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THE HARVARD CLASSICS

The Five-Foot Shelf of Books

THE HARVARD CLASSICS
EDITED BY CHARLES W. ELIOT, LL.D,

The Odyssey of Homer

TRANSLATED BY
S. H. BUTCHER AND A. LANG

Wi/A Introduction and 'biotes
Volume 17.

P. F. Collier & Son Corporation

NEW YORK

Copyright, 1909
By p. F. Collier & Son

manuractuked in u. s. a.

CONTENTS

PACE

Book I 9

Book II . . "

Book III 33

Book IV 46

Book V ^8

Book VI 81

Book VII 9°

Book VIII 99

Book IX "5

Book X '30

Book XI M5

Book XII ^62

Book XIII '74

Book XIV 186

Book XV 200

Book XVI . . 215

Book XVII 228

Book XVIII 245

Book XIX 257

Book XX 273

Book XXI .284

Book XXII 296

Book XXIII S'O

Book XXIV 320

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

By the ancient Greeks the authorship of their two great epic poems,
the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," was ascribed to Homer. Tradition as to
the birthplace of this poet varied greatly, but the place most favored was
Smyrna in Asia Minor. It was related also that the poet was blind, that
he made his home in the island of Chios, and that he died in los.

The siege of Troy, which forms the subject of the "Iliad," and is the
occasion of the wanderings of Odysseus, is unknown to history. Modern
archzological research has, indeed, unearthed in Asia Minor a site which
may plausibly be identified with the Homeric city, and it is entirely
possible that here there once occurred a struggle between two peoples
inhabiting the shores of the Aegean Sea.

Whatever may be the truth as to the method of composition of the
two epics, it may safely be surmised that they were preceded by a mass
of legend that had in time gained a certain amount of cohesion and
become in a sense national. But the constituent elements of this legend
would have come together from a great variety of sources; and many
incidents in both poems can be paralleled in the folk-tales of widely
scattered peoples. Thus the story of the blinding of the Cyclops, Poly-
phemus, is found as a separate tale in several countries where no Greek
influence can be traced; the adventure in the isle of Circe appears in an
Indian collection of tales; the descent into Hades is told by the South
Sea Islanders; and the central situation of the return of a far-traveled
warrior to a wife who fails to recognize him occurs in stories all over
the world. In the "Odyssey," these and a hundred other incidents are
combined into a single plot of the most admirable structure, with almost
perfect unity of atmosphere, the whole being placed in the social setting
of the kingly age of Greece.

Until comparatively recent times it had been all but universally be-
lieved that both the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" were the work of a single
author, who conceived and executed the whole plan of each. But in 1795
F. A. Wolf argued that in the tenth century B.C^ when he supposed the
poems to have been composed, writing was not used by the Greeks for
literary purposes, and that therefore they must have been handed down
orally and so have undergone many changes. The unity which he per-
ceived in both epics he conceived to have been due to the art of later
revisers, working upon more or less detached poems by various authors.
Since his time controversy has raged over this "Homeric question" and

4 INTRODUCTION

there is yet no prospect of agreement. The extreme view that the jxiems
are mere aggregations of separate lays of different authorship is falling
out of favor; no two scholars agreeing in their analysis of the epics into
their supposed constituent lays. On the other hand, it is admitted that
there are clear evidences that parts of the poems belong to different dates;
and the tendency is to credit the composition of two shorter epics dealing
respectively with the Wrath of Achilles and the Return of Odysseus to
an author of great artistic genius, and to conjecture that episodes were
added by imitators, now at this point and now at that, over a considerable
stretch of time, bringing them finally to their present form and length.

The twenty-four books of the "Odyssey" fall naturally into six groups
of four (though these are not to be regarded as involving breaks in the
structure), and a short account of each of these groups will serve as a
guide to the contents of the poem. The first four books are occupied
with the adventures of Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, (i) When the
poem opens, it is the tenth year since the fall of Troy, and Odysseus has
not yet returned to his home in the island of Ithaca, but is detained in
Ogygia, an island in the west, by the nymph Calypso. Meantime, at
home, his wife Penelope is beset by suitors who feast riotously in the
house of the absent warrior, (ii) Failing in an attempt to get the Ithacans
to help him to assert his rights, Telemachus sets out for Pylus under the
guidance of the goddess Athene, who is disguised as Mentor, a friendly
chief, (iii) Nestor, the aged king of Pylus, receives them hospitably;
and while he is banqueting his guests the supfwsed Mentor vanishes and
it is recognized that he was the guardian goddess of the family of
Odysseus. From Pylus, Telemachus sets out for Sparta, accompanied by
the son of Nestor, Peisistratus. (iv) In Sparta they are received by
Menelaus and the famous Helen, now restored to her husband, and
learn that Odysseus is in Ogygia. Telemachus decides to return to
Ithaca, where the suitors are plotting his death.

The second group treats of the wanderings of Odysseus between the
island of Calypso and Phaeacia. (v) The gods, persuaded by Athene,
send Hermes to order Calypso to let Odysseus go; but at sea his enemy
Poseidon, the sea-god, wrecks his ship, and he is saved by a veil which
the goddess Ino gives him, which buoys him up till he comes to the land
of the Phaeacians. (vi) While the exhausted hero is sleeping by the
shore, the princess Nausicaa comes to the river mouth with her maidens
to wash linen; and after their task they play ball and awaken the sleeper,
who asks their pity and is directed to the city. This scene is one of the
most charming in the poem, (vii) Arrived at the city, Odysseus is re-

INTRODUCTION 5

ceived by the king Alcinous, and narrates his recent adventures, (viii)
The Phaeacians are called together, and offer the wanderer a ship to
carry him to Ithaca; games and a feast are held; and at the feast the
blind Dcmodocus sings of the siege of Troy and draws tears from
Odysseus, who is persuaded to tell of his wanderings since leaving Troy.

In the third group the narrative is retrospective, (ix) Odysseus tells
of his visits to the Cicones, to the Lotus-eaters, and to the country of the
Cyclopes, where he blinded the one-eyed Polyphemus; (x) of his adven-
tures with Aeolus, god of the winds, with the Laestrygonians, and with
Circe, the sorceress; (xi) of his descent into Hades, and his conversing
with the spirits of the dead; (xii) of his escape from the Sirens, and from
Scylla and Charybdis, and of the eating by his comrades of the sacred
kine of the sun, which caused them to perish and left him alone on
Calypso's isle.

The main narrative is resumed in the fourth group, (xiii) The Phaea-
cians conduct the wanderer to his kingdom, but are punished by Posei-
don, who turns their ship to stone. In Ithaca Athene disguises Odysseus
as an old beggar, and directs him as to how to destroy the suitors, (xiv)
He finds his old swine-herd Eumaeus, who fails to recognize him, and
(xv) in the hut meets Telemachus, (xvi) to whom he reveals himself
and his plans.

The fifth group deals with the return of Odysseus to his palace, (xvii)
Telemachus goes home first, but does not tell Penelope of her husband's
return. The supposed beggar enters and is recognized by his old dog
Argos, who gives him welcome and dies, (xviii) In the midst of the rev-
elry of the suitors Odysseus has a fight with Irus, a beggar supported by
their alms, (xix) Penelojx;, conversing with her lord, fails to recognize
him, but tells him how she has bafHed the suitors by the device of post-
poning her choice among them till the completion of a web woven by
day and undone by night. The old nurse, Eurycleia, washes her master's
feet and knows him by a scar, but is told to keep the secret, (xx) Athene
comforts the hero by night; and the suitors are warned of their impending
doom by a seer.

In the last group the denouement is reached, (xxi) Penelojje proposes
that the suitors should show their skill with the bow of her husband;
and when all fail even to bend it, the disguised hero strings it easily
and shoots an arrow through twelve axe-heads, (xxii) The disguise is
now cast off; Odysseus, Telemachus, and two faithful adherents turn on
the suitors and slay them; and the unfaithful servants are hanged,
(xxiii) from the nurse Penelope hears the news, welcomes her lord home.

O INTRODUCTION

and learns of his wanderings. Odysseus goes out to a farm to visit his
father Laertes, (xxiv) Hermes leads the shades of the suitors to Hades;
while Odysseus makes himself known to his father; and later is recon-
ciled to his subjects.

The "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" stand at the head of the literature of
Greece and of the epic poetry of the world; and their influence in the
country of their origin and throughout the European peoples has been
commensurate with their artistic greatness. Historically, they give the
earliest picture of Aryan civilization, describing a period of culture of
which we should otherwise know almost nothing. Artistically, in spite
of their early date, they are the product of a mature art, expressing with
supreme nobility and grace permanent and varied yet simple types of
human nature, in a language unsurpassed for its combination of direct-
ness, simplicity, and beauty. "The capital distinction of Homeric f)oetry,"
says Jebb, "is that it has all the freshness and simplicity of a primitive
age, — all the charm which we associate with the 'childhood of the world';
while on the other hand it has completely surmounted the rudeness of
form, the struggle of thought with language, the tendency to grotesque
or ignoble modes of speech, the incapacity for equable maintenance of a
high level, which belong to the primitive stage in literature."

AS ONE THAT FOR A WEARY SPACE HAS LAIN

LULLED BY THE SONG OF CIRCE AND HER WINE
IN GARDENS NEAR THE PALE OF PROSERPINE,
WHERE THAT AEAEAN ISLE FORGETS THE MAIN,
AND ONLY THE LOW LUTES OF LOVE COMPLAIN,
AND ONLY SHADOWS OF WAN LOVERS PINE,
AS SUCH AN ONE WERE CLAD TO KNOW THE BRINE
SALT ON HIS LIPS, AND THE LARGE AIR AGAIN,
SO GLADLY, FROM THE SONGS OF MODERN SPEECH

MEN TURN, AND SEE THE STARS, AND FEEL THE FREE
SHRILL WIND BEYOND THE CLOSE OF HEAVY FLOWERS
AND THROUGH THE MUSIC OF THE LANGUID HOURS,
THEY HEAR LIKE OCEAN ON A WESTERN BEACH
THE SURGE AND THUNDER OF THE ODYSSEY.

A. L.

THE ODYSSEY

BOOK I

In a Council of the Gods, Poseidon absent, Pallas procureth an order for
the restitution of Odysseus; and appearing to his son Telemachus, in
human shape, adviseth him to complain of the Wooers before the
Council of the people, and then go to Pylos and Sparta to inquire about
his father.

TELL me, Muse, of that man, so ready at need, who wan-
dered 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 upon 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.

Now all the rest, as many as fled from sheer destruction, were at
home, and had escaped both war and sea, but Odysseus only, crav-
ing 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,

10 HOMER

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 gods and men 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:

'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.'

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 haf>-
less one, who far from his friends this long while sufTereth affliction
in a seagirt 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 guile-
ful 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?'

And Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered her, and said, 'My child,
what word hath escaped the door of thy lips? Yea, how should I

THE ODYSSEY XZ

forget divine Odysseus, who in understanding is beyond mortals
and beyond all men hath done sacrifice to the deathless gods, who
keep the wide heaven? Nay, but it is Poseidon, the girdler of the
earth, that hath been wroth continually with quenchless anger for
the Cyclops' sake whom he blinded of his eye, even godlike Poly-
phemus whose power is mightiest amongst all the Cyclopes. His
mother was the nymph Thoosa, daughter of Phorcys, lord of the
unharvested sea, and in the hollow caves she lay with Poseidon.
From that day forth Poseidon the earth-shaker doth not indeed
slay Odysseus, but driveth him wandering from his own country.
But come, let us here one and all take good counsel as touching his
returning, that he may be got home; so shall Poseidon let go his
displeasure, for he will in no wise be able to strive alone against all,
in despite of all the deathless gods.'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him, and said:
'O father, our father Cronides, throned in the highest, if indeed this
thing is now well pleasing to the blessed gods, that wise Odysseus
should return to his own home, let us then speed Hermes the Messen-
ger, the slayer of Argos, to the island of Ogygia. There with all speed
let him declare to the lady of the braided tresses our unerring coun-
sel, even the return of the patient Odysseus, that so he may come
to his home. But as for me I will go to Ithaca that I may rouse his
son yet the more, planting might in his heart, to call an assembly
of the long-haired Achaeans and speak out to all the wooers who
slaughter continually the sheep of his thronging flocks, and his
kine with trailing feet and shambling gait. And I will guide him to
Sparta and to sandy Pylos to seek tidings of his dear father's return,
if peradventure he may hear thereof and that so he may be had in
good report among men.'

She spake and bound beneath her feet her lovely golden sandals
that wax not old, and bare her alike over the wet sea and over the
limitless land, swift as the breath of the wind. And she seized her
doughty spear, shod with sharp bronze, weighty and huge and
strong, wherewith she quells the ranks of heroes with whomsoever
she is wroth, the daughter of the mighty sire. Then from the heights
of Olympus she came glancing down, and she stood in the land of
Ithaca, at the entry of the gate of Odysseus, on the threshold of the

12 HOMER

courtyard, holding in her hand the spear of bronze, in the sem-
blance of a stranger, Mentes the captain of the Taphians. And there
she found the lordly wooers: now they were taking their pleasure at
draughts in front of the doors, sitting on hides of oxen, which
themselves had slain. And of the henchmen and the ready squires,
some were mixing for them wine and water in bowls, and some
again were washing the tables with porous sponges and were setting
them forth, and others were carving flesh in plenty.

And godlike Telemachus was far the first to descry her, for he
was sitting with a heavy heart among the wooers dreaming on his
good father, if haply he might come somewhence, and make a
scattering of the wooers there throughout the palace, and himself
get honour and bear rule among his own possessions. Thinking
thereupon, as he sat among wooers, he saw Athene — and he went
straight to the outer porch, for he thought it blame in his heart that
a stranger should stand long at the gates: and halting nigh her he
clasped her right hand and took from her the spear of bronze, and
uttered his voice and spake unto her winged words: 'Hail, stranger,
with us thou shalt be kindly entreated, and thereafter, when thou
hast tasted meat, thou shalt tell us that whereof thou hast need.'

Therewith he led the way, and Pallas Athene followed. And
when they were now within the lofty house, he set her spear that
he bore against a tall pillar, within the polished spear-stand, where
stood many spears besides, even those of Odysseus of the hardy
heart; and he led the goddess and seated her on a goodly carven
chair, and spread a linen cloth thereunder, and beneath was a foot-
stool for the feet. For himself he placed an inlaid seat hard by,
apart from the company of the wooers, lest the stranger should be
disquieted by the noise and should have a loathing for the meal,
being come among overweening men, and also that he might ask
him about his father that was gone from his home.

Then a handmaid bare water for the washing of hands in a
goodly golden ewer, and poured it forth over a silver basin to wash
withal, and drew to their side a polished table. And a grave dame
bare wheaten bread and set it by them, and laid on the board many
dainties, giving freely of such things as she had by her. And a
carver lifted and placed by them platters of divers kinds of flesh.

THE ODYSSEY 1 3

and nigh them he set golden bowls, and a henchman walked to and
fro pouring out to them the wine.

Then in came the lordly wooers; and they sat them down in
rows on chairs and on high seats, and henchmen pxDured water on
their hands, and maidservants piled wheaten bread by them in
baskets, and pages crowned the bowls with drink; and they stretched
forth their hands upon the good cheer spread before them. Now
when the wooers had put from them the desire of meat and drink,
they minded them of other things, even of the song and dance:
for these are the crown of the feast. And a henchman placed a
beauteous lyre in the hands of Phemius, who was minstrel to the
wooers despite his will. Yea and as he touched the lyre he lifted
up his voice in sweet song.'

But Tclemachus spake unto grey-eyed Athene, holding his head
close to her that those others miglit not hear: 'Dear stranger, wilt
thou of a truth be wroth at the word that I shall say ? Yonder men
verily care for such things as these, the lyre and song, lightly, as
they that devour the livelihood of another without atonement, of
that man whose white bones, it may be, lie wasting in the rain upon
the mainland, or the billow rolls them in the brine. Were but these
men to see him returned to Ithaca, they all would pray rather for
greater speed of foot than for gain of gold and raiment. But now
he hath perished, even so, an evil doom, and for us is no comfort,
no, not though any of earthly men should say that he will come
again. Gone is the day of his returning! But come declare me this,
and tell me all plainly: Who art thou of the sons of men, and
whence? Where is thy city, where are they that begat thee? Say,
on what manner of ship didst thou come, and how did sailors bring
thee to Ithaca, and who did they avow themselves to be, for in no-
wise do I deem that thou camest hither by land. And herein tell
me true, that I may know for a surety whether thou art a new-
comer, or whether thou art a guest of the house, seeing that many
were the strangers that came to our home, for that he too had
voyaged much among men.'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: "Yea now,

■ Or, according to the ord-nary interpretation of ivtfiiWtro : So he touched the
chords in prelude to his sweet singing.

14 HOMER

I will plainly tell thee all. I avow me to be Mentes, son of wise
Anchialus, and 1 bear rule among the Taphians, lovers of the oar.
And now am I come to shore, as thou seest, with ship and crew,
sailing over the wine-dark sea, unto men of strange speech, even
to Temesa,^ in quest of copper, and my cargo is shining iron. And
there my ship is lying toward the upland, away from the city, in
the harbour of Rheithron beneath wooded Neion: and we declare
ourselves to be friends one of the other, and of houses friendly,
from of old. Nay, if thou wouldest be assured, go ask the old man,
the hero Laertes, who they say no more comes to the city, but far
away toward the upland suffers affliction, with an ancient woman
for his handmaid, who sets by him meat and drink, whensoever
weariness takes hold of his limbs, as he creeps along the knoll of
his vineyard plot. And now am I come; for verily they said that he,
thy father, was among his people; but lo, the gods withhold him
from his way. For goodly Odysseus hath not yet perished on the
earth; but still, methinks, he lives and is kept on the wide deep in
a seagirt isle, and hard men constrain him, wild folk that hold him,
it may be, sore against his will. But now of a truth will I utter my
word of prophecy, as the Immortals bring it into my heart and as
I deem it will be accomplished, though no soothsayer am I, nor
skilled in the signs of birds. Henceforth indeed for no long while
shall he be far from his own dear country, not though bonds of
iron bind him; he will advise him of a way to return, for he is a
man of many devices. But come, declare me this, and tell me all
plainly, whether indeed, so tall as thou art, thou art sprung from
the loins of Odysseus. Thy head surely and thy beauteous eyes are
wondrous like to his, since full many a time have we held converse
together ere he embarked for Troy, whither the others, aye the
bravest of the Argives, went in hollow ships. From that day forth
neither have I seen Odysseus nor he me.'

Then wise Telemachus answered her, and said: 'Yea, sir, now
will I plainly tell thee all. My mother verily saith that I am his;
for myself I know not, for never man yet knew of himself his own
descent. O that I had been the son of some blessed man, whom old
age overtook among his own possessions! But now of him that is
* Tamasia, in the mountainous centre of Cyprus.

THE ODYSSEY 1 5

the most hapless of mortal men, his son they say that I am, since thou
dost question me hereof.'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake unto him, and said:
'Surely no nameless lineage have the gods ordained for thee in
days to come, since Penelofie bore thee so goodly a man. But come,
declare me this, and tell it all plainly. What feast, nay, what rout
is this? What hast thou to do therewith? Is it a clan drinking, or
a wedding feast, for here we have no banquet where each man
brings his share? In such wise, flown with insolence, do they seem
to me to revel wantonly through the house: and well might any
man be wroth to see so many deeds of shame, whatso wise man
came among them.'

Then wise Telemachus answered her, and said: 'Sir, forasmuch
as thou questionest me of these things and inquirest thereof, our
house was once like to have been rich and honourable, while yet
that man was among his people. But now the gods willed it other-
wise, in evil purpose, who have made him pass utterly out of sight
as no man ever before. Truly I would not even for his death make
so great sorrow, had he fallen among his fellows in the land of the
Trojans, or in the arms of his friends when he had wound "up the
clew of war. Then would the whole Achaean host have builded him
a barrow, and even for his son would he have won great glory in
the after days. But now the spirits of the storm have swept him
away inglorious. He is gone, lost to sight and hearsay, but for me
hath he left anguish and lamentation; nor henceforth is it for him
alone that I mourn and weep, since the gods have wrought for
me other sore distress. For all the noblest that are princes in
the isles, in Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus, and as
many as lord it in rocky Ithaca, all these woo my mother and
waste my house. But as for her she neither refuseth the hated
bridal, nor hath the heart to make an end: so they devour and
minish my house, and ere long will they make havoc likewise
of myself.'

Then in heavy displeasure spake unto him Pallas Athene: 'God
help thee! thou art surely sore in need of Odysseus that is afar, to
stretch forth his hands upon the shameless wooers. If he could but
come now and stand at the entering in of the gate, with helmet

1 6 HOMER

and shield and lances twain, as mighty a man as when first I
marked him in our house drinking and making merry what time
he came up out of Ephyra from Ilus son of Mermerus! For even
thither had Odysseus gone on his swift ship to seek a deadly drug,
that he might have wherewithal to smear his bronze-shod arrows:
but Ilus would in nowise give it to him, for he had in awe the ever-
living gods. But my father gave it him, for he bare him wondrous
love. O that Odysseus might in such strength consort with the
wooers: so should they all have swift fate and bitter wedlock!
Howbeit these things surely lie on the knees of the gods, whether
he shall return or not, and take vengeance in his halls. But I charge
thee to take counsel how thou mayest thrust forth the wooers from
the hall. Come now, mark and take heed unto my words. On the
morrow call the Achaean lords to the assembly, and declare thy
saying to all, and take the gods to witness. As for the wooers bid
them scatter them each one to his own, and for thy mother, if her
heart is moved to marriage, let her go back to the hall of that mighty
man her father, and her kinsfolk will furnish a wedding feast, and
array the gifts of wooing exceeding many, all that should go back
with a daughter dearly beloved. And to thyself I will give a word
of wise counsel, if pierchance thou wilt hearken. Fit out a ship, the
best thou hast, with twenty oarsmen, and go to inquire concerning
thy father that is long afar, if perchance any man shall tell thee
aught, or if thou mayest hear the voice from Zeus, which chiefly
brings tidings to men. Get thee first to Pylos and inquire of goodly
Nestor, and from thence to Sparta to Menelaus of the fair hair, for
he came home the last of the mail-coated Achaeans. If thou shalt
hear news of the life and the returning of thy father, then verily
thou mayest endure the wasting for yet a year. But if thou shalt
hear that he is dead and gone, return then to thine own dear
country and pile his mound, and over it pay burial rites, full many
as is due, and give thy mother to a husband. But when thou hast
done this and made an end, thereafter take counsel in thy mind
and heart, how thou mayest slay the wooers in thy halls, whether
by guile or openly; for thou shouldst not carry childish thoughts,
being no longer of years thereto. Or hast thou not heard what re-
nown the goodly Orestes gat him among all men in that he slew

THE ODYSSEY 1 7

the slayer of his father, guileful Aegisthus, who killed his famous
sire? And thou, too, my friend, for I see that thou art very comely
and tall, be valiant, that even men unborn may praise thee. But
I will now go down to the swift ship and to my men, who methinks
chafe much at tarrying for me; and do thou thyself take heed and
give ear unto my words.'

Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Sir, verily thou
speakest these things out of a friendly heart, as a father to his son,
and never will I forget them. But now I pray thee abide here,
though eager to be gone, to the end that after thou hast bathed and
had all thy heart's desire, thou mayest wend to the ship joyful in
spirit, with a costly gift and very goodly, to be an heirloom of my
giving, such as dear friends give to friends.'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Hold me
now no longer, that am eager for the way. But whatsoever gift
thine heart shall bid thee give me, when I am on my way back let
it be mine to carry home: bear from thy stores a gift right goodly,
and it shall bring thee the worth thereof in return.'

So spake she and departed, the grey-eyed Athene, and like an
eagle of the sea she flew away, but in his spirit she planted might
and courage, and put him in mind of his father yet more than
heretofore. And he marked the thing and was amazed, for he
deemed that it was a god; and anon he went among the wooers, a
godlike man.

Now the renowned minstrel was singing to the wooers, and they
sat listening in silence; and his song was of the pitiful return of the
Achaeans, that Pallas Athene laid on them as they came forth from
Troy. And from her upper chamber the daughter of Icarius, wise
Penelope, caught the glorious strain, and she went down the high
stairs from her chamber, not alone, for two of her handmaids bare
her company. Now when the fair lady had come unto the wooers,
she stood by the pillar of the well-builded roof holding up her
glistening tire before her face; and a faithful maiden stood on either
side of her. Then she fell a weeping, and spake unto the divine
minstrel:

'Phemius, since thou knowest many other charms for mortals,
deeds of men and gods, which bards rehearse, some one of these

l8 HOMER

do thou sing as thou sittest by them, and let them drink their wine
in silence; but cease from this pitiful strain, that ever wastes my
heart within my breast, since to me above all women hath come a
sorrow comfortless. So dear a head do I long for in constant
memory, namely, that man whose fame is noised abroad from
Hellas to mid Argos.'

Then wise Telemachus answered her, and said: 'O my mother,
why then dost thou grudge the sweet minstrel to gladden us as his
spirit moves him? It is not minstrels who are in fault, but Zeus,
methinks, is in fault, who gives to men, that live by bread, to each
one as he will. As for him it is no blame if he sings the ill-faring of
the Danaans; for men always prize that song the most, which rings
newest in their ears. But let thy heart and mind endure to listen,
for not Odysseus only lost in Troy the day of his returning, but
many another likewise perished. Howbeit go to thy chamber and
mind thine own housewiferies, the loom and distaff, and bid thy
handmaids ply their tasks. But speech shall be for men, for all, but
for me in chief; for mine is the lordship in the house.'

Then in amaze she went back to her chamber, for she laid up the
wise saying of her son in her heart. She ascended to her upper
chamber with the women her handmaids, and then was bewailing
Odysseus, her dear lord, till grey-eyed Athene cast sweet sleep upon
her eyelids.

Now the wooers clamoured throughout the shadowy halls, and
each one uttered a prayer to be her bedfellow. And wise Telemachus
first spake among them:

'Wooers of my mother, men despiteful out of measure, let us feast
now and make merry and let there be no brawling; for, lo, it is a
good thing to list to a minstrel such as him, like to the gods in voice.
But in the morning let us all go to the assembly and sit us down,
that I may declare my saying outright, to wit that ye leave these
halls: and busy yourselves with other feasts, eating your own sub-
stance, going in turn from house to house. But if ye deem this a
likelier and a better thing, that one man's goods should perish
without atonement, then waste ye as ye will; and I will call upon
the everlasting gods, if haply Zeus may grant that acts of recom-

THE ODYSSEY 19

pense be made: so should ye hereafter perish within the halls
without atonement.'

So spake he, and all that heard him bit their lips and marvelled at
Telemachus, in that he spake boldly.

Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him: 'Telemachus,
in very truth the gods themselves instruct thee to be proud of speech
and boldly to harangue. Never may Cronion make thee king in
seagirt Ithaca, which thing is of inheritance thy rightl*

Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Antinous, wilt
thou indeed be wroth at the word that I shall say ? Yea, at the hand
of Zeus would I be fain to take even this thing upon me. Sayest thou
that this is the worst hap that can befal a man ? Nay, verily, it is no
ill thing to be a king: the house of such an one quickly waxeth rich
and himself is held in greater honour. Howsoever there are many
other kings of the Achaeans in seagirt Ithaca, kings young and old;
someone of them shall surely have this kingship since goodly
Odysseus is dead. But as for me, I will be lord of our own house
and thralls, that goodly Odysseus gat me with his spear.'

Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered him, saying:
'Telemachus, on the knees of the gods it surely lies, what man is
to be king over the Achaeans in seagirt Ithaca. But mayest thou
keep thine own possessions and be lord in thine own house! Never
may that man come, who shall wrest from thee thy substance vio-
lently in thine own despite while Ithaca yet stands. But I would
ask thee, friend, concerning the stranger — whence he is, and of what
land he avows him to be? Where are his kin and his native fields?
Doth he bear some tidings of thy father on his road, or cometh he
thus to speed some matter of his own? In such wise did he start
up, and lo, he was gone, nor tarried he that we should know him; —
and yet he seemed no mean man to look upon."

Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Eurymachus,
surely the day of my father's returning hath gone by. Therefore no
more do I put faith in tidings, whencesoever they may come, neither
have I regard unto any divination, whereof my mother may inquire

'The -Yifi explains the expression of surprise at the sudden departure of the
stranger.

20 HOMER

at the lips of a diviner, when she hath bidden him to the hall. But
as for that man, he is a friend of my house from Taphos, and he
avows him to be Mentes, son of wise Anchialus, and he hath lord-
ship among the Taphians, lovers of the oar.'

So spake Telemachus, but in his heart he knew the deathless
goddess. Now the wooers turned them to the dance and the de-
lightsome song, and made merry, and waited till evening should
come on. And as they made merry, dusk evening came upon them.
Then they went each one to his own house to lie down to rest.

But Telemachus, where his chamber was builded high up in the
fair court, in a place with wide prospect, thither betook him to his
bed, pondering many thoughts in his mind; and with him went
trusty Eurycleia, and bare for him torches burning. She was the
daughter of Ops, son of Peisenor, and Laertes bought her on a time
with his wealth, while as yet she was in her first youth, and gave
for her the worth of twenty oxen. And he honoured her even as
he honoured his dear wife in the halls, but he never lay with her,
for he shunned the wrath of his lady. She went with Telemachus
and bare for him the burning torches: and of all the women of the
household she loved him most, and she had nursed him when a
little one. Then he opened the doors of the well-builded chamber
and sat him on the bed and took off his soft doublet, and put it in
the wise old woman's hands. So she folded the doublet and smoothed
it, and hung it on a pin by the jointed bedstead, and went forth on
her way from the room, and pulled to the door with the silver
handle, and drew home the bar with the thong. There, all night
through, wrapped in a fleece of wool, he meditated in his heart upon
the journey that Athene had showed him.

BOOK II

Telemachus complains in vain, and borrowing a ship, goes secretly to
Pylos by night. And how he was there received.

NOW so soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, the
dear son of Odysseus gat him up from his bed, and put on
his raiment and cast his sharp sword about his shoulder,
and beneath his smooth feet he bound his goodly sandals, and stept
forth from his chamber in presence like a god. And straightway
he bade the clear-voiced heralds to call the long-haired Achaeans to
the assembly. And the heralds called the gathering, and the
Achaeans were assembled quickly. Now when they were gathered
and come together, he went on his way to the assembly holding in
his hand a spear of bronze, — not alone he went, for two swift hounds
bare him company. Then Athene shed on him a wondrous grace,
and all the people marvelled at him as he came. And he sat him in
his father's seat and the elders gave place to him.

Then the lord Aegyptus spake among them first; bowed was he
with age, and skilled in things past number. Now for this reason
he spake that his dear son, the warrior Antiphus, had gone in the
hollow ships to Ilios of the goodly steeds; but the savage Cyclops
slew him in his hollow cave, and made of him then his latest meal.
Three other sons Aegyptus had, and one consorted with the wooers,
namely Eurynomus, but two continued in their father's fields; yet
even so forgat he not that son, still mourning and sorrowing.
So weeping for his sake he made harangue and spake among
them:

'Hearken now to me, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I shall
say. Never hath our assembly or session been since the day that
goodly Odysseus departed in the hollow ships. And now who was
minded thus to assemble us.? On what man hath such sore need
come, of the young men or of the elder born ? Hath he heard some
tidings of the host now returning, which he might plainly declare

22 HOMER

to us, for that he first learned thereof, or doth he show forth and
tell some other matter of the common weal? Methinks he is a true
man — good luck be with him! Zeus vouchsafe him some good thing
in his turn, even all his heart's desire!'

So spake he, and the dear son of Odysseus was glad at the omen
of the word; nor sat he now much longer, but he burned to speak,
and he stood in mid assembly; and the herald Peisenor, skilled in
sage counsels, placed the staff in his hands. Then he spake, accosting
the old man first :

'Old man, he is not far off, and soon shah thou know it for thy-
self, he who called the folk together, even I: for sorrow hath come
to me in chief. Neither have I heard any tidings of the host now
returning, which I may plainly declare to you, for that I first learned
thereof; neither do I show forth or tell any other matter of the
common weal, but mine own need, for that evil hath befallen my
house, a double woe. First, I have lost my noble sire, who sometime
was king among you here, and was gentle as a father; and now
is there an evil yet greater far, which surely shall soon make grievous
havoc of my whole house and ruin all my livelihood. My mother
did certain wooers beset sore against her will, even the sons of those
men that here are the noblest. They are too craven to go to the
house of her father Icarius, that he may himself set the bride-price
for his daughter, and bestow her on whom he will, even on him
who finds favour in his sight. But they resorting to our house day
by day sacrifice oxen and sheep and fat goats, and keep revel, and
drink the dark wine recklessly, and lo, our great wealth is wasted,
for there is no man now alive such as Odysseus was, to keep ruin
from the house. As for me I am nowise strong like him to ward
mine own; verily to the end of my days' shall I be a weakling and
all unskilled in prowess. Truly I would defend me if but strength
were mine; for deeds past sufferance have now been wrought, and
now my house is wasted utterly beyond pretence of right. Resent it in
your own hearts, and have regard to your neighbours who dwell
around, and tremble ye at the anger of the gods, lest haply they
turn upon you in wrath at your evil deeds.^ I pray you by Olympian

' Cf. B. xxi. 131. For the use o£ the ist [xn. pi. like our royal plural, c£. B.
zvi. 44, II. vii. 190.

' Or, test they bring your evil deeds in wrath on your own heads.

THE ODYSSEY 23

Zeus and by Themis, who looseth and gathereth the meetings of
men, let be, my friends, and leave me alone to waste in bitter grief; —
unless it so be that my father, the good Odysseus, out of evil heart
wrought harm to the goodly-greaved Achaeans, in quittance whereof
ye now work me harm out of evil hearts, and spur on these men.
Better for me that ye yourselves should eat up my treasures and my
flocks. Were ye so to devour them, ere long would some recompense
be made, for we would urge our plea throughout the town, beg-
ging back our substance, until all should be restored. But now
without remedy are the pains that ye lay up in my heart.'

So spake he in wrath, and dashed the staff to the ground, and
brake forth in tears; and pity fell on all the people. Then all the
others held their peace, and none had the heart to answer Telem-
achus with hard words, but Antinous alone made answer, saying:

'Telemachus, proud of speech and unrestrained in fury, what is
this thou hast said to put us to shame, and wouldest fasten on us
reproach? Behold the fault is not in the Achaean wooers, but in
thine own mother, for she is the craftiest of women. For it is now
the third year, and the fourth is fast going by, since she began to
deceive the minds of the Achaeans in their breasts. She gives hope
to all, and makes promises to every man, and sends them messages,
but her mind is set on other things. And she hath devised in her
heart this wile besides; she set up in her halls a mighty web, fine
of woof and very wide, whereat she would weave, and anon she
spake among us:

' "Ye princely youths, my wooers, now that the goodly Odysseus
is dead, do ye abide patiently, how eager soever to speed on this
marriage of mine, till I finish the robe. I would not that the threads
pwrish to no avail, even this shroud for the hero Laertes, against the
day when the ruinous doom shall bring him low, of death that lays
men at their length. So shall none of the Achaean women in the
land count it blame in me, as well might be, were he to lie without
a winding-sheet, a man that had gotten great possessions."

'So spake she, and our high hearts consented thereto. So then
in the day time she would weave the mighty web, and in the night
unravel the same, when she had let place the torches by her. Thus
for the space of three years she hid the thing by craft and beguiled

24 HOMER

the minds of the Achaeans; but when the fourth year arrived and
the seasons came round, then at the last one of her women who
knew all declared it, and we found her unravelling the splendid web.
Thus she finished it perforce and sore against her will. But as for
thee, the wooers make thee answer thus, that thou mayest know
it in thine own heart, thou and all the Achaeans! Send away thy
mother, and bid her be married to whomsoever her father com-
mands, and whoso is well pleasing unto her. But if she will con-
tinue for long to vex the sons of the Achaeans, pondering in her
heart those things that Athene hath given her beyond women,
knowledge of all fair handiwork, yea, and cunning wit, and wiles —
so be it! Such wiles as hers we have never yet heard that any even
of the women of old did know, of those that aforetime were fair-
tressed Achaean ladies. Tyro, and Alcmene, and Mycene, with the
bright crown. Not one of these in the imaginations of their hearts
was like unto Penelope, yet herein at least her imagining was not
good. For in despite of her the wooers will devour thy living and
thy substance, so long as she is steadfast in such purpose as the gods
now put within her breast: great renown for herself she winneth,
but for thee regret for thy much livelihood. But we will neither
go to our own lands, nor otherwhere, till she marry that man whom
she will of the Achaeans.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Antinous, I may
in no wise thrust forth from the house, against her will, the woman
that bare me, that reared me: while as for my father he is abroad on
the earth, whether he be alive or dead. Moreover, it is hard for me
to make heavy restitution to Icarius, as needs I must, if of mine
own will I send my mother away. For I shall have evil at his hand,
at the hand of her father, and some god will give me more besides,
for my mother will call down the dire Avengers as she departs from
the house, and I shall have blame of men; surely then I will never
speak this word. Nay, if your own heart, even yours, is indignant,
quit ye my halls, and busy yourselves with other feasts, eating your
own substance, and going in turn from house to house. But if ye
deem this a likelier and a better thing, that one man's goods should
perish without atonement, then waste ye as ye will : and I will call
upon the everlasting gods, if haply Zeus may grant that acts of

THE ODYSSEY 25

recompense be made: so should ye hereafter perish in the halls
without atonement.'

So spake Telemachus, and in answer to his prayer did Zeus, of the
far-borne voice, send forth two eagles in flight, from on high, from
the mountain-crest. Awhile they flew as fleet as the blasts of the wind,
side by side, with straining of their pinions. But when they had
now reached the mid assembly, the place of many voices, there they
wheeled about and flapped their strong wings, and looked down
upon the heads of all, and destruction was in their gaze. Then tore
they with their talons each the other's cheeks and neck on every
side, and so sped to the right across the dwellings and the city of
the people. And the men marvelled at the birds when they had
sight of them, and pondered in their hearts the things that should
come to pass. Yea and the old man, the lord Halitherses son of
Master spake among them, for he excelled his peers in knowledge
of birds, and in uttering words of fate. With good-will he made
harangue and spake among them:

'Hearken to me now, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I shall
say: and mainly to the wooers do I show forth and tell these things,
seeing that a mighty woe is rolling upon them. For Odysseus shall
not long be away from his friends, nay, even now, it may be, he is
near, and sowing the seeds of death and fate for these men, every
one; and he will be a bane to many another likewise of us who dwell
in clear-seen Ithaca. But long ere that falls out let us advise us how
we may make an end of their mischief; yea, let them of their own
selves make an end, for this is the better way for them, as will soon
be seen. For I prophesy not as one unproved, but with sure knowl-
edge; verily, 1 say, that for him all things now are come to pass,
even as I told him, what time the Argives embarked for Ilios, and
with them went the wise Odysseus. I said that after sore affliction,
with the loss of all his company, unknown to all, in the twentieth
year he should come home. And behold, all these things now have
an end.'

And Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered him, saying: 'Go
now, old man, get thee home and prophesy to thine own children,
lest haply they suffer harm hereafter: but herein am I a far better
prophet than thou. Howbeit there be many birds that fly to and

26 HOMER

fro under the sun's rays, but all are not birds of fate. Now as for
Odysseus, he hath perished far away, as would that thou too with
him hadst been cut off: so wouldst thou not have babbled thus much
prophecy, nor wouldst thou hound on Telemachus that is already
angered, expecting a gift for thy house, if perchance he may vouch-
safe thee aught. But now will I speak out, and my word shall
surely be accomplished. If thou that knowest much lore from of
old, shalt beguile with words a younger man, and rouse him to
indignation, first it shall be a great grief to him: — and yet he can
count on no aid from these who hear him; — while upon thee, old
man, we will lay a fine, that thou mayest pay it and chafe at heart,
and sore pain shall be thine. And I myself will give a word of
counsel to Telemachus in presence of you all. Let him command
his mother to return to her father's house; and her kinsfolk will
furnish a wedding feast, and array the gifts of wooing, exceeding
many, all that should go back with a daughter dearly beloved. For
ere that, I trow, we sons of the Achaeans will not cease from our
rough wooing, since, come what may, we fear not any man, no, not
Telemachus, full of words though he be, nor soothsaying do we
heed, whereof thou, old man, pratest idly, and art hated yet the
more. His substance too shall be woefully devoured, nor shall
recompense ever be made, so long as she shall put off the Achaeans
in the matter of her marriage; while we in expectation, from day
to day, vie one with another for the prize of her perfection, nor go
we after other women whom it were meet that we should each
one wed.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Eurymachus, and
ye others, that are lordly wooers, I entreat you no more concerning
this nor speak thereof, for the gods have knowledge of it now and
all the Achaeans. But come, give me a swift ship and twenty men,
who shall accomplish for me my voyage to and fro. For I will go
to Sparta and to sandy Pylos to inquire concerning the return of my
father that is long afar, if perchance any man shall tell me aught, or
if I may hear the voice from Zeus, that chiefly brings tidings to men.
If I shall hear news of the life and the returning of my father, then
verily I may endure the wasting for yet a year; but if I shall hear
that he is dead and gone, let me then return to my own dear country.

THE ODYSSEY TJ

and pile his mound, and over it pay burial rites full many as is due,
and I will give my mother to a husband.'

So with that word he sat him down; then in the midst up rose
Mentor, the companion of noble Odysseus. He it was to whom Odys-
seus, as he departed in the fleet, had given the charge over all his
house, that it should obey the old man, and that he should keep all
things safe. With good will he now made harangue and spake
among them:

'Hearken to me now, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I shall
say. Henceforth let not any sceptred king be kind and gentle with
all his heart, nor minded to do righteously, but let him alway be
a hard man and work unrighteousness: for behold, there is none
that remembereth divine Odysseus of the people whose lord he was,
and was gentle as a father. Howsoever, it is not that I grudge the
lordly wooers their deeds of violence in the evil devices of their
heart. For at the hazard of their own heads they violently devour
the household of Odysseus, and say of him that he will come no
more again. But I am indeed wroth with the rest of the people, to
see how ye all sit thus speechless, and do not cry shame upon the
wooers, and put them down, ye that are so many and they so few.'

And Leocritus, son of Euenor, answered him, saying: 'Mentor
infatuate, with thy wandering wits, what word hast thou spoken,
that callest upon them to put us down? Nay, it is a hard thing to
fight about a feast, and that with men who are even more in number
than you. Though Odysseus of Ithaca himself should come and
were eager of heart to drive forth from the hall the lordly wooers
that feast throughout his house, yet should his wife have no joy of
his coming, though she yearns for him; — but even there should he
meet foul doom, if he fought with those that outnumbered him;
so thou hast not spoken aright. But as for the people, come now,
scatter yourselves each one to his own lands, but Mentor and
Halitherses will speed this man's voyage, for they are friends of his
house from of old. Yet after all, methinks, that long time he will
abide and seek tidings in Ithaca, and never accomplish this voyage.'

Thus he spake, and in haste they broke up the assembly. So they
were scattered each one to his own dwelling, while the wooers
departed to the house of divine Odysseus.

28 HOMER

Then Telemachus, going far apart to the shore of the sea, laved
his hands in the grey sea water, and prayed unto Athene, saying:
'Hear me, thou who yesterday didst come in thy godhead to our
house, and badest me go in a ship across the misty seas, to seek
tidings of the return of my father that is long gone: but all this my
purpose do the Achaeans delay, and mainly the wooers in the
naughtiness of their pride.'

So spake he in prayer, and Athene drew nigh him in the likeness
of Mentor, in fashion and in voice, and she spake and hailed him in
winged words:

'Telemachus, even hereafter thou shalt not be craven or witless,
if indeed thou hast a drop of thy father's blood and a portion of his
spirit; such an one was he to fulfil both word and work. Nor, if
this be so, shall thy voyage be vain or unfulfilled. But if thou art
not the very seed of him and of Penelope, then have I no hope that
thou wilt accomplish thy desire. For few children, truly, are like
their father; lo, the more part are worse, yet a few are better than
the sire. But since thou shalt not even hereafter be craven or witless,
nor hath the wisdom of Odysseus failed thee quite, so is there good
hope of thine accomplishing this work. Wherefore now take no heed
of the counsel or the purpose of the senseless wooers, for they are
in no way wise or just: neither know they aught of death and of
black fate, which already is close upon them, that they are all to
perish in one day. But the voyage on which thy heart is set shall
not long be lacking to thee — so faithful a friend of thy father am I,
who will furnish thee a swift ship and myself be thy companion.
But go thou to the house, and consort with the wooers, and make
ready corn, and bestow all in vessels, the wine in jars and barley-
flour, the marrow of men, in well-sewn skins; and I will lightly
gather in the township a crew that offer themselves wiUingly. There
are many ships, new and old, in seagirt Ithaca; of these I will choose
out the best for thee, and we will quickly rig her and launch her on
the broad deep.'

So spake Athene, daughter of Zeus, and Telemachus made no long
tarrying, when he had heard the voice of the goddess. He went on
his way towards the house, heavy at heart, and there he found the
noble wooers in the halls, flaying goats and singeing swine in the

THE ODYSSEY 29

court. And Antinous laughed out and went straight to Telemachus,
and clasped his hand and spake and hailed him:

'Telemachus, proud of speech and unrestrained in fury, let no evil
word any more be in thy heart, nor evil work, but let me see thee
eat and drink as of old. And the Achaeans will make thee ready all
things without fail, a ship and chosen oarsmen, that thou mayest
come the quicker to fair Pylos, to seek tidings of thy noble father.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Antinous, in no
wise in your proud company can I sup in peace, and make merry
with a quiet mind. Is it a little thing, ye wooers, that in time past
ye wasted many good things of my getting, while as yet I was a
child? But now that I am a man grown, and learn the story from
the lips of others, and my spirit waxeth within me, I will seek to
let loose upon you evil fates, as I may, going either to Pylos for help,
or abiding here in this township. Yea, I will go, nor vain shall the
voyage be whereof I speak; a passenger on another's ship go I, for
I am not to have a ship nor oarsmen of mine own; so in your wisdom
ye have thought it for the better.'

He spake and snatched his hand from out the hand of Antinous,
lightly, and all the while the wooers were busy feasting through the
house; and they mocked him and sharply taunted him, and thus
would some proud youth speak:

'In very truth Telemachus planneth our destruction. He will
bring a rescue either from sandy Pylos, or even it may be from
Sparta, so terribly is he set on slaying us. Or else he will go to
Ephyra, a fruitful land, to fetch a poisonous drug that he may cast
it into the bowl and make an end of all of us.'

And again another proud youth would say: 'Who knows but that
he himself if he goes hence on the hollow ship, may perish wander-
ing far from his friends, even as Odysseus? So should we have yet
more ado, for then must we divide among us all his substance, and
moreover give the house to his mother to possess it, and to him
whosoever should wed her.'

So spake they; but he stepped down into the vaulted treasure-
chamber of his father, a spacious room, where gold and bronze lay
piled, and raiment in coffers, and fragrant olive oil in plenty. And
there stood casks of sweet wine and old, full of the unmixed drink

30 HOMER

divine, all orderly ranged by the wall, ready if ever Odysseus should
come home, albeit after travail and much pain. And the close-
fitted doors, the folding doors, were shut, and night and day there
abode within a dame in charge, who guarded all in the fulness of
her wisdom, Eurycleia, daughter of Ops son of Peisenor. Telem-
achus now called her into the chamber and spake unto her, saying:

'Mother, come draw off for me sweet wine in jars, the choicest
next to that thou keepest mindful ever of that ill-fated one, Odysseus,
of the seed of Zeus, if perchance he may come I know not whence,
having avoided death and the fates. So fill twelve jars, and close
each with his lid, and pour me barley-meal into well-sewn skins,
and let there be twenty measures of the grain of bruised barley-meal.
Let none know this but thyself! As for these things let them all
be got together; for in the evening I will take them with me, at
the time that my mother hath gone to her upper chamber and turned
her thoughts to sleep. Lo, to Sparta I go and to sandy Pylos to seek
tidings of my dear father's return, if haply I may hear thereof.'

So spake he, and the good nurse Eurycleia wailed aloud, and
making lament spake to him winged words: 'Ah, wherefore, dear
child, hath such a thought arisen in thine heart? How shouldst
thou fare over wide lands, thou that art an only child and well-
beloved? As for him he hath perished, Odysseus of the seed of
Zeus, far from his own country in the land of strangers. And yonder
men, so soon as thou art gone, will devise mischief against thee there-
after, that thou mayest perish by guile, and they will share among
them all this wealth of thine. Nay, abide here, settled on thine
own lands: thou hast no need upon the deep unharvested to suffer
evil and go wandering.'

Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Take heart, nurse,
for lo, this my purpose came not but of a god. But swear to tell no
word thereof to my dear mother, till at least it shall be the eleventh
or twelfth day from hence, or till she miss me of herself, and hear
of my departure, that so she may not mar her fair face with her
tears.'

Thus he spake, and the old woman sware a great oath by the
gods not to reveal it. But when she had sworn and done that oath,
straightway she drew off the wine for him in jars, and poured barley-

THE ODYSSEY 3 1

meal into well-sewn skins, and Telemachus departed to the house
and consorted with the wooers.

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, turned to other thoughts.
In the likeness of Telemachus she went all through the city, and
stood by each one of the men and spake her saying, and bade them
gather at even by the swift ship. Furthermore, she craved a swift
ship of Noemon, famous son of Phronius, and right gladly he
promised it.

Now the sun sank and all the ways were darkened. Then at
length she let drag the swift ship to the sea and stored within it all
such tackling as decked ships carry. And she moored it at the far
end of the harbour and the good company was gathered together,
and the goddess cheered on all.

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, turned to other thoughts.
She went on her way to the house of divine Odysseus; and there
she shed sweet sleep upon the wooers and made them distraught in
their drinking, and cast the cups from their hands. And they arose
up to go to rest throughout the city, nor sat they yet a long while,
for slumber was falling on their eyelids. Now grey-eyed Athene
spake unto Telemachus, and called him from out the fair-lying
halls, taking the likeness of Mentor, both in fashion and in voice:

'Telemachus, thy goodly-greaved companions are sitting already
at their oars, it is thy despatch they are awaiting. Nay then, let us
go, that we delay them not long from the way.'

Therewith Pallas Athene led the way quickly, and he followed
hard in the steps of the goddess. Now when they had come down
to the ship and to the sea, they found the long-haired youths of the
company on the shore; and the mighty prince Telemachus spake
among them:

'Come hither, friends, let us carry the corn on board, for all is
now together in the room, and my mother knows nought thereof,
nor any of the maidens of the house: one woman only heard my
sayinS.'

Thus he spake and led the way, and they went with him. So they
brought all and stowed it in the decked ship, according to the word
of the dear son of Odysseus. Then Telemachus climbed the ship,
and Athene went before him, and behold, she sat her down in the

32 HOMER

stern, and near her sat Telemachus. And the men loosed the
hawsers and climbed on board themselves and sat down upon the
benches. And grey-eyed Athene sent them a favourable gale, a
fresh West Wind, singing over the wine-dark sea.

And Telemachus called unto his company and bade them lay
hands on the tackling, and they hearkened to his call. So they
raised the mast of pine tree and set it in the hole of the cross plank,
and made it fast with forestays, and hauled up the white sails with
twisted ropes of oxhide. And the wind filled the belly of the sail,
and the dark wave seethed loudly round the stem of the running
ship, and she fleeted over the wave, accomplishing her path. Then
they made all fast in the swift black ship, and set mixing bowls
brimmed with wine, and poured drink offering to the deathless
gods that are from everlasting, and in chief to the grey-eyed daughter
of Zeus. So all night long and through the dawn the ship cleft her
way.

BOOK III

Nestor entertains Telemachus at Pylos and tells him how the Greeks
departed from Troy; and sends him for further information to Sfxtrta.

NOW the sun arose and left the lovely mere, speeding to the
brazen heaven, to give light to the immortals and to mortal
men on the earth, the graingiver, and they reached Pylos,
the stablished castle of Neleus. There the people were doing sacri-
fice on the sea shore, slaying black bulls without spot to the dark-
haired god, the shaker of the earth. Nine companies there were,
and five hundred men sat in each, and in every company they held
nine bulls ready to hand. Just as they had tasted the inner parts,
and were burning the slices of the thighs on the altar to the god,
the others were bearing straight to land, and brailed up the sails
of the gallant ship, and moored her, and themselves came forth.
And Telemachus too stept forth from the ship, and Athene led the
way. And the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake first to him, saying:

'Telemachus, thou needst not now be abashed, no, not one whit.
For to this very end didst thou sail over the deep, that thou mightest
hear tidings of thy father, even where the earth closed over him,
and what manner of death he met. But come now, go straight to
Nestor, tamer of horses: let us learn what counsel he hath in the
secret of his heart. And beseech him thyself that he may give
unerring answer; and he will not lie to thee, for he is very wise.'

The wise Telemachus answered, saying: 'Mentor, and how shall
I go, how shall I greet him, I, who am untried in words of wisdom?
Moreover, a young man may well be abashed to question an elder.'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again : 'Telem-
achus, thou shalt bethink thee of somewhat in thine own breast, and
somewhat the god will give thee to say. For thou, methinks, of all
men wert not born and bred without the will of the gods.'

So spake Pallas Athene and led the way quickly; and he followed
hard in the steps of the goddess. And they came to the gathering and

33

34 HOMER

the session of the men of Pylos. There was Nestor seated with his
sons, and round him his company making ready the feast, and
roasting some of the flesh and spitting other. Now when they saw
the strangers, they went all together, and clasped their hands in
welcome, and would have them sit down. First Peisistratus, son of
Nestor, drew nigh, and took the hands of each, and made them to
sit down at the feast on soft fleeces upon the sea sand, beside his
brother Thrasymedes and his father. And he gave them messes of
the inner meat, and poured wine into a golden cup, and pledging
her, he spake unto Pallas Athene, daughter of Zeus, lord of the
aegis:

'Pray now, my guest, to the lord Poseidon, even as it is his feast
whereon ye have chanced in coming hither. And when thou hast
made drink-offering and prayed, as is due, give thy friend also the
cup of honeyed wine to make offering thereof, inasmuch as he too,
methinks, prayeth to the deathless gods, for all men stand in need
of the gods. Howbeit he is younger and mine own equal in years,
therefore to thee first will I give the golden chaUce.'

Therewith he placed in her hand the cup of sweet wine. And
Athene rejoiced in the wisdom and judgment of the man, in that
he had given to her first the chalice of gold. And straightway she
prayed, and that instantly, to the lord Poseidon:

'Hear me, Poseidon, girdler of the earth, and grudge not the ful-
filment of this labour in answer to our prayer. To Nestor first and
to his sons vouchsafe renown, and thereafter grant to all the people
of Pylos a gracious recompense for this splendid hecatomb. Grant
moreover that Telemachus and I may return, when we have accom-
plished that for which we came hither with our swift black ship.'

Now as she prayed on this wise, herself the while was fulfilling
the prayer. And she gave Telemachus the fair two-handled cup;
and in like manner prayed the dear son of Odysseus. Then, when
the others had roasted the outer parts and drawn them off the spits,
they divided the messes and shared the glorious feast. But when
they had put from them the desire of meat and drink, Nestor of
Gerenia, lord of chariots, first spake among them:

'Now is the better time to enquire and ask of the strangers who
they are, now that they have had their delight of food. Strangers,

THE ODYSSEY 35

who are ye? Whence sail ye over the wet ways? On some trading
enterprise, or at adventure do ye rove, even as sea-robbers, over the
brine, for they wander at hazard of their own Uves bringing bale
to alien men?'

Then wise Telemachus answered him and spake with courage,
for Athene herself had put boldness in his heart, that he might ask
about his father who was afar, and that he might be had in good
report among men:

'Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, thou askest
whence we are, and I will surely tell thee all. We have come forth
out of Ithaca that is below Neion; and this our quest whereof I
sp)eak is a matter of mine own, and not of the common weal. I
follow after the far-spread rumour of my father, if haply I may hear
thereof, even of the goodly steadfast Odysseus, who upon a time,
men say, fought by thy side and sacked the city of the Trojans. For
of all the others, as many as warred with the Trojans, we hear
tidings, and where each one fell by a pitiful death; but even the
death of this man Cronion hath left untold. For none can surely
declare the place where he hath perished, whether he was smitten
by focmen on the mainland, or lost up)on the deep among the waves
of Amphitrite. So now am I come hither to thy knees, if perchance
thou art willing to tell me of his pitiful death, as one that saw it
with thine own eyes, or heard the story from some other wan-
derer, — for his mother bare him to exceeding sorrow. And speak
me no soft words in ruth or pity, but tell me plainly what sight thou
didst get of him. Ah! I pray thee, if ever at all my father, noble
Odysseus, made promise to thee of word or work, and fulfilled
the same in the land of the Trojans, where ye Achaeans suffered
affliction; these things, I pray thee, now remember and tell me
truth.'

Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, answered him: 'My
friend, since thou hast brought sorrow back to mind, behold, this
is the story of the woe which we endured in that land, we sons of
the Achaeans, unrestrained in fury, and of all that we bore in
wanderings after spoil, sailing with our ships over the misty deep,
wheresoever Achilles led; and of all our war round the mighty
burg of king Priam. Yea and there the best of us were slain. There

36 HOMER

lies valiant Aias, and there Achilles, and there Patroclus, the peer
of the gods in counsel, and there my own dear son, strong and
noble, Antilochus, that excelled in speed of foot and in the fight.
And many other ills we suffered beside these; who of mortal men
could tell the tale? Nay none, though thou wert to abide here for
five years, ay and for six, and ask of all the ills which the goodly
Achaeans then endured. Ere all was told thou wouldst be weary
and turn to thine own country. For nine whole years we were busy
about them, devising their ruin with all manner of craft; and scarce
did Cronion bring it to pass. There never a man durst match
with him in wisdom, for goodly Odysseus very far outdid the rest
in all manner of craft, Odysseus thy father, if indeed thou art his
son, — amazement comes uf)on me as I look at thee; for verily thy
speech is like unto his; none would say that a younger man would
speak so like an elder. Now look you, all the while that myself
and goodly Odysseus were there, we never spake diversely either
in the assembly or in the council, but always were of one mind,
and advised the Argives with understanding and sound counsel,
how all might be for the very best. But after we had sacked the
steep city of Priam, and had departed in our ships, and a god had
scattered the Achaeans, even then did Zeus devise in his heart a
pitiful returning for the Argives, for in no wise were they all dis-
creet or just. Wherefore many of them met with an ill faring by
reason of the deadly wrath of the grey-eyed goddess, the daughter
of the mighty sire, who set debate between the two sons of Atreus.
And they twain called to the gathering of the host all the Achaeans,
recklessly and out of order, against the going down of the sun; and
lo, the sons of the Achaeans came heavy with wine. And the
Atreidae spake out and told the reason wherefore they had assembled
the host. Then verily Menelaus charged all the Achaeans to be-
think them of returning over the broad back of the sea, but in no
sort did he please Agamemnon, whose desire was to keep back
the host and to offer holy hecatombs, that so he might appease that
dread wrath of Athene. Fool! for he knew not this, that she was
never to be won; for the mind of the everlasting gods is not lightly
turned to repentance. So these twain stood bandying hard words;
but the goodly-greaved Achaeans sprang up with a wondrous din,

THE ODYSSEY 37

and twofold counsels found favour among them. So that one night
we rested, thinking hard things against each other, for Zeus was
fashioning for us a ruinous doom. But in the morning, we of the
one part drew our ships to the fair salt sea, and put aboard our
wealth, and the low-girdled Trojan women. Now one half the
people abode steadfastly there with Agamemnon, son of Atreus,
shepherd of the host; and half of us embarked and drave to sea and
swiftly the ships sailed, for a god made smooth the sea with the
depths thereof. And when we came to Tenedos, we did sacrifice
to the gods, being eager for the homeward way; but Zeus did not
yet purpose our returning, nay, hard was he, that roused once more
an evil strife among us. Then some turned back their curved ships,
and went their way, even the company of Odysseus, the wise and
manifold in counsel, once again showing a favour to Agamemnon,
son of Atreus. But I fled on with the squadron that followed me,
for I knew how now the god imagined mischief. And the warlike
son of Tydeus fled and roused his men thereto. And late in our
track came Menelaus of the fair hair, who found us in Lesbos,
considering about the long voyage, whether we should go sea-ward
of craggy Chios, by the isle of Psyria, keeping the isle upon our
left, or inside Chios past windy Mimas. So we asked the god to
show us a sign, and a sign he declared to us, and bade us cleave a
path across the middle sea to Euboea, that we might flee the swiftest
way from sorrow. And a shrill wind arose and blew, and the ships
ran most fleetly over the teeming ways, and in the night they touched
at Geraestus. So there we sacrified many thighs of bulls to Poseidon,
for joy that we had measured out so great a stretch of sea. It was
the fourth day when the company of Diomede, son of Tydeus,
tamer of horses, moored their gallant ships at Argos; but I held on
for Pylos, and the breeze was never quenched from the hour that
the god sent it forth to blow. Even so I came, dear child, without
tidings, nor know I aught of those others, which of the Achaeans
were saved and which were lost. But all that I hear tell of as I sit
in our halls, thou shalt learn as it is meet, and I will hide nothing
from thee. Safely, they say, came the Myrmidons the wild spears-
men, whom the famous son of high-souled Achilles led; and safely
Philoctetes, the glorious son of Poias. And Idomeneus brought all

38 HOMER

his company to Crete, all that escaped the war, and from him the
sea gat none. And of the son of Atreus even yourselves have heard,
far apart though ye dwell, how he came, and how Aegisthus
devised his evil end; but verily he himself paid a terrible reckoning.
So good a thing it is that a son of the dead should still be left, even
as that son also took vengeance on the slayer of his father, guileful
Aegisthus, who slew his famous sire. And thou too, my friend, for
I see thee very comely and tall, be valiant, that even men unborn
may praise thee.'

And wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Nestor, son of
Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, verily and indeed he avenged
himself, and the Achaeans shall noise his fame abroad, that even
those may hear who are yet for to be. Oh that the gods would clothe
me with such strength as his, that I might take vengeance on the
wooers for their cruel transgression, who wantonly devise against
me infatuate deeds! But the gods have woven for me the web of
no such weal, for me or for my sire. But now I must in any wise
endure it.'

Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, made answer: 'Dear
friend, seeing thou dost call these things to my remembrance and
speak thereof, they tell me that many wooers for thy mother's hand
plan mischief within the halls in thy despite. Say, dost thou will-
ingly submit thee to oppression, or do the people through the land
hate thee, obedient to the voice of a god? Who knows but that
Odysseus may some day come and requite their violence, either
himself alone or all the host of the Achaeans with him ? Ah, if but
grey-eyed Athene were inclined to love thee, as once she cared
exceedingly for the renowned Odysseus in the land of the Trojans,
where we Achaeans were sore afflicted, — for never yet have I seen
the gods show forth such manifest love, as then did Pallas Athene
standing manifest by him, — if she would be pleased so to love thee
and to care for thee, then might certain of them clean forget their
marriage.'

And wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Old man, in no
wise methinks shall this word be accomplished. This is a hard
saying of thine, awe comes over me. Not for my hopes shall this
thing come to pass, not even if the gods so willed it.'

THE ODYSSEY 39

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again: 'Telem-
achus, what word hath escaped the door of thy Hps? Lightly might
a god, if so he would, bring a man safe home even from afar.
Rather myself would I have travail and much pain ere I came home
and saw the day of my returning, than come back and straightway
perish on my own hearth-stone, even as Agamemnon perished by
guile at the hands of his own wife and of Aegisthus. But lo you,
death, which is common to all, the very gods cannot avert even
from the man they love, when the ruinous doom shall bring him low
of death that lays men at their length.'

And wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Mentor, no longer
let us tell of these things, sorrowful though we be. There is none
assurance any more of his returning, but already have the deathless
gods devised for him death and black fate. But now I would ques-
tion Nestor, and ask him of another matter, as one who above all
men knows judgment and wisdom: for thrice, men say, he hath
been king through the generations of men; yea, like an immortal
he seems to me to look upon. Nestor, son of Neleus, now tell me
true: how died the son of Atreus, Agamemnon of the wide domain?
Where was Menelaus? What death did crafty Aegisthus plan for
him, in that he killed a man more valiant far than he? Or was
Menelaus not in Argos of Achaia but wandering elsewhere among
men, and that other took heart and slew Agamemnon?'

Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, answered him: 'Yea
now, my child, I will tell thee the whole truth. Verily thou guessest
aright even of thyself how things would have fallen out, if Mene-
laus of the fair hair, the son of Atreus, when he came back from
Troy, had found Aegisthus yet alive in the halls. Then even in his
death would they not have heafjed the piled earth over him, but
dogs and fowls of the air would have devoured him as he lay on
the plain far from the town.' Nor would any of the Achaean
women have bewailed him; so dread was the deed he contrived.
Now we sat in leaguer there, achieving many adventures; but he
the while in peace in the heart of Argos, the pastureland of horses,
spake ofttimes, tempting her, to the wife of Agamemnon. Verily
at the first she would none of the foul deed, the fair Clytemnestra,
' Reading tanot. v. I. 'Apytot, which must be wrong.

40 HOMER

for she had a good understanding. Moreover, there was with her a
minstrel, whom the son of Atreus straitly charged as he went to
Troy to have a care of his wife. But when at last the doom of the
gods bound her to her ruin, then did Aegisthus carry the minstrel
to a lonely isle, and left him there to be the prey and spoil of birds;
while as for her, he led her to his house, a willing lover with a
wilUng lady. And he burnt many thigh slices upon the holy altars of
the gods, and hung up many offerings, woven-work and gold, seeing
that he had accomplished a great deed, beyond all hope. Now we,
I say, were sailing together on our way from Troy, the son of Atreus
and I, as loving friends. But when we had reached holy Sunium,
the headland of Athens, there Phoebus Apollo slew the pilot of
Menelaus with the visitation of his gentle shafts, as he held between
his hands the rudder of the running ship, even Phrontis, son of
Onetor, who excelled the tribes of men in piloting a ship, whenso
the storm-winds were hurrying by. Thus was Menelaus holden
there, though eager for the way, till he might bury his friend and
pay the last rites over him. But when he in his turn, faring over
the wine-dark sea in hollow ships, reached in swift course the steep
mount of Malea, then it was that Zeus of the far-borne voice devised
a hateful path, and shed upon them the breath of the shrill winds,
and great swelling waves arose like unto mountains. There sun-
dered he the fleet in twain, and part thereof he brought nigh to
Crete, where the Cydonians dwelt about the streams of lardanus.
Now there is a certain cliff, smooth and sheer towards the sea, on
the border of Gortyn, in the misty deep, where the South-West
Wind drives a great wave against the left headland, towards
Phaestus, and a little rock keeps back the mighty water. Thither
came one part of the fleet, and the men scarce escaped destruction,
but the ships were broken by the waves against the rock; while
those other five dark-prowed ships the wind and the water bare
and brought nigh to Egypt. Thus Menelaus, gathering much liveli-
hood and gold, was wandering there with his ships among men of
strange speech, and even then Aegisthus planned that pitiful work at
home. And for seven years he ruled over Mycenae, rich in gold, after
he slew the son of Atreus, and the people were subdued unto him.
But in the eighth year came upon him goodly Orestes back from

THE ODYSSEY 4I

Athens to be his bane, and slew the slayer of his father, guileful
Aegisthus, who killed his famous sire. Now when he had slain
him, he made a funeral feast to the Argives over his hateful mother,
and over the craven Aegisthus. And on the selfsame day there
came to him Menelaus of the loud war-cry, bringing much treasure,
even all the freight of his ships. So thou, my friend, wander not
long far away from home, leaving thy substance behind thee and
men in thy house so wanton, lest they divide and utterly devour all
thy wealth, and thou shalt have gone on a vain journey. Rather I
bid and command thee to go to Menelaus, for he hath lately come
from a strange country, from the land of men whence none would
hope in his heart to return, whom once the storms have driven
wandering into so wide a sea. Thence not even the birds can make
their way in the space of one year, so great a sea it is and terrible.
But go now with thy ship and with thy company, or if thou hast
a mind to fare by land, I have a chariot and horses at thy service,
yea and my sons to do thy will, who will be thy guides to goodly
Lacedaemon, where is Menelaus of the fair hair. Do thou thyself
entreat him, that he may give thee unerring answer. He will not
lie to thee, for he is very wise.'

Thus he spake, and the sun went down and darkness came on.
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake among them, saying:
'Yea, old man, thou hast told all this thy tale aright. But come,
cut up the tongues of the victims and mix the wine, that we may
pour forth before Poseidon and the other deathless gods, and so
may bethink us of sleep, for it is the hour for sleep. For already has
the light gone beneath the west, and it is not seemly to sit long at
a banquet of the gods, but to be going home.'

So spake the daughter of Zeus, and they hearkened to her voice.
And the henchmen poured water over their hands, and pages
crowned the mixing bowls with drink, and served out the wine to
all, after they had first poured for libation into each cup in turn;
and they cast the tongues upon the fire, and stood up and poured
the drink-offering thereon. But when they had poured forth and
had drunken to their heart's content, Athene and godlike Telem-
achus were both set on returning to the hollow ship; but Nestor
would have stayed them, and accosted them, saying: 'Zeus forfend

42 HOMER

it, and all the other deathless gods, that ye should depart from my
house to the swift ship, as from the dwelling of one that is utterly
without raiment or a needy man, who hath not rugs or blankets
many in his house whereon to sleep softly, he or his guests. Nay
not so, I have rugs and fair blankets by me. Never, methinks, shall
the dear son of this man, even of Odysseus, lay him down upon the
ship's deck, while as yet I am alive, and my children after me are left
in my hall to entertain strangers, whoso may chance to come to my
house.'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again: 'Yea,
herein hast thou spoken aright, dear father: and Telemachus may
well obey thee, for before all things this is meet. Behold, he shall
now depart with thee, that he may sleep in thy halls; as for me I will
go to the black ship, that I may cheer my company and tell them all.
For I avow me to be the one elder among them; those others are but
younger men, who follow for love of him, all of them of like age
with the high-souled Telemachus. There will I lay me down by
the black hollow ship this night; but in the morning I will go to
the Cauconians high of heart, where somewhat of mine is owing to
me, no small debt nor of yesterday. But do thou send this man upon
his way with thy chariot and thy son, since he hath come to thy
house, and give him horses the lightest of foot and chief in strength.'

Therewith grey-eyed Athene departed in the semblance of a sea-
eagle; and amazement fell on all that saw it, and the old man he
marvelled when his eyes beheld it. And he took the hand of
Telemachus and spake and hailed him:

'My friend, methinks that thou wilt in no sort be a coward and
a weakling, if indeed in thy youth the gods thus follow with thee
to be thy guides. For truly this is none other of those who keep
the mansions of Olympus, save only the daughter of Zeus, the
driver of the spoil, the maiden Tritoborn, she that honoured thy
good father too among the Argives. Nay be gracious, queen, and
vouchsafe a goodly fame to me, even to me and to my sons and to
my wife revered. And I in turn will sacrifice to thee a yearUng
heifer, broad of brow, unbroken, which man never yet hath led
beneath the yoke. Such an one will I offer to thee, and gild her
horns with gold.*

THE ODYSSEY 43

Even so he spake in prayer, and Pallas Athene heard him. Then
Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, led them, even his sons and the
husbands of his daughters, to his own fair house. But when they
had reached this prince's famous halls, they sat down all orderly
on seats and high chairs; and when they were come, the old man
mixed well for them a bowl of sweet wine, which now in the
eleventh year from the vintaging the housewife opened, and un-
loosed the string that fastened the lid. The old man let mix a bowl
thereof, and prayed instantly to Athene as he poured forth before
her, even to the daughter of Zeus, lord of the aegis.

But after they had poured forth and had drunken to their heart's
content, these went each one to his own house to lie down to rest.
But Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, would needs have Telem-
achus, son of divine Odysseus, to sleep there on a jointed bedstead
beneath the echoing gallery, and by him Peisistratus of the good
ashen spear, leader of men, who alone of his sons was yet unwed in
his halls. As for him he slept within the inmost chamber of the
lofty house, and the lady his wife arrayed for him bedstead and
bedding.

So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, Nestor of
Gerenia, lord of chariots, gat him up from his bed, and he went
forth and sat him down upon the smooth stones, which were before
his lofty doors, all polished, white and glistening, whereon Neleus
sat of old, in counsel the peer of the gods. Howbeit, stricken by fate,
he had ere now gone down to the house of Hades, and to-day Nestor
of Gerenia in his turn sat thereon, warder of the Achaeans, with his
staff in his hands. And about him his two sons were gathered and
come together, issuing from their chambers, Echephron and Stratius,
and Perseus and Aretus and the godlike Thrasymedes. And sixth
and last came the hero Peisistratus. And they led godlike Telem-
achus and set him by their side, and Nestor of Gerenia, lord of
chariots, spake first among them:

'Quickly, my dear children, accomplish my desire, that first of
all the gods 1 may propitiate Athene, who came to me in visible
presence to the rich feast of the god. Nay then, let one go to the plain
for a heifer, that she may come as soon as may be, and that the
neat-herd may drive her: and let another go to the black ship of

44 HOMER

high-souled Telemachus to bring all his company, and let him leave
two men only. And let one again bid Laerces the goldsmith to come
hither that he may gild the horns of the heifer. And ye others,
abide ye here together and speak to the handmaids within that they
make ready a banquet through our famous halls, and fetch seats and
logs to set about the altar, and bring clear water.'

Thus he spake and lo, they all hastened to the work. The heifer
she came from the field, and from the swift gallant ship came the
company of great-hearted Telemachus; the smith came holding in
his hands his tools, the instruments of his craft, anvil and hammer
and well-made pincers, wherewith he wrought the gold; Athene
too came to receive her sacrifice. And the old knight Nestor gave
gold, and the other fashioned it skilfully, and gilded therewith the
horns of the heifer, that the goddess might be glad at the sight
of her fair offering. And Stratius and goodly Echephron led the
heifer by the horns. And Aretus came forth from the chamber
bearing water for the washing of hands in a basin of flowered work,
and in the other hand he held the barley-meal in a basket; and
Thrasymedes, steadfast in the battle, stood by holding in his hand
a sharp axe, ready to smite the heifer. And Perseus held the dish
for the blood, and the old man Nestor, driver of chariots, performed
the first rite of the washing of hands and the sprinkHng of the
meal, and he prayed instantly to Athene as he began the rite, casting
into the fire the lock from the head of the victim.

Now when they had prayed and tossed the sprinkled grain,
straightway the son of Nestor, gallant Thrasymedes, stood by and
struck the blow; and the axe severed the tendons of the neck and
loosened the might of the heifer; and the women raised their cry,
the daughters and the sons' wives and the wife revered of Nestor,
Eurydice, eldest of the daughters of Clymenus. And now they Ufted
the victim's head from the wide-wayed earth, and held it so, while
Peisistratus, leader of men, cut the throat. And after the black
blood had gushed forth and the life had left the bones, quickly they
broke up the body, and anon cut slices from the thighs all duly,
and wrapt the same in the fat, folding them double, and laid raw
flesh thereon. So that old man burnt them on the cleft wood, and
poured over them the red wine, and by his side the young men held
in their hands the five-pronged forks. Now after that the thighs were

THE ODYSSEY 45

quite consumed and they had tasted the inner parts, they cut the
rest up small and spitted and roasted it, holding the sharp spits in
their hands.

Meanwhile she bathed Telemachus, even fair Polycaste, the
youngest daughter of Nestor, son of Neleus. And after she had
bathed him and anointed him with olive oil, and cast about him a
goodly mantle and a doublet, he came forth from the bath in
fashion like the deathless gods. So he went and sat him down by
Nestor, shepherd of the people.

Now when they had roasted the outer flesh, and drawn it off the
spits, they sat down and fell to feasting, and honourable men waited
on them, pouring wine into the golden cups. But when they had
put from them the desire of meat and drink, Nestor of Gerenia,
lord of chariots, first spake among them:

'Lo now, my son, yoke for Telemachus horses with flowing mane
and lead them beneath the car, that he may get forward on his
way.'

Even so he spake, and they gave good heed and hearkened; and
quickly they yoked the swift horses beneath the chariot. And the
dame that kept the stores placed therein corn and wine and dainties,
such as princes eat, the fosterlings of Zeus. So Telemachus stept up
into the goodly car, and with him Peisistratus son of Nestor, leader
of men, likewise climbed the car and grasped the reins in his hands,
and he touched the horses with the whip to start them, and nothing
loth the pair flew towards the plain, and left the steep citadel of
Pylos. So all day long they swayed the yoke they bore upon their
necks.

Now the sun sank and all the ways were darkened. And they
came to Pherae, to the house of Diocles, son of Orsilochus, the child
begotten of Alpheus. There they rested for the night, and by them
he set the entertainment of strangers.

Now so soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, they
yoked the horses and mounted the inlaid car. And forth they drave
from the gateway and the echoing gallery, and Peisistratus touched
the horses with the whip to start them, and the pair flew onward
nothing loth. So they came to the wheat-bearing plain, and thence-
forth they pressed toward the end: in such wise did the swift horses
speed forward. Now the sun sank and all the ways were darkened.

BOOK IV

Telemachus's entertainment at Sparta, where Menelaus tells him what
befell many of the Greeks on their return; that Odysseus was with
Calypso in the isle Ogygia, as he was told by Proteus.

