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diff --git a/1727-h/1727-h.htm b/1727-h/1727-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..22f7b58 --- /dev/null +++ b/1727-h/1727-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15227 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Odyssey, by Homer</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +sup { vertical-align: top; font-size: 0.6em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Odyssey, by Homer</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Odyssey</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Homer</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Translator: Samuel Butler</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April, 1999 [eBook #1727]<br /> +[Most recently updated: December 1, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Jim Tinsley and David Widger</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ODYSSEY ***</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:60%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="cover" /> +</div> + +<h1>The Odyssey</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">by Homer</h2> + +<h5>rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the +original</h5> + +<hr /> + +<h3>Contents</h3> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref01">PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref02">PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap00">THE ODYSSEY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">BOOK I.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">BOOK II.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">BOOK III.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">BOOK IV.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">BOOK V.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">BOOK VI.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">BOOK VII.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">BOOK VIII.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">BOOK IX.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">BOOK X.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">BOOK XI.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">BOOK XII.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">BOOK XIII.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">BOOK XIV.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">BOOK XV.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">BOOK XVI.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">BOOK XVII.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap18">BOOK XVIII.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap19">BOOK XIX.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap20">BOOK XX.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap21">BOOK XXI.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap22">BOOK XXII.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap23">BOOK XXIII.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap24">BOOK XXIV.</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap25">FOOTNOTES:</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center"> +AL PROFESSORE<br/> +CAV. BIAGIO INGROIA,<br/> +PREZIOSO ALLEATO<br/> +L’AUTORE RICONOSCENTE. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a> +PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION</h2> + +<p> +This translation is intended to supplement a work entitled “The Authoress of +the Odyssey”, which I published in 1897. I could not give the whole “Odyssey” +in that book without making it unwieldy, I therefore epitomised my translation, +which was already completed and which I now publish in full. +</p> + +<p> +I shall not here argue the two main points dealt with in the work just +mentioned; I have nothing either to add to, or to withdraw from, what I have +there written. The points in question are: +</p> + +<p> +(1) that the “Odyssey” was written entirely at, and drawn entirely from, the +place now called Trapani on the West Coast of Sicily, alike as regards the +Phaeacian and the Ithaca scenes; while the voyages of Ulysses, when once he is +within easy reach of Sicily, solve themselves into a periplus of the island, +practically from Trapani back to Trapani, via the Lipari islands, the Straits +of Messina, and the island of Pantellaria. +</p> + +<p> +(2) That the poem was entirely written by a very young woman, who lived at the +place now called Trapani, and introduced herself into her work under the name +of Nausicaa. +</p> + +<p> +The main arguments on which I base the first of these somewhat startling +contentions, have been prominently and repeatedly before the English and +Italian public ever since they appeared (without rejoinder) in the “Athenaeum” +for January 30 and February 20, 1892. Both contentions were urged (also without +rejoinder) in the Johnian “Eagle” for the Lent and October terms of the same +year. Nothing to which I should reply has reached me from any quarter, and +knowing how anxiously I have endeavoured to learn the existence of any flaws in +my argument, I begin to feel some confidence that, did such flaws exist, I +should have heard, at any rate about some of them, before now. Without, +therefore, for a moment pretending to think that scholars generally acquiesce +in my conclusions, I shall act as thinking them little likely so to gainsay me +as that it will be incumbent upon me to reply, and shall confine myself to +translating the “Odyssey” for English readers, with such notes as I think will +be found useful. Among these I would especially call attention to one on xxii. +465-473 which Lord Grimthorpe has kindly allowed me to make public. +</p> + +<p> +I have repeated several of the illustrations used in “The Authoress of the +Odyssey”, and have added two which I hope may bring the outer court of Ulysses’ +house more vividly before the reader. I should like to explain that the +presence of a man and a dog in one illustration is accidental, and was not +observed by me till I developed the negative. In an appendix I have also +reprinted the paragraphs explanatory of the plan of Ulysses’ house, together +with the plan itself. The reader is recommended to study this plan with some +attention. +</p> + +<p> +In the preface to my translation of the “Iliad” I have given my views as to the +main principles by which a translator should be guided, and need not repeat +them here, beyond pointing out that the initial liberty of translating poetry +into prose involves the continual taking of more or less liberty throughout the +translation; for much that is right in poetry is wrong in prose, and the +exigencies of readable prose are the first things to be considered in a prose +translation. That the reader, however, may see how far I have departed from +strict construe, I will print here Messrs. Butcher and Lang’s translation of +the sixty lines or so of the “Odyssey.” Their translation runs: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +Tell me, Muse, of that man, so ready at need, who wandered far and wide, after +he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy, and many were the men whose towns he +saw and whose mind he learnt, yea, and many the woes he suffered in his heart +on the deep, striving to win his own life and the return of his company. Nay, +but even so he saved not his company, though he desired it sore. For through +the blindness of their own hearts they perished, fools, who devoured the oxen +of Helios Hyperion: but the god took from them their day of returning. Of these +things, goddess, daughter of Zeus, whencesoever thou hast heard thereof, +declare thou even unto us.<br/> + Now all the rest, as many as fled from sheer destruction, were at home, and +had escaped both war and sea, but Odysseus only, craving for his wife and for +his homeward path, the lady nymph Calypso held, that fair goddess, in her +hollow caves, longing to have him for her lord. But when now the year had come +in the courses of the seasons, wherein the gods had ordained that he should +return home to Ithaca, not even there was he quit of labours, not even among +his own; but all the gods had pity on him save Poseidon, who raged continually +against godlike Odysseus, till he came to his own country. Howbeit Poseidon had +now departed for the distant Ethiopians, the Ethiopians that are sundered in +twain, the uttermost of men, abiding some where Hyperion sinks and some where +he rises. There he looked to receive his hecatomb of bulls and rams, there he +made merry sitting at the feast, but the other gods were gathered in the halls +of Olympian Zeus. Then among them the father of men and gods began to speak, +for he bethought him in his heart of noble Aegisthus, whom the son of +Agamemnon, far-famed Orestes, slew. Thinking upon him he spake out among the +Immortals:<br/> + ‘Lo you now, how vainly mortal men do blame the gods! For of us they say +comes evil, whereas they even of themselves, through the blindness of their own +hearts, have sorrows beyond that which is ordained. Even as of late Aegisthus, +beyond that which was ordained, took to him the wedded wife of the son of +Atreus, and killed her lord on his return, and that with sheer doom before his +eyes, since we had warned him by the embassy of Hermes the keen-sighted, the +slayer of Argos, that he should neither kill the man, nor woo his wife. For the +son of Atreus shall be avenged at the hand of Orestes, so soon as he shall come +to man’s estate and long for his own country. So spake Hermes, yet he prevailed +not on the heart of Aegisthus, for all his good will; but now hath he paid one +price for all.’<br/> + And the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him, saying: ‘O father, our +father Cronides, throned in the highest; that man assuredly lies in a death +that is his due; so perish likewise all who work such deeds! But my heart is +rent for wise Odysseus, the hapless one, who far from his friends this long +while suffereth affliction in a sea-girt isle, where is the navel of the sea, a +woodland isle, and therein a goddess hath her habitation, the daughter of the +wizard Atlas, who knows the depths of every sea, and himself upholds the tall +pillars which keep earth and sky asunder. His daughter it is that holds the +hapless man in sorrow: and ever with soft and guileful tales she is wooing him +to forgetfulness of Ithaca. But Odysseus yearning to see if it were but the +smoke leap upwards from his own land, hath a desire to die. As for thee, thine +heart regardeth it not at all, Olympian! What! Did not Odysseus by the ships of +the Argives make thee free offering of sacrifice in the wide Trojan land? +Wherefore wast thou then so wroth with him, O Zeus?’ +</p> + +<p> +The “Odyssey” (as every one knows) abounds in passages borrowed from the +“Iliad”; I had wished to print these in a slightly different type, with +marginal references to the “Iliad,” and had marked them to this end in my MS. I +found, however, that the translation would be thus hopelessly scholasticised, +and abandoned my intention. I would nevertheless urge on those who have the +management of our University presses, that they would render a great service to +students if they would publish a Greek text of the “Odyssey” with the Iliadic +passages printed in a different type, and with marginal references. I have +given the British Museum a copy of the “Odyssey” with the Iliadic passages +underlined and referred to in MS.; I have also given an “Iliad” marked with all +the Odyssean passages, and their references; but copies of both the “Iliad” and +“Odyssey” so marked ought to be within easy reach of all students. +</p> + +<p> +Any one who at the present day discusses the questions that have arisen round +the “Iliad” since Wolf’s time, without keeping it well before his reader’s mind +that the “Odyssey” was demonstrably written from one single neighbourhood, and +hence (even though nothing else pointed to this conclusion) presumably by one +person only—that it was written certainly before 750, and in all probability +before 1000 B.C.—that the writer of this very early poem was demonstrably +familiar with the “Iliad” as we now have it, borrowing as freely from those +books whose genuineness has been most impugned, as from those which are +admitted to be by Homer—any one who fails to keep these points before his +readers, is hardly dealing equitably by them. Any one on the other hand, who +will mark his “Iliad” and his “Odyssey” from the copies in the British Museum +above referred to, and who will draw the only inference that common sense can +draw from the presence of so many identical passages in both poems, will, I +believe, find no difficulty in assigning their proper value to a large number +of books here and on the Continent that at present enjoy considerable +reputations. Furthermore, and this perhaps is an advantage better worth +securing, he will find that many puzzles of the “Odyssey” cease to puzzle him +on the discovery that they arise from over-saturation with the “Iliad.” +</p> + +<p> +Other difficulties will also disappear as soon as the development of the poem +in the writer’s mind is understood. I have dealt with this at some length in +pp. 251-261 of “The Authoress of the Odyssey”. Briefly, the “Odyssey” consists +of two distinct poems: (1) The Return of Ulysses, which alone the Muse is asked +to sing in the opening lines of the poem. This poem includes the Phaeacian +episode, and the account of Ulysses’ adventures as told by himself in Books +ix.-xii. It consists of lines 1-79 (roughly) of Book i., of line 28 of Book v., +and thence without intermission to the middle of line 187 of Book xiii., at +which point the original scheme was abandoned. +</p> + +<p> +(2) The story of Penelope and the suitors, with the episode of Telemachus’ +voyage to Pylos. This poem begins with line 80 (roughly) of Book i., is +continued to the end of Book iv., and not resumed till Ulysses wakes in the +middle of line 187, Book xiii., from whence it continues to the end of Book +xxiv. +</p> + +<p> +In “The Authoress of the Odyssey”, I wrote: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +the introduction of lines xi., 115-137 and of line ix., 535, with the writing a +new council of the gods at the beginning of Book v., to take the place of the +one that was removed to Book i., 1-79, were the only things that were done to +give even a semblance of unity to the old scheme and the new, and to conceal +the fact that the Muse, after being asked to sing of one subject, spend +two-thirds of her time in singing a very different one, with a climax for which +no-one has asked her. For roughly the Return occupies eight Books, and Penelope +and the Suitors sixteen. +</p> + +<p> +I believe this to be substantially correct. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly, to deal with a very unimportant point, I observe that the Leipsic +Teubner edition of 894 makes Books ii. and iii. end with a comma. Stops are +things of such far more recent date than the “Odyssey,” that there does not +seem much use in adhering to the text in so small a matter; still, from a +spirit of mere conservatism, I have preferred to do so. Why [Greek] at the +beginnings of Books ii. and viii., and [Greek], at the beginning of Book vii. +should have initial capitals in an edition far too careful to admit a +supposition of inadvertence, when [Greek] at the beginning of Books vi. and +xiii., and [Greek] at the beginning of Book xvii. have no initial capitals, I +cannot determine. No other Books of the “Odyssey” have initial capitals except +the three mentioned unless the first word of the Book is a proper name. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +S. BUTLER. +</p> + +<p> +<i>July</i> 25, 1900. