranger who came to Ithaca and asked for\nnews of the hero. His companions were said to have returned long\nago\u2014Nestor to Pylos, Menelaus to Sparta; no one knew what had become of\nUlysses or whether he was dead or living. For nine years longer the poor\nwoman nursed her grief, until nineteen years had passed since she had\nseen her lord. He had left her with a nursling, now grown into a\nhandsome lad, who was her only consolation, but much too impotent to\ncope with the presumptuous rabble, which became each year more insistent\nand at length hit upon a cruel means of forcing the poor lady to return\nto her father\u2019s house. They leagued themselves with the princes of the\nneighborhood, over a hundred in number, and agreed that they would all\nassemble each morning at Ulysses\u2019 palace, there to consume the produce\nof his herds and granaries and to drink his wines, until his heir,\nTelemachus, for fear of becoming impoverished, should be compelled to\nthrust his faithful mother from the door and thus force her into another\nmarriage. Thenceforth the great halls of Ulysses\u2019 palace were filled\nfrom morning till night with these uninvited guests, who compelled the\nking\u2019s servants to do their bidding. They took what they wanted and\nmocked the owners with loud shouts and laughter. The herds were\ndiminishing perceptibly, the abundance of grain and wine disappearing,\nand there was no one able to check the robbers. Penelope sat in her\nupper chamber at her loom and wept; Telemachus was derided whenever he\nshowed himself among the insolent crowd.\n\nA god had brought this woe upon Ulysses\u2019 house. Poseidon, ruler of the\nsea, was angry at the hero, who had sorely offended him. Therefore he\ndrove him from south to north and from east to west upon the broad seas,\ndashed his ships to pieces, killed his companions, and forced him\nthrough whirlpools and canyons to strange peoples. And now, while his\ninsolent neighbors were consuming his substance, he was held a prisoner\nupon a lonely island far from home, where reigned Calypso, a daughter of\nthe gods. She desired him for her husband, but Ulysses brooded\ncontinually upon his dear country, his wife, and son. He went daily to\nthe shore, and seated himself mournfully by the surf, wishing for\nnothing more ardently than that he might see the smoke ascending from\nhis own hearth before he died.\n\nThe gods in high Olympus were touched, especially his friend Athene. One\nday, when they were all assembled in their vast halls and the unfriendly\nPoseidon happened to be absent among the Ethiopians, Athene seized the\nopportunity to relate the story of the sad plight of Ulysses and\nPenelope to father Jupiter. The king of the gods was filled with\ncompassion and gladly granted his daughter\u2019s request that she might be\npermitted to visit Telemachus in disguise, to breathe courage into his\nsoul, and that Hermes should be sent to the isle of Ogygia to transmit\nthe command of the gods to Calypso to release immediately her prisoner.\nAthene straightway prepared for the journey. She bound her golden\nsandals upon her feet, took her mighty lance in her hand, and descending\nlike the wind upon Ithaca, stood suddenly before Telemachus\u2019 lofty\ngateway, in the guise of Mentor, the Taphian king. Here she saw with\namazement the wild company of wanton suitors feasting and drinking,\ngambling and shouting, and the servants of Telemachus waiting upon them,\ncarving the meat, washing the tables, and pouring wine and mixing it\nwith water after the ancient custom. Among them, taking no part in their\nrevels, sat Telemachus, with a heavy heart. He no sooner saw the\nstranger at the gate than he went to meet him, gave him his hand, and,\ngreeting him kindly, took his lance. He then conducted the unknown guest\ninto the dwelling, but not among the revellers, so that his meal should\nnot be disturbed by their riotous behavior. The stranger was placed upon\na dais, with a footstool under his feet. Telemachus seated himself\nbeside him, and at a sign a servant immediately brought a golden ewer\nand a silver basin, bathed their hands, and placed a polished table\nbefore them. The stewardess brought bread and meat, while a lusty\nservant poured the wine.\n\nNot until the stranger had been refreshed with food and drink did\nTelemachus ask his name and the object of his journey. \u201cI am Mentor, the\nson of Alcimus, and rule the Taphians,\u201d said the disguised goddess. \u201cI\nhave come hither on my way to Temesa, in a ship which lies at anchor in\nthe bay, and as Ulysses and I are old friends, I wished in passing to\npay thee a visit.\u201d\n\nThereupon Telemachus told the story of his wrongs to his guest. The\ngoddess listened attentively, just as though she had not known it all\nbefore. She advised him to adopt a manly attitude in public assemblage,\nboldly to forbid the suitors the house, and, above all, to set out for\nSparta and Pylos, where lived the valiant heroes Nestor and Menelaus,\nUlysses\u2019 companions in the siege of Troy. There he might learn where\nthey had parted from his father and where he was now most likely to be\nfound; \u201cfor a divine inspiration tells me that he is not dead,\u201d added\nMentor. \u201cHe is indeed far away, shipwrecked and held by cruel captors,\nbut thou shalt certainly see him again if thou wilt follow my advice.\u201d\n\nThe youth began to love and revere his father\u2019s old friend. In\naccordance with the ancient rites of hospitality, he offered him a gift\nat his departure, which was declined on the plea of haste. He promised\nto come again on his return voyage, however, when he would take the gift\nwith him. Upon this, he disappeared suddenly like a bird, and for the\nfirst time Telemachus suspected that he had been entertaining a\ndivinity. He pondered all that the stranger had said, and determined to\nfollow the divine counsel. He began at once to protest against the\nsuitors\u2019 demeanor, and they, never having seen him appear so manly\nbefore, were astonished at his boldness. Antinous and Eurymachus,\nhowever, the most insolent among them all, mocked at his words and soon\nhad them all laughing at him. They spent the evening in song and dance,\nand when night came dispersed as usual to their own dwellings.\n\nTelemachus also went to his sleeping chamber, accompanied by his\nfaithful old nurse, Euryclea, carrying a flaming torch before him. He\nthrew off his soft flowing garment and tossed it to the old dame who,\nfolding it carefully, hung it on the wooden peg by his bed. Telemachus\nthrew himself upon his couch and wrapped himself in the woollen covers.\nThe old dame retired, barring the doors.\n\nAs soon as morning dawned Telemachus sprang from his couch, dressed\nhimself, laced his sandals, and girded on his sword. Thus apparelled,\nthe stately youth sallied forth. He sent out heralds to summon the\npopulace to assemble, and when the crowd had gathered in close ranks, he\nwent among them bearing his lance and accompanied by two swift-footed\ndogs. Then to the amazement of all, Telemachus stepped forth, caused the\nheralds to bring him the sceptre, as a sign that he wished to speak, and\nbegan as follows: \u201cI have called you, people of Ithaca, because the deep\ndistress of my house impels me. My father, as you know, is far away,\nperhaps forever lost to me. I am forced to endure every day a swarm of\nunmannerly guests intrenching themselves in my house, who pretend to\ncourt my mother, while they maliciously consume my substance and will\nsoon make a beggar of the king\u2019s son. Unhappy one! I need a man such as\nUlysses was to purge my house of this plague. Therefore I pray you to\nresent the wrong. Be ashamed before your neighbors and fear the\nvengeance of the gods. Did my good father ever intentionally offend you,\nand am I not already unhappy enough in losing him?\u201d\n\nAt these words tears overcame him and he dashed the sceptre to the\nground. Pity and compassion seized upon the assemblage. All were silent\nexcept the most determined of the suitors, Antinous, who answered\ninsolently: \u201cBold-tongued youth, what sayest thou? Wouldst thou make us\nhateful in the eyes of the people? Who but thyself is to blame for thy\ntroubles? Why dost thou not send away thy mother and why does she not go\nwillingly? Has she not mocked us with subterfuges and kept us in\nsuspense for more than three years? Did she not say: \u2018Delay the wedding\nuntil I shall have finished weaving the shroud for my old father-in-law,\nLaertes, that the women may not censure me if the old man, who in life\npossessed such riches, should be carried out unclothed\u2019? And what did\nthe crafty lady do? She wove day after day, but the garment was never\nfinished, and at length we learned the secret from one of her women. By\nlamp-light she undid the work of the day. Then we compelled her to\nfinish it, and now we demand that she shall keep her promise. Thou must\nimmediately command her to return to her father\u2019s house and take for her\nhusband whoever pleases her or one whom her father shall select for her.\nIf thou doest this, none of us will molest thee further; but we shall\nnot retire until she has chosen a bridegroom from among the Achaians.\u201d\n\nTelemachus spurned the proposal with righteous indignation. Once more he\nbesought the suitors to spare his house and threatened them with the\nvengeance of the gods. But they only mocked at him and everyone who took\nhis part. He then proposed that a ship should be fitted out, so that he\nmight sail to Pylos and Sparta to seek his father, and if in a year\u2019s\ntime he should have heard nothing of him, he promised that his mother\nshould wed with whom she would.\n\nThis proposal was received with scorn, and the assembly broke up. Sadly\nTelemachus wandered down to the sea, bathed his hands in the dark\nwaters, and prayed to the goddess who had appeared to him the day\nbefore. Behold, as he stood there alone, Mentor, his father\u2019s old\nfriend, came toward him. He also had been amongst the people and had\nheard with anger the defiant language of the suitors. Indeed he had\narisen to speak for Telemachus, but their mocking cries prevented him;\nand now he reappeared, as Telemachus believed, to assist him in carrying\nout his plans.\n\nMentor, or rather Athene, encouraged him, urged him not to delay the\njourney, and even offered to supply a ship and crew. Telemachus went\nstraight home, confided his plan to his old nurse Euryclea, and ordered\nher to provide wine in jars, meal in skins, and whatever else was\nneedful for the voyage. The tender-hearted old dame wept bitterly when\nshe saw the delicate youth prepare to start on such a long and dangerous\njourney. She begged him a thousand times to give it up and await his\nfather\u2019s arrival at home. He was manfully resolute, however, and the\nnurse was obliged to promise to keep his departure a secret\u2014not even to\ntell his mother until she should have missed him.\n\nAthene, in Mentor\u2019s shape, was meanwhile employed in hiring a ship and\noarsmen, so that by evening everything was in readiness. When the\nsuitors had retired and everyone was asleep, Mentor took Telemachus\nsecretly away. The youths carried the provisions down to the ship,\nraised the mast, and bound it fast with ropes. Then the rowers came\naboard and loosed the ship from shore. Athene had seated herself by the\nside of Telemachus. The oars splashed gayly on the quiet surface of the\nsea. The silent night encompassed them, and only the twinkling stars\nillumined with a faint light the dark waters through which the vessel\nwas being swiftly propelled.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter II\n  Telemachus visits Nestor and Menelaus\u2014The Suitors prepare an Ambush\n\n\nAt sunrise the travellers saw Pylos before them, a little town on the\nwestern coast of Peloponnesus, or the present peninsula of Morea. It was\nthe home of the venerable Nestor, who lived amongst his subjects like a\nfather with his children. His descendants were numerous and all the\npeople reverenced his opinion, and loved him for his kindness and\nbenignity, and the recital of his adventures whiled away many an hour\nfor the eager youths who hung upon his words.\n\nOn the morning when Telemachus and his companions were nearing Pylos,\nNestor had summoned his people to the shore to offer up a great\nsacrifice to Poseidon. These thousands of festive people, ranged in nine\ncolumns each composed of five hundred men, made a wonderful picture.\nEach column had contributed nine bulls which, having been offered up,\nwere now smouldering on the altars, while the people were feasting upon\nthe residue.\n\nAthene and young Telemachus disembarked, and, leaving the ship in the\ncare of the rowers, set out on foot toward the scene of festivity. The\ndivine guide encouraged the timid youth to address the old man boldly\nand instructed him what to say and how to conduct himself.\n\nScarcely had the men of Pylos caught sight of them when a group of\nyouths hastened forward to welcome them, holding out their hands in\nfriendly greeting, according to the hospitable custom of ancient times.\nPisistratus, Nestor\u2019s youngest son, was the most cordial of them all. He\ntook both strangers by the hand and led them to soft seats upon\nsheepskins beside his father and his brother, Thrasymedes, bringing meat\nand wine to refresh the weary guests. He then filled a golden goblet,\nquaffed it in Athene\u2019s honor, and spoke to her as follows: \u201cDear guest,\njoin us, I pray thee, in our joyful sacrifice; it is offered to\nPoseidon, ruler of the sea. Pour out this wine to the mighty god and\npray to him for our welfare! No man can do without the gods! And when\nthou hast offered sacrifice and drunk of the wine, then give thy friend\nthe goblet that he also may pray for us. Thou art the older, therefore I\nhave offered the cup first to thee.\u201d\n\nAthene was pleased with these modest and courteous words. She took the\ncup, poured a few drops on the ground, and prayed: \u201cHear me, Poseidon;\ndeign to prosper every good work which we shall undertake. Crown Nestor\nand his sons with honor and graciously reward the men of Pylos for the\nholy sacrifice which they have offered before thee to-day. And\ngraciously prosper my friend and me in the enterprise which has brought\nus hither!\u201d Thus she prayed, and while still speaking, by reason of her\ndivine power, she secretly granted the prayer. Then Telemachus received\nthe cup from her hand and drank, also offering sacrifice and prayer for\nthe feasting people.\n\nNot until the guests had partaken of food did the venerable Nestor\nconsider it proper to inquire the name and business of the strangers.\nTelemachus told him the object of their journey and conjured the old man\nto tell him all he knew about his noble father, urging him not to\nconceal anything, however terrible, that would give him certainty as to\nhis fate. Then Nestor began, with the garrulity of old age, to relate\nthe adventures of the heroes and the story of his own return. But\nTelemachus could draw no comfort from these tales, for what he most\nwished to learn was what Nestor knew no better than himself. The old man\nadvised him to go to Menelaus at Sparta, who of all the heroes had been\nlongest on the way, and having only lately reached home, would certainly\nbe able to give him news of Ulysses\u2019 fate. Mentor approved of this\nproposal, and the journey to Sparta was determined upon. As by this time\nnight was beginning to fall, the goddess reminded her young friend that\nit was time to set out. The sons of Nestor filled the cups once more and\nthe customary offerings were made to Poseidon and the immortal gods.\nThen Mentor and Telemachus arose to go down to their vessel.\n\n\u201cThe gods forbid!\u201d cried Nestor, when he saw them about to depart.\n\u201cShall my guests spend the day with me and go away to pass the night in\na musty vessel, as though I were a poor man, who had no cloaks nor warm\ncovers in my house? No, my friends, I have plenty of soft cushions and\nfine garments, and the son of my old friend Ulysses shall not thus\ndepart so long as I live! And even when I am gone, there will always be\nsons to pay honor to the stranger within my gates.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell said,\u201d answered Mentor. \u201cTelemachus must accept thy hospitality.\nLet him go with thee to lodge in thy palace, but I must hasten to the\nshore to pass the night with the young sailors and look after their\nwelfare. Very early in the morning I must pay a visit to the valiant\nCauconians to settle an old debt. In the meanwhile do thou send\nTelemachus with thy sons to Sparta and provide him with a chariot and\nfleet horses for the journey.\u201d\n\nWith these words Mentor turned and in the shape of an eagle swung\nhimself up into the air. All were amazed, but Nestor immediately\nrecognized the goddess; for he knew how many times in the past she had\naided Ulysses. \u201cTake courage,\u201d he said to Telemachus, \u201cfor thou seest\nthat the gods are with thee. And thou, divine Athene, have mercy upon us\nall and crown us with fame and renown! Behold! I vow to thee each year a\nbull, broad of forehead and without blemish, which has never been under\nthe yoke.\u201d\n\nThe people dispersed, and Nestor returned to his dwelling with his sons\nand their guest. On their arrival wine was again offered up and drunk,\nand then Pisistratus conducted Telemachus to a couch beside his own in\nthe pillared hall. The other sons, being married, had their quarters in\nthe interior of the house.\n\nAs soon as morning dawned the sons and their venerable father arose and\nassembled on the stone seats before the portal to discuss the proposed\njourney. Nestor presently sent some of his sons to select the offering\nwhich he had promised Athene. One was sent to the vessel to fetch all of\nTelemachus\u2019 rowers except two, another to order a goldsmith to gild the\nhorns of the victim, a third to command the shepherd to seek out and\nbring up an ox of the promised quality, and another finally to notify\nthe maidens to prepare a banquet.\n\nIt was not long before the goldsmith appeared, also the rowers, and the\nshepherd soon brought the desired animal. When the goldsmith had\nfinished gilding the horns of the ox, two of the sons led it into the\ncircle. Nestor, having sprinkled himself with water, cut off the\nanimal\u2019s forelock and cast it with prayer on the flaming altar, strewing\nconsecrated barley upon the ground. And now the mighty Thrasymedes\nadvanced and struck a heavy blow with a sharp axe, which sundered the\ntendons of the animal\u2019s neck and it fell stunned to the ground. Perseus\ncaught the gushing blood in a vessel, while Pisistratus completed the\nslaughter of the victim. The others now came up to carve the beef. They\ncut off the shanks, wrapped them well in strips of fat, and laid them on\nthe altar fire to send up delicious odors to the goddess, sprinkled wine\nupon and roasted the other pieces for the offering, turning them upon\nspits. Other youths cut up the remainder and roasted it carefully for\nthe feast.\n\nWhen all was prepared Telemachus appeared in the midst of the company\nbeautiful as a god. He had bathed, anointed himself with oil, and\nwrapped himself in a rich mantle. The company sat down in a circle to\nenjoy the magnificent feast, and when they had eaten their fill, Nestor\nreminded his sons that it was time to depart. They quickly harnessed two\nhorses to a chariot, while a servant stowed away bread, wine, and meat\nfor the journey. Telemachus took his place on the seat with Pisistratus\nbeside him holding the reins and whip. They travelled rapidly all day\nand at eve reached Pher\u00e6, the dwelling of the good Diodes, who\nhospitably entertained them. On the second day they arrived at the\ncastle of Menelaus in Laced\u00e6mon, having recognized his dominions by the\nbroad fields of wheat. Pisistratus drew up his prancing steeds before\nthe gateway of the castle, and the two strangers sprang hurriedly out.\n\nThey heard sounds of revelry within. The voice of a singer was\naccompanied by the sweet tones of a stringed instrument, and through the\nopen gateway they saw a crowd of guests in the centre of which two\ndancers were moving in time to the music. This was a great day in\nMenelaus\u2019 palace. The old hero was celebrating the marriage of two of\nhis children. There was so much noise and confusion within that the\nclatter of the chariot had not been noticed. A servant by chance saw the\nstrangers at the gate. \u201cTwo strange youths of kingly mien are without.\nShall I unharness their horses,\u201d he asked, \u201cor shall I bid them drive on\nto seek hospitality elsewhere?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d cried Menelaus angrily, \u201chow canst thou ask such childish\nquestions. Have we not ourselves received many gifts and been kindly\nentertained amongst strangers? Go quickly, take out the horses, and\nbring the men in to the feast!\u201d\n\nThe servant obeyed, and Telemachus and Pisistratus were conducted into\nthe hall. They were astonished at the splendor of the palace, for\nMenelaus had returned with great possessions. Maid servants conducted\nthem to the bath, and when they had anointed themselves, they donned\ntheir tunics and cloaks and took their places on raised seats beside the\nhost. Servants appeared at once with small tables and food. One poured\nwater over their hands from a golden ewer into a silver basin, while\nanother brought wine, meat, and bread. \u201cNow eat and drink with us,\u201d\ncried Menelaus; \u201cafterward shall you tell me who you are, for I perceive\nthat ye are no common men.\u201d With these words he placed a fine fat piece\nof roast, his own special portion, upon their plates, and the youths\nfound it a delicious morsel.\n\nMenelaus gazed at them intently. He remarked with satisfaction that they\nwere astonished at the magnificence of his hall and of the utensils, and\nhe saw how they called each other\u2019s attention secretly to new objects.\nThis induced him to speak of his travels, of the perils to which he had\nbeen exposed for eight years after the Trojan war, and of the persons he\nhad met who had presented him with the costly objects by which he was\nnow surrounded. In his recital he often referred to the hardships of the\nTrojan war, while the mention of the ignominious death of his brother,\nAgamemnon, caused him to shed bitter tears. \u201cBut,\u201d he continued, \u201cI\nwould bear all this with patience if only I might have kept my friend,\ndearer to me than all the rest, the noble Ulysses, with whom I have\nshared good and evil days! Or if I but knew that he was safe and could\nhave him near me! I would endow him with a city that we might live side\nby side and commune with each other daily until death should part us.\nBut the gods alone know whether he is alive or dead. Perhaps his old\nfather, his chaste wife, and his son Telemachus are even now mourning\nhim as dead!\u201d\n\nTelemachus hid his tears behind his cloak. Menelaus saw this and was\nuncertain whether to question him or to leave him to his grief. Just\nthen his spouse, the once beautiful Helen, entered the hall accompanied\nby her maidens, one of whom brought her a chair, another carried the\nsoft woollen carpet for her feet, a third her silver work basket. She\nseated herself near the strangers, observed them attentively, and then\nsaid to her husband: \u201cHast thou inquired the names of our guests? I\nshould say that two people were never more alike than this youth is unto\nthe noble Ulysses.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed it is true,\u201d answered the hero. \u201cHe has the hands, the feet, the\neyes, and hair of Ulysses. And just now while I was speaking of our old\nfriend, the hot tears sprang from the youth\u2019s lids and he hid his face\nin the folds of his purple mantle.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou art quite right, Menelaus, godlike ruler,\u201d interrupted\nPisistratus. \u201cThis is truly the son of Ulysses, but he is a modest youth\nand did not wish to make himself known at once with boastful speech. My\nfather, Nestor, hath sent me with him thither that thou mightest give\nhim tidings of his noble father and advice, for he is sore beset at home\nand there is none among the people to rise up and avert disaster from\nhim.\u201d\n\nMenelaus would now have rejoiced over the youth had not sad memories of\nhis lost friend overwhelmed him. He wept, Helen also, and Telemachus\nstill sobbed, while young Pisistratus was much moved. For a while they\ngave themselves up to their grief until Menelaus proposed that they\nshould talk the matter over on the morrow and should now banish these\nsorrowful thoughts and return to the feast. This sensible advice was\napproved by all. A servant at once laved the hands of the guests, and\nthey began once more to eat and drink. Helen, who was an adept at\nvarious arts, secretly poured a magic powder into the wine. It was a\nwonderful spice given her by an Egyptian princess, which had the\nproperty of deadening every discomfort or sorrow and cheering the soul,\neven though a father and mother, brother or sister, or even one\u2019s own\nson had been killed before one\u2019s eyes. They all drank of it and became\ngay. Helen told many amusing tales of the craftiness of Ulysses which\nshe had herself experienced. For while she was still in Ilium he had\ncome into the city in disguise to spy out the plans of the Trojans. No\none recognized him, and only to Helen did he discover himself and\nconfide the plans of the Greeks. Menelaus also told how they had been\nconcealed within the wooden horse and would scarcely have withstood\nHelen\u2019s call had Ulysses not restrained them. While the evening was thus\nbeing passed in confidential talk, Helen had a couch prepared in the\nhall with cushions and soft covers for the guests and a herald conducted\nthem thither with a torch. Menelaus and his spouse, however, slept in\nthe interior of the palace.\n\nNot until morning did the host ask his guests their business. Telemachus\ntold him the story of the insolent suitors, and begged Menelaus for some\nnews of his father. \u201cAh!\u201d cried the hero when he had heard the tale, \u201cit\nshall be as though the doe had left her young in the lion\u2019s cave and had\ngone away to graze upon the hills. When the lion returns and finds the\nstrange brood, he destroys them. Thus will Ulysses return to his house\nand make a terrible end of those trespassers! Could they but see him in\nthe majesty of his power as he once threw Philomelides in Lesbos, then\ntruly they would have little stomach for courting. But, dear youth, as\nthou hast asked me, I will tell thee what the old prophet Proteus in\nEgypt once told me of him. On my return voyage angry gods detained me\nfor twenty days on an island at the mouth of the Nile, for I had\ncarelessly forgotten to make the customary offering of atonement. Our\nfood was nearly gone, my companions lost courage, and I should perhaps\nhave perished with them had a goddess not taken pity on me. Idothea, the\nlovely daughter of Proteus, looked upon us with compassion, and once\nwhen I had wandered far from the others, she came and spoke to me. Then\nI told her my plight, and begged her to tell me some means of gaining\nthe favor of the heavenly powers to discern which of the gods was\nhindering my journey and how I might reach home through the endless\nleagues of ocean.