The

Odyssey

By

Homer

BOOK I
THE GODS IN COUNCIL—MINERVA'S VISIT TO ITHACA—THE
CHALLENGE FROM TELEMACHUS TO THE SUITORS.

Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after
he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many
were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted;
moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring
his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they
perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god
Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too,
about all these things, oh daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may
know them.
So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely
home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his wife and
country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him into a large
cave and wanted to marry him. But as years went by, there came a time when
the gods settled that he should go back to Ithaca; even then, however, when he
was among his own people, his troubles were not yet over; nevertheless all the
gods had now begun to pity him except Neptune, who still persecuted him
without ceasing and would not let him get home.
Now Neptune had gone off to the Ethiopians, who are at the world's end,
and lie in two halves, the one looking West and the other East. He had gone
there to accept a hecatomb of sheep and oxen, and was enjoying himself at his
festival; but the other gods met in the house of Olympian Jove, and the sire of
gods and men spoke first. At that moment he was thinking of Aegisthus, who
had been killed by Agamemnon's son Orestes; so he said to the other gods:
"See now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is after all nothing
but their own folly. Look at Aegisthus; he must needs make love to
Agamemnon's wife unrighteously and then kill Agamemnon, though he knew
it would be the death of him; for I sent Mercury to warn him not to do either of
these things, inasmuch as Orestes would be sure to take his revenge when he
grew up and wanted to return home. Mercury told him this in all good will but
he would not listen, and now he has paid for everything in full."
Then Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, it served
Aegisthus right, and so it would any one else who does as he did; but
Aegisthus is neither here nor there; it is for Ulysses that my heart bleeds, when
I think of his sufferings in that lonely sea-girt island, far away, poor man, from
all his friends. It is an island covered with forest, in the very middle of the sea,
and a goddess lives there, daughter of the magician Atlas, who looks after the
bottom of the ocean, and carries the great columns that keep heaven and earth
asunder. This daughter of Atlas has got hold of poor unhappy Ulysses, and
keeps trying by every kind of blandishment to make him forget his home, so
that he is tired of life, and thinks of nothing but how he may once more see the
smoke of his own chimneys. You, sir, take no heed of this, and yet when
Ulysses was before Troy did he not propitiate you with many a burnt sacrifice?
Why then should you keep on being so angry with him?"
And Jove said, "My child, what are you talking about? How can I forget
Ulysses than whom there is no more capable man on earth, nor more liberal in
his offerings to the immortal gods that live in heaven? Bear in mind, however,
that Neptune is still furious with Ulysses for having blinded an eye of
Polyphemus king of the Cyclopes. Polyphemus is son to Neptune by the
nymph Thoosa, daughter to the sea-king Phorcys; therefore though he will not
kill Ulysses outright, he torments him by preventing him from getting home.
Still, let us lay our heads together and see how we can help him to return;
Neptune will then be pacified, for if we are all of a mind he can hardly stand
out against us."
And Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, if, then, the gods
now mean that Ulysses should get home, we should first send Mercury to the
Ogygian island to tell Calypso that we have made up our minds and that he is
to return. In the meantime I will go to Ithaca, to put heart into Ulysses' son
Telemachus; I will embolden him to call the Achaeans in assembly, and speak
out to the suitors of his mother Penelope, who persist in eating up any number
of his sheep and oxen; I will also conduct him to Sparta and to Pylos, to see if
he can hear anything about the return of his dear father—for this will make
people speak well of him."
So saying she bound on her glittering golden sandals, imperishable, with
which she can fly like the wind over land or sea; she grasped the redoubtable
bronze-shod spear, so stout and sturdy and strong, wherewith she quells the
ranks of heroes who have displeased her, and down she darted from the
topmost summits of Olympus, whereon forthwith she was in Ithaca, at the
gateway of Ulysses' house, disguised as a visitor, Mentes, chief of the
Taphians, and she held a bronze spear in her hand. There she found the lordly
suitors seated on hides of the oxen which they had killed and eaten, and
playing draughts in front of the house. Men-servants and pages were bustling
about to wait upon them, some mixing wine with water in the mixing-bowls,
some cleaning down the tables with wet sponges and laying them out again,
and some cutting up great quantities of meat.
Telemachus saw her long before any one else did. He was sitting moodily
among the suitors thinking about his brave father, and how he would send
them flying out of the house, if he were to come to his own again and be
honoured as in days gone by. Thus brooding as he sat among them, he caught
sight of Minerva and went straight to the gate, for he was vexed that a stranger
should be kept waiting for admittance. He took her right hand in his own, and
bade her give him her spear. "Welcome," said he, "to our house, and when you
have partaken of food you shall tell us what you have come for."
He led the way as he spoke, and Minerva followed him. When they were
within he took her spear and set it in the spear-stand against a strong bearing-
post along with the many other spears of his unhappy father, and he conducted
her to a richly decorated seat under which he threw a cloth of damask. There
was a footstool also for her feet, and he set another seat near her for himself,
away from the suitors, that she might not be annoyed while eating by their
noise and insolence, and that he might ask her more freely about his father.
A maid servant then brought them water in a beautiful golden ewer and
poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands, and she drew a clean
table beside them. An upper servant brought them bread, and offered them
many good things of what there was in the house, the carver fetched them
plates of all manner of meats and set cups of gold by their side, and a
manservant brought them wine and poured it out for them.
Then the suitors came in and took their places on the benches and seats.
Forthwith men servants poured water over their hands, maids went round with
the bread-baskets, pages filled the mixing-bowls with wine and water, and
they laid their hands upon the good things that were before them. As soon as
they had had enough to eat and drink they wanted music and dancing, which
are the crowning embellishments of a banquet, so a servant brought a lyre to
Phemius, whom they compelled perforce to sing to them. As soon as he
touched his lyre and began to sing Telemachus spoke low to Minerva, with his
head close to hers that no man might hear.
"I hope, sir," said he, "that you will not be offended with what I am going
to say. Singing comes cheap to those who do not pay for it, and all this is done
at the cost of one whose bones lie rotting in some wilderness or grinding to
powder in the surf. If these men were to see my father come back to Ithaca
they would pray for longer legs rather than a longer purse, for money would
not serve them; but he, alas, has fallen on an ill fate, and even when people do
sometimes say that he is coming, we no longer heed them; we shall never see
him again. And now, sir, tell me and tell me true, who you are and where you
come from. Tell me of your town and parents, what manner of ship you came
in, how your crew brought you to Ithaca, and of what nation they declared
themselves to be—for you cannot have come by land. Tell me also truly, for I
want to know, are you a stranger to this house, or have you been here in my
father's time? In the old days we had many visitors for my father went about
much himself."
And Minerva answered, "I will tell you truly and particularly all about it. I
am Mentes, son of Anchialus, and I am King of the Taphians. I have come
here with my ship and crew, on a voyage to men of a foreign tongue being
bound for Temesa with a cargo of iron, and I shall bring back copper. As for
my ship, it lies over yonder off the open country away from the town, in the
harbour Rheithron under the wooded mountain Neritum. Our fathers were
friends before us, as old Laertes will tell you, if you will go and ask him. They
say, however, that he never comes to town now, and lives by himself in the
country, faring hardly, with an old woman to look after him and get his dinner
for him, when he comes in tired from pottering about his vineyard. They told
me your father was at home again, and that was why I came, but it seems the
gods are still keeping him back, for he is not dead yet not on the mainland. It
is more likely he is on some sea-girt island in mid ocean, or a prisoner among
savages who are detaining him against his will. I am no prophet, and know
very little about omens, but I speak as it is borne in upon me from heaven, and
assure you that he will not be away much longer; for he is a man of such
resource that even though he were in chains of iron he would find some means
of getting home again. But tell me, and tell me true, can Ulysses really have
such a fine looking fellow for a son? You are indeed wonderfully like him
about the head and eyes, for we were close friends before he set sail for Troy
where the flower of all the Argives went also. Since that time we have never
either of us seen the other."
"My mother," answered Telemachus, "tells me I am son to Ulysses, but it is
a wise child that knows his own father. Would that I were son to one who had
grown old upon his own estates, for, since you ask me, there is no more ill-
starred man under heaven than he who they tell me is my father."
And Minerva said, "There is no fear of your race dying out yet, while
Penelope has such a fine son as you are. But tell me, and tell me true, what is
the meaning of all this feasting, and who are these people? What is it all
about? Have you some banquet, or is there a wedding in the family—for no
one seems to be bringing any provisions of his own? And the guests—how
atrociously they are behaving; what riot they make over the whole house; it is
enough to disgust any respectable person who comes near them."
"Sir," said Telemachus, "as regards your question, so long as my father was
here it was well with us and with the house, but the gods in their displeasure
have willed it otherwise, and have hidden him away more closely than mortal
man was ever yet hidden. I could have borne it better even though he were
dead, if he had fallen with his men before Troy, or had died with friends
around him when the days of his fighting were done; for then the Achaeans
would have built a mound over his ashes, and I should myself have been heir
to his renown; but now the storm-winds have spirited him away we know not
whither; he is gone without leaving so much as a trace behind him, and I
inherit nothing but dismay. Nor does the matter end simply with grief for the
loss of my father; heaven has laid sorrows upon me of yet another kind; for the
chiefs from all our islands, Dulichium, Same, and the woodland island of
Zacynthus, as also all the principal men of Ithaca itself, are eating up my
house under the pretext of paying their court to my mother, who will neither
point blank say that she will not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end; so
they are making havoc of my estate, and before long will do so also with
myself."
"Is that so?" exclaimed Minerva, "then you do indeed want Ulysses home
again. Give him his helmet, shield, and a couple of lances, and if he is the man
he was when I first knew him in our house, drinking and making merry, he
would soon lay his hands about these rascally suitors, were he to stand once
more upon his own threshold. He was then coming from Ephyra, where he had
been to beg poison for his arrows from Ilus, son of Mermerus. Ilus feared the
ever-living gods and would not give him any, but my father let him have some,
for he was very fond of him. If Ulysses is the man he then was these suitors
will have a short shrift and a sorry wedding.
"But there! It rests with heaven to determine whether he is to return, and
take his revenge in his own house or no; I would, however, urge you to set
about trying to get rid of these suitors at once. Take my advice, call the
Achaean heroes in assembly to-morrow morning—lay your case before them,
and call heaven to bear you witness. Bid the suitors take themselves off, each
to his own place, and if your mother's mind is set on marrying again, let her go
back to her father, who will find her a husband and provide her with all the
marriage gifts that so dear a daughter may expect. As for yourself, let me
prevail upon you to take the best ship you can get, with a crew of twenty men,
and go in quest of your father who has so long been missing. Some one may
tell you something, or (and people often hear things in this way) some heaven-
sent message may direct you. First go to Pylos and ask Nestor; thence go on to
Sparta and visit Menelaus, for he got home last of all the Achaeans; if you
hear that your father is alive and on his way home, you can put up with the
waste these suitors will make for yet another twelve months. If on the other
hand you hear of his death, come home at once, celebrate his funeral rites with
all due pomp, build a barrow to his memory, and make your mother marry
again. Then, having done all this, think it well over in your mind how, by fair
means or foul, you may kill these suitors in your own house. You are too old
to plead infancy any longer; have you not heard how people are singing
Orestes' praises for having killed his father's murderer Aegisthus? You are a
fine, smart looking fellow; show your mettle, then, and make yourself a name
in story. Now, however, I must go back to my ship and to my crew, who will
be impatient if I keep them waiting longer; think the matter over for yourself,
and remember what I have said to you."
"Sir," answered Telemachus, "it has been very kind of you to talk to me in
this way, as though I were your own son, and I will do all you tell me; I know
you want to be getting on with your voyage, but stay a little longer till you
have taken a bath and refreshed yourself. I will then give you a present, and
you shall go on your way rejoicing; I will give you one of great beauty and
value—a keepsake such as only dear friends give to one another."
Minerva answered, "Do not try to keep me, for I would be on my way at
once. As for any present you may be disposed to make me, keep it till I come
again, and I will take it home with me. You shall give me a very good one, and
I will give you one of no less value in return."
With these words she flew away like a bird into the air, but she had given
Telemachus courage, and had made him think more than ever about his father.
He felt the change, wondered at it, and knew that the stranger had been a god,
so he went straight to where the suitors were sitting.
Phemius was still singing, and his hearers sat rapt in silence as he told the
sad tale of the return from Troy, and the ills Minerva had laid upon the
Achaeans. Penelope, daughter of Icarius, heard his song from her room
upstairs, and came down by the great staircase, not alone, but attended by two
of her handmaids. When she reached the suitors she stood by one of the
bearing posts that supported the roof of the cloisters with a staid maiden on
either side of her. She held a veil, moreover, before her face, and was weeping
bitterly.
"Phemius," she cried, "you know many another feat of gods and heroes,
such as poets love to celebrate. Sing the suitors some one of these, and let
them drink their wine in silence, but cease this sad tale, for it breaks my
sorrowful heart, and reminds me of my lost husband whom I mourn ever
without ceasing, and whose name was great over all Hellas and middle
Argos."
"Mother," answered Telemachus, "let the bard sing what he has a mind to;
bards do not make the ills they sing of; it is Jove, not they, who makes them,
and who sends weal or woe upon mankind according to his own good
pleasure. This fellow means no harm by singing the ill-fated return of the
Danaans, for people always applaud the latest songs most warmly. Make up
your mind to it and bear it; Ulysses is not the only man who never came back
from Troy, but many another went down as well as he. Go, then, within the
house and busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and
the ordering of your servants; for speech is man's matter, and mine above all
others —for it is I who am master here."
 She went wondering back into the house, and laid her son's saying in her
heart. Then, going upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she mourned
her dear husband till Minerva shed sweet sleep over her eyes. But the suitors
were clamorous throughout the covered cloisters , and prayed each one that he
might be her bed fellow.
Then Telemachus spoke, "Shameless," he cried, "and insolent suitors, let
us feast at our pleasure now, and let there be no brawling, for it is a rare thing
to hear a man with such a divine voice as Phemius has; but in the morning
meet me in full assembly that I may give you formal notice to depart, and feast
at one another's houses, turn and turn about, at your own cost. If on the other
hand you choose to persist in spunging upon one man, heaven help me, but
Jove shall reckon with you in full, and when you fall in my father's house
there shall be no man to avenge you."
The suitors bit their lips as they heard him, and marvelled at the boldness
of his speech. Then, Antinous, son of Eupeithes, said, "The gods seem to have
given you lessons in bluster and tall talking; may Jove never grant you to be
chief in Ithaca as your father was before you."
Telemachus answered, "Antinous, do not chide with me, but, god willing, I
will be chief too if I can. Is this the worst fate you can think of for me? It is no
bad thing to be a chief, for it brings both riches and honour. Still, now that
Ulysses is dead there are many great men in Ithaca both old and young, and
some other may take the lead among them; nevertheless I will be chief in my
own house, and will rule those whom Ulysses has won for me."
Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered, "It rests with heaven to
decide who shall be chief among us, but you shall be master in your own
house and over your own possessions; no one while there is a man in Ithaca
shall do you violence nor rob you. And now, my good fellow, I want to know
about this stranger. What country does he come from? Of what family is he,
and where is his estate? Has he brought you news about the return of your
father, or was he on business of his own? He seemed a well to do man, but he
hurried off so suddenly that he was gone in a moment before we could get to
know him."
"My father is dead and gone," answered Telemachus, "and even if some
rumour reaches me I put no more faith in it now. My mother does indeed
sometimes send for a soothsayer and question him, but I give his prophecyings
no heed. As for the stranger, he was Mentes, son of Anchialus, chief of the
Taphians, an old friend of my father's." But in his heart he knew that it had
been the goddess.
The suitors then returned to their singing and dancing until the evening;
but when night fell upon their pleasuring they went home to bed each in his
own abode. Telemachus's room was high up in a tower that looked on to the
outer court; hither, then, he hied, brooding and full of thought. A good old
woman, Euryclea, daughter of Ops, the son of Pisenor, went before him with a
couple of blazing torches. Laertes had bought her with his own money when
she was quite young; he gave the worth of twenty oxen for her, and shewed as
much respect to her in his household as he did to his own wedded wife, but he
did not take her to his bed for he feared his wife's resentment. She it was who
now lighted Telemachus to his room, and she loved him better than any of the
other women in the house did, for she had nursed him when he was a baby. He
opened the door of his bed room and sat down upon the bed; as he took off his
shirt he gave it to the good old woman, who folded it tidily up, and hung it for
him over a peg by his bed side, after which she went out, pulled the door to by
a silver catch, and drew the bolt home by means of the strap. But Telemachus
as he lay covered with a woollen fleece kept thinking all night through of his
intended voyage and of the counsel that Minerva had given him.

BOOK II
ASSEMBLY OF THE PEOPLE OF ITHACA—SPEECHES OF
TELEMACHUS AND OF THE SUITORS—TELEMACHUS MAKES
HIS PREPARATIONS AND STARTS FOR PYLOS WITH MINERVA
DISGUISED AS MENTOR.

Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared

Telemachus rose and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his comely
feet, girded his sword about his shoulder, and left his room looking like an
immortal god. He at once sent the criers round to call the people in assembly,
so they called them and the people gathered thereon; then, when they were got
together, he went to the place of assembly spear in hand—not alone, for his
two hounds went with him. Minerva endowed him with a presence of such
divine comeliness that all marvelled at him as he went by, and when he took
his place in his father's seat even the oldest councillors made way for him.
Aegyptius, a man bent double with age, and of infinite experience, was the
first to speak. His son Antiphus had gone with Ulysses to Ilius, land of noble
steeds, but the savage Cyclops had killed him when they were all shut up in
the cave, and had cooked his last dinner for him. He had three sons left, of
whom two still worked on their father's land, while the third, Eurynomus, was
one of the suitors; nevertheless their father could not get over the loss of
Antiphus, and was still weeping for him when he began his speech.
"Men of Ithaca," he said, "hear my words. From the day Ulysses left us
there has been no meeting of our councillors until now; who then can it be,
whether old or young, that finds it so necessary to convene us? Has he got
wind of some host approaching, and does he wish to warn us, or would he
speak upon some other matter of public moment? I am sure he is an excellent
person, and I hope Jove will grant him his heart's desire."
Telemachus took this speech as of good omen and rose at once, for he was
bursting with what he had to say. He stood in the middle of the assembly and
the good herald Pisenor brought him his staff. Then, turning to Aegyptius,
"Sir," said he, "it is I, as you will shortly learn, who have convened you, for it
is I who am the most aggrieved. I have not got wind of any host approaching
about which I would warn you, nor is there any matter of public moment on
which I would speak. My grievance is purely personal, and turns on two great
misfortunes which have fallen upon my house. The first of these is the loss of
my excellent father, who was chief among all you here present, and was like a
father to every one of you; the second is much more serious, and ere long will
be the utter ruin of my estate. The sons of all the chief men among you are
pestering my mother to marry them against her will. They are afraid to go to
her father Icarius, asking him to choose the one he likes best, and to provide
marriage gifts for his daughter, but day by day they keep hanging about my
father's house, sacrificing our oxen, sheep, and fat goats for their banquets,
and never giving so much as a thought to the quantity of wine they drink. No
estate can stand such recklessness; we have now no Ulysses to ward off harm
from our doors, and I cannot hold my own against them. I shall never all my
days be as good a man as he was, still I would indeed defend myself if I had
power to do so, for I cannot stand such treatment any longer; my house is
being disgraced and ruined. Have respect, therefore, to your own consciences
and to public opinion. Fear, too, the wrath of heaven, lest the gods should be
displeased and turn upon you. I pray you by Jove and Themis, who is the
beginning and the end of councils, [do not] hold back, my friends, and leave
me singlehanded —unless it be that my brave father Ulysses did some wrong
to the Achaeans which you would now avenge on me, by aiding and abetting
these suitors. Moreover, if I am to be eaten out of house and home at all, I had
rather you did the eating yourselves, for I could then take action against you to
some purpose, and serve you with notices from house to house till I got paid in
full, whereas now I have no remedy."
With this Telemachus dashed his staff to the ground and burst into tears.
Every one was very sorry for him, but they all sat still and no one ventured to
make him an angry answer, save only Antinous, who spoke thus:
"Telemachus, insolent braggart that you are, how dare you try to throw the
blame upon us suitors? It is your mother's fault not ours, for she is a very artful
woman. This three years past, and close on four, she had been driving us out
of our minds, by encouraging each one of us, and sending him messages
without meaning one word of what she says. And then there was that other
trick she played us. She set up a great tambour frame in her room, and began
to work on an enormous piece of fine needlework. 'Sweet hearts,' said she,
'Ulysses is indeed dead, still do not press me to marry again immediately, wait
—for I would not have skill in needlework perish unrecorded—till I have
completed a pall for the hero Laertes, to be in readiness against the time when
death shall take him. He is very rich, and the women of the place will talk if he
is laid out without a pall.'
"This was what she said, and we assented; whereon we could see her
working on her great web all day long, but at night she would unpick the
stitches again by torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three years and we
never found her out, but as time wore on and she was now in her fourth year,
one of her maids who knew what she was doing told us, and we caught her in
the act of undoing her work, so she had to finish it whether she would or no.
The suitors, therefore, make you this answer, that both you and the Achaeans
may understand-'Send your mother away, and bid her marry the man of her
own and of her father's choice'; for I do not know what will happen if she goes
on plaguing us much longer with the airs she gives herself on the score of the
accomplishments Minerva has taught her, and because she is so clever. We
never yet heard of such a woman; we know all about Tyro, Alcmena, Mycene,
and the famous women of old, but they were nothing to your mother any one
of them. It was not fair of her to treat us in that way, and as long as she
continues in the mind with which heaven has now endowed her, so long shall
we go on eating up your estate; and I do not see why she should change, for
she gets all the honour and glory, and it is you who pay for it, not she.
Understand, then, that we will not go back to our lands, neither here nor
elsewhere, till she has made her choice and married some one or other of us."
Telemachus answered, "Antinous, how can I drive the mother who bore me
from my father's house? My father is abroad and we do not know whether he
is alive or dead. It will be hard on me if I have to pay Icarius the large sum
which I must give him if I insist on sending his daughter back to him. Not only
will he deal rigorously with me, but heaven will also punish me; for my
mother when she leaves the house will call on the Erinyes to avenge her;
besides, it would not be a creditable thing to do, and I will have nothing to say
to it. If you choose to take offence at this, leave the house and feast elsewhere
at one another's houses at your own cost turn and turn about. If, on the other
hand, you elect to persist in spunging upon one man, heaven help me, but Jove
shall reckon with you in full, and when you fall in my father's house there
shall be no man to avenge you."
As he spoke Jove sent two eagles from the top of the mountain, and they
flew on and on with the wind, sailing side by side in their own lordly flight.
When they were right over the middle of the assembly they wheeled and
circled about, beating the air with their wings and glaring death into the eyes
of them that were below; then, fighting fiercely and tearing at one another,
they flew off towards the right over the town. The people wondered as they
saw them, and asked each other what all this might be; whereon Halitherses,
who was the best prophet and reader of omens among them, spoke to them
plainly and in all honesty, saying:
"Hear me, men of Ithaca, and I speak more particularly to the suitors, for I
see mischief brewing for them. Ulysses is not going to be away much longer;
indeed he is close at hand to deal out death and destruction, not on them alone,
but on many another of us who live in Ithaca. Let us then be wise in time, and
put a stop to this wickedness before he comes. Let the suitors do so of their
own accord; it will be better for them, for I am not prophesying without due
knowledge; everything has happened to Ulysses as I foretold when the
Argives set out for Troy, and he with them. I said that after going through
much hardship and losing all his men he should come home again in the
twentieth year and that no one would know him; and now all this is coming
true."
Eurymachus son of Polybus then said, "Go home, old man, and prophesy
to your own children, or it may be worse for them. I can read these omens
myself much better than you can; birds are always flying about in the sunshine
somewhere or other, but they seldom mean anything. Ulysses has died in a far
country, and it is a pity you are not dead along with him, instead of prating
here about omens and adding fuel to the anger of Telemachus which is fierce
enough as it is. I suppose you think he will give you something for your
family, but I tell you—and it shall surely be—when an old man like you, who
should know better, talks a young one over till he becomes troublesome, in the
first place his young friend will only fare so much the worse—he will take
nothing by it, for the suitors will prevent this—and in the next, we will lay a
heavier fine, sir, upon yourself than you will at all like paying, for it will bear
hardly upon you. As for Telemachus, I warn him in the presence of you all to
send his mother back to her father, who will find her a husband and provide
her with all the marriage gifts so dear a daughter may expect. Till then we
shall go on harassing him with our suit; for we fear no man, and care neither
for him, with all his fine speeches, nor for any fortune-telling of yours. You
may preach as much as you please, but we shall only hate you the more. We
shall go back and continue to eat up Telemachus's estate without paying him,
till such time as his mother leaves off tormenting us by keeping us day after
day on the tiptoe of expectation, each vying with the other in his suit for a
prize of such rare perfection. Besides we cannot go after the other women
whom we should marry in due course, but for the way in which she treats us."
 Then Telemachus said, "Eurymachus, and you other suitors, I shall say no
more, and entreat you no further, for the gods and the people of Ithaca now
know my story. Give me, then, a ship and a crew of twenty men to take me
hither and thither, and I will go to Sparta and to Pylos in quest of my father
who has so long been missing. Some one may tell me something, or (and
people often hear things in this way) some heaven-sent message may direct
me. If I can hear of him as alive and on his way home I will put up with the
waste you suitors will make for yet another twelve months. If on the other
hand I hear of his death, I will return at once, celebrate his funeral rites with
all due pomp, build a barrow to his memory, and make my mother marry
again."
With these words he sat down, and Mentor who had been a friend of
Ulysses, and had been left in charge of everything with full authority over the
servants, rose to speak. He, then, plainly and in all honesty addressed them
thus:
"Hear me, men of Ithaca, I hope that you may never have a kind and well-
disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern you equitably; I hope that
all your chiefs henceforward may be cruel and unjust, for there is not one of
you but has forgotten Ulysses, who ruled you as though he were your father. I
am not half so angry with the suitors, for if they choose to do violence in the
naughtiness of their hearts, and wager their heads that Ulysses will not return,
they can take the high hand and eat up his estate, but as for you others I am
shocked at the way in which you all sit still without even trying to stop such
scandalous goings on—which you could do if you chose, for you are many
and they are few."
Leiocritus, son of Evenor, answered him saying, "Mentor, what folly is all
this, that you should set the people to stay us? It is a hard thing for one man to
fight with many about his victuals. Even though Ulysses himself were to set
upon us while we are feasting in his house, and do his best to oust us, his wife,
who wants him back so very badly, would have small cause for rejoicing, and
his blood would be upon his own head if he fought against such great odds.
There is no sense in what you have been saying. Now, therefore, do you
people go about your business, and let his father's old friends, Mentor and
Halitherses, speed this boy on his journey, if he goes at all—which I do not
think he will, for he is more likely to stay where he is till some one comes and
tells him something."
On this he broke up the assembly, and every man went back to his own
abode, while the suitors returned to the house of Ulysses.
Then Telemachus went all alone by the sea side, washed his hands in the
grey waves, and prayed to Minerva.
 "Hear me," he cried, "you god who visited me yesterday, and bade me sail
the seas in search of my father who has so long been missing. I would obey
you, but the Achaeans, and more particularly the wicked suitors, are hindering
me that I cannot do so."
As he thus prayed, Minerva came close up to him in the likeness and with
the voice of Mentor. "Telemachus," said she, "if you are made of the same
stuff as your father you will be neither fool nor coward henceforward, for
Ulysses never broke his word nor left his work half done. If, then, you take
after him, your voyage will not be fruitless, but unless you have the blood of
Ulysses and of Penelope in your veins I see no likelihood of your succeeding.
Sons are seldom as good men as their fathers; they are generally worse, not
better; still, as you are not going to be either fool or coward henceforward, and
are not entirely without some share of your father's wise discernment, I look
with hope upon your undertaking. But mind you never make common cause
with any of those foolish suitors, for they have neither sense nor virtue, and
give no thought to death and to the doom that will shortly fall on one and all of
them, so that they shall perish on the same day. As for your voyage, it shall not
be long delayed; your father was such an old friend of mine that I will find you
a ship, and will come with you myself. Now, however, return home, and go
about among the suitors; begin getting provisions ready for your voyage; see
everything well stowed, the wine in jars, and the barley meal, which is the
staff of life, in leathern bags, while I go round the town and beat up volunteers
at once. There are many ships in Ithaca both old and new; I will run my eye
over them for you and will choose the best; we will get her ready and will put
out to sea without delay."
Thus spoke Minerva daughter of Jove, and Telemachus lost no time in
doing as the goddess told him. He went moodily home, and found the suitors
flaying goats and singeing pigs in the outer court. Antinous came up to him at
once and laughed as he took his hand in his own, saying, "Telemachus, my
fine fire-eater, bear no more ill blood neither in word nor deed, but eat and
drink with us as you used to do. The Achaeans will find you in everything—a
ship and a picked crew to boot—so that you can set sail for Pylos at once and
get news of your noble father."
"Antinous," answered Telemachus, "I cannot eat in peace, nor take
pleasure of any kind with such men as you are. Was it not enough that you
should waste so much good property of mine while I was yet a boy? Now that
I am older and know more about it, I am also stronger, and whether here
among this people, or by going to Pylos, I will do you all the harm I can. I
shall go, and my going will not be in vain—though, thanks to you suitors, I
have neither ship nor crew of my own, and must be passenger not captain."
As he spoke he snatched his hand from that of Antinous. Meanwhile the
others went on getting dinner ready about the buildings, jeering at him
tauntingly as they did so.
"Telemachus," said one youngster, "means to be the death of us; I suppose
he thinks he can bring friends to help him from Pylos, or again from Sparta,
where he seems bent on going. Or will he go to Ephyra as well, for poison to
put in our wine and kill us?"
Another said, "Perhaps if Telemachus goes on board ship, he will be like
his father and perish far from his friends. In this case we should have plenty to
do, for we could then divide up his property amongst us: as for the house we
can let his mother and the man who marries her have that."
This was how they talked. But Telemachus went down into the lofty and
spacious store-room where his father's treasure of gold and bronze lay heaped
up upon the floor, and where the linen and spare clothes were kept in open
chests. Here, too, there was a store of fragrant olive oil, while casks of old,
well-ripened wine, unblended and fit for a god to drink, were ranged against
the wall in case Ulysses should come home again after all. The room was
closed with well-made doors opening in the middle; moreover the faithful old
house-keeper Euryclea, daughter of Ops the son of Pisenor, was in charge of
everything both night and day. Telemachus called her to the store-room and
said:
"Nurse, draw me off some of the best wine you have, after what you are
keeping for my father's own drinking, in case, poor man, he should escape
death, and find his way home again after all. Let me have twelve jars, and see
that they all have lids; also fill me some well-sewn leathern bags with barley
meal—about twenty measures in all. Get these things put together at once, and
say nothing about it. I will take everything away this evening as soon as my
mother has gone upstairs for the night. I am going to Sparta and to Pylos to see
if I can hear anything about the return of my dear father."
When Euryclea heard this she began to cry, and spoke fondly to him,
saying, "My dear child, what ever can have put such notion as that into your
head? Where in the world do you want to go to—you, who are the one hope of
the house? Your poor father is dead and gone in some foreign country nobody
knows where, and as soon as your back is turned these wicked ones here will
be scheming to get you put out of the way, and will share all your possessions
among themselves; stay where you are among your own people, and do not go
wandering and worrying your life out on the barren ocean."
"Fear not, nurse," answered Telemachus, "my scheme is not without
heaven's sanction; but swear that you will say nothing about all this to my
mother, till I have been away some ten or twelve days, unless she hears of my
having gone, and asks you; for I do not want her to spoil her beauty by
crying."
The old woman swore most solemnly that she would not, and when she
had completed her oath, she began drawing off the wine into jars, and getting
the barley meal into the bags, while Telemachus went back to the suitors.
Then Minerva bethought her of another matter. She took his shape, and
went round the town to each one of the crew, telling them to meet at the ship
by sundown. She went also to Noemon son of Phronius, and asked him to let
her have a ship—which he was very ready to do. When the sun had set and
darkness was over all the land, she got the ship into the water, put all the
tackle on board her that ships generally carry, and stationed her at the end of
the harbour. Presently the crew came up, and the goddess spoke encouragingly
to each of them.
Furthermore she went to the house of Ulysses, and threw the suitors into a
deep slumber. She caused their drink to fuddle them, and made them drop their
cups from their hands, so that instead of sitting over their wine, they went back
into the town to sleep, with their eyes heavy and full of drowsiness. Then she
took the form and voice of Mentor, and called Telemachus to come outside.
"Telemachus," said she, "the men are on board and at their oars, waiting
for you to give your orders, so make haste and let us be off."
On this she led the way, while Telemachus followed in her steps. When
they got to the ship they found the crew waiting by the water side, and
Telemachus said, "Now my men, help me to get the stores on board; they are
all put together in the cloister, and my mother does not know anything about
it, nor any of the maid servants except one."
With these words he led the way and the others followed after. When they
had brought the things as he told them, Telemachus went on board, Minerva
going before him and taking her seat in the stern of the vessel, while
Telemachus sat beside her. Then the men loosed the hawsers and took their
places on the benches. Minerva sent them a fair wind from the West, that
whistled over the deep blue waves whereon Telemachus told them to catch
hold of the ropes and hoist sail, and they did as he told them. They set the mast
in its socket in the cross plank, raised it, and made it fast with the forestays;
then they hoisted their white sails aloft with ropes of twisted ox hide. As the
sail bellied out with the wind, the ship flew through the deep blue water, and
the foam hissed against her bows as she sped onward. Then they made all fast
throughout the ship, filled the mixing bowls to the brim, and made drink
offerings to the immortal gods that are from everlasting, but more particularly
to the grey-eyed daughter of Jove.
Thus, then, the ship sped on her way through the watches of the night from
dark till dawn,

BOOK III
TELEMACHUS VISITS NESTOR AT PYLOS.

but as the sun was rising from the fair sea into the firmament of heaven to
shed light on mortals and immortals, they reached Pylos the city of Neleus.
Now the people of Pylos were gathered on the sea shore to offer sacrifice of
black bulls to Neptune lord of the Earthquake. There were nine guilds with
five hundred men in each, and there were nine bulls to each guild. As they
were eating the inward meats and burning the thigh bones [on the embers] in
the name of Neptune, Telemachus and his crew arrived, furled their sails,
brought their ship to anchor, and went ashore.
Minerva led the way and Telemachus followed her. Presently she said,
"Telemachus, you must not be in the least shy or nervous; you have taken this
voyage to try and find out where your father is buried and how he came by his
end; so go straight up to Nestor that we may see what he has got to tell us. Beg
of him to speak the truth, and he will tell no lies, for he is an excellent person."
"But how, Mentor," replied Telemachus, "dare I go up to Nestor, and how
am I to address him? I have never yet been used to holding long conversations
with people, and am ashamed to begin questioning one who is so much older
than myself."
"Some things, Telemachus," answered Minerva, "will be suggested to you
by your own instinct, and heaven will prompt you further; for I am assured
that the gods have been with you from the time of your birth until now."
She then went quickly on, and Telemachus followed in her steps till they
reached the place where the guilds of the Pylian people were assembled. There
they found Nestor sitting with his sons, while his company round him were
busy getting dinner ready, and putting pieces of meat on to the spits while
other pieces were cooking. When they saw the strangers they crowded round
them, took them by the hand and bade them take their places. Nestor's son
Pisistratus at once offered his hand to each of them, and seated them on some
soft sheepskins that were lying on the sands near his father and his brother
Thrasymedes. Then he gave them their portions of the inward meats and
poured wine for them into a golden cup, handing it to Minerva first, and
saluting her at the same time.
"Offer a prayer, sir," said he, "to King Neptune, for it is his feast that you
are joining; when you have duly prayed and made your drink offering, pass the
cup to your friend that he may do so also. I doubt not that he too lifts his hands
in prayer, for man cannot live without God in the world. Still he is younger
than you are, and is much of an age with myself, so I will give you the
precedence."
As he spoke he handed her the cup. Minerva thought it very right and
proper of him to have given it to herself first; she accordingly began praying
heartily to Neptune. "O thou," she cried, "that encirclest the earth, vouchsafe
to grant the prayers of thy servants that call upon thee. More especially we
pray thee send down thy grace on Nestor and on his sons; thereafter also make
the rest of the Pylian people some handsome return for the goodly hecatomb
they are offering you. Lastly, grant Telemachus and myself a happy issue, in
respect of the matter that has brought us in our ship to Pylos."
When she had thus made an end of praying, she handed the cup to
Telemachus and he prayed likewise. By and by, when the outer meats were
roasted and had been taken off the spits, the carvers gave every man his
portion and they all made an excellent dinner. As soon as they had had enough
to eat and drink, Nestor, knight of Gerene, began to speak.
"Now," said he, "that our guests have done their dinner, it will be best to
ask them who they are. Who, then, sir strangers, are you, and from what port
have you sailed? Are you traders? or do you sail the seas as rovers with your
hand against every man, and every man's hand against you?"
Telemachus answered boldly, for Minerva had given him courage to ask
about his father and get himself a good name.
"Nestor," said he, "son of Neleus, honour to the Achaean name, you ask
whence we come, and I will tell you. We come from Ithaca under Neritum,
and the matter about which I would speak is of private not public import. I
seek news of my unhappy father Ulysses, who is said to have sacked the town
of Troy in company with yourself. We know what fate befell each one of the
other heroes who fought at Troy, but as regards Ulysses heaven has hidden
from us the knowledge even that he is dead at all, for no one can certify us in
what place he perished, nor say whether he fell in battle on the mainland, or
was lost at sea amid the waves of Amphitrite. Therefore I am suppliant at your
knees, if haply you may be pleased to tell me of his melancholy end, whether
you saw it with your own eyes, or heard it from some other traveller, for he
was a man born to trouble. Do not soften things out of any pity for me, but tell
me in all plainness exactly what you saw. If my brave father Ulysses ever did
you loyal service, either by word or deed, when you Achaeans were harassed
among the Trojans, bear it in mind now as in my favour and tell me truly all."
"My friend," answered Nestor, "you recall a time of much sorrow to my
mind, for the brave Achaeans suffered much both at sea, while privateering
under Achilles, and when fighting before the great city of king Priam. Our best
men all of them fell there—Ajax, Achilles, Patroclus peer of gods in counsel,
and my own dear son Antilochus, a man singularly fleet of foot and in fight
valiant. But we suffered much more than this; what mortal tongue indeed
could tell the whole story? Though you were to stay here and question me for
five years, or even six, I could not tell you all that the Achaeans suffered, and
you would turn homeward weary of my tale before it ended. Nine long years
did we try every kind of stratagem, but the hand of heaven was against us;
during all this time there was no one who could compare with your father in
subtlety—if indeed you are his son—I can hardly believe my eyes—and you
talk just like him too—no one would say that people of such different ages
could speak so much alike. He and I never had any kind of difference from
first to last neither in camp nor council, but in singleness of heart and purpose
we advised the Argives how all might be ordered for the best.
"When, however, we had sacked the city of Priam, and were setting sail in
our ships as heaven had dispersed us, then Jove saw fit to vex the Argives on
their homeward voyage; for they had not all been either wise or understanding,
and hence many came to a bad end through the displeasure of Jove's daughter
Minerva, who brought about a quarrel between the two sons of Atreus.
"The sons of Atreus called a meeting which was not as it should be, for it
was sunset and the Achaeans were heavy with wine. When they explained
why they had called the people together, it seemed that Menelaus was for
sailing homeward at once, and this displeased Agamemnon, who thought that
we should wait till we had offered hecatombs to appease the anger of Minerva.
Fool that he was, he might have known that he would not prevail with her, for
when the gods have made up their minds they do not change them lightly. So
the two stood bandying hard words, whereon the Achaeans sprang to their feet
with a cry that rent the air, and were of two minds as to what they should do.
"That night we rested and nursed our anger, for Jove was hatching mischief
against us. But in the morning some of us drew our ships into the water and
put our goods with our women on board, while the rest, about half in number,
stayed behind with Agamemnon. We—the other half—embarked and sailed;
and the ships went well, for heaven had smoothed the sea. When we reached
Tenedos we offered sacrifices to the gods, for we were longing to get home;
cruel Jove, however, did not yet mean that we should do so, and raised a
second quarrel in the course of which some among us turned their ships back
again, and sailed away under Ulysses to make their peace with Agamemnon;
but I, and all the ships that were with me pressed forward, for I saw that
mischief was brewing. The son of Tydeus went on also with me, and his crews
with him. Later on Menelaus joined us at Lesbos, and found us making up our
minds about our course—for we did not know whether to go outside Chios by
the island of Psyra, keeping this to our left, or inside Chios, over against the
stormy headland of Mimas. So we asked heaven for a sign, and were shown
one to the effect that we should be soonest out of danger if we headed our
ships across the open sea to Euboea. This we therefore did, and a fair wind
sprang up which gave us a quick passage during the night to Geraestus, where
we offered many sacrifices to Neptune for having helped us so far on our way.
Four days later Diomed and his men stationed their ships in Argos, but I held
on for Pylos, and the wind never fell light from the day when heaven first
made it fair for me.
"Therefore, my dear young friend, I returned without hearing anything
about the others. I know neither who got home safely nor who were lost but,
as in duty bound, I will give you without reserve the reports that have reached
me since I have been here in my own house. They say the Myrmidons returned
home safely under Achilles' son Neoptolemus; so also did the valiant son of
Poias, Philoctetes. Idomeneus, again, lost no men at sea, and all his followers
who escaped death in the field got safe home with him to Crete. No matter
how far out of the world you live, you will have heard of Agamemnon and the
bad end he came to at the hands of Aegisthus—and a fearful reckoning did
Aegisthus presently pay. See what a good thing it is for a man to leave a son
behind him to do as Orestes did, who killed false Aegisthus the murderer of
his noble father. You too, then—for you are a tall smart-looking fellow—show
your mettle and make yourself a name in story."
"Nestor son of Neleus," answered Telemachus, "honour to the Achaean
name, the Achaeans applaud Orestes and his name will live through all time
for he has avenged his father nobly. Would that heaven might grant me to do
like vengeance on the insolence of the wicked suitors, who are ill treating me
and plotting my ruin; but the gods have no such happiness in store for me and
for my father, so we must bear it as best we may."
"My friend," said Nestor, "now that you remind me, I remember to have
heard that your mother has many suitors, who are ill disposed towards you and
are making havoc of your estate. Do you submit to this tamely, or are public
feeling and the voice of heaven against you? Who knows but what Ulysses
may come back after all, and pay these scoundrels in full, either single-handed
or with a force of Achaeans behind him? If Minerva were to take as great a
liking to you as she did to Ulysses when we were fighting before Troy (for I
never yet saw the gods so openly fond of any one as Minerva then was of your
father), if she would take as good care of you as she did of him, these wooers
would soon some of them forget their wooing."
Telemachus answered, "I can expect nothing of the kind; it would be far
too much to hope for. I dare not let myself think of it. Even though the gods
themselves willed it no such good fortune could befall me."
 On this Minerva said, "Telemachus, what are you talking about? Heaven
has a long arm if it is minded to save a man; and if it were me, I should not
care how much I suffered before getting home, provided I could be safe when
I was once there. I would rather this, than get home quickly, and then be killed
in my own house as Agamemnon was by the treachery of Aegisthus and his
wife. Still, death is certain, and when a man's hour is come, not even the gods
can save him, no matter how fond they are of him."
"Mentor," answered Telemachus, "do not let us talk about it any more.
There is no chance of my father's ever coming back; the gods have long since
counselled his destruction. There is something else, however, about which I
should like to ask Nestor, for he knows much more than any one else does.
They say he has reigned for three generations so that it is like talking to an
immortal. Tell me, therefore, Nestor, and tell me true; how did Agamemnon
come to die in that way? What was Menelaus doing? And how came false
Aegisthus to kill so far better a man than himself? Was Menelaus away from
Achaean Argos, voyaging elsewhither among mankind, that Aegisthus took
heart and killed Agamemnon?"
"I will tell you truly," answered Nestor, "and indeed you have yourself
divined how it all happened. If Menelaus when he got back from Troy had
found Aegisthus still alive in his house, there would have been no barrow
heaped up for him, not even when he was dead, but he would have been
thrown outside the city to dogs and vultures, and not a woman would have
mourned him, for he had done a deed of great wickedness; but we were over
there, fighting hard at Troy, and Aegisthus, who was taking his ease quietly in
the heart of Argos, cajoled Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra with incessant
flattery.
"At first she would have nothing to do with his wicked scheme, for she
was of a good natural disposition; moreover there was a bard with her, to
whom Agamemnon had given strict orders on setting out for Troy, that he was
to keep guard over his wife; but when heaven had counselled her destruction,
Aegisthus carried this bard off to a desert island and left him there for crows
and seagulls to batten upon—after which she went willingly enough to the
house of Aegisthus. Then he offered many burnt sacrifices to the gods, and
decorated many temples with tapestries and gilding, for he had succeeded far
beyond his expectations.
"Meanwhile Menelaus and I were on our way home from Troy, on good
terms with one another. When we got to Sunium, which is the point of Athens,
Apollo with his painless shafts killed Phrontis the steersman of Menelaus' ship
(and never man knew better how to handle a vessel in rough weather) so that
he died then and there with the helm in his hand, and Menelaus, though very
anxious to press forward, had to wait in order to bury his comrade and give
him his due funeral rites. Presently, when he too could put to sea again, and
had sailed on as far as the Malean heads, Jove counselled evil against him and
made it blow hard till the waves ran mountains high. Here he divided his fleet
and took the one half towards Crete where the Cydonians dwell round about
the waters of the river Iardanus. There is a high headland hereabouts stretching
out into the sea from a place called Gortyn, and all along this part of the coast
as far as Phaestus the sea runs high when there is a south wind blowing, but
after Phaestus the coast is more protected, for a small headland can make a
great shelter. Here this part of the fleet was driven on to the rocks and
wrecked; but the crews just managed to save themselves. As for the other five
ships, they were taken by winds and seas to Egypt, where Menelaus gathered
much gold and substance among people of an alien speech. Meanwhile
Aegisthus here at home plotted his evil deed. For seven years after he had
killed Agamemnon he ruled in Mycene, and the people were obedient under
him, but in the eighth year Orestes came back from Athens to be his bane, and
killed the murderer of his father. Then he celebrated the funeral rites of his
mother and of false Aegisthus by a banquet to the people of Argos, and on that
very day Menelaus came home, with as much treasure as his ships could
carry.
"Take my advice then, and do not go travelling about for long so far from
home, nor leave your property with such dangerous people in your house; they
will eat up everything you have among them, and you will have been on a
fool's errand. Still, I should advise you by all means to go and visit Menelaus,
who has lately come off a voyage among such distant peoples as no man could
ever hope to get back from, when the winds had once carried him so far out of
his reckoning; even birds cannot fly the distance in a twelve-month, so vast
and terrible are the seas that they must cross. Go to him, therefore, by sea, and
take your own men with you; or if you would rather travel by land you can
have a chariot, you can have horses, and here are my sons who can escort you
to Lacedaemon where Menelaus lives. Beg of him to speak the truth, and he
will tell you no lies, for he is an excellent person."
As he spoke the sun set and it came on dark, whereon Minerva said, "Sir,
all that you have said is well; now, however, order the tongues of the victims
to be cut, and mix wine that we may make drink-offerings to Neptune, and the
other immortals, and then go to bed, for it is bed time. People should go away
early and not keep late hours at a religious festival."
Thus spoke the daughter of Jove, and they obeyed her saying. Men
servants poured water over the hands of the guests, while pages filled the
mixing-bowls with wine and water, and handed it round after giving every
man his drink offering; then they threw the tongues of the victims into the fire,
and stood up to make their drink offerings. When they had made their
offerings and had drunk each as much as he was minded, Minerva and
Telemachus were for going on board their ship, but Nestor caught them up at
once and stayed them.
"Heaven and the immortal gods," he exclaimed, "forbid that you should
leave my house to go on board of a ship. Do you think I am so poor and short
of clothes, or that I have so few cloaks and as to be unable to find comfortable
beds both for myself and for my guests? Let me tell you I have store both of
rugs and cloaks, and shall not permit the son of my old friend Ulysses to camp
down on the deck of a ship—not while I live—nor yet will my sons after me,
but they will keep open house as I have done."
Then Minerva answered, "Sir, you have spoken well, and it will be much
better that Telemachus should do as you have said; he, therefore, shall return
with you and sleep at your house, but I must go back to give orders to my
crew, and keep them in good heart. I am the only older person among them;
the rest are all young men of Telemachus' own age, who have taken this
voyage out of friendship; so I must return to the ship and sleep there.
Moreover to-morrow I must go to the Cauconians where I have a large sum of
money long owing to me. As for Telemachus, now that he is your guest, send
him to Lacedaemon in a chariot, and let one of your sons go with him. Be
pleased to also provide him with your best and fleetest horses."
When she had thus spoken, she flew away in the form of an eagle, and all
marvelled as they beheld it. Nestor was astonished, and took Telemachus by
the hand. "My friend," said he, "I see that you are going to be a great hero
some day, since the gods wait upon you thus while you are still so young. This
can have been none other of those who dwell in heaven than Jove's
redoubtable daughter, the Trito-born, who shewed such favour towards your
brave father among the Argives. Holy queen," he continued, "vouchsafe to
send down thy grace upon myself, my good wife, and my children. In return, I
will offer you in sacrifice a broad-browed heifer of a year old, unbroken, and
never yet brought by man under the yoke. I will gild her horns, and will offer
her up to you in sacrifice."
Thus did he pray, and Minerva heard his prayer. He then led the way to his
own house, followed by his sons and sons in law. When they had got there and
had taken their places on the benches and seats, he mixed them a bowl of
sweet wine that was eleven years old when the housekeeper took the lid off the
jar that held it. As he mixed the wine, he prayed much and made drink
offerings to Minerva, daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove. Then, when they had
made their drink offerings and had drunk each as much as he was minded, the
others went home to bed each in his own abode; but Nestor put Telemachus to
sleep in the room that was over the gateway along with Pisistratus, who was
the only unmarried son now left him. As for himself, he slept in an inner room
of the house, with the queen his wife by his side.
Now when the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Nestor left
his couch and took his seat on the benches of white and polished marble that
stood in front of his house. Here aforetime sat Neleus, peer of gods in counsel,
but he was now dead, and had gone to the house of Hades; so Nestor sat in his
seat sceptre in hand, as guardian of the public weal. His sons as they left their
rooms gathered round him, Echephron, Stratius, Perseus, Aretus, and
Thrasymedes; the sixth son was Pisistratus, and when Telemachus joined them
they made him sit with them. Nestor then addressed them.
"My sons," said he, "make haste to do as I shall bid you. I wish first and
foremost to propitiate the great goddess Minerva, who manifested herself
visibly to me during yesterday's festivities. Go, then, one or other of you to the
plain, tell the stockman to look me out a heifer, and come on here with it at
once. Another must go to Telemachus' ship, and invite all the crew, leaving
two men only in charge of the vessel. Some one else will run and fetch
Laerceus the goldsmith to gild the horns of the heifer. The rest, stay all of you
where you are; tell the maids in the house to prepare an excellent dinner, and
to fetch seats, and logs of wood for a burnt offering. Tell them also to bring me
some clear spring water."
On this they hurried off on their several errands. The heifer was brought in
from the plain, and Telemachus's crew came from the ship; the goldsmith
brought the anvil, hammer, and tongs, with which he worked his gold, and
Minerva herself came to accept the sacrifice. Nestor gave out the gold, and the
smith gilded the horns of the heifer that the goddess might have pleasure in
their beauty. Then Stratius and Echephron brought her in by the horns; Aretus
fetched water from the house in a ewer that had a flower pattern on it, and in
his other hand he held a basket of barley meal; sturdy Thrasymedes stood by
with a sharp axe, ready to strike the heifer, while Perseus held a bucket. Then
Nestor began with washing his hands and sprinkling the barley meal, and he
offered many a prayer to Minerva as he threw a lock from the heifer's head
upon the fire.
When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley meal Thrasymedes
dealt his blow, and brought the heifer down with a stroke that cut through the
tendons at the base of her neck, whereon the daughters and daughters in law of
Nestor, and his venerable wife Eurydice (she was eldest daughter to
Clymenus) screamed with delight. Then they lifted the heifer's head from off
the ground, and Pisistratus cut her throat. When she had done bleeding and
was quite dead, they cut her up. They cut out the thigh bones all in due course,
wrapped them round in two layers of fat, and set some pieces of raw meat on
the top of them; then Nestor laid them upon the wood fire and poured wine
over them, while the young men stood near him with five-pronged spits in
their hands. When the thighs were burned and they had tasted the inward
meats, they cut the rest of the meat up small, put the pieces on the spits and
toasted them over the fire.
Meanwhile lovely Polycaste, Nestor's youngest daughter, washed
Telemachus. When she had washed him and anointed him with oil, she
brought him a fair mantle and shirt, and he looked like a god as he came from
the bath and took his seat by the side of Nestor. When the outer meats were
done they drew them off the spits and sat down to dinner where they were
waited upon by some worthy henchmen, who kept pouring them out their wine
in cups of gold. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink Nestor said,
"Sons, put Telemachus's horses to the chariot that he may start at once."
Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said, and yoked the fleet
horses to the chariot. The housekeeper packed them up a provision of bread,
wine, and sweet meats fit for the sons of princes. Then Telemachus got into
the chariot, while Pisistratus gathered up the reins and took his seat beside
him. He lashed the horses on and they flew forward nothing loth into the open
country, leaving the high citadel of Pylos behind them. All that day did they
travel, swaying the yoke upon their necks till the sun went down and darkness
was over all the land. Then they reached Pherae where Diocles lived, who was
son to Ortilochus and grandson to Alpheus. Here they passed the night and
Diocles entertained them hospitably. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered
Dawn, appeared, they again yoked their horses and drove out through the
gateway under the echoing gatehouse. Pisistratus lashed the horses on and
they flew forward nothing loth; presently they came to the corn lands of the
open country, and in the course of time completed their journey, so well did
their steeds take them.
Now when the sun had set and darkness was over the land,

BOOK IV
THE VISIT TO KING MENELAUS, WHO TELLS HIS STORY—
MEANWHILE THE SUITORS IN ITHACA PLOT AGAINST
TELEMACHUS.