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref02"></a> +PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION</h2> + +<p> +Butler’s Translation of the “Odyssey” appeared originally in 1900, and The +Authoress of the Odyssey in 1897. In the preface to the new edition of “The +Authoress”, which is published simultaneously with this new edition of the +Translation, I have given some account of the genesis of the two books. +</p> + +<p> +The size of the original page has been reduced so as to make both books uniform +with Butler’s other works; and, fortunately, it has been possible, by using a +smaller type, to get the same number of words into each page, so that the +references remain good, and, with the exception of a few minor alterations and +rearrangements now to be enumerated so far as they affect the Translation, the +new editions are faithful reprints of the original editions, with misprints and +obvious errors corrected—no attempt having been made to edit them or to bring +them up to date. +</p> + +<p> +(a) The Index has been revised. +</p> + +<p> +(b) Owing to the reduction in the size of the page it has been necessary to +shorten some of the headlines, and here advantage has been taken of various +corrections of and additions to the headlines and shoulder-notes made by Butler +in his own copies of the two books. +</p> + +<p> +(c) For the most part each of the illustrations now occupies a page, whereas in +the original editions they generally appeared two on the page. It has been +necessary to reduce the plan of the House of Ulysses. +</p> + +<p> +On page 153 of “The Authoress” Butler says: “No great poet would compare his +hero to a paunch full of blood and fat, cooking before the fire (xx, 24-28).” +This passage is not given in the abridged Story of the “Odyssey” at the +beginning of the book, but in the Translation it occurs in these words: +</p> + +<p> +“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 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.” +</p> + +<p> +It looks as though in the interval between the publication of “The Authoress” +(1897) and of the Translation (1900) Butler had changed his mind; for in the +first case the comparison is between Ulysses and a paunch full, etc., and in +the second it is between Ulysses and a man who turns a paunch full, etc. The +second comparison is perhaps one which a great poet might make. +</p> + +<p> +In seeing the works through the press I have had the invaluable assistance of +Mr. A. T. Bartholomew of the University Library, Cambridge, and of Mr. Donald +S. Robertson, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. To both these friends I +give my most cordial thanks for the care and skill exercised by them. Mr. +Robertson has found time for the labour of checking and correcting all the +quotations from and references to the “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” and I believe that +it could not have been better performed. It was, I know, a pleasure for him; +and it would have been a pleasure also for Butler if he could have known that +his work was being shepherded by the son of his old friend, Mr. H. R. +Robertson, who more than half a century ago was a fellow-student with him at +Cary’s School of Art in Streatham Street, Bloomsbury. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +HENRY FESTING JONES. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +120 MAIDA VALE, W.9.<br/> +4th <i>December</i>, 1921. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap00"></a> +THE ODYSSEY</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a> +BOOK I</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +THE GODS IN COUNCIL—MINERVA’S VISIT TO ITHACA—THE CHALLENGE FROM TELEMACHUS TO +THE SUITORS. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-1" +name="linknoteref-1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> 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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-2" +name="linknoteref-2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Then the suitors came in and took their places on the benches and seats.<a +href="#linknote-3" name="linknoteref-3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-4" name="linknoteref-4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> 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<a +href="#linknote-5" name="linknoteref-5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> under the wooded +mountain Neritum.<a href="#linknote-6" name="linknoteref-6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-7" name="linknoteref-7"><sup>[7]</sup></a> nor yet +bring matters to an end; so they are making havoc of my estate, and before long +will do so also with myself.” +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-8" +name="linknoteref-8"><sup>[8]</sup></a> with a staid maiden on either side of +her. She held a veil, moreover, before her face, and was weeping bitterly. +</p> + +<p> +“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.”<a href="#linknote-9" +name="linknoteref-9"><sup>[9]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“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 <a href="#linknote-10" +name="linknoteref-10"><sup>[10]</sup></a>—for it is I who am master here.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-11" +name="linknoteref-11"><sup>[11]</sup></a>, and prayed each one that he might be +her bed fellow. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-12" name="linknoteref-12"><sup>[12]</sup></a> +Telemachus’s room was high up in a tower<a href="#linknote-13" +name="linknoteref-13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> 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.<a href="#linknote-14" +name="linknoteref-14"><sup>[14]</sup></a> 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<a href="#linknote-15" +name="linknoteref-15"><sup>[15]</sup></a> 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.<a href="#linknote-16" +name="linknoteref-16"><sup>[16]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a> +BOOK II</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-17" +name="linknoteref-17"><sup>[17]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-18" +name="linknoteref-18"><sup>[18]</sup></a>—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.”<a +href="#linknote-19" name="linknoteref-19"><sup>[19]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +With these words he sat down, and Mentor<a href="#linknote-20" +name="linknoteref-20"><sup>[20]</sup></a> 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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Then Telemachus went all alone by the sea side, washed his hands in the grey +waves, and prayed to Minerva. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke he snatched his hand from that of Antinous. Meanwhile the others +went on getting dinner ready about the buildings,<a href="#linknote-21" +name="linknoteref-21"><sup>[21]</sup></a> jeering at him tauntingly as they did +so. +</p> + +<p> +“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?” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-22" +name="linknoteref-22"><sup>[22]</sup></a> that whistled over the deep blue +waves<a href="#linknote-23" name="linknoteref-23"><sup>[23]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, then, the ship sped on her way through the watches of the night from dark +till dawn. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a> +BOOK III</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +TELEMACHUS VISITS NESTOR AT PYLOS. +</p> + +<p> +but as the sun was rising from the fair sea<a href="#linknote-24" +name="linknoteref-24"><sup>[24]</sup></a> 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<a href="#linknote-25" +name="linknoteref-25"><sup>[25]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a +href="#linknote-26" name="linknoteref-26"><sup>[26]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke he handed her the cup. Minerva thought it very right and proper of +him to have given it to herself first;<a href="#linknote-27" +name="linknoteref-27"><sup>[27]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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?” +</p> + +<p> +Telemachus answered boldly, for Minerva had given him courage to ask about his +father and get himself a good name. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a +href="#linknote-28" name="linknoteref-28"><sup>[28]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-29" +name="linknoteref-29"><sup>[29]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“At first she would have nothing to do with his wicked scheme, for she was of a +good natural disposition;<a href="#linknote-30" +name="linknoteref-30"><sup>[30]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-31" name="linknoteref-31"><sup>[31]</sup></a> with +as much treasure as his ships could carry. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley meal<a href="#linknote-32" +name="linknoteref-32"><sup>[32]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-33" name="linknoteref-33"><sup>[33]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-34" name="linknoteref-34"><sup>[34]</sup></a> +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.<a +href="#linknote-35" name="linknoteref-35"><sup>[35]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +Now when the sun had set and darkness was over the land, +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a> +BOOK IV</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +THE VISIT TO KING MENELAUS, WHO TELLS HIS STORY—MEANWHILE THE SUITORS IN ITHACA +PLOT AGAINST TELEMACHUS. +</p> + +<p> +they reached the low lying city of Lacedaemon, where they drove straight to the +abode of Menelaus<a href="#linknote-36" +name="linknoteref-36"><sup>[36]</sup></a> [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,<a +href="#linknote-37" name="linknoteref-37"><sup>[37]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-38" name="linknoteref-38"><sup>[38]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +On this he handed them<a href="#linknote-39" +name="linknoteref-39"><sup>[39]</sup></a> 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,<a href="#linknote-40" name="linknoteref-40"><sup>[40]</sup></a> +ivory, and silver. Everything is so splendid that it is like seeing the palace +of Olympian Jove. I am lost in admiration.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-41" +name="linknoteref-41"><sup>[41]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a +href="#linknote-42" name="linknoteref-42"><sup>[42]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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, +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-43" +name="linknoteref-43"><sup>[43]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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. <a href="#linknote-44" +name="linknoteref-44"><sup>[44]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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<a href="#linknote-45" +name="linknoteref-45"><sup>[45]</sup></a>—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.<a +href="#linknote-46" name="linknoteref-46"><sup>[46]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“I was broken hearted when I heard that I must go back all that long and +terrible voyage to Egypt;<a href="#linknote-47" +name="linknoteref-47"><sup>[47]</sup></a> 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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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. <a +href="#linknote-48" name="linknoteref-48"><sup>[48]</sup></a> None of our +islands have much level ground, suitable for horses, and Ithaca least of all.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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].<a +href="#linknote-49" name="linknoteref-49"><sup>[49]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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, +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus did he speak, and the others applauded his saying; they then all of them +went inside the buildings. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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, +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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?” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a> +BOOK V</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +CALYPSO—ULYSSES REACHES SCHERIA ON A RAFT. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a +href="#linknote-50" name="linknoteref-50"><sup>[50]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +<a href="#linknote-51" name="linknoteref-51"><sup>[51]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-52" +name="linknoteref-52"><sup>[52]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then send him away,” said Mercury, “or Jove will be angry with you and punish +you”. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +Presently the sun set and it became dark, whereon the pair retired into the +inner part of the cave and went to bed. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a +href="#linknote-53" name="linknoteref-53"><sup>[53]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-54" name="linknoteref-54"><sup>[54]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a> +BOOK VI</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +THE MEETING BETWEEN NAUSICAA AND ULYSSES. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-55" name="linknoteref-55"><sup>[55]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-56" +name="linknoteref-56"><sup>[56]</sup></a> before a number of good looking young +women.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a> +BOOK VII</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +RECEPTION OF ULYSSES AT THE PALACE OF KING ALCINOUS. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-57" +name="linknoteref-57"><sup>[57]</sup></a> She had been nurse to Nausicaa, and +had now lit the fire for her, and brought her supper for her into her own room. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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;<a href="#linknote-58" name="linknoteref-58"><sup>[58]</sup></a> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Minerva left Scheria and went away over the sea. She went to Marathon<a +href="#linknote-59" name="linknoteref-59"><sup>[59]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-60" +name="linknoteref-60"><sup>[60]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-61" +name="linknoteref-61"><sup>[61]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.”<a +href="#linknote-62" name="linknoteref-62"><sup>[62]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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.”<a href="#linknote-63" name="linknoteref-63"><sup>[63]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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<a +href="#linknote-64" name="linknoteref-64"><sup>[64]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a> +BOOK VIII</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +BANQUET IN THE HOUSE OF ALCINOUS—THE GAMES. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.<a href="#linknote-65" name="linknoteref-65"><sup>[65]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-66" +name="linknoteref-66"><sup>[66]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-67" name="linknoteref-67"><sup>[67]</sup></a> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are quite right, Laodamas,” replied Euryalus, “go up to your guest and +speak to him about it yourself.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-68" +name="linknoteref-68"><sup>[68]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-69" +name="linknoteref-69"><sup>[69]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Thus sang the bard, and both Ulysses and the seafaring Phaeacians were charmed +as they heard him. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.”<a href="#linknote-70" name="linknoteref-70"><sup>[70]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-71" +name="linknoteref-71"><sup>[71]</sup></a> 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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” <a +href="#linknote-72" name="linknoteref-72"><sup>[72]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-73" name="linknoteref-73"><sup>[73]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-74" +name="linknoteref-74"><sup>[74]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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?” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a> +BOOK IX</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +ULYSSES DECLARES HIMSELF AND BEGINS HIS STORY—-THE CICONS, LOTOPHAGI, AND +CYCLOPES. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.<a href="#linknote-75" name="linknoteref-75"><sup>[75]</sup></a> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.<a href="#linknote-76" +name="linknoteref-76"><sup>[76]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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<a href="#linknote-77" +name="linknoteref-77"><sup>[77]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a +href="#linknote-78" name="linknoteref-78"><sup>[78]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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;<a href="#linknote-79" name="linknoteref-79"><sup>[79]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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<a href="#linknote-80" +name="linknoteref-80"><sup>[80]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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: +</p> + +<p> +“‘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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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: +</p> + +<p> +“‘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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“But Polyphemus shouted to them from inside the cave, ‘Noman is killing me by +fraud; no man is killing me by force.