\n\n\u201c\u2018Gladly, oh stranger,\u2019 said she, \u2018will I tell thee of an unfailing\nmeans. Thou knowest that my father, the old sea god, Proteus, is\nomniscient, and if thou canst surprise him by some cunning scheme he\nmight easily tell thee all that thou wishest to know.\u2019 \u2018Good,\u2019 said I;\n\u2018but tell me what means I can employ to ensnare him.\u2019 \u2018Listen,\u2019 answered\nthe goddess; \u2018every day when the sun is at the zenith the god rises from\nthe sea, and comes on shore to sleep in the cool grottoes. With him come\nalso the seals to sun themselves upon the shore. Therefore, if thou\nwouldst approach him unseen thou must conceal thyself in the skin of a\nseal and take thy place amongst the others. I will help thee. Come here\nearly to-morrow morning with three picked companions, and I will furnish\nyou all with glossy skins. When my father comes up, the first thing he\ndoes is to count his seals as a shepherd counts his sheep; then he lies\ndown amongst them. As soon as thou seest that he has fallen asleep it is\ntime to use force. You must all seize him and hold him fast, not letting\ngo, no matter how he struggles to free himself. He will use all his arts\nof transformation to get away, now as fire, now as water, and now as\nsome rapacious animal. But ye must not cease to contend with him until\nhe shall have reassumed his proper form. Then loose the bonds, and let\nhim tell thee what thou wishest to know.\u2019\n\n\u201cAs soon as Idothea had said this she disappeared into the depths of the\nsea. I went to my ship and spent the night in anxious vigil, and in the\nmorning I picked out three men of proven strength and bravery to\naccompany me in this wonderful adventure. We went to the appointed\nplace, and behold! the nymph kept her word. She arose out of the sea\nwith four fresh sealskins, enveloped us each in one of them, and showed\nus where to lie down. Friends, you cannot imagine our plight. The oily\nsmell of the skins would certainly have overcome us had not Idothea\nrubbed sweet-smelling ambrosia upon them to smother the horrible odors.\nThus unpleasantly masquerading we passed the whole morning, until at\nlast, in the heat of the noonday, the troop of seals rose out of the\nwater, and after them came the gray god of the sea. He looked about,\nexamined and counted his seals, ourselves with the rest, and then laid\nhimself down in their midst. Very soon we sprang up with loud cries and\nheld him down with all our strength. Everything transpired as his\ndaughter had warned us. He suddenly transformed himself into a lion to\nfrighten us, but we were not to be thus outwitted and only held the\ntighter. Then he became a panther, then a dragon, and finally, a bristly\nboar. While we thought we were grasping the bristles he tried to escape\nus as water, and scarcely had we dammed up the water when he rose into\nthe air in the form of a tree. At last the old magician became weary of\nthese changes, resumed his true shape, and said: \u2018Son of Atreus, what\nmortal has discovered to thee the art of holding me\u2014and what dost thou\nwant of me?\u2019\n\n\u201cI told him my perplexities. He bade me return to Egypt and there\npropitiate the offended gods with rich offerings. He promised that my\nreturn voyage should be successful. I asked one last question of the\ngod: What had become of my friends, and had they all reached home\nsafely? He then began a long story which caused me to weep bitter tears.\nHe spoke of Ajax and his sad fate. He told me of my dear brother\nAgamemnon\u2019s horrible death. My heart was broken; I no longer wished to\nlive. But the venerable god comforted me and commanded me to hasten home\nto avenge this wrong. Finally I asked the fate of my dear friend Ulysses\nand whether he still lived. Proteus answered: \u2018Ulysses lives, but is\nheld a prisoner far from here on an island, by the nymph Calypso. He\nweeps tears of home-sickness and longing, and would gladly intrust\nhimself to the unknown waters, but he has no ship and no men, and the\nnymph who loves him will never let him go.\u2019 Thus Proteus prophesied to\nme, then suddenly sank into the sea. I followed Proteus\u2019 commands and\narrived safely at home. Now thou knowest all that I can tell thee.\nRemain thou with me for a while, then I will send thee home with worthy\ngifts,\u2014three splendid horses and a cunningly carved chariot,\u2014and in\naddition I will present thee with a beautiful goblet in which thou canst\nmake offerings to the gods, so that thou shalt always remember me.\u201d\n\nTelemachus declined the invitation, for he could not desert his\ncompanions whom he had left in Pylos, anxiously awaiting his return. In\nthe morning the king had prepared for the two youths a bountiful\nfarewell repast of freshly killed goats and lambs. Telemachus would\nscarcely have enjoyed this early meal if he had known what the wicked\nsuitors at home were preparing for him. They learned with deep concern\nthat Telemachus had really had the courage to undertake the journey. Who\ncould tell but he might return with help from Nestor or Menelaus and put\nthem all to death? Until now no one had given the boy credit for much\ncourage, but now\u2014was it not as though the father\u2019s spirit had been\nawakened in the son? Antinous, the most insolent of them all, cried:\n\u201cNo! we must not allow the youth to defy us! He must be crushed before\nhe can harm us. Give me a ship and man it with twenty brave warriors. I\nwill row out to meet him and waylay him in the straits between Ithaca\nand Samos. If I meet him he will never see this house again alive, and\nthen all will be ours.\u201d\n\nAll applauded the wicked Antinous and conferred as to how they might\nmost surely destroy the youth, and when all was arranged the ship rowed\naway to the appointed place to await Telemachus. Medon the herald had\noverheard the plot, and hastened to acquaint Penelope with the sad news.\nHer heart was already heavy with anxiety, and at this fresh misfortune\nher knees began to tremble and she sank unconscious on the threshold of\nher chamber. Her maidens wept over her, and at last tears sprang to the\neyes of the beautiful queen. She moaned aloud and could not compose\nherself. At first she thought of sending for her father-in-law, Laertes;\nbut the old man was as powerless as she. Then she considered other\nsuccor, but all was useless. At last to her oppressed heart came the\ncomforting inspiration of calling upon a god for protection. She prayed\nfervently to Athene, and when she had finished she felt renewed strength\nand composure. She sank down upon her couch in a deep sleep.\n\nAthene heard her prayer, and desiring not to leave the good lady\ncomfortless, sent her a pleasant dream. Penelope\u2019s sister appeared to\nthe sleeper, and asked the cause of her grief. Penelope was comforted in\ntelling her woes, and the dream figure put courage into her soul with\nthe consoling words: \u201cBe comforted, sister, and pluck these cowardly\nfears from thy heart. Thy son will return. He has a guide and companion\nsuch as many a one might wish for. Pallas Athene herself is with him,\nand she has compassion on him and on thee and has also sent me to tell\nthee this.\u201d Penelope wished to ask other things, but the dream figure\nvanished. She then awoke, was comforted, and no longer bemoaned the fate\nof the two loved ones whom she had thought were lost.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter III\n  Calypso allows Ulysses to go home\u2014Poseidon sends a storm\u2014Ulysses is\n                   wrecked upon the Island of Scheria\n\n\nAthene was busy preparing Ulysses\u2019 return. Hermes, messenger of the\ngods, bound on the golden sandals which enabled him to soar like a bird\nthrough the air, took up his magic serpent staff with which he could\nboth kill and restore people to life, and flew swiftly away across the\nsea. He soon stood upon Calypso\u2019s distant island, enchanted with the\nlovely dwelling so charmingly nestling among the trees. Singing birds\nhad made their nests in the dark recesses of the foliage, and the\nentrance to the grotto was framed in vines from which hung bunches of\npurple grapes. Round about stretched rich meadows intersected by\ngleaming brooks, and many-colored flowers peeped out of the rich\nverdure.\n\nHermes paused to admire the lovely spot, then entered the grotto to seek\nUlysses. The poor fellow who could find no peace of mind in this\nbeautiful isle, and who was vexed by the advances of the goddess, used\nto go down every day and seat himself beside the surf to gaze out over\nthe dark waters in the direction in which his beloved fatherland lay.\nThe nymph, however, sat at her loom weaving herself a garment with a\ngolden shuttle and singing gayly at her work. She recognized Hermes at\nonce and was surprised to see him. He delivered to her the strict\ncommand of Jupiter to release Ulysses, as the gods had determined upon\nhis return. This frightened the goddess, and she began to complain of\nthe jealousy and cruelty of the gods. She promised to obey, however,\nthrough fear of the anger and vengeance of Jupiter.\n\nIn the meanwhile Hermes had been hospitably entertained, for even the\ngods regale one another, though they do not eat mortal food. Their food\nis called ambrosia and they drink a divine liquid which the poets call\nnectar. After feasting, Hermes repeated the message and left the island.\n\nWhen Calypso had spent her grief in a flood of tears she went out to\nseek Ulysses. She found him sitting pensively on the shore. \u201cMy dear\nfriend,\u201d she said, \u201cthou must not pass thy life here in melancholy and\ngrieving. I will have compassion on thee and let thee go. But thou must\nbuild a craft for thyself. Go to the forest, select trees, cut and trim\nthem with the axe which I shall give thee, and fashion for thyself a\nstrong raft. I can give thee no rowers, but I will plentifully provide\nthee with food, drink, and clothes, and will give thee a gentle wind to\nbear thee out into the sea. If the gods are willing thou shalt soon\nreach thy dear native land in safety.\u201d\n\nUlysses sprang up. Her words gave him a thrill of joyful surprise. He\ncould scarcely believe his good fortune. \u201cSwear to me,\u201d he cried\nhastily, \u201cthat thou speakest the truth and art not contriving fresh\naffliction for me!\u201d The goddess smiled, and to please him swore the most\nterrible oath of the gods, by the earth, the heavens, and the river\nStyx, and now at last the hero believed her.\n\nThe following morning he hastened into the forest, and after four days\nof incessant labor his raft was finished and furnished with mast,\nrudder, and yard-arms. Calypso supplied the sail and filled the raft\nwith skins and baskets of sweet water, wine, and delicious food, and on\nthe fifth day she accompanied him to the beach and he joyfully embarked.\nA gentle breeze filled his sail and he steered boldly across the\nboundless waters, guided by the sun by day and the stars by night. He\njourneyed swiftly for seventeen days, happy in the thought that he was\napproaching nearer to his beloved wife and native land. But lo, on the\neighteenth day, when in sight of the island of Corfu, Poseidon caught\nsight of the bold man and his anger blazed up anew. \u201cAha!\u201d said he, \u201cthe\ngods have doubtless taken him under their protection while I have been\naway, but in spite of this he shall suffer disaster and sorrow enough\nbefore he reach the land which is appointed for his refuge.\u201d\n\nThe angry words had scarcely been spoken before dark clouds began to\ngather at his bidding. He dipped his trident into the sea and it was\ndisturbed to its depths. Then he called upon the winds to come out of\ntheir caves and strive together, and dark night descended upon the\nwaters. Ulysses trembled. He was alone upon the broad ocean. Land had\ndisappeared, and as far as the eye could see there were only the dark\nwaves which rose in their might, then dashed upon him, carrying him\nfirst heavenwards, then down into the depths of an abyss. Clinging\ndesperately to his raft, he was tossed to and fro. A terrific blast\nswept away mast and sail and then came a great wave, like a mountain,\nwhich broke over the raft and submerged it. Ulysses lost his hold, but\nwhen he arose he saw it floating near him and managed to climb upon it,\nthus escaping certain death. But the storm still raged and there seemed\nno hope of rescue.\n\nHowever, he was destined to be saved. Leucothea, the sea goddess,\ndiscovered him in the midst of the angry waves and took pity on him. She\nswung herself up out of the sea on to the raft and seated herself. \u201cPoor\nman,\u201d said she, \u201cthou must surely have sorely offended Poseidon, but he\nshall not destroy thee. Thou shalt be cast on the shores of Scheria.\nTake this girdle and tie it about thee; then cast off thy heavy\ngarments, leave thy float, and save thyself by swimming. The girdle will\nbear thee safely to the shore, but when thou art once there, do not fail\nto throw it behind thee into the sea.\u201d\n\nWith these words she disappeared in the waters. Ulysses was still in\ndoubt, for he feared the vision was a malicious deception of Poseidon\u2019s.\nHe would not leave the raft so long as it held together, but he kept the\ngirdle to try its power in case of need.\n\nHe did not have long to wait, for a sudden shower of water dashed the\nraft in pieces. The logs separated and the poor sailor fell between them\ninto the sea. It was now life or death. He swam toward the largest piece\nof the raft, caught hold of it, and swung himself astride the log like a\nhorseman, holding fast by his knees. Riding thus, he drew off his heavy\ntunic and threw it into the sea, tied on the girdle, and sprang\nconfidently into the water to try his luck. As he was struggling in the\nwater Poseidon saw him and said: \u201cThis time thou mayst escape death, but\nI hope that thou wilt not soon forget the horrors of this day.\u201d\n\nPoseidon departed and by degrees the wild waves subsided. The terrible\nstorm had lasted two days and two nights, and in all this time poor\nUlysses had had nothing to eat or drink. He kept on swimming, sustained\nby the divine girdle. He was again filled with hope and joy when he saw\nthe waves subsiding and the rocky coast of Scheria (or Corfu) close\nbefore him. But he was not yet safe, for the surf kept dashing him back\nfrom the steep walls of rock. This was worse than his battle with the\nwaves; and with torn hands he was obliged to swim nearly around the\nisland before he could find a landing place.\n\nAt length he came to a spot where a little island stream flowed into the\nsea. The beach was low and it was protected from the winds. Ulysses took\ncourage, and praying to the divinity of the stream he said: \u201cHear me, oh\nruler, whoever thou art, and take pity on me! Thou seest I have escaped\nPoseidon\u2019s wrath, and now I put myself under thy protection.\u201d\n\nThe river god heard him, and Ulysses soon sank upon his knees on the\ngreen grass and kissed the blessed earth. But now his strength was spent\nand he sank into a state of deep unconsciousness. Voice and breath left\nhim; he was utterly exhausted.\n\nAs soon as he recovered himself he gratefully remembered Leucothea and\nher command. He arose, unbound the wet girdle, and with averted face\ncast it into the sea. Then fearfully and timidly he began to explore the\nisland. Night was approaching and no one was to be seen. Naked as he\nwas, where should he find shelter? It was damp and cold on the beach,\nand in the wood which he saw before him there might be savage animals.\nStill he walked on toward it and discovered a few wild olive trees whose\nthick boughs made a welcome shelter against sun, rain, and wind. On the\nground lay a great mass of dry leaves which he heaped together and then\ncrept under, his body hidden by the foliage. A deep sleep fell upon him\nin his bed of leaves, and for a time his hardships were forgotten.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter IV\n                                Nausicaa\n\n\nScheria was inhabited by a peaceful people, who cared more for commerce\nand navigation than for agriculture and the chase. They had built a town\nnear the harbor, and had dockyards where busy workmen were to be seen\nbuilding ships. Order, morality, and prosperity reigned and the people\nwere ruled by gentle King Alcinous who had a magnificent palace in the\ncity, where the nobles gathered daily to offer sacrifice and to feast\nwith their king.\n\nWhile the weary Ulysses was sleeping his friend Athene was planning a\nmeans of making him acquainted with the foremost people of the island.\nThe king had a young and pretty daughter named Nausicaa, who was\ndreaming sweetly one morning when Athene appeared in her dreams in the\nform of one of her youthful companions and began to scold her. \u201cLazy\ngirl! when wilt thou think of washing the fine garments which are lying\nsoiled about the house? Thou wilt soon be a bride, and what if thy\ngarments are not in order? Arise quickly! Let thy father provide thee\nwith a cart and donkeys to take us to the washing place. I will go with\nthee, and we will take our maidens and wash and dry so that father and\nmother shall be delighted with our industry.\u201d\n\nNausicaa, upon awaking, determined to obey the admonition. She begged\nher father for the cart and, when it was ready, filled it with the\nsoiled garments. Her mother provided victuals and a skin of wine, and\nwhen all was ready the pretty washer maiden seated herself on the cart,\ntook up the reins and whip, and drove out of the city, followed by her\ncompanions. The washing place was beside a clear stream whose waters\nfilled little canals and basins which had been excavated for the\npurpose. The clothes were thrown into one of these basins, the maidens\nundressed and sprang into the water, where they trod the garments with\ntheir feet. After being thus cleansed the clothes were spread out to dry\non a beach of clean pebbles by the side of the stream.\n\nThe maidens then bathed, anointed themselves with oil, and opened the\nbaskets and wine skin to enjoy an out-of-door breakfast. Next they\nseated themselves in a circle. Nausicaa began to sing and the maidens to\ndance and amuse themselves playing ball. When they had had enough of the\ngames they gathered up the garments, folded them neatly, and packed them\naway in the cart, harnessed the donkeys, and made ready to depart.\nBefore she mounted, the sportive Nausicaa threw the ball once more\ntoward one of her companions. But it fell into the river far away,\nmaking the frolicsome girls clap their hands and shriek with laughter,\nwhich awoke the echoes along the shore. And behold Athene had so\narranged that these gay sounds should awaken the snoring Ulysses. He\nraised himself, listening, rubbing his eyes and brushing the leaves from\nhis hair and beard.\n\n\u201cThose are human voices,\u201d he thought; \u201cbut alas, what kind of people may\nthey be? Perchance rough barbarians who will not understand my language\nand know nothing of the gods or of hospitality. But stay\u2014are they not\nthe voices of laughing maidens? I will come out and take a look at\nthem.\u201d\n\nHe crawled out of the thicket, shook off the dry leaves, and as he was\nstark naked, broke off a thick bough with which to cover himself. Thus\nhe appeared like some wild forest monster. The maidens, who saw him\ncoming from a distance, were afraid, cried out, and ran away. But\nNausicaa was an intrepid girl, and Athene secretly encouraged her. She\nstood still and quietly waited for the man to approach.\n\nHe came nearer, but did not presume to embrace her knees after the\nmanner of a petitioner, but made plea at a respectful distance. \u201cHumbly\nI approach thee, goddess or virgin, for I know not who thou art,\u201d said\nhe. \u201cThy stature and thy splendid form tell me that if a goddess thou\nmust be Artemis. Art thou a mortal maiden, then are thy parents and thy\nbrethren fortunate; for truly their hearts must leap within them to see\nthee in the dance. But happier than all others I count the man from\nwhose hands thy father shall accept the suitor\u2019s gifts and who shall\ntake thee to his house, a bride. Truly I have never seen a human\ncreature so like a slender palm tree. Yesterday I was cast by the sea\nupon this coast. I know it not, and no one here knows me. I do not\npresume, noble maiden, to embrace thy knees, but I beg thee have\ncompassion on me; for after unspeakable trials thou art the first person\nwhom I have met. Show me the city where the men of this land live, and\ngive me some rags to cover myself. May the gods reward thee a thousand\ntimes. May they give thee all that thy heart desires, a husband, a\nhouse, and blessed harmony of life. For certainly nothing is so\ndesirable as that husband and wife shall live in peace and united in\ntender love.\u201d\n\nThis speech pleased pretty Nausicaa and she pitied the stranger. She\ntold him her name and all about her father and mother and promised him\nhospitality. Then she recalled her maidens, commanded them to conduct\nthe guest to the bath and to refresh him with food and drink. But the\nman was too fearsome a sight. One pushed forward the other until they at\nlast plucked up heart and led Ulysses to the river. Nausicaa sent him\nsome of the freshly washed clothes and the remains of their oil. The\nmaidens placed all these things beside the stream and withdrew while\nUlysses made his toilet.\n\nThe bath was very necessary, for he was covered with mud from head to\nfoot, but after it he was like one new born. Graced with the new\ngarments he appeared in renewed youth amongst the maidens, who were\nastonished at his glowing countenance. He seemed to have grown taller\nand handsomer. His matted hair now fell in shining ringlets over his\nforehead and neck, and his whole appearance gave such an impression of\nnobility and charm that Nausicaa could not help a secret wish that he\nmight remain in Scheria and take her to wife.\n\nThe maidens placed before him what was left of the food and wine, and\ntruly the poor man had fasted long enough. When he had eaten the company\nprepared to return. Nausicaa mounted her cart, and the maidens followed\nher on foot. As long as the road led through the fields Ulysses\naccompanied them, but when they neared the city Nausicaa bade him wait\nin a poplar grove until she should reach home; then he was to follow and\nappear at her father\u2019s house.\n\nThus she wished to avoid gossip so that no one might say: \u201cAh, see what\na stately stranger Nausicaa has picked out for herself. She wishes him\nfor her husband. She can really not wait until she is wooed. Of course\nit is better to choose a stranger, for the noble youths among our own\npeople are certainly not good enough for her.\u201d \u201cNo, stranger, not thus\nshall they speak,\u201d she added, blushing. \u201cI have myself often found fault\nwith girls who have been seen with a man without the knowledge of their\nparents and before the nuptials were celebrated.\u201d\n\nNausicaa gave Ulysses one more direction. When he entered the royal hall\nhe was first to embrace the knees of the queen and to make his plea for\nprotection to her. If she favored him then he might hope to see his home\nagain. Not until then was he to approach the king.\n\nUlysses carefully noted all these directions and remained in the grove\nuntil he was sure the maidens had arrived at their destination.\nMeanwhile he prayed to his protector, Athene, that she might grant that\nhe find pity and favor with the men of this unknown people.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter V\n                Ulysses visits the King of the Ph\u00e6acians\n\n\nThe sun had set and darkness had fallen when the hero set out for the\ncity of the Ph\u00e6acians. As soon as he came near the first houses, his\nfriend Athene met him disguised as a young girl returning with a pitcher\nof water from the well.\n\n\u201cDaughter, canst thou show me the way to the palace of Alcinous, thy\nking?\u201d Ulysses addressed her. \u201cI am come from a distant country and am a\nstranger here.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery willingly, good father, will I show thee the house,\u201d answered the\nfriendly girl. \u201cThe king lives very near my father. Come with me and I\nwill guide thee that thou needst not inquire of another. People are not\noverfriendly to strangers here.\u201d\n\nUlysses thanked the maiden and followed her unseen by anyone. He was\nastonished at the great market place and harbor, the large ships and\nhigh walls. When they had been walking for a while the girl stopped and\nsaid: \u201cSee, good father, here is the king\u2019s house. Thou wilt find the\nprinces at their meal. Walk boldly in and fear nothing, for a bold front\nis always successful. But I must tell thee one thing more. When thou\nenterest thou shalt go straight to the queen, Arete. She is very wise\nand is honored far and wide above all women. The king also reverences\nher and she rules everything, judging even the men\u2019s quarrels with\nwisdom. She is greeted everywhere by old and young like a goddess. If\nshe is gracious to thee, then mayest thou hope to return to thy native\nland.\u201d\n\nWith these words Athene left him, and Ulysses went into the courtyard of\nthe castle and paused in amazement on the threshold of the house.\nEverything that he saw was very beautiful. The walls looked like bronze,\nthe doorway like silver, and the ring on the gate was of gold. At the\nback of the open hall were rows of seats disposed against the walls, on\nwhich sat the nobles at the banquet. Beside them stood beautifully\nclothed youths holding torches to light the feast. Fifty maidens served\nin the palace, some of them grinding grain on the handmills, others\nembroidering or spinning; for the women of the Ph\u00e6acians were as famous\nfor their wonderful weaving as the men were as navigators.\n\nWhen the hero entered the king\u2019s hall it was already late and the\ncompany was about to break up. The guests were standing with their\ngoblets in their hands ready to drink a last offering to Hermes. Just\nthen they saw a stranger cross the hall and kneel before the queen. All\nlistened attentively to what he was about to say. He clasped Arete\u2019s\nknees, as was the custom of supplicants, and spoke: \u201cO Arete, daughter\nof the immortal hero Rhexenor, I embrace thy knees and the king\u2019s, thy\nhusband\u2019s, and all the guests. I am a man overwhelmed with misfortune.\nMay the gods prosper thee and give thee long life and to thy children\ngreat honor and wealth! Only help me to return to my home, for it is\nmany years since I have seen my people.\u201d\n\nWith these words he arose and seated himself in the ashes beside the\nhearth, as was customary for one asking help. At first the spectators\nwere dumb with surprise, but in a few moments an old man broke the\nsilence. \u201cAlcinous,\u201d he said, \u201cthou must not allow a stranger to sit\namongst the ashes. Come, lead him to a couch and let the heralds mix\nwine for him as an offering to Jupiter, and let the servants bring the\nstranger food.