they reached the low lying city of Lacedaemon, where they drove straight
to the abode of Menelaus [and found him in his own house, feasting with his
many clansmen in honour of the wedding of his son, and also of his daughter,
whom he was marrying to the son of that valiant warrior Achilles. He had
given his consent and promised her to him while he was still at Troy, and now
the gods were bringing the marriage about; so he was sending her with
chariots and horses to the city of the Myrmidons over whom Achilles' son was
reigning. For his only son he had found a bride from Sparta, the daughter of
Alector. This son, Megapenthes, was born to him of a bondwoman, for heaven
vouchsafed Helen no more children after she had borne Hermione, who was
fair as golden Venus herself.
So the neighbours and kinsmen of Menelaus were feasting and making
merry in his house. There was a bard also to sing to them and play his lyre,
while two tumblers went about performing in the midst of them when the man
struck up with his tune.
Telemachus and the son of Nestor stayed their horses at the gate, whereon
Eteoneus servant to Menelaus came out, and as soon as he saw them ran
hurrying back into the house to tell his Master. He went close up to him and
said, "Menelaus, there are some strangers come here, two men, who look like
sons of Jove. What are we to do? Shall we take their horses out, or tell them to
find friends elsewhere as they best can?"
Menelaus was very angry and said, "Eteoneus, son of Boethous, you never
used to be a fool, but now you talk like a simpleton. Take their horses out, of
course, and show the strangers in that they may have supper; you and I have
staid often enough at other people's houses before we got back here, where
heaven grant that we may rest in peace henceforward."
So Eteoneus bustled back and bade the other servants come with him. They
took their sweating steeds from under the yoke, made them fast to the
mangers, and gave them a feed of oats and barley mixed. Then they leaned the
chariot against the end wall of the courtyard, and led the way into the house.
Telemachus and Pisistratus were astonished when they saw it, for its splendour
was as that of the sun and moon; then, when they had admired everything to
their heart's content, they went into the bath room and washed themselves.
When the servants had washed them and anointed them with oil, they
brought them woollen cloaks and shirts, and the two took their seats by the
side of Menelaus. A maid-servant brought them water in a beautiful golden
ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands; and she
drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them bread, and
offered them many good things of what there was in the house, while the
carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats and set cups of gold by their
side.
Menelaus then greeted them saying, "Fall to, and welcome; when you have
done supper I shall ask who you are, for the lineage of such men as you cannot
have been lost. You must be descended from a line of sceptre-bearing kings,
for poor people do not have such sons as you are."
 On this he handed them a piece of fat roast loin, which had been set near
him as being a prime part, and they laid their hands on the good things that
were before them; as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink,
Telemachus said to the son of Nestor, with his head so close that no one might
hear, "Look, Pisistratus, man after my own heart, see the gleam of bronze and
gold—of amber, ivory, and silver. Everything is so splendid that it is like
seeing the palace of Olympian Jove. I am lost in admiration."
Menelaus overheard him and said, "No one, my sons, can hold his own
with Jove, for his house and everything about him is immortal; but among
mortal men—well, there may be another who has as much wealth as I have, or
there may not; but at all events I have travelled much and have undergone
much hardship, for it was nearly eight years before I could get home with my
fleet. I went to Cyprus, Phoenicia and the Egyptians; I went also to the
Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Erembians, and to Libya where the lambs
have horns as soon as they are born, and the sheep lamb down three times a
year. Every one in that country, whether master or man, has plenty of cheese,
meat, and good milk, for the ewes yield all the year round. But while I was
travelling and getting great riches among these people, my brother was
secretly and shockingly murdered through the perfidy of his wicked wife, so
that I have no pleasure in being lord of all this wealth. Whoever your parents
may be they must have told you about all this, and of my heavy loss in the ruin
of a stately mansion fully and magnificently furnished. Would that I had only a
third of what I now have so that I had stayed at home, and all those were living
who perished on the plain of Troy, far from Argos. I often grieve, as I sit here
in my house, for one and all of them. At times I cry aloud for sorrow, but
presently I leave off again, for crying is cold comfort and one soon tires of it.
Yet grieve for these as I may, I do so for one man more than for them all. I
cannot even think of him without loathing both food and sleep, so miserable
does he make me, for no one of all the Achaeans worked so hard or risked so
much as he did. He took nothing by it, and has left a legacy of sorrow to
myself, for he has been gone a long time, and we know not whether he is alive
or dead. His old father, his long-suffering wife Penelope, and his son
Telemachus, whom he left behind him an infant in arms, are plunged in grief
on his account."
Thus spoke Menelaus, and the heart of Telemachus yearned as he
bethought him of his father. Tears fell from his eyes as he heard him thus
mentioned, so that he held his cloak before his face with both hands. When
Menelaus saw this he doubted whether to let him choose his own time for
speaking, or to ask him at once and find what it was all about.
While he was thus in two minds Helen came down from her high vaulted
and perfumed room, looking as lovely as Diana herself. Adraste brought her a
seat, Alcippe a soft woollen rug while Phylo fetched her the silver work-box
which Alcandra wife of Polybus had given her. Polybus lived in Egyptian
Thebes, which is the richest city in the whole world; he gave Menelaus two
baths, both of pure silver, two tripods, and ten talents of gold; besides all this,
his wife gave Helen some beautiful presents, to wit, a golden distaff, and a
silver work box that ran on wheels, with a gold band round the top of it. Phylo
now placed this by her side, full of fine spun yarn, and a distaff charged with
violet coloured wool was laid upon the top of it. Then Helen took her seat, put
her feet upon the footstool, and began to question her husband.
"Do we know, Menelaus," said she, "the names of these strangers who
have come to visit us? Shall I guess right or wrong?—but I cannot help saying
what I think. Never yet have I seen either man or woman so like somebody
else (indeed when I look at him I hardly know what to think) as this young
man is like Telemachus, whom Ulysses left as a baby behind him, when you
Achaeans went to Troy with battle in your hearts, on account of my most
shameless self."
"My dear wife," replied Menelaus, "I see the likeness just as you do. His
hands and feet are just like Ulysses; so is his hair, with the shape of his head
and the expression of his eyes. Moreover, when I was talking about Ulysses,
and saying how much he had suffered on my account, tears fell from his eyes,
and he hid his face in his mantle."
Then Pisistratus said, "Menelaus, son of Atreus, you are right in thinking
that this young man is Telemachus, but he is very modest, and is ashamed to
come here and begin opening up discourse with one whose conversation is so
divinely interesting as your own. My father, Nestor, sent me to escort him
hither, for he wanted to know whether you could give him any counsel or
suggestion. A son has always trouble at home when his father has gone away
leaving him without supporters; and this is how Telemachus is now placed, for
his father is absent, and there is no one among his own people to stand by
him."
"Bless my heart," replied Menelaus, "then I am receiving a visit from the
son of a very dear friend, who suffered much hardship for my sake. I had
always hoped to entertain him with most marked distinction when heaven had
granted us a safe return from beyond the seas. I should have founded a city for
him in Argos, and built him a house. I should have made him leave Ithaca with
his goods, his son, and all his people, and should have sacked for them some
one of the neighbouring cities that are subject to me. We should thus have seen
one another continually, and nothing but death could have interrupted so close
and happy an intercourse. I suppose, however, that heaven grudged us such
great good fortune, for it has prevented the poor fellow from ever getting
home at all."
 Thus did he speak, and his words set them all a weeping. Helen wept,
Telemachus wept, and so did Menelaus, nor could Pisistratus keep his eyes
from filling, when he remembered his dear brother Antilochus whom the son
of bright Dawn had killed. Thereon he said to Menelaus,
"Sir, my father Nestor, when we used to talk about you at home, told me
you were a person of rare and excellent understanding. If, then, it be possible,
do as I would urge you. I am not fond of crying while I am getting my supper.
Morning will come in due course, and in the forenoon I care not how much I
cry for those that are dead and gone. This is all we can do for the poor things.
We can only shave our heads for them and wring the tears from our cheeks. I
had a brother who died at Troy; he was by no means the worst man there; you
are sure to have known him—his name was Antilochus; I never set eyes upon
him myself, but they say that he was singularly fleet of foot and in fight
valiant."
"Your discretion, my friend," answered Menelaus, "is beyond your years. It
is plain you take after your father. One can soon see when a man is son to one
whom heaven has blessed both as regards wife and offspring—and it has
blessed Nestor from first to last all his days, giving him a green old age in his
own house, with sons about him who are both well disposed and valiant. We
will put an end therefore to all this weeping, and attend to our supper again.
Let water be poured over our hands. Telemachus and I can talk with one
another fully in the morning."
On this Asphalion, one of the servants, poured water over their hands and
they laid their hands on the good things that were before them.
Then Jove's daughter Helen bethought her of another matter. She drugged
the wine with an herb that banishes all care, sorrow, and ill humour. Whoever
drinks wine thus drugged cannot shed a single tear all the rest of the day, not
even though his father and mother both of them drop down dead, or he sees a
brother or a son hewn in pieces before his very eyes. This drug, of such
sovereign power and virtue, had been given to Helen by Polydamna wife of
Thon, a woman of Egypt, where there grow all sorts of herbs, some good to
put into the mixing bowl and others poisonous. Moreover, every one in the
whole country is a skilled physician, for they are of the race of Paeeon. When
Helen had put this drug in the bowl, and had told the servants to serve the
wine round, she said:
"Menelaus, son of Atreus, and you my good friends, sons of honourable
men (which is as Jove wills, for he is the giver both of good and evil, and can
do what he chooses), feast here as you will, and listen while I tell you a tale in
season. I cannot indeed name every single one of the exploits of Ulysses, but I
can say what he did when he was before Troy, and you Achaeans were in all
sorts of difficulties. He covered himself with wounds and bruises, dressed
himself all in rags, and entered the enemy's city looking like a menial or a
beggar, and quite different from what he did when he was among his own
people. In this disguise he entered the city of Troy, and no one said anything to
him. I alone recognised him and began to question him, but he was too
cunning for me. When, however, I had washed and anointed him and had
given him clothes, and after I had sworn a solemn oath not to betray him to the
Trojans till he had got safely back to his own camp and to the ships, he told
me all that the Achaeans meant to do. He killed many Trojans and got much
information before he reached the Argive camp, for all which things the
Trojan women made lamentation, but for my own part I was glad, for my heart
was beginning to yearn after my home, and I was unhappy about the wrong
that Venus had done me in taking me over there, away from my country, my
girl, and my lawful wedded husband, who is indeed by no means deficient
either in person or understanding."
Then Menelaus said, "All that you have been saying, my dear wife, is true.
I have travelled much, and have had much to do with heroes, but I have never
seen such another man as Ulysses. What endurance too, and what courage he
displayed within the wooden horse, wherein all the bravest of the Argives
were lying in wait to bring death and destruction upon the Trojans. At that
moment you came up to us; some god who wished well to the Trojans must
have set you on to it and you had Deiphobus with you. Three times did you go
all round our hiding place and pat it; you called our chiefs each by his own
name, and mimicked all our wives—Diomed, Ulysses, and I from our seats
inside heard what a noise you made. Diomed and I could not make up our
minds whether to spring out then and there, or to answer you from inside, but
Ulysses held us all in check, so we sat quite still, all except Anticlus, who was
beginning to answer you, when Ulysses clapped his two brawny hands over
his mouth, and kept them there. It was this that saved us all, for he muzzled
Anticlus till Minerva took you away again."
"How sad," exclaimed Telemachus, "that all this was of no avail to save
him, nor yet his own iron courage. But now, sir, be pleased to send us all to
bed, that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon of sleep."
On this Helen told the maid servants to set beds in the room that was in the
gatehouse, and to make them with good red rugs, and spread coverlets on the
top of them with woollen cloaks for the guests to wear. So the maids went out,
carrying a torch, and made the beds, to which a man-servant presently
conducted the strangers. Thus, then, did Telemachus and Pisistratus sleep there
in the forecourt, while the son of Atreus lay in an inner room with lovely
Helen by his side.
When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Menelaus rose
and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet, girded his
sword about his shoulders, and left his room looking like an immortal god.
Then, taking a seat near Telemachus he said:
"And what, Telemachus, has led you to take this long sea voyage to
Lacedaemon? Are you on public, or private business? Tell me all about it."
"I have come, sir," replied Telemachus, "to see if you can tell me anything
about my father. I am being eaten out of house and home; my fair estate is
being wasted, and my house is full of miscreants who keep killing great
numbers of my sheep and oxen, on the pretence of paying their addresses to
my mother. Therefore, I am suppliant at your knees if haply you may tell me
about my father's melancholy end, whether you saw it with your own eyes, or
heard it from some other traveller; for he was a man born to trouble. Do not
soften things out of any pity for myself, but tell me in all plainness exactly
what you saw. If my brave father Ulysses ever did you loyal service either by
word or deed, when you Achaeans were harassed by the Trojans, bear it in
mind now as in my favour and tell me truly all."
Menelaus on hearing this was very much shocked. "So," he exclaimed,
"these cowards would usurp a brave man's bed? A hind might as well lay her
new born young in the lair of a lion, and then go off to feed in the forest or in
some grassy dell: the lion when he comes back to his lair will make short work
with the pair of them—and so will Ulysses with these suitors. By father Jove,
Minerva, and Apollo, if Ulysses is still the man that he was when he wrestled
with Philomeleides in Lesbos, and threw him so heavily that all the Achaeans
cheered him—if he is still such and were to come near these suitors, they
would have a short shrift and a sorry wedding. As regards your questions,
however, I will not prevaricate nor deceive you, but will tell you without
concealment all that the old man of the sea told me.
"I was trying to come on here, but the gods detained me in Egypt, for my
hecatombs had not given them full satisfaction, and the gods are very strict
about having their dues. Now off Egypt, about as far as a ship can sail in a day
with a good stiff breeze behind her, there is an island called Pharos—it has a
good harbour from which vessels can get out into open sea when they have
taken in water—and here the gods becalmed me twenty days without so much
as a breath of fair wind to help me forward. We should have run clean out of
provisions and my men would have starved, if a goddess had not taken pity
upon me and saved me in the person of Idothea, daughter to Proteus, the old
man of the sea, for she had taken a great fancy to me.
"She came to me one day when I was by myself, as I often was, for the
men used to go with their barbed hooks, all over the island in the hope of
catching a fish or two to save them from the pangs of hunger. 'Stranger,' said
she, 'it seems to me that you like starving in this way—at any rate it does not
greatly trouble you, for you stick here day after day, without even trying to get
away though your men are dying by inches.'
"'Let me tell you,' said I, 'whichever of the goddesses you may happen to
be, that I am not staying here of my own accord, but must have offended the
gods that live in heaven. Tell me, therefore, for the gods know everything,
which of the immortals it is that is hindering me in this way, and tell me also
how I may sail the sea so as to reach my home.'
"'Stranger,' replied she, 'I will make it all quite clear to you. There is an old
immortal who lives under the sea hereabouts and whose name is Proteus. He is
an Egyptian, and people say he is my father; he is Neptune's head man and
knows every inch of ground all over the bottom of the sea. If you can snare
him and hold him tight, he will tell you about your voyage, what courses you
are to take, and how you are to sail the sea so as to reach your home. He will
also tell you, if you so will, all that has been going on at your house both good
and bad, while you have been away on your long and dangerous journey.'
"'Can you show me,' said I, 'some stratagem by means of which I may
catch this old god without his suspecting it and finding me out? For a god is
not easily caught—not by a mortal man.'
"'Stranger,' said she, 'I will make it all quite clear to you. About the time
when the sun shall have reached mid heaven, the old man of the sea comes up
from under the waves, heralded by the West wind that furs the water over his
head. As soon as he has come up he lies down, and goes to sleep in a great sea
cave, where the seals—Halosydne's chickens as they call them—come up also
from the grey sea, and go to sleep in shoals all round him; and a very strong
and fish-like smell do they bring with them. Early to-morrow morning I will
take you to this place and will lay you in ambush. Pick out, therefore, the three
best men you have in your fleet, and I will tell you all the tricks that the old
man will play you.
"'First he will look over all his seals, and count them; then, when he has
seen them and tallied them on his five fingers, he will go to sleep among them,
as a shepherd among his sheep. The moment you see that he is asleep seize
him; put forth all your strength and hold him fast, for he will do his very
utmost to get away from you. He will turn himself into every kind of creature
that goes upon the earth, and will become also both fire and water; but you
must hold him fast and grip him tighter and tighter, till he begins to talk to you
and comes back to what he was when you saw him go to sleep; then you may
slacken your hold and let him go; and you can ask him which of the gods it is
that is angry with you, and what you must do to reach your home over the
seas.'
 "Having so said she dived under the waves, whereon I turned back to the
place where my ships were ranged upon the shore; and my heart was clouded
with care as I went along. When I reached my ship we got supper ready, for
night was falling, and camped down upon the beach.
"When the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, I took the three
men on whose prowess of all kinds I could most rely, and went along by the
sea-side, praying heartily to heaven. Meanwhile the goddess fetched me up
four seal skins from the bottom of the sea, all of them just skinned, for she
meant playing a trick upon her father. Then she dug four pits for us to lie in,
and sat down to wait till we should come up. When we were close to her, she
made us lie down in the pits one after the other, and threw a seal skin over
each of us. Our ambuscade would have been intolerable, for the stench of the
fishy seals was most distressing —who would go to bed with a sea monster if
he could help it?—but here, too, the goddess helped us, and thought of
something that gave us great relief, for she put some ambrosia under each
man's nostrils, which was so fragrant that it killed the smell of the seals.
"We waited the whole morning and made the best of it, watching the seals
come up in hundreds to bask upon the sea shore, till at noon the old man of the
sea came up too, and when he had found his fat seals he went over them and
counted them. We were among the first he counted, and he never suspected
any guile, but laid himself down to sleep as soon as he had done counting.
Then we rushed upon him with a shout and seized him; on which he began at
once with his old tricks, and changed himself first into a lion with a great
mane; then all of a sudden he became a dragon, a leopard, a wild boar; the
next moment he was running water, and then again directly he was a tree, but
we stuck to him and never lost hold, till at last the cunning old creature
became distressed, and said, 'Which of the gods was it, Son of Atreus, that
hatched this plot with you for snaring me and seizing me against my will?
What do you want?'
"'You know that yourself, old man,' I answered, 'you will gain nothing by
trying to put me off. It is because I have been kept so long in this island, and
see no sign of my being able to get away. I am losing all heart; tell me, then,
for you gods know everything, which of the immortals it is that is hindering
me, and tell me also how I may sail the sea so as to reach my home?'
"Then,' he said, 'if you would finish your voyage and get home quickly,
you must offer sacrifices to Jove and to the rest of the gods before embarking;
for it is decreed that you shall not get back to your friends, and to your own
house, till you have returned to the heaven-fed stream of Egypt, and offered
holy hecatombs to the immortal gods that reign in heaven. When you have
done this they will let you finish your voyage.'
 "I was broken hearted when I heard that I must go back all that long and
terrible voyage to Egypt; nevertheless, I answered, 'I will do all, old man, that
you have laid upon me; but now tell me, and tell me true, whether all the
Achaeans whom Nestor and I left behind us when we set sail from Troy have
got home safely, or whether any one of them came to a bad end either on
board his own ship or among his friends when the days of his fighting were
done.'
"'Son of Atreus,' he answered, 'why ask me? You had better not know what
I can tell you, for your eyes will surely fill when you have heard my story.
Many of those about whom you ask are dead and gone, but many still remain,
and only two of the chief men among the Achaeans perished during their
return home. As for what happened on the field of battle—you were there
yourself. A third Achaean leader is still at sea, alive, but hindered from
returning. Ajax was wrecked, for Neptune drove him on to the great rocks of
Gyrae; nevertheless, he let him get safe out of the water, and in spite of all
Minerva's hatred he would have escaped death, if he had not ruined himself by
boasting. He said the gods could not drown him even though they had tried to
do so, and when Neptune heard this large talk, he seized his trident in his two
brawny hands, and split the rock of Gyrae in two pieces. The base remained
where it was, but the part on which Ajax was sitting fell headlong into the sea
and carried Ajax with it; so he drank salt water and was drowned.
"'Your brother and his ships escaped, for Juno protected him, but when he
was just about to reach the high promontory of Malea, he was caught by a
heavy gale which carried him out to sea again sorely against his will, and
drove him to the foreland where Thyestes used to dwell, but where Aegisthus
was then living. By and by, however, it seemed as though he was to return
safely after all, for the gods backed the wind into its old quarter and they
reached home; whereon Agamemnon kissed his native soil, and shed tears of
joy at finding himself in his own country.
"'Now there was a watchman whom Aegisthus kept always on the watch,
and to whom he had promised two talents of gold. This man had been looking
out for a whole year to make sure that Agamemnon did not give him the slip
and prepare war; when, therefore, this man saw Agamemnon go by, he went
and told Aegisthus, who at once began to lay a plot for him. He picked twenty
of his bravest warriors and placed them in ambuscade on one side the cloister,
while on the opposite side he prepared a banquet. Then he sent his chariots
and horsemen to Agamemnon, and invited him to the feast, but he meant foul
play. He got him there, all unsuspicious of the doom that was awaiting him,
and killed him when the banquet was over as though he were butchering an ox
in the shambles; not one of Agamemnon's followers was left alive, nor yet one
of Aegisthus', but they were all killed there in the cloisters.'
 "Thus spoke Proteus, and I was broken hearted as I heard him. I sat down
upon the sands and wept; I felt as though I could no longer bear to live nor
look upon the light of the sun. Presently, when I had had my fill of weeping
and writhing upon the ground, the old man of the sea said, 'Son of Atreus, do
not waste any more time in crying so bitterly; it can do no manner of good;
find your way home as fast as ever you can, for Aegisthus may be still alive,
and even though Orestes has been beforehand with you in killing him, you
may yet come in for his funeral.'
"On this I took comfort in spite of all my sorrow, and said, 'I know, then,
about these two; tell me, therefore, about the third man of whom you spoke; is
he still alive, but at sea, and unable to get home? or is he dead? Tell me, no
matter how much it may grieve me.'
"'The third man,' he answered, 'is Ulysses who dwells in Ithaca. I can see
him in an island sorrowing bitterly in the house of the nymph Calypso, who is
keeping him prisoner, and he cannot reach his home for he has no ships nor
sailors to take him over the sea. As for your own end, Menelaus, you shall not
die in Argos, but the gods will take you to the Elysian plain, which is at the
ends of the world. There fair-haired Rhadamanthus reigns, and men lead an
easier life than any where else in the world, for in Elysium there falls not rain,
nor hail, nor snow, but Oceanus breathes ever with a West wind that sings
softly from the sea, and gives fresh life to all men. This will happen to you
because you have married Helen, and are Jove's son-in-law.'
"As he spoke he dived under the waves, whereon I turned back to the ships
with my companions, and my heart was clouded with care as I went along.
When we reached the ships we got supper ready, for night was falling, and
camped down upon the beach. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered
Dawn appeared, we drew our ships into the water, and put our masts and sails
within them; then we went on board ourselves, took our seats on the benches,
and smote the grey sea with our oars. I again stationed my ships in the heaven-
fed stream of Egypt, and offered hecatombs that were full and sufficient.
When I had thus appeased heaven's anger, I raised a barrow to the memory of
Agamemnon that his name might live for ever, after which I had a quick
passage home, for the gods sent me a fair wind.
"And now for yourself—stay here some ten or twelve days longer, and I
will then speed you on your way. I will make you a noble present of a chariot
and three horses. I will also give you a beautiful chalice that so long as you
live you may think of me whenever you make a drink-offering to the immortal
gods."
"Son of Atreus," replied Telemachus, "do not press me to stay longer; I
should be contented to remain with you for another twelve months; I find your
conversation so delightful that I should never once wish myself at home with
my parents; but my crew whom I have left at Pylos are already impatient, and
you are detaining me from them. As for any present you may be disposed to
make me, I had rather that it should be a piece of plate. I will take no horses
back with me to Ithaca, but will leave them to adorn your own stables, for you
have much flat ground in your kingdom where lotus thrives, as also meadow-
sweet and wheat and barley, and oats with their white and spreading ears;
whereas in Ithaca we have neither open fields nor racecourses, and the country
is more fit for goats than horses, and I like it the better for that. None of our
islands have much level ground, suitable for horses, and Ithaca least of all."
Menelaus smiled and took Telemachus's hand within his own. "What you
say," said he, "shows that you come of good family. I both can, and will, make
this exchange for you, by giving you the finest and most precious piece of
plate in all my house. It is a mixing bowl by Vulcan's own hand, of pure silver,
except the rim, which is inlaid with gold. Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians,
gave it me in the course of a visit which I paid him when I returned thither on
my homeward journey. I will make you a present of it."
Thus did they converse [and guests kept coming to the king's house. They
brought sheep and wine, while their wives had put up bread for them to take
with them; so they were busy cooking their dinners in the courts].
Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs or aiming with spears at a mark
on the levelled ground in front of Ulysses' house, and were behaving with all
their old insolence. Antinous and Eurymachus, who were their ringleaders and
much the foremost among them all, were sitting together when Noemon son of
Phronius came up and said to Antinous,
"Have we any idea, Antinous, on what day Telemachus returns from
Pylos? He has a ship of mine, and I want it, to cross over to Elis: I have twelve
brood mares there with yearling mule foals by their side not yet broken in, and
I want to bring one of them over here and break him."
They were astounded when they heard this, for they had made sure that
Telemachus had not gone to the city of Neleus. They thought he was only
away somewhere on the farms, and was with the sheep, or with the swineherd;
so Antinous said, "When did he go? Tell me truly, and what young men did he
take with him? Were they freemen or his own bondsmen—for he might
manage that too? Tell me also, did you let him have the ship of your own free
will because he asked you, or did he take it without your leave?"
"I lent it him," answered Noemon, "what else could I do when a man of his
position said he was in a difficulty, and asked me to oblige him? I could not
possibly refuse. As for those who went with him they were the best young
men we have, and I saw Mentor go on board as captain—or some god who
was exactly like him. I cannot understand it, for I saw Mentor here myself
yesterday morning, and yet he was then setting out for Pylos."
Noemon then went back to his father's house, but Antinous and
Eurymachus were very angry. They told the others to leave off playing, and to
come and sit down along with themselves. When they came, Antinous son of
Eupeithes spoke in anger. His heart was black with rage, and his eyes flashed
fire as he said:
"Good heavens, this voyage of Telemachus is a very serious matter; we had
made sure that it would come to nothing, but the young fellow has got away in
spite of us, and with a picked crew too. He will be giving us trouble presently;
may Jove take him before he is full grown. Find me a ship, therefore, with a
crew of twenty men, and I will lie in wait for him in the straits between Ithaca
and Samos; he will then rue the day that he set out to try and get news of his
father."
Thus did he speak, and the others applauded his saying; they then all of
them went inside the buildings.
It was not long ere Penelope came to know what the suitors were plotting;
for a man servant, Medon, overheard them from outside the outer court as they
were laying their schemes within, and went to tell his mistress. As he crossed
the threshold of her room Penelope said: "Medon, what have the suitors sent
you here for? Is it to tell the maids to leave their master's business and cook
dinner for them? I wish they may neither woo nor dine henceforward, neither
here nor anywhere else, but let this be the very last time, for the waste you all
make of my son's estate. Did not your fathers tell you when you were children,
how good Ulysses had been to them—never doing anything high-handed, nor
speaking harshly to anybody? Kings may say things sometimes, and they may
take a fancy to one man and dislike another, but Ulysses never did an unjust
thing by anybody—which shows what bad hearts you have, and that there is
no such thing as gratitude left in this world."
Then Medon said, "I wish, Madam, that this were all; but they are plotting
something much more dreadful now—may heaven frustrate their design. They
are going to try and murder Telemachus as he is coming home from Pylos and
Lacedaemon, where he has been to get news of his father."
Then Penelope's heart sank within her, and for a long time she was
speechless; her eyes filled with tears, and she could find no utterance. At last,
however, she said, "Why did my son leave me? What business had he to go
sailing off in ships that make long voyages over the ocean like sea-horses?
Does he want to die without leaving any one behind him to keep up his
name?"
 "I do not know," answered Medon, "whether some god set him on to it, or
whether he went on his own impulse to see if he could find out if his father
was dead, or alive and on his way home."
Then he went downstairs again, leaving Penelope in an agony of grief.
There were plenty of seats in the house, but she had no heart for sitting on any
one of them; she could only fling herself on the floor of her own room and cry;
whereon all the maids in the house, both old and young, gathered round her
and began to cry too, till at last in a transport of sorrow she exclaimed,
"My dears, heaven has been pleased to try me with more affliction than
any other woman of my age and country. First I lost my brave and lion-hearted
husband, who had every good quality under heaven, and whose name was
great over all Hellas and middle Argos, and now my darling son is at the
mercy of the winds and waves, without my having heard one word about his
leaving home. You hussies, there was not one of you would so much as think
of giving me a call out of my bed, though you all of you very well knew when
he was starting. If I had known he meant taking this voyage, he would have
had to give it up, no matter how much he was bent upon it, or leave me a
corpse behind him—one or other. Now, however, go some of you and call old
Dolius, who was given me by my father on my marriage, and who is my
gardener. Bid him go at once and tell everything to Laertes, who may be able
to hit on some plan for enlisting public sympathy on our side, as against those
who are trying to exterminate his own race and that of Ulysses."
Then the dear old nurse Euryclea said, "You may kill me, Madam, or let
me live on in your house, whichever you please, but I will tell you the real
truth. I knew all about it, and gave him everything he wanted in the way of
bread and wine, but he made me take my solemn oath that I would not tell you
anything for some ten or twelve days, unless you asked or happened to hear of
his having gone, for he did not want you to spoil your beauty by crying. And
now, Madam, wash your face, change your dress, and go upstairs with your
maids to offer prayers to Minerva, daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, for she can
save him even though he be in the jaws of death. Do not trouble Laertes: he
has trouble enough already. Besides, I cannot think that the gods hate the race
of the son of Arceisius so much, but there will be a son left to come up after
him, and inherit both the house and the fair fields that lie far all round it."
With these words she made her mistress leave off crying, and dried the
tears from her eyes. Penelope washed her face, changed her dress, and went
upstairs with her maids. She then put some bruised barley into a basket and
began praying to Minerva.
"Hear me," she cried, "Daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable. If
ever Ulysses while he was here burned you fat thigh bones of sheep or heifer,
bear it in mind now as in my favour, and save my darling son from the villainy
of the suitors."
She cried aloud as she spoke, and the goddess heard her prayer; meanwhile
the suitors were clamorous throughout the covered cloister, and one of them
said:
"The queen is preparing for her marriage with one or other of us. Little
does she dream that her son has now been doomed to die."
This was what they said, but they did not know what was going to happen.
Then Antinous said, "Comrades, let there be no loud talking, lest some of it
get carried inside. Let us be up and do that in silence, about which we are all
of a mind."
He then chose twenty men, and they went down to their ship and to the sea
side; they drew the vessel into the water and got her mast and sails inside her;
they bound the oars to the thole-pins with twisted thongs of leather, all in due
course, and spread the white sails aloft, while their fine servants brought them
their armour. Then they made the ship fast a little way out, came on shore
again, got their suppers, and waited till night should fall.
But Penelope lay in her own room upstairs unable to eat or drink, and
wondering whether her brave son would escape, or be overpowered by the
wicked suitors. Like a lioness caught in the toils with huntsmen hemming her
in on every side she thought and thought till she sank into a slumber, and lay
on her bed bereft of thought and motion.
Then Minerva bethought her of another matter, and made a vision in the
likeness of Penelope's sister Iphthime daughter of Icarius who had married
Eumelus and lived in Pherae. She told the vision to go to the house of Ulysses,
and to make Penelope leave off crying, so it came into her room by the hole
through which the thong went for pulling the door to, and hovered over her
head saying,
"You are asleep, Penelope: the gods who live at ease will not suffer you to
weep and be so sad. Your son has done them no wrong, so he will yet come
back to you."
Penelope, who was sleeping sweetly at the gates of dreamland, answered,
"Sister, why have you come here? You do not come very often, but I suppose
that is because you live such a long way off. Am I, then, to leave off crying
and refrain from all the sad thoughts that torture me? I, who have lost my
brave and lion-hearted husband, who had every good quality under heaven,
and whose name was great over all Hellas and middle Argos; and now my
darling son has gone off on board of a ship—a foolish fellow who has never
been used to roughing it, nor to going about among gatherings of men. I am
even more anxious about him than about my husband; I am all in a tremble
when I think of him, lest something should happen to him, either from the
people among whom he has gone, or by sea, for he has many enemies who are
plotting against him, and are bent on killing him before he can return home."
Then the vision said, "Take heart, and be not so much dismayed. There is
one gone with him whom many a man would be glad enough to have stand by
his side, I mean Minerva; it is she who has compassion upon you, and who has
sent me to bear you this message."
"Then," said Penelope, "if you are a god or have been sent here by divine
commission, tell me also about that other unhappy one—is he still alive, or is
he already dead and in the house of Hades?"
And the vision said, "I shall not tell you for certain whether he is alive or
dead, and there is no use in idle conversation."
Then it vanished through the thong-hole of the door and was dissipated
into thin air; but Penelope rose from her sleep refreshed and comforted, so
vivid had been her dream.
Meantime the suitors went on board and sailed their ways over the sea,
intent on murdering Telemachus. Now there is a rocky islet called Asteris, of
no great size, in mid channel between Ithaca and Samos, and there is a harbour
on either side of it where a ship can lie. Here then the Achaeans placed
themselves in ambush.

BOOK V
CALYPSO—ULYSSES REACHES SCHERIA ON A RAFT.

And now, as Dawn rose from her couch beside Tithonus—harbinger of

light alike to mortals and immortals—the gods met in council and with them,
Jove the lord of thunder, who is their king. Thereon Minerva began to tell
them of the many sufferings of Ulysses, for she pitied him away there in the
house of the nymph Calypso.
"Father Jove," said she, "and all you other gods that live in everlasting
bliss, I hope there may never be such a thing as a kind and well-disposed ruler
any more, nor one who will govern equitably. I hope they will be all
henceforth cruel and unjust, for there is not one of his subjects but has
forgotten Ulysses, who ruled them as though he were their father. There he is,
lying in great pain in an island where dwells the nymph Calypso, who will not
let him go; and he cannot get back to his own country, for he can find neither
ships nor sailors to take him over the sea. Furthermore, wicked people are now
trying to murder his only son Telemachus, who is coming home from Pylos
and Lacedaemon, where he has been to see if he can get news of his father."
"What, my dear, are you talking about?" replied her father, "did you not
send him there yourself, because you thought it would help Ulysses to get
home and punish the suitors? Besides, you are perfectly able to protect
Telemachus, and to see him safely home again, while the suitors have to come
hurry-skurrying back without having killed him."
When he had thus spoken, he said to his son Mercury, "Mercury, you are
our messenger, go therefore and tell Calypso we have decreed that poor
Ulysses is to return home. He is to be convoyed neither by gods nor men, but
after a perilous voyage of twenty days upon a raft he is to reach fertile Scheria,
the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the gods, and will honour
him as though he were one of ourselves. They will send him in a ship to his
own country, and will give him more bronze and gold and raiment than he
would have brought back from Troy, if he had had all his prize money and had
got home without disaster. This is how we have settled that he shall return to
his country and his friends."
Thus he spoke, and Mercury, guide and guardian, slayer of Argus, did as
he was told. Forthwith he bound on his glittering golden sandals with which he
could fly like the wind over land and sea. He took the wand with which he
seals men's eyes in sleep or wakes them just as he pleases, and flew holding it
in his hand over Pieria; then he swooped down through the firmament till he
reached the level of the sea, whose waves he skimmed like a cormorant that
flies fishing every hole and corner of the ocean, and drenching its thick
plumage in the spray. He flew and flew over many a weary wave, but when at
last he got to the island which was his journey's end, he left the sea and went
on by land till he came to the cave where the nymph Calypso lived.
He found her at home. There was a large fire burning on the hearth, and
one could smell from far the fragrant reek of burning cedar and sandal wood.
As for herself, she was busy at her loom, shooting her golden shuttle through
the warp and singing beautifully. Round her cave there was a thick wood of
alder, poplar, and sweet smelling cypress trees, wherein all kinds of great birds
had built their nests—owls, hawks, and chattering sea-crows that occupy their
business in the waters. A vine loaded with grapes was trained and grew
luxuriantly about the mouth of the cave; there were also four running rills of
water in channels cut pretty close together, and turned hither and thither so as
to irrigate the beds of violets and luscious herbage over which they flowed.
Even a god could not help being charmed with such a lovely spot, so Mercury
stood still and looked at it; but when he had admired it sufficiently he went
inside the cave.
 Calypso knew him at once—for the gods all know each other, no matter
how far they live from one another—but Ulysses was not within; he was on
the sea-shore as usual, looking out upon the barren ocean with tears in his
eyes, groaning and breaking his heart for sorrow. Calypso gave Mercury a seat
and said: "Why have you come to see me, Mercury—honoured, and ever
welcome—for you do not visit me often? Say what you want; I will do it for
you at once if I can, and if it can be done at all; but come inside, and let me set
refreshment before you."
As she spoke she drew a table loaded with ambrosia beside him and mixed
him some red nectar, so Mercury ate and drank till he had had enough, and
then said:
"We are speaking god and goddess to one another, and you ask me why I
have come here, and I will tell you truly as you would have me do. Jove sent
me; it was no doing of mine; who could possibly want to come all this way
over the sea where there are no cities full of people to offer me sacrifices or
choice hecatombs? Nevertheless I had to come, for none of us other gods can
cross Jove, nor transgress his orders. He says that you have here the most ill-
starred of all those who fought nine years before the city of King Priam and
sailed home in the tenth year after having sacked it. On their way home they
sinned against Minerva, who raised both wind and waves against them, so
that all his brave companions perished, and he alone was carried hither by
wind and tide. Jove says that you are to let this man go at once, for it is
decreed that he shall not perish here, far from his own people, but shall return
to his house and country and see his friends again."
Calypso trembled with rage when she heard this, "You gods," she
exclaimed, "ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You are always jealous and
hate seeing a goddess take a fancy to a mortal man, and live with him in open
matrimony. So when rosy-fingered Dawn made love to Orion, you precious
gods were all of you furious till Diana went and killed him in Ortygia. So
again when Ceres fell in love with Iasion, and yielded to him in a thrice-
ploughed fallow field, Jove came to hear of it before so very long and killed
Iasion with his thunderbolts. And now you are angry with me too because I
have a man here. I found the poor creature sitting all alone astride of a keel,
for Jove had struck his ship with lightning and sunk it in mid ocean, so that all
his crew were drowned, while he himself was driven by wind and waves on to
my island. I got fond of him and cherished him, and had set my heart on
making him immortal, so that he should never grow old all his days; still I
cannot cross Jove, nor bring his counsels to nothing; therefore, if he insists
upon it, let the man go beyond the seas again; but I cannot send him anywhere
myself for I have neither ships nor men who can take him. Nevertheless I will
readily give him such advice, in all good faith, as will be likely to bring him
safely to his own country."
"Then send him away," said Mercury, "or Jove will be angry with you and
punish you".
On this he took his leave, and Calypso went out to look for Ulysses, for
she had heard Jove's message. She found him sitting upon the beach with his
eyes ever filled with tears, and dying of sheer home sickness; for he had got
tired of Calypso, and though he was forced to sleep with her in the cave by
night, it was she, not he, that would have it so. As for the day time, he spent it
on the rocks and on the sea shore, weeping, crying aloud for his despair, and
always looking out upon the sea. Calypso then went close up to him said:
"My poor fellow, you shall not stay here grieving and fretting your life out
any longer. I am going to send you away of my own free will; so go, cut some
beams of wood, and make yourself a large raft with an upper deck that it may
carry you safely over the sea. I will put bread, wine, and water on board to
save you from starving. I will also give you clothes, and will send you a fair
wind to take you home, if the gods in heaven so will it—for they know more
about these things, and can settle them better than I can."
Ulysses shuddered as he heard her. "Now goddess," he answered, "there is
something behind all this; you cannot be really meaning to help me home
when you bid me do such a dreadful thing as put to sea on a raft. Not even a
well found ship with a fair wind could venture on such a distant voyage:
nothing that you can say or do shall make me go on board a raft unless you
first solemnly swear that you mean me no mischief."
Calypso smiled at this and caressed him with her hand: "You know a great
deal," said she, "but you are quite wrong here. May heaven above and earth
below be my witnesses, with the waters of the river Styx—and this is the most
solemn oath which a blessed god can take—that I mean you no sort of harm,
and am only advising you to do exactly what I should do myself in your place.
I am dealing with you quite straightforwardly; my heart is not made of iron,
and I am very sorry for you."
When she had thus spoken she led the way rapidly before him, and Ulysses
followed in her steps; so the pair, goddess and man, went on and on till they
came to Calypso's cave, where Ulysses took the seat that Mercury had just left.
Calypso set meat and drink before him of the food that mortals eat; but her
maids brought ambrosia and nectar for herself, and they laid their hands on the
good things that were before them. When they had satisfied themselves with
meat and drink, Calypso spoke, saying:
"Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, so you would start home to your own land
at once? Good luck go with you, but if you could only know how much
suffering is in store for you before you get back to your own country, you
would stay where you are, keep house along with me, and let me make you
immortal, no matter how anxious you may be to see this wife of yours, of
whom you are thinking all the time day after day; yet I flatter myself that I am
no whit less tall or well-looking than she is, for it is not to be expected that a
mortal woman should compare in beauty with an immortal."
"Goddess," replied Ulysses, "do not be angry with me about this. I am
quite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so beautiful as
yourself. She is only a woman, whereas you are an immortal. Nevertheless, I
want to get home, and can think of nothing else. If some god wrecks me when
I am on the sea, I will bear it and make the best of it. I have had infinite
trouble both by land and sea already, so let this go with the rest."
Presently the sun set and it became dark, whereon the pair retired into the
inner part of the cave and went to bed.
When the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Ulysses put on
his shirt and cloak, while the goddess wore a dress of a light gossamer fabric,
very fine and graceful, with a beautiful golden girdle about her waist and a
veil to cover her head. She at once set herself to think how she could speed
Ulysses on his way. So she gave him a great bronze axe that suited his hands;
it was sharpened on both sides, and had a beautiful olive-wood handle fitted
firmly on to it. She also gave him a sharp adze, and then led the way to the far
end of the island where the largest trees grew—alder, poplar and pine, that
reached the sky—very dry and well seasoned, so as to sail light for him in the
water. Then, when she had shown him where the best trees grew, Calypso
went home, leaving him to cut them, which he soon finished doing. He cut
down twenty trees in all and adzed them smooth, squaring them by rule in
good workmanlike fashion. Meanwhile Calypso came back with some augers,
so he bored holes with them and fitted the timbers together with bolts and
rivets. He made the raft as broad as a skilled shipwright makes the beam of a
large vessel, and he fixed a deck on top of the ribs, and ran a gunwale all
round it. He also made a mast with a yard arm, and a rudder to steer with. He
fenced the raft all round with wicker hurdles as a protection against the waves,
and then he threw on a quantity of wood. By and by Calypso brought him
some linen to make the sails, and he made these too, excellently, making them
fast with braces and sheets. Last of all, with the help of levers, he drew the raft
down into the water.
In four days he had completed the whole work, and on the fifth Calypso
sent him from the island after washing him and giving him some clean clothes.
She gave him a goat skin full of black wine, and another larger one of water;
she also gave him a wallet full of provisions, and found him in much good
meat. Moreover, she made the wind fair and warm for him, and gladly did
Ulysses spread his sail before it, while he sat and guided the raft skilfully by
means of the rudder. He never closed his eyes, but kept them fixed on the
Pleiads, on late-setting Bootes, and on the Bear—which men also call the
wain, and which turns round and round where it is, facing Orion, and alone
never dipping into the stream of Oceanus—for Calypso had told him to keep
this to his left. Days seven and ten did he sail over the sea, and on the
eighteenth the dim outlines of the mountains on the nearest part of the
Phaeacian coast appeared, rising like a shield on the horizon.
But King Neptune, who was returning from the Ethiopians, caught sight of
Ulysses a long way off, from the mountains of the Solymi. He could see him
sailing upon the sea, and it made him very angry, so he wagged his head and
muttered to himself, saying, "Good heavens, so the gods have been changing
their minds about Ulysses while I was away in Ethiopia, and now he is close to
the land of the Phaeacians, where it is decreed that he shall escape from the
calamities that have befallen him. Still, he shall have plenty of hardship yet
before he has done with it."
Thereon he gathered his clouds together, grasped his trident, stirred it
round in the sea, and roused the rage of every wind that blows till earth, sea,
and sky were hidden in cloud, and night sprang forth out of the heavens.
Winds from East, South, North, and West fell upon him all at the same time,
and a tremendous sea got up, so that Ulysses' heart began to fail him. "Alas,"
he said to himself in his dismay, "what ever will become of me? I am afraid
Calypso was right when she said I should have trouble by sea before I got
back home. It is all coming true. How black is Jove making heaven with his
clouds, and what a sea the winds are raising from every quarter at once. I am
now safe to perish. Blest and thrice blest were those Danaans who fell before
Troy in the cause of the sons of Atreus. Would that I had been killed on the
day when the Trojans were pressing me so sorely about the dead body of
Achilles, for then I should have had due burial and the Achaeans would have
honoured my name; but now it seems that I shall come to a most pitiable end."
As he spoke a sea broke over him with such terrific fury that the raft reeled
again, and he was carried overboard a long way off. He let go the helm, and
the force of the hurricane was so great that it broke the mast half way up, and
both sail and yard went over into the sea. For a long time Ulysses was under
water, and it was all he could do to rise to the surface again, for the clothes
Calypso had given him weighed him down; but at last he got his head above
water and spat out the bitter brine that was running down his face in streams.
In spite of all this, however, he did not lose sight of his raft, but swam as fast
as he could towards it, got hold of it, and climbed on board again so as to
escape drowning. The sea took the raft and tossed it about as Autumn winds
whirl thistledown round and round upon a road. It was as though the South,
North, East, and West winds were all playing battledore and shuttlecock with
it at once.
When he was in this plight, Ino daughter of Cadmus, also called
Leucothea, saw him. She had formerly been a mere mortal, but had been since
raised to the rank of a marine goddess. Seeing in what great distress Ulysses
now was, she had compassion upon him, and, rising like a sea-gull from the
waves, took her seat upon the raft.
"My poor good man," said she, "why is Neptune so furiously angry with
you? He is giving you a great deal of trouble, but for all his bluster he will not
kill you. You seem to be a sensible person, do then as I bid you; strip, leave
your raft to drive before the wind, and swim to the Phaeacian coast where
better luck awaits you. And here, take my veil and put it round your chest; it is
enchanted, and you can come to no harm so long as you wear it. As soon as
you touch land take it off, throw it back as far as you can into the sea, and then
go away again." With these words she took off her veil and gave it him. Then
she dived down again like a sea-gull and vanished beneath the dark blue
waters.
But Ulysses did not know what to think. "Alas," he said to himself in his
dismay, "this is only some one or other of the gods who is luring me to ruin by
advising me to quit my raft. At any rate I will not do so at present, for the land
where she said I should be quit of all troubles seemed to be still a good way
off. I know what I will do—I am sure it will be best—no matter what happens
I will stick to the raft as long as her timbers hold together, but when the sea
breaks her up I will swim for it; I do not see how I can do any better than this."
While he was thus in two minds, Neptune sent a terrible great wave that
seemed to rear itself above his head till it broke right over the raft, which then
went to pieces as though it were a heap of dry chaff tossed about by a
whirlwind. Ulysses got astride of one plank and rode upon it as if he were on
horseback; he then took off the clothes Calypso had given him, bound Ino's
veil under his arms, and plunged into the sea—meaning to swim on shore.
King Neptune watched him as he did so, and wagged his head, muttering to
himself and saying, "There now, swim up and down as you best can till you
fall in with well-to-do people. I do not think you will be able to say that I have
let you off too lightly." On this he lashed his horses and drove to Aegae where
his palace is.
But Minerva resolved to help Ulysses, so she bound the ways of all the
winds except one, and made them lie quite still; but she roused a good stiff
breeze from the North that should lay the waters till Ulysses reached the land
of the Phaeacians where he would be safe.
Thereon he floated about for two nights and two days in the water, with a
heavy swell on the sea and death staring him in the face; but when the third
day broke, the wind fell and there was a dead calm without so much as a
breath of air stirring. As he rose on the swell he looked eagerly ahead, and
could see land quite near. Then, as children rejoice when their dear father
begins to get better after having for a long time borne sore affliction sent him
by some angry spirit, but the gods deliver him from evil, so was Ulysses
thankful when he again saw land and trees, and swam on with all his strength
that he might once more set foot upon dry ground. When, however, he got
within earshot, he began to hear the surf thundering up against the rocks, for
the swell still broke against them with a terrific roar. Everything was
enveloped in spray; there were no harbours where a ship might ride, nor
shelter of any kind, but only headlands, low-lying rocks, and mountain tops.
Ulysses' heart now began to fail him, and he said despairingly to himself,
"Alas, Jove has let me see land after swimming so far that I had given up all
hope, but I can find no landing place, for the coast is rocky and surf-beaten,
the rocks are smooth and rise sheer from the sea, with deep water close under
them so that I cannot climb out for want of foot hold. I am afraid some great
wave will lift me off my legs and dash me against the rocks as I leave the
water—which would give me a sorry landing. If, on the other hand, I swim
further in search of some shelving beach or harbour, a hurricane may carry me
out to sea again sorely against my will, or heaven may send some great
monster of the deep to attack me; for Amphitrite breeds many such, and I
know that Neptune is very angry with me."
While he was thus in two minds a wave caught him and took him with
such force against the rocks that he would have been smashed and torn to
pieces if Minerva had not shown him what to do. He caught hold of the rock
with both hands and clung to it groaning with pain till the wave retired, so he
was saved that time; but presently the wave came on again and carried him
back with it far into the sea—tearing his hands as the suckers of a polypus are
torn when some one plucks it from its bed, and the stones come up along with
it—even so did the rocks tear the skin from his strong hands, and then the
wave drew him deep down under the water.
Here poor Ulysses would have certainly perished even in spite of his own
destiny, if Minerva had not helped him to keep his wits about him. He swam
seaward again, beyond reach of the surf that was beating against the land, and
at the same time he kept looking towards the shore to see if he could find some
haven, or a spit that should take the waves aslant. By and by, as he swam on,
he came to the mouth of a river, and here he thought would be the best place,
for there were no rocks, and it afforded shelter from the wind. He felt that
there was a current, so he prayed inwardly and said:
"Hear me, O King, whoever you may be, and save me from the anger of
the sea-god Neptune, for I approach you prayerfully. Any one who has lost his
way has at all times a claim even upon the gods, wherefore in my distress I
draw near to your stream, and cling to the knees of your riverhood. Have
mercy upon me, O king, for I declare myself your suppliant."
Then the god staid his stream and stilled the waves, making all calm before
him, and bringing him safely into the mouth of the river. Here at last Ulysses'
knees and strong hands failed him, for the sea had completely broken him. His
body was all swollen, and his mouth and nostrils ran down like a river with
sea-water, so that he could neither breathe nor speak, and lay swooning from
sheer exhaustion; presently, when he had got his breath and came to himself
again, he took off the scarf that Ino had given him and threw it back into the
salt stream of the river, whereon Ino received it into her hands from the wave
that bore it towards her. Then he left the river, laid himself down among the
rushes, and kissed the bounteous earth.
"Alas," he cried to himself in his dismay, "what ever will become of me,
and how is it all to end? If I stay here upon the river bed through the long
watches of the night, I am so exhausted that the bitter cold and damp may
make an end of me—for towards sunrise there will be a keen wind blowing
from off the river. If, on the other hand, I climb the hill side, find shelter in the
woods, and sleep in some thicket, I may escape the cold and have a good
night's rest, but some savage beast may take advantage of me and devour me."
In the end he deemed it best to take to the woods, and he found one upon
some high ground not far from the water. There he crept beneath two shoots of
olive that grew from a single stock—the one an ungrafted sucker, while the
other had been grafted. No wind, however squally, could break through the
cover they afforded, nor could the sun's rays pierce them, nor the rain get
through them, so closely did they grow into one another. Ulysses crept under
these and began to make himself a bed to lie on, for there was a great litter of
dead leaves lying about—enough to make a covering for two or three men
even in hard winter weather. He was glad enough to see this, so he laid himself
down and heaped the leaves all round him. Then, as one who lives alone in the
country, far from any neighbor, hides a brand as fire-seed in the ashes to save
himself from having to get a light elsewhere, even so did Ulysses cover
himself up with leaves; and Minerva shed a sweet sleep upon his eyes, closed
his eyelids, and made him lose all memories of his sorrows.

BOOK VI
THE MEETING BETWEEN NAUSICAA AND ULYSSES.

 So here Ulysses slept, overcome by sleep and toil; but Minerva went off to
the country and city of the Phaeacians—a people who used to live in the fair
town of Hypereia, near the lawless Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes were stronger
than they and plundered them, so their king Nausithous moved them thence
and settled them in Scheria, far from all other people. He surrounded the city
with a wall, built houses and temples, and divided the lands among his people;
but he was dead and gone to the house of Hades, and King Alcinous, whose
counsels were inspired of heaven, was now reigning. To his house, then, did
Minerva hie in furtherance of the return of Ulysses.
She went straight to the beautifully decorated bedroom in which there slept
a girl who was as lovely as a goddess, Nausicaa, daughter to King Alcinous.
Two maid servants were sleeping near her, both very pretty, one on either side
of the doorway, which was closed with well made folding doors. Minerva took
the form of the famous sea captain Dymas's daughter, who was a bosom friend
of Nausicaa and just her own age; then, coming up to the girl's bedside like a
breath of wind, she hovered over her head and said:
"Nausicaa, what can your mother have been about, to have such a lazy
daughter? Here are your clothes all lying in disorder, yet you are going to be
married almost immediately, and should not only be well dressed yourself, but
should find good clothes for those who attend you. This is the way to get
yourself a good name, and to make your father and mother proud of you.
Suppose, then, that we make tomorrow a washing day, and start at daybreak. I
will come and help you so that you may have everything ready as soon as
possible, for all the best young men among your own people are courting you,
and you are not going to remain a maid much longer. Ask your father,
therefore, to have a waggon and mules ready for us at daybreak, to take the
rugs, robes, and girdles, and you can ride, too, which will be much pleasanter
for you than walking, for the washing-cisterns are some way from the town."
When she had said this Minerva went away to Olympus, which they say is
the everlasting home of the gods. Here no wind beats roughly, and neither rain
nor snow can fall; but it abides in everlasting sunshine and in a great
peacefulness of light, wherein the blessed gods are illumined for ever and ever.
This was the place to which the goddess went when she had given instructions
to the girl.
By and by morning came and woke Nausicaa, who began wondering about
her dream; she therefore went to the other end of the house to tell her father
and mother all about it, and found them in their own room. Her mother was
sitting by the fireside spinning her purple yarn with her maids around her, and
she happened to catch her father just as he was going out to attend a meeting
of the town council, which the Phaeacian aldermen had convened. She stopped
him and said:
 "Papa dear, could you manage to let me have a good big waggon? I want to
take all our dirty clothes to the river and wash them. You are the chief man
here, so it is only right that you should have a clean shirt when you attend
meetings of the council. Moreover, you have five sons at home, two of them
married, while the other three are good looking bachelors; you know they
always like to have clean linen when they go to a dance, and I have been
thinking about all this."
She did not say a word about her own wedding, for she did not like to, but
her father knew and said, "You shall have the mules, my love, and whatever
else you have a mind for. Be off with you, and the men shall get you a good
strong waggon with a body to it that will hold all your clothes."
On this he gave his orders to the servants, who got the waggon out,
harnessed the mules, and put them to, while the girl brought the clothes down
from the linen room and placed them on the waggon. Her mother prepared her
a basket of provisions with all sorts of good things, and a goat skin full of
wine; the girl now got into the waggon, and her mother gave her also a golden
cruse of oil, that she and her women might anoint themselves. Then she took
the whip and reins and lashed the mules on, whereon they set off, and their
hoofs clattered on the road. They pulled without flagging, and carried not only
Nausicaa and her wash of clothes, but the maids also who were with her.
When they reached the water side they went to the washing cisterns,
through which there ran at all times enough pure water to wash any quantity of
linen, no matter how dirty. Here they unharnessed the mules and turned them
out to feed on the sweet juicy herbage that grew by the water side. They took
the clothes out of the waggon, put them in the water, and vied with one
another in treading them in the pits to get the dirt out. After they had washed
them and got them quite clean, they laid them out by the sea side, where the
waves had raised a high beach of shingle, and set about washing themselves
and anointing themselves with olive oil. Then they got their dinner by the side
of the stream, and waited for the sun to finish drying the clothes. When they
had done dinner they threw off the veils that covered their heads and began to
play at ball, while Nausicaa sang for them. As the huntress Diana goes forth
upon the mountains of Taygetus or Erymanthus to hunt wild boars or deer, and
the wood nymphs, daughters of Aegis-bearing Jove, take their sport along with
her (then is Leto proud at seeing her daughter stand a full head taller than the
others, and eclipse the loveliest amid a whole bevy of beauties), even so did
the girl outshine her handmaids.
When it was time for them to start home, and they were folding the clothes
and putting them into the waggon, Minerva began to consider how Ulysses
should wake up and see the handsome girl who was to conduct him to the city
of the Phaeacians. The girl, therefore, threw a ball at one of the maids, which
missed her and fell into deep water. On this they all shouted, and the noise
they made woke Ulysses, who sat up in his bed of leaves and began to wonder
what it might all be.
"Alas," said he to himself, "what kind of people have I come amongst? Are
they cruel, savage, and uncivilised, or hospitable and humane? I seem to hear
the voices of young women, and they sound like those of the nymphs that
haunt mountain tops, or springs of rivers and meadows of green grass. At any
rate I am among a race of men and women. Let me try if I cannot manage to
get a look at them."
As he said this he crept from under his bush, and broke off a bough
covered with thick leaves to hide his nakedness. He looked like some lion of
the wilderness that stalks about exulting in his strength and defying both wind
and rain; his eyes glare as he prowls in quest of oxen, sheep, or deer, for he is
famished, and will dare break even into a well fenced homestead, trying to get
at the sheep—even such did Ulysses seem to the young women, as he drew
near to them all naked as he was, for he was in great want. On seeing one so
unkempt and so begrimed with salt water, the others scampered off along the
spits that jutted out into the sea, but the daughter of Alcinous stood firm, for
Minerva put courage into her heart and took away all fear from her. She stood
right in front of Ulysses, and he doubted whether he should go up to her, throw
himself at her feet, and embrace her knees as a suppliant, or stay where he was
and entreat her to give him some clothes and show him the way to the town. In
the end he deemed it best to entreat her from a distance in case the girl should
take offence at his coming near enough to clasp her knees, so he addressed her
in honeyed and persuasive language.
"O queen," he said, "I implore your aid—but tell me, are you a goddess or
are you a mortal woman? If you are a goddess and dwell in heaven, I can only
conjecture that you are Jove's daughter Diana, for your face and figure
resemble none but hers; if on the other hand you are a mortal and live on earth,
thrice happy are your father and mother—thrice happy, too, are your brothers
and sisters; how proud and delighted they must feel when they see so fair a
scion as yourself going out to a dance; most happy, however, of all will he be
whose wedding gifts have been the richest, and who takes you to his own
home. I never yet saw any one so beautiful, neither man nor woman, and am
lost in admiration as I behold you. I can only compare you to a young palm
tree which I saw when I was at Delos growing near the altar of Apollo—for I
was there, too, with much people after me, when I was on that journey which
has been the source of all my troubles. Never yet did such a young plant shoot
out of the ground as that was, and I admired and wondered at it exactly as I
now admire and wonder at yourself. I dare not clasp your knees, but I am in
great distress; yesterday made the twentieth day that I had been tossing about
upon the sea. The winds and waves have taken me all the way from the
Ogygian island, and now fate has flung me upon this coast that I may endure
still further suffering; for I do not think that I have yet come to the end of it,
but rather that heaven has still much evil in store for me.
"And now, O queen, have pity upon me, for you are the first person I have
met, and I know no one else in this country. Show me the way to your town,
and let me have anything that you may have brought hither to wrap your
clothes in. May heaven grant you in all things your heart's desire—husband,
house, and a happy, peaceful home; for there is nothing better in this world
than that man and wife should be of one mind in a house. It discomfits their
enemies, makes the hearts of their friends glad, and they themselves know
more about it than any one."
To this Nausicaa answered, "Stranger, you appear to be a sensible, well-
disposed person. There is no accounting for luck; Jove gives prosperity to rich
and poor just as he chooses, so you must take what he has seen fit to send you,
and make the best of it. Now, however, that you have come to this our country,
you shall not want for clothes nor for anything else that a foreigner in distress
may reasonably look for. I will show you the way to the town, and will tell you
the name of our people; we are called Phaeacians, and I am daughter to
Alcinous, in whom the whole power of the state is vested."
Then she called her maids and said, "Stay where you are, you girls. Can
you not see a man without running away from him? Do you take him for a
robber or a murderer? Neither he nor any one else can come here to do us
Phaeacians any harm, for we are dear to the gods, and live apart on a land's
end that juts into the sounding sea, and have nothing to do with any other
people. This is only some poor man who has lost his way, and we must be kind
to him, for strangers and foreigners in distress are under Jove's protection, and
will take what they can get and be thankful; so, girls, give the poor fellow
something to eat and drink, and wash him in the stream at some place that is
sheltered from the wind."
On this the maids left off running away and began calling one another
back. They made Ulysses sit down in the shelter as Nausicaa had told them,
and brought him a shirt and cloak. They also brought him the little golden
cruse of oil, and told him to go and wash in the stream. But Ulysses said,
"Young women, please to stand a little on one side that I may wash the brine
from my shoulders and anoint myself with oil, for it is long enough since my
skin has had a drop of oil upon it. I cannot wash as long as you all keep
standing there. I am ashamed to strip before a number of good looking young
women."
Then they stood on one side and went to tell the girl, while Ulysses washed
himself in the stream and scrubbed the brine from his back and from his broad
shoulders. When he had thoroughly washed himself, and had got the brine out
of his hair, he anointed himself with oil, and put on the clothes which the girl
had given him; Minerva then made him look taller and stronger than before,
she also made the hair grow thick on the top of his head, and flow down in
curls like hyacinth blossoms; she glorified him about the head and shoulders
as a skilful workman who has studied art of all kinds under Vulcan and
Minerva enriches a piece of silver plate by gilding it—and his work is full of
beauty. Then he went and sat down a little way off upon the beach, looking
quite young and handsome, and the girl gazed on him with admiration; then
she said to her maids:
"Hush, my dears, for I want to say something. I believe the gods who live
in heaven have sent this man to the Phaeacians. When I first saw him I thought
him plain, but now his appearance is like that of the gods who dwell in
heaven. I should like my future husband to be just such another as he is, if he
would only stay here and not want to go away. However, give him something
to eat and drink."
They did as they were told, and set food before Ulysses, who ate and drank
ravenously, for it was long since he had had food of any kind. Meanwhile,
Nausicaa bethought her of another matter. She got the linen folded and placed
in the waggon, she then yoked the mules, and, as she took her seat, she called
Ulysses:
"Stranger," said she, "rise and let us be going back to the town; I will
introduce you at the house of my excellent father, where I can tell you that you
will meet all the best people among the Phaeacians. But be sure and do as I bid
you, for you seem to be a sensible person. As long as we are going past the
fields and farm lands, follow briskly behind the waggon along with the maids
and I will lead the way myself. Presently, however, we shall come to the town,
where you will find a high wall running all round it, and a good harbour on
either side with a narrow entrance into the city, and the ships will be drawn up
by the road side, for every one has a place where his own ship can lie. You
will see the market place with a temple of Neptune in the middle of it, and
paved with large stones bedded in the earth. Here people deal in ship's gear of
all kinds, such as cables and sails, and here, too, are the places where oars are
made, for the Phaeacians are not a nation of archers; they know nothing about
bows and arrows, but are a sea-faring folk, and pride themselves on their
masts, oars, and ships, with which they travel far over the sea.
"I am afraid of the gossip and scandal that may be set on foot against me
later on; for the people here are very ill-natured, and some low fellow, if he
met us, might say, 'Who is this fine-looking stranger that is going about with
Nausicaa? Where did she find him? I suppose she is going to marry him.
Perhaps he is a vagabond sailor whom she has taken from some foreign vessel,
for we have no neighbours; or some god has at last come down from heaven in
answer to her prayers, and she is going to live with him all the rest of her life.
It would be a good thing if she would take herself off and find a husband
somewhere else, for she will not look at one of the many excellent young
Phaeacians who are in love with her.' This is the kind of disparaging remark
that would be made about me, and I could not complain, for I should myself
be scandalised at seeing any other girl do the like, and go about with men in
spite of everybody, while her father and mother were still alive, and without
having been married in the face of all the world.
"If, therefore, you want my father to give you an escort and to help you
home, do as I bid you; you will see a beautiful grove of poplars by the road
side dedicated to Minerva; it has a well in it and a meadow all round it. Here
my father has a field of rich garden ground, about as far from the town as a
man's voice will carry. Sit down there and wait for a while till the rest of us
can get into the town and reach my father's house. Then, when you think we
must have done this, come into the town and ask the way to the house of my
father Alcinous. You will have no difficulty in finding it; any child will point it
out to you, for no one else in the whole town has anything like such a fine
house as he has. When you have got past the gates and through the outer court,
go right across the inner court till you come to my mother. You will find her
sitting by the fire and spinning her purple wool by firelight. It is a fine sight to
see her as she leans back against one of the bearing-posts with her maids all
ranged behind her. Close to her seat stands that of my father, on which he sits
and topes like an immortal god. Never mind him, but go up to my mother, and
lay your hands upon her knees if you would get home quickly. If you can gain
her over, you may hope to see your own country again, no matter how distant
it may be."
So saying she lashed the mules with her whip and they left the river. The
mules drew well, and their hoofs went up and down upon the road. She was
careful not to go too fast for Ulysses and the maids who were following on
foot along with the waggon, so she plied her whip with judgement. As the sun
was going down they came to the sacred grove of Minerva, and there Ulysses
sat down and prayed to the mighty daughter of Jove.
"Hear me," he cried, "daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable, hear
me now, for you gave no heed to my prayers when Neptune was wrecking me.
Now, therefore, have pity upon me and grant that I may find friends and be
hospitably received by the Phaeacians."
Thus did he pray, and Minerva heard his prayer, but she would not show
herself to him openly, for she was afraid of her uncle Neptune, who was still
furious in his endeavors to prevent Ulysses from getting home.


BOOK VII
RECEPTION OF ULYSSES AT THE PALACE OF KING ALCINOUS.