AND they came to Lacedaemon lying low among the caverned
ZJk hills, and drave to the dwelling of renowned Menelaus.
X .^ Him they found giving a feast in his house to many friends
of his kin, a feast for the wedding of his noble son and daughter.
His daughter he was sending to the son of Achilles, cleaver of the
ranks of men, for in Troy he first had promised and covenanted to
give her, and now the gods were bringing about their marriage.
So now he was speeding her on her way with chariot and horses,
to the famous city of the Myrmidons, among whom her lord bare
rule. And for his son he was bringing to his home the daughter of
Alector out of Sparta, for his well-beloved son, strong Megapenthes,'
born of a slave woman, for the gods no more showed promise of
seed to Helen, from the day that she bare a lovely child, Hermione,
as fair as golden Aphrodite. So they were feasting through the
great vaulted hall, the neighbours and the kinsmen of renowned
Menelaus, making merry; and among them a divine minstrel was
singing to the lyre, and as he began the song two tumblers in the
company whirled through the midst of them.

Meanwhile those twain, the hero Telemachus and the splendid
son of Nestor, made halt at the entry of the gate, they and their
horses. And the lord Eteoneus came forth and saw them, the ready
squire of renowned Menelaus; and he went through the palace to
bear the tidings to the shepherd of the people, and standing near
spake to him winged words:

'Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, here are two strangers, whosoever

they be, two men like to the lineage of great Zeus. Say, shall we

loose their swift horses from under the yoke, or send them onward

to some other host who shall receive them kindly?'

■ A son of sorrow: Tristram.

46

THE ODYSSEY 47

Then in sore displeasure spake to him Menelaus of the fair hair:
'Eteoneus son of Boethous, truly thou wert not a fool aforetime,
but now for this once, like a child thou talkest folly. Surely our-
selves ate much hospitable cheer of other men, ere we twain came
hither, even if in time to come Zeus haply give us rest from afflic-
tion. Nay go, unyoke the horses of the strangers, and as for the
men, lead them forward to the house to feast with us.'

So spake he, and Eteoneus hasted from the hall, and called the
other ready squires to follow with him. So they loosed the sweating
horses from beneath the yoke, and fastened them at the stalls of
the horses, and threw beside them spelt, and therewith mixed white
barley, and tilted the chariot against the shining faces of the gate-
way, and led the men into the hall divine. And they beheld and
marvelled as they gazed throughout the palace of the king, the fos-
terling of Zeus; for there was a gleam as it were of sun or moon
through the lofty palace of renowned Menelaus. But after they had
gazed their fill, they went to the polished baths and bathed them.
Now when the maidens had bathed them and anointed them with
olive oil, and cast about them thick cloaks and doublets, they sat
on chairs by Menelaus, son of Atreus. And a handmaid bare water
for the hands in a goodly golden ewer, and poured it forth over
a silver basin to wash withal; and to their side she drew a polished
table, and a grave dame bare food and set it by them, and laid upon
the board many dainties, giving freely of such things as she had by
her, and a carver lifted and placed by them platters of divers kinds
of flesh, and nigh them he set golden bowls. So Menelaus of the
fair hair greeted the twain and spake :

'Taste ye food and be glad, and thereafter when ye have supped,
we will ask what men ye are; for the blood of your parents is not
lost in you, but ye are of the line of men that are sceptred kings,
the fosterlings of Zeus; for no churls could beget sons like you.*

So spake he, and took and set before them the fat oxchine roasted,
which they had given him as his own mess by way of honour. And
they stretched forth their hands upon the good cheer set before
them. Now when they had put from them the desire of meat and
drink Telemachus spake to the son of Nestor, holding his head close
to him, that those others might not hear:

48 HOMER

'Son of Nestor, delight of my heart, mark the flashing of bronze
through the echoing halls, and the flashing of gold and of amber
and of silver and of ivory. Such like, methinks, is the court of
Olympian Zeus within, for the world of things that are here; wonder
comes over me as I look thereon.'

And as he spake Menelaus of the fair hair was ware of him, and
uttering his voice spake to them winged words:

'Children dear, of a truth no one of mortal men may contend
with Zeus, for his mansions and his treasures are everlasting: but
of men there may be who will vie with me in treasure, or there may
be none. Yea, for after many a woe and wanderings manifold, I
brought my wealth home in ships, and in the eighth year came
hither. I roamed over Cyprus and Phoenicia and Egypt, and reached
the Aethiopians and Sidonians and Erembi and Libya, where lambs
are horned from the birth. For there the ewes yean thrice within
the full circle of a year; there neither lord nor shepherd lacketh aught
of cheese or flesh or of sweet milk, but ever the flocks yield store of
milk continual. While I was yet roaming in those lands, gathering
much livelihood, meantime another slew my brother privily, at un-
awares, by the guile of his accursed wife. Thus, look you, I have no
joy of my lordship among these my possessions: and ye are hke to
have heard hereof from your fathers, whosoever they be, for I have
suffered much and let a house go to ruin that was stablished fair,
and had in it much choice substance. I would that I had but a third
part of those my riches, and dwelt in my halls, and that those men
were yet safe, who perished of old in the wide land of Troy, far
from Argos, the pastureland of horses. Howbeit, though I bewail
them all and sorrow oftentimes as I sit in our halls, — awhile indeed
I satisfy my soul with lamentation, and then again I cease; for soon
hath man enough of chill lamentation — yet for them all I make
no such dole, despite my grief, as for one only, who causes me
to loathe both sleep and meat, when I think upon him. For no one
of the Achaeans toiled so greatly as Odysseus toiled and adventured
himself: but to him it was to be but labour and trouble, and to me
grief ever comfortless for his sake, so long he is afar, nor know we
aught, whether he be alive or dead. Yea methinks they lament him,

THE ODYSSEY 49

even that old Laertes and the constant Penelope and Telemachus,
whom he left a child new-born in his house.'

So spake he, and in the heart of Telemachus he stirred a yearning
to lament his father; and at his father's name he let a tear fall from
his eyehds to the ground, and held up his purple mantle with
both his hands before his eyes. And Menelaus marked him
and mused in his mind and his heart whether he should leave
him to speak of his father, or first question him and prove him
in every word.

While yet he pondered these things in his mind and in his heart,
Helen came forth from her fragrant vaulted chamber, like Artemis
of the golden arrows; and with her came Adraste and set for her
the well-wrought chair, and Alcippe bare a rug of soft wool, and
Phylo bare a silver basket which Alcandre gave her, the wife of
Polybus, who dwelt in Thebes of Egypt, where is the chiefest store
of wealth in the houses. He gave two silver baths to Menelaus,
and tripods twain, and ten talents of gold. And besides all this, his
wife bestowed on Helen lovely gifts; a golden distaff did she give,
and a silver basket with wheels beneath, and the rims thereof were
finished with gold. This it was that the handmaid Phylo bare and
set beside her, filled with dressed yarn, and across it was laid a
distaff charged with wool of violet blue. So Helen sat her down in
the chair, and beneath was a footstool for the feet. And anon she
spake to her lord and questioned him of each thing:

'Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, know we now who these men avow
themselves to be that have come under our roof ? Shall I dissemble
or shall I speak the truth? Nay, I am minded to tell it. None, I
say, have I ever yet seen so like another, man or woman — wonder
comes over me as I look on him — as this man is like the son of
great-hearted Odysseus, Telemachus, whom he left a new-born
child in his house, when for the sake of me, shameless woman that
I was, ye Achaeans came up under Troy with bold war in your
hearts.'

And Menelaus of the fair hair answered her, saying: 'Now I too,
lady, mark the likeness even as thou tracest it. For such as these
were his feet, such his hands, and the glances of his eyes, and his

50 HOMER

head, and his hair withal. Yea, and even now I was speaking of
Odysseus, as I remembered him, of all his woeful travail for my
sake; when, lo, he let fall a bitter tear beneath his brows, and held
his purple cloak up before his eyes.'

And Peisistratus, son of Nestor, answered him, saying: 'Menelaus,
son of Atreus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the host, assuredly this
is the son of that very man, even as thou sayest. But he is of a sober
wit, and thinketh it shame in his heart as on this his first coming to
make show of presumptuous words in the presence of thee, in whose
voice we twain delight as in the voice of a god. Now Nestor of
Gerenia, lord of chariots, sent me forth to be his guide on the way:
for he desired to see thee that thou mightest put into his heart some
word or work. For a son hath many griefs in his halls when his
father is away, if perchance he hath none to stand by him. Even so
it is now with Telemachus; his father is away, nor hath he others
in the township to defend him from distress.'

And Menelaus of the fair hair answered him, and said: 'Lo now,
in good truth there has come unto my house the son of a friend
indeed, who for my sake endured many adventures. And I thought
to welcome him on his coming more nobly than all the other
Argives, if but Olympian Zeus, of the far-borne voice, had vouch-
safed us a return over the sea in our swift ships, — that such a thing
should be. And in Argos I would have given him a city to dwell
in, and stablished for him a house, and brought him forth from
Ithaca with his substance and his son and all his people, making
one city desolate of those that lie around, and are in mine own do-
main. Then ofttimes would we have held converse here, and nought
would have parted us, the welcoming and the welcomed,' ere the
black cloud of death overshadowed us. Howsoever, the god himself,
methinks, must have been jealous hereof, who from that hapless man
alone cut off his returning,'

So spake he, and in the hearts of all he stirred the desire of lamen-
tation. She wept, even Argive Helen the daughter of Zeus, and
Telemachus wept, and Menelaus the son of Atreus; nay, nor did the
son of Nestor keep tearless eyes. For he bethought him in his heart

' Mr. Evelyn Abbott of Balliol College has suggested to us that (^iXioKTe and
TtproiUvoi are here correlatives, and denote respectively the parts of host and of gtiest.
This is sufficiendy borne out by the usage of the words elsewhere.

THE ODYSSEY 5I

of noble Antilochus, whom the glorious son of the bright Dawn had
slain. Thinking upon him he spake winged words:

'Son of Atreus, the ancient Nestor in his own halls was ever wont
to say that thou wert wise beyond man's wisdom, whensoever we
made mention of thee and asked one another concerning thee. And
now, if it be possible, be persuaded by me, who for one have no
pleasure in weeping at supper time — the new-born day will right
soon be upon us.' Not indeed that I deem it blame at all to weep
for any mortal who hath died and met his fate. Lo, this is now the
only due we pay to miserable men, to cut the hair and let the tear
fall from the cheek. For I too have a brother dead, nowise the mean-
est of the Argives, and thou art like to have known him, for as for
me I never encountered him, never beheld him. But men say that
Antilochus outdid all, being excellent in speed of foot and in the
fight.'

And Menelaus of the fair hair answered him, and said: 'My
friend, lo, thou hast said all that a wise man might say or do, yea,
and an elder than thou; — for from such a sire too thou art sprung,
wherefore thou dost even speak wisely. Right easily known is that
man's seed, for whom Cronion weaves the skein of luck at bridal and
at birth: even as now hath he granted prosp>erity to Nestor for ever
for all his days, that he himself should grow into a smooth old age in
his halls, and his sons moreover should be wise and the best of
spearsmen. But we will cease now the weeping which was erewhile
made, and let us once more bethink us of our supper, and let them
pour water over our hands. And again in the morning there will be
tales for Telemachus and me to tell one to the other, even to the end.'

So spake he, and Asphalion poured water over their hands, the
ready squire of renowned Menelaus. And they put forth their hands
upon the good cheer spread before them.

Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, turned to new thoughts. Presendy
she cast a drug into the wine whereof they drank, a drug to lull all
pain and anger, and bring forgetfulness of every sorrow. Whoso
should drink a draught thereof, when it is mingled in the bowl, on
that day he would let no tear fall down his cheeks, not though his
mother and his father died, not though men slew his brother or

»Cf. B. XV. 50.

52 HOMER

dear son with the sword before his face, and his own eyes beheld it.
Medicines of such virtue and so helpful had the daughter of Zeus,
which Polydamna, the wife of Thon, had given her, a woman of
Egypt, where earth the grain-giver yields herbs in greatest plenty,
many that are healing in the cup, and many baneful. There each
man is a leech skilled beyond all human kind; yea, for they are of
the race of Paeeon. Now after she had cast in the drug and bidden
pour forth of the wine, she made answer once again, and spake unto
her lord :

'Son of Atreus, Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, and lo, ye sons of
noble men, forasmuch as now to one and now to another Zeus gives
good and evil, for to him all things are possible, — now, verily, sit
ye down and feast in the halls, and take ye joy in the telling of tales,
and I will tell you one that fits the time. Now all of them I could
not tell or number, so many as were the adventures of Odysseus of
the hardy heart; but, ah, what a deed was this he wrought and dared
in his hardiness in the land of the Trojans, where ye Achaeans suf-
fered affliction. He subdued his body with unseemly stripes, and a
sorry covering he csst about his shoulders, and in the fashion of a
servant he went down into the wide-wayed city of the foemen, and
he hid himself in the guise of another, a beggar, though in no wise
such an one was he at the ships of the Achaeans. In this semblance
he passed into the city of the Trojans, and they wist not who he was,
and I alone knew him in that guise, and I kept questioning him, but
in his subtlety he avoided me. But when at last I was about washing
him and anointing him with olive oil, and had put on him raiment,
and sworn a great oath not to reveal Odysseus amid the Trojans,
ere he reached the swift ships and the huts, even then he told me
all the purpose of the Achaeans. And after slaying many of the Tro-
jans with the long sword, he returned to the Argives and brought
back word again of all. Then the other Trojan women wept aloud,
but my soul was glad, for already my heart was turned to go back
again even to my home: and now at the last I groaned for the blind-
ness that Aphrodite gave me, when she led me thither away from
mine own country, forsaking my child and my bridal chamber and
my lord, that lacked not aught whether for wisdom or yet for beauty.'

And Menelaus of the fair hair answered her, saying: 'Verily all

THE ODYSSEY 53

this tale, lady, thou hast duly told. Ere now have I learned the coun-
sel and the thought of many heroes, and travelled over many a land,
but never yet have mine eyes beheld any such man of heart as was
Odysseus; such another deed as he wrought and dared in his hardi-
ness even in the shapen horse, wherein sat all we chiefs of the Ar-
gives, bearing to the Trojans death and doom. Anon thou camest
thither, and sure some god must have bidden thee, who wished to
bring glory to the Trojans. Yea and godlike Deiphobus went with
thee on thy way. Thrice thou didst go round about the hollow am-
bush and handle it, calling aloud on the chiefs of the Argives by
name, and making thy voice like the voices of the wives of all the
Argives. Now I and the son of Tydeus and goodly Odysseus sat in
the midst and heard thy call; and verily we twain had a desire to
start up and come forth or presently to answer from within; but
Odysseus stayed and held us there, despite our eagerness. Then all
the other sons of the Achaeans held their peace, but Anticlus alone
was still minded to answer thee. Howbeit Odysseus firmly closed
his mouth with strong hands, and so saved all the Achaeans, and
held him until such time as Pallas Athene led thee back.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Menelaus, son
of Atreus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the host, all the more grievous
it is! for in no way did this courage ward from him pitiful destruc-
tion, not though his heart within him had been very iron. But come,
bid us to bed, that forthwith we may take our joy of rest beneath
the spell of sleep.'

So spake he, and Argive Helen bade her handmaids set out bed-
steads beneath the gallery, and fling on them fair purple blankets
and spread coverlets above, and thereon lay thick mantles to be a
clothing over all. So they went from the hall with torch in hand, and
spread the beds, and the henchman led forth the guests. Thus they
slept there in the vestibule of the house, the hero Telemachus and
the splendid son of Nestor. But the son of Atreus slept, as his cus-
tom was, in the inmost chamber of the lofty house, and by him lay
long-robed Helen, that fair lady.

Soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, Menelaus of
the loud war-shout gat him up from his bed and put on his raiment,
and cast his sharp sword about his shoulder, and beneath his smooth

54 HOMER

feet bound his goodly sandals, and stept forth from his chamber,
in presence like a god, and sat by Telemachus, and spake and hailed
him:

'To what end hath thy need brought thee hither, hero Telemachus,
unto fair Lacedaemon, over the broad back of the sea ? Is it a mat-
ter of the common weal or of thine own? Herein tell me the plain
truth,'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Menelaus, son
of Atreus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the host, I have come if per-
chance thou mayest tell me some tidings of my father. My dwelling
is being devoured and my fat lands are ruined, and of unfriendly
men my house is full, — who slaughter continually my thronging
flocks, and my kine with trailing feet and shambling gait, — none
other than the wooers of my mother, despiteful out of measure. So
now am I come hither to thy knees, if haply thou art willing to tell
me of his pitiful death, as one that saw it perchance with thine own
eyes, or heard the story from some other wanderer; for his mother
bare him to exceeding sorrow. And speak me no soft words in ruth
or pity, but tell me plainly how thou didst get sight of him. Ah,
I pray thee, if ever at all my father, good Odysseus, made promise
to thee of word or work and fulfilled the same in the land of the
Trojans, where ye Achaeans suffered affliction, these things, I pray
thee, now remember and tell me truth.'

Then in heavy displeasure spake to him Menelaus of the fair hair:
'Out upon them, for truly in the bed of a brave-hearted man were
they minded to lie, very cravens as they are! Even as when a hind
hath couched her newborn fawns unweaned in a strong lion's lair,
and searcheth out the mountain knees and grassy hollows, seeking
pasture, and afterward the lion cometh back to his bed, and sendeth
forth unsightly death upon that pair, even so shall Odysseus send
forth unsightly death upon the wooers. Would to our father Zeus
and Athene and Apollo, would that in such might as when of old
in stablished Lesbos he rose up and wrestled a match with Philo-
meleides and threw him mightily, and all the Achaeans rejoiced;
would that in such strength Odysseus might consort with the wooers:
then should they all have swift fate, and bitter wedlock! But for that
whereof thou askest and entreatest me, be sure I will not swerve from

THE ODYSSEY 55

the truth in aught that I say, nor deceive thee; but of all that the
ancient one of the sea, whose speech is sooth, declared to me, not
a word will I hide or keep from thee.

'In the river Aegyptus,* though eager I was to press onward
home, the gods they stayed me, for that I had not offered them the
acceptable sacrifice of hecatombs, and the gods ever desired that
men should be mindful of their commandments. Now there is an
island in the wash of the waves over against Aegyptus, and men
call it Pharos, within one day's voyage of a hollow ship, when shrill
winds blow fair in her wake. And therein is a good haven, whence
men launch the gallant ships into the deep when they have drawn
a store of deep black water. There the gods held me twenty days,
nor did the sea-winds ever show their breath, they that serve to waft
ships over the broad back of the sea. And now would all our corn
have been spent, and likewise the strength of the men, except some
goddess had taken pity on me and saved me, Eidothee, daughter of
mighty Proteus, the ancient one of the sea. For most of all I moved
her heart, when she met me wandering alone apart from my com-
pany, who were ever roaming round the isle, fishing with bent hooks,
for hunger was gnawing at their belly. So she stood by, and spake,
and uttered her voice, saying:

' "Art thou so very foolish, stranger, and feeble-witted, or art thou
wilfully remiss, and hast pleasure in suffering? So long time art
thou holden in the isle and canst find no issue therefrom, while the
heart of thy company faileth within them?"

'Even so she spake, and I answered her saying: "I will speak
forth, what goddess soever thou art, and tell thee that in no wise am
I holden here by mine own will, but it needs must be that I have
sinned against the deathless gods, who keep the wide heaven. How-
beit, do thou tell me — for the gods know all things — which of the
immortals it is that binds me here and hath hindered me from my
way, and declare as touching my returning how I may go over the
teeming deep."

'So I spake, and straightway the fair goddess made answer:
"Yea now, sir, I will plainly tell thee all. Hither resorteth that an-

«The only name for the Nile in Homer. Cf. Wilkinson, Ancient Eg}ptians (1878),
»ol. i. p. 7.

56 HOMER

cient one of the sea, whose speech is sooth, the deathless Egyptian
Proteus, who knows the depths of every sea, and is the thrall of
Poseidon, and who, they say, is my father that begat me. If thou
couldst but lay an ambush and catch him, he will surely declare to
thee the way and the measure of thy path, and will tell thee of thy
returning, how thou mayest go over the teeming deep. Yea, and he
will show thee, O fosterling of Zeus, if thou wilt, what good thing
and what evil hath been wrought in thy halls, whilst thou has been
faring this long and grievous way."

'So she spake, but I answered and said unto her: "Devise now
thyself the ambush to take this ancient one divine, lest by any chance
he see me first, or know of my coming, and avoid me. For a god is
hard for mortal man to quell."

'So spake I, and straightway the fair goddess made answer: "Yea
now, sir, I will plainly tell thee all. So often as the sun in his course
stands high in mid heaven, then forth from the brine comes the an-
cient one of the sea, whose speech is sooth, before the breath of the
West Wind he comes, and the sea's dark ripple covers him. And
when he is got forth, he lies down to sleep in the hollow of the caves.
And around him the seals, the brood of the fair daughter of the
brine, sleep all in a flock, stolen forth from the grey sea water, and
bitter is the scent they breathe of the deeps of the salt sea. There
will I lead thee at the breaking of the day, and couch you all orderly;
so do thou choose diligently three of thy company, the best thou
hast in thy decked ships. And I will tell thee all the magic arts of
that old man. First, he will number the seals and go over them, but
when he has told their tale and beheld them, he will lay him down
in the midst, as a shepherd mid the sheep of his flock. So soon as
ever ye shall see him couched, even then mind you of your might and
strength, and hold him there, despite his eagerness and striving to
be free. And he will make assay, and take all manner of shapes of
things that creep upon the earth, of water likewise, and of fierce fire
burning. But do ye grasp him steadfastly and press him yet the
more, and at length when he questions thee in his proper shape, as
he was when first ye saw him laid to rest, then, hero, hold thy strong
hands, and let the ancient one go free, and ask him which of the

THE ODYSSEY 57

gods is hard upon thee, and as touching thy returning, how thou
mayest go over the teeming deep."

'Therewith she dived beneath the heaving sea, but I betook me
to the ships where they stood in the sand, and my heart was darkly
troubled as I went. But after I had come down to the ship and to
the sea, and we had made ready our supper and immortal night had
come on, then did we lay us down to rest upon the sea-beach. So
soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, in that hour I
walked by the shore of the wide-wayed sea, praying instantly to the
gods; and I took with me three of my company, in whom I trusted
most for every enterprise.

'Meanwhile, so it was that she had plunged into the broad bosom
of the sea, and had brought from the deep the skins of four sea-
calves, and all were newly flayed, for she was minded to lay a snare
for her father. She scooped lairs on the sea-sand, and sat awaiting us,
and we drew very nigh her, and she made us all lie down in order,
and cast a skin over each. There would our ambush have been most
terrible, for the deadly stench of the sea-bred seals distressed us
sore: nay, who would lay him down by a beast of the sea? But her-
self she wrought deliverance, and devised a great comfort. She took
ambrosia of a very sweet savour, and set it beneath each man's nos-
tril, and did away with the stench of the beast. So all the morning
we waited with steadfast heart, and the seals came forth in troops
from the brine, and then they couched them all orderly by the sea-
beach. And at high day the ancient one came forth from out of the
brine, and found his fatted seals, yea and he went along their line
and told their tale; and first among the sea-beasts he reckoned us,
and guessed not that there was guile, and afterward he too laid him
down. Then we rushed upon him with a cry, and cast our hands
about him, nor did that ancient one forget his cunning. Now be-
hold, at the first he turned into a bearded lion, and thereafter into
a snake, and a pard, and a huge boar; then he took the shape of
running water, and of a tall and flowering tree. We the while held
him close with steadfast heart. But when now that ancient one of
the magic arts was aweary, then at last he questioned me and spake
unto me, saying:

58 HOMER

' "Which of the gods was it, son of Atreus, that aided thee with
his counsel, that thou mightest waylay and take me perforce? What
wouldest thou thereby?"

'Even so he spake, but I answered him saying: "Old man, thou
knowest all, wherefore dost thou question me thereof with crooked
words? For lo, I am holden long time in this isle, neither can I find
any issue therefrom, and my heart faileth within me. Howbeit do
thou tell me — for the gods know all things — which of the immortals
it is that bindeth me here, and hath hindered me from my way;
and declare as touching my returning, how I may go over the teem-
ing deep."

'Even so I spake, and he straightway answered me, saying: "Nay,
surely thou shouldest have done goodly sacrifice to Zeus and the
other gods ere thine embarking, that with most speed thou mightst
reach thy country, sailing over the wine-dark deep. For it is not thy
fate to see thy friends, and come to thy stablished house and thine
own country, till thou hast passed yet again within the waters of
Aegyptus, the heaven-fed stream, and offered holy hecatombs to
the deathless gods who keep the wide heaven. So shall the gods
grant thee the path which thou desirest."

'So spake he, but my spirit within me was broken, for that he
bade me again to go to Aegyptus over the misty deep, a long and
grievous way.

"Yet even so I answered him saying: "Old man, all this will I do,
according to thy word. But come, declare me this, and tell it all
plainly. Did all those Achaeans return safe with their ships, all whom
Nestor and I left as we went from Troy, or perished any by a shame-
ful death aboard his own ship, or in the arms of his friends, after he
had wound up the clew of war?"

'So spake I, and anon he answered me, saying: "Son of Atreus,
why dost thou straitly question me hereof? Nay, it is not for thy
good to know or learn my thought ; for I tell thee thou shalt not long
be tearless, when thou hast heard it all aright. For many of these
were taken, and many were left; but two only of the leaders of the
mail-coated Achaeans perished in returning; as for the battle, thou
thyself wast there. And one methinks is yet alive, and is holden on
the wide deep. Aias in truth was smitten in the midst of his ships of

THE ODYSSEY 59

the long oars. Poseidon at first brought him nigh to Gyrae, to the
mighty rocks, and deHvered him from the sea. And so he would have
fled his doom, albeit hated by Athene, had he not let a proud word
fall in the fatal darkening of his heart. He said that in the gods'
despite he had escaped the great gulf of the sea; and Poseidon heard
his loud boasting, and presently caught up his trident into his strong
hands, and smote the rock Gyraean and cleft it in twain. And the
one part abode in his place, but the other fell into the sea, the broken
piece whereon Aias sat at the first, when his heart was darkened.
And the rock bore him down into the vast and heaving deep; so
there he perished when he had drunk of the salt sea water. But thy
brother verily escaped the fates and avoided them in his hollow
ships, for queen Hera saved him. But now when he was like soon
to reach the steep mount of Malea, lo, the storm wind snatched him
away and bore him over the teeming deep, making great moan, to
the border of the country whereof old Thyestes dwelt, but now
Aegisthus abode there, the son of Thyestes. But when thence too
there showed a good prospect of safe returning, and the gods changed
the wind to a fair gale, and they had reached home, then verily did
Agamemnon set foot with joy upon his country's soil, and as he
touched his own land he kissed it, and many were the hot tears he
let fall, for he saw his land and was glad. And it was so that the
watchman spied him from his tower, the watchman whom crafty
Aegisthus had led and posted there, promising him for a reward two
talents of gold. Now he kept watch for the space of a year, lest
Agamemnon should pass by him when he looked not, and mind him
of his wild prowess. So he went to the house to bear the tidings to
the shepherd of the people. And straightway Aegisthus contrived
a cunning treason. He chose out twenty of the best men in the town-
ship, and set an ambush, and on the further side of the hall he com-
manded to prepare a feast. Then with chariot and horses he went to
bid to the feast Agamemnon, shepherd of the people; but caitiff
thoughts were in his heart. He brought him up to his house, all
unwitting of his doom, and when he had feasted him slew him, as
one slayeth an ox at the stall. And none of the company of Atreides
that were of his following were left, nor any of the men of Aegisthus,
but they were all killed in the halls."

60 HOMER

'So spake he, and my spirit within me was broken, and I wept as
I sat upon the sand, nor was I minded any more to live and see the
light of the sun. But when I had taken my fill of weeping and
grovelling on the ground, then spake the ancient one of the sea,
whose speech is sooth :

' "No more, son of Atreus, hold this long weeping without cease,
for we shall find no help therein. Rather with all haste make essay
that so thou mayest come to thine own country. For either thou
shalt find Aegisthus yet alive, or it may be Orestes was beforehand
with thee and slew him; so mayest thou chance upon his funeral
feast."

'So he spake, and my heart and lordly soul again were comforted
for all my sorrow, and I uttered my voice and I spake to him winged
words:

' "Their fate I now know; but tell me of the third; who is it that is
yet living and holden on the wide deep, or perchance is dead ? and
fain would I hear despite my sorrow."

'So spake I, and straightway he answered, and said: "It is the son
of Laertes, whose dwelling is in Ithaca; and I saw him in an island
shedding big tears in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who holds
him there perforce; so he may not come to his own country, for he
has by him no ships with oars, and no companions to send him on
his way over the broad back of the sea. But thou, Menelaus, son of
Zeus, art not ordained to die and meet thy fate in Argos, the pasture-
land of horses, but the deathless gods will convey thee to the Elysian
plain and the world's end, where is Rhadamanthus of the fair hair,
where life is easiest for men. No snow is there, nor yet great storm,
nor any rain; but always ocean sendeth forth the breeze of the shrill
West to blow cool on men: yea, for thou hast Helen to wife, and
thereby they deem thee to be son of Zeus."

'So spake he, and plunged into the heaving sea; but I betook me
to the ships with my godlike company, and my heart was darkly
troubled as I went. Now after I had come down to the ship and to
the sea, and had made ready our supper, and immortal night had
come on, then did we lay us to rest upon the sea-beach. So soon as
early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, first of all we drew down

THE ODYSSEY 6l

our ships to the fair salt sea and placed the masts and the sails in the
gallant ships, and the crew too climbed on board, and sat upon the
benches and smote the grey sea water with their oars. T'len back I
went to the waters of Aegyptus, the heaven-fed stream, and there I
moored the ships and offered the acceptable sacrifice of hecatombs.
So when I had appeased the anger of the everlasting gods, I piled a
barrow to Agamemnon, that his fame might never be quenched. So
having fulfilled all, I set out for home, and the deathless gods gave
me a fair wind, and brought me swiftly to mine own dear country.
But lo, now tarry in my halls till it shall be the eleventh day hence
or the twelfth. Then will I send thee with all honour on thy way,
and give thee splendid gifts, three horses and a polished car; and
moreover I will give thee a goodly chalice, that thou mayest pour
forth before the deathless gods, and be mindful of me all the days
of thy life.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Son of Atreus,
nay, hold me not long time here. Yea even for a year would I be
content to sit by thee, and no desire for home or parents would come
upon me; for I take wondrous pleasure in thy tales and talk. But
already my company wearieth in fair Pylos, and yet thou art keep>-
ing me long time here. And whatsoever gift thou wouldest give
me, let it be a thing to treasure; but horses I will take none to Ithaca,
but leave them here to grace thine own house, for thou art lord of a
wide plain wherein is lotus great plenty, and therein is spear-reed
and wheat and rye, and white and spreading barley. In Ithaca there
are no wide courses, nor meadow land at all. It is a pasture-land of
goats, and more pleasant in my sight than one that pastureth horses;
for of the isles that lie and lean upon the sea, none are fit for the driv-
ing of horses, or rich in meadow land, and least of all is Ithaca.'

So spake he, and Menelaus, of the loud war cry, smiled, and
caressed him with his hand, and spake and hailed him:

'Thou art of gentle blood, dear child, so gentle the words thou
speakest. Therefore I will make exchange of the presents, as I may.
Of the gifts, such as are treasures stored in my house, I will give thee
the goodliest and greatest of price. I will give thee a mixing bowl
beautifully wrought; it is all of silver, and the lips thereof are fin-

62 HOMER

ished with gold, the work o£ Hephaestus; and the hero Phaedimus,
the king of the Sidonians, gave it me, when his house sheltered me
on my coming thither, and to thee now would I give it.'

Even so they spake one to another, while the guests came to the
palace of the divine king. They drave their sheep, and brought wine
that maketh glad the heart of man: and their wives with fair tire
sent them wheaten bread. Thus were these men preparing the feast
in the halls.

But the wooers meantime were before the palace of Odysseus,
taking their pleasure in casting of weights and spears on a levelled
place, as heretofore, in their insolence. And Antinous and god-like
Eurymachus were seated there, the chief men of the wooers, who
were far the most excellent of all. And Noemon, son of Phromius,
drew nigh to them and spake unto Antinous and questioned him,
saying:

'Antinous, know we at all, or know we not, when Telemachus
will return from sandy Pylos? He hath departed with a ship of
mine, and I have need thereof, to cross over into spacious Elis, where
I have twelve brood mares with hardy mules unbroken at the teat;
I would drive off one of these and break him in.'

So spake he, and they were amazed, for they deemed not that
Telemachus had gone to Neleian Pylos, but that he was at home
somewhere in the fields, whether among the flocks, or with the
swineherd.

Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spake to him in turn : 'Tell me
the plain truth; when did he go, and what noble youths went with
him? Were they chosen men of Ithaca or hirelings and thralls of
his own? He was in case to bring even that about. And tell me this
in good sooth, that I may know for a surety: did he take thy black
ship from thee perforce against thy will? or didst thou give it him
of free will at his entreaty?'

Then Noemon, son of Phromius, answered him saying: 'I gave it
him myself of free will. What can any man do, when such an one,
so bestead with care, begs a favour? it were hard to deny the gift.
The youths who next to us are noblest in the land, even these have
gone with him; and I marked their leader on board ship, Mentor,
or a god who in all things resembled Mentor. But one matter I

THE ODYSSEY 63

marvel at: I saw the goodly Mentor here yesterday toward dawn,
though already he had embarked for Pylos.'

He spake and withal departed to his father's house. And the proud
spirits of these twain were angered, and they made the wooers sit
down together and cease from their games. And among them spake
Antinous, son of Eupeithes, in displeasure; and his black heart was
wholly filled with rage, and his eyes were like flaming fire:

'Out on him, a proud deed hath Telemachus accomplished with a
high hand, even this journey, and we thought that he would never
bring it to pass! This lad hath clean gone without more ado, in
spite of us all; his ship he hath let haul to the sea, and chosen the
noblest in the township. He will begin to be our bane even more
than heretofore; but may Zeus destroy his might, not ours, ere he
reach the measure of manhood! But come, give me a swift ship and
twenty men, that I may lie in watch and wait even for him on his
way home, in the strait between Ithaca and rugged Samos, that so
he may have a woeful end of his cruising in quest of his father.'

So spake he, and they all assented thereto, and bade him to the
work. And thereupon they arose and went to the house of Odysseus.

Now it was no long time before Penelope heard of the counsel
that the wooers had devised in the deep of their heart. For the hench-
man Medon told her thereof, who stood without the court and heard
their purposes, while they were weaving their plot within. So he
went on his way through the halls to bring the news to Penelope;
and as he stept down over the threshold, Penelof)e spake unto him :

'Henchman, wherefore have the noble wooers sent thee forth?
Was it to tell the handmaids of divine Odysseus to cease from their
work, and prepare a banquet for them? Nay, after thus much woo-
ing, never again may they come together, but here this day sup for
their last and latest time; all ye who assemble so often, and waste
much livelihood, the wealth of wise Telemachus! Long ago when
ye were children ye marked not your fathers telling what manner
of man was Odysseus among them, one that wrought no iniquity
toward any man, nor spake aught unrighteous in the township, as
is the wont of divine kings. One man a king is like to hate, another
he might chance to love. But never did he do aught at all presump-
tuously to any man. Nay, it is plain what spirit ye are of, and your

64 HOMER

unseemly deeds are manifest to all, nor is there any gratitude left
for kindness done.'

Then Medon, wise of heart, answered her: 'Would, oh queen,
that this were the crowning evil! But the wooers devise another far
greater and more grievous, which I pray the son of Cronos may
never fulfil! They are set on slaying Telemachus with the edge of
the sword on his homeward way; for he is gone to fair Pylos and
goodly Lacedaemon, to seek tidings of his father.'

So spake he, but her knees were loosened where she stood, and her
heart melted within her, and long time was she speechless, and lo,
her eyes were filled with tears and the voice of her utterance was
stayed. And at the last she answered him and said:

'Henchman, wherefore I pray thee is my son departed? There is
no need that he should go abroad on swift ships, that serve men for
horses on the sea, and that cross the great wet waste. Is it that even
his own name may no more be left upon earth?'

Then Medon, wise of heart, answered her: 'I know not whether
some god set him on or whether his own spirit stirred him to go to
Pylos to seek tidings of his father's return, or to hear what end he
met.'

He spake, and departed through the house of Odysseus, and on
her fell a cloud of consuming grief; so that she might no more en-
dure to seat her on a chair, whereof there were many in the house,
but there she crouched on the threshold of her well-builded cham-
ber, wailing piteously, and her handmaids round her made low
moan, as many as were in the house with her, young and old. And
Penelope spake among them pouring forth her lamentation:

'Hear me, my friends, for the Olympian sire hath given me pain
exceedingly beyond all women who were born and bred in my
day. For erewhile I lost my noble lord of the lion heart, adorned
with all perfection among the Danaans, my good lord, whose fame
is noised abroad from Hellas to mid Argos. And now again the
storm-winds have snatched away my well-beloved son without tid-
ings from our halls, nor heard I of his departure. Oh, women, hard
of heart, that even ye did not each one let the thought come into your
minds, to rouse me from my couch when he went to the black hollow
ship, though ye knew full well thereof! For had I heard that he was

THE ODYSSEY 65

purposing this journey, verily he should have stayed here still, though
eager to be gone, or have left me dead in the halls. Howbeit let
some one make haste to call the ancient Dolius, my thrall, whom
my father gave me ere yet I had come hither, who keepeth my gar-
den of trees. So shall he go straightway and sit by Laertes, and
tell him all, if perchance Laertes may weave some counsel in his
heart, and go forth and make his plaint to the people, who are pur-
posed to destroy his seed, and the seed of god-like Odysseus.'

Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered her: 'Dear lady, aye,
slay me if thou wilt with the pitiless sword or let me yet live on in
the house, — yet will I not hide my saying from thee. I knew all this,
and gavt him whatsoever he commanded, bread and sweet wine.
And he took a great oath of me not to tell thee till at least the twelfth
day should come, or thou thyself shouldst miss him and hear of his
departure, that thou mightest not mar thy fair flesh with thy tears.
But now, wash thee in water, and take to thee clean raiment and
ascend to thy upper chamber with the women thy handmaids, and
pray to Athene, daughter of Zeus, lord of the aegis. For so may she
save him even from death. And heap not troubles on an old man's
trouble; for the seed of the son of Arceisius, is not, methinks, utterly
hated by the blessed gods, but someone will haply yet remain to
possess these lofty halls, and the fat fields far away.'

So spake she, and lulled her queen's lamentation, and made her
eyes to cease from weeping. So she washed her in water, and took to
her clean raiment, and ascended to the upper chamber with the
women her handmaids, and placed the meal for sprinkling in a
basket, and prayed unto Athene:

'Hear me, child of Zeus, lord of the aegis, unwearied maiden! If
ever wise Odysseus in his halls burnt for thee fat slices of the thighs
of heifer or of sheep, these things, I pray thee, now remember, and
save my dear son, and ward from him the wooers in the naughtiness
of their pride.'

Therewith she raised a cry, and the goddess heard her prayer. But
the wooers clamoured through the shadowy halls, and thus would
some proud youth say:

'Verily this queen of many wooers prepareth our marriage, nor
knoweth at all how that for her son death hath been ordained.'

66 HOMER

Thus would certain of them speak, but they knew not how these
things were ordained. And Antinous made harangue and spake
among them:

'Good sirs, my friends, shun all disdainful words alike, lest some-
one hear and tell it even in the house. But come let us arise, and in
silence accomplish that whereof we spake, for the counsel pleased us
every one.'

Therewith he chose twenty men that were the best, and they de-
parted to the swift ship and the sea-banks. So first of all they drew
the ship down to the deep water, and placed the mast and sails in the
black ship, and fixed the oars in leathern loops all orderly, and spread
forth the white sails. And squires, haughty of heart, bare for them
their arms. And they moored her high out in the shore water, and
themselves disembarked. There they supped and waited for evening
to come on.

But the wise Penelope lay there in her upper chamber, fasting
and tasting neither meat nor drink, musing whether her noble son
should escape death, or even fall before the proud wooers. And as
a lion broods all in fear among the press of men, when they draw
the crafty ring around him, so deeply was she musing when deep
sleep came over her. And she sank back in sleep and all her joints
were loosened.

Now the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, turned to other thoughts.
She made a phantom, and fashioned it after the likeness of a woman,
Iphthime, daughter of great-hearted Icarius, whom Eumelus wedded,
whose dwelling was in Pherae. And she sent it to the house of
divine Odysseus to bid Penelope, amid her sorrow and lamenting,
to cease from her weeping and tearful lamentation. So the phantom
passed into the chamber by the thong of the bolt, and stood above
her head and spake unto her, saying:

'Sleepest thou, Penelope, stricken at heart? Nay, even the gods
who live at ease suffer thee not to wail or be afflicted, seeing that thy
son is yet to return; for no sinner is he in the eyes of the gods.'

Then wise Penelope made her answer as she slumbered very softly
at the gates of dreams:

'Wherefore, sister, hast thou come hither, that before wert not
wont to come, for thou hast thine habitation very far away? Biddest

THE ODYSSEY 67

thou me indeed to cease from the sorrows and pains, so many that
disquiet my heart and soul? Erewhile I lost my noble lord of the
lion heart, adorned with all perfection among the Danaans, my true
lord, whose fame is noised abroad from Hellas to mid Argos. And
now, again, my well-beloved son is departed on his hollow ship, p)oor
child, not skilled in toils or in the gatherings of men. For him I
sorrow yet more than for my lord, and I tremble and fear for him
lest aught befal him, whether, it may be, amid that folk where he is
gone, or in the deep. For many foemen devise evil against him, and
go about to kill him, or ever he come to his own country.'

And the dim phantom answered her, and said: 'Take courage, and
be not so sorely afraid. For lo, such a friend goes to guide him, as
all men pray to stand by them, for that she hath the power, even
Pallas Athene. And she pitieth thee in thy sorrow, and now hath
sent me forth to speak these words to thee.'

And wise Penelope answered her, saying: 'If thou art indeed a god,
and hast heard the word of a god, come, I pray thee, and tell me
tidings concerning that ill-fated man, whether perchance he is yet
alive and sees the light of the sun, or hath already died, and is a
dweller in the house of Hades.'

And the dim phantom answered her and said: 'Concerning him I
will not tell thee all the tale, whether he be alive or dead; it is ill to
speak words light as wind.'

Therewith the phantom slipped away by the bolt of the door and
passed into the breath of the wind. And the daughter of Icarius
started up from sleep; and her heart was cheered, so clear was the
vision that sped toward her in the dead of the night.

Meanwhile the wooers had taken ship and were sailing over the
wet ways, pxjndering in their hearts sheer death for Telemachus.
Now there is a rocky isle in the mid sea, midway between Ithaca and
rugged Samos, Asteris, a little isle; and there is a harbour therein
with a double entrance, where ships may ride. There the Achaeans
abode lying in wait for Telemachus.

BOOK V

The Gods in council command Calypso by Hermes to send away
Odysseus on a raft of trees; and Poseidon, returning from Ethiopia and
seeing him on the coast of Phaeacia, scattered his raft; and how by the
help of Ino he was thrown ashore, and slept on a heap of dry leaves till
the next day.

NOW the Dawn arose from her couch, from the side of the
lordly Tithonus, to bear light to the immortals and to
mortal men. And lo, the gods were gathering to session,
and among them Zeus, that thunders on high, whose might is above
all. And Athene told them the tale of the many woes of Odysseus,
recalling them to mind; for near her heart was he that then abode
in the dwelling of the nymph:

'Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for ever,
henceforth let not any sceptred king be kind and gentle with all
his heart, nor minded to do righteously, but let him alway be a
hard man and work unrighteousness, for behold, there is none
that remembereth divine Odysseus of the people whose lord he
was, and was gentle as a father. Howbeit, as for him he lieth in an
island suffering strong pains, in the halls of the nymph Calypso,
who holdeth him perforce; so he may not reach his own country,
for he hath no ships by him with oars, and no companions to send
him on his way over the broad back of the sea. And now, again,
they are set on slaying his beloved son on his homeward way, for
he is gone to fair Pylos and to goodly Lacedaemon, to seek tidings
of his father.'

And Zeus, gatherer of the clouds, answered and spake unto her:
'My child, what word hath escaped the door of thy lips? Nay,
didst thou not thyself plan this device, that Odysseus may assuredly
take vengeance on those men at his coming? As for Telemachus,
do thou guide him by thine art, as well thou mayest, that so he may
come to his own country all unharmed, and the wooers may return
in their ship with their labour all in vain.'

68

THE ODYSSEY 69

Therewith he spake to Hermes, his dear son: 'Hermes, forasmuch
as even in all else thou art our herald, tell unto the nymph of the
braided tresses my unerring counsel, even the return of the patient
Odysseus, how he is to come to his home, with no furtherance of
gods or of mortal men. Nay, he shall sail on a well-bound raft, in
sore distress, and on the twentieth day arrive at fertile Scheria, even
at the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the gods. And
they shall give him all worship heartily as to a god, and send him on
his way in a ship to his own dear country, with gifts of bronze and
gold, and raiment in plenty, much store, such as never would
Odysseus have won for himself out of Troy, yea, though he had
returned unhurt with the share of the spoil that fell to him. On such
wise is he fated to see his friends, and come to his high-roofed
home and his own country.'

So spake he, nor heedless was the messenger, the slayer of Argos.
Straightway he bound beneath his feet his lovely golden sandals,
that wax not old, that bare him alike over the wet sea and over the
limitless land, swift as the breath of the wind. And he took the
wand wherewith he lulls the eyes of whomso he will, while others
again he even wakes from out of sleep. With this rod in his hand
flew the strong slayer of Argos. Above Pieria he passed and leapt
from the upper air into the deep. Then he sped along the wave like
the cormorant, that chaseth the fishes through the perilous gulfs of
the unharvested sea, and wetteth his thick plumage in the brine.
Such like did Hermes ride upon the press of the waves. But when
he had now reached that far-off isle, he went forth from the sea of
violet blue to get him up into the land, till he came to a great cave,
wherein dwelt the nymph of the braided tresses: and he found her
within. And on the hearth there was a great fire burning, and
from afar through the isle was smelt the fragrance of cleft cedar
blazing, and of sandal wood. And the nymph within was singing
with a sweet voice as she fared to and fro before the loom, and
wove with a shuttle of gold. And round about the cave there was
a wood blossoming, alder and poplar and sweet-smelling cypress.
And therein roosted birds long of wing, owls and falcons and chat-
tering sea-crows, which have their business in the waters. And lo,
there about the hollow cave trailed a gadding garden vine, all rich

70 HOMER

with clusters. And fountains four set orderly were running with
clear water, hard by one another, turned each to his own course.
And all around soft meadows bloomed of violets and parsley, yea,
even a deathless god who came thither might wonder at the sight
and be glad at heart. There the messenger, the slayer of Argos,
stood and wondered. Now when he had gazed at all with wonder,
anon he went into the wide cave; nor did Calypso, that fair god-
dess, fail to know him, when she saw him face to face; for the gods
use not to be strange one to another, the immortals, not though one
have his habitation far away. But he found not Odysseus, the great-
hearted, within the cave, who sat weeping on the shore even as
aforetime, straining his soul with tears and groans and griefs, and
as he wept he looked wistfully over the unharvested deep. And
Calypso, that fair goddess, questioned Hermes, when she had made
him sit on a bright shining seat:

'Wherefore, I pray thee, Hermes, of the golden wand, hast thou
come hither, worshipful and welcome, whereas as of old thou
wert not wont to visit me? Tell me all thy thought; my heart is
set on fulfilling it, if fulfil it I may, and if it hath been fulfilled in
the counsel of fate. But now follow me further, that I may set before
thee the entertainment of strangers.'

Therewith the goddess spread a table with ambrosia and set it by
him, and mixed the ruddy nectar. So the messenger, the slayer of
Argos, did eat and drink. Now after he had supped and comforted
his soul with food, at the last he answered, and spake to her on this
wise:

'Thou makest question of me on my coming, a goddess of a god,
and I will tell thee this my saying truly, at thy command. 'Twas
Zeus that bade me come hither, by no will of mine; nay, who of
his free will would speed over such a wondrous space of brine,
whereby is no city of mortals that do sacrifice to the gods, and
offer choice hecatombs? But surely it is in no wise possible for
another god to go beyond or to make void the purpose of Zeus,
lord of the aegis. He saith that thou hast with thee a man most
wretched beyond his fellows, beyond those men that round the
burg of Priam for nine years fought, and in the tenth year sacked
the city and departed homeward. Yet on the way they sinned against

THE ODYSSEY 7I

Athene, and she raised upon them an evil blast and long waves of
the sea. Then all the rest of his good company was lost, but it came
to pass that the wind bare and the wave brought him hither. And
now Zeus biddeth thee send him hence with what speed thou may-
est, for it is not ordained that he die away from his friends, but
rather it is his fate to look on them even yet, and to come to his high-
roofed home and his own country.'

So spake he, and Calypso, that fair goddess, shuddered and ut-
tered her voice, and spake unto him winged words: 'Hard are ye
gods and jealous exceeding, who ever grudge goddesses openly
to mate with men, if any make a mortal her dear bed-fellow. Even
so when rosy-fingered Dawn took Orion for her lover, ye gods that
live at ease were jealous thereof, till chaste Artemis, of the golden
throne, slew him in Ortygia with the visitation of her gentle shafts.
So too when fair-tressed Demeter yielded to her love, and lay with
lasion in the thrice-ploughed fallow-field, Zeus was not long with-
out tidings thereof, and cast at him with his white bolt and slew him.
So again ye gods now grudge that a mortal man should dwell with
me. Him I saved as he went all alone bestriding the keel of a bark,
for that Zeus had crushed' and cleft his swift ship with a white bolt
in the midst of the wine-dark deep. There all the rest of his good
company was lost, but it came to pass that the wind bare and the
wave brought him hither. And him have I loved and cherished, and
I said that I would make him to know not death and age for ever.
Yet forasmuch as it is in no wise possible for another god to go
beyond, or make void the purpose of Zeus, lord of the aegis, let him
away over the unharvested seas, if the summons and the bidding be
of Zeus. But I will give him no despatch, not I, for I have no ships
by me with oars, nor company to bear him on his way over the
broad back of the sea. Yet will I be forward to put this in his mind,
and will hide nought, that all unharmed he may come to his own
country.'

Then the messenger, the slayer of Argos, answered her: 'Yea,
speed him now upon his path and have regard unto the wrath of
Zeus, lest haply he be angered and bear hard on thee hereafter.'

' It seems very doubtful whether tXaat can bear this meaning. The reading
cXavat, 'smote,' preserved by the Scbol. ij highly probable.

72 HOMER

Therewith the great slayer of Argos departed, but the lady nymph
went on her way to the great-hearted Odysseus, when she had heard
the message of Zeus. And there she found him sitting on the shore,
and his eyes were never dry of tears, and his sweet life was ebbing
away as he mourned for his return; for the nymph no more found
favour in his sight. Howsoever by night he would sleep by her, as
needs he must, in the hollow caves, unwilling lover by a willing
lady. And in the day-time he would sit on the rocks and on the
beach, straining his soul with tears, and groans, and griefs, and
through his tears he would look wistfully over the unharvested deep.
So standing near him that fair goddess spake to him:

'Hapless man, sorrow no more I pray thee in this isle, nor let thy
good life waste away, for even now will I send thee hence with all
my heart. Nay, arise and cut long beams, and fashion a wide raft
with the axe, and lay deckings high thereupon, that it may bear
thee over the misty deep. And I will place therein bread and water,
and red wine to thy heart's desire, to keep hunger far away. And I
will put raiment upon thee, and send a fair gale in thy wake, that
so thou mayest come all unharmed to thine own country, if indeed
it be the good pleasure of the gods who hold wide heaven, who are
stronger than I am both to will and to do.'

So she spake, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus shuddered, and
uttering his voice spake to her winged words: 'Herein, goddess,
thou hast plainly some other thought, and in no wise my further-
ance, for that thou biddest me to cross in a raft the great gulf of the
sea so dread and difficult, which not even the swift gallant ships
pass over rejoicing in the breeze of Zeus. Nor would I go aboard a
raft to displeasure thee, unless thou wilt deign, O goddess, to swear
a great oath not to plan any hidden guile to mine own hurt.'

So spake he, and Calypso, the fair goddess, smiled and caressed
him with her hand, and spake and hailed him:

'Knavish thou art, and no weakling^ in wit, thou that hast con-
ceived and spoken such a word. Let earth be now witness hereto,
and the wide heaven above, and that falling water of the Styx, the
greatest oath and the most terrible to the blessed gods, that I will

' iro<txi>\u», from root <t>v, 'ill-grown,' i. c. a weakling in the literal sense as B.
xi. 249, xiv. 212, or metaphorical, as here and viii. 177.

THE ODYSSEY 73

not plan any hidden guile to thine own hurt. Nay, but my thoughts
are such, and such will be my counsel, as I would devise for myself,
if ever so sore a need came over me. For I too have a righteous mind,
and my heart within me is not of iron, but pitiful even as thine.'

Therewith the fair goddess led the way quickly, and he followed
hard in the steps of the goddess. And they reached the hollow cave,
the goddess and the man; so he sat him down upon the chair
whence Hermes had arisen, and the nymph placed by him all man-
ner of food to eat and drink, such as is meat for men. As for her
she sat over against divine Odysseus, and the handmaids placed by
her ambrosia and nectar. So they put forth their hands upon the
good cheer set before them. But after they had taken their fill of
meat and drink. Calypso, the fair goddess, spake first and said:

'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
so it is indeed thy wish to get thee home to thine own dear country
even in this hour? Good fortune go with thee even so! Yet didst
thou know in thine heart what a measure of suffering thou art or-
dained to fulfil, or ever thou reach thine own country, here, even
here, thou wouldst abide with me and keep this house, and wouldst
never taste of death, though thou longest to see thy wife, for whom
thou hast ever a desire day by day. Not in sooth that I avow me to
be less noble than she in form or fashion, for it is in no wise meet
that mortal women should match them with immortals, in shape
and comeliness.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered, and spake unto her:
'Be not wroth with me hereat, goddess and queen. Myself I know
it well, how wise Penelope is meaner to look upon than thou, in
comeliness and stature. But she is mortal and thou knowest not age
nor death. Yet even so, I wish and long day by day to fare home-
ward and see the day of my returning. Yea, and if some god shall
wreck me in the wine-dark deep, even so I will endure, with a heart
within me patient of affliction. For already have I suffered full
much, and much have I toiled in perils of waves and war; let this
be added to the tale of those.'

So spake he, and the sun sank and darkness came on. Then they
twain went into the chamber of the hollow rock, and had their de-
light of love, abiding each by other.

74 HOMER

So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, anon
Odysseus put on him a mantle and doublet, and the nymph clad her
in a great shining robe, light of woof and gracious, and about her
waist she cast a fair golden girdle, and a veil withal upon her head.
Then she considered of the sending of Odysseus, the great-hearted.
She gave him a great axe, fitted to his grasp, an axe of bronze
double-edged, and with a goodly handle of olive wood fastened well.
Next she gave him a polished adze, and she led the way to the border
of the isle where tall trees grew, alder and poplar, and pine that
reacheth unto heaven, seasoned long since and sere, that might
lightly float for him. Now after she had shown him where the tall
trees grew. Calypso, the fair goddess, departed homeward. And he
set to cutting timber, and his work went busily. Twenty trees in all
he felled, and then trimmed them with the axe of bronze, and deftly
smoothed them, and over them made straight the line. Meanwhile
Calypso, the fair goddess, brought him augers, so he bored each piece
and jointed them together, and then made all fast with trenails and
dowels. Wide as is the floor of a broad ship of burden, which some
man well skilled in carpentry may trace him out, of such beam did
Odysseus fashion his broad raft. And thereat he wrought, and set up
the deckings, fitting them to the close-set uprights, and finished
them off with long gunwales, and there he set a mast, and a yard arm
fitted thereto, and moreover he made him a rudder to guide the
craft. And he fenced it with wattled osier withies from stem to
stern, to be a bulwark against the wave, and piled up wood to
back them. Meanwhile Calypso, the fair goddess, brought him
web of cloth to make him sails; and these too he fashioned very
skilfully. And he made fast therein braces and halyards and
sheets, and at last he pushed the raft with levers down to the fair
salt sea.

It was the fourth day when he had accomplished all. And, lo,
on the fifth, the fair Calypso sent him on his way from the island,
when she had bathed him and clad him in fragrant attire. More-
over, the goddess placed on board the ship two skins, one of dark
wine, and another, a great one, of water, and corn too in a wallet,
and she set therein a store of dainties to his heart's desire, and sent
forth a warm and gentle wind to blow. And goodly Odysseus re-

THE ODYSSEY 75

joiced as he set his sails to the breeze. So he sate and cunningly
guided the craft with the helm, nor did sleep fall upon his eyelids,
as he viewed the Pleiads and Bootes, that setteth late, and the Bear,
which they likewise call the Wain, which turneth ever in one place,
and keepeth watch upon Orion, and alone hath no part in the baths
of Ocean. This star, Calypso, the fair goddess, bade him to keep
ever on the left as he traversed the deep. Ten days and seven he
sailed traversing the deep, and on the eighteenth day appeared
the shadowy hills of the land of the Phaeacians, at the point
where it lay nearest to him; and it showed like a shield in the
misty deep.

Now the lord, the shaker of the earth, on his way from the
Ethiopians espied him afar off from the mountains of the Solymi:
even thence he saw Odysseus as he sailed over the deep; and he
was mightily angered in spirit, and shaking his head he com-
muned with his own heart. 'Lo now, it must be that the gods at
the last have changed their purpose concerning Odysseus, while I
was away among the Ethiopians. And now he is nigh to the
Phaeacian land, where it is ordained that he escape the great
issues of the woe which hath come upon him. But, methinks, that
even yet I will drive him far enough in the path of suffering.'

With that he gathered the clouds and troubled the waters of the
deep, grasping his trident in his hands; and he roused all storms of
all manner of winds, and shrouded in clouds the land and sea: and
down sped night from heaven. The East Wind and the South
Wind clashed, and the stormy West, and the North, that is born in
the bright air, rolling onward a great wave. Then were the knees
of Odysseus loosened and his heart melted, and heavily he spake to
his own great spirit:

'Oh, wretched man that I am! what is to befal me at the last.' I
fear that indeed the goddess spake all things truly, who said that I
should fill up the measure of sorrow on the deep, or ever I came to
mine own country; and lo, all these things have an end. In such
wise doth Zeus crown the wide heaven with clouds, and hath
troubled the deep, and the blasts rush on of all the winds; yea,
now is utter doom assured me. Thrice blessed those Danaans,
yea, four times blessed, who perished on a time in wide Troy-land,

76 HOMER

doing a pleasure to the sons of Atreus! Would to God that I too
had died, and met my fate on that day when the press of Trojans
cast their bronze-shod spears upon me, fighting for the body of the
son of Peleus! So should I have gotten my dues of burial, and the
Achaeans would have spread my fame; but now it is my fate to
be overtaken by a pitiful death.'

Even as he spake, the great wave smote down upon him, driving
on in terrible wise, that the raft reeled again. And far therefrom
he fell, and lost the helm from his hand; and the fierce blast of the
jostling winds came and brake his mast in the midst, and sail and
yard-arm fell afar into the deep. Long time the water kept him
under, nor could he speedily rise from beneath the rush of the
mighty wave: for the garments hung heavy which fair Calypso
gave him. But late and at length he came up, and spat forth from
his mouth the bitter salt water, which ran down in streams from
his head. Yet even so forgat he not his raft, for all his wretched
plight, but made a spring after it in the waves, and clutched it to
him, and sat in the midst thereof, avoiding the issues of death;
and the great wave swept it hither and thither along the stream.
And as the North Wind in the harvest tide sweeps the thistle-
down along the plain, and close the tufts cling each to other, even
so the winds bare the raft hither and thither along the main. Now
the South would toss it to the North to carry, and now again the
East would yield it to the West to chase.

But the daughter of Cadmus marked him, Ino of the fair ankles,
Leucothea, who in time past was a maiden of mortal speech, but
now in the depths of the salt sea she had gotten her share of wor-
ship from the gods. She took pity on Odysseus in his wandering
and travail, and she rose, like a sea-gull on the wing, from the
depth of the mere, and sat upon the well-bound raft and spake
saying:

'Hapless one, wherefore was Poseidon, shaker of the earth, so
wondrous wroth with thee, seeing that he soweth for thee the seeds
of many evils? Yet shall he not make a full end of thee, for all his
desire. But do even as I tell thee, and methinks thou art not wit-
less. Cast off these garments, and leave the raft to drift before the
winds, but do thou swim with thine hands and strive to win a

THE ODYSSEY 77

footing on the coast' of the Phaeacians, where it is decreed that
thou escape. Here, take this veil imperishable and wind it about
thy breast; so is there no fear that thou suffer aught or perish. But
when thou hast laid hold of the mainland with thy hands, loose
it from off thee and cast it into the wine-dark deep far from the
land, and thyself turn away.'

With that the goddess gave the veil, and for her part dived back
into the heaving deep, like a sea-gull: and the dark wave closed
over her. But the steadfast, goodly Odysseus pondered, and heavily
he spake to his own brave spirit:

'Ah, woe is me! Can it be that some one of the immortals is
weaving a new snare for me, that she bids me quit my raft? Nay
verily, I will not yet obey, for I had sight of the shore yet a long
way off, where she told me that I might escape. I am resolved what
I will do; — and methinks on this wise it is best. So long as the tim-
bers abide in the dowels, so long will I endure steadfast in affliction,
but so soon as the wave hath shattered my raft asunder, I will swim,
for meanwhile no better counsel may be.'

While yet he pondered these things in his heart and soul, Poseidon,

shaker of the earth, stirred against him a great wave, terrible and

grievous, and vaulted from the crest, and therewith smote him.

And as when a great tempestuous wind tosseth a heap of parched

husks, and scatters them this way and that, even so did the wave

scatter the long beams of the raft. But Odysseus bestrode a single

beam, as one rideth on a courser, and stript him of the garments

which fair Calypso gave him. And presently he wound the veil

beneath his breast, and fell prone into the sea, outstretching his

hands as one eager to swim. And the lord, the shaker of the earth,

saw him and shook his head, and communed with his own soul.

'Even so, after all thy sufferings, go wandering over the deep, till

thou shalt come among a people, the fosterlings of Zeus. Yet for all

that I deem not that thou shalt think thyself too lightly afflicted.'

Therewith he lashed his steeds of the flowing manes, and came

to Aegae, where is his lordly home.

* Lit. Strive after an arrival on the land, etc. •'Aorot originally meant going, jour-
neying, and had no idea of return. The earlier use survives here, and in Soph. Philoct.
43, Eur. Iph. Aul. 1261. Similarly, perhaps, voaTtly in Odyssey iv. 619, xv. 119, and
ritaScu, frequcndy.

78 HOMER

But Athene, daughter of Zeus, turned to new thoughts. Behold,
she bound up the courses of the other winds, and charged them
all to cease and be still; but she roused the swift North and brake
the waves before him that so Odysseus, of the seed of Zeus, might
mingle with the Phaeacians, lovers of the oar, avoiding death and
the fates.

So for two nights and two days he was wandering in the swell
of the sea, and much his heart boded of death. But when at last
the fair-tressed Dawn brought the full light of the third day, there-
after the breeze fell, and lo, there was a breathless calm, and with a
quick glance ahead, (he being upborne on a great wave,) he saw
the land very near. And even as when most welcome to his children
is the sight of a father's life, who lies in sickness and strong pains
long wasting away, some angry god assailing him; and to their
dehght the gods have loosed him from his trouble; so welcome
to Odysseus showed land and wood; and he swam onward, being
eager to set foot on the strand. But when he was within earshot
of the shore, and heard now the thunder of the sea against the
reefs — for the great wave crashed against the dry land belching in
terrible wise, and all was covered with foam of the sea, — for there
were no harbours for ships nor shelters, but jutting headlands and
reefs and cliffs, then at last the knees of Odysseus were loosened
and his heart melted, and in heaviness he spake to his own brave
spirit:

'Ah me! now that beyond all hope Zeus hath given me sight of
land, and withal I have cloven my way through this gulf of the sea,
here there is no place to land on from out of the grey water. For
without are sharp crags, and round them the wave roars surging,
and sheer the smooth rock rises, and the sea is deep thereby, so that
in no wise may I find firm foothold and escape my bane, for as I
fain would go ashore, the great wave may haply snatch and dash me
on the jagged rock — and a wretched endeavour that would be. But
if I swim yet further along the coast to find, if I may, spits that
take the waves aslant and havens of the sea, I fear lest the storm-
wind catch me again and bear me over the teeming deep, making
heavy moan; or else some god may even send forth against me a
monster from out of the shore water; and many such pastureth the

THE ODYSSEY 79

renowned Amphitrite. For I know how wroth against me hath
been the great Shaker of the Earth.'

Whilst yet he pondered these things in his heart and mind, a
great wave bore him to the rugged shore. There would he have
been stript of his skin and all his bones been broken, but that the
goddess, grey-eyed Athene, put a thought into his heart. He rushed
in, and with both his hands clutched the rock, whereto he clung
till the great wave went by. So he escaped that peril, but again with
backward wash it leapt on him and smote him and cast him forth
into the deep. And as when the cuttlefish is dragged forth from
his chamber, the many jjebbles clinging to his suckers, even so was
the skin stript from his strong hand against the rocks, and the great
wave closed over him. There of a truth would luckless Odysseus
have perished beyond that which was ordained, had not grey-eyed
Athene given him sure counsel. He rose from the line of the
breakers that belch upon the shore, and swam outside, ever look-
ing landwards, to find, if he might, spits that take the waves
aslant, and havens of the sea. But when he came in his swimming
over against the mouth of a fair-flowing river whereby the place
seemed best in his eyes, smooth of rocks, and withal there was a
covert from the wind, Odysseus felt the river running, and prayed
to him in his heart:

'Hear me, O king, whosoever thou art; unto thee am I come, as
to one to whom prayer is made, while I flee the rebukes of Poseidon
from the deep. Yea, reverend even to the deathless gods is that man
who comes as a wanderer, even as I now have come to thy stream
and to thy knees after much travail. Nay pity me, O king; for I
avow myself thy suppliant.'

So spake he, and the god straightway stayed his stream and
withheld his waves, and made the water smooth before him, and
brought him safely to the mouths of the river. And his knees
bowed and his stout hands fell, for his heart was broken by the
brine. And his flesh was all swollen and a great stream of sea water
gushed up through his mouth and nostrils. So he lay without
breath or speech, swooning, such terrible weariness came up)on him.
But when now his breath returned and his spirit came to him again,
he loosed from o(i him the veil of the goddess, and let it fall into

8o HOMER

the salt flowing river. And the great wave bare it back down the
stream, and lightly Ino caught it in her hands. Then Odysseus
turned from the river, and fell back in the reeds, and kissed earth,
the grain-giver, and heavily he spake unto his own brave spirit:

'Ah, woe is me! what is to betide me? what shall happen unto me
at the last? If I watch the river bed all through the careful night,
I fear that the bitter frost and fresh dew may overcome me, as I
breathe forth my life for faintness, for the river breeze blows cold
betimes in the morning. But if I climb the hill-side up to the shady
wood, and there take rest in the thickets, though pwrchance the
cold and weariness leave hold of me, and sweet sleep may come
over me, I fear lest of wild beasts I become the spoil and prey.'

So as he thought thereon this seemed to him the better way.
He went up to the wood, and found it nigh the water in a place
of wide prospect. So he crept beneath twin bushes that grew from
one stem, both olive trees, one of them wild olive. Through these
the force of the wet winds blew never, neither did the bright sun
light on it with his rays, nor could the rain pierce through, so close
were they twined either to other; and thereunder crept Odysseus
and anon he heaped together with his hands a broad couch; for of
fallen leaves there was great plenty, enough to cover two or three
men in winter time, however hard the weather. And the steadfast
goodly Odysseus beheld it and rejoiced, and he laid him in the midst
thereof and flung over him the fallen leaves. And as when a man
hath hidden away a brand in the black embers at an upland farm,
one that hath no neighbours nigh, and so saveth the seed of fire,
that he may not have to seek a light otherwhere, even so did
Odysseus cover him with the leaves. And Athene shed sleep upon
his eyes, that so it might soon release him from his weary travail,
overshadowing his eyelids.

BOOK VI

Nausicaa, going to a river near that place to wash the clothes of her
father, mother, and brethren, while the clothes were drying played with
her maids at ball; and Odysseus coming forth is fed and clothed, and
led on his way to the house of her father. King Alcinous.

SO there he lay asleep, the steadfast goodly Odysseus, fordone
with toil and drowsiness. Meanwhile Athene went to the
land and the city of the Phaeacians, who of old, upon a
time, dwelt in spacious Hypereia; near the Cyclopes they dwelt,
men exceeding proud, who harried them continually, being mightier
than they. Thence the godlike Nausithous made them depart, and
he carried them away, and planted them in Scheria, far of? from men
that live by bread. And he drew a wall around the town, and
builded houses and made temples for the gods and meted out their
fields. Howbeit ere this had he been stricken by fate, and had
gone down to the house of Hades, and now Alcinous was reigning,
with wisdom granted by the gods. To his house went the goddess,
grey-eyed Athene, devising a return for the great-hearted Odysseus.
She betook her to the rich-wrought bower, wherein was sleeping a
maiden like to the gods in form and comeliness, Nausicaa, the
daughter of Alcinous, high of heart. Beside her on either hand of
the pillars of the door were two handmaids, dowered with beauty
from the Graces, and the shining doors were shut.

But the goddess, fleet as the breath of the wind, swept towards
the couch of the maiden, and stood above her head, and spoke to
her in the semblance of the daughter of a famous seafarer, Dymas,
a girl of like age with Nausicaa, who had found grace in her sight.
In her shape the grey-eyed Athene spake to the princess, saying:

'Nausicaa, how hath thy mother so heedless a maiden to her
daughter? Lo, thou hast shining raiment that lies by thee uncared
for, and thy marriage-day is near at hand, when thou thyself must
needs go beautifully clad, and have garments to give to them who
shall lead thee to the house of the bridegroom! And, behold,

8i

82 HOMER

these are the things whence a good report goes abroad among
men, wherein a father and lady mother take deUght. But come,
let us arise and go a-washing with the breaking of the day, and
I will follow with thee to be thy mate in the toil, that without delay
thou mayst get thee ready, since truly thou art not long to be a
maiden. Lo, already they are wooing thee, the noblest youths of
all the Phaeacians, among that people whence thou thyself dost
draw thy lineage. So come, beseech thy noble father betimes in the
morning to furnish thee with mules and a wain to carry the men's
raiment, and the robes, and the shining coverlets. Yea and for thy-
self it is seemlier far to go thus than on foot, for the places where
we must wash are a great way off the town.'

So spake the grey-eyed Athene, and departed to Olympus, where,
as they say, is the seat of the gods that standeth fast for ever. Not
by winds is it shaken, nor ever wet with rain, nor doth the snow
come nigh thereto, but most clear air is spread about it cloudless,
and the white light floats over it. Therein the blessed gods are glad
for all their days, and thither Athene went when she had shown
forth all to the maiden.

Anon came the throned Dawn, and awakened Nausicaa of the
fair robes, who straightway marvelled on the dream, and went
through the halls to tell her parents, her father dear and her mother.
And she found them within, her mother sitting by the hearth with
the women her handmaids, spinning yarn of sea-purple stain, but
her father she met as he was going forth to the renowned kings in
their council, whither the noble Phaeacians called him. Standing
close by her dear father she spake, saying: 'Father, dear, couldst
thou not lend me a high waggon with strong wheels, that I may
take the goodly raiment to the river to wash, so much as I have
lying soiled? Yea and it is seemly that thou thyself, when thou art
with the princes in council, shouldest have fresh raiment to wear.
Also, there are five dear sons of thine in the halls, two married, but
three are lusty bachelors, and these are always eager for new-washen
garments wherein to go to the dances; for all these things have I
taken thought.'

This she said, because she was ashamed to speak of glad marriage
to her father; but he saw all and answered, saying:

THE ODYSSEY 83

'Neither the mules nor aught else do I grudge thee, my child.
Go thy ways, and the thralls shall get thee ready a high waggon
with good wheels, and fitted with an upper frame.'

Therewith he called to his men, and they gave ear, and without
the palace they made ready the smooth-running mule-wain, and
led the mules beneath the yoke, and harnessed them under the car,
while the maiden brought forth from her bower the shining raiment.
This she stored in the pwlished car, and her mother filled a basket
with all manner of food to the heart's desire, dainties too she set
therein, and she poured wine into a goat-skin bottle, while Nausicaa
climbed into the wain. And her mother gave her soft olive oil also
in a golden cruse, that she and her maidens might anoint themselves
after the bath. Then Nausicaa took the whip and the shining
reins, and touched the mules to start them; then there was a clatter
of hoofs, and on they strained without flagging, with their load
of the raiment and the maiden. Not alone did she go, for her
attendants followed with her.

Now when they were come to the beautiful stream of the river,
where truly were the unfailing cisterns, and bright water welled
up free from beneath, and flowed past, enough to wash the foulest
garments clean, there the girls unharnessed the mules from under
the chariot, and turning them loose they drove them along the
banks of the eddying river to graze on the honey-sweet clover. Then
they took the garments from the wain, in their hands, and bore
them to the black water, and briskly trod them down in the trenches,
in busy rivalry. Now when they had washed and cleansed all the
stains, they spread all out in order along the shore of the deep, even
where the sea, in beating on the coast, washed the pebbles clean.
Then having bathed and anointed them well with olive oil, they
took their mid-day meal on the river's bank, waiting till the clothes
should dry in the brightness of the sun. Anon, when they were
satisfied with food, the maidens and the princess, they fell to playing
at ball, casting away their tires, and among them Nausicaa of the
white arms began the song. And even as Artemis, the archer,
moveth down the mountain, either along the ridges of lofty Taygetus
or Erymanthus, taking her pastime in the chase of boars and swift
deer, and with her the wild wood-nymphs disport them, the

84 HOMER

daughters of Zeus, lord of the aegis, and Leto is glad at heart,
while high over all she rears her head and brows, and easily may she
be known, — but all are fair; even so the girl unwed outshone her
maiden company.

But when now she was about going homewards, after yoking
the mules and folding up the goodly raiment, then grey-eyed Athene
turned to other thoughts, that so Odysseus might awake, and see
the lovely maiden, who should be his guide to the city of the
Phaeacian men. So then the princess threw the ball at one of her
company; she missed the girl, and cast the ball into the deep
eddying current, whereat they all raised a piercing cry. Then the
goodly Odysseus awoke and sat up, pondering in his heart and
spirit :

'Woe is me! to what men's land am I come now? say, are they
froward, and wild, and unjust, or are they hospitable, and of God-
fearing mind? How shrill a cry of maidens rings round me, of the
nymphs that hold the steep hill-tops, and the river-springs, and the
grassy water meadows! It must be, methinks, that I am near men
of human speech. Go to, I myself will make trial and see.'

Therewith the goodly Odysseus crept out from under the coppice,
having broken with his strong hand a leafy bough from the thick
wood, to hold athwart his body, that it might hide his nakedness
withal. And forth he sallied like a lion mountain-bred, trusting in
his strength, who fares out blown and rained upon, with flaming
eyes; amid the kine he goes or amid the sheep or in the track of the
wild deer; yea, his belly bids him go even to the good homestead
to make assay upon the flocks. Even so Odysseus was fain to draw
nigh to the fair-tressed maidens, all naked as he was, such need
had come upon him. But he was terrible in their eyes, being marred
with the salt sea foam, and they fled cowering here and there about
the jutting spits of shore. And the daughter of Alcinous alone stood
firm, for Athene gave her courage of heart, and took all trembling
from her limbs. So she halted and stood over against him, and
Odysseus considered whether he should clasp the knees of the lovely
maiden, and so make his prayer, or should stand as he was, apart,
and beseech her with smooth words, if haply she might show him
the town, and give him raiment. And as he thought within himself,

THE ODYSSEY 85

it seemed better to stand apart, and beseech her with smooth words,
lest the maiden should be angered with him if he touched her
knees: so straightway he spake a sweet and cunning word:

'I supplicate thee, O queen, whether thou art a goddess or a
mortal! If indeed thou art a goddess of them that keep the wide
heaven; to Artemis, then, the daughter of great Zeus, I mainly
liken thee, for beauty and stature and shapeliness. But if thou art
one of the daughters of men who dwell on earth, thrice blessed
are thy father and thy lady mother, and thrice blessed thy brethren.
Surely their souls ever glow with gladness for thy sake, each time
they see thee entering the dance, so fair a flower of maidens. But
he is of heart the most blessed beyond all other who shall prevail
with gifts of wooing, and lead thee to his home. Never have mine
eyes beheld such an one among mortals, neither man nor woman;
great awe comes upon me as I look on thee. Yet in Delos once I
saw as goodly a thing: a young sapling of a palm tree springing
by the altar of Apollo. For thither too I went, and much people with
me, on that path where my sore troubles were to be. Yea, and when
I looked thereupon, long time I marvelled in spirit, — for never
grew there yet so goodly a shoot from ground, — even in such wise as
I wonder at thee, lady, and am astonied and do greatly fear to touch
thy knees, though grievous sorrow is u{X)n me. Yesterday, on the
twentieth day, I escaped from the wine-dark deep, but all that time
continually the wave bare me, and the vehement winds drave, from
the isle Ogygia. And now some god has cast me on this shore, that
here too, methinks, some evil may betide me; for I trow not that
trouble will cease; the gods ere that time will yet bring many a thing
to pass. But, queen, have pity on me, for after many trials and sore
to thee first of all am I come, and of the other folk, who hold this
city, and land, I know no man. Nay show me the town, give me
an old garment to cast about me, if thou hadst, when thou camest
here, any wrap for the linen. And may the gods grant thee all thy
heart's desire: a husband and a home, and a mind at one with his
may they give — a good gift, for there is nothing mightier and
nobler than when man and wife are of one heart and mind in a
house, a grief to their foes, and to their friends great joy, but their
own hearts know it best.'