\u201d\n\nThe king immediately arose, took Ulysses by the hand, and led him to a\nseat beside his own. What a contrast to the previous evening when the\npoor man, deprived of his clothes, dripping and exhausted by his\nstruggle with the waves, had staggered on land and raked together a bed\nof leaves in which to warm himself. Now he was luxuriously feasting, by\ntorchlight, in a magnificent hall.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d cried the king to the herald, \u201cmix another bowl of wine and fill\nthe cups of the guests that we may drink once more to Jupiter, the\nprotector of those seeking aid.\u201d\n\nThe herald did the king\u2019s bidding and all poured the libation to Jupiter\non the ground, then drank off the remainder, and arose from their seats.\nThe king commanded them to come again the following day to discuss how\nthey might assist the stranger to return to his home, unless\u2014this had\njust occurred to him\u2014he might be a god in disguise who took pleasure in\nmingling with mortals.\n\nUlysses modestly denied this flattering suggestion. \u201cNo, indeed,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cI am the most miserable and unfortunate of men. But now let me eat\na little more, for unhappy as I am, hunger is stronger than my sorrows,\nand an empty stomach gives a mortal no peace. But to-morrow, noble\nlords, ye shall do to me even as the king hath said and send me home,\nsince for many years I have been consumed with longing for my wife and\nhome.\u201d\n\nThe princes listened to the stranger with respect, for his speech and\nnoble mien betrayed the man of intellect and ability. When the guests\nhad gone, Ulysses was left alone with the king and queen. Servants\nremoved the remains of the feast, and now the queen, who had remained\nsilent before the men, began to question her guest. She had been\nwatching him, half in admiration and half with distrust, for she\nrecognized the garments which he wore, having woven them herself. \u201cI\nmust ask thee,\u201d said she, \u201cwho thou art and whence thou comest. Who gave\nthee these garments? Thou sayest that thou comest to us from across the\nsea.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, Queen,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cit is too long a story to tell thee all\nmy history. Far out in the sea lies the isle Ogygia, where lives the\nbeautiful and powerful goddess Calypso. A frightful storm which\ndestroyed my ship cast me on that shore, and for seven years the lovely\ngoddess held me captive there. She promised me immortal youth if I would\nabide with her and be her husband, but she could not persuade me. At\nlast she changed her mind and only twenty days ago released me, gave me\nrich gifts and a successful voyage until I came in sight of the blue\nhills of this isle. Then Poseidon\u2019s wrath overtook me, and a terrible\nstorm broke up my ship. Naked, I managed by constant swimming to reach\nthese shores. Last night I passed miserably in a thicket, but a sweet\nsleep held me fast bound for nearly twenty hours. I did not awaken until\nafternoon; then I heard voices, and saw thy daughter and her maidens not\nfar away. I approached her in my distress, and behold, I found a\nsensible and noble-minded maiden. She refreshed me with food and wine,\nbathed and anointed me, and gave me these garments; then bade me come\nhither.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll that is very good,\u201d said Alcinous, \u201cbut the naughty girl has\nneglected a part of her duty. She should have brought thee straight to\nus, and she was here long before thou camest.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe did indeed offer to conduct me hither,\u201d said the hero, \u201cbut I did\nnot consider it fitting and did not wish thee to misjudge me. Therefore\nI remained modestly behind, for we men are very suspicious creatures.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not so hasty in my judgments,\u201d interrupted Alcinous. \u201cHowever, all\nthings should be done in order, and I perceive that thou art an\nexcellent man. If such a one as thou should request my daughter\u2019s hand,\nI would gladly take him for a son-in-law. If thou wilt remain here I\nwill give thee houses and lands, but Jupiter would not wish that I\nshould force thee to stay with us. No, if thou so desirest I will\ndespatch thee to-morrow on thy way. Our rowers shall take thee safely\nback to thy home, however far away it may be.\u201d\n\n\u201cO Father Jupiter,\u201d cried Ulysses at these words, \u201clet all come to pass\nas this noble man hath said.\u201d\n\nAnd now the queen commanded the maids to prepare a bed with soft\ncushions and fine covers for the stranger in the hall. They went out\nwith torches, and when all was in readiness called the stranger to his\nwell-earned rest.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter VI\n                      Ulysses among the Ph\u00e6acians\n\n\nAt daybreak King Alcinous and his guest arose. They went to the market\nplace and seated themselves upon two hewn stones, such as were ranged\nabout for the princes when they were gathered together for conference.\nNo one had yet arrived, but Athene, disguised as a herald, was already\ngoing from house to house inviting the chiefs to a counsel. They\nappeared in groups and occupied the seats, while the populace crowded\nabout to catch a glimpse of the stranger. He stood among them like a\ngod, for Athene had made him seem taller and his glances fierier, that\nhe might awaken admiration and love in the Ph\u00e6acians. When they had all\ncome together the king began to speak.\n\n\u201cHear me,\u201d he said, \u201cye noble lords of Ph\u00e6acia! This stranger here\u2014I\nknow not whether he comes to us from the east or from the west\u2014implores\nus to speed him on his way. Let us quickly settle the matter, for never\nhas anyone come to me with a plea which has not been granted. Then\narise, youths, and assemble twenty-two of your number, launch a stanch\nship, and provide all that is necessary for the voyage. Then come to my\npalace and I will set food and drink before you. And ye, princes, grant\nme another favor. Follow me to my stately hall that we may once more\nentertain the stranger worthily. And that song may not be lacking for\nour friend, call the divine singer Demodocus.\u201d\n\nThe company separated to carry out the king\u2019s commands, and when all was\nready they repaired to the palace, which was filled with guests.\nAlcinous caused twelve sheep, eight swine, and two oxen to be brought\nfrom his stables, which the youths began to prepare, while the herald\nreturned with the minstrel who was to entertain the guests.\n\nHe was blind, but his mind was stored with splendid tales which he could\nrecite most eloquently, accompanying himself upon the harp. The herald\nled him gently by the arm into the midst of the company, where he placed\na chair for him near a pillar. He then hung the harp upon a nail and\nguided the blind man\u2019s hand to the place. Next he placed a table before\nhim with meat, brought the bread basket, mixed the wine for him, and\nwaited upon the other guests likewise. As soon as the company had\nsatisfied their appetites, the minstrel took down his harp and began to\nprelude; then his song rang out like unto distant cries of battle and\nclang of swords and thundering of hoofs. He sang of the heroic deeds of\nthe Trojan war, and the song found an echo deep in the hearts of his\nGreek hearers. Then the lines changed, and he celebrated the prowess of\ntwo heroes whose fame outshone all others\u2014Achilles and Ulysses.\n\nIt was like a sword-thrust to our hero. His heart was torn with\nmemories. He pulled his mantle over his head and hid his face, that the\nPh\u00e6acians might not see his tears. Alcinous, who sat beside him, heard\nhis sobs and at the minstrel\u2019s next pause tactfully said: \u201cFriends, I\nthink we have had enough of feasting and song. Let us go forth and\npractise some games, that our guest may see and admire the skill of our\npeople.\u201d\n\nThe company at once arose and followed the king, the blind minstrel\nbeing guided by a faithful servant. The market place was full of life.\nThe nobles seated themselves, the people stood round about, and the\nyouths who were to show their skill in wrestling, boxing, running, and\nthrowing entered the great arena.\n\nFirst there was a race between three sons of the king, Laodamas, Halius,\nand Clyton\u00e6us, which was won by the latter. Then came the wrestlers, the\nstrongest of whom was Euryalus. Next came jumping, then disk throwing,\nand at last boxing. In this dangerous sport the handsome Laodamas was\nthe victor.\n\n\u201cListen, friends,\u201d cried the bold young man; \u201clet us inquire if our\nguest be not skilled in games. Truly he has a noble figure. See his\npowerful chest, his thighs, his arms, and his strong neck. His build\nproclaims the man of skill, and he is in the prime of his powers.\u201d \u201cIt\nis a good idea! Go and challenge him,\u201d answered Euryalus, the wrestler.\n\nLaodamas followed the behest, but Ulysses declined. \u201cAh,\u201d said he, \u201cmy\nmisfortunes are nearer to my heart than feats of strength, and my only\nthought is of how I may quickly reach home. Ye do not know all that I\nhave suffered.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery good, my friend,\u201d mocked the hasty Euryalus; \u201cone can see that\nthou art not an expert. No warrior art thou, but perchance an agent on a\nmerchant vessel, who ships the goods and reckons up the profits.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat was an unseemly speech,\u201d answered the noble Ulysses. \u201cTruly the\ngods have distributed their gifts in various ways. Many a man of\ninsignificant stature is distinguished for his intellect, while perhaps\nanother with a godlike form is poor in good sense. Thus it is with thee.\nThou art beautiful to look upon, but hast little wit. Truly, wert thou\nnot so young a fool, thou hadst angered me with thine impertinent\nspeech. No, believe me, I am no novice at boxing. I have measured myself\nwith the bravest before calamity bowed me down; for I have suffered all\nthat a man can, on the field of battle as well as in storms at sea. But\neven so, I will not leave thy challenge unanswered. Give me the disk.\u201d\n\nHe took the heaviest of the metal plates, swung it by the strap a few\ntimes\u2014in a circle, and then cast it high in the air, so that it fell far\nbeyond the marks of the other throwers. One of the spectators ran\nforward and put a stake in the place where the disk lay, and when he\nreturned he cried aloud: \u201cHail to thee, stranger. In this contest thou\nmayest be sure none shall equal thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cSee if ye can throw as far, ye youths,\u201d cried Ulysses. \u201cAnd if anyone\nis anxious to contend with me, either in boxing, wrestling, or in\nrunning, let him come. Ph\u00e6acians, I am ready! Come who will, excepting\nLaodamas. He is my host, and it were unseemly to challenge him who hath\nfed and sheltered me. But I will not refuse any of the others, and truly\nI need not fear. I am expert in all feats of strength, but in spanning\nthe bow I still have to find my master. Amongst a crowd of the enemy I\ncan single out my man, and my arrow will lay him low. But one man\nexcelled me when we lay before Troy, Philoctetes; but amongst all the\nrest I was the foremost. With the lance I aimed better than another with\nthe arrow. In running, one of you could perhaps outdo me; for the stormy\nsea and long fasts have much weakened me.\u201d\n\nThe Ph\u00e6acians all were silent. Not one dared challenge the hero. Then\nthe king began to speak. \u201cWorthy stranger, we believe thy words, for\nthou dost not speak through love of boasting, but because the youth has\nbitterly offended thee. Listen to me, that thou mayest yet speak well of\nus at home. In boxing and wrestling we do not excel, but Jupiter has\ngranted us to be fleet in the race above all peoples and masters upon\nthe sea. We also love much feasting, harping, and the dance, beautiful\ngarments and warm baths. Come then, ye who are skilled in the dance,\nshow yourselves, that the stranger may tell of your art. Let some one\nfetch Demodocus\u2019 harp.\u201d\n\nThe young dancers took their places and began the dance with measured\nsteps and wondrous leapings, while Ulysses admired their flying feet.\nThe strains of the harp formed a lovely accompaniment to the movements\nof the dancers, and the old minstrel soon struck up a comic song which\ncompelled the listeners to break into shouts of laughter. When the\nchoral dance had lasted a while, Laodamas and Halius danced alone, to\nthe admiration of all. One threw a ball almost to the clouds, and the\nother, leaping, caught it ere his foot had touched the earth. Ulysses\nwas delighted with the agility and grace of the youths and paid them\ncompliments which delighted their father\u2019s heart. And as he had\ndetermined to dismiss the stranger royally, he proposed to the assembly\nthat each of the twelve chiefs of the Ph\u00e6acians should make the guest a\npresent of gold, together with a fine embroidered robe. The impertinent\nEuryalus was obliged to beg the guest\u2019s pardon and to offer him a\npropitiatory gift.\n\nAll agreed to the king\u2019s proposal, and the youth brought a brazen sword\nwith a silver hilt and scabbard of ivory as his offering. He approached\nUlysses abashed, and with eyes cast down addressed him. \u201cBe not angry,\noh stranger. Let the winds scatter the offensive words which I have\nspoken. May the gods grant thee a speedy return to thy house and thy\npeople, after thy long wanderings.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear fellow,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cmayest thou also enjoy the favor of\nthe gods. And mayest thou never regret the gift which thou hast offered\nme.\u201d He hung the sword over his shoulder, and all irritation was\nforgotten.\n\nIn the meanwhile evening had descended. Servants brought the gifts to\nthe market place, and they were carried into the palace. There also the\nprinces gathered, taking their usual places in the hall. Alcinous\nrequested the queen to have a warm bath prepared for their guest, while\nhe selected the gifts which he intended to present to him.\n\nA great kettle of water was brought, the maids piled up wood and kindled\na fire under it, while the queen herself brought in the costly presents\nand packed them deftly away in a chest, which Ulysses bound and tied\nwith a cunning knot taught him by the powerful Circe. He then went out\nto the bath, luxuriating in the steaming tub. When he had dried himself,\nthe maids anointed him with oil, and draped him with a magnificent tunic\nand cloak. Just as he was about to re\u00ebnter the festal hall he felt soft\nhands upon his arm. It was the lovely Nausicaa, whom he had not seen\nsince the previous day. She had learned of the preparations for his\ndeparture, and her heart desired to look once more upon the splendid man\nwho had approached her with such dignity the day before. So she stole\ndown the stairs and awaited him at the door. He came, a noble virility\nshining from his countenance, his bearing breathing dignity and power.\n\n\u201cHail to thee, oh guest,\u201d she whispered. \u201cWhen thou art again in thine\nhome, think sometimes of the girl in Scheria to whom thou once didst owe\nthy life.\u201d She looked down and could scarcely keep back the tears.\n\nThe stranger answered: \u201cIf the gods will but grant me a safe return I\nshall remember thee and praise thy name like a goddess\u2019 each day, for\nthou hast saved my life, gentle maiden.\u201d\n\nNausicaa went sorrowfully back to her chamber, while Ulysses entered the\nhall and took his seat. The servants brought roasted meat and began to\nfill the goblets of the guests from great pitchers of milk. A herald\nguided the venerable minstrel to his place. Ulysses beckoned to the\nherald, then cut a fat morsel from the piece of meat before him, saying:\n\u201cTake this to Demodocus. Poor though I am, I should like to do him\nhonor, for one should always respect the minstrels. The muse herself has\ntaught them and showers her favors upon them.\u201d Demodocus accepted the\ngift with pleasure.\n\nWhen all had appeased their hunger, Ulysses turned again to the minstrel\nand begged him, as he knew all the adventures of the Trojan war, to sing\nthe one of the wooden horse with which Ulysses had deceived the Trojans.\nSo the man sang the curious tale, never dreaming that the hero whose\ncunning he was celebrating was at his side. During the recital the hero\noften sighed and wiped away a tear. Alcinous noticed his emotion and\nagain tactfully bade the singer pause, saying: \u201cOur guest has been\nlistening in tears; a deep sorrow seems to gnaw at his heart. Let the\nsinger be silent, then, that all may be joyful. The stranger who cometh\nto us with confidence must be dear to us as a brother. And now tell us,\nfriend, without evasion, what we would know of thee. Speak! What is thy\nname, who are thy parents, and where thy native land? For this we must\nknow, if we would guide thee thither, which we shall gladly do, although\nan ancient oracle has warned us that jealous Poseidon will sometime sink\nour ship on its return from such a voyage. Tell us, too, where thou hast\nbeen and of the people thou hast met. Tell us all this and also why thou\nweepest while the minstrel sings of Troy.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter VII\nUlysses tells his Story\u2014The Lotus-Eaters, Polyphemus, Circe, Scylla, and\n                      Charybdis\u2014The Visit to Hades\n\n\nThe company sat in silent expectation, gazing intently at the stranger,\nwho began as follows: \u201cThe land of the Ph\u00e6acians is indeed a delightful\nland, and I know no greater pleasure than to sit in the banquet hall,\nwhile heralds move from table to table filling the cups, and the\nminstrel sings splendid songs of the heroic deeds of brave men. For harp\nand voice are the ornaments of the feast. But ye ask me for my unhappy\nhistory. Where shall I begin the tale, for the immortal gods have heaped\nmuch misery upon me? Let my name come first, that ye may know me and\nkeep me in remembrance. I am Ulysses, son of Laertes, well known to men\nthrough many exploits.\u201d\n\nThe Ph\u00e6acians were transfixed with astonishment, and the old minstrel\nbemoaned the loss of his eyesight that he was unable to see the man\nwhose heroic deeds he had so often sung. He, the most famous among all\nthe Trojan warriors, had eaten and drunk with them, and was now going to\ntell them of all the wonderful deeds which he had done and the hardships\nhe had suffered.\n\n\u201cYes, I am Ulysses,\u201d continued the hero. \u201cThe sunny isle of Ithaca is my\nhome. I will not speak of the unhappy war. When it was ended I turned\nwith my comrades to Ismarus, the city of the Ciconians, destroyed it,\nslew the fleeing men, while we divided the women and other booty amongst\nus. I now counselled that we should hasten from the place, but my\nfoolish comrades did not obey me. As long as they had enough plunder,\nwine, sheep, and goats, they caroused upon the shore and thus brought\nthe first misfortune upon us.\n\n\u201cThe conquered Ciconians summoned their allies in the interior, who\nresponded in great numbers, fell upon us, and horribly revenged\nthemselves. The fierce battle at the ships began early in the morning.\nAt first we defied the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, but as the sun\nset we were obliged to give way. Each of my ships lost six men, and it\nwas only with difficulty that I escaped in swift boats with the others.\nHappy in our escape we sailed toward the west, keeping near to the coast\nof Greece. Then a terrible storm arose, breaking the masts and tearing\nthe sails. With difficulty we put to shore to mend them, and on the\nthird morning when we set out with renewed hope, a fresh storm descended\nupon us from the heights of Malea and drove us far out into the open\nsea.\n\n\u201cFor nine days we drifted before the awful north wind, and on the tenth\nday were driven on the coast of the lotus-eaters. They are an amiable\npeople and most fortunate, for they possess a fruit called the lotus,\nwhich is their daily food and is sweeter than honey. Whoever eats of it\nforgets his home and desires to remain there forever. We landed to take\non fresh water and the lotus did not fail in its effects. I had to drive\nmy companions back to the ships, bind them with ropes, and throw them\nunder the rowers\u2019 benches, and if I had not put off again quickly, not a\nsingle man would have followed me.\n\n\u201cWe now rowed out again over the boundless sea and landed on a wooded\nisland near the coast of Sicily, which was uninhabited except by\ncountless herds of goats roaming the lowlands. They were without fear,\nso that we had easy hunting, and provided ourselves plentifully with\ngame. When we had refreshed ourselves with food and sleep I was anxious\nto row across to the next island, which seemed to be very large and\nfruitful. We could hear voices there and see cattle climbing about the\nhills. It is the home of the giant race of Cyclops, a savage people who\nknow nothing of agriculture, have no laws, nor fear gods nor men. I said\nto my companions: \u2018Remain here with your ships. I will row across in\nmine with twelve picked companions and examine the land.\u2019 I embarked,\ntaking with me a large skin of excellent wine, for I divined that I\nmight fall in with savage people who could not be won by reason or fair\nwords, and therefore I furnished myself with this sweet, beguiling\ndrink.\n\n\u201cOn our arrival I carefully concealed my vessel in a hidden cave and\nlanded with my people and my wine skin. Not far away I saw a tremendous\ncave in the rock surrounded by a wall of great stones and shaded by a\nrow of gigantic firs and oaks. It was the dwelling of the most terrible\nof the giants, where he spent the night with his goats and sheep; for\nthe care of his flocks was his sole occupation. He was the son of\nPoseidon and his name was Polyphemus. Like all the Cyclops, he had a\nsingle but horrible eye in the middle of his forehead. His arms were\npowerful enough to move rocks, and he could sling granite blocks through\nthe air like pebbles. He wandered about alone among the mountains, none\nof the other Cyclops holding intercourse with him. He was savage and\ndelighted only in mischief and destructiveness.\n\n\u201cI, unhappy man, not knowing this, went with my companions straight to\nthe open cave and entered it. We did not find him there, as the sun had\nnot yet gone down and he was still grazing his herds on distant hills.\nThe stalls were full of lambs and young kids. There were baskets and\ntubs of cheese and milk; also curds in great vessels and milking pails.\nMy companions wanted very much to fill a few baskets with cheese, drive\naway a number of lambs and kids, and quickly make away with them in the\nships before the dread king of the cave should return. But I forbade\nthis, for I was too curious to see the man and hoped, besides, to\nreceive a gift from him, as is the custom among hospitable people. But\nhow mistaken I was!\n\n\u201cWe seated ourselves in the cave, lighted a fire for an offering, and\npassed the time eating cheese until the Cyclops should come home. Toward\nevening he appeared with his whole herd before the mouth of the cave. We\ndrew back in affright, and he did not see us at first. He bore on his\nshoulders a tremendous load of wood, which he dropped upon the ground\nwith a clatter which made the rocks tremble and caused us to flee into\nthe innermost recesses of the cave. He then drove the goats and sheep\ninside, and barred the entrance with a piece of rock that two and twenty\nwagons could not have moved from the spot. We were prisoners in the\npower of the monster.\n\n\u201cWe were able to watch him unobserved for a while as he seated himself\ncomfortably on the ground to milk the animals, then poured the milk into\ntubs, and last stirred the fire. The flames leapt up and he discovered\nus huddled together in a corner. For a moment he stared, then thundered\nat us in a fearful voice: \u2018Ho, strangers! Whence come ye? Are ye traders\nor robbers who roam the seas, not sparing human life?\u2019\n\n\u201cOur knees trembled at the sound of the monster\u2019s voice. However, I\nquickly recovered myself and answered boldly: \u2018We are Greeks returning\nfrom Troy, cast upon this coast by storms. As we have been overtaken by\nmisfortune we beseech thee to shelter us and to please the gods by\nsending us on our way with gifts. Honor the gods, excellent sir, for\nJupiter is the avenger of all wrongs committed against the traveller.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Oho! Thou foolish stranger,\u2019 roared the Cyclops. \u2018Thou seemest to know\nthe Cyclops ill. Nobody here honors the gods, and we know naught of thy\nJupiter, for we ourselves are much greater. But tell me, where didst\nthou land with thy vessel?\u2019\n\n\u201cI perceived his cunning and determined that he should not outwit me.\n\u2018My ship,\u2019 said I aloud. \u2018Ah, had we it still we should not be here. The\nwaves destroyed it, and had we not been able to swim, we should all have\nperished.\u2019\n\n\u201cInstead of answering, the cruel Cyclops stretched out both his arms,\nseized two of my companions, and dashed them upon the ground so that\nblood and brains spattered in all directions. He tore them apart and ate\nthem. We shrieked aloud when we saw this horrid deed and prayed to\nJupiter. But our lamentations did not affect the Cyclops. He drank a tub\nof milk and stretched himself out to sleep.\n\n\u201c\u2018What shall I do?\u2019 I said to myself when the monster began to snore.\n\u2018Shall I plunge my sword into his heart before he awakens. But no! if I\nkill him, who shall open the door for us?\u2019 No one but the giant himself\nwould be able to move away the mighty stone. We should only be preparing\nfor ourselves a miserable death by slow starvation. We needed to invent\nsome better plan, and so we awaited the break of day in fear and\nuncertainty.\n\n\u201cWith the dawn the Cyclops awoke and went about his usual business. He\nput fresh wood on the fire, milked his herd, and put the nurslings to\nsuck. Then he again seized two of my dear companions and killed and ate\nthem as he had done the others. Next, he pushed back the stone, drove\nout the flocks, and deftly rolled the great rock back in its place.\n\n\u201cThus we were again imprisoned for the whole day. I now conceived a plan\nto avenge our lost comrades and to free ourselves\u2014I would put out his\ngreat eye with a red-hot stake! I found just the piece for the purpose.\nIt was the giant\u2019s own club of green olivewood, as long and as thick as\na mast. I hewed off a piece from the end, my companions helped to smooth\nit, and I sharpened the point and hardened it in the glowing coals. When\nmy weapon was ready I carefully concealed it under the pile of straw on\nthe ground. Hereupon we drew lots to find out which of my companions\nshould help me thrust the stake into the eye of the sleeping giant, and\nwe fearfully awaited his return. At last he came, driving in his flocks,\nand this time he left none of the animals outside, either because he was\nsuspicious of us or because a god had so decreed. He set up the great\nstone, milked his sheep and goats, ate two more of my poor companions,\nand put fresh wood on the fire. I now brought out the wine skin and went\nboldly up to him.