Thus, then, did Ulysses wait and pray; but the girl drove on to the town.
When she reached her father's house she drew up at the gateway, and her
brothers—comely as the gods—gathered round her, took the mules out of the
waggon, and carried the clothes into the house, while she went to her own
room, where an old servant, Eurymedusa of Apeira, lit the fire for her. This old
woman had been brought by sea from Apeira, and had been chosen as a prize
for Alcinous because he was king over the Phaeacians, and the people obeyed
him as though he were a god. She had been nurse to Nausicaa, and had now
lit the fire for her, and brought her supper for her into her own room.
Presently Ulysses got up to go towards the town; and Minerva shed a thick
mist all round him to hide him in case any of the proud Phaeacians who met
him should be rude to him, or ask him who he was. Then, as he was just
entering the town, she came towards him in the likeness of a little girl carrying
a pitcher. She stood right in front of him, and Ulysses said:
"My dear, will you be so kind as to show me the house of king Alcinous? I
am an unfortunate foreigner in distress, and do not know one in your town and
country."
Then Minerva said, "Yes, father stranger, I will show you the house you
want, for Alcinous lives quite close to my own father. I will go before you and
show the way, but say not a word as you go, and do not look at any man, nor
ask him questions; for the people here cannot abide strangers, and do not like
men who come from some other place. They are a sea-faring folk, and sail the
seas by the grace of Neptune in ships that glide along like thought, or as a bird
in the air."
On this she led the way, and Ulysses followed in her steps; but not one of
the Phaeacians could see him as he passed through the city in the midst of
them; for the great goddess Minerva in her good will towards him had hidden
him in a thick cloud of darkness. He admired their harbours, ships, places of
assembly, and the lofty walls of the city, which, with the palisade on top of
them, were very striking, and when they reached the king's house Minerva
said:
"This is the house, father stranger, which you would have me show you.
You will find a number of great people sitting at table, but do not be afraid; go
straight in, for the bolder a man is the more likely he is to carry his point, even
though he is a stranger. First find the queen. Her name is Arete, and she comes
of the same family as her husband Alcinous. They both descend originally
from Neptune, who was father to Nausithous by Periboea, a woman of great
beauty. Periboea was the youngest daughter of Eurymedon, who at one time
reigned over the giants, but he ruined his ill-fated people and lost his own life
to boot.
"Neptune, however, lay with his daughter, and she had a son by him, the
great Nausithous, who reigned over the Phaeacians. Nausithous had two sons
Rhexenor and Alcinous; Apollo killed the first of them while he was still a
bridegroom and without male issue; but he left a daughter Arete, whom
Alcinous married, and honours as no other woman is honoured of all those that
keep house along with their husbands.
"Thus she both was, and still is, respected beyond measure by her children,
by Alcinous himself, and by the whole people, who look upon her as a
goddess, and greet her whenever she goes about the city, for she is a
thoroughly good woman both in head and heart, and when any women are
friends of hers, she will help their husbands also to settle their disputes. If you
can gain her good will, you may have every hope of seeing your friends again,
and getting safely back to your home and country."
Then Minerva left Scheria and went away over the sea. She went to
Marathon and to the spacious streets of Athens, where she entered the abode
of Erechtheus; but Ulysses went on to the house of Alcinous, and he pondered
much as he paused a while before reaching the threshold of bronze, for the
splendour of the palace was like that of the sun or moon. The walls on either
side were of bronze from end to end, and the cornice was of blue enamel. The
doors were gold, and hung on pillars of silver that rose from a floor of bronze,
while the lintel was silver and the hook of the door was of gold.
On either side there stood gold and silver mastiffs which Vulcan, with his
consummate skill, had fashioned expressly to keep watch over the palace of
king Alcinous; so they were immortal and could never grow old. Seats were
ranged all along the wall, here and there from one end to the other, with
coverings of fine woven work which the women of the house had made. Here
the chief persons of the Phaeacians used to sit and eat and drink, for there was
abundance at all seasons; and there were golden figures of young men with
lighted torches in their hands, raised on pedestals, to give light by night to
those who were at table. There are fifty maid servants in the house, some of
whom are always grinding rich yellow grain at the mill, while others work at
the loom, or sit and spin, and their shuttles go backwards and forwards like the
fluttering of aspen leaves, while the linen is so closely woven that it will turn
oil. As the Phaeacians are the best sailors in the world, so their women excel
all others in weaving, for Minerva has taught them all manner of useful arts,
and they are very intelligent.
Outside the gate of the outer court there is a large garden of about four
acres with a wall all round it. It is full of beautiful trees—pears, pomegranates,
and the most delicious apples. There are luscious figs also, and olives in full
growth. The fruits never rot nor fail all the year round, neither winter nor
summer, for the air is so soft that a new crop ripens before the old has
dropped. Pear grows on pear, apple on apple, and fig on fig, and so also with
the grapes, for there is an excellent vineyard: on the level ground of a part of
this, the grapes are being made into raisins; in another part they are being
gathered; some are being trodden in the wine tubs, others further on have shed
their blossom and are beginning to show fruit, others again are just changing
colour. In the furthest part of the ground there are beautifully arranged beds of
flowers that are in bloom all the year round. Two streams go through it, the
one turned in ducts throughout the whole garden, while the other is carried
under the ground of the outer court to the house itself, and the town's people
draw water from it. Such, then, were the splendours with which the gods had
endowed the house of king Alcinous.
So here Ulysses stood for a while and looked about him, but when he had
looked long enough he crossed the threshold and went within the precincts of
the house. There he found all the chief people among the Phaeacians making
their drink offerings to Mercury, which they always did the last thing before
going away for the night. He went straight through the court, still hidden by
the cloak of darkness in which Minerva had enveloped him, till he reached
Arete and King Alcinous; then he laid his hands upon the knees of the queen,
and at that moment the miraculous darkness fell away from him and he
became visible. Every one was speechless with surprise at seeing a man there,
but Ulysses began at once with his petition.
"Queen Arete," he exclaimed, "daughter of great Rhexenor, in my distress I
humbly pray you, as also your husband and these your guests (whom may
heaven prosper with long life and happiness, and may they leave their
possessions to their children, and all the honours conferred upon them by the
state) to help me home to my own country as soon as possible; for I have been
long in trouble and away from my friends."
Then he sat down on the hearth among the ashes and they all held their
peace, till presently the old hero Echeneus, who was an excellent speaker and
an elder among the Phaeacians, plainly and in all honesty addressed them thus:
"Alcinous," said he, "it is not creditable to you that a stranger should be
seen sitting among the ashes of your hearth; every one is waiting to hear what
you are about to say; tell him, then, to rise and take a seat on a stool inlaid
with silver, and bid your servants mix some wine and water that we may make
a drink offering to Jove the lord of thunder, who takes all well disposed
suppliants under his protection; and let the housekeeper give him some supper,
of whatever there may be in the house."
When Alcinous heard this he took Ulysses by the hand, raised him from
the hearth, and bade him take the seat of Laodamas, who had been sitting
beside him, and was his favourite son. A maid servant then brought him water
in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin for him to wash his
hands, and she drew a clean table beside him; an upper servant brought him
bread and offered him many good things of what there was in the house, and
Ulysses ate and drank. Then Alcinous said to one of the servants, "Pontonous,
mix a cup of wine and hand it round that we may make drink-offerings to Jove
the lord of thunder, who is the protector of all well-disposed suppliants."
Pontonous then mixed wine and water, and handed it round after giving
every man his drink-offering. When they had made their offerings, and had
drunk each as much as he was minded, Alcinous said:
"Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, hear my words. You
have had your supper, so now go home to bed. To-morrow morning I shall
invite a still larger number of aldermen, and will give a sacrificial banquet in
honour of our guest; we can then discuss the question of his escort, and
consider how we may at once send him back rejoicing to his own country
without trouble or inconvenience to himself, no matter how distant it may be.
We must see that he comes to no harm while on his homeward journey, but
when he is once at home he will have to take the luck he was born with for
better or worse like other people. It is possible, however, that the stranger is
one of the immortals who has come down from heaven to visit us; but in this
case the gods are departing from their usual practice, for hitherto they have
made themselves perfectly clear to us when we have been offering them
hecatombs. They come and sit at our feasts just like one of our selves, and if
any solitary wayfarer happens to stumble upon some one or other of them,
they affect no concealment, for we are as near of kin to the gods as the
Cyclopes and the savage giants are."
Then Ulysses said: "Pray, Alcinous, do not take any such notion into your
head. I have nothing of the immortal about me, neither in body nor mind, and
most resemble those among you who are the most afflicted. Indeed, were I to
tell you all that heaven has seen fit to lay upon me, you would say that I was
still worse off than they are. Nevertheless, let me sup in spite of sorrow, for an
empty stomach is a very importunate thing, and thrusts itself on a man's notice
no matter how dire is his distress. I am in great trouble, yet it insists that I shall
eat and drink, bids me lay aside all memory of my sorrows and dwell only on
the due replenishing of itself. As for yourselves, do as you propose, and at
break of day set about helping me to get home. I shall be content to die if I
may first once more behold my property, my bondsmen, and all the greatness
of my house."
Thus did he speak. Every one approved his saying, and agreed that he
should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken reasonably. Then when they
had made their drink offerings, and had drunk each as much as he was minded
they went home to bed every man in his own abode, leaving Ulysses in the
cloister with Arete and Alcinous while the servants were taking the things
away after supper. Arete was the first to speak, for she recognised the shirt,
cloak, and good clothes that Ulysses was wearing, as the work of herself and
of her maids; so she said, "Stranger, before we go any further, there is a
question I should like to ask you. Who, and whence are you, and who gave
you those clothes? Did you not say you had come here from beyond the sea?"
And Ulysses answered, "It would be a long story Madam, were I to relate
in full the tale of my misfortunes, for the hand of heaven has been laid heavy
upon me; but as regards your question, there is an island far away in the sea
which is called 'the Ogygian.' Here dwells the cunning and powerful goddess
Calypso, daughter of Atlas. She lives by herself far from all neighbours human
or divine. Fortune, however, brought me to her hearth all desolate and alone,
for Jove struck my ship with his thunderbolts, and broke it up in mid-ocean.
My brave comrades were drowned every man of them, but I stuck to the keel
and was carried hither and thither for the space of nine days, till at last during
the darkness of the tenth night the gods brought me to the Ogygian island
where the great goddess Calypso lives. She took me in and treated me with the
utmost kindness; indeed she wanted to make me immortal that I might never
grow old, but she could not persuade me to let her do so.
"I stayed with Calypso seven years straight on end, and watered the good
clothes she gave me with my tears during the whole time; but at last when the
eighth year came round she bade me depart of her own free will, either
because Jove had told her she must, or because she had changed her mind. She
sent me from her island on a raft, which she provisioned with abundance of
bread and wine. Moreover she gave me good stout clothing, and sent me a
wind that blew both warm and fair. Days seven and ten did I sail over the sea,
and on the eighteenth I caught sight of the first outlines of the mountains upon
your coast—and glad indeed was I to set eyes upon them. Nevertheless there
was still much trouble in store for me, for at this point Neptune would let me
go no further, and raised a great storm against me; the sea was so terribly high
that I could no longer keep to my raft, which went to pieces under the fury of
the gale, and I had to swim for it, till wind and current brought me to your
shores.
"There I tried to land, but could not, for it was a bad place and the waves
dashed me against the rocks, so I again took to the sea and swam on till I came
to a river that seemed the most likely landing place, for there were no rocks
and it was sheltered from the wind. Here, then, I got out of the water and
gathered my senses together again. Night was coming on, so I left the river,
and went into a thicket, where I covered myself all over with leaves, and
presently heaven sent me off into a very deep sleep. Sick and sorry as I was I
slept among the leaves all night, and through the next day till afternoon, when
I woke as the sun was westering, and saw your daughter's maid servants
playing upon the beach, and your daughter among them looking like a
goddess. I besought her aid, and she proved to be of an excellent disposition,
much more so than could be expected from so young a person—for young
people are apt to be thoughtless. She gave me plenty of bread and wine, and
when she had had me washed in the river she also gave me the clothes in
which you see me. Now, therefore, though it has pained me to do so, I have
told you the whole truth."
Then Alcinous said, "Stranger, it was very wrong of my daughter not to
bring you on at once to my house along with the maids, seeing that she was
the first person whose aid you asked."
"Pray do not scold her," replied Ulysses; "she is not to blame. She did tell
me to follow along with the maids, but I was ashamed and afraid, for I thought
you might perhaps be displeased if you saw me. Every human being is
sometimes a little suspicious and irritable."
"Stranger," replied Alcinous, "I am not the kind of man to get angry about
nothing; it is always better to be reasonable; but by Father Jove, Minerva, and
Apollo, now that I see what kind of person you are, and how much you think
as I do, I wish you would stay here, marry my daughter, and become my son-
in-law. If you will stay I will give you a house and an estate, but no one
(heaven forbid) shall keep you here against your own wish, and that you may
be sure of this I will attend tomorrow to the matter of your escort. You can
sleep during the whole voyage if you like, and the men shall sail you over
smooth waters either to your own home, or wherever you please, even though
it be a long way further off than Euboea, which those of my people who saw it
when they took yellow-haired Rhadamanthus to see Tityus the son of Gaia, tell
me is the furthest of any place—and yet they did the whole voyage in a single
day without distressing themselves, and came back again afterwards. You will
thus see how much my ships excel all others, and what magnificent oarsmen
my sailors are."
Then was Ulysses glad and prayed aloud saying, "Father Jove, grant that
Alcinous may do all as he has said, for so he will win an imperishable name
among mankind, and at the same time I shall return to my country."
Thus did they converse. Then Arete told her maids to set a bed in the room
that was in the gatehouse, and make it with good red rugs, and to spread
coverlets on the top of them with woollen cloaks for Ulysses to wear. The
maids thereon went out with torches in their hands, and when they had made
the bed they came up to Ulysses and said, "Rise, sir stranger, and come with us
for your bed is ready," and glad indeed was he to go to his rest.
So Ulysses slept in a bed placed in a room over the echoing gateway; but
Alcinous lay in the inner part of the house, with the queen his wife by his side.

BOOK VIII
BANQUET IN THE HOUSE OF ALCINOUS—THE GAMES.

Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Alcinous

and Ulysses both rose, and Alcinous led the way to the Phaeacian place of
assembly, which was near the ships. When they got there they sat down side
by side on a seat of polished stone, while Minerva took the form of one of
Alcinous' servants, and went round the town in order to help Ulysses to get
home. She went up to the citizens, man by man, and said, "Aldermen and town
councillors of the Phaeacians, come to the assembly all of you and listen to the
stranger who has just come off a long voyage to the house of King Alcinous;
he looks like an immortal god."
With these words she made them all want to come, and they flocked to the
assembly till seats and standing room were alike crowded. Every one was
struck with the appearance of Ulysses, for Minerva had beautified him about
the head and shoulders, making him look taller and stouter than he really was,
that he might impress the Phaeacians favourably as being a very remarkable
man, and might come off well in the many trials of skill to which they would
challenge him. Then, when they were got together, Alcinous spoke:
"Hear me," said he, "aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, that
I may speak even as I am minded. This stranger, whoever he may be, has
found his way to my house from somewhere or other either East or West. He
wants an escort and wishes to have the matter settled. Let us then get one
ready for him, as we have done for others before him; indeed, no one who ever
yet came to my house has been able to complain of me for not speeding on his
way soon enough. Let us draw a ship into the sea—one that has never yet
made a voyage—and man her with two and fifty of our smartest young sailors.
Then when you have made fast your oars each by his own seat, leave the ship
and come to my house to prepare a feast. I will find you in everything. I am
giving these instructions to the young men who will form the crew, for as
regards you aldermen and town councillors, you will join me in entertaining
our guest in the cloisters. I can take no excuses, and we will have Demodocus
to sing to us; for there is no bard like him whatever he may choose to sing
about."
Alcinous then led the way, and the others followed after, while a servant
went to fetch Demodocus. The fifty-two picked oarsmen went to the sea shore
as they had been told, and when they got there they drew the ship into the
water, got her mast and sails inside her, bound the oars to the thole-pins with
twisted thongs of leather, all in due course, and spread the white sails aloft.
They moored the vessel a little way out from land, and then came on shore and
went to the house of King Alcinous. The out houses, yards, and all the
precincts were filled with crowds of men in great multitudes both old and
young; and Alcinous killed them a dozen sheep, eight full grown pigs, and two
oxen. These they skinned and dressed so as to provide a magnificent banquet.
A servant presently led in the famous bard Demodocus, whom the muse
had dearly loved, but to whom she had given both good and evil, for though
she had endowed him with a divine gift of song, she had robbed him of his
eyesight. Pontonous set a seat for him among the guests, leaning it up against a
bearing-post. He hung the lyre for him on a peg over his head, and showed
him where he was to feel for it with his hands. He also set a fair table with a
basket of victuals by his side, and a cup of wine from which he might drink
whenever he was so disposed.
The company then laid their hands upon the good things that were before
them, but as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, the muse inspired
Demodocus to sing the feats of heroes, and more especially a matter that was
then in the mouths of all men, to wit, the quarrel between Ulysses and
Achilles, and the fierce words that they heaped on one another as they sat
together at a banquet. But Agamemnon was glad when he heard his chieftains
quarrelling with one another, for Apollo had foretold him this at Pytho when
he crossed the stone floor to consult the oracle. Here was the beginning of the
evil that by the will of Jove fell both upon Danaans and Trojans.
Thus sang the bard, but Ulysses drew his purple mantle over his head and
covered his face, for he was ashamed to let the Phaeacians see that he was
weeping. When the bard left off singing he wiped the tears from his eyes,
uncovered his face, and, taking his cup, made a drink-offering to the gods; but
when the Phaeacians pressed Demodocus to sing further, for they delighted in
his lays, then Ulysses again drew his mantle over his head and wept bitterly.
No one noticed his distress except Alcinous, who was sitting near him, and
heard the heavy sighs that he was heaving. So he at once said, "Aldermen and
town councillors of the Phaeacians, we have had enough now, both of the
feast, and of the minstrelsy that is its due accompaniment; let us proceed
therefore to the athletic sports, so that our guest on his return home may be
able to tell his friends how much we surpass all other nations as boxers,
wrestlers, jumpers, and runners."
With these words he led the way, and the others followed after. A servant
hung Demodocus's lyre on its peg for him, led him out of the cloister, and set
him on the same way as that along which all the chief men of the Phaeacians
were going to see the sports; a crowd of several thousands of people followed
them, and there were many excellent competitors for all the prizes. Acroneos,
Ocyalus, Elatreus, Nauteus, Prymneus, Anchialus, Eretmeus, Ponteus,
Proreus, Thoon, Anabesineus, and Amphialus son of Polyneus son of Tecton.
There was also Euryalus son of Naubolus, who was like Mars himself, and
was the best looking man among the Phaeacians except Laodamas. Three sons
of Alcinous, Laodamas, Halios, and Clytoneus, competed also.
The foot races came first. The course was set out for them from the starting
post, and they raised a dust upon the plain as they all flew forward at the same
moment. Clytoneus came in first by a long way; he left every one else behind
him by the length of the furrow that a couple of mules can plough in a fallow
field. They then turned to the painful art of wrestling, and here Euryalus
proved to be the best man. Amphialus excelled all the others in jumping, while
at throwing the disc there was no one who could approach Elatreus. Alcinous's
son Laodamas was the best boxer, and he it was who presently said, when they
had all been diverted with the games, "Let us ask the stranger whether he
excels in any of these sports; he seems very powerfully built; his thighs,
calves, hands, and neck are of prodigious strength, nor is he at all old, but he
has suffered much lately, and there is nothing like the sea for making havoc
with a man, no matter how strong he is."
"You are quite right, Laodamas," replied Euryalus, "go up to your guest
and speak to him about it yourself."
When Laodamas heard this he made his way into the middle of the crowd
and said to Ulysses, "I hope, Sir, that you will enter yourself for some one or
other of our competitions if you are skilled in any of them—and you must
have gone in for many a one before now. There is nothing that does any one so
much credit all his life long as the showing himself a proper man with his
hands and feet. Have a try therefore at something, and banish all sorrow from
your mind. Your return home will not be long delayed, for the ship is already
drawn into the water, and the crew is found."
Ulysses answered, "Laodamas, why do you taunt me in this way? my mind
is set rather on cares than contests; I have been through infinite trouble, and
am come among you now as a suppliant, praying your king and people to
further me on my return home."
 Then Euryalus reviled him outright and said, "I gather, then, that you are
unskilled in any of the many sports that men generally delight in. I suppose
you are one of those grasping traders that go about in ships as captains or
merchants, and who think of nothing but of their outward freights and
homeward cargoes. There does not seem to be much of the athlete about you."
"For shame, Sir," answered Ulysses, fiercely, "you are an insolent fellow—
so true is it that the gods do not grace all men alike in speech, person, and
understanding. One man may be of weak presence, but heaven has adorned
this with such a good conversation that he charms every one who sees him; his
honeyed moderation carries his hearers with him so that he is leader in all
assemblies of his fellows, and wherever he goes he is looked up to. Another
may be as handsome as a god, but his good looks are not crowned with
discretion. This is your case. No god could make a finer looking fellow than
you are, but you are a fool. Your ill-judged remarks have made me
exceedingly angry, and you are quite mistaken, for I excel in a great many
athletic exercises; indeed, so long as I had youth and strength, I was among the
first athletes of the age. Now, however, I am worn out by labour and sorrow,
for I have gone through much both on the field of battle and by the waves of
the weary sea; still, in spite of all this I will compete, for your taunts have
stung me to the quick."
So he hurried up without even taking his cloak off, and seized a disc,
larger, more massive and much heavier than those used by the Phaeacians
when disc-throwing among themselves. Then, swinging it back, he threw it
from his brawny hand, and it made a humming sound in the air as he did so.
The Phaeacians quailed beneath the rushing of its flight as it sped gracefully
from his hand, and flew beyond any mark that had been made yet. Minerva, in
the form of a man, came and marked the place where it had fallen. "A blind
man, Sir," said she, "could easily tell your mark by groping for it—it is so far
ahead of any other. You may make your mind easy about this contest, for no
Phaeacian can come near to such a throw as yours."
Ulysses was glad when he found he had a friend among the lookers-on, so
he began to speak more pleasantly. "Young men," said he, "come up to that
throw if you can, and I will throw another disc as heavy or even heavier. If
anyone wants to have a bout with me let him come on, for I am exceedingly
angry; I will box, wrestle, or run, I do not care what it is, with any man of you
all except Laodamas, but not with him because I am his guest, and one cannot
compete with one's own personal friend. At least I do not think it a prudent or
a sensible thing for a guest to challenge his host's family at any game,
especially when he is in a foreign country. He will cut the ground from under
his own feet if he does; but I make no exception as regards any one else, for I
want to have the matter out and know which is the best man. I am a good hand
at every kind of athletic sport known among mankind. I am an excellent
archer. In battle I am always the first to bring a man down with my arrow, no
matter how many more are taking aim at him alongside of me. Philoctetes was
the only man who could shoot better than I could when we Achaeans were
before Troy and in practice. I far excel every one else in the whole world, of
those who still eat bread upon the face of the earth, but I should not like to
shoot against the mighty dead, such as Hercules, or Eurytus the Oechalian—
men who could shoot against the gods themselves. This in fact was how
Eurytus came prematurely by his end, for Apollo was angry with him and
killed him because he challenged him as an archer. I can throw a dart farther
than any one else can shoot an arrow. Running is the only point in respect of
which I am afraid some of the Phaeacians might beat me, for I have been
brought down very low at sea; my provisions ran short, and therefore I am still
weak."
They all held their peace except King Alcinous, who began, "Sir, we have
had much pleasure in hearing all that you have told us, from which I
understand that you are willing to show your prowess, as having been
displeased with some insolent remarks that have been made to you by one of
our athletes, and which could never have been uttered by any one who knows
how to talk with propriety. I hope you will apprehend my meaning, and will
explain to any one of your chief men who may be dining with yourself and
your family when you get home, that we have an hereditary aptitude for
accomplishments of all kinds. We are not particularly remarkable for our
boxing, nor yet as wrestlers, but we are singularly fleet of foot and are
excellent sailors. We are extremely fond of good dinners, music, and dancing;
we also like frequent changes of linen, warm baths, and good beds, so now,
please, some of you who are the best dancers set about dancing, that our guest
on his return home may be able to tell his friends how much we surpass all
other nations as sailors, runners, dancers, and minstrels. Demodocus has left
his lyre at my house, so run some one or other of you and fetch it for him."
On this a servant hurried off to bring the lyre from the king's house, and
the nine men who had been chosen as stewards stood forward. It was their
business to manage everything connected with the sports, so they made the
ground smooth and marked a wide space for the dancers. Presently the servant
came back with Demodocus's lyre, and he took his place in the midst of them,
whereon the best young dancers in the town began to foot and trip it so nimbly
that Ulysses was delighted with the merry twinkling of their feet.
Meanwhile the bard began to sing the loves of Mars and Venus, and how
they first began their intrigue in the house of Vulcan. Mars made Venus many
presents, and defiled King Vulcan's marriage bed, so the sun, who saw what
they were about, told Vulcan. Vulcan was very angry when he heard such
dreadful news, so he went to his smithy brooding mischief, got his great anvil
into its place, and began to forge some chains which none could either unloose
or break, so that they might stay there in that place. When he had finished his
snare he went into his bedroom and festooned the bed-posts all over with
chains like cobwebs; he also let many hang down from the great beam of the
ceiling. Not even a god could see them so fine and subtle were they. As soon
as he had spread the chains all over the bed, he made as though he were setting
out for the fair state of Lemnos, which of all places in the world was the one
he was most fond of. But Mars kept no blind look out, and as soon as he saw
him start, hurried off to his house, burning with love for Venus.
Now Venus was just come in from a visit to her father Jove, and was about
sitting down when Mars came inside the house, and said as he took her hand in
his own, "Let us go to the couch of Vulcan: he is not at home, but is gone off
to Lemnos among the Sintians, whose speech is barbarous."
She was nothing loth, so they went to the couch to take their rest, whereon
they were caught in the toils which cunning Vulcan had spread for them, and
could neither get up nor stir hand or foot, but found too late that they were in a
trap. Then Vulcan came up to them, for he had turned back before reaching
Lemnos, when his scout the sun told him what was going on. He was in a
furious passion, and stood in the vestibule making a dreadful noise as he
shouted to all the gods.
"Father Jove," he cried, "and all you other blessed gods who live for ever,
come here and see the ridiculous and disgraceful sight that I will show you.
Jove's daughter Venus is always dishonouring me because I am lame. She is in
love with Mars, who is handsome and clean built, whereas I am a cripple—but
my parents are to blame for that, not I; they ought never to have begotten me.
Come and see the pair together asleep on my bed. It makes me furious to look
at them. They are very fond of one another, but I do not think they will lie
there longer than they can help, nor do I think that they will sleep much; there,
however, they shall stay till her father has repaid me the sum I gave him for
his baggage of a daughter, who is fair but not honest."
On this the gods gathered to the house of Vulcan. Earth-encircling Neptune
came, and Mercury the bringer of luck, and King Apollo, but the goddesses
staid at home all of them for shame. Then the givers of all good things stood in
the doorway, and the blessed gods roared with inextinguishable laughter, as
they saw how cunning Vulcan had been, whereon one would turn towards his
neighbour saying:
"Ill deeds do not prosper, and the weak confound the strong. See how
limping Vulcan, lame as he is, has caught Mars who is the fleetest god in
heaven; and now Mars will be cast in heavy damages."
 Thus did they converse, but King Apollo said to Mercury, "Messenger
Mercury, giver of good things, you would not care how strong the chains were,
would you, if you could sleep with Venus?"
"King Apollo," answered Mercury, "I only wish I might get the chance,
though there were three times as many chains—and you might look on, all of
you, gods and goddesses, but I would sleep with her if I could."
The immortal gods burst out laughing as they heard him, but Neptune took
it all seriously, and kept on imploring Vulcan to set Mars free again. "Let him
go," he cried, "and I will undertake, as you require, that he shall pay you all
the damages that are held reasonable among the immortal gods."
"Do not," replied Vulcan, "ask me to do this; a bad man's bond is bad
security; what remedy could I enforce against you if Mars should go away and
leave his debts behind him along with his chains?"
"Vulcan," said Neptune, "if Mars goes away without paying his damages, I
will pay you myself." So Vulcan answered, "In this case I cannot and must not
refuse you."
Thereon he loosed the bonds that bound them, and as soon as they were
free they scampered off, Mars to Thrace and laughter-loving Venus to Cyprus
and to Paphos, where is her grove and her altar fragrant with burnt offerings.
Here the Graces bathed her, and anointed her with oil of ambrosia such as the
immortal gods make use of, and they clothed her in raiment of the most
enchanting beauty.
Thus sang the bard, and both Ulysses and the seafaring Phaeacians were
charmed as they heard him.
Then Alcinous told Laodamas and Halius to dance alone, for there was no
one to compete with them. So they took a red ball which Polybus had made for
them, and one of them bent himself backwards and threw it up towards the
clouds, while the other jumped from off the ground and caught it with ease
before it came down again. When they had done throwing the ball straight up
into the air they began to dance, and at the same time kept on throwing it
backwards and forwards to one another, while all the young men in the ring
applauded and made a great stamping with their feet. Then Ulysses said:
"King Alcinous, you said your people were the nimblest dancers in the
world, and indeed they have proved themselves to be so. I was astonished as I
saw them."
The king was delighted at this, and exclaimed to the Phaeacians,
"Aldermen and town councillors, our guest seems to be a person of singular
judgement; let us give him such proof of our hospitality as he may reasonably
expect. There are twelve chief men among you, and counting myself there are
thirteen; contribute, each of you, a clean cloak, a shirt, and a talent of fine
gold; let us give him all this in a lump down at once, so that when he gets his
supper he may do so with a light heart. As for Euryalus he will have to make a
formal apology and a present too, for he has been rude."
Thus did he speak. The others all of them applauded his saying, and sent
their servants to fetch the presents. Then Euryalus said, "King Alcinous, I will
give the stranger all the satisfaction you require. He shall have my sword,
which is of bronze, all but the hilt, which is of silver. I will also give him the
scabbard of newly sawn ivory into which it fits. It will be worth a great deal to
him."
As he spoke he placed the sword in the hands of Ulysses and said, "Good
luck to you, father stranger; if anything has been said amiss may the winds
blow it away with them, and may heaven grant you a safe return, for I
understand you have been long away from home, and have gone through much
hardship."
To which Ulysses answered, "Good luck to you too my friend, and may the
gods grant you every happiness. I hope you will not miss the sword you have
given me along with your apology."
With these words he girded the sword about his shoulders and towards
sundown the presents began to make their appearance, as the servants of the
donors kept bringing them to the house of King Alcinous; here his sons
received them, and placed them under their mother's charge. Then Alcinous
led the way to the house and bade his guests take their seats.
"Wife," said he, turning to Queen Arete, "Go, fetch the best chest we have,
and put a clean cloak and shirt in it. Also, set a copper on the fire and heat
some water; our guest will take a warm bath; see also to the careful packing of
the presents that the noble Phaeacians have made him; he will thus better
enjoy both his supper and the singing that will follow. I shall myself give him
this golden goblet—which is of exquisite workmanship—that he may be
reminded of me for the rest of his life whenever he makes a drink offering to
Jove, or to any of the gods."
Then Arete told her maids to set a large tripod upon the fire as fast as they
could, whereon they set a tripod full of bath water on to a clear fire; they threw
on sticks to make it blaze, and the water became hot as the flame played about
the belly of the tripod. Meanwhile Arete brought a magnificent chest from her
own room, and inside it she packed all the beautiful presents of gold and
raiment which the Phaeacians had brought. Lastly she added a cloak and a
good shirt from Alcinous, and said to Ulysses:
 "See to the lid yourself, and have the whole bound round at once, for fear
any one should rob you by the way when you are asleep in your ship."
When Ulysses heard this he put the lid on the chest and made it fast with a
bond that Circe had taught him. He had done so before an upper servant told
him to come to the bath and wash himself. He was very glad of a warm bath,
for he had had no one to wait upon him ever since he left the house of
Calypso, who as long as he remained with her had taken as good care of him
as though he had been a god. When the servants had done washing and
anointing him with oil, and had given him a clean cloak and shirt, he left the
bath room and joined the guests who were sitting over their wine. Lovely
Nausicaa stood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister,
and admired him as she saw him pass. "Farewell stranger," said she, "do not
forget me when you are safe at home again, for it is to me first that you owe a
ransom for having saved your life."
And Ulysses said, "Nausicaa, daughter of great Alcinous, may Jove the
mighty husband of Juno, grant that I may reach my home; so shall I bless you
as my guardian angel all my days, for it was you who saved me."
When he had said this, he seated himself beside Alcinous. Supper was then
served, and the wine was mixed for drinking. A servant led in the favourite
bard Demodocus, and set him in the midst of the company, near one of the
bearing-posts supporting the cloister, that he might lean against it. Then
Ulysses cut off a piece of roast pork with plenty of fat (for there was
abundance left on the joint) and said to a servant, "Take this piece of pork over
to Demodocus and tell him to eat it; for all the pain his lays may cause me I
will salute him none the less; bards are honoured and respected throughout the
world, for the muse teaches them their songs and loves them."
The servant carried the pork in his fingers over to Demodocus, who took it
and was very much pleased. They then laid their hands on the good things that
were before them, and as soon as they had had to eat and drink, Ulysses said to
Demodocus, "Demodocus, there is no one in the world whom I admire more
than I do you. You must have studied under the Muse, Jove's daughter, and
under Apollo, so accurately do you sing the return of the Achaeans with all
their sufferings and adventures. If you were not there yourself, you must have
heard it all from some one who was. Now, however, change your song and tell
us of the wooden horse which Epeus made with the assistance of Minerva, and
which Ulysses got by stratagem into the fort of Troy after freighting it with the
men who afterwards sacked the city. If you will sing this tale aright I will tell
all the world how magnificently heaven has endowed you."
The bard inspired of heaven took up the story at the point where some of
the Argives set fire to their tents and sailed away while others, hidden within
the horse, were waiting with Ulysses in the Trojan place of assembly. For the
Trojans themselves had drawn the horse into their fortress, and it stood there
while they sat in council round it, and were in three minds as to what they
should do. Some were for breaking it up then and there; others would have it
dragged to the top of the rock on which the fortress stood, and then thrown
down the precipice; while yet others were for letting it remain as an offering
and propitiation for the gods. And this was how they settled it in the end, for
the city was doomed when it took in that horse, within which were all the
bravest of the Argives waiting to bring death and destruction on the Trojans.
Anon he sang how the sons of the Achaeans issued from the horse, and sacked
the town, breaking out from their ambuscade. He sang how they overran the
city hither and thither and ravaged it, and how Ulysses went raging like Mars
along with Menelaus to the house of Deiphobus. It was there that the fight
raged most furiously, nevertheless by Minerva's help he was victorious.
All this he told, but Ulysses was overcome as he heard him, and his cheeks
were wet with tears. He wept as a woman weeps when she throws herself on
the body of her husband who has fallen before his own city and people,
fighting bravely in defence of his home and children. She screams aloud and
flings her arms about him as he lies gasping for breath and dying, but her
enemies beat her from behind about the back and shoulders, and carry her off
into slavery, to a life of labour and sorrow, and the beauty fades from her
cheeks—even so piteously did Ulysses weep, but none of those present
perceived his tears except Alcinous, who was sitting near him, and could hear
the sobs and sighs that he was heaving. The king, therefore, at once rose and
said:
"Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, let Demodocus cease
his song, for there are those present who do not seem to like it. From the
moment that we had done supper and Demodocus began to sing, our guest has
been all the time groaning and lamenting. He is evidently in great trouble, so
let the bard leave off, that we may all enjoy ourselves, hosts and guest alike.
This will be much more as it should be, for all these festivities, with the escort
and the presents that we are making with so much good will are wholly in his
honour, and any one with even a moderate amount of right feeling knows that
he ought to treat a guest and a suppliant as though he were his own brother.
"Therefore, Sir, do you on your part affect no more concealment nor
reserve in the matter about which I shall ask you; it will be more polite in you
to give me a plain answer; tell me the name by which your father and mother
over yonder used to call you, and by which you were known among your
neighbours and fellow-citizens. There is no one, neither rich nor poor, who is
absolutely without any name whatever, for people's fathers and mothers give
them names as soon as they are born. Tell me also your country, nation, and
city, that our ships may shape their purpose accordingly and take you there.
For the Phaeacians have no pilots; their vessels have no rudders as those of
other nations have, but the ships themselves understand what it is that we are
thinking about and want; they know all the cities and countries in the whole
world, and can traverse the sea just as well even when it is covered with mist
and cloud, so that there is no danger of being wrecked or coming to any harm.
Still I do remember hearing my father say that Neptune was angry with us for
being too easy-going in the matter of giving people escorts. He said that one of
these days he should wreck a ship of ours as it was returning from having
escorted some one, and bury our city under a high mountain. This is what my
father used to say, but whether the god will carry out his threat or no is a
matter which he will decide for himself.
"And now, tell me and tell me true. Where have you been wandering, and
in what countries have you travelled? Tell us of the peoples themselves, and of
their cities—who were hostile, savage and uncivilised, and who, on the other
hand, hospitable and humane. Tell us also why you are made so unhappy on
hearing about the return of the Argive Danaans from Troy. The gods arranged
all this, and sent them their misfortunes in order that future generations might
have something to sing about. Did you lose some brave kinsman of your wife's
when you were before Troy? a son-in-law or father-in-law—which are the
nearest relations a man has outside his own flesh and blood? or was it some
brave and kindly-natured comrade—for a good friend is as dear to a man as
his own brother?"

BOOK IX
ULYSSES DECLARES HIMSELF AND BEGINS HIS STORY—-THE
CICONS, LOTOPHAGI, AND CYCLOPES.

And Ulysses answered, "King Alcinous, it is a good thing to hear a bard

with such a divine voice as this man has. There is nothing better or more
delightful than when a whole people make merry together, with the guests
sitting orderly to listen, while the table is loaded with bread and meats, and the
cup-bearer draws wine and fills his cup for every man. This is indeed as fair a
sight as a man can see. Now, however, since you are inclined to ask the story
of my sorrows, and rekindle my own sad memories in respect of them, I do not
know how to begin, nor yet how to continue and conclude my tale, for the
hand of heaven has been laid heavily upon me.
"Firstly, then, I will tell you my name that you too may know it, and one
day, if I outlive this time of sorrow, may become my guests though I live so far
away from all of you. I am Ulysses son of Laertes, renowned among mankind
for all manner of subtlety, so that my fame ascends to heaven. I live in Ithaca,
where there is a high mountain called Neritum, covered with forests; and not
far from it there is a group of islands very near to one another—Dulichium,
Same, and the wooded island of Zacynthus. It lies squat on the horizon, all
highest up in the sea towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it
towards dawn. It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave men, and my eyes
know none that they better love to look upon. The goddess Calypso kept me
with her in her cave, and wanted me to marry her, as did also the cunning
Aeaean goddess Circe; but they could neither of them persuade me, for there is
nothing dearer to a man than his own country and his parents, and however
splendid a home he may have in a foreign country, if it be far from father or
mother, he does not care about it. Now, however, I will tell you of the many
hazardous adventures which by Jove's will I met with on my return from Troy.
"When I had set sail thence the wind took me first to Ismarus, which is the
city of the Cicons. There I sacked the town and put the people to the sword.
We took their wives and also much booty, which we divided equitably
amongst us, so that none might have reason to complain. I then said that we
had better make off at once, but my men very foolishly would not obey me, so
they staid there drinking much wine and killing great numbers of sheep and
oxen on the sea shore. Meanwhile the Cicons cried out for help to other
Cicons who lived inland. These were more in number, and stronger, and they
were more skilled in the art of war, for they could fight, either from chariots or
on foot as the occasion served; in the morning, therefore, they came as thick as
leaves and bloom in summer, and the hand of heaven was against us, so that
we were hard pressed. They set the battle in array near the ships, and the hosts
aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another. So long as the day waxed and
it was still morning, we held our own against them, though they were more in
number than we; but as the sun went down, towards the time when men loose
their oxen, the Cicons got the better of us, and we lost half a dozen men from
every ship we had; so we got away with those that were left.
"Thence we sailed onward with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have
escaped death though we had lost our comrades, nor did we leave till we had
thrice invoked each one of the poor fellows who had perished by the hands of
the Cicons. Then Jove raised the North wind against us till it blew a hurricane,
so that land and sky were hidden in thick clouds, and night sprang forth out of
the heavens. We let the ships run before the gale, but the force of the wind tore
our sails to tatters, so we took them down for fear of shipwreck, and rowed our
hardest towards the land. There we lay two days and two nights suffering
much alike from toil and distress of mind, but on the morning of the third day
we again raised our masts, set sail, and took our places, letting the wind and
steersmen direct our ship. I should have got home at that time unharmed had
not the North wind and the currents been against me as I was doubling Cape
Malea, and set me off my course hard by the island of Cythera.
"I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of nine days upon the sea,
but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters, who live on a
food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water,
and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near the ships. When they
had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the
people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them. They
started at once, and went about among the Lotus-eaters, who did them no hurt,
but gave them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate of
it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what
had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the
Lotus-eaters without thinking further of their return; nevertheless, though they
wept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the
benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of them should
taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to get home, so they took their places
and smote the grey sea with their oars.
"We sailed hence, always in much distress, till we came to the land of the
lawless and inhuman Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes neither plant nor plough,
but trust in providence, and live on such wheat, barley, and grapes as grow
wild without any kind of tillage, and their wild grapes yield them wine as the
sun and the rain may grow them. They have no laws nor assemblies of the
people, but live in caves on the tops of high mountains; each is lord and master
in his family, and they take no account of their neighbours.
"Now off their harbour there lies a wooded and fertile island not quite
close to the land of the Cyclopes, but still not far. It is over-run with wild
goats, that breed there in great numbers and are never disturbed by foot of
man; for sportsmen—who as a rule will suffer so much hardship in forest or
among mountain precipices—do not go there, nor yet again is it ever ploughed
or fed down, but it lies a wilderness untilled and unsown from year to year,
and has no living thing upon it but only goats. For the Cyclopes have no ships,
nor yet shipwrights who could make ships for them; they cannot therefore go
from city to city, or sail over the sea to one another's country as people who
have ships can do; if they had had these they would have colonised the island,
for it is a very good one, and would yield everything in due season. There are
meadows that in some places come right down to the sea shore, well watered
and full of luscious grass; grapes would do there excellently; there is level
land for ploughing, and it would always yield heavily at harvest time, for the
soil is deep. There is a good harbour where no cables are wanted, nor yet
anchors, nor need a ship be moored, but all one has to do is to beach one's
vessel and stay there till the wind becomes fair for putting out to sea again. At
the head of the harbour there is a spring of clear water coming out of a cave,
and there are poplars growing all round it.
"Here we entered, but so dark was the night that some god must have
brought us in, for there was nothing whatever to be seen. A thick mist hung all
round our ships; the moon was hidden behind a mass of clouds so that no one
could have seen the island if he had looked for it, nor were there any breakers
to tell us we were close in shore before we found ourselves upon the land
itself; when, however, we had beached the ships, we took down the sails, went
ashore and camped upon the beach till daybreak.
"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, we admired
the island and wandered all over it, while the nymphs Jove's daughters roused
the wild goats that we might get some meat for our dinner. On this we fetched
our spears and bows and arrows from the ships, and dividing ourselves into
three bands began to shoot the goats. Heaven sent us excellent sport; I had
twelve ships with me, and each ship got nine goats, while my own ship had
ten; thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we ate and
drank our fill, and we had plenty of wine left, for each one of us had taken
many jars full when we sacked the city of the Cicons, and this had not yet run
out. While we were feasting we kept turning our eyes towards the land of the
Cyclopes, which was hard by, and saw the smoke of their stubble fires. We
could almost fancy we heard their voices and the bleating of their sheep and
goats, but when the sun went down and it came on dark, we camped down
upon the beach, and next morning I called a council.
"'Stay here, my brave fellows,' said I, 'all the rest of you, while I go with
my ship and exploit these people myself: I want to see if they are uncivilised
savages, or a hospitable and humane race.'
"I went on board, bidding my men to do so also and loose the hawsers; so
they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars. When we got to
the land, which was not far, there, on the face of a cliff near the sea, we saw a
great cave overhung with laurels. It was a station for a great many sheep and
goats, and outside there was a large yard, with a high wall round it made of
stones built into the ground and of trees both pine and oak. This was the abode
of a huge monster who was then away from home shepherding his flocks. He
would have nothing to do with other people, but led the life of an outlaw. He
was a horrid creature, not like a human being at all, but resembling rather
some crag that stands out boldly against the sky on the top of a high mountain.
"I told my men to draw the ship ashore, and stay where they were, all but
the twelve best among them, who were to go along with myself. I also took a
goatskin of sweet black wine which had been given me by Maron, son of
Euanthes, who was priest of Apollo the patron god of Ismarus, and lived
within the wooded precincts of the temple. When we were sacking the city we
respected him, and spared his life, as also his wife and child; so he made me
some presents of great value—seven talents of fine gold, and a bowl of silver,
with twelve jars of sweet wine, unblended, and of the most exquisite flavour.
Not a man nor maid in the house knew about it, but only himself, his wife, and
one housekeeper: when he drank it he mixed twenty parts of water to one of
wine, and yet the fragrance from the mixing-bowl was so exquisite that it was
impossible to refrain from drinking. I filled a large skin with this wine, and
took a wallet full of provisions with me, for my mind misgave me that I might
have to deal with some savage who would be of great strength, and would
respect neither right nor law.
"We soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding, so we went inside
and took stock of all that we could see. His cheese-racks were loaded with
cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his pens could hold. They were
kept in separate flocks; first there were the hoggets, then the oldest of the
younger lambs and lastly the very young ones all kept apart from one another;
as for his dairy, all the vessels, bowls, and milk pails into which he milked,
were swimming with whey. When they saw all this, my men begged me to let
them first steal some cheeses, and make off with them to the ship; they would
then return, drive down the lambs and kids, put them on board and sail away
with them. It would have been indeed better if we had done so but I would not
listen to them, for I wanted to see the owner himself, in the hope that he might
give me a present. When, however, we saw him my poor men found him ill to
deal with.
"We lit a fire, offered some of the cheeses in sacrifice, ate others of them,
and then sat waiting till the Cyclops should come in with his sheep. When he
came, he brought in with him a huge load of dry firewood to light the fire for
his supper, and this he flung with such a noise on to the floor of his cave that
we hid ourselves for fear at the far end of the cavern. Meanwhile he drove all
the ewes inside, as well as the she-goats that he was going to milk, leaving the
males, both rams and he-goats, outside in the yards. Then he rolled a huge
stone to the mouth of the cave—so huge that two and twenty strong four-
wheeled waggons would not be enough to draw it from its place against the
doorway. When he had so done he sat down and milked his ewes and goats, all
in due course, and then let each of them have her own young. He curdled half
the milk and set it aside in wicker strainers, but the other half he poured into
bowls that he might drink it for his supper. When he had got through with all
his work, he lit the fire, and then caught sight of us, whereon he said:
"'Strangers, who are you? Where do sail from? Are you traders, or do you
sail the sea as rovers, with your hands against every man, and every man's
hand against you?'
 "We were frightened out of our senses by his loud voice and monstrous
form, but I managed to say, 'We are Achaeans on our way home from Troy, but
by the will of Jove, and stress of weather, we have been driven far out of our
course. We are the people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, who has won infinite
renown throughout the whole world, by sacking so great a city and killing so
many people. We therefore humbly pray you to show us some hospitality, and
otherwise make us such presents as visitors may reasonably expect. May your
excellency fear the wrath of heaven, for we are your suppliants, and Jove takes
all respectable travellers under his protection, for he is the avenger of all
suppliants and foreigners in distress.'
"To this he gave me but a pitiless answer, 'Stranger,' said he, 'you are a
fool, or else you know nothing of this country. Talk to me, indeed, about
fearing the gods or shunning their anger? We Cyclopes do not care about Jove
or any of your blessed gods, for we are ever so much stronger than they. I shall
not spare either yourself or your companions out of any regard for Jove, unless
I am in the humour for doing so. And now tell me where you made your ship
fast when you came on shore. Was it round the point, or is she lying straight
off the land?'
"He said this to draw me out, but I was too cunning to be caught in that
way, so I answered with a lie; 'Neptune,' said I, 'sent my ship on to the rocks at
the far end of your country, and wrecked it. We were driven on to them from
the open sea, but I and those who are with me escaped the jaws of death.'
"The cruel wretch vouchsafed me not one word of answer, but with a
sudden clutch he gripped up two of my men at once and dashed them down
upon the ground as though they had been puppies. Their brains were shed
upon the ground, and the earth was wet with their blood. Then he tore them
limb from limb and supped upon them. He gobbled them up like a lion in the
wilderness, flesh, bones, marrow, and entrails, without leaving anything
uneaten. As for us, we wept and lifted up our hands to heaven on seeing such a
horrid sight, for we did not know what else to do; but when the Cyclops had
filled his huge paunch, and had washed down his meal of human flesh with a
drink of neat milk, he stretched himself full length upon the ground among his
sheep, and went to sleep. I was at first inclined to seize my sword, draw it, and
drive it into his vitals, but I reflected that if I did we should all certainly be
lost, for we should never be able to shift the stone which the monster had put
in front of the door. So we stayed sobbing and sighing where we were till
morning came.
"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered dawn, appeared, he again lit his
fire, milked his goats and ewes, all quite rightly, and then let each have her
own young one; as soon as he had got through with all his work, he clutched
up two more of my men, and began eating them for his morning's meal.
Presently, with the utmost ease, he rolled the stone away from the door and
drove out his sheep, but he at once put it back again—as easily as though he
were merely clapping the lid on to a quiver full of arrows. As soon as he had
done so he shouted, and cried 'Shoo, shoo,' after his sheep to drive them on to
the mountain; so I was left to scheme some way of taking my revenge and
covering myself with glory.
"In the end I deemed it would be the best plan to do as follows: The
Cyclops had a great club which was lying near one of the sheep pens; it was of
green olive wood, and he had cut it intending to use it for a staff as soon as it
should be dry. It was so huge that we could only compare it to the mast of a
twenty-oared merchant vessel of large burden, and able to venture out into
open sea. I went up to this club and cut off about six feet of it; I then gave this
piece to the men and told them to fine it evenly off at one end, which they
proceeded to do, and lastly I brought it to a point myself, charring the end in
the fire to make it harder. When I had done this I hid it under dung, which was
lying about all over the cave, and told the men to cast lots which of them
should venture along with myself to lift it and bore it into the monster's eye
while he was asleep. The lot fell upon the very four whom I should have
chosen, and I myself made five. In the evening the wretch came back from
shepherding, and drove his flocks into the cave—this time driving them all
inside, and not leaving any in the yards; I suppose some fancy must have taken
him, or a god must have prompted him to do so. As soon as he had put the
stone back to its place against the door, he sat down, milked his ewes and his
goats all quite rightly, and then let each have her own young one; when he had
got through with all this work, he gripped up two more of my men, and made
his supper off them. So I went up to him with an ivy-wood bowl of black wine
in my hands:
"'Look here, Cyclops,' said I, you have been eating a great deal of man's
flesh, so take this and drink some wine, that you may see what kind of liquor
we had on board my ship. I was bringing it to you as a drink-offering, in the
hope that you would take compassion upon me and further me on my way
home, whereas all you do is to go on ramping and raving most intolerably. You
ought to be ashamed of yourself; how can you expect people to come see you
any more if you treat them in this way?'
"He then took the cup and drank. He was so delighted with the taste of the
wine that he begged me for another bowl full. 'Be so kind,' he said, 'as to give
me some more, and tell me your name at once. I want to make you a present
that you will be glad to have. We have wine even in this country, for our soil
grows grapes and the sun ripens them, but this drinks like Nectar and
Ambrosia all in one.'
"I then gave him some more; three times did I fill the bowl for him, and
three times did he drain it without thought or heed; then, when I saw that the
wine had got into his head, I said to him as plausibly as I could: 'Cyclops, you
ask my name and I will tell it you; give me, therefore, the present you
promised me; my name is Noman; this is what my father and mother and my
friends have always called me.'
"But the cruel wretch said, 'Then I will eat all Noman's comrades before
Noman himself, and will keep Noman for the last. This is the present that I
will make him.'
"As he spoke he reeled, and fell sprawling face upwards on the ground. His
great neck hung heavily backwards and a deep sleep took hold upon him.
Presently he turned sick, and threw up both wine and the gobbets of human
flesh on which he had been gorging, for he was very drunk. Then I thrust the
beam of wood far into the embers to heat it, and encouraged my men lest any
of them should turn faint-hearted. When the wood, green though it was, was
about to blaze, I drew it out of the fire glowing with heat, and my men
gathered round me, for heaven had filled their hearts with courage. We drove
the sharp end of the beam into the monster's eye, and bearing upon it with all
my weight I kept turning it round and round as though I were boring a hole in
a ship's plank with an auger, which two men with a wheel and strap can keep
on turning as long as they choose. Even thus did we bore the red hot beam into
his eye, till the boiling blood bubbled all over it as we worked it round and
round, so that the steam from the burning eyeball scalded his eyelids and
eyebrows, and the roots of the eye sputtered in the fire. As a blacksmith
plunges an axe or hatchet into cold water to temper it—for it is this that gives
strength to the iron—and it makes a great hiss as he does so, even thus did the
Cyclops' eye hiss round the beam of olive wood, and his hideous yells made
the cave ring again. We ran away in a fright, but he plucked the beam all
besmirched with gore from his eye, and hurled it from him in a frenzy of rage
and pain, shouting as he did so to the other Cyclopes who lived on the bleak
headlands near him; so they gathered from all quarters round his cave when
they heard him crying, and asked what was the matter with him.
"'What ails you, Polyphemus,' said they, 'that you make such a noise,
breaking the stillness of the night, and preventing us from being able to sleep?
Surely no man is carrying off your sheep? Surely no man is trying to kill you
either by fraud or by force?'
"But Polyphemus shouted to them from inside the cave, 'Noman is killing
me by fraud; no man is killing me by force.'
"'Then,' said they, 'if no man is attacking you, you must be ill; when Jove
makes people ill, there is no help for it, and you had better pray to your father
Neptune.'
 "Then they went away, and I laughed inwardly at the success of my clever
stratagem, but the Cyclops, groaning and in an agony of pain, felt about with
his hands till he found the stone and took it from the door; then he sat in the
doorway and stretched his hands in front of it to catch anyone going out with
the sheep, for he thought I might be foolish enough to attempt this.
"As for myself I kept on puzzling to think how I could best save my own
life and those of my companions; I schemed and schemed, as one who knows
that his life depends upon it, for the danger was very great. In the end I
deemed that this plan would be the best; the male sheep were well grown, and
carried a heavy black fleece, so I bound them noiselessly in threes together,
with some of the withies on which the wicked monster used to sleep. There
was to be a man under the middle sheep, and the two on either side were to
cover him, so that there were three sheep to each man. As for myself there was
a ram finer than any of the others, so I caught hold of him by the back,
esconced myself in the thick wool under his belly, and hung on patiently to his
fleece, face upwards, keeping a firm hold on it all the time.
"Thus, then, did we wait in great fear of mind till morning came, but when
the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the male sheep hurried
out to feed, while the ewes remained bleating about the pens waiting to be
milked, for their udders were full to bursting; but their master in spite of all his
pain felt the backs of all the sheep as they stood upright, without being sharp
enough to find out that the men were underneath their bellies. As the ram was
going out, last of all, heavy with its fleece and with the weight of my crafty
self, Polyphemus laid hold of it and said:
"'My good ram, what is it that makes you the last to leave my cave this
morning? You are not wont to let the ewes go before you, but lead the mob
with a run whether to flowery mead or bubbling fountain, and are the first to
come home again at night; but now you lag last of all. Is it because you know
your master has lost his eye, and are sorry because that wicked Noman and his
horrid crew has got him down in his drink and blinded him? But I will have
his life yet. If you could understand and talk, you would tell me where the
wretch is hiding, and I would dash his brains upon the ground till they flew all
over the cave. I should thus have some satisfaction for the harm this no-good
Noman has done me.'
"As he spoke he drove the ram outside, but when we were a little way out
from the cave and yards, I first got from under the ram's belly, and then freed
my comrades; as for the sheep, which were very fat, by constantly heading
them in the right direction we managed to drive them down to the ship. The
crew rejoiced greatly at seeing those of us who had escaped death, but wept
for the others whom the Cyclops had killed. However, I made signs to them by
nodding and frowning that they were to hush their crying, and told them to get
all the sheep on board at once and put out to sea; so they went aboard, took
their places, and smote the grey sea with their oars. Then, when I had got as
far out as my voice would reach, I began to jeer at the Cyclops.
"'Cyclops,' said I, 'you should have taken better measure of your man
before eating up his comrades in your cave. You wretch, eat up your visitors in
your own house? You might have known that your sin would find you out, and
now Jove and the other gods have punished you.'
"He got more and more furious as he heard me, so he tore the top from off
a high mountain, and flung it just in front of my ship so that it was within a
little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked as the rock fell into it,
and the wash of the wave it raised carried us back towards the mainland, and
forced us towards the shore. But I snatched up a long pole and kept the ship
off, making signs to my men by nodding my head, that they must row for their
lives, whereon they laid out with a will. When we had got twice as far as we
were before, I was for jeering at the Cyclops again, but the men begged and
prayed of me to hold my tongue.
"'Do not,' they exclaimed, 'be mad enough to provoke this savage creature
further; he has thrown one rock at us already which drove us back again to the
mainland, and we made sure it had been the death of us; if he had then heard
any further sound of voices he would have pounded our heads and our ship's
timbers into a jelly with the rugged rocks he would have heaved at us, for he
can throw them a long way.'
"But I would not listen to them, and shouted out to him in my rage,
'Cyclops, if any one asks you who it was that put your eye out and spoiled
your beauty, say it was the valiant warrior Ulysses, son of Laertes, who lives
in Ithaca.'
"On this he groaned, and cried out, 'Alas, alas, then the old prophecy about
me is coming true. There was a prophet here, at one time, a man both brave
and of great stature, Telemus son of Eurymus, who was an excellent seer, and
did all the prophesying for the Cyclopes till he grew old; he told me that all
this would happen to me some day, and said I should lose my sight by the
hand of Ulysses. I have been all along expecting some one of imposing
presence and superhuman strength, whereas he turns out to be a little
insignificant weakling, who has managed to blind my eye by taking advantage
of me in my drink; come here, then, Ulysses, that I may make you presents to
show my hospitality, and urge Neptune to help you forward on your journey—
for Neptune and I are father and son. He, if he so will, shall heal me, which no
one else neither god nor man can do.'
"Then I said, 'I wish I could be as sure of killing you outright and sending
you down to the house of Hades, as I am that it will take more than Neptune to
cure that eye of yours.'
"On this he lifted up his hands to the firmament of heaven and prayed,
saying, 'Hear me, great Neptune; if I am indeed your own true begotten son,
grant that Ulysses may never reach his home alive; or if he must get back to
his friends at last, let him do so late and in sore plight after losing all his men
[let him reach his home in another man's ship and find trouble in his house.'
"Thus did he pray, and Neptune heard his prayer. Then he picked up a rock
much larger than the first, swung it aloft and hurled it with prodigious force. It
fell just short of the ship, but was within a little of hitting the end of the
rudder. The sea quaked as the rock fell into it, and the wash of the wave it
raised drove us onwards on our way towards the shore of the island.
"When at last we got to the island where we had left the rest of our ships,
we found our comrades lamenting us, and anxiously awaiting our return. We
ran our vessel upon the sands and got out of her on to the sea shore; we also
landed the Cyclops' sheep, and divided them equitably amongst us so that
none might have reason to complain. As for the ram, my companions agreed
that I should have it as an extra share; so I sacrificed it on the sea shore, and
burned its thigh bones to Jove, who is the lord of all. But he heeded not my
sacrifice, and only thought how he might destroy both my ships and my
comrades.
"Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we feasted
our fill on meat and drink, but when the sun went down and it came on dark,
we camped upon the beach. When the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn
appeared, I bade my men on board and loose the hawsers. Then they took their
places and smote the grey sea with their oars; so we sailed on with sorrow in
our hearts, but glad to have escaped death though we had lost our comrades.

BOOK X
AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE.

