10262 lines
664 KiB
Plaintext
10262 lines
664 KiB
Plaintext
Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after
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he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and
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many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted;
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moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and
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bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his
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men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the
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cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever
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reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, oh daughter of
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Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.
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So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely
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home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his wife
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and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him into
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a large cave and wanted to marry him. But as years went by, there came a
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time when the gods settled that he should go back to Ithaca; even then,
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however, when he was among his own people, his troubles were not
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yet over; nevertheless all the gods had now begun to pity him except
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Neptune, who still persecuted him without ceasing and would not let him
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get home.
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Now Neptune had gone off to the Ethiopians, who are at the world's end,
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and lie in two halves, the one looking West and the other East. {1} He
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had gone there to accept a hecatomb of sheep and oxen, and was enjoying
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himself at his festival; but the other gods met in the house of Olympian
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Jove, and the sire of gods and men spoke first. At that moment he was
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thinking of Aegisthus, who had been killed by Agamemnon's son Orestes;
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so he said to the other gods:
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"See now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is after all nothing
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but their own folly. Look at Aegisthus; he must needs make love to
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Agamemnon's wife unrighteously and then kill Agamemnon, though he knew
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it would be the death of him; for I sent Mercury to warn him not to do
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either of these things, inasmuch as Orestes would be sure to take his
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revenge when he grew up and wanted to return home. Mercury told him
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this in all good will but he would not listen, and now he has paid for
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everything in full."
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Then Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, it served
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Aegisthus right, and so it would any one else who does as he did; but
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Aegisthus is neither here nor there; it is for Ulysses that my heart
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bleeds, when I think of his sufferings in that lonely sea-girt island,
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far away, poor man, from all his friends. It is an island covered
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with forest, in the very middle of the sea, and a goddess lives there,
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daughter of the magician Atlas, who looks after the bottom of the ocean,
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and carries the great columns that keep heaven and earth asunder. This
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daughter of Atlas has got hold of poor unhappy Ulysses, and keeps trying
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by every kind of blandishment to make him forget his home, so that he
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is tired of life, and thinks of nothing but how he may once more see the
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smoke of his own chimneys. You, sir, take no heed of this, and yet when
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Ulysses was before Troy did he not propitiate you with many a burnt
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sacrifice? Why then should you keep on being so angry with him?"
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And Jove said, "My child, what are you talking about? How can I forget
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Ulysses than whom there is no more capable man on earth, nor more
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liberal in his offerings to the immortal gods that live in heaven? Bear
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in mind, however, that Neptune is still furious with Ulysses for having
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blinded an eye of Polyphemus king of the Cyclopes. Polyphemus is son to
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Neptune by the nymph Thoosa, daughter to the sea-king Phorcys; therefore
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though he will not kill Ulysses outright, he torments him by preventing
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him from getting home. Still, let us lay our heads together and see how
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we can help him to return; Neptune will then be pacified, for if we are
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all of a mind he can hardly stand out against us."
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And Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, if, then, the
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gods now mean that Ulysses should get home, we should first send Mercury
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to the Ogygian island to tell Calypso that we have made up our minds and
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that he is to return. In the meantime I will go to Ithaca, to put heart
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into Ulysses' son Telemachus; I will embolden him to call the Achaeans
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in assembly, and speak out to the suitors of his mother Penelope, who
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persist in eating up any number of his sheep and oxen; I will also
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conduct him to Sparta and to Pylos, to see if he can hear anything about
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the return of his dear father--for this will make people speak well of
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him."
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So saying she bound on her glittering golden sandals, imperishable,
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with which she can fly like the wind over land or sea; she grasped the
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redoubtable bronze-shod spear, so stout and sturdy and strong, wherewith
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she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her, and down she
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darted from the topmost summits of Olympus, whereon forthwith she was
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in Ithaca, at the gateway of Ulysses' house, disguised as a visitor,
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Mentes, chief of the Taphians, and she held a bronze spear in her hand.