\n\n\u201c\u2018See, Cyclops,\u2019 said I, filling a jug; \u2018here is something to drink; try\nit. Wine tastes good after human flesh. Take it that thou mayest see\nwhat good drink we had upon our lost vessel.\u2019 He took the jug and drank.\nHow delighted he was! He emptied the vessel and said, smiling: \u2018Fill\nagain from thy wine skin and tell me thy name, that I may make thee a\ngift. What a delicious draught! We have wine here, but compared with\nthine it is but water. Do but give me more.\u2019\n\n\u201cI filled his jug three times and he gulped it down eagerly. I soon saw\nwith delight that his senses were becoming clouded. Then an excellent\nidea occurred to me. \u2018Thou wouldst know my name,\u2019 said I. \u2018My name is\nNobody. My father and mother call me Nobody and so do all people.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Good,\u2019 said he. \u2018Then Nobody shall be the last one I shall devour.\nTake that as thy guest gift from me.\u2019\n\n\u201cWith these words he fell upon his back overpowered by sleep. He tossed\nabout until deep snores showed that he had at last lost consciousness.\nOur time had come! I quickly drew forth the stake, plunged the end into\nthe fire, turned it about until it was glowing, and then called upon my\ncompanions to assist me. A god put courage into our hearts. We all took\nhold and in an instant had plunged the fiery pole into the sleeper\u2019s\ngreat eye. As when a smith dips glowing iron into cold water, thus\nhissed the Cyclops\u2019 eye as the torch penetrated it. But we pushed it in\nthe deeper and turned it round and round until the blood gushed out and\nflowed over forehead and cheeks. With a horrible roar the giant jumped\nup and we all fled into the corners of the cave. Bewildered by the pain,\nhe pulled the glowing brand from his eye and threw it against the rocky\nwall, raving like a crazy man. The other Cyclops were aroused by his\ndesperate cries and gathered about the cave.\n\n\u201c\u2018What has happened to thee, Polyphemus,\u2019 they cried, \u2018to make thee roar\nthus? Has someone stolen thy cattle or a murderer attacked thee?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Woe is me!\u2019 roared the Cyclops. \u2018Nobody has craftily throttled me.\nNobody has attacked me.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Well, if nobody is attacking thee we are of no use. We can do naught\nagainst inward pains; for those thou must call on thy father Poseidon.\u2019\nSpeaking thus they went away.\n\n\u201cHow my heart laughed for joy that my false name had fooled them. But\nthe greatest danger lay still before us. We might escape the fingers of\nthe blind giant in the recesses of the cave, but he now seated himself\nbefore the entrance, rolled back the stone halfway, and stretched out\nhis hands to catch us should we try to steal out among the sheep and\ngoats.\n\n\u201cHowever, I conceived a plan to outwit him in this also. Among the goats\nwere powerful animals, with very thick wool. I put three of them side by\nside and bound them together with withes. The middle one carried one of\nmy companions under his body bound securely, while the other two\nprotected him on either side. A great woolly one, king of all, I kept\nback for myself. Thus prepared, we awaited the morning.\n\n              [Illustration: _THE BLINDING OF POLYPHEMUS_]\n\n\u201cAt last the flock set out and crowded past their waiting master, who\ncarefully felt of each woolly back to see if one of us should not be\nriding on it. It never occurred to him that we might be hanging\nunderneath. At length the first three came up, carrying their man\nsuccessfully past, then the second, and so on. I was last. I crawled\nunderneath, nestling into the thick wool as deeply as I could with hands\nand feet. Then the animal struggled forward as fast as he was able with\nhis unaccustomed burden, while I held on desperately by his curly wool.\nThe Cyclops recognized his favorite at once in caressing him, and spoke\nsadly to him. \u2018Dear little one, art thou the last to-day to leave the\ncave? Thou, who art always the first to trot so gayly at the head of all\nthe others. Art perchance sad also, and dost feel sorry for thy master\u2019s\neye, which the villain Nobody has put out? But only wait, he shall not\nescape his deserts. If thou couldst but speak, my little one, thou\nwouldst tell me at once where the wretch is hiding. Then shouldst thou\nsee how his blood and marrow would splash about the cave. That would be\nrevenge sweet to my heart.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus spake the Cyclops and released the goat. I let him carry me but a\nshort distance, then let go, jumped up, and released my companions, of\nwhom, alas! but six alone were left. Our rescuers we quietly drove\nbefore us, taking them as a thank offering. The Cyclops carefully closed\nhis door again and whistled for his flock. We laughed in our hearts, and\nslunk quickly away with the stolen animals to our ship and put off. We\nrowed as fast as we could, and when the boat was as far from land as a\nman\u2019s voice will carry, it occurred to me to shout a mocking farewell to\nthe monster.\n\n\u201c\u2018Ho, Cyclops! Take notice that thou hast entertained no ordinary\nmortal. In truth thou hast not eaten my friends for nothing. Thou art\nrepaid at last for thine inhuman crimes.\u2019\n\n\u201cHow enraged he was. He tore off a piece of rock and cast it in the\ndirection from which the voice had come. He aimed well, for it fell into\nthe water close beside our vessel, so that we rocked in the trough of\nthe sea. The waves nearly beat us back to shore again, but I urged on my\nmen and they regained the high seas.\n\n\u201cI could still see the giant feeling of his bloody forehead, and could\nnot resist calling again, although my men begged me to desist. \u2018Listen\nonce more, Cyclops. If thou art asked who hath so shamefully blinded\nthee, know that it was Ulysses, son of Laertes!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Cursed guest!\u2019 sputtered the furious Cyclops. \u2018Thus hath the prophecy\nbeen fulfilled! I have heard thy name and have always feared a great\ngiant of superhuman powers. And now that it should be such a midget\u2014such\na tiny weakling who has outwitted me! Woe is me! But listen, Ulysses,\u2019\nhe called directly afterward; \u2018come back and let us make peace. I will\nentertain thee royally and pray Poseidon, my father, that he grant thee\nsafe conduct. He will certainly restore my eye; then all shall be\nforgiven thee.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Ha!\u2019 I shouted back. \u2018Would that I could but send thee so certainly to\nHades that neither Poseidon nor any god could replace thine eye!\u2019 And\nnow I heard him praying loudly to his father to send misfortunes on my\nhead. Alas, the god heard him only too well.\n\n\u201cIn the meanwhile we kept on rowing, but were still in danger, for\nsuddenly another rock came flying and splashed like the first one into\nthe sea close to our boat. At last after hard rowing we reached our\nlittle island and divided our booty with our companions. Our friends had\ngiven us up for lost and had been sitting on the shore day and night,\nmourning for us. They gave me the big goat, which had carried me out of\nthe cave, for my share. I immediately sacrificed him to Jupiter, and we\nate and drank joyfully together. When the sun sank into the sea we laid\ndown on the beach to sleep.\n\n\u201cWhen we had recovered from our fright and had refreshed ourselves with\nfood and drink, we launched our boats and put out to sea. We travelled\nuntil we reached an island of peculiar formation. It floated about on\nthe water and was surrounded by a wall of brass. It was the famous isle\nwhere lives \u00c6olus, the king of the winds. The gods have given him charge\nover all the winds, that he may cause them to blow or to cease at his\nwill.\n\n\u201cI was hospitably received and delightfully entertained there for a\nwhole month. In the palace lived the king\u2019s six sons with their\nbeautiful wives. I had to tell them all about Troy and all that had\nhappened to me in my unfortunate journey. And when I begged for safe\nconduct, \u00c6olus gave me a present which would have made me supremely\nhappy had it not been for the foolishness of my companions. He confined\nall the winds in a leather bag, binding it securely with a silver rope.\nThus I was fitted out so that I might make use of the winds should the\nvengeful Poseidon again lead me from my course. I laid the bag in the\nbottom of the ship without saying anything to my companions of its\ncontents, and we sailed away with a gentle wind from \u00c6olus\u2019 isle and\ncrossed almost the whole Mediterranean without accident, sailing nine\ndays and nights, when suddenly on the tenth evening the shores of my\nnative island loomed out of the darkness. Yes, it was really old Ithaca!\nI saw the watch-fires, the end of my wanderings had come. And now, weary\nas I was, sweet sleep overcame me, for I had labored at the mast day and\nnight in order to reach home safely and quickly.\n\n\u201cWhile I slept my companions began to talk of our return, to recall all\nthat they had undergone, and to complain that they were returning poor,\nin spite of it all. They looked at me enviously, at my rich booty from\nTroy, and the number of my guest gifts. \u2018Everywhere that he goes,\u2019 they\nsaid, \u2018he is honored and receives gifts, but we get nothing. What can he\nhave hidden in that bag? \u00c6olus has certainly given him a costly present\nof gold or silver.\u2019\n\n\u201cCuriosity incited them to examine the bag, which the king had bound up\nso tightly for good reasons. They had scarcely loosened the cord when a\nfurious east wind broke loose, which drove us backward in the direction\nwe had just come. We wretched ones, who had hoped to land on Ithaca in a\nfew hours, found ourselves once more on \u00c6olus\u2019 isle. We were exhausted\non landing, and after taking the food and drink I set out, with one of\nmy men and the herald, for \u00c6olus\u2019 palace. There I found the family\nassembled at table, and all were astonished at my reappearance. I told\nthem my story and begged for help once more. But the king cried in a\nterrible voice: \u2018Unhappy one, fly from my house. Far be it from me to\nshelter a man who is thus pursued by the anger of the gods.\u2019\n\n\u201cSorrowfully I rejoined my companions and with heavy hearts we put out\non the treacherous sea. We rowed continuously for six days, and at last\non the seventh we saw the coast of the L\u00e6strygones. We found a sheltered\nharbor where we made fast our ships. Then I mounted a hill to see if I\ncould discover traces of people. In the distance I saw smoke rising and\nsent two of my men with a herald to explore the country. They entered a\nwood where they found wagon tracks that led to a town, and there they\nmet a maiden, the buxom daughter of the king, Antiphates, just going to\nthe well to draw water. She answered their inquiries by pointing out her\nfather\u2019s lofty dwelling. But when they entered the great palace they\nwere terrified to behold the queen, a giantess, tall as a tree, who at\nonce called her husband, an uncouth barbarian of gigantic stature.\nWithout a word, like the Cyclops he seized one of them for his evening\nmeal. The other two fled in horror to the ships. We saw them running,\nand soon a crowd of giants, summoned by the king\u2019s roars, started in\npursuit. While we were trying to loose the ships tremendous stones began\nto hurtle through the air upon us, dashing men and ships in pieces. I\nhad tied my ship behind a cliff where it was safe from the stones. I\nquickly cut the ropes, called to my remaining companions, and we rowed\naway as fast as we could. With horror we saw the L\u00e6strygones spearing\nour poor comrades to carry them home to their cruel meal.\n\n\u201cThe current now carried us to the island of \u00c6\u00e6a. We stole into a\nsheltering bay and rested for two days and nights, weak from hunger and\noverwork. But on the third day when rosy-fingered Eos began to paint the\nsky, I seized lance and sword and climbed to the top of the rock. The\ngods took pity on me and sent a great stag with branching antlers across\nmy path. Like lightning I planted my spear in its side, and the animal\nsank in the dust with a cry. Bracing my foot against its side I drew out\nmy spear, bound its feet together, threw the animal over my shoulder\nand, staggering under the unwonted burden, returned with it to the ship.\n\n\u201c\u2018Come friends,\u2019 I cried, \u2018we shall not descend to the kingdom of Hades\nuntil our day of doom dawns. As long as there is food and drink let us\nbe merry and refresh our weary bodies.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe sight of the stately animal put new life into my fainting comrades.\nThey sprang up, washed their hands, and began to prepare the meat. We\nsat down to an excellent evening repast and our courage returned. A\nsweet sleep refreshed us, and at daybreak we determined to set out and\nsee whom we could find on the island. But my companions grew\npanic-stricken when they thought of the Cyclops and the cannibal\nL\u00e6strygones. \u2018Very well,\u2019 I said, \u2018divide yourselves into two parties. I\nwill lead one and the hero Eurylochus shall lead the other.\u2019 We then\ndrew lots from a brass helmet to see who should explore and who should\nremain to guard the ship. The lot fell to the brave Eurylochus and he\nhastened to set out with twenty-two men.\n\n\u201cIn a distant valley they found the stately palace of Circe, the\nSun-god\u2019s daughter, a sorceress skilled in all the arts. Her dwelling\nwas surrounded by lions and wolves, which were men transformed into\nanimals by her magic. They were unfortunates who had been cast upon her\ncoast by storms. Their human reason had not been taken from them, so\nthat they did not attack the approaching men, but came up to them like\nfriendly dogs. Inside the palace sat the beautiful Circe at her loom,\nsinging. \u2018Listen,\u2019 said one of the men, \u2018what lovely singing. Let us go\nin.\u2019 The goddess who had overheard the words, left her work and opened\nthe door. \u2018Come in, strangers,\u2019 she said sweetly, \u2018that I may entertain\nye.\u2019 The friends obeyed and went inside. Only the cautious Eurylochus\nremained without and hid himself from the sorceress as though he divined\nmischief.\n\n\u201cThe strangers were invited to sit on soft cushioned chairs and Circe\npassed food and mixed sweet wine for them, but in the wine she secretly\nput evil herbs, and when the poor fellows had drunk of the mixture Circe\ntouched them all with her magic wand and in an instant they were changed\ninto grunting swine. She then drove them out and put them into pens and\nlaughingly shut them in. Eurylochus, horrified, saw all this from his\nhiding place, then hastened away to bring me the news. In broken words\nhe related the horrible fate of our friends.\n\n\u201cI immediately sprang up. \u2018Guide me thither,\u2019 I cried, impatiently. \u2018I\nwill avenge the unfortunates if I cannot save them.\u2019 But he fell at my\nfeet and begged me with tears not to sacrifice myself. \u2018Let us flee from\nthe cursed island,\u2019 he cried, \u2018that we, at least, may escape the same\nawful fate.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Stay thou,\u2019 I answered scornfully, \u2018and eat and drink thy fill here by\nthe shore, but I must needs go.\u2019 With these words I hurried along the\nbeach until I saw the dwelling of Circe in the distance. All at once a\nshining youth came toward me. I recognized Hermes by his staff and his\nglorious appearance.\n\n\u201c\u2018Friend,\u2019 said he, taking me by the hand, why art thou wandering alone\namong these wild hills? Dost thou know what awaits thee? Thy friends are\nshut up in Circe\u2019s pens transformed into swine. Dost intend to release\nthem? Poor man, thou wilt scarcely succeed. I fear she will but pen thee\nup with the rest.\u2019 I did not know what to answer, and could only gaze\nperplexed at the youthful god.\n\n\u201c\u2018Listen,\u2019 he said. \u2018I wish thee well and I can help thee. Therefore let\nme warn thee to beware of Circe\u2019s tricks. On thy arrival she will mix\nfor thee a sweet wine with a certain poison which puts all who partake\nof it in her power. But here is the antidote. Pour it secretly into the\nwine before thou drinkest, and her herbs cannot harm thee. When thou\nhast partaken of the mixture she will touch thee with her magic wand in\nthe vain endeavor to transform thee. Take advantage of this moment to\novercome her. Fall upon her with drawn sword as though thou wouldst\npierce her, and thou shalt see her supplicating for mercy at thy feet.\nGrant what she asks, but let her swear a solemn oath that she will not\nfurther harm thee. Then she shall be appeased, and by degrees, in\nconfidential talk, thou shalt persuade her to release thy friends also.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe god gave me the wholesome herb, then hastened back to high Olympus.\nI gazed gratefully after him, carefully stowed away his gift, and\ncommitted his advice to memory. Deep in thought I suddenly found myself\nat Circe\u2019s dwelling and heard the heavenly singing. I called, and the\ngoddess immediately appeared. She led me to the silver-mounted seat and\nwent to prepare the wine in which she mixed her magic herbs. As soon as\nshe handed me the cup, I quickly poured Hermes\u2019 antidote into it, and\ndrank off the potion without fear.\n\n\u201cAt once she pointed the magic wand at my head saying: \u2018Now, my little\nbeast, follow thy friends into the pig-pen.\u2019 I pushed back my chair,\nsprang from behind the table, and fell upon the false one with drawn\nsword. She shrieked and threw herself upon the ground to clasp my knees.\n\u2018Who art thou and whence comest thou who art the first to withstand my\nmagic? Never has a mortal resisted its power. Art thou perhaps the\ncrafty Ulysses who, Hermes once told me, should visit me on his long\nwanderings and set at naught my sorcery? But look not so fiercely upon\nme. Put up thy sword. Sit down peaceably beside me that we may hold\nfriendly converse.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018O goddess,\u2019 I answered, \u2018how can I trust one who has robbed me of my\nfriends? I know not what schemes thou entertainest against me. If I am\nto trust thee, swear to me the great oath of the gods that thou wilt not\npractise thine arts against me, sleeping nor waking.\u2019\n\n\u201cShe at once complied and I was reassured. And now she drew me down upon\nher couch and fondled me, while her maidens, beautiful daughters of the\nriver and forest gods, prepared a delicious repast for me and one of\nthem heated water for the bath. When it was ready she washed my head and\nshoulders herself and clothed me in rich garments. Then she led me to a\ntable covered with delicacies. I did not partake, but leant my head upon\nmy hand and sank into sorrowful musings. Circe urged me in vain to eat.\n\u2018O goddess,\u2019 I sighed, \u2018how can I enjoy a feast in the house where my\nunhappy companions are prisoners? Until I see them freed from the\nterrible enchantment, thou wilt exert thyself in vain to cheer me with\nthy embraces and thine entertainment.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe goddess was touched. She went out into the pens, freed the swine,\nand anointed each one with a healing salve. And, oh joy! the animals\nstood up, the bristly hide and the long snouts disappeared, and my\ncompanions stood before me, younger and handsomer than before. They\nshouted for joy and fell at our feet. Then their beautiful liberator led\nthem into the banquet hall.\n\n\u201c\u2018Listen, Ulysses,\u2019 said Circe to me, \u2018remain with me for a while and\nrest after all the hardships thou hast undergone. Go and beach thy ship\nupon the sands. Hide thy weapons and goods in the thicket, and then\nbring all thy worthy comrades here that I may entertain them.\u2019\n\n\u201cConfiding in the sacred oath of the goddess I set out at once to fetch\nmy companions. They rejoiced to see me returning in safety, and came\nrunning to meet me like young foals to their mother. I related my\nadventure, and commanded them to draw the ship on the beach and to bury\nthe tools and follow me to the palace where they might rest and feast to\ntheir heart\u2019s content.\n\n\u201cThen arose the prudent Eurylochus, still half-paralyzed with fear, and\nsaid to them: \u2018Poor fellows, where are we going? The crafty sorceress\nwill soon have transformed us all into swine, wolves, or lions. Did not\nUlysses lead us into the Cyclops\u2019 cave. Let us stay here, and let him go\nwhere he will.\u2019 I grew crimson with anger on hearing him speak thus. I\nhad already drawn my sword to cut off his head when my companions\nprevented me. \u2018Let him go,\u2019 said they; \u2018we will all follow thee.\u2019\n\n\u201cI then guided them to Circe\u2019s palace, and even Eurylochus followed us\nat a distance. How happy they all were to find their companions, in fine\ngarments, sitting at the festive board. They fell upon one another\u2019s\nnecks, and even Circe was touched at the sight. She said to us: \u2018Dear\ncomrades, stay with me until ye shall have forgotten all your troubles\nand regained your old-time courage.\u2019\n\n\u201cThankfully we accepted her invitation, and day by day we feasted and\ndrank. But at length, when a year had gone by, the longing for home\nawakened in our breasts, and my companions urged me to think of our\nnative land. All day I mused upon their demand, and as darkness fell I\nclasped the knees of the goddess and besought her to send us back to our\nhomes. She answered graciously that she did not wish to detain me\nagainst my will, but that I must first accomplish a mission for her\nbefore I could take the direct path homewards. I gave my promise and\nheard with horror the following commission: \u2018I wish to send thee to the\nunderworld to inquire of the spirit of old Tiresias, who conferred upon\nPersephone, Queen of Hades, alone of all the shades, power to wander\nthere a living person, while the other souls are only floating shadows.\u2019\n\n\u201cI wrung my hands and groaned. Weeping I sat beside the goddess and\ncried: \u2018Who shall show me the way thither? Never did a living man\ndescend into Hades, and nevermore shall a living man return from thence\ninto the light.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Fear not for thy life, nor for a guide,\u2019 she continued. \u2018Spread thy\nsail and let the north wind guide thee.\u2019 She then gave me full\ndirections as to all that I should see and do upon this visit to the\nlower regions.\n\n\u201cAs she ended dawn was gilding the morning sky. Sorrowfully I arose and\nwent to arouse my companions and advise them of our speedy departure. We\nwent down to the ship with heavy hearts. There we found the sacrificial\nsheep, which I was to carry with me, bound and ready; a black male sheep\nand a female. Circe had also provided flour, wine, and honey. We\nlaunched the ship, raised the mast, and reluctantly embarked. A\nfavorable wind bore us straight toward the ends of the earth.\n\n\u201cWe reached the shores of the Cimmerians, where the sun no longer sheds\nits light. There we beached our ship, took the sacrificial gifts, and\ndescended to the place which Circe had shown me. We found all as she had\nforetold. I now began to dig a pit with my sword, an ell square, and\ninto it I poured an offering for the dead as I had been instructed;\nfirst of honey and milk, then of sweet wine, and at last of water,\nstrewing white flour over all. Then the two sheep were handed me, and I\ncut their throats with my sword so that the dark blood ran into the pit.\nImmediately the departed souls floated up in crowds from the lower world\nand pressed upon me. But I held them back with my sword, and commanded\nmy companions to burn the sheep which had been skinned meanwhile. While\nthe offering was being consumed we prayed to all the gods of the lower\nworld, and I did not forget to make promises to them and to Tiresias,\nprovided that I should reach Ithaca in safety.\n\n\u201cI gazed upon the approaching shades with silent awe. I saw armed men\nwith deep wounds, old dames and blooming maidens, careworn old men and\nvigorous youths. They crowded about the pit on all sides with horrible\ncries, and I had hard work to keep them from the blood with my sword.\n\n          [Illustration: _INVOCATION OF THE SHADES IN HADES_]\n\n\u201cThe spirits seemed speechless except Tiresias. He bade me turn away the\nsharp sword, that he might drink of the blood and prophesy of my fate.\nWhen he had drunk he leaned upon his golden staff and began: \u2018Noble\nUlysses, thou art anxious to return to thy home, but one of the gods\nwill put difficulties in thy way. Dost thou not know how deeply thou\ndidst offend Poseidon in blinding the eye of his son? Still all may be\nwell with thee if only thou layest not thine hands upon the steers of\nHelios upon the island of Thrinakia. If thou shouldst kill one of them\nthou mayest scarcely expect to be saved, and if thou shouldst ever see\nthy native land again, it would only be after many years of hardship and\nwithout any of thy companions. Others shall feast upon thy substance,\nwoo thy spouse, and seek to lay deadly traps for thy son. But at last a\ndivinity shall take pity on thee that thou mayest slay the presumptuous\nguests in thy palace. The deed will compel thee to leave thine ancestral\nhome and to settle far inland. Then let it be a token for thee that,\nwhen on thy pilgrimage with thine oar upon thy shoulder, thou shalt meet\na man who shall call the oar a shovel, that it is the place which the\ngods have set apart for the haven of thine old age. Far from the sea,\ndeath shall come gently upon thee.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018So that is to be my fate, O Tiresias,\u2019 I said. \u2018But tell me, do I not\nsee my old mother amongst the spirits? She deigns not to speak to her\nson, nor looks into my face. What shall I do to make her know me?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018If thou wouldst question any of these spirits, let them drink of the\nblood,\u2019 answered Tiresias; \u2018then mind and speech shall return to them.\u2019\n\n\u201cI waited until my mother should approach, and as soon as she had drunk\nshe recognized me with joy and astonishment. I recounted to her all my\nsufferings and questioned her in what manner she had died and how my\nfather, wife, and dear son at home were faring. She told me that all\nwere alive and longed for me every day, that my father, grown weak with\nage, lived in the palace no longer, but cultivated his vineyards in the\ncountry.