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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: +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.<a href="#linknote-81" +name="linknoteref-81"><sup>[81]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’<a +href="#linknote-82" name="linknoteref-82"><sup>[82]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a> +BOOK X</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-83" name="linknoteref-83"><sup>[83]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.<a href="#linknote-84" name="linknoteref-84"><sup>[84]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-85" name="linknoteref-85"><sup>[85]</sup></a> 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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.<a href="#linknote-86" +name="linknoteref-86"><sup>[86]</sup></a> 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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“So she swore at once as I had told her, and when she had completed her oath +then I went to bed with her. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-87" +name="linknoteref-87"><sup>[87]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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? +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a> +BOOK XI</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +THE VISIT TO THE DEAD.<a href="#linknote-88" +name="linknoteref-88"><sup>[88]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-89" +name="linknoteref-89"><sup>[89]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“So I drew back, and sheathed my sword, whereon when he had drank of the blood +he began with his prophecy. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.<a href="#linknote-90" +name="linknoteref-90"><sup>[90]</sup></a> 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].’<a href="#linknote-91" +name="linknoteref-91"><sup>[91]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-92" +name="linknoteref-92"><sup>[92]</sup></a> 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.’<a +href="#linknote-93" name="linknoteref-93"><sup>[93]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“The first I saw was Tyro. She was daughter of Salmoneus and wife of Cretheus +the son of Aeolus.<a href="#linknote-94" +name="linknoteref-94"><sup>[94]</sup></a> 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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-95" +name="linknoteref-95"><sup>[95]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +Here he ended, and the guests sat all of them enthralled and speechless +throughout the covered cloister. Then Arete said to them:— +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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,<a href="#linknote-96" name="linknoteref-96"><sup>[96]</sup></a> 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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-97" +name="linknoteref-97"><sup>[97]</sup></a> only that there were still others +among the dead whom I desired to see. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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<a href="#linknote-98" +name="linknoteref-98"><sup>[98]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a> +BOOK XII</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +THE SIRENS, SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS, THE CATTLE OF THE SUN. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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,<a href="#linknote-99" +name="linknoteref-99"><sup>[99]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘When your crew have taken you past these Sirens, I cannot give you coherent +directions<a href="#linknote-100" name="linknoteref-100"><sup>[100]</sup></a> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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<a href="#linknote-101" name="linknoteref-101"><sup>[101]</sup></a> 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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“I had hardly finished telling everything to the men before we reached the +island of the two Sirens,<a href="#linknote-102" +name="linknoteref-102"><sup>[102]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-103" +name="linknoteref-103"><sup>[103]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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<a href="#linknote-104" name="linknoteref-104"><sup>[104]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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. +</p> + +<p> +“For a whole month the wind blew steadily from the South, and there was no +other wind, but only South and East.<a href="#linknote-105" +name="linknoteref-105"><sup>[105]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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 horned +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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“I was told all this by Calypso, who said she had heard it from the mouth of +Mercury. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“[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,<a +href="#linknote-106" name="linknoteref-106"><sup>[106]</sup></a> 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.<a href="#linknote-107" +name="linknoteref-107"><sup>[107]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a> +BOOK XIII</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +ULYSSES LEAVES SCHERIA AND RETURNS TO ITHACA. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-108" +name="linknoteref-108"><sup>[108]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-109" +name="linknoteref-109"><sup>[109]</sup></a> and may you whom I leave behind me +give satisfaction to your wives and children;<a href="#linknote-110" +name="linknoteref-110"><sup>[110]</sup></a> may heaven vouchsafe you every good +grace, and may no evil thing come among your people.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-111" +name="linknoteref-111"><sup>[111]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +When the bright star that heralds the approach of dawn began to show, the ship +drew near to land.<a href="#linknote-112" +name="linknoteref-112"><sup>[112]</sup></a> 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.<a href="#linknote-113" +name="linknoteref-113"><sup>[113]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +Into this harbour, then, they took their ship, for they knew the place.<a +href="#linknote-114" name="linknoteref-114"><sup>[114]</sup></a> She had so +much way upon her that she ran half her own length on to the shore;<a +href="#linknote-115" name="linknoteref-115"><sup>[115]</sup></a> 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<a href="#linknote-116" name="linknoteref-116"><sup>[116]</sup></a> +might come and steal them before Ulysses awoke; and then they made the best of +their way home again. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-117" name="linknoteref-117"><sup>[117]</sup></a> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Thus did the chiefs and rulers of the Phaeacians pray to king Neptune, standing +round his altar; and at the same time<a href="#linknote-118" +name="linknoteref-118"><sup>[118]</sup></a> 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<a href="#linknote-119" +name="linknoteref-119"><sup>[119]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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?” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-120" +name="linknoteref-120"><sup>[120]</sup></a> 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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.<a +href="#linknote-121" name="linknoteref-121"><sup>[121]</sup></a> 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;<a +href="#linknote-122" name="linknoteref-122"><sup>[122]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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<a +href="#linknote-123" name="linknoteref-123"><sup>[123]</sup></a> to every one +of them, but meaning the very opposite of all she says.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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<a href="#linknote-124" +name="linknoteref-124"><sup>[124]</sup></a> 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.”<a href="#linknote-125" +name="linknoteref-125"><sup>[125]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“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?” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +When the pair had thus laid their plans they parted, and the goddess went +straight to Lacedaemon to fetch Telemachus. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a> +BOOK XIV</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +ULYSSES IN THE HUT WITH EUMAEUS. +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-126" +name="linknoteref-126"><sup>[126]</sup></a> 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<a +href="#linknote-127" name="linknoteref-127"><sup>[127]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Ulysses, who was as crafty as he was valiant, hit upon the following plan: +</p> + +<p> +“‘Keep still,’ said he in a low voice, ‘or the others will hear you.’ Then he +raised his head on his elbow. +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a> +BOOK XV</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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<a href="#linknote-128" +name="linknoteref-128"><sup>[128]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.”<a href="#linknote-129" +name="linknoteref-129"><sup>[129]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-130" +name="linknoteref-130"><sup>[130]</sup></a> 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. <a href="#linknote-131" +name="linknoteref-131"><sup>[131]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-132" +name="linknoteref-132"><sup>[132]</sup></a> wondering within himself whether he +should escape death or should be taken prisoner. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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<a href="#linknote-133" +name="linknoteref-133"><sup>[133]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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: +</p> + +<p> +“You may have heard of an island called Syra that lies over above Ortygia,<a +href="#linknote-134" name="linknoteref-134"><sup>[134]</sup></a> where the land +begins to turn round and look in another direction.<a href="#linknote-135" +name="linknoteref-135"><sup>[135]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-136" name="linknoteref-136"><sup>[136]</sup></a> +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.” <a href="#linknote-137" +name="linknoteref-137"><sup>[137]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-138" name="linknoteref-138"><sup>[138]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a> +BOOK XVI</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +ULYSSES REVEALS HIMSELF TO TELEMACHUS. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“She is still at the house,” replied Eumaeus, “grieving and breaking her heart, +and doing nothing but weep, both night and day continually.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-139" +name="linknoteref-139"><sup>[139]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +On hearing this Telemachus smiled to his father, but so that Eumaeus could not +see him. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a> +BOOK XVII</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +With these words he moved the heart of Penelope. Then Theoclymenus said to her: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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, +<a href="#linknote-140" name="linknoteref-140"><sup>[140]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a +href="#linknote-141" name="linknoteref-141"><sup>[141]</sup></a> 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.”<a +href="#linknote-142" name="linknoteref-142"><sup>[142]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-143" +name="linknoteref-143"><sup>[143]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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<a href="#linknote-144" +name="linknoteref-144"><sup>[144]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +Ulysses answered, “May King Jove grant all happiness to Telemachus, and fulfil +the desire of his heart.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +But Telemachus said, “Hush, do not answer him; Antinous has the bitterest +tongue of all the suitors, and he makes the others worse.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a +href="#linknote-145" name="linknoteref-145"><sup>[145]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.”<a +href="#linknote-146" name="linknoteref-146"><sup>[146]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-147" +name="linknoteref-147"><sup>[147]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a> +BOOK XVIII</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +THE FIGHT WITH IRUS—ULYSSES WARNS AMPHINOMUS—PENELOPE GETS PRESENTS FROM THE +SUITORS—THE BRAZIERS—ULYSSES REBUKES EURYMACHUS. +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-148" +name="linknoteref-148"><sup>[148]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus roundly did they rate one another on the smooth pavement in front of the +doorway,<a href="#linknote-149" name="linknoteref-149"><sup>[149]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +On this the old woman<a href="#linknote-150" +name="linknoteref-150"><sup>[150]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-151" +name="linknoteref-151"><sup>[151]</sup></a> 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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a> +BOOK XIX</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“The stranger,” said Telemachus, “shall show me a light; when people eat my +bread they must earn it, no matter where they come from.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-152" +name="linknoteref-152"><sup>[152]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.<a href="#linknote-153" +name="linknoteref-153"><sup>[153]</sup></a> 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,<a href="#linknote-154" +name="linknoteref-154"><sup>[154]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“Those who have seen us both,” answered Ulysses, “have always said we were +wonderfully like each other, and now you have noticed it too.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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,<a href="#linknote-155" +name="linknoteref-155"><sup>[155]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a> +BOOK XX</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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<a +href="#linknote-156" name="linknoteref-156"><sup>[156]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +As she spoke she shed sleep over his eyes, and then went back to Olympus. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.”<a +href="#linknote-157" name="linknoteref-157"><sup>[157]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“If Jove were to bring this to pass,” replied the stockman, “you should see how +I would do my very utmost to help him.” +</p> + +<p> +And in like manner Eumaeus prayed that Ulysses might return home. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Telemachus purposely made Ulysses sit in the part of the cloister that was +paved with stone;<a href="#linknote-158" +name="linknoteref-158"><sup>[158]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-159" +name="linknoteref-159"><sup>[159]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a +href="#linknote-160" name="linknoteref-160"><sup>[160]</sup></a> 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.’” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +Telemachus gave him no heed, but sat silently watching his father, expecting +every moment that he would begin his attack upon the suitors. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap21"></a> +BOOK XXI</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +THE TRIAL OF THE AXES, DURING WHICH ULYSSES REVEALS HIMSELF TO EUMAEUS AND +PHILOETIUS +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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;<a href="#linknote-161" +name="linknoteref-161"><sup>[161]</sup></a> 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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a +href="#linknote-162" name="linknoteref-162"><sup>[162]</sup></a> 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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +<a href="#linknote-163" name="linknoteref-163"><sup>[163]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +On this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door,<a +href="#linknote-164" name="linknoteref-164"><sup>[164]</sup></a> 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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +Euryclea did as she was told and closed the doors of the women’s apartments. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +Another said, “I hope he may be no more successful in other things than he is +likely to be in stringing this bow.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +He took an arrow that was lying upon the table<a href="#linknote-165" +name="linknoteref-165"><sup>[165]</sup></a>—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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap22"></a> +BOOK XXII</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +THE KILLING OF THE SUITORS—THE MAIDS WHO HAVE MISCONDUCTED THEMSELVES ARE MADE +TO CLEANSE THE CLOISTERS AND ARE THEN HANGED. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-166" name="linknoteref-166"><sup>[166]</sup></a> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“Dogs, did you think that I should not come back from Troy? You have wasted my +substance,<a href="#linknote-167" name="linknoteref-167"><sup>[167]</sup></a> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +Their hearts sank as they heard him, but Eurymachus again spoke saying: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“Run and fetch them,” answered Ulysses, “while my arrows hold out, or when I am +alone they may get me away from the door.” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-168" +name="linknoteref-168"><sup>[168]</sup></a> and he grasped two redoubtable +bronze-shod spears. +</p> + +<p> +Now there was a trap door<a href="#linknote-169" +name="linknoteref-169"><sup>[169]</sup></a> on the wall, while at one end of +the pavement<a href="#linknote-170" name="linknoteref-170"><sup>[170]</sup></a> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-171" +name="linknoteref-171"><sup>[171]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-172" +name="linknoteref-172"><sup>[172]</sup></a> that he may linger on in an agony.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +This made Minerva still more furious, so she scolded Ulysses very angrily.<a +href="#linknote-173" name="linknoteref-173"><sup>[173]</sup></a> “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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-174" name="linknoteref-174"><sup>[174]</sup></a> 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 <a href="#linknote-175" +name="linknoteref-175"><sup>[175]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Then Ulysses said to Telemachus, “Call nurse Euryclea; I have something to say +to her.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.”<a href="#linknote-176" name="linknoteref-176"><sup>[176]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +“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<a href="#linknote-177" +name="linknoteref-177"><sup>[177]</sup></a> 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.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not wake her yet,” answered Ulysses, “but tell the women who have +misconducted themselves to come to me.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-178" +name="linknoteref-178"><sup>[178]</sup></a> Their feet moved convulsively for a +while, but not for very long. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“First light me a fire,” replied Ulysses. +</p> + +<p> +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.<a href="#linknote-179" name="linknoteref-179"><sup>[179]</sup></a> +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap23"></a> +BOOK XXIII</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +PENELOPE EVENTUALLY RECOGNISES HER HUSBAND—EARLY IN THE MORNING ULYSSES, +TELEMACHUS, EUMAEUS, AND PHILOETIUS LEAVE THE TOWN. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-180" +name="linknoteref-180"><sup>[180]</sup></a> [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,<a href="#linknote-181" +name="linknoteref-181"><sup>[181]</sup></a> till Telemachus began to reproach +her and said: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.”<a +href="#linknote-182" name="linknoteref-182"><sup>[182]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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<a href="#linknote-183" name="linknoteref-183"><sup>[183]</sup></a> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-184" +name="linknoteref-184"><sup>[184]</sup></a> and stay there with your women. See +nobody and ask no questions.”<a href="#linknote-185" +name="linknoteref-185"><sup>[185]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap24"></a> +BOOK XXIV</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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,<a href="#linknote-186" +name="linknoteref-186"><sup>[186]</sup></a> its splendour was as that of the +sun or moon. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.<a +href="#linknote-187" name="linknoteref-187"><sup>[187]</sup></a> But tell me, +does Penelope already know of your return, or shall we send some one to tell +her?” +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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, +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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?” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +This was what Minerva was already eager to bring about, so down she darted from +off the topmost summits of Olympus. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap25"></a> +FOOTNOTES:</h2> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-1">[1]</a><br/> + [ Black races are evidently known to the writer as stretching all across + Africa, one half looking West on to the Atlantic, and the other East on to the + Indian Ocean.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-2">[2]</a><br/> + [ The original use of the footstool was probably less to rest the feet than to + keep them (especially when bare) from a floor which was often wet and dirty.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-3">[3]</a><br/> + [ The θρόνος or seat, is occasionally called + “high,” as being higher than the θρῆνυς or low + footstool. It was probably no higher than an ordinary chair is now, and seems + to have had no back.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-4">[4]</a><br/> + [ Temesa was on the West Coast of the toe of Italy, in what is now the gulf of + Sta Eufemia. It was famous in remote times for its copper mines, which, + however, were worked out when Strabo wrote.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-5">[5]</a><br/> + [ i.e. “with a current in it”—see illustrations and map near the end of bks. + v. and vi. respectively.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-6">[6]</a><br/> + [ Reading Νηρίτῳ for + Νηίῳ, cf. “Od.” iii. 81 where the same mistake is made, + and xiii. 351 where the mountain is called Neritum, the same place being + intended both here and in book xiii.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-7">[7]</a><br/> + [ It is never plausibly explained why Penelope cannot do this, and from bk. + ii. it is clear that she kept on deliberately encouraging the suitors, though + we are asked to believe that she was only fooling them.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-8">[8]</a><br/> + [ See note on “Od.” i. 365.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-9">[9]</a><br/> + [ Middle Argos means the Peleponnese which, however, is never so called in the + “Iliad”. I presume “middle” means “middle between the two Greek-speaking + countries of Asia Minor and Sicily, with South Italy”; for that parts of + Sicily and also large parts, though not the whole of South Italy, were + inhabited by Greek-speaking races centuries before the Dorian colonisations + can hardly be doubted. The Sicians, and also the Sicels, both of them probably + spoke Greek.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-10">[10]</a><br/> + [ cf. “Il.” vi. 490-495. In the “Iliad” it is “war,” not “speech,” that is a + man’s matter. It argues a certain hardness, or at any rate dislike of the + “Iliad” on the part of the writer of the “Odyssey,” that she should have + adopted Hector’s farewell to Andromache here, as elsewhere in the poem, for a + scene of such inferior pathos.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-11" id="linknote-11"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-11">[11]</a><br/> + [ μέγαρα + σκιοέντα The whole open court with + the covered cloister running round it was called + μέγαρον, or + μέγαρα, but the covered part was distinguished + by being called “shady” or “shadow-giving”. It was in this part that the + tables for the suitors were laid. The Fountain Court at Hampton Court may + serve as an illustration (save as regards the use of arches instead of wooden + supports and rafters) and the arrangement is still common in Sicily. The usual + translation “shadowy” or “dusky” halls, gives a false idea of the scene.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-12" id="linknote-12"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-12">[12]</a><br/> + [ The reader will note the extreme care which the writer takes to make it + clear that none of the suitors were allowed to sleep in Ulysses’ house.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-13" id="linknote-13"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-13">[13]</a><br/> + [ See Appendix; g, in plan of Ulysses’ house.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-14" id="linknote-14"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-14">[14]</a><br/> + [ I imagine this passage to be a rejoinder to “Il.” xxiii. 702-705 in which a + tripod is valued at twelve oxen, and a good useful maid of all work at only + four. The scrupulous regard of Laertes for his wife’s feelings is of a piece + with the extreme jealousy for the honour of woman, which is manifest + throughout the “Odyssey”.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-15" id="linknote-15"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-15">[15]</a><br/> + [ χιτῶνα “The χιτών, + or <i>tunica</i>, was a shirt or shift, and served as the chief under garment + of the Greeks and Romans, whether men or women.” Smith’s Dictionary of Greek + and Roman Antiquities, under “Tunica”.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-16" id="linknote-16"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-16">[16]</a><br/> + [ Doors fastened to all intents and purposes as here described may be seen in + the older houses at Trapani. There is a slot on the outer side of the door by + means of which a person who has left the room can shoot the bolt. My bedroom + at the Albergo Centrale was fastened in this way.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-17" id="linknote-17"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-17">[17]</a><br/> + [ πύματον δ’ + ὡπλίσσατο + δόρπον. So we vulgarly say “had cooked his + goose,” or “had settled his hash.” Ægyptius cannot of course know of the fate + Antiphus had met with, for there had as yet been no news of or from Ulysses.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-18" id="linknote-18"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-18">[18]</a><br/> + [ “Il.” xxii. 416. σχέσθε + φίλοι, καὶ μ’ + οἷον ἐάσατε...... The + authoress has bungled by borrowing these words verbatim from the “Iliad”, + without prefixing the necessary “do not,” which I have supplied.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-19" id="linknote-19"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-19">[19]</a><br/> + [ i.e. you have money, and could pay when I got judgment, whereas the suitors + are men of straw.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-20" id="linknote-20"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-20">[20]</a><br/> + [ cf. “Il.” ii. 76. ἦ τοι ὄ γ’ ὦς + εὶπὼν κατ’ ἄρ’ + ἔζετο τοῖσι δ’ + ἀνέστη<br/> +Νέστωρ, ὄς +ῥα.......................................<br/> +ὄ σφιν ἐὺ +φρονέων +ἀγορήσατο καὶ +μετέειπεν.<br/> +The Odyssean passage runs—<br/> +“ἦ τοι ὄ γ’ ὦς +εὶπὼν κατ’ ἄρ’ +ἔζετο τοῖσι δ’ +ἀνέστη<br/> +Μεντορ ὄς +ῥ’.......................................<br/> +ὄ σφιν ἐὺ +φρονέων +ἀγορήσατο καὶ +μετέειπεν.<br/> +Is it possible not to suspect that the name Mentor was coined upon that of +Nestor?] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-21" id="linknote-21"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-21">[21]</a><br/> + [ i.e. in the outer court, and in the uncovered part of the inner house.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-22" id="linknote-22"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-22">[22]</a><br/> + [ This would be fair from Sicily, which was doing duty for Ithaca in the mind + of the writer, but a North wind would have been preferable for a voyage from + the real Ithaca to Pylos.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-23" id="linknote-23"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-23">[23]</a><br/> + [ κελάδοντ’ ἐπὶ + οὶνοπα πόντον + The wind does not whistle over waves. It only whistles through rigging or some + other obstacle that cuts it.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-24" id="linknote-24"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-24">[24]</a><br/> + [ cf. “Il.” v.20. Ἰδαῖος δ’ + ἀπόρουσε + λιπὼν + περικαλλέα + δίφρον, the Odyssean line is + ἠέλιος δ’ + ἀνόρουσε + λιπὼν + περικαλλέα + λίμνην. There can be no doubt that the Odyssean + line was suggested by the Iliadic, but nothing can explain why Idæus jumping + from his chariot should suggest to the writer of the “Odyssey” the sun jumping + from the sea. The probability is that she never gave the matter a thought, but + took the line in question as an effect of saturation with the “Iliad,” and of + unconscious cerebration. The “Odyssey” contains many such examples.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-25" id="linknote-25"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-25">[25]</a><br/> + [ The heart, liver, lights, kidneys, etc. were taken out from the inside and + eaten first as being more readily cooked; the {Greek}, or bone meat, was + cooking while the {Greek} or inward parts were being eaten. I imagine that the + thigh bones made a kind of gridiron, while at the same time the marrow inside + them got cooked.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-26" id="linknote-26"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-26">[26]</a><br/> + [ i.e. skewers, either single, double, or even five pronged. The meat would be + pierced with the skewer, and laid over the ashes to grill—the two ends of the + skewer being supported in whatever way convenient. Meat so cooking may be seen + in any eating house in Smyrna, or any Eastern town. When I rode across the + Troad from the Dardanelles to Hissarlik and Mount Ida, I noticed that my + dragoman and his men did all our outdoor cooking exactly in the Odyssean and + Iliadic fashion.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-27" id="linknote-27"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-27">[27]</a><br/> + [ cf. “Il.” xvii. 567. {Greek} The Odyssean lines are—{Greek}] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-28" id="linknote-28"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-28">[28]</a><br/> + [ Reading {Greek} for {Greek}, cf. “Od.” i. 186.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-29" id="linknote-29"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-29">29[]</a><br/> + [ The geography of the Ægean as above described is correct, but is probably + taken from the lost poem, the Nosti, the existence of which is referred to + “Od.” i. 326, 327 and 350, &c. A glance at the map will show that heaven + advised its supplicants quite correctly.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-30" id="linknote-30"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-30">[30]</a><br/> + [ The writer—ever jealous for the honour of women—extenuates Clytemnestra’s + guilt as far as possible, and explains it as due to her having been left + unprotected, and fallen into the hands of a wicked man.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-31" id="linknote-31"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-31">[31]</a><br/> + [ The Greek is {Greek} cf. “Iliad” ii. 408 {Greek} Surely the {Greek} of the + Odyssean passage was due to the {Greek} of the “Iliad.” No other reason + suggests itself for the making Menelaus return on the very day of the feast + given by Orestes. The fact that in the “Iliad” Menelaus came to a banquet + without waiting for an invitation, determines the writer of the “Odyssey” to + make him come to a banquet, also uninvited, but as circumstances did not + permit of his having been invited, his coming uninvited is shown to have been + due to chance. I do not think the authoress thought all this out, but + attribute the strangeness of the coincidence to unconscious cerebration and + saturation.