{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXX/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXX","id":"wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXX","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Fable/Chapter_XXX","summary":null,"tags":["Headers_applying_DefaultSort_key","Subpages"],"text":"XXX. THE PH\u00c6ACIANS \u2014 FATE OF THE SUITORS\n\nTHE PH\u00c6ACIANS\n\nUlysses clung to the raft while any of its timbers kept together,\nand when it no longer yielded him support, binding the girdle\naround him, he swam. Minerva smoothed the billows before him and\nsent him a wind that rolled the waves towards the shore. The surf\nbeat high on the rocks and seemed to forbid approach; but at\nlength finding calm water at the mouth of a gentle stream, he\nlanded, spent with toil, breathless and speechless and almost\ndead. After some time, reviving, he kissed the soil, rejoicing,\nyet at a loss what course to take. At a short distance he\nperceived a wood, to which he turned his steps. There, finding a\ncovert sheltered by intermingling branches alike from the sun and\nthe rain, he collected a pile of leaves and formed a bed, on which\nhe stretched himself, and heaping the leaves over him, fell\nasleep.\n\nThe land where he was thrown was Scheria, the country of the\nPh\u00e6acians. These people dwelt originally near the Cyclopes; but\nbeing oppressed by that savage race, they migrated to the isle of\nScheria, under the conduct of Nausitho\u00fcs, their king. They were,\nthe poet tells us, a people akin to the gods, who appeared\nmanifestly and feasted among them when they offered sacrifices,\nand did not conceal themselves from solitary wayfarers when they\nmet them. They had abundance of wealth and lived in the enjoyment\nof it undisturbed by the alarms of war, for as they dwelt remote\nfrom gain-seeking man, no enemy ever approached their shores, and\nthey did not even require to make use of bows and quivers. Their\nchief employment was navigation. Their ships, which went with the\nvelocity of birds, were endued with intelligence; they knew every\nport and needed no pilot. Alcinous, the son of Nausitho\u00fcs, was now\ntheir king, a wise and just sovereign, beloved by his people.\n\nNow it happened that the very night on which Ulysses was cast\nashore on the Ph\u00e6acian island, and while he lay sleeping on his\nbed of leaves, Nausicaa, the daughter of the king, had a dream\nsent by Minerva, reminding her that her wedding-day was not far\ndistant, and that it would be but a prudent preparation for that\nevent to have a general washing of the clothes of the family. This\nwas no slight affair, for the fountains were at some distance, and\nthe garments must be carried thither. On awaking, the princess\nhastened to her parents to tell them what was on her mind; not\nalluding to her wedding-day, but finding other reasons equally\ngood. Her father readily assented and ordered the grooms to\nfurnish forth a wagon for the purpose. The clothes were put\ntherein, and the queen mother placed in the wagon, likewise, an\nabundant supply of food and wine. The princess took her seat and\nplied the lash, her attendant virgins following her on foot.\nArrived at the river side, they turned out the mules to graze, and\nunlading the carriage, bore the garments down to the water, and\nworking with cheerfulness and alacrity soon despatched their\nlabor. Then having spread the garments on the shore to dry, and\nhaving themselves bathed, they sat down to enjoy their meal; after\nwhich they rose and amused themselves with a game of ball, the\nprincess singing to them while they played. But when they had\nrefolded the apparel and were about to resume their way to the\ntown, Minerva caused the ball thrown by the princess to fall into\nthe water, whereat they all screamed and Ulysses awaked at the\nsound.