\n\n\u201cShe departed and in her place came other women, wives of famous heroes\nI had known. They, too, drank of the blood and told me of their fate. My\nheart swelled as I beheld the spirits of dear friends floating near who\nhad once been my companions before Troy\u2014Agamemnon, Achilles, Patroclus,\nand the excellent Ajax, all of whom death had overtaken before they saw\ntheir native land again. I was most astonished to see Agamemnon here. I\nquestioned him and, lamenting, he told me his sad fate. He inquired\nabout his living son, Orestes, but alas, I could tell him nothing of the\nGreeks. But I was able to tell Achilles of many glorious deeds done by\nhis son Neoptolemus, of whose bravery in war I had often been witness\nafter his father\u2019s death. Even in the pale world of shades Achilles\nrejoiced in his son\u2019s valor, and floated proudly down to the fields of\nasphodel where dwell the spirits of brave heroes.\n\n\u201cI saw also the heroes of ancient times. Minos, the wise ruler and\nlawgiver of Crete, was even now holding judgment over the souls of the\ndead in Hades; and Orion, the great hunter, with his mighty bow drove\ninnumerable game before him. Tityus, that gigantic son of earth, who had\nonce dared to dishonor the divine Leto, mother of Apollo and Artemis,\nlay fast bound upon the ground in punishment, two vultures on either\nside tearing at his entrails which ever grew again and were anew\ndestroyed. Not less terrible was the penalty of Sisyphus, a king who had\npractised many cruelties during his lifetime. He was obliged to push a\nheavy block of marble up a steep hill, and as often as he had nearly\nreached the top it would glide from his hands and roll thundering down\nto the bottom of the valley. Then, bathed in cold perspiration and in a\ncloud of dust, he would begin the difficult task over again.\n\n\u201cI saw Tantalus also, that celebrated king whom Jupiter allowed to sit\nat his own table and feast with the gods. His vain heart was unworthy of\nthe honor. He misused their confidence and betrayed their secrets; and\nfor this he was undergoing a terrible martyrdom in Hades. A burning\nthirst consumes him continually, and though he stands up to his throat\nin water, and delicious pear, fig, and apple trees hang their sweet\nfruits above his head, he can never satisfy his vehement desires; for as\noften as he bends down to the water the pool suddenly dries up, and as\noften as he raises his hand to pluck of the juicy fruit, a furious wind\nquickly tosses the branches toward the clouds. I saw also the shade of\nHercules. He lives in Olympus with the gods and is married to Hebe,\nenjoying the pleasures of the gods in return for all his labor on earth.\nOnly his shade is in Hades. Theseus and Pirithous also glided by at a\ndistance.\n\n\u201cI did not venture to remain much longer in this dread place, but full\nof what I had seen and heard, hastened back to the ship with my\ncompanions. We all went aboard and Oceanus bore us back the way we had\ncome. Circe had scarcely heard of our arrival when she visited us and\nsent us plenty of bread, meat, and wine. When it began to grow dark she\nseated herself by my side, apart from the others, and gave me much wise\nadvice for my coming voyage. She warned me against the Sirens who entice\ntravellers with sweet songs, only to devour them like beasts of prey.\n\u2018As it is impossible to resist their entrancing singing,\u2019 she said,\n\u2018take this piece of wax and knead it into a paste with which to stop the\nears of thy companions; but cause thyself to be bound to the mast, and\nwhen, carried away by the magic singing, thou wouldst set thyself free,\nlet them bind thee the faster.\n\n\u201c\u2018Another and greater danger awaits thee in the fearful abyss where\ndwell Scylla and Charybdis. There the sea is forced between two high\nrocks scarcely an arrow\u2019s flight apart. Deep at the foot of one lurks\nCharybdis, the monster, gulping down endless streams of water with all\nships and men who approach too near, and long afterwards spitting them\nout again dashed to pieces in the turmoil. Beware of that side and keep\ncloser to the right, where the other monster, Scylla, dwells. When thou\npassest by thou wilt be obliged to pay her a terrible toll, for with\neach of her six jaws she will snatch one of thy men from the rower\u2019s\nbench. But it is better to lose six men than to see thy whole ship go\ndown in Charybdis\u2019 whirlpool. Finally I warn thee of the sacred oxen of\nHelios on the island Thrinakia. Shouldst thou harm one of them, I\nprophesy destruction for thee and thy ship and thy friends; and even if\nthou shouldst thyself escape, thou shalt return home only after many\nyears, unhappy and without any companions.\u2019\n\n\u201cThus spake the glorious goddess, and as rosy Eos appeared we hastened\nto our ships to take advantage of a favorable wind. As soon as I thought\nwe were nearing the Sirens I kneaded the wax and stopped the ears of my\nfriends; but me they bound fast to the mast. Thus we rowed on. The\nSirens heard us coming and began their enchanting song. As I listened I\nwas seized with an overmastering desire to hear more and struggled to\nloosen my bonds. I begged my friends with signs and gestures to aid me,\nbut they only tied me faster, until the magical sounds grew fainter and\nfainter and the danger was left far behind.\n\n\u201cWe next saw mist and rolling surf and heard hollow reverberations in\nthe distance. The arms of the rowers became paralyzed and the ship stood\nstill. I hastened among them and admonished them to row as fast as\npossible, but commanded the steersman to keep as far to the right as\npossible, that we might not be engulfed by Charybdis. I wisely kept\nsilent about the fearful Scylla, or not a man would have rowed another\nstroke. As I stood on the high deck, armed with two spears and looking\ndown into the foaming gulf, I heard a cry of pain on my right, and\nbehold, the fearful monster had seized with her six jaws the bravest and\nstrongest of my companions. They called loudly for help, but I could do\nnaught for them. At last we had passed through the awful gulf and\nfeasted our eyes on the green hills of Thrinakia. We could hear the\nlowing of the splendid oxen of Helios and the cheerful sound of bleating\nherds of sheep. Helios, the Sun-god, had placed these herds in the care\nof two nymphs, and delighted in watching them as often as he guided his\ngolden chariot over Thrinakia\u2019s hills. They never increased or\ndiminished, neither did they grow old.\n\n\u201c\u2018Friends,\u2019 said I, \u2018this is the fatal island, and I already see the\npleasant flocks of Helios, to touch which means death. Let us heed the\nwarning of Tiresias and the divine Circe and avoid the island, for they\nhave told us that the most terrible fate awaits us there.\u2019\n\n\u201cMy companions were displeased with my speech and began to murmur.\nEurylochus was their spokesman. \u2018Cruel, but too courageous Ulysses,\u2019\nsaid he, \u2018thou art never weary, but we are worn out with our labors and\nthou begrudgest us rest. Thou wouldst have us row blindly out into the\nnight. Let us land, take food, and rest beside the ship. Early in the\nmorning we can set out again.\u2019\n\n\u201cAll applauded Eurylochus\u2019 speech, and I perceived that the god was bent\non my destruction. I said to them: \u2018Ye can easily force me, a single man\namong many, to obedience. Only swear that ye will not touch one of those\nanimals, but will be satisfied with the food which the immortal Circe\nhas given us.\u2019 They promised hastily and the steersman put to land.\n\n\u201cWe disembarked and ate our supper. Then we bewailed the terrible death\nof our companions, and it was late before sweet slumber came to dry our\ntears. But alas, what an awakening we were to have. During the night a\nfrightful storm arose and thick black clouds veiled land and sea. When\nmorning dawned we drew our ship into a rocky cove and sheltered\nourselves as best we could.\n\n\u201c\u2018Friends,\u2019 I said, \u2018we shall not get away from this island to-day, but\nwe have a store of food and drink. Swear to me once more that none of\nyou will touch the sacred cattle.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey all promised, but for four long weeks the south wind and the rough\neast wind alternated with each other and our departure was delayed. When\nall the store of food had been eaten my companions scoured the beach to\nfind shellfish or would shoot a bird for food. But all these were not\nenough to appease their gnawing hunger. I, too, wandered about the\nisland far from the ship, washed my hands in the sacred sea, and prayed\nto the gods that one of them might show me the way to return. When I had\nprayed thus a deep sleep overcame me, and I sank down upon the shore.\n\n\u201cWhen my companions found themselves alone they determined to break\ntheir oath. \u2018If Jupiter has destined us to death, let us be suddenly\ndashed to pieces in the ship rather than die miserably of hunger here,\u2019\nsaid Eurylochus. \u2018Come let us take some of the oxen and sacrifice them,\nand vow a temple in Ithaca to the offended Sun-god as soon as we are\nsafe at home.\u2019\n\n\u201cJust as the fat shanks were steaming on the hastily prepared altar I\nawoke and came hastening to the scene. Ye gods! what were my feelings\nwhen I smelled the unexpected odors from afar. It was vain to blame\nmyself or my companions. The nymphs had carried the news to Helios, and\nthe god threatened that unless he should receive sufficient reparation\nhe would no longer light the world for gods and men. Upon this, Jupiter\npromised him to destroy my ship as soon as I should put to sea again.\nAlas, what woes were still in store for me!\n\n\u201cFor six days my comrades feasted, but on the seventh, when the fury of\nthe storm had spent itself, we hastily embarked and sailed rapidly\ntoward our native coast. We had not gone far when a terrific west wind\narose, piling up black thunder clouds. Our little vessel was tossed\nhither and thither until, with a loud crash, the mainmast broke off,\ncarrying the steersman with it into the sea. Then came a frightful bolt\nof lightning which split the ship in two and all the rowers were\nprecipitated into the water, where they tossed about and then sank. I\nhad clung tightly to the keel, and when the broken mast with its sail\nropes floated near enough, I bound it fast to the keel. I tried to keep\nmyself afloat on this miserable raft, but despaired of ever reaching\nland, especially as a south wind suddenly arose, which carried me\nstraight toward the straits of Scylla. The current bore me toward the\nwhirlpool of Charybdis, so that only a miracle could save me. On a cliff\ndirectly overhanging the gulf I saw a fig tree, and just as the\nwhirlpool was about to suck me down I seized hold of its slender stem,\nclinging to it like a bat, for I found no place for my feet. My raft had\nbeen swallowed up, but I knew that the monster would soon cast it out\nagain, and sure enough, presently my faithful raft came floating safely\nalong. I essayed a sudden leap, grasped the raft desperately, and was\ncarried out again by the current into the open sea. The storm had\nsubsided and I paddled about for nine days with my hands, almost\nperishing with hunger. On the tenth day I was fortunate enough to reach\nland. It was Ogygia, Calypso\u2019s island, where I was held in captivity for\nnine years, as I have told you.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter VIII\n  Ulysses is taken sleeping to Ithaca by the Ph\u00e6acians\u2014Athene counsels\n                         him\u2014He comes to Eum\u00e6us\n\n\nAll eyes were fastened upon the speaker and all listened with delight to\nthe wonderful adventures of Ulysses. \u201cWe should pay even greater honor\nto the hero who has suffered so much,\u201d cried Alcinous. \u201cLet each of the\ntwelve princes add a tripod of bronze and a silver basin to his gift.\u201d\nAll agreed and the company broke up for the night.\n\nAt daybreak they reassembled, each bringing his gift. Alcinous himself\nwent aboard the vessel and carefully fitted it out with all that was\nnecessary. Then all repaired once more to the king\u2019s palace for a\nfarewell banquet and sacrificial offering. Ulysses, longing for home,\nspake to the king. \u201cMost honored hero and mighty King Alcinous, and ye\nprinces of the Ph\u00e6acians, speed me now upon my way, for I have all that\nheart can wish. May the gods bless your gifts and my return and send you\ngood fortune.\u201d\n\nAfter the last rites of hospitality had been completed Ulysses turned to\nArete, and putting his cup into her hand he said: \u201cFarewell forever, O\nQueen, until old age and death, the lot of all mankind, shall overtake\nthee. Mayest thou be happy in thy palace for many years amongst thy\nchildren, thy husband, and thy people.\u201d\n\nAfter taking leave he hurried to the ship and laid himself down to rest,\nwhile the rowers took their places and bent to their task. Ulysses sank\ninto a slumber, forgetting all his woes. As the morning star arose the\nship landed in one of Ithaca\u2019s bays. Even the shock of landing did not\nawaken the hero, and the Ph\u00e6acian youths carried him gently on shore.\nThey took out all the presents and piled them beside him beneath an\nolive tree. They then re\u00ebmbarked and steered gayly homeward. But the\nunfortunates could not escape the wrath of Poseidon. He saw them\nreturning, and transformed their ship into a rock in the midst of the\nsea and surrounded the city of Ph\u00e6acia with high cliffs.\n\nIn the meantime Ulysses awoke and did not recognize his home, for Athene\nhad surrounded him with a thick fog. \u201cWoe is me,\u201d he cried. \u201cIn what\nstrange country have the deceitful Ph\u00e6acians left me? What shall I do? I\nwill first examine the gifts and see if all are here.\u201d He counted them\nand found none missing. As he was strolling along, Athene in the form of\na lovely little shepherd boy came toward him. Ulysses was overjoyed. \u201cA\ngreeting to thee, the first being I have met in this strange land,\u201d he\nsaid. \u201cI humbly beg of thee to tell me where I am. What country is this\nand by what people inhabited? Is it an island or a promontory of the\nmainland?\u201d\n\n\u201cThou must have come from afar,\u201d interrupted the youth, \u201cif thou knowest\nnot this land; for in truth it is famous enough. To be sure it is rough\nand mountainous and not fit for horses, but grain and wine flourish here\nand it supports quantities of cattle and sheep. It is well watered by\nbrooks and covered with magnificent forests. Indeed the fame of Ithaca\nhas even reached Troy, and that they say is far from the Achaian land.\u201d\n\nThe crafty one hid his feelings, for he did not wish to be known.\n\u201cIndeed,\u201d he said, \u201cI have often heard the name in Crete, my home. I am\na refugee. The Ph\u00e6acians kindly brought me hither with these, my goods;\nfor I have slain a king\u2019s son who wished to take from me my booty from\nthe Trojan wars. Therefore I had to leave wife and child and\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cSilence!\u201d interrupted Athene, smiling and changing into a beautiful\nmaiden of heroic stature. \u201cThou art still the same resourceful Ulysses\nas of yore, whom I have always protected. Spare me thy jests, for we\nknow each other. I am Pallas Athene, and am now come to give thee\ncounsel how thou mayest punish the insolent suitors in thy house. For\nthey have wooed thy virtuous spouse for three years with marriage gifts,\nbut she repulses them all and cherishes thy image alone in her heart and\nlongs unspeakably for thy return.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is difficult indeed to recognize thee in human form, oh goddess,\u201d\ncried Ulysses. \u201cTrue, thou hast often appeared to me in battle and in\ntimes of need, but it has seemed to me that lately thou hadst deserted\nme and that I should never see thee again. But tell me, how can this be\nIthaca? I do not recognize it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI had not forgotten thee,\u201d answered the goddess. \u201cBut I did not wish to\noppose the mighty Poseidon, my great uncle, who pursued thee with his\nrevenge. I knew too that total destruction was not to be thy destiny.\nNow I will show thee the land.\u201d And Athene dissipated the mists so that\nthe country lay clear before them.\n\nUlysses fell upon his face and joyfully kissed the sacred mother earth\nand with uplifted hands prayed to the nymphs, the protecting goddesses\nof the place whereon he stood.\n\n\u201cAnd now, Ulysses,\u201d said Athene, \u201clet us hide thy valuables so that no\none shall rob thee of them.\u201d She entered the nymphs\u2019 grotto and Ulysses\nhanded her each piece, which she carefully stowed away and then rolled a\nstone before the low entrance. Next they sat down under the old olive\ntree and Athene gave him much advice.\n\nAlthough she promised him assistance she counselled him to proceed very\ncautiously as the suitors numbered over one hundred. Above all, nobody\nmust know of his arrival until he had secretly learned who his friends\nwere and had assured himself of sufficient adherents. To this end she\nwished to transform him so that no one should recognize him or suspect\nthe presence of the great king. She touched him gently with her staff\nand immediately he became like an old man with shrunken flesh and deep\nwrinkles, white hair and pale, watery eyes. His long flowing robes were\nchanged into a coarse and ragged shirt, and his cloak became a shabby\ndeerskin. In order to complete the beggar\u2019s garb she supplied him with a\nlarge wallet and put a knotty stick into his hand.\n\nIn this apparel she bade him first visit the good swineherd, who was an\nenemy of the suitors and was truly devoted to his master. From him he\ncould soon learn further particulars. In the meanwhile she would hasten\nto meet young Telemachus, returning from Sparta, for whom the suitors\nwere lying in wait with their ships. She would bring their schemes to\nnaught and hoped soon to guide the youth into his father\u2019s arms. They\nparted, and Ulysses climbed the steep path which led to the dwelling of\nthe good swineherd, Eum\u00e6us. He was chief of all the king\u2019s herdsmen and\nhad four men under him, who took care of all the flocks.\n\nThe estimable swineherd was sitting at the door of his hut cutting out\nsandals to wear when he should go into the city. By his side lay four\nsavage-looking dogs. When the beasts saw Ulysses with his beggar\u2019s pack\nin the distance, they sprang up barking and ran furiously toward him. He\nquickly laid by his staff and bowed himself down, but still they would\nhave seized him had not the swineherd followed quickly to enforce his\ncommands with stones and calls.\n\n\u201cIn truth the beasts came near devouring thee and thou hadst caused me\nshame and sorrow, old man,\u201d he cried. \u201cI have already troubles enough,\nfor I sit here grieving bitterly for my dear master, whose fat swine I\nam obliged to send daily to the impious men in his palace, while he,\nperhaps, goes hungry or wanders like a beggar among strangers, if\nperchance he still sees the light of the sun. But come into my hut, that\nI may set bread and wine before thee and thou canst tell me who and\nwhence thou art.\u201d\n\nThus speaking he preceded Ulysses into the hut, where he prepared him a\ncouch of straw covered with goatskins. Ulysses was touched by his\nkindness and said: \u201cMay Jupiter send thee what thou most wishest for,\nfriend, in return for thy kindness to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cOne should not despise any guest, oh stranger, however humble,\u201d\nanswered the swineherd, \u201cfor all strangers are under the protection of\nJupiter. In my house the hospitality is very scanty, for, as thou\nknowest, a servant has not much to give. To be sure, were my old master\nliving and at home I should be better off. He would have taken good care\nof me and have made provision for my old age in return for my long and\nfaithful service. But my good master is gone. O that Helen\u2019s race might\nbe destroyed root and branch for bringing death to so many brave men!\u201d\n\nWith these words he tucked up his long garment, went to one of the\nsties, and took out two sucking pigs. After killing them he slowly\nroasted them on the spit at the fire, laid the pieces before Ulysses,\nmixed wine in a wooden tankard, and set it before him. \u201cThere,\nstranger,\u201d said he, \u201ceat and drink of the best we shepherds have. The\nsuitors who fear neither gods nor men eat the fattened pork. The gods\nhave always been displeased at deeds of violence. Even robbers often\nfear the gods, but these fear and reverence nothing, and the divinities\nhave delayed their punishment thus far. The cursed ones must have secret\ninformation that Ulysses has perished miserably, else would they not\nwaste his substance so recklessly. No king hereabouts was so richly\nblessed with property as Ulysses. He owned twelve herds of cattle and as\nmany of sheep and goats. Each of the shepherds must now send a daily\ncontribution from the fattened flocks to the palace, and soon all will\nbe dissipated.\u201d\n\nThe listener was indignant at what he had heard, but concealed his\nfeelings, and when he had finished eating he said: \u201cWhat would you\nthink, friend, if I should bring thee good news? Tell me the name of thy\nrich and powerful master. I have travelled so far that perchance I can\ntell thee somewhat of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpare thyself the trouble,\u201d answered the swineherd. \u201cHe will not\nreturn. Who knows on what rocky coast his bones are bleaching? Woe, woe\nis me! Neither father nor mother was as dear to me as my kind master.\u201d\n\n\u201cListen, my dear fellow,\u201d answered Ulysses. \u201cI will swear to thee a\nsacred oath that Ulysses shall return. When he has come thou shalt give\nme a fine tunic and a cloak in return for my good news. I do not ask for\nthem now, needy as I am, for I despise the wretch who lies for gain,\neven though want incites him. But hear me. All that I now foretell shall\ncome to pass. When the present moon has waned and the new one begins to\nincrease, Ulysses will be at home and shall have punished all who have\nnot respected his wife and son.\u201d\n\n\u201cSilence, old man,\u201d interrupted the swineherd. \u201cDrink and talk of\nsomething else, and may the gods forgive thee the oath. Sadness fills my\nheart. I am troubled about the son also, the splendid Telemachus, whom\nan evil spirit has persuaded to wander abroad to seek news of his\nfather. I hear that the shameless suitors are lying in wait for him to\nkill him on his return, that the race of Arkisios may perish. But now,\nold man, tell me of thy own troubles.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt would take me a year to unfold my tale of woe,\u201d answered the artful\nUlysses, and began to tell many stories of his adventures and feats of\nbravery. When he had finished, \u201cUnhappy man,\u201d said the swineherd, \u201cthou\nhast touched my heart. But why dost thou tell me lies about Ulysses who\nnever will return? Thou wilt not thus acquire my favor; for if I show\nthee honor and kindness I do it only in honor of Jupiter and for\nsympathy for thy troubles.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou hast an incredulous heart in thy breast,\u201d cried Ulysses angrily;\n\u201cfor thou dost not even believe my oath. But listen to me; we will make\na bargain. I will stay here until Ulysses comes, and when he is here\nthou shalt send me home to Dulichium, well fitted out with cloak and\ntunic. If he cometh not, then shalt thou and thy grooms bind me and\nthrow me down from this rock.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe gods forbid that I should ever do such a thing,\u201d answered the\nswineherd. \u201cNever could I pray to Jupiter again should I thus abuse the\nlaws of hospitality.\u201d\n\nDuring this conversation evening had descended, and the under herders\ncame in with their beasts. There was a tremendous grunting, and it was a\nlong time before all the bristly creatures were safe in their sties.\nWhen they were taken care of, the swineherd ordered the men to bring in\na fatted five-year-old to regale the guest.\n\nWhile the men were outside he chopped wood and laid it on the fire and\nmade all ready. When the meal was prepared, the good swineherd made a\nfair division. He divided each part seven times. The first part was\ntaken out for the nymphs and Hermes; the others were for his guest, his\nfour servants, and himself. The old man received a large piece of the\nfat back, the piece of honor which is generally given to the guest.\nUlysses was delighted and said: \u201cGood Eum\u00e6us, mayest thou be as beloved\nof Jupiter as thou art of me, whom thou hast so honorably entertained.\u201d\n\n\u201cEat, my unhappy friend,\u201d answered the kindly man, \u201cand make the most of\nwhat thou hast, for the gods give and take as it pleases them.\u201d\n\nAfter supper was over and night had fallen, an awful west wind whistled\nthrough the hut. The rain fell in torrents. Ulysses shivered miserably\nin his rags and it did not seem to occur to the swineherd to offer him a\nwarm cloak. The hero contrived a jest to see if he could not get it by\ncraft. \u201cListen, Eum\u00e6us and ye shepherds,\u201d said he. \u201cThe wine has made me\nmerry and I must tell ye an amusing tale. Perhaps it is not fitting that\nI should tell it, but as I have begun I will finish it. I have just been\nwishing that I were as young and strong as when I lay with your master\nbefore Troy. And then I recollected a trick by which Ulysses once helped\nme in great straits.\n\n\u201cOne night we had planned an ambush close to the city wall\u2014Menelaus,\nUlysses, and I\u2014but we had taken but a few men with us. Night was\napproaching and we lay down in a thicket amongst reeds and swamp grass.\nAll at once the sky became overcast and a cruel north wind began to\nblow. Snow fell, and our shields were soon encrusted with ice. I was\nworse off than the others, for they had their cloaks in which to wrap\nthemselves and were covered with their shields. Thus they slept without\nfeeling the storm. I alone had not brought my cloak, and was obliged to\nlie in the rain in my thin tunic. My teeth chattered and I shook as\nthough in a fever.\n\n\u201cAt length, past midnight, when I could no longer endure it, I nudged\nUlysses who lay beside me, and said: \u2018Noble Ulysses, I am nearly dying\nof cold, for I left my cloak behind. Do thou devise something for me.\u2019\n\u2018Keep quiet,\u2019 he said softly. Then raising his voice he awakened the\nothers. \u2018Listen, friends,\u2019 he said, \u2018I have just had a memorable dream.\nThere are so few of us and we are so far from the ships, someone should\nrun to Agamemnon and tell him to send us aid.\u2019 Thoas, Andr\u00e6mon\u2019s son,\nobligingly set out, leaving his purple cloak upon the ground. Ulysses\ntossed it to me and I laughingly wrapped myself therein and slept till\nmorning. You see, friends, I was thinking that were I now as young and\nstrong as then that perhaps someone would give me a robe for the night,\neither out of good-will or for fear of my strength. But of course the\nhumble man in beggar\u2019s garb is despised.\u201d\n\nThe men laughed and the swineherd praised the stranger\u2019s cunning. \u201cThou\nhast spoken well,\u201d he said, \u201cand hast drawn a very good comparison.\nTherefore I will give thee what thou desirest. Take this cloak, but in\nthe morning thou must give it back, for we shepherds have few clothes.\nIf Telemachus should return he will doubtless give thee garments and\nsend thee back to thy home.