"Thence we went on to the Aeolian island where lives Aeolus son of

Hippotas, dear to the immortal gods. It is an island that floats (as it were) upon
the sea, iron bound with a wall that girds it. Now, Aeolus has six daughters
and six lusty sons, so he made the sons marry the daughters, and they all live
with their dear father and mother, feasting and enjoying every conceivable
kind of luxury. All day long the atmosphere of the house is loaded with the
savour of roasting meats till it groans again, yard and all; but by night they
sleep on their well made bedsteads, each with his own wife between the
blankets. These were the people among whom we had now come.
"Aeolus entertained me for a whole month asking me questions all the time
about Troy, the Argive fleet, and the return of the Achaeans. I told him exactly
how everything had happened, and when I said I must go, and asked him to
further me on my way, he made no sort of difficulty, but set about doing so at
once. Moreover, he flayed me a prime ox-hide to hold the ways of the roaring
winds, which he shut up in the hide as in a sack—for Jove had made him
captain over the winds, and he could stir or still each one of them according to
his own pleasure. He put the sack in the ship and bound the mouth so tightly
with a silver thread that not even a breath of a side-wind could blow from any
quarter. The West wind which was fair for us did he alone let blow as it chose;
but it all came to nothing, for we were lost through our own folly.
"Nine days and nine nights did we sail, and on the tenth day our native
land showed on the horizon. We got so close in that we could see the stubble
fires burning, and I, being then dead beat, fell into a light sleep, for I had never
let the rudder out of my own hands, that we might get home the faster. On this
the men fell to talking among themselves, and said I was bringing back gold
and silver in the sack that Aeolus had given me. 'Bless my heart,' would one
turn to his neighbour, saying, 'how this man gets honoured and makes friends
to whatever city or country he may go. See what fine prizes he is taking home
from Troy, while we, who have travelled just as far as he has, come back with
hands as empty as we set out with—and now Aeolus has given him ever so
much more. Quick—let us see what it all is, and how much gold and silver
there is in the sack he gave him.'
"Thus they talked and evil counsels prevailed. They loosed the sack,
whereupon the wind flew howling forth and raised a storm that carried us
weeping out to sea and away from our own country. Then I awoke, and knew
not whether to throw myself into the sea or to live on and make the best of it;
but I bore it, covered myself up, and lay down in the ship, while the men
lamented bitterly as the fierce winds bore our fleet back to the Aeolian island.
"When we reached it we went ashore to take in water, and dined hard by
the ships. Immediately after dinner I took a herald and one of my men and
went straight to the house of Aeolus, where I found him feasting with his wife
and family; so we sat down as suppliants on the threshold. They were
astounded when they saw us and said, 'Ulysses, what brings you here? What
god has been ill-treating you? We took great pains to further you on your way
home to Ithaca, or wherever it was that you wanted to go to.'
"Thus did they speak, but I answered sorrowfully, 'My men have undone
me; they, and cruel sleep, have ruined me. My friends, mend me this mischief,
for you can if you will.'
 "I spoke as movingly as I could, but they said nothing, till their father
answered, 'Vilest of mankind, get you gone at once out of the island; him
whom heaven hates will I in no wise help. Be off, for you come here as one
abhorred of heaven.' And with these words he sent me sorrowing from his
door.
"Thence we sailed sadly on till the men were worn out with long and
fruitless rowing, for there was no longer any wind to help them. Six days,
night and day did we toil, and on the seventh day we reached the rocky
stronghold of Lamus—Telepylus, the city of the Laestrygonians, where the
shepherd who is driving in his sheep and goats [to be milked] salutes him who
is driving out his flock [to feed] and this last answers the salute. In that
country a man who could do without sleep might earn double wages, one as a
herdsman of cattle, and another as a shepherd, for they work much the same
by night as they do by day.
"When we reached the harbour we found it land-locked under steep cliffs,
with a narrow entrance between two headlands. My captains took all their
ships inside, and made them fast close to one another, for there was never so
much as a breath of wind inside, but it was always dead calm. I kept my own
ship outside, and moored it to a rock at the very end of the point; then I
climbed a high rock to reconnoitre, but could see no sign neither of man nor
cattle, only some smoke rising from the ground. So I sent two of my company
with an attendant to find out what sort of people the inhabitants were.
"The men when they got on shore followed a level road by which the
people draw their firewood from the mountains into the town, till presently
they met a young woman who had come outside to fetch water, and who was
daughter to a Laestrygonian named Antiphates. She was going to the fountain
Artacia from which the people bring in their water, and when my men had
come close up to her, they asked her who the king of that country might be,
and over what kind of people he ruled; so she directed them to her father's
house, but when they got there they found his wife to be a giantess as huge as
a mountain, and they were horrified at the sight of her.
"She at once called her husband Antiphates from the place of assembly,
and forthwith he set about killing my men. He snatched up one of them, and
began to make his dinner off him then and there, whereon the other two ran
back to the ships as fast as ever they could. But Antiphates raised a hue-and-
cry after them, and thousands of sturdy Laestrygonians sprang up from every
quarter—ogres, not men. They threw vast rocks at us from the cliffs as though
they had been mere stones, and I heard the horrid sound of the ships crunching
up against one another, and the death cries of my men, as the Laestrygonians
speared them like fishes and took them home to eat them. While they were
thus killing my men within the harbour I drew my sword, cut the cable of my
own ship, and told my men to row with all their might if they too would not
fare like the rest; so they laid out for their lives, and we were thankful enough
when we got into open water out of reach of the rocks they hurled at us. As for
the others there was not one of them left.
"Thence we sailed sadly on, glad to have escaped death, though we had
lost our comrades, and came to the Aeaean island, where Circe lives—a great
and cunning goddess who is own sister to the magician Aeetes—for they are
both children of the sun by Perse, who is daughter to Oceanus. We brought our
ship into a safe harbour without a word, for some god guided us thither, and
having landed we lay there for two days and two nights, worn out in body and
mind. When the morning of the third day came I took my spear and my sword,
and went away from the ship to reconnoitre, and see if I could discover signs
of human handiwork, or hear the sound of voices. Climbing to the top of a
high look-out I espied the smoke of Circe's house rising upwards amid a dense
forest of trees, and when I saw this I doubted whether, having seen the smoke,
I would not go on at once and find out more, but in the end I deemed it best to
go back to the ship, give the men their dinners, and send some of them instead
of going myself.
"When I had nearly got back to the ship some god took pity upon my
solitude, and sent a fine antlered stag right into the middle of my path. He was
coming down his pasture in the forest to drink of the river, for the heat of the
sun drove him, and as he passed I struck him in the middle of the back; the
bronze point of the spear went clean through him, and he lay groaning in the
dust until the life went out of him. Then I set my foot upon him, drew my
spear from the wound, and laid it down; I also gathered rough grass and rushes
and twisted them into a fathom or so of good stout rope, with which I bound
the four feet of the noble creature together; having so done I hung him round
my neck and walked back to the ship leaning upon my spear, for the stag was
much too big for me to be able to carry him on my shoulder, steadying him
with one hand. As I threw him down in front of the ship, I called the men and
spoke cheeringly man by man to each of them. 'Look here my friends,' said I,
'we are not going to die so much before our time after all, and at any rate we
will not starve so long as we have got something to eat and drink on board.'
On this they uncovered their heads upon the sea shore and admired the stag,
for he was indeed a splendid fellow. Then, when they had feasted their eyes
upon him sufficiently, they washed their hands and began to cook him for
dinner.
"Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we stayed
there eating and drinking our fill, but when the sun went down and it came on
dark, we camped upon the sea shore. When the child of morning, rosy-
fingered Dawn, appeared, I called a council and said, 'My friends, we are in
very great difficulties; listen therefore to me. We have no idea where the sun
either sets or rises, so that we do not even know East from West. I see no way
out of it; nevertheless, we must try and find one. We are certainly on an island,
for I went as high as I could this morning, and saw the sea reaching all round it
to the horizon; it lies low, but towards the middle I saw smoke rising from out
of a thick forest of trees.'
"Their hearts sank as they heard me, for they remembered how they had
been treated by the Laestrygonian Antiphates, and by the savage ogre
Polyphemus. They wept bitterly in their dismay, but there was nothing to be
got by crying, so I divided them into two companies and set a captain over
each; I gave one company to Eurylochus, while I took command of the other
myself. Then we cast lots in a helmet, and the lot fell upon Eurylochus; so he
set out with his twenty-two men, and they wept, as also did we who were left
behind.
"When they reached Circe's house they found it built of cut stones, on a
site that could be seen from far, in the middle of the forest. There were wild
mountain wolves and lions prowling all round it—poor bewitched creatures
whom she had tamed by her enchantments and drugged into subjection. They
did not attack my men, but wagged their great tails, fawned upon them, and
rubbed their noses lovingly against them. As hounds crowd round their master
when they see him coming from dinner—for they know he will bring them
something—even so did these wolves and lions with their great claws fawn
upon my men, but the men were terribly frightened at seeing such strange
creatures. Presently they reached the gates of the goddess's house, and as they
stood there they could hear Circe within, singing most beautifully as she
worked at her loom, making a web so fine, so soft, and of such dazzling
colours as no one but a goddess could weave. On this Polites, whom I valued
and trusted more than any other of my men, said, 'There is some one inside
working at a loom and singing most beautifully; the whole place resounds with
it, let us call her and see whether she is woman or goddess.'
"They called her and she came down, unfastened the door, and bade them
enter. They, thinking no evil, followed her, all except Eurylochus, who
suspected mischief and staid outside. When she had got them into her house,
she set them upon benches and seats and mixed them a mess with cheese,
honey, meal, and Pramnian wine, but she drugged it with wicked poisons to
make them forget their homes, and when they had drunk she turned them into
pigs by a stroke of her wand, and shut them up in her pig-styes. They were like
pigs—head, hair, and all, and they grunted just as pigs do; but their senses
were the same as before, and they remembered everything.
"Thus then were they shut up squealing, and Circe threw them some acorns
and beech masts such as pigs eat, but Eurylochus hurried back to tell me about
the sad fate of our comrades. He was so overcome with dismay that though he
tried to speak he could find no words to do so; his eyes filled with tears and he
could only sob and sigh, till at last we forced his story out of him, and he told
us what had happened to the others.
"'We went,' said he, 'as you told us, through the forest, and in the middle of
it there was a fine house built with cut stones in a place that could be seen
from far. There we found a woman, or else she was a goddess, working at her
loom and singing sweetly; so the men shouted to her and called her, whereon
she at once came down, opened the door, and invited us in. The others did not
suspect any mischief so they followed her into the house, but I staid where I
was, for I thought there might be some treachery. From that moment I saw
them no more, for not one of them ever came out, though I sat a long time
watching for them.'
"Then I took my sword of bronze and slung it over my shoulders; I also
took my bow, and told Eurylochus to come back with me and shew me the
way. But he laid hold of me with both his hands and spoke piteously, saying,
'Sir, do not force me to go with you, but let me stay here, for I know you will
not bring one of them back with you, nor even return alive yourself; let us
rather see if we cannot escape at any rate with the few that are left us, for we
may still save our lives.'
"'Stay where you are, then,' answered I, 'eating and drinking at the ship, but
I must go, for I am most urgently bound to do so.'
"With this I left the ship and went up inland. When I got through the
charmed grove, and was near the great house of the enchantress Circe, I met
Mercury with his golden wand, disguised as a young man in the hey-day of his
youth and beauty with the down just coming upon his face. He came up to me
and took my hand within his own, saying, 'My poor unhappy man, whither are
you going over this mountain top, alone and without knowing the way? Your
men are shut up in Circe's pigstyes, like so many wild boars in their lairs. You
surely do not fancy that you can set them free? I can tell you that you will
never get back and will have to stay there with the rest of them. But never
mind, I will protect you and get you out of your difficulty. Take this herb,
which is one of great virtue, and keep it about you when you go to Circe's
house, it will be a talisman to you against every kind of mischief.
"'And I will tell you of all the wicked witchcraft that Circe will try to
practice upon you. She will mix a mess for you to drink, and she will drug the
meal with which she makes it, but she will not be able to charm you, for the
virtue of the herb that I shall give you will prevent her spells from working. I
will tell you all about it. When Circe strikes you with her wand, draw your
sword and spring upon her as though you were going to kill her. She will then
be frightened, and will desire you to go to bed with her; on this you must not
point blank refuse her, for you want her to set your companions free, and to
take good care also of yourself, but you must make her swear solemnly by all
the blessed gods that she will plot no further mischief against you, or else
when she has got you naked she will unman you and make you fit for nothing.'
"As he spoke he pulled the herb out of the ground and shewed me what it
was like. The root was black, while the flower was as white as milk; the gods
call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it, but the gods can do whatever
they like.
"Then Mercury went back to high Olympus passing over the wooded
island; but I fared onward to the house of Circe, and my heart was clouded
with care as I walked along. When I got to the gates I stood there and called
the goddess, and as soon as she heard me she came down, opened the door,
and asked me to come in; so I followed her—much troubled in my mind. She
set me on a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver, there was a footstool also
under my feet, and she mixed a mess in a golden goblet for me to drink; but
she drugged it, for she meant me mischief. When she had given it me, and I
had drunk it without its charming me, she struck me with her wand. 'There
now,' she cried, 'be off to the pigstye, and make your lair with the rest of them.'
"But I rushed at her with my sword drawn as though I would kill her,
whereon she fell with a loud scream, clasped my knees, and spoke piteously,
saying, 'Who and whence are you? from what place and people have you
come? How can it be that my drugs have no power to charm you? Never yet
was any man able to stand so much as a taste of the herb I gave you; you must
be spell-proof; surely you can be none other than the bold hero Ulysses, who
Mercury always said would come here some day with his ship while on his
way home from Troy; so be it then; sheathe your sword and let us go to bed,
that we may make friends and learn to trust each other.'
"And I answered, 'Circe, how can you expect me to be friendly with you
when you have just been turning all my men into pigs? And now that you have
got me here myself, you mean me mischief when you ask me to go to bed with
you, and will unman me and make me fit for nothing. I shall certainly not
consent to go to bed with you unless you will first take your solemn oath to
plot no further harm against me.'
"So she swore at once as I had told her, and when she had completed her
oath then I went to bed with her.
"Meanwhile her four servants, who are her housemaids, set about their
work. They are the children of the groves and fountains, and of the holy waters
that run down into the sea. One of them spread a fair purple cloth over a seat,
and laid a carpet underneath it. Another brought tables of silver up to the seats,
and set them with baskets of gold. A third mixed some sweet wine with water
in a silver bowl and put golden cups upon the tables, while the fourth brought
in water and set it to boil in a large cauldron over a good fire which she had
lighted. When the water in the cauldron was boiling, she poured cold into it
till it was just as I liked it, and then she set me in a bath and began washing me
from the cauldron about the head and shoulders, to take the tire and stiffness
out of my limbs. As soon as she had done washing me and anointing me with
oil, she arrayed me in a good cloak and shirt and led me to a richly decorated
seat inlaid with silver; there was a footstool also under my feet. A maid
servant then brought me water in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a
silver basin for me to wash my hands, and she drew a clean table beside me;
an upper servant brought me bread and offered me many things of what there
was in the house, and then Circe bade me eat, but I would not, and sat without
heeding what was before me, still moody and suspicious.
"When Circe saw me sitting there without eating, and in great grief, she
came to me and said, 'Ulysses, why do you sit like that as though you were
dumb, gnawing at your own heart, and refusing both meat and drink? Is it that
you are still suspicious? You ought not to be, for I have already sworn
solemnly that I will not hurt you.'
"And I said, 'Circe, no man with any sense of what is right can think of
either eating or drinking in your house until you have set his friends free and
let him see them. If you want me to eat and drink, you must free my men and
bring them to me that I may see them with my own eyes.'
"When I had said this she went straight through the court with her wand in
her hand and opened the pigstye doors. My men came out like so many prime
hogs and stood looking at her, but she went about among them and anointed
each with a second drug, whereon the bristles that the bad drug had given
them fell off, and they became men again, younger than they were before, and
much taller and better looking. They knew me at once, seized me each of them
by the hand, and wept for joy till the whole house was filled with the sound of
their halloa-ballooing, and Circe herself was so sorry for them that she came
up to me and said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, go back at once to the sea
where you have left your ship, and first draw it on to the land. Then, hide all
your ship's gear and property in some cave, and come back here with your
men.'
"I agreed to this, so I went back to the sea shore, and found the men at the
ship weeping and wailing most piteously. When they saw me the silly
blubbering fellows began frisking round me as calves break out and gambol
round their mothers, when they see them coming home to be milked after they
have been feeding all day, and the homestead resounds with their lowing. They
seemed as glad to see me as though they had got back to their own rugged
Ithaca, where they had been born and bred. 'Sir,' said the affectionate
creatures, 'we are as glad to see you back as though we had got safe home to
Ithaca; but tell us all about the fate of our comrades.'
"I spoke comfortingly to them and said, 'We must draw our ship on to the
land, and hide the ship's gear with all our property in some cave; then come
with me all of you as fast as you can to Circe's house, where you will find
your comrades eating and drinking in the midst of great abundance.'
"On this the men would have come with me at once, but Eurylochus tried
to hold them back and said, 'Alas, poor wretches that we are, what will
become of us? Rush not on your ruin by going to the house of Circe, who will
turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions, and we shall have to keep guard over
her house. Remember how the Cyclops treated us when our comrades went
inside his cave, and Ulysses with them. It was all through his sheer folly that
those men lost their lives.'
"When I heard him I was in two minds whether or no to draw the keen
blade that hung by my sturdy thigh and cut his head off in spite of his being a
near relation of my own; but the men interceded for him and said, 'Sir, if it
may so be, let this fellow stay here and mind the ship, but take the rest of us
with you to Circe's house.'
"On this we all went inland, and Eurylochus was not left behind after all,
but came on too, for he was frightened by the severe reprimand that I had
given him.
"Meanwhile Circe had been seeing that the men who had been left behind
were washed and anointed with olive oil; she had also given them woollen
cloaks and shirts, and when we came we found them all comfortably at dinner
in her house. As soon as the men saw each other face to face and knew one
another, they wept for joy and cried aloud till the whole palace rang again.
Thereon Circe came up to me and said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, tell
your men to leave off crying; I know how much you have all of you suffered
at sea, and how ill you have fared among cruel savages on the mainland, but
that is over now, so stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as
strong and hearty as you were when you left Ithaca; for at present you are
weakened both in body and mind; you keep all the time thinking of the
hardships you have suffered during your travels, so that you have no more
cheerfulness left in you.'
"Thus did she speak and we assented. We stayed with Circe for a whole
twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity both of meat and wine. But
when the year had passed in the waning of moons and the long days had come
round, my men called me apart and said, 'Sir, it is time you began to think
about going home, if so be you are to be spared to see your house and native
country at all.'
"Thus did they speak and I assented. Thereon through the livelong day to
the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and wine, but when the
sun went down and it came on dark the men laid themselves down to sleep in
the covered cloisters. I, however, after I had got into bed with Circe, besought
her by her knees, and the goddess listened to what I had got to say. 'Circe,' said
I, 'please to keep the promise you made me about furthering me on my
homeward voyage. I want to get back and so do my men, they are always
pestering me with their complaints as soon as ever your back is turned.'
"And the goddess answered, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, you shall none
of you stay here any longer if you do not want to, but there is another journey
which you have got to take before you can sail homewards. You must go to the
house of Hades and of dread Proserpine to consult the ghost of the blind
Theban prophet Teiresias, whose reason is still unshaken. To him alone has
Proserpine left his understanding even in death, but the other ghosts flit about
aimlessly.'
"I was dismayed when I heard this. I sat up in bed and wept, and would
gladly have lived no longer to see the light of the sun, but presently when I
was tired of weeping and tossing myself about, I said, 'And who shall guide
me upon this voyage—for the house of Hades is a port that no ship can reach.'
"'You will want no guide,' she answered; 'raise your mast, set your white
sails, sit quite still, and the North Wind will blow you there of itself. When
your ship has traversed the waters of Oceanus, you will reach the fertile shore
of Proserpine's country with its groves of tall poplars and willows that shed
their fruit untimely; here beach your ship upon the shore of Oceanus, and go
straight on to the dark abode of Hades. You will find it near the place where
the rivers Pyriphlegethon and Cocytus (which is a branch of the river Styx)
flow into Acheron, and you will see a rock near it, just where the two roaring
rivers run into one another.
"'When you have reached this spot, as I now tell you, dig a trench a cubit
or so in length, breadth, and depth, and pour into it as a drink-offering to all
the dead, first, honey mixed with milk, then wine, and in the third place water
—sprinkling white barley meal over the whole. Moreover you must offer
many prayers to the poor feeble ghosts, and promise them that when you get
back to Ithaca you will sacrifice a barren heifer to them, the best you have, and
will load the pyre with good things. More particularly you must promise that
Teiresias shall have a black sheep all to himself, the finest in all your flocks.
"'When you shall have thus besought the ghosts with your prayers, offer
them a ram and a black ewe, bending their heads towards Erebus; but yourself
turn away from them as though you would make towards the river. On this,
many dead men's ghosts will come to you, and you must tell your men to skin
the two sheep that you have just killed, and offer them as a burnt sacrifice with
prayers to Hades and to Proserpine. Then draw your sword and sit there, so as
to prevent any other poor ghost from coming near the spilt blood before
Teiresias shall have answered your questions. The seer will presently come to
you, and will tell you about your voyage—what stages you are to make, and
how you are to sail the sea so as to reach your home.'
"It was day-break by the time she had done speaking, so she dressed me in
my shirt and cloak. As for herself she threw a beautiful light gossamer fabric
over her shoulders, fastening it with a golden girdle round her waist, and she
covered her head with a mantle. Then I went about among the men
everywhere all over the house, and spoke kindly to each of them man by man:
'You must not lie sleeping here any longer,' said I to them, 'we must be going,
for Circe has told me all about it.' And on this they did as I bade them.
"Even so, however, I did not get them away without misadventure. We had
with us a certain youth named Elpenor, not very remarkable for sense or
courage, who had got drunk and was lying on the house-top away from the
rest of the men, to sleep off his liquor in the cool. When he heard the noise of
the men bustling about, he jumped up on a sudden and forgot all about coming
down by the main staircase, so he tumbled right off the roof and broke his
neck, and his soul went down to the house of Hades.
"When I had got the men together I said to them, 'You think you are about
to start home again, but Circe has explained to me that instead of this, we have
got to go to the house of Hades and Proserpine to consult the ghost of the
Theban prophet Teiresias.'
"The men were broken-hearted as they heard me, and threw themselves on
the ground groaning and tearing their hair, but they did not mend matters by
crying. When we reached the sea shore, weeping and lamenting our fate, Circe
brought the ram and the ewe, and we made them fast hard by the ship. She
passed through the midst of us without our knowing it, for who can see the
comings and goings of a god, if the god does not wish to be seen?

BOOK XI
THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.

"Then, when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship into the
water and got her mast and sails into her; we also put the sheep on board and
took our places, weeping and in great distress of mind. Circe, that great and
cunning goddess, sent us a fair wind that blew dead aft and staid steadily with
us keeping our sails all the time well filled; so we did whatever wanted doing
to the ship's gear and let her go as the wind and helmsman headed her. All day
long her sails were full as she held her course over the sea, but when the sun
went down and darkness was over all the earth, we got into the deep waters of
the river Oceanus, where lie the land and city of the Cimmerians who live
enshrouded in mist and darkness which the rays of the sun never pierce neither
at his rising nor as he goes down again out of the heavens, but the poor
wretches live in one long melancholy night. When we got there we beached
the ship, took the sheep out of her, and went along by the waters of Oceanus
till we came to the place of which Circe had told us.
"Here Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, while I drew my sword
and dug the trench a cubit each way. I made a drink-offering to all the dead,
first with honey and milk, then with wine, and thirdly with water, and I
sprinkled white barley meal over the whole, praying earnestly to the poor
feckless ghosts, and promising them that when I got back to Ithaca I would
sacrifice a barren heifer for them, the best I had, and would load the pyre with
good things. I also particularly promised that Teiresias should have a black
sheep to himself, the best in all my flocks. When I had prayed sufficiently to
the dead, I cut the throats of the two sheep and let the blood run into the
trench, whereon the ghosts came trooping up from Erebus—brides, young
bachelors, old men worn out with toil, maids who had been crossed in love,
and brave men who had been killed in battle, with their armour still smirched
with blood; they came from every quarter and flitted round the trench with a
strange kind of screaming sound that made me turn pale with fear. When I saw
them coming I told the men to be quick and flay the carcasses of the two dead
sheep and make burnt offerings of them, and at the same time to repeat prayers
to Hades and to Proserpine; but I sat where I was with my sword drawn and
would not let the poor feckless ghosts come near the blood till Teiresias should
have answered my questions.
"The first ghost that came was that of my comrade Elpenor, for he had not
yet been laid beneath the earth. We had left his body unwaked and unburied in
Circe's house, for we had had too much else to do. I was very sorry for him,
and cried when I saw him: 'Elpenor,' said I, 'how did you come down here into
this gloom and darkness? You have got here on foot quicker than I have with
my ship.'
"'Sir,' he answered with a groan, 'it was all bad luck, and my own
unspeakable drunkenness. I was lying asleep on the top of Circe's house, and
never thought of coming down again by the great staircase but fell right off the
roof and broke my neck, so my soul came down to the house of Hades. And
now I beseech you by all those whom you have left behind you, though they
are not here, by your wife, by the father who brought you up when you were a
child, and by Telemachus who is the one hope of your house, do what I shall
now ask you. I know that when you leave this limbo you will again hold your
ship for the Aeaean island. Do not go thence leaving me unwaked and
unburied behind you, or I may bring heaven's anger upon you; but burn me
with whatever armour I have, build a barrow for me on the sea shore, that may
tell people in days to come what a poor unlucky fellow I was, and plant over
my grave the oar I used to row with when I was yet alive and with my
messmates.' And I said, 'My poor fellow, I will do all that you have asked of
me.'
"Thus, then, did we sit and hold sad talk with one another, I on the one side
of the trench with my sword held over the blood, and the ghost of my comrade
saying all this to me from the other side. Then came the ghost of my dead
mother Anticlea, daughter to Autolycus. I had left her alive when I set out for
Troy and was moved to tears when I saw her, but even so, for all my sorrow I
would not let her come near the blood till I had asked my questions of
Teiresias.
"Then came also the ghost of Theban Teiresias, with his golden sceptre in
his hand. He knew me and said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, why, poor
man, have you left the light of day and come down to visit the dead in this sad
place? Stand back from the trench and withdraw your sword that I may drink
of the blood and answer your questions truly.'
"So I drew back, and sheathed my sword, whereon when he had drank of
the blood he began with his prophecy.
"'You want to know,' said he, 'about your return home, but heaven will
make this hard for you. I do not think that you will escape the eye of Neptune,
who still nurses his bitter grudge against you for having blinded his son. Still,
after much suffering you may get home if you can restrain yourself and your
companions when your ship reaches the Thrinacian island, where you will find
the sheep and cattle belonging to the sun, who sees and gives ear to
everything. If you leave these flocks unharmed and think of nothing but of
getting home, you may yet after much hardship reach Ithaca; but if you harm
them, then I forewarn you of the destruction both of your ship and of your
men. Even though you may yourself escape, you will return in bad plight after
losing all your men, [in another man's ship, and you will find trouble in your
house, which will be overrun by high-handed people, who are devouring your
substance under the pretext of paying court and making presents to your wife.
"'When you get home you will take your revenge on these suitors; and after
you have killed them by force or fraud in your own house, you must take a
well made oar and carry it on and on, till you come to a country where the
people have never heard of the sea and do not even mix salt with their food,
nor do they know anything about ships, and oars that are as the wings of a
ship. I will give you this certain token which cannot escape your notice. A
wayfarer will meet you and will say it must be a winnowing shovel that you
have got upon your shoulder; on this you must fix the oar in the ground and
sacrifice a ram, a bull, and a boar to Neptune. Then go home and offer
hecatombs to all the gods in heaven one after the other. As for yourself, death
shall come to you from the sea, and your life shall ebb away very gently when
you are full of years and peace of mind, and your people shall bless you. All
that I have said will come true].'
"'This,' I answered, 'must be as it may please heaven, but tell me and tell
me and tell me true, I see my poor mother's ghost close by us; she is sitting by
the blood without saying a word, and though I am her own son she does not
remember me and speak to me; tell me, Sir, how I can make her know me.'
"'That,' said he, 'I can soon do. Any ghost that you let taste of the blood
will talk with you like a reasonable being, but if you do not let them have any
blood they will go away again.'
"On this the ghost of Teiresias went back to the house of Hades, for his
prophecyings had now been spoken, but I sat still where I was until my mother
came up and tasted the blood. Then she knew me at once and spoke fondly to
me, saying, 'My son, how did you come down to this abode of darkness while
you are still alive? It is a hard thing for the living to see these places, for
between us and them there are great and terrible waters, and there is Oceanus,
which no man can cross on foot, but he must have a good ship to take him.
Are you all this time trying to find your way home from Troy, and have you
never yet got back to Ithaca nor seen your wife in your own house?'
"'Mother,' said I, 'I was forced to come here to consult the ghost of the
Theban prophet Teiresias. I have never yet been near the Achaean land nor set
foot on my native country, and I have had nothing but one long series of
misfortunes from the very first day that I set out with Agamemnon for Ilius,
the land of noble steeds, to fight the Trojans. But tell me, and tell me true, in
what way did you die? Did you have a long illness, or did heaven vouchsafe
you a gentle easy passage to eternity? Tell me also about my father, and the
son whom I left behind me, is my property still in their hands, or has some one
else got hold of it, who thinks that I shall not return to claim it? Tell me again
what my wife intends doing, and in what mind she is; does she live with my
son and guard my estate securely, or has she made the best match she could
and married again?'
"My mother answered, 'Your wife still remains in your house, but she is in
great distress of mind and spends her whole time in tears both night and day.
No one as yet has got possession of your fine property, and Telemachus still
holds your lands undisturbed. He has to entertain largely, as of course he must,
considering his position as a magistrate, and how every one invites him; your
father remains at his old place in the country and never goes near the town. He
has no comfortable bed nor bedding; in the winter he sleeps on the floor in
front of the fire with the men and goes about all in rags, but in summer, when
the warm weather comes on again, he lies out in the vineyard on a bed of vine
leaves thrown any how upon the ground. He grieves continually about your
never having come home, and suffers more and more as he grows older. As for
my own end it was in this wise: heaven did not take me swiftly and painlessly
in my own house, nor was I attacked by any illness such as those that
generally wear people out and kill them, but my longing to know what you
were doing and the force of my affection for you—this it was that was the
death of me.'
"Then I tried to find some way of embracing my poor mother's ghost.
Thrice I sprang towards her and tried to clasp her in my arms, but each time
she flitted from my embrace as it were a dream or phantom, and being touched
to the quick I said to her, 'Mother, why do you not stay still when I would
embrace you? If we could throw our arms around one another we might find
sad comfort in the sharing of our sorrows even in the house of Hades; does
Proserpine want to lay a still further load of grief upon me by mocking me
with a phantom only?'
"'My son,' she answered, 'most ill-fated of all mankind, it is not Proserpine
that is beguiling you, but all people are like this when they are dead. The
sinews no longer hold the flesh and bones together; these perish in the
fierceness of consuming fire as soon as life has left the body, and the soul flits
away as though it were a dream. Now, however, go back to the light of day as
soon as you can, and note all these things that you may tell them to your wife
hereafter.'
"Thus did we converse, and anon Proserpine sent up the ghosts of the
wives and daughters of all the most famous men. They gathered in crowds
about the blood, and I considered how I might question them severally. In the
end I deemed that it would be best to draw the keen blade that hung by my
sturdy thigh, and keep them from all drinking the blood at once. So they came
up one after the other, and each one as I questioned her told me her race and
lineage.
"The first I saw was Tyro. She was daughter of Salmoneus and wife of
Cretheus the son of Aeolus. She fell in love with the river Enipeus who is
much the most beautiful river in the whole world. Once when she was taking a
walk by his side as usual, Neptune, disguised as her lover, lay with her at the
mouth of the river, and a huge blue wave arched itself like a mountain over
them to hide both woman and god, whereon he loosed her virgin girdle and
laid her in a deep slumber. When the god had accomplished the deed of love,
he took her hand in his own and said, 'Tyro, rejoice in all good will; the
embraces of the gods are not fruitless, and you will have fine twins about this
time twelve months. Take great care of them. I am Neptune, so now go home,
but hold your tongue and do not tell any one.'
"Then he dived under the sea, and she in due course bore Pelias and
Neleus, who both of them served Jove with all their might. Pelias was a great
breeder of sheep and lived in Iolcus, but the other lived in Pylos. The rest of
her children were by Cretheus, namely, Aeson, Pheres, and Amythaon, who
was a mighty warrior and charioteer.
"Next to her I saw Antiope, daughter to Asopus, who could boast of having
slept in the arms of even Jove himself, and who bore him two sons Amphion
and Zethus. These founded Thebes with its seven gates, and built a wall all
round it; for strong though they were they could not hold Thebes till they had
walled it.
"Then I saw Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon, who also bore to Jove
indomitable Hercules; and Megara who was daughter to great King Creon, and
married the redoubtable son of Amphitryon.
"I also saw fair Epicaste mother of king Oedipodes whose awful lot it was
to marry her own son without suspecting it. He married her after having killed
his father, but the gods proclaimed the whole story to the world; whereon he
remained king of Thebes, in great grief for the spite the gods had borne him;
but Epicaste went to the house of the mighty jailor Hades, having hanged
herself for grief, and the avenging spirits haunted him as for an outraged
mother—to his ruing bitterly thereafter.
"Then I saw Chloris, whom Neleus married for her beauty, having given
priceless presents for her. She was youngest daughter to Amphion son of Iasus
and king of Minyan Orchomenus, and was Queen in Pylos. She bore Nestor,
Chromius, and Periclymenus, and she also bore that marvellously lovely
woman Pero, who was wooed by all the country round; but Neleus would only
give her to him who should raid the cattle of Iphicles from the grazing grounds
of Phylace, and this was a hard task. The only man who would undertake to
raid them was a certain excellent seer, but the will of heaven was against him,
for the rangers of the cattle caught him and put him in prison; nevertheless
when a full year had passed and the same season came round again, Iphicles
set him at liberty, after he had expounded all the oracles of heaven. Thus, then,
was the will of Jove accomplished.
"And I saw Leda the wife of Tyndarus, who bore him two famous sons,
Castor breaker of horses, and Pollux the mighty boxer. Both these heroes are
lying under the earth, though they are still alive, for by a special dispensation
of Jove, they die and come to life again, each one of them every other day
throughout all time, and they have the rank of gods.
"After her I saw Iphimedeia wife of Aloeus who boasted the embrace of
Neptune. She bore two sons Otus and Ephialtes, but both were short lived.
They were the finest children that were ever born in this world, and the best
looking, Orion only excepted; for at nine years old they were nine fathoms
high, and measured nine cubits round the chest. They threatened to make war
with the gods in Olympus, and tried to set Mount Ossa on the top of Mount
Olympus, and Mount Pelion on the top of Ossa, that they might scale heaven
itself, and they would have done it too if they had been grown up, but Apollo,
son of Leto, killed both of them, before they had got so much as a sign of hair
upon their cheeks or chin.
"Then I saw Phaedra, and Procris, and fair Ariadne daughter of the
magician Minos, whom Theseus was carrying off from Crete to Athens, but he
did not enjoy her, for before he could do so Diana killed her in the island of
Dia on account of what Bacchus had said against her.
"I also saw Maera and Clymene and hateful Eriphyle, who sold her own
husband for gold. But it would take me all night if I were to name every single
one of the wives and daughters of heroes whom I saw, and it is time for me to
go to bed, either on board ship with my crew, or here. As for my escort,
heaven and yourselves will see to it."
Here he ended, and the guests sat all of them enthralled and speechless
throughout the covered cloister. Then Arete said to them:—
"What do you think of this man, O Phaeacians? Is he not tall and good
looking, and is he not clever? True, he is my own guest, but all of you share in
the distinction. Do not be in a hurry to send him away, nor niggardly in the
presents you make to one who is in such great need, for heaven has blessed all
of you with great abundance."
Then spoke the aged hero Echeneus who was one of the oldest men among
them, "My friends," said he, "what our august queen has just said to us is both
reasonable and to the purpose, therefore be persuaded by it; but the decision
whether in word or deed rests ultimately with King Alcinous."
"The thing shall be done," exclaimed Alcinous, "as surely as I still live and
reign over the Phaeacians. Our guest is indeed very anxious to get home, still
we must persuade him to remain with us until to-morrow, by which time I
shall be able to get together the whole sum that I mean to give him. As regards
his escort it will be a matter for you all, and mine above all others as the chief
person among you."
 And Ulysses answered, "King Alcinous, if you were to bid me to stay here
for a whole twelve months, and then speed me on my way, loaded with your
noble gifts, I should obey you gladly and it would redound greatly to my
advantage, for I should return fuller-handed to my own people, and should
thus be more respected and beloved by all who see me when I get back to
Ithaca."
"Ulysses," replied Alcinous, "not one of us who sees you has any idea that
you are a charlatan or a swindler. I know there are many people going about
who tell such plausible stories that it is very hard to see through them, but
there is a style about your language which assures me of your good
disposition. Moreover you have told the story of your own misfortunes, and
those of the Argives, as though you were a practiced bard; but tell me, and tell
me true, whether you saw any of the mighty heroes who went to Troy at the
same time with yourself, and perished there. The evenings are still at their
longest, and it is not yet bed time—go on, therefore, with your divine story, for
I could stay here listening till tomorrow morning, so long as you will continue
to tell us of your adventures."
"Alcinous," answered Ulysses, "there is a time for making speeches, and a
time for going to bed; nevertheless, since you so desire, I will not refrain from
telling you the still sadder tale of those of my comrades who did not fall
fighting with the Trojans, but perished on their return, through the treachery of
a wicked woman.
"When Proserpine had dismissed the female ghosts in all directions, the
ghost of Agamemnon son of Atreus came sadly up to me, surrounded by those
who had perished with him in the house of Aegisthus. As soon as he had tasted
the blood, he knew me, and weeping bitterly stretched out his arms towards
me to embrace me; but he had no strength nor substance any more, and I too
wept and pitied him as I beheld him. 'How did you come by your death,' said I,
'King Agamemnon? Did Neptune raise his winds and waves against you when
you were at sea, or did your enemies make an end of you on the main land
when you were cattle-lifting or sheep-stealing, or while they were fighting in
defence of their wives and city?'
"'Ulysses,' he answered, 'noble son of Laertes, I was not lost at sea in any
storm of Neptune's raising, nor did my foes despatch me upon the mainland,
but Aegisthus and my wicked wife were the death of me between them. He
asked me to his house, feasted me, and then butchered me most miserably as
though I were a fat beast in a slaughter house, while all around me my
comrades were slain like sheep or pigs for the wedding breakfast, or picnic, or
gorgeous banquet of some great nobleman. You must have seen numbers of
men killed either in a general engagement, or in single combat, but you never
saw anything so truly pitiable as the way in which we fell in that cloister, with
the mixing bowl and the loaded tables lying all about, and the ground reeking
with our blood. I heard Priam's daughter Cassandra scream as Clytemnestra
killed her close beside me. I lay dying upon the earth with the sword in my
body, and raised my hands to kill the slut of a murderess, but she slipped away
from me; she would not even close my lips nor my eyes when I was dying, for
there is nothing in this world so cruel and so shameless as a woman when she
has fallen into such guilt as hers was. Fancy murdering her own husband! I
thought I was going to be welcomed home by my children and my servants,
but her abominable crime has brought disgrace on herself and all women who
shall come after—even on the good ones.'
"And I said, 'In truth Jove has hated the house of Atreus from first to last in
the matter of their women's counsels. See how many of us fell for Helen's
sake, and now it seems that Clytemnestra hatched mischief against you too
during your absence.'
"'Be sure, therefore,' continued Agamemnon, 'and not be too friendly even
with your own wife. Do not tell her all that you know perfectly well yourself.
Tell her a part only, and keep your own counsel about the rest. Not that your
wife, Ulysses, is likely to murder you, for Penelope is a very admirable
woman, and has an excellent nature. We left her a young bride with an infant
at her breast when we set out for Troy. This child no doubt is now grown up
happily to man's estate, and he and his father will have a joyful meeting and
embrace one another as it is right they should do, whereas my wicked wife did
not even allow me the happiness of looking upon my son, but killed me ere I
could do so. Furthermore I say—and lay my saying to your heart—do not tell
people when you are bringing your ship to Ithaca, but steal a march upon
them, for after all this there is no trusting women. But now tell me, and tell me
true, can you give me any news of my son Orestes? Is he in Orchomenus, or at
Pylos, or is he at Sparta with Menelaus—for I presume that he is still living.'
"And I said, 'Agamemnon, why do you ask me? I do not know whether
your son is alive or dead, and it is not right to talk when one does not know.'
"As we two sat weeping and talking thus sadly with one another the ghost
of Achilles came up to us with Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax who was the
finest and goodliest man of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus. The fleet
descendant of Aeacus knew me and spoke piteously, saying, 'Ulysses, noble
son of Laertes, what deed of daring will you undertake next, that you venture
down to the house of Hades among us silly dead, who are but the ghosts of
them that can labour no more?'
"And I said, 'Achilles, son of Peleus, foremost champion of the Achaeans,
I came to consult Teiresias, and see if he could advise me about my return
home to Ithaca, for I have never yet been able to get near the Achaean land,
nor to set foot in my own country, but have been in trouble all the time. As for
you, Achilles, no one was ever yet so fortunate as you have been, nor ever will
be, for you were adored by all us Argives as long as you were alive, and now
that you are here you are a great prince among the dead. Do not, therefore,
take it so much to heart even if you are dead.'
"'Say not a word,' he answered, 'in death's favour; I would rather be a paid
servant in a poor man's house and be above ground than king of kings among
the dead. But give me news about my son; is he gone to the wars and will he
be a great soldier, or is this not so? Tell me also if you have heard anything
about my father Peleus—does he still rule among the Myrmidons, or do they
show him no respect throughout Hellas and Phthia now that he is old and his
limbs fail him? Could I but stand by his side, in the light of day, with the same
strength that I had when I killed the bravest of our foes upon the plain of Troy
—could I but be as I then was and go even for a short time to my father's
house, any one who tried to do him violence or supersede him would soon rue
it.'
"'I have heard nothing,' I answered, 'of Peleus, but I can tell you all about
your son Neoptolemus, for I took him in my own ship from Scyros with the
Achaeans. In our councils of war before Troy he was always first to speak, and
his judgement was unerring. Nestor and I were the only two who could surpass
him; and when it came to fighting on the plain of Troy, he would never remain
with the body of his men, but would dash on far in front, foremost of them all
in valour. Many a man did he kill in battle—I cannot name every single one of
those whom he slew while fighting on the side of the Argives, but will only
say how he killed that valiant hero Eurypylus son of Telephus, who was the
handsomest man I ever saw except Memnon; many others also of the Ceteians
fell around him by reason of a woman's bribes. Moreover, when all the bravest
of the Argives went inside the horse that Epeus had made, and it was left to
me to settle when we should either open the door of our ambuscade, or close
it, though all the other leaders and chief men among the Danaans were drying
their eyes and quaking in every limb, I never once saw him turn pale nor wipe
a tear from his cheek; he was all the time urging me to break out from the
horse—grasping the handle of his sword and his bronze-shod spear, and
breathing fury against the foe. Yet when we had sacked the city of Priam he
got his handsome share of the prize money and went on board (such is the
fortune of war) without a wound upon him, neither from a thrown spear nor in
close combat, for the rage of Mars is a matter of great chance.'
"When I had told him this, the ghost of Achilles strode off across a
meadow full of asphodel, exulting over what I had said concerning the
prowess of his son.
"The ghosts of other dead men stood near me and told me each his own
melancholy tale; but that of Ajax son of Telamon alone held aloof—still angry
with me for having won the cause in our dispute about the armour of Achilles.
Thetis had offered it as a prize, but the Trojan prisoners and Minerva were the
judges. Would that I had never gained the day in such a contest, for it cost the
life of Ajax, who was foremost of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus, alike
in stature and prowess.
"When I saw him I tried to pacify him and said, 'Ajax, will you not forget
and forgive even in death, but must the judgement about that hateful armour
still rankle with you? It cost us Argives dear enough to lose such a tower of
strength as you were to us. We mourned you as much as we mourned Achilles
son of Peleus himself, nor can the blame be laid on anything but on the spite
which Jove bore against the Danaans, for it was this that made him counsel
your destruction—come hither, therefore, bring your proud spirit into
subjection, and hear what I can tell you.'
"He would not answer, but turned away to Erebus and to the other ghosts;
nevertheless, I should have made him talk to me in spite of his being so angry,
or I should have gone on talking to him, only that there were still others
among the dead whom I desired to see.
"Then I saw Minos son of Jove with his golden sceptre in his hand sitting
in judgement on the dead, and the ghosts were gathered sitting and standing
round him in the spacious house of Hades, to learn his sentences upon them.
"After him I saw huge Orion in a meadow full of asphodel driving the
ghosts of the wild beasts that he had killed upon the mountains, and he had a
great bronze club in his hand, unbreakable for ever and ever.
"And I saw Tityus son of Gaia stretched upon the plain and covering some
nine acres of ground. Two vultures on either side of him were digging their
beaks into his liver, and he kept on trying to beat them off with his hands, but
could not; for he had violated Jove's mistress Leto as she was going through
Panopeus on her way to Pytho.
"I saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus, who stood in a lake that reached
his chin; he was dying to quench his thirst, but could never reach the water, for
whenever the poor creature stooped to drink, it dried up and vanished, so that
there was nothing but dry ground—parched by the spite of heaven. There were
tall trees, moreover, that shed their fruit over his head—pears, pomegranates,
apples, sweet figs and juicy olives, but whenever the poor creature stretched
out his hand to take some, the wind tossed the branches back again to the
clouds.
"And I saw Sisyphus at his endless task raising his prodigious stone with
both his hands. With hands and feet he tried to roll it up to the top of the hill,
but always, just before he could roll it over on to the other side, its weight
would be too much for him, and the pitiless stone would come thundering
down again on to the plain. Then he would begin trying to push it up hill
again, and the sweat ran off him and the steam rose after him.
"After him I saw mighty Hercules, but it was his phantom only, for he is
feasting ever with the immortal gods, and has lovely Hebe to wife, who is
daughter of Jove and Juno. The ghosts were screaming round him like scared
birds flying all whithers. He looked black as night with his bare bow in his
hands and his arrow on the string, glaring around as though ever on the point
of taking aim. About his breast there was a wondrous golden belt adorned in
the most marvellous fashion with bears, wild boars, and lions with gleaming
eyes; there was also war, battle, and death. The man who made that belt, do
what he might, would never be able to make another like it. Hercules knew me
at once when he saw me, and spoke piteously, saying, 'My poor Ulysses, noble
son of Laertes, are you too leading the same sorry kind of life that I did when I
was above ground? I was son of Jove, but I went through an infinity of
suffering, for I became bondsman to one who was far beneath me—a low
fellow who set me all manner of labours. He once sent me here to fetch the
hell-hound—for he did not think he could find anything harder for me than
this, but I got the hound out of Hades and brought him to him, for Mercury
and Minerva helped me.'
"On this Hercules went down again into the house of Hades, but I stayed
where I was in case some other of the mighty dead should come to me. And I
should have seen still other of them that are gone before, whom I would fain
have seen—Theseus and Pirithous—glorious children of the gods, but so
many thousands of ghosts came round me and uttered such appalling cries,
that I was panic stricken lest Proserpine should send up from the house of
Hades the head of that awful monster Gorgon. On this I hastened back to my
ship and ordered my men to go on board at once and loose the hawsers; so
they embarked and took their places, whereon the ship went down the stream
of the river Oceanus. We had to row at first, but presently a fair wind sprang
up.

BOOK XII
THE SIRENS, SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS, THE CATTLE OF THE
SUN.

"After we were clear of the river Oceanus, and had got out into the open
sea, we went on till we reached the Aeaean island where there is dawn and
sun-rise as in other places. We then drew our ship on to the sands and got out
of her on to the shore, where we went to sleep and waited till day should
break.
"Then, when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I sent
some men to Circe's house to fetch the body of Elpenor. We cut firewood from
a wood where the headland jutted out into the sea, and after we had wept over
him and lamented him we performed his funeral rites. When his body and
armour had been burned to ashes, we raised a cairn, set a stone over it, and at
the top of the cairn we fixed the oar that he had been used to row with.
"While we were doing all this, Circe, who knew that we had got back from
the house of Hades, dressed herself and came to us as fast as she could; and
her maid servants came with her bringing us bread, meat, and wine. Then she
stood in the midst of us and said, 'You have done a bold thing in going down
alive to the house of Hades, and you will have died twice, to other people's
once; now, then, stay here for the rest of the day, feast your fill, and go on with
your voyage at daybreak tomorrow morning. In the meantime I will tell
Ulysses about your course, and will explain everything to him so as to prevent
your suffering from misadventure either by land or sea.'
"We agreed to do as she had said, and feasted through the livelong day to
the going down of the sun, but when the sun had set and it came on dark, the
men laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables of the ship. Then Circe
took me by the hand and bade me be seated away from the others, while she
reclined by my side and asked me all about our adventures.
"'So far so good,' said she, when I had ended my story, 'and now pay
attention to what I am about to tell you—heaven itself, indeed, will recall it to
your recollection. First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come
near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the
Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit
in a green field and warble him to death with the sweetness of their song.
There is a great heap of dead men's bones lying all around, with the flesh still
rotting off them. Therefore pass these Sirens by, and stop your men's ears with
wax that none of them may hear; but if you like you can listen yourself, for
you may get the men to bind you as you stand upright on a cross piece half
way up the mast, and they must lash the rope's ends to the mast itself, that you
may have the pleasure of listening. If you beg and pray the men to unloose
you, then they must bind you faster.
"'When your crew have taken you past these Sirens, I cannot give you
coherent directions as to which of two courses you are to take; I will lay the
two alternatives before you, and you must consider them for yourself. On the
one hand there are some overhanging rocks against which the deep blue waves
of Amphitrite beat with terrific fury; the blessed gods call these rocks the
Wanderers. Here not even a bird may pass, no, not even the timid doves that
bring ambrosia to Father Jove, but the sheer rock always carries off one of
them, and Father Jove has to send another to make up their number; no ship
that ever yet came to these rocks has got away again, but the waves and
whirlwinds of fire are freighted with wreckage and with the bodies of dead
men. The only vessel that ever sailed and got through, was the famous Argo
on her way from the house of Aetes, and she too would have gone against
these great rocks, only that Juno piloted her past them for the love she bore to
Jason.
"'Of these two rocks the one reaches heaven and its peak is lost in a dark
cloud. This never leaves it, so that the top is never clear not even in summer
and early autumn. No man though he had twenty hands and twenty feet could
get a foothold on it and climb it, for it runs sheer up, as smooth as though it
had been polished. In the middle of it there is a large cavern, looking West and
turned towards Erebus; you must take your ship this way, but the cave is so
high up that not even the stoutest archer could send an arrow into it. Inside it
Scylla sits and yelps with a voice that you might take to be that of a young
hound, but in truth she is a dreadful monster and no one—not even a god—
could face her without being terror-struck. She has twelve mis-shapen feet,
and six necks of the most prodigious length; and at the end of each neck she
has a frightful head with three rows of teeth in each, all set very close together,
so that they would crunch any one to death in a moment, and she sits deep
within her shady cell thrusting out her heads and peering all round the rock,
fishing for dolphins or dogfish or any larger monster that she can catch, of the
thousands with which Amphitrite teems. No ship ever yet got past her without
losing some men, for she shoots out all her heads at once, and carries off a
man in each mouth.
"'You will find the other rock lie lower, but they are so close together that
there is not more than a bow-shot between them. [A large fig tree in full leaf
grows upon it], and under it lies the sucking whirlpool of Charybdis. Three
times in the day does she vomit forth her waters, and three times she sucks
them down again; see that you be not there when she is sucking, for if you are,
Neptune himself could not save you; you must hug the Scylla side and drive
ship by as fast as you can, for you had better lose six men than your whole
crew.'
"'Is there no way,' said I, 'of escaping Charybdis, and at the same time
keeping Scylla off when she is trying to harm my men?'
"'You dare devil,' replied the goddess, 'you are always wanting to fight
somebody or something; you will not let yourself be beaten even by the
immortals. For Scylla is not mortal; moreover she is savage, extreme, rude,
cruel and invincible. There is no help for it; your best chance will be to get by
her as fast as ever you can, for if you dawdle about her rock while you are
putting on your armour, she may catch you with a second cast of her six heads,
and snap up another half dozen of your men; so drive your ship past her at full
speed, and roar out lustily to Crataiis who is Scylla's dam, bad luck to her; she
will then stop her from making a second raid upon you.'
"'You will now come to the Thrinacian island, and here you will see many
herds of cattle and flocks of sheep belonging to the sun-god—seven herds of
cattle and seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in each flock. They do not
breed, nor do they become fewer in number, and they are tended by the
goddesses Phaethusa and Lampetie, who are children of the sun-god Hyperion
by Neaera. Their mother when she had borne them and had done suckling
them sent them to the Thrinacian island, which was a long way off, to live
there and look after their father's flocks and herds. If you leave these flocks
unharmed, and think of nothing but getting home, you may yet after much
hardship reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, then I forewarn you of the
destruction both of your ship and of your comrades; and even though you may
yourself escape, you will return late, in bad plight, after losing all your men.'
"Here she ended, and dawn enthroned in gold began to show in heaven,
whereon she returned inland. I then went on board and told my men to loose
the ship from her moorings; so they at once got into her, took their places, and
began to smite the grey sea with their oars. Presently the great and cunning
goddess Circe befriended us with a fair wind that blew dead aft, and staid
steadily with us, keeping our sails well filled, so we did whatever wanted
doing to the ship's gear, and let her go as wind and helmsman headed her.
"Then, being much troubled in mind, I said to my men, 'My friends, it is
not right that one or two of us alone should know the prophecies that Circe has
made me, I will therefore tell you about them, so that whether we live or die
we may do so with our eyes open. First she said we were to keep clear of the
Sirens, who sit and sing most beautifully in a field of flowers; but she said I
might hear them myself so long as no one else did. Therefore, take me and
bind me to the crosspiece half way up the mast; bind me as I stand upright,
with a bond so fast that I cannot possibly break away, and lash the rope's ends
to the mast itself. If I beg and pray you to set me free, then bind me more
tightly still.'
"I had hardly finished telling everything to the men before we reached the
island of the two Sirens, for the wind had been very favourable. Then all of a
sudden it fell dead calm; there was not a breath of wind nor a ripple upon the
water, so the men furled the sails and stowed them; then taking to their oars
they whitened the water with the foam they raised in rowing. Meanwhile I
look a large wheel of wax and cut it up small with my sword. Then I kneaded
the wax in my strong hands till it became soft, which it soon did between the
kneading and the rays of the sun-god son of Hyperion. Then I stopped the ears
of all my men, and they bound me hands and feet to the mast as I stood upright
on the cross piece; but they went on rowing themselves. When we had got
within earshot of the land, and the ship was going at a good rate, the Sirens
saw that we were getting in shore and began with their singing.
"'Come here,' they sang, 'renowned Ulysses, honour to the Achaean name,
and listen to our two voices. No one ever sailed past us without staying to hear
the enchanting sweetness of our song—and he who listens will go on his way
not only charmed, but wiser, for we know all the ills that the gods laid upon
the Argives and Trojans before Troy, and can tell you everything that is going
to happen over the whole world.'
"They sang these words most musically, and as I longed to hear them
further I made signs by frowning to my men that they should set me free; but
they quickened their stroke, and Eurylochus and Perimedes bound me with
still stronger bonds till we had got out of hearing of the Sirens' voices. Then
my men took the wax from their ears and unbound me.
"Immediately after we had got past the island I saw a great wave from
which spray was rising, and I heard a loud roaring sound. The men were so
frightened that they loosed hold of their oars, for the whole sea resounded with
the rushing of the waters, but the ship stayed where it was, for the men had
left off rowing. I went round, therefore, and exhorted them man by man not to
lose heart.
"'My friends,' said I, 'this is not the first time that we have been in danger,
and we are in nothing like so bad a case as when the Cyclops shut us up in his
cave; nevertheless, my courage and wise counsel saved us then, and we shall
live to look back on all this as well. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say, trust
in Jove and row on with might and main. As for you, coxswain, these are your
orders; attend to them, for the ship is in your hands; turn her head away from
these steaming rapids and hug the rock, or she will give you the slip and be
over yonder before you know where you are, and you will be the death of us.'
"So they did as I told them; but I said nothing about the awful monster
Scylla, for I knew the men would not go on rowing if I did, but would huddle
together in the hold. In one thing only did I disobey Circe's strict instructions
—I put on my armour. Then seizing two strong spears I took my stand on the
ship's bows, for it was there that I expected first to see the monster of the rock,
who was to do my men so much harm; but I could not make her out anywhere,
though I strained my eyes with looking the gloomy rock all over and over.
"Then we entered the Straits in great fear of mind, for on the one hand was
Scylla, and on the other dread Charybdis kept sucking up the salt water. As she
vomited it up, it was like the water in a cauldron when it is boiling over upon a
great fire, and the spray reached the top of the rocks on either side. When she
began to suck again, we could see the water all inside whirling round and
round, and it made a deafening sound as it broke against the rocks. We could
see the bottom of the whirlpool all black with sand and mud, and the men were
at their wits ends for fear. While we were taken up with this, and were
expecting each moment to be our last, Scylla pounced down suddenly upon us
and snatched up my six best men. I was looking at once after both ship and
men, and in a moment I saw their hands and feet ever so high above me,
struggling in the air as Scylla was carrying them off, and I heard them call out
my name in one last despairing cry. As a fisherman, seated, spear in hand,
upon some jutting rock throws bait into the water to deceive the poor little
fishes, and spears them with the ox's horn with which his spear is shod,
throwing them gasping on to the land as he catches them one by one—even so
did Scylla land these panting creatures on her rock and munch them up at the
mouth of her den, while they screamed and stretched out their hands to me in
their mortal agony. This was the most sickening sight that I saw throughout all
my voyages.
"When we had passed the [Wandering] rocks, with Scylla and terrible
Charybdis, we reached the noble island of the sun-god, where were the goodly
cattle and sheep belonging to the sun Hyperion. While still at sea in my ship I
could bear the cattle lowing as they came home to the yards, and the sheep
bleating. Then I remembered what the blind Theban prophet Teiresias had told
me, and how carefully Aeaean Circe had warned me to shun the island of the
blessed sun-god. So being much troubled I said to the men, 'My men, I know
you are hard pressed, but listen while I tell you the prophecy that Teiresias
made me, and how carefully Aeaean Circe warned me to shun the island of the
blessed sun-god, for it was here, she said, that our worst danger would lie.
Head the ship, therefore, away from the island.'
"The men were in despair at this, and Eurylochus at once gave me an
insolent answer. 'Ulysses,' said he, 'you are cruel; you are very strong yourself
and never get worn out; you seem to be made of iron, and now, though your
men are exhausted with toil and want of sleep, you will not let them land and
cook themselves a good supper upon this island, but bid them put out to sea
and go faring fruitlessly on through the watches of the flying night. It is by
night that the winds blow hardest and do so much damage; how can we escape
should one of those sudden squalls spring up from South West or West, which
so often wreck a vessel when our lords the gods are unpropitious? Now,
therefore, let us obey the behests of night and prepare our supper here hard by
the ship; to-morrow morning we will go on board again and put out to sea.'
"Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. I saw that
heaven meant us a mischief and said, 'You force me to yield, for you are many
against one, but at any rate each one of you must take his solemn oath that if
he meet with a herd of cattle or a large flock of sheep, he will not be so mad as
to kill a single head of either, but will be satisfied with the food that Circe has
given us.'
"They all swore as I bade them, and when they had completed their oath
we made the ship fast in a harbour that was near a stream of fresh water, and
the men went ashore and cooked their suppers. As soon as they had had
enough to eat and drink, they began talking about their poor comrades whom
Scylla had snatched up and eaten; this set them weeping and they went on
crying till they fell off into a sound sleep.
"In the third watch of the night when the stars had shifted their places, Jove
raised a great gale of wind that flew a hurricane so that land and sea were
covered with thick clouds, and night sprang forth out of the heavens. When the
child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, we brought the ship to land
and drew her into a cave wherein the sea-nymphs hold their courts and dances,
and I called the men together in council.
"'My friends,' said I, 'we have meat and drink in the ship, let us mind,
therefore, and not touch the cattle, or we shall suffer for it; for these cattle and
sheep belong to the mighty sun, who sees and gives ear to everything.' And
again they promised that they would obey.
"For a whole month the wind blew steadily from the South, and there was
no other wind, but only South and East. As long as corn and wine held out the
men did not touch the cattle when they were hungry; when, however, they had
eaten all there was in the ship, they were forced to go further afield, with hook
and line, catching birds, and taking whatever they could lay their hands on; for
they were starving. One day, therefore, I went up inland that I might pray
heaven to show me some means of getting away. When I had gone far enough
to be clear of all my men, and had found a place that was well sheltered from
the wind, I washed my hands and prayed to all the gods in Olympus till by and
by they sent me off into a sweet sleep.
"Meanwhile Eurylochus had been giving evil counsel to the men, 'Listen to
me,' said he, 'my poor comrades. All deaths are bad enough but there is none
so bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the best of these cows and offer
them in sacrifice to the immortal gods? If we ever get back to Ithaca, we can
build a fine temple to the sun-god and enrich it with every kind of ornament;
if, however, he is determined to sink our ship out of revenge for these homed
cattle, and the other gods are of the same mind, I for one would rather drink
salt water once for all and have done with it, than be starved to death by inches
in such a desert island as this is.'
 "Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. Now the cattle,
so fair and goodly, were feeding not far from the ship; the men, therefore,
drove in the best of them, and they all stood round them saying their prayers,
and using young oak-shoots instead of barley-meal, for there was no barley
left. When they had done praying they killed the cows and dressed their
carcasses; they cut out the thigh bones, wrapped them round in two layers of
fat, and set some pieces of raw meat on top of them. They had no wine with
which to make drink-offerings over the sacrifice while it was cooking, so they
kept pouring on a little water from time to time while the inward meats were
being grilled; then, when the thigh bones were burned and they had tasted the
inward meats, they cut the rest up small and put the pieces upon the spits.
"By this time my deep sleep had left me, and I turned back to the ship and
to the sea shore. As I drew near I began to smell hot roast meat, so I groaned
out a prayer to the immortal gods. 'Father Jove,' I exclaimed, 'and all you other
gods who live in everlasting bliss, you have done me a cruel mischief by the
sleep into which you have sent me; see what fine work these men of mine
have been making in my absence.'
"Meanwhile Lampetie went straight off to the sun and told him we had
been killing his cows, whereon he flew into a great rage, and said to the
immortals, 'Father Jove, and all you other gods who live in everlasting bliss, I
must have vengeance on the crew of Ulysses' ship: they have had the insolence
to kill my cows, which were the one thing I loved to look upon, whether I was
going up heaven or down again. If they do not square accounts with me about
my cows, I will go down to Hades and shine there among the dead.'
"'Sun,' said Jove, 'go on shining upon us gods and upon mankind over the
fruitful earth. I will shiver their ship into little pieces with a bolt of white
lightning as soon as they get out to sea.'
"I was told all this by Calypso, who said she had heard it from the mouth
of Mercury.
"As soon as I got down to my ship and to the sea shore I rebuked each one
of the men separately, but we could see no way out of it, for the cows were
dead already. And indeed the gods began at once to show signs and wonders
among us, for the hides of the cattle crawled about, and the joints upon the
spits began to low like cows, and the meat, whether cooked or raw, kept on
making a noise just as cows do.
"For six days my men kept driving in the best cows and feasting upon
them, but when Jove the son of Saturn had added a seventh day, the fury of the
gale abated; we therefore went on board, raised our masts, spread sail, and put
out to sea. As soon as we were well away from the island, and could see
nothing but sky and sea, the son of Saturn raised a black cloud over our ship,
and the sea grew dark beneath it. We did not get on much further, for in
another moment we were caught by a terrific squall from the West that
snapped the forestays of the mast so that it fell aft, while all the ship's gear
tumbled about at the bottom of the vessel. The mast fell upon the head of the
helmsman in the ship's stern, so that the bones of his head were crushed to
pieces, and he fell overboard as though he were diving, with no more life left
in him.
"Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts, and the ship went round and
round, and was filled with fire and brimstone as the lightning struck it. The
men all fell into the sea; they were carried about in the water round the ship,
looking like so many sea-gulls, but the god presently deprived them of all
chance of getting home again.
"I stuck to the ship till the sea knocked her sides from her keel (which
drifted about by itself) and struck the mast out of her in the direction of the
keel; but there was a backstay of stout ox-thong still hanging about it, and with
this I lashed the mast and keel together, and getting astride of them was carried
wherever the winds chose to take me.
"[The gale from the West had now spent its force, and the wind got into the
South again, which frightened me lest I should be taken back to the terrible
whirlpool of Charybdis. This indeed was what actually happened, for I was
borne along by the waves all night, and by sunrise had reached the rock of
Scylla, and the whirlpool. She was then sucking down the salt sea water, but I
was carried aloft toward the fig tree, which I caught hold of and clung on to
like a bat. I could not plant my feet anywhere so as to stand securely, for the
roots were a long way off and the boughs that overshadowed the whole pool
were too high, too vast, and too far apart for me to reach them; so I hung
patiently on, waiting till the pool should discharge my mast and raft again—
and a very long while it seemed. A jury-man is not more glad to get home to
supper, after having been long detained in court by troublesome cases, than I
was to see my raft beginning to work its way out of the whirlpool again. At
last I let go with my hands and feet, and fell heavily into the sea, hard by my
raft on to which I then got, and began to row with my hands. As for Scylla, the
father of gods and men would not let her get further sight of me—otherwise I
should have certainly been lost.
"Hence I was carried along for nine days till on the tenth night the gods
stranded me on the Ogygian island, where dwells the great and powerful
goddess Calypso. She took me in and was kind to me, but I need say no more
about this, for I told you and your noble wife all about it yesterday, and I hate
saying the same thing over and over again."