\n\nNow we must picture to ourselves Ulysses, a ship-wrecked mariner,\nbut a few hours escaped from the waves, and utterly destitute of\nclothing, awaking and discovering that only a few bushes were\ninterposed tween him and a group of young maidens whom, by their\ndeportment and attire, he discovered to be not mere peasant girls,\nbut of a higher class. Sadly needing help, how could he yet\nventure, naked as he was, to discover himself and make his wants\nknown? It certainly was a case worthy of the interposition of his\npatron goddess Minerva, who never failed him at a crisis. Breaking\noff a leafy branch from a tree, he held it before him and stepped\nout from the thicket. The virgins at sight of him fled in all\ndirections, Nausicaa alone excepted, for her Minerva aided and\nendowed with courage and discernment. Ulysses, standing\nrespectfully aloof, told his sad case, and besought the fair\nobject (whether queen or goddess he professed he knew not) for\nfood and clothing. The princess replied courteously, promising\npresent relief and her father's hospitality when he should become\nacquainted with the facts. She called back her scattered maidens,\nchiding their alarm, and reminding them that the Ph\u00e6acians had no\nenemies to fear. This man, she told them, was an unhappy wanderer,\nwhom it was a duty to cherish, for the poor and stranger are from\nJove. She bade them bring food and clothing, for some of her\nbrother's garments were among the contents of the wagon. When this\nwas done, and Ulysses, retiring to a sheltered place, had washed\nhis body free from the sea-foam, clothed and refreshed himself\nwith food, Pallas dilated his form and diffused grace over his\nample chest and manly brows.\n\nThe princess, seeing him, was filled with admiration, and scrupled\nnot to say to her damsels that she wished the gods would send her\nsuch a husband. To Ulysses she recommended that he should repair\nto the city, following herself and train so far as the way lay\nthrough the fields; but when they should approach the city she\ndesired that he would no longer be seen in her company, for she\nfeared the remarks which rude and vulgar people might make on\nseeing her return accompanied by such a gallant stranger. To avoid\nwhich she directed him to stop at a grove adjoining the city, in\nwhich were a farm and garden belonging to the king. After allowing\ntime for the princess and her companions to reach the city, he was\nthen to pursue his way thither, and would be easily guided by any\nhe might meet to the royal abode.\n\nUlysses obeyed the directions and in due time proceeded to the\ncity, on approaching which he met a young woman bearing a pitcher\nforth for water. It was Minerva, who had assumed that form.\nUlysses accosted her and desired to be directed to the palace of\nAlcinous the king. The maiden replied respectfully, offering to be\nhis guide; for the palace, she informed him, stood near her\nfather's dwelling. Under the guidance of the goddess, and by her\npower enveloped in a cloud which shielded him from observation,\nUlysses passed among the busy crowd, and with wonder observed\ntheir harbor, their ships, their forum (the resort of heroes), and\ntheir battlements, till they came to the palace, where the\ngoddess, having first given him some information of the country,\nking, and people he was about to meet, left him. Ulysses, before\nentering the courtyard of the palace, stood and surveyed the\nscene. Its splendor astonished him. Brazen walls stretched from\nthe entrance to the interior house, of which the doors were gold,\nthe doorposts silver, the lintels silver ornamented with gold. On\neither side were figures of mastiffs wrought in gold and silver,\nstanding in rows as if to guard the approach. Along the walls were\nseats spread through all their length with mantles of finest\ntexture, the work of Ph\u00e6acian maidens. On these seats the princes\nsat and feasted, while golden statues of graceful youths held in\ntheir hands lighted torches which shed radiance over the scene.\nFull fifty female menials served in household offices, some\nemployed to grind the corn, others to wind off the purple wool or\nply the loom. For the Ph\u00e6acian women as far exceeded all other\nwomen in household arts as the mariners of that country did the\nrest of mankind in the management of ships. Without the court a\nspacious garden lay, four acres in extent. In it grew many a lofty\ntree, pomegranate, pear, apple, fig, and olive. Neither winter's\ncold nor summer's drought arrested their growth, but they\nflourished in constant succession, some budding while others were\nmaturing. The vineyard was equally prolific. In one quarter you\nmight see the vines, some in blossom, some loaded with ripe\ngrapes, and in another observe the vintagers treading the wine\npress. On the garden's borders flowers of all hues bloomed all the\nyear round, arranged with neatest art. In the midst two fountains\npoured forth their waters, one flowing by artificial channels over\nall the garden, the other conducted through the courtyard of the\npalace, whence every citizen might draw his supplies.