\u201d\n\nWhile speaking he prepared a couch of sheep and goat skins by the hearth\nfor the guest and placed a cloak over it to cover him. The servants lay\ndown beside Ulysses, but the swineherd did not sleep within, but\ncarefully guarding his herds he bivouacked nightly in a cleft by the\nrock which sheltered him from the north wind. Ulysses was much pleased\nwith the good man\u2019s faithful service.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter IX\n              Telemachus leaves Sparta and lands in Ithaca\n\n\nIn the meanwhile Athene had not ceased planning for her favorites. That\nsame night she went to Menelaus\u2019 palace in Sparta to admonish Telemachus\nto return home and to warn him of the dangers lying in wait for him.\n\u201cWhen thou art near the shores of Ithaca,\u201d she said, \u201clet thy companions\nrow immediately to the city, but do thou go alone to the hut of old\nEum\u00e6us, who is honestly devoted to thee, to spend the night. Let him\nhasten to the city to tell Penelope of thy safe arrival.\u201d With these\nwords the goddess disappeared. When morning dawned Telemachus arose and\nmet Menelaus, who was also abroad, and immediately begged to be allowed\nto depart.\n\n\u201cFar be it from me, dear youth, to keep thee here against thy will,\u201d\nanswered Menelaus. \u201cBut wait at least until I can give thee parting\ngifts and have the women prepare a good meal, that thou mayest set out\nstrengthened and refreshed.\u201d\n\nMenelaus bade the maids prepare a repast in haste and himself went into\nthe treasury to select a gift for the departing guests. Helen also\nopened her chest, which held beautifully embroidered garments worked by\nher own hands. She took out the largest and finest one for Telemachus.\nMenelaus followed her with a golden goblet and a silver pitcher. He\npresented them, saying: \u201cMay Jupiter grant thee a prosperous voyage.\nBehold I am giving thee the most valuable thing that I possess. It was a\npresent from the Sidonian king when I passed through Ph\u0153nicia. Truly it\nis as cunning a piece of work as though made by Heph\u00e6stos himself.\u201d\n\n\u201cI, too, desire to make thee a present,\u201d said Helen, holding out the\nmagnificent robe. \u201cLet it adorn the bride on thy wedding day. Until then\nlet thy worthy mother keep it in her chest. Fare thee well, and return\nin peace to thy stately palace and land of thy fathers.\u201d\n\nTelemachus received the splendid gifts with gratitude and gave them to\nPisistratus, who in silent admiration stowed them away in the chariot.\nThen they all went into the hall and sat down to the banquet. As soon as\nit was over, the two youths hastened to depart, and Menelaus accompanied\nthem to their chariot with a goblet of wine, drinking to their health\nand giving them a final hand clasp with the words: \u201cFarewell, youths.\nBear my greeting to father Nestor who truly loved me like a father when\nwe were fighting before Troy.\u201d\n\nAfter taking leave of their fathers\u2019 friends the two youths travelled\nrapidly until they reached Pylos. Then Telemachus said to Pisistratus:\n\u201cI wish thou wouldst grant a request, good host. Drive me directly to my\nship on the beach, so that the venerable Nestor may not detain me with\nhis kindly hospitality; for I am in great haste.\u201d Pisistratus agreed to\nthis, and Telemachus\u2019 companions were overjoyed to see him again and at\nonce prepared for departure. When all was ready, Telemachus placed\nhimself at the rudder and with a silent prayer poured a libation to\nAthene into the sea, and they rowed away into the silent night.\n\nIn the meanwhile the beggar Ulysses sat in the hut of good Eum\u00e6us\npartaking of his humble fare. \u201cListen, Eum\u00e6us,\u201d he began. \u201cI have been a\nburden to thee long enough, and intend to go into town early to-morrow\nmorning. All I ask is that thou wilt give me a guide to show me the way\nto Ulysses\u2019 palace. I desire to bring tidings to Penelope and to mix\nwith the suitors and see whether they are inclined to treat me kindly.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat art thou thinking of, old man?\u201d cried Eum\u00e6us angrily. \u201cThou\nwouldst fare ill shouldst thou fall among that company, whose\nhigh-handed manners are beyond belief. Thou art not in my way. Wait at\nleast until Ulysses\u2019 son comes back, and he will doubtless give thee a\ngood cloak and coat and provide a vessel to take thee where thou wishest\nto go.\u201d\n\n\u201cExcellent swineherd,\u201d answered the crafty Ulysses, \u201cmay Jupiter love\nthee as I do for giving me rest and shelter in thy hut after all my\nsorrows. If I am to stay, then tell me somewhat of the mother of the\nfamous Ulysses; also of his aged father.\u201d\n\nUpon this the old man began to talk of Laertes and the good mother, who\nhad long ago succumbed to sorrow and been laid in the grave. The\nservants had long since betaken themselves to rest, and when midnight\ncame the host said: \u201cNow we too will sleep a little. But it is sweet to\npour out one\u2019s troubles, and thou art a sensible man to whom it is a\npleasure to talk. There is always time enough for sleep.\u201d\n\nDuring this same night the ship which carried Telemachus had approached\nthe island in safety, having escaped the vigilance of the spies, and\nlanded on the northern coast. With the first rays of the rising sun\nTelemachus disembarked with his companions and offered sacrifice. The\ngood youth little suspected how near his father was. He bound on the\nshining sandals and took the heavy lance, prepared to separate from his\ncompanions whom he ordered to row to the city. He appointed a meeting\nthe next day in his father\u2019s palace to offer them the journey\u2019s meed\u2014a\nstately banquet of meat and wine.\n\nTelemachus had but one more care. In Pylos a soothsayer from Argos,\nTheoclymenus, had joined his company and requested passage in the ship.\nThey had gladly brought him to Ithaca, but he wanted to go farther, and\nTelemachus was so afraid of the suitors that he scarcely dared bring a\nguest with him to his house. They therefore consulted together as to\nwhere the stranger should be entertained. Telemachus proposed\nEurymachus, the most insolent of the suitors, as host, as he was the\nmost important man on the island and could best entertain and send him\non his way. \u201cHe is now, as my father is away,\u201d he continued, \u201calmost the\nsupreme ruler here and is determined to marry my mother, so that he may\nacquire, together with the property of my family, also the title of king\nand the principal seat in the folks\u2019 assembly, which of right belongs to\nour house. Now Jupiter only knows whether or not he will gain his ends.\u201d\n\nAs he said this, behold, to their right a vulture, holding a dove in its\ntalons, flew past. It was tearing the dove in its flight, so that its\nfeathers fell to the earth between Telemachus and his ship. Then\nTheoclymenus took the youth quickly aside and said softly: \u201cFriend, what\nthou hast just spoken shall never be fulfilled. This token of the gods\ntells me that rule over the princes of Ithaca shall always remain with\nthy house.\u201d\n\nThe heart of Telemachus was filled with joy at this prophecy. He bade\nthe stranger farewell, and one of his men conducted him to the dwelling\nof Eurymachus, while Telemachus went to the hut of the swineherd, as\nAthene had commanded him.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter X\n        Arrival of Telemachus\u2014Ulysses reveals himself to his Son\n\n\nWhen Telemachus reached the enclosure of the chief herder, the sun was\nalready high in the heavens. The shepherds had scattered with their\nflocks and herds in fields and forest, and the excellent Eum\u00e6us was\nlying with Ulysses before the blazing fire where they had just roasted a\npiece of meat for their breakfast. \u201cListen, I hear footsteps,\u201d said\nUlysses, \u201cand the dogs do not bark. It must be one of thy comrades or\nacquaintances.\u201d\n\nScarcely were the words spoken when Telemachus appeared in the gateway,\nthe dogs leaping about him in joyful welcome. The swineherd was so\nastonished that he let fall his cup and hurried out to meet the new\narrival. He threw his arms about him, wept over him, and gazed upon him\nin delight as though he had arisen from the dead. It was a long time\nbefore he could speak, and then he broke out tenderly: \u201cHast thou really\ncome, Telemachus? Art thou here, my sweet life? I feared never to see\nthee again, when I heard that thou hadst sailed for Pylos. But enter,\ndear son, that I may delight in thee; for not often dost thou visit the\nshepherd, preferring to mingle with the swarm of suitors in the city.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow canst thou talk thus, old man?\u201d interrupted the youth. \u201cBut never\nmind. I have come to thee to find out whether my mother has listened to\none of the suitors and left my poor house.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed,\u201d answered Eum\u00e6us. \u201cShe still sits and weeps away her days\nand nights in thy palace. Thou wilt find her as thou didst leave her.\u201d\nThe two now entered the hut, and the unknown beggar whose heart was\nbeating with joy at the sight of his handsome son controlled himself\nwith difficulty. With the deference of the poor he arose from his couch\nto give place to the stranger, but Telemachus prevented him, saying:\n\u201cSit still, stranger. I will find a seat somewhere.\u201d Eum\u00e6us brought out\nthe remains of the meal and they all sat down to eat and drink. At\nlength Telemachus said: \u201cNow, father Eum\u00e6us, do thou go to the city for\nme and bring the news secretly to Penelope that I am safely returned\nfrom Pylos. But take care that no suitor hears it, for many enemies are\nplotting against me.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe it so,\u201d said the herdsman, putting on his sandals and taking up his\nstaff. Ulysses was still looking after him, when he saw through the\nhalf-opened gate the figure of a tall, slender maiden, beckoning to him.\nThe dogs slunk into the corners, but Telemachus did not perceive the\napparition. Ulysses divined that it was the goddess and went out to the\ngateway.\n\n\u201cNoble son of Laertes,\u201d Athene addressed him, \u201cthe time has now come for\nthee to reveal thyself to thy son. Take counsel with him how ye may make\nan end of the suitors. I shall soon be with you.\u201d\n\nWhile speaking she touched him with her golden staff and instantly his\nbeggar\u2019s dress was transformed into a fine purple cloak and his wrinkled\nface into a fresh manly countenance and the bald head was covered with\nshining brown locks. He re\u00ebntered the hut, from which he had just issued\nin rags, looking like a king. Telemachus gazed at him in astonishment\nand said, uncertainly: \u201cStranger, how changed thou art. Ah, I feel that\na god approaches. Be merciful to us, thou holy one. Gladly will we\nsacrifice to thee and bring thee gifts.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d cried Ulysses, \u201cI am not a god. I am the father for whom thou hast\nmourned so long. I am Ulysses.\u201d Joyfully he clasped his son in his arms\nand kissed him.\n\n\u201cDoubt no longer, dear son,\u201d continued Ulysses. \u201cIt was not I who worked\nthe miracle, but Athene, who is with me. The gods can do all things;\nthey can glorify or disfigure a mortal according to their pleasure. Yes,\nit is I, Ulysses, who have been wandering afar for twenty years, and\nthou art my beloved son. I have found my greatest happiness in holding\nthee here in my arms.\u201d\n\nHe could say no more for sobbing. Father and son wept for some time,\nclosely clasping each other. Ever and anon they would gaze silently at\neach other, then break out in tears of joy and gratitude.\n\nAt length began tender questionings, but the answers had to be left for\nleisure days. Now they must discuss the great question. A long time was\nspent in consultation and Ulysses instructed his son how to proceed and\nhow to receive him when he should arrive at the palace. In the meanwhile\nthe vessel which had brought Telemachus had sailed round the island and\nentered the harbor near the city. The men beached the ship. One faithful\nyouth took Telemachus\u2019 gifts away with him, another ran to Ulysses\u2019\npalace to bring the queen news of her son\u2019s return. But he was so\nimprudent as to cry out the news to her before all the suitors, who\ngnashed their teeth with rage over the failure of their schemes and\nstole away to concoct secretly new ones.\n\nSoon afterward honest Eum\u00e6us also arrived with his secret message, but\nfound he was too late, and at once set out again for his home, where he\narrived in the evening. Athene had again clothed the king in his\nbeggar\u2019s rags, so that Eum\u00e6us had no idea of what had taken place during\nhis absence. He quickly selected a year-old pig for the evening meal,\nwaited upon his guests carefully, and they all retired early to rest and\nreceived the good gift of sleep.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter XI\n  Ulysses and the Goatherd\u2014the Dog Argos\u2014Ulysses in the Hall among the\n                                Suitors\n\n\nAt daybreak Telemachus arose, put on his sandals, and took up his lance.\n\u201cNow fare thee well, father,\u201d he said to Eum\u00e6us. \u201cI am going to the\ncity, for my mother will not cease worrying until she sees me. I charge\nthee bring thy guest to my house, where he may try his luck, and help\nshall not fail him.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d said Ulysses. \u201cIn the city, where there are many rich\npeople, a beggar can make his way better than in the country. The\nmorning air is cold and my rags are thin, so let me warm myself a while\nat the fire and then I shall be ready.\u201d\n\nTelemachus walked quickly away. He reached town before the suitors had\narrived at his house, placed his lance, according to custom, outside the\ndoor against a pillar, and entered the hall. There the old servant\nEuryclea was dusting and arranging the cushions. When she saw the youth\nshe hastened to him weeping; the other maids also welcomed him and\nkissed his face and shoulders. Penelope also came and embraced her\nbeloved son with tears. She held him for a long time in her arms and\nbegged him to tell her what he had heard on his journey.\n\n\u201cMother,\u201d said he, \u201cdo not make me speak of new troubles, for I have\nscarce escaped death. But now bathe thyself and put on clean garments,\nthen ascend to the housetop and vow a thank-offering to the gods if they\nwill avenge the shame of our house. I am going to the market place to\nfetch the stranger who accompanied me on my return.\u201d\n\nHe went, and his mother obeyed his behests. When Telemachus crossed the\nmarket place he found all the suitors assembled there. They greeted him\npleasantly, but their hearts were full of mischief. He did not join\nthem, but seated himself with the few older men who had remained true to\nhis father, and answered their curious questions. As soon as he caught\nsight of the seer Theoclymenus, he arose and went to him and took him to\nhis house, before the rough crowd had arrived. While Telemachus was\nentertaining his guest, Penelope came in with her women and sat down to\nspin and listen to the tale of her son\u2019s adventures. He did not dare to\nbetray the secret of his father\u2019s arrival, so that Penelope\u2019s longing\nremained unsatisfied until the cheering assurance came from the strange\nseer that unfailing signs portended the early return of her beloved\nhusband.\n\nIn the midst of her joy over this the queen was disturbed by the hubbub\nof the brawling suitors, who had been amusing themselves by throwing\nquoits outside the palace and now burst into the hall to feast and drink\nas usual. She went straight to her chamber, and the stranger, too, left\nthe hall. The servants began slaughtering the beeves, goats, swine, and\nsheep in the courtyard and preparing delicious dishes for the suitors.\n\nUlysses had remained until noon in the herdsman\u2019s hut. The road to the\ncity was long, and the circuitous mountain path led past a well where\nthe maidens were accustomed to draw water. An altar had been erected on\nthe height where passing travellers made offerings to the nymphs of the\nspring. At this well the goatherd Melantheus met with the two wayfarers.\nHe was an impudent fellow, unfaithful to his master, and ready for any\nmischief that the suitors should devise. He was an arch enemy of the\nswineherd, as of all honest people. Hardly had he caught sight of him\naccompanied by a ragged beggar than he called out with coarse raillery:\n\u201cIt is a true saying that one beggar leads the other. How the gods do\npair like with like. Where art thou going with the hungry one, thou\nignoble swineherd? Shall he stand at the door of the palace in his\nhideous garb to disgust the gay guests, to rub his shoulders at the\ndoorposts, and beg for crumbs? If thou wouldst give him to me, to sweep\nout the stalls and make beds for the young kids, he might get some flesh\non his bones. But of course, beggars\u2019 bread is easily gained. I tell\nthee, if thou bringest the nasty fellow to the palace, bones and joints\nin scores will fly at his head.\u201d\n\nWith these insulting words he gave poor Ulysses a sharp kick. Ulysses\nreflected for a moment whether he should dash the wretch to the\nground\u2014an easy task for him\u2014or pretend to be weak and fearful. He chose\nthe latter course and took the insult humbly. But Eum\u00e6us defied the\ngoatherd to his face and prayed to the holy nymphs of the well that they\nshould cause Ulysses to return and punish the wretch. To avoid the\nfellow the two companions let him go ahead with his goats. \u201cThou dog,\u201d\nhe called back, \u201csome day I shall pack thee aboard ship and sell thee as\na slave.\u201d\n\nWhen Ulysses and the swineherd approached the royal palace, the beggar\nexclaimed with profound emotion: \u201cAh! one can see that this must be the\nstately dwelling of Ulysses. Inside, sounds of festivity, and outside\nthe defiant battlements the impregnable wall. A rich and mighty king\nmust live here.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo thou enter first,\u201d he said to Eum\u00e6us. \u201cI will soon follow.\u201d Thus\nthey passed into the courtyard. Behold, in the corner on the dunghill\nlay a dog called Argos. He was thin and wasted and swarming with vermin.\nA year before his departure for Troy, Ulysses had trained this dog for\nthe chase. He had often played with him as a puppy, but when he had\ngone, Argos had been neglected. Now he was too weak to crawl, but when\nhe saw Ulysses near to him he raised himself painfully and wagged his\ntail. When he tried to run to his master his legs gave way and down he\nsank. Ulysses recognized the faithful animal and turned aside to brush\naway a tear. Then he said to Eum\u00e6us: \u201cTell me, Eum\u00e6us. The animal there\non the dunghill is well built. Was he not fleet of foot?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered the swineherd; \u201che, too, misses his good master. Thou\nshouldst have seen him twenty years ago. He was his master\u2019s favorite,\nfor he had trained him, and no prey was so swift that Argos could not\novertake it. But no one tends him now, and he has to pick up a miserable\nliving in the courtyard. Servants are careless when the master is\nabroad.\u201d\n\nThe swineherd entered the house and was spied by Telemachus, who called\nhim to his side where he was served with bread and meat. But Ulysses\nremained a while without to watch the faithful dog draw his last breath.\nThen he, too, entered the house and seated himself near the door in the\nhall.\n\nAt first the feasters did not notice him, but Telemachus sent him food.\nHe laid it down upon the dirty wallet and ate, while the minstrel sang\nsweet songs to the music of his harp. When the singer had finished,\nUlysses went among the suitors to collect alms, that he might discover\nwhich ones were kindly disposed and which were hard and cruel. Many gave\nto him pityingly and asked one another in surprise who the old man was\nand whence he came. \u201cThe swineherd brought him here,\u201d cried Melantheus.\n\u201cWho he is I know not.\u201d\n\n\u201cSwineherd,\u201d grumbled Antinous, \u201cwhy didst thou bring this fellow to the\ncity? I thought there were plenty of us already to eat up the absent\nmaster\u2019s substance, and we could do without beggars.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot seemly is thy speech, Antinous, although thou art noble,\u201d answered\nthe swineherd. \u201cThou wert always hard on Ulysses\u2019 servants, and\nespecially on me. However, I take no notice so long as Penelope and\nTelemachus live in this palace.\u201d\n\n\u201cHush, Eum\u00e6us,\u201d interrupted Telemachus. \u201cThou knowest Antinous. If that\nis thy only scruple, Antinous, that the alms which thou givest the poor\ncome from my store, do not refrain from giving. Neither my mother nor I\nbegrudge them. But that is not thy real meaning. Thou wouldst rather use\nit all thyself.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou insolent young cub,\u201d interrupted Antinous. \u201cIf each of the suitors\nwould send him what I do, he would not enter the house again in three\nmonths.\u201d He accompanied these words with a motion toward a footstool\nunder the table, and was just going to throw it at the beggar\u2019s head\nwhen a neighbor seized his arm.\n\nUlysses desired to tempt the ungovernable man further. He went up to him\nand begged an alms, and even tried to touch his heart by relating his\nwanderings and hardships. But Antinous harshly bade him begone, and\nUlysses retired with the words: \u201cTruly, Antinous, thy body and thy mind\nare not in harmony.\u201d\n\n\u201cWas there ever such an insolent beggar!\u201d cried Antinous angrily. \u201cNow\ntruly, thou shalt not leave the hall unpunished,\u201d and with all his might\nhe threw the footstool, which struck Ulysses\u2019 shoulder. He stood firm as\na rock, only shaking his head in silence, then returned to the gate and\nsat down, opening his wallet.\n\nTelemachus could hardly contain himself, and even Penelope, who could\nhear all from her balcony, pitied the stranger whom she could not see.\nShe desired Eum\u00e6us to conduct the strange man to her, that she might\ntalk with him and supply him with fine raiment.\n\nBut he replied: \u201cI should like nothing better than to see the queen, for\nI have much to tell her, but I fear the cruel suitors. Bid the noble\nPenelope wait for me in her apartments until the sun is set. Then she\nmay question me about her husband\u2019s return.\u201d And he remained quietly\nsitting on the doorstep, while his guests, having no idea that he was\nreally their host, amused themselves, after the banquet was over, with\nsinging and dancing. How he longed to have them go, that he might at\nlast see his dear wife once more. But before he did so he was to have\nanother strange adventure.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XII\n                      Ulysses and Irus, the Beggar\n\n\nA beggar called Irus entered the hall. He was tall and thin, in spite of\nbeing well fed, and was a favorite with the suitors; for he was useful\nto them in many ways. He was greatly astonished to find his place\nalready occupied and looked at the old man angrily and disdainfully, and\nrelying on his own size and the support of the suitors, he began,\nmasterfully: \u201cGet out of here or I will throw thee out! Up at once! In a\nhurry now! Listen, thou villain! If thou dost not move quickly there\nwill be trouble between us!\u201d\n\nUlysses greeted him with dark looks and began: \u201cMiserable creature, what\nhave I done to thee? I do not begrudge thee thy part, and there is room\nfor both of us here. Do not talk of fighting between us, for old as I am\nI should probably spill thy blood and rid me of thee for a long time to\ncome.\u201d\n\n\u201cHa,\u201d cried Irus, angrily. \u201cHe talks like a washerwoman. I have a great\nmind to crack thy jaw. Come here and gird thyself, that all may see how\nI shall use thee!\u201d\n\nThus far the suitors had paid no heed to the beggar\u2019s quarrel, but now\nAntinous pricked up his ears and cried laughingly: \u201cHere is an amusing\ncomedy. The stranger there and Irus have challenged each other.\u201d All\nsprang from their seats laughing and formed a circle about the two.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d said Antinous. \u201cHere is a delicious morsel of tripe for the\nvictor, and in future he shall drink and eat with us and be the only\nbeggar allowed to enter here henceforth.\u201d This proposal met with\nuniversal approval.\n\nSlowly Ulysses arose, pretending to be stiff in every joint. Said he:\n\u201cIt is hard that an old man weakened by want should be obliged to\ncontend with a younger. But hunger forces me to try my luck. Only swear\nto me that no one shall assist Irus or mix in the fight.\u201d\n\nUlysses made ready by tucking up his rags, revealing naked shoulders,\narms, and legs\u2014and how powerful they were! The suitors were astonished.\nIrus also had misgivings and would have been glad to recall his rash\nwords. As he hesitated the servants led him forward, trembling. Antinous\nforced him to the fore and the fight began. Ulysses reflected whether he\nshould break the wretch\u2019s skull with his fist or only lay him low with a\nmoderate blow. He wisely decided on the latter, so that the suitors\nshould not become suspicious.\n\nIrus let fly and struck his adversary\u2019s shoulder. But immediately he\nreceived a fearful stroke on his jaw from below, so that blood streamed\nfrom his mouth. With a shriek he sank down, pressed both hands over his\nface, and drummed with his feet for pain. The suitors set up a shout of\nlaughter, but Ulysses drew the conquered man out into the courtyard by\nhis heels and laid him in a corner. He replaced his old rags, took up\nhis wallet, and returned to his place on the threshold. They all came up\nlaughing, to shake hands with him, and Antinous laid the roasted tripe\non his wallet, while Amphinomus brought him bread and wine and drank to\nhim with a hearty handshake and a toast for better times.\n\nBefore all this had come to pass Athene had inspired Penelope with the\nidea of appearing among the suitors and putting a stop to their\nplundering by means of cunning words. The goddess wished to give the\nunrecognized beggar the happiness of seeing his excellent wife in all\nher majesty and the pure light of her innocence and faithfulness.\nInvested with divine beauty by the goddess, Penelope descended clad in a\ncharming robe, her face covered with a long veil and accompanied by two\nserving maids. As she entered the hall, all gazed at her admiringly,\neach wishing that she might choose him for her husband.\n\n\u201cBy all the gods, noble Penelope,\u201d cried Eurymachus, \u201cif all the sons of\nGreece could see thee, thy palace would be even more full of suitors\nthan it is now\u2014thou art so far superior to all other women in beauty and\nin nobility of soul.