BOOK XIII
ULYSSES LEAVES SCHERIA AND RETURNS TO ITHACA.

Thus did he speak, and they all held their peace throughout the covered
cloister, enthralled by the charm of his story, till presently Alcinous began to
speak.
"Ulysses," said he, "now that you have reached my house I doubt not you
will get home without further misadventure no matter how much you have
suffered in the past. To you others, however, who come here night after night
to drink my choicest wine and listen to my bard, I would insist as follows. Our
guest has already packed up the clothes, wrought gold, and other valuables
which you have brought for his acceptance; let us now, therefore, present him
further, each one of us, with a large tripod and a cauldron. We will recoup
ourselves by the levy of a general rate; for private individuals cannot be
expected to bear the burden of such a handsome present."
Every one approved of this, and then they went home to bed each in his
own abode. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared they
hurried down to the ship and brought their cauldrons with them. Alcinous
went on board and saw everything so securely stowed under the ship's benches
that nothing could break adrift and injure the rowers. Then they went to the
house of Alcinous to get dinner, and he sacrificed a bull for them in honour of
Jove who is the lord of all. They set the steaks to grill and made an excellent
dinner, after which the inspired bard, Demodocus, who was a favourite with
every one, sang to them; but Ulysses kept on turning his eyes towards the sun,
as though to hasten his setting, for he was longing to be on his way. As one
who has been all day ploughing a fallow field with a couple of oxen keeps
thinking about his supper and is glad when night comes that he may go and get
it, for it is all his legs can do to carry him, even so did Ulysses rejoice when
the sun went down, and he at once said to the Phaeacians, addressing himself
more particularly to King Alcinous:
"Sir, and all of you, farewell. Make your drink-offerings and send me on
my way rejoicing, for you have fulfilled my heart's desire by giving me an
escort, and making me presents, which heaven grant that I may turn to good
account; may I find my admirable wife living in peace among friends, and
may you whom I leave behind me give satisfaction to your wives and children;
may heaven vouchsafe you every good grace, and may no evil thing come
among your people."
Thus did he speak. His hearers all of them approved his saying and agreed
that he should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken reasonably. Alcinous
therefore said to his servant, "Pontonous, mix some wine and hand it round to
everybody, that we may offer a prayer to father Jove, and speed our guest upon
his way."
Pontonous mixed the wine and handed it to every one in turn; the others
each from his own seat made a drink-offering to the blessed gods that live in
heaven, but Ulysses rose and placed the double cup in the hands of queen
Arete.
"Farewell, queen," said he, "henceforward and for ever, till age and death,
the common lot of mankind, lay their hands upon you. I now take my leave; be
happy in this house with your children, your people, and with king Alcinous."
As he spoke he crossed the threshold, and Alcinous sent a man to conduct
him to his ship and to the sea shore. Arete also sent some maidservants with
him—one with a clean shirt and cloak, another to carry his strong box, and a
third with corn and wine. When they got to the water side the crew took these
things and put them on board, with all the meat and drink; but for Ulysses they
spread a rug and a linen sheet on deck that he might sleep soundly in the stern
of the ship. Then he too went on board and lay down without a word, but the
crew took every man his place and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone to
which it had been bound. Thereon, when they began rowing out to sea,
Ulysses fell into a deep, sweet, and almost deathlike slumber.
The ship bounded forward on her way as a four in hand chariot flies over
the course when the horses feel the whip. Her prow curvetted as it were the
neck of a stallion, and a great wave of dark blue water seethed in her wake.
She held steadily on her course, and even a falcon, swiftest of all birds, could
not have kept pace with her. Thus, then, she cut her way through the water,
carrying one who was as cunning as the gods, but who was now sleeping
peacefully, forgetful of all that he had suffered both on the field of battle and
by the waves of the weary sea.
When the bright star that heralds the approach of dawn began to show, the
ship drew near to land. Now there is in Ithaca a haven of the old merman
Phorcys, which lies between two points that break the line of the sea and shut
the harbour in. These shelter it from the storms of wind and sea that rage
outside, so that, when once within it, a ship may lie without being even
moored. At the head of this harbour there is a large olive tree, and at no great
distance a fine overarching cavern sacred to the nymphs who are called
Naiads. There are mixing bowls within it and wine-jars of stone, and the bees
hive there. Moreover, there are great looms of stone on which the nymphs
weave their robes of sea purple—very curious to see—and at all times there is
water within it. It has two entrances, one facing North by which mortals can
go down into the cave, while the other comes from the South and is more
mysterious; mortals cannot possibly get in by it, it is the way taken by the
gods.
Into this harbour, then, they took their ship, for they knew the place. She
had so much way upon her that she ran half her own length on to the shore;
when, however, they had landed, the first thing they did was to lift Ulysses
with his rug and linen sheet out of the ship, and lay him down upon the sand
still fast asleep. Then they took out the presents which Minerva had persuaded
the Phaeacians to give him when he was setting out on his voyage homewards.
They put these all together by the root of the olive tree, away from the road,
for fear some passer by might come and steal them before Ulysses awoke; and
then they made the best of their way home again.
But Neptune did not forget the threats with which he had already
threatened Ulysses, so he took counsel with Jove. "Father Jove," said he, "I
shall no longer be held in any sort of respect among you gods, if mortals like
the Phaeacians, who are my own flesh and blood, show such small regard for
me. I said I would let Ulysses get home when he had suffered sufficiently. I
did not say that he should never get home at all, for I knew you had already
nodded your head about it, and promised that he should do so; but now they
have brought him in a ship fast asleep and have landed him in Ithaca after
loading him with more magnificent presents of bronze, gold, and raiment than
he would ever have brought back from Troy, if he had had his share of the
spoil and got home without misadventure."
And Jove answered, "What, O Lord of the Earthquake, are you talking
about? The gods are by no means wanting in respect for you. It would be
monstrous were they to insult one so old and honoured as you are. As regards
mortals, however, if any of them is indulging in insolence and treating you
disrespectfully, it will always rest with yourself to deal with him as you may
think proper, so do just as you please."
"I should have done so at once," replied Neptune, "if I were not anxious to
avoid anything that might displease you; now, therefore, I should like to wreck
the Phaeacian ship as it is returning from its escort. This will stop them from
escorting people in future; and I should also like to bury their city under a
huge mountain."
"My good friend," answered Jove, "I should recommend you at the very
moment when the people from the city are watching the ship on her way, to
turn it into a rock near the land and looking like a ship. This will astonish
everybody, and you can then bury their city under the mountain."
When earth-encircling Neptune heard this he went to Scheria where the
Phaeacians live, and stayed there till the ship, which was making rapid way,
had got close in. Then he went up to it, turned it into stone, and drove it down
with the flat of his hand so as to root it in the ground. After this he went away.
The Phaeacians then began talking among themselves, and one would turn
towards his neighbour, saying, "Bless my heart, who is it that can have rooted
the ship in the sea just as she was getting into port? We could see the whole of
her only a moment ago."
This was how they talked, but they knew nothing about it; and Alcinous
said, "I remember now the old prophecy of my father. He said that Neptune
would be angry with us for taking every one so safely over the sea, and would
one day wreck a Phaeacian ship as it was returning from an escort, and bury
our city under a high mountain. This was what my old father used to say, and
now it is all coming true. Now therefore let us all do as I say; in the first place
we must leave off giving people escorts when they come here, and in the next
let us sacrifice twelve picked bulls to Neptune that he may have mercy upon
us, and not bury our city under the high mountain." When the people heard
this they were afraid and got ready the bulls.
Thus did the chiefs and rulers of the Phaeacians pray to king Neptune,
standing round his altar; and at the same time Ulysses woke up once more
upon his own soil. He had been so long away that he did not know it again;
moreover, Jove's daughter Minerva had made it a foggy day, so that people
might not know of his having come, and that she might tell him everything
without either his wife or his fellow citizens and friends recognising him until
he had taken his revenge upon the wicked suitors. Everything, therefore,
seemed quite different to him—the long straight tracks, the harbours, the
precipices, and the goodly trees, appeared all changed as he started up and
looked upon his native land. So he smote his thighs with the flat of his hands
and cried aloud despairingly.
"Alas," he exclaimed, "among what manner of people am I fallen? Are
they savage and uncivilised or hospitable and humane? Where shall I put all
this treasure, and which way shall I go? I wish I had staid over there with the
Phaeacians; or I could have gone to some other great chief who would have
been good to me and given me an escort. As it is I do not know where to put
my treasure, and I cannot leave it here for fear somebody else should get hold
of it. In good truth the chiefs and rulers of the Phaeacians have not been
dealing fairly by me, and have left me in the wrong country; they said they
would take me back to Ithaca and they have not done so: may Jove the
protector of suppliants chastise them, for he watches over everybody and
punishes those who do wrong. Still, I suppose I must count my goods and see
if the crew have gone off with any of them."
He counted his goodly coppers and cauldrons, his gold and all his clothes,
but there was nothing missing; still he kept grieving about not being in his
own country, and wandered up and down by the shore of the sounding sea
bewailing his hard fate. Then Minerva came up to him disguised as a young
shepherd of delicate and princely mien, with a good cloak folded double about
her shoulders; she had sandals on her comely feet and held a javelin in her
hand. Ulysses was glad when he saw her, and went straight up to her.
"My friend," said he, "you are the first person whom I have met with in
this country; I salute you, therefore, and beg you to be well disposed towards
me. Protect these my goods, and myself too, for I embrace your knees and
pray to you as though you were a god. Tell me, then, and tell me truly, what
land and country is this? Who are its inhabitants? Am I on an island, or is this
the sea board of some continent?"
Minerva answered, "Stranger, you must be very simple, or must have come
from somewhere a long way off, not to know what country this is. It is a very
celebrated place, and everybody knows it East and West. It is rugged and not a
good driving country, but it is by no means a bad island for what there is of it.
It grows any quantity of corn and also wine, for it is watered both by rain and
dew; it breeds cattle also and goats; all kinds of timber grow here, and there
are watering places where the water never runs dry; so, sir, the name of Ithaca
is known even as far as Troy, which I understand to be a long way off from
this Achaean country."
Ulysses was glad at finding himself, as Minerva told him, in his own
country, and he began to answer, but he did not speak the truth, and made up a
lying story in the instinctive wiliness of his heart.
"I heard of Ithaca," said he, "when I was in Crete beyond the seas, and now
it seems I have reached it with all these treasures. I have left as much more
behind me for my children, but am flying because I killed Orsilochus son of
Idomeneus, the fleetest runner in Crete. I killed him because he wanted to rob
me of the spoils I had got from Troy with so much trouble and danger both on
the field of battle and by the waves of the weary sea; he said I had not served
his father loyally at Troy as vassal, but had set myself up as an independent
ruler, so I lay in wait for him with one of my followers by the road side, and
speared him as he was coming into town from the country. It was a very dark
night and nobody saw us; it was not known, therefore, that I had killed him,
but as soon as I had done so I went to a ship and besought the owners, who
were Phoenicians, to take me on board and set me in Pylos or in Elis where the
Epeans rule, giving them as much spoil as satisfied them. They meant no
guile, but the wind drove them off their course, and we sailed on till we came
hither by night. It was all we could do to get inside the harbour, and none of us
said a word about supper though we wanted it badly, but we all went on shore
and lay down just as we were. I was very tired and fell asleep directly, so they
took my goods out of the ship, and placed them beside me where I was lying
upon the sand. Then they sailed away to Sidonia, and I was left here in great
distress of mind."
Such was his story, but Minerva smiled and caressed him with her hand.
Then she took the form of a woman, fair, stately, and wise, "He must be indeed
a shifty lying fellow," said she, "who could surpass you in all manner of craft
even though you had a god for your antagonist. Dare devil that you are, full of
guile, unwearying in deceit, can you not drop your tricks and your instinctive
falsehood, even now that you are in your own country again? We will say no
more, however, about this, for we can both of us deceive upon occasion—you
are the most accomplished counsellor and orator among all mankind, while I
for diplomacy and subtlety have no equal among the gods. Did you not know
Jove's daughter Minerva—me, who have been ever with you, who kept watch
over you in all your troubles, and who made the Phaeacians take so great a
liking to you? And now, again, I am come here to talk things over with you,
and help you to hide the treasure I made the Phaeacians give you; I want to tell
you about the troubles that await you in your own house; you have got to face
them, but tell no one, neither man nor woman, that you have come home
again. Bear everything, and put up with every man's insolence, without a
word."
And Ulysses answered, "A man, goddess, may know a great deal, but you
are so constantly changing your appearance that when he meets you it is a hard
matter for him to know whether it is you or not. This much, however, I know
exceedingly well; you were very kind to me as long as we Achaeans were
fighting before Troy, but from the day on which we went on board ship after
having sacked the city of Priam, and heaven dispersed us—from that day,
Minerva, I saw no more of you, and cannot ever remember your coming to my
ship to help me in a difficulty; I had to wander on sick and sorry till the gods
delivered me from evil and I reached the city of the Phaeacians, where you
encouraged me and took me into the town. And now, I beseech you in your
father's name, tell me the truth, for I do not believe I am really back in Ithaca. I
am in some other country and you are mocking me and deceiving me in all
you have been saying. Tell me then truly, have I really got back to my own
country?"
"You are always taking something of that sort in your head," replied
Minerva, "and that is why I cannot desert you in your afflictions; you are so
plausible, shrewd and shifty. Any one but yourself on returning from so long a
voyage would at once have gone home to see his wife and children, but you do
not seem to care about asking after them or hearing any news about them till
you have exploited your wife, who remains at home vainly grieving for you,
and having no peace night or day for the tears she sheds on your behalf. As for
my not coming near you, I was never uneasy about you, for I was certain you
would get back safely though you would lose all your men, and I did not wish
to quarrel with my uncle Neptune, who never forgave you for having blinded
his son. I will now, however, point out to you the lie of the land, and you will
then perhaps believe me. This is the haven of the old merman Phorcys, and
here is the olive tree that grows at the head of it; [near it is the cave sacred to
the Naiads; here too is the overarching cavern in which you have offered many
an acceptable hecatomb to the nymphs, and this is the wooded mountain
Neritum."
As she spoke the goddess dispersed the mist and the land appeared. Then
Ulysses rejoiced at finding himself again in his own land, and kissed the
bounteous soil; he lifted up his hands and prayed to the nymphs, saying,
"Naiad nymphs, daughters of Jove, I made sure that I was never again to see
you, now therefore I greet you with all loving salutations, and I will bring you
offerings as in the old days, if Jove's redoubtable daughter will grant me life,
and bring my son to manhood."
"Take heart, and do not trouble yourself about that," rejoined Minerva, "let
us rather set about stowing your things at once in the cave, where they will be
quite safe. Let us see how we can best manage it all."
Therewith she went down into the cave to look for the safest hiding places,
while Ulysses brought up all the treasure of gold, bronze, and good clothing
which the Phaeacians had given him. They stowed everything carefully away,
and Minerva set a stone against the door of the cave. Then the two sat down
by the root of the great olive, and consulted how to compass the destruction of
the wicked suitors.
"Ulysses," said Minerva, "noble son of Laertes, think how you can lay
hands on these disreputable people who have been lording it in your house
these three years, courting your wife and making wedding presents to her,
while she does nothing but lament your absence, giving hope and sending
encouraging messages to every one of them, but meaning the very opposite of
all she says."
And Ulysses answered, "In good truth, goddess, it seems I should have
come to much the same bad end in my own house as Agamemnon did, if you
had not given me such timely information. Advise me how I shall best avenge
myself. Stand by my side and put your courage into my heart as on the day
when we loosed Troy's fair diadem from her brow. Help me now as you did
then, and I will fight three hundred men, if you, goddess, will be with me."
"Trust me for that," said she, "I will not lose sight of you when once we set
about it, and I imagine that some of those who are devouring your substance
will then bespatter the pavement with their blood and brains. I will begin by
disguising you so that no human being shall know you; I will cover your body
with wrinkles; you shall lose all your yellow hair; I will clothe you in a
garment that shall fill all who see it with loathing; I will blear your fine eyes
for you, and make you an unseemly object in the sight of the suitors, of your
wife, and of the son whom you left behind you. Then go at once to the
swineherd who is in charge of your pigs; he has been always well affected
towards you, and is devoted to Penelope and your son; you will find him
feeding his pigs near the rock that is called Raven by the fountain Arethusa,
where they are fattening on beechmast and spring water after their manner.
Stay with him and find out how things are going, while I proceed to Sparta and
see your son, who is with Menelaus at Lacedaemon, where he has gone to try
and find out whether you are still alive."
"But why," said Ulysses, "did you not tell him, for you knew all about it?
Did you want him too to go sailing about amid all kinds of hardship while
others are eating up his estate?"
Minerva answered, "Never mind about him, I sent him that he might be
well spoken of for having gone. He is in no sort of difficulty, but is staying
quite comfortably with Menelaus, and is surrounded with abundance of every
kind. The suitors have put out to sea and are lying in wait for him, for they
mean to kill him before he can get home. I do not much think they will
succeed, but rather that some of those who are now eating up your estate will
first find a grave themselves."
As she spoke Minerva touched him with her wand and covered him with
wrinkles, took away all his yellow hair, and withered the flesh over his whole
body; she bleared his eyes, which were naturally very fine ones; she changed
his clothes and threw an old rag of a wrap about him, and a tunic, tattered,
filthy, and begrimed with smoke; she also gave him an undressed deer skin as
an outer garment, and furnished him with a staff and a wallet all in holes, with
a twisted thong for him to sling it over his shoulder.
When the pair had thus laid their plans they parted, and the goddess went
straight to Lacedaemon to fetch Telemachus.

BOOK XIV
ULYSSES IN THE HUT WITH EUMAEUS.

Ulysses now left the haven, and took the rough track up through the
wooded country and over the crest of the mountain till he reached the place
where Minerva had said that he would find the swineherd, who was the most
thrifty servant he had. He found him sitting in front of his hut, which was by
the yards that he had built on a site which could be seen from far. He had made
them spacious and fair to see, with a free run for the pigs all round them; he
had built them during his master's absence, of stones which he had gathered
out of the ground, without saying anything to Penelope or Laertes, and he had
fenced them on top with thorn bushes. Outside the yard he had run a strong
fence of oaken posts, split, and set pretty close together, while inside he had
built twelve styes near one another for the sows to lie in. There were fifty pigs
wallowing in each stye, all of them breeding sows; but the boars slept outside
and were much fewer in number, for the suitors kept on eating them, and the
swineherd had to send them the best he had continually. There were three
hundred and sixty boar pigs, and the herdsman's four hounds, which were as
fierce as wolves, slept always with them. The swineherd was at that moment
cutting out a pair of sandals from a good stout ox hide. Three of his men were
out herding the pigs in one place or another, and he had sent the fourth to town
with a boar that he had been forced to send the suitors that they might sacrifice
it and have their fill of meat.
When the hounds saw Ulysses they set up a furious barking and flew at
him, but Ulysses was cunning enough to sit down and loose his hold of the
stick that he had in his hand: still, he would have been torn by them in his own
homestead had not the swineherd dropped his ox hide, rushed full speed
through the gate of the yard and driven the dogs off by shouting and throwing
stones at them. Then he said to Ulysses, "Old man, the dogs were likely to
have made short work of you, and then you would have got me into trouble.
The gods have given me quite enough worries without that, for I have lost the
best of masters, and am in continual grief on his account. I have to attend
swine for other people to eat, while he, if he yet lives to see the light of day, is
starving in some distant land. But come inside, and when you have had your
fill of bread and wine, tell me where you come from, and all about your
misfortunes."
On this the swineherd led the way into the hut and bade him sit down. He
strewed a good thick bed of rushes upon the floor, and on the top of this he
threw the shaggy chamois skin—a great thick one—on which he used to sleep
by night. Ulysses was pleased at being made thus welcome, and said "May
Jove, sir, and the rest of the gods grant you your heart's desire in return for the
kind way in which you have received me."
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Stranger, though a still
poorer man should come here, it would not be right for me to insult him, for
all strangers and beggars are from Jove. You must take what you can get and
be thankful, for servants live in fear when they have young lords for their
masters; and this is my misfortune now, for heaven has hindered the return of
him who would have been always good to me and given me something of my
own—a house, a piece of land, a good looking wife, and all else that a liberal
master allows a servant who has worked hard for him, and whose labour the
gods have prospered as they have mine in the situation which I hold. If my
master had grown old here he would have done great things by me, but he is
gone, and I wish that Helen's whole race were utterly destroyed, for she has
been the death of many a good man. It was this matter that took my master to
Ilius, the land of noble steeds, to fight the Trojans in the cause of king
Agamemnon."
As he spoke he bound his girdle round him and went to the styes where the
young sucking pigs were penned. He picked out two which he brought back
with him and sacrificed. He singed them, cut them up, and spitted them; when
the meat was cooked he brought it all in and set it before Ulysses, hot and still
on the spit, whereon Ulysses sprinkled it over with white barley meal. The
swineherd then mixed wine in a bowl of ivy-wood, and taking a seat opposite
Ulysses told him to begin.
"Fall to, stranger," said he, "on a dish of servant's pork. The fat pigs have
to go to the suitors, who eat them up without shame or scruple; but the blessed
gods love not such shameful doings, and respect those who do what is lawful
and right. Even the fierce freebooters who go raiding on other people's land,
and Jove gives them their spoil—even they, when they have filled their ships
and got home again live conscience-stricken, and look fearfully for judgement;
but some god seems to have told these people that Ulysses is dead and gone;
they will not, therefore, go back to their own homes and make their offers of
marriage in the usual way, but waste his estate by force, without fear or stint.
Not a day or night comes out of heaven, but they sacrifice not one victim nor
two only, and they take the run of his wine, for he was exceedingly rich. No
other great man either in Ithaca or on the mainland is as rich as he was; he had
as much as twenty men put together. I will tell you what he had. There are
twelve herds of cattle upon the main land, and as many flocks of sheep, there
are also twelve droves of pigs, while his own men and hired strangers feed
him twelve widely spreading herds of goats. Here in Ithaca he runs even large
flocks of goats on the far end of the island, and they are in the charge of
excellent goat herds. Each one of these sends the suitors the best goat in the
flock every day. As for myself, I am in charge of the pigs that you see here,
and I have to keep picking out the best I have and sending it to them."
This was his story, but Ulysses went on eating and drinking ravenously
without a word, brooding his revenge. When he had eaten enough and was
satisfied, the swineherd took the bowl from which he usually drank, filled it
with wine, and gave it to Ulysses, who was pleased, and said as he took it in
his hands, "My friend, who was this master of yours that bought you and paid
for you, so rich and so powerful as you tell me? You say he perished in the
cause of King Agamemnon; tell me who he was, in case I may have met with
such a person. Jove and the other gods know, but I may be able to give you
news of him, for I have travelled much."
Eumaeus answered, "Old man, no traveller who comes here with news will
get Ulysses' wife and son to believe his story. Nevertheless, tramps in want of
a lodging keep coming with their mouths full of lies, and not a word of truth;
every one who finds his way to Ithaca goes to my mistress and tells her
falsehoods, whereon she takes them in, makes much of them, and asks them
all manner of questions, crying all the time as women will when they have lost
their husbands. And you too, old man, for a shirt and a cloak would doubtless
make up a very pretty story. But the wolves and birds of prey have long since
torn Ulysses to pieces, or the fishes of the sea have eaten him, and his bones
are lying buried deep in sand upon some foreign shore; he is dead and gone,
and a bad business it is for all his friends—for me especially; go where I may I
shall never find so good a master, not even if I were to go home to my mother
and father where I was bred and born. I do not so much care, however, about
my parents now, though I should dearly like to see them again in my own
country; it is the loss of Ulysses that grieves me most; I cannot speak of him
without reverence though he is here no longer, for he was very fond of me, and
took such care of me that wherever he may be I shall always honour his
memory."
"My friend," replied Ulysses, "you are very positive, and very hard of
belief about your master's coming home again, nevertheless I will not merely
say, but will swear, that he is coming. Do not give me anything for my news
till he has actually come, you may then give me a shirt and cloak of good wear
if you will. I am in great want, but I will not take anything at all till then, for I
hate a man, even as I hate hell fire, who lets his poverty tempt him into lying. I
swear by king Jove, by the rites of hospitality, and by that hearth of Ulysses to
which I have now come, that all will surely happen as I have said it will.
Ulysses will return in this self same year; with the end of this moon and the
beginning of the next he will be here to do vengeance on all those who are ill
treating his wife and son."
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Old man, you will neither
get paid for bringing good news, nor will Ulysses ever come home; drink your
wine in peace, and let us talk about something else. Do not keep on reminding
me of all this; it always pains me when any one speaks about my honoured
master. As for your oath we will let it alone, but I only wish he may come, as
do Penelope, his old father Laertes, and his son Telemachus. I am terribly
unhappy too about this same boy of his; he was running up fast into manhood,
and bade fare to be no worse man, face and figure, than his father, but some
one, either god or man, has been unsettling his mind, so he has gone off to
Pylos to try and get news of his father, and the suitors are lying in wait for him
as he is coming home, in the hope of leaving the house of Arceisius without a
name in Ithaca. But let us say no more about him, and leave him to be taken,
or else to escape if the son of Saturn holds his hand over him to protect him.
And now, old man, tell me your own story; tell me also, for I want to know,
who you are and where you come from. Tell me of your town and parents,
what manner of ship you came in, how crew brought you to Ithaca, and from
what country they professed to come—for you cannot have come by land."
And Ulysses answered, "I will tell you all about it. If there were meat and
wine enough, and we could stay here in the hut with nothing to do but to eat
and drink while the others go to their work, I could easily talk on for a whole
twelve months without ever finishing the story of the sorrows with which it
has pleased heaven to visit me.
"I am by birth a Cretan; my father was a well to do man, who had many
sons born in marriage, whereas I was the son of a slave whom he had
purchased for a concubine; nevertheless, my father Castor son of Hylax
(whose lineage I claim, and who was held in the highest honour among the
Cretans for his wealth, prosperity, and the valour of his sons) put me on the
same level with my brothers who had been born in wedlock. When, however,
death took him to the house of Hades, his sons divided his estate and cast lots
for their shares, but to me they gave a holding and little else; nevertheless, my
valour enabled me to marry into a rich family, for I was not given to bragging,
or shirking on the field of battle. It is all over now; still, if you look at the
straw you can see what the ear was, for I have had trouble enough and to
spare. Mars and Minerva made me doughty in war; when I had picked my men
to surprise the enemy with an ambuscade I never gave death so much as a
thought, but was the first to leap forward and spear all whom I could overtake.
Such was I in battle, but I did not care about farm work, nor the frugal home
life of those who would bring up children. My delight was in ships, fighting,
javelins, and arrows—things that most men shudder to think of; but one man
likes one thing and another another, and this was what I was most naturally
inclined to. Before the Achaeans went to Troy, nine times was I in command
of men and ships on foreign service, and I amassed much wealth. I had my
pick of the spoil in the first instance, and much more was allotted to me later
on.
"My house grew apace and I became a great man among the Cretans, but
when Jove counselled that terrible expedition, in which so many perished, the
people required me and Idomeneus to lead their ships to Troy, and there was
no way out of it, for they insisted on our doing so. There we fought for nine
whole years, but in the tenth we sacked the city of Priam and sailed home
again as heaven dispersed us. Then it was that Jove devised evil against me. I
spent but one month happily with my children, wife, and property, and then I
conceived the idea of making a descent on Egypt, so I fitted out a fine fleet
and manned it. I had nine ships, and the people flocked to fill them. For six
days I and my men made feast, and I found them many victims both for
sacrifice to the gods and for themselves, but on the seventh day we went on
board and set sail from Crete with a fair North wind behind us though we were
going down a river. Nothing went ill with any of our ships, and we had no
sickness on board, but sat where we were and let the ships go as the wind and
steersmen took them. On the fifth day we reached the river Aegyptus; there I
stationed my ships in the river, bidding my men stay by them and keep guard
over them while I sent out scouts to reconnoitre from every point of vantage.
"But the men disobeyed my orders, took to their own devices, and ravaged
the land of the Egyptians, killing the men, and taking their wives and children
captive. The alarm was soon carried to the city, and when they heard the war
cry, the people came out at daybreak till the plain was filled with horsemen
and foot soldiers and with the gleam of armour. Then Jove spread panic among
my men, and they would no longer face the enemy, for they found themselves
surrounded. The Egyptians killed many of us, and took the rest alive to do
forced labour for them. Jove, however, put it in my mind to do thus—and I
wish I had died then and there in Egypt instead, for there was much sorrow in
store for me—I took off my helmet and shield and dropped my spear from my
hand; then I went straight up to the king's chariot, clasped his knees and kissed
them, whereon he spared my life, bade me get into his chariot, and took me
weeping to his own home. Many made at me with their ashen spears and tried
to kill me in their fury, but the king protected me, for he feared the wrath of
Jove the protector of strangers, who punishes those who do evil.
"I stayed there for seven years and got together much money among the
Egyptians, for they all gave me something; but when it was now going on for
eight years there came a certain Phoenician, a cunning rascal, who had already
committed all sorts of villainy, and this man talked me over into going with
him to Phoenicia, where his house and his possessions lay. I stayed there for a
whole twelve months, but at the end of that time when months and days had
gone by till the same season had come round again, he set me on board a ship
bound for Libya, on a pretence that I was to take a cargo along with him to
that place, but really that he might sell me as a slave and take the money I
fetched. I suspected his intention, but went on board with him, for I could not
help it.
"The ship ran before a fresh North wind till we had reached the sea that
lies between Crete and Libya; there, however, Jove counselled their
destruction, for as soon as we were well out from Crete and could see nothing
but sea and sky, he raised a black cloud over our ship and the sea grew dark
beneath it. Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts and the ship went round and
round and was filled with fire and brimstone as the lightning struck it. The
men fell all into the sea; they were carried about in the water round the ship
looking like so many sea-gulls, but the god presently deprived them of all
chance of getting home again. I was all dismayed. Jove, however, sent the
ship's mast within my reach, which saved my life, for I clung to it, and drifted
before the fury of the gale. Nine days did I drift but in the darkness of the tenth
night a great wave bore me on to the Thesprotian coast. There Pheidon king of
the Thesprotians entertained me hospitably without charging me anything at
all—for his son found me when I was nearly dead with cold and fatigue,
whereon he raised me by the hand, took me to his father's house and gave me
clothes to wear.
"There it was that I heard news of Ulysses, for the king told me he had
entertained him, and shown him much hospitality while he was on his
homeward journey. He showed me also the treasure of gold, and wrought iron
that Ulysses had got together. There was enough to keep his family for ten
generations, so much had he left in the house of king Pheidon. But the king
said Ulysses had gone to Dodona that he might learn Jove's mind from the
god's high oak tree, and know whether after so long an absence he should
return to Ithaca openly, or in secret. Moreover the king swore in my presence,
making drink-offerings in his own house as he did so, that the ship was by the
water side, and the crew found, that should take him to his own country. He
sent me off however before Ulysses returned, for there happened to be a
Thesprotian ship sailing for the wheat-growing island of Dulichium, and he
told those in charge of her to be sure and take me safely to King Acastus.
"These men hatched a plot against me that would have reduced me to the
very extreme of misery, for when the ship had got some way out from land
they resolved on selling me as a slave. They stripped me of the shirt and cloak
that I was wearing, and gave me instead the tattered old clouts in which you
now see me; then, towards nightfall, they reached the tilled lands of Ithaca,
and there they bound me with a strong rope fast in the ship, while they went
on shore to get supper by the sea side. But the gods soon undid my bonds for
me, and having drawn my rags over my head I slid down the rudder into the
sea, where I struck out and swam till I was well clear of them, and came
ashore near a thick wood in which I lay concealed. They were very angry at
my having escaped and went searching about for me, till at last they thought it
was no further use and went back to their ship. The gods, having hidden me
thus easily, then took me to a good man's door—for it seems that I am not to
die yet awhile."
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Poor unhappy stranger, I
have found the story of your misfortunes extremely interesting, but that part
about Ulysses is not right; and you will never get me to believe it. Why should
a man like you go about telling lies in this way? I know all about the return of
my master. The gods one and all of them detest him, or they would have taken
him before Troy, or let him die with friends around him when the days of his
fighting were done; for then the Achaeans would have built a mound over his
ashes and his son would have been heir to his renown, but now the storm
winds have spirited him away we know not whither.
"As for me I live out of the way here with the pigs, and never go to the
town unless when Penelope sends for me on the arrival of some news about
Ulysses. Then they all sit round and ask questions, both those who grieve over
the king's absence, and those who rejoice at it because they can eat up his
property without paying for it. For my own part I have never cared about
asking anyone else since the time when I was taken in by an Aetolian, who
had killed a man and come a long way till at last he reached my station, and I
was very kind to him. He said he had seen Ulysses with Idomeneus among the
Cretans, refitting his ships which had been damaged in a gale. He said Ulysses
would return in the following summer or autumn with his men, and that he
would bring back much wealth. And now you, you unfortunate old man, since
fate has brought you to my door, do not try to flatter me in this way with vain
hopes. It is not for any such reason that I shall treat you kindly, but only out of
respect for Jove the god of hospitality, as fearing him and pitying you."
Ulysses answered, "I see that you are of an unbelieving mind; I have given
you my oath, and yet you will not credit me; let us then make a bargain, and
call all the gods in heaven to witness it. If your master comes home, give me a
cloak and shirt of good wear, and send me to Dulichium where I want to go;
but if he does not come as I say he will, set your men on to me, and tell them
to throw me from yonder precipice, as a warning to tramps not to go about the
country telling lies."
"And a pretty figure I should cut then," replied Eumaeus, "both now and
hereafter, if I were to kill you after receiving you into my hut and showing you
hospitality. I should have to say my prayers in good earnest if I did; but it is
just supper time and I hope my men will come in directly, that we may cook
something savoury for supper."
Thus did they converse, and presently the swineherds came up with the
pigs, which were then shut up for the night in their styes, and a tremendous
squealing they made as they were being driven into them. But Eumaeus called
to his men and said, "Bring in the best pig you have, that I may sacrifice him
for this stranger, and we will take toll of him ourselves. We have had trouble
enough this long time feeding pigs, while others reap the fruit of our labour."
On this he began chopping firewood, while the others brought in a fine fat
five year old boar pig, and set it at the altar. Eumaeus did not forget the gods,
for he was a man of good principles, so the first thing he did was to cut bristles
from the pig's face and throw them into the fire, praying to all the gods as he
did so that Ulysses might return home again. Then he clubbed the pig with a
billet of oak which he had kept back when he was chopping the firewood, and
stunned it, while the others slaughtered and singed it. Then they cut it up, and
Eumaeus began by putting raw pieces from each joint on to some of the fat;
these he sprinkled with barley meal, and laid upon the embers; they cut the
rest of the meat up small, put the pieces upon the spits and roasted them till
they were done; when they had taken them off the spits they threw them on to
the dresser in a heap. The swineherd, who was a most equitable man, then
stood up to give every one his share. He made seven portions; one of these he
set apart for Mercury the son of Maia and the nymphs, praying to them as he
did so; the others he dealt out to the men man by man. He gave Ulysses some
slices cut lengthways down the loin as a mark of especial honour, and Ulysses
was much pleased. "I hope, Eumaeus," said he, "that Jove will be as well
disposed towards you as I am, for the respect you are showing to an outcast
like myself."
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Eat, my good fellow, and
enjoy your supper, such as it is. God grants this, and withholds that, just as he
thinks right, for he can do whatever he chooses."
As he spoke he cut off the first piece and offered it as a burnt sacrifice to
the immortal gods; then he made them a drink-offering, put the cup in the
hands of Ulysses, and sat down to his own portion. Mesaulius brought them
their bread; the swineherd had brought this man on his own account from
among the Taphians during his master's absence, and had paid for him with his
own money without saying anything either to his mistress or Laertes. They
then laid their hands upon the good things that were before them, and when
they had had enough to eat and drink, Mesaulius took away what was left of
the bread, and they all went to bed after having made a hearty supper.
Now the night came on stormy and very dark, for there was no moon. It
poured without ceasing, and the wind blew strong from the West, which is a
wet quarter, so Ulysses thought he would see whether Eumaeus, in the
excellent care he took of him, would take off his own cloak and give it him, or
make one of his men give him one. "Listen to me," said he, "Eumaeus and the
rest of you; when I have said a prayer I will tell you something. It is the wine
that makes me talk in this way; wine will make even a wise man fall to
singing; it will make him chuckle and dance and say many a word that he had
better leave unspoken; still, as I have begun, I will go on. Would that I were
still young and strong as when we got up an ambuscade before Troy. Menelaus
and Ulysses were the leaders, but I was in command also, for the other two
would have it so. When we had come up to the wall of the city we crouched
down beneath our armour and lay there under cover of the reeds and thick
brushwood that grew about the swamp. It came on to freeze with a North wind
blowing; the snow fell small and fine like hoar frost, and our shields were
coated thick with rime. The others had all got cloaks and shirts, and slept
comfortably enough with their shields about their shoulders, but I had
carelessly left my cloak behind me, not thinking that I should be too cold, and
had gone off in nothing but my shirt and shield. When the night was two-
thirds through and the stars had shifted their places, I nudged Ulysses who was
close to me with my elbow, and he at once gave me his ear.
"'Ulysses,' said I, 'this cold will be the death of me, for I have no cloak;
some god fooled me into setting off with nothing on but my shirt, and I do not
know what to do.'
"Ulysses, who was as crafty as he was valiant, hit upon the following plan:
"'Keep still,' said he in a low voice, 'or the others will hear you.' Then he
raised his head on his elbow.
"'My friends,' said he, 'I have had a dream from heaven in my sleep. We
are a long way from the ships; I wish some one would go down and tell
Agamemnon to send us up more men at once.'
"On this Thoas son of Andraemon threw off his cloak and set out running
to the ships, whereon I took the cloak and lay in it comfortably enough till
morning. Would that I were still young and strong as I was in those days, for
then some one of you swineherds would give me a cloak both out of good will
and for the respect due to a brave soldier; but now people look down upon me
because my clothes are shabby."
And Eumaeus answered, "Old man, you have told us an excellent story,
and have said nothing so far but what is quite satisfactory; for the present,
therefore, you shall want neither clothing nor anything else that a stranger in
distress may reasonably expect, but to-morrow morning you have to shake
your own old rags about your body again, for we have not many spare cloaks
nor shirts up here, but every man has only one. When Ulysses' son comes
home again he will give you both cloak and shirt, and send you wherever you
may want to go."
With this he got up and made a bed for Ulysses by throwing some
goatskins and sheepskins on the ground in front of the fire. Here Ulysses lay
down, and Eumaeus covered him over with a great heavy cloak that he kept
for a change in case of extraordinarily bad weather.
Thus did Ulysses sleep, and the young men slept beside him. But the
swineherd did not like sleeping away from his pigs, so he got ready to go
outside, and Ulysses was glad to see that he looked after his property during
his master's absence. First he slung his sword over his brawny shoulders and
put on a thick cloak to keep out the wind. He also took the skin of a large and
well fed goat, and a javelin in case of attack from men or dogs. Thus equipped
he went to his rest where the pigs were camping under an overhanging rock
that gave them shelter from the North wind.

BOOK XV
MINERVA SUMMONS TELEMACHUS FROM LACEDAEMON—HE
MEETS WITH THEOCLYMENUS AT PYLOS AND BRINGS HIM TO
ITHACA—ON LANDING HE GOES TO THE HUT OF EUMAEUS.

But Minerva went to the fair city of Lacedaemon to tell Ulysses' son that
he was to return at once. She found him and Pisistratus sleeping in the
forecourt of Menelaus's house; Pisistratus was fast asleep, but Telemachus
could get no rest all night for thinking of his unhappy father, so Minerva went
close up to him and said:
"Telemachus, you should not remain so far away from home any longer,
nor leave your property with such dangerous people in your house; they will
eat up everything you have among them, and you will have been on a fool's
errand. Ask Menelaus to send you home at once if you wish to find your
excellent mother still there when you get back. Her father and brothers are
already urging her to marry Eurymachus, who has given her more than any of
the others, and has been greatly increasing his wedding presents. I hope
nothing valuable may have been taken from the house in spite of you, but you
know what women are—they always want to do the best they can for the man
who marries them, and never give another thought to the children of their first
husband, nor to their father either when he is dead and done with. Go home,
therefore, and put everything in charge of the most respectable woman servant
that you have, until it shall please heaven to send you a wife of your own. Let
me tell you also of another matter which you had better attend to. The chief
men among the suitors are lying in wait for you in the Strait between Ithaca
and Samos, and they mean to kill you before you can reach home. I do not
much think they will succeed; it is more likely that some of those who are now
eating up your property will find a grave themselves. Sail night and day, and
keep your ship well away from the islands; the god who watches over you and
protects you will send you a fair wind. As soon as you get to Ithaca send your
ship and men on to the town, but yourself go straight to the swineherd who has
charge of your pigs; he is well disposed towards you, stay with him, therefore,
for the night, and then send him to Penelope to tell her that you have got back
safe from Pylos."
Then she went back to Olympus; but Telemachus stirred Pisistratus with
his heel to rouse him, and said, "Wake up Pisistratus, and yoke the horses to
the chariot, for we must set off home."
But Pisistratus said, "No matter what hurry we are in we cannot drive in
the dark. It will be morning soon; wait till Menelaus has brought his presents
and put them in the chariot for us; and let him say good bye to us in the usual
way. So long as he lives a guest should never forget a host who has shown him
kindness."
As he spoke day began to break, and Menelaus, who had already risen,
leaving Helen in bed, came towards them. When Telemachus saw him he put
on his shirt as fast as he could, threw a great cloak over his shoulders, and
went out to meet him. "Menelaus," said he, "let me go back now to my own
country, for I want to get home."
And Menelaus answered, "Telemachus, if you insist on going I will not
detain you. I do not like to see a host either too fond of his guest or too rude to
him. Moderation is best in all things, and not letting a man go when he wants
to do so is as bad as telling him to go if he would like to stay. One should treat
a guest well as long as he is in the house and speed him when he wants to
leave it. Wait, then, till I can get your beautiful presents into your chariot, and
till you have yourself seen them. I will tell the women to prepare a sufficient
dinner for you of what there may be in the house; it will be at once more
proper and cheaper for you to get your dinner before setting out on such a long
journey. If, moreover, you have a fancy for making a tour in Hellas or in the
Peloponnese, I will yoke my horses, and will conduct you myself through all
our principal cities. No one will send us away empty handed; every one will
give us something—a bronze tripod, a couple of mules, or a gold cup."
"Menelaus," replied Telemachus, "I want to go home at once, for when I
came away I left my property without protection, and fear that while looking
for my father I shall come to ruin myself, or find that something valuable has
been stolen during my absence."
When Menelaus heard this he immediately told his wife and servants to
prepare a sufficient dinner from what there might be in the house. At this
moment Eteoneus joined him, for he lived close by and had just got up; so
Menelaus told him to light the fire and cook some meat, which he at once did.
Then Menelaus went down into his fragrant store room, not alone, but Helen
went too, with Megapenthes. When he reached the place where the treasures
of his house were kept, he selected a double cup, and told his son
Megapenthes to bring also a silver mixing bowl. Meanwhile Helen went to the
chest where she kept the lovely dresses which she had made with her own
hands, and took out one that was largest and most beautifully enriched with
embroidery; it glittered like a star, and lay at the very bottom of the chest.
Then they all came back through the house again till they got to Telemachus,
and Menelaus said, "Telemachus, may Jove, the mighty husband of Juno,
bring you safely home according to your desire. I will now present you with
the finest and most precious piece of plate in all my house. It is a mixing bowl
of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with gold, and it is the work of
Vulcan. Phaedimus king of the Sidonians made me a present of it in the course
of a visit that I paid him while I was on my return home. I should like to give
it to you."
With these words he placed the double cup in the hands of Telemachus,
while Megapenthes brought the beautiful mixing bowl and set it before him.
Hard by stood lovely Helen with the robe ready in her hand.
"I too, my son," said she, "have something for you as a keepsake from the
hand of Helen; it is for your bride to wear upon her wedding day. Till then, get
your dear mother to keep it for you; thus may you go back rejoicing to your
own country and to your home."
So saying she gave the robe over to him and he received it gladly. Then
Pisistratus put the presents into the chariot, and admired them all as he did so.
Presently Menelaus took Telemachus and Pisistratus into the house, and they
both of them sat down to table. A maid servant brought them water in a
beautiful golden ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their
hands, and she drew a clean table beside them; an upper servant brought them
bread and offered them many good things of what there was in the house.
Eteoneus carved the meat and gave them each their portions, while
Megapenthes poured out the wine. Then they laid their hands upon the good
things that were before them, but as soon as they had had enough to eat and
drink Telemachus and Pisistratus yoked the horses, and took their places in the
chariot. They drove out through the inner gateway and under the echoing
gatehouse of the outer court, and Menelaus came after them with a golden
goblet of wine in his right hand that they might make a drink-offering before
they set out. He stood in front of the horses and pledged them, saying,
"Farewell to both of you; see that you tell Nestor how I have treated you, for
he was as kind to me as any father could be while we Achaeans were fighting
before Troy."
"We will be sure, sir," answered Telemachus, "to tell him everything as
soon as we see him. I wish I were as certain of finding Ulysses returned when
I get back to Ithaca, that I might tell him of the very great kindness you have
shown me and of the many beautiful presents I am taking with me."
 As he was thus speaking a bird flew on his right hand—an eagle with a
great white goose in its talons which it had carried off from the farm yard—
and all the men and women were running after it and shouting. It came quite
close up to them and flew away on their right hands in front of the horses.
When they saw it they were glad, and their hearts took comfort within them,
whereon Pisistratus said, "Tell me, Menelaus, has heaven sent this omen for us
or for you?"
Menelaus was thinking what would be the most proper answer for him to
make, but Helen was too quick for him and said, "I will read this matter as
heaven has put it in my heart, and as I doubt not that it will come to pass. The
eagle came from the mountain where it was bred and has its nest, and in like
manner Ulysses, after having travelled far and suffered much, will return to
take his revenge—if indeed he is not back already and hatching mischief for
the suitors."
"May Jove so grant it," replied Telemachus, "if it should prove to be so, I
will make vows to you as though you were a god, even when I am at home."
As he spoke he lashed his horses and they started off at full speed through
the town towards the open country. They swayed the yoke upon their necks
and travelled the whole day long till the sun set and darkness was over all the
land. Then they reached Pherae, where Diocles lived who was son of
Ortilochus, the son of Alpheus. There they passed the night and were treated
hospitably. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, they
again yoked their horses and their places in the chariot. They drove out
through the inner gateway and under the echoing gatehouse of the outer court.
Then Pisistratus lashed his horses on and they flew forward nothing loath; ere
long they came to Pylos, and then Telemachus said:
"Pisistratus, I hope you will promise to do what I am going to ask you. You
know our fathers were old friends before us; moreover, we are both of an age,
and this journey has brought us together still more closely; do not, therefore,
take me past my ship, but leave me there, for if I go to your father's house he
will try to keep me in the warmth of his good will towards me, and I must go
home at once."
Pisistratus thought how he should do as he was asked, and in the end he
deemed it best to turn his horses towards the ship, and put Menelaus's
beautiful presents of gold and raiment in the stern of the vessel. Then he said,
"Go on board at once and tell your men to do so also before I can reach home
to tell my father. I know how obstinate he is, and am sure he will not let you
go; he will come down here to fetch you, and he will not go back without you.
But he will be very angry."
With this he drove his goodly steeds back to the city of the Pylians and
soon reached his home, but Telemachus called the men together and gave his
orders. "Now, my men," said he, "get everything in order on board the ship,
and let us set out home."
Thus did he speak, and they went on board even as he had said. But as
Telemachus was thus busied, praying also and sacrificing to Minerva in the
ship's stern, there came to him a man from a distant country, a seer, who was
flying from Argos because he had killed a man. He was descended from
Melampus, who used to live in Pylos, the land of sheep; he was rich and
owned a great house, but he was driven into exile by the great and powerful
king Neleus. Neleus seized his goods and held them for a whole year, during
which he was a close prisoner in the house of king Phylacus, and in much
distress of mind both on account of the daughter of Neleus and because he was
haunted by a great sorrow that dread Erinys had laid upon him. In the end,
however, he escaped with his life, drove the cattle from Phylace to Pylos,
avenged the wrong that had been done him, and gave the daughter of Neleus
to his brother. Then he left the country and went to Argos, where it was
ordained that he should reign over much people. There he married, established
himself, and had two famous sons Antiphates and Mantius. Antiphates became
father of Oicleus, and Oicleus of Amphiaraus, who was dearly loved both by
Jove and by Apollo, but he did not live to old age, for he was killed in Thebes
by reason of a woman's gifts. His sons were Alcmaeon and Amphilochus.
Mantius, the other son of Melampus, was father to Polypheides and Cleitus.
Aurora, throned in gold, carried off Cleitus for his beauty's sake, that he might
dwell among the immortals, but Apollo made Polypheides the greatest seer in
the whole world now that Amphiaraus was dead. He quarrelled with his father
and went to live in Hyperesia, where he remained and prophesied for all men.
His son, Theoclymenus, it was who now came up to Telemachus as he was
making drink-offerings and praying in his ship. "Friend," said he, "now that I
find you sacrificing in this place, I beseech you by your sacrifices themselves,
and by the god to whom you make them, I pray you also by your own head
and by those of your followers tell me the truth and nothing but the truth. Who
and whence are you? Tell me also of your town and parents."
Telemachus said, "I will answer you quite truly. I am from Ithaca, and my
father is Ulysses, as surely as that he ever lived. But he has come to some
miserable end. Therefore I have taken this ship and got my crew together to
see if I can hear any news of him, for he has been away a long time."
"I too," answered Theoclymenus, "am an exile, for I have killed a man of
my own race. He has many brothers and kinsmen in Argos, and they have
great power among the Argives. I am flying to escape death at their hands, and
am thus doomed to be a wanderer on the face of the earth. I am your suppliant;
take me, therefore, on board your ship that they may not kill me, for I know
they are in pursuit."
"I will not refuse you," replied Telemachus, "if you wish to join us. Come,
therefore, and in Ithaca we will treat you hospitably according to what we
have."
On this he received Theoclymenus' spear and laid it down on the deck of
the ship. He went on board and sat in the stern, bidding Theoclymenus sit
beside him; then the men let go the hawsers. Telemachus told them to catch
hold of the ropes, and they made all haste to do so. They set the mast in its
socket in the cross plank, raised it and made it fast with the forestays, and they
hoisted their white sails with sheets of twisted ox hide. Minerva sent them a
fair wind that blew fresh and strong to take the ship on her course as fast as
possible. Thus then they passed by Crouni and Chalcis.
Presently the sun set and darkness was over all the land. The vessel made a
quick passage to Pheae and thence on to Elis, where the Epeans rule.
Telemachus then headed her for the flying islands, wondering within himself
whether he should escape death or should be taken prisoner.
Meanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd were eating their supper in the hut,
and the men supped with them. As soon as they had had to eat and drink,
Ulysses began trying to prove the swineherd and see whether he would
continue to treat him kindly, and ask him to stay on at the station or pack him
off to the city; so he said:
"Eumaeus, and all of you, to-morrow I want to go away and begin begging
about the town, so as to be no more trouble to you or to your men. Give me
your advice therefore, and let me have a good guide to go with me and show
me the way. I will go the round of the city begging as I needs must, to see if
any one will give me a drink and a piece of bread. I should like also to go to
the house of Ulysses and bring news of her husband to Queen Penelope. I
could then go about among the suitors and see if out of all their abundance
they will give me a dinner. I should soon make them an excellent servant in all
sorts of ways. Listen and believe when I tell you that by the blessing of
Mercury who gives grace and good name to the works of all men, there is no
one living who would make a more handy servant than I should—to put fresh
wood on the fire, chop fuel, carve, cook, pour out wine, and do all those
services that poor men have to do for their betters."
The swineherd was very much disturbed when he heard this. "Heaven help
me," he exclaimed, "what ever can have put such a notion as that into your
head? If you go near the suitors you will be undone to a certainty, for their
pride and insolence reach the very heavens. They would never think of taking
a man like you for a servant. Their servants are all young men, well dressed,
wearing good cloaks and shirts, with well looking faces and their hair always
tidy, the tables are kept quite clean and are loaded with bread, meat, and wine.
Stay where you are, then; you are not in anybody's way; I do not mind your
being here, no more do any of the others, and when Telemachus comes home
he will give you a shirt and cloak and will send you wherever you want to go."
Ulysses answered, "I hope you may be as dear to the gods as you are to
me, for having saved me from going about and getting into trouble; there is
nothing worse than being always on the tramp; still, when men have once got
low down in the world they will go through a great deal on behalf of their
miserable bellies. Since, however, you press me to stay here and await the
return of Telemachus, tell me about Ulysses' mother, and his father whom he
left on the threshold of old age when he set out for Troy. Are they still living
or are they already dead and in the house of Hades?"
"I will tell you all about them," replied Eumaeus, "Laertes is still living and
prays heaven to let him depart peacefully in his own house, for he is terribly
distressed about the absence of his son, and also about the death of his wife,
which grieved him greatly and aged him more than anything else did. She
came to an unhappy end through sorrow for her son: may no friend or
neighbour who has dealt kindly by me come to such an end as she did. As long
as she was still living, though she was always grieving, I used to like seeing
her and asking her how she did, for she brought me up along with her daughter
Ctimene, the youngest of her children; we were boy and girl together, and she
made little difference between us. When, however, we both grew up, they sent
Ctimene to Same and received a splendid dowry for her. As for me, my
mistress gave me a good shirt and cloak with a pair of sandals for my feet, and
sent me off into the country, but she was just as fond of me as ever. This is all
over now. Still it has pleased heaven to prosper my work in the situation which
I now hold. I have enough to eat and drink, and can find something for any
respectable stranger who comes here; but there is no getting a kind word or
deed out of my mistress, for the house has fallen into the hands of wicked
people. Servants want sometimes to see their mistress and have a talk with her;
they like to have something to eat and drink at the house, and something too to
take back with them into the country. This is what will keep servants in a good
humour."
Ulysses answered, "Then you must have been a very little fellow,
Eumaeus, when you were taken so far away from your home and parents. Tell
me, and tell me true, was the city in which your father and mother lived
sacked and pillaged, or did some enemies carry you off when you were alone
tending sheep or cattle, ship you off here, and sell you for whatever your
master gave them?"
"Stranger," replied Eumaeus, "as regards your question: sit still, make
yourself comfortable, drink your wine, and listen to me. The nights are now at
their longest; there is plenty of time both for sleeping and sitting up talking
together; you ought not to go to bed till bed time, too much sleep is as bad as
too little; if any one of the others wishes to go to bed let him leave us and do
so; he can then take my master's pigs out when he has done breakfast in the
morning. We too will sit here eating and drinking in the hut, and telling one
another stories about our misfortunes; for when a man has suffered much, and
been buffeted about in the world, he takes pleasure in recalling the memory of
sorrows that have long gone by. As regards your question, then, my tale is as
follows:
"You may have heard of an island called Syra that lies over above Ortygia,
where the land begins to turn round and look in another direction. It is not
very thickly peopled, but the soil is good, with much pasture fit for cattle and
sheep, and it abounds with wine and wheat. Dearth never comes there, nor are
the people plagued by any sickness, but when they grow old Apollo comes
with Diana and kills them with his painless shafts. It contains two
communities, and the whole country is divided between these two. My father
Ctesius son of Ormenus, a man comparable to the gods, reigned over both.
"Now to this place there came some cunning traders from Phoenicia (for
the Phoenicians are great mariners) in a ship which they had freighted with
gewgaws of all kinds. There happened to be a Phoenician woman in my
father's house, very tall and comely, and an excellent servant; these scoundrels
got hold of her one day when she was washing near their ship, seduced her,
and cajoled her in ways that no woman can resist, no matter how good she
may be by nature. The man who had seduced her asked her who she was and
where she came from, and on this she told him her father's name. 'I come from
Sidon,' said she, 'and am daughter to Arybas, a man rolling in wealth. One day
as I was coming into the town from the country, some Taphian pirates seized
me and took me here over the sea, where they sold me to the man who owns
this house, and he gave them their price for me.'
"The man who had seduced her then said, 'Would you like to come along
with us to see the house of your parents and your parents themselves? They
are both alive and are said to be well off.'
"'I will do so gladly,' answered she, 'if you men will first swear me a
solemn oath that you will do me no harm by the way.'
"They all swore as she told them, and when they had completed their oath
the woman said, 'Hush; and if any of your men meets me in the street or at the
well, do not let him speak to me, for fear some one should go and tell my
master, in which case he would suspect something. He would put me in prison,
and would have all of you murdered; keep your own counsel therefore; buy
your merchandise as fast as you can, and send me word when you have done
loading. I will bring as much gold as I can lay my hands on, and there is
something else also that I can do towards paying my fare. I am nurse to the
son of the good man of the house, a funny little fellow just able to run about. I
will carry him off in your ship, and you will get a great deal of money for him
if you take him and sell him in foreign parts.'
"On this she went back to the house. The Phoenicians stayed a whole year
till they had loaded their ship with much precious merchandise, and then,
when they had got freight enough, they sent to tell the woman. Their
messenger, a very cunning fellow, came to my father's house bringing a
necklace of gold with amber beads strung among it; and while my mother and
the servants had it in their hands admiring it and bargaining about it, he made
a sign quietly to the woman and then went back to the ship, whereon she took
me by the hand and led me out of the house. In the fore part of the house she
saw the tables set with the cups of guests who had been feasting with my
father, as being in attendance on him; these were now all gone to a meeting of
the public assembly, so she snatched up three cups and carried them off in the
bosom of her dress, while I followed her, for I knew no better. The sun was
now set, and darkness was over all the land, so we hurried on as fast as we
could till we reached the harbour, where the Phoenician ship was lying. When
they had got on board they sailed their ways over the sea, taking us with them,
and Jove sent then a fair wind; six days did we sail both night and day, but on
the seventh day Diana struck the woman and she fell heavily down into the
ship's hold as though she were a sea gull alighting on the water; so they threw
her overboard to the seals and fishes, and I was left all sorrowful and alone.
Presently the winds and waves took the ship to Ithaca, where Laertes gave
sundry of his chattels for me, and thus it was that ever I came to set eyes upon
this country."
Ulysses answered, "Eumaeus, I have heard the story of your misfortunes
with the most lively interest and pity, but Jove has given you good as well as
evil, for in spite of everything you have a good master, who sees that you
always have enough to eat and drink; and you lead a good life, whereas I am
still going about begging my way from city to city."
Thus did they converse, and they had only a very little time left for sleep,
for it was soon daybreak. In the mean time Telemachus and his crew were
nearing land, so they loosed the sails, took down the mast, and rowed the ship
into the harbour. They cast out their mooring stones and made fast the
hawsers; they then got out upon the sea shore, mixed their wine, and got
dinner ready. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink Telemachus
said, "Take the ship on to the town, but leave me here, for I want to look after
the herdsmen on one of my farms. In the evening, when I have seen all I want,
I will come down to the city, and to-morrow morning in return for your trouble
I will give you all a good dinner with meat and wine."
Then Theoclymenus said, "And what, my dear young friend, is to become
of me? To whose house, among all your chief men, am I to repair? or shall I
go straight to your own house and to your mother?"
"At any other time," replied Telemachus, "I should have bidden you go to
my own house, for you would find no want of hospitality; at the present
moment, however, you would not be comfortable there, for I shall be away,
and my mother will not see you; she does not often show herself even to the
suitors, but sits at her loom weaving in an upper chamber, out of their way; but
I can tell you a man whose house you can go to—I mean Eurymachus the son
of Polybus, who is held in the highest estimation by every one in Ithaca. He is
much the best man and the most persistent wooer, of all those who are paying
court to my mother and trying to take Ulysses' place. Jove, however, in heaven
alone knows whether or no they will come to a bad end before the marriage
takes place."
As he was speaking a bird flew by upon his right hand—a hawk, Apollo's
messenger. It held a dove in its talons, and the feathers, as it tore them off, fell
to the ground midway between Telemachus and the ship. On this
Theoclymenus called him apart and caught him by the hand. "Telemachus,"
said he, "that bird did not fly on your right hand without having been sent
there by some god. As soon as I saw it I knew it was an omen; it means that
you will remain powerful and that there will be no house in Ithaca more royal
than your own."
"I wish it may prove so," answered Telemachus. "If it does, I will show
you so much good will and give you so many presents that all who meet you
will congratulate you."
Then he said to his friend Piraeus, "Piraeus, son of Clytius, you have
throughout shown yourself the most willing to serve me of all those who have
accompanied me to Pylos; I wish you would take this stranger to your own
house and entertain him hospitably till I can come for him."
And Piraeus answered, "Telemachus, you may stay away as long as you
please, but I will look after him for you, and he shall find no lack of
hospitality."
As he spoke he went on board, and bade the others do so also and loose the
hawsers, so they took their places in the ship. But Telemachus bound on his
sandals, and took a long and doughty spear with a head of sharpened bronze
from the deck of the ship. Then they loosed the hawsers, thrust the ship off
from land, and made on towards the city as they had been told to do, while
Telemachus strode on as fast as he could, till he reached the homestead where
his countless herds of swine were feeding, and where dwelt the excellent
swineherd, who was so devoted a servant to his master.