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-32" id="linknote-32"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-32">[32]</a><br/> + [ cf. “Il.” I. 458, II. 421. The writer here interrupts an Iliadic passage (to + which she returns immediately) for the double purpose of dwelling upon the + slaughter of the heifer, and of letting Nestor’s wife and daughter enjoy it + also. A male writer, if he was borrowing from the “Iliad,” would have stuck to + his borrowing.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-33" id="linknote-33"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-33">[33]</a><br/> + [ cf. “Il.” xxiv. 587, 588 where the lines refer to the washing the dead body + of Hector.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-34" id="linknote-34"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-34">[34]</a><br/> + [ See illustration on opposite page. The yard is typical of many that may be + seen in Sicily. The existing ground-plan is probably unmodified from Odyssean, + and indeed long pre-Odyssean times, but the earlier buildings would have no + arches, and would, one would suppose, be mainly timber. The Odyssean {Greek} + were the sheds that ran round the yard as the arches do now. The {Greek} was + the one through which the main entrance passed, and which was hence “noisy,” + or reverberating. It had an upper story in which visitors were often lodged.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-35" id="linknote-35"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-35">[35]</a><br/> + [ This journey is an impossible one. Telemachus and Pisistratus would have + been obliged to drive over the Taygetus range, over which there has never yet + been a road for wheeled vehicles. It is plain therefore that the audience for + whom the “Odyssey” was written was one that would be unlikely to know anything + about the topography of the Peloponnese, so that the writer might take what + liberties she chose.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-36" id="linknote-36"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-36">[36]</a><br/> + [ The lines which I have enclosed in brackets are evidently an + afterthought—added probably by the writer herself—for they evince the same + instinctively greater interest in anything that may concern a woman, which is + so noticeable throughout the poem. There is no further sign of any special + festivities nor of any other guests than Telemachus and Pisistratus, until + lines 621-624 (ordinarily enclosed in brackets) are abruptly introduced, + probably with a view of trying to carry off the introduction of the lines now + in question. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +The addition was, I imagine, suggested by a desire to excuse and explain the +non-appearance of Hermione in bk. xv., as also of both Hermione and Megapenthes +in the rest of bk. iv. Megapenthes in bk. xv. seems to be still a bachelor: the +presumption therefore is that bk. xv. was written before the story of his +marriage here given. I take it he is only married here because his sister is +being married. She having been properly attended to, Megapenthes might as well +be married at the same time. Hermione could not now be less than thirty. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +I have dealt with this passage somewhat more fully in my “Authoress of the +Odyssey”, p. 136-138. See also p. 256 of the same book.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-37" id="linknote-37"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-37">[37]</a><br/> + [ Sparta and Lacedaemon are here treated as two different places, though in + other parts of the poem it is clear that the writer understands them as one. + The catalogue in the “Iliad,” which the writer is here presumably following, + makes the same mistake (“Il.” ii. 581, 582)] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-38" id="linknote-38"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-38">[38]</a><br/> + [ These last three lines are identical with “Il.” vxiii. 604-606.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-39" id="linknote-39"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-39">[39]</a><br/> + [ From the Greek {Greek} it is plain that Menelaus took up the piece of meat + with his fingers.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-40" id="linknote-40"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-40">[40]</a><br/> + [ Amber is never mentioned in the “Iliad.” Sicily, where I suppose the + “Odyssey” to have been written, has always been, and still is, one of the + principal amber producing countries. It was probably the only one known in the + Odyssean age. See “The Authoress of the Odyssey,” Longmans 1898, p. 186.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-41" id="linknote-41"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-41">[41]</a><br/> + [ This no doubt refers to the story told in the last poem of the Cypria about + Paris and Helen robbing Menelaus of the greater part of his treasures, when + they sailed together for Troy.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-42" id="linknote-42"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-42">[42]</a><br/> + [ It is inconceivable that Helen should enter thus, in the middle of supper, + intending to work with her distaff, if great festivities were going on. + Telemachus and Pisistratus are evidently dining en famille.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-43" id="linknote-43"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-43">[43]</a><br/> + [ In the Italian insurrection of 1848, eight young men who were being hotly + pursued by the Austrian police hid themselves inside Donatello’s colossal + wooden horse in the Salone at Padua, and remained there for a week being fed + by their confederates. In 1898 the last survivor was carried round Padua in + triumph.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-44" id="linknote-44"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-44">[44]</a><br/> + [ The Greek is {Greek}. Is it unfair to argue that the writer is a person of + somewhat delicate sensibility, to whom a strong smell of fish is distasteful?] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-45" id="linknote-45"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-45">[45]</a><br/> + [ The Greek is {Greek}. I believe this to be a hit at the writer’s own + countrymen who were of Phocaean descent, and the next following line to be a + rejoinder to complaints made against her in bk. vi. 273-288, to the effect + that she gave herself airs and would marry none of her own people. For that + the writer of the “Odyssey” was the person who has been introduced into the + poem under the name of Nausicaa, I cannot bring myself to question. I may + remind English readers that {Greek} (i.e. phoca) means “seal.” Seals almost + always appear on Phocaean coins.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-46" id="linknote-46"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-46">[46]</a><br/> + [ Surely here again we are in the hands of a writer of delicate sensibility. + It is not as though the seals were stale; they had only just been killed. The + writer, however is obviously laughing at her own countrymen, and insulting + them as openly as she dares.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-47" id="linknote-47"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-47">[47]</a><br/> + [ We were told above (lines 356, 357) that it was only one day’s sail.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-48" id="linknote-48"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-48">[48]</a><br/> + [ I give the usual translation, but I do not believe the Greek will warrant + it. The Greek reads {Greek}. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +This is usually held to mean that Ithaca is an island fit for breeding goats, +and on that account more delectable to the speaker than it would have been if +it were fit for breeding horses. I find little authority for such a +translation; the most equitable translation of the text as it stands is, +“Ithaca is an island fit for breeding goats, and delectable rather than fit for +breeding horses; for not one of the islands is good driving ground, nor well +meadowed.” Surely the writer does not mean that a pleasant or delectable island +would not be fit for breeding horses? The most equitable translation, +therefore, of the present text being thus halt and impotent, we may suspect +corruption, and I hazard the following emendation, though I have not adopted it +in my translation, as fearing that it would be deemed too fanciful. I would +read:—{Greek}. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +As far as scanning goes the {Greek} is not necessary; {Greek} iv. 72, (Footnote +Greek) iv. 233, to go no further afield than earlier lines of the same book, +give sufficient authority for {Greek}, but the {Greek} would not be redundant; +it would emphasise the surprise of the contrast, and I should prefer to have +it, though it is not very important either way. This reading of course should +be translated “Ithaca is an island fit for breeding goats, and (by your leave) +itself a horseman rather than fit for breeding horses—for not one of the +islands is good and well meadowed ground.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +This would be sure to baffle the Alexandrian editors. “How,” they would ask +themselves, “could an island be a horseman?” and they would cast about for an +emendation. A visit to the top of Mt. Eryx might perhaps make the meaning +intelligible, and suggest my proposed restoration of the text to the reader as +readily as it did to myself. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +I have elsewhere stated my conviction that the writer of the “Odyssey” was +familiar with the old Sican city at the top of Mt. Eryx, and that the Aegadean +islands which are so striking when seen thence did duty with her for the Ionian +islands—Marettimo, the highest and most westerly of the group, standing for +Ithaca. When seen from the top of Mt. Eryx Marettimo shows as it should do +according to “Od.” ix. 25, 26, “on the horizon, all highest up in the sea +towards the West,” while the other islands lie “some way off it to the East.” +As we descend to Trapani, Marettimo appears to sink on to the top of the island +of Levanzo, behind which it disappears. My friend, the late Signor E. Biaggini, +pointed to it once as it was just standing on the top of Levanzo, and said to +me “Come cavalca bene” (“How well it rides”), and this immediately suggested my +emendation to me. Later on I found in the hymn to the Pythian Apollo (which +abounds with tags taken from the “Odyssey”) a line ending {Greek} which +strengthened my suspicion that this was the original ending of the second of +the two lines above under consideration.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-49" id="linknote-49"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-49">[49]</a><br/> + [ See note on line 3 of this book. The reader will observe that the writer has + been unable to keep the women out of an interpolation consisting only of four + lines.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-50" id="linknote-50"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-50">[50]</a><br/> + [ Scheria means a piece of land jutting out into the sea. In my “Authoress of + the Odyssey” I thought “Jutland” would be a suitable translation, but it has + been pointed out to me that “Jutland” only means the land of the Jutes.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-51" id="linknote-51"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-51">[51]</a><br/> + [ Irrigation as here described is common in gardens near Trapani. The water + that supplies the ducts is drawn from wells by a mule who turns a wheel with + buckets on it.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-52" id="linknote-52"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-52">[52]</a><br/> + [ There is not a word here about the cattle of the sun-god.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-53" id="linknote-53"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-53">[53]</a><br/> + [ The writer evidently thought that green, growing wood might also be well + seasoned.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-54" id="linknote-54"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-54">[54]</a><br/> + [ The reader will note that the river was flowing with salt water i.e. that it + was tidal.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-55" id="linknote-55"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-55">[55]</a><br/> + [ Then the Ogygian island was not so far off, but that Nausicaa might be + assumed to know where it was.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-56" id="linknote-56"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-56">[56]</a><br/> + [ Greek {Greek}] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-57" id="linknote-57"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-57">[57]</a><br/> + [ I suspect a family joke, or sly allusion to some thing of which we know + nothing, in this story of Eurymedusa’s having been brought from Apeira. The + Greek word “apeiros” means “inexperienced,” “ignorant.” Is it possible that + Eurymedusa was notoriously incompetent?] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-58" id="linknote-58"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-58">[58]</a><br/> + [ Polyphemus was also son to Neptune, see “Od.” ix. 412, 529. he was therefore + half brother to Nausithous, half uncle to King Alcinous, and half great uncle + to Nausicaa.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-59" id="linknote-59"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-59">[59]</a><br/> + [ It would seem as though the writer thought that Marathon was close to + Athens.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-60" id="linknote-60"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-60">[60]</a><br/> + [ Here the writer, knowing that she is drawing (with embellishments) from + things actually existing, becomes impatient of past tenses and slides into the + present.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-61" id="linknote-61"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-61">[61]</a><br/> + [ This is hidden malice, implying that the Phaeacian magnates were no better + than they should be. The final drink-offering should have been made to Jove or + Neptune, not to the god of thievishness and rascality of all kinds. In line + 164 we do indeed find Echeneus proposing that a drink-offering should be made + to Jove, but Mercury is evidently, according to our authoress, the god who was + most likely to be of use to them.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-62" id="linknote-62"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-62">[62]</a><br/> + [ The fact of Alcinous knowing anything about the Cyclopes suggests that in + the writer’s mind Scheria and the country of the Cyclopes were not very far + from one another. I take the Cyclopes and the giants to be one and the same + people.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-63" id="linknote-63"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-63">[63]</a><br/> + [ “My property, etc.” The authoress is here adopting an Iliadic line (xix. + 333), and this must account for the absence of all reference to Penelope. If + she had happened to remember “Il.” v. 213, she would doubtless have + appropriated it by preference, for that line reads “my country, <i>my + wife</i>, and all the greatness of my house.”] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-64" id="linknote-64"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-64">[64]</a><br/> + [ The at first inexplicable sleep of Ulysses (bk. xiii. 79, etc.) is here, as + also in viii. 445, being obviously prepared. The writer evidently attached the + utmost importance to it. Those who know that the harbour which did duty with + the writer of the “Odyssey” for the one in which Ulysses landed in Ithaca, was + only about 2 miles from the place in which Ulysses is now talking with + Alcinous, will understand why the sleep was so necessary.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-65" id="linknote-65"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-65">[65]</a><br/> + [ There were two classes—the lower who were found in provisions which they had + to cook for themselves in the yards and outer precincts, where they would also + eat—and the upper who would eat in the cloisters of the inner court, and have + their cooking done for them.