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, Eurymachus,\u201d she answered, \u201cthe gods destroyed my beauty when my\ndear husband sailed against Troy. If only he were restored to me, I\nshould lead a glorious life; but now I mourn in sorrow, anxiety, and\nsolitude. When he gave me his hand for the last time he said: \u2018Dear\nwife, I am going to a long war in a distant country. The gods alone know\nwhether I shall return. Take care of the house and our property,\nconsider my father and mother, and bring up our son carefully. When he\nhas grown to manhood, if I have not returned, make room for him in the\nhouse and do thou wed with another.\u2019 Alas, I did not think that it would\never be; but to my sorrow fate has decreed that the fatal day of my\nespousals draws near. And what manner of wooing is this? It is customary\nfor the suitors of a rich man\u2019s daughter themselves to bring the beeves\nand fatted calves for the feast and to invite the bride\u2019s friends and to\nbring her rich gifts. But who has ever heard of their squandering the\nsubstance of the bride whom they are wooing?\u201d\n\nThe suitors were ashamed and promised to bring the beautiful Penelope\nhandsome presents next day, and she did indeed receive richer gifts than\never a bride before. When she had retired, the suitors continued their\nsport.\n\nAs night fell the maids appeared to light the lamps. That meant, in\nancient times, to burn shavings in a brazier on high pedestals and then\nto renew the shavings when they had burned low. Ulysses said to them:\n\u201cGo ye rather to the apartments of the amiable queen. Turn the spindle\nand comb the wool and bring her cheer. Leave the blazing torches to me.\u201d\nThey only laughed at him, but when he threatened to tell Telemachus,\nthey ran hastily away and left him. He tended the lights, meanwhile\nobserving carefully all that the suitors did and said.\n\nAlthough he had seemed to gain their favor by his successful fight,\nstill they could not long desist from teasing and mockery. \u201cLook,\nfriends,\u201d laughingly cried Eurymachus, \u201cthis beggar must be some good.\nSee the glow which surrounds his bald head. Such a halo belongs only to\nthe immortals.\u201d\n\nThe laughter of the crowd encouraged Eurymachus to continue his\nraillery. \u201cListen, old man. If thou wert not accustomed to a lazy,\nwandering life, I might have work for thee. How sayest thou? Wilt be my\nservant? Plough, plant trees, and carry leaves for bedding? I would pay\nthee well, give thee good raiment and sandals for thy feet. But\ndoubtless thou wouldst rather idle about and fill thy hungry stomach at\nthy leisure.\u201d\n\n\u201cO Eurymachus,\u201d Ulysses proudly answered, \u201cwere we both ploughing or\nmowing in the field, working against each other, it were a question\nwhich would earn the prize. And truly were we to go into battle and were\nI armed with helmet and harness, with sword and shield in my hands, thou\nshouldst see me at the front. Because thou art the strongest among many\nweaklings, thou thinkest thyself great and powerful. But I believe if\nUlysses should appear, both leaves of the door would be too narrow for\nthee.\u201d\n\n\u201cHear how saucy the fellow is getting,\u201d cried Eurymachus. \u201cI will teach\nthee then to defy me!\u201d And he seized his footstool and cast it at\nUlysses, who, however, quickly bent down and threw himself at\nAmphinomus\u2019 feet. The stool flew over him and hit the arm of the\nservant, whose wine-jar fell from his hand, while he tumbled over\nbackwards.\n\nAngrily and noisily the suitors crowded forward, threatening the\nstranger. But Telemachus rose up and admonished them to be still and\nquietly leave the palace, as it was time for sleep. Biting their lips in\nanger, the suitors were astonished at the courage of the usually mild\nTelemachus. The gentle Amphinomus supported him and spoke\nconciliatingly, and so they all went to their homes, after making the\nfinal sacrifice to the gods.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XIII\n                          Ulysses and Penelope\n\n\nUlysses remained behind, and as soon as the suitors had gone, he made a\nsign to Telemachus to assist him in carrying all the weapons to the\nupper rooms. And behold, as they carried the swords and shields up the\nstairs, the dark passageway was filled with a mysterious light. \u201cIt is\nfrom the gods. Athene is with us,\u201d said the wise man. \u201cThus are the\nimmortals wont to manifest themselves.\u201d\n\nWhen all the weapons had been disposed of, the father bade his son go to\nbed, while he betook himself to the hall to await Penelope. She came\nfrom her chamber like the goddess Aphrodite. Her maidens placed a seat\nfor her by the hearth and mended the fire. When the bright flames shot\nup and they saw the old beggar still there, they began to scold, and one\neven to threaten him with a firebrand if he did not leave at once. But\nthe queen reproved the maid as she deserved. At the same time she\nordered a seat for the guest placed opposite her own by the fireside,\nand when he was seated, began to question him.\n\nHe was unwilling to deceive his dear wife, but she was so determined to\nlearn his name and origin that he was obliged to spin the same web of\nlies with which he had deceived the swineherd. He also told how he had\nseen Ulysses, twenty years before, in Crete, when he had called for him\nand Idomeneus on the journey to Troy. At this point the crafty Penelope,\nwishing to test his veracity, asked: \u201cWorthy guest, if thou hast\nentertained my husband in thy father\u2019s house, tell me how he was\napparelled and who was with him then.\u201d\n\n\u201cI remember perfectly,\u201d answered the beggar. \u201cHe wore a magnificent\ncloak of dark, shaggy wool, fastened with a golden bar across the\nbreast. It bore a splendid embroidery of gold\u2014a young roebuck seized by\na dog\u2014and most lifelike were the rigid dog and the struggling buck\ntrying to free itself with its feet. A fine tunic of shining white wool\npeeped from under the purple mantle. He was a stately hero, and the\nwomen looked upon him with pleasure. I cannot remember all his\nattendants. Only the herald I remember, for he was a humpback, and I\nthink they called him Eurybates. The hero loved him above all the others\nfor his devotion.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, he was very fond of him,\u201d said Penelope, sobbing. During the whole\nrecital her tears had been flowing. \u201cYes, stranger, thou hast spoken the\ntruth. I wove those clothes myself and fastened that clasp on them for\nan ornament. Ah! how handsome my good lord looked in those garments.\nAlas, how I have hoped for his return, how I have wept for him, and what\nI have suffered daily from the suitors thou canst not imagine.\u201d\n\nUlysses controlled himself with almost superhuman power. \u201cWeep no more,\nmost excellent of women. Let me rather finish my tale, for I still have\nmuch of comfort to tell thee. He for whom thou mournest will surely soon\nbe here. I swear by Jove and by this hospitable hearth that I have told\nthe truth and that all shall come to pass as I have said.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome, ye maidens! Honor this man in my house. Prepare a bed and covers\nfor him, that he may rest in quiet and comfort,\u201d said Penelope.\n\u201cTo-morrow morning ye shall bathe and anoint him, that he may take his\nplace worthily among the men and partake of the feast at Telemachus\u2019\nside. And woe to them who shall insult or mock at him!\u201d\n\n\u201cWorthy lady,\u201d answered Ulysses, \u201cI have not been used to fine beds or\nsoft covers since I left Crete; so let me remain here by the fire. And\nnone of the maids shall touch me, unless it be that among thy household\nis some faithful old woman who hath suffered as much as I. Her I would\nallow to wash my feet.\u201d\n\n\u201cDear guest,\u201d answered Penelope, \u201cI have such a faithful soul. She\nnursed my dear husband and was his servant from childhood. She shall\nwash thy feet. Good Euryclea, come hither and perform the long-neglected\ntask. Think that it might be thy dear master whom thou didst so love to\nserve.\u201d\n\nThese memories caused the old nurse to shed bitter tears. \u201cAlas,\u201d she\nsaid, \u201cthe gods are my witnesses that I loved my noble master like a\nson. And now I will take good care of thee, as my mistress has\ncommanded; and gladly too, for I must confess, stranger, from the first\nmoment when I looked upon thee, it seemed to me that I had never seen a\nman so like Ulysses in voice and figure as thou art.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll who have known us both, good dame, say the same, and everywhere men\nhave called me Ulysses, in sport,\u201d answered the crafty one.\n\nThe old woman now brought the tub with warm water. Meanwhile the beggar\nhad turned his back to the blaze, for he had suddenly bethought him that\nhe was in danger of discovery. Since early youth he had had a deep scar\nabove his right knee, where a furious boar had wounded him in the hunt.\nEuryclea knew this scar too well; therefore he placed himself in the\nshadow that she might not see it. But in spite of this she discovered it\nas soon as her hand touched it, and in joyful surprise she let fall his\nleg, overturning the tub of water. Fortunately Penelope had gone out for\na moment and did not hear the old woman\u2019s cry of joy. Ulysses sprang up\nquickly, putting his hand over her mouth and whispering hurriedly:\n\u201cFoster mother, wilt thou ruin me? Be silent, if life is dear to thee,\nthat no one in this palace may learn that Ulysses has returned.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou knowest my heart is true and faithful,\u201d answered the worthy\nEuryclea. Then Penelope returned and seated herself opposite the beggar\nonce more. \u201cAlas,\u201d said she, \u201cit seems as though I never should find\nrest. Every night I am disturbed by dreams in which I see my husband and\nwhich seem to promise his return. As long as my son was a child I had to\nkeep our home; but now that he has grown to be a man, I am afraid that\nhe is angry with me that I do not wed another and go away. For he\nsuffers most from the squandered riches and I can never hope to replace\nhis wasted fortune. My parents also urge me to yield myself. Last night\nI had a strange dream. In the courtyard are twenty geese which I feed\nand take pleasure in. In my dream an eagle came flying from the\nmountains, killed them all, and flew away. And when I lamented and my\nwomen came to comfort me, behold it returned, perched on the housetop,\nand spoke with human voice: \u2018Courage, daughter of Icarius, this is no\nempty dream, for it shall be fulfilled. The geese are the suitors and I\nam thy husband come to avenge thee and me.\u2019 I was so frightened that I\nawoke. Quickly I went to the window, and there were my geese feeding\nfrom the trough as usual.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn truth, noble queen,\u201d replied Ulysses, \u201cthe dream is plain enough.\nBelieve me, destruction shall suddenly overtake the suitors.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, good stranger, all dreams are not to be trusted,\u201d answered\nPenelope. \u201cTo-morrow is the fateful day which I have appointed for the\ncontest. I have determined to propose a trial of skill, and shall be\nobliged to take the winner for my husband. The favorite bow of Ulysses\nshall be brought forth, and the suitors shall try their skill at bending\nit. And alas, I must leave the palace of my glorious husband with the\nsuccessful one.\u201d\n\nThe stranger signified his approval, while he inwardly rejoiced at the\nopportunity this would give him to overcome all the suitors. The noble\nPenelope ascended to her chamber, but Ulysses remained by the fireside\nin the hall.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XIV\n                 Penelope arranges the Decisive Contest\n\n\nUlysses turned restlessly upon his couch, when suddenly his divine\nfriend Athene stood beside him, asking gently: \u201cWhy is thine heart so\nheavy? Surely thou canst trust the goddess who has protected thee in all\ndangers? If fifty companies of suitors fought against thee, thou\nshouldst lightly overcome them all. Sleep, for the goddess bids thee\nhope.\u201d\n\nHe slept, but before dawn heart-rending sobs and cries awakened him. It\nwas Penelope\u2019s voice, weeping and crying out Ulysses\u2019 name a hundred\ntimes. A vivid dream had roused her: Ulysses in full armor lay beside\nher. Now was her rest gone and her tears flowed afresh. The heart of the\nvaliant Ulysses was ready to break. He arose. It was dark and the stars\nwere shining. He went to the window, and raising his hands, prayed:\n\u201cFather Jupiter, if thou art gracious to me, grant me now a sign, that I\nmay have faith.\u201d\n\nAnd listen! A long peal of thunder echoed from the eastern sky, and at\nthe same moment he heard the servant who was grinding corn say to\nherself: \u201cHoly Father Jupiter, thou thunderest loudly, though the\nheavens are clear and starry! It must be that thou givest a sign. Oh,\nthat thou wouldst hear my prayer, that this might be the last night on\nwhich I shall toil for the miserable suitors, who devour by day with\nlaughter what we poor slaves must prepare in the sweat of our brows\nduring the night. Oh, that they might all die and this be their last\nbanquet!\u201d\n\nWhen Ulysses heard this his courage suddenly rose. He paced the great\nhall, turning over plans in his mind and awaiting morning impatiently.\nWhen it came, everyone about the house was busy. Telemachus went to the\nmarket place and Euryclea called the maids together to plan their work\nfor them. \u201cFor,\u201d said she, \u201cthe suitors will assemble early to-day to\ncelebrate the feast of the new moon.\u201d The swineherd came in early,\ndriving his contribution for the day\u2014three fat pigs\u2014and he at once\nsought the stranger from Crete. Ulysses went to meet him and pressed his\nhand kindly.\n\n\u201cHow dost thou fare? Dost stand in better repute with the company?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, that the gods might destroy them for all the grievous mischief\nwhich they hourly commit,\u201d replied Ulysses.\n\nThe goatherd Melantheus now came along and could not pass the stranger\nwithout threatening and insulting him. Next came Phil\u0153tius, a\nmaster-herdsman. He, too, like good Eum\u00e6us, hated the suitors at heart\nand would long ago have gone away had not love for Ulysses\u2019 house\ndetained him, and a fear lest the herds might fall into bad hands. He\nsaw the beggar standing in the courtyard, and going to the swineherd he\nasked him softly: \u201cGood Eum\u00e6us, who is the strange man there? He appears\nlike a king, although bowed down by misery.\u201d Speaking thus, he\napproached Ulysses, offering his hand and speaking cordial words to him.\n\nWhile they were talking together, the suitors, who had assembled as\nusual in the market place, were making new plots against the life of\nTelemachus, whose bold tongue was becoming daily more threatening.\nAmphinomus tried to dissuade them, and for the present they agreed to\nlet him go. The noisy crew now stormed into the palace. In the hall each\nlaid aside his mantle. Then they offered up fat goats, young lambs, and\nfatted boars and beeves; others mixed the wine. While they were eating\nTelemachus placed a table for the old man at the door and gave him food\nand drink. In the midst of their sport the suitors could scarcely curb\ntheir insolence. A young fellow, son of a rich father in Same, now\ncalled out loudly to the company: \u201cListen, ye generous suitors, the\nstranger at the door has indeed had his portion of the feast, but I\nshall now present him with a special gift. He may give it to the maid\nwho prepared his bath or any of the servants. See this splendid bull\u2019s\nhoof. May it agree with him!\u201d\n\nHe threw it swiftly at Ulysses\u2019 head, who jumped aside and avoided it\ncleverly. The suitors roared with laughter, in which Ulysses joined\nwhile nursing rage in his heart. Telemachus sprang up like a flame,\ncrying angrily: \u201cIt is fortunate for thee, Ktesippus, that thou didst\nnot strike the stranger, or I should have pierced thee with my lance,\nthat thy father might have celebrated thy burial feast instead of thy\nwedding. And I advise no one to try anything more of that kind, for I\nwill not permit it. That you consume my flocks and herds is bad enough,\nand ye may even murder me, as ye design\u2014do so! I would rather die than\nsee strangers abused in my house! Even my noble mother\u2019s maidens have ye\nnot spared!\u201d\n\nAll were silent until Agelaus began: \u201cFriends, I am glad that ye do not\nreply, for Telemachus is not entirely wrong. But I should like to give\nthee some advice, Telemachus. Now that thou art grown and able to manage\nthy house, thou shouldst speak with thy mother and urge her to proceed\nto the choice of a husband as soon as possible, for there is certainly\nno longer any hope that thy father will return. When she has left thy\nhouse thou canst enjoy thy substance in peace, and none of us will\nfurther disturb thee in the possession of thy herds and acres.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, by Jupiter,\u201d replied Telemachus, \u201cI do not prevent my mother\u2019s\nchoice. She may take whom she will. But far be it from me to drive my\nmother from the house by any hasty word or to compel her to a choice!\u201d\n\nAthene touched the suitors with madness. They laughed until their faces\nwere distorted, while Ulysses, Telemachus, and the servants looked on\nwith horror. But Theoclymenus, the stranger seer from Pylos, cried aloud\nas in an ecstasy of prophecy: \u201cUnhappy men, what has come over you? Your\neyes are veiled, your heads are bruised, and your cheeks wet with\nunnatural tears. Ha, I see blood! It drips from the walls! It stands in\npools! The courtyard is full of shadows, hastening out into the darkness\nof the spirit land. The sun is extinguished\u2014a horrible darkness\nreigneth!\u201d\n\nThe wild laughter arose once more. The suitors only grew noisier in\ntheir rash blindness. The early meal was partaken of in a wild turmoil,\nand not one suspected what awaited them in the evening.\n\nWhen afternoon came the noble Penelope remembered her purpose of\ninviting the suitors to a trial of skill, and ascended to the chamber\nwhere the treasures of her dear lord were kept. His favorite bow, of\npliant horn, was hanging there, dusty and unsightly, for it had not been\ntouched for twenty years. Penelope\u2019s tears fell upon her dear lord\u2019s\nweapon as she took it down from the wall and brushed away the dust. She\nsat down, laid it across her knees, and sobbed aloud. When her grief had\nspent itself she left the chamber with the bow in her hands, followed by\nher maidens carrying the heavy quiver, full of arrows.\n\nShe entered the portal of the hall of columns modestly wrapped in her\nlong veil. Beside her stood an attendant maiden. She spoke: \u201cCome, ye\nbrave suitors who gather in my house daily to dance and feast and who\npretend to woo me. Hear me and listen to the trial which he must stand\nwho would become my husband. Here are the bow and arrows of my dear\nlord, Ulysses, and here the rings. Him will I follow as spouse who can\nmost easily bend the bow and shoot through the twelve rings. My dear son\nshall lose his patrimony through no fault of mine.\u201d\n\nShe gave the weapon to Eum\u00e6us to carry into the hall, and when the good\nman held the well-known bow in his hands, he began to weep and kiss the\nweapon. Phil\u0153tius also wept, for at the sight of the bow the memory of\nhis beloved master overcame him. Antinous snarled at the faithful\ncreatures and bade them quickly bring in the bow.\n\nThe company now betook themselves to the hall, where Telemachus deftly\nplanted the axes in the ground, so that they formed rings at regular\ndistances from one another. He then went to the threshold and took up\nthe weapon. \u201cIt is a splendid sport,\u201d said he. \u201cI have a great mind to\ntry it myself.\u201d He lifted the bow to bend it, but in vain. After resting\na moment he tried again, but neither did he succeed this time. He drew\nit for the third time and would certainly have succeeded, but his father\nmade a secret sign to him. He leant the bow against the wall in\npretended discouragement and said: \u201cEither I am a miserable weakling or\nelse too young. But the rest of you must now try it and end the\ncontest.\u201d\n\nLeiodes stepped forward, but his arms fell when he tried to draw the\nbow. One after another tried it, and one after another set it down\nunbent. They rubbed the horn with fat and warmed it at the fire to\nrender it more pliable, and still it was not bent. By chance the two\nherdsmen went out together and Ulysses quickly followed them and drew\nthem aside. \u201cFriends, a word,\u201d he whispered. \u201cYe are both honest fellows\nand faithful, and long to have your master back. And now, if he should\ncome and needed your assistance, would ye defend the suitors or brave\nUlysses? Show me your hearts.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf Jupiter would but grant me this wish,\u201d cried the herdsman, \u201cthou\nshouldst see what my arms can do!\u201d \u201cAnd mine!\u201d added the honest\nswineherd. \u201cOh, that it might come true!\u201d \u201cIt has come true!\u201d said\nUlysses with majesty. \u201cYour master is here and counts on you. I am\nUlysses! Do ye remember the wound I once received from the wild boar?\nHere is the scar.\u201d They recognized the mark and fell upon his neck and\nkissed his cheeks and shoulders joyfully. But Ulysses commanded them to\ncontrol their joy before they should be discovered.\n\n\u201cListen to my plan,\u201d he said hurriedly, \u201cand learn what you must do. It\nmust be now or never. The gods will assist me, and you, honest friends,\nwhen all is finished, shall be to me as Telemachus\u2019 brothers. I will\nbestow riches and lands upon you. Only do as I tell you. When we go back\nI shall demand the bow, and no doubt the suitors will object. But do\nthou, Eum\u00e6us, pay no attention, but go and fetch it. Then go out and\ntell the old nurse to shut up all the women in their quarters. Thou,\nPhil\u0153tius, hasten thou to close the doors of the house and put up the\nbars that none of the suitors may escape. I will now go in. Follow me,\nbut singly and quietly.\u201d\n\nWhen Ulysses re\u00ebntered the hall and seated himself in his old place by\nthe door, the bow had just reached the hands of Eurymachus, who was\nsitting by the hearth seeking to make it more pliant with grease and the\nwarmth of the fire. He then made trial of it ten times, but could not\ndraw. At last, much discomfited, he laid it down. The boastful Antinous,\nwho was no longer anxious to try his skill, proposed to wait until the\nmorrow, this being a feast day. \u201cThen,\u201d said he, \u201cwe will make sacrifice\nto Apollo and try the bow once more. Now fill up the cups, for to-day is\na feast day and we must drink a double portion.\u201d\n\nThis speech pleased everyone and the servants did as they were bid. When\ndrinking had been resumed, Ulysses arose and began: \u201cListen to me, ye\nsuitors of the esteemed princess, and especially ye two lords, Antinous\nand Eurymachus, I would make a proposal to you in jest. As ye do not\ncare to bend the bow on this day of the feast, let me try it and see if\nany of my youthful strength remains, or if old age and hardships have\nsapped it.\u201d\n\nAs he had expected, murmurs arose on all sides and Antinous answered for\nthe rest: \u201cMiserable stranger, hast thou taken leave of thy senses? The\nwine hath led thee to these unseemly words! Take care that thou be not\nput aboard a ship and sent to King Echetus, the scourge of strangers!\nThere wouldst thou hardly escape with nose and ears uncut. Thou hadst\nbetter keep quiet and take what is given thee, and leave such business\nto younger men.\u201d\n\nPenelope had remained in the hall with her ladies to await the result of\nthe contest and now she spoke. \u201cAntinous, I think thou art not just. Why\nshould we omit the strangers who are our guests? Perchance thou thinkest\nthat if this man should draw the bow that he would wed me? Let not this\nscruple disturb thee, for that is impossible.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, it is truly not that, noble Queen,\u201d said Eurymachus. \u201cBut we fear\nthe tongues of men, should a miserable wandering beggar man draw the bow\nwhich all we younger men have been unable to bend. It would be an\neternal disgrace for us.\u201d\n\nTelemachus now arose and spoke with dignity and emphasis. \u201cMother, thou\nhast spoken well. But no one in this house but I has a right to the bow,\nand I shall give it to whom I will, and woe to him who would hinder me.\nBut do thou go up to thy chamber, attend to thy duties there, and direct\nthe women servants. This is men\u2019s business and mine most of all, for I\nam the head of the house.\u201d\n\nWondering, she withdrew, musing upon the wise words of her son. As she\nlay upon her couch she wept for her dear lord, until Pallas Athene\ngently closed her eyes in slumber. Meanwhile the swineherd, who had been\nawaiting a sign from Ulysses, boldly fetched the bow and handed it to\nhim. The suitors sprang from their seats as though they would lay hands\non him, but Telemachus cried in a threatening voice: \u201cThou hast done\nwell, father\u2014for thou canst not obey all, and I am master here!\u201d\n\nA loud malicious shout of laughter followed these words and their anger\nwas dissipated. The swineherd went directly to carry out the\ninstructions he had received. Phil\u0153tius, also, stole forth to close and\nbar the doors, then returned as quietly and took up his post beside the\nswineherd.\n\nThe eyes of all the suitors were now turned toward the beggar, who was\nturning the bow over and over and examining it carefully to see whether\nworms had perhaps eaten into the horn or it had suffered other injury.\nMany a youth said to his neighbor: \u201cSee how the old man examines the\nbow. Perhaps he has one like it at home or would make one like it. See\nhow he turns it about, the old wiseacre.\u201d\n\nUlysses next pushed his table aside, lifted the mighty bow, and lightly\nas a minstrel touches the strings of his harp, he picked the taut cord\nof his bow, which responded with as fine a note as the twittering of\nsparrows. At that moment a tremendous thunderclap resounded through the\nhouse, making all the suitors tremble; but the king exulted in the\nfavorable augury. He placed an arrow on the string, and without leaving\nhis seat or waiting to take aim, he let it fly through the rings nor\nmissed a single one. The guests sat in silent astonishment while he\nspoke to his son.\n\n\u201cThou seest, Telemachus, thy guest brings thee no disgrace. Indeed, I\nfeel that my strength is still unimpaired. But I think it is supper\ntime. Then let us amuse ourselves with song and lute.\u201d\n\nHe accompanied these words with a sign which Telemachus understood. The\nyouth went quickly out and soon returned armed and placed himself,\nexpectant and darkly frowning, by his father\u2019s chair, holding sword and\nshield in readiness for him.