BOOK XVI
ULYSSES REVEALS HIMSELF TO TELEMACHUS.

Meanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd had lit a fire in the hut and were
were getting breakfast ready at daybreak, for they had sent the men out with
the pigs. When Telemachus came up, the dogs did not bark but fawned upon
him, so Ulysses, hearing the sound of feet and noticing that the dogs did not
bark, said to Eumaeus:
"Eumaeus, I hear footsteps; I suppose one of your men or some one of
your acquaintance is coming here, for the dogs are fawning upon him and not
barking."
The words were hardly out of his mouth before his son stood at the door.
Eumaeus sprang to his feet, and the bowls in which he was mixing wine fell
from his hands, as he made towards his master. He kissed his head and both
his beautiful eyes, and wept for joy. A father could not be more delighted at
the return of an only son, the child of his old age, after ten years' absence in a
foreign country and after having gone through much hardship. He embraced
him, kissed him all over as though he had come back from the dead, and spoke
fondly to him saying:
"So you are come, Telemachus, light of my eyes that you are. When I
heard you had gone to Pylos I made sure I was never going to see you any
more. Come in, my dear child, and sit down, that I may have a good look at
you now you are home again; it is not very often you come into the country to
see us herdsmen; you stick pretty close to the town generally. I suppose you
think it better to keep an eye on what the suitors are doing."
"So be it, old friend," answered Telemachus, "but I am come now because
I want to see you, and to learn whether my mother is still at her old home or
whether some one else has married her, so that the bed of Ulysses is without
bedding and covered with cobwebs."
"She is still at the house," replied Eumaeus, "grieving and breaking her
heart, and doing nothing but weep, both night and day continually."
As he spoke he took Telemachus' spear, whereon he crossed the stone
threshold and came inside. Ulysses rose from his seat to give him place as he
entered, but Telemachus checked him; "Sit down, stranger," said he, "I can
easily find another seat, and there is one here who will lay it for me."
Ulysses went back to his own place, and Eumaeus strewed some green
brushwood on the floor and threw a sheepskin on top of it for Telemachus to
sit upon. Then the swineherd brought them platters of cold meat, the remains
from what they had eaten the day before, and he filled the bread baskets with
bread as fast as he could. He mixed wine also in bowls of ivy-wood, and took
his seat facing Ulysses. Then they laid their hands on the good things that
were before them, and as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink
Telemachus said to Eumaeus, "Old friend, where does this stranger come
from? How did his crew bring him to Ithaca, and who were they?—for
assuredly he did not come here by land."
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "My son, I will tell you the
real truth. He says he is a Cretan, and that he has been a great traveller. At this
moment he is running away from a Thesprotian ship, and has taken refuge at
my station, so I will put him into your hands. Do whatever you like with him,
only remember that he is your suppliant."
"I am very much distressed," said Telemachus, "by what you have just told
me. How can I take this stranger into my house? I am as yet young, and am
not strong enough to hold my own if any man attacks me. My mother cannot
make up her mind whether to stay where she is and look after the house out of
respect for public opinion and the memory of her husband, or whether the time
is now come for her to take the best man of those who are wooing her, and the
one who will make her the most advantageous offer; still, as the stranger has
come to your station I will find him a cloak and shirt of good wear, with a
sword and sandals, and will send him wherever he wants to go. Or if you like
you can keep him here at the station, and I will send him clothes and food that
he may be no burden on you and on your men; but I will not have him go near
the suitors, for they are very insolent, and are sure to ill treat him in a way that
would greatly grieve me; no matter how valiant a man may be he can do
nothing against numbers, for they will be too strong for him."
Then Ulysses said, "Sir, it is right that I should say something myself. I am
much shocked about what you have said about the insolent way in which the
suitors are behaving in despite of such a man as you are. Tell me, do you
submit to such treatment tamely, or has some god set your people against you?
May you not complain of your brothers—for it is to these that a man may look
for support, however great his quarrel may be? I wish I were as young as you
are and in my present mind; if I were son to Ulysses, or, indeed, Ulysses
himself, I would rather some one came and cut my head off, but I would go to
the house and be the bane of every one of these men. If they were too many
for me—I being single-handed—I would rather die fighting in my own house
than see such disgraceful sights day after day, strangers grossly maltreated,
and men dragging the women servants about the house in an unseemly way,
wine drawn recklessly, and bread wasted all to no purpose for an end that shall
never be accomplished."
And Telemachus answered, "I will tell you truly everything. There is no
enmity between me and my people, nor can I complain of brothers, to whom a
man may look for support however great his quarrel may be. Jove has made us
a race of only sons. Laertes was the only son of Arceisius, and Ulysses only
son of Laertes. I am myself the only son of Ulysses who left me behind him
when he went away, so that I have never been of any use to him. Hence it
comes that my house is in the hands of numberless marauders; for the chiefs
from all the neighbouring islands, Dulichium, Same, Zacynthus, as also all the
principal men of Ithaca itself, are eating up my house under the pretext of
paying court to my mother, who will neither say point blank that she will not
marry, nor yet bring matters to an end, so they are making havoc of my estate,
and before long will do so with myself into the bargain. The issue, however,
rests with heaven. But do you, old friend Eumaeus, go at once and tell
Penelope that I am safe and have returned from Pylos. Tell it to herself alone,
and then come back here without letting any one else know, for there are many
who are plotting mischief against me."
"I understand and heed you," replied Eumaeus; "you need instruct me no
further, only as I am going that way say whether I had not better let poor
Laertes know that you are returned. He used to superintend the work on his
farm in spite of his bitter sorrow about Ulysses, and he would eat and drink at
will along with his servants; but they tell me that from the day on which you
set out for Pylos he has neither eaten nor drunk as he ought to do, nor does he
look after his farm, but sits weeping and wasting the flesh from off his bones."
"More's the pity," answered Telemachus, "I am sorry for him, but we must
leave him to himself just now. If people could have everything their own way,
the first thing I should choose would be the return of my father; but go, and
give your message; then make haste back again, and do not turn out of your
way to tell Laertes. Tell my mother to send one of her women secretly with the
news at once, and let him hear it from her."
Thus did he urge the swineherd; Eumaeus, therefore, took his sandals,
bound them to his feet, and started for the town. Minerva watched him well off
the station, and then came up to it in the form of a woman—fair, stately, and
wise. She stood against the side of the entry, and revealed herself to Ulysses,
but Telemachus could not see her, and knew not that she was there, for the
gods do not let themselves be seen by everybody. Ulysses saw her, and so did
the dogs, for they did not bark, but went scared and whining off to the other
side of the yards. She nodded her head and motioned to Ulysses with her
eyebrows; whereon he left the hut and stood before her outside the main wall
of the yards. Then she said to him:
"Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, it is now time for you to tell your son: do
not keep him in the dark any longer, but lay your plans for the destruction of
the suitors, and then make for the town. I will not be long in joining you, for I
too am eager for the fray."
As she spoke she touched him with her golden wand. First she threw a fair
clean shirt and cloak about his shoulders; then she made him younger and of
more imposing presence; she gave him back his colour, filled out his cheeks,
and let his beard become dark again. Then she went away and Ulysses came
back inside the hut. His son was astounded when he saw him, and turned his
eyes away for fear he might be looking upon a god.
"Stranger," said he, "how suddenly you have changed from what you were
a moment or two ago. You are dressed differently and your colour is not the
same. Are you some one or other of the gods that live in heaven? If so, be
propitious to me till I can make you due sacrifice and offerings of wrought
gold. Have mercy upon me."
And Ulysses said, "I am no god, why should you take me for one? I am
your father, on whose account you grieve and suffer so much at the hands of
lawless men."
As he spoke he kissed his son, and a tear fell from his cheek on to the
ground, for he had restrained all tears till now. But Telemachus could not yet
believe that it was his father, and said:
"You are not my father, but some god is flattering me with vain hopes that
I may grieve the more hereafter; no mortal man could of himself contrive to do
as you have been doing, and make yourself old and young at a moment's
notice, unless a god were with him. A second ago you were old and all in rags,
and now you are like some god come down from heaven."
Ulysses answered, "Telemachus, you ought not to be so immeasurably
astonished at my being really here. There is no other Ulysses who will come
hereafter. Such as I am, it is I, who after long wandering and much hardship
have got home in the twentieth year to my own country. What you wonder at
is the work of the redoubtable goddess Minerva, who does with me whatever
she will, for she can do what she pleases. At one moment she makes me like a
beggar, and the next I am a young man with good clothes on my back; it is an
easy matter for the gods who live in heaven to make any man look either rich
or poor."
As he spoke he sat down, and Telemachus threw his arms about his father
and wept. They were both so much moved that they cried aloud like eagles or
vultures with crooked talons that have been robbed of their half fledged young
by peasants. Thus piteously did they weep, and the sun would have gone down
upon their mourning if Telemachus had not suddenly said, "In what ship, my
dear father, did your crew bring you to Ithaca? Of what nation did they declare
themselves to be—for you cannot have come by land?"
"I will tell you the truth, my son," replied Ulysses. "It was the Phaeacians
who brought me here. They are great sailors, and are in the habit of giving
escorts to any one who reaches their coasts. They took me over the sea while I
was fast asleep, and landed me in Ithaca, after giving me many presents in
bronze, gold, and raiment. These things by heaven's mercy are lying concealed
in a cave, and I am now come here on the suggestion of Minerva that we may
consult about killing our enemies. First, therefore, give me a list of the suitors,
with their number, that I may learn who, and how many, they are. I can then
turn the matter over in my mind, and see whether we two can fight the whole
body of them ourselves, or whether we must find others to help us."
To this Telemachus answered, "Father, I have always heard of your renown
both in the field and in council, but the task you talk of is a very great one: I
am awed at the mere thought of it; two men cannot stand against many and
brave ones. There are not ten suitors only, nor twice ten, but ten many times
over; you shall learn their number at once. There are fifty-two chosen youths
from Dulichium, and they have six servants; from Same there are twenty-four;
twenty young Achaeans from Zacynthus, and twelve from Ithaca itself, all of
them well born. They have with them a servant Medon, a bard, and two men
who can carve at table. If we face such numbers as this, you may have bitter
cause to rue your coming, and your revenge. See whether you cannot think of
some one who would be willing to come and help us."
"Listen to me," replied Ulysses, "and think whether Minerva and her father
Jove may seem sufficient, or whether I am to try and find some one else as
well."
"Those whom you have named," answered Telemachus, "are a couple of
good allies, for though they dwell high up among the clouds they have power
over both gods and men."
"These two," continued Ulysses, "will not keep long out of the fray, when
the suitors and we join fight in my house. Now, therefore, return home early
to-morrow morning, and go about among the suitors as before. Later on the
swineherd will bring me to the city disguised as a miserable old beggar. If you
see them ill treating me, steel your heart against my sufferings; even though
they drag me feet foremost out of the house, or throw things at me, look on
and do nothing beyond gently trying to make them behave more reasonably;
but they will not listen to you, for the day of their reckoning is at hand.
Furthermore I say, and lay my saying to your heart; when Minerva shall put it
in my mind, I will nod my head to you, and on seeing me do this you must
collect all the armour that is in the house and hide it in the strong store room.
Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you are removing it; say that
you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke, inasmuch as it is no
longer what it was when Ulysses went away, but has become soiled and
begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly that you are afraid Jove may
set them on to quarrel over their wine, and that they may do each other some
harm which may disgrace both banquet and wooing, for the sight of arms
sometimes tempts people to use them. But leave a sword and a spear apiece
for yourself and me, and a couple of oxhide shields so that we can snatch them
up at any moment; Jove and Minerva will then soon quiet these people. There
is also another matter; if you are indeed my son and my blood runs in your
veins, let no one know that Ulysses is within the house—neither Laertes, nor
yet the swineherd, nor any of the servants, nor even Penelope herself. Let you
and me exploit the women alone, and let us also make trial of some other of
the men servants, to see who is on our side and whose hand is against us."
"Father," replied Telemachus, "you will come to know me by and by, and
when you do you will find that I can keep your counsel. I do not think,
however, the plan you propose will turn out well for either of us. Think it over.
It will take us a long time to go the round of the farms and exploit the men,
and all the time the suitors will be wasting your estate with impunity and
without compunction. Prove the women by all means, to see who are disloyal
and who guiltless, but I am not in favour of going round and trying the men.
We can attend to that later on, if you really have some sign from Jove that he
will support you."
Thus did they converse, and meanwhile the ship which had brought
Telemachus and his crew from Pylos had reached the town of Ithaca. When
they had come inside the harbour they drew the ship on to the land; their
servants came and took their armour from them, and they left all the presents
at the house of Clytius. Then they sent a servant to tell Penelope that
Telemachus had gone into the country, but had sent the ship to the town to
prevent her from being alarmed and made unhappy. This servant and Eumaeus
happened to meet when they were both on the same errand of going to tell
Penelope. When they reached the House, the servant stood up and said to the
queen in the presence of the waiting women, "Your son, Madam, is now
returned from Pylos"; but Eumaeus went close up to Penelope, and said
privately all that her son had bidden him tell her. When he had given his
message he left the house with its outbuildings and went back to his pigs
again.
The suitors were surprised and angry at what had happened, so they went
outside the great wall that ran round the outer court, and held a council near
the main entrance. Eurymachus, son of Polybus, was the first to speak.
"My friends," said he, "this voyage of Telemachus's is a very serious
matter; we had made sure that it would come to nothing. Now, however, let us
draw a ship into the water, and get a crew together to send after the others and
tell them to come back as fast as they can."
He had hardly done speaking when Amphinomus turned in his place and
saw the ship inside the harbour, with the crew lowering her sails, and putting
by their oars; so he laughed, and said to the others, "We need not send them
any message, for they are here. Some god must have told them, or else they
saw the ship go by, and could not overtake her."
On this they rose and went to the water side. The crew then drew the ship
on shore; their servants took their armour from them, and they went up in a
body to the place of assembly, but they would not let any one old or young sit
along with them, and Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spoke first.
"Good heavens," said he, "see how the gods have saved this man from
destruction. We kept a succession of scouts upon the headlands all day long,
and when the sun was down we never went on shore to sleep, but waited in the
ship all night till morning in the hope of capturing and killing him; but some
god has conveyed him home in spite of us. Let us consider how we can make
an end of him. He must not escape us; our affair is never likely to come off
while he is alive, for he is very shrewd, and public feeling is by no means all
on our side. We must make haste before he can call the Achaeans in assembly;
he will lose no time in doing so, for he will be furious with us, and will tell all
the world how we plotted to kill him, but failed to take him. The people will
not like this when they come to know of it; we must see that they do us no
hurt, nor drive us from our own country into exile. Let us try and lay hold of
him either on his farm away from the town, or on the road hither. Then we can
divide up his property amongst us, and let his mother and the man who
marries her have the house. If this does not please you, and you wish
Telemachus to live on and hold his father's property, then we must not gather
here and eat up his goods in this way, but must make our offers to Penelope
each from his own house, and she can marry the man who will give the most
for her, and whose lot it is to win her."
They all held their peace until Amphinomus rose to speak. He was the son
of Nisus, who was son to king Aretias, and he was foremost among all the
suitors from the wheat-growing and well grassed island of Dulichium; his
conversation, moreover, was more agreeable to Penelope than that of any of
the other suitors, for he was a man of good natural disposition. "My friends,"
said he, speaking to them plainly and in all honestly, "I am not in favour of
killing Telemachus. It is a heinous thing to kill one who is of noble blood. Let
us first take counsel of the gods, and if the oracles of Jove advise it, I will both
help to kill him myself, and will urge everyone else to do so; but if they
dissuade us, I would have you hold your hands."
Thus did he speak, and his words pleased them well, so they rose forthwith
and went to the house of Ulysses, where they took their accustomed seats.
Then Penelope resolved that she would show herself to the suitors. She
knew of the plot against Telemachus, for the servant Medon had overheard
their counsels and had told her; she went down therefore to the court attended
by her maidens, and when she reached the suitors she stood by one of the
bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister holding a veil before her face,
and rebuked Antinous saying:
"Antinous, insolent and wicked schemer, they say you are the best speaker
and counsellor of any man your own age in Ithaca, but you are nothing of the
kind. Madman, why should you try to compass the death of Telemachus, and
take no heed of suppliants, whose witness is Jove himself? It is not right for
you to plot thus against one another. Do you not remember how your father
fled to this house in fear of the people, who were enraged against him for
having gone with some Taphian pirates and plundered the Thesprotians who
were at peace with us? They wanted to tear him in pieces and eat up
everything he had, but Ulysses stayed their hands although they were
infuriated, and now you devour his property without paying for it, and break
my heart by wooing his wife and trying to kill his son. Leave off doing so, and
stop the others also."
To this Eurymachus son of Polybus answered, "Take heart, Queen
Penelope daughter of Icarius, and do not trouble yourself about these matters.
The man is not yet born, nor never will be, who shall lay hands upon your son
Telemachus, while I yet live to look upon the face of the earth. I say—and it
shall surely be—that my spear shall be reddened with his blood; for many a
time has Ulysses taken me on his knees, held wine up to my lips to drink, and
put pieces of meat into my hands. Therefore Telemachus is much the dearest
friend I have, and has nothing to fear from the hands of us suitors. Of course,
if death comes to him from the gods, he cannot escape it." He said this to quiet
her, but in reality he was plotting against Telemachus.
Then Penelope went upstairs again and mourned her husband till Minerva
shed sleep over her eyes. In the evening Eumaeus got back to Ulysses and his
son, who had just sacrificed a young pig of a year old and were helping one
another to get supper ready; Minerva therefore came up to Ulysses, turned him
into an old man with a stroke of her wand, and clad him in his old clothes
again, for fear that the swineherd might recognise him and not keep the secret,
but go and tell Penelope.
 Telemachus was the first to speak. "So you have got back, Eumaeus," said
he. "What is the news of the town? Have the suitors returned, or are they still
waiting over yonder, to take me on my way home?"
"I did not think of asking about that," replied Eumaeus, "when I was in the
town. I thought I would give my message and come back as soon as I could. I
met a man sent by those who had gone with you to Pylos, and he was the first
to tell the news to your mother, but I can say what I saw with my own eyes; I
had just got on to the crest of the hill of Mercury above the town when I saw a
ship coming into harbour with a number of men in her. They had many shields
and spears, and I thought it was the suitors, but I cannot be sure."
On hearing this Telemachus smiled to his father, but so that Eumaeus could
not see him.
Then, when they had finished their work and the meal was ready, they ate
it, and every man had his full share so that all were satisfied. As soon as they
had had enough to eat and drink, they laid down to rest and enjoyed the boon
of sleep.

BOOK XVII
TELEMACHUS AND HIS MOTHER MEET—ULYSSES AND
EUMAEUS COME DOWN TO THE TOWN, AND ULYSSES IS
INSULTED BY MELANTHIUS—HE IS RECOGNISED BY THE DOG
ARGOS—HE IS INSULTED AND PRESENTLY STRUCK BY
ANTINOUS WITH A STOOL—PENELOPE DESIRES THAT HE
SHALL BE SENT TO HER.

When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Telemachus

bound on his sandals and took a strong spear that suited his hands, for he
wanted to go into the city. "Old friend," said he to the swineherd, "I will now
go to the town and show myself to my mother, for she will never leave off
grieving till she has seen me. As for this unfortunate stranger, take him to the
town and let him beg there of any one who will give him a drink and a piece of
bread. I have trouble enough of my own, and cannot be burdened with other
people. If this makes him angry so much the worse for him, but I like to say
what I mean."
Then Ulysses said, "Sir, I do not want to stay here; a beggar can always do
better in town than country, for any one who likes can give him something. I
am too old to care about remaining here at the beck and call of a master.
Therefore let this man do as you have just told him, and take me to the town as
soon as I have had a warm by the fire, and the day has got a little heat in it. My
clothes are wretchedly thin, and this frosty morning I shall be perished with
cold, for you say the city is some way off."
On this Telemachus strode off through the yards, brooding his revenge
upon the suitors. When he reached home he stood his spear against a bearing-
post of the cloister, crossed the stone floor of the cloister itself, and went
inside.
Nurse Euryclea saw him long before any one else did. She was putting the
fleeces on to the seats, and she burst out crying as she ran up to him; all the
other maids came up too, and covered his head and shoulders with their kisses.
Penelope came out of her room looking like Diana or Venus, and wept as she
flung her arms about her son. She kissed his forehead and both his beautiful
eyes, "Light of my eyes," she cried as she spoke fondly to him, "so you are
come home again; I made sure I was never going to see you any more. To
think of your having gone off to Pylos without saying anything about it or
obtaining my consent. But come, tell me what you saw."
"Do not scold me, mother," answered Telemachus, "nor vex me, seeing
what a narrow escape I have had, but wash your face, change your dress, go
upstairs with your maids, and promise full and sufficient hecatombs to all the
gods if Jove will only grant us our revenge upon the suitors. I must now go to
the place of assembly to invite a stranger who has come back with me from
Pylos. I sent him on with my crew, and told Piraeus to take him home and look
after him till I could come for him myself."
She heeded her son's words, washed her face, changed her dress, and
vowed full and sufficient hecatombs to all the gods if they would only
vouchsafe her revenge upon the suitors.
Telemachus went through, and out of, the cloisters spear in hand—not
alone, for his two fleet dogs went with him. Minerva endowed him with a
presence of such divine comeliness that all marvelled at him as he went by,
and the suitors gathered round him with fair words in their mouths and malice
in their hearts; but he avoided them, and went to sit with Mentor, Antiphus,
and Halitherses, old friends of his father's house, and they made him tell them
all that had happened to him. Then Piraeus came up with Theoclymenus,
whom he had escorted through the town to the place of assembly, whereon
Telemachus at once joined them. Piraeus was first to speak: "Telemachus,"
said he, "I wish you would send some of your women to my house to take
away the presents Menelaus gave you."
"We do not know, Piraeus," answered Telemachus, "what may happen. If
the suitors kill me in my own house and divide my property among them, I
would rather you had the presents than that any of those people should get
hold of them. If on the other hand I managed to kill them, I shall be much
obliged if you will kindly bring me my presents."
With these words he took Theoclymenus to his own house. When they got
there they laid their cloaks on the benches and seats, went into the baths, and
washed themselves. When the maids had washed and anointed them, and had
given them cloaks and shirts, they took their seats at table. A maid servant then
brought them water in a beautiful golden ewer, and poured it into a silver basin
for them to wash their hands; and she drew a clean table beside them. An
upper servant brought them bread and offered them many good things of what
there was in the house. Opposite them sat Penelope, reclining on a couch by
one of the bearing-posts of the cloister, and spinning. Then they laid their
hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had
enough to eat and drink Penelope said:
"Telemachus, I shall go upstairs and lie down on that sad couch, which I
have not ceased to water with my tears, from the day Ulysses set out for Troy
with the sons of Atreus. You failed, however, to make it clear to me before the
suitors came back to the house, whether or no you had been able to hear
anything about the return of your father."
"I will tell you then truth," replied her son. "We went to Pylos and saw
Nestor, who took me to his house and treated me as hospitably as though I
were a son of his own who had just returned after a long absence; so also did
his sons; but he said he had not heard a word from any human being about
Ulysses, whether he was alive or dead. He sent me, therefore, with a chariot
and horses to Menelaus. There I saw Helen, for whose sake so many, both
Argives and Trojans, were in heaven's wisdom doomed to suffer. Menelaus
asked me what it was that had brought me to Lacedaemon, and I told him the
whole truth, whereon he said, 'So, then, these cowards would usurp a brave
man's bed? A hind might as well lay her new-born young in the lair of a lion,
and then go off to feed in the forest or in some grassy dell. The lion, when he
comes back to his lair, will make short work with the pair of them, and so will
Ulysses with these suitors. By father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, if Ulysses is
still the man that he was when he wrestled with Philomeleides in Lesbos, and
threw him so heavily that all the Greeks cheered him—if he is still such, and
were to come near these suitors, they would have a short shrift and a sorry
wedding. As regards your question, however, I will not prevaricate nor
deceive you, but what the old man of the sea told me, so much will I tell you
in full. He said he could see Ulysses on an island sorrowing bitterly in the
house of the nymph Calypso, who was keeping him prisoner, and he could not
reach his home, for he had no ships nor sailors to take him over the sea.' This
was what Menelaus told me, and when I had heard his story I came away; the
gods then gave me a fair wind and soon brought me safe home again."
 With these words he moved the heart of Penelope. Then Theoclymenus
said to her:
"Madam, wife of Ulysses, Telemachus does not understand these things;
listen therefore to me, for I can divine them surely, and will hide nothing from
you. May Jove the king of heaven be my witness, and the rites of hospitality,
with that hearth of Ulysses to which I now come, that Ulysses himself is even
now in Ithaca, and, either going about the country or staying in one place, is
enquiring into all these evil deeds and preparing a day of reckoning for the
suitors. I saw an omen when I was on the ship which meant this, and I told
Telemachus about it."
"May it be even so," answered Penelope; "if your words come true, you
shall have such gifts and such good will from me that all who see you shall
congratulate you."
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs, or
aiming with spears at a mark on the levelled ground in front of the house, and
behaving with all their old insolence. But when it was now time for dinner,
and the flock of sheep and goats had come into the town from all the country
round, with their shepherds as usual, then Medon, who was their favourite
servant, and who waited upon them at table, said, "Now then, my young
masters, you have had enough sport, so come inside that we may get dinner
ready. Dinner is not a bad thing, at dinner time."
They left their sports as he told them, and when they were within the
house, they laid their cloaks on the benches and seats inside, and then
sacrificed some sheep, goats, pigs, and a heifer, all of them fat and well grown.
Thus they made ready for their meal. In the meantime Ulysses and the
swineherd were about starting for the town, and the swineherd said, "Stranger,
I suppose you still want to go to town to-day, as my master said you were to
do; for my own part I should have liked you to stay here as a station hand, but
I must do as my master tells me, or he will scold me later on, and a scolding
from one's master is a very serious thing. Let us then be off, for it is now broad
day; it will be night again directly and then you will find it colder."
"I know, and understand you," replied Ulysses; "you need say no more. Let
us be going, but if you have a stick ready cut, let me have it to walk with, for
you say the road is a very rough one."
As he spoke he threw his shabby old tattered wallet over his shoulders, by
the cord from which it hung, and Eumaeus gave him a stick to his liking. The
two then started, leaving the station in charge of the dogs and herdsmen who
remained behind; the swineherd led the way and his master followed after,
looking like some broken down old tramp as he leaned upon his staff, and his
clothes were all in rags. When they had got over the rough steep ground and
were nearing the city, they reached the fountain from which the citizens drew
their water. This had been made by Ithacus, Neritus, and Polyctor. There was a
grove of water-loving poplars planted in a circle all round it, and the clear cold
water came down to it from a rock high up, while above the fountain there
was an altar to the nymphs, at which all wayfarers used to sacrifice. Here
Melanthius son of Dolius overtook them as he was driving down some goats,
the best in his flock, for the suitors' dinner, and there were two shepherds with
him. When he saw Eumaeus and Ulysses he reviled them with outrageous and
unseemly language, which made Ulysses very angry.
"There you go," cried he, "and a precious pair you are. See how heaven
brings birds of the same feather to one another. Where, pray, master
swineherd, are you taking this poor miserable object? It would make any one
sick to see such a creature at table. A fellow like this never won a prize for
anything in his life, but will go about rubbing his shoulders against every
man's door post, and begging, not for swords and cauldrons like a man, but
only for a few scraps not worth begging for. If you would give him to me for a
hand on my station, he might do to clean out the folds, or bring a bit of sweet
feed to the kids, and he could fatten his thighs as much as he pleased on whey;
but he has taken to bad ways and will not go about any kind of work; he will
do nothing but beg victuals all the town over, to feed his insatiable belly. I say,
therefore—and it shall surely be—if he goes near Ulysses' house he will get
his head broken by the stools they will fling at him, till they turn him out."
On this, as he passed, he gave Ulysses a kick on the hip out of pure
wantonness, but Ulysses stood firm, and did not budge from the path. For a
moment he doubted whether or no to fly at Melanthius and kill him with his
staff, or fling him to the ground and beat his brains out; he resolved, however,
to endure it and keep himself in check, but the swineherd looked straight at
Melanthius and rebuked him, lifting up his hands and praying to heaven as he
did so.
"Fountain nymphs," he cried, "children of Jove, if ever Ulysses burned you
thigh bones covered with fat whether of lambs or kids, grant my prayer that
heaven may send him home. He would soon put an end to the swaggering
threats with which such men as you go about insulting people—gadding all
over the town while your flocks are going to ruin through bad shepherding."
Then Melanthius the goatherd answered, "You ill conditioned cur, what are
you talking about? Some day or other I will put you on board ship and take
you to a foreign country, where I can sell you and pocket the money you will
fetch. I wish I were as sure that Apollo would strike Telemachus dead this
very day, or that the suitors would kill him, as I am that Ulysses will never
come home again."
 With this he left them to come on at their leisure, while he went quickly
forward and soon reached the house of his master. When he got there he went
in and took his seat among the suitors opposite Eurymachus, who liked him
better than any of the others. The servants brought him a portion of meat, and
an upper woman servant set bread before him that he might eat. Presently
Ulysses and the swineherd came up to the house and stood by it, amid a sound
of music, for Phemius was just beginning to sing to the suitors. Then Ulysses
took hold of the swineherd's hand, and said:
"Eumaeus, this house of Ulysses is a very fine place. No matter how far
you go, you will find few like it. One building keeps following on after
another. The outer court has a wall with battlements all round it; the doors are
double folding, and of good workmanship; it would be a hard matter to take it
by force of arms. I perceive, too, that there are many people banqueting within
it, for there is a smell of roast meat, and I hear a sound of music, which the
gods have made to go along with feasting."
Then Eumaeus said, "You have perceived aright, as indeed you generally
do; but let us think what will be our best course. Will you go inside first and
join the suitors, leaving me here behind you, or will you wait here and let me
go in first? But do not wait long, or some one may see you loitering about
outside, and throw something at you. Consider this matter I pray you."
And Ulysses answered, "I understand and heed. Go in first and leave me
here where I am. I am quite used to being beaten and having things thrown at
me. I have been so much buffeted about in war and by sea that I am case-
hardened, and this too may go with the rest. But a man cannot hide away the
cravings of a hungry belly; this is an enemy which gives much trouble to all
men; it is because of this that ships are fitted out to sail the seas, and to make
war upon other people."
As they were thus talking, a dog that had been lying asleep raised his head
and pricked up his ears. This was Argos, whom Ulysses had bred before
setting out for Troy, but he had never had any work out of him. In the old days
he used to be taken out by the young men when they went hunting wild goats,
or deer, or hares, but now that his master was gone he was lying neglected on
the heaps of mule and cow dung that lay in front of the stable doors till the
men should come and draw it away to manure the great close; and he was full
of fleas. As soon as he saw Ulysses standing there, he dropped his ears and
wagged his tail, but he could not get close up to his master. When Ulysses saw
the dog on the other side of the yard, he dashed a tear from his eyes without
Eumaeus seeing it, and said:
"Eumaeus, what a noble hound that is over yonder on the manure heap: his
build is splendid; is he as fine a fellow as he looks, or is he only one of those
dogs that come begging about a table, and are kept merely for show?"
"This hound," answered Eumaeus, "belonged to him who has died in a far
country. If he were what he was when Ulysses left for Troy, he would soon
show you what he could do. There was not a wild beast in the forest that could
get away from him when he was once on its tracks. But now he has fallen on
evil times, for his master is dead and gone, and the women take no care of
him. Servants never do their work when their master's hand is no longer over
them, for Jove takes half the goodness out of a man when he makes a slave of
him."
As he spoke he went inside the buildings to the cloister where the suitors
were, but Argos died as soon as he had recognised his master.
Telemachus saw Eumaeus long before any one else did, and beckoned him
to come and sit beside him; so he looked about and saw a seat lying near
where the carver sat serving out their portions to the suitors; he picked it up,
brought it to Telemachus's table, and sat down opposite him. Then the servant
brought him his portion, and gave him bread from the bread-basket.
Immediately afterwards Ulysses came inside, looking like a poor miserable
old beggar, leaning on his staff and with his clothes all in rags. He sat down
upon the threshold of ash-wood just inside the doors leading from the outer to
the inner court, and against a bearing-post of cypress-wood which the
carpenter had skilfully planed, and had made to join truly with rule and line.
Telemachus took a whole loaf from the bread-basket, with as much meat as he
could hold in his two hands, and said to Eumaeus, "Take this to the stranger,
and tell him to go the round of the suitors, and beg from them; a beggar must
not be shamefaced."
So Eumaeus went up to him and said, "Stranger, Telemachus sends you
this, and says you are to go the round of the suitors begging, for beggars must
not be shamefaced."
Ulysses answered, "May King Jove grant all happiness to Telemachus, and
fulfil the desire of his heart."
Then with both hands he took what Telemachus had sent him, and laid it
on the dirty old wallet at his feet. He went on eating it while the bard was
singing, and had just finished his dinner as he left off. The suitors applauded
the bard, whereon Minerva went up to Ulysses and prompted him to beg
pieces of bread from each one of the suitors, that he might see what kind of
people they were, and tell the good from the bad; but come what might she
was not going to save a single one of them. Ulysses, therefore, went on his
round, going from left to right, and stretched out his hands to beg as though he
were a real beggar. Some of them pitied him, and were curious about him,
asking one another who he was and where he came from; whereon the
goatherd Melanthius said, "Suitors of my noble mistress, I can tell you
something about him, for I have seen him before. The swineherd brought him
here, but I know nothing about the man himself, nor where he comes from."
On this Antinous began to abuse the swineherd. "You precious idiot," he
cried, "what have you brought this man to town for? Have we not tramps and
beggars enough already to pester us as we sit at meat? Do you think it a small
thing that such people gather here to waste your master's property—and must
you needs bring this man as well?"
And Eumaeus answered, "Antinous, your birth is good but your words evil.
It was no doing of mine that he came here. Who is likely to invite a stranger
from a foreign country, unless it be one of those who can do public service as
a seer, a healer of hurts, a carpenter, or a bard who can charm us with his
singing? Such men are welcome all the world over, but no one is likely to ask
a beggar who will only worry him. You are always harder on Ulysses' servants
than any of the other suitors are, and above all on me, but I do not care so long
as Telemachus and Penelope are alive and here."
But Telemachus said, "Hush, do not answer him; Antinous has the bitterest
tongue of all the suitors, and he makes the others worse."
Then turning to Antinous he said, "Antinous, you take as much care of my
interests as though I were your son. Why should you want to see this stranger
turned out of the house? Heaven forbid; take something and give it him
yourself; I do not grudge it; I bid you take it. Never mind my mother, nor any
of the other servants in the house; but I know you will not do what I say, for
you are more fond of eating things yourself than of giving them to other
people."
"What do you mean, Telemachus," replied Antinous, "by this swaggering
talk? If all the suitors were to give him as much as I will, he would not come
here again for another three months."
As he spoke he drew the stool on which he rested his dainty feet from
under the table, and made as though he would throw it at Ulysses, but the
other suitors all gave him something, and filled his wallet with bread and
meat; he was about, therefore, to go back to the threshold and eat what the
suitors had given him, but he first went up to Antinous and said:
"Sir, give me something; you are not, surely, the poorest man here; you
seem to be a chief, foremost among them all; therefore you should be the
better giver, and I will tell far and wide of your bounty. I too was a rich man
once, and had a fine house of my own; in those days I gave to many a tramp
such as I now am, no matter who he might be nor what he wanted. I had any
number of servants, and all the other things which people have who live well
and are accounted wealthy, but it pleased Jove to take all away from me. He
sent me with a band of roving robbers to Egypt; it was a long voyage and I
was undone by it. I stationed my ships in the river Aegyptus, and bade my
men stay by them and keep guard over them, while I sent out scouts to
reconnoitre from every point of vantage.
"But the men disobeyed my orders, took to their own devices, and ravaged
the land of the Egyptians, killing the men, and taking their wives and children
captives. The alarm was soon carried to the city, and when they heard the war-
cry, the people came out at daybreak till the plain was filled with soldiers
horse and foot, and with the gleam of armour. Then Jove spread panic among
my men, and they would no longer face the enemy, for they found themselves
surrounded. The Egyptians killed many of us, and took the rest alive to do
forced labour for them; as for myself, they gave me to a friend who met them,
to take to Cyprus, Dmetor by name, son of Iasus, who was a great man in
Cyprus. Thence I am come hither in a state of great misery."
Then Antinous said, "What god can have sent such a pestilence to plague
us during our dinner? Get out, into the open part of the court, or I will give
you Egypt and Cyprus over again for your insolence and importunity; you
have begged of all the others, and they have given you lavishly, for they have
abundance round them, and it is easy to be free with other people's property
when there is plenty of it."
On this Ulysses began to move off, and said, "Your looks, my fine sir, are
better than your breeding; if you were in your own house you would not spare
a poor man so much as a pinch of salt, for though you are in another man's,
and surrounded with abundance, you cannot find it in you to give him even a
piece of bread."
This made Antinous very angry, and he scowled at him saying, "You shall
pay for this before you get clear of the court." With these words he threw a
footstool at him, and hit him on the right shoulder blade near the top of his
back. Ulysses stood firm as a rock and the blow did not even stagger him, but
he shook his head in silence as he brooded on his revenge. Then he went back
to the threshold and sat down there, laying his well filled wallet at his feet.
"Listen to me," he cried, "you suitors of Queen Penelope, that I may speak
even as I am minded. A man knows neither ache nor pain if he gets hit while
fighting for his money, or for his sheep or his cattle; and even so Antinous has
hit me while in the service of my miserable belly, which is always getting
people into trouble. Still, if the poor have gods and avenging deities at all, I
pray them that Antinous may come to a bad end before his marriage."
"Sit where you are, and eat your victuals in silence, or be off elsewhere,"
shouted Antinous. "If you say more I will have you dragged hand and foot
through the courts, and the servants shall flay you alive."
The other suitors were much displeased at this, and one of the young men
said, "Antinous, you did ill in striking that poor wretch of a tramp: it will be
worse for you if he should turn out to be some god—and we know the gods go
about disguised in all sorts of ways as people from foreign countries, and
travel about the world to see who do amiss and who righteously."
Thus said the suitors, but Antinous paid them no heed. Meanwhile
Telemachus was furious about the blow that had been given to his father, and
though no tear fell from him, he shook his head in silence and brooded on his
revenge.
Now when Penelope heard that the beggar had been struck in the
banqueting-cloister, she said before her maids, "Would that Apollo would so
strike you, Antinous," and her waiting woman Eurynome answered, "If our
prayers were answered not one of the suitors would ever again see the sun
rise." Then Penelope said, "Nurse, I hate every single one of them, for they
mean nothing but mischief, but I hate Antinous like the darkness of death
itself. A poor unfortunate tramp has come begging about the house for sheer
want. Every one else has given him something to put in his wallet, but
Antinous has hit him on the right shoulder-blade with a footstool."
Thus did she talk with her maids as she sat in her own room, and in the
meantime Ulysses was getting his dinner. Then she called for the swineherd
and said, "Eumaeus, go and tell the stranger to come here, I want to see him
and ask him some questions. He seems to have travelled much, and he may
have seen or heard something of my unhappy husband."
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "If these Achaeans, Madam,
would only keep quiet, you would be charmed with the history of his
adventures. I had him three days and three nights with me in my hut, which
was the first place he reached after running away from his ship, and he has not
yet completed the story of his misfortunes. If he had been the most heaven-
taught minstrel in the whole world, on whose lips all hearers hang entranced, I
could not have been more charmed as I sat in my hut and listened to him. He
says there is an old friendship between his house and that of Ulysses, and that
he comes from Crete where the descendants of Minos live, after having been
driven hither and thither by every kind of misfortune; he also declares that he
has heard of Ulysses as being alive and near at hand among the Thesprotians,
and that he is bringing great wealth home with him."
"Call him here, then," said Penelope, "that I too may hear his story. As for
the suitors, let them take their pleasure indoors or out as they will, for they
have nothing to fret about. Their corn and wine remain unwasted in their
houses with none but servants to consume them, while they keep hanging
about our house day after day sacrificing our oxen, sheep, and fat goats for
their banquets, and never giving so much as a thought to the quantity of wine
they drink. No estate can stand such recklessness, for we have now no Ulysses
to protect us. If he were to come again, he and his son would soon have their
revenge."
As she spoke Telemachus sneezed so loudly that the whole house
resounded with it. Penelope laughed when she heard this, and said to
Eumaeus, "Go and call the stranger; did you not hear how my son sneezed just
as I was speaking? This can only mean that all the suitors are going to be
killed, and that not one of them shall escape. Furthermore I say, and lay my
saying to your heart: if I am satisfied that the stranger is speaking the truth I
shall give him a shirt and cloak of good wear."
When Eumaeus heard this he went straight to Ulysses and said, "Father
stranger, my mistress Penelope, mother of Telemachus, has sent for you; she is
in great grief, but she wishes to hear anything you can tell her about her
husband, and if she is satisfied that you are speaking the truth, she will give
you a shirt and cloak, which are the very things that you are most in want of.
As for bread, you can get enough of that to fill your belly, by begging about
the town, and letting those give that will."
"I will tell Penelope," answered Ulysses, "nothing but what is strictly true.
I know all about her husband, and have been partner with him in affliction, but
I am afraid of passing through this crowd of cruel suitors, for their pride and
insolence reach heaven. Just now, moreover, as I was going about the house
without doing any harm, a man gave me a blow that hurt me very much, but
neither Telemachus nor any one else defended me. Tell Penelope, therefore, to
be patient and wait till sundown. Let her give me a seat close up to the fire, for
my clothes are worn very thin—you know they are, for you have seen them
ever since I first asked you to help me—she can then ask me about the return
of her husband."
The swineherd went back when he heard this, and Penelope said as she
saw him cross the threshold, "Why do you not bring him here, Eumaeus? Is he
afraid that some one will ill-treat him, or is he shy of coming inside the house
at all? Beggars should not be shamefaced."
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "The stranger is quite
reasonable. He is avoiding the suitors, and is only doing what any one else
would do. He asks you to wait till sundown, and it will be much better,
madam, that you should have him all to yourself, when you can hear him and
talk to him as you will."
"The man is no fool," answered Penelope, "it would very likely be as he
says, for there are no such abominable people in the whole world as these men
are."
When she had done speaking Eumaeus went back to the suitors, for he had
explained everything. Then he went up to Telemachus and said in his ear so
that none could overhear him, "My dear sir, I will now go back to the pigs, to
see after your property and my own business. You will look to what is going
on here, but above all be careful to keep out of danger, for there are many who
bear you ill will. May Jove bring them to a bad end before they do us a
mischief."
"Very well," replied Telemachus, "go home when you have had your
dinner, and in the morning come here with the victims we are to sacrifice for
the day. Leave the rest to heaven and me."
On this Eumaeus took his seat again, and when he had finished his dinner
he left the courts and the cloister with the men at table, and went back to his
pigs. As for the suitors, they presently began to amuse themselves with singing
and dancing, for it was now getting on towards evening.

BOOK XVIII
THE FIGHT WITH IRUS—ULYSSES WARNS AMPHINOMUS—
PENELOPE GETS PRESENTS FROM THE SUITORS—THE
BRAZIERS—ULYSSES REBUKES EURYMACHUS.

Now there came a certain common tramp who used to go begging all over
the city of Ithaca, and was notorious as an incorrigible glutton and drunkard.
This man had no strength nor stay in him, but he was a great hulking fellow to
look at; his real name, the one his mother gave him, was Arnaeus, but the
young men of the place called him Irus, because he used to run errands for
any one who would send him. As soon as he came he began to insult Ulysses,
and to try and drive him out of his own house.
"Be off, old man," he cried, "from the doorway, or you shall be dragged out
neck and heels. Do you not see that they are all giving me the wink, and
wanting me to turn you out by force, only I do not like to do so? Get up then,
and go of yourself, or we shall come to blows."
Ulysses frowned on him and said, "My friend, I do you no manner of
harm; people give you a great deal, but I am not jealous. There is room enough
in this doorway for the pair of us, and you need not grudge me things that are
not yours to give. You seem to be just such another tramp as myself, but
perhaps the gods will give us better luck by and by. Do not, however, talk too
much about fighting or you will incense me, and old though I am, I shall cover
your mouth and chest with blood. I shall have more peace tomorrow if I do,
for you will not come to the house of Ulysses any more."
Irus was very angry and answered, "You filthy glutton, you run on
trippingly like an old fish-fag. I have a good mind to lay both hands about you,
and knock your teeth out of your head like so many boar's tusks. Get ready,
therefore, and let these people here stand by and look on. You will never be
able to fight one who is so much younger than yourself."
Thus roundly did they rate one another on the smooth pavement in front of
the doorway, and when Antinous saw what was going on he laughed heartily
and said to the others, "This is the finest sport that you ever saw; heaven never
yet sent anything like it into this house. The stranger and Irus have quarreled
and are going to fight, let us set them on to do so at once."
The suitors all came up laughing, and gathered round the two ragged
tramps. "Listen to me," said Antinous, "there are some goats' paunches down
at the fire, which we have filled with blood and fat, and set aside for supper;
he who is victorious and proves himself to be the better man shall have his
pick of the lot; he shall be free of our table and we will not allow any other
beggar about the house at all."
The others all agreed, but Ulysses, to throw them off the scent, said, "Sirs,
an old man like myself, worn out with suffering, cannot hold his own against a
young one; but my irrepressible belly urges me on, though I know it can only
end in my getting a drubbing. You must swear, however that none of you will
give me a foul blow to favour Irus and secure him the victory."
They swore as he told them, and when they had completed their oath
Telemachus put in a word and said, "Stranger, if you have a mind to settle with
this fellow, you need not be afraid of any one here. Whoever strikes you will
have to fight more than one. I am host, and the other chiefs, Antinous and
Eurymachus, both of them men of understanding, are of the same mind as I
am."
Every one assented, and Ulysses girded his old rags about his loins, thus
baring his stalwart thighs, his broad chest and shoulders, and his mighty arms;
but Minerva came up to him and made his limbs even stronger still. The
suitors were beyond measure astonished, and one would turn towards his
neighbour saying, "The stranger has brought such a thigh out of his old rags
that there will soon be nothing left of Irus."
Irus began to be very uneasy as he heard them, but the servants girded him
by force, and brought him [into the open part of the court] in such a fright that
his limbs were all of a tremble. Antinous scolded him and said, "You
swaggering bully, you ought never to have been born at all if you are afraid of
such an old broken down creature as this tramp is. I say, therefore—and it
shall surely be—if he beats you and proves himself the better man, I shall pack
you off on board ship to the mainland and send you to king Echetus, who kills
every one that comes near him. He will cut off your nose and ears, and draw
out your entrails for the dogs to eat."
This frightened Irus still more, but they brought him into the middle of the
court, and the two men raised their hands to fight. Then Ulysses considered
whether he should let drive so hard at him as to make an end of him then and
there, or whether he should give him a lighter blow that should only knock
him down; in the end he deemed it best to give the lighter blow for fear the
Achaeans should begin to suspect who he was. Then they began to fight, and
Irus hit Ulysses on the right shoulder; but Ulysses gave Irus a blow on the
neck under the ear that broke in the bones of his skull, and the blood came
gushing out of his mouth; he fell groaning in the dust, gnashing his teeth and
kicking on the ground, but the suitors threw up their hands and nearly died of
laughter, as Ulysses caught hold of him by the foot and dragged him into the
outer court as far as the gate-house. There he propped him up against the wall
and put his staff in his hands. "Sit here," said he, "and keep the dogs and pigs
off; you are a pitiful creature, and if you try to make yourself king of the
beggars any more you shall fare still worse."
Then he threw his dirty old wallet, all tattered and torn over his shoulder
with the cord by which it hung, and went back to sit down upon the threshold;
but the suitors went within the cloisters, laughing and saluting him, "May
Jove, and all the other gods," said they, "grant you whatever you want for
having put an end to the importunity of this insatiable tramp. We will take him
over to the mainland presently, to king Echetus, who kills every one that
comes near him."
Ulysses hailed this as of good omen, and Antinous set a great goat's
paunch before him filled with blood and fat. Amphinomus took two loaves out
of the bread-basket and brought them to him, pledging him as he did so in a
golden goblet of wine. "Good luck to you," he said, "father stranger, you are
very badly off at present, but I hope you will have better times by and by."
To this Ulysses answered, "Amphinomus, you seem to be a man of good
understanding, as indeed you may well be, seeing whose son you are. I have
heard your father well spoken of; he is Nisus of Dulichium, a man both brave
and wealthy. They tell me you are his son, and you appear to be a considerable
person; listen, therefore, and take heed to what I am saying. Man is the vainest
of all creatures that have their being upon earth. As long as heaven vouchsafes
him health and strength, he thinks that he shall come to no harm hereafter, and
even when the blessed gods bring sorrow upon him, he bears it as he needs
must, and makes the best of it; for God almighty gives men their daily minds
day by day. I know all about it, for I was a rich man once, and did much wrong
in the stubbornness of my pride, and in the confidence that my father and my
brothers would support me; therefore let a man fear God in all things always,
and take the good that heaven may see fit to send him without vain glory.
Consider the infamy of what these suitors are doing; see how they are wasting
the estate, and doing dishonour to the wife, of one who is certain to return
some day, and that, too, not long hence. Nay, he will be here soon; may heaven
send you home quietly first that you may not meet with him in the day of his
coming, for once he is here the suitors and he will not part bloodlessly."
With these words he made a drink-offering, and when he had drunk he put
the gold cup again into the hands of Amphinomus, who walked away serious
and bowing his head, for he foreboded evil. But even so he did not escape
destruction, for Minerva had doomed him to fall by the hand of Telemachus.
So he took his seat again at the place from which he had come.
Then Minerva put it into the mind of Penelope to show herself to the
suitors, that she might make them still more enamoured of her, and win still
further honour from her son and husband. So she feigned a mocking laugh and
said, "Eurynome, I have changed my mind, and have a fancy to show myself
to the suitors although I detest them. I should like also to give my son a hint
that he had better not have anything more to do with them. They speak fairly
enough but they mean mischief."
"My dear child," answered Eurynome, "all that you have said is true, go
and tell your son about it, but first wash yourself and anoint your face. Do not
go about with your cheeks all covered with tears; it is not right that you should
grieve so incessantly; for Telemachus, whom you always prayed that you
might live to see with a beard, is already grown up."
"I know, Eurynome," replied Penelope, "that you mean well, but do not try
and persuade me to wash and to anoint myself, for heaven robbed me of all my
beauty on the day my husband sailed; nevertheless, tell Autonoe and
Hippodamia that I want them. They must be with me when I am in the cloister;
I am not going among the men alone; it would not be proper for me to do so."
On this the old woman went out of the room to bid the maids go to their
mistress. In the meantime Minerva bethought her of another matter, and sent
Penelope off into a sweet slumber; so she lay down on her couch and her
limbs became heavy with sleep. Then the goddess shed grace and beauty over
her that all the Achaeans might admire her. She washed her face with the
ambrosial loveliness that Venus wears when she goes dancing with the Graces;
she made her taller and of a more commanding figure, while as for her
complexion it was whiter than sawn ivory. When Minerva had done all this
she went away, whereon the maids came in from the women's room and woke
Penelope with the sound of their talking.
"What an exquisitely delicious sleep I have been having," said she, as she
passed her hands over her face, "in spite of all my misery. I wish Diana would
let me die so sweetly now at this very moment, that I might no longer waste in
despair for the loss of my dear husband, who possessed every kind of good
quality and was the most distinguished man among the Achaeans."
With these words she came down from her upper room, not alone but
attended by two of her maidens, and when she reached the suitors she stood by
one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister, holding a veil
before her face, and with a staid maid servant on either side of her. As they
beheld her the suitors were so overpowered and became so desperately
enamoured of her, that each one prayed he might win her for his own bed
fellow.
"Telemachus," said she, addressing her son, "I fear you are no longer so
discreet and well conducted as you used to be. When you were younger you
had a greater sense of propriety; now, however, that you are grown up, though
a stranger to look at you would take you for the son of a well to do father as
far as size and good looks go, your conduct is by no means what it should be.
What is all this disturbance that has been going on, and how came you to
allow a stranger to be so disgracefully ill-treated? What would have happened
if he had suffered serious injury while a suppliant in our house? Surely this
would have been very discreditable to you."
"I am not surprised, my dear mother, at your displeasure," replied
Telemachus, "I understand all about it and know when things are not as they
should be, which I could not do when I was younger; I cannot, however,
behave with perfect propriety at all times. First one and then another of these
wicked people here keeps driving me out of my mind, and I have no one to
stand by me. After all, however, this fight between Irus and the stranger did
not turn out as the suitors meant it to do, for the stranger got the best of it. I
wish Father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo would break the neck of every one of
these wooers of yours, some inside the house and some out; and I wish they
might all be as limp as Irus is over yonder in the gate of the outer court. See
how he nods his head like a drunken man; he has had such a thrashing that he
cannot stand on his feet nor get back to his home, wherever that may be, for he
has no strength left in him."
Thus did they converse. Eurymachus then came up and said, "Queen
Penelope, daughter of Icarius, if all the Achaeans in Iasian Argos could see
you at this moment, you would have still more suitors in your house by
tomorrow morning, for you are the most admirable woman in the whole world
both as regards personal beauty and strength of understanding."
To this Penelope replied, "Eurymachus, heaven robbed me of all my beauty
whether of face or figure when the Argives set sail for Troy and my dear
husband with them. If he were to return and look after my affairs, I should
both be more respected and show a better presence to the world. As it is, I am
oppressed with care, and with the afflictions which heaven has seen fit to heap
upon me. My husband foresaw it all, and when he was leaving home he took
my right wrist in his hand—'Wife,' he said, 'we shall not all of us come safe
home from Troy, for the Trojans fight well both with bow and spear. They are
excellent also at fighting from chariots, and nothing decides the issue of a fight
sooner than this. I know not, therefore, whether heaven will send me back to
you, or whether I may not fall over there at Troy. In the meantime do you look
after things here. Take care of my father and mother as at present, and even
more so during my absence, but when you see our son growing a beard, then
marry whom you will, and leave this your present home.' This is what he said
and now it is all coming true. A night will come when I shall have to yield
myself to a marriage which I detest, for Jove has taken from me all hope of
happiness. This further grief, moreover, cuts me to the very heart. You suitors
are not wooing me after the custom of my country. When men are courting a
woman who they think will be a good wife to them and who is of noble birth,
and when they are each trying to win her for himself, they usually bring oxen
and sheep to feast the friends of the lady, and they make her magnificent
presents, instead of eating up other people's property without paying for it."
This was what she said, and Ulysses was glad when he heard her trying to
get presents out of the suitors, and flattering them with fair words which he
knew she did not mean.
Then Antinous said, "Queen Penelope, daughter of Icarius, take as many
presents as you please from any one who will give them to you; it is not well
to refuse a present; but we will not go about our business nor stir from where
we are, till you have married the best man among us whoever he may be."
The others applauded what Antinous had said, and each one sent his
servant to bring his present. Antinous's man returned with a large and lovely
dress most exquisitely embroidered. It had twelve beautifully made brooch
pins of pure gold with which to fasten it. Eurymachus immediately brought
her a magnificent chain of gold and amber beads that gleamed like sunlight.
Eurydamas's two men returned with some earrings fashioned into three
brilliant pendants which glistened most beautifully; while king Pisander son of
Polyctor gave her a necklace of the rarest workmanship, and every one else
brought her a beautiful present of some kind.
Then the queen went back to her room upstairs, and her maids brought the
presents after her. Meanwhile the suitors took to singing and dancing, and
stayed till evening came. They danced and sang till it grew dark; they then
brought in three braziers to give light, and piled them up with chopped
firewood very old and dry, and they lit torches from them, which the maids
held up turn and turn about. Then Ulysses said:
"Maids, servants of Ulysses who has so long been absent, go to the queen
inside the house; sit with her and amuse her, or spin, and pick wool. I will hold
the light for all these people. They may stay till morning, but shall not beat
me, for I can stand a great deal."
The maids looked at one another and laughed, while pretty Melantho
began to gibe at him contemptuously. She was daughter to Dolius, but had
been brought up by Penelope, who used to give her toys to play with, and
looked after her when she was a child; but in spite of all this she showed no
consideration for the sorrows of her mistress, and used to misconduct herself
with Eurymachus, with whom she was in love.
"Poor wretch," said she, "are you gone clean out of your mind? Go and
sleep in some smithy, or place of public gossips, instead of chattering here.
Are you not ashamed of opening your mouth before your betters—so many of
them too? Has the wine been getting into your head, or do you always babble
in this way? You seem to have lost your wits because you beat the tramp Irus;
take care that a better man than he does not come and cudgel you about the
head till he pack you bleeding out of the house."
"Vixen," replied Ulysses, scowling at her, "I will go and tell Telemachus
what you have been saying, and he will have you torn limb from limb."
With these words he scared the women, and they went off into the body of
the house. They trembled all over, for they thought he would do as he said.
But Ulysses took his stand near the burning braziers, holding up torches and
looking at the people—brooding the while on things that should surely come
to pass.
But Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment cease their
insolence, for she wanted Ulysses to become even more bitter against them;
she therefore set Eurymachus son of Polybus on to gibe at him, which made
the others laugh. "Listen to me," said he, "you suitors of Queen Penelope, that
I may speak even as I am minded. It is not for nothing that this man has come
to the house of Ulysses; I believe the light has not been coming from the
torches, but from his own head—for his hair is all gone, every bit of it."
Then turning to Ulysses he said, "Stranger, will you work as a servant, if I
send you to the wolds and see that you are well paid? Can you build a stone
fence, or plant trees? I will have you fed all the year round, and will find you
in shoes and clothing. Will you go, then? Not you; for you have got into bad
ways, and do not want to work; you had rather fill your belly by going round
the country begging."
"Eurymachus," answered Ulysses, "if you and I were to work one against
the other in early summer when the days are at their longest—give me a good
scythe, and take another yourself, and let us see which will last the longer or
mow the stronger, from dawn till dark when the mowing grass is about. Or if
you will plough against me, let us each take a yoke of tawny oxen, well-mated
and of great strength and endurance: turn me into a four acre field, and see
whether you or I can drive the straighter furrow. If, again, war were to break
out this day, give me a shield, a couple of spears and a helmet fitting well upon
my temples—you would find me foremost in the fray, and would cease your
gibes about my belly. You are insolent and cruel, and think yourself a great
man because you live in a little world, and that a bad one. If Ulysses comes to
his own again, the doors of his house are wide, but you will find them narrow
when you try to fly through them."
Eurymachus was furious at all this. He scowled at him and cried, "You
wretch, I will soon pay you out for daring to say such things to me, and in
public too. Has the wine been getting into your head or do you always babble
in this way? You seem to have lost your wits because you beat the tramp Irus."
With this he caught hold of a footstool, but Ulysses sought protection at the
knees of Amphinomus of Dulichium, for he was afraid. The stool hit the
cupbearer on his right hand and knocked him down: the man fell with a cry
flat on his back, and his wine-jug fell ringing to the ground. The suitors in the
covered cloister were now in an uproar, and one would turn towards his
neighbour, saying, "I wish the stranger had gone somewhere else, bad luck to
him, for all the trouble he gives us. We cannot permit such disturbance about a
beggar; if such ill counsels are to prevail we shall have no more pleasure at
our banquet."
On this Telemachus came forward and said, "Sirs, are you mad? Can you
not carry your meat and your liquor decently? Some evil spirit has possessed
you. I do not wish to drive any of you away, but you have had your suppers,
and the sooner you all go home to bed the better."
The suitors bit their lips and marvelled at the boldness of his speech; but
Amphinomus the son of Nisus, who was son to Aretias, said, "Do not let us
take offence; it is reasonable, so let us make no answer. Neither let us do
violence to the stranger nor to any of Ulysses' servants. Let the cupbearer go
round with the drink-offerings, that we may make them and go home to our
rest. As for the stranger, let us leave Telemachus to deal with him, for it is to
his house that he has come."
 Thus did he speak, and his saying pleased them well, so Mulius of
Dulichium, servant to Amphinomus, mixed them a bowl of wine and water
and handed it round to each of them man by man, whereon they made their
drink-offerings to the blessed gods: Then, when they had made their drink-
offerings and had drunk each one as he was minded, they took their several
ways each of them to his own abode.