\n\nUlysses stood gazing in admiration, unobserved himself, for the\ncloud which Minerva spread around him still shielded him. At\nlength, having sufficiently observed the scene, he advanced with\nrapid step into the hall where the chiefs and senators were\nassembled, pouring libation to Mercury, whose worship followed the\nevening meal. Just then Minerva dissolved the cloud and disclosed\nhim to the assembled chiefs. Advancing to the place where the\nqueen sat, he knelt at her feet and implored her favor and\nassistance to enable him to return to his native country. Then\nwithdrawing, he seated himself in the manner of suppliants, at the\nhearth side.\n\nFor a time none spoke. At last an aged statesman, addressing the\nking, said, \"It is not fit that a stranger who asks our\nhospitality should be kept waiting in suppliant guise, none\nwelcoming him. Let him therefore be led to a seat among us and\nsupplied with food and wine.\" At these words the king rising gave\nhis hand to Ulysses and led him to a seat, displacing thence his\nown son to make room for the stranger. Food and wine were set\nbefore him and he ate and refreshed himself.\n\nThe king then dismissed his guests, notifying them that the next\nday he would call them to council to consider what had best be\ndone for the stranger.\n\nWhen the guests had departed and Ulysses was left alone with the\nking and queen, the queen asked him who he was and whence he came,\nand (recognizing the clothes which he wore as those which her\nmaidens and herself had made) from whom he received those\ngarments. He told them of his residence in Calypso's isle and his\ndeparture thence; of the wreck of his raft, his escape by\nswimming, and of the relief afforded by the princess. The parents\nheard approvingly, and the king promised to furnish a ship in\nwhich his guest might return to his own land.\n\nThe next day the assembled chiefs confirmed the promise of the\nking. A bark was prepared and a crew of stout rowers selected, and\nall betook themselves to the palace, where a bounteous repast was\nprovided. After the feast the king proposed that the young men\nshould show their guest their proficiency in manly sports, and all\nwent forth to the arena for games of running, wrestling, and other\nexercises. After all had done their best, Ulysses being challenged\nto show what he could do, at first declined, but being taunted by\none of the youths, seized a quoit of weight far heavier than any\nof the Ph\u00e6acians had thrown, and sent it farther than the utmost\nthrow of theirs. All were astonished, and viewed their guest with\ngreatly increased respect.\n\nAfter the games they returned to the hall, and the herald led in\nDemodocus, the blind bard,\u2014\n\n\"... Dear to the Muse,\n\nWho yet appointed him both good and ill,\n\nTook from him sight, but gave him strains divine.\"\n\nHe took for his theme the \"Wooden Horse,\" by means of which the\nGreeks found entrance into Troy. Apollo inspired him, and he sang\nso feelingly the terrors and the exploits of that eventful time\nthat all were delighted, but Ulysses was moved to tears. Observing\nwhich, Alcinous, when the song was done, demanded of him why at\nthe mention of Troy his sorrows awaked. Had he lost there a\nfather, or brother, or any dear friend? Ulysses replied by\nannouncing himself by his true name, and at their request,\nrecounted the adventures which had befallen him since his\ndeparture from Troy. This narrative raised the sympathy and\nadmiration of the Ph\u00e6acians for their guest to the highest pitch.\nThe king proposed that all the chiefs should present him with a\ngift, himself setting the example. They obeyed, and vied with one\nanother in loading the illustrious stranger with costly gifts.\n\nThe next day Ulysses set sail in the Ph\u00e6acian vessel, and in a\nshort time arrived safe at Ithaca, his own island. When the vessel\ntouched the strand he was asleep. The mariners, without waking\nhim, carried him on shore, and landed with him the chest\ncontaining his presents, and then sailed away.\n\nNeptune was so displeased at the conduct of the Ph\u00e6acians in thus\nrescuing Ulysses from his hands that on the return of the vessel\nto port he transformed it into a rock, right opposite the mouth of\nthe harbor.\n\n\u00a0\n\nHomer's description of the ships of the Ph\u00e6acians has been\nthought to look like an anticipation of the wonders of modern\nsteam navigation. Alcinous says to Ulysses:\n\n\"Say from what city, from what regions tossed,\n\nAnd what inhabitants those regions boast?