86 HOMER

Then Nausicaa of the white arms answered him, and said:
'Stranger, forasmuch as thou seemest no evil man nor foolish —
and it is Olympian Zeus himself that giveth weal to men, to the
good and to the evil, to each one as he will, and this thy lot doubt-
less is of him, and so thou must in anywise endure it: — and now,
since thou hast come to our city and our land, thou shalt not lack
raiment, nor aught else that is the due of a hapless suppliant, when
he has met them who can befriend him. And I will show thee the
town, and name the name of the f>eople. The Phaeacians hold
this city and land, and I am the daughter of Alcinous, great of
heart, on whom all the might and force of the Phaeacians depend.'

Thus she spake, and called to her maidens of the fair tresses:
'Halt, my maidens, whither flee ye at the sight of a man? Ye
surely do not take him for an enemy? That mortal breathes not,
and never will be born, who shall come with war to the land of
the Phaeacians, for they are very dear to the gods. Far apart we
live in the wash of the waves, the outermost of men, and no other
mortals are conversant with us. Nay, but this man is some help-
less one come hither in his wanderings, whom now we must kindly
entreat, for all strangers and beggars are from Zeus, and a litde
gift is dear. So, my maidens, give the stranger meat and drink,
and bathe him in the river, where withal is a shelter from the
winds.'

So she spake, but they had halted and called each to the other,
and they brought Odysseus to the sheltered place, and made him
sit down, as Nausicaa bade them, the daughter of Alcinous, high
of heart. Beside him they laid a mantle, and a doublet for raiment,
and gave him soft olive oil in the golden cruse, and bade him wash
in the streams of the river. Then goodly Odysseus spake among
the maidens, saying: 'I pray you stand thus apart, while I myself
wash the brine from my shoulders, and anoint me with olive oil,
for truly oil is long a stranger to my skin. But in your sight I will
not bathe, for I am ashamed to make me naked in the company of
fair-tressed maidens.'

Then they went apart and told all to their lady. But with the
river water the goodly Odysseus washed from his skin the salt
scurf that covered his back and broad shoulders, and from his head

THE ODYSSEY 87

he wiped the crusted brine of the barren sea. But when he had
washed his whole body, and anointed him with olive oil, and had
clad himself in the raiment that the unwedded maiden gave him,
then Athene, the daughter of Zeus, made him greater and more
mighty to behold, and from his head caused deep curling locks to
flow, like the hyacinth flower. And as when some skilful man
overlays gold upon silver — one that Hephaestus and Pallas Athene
have taught all manner of craft, and full of grace is his handiwork —
even so did Athene shed grace about his head and shoulders.

Then to the shore of the sea went Odysseus apart, and sat down,
glowing in beauty and grace, and the princess marvelled at him, and
spake among her fair-tressed maidens, saying:

'Listen, my white-armed maidens, and I will say somewhat. Not
without the will of all the gods who hold Olympus hath this man
come among the godlike Phaeacians. Erewhile he seemed to me
uncomely, but now he is like the gods that keep the wide heaven.
Would that such an one might be called my husband, dwelling
here, and that it might please him here to abide! But come, my
maidens, give the stranger meat and drink.'

Thus she spake, and they gave ready ear and hearkened, and set
beside Odysseus meat and drink, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus
did eat and drink eagerly, for it was long since he had tasted food.

Now Nausicaa of the white arms had another thought. She
folded the raiment and stored it in the goodly wain, and yoked the
mules strong of hoof, and herself climbed into the car. Then she
called on Odysseus, and spake and hailed him : 'Up now, stranger,
and rouse thee to go to the city, that I may convey thee to the house
of my wise father, where, I promise thee, thou shalt get knowledge
of all the noblest of the Phaeacians. But do thou even as I tell thee,
and thou seemest a discreet man enough. So long as we are passing
along the fields and farms of men, do thou fare quickly with the
maidens behind the mules and the chariot, and I will lead the
way. But when we set foot within the city, — whereby goes a high
wall with towers, and there is a fair haven on either side of the
town, and narrow is the entrance, and curved ships are drawn up
on either hand of the mole, for all the folk have stations for their
vessels, each man one for himself. And there is the place of assembly

88 HOMER

about the goodly temple of Poseidon, furnished with heavy stones,
deep bedded in the earth. There men look to the gear of the black
ships, hawsers and sails, and there they fine down the oars. For
the Phaeacians care not for bow nor quiver, but for masts, and
oars of ships, and gallant barques, wherein rejoicing they cross
the grey sea. Their ungracious speech it is that I would avoid, lest
some man afterward rebuke me, and there are but too many insolent
folk among the jjeople. And some one of the baser sort might meet
me and say: "Who is this that goes with Nausicaa, this tall and
goodly stranger ? Where found she him ? Her husband he will be,
her very own. Either she has taken in some shipwrecked wanderer
of strange men, — for no men dwell near us; or some god has come
in answer to her instant prayer; from heaven has he descended,
and will have her to wife for evermore. Better so, if herself she has
ranged abroad and found a lord from a strange land, for verily she
holds in no regard the Phaeacians here in this country, the many men
and noble who are her wooers." So will they sp)eak, and this would
turn to my reproach. Yea, and I myself would think it blame of
another maiden who did such things in despite of her friends, her
father and mother being still alive, and was conversant with men
before the day of open wedlock. But, stranger, heed well what I
say, that as soon as may be thou mayest gain at my father's hands
an escort and a safe return. Thou shalt find a fair grove of Athene,
a poplar grove near the road, and a spring wells forth therein, and
a meadow lies all around. There is my father's demesne, and his
fruitful close, within the sound of a man's shout from the city. Sit
thee down there and wait until such time as we may have come
into the city, and reached the house of my father. But when thou
deemest that we are got to the palace, then go up to the city of the
Phaeacians, and ask for the house of my father Alcinous, high of
heart. It is easily known, and a young child could be thy guide,
for nowise like it are builded the houses of the Phaeacians, so goodly
is the palace of the hero Alcinous. But when thou art within the
shadow of the halls and the court, pass quickly through the great
chamber, till thou comest to my mother, who sits at the hearth in the
light of the fire, weaving yarn of sea-purple stain, a wonder to be-
hold. Her chair is leaned against a pillar, and her maidens sit be-

THE ODYSSEY 89

hind her. And there my father's throne leans close to hers, wherein
he sits and drinks his wine, like an immortal. Pass thou by him,
and cast thy hands about my mother's knees, that thou mayest see
quickly and with joy the day of thy returning, even if thou art from
a very far country. If but her heart be kindly disposed toward thee,
then is there hope that thou shalt see thy friends, and come to thy
well-builded house, and to thine own country.'

She spake, and smote the mules with the shining whip, and
quickly they left behind them the streams of the river. And well
they trotted and well they paced, and she took heed to drive in
such wise that the maidens and Odysseus might follow on foot,
and cunningly she plied the lash. Then the sun set, and they came
to the famous grove, the sacred place of Athene; so there the goodly
Odysseus sat him down. Then straightway he prayed to the daughter
of mighty Zeus: 'Listen to me, child of Zeus, lord of the aegis, un-
wearied maiden; hear me even now, since before thou heardest
not when I was smitten on the sea, when the renowned Earth Shaker
smote me. Grant me to come to the Phaeacians as one dear, and
worthy of pity.'

So he spake in prayer, and Pallas Athene heard him; but she did
not yet appear to him face to face, for she had regard unto her
father's brother, who furiously raged against the godlike Odysseus,
till he should come to his own country.

BOOK VII

Odysseus being received at the house of the king Alcinous, the queen
after supper, taking notice of his garments, gives him occasion to relate
his passage thither on the raft. Alcinous promises him a convoy for
the morrow.

SO he prayed there, the steadfast goodly Odysseus, while the
two strong mules bare the princess to the town. And when
she had now come to the famous palace of her father, she
halted at the gateway, and round her gathered her brothers, men
like to the immortals, and they loosed the mules from under the
car, and carried the raiment within. But the maiden betook her to
her chamber; and an aged dame from Aperaea kindled the fire for
her, Eurymedusa, the handmaid of the chamber, whom the curved
ships upon a time had brought from Aperaea; and men chose her as
a prize for Alcinous, seeing that he bare rule over all the Phaeacians,
and the people hearkened to him as to a god. She waited on the
white-armed Nausicaa in the palace halls; she was wont to kindle
the fire and prepare the supper in the inner chamber.

At that same hour Odysseus roused him to go to the city, and
Athene shed a deep mist about Odysseus for the favour that she bare
him, lest any of the Phaeacians, high of heart, should meet him
and mock him in sharp sf)eech, and ask him who he was. But
when he was now about to enter the pleasant city, then the goddess,
grey-eyed Athene, met him, in the fashion of a young maiden carry-
ing a pitcher, and she stood over against him, and goodly Odysseus
inquired of her:

'My child, couldst thou not lead me to the palace of the lord
Alcinous, who bears sway among this people? Lo, I am come here,
a stranger travel-worn from afar, from a distant land; wherefore
of the folk who possess this city and country I know not any
man.'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him saying: 'Yea
now, father and stranger, I will show thee the house that thou bidst

90

THE ODYSSEY 9 1

me declare, for it lies near the palace of my noble father; behold,
be silent as thou goest, and I will lead the way. And look on no
man, nor question any. For these men do not gladly suffer strangers,
nor lovingly entreat whoso cometh from a strange land. They trust
to the speed of their swift ships, wherewith they cross the great
gulf, for the Earth-shaker hath vouchsafed them this power. Their
ships are swift as the flight of a bird, or as a thought.'

Therewith Pallas Athene led the way swiftly, and he followed
hard in the footsteps of the goddess. And it came to pass that the
Phaeacians, mariners renowned, marked him not as he went down
the city through their midst, for the fair-tressed Athene suffered
it not, that awful goddess, who shed a wondrous mist about him,
for the favour that she bare him in her heart. And Odysseus mar-
velled at the havens and the gallant ships, yea and the places of
assembly of the heroes, and the long high walls crowned with
palisades, a marvel to behold. But when they had now come to
the famous palace of the king, the goddess, grey-eyed Athene,
spake first and said :

'Lo, here, father and stranger, is the house that thou wouldst
have me show thee: and thou shalt find kings at the feast, the fos-
terlings of Zeus; enter then, and fear not in thine heart, for the
dauntless man is the best in every adventure, even though he comes
from a strange land. Thou shalt find the queen first in the halls:
Arete is the name whereby men call her, and she came even of
those that begat the king Alcinous. First Nausithous was son of
Poseidon, the Earth-shaker, and of Periboea, the comeUest of
women, youngest daughter of great-hearted Eurymedon, who
once was king among the haughty Giants. Howbeit, he destroyed
his infatuate people, and was himself destroyed; but Poseidon lay
with Periboea and begat a son, proud Nausithous, who sometime
was prince among the Phaeacians; and Nausithous begat Rhexenor
and Alcinous. While Rhexenor had as yet no son, Apollo of the
silver bow smote him, a groom new wed, leaving in his halls one
only child Arete; and Alcinous took her to wife, and honoured her
as no other woman in the world is honoured, of all that now-a-days
keep house under the hand of their lords. Thus she hath, and hath
ever had, all worship heartily from her dear children and from her

92 HOMER

lord Alcinous and from all the folk, who look on her as on a god-
dess, and greet her with reverend speech, when she goes about the
town. Yea, for she too hath no lack of understanding. To whomso
she shows favour, even if they be men, she ends their feuds.' If but
her heart be kindly disposed to thee, then is there good hope that
thou mayest see thy friends, and come to thy high-roofed home
and thine own country.'

Therewith grey-eyed Athene departed over the unharvested seas,
and left pleasant Scheria, and came to Marathon and wide-wayed
Athens, and entered the good house of Erechtheus. Meanwhile
Odysseus went to the famous palace of Alcinous, and his heart was
full of many thoughts as he stood there or ever he had reached the
threshold of bronze. For there was a gleam as it were of sun or
moon through the high-roofed hall of great-hearted Alcinous. Brazen
were the walls which ran this way and that from the threshold to
the inmost chamber, and round them was a frieze of blue, and
golden were the doors that closed in the good house. Silver were
the door-posts that were set on the brazen threshold, and silver the
lintel thereupon, and the hook of the door was of gold. And on
either side stood golden hounds and silver, which Hephaestus
wrought by his cunning, to guard the palace of great-hearted
Alcinous, being free from death and age all their days. And within
were seats arrayed against the wall this way and that, from the
threshold even to the inmost chamber, and thereon were spread light
coverings finely woven, the handiwork of women. There the Phaea-
cian chieftains were wont to sit eating and drinking, for they had
continual store. Yea, and there were youths fashioned in gold,
standing on firm-set bases, with flaming torches in their hands,
giving light through the night to the feasters in the palace. And he
had fifty handmaids in the house, and some grind the yellow grain
on the millstone, and others weave webs and turn the yarn as they
sit, restless as the leaves of the tall poplar tree: and the soft olive
oil drops off that linen, so closely is it woven. For as the Phaeacian
men are skilled beyond all others in driving a swift ship upon the
deep, even so are the women the most cunning at the loom, for
Athene hath given them notable wisdom in all fair handiwork and

' v I. ^u>. And for the women she favours, she ends the feuds of their lords also.

THE ODYSSEY 93

cunning wit. And without the courtyard hard by the door is a great
garden, of four ploughgates, and a hedge runs round on either side.
And there grow tall trees blossoming, p)ear-trees and pomegranates,
and apple-trees with bright fruit, and sweet figs, and olives in their
bloom. The fruit of these trees never perisheth neither faileth, winter
nor summer, enduring through all the year. Evermore the West
Wind blowing brings some fruits to birth and ripens others. Pear
upon pear waxes old, and apple on apple, yea and cluster ripens
upon cluster of the grape, and fig upon fig. There too hath he a
fruitful vineyard planted, whereof the one part is being dried by
the heat, a sunny plot on level ground, while other grapes men are
gathering, and yet others they are treading in the wine-press. In the
foremost row are unripe grapes that cast the blossom, and others
there be that are growing black to vintaging. There too, skirting the
furthest line, are all manner of garden beds, planted trimly, that are
perpetually fresh, and therein are two fountains of water, whereof
one scatters his streams all about the garden, and the other runs over
against it beneath the threshold of the courtyard, and issues by the
lofty house, and thence did the townsfolk draw water. These were
the splendid gifts of the gods in the palace of Alcinous.

There the steadfast goodly Odysseus stood and gazed. But when
he had gazed at all and wondered, he passed quickly over the thres-
hold within the house. And he found the captains and the counsel-
lors of the Phaeacians pouring forth wine to the keen-sighted god,
the slayer of Argos; for to him they poured the last cup when they
were minded to take rest. Now the steadfast goodly Odysseus went
through the hall, clad in a thick mist, which Athene shed around
him, till he came to Arete and the king Alcinous. And Odysseus
cast his hands about the knees of Arete, and then it was that the
wondrous mist melted from of? him, and a silence fell on them
that were within the house at the sight of him, and they marvelled
as they beheld him. Then Odysseus began his prayer:

'Arete, daughter of god-like Rhexenor, after many toils am I come
to thy husband and to thy knees and to these guests, and may the
gods vouchsafe them a happy life, and may each one leave to his
children after him his substance in his halls and whatever dues of
honour the people have rendered unto him. But speed, I pray you,

94 HOMER

my parting, that I may come the more quickly to mine own country
for already too long do I suffer affliction far from my friends.'

Therewith he sat him down by the hearth in the ashes at the fire
and behold, a dead silence fell on all. And at the last the ancient
lord Echeneus spake among them, an elder of the Phaeacians, ex-
cellent in speech and skilled in much wisdom of old time. With
good will he made harangue and spake among them:

'Alcinous, this truly is not the more seemly way, nor is it fitting
that the stranger should sit upon the ground in the ashes by the
hearth, while these men refrain them, waiting thy word. Nay come,
bid the stranger arise, and set him on a chair inlaid with silver, and
command the henchmen to mix the wine, that we may pour forth
likewise before Zeus, whose joy is in the thunder, who attendeth
upon reverend suppliants. And let the housewife give supper to
the stranger out of such stores as be within.'

Now when the mighty king Alcinous heard this saying, he took
Odysseus, the wise and crafty, by the hand, and raised him from the
hearth, and set him on a shining chair, whence he bade his son give
place, valiant Laodamas, who sat next him and was his dearest.
And a handmaid bare water for the hands in a goodly golden ewer,
and poured it forth over a silver basin to wash withal, and drew to
his side a pwlished table. And a grave dame bare wheaten bread and
set it by him and laid upon the board many dainties, giving freely
of such things as she had by her. So the steadfast goodly Odysseus
did eat and drink; and then the mighty Alcinous spake unto the
henchman:

'Pontonous, mix the bowl and serve out the wine to all in the
hall, that we may pour forth likewise before Zeus, whose joy is in
the thunder, who attendeth upon reverend suppliants.'

So spake he, and Pontonous mixed the honey-hearted wine, and
served it out to all, when he had poured for libation into each cup
in turn. But when they had poured forth and had drunken to their
heart's content, Alcinous made harangue and spake among them:

'Hear me, ye captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians, that I
may speak as my spirit bids me. Now that the feast is over, go ye
home and lie down to rest; and in the morning we will call yet more
elders together, and entertain the stranger in the halls and do fair

THE ODYSSEY 95

sacrifice to the gods, and thereafter we will likewise bethink us of
the convoy, that so without pain or grief yonder stranger may by our
convoy reach his own country speedily and with joy, even though he
be from very far away. So shall he suffer no hurt or harm in mid
passage, ere he set foot on his own land; but thereafter he shall en-
dure such things as Fate and the stern spinning women drew off
the spindles for him at his birth when his mother bare him. But
if he is some deathless god come down from heaven, then do the
gods herein imagine some new device against us. For always here-
tofore the gods appear manifest amongst us, whensoever we offer
glorious hecatombs, and they feast by our side, sitting at the same
board; yea, and even if a wayfarer going all alone has met with
them, they use no disguise, since we are near of kin to them, even
as are the Cyclopes and the wild tribes of the Giants.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: 'Alcinous,
that thought be far from thee! for I bear no Ukeness either in form
or fashion to the deathless gods, who keep wide heaven, but to men
that die. Whomsoever ye know of human kind the heaviest laden
with sorrow, to them might I liken myself in my griefs. Yea, and
I might tell of yet other woes, even the long tale of toil that by the
gods' will I endured. But as for me, suffer me to sup, afflicted as I
am; for nought is there more shameless than a ravening belly, which
biddeth a man perforce be mindful of him, though one be worn
and sorrowful in spirit, even as I have sorrow of heart; yet ever-
more he biddeth me eat and drink and maketh me utterly to forget
all my sufferings, and commandeth me to take my fill. But do ye
bestir you at the breaking of the day, that so ye may set me, hapless
as I am, upon my country's soil, albeit after much suffering. Ah,
and may life leave me when I have had sight of mine own posses-
sions, my thralls, and my dwelling that is great and high!'

So spake he, and they all assented thereto, and bade send the
stranger on his way, for that he had spoken aright. Now when they
had poured forth and had drunken to their hearts' content, they
went each one to his house to lay them to rest. But goodly Odysseus
was left behind in the hall, and by him sat Arete and godlike
Alcinous; and the maids cleared away the furniture of the feast;
and white-armed Arete first spake among them. For she knew the

96 HOMER

mantle and the doublet, when she saw the goodly raiment that she
herself had wrought with the women her handmaids. So she uttered
her voice and spake to him winged words:

'Sir, I am bold to ask thee first of this. Who art thou of the sons
of men, and whence ? Who gave thee this raiment ? Didst thou not
say indeed that thou earnest hither wandering over the deep?'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her, and said: "Tis
hard, O queen, to tell my griefs from end to end, for that the gods
of heaven have given me griefs in plenty. But this will I declare to
thee, whereof thou dost question and inquire. There is an isle,
Ogygia, that lies far off in the sea; there dwells the daughter of
Adas, crafty Calypso, of the braided tresses, an awful goddess, nor
is any either of gods or mortals conversant with her. Howbeit, some
god brought me to her hearth, wretched man that I am, all alone,
for that Zeus with white bolt crushed my swift ship and cleft it in
the midst of the wine-dark deep. There all the rest of my good com-
pany was lost, but I clung with fast embrace about the keel of the
curved ship, and so was I borne for nine whole days. And on the
tenth dark night the gods brought me nigh the isle Ogygia, where
Calypso of the braided tresses dwells, an awful goddess. She took
me in, and with all care she cherished me and gave me sustenance,
and said that she would make me to know not death nor age for all
my days; but never did she win my heart within me. There I abode
for seven years continually, and watered with my tears the imperish-
able raiment that Calypso gave me. But when the eighth year came
round in his course, then at last she urged and bade me to be gone,
by reason of a message from Zeus, or it may be that her own mind
was turned. So she sent me forth on a well-bound raft, and gave me
plenteous store, bread and sweet wine, and she clad me in imperish-
able raiment, and sent forth a warm and gentle wind to blow. For
ten days and seven I sailed, traversing the deep, and on the eighteenth
day the shadowy hills of your land showed in sight, and my heart
was glad — wretched that I was — for surely I was still to be the mate
of much sorrow. For Poseidon, shaker of the earth, stirred up the
same, who roused against me the winds and stopped my way, and
made a wondrous sea to swell, nor did the wave suffer me to be
borne upon my raft, as I made ceaseless moan. Thus the storm

THE ODYSSEY 97

winds shattered the raft, but as for me I cleft my way through the
gulf yonder, till the wind bare and the water brought me nigh your
coast. Then as I strove to land upon the shore, the wave had over-
whelmed me, dashing me against the great rocks and a desolate
place, but at length I gave way and swam back, till I came to the
river, where the place seemed best in mine eyes, smooth of rocks,
and withal there was a shelter from the wind. And as I came out I
sank down, gathering to me my spirit, and immortal night came
on. Then I gat me forth and away from the heaven-fed river, and
laid me to sleep in the bushes and strewed leaves about me, and the
god shed over me infinite sleep. There among the leaves I slept,
stricken at heart, all the night long, even till the morning and mid-
day. And the sun sank when sweet sleep let me free. And I was
aware of the company of thy daughter disporting them upon the
sand, and there was she in the midst of them like unto the goddesses.
To her I made my supplication, and she showed no lack of a good
understanding, behaving, so as thou couldst not hope for in chancing
upon one so young; for the younger folk lack wisdom always. She
gave me bread enough and red wine, and let wash me in the river
and bestowed on me these garments. Herein, albeit in sore distress,
have I told thee all the truth.'

And Alcinous answered again, and spake saying: 'Sir, surely this
was no right thought of my daughter, in that she brought thee not
to our house with the women her handmaids, though thou didst
first entreat her grace.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered, and said unto him:
'My lord, chide not, I pray thee, for this the blameless maiden. For
indeed she bade me follow with her company, but I would not for
fear and very shame, lest perchance thine heart might be clouded at
the sight; for a jealous race upon the earth are we, the tribes of men.'

And Alcinous answered yet again, and spake saying: 'Sir, my
heart within me is not of such temper as to have been wroth with-
out a cause: due measure in all things is best. Would to father Zeus,
and Athene, and Apollo, would that so goodly a man as thou art,
and like-minded with me, thou wouldst wed my daughter, and be
called my son, here abiding: so would I give thee house and wealth,
if thou wouldst stay of thine own will: but against thy will shall

98 HOMER

none of the Phaeacians keep thee: never be this well-pleasing in the
eyes of father Zeus! And now I ordain an escort for thee on a certain
day, that thou mayst surely know, and that day the morrow. Then
shalt thou lay thee down overcome by sleep, and they the while shall
smite the calm waters, till thou come to thy country and thy house,
and whatsoever place is dear to thee, even though it be much farther
than Euboea, which certain of our men say is the farthest of lands,
they who saw it, when they carried Rhadamanthus, of the fair hair,
to visit Tityos, son of Gaia. Even thither they went, and accom-
plished the journey on the self-same day and won home again, and
were not weary. And now shalt thou know for thyself how far my
ships are the best, and how my young men excel at tossing the salt
water with the oar-blade.'

So spake he, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus rejoiced; and then
he uttered a word in prayer, and called aloud to 2^us: 'Father Zeus,
oh that Alcinous may fulfil all that he hath said, so may his fame
never be quenched upon the earth, the grain-giver, and I should
come to mine own land!'

Thus they spake one to the other. And white-armed Arete bade
her handmaids set out bedsteads beneath the gallery, and cast fair
purple blankets over them, and spread coverlets above, and thereon
lay thick mantles to be a clothing over all. So they went from the
hall with torch in hand. But when they had busied them and spread
the good bedstead, they stood by Odysseus and called unto him^
saying:

'Up now, stranger, and get thee to sleep, thy bed is made.'

So spake they, and it seemed to him that rest was wondrous good.
So he slept there, the steadfast goodly Odysseus, on the jointed bed-
stead, beneath the echoing gallery. But Alcinous laid him down in
the innermost chamber of the high house, and by him the lady his
wife arrayed bedstead and bedding.

BOOK VIII

The next day's entertainment of Odysseus, where he sees them contend
in wresding and other exercises, and upon provocation took up a greater
stone than that which they were throwing, and overthrew them all.
Alcinous and the lords give him presents. And how the king asked his
name, his country, and his adventures.

NOW when early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, then
the mighty king Alcinous gat him up from his bed; and
Odysseus, of the seed of Zeus, likewise uprose, the waster
of cities. And the mighty king Alcinous led the way to the assembly
place of the Phaeacians, which they had stablished hard by the ships.
So when they had come thither, and sat them down on the polished
stones close by each other, Pallas Athene went on her way through
the town, in the semblance of the herald of wise Alcinous, devising
a return for the great-hearted Odysseus. Then standing by each man
she spake, saying:

'Hither now get ye to the assembly, ye captains and counsellors
of the Phaeacians, that ye may learn concerning the stranger, who
hath lately come to the palace of wise Alcinous, in his wanderings
over the deep, and his form is like the deathless gods.'

Therewith she aroused the spirit and desire of each one, and
speedily the meeting-places and seats were filled with men that came
to the gathering: yea, and many an one marvelled at the sight of the
wise son of Laertes, for wondrous was the grace Athene {X)ured
upon his head and shoulders, and she made him greater and more
mighty to behold, that he might win love and worship and honour
among all the Phaeacians, and that he might accomplish many feats,
wherein the Phaeacians made trial of Odysseus. Now when they
were gathered and come together, Alcinous made harangue and
spake among them :

'Harken, ye captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians, and I will
say that which my spirit within me bids me utter. This stranger, I
know not who he is, hath come to my house in his wandering,

99

100 HOMER

whether from the men of the dawning or the westward, and he
presses for a convoy, and prays that it be assured to him. So let us,
as in time past, speed on the convoy. For never, nay never, doth any
man who cometh to my house, abide here long in sorrow for want of
help upon his way. Nay, come let us draw down a black ship to the
fair salt sea, for her first voyage, and let them choose fifty and two
noble youths throughout the township, who have been proved here-
tofore the best. And when ye have made fast the oars upon the
benches, step all ashore, and thereafter come to our house, and
quickly fall to feasting; and I will make good provision for all.
To the noble youths I give this commandment; but ye others,
sceptred kings, come to my fair dwelling, that we may entertain
the stranger in the halls, and let no man make excuse. Moreover,
bid hither the divine minstrel, Demodocus, for the god hath given
minstrelsy to him as to none other, to make men glad in what way
soever his spirit stirs him to sing.'

He spake and led the way, and the sceptred kings accompanied
him, while the henchmen went for the divine minstrel. And chosen
youths, fifty and two, departed at his command, to the shore of the
unharvested sea. But after they had gone down to the ship and to
the sea, first of all they drew the ship down to the deep water, and
placed the mast and sails in the black ship, and fixed the oars in
leathern loops, all orderly, and spread forth the white sails. And
they moored her high out in the shore water, and thereafter went
on their way to the great palace of the wise Alcinous. Now the gal-
leries and the courts and the rooms were thronged with men that
came to the gathering, for there were many, young and old. Then
Alcinous sacrificed twelve sheep among them, and eight boars with
flashing tusks, and two oxen with trailing feet. These they flayed
and made ready, and dressed a goodly feast.

Then the henchman drew near, leading with him the beloved
minstrel, whom the muse loved dearly, and she gave him both good
and evil; of his sight she reft him, but granted him sweet song.
Then Pontonous, the henchman, set for him a high chair inlaid with
silver, in the midst of the guests, leaning it against the tall pillar, and
he hung the loud lyre on a pin, close above his head, and showed
him how to lay his hands on it. And close by him he placed a basket,

THE ODYSSEY lOI

and a fair table, and a goblet of wine by his side, to drink when his
spirit bade him. So they stretched forth their hands upon the good
cheer spread before them. But after they had put from them the
desire of meat and drink, the Muse stirred the minstrel to sing the
songs of famous men, even that lay whereof the fame had then
reached the wide heaven, namely, the quarrel between Odysseus
and Achilles, son of Peleus; how once on a time they contended
in fierce words at a rich festival of the gods, but Agamemnon, king
of men, was inly glad when the noblest of the Achaeans fell at
variance. For so Phoebus Apollo in his soothsaying had told him
that it must be, in goodly Pytho, what time he crossed the threshold
of stone, to seek to the oracle. For in those days the first wave of
woe was rolling on Trojans and Danaans through the counsel of
great Zeus.

This song it was that the famous minstrel sang; but Odysseus
caught his great purple cloak with his stalwart hands, and drew it
down over his head, and hid his comely face, for he was ashamed
to shed tears beneath his brows in presence of the Phaeacians. Yea,
and oft as the divine minstrel paused in his song, Odysseus would
wipe away the tears, and draw the cloak from off his head, and take
the two-handled goblet and pour forth before the gods. But when-
soever he began again, and the chiefs of the Phaeacians stirred him
to sing, in delight at the lay, again would Odysseus cover up his
head and make moan. Now none of all the company marked him
weeping, but Alcinous alone noted it and was ware thereof as he
sat by him and heard him groaning heavily. And presently he spake
among the Phaeacians, masters of the oar:

'Hearken, ye captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians, now have
our souls been satisfied with the good feast, and with the lyre, which
is the mate of the rich banquet. Let us go forth anon, and make
trial of divers games, that the stranger may tell his friends, when
home he returneth, how greatly we excel all men in boxing, and
wrestling, and leaping, and speed of foot.'

He spake, and led the way, and they went with him. And the
henchman hung the loud lyre on the pin, and took the hand of
Demodocus, and let him forth from the hall, and guided him by
the same way, whereby those others, the chiefs of the Phaeacians,

102 HOMER

had gone to gaze upon the games. So they went on their way to the
place of assembly, and with them a great company innumerable;
and many a noble youth stood up to play. There rose Acroneus,
and Ocyalus, and Elatreus, and Nauteus, and Prymneus, and An-
chialus, and Eretmeus, and Ponteus, and Proreus, Thoon, and Ana-
besineus, and Amphialus, son of Polyneus, son of Tekton, and like-
wise Euryalus, the peer of murderous Ares, the son of Naubolus,
who in face and form was goodliest of all the Phaeacians next to
noble Laodamas. And there stood up the three sons of noble Alci-
nous, Laodamas, and Halius, and god-like Clytoneus. And behold,
these all first tried the issue in the foot race. From the very start
they strained at utmost speed: and all together they flew forward
swiftly, raising the dust along the plain. And noble Clytoneus was
far the swiftest of them all in running, and by the length of the
furrow that mules cleave in a fallow field,* so far did he shoot to the
front, and came to the crowd by the lists, while those others were left
behind. Then they made trial of strong wrestling, and here in turn
Euryalus excelled all the best. And in leaping Amphialus was far
the foremost, and Elatreus in weight-throwing, and in boxing
Laodamas, the good son of Alcinous. Now when they had all taken
their pleasure in the games, Laodamas, son of Alcinous, spake
among them :

'Come, my friends, let us ask the stranger whether he is skilled
or practised in any sport. Ill fashioned, at least, he is not in his thighs
and sinewy legs and hands withal, and his stalwart neck and mighty
strength: yea and he lacks not youth, but is crushed by many
troubles. For I tell thee there is nought else worse than the sea to
confound a man, how hardy soever he may be.'

And Euryalus in turn made answer, and said: 'Laodamas, verily
thou hast spoken this word in season. Go now thyself and challenge
him, and declare thy saying.'

Now when the good son of Alcinous heard this, he went and
stood in the midst, and spake unto Odysseus: 'Come, do thou too,
father and stranger, try thy skill in the sports, if haply thou art

' The distance here indicated seems to be that which the mule goes in ploughing,
without pausing to take breath.

THE ODYSSEY IO3

practised in any; and thou art like to have knowledge of games,
for there is no greater glory for a man while yet he lives, than that
which he achieves by hand and foot. Come, then, make essay, and
cast away care from thy soul: thy journey shall not now be long
delayed; lo, thy ship is even now drawn down to the sea, and the
men of thy company are ready.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: 'Laodamas,
wherefore do ye mock me, requiring this thing of me? Sorrow is
far nearer my heart than sports, for much have I endured and
laboured sorely in time past, and now I sit in this your gathering,
craving my return, and making my prayer to the king and all the
people.'

And Euryalus answered, and rebuked him to his face: 'No truly,
stranger, nor do I think thee at all like one that is skilled in games,
whereof there are many among men, rather art thou such an one as
comes and goes in a benched ship, a master of sailors that are mer-
chantmen, one with a memory for his freight, or that hath the charge
of a cargo homeward bound, and of greedily gotten gains; thou
seemest not a man of thy hands.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on him and
said: 'Stranger, thou hast not spoken well; thou art like a man pre-
sumptuous. So true it is that the gods do not give every gracious
gift to all, neither shapeliness, nor wisdom, nor skilled speech. For
one man is feebler than another in presence, yet the god crowns his
words with beauty, and men behold him and rejoice, and his speech
runs surely on his way with a sweet modesty, and he shines forth
among the gathering of his people, and as he passes through the
town men gaze on him as a god. Another again is like the deathless
gods for beauty, but his words have no crown of grace about them;
even as thou art in comeUness pre-eminent, nor could a god him-
self fashion thee for the better, but in wit thou art a weakling. Yet,
thou hast stirred my spirit in my breast by speaking thus amiss. I
am not all unversed in sports, as thy words go, but methinks I was
among the foremost while as yet I trusted in my youth and my
hands, but now am I holden in misery and pains: for I have endured
much in passing through the wars of men and the grievous waves

104 HOMER

of the sea. Yet even so, for all my affliction, I will essay the games,
for thy word hath bitten to the quick, and thou hast roused me
with thy saying.*

He spake, and clad even as he was in his mantle leaped to his
feet, and caught up a weight larger than the rest, a huge weight
heavier far than those wherewith the Phaeacians contended in cast-
ing. With one whirl he sent it from his stout hand, and the stone
flew hurtling: and the Phaeacians, of the long oars, those mariners
renowned, crouched to earth beneath the rushing of the stone. Be-
yond all the marks it flew, so lightly it sped from his hand, and
Athene in the fashion of a man marked the place, and spake and
hailed him:

'Yea, even a blind man, stranger, might discern that token if he
groped for it, for it is in no wise lost among the throng of the
others, but is far the first; for this bout then take heart: not one
of the Phaeacians shall attain thereunto or overpass it.*

So spake she; and the steadfast goodly Odysseus rejoiced and
was glad, for that he saw a true friend in the Usts. Then with a
lighter heart he spake amid the Phaeacians:

'Now reach ye this throw, young men, if ye may; and soon me-
thinks, will I cast another after it, as far or yet further. And whom-
soever of the rest his heart and spirit stir thereto, hither let him come
and try the issue with me, in boxing or in wrestling or even in the
foot race, I care not which, for ye have greatly angered me: let any
of all the Phaeacians come save Laodamas alone, for he is mine
host: who would strive with one that entreated him kindly? Wit-
less and worthless is the man, whoso challengeth his host that
receiveth him in a strange land, he doth but maim his own estate.
But for the rest, I refuse none and hold none lightly, but I fain
would know and prove them face to face. For I am no weakling
in all sports, even in the feats of men. I know well how to handle
the polished bow, and ever the first would I be to shoot and smite
my man in the press of foes, even though many of my company
stood by, and were aiming at the enemy. Alone Philoctetes in the
Trojan land surpassed me with the bow in our Achaean archery.
But I avow myself far more excellent than all besides, of the
mortals that are now upon the earth and live by bread. Yet with

THE ODYSSEY IO5

the men of old time I would not match me, neither with Heracles
nor with Eurytus of Oechalia, who contended even with the death-
less gods for the prize of archery. Wherefore the great Eurytus
perished all too soon, nor did old age come on him in his halls,
for Apollo slew him in his wrath, seeing that he challenged him to
shoot a match. And with the spear I can throw further than any
other man can shoot an arrow. Only I doubt that in the foot race
some of the Phaeacians may outstrip me, for I have been shame-
fully broken in many waters, seeing that there was no continual
sustenance on board; wherefore my knees are loosened.'

So spake he and all kept silence; and Alcinous alone answered
him, saying:

'Stranger, forasmuch as these thy words are not ill-taken in our
gathering, but thou wouldest fain show forth the valour which
keeps thee company, being angry that yonder man stood by thee in
the lists, and taunted thee, in such sort as no mortal would speak
lightly of thine excellence, who had knowledge of sound words; nay
now, mark my speech; so shalt thou have somewhat to tell an-
other hero, when with thy wife and children thou suppest in thy
halls, and recallest our prowess, what deeds Zeus bestoweth even
upon us from our fathers' days even until now. For we are no per-
fect boxers, nor wrestlers, but speedy runners, and the best of sea-
men; and dear to us ever is the banquet, and the harp, and the
dance, and changes of raiment, and the warm bath, and love, and
sleep. Lo, now arise, ye dancers of the Phaeacians, the best in the
land, and make sport, that so the stranger may tell his friends, when
he returneth home, how far we surpass all men besides in seaman-
ship, and speed of foot, and in the dance and song. And let one
go quickly, and fetch for Demodocus the loud lyre which is lying
somewhere in our halls.'

So spake Alcinous the godlike, and the henchman rose to bear
the hollow lyre from the king's palace. Then stood up nine chosen
men in all, the judges of the people, who were wont to order all
things in the lists aright. So they levelled the place for the dance,
and made a fair ring and a wide. And the henchman drew near
bearing the loud lyre to Demodocus, who gat him into the midst,
and round him stood boys in their first bloom, skilled in the dance.

I06 HOMER

and they smote the good floor with their feet. And Odysseus gazed
at the twinklings of the feet, and marvelled in spirit.

Now as the minstrel touched the lyre, he lifted up his voice in
sweet song, and he sang of the love of Ares and Aphrodite, of the
fair crown, how at the first they lay together in the house of
Hephaestus privily; and Ares gave her many gifts, and dishonoured
the marriage bed of the lord Hephaestus. And anon there came to
him one to report the thing, even Helios, that had seen them at
their pastime. Now when Hephaestus heard the bitter tidings, he
went his way to the forge, devising evil in the deep of his heart, and
set the great anvil on the stithy, and wrought fetters that none
might snap or loosen, that the lovers might there unmoveably remain.
Now when he had forged the crafty net in his anger against Ares,
he went on his way to the chamber where his marriage bed was
set out, and strewed his snares all about the posts of the bed, and
many too were hung aloft from the main beam, subtle as spiders'
webs, so that none might see them, even of the blessed gods: so
cunningly were they forged. Now after he had done winding the
snare about the bed, he made as though he would go to Lemnos,
that stablished castle, and this was far the dearest of all lands in his
sight. But Ares of the golden rein kept no blind watch, what time
he saw Hephaestus, the famed craftsman, depart afar. So he went
on his way to the house of renowned Hephaestus, eager for the love
of crowned Cytherea. Now she was but newly come from her sire,
the mighty Cronion, and as it chanced had sat her down; and Ares
entered the house, and clasped her band, and spake, and hailed
her:

'Come, my beloved, let us to bed, and take our pleasure of love, for
Hephaestus is no longer among his own people; methinks he is
already gone to Lemnos, to the Sintians, men of savage speech.'

So spake he, and a glad thing it seemed to her to lie with him.
So they twain went to the couch, and laid them to sleep, and
around them clung the cunning bonds of skilled Hephaestus, so
that they could not move nor raise a Umb. Then at the last they
knew it, when there was no way to flee. Now the famous god of
the strong arms drew near to them, having turned him back ere
he reached the land of Lemnos. For Helios had kept watch, and

THE ODYSSEY IO7

told him all. So heavy at heart he went his way to his house, and
stood at the entering in of the gate, and wild rage gat hold of him,
and he cried terribly, and shouted to all the gods:

'Father Zeus, and ye other blessed gods, that live for ever, come
hither, that ye may see a mirthful thing and a cruel, for that Aphro-
dite, daughter of Zeus, ever dishonours me by reason of my lame-
ness, and sets her heart on Ares the destroyer, because he is fair
and straight of limb, but as for me, feeble was I born. Howbeit,
there is none to blame but my father and mother, — would they had
never begotten me! But now shall ye see where these have gone
up into my bed, and sleep together in love; and I am troubled at the
sight. Yet, methinks, they will not care to lie thus even for a little
while longer, despite their great love. Soon will they have no desire
to sleep together, but the snare and the bond shall hold them, till
her sire give back to me the gifts of wooing, one and all, those that
I bestowed upon him for the hand of his shameless girl; for that his
daughter is fair, but without discretion.'

So spake he; and lo, the gods gathered together to the house of
the brazen floor. Poseidon came, the girdler of the earth, and
Hermes came, the bringer of luck, and prince Apollo came, the
archer. But the lady goddesses abode each within her house for
shame. So the gods, the givers of good things, stood in the porch:
and laughter unquenchable arose among the blessed gods, as they
beheld the sleight of cunning Hephaestus. And thus would one
speak, looking to his neighbour:

'111 deed, ill speed I The slow catcheth the swift. Lo, how
Hephaestus, slow as he is, hath overtaken Ares, albeit he is the
swiftest of the gods that hold Olympus, by his craft hath he taken
him despite his lameness; wherefore surely Ares oweth the fine of
the adulterer.' Thus they spake one to the other. But the lord Apollo,
son of Zeus, spake to Hermes:

'Hermes, son of Zeus, messenger and giver of good things, wouldst
thou be fain, aye, pressed by strong bonds though it might be, to
lie on the couch by golden Aphrodite?'

Then the messenger, the slayer of Argos, answered him : 'I would
that this might be, Apollo, my prince of archery! So might thrice
as many bonds innumerable encompass me about, and all ye gods

I08 HOMER

be looking on and all the goddesses, yet would I lie by golden
Aphrodite.'

So spake he, and laughter rose among the deathless gods. How-
beit, Poseidon laughed not, but was instant with Hephaestus, the
renowned artificer, to loose the bonds of Ares: and he uttered his
voice, and spake to him winged words:

'Loose him, I pray thee, and I promise even as thou biddest me,
that he shall himself pay all fair forfeit in the presence of the
deathless gods.'

Then the famous god of the strong arms answered him : 'Require
not this of me, Poseidon, girdler of the earth. Evil are evil folk's
pledges to hold. How could I keep thee bound among the deathless
gods, if Ares were to depart, avoiding the debt and the bond?'

Then Poseidon answered him, shaker of the earth: 'Hephaestus,
even if Ares avoid the debt and flee away, I myself will pay thee
all.'

Then the famous god of the strong arms answered him: 'It may
not be that I should say thee nay, neither is it meet.'

Therewith the mighty Hephaestus loosed the bonds, and the
twain, when- they were freed from that strong bond, sprang up
straightway, and departed, he to Thrace, but laughter-loving Aphro-
dite went to Paphos of Cyprus, where is her precinct and fragrant
altar. There the Graces bathed and anointed her with oil imperish-
able, such as is laid upon the everlasting gods. And they clad her
in lovely raiment, a wonder to see.

This was the song the famous minstrel sang; and Odysseus
listened and was glad at heart, and likewise did the Phaeacians,
of the long oars, those mariners renowned.

Then Alcinous bade Halius and Laodamas dance alone, for none
ever contended with them. So when they had taken in their hands
the goodly ball of purple hue, that cunning Polybus had wrought
for them, the one would bend backwards, and throw it towards the
shadowy clouds; and the other would leap upward from the earth,
and catch it lightly in his turn, before his feet touched the ground.
Now after they had made trial of throwing the ball straight up, the
twain set to dance upon the bounteous earth, tossing the ball from

THE ODYSSEY IO9

hand to hand, and the other youths stood by the lists and beat time,
and a great din uprose.

Then it was that goodly Odysseus spake unto Alcinous: 'My lord
Alcinous, most notable among all the people, thou didst boast thy
dancers to be the best in the world, and lo, thy words are fulfilled;
I wonder as I look on them.'

So spake he, and the mighty king Alcinous rejoiced and spake
at once among the Phaeacians, masters of the oar:

'Hearken, ye captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians, this
stranger seems to me a wise man enough. Come then, let us give
him a stranger's gift, as is meet. Behold, there are twelve glorious
princes who rule among this people and bear sway, and I myself am
the thirteenth. Now each man among you bring a fresh robe and
a doublet, and a talent of fine gold, and let us speedily carry all these
gifts together, that the stranger may take them in his hands, and
go to supper with a glad heart. As for Euryalus, let him yield
amends to the man himself with soft speech and with a gift, for his
was no gentle saying.'

So spake he, and they all assented thereto, and would have it so.
And each one sent forth his henchman to fetch his gift, and
Euryalus answered the king and spake, saying:

'My lord Alcinous, most notable among all the people, I will
make atonement to thy guest according to thy word. I will give
him a hanger all of bronze, with a silver hilt thereto, and a sheath
of fresh-sawn ivory covers it about, and it shall be to him a thing
of price.'

Therewith he puts into his hands the hanger dight with silver,
and uttering his voice spake to him winged words: 'Hail, stranger
and father; and if aught grievous hath been spoken, may the storm-
winds soon snatch and bear it away. But may the gods grant thee
to see thy wife and to come to thine own country, for all too long
hast thou endured affliction away from thy friends.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Thou
too, my friend, all hail; and may the gods vouchsafe thee happiness,
and mayst thou never miss this sword which thou hast given me,
thou that with soft speech hast yielded me amends.'

no HOMER

He spake and hung about his shoulders the silver-studded sword.
And the sun sank, and the noble gifts were brought him. Then the
proud henchmen bare them to the palace of Alcinous, and the sons
of noble Alcinous took the fair gifts, and set them by their reverend
mother. And the mighty king Alcinous led the way, and they came
in and sat them down on the high scats. And the mighty Alcinous
spake unto Arete:

'Bring me hither, my lady, a choice coffer, the best thou hast,
and thyself place therein a fresh robe and a doublet, and heat for
our guest a cauldron on the fire, and warm water, that after the
bath the stranger may see all the gifts duly arrayed which the noble
Phaeacians bare hither, and that he may have joy in the feast, and
in hearing the song of the minstrelsy. Also I will give him a beauti-
ful golden chalice of mine own, that he may be mindful of me all
the days of his life when he poureth the drink-offering to Zeus
and to the other gods.'

So spake he, and Arete bade her handmaids to set a great cauldron
on the fire with what speed they might. And they set the cauldron
for the filling of the bath on the blazing fire, and poured water
therein, and took faggots and kindled them beneath. So the fire
began to circle round the belly of the cauldron, and the water waxed
hot. Meanwhile Arete brought forth for her guest the beautiful
coffer from the treasure chamber, and bestowed fair gifts therein,
raiment and gold, which the Phaeacians gave him. And with her
own hands she placed therein a robe and goodly doublet, and utter-
ing her voice spake to him winged words:

'Do thou now look to the lid, and quickly tie the knot, lest any
man spoil thy goods by the way, when presently thou fallest on
sweet sleep travelling in thy black ship.'

Now when the steadfast goodly Odysseus heard this saying, forth-
with he fixed on the lid, and quickly tied the curious knot which the
lady Circe on a time had taught him. Then straightway the house-
wife bade him go to the bath and bathe him, and he saw the warm
water and was glad, for he was not wont to be so cared for, from
the day that he left the house of fair-tressed Calypso, but all that
while he had comfort continually as a god.

Now after the maids had bathed him and anointed him with

THE ODYSSEY III

olive oil, and had cast a fair mantle and a doublet upon him, he
stept forth from the bath, and went to be with the chiefs at their
wine. And Nausicaa, dowered with beauty by the gods, stood by
the pillar of the well-builded hall, and marvelled at Odysseus, behold-
ing him before her eyes, and she uttered her voice and spake to him
winged words:

'Farewell, stranger, and even in thine own country bethink thee
of me upon a time, for that to me first thou owest the ransom of
life.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Nausicaa,
daughter of great-hearted Alcinous, yea, may Zeus, the thunderer,
the lord of Here, grant me to reach my home and see the day of my
returning; so would I, even there, do thee worship as to a god, all
my days for evermore, for thou, lady, hast given me my life.'

He spake and sat him in the high seat by king Alcinous. And
now they were serving out the portions and mixing the wine. Then
the henchmen drew nigh leading the sweet minstrel, Demodocus,
that was had in honour of the people. So he set him in the midst
of the feasters, and made him lean against a tall column. Then to
the henchman spake Odysseus of many counsels, for he had cut off
a portion of the chine of a white-toothed boar, whereon yet more
was left, with rich fat on either side:

'Lo, henchman, take this mess, and hand it to Demodocus, that
he may eat, and I will bid him hail, despite my sorrow. For min-
strels from all men on earth get their meed of honour and worship;
inasmuch as the Muse teacheth them the paths of song, and loveth
the tribe of minstrels.'

Thus he spake, and the henchman bare the mess, and set it upon
the knees of the lord Demodocus, and he took it, and was glad at
heart. Then they stretched forth their hands upon the good cheer
set before them. Now after they had put from them the desire of
meat and drink, then Odysseus of many counsels spake to Demo-
docus, saying:

'Demodocus, I praise thee far above all mortal men, whether it
be the Muse, the daughter of Zeus, that taught thee, or even Apollo,
for right duly dost thou chant the faring of the Achaeans, even all
that they wrought and suffered, and all their travail, as if, methinks,

112 HOMER

thou hadst been present, or heard the tale from another. Come now,
change thy strain, and sing of the fashioning of the horse of wood,
which Epeius made by the aid of Athene, even the guileful thing,
that goodly Odysseus led up into the citadel, when he had laden it
with the men who wasted Ilios. If thou wilt indeed rehearse me this
aright, so will I be thy witness among all men, how the god of hij
grace hath given thee the gift of wondrous song.'

So spake he, and the minstrel, being stirred by the god, began
and showed forth his minstrelsy. He took up the tale where it tells
how the Argives of the one part set fire to their huts, and went aboard
their decked ships and sailed away, while those others, the fellowship
of renowned Odysseus, were now seated in the assembly-place of
the Trojans, all hidden in the horse, for the Trojans themselves had
dragged him to the citadel. So the horse stood there, while seated
all around him the people spake many things confusedly and three
ways their counsel looked; either to cleave the hollow timber with
the pitiless spear, or to drag it to the brow of the hill, and hurl it
from the rocks, or to leave it as a mighty offering to appease the
gods. And on this wise it was to be at the last. For the doom was
on them to perish when their city should have closed upon the great
horse of wood, wherein sat all the bravest of the Argives, bearing to
the Trojans death and destiny. And he sang how the sons of the
Achaeans poured forth from the horse, and left the hollow lair, and
sacked the burg. And he sang how and where each man wasted the
town, and of Odysseus, how he went like Ares to the house of
Deiphobus with godlike Menelaus. It was there, he said, that
Odysseus adventured the most grievous battle, and in the end pre-
vailed, by grace of great-hearted Athene.

This was the song that the famous minstrel sang. But the heart
of Odysseus melted, and the tear wet his cheeks beneath the eye-
lids. And as a woman throws herself wailing about her dead lord,
who hath fallen before his city and the host, warding from his town
and his children the pitiless day; and she beholds him dying and
drawing difficult breath, and embracing his body wails aloud, while
the foemen behind smite her with spears on back and shoulders and
lead her up into bondage to bear labour and trouble, and with the
most pitiful grief her cheeks are wasted; even so pitifully fell the

THE ODYSSEY II3

tears beneath the brows of Odysseus. Now none of all the company
marked him weeping; but Alcinous alone noted it, and was ware
thereof, as he sat nigh him and heard him groaning heavily. And
presently he spake among the Phaeacians, masters of the oar:

'Hearken, ye captains and counsellors of the Phaeacians, and
now let Demodocus hold his hand from the loud lyre, for this song
of his is nowise pleasing alike to all. From the time that we began
to sup, and that the divine minstrel was moved to sing, ever since
hath yonder stranger never ceased from woeful lamentation: sore
grief, methinks, hath encompassed his heart. Nay, but let the min-
strel cease, that we may all alike make merry, hosts and guest, since
it is far meeter so. For all these things are ready for the sake of
the honourable stranger, even the convoy and the loving gifts which
we give him out of our love. In a brother's place stand the stranger
and the suppliant, to him whose wits have even a little range.
Wherefore do thou too hide not now with crafty purpose aught
whereof I ask thee; it were more meet for thee to tell it out. Say,
what is the name whereby they called thee at home, even thy father
and thy mother, and others thy townsmen and the dwellers round
about? For there is none of all mankind nameless, neither the
mean man nor yet the noble, from the first hour of his birth, but
parents bestow a name on every man so soon as he is born. Tell me
too of thy land, thy township, and thy city, that our ships may con-
ceive of their course to bring thee thither. For the Phaeacians have
no pilots nor any rudders after the manner of other ships, but their
barques themselves understand the thoughts and intents of men;
they know the cities and fat fields of every people, and most swiftly
they traverse the gulf of the salt sea, shrouded in mist and cloud,
and never do they go in fear of wreck or ruin. Howbeit I heard
upon a time this word thus spoken by my father Nausithous, who
was wont to say that Poseidon was jealous of us for that we give
safe escort to all men. He said that the god would some day smite
a well-wrought ship of the Phaeacians as she came home from a
convoy over the misty deep, and would overshadow our city with
a great mountain. Thus that ancient one would sjieak, and thus the
god may bring it about, or leave it undone, according to the good
pleasure of his will. But come now, declare me this and plainly tell

114 HOMER

it all; whither wast thou borne wandering, and to what shores of
men thou earnest; tell me of the people and of their fair-lying cities,
of those whoso are hard and wild and unjust, and of those likewise
who are hospitable and of a god-fearing mind. Declare, too, where-
fore thou dost weep and mourn in spirit at the tale of the faring
of the Argive Danaans and the lay of Ilios. All this the gods have
fashioned, and have woven the skein of death for men, that there
might be a song in the ears even of the folk of aftertime. Hadst
thou even a kinsman by marriage that fell before Ilios, a true man, a
daughter's husband or wife's father, such as are nearest us after
those of our own stock and blood? Or else, may be, some loving
friend, a good man and true; for a friend with an understanding
heart is no whit worse than a brother.'

BOOK IX

Odysseus relates, first, what befell him amongst the Cicones at Ismarus;
secondly, amongst the Lotophagi; thirdly, how he was used by the
Cyclops Polyphemus.

A ND Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'King
ZJ^ Alcinous, most notable of all the people, verily it is a good
X JL thing to list to a minstrel such as this one, like to the gods
in voice. Nay, as for me, I say that there is no more gracious or
perfect delight than when a whole people makes merry, and the
men sit orderly at feast in the halls and listen to the singer, and
the tables by them are laden with bread and flesh, and a wine-bearer
drawing the wine serves it round and fx)urs it into the cups. This
seems to me well-nigh the fairest thing in the world. But now thy
heart was inclined to ask of my grievous troubles, that I may mourn
for more exceeding sorrow. What then shall I tell of first, what last,
for the gods of heaven have given me woes in plenty? Now, first,
will I tell my name, that ye too may know it, and that I, when I
have escaped the pitiless day, may yet be your host, though my home
is in a far country. I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, who am in men's
minds for all manner of wiles, and my fame reaches unto heaven.
And I dwell in clear-seen Ithaca, wherein is a mountain Neriton,
with trembling forest leaves, standing manifest to view, and many
islands lie around, very near one to the other, Dulichium and Same,
and wooded Zacynthus. Now Ithaca lies low, furthest up the sea-
line toward the darkness, but those others face the dawning and the
sun: a rugged isle, but a good nurse of noble youths; and for myself
I can see nought beside sweeter than a man's own country. Verily
Calypso, the fair goddess, would fain have kept me with her in her
hollow caves, longing to have me for her lord; and likewise too,
guileful Circe of Aia, would have stayed me in her halls, longing
to have me for her lord. But never did they prevail upon my heart
within my breast. So surely is there nought sweeter than a man's
own coimtry and his parents, even though he dwell far o£f in a rich

"S

Il6 HOMER

home, in a strange land, away from them that begat him. But come,
let me tell thee too of the troubles of my journeying, which Zeus
laid on me as I came from Troy.

'The wind that bare me from Ilios brought me nigh to the Cicones,
even to Ismarus, whereupon I sacked their city and slew the people.
And from out the city we took their wives and much substance, and
divided them amongst us, that none through me might go lacking
his proper share. Howbeit, thereafter I commanded that we should
flee with a swift foot, but my men in their great folly hearkened not.
There was much wine still a drinking, and still they slew many
flocks of sheep by the seashore and kine with trailing feet and
shambling gait. Meanwhile the Cicones went and raised a cry to
other Cicones their neighbours, dwelling inland, who were more
in number than they and braver withal: skilled they were to fight
with men from chariots, and when need was on foot. So they
gathered in the early morning as thick as leaves and flowers that
spring in their season — yea and in that hour an evil doom of Zeus
stood by us, ill-fated men, that so we might be sore afflicted. They
set their battle in array by the swift ships, and the hosts cast at one
another with their bronze-shod spears. So long as it was morn and
the sacred day waxed stronger, so long we abode their assault and
beat them off, albeit they outnumbered us. But when the sun was
wending to the time of the loosing of cattle, then at last the Cicones
drave in the Achaeans and overcame them, and six of my goodly-
greaved company perished from each ship: but the remnant of us
escap)ed death and destiny.

'Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart, yet glad as men
saved from death, albeit we had lost our dear companions. Nor
did my curved ships move onward ere we had called thrice on each
of those our hapless fellows, who died at the hands of the Cicones
on the plain. Now Zeus, gatherer of the clouds, aroused the North
Wind against our ships with a terrible tempest, and covered land
and sea alike with clouds, and down sped night from heaven. Thus
the ships were driven headlong, and their sails were torn to shreds
by the might of the wind. So we lowered the sails into the hold,
in fear of death, but rowed the ships landward apace. There for
two nights and two days we lay continually, consuming our hearts

THE ODYSSEY II7

with weariness and sorrow. But when the fair-tressed Dawn had at
last brought the full light of the third day, we set up the masts and
hoisted the white sails and sat us down, while the wind and the
helmsman guided the ships. And now I should have come to mine
own country all unhurt, but the wave and the stream of the sea
and the North Wind swept me from my course as I was doubling
Malea, and drave me wandering past Cythera.

'Thence for nine whole days was I borne by ruinous winds over
the teeming deep, but on the tenth day we set foot on the land of
the lotus-eaters, who eat a flowery food. So we stepped ashore and
drew water, and straightway my company took their midday meal
by the swift ships. Now when we had tasted meat and drink I sent
forth certain of my company to go and make search what manner
of men they were who here live upon the earth by bread, and I
chose out two of my fellows, and sent a third with them as herald.
Then straightway they went and mixed with the men of the lotus-
eaters, and so it was that the lotus-eaters devised not death for our
fellows, but gave them of the lotus to taste. Now whosoever of them
did eat the honey-sweet fruit of the lotus, had no more wish to
bring tidings nor to come back, but there he chose to abide with the
lotus-eating men, ever feeding on the lotus and forgetful of his
homeward way. Therefore I led them back to the ships weeping,
and sore against their will, and dragged them beneath the benches,
and bound them in the hollow barques. But I commanded the rest
of my well-loved company to make speed and go on board the
swift ships, lest haply any should eat of the lotus and be forget-
ful of returning. Right soon they embarked, and sat upon the
benches, and sitting orderly they smote the grey sea water with
their oars.

'Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart. And we came to the
land of the Cyclopes, a froward and a lawless folk, who trusting to
the deathless gods plant not aught with their hands, neither plough:
but, behold, all these things spring for them in plenty, unsown and
untilled, wheat, and barley, and vines, which bear great clusters of
the juice of the grape, and the rain of Zeus gives them increase.
These have neither gatherings for council nor oracles of law, but
they dwell in hollow caves on the crests of the high hills, and each

Il8 HOMER

one utters the law to his children and his wives, and they reck not
one of another.

'Now there is a waste isle stretching without the harbour of the
land of the Cyclopes, neither nigh at hand nor yet afar off, a wood-
land isle, wherein are wild goats unnumbered, for no path of men
scares them, nor do hunters resort thither who suffer hardships in
the wood, as they range the mountain crests. Moreover it is pos-
sessed neither by flocks nor by ploughed lands, but the soil lies
unsown evermore and untilled, desolate of men, and feeds the bleat-
ing goats. For the Cyclopes have by them no ships with vermilion
cheek, not yet are there shipwrights in the island, who might fashion
decked barques, which should accomplish all their desire, voyaging
to the towns of men (as ofttimes men cross the sea to one another
in ships), who might likewise have made of their isle a goodly
settlement. Yea, it is in no wise a sorry land, but would bear all
things in their season; for therein are soft water-meadows by the
shores of the grey salt sea, and there the vines know no decay, and
the land is level to plough; thence might they reap a crop exceeding
deep in due season, for verily there is fatness beneath the soil. Also
there is a fair haven, where is no need of moorings, either to cast
anchor or to fasten hawsers, but men may run the ship on the beach,
and tarry until such time as the sailors are minded to be gone, and
favourable breezes blow. Now at the head of the harbour is a well
of bright water issuing from a cave, and round it are poplars grow-
ing. Thither we sailed, and some god guided us through the night,
for it was dark and there was no light to see, a mist lying deep
about the ships, nor did the moon show her light from heaven,
but was shut in with clouds. No man then beheld that island, neither
saw we the long waves rolling to the beach, till we had run our
decked ships ashore. And when our ships were beached, we took
down all their sails, and ourselves too stept forth upon the strand
of the sea, and there we fell into sound sleep and waited for the
bright Dawn.

'So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, in wonder
at the island we roamed over the length thereof: and the Nymphs,
the daughters of Zeus, lord of the aegis, started the wild goats of
the hills, that my company might have wherewith to sup. Anon we

THE ODYSSEY II9

took to us our curved bows from out the ships and long spears, and
arrayed in three bands we began shooting at the goats; and the god
soon gave us game in plenty. Now twelve ships bare me company,
and to each ship fell nine goats for a portion, but for me alone they
set ten apart.

'Thus we sat there the livelong day until the going down of the
sun, feasting on abundant flesh and on sweet wine. For the red
wine was not yet spent from out the ships, but somewhat was yet
therein, for we had each one drawn off large store thereof in jars,
when we took the sacred citadel of the Cicones. And we looked
across to the land of the Cyclopes, who dwell nigh, and to the smoke,
and to the voice of the men, and of the sheep and of the goats. And
when the sun had sunk and darkness had come on, then we laid
us to rest upon the sea-beach. So soon as early Dawn shone forth,
the rosy-fingered, then I called a gathering of my men, and spake
among them all:

' "Abide here all the rest of you, my dear companions; but I will
go with mine own ship and my ship's company, and make proof
of these men, what manner of folk they are, whether froward, and
wild, and unjust, or hospitable and of god-fearing mind."

'So I spake, and I climbed the ship's side, and bade my company
themselves to mount, and to loose the hawsers. So they soon em-
barked and sat upon the benches, and sitting orderly smote the grey
sea water with their oars. Now when we had come to the land
that lies hard by, we saw a cave on the border near to the sea, lofty
and roofed over with laurels, and there many flocks of sheep and
goats were used to rest. And about it a high outer court was built
with stones, deep bedded, and with tall pines and oaks with their
high crown of leaves. And a man was wont to sleep therein, of
monstrous size, who shepherded his flocks alone and afar, and was
not conversant with others, but dwelt apart in lawlessness of mind.
Yea, for he was a monstrous thing and fashioned marvellously, nor
was he like to any man that lives by bread, but Uke a wooded
peak of the towering hills, which stands out apart and alone from
others.

'Then I commanded the rest of my well-loved company to tarry
there by the ship, and to guard the ship, but I chose out twelve men,

120 HOMER

the best of my company, and sallied forth. Now I had with me a
goat-skin of the dark wine and sweet which Maron, son of Euanthes,
had given me, the priest of Apollo, the god that watched over
Ismarus. And he gave it, for that we had protected him with his
wife and child reverently; for he dwelt in a thick grove of Phoebus
Af)ollo. And he made me splendid gifts; he gave me seven talents
of gold well wrought, and he gave me a mixing bowl of pure silver,
and furthermore wine which he drew off in twelve jars in all,
sweet wine unmingled, a draught divine; nor did any of his servants
or of his handmaids in the house know thereof, but himself and his
dear wife and one housedame only. And as often as they drank that
red wine honey sweet, he would fill one cup and pwur it into twenty
measures of water, and a marvellous sweet smell went up from the
mixing bowl: then truly it was no pleasure to refrain.

'With this wine I filled a great skin, and bare it with me, and
corn too I put in a wallet, for my lordly spirit straightway had a
boding that a man would come to me, a strange man, clothed in
mighty strength, one that knew not judgment and justice.'

'Soon we came to the cave, but we found him not within; he
was shepherding his fat flocks in the pastures. So we went into the
cave, and gazed on all that was therein. The baskets were well
laden with cheeses, and the folds were thronged with lambs and
kids; each kind was penned by itself, the firstlings apart, and the
summer lambs apart, apart too the younglings of the flock. Now
all the vessels swam with whey, the milk-pails and the bowls, the
well-wrought vessels whereinto he milked. My company then spake
and besought me first of all to take of the cheeses and to return, and
afterwards to make haste and drive off the kids and lambs to the
swift ships from out the pens, and to sail over the salt sea water.
Howbeit I hearkened not (and far better would it have been), but
waited to see the giant himself, and whether he would give me
gifts as a stranger's due. Yet was not his coming to be with joy
to my company.

'Then we kindled a fire, and made burnt-offering, and ourselves
likewise took of the cheeses, and did eat, and sat waiting for him
within till he came back, shepherding his flocks. And he bore a
' Literally, knowing neither dooms, nor ordinances of law.

THE ODYSSEY 121

grievous weight of dry wood, against supper time. This log he
cast down with a din inside the cave, and in fear we fled to the
secret place of the rock. As for him, he drave his fat flocks into the
wide cavern, even all that he was wont to milk; but the males both
of the sheep and of the goats he left without in the deep yard. There-
after he lifted a huge doorstone and weighty, and set it in the mouth
of the cave, such an one as two and twenty good four-wheeled wains
could not raise from the ground, so mighty a sheer rock did he set
against the doorway. Then he sat down and milked the ewes and
bleating goats, all orderly, and beneath each ewe he placed her
young. And anon he curdled one half of the white milk, and
massed it together, and stored it in wicker-baskets, and the other half
he let stand in pails, that he might have it to take and drink against
supjier time. Now when he had done all his work busily, then he
kindled the fire anew, and espied us, and made question:

' "Strangers, who are ye? Whence sail ye over the wet ways? On
some trading enterprise or at adventure do ye rove, even as sea-
robbers over the brine, for at hazard of their own lives they wander,
bringing bale to alien men."

'So spake he, but as for us our heart within us was broken for
terror of the deep voice and his own monstrous shaf>e; yet despite
all I answered and spake unto him, saying:

'"Lo, we are Achaeans, driven wandering from Troy, by all
manner of winds over the great gulf of the sea; seeking our homes
we fare, but another path have we come, by other ways: even such,
methinks, was the will and the counsel of Zeus. And we avow us
to be the men of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, whose fame is even
now the mightiest under heaven, so great a city did he sack, and
destroyed many people; but as for us we have lighted here, and
come to these thy knees, if perchance thou wilt give us a stranger's
gift, or make any present, as is the due of strangers. Nay, lord, have
regard to the gods, for we are thy suppliants; and Zeus is the
avenger of suppliants and sojourners, Zeus, the god of the stranger,
who fareth in the company of reverend strangers."

'So I spake, and anon he answered out of his pitiless heart : "Thou
art witless, my stranger, or thou hast come from afar, who biddest
me either to fear or shun the gods. For the Cyclopes pay no heed

122 HOMER

to Zeus, lord of the aegis, nor to the blessed gods, for verily we are
better men than they. Nor would I, to shun the enmity of Zeus,
spare either thee or thy company, unless my spirit bade me. But
tell me where thou didst stay thy well-wrought ship on thy coming?
Was it perchance at the far end of the island, or hard by, that I
may know?"

'So he spake, tempting me, but he cheated me not, who knew
full much, and I answered him again with words of guile:

' "As for my ship, Poseidon, the shaker of the earth, brake it to
pieces, for he cast it upon the rocks at the border of your country,
and brought it nigh the headland, and a wind bare it thither from
the sea. But I with these my men escaped from utter doom."

'So I spake, and out of his pitiless heart he answered me not a
word, but sprang up, and laid his hands upon my fellows, and
clutching two together dashed them, as they had been whelps, to
the earth, and the brain flowed forth upon the ground, and the earth
was wet. Then cut he them up piecemeal, and made ready his
supper. So he ate even as a mountain-bred lion, and ceased not,
devouring entrails and flesh and bones with their marrow. And we
wept and raised our hands to Zeus, beholding the cruel deeds; and
we were at our wits' end. And after the Cyclops had filled his huge
maw with human flesh and the milk he drank thereafter, he lay
within the cave, stretched out among his sheep.

'So I took counsel in my great heart, whether I should draw near,
and pluck my sharp sword from my thigh, and stab him in the
breast, where the midriff holds the liver, feeling for the place with
my hand. But my second thought withheld me, for so should we
too have perished even there with utter doom. For we should not
have prevailed to roll away with our hands from the lofty door
the heavy stone which he set there. So for that time we made
moan, awaiting the bright Dawn.

'Now when early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, again he
kindled the fire and milked his goodly flocks all orderly, and be-
neath each ewe set her lamb. Anon when he had done all his work
busily, again he seized yet other two men and made ready his mid-
day meal. And after the meal, lightly he moved away the great
door-stone, and drave his fat flocks forth from the cave, and after-

THE ODYSSEY 123

wards he set it in his place again, as one might set the lid on a
quiver. Then with a loud whoop, the Cyclops turned his fat flocks
towards the hills; but I was left devising evil in the deep of my
heart, if in any wise I might avenge me, and Athene grant me
renown.

'And this was the counsel that showed best in my sight. There
lay by a sheep-fold a great club of the Cyclops, a club of olive wood,
yet green, which he had cut to carry with him when it should be
seasoned. Now when we saw it we likened it in size to the mast of
a black ship of twenty oars, a wide merchant vessel that traverses
the great sea gulf, so huge it was to view in bulk and length.
I stood thereby and cut of? from it a pxartion as it were a fathom's
length, and set it by my fellows, and bade them fine it down, and
they made it even, while I stood by and sharpened it to a point,
and straightway I took it and hardened it in the bright fire. Then
I laid it well away, and hid it beneath the dung, which was scattered
in great heaps in the depths of the cave. And I bade my company
cast lots among them, which of them should risk the adventure
with me, and lift the bar and turn it about in his eye, when sweet
sleep came upon him. And the lot fell upon those four whom I
myself would have been fain to choose, and I appointed myself
to be the fifth among them. In the evening he came shepherding his
flocks of goodly fleece, and presently he drave his fat flocks into
the cave each and all, nor left he any without in the deep courtyard,
whether through some foreboding, or perchance that the god so bade
him do. Thereafter he lifted the huge door-stone and set it in the
mouth of the cave, and sitting down he milked the ewes and
bleating goats, all orderly, and beneath each ewe he placed her
young. Now when he had done all his work busily, again he seized
yet other two and made ready his supper. Then I stood by the
Cyclops and spake to him, holding in my hands an ivy bowl of the
dark wine:

' "Cyclops, take and drink wine after thy feast of man's meat,
that thou mayest know what manner of drink this was that our
ship held. And lo, I was bringing it thee as a drink offering, if
haply thou mayest take pity and send me on my way home, but
thy mad rage is past all sufferance. O hard of heart, how may

124 HOMER

another of the many men there be come ever to thee again, seeing
that thy deeds have been lawless?"

'So I spake, and he took the cup and drank it off, and found great
delight in drinking the sweet draught, and asked me for it yet a
second time:

' "Give it me again of thy grace, and tell me thy name straight-
way, that I may give thee a stranger's gift, wherein thou mayest be
glad. Yea for the earth, the grain-giver, bears for the Cyclopes the
mighty clusters of the juice of the grape, and the rain of Zeus gives
them increase, but this is a rill of very nectar and ambrosia."

'So he spake, and again I handed him the dark wine. Thrice
I bare and gave it him, and thrice in his folly he drank it to the lees.
Now when the wine had got about the wits of the Cyclops, then
did I speak to him with soft words:

' "Cyclops, thou askest me my renowned name, and I will declare
it unto thee, and do thou grant me a stranger's gift, as thou didst
promise. Noman is my name, and Noman they call me, my father
and my mother and all my fellows."

'So I spake, and straightway he answered me out of his pitiless
heart:

' "Noman will I eat last in the number of his fellows, and the
others before him: that shall be thy gift."

'Therewith he sank backwards and fell with face upturned, and
there he lay with his great neck bent round, and sleep, that con-
quers all men, overcame him. And the wine and the fragments of
men's flesh issued forth from his mouth, and he vomited, being
heavy with wine. Then I thrust in that stake under the deep ashes,
until it should grow hot, and I spake to my companions comfortable
words, lest any should hang back from me in fear. But when that
bar of olive wood was just about to catch fire in the flame, green
though it was, and began to glow terribly, even then I came nigh,
and drew it from the coals, and my fellows gathered about me, and
some god breathed great courage into us. For their part they seized
the bar of olive wood, that was sharpened at the point, and thrust
it into his eye, while I from my place aloft turned it about, as when
a man bores a ship's beam with a drill while his fellows below spin
it with a strap, which they hold at either end, and the auger runs

THE ODYSSEY 125

round continually. Even so did we seize the fiery-pointed brand
and whirled it round in his eye, and the blood flowed about the
heated bar. And the breath of the flame singed his eyelids and
brows all about, as the ball of the eye burnt away, and the roots
thereof crackled in the flame. And as when a smith dips an axe or
adze in chill water with a great hissing, when he would temper it —
for hereby anon comes the strength of iron — even so did his eye hiss
round the stake of olive. And he raised a great and terrible cry,
that the rock rang around, and we fled away in fear, while he plucked
forth from his eye the brand bedabbled in much blood. Then mad-
dened with pain he cast it from him with his hands, and called
with a loud voice on the Cyclopes, who dwelt about him in the
caves along the windy heights. And they heard the cry and flocked
together from every side, and gathering round the cave asked him
what ailed him:

' "What hath so distressed thee, Polyphemus, that thou criest thus
aloud through the immortal night, and makest us sleepless? Surely
no mortal driveth off thy flocks against thy will: surely none slayeth
thyself by force or craft?"

'And the strong Polyphemus spake to them again from out the
cave: "My friends, Noman is slaying me by guile, nor at all by
force."

'And they answered and spake winged words: "If then no man
is violently handling thee in thy solitude, it can in no wise be that
thou shouldest escape the sickness sent by mighty Zeus. Nay, pray
thou to thy father, the lord Poseidon."

'On this wise they spake and departed; and my heart within me
laughed to see how my name and cunning counsel had beguiled
them. But the Cyclops, groaning and travailing in pain, groped
with his hands, and lifted away the stone from the door of the
cave, and himself sat in the entry, with arms outstretched to catch,
if he might, any one that was going forth with his sheep, so witless,
methinks, did he hope to find me. But I advised me how all might
be for the very best, if perchance I might find a way of escape from
death for my companions and myself, and I wove all manner of
craft and counsel, as a man will for his life, seeing that great mis-
chief was nigh. And this was the counsel that showed best in my

126 HOMER

sight. The rams of the flock were well nurtured and thick of fleece,
great and goodly, with wool dark as the violet. Quietly I lashed
them together with twisted withies, whereon the Cyclops slept, that
lawless monster. Three together I took: now the middle one of the
three would bear each a man, but the other twain went on either
side, saving my fellows. Thus every three sheep bare their man.
But as for me I laid hold of the back of a young ram who was far
the best and the goodliest of all the flock, and curled beneath his
shaggy belly there I lay, and so clung face upward, grasping the
wondrous fleece with a steadfast heart. So for that time making
moan we awaited the bright Dawn.

'So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, then did
the rams of the flock hasten forth to pasture, but the ewes bleated
unmilked about the pens, for their udders were swollen to bursting.
Then their lord, sore stricken with pain, felt along the backs of all
the sheep as they stood up before him, and guessed not in his folly
how that my men were bound beneath the breasts of his thick-fleeced
flocks. Last of all the sheep came forth the ram, cumbered with his
wool and the weight of me and my cunning. And the strong Poly-
phemus laid his hands on him and spake to him saying:

'"Dear ram, wherefore, I pray thee, art thou the last of all the
flocks to go forth from the cave, who of old wast not wont to lag
behind the sheep, but wert ever the foremost to pluck the tender
blossom of the pasture, faring with long strides, and wert still the
first to come to the streams of the rivers, and first did long to return
to the homestead in the evening? But now art thou the very last.
Surely thou art sorrowing for the eye of thy lord, which an evil
man blinded, with his accursed fellows, when he had subdued my
wits with wine, even Noman, whom I say hath not yet escaped
destruction. Ah, if thou couldst feel as I, and be endued with speech,
to tell me where he shifts about to shun my wrath; then should he
be smitten, and his brains be dashed against the floor here and
there about the cave, and my heart be lightened of the sorrows which
Noman, nothing worth, hath brought me!"