BOOK XIX
TELEMACHUS AND ULYSSES REMOVE THE ARMOUR—ULYSSES
INTERVIEWS PENELOPE—EURYCLEA WASHES HIS FEET AND
RECOGNISES THE SCAR ON HIS LEG—PENELOPE TELLS HER
DREAM TO ULYSSES.

Ulysses was left in the cloister, pondering on the means whereby with
Minerva's help he might be able to kill the suitors. Presently he said to
Telemachus, "Telemachus, we must get the armour together and take it down
inside. Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you have removed it.
Say that you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke, inasmuch as it is
no longer what it was when Ulysses went away, but has become soiled and
begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly that you are afraid Jove may
set them on to quarrel over their wine, and that they may do each other some
harm which may disgrace both banquet and wooing, for the sight of arms
sometimes tempts people to use them."
Telemachus approved of what his father had said, so he called nurse
Euryclea and said, "Nurse, shut the women up in their room, while I take the
armour that my father left behind him down into the store room. No one looks
after it now my father is gone, and it has got all smirched with soot during my
own boyhood. I want to take it down where the smoke cannot reach it."
"I wish, child," answered Euryclea, "that you would take the management
of the house into your own hands altogether, and look after all the property
yourself. But who is to go with you and light you to the store-room? The
maids would have done so, but you would not let them."
"The stranger," said Telemachus, "shall show me a light; when people eat
my bread they must earn it, no matter where they come from."
Euryclea did as she was told, and bolted the women inside their room.
Then Ulysses and his son made all haste to take the helmets, shields, and
spears inside; and Minerva went before them with a gold lamp in her hand that
shed a soft and brilliant radiance, whereon Telemachus said, "Father, my eyes
behold a great marvel: the walls, with the rafters, crossbeams, and the supports
on which they rest are all aglow as with a flaming fire. Surely there is some
god here who has come down from heaven."
"Hush," answered Ulysses, "hold your peace and ask no questions, for this
is the manner of the gods. Get you to your bed, and leave me here to talk with
your mother and the maids. Your mother in her grief will ask me all sorts of
questions."
On this Telemachus went by torch-light to the other side of the inner court,
to the room in which he always slept. There he lay in his bed till morning,
while Ulysses was left in the cloister pondering on the means whereby with
Minerva's help he might be able to kill the suitors.
Then Penelope came down from her room looking like Venus or Diana,
and they set her a seat inlaid with scrolls of silver and ivory near the fire in her
accustomed place. It had been made by Icmalius and had a footstool all in one
piece with the seat itself; and it was covered with a thick fleece: on this she
now sat, and the maids came from the women's room to join her. They set
about removing the tables at which the wicked suitors had been dining, and
took away the bread that was left, with the cups from which they had drunk.
They emptied the embers out of the braziers, and heaped much wood upon
them to give both light and heat; but Melantho began to rail at Ulysses a
second time and said, "Stranger, do you mean to plague us by hanging about
the house all night and spying upon the women? Be off, you wretch, outside,
and eat your supper there, or you shall be driven out with a firebrand."
Ulysses scowled at her and answered, "My good woman, why should you
be so angry with me? Is it because I am not clean, and my clothes are all in
rags, and because I am obliged to go begging about after the manner of tramps
and beggars generally? I too was a rich man once, and had a fine house of my
own; in those days I gave to many a tramp such as I now am, no matter who
he might be nor what he wanted. I had any number of servants, and all the
other things which people have who live well and are accounted wealthy, but it
pleased Jove to take all away from me; therefore, woman, beware lest you too
come to lose that pride and place in which you now wanton above your
fellows; have a care lest you get out of favour with your mistress, and lest
Ulysses should come home, for there is still a chance that he may do so.
Moreover, though he be dead as you think he is, yet by Apollo's will he has
left a son behind him, Telemachus, who will note anything done amiss by the
maids in the house, for he is now no longer in his boyhood."
Penelope heard what he was saying and scolded the maid, "Impudent
baggage," said she, "I see how abominably you are behaving, and you shall
smart for it. You knew perfectly well, for I told you myself, that I was going to
see the stranger and ask him about my husband, for whose sake I am in such
continual sorrow."
Then she said to her head waiting woman Eurynome, "Bring a seat with a
fleece upon it, for the stranger to sit upon while he tells his story, and listens to
what I have to say. I wish to ask him some questions."
Eurynome brought the seat at once and set a fleece upon it, and as soon as
Ulysses had sat down Penelope began by saying, "Stranger, I shall first ask
you who and whence are you? Tell me of your town and parents."
"Madam," answered Ulysses, "who on the face of the whole earth can dare
to chide with you? Your fame reaches the firmament of heaven itself; you are
like some blameless king, who upholds righteousness, as the monarch over a
great and valiant nation: the earth yields its wheat and barley, the trees are
loaded with fruit, the ewes bring forth lambs, and the sea abounds with fish by
reason of his virtues, and his people do good deeds under him. Nevertheless,
as I sit here in your house, ask me some other question and do not seek to
know my race and family, or you will recall memories that will yet more
increase my sorrow. I am full of heaviness, but I ought not to sit weeping and
wailing in another person's house, nor is it well to be thus grieving continually.
I shall have one of the servants or even yourself complaining of me, and
saying that my eyes swim with tears because I am heavy with wine."
Then Penelope answered, "Stranger, heaven robbed me of all beauty,
whether of face or figure, when the Argives set sail for Troy and my dear
husband with them. If he were to return and look after my affairs I should be
both more respected and should show a better presence to the world. As it is, I
am oppressed with care, and with the afflictions which heaven has seen fit to
heap upon me. The chiefs from all our islands—Dulichium, Same, and
Zacynthus, as also from Ithaca itself, are wooing me against my will and are
wasting my estate. I can therefore show no attention to strangers, nor
suppliants, nor to people who say that they are skilled artisans, but am all the
time broken-hearted about Ulysses. They want me to marry again at once, and
I have to invent stratagems in order to deceive them. In the first place heaven
put it in my mind to set up a great tambour-frame in my room, and to begin
working upon an enormous piece of fine needlework. Then I said to them,
'Sweethearts, Ulysses is indeed dead, still, do not press me to marry again
immediately; wait—for I would not have my skill in needlework perish
unrecorded—till I have finished making a pall for the hero Laertes, to be ready
against the time when death shall take him. He is very rich, and the women of
the place will talk if he is laid out without a pall.' This was what I said, and
they assented; whereon I used to keep working at my great web all day long,
but at night I would unpick the stitches again by torch light. I fooled them in
this way for three years without their finding it out, but as time wore on and I
was now in my fourth year, in the waning of moons, and many days had been
accomplished, those good for nothing hussies my maids betrayed me to the
suitors, who broke in upon me and caught me; they were very angry with me,
so I was forced to finish my work whether I would or no. And now I do not
see how I can find any further shift for getting out of this marriage. My parents
are putting great pressure upon me, and my son chafes at the ravages the
suitors are making upon his estate, for he is now old enough to understand all
about it and is perfectly able to look after his own affairs, for heaven has
blessed him with an excellent disposition. Still, notwithstanding all this, tell
me who you are and where you come from—for you must have had father and
mother of some sort; you cannot be the son of an oak or of a rock."
Then Ulysses answered, "Madam, wife of Ulysses, since you persist in
asking me about my family, I will answer, no matter what it costs me: people
must expect to be pained when they have been exiles as long as I have, and
suffered as much among as many peoples. Nevertheless, as regards your
question I will tell you all you ask. There is a fair and fruitful island in mid-
ocean called Crete; it is thickly peopled and there are ninety cities in it: the
people speak many different languages which overlap one another, for there
are Achaeans, brave Eteocretans, Dorians of three-fold race, and noble
Pelasgi. There is a great town there, Cnossus, where Minos reigned who every
nine years had a conference with Jove himself. Minos was father to
Deucalion, whose son I am, for Deucalion had two sons Idomeneus and
myself. Idomeneus sailed for Troy, and I, who am the younger, am called
Aethon; my brother, however, was at once the older and the more valiant of
the two; hence it was in Crete that I saw Ulysses and showed him hospitality,
for the winds took him there as he was on his way to Troy, carrying him out of
his course from cape Malea and leaving him in Amnisus off the cave of
Ilithuia, where the harbours are difficult to enter and he could hardly find
shelter from the winds that were then raging. As soon as he got there he went
into the town and asked for Idomeneus, claiming to be his old and valued
friend, but Idomeneus had already set sail for Troy some ten or twelve days
earlier, so I took him to my own house and showed him every kind of
hospitality, for I had abundance of everything. Moreover, I fed the men who
were with him with barley meal from the public store, and got subscriptions of
wine and oxen for them to sacrifice to their heart's content. They stayed with
me twelve days, for there was a gale blowing from the North so strong that
one could hardly keep one's feet on land. I suppose some unfriendly god had
raised it for them, but on the thirteenth day the wind dropped, and they got
away."
Many a plausible tale did Ulysses further tell her, and Penelope wept as she
listened, for her heart was melted. As the snow wastes upon the mountain tops
when the winds from South East and West have breathed upon it and thawed it
till the rivers run bank full with water, even so did her cheeks overflow with
tears for the husband who was all the time sitting by her side. Ulysses felt for
her and was sorry for her, but he kept his eyes as hard as horn or iron without
letting them so much as quiver, so cunningly did he restrain his tears. Then,
when she had relieved herself by weeping, she turned to him again and said:
"Now, stranger, I shall put you to the test and see whether or no you really did
entertain my husband and his men, as you say you did. Tell me, then, how he
was dressed, what kind of a man he was to look at, and so also with his
companions."
"Madam," answered Ulysses, "it is such a long time ago that I can hardly
say. Twenty years are come and gone since he left my home, and went
elsewhither; but I will tell you as well as I can recollect. Ulysses wore a
mantle of purple wool, double lined, and it was fastened by a gold brooch with
two catches for the pin. On the face of this there was a device that shewed a
dog holding a spotted fawn between his fore paws, and watching it as it lay
panting upon the ground. Every one marvelled at the way in which these
things had been done in gold, the dog looking at the fawn, and strangling it,
while the fawn was struggling convulsively to escape. As for the shirt that he
wore next his skin, it was so soft that it fitted him like the skin of an onion,
and glistened in the sunlight to the admiration of all the women who beheld it.
Furthermore I say, and lay my saying to your heart, that I do not know whether
Ulysses wore these clothes when he left home, or whether one of his
companions had given them to him while he was on his voyage; or possibly
some one at whose house he was staying made him a present of them, for he
was a man of many friends and had few equals among the Achaeans. I myself
gave him a sword of bronze and a beautiful purple mantle, double lined, with a
shirt that went down to his feet, and I sent him on board his ship with every
mark of honour. He had a servant with him, a little older than himself, and I
can tell you what he was like; his shoulders were hunched, he was dark, and
he had thick curly hair. His name was Eurybates, and Ulysses treated him with
greater familiarity than he did any of the others, as being the most like-minded
with himself."
Penelope was moved still more deeply as she heard the indisputable proofs
that Ulysses laid before her; and when she had again found relief in tears she
said to him, "Stranger, I was already disposed to pity you, but henceforth you
shall be honoured and made welcome in my house. It was I who gave Ulysses
the clothes you speak of. I took them out of the store room and folded them up
myself, and I gave him also the gold brooch to wear as an ornament. Alas! I
shall never welcome him home again. It was by an ill fate that he ever set out
for that detested city whose very name I cannot bring myself even to
mention."
 Then Ulysses answered, "Madam, wife of Ulysses, do not disfigure
yourself further by grieving thus bitterly for your loss, though I can hardly
blame you for doing so. A woman who has loved her husband and borne him
children, would naturally be grieved at losing him, even though he were a
worse man than Ulysses, who they say was like a god. Still, cease your tears
and listen to what I can tell you. I will hide nothing from you, and can say
with perfect truth that I have lately heard of Ulysses as being alive and on his
way home; he is among the Thesprotians, and is bringing back much valuable
treasure that he has begged from one and another of them; but his ship and all
his crew were lost as they were leaving the Thrinacian island, for Jove and the
sun-god were angry with him because his men had slaughtered the sun-god's
cattle, and they were all drowned to a man. But Ulysses stuck to the keel of the
ship and was drifted on to the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to
the immortals, and who treated him as though he had been a god, giving him
many presents, and wishing to escort him home safe and sound. In fact
Ulysses would have been here long ago, had he not thought better to go from
land to land gathering wealth; for there is no man living who is so wily as he
is; there is no one can compare with him. Pheidon king of the Thesprotians
told me all this, and he swore to me—making drink-offerings in his house as
he did so—that the ship was by the water side and the crew found who would
take Ulysses to his own country. He sent me off first, for there happened to be
a Thesprotian ship sailing for the wheat-growing island of Dulichium, but he
showed me all the treasure Ulysses had got together, and he had enough lying
in the house of king Pheidon to keep his family for ten generations; but the
king said Ulysses had gone to Dodona that he might learn Jove's mind from
the high oak tree, and know whether after so long an absence he should return
to Ithaca openly or in secret. So you may know he is safe and will be here
shortly; he is close at hand and cannot remain away from home much longer;
nevertheless I will confirm my words with an oath, and call Jove who is the
first and mightiest of all gods to witness, as also that hearth of Ulysses to
which I have now come, that all I have spoken shall surely come to pass.
Ulysses will return in this self same year; with the end of this moon and the
beginning of the next he will be here."
"May it be even so," answered Penelope; "if your words come true you
shall have such gifts and such good will from me that all who see you shall
congratulate you; but I know very well how it will be. Ulysses will not return,
neither will you get your escort hence, for so surely as that Ulysses ever was,
there are now no longer any such masters in the house as he was, to receive
honourable strangers or to further them on their way home. And now, you
maids, wash his feet for him, and make him a bed on a couch with rugs and
blankets, that he may be warm and quiet till morning. Then, at day break wash
him and anoint him again, that he may sit in the cloister and take his meals
with Telemachus. It shall be the worse for any one of these hateful people who
is uncivil to him; like it or not, he shall have no more to do in this house. For
how, sir, shall you be able to learn whether or no I am superior to others of my
sex both in goodness of heart and understanding, if I let you dine in my
cloisters squalid and ill clad? Men live but for a little season; if they are hard,
and deal hardly, people wish them ill so long as they are alive, and speak
contemptuously of them when they are dead, but he that is righteous and deals
righteously, the people tell of his praise among all lands, and many shall call
him blessed."
Ulysses answered, "Madam, I have foresworn rugs and blankets from the
day that I left the snowy ranges of Crete to go on shipboard. I will lie as I have
lain on many a sleepless night hitherto. Night after night have I passed in any
rough sleeping place, and waited for morning. Nor, again, do I like having my
feet washed; I shall not let any of the young hussies about your house touch
my feet; but, if you have any old and respectable woman who has gone
through as much trouble as I have, I will allow her to wash them."
To this Penelope said, "My dear sir, of all the guests who ever yet came to
my house there never was one who spoke in all things with such admirable
propriety as you do. There happens to be in the house a most respectable old
woman—the same who received my poor dear husband in her arms the night
he was born, and nursed him in infancy. She is very feeble now, but she shall
wash your feet." "Come here," said she, "Euryclea, and wash your master's
age-mate; I suppose Ulysses' hands and feet are very much the same now as
his are, for trouble ages all of us dreadfully fast."
On these words the old woman covered her face with her hands; she began
to weep and made lamentation saying, "My dear child, I cannot think whatever
I am to do with you. I am certain no one was ever more god-fearing than
yourself, and yet Jove hates you. No one in the whole world ever burned him
more thigh bones, nor gave him finer hecatombs when you prayed you might
come to a green old age yourself and see your son grow up to take after you:
yet see how he has prevented you alone from ever getting back to your own
home. I have no doubt the women in some foreign palace which Ulysses has
got to are gibing at him as all these sluts here have been gibing at you. I do not
wonder at your not choosing to let them wash you after the manner in which
they have insulted you; I will wash your feet myself gladly enough, as
Penelope has said that I am to do so; I will wash them both for Penelope's sake
and for your own, for you have raised the most lively feelings of compassion
in my mind; and let me say this moreover, which pray attend to; we have had
all kinds of strangers in distress come here before now, but I make bold to say
that no one ever yet came who was so like Ulysses in figure, voice, and feet as
you are."
 "Those who have seen us both," answered Ulysses, "have always said we
were wonderfully like each other, and now you have noticed it too."
Then the old woman took the cauldron in which she was going to wash his
feet, and poured plenty of cold water into it, adding hot till the bath was warm
enough. Ulysses sat by the fire, but ere long he turned away from the light, for
it occurred to him that when the old woman had hold of his leg she would
recognise a certain scar which it bore, whereon the whole truth would come
out. And indeed as soon as she began washing her master, she at once knew
the scar as one that had been given him by a wild boar when he was hunting
on Mt. Parnassus with his excellent grandfather Autolycus—who was the most
accomplished thief and perjurer in the whole world—and with the sons of
Autolycus. Mercury himself had endowed him with this gift, for he used to
burn the thigh bones of goats and kids to him, so he took pleasure in his
companionship. It happened once that Autolycus had gone to Ithaca and had
found the child of his daughter just born. As soon as he had done supper
Euryclea set the infant upon his knees and said, "Autolycus, you must find a
name for your grandson; you greatly wished that you might have one."
"Son-in-law and daughter," replied Autolycus, "call the child thus: I am
highly displeased with a large number of people in one place and another, both
men and women; so name the child 'Ulysses,' or the child of anger. When he
grows up and comes to visit his mother's family on Mt. Parnassus, where my
possessions lie, I will make him a present and will send him on his way
rejoicing."
Ulysses, therefore, went to Parnassus to get the presents from Autolycus,
who with his sons shook hands with him and gave him welcome. His
grandmother Amphithea threw her arms about him, and kissed his head, and
both his beautiful eyes, while Autolycus desired his sons to get dinner ready,
and they did as he told them. They brought in a five year old bull, flayed it,
made it ready and divided it into joints; these they then cut carefully up into
smaller pieces and spitted them; they roasted them sufficiently and served the
portions round. Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun
they feasted, and every man had his full share so that all were satisfied; but
when the sun set and it came on dark, they went to bed and enjoyed the boon
of sleep.
When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the sons of
Autolycus went out with their hounds hunting, and Ulysses went too. They
climbed the wooded slopes of Parnassus and soon reached its breezy upland
valleys; but as the sun was beginning to beat upon the fields, fresh-risen from
the slow still currents of Oceanus, they came to a mountain dell. The dogs
were in front searching for the tracks of the beast they were chasing, and after
them came the sons of Autolycus, among whom was Ulysses, close behind the
dogs, and he had a long spear in his hand. Here was the lair of a huge boar
among some thick brushwood, so dense that the wind and rain could not get
through it, nor could the sun's rays pierce it, and the ground underneath lay
thick with fallen leaves. The boar heard the noise of the men's feet, and the
hounds baying on every side as the huntsmen came up to him, so he rushed
from his lair, raised the bristles on his neck, and stood at bay with fire flashing
from his eyes. Ulysses was the first to raise his spear and try to drive it into the
brute, but the boar was too quick for him, and charged him sideways, ripping
him above the knee with a gash that tore deep though it did not reach the bone.
As for the boar, Ulysses hit him on the right shoulder, and the point of the
spear went right through him, so that he fell groaning in the dust until the life
went out of him. The sons of Autolycus busied themselves with the carcass of
the boar, and bound Ulysses' wound; then, after saying a spell to stop the
bleeding, they went home as fast as they could. But when Autolycus and his
sons had thoroughly healed Ulysses, they made him some splendid presents,
and sent him back to Ithaca with much mutual good will. When he got back,
his father and mother were rejoiced to see him, and asked him all about it, and
how he had hurt himself to get the scar; so he told them how the boar had
ripped him when he was out hunting with Autolycus and his sons on Mt.
Parnassus.
As soon as Euryclea had got the scarred limb in her hands and had well
hold of it, she recognised it and dropped the foot at once. The leg fell into the
bath, which rang out and was overturned, so that all the water was spilt on the
ground; Euryclea's eyes between her joy and her grief filled with tears, and she
could not speak, but she caught Ulysses by the beard and said, "My dear child,
I am sure you must be Ulysses himself, only I did not know you till I had
actually touched and handled you."
As she spoke she looked towards Penelope, as though wanting to tell her
that her dear husband was in the house, but Penelope was unable to look in
that direction and observe what was going on, for Minerva had diverted her
attention; so Ulysses caught Euryclea by the throat with his right hand and
with his left drew her close to him, and said, "Nurse, do you wish to be the
ruin of me, you who nursed me at your own breast, now that after twenty years
of wandering I am at last come to my own home again? Since it has been
borne in upon you by heaven to recognise me, hold your tongue, and do not
say a word about it to any one else in the house, for if you do I tell you—and it
shall surely be—that if heaven grants me to take the lives of these suitors, I
will not spare you, though you are my own nurse, when I am killing the other
women."
"My child," answered Euryclea, "what are you talking about? You know
very well that nothing can either bend or break me. I will hold my tongue like
a stone or a piece of iron; furthermore let me say, and lay my saying to your
heart, when heaven has delivered the suitors into your hand, I will give you a
list of the women in the house who have been ill-behaved, and of those who
are guiltless."
And Ulysses answered, "Nurse, you ought not to speak in that way; I am
well able to form my own opinion about one and all of them; hold your tongue
and leave everything to heaven."
As he said this Euryclea left the cloister to fetch some more water, for the
first had been all spilt; and when she had washed him and anointed him with
oil, Ulysses drew his seat nearer to the fire to warm himself, and hid the scar
under his rags. Then Penelope began talking to him and said:
"Stranger, I should like to speak with you briefly about another matter. It is
indeed nearly bed time—for those, at least, who can sleep in spite of sorrow.
As for myself, heaven has given me a life of such unmeasurable woe, that
even by day when I am attending to my duties and looking after the servants, I
am still weeping and lamenting during the whole time; then, when night
comes, and we all of us go to bed, I lie awake thinking, and my heart becomes
a prey to the most incessant and cruel tortures. As the dun nightingale,
daughter of Pandareus, sings in the early spring from her seat in shadiest
covert hid, and with many a plaintive trill pours out the tale how by mishap
she killed her own child Itylus, son of king Zethus, even so does my mind toss
and turn in its uncertainty whether I ought to stay with my son here, and
safeguard my substance, my bondsmen, and the greatness of my house, out of
regard to public opinion and the memory of my late husband, or whether it is
not now time for me to go with the best of these suitors who are wooing me
and making me such magnificent presents. As long as my son was still young,
and unable to understand, he would not hear of my leaving my husband's
house, but now that he is full grown he begs and prays me to do so, being
incensed at the way in which the suitors are eating up his property. Listen,
then, to a dream that I have had and interpret it for me if you can. I have
twenty geese about the house that eat mash out of a trough, and of which I am
exceedingly fond. I dreamed that a great eagle came swooping down from a
mountain, and dug his curved beak into the neck of each of them till he had
killed them all. Presently he soared off into the sky, and left them lying dead
about the yard; whereon I wept in my dream till all my maids gathered round
me, so piteously was I grieving because the eagle had killed my geese. Then
he came back again, and perching on a projecting rafter spoke to me with
human voice, and told me to leave off crying. 'Be of good courage,' he said,
'daughter of Icarius; this is no dream, but a vision of good omen that shall
surely come to pass. The geese are the suitors, and I am no longer an eagle,
but your own husband, who am come back to you, and who will bring these
suitors to a disgraceful end.' On this I woke, and when I looked out I saw my
geese at the trough eating their mash as usual."
"This dream, Madam," replied Ulysses, "can admit but of one
interpretation, for had not Ulysses himself told you how it shall be fulfilled?
The death of the suitors is portended, and not one single one of them will
escape."
And Penelope answered, "Stranger, dreams are very curious and
unaccountable things, and they do not by any means invariably come true.
There are two gates through which these unsubstantial fancies proceed; the
one is of horn, and the other ivory. Those that come through the gate of ivory
are fatuous, but those from the gate of horn mean something to those that see
them. I do not think, however, that my own dream came through the gate of
horn, though I and my son should be most thankful if it proves to have done
so. Furthermore I say—and lay my saying to your heart—the coming dawn
will usher in the ill-omened day that is to sever me from the house of Ulysses,
for I am about to hold a tournament of axes. My husband used to set up twelve
axes in the court, one in front of the other, like the stays upon which a ship is
built; he would then go back from them and shoot an arrow through the whole
twelve. I shall make the suitors try to do the same thing, and whichever of
them can string the bow most easily, and send his arrow through all the twelve
axes, him will I follow, and quit this house of my lawful husband, so goodly
and so abounding in wealth. But even so, I doubt not that I shall remember it
in my dreams."
Then Ulysses answered, "Madam, wife of Ulysses, you need not defer your
tournament, for Ulysses will return ere ever they can string the bow, handle it
how they will, and send their arrows through the iron."
To this Penelope said, "As long, sir, as you will sit here and talk to me, I
can have no desire to go to bed. Still, people cannot do permanently without
sleep, and heaven has appointed us dwellers on earth a time for all things. I
will therefore go upstairs and recline upon that couch which I have never
ceased to flood with my tears from the day Ulysses set out for the city with a
hateful name."
She then went upstairs to her own room, not alone, but attended by her
maidens, and when there, she lamented her dear husband till Minerva shed
sweet sleep over her eyelids.

BOOK XX
ULYSSES CANNOT SLEEP—PENELOPE'S PRAYER TO DIANA—
 THE TWO SIGNS FROM HEAVEN—EUMAEUS AND PHILOETIUS
ARRIVE—THE SUITORS DINE—CTESIPPUS THROWS AN OX'S
FOOT AT ULYSSES—THEOCLYMENUS FORETELLS DISASTER
AND LEAVES THE HOUSE.

Ulysses slept in the cloister upon an undressed bullock's hide, on the top of
which he threw several skins of the sheep the suitors had eaten, and Eurynome
threw a cloak over him after he had laid himself down. There, then, Ulysses
lay wakefully brooding upon the way in which he should kill the suitors; and
by and by, the women who had been in the habit of misconducting themselves
with them, left the house giggling and laughing with one another. This made
Ulysses very angry, and he doubted whether to get up and kill every single one
of them then and there, or to let them sleep one more and last time with the
suitors. His heart growled within him, and as a bitch with puppies growls and
shows her teeth when she sees a stranger, so did his heart growl with anger at
the evil deeds that were being done: but he beat his breast and said, "Heart, be
still, you had worse than this to bear on the day when the terrible Cyclops ate
your brave companions; yet you bore it in silence till your cunning got you
safe out of the cave, though you made sure of being killed."
Thus he chided with his heart, and checked it into endurance, but he tossed
about as one who turns a paunch full of blood and fat in front of a hot fire,
doing it first on one side and then on the other, that he may get it cooked as
soon as possible, even so did he turn himself about from side to side, thinking
all the time how, single handed as he was, he should contrive to kill so large a
body of men as the wicked suitors. But by and by Minerva came down from
heaven in the likeness of a woman, and hovered over his head saying, "My
poor unhappy man, why do you lie awake in this way? This is your house:
your wife is safe inside it, and so is your son who is just such a young man as
any father may be proud of."
"Goddess," answered Ulysses, "all that you have said is true, but I am in
some doubt as to how I shall be able to kill these wicked suitors single handed,
seeing what a number of them there always are. And there is this further
difficulty, which is still more considerable. Supposing that with Jove's and
your assistance I succeed in killing them, I must ask you to consider where I
am to escape to from their avengers when it is all over."
"For shame," replied Minerva, "why, any one else would trust a worse ally
than myself, even though that ally were only a mortal and less wise than I am.
Am I not a goddess, and have I not protected you throughout in all your
troubles? I tell you plainly that even though there were fifty bands of men
surrounding us and eager to kill us, you should take all their sheep and cattle,
and drive them away with you. But go to sleep; it is a very bad thing to lie
awake all night, and you shall be out of your troubles before long."
As she spoke she shed sleep over his eyes, and then went back to Olympus.
While Ulysses was thus yielding himself to a very deep slumber that eased
the burden of his sorrows, his admirable wife awoke, and sitting up in her bed
began to cry. When she had relieved herself by weeping she prayed to Diana
saying, "Great Goddess Diana, daughter of Jove, drive an arrow into my heart
and slay me; or let some whirlwind snatch me up and bear me through paths of
darkness till it drop me into the mouths of over-flowing Oceanus, as it did the
daughters of Pandareus. The daughters of Pandareus lost their father and
mother, for the gods killed them, so they were left orphans. But Venus took
care of them, and fed them on cheese, honey, and sweet wine. Juno taught
them to excel all women in beauty of form and understanding; Diana gave
them an imposing presence, and Minerva endowed them with every kind of
accomplishment; but one day when Venus had gone up to Olympus to see Jove
about getting them married (for well does he know both what shall happen and
what not happen to every one) the storm winds came and spirited them away
to become handmaids to the dread Erinyes. Even so I wish that the gods who
live in heaven would hide me from mortal sight, or that fair Diana might strike
me, for I would fain go even beneath the sad earth if I might do so still looking
towards Ulysses only, and without having to yield myself to a worse man than
he was. Besides, no matter how much people may grieve by day, they can put
up with it so long as they can sleep at night, for when the eyes are closed in
slumber people forget good and ill alike; whereas my misery haunts me even
in my dreams. This very night methought there was one lying by my side who
was like Ulysses as he was when he went away with his host, and I rejoiced,
for I believed that it was no dream, but the very truth itself."
On this the day broke, but Ulysses heard the sound of her weeping, and it
puzzled him, for it seemed as though she already knew him and was by his
side. Then he gathered up the cloak and the fleeces on which he had lain, and
set them on a seat in the cloister, but he took the bullock's hide out into the
open. He lifted up his hands to heaven, and prayed, saying "Father Jove, since
you have seen fit to bring me over land and sea to my own home after all the
afflictions you have laid upon me, give me a sign out of the mouth of some
one or other of those who are now waking within the house, and let me have
another sign of some kind from outside."
Thus did he pray. Jove heard his prayer and forthwith thundered high up
among the clouds from the splendour of Olympus, and Ulysses was glad when
he heard it. At the same time within the house, a miller-woman from hard by
in the mill room lifted up her voice and gave him another sign. There were
twelve miller-women whose business it was to grind wheat and barley which
are the staff of life. The others had ground their task and had gone to take their
rest, but this one had not yet finished, for she was not so strong as they were,
and when she heard the thunder she stopped grinding and gave the sign to her
master. "Father Jove," said she, "you, who rule over heaven and earth, you
have thundered from a clear sky without so much as a cloud in it, and this
means something for somebody; grant the prayer, then, of me your poor
servant who calls upon you, and let this be the very last day that the suitors
dine in the house of Ulysses. They have worn me out with labour of grinding
meal for them, and I hope they may never have another dinner anywhere at
all."
Ulysses was glad when he heard the omens conveyed to him by the
woman's speech, and by the thunder, for he knew they meant that he should
avenge himself on the suitors.
Then the other maids in the house rose and lit the fire on the hearth;
Telemachus also rose and put on his clothes. He girded his sword about his
shoulder, bound his sandals on to his comely feet, and took a doughty spear
with a point of sharpened bronze; then he went to the threshold of the cloister
and said to Euryclea, "Nurse, did you make the stranger comfortable both as
regards bed and board, or did you let him shift for himself?—for my mother,
good woman though she is, has a way of paying great attention to second-rate
people, and of neglecting others who are in reality much better men."
"Do not find fault child," said Euryclea, "when there is no one to find fault
with. The stranger sat and drank his wine as long as he liked: your mother did
ask him if he would take any more bread and he said he would not. When he
wanted to go to bed she told the servants to make one for him, but he said he
was such a wretched outcast that he would not sleep on a bed and under
blankets; he insisted on having an undressed bullock's hide and some
sheepskins put for him in the cloister and I threw a cloak over him myself."
Then Telemachus went out of the court to the place where the Achaeans
were meeting in assembly; he had his spear in his hand, and he was not alone,
for his two dogs went with him. But Euryclea called the maids and said,
"Come, wake up; set about sweeping the cloisters and sprinkling them with
water to lay the dust; put the covers on the seats; wipe down the tables, some
of you, with a wet sponge; clean out the mixing-jugs and the cups, and go for
water from the fountain at once; the suitors will be here directly; they will be
here early, for it is a feast day."
Thus did she speak, and they did even as she had said: twenty of them
went to the fountain for water, and the others set themselves busily to work
about the house. The men who were in attendance on the suitors also came up
and began chopping firewood. By and by the women returned from the
fountain, and the swineherd came after them with the three best pigs he could
pick out. These he let feed about the premises, and then he said good-
humouredly to Ulysses, "Stranger, are the suitors treating you any better now,
or are they as insolent as ever?"
"May heaven," answered Ulysses, "requite to them the wickedness with
which they deal high-handedly in another man's house without any sense of
shame."
Thus did they converse; meanwhile Melanthius the goatherd came up, for
he too was bringing in his best goats for the suitors' dinner; and he had two
shepherds with him. They tied the goats up under the gatehouse, and then
Melanthius began gibing at Ulysses. "Are you still here, stranger," said he, "to
pester people by begging about the house? Why can you not go elsewhere?
You and I shall not come to an understanding before we have given each other
a taste of our fists. You beg without any sense of decency: are there not feasts
elsewhere among the Achaeans, as well as here?"
Ulysses made no answer, but bowed his head and brooded. Then a third
man, Philoetius, joined them, who was bringing in a barren heifer and some
goats. These were brought over by the boatmen who are there to take people
over when any one comes to them. So Philoetius made his heifer and his goats
secure under the gatehouse, and then went up to the swineherd. "Who,
Swineherd," said he, "is this stranger that is lately come here? Is he one of
your men? What is his family? Where does he come from? Poor fellow, he
looks as if he had been some great man, but the gods give sorrow to whom
they will—even to kings if it so pleases them."
As he spoke he went up to Ulysses and saluted him with his right hand;
"Good day to you, father stranger," said he, "you seem to be very poorly off
now, but I hope you will have better times by and by. Father Jove, of all gods
you are the most malicious. We are your own children, yet you show us no
mercy in all our misery and afflictions. A sweat came over me when I saw this
man, and my eyes filled with tears, for he reminds me of Ulysses, who I fear is
going about in just such rags as this man's are, if indeed he is still among the
living. If he is already dead and in the house of Hades, then, alas! for my good
master, who made me his stockman when I was quite young among the
Cephallenians, and now his cattle are countless; no one could have done better
with them than I have, for they have bred like ears of corn; nevertheless I have
to keep bringing them in for others to eat, who take no heed to his son though
he is in the house, and fear not the wrath of heaven, but are already eager to
divide Ulysses' property among them because he has been away so long. I
have often thought—only it would not be right while his son is living—of
going off with the cattle to some foreign country; bad as this would be, it is
still harder to stay here and be ill-treated about other people's herds. My
position is intolerable, and I should long since have run away and put myself
under the protection of some other chief, only that I believe my poor master
will yet return, and send all these suitors flying out of the house."
"Stockman," answered Ulysses, "you seem to be a very well-disposed
person, and I can see that you are a man of sense. Therefore I will tell you, and
will confirm my words with an oath. By Jove, the chief of all gods, and by that
hearth of Ulysses to which I am now come, Ulysses shall return before you
leave this place, and if you are so minded you shall see him killing the suitors
who are now masters here."
"If Jove were to bring this to pass," replied the stockman, "you should see
how I would do my very utmost to help him."
And in like manner Eumaeus prayed that Ulysses might return home.
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors were hatching a plot to
murder Telemachus: but a bird flew near them on their left hand—an eagle
with a dove in its talons. On this Amphinomus said, "My friends, this plot of
ours to murder Telemachus will not succeed; let us go to dinner instead."
The others assented, so they went inside and laid their cloaks on the
benches and seats. They sacrificed the sheep, goats, pigs, and the heifer, and
when the inward meats were cooked they served them round. They mixed the
wine in the mixing-bowls, and the swineherd gave every man his cup, while
Philoetius handed round the bread in the bread baskets, and Melanthius poured
them out their wine. Then they laid their hands upon the good things that were
before them.
Telemachus purposely made Ulysses sit in the part of the cloister that was
paved with stone; he gave him a shabby looking seat at a little table to
himself, and had his portion of the inward meats brought to him, with his wine
in a gold cup. "Sit there," said he, "and drink your wine among the great
people. I will put a stop to the gibes and blows of the suitors, for this is no
public house, but belongs to Ulysses, and has passed from him to me.
Therefore, suitors, keep your hands and your tongues to yourselves, or there
will be mischief."
The suitors bit their lips, and marvelled at the boldness of his speech; then
Antinous said, "We do not like such language but we will put up with it, for
Telemachus is threatening us in good earnest. If Jove had let us we should
have put a stop to his brave talk ere now."
Thus spoke Antinous, but Telemachus heeded him not. Meanwhile the
heralds were bringing the holy hecatomb through the city, and the Achaeans
gathered under the shady grove of Apollo.
Then they roasted the outer meat, drew it off the spits, gave every man his
portion, and feasted to their heart's content; those who waited at table gave
Ulysses exactly the same portion as the others had, for Telemachus had told
them to do so.
But Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment drop their insolence,
for she wanted Ulysses to become still more bitter against them. Now there
happened to be among them a ribald fellow, whose name was Ctesippus, and
who came from Same. This man, confident in his great wealth, was paying
court to the wife of Ulysses, and said to the suitors, "Hear what I have to say.
The stranger has already had as large a portion as any one else; this is well, for
it is not right nor reasonable to ill-treat any guest of Telemachus who comes
here. I will, however, make him a present on my own account, that he may
have something to give to the bath-woman, or to some other of Ulysses'
servants."
As he spoke he picked up a heifer's foot from the meat-basket in which it
lay, and threw it at Ulysses, but Ulysses turned his head a little aside, and
avoided it, smiling grimly Sardinian fashion as he did so, and it hit the wall,
not him. On this Telemachus spoke fiercely to Ctesippus, "It is a good thing
for you," said he, "that the stranger turned his head so that you missed him. If
you had hit him I should have run you through with my spear, and your father
would have had to see about getting you buried rather than married in this
house. So let me have no more unseemly behaviour from any of you, for I am
grown up now to the knowledge of good and evil and understand what is
going on, instead of being the child that I have been heretofore. I have long
seen you killing my sheep and making free with my corn and wine: I have put
up with this, for one man is no match for many, but do me no further violence.
Still, if you wish to kill me, kill me; I would far rather die than see such
disgraceful scenes day after day—guests insulted, and men dragging the
women servants about the house in an unseemly way."
They all held their peace till at last Agelaus son of Damastor said, "No one
should take offence at what has just been said, nor gainsay it, for it is quite
reasonable. Leave off, therefore, ill-treating the stranger, or any one else of the
servants who are about the house; I would say, however, a friendly word to
Telemachus and his mother, which I trust may commend itself to both. 'As
long,' I would say, 'as you had ground for hoping that Ulysses would one day
come home, no one could complain of your waiting and suffering the suitors
to be in your house. It would have been better that he should have returned,
but it is now sufficiently clear that he will never do so; therefore talk all this
quietly over with your mother, and tell her to marry the best man, and the one
who makes her the most advantageous offer. Thus you will yourself be able to
manage your own inheritance, and to eat and drink in peace, while your
mother will look after some other man's house, not yours.'"
 To this Telemachus answered, "By Jove, Agelaus, and by the sorrows of
my unhappy father, who has either perished far from Ithaca, or is wandering in
some distant land, I throw no obstacles in the way of my mother's marriage; on
the contrary I urge her to choose whomsoever she will, and I will give her
numberless gifts into the bargain, but I dare not insist point blank that she shall
leave the house against her own wishes. Heaven forbid that I should do this."
Minerva now made the suitors fall to laughing immoderately, and set their
wits wandering; but they were laughing with a forced laughter. Their meat
became smeared with blood; their eyes filled with tears, and their hearts were
heavy with forebodings. Theoclymenus saw this and said, "Unhappy men,
what is it that ails you? There is a shroud of darkness drawn over you from
head to foot, your cheeks are wet with tears; the air is alive with wailing
voices; the walls and roof-beams drip blood; the gate of the cloisters and the
court beyond them are full of ghosts trooping down into the night of hell; the
sun is blotted out of heaven, and a blighting gloom is over all the land."
Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily. Eurymachus then
said, "This stranger who has lately come here has lost his senses. Servants,
turn him out into the streets, since he finds it so dark here."
But Theoclymenus said, "Eurymachus, you need not send any one with
me. I have eyes, ears, and a pair of feet of my own, to say nothing of an
understanding mind. I will take these out of the house with me, for I see
mischief overhanging you, from which not one of you men who are insulting
people and plotting ill deeds in the house of Ulysses will be able to escape."
He left the house as he spoke, and went back to Piraeus who gave him
welcome, but the suitors kept looking at one another and provoking
Telemachus by laughing at the strangers. One insolent fellow said to him,
"Telemachus, you are not happy in your guests; first you have this importunate
tramp, who comes begging bread and wine and has no skill for work or for
hard fighting, but is perfectly useless, and now here is another fellow who is
setting himself up as a prophet. Let me persuade you, for it will be much better
to put them on board ship and send them off to the Sicels to sell for what they
will bring."
Telemachus gave him no heed, but sate silently watching his father,
expecting every moment that he would begin his attack upon the suitors.
Meanwhile the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, had had a rich seat
placed for her facing the court and cloisters, so that she could hear what every
one was saying. The dinner indeed had been prepared amid much merriment;
it had been both good and abundant, for they had sacrificed many victims; but
the supper was yet to come, and nothing can be conceived more gruesome
than the meal which a goddess and a brave man were soon to lay before them
—for they had brought their doom upon themselves.

BOOK XXI
THE TRIAL OF THE AXES, DURING WHICH ULYSSES REVEALS
HIMSELF TO EUMAEUS AND PHILOETIUS

Minerva now put it in Penelope's mind to make the suitors try their skill
with the bow and with the iron axes, in contest among themselves, as a means
of bringing about their destruction. She went upstairs and got the store-room
key, which was made of bronze and had a handle of ivory; she then went with
her maidens into the store-room at the end of the house, where her husband's
treasures of gold, bronze, and wrought iron were kept, and where was also his
bow, and the quiver full of deadly arrows that had been given him by a friend
whom he had met in Lacedaemon—Iphitus the son of Eurytus. The two fell in
with one another in Messene at the house of Ortilochus, where Ulysses was
staying in order to recover a debt that was owing from the whole people; for
the Messenians had carried off three hundred sheep from Ithaca, and had
sailed away with them and with their shepherds. In quest of these Ulysses took
a long journey while still quite young, for his father and the other chieftains
sent him on a mission to recover them. Iphitus had gone there also to try and
get back twelve brood mares that he had lost, and the mule foals that were
running with them. These mares were the death of him in the end, for when he
went to the house of Jove's son, mighty Hercules, who performed such
prodigies of valour, Hercules to his shame killed him, though he was his guest,
for he feared not heaven's vengeance, nor yet respected his own table which he
had set before Iphitus, but killed him in spite of everything, and kept the mares
himself. It was when claiming these that Iphitus met Ulysses, and gave him
the bow which mighty Eurytus had been used to carry, and which on his death
had been left by him to his son. Ulysses gave him in return a sword and a
spear, and this was the beginning of a fast friendship, although they never
visited at one another's houses, for Jove's son Hercules killed Iphitus ere they
could do so. This bow, then, given him by Iphitus, had not been taken with
him by Ulysses when he sailed for Troy; he had used it so long as he had been
at home, but had left it behind as having been a keepsake from a valued friend.
Penelope presently reached the oak threshold of the store-room; the
carpenter had planed this duly, and had drawn a line on it so as to get it quite
straight; he had then set the door posts into it and hung the doors. She loosed
the strap from the handle of the door, put in the key, and drove it straight home
to shoot back the bolts that held the doors; these flew open with a noise like a
bull bellowing in a meadow, and Penelope stepped upon the raised platform,
where the chests stood in which the fair linen and clothes were laid by along
with fragrant herbs: reaching thence, she took down the bow with its bow case
from the peg on which it hung. She sat down with it on her knees, weeping
bitterly as she took the bow out of its case, and when her tears had relieved
her, she went to the cloister where the suitors were, carrying the bow and the
quiver, with the many deadly arrows that were inside it. Along with her came
her maidens, bearing a chest that contained much iron and bronze which her
husband had won as prizes. When she reached the suitors, she stood by one of
the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister, holding a veil before her
face, and with a maid on either side of her. Then she said:
"Listen to me you suitors, who persist in abusing the hospitality of this
house because its owner has been long absent, and without other pretext than
that you want to marry me; this, then, being the prize that you are contending
for, I will bring out the mighty bow of Ulysses, and whomsoever of you shall
string it most easily and send his arrow through each one of twelve axes, him
will I follow and quit this house of my lawful husband, so goodly, and so
abounding in wealth. But even so I doubt not that I shall remember it in my
dreams."
As she spoke, she told Eumaeus to set the bow and the pieces of iron
before the suitors, and Eumaeus wept as he took them to do as she had bidden
him. Hard by, the stockman wept also when he saw his master's bow, but
Antinous scolded them. "You country louts," said he, "silly simpletons; why
should you add to the sorrows of your mistress by crying in this way? She has
enough to grieve her in the loss of her husband; sit still, therefore, and eat your
dinners in silence, or go outside if you want to cry, and leave the bow behind
you. We suitors shall have to contend for it with might and main, for we shall
find it no light matter to string such a bow as this is. There is not a man of us
all who is such another as Ulysses; for I have seen him and remember him,
though I was then only a child."
This was what he said, but all the time he was expecting to be able to string
the bow and shoot through the iron, whereas in fact he was to be the first that
should taste of the arrows from the hands of Ulysses, whom he was
dishonouring in his own house—egging the others on to do so also.
Then Telemachus spoke. "Great heavens!" he exclaimed, "Jove must have
robbed me of my senses. Here is my dear and excellent mother saying she will
quit this house and marry again, yet I am laughing and enjoying myself as
though there were nothing happening. But, suitors, as the contest has been
agreed upon, let it go forward. It is for a woman whose peer is not to be found
in Pylos, Argos, or Mycene, nor yet in Ithaca nor on the mainland. You know
this as well as I do; what need have I to speak in praise of my mother? Come
on, then, make no excuses for delay, but let us see whether you can string the
bow or no. I too will make trial of it, for if I can string it and shoot through the
iron, I shall not suffer my mother to quit this house with a stranger, not if I can
win the prizes which my father won before me."
As he spoke he sprang from his seat, threw his crimson cloak from him,
and took his sword from his shoulder. First he set the axes in a row, in a long
groove which he had dug for them, and had made straight by line. Then he
stamped the earth tight round them, and everyone was surprised when they
saw him set them up so orderly, though he had never seen anything of the kind
before. This done, he went on to the pavement to make trial of the bow; thrice
did he tug at it, trying with all his might to draw the string, and thrice he had to
leave off, though he had hoped to string the bow and shoot through the iron.
He was trying for the fourth time, and would have strung it had not Ulysses
made a sign to check him in spite of all his eagerness. So he said:
"Alas! I shall either be always feeble and of no prowess, or I am too
young, and have not yet reached my full strength so as to be able to hold my
own if any one attacks me. You others, therefore, who are stronger than I,
make trial of the bow and get this contest settled."
On this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door [that led into
the house] with the arrow standing against the top of the bow. Then he sat
down on the seat from which he had risen, and Antinous said:
"Come on each of you in his turn, going towards the right from the place at
which the cupbearer begins when he is handing round the wine."
The rest agreed, and Leiodes son of Oenops was the first to rise. He was
sacrificial priest to the suitors, and sat in the corner near the mixing-bowl. He
was the only man who hated their evil deeds and was indignant with the
others. He was now the first to take the bow and arrow, so he went on to the
pavement to make his trial, but he could not string the bow, for his hands were
weak and unused to hard work, they therefore soon grew tired, and he said to
the suitors, "My friends, I cannot string it; let another have it, this bow shall
take the life and soul out of many a chief among us, for it is better to die than
to live after having missed the prize that we have so long striven for, and
which has brought us so long together. Some one of us is even now hoping and
praying that he may marry Penelope, but when he has seen this bow and tried
it, let him woo and make bridal offerings to some other woman, and let
Penelope marry whoever makes her the best offer and whose lot it is to win
her."
On this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door, with the
arrow standing against the tip of the bow. Then he took his seat again on the
seat from which he had risen; and Antinous rebuked him saying:
 "Leiodes, what are you talking about? Your words are monstrous and
intolerable; it makes me angry to listen to you. Shall, then, this bow take the
life of many a chief among us, merely because you cannot bend it yourself?
True, you were not born to be an archer, but there are others who will soon
string it."
Then he said to Melanthius the goatherd, "Look sharp, light a fire in the
court, and set a seat hard by with a sheep skin on it; bring us also a large ball
of lard, from what they have in the house. Let us warm the bow and grease it
—we will then make trial of it again, and bring the contest to an end."
Melanthius lit the fire, and set a seat covered with sheep skins beside it. He
also brought a great ball of lard from what they had in the house, and the
suitors warmed the bow and again made trial of it, but they were none of them
nearly strong enough to string it. Nevertheless there still remained Antinous
and Eurymachus, who were the ringleaders among the suitors and much the
foremost among them all.
Then the swineherd and the stockman left the cloisters together, and
Ulysses followed them. When they had got outside the gates and the outer
yard, Ulysses said to them quietly:
"Stockman, and you swineherd, I have something in my mind which I am
in doubt whether to say or no; but I think I will say it. What manner of men
would you be to stand by Ulysses, if some god should bring him back here all
of a sudden? Say which you are disposed to do—to side with the suitors, or
with Ulysses?"
"Father Jove," answered the stockman, "would indeed that you might so
ordain it. If some god were but to bring Ulysses back, you should see with
what might and main I would fight for him."
In like words Eumaeus prayed to all the gods that Ulysses might return;
when, therefore, he saw for certain what mind they were of, Ulysses said, "It is
I, Ulysses, who am here. I have suffered much, but at last, in the twentieth
year, I am come back to my own country. I find that you two alone of all my
servants are glad that I should do so, for I have not heard any of the others
praying for my return. To you two, therefore, will I unfold the truth as it shall
be. If heaven shall deliver the suitors into my hands, I will find wives for both
of you, will give you house and holding close to my own, and you shall be to
me as though you were brothers and friends of Telemachus. I will now give
you convincing proofs that you may know me and be assured. See, here is the
scar from the boar's tooth that ripped me when I was out hunting on Mt.
Parnassus with the sons of Autolycus."
As he spoke he drew his rags aside from the great scar, and when they had
examined it thoroughly, they both of them wept about Ulysses, threw their
arms round him, and kissed his head and shoulders, while Ulysses kissed their
hands and faces in return. The sun would have gone down upon their
mourning if Ulysses had not checked them and said:
"Cease your weeping, lest some one should come outside and see us, and
tell those who are within. When you go in, do so separately, not both together;
I will go first, and do you follow afterwards; let this moreover be the token
between us; the suitors will all of them try to prevent me from getting hold of
the bow and quiver; do you, therefore, Eumaeus, place it in my hands when
you are carrying it about, and tell the women to close the doors of their
apartment. If they hear any groaning or uproar as of men fighting about the
house, they must not come out; they must keep quiet, and stay where they are
at their work. And I charge you, Philoetius, to make fast the doors of the outer
court, and to bind them securely at once."
When he had thus spoken, he went back to the house and took the seat that
he had left. Presently, his two servants followed him inside.
At this moment the bow was in the hands of Eurymachus, who was
warming it by the fire, but even so he could not string it, and he was greatly
grieved. He heaved a deep sigh and said, "I grieve for myself and for us all; I
grieve that I shall have to forgo the marriage, but I do not care nearly so much
about this, for there are plenty of other women in Ithaca and elsewhere; what I
feel most is the fact of our being so inferior to Ulysses in strength that we
cannot string his bow. This will disgrace us in the eyes of those who are yet
unborn."
"It shall not be so, Eurymachus," said Antinous, "and you know it yourself.
Today is the feast of Apollo throughout all the land; who can string a bow on
such a day as this? Put it on one side—as for the axes they can stay where they
are, for no one is likely to come to the house and take them away: let the
cupbearer go round with his cups, that we may make our drink-offerings and
drop this matter of the bow; we will tell Melanthius to bring us in some goats
tomorrow—the best he has; we can then offer thigh bones to Apollo the
mighty archer, and again make trial of the bow, so as to bring the contest to an
end."
The rest approved his words, and thereon men servants poured water over
the hands of the guests, while pages filled the mixing-bowls with wine and
water and handed it round after giving every man his drink-offering. Then,
when they had made their offerings and had drunk each as much as he desired,
Ulysses craftily said:—
"Suitors of the illustrious queen, listen that I may speak even as I am
minded. I appeal more especially to Eurymachus, and to Antinous who has
just spoken with so much reason. Cease shooting for the present and leave the
matter to the gods, but in the morning let heaven give victory to whom it will.
For the moment, however, give me the bow that I may prove the power of my
hands among you all, and see whether I still have as much strength as I used to
have, or whether travel and neglect have made an end of it."
This made them all very angry, for they feared he might string the bow,
Antinous therefore rebuked him fiercely saying, "Wretched creature, you have
not so much as a grain of sense in your whole body; you ought to think
yourself lucky in being allowed to dine unharmed among your betters, without
having any smaller portion served you than we others have had, and in being
allowed to hear our conversation. No other beggar or stranger has been
allowed to hear what we say among ourselves; the wine must have been doing
you a mischief, as it does with all those who drink immoderately. It was wine
that inflamed the Centaur Eurytion when he was staying with Peirithous
among the Lapithae. When the wine had got into his head, he went mad and
did ill deeds about the house of Peirithous; this angered the heroes who were
there assembled, so they rushed at him and cut off his ears and nostrils; then
they dragged him through the doorway out of the house, so he went away
crazed, and bore the burden of his crime, bereft of understanding. Henceforth,
therefore, there was war between mankind and the centaurs, but he brought it
upon himself through his own drunkenness. In like manner I can tell you that
it will go hardly with you if you string the bow: you will find no mercy from
any one here, for we shall at once ship you off to king Echetus, who kills
every one that comes near him: you will never get away alive, so drink and
keep quiet without getting into a quarrel with men younger than yourself."
Penelope then spoke to him. "Antinous," said she, "it is not right that you
should ill-treat any guest of Telemachus who comes to this house. If the
stranger should prove strong enough to string the mighty bow of Ulysses, can
you suppose that he would take me home with him and make me his wife?
Even the man himself can have no such idea in his mind: none of you need let
that disturb his feasting; it would be out of all reason."
"Queen Penelope," answered Eurymachus, "we do not suppose that this
man will take you away with him; it is impossible; but we are afraid lest some
of the baser sort, men or women among the Achaeans, should go gossiping
about and say, 'These suitors are a feeble folk; they are paying court to the
wife of a brave man whose bow not one of them was able to string, and yet a
beggarly tramp who came to the house strung it at once and sent an arrow
through the iron.' This is what will be said, and it will be a scandal against us."
"Eurymachus," Penelope answered, "people who persist in eating up the
estate of a great chieftain and dishonouring his house must not expect others to
think well of them. Why then should you mind if men talk as you think they
will? This stranger is strong and well-built, he says moreover that he is of
noble birth. Give him the bow, and let us see whether he can string it or no. I
say—and it shall surely be—that if Apollo vouchsafes him the glory of
stringing it, I will give him a cloak and shirt of good wear, with a javelin to
keep off dogs and robbers, and a sharp sword. I will also give him sandals, and
will see him sent safely wherever he wants to go."
Then Telemachus said, "Mother, I am the only man either in Ithaca or in
the islands that are over against Elis who has the right to let any one have the
bow or to refuse it. No one shall force me one way or the other, not even
though I choose to make the stranger a present of the bow outright, and let him
take it away with him. Go, then, within the house and busy yourself with your
daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants. This
bow is a man's matter, and mine above all others, for it is I who am master
here."
She went wondering back into the house, and laid her son's saying in her
heart. Then going upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she mourned her
dear husband till Minerva sent sweet sleep over her eyelids.
The swineherd now took up the bow and was for taking it to Ulysses, but
the suitors clamoured at him from all parts of the cloisters, and one of them
said, "You idiot, where are you taking the bow to? Are you out of your wits? If
Apollo and the other gods will grant our prayer, your own boarhounds shall
get you into some quiet little place, and worry you to death."
Eumaeus was frightened at the outcry they all raised, so he put the bow
down then and there, but Telemachus shouted out at him from the other side of
the cloisters, and threatened him saying, "Father Eumaeus, bring the bow on in
spite of them, or young as I am I will pelt you with stones back to the country,
for I am the better man of the two. I wish I was as much stronger than all the
other suitors in the house as I am than you, I would soon send some of them
off sick and sorry, for they mean mischief."
Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily, which put them in
a better humour with Telemachus; so Eumaeus brought the bow on and placed
it in the hands of Ulysses. When he had done this, he called Euryclea apart and
said to her, "Euryclea, Telemachus says you are to close the doors of the
women's apartments. If they hear any groaning or uproar as of men fighting
about the house, they are not to come out, but are to keep quiet and stay where
they are at their work."
Euryclea did as she was told and closed the doors of the women's
apartments.
Meanwhile Philoetius slipped quietly out and made fast the gates of the
outer court. There was a ship's cable of byblus fibre lying in the gatehouse, so
he made the gates fast with it and then came in again, resuming the seat that he
had left, and keeping an eye on Ulysses, who had now got the bow in his
hands, and was turning it every way about, and proving it all over to see
whether the worms had been eating into its two horns during his absence.
Then would one turn towards his neighbour saying, "This is some tricky old
bow-fancier; either he has got one like it at home, or he wants to make one, in
such workmanlike style does the old vagabond handle it."
Another said, "I hope he may be no more successful in other things than he
is likely to be in stringing this bow."
But Ulysses, when he had taken it up and examined it all over, strung it as
easily as a skilled bard strings a new peg of his lyre and makes the twisted gut
fast at both ends. Then he took it in his right hand to prove the string, and it
sang sweetly under his touch like the twittering of a swallow. The suitors were
dismayed, and turned colour as they heard it; at that moment, moreover, Jove
thundered loudly as a sign, and the heart of Ulysses rejoiced as he heard the
omen that the son of scheming Saturn had sent him.
He took an arrow that was lying upon the table —for those which the
Achaeans were so shortly about to taste were all inside the quiver—he laid it
on the centre-piece of the bow, and drew the notch of the arrow and the string
toward him, still seated on his seat. When he had taken aim he let fly, and his
arrow pierced every one of the handle-holes of the axes from the first onwards
till it had gone right through them, and into the outer courtyard. Then he said
to Telemachus:
"Your guest has not disgraced you, Telemachus. I did not miss what I
aimed at, and I was not long in stringing my bow. I am still strong, and not as
the suitors twit me with being. Now, however, it is time for the Achaeans to
prepare supper while there is still daylight, and then otherwise to disport
themselves with song and dance which are the crowning ornaments of a
banquet."
As he spoke he made a sign with his eyebrows, and Telemachus girded on
his sword, grasped his spear, and stood armed beside his father's seat.