\n\nSo shalt thou quickly reach the realm assigned,\n\nIn wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind;\n\nNo helm secures their course, no pilot guides;\n\nLike man intelligent they plough the tides,\n\nConscious of every coast and every bay\n\nThat lies beneath the sun's all-seeing ray.\"\n\n\u2014Odyssey, Book VIII.\n\nLord Carlisle, in his \"Diary in the Turkish and Greek Waters,\"\nthus speaks of Corfu, which he considers to be the ancient\nPh\u00e6acian island:\n\n\"The sites explain the 'Odyssey.' The temple of the sea-god could\nnot have been more fitly placed, upon a grassy platform of the\nmost elastic turf, on the brow of a crag commanding harbor, and\nchannel, and ocean. Just at the entrance of the inner harbor there\nis a picturesque rock with a small convent perched upon it, which\nby one legend is the transformed pinnace of Ulysses.\n\n\"Almost the only river in the island is just at the proper\ndistance from the probable site of the city and palace of the\nking, to justify the princess Nausicaa having had resort to her\nchariot and to luncheon when she went with the maidens of the\ncourt to wash their garments.\"\n\nFATE OF THE SUITORS\n\nUlysses had now been away from Ithaca for twenty years, and when\nhe awoke he did not recognize his native land. Minerva appeared to\nhim in the form of a young shepherd, informed him where he was,\nand told him the state of things at his palace. More than a\nhundred nobles of Ithaca and of the neighboring islands had been\nfor years suing for the hand of Penelope, his wife, imagining him\ndead, and lording it over his palace and people, as if they were\nowners of both. That he might be able to take vengeance upon them,\nit was important that he should not be recognized. Minerva\naccordingly metamorphosed him into an unsightly beggar, and as\nsuch he was kindly received by Eum\u00e6us, the swine-herd, a faithful\nservant of his house.\n\nTelemachus, his son, was absent in quest of his father. He had\ngone to the courts of the other kings, who had returned from the\nTrojan expedition. While on the search, he received counsel from\nMinerva to return home. He arrived and sought Eum\u00e6us to learn\nsomething of the state of affairs at the palace before presenting\nhimself among the suitors. Finding a stranger with Eum\u00e6us, he\ntreated him courteously, though in the garb of a beggar, and\npromised him assistance. Eum\u00e6us was sent to the palace to inform\nPenelope privately of her son's arrival, for caution was necessary\nwith regard to the suitors, who, as Telemachus had learned, were\nplotting to intercept and kill him. When Eum\u00e6us was gone, Minerva\npresented herself to Ulysses, and directed him to make himself\nknown to his son. At the same time she touched him, removed at\nonce from him the appearance of age and penury, and gave him the\naspect of vigorous manhood that belonged to him. Telemachus viewed\nhim with astonishment, and at first thought he must be more than\nmortal. But Ulysses announced himself as his father, and accounted\nfor the change of appearance by explaining that it was Minerva's\ndoing.\n\n\"... Then threw Telemachus\n\nHis arms around his father's neck and wept.\n\nDesire intense of lamentation seized\n\nOn both; soft murmurs uttering, each indulged\n\nHis grief.\"\n\nThe father and son took counsel together how they should get the\nbetter of the suitors and punish them for their outrages. It was\narranged that Telemachus should proceed to the palace and mingle\nwith the suitors as formerly; that Ulysses should also go as a\nbeggar, a character which in the rude old times had different\nprivileges from what we concede to it now. As traveller and\nstoryteller, the beggar was admitted in the halls of chieftains,\nand often treated like a guest; though sometimes, also, no doubt,\nwith contumely. Ulysses charged his son not to betray, by any\ndisplay of unusual interest in him, that he knew him to be other\nthan he seemed, and even if he saw him insulted, or beaten, not to\ninterpose otherwise than he might do for any stranger. At the\npalace they found the usual scene of feasting and riot going on.\nThe suitors pretended to receive Telemachus with joy at his\nreturn, though secretly mortified at the failure of their plots to\ntake his life. The old beggar was permitted to enter, and provided\nwith a portion from the table. A touching incident occurred as\nUlysses entered the courtyard of the palace. An old dog lay in the\nyard almost dead with age, and seeing a stranger enter, raised his\nhead, with ears erect. It was Argus, Ulysses' own dog, that he had\nin other days often led to the chase.