'Therewith he sent the ram forth from him, and when we had
gone but a little way from the cave and from the yard, first I loosed
myself from under the ram and then I set my fellows free. And

THE ODYSSEY 127

swiftly we Hrave on those stiff-shanked sheep, so rich in fat, and
often turned to look about, till we came to the ship. And a glad
sight to our fellows were we that had fled from death, but the others
they would have bemoaned with tears; howbeit I suffered it not,
but with frowning brows forbade each man to weep. Rather I bade
them to cast on board the many sheep with goodly fleece, and to
sail over the salt sea water. So they embarked forthwith, and sate
upon the benches, and sitting orderly smote the grey sea water with
their oars. But when I had not gone so far, but that a man's shout
might be heard, then I spoke unto the Cyclops taunting him:

' "Cyclops, so thou wert not to eat the company of a weakling by
main might in thy hollow cave! Thine evil deeds were very sure to
find thee out, thou cruel man, who hadst no shame to eat thy guests
within thy gates, wherefore Zeus hath requited thee, and the other
gods."

'So I spake, and he was mightily angered at heart, and he brake
off the peak of a great hill and threw it at us, and it fell in front of
the dark-prowed ship.' And the sea heaved beneath the fall of the
rock, and the backward flow of the wave bare the ship quickly to
the dry land, with the wash from the deep sea, and drave it to the
shore. Then I caught up a long pole in my hands, and thrust the
ship from off the land, and roused my company, and with a motion
of the head bade them dash in with their oars, that so we might
escape our evil plight. So they bent to their oars and rowed on. But
when we had now made twice the distance over the brine, I would
fain have spoken to the Cyclops, but my company stayed me on
every side with soft words, saying:

' "Foolhardy that thou art, why wouldst thou rouse a wild man
to wrath, who even now hath cast so mighty a throw towards the
deep and brought our ship back to land, yea and we thought that
we had perished' even there ? If he had heard any of us utter sound
or speech he would have crushed our heads and our ship timbers
with a cast of a rugged stone, so mightily he hurls."

* Wc have omitted line 483, as required by the sense. It is introduced here from
line 540.

'Neither in this passage nor in B ii. 171 nor in B xx. 121 do we think that the
aorist infinitive after a verb of laying can bear a future feaie. The aonst infinitive
after i\TU()1i (ii. 280, vii. 76) is hardly an argument in its favour; the infinitive
there is in fact a noun in the genitive case.

128 HOMER

'So spake they, but they prevailed not on my lordly spirit, and I
answered him again from out an angry heart:

'"Cyclops, if any one of mortal men shall ask thee of the un-
sightly blinding of thine eye, say that it was Odysseus that blinded
it, the waster of cities, son of Laertes, whose dwelling is in Ithaca."

'So I spake, and with a moan he answered me, saying:

' "Lo now, in very truth the ancient oracles have come upon me.
There lived here a soothsayer, a noble man and a mighty, Telemus,
son of Eurymus, who surpassed all men in soothsaying, and waxed
old as a seer among the Cyclopes. He told me that all these things
should come to pass in the aftertime, even that I should lose my eye-
sight at the hand of Odysseus. But I ever looked for some tall and
goodly man to come hither, clad in great might, but behold now one
that is a dwarf, a man of no worth and a weakling, hath blinded
me of my eye after subduing me with wine. Nay come hither,
Odysseus, that I may set by thee a stranger's cheer, and speed thy
parting hence, that so the Earth-shaker may vouchsafe it thee, for
his son am I, and he avows him for my father. And he himself will
heal me, if it be his will; and none other of the blessed gods or of
mortal men."

'Even so he spake, but I answered him, and said: "Would god that
I were as sure to rob thee of soul and life, and send thee within the
house of Hades, as I am that not even the Earth-shaker will heal
thine eye!"

'So I spake, and then he prayed to the lord Poseidon stretching
forth his hands to the starry heaven: "Hear me, Poseidon, girdler
of the earth, god of the dark hair, if indeed I be thine, and thou
avowest thee my sire, — grant that he may never come to his home,
even Odysseus, waster of cities, the son of Laertes, whose dwelling
is in Ithaca; yet if he is ordained to see his friends and come unto
his well-builded house, and his own country, late may he come in
evil case, with the loss of all his company, in the ship of strangers,
and find sorrows in his house."

'So he spake in prayer, and the god of the dark locks heard him.
And once again he lifted a stone, far greater than the first, and
with one swing he hurled it, and he put forth a measureless strength,
and cast it but a little space behind the dark-prowed ship, and all

THE ODYSSEY 1 29

but struck the end of the rudder. And the sea heaved beneath
the fall of the rock, but the wave bare on the ship and drave it to the
further shore.

'But when we had now reached that island, where all our other
decked ships abode together, and our company were gathered sor-
rowing, expecting us evermore, on our coming thither we ran our
ship ashore upon the sand, and ourselves too stept forth upon the
sea beach. Next we took forth the sheep of the Cyclops from out the
hollow ship, and divided them, that none through me might go
lacking his proper share. But the ram for me alone my goodly-
greaved company chose out, in the dividing of the sheep, and on
the shore I offered him up to Zeus, even to the son of Cronos, who
dwells in the dark clouds, and is lord of all, and I burnt the slices
of the thighs. But he heeded not the sacrifice, but was devising how
my decked ships and my dear company might perish utterly. Thus
for that time we sat the livelong day, until the going down of the
sun, feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine. And when the sun
had sunk and darkness had come on, then we laid us to rest upon
the sea beach. So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered,
I called to my company, and commanded them that they should
themselves climb the ship and loose the hawsers. So they soon
embarked and sat upon the benches, and sitting orderly smote the
grey sea water with their oars.

'Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart, yet glad as men
saved from death, albeit we had lost our dear companions.

TI

BOOKX

Odysseus, his entertainment by Aeolus, of whom he received a fair
wind for the present, and all the rest of the winds tied up in a bag; which
his men untying, flew out, and carried him back to Aeolus, who refused
to receive him. His adventure at Lestrygonia with Antiphates, where
of twelve ships he lost eleven, men and ail. How he went thence to the
Isle of Aea, where half of his men were turned by Circe into Swine, and
how he went himself, and by the help of Hermes recovered them and
stayed with Circe a year.

**' ~ AHEN we came to the isle Aeolian, where dwelt Aeolus,
son of Hippotas, dear to the deathless gods, in a floating
island, and all about it is a wall of bronze unbroken, and
the clifJ runs up sheer from the sea. His twelve children too abide
there in his halls, six daughters and six lusty sons; and, behold, he
gave his daughters to his sons to wife. And they feast evermore by
their dear father and their kind mother, and dainties innumerable
lie ready to their hands. And the house is full of the savour of
feasting, and the noise thereof rings round, yea in the courtyard,
by day, and in the night they sleep each one by his chaste wife in
coverlets and on jointed bedsteads. So then we came to their city
and their goodly dwelling, and the king entreated me kindly for a
whole month, and sought out each thing, Ilios and the ships of the
Argives, and the return of the Achaeans. So I told him all the tale
in order duly. But when I in turn took the word and asked of my
journey, and bade him send me on my way, he too denied me not,
but furnished an escort. He gave me a wallet, made of the hide of
an ox of nine seasons old, which he let flay, and therein he bound
the ways of all the noisy winds; for him the son of Cronos made
keeper of the winds, either to lull or to rouse what blasts he will.
And he made it fast in the hold of the ship with a shining silver
thong, that not the faintest breath might escape. Then he sent
forth the blast of the West Wind to blow for me, to bear our ships
and ourselves upon our way; but this he was never to bring to pass,
for we were undone through our own heedlessness.

130

THE ODYSSEY I3I

'For nine whole days we sailed by night and day continually,
and now on the tenth day my native land came in sight, and
already we were so near that we beheld the folk tending the beacon
fires. Then over me there came sweet slumber in my weariness,
for all the time I was holding the sheet, nor gave it to any of my
company, that so we might come quicker to our own country. Mean-
while my company held converse together, and said that I was
bringing home for myself gold and silver, gifts from Aeolus the
high-hearted son of Hippotas. And thus would they speak looking
each man to his neighbour:

'"Lo now, how beloved he is and highly esteemed among all
men, to the city and land of whomsoever he may come. Many are
the goodly treasures he taketh with him out of the spoil from Troy,
while we who have fulfilled lik« journeying with him return home-
ward bringing with us but empty hands. And now Aeolus hath
given unto him these things freely in his love. Nay come, let us
quickly see what they are, even what wealth of gold and silver is
in the wallet."

'So they spake, and the evil counsel of my company prevailed.
They loosed the wallet, and all the winds brake forth. And the
violent blast seized my men, and bare them towards the high seas
weeping, away from their own country; but as for me, I awoke
and communed with my great heart, whether I should cast myself
from the ship and perish in the deep, or endure in silence and abide
yet among the living. Howbeit I hardened my heart to endure, and
muffling my head I lay still in the ship. But the vessels were driven
by the evil storm-wind back to the isle AeoUan, and my company
made moan.

'There we stepped ashore and drew water, and my company
presently took their midday meal by the swift ships. Now when we
had tasted bread and wine, I took with me a herald and one of my
company, and went to the famous dwelling of Aeolus: and I found
him feasting with his wife and children. So we went in and sat by
the pillars of the door on the threshold, and they all marvelled and
asked us:

' "How hast thou come hither, Odysseus? What evil god assailed
thee? Surely we sent thee on thy way with all diligence, that thou

132 HOMER

mightest get thee to thine own country and thy home, and whither-
soever thou wouldest."

'Even so they said, but I spake among them heavy at heart: "My
evil company hath been my bane, and sleep thereto remorseless.
Come, my friends, do ye heal the harm, for yours is the power."

'So I spake, beseeching them in soft words, but they held their
peace. And the father answered, saying: "Get thee forth from the
island straightway, thou that art the most reprobate of living men.
Far be it from me to help or to further that man whom the blessed
gods abhor! Get thee forth, for lo, thy coming marks thee hated
by the deathless gods."

'Therewith he sent me forth from the house making heavy moan.
Thence we sailed onwards stricken at heart. And the spirit of the
men was spent beneath the grievous rowing by reason of our vain
endeavour, for there was no more any sign of a wafting wind. So
for the space of six days we sailed by night and day continually, and
on the seventh we came to the steep stronghold of Lamos, Telepylos
of the Laestrygons, where herdsman hails herdsman as he drives
in his flock, and the other who drives forth answers the call. There
might a sleepless man have earned a double wage, the one as neat-
herd, the other shepherding white flocks: so near are the outgoings
of the night and of the day. Thither when we had come to the
fair haven, whereabout on both sides goes one steep cliff unbroken,
and jutting headlands over against each other stretch forth to the
mouth of the harbour, and strait is the entrance; thereinto all the
others steered their curved ships. Now the vessels were bound
within the hollow harbour each hard by other, for no wave ever
swelled within it, great or small, but there was a bright calm all
around. But I alone moored my dark ship without the harbour, at
the uttermost point thereof, and made fast the hawser to a rock. And
I went up a craggy hill, a place of out-look, and stood thereon:
thence there was no sign of the labour of men or oxen, only we saw
the smoke curling upward from the land. Then I sent forth certain
of my company to go and search out what manner of men they were
who here live upon the earth by bread, choosing out two of my
company and sending a third with them as herald. Now when
they had gone ashore, they went along a level road whereby wains

THE ODYSSEY I33

were wont to draw down wood from the high hills to the town.
And without the town they fell in with a damsel drawing water,
the noble daughter of Laestrygonian Antiphates. She had come
down to the clear-flowing spring Artacia, for thence it was custom
to draw water to the town. So they stood by her and spake unto
her, and asked who was king of that land, and who they were he
ruled over. Then at once she showed them the high-roofed hall of
her father. Now when they had entered the renowned house, they
found his wife therein: she was huge of bulk as a mountain peak
and was loathly in their sight. Straightway she called the renowned
Antiphates, her lord, from the assembly-place, and he contrived a
pitiful destruction for my men. Forthwith he clutched up one of
my company and made ready his midday meal, but the other twain
sprang up and came in flight to the ships. Then he raised the war
cry through the town, and the valiant Laestrygons at the sound
thereof, flocked together from every side, a host past number, not
like men but like the Giants. They cast at us from the cliffs with
great rocks, each of them a man's burden, and anon there arose
from the fleet an evil din of men dying and ships shattered withal.
And like folk spearing fishes they bare home their hideous meal.
While as yet they were slaying my friends within the deep harbour,
I drew my sharp sword from my thigh, and with it cut the hawsers
of my dark-prowed ship. Quickly then I called to my company,
and bade them dash in with the oars, that we might clean escape
this evil plight. And all with one accord they tossed the sea water
with the oar-blade, in dread of death, and to my delight my barque
flew forth to the high seas away from the beetling rocks, but those
other ships were lost there, one and all.

'Thence we sailed onward stricken at heart, yet glad as men saved
from death, albeit we had lost our dear companions.

'And we came to the isle Aeaean, where dwelt Circe of the
braided tresses, an awful goddess of mortal speech, own sister to
the wizard Aeetes. Both were begotten of Helios, who gives light
to all men, and their mother was Perse, daughter of Oceanus. There
on the shore we put in with our ship into the sheltering haven
silently, and some god was our guide. Then we stept ashore, and
for two days and two nights lay there, consuming our own hearts

134 HOMER

for weariness and pain. But when now the fair-tressed Dawn had
brought the full light of the third day, then did I seize my spear
and my sharp sword, and quickly departing from the ship I went
up unto a place of wide prospect, if haply I might see any sign
of the labour of men and hear the sound of their speech. So I went
up a craggy hill, a place of out-look, and I saw the smoke rising
from the broad-wayed earth in the halls of Circe, through the thick
coppice and the woodland. Then I mused in my mind and heart
whether I should go and make discovery, for that I had seen the
smoke and flame. And as I thought thereon this seemed to me the
better counsel, to go first to the swift ship and to the sea-banks,
and give my company their midday meal, and then send them to
make search. But as I came and drew nigh to the curved ship, some
god even then took pity on me in my loneliness, and sent a tall
andered stag across my very path. He was coming down from his
pasture in the woodland to the river to drink, for verily the might
of the sun was sore upon him. And as he came up from out of the
stream, I smote him on the spine in the middle of the back, and the
brazen shaft went clean through him, and with a moan he fell in
the dust, and his life passed from him. Then 1 set my foot on him
and drew forth the brazen shaft from the wound, and laid it hard
by upon the ground and let it lie. Next I broke withies and willow
twigs, and wove me a rope a fathom in length, well twisted from
end to end, and bound together the feet of the huge beast, and
went to the black ship bearing him across my neck, and leaning
on a spear, for it was in no wise possible to carry him on my shoulder
with the one hand, for he was a mighty quarry. And I threw him
down before the ship and roused my company with soft words,
standing by each man in turn:

' "Friends, for all our sorrows we shall not yet a while go down
to the house of Hades, ere the coming of the day of destiny; go to
then, while as yet there is meat and drink in the swift ship, let us
take thought thereof, that we be not famished for hunger."

'Even so I spake, and they speedily hearkened to my words. They
unmuffled their heads, and there on the shore of the unharvested
sea gazed at the stag, for he was a mighty quarry. But after they
had dehghted their eyes with the sight of him, they washed their

THE ODYSSEY 135

hands and got ready the glorious feast. So for that time we sat the
livelong day till the going down of the sun, feasting on abundant
flesh and sweet wine. But when the sun sank and darkness had come
on, then we laid us to rest upon the sea beach. So soon as early
Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, I called a gathering of my men
and spake in the ears of them all:

' "Hear my words, my fellows, despite your evil case. My friends,
lo, now we know not where is the place of darkness or of dawning,
nor where the Sun, that gives light to men, goes beneath the earth,
nor where he rises; therefore let us advise us speedily if any counsel
yet may be: as for me, I deem there is none. For I went up a craggy
hill, a place of out-look, and saw the island crowned about with the
circle of the endless sea, the isle itself lying low; and in the midst
thereof mine eyes beheld the smoke through the thick coppice and
the woodland."

'Even so I spake, but their spirit within them was broken, as they
remembered the deeds of Antiphates the Laestrygonian, and all the
evil violence of the haughty Cyclops, the man-eater. So they wept
aloud shedding big tears. Howbeit no avail came of their weeping.

'Then I numbered my goodly-greaved company in two bands,
and appointed a leader for each, and I myself took the command
of the one part, and godlike Eurylochus of the other. And anon
we shook the lots in a brazen-fitted helmet, and out leapt the lot
of proud Eurylochus. So he went on his way, and with him two
and twenty of my fellowship all weeping; and we were left behind
making lament. In the forest glades they found the halls of Circe
builded, of polished stone, in a place with wide prospect. And
all around the palace mountain-bred wolves and lions were roam-
ing, whom she herself had bewitched with evil drugs that she gave
them. Yet the beasts did not set on my men, but lo, they ramped
about them and fawned on them, wagging their long tails. And
as when dogs fawn about their lord when he comes from the feast,
for he always brings them the fragments that soothe their mood,
even so the strong<lawed wolves and the lions fawned around them;
but they were affrighted when they saw the strange and terrible
creatures. So they stood at the outer gate of the fair-tressed goddess,
and within they heard Circe singing in a sweet voice, as she fared

136 HOMER

to and fro before the great web imperishable, such as is the handi-
work of goddesses, fine of woof and full of grace and splendour.
Then Polites, a leader of men, the dearest to me and the trustiest of
all my company, first spake to them :

'"Friends, forasmuch as there is one within that fares to and
fro before a mighty web singing a sweet song, so that all the floor
of the hall makes echo, a goddess she is or a woman; come quickly
and cry aloud to her."

'He spake the word and they cried aloud and called to her. And
straightway she came forth and opened the shining doors and bade
them in, and all went with her in their heedlessness. But Eury-
lochus tarried behind, for he guessed that there was some treason.
So she led them in and set them upon chairs and high seats, and
made them a mess of cheese and barley-meal and yellow honey with
Pramnian wine, and mixed harmful drugs with the food to make
them utterly forget their own country. Now when she had given
them the cup and they had drunk it off, presently she smote them
with a wand, and in the styes of the swine she penned them. So
they had the head and voice, the bristles and the shape of swine,
but their mind abode even as of old. Thus were they penned there
weeping, and Circe flung them acorns and mast and fruit of the
cornel tree to eat, whereon wallowing swine do always batten.

'Now Eurylochus came back to the swift black ship to bring tid-
ings of his fellows, and of their unseemly doom. Not a word could
he utter, for all his desire, so deeply smitten was he to the heart with
grief, and his eyes were filled with tears and his soul was fain of
lamentation. But when we all had pressed him with our questions
in amazement, even then he told the fate of the remnant of our
company.

' "We went, as thou didst command, through the coppice, noble
Odysseus: we found within the forest glades the fair halls, builded
of f)olished stone, in a place with wide prospect. And there was one
that fared before a mighty web and sang a clear song, a goddess
she was or a woman, and they cried aloud and called to her. And
straightway she came forth, and opened the shining doors and
bade them in, and they all went with her in their heedlessness. But I
tarried behind, for I guessed that there was some treason. Then

THE ODYSSEY 1 37

they vanished away one and all, nor did any of them appear again,
though I sat long time watching."

'So spake he, whereon I cast about my shoulder my silver-studded
sword, a great blade of bronze, and slung my bow about me and
bade him lead me again by the way that he came. But he caught
me with both hands, and by my knees he besought me, and be-
wailing him spake to me winged words:

' "Lead me not thither against my will, oh fosterling of Zeus, but
leave me here! For well I know thou shalt thyself return no more,
nor bring any one of all thy fellowship; nay, let us flee the swifter
with those that be here, for even yet may we escape the evil day."

'On this wise he spake, but I answered him, saying: "Eurylochus,
abide for thy part here in this place, eating and drinking by the
black hollow ship: but I will go forth, for a strong constraint is
laid on me."

'With that I went up from the ship and the sea-shore. But lo, when
in my faring through the sacred glades I was now drawing near
to the great hall of the enchantress Circe, then did Hermes, of the
golden wand, meet me as I approached the house, in the likeness
of a young man with the first down on his lip, the time when
youth is most gracious. So he clasped my hand and spake and
hailed me:

'"Ah, hapless man, whither away again, all alone through the
wolds, thou that knowest not this country? And thy company
yonder in the hall of Circe are penned in the guise of swine, in
their deep lairs abiding. Is it in hope to free them that thou art
come hither.? Nay, methinks, thou thyself shalt never return but
remain there with the others. Come then, I will redeem thee from
thy distress, and bring deliverance. Lx), take this herb of virtue,
and go to the dwelling of Circe, that it may keep from thy head the
evil day. And I will tell thee all the magic sleight of Circe. She
will mix thee a potion and cast drugs into the mess; but not even
so shall she be able to enchant thee; so helpful is this charmed herb
that I shall give thee, and I will tell thee all. When it shall be that
Circe smites thee with her long wand, even then draw thou thy
sharp sword from thy thigh, and spring on her, as one eager to slay
her. And she will shrink away and be instant with thee to lie with

138 HOMER

her. Thenceforth disdait not thou the bed of the goddess, that she
may deliver thy company and kindly entertain thee. But command
her to swear a mighty oath by the blessed gods, that she will plan
nought else of mischief to thine own hurt, lest she make thee a
dastard and unmanned, when she hath thee naked."

'Therewith the slayer of Argos gave me the plant that he had
plucked from the ground, and he showed me the growth thereof.
It was black at the root, but the flower was like to milk. Moly the
gods call it, but it is hard for mortal men to dig; howbeit with the
gods all things are possible.

'Then Hermes departed toward high Olympus, up through the
woodland isle, but as for me I held on my way to the house of Circe,
and my heart was darkly troubled as I went. So I halted in the
portals of the fair-tressed goddess; there I stood and called aloud
and the goddess heard my voice, who presently came forth and
opened the shining doors and bade me in, and I went with her
heavy at heart. So she led me in and set me on a chair with studs
of silver, a goodly carven chair, and beneath was a footstool for the
feet. And she made me a potion in a golden cup, that I might drink,
and she also put a charm therein, in the evil counsel of her heart.

'Now when she had given it and I had drunk it off and was not
bewitched, she smote me with her wand and spake and hailed me:

' "Go thy way now to the stye, couch thee there with the rest of
thy company."

'So spake she, but 1 drew my sharp sword from my thigh and
sprang upon Circe, as one eager to slay her. But with a great cry
she slipped under, and clasped my knees, and bewailing herself
spake to me winged words:

' "Who art thou of the sons of men, and whence ? Where is thy
city? Where are they that begat thee? I marvel to see how thou
hast drunk of this charm, and wast nowise subdued. Nay, for there
lives no man else that is proof against this charm, whoso hath
drunk thereof, and once it hath passed his lips. But thou hast,
methinks, a mind within thee that may not be enchanted. Verily
thou art Odysseus, ready at need, whom he of the golden wand,
the slayer of Argos, full often told me was to come hither, on his
way from Troy with his swift black ship. Nay come, put thy sword

THE ODYSSEY I39

into the sheath, and thereafter let us go up into my bed, that meeting
in love and sleep we may trust each the other."

'So spake she, but I answered her, saying: "Nay, Circe, how
canst thou bid me be gentle to thee, who hast turned my company
into swine within thy halls, and holding me here with a guileful
heart requirest me to pass within thy chamber and go up into thy
bed, that so thou mayest make me a dastard and unmanned when
thou hast me naked? Nay, never will I consent to go up into thy
bed, except thou wilt deign, goddess, to swear a mighty oath, that
thou wilt plan nought else of mischief to mine own hurt."

'So I spake, and she straightway swore the oath not to harm me,
as I bade her. But when she had sworn and had done that oath,
then at last I went up into the beautiful bed of Circe.

'Now all this while her handmaids busied them in the halls, four
maidens that are her serving women in the house. They are born
of the wells and of the woods and of the holy rivers, that flow for-
ward into the salt sea. Of these one cast upon the chairs goodly
coverlets of purple above, and spread a linen cloth thereunder. And
lo, another drew up silver tables to the chairs, and thereon set for
them golden baskets. And a third mixed sweet honey-hearted wine
in a silver bowl, and set out cups of gold. And a fourth bare water,
and kindled a great fire beneath the mighty cauldron. So the water
waxed warm; but when it boiled in the bright brazen vessel, she
set me in a bath and bathed me with water from out a great caul-
dron, pouring it over head and shoulders, when she had mixed it to
a pleasant warmth, till from my limbs she took away the consuming
weariness. Now after she had bathed me and anointed me well
with oUve oil, and cast about me a fair mantle and a doublet, she
led me into the halls and set me on a chair with studs of silver, a
goodly carven chair, and beneath was a footstool for the feet. And
a handmaid bare water for the hands in a goodly golden ewer, and
poured it forth over a silver basin to wash withal; and to my side
she drew a polished table, and a grave dame bare wheaten bread
and set it by me, and laid on the board many dainties, giving freely
of such things as she had by her. And she bade me eat, but my
soul found no pleasure therein. I sat with other thoughts, and my
heart had a boding of ill.

140 HOMER

'Now when Circe saw that I sat thus, and that I put not forth
my hands to the meat, and that I was mightily afflicted, she drew
near to me and spake to me winged words:

' "Wherefore thus, Odysseus, dost thou sit there Hke a speechless
man, consuming thine own soul, and dost not touch meat nor drink?
Dost thou indeed deem there is some further guile? Nay, thou
hast no cause to fear, for already I have sworn thee a strong oath
not to harm thee."

'So spake she, but I answered her, saying: "Oh, Circe, what
righteous man would have the heart to taste meat and drink ere he
had redeemed his company, and beheld them face to face? But if
in good faith thou biddest me eat and drink, then let them go free,
that mine eyes may behold my dear companions."

'So I spake, and Circe passed out through the hall with the wand
in her hand, and opened the doors of the stye, and drave them forth
in the shape of swine of nine seasons old. There they stood before
her, and she went through their midst, and anointed each one of
them with another charm. And lo, from their limbs the bristles
dropped away, wherewith the venom had erewhile clothed them,
that lady Circe gave them. And they became men again, younger
than before they were, and goodlier far, and taller to behold. And
they all knew me again and each one took my hands, and wistful
was the lament that sank into their souls, and the roof around rang
wondrously. And even the goddess herself was moved with com-
passion.

'Then standing nigh me the fair goddess spake unto me: "Son of
Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, depart now
to thy swift ship and the sea-banks. And first of all, draw ye up the
ship ashore, and bestow the goods in the caves and all the gear.
And thyself return again, and bring with thee thy dear companions."

'So spake she, and my lordly spirit consented thereto. So I went
on my way to the swift ship and the sea-banks, and there I found
my dear company on the swift ship lamenting piteously, shedding
big tears. And as when calves of the homestead gather round the
droves of kine that have returned to the yard, when they have had
their fill of pasture, and all with one accord frisk before them, and
the folds may no more contain them, but with a ceaseless lowing

THE ODYSSEY I4I

they skip about their dams, so flocked they all about me weeping,
when their eyes beheld me. Yea, and to their spirit it was as though
they had got to their dear country, and the very city of rugged
Ithaca, where they were born and reared.

'Then making lament they spake to me winged words: "O foster-
ling of Zeus, we were none otherwise glad at thy returning, than
if we had come to Ithaca, our own country. Nay come, of our other
companions tell us the tale of their ruin."

'So spake they, but I answered them with soft words: "Behold,
let us first of all draw up the ship ashore, and bestow our goods
in the caves and all our gear. And do ye bestir you, one and all,
to go with me, that ye may see your fellows in the sacred dwelling
of Circe, eating and drinking, for they have continual store."

'So spake I, and at once they hearkened to my words, but Eury-
lochus alone would have holden all my companions, and uttering
his voice he spake to them winged words:

'"Wretched men that we are! whither are we going? Why are
your hearts so set on sorrow that ye should go down to the hall of
Circe, who will surely change us all to swine, or wolves, or lions,
to guard her great house perforce, according to the deeds that the
Cyclops wrought, when certain of our company went to his inmost
fold, and with them went Odysseus, ever hardy, for through the
blindness of his heart did they too perish?"

'So spake he, but I mused in my heart whether to draw my long
hanger from my stout thigh, and therewith smite off his head and
bring it to the dust, albeit he was very near of kin to me, but the
men of my company stayed me on every side with soothing words:

' "Prince of the seed of Zeus, as for this man, we will suffer him,
if thou wilt have it so, to abide here by the ship and guard the ship;
but as for us, be our guide to the sacred house of Circe."

'So they spake and went up from the ship and the sea. Nay, nor
yet was Eurylochus left by the hollow ship, but he went with us,
for he feared my terrible rebuke.

'Meanwhile Circe bathed the rest of my company in her halls
with all care, and anointed them well with olive oil and cast thick
mantles and doublets about them. And we found them all feasting
nobly in the halls. And when they saw and knew each other face

142 HOMER

to face, they wept and mourned, and the house rang around. Then
she stood near me, that fair goddess, and spake saying:

' "Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
no more now wake this plenteous weeping: myself I know of all
the pains ye endured upon the teeming deep, and the great despite
done you by unkindly men upon the land. Nay come, eat ye meat
and drink wine, till your spirit shall return to you again, as it was
when first ye left your own country of rugged Ithaca; but now are
ye wasted and wanting heart, mindful evermore of your sore wander-
ing, nor has your heart ever been merry, for very grievous hath been
your trial."

'So spake she, and our lordly spirit consented thereto. So there
we sat day by day for the full circle of a year, feasting on abundant
flesh and sweet wine. But when now a year had gone, and the
seasons returned as the months waned, and the long days came in
their course, then did my dear company call me forth, and say:

' "Good sir, now is it high time to mind thee of thy native land,
if it is ordained that thou shalt be saved, and come to thy lofty house
and thine own country."

'So spake they and my lordly spirit consented thereto. So for that
time we sat the livelong day till the going down of the sun, feasting
on abundant flesh and sweet wine. But when the sun sank and
darkness came on, they laid them to rest throughout the shadowy
halls.

'But when I had gone up into the fair bed of Circe, I besought her
by her knees, and the goddess heard my speech, and uttering my
voice I spake to her winged words: "Circe, fulfil for me the promise
which thou madest me to send me on my homeward way. Now is
my spirit eager to be gone, and the spirit of my company, that wear
away my heart as they mourn around me, when haply thou art
gone from us."

'So spake I, and the fair goddess answered me anon: "Son of
Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, tarry ye
now no longer in my house against your will; but first must ye
perform another journey, and reach the dwelling of Hades and of
dread Persephone to seek to the spirit of Theban Teiresias, the blind
soothsayer, whose wits abide steadfast To him Persephone hath

THE ODYSSEY I43

given judgment, even in death, that he alone should have under-
standing; but the other souls sweep shadow-like around."

'Thus spake she, but as for me, my heart was broken, and I wept
as I sat upon the bed, and my soul had no more care to live and to
see the sunlight. But when I had my fill of weeping and grovelling,
then at the last I answered and spake unto her saying: "And who,
Circe, will guide us on this way? for no man ever yet sailed to hell
in a black ship,"

'So spake I, and the fair goddess answered me anon: "Son of
Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, nay, trouble
not thyself for want of a guide, by thy ship abiding, but set up the
mast and spread abroad the white sails and sit thee down; and the
breeze of the North Wind will bear thy vessel on her way. But
when thou hast now sailed in thy ship across the stream Oceanus,
where is a waste shore and the groves of Persephone, even tall
poplar trees and willows that shed their fruit before the season,
there beach thy ship by deep eddying Oceanus, but go thyself to
the dank house of Hades. Thereby into Acheron flows Pyriphlege-
thon, and Cocytus, a branch of the water of the Styx, and there is
a rock, and the meeting of the two roaring waters. So, hero, draw
nigh thereto, as I command thee, and dig a trench as it were a cubit
in length and breadth, and about it pour a drink-offering to all the
dead, first with mead and thereafter with sweet wine, and for the
third time with water, and sprinkle white meal thereon and entreat
with many prayers the strengthless heads of the dead, and promise
that on thy return to Ithaca thou wilt offer in thy halls a barren
heifer, the best thou hast, and wilt fill the pyre with treasure, and
wilt sacrifice apart, to Teiresias alone, a black ram without spot, the
fairest of your flock. But when thou hast with prayers made suppli-
cation to the lordly races of the dead, then offer up a ram and a
black ewe, bending their heads towards Erebus and thyself turn
thy back, with thy face set for the shore of the river. Then will
many spirits come to thee of the dead that be departed. Thereafter
thou shalt call to thy company and command them to flay the sheep
which even now lie slain by the pitiless sword, and to consume them
with fire, and to make prayer to the gods, to mighty Hades and to
dread Persephone. And thyself draw the sharp sword from thy

144 HOMER

thigh and sit there, suffering not the strengthless heads of the dead
to draw nigh to the blood, ere thou hast word of Teiresias. Then
the seer will come to thee quickly, leader of the people; he will surely
declare to thee the way and the measure of thy path, and as touching
thy returning, how thou mayst go over the teeming deep."

'So spake she, and anon came the golden throned Dawn. Then
she put on me a mantle and a doublet for raiment, and the nymph
clad herself in a great shining robe, light of woof and gracious, and
about her waist she cast a fair golden girdle, and put a veil upon
her head. But I passed through the halls and roused my men with
smooth words, standing by each one in turn:

'"Sleep ye now no more nor breathe sweet slumber; but let us
go on our way, for surely she hath shown me all, the lady Circe."

'So spake I, and their lordly soul consented thereto. Yet even
thence I led not my company safe away. There was one, Elpenor,
the youngest of us all, not very valiant in war, neither steadfast in
mind. He was lying apart from the rest of my men on the house-
top of Circe's sacred dwelling, very fain of the cool air, as one heavy
with wine. Now when he heard the noise of the voices and of the
feet of my fellows as they moved to and fro, he leaped up of a
sudden and minded him not to descend again by the way of the
tall ladder, but fell right down from the roof, and his neck was
broken from the bones of the spine, and his spirit went down to the
house of Hades.

'Then I spake among my men as they went on their way, saying:
"Ye deem now, I see, that ye are going to your own dear country;
but Circe hath showed us another way, even to the dwelling of
Hades and of dread Persephone, to seek to the spirit of Theban
Teiresias."

'Even so I spake, but their heart within them was broken, and
they sat them down even where they were, and made lament and
tore their hair. Howbeit no help came of their weeping.

'But as we were now wending sorrowful to the swift ship and
the sea-banks, shedding big tears, Circe meanwhile had gone her
ways and made fast a ram and a black ewe by the dark ship, lightly
passing us by: who may behold a god against his will, whether going
to or fro?

BOOK XI

Odysseus, his descent into hell, and discourses with the ghosts of the

deceased heroes.

NOW when we had gone down to the ship and to the sea,
first of all we drew the ship unto the fair salt water and
placed the mast and sails in the black ship, and took
those sheep and put them therein, and ourselves too climbed on
board, sorrowing, and shedding big tears. And in the wake of our
dark-prowed ship she sent a favouring wind that filled the sails, a
kindly escort, — even Circe of the braided tresses, a dread goddess
of human speech. And we set in order all the gear throughout the
ship and sat us down; and the wind and the helmsman guided our
barque. And all day long her sails were stretched in her seafaring;
and the sun sank and all the ways were darkened.

'She came to the limits of the world, to the deep-flowing Oceanus.
There is the land and the city of the Cimmerians, shrouded in mist
and cloud, and never does the shining sun look down on them
with his rays, neither when he climbs up the starry heavens, nor
when again he turns earthward from the firmament, but deadly
night is outspread over miserable mortals. Thither we came and
ran the ship ashore and took out the sheep; but for our part we
held on our way along the stream of Oceanus, till we came to the
place which Circe had declared to us.

'There Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, but I drew
my sharp sword from my thigh, and dug a pit, as it were a cubit in
length and breadth, and about it poured a drink-offering to all the
dead, first with mead and thereafter with sweet wine, and for the
third time with water. And I sprinkled white meal thereon, and
entreated with many prayers the strengthless heads of the dead,
and promised that on my return to Ithaca I would offer in my
halls a barren heifer, the best I had, and fill the pyre with treasure,
and apart unto Teiresias alone sacrifice a black ram without spot,
the fairest of my flock. But when I had besought the tribes of the

>45

146 HOMER

dead with vows and prayers, I took the sheep and cut their throats
over the trench, and the dark blood flowed forth, and lo, the spirits
of the dead that be departed gathered them from out of Erebus.
Brides and youths unwed, and old men of many and evil days,
and tender maidens with grief yet fresh at heart; and many there
were, wounded with bronze-shod spears, men slain in fight with
their bloody mail about them. And these many ghosts flocked
together from every side about the trench with a wondrous cry,
and pale fear gat hold of me. Then did I speak to my company
and command them to flay the sheep that lay slain by the pitiless
sword, and to consume them with fire, and to make prayer to the
gods, to mighty Hades and to dread Persephone, and myself I drew
the sharp sword from my thigh and sat there, suffering not the
strengthless heads of the dead to draw nigh to the blood, ere I had
word of Teiresias.

'And first came the soul of Elpenor, my companion, that had
not yet been buried beneath the wide-wayed earth; for we left the
corpse behind us in the hall of Circe, unwept and unburied, seeing
that another task was instant on us. At the sight of him I wept and
had compassion on him, and uttering my voice spake to him winged
words: "Elpenor, how hast thou come beneath the darkness and
the shadow? Thou hast come fleeter on foot than I in my black
ship."

'So spake I, and with a moan he answered me, saying: "Son of
Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, an evil
doom of some god was my bane and wine out of measure. When I
laid me down on the house-top of Circe I minded me not to descend
again by the way of the tall ladder, but fell right down from the
roof, and my neck was broken off from the bones of the spine, and
my spirit went down to the house of Hades. And now I pray thee
in the name of those whom we left, who are no more with us, thy
wife, and thy sire who cherished thee when as yet thou wert a little
one, and Telemachus, whom thou didst leave in thy halls alone;
forasmuch as I know that on thy way hence from out the dwelling
of Hades, thou wilt stay thy well-wrought ship at the isle Aeaean,
even then, my lord, I charge thee to think on me. Leave me not un-
wept and unburied as thou goest hence, nor turn thy back upon me,

THE ODYSSEY 1 47

lest haply I bring on thee the anger of the gods. Nay, burn me
there with mine armour, all that is mine, and pile me a barrow
on the shore of the grey sea, the grave of a luckless man, that even
men unborn may hear my story. Fulfil me this and plant upon the
barrow mine oar, wherewith I rowed in the days of my Ufe, while
yet I was among my fellows."

'Even so he spake, and I answered him saying: "All this, luckless
man, will I perform for thee and do."

'Even so we twain were sitting holding sad discourse, I on the
one side, stretching forth my sword over the blood, while on the
other side the ghost of my friend told all his tale.

'Anon came up the soul of my mother dead, Anticleia, the daughter
of Autolycus the great hearted, whom I left alive when I departed
for sacred Ilios. At the sight of her I wept, and was moved with
compassion, yet even so, for all my sore grief, I suffered her not
to draw nigh to the blood, ere I had word of Teiresias.

'Anon came the soul of Theban Teiresias, with a golden sceptre
in his hand, and he knew me and spake imto me: "Son of Laertes,
of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, what seekest thou
now, wretched man, wherefore hast thou left the sunUght and
come hither to behold the dead and a land desolate of joy? Nay,
hold off from the ditch and draw back thy sharp sword, that I may
drink of the blood and tell thee sooth."

'So spake he and I put up my silver-studded sword into the sheath,
and when he had drunk the dark blood, even then did the noble
seer speak unto me saying: "Thou art asking of thy sweet return-
ing, great Odysseus, but that will the god make hard for thee; for
methinks thou shalt not pass unheeded by the Shaker of the Earth,
who hath laid up wrath in his heart against thee, for rage at the
blinding of his dear son. Yet even so, through many troubles, ye
may come home, if thou wilt restrain thy spirit and the spirit of
thy men so soon as thou shalt bring thy well-wrought ship nigh to
the isle Thrinacia, fleeing the sea of violet blue, when ye find the
herds of Helios grazing and his brave flocks, of Helios who over-
seeth all and overheareth all things. If thou doest these no hurt,
being heedful of thy return, so may ye yet reach Ithaca, albeit in
evil case. But if thou hurtest them, I foreshow ruin for thy ship

148 HOMER

and for thy men, and even though thou shall thyself escape, late
shalt thou return in evil plight, with the loss of all thy company,
on board the ship of strangers, and thou shalt find sorrows in thy
house, even proud men that devour thy living, while they woo thy
godlike wife and offer the gifts of wooing. Yet I tell thee, on thy
coming thou shalt avenge their violence. But when thou hast slain
the wooers in thy halls, whether by guile, or openly with the edge
of the sword, thereafter go thy way, taking with thee a shapen oar,
till thou shalt come to such men as know not the sea, neither eat
meat savoured with salt; yea, nor have they knowledge of ships
of purple cheek, nor shapen oars which serve for wings to ships.
And I will give thee a most manifest token, which cannot escape
thee. In the day when another wayfarer shall meet thee and say
that thou hast a winnowing fan on thy stout shoulder, even then
make fast thy shapen oar in the earth and do goodly sacrifice to the
lord Poseidon, even with a ram and a bull and a boar, the mate of
swine, and depart for home and offer holy hecatombs to the death-
less gods that keep the wide heaven, to each in order due. And from
the sea shall thine own death come, the gentlest death that may be,
which shall end thee foredone with smooth old age, and the folk
shall dwell happily around thee. This that I say is sooth."

'So spake he, and I answered him, saying: "Teiresias, all these
threads, methinks, the gods themselves have spun. But come, de-
clare me this and plainly tell me all. I see here the spirit of my
mother dead; lo, she sits in silence near the blood, nor deigns to
look her son in the face nor speak to him! Tell me, prince, how
may she know me again that I am he?"

'So spake I, and anon he answered me, and said: "I will tell thee
an easy saying, and will put it in thy heart. Whomsoever of the
dead that be departed thou shalt suffer to draw nigh to the blood,
he shall tell thee sooth; but if thou shalt grudge any, that one shall
go to his own place again." Therewith the spirit of the prince
Teiresias went back within the house of Hades, when he had told
all his oracles. But I abode there steadfastly, till my mother drew
nigh and drank the dark blood; and at once she knew me, and
bewaiUng herself spake to me winged words:

•"Dear child, how didst thou come beneath the darkness and

THE ODYSSEY 1 49

the shadow, thou that art a living man ? Grievous is the sight of these
things to the Hving, for between us and you are great rivers and
dreadful streams; first, Oceanus, which can no wise be crossed on
foot, but only if one have a well-wrought ship. Art thou but now
come hither with thy ship and thy company in thy long wanderings
from Troy? and hast thou not yet reached Ithaca, nor seen thy
wife in thy halls?"

'Even so she spake, and I answered her, and said : "O my mother,
necessity was on me to come down to the house of Hades to seek
to the spirit of Theban Teiresias. For not yet have I drawn near to
the Achaean shore, nor yet have I set foot on mine own country,
but have been wandering evermore in affliction, from the day that
first I went with goodly Agamemnon to Ilios of the fair steeds, to
do battle with the Trojans. But come, declare me this and plainly
tell it all. What doom overcame thee of death that lays men at their
length? Was it a slow disease, or did Artemis the archer slay thee
with the visitation of her gentle shafts? And tell me of my father
and my son, that I left behind me; doth my honour yet abide with
them, or hath another already taken it, while they say that I shall
come home no more? And tell me of my wedded wife, of her
counsel and her purpose, doth she abide with her son and keep all
secure, or hath she already wedded the best of the Achaeans?"

'Even so I spake, and anon my lady mother answered me: "Yea
verily, she abideth with steadfast spirit in thy halls; and wearily for
her the nights wane always and the days in shedding of tears. But
the fair honour that is thine no man hath yet taken; but Telemachus
sits at peace on his demesne, and feasts at equal banquets whereof
it is meet that a judge partake, for all men bid him to their house.
And thy father abides there in the field, and goes not down to the
town, nor lies he on bedding or rugs or shining blankets, but all
the winter he sleeps, where sleep the thralls in the house, in the ashes
by the fire, and is clad in sorry raiment. But when the summer
comes and the rich harvest-tide, his beds of fallen leaves are strewn
lowly all about the knoll of his vineyard plot. There he lies sorrow-
ing and nurses his mighty grief, for long desire of thy return, and
old age withal comes heavy upon him. Yea and even so did I too
perish and meet my doom. It was not the archer goddess of the

150 HOMER

keen sight, who slew me in my halls with the visitation of her gentle
shafts, nor did any sickness come upon me, such as chiefly with a
sad wasting draws the spirit from the limbs; nay, it was my sore
longing for thee, and for thy counsels, great Odysseus, and for thy
loving kindness, that reft me of sweet life."

'So spake she, and I mused in my heart and would fain have
embraced the spirit of my mother dead. Thrice I sprang towards
her, and was minded to embrace her; thrice she flitted from my
hands as a shadow or even as a dream, and sharp grief arose ever
in my heart. And uttering my voice I spake to her winged words:

' "Mother mine, wherefore dost thou not abide me who am eager
to clasp thee, that even in Hades we twain may cast our arms each
about the other, and have our fill of chill lament? Is this but a
phantom that the high goddess Persephone hath sent me, to the
end that I may groan for more exceeding sorrow?"

'So spake I, and my lady mother answered me anon: "Ah me,
my child, of all men most ill-fated, Persephone, the daughter of
Zeus, doth in no wise deceive thee, but even on this wise it is with
mortals when they die. For the sinews no more bind together the
flesh and the bones, but the great force of burning fire abolishes
these, so soon as the life hath left the white bones, and the spirit
like a dream flies forth and hovers near. But haste with all thine
heart toward the sunlight, and mark all this, that even hereafter
thou mayest tell it to thy wife."

'Thus we twain held discourse together; and lo, the women came
up, for the high goddess Persephone sent them forth, all they that
had been the wives and daughters of mighty men. And they
gathered and flocked about the black blood, and I took counsel how
I might question them each one. And this was the counsel that
showed best in my sight. I drew my long hanger from my stalwart
thigh, and suffered them not all at one time to drink of the dark
blood. So they drew nigh one by one, and each declared her line-
age, and I made question of all.

'Then verily did I first see Tyro, sprung of a noble sire, who said
that she was the child of noble Salmoneus, and declared herself the
wife of Cretheus, son of Aeolus. She loved a river, the divine
Enipeus, far the fairest of the floods that run upon the earth, and

THE ODYSSEY I5I

she would resort to the fair streams of Enipeus. And it came to
pass that the girdler of the world, the Earth-shaker, put on the shape
of the god, and lay by the lady at the mouths of the whirling stream.
Then the dark wave stood around them hke a hill-side bowed, and
hid the god and the mortal woman. And he undid her maiden
girdle, and shed a slumber over her. Now when the god had done
the work of love, he clasped her hand and spake and hailed her:

' "Woman, be glad in our love, and when the year comes round
thou shalt give birth to glorious children, — for not weak are the
embraces of the gods, — and do thou keep and cherish them. And
now go home and hold thy peace, and tell it not: but behold, I am
Poseidon, shaker of the earth."

'Therewith he plunged beneath the heaving deep. And she con-
ceived and bare Pelias and Neleus, who both grew to be mighty
men, servants of Zeus. Pelias dwelt in wide lolcos, and was rich in
flocks; and that other abode in sandy Pylos. And the queen of
women bare yet other sons to Cretheus, even Aeson and Pheres and
Amythaon, whose joy was in chariots.

'And after her I saw Antiope, daughter of Asopus, and her boast
was that she had slept even in the arms of Zeus, and she bare two
sons, Amphion and Zethus, who founded first the place of seven-
gated Thebes, and they made of it a fenced city, for they might not
dwell in spacious Thebes unfenced, for all their valiancy.

'Next to her I saw Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, who lay in the
arms of mighty 2^us, and bare Heracles of the lion-heart, stead-
fast in the fight. And I saw Megara, daughter of Creon, haughty
of heart, whom the strong and tireless son of Amphitryon had to
wife.

'And I saw the mother of Oedipodes, fair Epicaste, who wrought
a dread deed unwittingly, being wedded to her own son, and he
that had slain his own father wedded her, and straightway the
gods made these things known to men. Yet he abode in pain in
pleasant Thebes, ruling the Cadmaeans, by reason of the deadly
counsels of the gods. But she went down to the house of Hades,
the mighty warder; yea, she tied a noose from the high beam aloft,
being fast holden in sorrow; while for him she left pains behind full
many, even all that the Avengers of a mother bring to pass.

152 HOMER

'And I saw lovely Chloris, whom Neleus wedded on a time for
her beauty, and brought gifts of wooing past number. She was
the youngest daughter of Amphion, son of lasus, who once ruled
mightily in Minyan Orchomenus. And she was queen of Pylos,
and bare glorious children to her lord, Nestor and Chromius, and
princely Periclymenus, and stately Pero too, the wonder of all men.
All that dwelt around were her wooers; but Neleus would not give
her, save to him who should drive off from Phylace the kine of
mighty Iphicles, with shambling gait and broad of brow, hard
cattle to drive. And none but the noble seer' took in hand to drive
them; but a grievous fate from the gods fettered him, even hard
bonds and the herdsmen of the wild. But when at length the months
and days were being fulfilled, as the year returned upon his course,
and the seasons came round, then did mighty Iphicles set him free,
when he had spoken out all the oracles; and herein was the counsel
of Zeus being accomplished.

'And I saw Lede, the famous bed-fellow of Tyndareus, who
bare to Tyndareus two sons, hardy of heart. Castor tamer of steeds,
and Polydeuces the boxer. These twain yet live, but the quicken-
ing earth is over them; and even in the nether world they have
honour at the hand of Zeus. And they possess their life in turn,
living one day and dying the next, and they have gotten worship
even as the gods.

'And after her I beheld Iphimedeia, bed-fellow of Aloeus, who
said that she had lain with Poseidon, and she bare children twain,
but short of life were they, godlike Otus and far-famed Ephialtes.
Now these were the tallest men that earth, the graingiver, ever
reared, and far the goodliest after the renowned Orion. At nine
seasons old they were of breadth nine cubits, and nine fathoms in
height. They it was who threatened to raise even against the im-
mortals in Olympus the din of stormy war. They strove to pile Ossa
on Olympus, and on Ossa Pelion with the trembling forest leaves,
that there might be a pathway to the sky. Yea, and they would
have accomplished it, had they reached the full measure of man-
hood. But the son of Zeus, whom Leto of the fair locks bare,

' Mclampus.

THE ODYSSEY 1 53

destroyed the twain, ere the down had bloomed beneath their tem-
ples, and darkened their chins with the blossom of youth.

'And Phaedra and Procris I saw, and fair Ariadne, the daughter
of wizard Minos, whom Theseus on a time was bearing from Crete
to the hill of sacred Athens, yet had he no joy of her; for Artemis
slew her ere that in sea-girt Dia, by reason of the witness of
Dionysus.

'And Maera and Clymene I saw, and hateful Eriphyle, who took
fine gold for the price of her dear lord's life. But I cannot tell or
name all the wives and daughters of the heroes that I saw; ere that,
the immortal night would wane. Nay, it is even now time to sleep,
whether I go to the swift ship to my company or abide here: and
for my convoy you and the gods will care.'

So spake he, and dead silence fell on all, and they were spell-
bound throughout the shadowy halls. Then Arete of the white arms
first spake among them: 'Phaeacians, what think you of this man
for comeliness and stature, and within for wisdom of heart ? More-
over he is my guest, though every one of you hath his share in this
honour. Wherefore haste not to send him hence, and stint not these
your gifts for one that stands in such sore need of them; for ye
have much treasure stored in your halls by the grace of the gods.'

Then too spake among them the old man, lord Echeneus, that
was an elder among the Phaeacians: 'Friends, behold, the speech of
our wise queen is not wide of the mark, nor far from our deeming,
so hearken ye thereto. But on Alcinous here both word and work
depend.'

Then Alcinous made answer, and spake unto him: 'Yea, the
word that she hath spoken shall hold, if indeed I am yet to live and
bear rule among the Phaeacians, masters of the oar. Howbeit let
the stranger, for all his craving to return, nevertheless endure to
abide until the morrow, till I make up the full measure of the gift;
and men shall care for his convoy, all men, but I in chief, for mine
is the lordship in the land.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: 'My
lord Alcinous, most notable of all the people, if ye bade me tarry
here even for a year, and would speed my convoy and give me

154 HOMER

splendid gifts, even that I would choose; and better would it be for
me to come with a fuller hand to mine own dear country, so should
I get more love and worship in the eyes of all men, whoso should
see me after I was returned to Ithaca.'

And Alcinous answered him, saying: 'Odysseus, in no wise do we
deem thee, we that look on thee, to be a knave or a cheat, even as
the dark earth rears many such broadcast, fashioning hes whence
none can even see his way therein. But beauty crowns thy words,
and wisdom is within thee; and thy tale, as when a minstrel sings,
thou hast told with skill, the weary woes of all the Argives and of
thine own self. But come, declare me this and plainly tell it all.
Didst thou see any of thy godlike company who went up at the same
time with thee to Ilios and there met their doom? Behold, the
night is of great length, unspeakable, and the time for sleep in the
hall is not yet; tell me therefore of those wondrous deeds. I could
abide even till the bright dawn, so long as thou couldst endure to re-
hearse me these woes of thine in the hall.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: 'My
lord Alcinous, most notable of all the people, there is a time for
many words and there is a time for sleep. But if thou art eager still
to listen, 1 would not for my part grudge to tell thee of other things
more pitiful still, even the woes of my comrades, those that perished
afterward, for they had escaped with their lives from the dread war-
cry of the Trojans, but perished in returning by the will of an evil
woman.

'Now when holy Persephone had scattered this way and that the
spirits of the women folk, thereafter came the soul of Agamemnon,
son of Atreus, sorrowing; and round him others were gathered, the
ghosts of them who had died with him in the house of Aegisthus and
met their doom. And he knew me straightway when he had drunk
the dark blood, yea, and he wept aloud, and shed big tears as he
stretched forth his hands in his longing to reach me. But it might
not be, for he had now no steadfast strength nor pov/er at all in
moving, such as was aforetime in his supple limbs.

'At the sight of him I wept and was moved with compassion,
and uttering my voice, spake to him winged words: "Most re-
nowned son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, say what doom

THE ODYSSEY 1 55

overcame thee of death that lays men at their length ? Did Poseidon
smite thee in thy ships, raising the dolorous blast of contrary winds,
or did unfriendly men do thee hurt upon the land, whilst thou wert
cutting off their oxen and fair flocks of sheep, or fighting to win a
city and the women thereof?"

'So spake I, and straightway he answered, and said unto me:
"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices, it
was not Poseidon that smote me in my ships, and raised the dolorous
blast of contrary winds, nor did unfriendly men do me hurt upon
the land, but Aegisthus it was that wrought me death and doom
and slew me, with the aid of my accursed wife, as one slays an ox
at the stall, after he had bidden me to his house, and entertained me
at a feast. Even so I died by a death most pitiful, and round me my
company likewise were slain without ceasing, like swine with glitter-
ing tusks which are slaughtered in the house of a rich and mighty
man, whether at a wedding banquet or a joint-feast or a rich clan-
drinking. Ere now hast thou been at the slaying of many a man,
killed in single fight or in strong battle, yet thou wouldst have
sorrowed the most at this sight, how we lay in the hall round the
mixing-bowl and the laden boards, and the floor all ran with blood.
And most pitiful of all that I heard was the voice of the daughter
of Priam, of Cassandra, whom hard by me the crafty Clytemnestra
slew. Then I strove to raise my hands as I was dying upon the
sword, but to earth they fell. And that shameless one turned her
back upon me, and had not the heart to draw down my eyelids
with her fingers nor to close my mouth. So surely is there nought
more terrible and shameless than a woman who imagines such evil
in her heart, even as she too planned a foul deed, fashioning death
for her wedded lord. Verily I had thought to come home most
welcome to my children and my thralls; but she, out of the depth of
her evil knowledge, hath shed shame on herself and on all woman-
kind, which shall be for ever, even on the upright."

'Even so he spake, but I answered him, saying: "Lo now, in
very sooth, hath Zeus of the far-borne voice wreaked wondrous
hatred on the seed of Atreus through the counsels of woman from of
old. For Helen's sake so many of us perished, and now Clytemnestra
hath practised treason against thee, while yet thou wast afar off."

156 HOMER

'Even so I spake, and anon he answered me, saying: "Where-
fore do thou too, never henceforth be soft even to thy wife, neither
show her all the counsel that thou knowest, but a part declare and
let part be hid. Yet shalt not thou, Odysseus, find death at the
hand of thy wife, for she is very discreet and prudent in all her ways,
the wise Penelope, daughter of Icarius. Verily we left her a bride
new wed when we went to the war, and a child was at her breast,
who now, methinks, sits in the ranks of men, happy in his lot, for
his dear father shall behold him on his coming, and he shall embrace
his sire as is meet. But as for my wife, she suffered me not so much
as to have my fill of gazing on my son; ere that she slew me, even
her lord. And yet another thing will I tell thee, and do thou ponder
it in thy heart. Put thy ship to land in secret, and not openly, on
the shore of thy dear country; for there is no more faith in woman.
But come, declare me this and plainly tell it all, if haply ye hear of
my son as yet Uving, either, it may be, in Orchomenus or in sandy
Pylos, or perchance with Menelaus in wide Sparta, for goodly Orestes
hath not yet perished on the earth."

'Even so he spake, but I answered him, saying: "Son of Atreus,
wherefore dost thou ask me straitly of these things? Nay I know not
at all, whether he be alive or dead; it is ill to speak words light as
wind."

'Thus we twain stood sorrowing, holding sad discourse, while
the big tears fell fast: and therewithal came the soul of Achilles,
son of Peleus, and of Patroclus and of noble Antilochus and of Aias,
who in face and form was goodliest of all the Danaans, after the
noble son of Peleus. And the spirit of the son of Aeacus, fleet
of foot, knew me again, and making lament spake to me winged
words :

' "Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
man overbold, what new deed and hardier than this wilt thou de-
vise in thy heart? How durst thou come down to the house of
Hades, where dwell the senseless dead, the phantoms of men out-
worn?"

'So he spake, but I answered him: "Achilles, son of Peleus,
mightiest far of the Achaeans, I am come hither to seek to Teiresias,
if he may tell me any counsel, how I may come to rugged Ithaca.

THE ODYSSEY 157

For not yet have I come nigh the Achaean land, nor set foot on
mine own soil, but am still in evil case; while as for thee, Achilles,
none other than thou wast heretofore the most blessed of men, nor
shall any be hereafter. For of old, in the days of thy life, we Argives
gave thee one honour with the gods, and now thou art a great
prince here among the dead. Wherefore let not thy death be any
grief to thee, Achilles."

'Even so I spake, and he straightway answered me, and said:
"Nay, speak not comfortably to me of death, oh great Odysseus.
Rather would I live on ground' as the hireling of another, with a
landless man who had no great livelihood, than bear sway among
all the dead that be departed. But come, tell me tidings of that
lordly son of mine — did he follow to the war to be a leader or not?
And tell me of noble Peleus, if thou hast heard aught, — is he yet
held in worship among the Myrmidons, or do they dishonour him
from Hellas to Phthia, for that old age binds him hand and foot.?
For I am no longer his champion under the sun, so mighty a man
as once I was, when in wide Troy I slew the best of the host, and
succoured the Argives. Ah! could I but come for an hour to my
father's house as then I was, so would I make my might and hands
invincible, to be hateful to many an one of those who do him despite
and keep him from his honour."

'Even so he spake, but I answered him, saying: "As for noble
Peleus, verily I have heard nought of him; but concerning thy dear
son Neoptolemus, I will tell thee all the truth, according to thy
word. It was I that led him up out of Scyros in my good hollow
ship, in the wake of the goodly-greaved Achaeans. Now oft as we
took counsel around Troy town, he was ever the first to speak, and
no word missed the mark; the godlike Nestor and I alone surpassed
him. But whensoever we Achaeans did battle on the plain of Troy,
he never tarried behind in the throng or the press of men, but ran
out far before us all, yielding to none in that might of his. And many
men he slew in warfare dread; but I could not tell of all or name
their names, even all the host he slew in succouring the Argives;
but, ah, how he smote with the sword that son of Telephus, the hero

' iripovpot seems to mean 'upon the earth,' 'above ground,' as opposed to the
dead who are below, rather than 'bound to the soil,' in which sense most commen-
tators take it.

158 HOMER

Eurypylus, and many Ceteians' o£ his company were slain around
him, by reason of a woman's bribe. He truly was the comeliest
man that ever I saw, next to goodly Memnon. And again when we,
the best of the Argives, were about to go down into the horse which
Epeus wrought, and the charge of all was laid on me, both to open
the door of our good ambush and to shut the same, then did the
other princes and counsellors of the Danaans wipe away the tears,
and the limbs of each one trembled beneath him, but never once did
I see thy son's fair face wax pale, nor did he wipe the tears from his
cheeks: but he besought me often to let him go forth from the
horse, and kept handling his sword-hilt, and his heavy bronze-shod
spear, and he was set on mischief against the Trojans. But after
we had sacked the steep city of Priam, he embarked unscathed with
his share of the spoil, and with a noble prize; he was not smitten
with the sharp spear, and got no wound in close fight: and many
such chances there be in war, for Ares rageth confusedly."

'So I spake, and the spirit of the son of Aeacus, fleet of foot,
passed with great strides along the mead of asphodel, rejoicing in
that I had told him of his son's renown.

'But lo, other spirits of the dead that be departed stood sorrowing,
and each one asked of those that were dear to them. The soul of
Aias, son of Telamon, alone stood apart being still angry for the
victory wherein I prevailed against him, in the suit by the ships
concerning the arms of Achilles, that his lady mother had set for
a prize; and the sons of the Trojans made award and Pallas Athene.
Would that I had never prevailed and won such a prize! So goodly
a head hath the earth closed over, for the sake of those arms, even
over Aias, who in beauty and in feats of war was of a mould above
all the other Danaans, next to the noble son of Peleus. To him
then I spake softly, saying:

' "Aias, son of noble Telamon, so art thou not even in death to
forget thy wrath against me, by reason of those arms accursed,
which the gods set to be the bane of the Argives? What a tower
of strength fell in thy fall, and we Achaeans cease not to sorrow for
thee, even as for the life of Achilles, son of Peleus! Nay, there is
none other to blame, but Zeus, who hath borne wondrous hate to
the army of the Danaan spearsmen, and laid on thee thy doom.
' See Lcnortnant, Premieres Civilisations, vol. i. p. 389.

THE ODYSSEY 159

Nay, come hither, my lord, that thou mayest hear my word and my
speech; master thy wrath and thy proud spirit."

'So I spake, but he answered me not a word and passed to
Erebus after the other spirits of the dead that be departed. Even
then, despite his anger, would he have spoken to me or I to him,
but my heart within me was minded to see the spirits of those others
that were departed.

'There then I saw Minos, glorious son of Zeus, wielding a golden
sceptre, giving sentence from his throne to the dead, while they sat
and stood around the prince, asking his dooms through the wide-
gated house of Hades.

'And after him I marked the mighty Orion driving the wild
beasts together over the mead of asphodel, the very beasts that him-
self had slain on the lonely hills, with a strong mace all of bronze
in his hands,* that is ever unbroken.

'And I saw Tityos, son of renowned Earth, lying on a levelled
ground, and he covered nine roods as he lay, and vultures twain
beset him one on either side, and gnawed at his hver, piercing even
to the caul, but he drave them not away with his hands. For he had
dealt violently with Leto, the famous bedfellow of Zeus, as she went
up to Pytho through the fair lawns of Panopeus.

'Moreover I beheld Tantalus in grievous torment, standing in a
mere and the water came nigh unto his chin. And he stood strain-
ing as one athirst, but he might not attain to the water to drink of
it. For often as that old man stooped down in his eagerness to
drink, so often the water was swallowed up and it vanished away,
and the black earth still showed at his feet, for some god parched it
evermore. And tall trees flowering shed their fruit overhead, p)ears
and pomegranates and apple trees with bright fruit, and sweet
figs and olives in their bloom, whereat when that old man reached
out his hands to clutch them, the wind would toss them to the
shadowy clouds.

"Yea and I beheld Sisyphus in strong torment, grasping a mon-
strous stone with both his hands. He was pressing thereat with
hands and feet, and trying to roll the stone upward toward the brow
of the hill. But oft as he was about to hurl it over the top, the weight

* ?XW '" strict Krammar asrces with alrrit in 574, but this merely by attraction,
for in sense it refers not to the living man, but to his phantom.

l6o HOMER

would drive him back, so once again to the plain rolled the stone,
the shameless thing. And he once more kept heaving and straining,
and the sweat the while was pouring down his limbs, and the dust
rose upwards from his head.

'And after him I descried the mighty Heracles, his phantom,
I say; but as for himself he hath joy at the banquet among the death-
less gods, and hath to wife Hebe of the fair ankles, child of great
Zeus, and of Here of the golden sandals. And all about him there
was a clamour of the dead, as it were fowls flying every way in fear,
and he like black Night, with bow uncased, and shaft upon the
string, fiercely glancing around, like one in the act to shoot. And
about his breast was an awful belt, a baldric of gold, whereon won-
drous things were wrought, bears and wild boars and lions with
flashing eyes, and strife and battles and slaughters and murders of
men. Nay, now that he hath fashioned this, never another may he
fashion, whoso stored in his craft the device of that belt I And anon
he knew me when his eyes beheld me, and making lament he spake
unto me winged words:

'"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices:
ah! wretched one, dost thou too lead such a life of evil doom, as I
endured beneath the rays of the sun? I was the son of Zeus
Cronion, yet had I trouble beyond measure, for I was subdued
unto a man far worse than I. And he enjoined on me hard
adventures, yea and on a time he sent me hither to bring back
the hound of hell; for he devised no harder task for me than this.
I lifted the hound and brought him forth from out of the house
of Hades; and Hermes sped me on my way and the grey-eyed
Athene."

'Therewith he departed again into the house of Hades, but I
abode there still, if perchance some one of the hero folk besides
might come, who died in old time. Yea and I should have seen the
men of old, whom I was fain to look on, Theseus and Peirithous,
renowned children of the gods. But ere that might be the myriad
tribes of the dead thronged up together with wondrous clamour:
and pale fear gat hold of me, lest the high goddess Persephone
should send me the head of the Gorgon, that dread monster, from
out of Hades.

THE ODYSSEY l6l

'Straightway then I went to the ship, and bade my men mount
the vessel, and loose the hawsers. So speedily they went on board,
and sat upon the benches. And the wave of the flood bore the
barque down the stream of Oceanus, we rowing first, and afterwards
the fair wind was our convoy.

BOOK XII

Odysseus, his passage by the Sirens, and by Scylla and Charybdis. The
sacrilege committed by his men in the isle Thrinacia. The destruction
of his ships and men. How he swam on a plank nine days together, and
came to Ogygia, where he stayed seven years with Calypso.

*"TW "TOW after the ship had left the stream of the river Oceanus,
I ^^ and was come to the wave of the wide sea, and the isle
-i- ^ Aeaean, where is the dwelling place of early Dawn and
her dancing grounds, and the land of sunrising, upon our coming
thither we beached the ship in the sand, and ourselves too stept
ashore on the sea beach. There we fell on sound sleep and awaited
the bright Dawn.

'So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, I sent forth
my fellows to the house of Circe to fetch the body of the dead
Elpenor. And speedily we cut billets of wood and sadly we buried
him, where the furthest headland runs out into the sea, shedding
big tears. But when the dead man was burned and the arms of the
dead, we piled a barrow and dragged up thereon a pillar, and on
the topmost mound we set the shapen oar.

'Now all that task we finished, and our coming from out of Hades
was not unknown to Circe, but she arrayed herself and speedily drew
nigh, and her handmaids with her bare flesh and bread in plenty
and dark red wine. And the fair goddess stood in the midst and
spake in our ears, saying:

' "Men overbold, who have gone alive into the house of Hades,
to know death twice, while all men else die once for all. Nay come,
eat ye meat and drink wine here all day long; and with the breaking
of the day ye shall set sail, and myself I will show you the path and
declare each thing, that ye may not sufler pain or hurt through any
grievous ill<ontrivance by sea or on the land."

'So spake she, and our lordly souls consented thereto. Thus for
that time we sat the livelong day, until the going down of the sun,
feasting on abundant flesh and on sweet wine. Now when the

162

THE ODYSSEY 1 63

sun sank and darkness came on, my company laid them to rest by
the hawsers of the ship. Then she took me by the hand and led me
apart from my dear company, and made me to sit down and laid
herself at my feet, and asked all my tale. And I told her all in order
duly. Then at the last the lady Circe spake unto me, saying:

' "Even so, now all these things have an end; do thou then hearken
even as I tell thee, and the god himself shall bring it back to thy
mind. To the Sirens first shalt thou come, who bewitch all men,
whosoever shall come to them. Whoso draws nigh them unwit-
tingly and hears the sound of the Sirens' voice, never doth he see
wife or babes stand by him on his return, nor have they joy at his
coming; but the Sirens enchant him with their clear song, sitting in
the meadow, and all about is a great heap of bones of men, cor-
rupt in death, and round the bones the skin is wasting. But do thou
drive thy ship past, and knead honey-sweet wax, and anoint there-
with the ears of thy company, lest any of the rest hear the song; but
if thou thyself art minded to hear, let them bind thee in the swift
ship hand and foot, upright in the mast-stead, and from the mast
let rope-ends be tied, that with delight thou mayest hear the voice
of the Sirens. And if thou shalt beseech thy company and bid them
to loose thee, then let them bind thee with yet more bonds. But
when thy friends have driven thy ship past these, I will not tell
thee fully which path shall thenceforth be thine, but do thou thy-
self consider it, and I will speak to thee of either way. On the one
side there are beetling rocks, and against them the great wave roars
of dark-eyed Amphitrite. These, ye must know, are they the blessed
gods call the Rocks Wandering. By this way even winged things
may never pass, nay, not even the cowering doves that bear ambrosia
to Father Zeus, but the sheer rock evermore takes away one even
of these, and the Father sends in another to make up the tale.
Thereby no ship of men ever escapes that comes thither, but the
planks of ships and the bodies of men confusedly are tossed by the
waves of the sea and the storms of ruinous fire. One ship only of
all that fare by sea hath passed that way, even Argo, that is in all
men's minds, on her voyage from Aeetes. And even her the wave
would lightly have cast there upon the mighty rocks, but Here sent
her by for love of Jason.

164 HOMER

' "On the other part are two rocks, whereof the one reaches with
sharp peak to the wide heaven, and a dark cloud encompasses it;
this never streams away, and there is no clear air about the peak
neither in summer nor in harvest tide. No mortal man may scale
it or set foot thereon, not though he had twenty hands and feet.
For the rock is smooth, and sheer, as it were polished. And in the
midst of the cliff is a dim cave turned to Erebus, towards the place
of darkness, whereby ye shall even steer your hollow ship, noble
Odysseus. Not with an arrow from a bow might a man in his
strength reach from his hollow ship into that deep cave. And therein
dwelleth Scylla, yelping terribly. Her voice indeed is no greater than
the voice of a new-born whelp, but a dreadful monster is she, nor
would any look on her gladly, not if it were a god that met her.
Verily she hath twelve feet all dangling down; and six necks ex-
ceeding long, and on each a hideous head, and therein three rows
of teeth set thick and close, full of black death. Up to her middle
is she sunk far down in the hollow cave, but forth she holds her
heads from the dreadful gulf, and there she fishes, swooping round
the rock, for dolphins or sea-dogs, or whatso greater beast she may
anywhere take, whereof the deep-voiced Amphitrite feeds coundess
flocks. Thereby no sailors boast that they have fled scatheless ever
with their ship, for with each head she carries off a man, whom she
hath snatched from out the dark-prowed ship.

' "But that other cliff, Odysseus, thou shalt note, lying lower, hard
by the first: thou couldest send an arrow across. And thereon is a
great fig-tree growing, in fullest leaf, and beneath it mighty Charyb-
dis sucks down black water, for thrice a day she spouts it forth, and
thrice a day she sucks it down in terrible wise. Never mayest thou
be there when she sucks the water, for none might save thee then
from thy bane, not even the Earth-Shaker! But take heed and
swiftly drawing nigh to Scylla's rock drive the ship past, since of a
truth it is far better to mourn six of thy company in the ship, than
all in the selfsame hour."

'So spake she, but I answered, and said unto her: "Come I pray
thee herein, goddess, tell me true, if there be any means whereby
I might escape from the deadly Charybdis and avenge rae on that
other, when she would prey upon my company."

THE ODYSSEY 1 65

'So spake I, and that fair goddess answered me: "Man overbold,
lo, now again the deeds of war are in thy mind and the travail
thereof. Wilt thou not yield thee even to the deathless gods? As
for her, she is no mortal, but an immortal plague, dread, grievous,
and fierce, and not to be fought with; and against her there is no
defence; flight is the bravest way. For if thou tarry to do on thine
armour by the cliff, I fear lest once again she sally forth and catch
at thee with so many heads, and seize as many men as before.
So drive past with all thy force, and call on Cratais, mother of
Scylla, which bore her for a bane to mortals. And she will then let
her from darting forth thereafter.

'"Then thou shalt come unto the isle Thrinacia; there are the
many kine of Helios and his brave flocks feeding, seven herds of
kine and as many goodly flocks of sheep, and fifty in each flock.
They have no part in birth or in corruption, and there are goddesses
to shepherd them, nymphs with fair tresses, Phaethusa and Lampetie
whom bright Neaera bare to Helios Hyperion. Now when the lady
their mother had borne and nursed them, she carried them to the
isle Thrinacia to dwell afar, that they should guard their father's
flocks and his kine with shambling gait. If thou doest these no hurt,
being heedful of thy return, truly ye may even yet reach Ithaca,
albeit in evil case. But if thou hurtest them, I foreshow ruin for
thy ship and for thy men, and even though thou shouldest thyself
escape, late shalt thou return in evil plight with the loss of all thy
company."

'So spake she, and anon came the golden-throned Dawn. Then
the fair goddess took her way up the island. But I departed to my
ship and roused my men themselves to mount the vessel and loose
the hawsers. And speedily they went aboard and sat upon the
benches, and sitting orderly smote the grey sea water with their
oars. And in the wake of our dark-prowed ship she sent a favouring
wind that filled the sails, a kindly escort, — even Circe of the braided
tresses, a dread goddess of human speech. And straightway we set
in order the gear throughout the ship and sat us down, and the
wind and the helmsman guided our barque.

'Then I spake among my company with a heavy heart: "Friends,
forasmuch as it is not well that one or two alone should know of

1 66 HOMER

the oracles that Circe, the fair goddess, spake unto me, therefore
will I declare them, that with foreknowledge we may die, or haply
shunning death and destiny escape. First she bade us avoid the
sound of the voice of the wondrous Sirens, and their field of flowers,
and me only she bade listen to their voices. So bind ye me in a hard
bond, that I may abide unmoved in my place, upright in the mast-
stead, and from the mast let rope-ends be tied, and if I beseech and
bid you to set me free, then do ye straiten me with yet more bonds."

'Thus I rehearsed these things one and all, and declared them to
my company. Meanwhile our good ship quickly came to the island
of the Sirens twain, for a gentle breeze sf)ed her on her way. Then
straightway the wind ceased, and lo, there was a windless calm, and
some god lulled the waves. Then my company rose up and drew in
the ship's sails, and stowed them in the hold of the ship, while they
sat at the oars and whitened the water with their polished pine
blades. But I with my sharp sword cleft in pieces a great circle of
wax, and with my strong hands kneaded it. And soon the wax
grew warm, for that my great might constrained it, and the beam
of the lord Helios, son of Hyperion. And I anointed therewith the
ears of all my men in their order, and in the ship they bound me
hand and foot upright in the mast-stead, and from the mast they
fastened rof)e-ends and themselves sat down, and smote the grey sea
water with their oars. But when the ship was within the sound of
a man's shout from the land, we fleeing swiftly on our way, the
Sirens espied the swift ship speeding toward them, and they raised
their clear-toned song:

' "Hither, come hither, renowned Odysseus, great glory of the
Achaeans, here stay thy barque, that thou mayest listen to the voice
of us twain. For none hath ever driven by this way in his black
ship, till he hath heard from our lips the voice sweet as the honey-
comb, and hath had joy thereof and gone on his way the wiser.
For lo, we know all things, all the travail that in wide Troy-land
the Argives and Trojans bare by the gods' designs, yea, and we know
all that shall hereafter be upon the fruitful earth."

'So spake they uttering a sweet voice, and my heart was fain to
listen, and I bade my company unbind me, nodding at them with
a frown, but they bent to their oars and rowed on. Then straight

THE ODYSSEY 1 67

uprose Perimedes and Eurylochus and bound me with more cords
and straitened me yet the more. Now when we had driven past
them, nor heard we any longer the sound of the Sirens or their
song, forthwith my dear company took away the wax wherewith
I had anointed their ears and loosed me from my bonds.