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-66" id="linknote-66"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-66">[66]</a><br/> + [ Translation very dubious. I suppose the {Greek} here to be the covered sheds + that ran round the outer courtyard. See illustrations at the end of bk. iii.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-67" id="linknote-67"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-67">[67]</a><br/> + [ The writer apparently deems that the words “as compared with what oxen can + plough in the same time” go without saying. Not so the writer of the “Iliad” + from which the Odyssean passage is probably taken. He explains that mules can + plough quicker than oxen (“Il.” x. 351-353)] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-68" id="linknote-68"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-68">[68]</a><br/> + [ It was very fortunate that such a disc happened to be there, seeing that + none like it were in common use.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-69" id="linknote-69"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-69">[69]</a><br/> + [ “Il.” xiii. 37. Here, as so often elsewhere in the “Odyssey,” the + appropriation of an Iliadic line which is not quite appropriate puzzles the + reader. The “they” is not the chains, nor yet Mars and Venus. It is an + overflow from the Iliadic passage in which Neptune hobbles his horses in bonds + “which none could either unloose or break so that they might stay there in + that place.” If the line would have scanned without the addition of the words + “so that they might stay there in that place,” they would have been omitted in + the “Odyssey.”] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-70" id="linknote-70"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-70">[70]</a><br/> + [ The reader will note that Alcinous never goes beyond saying that he is going + to give the goblet; he never gives it. Elsewhere in both “Iliad” and “Odyssey” + the offer of a present is immediately followed by the statement that it was + given and received gladly—Alcinous actually does give a chest and a cloak and + shirt—probably also some of the corn and wine for the long two-mile voyage was + provided by him—but it is quite plain that he gave no talent and no cup.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-71" id="linknote-71"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-71">[71]</a><br/> + [ “Il.” xviii. 344-349. These lines in the “Iliad” tell of the preparation for + washing the body of Patroclus, and I am not pleased that the writer of the + “Odyssey” should have adopted them here.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-72" id="linknote-72"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-72">[72]</a><br/> + [ see note [64] : ] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-73" id="linknote-73"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-73">[73]</a><br/> + [ see note [43] : ] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-74" id="linknote-74"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-74">[74]</a><br/> + [ The reader will find this threat fulfilled in bk. xiii] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-75" id="linknote-75"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-75">[75]</a><br/> + [ If the other islands lay some distance away from Ithaca (which the word + {Greek} suggests), what becomes of the + πόρθμος or gut between Ithaca and Samos + which we hear of in Bks. iv. and xv.? I suspect that the authoress in her mind + makes Telemachus come back from Pylos to the Lilybaean promontory and thence + to Trapani through the strait between the <i>Isola Grande</i> and the + mainland—the island of Asteria being the one on which Motya afterwards stood.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-76" id="linknote-76"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-76">[76]</a><br/> + [ “Il.” xviii. 533-534. The sudden lapse into the third person here for a + couple of lines is due to the fact that the two Iliadic lines taken are in the + third person.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-77" id="linknote-77"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-77">[77]</a><br/> + [ cf. “Il.” ii. 776. The words in both “Iliad” and “Odyssey” are [Footnote + Greek]. In the “Iliad” they are used of the horses of Achilles’ followers as + they stood idle, “champing lotus.”] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-78" id="linknote-78"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-78">[78]</a><br/> + [ I take all this passage about the Cyclopes having no ships to be + sarcastic—meaning, “You people of Drepanum have no excuse for not colonising + the island of Favognana, which you could easily do, for you have plenty of + ships, and the island is a very good one.” For that the island so fully + described here is the Aegadean or “goat” island of Favognana, and that the + Cyclopes are the old Sican inhabitants of Mt. Eryx should not be doubted.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-79" id="linknote-79"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-79">[79]</a><br/> + [ For the reasons why it was necessary that the night should be so + exceptionally dark see “The Authoress of the Odyssey” pp. 188-189.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-80" id="linknote-80"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-80">[80]</a><br/> + [ None but such lambs as would suck if they were with their mothers would be + left in the yard. The older lambs should have been out feeding. The authoress + has got it all wrong, but it does not matter. See “The Authoress of the + Odyssey” p. 148.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-81" id="linknote-81"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-81">[81]</a><br/> + [ This line is enclosed in brackets in the received text, and is omitted (with + note) by Messrs. Butcher & Lang. But lines enclosed in brackets are almost + always genuine; all that brackets mean is that the bracketed passage puzzled + some early editor, who nevertheless found it too well established in the text + to venture on omitting it. In the present case the line bracketed is the very + last which a full-grown male editor would be likely to interpolate. It is + safer to infer that the writer, a young woman, not knowing or caring at which + end of the ship the rudder should be, determined to make sure by placing it at + both ends, which we shall find she presently does by repeating it (line 340) + at the stern of the ship. As for the two rocks thrown, the first I take to be + the Asinelli, see map facing p. 80. The second I see as the two contiguous + islands of the Formiche, which are treated as one, see map facing p. 108. The + Asinelli is an island shaped like a boat, and pointing to the island of + Favognana. I think the authoress’s compatriots, who probably did not like her + much better that she did them, jeered at the absurdity of Ulysses’ conduct, + and saw the Asinelli or “donkeys,” not as the rock thrown by Polyphemus, but + as the boat itself containing Ulysses and his men.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-82" id="linknote-82"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-82">[82]</a><br/> + [ This line exists in the text here but not in the corresponding passage xii. + 141. I am inclined to think it is interpolated (probably by the poetess + herself) from the first of lines xi. 115-137, which I can hardly doubt were + added by the writer when the scheme of the work was enlarged and altered. See + “The Authoress of the Odyssey” pp. 254-255.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-83" id="linknote-83"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-83">[83]</a><br/> + [ “Floating” (πλωτῇ) is not to be taken literally. + The island itself, as apart from its inhabitants, was quite normal. There is + no indication of its moving during the month that Ulysses stayed with Aeolus, + and on his return from his unfortunate voyage, he seems to have found it in + the same place. The πλωτῇ in fact should no more be + pressed than θοῇσι as applied to islands, “Odyssey” + xv. 299—where they are called “flying” because the ship would fly past them. + So also the “Wanderers,” as explained by Buttmann; see note on “Odyssey” xii. + 57.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-84" id="linknote-84"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-84">[84]</a><br/> + [ Literally “for the ways of the night and of the day are near.” I have seen + what Mr. Andrew Lang says (“Homer and the Epic,” p. 236, and “Longman’s + Magazine” for January, 1898, p. 277) about the “amber route” and the “Sacred + Way” in this connection; but until he gives his grounds for holding that the + Mediterranean peoples in the Odyssean age used to go far North for their amber + instead of getting it in Sicily, where it is still found in considerable + quantities, I do not know what weight I ought to attach to his opinion. I have + been unable to find grounds for asserting that B.C. 1000 there was any + commerce between the Mediterranean and the “Far North,” but I shall be very + ready to learn if Mr. Lang will enlighten me. See “The Authoress of the + Odyssey” pp. 185-186.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-85" id="linknote-85"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-85">[85]</a><br/> + [ One would have thought that when the sun was driving the stag down to the + water, Ulysses might have observed its whereabouts.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-86" id="linknote-86"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-86">[86]</a><br/> + [ See Hobbes of Malmesbury’s translation.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-87" id="linknote-87"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-87">[87]</a><br/> + [ “Il.” vxiii. 349. Again the writer draws from the washing the body of + Patroclus—which offends.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-88" id="linknote-88"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-88">[88]</a><br/> + [ This visit is wholly without topographical significance.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-89" id="linknote-89"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-89">[89]</a><br/> + [ Brides presented themselves instinctively to the imagination of the writer, + as the phase of humanity which she found most interesting.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-90" id="linknote-90"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-90">[90]</a><br/> + [ Ulysses was, in fact, to become a missionary and preach Neptune to people + who knew not his name. I was fortunate enough to meet in Sicily a woman + carrying one of these winnowing shovels; it was not much shorter than an oar, + and I was able at once to see what the writer of the “Odyssey” intended.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-91" id="linknote-91"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-91">[91]</a><br/> + [ I suppose the lines I have enclosed in brackets to have been added by the + author when she enlarged her original scheme by the addition of books i.-iv. + and xiii. (from line 187)-xxiv. The reader will observe that in the + corresponding passage (xii. 137-141) the prophecy ends with “after losing all + your comrades,” and that there is no allusion to the suitors. For fuller + explanation see “The Authoress of the Odyssey” pp. 254-255.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-92" id="linknote-92"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-92">[92]</a><br/> + [ The reader will remember that we are in the first year of Ulysses’ + wanderings, Telemachus therefore was only eleven years old. The same + anachronism is made later on in this book. See “The Authoress of the Odyssey” + pp. 132-133.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-93" id="linknote-93"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-93">[93]</a><br/> + [ Tradition says that she had hanged herself. Cf. “Odyssey” xv. 355, etc.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-94" id="linknote-94"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-94">[94]</a><br/> + [ Not to be confounded with Aeolus king of the winds.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-95" id="linknote-95"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-95">[95]</a><br/> + [ Melampus, vide book xv. 223, etc.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-96" id="linknote-96"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-96">[96]</a><br/> + [ I have already said in a note on bk. xi. 186 that at this point of Ulysses’ + voyage Telemachus could only be between eleven and twelve years old.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-97" id="linknote-97"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-97">[97]</a><br/> + [ Is the writer a man or a woman?] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-98" id="linknote-98"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-98">[98]</a><br/> + [ Cf. “Il.” iv. 521, {Greek}. The Odyssean line reads, {Greek}. The famous + dactylism, therefore, of the Odyssean line was probably suggested by that of + the Ileadic rather than by a desire to accommodate sound to sense. At any rate + the double coincidence of a dactylic line, and an ending {Greek}, seems + conclusive as to the familiarity of the writer of the “Odyssey” with the + Iliadic line.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-99" id="linknote-99"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-99">[99]</a><br/> + [ Off the coast of Sicily and South Italy, in the month of May, I have seen + men fastened half way up a boat’s mast with their feet resting on a + crosspiece, just large enough to support them. From this point of vantage they + spear sword-fish. When I saw men thus employed I could hardly doubt that the + writer of the “Odyssey” had seen others like them, and had them in her mind + when describing the binding of Ulysses. I have therefore with some diffidence + ventured to depart from the received translation of + ἰστοπέδη (cf. Alcaeus frag. 18, + where, however, it is very hard to say what + ἰστοπέδαν means). In Sophocles’ + Lexicon I find a reference to Chrysostom (l, 242, A. Ed. Benedictine Paris + 1834-1839) for the word ἰστοπόδη, + which is probably the same as + ἰστοπέδη, but I have looked for the + passage in vain.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-100" id="linknote-100"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-100">[100]</a><br/> + [ The writer is at fault here and tries to put it off on Circe. When Ulysses + comes to take the route prescribed by Circe, he ought to pass either the + Wanderers or some other difficulty of which we are not told, but he does not + do so. The Planctae, or Wanderers, merge into Scylla and Charybdis, and the + alternative between them and something untold merges into the alternative + whether Ulysses had better choose Scylla or Charybdis. Yet from line 260, it + seems we are to consider the Wanderers as having been passed by Ulysses; this + appears even more plainly from xxiii. 327, in which Ulysses expressly mentions + the Wandering rocks as having been between the Sirens and Scylla and + Charybdis. The writer, however, is evidently unaware that she does not quite + understand her own story; her difficulty was perhaps due to the fact that + though Trapanese sailors had given her a fair idea as to where all her other + localities really were, no one in those days more than in our own could + localise the Planctae, which in fact, as Buttmann has argued, were derived not + from any particular spot, but from sailors’ tales about the difficulties of + navigating the group of the Aeolian islands as a whole (see note on “Od.” x. + 3). Still the matter of the poor doves caught her fancy, so she would not + forgo them. The whirlwinds of fire and the smoke that hangs on Scylla suggests + allusion to Stromboli and perhaps even Etna. Scylla is on the Italian side, + and therefore may be said to look West. It is about 8 miles thence to the + Sicilian coast, so Ulysses may be perfectly well told that after passing + Scylla he will come to the Thrinacian island or Sicily. Charybdis is + transposed to a site some few miles to the north of its actual position.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-101" id="linknote-101"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-101">[101]</a><br/> + [ I suppose this line to have been intercalated by the author when lines + 426-446 were added.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-102" id="linknote-102"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-102">[102]</a><br/> + [ For the reasons which enable us to identify the island of the two Sirens + with the Lipari island now Salinas—the ancient Didyme, or “twin” island—see + The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp. 195, 196. The two Sirens doubtless were, as + their name suggests, the whistling gusts, or avalanches of air that at times + descend without a moment’s warning from the two lofty mountains of Salinas—as + also from all high points in the neighbourhood.