\n\n\n\n\n                               Chapter XV\n                            Ulysses\u2019 Revenge\n\n\nUlysses quickly arose. Girding up his rags he threw the arrows to the\nground before him and sprang to the doorway, drawing the bow. \u201cNow I\nwill choose a different mark,\u201d he cried. \u201cLet us see whether Apollo will\nnow grant me his favor!\u201d With this the death shaft sped through\nAntinous\u2019 neck, just as he had taken up the golden cup to drink. The\nblood gushed from his mouth as he fell convulsed to the ground,\noverturning the table with the food and wine. Immediately the hall was\nin an uproar. The suitors vainly sought their weapons, crying: \u201cWoe to\nthee, madman! Now thine hour is come and vultures shall feast upon thy\nflesh!\u201d\n\nThe fools! They supposed that the hero had hit Antinous by chance. But\nhe soon undeceived them, crying in thunder tones which caused their\nhearts and knees to tremble: \u201cHa! ye dogs! Ye thought that I should\nne\u2019er return and therefore have ye squandered my substance, maltreated\nmy servants, and insulted my poor wife for these long years with\nunprecedented insolence. Ye have feared neither the punishment of the\ngods nor the disapproval of mankind, but now the day of reckoning has\ncome!\u201d\n\nHorror seized the suitors, while Ulysses again raised the bow and\npierced the breast of Eurymachus with his shaft ere he could draw his\nsword and rush upon him. Telemachus with his spear stood by his father\u2019s\nside to protect him, while he sent arrow after arrow into the crowd and\none after another was struck down into the dust.\n\nTelemachus fetched helmets, shields, and spears for both the herdsmen,\nand they quickly armed themselves. Melantheus, the goatherd, who had\nmore presence of mind than the rest, managed to slip out of the side\ndoor unobserved and bring down some of the weapons which Ulysses and\nTelemachus had wisely hidden in the upper chambers. Ulysses suddenly\ndiscovered that half of the front row of men were armed and spears began\nto hurtle past him.\n\n\u201cWhat is this?\u201d he cried in dismay to Telemachus. \u201cOne of the maids or\nMelantheus must have brought them weapons. See how they defend\nthemselves.\u201d\n\n\u201cYe gods, it is all my fault,\u201d said Telemachus. \u201cI left the door of the\narmory ajar and the crafty goatherd has taken advantage of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cSee, there he is sneaking out to fetch another spear,\u201d cried Ulysses.\n\u201cEum\u00e6us! Phil\u0153tius! Follow him! Bind him! Hang him up, while my son and\nI fight on!\u201d\n\nWhen the suitors saw that Ulysses and Telemachus were left alone they\ntook fresh courage, and it would have gone hard with the two against the\ncombined onset of their foes, had not Athene in Mentor\u2019s form entered at\nthe critical moment armed from head to foot and thrown back the nearest\nones with a powerful blow of her shield.\n\n\u201cMentor, cursed old man,\u201d screamed all the suitors, \u201cdo not dare to help\nthese two men, for when we shall have conquered them, then woe to thee\nand thy house! Flee, while there is yet time!\u201d\n\nThis angered Pallas Athene, and she spurred Ulysses on with encouraging\nwords. He felt the presence of the goddess and renewed his superhuman\nefforts. The two herdsmen now returned with a fresh supply of lances,\nand Mentor saw that the rest of the task could be left to the brave men.\n\nAt last the greater part of the suitors had fallen. Some had already\nbreathed their last. Most of them were writhing on the spears with which\nthey had been pierced and lay bathed in their own blood. It was a\nhorrible sight. As the four heroes prepared to give the death blow to\nthe few survivors, Leiodes sprang suddenly from behind a column, and\nclasping Ulysses\u2019 knees, called loudly for mercy. \u201cGive me my life,\u201d he\nprayed. \u201cI took no part in the evil deeds of the suitors, for I was\ntheir priest and only carried out the holy customs when they sacrificed\nthy steers.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf thou hast been their sacrificial priest and prophet, thou must\nsurely have foretold many evil things concerning me and have called down\nmisfortunes upon my head in thy prayers. And for this thou shalt die a\nwell-deserved death,\u201d replied the king with dark looks. He raised his\nsword and with a quick stroke severed the head of the still-kneeling\npriest, so that it rolled in the dust.\n\nHe searched all the hiding places, but did not find another living soul,\nand contemplated with astonishment and horror the frightful work of his\nhands. Then at last he laid down his sword and lifted the bronze helmet\nfrom his perspiring brow. \u201cBe quick, Telemachus, and call my old nurse\nEuryclea, that I may question her,\u201d he said.\n\nTelemachus brought the old woman. She raised her hands and began to\nrejoice. But Ulysses stopped her and said reprovingly: \u201cHush, dame! At\nheart thou mayest exult that justice has been done and punishment meted\nout, but it is a sin to triumph over fallen men. They have their reward,\nbut it is the gods who through me have accomplished their will. Now tell\nme of the women in the house, both those who have betrayed me and those\nwho have served faithfully.\u201d\n\n\u201cGladly I obey thee,\u201d answered the old nurse. \u201cFifty women serve in the\npalace. Twelve have proved unfaithful and left the paths of virtue,\nneither obeying me, nor even the noble Penelope. But let me slip\nupstairs and wake the queen. She knows not of thy return, for a divinity\nhas closed her eyes in a leaden sleep. How surprised she will be!\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, mother, do not wake her yet. First command the twelve refractory\nwomen hither.\u201d The old woman hastened to obey.\n\n\u201cWhen they come,\u201d continued Ulysses to his son and the two herdsmen,\n\u201cthey shall first help us clean the dwelling, and when that is done,\ntake them out to the outer courtyard, drive them all into the narrow\npassageway, and strike them down with your swords, so that their souls\nmay join the shades of the insolent suitors.\u201d\n\nWhile he was speaking the women entered, frightened at the sight that\nmet their eyes and trembling for their own lives. \u201cDrag out the dead,\u201d\ncommanded Ulysses. \u201cLay them outside in the gallery.\u201d\n\nThey took hold reluctantly, assisted by the herdsmen, and Ulysses saw\nthat all was properly done and set in order, and then Telemachus and the\nherdsmen conducted the women to their doom. After this they sought out\nMelantheus and prepared a terrible death for this base wretch.\n\nThe work of slaughter was now complete. The herdsmen washed their hands\nand feet and went back to the hall. Here Ulysses ordered Euryclea to\nmake a fire, fetch sulphur, and with its fumes to turn away the curse\nfrom this house of slaughter. The old servants now came crowding about\ntheir master to kiss him joyfully. This touched his heart and he pressed\ntheir hands in hearty greeting.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XVI\n                  Ulysses reveals himself to Penelope\n\n\nNow at length Ulysses allowed the old nurse to carry the news to his\nsleeping spouse. Breathless she entered the chamber where the queen\nslumbered. \u201cPenelope!\u201d she cried. \u201cAwake, my daughter! This is no time\nfor sleep! He is here! Ulysses has come! All is over! Look down into the\ncourt. There they all lie in heaps. And hast thou heard nothing? Come\nquickly!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d cried Penelope, stretching herself and rubbing her eyes; \u201csilly\nwoman, how canst thou wake me thus and with such a fairy tale? Wouldst\nthou deceive me with false hopes? Oh, I slept so sweetly! How canst thou\nplay such a trick on me? Only thine age protects thee from my anger.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not jesting, my daughter,\u201d answered the old woman. \u201cHe is here,\nand with Telemachus\u2019 aid has killed all the suitors. It happened whilst\nthou slept.\u201d\n\n\u201cMother, tell me the truth! How could he come so quickly?\u201d She had\nsprung up and hung about the old nurse\u2019s neck with anxious glances.\nEuryclea laughed. \u201cHe has been in the house since yesterday and thou\nthyself hast spoken with him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat, Euryclea! The ragged old beggar?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed, yes. The beggar with the greasy wallet whom the suitors made\nsport of. If they had but known!\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, mother, how disappointed I am. That is not my husband. No, that\nis not Ulysses.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot Ulysses? Child, you are strange. I knew it last evening when I\nwashed his feet and recognized the great scar\u2014you remember it\u2014from the\nboar\u2019s tusk. But he would not allow me to speak.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt cannot be! It cannot be!\u201d repeated Penelope. \u201cBut tell me what has\nhappened?\u201d\n\nAnd then Euryclea had to tell the whole story of what she had seen and\nheard of the horrible massacre. \u201cThy long-desired, beloved husband is\nbelow and awaits thee, daughter. Come quickly to embrace him.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, mother, do not rejoice too soon. Thou knowest how I long for\nUlysses, but I know the gods. They often wander about over the earth to\nreward the good, surprise the wicked, and punish long-continued evils.\nIf the suitors are really killed, it must have been by a god, whom my\nmisery has touched. How could a mere man, even though he were stronger\nand bolder than Ulysses, undertake so unequal a task? I did indeed\nadmire the stranger\u2019s mind, but he did not remind me of Ulysses. No,\nthat was not my vigorous, impetuous husband. But I will go and view the\nhorrible scene and talk with my son. If the stranger is my husband I\nshall know him by secret signs. But if he is a god, as I believe, we\nwill sacrifice before him and worship him.\u201d\n\nThey descended and entered the hall, where they found Ulysses sitting by\nthe fire leaning against a pillar. He did not look up, but waited for\nwhat his wife would say. She sat opposite him a long time in silence.\nSometimes, as she looked earnestly at him, she thought it was he; then\nwhen she looked upon his rags, she could not believe it.\n\n\u201cMother,\u201d cried Telemachus, \u201chast thou no greeting for my father? Thou\nhast a heart in thy breast that is indeed harder than a stone.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dear son,\u201d answered his mother, \u201cthou dost me a wrong. I am dumb\nwith astonishment. I cannot grasp the miracle and do not venture to\naddress this wonderful man nor to look in his face. But if he is really\nmy Ulysses, we shall soon recognize each other. We have secret signs\nbetween us that none others know.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy son,\u201d said Ulysses, smiling gently, \u201clet thy mother study me a while\nlonger. She certainly has reason to doubt me clad in these ugly rags.\nBut now let us consult together how we may conceal the death of the\nsuitors from the people to-day, for they all have relations and\nretainers who will seek to avenge them. We have killed not one, but one\nhundred. How shall we save ourselves?\u201d\n\n\u201cDear father,\u201d replied the modest son, \u201cthou must know, for no mortal is\nas wise as thou. It shall be as thou sayest. We will follow thee and aid\nthee as far as we are able.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I will tell thee, what seems wise to me,\u201d answered the resourceful\nUlysses. \u201cLet each one go first to the bath and put on his best\ngarments. Let the women also don their holiday robes, as is seemly on\nthe day of their master\u2019s return. The gifted minstrel must strike his\nharp, that all the passers by may suppose that Penelope is celebrating\nher marriage day. Then early in the morning we will leave the house and\nflee to Laertes\u2019 country-place, where the gods shall give us further\ncounsel.\u201d\n\nThe household at once carried out all these commands, and soon the hall,\nwhich an hour before had resounded with the deadly blows of Ulysses\u2019\nspear, and had looked like a bloody battlefield, was filled with gay\nstrains of song and music of the lute.\n\nMeanwhile Ulysses, too, had gone to rid himself of his dirt and ugly\nrags. The old housekeeper conducted him to a warm bath and afterward\nanointed his head with precious oil. And behold, as he left the bath the\ngoddess Athene suddenly clothed him with beauty, so that he appeared\ntaller and stronger. The bald crown disappeared and his head was once\nmore crowned with shining brown locks. His cheeks became rosy and the\nfire returned to the dull eyes. Blinded by the miracle, the housekeeper\npresented him the handsome tunic and cloak, and thus the conqueror\nre\u00ebntered the hall in the guise of a king and hero. Everything was\nhushed, while all eyes gazed at the newcomer in admiration.\n\nJoyfully Penelope sprang up. Yes, this was her Ulysses, just as he had\nleft her. But was it not a delusion? Doubting she sank back in her\nchair. But Ulysses stepped before her and held out his arms joyously.\n\u201cNow wilt thou not accept me again for thy husband, dear wife?\u201d he\ncried. \u201cWhat! Thou art not ready? Alas, in vain have I longed for thee!\nGo, Eurynome, make ready my couch, that I may sorrowfully retire to\nrest.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo so, good mother,\u201d said Penelope. \u201cSet his bed out of our chamber\nwherever thou wilt and prepare it with fine soft covers and skins.\u201d\n\nIt was the test by which the queen could recognize her husband. Ulysses\nhad once built a sleeping chamber about the trunk of a great olive tree\nwhich stood in the court and had built the couch hard and fast into the\ntrunk of the tree, so that no one could have carried it out until he\nshould first chop down the tree.\n\n\u201cSomeone has destroyed my sleeping chamber, if the bed may be carried\nout,\u201d cried Ulysses. \u201cAnd I had joined it so well to the trunk of the\nolive tree.\u201d\n\n         [Illustration: _ULYSSES REVEALS HIMSELF TO PENELOPE_]\n\nPenelope burst into tears at these words and she trembled. \u201cUlysses, my\ndear Ulysses!\u201d she cried as she threw her arms about his neck and\ncovered his face with a thousand tender kisses. \u201cNow I know it is thee,\nfor no one in this house knoweth the secret but thyself and me. And now\nwelcome, my precious husband, for whom I have wept a thousand sleepless\nnights, praying to the gods for thy safe return. Welcome! Welcome! But\ndo not be angry with me because I did not know thee at once, nor trust\nthe first assurance like a giddy young girl. There are so many crafty\ndeceivers. Ah, hadst thou been able to see the struggle in my heart\nwhile I was burning to embrace thee. My seeming coldness was only caused\nby the innumerable sufferings due to my mighty love.\u201d\n\nTheir tears mingled, and Penelope lay upon the heart of her newly found\nlord in silent rapture, her emotion expressing itself only in deep\nsighs. Midnight was long past when Eurynome brought her torch to guide\nthem to their rest.\n\n\n\n\n                              Chapter XVII\n Ulysses goes to Laertes\u2014His Father\u2019s Conflict with the Friends of the\n          slain Suitors\u2014Great Sacrifice and Festival in Ithaca\n\n\nBefore dawn, after a few hours of sleep, Ulysses arose and awakened his\nwife, Telemachus, and the herdsmen. \u201cCome quickly, friends,\u201d said he,\n\u201cthat we may reach my father\u2019s plantation before daylight. Very soon the\nnews of the death of the suitors will spread throughout the island, and\nthe princes whose sons have not returned at night will set out to seek\nthem. If they all unite and lead their people against us, we shall not\nbe able to withstand them. Therefore we will conceal ourselves in\nLaertes\u2019 distant garden in the country. Some god will then tell us what\nfurther course to pursue. But thou, Penelope, do thou remain here until\nI summon thee. Ascend to the upper chambers with thy maidens and stay\nquietly there, for their vengeance will not touch thee.\u201d\n\nWhen he had finished speaking, the men took up their weapons and\nhastened away. With the first rays of the sun they entered the enclosure\nthat surrounded old Laertes\u2019 country-seat. His house stood in front,\nsurrounded by the farm buildings. The men were away at work, but Laertes\nwas in the orchard, which he loved and where he himself labored every\nday. Telemachus explained to the servants that he had brought a stranger\nwho wished to speak with the old king.\n\nTo Telemachus and the two herdsmen Ulysses spoke aside. \u201cRemain ye here\nand prepare a select fattened pig for a sacrifice. Meanwhile I will go\nalone to my father and see if he know me. Then I will bring him here and\nwe will eat together.\u201d\n\nUlysses found his father spading round a pear tree in the well-ordered\norchard. He was so busy that he did not perceive the new arrival.\nUlysses\u2019 heart contracted at the sight. His father was clad in a dirty\ntunic, coarse and well mended. He had bound pieces of oxhide about hands\nand ankles to protect them from thorns, and he wore a cap of goatskin to\nshield his bald head from the cold morning air. He finally rose from his\nwork and saw the well-dressed stranger standing before him.\n\n\u201cGreeting to thee, old man,\u201d said Ulysses. \u201cWhat good care thou takest\nof thy garden. Thy trees and vines look flourishing. Only thyself, it\nseems to me, art neglected. What niggardly master keeps thee so poorly\nand allows thee to go about ragged as a beggar? Tell me, where am I? I\nwould inquire the way to the palace of Ulysses. I wish to see the\ngallant hero; he was my guest upon his travels, and as my way lay past\nIthaca I have laid by my ship to visit my dear friend.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, good stranger,\u201d replied Laertes, \u201cthou hast come too soon. Who\nknows what monster of the deep hath swallowed him or upon what shore his\nbones are bleaching. It is ten years since Troy was destroyed, and since\nthen we have watched and waited for him daily, and I most of all. For\nknow, that the old man who stands before thee here, dignified by sorrow,\nis Laertes, father of the noble Ulysses. His mother died of a broken\nheart, but to me the gods have denied this boon.\u201d\n\n\u201cWorthy king,\u201d replied Ulysses, \u201cweep no more. The gods have rejoicing\nin store for thee. Living thou shalt behold thy son.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, do not encourage false hopes. What knowest thou of him? Speak,\nman, if thou canst tell aught. Where hast thou seen him and how long\nsince?\u201d\n\n\u201cAbout five years,\u201d answered Ulysses. \u201cBut hast thou heard nothing of\nthe rumors which are abroad? Men say that Ulysses has returned and found\nhis house full of rude guests who squandered his fortune and wooed his\nwife; that he has destroyed them through craft or violence, and is once\nmore master in his own house.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, that it were so,\u201d lamented the old man. \u201cSpeak! Art thou a divine\nmessenger and bringest me true tidings?\u201d\n\n\u201cNoble king,\u201d now spake Ulysses with trembling voice, scarce able to\ncontrol his tears, \u201cis it not true that thou didst once give that fig\ntree there to thy son when he was a boy?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd this splendid row of pear trees also?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd that thou didst often walk among these hedges in friendly talk with\nhim, telling him the name and use of each bush?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, yes\u2014!\u201d\n\n\u201cHow he will rejoice when he returns to find thee in thy old haunts.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut ye gods! How dost thou know this? Thine eyes shine! Thou tremblest?\nYes, thou art Ulysses, my son! By Jupiter, it is he!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, father, it is thy son. Oh, contain thyself. Take care, father.\u201d\n\nLaertes now cried aloud: \u201cIf thou art really my son Ulysses returned,\ngive me a sign, a convincing token, by which I may know thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cExamine this scar which the boar gave me upon Parnassus,\u201d answered\nUlysses gayly. \u201cThou and my loving mother didst send me to grandsire\nAutolycus to fetch the gifts which he had promised me.\u201d\n\nThe old man\u2019s knees trembled when he recognized the mark. Quickly he\nembraced his beloved son, who covered his face with kisses. And then\nUlysses told his whole story down to the killing of the suitors. When he\nhad finished, Laertes cried: \u201cNow I see that you still reign, ye\nimmortal gods. For at last these horrid deeds have been avenged. But, my\nson, how wilt thou escape the vengeance which such a bloody exploit will\nbring upon thee?\u201d\n\n\u201cLet not that trouble thee,\u201d answered Ulysses. \u201cIf the love of the\npeople does not protect me, the spirit of Tiresias has promised me a\nplace of refuge in the interior of the mainland, where a peaceful and\nhappy old age awaits me. But now let us go down to the palace, where\nTelemachus and my faithful servants await us, and thou shalt clothe\nthyself as befits a king.\u201d\n\nWhen all was in readiness, the happy company sat down to eat together.\nIn the meanwhile rumors of the terrible fate which had overtaken the\nsuitors spread through the city. Their fathers and relatives hastened to\nthe crowded market place to inflame the people. Eupithes, father of\nAntinous, who had cherished the hope above all others that his son was\nto be the successful wooer of the beautiful Penelope and ruler over all\nIthaca, was the leader. He gained over many of the people by his\neloquent pleadings, but others held back, especially after listening to\nMedon and Halitherses.\n\n\u201cFriends,\u201d said the former, \u201cbelieve me, Ulysses did not do this\ntremendous deed without the help of the gods. I myself saw the divinity\nin Mentor\u2019s form standing beside him and turning aside the spears. Even\nbefore the shaking of her shield, numbers fell before him. Do not oppose\nhim or ye will fight against offended gods.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, ye Ithacans, do not take up arms against him. Let him alone,\u201d said\nthe cautious old Halitherses. \u201cHe has but fulfilled the vengeance of the\ngods.\u201d\n\nMany agreed with this and went quietly home. But the friends of the\nsuitors and followers of Eupithes armed themselves and hastened from the\npalace to Laertes\u2019 gardens, where they found the household under arms\nand ready to receive them.\n\n\u201cAh, this is a happy day,\u201d cried the valiant Laertes, \u201cwhen I may fight\ntogether with my son and grandson.\u201d\n\nNow the goddess Pallas Athene, in Mentor\u2019s shape, approached and\nbreathed courage into him.\n\n\u201cCome, noble Laertes,\u201d cried the goddess, \u201cthou shalt open this\nillustrious battle and cast the first lance at the enemy.\u201d\n\nWith a prayer to Jupiter he hurled the first spear, and see! it pierces\nthe bronze armor and enters Eupithes\u2019 breast. At the same moment a fiery\nbolt sent by Jove and accompanied by a roar of thunder struck the earth\nbetween the combatants. This terrible omen, together with the fall of\ntheir leader, robbed the enemy of their courage and reason.\n\nThen the goddess stepped forth and called to the combatants in a loud\nvoice: \u201cMen of Ithaca, desist! Give up this unhappy war which displeases\nthe gods! Shed no more blood and depart quickly hence!\u201d\n\nUpon this no one dared speak of revenge, and even the bravest warriors\nput away their weapons with the resolve never to use them against the\nman who had right upon his side. Time, by degrees, dulled the hatred\neven of the fathers of the murdered men. The wisdom, magnanimity, and\nkindness of Ulysses soon won all hearts and at last converted even his\nbitterest foes into friends.\n\nUlysses did not forget the vow which he had made in the kingdom of\ndeparted souls, to the gods of Hades, to offer in sacrifice a young ox\nand, to the spirit of Tiresias, a black ram when he should be at home\nonce more. Both victims were brought forth, and while the heralds were\npreparing the feast for the people, Ulysses gave the death stroke to the\nanimals. While the fat pieces were burning on the altar, he prayed\nsolemnly, with uplifted hands: \u201cHoly gods of Hades, here in my kingdom I\nthus gratefully fulfil the vow I made in yours. I have surmounted many\ndifficulties and often barely escaped with my life, always trusting in a\nfortunate outcome. And now, ye gracious gods, I can look back gratefully\nupon my past. Often will I renew this offering, for one should remember\nthe dead gladly, nor ever shun the goddess of death and fate. But\nwherever destiny may lead me, oh grant that I may rule the people\ngloriously and in peace, and that the name of the illustrious Ulysses\nmay live among future generations of men.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                     LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE\n\n                    _Translated from the German by_\n                            GEORGE P. UPTON\n\n                          44 Volumes Now Ready\n\n\n                          _American Explorers_\n\n  Columbus\n  Francisco Pizarro\n  Cortes\n  Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky, and Other Pre-Columbian Discoverers\n          of America\n\n                     _Historical and Biographical_\n\n  Washington\n  Franklin\n  Penn\n  Maximilian\n  Barbarossa\n  William of Orange\n  Maria Theresa\n  The Maid of Orleans\n  Frederick the Great\n  The Little Dauphin\n  Herman and Thusnelda\n  The Swiss Heroes\n  Marie Antoinette\u2019s Youth\n  The Duke of Brittany\n  Louise, Queen of Prussia\n  The Youth of the Great Elector\n  Emperor William First\n  Elizabeth, Empress of Austria\n  Charlemagne\n  Prince Eugene\n  Eug\u00e9nie, Empress of the French\n  Queen Maria Sophia of Naples\n  Emin Pasha\n  General (\u201cChinese\u201d) Gordon\n  David Livingstone\n  Stanley\u2019s Journey through the Dark Continent\n\n                          _Musical Biography_\n\n  Beethoven\n  Mozart\n  Johann Sebastian Bach\n  Joseph Haydn\n\n                              _Legendary_\n\n  Frithjof Saga\n  Gudrun\n  The Nibelungs\n  William Tell\n  Arnold of Winkelried\n  Undine\n  Ulysses of Ithaca\n  Achilles\n  Gods and Heroes\n  The Argonautic Expedition and the Labors of Hercules\n\n                    Illustrated. Each 50 cents _net_\n                      A. C. McCLURG & CO., Chicago\n\n\n\n\n                          Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\n--Copyright notice provided as in the original\u2014this e-text is public\n  domain in the country of publication.\n\n--In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the\n  HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)\n\n--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and\n  dialect unchanged.","title":"Ulysses of Ithaca","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":38775}