\n\n\"... Soon as he perceived\n\nLong-lost Ulysses nigh, down fell his ears\n\nClapped close, and with his tail glad sign he gave\n\nOf gratulation, impotent to rise,\n\nAnd to approach his master as of old.\n\nUlysses, noting him, wiped off a tear\n\nUnmarked.\n\n... Then his destiny released\n\nOld Argus, soon as he had lived to see\n\nUlysses in the twentieth year restored.\"\n\nAs Ulysses sat eating his portion in the hall, the suitors began\nto exhibit their insolence to him. When he mildly remonstrated,\none of them, raised a stool and with it gave him a blow.\nTelemachus had hard work to restrain his indignation at seeing his\nfather so treated in his own hall, but remembering his father's\ninjunctions, said no more than what became him as master of the\nhouse, though young, and protector of his guests.\n\nPenelope had protracted her decision in favor of either of her\nsuitors so long that there seemed to be no further pretence for\ndelay. The continued absence of her husband seemed to prove that\nhis return was no longer to be expected. Meanwhile, her son had\ngrown up, and was able to manage his own affairs. She therefore\nconsented to submit the question of her choice to a trial of skill\namong the suitors. The test selected was shooting with the bow.\nTwelve rings were arranged in a line, and he whose arrow was sent\nthrough the whole twelve was to have the queen for his prize. A\nbow that one of his brother heroes had given to Ulysses in former\ntimes was brought from the armory, and with its quiver full of\narrows was laid in the hall. Telemachus had taken care that all\nother weapons should be removed, under pretence that in the heat\nof competition there was danger, in some rash moment, of putting\nthem to an improper use.\n\nAll things being prepared for the trial, the first thing to be\ndone was to bend the bow in order to attach the string. Telemachus\nendeavored to do it, but found all his efforts fruitless; and\nmodestly confessing that he had attempted a task beyond his\nstrength, he yielded the bow to another. He tried it with no\nbetter success, and, amidst the laughter and jeers of his\ncompanions, gave it up. Another tried it and another; they rubbed\nthe bow with tallow, but all to no purpose; it would not bend.\nThen spoke Ulysses, humbly suggesting that he should be permitted\nto try; for, said he, \"beggar as I am, I was once a soldier, and\nthere is still some strength in these old limbs of mine.\" The\nsuitors hooted with derision, and commanded to turn him out of the\nhall for his insolence. But Telemachus spoke up for him, and,\nmerely to gratify the old man, bade him try. Ulysses took the bow,\nand handled it with the hand of a master. With ease he adjusted\nthe cord to its notch, then fitting an arrow to the bow he drew\nthe string and sped the arrow unerring through the rings.\n\nWithout allowing them time to express their astonishment, he said,\n\"Now for another mark!\" and aimed direct at the most insolent one\nof the suitors. The arrow pierced through his throat and he fell\ndead. Telemachus, Eum\u00e6us, and another faithful follower, well\narmed, now sprang to the side of Ulysses. The suitors, in\namazement, looked round for arms, but found none, neither was\nthere any way of escape, for Eum\u00e6us had secured the door. Ulysses\nleft them not long in uncertainty; he announced himself as the\nlong-lost chief, whose house they had invaded, whose substance\nthey had squandered, whose wife and son they had persecuted for\nten long years; and told them he meant to have ample vengeance.\nAll were slain, and Ulysses was left master of his palace and\npossessor of his kingdom and his wife.\n\n\u00a0\n\nTennyson's poem of \"Ulysses\" represents the old hero, after his\ndangers past and nothing left but to stay at home and be happy,\ngrowing tired of inaction and resolving to set forth again in\nquest of new adventures.\n\n\"... Come, my friends,\n\n'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.\n\nPush off, and sitting well in order smite\n\nThe sounding furrows; for my purpose holds\n\nTo sail beyond the sunset, and the baths\n\nOf all the western stars, until I die.\n\nIt may be that the gulfs will wash us down;\n\nIt may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,\n\nAnd see the great Achilles whom we knew;\" etc.","title":"The Age of Fable/Chapter XXX","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":3817}