BOOK XXII
THE KILLING OF THE SUITORS—THE MAIDS WHO HAVE
MISCONDUCTED THEMSELVES ARE MADE TO CLEANSE THE
CLOISTERS AND ARE THEN HANGED.

 Then Ulysses tore off his rags, and sprang on to the broad pavement with
his bow and his quiver full of arrows. He shed the arrows on to the ground at
his feet and said, "The mighty contest is at an end. I will now see whether
Apollo will vouchsafe it to me to hit another mark which no man has yet hit."
On this he aimed a deadly arrow at Antinous, who was about to take up a
two-handled gold cup to drink his wine and already had it in his hands. He had
no thought of death—who amongst all the revellers would think that one man,
however brave, would stand alone among so many and kill him? The arrow
struck Antinous in the throat, and the point went clean through his neck, so
that he fell over and the cup dropped from his hand, while a thick stream of
blood gushed from his nostrils. He kicked the table from him and upset the
things on it, so that the bread and roasted meats were all soiled as they fell
over on to the ground. The suitors were in an uproar when they saw that a
man had been hit; they sprang in dismay one and all of them from their seats
and looked everywhere towards the walls, but there was neither shield nor
spear, and they rebuked Ulysses very angrily. "Stranger," said they, "you shall
pay for shooting people in this way: you shall see no other contest; you are a
doomed man; he whom you have slain was the foremost youth in Ithaca, and
the vultures shall devour you for having killed him."
Thus they spoke, for they thought that he had killed Antinous by mistake,
and did not perceive that death was hanging over the head of every one of
them. But Ulysses glared at them and said:
"Dogs, did you think that I should not come back from Troy? You have
wasted my substance, have forced my women servants to lie with you, and
have wooed my wife while I was still living. You have feared neither God nor
man, and now you shall die."
They turned pale with fear as he spoke, and every man looked round about
to see whither he might fly for safety, but Eurymachus alone spoke.
"If you are Ulysses," said he, "then what you have said is just. We have
done much wrong on your lands and in your house. But Antinous who was the
head and front of the offending lies low already. It was all his doing. It was not
that he wanted to marry Penelope; he did not so much care about that; what he
wanted was something quite different, and Jove has not vouchsafed it to him;
he wanted to kill your son and to be chief man in Ithaca. Now, therefore, that
he has met the death which was his due, spare the lives of your people. We
will make everything good among ourselves, and pay you in full for all that
we have eaten and drunk. Each one of us shall pay you a fine worth twenty
oxen, and we will keep on giving you gold and bronze till your heart is
softened. Until we have done this no one can complain of your being enraged
against us."
 Ulysses again glared at him and said, "Though you should give me all that
you have in the world both now and all that you ever shall have, I will not stay
my hand till I have paid all of you in full. You must fight, or fly for your lives;
and fly, not a man of you shall."
Their hearts sank as they heard him, but Eurymachus again spoke saying:
"My friends, this man will give us no quarter. He will stand where he is
and shoot us down till he has killed every man among us. Let us then show
fight; draw your swords, and hold up the tables to shield you from his arrows.
Let us have at him with a rush, to drive him from the pavement and doorway:
we can then get through into the town, and raise such an alarm as shall soon
stay his shooting."
As he spoke he drew his keen blade of bronze, sharpened on both sides,
and with a loud cry sprang towards Ulysses, but Ulysses instantly shot an
arrow into his breast that caught him by the nipple and fixed itself in his liver.
He dropped his sword and fell doubled up over his table. The cup and all the
meats went over on to the ground as he smote the earth with his forehead in
the agonies of death, and he kicked the stool with his feet until his eyes were
closed in darkness.
Then Amphinomus drew his sword and made straight at Ulysses to try and
get him away from the door; but Telemachus was too quick for him, and
struck him from behind; the spear caught him between the shoulders and went
right through his chest, so that he fell heavily to the ground and struck the
earth with his forehead. Then Telemachus sprang away from him, leaving his
spear still in the body, for he feared that if he stayed to draw it out, some one
of the Achaeans might come up and hack at him with his sword, or knock him
down, so he set off at a run, and immediately was at his father's side. Then he
said:
"Father, let me bring you a shield, two spears, and a brass helmet for your
temples. I will arm myself as well, and will bring other armour for the
swineherd and the stockman, for we had better be armed."
"Run and fetch them," answered Ulysses, "while my arrows hold out, or
when I am alone they may get me away from the door."
Telemachus did as his father said, and went off to the store room where the
armour was kept. He chose four shields, eight spears, and four brass helmets
with horse-hair plumes. He brought them with all speed to his father, and
armed himself first, while the stockman and the swineherd also put on their
armour, and took their places near Ulysses. Meanwhile Ulysses, as long as his
arrows lasted, had been shooting the suitors one by one, and they fell thick on
one another: when his arrows gave out, he set the bow to stand against the end
wall of the house by the door post, and hung a shield four hides thick about his
shoulders; on his comely head he set his helmet, well wrought with a crest of
horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it, and he grasped two redoubtable
bronze-shod spears.
Now there was a trap door on the wall, while at one end of the pavement
there was an exit leading to a narrow passage, and this exit was closed by a
well-made door. Ulysses told Philoetius to stand by this door and guard it, for
only one person could attack it at a time. But Agelaus shouted out, "Cannot
some one go up to the trap door and tell the people what is going on? Help
would come at once, and we should soon make an end of this man and his
shooting."
"This may not be, Agelaus," answered Melanthius, "the mouth of the
narrow passage is dangerously near the entrance to the outer court. One brave
man could prevent any number from getting in. But I know what I will do, I
will bring you arms from the store-room, for I am sure it is there that Ulysses
and his son have put them."
On this the goatherd Melanthius went by back passages to the store-room
of Ulysses' house. There he chose twelve shields, with as many helmets and
spears, and brought them back as fast as he could to give them to the suitors.
Ulysses' heart began to fail him when he saw the suitors putting on their
armour and brandishing their spears. He saw the greatness of the danger, and
said to Telemachus, "Some one of the women inside is helping the suitors
against us, or it may be Melanthius."
Telemachus answered, "The fault, father, is mine, and mine only; I left the
store room door open, and they have kept a sharper look out than I have. Go,
Eumaeus, put the door to, and see whether it is one of the women who is doing
this, or whether, as I suspect, it is Melanthius the son of Dolius."
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Melanthius was again going to the
store room to fetch more armour, but the swineherd saw him and said to
Ulysses who was beside him, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, it is that
scoundrel Melanthius, just as we suspected, who is going to the store room.
Say, shall I kill him, if I can get the better of him, or shall I bring him here that
you may take your own revenge for all the many wrongs that he has done in
your house?"
Ulysses answered, "Telemachus and I will hold these suitors in check, no
matter what they do; go back both of you and bind Melanthius' hands and feet
behind him. Throw him into the store room and make the door fast behind
you; then fasten a noose about his body, and string him close up to the rafters
from a high bearing-post, that he may linger on in an agony."
 Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said; they went to the store
room, which they entered before Melanthius saw them, for he was busy
searching for arms in the innermost part of the room, so the two took their
stand on either side of the door and waited. By and by Melanthius came out
with a helmet in one hand, and an old dry-rotted shield in the other, which had
been borne by Laertes when he was young, but which had been long since
thrown aside, and the straps had become unsewn; on this the two seized him,
dragged him back by the hair, and threw him struggling to the ground. They
bent his hands and feet well behind his back, and bound them tight with a
painful bond as Ulysses had told them; then they fastened a noose about his
body and strung him up from a high pillar till he was close up to the rafters,
and over him did you then vaunt, O swineherd Eumaeus saying, "Melanthius,
you will pass the night on a soft bed as you deserve. You will know very well
when morning comes from the streams of Oceanus, and it is time for you to be
driving in your goats for the suitors to feast on."
There, then, they left him in very cruel bondage, and having put on their
armour they closed the door behind them and went back to take their places by
the side of Ulysses; whereon the four men stood in the cloister, fierce and full
of fury; nevertheless, those who were in the body of the court were still both
brave and many. Then Jove's daughter Minerva came up to them, having
assumed the voice and form of Mentor. Ulysses was glad when he saw her and
said, "Mentor, lend me your help, and forget not your old comrade, nor the
many good turns he has done you. Besides, you are my age-mate."
But all the time he felt sure it was Minerva, and the suitors from the other
side raised an uproar when they saw her. Agelaus was the first to reproach her.
"Mentor," he cried, "do not let Ulysses beguile you into siding with him and
fighting the suitors. This is what we will do: when we have killed these
people, father and son, we will kill you too. You shall pay for it with your
head, and when we have killed you, we will take all you have, in doors or out,
and bring it into hotch-pot with Ulysses' property; we will not let your sons
live in your house, nor your daughters, nor shall your widow continue to live
in the city of Ithaca."
This made Minerva still more furious, so she scolded Ulysses very angrily.
"Ulysses," said she, "your strength and prowess are no longer what they were
when you fought for nine long years among the Trojans about the noble lady
Helen. You killed many a man in those days, and it was through your
stratagem that Priam's city was taken. How comes it that you are so
lamentably less valiant now that you are on your own ground, face to face
with the suitors in your own house? Come on, my good fellow, stand by my
side and see how Mentor, son of Alcimus shall fight your foes and requite
your kindnesses conferred upon him."
 But she would not give him full victory as yet, for she wished still further
to prove his own prowess and that of his brave son, so she flew up to one of
the rafters in the roof of the cloister and sat upon it in the form of a swallow.
Meanwhile Agelaus son of Damastor, Eurynomus, Amphimedon,
Demoptolemus, Pisander, and Polybus son of Polyctor bore the brunt of the
fight upon the suitors' side; of all those who were still fighting for their lives
they were by far the most valiant, for the others had already fallen under the
arrows of Ulysses. Agelaus shouted to them and said, "My friends, he will
soon have to leave off, for Mentor has gone away after having done nothing
for him but brag. They are standing at the doors unsupported. Do not aim at
him all at once, but six of you throw your spears first, and see if you cannot
cover yourselves with glory by killing him. When he has fallen we need not be
uneasy about the others."
They threw their spears as he bade them, but Minerva made them all of no
effect. One hit the door post; another went against the door; the pointed shaft
of another struck the wall; and as soon as they had avoided all the spears of the
suitors Ulysses said to his own men, "My friends, I should say we too had
better let drive into the middle of them, or they will crown all the harm they
have done us by killing us outright."
They therefore aimed straight in front of them and threw their spears.
Ulysses killed Demoptolemus, Telemachus Euryades, Eumaeus Elatus, while
the stockman killed Pisander. These all bit the dust, and as the others drew
back into a corner Ulysses and his men rushed forward and regained their
spears by drawing them from the bodies of the dead.
The suitors now aimed a second time, but again Minerva made their
weapons for the most part without effect. One hit a bearing-post of the
cloister; another went against the door; while the pointed shaft of another
struck the wall. Still, Amphimedon just took a piece of the top skin from off
Telemachus's wrist, and Ctesippus managed to graze Eumaeus's shoulder
above his shield; but the spear went on and fell to the ground. Then Ulysses
and his men let drive into the crowd of suitors. Ulysses hit Eurydamas,
Telemachus Amphimedon, and Eumaeus Polybus. After this the stockman hit
Ctesippus in the breast, and taunted him saying, "Foul-mouthed son of
Polytherses, do not be so foolish as to talk wickedly another time, but let
heaven direct your speech, for the gods are far stronger than men. I make you
a present of this advice to repay you for the foot which you gave Ulysses when
he was begging about in his own house."
Thus spoke the stockman, and Ulysses struck the son of Damastor with a
spear in close fight, while Telemachus hit Leocritus son of Evenor in the belly,
and the dart went clean through him, so that he fell forward full on his face
upon the ground. Then Minerva from her seat on the rafter held up her deadly
aegis, and the hearts of the suitors quailed. They fled to the other end of the
court like a herd of cattle maddened by the gadfly in early summer when the
days are at their longest. As eagle-beaked, crook-taloned vultures from the
mountains swoop down on the smaller birds that cower in flocks upon the
ground, and kill them, for they cannot either fight or fly, and lookers on enjoy
the sport—even so did Ulysses and his men fall upon the suitors and smite
them on every side. They made a horrible groaning as their brains were being
battered in, and the ground seethed with their blood.
Leiodes then caught the knees of Ulysses and said, "Ulysses I beseech you
have mercy upon me and spare me. I never wronged any of the women in your
house either in word or deed, and I tried to stop the others. I saw them, but
they would not listen, and now they are paying for their folly. I was their
sacrificing priest; if you kill me, I shall die without having done anything to
deserve it, and shall have got no thanks for all the good that I did."
Ulysses looked sternly at him and answered, "If you were their sacrificing
priest, you must have prayed many a time that it might be long before I got
home again, and that you might marry my wife and have children by her.
Therefore you shall die."
With these words he picked up the sword that Agelaus had dropped when
he was being killed, and which was lying upon the ground. Then he struck
Leiodes on the back of his neck, so that his head fell rolling in the dust while
he was yet speaking.
The minstrel Phemius son of Terpes—he who had been forced by the
suitors to sing to them—now tried to save his life. He was standing near
towards the trap door, and held his lyre in his hand. He did not know whether
to fly out of the cloister and sit down by the altar of Jove that was in the outer
court, and on which both Laertes and Ulysses had offered up the thigh bones
of many an ox, or whether to go straight up to Ulysses and embrace his knees,
but in the end he deemed it best to embrace Ulysses' knees. So he laid his lyre
on the ground between the mixing bowl and the silver-studded seat; then
going up to Ulysses he caught hold of his knees and said, "Ulysses, I beseech
you have mercy on me and spare me. You will be sorry for it afterwards if you
kill a bard who can sing both for gods and men as I can. I make all my lays
myself, and heaven visits me with every kind of inspiration. I would sing to
you as though you were a god, do not therefore be in such a hurry to cut my
head off. Your own son Telemachus will tell you that I did not want to
frequent your house and sing to the suitors after their meals, but they were too
many and too strong for me, so they made me."
Telemachus heard him, and at once went up to his father. "Hold!" he cried,
"the man is guiltless, do him no hurt; and we will spare Medon too, who was
always good to me when I was a boy, unless Philoetius or Eumaeus has
already killed him, or he has fallen in your way when you were raging about
the court."
Medon caught these words of Telemachus, for he was crouching under a
seat beneath which he had hidden by covering himself up with a freshly flayed
heifer's hide, so he threw off the hide, went up to Telemachus, and laid hold of
his knees.
"Here I am, my dear sir," said he, "stay your hand therefore, and tell your
father, or he will kill me in his rage against the suitors for having wasted his
substance and been so foolishly disrespectful to yourself."
Ulysses smiled at him and answered, "Fear not; Telemachus has saved
your life, that you may know in future, and tell other people, how greatly
better good deeds prosper than evil ones. Go, therefore, outside the cloisters
into the outer court, and be out of the way of the slaughter—you and the bard
—while I finish my work here inside."
The pair went into the outer court as fast as they could, and sat down by
Jove's great altar, looking fearfully round, and still expecting that they would
be killed. Then Ulysses searched the whole court carefully over, to see if
anyone had managed to hide himself and was still living, but he found them all
lying in the dust and weltering in their blood. They were like fishes which
fishermen have netted out of the sea, and thrown upon the beach to lie gasping
for water till the heat of the sun makes an end of them. Even so were the
suitors lying all huddled up one against the other.
Then Ulysses said to Telemachus, "Call nurse Euryclea; I have something
to say to her."
Telemachus went and knocked at the door of the women's room. "Make
haste," said he, "you old woman who have been set over all the other women
in the house. Come outside; my father wishes to speak to you."
When Euryclea heard this she unfastened the door of the women's room
and came out, following Telemachus. She found Ulysses among the corpses
bespattered with blood and filth like a lion that has just been devouring an ox,
and his breast and both his cheeks are all bloody, so that he is a fearful sight;
even so was Ulysses besmirched from head to foot with gore. When she saw
all the corpses and such a quantity of blood, she was beginning to cry out for
joy, for she saw that a great deed had been done; but Ulysses checked her,
"Old woman," said he, "rejoice in silence; restrain yourself, and do not make
any noise about it; it is an unholy thing to vaunt over dead men. Heaven's
doom and their own evil deeds have brought these men to destruction, for they
respected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor poor, who came near
them, and they have come to a bad end as a punishment for their wickedness
and folly. Now, however, tell me which of the women in the house have
misconducted themselves, and who are innocent."
"I will tell you the truth, my son," answered Euryclea. "There are fifty
women in the house whom we teach to do things, such as carding wool, and
all kinds of household work. Of these, twelve in all have misbehaved, and
have been wanting in respect to me, and also to Penelope. They showed no
disrespect to Telemachus, for he has only lately grown and his mother never
permitted him to give orders to the female servants; but let me go upstairs and
tell your wife all that has happened, for some god has been sending her to
sleep."
"Do not wake her yet," answered Ulysses, "but tell the women who have
misconducted themselves to come to me."
Euryclea left the cloister to tell the women, and make them come to
Ulysses; in the meantime he called Telemachus, the stockman, and the
swineherd. "Begin," said he, "to remove the dead, and make the women help
you. Then, get sponges and clean water to swill down the tables and seats.
When you have thoroughly cleansed the whole cloisters, take the women into
the space between the domed room and the wall of the outer court, and run
them through with your swords till they are quite dead, and have forgotten all
about love and the way in which they used to lie in secret with the suitors."
On this the women came down in a body, weeping and wailing bitterly.
First they carried the dead bodies out, and propped them up against one
another in the gatehouse. Ulysses ordered them about and made them do their
work quickly, so they had to carry the bodies out. When they had done this,
they cleaned all the tables and seats with sponges and water, while Telemachus
and the two others shovelled up the blood and dirt from the ground, and the
women carried it all away and put it out of doors. Then when they had made
the whole place quite clean and orderly, they took the women out and hemmed
them in the narrow space between the wall of the domed room and that of the
yard, so that they could not get away: and Telemachus said to the other two, "I
shall not let these women die a clean death, for they were insolent to me and
my mother, and used to sleep with the suitors."
So saying he made a ship's cable fast to one of the bearing-posts that
supported the roof of the domed room, and secured it all around the building,
at a good height, lest any of the women's feet should touch the ground; and as
thrushes or doves beat against a net that has been set for them in a thicket just
as they were getting to their nest, and a terrible fate awaits them, even so did
the women have to put their heads in nooses one after the other and die most
miserably. Their feet moved convulsively for a while, but not for very long.
As for Melanthius, they took him through the cloister into the inner court.
There they cut off his nose and his ears; they drew out his vitals and gave them
to the dogs raw, and then in their fury they cut off his hands and his feet.
When they had done this they washed their hands and feet and went back
into the house, for all was now over; and Ulysses said to the dear old nurse
Euryclea, "Bring me sulphur, which cleanses all pollution, and fetch fire also
that I may burn it, and purify the cloisters. Go, moreover, and tell Penelope to
come here with her attendants, and also all the maidservants that are in the
house."
"All that you have said is true," answered Euryclea, "but let me bring you
some clean clothes—a shirt and cloak. Do not keep these rags on your back
any longer. It is not right."
"First light me a fire," replied Ulysses.
She brought the fire and sulphur, as he had bidden her, and Ulysses
thoroughly purified the cloisters and both the inner and outer courts. Then she
went inside to call the women and tell them what had happened; whereon they
came from their apartment with torches in their hands, and pressed round
Ulysses to embrace him, kissing his head and shoulders and taking hold of his
hands. It made him feel as if he should like to weep, for he remembered every
one of them.

BOOK XXIII
PENELOPE EVENTUALLY RECOGNISES HER HUSBAND—EARLY
IN THE MORNING ULYSSES, TELEMACHUS, EUMAEUS, AND
PHILOETIUS LEAVE THE TOWN.

Euryclea now went upstairs laughing to tell her mistress that her dear
husband had come home. Her aged knees became young again and her feet
were nimble for joy as she went up to her mistress and bent over her head to
speak to her. "Wake up Penelope, my dear child," she exclaimed, "and see with
your own eyes something that you have been wanting this long time past.
Ulysses has at last indeed come home again, and has killed the suitors who
were giving so much trouble in his house, eating up his estate and ill treating
his son."
"My good nurse," answered Penelope, "you must be mad. The gods
sometimes send some very sensible people out of their minds, and make
foolish people become sensible. This is what they must have been doing to
you; for you always used to be a reasonable person. Why should you thus
mock me when I have trouble enough already—talking such nonsense, and
waking me up out of a sweet sleep that had taken possession of my eyes and
closed them? I have never slept so soundly from the day my poor husband
went to that city with the ill-omened name. Go back again into the women's
room; if it had been any one else who had woke me up to bring me such
absurd news I should have sent her away with a severe scolding. As it is your
age shall protect you."
"My dear child," answered Euryclea, "I am not mocking you. It is quite
true as I tell you that Ulysses is come home again. He was the stranger whom
they all kept on treating so badly in the cloister. Telemachus knew all the time
that he was come back, but kept his father's secret that he might have his
revenge on all these wicked people."
Then Penelope sprang up from her couch, threw her arms round Euryclea,
and wept for joy. "But my dear nurse," said she, "explain this to me; if he has
really come home as you say, how did he manage to overcome the wicked
suitors single handed, seeing what a number of them there always were?"
"I was not there," answered Euryclea, "and do not know; I only heard them
groaning while they were being killed. We sat crouching and huddled up in a
corner of the women's room with the doors closed, till your son came to fetch
me because his father sent him. Then I found Ulysses standing over the
corpses that were lying on the ground all round him, one on top of the other.
You would have enjoyed it if you could have seen him standing there all
bespattered with blood and filth, and looking just like a lion. But the corpses
are now all piled up in the gatehouse that is in the outer court, and Ulysses has
lit a great fire to purify the house with sulphur. He has sent me to call you, so
come with me that you may both be happy together after all; for now at last
the desire of your heart has been fulfilled; your husband is come home to find
both wife and son alive and well, and to take his revenge in his own house on
the suitors who behaved so badly to him."
"My dear nurse," said Penelope, "do not exult too confidently over all this.
You know how delighted every one would be to see Ulysses come home—
more particularly myself, and the son who has been born to both of us; but
what you tell me cannot be really true. It is some god who is angry with the
suitors for their great wickedness, and has made an end of them; for they
respected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor poor, who came near
them, and they have come to a bad end in consequence of their iniquity;
Ulysses is dead far away from the Achaean land; he will never return home
again."
 Then nurse Euryclea said, "My child, what are you talking about? but you
were all hard of belief and have made up your mind that your husband is never
coming, although he is in the house and by his own fire side at this very
moment. Besides I can give you another proof; when I was washing him I
perceived the scar which the wild boar gave him, and I wanted to tell you
about it, but in his wisdom he would not let me, and clapped his hands over
my mouth; so come with me and I will make this bargain with you—if I am
deceiving you, you may have me killed by the most cruel death you can think
of."
"My dear nurse," said Penelope, "however wise you may be you can hardly
fathom the counsels of the gods. Nevertheless, we will go in search of my son,
that I may see the corpses of the suitors, and the man who has killed them."
On this she came down from her upper room, and while doing so she
considered whether she should keep at a distance from her husband and
question him, or whether she should at once go up to him and embrace him.
When, however, she had crossed the stone floor of the cloister, she sat down
opposite Ulysses by the fire, against the wall at right angles [to that by which
she had entered], while Ulysses sat near one of the bearing-posts, looking
upon the ground, and waiting to see what his brave wife would say to him
when she saw him. For a long time she sat silent and as one lost in amazement.
At one moment she looked him full in the face, but then again directly, she
was misled by his shabby clothes and failed to recognise him, till Telemachus
began to reproach her and said:
"Mother—but you are so hard that I cannot call you by such a name—why
do you keep away from my father in this way? Why do you not sit by his side
and begin talking to him and asking him questions? No other woman could
bear to keep away from her husband when he had come back to her after
twenty years of absence, and after having gone through so much; but your
heart always was as hard as a stone."
Penelope answered, "My son, I am so lost in astonishment that I can find
no words in which either to ask questions or to answer them. I cannot even
look him straight in the face. Still, if he really is Ulysses come back to his own
home again, we shall get to understand one another better by and by, for there
are tokens with which we two are alone acquainted, and which are hidden
from all others."
Ulysses smiled at this, and said to Telemachus, "Let your mother put me to
any proof she likes; she will make up her mind about it presently. She rejects
me for the moment and believes me to be somebody else, because I am
covered with dirt and have such bad clothes on; let us, however, consider what
we had better do next. When one man has killed another—even though he was
not one who would leave many friends to take up his quarrel—the man who
has killed him must still say good bye to his friends and fly the country;
whereas we have been killing the stay of a whole town, and all the picked
youth of Ithaca. I would have you consider this matter."
"Look to it yourself, father," answered Telemachus, "for they say you are
the wisest counsellor in the world, and that there is no other mortal man who
can compare with you. We will follow you with right good will, nor shall you
find us fail you in so far as our strength holds out."
"I will say what I think will be best," answered Ulysses. "First wash and
put your shirts on; tell the maids also to go to their own room and dress;
Phemius shall then strike up a dance tune on his lyre, so that if people outside
hear, or any of the neighbours, or some one going along the street happens to
notice it, they may think there is a wedding in the house, and no rumours
about the death of the suitors will get about in the town, before we can escape
to the woods upon my own land. Once there, we will settle which of the
courses heaven vouchsafes us shall seem wisest."
Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. First they washed and
put their shirts on, while the women got ready. Then Phemius took his lyre and
set them all longing for sweet song and stately dance. The house re-echoed
with the sound of men and women dancing, and the people outside said, "I
suppose the queen has been getting married at last. She ought to be ashamed
of herself for not continuing to protect her husband's property until he comes
home."
This was what they said, but they did not know what it was that had been
happening. The upper servant Eurynome washed and anointed Ulysses in his
own house and gave him a shirt and cloak, while Minerva made him look
taller and stronger than before; she also made the hair grow thick on the top of
his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms; she glorified him
about the head and shoulders just as a skilful workman who has studied art of
all kinds under Vulcan or Minerva—and his work is full of beauty—enriches a
piece of silver plate by gilding it. He came from the bath looking like one of
the immortals, and sat down opposite his wife on the seat he had left. "My
dear," said he, "heaven has endowed you with a heart more unyielding than
woman ever yet had. No other woman could bear to keep away from her
husband when he had come back to her after twenty years of absence, and
after having gone through so much. But come, nurse, get a bed ready for me; I
will sleep alone, for this woman has a heart as hard as iron."
"My dear," answered Penelope, "I have no wish to set myself up, nor to
depreciate you; but I am not struck by your appearance, for I very well
remember what kind of a man you were when you set sail from Ithaca.
Nevertheless, Euryclea, take his bed outside the bed chamber that he himself
built. Bring the bed outside this room, and put bedding upon it with fleeces,
good coverlets, and blankets."
She said this to try him, but Ulysses was very angry and said, "Wife, I am
much displeased at what you have just been saying. Who has been taking my
bed from the place in which I left it? He must have found it a hard task, no
matter how skilled a workman he was, unless some god came and helped him
to shift it. There is no man living, however strong and in his prime, who could
move it from its place, for it is a marvellous curiosity which I made with my
very own hands. There was a young olive growing within the precincts of the
house, in full vigour, and about as thick as a bearing-post. I built my room
round this with strong walls of stone and a roof to cover them, and I made the
doors strong and well-fitting. Then I cut off the top boughs of the olive tree
and left the stump standing. This I dressed roughly from the root upwards and
then worked with carpenter's tools well and skilfully, straightening my work
by drawing a line on the wood, and making it into a bed-prop. I then bored a
hole down the middle, and made it the centre-post of my bed, at which I
worked till I had finished it, inlaying it with gold and silver; after this I
stretched a hide of crimson leather from one side of it to the other. So you see I
know all about it, and I desire to learn whether it is still there, or whether any
one has been removing it by cutting down the olive tree at its roots."
When she heard the sure proofs Ulysses now gave her, she fairly broke
down. She flew weeping to his side, flung her arms about his neck, and kissed
him. "Do not be angry with me Ulysses," she cried, "you, who are the wisest
of mankind. We have suffered, both of us. Heaven has denied us the happiness
of spending our youth, and of growing old, together; do not then be aggrieved
or take it amiss that I did not embrace you thus as soon as I saw you. I have
been shuddering all the time through fear that someone might come here and
deceive me with a lying story; for there are many very wicked people going
about. Jove's daughter Helen would never have yielded herself to a man from
a foreign country, if she had known that the sons of Achaeans would come
after her and bring her back. Heaven put it in her heart to do wrong, and she
gave no thought to that sin, which has been the source of all our sorrows. Now,
however, that you have convinced me by showing that you know all about our
bed (which no human being has ever seen but you and I and a single
maidservant, the daughter of Actor, who was given me by my father on my
marriage, and who keeps the doors of our room) hard of belief though I have
been I can mistrust no longer."
Then Ulysses in his turn melted, and wept as he clasped his dear and
faithful wife to his bosom. As the sight of land is welcome to men who are
swimming towards the shore, when Neptune has wrecked their ship with the
fury of his winds and waves; a few alone reach the land, and these, covered
with brine, are thankful when they find themselves on firm ground and out of
danger—even so was her husband welcome to her as she looked upon him,
and she could not tear her two fair arms from about his neck. Indeed they
would have gone on indulging their sorrow till rosy-fingered morn appeared,
had not Minerva determined otherwise, and held night back in the far west,
while she would not suffer Dawn to leave Oceanus, nor to yoke the two steeds
Lampus and Phaethon that bear her onward to break the day upon mankind.
At last, however, Ulysses said, "Wife, we have not yet reached the end of
our troubles. I have an unknown amount of toil still to undergo. It is long and
difficult, but I must go through with it, for thus the shade of Teiresias
prophesied concerning me, on the day when I went down into Hades to ask
about my return and that of my companions. But now let us go to bed, that we
may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon of sleep."
"You shall go to bed as soon as you please," replied Penelope, "now that
the gods have sent you home to your own good house and to your country. But
as heaven has put it in your mind to speak of it, tell me about the task that lies
before you. I shall have to hear about it later, so it is better that I should be told
at once."
"My dear," answered Ulysses, "why should you press me to tell you? Still,
I will not conceal it from you, though you will not like it. I do not like it
myself, for Teiresias bade me travel far and wide, carrying an oar, till I came
to a country where the people have never heard of the sea, and do not even
mix salt with their food. They know nothing about ships, nor oars that are as
the wings of a ship. He gave me this certain token which I will not hide from
you. He said that a wayfarer should meet me and ask me whether it was a
winnowing shovel that I had on my shoulder. On this, I was to fix my oar in
the ground and sacrifice a ram, a bull, and a boar to Neptune; after which I
was to go home and offer hecatombs to all the gods in heaven, one after the
other. As for myself, he said that death should come to me from the sea, and
that my life should ebb away very gently when I was full of years and peace of
mind, and my people should bless me. All this, he said, should surely come to
pass."
And Penelope said, "If the gods are going to vouchsafe you a happier time
in your old age, you may hope then to have some respite from misfortune."
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Eurynome and the nurse took torches
and made the bed ready with soft coverlets; as soon as they had laid them, the
nurse went back into the house to go to her rest, leaving the bed chamber
woman Eurynome to show Ulysses and Penelope to bed by torch light. When
she had conducted them to their room she went back, and they then came
joyfully to the rites of their own old bed. Telemachus, Philoetius, and the
swineherd now left off dancing, and made the women leave off also. They
then laid themselves down to sleep in the cloisters.
When Ulysses and Penelope had had their fill of love they fell talking with
one another. She told him how much she had had to bear in seeing the house
filled with a crowd of wicked suitors who had killed so many sheep and oxen
on her account, and had drunk so many casks of wine. Ulysses in his turn told
her what he had suffered, and how much trouble he had himself given to other
people. He told her everything, and she was so delighted to listen that she
never went to sleep till he had ended his whole story.
He began with his victory over the Cicons, and how he thence reached the
fertile land of the Lotus-eaters. He told her all about the Cyclops and how he
had punished him for having so ruthlessly eaten his brave comrades; how he
then went on to Aeolus, who received him hospitably and furthered him on his
way, but even so he was not to reach home, for to his great grief a hurricane
carried him out to sea again; how he went on to the Laestrygonian city
Telepylos, where the people destroyed all his ships with their crews, save
himself and his own ship only. Then he told of cunning Circe and her craft,
and how he sailed to the chill house of Hades, to consult the ghost of the
Theban prophet Teiresias, and how he saw his old comrades in arms, and his
mother who bore him and brought him up when he was a child; how he then
heard the wondrous singing of the Sirens, and went on to the wandering rocks
and terrible Charybdis and to Scylla, whom no man had ever yet passed in
safety; how his men then ate the cattle of the sun-god, and how Jove therefore
struck the ship with his thunderbolts, so that all his men perished together,
himself alone being left alive; how at last he reached the Ogygian island and
the nymph Calypso, who kept him there in a cave, and fed him, and wanted
him to marry her, in which case she intended making him immortal so that he
should never grow old, but she could not persuade him to let her do so; and
how after much suffering he had found his way to the Phaeacians, who had
treated him as though he had been a god, and sent him back in a ship to his
own country after having given him gold, bronze, and raiment in great
abundance. This was the last thing about which he told her, for here a deep
sleep took hold upon him and eased the burden of his sorrows.
Then Minerva bethought her of another matter. When she deemed that
Ulysses had had both of his wife and of repose, she bade gold-enthroned
Dawn rise out of Oceanus that she might shed light upon mankind. On this,
Ulysses rose from his comfortable bed and said to Penelope, "Wife, we have
both of us had our full share of troubles, you, here, in lamenting my absence,
and I in being prevented from getting home though I was longing all the time
to do so. Now, however, that we have at last come together, take care of the
property that is in the house. As for the sheep and goats which the wicked
suitors have eaten, I will take many myself by force from other people, and
will compel the Achaeans to make good the rest till they shall have filled all
my yards. I am now going to the wooded lands out in the country to see my
father who has so long been grieved on my account, and to yourself I will give
these instructions, though you have little need of them. At sunrise it will at
once get abroad that I have been killing the suitors; go upstairs, therefore, and
stay there with your women. See nobody and ask no questions."
As he spoke he girded on his armour. Then he roused Telemachus,
Philoetius, and Eumaeus, and told them all to put on their armour also. This
they did, and armed themselves. When they had done so, they opened the
gates and sallied forth, Ulysses leading the way. It was now daylight, but
Minerva nevertheless concealed them in darkness and led them quickly out of
the town.

BOOK XXIV
THE GHOSTS OF THE SUITORS IN HADES—ULYSSES AND HIS
MEN GO TO THE HOUSE OF LAERTES—THE PEOPLE OF ITHACA
COME OUT TO ATTACK ULYSSES, BUT MINERVA CONCLUDES A
PEACE.

Then Mercury of Cyllene summoned the ghosts of the suitors, and in his
hand he held the fair golden wand with which he seals men's eyes in sleep or
wakes them just as he pleases; with this he roused the ghosts and led them,
while they followed whining and gibbering behind him. As bats fly squealing
in the hollow of some great cave, when one of them has fallen out of the
cluster in which they hang, even so did the ghosts whine and squeal as
Mercury the healer of sorrow led them down into the dark abode of death.
When they had passed the waters of Oceanus and the rock Leucas, they came
to the gates of the sun and the land of dreams, whereon they reached the
meadow of asphodel where dwell the souls and shadows of them that can
labour no more.
Here they found the ghost of Achilles son of Peleus, with those of
Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax, who was the finest and handsomest man of
all the Danaans after the son of Peleus himself.
They gathered round the ghost of the son of Peleus, and the ghost of
Agamemnon joined them, sorrowing bitterly. Round him were gathered also
the ghosts of those who had perished with him in the house of Aegisthus; and
the ghost of Achilles spoke first.
"Son of Atreus," it said, "we used to say that Jove had loved you better
from first to last than any other hero, for you were captain over many and
brave men, when we were all fighting together before Troy; yet the hand of
death, which no mortal can escape, was laid upon you all too early. Better for
you had you fallen at Troy in the hey-day of your renown, for the Achaeans
would have built a mound over your ashes, and your son would have been heir
to your good name, whereas it has now been your lot to come to a most
miserable end."
"Happy son of Peleus," answered the ghost of Agamemnon, "for having
died at Troy far from Argos, while the bravest of the Trojans and the Achaeans
fell round you fighting for your body. There you lay in the whirling clouds of
dust, all huge and hugely, heedless now of your chivalry. We fought the whole
of the livelong day, nor should we ever have left off if Jove had not sent a
hurricane to stay us. Then, when we had borne you to the ships out of the fray,
we laid you on your bed and cleansed your fair skin with warm water and with
ointments. The Danaans tore their hair and wept bitterly round about you.
Your mother, when she heard, came with her immortal nymphs from out of the
sea, and the sound of a great wailing went forth over the waters so that the
Achaeans quaked for fear. They would have fled panic-stricken to their ships
had not wise old Nestor whose counsel was ever truest checked them saying,
'Hold, Argives, fly not sons of the Achaeans, this is his mother coming from
the sea with her immortal nymphs to view the body of her son.'
"Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans feared no more. The daughters of the
old man of the sea stood round you weeping bitterly, and clothed you in
immortal raiment. The nine muses also came and lifted up their sweet voices
in lament—calling and answering one another; there was not an Argive but
wept for pity of the dirge they chaunted. Days and nights seven and ten we
mourned you, mortals and immortals, but on the eighteenth day we gave you
to the flames, and many a fat sheep with many an ox did we slay in sacrifice
around you. You were burnt in raiment of the gods, with rich resins and with
honey, while heroes, horse and foot, clashed their armour round the pile as you
were burning, with the tramp as of a great multitude. But when the flames of
heaven had done their work, we gathered your white bones at daybreak and
laid them in ointments and in pure wine. Your mother brought us a golden
vase to hold them—gift of Bacchus, and work of Vulcan himself; in this we
mingled your bleached bones with those of Patroclus who had gone before
you, and separate we enclosed also those of Antilochus, who had been closer
to you than any other of your comrades now that Patroclus was no more.
"Over these the host of the Argives built a noble tomb, on a point jutting
out over the open Hellespont, that it might be seen from far out upon the sea
by those now living and by them that shall be born hereafter. Your mother
begged prizes from the gods, and offered them to be contended for by the
noblest of the Achaeans. You must have been present at the funeral of many a
hero, when the young men gird themselves and make ready to contend for
prizes on the death of some great chieftain, but you never saw such prizes as
silver-footed Thetis offered in your honour; for the gods loved you well. Thus
even in death your fame, Achilles, has not been lost, and your name lives
evermore among all mankind. But as for me, what solace had I when the days
of my fighting were done? For Jove willed my destruction on my return, by
the hands of Aegisthus and those of my wicked wife."
Thus did they converse, and presently Mercury came up to them with the
ghosts of the suitors who had been killed by Ulysses. The ghosts of
Agamemnon and Achilles were astonished at seeing them, and went up to
them at once. The ghost of Agamemnon recognised Amphimedon son of
Melaneus, who lived in Ithaca and had been his host, so it began to talk to
him.
"Amphimedon," it said, "what has happened to all you fine young men—
all of an age too—that you are come down here under the ground? One could
pick no finer body of men from any city. Did Neptune raise his winds and
waves against you when you were at sea, or did your enemies make an end of
you on the mainland when you were cattle-lifting or sheep-stealing, or while
fighting in defence of their wives and city? Answer my question, for I have
been your guest. Do you not remember how I came to your house with
Menelaus, to persuade Ulysses to join us with his ships against Troy? It was a
whole month ere we could resume our voyage, for we had hard work to
persuade Ulysses to come with us."
And the ghost of Amphimedon answered, "Agamemnon, son of Atreus,
king of men, I remember everything that you have said, and will tell you fully
and accurately about the way in which our end was brought about. Ulysses had
been long gone, and we were courting his wife, who did not say point blank
that she would not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end, for she meant to
compass our destruction: this, then, was the trick she played us. She set up a
great tambour frame in her room and began to work on an enormous piece of
fine needlework. 'Sweethearts,' said she, 'Ulysses is indeed dead, still, do not
press me to marry again immediately; wait—for I would not have my skill in
needlework perish unrecorded—till I have completed a pall for the hero
Laertes, against the time when death shall take him. He is very rich, and the
women of the place will talk if he is laid out without a pall.' This is what she
said, and we assented; whereupon we could see her working upon her great
web all day long, but at night she would unpick the stitches again by
torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three years without our finding it out,
but as time wore on and she was now in her fourth year, in the waning of
moons and many days had been accomplished, one of her maids who knew
what she was doing told us, and we caught her in the act of undoing her work,
so she had to finish it whether she would or no; and when she showed us the
robe she had made, after she had had it washed, its splendour was as that of
the sun or moon.
"Then some malicious god conveyed Ulysses to the upland farm where his
swineherd lives. Thither presently came also his son, returning from a voyage
to Pylos, and the two came to the town when they had hatched their plot for
our destruction. Telemachus came first, and then after him, accompanied by
the swineherd, came Ulysses, clad in rags and leaning on a staff as though he
were some miserable old beggar. He came so unexpectedly that none of us
knew him, not even the older ones among us, and we reviled him and threw
things at him. He endured both being struck and insulted without a word,
though he was in his own house; but when the will of Aegis-bearing Jove
inspired him, he and Telemachus took the armour and hid it in an inner
chamber, bolting the doors behind them. Then he cunningly made his wife
offer his bow and a quantity of iron to be contended for by us ill-fated suitors;
and this was the beginning of our end, for not one of us could string the bow—
nor nearly do so. When it was about to reach the hands of Ulysses, we all of us
shouted out that it should not be given him, no matter what he might say, but
Telemachus insisted on his having it. When he had got it in his hands he strung
it with ease and sent his arrow through the iron. Then he stood on the floor of
the cloister and poured his arrows on the ground, glaring fiercely about him.
First he killed Antinous, and then, aiming straight before him, he let fly his
deadly darts and they fell thick on one another. It was plain that some one of
the gods was helping them, for they fell upon us with might and main
throughout the cloisters, and there was a hideous sound of groaning as our
brains were being battered in, and the ground seethed with our blood. This,
Agamemnon, is how we came by our end, and our bodies are lying still
uncared for in the house of Ulysses, for our friends at home do not yet know
what has happened, so that they cannot lay us out and wash the black blood
from our wounds, making moan over us according to the offices due to the
departed."
"Happy Ulysses, son of Laertes," replied the ghost of Agamemnon, "you
are indeed blessed in the possession of a wife endowed with such rare
excellence of understanding, and so faithful to her wedded lord as Penelope
the daughter of Icarius. The fame, therefore, of her virtue shall never die, and
the immortals shall compose a song that shall be welcome to all mankind in
honour of the constancy of Penelope. How far otherwise was the wickedness
of the daughter of Tyndareus who killed her lawful husband; her song shall be
hateful among men, for she has brought disgrace on all womankind even on
the good ones."
Thus did they converse in the house of Hades deep down within the bowels
of the earth. Meanwhile Ulysses and the others passed out of the town and
soon reached the fair and well-tilled farm of Laertes, which he had reclaimed
with infinite labour. Here was his house, with a lean-to running all round it,
where the slaves who worked for him slept and sat and ate, while inside the
house there was an old Sicel woman, who looked after him in this his country-
farm. When Ulysses got there, he said to his son and to the other two:
"Go to the house, and kill the best pig that you can find for dinner.
Meanwhile I want to see whether my father will know me, or fail to recognise
me after so long an absence."
He then took off his armour and gave it to Eumaeus and Philoetius, who
went straight on to the house, while he turned off into the vineyard to make
trial of his father. As he went down into the great orchard, he did not see
Dolius, nor any of his sons nor of the other bondsmen, for they were all
gathering thorns to make a fence for the vineyard, at the place where the old
man had told them; he therefore found his father alone, hoeing a vine. He had
on a dirty old shirt, patched and very shabby; his legs were bound round with
thongs of oxhide to save him from the brambles, and he also wore sleeves of
leather; he had a goat skin cap on his head, and was looking very woe-begone.
When Ulysses saw him so worn, so old and full of sorrow, he stood still under
a tall pear tree and began to weep. He doubted whether to embrace him, kiss
him, and tell him all about his having come home, or whether he should first
question him and see what he would say. In the end he deemed it best to be
crafty with him, so in this mind he went up to his father, who was bending
down and digging about a plant.
"I see, sir," said Ulysses, "that you are an excellent gardener—what pains
you take with it, to be sure. There is not a single plant, not a fig tree, vine,
olive, pear, nor flower bed, but bears the trace of your attention. I trust,
however, that you will not be offended if I say that you take better care of your
garden than of yourself. You are old, unsavoury, and very meanly clad. It
cannot be because you are idle that your master takes such poor care of you,
indeed your face and figure have nothing of the slave about them, and
proclaim you of noble birth. I should have said that you were one of those who
should wash well, eat well, and lie soft at night as old men have a right to do;
but tell me, and tell me true, whose bondman are you, and in whose garden are
you working? Tell me also about another matter. Is this place that I have come
to really Ithaca? I met a man just now who said so, but he was a dull fellow,
and had not the patience to hear my story out when I was asking him about an
old friend of mine, whether he was still living, or was already dead and in the
house of Hades. Believe me when I tell you that this man came to my house
once when I was in my own country and never yet did any stranger come to
me whom I liked better. He said that his family came from Ithaca and that his
father was Laertes, son of Arceisius. I received him hospitably, making him
welcome to all the abundance of my house, and when he went away I gave
him all customary presents. I gave him seven talents of fine gold, and a cup of
solid silver with flowers chased upon it. I gave him twelve light cloaks, and as
many pieces of tapestry; I also gave him twelve cloaks of single fold, twelve
rugs, twelve fair mantles, and an equal number of shirts. To all this I added
four good looking women skilled in all useful arts, and I let him take his
choice."
His father shed tears and answered, "Sir, you have indeed come to the
country that you have named, but it is fallen into the hands of wicked people.
All this wealth of presents has been given to no purpose. If you could have
found your friend here alive in Ithaca, he would have entertained you
hospitably and would have requited your presents amply when you left him—
as would have been only right considering what you had already given him.
But tell me, and tell me true, how many years is it since you entertained this
guest—my unhappy son, as ever was? Alas! He has perished far from his own
country; the fishes of the sea have eaten him, or he has fallen a prey to the
birds and wild beasts of some continent. Neither his mother, nor I his father,
who were his parents, could throw our arms about him and wrap him in his
shroud, nor could his excellent and richly dowered wife Penelope bewail her
husband as was natural upon his death bed, and close his eyes according to the
offices due to the departed. But now, tell me truly for I want to know. Who and
whence are you—tell me of your town and parents? Where is the ship lying
that has brought you and your men to Ithaca? Or were you a passenger on
some other man's ship, and those who brought you here have gone on their
way and left you?"
"I will tell you everything," answered Ulysses, "quite truly. I come from
Alybas, where I have a fine house. I am son of king Apheidas, who is the son
of Polypemon. My own name is Eperitus; heaven drove me off my course as I
was leaving Sicania, and I have been carried here against my will. As for my
ship it is lying over yonder, off the open country outside the town, and this is
the fifth year since Ulysses left my country. Poor fellow, yet the omens were
good for him when he left me. The birds all flew on our right hands, and both
he and I rejoiced to see them as we parted, for we had every hope that we
should have another friendly meeting and exchange presents."
A dark cloud of sorrow fell upon Laertes as he listened. He filled both
hands with the dust from off the ground and poured it over his grey head,
groaning heavily as he did so. The heart of Ulysses was touched, and his
nostrils quivered as he looked upon his father; then he sprang towards him,
flung his arms about him and kissed him, saying, "I am he, father, about whom
you are asking—I have returned after having been away for twenty years. But
cease your sighing and lamentation—we have no time to lose, for I should tell
you that I have been killing the suitors in my house, to punish them for their
insolence and crimes."
"If you really are my son Ulysses," replied Laertes, "and have come back
again, you must give me such manifest proof of your identity as shall convince
me."
"First observe this scar," answered Ulysses, "which I got from a boar's tusk
when I was hunting on Mt. Parnassus. You and my mother had sent me to
Autolycus, my mother's father, to receive the presents which when he was
over here he had promised to give me. Furthermore I will point out to you the
trees in the vineyard which you gave me, and I asked you all about them as I
followed you round the garden. We went over them all, and you told me their
names and what they all were. You gave me thirteen pear trees, ten apple trees,
and forty fig trees; you also said you would give me fifty rows of vines; there
was corn planted between each row, and they yield grapes of every kind when
the heat of heaven has been laid heavy upon them."
Laertes' strength failed him when he heard the convincing proofs which his
son had given him. He threw his arms about him, and Ulysses had to support
him, or he would have gone off into a swoon; but as soon as he came to, and
was beginning to recover his senses, he said, "O father Jove, then you gods are
still in Olympus after all, if the suitors have really been punished for their
insolence and folly. Nevertheless, I am much afraid that I shall have all the
townspeople of Ithaca up here directly, and they will be sending messengers
everywhere throughout the cities of the Cephallenians."
Ulysses answered, "Take heart and do not trouble yourself about that, but
let us go into the house hard by your garden. I have already told Telemachus,
Philoetius, and Eumaeus to go on there and get dinner ready as soon as
possible."
Thus conversing the two made their way towards the house. When they got
there they found Telemachus with the stockman and the swineherd cutting up
meat and mixing wine with water. Then the old Sicel woman took Laertes
inside and washed him and anointed him with oil. She put him on a good
cloak, and Minerva came up to him and gave him a more imposing presence,
making him taller and stouter than before. When he came back his son was
surprised to see him looking so like an immortal, and said to him, "My dear
father, some one of the gods has been making you much taller and better-
looking."
Laertes answered, "Would, by Father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, that I
were the man I was when I ruled among the Cephallenians, and took Nericum,
that strong fortress on the foreland. If I were still what I then was and had been
in our house yesterday with my armour on, I should have been able to stand by
you and help you against the suitors. I should have killed a great many of
them, and you would have rejoiced to see it."
Thus did they converse; but the others, when they had finished their work
and the feast was ready, left off working, and took each his proper place on the
benches and seats. Then they began eating; by and by old Dolius and his sons
left their work and came up, for their mother, the Sicel woman who looked
after Laertes now that he was growing old, had been to fetch them. When they
saw Ulysses and were certain it was he, they stood there lost in astonishment;
but Ulysses scolded them good naturedly and said, "Sit down to your dinner,
old man, and never mind about your surprise; we have been wanting to begin
for some time and have been waiting for you."
Then Dolius put out both his hands and went up to Ulysses. "Sir," said he,
seizing his master's hand and kissing it at the wrist, "we have long been
wishing you home: and now heaven has restored you to us after we had given
up hoping. All hail, therefore, and may the gods prosper you. But tell me,
does Penelope already know of your return, or shall we send some one to tell
her?"
"Old man," answered Ulysses, "she knows already, so you need not trouble
about that." On this he took his seat, and the sons of Dolius gathered round
Ulysses to give him greeting and embrace him one after the other; then they
took their seats in due order near Dolius their father.
While they were thus busy getting their dinner ready, Rumour went round
the town, and noised abroad the terrible fate that had befallen the suitors; as
soon, therefore, as the people heard of it they gathered from every quarter,
groaning and hooting before the house of Ulysses. They took the dead away,
buried every man his own, and put the bodies of those who came from
elsewhere on board the fishing vessels, for the fishermen to take each of them
to his own place. They then met angrily in the place of assembly, and when
they were got together Eupeithes rose to speak. He was overwhelmed with
grief for the death of his son Antinous, who had been the first man killed by
Ulysses, so he said, weeping bitterly, "My friends, this man has done the
Achaeans great wrong. He took many of our best men away with him in his
fleet, and he has lost both ships and men; now, moreover, on his return he has
been killing all the foremost men among the Cephallenians. Let us be up and
doing before he can get away to Pylos or to Elis where the Epeans rule, or we
shall be ashamed of ourselves for ever afterwards. It will be an everlasting
disgrace to us if we do not avenge the murder of our sons and brothers. For my
own part I should have no more pleasure in life, but had rather die at once. Let
us be up, then, and after them, before they can cross over to the main land."
He wept as he spoke and every one pitied him. But Medon and the bard
Phemius had now woke up, and came to them from the house of Ulysses.
Every one was astonished at seeing them, but they stood in the middle of the
assembly, and Medon said, "Hear me, men of Ithaca. Ulysses did not do these
things against the will of heaven. I myself saw an immortal god take the form
of Mentor and stand beside him. This god appeared, now in front of him
encouraging him, and now going furiously about the court and attacking the
suitors whereon they fell thick on one another."
On this pale fear laid hold of them, and old Halitherses, son of Mastor, rose
to speak, for he was the only man among them who knew both past and future;
so he spoke to them plainly and in all honesty, saying,
"Men of Ithaca, it is all your own fault that things have turned out as they
have; you would not listen to me, nor yet to Mentor, when we bade you check
the folly of your sons who were doing much wrong in the wantonness of their
hearts—wasting the substance and dishonouring the wife of a chieftain who
they thought would not return. Now, however, let it be as I say, and do as I tell
you. Do not go out against Ulysses, or you may find that you have been
drawing down evil on your own heads."
This was what he said, and more than half raised a loud shout, and at once
left the assembly. But the rest stayed where they were, for the speech of
Halitherses displeased them, and they sided with Eupeithes; they therefore
hurried off for their armour, and when they had armed themselves, they met
together in front of the city, and Eupeithes led them on in their folly. He
thought he was going to avenge the murder of his son, whereas in truth he was
never to return, but was himself to perish in his attempt.
Then Minerva said to Jove, "Father, son of Saturn, king of kings, answer
me this question—What do you propose to do? Will you set them fighting still
further, or will you make peace between them?"
And Jove answered, "My child, why should you ask me? Was it not by
your own arrangement that Ulysses came home and took his revenge upon the
suitors? Do whatever you like, but I will tell you what I think will be most
reasonable arrangement. Now that Ulysses is revenged, let them swear to a
solemn covenant, in virtue of which he shall continue to rule, while we cause
the others to forgive and forget the massacre of their sons and brothers. Let
them then all become friends as heretofore, and let peace and plenty reign."
This was what Minerva was already eager to bring about, so down she
darted from off the topmost summits of Olympus.
Now when Laertes and the others had done dinner, Ulysses began by
saying, "Some of you go out and see if they are not getting close up to us." So
one of Dolius's sons went as he was bid. Standing on the threshold he could
see them all quite near, and said to Ulysses, "Here they are, let us put on our
armour at once."
They put on their armour as fast as they could—that is to say Ulysses, his
three men, and the six sons of Dolius. Laertes also and Dolius did the same—
warriors by necessity in spite of their grey hair. When they had all put on their
armour, they opened the gate and sallied forth, Ulysses leading the way.
Then Jove's daughter Minerva came up to them, having assumed the form
and voice of Mentor. Ulysses was glad when he saw her, and said to his son
Telemachus, "Telemachus, now that you are about to fight in an engagement,
which will show every man's mettle, be sure not to disgrace your ancestors,
who were eminent for their strength and courage all the world over."
"You say truly, my dear father," answered Telemachus, "and you shall see,
if you will, that I am in no mind to disgrace your family."
Laertes was delighted when he heard this. "Good heavens," he exclaimed,
"what a day I am enjoying: I do indeed rejoice at it. My son and grandson are
vying with one another in the matter of valour."
On this Minerva came close up to him and said, "Son of Arceisius—-best
friend I have in the world—pray to the blue-eyed damsel, and to Jove her
father; then poise your spear and hurl it."
As she spoke she infused fresh vigour into him, and when he had prayed to
her he poised his spear and hurled it. He hit Eupeithes' helmet, and the spear
went right through it, for the helmet stayed it not, and his armour rang rattling
round him as he fell heavily to the ground. Meantime Ulysses and his son fell
upon the front line of the foe and smote them with their swords and spears;
indeed, they would have killed every one of them, and prevented them from
ever getting home again, only Minerva raised her voice aloud, and made every
one pause. "Men of Ithaca," she cried, "cease this dreadful war, and settle the
matter at once without further bloodshed."
On this pale fear seized every one; they were so frightened that their arms
dropped from their hands and fell upon the ground at the sound of the goddess'
voice, and they fled back to the city for their lives. But Ulysses gave a great
cry, and gathering himself together swooped down like a soaring eagle. Then
the son of Saturn sent a thunderbolt of fire that fell just in front of Minerva, so
she said to Ulysses, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, stop this warful strife, or
Jove will be angry with you."
Thus spoke Minerva, and Ulysses obeyed her gladly. Then Minerva
assumed the form and voice of Mentor, and presently made a covenant of
peace between the two contending parties.