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-103" id="linknote-103"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-103">[103]</a><br/> + [ See Admiral Smyth on the currents in the Straits of Messina, quoted in “The + Authoress of the Odyssey,” p. 197.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-104" id="linknote-104"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-104">[104]</a><br/> + [ In the islands of Favognana and Marettimo off Trapani I have seen men fish + exactly as here described. They chew bread into a paste and throw it into the + sea to attract the fish, which they then spear. No line is used.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-105" id="linknote-105"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-105">[105]</a><br/> + [ The writer evidently regards Ulysses as on a coast that looked East at no + great distance south of the Straits of Messina somewhere, say, near + Tauromenium, now Taormina.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-106" id="linknote-106"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-106">[106]</a><br/> + [ Surely there must be a line missing here to tell us that the keel and mast + were carried down into Charybdis. Besides, the aorist {Greek} in its present + surrounding is perplexing. I have translated it as though it were an + imperfect; I see Messrs. Butcher and Lang translate it as a pluperfect, but + surely Charybdis was in the act of sucking down the water when Ulysses + arrived.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-107" id="linknote-107"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-107">[107]</a><br/> + [ I suppose the passage within brackets to have been an afterthought but to + have been written by the same hand as the rest of the poem. I suppose xii. 103 + to have been also added by the writer when she decided on sending Ulysses back + to Charybdis. The simile suggests the hand of the wife or daughter of a + magistrate who had often seen her father come in cross and tired.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-108" id="linknote-108"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-108">[108]</a><br/> + [ Gr. + πολυδαίδαλος. + This puts coined money out of the question, but nevertheless implies that the + gold had been worked into ornaments of some kind.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-109" id="linknote-109"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-109">[109]</a><br/> + [ I suppose Teiresias’ prophecy of bk. xi. 114-120 had made no impression on + Ulysses. More probably the prophecy was an afterthought, intercalated, as I + have already said, by the authoress when she changed her scheme.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-110" id="linknote-110"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-110">[110]</a><br/> + [ A male writer would have made Ulysses say, not “may you give satisfaction to + your wives,” but “may your wives give satisfaction to you.”] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-111" id="linknote-111"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-111">[111]</a><br/> + [ See note [64].] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-112" id="linknote-112"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-112">[112]</a><br/> + [ The land was in reality the shallow inlet, now the salt works of S. + Cusumano—the neighbourhood of Trapani and Mt. Eryx being made to do double + duty, both as Scheria and Ithaca. Hence the necessity for making Ulysses set + out after dark, fall instantly into a profound sleep, and wake up on a morning + so foggy that he could not see anything till the interviews between Neptune + and Jove and between Ulysses and Minerva should have given the audience time + to accept the situation. See illustrations and map near the end of bks. v. and + vi. respectively.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-113" id="linknote-113"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-113">[113]</a><br/> + [ This cave, which is identifiable with singular completeness, is now called + the “grotta del toro,” probably a corruption of “tesoro,” for it is held to + contain a treasure. See The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp. 167-170.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-114" id="linknote-114"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-114">[114]</a><br/> + [ Probably they would.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-115" id="linknote-115"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-115">[115]</a><br/> + [ Then it had a shallow shelving bottom.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-116" id="linknote-116"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-116">[116]</a><br/> + [ Doubtless the road would pass the harbour in Odyssean times as it passes the + salt works now; indeed, if there is to be a road at all there is no other + level ground which it could take. See map above referred to.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-117" id="linknote-117"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-117">[117]</a><br/> + [ The rock at the end of the Northern harbour of Trapani, to which I suppose + the writer of the “Odyssey” to be here referring, still bears the name + Malconsiglio—“the rock of evil counsel.” There is a legend that it was a ship + of Turkish pirates who were intending to attack Trapani, but the “Madonna di + Trapani” crushed them under this rock just as they were coming into port. My + friend Cavaliere Giannitrapani of Trapani told me that his father used to tell + him when he was a boy that if he would drop exactly three drops of oil on to + the water near the rock, he would see the ship still at the bottom. The legend + is evidently a Christianised version of the Odyssean story, while the name + supplies the additional detail that the disaster happened in consequence of an + evil counsel.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-118" id="linknote-118"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-118">[118]</a><br/> + [ It would seem then that the ship had got all the way back from Ithaca in + about a quarter of an hour.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-119" id="linknote-119"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-119">[119]</a><br/> + [ And may we not add “and also to prevent his recognising that he was only in + the place where he had met Nausicaa two days earlier.”] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-120" id="linknote-120"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-120">[120]</a><br/> + [ All this is to excuse the entire absence of Minerva from books ix.-xii., + which I suppose had been written already, before the authoress had determined + on making Minerva so prominent a character.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-121" id="linknote-121"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-121">[121]</a><br/> + [ We have met with this somewhat lame attempt to cover the writer’s change of + scheme at the end of bk. vi.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-122" id="linknote-122"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-122">[122]</a><br/> + [ I take the following from The Authoress of the Odyssey, p. 167. “It is clear + from the text that there were two [caves] not one, but some one has enclosed + in brackets the two lines in which the second cave is mentioned, I presume + because he found himself puzzled by having a second cave sprung upon him when + up to this point he had only been told of one. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +“I venture to think that if he had known the ground he would not have been +puzzled, for there are two caves, distant about 80 or 100 yards from one +another.” The cave in which Ulysses hid his treasure is, as I have already +said, identifiable with singular completeness. The other cave presents no +special features, neither in the poem nor in nature.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-123" id="linknote-123"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-123">[123]</a><br/> + [ There is no attempt to disguise the fact that Penelope had long given + encouragement to the suitors. The only defence set up is that she did not + really mean to encourage them. Would it not have been wiser to have tried a + little discouragement?] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-124" id="linknote-124"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-124">[124]</a><br/> + [ See map near the end of bk. vi. <i>Ruccazzù dei corvi</i> of course means + “the rock of the ravens.” Both name and ravens still exist.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-125" id="linknote-125"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-125">[125]</a><br/> + [ See The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp. 140, 141. The real reason for sending + Telemachus to Pylos and Lacedaemon was that the authoress might get Helen of + Troy into her poem. He was sent at the only point in the story at which he + could be sent, so he must have gone then or not at all.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-126" id="linknote-126"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-126">[126]</a><br/> + [ The site I assign to Eumaeus’s hut, close to the <i>Ruccazzù dei corvi</i>, + is about 2,000 feet above the sea, and commands an extensive view.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-127" id="linknote-127"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-127">[127]</a><br/> + [ Sandals such as Eumaeus was making are still worn in the Abruzzi and + elsewhere. An oblong piece of leather forms the sole: holes are cut at the + four corners, and through these holes leathern straps are passed, which are + bound round the foot and cross-gartered up the calf.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-128" id="linknote-128"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-128">[128]</a><br/> + [ See note [75] : ] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-129" id="linknote-129"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-129">[129]</a><br/> + [ Telemachus like many another good young man seems to expect every one to + fetch and carry for him.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-130" id="linknote-130"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-130">[130]</a><br/> + [ “Il.” vi. 288. The store room was fragrant because it was made of cedar + wood. See “Il.” xxiv. 192.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-131" id="linknote-131"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-131">[131]</a><br/> + [ cf. “Il.” vi. 289 and 293-296. The dress was kept at the bottom of the chest + as one that would only be wanted on the greatest occasions; but surely the + marriage of Hermione and of Megapenthes (bk, iv. <i>ad init</i>.) might have + induced Helen to wear it on the preceding evening, in which case it could + hardly have got back. We find no hint here of Megapenthes’ recent marriage.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-132" id="linknote-132"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-132">[132]</a><br/> + [ See note [83].] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-133" id="linknote-133"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-133">[133]</a><br/> + [ cf. “Od.” xi. 196, etc.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-134" id="linknote-134"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-134">[134]</a><br/> + [ The names Syra and Ortygia, on which island a great part of the Doric + Syracuse was originally built, suggest that even in Odyssean times there was a + prehistoric Syracuse, the existence of which was known to the writer of the + poem.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-135" id="linknote-135"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-135">[135]</a><br/> + [ Literally “where are the turnings of the sun.” Assuming, as we may safely + do, that the Syra and Ortygia of the “Odyssey” refer to Syracuse, it is the + fact that not far to the South of these places the land turns sharply round, + so that mariners following the coast would find the sun upon the other side of + their ship to that on which they’d had it hitherto. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +Mr. A. S. Griffith has kindly called my attention to Herod iv. 42, where, +speaking of the circumnavigation of Africa by Phoenician mariners under Necos, +he writes: +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +“On their return they declared—I for my part do not believe them, but perhaps +others may—that in sailing round Libya [i.e. Africa] they had the sun upon +their right hand. In this way was the extent of Libya first discovered. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +“I take it that Eumaeus was made to have come from Syracuse because the writer +thought she rather ought to have made something happen at Syracuse during her +account of the voyages of Ulysses. She could not, however, break his long drift +from Charybdis to the island of Pantellaria; she therefore resolved to make it +up to Syracuse in another way.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +Modern excavations establish the existence of two and only two pre-Dorian +communities at Syracuse; they were, so Dr. Orsi informed me, at Plemmirio and +Cozzo Pantano. See The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp. 211-213.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-136" id="linknote-136"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-136">[136]</a><br/> + [ This harbour is again evidently the harbour in which Ulysses had landed, + i.e. the harbour that is now the salt works of S. Cusumano.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-137" id="linknote-137"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-137">[137]</a><br/> + [ This never can have been anything but very niggardly pay for some eight or + nine days’ service. I suppose the crew were to consider the pleasure of having + had a trip to Pylos as a set off. There is no trace of the dinner as having + been actually given, either on the following or any other morning.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-138" id="linknote-138"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-138">[138]</a><br/> + [ No hawk can tear its prey while it is on the wing.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-139" id="linknote-139"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-139">[139]</a><br/> + [ The text is here apparently corrupt, and will not make sense as it stands. I + follow Messrs. Butcher & Lang in omitting line 101.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-140" id="linknote-140"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-140">[140]</a><br/> + [ i.e. to be milked, as in South Italian and Sicilian towns at the present + day.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-141" id="linknote-141"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-141">[141]</a><br/> + [ The butchering and making ready the carcases took place partly in the outer + yard and partly in the open part of the inner court.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-142" id="linknote-142"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-142">[142]</a><br/> + [ These words cannot mean that it would be afternoon soon after they were + spoken. Ulysses and Eumaeus reached the town which was “some way off” (xvii. + 25) in time for the suitor’s early meal (xvii. 170 and 176) say at ten or + eleven o’ clock. The context of the rest of the book shows this. Eumaeus and + Ulysses, therefore, cannot have started later than eight or nine, and + Eumaeus’s words must be taken as an exaggeration for the purpose of making + Ulysses bestir himself.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-143" id="linknote-143"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-143">[143]</a><br/> + [ I imagine the fountain to have been somewhere about where the church of the + <i>Madonna di Trapani</i> now stands, and to have been fed with water from + what is now called the Fontana Diffali on Mt. Eryx.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-144" id="linknote-144"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-144">[144]</a><br/> + [ From this and other passages in the “Odyssey” it appears that we are in an + age anterior to the use of coined money—an age when cauldrons, tripods, + swords, cattle, chattels of all kinds, measures of corn, wine, or oil, etc. + etc., not to say pieces of gold, silver, bronze, or even iron, wrought more or + less, but unstamped, were the nearest approach to a currency that had as yet + been reached.