'But so soon as we left that isle, thereafter presently I saw smoke
and a great wave, and heard the sea roaring. Then for very fear
the oars flew from their hands, and down the stream they all
splashed, and the ship was holden there, for my company no longer
plied with their hands the tapering oars. But I paced the ship and
cheered on my men, as I stood by each one and spake smooth words:

' "Friends, forasmuch as in sorrow we are not all unlearned, truly
this is no greater woe that is upon us,' than when the Cyclops penned
us by main might in his hollow cave; yet even thence we made es-
cape by my manfulness, even by my counsel and my wit, and some
day I think that this adventure too we shall remember. Come now,
therefore, let us all give ear to do according to my word. Do ye
smite the deep surf of the sea with your oars, as ye sit on the benches,
if peradventure Zeus may grant us to escape from and shun this
death. And as for thee, helmsman, thus I charge thee, and ponder
it in thine heart seeing that thou wieldest the helm of the hollow
ship. Keep the ship well away from this smoke and from the wave
and hug the rocks, lest the ship, ere thou art aware, start from her
course to the other side, and so thou hurl us into ruin."

'So I spake, and quickly they hearkened to my words. But of
Scylla I told them nothing more, a bane none might deal with, lest
haply my company should cease from rowing for fear, and hide
them in the hold. In that same hour I suffered myself to forget the
hard behest of Circe, in that she bade me in nowise be armed; but
I did on my glorious harness and caught up two long lances in my
hands, and went on to the decking of the prow, for thence methought
that Scylla of the rock would first be seen, who was to bring woe
on my company. Yet could I not spy her anywhere, and my eyes
waxed weary for gazing all about toward the darkness of the rock.

'Next we began to sail up the narrow strait lamenting. For on
the one hand lay Scylla, and on the other mighty Charybdis in ter-

' Reading M, not trti with La Roche.

1 68 HOMER

rible wise sucked down the salt sea water. As often as she belched
it forth, like a cauldron on a great fire she would seethe up through
all her troubled deeps, and overhead the spray fell on the tops of
either cliff. But oft as she gulped down the salt sea water, within
she was all plain to see through her troubled deeps, and the rock
around roared horribly and beneath the earth was manifest swart
with sand, and pale fear gat hold on my men. Toward her, then,
we looked fearing destruction; but Scylla meanwhile caught from
out my hollow ship six of my company, the hardiest of their hands
and the chief in might. And looking into the swift ship to find my
men, even then I marked their feet and hands as they were lifted
on high, and they cried aloud in their agony, and called me by my
name for that last time of all. Even as when a fisher on some head-
land lets down with a long rod his baits for a snare to the little
fishes below, casting into the deep the horn of an ox of the home-
stead, and as he catches each flings it writhing ashore, so writhing
were they borne upward to the cliff. And there she devoured them
shrieking in her gates, they stretching forth their hands to me in
the dread death-struggle. And the most pitiful thing was this that
mine eyes have seen of all my travail in searching out the paths of
the sea.

'Now when we had escaped the Rocks and dread Charybdis and
Scylla, thereafter we soon came to the fair island of the god; where
were the goodly kine, broad of brow, and the many brave flocks of
Helios Hyperion. Then while as yet I was in my black ship upwn
the deep, I heard the lowing of the cattle being stalled and the bleat-
ing of the sheep, and on my mind there fell the saying of the blind
seer, Theban Teiresias, and of Circe of Aia, who charged me very
straitly to shun the isle of Helios, the gladdener of the world. Then
I spake out among my company in sorrow of heart:

' "Hear my words, my men, albeit in evil plight, that I may de-
clare unto you the oracles of Teiresias and of Circe of Aia, who very
straitly charged me to shun the isle of Helios, the gladdener of the
world. For there she said the most dreadful mischief would befall
us. Nay, drive ye then the black ship beyond and past that isle."

'So spake I, and their heart was broken within them. And Eury-
lochus straightway answered me sadly, saying:

THE ODYSSEY 1 69

' "Hardy art thou, Odysseus, of might beyond measure, and thy
limbs are never weary; verily thou art fashioned all of iron, that
sufferest not thy fellows, foredone with toil and drowsiness, to set
foot on shore, where we might presently prepare us a good supper
in this sea-girt island. But even as we are thou biddest us fare blindly
through the sudden night, and from the isle go wandering on the
misty deep. And strong winds, the bane of ships, are born of the
night. How could a man escape from utter doom, if there chanced
to come a sudden blast of the South Wind, or of the boisterous
West, which mainly wreck ships, beyond the will of the gods, the
lords of all ? Howbeit for this present let us yield to the black night,
and we will make ready our supper abiding by the swift ship, and in
the morning we will climb on board, and put out into the broad
deep."

'So spake Eurylochus, and the rest of my company consented
thereto. Then at the last I knew that some god was indeed imagin-
ing evil, and I uttered my voice and spake unto him winged words:

' "Eurylochus, verily ye put force upon me, being but one among
you all. But come, swear me now a mighty oath, one and all, to the
intent that if we light on a herd of kine or a great flock of sheep,
none in the evil folly of his heart may slay any sheep or ox; but in
quiet eat ye the meat which the deathless Circe gave."

'So I spake, and straightway they swore to refrain as I commanded
them. Now after they had sworn and done that oath, we stayed our
well-builded ship in the hollow harbour near to a well of sweet
water, and my company went forth from out the ship and deftly got
ready supper. But when they had put from them the desire of meat
and drink, thereafter they fell a weeping as they thought upon their
dear companions whom Scylla had snatched from out the hollow
ship and so devoured. And deep sleep came upon them amid their
weeping. And when it was the third watch of the night, and the
stars had crossed the zenith, Zeus the cloud-gatherer roused against
them an angry wind with wondrous tempest, and shrouded in
clouds land and sea alike, and from heaven sped down the night.
Now when early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, we beached
the ship, and dragged it up within a hollow cave, where were the
fair dancing grounds of the nymphs and the places of their session.

170 HOMER

Thereupon I ordered a gathering of my men and spake in their
midst, saying:

' "Friends, forasmuch as there is yet meat and drink in the swift
ship, let us keep our hands off those kine, lest some evil thing befall
us. For these are the kine and the brave flocks of a dread god, even
of Helios, who overseeth all and overheareth all things."

'So I spake, and their lordly spirit hearkened thereto. Then for
a whole month the South Wind blew without ceasing, and no other
wind arose, save only the East and the South.

'Now so long as my company still had corn and red wine, they re-
frained them from the kine, for they were fain of life. But when
the corn was now all spent from out the ship, and they went wan-
dering with barbed hooks in quest of game, as needs they must, fishes
and fowls, whatsoever might come to their hand, for hunger gnawed
at their belly, then at last I departed up the isle, that I might pray to
the gods, if perchance some one of them might show me a way of
returning. And now when I had avoided my company on my way
through the island, I laved my hands where was a shelter from the
wind, and prayed to all the gods that hold Olympus. But they shed
sweet sleep upon my eyelids. And Eurylochus the while set forth
an evil counsel to my company:

' "Hear my words, my friends, though ye be in evil case. Truly
every shape of death is hateful to wretched mortals, but to die of
hunger and so meet doom is most pitiful of all. Nay come, we will
drive off the best of the kine of Helios and will do sacrifice to the
deathless gods who keep wide heaven. And if we may yet reach
Ithaca, our own country, forthwith will we rear a rich shrine to
Helios Hyperion, and therein would we set many a choice offering.
But if he be somewhat wroth for his cattle with straight horns, and
is fain to wreck our ship, and the other gods follow his desire, rather
with one gulp at the wave would I cast my life away, than be slowly
straitened to death in a desert isle."

'So spake Eurylochus, and the rest of the company consented
thereto. Forthwith they drave off the best of the kine of Helios that
were nigh at hand, for the fair kine of shambling gait and broad of
brow were feeding no great way from the dark-prowed ship. Then
they stood around the cattle and prayed to the gods, plucking the

THE ODYSSEY I7I

fresh leaves from an oak of lofty boughs, for they had no white
barley on board the decked ship. Now after they had prayed and
cut the throats of the kine and flayed them, they cut out slices of
the thighs and wrapped them in the fat, making a double fold, and
thereon they laid raw flesh. Yet had they no pure wine to pour over
the flaming sacrifices, but they made libation with water and roasted
the entrails over the fire. Now after the thighs were quite consumed
and they had tasted the inner parts, they cut the rest up small and
spitted it on spits. In the same hour deep sleep sped from my eye-
lids and I sallied forth to the swift ship and the sea-banks. But on
my way as I drew near to the curved ship, the sweet savour of the
fat came all about me; and I groaned and spake out before the
deathless gods:

'"Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for ever,
verily to my undoing ye have lulled me with a ruthless sleep, and
my company abiding behind have imagined a monstrous deed."

'Then swiftly to Helios Hyperion came Lampetie of the long
robes, with the tidings that we had slain his kine. And straight he
spake with angry heart amid the Immortals:

'"Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for ever,
take vengeance I pray you on the company of Odysseus, son of
Laertes, that have insolently slain my cattle, wherein I was wont
to be glad as I went toward the starry heaven, and when I again
turned earthward from the firmament. And if they pay me not full
atonement for the cattle, I will go down to Hades and shine among
the dead."

'And Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered him, saying: "Helios,
do thou, I say, shine on amidst the deathless gods, and amid mortal
men upon the earth, the grain-giver. But as for me, I will soon
smite their swift ship with my white bolt, and cleave it in pieces in
the midst of the wine-dark deep."

'This I heard from Calypso of the fair hair; and she said that she
herself had heard it from Hermes the Messenger.

'But when I had come down to the ship and to the sea, I went up
to my companions and rebuked them one by one; but we could find
no remedy, the cattle were dead and gone. And soon thereafter the
gods showed forth signs and wonders to my company. The skins

172 HOMER

were creeping, and the flesh bellowing upon the spits, both the
roast and raw, and there was a sound as the voice of kine.

'Then for six days my dear company feasted on the best of the
kine of Helios, which they had driven off. But when Zeus, son of
Cronos, had added the seventh day thereto, thereafter the wind
ceased to blow with a rushing storm, and at once we climbed the ship
and launched into the broad deep, when we had set up the mast
and hoisted the white sails.

'But now when we left that isle nor any other land appeared, but
sky and sea only, even then the son of Cronos stayed a dark cloud
above the hollow ship, and beneath it the deep darkened. And the
ship ran on her way for no long while, for of a sudden came the
shrilling West, with the rushing of a great tempest, and the blast of
wind snapped the two forestays of the mast, and the mast fell back-
ward and all the gear dropped into the bilge. And behold, on the
hind part of the ship the mast struck the head of the pilot and brake
all the bones of his skull together, and like a diver he dropped down
from the deck, and his brave spirit left his bones. In that same hour
Zeus thundered and cast his bolt upon the ship, and she reeled all
over being stricken by the bolt of Zeus, and was filled with sulphur,
and lo, my company fell from out the vessel. Like sea-gulls they
were borne round the black ship upon the billows, and the god
reft them of returning.

'But I kept pacing through my ship, till the surge loosened the
sides from the keel, and the wave swept her along stript of her tack-
ling, and brake her mast clean off at the keel. Now the backstay
fashioned of an oxhide had been flung thereon; therewith I lashed
together both keel and mast, and sitting thereon I was borne by
the ruinous winds.

'Then verily the West Wind ceased to blow with a rushing
storm, and swiftly withal the South Wind came, bringing sorrow to
my soul, that so I might again measure back that space of sea, the
way to deadly Charybdis. All the night was I borne, but with the
rising of the sun I came to the rock of Scylla, and to dread Charybdis.
Now she had sucked down her salt sea water, when I was swung
up on high to the tall fig-tree whereto I clung like a bat, and could
find no sure rest for my feet nor place to stand, for the roots spread

THE ODYSSEY 1 73

far below and the branches hung aloft out of reach, long and large,
and overshadowed Charybdis. Steadfast I clung till she should spew
forth mast and keel again; and late they came to my desire. At the
hour when a man rises up from the assembly and goes to supper,
one who judges the many quarrels of the young men that seek to
him for law, at that same hour those timbers came forth to view
from out Charybdis. And I let myself drop down hands and feet,
and plunged heavily in the midst of the waters beyond the long tim-
bers, and sitting on these I rowed hard with my hands. But the
father of gods and of men suffered me no more to behold Scylla,
else I should never have escaped from utter doom.

'Thence for nine days was I borne, and on the tenth night the
gods brought me nigh to the isle of Ogygia, where dwells Calypso
of the braided tresses, an awful goddess of mortal speech, who took
me in and entreated me kindly. But why rehearse all this tale? For
even yesterday I told it to thee and to thy noble wife in thy house;
and it Hketh me not twice to tell a plain-told tale.'

BOOK XIII

Odysseus, sleeping, is set ashore at Ithaca by the Phaeacians, and wak-
ing knows it not. Pallas, in the form of a shepherd, helps to hide his
treasure. The ship that conveyed him is turned into a rock, and Odysseus
by Pallas is instructed what to do, and transformed into an old beggar-
man.

SO spake he, and dead silence fell on all, and they were spell-
bound throughout the shadowy halls. Thereupon Alcinous
answered him, and spake, saying:

'Odysseus, now that thou hast come to my high house with floor
of bronze, never, methinks, shalt thou be driven from thy way ere
thou returnest, though thou hast been sore afflicted. And for each
man among you, that in these halls of mine drink evermore the
dark wine of the elders, and hearken to the minstrel, this is my
word and command. Garments for the stranger are already laid up
in a polished coffer, with gold curiously wrought, and all other such
gifts as the counsellors of the Phaeacians bare hither. Come now,
let us each of us give him a great tripod and a cauldron, and we in
turn will gather goods among the people and get us recompense;
for it were hard that one man should give without repayment.'

So spake Alcinous, and the saying pleased them well. Then they
went each one to his house to lay him down to rest; but so soon as
early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, they hasted to the ship
and bare the bronze, the joy of men. And the mighty king Alcinous
himself went about the ship and diligently bestowed the gifts beneath
the benches, that they might not hinder any of the crew in their row-
ing, when they laboured at their oars. Then they betook them to
the house of Alcinous and fell to feasting. And the mighty king
Alcinous sacrificed before them an ox to Zeus, the son of Cronos,
that dwells in the dark clouds, who is lord of all. And when they
had burnt the pieces of the thighs, they shared the glorious feast and
made merry, and among them harped the divine minstrel Demodo-
cus, whom the people honoured. But Odysseus would ever turn his

174

THE ODYSSEY 1 75

head toward the splendour of the sun, as one fain to hasten his
setting: for verily he was most eager to return. And as when a man
longs for his supper, for whom all day long two dark oxen drag
through the fallow field the jointed plough, yea and welcome to
such an one the sunlight sinketh, that so he may get him to supper,
for his knees wax faint by the way, even so welcome was the sink-
ing of the sunlight to Odysseus. Then straight he spake among the
Phaeacians, masters of the oar, and to Alcinous in chief he made
known his word, saying:

'My lord Alcinous, most notable of all the people, pour ye the
drink offering, and send me safe upon my way, and as for you, fare
ye well. For now have I all that my heart desired, an escort and
loving gifts. May the gods of heaven give me good fortune with
them, and may I find my noble wife in my home with my friends
unharmed, while ye, for your part, abide here and make glad your
wedded wives and children; and may the gods vouchsafe all manner
of good, and may no evil come nigh the people!'

So spake he, and they all consented thereto and bade send the
stranger on his way, in that he had spoken aright. Then the mighty
Alcinous spake to the henchman: 'Pontonous, mix the bowl and
serve out the wine to all in the hall, that we may pray to Father
Zeus, and send the stranger on his way to his own country.'

So spake he, and Pontonous mixed the honey-hearted wine, and
served it to all in turn. And they poured forth before the blessed
gods that keep wide heaven, even there as they sat. Then goodly
Odysseus uprose, and placed in Arete's hand the two-handled cup,
and uttering his voice spake to her winged words:

'Fare thee well, O queen, all the days of thy life, till old age come
and death, that visit all mankind. But I go homeward, and do thou
in this thy house rejoice in thy children and thy people and Alcinous
the king.'

Therewith goodly Odysseus stept over the threshold. And with
him the mighty Alcinous sent forth a henchman to guide him to the
swift ship and the sea-banks. And Arete sent in his train certain
maidens of her household, one bearing a fresh robe and a doublet,
and another she joined to them to carry the strong coffer, and yet
another bare bread and red wine. Now when they had come down

176 HOMER

to the ship and to the sea, straightway the good men of the escort
took these things and laid them by in the hollow ship, even all the
meat and drink. Then they strewed for Odysseus a rug and a sheet
of linen, on the decks of the hollow ship, in the hinder part thereof,
that he might sleep sound. Then he too climbed aboard and laid
him down in silence, while they sat upon the benches, every man in
order, and unbound the hawser from the pierced stone. So soon as
they leant backwards and tossed the sea water with the oar blade, a
deep sleep fell upon his eyelids, a sound sleep, very sweet, and next
akin to death. And even as on a plain a yoke of four stallions comes
springing all together beneath the lash, leaping high and speedily
accomplishing the way, so leaf>ed the stern of that ship, and the dark
waves of the sounding sea rushed mightily in the wake, and she ran
ever surely on her way, nor could a circling hawk keep pace with
her, of winged things the swiftest. Even thus she lightly sped and
cleft the waves of the sea, bearing a man whose counsel was as the
counsel of the gods, one that erewhile had suffered much sorrow of
heart, in passing through the wars of men, and the grievous waves;
but for that time he slept in peace, forgetful of all that he had suf-
fered.

So when the star came up, that is brightest of all, and goes ever
heralding the light of early Dawn, even then did the sea-faring ship
draw nigh the island. There is in the land of Ithaca a certain haven
of Phorcys, the ancient one of the sea, and thereby are two head-
lands of sheer cliff, which slope to the sea on the haven's side and
break the mighty wave that ill winds roll without, but within, the
decked ships ride unmoored when once they have reached the place
of anchorage. Now at the harbour's head is a long-leaved olive tree,
and hard by is a pleasant cave and shadowy, sacred to the nymphs,
that are called the Naiads. And therein are mixing bowls and jars
of stone, and there moreover do bees hive. And there are great looms
of stone, whereon the nymphs weave raiment of purple stain, a mar-
vel to behold, and therein are waters welling evermore. Two gates
there are to the cave, the one set toward the North Wind whereby
men may go down, but the portals toward the South pertain rather
to the gods, whereby men may not enter: it is the way of the
immortals.

THE ODYSSEY 1 77

Thither they, as having knowledge of that place, let drive their
ship; and now the vessel in full course ran ashore, half her keel's
length high; so well was she sped by the hands of the oarsmen.
Then they alighted from the benched ship upon the land, and first
they lifted Odysseus from out the hollow ship, all as he was in the
sheet of linen and the bright rug, and laid him yet heavy with
slumber on the sand. And they took forth the goods which the lordly
Phaeacians had given him on his homeward way by grace of the
great-hearted Athene. These they set in a heap by the trunk of the
olive tree, a little aside from the road, lest some wayfaring man,
before Odysseus awakened, should come and spxiil them. Then
themselves departed homeward again. But the shaker of the earth
forgat not the threats, wherewith at the first he had threatened god-
like Odysseus, and he inquired into the counsel of Zeus, saying:

'Father Zeus, I for one shall no longer be of worship among the
deathless gods, when mortal men hold me in no regard, even
Phaeacians, who moreover are of mine own lineage. Lo, now I said
that after much affliction Odysseus should come home, for I had no
mind to rob him utterly of his return, when once thou hadst prom-
ised it and given assent; but behold, in his sleep they have borne
him in a swift ship over the sea, and set him down in Ithaca, and
given him gifts out of measure, bronze and gold in plenty and
woven raiment, much store, such as never would Odysseus have
won for himself out of Troy; yea, though he had returned unhurt
with the share of the spoil that fell to him.'

And Zeus, the cloud gatherer, answered him saying: 'Lo now,
shaker of the earth, of widest power, what a word hast thou spoken!
The gods nowise dishonour thee; hard would it be to assail with
dishonour our eldest and our best. But if any man, giving place to
his own hardihood and strength, holds thee not in worship, thou
hast always thy revenge for the same, even in the time to come.
Do thou as thou wilt, and as seems thee good.'

Then Poseidon, shaker of the earth, answered him: 'Straightway
would I do even as thou sayest, O god of the dark clouds; but thy
wrath I always hold in awe and avoid. Howbeit, now I fain would
smite a fair ship of the Phaeacians, as she comes home from a con-
voy on the misty deep, that thereby they may learn to hold their

178 HOMER

hands, and cease from giving escort to men; and I would overshadow
their city with a great mountain.'

And Zeus, the gatherer of the clouds, answered him, saying:
'Friend, learn now what seems best in my sight. At an hour when
the folk are all looking forth from the city at the ship upon her
way, smite her into a stone hard by the land; a stone in the likeness
of a swift ship, that all mankind may marvel, and do thou over-
shadow their city with a great mountain.'

Now when Poseidon, shaker of the earth, heard this saying, he
went on his way to Scheria, where the Phaeacians dwell. There he
abode awhile; and lo, she drew near, the seafaring ship, lightly
sped upon her way. Then nigh her came the shaker of the earth,
and he smote her into a stone, and rooted her far below with the
down-stroke of his hand; and he departed thence again.

Then one to the other they spake winged words, the Phaeacians
of the long oars, mariners renowned. And thus would they speak,
looking each man to his neighbour:

'Ah me! who is this that fettered our swift ship on the deep as she
drave homewards? Even now she stood full in sight.'

Even so they would speak; but they knew not how these things
were ordained. And Alcinous made harangue and spake among
them:

'Lo now, in very truth the ancient oracles of my father have come
home to me. He was wont to say that Poseidon was jealous of us,
for that we give safe escort to all men. He said that the day would
come when the god would smite a fair ship of the Phaeacians, as she
came home from a convoy on the misty deep, and overshadow our
city with a great mountain. Thus that ancient one would speak;
and lo, all these things now have an end. But come, let us all give
ear and do according to my word. Cease ye from the convoy of
mortals, whensoever any shall come unto our town, and let us
sacrifice to Poseidon twelve choice bulls, if perchance he may take
pity, neither overshadow our city with a great mountain.'

So spake he, and they were dismayed and got ready the bulls.
Thus were they praying to the lord Poseidon, the princes and coun-
sellors of the land of the Phaeacians, as they stood about the altar.

Even then the goodly Odysseus awoke where he slept on his native

THE ODYSSEY 1 79

land; nor knew he the same again, having now been long afar, for
around him the goddess had shed a mist, even Pallas Athene,
daughter of Zeus, to the end that she might make him undiscovered
for that he was, and might expound to him all things, that so his
wife should not know him neither his townsmen and kinsfolk, ere
the wooers had paid for all their transgressions. Wherefore each
thing showed strange to the lord of the land, the long paths and the
sheltering havens and the steep rocks and the trees in their bloom.
So he started up, and stood and looked upon his native land, and
then he made moan withal, and smote on both his thighs with the
down-stroke of his hands, and making lament, he spake, saying:

'Oh, woe is me, unto what mortals' land am I now come? Say,
are they f toward, and wild, and unjust, or hospitable and of a god-
fearing mind? Whither do I bear all this treasure? Yea, where am
I wandering myself? Oh that the treasure had remained with the
Phaeacians where it was, so had I come to some other of the mighty
princes, who would have entreated me kindly and sent me on my
way. But now I know not where to bestow these things, nor yet will
I leave them here behind, lest haply other men make spoil of them.
Ah then, they are not wholly wise or just, the princes and coun-
sellors of the Phaeacians, who carried me to a strange land. Verily
they promised to bring me to clear-seen Ithaca, but they performed
it not. May Zeus requite them, the god of suppliants, seeing that he
watches over all men and punishes the transgressor! But come, I
will reckon up these goods and look to them, lest the men be gone,
and have taken ought away upon their hollow ship.'

Therewith he set to number the fair tripods and the cauldrons
and the gold and the goodly woven raiment; and of all these he
lacked not aught, but he bewailed him for his own country, as he
walked downcast by the shore of the sounding sea, and made sore
lament. Then Athene came nigh him in the guise of a young man,
the herdsman of a flock, a young man most delicate, such as are the
sons of kings. And she had a well-wrought mantle that fell in two
folds about her shoulders, and beneath her smooth feet she had
sandals bound, and a javelin in her hands. And Odysseus rejoiced
as he saw her, and came over against her, and uttering his voice
spake to her winged words:

l8o HOMER

'Friend, since thou art the first I have chanced on in this land,
hail to thee, and with no ill-will mayest thou meet me! Nay, save
this my substance and save me too, for to thee as to a god I make
prayer, and to thy dear knees have I come. And herein tell me
true, that I may surely know. What land, what people is this.'
what men dwell therein? Surely, methinks, it is some clear seen isle,
or a shore of the rich mainland that lies and leans upon the deep.'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again: 'Thou
art witless, stranger, or thou art come from afar, if indeed thou
askest of this land; nay, it is not so very nameless but that many
men know it, both all those who dwell toward the dawning and the
sun, and they that abide over against the light toward the shadowy
west. Verily it is rough and not fit for the driving of horses, yet is
it not a very sorry isle, though narrow withal. For herein is corn
past telling, and herein too wine is found, and the rain is on it ever-
more, and the fresh dew. And it is good for feeding goats and feed-
ing kine; all manner of wood is here, and watering-places unfailing
are herein. Wherefore, stranger, the name of Ithaca hath reached
even unto Troyland, which men say is far from this Achaean shore.'

So spake she, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus was glad, and
had joy in his own country, according to the word of Pallas Athene,
daughter of Zeus, lord of the aegis. And he uttered his voice and
spake unto her winged words; yet he did not speak the truth, but
took back the word that was on his lips, for quick and crafty was his
wit within his breast.

'Of Ithaca have I heard tell, even in broad Crete, far over the seas;
and now have I come hither myself with these my goods. And I
left as much again to my children, when I turned outlaw for the
slaying of the dear son of Idomeneus, Orsilochus, swift of foot, who
in wide Crete was the swiftest of all men that hve by bread. Now
he would have despoiled me of all that booty of Troy, for the which
I had endured pain of heart, in passing through the wars of men,
and the grievous waves of the sea, for this cause that I would not do
a favour to his father, and make me his squire in the land of the Tro-
jans, but commanded other fellowship of mine own. So I smote
him with a bronze-shod spear as he came home from the field, lying
in ambush for him by the wayside, with one of my companions.

THE ODYSSEY l8l

And dark midnight held the heavens, and no man marked us, but
privily I took his life away. Now after I had slain him with the
sharp spear, straightway I went to a ship and besought the lordly
Phaeacians, and gave them spoil to their hearts' desire. I charged
them to take me on board, and land me at Pylos or at goodly Elis
where the Epeans bear rule. Howbeit of a truth, the might of the
wind drave them out of their course, sore against their will, nor did
they wilfully play me false. Thence we were driven wandering,
and came hither by night. And with much ado we rowed onward
into harbour, nor took we any thought of supper, though we stood
sore in need thereof, but even as we were we stept ashore and all
lay down. Then over me there came sweet slumber in my weari-
ness, but they took forth my goods from the hollow ship, and set
them by me where I myself lay upon the sands. Then they went on
board, and departed for the fair-lying land of Sidon; while as for me
I was left stricken at heart.'

So spake he and the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, smiled, and
caressed him with her hand; and straightway she changed to the
semblance of a woman, fair and tall, and skilled in splendid handi-
work. And uttering her voice she spake unto him winged words:

'Crafty must he be, and knavish, who would outdo thee in all
manner of guile, even if it were a god encountered thee. Hardy man,
subtle of wit, of guile insatiate, so thou wast not even in thine own
country to cease from thy sleights and knavish words, which thou
lovest from the bottom of thine heart! But come, no more let us tell
of these things, being both of us practised in deceits, for that thou art
of all men far the first in counsel and in discourse, and I in the com-
pany of all the gods win renown for my wit and wile. Yet thou
knewest not me, Pallas Athene, daughter of Zeus, who am always
by thee and guard thee in all adventures. Yea, and I made thee to be
beloved of all the Phaeacians. And now am I come hither to con-
trive a plot with thee and to hide away the goods, that by my coun-
sel and design the noble Phaeacians gave thee on thy homeward way.
And I would tell thee how great a measure of trouble thou art or-
dained to fulfil within thy well-builded house. But do thou harden
thy heart, for so it must be, and tell none neither man nor woman
of all the folk, that thou hast indeed returned from wandering, but

1 82 HOMER

in silence endure much sorrow, submitting thee to the despite of
men.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Hard is
it, goddess, for a mortal man that meets thee to discern thee, how-
soever wise he be; for thou takest upxan thee every shajje. But this
I know well, that of old thou wast kindly to me, so long as we sons
of the Achaeans made war in Troy. But so soon as we had sacked
the steep city of Priam and had gone on board our ships, and the
god had scattered the Achaeans, thereafter I have never beheld
thee, daughter of Zeus, nor seen thee coming on board my ship, to
ward off sorrow from me — but I wandered evermore with a stricken
heart, till the gods delivered me from my evil case — even till the
day when, within the fat land of the men of Phaeacia, thou didst
comfort me with thy words, and thyself didst lead me to their city.
And now 1 beseech thee in thy father's name to tell me: for I deem
not that I am come to clear-seen Ithaca, but I roam over some other
land, and methinks that thou speakest thus to mock me and beguile
my mind. Tell me whether in very deed I am come to mine own
dear country.'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Yea, such
a thought as this is ever in thy breast. Wherefore I may in no wise
leave thee in thy grief, so courteous art thou, so ready of wit and so
prudent. Right gladly would any other man on his return from
wandering have hasted to behold his children and his wife in his
halls; but thou hast no will to learn or to hear aught, till thou hast
furthermore made trial of thy wife, who sits as ever in her halls,
and wearily for her the nights wane always and the days, in shedding
of tears. But of this I never doubted, but ever knew it in my heart
that thou wouldest come home with the loss of all thy company.
Yet, I tell thee, I had no mind to be at strife with Poseidon, my own
father's brother, who laid up wrath in his heart against thee, being
angered at the blinding of his dear son. But come, and I will show
thee the place of the dwelling of Ithaca, that thou mayst be assured.
Lo, here is the haven of Phorcys, the ancient one of the sea, and here
at the haven's head is the olive tree with spreading leaves, and hard
by it is the pleasant cave and shadowy, sacred to the nymphs that are
called the Naiads. Yonder, behold, is the roofed cavern, where thou

THE ODYSSEY 1 83

offeredst many an acceptable sacrifice of hecatombs to the nymphs;
and lo, this hill is Neriton, all clothed in forest.'

Therewith the goddess scattered the mist, and the land appeared.
Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus was glad rejoicing in his own
land, and he kissed the earth, the graingiver. And anon he prayed
to the nymphs, and lifted up his hands, saying:

'Ye Naiad nymphs, daughters of Zeus, never did I think to look
on you again, but now be ye greeted in my loving prayers: yea, and
gifts as aforetime I will give, if the daughter of Zeus, driver of the
spoil, suffer me of her grace myself to live, and bring my dear son to
manhood.'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again: 'Be of
good courage, and let not thy heart be careful about these things.
But come, let us straightway set thy goods in the secret place of the
wondrous cave, that there they may abide for thee safe. And let us
for ourselves advise us how all may be for the very best.'

Therewith the goddess plunged into the shadowy cave, searching
out the chambers of the cavern. Meanwhile Odysseus brought up his
treasure, the gold and the unyielding bronze and fair woven rai-
ment, which the Phaeacians gave him. And these things he laid by
with care, and Pallas Athene, daughter of Zeus, lord of the aegis,
set a stone against the door of the cave. Then they twain sat down
by the trunk of the sacred olive tree, and devised death for the
froward wooers. And the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake first,
saying:

'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
advise thee how thou mayest stretch forth thine hands upon the
shameless wooers, who now these three years lord it through thy
halls, as they woo thy godlike wife and proffer the gifts of wooing.
And she, that is ever bewailing her for thy return, gives hope to all
and makes promises to every man and sends them messages, but
her mind is set on other things.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered her, saying:

'Lo now, in very truth I was like to have perished in my halls by
the evil doom of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, hadst not thou, god-
dess, declared me each thing aright. Come then, weave some coun-
sel whereby I may requite them; and thyself stand by me, and put

184 HOMER

great boldness of spirit within me, even as in the day when we loosed
the shining coronal of Troy. If but thou wouldest stand by me with
such eagerness, thou grey-eyed goddess, I would war even with three
hundred men, with thee my lady and goddess, if thou of thy grace
didst succour me the while.'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Yea, verily
I will be near thee nor will I forget thee, whensoever we come to
this toil: and methinks that certain of the wooers that devour thy
livelihood shall bespatter the boundless earth with blood and brains.
But come, I will make thee such-like that no man shall know thee.
Thy fair skin I will wither on thy supple limbs, and make waste
thy yellow hair from off thy head, and wrap thee in a foul garment,
such that one would shudder to see a man therein.' And I will dim
thy two eyes, erewhile so fair, in such wise that thou mayest be un-
seemly in the sight of all the wooers and of thy wife and son,
whom thou didst leave in thy halls. And do thou thyself first of all
go unto the swineherd, who tends thy swine, loyal and at one with
thee, and loves thy son and constant Penelope. Him shalt thou find
sitting by the swine, as they are feeding near the rock of Corax
and the spring Arethusa, and there they eat abundance of acorns
and drink the black water, things whereby swine grow fat and
well-liking. There do thou abide and sit by the swine, and find out
all, till I have gone to Sparta, the land of fair women, to call Telem-
achus thy dear son, Odysseus, who hath betaken himself to spacious
Lacedaemon, to the house of Menelaus to seek tidings of thee,
whether haply thou are yet alive.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Nay,
wherefore then didst thou not tell him, seeing thou hast knowl-
edge of all? Was it, perchance, that he too may wander in sorrow
over the unharvested seas, and that others may consume his liveli-
hood.?'

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, answered him: 'Nay, let him
not be heavy on thy heart. I myself was his guide, that by going
thither he might win a good report. Lo, he knows no toil, but he
sits in peace in the palace of the son of Atreus, and has boundless
store about him. Truly the young men with their black ship they

' Reading ti^porroi', not indparrot.

THE ODYSSEY 1 85

lie in wait, and are eager to slay him ere he come to his own country.
But this, methinks, shall never be. Yea, sooner shall the earth close
over certain of the wooers that devour thy livelihood.'

Therewith Athene touched him with her wand. His fair flesh she
withered on his supple limbs, and made waste his yellow hair from
of? his head, and over all his limbs she cast the skin of an old man,
and dimmed his two eyes, erewhile so fair. And she changed his
raiment to a vile wrap and a doublet, torn garments and filthy,
stained with foul smoke. And over all she clad him with the great
bald hide of a swift stag, and she gave him a staff and a mean
tattered scrip, and a cord therewith to hang it.

And after they twain had taken this counsel together, they parted;
and she now went to goodly Lacedaemon to fetch the son of
Odysseus.

BOOK XIV

Odysseus, in the form of a beggar, goes to Eumaeus, the inaster of his
swine, where he is well used and tells a feigned story, and informs him-
self of the behaviour of the wooers.

BUT Odysseus fared forth from the haven by the rough track,
, up the wooded country and through the heights, where
Athene had showed him that he should find the goodly
swineherd, who cared most for his substance of all the thralls that
goodly Odysseus had gotten.

Now he found him sitting at the vestibule of the house, where his
courtyard was builded high, in a place with wide prospect; a great
court it was and a fair, with free range round it. This the swineherd
had builded by himself for the swine of his lord who was afar, and
his mistress and the old man Laertes knew not of it. With stones
from the quarry had he builded it, and coped it with a fence of
white thorn, and he had split an oak to the dark core, and without
he had driven stakes the whole length thereof on either side, set
thick and close; and within the courtyard he made twelve styes
hard by one another to be beds for the swine, and in each stye fifty
grovelling swine were penned, brood swine; but the boars slept
without. Now these were far fewer in number, the godlike wooers
minishing them at their feasts, for the swineherd ever sent in the
best of all the fatter hogs. And their tale was three hundred and
three-score. And by them always slept four dogs, as fierce as wild
beasts, which the swineherd had bred, a master of men. Now
he was fitting sandals to his feet, cutting a good brown oxhide,
while the rest of his fellows, three in all, were abroad this way
and that, with the droves of swine; while the fourth he had sent to
the city to take a boar to the proud wooers, as needs he must, that
they might sacrifice it and satisfy their soul with flesh.

And of a sudden the baying dogs saw Odysseus, and they ran at
him yelping, but Odysseus in his wariness sat him down, and let
the staff fall from his hand. There by his own homestead would he

1 86

THE ODYSSEY 1 87

have suffered foul hurt, but the swineherd with quick feet hasted
after them, and sped through the outer door, and let the skin fall
from his hand. And the hounds he chid and drave them this
way and that, with a shower of stones, and he spake unto his lord,
saying:

'Old man, truly the dogs went nigh to be the death of thee all
of a sudden, so shouldest thou have brought shame on me. Yea,
and the gods have given me other pains and griefs enough. Here
I sit, mourning and sorrowing for my godlike lord, and foster the fat
swine for others to eat, while he craving, perchance, for food,
wanders over some land and city of men of a strange speech, if
haply he yet Uves and beholds the sunlight. But come with me, let
us to the inner steading, old man, that when thy heart is satisfied
with bread and wine, thou too mayest tell thy tale and declare
whence thou art, and how many woes thou hast endured.'

Therewith the goodly swineherd led him to the steading, and took
him in and set him down, and strewed beneath him thick brush-
wood, and spread thereon the hide of a shaggy wild goat, wide and
soft, which served himself for a mattress. And Odysseus rejoiced
that he had given him such welcome, and spake and hailed him:

'May Zeus, O stranger, and all the other deathless gods grant
thee thy dearest wish, since thou hast received me heartily!'

Then, O swineherd Eumaeus, didst thou answer him, saying:
'Guest of mine, it were an impious thing for me to slight a stranger,
even if there came a meaner man than thou; for from Zeus are all
strangers and beggars; and a little gift from such as we, is dear;
for this is the way with thralls, who are ever in fear when young
lords like ours bear rule over them. For surely the gods have stayed
the returning of my master, who would have loved me diligently,
and given me somewhat of my own, a house and a parcel of ground,
and a comely' wife, such as a kind lord gives to his man, who hath
laboured much for him and the work of whose hands God hath
likewise increased, even as he increaseth this work of mine whereat
I abide. Therefore would my lord have rewarded me greatly, had
he grown old at home. But he hath perished, as I would that all
the stock of Helen had perished utterly, forasmuch as she hath

' Reading tbiu)p(t>6v.

1 88 HOMER

caused the loosening of many a man's knees. For he too departed
to Ilios of the goodly steeds, to get atonement for Agamemnon, that
so he might war with the Trojans.'

Therewith he quickly bound up his doublet with his girdle, and
went his way to the styes, where the tribes of the swine were penned.
Thence he took and brought forth two, and sacrificed them both,
and singed them and cut them small, and spitted them. And when
he had roasted all, he bare and set it by Odysseus, all hot as it was
upon the spits, and he sprinkled thereupon white barley-meal. Then
in a bowl of ivywood he mixed the honey-sweet wine, and himself
sat over against him and bade him fall to:

'Eat now, stranger, such fare as thralls have to hand, even flesh
of sucking pigs; but the fatted hogs the wooers devour, for they
know not the wrath of the gods nor any pity. Verily the blessed
gods love not froward deeds, but they reverence justice and the
righteous acts of men. Yet even foes and men unfriendly, that land
on a strange coast, and Zeus grants them a prey, and they have laden
their ships and depart for home; yea, even on their hearts falls strong
fear of the wrath of the gods. But lo you, these men know some-
what, — for they have heard an utterance of a god — , even the tidings
of our lord's evil end, seeing that they are not minded justly to
woo, nor to go back to their own, but at ease they devour our
wealth with insolence, and now there is no sparing. For every day
and every night that comes from Zeus, they make sacrifice not of
one victim only, nor of two, and wine they draw and waste it riot-
ously. For surely his livelihood was great past telling, no lord in
the dark mainland had so much, nor any in Ithaca itself; nay, not
twenty men together have wealth so great, and I will tell thee the
sum thereof. Twelve herds of kine upon the mainland, as many
flocks of sheep, as many droves of swine, as many ranging herds of
goats, that his own shepherds and strangers pasture. And ranging
herds of goats, eleven in all, graze here by the extremity of the island
with trusty men to watch them. And day by day each man of these
ever drives one of the flock to the wooers, whichsoever seems the best
of the fatted goats. But as for me I guard and keep these swine and I
choose out for them, as well as I may, the best of the swine and
send it hence.'

THE ODYSSEY 1 89

So spake he, but Odysseus ceased not to eat flesh and drink wine
right eagerly and in silence, and the while was sowing the seeds of
evil for the wooers. Now when he had well eaten and comforted
his heart with food, then the herdsman filled him the bowl out of
which he was wont himself to drink, and he gave it him brimming
with wine, and he took it and was glad at heart, and uttering his
voice spake to him winged words:

'My friend, who was it then that bought thee with his wealth,
a man so exceedingly rich and mighty as thou declarest? Thou
saidest that he perished to get atonement for Agamemnon; tell me,
if perchance I may know him, being such an one as thou sayest.
For Zeus, methinks, and the other deathless gods know whether I
may bring tidings of having seen him; for I have wandered far.'

Then the swineherd, a master of men, answered him: 'Old man,
no wanderer who may come hither and bring tidings of him can
win the ear of his wife and his dear son; but lightly do vagrants
lie when they need entertainment, and care not to tell truth. Who-
soever comes straying to the land of Ithaca, goes to my mistress and
speaks words of guile. And she receives him kindly and lovingly
and inquires of all things, and the tears fall from her eyelids for
weeping, as is meet for a woman when her lord hath died afar.
And quickly enough wouldst thou too, old man, forge a tale, if
any would but give thee a mantle and a doublet for raiment. But
as for him, dogs and swift fowls are like already to have torn his
skin from the bones, and his spirit hath left him. Or the fishes have
eaten him in the deep, and there lie his bones swathed in sand-
drift on the shore. Yonder then hath he perished, but for his friends
nought is ordained but care, for all, but for me in chief. For never
again shall I find a lord so gentle, how far soever I may go, not
though again I attain unto the house of my father and my mother,
where at first I was born, and they nourished me themselves and
with their own hands they reared me. Nor henceforth it is not for
these that I sorrow so much, though I long to behold them with
mine eyes in mine own country, but desire comes over me for
Odysseus who is afar. His name, stranger, even though he is not
here, it shameth me to speak, for he loved me exceedingly, and cared
for me at heart; nay, I call him "worshipful," albeit he is far hence.'

190 HOMER

Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus spake to him again: 'My
friend, forasmuch as thou gainsayest utterly, and sayest that hence-
forth he will not come again, and thine heart is ever slow to believe,
therefore will I tell thee not lightly but with an oath, that Odysseus
shall return. And let me have the wages of good tidings as soon
as ever he in his journeying shall come hither to his home. Then
clothe me in a mantle and a doublet, goodly raiment. But ere that,
albeit I am sore in need I will not take aught, for hateful to me
even as the gates of hell, is that man, who under stress of poverty
speaks words of guile. Now be Zeus my witness before any god,
and the hospitable board and the hearth of noble Odysseus where-
unto I am come, that all these things shall surely be accomplished
even as I tell thee. In this same year Odysseus shall come hither;
as the old moon wanes and the new is born shall he return to his
home, and shall take vengeance on all who here dishonour his wife
and noble son.'

Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Old man,
it is not I then, that shall ever pay thee these wages of good tidings,
nor henceforth shall Odysseus ever come to his home. Nay drink in
peace, and let us turn our thoughts to other matters, and bring not
these to my remembrance, for surely my heart within me is sorrow-
ful whenever any man puts me in mind of my true lord. But as
for thine oath, we will let it go by; yet, oh that Odysseus may come
according to my desire, and the desire of Penelope and of that old
man Laertes and godlike Telemachus! But now I make a comfort-
less lament for the boy begotten of Odysseus, even for Telemachus.
When the gods had reared him like a young sapling, and I thought
that he would be no worse among men than his dear father, glorious
in form and face, some god or some man marred his good wits
within him, and he went to fair Pylos after tidings of his sire. And
now the lordly wooers lie in wait for him on his way home, that
the race of godlike Arceisius may perish nameless out of Ithaca.
Howbeit, no more of him now, whether he shall be taken or whether
he shall escape, and Cronion stretch out his hand to shield him. But
come, old man, do thou tell me of thine own troubles. And herein
tell me true, that I may surely know. Who art thou of the sons of
men, and whence? Where is thy city, where are they that begat

THE ODYSSEY I9I

thee? Say on what manner of ship didst thou come, and how did
sailors bring thee to Ithaca, and who did they avow them to be?
For in nowise do I deem that thou earnest hither by land.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Yea now,
I will tell thee all most plainly. Might we have food and sweet
wine enough to last for long, while we abide within thy hut to
feast thereon in quiet, and others betake them to their work; then
could I easily speak for a whole year, nor yet make a full end of
telling all the troubles of my spirit, all the travail I have wrought
by the will of the gods.

'I avow that 1 come by lineage from wide Crete, and am the son
of a wealthy man. And many other sons he had born and bred in
the halls, lawful-born of a wedded wife; but the mother that bare
me was a concubine bought with a price. Yet Castor son of Hylax,
of whose blood 1 avow me to be, gave me no less honour than his
lawful sons. Now he at that time got worship even as a god from
the Cretans in the land, for wealth and riches and sons renowned.
Howbeit the fates of death bare him away to the house of Hades,
and his gallant sons divided among them his living and cast lots
for it. But to me they gave a very small gift and assigned me a
dwelling, and I took unto me a wife, the daughter of men that had
wide lands, by reason of my valour, for that I was no weakUng nor
a dastard; but now all my might has failed me, yet even so I deem
that thou mightest guess from seeing the stubble what the grain has
been, for of trouble I have plenty and to spare. But then verily did
Ares and Athene give me boldness and courage to hurl through
the press of men, whensoever I chose the best warriors for an am-
bush, sowing the seeds of evil for my foes; no boding of death was
ever in my lordly heart, but I would leap out the foremost and
slay with the spear whoso of my foes was less fleet of foot than I.
Such an one was I in war, but the labour of the field I never loved,
nor home-keeping thrift, that breeds brave children, but galleys
with their oars were dear to me, and wars and polished shafts and
darts — baneful things whereat others use to shudder. But that,
methinks, was dear to me which the god put in my heart, for divers
men take delight in divers deeds. For ere ever the sons of the
Achaeans had set foot on the land of Troy, I had nine times been

192 HOMER

a leader of men and of swift-faring ships against a strange people,
and wealth fell ever to my hands. Of the booty I would choose out
for me all that I craved, and much thereafter I won by lot. So my
house got increase speedily, and thus I waxed dread and honourable
among the Cretans. But when Zeus, of the far-borne voice, devised
at the last that hateful path which loosened the knees of many a
man in death, then the people called on me and on renowned
Idomeneus to lead the ships to Ilios, nor was there any way whereby
to refuse, for the people's voice bore hard upon us. There we sons
of the Achaeans warred for nine whole years, and then in the
tenth year we sacked the city of Priam, and departed homeward
with our ships, and a god scattered the Achaeans. But Zeus, the
counsellor, devised mischief against me, wretched man that I wasi
For one month only I abode and had joy in my children and my
wedded wife, and all that I had; and thereafter my spirit bade me
fit out ships in the best manner and sail to Egypt with my godlike
company. Nine ships I fitted out and the host was gathered quickly;
and then for six days my dear company feasted, and I gave them
many victims that they might sacrifice to the gods and prepare a
feast for themselves. But on the seventh day we set sail from wide
Crete, with a North Wind fresh and fair, and lighdy we ran as it
were down stream, yea, and no harm came to any ship of mine, but
we sat safe and hale, while the wind and the pilots guided the
barques. And on the fifth day we came to the fair-flowing Aegyptus,
and in the river Aegyptus I stayed my curved ships. Then verily I
bade my dear companions to abide there by the ships and to guard
them, and I sent forth scouts to range the points of outlook. But
my men gave place to wantonness, being the fools of their own
force, and soon they fell to wasting the fields of the Egyptians,
exceeding fair, and led away their wives and infant children and
slew the men. And the cry came quickly to the city, and the
people hearing the shout came forth at the breaking of the day,
and all the plain was filled with footmen and chariots and with
the glitter of bronze. And 2^us, whose joy is in the thunder, sent
an evil panic upon my company, and none durst stand and face
the foe, for danger encompassed us on every side. There they slew
many of us with the edge of the sword, and others they led up with

THE ODYSSEY I93

them alive to work for them perforce. But as for me, Zeus him-
self put a thought into my heart; would to God that I had rather
died, and met my fate there in Egypt, for sorrow was still mine host!
Straightway I put off my well-wrought helmet from my head, and
the shield from off my shoulders, and I cast away my spear from my
hand, and I came over against the chariots of the king, and clasped
and kissed his knees, and he saved me and delivered me, and setting
me on his own chariot took me weeping to his home. Truly many
an one made at me with their ashen spears, eager to slay me, for
verily they were sore angered. But the king kept them off and had
respect unto the wrath of Zeus, the god of strangers, who chiefly
hath displeasure at evil deeds. So for seven whole years I abode
with their king, and gathered much substance among the Egyp-
tians, for they all gave me gifts. But when the eighth year came
in due season, there arrived a Phoenician practised in deceit, a
greedy knave, who had already done much mischief among men.
He wrought on me with his cunning, and took me with him until
he came to Phoenicia, where was his house and where his treasures
lay. There I abode with him for the space of a full year. But when
now the months and days were fulfilled, as the year came round and
the seasons returned, he set me aboard a seafaring ship for Libya,
under colour as though I was to convey a cargo thither with him,
but his purpose was to sell me in Libya, and get a great price. So
I went with him on board, perforce, ye't boding evil. And the ship
ran before a North Wind fresh and fair, through the mid sea over
above Crete, and Zeus contrived the destruction of the crew. But
when we left Crete, and no land showed in sight but sky and sea
only, even then the son of Cronos stayed a dark cloud over the
hollow ship, and the deep grew dark beneath it. And in the same
moment Zeus thundered and smote his bolt into the ship, and she
reeled all over being stricken by the bolt of Zeus, and was filled
with fire and brimstone, and all the crew fell overboard. And like
sea-gulls they were borne hither and thither on the waves about
the black ship, and the god cut off their return. But in this hour
of my affliction Zeus himself put into my hands the huge mast of
the dark-prowed ship, that even yet I might escape from harm. So
I clung round the mast and was borne by the ruinous winds. For

194 HOMER

nine days was I borne, and on the tenth black night the great rolling
wave brought me nigh to the land of the Thesprotians. There the
king of the Thesprotians, the lord Pheidon, took me in freely, for
his dear son lighted on me and raised me by the hand and led me
to his house, foredone with toil and the keen air, till he came to
his father's palace. And he clothed me in a mande and a doublet
for raiment.

There I heard tidings of Odysseus, for the king told me that he
had entertained him, and kindly entreated him on his way to his
own country; and he showed me all the wealth that Odysseus had
gathered, bronze and gold and well-wrought iron; yea it would
suffice for his children after him even to the tenth generation, so
great were the treasures he had stored in the chambers of the king.
He had gone, he said, to Dodona to hear the counsel of Zeus, from
the high leafy oak tree of the god, how he should return to the fat
land of Ithaca after long absence, whether openly or by stealth.
Moreover, he sware, in mine own presence, as he poured the drink
offering in his house, that the ship was drawn down to the sea and
his company were ready, who were to convey him to his own dear
country. But ere that, he sent me ofT, for it chanced that a ship of
the Thesprotians was starting for Dulichium, a land rich in grain.
Thither he bade them bring me with all diligence to the king
Acastus. But an evil counsel concerning me found favour in their
sight, that even yet I might reach the extremity of sorrow. When
the seafaring ship had sailed a great way from the land, anon they
sought how they might compass for me the day of slavery. They
stript me of my garments, my mantle and a doublet, and changed
my raiment to a vile wrap and doublet, tattered garments, even
those thou seest now before thee; and in the evening they reached
the fields of clear-seen Ithaca. There in the decked ship they bound
me closely with a twisted rope, and themselves went ashore, and
hasted to take supper by the sea-banks. Meanwhile the gods them-
selves lightly unclasped my bands, and muffling my head with the
wrap I slid down the smooth lading-plank, and set my breast to the
sea and rowed hard with both hands as I swam, and very soon I was
out of the water and beyond their reach. Then I went up where
there was a thicket, a wood in full leaf, and lay there crouching.

THE ODYSSEY 195

And they went hither and thither, making great moan; but when
now it seemed to them Uttle avail to go further on their quest, they
departed back again aboard their hollow ship. And the gods them-
selves hid me easily and brought me nigh to the homestead of a wise
man; for still, methinks, I am ordained to live on.'

Then didst thou make answer to him, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Ah!
wretched guest, verily thou hast stirred my heart with the tale of all
these things, of thy sufferings and thy wanderings. Yet herein,
methinks, thou speakest not aright, and never shalt thou persuade
me with the tale about Odysseus; why should one in thy plight lie
vainly? Well I know of mine own self, as touching my lord's
return, that he was utterly hated by all the gods, in that they smote
him not among the Trojans nor in the arms of his friends, when he
had wound up the clew of war. So should the whole Achaean host
have builded him a barrow; yea and for his son would he have
won great glory in the after days; but now all ingloriously the spirits
of the storm have snatched him away. But as for me I dwell apart
by the swine and go not to the city, unless pierchance wise Penelope
summons me thither, when tidings of my master are brought I
know not whence. Now all the people sit round and straitly ques-
tion the news-bearer, both such as grieve for their lord that is long
gone, and such as rejoice in devouring his living without atonement.
But I have no care to ask or to inquire, since the day that an
Aetolian cheated me with his story, one who had slain his man and
wandered over wide lands and came to my steading, and I dealt
lovingly with him. He said that he had seen my master among the
Cretans at the house of Idomeneus, mending his ships which the
storms had broken. And he said that he would come home either
by the summer or the harvest-tide, bringing much wealth with the
godUke men of his company. And thou too, old man of many
sorrows, seeing that some god hath brought thee to me, seek not
my grace with lies, nor give me any such comfort; not for this will
I have respect to thee or hold thee dear, but only for the fear of Zeus,
the god of strangers, and for pity of thyself.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: "Verily
thy heart within thee is slow to believe, seeing that even with an
oath I have not won thee, nor find credence with thee. But come

196 HOMER

now, let us make a covenant; and we will each one have for wit-
nesses the gods above, who hold Olympus. If thy lord shall return
to this house, put on me a mantle and doublet for raiment, and
send me on my way to Dulichium, whither I had a desire to go.
But if thy lord return not according to my word, set thy thralls
upon me, and cast me down from a mighty rock, that another
beggar in his turn may beware of deceiving.'

And the goodly swineherd answered him, saying: 'Yea stranger,
even so should I get much honour and good luck among men
both now and ever hereafter, if after bringing thee to my hut and
giving thee a stranger's cheer, I should turn again and slay thee
and take away thy dear life. Eager indeed thereafter should I be
to make a prayer to Zeus the son of Cronos! But now it is supper-
time, and would that my fellows may speedily be at home, that we
may make ready a dainty supper within the hut.'

Thus they spake one to the other. And lo, the swine and the
swineherds drew nigh. And the swine they shut up to sleep in their
lairs, and a mighty din arose as the swine were being stalled. Then
the goodly swineherd called to his fellows, saying:

'Bring the best of the swine, that I may sacrifice it for a guest of
mine from a far land: and we too will have good cheer therewith,
for we have long suffered and toiled by reason of the white-tusked
swine, while others devour the fruit of our labour without atone-
ment.'

Therewithal he cleft logs with the pitiless axe, and the others
brought in a well-fatted boar of five years old; and they set him by
the hearth nor did the swineherd forget the deathless gods, for he
was of an understanding heart. But for a beginning of sacrifice he
cast bristles from the head of the white-tusked boar upon the fire,
and prayed to all the gods that wise Odysseus might return to his
own house. Then he stood erect, and smote the boar with a billet
of oak which he had left in the cleaving, and the boar yielded up
his life. Then they cut the throat and singed the carcase and quickly
cut it up, and the swineherd took a first portion from all the limbs,
and laid the raw flesh on the rich fat. And some pieces he cast into
the fire after sprinkling them with bruised barley-meal, and they
cut the rest up small, and pierced it, and spitted and roasted it care-

THE ODYSSEY 197

fully, and drew it all off from the spits, and put the whole mess
together on trenchers. Then the swineherd stood up to carve, for
well he knew what was fair, and he cut up the whole and divided
it into seven portions. One, when he had prayed, he set aside for the
nymphs and for Hermes son of Maia, and the rest he distributed
to each. And he gave Odysseus the portion of honour, the long
back of the white-tusked boar, and the soul of his lord rejoiced at
this renown, and Odysseus of many counsels hailed him saying:

'Eumaeus, oh that thou mayest so surely be dear to father Zeus,
as thou art to me, seeing that thou honourest me with a good
portion, such an one as I am!'

Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus:

'Eat, luckless stranger, and make merry with such fare as is here.
And one thing the god will give and another withhold, even as he
will, for with him all things are possible.'

So he spake, and made burnt offering of the hallowed parts to
the everlasting gods, and poured the dark wine for a drink offering,
and set the cup in the hands of Odysseus, the waster of cities, and
sat down by his own mess. And Mesaulius bare them wheaten bread,
a thrall that the swineherd had gotten all alone, while his lord was
away, without the knowledge of his mistress and the old Laertes:
yea he had bought him of the Taphians with his own substance.
So they stretched forth their hands upon the good cheer spread
before them. Now after they had put from them the desire of meat
and drink, Mesaulius cleared away the bread, and they, now that
they had eaten enough of bread and flesh, were moved to go to rest.

Now it was so that night came on foul with a blind moon, and
Zeus rained the whole night through, and still the great West
Wind, the rainy wind, was blowing. Then Odysseus spake among
them that he might make trial of the swineherd, and see whether
he would take off his own mantle and give it to him or bid one of
his company strip, since he cared for him so greatly:

'Listen now, Eumaeus, and all of you his companions, with a
prayer will I utter my word; so bids me witless wine, which drives
even the wisest to sing and to laugh softly, and rouses him to dance,
yea and makes him to speak out a word which were better un-
spoken. Howbeit, now that I have broken into speech, I will not

198 HOMER

hide aught. Oh that I were young, and my might were steadfast,
as in the day when we arrayed our ambush and led it beneath Troy
town! And Odysseus, and Menelaus son of Atreus, were leaders
and with them I was a third in command; for so they bade me. Now
when we had come to the city and the steep wall, we lay about the
citadel in the thick brushwood, crouching under our arms among
the reeds and the marsh land, and behold, the night came on foul,
with frost, as the North Wind went down, while the snow fell from
above, and crusted like rime, bitter cold, and the ice set thick about
our shields. Now the others all had mantles and doublets, and slept
in peace with their shields buckled close about their shoulders; but
I as I went forth had left my mantle behind with my men, in my
folly, thinking that even so I should not be cold: so I came with
only my shield and bright leathern apron. But when it was now the
third watch of the night and the stars had passed the zenith, in that
hour I spake unto Odysseus who was nigh me, and thrust him
with my elbow, and he listened straightway:

' "Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
verily I shall cease from among living men, for this wintry cold is
slaying me, seeing that I have no mantle. Some god beguiled me
to wear a doublet only, and henceforth is no way of escape."

'So I spake, and he apprehended a thought in his heart, such an
one as he was in counsel and in fight. So he whispered and spake
to me, saying:

'"Be silent now, lest some other Achaeans hear thee." There-
with he raised his head upon his elbow, and spake, saying: "Listen,
friends, a vision from a god came to me in my sleep. Lo, we have
come very far from the ships; I would there were one to tell it to
Agamemnon, son of Atreus, shepherd of the host, if perchance he
may send us hither a greater company from the ships."

'So spake he, and Thoas, son of Andraemon, rose up quickly and
cast off his purple mantle. And he started to run unto the ships,
but I lay gladly in his garment, and the golden-throned Dawn
showed her light. Oh! that I were young as then and my might
steadfast! Then should some of the swineherds in the homestead
give me a mantle, alike for love's sake and for pity of a good warrior.
But now they scorn me for that sorry raiment is about my body.*

THE ODYSSEY 199

Then didst thou make answer, O swineherd Eumaeus: 'Old man,
the tale that thou hast told in his praise is very good, and so far
thou hast not misspoken aught, nor uttered a word unprofitably.
Wherefore for this night thou shalt lack neither raiment nor aught
else that is the due of a hapless suppliant, when he has met them
that can befriend him. But in the morning thou shalt go shuffling
in thine own rags, for there are not many mantles here or changes
of doublet; for each man hath but one coat. But when the dear son
of Odysseus comes, he himself will give thee a mantle and doublet
for raiment, and send thee whithersoever thy heart and spirit bid.'

With that he sprang up and set a bed for Odysseus near the fire,
and thereon he cast skins of sheep and goats. There Odysseus laid
him down and Eumaeus cast a great thick mantle over him, which
he had ever by him for a change of covering, when any terrible
storm should arise.

So there Odysseus slept, and the young men slept beside him.
But the swineherd had no mind to lie there in a bed away from
the boars. So he made him ready to go forth and Odysseus was
glad, because he had a great care for his master's substance while
he was afar. First he cast his sharp sword about his strong shoulders,
then he clad him in a very thick mantle, to keep the wind away; and
he caught up the fleece of a great and well-fed goat, and seized his
sharp javelin, to defend him against dogs and men. Then he went
to lay him down even where the white-tusked boars were sleeping,
beneath the hollow of the rock, in a place of shelter from the North
Wind.

BOOK XV

Pallas sends home Telemachus from Lacedaemon with the presents
given him by Menelaus. Telemachus landed, goes first to Eumaeus.

NOW Pallas Athene went to the wide land of Lacedaemon,
to put the noble son of the great-hearted Odysseus in
mind of his return, and to make him hasten his coming.
And she found Telemachus, and the glorious son of Nestor, couched
at the vestibule of the house of famous Menelaus. The son of Nestor
truly was overcome with soft sleep, but sweet sleep gat not hold of
Telemachus, but, through the night divine, careful thoughts for his
father kept him wakeful. And grey-eyed Athene stood nigh him
and spake to him, saying:

'Telemachus, it is no longer meet that thou shouldest wander far
from thy home, leaving thy substance behind thee, and men in thy
house so wanton, lest they divide and utterly devour all thy wealth,
and thou shalt have gone on a vain journey. But come, rouse with
all haste Menelaus, of the loud war<ry, to send thee on thy way,
that thou mayest even yet find thy noble mother in her home. For
even now her father and her brethren bid her wed Eurymachus,
for he outdoes all the wooers in his presents, and hath been greatly
increasing his gifts of wooing. So shall she take no treasure from
thy house despite thy will. Thou knowest of what sort is the heart
of a woman within her; all her desire is to increase the house of
the man who takes her to wife, but of her former children and of
her own dear lord she has no more memory once he is dead, and she
asks concerning him no more. Go then, and thyself place all thy
substance in the care of the handmaid who seems to thee the best,
till the day when the gods shall show thee a glorious bride. Now
another word will I tell thee, and do thou lay it up in thine heart.
The noblest of the wooers lie in wait for thee of purpose, in the
strait between Ithaca and rugged Samos, eager to slay thee before
thou come to thine own country. But this, methinks, will never be;
yea, sooner shall the earth close over certain of the wooers that

THE ODYSSEY 201

devour thy livelihood. Nay, keep thy well-wrought ship far from
those isles, and sail by night as well as day, and he of the immortals
who hath thee in his keeping and protection will send thee a fair
breeze in thy wake. But when thou hast touched the nearest shore
of Ithaca, send thy ship and all thy company forward to the city,
but for thy part seek first the swineherd who keeps thy swine, loyal
and at one with thee. There do thou rest the night, and bid him
go to the city to bear tidings of thy coming to the wise Penelope,
how that she hath got thee safe, and thou art come up out of Pylos.'

Therewith she departed to high Olympus. But Telemachus woke
the son of Nestor out of sweet sleep, touching him with his heel,
and spake to him, saying:

'Awake, Peisistratus, son of Nestor, bring up thy horses of solid
hoof, and yoke them beneath the car, that we may get forward
on the road.'

Then Peisistratus, son of Nestor, answered him, saying: 'Telema-
chus, we may in no wise drive through the dark night, how eager
soever to be gone; nay, soon it will be dawn. Tarry then, till the
hero, the son of Atreus, spear-famed Menelaus, brings gifts, and sets
them on the car, and bespeaks thee kindly, and sends thee on thy
way. For of him a guest is mindful all the days of his life, even of
the host that shows him loving-kindness."

So spake he, and anon came the golden-throned Dawn. And
Menelaus, of the loud war cry, drew nigh to them, new risen from
his bed, by fair-haired Helen. Now when the dear son'of Odysseus
marked him, he made haste and girt his shining doublet about
him, and the hero cast a great mantle over his mighty shoulders,
and went forth at the door, and Telemachus, dear son of divine
Odysseus, came up and spake to Menelaus, saying:

'Menelaus, son of Atreus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the people,
even now do thou speed me hence, to mine own dear country; for
even now my heart is fain to come home again.'

Then Menelaus, of the loud war cry, answered him : 'Telemachus,
as for me, I will not hold thee a long time here, that art eager to
return; nay, I think it shame even in another host, who loves over-
much or hates overmuch. Measure is best in all things. He does
equal wrong who speeds a guest that would fain abide, and stays

202 HOMER

one who is in haste to be gone. Men should lovingly entreat the
present guest and speed the parting. But abide till I bring fair
gifts and set them on the car and thine own eyes behold them, and
I bid the women to prepare the midday meal in the halls, out of
the good store they have within. Honour and glory it is for us, and
gain withal for thee, that ye should have eaten well ere ye go on
your way, over vast and limitless lands. What and if thou art
minded to pass through Hellas and mid Argos? So shall I too go
with thee, and yoke thee horses and lead thee to the towns of men,
and none shall send us empty away, but will give us some one thing
to take with us, either a tripod of goodly bronze or a cauldron, or
two mules or a golden chalice.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him saying: 'Menelaus, son of
Atreus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the people, rather would I
return even now to mine own land, for I left none behind to watch
over my goods when I departed. I would not that I myself should
perish on the quest of my godlike father, nor that any good heir-
loom should be lost from my halls.'

Now when Menelaus, of the loud war cry, heard this saying,
straightway he bade his wife and maids to prepare the midday meal
in the halls, out of the good store they had by them. Then Eteoneus,
son of Boethous, came nigh him, just risen from his bed, for he
abode not far from him. Him Menelaus of the loud war cry bade
kindle the fire and roast of the flesh; and he hearkened and obeyed.
Then the prince went down into the fragrant treasure chamber,
not alone, for Helen went with him, and Megapenthes. Now, when
they came to the place where the treasures were stored, then Atrides
took a two-handled cup, and bade his son Megap)enthes to bear a
mixing bowl of silver. And Helen stood by the coffers, wherein
were her robes of curious needlework which she herself had wrought.
Then Helen, the fair lady, lifted one and brought it out, the widest
and most beautifully embroidered of all, and it shone like a star,
and lay far beneath the rest.

Then they went forth through the house till they came to Telema-
chus; and Menelaus, of the fair hair, spake to him saying:

'Telemachus, may Zeus the thunderer, and the lord of Here, in
very truth bring about thy return according to the desire of thy

THE ODYSSEY 203

heart. And of the gifts, such as are treasures stored in my house,
I will give thee the goodliest and greatest of price. I will give thee
a mixing bowl beautifully wrought; it is all of silver and the hps
thereof are finished with gold, the work of Hephaestus; and the
hero Phaedimus the king of the Sidonians, gave it to me when his
house sheltered me, on my coming thither. This cup I would give
to thee.'

Therewith the hero Atrides set the two-handled cup in his hands.
And the strong Megapenthes bare the shining silver bowl and set
it before him. And Helen came up, beautiful Helen, with the robe
in her hands, and spake and hailed him:

'Lo! I too give this gift, dear child, a memorial of the hands of
Helen, against the day of thy desire, even of thy bridal, for thy
bride to wear it. But meanwhile let it lie by thy dear mother in her
chamber. And may joy go with thee to thy well-builded house,
and thine own country.'

With that she put it into his hands, and he took it and was glad.
And the hero Peisistratus took the gifts and laid them in the chest
of the car, and gazed on all and wondered. Then Menelaus of the
fair hair led them to the house. Then they twain sat them down
on chairs and high seats, and a handmaid bare water for the hands
in a goodly golden ewer, and poured it forth over a silver basin to
wash withal, and drew to their side a polished table. And a grave
dame bare wheaten bread and set it by them, and laid on the board
many dainties, giving freely of such things as she had by her. And
the son of Boethous carved by the board and divided the messes,
and the son of renowned Menelaus poured forth the wine. So they
stretched forth their hands upon the good cheer set before them.
Now when they had put from them the desire of meat and drink,
then did Telcmachus and the glorious son of Nestor yoke the horses
and cUmb into the inlaid car. And they drave forth from the gate-
way and the echoing gallery. After these Menelaus, of the fair hair,
the son of Atreus, went forth bearing in his right hand a golden
cup of honey-hearted wine, that they might pour a drink-of?ering
ere they departed. And he stood before the horses and spake his
greeting:

'Farewell, knightly youths, and salute in my name Nestor, the

204 HOMER

shepherd of the people; for truly he was gentle to me as a father,
while we sons of the Achaeans warred in the land of Troy.'

And wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Yea verily, O
fosterling of Zeus, we will tell him all on our coming even as thou
sayest. Would God that when I return to Ithaca I may find Odys-
seus in his home and tell him all, so surely as now I go on my way
having met with all loving-kindness at thy hands, and take with
me treasures many and goodly!'

And even as he spake a bird flew forth at his right hand, an eagle
that bare in his claws a great white goose, a tame fowl from the
yard, and men and women followed shouting. But the bird drew
near them and flew off to the right, across the horses, and they that
saw it were glad, and their hearts were all comforted with them.
And Peisistratus, son of Nestor, first spake among them:

'Consider, Menelaus, fosterling of Zeus, leader of the people,
whether god hath showed forth this sign for us twain, or for thee
thyself.'

So spake he, and the warrior Menelaus pondered thereupon, how
he should take heed to answer, and interpret it aright.

And long-robed Helen took the word and spake, saying: 'Hear
me, and I will prophesy as the immortals put it into my heart, and
as I deem it will be accomplished. Even as yonder eagle came
down from the hill, the place of his birth and kin, and snatched
away the goose that was fostered in the house, even so shall Odysseus
return home after much trial and long wanderings and take venge-
ance; yea, or even now is he at home and sowing the seeds of evil
for all the wooers.'

Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Now may Zeus
ordain it so, Zeus the thunderer and the lord of Here. Then would
I do thee worship, as to a god, even in my home afar.'

He spake and smote the horses with the lash, and they sped
quickly towards the plain, in eager course through the city. So all
day long they swayed the yoke they bore upon their necks. And the
sun sank, and all the ways were darkened. And they came to Pherae,
to the house of Diocles, son of Orsilochus, the child begotten of
Alpheus. There they rested for the night, and by them he set the
entertainment of strangers.

THE ODYSSEY 205

Now so soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, they
yoked the horses and mounted the inlaid car. And forth they drave
from the gateway and the echoing gallery. And he touched the
horses with the whip to start them, and the pair flew onward nothing
loth. And soon thereafter they reached the steep hold of Pylos. Then
Telemachus spake unto the son of Nestor, saying:

'Son of Nestor, in what wise mightest thou make me a promise
and fulfil my bidding? For we claim to be friends by reason of our
fathers' friendship from of old. Moreover, we are equals in age,
and this journey shall turn to our greater love. Take me not hence
past my ship, O fosterling of Zeus, but leave me there, lest that old
man keep me in his house in my despite, out of his eager kindness,
for I must go right quickly home.*

So spake he, and the son of Nestor communed with his own
heart how he might make promise, and duly fulfil the same. So as
he thought thereon, in this wise it seemed to him best. He turned
back his horses toward the iswift ship and the sea-banks, and took
forth the fair gifts and set them in the hinder part of the ship, the
raiment and the gold which Menelaus gave him. And he called to
Telemachus and spake to him winged words:

'Now climb the ship with all haste, and bid all thy company do
likewise, ere I reach home and bring the old man word. For well
I know in my mind and heart that, being so wilful of heart, he will
not let thee go, but he himself will come hither to bid thee to his
house, and methinks that he will not go back without thee; for very
wroth will he be despite thine excuse.'

Thus he spake, and drave the horses with the flowing manes
back to the town of the Pylians, and came quickly to the halls. And
Telemachus called to his companions and commanded them, saying:

'Set ye the gear in order, my friends, in the black ship, and let
us climb aboard that we may make way upon our course.'

So spake he, and they gave good heed and hearkened. Then
straightway they embarked and sat upon the benches.

Thus was he busy hereat and praying and making burnt-offering
to Athene, by the stern of the ship, when there drew nigh him one
from a far country, that had slain his man and was fleeing from
out of Argos. He was a soothsayer and by his lineage he came of

206 HOMER

Melampus, who o£ old time abode in Pylos, mother of flocks, a
rich man and one that had an exceedingly goodly house among the
Pylians, but afterward he had come to the land of strangers, fleeing
from his country and from Neleus, the great-hearted, the proudest
of living men, who kept all his goods for a full year by force. All
that time Melampus lay bound with hard bonds in the halls of
Phylacus, suffering strong pains for the sake of the daughter of
Neleus, and for the dread blindness of soul which the goddess, the
Erinnys of the dolorous stroke, had laid on him. Howsoever, he
escaped his fate, and drave away the lowing kine from Phylace to
Pylos, and avenged the foul deed upon godlike Neleus, and brought
the maiden home to his own brother to wife. As for him, he went
to a country of other men, to Argos, the pastureland of horses;
for there truly it was ordained that he should dwell, bearing rule
over many of the Argives. There he wedded a wife, and builded
him a lofty house, and begat Antiphates and Mantius, two mighty
sons. Now Antiphates begat Oicles the great-hearted, and Okies
Amphiaraus, the rouser of the host, whom Zeus, lord of the aegis,
and Apollo loved with all manner of love. Yet he reached not the
threshold of old age, but died in Thebes by reason of a woman's
gifts. And the sons born to him were Alcmaeon and Amphilochus.
But Mantius begat Polypheides and Cleitus; but it came to pass that
the golden-throned Dawn snatched away Cleitus for his very beauty's
sake, that he might dwell with the Immortals.

And Apollo made the high-souled Polypheides a seer, far the chief
of human kind, Amphiaraus being now dead. He removed his
dwelling to Hypheresia, being angered with his father, and here he
abode and prophesied to all men.

This man's son it was, Theoclymenus by name, that now drev/
nigh and stood by Telemachus. And he found him pouring a
drink-offering and praying by the swift black ship, and uttering his
voice he spake to him winged words:

'Friend, since I find thee making burnt-offering in this place, I
pray thee, by thine offerings and by the god, and thereafter by thine
own head, and in the name of the men of thy company answer my
question truly and hide it not. Who art thou of the sons of men
and whence? Where is thy city, where are they that begat thee.?*

THE ODYSSEY 207

And wise Telemachus answered him, saying: "Yea now, stranger,
I will plainly tell thee all. Of Ithaca am 1 by lineage, and my father
is Odysseus, if ever such an one there was, but now hath he perished
by an evil fate. Wherefore I have taken my company and a black
ship, and have gone forth to hear word of my father that has been
long afar.'

Then godlike Theoclymenus spake to him again: 'Even so I too
have fled from my country, for the manslaying of one of mine own
kin. And many brethren and kinsmen of the slain are in Argos,
the pastureland of horses, and rule mightily over the Achaeans.
Wherefore now am I an exile to shun death and black fate at their
hands, for it is my doom yet to wander among men. Now set me
on board ship, since I supplicate thee in my flight, lest they slay
me utterly; for methinks they follow hard after me.'

And wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Surely I will not
drive thee away from our good ship, if thou art fain to come. Follow
thou with us then, and in Ithaca thou shalt be welcome to such
things as we have.'

Therewith he took from him his spear of bronze, and laid it along
the deck of the curved ship, and himself too climbed the seafaring
ship. Then he sat down in the stern and made Theoclymenus to
sit beside him; and his company loosed the hawsers. Then Telema-
chus called unto his company, and bade them lay hands on the
tackhng, and speedily they hearkened to his call. So they raised the
mast of pine tree, and set it in the hole of the cross plank and made
it fast with forestays, and hauled up the white sails with twisted
ropes of ox-hide. And grey-eyed Athene sent them a favouring
breeze, rushing violently through the clear sky that the ship might
speedily finish her course over the salt water of the sea. So they
passed by Crouni and Chalcis, a land of fair streams.

And the sun set and all the ways were darkened. And the vessel
drew nigh to Pheae, being sped before the breeze of Zeus, and then
passed goodly Elis where the Epeans bear rule. From thence he
drave on again to the Pointed Isles, pondering whether he should
escape death or be cut off.

Now Odysseus and the goodly swineherd were supping in the
hut, and the other men sat at meat with them. So when they had

208 HOMER

put from them the desire of meat and drink, Odysseus spake among
them, to prove the swineherd, whether he would still entertain him
diligently, and bid him abide there in the steading or send him
forward to the city:

'Listen now, Eumaeus, and all the others of the company. In
the morning I would fain be gone to the town to go a begging,
that I be not ruinous to thyself and thy fellows. Now advise me
well, and lend me a good guide by the way to lead me thither; and
through the city will I wander alone as needs I must, if perchance
one may give me a cup of water and a morsel of bread. Moreover
I would go to the house of divine Odysseus and bear tidings to
the wise Penelope, and consort with the wanton wooers, if haply
they might grant me a meal out of the boundless store that they
have by them. Lightly might I do good service among them, even
all that they would. For lo! I will tell thee and do thou mark and
listen. By the favour of Hermes, the messenger, who gives grace
and glory to all men's work, no mortal may vie with me in the
business of a serving-man, in piling well a fire, in cleaving dry
faggots, and in carving and roasting flesh and in pouring of wine,
those offices wherein meaner men serve their betters.'

Then didst thou speak to him in heaviness of heart, swineherd
Eumaeus: 'Ah! wherefore, stranger, hath such a thought arisen in
thine heart? Surely thou art set on perishing utterly there, if thou
wouldest indeed go into the throng of the wooers, whose outrage
and violence reacheth even to the iron heaven! Not such as thou
are their servants; they that minister to them are young and gaily
clad in mantles and in doublets, and their heads are anointed with
oil and they are fair of face, and the polished boards are laden
with bread and flesh and wine. Nay, abide here, for none is vexed
by thy presence, neither I nor any of my fellows that are with me.
But when the dear son of Odysseus comes, he himself will give thee
a mantle and a doublet for raiment, and will send thee whitherso-
ever thy heart and spirit bid thee go.'

Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him: 'Oh, that
thou mayst so surely be dear to father Zeus as thou art to me, in
that thou didst make me to cease from wandering and dread woe!
For there is no other thing more mischievous to men than roaming;

THE ODYSSEY 209

yet for their cursed belly's need men endure sore distress, to whom
come wandering and tribulation and pain. But behold now, since
thou stayest me here, and biddest me wait his coming, tell me of the
mother of divine Odysseus, and of the father whom at his departure
he left behind him on the threshold of old age; are they, it may be,
yet alive beneath the sunlight, or already dead and within the house
of Hades?'

Then spake to him the swineherd, a master of men: 'Yea now,
stranger, I will plainly tell thee all. Laertes yet lives, and prays
evermore to Zeus that his life may waste from out his limbs within
his halls. For he has wondrous sorrow for his son that is far away,
and for the wedded lady his wise wife, whose death afflicted him in
chief and brought him to old age before his day. Now she died of
very grief for her son renowned, by an evil death, so may no man
perish who dwells here and is a friend to me in word and deed!
So long as she was on earth, though in much sorrow, I was glad
to ask and enquire concerning her, for that she herself had reared
me along with long-robed Ctimene, her noble daughter, the young-
est of her children. With her I was reared, and she honoured me
little less than her own. But when we both came to the time of
our desire, to the flower of age, thereupon they sent her to Same,
and got a great bride-price; but my lady clad me in a mantle and a
doublet, raiment very fair, and gave me sandals for my feet and
sent me forth to the field, and right dear at heart she held me. But
of these things now at last am I lacking; yet the blessed gods prosper
the work of mine own hands, whereat I abide. Of this my substance
I have eaten and drunken and given to reverend strangers. But from
my lady I may hear nought pleasant, neither word nor deed, for evil
hath fallen on her house, a plague of froward men; yet thralls have
a great desire to speak before their mistress and find out all and
eat and drink, and moreover to carry off somewhat with them to
the field, such things as ever comfort the heart of a thrall.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Ah,
Eumaeus, how far then didst thou wander from thine own country
and thy parents while as yet thou wast but a child! But come,
declare me this and plainly tell it all. Was a wide-wayed town of
men taken and sacked, wherein dwelt thy father and thy lady

210 HOMER

mother, or did unfriendly men find thee lonely, tending sheep or
cattle, and shipped thee thence, and sold thee into the house of
thy master here, who paid for thee a goodly price?'

Then spake to him the swineherd, a master of men: 'Stranger,
since thou askest and questionest me hereof, give heed now in silence
and make merry, and abide here drinking wine. Lo, the nights now
are of length untold. Time is there to sleep, and time to listen and
be glad; thou needest not turn to bed before the hour; even too much
sleep is vexation of spirit. But for the rest, let him whose heart
and mind bid him, go forth and slumber, and at the dawning of
the day let him break his fast, and follow our master's swine. But
let us twain drink and feast within the steading, and each in his
neighbour's sorrows take delight recalling them, for even the
memory of griefs is a joy to a man who hath been sore tried and
wandered far. Wherefore I will tell thee that whereof thou askest
and dost question me.

'There is a certain isle called Syria, if haply thou hast heard tell
of it, over above Ortygia, and there are the turning-places of the
sun. It is not very great in compass, though a goodly isle, rich in
herds, rich in flocks, with plenty of corn and wine. Dearth never
enters the land, and no hateful sickness falls on wretched mortals.
But when the tribes of men grow old in that city, then comes Ap)ollo
of the silver bow, with Artemis, and slays them with the visitation
of his gentle shafts. In that isle are two cities, and the whole land
is divided between them, and my father was king over the twain,
Ctesius son of Ormenus, a man like to the Immortals.

'Thither came the Phoenicians, mariners renowned, greedy mer-
chant men, with countless gauds in a black ship. Now in my father's
house was a Phoenician woman, tall and fair and skilled in bright
handiwork; this woman the Phoenicians with their sleights be-
guiled. First as she was washing clothes, one of them lay with her
in love by the hollow ship, for love beguiles the minds of woman-
kind, even of the upright. Then he asked her who she was and
whence she came, and straightway she showed him the lofty home
of my father, saying:

' "From out of Sidon I avow that I come, a land rich in bronze,
and I am the daughter of Arybas, the deeply wealthy. But Taphians,

THE ODYSSEY 211

who were sea-robbers, laid hands on me and snatched me away as
I came in from the fields, and brought me hither and sold me into
the house of my master, who paid for me a goodly price."

'Then the man who had lain with her privily, answered: "Say,
wouldst thou now return home with us, that thou mayst look again
on the lofty house of thy father and mother and on their faces? For
truly they yet live, and have a name for wealth."

'Then the woman answered him and spake, saying: "Even this
may well be, if ye sailors will pledge me an oath to bring me home
in safety."

'So spake she, and they all swore thereto as she bade them. Now
when they had sworn and done that oath, again the woman spake
among them and answered, saying:

' "Hold your peace now, and let none of your fellows sf>eak to me
and greet me, if they meet me in the street, or even at the well, lest
one go and tell it to the old man at home, and he susjject somewhat
and bind me in hard bonds and devise death for all of you. But
keep ye the matter in mind, and speed the purchase of your home-
ward freight. And when your ship is freighted with stores, let a
message come quickly to me at the house; for I will likewise bring
gold, all that comes under my hand. Yea and there is another thing
that I would gladly give for my fare. I am nurse to the child of my
lord in the halls, a most cunning little boy, that runs out and abroad
with me. Him would I bring on board ship, and he should fetch
you a great price, wheresoever ye take him for sale among men of
strange speech."

'Therewith she went her way to the fair halls. But they abode
among us a whole year, and got together much wealth in their
hollow ship. And when their hollow ship was now laden to depart,
they sent a messenger to tell the tidings to the woman. There came
a man versed in craft to my father's house, with a golden chain
strung here and there with amber beads. Now the maidens in the
hall and my lady mother were handling the chain and gazing on
it, and offering him their price; but he had signed silently to the
woman, and therewithal gat him away to the hollow ship. Then
she took me by the hand and led me forth from the house. And at
the vestibule of the house she found the cups and the tables of the

212 HOMER

guests that had been feasting, who were in waiting on my father.
They had gone forth to the session and the place of parley of the
people. And she straightway hid three goblets in her bosom, and
bare them away, and I followed in my innocence. Then the sun
sank and all the ways were darkened. And we went quickly and
came to the good haven, where was the swift ship of the Phoenicians.
So they climbed on board and took us up with them, and sailed
over the wet ways, and Zeus sent us a favouring wind.

'For six days we sailed by day and night continually; but when
Zeus, son of Cronos, added the seventh day thereto, then Artemis,
the archer, smote the woman that she fell, as a sea-swallow falls,
with a plunge into the hold. And they cast her forth to be the prey
of seals and fishes, but I was left stricken at heart. And wind and
water bare them and brought them to Ithaca, where Laertes bought
me with his possessions. And thus it chanced that mine eyes beheld
this land.'

Then Odysseus, of the seed of Zeus, answered him, saying:

'Eumaeus, verily thou hast stirred my heart within me with the
tale of all these things, of all the sorrow of heart thou hast endured.
Yet surely Zeus hath given thee good as well as evil, since after all
these adventures thou hast come to the house of a kindly man, who
is careful to give thee meat and drink and right well thou livest.
But I have come hither still wandering through the many towns
of men.'

Thus they spake one with the other. Then they laid them down
to sleep for no long while, but for a little space, for soon came the
throned Dawn. But on the shore the company of Telemachus were
striking their sails, and took down the mast quickly and rowed the
ship on to anchorage. And they cast anchors and made fast the
hawsers, and themselves too stept forth upon the strand of the sea,
and made ready the midday meal, and mixed the dark wine. Now
when they had put from them the desire of meat and drink, wise
Telemachus first spake among them :

'Do ye now drive the black ship to the city, while I will go to the
fields and to the herdsmen, and at even I will return to the city,
when I have seen my lands. And in the morning I will set by you
the wages of the voyage, a good feast of flesh and of sweet wine.'

THE ODYSSEY 213

Then godlike Theoclymenus answered him: 'And whither shall
I go, dear child? To what man's house shall I betake me, of such
as are lords in rocky Ithaca? Shall I get me straight to thy mother
and to thy home?'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'In other case I
would bid thee go even to our own house; for there is no lack of
cheer for strangers, but now would it be worse for thyself, foras-
much as I shall be away nor would my mother see thee. For she
comes not often in sight of the wooers in the house, but abides apart
from them in her upper chamber, and weaves at her web. Yet
there is one whom I will tell thee of, to whom thou mayst go,
Eurymachus, the glorious son of wise Polybus, whom now the men
of Ithaca look upon, even as if he were a god. For he is far the best
man of them all, and is most eager to wed my mother and to have
the sovereignty of Odysseus. Howbeit, Olympian Zeus, that dwells
in the clear sky, knows hereof, whether or no he will fulfil for them
the evil day before their marriage.'

Now even as he spake, a bird flew out on the right, a hawk, the
swift messenger of Apollo. In his talons he held a dove and plucked
her, and shed the feathers down to the earth, midway between the
ship and Telemachus himself. Then Theoclymenus called him
apart from his fellows, and clasped his hand and spake and hailed
him:

'Telemachus, surely not without the god's will hath the bird flown
out on the right, for I knew when I saw him that he was a bird of
omen. There is no other house more kingly than yours in the land
of Ithaca; nay, ye have ever the mastery.'

And wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Ah, stranger, would
that this word may be accomplished! Soon shouldest thou be aware
of kindness and many a gift at my hands, so that whoso met with
thee would call thee blessed.'

Then he spake to Piraeus, his trusty companion: 'Piraeus, son of
Clytius, thou that at other seasons hearkenest to me above all my
company who went with me to Pylos, even now, I pray, lead this
stranger home with thee, and give heed to treat him lovingly and
with worship in thy house till I come.'

Then Piraeus, spearsman renowned, answered him saying:

214 HOMER

'Telemachus, why, even if thou shouldest tarry here long, yet will I
entertain this man, and he shall have no lack of stranger's cheer.'

Therewith he went on board, and bade his men themselves to
mount and loose the hawsers. And quickly they embarked and
sat upon the benches. And Telemachus bound his goodly sandals
beneath his feet, and seized a mighty spear, shod with sharp bronze,
from the deck of the ship and his men loosed the hawsers. So they
thrust off and sailed to the city, as Telemachus bade them, the dear
son of divine Odysseus. But swiftly his feet bore him on his for-
ward way, till he came to the court, where were his swine out of
number; and among them the good swineherd slept, a man loyal
to his lords.

BOOK XVI

Telemachus sends Eumaeus to the city to tell his mother of his return.
And how, in the meantime, Odysseus discovers himself to his son.

NOW these twain, Odysseus and the gcxidly swineherd,
within the hut had kindled a fire, and were making ready
breakfast at the dawn, and had sent forth the herdsmen
with the droves of swine. And round Telemachus the hounds, that
love to bark, fawned and barked not, as he drew nigh. And goodly
Odysseus took note of the fawning of the dogs, and the noise of
footsteps fell upon his ears. Then straight he spake to Eumaeus
winged words:

'Eumaeus, verily some friend or some other of thy familiars will
soon be here, for the dogs do not bark but fawn around, and I
catch the sound of footsteps.'

While the word was yet on his lips, his own dear son stood at
the entering in of the gate. Then the swineherd sprang up in
amazement, and out of his hands fell the vessels wherewith he was
busied in mingling the dark wine. And he came over against his
master and kissed his head and both his beautiful eyes and both
his hands, and he let a great tear fall. And even as a loving father
welcomes his son that has come in the tenth year from a far country,
his only son and well-beloved, for whose sake he has had great
sorrow and travail, even so did the goodly swineherd fall upon the
neck of godlike Telemachus, and kiss him all over as one escaped
from death, and he wept aloud and spake to him winged words:

'Thou are come, Telemachus, a sweet light in the dark; methought
I should see thee never again, after thou hadst gone in thy ship to
Pylos. Nay now enter, dear child, that my heart may be glad at
the sight of thee in mine house, who hast newly come from afar.
For thou dost not often visit the field and the herdsmen, but abidest
in the town; so it seems has thy good pleasure been, to look on the
ruinous throng of the wooers.'

215

2l6 HOMER

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'So be it, father,
as thou sayest; and for thy sake am I come hither to see thee with
mine eyes, and to hear from thy lips whether my mother yet abides
in the halls or another has already wedded her, and the couch of
Odysseus, perchance, lies in lack of bedding and deep in foul
spider-webs.'

Then the swineherd, a master of men, answered him : 'Yea, verily,
she abides with patient spirit in thy halls, and wearily for her the
nights wane always and the days, in shedding of tears.'

So he spake and took from him the spear of bronze. Then
Telemachus passed within and crossed the threshold of stone. As
he came near, his father Odysseus arose from his seat to give him
place; but Telemachus, on his part, stayed him and spake, saying:

'Be seated, stranger, and we will find a seat some other where in
our steading, and there is a man here to set it for us.'

So he spake, and Odysseus went back and sat him down again.
And the swineherd strewed for Telemachus green brushwood below,
and a fleece thereupon, and there presently the dear son of Odysseus
sat him down. Next the swineherd set by them platters of roast
flesh, the fragments that were left from the meal of yesterday. And
wheaten bread he briskly heaped up in baskets, and mixed the
honey-sweet wine in a goblet of ivy wood, and himself sat down
over against divine Odysseus. So they stretched forth their hands
upon the good cheer set before them. Now when they had put from
them the desire of meat and drink, Telemachus spake to the goodly
swineherd, saying:

'Father, whence came this stranger to thee? How did sailors
bring him to Ithaca? and who did they avow them to be? For in
no wise, I deem, did he come hither by land.'

Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: Yea now,
my son, I will tell thee all the truth. Of wide Crete he avows him
to be by lineage, and he says that round many cities of mortals he
has wandered at adventure; even so has some god spun for him the
thread of fate. But now, as a runaway from a ship of the Thes-
protians, has he come to my steading, and I will give him to thee
for thy man; do with him as thou wilt; he avows him for thy
suppliant.'

THE ODYSSEY 217

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Eumaeus, verily
a bitter word is this that thou speakest. How indeed shall I receive
this guest in my house? Myself I am young, and trust not yet to
my strength of hands to defend me against the man who does
violence without a cause. And my mother has divisions of heart,
whether to abide here with me and keep the house, respecting the
bed of her lord and the voice of the people, or straightway to go
with whomsoever of the Achaeans that woo her in the halls is the
best man, and gives most bridal gifts. But behold, as for this guest
of thine, now that he has come to thy house, I will clothe him in
a mantle and a doublet, goodly raiment, and I will give him a two-
edged sword, and shoes for his feet, and send him on his way,
whithersoever his heart and his spirit bid him go. Or, if thou wilt,
hold him here in the steading and take care of him, and raiment I
will send hither, and all manner of food to eat, that he be not ruinous
to thee and to thy fellows. But thither into the company of the
wooers would I not suffer him to go, for they are exceeding full o£
infatuate insolence, lest they mock at him, and that would be a sore
grief to me. And hard it is for one man, how vaUant soever, to
achieve aught among a multitude, for verily they are far the
stronger.'

Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him: 'My friend,
since it is indeed my right to answer thee withal, of a truth my
heart is rent as I hear your words, such infatuate deeds ye say the
wooers devise in the halls, in despite of thee, a man so noble. Say,
dost thou willingly submit thee to oppression, or do the people
through the township hate thee, obedient to the voice of a god ? Or
hast thou cause to blame thy brethren, in whose battle a man puts
trust, even if a great feud arise? Ah, would that I had the youth,
as now I have the spirit, and were either the son of noble Odysseus
or Odysseus' very self,' straightway then might a stranger sever
my head from off my neck, if I went not to the halls of Odysseus,
son of Laertes, and made myself the bane of every man among
them! But if they should overcome me by numbers, being but one
man against so many, far rather would I die slain in mine own

'We omit line 101, which spoils the sense of the passage, and was rejected by
antiquity.

2l8 HOMER

halls, than witness for ever these unseemly deeds, strangers shame-
fully entreated, and men haling the handmaidens in foul wise
through the fair house and wine drawn wastefully and the wooers
devouring food all recklessly without avail, at a work that knows
no ending.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: *Yea now, stranger,
I will plainly tell thee all. There is no grudge and hatred borne
me by the whole people, neither have I cause to blame my brethren,
in whose battle a man puts trust, even if a great feud arise. For
thus, as thou seest, Cronion has made us a house of but one heir.
Arceisius got him one only son Laertes, and one only son Odysseus
was begotten of his father, and Odysseus left me the only child of
his getting in these halls, and had no joy of me; wherefore now are
foemen innumerable in the house. For all the noblest that are
princes in the islands, in Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacyn-
thus, and as many as lord it in rocky Ithaca, all these woo my
mother and waste my house. But as for her she neither refuseth
the hated bridal, nor hath the heart to make an end; so they devour
and minish my house; and ere long will they make havoc likewise
of myself. Howbeit these things surely lie on the knees of the
gods. Nay, father, but do thou go with haste and tell the constant
Penelope that she hath got me safe and that I am come up out of
Pylos. As for me, I will tarry here, and do thou return hither when
thou hast told the tidings to her alone; but of the other Achaeans
let no man learn it, for there be many that devise mischief against
me.'

Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'I mark, I
heed, all this thou speakest to one with understanding. But come,
declare me this and tell it plainly; whether or no 1 shall go the same
road with tidings to Laertes, that hapless man, who till lately, despite
his great sorrow for Odysseus' sake, yet had oversight of the tillage,
and did eat and drink with the thralls in his house, as often as his
heart within him bade him. But now, from the day that thou
wentest in thy ship to Pylos, never to this hour, they say, hath he
so much as eaten and drunken, nor looked to the labours of the
field, but with groaning and lamentation he sits sorrowing, and
the flesh wastes away about his bones.'

THE ODYSSEY 219

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'All the more
grievous it is! yet will we let him be, though we sorrow thereat.
For if men might in any wise have all their will, we should before
aught else choose the day of my father's returning. But do thou
when thou hast told the tidings come straight back, and go not
wandering through the fields after Laertes. But speak to my mother
that with all speed she send forth the house-dame her handmaid,
secretly, for she might bear tidings to the old man.'

With that word he roused the swineherd, who took his sandals
in his hands and bound them beneath his feet and departed for
the city. Now Athene noted Eumaeus the swineherd pass from the
steading, and she drew nigh in the semblance of a woman fair and
tall, and skilled in splendid handiwork. And she stood in presence
manifest to Odysseus over against the doorway of the hut; but it
was so that Telemachus saw her not before him and marked her
not; for the gods in no wise appear visibly to all. But Odysseus
was ware of her and the dogs likewise, which barked not, but with
a low whine shrank cowering to the far side of the steading. Then
she nodded at him with bent brows, and goodly Odysseus perceived
it, and came forth from the room, past the great wall of the yard,
and stood before her, and Athene spake to him, saying:

'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
now is the hour to reveal thy word to thy son, and hide it not, that
ye twain having framed death and doom for the wooers, may fare
to the famous town. Nor will I, even I, be long away from you,
being right eager for battle.'

Therewith Athene touched him with her golden wand. First
she cast about his breast a fresh linen robe and a doublet, and she
increased his bulk and bloom. Dark his colour grew again, and
his cheeks EUed out, and the black beard spread thick around his
chin.

Now she, when she had so wrought, withdrew again, but Odysseus
went into the hut, and his dear son marvelled at him and looked
away for very fear lest it should be a god, and he uttered his voice
and spake to him winged words:

'Even now, stranger, thou art other in my sight than that thou
wert a moment since, and other garments thou hast, and the colour

220 HOMER

of thy skin is no longer the same. Surely thou art a god of those
that keep the wide heaven. Nay then, be gracious, that we may
offer to thee well-pleasing sacrifices and golden gifts, beautifully
wrought; and spare us I pray thee.'

Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying: 'Be-
hold, no god am I; why likenest thou me to the immortals? nay,
thy father am I, for whose sake thou sufferest many pains and
groanest sore, and submittest thee to the despite of men.'

At the word he kissed his son, and from his cheeks let a tear fall
to earth: before, he had stayed the tears continually. But Telema-
chus (for as yet he believed not that it was his father) answered
in turn and spake, saying:

'Thou art not Odysseus my father, but some god beguiles me,
that I may groan for more exceeding sorrow. For it cannot be that
a mortal man should contrive this by the aid of his own wit, unless
a god were himself to visit him, and lightly of his own will to make
him young or old. For truly, but a moment gone, thou wert old and
foully clad, but now thou art like the gods who keep the wide
heaven.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying:

'Telemachus, it fits thee not to marvel overmuch that thy father
is come home, or to be amazed. Nay, for thou shalt find no other
Odysseus come hither any more; but lo, I, all as I am, after sufferings
and much wandering have come in the twentieth year to mine own
country. Behold, this is the work of Athene, driver of the spoil,
who makes me such manner of man as she will, — for with her it
is possible, — now like a beggar, and now again like a young man,
and one clad about in rich raiment. Easy it is for the gods who
keep the wide heaven to glorify or to abase a mortal man.'

With this word then he sat down again ; but Telemachus, flinging
himself upon his noble father's neck, mourned and shed tears, and
in both their hearts arose the desire of lamentation. And they wailed
aloud, more carelessly than birds, sea-eagles or vultures of crooked
claws, whose younglings the country folk have taken from the nest,
ere yet they are fledged. Even so pitifully fell the tears beneath their
brows. And now would the sunlight have gone down upon their
sorrowing, had not Telemachus spoken to his father suddenly:

THE ODYSSEY 221

'And in what manner o£ ship, father dear, did sailors at length
bring thee hither to Ithaca? and who did they avow them to be?
For in no wise, I deem, didst thou come hither by land.'

And the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him: 'Yea now, my
child, I will tell thee all the truth. The Phaeacians brought me
hither, mariners renowned, who speed other men too upon their
way, whosoever comes to them. Asleep in the swifi ship they bore
me over the seas and set me down in Ithaca, and gave me splendid
gifts, bronze and gold in plenty and woven raiment. And these
treasures are lying by the gods' grace in the caves. But now I am
come hither by the promptings of Athene, that we may take counsel
for the slaughter of the foemen. But come, tell me all the tale of
the wooers and their number, that I may know how many and what
men they be, and that so I may commune with my good heart and
advise me, whether we twain shall be able alone to make head
against them without aid, or whether we should even seek succour
of others.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Verily, father, I
have ever heard of thy great fame, for a warrior hardy of thy hands,
and sage in counsel. But this is a hard saying of thine: awe comes
over me; for it may not be that two men should do battle with many
men and stalwart. For of the wooers there are not barely ten nor
twice ten only, but many a decad more: and straight shalt thou
learn the tale of them ere we part. From Dulichium there be two
and fifty chosen lords, and six serving men go with them; and
out of Same four and twenty men; and from Zacynthus there are
twenty lords of the Achaeans; and from Ithaca itself full twelve men
of the best, and with them Medon the henchman, and the divine
minstrel, and two squires skilled in carving viands. If we shall
encounter all these within the halls, see thou to it, lest bitter and
baneful for us be the vengeance thou takest on their violence at
thy coming. But do thou, if thou canst think of some champion,
advise thee of any that may help us with all his heart.'

Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying:

'Yea now, I will tell thee, and do thou mark and listen to me, and
consider whether Athene with Father Zeus will suffice for us twain,
or whether I shall cast about for some other champion.'

222 HOMER

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Valiant helpers,
in sooth, are these two thou namest, whose seat is aloft in the clouds,
and they rule among all men and among the deathless gods!'

Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him: 'Yet will the
twain not long keep aloof from the strong tumult of war, when
between the wooers and us in my halls is held the trial of the might
of Ares. But as now, do thou go homeward at the breaking of
the day, and consort with the proud wooers. As for me, the
swineherd will lead me to the town later in the day, in the likeness
of a beggar, a wretched man and an old. And if they shall evil
entreat me in the house, let thy heart harden itself to endure while
I am shamefully handled, yea even if they drag me by the feet
through the house to the doors, or cast at me and smite me: still
do thou bear the sight. Howbeit thou shalt surely bid them cease
from their folly, exhorting them with smooth words; yet no whit
will they hearken, nay for the day of their doom is at hand. Yet
another thing will I tell thee, and do thou ponder it in thy heart.
When Athene, of deep counsel, shall put it into my heart, I will
nod to thee with my head and do thou note it, and carry away all
thy weapons of war that lie in the halls, and lay them down every
one in the secret place of the lofty chamber. And when the wooers
miss them and ask thee concerning them, thou shalt beguile them
with soft words, saying:

' "Out of the smoke I laid them by, since they were no longer
like those that Odysseus left behind him of old when he went to
Troy, but they are wholly marred: so mightily hath passed upon
them the vapour of fire. Moreover, Cronion hath put into my heart
this other and greater care, that perchance, when ye are heated with
wine, ye set a quarrel between you and wound one the other and
thereby shame the feast and the wooing; for iron of itself draws a
man thereto." But for us twain alone leave two swords and two
sf>ears and two shields of oxhide to grasp, that we may rush upon
the arms and seize them; and then shall Pallas Athene and Zeus
the counsellor enchant the wooers to their ruin. Yet another thing
will I tell thee, and do thou ponder it in thy heart. If in very truth
thou art my son and of our blood, then let no man hear that Odys-
seus is come home; neither let Laertes know it, nor the swineherd

THE ODYSSEY 223

nor any of the household nor Penelope herself, but let me and thee
alone discover the intent of the women. Yea, and we would more-
over make trial of certain of the men among the thralls, and learn
who^ of them chances to honour us and to fear us heartily, and
who regards us not at all and holds even thee in no esteem, so
noble a man as thou art.'

Then his renowned son answered him, and said: 'O my father,
of a truth thou shalt learn, methinks, even hereafter what spirit I
am of, for no whit doth folly possess me. But I deem not that this
device of thine will be gainful to us twain, so I bid thee to give heed.
For thou shalt be long time on thy road to little purpose, making
trial of each man, while thou visitest the farm lands; but at ease
in thy halls the wooers devour thy goods with insolence, and now
there is no sparing. Howbeit I would have thee take knowledge
of the women, who they be that dishonour thee, and who are guilt-
less. But of the men I would not that we should make trial in the
steadings, but that we should see to this task afterwards, if indeed
thou knowest some sign from Zeus, lord of the aegis.'

Thus they spake one to the other. And now the well-builded ship
was being brought to land at Ithaca, the ship that bare Telemachus
from Pylos with all his company. When they were now come within
the deep harbour, the men drew up the black ship on the shore, while
squires, haughty of heart, bare away their weapons, and straightway
carried the glorious gifts to the house of Clytius. Anon they sent
forward a herald to the house of Odysseus to bear the tidings to
prudent Penelope, namely, how Telemachus was in the field, and
had bidden the ship sail to the city, lest the noble queen should be
afraid, and let the round tears fall. So these two met, the herald
and the goodly swineherd, come on the same errand to tell all to the
lady. Now when they were got to the house of the divine king,
the herald spake out among all the handmaids saying:

'Verily, O queen, thy son hath come out of Pylos.'

But the swineherd went up to Penelope, and told her all that her
dear son had bidden him say. So, when he had declared all that
had been enjoined him, he went on his way to the swine and left the
enclosure and the hall.

' Reading 6 nob rit.

224 HOMER

Now the wcx)ers were troubled and downcast in spirit, and forth
they went from the hall past the great wall of the court, and there
in front of the gates they held their session. And Eurymachus son
of Polybus first spake among them saying:

'Verily, friends, a proud deed hath Telemachus accomplished with
a high hand, even this journey, and we said that he should never
bring it to pass. But come, launch we a black ship, the best there is,
and let us get together oarsmen of the sea, who shall straightway
bear word to our friends to return home with speed.'

The word was yet on his lips, when Amphinomus turned in his
place and saw the ship within the deep harbour, and the men lower-
ing the sails and with the oars in their hands. Then sweetly he
laughed out and spake among his fellows:

'Nay, let us now send no message any more, for lo, they are come
home. Either some god has told them all or they themselves have
seen the ship of Telemachus go by, and have not been able to
catch her.'

Thus he spake, and they arose and went to the sea-banks. Swiftly
the men drew up the black ship on the shore, and squires, haughty
of heart, bare away their weapons. And the wooers all together
went to the assembly-place, and suffered none other to sit with them,
either of the young men or of the elders. Then Antinous spake
among them, the son of Eupeithes:

'Lo now, how the gods have delivered this man from his evil
case! All day long did scouts sit along the windy headlands, ever
in quick succession, and at the going down of the sun we never
rested for a night upon the shore, but sailing with our swift ship
on the high seas we awaited the bright Dawn, as we lay in wait for
Telemachus, that we might take and slay the man himself; but
meanwhile some god has brought him home. But even here let
us devise an evil end for him, even for Telemachus, and let him
not escape out of our hands, for methinks that while he lives we
shall never achieve this task of ours. For he himself has under-
standing in counsel and wisdom, and the people no longer show us
favour in all things. Nay come, before he assembles all the Achaeans
to the gathering; for methinks that he will in nowise be slack, but

THE ODYSSEY 225

will be exceeding wroth, and will stand up and speak out among
them all, and tell how we plotted against him sheer destruction but
did not overtake him. Then will they not approve us, when they
hear these evil deeds. Beware then lest they do us a harm, and
drive us forth from our country, and we come to the land of
strangers. Nay, but let us be beforehand and take him in the field
far from the city, or by the way; and let us ourselves keep his live-
lihood and his possessions, making fair division among us, but the
house we would give to his mother to keep and to whomsoever
marries her. But if this saying likes you not, but ye chose rather
that he should live and keep the heritage of his father, no longer
then let us gather here and eat all his store of pleasant substance,
but let each one from his own hall woo her with his bridal gifts
and seek to win her; so should she wed the man that gives the
most and comes as the chosen of fate.'

So he spake, and they all held their peace. Then Amphinomus
made harangue and spake out among them; he was the famous son
of Nisus the prince, the son of Aretias, and he led the wooers that
came from out Dulichium, a land rich in wheat and grass, and more
than all the rest his words were pleasing to Penelope, for he was
of an understanding mind. And now of his good-will he made
harangue, and spake among them:

'Friends, I for one would not choose to kill Telemachus; it is a
fearful thing to slay one of the stock of kings! Nay, first let us seek
to the counsel of the gods, and if the oracles of great Zeus approve,
myself I will slay him and bid all the rest to aid. But if the gods
are disposed to avert it, I bid you to refrain.'

So spake Amphinomus, and his saying pleased them well. Then
straightway they arose and went to the house of Odysseus, and
entering in sat down on the polished seats.

Then the wise Penelope had a new thought, namely, to show
herself to the wooers, so despiteful in their insolence; for she had
heard of the death of her son that was to be in the halls, seeing
that Medon the henchman had told her of it, who heard their
counsels. So she went on her way to the hall, with the women her
handmaids. Now when that fair lady had come unto the wooers, she

226 HOMER

Stood by the pillar of the well-builded roof, holding up her glistening
dre before her face, and rebuked Antinous and spake and hailed
him:

'Antinous, full of all insolence, deviser of mischief! and yet they
say that in the land of Ithaca thou art chiefest among thy peers
in counsel and in speech. Nay, no such man dost thou show thyself.
Fool! why indeed dost thou contrive death and doom for Telema-
chus, and hast no regard unto suppliants who have Zeus to witness?
Nay but it is an impious thing to contrive evil one against another.
What! knowest thou not of the day when thy father fled to this
house in fear of the people, for verily they were exceedingly wroth
against him, because he had followed with Taphian sea robbers and
harried the Thesprotians, who were at pieace with us. So they wished
to destroy thy father and wrest from him his dear life, and utterly
to devour all his great and abundant livelihood; but Odysseus stayed
and withheld them, for all their desire. His house thou now con-
sumest without atonement, and his wife thou wooest, and wouldst
slay his son, and dost greatly grieve me. But I bid thee cease, and
command the others to do likewise.'

Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered her saying: 'Daugh-
ter of Icarius, wise Penelope, take courage, and let not thy heart be
careful for these things. The man is not, nor shall be, nor ever shall
be born, that shall stretch forth his hands against Telemachus, thy
son, while I live and am on earth and see the light. For thus will I
declare to thee, and it shall surely come to pass. Right quickly shall
the black blood of such an one flow about our spear; for Odysseus,
waster of cities, of a truth did many a time set me too upon his
knees, and gave me roasted flesh into my hand, and held the red
wine to my lips. Wherefore Telemachus is far the dearest of all
men to me, and I bid him have no fear of death, not from the
wooers' hands; but from the gods none may avoid it.'

Thus he spake comforting her, but was himself the while framing
death for her son.

Now she ascended to her shining upper chamber, and then was
bewailing Odysseus, her dear lord, till grey-eyed Athene cast sweet
sleep upon her eyelids.

And in the evening the goodly swineherd came back to Odysseus

THE ODYSSEY 227

and his son, and they made ready and served the supper, when they
had sacrificed a swine of a year old. Then Athene drew near Odys-
seus, son of Laertes, and smote him with her wand, and made him
into an old man again. In sorry raiment she clad him about his body,
lest the swineherd should look on him and know him, and depart to
tell the constant Penelope, and not keep the matter in his heart.

Then Telemachus spake first to the swineherd, saying:

'Thou hast come, goodly Eumaeus. What news is there in the
town? Are the lordly wooers now come in from their ambush, or
do they still watch for me as before on my homeward way?'

Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'I had no
mind to go down the city asking and inquiring hereof; my heart
bade me get me home again, as quick as might be, when once I had
told the tidings. And the swift messenger from thy company joined
himself unto me, the henchman, who was the first to tell the news
to thy mother. Yet this, too, I know, if thou wouldest hear; for I
beheld it with mine eyes. Already had I come in my faring above
the city, where is the hill Hermaean, when I marked a swift ship
entering our haven, and many men there were in her, and she was
laden with shields and two-headed spears, and methought they
were the wooers, but I know not at all.'

So spake he, and the mighty prince Telemachus smiled, and
glanced at his father, while he shunned the eye of the swineherd.

Now when they had ceased from the work and got supper ready,
they fell to feasting, and their hearts lacked not ought of the equal
banquet. But when they had put from them the desire of meat and
drink, they bethought them of rest, and took the boon of sleep.

BOOK XVII
Telemachus relates to his mother what he had heard of Pylos and Sparta

SO SOON as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, then
Telemachus, the dear son of divine Odysseus, bound beneath
his feet his goodly sandals, and took up his mighty spear that
fitted his grasp, to make for the city; and he spake to his swineherd,
saying:

'Verily, father, I am bound for the city, that my mother may see
me, for methinks that she will not cease from grievous wailing, and
tearful lament, until she beholds my very face. But this command
I give thee: Lead this stranger, the hapless one, to the city, that
there he may beg his meat, and whoso chooses will give him a morsel
of bread and a cup of water. As for myself, I can in no wise suffer
every guest who comes to me, so afflicted am I in spirit. But if the
stranger be sore angered hereat, the more grievous will it be for
himself; howbeit I for one love to speak the truth.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'I too, my
friend, have no great liking to be left behind here. It is better that
a beggar should beg his meat in the town than in the fields, and
whoso chooses will give it me. For I am not now of an age to abide
at the steading, and to obey in all things the word of the master.
Nay go, and this man that thou biddest will lead me, so soon as I
shall be warmed with the fire, and the sun waxes hot. For woefully
poor are these garments of mine, and I fear lest the hoar frost of the
dawn overcome me; moreover ye say the city is far away.'

So he spake, and Telemachus passed out through the steading,
stepping forth at a quick pace, and was sowing seeds of evil for
the wooers. Now when he was come to the fair-lying house, he
set his spear against the tall pillar and leaned it there, and himself
went in and crossed the threshold of stone.

And the nurse Eurycleia saw him far before the rest, as she was
strewing skin coverlets upon the carven chairs, and straightway she

238

THE ODYSSEY 229

drew near him, weeping, and all the other maidens of Odysseus, of
the hardy heart, were gathered about him, and kissed him lovingly
on the head and shoulders. Now wise Penelope came forth from
her chamber, like Artemis or golden Aphrodite, and cast her arms
about her dear son, and fell a weeping, and kissed his face and both
his beautiful eyes, and wept aloud, and spake to him winged words:

'Thou art come, Telemachus, a sweet light in the dark; me-
thought I should see thee never again, after thou hadst gone in thy
ship to Pylos, secretly and without my will, to seek tidings of thy
dear father. Come now, tell me, what sight thou didst get of him?'

And wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Mother mine, wake
not wailing in my soul, nor stir the heart within the breast of me,
that have but now fled from utter death. Nay, but wash thee in
water, and take to thee fresh raiment, and go aloft to thine upper
chamber with the women thy handmaids, and vow to all the gods
an acceptable sacrifice of hecatombs, if haply Zeus may grant that
deeds of requital be made. But I will go to the assembly-place to bid
a stranger to our house, one that accompanied me as I came hither
from Pylos. I sent him forward with my godlike company, and
commanded Piraeus to lead him home, and to take heed to treat
him lovingly and with worship till I should come.'

Thus he spake, and wingless her speech remained. And she
washed her in water, and took to her fresh raiment, and vowed to
all the gods an acceptable sacrifice of hecatombs, if haply Zeus
might grant that deeds of requital should be made.

Now Telemachus went out through the hall with the spear in his
hand: and two swift hounds bare him company. And Athene shed
on him a wondrous grace, and all the people marvelled at him as
he came. And the lordly wooers gathered about him with fair
words on their lips, but brooding evil in the deep of their heart.
Then he avoided the great press of the wooers, but where Mentor
sat, and Antiphus, and Halitherses, who were friends of his house
from of old, there he went and sat down; and they asked him of all
his adventures. Then Piraeus, the famed spearsman, drew nigh,
leading the stranger to the assembly-place by the way of the town;
and Telemachus kept not aloof from him long, but went up to
him.

230 HOMER

Then Piraeus first spake to him, saying: 'Bestir the women straight-
way to go to my house, that I may send thee the gifts that Menelaus
gave thee.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Piraeus, we know
not how these matters will fall out. If the lordly wooers shall slay
me by guile in the halls, and divide among them the heritage of
my father, then I should wish thee to keep and enjoy the gifts thy-
self, rather than any of these. But if I shall sow the seeds of death
and fate for the wooers, then gladly bring me to the house the gifts
that I will gladly take.'

Therewith he led the travel-worn stranger to the house. Now
when they came to the fair-lying palace, they laid aside their
mantles on the chairs and high seats, and went to the polished baths
and bathed them. So when the maidens had bathed them and
anointed them with olive oil, and cast about them thick mantles
and doublets, they came forth from the baths, and sat upon the
seats. Then the handmaid bare water for the hands in a goodly
golden ewer, and poured it forth over a silver basin to wash withal,
and drew to their side a polished table. And the grave dame bare
wheaten bread, and set it by them, and laid on the board many
dainties, giving freely of such things as she had by her. And the
mother of Telemachus sat over against him by the pillar of the hall,
leaning against a chair, and spinning the slender threads from the
yarn. And they stretched forth their hands upon the good cheer
set before them. Now when they had put from them the desire of
meat and drink, the wise Penelope first spake among them:

'Telemachus, verily I will go up to my upper chamber, and lay
me in my bed, the place of my groanings, that is ever watered by
my tears since the day that Odysseus departed with the sons of
Atreus for Ilios. Yet thou hadst no care to tell me clearly, before the
lordly wooers came to this house, concerning the returning of thy
father, if haply thou hast heard thereof.'

And wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Yea now, mother,
I will tell thee all the truth. We went to Pylos and to Nestor, the
shepherd of the people, and he received me in his lofty house, and
was diligent to entreat me lovingly, as a father might his son that
had but newly come from strange lands after many years; even

THE ODYSSEY 23 1

SO diligently he cared for me with his renowned sons. Yet he said
that he had heard no word from any man on earth concerning
Odysseus, of the hardy heart, whether alive or dead. But he sent
me forward on my way with horses and a chariot, well compact,
to Menelaus, son of Atreus, spearman renowned. There I saw
Argive Helen, for whose sake the Argives and Trojans bore much
travail by the gods' designs. Then straightway Menelaus, of the
loud war-cry, asked me on what quest I had come to goodly
Lacedaemon. And I told him all the truth. Then he made answer,
and spake, saying:

'"Out upon them, for truly in the bed of a brave-hearted man
were they minded to lie, very cravens as they are! Even as when
a hind hath couched her newborn fawns unweaned in a strong
lion's lair, and searcheth out the mountain-knees and grassy hollows,
seeking pasture; and afterward the lion cometh back to his bed,
and sendeth forth unsightly death upon that pair, even so shall
Odysseus send forth unsightly death upon the wooers. Would to
our father Zeus, and Athene and Apollo, would that in such might
as when of old in stablished Lesbos he rose up in strife and wrestled
with Philomeleides, and threw him mightily, and all the Achaean*
rejoiced; would that in such strength Odysseus might consort with
the wooers; then should they all have swift fate and bitter wedlock!
But for that whereof thou askest and entreatest me, be sure I will
not swerve from the truth in aught that I say, nor deceive thee;
but of all that the ancient one of the sea, whose speech is sooth,
declareth to me, not a word will I hide or keep from thee. He said
that he saw Odysseus in an island, suffering strong pains in the
halls of the nymph Calypso, who holds him there perforce; so that
he may not come to his own country, for he has by him no ships
with oars, and no companions to send him on his way over the
broad back of the sea." So spake Menelaus, son of Atreus, spears-
man renowned. Then having fulfilled all, I set out for home, and
the deathless gods gave me a fair wind, and brought me swiftly to
mine own dear country.'

So he spake, and stirred her heart within her breast. And next
the godlike Theoclymenus spake among them:

'O wife revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, verily he hath no

232 HOMER

clear knowledge; but my word do thou mark, for I will prophesy
to thee most truly and hide nought. Now Zeus be witness before
any god, and this hospitable board and this hearth of noble Odys-
seus, whereunto I am come, that Odysseus is even now of a surety in
his own country, resting or faring, learning of these evil deeds, and
sowing the seeds of evil for all the wooers. So clear was the omen
of the bird that I saw as I sat on the decked ship, and I proclaimed
it to Telemachus.*

Then wise Penelope answered him, saying: 'Ah, stranger, would
that this thy word may be accomplished! Soon shouldest thou be
aware of kindness and of many a gift at my hands, so that whoso
met with thee would call thee blessed.'

Thus they spake one to the other. But the wooers meantime were
before the palace of Odysseus, taking their pleasure in casting of
weights and of spears on a levelled place, as heretofore, in their
insolence. But when it was now the hour for supper, and the flocks
came home from the fields all around, and the men led them whose
custom it was, then Medon, who of all the henchmen was most to
their mind, and was ever with them at the feast, spake to them,
saying:

'Noble youths, now that ye have had sport to your hearts' content,
get you into the house, that we may make ready a feast; for truly
it is no bad thing to take meat in season.'

Even so he spake, and they rose up and departed, and were
obedient to his word. Now when they were come into the fair-lying
house, they laid aside their mantles on the chairs and high seats,
and they sacrificed great sheep and stout goats, yea, and the fatlings
of the boars and an heifer of the herd, and got ready the feast.

Now all this while Odysseus and the goodly swineherd were be-
stirring them to go from the field to the city; and the swineherd,
a master of men, spake first saying:

'Well, my friend, forasmuch as I see thou art eager to be going
to the city to-day, even as my master gave command; — though my-
self I would well that thou shouldest be left here to keep the stead-
ing, but I hold him in reverence and fear, lest he chide me after-
wards, and grievous are the rebukes of masters — come then, let us

THE ODYSSEY 233

go on our way, for lo, the day is far spent, and soon wilt thou find
it colder toward evening.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'I mark,
I heed: all this thou speakest to one with understanding. But let
us be going, and be thou my guide withal to the end. And if thou
hast anywhere a staff ready cut, give it me to lean upon, for truly
ye said that slippery was the way.'

Therewith he cast about his shoulders a mean scrip, all tattered,
and a cord withal to hang it, and Eumaeus gave him a staff to his
mind. So these twain went on their way, and the dogs and the
herdsmen stayed behind to guard the steading. And the swineherd
led his lord to the city in the guise of a beggar, a wretched man and
an old, leaning on a staff; and sorry was the raiment wherewith he
was clothed upon. But as they fared along the rugged path they
drew near to the town, and came to the fair flowing spring, with
a basin fashioned, whence the people of the city drew water. This
well Ithacus and Neritus and Polyctor had builded. And around it
was a thicket of alders that grow by the waters, all circlewise, and
down the cold stream fell from a rock on high, and above was
reared an altar to the Nymphs, whereat all wayfarers made offering.
In that place Melanthius, son of Dolius, met them, leading his goats
to feast the wooers, the best goats that were in all the herds; and
two herdsmen bare him company. Now when he saw them he
reviled them, and spake and hailed them, in terrible and evil fashion,
and stirred the heart of Odysseus, saying:

'Now in very truth the vile is leading the vile, for god brings
ever like to like! Say, whither art thou leading this glutton, — thou
wretched swineherd, — this plaguy beggar, a kill-joy of the feast? He
is one to stand about and rub his shoulders against many doorposts,
begging for scraps of meat, not for swords or cauldrons. If thou
wouldst give me the fellow to watch my steading and sweep out the
stalls, and carry fresh fodder to the kids, then he might drink whey
and get him a stout thigh. Howbeit, since he is practised only in
evil, he will not care to betake him to the labour of the farm, but
rather chooses to go louting through the land asking alms to fill his
insatiate belly. But now I will speak out and my word shall surely

234 HOMER

be accomplished. If ever he fares to the house of divine Odysseus,
many a stool that men's hands hurl shall fly about his head, and
break upon his ribs,' as they pelt him through the house.'

Therewith, as he went past, he kicked Odysseus on the hip, in
his witlessness, yet he drave him not from the path, but he abode
steadfast. And Odysseus pondered whether he should rush upon
him and take away his life with the staff, or lift him in his grasp^
and smite his head to the earth. Yet he hardened his heart to en-
dure and refrained himself. And the swineherd looked at the other
and rebuked him, and lifting up his hands prayed aloud:

'Nymphs of the well-water, daughters of Zeus, if ever Odysseus
burned on your altars pieces of the thighs of rams or kids, in their
covering of rich fat, fulfil for me this wish: — oh that he, even he,
may come home, and that some god may bring him! Then would
he scatter all thy bravery, which now thou flauntest insolently,
wandering ever about the city, while evil shepherds destroy the
flock.'

Then Melanthius, the goatherd, answered: 'Lo now, what a
word has this evil-witted dog been saying! Some day I will take
him in a black decked ship far from Ithaca, that he may bring me
in much livelihood. Would God that Apollo, of the silver bow,
might smite Telemachus to-day in the halls, or that he might fall
before the wooers, so surely as for Odysseus the day of returning
has in a far land gone by!'

So he spake and left them there as they walked slowly on. But
Melanthius stepped forth, and came very speedily to the house of
the prince, and straightway he went in and sat down among the
wooers, over against Eurymachus, who chiefly showed him kindness.
And they that ministered set by him a portion of flesh, and the grave
dame brought wheaten bread and set it by him to eat. Now Odysseus
and the goodly swineherd drew near and stood by, and the sound
of the hollow lyre rang around them, for Phemius was lifting up
his voice amid the company in song, and Odysseus caught the swine-
herd by the hand, and spake, saying:

' Reading; r\tvpal.

' &/i^ouits is perhaps best taken as an adverb in Sit formed from iiMfil, though some
letters of the word are still left obscure. Most modern commentators, however, derive
it from i)i((il and atiat, 'near the ground'; hence, in this context, 'lift him by the feel.'

THE ODYSSEY 235

'Eumaeus, verily this is the fair house of Odysseus, and right
easily might it be known and marked even among many. There is
building beyond building, and the court of the house is cunningly
wrought with a wall and battlements, and well-fenced are the fold-
ing doors; no man may hold it in disdain. And I see that many
men keep revel within, for the savour of the fat rises upward,' and
the voice of the lyre is heard there, which the gods have made to be
the mate of the feast.'

Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Easily
thou knowest it, for indeed thou never lackest understanding. But
come, let us advise us, how things shall fall out here. Either do thou
go first within the fair-lying halls, and join the company of the
wooers, so will I remain here, or if thou wilt, abide here, and I will
go before thy face, and tarry not long, lest one see thee without, and
hurl at thee or strike thee. Look well to this, I bid thee.'

Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying: 'I
mark, I heed, all this thou speakest to one with understanding. Do
thou then go before me, and I will remain here, for well 1 know
what it is to be smitten and hurled at. My heart is full of hardiness,
for much evil have I suffered in perils of waves and war; let this
be added to the tale of those. But a ravening belly may none con-
ceal, a thing accursed, that works much ill for men. For this cause
too the benched ships are furnished, that bear mischief to foemen
over the unhar vested seas.'

Thus they spake one to the other. And lo, a hound raised up his
head and pricked his ears, even where he lay, Argos, the hound of
Odysseus, of the hardy heart, which of old himself had bred, but
had got no joy of him, for ere that, he went to sacred Ilios. Now in
time past the young men used to lead the hound against wild goats
and deer and hares; but as then, despised he lay (his master being
afar) in the deep dung of mules and kine, whereof an ample bed
was spread before the doors, till the thralls of Odysseus should
carry it away to dung therewith his wide demesne. There lay the
dog Argos, full of vermin. Yet even now when he was ware of
Odysseus standing by, he wagged his tail and dropped both his
ears, but nearer to his master he had not now the strength to draw.
' Reading iyiimdo'.

236 HOMER

But Odysseus looked aside and wiped away a tear that he easily hid
from Eumaeus, and straightway he asked him, saying:

'Eumaeus, verily this is a great marvel, this hound lying here
in the dung. Truly he is goodly of growth, but I know not certainly
if he have speed with this beauty, or if he be comely only, like as
are men's trencher dogs that their lords keep for the pleasure of the
eye.'

Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'In very
truth this is the dog of a man that has died in a far land. If he
were what once he was in limb and in the feats of the chase, when
Odysseus left him to go to Troy, soon wouldst thou marvel at the
sight of his swiftness and his strength. There was no beast that could
flee from him in the deep places of the wood, when he was in pur-
suit; for even on a track he was the keenest hound. But now he is
holden in an evil case, and his lord hath perished far from his own
country, and the careless women take no charge of him. Nay, thralls
are no more inclined to honest service when their masters have
lost the dominion, for Zeus, of the far-borne voice, takes away
the half of a man's virtue, when the day of slavery comes upon
him.'

Therewith he passed within the fair-lying house, and went straight
to the hall, to the company of the proud wooers. But upon Argos
came the fate of black death even in the hour that he beheld Odys-
seus again, in the twentieth year.

Now godlike Telemachus was far the first to behold the swineherd
as he came into the hall, and straightway then he beckoned and
called him to his side. So Eumaeus looked about and took a settle
that lay by him, where the carver was wont to sit dividing much
flesh among the wooers that were feasting in the house. This seat
he carried and set by the table of Telemachus over against him, and
there sat down himself. And the henchman took a mess and served
it him, and wheaten bread out of the basket.

And close behind him Odysseus entered the house in the guise
of a beggar, a wretched man and an old, leaning on his staff, and
clothed on with sorry raiment. And he sat down on the ashen
threshold within the doorway, leaning against a pillar of cypress

THE ODYSSEY 237

wood, which the carpenter on a time had deftly planed, and thereon
made straight the line. And Telemachus called the swineherd to
him, and took a whole loaf out of the fair basket, and of flesh so
much as his hands could hold in their grasp, saying:

'Take and give this to the stranger, and bid him go about and
beg himself of all the wooers in their turn, for shame is an ill mate
of a needy man.'

So he spake, and the swineherd went when he heard that saying,
and stood by and spake to him winged words:

'Stranger, Telemachus gives thee these and bids thee go about
and beg of all the wooers in their turn, for, he says, "shame ill be-
comes a beggar man." '

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him and said: 'King
Zeus, grant me that Telemachus may be happy among men, and
may he have all his heart's desire!'

Therewith he took the gift in both hands, and set it there before
his feet on his unsightly scrip. Then he ate meat so long as the min-
strel was singing in the halls. When he had done supper, and the
divine minstrel was ending his song, then the wooers raised a
clamour through the halls; but Athene stood by Odysseus, son of
Laertes, and moved him to go gathering morsels of bread among
the wooers, and learn which were righteous and which unjust. Yet
not even so was she fated to redeem one man of them from an evil
doom. So he set out, beginning on the right, to ask of each man,
stretching out his hand on every side, as though he were a beggar
from of old. And they in pity gave him somewhat, and were
amazed at the man, asking one another who he was and whence
he came?

Then Melanthius, the goatherd, spake among them:

'Listen, ye wooers of the renowned queen, concerning this stranger,
for verily I have seen him before. The swineherd truly was his
guide hither, but of him I have no certain knowledge, whence he
avows him to be born.'

So spake he, but Antinous rebuked the swineherd, saying: 'Oh
notorious swineherd, wherefore, I pray thee, didst thou bring this
man to the city? Have we not vagrants enough besides, plaguy

238 HOMER

beggars, kill-joys of the feast? Dost thou count it a light thing that
they assemble here and devour the living of thy master, but thou
must needs* call in this man too?'

Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Antinous,
no fair words are these of thine, noble though thou art. For who
ever himself seeks out and bids to the feast a stranger from afai*,
save only one of those that are craftsmen of the people, a prophet or
a healer of ills, or a shipwright or even a godlike minstrel, who
can delight all with his song? Nay, these are the men that are wel-
come over all the wide earth. But none would call a beggar to the
banquet, to waste his substance. But thou art ever hard above all
the other wooers to the servants of Odysseus, and, beyond all, to me;
but behold, I care not, so long as my mistress, the constant Penelope,
lives in the halls and godlike Telemachus.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Be silent, answer
him not, I pray thee, with many words, for Antinous is wont ever
to chide us shamefully with bitter speech, yea, and urges the others
thereto.'

Therewithal he spake winged words to Antinous: 'Antinous,
verily thou hast a good care for me, as it were a father for his son,
thou that biddest me drive our guest from the hall with a harsh
command. God forbid that such a thing should be! Take some-
what and give it him: lo, I grudge it not; nay, I charge thee to do
it. And herein regard not my mother, nor any of the thralls that
are in the house of divine Odysseus. Nay, but thou hast no such
thought in thy heart, for thou art far more fain to eat thyself than
to give to another.'

Then Antinous answered him and spake, saying: 'Telemachus,
proud of speech, and unrestrained in fury, what word hast thou
Sfxsken? If all the wooers should vouchsafe him as much as I, this
house would keep him far enough aloof even for three months'
space.'

So he spake, and seized the footstool whereon he rested his sleek
feet as he sat at the feast, and showed it from beneath the table
where it lay. But all the others gave somewhat and filled the

*T66tcan hardly have a locai meaning here. If retained, it must be nearly equiva-
lent to xx/i, "it seems,' with a touch o£ irony. Cf. i, 348. The v. I. TpoTj=xpit
is a simpler reading, but by no means certain.

THE ODYSSEY 239

wallet with bread and flesh; yea, and even now, Odysseus as he
returned to the threshold, was like to escape scot free, making trial
of the Achaeans, but he halted by Antinous, and spake to him,
saying:

'Friend, give me somewhat; for methinks thou art not the basest
of the Achaeans, but the best man of them all, for thou art like a
king. Wherefore thou shouldest give me a portion of bread, and
that a better than the others; so would I make thee renowned over
all the wide earth. For I too, once had a house of mine own among
men, a rich man with a wealthy house, and many a time would I
give to a wanderer, what manner of man soever he might be, and
in whatsoever need he came. And I had thralls out of number,
and all else in plenty, wherewith folk live well and have a name for
riches. But Zeus, the son of Cronos, made me desolate of all, — for
surely it was his will, — who sent me with wandering sea-robbers to
go to Egypt, a far road, to my ruin. And in the river Aegyptus I
stayed my curved ships. Then verily I bade my loved companions
to abide there by the ships, and to guard the ship, and I sent forth
scouts to range the points of outlook. Now they gave place to wan-
tonness, being the fools of their own force, and soon they fell to
wasting the fields of the Egyptians, exceeding fair, and carried away
their wives and infant children, and slew the men. And the cry came
quickly to the city, and the people heard the shout and came forth
at the breaking of the day; and all the plain was filled with foot-
men and horsemen and with the glitter of bronze. And Zeus,
whose joy is in the thunder, sent an evil panic upon my company,
and none durst stand and face the foe: for danger encompassed us on
every side. There they slew many of us with the edge of the sword,
and others they led up with them alive to work for them perforce.
But they gave me to a friend who met them, to take to Cyprus, even
to Dmetor son of lasus, who ruled mightily over Cyprus; and
thence, behold, am I now come hither in sore distress.'

Then Antinous answered, and spake, saying: 'What god hath
brought this plague hither to trouble the feast? Stand forth thus in
the midst, away from my table, lest thou come soon to a bitter
Egypt and a sad Cyprus; for a bold beggar art thou and a shame-
less. Thou standest by all in turn and recklessly- they give to thee,

240 HOMER

for they hold not their hand nor feel any ruth in giving freely of
others' goods, for that each man has plenty by him.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels drew back and answered him:
'Lo now, I see thou hast not wisdom with thy beauty! From out of
thine own house thou wouldest not give even so much as a grain of
salt to thy suppliant, thou who now even at another's board dost
sit, and canst not find it in thy heart to take of the bread and give
it me, where there is plenty to thy hand.'

He spake, and Antinous was mightily angered at heart, and
looked fiercely on him and spake winged words:

'Henceforth, methinks, thou shalt not get thee out with honour
from the hall, seeing thou dost even rail upon me.'

Therewith he caught up the foot-stool and smote Odysseus at
the base of the right shoulder by the back. But he stood firm as a
rock, nor reeled he beneath the blow of Antinous, but shook his head
in silence, brooding evil in the deep of his heart. Then he went back
to the threshold, and sat him there, and laid down his well-filled
scrip, and spake among the wooers:

'Hear me, ye wooers of the renowned queen, and I will say what
my spirit within me bids me. Verily there is neither pain nor grief
of heart, when a man is smitten in battle fighting for his own pos-
sessions, whether cattle or white sheep. But now Antinous hath
stricken me for my wretched belly's sake, a thing accursed, that
works much ill for men. Ah, if indeed there be gods and Avengers
of beggars, may the issues of death come upon Antinous before
his wedding!'

Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him: 'Sit and eat
thy meat in quiet, stranger, or get thee elsewhere, lest the young
men drag thee by hand or foot through the house for thy evil words,
and strip all thy flesh from off thee.'

Even so he spake, and they were all exceeding wroth at his word.
And on this wise would one of the lordly young men speak:

'Antinous, thou didst ill to strike the hapless wanderer, doomed
man that thou art, — if indeed there be a god in heaven. Yea and the
gods, in the likeness of strangers from far countries, put on all man-
ner of shapes, and wander through the cities, beholding the violence
and the righteousness of men.'

THE ODYSSEY 24 1

So the wooers spake, but he heeded not their words. Now Telem-
achus nursed in his heart a mighty grief at the smiting of Odysseus,
yet he let no tear fall from his eyelids to the ground, but shook his
head in silence, brooding evil in the deep of his heart.

Now when wise Penelope heard of the stranger being smitten in
the halls, she spake among her maidens, saying:

'Oh that Apollo, the famed archer, may so smite thee thyself,
Antinous!'

And the house-dame, Eurynome, answered her, saying: 'Oh that
we might win fulfilment of our prayers! So should not one of these
men come to the fair-throned Dawn.'

And wise Penelope answered her: 'Nurse, they are all enemies,
for they all devise evil continually, but of them all Antinous is the
most like to black fate. Some hapless stranger is roaming about the
house, begging alms of the men, as his need bids him; and all the
others filled his wallet and gave him somewhat, but Antinous
smote him at the base of the right shoulder with a stool.'

So she spake among her maidens, sitting in her chamber, while
goodly Odysseus was at meat. Then she called to her the goodly
swineherd and spake, saying:

'Go thy way, goodly Eumaeus, and bid the stranger come hither,
that I may speak him a word of greeting, and ask him if haply he
has heard tidings of Odysseus of the hardy heart, or seen him with
his eyes; for he seems like one that has wandered far.'

Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'Queen,
oh that the Achaeans would hold their peace! so would he charm
thy very heart, such things doth he say. For I kept him three
nights and three days 1 held him in the steading, for to me he
came first when he fled from the ship, yet he had not made an end
of the tale of his affliction. Even as when a man gazes on a singer,
whom the gods have taught to sing words of yearning joy to mor-
tals, and they have a ceaseless desire to hear him, so long as he will
sing; even so he charmed me, sitting by me in the halls. He says
that he is a friend of Odysseus and of his house, one that dwells in
Crete, where is the race of Minos. Thence he has come hither even
now, with sorrow by the way, onward and yet onward wandering;
and he stands to it that he has heard tidings of Odysseus nigh at

242 HOMER

hand and yet alive in the fat land of the men of Thesprotia; and
he is bringing many treasures to his home.'

Then wise Penelope answered him, saying: 'Go, call him hither,
that he may speak to me face to face. But let these men sit in the
doorway and take their pleasure, or even here in the house, since
their heart is glad. For their own wealth Ues unspoiled at home,
bread and sweet wine, and thereon do their servants feed. But they
resorting to our house day by day sacrifice oxen and sheep and fat
goats, and keep revel and drink the dark wine recklessly; and, lo,
our great wealth is wasted, for there is no man now alive, such as
Odysseus was, to keep ruin from the house. Oh, if Odysseus might
come again to his own country; soon would he and his son avenge
the violence of these men I'

Even so she spake, and Telemachus sneezed loudly, and around
the roof rang wondrously. And Penelope laughed, and straightway
spake to Eumaeus winged words:

'Go, call me the stranger, even so, into my presence. Dost thou
not mark how my son has sneezed a blessing on all my words?
Wherefore no half-wrought doom shall befal the wooers every one,
nor shall any avoid death and the fates. Yet another thing will I
say, and do thou ponder it in thy heart. If I shall find that he him-
self speaks nought but truth, I will clothe him with a mantle and a
doublet, goodly raiment.'

So she spake, and the swineherd departed when he heard that
saying, and stood by the stranger and spake winged words:

'Father and stranger, wise Penelof>e, the mother of Telemachus,
is calling for thee, and her mind bids her inquire as touching her
lord, albeit she has sorrowed much already. And if she shall find
that thou dost speak nought but truth, she will clothe thee in a
mantle and a doublet, whereof thou standest most in need. More-
over thou shalt beg thy bread through the land and shalt fill thy
belly, and whosoever will, shall give to thee.'

Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus answered him, saying:
'Eumaeus, soon would I tell all the truth to the daughter of Icarius,
wise Penelope, for well I know his story, and we have borne our
travail together. But I tremble before the throng of the froward
wooers, whose outrage and violence reach even to the iron heaven.

THE ODYSSEY 243

For even now, as I was going through the house, when this man
struck and pained me sore, and that for no ill deed, neither Telem-
achus nor any other kept off the blow. Wherefore now, bid Penelope
tarry in the chambers, for all her eagerness, till the going down of the
sun, and then let her ask me concerning her lord, as touching the day
of his returning, and let her give me a seat yet nearer to the fire, for
behold, I have sorry raiment, and thou knowest it thyself, since I
made my supplication first to thee.'

Even so he spake, and the swineherd departed when he heard
that saying. And as he crossed the threshold Penelope spake to him:

'Thou bringest him not, Eumaeus: what means the wanderer
hereby ? Can it be that he fears some one out of measure, or is he
even ashamed of tarrying in the house? A shamefaced man makes
a bad beggar.'

Then didst thou make answer, swineherd Eumaeus: 'He sp)eaks
aright, and but as another would deem, in that he shuns the outrage
of overweening men. Rather would he have thee wait till the going
down of the sun. Yea, and it is far meeter for thyself, O queen, to
utter thy word to the stranger alone, and to listen to his speech.'

Then the wise Penelope answered: 'Not witless is the stranger;
even as he deems, so it well may be'. For there are no mortal
men, methinks, so wanton as these, and none that devise such in-
fatuate deeds.'

So she spake, and the goodly swineherd departed into the throng
of the wooers, when he had showed her all his message. And
straightway he spake to Telemachus winged words, holding his
head close to him, that the others might not hear:

'Friend, I am going hence to look after thy swine and the things
of the farm, thy livelihood and mine; but do thou take charge of all
that is here. Yet first look to thyself and take heed that no evil
comes nigh thee, for many of the Achaeans have ill will against us,
whom may Zeus confound before their mischief falls on us!*

And wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Even so shall it
be, father; and do thou get thee on thy way, when thou hast supped.
And in the morning come again, and bring fair victims for sacrifice.
And all these matters will be a care to me and to the deathless gods.'

' Placing a colon at {ctvot, and reading &t rep iv th)' (cf. xix. 312).

244 HOMER

Thus he spake, and the other sat down again on the polished
settle; and when he had satisfied his heart with meat and drink, he
went on his way to the swine, leaving the courts and the hall full of
feasters; and they were making merry with dance and song, for
already it was close on eventide.

BOOK XVIII

The fighting at fists of Odysseus with Irus. His admonitions to
Amphinomus. Penelope appears before the wooers, and draws presents
from them.

THEN up came a common beggar, who was wont to beg
through the town of Ithaca, one that was known among
all men for ravening greed, for his endless eating and
drinking, yet he had no force or might, though he was bulky
enough to look on. Arnaeus was his name, for so had his good
mother given it him at his birth, but all the young men called him
Irus, because he ran on errands, whensoever any might bid him.
So now he came, and would have driven Odysseus from his own
house, and began reviling him, and spake winged words:

'Get thee hence, old man, from the doorway, lest thou be even
haled out soon by the foot. Seest thou not that all are now giving
me the wink, and bidding me drag thee forth? Nevertheless, I feel
shame of the task. Nay get thee up, lest our quarrel soon pass even
to blows.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on him, and
spake saying: 'Sir, neither in deed nor word do I harm thee, nor do
I grudge that any should give to thee, yea though it were a good
handful. But this threshold will hold us both, and thou hast no
need to be jealous for the sake of other men's goods. Thou seemest
to me to be a wanderer, even as I am, and the gods it is that are
like to give us gain. Only provoke me not overmuch to buffeting,
lest thou anger me, and old though I be I defile thy breast and lips
with blood. Thereby should I have the greater quiet to-morrow, for
methinks that thou shalt never again come to the hall of Odysseus,
son of Laertes.'

Then the beggar Irus spake unto him in anger: 'Lo now, how
trippingly and like an old cinder-wife this glutton speaks, on whom
I will work my evil will, and smite him right and left, and drive all
the teeth from his jaws to the ground, like the tusks of a swine that

245

246 HOMER

spoils the corn. Gird thyself now, that even these men all may
know our mettle in fight. Nay, how shouldst thou do battle with 3
younger man than thou?'

Thus did they whet each the other's rage right manfully before
the lofty doors upon the polished threshold. And the mighty prince
Antinous heard the twain, and sweetly he laughed out, and spake
among the wooers:

'Friends, never before has there been such a thing; such goodly
game has a god brought to this house. The stranger yonder and
Irus are bidding each other to buffets. Quick, let us match them
one against the other.'

Then all at the word leaped up laughing, and gathered round
the ragged beggars, and Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spake among
them saying: 'Hear me, ye lordly wooers, and I will say somewhat.
Here are goats' bellies lying at the fire, that we laid by at supper-
time and filled with fat and blood. Now whichsoever of the twain
wins, and shows himself the better man, let him stand up and take
his choice of these puddings. And further, he shall always eat at our
feasts, nor will we suffer any other beggar to come among us and
ask for alms.'

So spake Antinous, and the saying pleased them well. Then Odys-
seus of many counsels spake among them craftily:

'Friends, an old man and foredone with travail may in no wise
fight with a younger. But my belly's call is urgent on me, that evil-
worker, to the end that I may be subdued with stripes. But come
now, swear me all of you a strong oath, so that none, for the sake
of shewing a favour to Irus, may strike me a foul blow with
heavy hand and subdue me by violence to my foe.*

So he spake, and they all swore not to strike him, as he bade
them. Now when they had sworn and done that oath, the mighty
prince Telemachus once more spake among them:

'Stranger, if thy heart and lordly spirit urge thee to rid thee of this
fellow, then fear not any other of the Achaeans, for whoso strikes
thee shall have to fight with many. Thy host am I, and the princes
consent with me, Antinous and Eurymachus, men of wisdom both.'

So spake he and they all consented thereto. Then Odysseus girt
his rags about his loins, and let his thighs be seen, goodly and great.

THE ODYSSEY 247

and his broad shoulders and breast and mighty arms were manifest.
And Athene came nigh and made greater the Hmbs of the shepherd
of the people. Then the wooers were exceedingly amazed, and thus
would one speak looking to his neighbour:

'Right soon will Irus, un-Irused, have a bane of his own bringing,
such a thigh as that old man shows from out his rags!'

So they spake, and the mind of Irus was pitifully stirred; but
even so the servants girded him and led him out perforce in great
fear, his flesh trembling on his limbs. Then Antinous chid him, and
spake and hailed him:

'Thou lubber, better for thee that thou wert not now, nor ever
hadst been born, if indeed thou tremblest before this man, and art
so terribly afraid; an old man too he is, and foredone with the tra-
vail that is come upon him. But I will tell thee plainly, and it shall
surely be accomplished. If this man prevail against thee and prove
thy master, I will cast thee into a black ship, and send thee to the
mainland to Echetus the king, the maimer of all mankind, who will
cut off thy nose and ears with the pitiless steel and draw out thy
vitals and give them raw to dogs to rend.'

So he spake, and yet greater trembling gat hold of the limbs of
Irus, and they led him into the ring, and the twain put up their
hands. Then the steadfast goodly Odysseus mused in himself
whether he should smite him in such wise that his life should leave
his body, even there where he fell, or whether he should strike him
lightly, and stretch him on the earth. And as he thought thereon,
this seemed to him the better way, to strike lightly, that the Achaeans
might not take note of him, who he was. Then the twain put up
their hands, and Irus struck at the right shoulder, but the other
smote him on his neck beneath the ear, and crushed in the bones,
and straightway the red blood gushed up through his mouth, and
with a moan he fell in the dust, and drave together his teeth as he
kicked the ground. But the proud wooers threw up their hands,
and died outright for laughter. Then Odysseus seized him by the
foot, and dragged him forth through the doorway, till he came to
the courtyard and the gates of the gallery, and he set him down and
rested him against the courtyard wall, and put his staff in his hands,
and uttering his voice spake to him winged words:

248 HOMER

'Sit thou there now, and scare oil swine and dogs, and let not
such an one as thou be lord over strangers and beggars, pitiful as
thou art, lest haply some worse thing befal thee.'

Thus he spake, and cast about his shoulders his mean scrip all
tattered, and the cord therewith to hang it, and he gat him back to
the threshold, and sat him down there again. Now the wooers went
within laughing sweetly, and greeted him, saying:

'May Zeus, stranger, and all the other deathless gods give thee
thy dearest wish, even all thy heart's desire, seeing that thou hast
made that insatiate one to cease from his begging in the land I Soon
will we take him over to the mainland, to Echetus the king, the
maimer of all mankind.'

So they spake, and goodly Odysseus rejoiced in the omen of the
words. And Antinous set by him the great pudding, stuffed with
fat and blood, and Amphinomus took up two loaves from the basket,
and set them by him and pledged him in a golden cup, and spake
.saying:

'Father and stranger, hail! may happiness be thine in the time
to come, but as now, thou art fast holden in many sorrows.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Am-
phinomus, verily thou seemest to me a prudent man enough; for
such too was the father of whom thou art sprung, for I have heard
the fair fame of him, how that Nisus of Dulichium was a good
man and a rich, and his son they say thou art, and thou seemest a
man of understanding. Wherefore I will tell thee, and do thou
mark and listen to me. Nought feebler doth the earth nurture
than man, of all the creatures that breathe and move upon the
face of the earth. Lo, he thinks that he shall never suffer evil in time
to come, while the gods give him happiness, and his limbs move
lightly. But when again the blessed gods have wrought for him
sorrow, even so he bears it, as he must, with a steadfast heart. For the
spirit of men upon the earth is even as their day, that comes upon
them from the father of gods and men. Yea, and I too once was like
to have been prosperous among men, but many an infatuate deed I
did, giving place to mine own hardihood and strength, and trusting
to my father and my brethren. Wherefore let no man for ever be
lawless any more, but keep quietly the gifts of the gods, whatso-

THE ODYSSEY 249

ever they may give. Such infatuate deeds do I see the wooers devis-
ing, as they waste the wealth, and hold in no regard the wife of a
man, who, methinks, will not much longer be far from his friends
and his own land; nay he is very near. But for thee, may some god
withdraw thee hence to thy home, and mayst thou not meet him in
the day when he returns to his own dear country! For not without
blood, as I deem, will they be sundered, the wooers and Odysseus,
when once he shall have come beneath his own roof,'

Thus he spake, and poured an offering and then drank of the
honey-sweet wine, and again set the cup in the hands of the arrayer
of the people. But the other went back through the hall, sad at
heart and bowing his head; for verily his soul boded evil. Yet even
so he avoided not his fate, for Athene had bound him likewise to
be slain outright at the hands and by the spear of Telemachus. So
he sat down again on the high seat whence he had arisen.

Now the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, put it into the heart of the
daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, to show herself to the wooers,
that she might make their heart all flutter with hope, and that she
might win yet more worship from her lord and her son than here-
tofore. So she laughed an idle laugh, and spake to the nurse, and
hailed her, saying:

'Eurynome, my heart yearns, though before I had no such desire,
to show myself to the wooers, hateful as they are. I would also say
a word to my son, that will be for his weal, namely, that he should
not for ever consort with the proud wooers, who speak friendly with
their lips, but imagine evil in the latter end.'

Then the housewife, Eurynome, spake to her saying: 'Yea my
child, all this thou hast spoken as is meet. Go then, and declare thy
word to thy son and hide it not, but first wash thee and anoint thy
face, and go not as thou art with thy cheeks all stained with tears.
Go, for it is little good to sorrow always, and never cease. And lo,
thy son is now of an age to hear thee, he whom thou hast above all
things prayed the gods that thou mightest see with a beard upon
his chin.'

Then wise Penelope answered her, saying: 'Eurynome, speak not
thus comfortably to me, for all thy love, bidding me to wash and be
anointed with ointment. For the gods that keep Olympus de-

250 HOMER

stroyed my bloom, since the day that he departed in the hollow ships.
But bid Autonoe and Hippodameia come to me, to stand by my side
in the halls. Alone I will not go among men, for 1 am ashamed.'

So she spake, and the old woman passed through the chamber to
tell the maidens, and hasten their coming.

Thereon the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, had another thought.
She shed a sweet slumber over the daughter of Icarius, who sank
back in sleep, and all her joints were loosened as she lay in the chair,
and the fair goddess the while was giving her gifts immortal, that
all the Achaeans might marvel at her. Her fair face first she steeped
with beauty imperishable, such as that wherewith the crowned
Cytherea is anointed, when she goes to the lovely dances of the
Graces. And she made her taller and greater to behold, and made
her whiter than new-sawn ivory. Now when she had wrought thus,
that fair goddess departed, and the white-armed handmaidens came
forth from the chamber and drew nigh with a sound of voices. Then
sweet sleep left hold of Penelope, and she rubbed her cheeks with
her hands, and said:

'Surely soft slumber wrapped me round, most wretched though
I be. Oh! that pure Artemis would give me so soft a death even
now, that I might no more waste my life in sorrow of heart, and
longing for the manifold excellence of my dear lord, for that he
was foremost of the Achaeans.'

With this word she went down from the shining upper chamber,
not alone, for two handmaidens likewise bare her company. But
when the fair lady had now come to the wooers, she stood by the
pillar of the well-builded roof, holding her glistening tire before her
face, and on either side of her stood a faithful handmaid. And
straightway the knees of the wooers were loosened, and their hearts
were enchanted with love, and each one uttered a prayer that he
might be her bed-fellow. But she spake to Telemachus, her dear
son:

'Telemachus, thy mind and thy thoughts are no longer stable as
they were. While thou wast still a child, thou hadst a yet quicker
and more crafty wit, but now that thou art great of growth, and
art come to the measure of manhood, and a stranger looking to thy
stature and thy beauty might say that thou must be some rich man's

THE ODYSSEY 25 1

son, thy mind and thy thoughts are no longer right as of old. For
lo, what manner of deed has been done in these halls, in that thou
has suffered thy guest to be thus shamefully dealt with! How would
it be now, if the stranger sitting thus in our house, were to come to
some harm all through this evil handling? Shame and disgrace
would be thine henceforth among men.'