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-145" id="linknote-145"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-145">[145]</a><br/> + [ Gr. ἐς μέσσον.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-146" id="linknote-146"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-146">[146]</a><br/> + [ I correct these proofs abroad and am not within reach of Hesiod, but surely + this passage suggests acquaintance with the Works and Ways, though it by no + means compels it.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-147" id="linknote-147"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-147">[147]</a><br/> + [ It would seem as though Eurynome and Euryclea were the same person. See note + 156] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-148" id="linknote-148"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-148">[148]</a><br/> + [ It is plain, therefore, that Iris was commonly accepted as the messenger of + the gods, though our authoress will never permit her to fetch or carry for any + one.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-149" id="linknote-149"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-149">[149]</a><br/> + [ i.e. the doorway leading from the inner to the outer court.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-150" id="linknote-150"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-150">[150]</a><br/> + [See note 156] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-151" id="linknote-151"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-151">[151]</a><br/> + [ These, I imagine, must have been in the open part of the inner courtyard, + where the maids also stood, and threw the light of their torches into the + covered cloister that ran all round it. The smoke would otherwise have been + intolerable.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-152" id="linknote-152"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-152">[152]</a><br/> + [ Translation very uncertain; vide Liddell and Scott, under {Greek}] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-153" id="linknote-153"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-153">[153]</a><br/> + [ See photo on opposite page.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-154" id="linknote-154"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-154">[154]</a><br/> + [ cf. “Il.” ii. 184, and 217, 218. An additional and well-marked feature being + wanted to convince Penelope, the writer has taken the hunched shoulders of + Thersites (who is mentioned immediately after Eurybates in the “Iliad”) and + put them on to Eurybates’ back.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-155" id="linknote-155"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-155">[155]</a><br/> + [ This is how geese are now fed in Sicily, at any rate in summer, when the + grass is all burnt up. I have never seen them grazing.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-156" id="linknote-156"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-156">[156]</a><br/> + [ Lower down (line 143) Euryclea says it was herself that had thrown the cloak + over Ulysses—for the plural should not be taken as implying more than one + person. The writer is evidently still fluctuating between Euryclea and + Eurynome as the name for the old nurse. She probably originally meant to call + her Euryclea, but finding it not immediately easy to make Euryclea scan in + xvii. 495, she hastily called her Eurynome, intending either to alter this + name later or to change the earlier Euryclea’s into Eurynome. She then drifted + in to Eurynome as convenience further directed, still nevertheless hankering + after Euryclea, till at last she found that the path of least resistance would + lie in the direction of making Eurynome and Euryclea two persons. Therefore in + xxiii. 289-292 both Eurynome and “the nurse” (who can be none other than + Euryclea) come on together. I do not say that this is feminine, but it is not + unfeminine.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-157" id="linknote-157"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-157">[157]</a><br/> + [ See note [156]] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-158" id="linknote-158"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-158">[158]</a><br/> + [ This, I take it, was immediately in front of the main entrance of the inner + courtyard into the body of the house.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-159" id="linknote-159"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-159">[159]</a><br/> + [ This is the only allusion to Sardinia in either “Iliad” or “Odyssey.”] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-160" id="linknote-160"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-160">[160]</a><br/> + [ The normal translation of the Greek word would be “holding back,” “curbing,” + “restraining,” but I cannot think that the writer meant this—she must have + been using the word in its other sense of “having,” “holding,” “keeping,” + “maintaining.”] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-161" id="linknote-161"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-161">[161]</a><br/> + [ I have vainly tried to realise the construction of the fastening here + described.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-162" id="linknote-162"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-162">[162]</a><br/> + [ See plan of Ulysses’ house in the appendix. It is evident that the open part + of the court had no flooring but the natural soil.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-163" id="linknote-163"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-163">[163]</a><br/> + [ See plan of Ulysses’ house, and note [175].] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-164" id="linknote-164"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-164">[164]</a><br/> + [ i.e. the door that led into the body of the house.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-165" id="linknote-165"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-165">[165]</a><br/> + [ This was, no doubt, the little table that was set for Ulysses, “Od.” xx. + 259. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +Surely the difficulty of this passage has been overrated. I suppose the iron +part of the axe to have been wedged into the handle, or bound securely to +it—the handle being half buried in the ground. The axe would be placed edgeways +towards the archer, and he would have to shoot his arrow through the hole into +which the handle was fitted when the axe was in use. Twelve axes were placed in +a row all at the same height, all exactly in front of one another, all edgeways +to Ulysses whose arrow passed through all the holes from the first onward. I +cannot see how the Greek can bear any other interpretation, the words being, +{Greek} +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +“He did not miss a single hole from the first onwards.” {Greek} according to +Liddell and Scott being “the hole for the handle of an axe, etc.,” while +{Greek} (“Od.” v. 236) is, according to the same authorities, the handle +itself. The feat is absurdly impossible, but our authoress sometimes has a soul +above impossibilities.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-166" id="linknote-166"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-166">[166]</a><br/> + [ The reader will note how the spoiling of good food distresses the writer + even in such a supreme moment as this.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-167" id="linknote-167"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-167">[167]</a><br/> + [ Here we have it again. Waste of substance comes first.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-168" id="linknote-168"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-168">[168]</a><br/> + [ cf. “Il.” iii. 337 and three other places. It is strange that the author of + the “Iliad” should find a little horse-hair so alarming. Possibly enough she + was merely borrowing a common form line from some earlier poet—or poetess—for + this is a woman’s line rather than a man’s.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-169" id="linknote-169"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-169">[169]</a><br/> + [ Or perhaps simply “window.” See plan in the appendix.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-170" id="linknote-170"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-170">[170]</a><br/> + [ i.e. the pavement on which Ulysses was standing.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-171" id="linknote-171"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-171">[171]</a><br/> + [ The interpretation of lines 126-143 is most dubious, and at best we are in a + region of melodrama: cf., however, i. 425, etc. from which it appears that + there was a tower in the outer court, and that Telemachus used to sleep in it. + The ὀρσοθύρα I take to be a door, or + trap door, leading on to the roof above Telemachus’s bed room, which we are + told was in a place that could be seen from all round—or it might be simply a + window in Telemachus’s room looking out into the street. From the top of the + tower the outer world was to be told what was going on, but people could not + get in by the ὀρσοθύρα: they would + have to come in by the main entrance, and Melanthius explains that the mouth + of the narrow passage (which was in the lands of Ulysses and his friends) + commanded the only entrance by which help could come, so that there would be + nothing gained by raising an alarm.<br/> + As for the ῥῶγες of line 143, no commentator +ancient or modern has been able to say what was intended—but whatever they +were, Melanthius could never carry twelve shields, twelve helmets, and twelve +spears. Moreover, where he could go the others could go also. If a dozen +suitors had followed Melanthius into the house they could have attacked Ulysses +in the rear, in which case, unless Minerva had intervened promptly, the +“Odyssey” would have had a different ending. But throughout the scene we are in +a region of extravagance rather than of true fiction—it cannot be taken +seriously by any but the very serious, until we come to the episode of Phemius +and Medon, where the writer begins to be at home again.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-172" id="linknote-172"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-172">[172]</a><br/> + [ I presume it was intended that there should be a hook driven into the + bearing-post.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-173" id="linknote-173"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-173">[173]</a><br/> + [ What for?] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-174" id="linknote-174"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-174">[174]</a><br/> + [ Gr: {Greek}. This is not {Greek}.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-175" id="linknote-175"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-175">[175]</a><br/> + [ From lines 333 and 341 of this book, and lines 145 and 146 of bk. xxi we can + locate the approach to the {Greek} with some certainty.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-176" id="linknote-176"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-176">[176]</a><br/> + [ But in xix. 500-502 Ulysses scolded Euryclea for offering information on + this very point, and declared himself quite able to settle it for himself.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-177" id="linknote-177"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-177">[177]</a><br/> + [ There were a hundred and eight Suitors.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-178" id="linknote-178"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-178">[178]</a><br/> + [ Lord Grimthorpe, whose understanding does not lend itself to easy + imposition, has been good enough to write to me about my conviction that the + “Odyssey” was written by a woman, and to send me remarks upon the gross + absurdity of the incident here recorded. It is plain that all the authoress + cared about was that the women should be hanged: as for attempting to realise, + or to make her readers realise, how the hanging was done, this was of no + consequence. The reader must take her word for it and ask no questions. Lord + Grimthorpe wrote: +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +“I had better send you my ideas about Nausicaa’s hanging of the maids (not +‘maidens,’ of whom Froude wrote so well in his ‘Science of History’) before I +forget it all. Luckily for me Liddell & Scott have specially translated +most of the doubtful words, referring to this very place. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +“A ship’s cable. I don’t know how big a ship she meant, but it must have been a +very small one indeed if its ‘cable’ could be used to tie tightly round a +woman’s neck, and still more round a dozen of them ‘in a row,’ besides being +strong enough to hold them and pull them all up. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +“A dozen average women would need the weight and strength of more than a dozen +strong heavy men even over the best pulley hung to the roof over them; and the +idea of pulling them up by a rope hung anyhow round a pillar {Greek} is +absurdly impossible; and how a dozen of them could be hung dangling round one +post is a problem which a senior wrangler would be puzzled to answer... She had +better have let Telemachus use his sword as he had intended till she changed +his mind for him.”] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-179" id="linknote-179"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-179">[179]</a><br/> + [ Then they had all been in Ulysses’ service over twenty years; perhaps the + twelve guilty ones had been engaged more recently.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-180" id="linknote-180"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-180">[180]</a><br/> + [ Translation very doubtful—cf. “It.” xxiv. 598.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-181" id="linknote-181"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-181">[181]</a><br/> + [ But why could she not at once ask to see the scar, of which Euryclea had + told her, or why could not Ulysses have shown it to her?] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-182" id="linknote-182"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-182">[182]</a><br/> + [ The people of Ithaca seem to have been as fond of carping as the Phaeacians + were in vi. 273, etc.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-183" id="linknote-183"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-183">[183]</a><br/> + [ See note [156]. Ulysses’s bed room does not appear to have been upstairs, + nor yet quite within the house. Is it possible that it was “the domed room” + round the outside of which the erring maids were, for aught we have heard to + the contrary, still hanging?] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-184" id="linknote-184"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-184">[184]</a><br/> + [ Ulysses bedroom in the mind of the writer is here too apparently down + stairs.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-185" id="linknote-185"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-185">[185]</a><br/> + [ Penelope having been now sufficiently whitewashed, disappears from the + poem.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-186" id="linknote-186"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-186">[186]</a><br/> + [ So practised a washerwoman as our authoress doubtless knew that by this time + the web must have become such a wreck that it would have gone to pieces in the + wash.] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +A lady points out to me, just as these sheets are leaving my hands, that no +really good needlewoman—no one, indeed, whose work or character was worth +consideration—could have endured, no matter for what reason, the unpicking of +her day’s work, day after day for between three and four years.] +</p> + +<p> +<a name="linknote-187" id="linknote-187"></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a href="#linknoteref-187">[187]</a><br/> + [ We must suppose Dolius not yet to know that his son Melanthius had been + tortured, mutilated, and left to die by Ulysses’ orders on the preceding day, + and that his daughter Melantho had been hanged. Dolius was probably + exceptionally simple-minded, and his name was ironical. So on Mt. Eryx I was + shown a man who was always called Sonza Malizia or “Guileless”—he being held + exceptionally cunning.] +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ODYSSEY ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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