Then wise Telemachus answered her: 'Mother mine, as to this
matter I count it no blame that thou art angered. Yet have I knowl-
edge and understanding of each thing, of the good and of the evil,
but heretofore I was a child. Howbeit I cannot devise all things
according to wisdom, for these men in their evil counsel drive me
from my wits, on this side and on that, and there is none to aid me.
Howsoever this battle between Irus and the stranger did not fall
out as the wooers would have had it, but the stranger proved the
better man. Would to Father Zeus and Athene and Apollo, that the
wooers in our halls were even now thus vanquished, and wagging
their heads, some in the court, and some within the house, and that
the limbs of each man were loosened in such fashion as Irus yonder
sits now, by the courtyard gates wagging his head, like a drunken
man, and cannot stand upright on his feet, nor yet get him home
to his own place, seeing that his limbs are loosened!'

Thus they spake one to another. But Eurymachus spake to Pene-
lope, saying:

'Daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, if all the Achaeans in lasian
Argos could behold thee, even a greater press of wooers would feast
in your halls from to-morrow's dawn, since thou dost surpass all
women in beauty and stature, and within in wisdom of mind.'

Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Eurymachus, surely my ex-
cellence, both of face and form, the gods destroyed in the day when
the Argives embarked for Ilios, and with them went my lord Odys-
seus. If but he might come and watch over this my life, greater thus
would be my fame and fairer! But now am I in sorrow; such a
host of ills some god has sent against me. Ah, well do I remember,
when he set forth and left his own country, how he took me by the
right hand at the wrist and spake, saying:

'"Lady, methinks that all the goodly-greaved Achaeans will not
win a safe return from Troy; for the Trojans too, they say, are good

252 HOMER

men at arms, as spearsmen, and bowmen, and drivers of fleet horses,
such as ever most swiftly determine the great strife of equal battle.
Wherefore I know not if the gods will suffer me to return or whether
I shall be cut off there in Troy; so do thou have a care for all these
things. Be mindful of my father and my mother in the halls, even
as now thou art, or yet more than now, while I am far away. But
when thou seest thy son a bearded man, marry whom thou wilt and
leave thine own house."

'Even so did he speak, and now all these things have an end.
The night shall come when a hateful marriage shall find me out,
me most luckless, whose good hap Zeus has taken away. But fur-
thermore this sore trouble has come on my heart and soul; for this
was not the manner of wooers in time past. Whoso wish to woo a
good lady and the daughter of a rich man, and vie one with another,
themselves bring with them oxen of their own and goodly flocks, a
banquet for the friends of the bride, and they give the lady splendid
gifts, but do not devour another's livelihood without atonement.'

Thus she spake, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus rejoiced because
she drew from them gifts, and beguiled their souls with soothing
words, while her heart was set on other things.

Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered her again: 'Daughter
of Icarius, wise Penelope, the gifts which any of the Achaeans may
choose to bring hither, do thou take; for it were ill to withhold a
gift. But we for our part will neither go to our lands nor otherwhere,
before thou art wedded to the best man of the Achaeans.'

So spake Antinous, and the saying pleased them well, and each
man sent a henchman to bring his gifts. For Antinous his hench-
man bare a broidered robe, great and very fair, wherein were golden
brooches, twelve in all, fitted with well bent clasps. And the hench-
man straightway bare Eurymachus a golden chain of curious work,
strung with amber beads, shining like the sun. And his squires
bare for Eurydamas a pair of ear-rings, with three drops well
wrought, and much grace shone from them. And out of the house
of Peisander the prince, the son of Polyctor, the squire brought a
necklet, a very lovely jewel. And likewise the Achaeans brought
each one some other beautiful gift.

Then the fair lady went aloft to her upper chamber, and her at-

THE ODYSSEY 253

tendant maidens bare for her the lovely gifts, while the wooers turned
to dancing and the delight of song, and therein took their pleasure,
and awaited the coming of eventide. And dark evening came on
them at their pastime. Anon they set up three braziers in the halls,
to give them light; and on these they laid firewood all around,
faggots seasoned long since and sere, and new spUt with the axe.
And midway by the braziers they placed torches, and the maids of
Odysseus, of the hardy heart, held up the lights in turn. Then the
prince Odysseus of many counsels himself spake among them say-
ing:

'Ye maidens of Odysseus, the lord so long afar, get ye into the
chambers where the honoured queen abides, and twist the yarn at
her side, and gladden her heart as ye sit in the chamber, or card the
wools with your hands; but I will minister light to all these that are
here. For even if they are minded to wait the throned Dawn, they
shall not outstay me, so long enduring am I.'

So he spake, but they laughed and looked one at the other. And
the fair Melantho chid him shamefully, Melantho that Dolius begat,
but Penelope reared, and entreated her tenderly as she had been her
own child, and gave her playthings to her heart's desire. Yet, for
all that, sorrow for Penelope touched not her heart, but she loved
Eurymachus and was his paramour. Now she chid Odysseus with
railing words:

'Wretched guest, surely thou art some brain-struck man, seeing
that thou dost not choose to go and sleep at a smithy, or at some place
of common resort, but here thou pratest much and boldly among
many lords and hast no fear at heart. Verily wine has got about thy
wits, or perchance thou art always of this mind, and so thou dost
babble idly. Art thou beside thyself for joy, because thou hast beaten
the beggar Irus? Take heed lest a better man than Irus rise up
presently against thee, to lay his mighty hands about thy head and
bedabble thee with blood, and send thee hence from the house.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on her, and
said: 'Yea, straight will I go yonder and tell Telemachus hereof,
thou shameless thing, for this thy speech, that forthwith he may cut
thee limb from limb.'

So he spake, and with his saying scared away the women, who

254 HOMER

fled through the hall, and the knees of each were loosened for fear,
for they deemed that his words were true. But Odysseus took his
stand by the burning braziers, tending the lights, and gazed on all
the men; but far other matters he pondered in his heart, things not
to be unfulfilled.

Now Athene would in no wise suffer the lordly wooers to abstain
from biting scorn, that the pain might sink yet the deeper into the
heart of Odysseus, son of Laertes. So Eurymachus, son of Polybus,
began to speak among them, girding at Odysseus, and so made
mirth for his friends:

'Hear me ye wooers of the queen renowned, that I may say that
which my spirit within me bids me. Not without the gods' will has
this man come to the house of Odysseus; methinks at least that the
torchlight flares forth from* that head of his, for there are no hairs
on it, nay never so thin.'

He spake and withal addressed Odysseus, waster of cities:
'Stranger, wouldest thou indeed be my hireling, if I would take thee
for my man, at an upland farm, and thy wages shall be assured
thee, and there shah thou gather stones for walls and plant tall
trees? There would I provide thee bread continual, and clothe thee
with raiment, and give thee shoes for thy feet. Howbeit, since thou
art practised only in evil, thou wilt not care to go to the labours of the
field, but wilt choose rather to go louting through the land, that
thou mayst have wherewithal to feed thine insatiate belly.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him and said:
'Eurymachus, would that there might be a trial of labour between
us twain, in the season of spring, when the long days begin! In the
deep grass might it be, and I should have a crooked scythe, and thou
another like it, that we might try each the other in the matter of
labour, fasting till late eventide, and grass there should be in plenty.
Or would again, that there were oxen to drive, the best there may
be, large and tawny, both well filled with fodder, of equal age and
force to bear the yoke and of strength untiring! And it should be
a field of four ploughgates, and the clod should yield before the
ploughshare. Then shouldest thou see me, whether or no I would cut
a clean furrow unbroken before me. Or would that this very day
' Accepting the conjecture icdic.Eicard, for the MSS. koI.

THE ODYSSEY 255

Cronion might waken war whence he would, and that I had a
shield and two spears, and a helmet all of bronze, close fitting on
my temples! Then shouldest thou see me mingling in the forefront
of the battle, nor speak and taunt me with this my belly. Nay, thou
art exceeding wanton and thy heart is hard, and thou thinkest thy-
self some great one and mighty, because thou consortest with few
men and feeble. Ah, if Odysseus might but return and come to his
own country, right soon would yonder doors full wide as they are,
prove all too strait for thee in thy flight through the doorway!'

Thus he spake, and Eurymachus waxed yet the more wroth at
heart, and looking fiercely on him spake to him winged words:

'Ah, wretch th.it thou art, right soon will I work thee mischief,
so boldly thou pratest among many lords, and hast ho fear at heart.
Verily wine has got about thy wits, or perchance thou art always of
this mind, and so thou dost babble idly. Art thou beside thyself for
joy, because thou hast beaten the beggar Irus?'

Therewith he caught up a footstool, but Odysseus sat him down at
the knees of Amphinomus of Dulichium, in dread of Eurymachus.
And Eurymachus cast and smote the cup-bearer on the right hand,
and the ladle cup dropped to the ground with a clang, while the
young man groaned and fell backwards in the dust. Then the wooers
clamoured through the shadowy halls, and thus one would say look-
ing to his neighbour:

'Would that our wandering guest had perished otherwhere, or
ever he came hither; so should he never have made all this tumult in
our midst! But now we are all at strife about beggars, and there
will be no more joy of the good feast, for worse things have their
way.'

Then the mighty prince Telemachus spake among them:

'Sirs, ye are mad; now doth your mood betray that ye have eaten
and drunken; some one of the gods is surely moving you. Nay, now
that ye have feasted well, go home and lay you to rest, since your
spirit so bids; for as for me, I drive no man hence.'

Thus he spake, and they all bit their lips and marvelled at Telem-
achus, in that he spake boldly. Then Amphinomus made harangue,
and spake among them, Amphinomus, the famous son of Nisus the
prince, the son of Aretias:

256 HOMER

'Friends, when a righteous word has been spoken, none surely
would rebuke another with hard speech and be angry. Misuse ye
not this stranger, neither any of the thralls that are in the house of
godlike Odysseus. But come, let the wine-bearer pour for libation
into each cup in turn, that after the drink-offering we may get us
home to bed. But the stranger let us leave in the halls of Odysseus
for a charge to Telemachus: for to his home has he come.'

Thus he spake, and his word was well-pleasing to them all. Then
the lord Muhus mixed for them the bowl, the henchman out of
Dulichium, who was squire of Amphinomus. And he stood by all
and served it to them in their turn; and they poured forth before
the blessed gods, and drank the honey-sweet wine. Now when they
had poured forth and had drunken to their hearts' content, they
departed to he down, each one to his own house.

BOOK XIX

Telemachus removes the arms out of the hall. Odysseus disburseth
with Penelope. And is known by his nurse, but concealed. And the
hunting of the boar upon that occasion related.

NOW the goodly Odysseus was left behind in the hall, de-
vising with Athene's aid the slaying of the wooers, and
straightway he spake winged words to Telemachus:

'Telemachus, we must needs lay by the weapons of war within,
every one; and when the wooers miss them and ask thee concerning
them, thou shalt beguile them with soft words, saying:

'Out of the smoke I laid them by, since they were no longer like
those that Odysseus left behind him of old, when he went to Troy,
but they are wholly marred, so mightily hath passed upon them the
vapour of fire. Moreover some god hath put into my heart this
other and greater care, that perchance when ye are heated with wine,
ye set a quarrel between you and wound one the other, and thereby
shame the feast and the wooing; for iron of itself draws a man
thereto.'

Thus he spake, and Telemachus hearkened to his dear father, and
called forth to him the nurse Eurycleia and spake to her, saying:

'Nurse, come now I pray thee, shut up the women in their cham-
bers till I shall have laid by in the armoury the goodly weapons of
my father, which all uncared for the smoke dims in the hall, since
my father went hence, and I was still but a child. Now I wish to lay
them by where the vapwur of the fire will not reach them.'

Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered him, saying: 'Ah, my
child, if ever thou wouldest but take careful thought in such wise
as to mind the house, and guard all this wealth! But come, who
shall fetch the light and bear it, if thou hast thy way, since thou
wouldest not that the maidens, who might have given light, should
go before thee ?'

Then wise Telemachus made answer to her: 'This stranger here,

257

258 HOMER

for I will keep no man in idleness who eats of my bread, even if he
have come from afar.'

Thus he spake, and wingless her speech remained, and she closed
the doors of the fair-lying chambers. Then they twain sprang up,
Odysseus and his renowned son, and set to carry within the helmets
and the bossy shields, and the sharp-pointed spears; and before them
Pallas Athene bare a golden cresset and cast a most lovely light.
Thereon Telemachus spake to his father suddenly :

'Father, surely a great marvel is this that I behold with mine eyes;
meseems, at least, that the walls of the hall and the fair main-beams
of the roof and the cross-beams of pine, and the pillars that run
aloft, are bright as it were with flaming fire. Verily some god is
within, of those that hold the wide heaven.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him and said: 'Hold
thy peace and keep thy thoughts in check and ask not hereof. Lo,
this is the wont of the gods that hold Olympus. But do thou go and
lay thee down, and I will abide here, that I may yet further provoke
the maids and thy mother to answer; and she in her sorrow will ask
me concerning each thing, one by one.*

So he spake, and Telemachus passed out through the hall to his
chamber to Ue down, by the light of the flaming torches, even to the
chamber where of old he took his rest, when sweet sleep came over
him. There now too he lay down and awaited the bright Dawn.
But goodly Odysseus was left behind in the hall, devising with
Athene's aid the slaying of the wooers.

Now forth from her chamber came the wise Penelope, like Artemis
or golden Aphrodite, and they set a chair for her hard by before the
fire, where she was wont to sit, a chair well-wrought and inlaid with
ivory and silver, which on a time the craftsman Icmalius had
fashioned, and had joined thereto a footstool, that was part of the
chair, whereon a great fleece was used to be laid. Here then, the
wise Penelope sat her down, and next came white-armed handmaids
from the women's chamber, and began to take away the many
fragments of food, and the tables and the cups whence the proud
lords had been drinking, and they raked out the fire from the braziers
on to the floor, and piled many fresh logs upon them, to give hght
and warmth.

THE ODYSSEY 259

Then Melantho began to revile Odysseus yet a second time, say-
ing: 'Stranger, wilt thou still be a plague to us here, circling round
the house in the night, and spying the women ? Nay, get thee forth,
thou wretched thing, and be thankful for thy supper, or straightway
shalt thou even be smitten with a torch and so fare out of the doors.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on her, and said :
'Good woman, what possesses thee to assail me thus out of an angry
heart? Is it because I go filthy and am clothed about in sorry rai-
ment, and beg through the land, for necessity is laid on me? This
is the manner of beggars and of wandering men. For I too once had
a house of mine own among men, a rich man with a wealthy house,
and many a time would I give to a wanderer, what manner of man
soever he might be, and in whatsoever need he came. And I had
coundess thralls, and all else in plenty, whereby folk live well and
have a name for riches. But Zeus, the son of Cronos, made me des-
olate of all, for surely it was his will. Wherefore, woman, see lest
some day thou too lose all thy fine show wherein thou now excellest
among the handmaids, as well may chance, if thy mistress be pro-
voked to anger with thee, or if Odysseus come home, for there is
yet a place for hope. And even if he hath perished as ye deem, and is
never more to return, yet by Apxallo's grace he hath a son like him,
Telemachus, and none of the women works wantonness in his
halls without his knowledge, for he is no longer of an age not to
mark it.

Thus he spake, and the wise Penelope heard him, and rebuked the
handmaid, and spake and hailed her:

'Thou reckless thing and unabashed, be sure thy great sin is not
hidden from me, and thy blood shall be on thine own head for the
same! For thou knewest right well, in that thou hadst heard it from
my lips, how that I was minded to ask the stranger in my halls for
tidings of my lord; for I am grievously afflicted.'

Therewith she spake likewise to the housedame, Eurynome, say-
ing:

'Eurynome, bring hither a settle with a fleece thereon, that the
stranger may sit and speak with me and hear my words, for I
would ask him all his story.'

So she spake, and the nurse made haste and brought a polished

26o HOMER

settle, and cast a fleece thereon; and then the steadfast goodly Odys-
seus sat him down there, and the wise Penelope spake first, saying:

'Stranger, I will make bold first to ask thee this: who art thou of
the sons of men, and whence? Where is thy city, and where are
they that begat thee?'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said: 'Lady,
no one of mortal men in the wide world could find fault with thee,
for lo, thy fame goes up to the wide heaven, as doth the fame of a
blameless king, one that fears the gods and reigns among many
men and mighty, maintaining right, and the black earth bears wheat
and barley, and the trees are laden with fruit, and the sheep bring
forth and fail not, and the sea gives store of fish, and all out of his
good guidance, and the people prosper under him. Wherefore do
thou ask me now in thy house all else that thou wilt, but inquire
not concerning my race and mine own country, lest as I think there-
upon thou fill my heart the more with pains, for I am a man of
many sorrows. Moreover it beseems me not to sit weeping and wail-
ing in another's house, for it is little good to mourn always without
ceasing, lest perchance one of the maidens, or even thyself, be angry
with me and say that I swim in tears, as one that is heavy with
wine.'

Then wise Penelope answered him, and said : 'Stranger, surely my
excellence, both of face and form, the gods destroyed, in the day
when the Argives embarked for Ilios, and with them went my lord
Odysseus. If but he might come and watch over this my life, greater
and fairer thus would be my fame! But now am I in sorrow, such
a host of ills some god has sent against me. For all the noblest that
are princes in the isles, in Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacyn-
thus, and they that dwell around even in clear-seen Ithaca, these are
wooing me against my will, and devouring the house. Wherefore
I take no heed of strangers, nor suppliants, nor at all of heralds, the
craftsmen of the people. But I waste my heart away in longing for
Odysseus; so they speed on my marriage and I weave a web of
wiles. First some god put it into my heart to set up a great web in
the halls, and thereat to weave a robe fine of woof and very wide:
and anon I spake among them, saying: "Ye princely youths, my
wooers, now that goodly Odysseus is dead, do ye abide patiently,

THE ODYSSEY 26 1

how eager soever to speed on this marriage of mine, till I finish the
robe. I would not that the threads perish to no avail, even this shroud
for the hero Laertes, against the day when the ruinous doom shall
bring him low, of death that lays men at their length. So shall none
of the Achaean women in the land count it blame in me, as well
might be, were he to lie without a winding sheet, a man that had
gotten great possessions."

'So spake I, and their high hearts consented thereto. So then in
the daytime I would weave the mighty web, and in the night un-
ravel the same, when I had let place the torches by me. Thus for
the space of three years I hid the thing by craft and beguiled the
minds of the Achaeans. But when the fourth year arrived, and the
seasons came round as the months waned, and many days were
accomplished, then it was that by help of the handmaids, shameless
things and reckless, the wooers came and trapped me, and chid me
loudly. Thus did I finish the web by no will of mine, for so I must.
And now I can neither escape the marriage nor devise any further
counsel, and my parents are instant with me to marry, and my son
chafes that these men devour his livelihood, as he takes note of all;
for by this time he has come to man's estate, and is full able to care
for a household, for one to which Zeus vouchsafes honour. But even
so tell me of thine own stock, whence thou art, for thou art not
sprung of oak or rock, whereof old tales tell.'
And Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said:
'O wife revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, wilt thou never have
done asking me about mine own race? Nay, but I will tell thee;
yet surely thou wilt give me over to sorrows yet more than those
wherein I am holden, for so it ever is when a man has been afar
from his own country, so long as now I am, wandering in sore pain
to many cities of mortals. Yet even so 1 will tell thee what thou
askest and inquirest. There is a land called Crete in the midst of the
wine-dark sea, a fair land and a rich, begirt with water, and therein
are many men innumerable, and ninety cities. And all have not the
same speech, but there is confusion of tongues; there dwell Achaeans
and there too Cretans of Crete, high of heart, and Cydonians there
and Dorians of waving plumes and goodly Pelasgians. And among
these cities is the mighty city Cnosus, wherein Minos when he was

262 HOMER

nine years old began to rule, he who held converse with great Zeus,
and was the father of my father, even of Deucalion, high of heart.
Now Deucalion begat me and Idomeneus the prince. Howbeit, he
had gone in his beaked ships up into Ilios, with the son of Atreus;
but my famed name is Aethon, being the younger of the twain and
he was the first born and the better man. There I saw Odysseus,
and gave him guest-gifts, for the might of the wind bare him too to
Crete, as he was making for Troy land, and had driven him wander-
ing past Malea. So he stayed his ships in Amnisus, whereby is the
cave of Eilithyia, in havens hard to win, and scarce he escaped the
tempest. Anon he came up to the city and asked for Idomeneus,
saying that he was his friend and held by him in love and honour.
But it was now the tenth or the eleventh dawn since Idomeneus had
gone in his beaked ships up into Ilios. Then I led him to the house,
and gave him good entertainment with all loving-kindness out of the
plenty in my house, and for him and for the rest of his company,
that went with him, I gathered and gave barley meal and dark wine
out of the public store, and oxen to sacrifice to his heart's desire.
There the goodly Achaeans abode twelve days, for the strong North
Wind penned them there, and suffered them not to stay upon the
coast, for some angry god had roused it. On the thirteenth day the
wind fell, and then they lifted anchor.'

So he told many a false tale in the likeness of truth, and her tears
flowed as she listened, and her flesh melted. And even as the snow
melts in the high places of the hills, the snow that the South-East
wind has thawed, when the West had scattered it abroad, and as it
wastes the river streams run full, even so her fair cheeks melted be-
neath her tears, as she wept her own lord, who even then was sitting
by her. Now Odysseus had compassion of heart upon his wife in her
lamenting, but his eyes kept steadfast between his eyelids as it were
horn or iron, and craftily he hid his tears. But she, when she had
taken her fill of tearful lamentation, answered him in turn and
spake, saying:

'Friend as thou art, even now I think to make trial of thee, and
learn whether in very truth thou didst entertain my lord there in
thy halls with his godlike company, as thou sayest. Tell me what
manner of raiment he was clothed in about his body, and what

THE ODYSSEY 263

manner of man he was himself, and tell me of his fellows that went
with him.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her, saying: 'Lady,
it is hard for one so long parted from him to tell thee all this, for it
is now the twentieth year since he went thither and left my country.
Yet even so I will tell thee as I see him in spirit. Goodly Odysseus
wore a thick purple mantle, twofold, which had a brooch fashioned
in gold, with two sheathes for the pins, and on the face of it was a
curious device: a hound in his forepaws held a dappled fawn and
gazed on it as it writhed. And all men marvelled at the workman-
ship, how, wrought as they were in gold, the hound was gazing on
the fawn and strangling it, and the fawn was writhing with his feet
and striving to flee. Moreover, I marked the shining doublet about
his body, like the gleam over the skin of a dried onion, so smooth
it was, and gUstering as the sun; truly many women looked thereon
and wondered. Yet another thing will I tell thee, and do thou
ponder it in thy heart. I know not if Odysseus was thus clothed
upon at home, or if one of his fellows gave him the raiment as he
went on board the swift ship, or even it may be some stranger, see-
ing that to many men was Odysseus dear, for few of the Achaeans
were his peers. I, too, gave him a sword of bronze, and a fair purple
mantle with double fold, and a tasseled doublet, and I sent him away
with all honour on his decked ship. Moreover, a henchman bare him
company, somewhat older than he, and I will tell thee of him too,
what manner of man he was. He was round-shouldered, black-
skinned, and curly-headed, his name Eurybates; and Odysseus
honoured him above all his company, because in all things he was
like-minded with himself.'

So he spake, and in her heart he stirred yet more the desire of
weeping, as she knew the certain tokens that Odysseus showed her.
So when she had taken her fill of tearful lament, then she answered
him, and spake, saying:

'Now verily, stranger, thou that even before wert held in pity,
shalt be dear and honourable in my halls, for it v/as I who gave
him these garments, as judging from thy words, and folded them
myself, and brought them from the chamber, and added besides the
shining brooch to be his jewel. But him I shall never welcome back.

264 HOMER

returned home to his own dear country. Wherefore with an evil
fate it was that Odysseus went hence in the hollow ship to see that
evil Ilios, never to be named.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Wife
revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, destroy not now thy fair flesh
any more, nor waste thy heart with weeping for thy lord; — not that
I count it any blame in thee, for many a woman weeps that has lost
her wedded lord, to whom she has borne children in her love, — albeit
a far other man than Odysseus, who, they say, is like the gods. Nay,
cease from thy lamenting, and lay up my word in thy heart; for I
will tell thee without fail, and will hide nought, how but lately I
heard tell of the return of Odysseus, that he is nigh at hand, and yet
alive in the fat land of the men of Thesprotia, and is bringing with
him many choice treasures, as he begs through the land. But he has
lost his dear companions and his hollow ship on the wine-dark sea,
on his way from the isle Thrinacia : for Zeus and Helios had a grudge
against him, because his company had slain the kine of Helios. They
for their part all perished in the wash of the sea, but the wave cast
him on the keel of the ship out upon the coast, on the land of the
Phaeacians that are near of kin to the gods, and they did him all
honour heartily as unto a god, and gave him many gifts, and them-
selves would fain have sent him scathless home. Yea and Odysseus
would have been here long since, but he thought it more profitable
to gather wealth, as he journeyed over wide lands; so truly is Odys-
seus skilled in gainful arts above all men upon earth, nor may any
mortal men contend with him. So Pheidon king of the Thesprotians
told me. Moreover he sware, in mine own presence, as he poured the
drink-offering in his house, that the ship was drawn down to the
sea and his company were ready, who were to convey him to his own
dear country. But me he first sent off, for it chanced that a ship of the
Thesprotians was on her way to Dulichium, a land rich in grain.
And he showed me all the wealth that Odysseus had gathered, yea
it would suffice for his children after him, even to the tenth genera-
tion, so great were the treasures he had stored in the chambers of
the king. As for him he had gone, he said, to Dodona to hear the
counsel of Zeus, from the high leafy oak tree of the god, how he

THE ODYSSEY 265

should return to his own dear country, having now been long afar,
whether openly or by stealth.

'In this wise, as I tell thee, he is safe and will come shortly, and
very near he is and will not much longer be far from his friends and
his own country; yet withal I will give thee my oath on it. Zeus
be my witness first, of gods the highest and best, and the hearth of
noble Odysseus whereunto I am come, that all these things shall
surely be accomplished even as I tell thee. In this same year Odys-
seus shall come hither, as the old moon wanes and the new is born.'

Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Ah! stranger would that this
word may be accomplished. Soon shouldst thou be aware of kind-
ness and many a gift at my hands, so that whoso met with thee
would call thee blessed. But on this wise my heart has a boding, and
so it shall be. Neither shall Odysseus come home any more, nor
shalt thou gain an escort hence, since there are not now such masters
in the house as Odysseus was among men, — if ever such an one
there was, — to welcome guests revered and speed them on their way.
But do ye, my handmaids, wash this man's feet and strew a couch
for him, bedding and mantles and shining blankets, that well and
warmly he may come to the time of golden-throned Dawn. And
very early in the morning bathe him and anoint him, that within
the house beside Telemachus he may eat meat, sitting quietly in the
hall. And it shall be the worse for any hurtful man of the wooers,
that vexes the stranger, yea he shall not henceforth profit himself
here, for all his sore anger. For how shalt thou learn concerning
me, stranger, whether indeed I excel all women in wit and thrifty
device, if all unkempt and evil clad thou sittest at supper in my halls?
Man's life is brief enough! And if any be a hard man and hard at
heart, all men cry evil on him for the time to come, while yet he
lives, and all men mock him when he is dead. But if any be a
blameless man and blameless of heart, his guests spread abroad his
fame over the whole earth and many people call him noble.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said: 'O wife
revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, mantles verily and shining
blankets are hateful to me, since first I left behind me the snowy
hills of Crete, voyaging in the long-oared galley; nay, I wdll lie as in

266 HOMER

time past I was used to rest through the sleepless nights. For full
many a night I have lain on an unsightly bed, and awaited the bright
throned Dawn. And baths for the feet are no longer my delight,
nor shall any women of those who are serving maidens in thy house
touch my foot, imless there chance to be some old wife, true of heart,
one that has borne as much trouble as myself; I would not grudge
such an one to touch my feet.'

Then wise Penelope answered him : 'Dear stranger, for never yet
has there come to my house, of strangers from afar, a dearer man or
so discreet as thou, uttering so heedfully the words of wisdom. I
have an ancient woman of an understanding heart, that diligently
nursed and tended that hapless man my lord, she took him in her
arms in the hour when his mother bare him. She will wash thy feet,
albeit her strength is frail. Up now, wise Eurycleia, and wash this
man, whose years are the same as thy master's. Yea and perchance
such even now are the feet of Odysseus, and such too his hands, for
quickly men age in misery.'

So she spake, and the old woman covered her face with her hands
and shed hot tears, and spake a word of lamentation, saying:

'Ah, woe is me, child, for thy sake, all helpless that I am! Surely
Zeus hated thee above all men, though thou hadst a god-fearing
spirit! For never yet did any mortal burn so many fat pieces of the
thigh and so many choice hecatombs to 2^us, whose joy is in the
thunder, as thou didst give to him, praying that so thou mightest
grow to a smooth old age and rear thy renowned son. But now from
thee alone hath Zeus wholly cut off the day of thy returning. Haply
at him too did the women mock in a strange land afar, whensoever
he came to the famous palace of any lord, even as here these shame-
less ones all mock at thee. To shun their insults and many taunts
it is that thou sufferest them not to wash thy feet, but the daughter
of Icarius, wise Penelope, hath bidden me that am right willing to
this task. Wherefore I will wash thy feet, both for Penelope's sake
and for thine own, for that my heart within me is moved and trou-
bled. But come, mark the word that I shall speak. Many strangers
travel-worn have ere now come hither, but I say that I have never
seen any so like another, as thou art like Odysseus, in fashion, in
voice and in feet.'

THE ODYSSEY 267

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Old wife,
even so all men declare, that have beheld us twain, that we favour
each other exceedingly, even as thou dost mark and say.'

Thereupon the crone took the shining cauldron, wherefrom' she
set to wash his feet, and poured in much cold water and next mingled
therewith the warm. Now Odysseus sat aloof from the hearth, and
of a sudden he turned his face to the darkness, for anon he had a
misgiving of heart lest when she handled him she might know the
scar again, and all should be revealed. Now she drew near her lord
to wash him, and straightway she knew the scar of the wound,
that the boar had dealt him with his white tusk long ago, when Odys-
seus went to Parnassus to see Autolycus, and the sons of Autolycus,
his mother's noble father, who outdid all men in thievery and skill
in swearing. This skill was the gift of the god himself, even Hermes;
for that he burned to him the well-pleasing sacrifice of the thighs
of lambs and kids; wherefore Hermes abetted him gladly. Now
Autolycus once had gone to the rich land of Ithaca, and found his
daughter's son a child new-born, and when he was making an end
of supper, behold, Eurycleia set the babe on his knees, and spake and
hailed him: 'Autolycus, find now a name thyself to give thy child's
own son; for lo, he is a child of many prayers.'

Then Autolycus made answer and spake: 'My daughter and my
daughter's lord, give ye him whatsoever name I tell you. Forasmuch
as I am come hither in wrath against many a one, both man and
woman, over the fruitful earth, wherefore let the child's name be
"a man of wrath," Odysseus. But when the child reaches his full
growth, and comes to the great house of his mother's kin at Parnas-
sus, whereby are my possessions, I will give him a gift out of these
and send him on his way rejoicing.'

Therefore it was that Odysseus went to receive the splendid gifts.
And Autolycus and the sons of Autolycus grasped his hands and
greeted him with gentle words, and Amphithea, his mother's mother,
clasped him in her arms and kissed his face and both his fair eyes.
Then Autolycus called to his renowned sons to get ready the meal,
and they hearkened to the call. So presently they led in a five-year-old
bull, which they flayed and busily prepared, and cut up all the limbs

* Reading roC,

268 HOMER

and deftly chopped them small, and pierced them with spits and
roasted them cunningly, dividing the messes. So for that livelong day
they feasted till the going down of the sun, and their soul lacked
not ought of the equal banquet. But when the sun sank and dark-
ness came on, then they laid them to rest and took the boon of sleep.
Now so soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, they
all went forth to the chase, the hounds and the sons of Autolycus,
and with them went the goodly Odysseus. So they fared up the
steep hill of wood<lad Parnassus, and quickly they came to the
windy hollows. Now the sun was but just striking on the fields,
and was come forth from the soft flowing stream of deep Oceanus.
Then the beaters reached a glade of the woodland, and before them
went the hounds tracking a scent, but behind came the sons of
Autolycus, and among them goodly Odysseus followed close on the
hounds, swaying a long spear. Thereby in a thick lair was a great
boar lying, and through the coppice the force of the wet winds blew
never, neither did the bright sun light on it with his rays, nor could
the rain pierce through, so thick it was, and of fallen leaves there was
great plenty therein. Then the tramp of the men's feet and of the
dogs' came upon the boar, as they pressed on in the chase, and forth
from his lair he sprang towards them with crest well bristled and
fire shining in his eyes, and stood at bay before them all. Then
Odysseus was the first to rush in, holding his spear aloft in his strong
hand, most eager to stab him; but the boar was too quick and drave
a gash above the knee, ripping deep into the flesh with his tusk as
he charged sideways, but he reached not to the bone of the man.
Then Odysseus aimed well and smote him on his right shoulder, so
that the point of the bright spear went clean through, and the boar
fell in the dust with a cry, and his life passed from him. Then the
dear sons of Autolycus began to busy them with the carcase, and as
for the wound of the noble godlike Odysseus, they bound it up skil-
fully, and stayed the black blood with a song of healing, and straight-
way returned to the house of their dear father. Then Autolycus and
the sons of Autolycus got him well healed of his hurt, and gave him
splendid gifts, and quickly sent him with all love to Ithaca, gladly
speeding a glad guest. There his father and lady mother were glad
of his returning, and asked him of all his adventures, and of his

THE ODYSSEY 269

wound how he came by it, and duly he told them all, namely how
the boar gashed him with his white tusk in the chase, when he had
gone to Parnassus with the sons of Autolycus.

Now the old woman took the scarred limb and passed her hands
down it, and knew it by the touch and let the foot drop suddenly,
so that the knee fell into the bath, and the brazen vessel rang, being
turned over on the other side, and behold, the water was spilled on
the ground. Then joy and anguish came on her in one moment,
and both her eyes filled up with tears, and the voice of her utterance
was stayed, and touching the chin of Odysseus she spake to him,
saying:

'Yea verily, thou art Odysseus, my dear child, and I knew thee not
before, till I had handled all the body of my lord.'

Therewithal she looked towards Penelope, as minded to make
a sign that her husband was now home. But Penelope could not
meet her eyes nor take note of her, for Athene had bent her thoughts
to other things. But Odysseus feeling for the old woman's throat
gript it with his right hand and with the other drew her closer to
him and spake, saying:

'Woman, why wouldest thou indeed destroy me? It was thou
that didst nurse me there at thine own breast, and now after travail
and much pain I am come in the twentieth year to mine own
country. But since thou art ware of me, and the god has put this
in thy heart, be silent, lest another learn the matter in the halls.
For on this wise I will declare it, and it shall surely be accom-
plished: — if the gods subdue the lordly wooers unto me, I will not
hold my hand from thee, my nurse though thou art, when I slay
the other handmaids in my halls.'

Then wise Eurycleia answered, saying: 'My child, what word
hath escaped the door of thy lips? Thou knowest how firm is my
spirit and unyielding, and I will keep me fast as stubborn stone or
iron. Yet another thing will I tell thee, and do thou ponder it in
thine heart. If the gods subdue the lordly wooers to thy hand, then
will I tell thee all the tale of the women in the halls, which of them
dishonour thee and which be guiltless.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Nurse,
wherefore I pray thee wilt thou speak of these ? Thou needest not,

270 HOMER

for even I myself will mark them well and take knowledge of
each. Nay, do thou keep thy saying to thyself, and leave the rest
to the gods.'

Even so he spake, and the old woman passed forth from the hall
to bring water for his feet, for that first water was all spilled. So
when she had washed him and anointed him well with olive-oil,
Odysseus again drew up his settle nearer to the fire to warm himself,
and covered up the scar with his rags. Then the wise Penelope spake
first, saying:

'Stranger, there is yet a little thing I will make bold to ask thee,
for soon will it be the hour for pleasant rest, for him on whomso-
ever sweet sleep falls, though he be heavy with care. But to me has
the god given sorrow, yea sorrow measureless, for all the day I
have my fill of wailing and lamenting, as I look to mine own house-
wiferies and to the tasks of the maidens in the house. But when
night comes and sleep takes hold of all, I lie on my couch, and
shrewd cares, thick thronging about my inmost heart, disquiet me
in my sorrowing. Even as when the daughter of Pandareus, the
nightingale of the greenwood, sings sweet in the first season of the
spring, from her place in the thick leafage of the trees, and with
many a turn and trill she pours forth her full-voiced music bewail-
ing her child, dear Itylus, whom on a time she slew with the
sword unwitting, Itylus the son of Zethus the prince; even as her
song, my troubled soul sways to and fro. Shall I abide with my
son, and keep all secure, all the things of my getting, my thralls
and great high-roofed home, having respect unto the bed of my
lord and the voice of the people, or even now follow with the best
of the Achaeans that woos me in the halls, and gives a bride-price
beyond reckoning? Now my son, so long as he was a child and
light of heart, suffered me not to marry and leave the house of my
husband; but now that he is great of growth, and is come to the
full measure of manhood, lo now he prays me to go back home from
these walls, being vexed for his possessions that the Achaeans devour
before his eyes. But come now, hear a dream of mine and tell me
the interpretation thereof. Twenty geese I have in the house, that
eat wheat, coming forth from the water, and I am gladdened at
the sight. Now a great eagle of crooked beak swooped from the

THE ODYSSEY 27 1

mountain, and brake all their necks and slew them; and they lay
strewn in a heap in the halls, while he was borne aloft to the
bright air. Thereon I wept and wailed, in a dream though it was,
and around me were gathered the fair-tressed Achaean women as
I made piteous lament, for that the eagle had slain my geese. But
he came back and sat him down on a jutting point of the roof-
beam, and with the voice of a man he spake, and stayed my weeping:

* "Take heart, O daughter of renowned Icarius; this is no dream
but a true vision, that shall be accomplished for thee. The geese are
the wooers, and I that before was the eagle am now thy husband come
again, who will let slip unsightly death upon all the wooers." With
that word sweet slumber let me go, and I looked about, and beheld
the geese in the court pecking their wheat at the trough, where they
were wont before.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said: 'Lady,
none may turn aside the dream to interpret it otherwise, seeing that
Odysseus himself hath showed thee how he will fulfil it. For the
wooers destruction is clearly boded, for all and every one; not a
man shall avoid death and the fates.'

Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Stranger, verily dreams are
hard, and hard to be discerned; nor are all things therein fulfilled
for men. Twain are the gates of shadowy dreams, the one is fash-
ioned of horn and one of ivory. Such dreams as pass through the
portals of sawn ivory are deceitful, and bear tidings that are unful-
filled. But the dreams that come forth through the gates of polished
horn bring a true issue, whosoever of mortals beholds them. Yet
methinks my strange dream came not thence; of a truth that would
be most welcome to me and to my son. But another thing will I
tell thee, and do thou ponder it in thy heart. Lo, even now draws
nigh the morn of evil name, that is to sever me from the house of
Odysseus, for now I am about to ordain for a trial those axes that
he would set up in a row in his halls, like stays of oak in ship-
building, twelve in all, and he would stand far apart and shoot
his arrow through them all. And now I will offer this contest to
the wooers; whoso shall most easily string the bow in his hands,
and shoot through all twelve axes, with him will I go and forsake
this house, this house of my wedlock, so fair and filled with all

272 HOMER

livelihood, which methinks I shall yet remember, aye, in a dream.'
Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said: 'Wife
revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, no longer delay this contest in
thy halls; for, lo, Odysseus of many counsels will be here, before
these men, for all their handling of this polished bow, shall have
strung it, and shot the arrow through the iron.'

Then the wise Penelope answered him: 'Stranger, if only thou
wert willing still to sit beside me in the halls and to delight me,
not upon my eyelids would sleep be shed. But men may in no
wise abide sleepless ever, for the immortals have made a time for
all things for mortals on the graingiving earth. Howbeit I will go
aloft to my upper chamber, and lay me on my bed, the place of my
groanings, that is ever watered by my tears, since the day that
Odysseus went to see that evil Ilios, never to be named. There will
I lay me down, but do thou live in this house; either strew thee
somewhat on the floor, or let them lay bedding for thee.'

Therewith she ascended to her shining upper chamber, not alone,
for with her likewise went her handmaids. So she went aloft to
her upper chamber with the women her handmaids, and there was
bewailing Odysseus, her dear lord, till grey-eyed Athene cast sweet
sleep upon her eyelids.

BOOK XX
Pallas and Odysseus consult of the killing of the wooers.

BUT the goodly Odysseus laid him down to sleep in the vesti-
I bule of the house. He spread an undressed bull's hide on
the ground and above it many fleeces of sheep, that the
Achaeans were wont to slay in sacrifice, and Eurynome threw a
mantle over him where he lay. There Odysseus lay wakeful, with
evil thoughts against the wooers in his heart. And the women came
forth from their chamber, that aforetime were wont to lie with
the wooers, making laughter and mirth among themselves. Then
the heart of Odysseus was stirred within his breast, and much he
communed with his mind and soul, whether he should leap forth
upon them and deal death to each, or sufTer them to lie with the
proud wooers, now for the last and latest time. And his heart
growled sullenly within him. And even as a bitch stands over her
tender whelps growling, when she spies a man she knows not, and
she is eager to assail him, so growled his heart within him in his
wrath at their evil deeds. Then he smote upon his breast and
rebuked his own heart, saying:

'Endure, my heart; yea, a baser thing thou once didst bear, on
that day when the Cyclops, unrestrained in fury, devoured the
mighty men of my company; but still thou didst endure till thy
craft found a way for thee forth from out the cave, where thou
thoughtest to die.'

So spake he, chiding his own spirit within him, and his heart
verily abode steadfast in obedience to his word. But Odysseus him-
self lay tossing this way and that. And as when a man by a great
fire burning takes a paunch full of fat and blood, and turns it this
way and that and longs to have it roasted most speedily, so Odysseus
tossed from side to side, musing how he might stretch forth his
hands upon the shameless wooers, being but one man against so
many. Then down from heaven came Athene and drew nigh him,

273

274 HOMER

fashioned in the likeness of a woman. And she stood over his head
and spake to him, saying:

'Lo now again, wherefore art thou watching, most luckless of all
men living? Is not this thy house and is not thy wife there within
and thy child, such a son as men wish to have for their own?'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Yea,
goddess, all this thou hast spoken as is meet. But my heart within
me muses in some measure upon this, how I may stretch forth my
hands upon the shameless wooers, being but one man, while they
abide ever in their companies within. Moreover, this other and
harder matter I ponder in my heart: even if I were to slay them by
thy will and the will of Zeus, whither should I flee from the
avengers? Look well to this, I pray thee.'

Then answered the goddess, grey-eyed Athene: 'O hard of belief!
yea, many there be that trust even in a weaker friend than I am,
in one that is a mortal and knows not such craft as mine; but I am
a god, that preserve thee to the end, in all manner of toils. And
now I will tell thee plainly; even should fifty companies of mortal
men compass us about eager to slay us in battle, even their kine
shouldst thou drive off and their brave flocks. But let sleep in turn
come over thee; to wake and to watch all night, this too is vexa-
tion of spirit; and soon shalt thou rise from out of thy troubles.'

So she spake and poured slumber upon his eyelids, but for her
part the fair goddess went back to Olympus.

While sleep laid hold of him loosening the cares of his soul, sleep
that loosens the limbs of men, his good wife awoke and wept as
she sat on her soft bed. But when she had taken her fill of weeping,
to Artemis first the fair lady made her prayer:

'Artemis, lady and goddess, daughter of Zeus, would that even
now thou wouldst plant thy shaft within my breast and take my life
away, even in this hour! Or else, would that the stormwind might
snatch me up, and bear me hence down the dusky ways, and cast
me forth where the back-flowing Oceanus mingles with the sea.
It should be even as when the stormwinds bare away the daughters
of Pandareus. Their father and their mother the gods had slain,
and the maidens were left orphans in the halls, and fair Aphrodite
cherished them with curds and sweet honey and delicious wine. And

THE ODYSSEY 275

Here gave them beauty and wisdom beyond the lot of women, and
holy Artemis dowered them with stature, and Athene taught them
skill in all famous handiwork. Now while fair Aphrodite was
wending to high Olympus, to pray that a glad marriage might be
accomplished for the maidens, — and to Zeus she went whose joy
is in the thunder, for he knows all things well, what the fates give
and deny to mortal men — in the meanwhile the spirits of the storm
snatched away these maidens, and gave them to be handmaids to
the hateful Erinyes. Would that in such wise they that hold the
mansions of Olympus would take me from the sight of men, or
that fair-tressed Artemis would strike me, that so with a vision of
Odysseus before mine eyes I might even pass beneath the dreadful
earth, nor ever make a baser man's delight! But herein is an evil
that may well be borne, namely, when a man weeps all the day
long in great sorrow of heart, but sleep takes him in the night, for
sleep makes him forgetful of all things, of good and evil, when once
it has overshadowed his eyelids. But as for me, even the dreams
that the gods send upon me are evil. For furthermore, this very
night one seemed to lie by my side, in the likeness of my lord, as
he was when he went with the host, and then was my heart glad,
since methought it was no vain dream but a clear vision at the last.'

So she spake, and anon came the golden-throned Dawn. Now
goodly Odysseus caught the voice of her weeping, and then he fell
a musing, and it seemed to him that even now she knew him and
was standing by his head. So he took up the mantle and the fleeces
whereon he was lying, and set them on a high seat in the hall, and
bare out the bull's hide out of doors and laid it there, and lifting up
his hands he prayed to &us:

'Father Zeus, if ye gods of your good will have led me over wet
and dry, to mine own country, after ye had plagued me sore, let
some one I pray of the folk that are waking show me a word of good
omen within, and without let some sign also be revealed to me from
Zeus.'

So he spake in prayer, and Zeus, the counsellor, heard him.
Straightway he thundered from shining Olympus, from on high
from the place of clouds; and goodly Odysseus was glad. More-
over, a woman, a grinder at the mill, uttered a voice of omen from

276 HOMER

within the house hard by, where stcx)d the mills of the shepherd of
the people. At these handmills twelve women in all plied their task,
making meal of barley and of wheat, the marrow of men. Now all
the others were asleep, for they had ground out their task of grain,
but one alone rested not yet, being the weakest of all. She now
stayed her quern and spake a word, a sign to her lord:

'Father Zeus, who rulest over gods and men, loudly hast thou
thundered from the starry sky, yet nowhere is there a cloud to be
seen: this surely is a portent thou art showing to some mortal. Fulfil
now, I pray thee, even to miserable me, the word that I shall speak.
May the wooers, on this day, for the last and latest time make
their sweet feasting in the halls of Odysseus! They that have
loosened my knees with cruel toil to grind their barley meal, may
they now sup their last!'

Thus she spake, and goodly Odysseus was glad in the omen of
the voice and in the thunder of Zeus; for he thought that he had
gotten his vengeance on the guilty.

Now the other maidens in the fair halls of Odysseus had gathered,
and were kindling on the hearth the never-resting fire. And Telema-
chus rose from his bed, a godlike man, and put on his raiment, and
slung a sharp sword about his shoulders, and beneath his shining
feet he bound his goodly sandals. And he caught up his mighty
spear shod with sharp bronze, and went and stood by the threshold,
and spake to Eurycleia:

'Dear nurse, have ye honoured our guest in the house with food
and couch, or does he lie uncared for, as he may? For this is my
mother's way, wise as she is: blindly she honours one of mortal
men, even the worse, but the better she sends without honour away.'

Then the prudent Eurycleia answered: 'Nay, my child, thou
shouldst not now blame her where no blame is. For the stranger
sat and drank wine, so long as he would, and of food he said he
was no longer fain, for thy mother asked him. Moreover, against
the hour when he should bethink him of rest and sleep, she bade
the maidens strew for him a bed. But he, as one utterly wretched
and ill-fated, refused to lie on a couch and under blankets, but on
an undressed hide and on the fleeces of sheep he slept in the
vestibule, and we cast a mande over him.'

THE ODYSSEY 277

So she spake, and Telemachus passed out through the hall with
his lance in his hand, and two fleet dogs bare him company. He
went on his way to the assembly-place to join the goodly-greaved
Achaeans. But the good lady Eurycleia, daughter of Ops son of
Peisenor, called aloud to her maidens:

'Come hither, let some of you go busily and sweep the hall, and
sprinkle it, and on the fair-fashioned seats throw purple coverlets,
and others with sponges wipe all the tables clean, and cleanse the
mixing bowls and well-wrought double beakers, and others again
go for water to the well, and return with it right speedily. For the
wooers will not long be out of the hall but will return very early,
for it is a feast day, yea for all the people.'

So she spake, and they all gave ready ear and hearkened. Twenty
of them went to the well of dark water, and the others there in the
halls were busy with skilful hands.

Then in came the serving-men of the Achaeans. Thereon they
cleft the faggots well and cunningly, while, behold, the women came
back from the well. Then the swineherd joined them leading three
fatted boars, the best in all the flock. These he left to feed at large
in the fair courts, but as for him he spake to Odysseus gently,
saying:

'Tell me, stranger, do the Achaeans at all look on thee with more
regard, or do they dishonour thee in the halls, as heretofore?'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying:

'Oh, that the gods, Eumaeus, may avenge the scorn wherewith
these men deal insolently, and devise infatuate deeds in another's
house, and have no place for shame!'

On such wise they spake one to another. And Melanthius drew
near them, the goatherd, leading the goats that were most excellent
in all the herds to be a dinner for the wooers, and two shepherds
bare him company. So he tethered the goats beneath the echoing
gallery, and himself spake to Odysseus and taunted him, saying:

'Stranger, wilt thou still be a plague to us here in the hall, with
thy begging of men, and wilt not get thee gone? In no wise do I
think we twain will be sundered, till we taste each the other's fists,
for thy begging is out of all order. Also there are elsewhere other
feasts of the Achaeans.'

278 HOMER

So he spake, but Odysseus of many counsels answered him not a
word, but in silence he shook his head, brooding evil in the deep of
his heart.

Moreover a third man came up, Philoetius, a master of men, lead-
ing a barren heifer for the wooers and fatted goats. Now ferrymen
had brought them over from the mainland, boatmen who send even
other folks on their way, whosoever comes to them. The cattle he
tethered carefully beneath the echoing gallery, and himself drew
close to the swineherd, and began to question him:

'Swineherd, who is this stranger but newly come to our house?
From what men does he claim his birth? Where are his kin and
his native fields? Hapless is he, yet in fashion he is like a royal lord;
but the gods mar the goodliness of wandering men, when even for
kings they have woven the web of trouble.'

So he spake, and came close to him offering his right hand in
welcome, and uttering his voice spake to him winged words:

'Father and stranger, hail! may happiness be thine in the time
to come; but as now, thou art fast holden in many sorrows! Father
Zeus, none other god is more baneful than thou; thou hast no com-
passion on men, that are of thine own begetting, but makest them
to have fellowship with evil and with bitter pains. The sweat brake
out on me when I beheld him, and mine eyes stand full of tears
for memory of Odysseus, for he too, methinks, is clad in such vile
raiment as this, and is wandering among men, if haply he yet lives
and sees the sunlight. But if he be dead already and in the house
of Hades, then woe is me for the noble Odysseus, who set me over
his cattle while I was but a lad in the land of the Cephallenians.
And now these wax numberless; in no better wise could the breed
of broad-browed cattle of any mortal increase, even as the ears of
corn. But strangers command me to be ever driving these for them-
selves to devour, and they care nothing for the heir in the house,
nor tremble at the vengeance of the gods, for they are eager even
now to divide among themselves the possessions of our lord who is
long afar. Now my heart within my breast often revolves this
thing. Truly it were an evil deed, while a son of the master is yet
alive, to get me away to the land of strangers, and go off, with
cattle and all, to alien men. But this is more grievous still, to abide

THE ODYSSEY 279

here in affliction watching over the herds of other men. Yea, long
ago I would have fled and gone forth to some other of the proud
kings, for things are now past sufferance; but still my thought is
of that hapless one, if he might come I know not whence, and make
a scattering of the wooers in the halls.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying:

'Neatherd, seeing thou art not like to an evil man or a foolish,
and of myself I mark how that thou hast gotten understanding of
heart, therefore I will tell thee somewhat, and swear a great oath
to confirm it. Be Zeus now my witness before any god, and the
hospitable board and the hearth of noble Odysseus, whereunto I
am come, that while thou art still in this place Odysseus shall come
home, and thou shalt see with thine eyes, if thou wilt, the slaying of
the wooers who lord it here.'

Then the neatherd made answer, saying:

'Ah, would, stranger, that Cronion may accomplish this word!
So shouldst thou know what my might is, and how my hands follow
to obey.'

In like manner Eumaeus prayed to all the gods, that wise Odys-
seus might return to his own home.

On such wise they spake one to the other, but the wooers at that
time were framing death and doom for Telemachus. Even so there
came by them a bird on their left, an eagle of lofty flight, with a
cowering dove in his clutch. Then Amphinomus made harangue
and spake among them:

'Friends, this counsel of ours will not go well, namely, the slaying
of Telemachus; rather let us bethink us of the feast.'

So spake Amphinomus, and his saying pleased them well. They
passed into the halls of godlike Odysseus and laid by their mandes
on the chairs and high seats, and sacrificed great sheep and stout
goats and the fatlings of the boars and the heifer of the herd; then
they roasted the entrails and served them round and mixed wine
in the bowl, and the swineherd set a cup by each man. And
Philoetius, a master of men, handed them wheaten bread in beauti-
ful baskets, and Melanthius poured out the wine. So they put forth
their hands on the good cheer set before them.

Now Telemachus, in his crafty purpose, made Odysseus to sit

28o HOMER

down within the stabUshed hall by the threshold of stone, and placed
for him a mean settle and a little table. He set by him his mess of
the entrails, and poured wine into a golden cup and spake to him,
saying:

'There, sit thee down, drinking thy wine among the lords, and
the taunts and buffets of all the wooers I myself will ward off from
thee, for this is no house of public resort, but the very house of
Odysseus, and for me he won it. But, ye wooers, refrain your
minds from rebukes and your hands from buffets, that no strife
and feud may arise.'

So he said, and they all bit their Ups and marvelled at Telemachus,
in that he spake boldly. Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spake
among them, saying:

'Hard though the word be, let us accept it, Achaeans, even the
word of Telemachus, though mightily he threatens us in his speech.
For Zeus Cronion hath hindered us of our purpose, else would we
have silenced him in our halls, shrill orator as he is.'

So spake Antinous, but Telemachus took no heed of his words.
Now the henchmen were leading through the town the holy heca-
tomb of the gods, and lo, the long-haired Achaeans were gathered
beneath the shady grove of Apollo, the prince of archery.

Now when they had roasted the outer flesh and drawn it off the
spits, they divided the messes and shared the glorious feast. And
beside Odysseus they that waited set an equal share, the same as
that which fell to themselves, for so Telemachus commanded, the
dear son of divine Odysseus.

Now Athene would in nowise suffer the lordly wooers to abstain
from biting scorn, that the pain might sink yet the deeper into the
heart of Odysseus, son of Laertes. There was among the wooers a
man of a lawless heart, Ctesippus was his name and in Same was his
home, who trusting, forsooth, to his vast possessions, was wooing
the wife of Odysseus the lord long afar. And now he spake among
the proud wooers:

'Hear me, ye lordly wooers, and I will say somewhat. The
stranger verily has long had his due portion, as is meet, an equal
share; for it is not fair nor just to rob the guests of Telemachus
of their right, whosoever they may be that come to this house. Go

THE ODYSSEY 28 1

to then, I also will bestow on him a stranger's gift, that he in turn
may give a present either to the bath-woman, or to any other of the
thralls within the house of godlike Odysseus.'

Therewith he caught up an ox's foot from the dish, where it lay,
and hurled it with strong hand. But Odysseus lightly avoided it
with a turn of his head, and smiled right grimly in his heart, and
the ox's foot smote the well-builded wall. Then Telemachus re-
buked Ctesippus, saying:

'Verily, Ctesippus, it has turned out happier for thy heart's
pleasure as it is! Thou didst not smite the stranger, for he himself
avoided that which was cast at him, else surely would I have struck
thee through the midst with the sharp spear, and in place of
wedding banquet thy father would have had to busy him about a
funeral feast in this place. Wherefore let no man make show of
unseemly deeds in this my house, for now I have understanding to
discern both good and evil, but in time past I was yet a child. But
as needs we must, we still endure to see these deeds, while sheep are
slaughtered and wine drunken and bread devoured, for hard it is
for one man to restrain many. But come, no longer work me harm
out of an evil heart; but if ye be set on slaying me, even me, with
the sword, even that would I rather endure, and far better would
it be to die than to witness for ever these unseemly deeds — strangers
shamefully entreated, and men haling the handmaidens in foul
wise through the fair house.'

So he spake, and they were all hushed in silence. And late and
at last spake among them Agelaus, son of Damastor:

'Friends, when a righteous word has been spoken, none surely
would rebuke another with hard speech and be angry. Misuse ye
not this stranger, nor any of the thralls that are in the house of
godlike Odysseus. But to Telemachus himself I would speak a
soft word and to his mother, if perchance it may find favour with
the mind of those twain. So long as your hearts within you had
hope of the wise Odysseus returning to his own house, so long none
could be wroth that ye waited and held back the wooers in the
halls, for so had it been better, if Odysseus had returned and come
back to his own home. But now the event is plain, that he will
return no more. Go then, sit by thy mother and tell her all, namely,

282 HOMER

that she must wed the best man that wooes her, and whoso gives
most gifts; so shalt thou with gladness live on the heritage of thy
father, eating and drinking, while she cares for another's house.'

Then wise Telemachus answered, and said: 'Nay by Zeus,
Agelaus, and by the griefs of my father, who far away methinks
from Ithaca has jjerished or goes wandering, in nowise do I delay
my mother's marriage; nay, I bid her be married to what man she
will, and withal I offer gifts without number. But I do indeed feel
shame to drive her forth from the hall, despite her will, by a word
of compulsion; God forbid that ever this should be.'

So spake Telemachus, but among the wooers Pallas Athene roused
laughter unquenchable, and drave their wits wandering. And now
they were laughing with alien lips, and blood-bedabbled was the
flesh they ate, and their eyes were filled with tears and their soul
was fain of lamentation. Then the godlike Thcoclymenus spake
among them :

'Ah, wretched men, what woe is this ye suffer.? Shrouded in
night are your heads and your faces and your knees, and kindled is
the voice of waiUng, and all cheeks are wet with tears, and the walls
and the fair main-beams of the roof are sprinkled with blood. And
the porch is full, and full is the court, of ghosts that hasten hell-
wards beneath the gloom, and the sun has perished out of heaven,
and an evil mist has overspread the world.*

So spake he, and they all laughed sweetly at him. Then Euryma-
chus, son of Polybus, began to speak to them, saying:

'The guest that is newly come from a strange land is beside him-
self. Quick, ye young men, and convey him forth out of doors,
that he may go to the place of the gathering, since here he finds it
dark as night.'

Then godlike Theoclymenus answered him: 'Eurymachus, in
nowise do I seek guides of thee to send me on my way. Eyes have
I, and ears, and both my feet, and a stable mind in my breast of no
mean fashioning. With these I will go forth, for I see evil coming
on you, which not one man of the wooers may avoid or shun, of
all you who in the house of divine Odysseus deal insolently with
men and devise infatuate deeds.'

Therewith he went forth from out of the fair-lying halls, and

THE ODYSSEY 283

came to Peiraeus who received him gladly. Then all the wooers,
looking one at the other, provoked Telemachus to anger, laughing
at his guests. And thus some one of the haughty youths would
speak:

'Telemachus, no man is more luckless than thou in his guests,
seeing thou keepest such a filthy wanderer, whosoever he be, always
longing for bread and wine, and skilled in no peaceful work nor
any deed of war, but a mere burden of the earth. And this other
fellow again must stand up to play the seer! Nay, but if thou
wouldest listen to me, much better it were. Let us cast these
strangers on board a benched ship, and send them to the Sicilians,
whence they would fetch thee their price."

So spake the wooers, but he heeded not their words; in silence
he looked towards his father, expecting evermore the hour when
he should stretch forth his hands upon the shameless wooers.

Now the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, had set her fair
chair over against them, and heard the words of each one of the
men in the halls. For in the midst of laughter they had got ready
the midday meal, a sweet meal and abundant, for they had sacrificed
many catde. But never could there be a banquet less gracious than
that supper, such an one as the goddess and the brave man were
soon to spread for them; for that they had begun the devices of
shame.

' Reading IX^mf, which u a correction. Or, keeping the MSS. HX^xh 'and this
should bring thee in a goodly price,' the subject to AX^t being, probably, the sale,
which is suggested by the context.

BOOK XXI

Penelope bringeth forth her husband's bow, which the suitors could not
bend, but was bent by Odysseus.

NOW the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, put it into the heart
of the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, to set the bow
and the axes of grey iron, for the wooers in the halls of
Odysseus, to be the weapons of the contest, and the beginning of
death. So she descended the tall staircase of her chamber, and took
the well-bent key in her strong hand, a goodly key of bronze,
whereon was a handle of ivory. And she betook her, with her
handmaidens, to the treasure<hamber in the uttermost part of the
house, where lay the treasures of her lord, bronze and gold and
well-wrought iron. And there lay the back-bent bow and the quiver
for the arrows, and many shafts were therein, winged for death,
gifts of a friend of Odysseus, that met with him in Lacedaemon,
Iphitus son of Eurytus, a man like to the gods. These twain fell
in with one another in Messene, in the house of wise Ortilochus.
Now Odysseus had gone thither to recover somewhat that was owing
to him from all the people, for the men of Messene had lifted three
hundred sheep in benched ships from out of Ithaca, with the
shepherds of the flock. In quest of these it was that Odysseus went
on a far embassy, being yet a lad; for his father and the other elders
sent him forth. Moreover, Iphitus came thither in his search for
twelve brood mares, which he had lost, with sturdy mules at the
teat. These same it was that brought him death and destiny in the
latter end, when he came to the child of Zeus, hardy of heart, the
man Heracles, that had knowledge of great adventures, who smote
Iphitus though his guest in his house, in his frowardness, and had
no regard for the vengeance of the gods, nor for the table which
he spread before him; for after the meal he slew him, his guest
though he was, and kept for himself in the halls the horses strong

284

THE ODYSSEY 285

of hoof. After these was Iphitus asking, when he met with Odysseus,
and he gave him the bow, which of old great Eurytus bare and had
left at his death to his son in his lofty house. And Odysseus gave
Iphitus a sharp sword and a mighty sp)ear, for the beginning of a
loving friendship; but never had they acquaintance one of another
at the board; ere that might be, the son of Zeus slew Iphitus son of
Eurytus, a man like to the immortals, the same that gave Odysseus
the bow. But goodly Odysseus would never take it with him on
the black ships, as he went to the wars, but the bow was laid by
at home in the halls as a memorial of a dear guest, and he carried it
on his own land.

Now when the fair lady had come even to the treasure<hamber,
and had stept upon the threshold of oak, which the carpenter had
on a time planed cunningly, and over it had made straight the line, —
doorposts also had he fitted thereby, whereon he set shining doors, —
anon she quickly loosed the strap from the handle of the door, and
thrust in the key, and with a straight aim shot back the bolts. And
even as a bull roars that is grazing in a meadow, so mightily roared
the fair doors smitten by the key; and speedily they flew open before
her. Then she stept on to the high floor, where the coffers stood,
wherein the fragrant raiment was stored. Thence she stretched
forth her hand, and took the bow from off the pin, all in the bright
case which sheathed it around. And there she sat down, and set
the case upon her knees, and cried aloud and wept, and took out the
bow of her lord. Now when she had her fill of tearful lament, she
set forth to go to the hall to the company of the proud wooers, with
the back-bent bow in her hands, and the quiver for the arrows,
and many shafts were therein winged for death. And her maidens
along with her bare a chest, wherein lay much store of iron and
bronze, the gear of combat of their lord. Now when the fair lady
had come unto the wooers, she stood by the pillar of the well-builded
roof, holding up her glistening tire before her face; and a faithful
maiden stood on either side of her, and straightway she spake out
among the wooers and declared her word, saying:

'Hear me, ye lordly wooers, who have vexed this house, that ye
might eat and drink here evermore, forasmuch as the master is long

286 HOMER

gone, nor could ye find any other mark' for your speech, but all
your desire was to wed me and take me to wife. Nay come now,
ye wooers, seeing that this is the prize that is put before you. I
will set forth for you the great bow of divine Odysseus, and whoso
shall most easily string the bow in his hands, and shoot through
all twelve axes, with him will I go and forsake this house, this house
of my wedlock, so fair and filled with all livelihood, which methinks
I shall yet remember, aye, in a dream.'

So spake she, and commanded Eumaeus, the goodly swineherd,
to set the bows for the wooers and the axes of grey iron. And
Eumaeus took them with tears, and laid them down; and other-
where the neatherd wept, when he beheld the bow of his lord.
Then Antinous rebuked them, and spake and hailed them:

'Foolish boors, whose thoughts look not beyond the day, ah,
wretched pair, wherefore now do ye shed tears, and stir the soul
of the lady within her, when her heart already lies low in pain, for
that she has lost her dear lord? Nay sit, and feast in silence, or else
get ye forth and weep, and leave the bow here behind, to be a
terrible contest for the wooers, for methinks that this polished bow
does not lightly yield itself to be strung. For there is no man among
all these present such as Odysseus was, and I myself saw him, yea
1 remember it well, though I was still but a child."

So spake he, but his heart within him hoped that he would string
the bow, and shoot through the iron. Yet verily, he was to be the
first that should taste the arrow at the hands of the noble Odysseus,
whom but late he was dishonouring as he sat in the halls, and was
inciting all his fellows to do likewise.

Then the mighty prince Telemachus spake among them, saying:
'Lo now, in very truth, Cronion has robbed me of my wits! My
dear mother, wise as she is, declares that she will go with a stranger
and forsake this house; yet I laugh and in my silly heart I am glad.
Nay come now, ye wooers, seeing that this is the prize which is set
before you, a lady, the like of whom there is not now in the Achaean

* The accepted interpretation of hrurxvrbi (a word which occurs only here) is
'pretext'; but this does not agree with any of the meanings of the verb from which
the noun is derived. The usage of lirixta in Od. xix. 71, xxii. 75, of trlax*"' "*
II. xvii. 465, and of trurxilfi^f >" Od. xxii. i;, suggests rather for irtaxflri the
idea of 'aiming at a mark.'

THE ODYSSEY 287

land, neither in sacred Pylos, nor in Argos, nor in Mycenae, nor yet
in Ithaca, nor in the dark mainland. Nay but ye know all this
yourselves, — why need I praise my mother? Come therefore, delay
not the issue with excuses, nor hold much longer aloof from the
drawing of the bow, that we may see the thing that is to be. Yea
and I myself would make trial of this bow. If I shall string it, and
shoot through the iron, then should I not sorrow if my lady mother
were to quit these halls and go with a stranger, seeing that I should
be left behind, well able now to lift my father's goodly gear of
combat.'

Therewith he cast from off his neck his cloak of scarlet, and sprang
to his full height, and put away the sword from his shoulders. First
he dug a good trench and set up the axes, one long trench for them
all, and over it he made straight the line and round about stamped
in the earth. And amazement fell on all that beheld how orderly
he set the axes, though never before had he seen it so. Then he
went and stood by the threshold and began to prove the bow.
Thrice he made it to tremble in his great desire to draw it, and
thrice he rested from his effort, though still he hoped in his heart
to string the bow, and shoot through the iron. And now at last
he might have strung it, mightily straining thereat for the fourth
time, but Odysseus nodded frowning and stayed him, for all his
eagerness. Then the strong prince Telemachus spake among them
again:

'Lo you now, even to the end of my days I shall be a coward and
a weakling, or it may be I am too young, and have as yet no trust
in my hands to defend me from such an one as does violence without
a cause. But come now, ye who are mightier men than I, essay the
bow and let us make an end of the contest.'

Therewith he put the bow from him on the ground, leaning it
against the smooth and well<ompacted doors, and the swift shaft
he propped hard by against the fair bow-tip, and then he sat down
once more on the high seat, whence he had risen.

Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spake among them, saying:
'Rise up in order, all my friends, beginning from the left, even from
the place whence the wine is poured.'

So spake Antinous, and the saying pleased them well. Then first

288 HOMER

Stood up Leiodes, son of Oenops, who was their soothsayer and
ever sat by the fair mixing bowl at the extremity of the hall; he
alone hated their infatuate deeds and was indignant with all the
wooers. He now first took the bow and the swift shaft, and he
went and stood by the threshold, and began to prove the bow; but
he could not bend it; or ever that might be, his hands grew weary
with the straining, his unworn delicate hands; so he spake among
the wooers, saying:

'Friends, of a truth I cannot bend it, let some other take it. Ah,
many of our bravest shall this bow rob of spirit and of life, since
truly it is far better for us to die, than to live on and to fail of that
for which we assemble evermore in this place, day by day expect-
ing the prize. Many there be even now that hope in their hearts
and desire to wed Penelope, the bedfellow of Odysseus: but when
such an one shall make trial of the bow and see the issue, there-
after let him woo some other fair-robed Achaean woman with his
bridal gifts and seek to win her. So may our lady wed the man that
gives most gifts, and comes as the chosen of fate.'

So he spake, and put from him the bow, leaning it against the
smooth and well<ompacted doors, and the swift shaft he propped
hard by against the fair bow-tip, and then he sat down once more
on the high seat, whence he had risen.

But Antinous rebuked him, and spake and hailed him : 'Leiodes,
what word hath escaped the door of thy lips; a hard word, and a
grievous? Nay, it angers me to hear it, and to think that a bow
such as this shall rob our bravest of spirit and of life, and all because
thou canst not draw it. For I tell thee that thy lady mother bare
thee not of such might as to draw a bow and shoot arrows: but there
be others of the proud wooers that shall draw it soon.'

So he spake, and commanded Melanthius, the goatherd, saying:
Up now, light a fire in the halls, Melanthius; and place a great settle
by the fire and a fleece thereon, and bring forth a great ball of lard
that is within, that we young men may warm and anoint the bow
therewith and prove it, and make an end of the contest.'

So he spake, and Melanthius soon kindled the never-resting fire,
and drew up a settle and placed it near, and put a fleece thereon,
and he brought forth a great ball of lard that was within. There-

THE ODYSSEY 289

with the young men warmed the bow, and made essay, but could
not string it, for they were greatly lacking of such might. And
Antinous still held to the task and godlike Eurymachus, chief men
among the wooers, who were far the most excellent of all.

But those other twain went forth both together from the house,
the neatherd and the swineherd of godlike Odysseus; and Odys-
seus passed out after them. But when they were now gotten without
the gates and the courtyard, he uttered his voice and spake to them
in gentle words:

'Neatherd and thou swineherd, shall I say somewhat or keep it
to myself? Nay, my spirit bids me declare it. What manner of
men would ye be to help Odysseus, if he should come thus suddenly,
I know not whence, and some god were to bring him? Would ye
stand on the side of the wooers or of Odysseus? Tell me even as
your heart and spirit bid you.'

Then the neatherd answered him, saying: 'Father 2^us, if but
thou wouldst fulfil this wish :^ — oh, that that man might come, and
some god lead him hither! So shouldest thou know what my might
is, and how my hands follow to obey.'

In like manner Eumaeus prayed to all the gods that wise Odys-
seus might return to his own home.

Now when he knew for a surety what spirit they were of, once
more he answered and spake to them, saying:

'Behold, home am I come, even I; after much travail and sore
am I come in the twentieth year to mine own country. And I know
how that my coming is desired by you alone of all my thralls, for
from none besides have I heard a prayer that I might return once
more to my home. And now I will tell you all the truth, even as it
shall come to pass. If the god shall subdue the proud wooers to
my hands, I will bring you each one a wife, and will give you a
heritage of your own and a house builded near me, and ye twain
shall be thereafter in mine eyes as the brethren and companions
of Telemachus. But behold, I will likewise show you a most mani-
fest token, that ye may know me well and be certified in heart, even
the wound that the boar dealt me with his white tusk long ago,
whea I went to Parnassus with the sons of Autocylus.'
' Placing a colon at liXSup.

290 HOMER

Therewith he drew aside the rags from the great scar. And when
the twain had beheld it and marked it well, they cast their arms
about the wise Odysseus, and fell a weeping; and kissed him lov-
ingly on head and shoulders. And in like manner Odysseus too
kissed their heads and hands. And now would the sunlight have
gone down upon their sorrowing, had not Odysseus himself stayed
them saying:

'Cease ye from weeping and lamentation, lest some one come
forth from the hall and see us, and tell it likewise in the house.
Nay, go ye within one by one and not both together, I first and you
following, and let this be the token between us. All the rest, as
many as are proud wooers, will not suffer that I should be given
the bow and quiver; do thou then, goodly Eumaeus, as thou bearest
the bow through the hall, set it in my hands and speak to the
women that they bar the well-fitting doors of their chamber. And
if any of them hear the sound of groaning or the din of men within
our walls, let them not run forth but abide where they are in silence
at their work. But on thee, goodly Philoetius, I lay this charge, to
bolt and bar the outer gate of the court and swiftly to tie the knot.'

Therewith he passed within the fair-lying halls, and went and
sat upon the settle whence he had risen. And likewise the two
thralls of divine Odysseus went within.

And now Eurymachus was handling the bow, warming it on this
side and on that at the light of the fire; yet even so he could not
string it, and in his great heart he groaned mightily; and in heavi-
ness of spirit he spake and called aloud, saying:

'Lo you now, truly am I grieved for myself and for you all! Not
for the marriage do I mourn so greatly, afflicted though I be; there
are many Achaean women besides, some in sea-begirt Ithaca itself
and some in other cities. Nay, but I grieve, if indeed we are so
far worse than godlike Odysseus in might, seeing that we cannot
bend the bow. It will be a shame even for men unborn to hear
thereof.'

Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him: 'Eurymachus,
this shall not be so, and thou thyself too knowest it. For to-day the
feast of the archer god is held in the land, a holy feast. Who at such
a time would be bending bows? Nay, set it quietly by; what and if

THE ODYSSEY 29 1

we should let the axes all stand as they are? None methinks will
come to the hall of Odysseus, son of Laertes, and carry them away.
Go to now, let the wine-bearer pour for libation into each cup in
turn, that after the drink-offering we may set down the curved
bow. And in the morning bid Melanthius, the goatherd, to lead
thither the very best goats in all his herds, that we may lay pieces
of the thighs on the altar of Apollo the archer, and assay the bow
and make an end of the contest.'

So spake Antinous, and the saying pleased them well. Then the
henchmen poured water on their hands, and pages crowned the
mixing-bowls with drink, and served out the wine to all, when they
had poured for libation into each cup in turn. But when they had
poured forth and had drunken to their hearts' desire, Odysseus of
many counsels spake among them out of a crafty heart, saying:

'Hear me, ye wooers of the renowned queen, that I may say that
which my heart within me bids. And mainly to Eurymachus I
make my prayer and to the godlike Antinous, forasmuch as he has
spoken even this word aright, namely, that for this present ye cease
from your archery and leave the issue to the gods; and in the
morning the god will give the victory to whomsoever he will. Come,
therefore, give me the polished bow, that in your presence I may
prove my hands and strength, whether I have yet any force such as
once was in my supple limbs, or whether my wanderings and needy
fare have even now destroyed it.'

So spake he and they all were exceeding wroth, for fear lest he
should string the polished bow. And Antinous rebuked him, and
spake and hailed him:

'Wretched stranger, thou hast no wit, nay never so little. Art thou
not content to feast at ease in our high company, and to lack not
thy share of the banquet, but to listen to our speech and our dis-
course, while no guest and beggar beside thee hears our speech?
Wine it is that wounds thee, honey-sweet wine, that is the bane o£
others too, even of all who take great draughts and drink out of
measure. Wine it was that darkened the mind even of the Centaur,
renowned Eurytion, in the hall of the high-hearted Peirithous, when
he went to the Lapithae; and after that his heart was darkened with
wine, he wrought foul deeds in his frenzy, in the house of

292 HOMER

Peirithous. Then wrath fell on all the heroes, and they leaped up
and dragged him forth through the porch, when they had shorn off
his ears and nostrils with the pitiless sword, and then with darkened
mind he bare about with him the burden of his sin in foolishness
of heart. Thence was the feud begun between the Centaurs and
mankind; but first for himself gat he hurt, being heavy with wine.
And even so I declare great mischief unto thee if thou shalt string
the bow, for thou shalt find no courtesy at the hand of anyone in
our land, and anon we will send thee in a black ship to Echetus,
the maimer of all men, and thence thou shalt not be saved alive. Nay
then, drink at thine ease, and strive not still with men that are
younger than thou.'

Then wise Penelope answered him: 'Antinous, truly it is not fair
nor just to rob the guests of Telemachus of their due, whosoever
he may be that comes to this house. Dost thou think if yonder
stranger strings the great bow of Odysseus, in the pride of his
might and of his strength of arm, that he will lead me to his home
and make me his wife? Nay he himself, methinks, has no such hof)e
in his breast; so, as for that, let not any of you fret himself while
feasting in this place; that were indeed unmeet.'

Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered her, saying: 'Daugh-
ter of Icarius, wise Penelope, it is not that we deem that he will
lead thee to his home, — far be such a thought from us, — but we
dread the speech of men and women, lest some day one of the baser
sort among the Achaeans say : "Truly men far too mean are wooing
the wife of one that is noble, nor can they string the polished bow.
But a stranger and a beggar came in his wanderings, and lightly
strung the bow, and shot through the iron." Thus will they speak,
and this will turn to our reproach.'

Then wise Penelope answered him : 'Eurymachus, never can there
be fair fame in the land for those that devour and dishonour the
house of a prince, but why make ye this thing into a reproach?
But, behold, our guest is great of growth and well-knit, and avows
him to be born the son of a good father. Come then, give ye him
the polished bow, that we may see that which is to be. For thus
will I declare my saying, and it shall surely come to pass. If he shall
string the bow and Apollo grant him renown, I will clothe him in

THE ODYSSEY 293

a mantle and a doublet, goodly raiment, and I will give him a sharp
javelin to defend him against dogs and men, and a two-edged sword
and sandals to bind beneath his feet, and I will send him whither-
soever his heart and spirit bid him go.'

Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'My mother, as for
the bow, no Achaean is mightier than I to give or to deny it to
whomso I will, neither as many as are lords in rocky Ithaca nor in
the isles on the side of Elis, the pastureland of horses. Not one of
these shall force me in mine own despite, if I choose to give this
bow, yea once and for all, to the stranger to bear away with him.
But do thou go to thine own chamber and mind thine own house-
wiferies, the loom and distaff, and bid thine handmaids ply their
tasks. But the bow shall be for men, for all, but for me in chief,
for mine is the lordship in the house.'

Then in amaze she went back to her chamber, for she laid up
the wise saying of her son in her heart. She ascended to her upper
chamber with the women her handmaids, and then was bewailing
Odysseus, her dear lord, till grey-eyed Athene cast sweet sleep upon
her eyelids.

Now the goodly swineherd had taken the curved bow, and was
bearing it, when the wooers all cried out upon him in the halls.
And thus some one of the haughty youths would speak: 'Whither
now art thou bearing the curved bow, thou wretched swineherd,
crazed in thy wits? Lo, soon shall the swift hounds of thine own
breeding eat thee hard by thy swine, alone and away from men, if
Apollo will be gracious to us and the other deathless gods.'

Even so they spake, and he took and set down the bow in that
very place, being affrighted because many cried out on him in the
halls. Then Telemachus from the other side spake threateningly,
and called aloud :

'Father, bring hither the bow, soon shalt thou rue it that thou
servest many masters. Take heed, lest I that am younger than thou
pursue thee to the field, and pelt thee with stones, for in might
I am the better. If only I were so much mightier in strength of
arm than all the wooers that are in the halls, soon would I send
many an one forth on a woeful way from out our house, for they
imagine mischief against us.'

294 HOMER

So he spake, and all the wooers laughed sweetly at him, and
ceased now from their cruel anger toward Telemachus. Then the
swineherd bare the bow through the hall, and went up to wise
Odysseus, and set it in his hands. And he called forth the nurse
Eurycleia from the chamber and spake to her:

'Wise Eurycleia, Telemachus bids thee bar the well-fitting doors
of thy chamber, and if any of the women hear the sound of groaning
or the din of men within our walls, let them not go forth, but abide
where they are in silence at their work.'

So he spake, and wingless her speech remained, and she barred
the doors of the fair-lying chambers.

Then Philoetius hasted forth silently from the house, and barred
the outer gates of the fenced court. Now there lay beneath the
gallery the cable of a curved ship, fashioned of the byblus plant,
wherewith he made fast the gates, and then himself passed within.
Then he went and sat in the settle whence he had risen, and gazed
upon Odysseus. He already was handling the bow, turning it every
way about, and proving it on this side and on that, lest the worms
might have eaten the horns when the lord of the bow was away.
And thus men spake looking each one to his neighbour :

'Verily he has a good eye, and a shrewd turn for a bow! Either,
methinks, he himself has such a bow lying by at home or else he is
set on making one, in such wise does he turn it hither and thither
in his hands, this evil-witted beggar.'

And another again of the haughty youths would say: 'Would that
the fellow may have profit thereof, just so surely as he shall ever
prevail to bend this bowl'

So spake the wooers, but Odysseus of many counsels had lifted
the great bow and viewed it on every side, and even as when a
man that is skilled in the lyre and in minstrelsy, easily stretches a
cord about a new peg, after tying at either end the twisted sheep-
gut, even so Odysseus straightway bent the great bow, all without
effort, and took it in his right hand and proved the bow-string,
which rang sweetly at the touch, in tone like a swallow. Then
great grief came upon the wooers, and the colour of their counte-
nance was changed, and Zeus thundered loud showing forth his
tokens. And the steadfast goodly Odysseus was glad thereat, in

THE ODYSSEY 295

that the son of deep<ounselling Cronos had sent him a sign. Then
he caught up a swift arrow which lay by his table, bare, but the
other shafts were stored within the hollow quiver, those whereof
the Achaeans were soon to taste. He took and laid it on the bridge
of the bow, and held the notch and drew the string, even from the
settle whereon he sat, and with straight aim shot the shaft and
missed not one of the axes, beginning from the first axe-handle, and
the bronze-weighted shaft passed clean through and out at the last.
Then he spake to Telemachus, saying:

'Telemachus, thy guest that sits in the halls does thee no shame.
In nowise did I miss my mark, nor was I wearied with long bending
of the bow. Still is my might steadfast — not as the wooers say
scornfully to slight me. But now is it time that supper too be got
ready for the Achaeans, while it is yet light, and thereafter must
we make other sport with the dance and the lyre, for these are the
crown of the feast.'

Therewith he nodded with bent brows, and Telemachus, the dear
son of divine Odysseus, girt his sharp sword about him and took
the spear in his grasp, and stood by his high seat at his father's sid^
armed with the gleaming bronze.

BOOK XXII

The killing of the wooers.

THEN Odysseus of many counsels stripped him of his rags
and leaped on to the great threshold with his bow and
quiver full of arrows, and poured forth all the swift shafts
there before his feet, and spake among the wooers:

'Lo, now is this terrible trial ended at last; and now will I know
of another mark, which never yet man has smitten, if perchance
I may hit it and Apollo grant me renown.'

With that he pointed the bitter arrow at Antinous. Now he was
about raising to his lips a fair twy-eared chalice of gold, and behold,
he was handling it to drink of the wine, and death was far from
his thoughts. For who among men at feast would deem that one
man amongst so many, how hardy soever he were, would bring on
him foul death and black fate ? But Odysseus aimed and smote him
with the arrow in the throat, and the point passed clean out through
his delicate neck, and he fell sidelong and the cup dropped from
his hand as he was smitten, and at once through his nostrils there
came up a thick jet of slain man's blood, and quickly he spurned
the table from him with his foot, and spilt the food on the ground,
and the bread and the roast flesh were defiled. Then the wooers
raised a clamour through the halls when they saw the man fallen,
and they leaped from their high seats, as men stirred by fear, all
through the hall, peering everywhere along the well-builded walls,
and nowhere was there a shield or a mighty spear to lay hold on.
Then they reviled Odysseus with angry words:

'Stranger, thou shootest at men to thy hurt. Never again shah
thou enter other lists, now is utter doom assured thee. Yea, for now
hast thou slain the man that was far the best of all the noble youths
in Ithaca; wherefore vultures shall devour thee here.'

So each one spake, for indeed they thought that Odysseus had
not slain him wilfully; but they knew not in their folly that on their
own heads, each and all of them, the bands of death had been made

296

THE ODYSSEY 297

fast. Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on them, and
spake:

'Ye dogs, ye said in your hearts that I should never more come
home from the land of the Trojans, in that ye wasted my house
and lay with the maidservants by force, and traitorously wooed my
wife while I was yet alive, and ye had no fear of the gods, that hold
the wide heaven, nor of the indignation of men hereafter. But
now the bands of death have been made fast upon you one and all.'

Even so he spake, and pale fear gat hold on the Hmbs of all, and
each man looked about, where he might shun utter doom.

And Eurymachus alone answered him, and spake: 'If thou art
indeed Odysseus of Ithaca, come home again, with right thou
speakest thus, of all that the Achaeans have wrought, many in-
fatuate deeds in thy halls and many in the field. Howbeit, he now
lies dead that is to blame for all, Antinous; for he brought all these
things upon us, not as longing very greatly for the marriage nor
needing it sore, but with another purpose, that Cronion has not
fulfilled for him, namely, that he might himself be king over all
the land of stablished Ithaca, and he was to have lain in wait for
thy son and killed him. But now he is slain after his deserving, and
do thou spare thy people, even thine own; and we will hereafter
go about the township and yield thee amends for all that has been
eaten and drunken in thy halls, each for himself bringing atone-
ment of twenty oxen worth, and requiting thee in gold and bronze
till thy heart is softened, but till then none may blame thee that
thou art angry.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels looked fiercely on him, and
said: 'Eurymachus, not even if ye gave me all your heritage, all
that ye now have, and whatsoever else ye might in any wise add
thereto, not even so would I henceforth hold my hands from slaying,
ere the wooers had paid for all their transgressions. And now the
choice lies before you, whether to fight in fair battle or to fly, if any
may avoid death and the fates. But there be some, methinks, that
shall not escape from utter doom.'

He spake, and their knees were straightway loosened and their
hearts melted within them. And Eurymachus spake among them
yet again:

298 HOMER

'Friends, it is plain that this man will not hold his unconquerable
hands, but now that he has caught up the polished bow and quiver,
he will shoot from the smooth threshold till he has slain us all;
wherefore let us take thought for the delight of battle. Draw your
blades, and hold up the tables to ward off the arrows of swift death,
and let us all have at him with one accord, and drive him, if it may
be, from the threshold and the doorway and then go through the
city, and quickly would the cry be raised. Thereby should this
man soon have shot his latest bolt.*

Therewith he drew his sharp two-edged sword of bronze, and
leapt on Odysseus with a terrible cry, but in the same moment goodly
Odysseus shot the arrow forth and struck him on the breast by
the pap, and drave the swift shaft into his liver. So he let the sword
fall from his hand, and grovelling over the table he bowed and
fell, and spilt the food and the two-handled cup on the floor. And
in his agony he smote the ground with his brow, and spurning
with both his feet he overthrew the high seat, and the mist of death
was shed upon his eyes.

Then Amphinomus made at renowned Odysseus, setting straight
at him, and drew his sharp sword, if perchance he might make him
give ground from the door. But Telemachus was beforehand with
him, and cast and smote him from behind with a bronze-shod spear
between the shoulders, and drave it out through the breast, and he
fell with a crash and struck the ground full with his forehead. Then
Telemachus sprang away, leaving the long spear fixed in Amphino-
mus, for he greatly dreaded lest one of the Achaeans might run upon
him with his blade, and stab him as he drew forth the spear, or
smite him with a down stroke' of the sword. So he started and
ran and came quickly to his father, and stood by him, and spake
winged words:

'Father, lo, now I will bring thee a shield and two spears and
a helmet all of bronze, close fitting on the temples, and when I
return I will arm myself, and likewise give arms to the swine-
herd and the neatherd yonder: for it is better to be clad in fiJl
armour.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Run and
' Or, reading rpor^ria, smite him as be stooped over the corpse.

THE ODYSSEY 299

bring them while I have arrows to defend me, lest they thrust me
from the doorway, one man against them all.'

So he spake, and Telemachus obeyed his dear father, and went
forth to the chamber, where his famous weapons were lying. Thence
he took out four shields and eight spears, and four helmets of
bronze, with thick plumes of horse hair, and he started to bring
them and came quickly to his father. Now he girded the gear of
bronze about his own body first, and in like manner the two thralls
did on the goodly armour, and stood beside the wise and crafty
Odysseus. Now he, so long as he had arrows to defend him, kept
aiming and smote the wooers one by one in his house, and they
fell thick one upon another. But when the arrows failed the prince
in his archery, he leaned his bow against the doorpost of the stab-
lished hall, against the shining faces of the entrance. As for him
he girt his fourfold shield about his shoulders and bound on his
mighty head a well wrought helmet, with horse hair crest, and
terribly the plume waved aloft. And he grasped two mighty spears
tipped with bronze.

Now there was in the well-builded hall a certain postern raised
above the floor, and there by the topmost level of the threshold of
the stablished hall, was a way into an open passage, closed by well-
fitted folding doors. So Odysseus bade the goodly swineherd stand
near thereto and watch the way, for thither there was but one
approach. Then Agelaus spake among them, and declared his word
to all:

'Friends, will not some man climb up to the postern, and give
word to the people, and a cry would be raised straightway; so should
this man soon have shot his latest bolt?'

Then Melanthius, the goatherd, answered him, saying: 'It may in
no wise be, prince Agelaus; for the fair gate of the courtyard is
terribly nigh, and perilous is the entrance to the passage, and one
man, if he were valiant, might keep back a host. But come, let
me bring you armour from the inner chamber, that ye may be clad
in hauberks, for, methinks, within that room and not elsewhere
did Odysseus and his renowned son lay by the arms.'

Therewith Melanthius, the goatherd, climbed up by the clerestory
of the hall to the inner chambers of Odysseus, whence he took twelve

300 HOMER

shields and as many spears, and as many helmets of bronze with
thick plumes of horse hair, and he came forth and brought them
speedily, and gave them to the wooers. Then the knees of Odysseus
were loosened and his heart melted within him, when he saw them
girding on the armour and brandishing the long spears in their
hands, and great, he saw, was the adventure. Quickly he spake to
Telemachus winged words:

'Telemachus, sure I am that one of the women in the halls is
stirring up an evil battle against us, or perchance it is Melanthius.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him: 'My father, it is I that have
erred herein and none other is to blame, for I left the well-fitted door
of the chamber open, and there has been one of them but too quick
to spy it. Go now, goodly Eumaeus, and close the door of the
chamber, and mark if it be indeed one of the women that does
this mischief, or Melanthius, son of Dolius, as methinks it is.'

Even so they spake one to the other. And Melanthius, the
goatherd, went yet again to the chamber to bring the fair armour.
But the goodly swineherd was ware thereof, and quickly he spake
to Odysseus who stood nigh him :

'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus, of many devices,
lo, there again is that baleful man, whom we ourselves suspect,
going to the chamber; do thou tell me truly, shall I slay him if I
prove the better man, or bring him hither to thee, that he may pay
for the many transgressions that he has devised in thy house?'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered saying: 'Verily, I and
Telemachus will keep the proud wooers within the halls, for all
their fury, but do ye twain tie his feet and arms behind his back
and cast him into the chamber, and close the doors after you,^ and
make fast to his body a twisted rope, and drag him up the lofty
pillar till he be near the roof beams, that he may hang there and
live for long, and suffer grievous torment.'

So he spake, and they gave good heed and hearkened. So they
went forth to the chamber, but the goatherd who was within knew
not of their coming. Now he was seeking for the armour in the
secret place of the chamber, but they twain stood in waiting on

'Or, as Mr. Merry suggests in his note, 'tie boards behind him,' as a method ol
torttire. He compares Aristopb. Thesm. 931, 940,

THE ODYSSEY 3OI

either side the doorposts. And when Melanthius, the goatherd, was
crossing the threshold with a goodly helm in one hand, and in the
other a wide shield and an old, stained with rust, the shield of the
hero Laertes that he bare when he was young — but at that time it
was laid by, and the seams of the straps were loosened, — then the
twain rushed on him and caught him, and dragged him in by the
hair, and cast him on the floor in sorrowful plight, and bound him
hand and foot in a bitter bond, tightly winding each limb behind his
back, even as the son of Laertes bade them, the steadfast goodly
Odysseus. And they made fast to his body a twisted rope, and dragged
him up the lofty pillar till he came near the roof beams. Then
didst thou speak to him and gird at him, swineherd Eumaeus:

'Now in good truth, Melanthius, shalt thou watch all night, lying
in a soft bed as beseems thee, nor shall the early-born Dawn escape
thy ken, when she comes forth from the streams of Oceanus, on
her golden throne, in the hour when thou art wont to drive the
goats to make a meal for the wooers in the halls.'

So he was left there, stretched tight in the deadly bond. But they
twain got into their harness, and closed the shining door, and went
to Odysseus, wise and crafty chief. There they stood breathing
fury, four men by the threshold, while those others within the halls
were many and good warriors. Then Athene, daughter of Zeus,
drew nigh them, like Mentor in fashion and in voice, and Odysseus
was glad when he saw her and spake, saying:

'Mentor, ward from us hurt, and remember me thy dear com-
panion, that befriended thee often, and thou art of like age with me.'

So he spake, deeming the while that it was Athene, summoner
of the host. But the wooers on the other side shouted in the halls,
and first Agelaus son of Damastor rebuked Athene, saying:

'Mentor, let not the speech of Odysseus beguile thee to fight
against the wooers, and to succour him. For methinks that on this
wise we shall work our will. When we shall have slain these men,
father and son, thereafter shalt thou perish with them, such deeds
thou art set on doing in these halls; nay, with thine own head shalt
thou pay the price. But when with the sword we shall have over-
come your violence, we will mingle all thy possessions, all that thou
hast at home or in the field, with the wealth of Odysseus, and we

302 HOMER

will not suffer thy sons nor thy daughters to dwell in the halls, nor
thy good wife to gad about in the town of Ithaca.'

So spake he, and Athene was mightily angered at heart, and chid
Odysseus in wrathful words: 'Odysseus, thou hast no more stead-
fast might nor any prowess, as when for nine whole years con-
tinually thou didst battle with the Trojans for high born Helen, of
the white arms, and many men thou slewest in terrible warfare, and
by thy device the wide-wayed city of Priam was taken. How then,
now that thou art come to thy house and thine own possessions,
dost thou bewail thee and art of feeble courage to stand before the
wooers? Nay, come hither, friend, and stand by me, and I will
show thee a thing, that thou mayest know what manner of man
is Mentor, son of Alcimus, to repay good deeds in the ranks of
foemen.'

She spake, and gave him not yet clear victory in full, but still for
a while made trial of the might and prowess of Odysseus and his
renowned son. As for her she flew up to the roof timber of the
murky hall, in such fashion as a swallow flies, and there sat down.

Now Agelaus, son of Damastor, urged on the wooers, and like-
wise Eurynomus and Amphimedon and Demoptolemus and Peisan-
drus son of Polyctor, and wise Polybus, for these were in valiancy
far the best men of the wooers, that still lived and fought for their
lives; for the rest had fallen already beneath the bow and the thick
rain of arrows. Then Agelaus spake among them, and made known
his word to all:

'Friends, now at last will this man hold his unconquerable hands.
Lo, now has Mentor left him and spoken but vain boasts, and these
remain alone at the entrance of the doors. Wherefore now, throw
not your long spears all together, but come, do ye six cast first, if
perchance Zeus may grant us to smite Odysseus and win renown.
Of the rest will we take no heed, so soon as that man shall have
fallen.'

So he spake and they all cast their javelins, as he bade them,
eagerly; but behold, Athene so wrought that they were all in vain.
One man smote the doorpost of the stablished hall, and another the
well-fastened door, and the ashen spear of yet another wooer, heavy
with bronze, stuck fast in the wall. So when they had avoided all

THE ODYSSEY 303

the spears of the wooers, the steadfast goodly Odysseus began first
to speak among them :

'Friends, now my word is that we too cast and hurl into the press
of the wooers, that are mad to slay and strip us beyond the measure
of their former iniquities.'

So he spake, and they all took good aim and threw their sharp
spears, and Odysseus smote Demoptolemus, and Telemachus
Euryades, and the swineherd slew Elatus, and the neatherd Peisan-
drus. Thus they all bit the wide floor with their teeth, and the
wooers fell back into the inmost part of the hall. But the others
dashed upon them, and drew forth the shafts from the bodies of
the dead.

Then once more the wooers threw their sharp spears eagerly;
but behold, Athene so wrought that many of them were in vain.
One man smote the doorpost of the stablished hall, and another the
well-fastened door, and the ashen spear of another wooer, heavy
with bronze, struck in the wall. Yet Amphimedon hit Telemachus
on the hand by the wrist lightly, and the shaft of bronze wounded
the surface of the skin. And Ctesippus grazed the shoulder of
Eumaeus with a long spear high above the shield, and the spear
flew over and fell to the ground. Then again Odysseus, the wise
and crafty, he and his men cast their swift spears into the press of
the wooers, and now once more Odysseus, waster of cities, smote
Eurydamas, and Telemachus Amphimedon, and the swineherd slew
Polybus, and last, the neatherd struck Ctesippus in the breast and
boasted over him, saying:

'O son of Polytherses, thou lover of jeering, never give place at
all to folly to speak so big, but leave thy case to the gods, since in
truth they are far mightier than thou. This gift is thy recompense
for the ox-foot that thou gavest of late to the divine Odysseus, when
he went begging through the house.'

So spake the keeper of the shambling kine. Next Odysseus
wounded the son of Damastor in close fight with his long spear,
and Telemachus wounded Leocritus son of Euenor, right in the
flank with his lance, and drave the bronze point clean through,
that he fell prone and struck the ground full with his forehead. Then
Athene held up her destroying aegis on high from the roof, and

304 HOMER

their minds were scared, and they fled through the hall, like a
drove o£ kine that the flitting gadfly falls u{X)n and scatters hither
and thither in spring time, when the long days begin. But the others
set on like vultures of crooked claws and curved beak, that come
forth from the mountain and dash upon smaller birds, and these
scour low in the plain, stooping in terror from the clouds, while
the vultures pounce on them and slay them, and there is no help nor
way of flight, and men are glad at the sport; even so did the com-
pany of Odysseus set upon the wooers and smite them right and
left through the hall; and there rose a hideous moaning as their
heads were smitten, and the floor all ran with blood.

Now Leiodes took hold of the knees of Odysseus eagerly, and
besought him and spake winged words: 'I entreat thee by thy knees,
Odysseus, and do thou show mercy on me and have pity. For never
yet, I say, have I wronged a maiden in thy halls by froward word
or deed, nay I bade the other wooers refrain, whoso of them wrought
thus. But they hearkened not unto me to keep their hands from
evil. Wherefore they have met a shameful death through their own
infatuate deeds. Yet I, the soothsayer among them, that have
wrought no evil, shall fall even as they, for no grace abides for good
deeds done.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels looked askance at him, and
said: 'If indeed thou dost avow thee to be the soothsayer of these
men, thou art like to have often prayed in the halls that the issue
of a glad return might be far from me, and that my dear wife should
follow thee and bear thee children; wherefore thou shalt not escape
the bitterness of death.'

Therewith he caught up a sword in his strong hand, that lay
where Agelaus had let it fall to the ground when he was slain, and
drave it clean through his neck, and as he yet spake his head fell
even to the dust.

But the son of Terpes, the minstrel, still sought how he might
shun black fate, Phemius, who sang among the wooers of necessity.
He stood with the loud lyre in his hand hard by the postern gate,
and his heart was divided within him, whether he should slip forth
from the hall and sit down by the well-wrought altar of great Zeus
of the household court, whereon Laertes and Odysseus had burnt

THE ODYSSEY 305

many pieces of the thighs of oxen, or should spring forward and
beseech Odysseus by his knees. And as he thought thereupon this
seemed to him the better way, to embrace the knees of Odysseus,
son of Laertes. So he laid the hollow lyre on the ground between
the mixing-bowl and the high seat inlaid with silver, and himself
sprang forward and seized Odysseus by the knees, and besought him
and spake winged words:

'I entreat thee by thy knees, Odysseus, and do thou show mercy
on me and have pity. It will be a sorrow to thyself in the after-
time if thou slayest me who am a minstrel, and sing before gods
and men. Yea none has taught me but myself, and the god has put
into my heart all manner of lays, and methinks I sing to thee as to
a god, wherefore be not eager to cut off my head. And Telemachus
will testify of this, thine own dear son, that not by mine own will
or desire did I resort to thy house to sing to the wooers at their
feasts; but being so many and stronger than I they led me by
constraint.'

So he spake, and the mighty prince Telemachus heard him and
quickly spake to his father at his side: 'Hold thy hand, and wound
not this blameless man with the sword; and let us save also the
henchman Medon, that ever had charge of me in our house when
I was a child, unless perchance Philoedus or the swineherd have
already slain him, or he hath met thee in thy raging through the
house.'

So he spake, and Medon, wise of heart, heard him. For he lay
crouching beneath a high seat, clad about in the new-flayed hide of
an ox and shunned black fate. So he rose up quickly from under
the seat, and cast ofl the ox-hide, and sprang forth and caught
Telemachus by the knees, and besought him and spake winged
words:

'Friend, here am I; prithee stay thy hand and speak to thy father,
lest he harm me with the sharp sword in the greatness of his
strength, out of his anger for the wooers that wasted his possessions
in the halls, and in their folly held thee in no honour.'

And Odysseus of many counsels smiled on him and said: 'Take
courage, for lo, he has saved thee and delivered thee, that thou
mayst know in thy heart, and tell it even to another, how far more

306 HOMER

excellent are good deeds than evil. But go forth from the halls and
sit down in the court apart from the slaughter, thou and the full-
voiced minstrel, till I have accomplished all that I must needs do in
the house.'

Therewith the two went forth and gat them from the hall. So
they sat down by the altar of great Zeus, peering about on every side,
still expecting death. And Odysseus peered all through the house, to
see if any man was yet alive and hiding away to shun black fate. But
he found all the sort of them fallen in their blood in the dust, like
fishes that the fishermen have drawn forth in the meshes of the
net into a hollow of the beach from out the grey sea, and all the
fish, sore longing for the salt sea waves, are heaped upon the sand,
and the sun shines forth and takes their life away; so now the wooers
lay heaped upon each other. Then Odysseus of many counsels spake
to Telemachus:

'Telemachus, go, call me the nurse Eurycleia, that I may tell her
a word that is on my mind.'

So he spake, and Telemachus obeyed his dear father, and smote
at the door, and spake to the nurse Eurycleia: 'Up now, aged wife,
that overlookest all the women servants in our halls, come hither,
my father calls thee and has somewhat to say to thee.'

Even so he spake, and wingless her speech remained, and she
opened the doors of the fair-lying halls, and came forth, and Telema-
chus led the way before her. So she found Odysseus among the
bodies of the dead, stained with blood and soil of battle, like a lion
that has eaten of an ox of the homestead and goes on his way, and
all his breast and his cheeks on either side are flecked with blood,
and he is terrible to behold; even so was Odysseus stained, both
hands and feet. Now the nurse, when she saw the bodies of the
dead and the great gore of blood, made ready to cry aloud for joy,
beholding so great an adventure. But Odysseus checked and held
her in her eagerness, and uttering his voice spake to her winged
words:

'Within thine own heart rejoice, old nurse, and be still, and cry
not aloud; for it is an unholy thing to boast over slain men. Now
these hath the destiny of the gods overcome, and their own cruel

THE ODYSSEY 3O7

deeds, for they honoured none of earthly men, neither the bad nor
yet the good, that came among them. Wherefore they have met a
shameful death through their own infatuate deeds. But come, tell
me the tale of the women in my halls, which of them dishonour me,
and which be guiltless.'

Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered him: 'Yea now, my
child, I will tell thee all the truth. Thou hast fifty women-servants
in thy halls, that we have taught the ways of housewifery, how to
card wool and to bear bondage. Of these twelve in all have gone
the way of shame, and honour not me, nor their lady Penelope.
And Telemachus hath but newly come to his strength, and his
mother suffered him not to take command over the women in this
house. But now, let me go aloft to the shining upper chamber, and
tell all to thy wife, on whom some god hath sent a sleep.*

And Odysseus of many counsels answered her, saying: 'Wake
her not yet, but bid the women come hither, who in time past
behaved themselves unseemly.'

So he spake, and the old wife passed through the hall, to tell the
women and to hasten their coming. Then Odysseus called to him
Telemachus and the neatherd, and the swineherd, and spake to
them winged words:

'Begin ye now to carry out the dead, and bid the women help
you, and thereafter cleanse the fair high seats and the tables with
water and porous sponges. And when ye have set all the house in
order, lead the maidens without the stablished hall, between the
vaulted room and the goodly fence of the court, and there slay them
with your long blades, till they shall have all given up the ghost and
forgotten the love that of old they had at the bidding of the wooers,
in secret dalliance.'

Even so he spake, and the women came all in a crowd together,
making a terrible lament and shedding big tears. So first they
carried forth the bodies of the slain, and set them beneath the
gallery of the fenced court, and propped them one on another; and
Odysseus himself hasted the women and directed them, and they
carried forth the dead perforce. Thereafter they cleansed the fair
high seats and the tables with water and porous sponges. And

308 HOMER

Telemachus, and the neatherd, and the swineherd, scraped with
spades the floor of the well-builded house, and, behold, the maidens
carried all forth and laid it without the doors.

Now when they had made an end of setting the hall in order,
they led the maidens forth from the stablished hall, and drove them
up in a narrow space between the vaulted room and the goodly
fence of the court, whence none might avoid; and wise Telemachus
began to speak to his fellows, saying : 'God forbid that I should take
these women's lives by a clean death, these that have poured dis-
honour on my head and on my mother, and have lain with the
wooers.'

With that word he tied the cable of a dark-prowed ship to a great
pillar and flung it round the vaulted room, and fastened it aloft,
that none might touch the ground with her feet. And even as when
thrushes, long of wing, or doves fall into a net that is set in a
thicket, as they seek to their roosting-place, and a loathly bed har-
bours them, even so the women held their heads all in a row, and
about all their necks nooses were cast, that they might die by the
most pitiful death. And they writhed with their feet for a little
space, but for no long while.

Then they led out Melanthius through the doorway and the court,
and cut off his nostrils and his ears with the pitiless sword, and
drew forth his vitals for the dogs to devour raw, and cut off his
hands and feet in their cruel anger.

Thereafter they washed their hands and feet, and went into the
house to Odysseus, and all the adventure was over. So Odysseus
called to the good nurse Eurycleia: 'Bring sulphur, old iiurse, that
cleanses all pollution and bring me fire, that I may purify the house
with sulphur, and do thou bid Penelope come here with her hand-
maidens, and tell all the women to hasten into the hall.'

Then the good nurse Eurycleia made answer: 'Yea, my child,
herein thou hast spoken aright. But go to, let me bring thee a
mantle and a doublet for raiment, and stand not thus in the halls
with thy broad shoulders wrapped in rags; it were blame in thee
so to do.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered her, saying: 'First let
a fire now be made me in the hall.'

THE ODYSSEY 309

So he spake, and the good nurse Eurycleia was not slow to obey,
but brought fire and brimstone; and Odysseus thoroughly purged
the women's chamber and the great hall and the court.

Then the old wife went through the fair halls of Odysseus to tell
the women, and to hasten their coming. So they came forth from
their chamber with torches in their hands, and fell about Odysseus,
and embraced him and kissed and clasped his head and shoulders
and his hands lovingly, and a sweet longing came on him to weep
and moan, for he remembered them every one.

BOOK XXIII

Odysseus maketh himself known to Penelope, tells his adventures
briefly, and in the morning goes to Laertes and makes himself known
to him.

THEN the ancient woman went up into the upper chamber
laughing aloud, to tell her mistress how her dear lord was
within, and her knees moved fast for joy, and her feet
stumbled one over the other; and she stood above the lady's head
and spake to her, saying:

'Awake, Penelope, dear child, that thou mayest see with thine
own eyes that which thou desirest day by day. Odysseus hath come,
and hath got him to his own house, though late hath he come, and
hath slain the proud wooers that troubled his house, and devoured
his substance, and oppressed his child.'

Then wise Penelope answered her: 'Dear nurse, the gods have
made thee distraught, the gods that can make foolish even the
wisdom of the wise, and that stablish the simple in understanding.
They it is that have marred thy reason, though heretofore thou
hadst a prudent heart. Why dost thou mock me, who have a spirit
full of sorrow, to speak these wild words, and rousest me out of
sweet slumber, that had bound me and overshadowed mine eyelids?
Never yet have I slept so sound since the day that Odysseus went
forth to see that evil Ilios, never to be named. Go to now, get thee
down and back to the women's chamber, for if any other of the
maids of my house had come and brought me such tidings, and
wakened me from sleep, straightway would I have sent her back
woefully to return within the women's chamber; but this time thine
old age shall stand thee in good stead.'

Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered her: 'I mock thee not,
dear child, but in very deed Odysseus is here, and hath come home,
even as I tell thee. He is that guest on whom all men wrought such
dishonour in the halls. But long ago Telemachus was ware of him,
that he was within the house, yet in his prudence he hid the counsels

310

THE ODYSSEY 31I

of his father, that he might take vengeance on the violence of the
haughty wooers.'

Thus she spake, and then was Penelope glad, and leaping from
her bed she fell on the old woman's neck, and let fall the tears from
her eyelids, and uttering her voice spake to her winged words:
'Come, dear nurse, I pray thee, tell me all truly — if indeed he hath
come home as thou sayest — how he hath laid his hands on the
shameless wooers, he being but one man, while they abode ever in
their companies within the house."

Then the good nurse Eurycleia answered her: 'I saw not, I wist
not, only I heard the groaning of men slain. And we in an inmost
place of the well-builded chambers sat all amazed, and the close-
fitted doors shut in the room, till thy son called me from the chamber,
for his father sent him out to that end. Then I found Odysseus
standing among the slain, who around him, stretched on the hard
floor, lay one upon the other; it would have comforted thy heart
to see him, all stained like a lion with blood and soil of battle. And
now are all the wooers gathered in an heap by the gates of the
court, while he is purifying his fair house with brimstone, and
hath kindled a great fire, and hath sent me forth to call thee. So
come with me, that ye may both enter into your heart's delight,'
for ye have suffered much affliction. And even now hath this thy
long desire been fulfilled; thy lord hath come alive to his own hearth,
and hath found both thee and his son in the halls; and the wooers
that wrought him evil he hath slain, every man of them, in his
house.'

Then wise Penelope answered her: 'Dear nurse, boast not yet
over them with laughter. Thou knowest how welcome the sight
of him would be in the halls to all, and to me in chief, and to his son
that we got between us. But this is no true tale, as thou declarest
it, nay but it is one of the deathless gods that hath slain the proud
wooers, in wrath at their bitter insolence and evil deeds. For they
honoured none of earthly men, neither the good nor yet the bad,
that came among them. Wherefore they have suffered an evil doom
through their own infatuate deeds. But Odysseus, far away hath
lost his homeward path to the Achaean land, and himself is lost.'

' Reading a<t>Ciw . . . d/i^oripw.

312 HOMER

Then the good nurse Eurycleia made answer to her: 'My child,
what word hath escaped the door of thy hps, in that thou saidest
that thy lord, who is even now within, and by his own hearthstone,
would return no more? Nay, thy heart is ever hard of belief. Go
to now, and I will tell thee besides a most manifest token, even
the scar of the wound that the boar on a time dealt him with his
white tusk. This I spied while washing his feet, and fain I would
have told it even to thee, but he laid his hand on my mouth, and
in the fulness of his wisdom suffered me not to speak. But come
with me and I will stake my life on it; and if I play thee false, do
thou slay me by a death most pitiful.'

Then wise Penelope made answer to her: 'Dear nurse, it is hard
for thee, how wise soever, to observe the purposes of the everlasting
gods. None the less let us go to my child, that I may see the wooers
dead, and him that slew them.'

With that word she went down from the upper chamber, and
much her heart debated, whether she should stand apart, and
question her dear lord or draw nigh, and clasp and kiss his head
and hands. But when she had come within and had crossed the
threshold of stone, she sat down over against Odysseus, in the light
of the fire, by the further wall. Now he was sitting by the tall
pillar, looking down and waiting to know if f)erchance his noble
wife would speak to him, when her eyes beheld him. But she sat
long in silence, and amazement came upon her soul, and now she
would look upon him steadfastly with her eyes, and now again she
knew him not, for that he was clad in vile raiment. And Telema-
chus rebuked her, and spake and hailed her:

'Mother mine, ill mother, of an ungentle heart, why turnest thou
thus away from my father, and dost not sit by and question him
and ask him all? No other woman in the world would harden her
heart to stand thus aloof from her lord, who after much travail and
sore had come to her in the twentieth year to his own country. But
thy heart is ever harder than stone.'

Then wise Penelope answered him, saying: 'Child, my mind is
amazed within me, and I have no strength to speak, nor to ask him
aught, nay nor to look on him face to face. But if in truth this be
Odysseus, and he hath indeed come home, verily we shall be ware

THE ODYSSEY 313

of each other the more surely, for we have tokens that we twain
know, even we, secret from all others.'

So she spake, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus smiled, and
quickly he spake to Telemachus winged words: 'Telemachus, leave
now thy mother to make trial of me within the chambers; so shall
she soon come to a better knowledge than heretofore. But now I
go filthy, and am clad in vile raiment, wherefore she has me in
dishonour, and as yet will not allow that I am he. Let us then
advise us how all may be for the very best. For whoso has slain
but one man in a land, even that one leaves not many behind him
to take up the feud for him, turns outlaw and leaves his kindred
and his own country; but we have slain the very stay of the city,
the men who were far the best of all the noble youths in Ithaca.
So this I bid thee consider,'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Father, see thou
to this, for they say that thy counsel is far the best among men, nor
might any other of mortal men contend with thee. But right eagerly
will we go with thee now, and I think we shall not lack prowess,
so far as might is ours.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Yea now,
I will tell on what wise methinks it is best. First go ye to the bath
and array you in your doublets, and bid the maidens in the chambers
to take to them their garments. Then let the divine minstrel, with
his loud lyre in hand, lead off for us the measure of the mirthful
dance. So shall any man that hears the sound from without, whether
a wayfarer or one of those that dwell around, say that it is a wedding
feast. And thus the slaughter of the wooers shall not be noised
abroad through the town before we go forth to our well-wooded
farm-land. Thereafter shall we consider what gainful counsel the
Olympian may vouchsafe for us.'

So he spake, and they gave good ear and hearkened to him. So
first they went to the bath, and arrayed them in doublets, and the
women were apparelled, and the divine minstrel took the hollow
harp, and aroused in them the desire of sweet song and of the happy
dance. Then the great hall rang round them with the sound of the
feet of dancing men and of fair-girdled women. And whoso heard
it from without would say:

314 HOMER

'Surely some one has wedded the queen of many wooers. Hard
of heart was she, nor had she courage to keep the great house of
her wedded lord continually till his coming.'

Even so men spake, and knew not how these things were ordained.
Meanwhile, the house-dame Eurynome had bathed the great-hearted
Odysseus within his house, and anointed him with oUve-oil, and
cast about hira a goodly mantle and a doublet. Moreover Athene
shed great beauty from his head downwards, and made him greater
and more mighty to behold, and from his head caused deep curling
locks to flow, Uke the hyacinth flower. And as when some skilful
man overlays gold upon silver, one that Hephaestus and Pallas
Athene have taught all manner of craft, and full of grace is his
handiwork, even so did Athene shed grace about his head and
shoulders, and forth from the bath he came, in form like to the
immortals. Then he sat down again on the high seat, whence he
had arisen, over against his wife, and spake to her, saying:

'Strange lady, surely to thee above all womankind the Olympians
have given a heart that cannot be softened. No other woman in the
world would harden her heart to stand thus aloof from her husband,
who after much travail and sore had come to her, in the twentieth
year, to his own country. Nay come, nurse, strew a bed for me to
lie all alone, for assuredly her spirit within her is as iron.'

Then wise Penelope answered him again: 'Strange man, I have
no proud thoughts nor do I think scorn of thee, nor am I too gready
astonied, but 1 know right well what manner of man thou wert,
when thou wentest forth out of Ithaca, on the long-oared galley.
But come, Eurycleia, spread for him the good bedstead outside the
stablished bridal chamber that he built himself. Thither bring ye
forth the good bedstead and cast bedding thereon, even fleeces and
rugs and shining blankets.'

So she spake and made trial of her lord, but Odysseus in sore
displeasure spake to his true wife, saying: 'Verily a bitter word is
this, lady, that thou hast spoken. Who has set my bed otherwhere?
Hard it would be for one, how skilled so ever, unless a god were to
come that might easily set it in another place, if so he would. But
of men there is none living, howsoever strong in his youth, that
could lightly upheave it, for a great token is wrought in the fash-

THE ODYSSEY 315

ioning of the bed, and it was I that made it and none other. There
was growing a bush of oHve, long of leaf, and most goodly of
growth, within the inner court, and the stem as large as a pillar.
Round about this I built the chamber, till I had finished it, with
stones close set, and I roofed it over well and added thereto com-
pacted doors fitting well. Next I sheared off all the light wood of
the long-leaved olive, and rough-hewed the trunk upwards from
the root, and smoothed it around with the adze, well and skilfully,
and made straight the line thereto and so fashioned it into the bed-
post, and I bored it all with the auger. Beginning from this bed-
post, I wrought at the bedstead till I had finished it, and made it
fair with inlaid work of gold and of silver and of ivory. Then I
made fast therein a bright purple band of oxhide. Even so I declare
to thee this token, and I know not, lady, if the bedstead be yet fast
in his place, or if some man has cut away the stem of the olive tree,
and set the bedstead otherwhere.'

So he spake, and at once her knees were loosened, and her heart
melted within her, as she knew the sure tokens that Odysseus
showed her. Then she fell a weeping, and ran straight toward him
and cast her hands about his neck, and kissed his head and spake,
saying:

'Be not angry with me, Odysseus, for thou wert ever at other
times the wisest of men. It is the gods that gave us sorrow, the
gods who begrudged us that we should abide together and have
joy of our youth, and come to the threshold of old age. So now
be not wroth with me hereat nor full of indignation, because at
the first, when I saw thee, I did not welcome thee straightway.
For always my heart within my breast shuddered, for fear lest
some man should come and deceive me with his words, for many
they be that devise gainful schemes and evil. Nay even Argive
Helen, daughter of Zeus, would not have lain with a stranger, and
taken him for a lover, had she known that the warlike sons of the
Achaeans would bring her home again to her own dear country.
Howsoever, it was the god that set her upon this shameful deed; nor
ever, ere that, did she lay up in her heart the thought of this folly,
a bitter folly, whence on us too first came sorrow. But now that
thou hast told all the sure tokens of our bed, which never was seen

3l6 HOMER

by mortal man, save by thee and me and one maiden only, the
daughter of Actor, that my father gave me ere yet I had come
hither, she who kept the doors of our strong bridal chamber, even
now dost thou bend my soul, all ungentle as it is.'

Thus she spake, and in his heart she stirred yet a greater longing
to lament, and he wept as he embraced his beloved wife and true.
And even as when the sight of land is welcome to swimmers,
whose well-wrought ship Poseidon hath smitten on the deep, all
driven with the wind and swelling waves, and but a remnant hath
escaped the grey sea-water and swum to the shore, and their bodies
are all crusted with the brine, and gladly have they set foot on land
and escaped an evil end; so welcome to her was the sight of her lord,
and her white arms she would never quite let go from his neck.
And now would the rosy-fingered Dawn have risen upon their weep-
ing, but the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, had other thoughts. The
night she held long in the utmost West, and on the other side
she stayed the golden-throned Dawn by the stream Oceanus, and
suffered her not to harness the swift-footed steeds that bear light
to men, Lampus and Phaethon, the steeds ever young, that bring
the morning.

Then at the last, Odysseus of many counsels spake to his wife,
saying: 'Lady, we have not yet come to the issue of all our labours;
but still there will be toil unmeasured, long and difficult, that I
must needs bring to a full end. Even so the spirit of Teiresias fore-
told to me, on that day when I went down into the house of Hades,
to inquire after a returning for myself and my company. Where-
fore come, lady, let us to bed, that forthwith we may take our joy
of rest beneath the spell of sweet sleep.'

Then wise Penelojje answered him: 'Thy bed verily shall be
ready whensoever thy soul desires it, forasmuch as the gods have
indeed caused thee to come back to thy stablished home and thine
own country. But now that thou hast noted it and the god has
put it into thy heart, come, tell me of this ordeal, for methinks the
day will come when I must learn it, and timely knowledge is no
hurt.'

And Odysseus of many counsels answered her saying: 'Ah, why
now art thou so instant with me to declare it? Yet I will tell thee

THE ODYSSEY 317

all and hide nought. Howbeit thy heart shall have no joy of it, as
even I myself have no pleasure therein. For Teiresias bade me
fare to many cities of men, carrying a shapen oar in my hands,
till I should come to such men as know not the sea, neither eat
meat savoured with salt, nor have they knowledge of ships of purple
cheek nor of shapen oars, which serve for wings to ships. And he
told me this with manifest token, which I will not hide from thee.
In the day when another wayfarer should meet me and say that I
had a winnowing fan on my stout shoulder, even then he bade
me make fast my shapen oar in the earth, and do goodly sacrifice
to the lord Poseidon, even with a ram and a bull and a boar, the mate
of swine, and depart for home, and offer holy hecatombs to the
deathless gods, that keep the wide heaven, to each in order due.
And from the sea shall mine own death come, the gentlest death
that may be, which shall end me, foredone with smooth old age, and
the folk shall dwell happily around. All this, he said, was to be
fulfilled.'

Then wise Penelope answered him saying: 'If indeed the gods
will bring about for thee a happier old age at the last, then is there
hope that thou mayest yet have an escape from evil.'

Thus they spake one to the other. Meanwhile, Eurynome and
the nurse spread the bed with soft coverlets, by the light of the torches
burning. But when they had busied them and spread the good bed,
the ancient nurse went back to her chamber to lie down, and
Eurynome, the bower-maiden, guided them on their way to the
couch, with torches in her hands, and when she had led them to
the bridal<hamber she departed. And so they came gladly to the
rites of their bed, as of old. But Telemachus, and the neatherd,
and the swineherd stayed their feet from dancing, and made the
women to cease, and themselves gat them to rest through the
shadowy halls.

Now when the twain had taken their fill of sweet love, they
had delight in the tales, which they told one to the other. The
fair lady spoke of all that she had endured in the halls at the sight
of the ruinous throng of wooers, who for her sake slew many
cattle, kine and goodly sheep; and many a cask of wine was
broached. And in turn, Odysseus, of the seed of Zeus, recounted

3l8 HOMER

all the griefs he had wrought on men, and all his own travail and
sorrow, and she was delighted with the story, and sweet sleep fell not
upon her eyelids till the tale was ended.

He began by setting forth how he overcame the Cicones, and
next arrived at the rich land of the Lotus-eaters, and all that the
Cyclops wrought, and what a price he got from him for the good
companions that he devoured, and showed no pity. Then how he
came to Aeolus, who received him gladly and sent him on his way;
but it was not yet ordained that he should reach his own country,
for the storm-wind seized him again, and bare him over the teem-
ing seas, making grievous moan. Next how he came to Telepylus
of the Laestrygonians, who brake his ships and slew all his goodly-
greaved companions, and Odysseus only escaped with his black ship.
Then he told all the wiles and many contrivances of Circe, and
how in a benched ship he fared to the dank house of Hades, to
seek to the soul of Theban Teiresias. There he beheld all those
that had been his companions, and his mother who bore him and
nurtured him, while yet he was a little one. Then how he heard
the song of the full-voiced Sirens, and came to the Rocks Wander-
ing, and to terrible Charybdis, and to Scylla, that never yet have
men avoided scatheless. Next he told how his company slew the
kine of Helios, and how Zeus, that thunders on high, smote the
swift ship with the flaming bolt, and the good crew perished all
together, and he alone escaped from evil fates. And how he came
to the isle Ogygia, and to the nymph Calypso, who kept him there
in her hollow caves, longing to have him for her lord, and nurtured
him and said that she would make him never to know death or age
all his days: yet she never won his heart within his breast. Next
how with great toil he came to the Phaeacians, who gave him all
worship heartily, as to a god, and sent him with a ship to his own
dear country, with gifts of bronze, and of gold, and raiment in
plenty. This was the last word of the tale, when sweet sleep came
speedily upon him, sleep that loosens the limbs of men, unknitting
the cares of his soul.

Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, turned to new thoughts.
When she deemed that Odysseus had taken his fill of love and sleep,
straightway she aroused from out Oceanus the golden-throned

THE ODYSSEY 319

Dawn, to bear light to men. Then Odysseus gat him from his soft
bed, and laid this charge on his wife, saying:

'Lady, already have we had enough of labours, thou and I; thou,
in weeping here, and longing for my troublous return, I, while
Zeus and the other gods bound me fast in pain, despite my yearn-
ing after home, away from mine own country. But now that we
both have come to the bed of our desire, take thou thought for
the care of my wealth within the halls. But as for the sheep that the
proud wooers have slain, I myself will lift many more as spoil, and
others the Achaeans will give, till they fill all my folds. But now,
behold, I go to the well-wooded farm-land, to see my good father,
who for love of me has been in sorrow continually. And this charge
I lay on thee, lady, too wise though thou art to need it. Quickly will
the bruit go forth with the rising sun, the bruit concerning the
wooers, whom I slew in the halls. Wherefore ascend with the
women thy handmaids into the upper chamber, and sit there and
look on no man, nor ask any question.'

Therewith he girded on his shoulder his goodly armour, and
roused Telemachus and the neatherd and the swineherd, and bade
them all take weapons of war in their hands. So they were not
disobedient to his word, but clad themselves in mail, and opened
the doors and went forth, and Odysseus led the way. And now
there was light over all the earth; but them Athene hid in night,
and quickly conducted out of the town.

BOOK XXIV

The Ithacans bury the wooers, and sitting in council resolve on revenge.
And coming near the house of Laertes, are met by Odysseus, and Laertes
with Telemachus and servants, the whole number twelve, and are
overcome, and submit.

NOW Cyllenian Hermes called forth from the halls the
souls of the wooers, and he held in his hand his wand
that is fair and golden, wherewith he lulls the eyes of men,
of whomso he will, while others again he even wakens out of sleep.
Herewith he roused and led the souls who followed gibbering. And
even as bats flit gibbering in the secret place of a wondrous cave,
when one has fallen down from the cluster on the rock, where they
cling each to each up aloft, even so the souls gibbered as they fared
together, and Hermes, the helper, led them down the dank ways.
Past the streams of Oceanus and the White Rock, past the gates of
the Sun they sped and the land of dreams, and soon they came to
the mead of asphodel, where dwell the souls, the phantoms of men
outworn. There they found the soul of Achilles, son of Peleus, and
the souls of Patroclus, and of noble Antilochus, and of Aias, who
in face and form was goodliest of all the Danaans after the noble
son of Peleus.

So these were flocking round Achilles, and the spirit of Agamem-
non, son of Atreus, drew nigh sorrowful; and about him were
gathered all the other shades, as many as perished with him in the
house of Aegisthus, and met their doom. Now the soul of the son
of Peleus spake to him first, saying:

'Son of Atreus, verily we deemed that thou above all other heroes
wast evermore dear to Zeus, whose joy is in the thunder, seeing
that thou wast lord over warriors, many and mighty men, in the
land of the Trojans where we Achaeans suffered affliction. But lo,
thee too was deadly doom to visit early,' the doom that none avoids
of all men born. Ah, would that in the fulness of thy princely

' Reading rpui.

^20

THE ODYSSEY 321

honour, thou hadst met death and fate in the land of the Trojans!
So would all the Achaean host have builded thee a barrow, yea and
for thy son thou wouldst have won great glory in the aftertime. But
now it has been decreed for thee to perish by a most pitiful death.'

Then the soul of the son of Atreus answered, and spake : 'Happy
art thou son of Peleus, godlike Achilles, that didst die in Troy-land
far from Argos, and about thee fell others, the best of the sons of
Trojans and Achaeans, fighting for thy body; but thou in the whirl
of dust layest mighty and mightily fallen, forgetful of thy chivalry.
And we strove the livelong day, nor would we ever have ceased from
the fight, if Zeus had not stayed us with a tempest. Anon when we
had borne thee to the ships from out of the battle, we laid thee on
a bier and washed thy fair flesh clean with warm water and un-
guents, and around thee the Danaans shed many a hot tear and
shore their hair. And forth from the sea came thy mother with the
deathless maidens of the waters, when they heard the tidings; and
a wonderful wailing rose over the deep, and trembling fell on the
limbs of all the Achaeans. Yea, and they would have sprung up and
departed to the hollow ships, had not one held them back that knew
much lore from of old, Nestor, whose counsel proved heretofore the
best. Out of his good-will he made harangue, and spake among
them:

' "Hold, ye Argives, flee not, young lords of the Achaeans. Lo,
his mother from the sea is she that comes, with the deathless maidens
of the waters, to behold the face of her dead son."

'So he spake, and the high-hearted Achaeans ceased from their
flight. Then round thee stood the daughters of the ancient one of
the sea, holding a pitiful lament, and they clad thee about in rai-
ment incorruptible. And all the nine Muses one to the other reply-
ing with sweet voices began the dirge; there thou wouldest not have
seen an Argive but wept, so mightily rose up the clear chant. Thus
for seventeen days and nights continually did we all bewail thee,
immortal gods and mortal men. On the eighteenth day we gave
thy body to the flames, and many well-fatted sheep we slew around
thee, and kine of shambling gait. So thou wert burned in the gar-
ments of the gods, and in much unguents and in sweet honey, and
many heroes of the Achaeans moved maiJ-cIad around the pyre

322 HOMER

when thou wast burning, both footmen and horse, and great was the
noise that arose. But when the flame of Hephaestus had utterly
aboUshed thee, lo, in the morning we gathered together thy white
bones, Achilles, and bestowed them in unmixed wine and in un-
guents. Thy mother gave a twy-handled golden urn, and said that
it was the gift of Dionysus, and the workmanship of renowned
Hephaestus. Therein lie thy white bones, great Achilles, and mingled
therewith the bones of Patroclus, son of Menoetias, that is dead,
but apart is the dust of Antilochus, whom thou didst honour above
all thy other companions, after Patroclus that was dead. Then over
them did we pile a great and goodly tomb, we the holy host of Argive
warriors, high on a jutting headland over wide Hellespont, that it
might be far seen from off the sea by men that now are, and by
those that shall be hereafter. Then thy mother asked the gods for
glorious prizes in the games, and set them in the midst of the lists
for the champions of the Achaeans. In days past thou hast been at
the funeral games of many a hero, whenso, after some king's death,
the young men gird themselves and make them ready for the meed
of victory, but couldst thou have seen these gifts thou wouldst most
have marvelled in spirit, such glorious prizes did the goddess set
there to honour thee, even Thetis, the silver-footed; for very dear
wert thou to the gods. Thus not even in death hast thou lost thy
name, but to thee shall be a fair renown for ever among all men,
Achilles. But what joy have I now herein, that I have wound up
the clew of war, for on my return Zeus devised for me an evil
end at the hands of Aegisthus and my wife accursed?'

So they spake one to the other. And nigh them came the Mes-
senger, the slayer of Argos, leading down the ghosts of the wooers
by Odysseus slain, and the two heroes were amazed at the sight and
went straight toward them. And the soul of Agamemnon, son of
Atreus, knew the dear son of Melaneus, renowned Amphimedon,
who had been his host, having his dwelling in Ithaca. The soul of
the son of Atreus spake to him first, saying:

'Amphimedon, what hath befallen you, that ye have come be-
neath the darkness of earth, all of you picked men and of like age.'
it is even as though one should choose out and gather together the
best warriors in a city. Did Poseidon smite you in your ships and

THE ODYSSEY 323

rouse up contrary winds and the long waves? Or did unfriendly
men, perchance, do you hurt upon the land as ye were cutting off
their oxen and fair flocks of sheep, or while they fought to defend
their city and the women thereof? Answer and tell me, for I avow
me a friend of thy house. Rememberest thou not the day when I
came to your house in Ithaca with godlike Menelaus, to urge Odys-
seus to follow with me to Ilios on the decked ships? And it was a
full month ere we had sailed all across the wide sea, for scarce
could we win to our cause Odysseus, waster of cities.'

Then the ghost of Amphimedon answered him, and spake: 'Most
famous son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, I remember all
these things, O fosterling of Zeus, as thou declarest them, and I in
turn will tell thee all the tale well and truly, even our death and
evil end, on what wise it befell. We wooed the wife of Odysseus
that was long afar, and she neither refused the hated bridal nor was
minded to make an end, devising for us death and black fate. Also
this other wile she contrived in her heart. She set up in her halls a
mighty web, fine of woof and very wide, whereat she would weave,
and anon she spake among us:

'"Ye princely youths, my wooers, now that goodly Odysseus is
dead, do ye abide patiently, how eager soever to speed on this mar-
riage of mine, till I finish the robe. I would not that the threads
perish to no avail, even this shroud for the hero Laertes, against the
day when the ruinous doom shall bring him low, of death that lays
men at their length. So shall none of the Achaean women in the
land count it blame in me, as well might be, were he to lie without a
winding-sheet, a man that had gotten great possessions."

'So spake she, and our high hearts consented thereto. So then in
the daytime she would weave the mighty web, and in the night un-
ravel the same, when she had let place the torches by her. Thus for
the space of three years she hid the thing by guile and won the
minds of the Achaeans; but when the fourth year arrived and the
seasons came round, as the months waned and many days were
accomplished, then it was that one of her women who knew all de-
clared it, and we found her unravelling the splendid web. Thus
she finished it perforce and sore against her will. Now when she
brought the robe to light, after she had woven the great web and

324 HOMER

washed it, and it shone even as sun or moon, at that very hour some
evil god led Odysseus, I know not whence, to the upland farm, where
the swineherd abode in his dwelling. Thither too came the dear son
of divine Odysseus out of sandy Pylos, voyaging with his black ship.
These twain framed an evil death for the wooers, and came to the
renowned town. Odysseus verily came the later, and Telemachus
went before and led the way. Now the swineherd brought Odysseus
clad in vile raiment, in the likeness of a beggar, a wretched man
and an old, leaning on a staff, and behold, he was clad about in
sorry raiment. And none of us, not even the elders, could know
him for that he was, on this his sudden appearing, but with evil
words we assailed him and hurled things at him. Yet for a while
he hardened his heart to endure both the hurlings and the evil
words in his own halls; but at the last, when the spirit of Zeus, lord
of the aegis, aroused him, by the help of Telemachus he took up all
the goodly weapons, and laid them by in the inner chamber and
drew the bolts. Next in his great craft he bade his wife to offer his
bow and store of grey iron to the wooers to be the weapons of our
contest, luckless that we were, and the beginning of death. Now not
one of us could stretch the string of the strong bow; far short we
fell of that might. But when the great bow came to the hands of
Odysseus, then we all clamoured and forbade to give him the bow,
how much soever he might spjeak, but Telemachus alone was instant
with him and commanded him to take it. Then he took the bow
into his hands, the steadfast goodly Odysseus, and lightly he strung
it, and sent the arrow through the iron. Then straight he went to
the threshold and there took his stand, and poured forth the swift
arrows, glancing terribly around, and smote the king Antinous.
Thereafter on the others he let fly his bolts, winged for death, with
straight aim, and the wooers fell thick one upon another. Then was
it known how that some god was their helper, for pressing on as
their passion drave them, they slew the men right and left through
the halls, and thence there arose a hideous moaning, as heads were
smitten and the floor all ran with blood. So we perished, Agamem-
non, and even now our bodies lie uncared for in the halls of Odys-
seus, for the friends of each one at home as yet know nought, even
they who might wash the black<lotted blood out of our wounds,

THE ODYSSEY 325

and lay out the bodies and wail the dirge, for that is the due of the
dead.'

Then the ghost of the son of Atreus answered him: 'Ah, happy
son of Laertes, Odysseus of many devices, yea, for a wife most ex-
cellent hast thou gotten, so good was the wisdom of constant Penel-
ope, daughter of Icarius, that was duly mindful of Odysseus, her
wedded lord. Wherefore the fame of her virtue shall never perish,
but the immortals will make a gracious song in the ears of men on
earth to the fame of constant Penelope. In far other wise did the
daughter of Tyndareus devise ill deeds, and slay her wedded lord,
and hateful shall the song of her be among men, and an evil repute
hath she brought upon all womankind, even on the upright.'

Even so these twain spake one to the other, standing in the
house of Hades, beneath the secret places of the earth.

Now when those others had gone down from the city, quickly they
came to the rich and well-ordered farm land of Laertes, that he had
won for himself of old, as the prize of great toil in war. There was
his house, and all about it ran the huts wherein the thralls were
wont to eat and dwell and sleep, bondsmen that worked his will.
And in the house there was an old Sicilian woman, who diligently
cared for the old man, in the upland far from the city. There Odys-
seus spake to his thralls and to his son, saying:

'Do ye now get you within the well-builded house, and quickly
sacrifice the best of the swine for the midday meal, but I will make
trial of my father, whether he will know me again and be aware
of me when he sees me, or know me not, so long have I been
away.'

Therewith he gave the thralls his weapons of war. Then they
went speedily to the house, while Odysseus drew near to the fruitful
vineyard to make trial of his father. Now he found not E)olius
there, as he went down into the great garden, nor any of the thralls
nor of their sons. It chanced that they had all gone to gather stones
for a garden fence, and the old man at their head. So he found his
father alone in the terraced vineyard, digging about a plant. He was
clothed in a filthy doublet, patched and unseemly, with clouted leg-
gings of oxhide bound about his legs, against the scratches of the
thorns, and long sleeves over his hands by reason of the brambles.

326 HOMER

and on his head he wore a goatskin cap, and so he nursed his sorrow.
Now when the steadfast goodly Odysseus saw his father thus wasted
with age and in great grief of heart, he stood still beneath a tall pear
tree and let fall a tear. Then he communed with his heart and soul,
whether he should fall on his father's neck and kiss him, and tell
him all, how he had returned and come to his own country, or
whether he should first question him and prove him in every word.
And as he thought within himself, this seemed to him the better
way, namely, first to prove his father and speak to him sharply. So
with this intent the goodly Odysseus went up to him. Now he was
holding his head down and kept digging about the plant, while his
renowned son stood by him and spake, saying:

'Old man, thou hast no lack of skill in tending a garden; lo, thou
carest well for all,^ nor is there aught whatsoever, either plant or
fig-tree, or vine, yea, or olive, or pear, or garden-bed in all the close,
that is not well seen to. Yet another thing will I tell thee and lay
not up wrath thereat in thy heart. Thyself art scarce so well cared
for, but a pitiful old age is on thee, and withal thou art withered
and unkempt, and clad unseemly. It cannot be to punish thy sloth
that thy master cares not for thee; there shows nothing of the slave
about thy face and stature, for thou art like a kingly man, even like
one who should lie soft, when he has washed and eaten well, as is
the manner of the aged. But come declare me this and plainly tell
it all. Whose thrall art thou, and whose garden dost thou tend?
Tell me moreover truly, that I may surely know, if it be indeed to
Ithaca that I am now come, as one yonder told me who met with
me but now on the way hither. He was but of little understanding,
for he deigned not to tell me all nor to heed my saying, when I
questioned him concerning my friend, whether indeed he is yet
alive or is even now dead and within the house of Hades. For I will
declare it and do thou mark and listen: once did I kindly entreat a
man in mine own dear country, who came to our home, and never
yet has any mortal been dearer of all the strangers that have drawn
to my house from afar. He declared him to be by lineage from out
of Ithaca, and said that his own father was Laertes son of Arceisius.

* Supplying SpxaTov from the preceding clause as object to ix* Other construc-
tions arc possible.

THE ODYSSEY 327

So I led him to our halls and gave him good entertainment, with
all loving-kindness, out of the plenty that was within. Such gifts too
I gave him as are the due of guests: of well wrought gold 1 gave him
seven talents, and a mixing bowl of flowered work, all of silver, and
twelve cloaks of single fold, and as many coverlets, and as many
goodly mantles and doublets to boot, and besides all these, four
women skilled in all fair works and most comely, the women of his
choice.'

Then his father answered him, weeping: 'Stranger, thou art verily
come to that country whereof thou askest, but outrageous men and
froward hold it. And these thy gifts, thy countless gifts, thou didst
bestow in vain. For if thou hadst found that man yet living in the
land of Ithaca he would have sent thee on thy way with good return
of thy presents, and with all hospitality, as is due to the man that
begins the kindness. But come, declare me this and plainly tell me
all; how many years are passed since thou didst entertain him, thy
guest ill-fated and my child, — if ever such an one there was, — hapless
man, whom far from his friends and his country's soil, the fishes, it
may be, have devoured in the deep sea, or on the shore he has fallen
the prey of birds and beasts. His mother wept not over him nor
clad him for burial, nor his father, we that begat him. Nor did his
bride, whom men sought with rich gifts, the constant Penelope, be-
wail her lord upon the bier, as was meet, nor closed his eyes, as is
the due of the departed. Moreover, tell me this truly, that I may
surely know, who art thou and whence of the sons of men ? Where
is thy city and where are they that begat thee? Where now is thy
swift ship moored, that brought thee thither with thy godlike com-
pany? Hast thou come as a passenger on another's ship, while they
set thee ashore and went away?'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: 'Yea
now, I will tell thee all most plainly. From out of Alybas I come,
where I dwell in a house renowned, and am the son of Apheidas
the son of Polypemon, the prince, and my own name is Eperitus.
But some god drave me wandering hither from Sicania against my
will, and yonder my ship is moored toward the upland away from
the city. But for Odysseus, this is now the fifth year since he went
thence and departed out of my country. Ill-fated was he, and yet he

328 HOMER

had birds of good omen when he fared away, birds on the right;
wherefore I sped him gladly on his road, and gladly he departed,
and the heart of us twain hoped yet to meet in friendship on a day
and to give splendid gifts.'

So he spake, and on the old man fell a black cloud of sorrow.
With both his hands he clutched the dust and ashes and showered
them on his gray head, with ceaseless groaning. Then the heart of
Odysseus was moved, and up through his nostrils throbbed anon the
keen sting of sorrow at the sight of his dear father. And he sprang
towards him and fell on his neck and kissed him, saying:

'Behold, I here, even I, my father, am the man of whom thou
askest; in the twentieth year am I come to mine own country. But
stay thy weeping and tearful lamentation, for I will tell thee all
clearly, though great need there is of haste. I have slain the wooers
in our halls and avenged their bitter scorn and evil deeds.'

Then Laertes answered him and spake, saying: 'If thou art indeed
Odysseus, mine own child, that art come hither, show me now a
manifest token, that I may be assured.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Look
first on this scar and consider it, that the boar dealt me with his
white tusk on Parnassus, whither I had gone, and thou didst send
me forth, thou and my lady mother, to Autolycus my mother's
father, to get the gifts which when he came hither he promised
and covenanted to give me. But come, and I will even tell thee the
trees through all the terraced garden, which thou gavest me once for
mine own, and I was begging of thee this and that, being but a little
child, and following thee through the garden. Through these very
trees we were going, and thou didst tell me the names of each of
them. Pear-trees thirteen thou gavest me and ten apple-trees and
figs two-score, and, as we went, thou didst name the fifty rows of
vines thou wouldest give me, whereof each one ripened at divers
times, with all manner of clusters on their boughs, when the seasons
of Zeus wrought mightily on them from on high.'

So he spake, and straightway his knees were loosened, and his
heart melted within him, as he knew the sure tokens that Odysseus
showed him. About his dear son he cast his arms, and the stead-
fast goodly Odysseus caught him fainting to his breast. Now when

THE ODYSSEY 329

he had got breath and his spirit came to him again, once more he
answered and spake, saying:

'Father Zeus, verily ye gods yet bear sway on high Olympus, if
indeed the wooers have paid for their infatuate pride! But now
my heart is terribly afraid, lest straightway all the men of Ithaca
come up against us here, and haste to send messages everywhere to
the cities of the Cephallenians.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered him saying: 'Take
courage, and let not thy heart be careful about these matters. But
come, let us go to the house that lies near the garden, for thither I
sent forward Telemachus and the neatherd and the swineherd to
get ready the meal as speedily as may be.'

After these words the twain set out to the goodly halls. Now
when they had come to the fair-lying house, they found Telemachus
and the neatherd and the swineherd carving much flesh, and mix-
ing the dark wine. Meanwhile the Sicilian handmaid bathed high-
hearted Laertes in his house, and anointed him with oUve-oil, and
cast a fair mantle about him. Then Athene drew nigh, and made
greater the limbs of the shepherd of the people, taller she made him
than before and mightier to behold. Then he went forth from the
bath, and his dear son marvelled at him, beholding him Hke to the
deathless gods in presence. And uttering his voice he spake to him
winged words:

'Father, surely one of the gods that are from everlasting hath
made thee goodlier and greater to behold.'

Then wise Laertes answered him, saying: 'Ah, would to father
Zeus and Athene and Apollo, that such as I was when I took Nericus,
the stablished castle on the foreland of the continent, being then the
prince of the Cephallenians, would that in such might, and with
mail about my shoulders, I had stood to aid thee yesterday in our
house, and to beat back the wooers; so should I have loosened the
knees of many an one of them in the halls, and thou shouldest have
been gladdened in thine inmost heart!'

So they spake each with the other. But when the others had
ceased from their task and made ready the feast, they sat down all
orderly on chairs and on high seats. Then they began to put forth
their hands on the meat, and the old man E)olius drew nigh, and the

330 HOMER

old man's sons withal came tired from their labour in the fields,
for their mother, the aged Sicilian woman, had gone forth and
called them, she that saw to their living and diligently cared for the
old man, now that old age had laid hold on him. So soon as they
looked on Odysseus and took knowledge of him, they stood still
in the halls in great amazement. But Odysseus addressed them in
gentle words, saying:

'Old man, sit down to meat and do ye forget your marvelling,
for long have we been eager to put forth our hands on the food, as
we abode in the hall alway expecting your coming.*

So he spake, and Dolius ran straight toward him stretching
forth both his hands, and he grasped the hand of Odysseus and
kissed it on the wrist, and uttering his voice spake to him winged
words:

'Beloved, forasmuch as thou hast come back to us who sore de-
sired thee, and no longer thought to see thee, and the gods have
led thee home again; — hail to thee and welcome manifold, and may
the gods give thee all good fortune! Moreover tell me this truly,
that I may be assured, whether wise Penelope yet knows well that
thou hast come back hither, or whether we shall dispatch a mes-
senger.'

Then Odysseus of many counsels answered saying: 'Old man,
already she knows all; what need to busy thyself herewith?'

Thereon the other sat him down again on his polished settle.
And in like wise the sons of Dolius gathered about the renowned
Odysseus, and greeted him well and clasped his hands, and then sat
down all orderly by Dolius their father.

So they were busy with the meal in the halls. Now Rumour the
messenger went swiftly all about the city, telling the tale of the dire
death and fate of the wooers. And the people heard it, and all at
once gathered together from every side with sighing and groaning
before the house of Odysseus. And each brought forth his dead from
the halls, and buried them; but those that came out of other cities
they placed on swift ships and sent with fisherfolk, each to be carried
to his own home. As for them they all fared together to the assembly-
place, in sorrow of heart. When they were all gathered and come
together, Eupeithes arose and spake among them, for a comfordess

THE ODYSSEY 33 1

grief lay heavy on his heart for his son Antinous, the first man that
goodly Odysseus had slain. Weeping for him he made harangue
and spake among them :

'Friends, a great deed truly hath this man devised against the
Achaeans. Some with his ships he led away, many men and noble,
and his hollow ships hath he lost, and utterly lost of his company,
and others again, and those far the best of the Cephallenians he hath
slain on his coming home. Up now, before ever he gets him swiftly
either to Pylos or to fair Elis, where the Epeians bear sway, let us go
forth; else even hereafter shall we have shame of face for ever. For
a scorn this is even for the ears of men unborn to hear, if we avenge
not ourselves on the slayers of our sons and of our brethren. Life
would no more be sweet to me, but rather would I die straightway
and be with the departed. Up, let us be going, lest these fellows be
beforehand with us and get them over the sea.*

Thus he spake weeping, and pity fell on all the Achaeans. Then
came near to them Medon and the divine minstrel, forth from the
halls of Odysseus, for that sleep had let them go. They stood in the
midst of the gathering, and amazement seized every man. Then
Medon, wise of heart, spake among them, saying:

'Hearken to me now, ye men of Ithaca, for surely Odysseus
planned not these deeds without the will of the gods. Nay I my-
self beheld a god immortal, who stood hard by Odysseus, in the per-
fect semblance of Mentor; now as a deathless god was he manifest
in front of Odysseus, cheering him, and yet again scaring the wooers
he stormed through the hall, and they fell thick one on another.'

Thus he spake, and pale fear gat hold of the limbs of all. Then the
old man, the lord HaUtherses, spake among them, the son of
Mastor, for he alone saw before and after. Out of his good will he
made harangue and spake among them, saying:

'Hearken to me now, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I will
say. Through your own cowardice, my friends, have these deeds
come to pass. For ye obeyed not me, nor Mentor, the shepherd of
the people, to make your sons cease from their foolish ways. A
great villainy they wrought in their evil infatuation, wasting the
wealth and holding in no regard the wife of a prince, while they
deemed that he would never more come home. And now let things

332 HOMER

be on this wise, and obey my counsel. Let us not go forth against
him, lest haply some may find a bane of their own bringing.'

So he spake, but they leapt up with a great cry, the more part of
them, while the rest abode there together; for his counsel was not
to the mind of the more part, but they gave ear to Eupeithes, and
swiftly thereafter they rushed for their armour. So when they had
arrayed them in shining mail, they assembled together in front of
the spacious town. And Eupeithes led them in his witlessness, for
he thought to avenge the slaying of his son, yet himself was never
to return, but then and there to meet his doom.

Now Athene spake to Zeus, the son of Cronos, saying: 'O Father,
our father Cronides, throned in the highest, answer and tell me what
is now the hidden counsel of thy heart ? Wilt thou yet further rouse
up evil war and the terrible din of battle, or art thou minded to set
them at one again in friendship?'

Then Zeus, the gatherer of the clouds, answered her saying: 'My
child, why dost thou thus straitly question me, and ask me this?
Nay didst not thou thyself devise this very thought, namely, that
Odysseus should indeed take vengeance on these men at his coming ?
Do as thou wilt, but 1 will tell thee of the better way. Now that
goodly Odysseus hath wreaked vengeance on the wooers, let them
make a firm covenant together with sacrifice, and let him be king
all his days, and let us bring about oblivion of the slaying of their
children and their brethren; so may both sides love one another as
of old, and let peace and wealth abundant be their portion.'

Therewith he roused Athene to yet greater eagerness, and from
the peaks of Olympus she came glancing down.

Now when they had put from them the desire of honey-sweet
food, the steadfast goodly Odysseus began to speak among them,
saying:

'Let one go forth and see, lest the people be already drawing
near against us.'

So he spake, and the son of Dolius went forth at his bidding,
and stood on the outer threshold and saw them all close at hand.
Then straightway he spake to Odysseus winged words:

'Here they be, close upon us! Quick, let us to arms!'

Thereon they rose up and arrayed them in their harness, Odys-

THE ODYSSEY 333

seus and his men being four, and the six sons of E)olius, and like-
wise Laertes and Dolius did on their armour, grey-headed as they
were, warriors through stress of need. Now when they had clad
them in shining mail, they opened the gates and went forth and
Odysseus led them.

Then Athene, daughter of Zeus, drew near them in the likeness
of Mentor, in fashion and in voice. And the steadfast goodly Odys-
seus beheld her and was glad, and straightway he spake to Telem-
achus his dear son:

'Telemachus, soon shalt thou learn this, when thou thyself art got
to the place of the battle where the best men try the issue, — namely,
not to bring shame on thy father's house, on us who in time past
have been eminent for might and hardihood over all the world.'

Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Thou shalt see me,
if thou wilt, dear father, in this my mood no whit disgracing thy
line, according to thy word.'

So spake he, and Laertes was glad and spake, saying: 'What
a day has dawned for me, kind gods; yea, a glad man am I! My
son and my son's son are vying with one another in valour.'

Then grey-eyed Athene stood beside Laertes, and spake to him:
'O son of Arceisius that art far the dearest of all my friends, pray
first to the grey-eyed maid and to father Zeus, then swing thy long
spear aloft and hurl it straightway.'

Therewith Pallas Athene breathed into him great strength. Then
he prayed to the daughter of mighty Zeus, and straightway swung
his long spear aloft and hurled it, and smote Eupeithes through his
casque with the cheek-piece of bronze. The armour kept not out
the spear that went clean through, and he fell with a crash, and
his arms rattled about his body. Then Odysseus and his renowned
son fell on the fore-fighters, and smote them with swords and two-
headed spears. And now would they have slain them all and cut
off their return, had not Athene called aloud, the daughter of Zeus
lord of the aegis, and stayed all the host of the enemy, saying:

'Hold your hands from fierce fighting, ye men of Ithaca, that so
ye may be parted quickly, without bloodshed.'

So spake Athene, and pale fear gat hold of them all. The arms
flew from their hands in their terror and fell all upon the ground.

334 HOMER

as the goddess uttered her voice. To the city they turned their steps,
as men fain of life, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus with a terrible
cry gathered himself together and hurled in on them, like an eagle
of lofty flight. Then in that hour the son of Cronos cast forth a
flaming bolt, and it fell at the feet of the grey-eyed goddess, the
daughter of the mighty Sire. Then grey-eyed Athene spake to Odyv
seus, saying:

'Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
refrain thee now and stay the strife of even-handed war, lest per-
chance the son of Cronos be angry with thee, even Zeus of the far-
borne voice.'

So spake Athene, and he obeyed and was glad at heart. And there-
after Pallas Athene set a covenant between them with sacrifice, she,
the daughter of Zeus lord of the aegis, in the likeness of Mentor,
both in fashion and in voice.

Homer, thy song men lil{en to the sea,
With every note of music in his tone,
With tides that wash the dim dominion

Of Hades, and light waves that laugh in glee

Around the isles enchanted: nay, to me

Thy verse seems as the River of source unl{nown
That glasses Egypt's temples overthrown.

In his s){y-nurtur'd stream, eternally.

No wiser we than men of heretofore

To find thy mystic fountains guarded fast;

Enough — thy flood ma^es green our human shore
As Nilus, Egypt, rolling down his vast.

His fertile waters, murmuring evermore

Of gods dethroned, and empires of the Past.

A. L.