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There she found the lordly suitors seated on hides of the oxen which
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they had killed and eaten, and playing draughts in front of the house.
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Men-servants and pages were bustling about to wait upon them, some
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mixing wine with water in the mixing-bowls, some cleaning down the
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tables with wet sponges and laying them out again, and some cutting up
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great quantities of meat.
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Telemachus saw her long before any one else did. He was sitting moodily
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among the suitors thinking about his brave father, and how he would send
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them flying out of the house, if he were to come to his own again and
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be honoured as in days gone by. Thus brooding as he sat among them, he
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caught sight of Minerva and went straight to the gate, for he was vexed
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that a stranger should be kept waiting for admittance. He took her right
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hand in his own, and bade her give him her spear. "Welcome," said he,
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"to our house, and when you have partaken of food you shall tell us what
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you have come for."
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He led the way as he spoke, and Minerva followed him. When they were
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within he took her spear and set it in the spear-stand against a strong
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bearing-post along with the many other spears of his unhappy father, and
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he conducted her to a richly decorated seat under which he threw a
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cloth of damask. There was a footstool also for her feet,{2} and he set
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another seat near her for himself, away from the suitors, that she might
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not be annoyed while eating by their noise and insolence, and that he
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might ask her more freely about his father.
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A maid servant then brought them water in a beautiful golden ewer and
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poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands, and she
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drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them bread, and
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offered them many good things of what there was in the house, the carver
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fetched them plates of all manner of meats and set cups of gold by their
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side, and a manservant brought them wine and poured it out for them.
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Then the suitors came in and took their places on the benches and seats.
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{3} Forthwith men servants poured water over their hands, maids went
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round with the bread-baskets, pages filled the mixing-bowls with wine
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and water, and they laid their hands upon the good things that were
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before them. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink they wanted
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music and dancing, which are the crowning embellishments of a banquet,
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so a servant brought a lyre to Phemius, whom they compelled perforce
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to sing to them. As soon as he touched his lyre and began to sing
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Telemachus spoke low to Minerva, with his head close to hers that no man
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might hear.
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"I hope, sir," said he, "that you will not be offended with what I am
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going to say. Singing comes cheap to those who do not pay for it, and
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all this is done at the cost of one whose bones lie rotting in some
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wilderness or grinding to powder in the surf. If these men were to see
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my father come back to Ithaca they would pray for longer legs rather
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than a longer purse, for money would not serve them; but he, alas, has
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fallen on an ill fate, and even when people do sometimes say that he is
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coming, we no longer heed them; we shall never see him again. And now,
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sir, tell me and tell me true, who you are and where you come from. Tell
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me of your town and parents, what manner of ship you came in, how your
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crew brought you to Ithaca, and of what nation they declared themselves
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to be--for you cannot have come by land. Tell me also truly, for I want
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to know, are you a stranger to this house, or have you been here in my
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father's time? In the old days we had many visitors for my father went
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about much himself."
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And Minerva answered, "I will tell you truly and particularly all about
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it. I am Mentes, son of Anchialus, and I am King of the Taphians. I have
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come here with my ship and crew, on a voyage to men of a foreign tongue
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being bound for Temesa {4} with a cargo of iron, and I shall bring back
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copper. As for my ship, it lies over yonder off the open country away
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from the town, in the harbour Rheithron {5} under the wooded mountain
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Neritum. {6} Our fathers were friends before us, as old Laertes will
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tell you, if you will go and ask him. They say, however, that he never
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comes to town now, and lives by himself in the country, faring hardly,
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with an old woman to look after him and get his dinner for him, when
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he comes in tired from pottering about his vineyard. They told me your
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father was at home again, and that was why I came, but it seems the gods
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are still keeping him back, for he is not dead yet not on the mainland.
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It is more likely he is on some sea-girt island in mid ocean, or a
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prisoner among savages who are detaining him against his will. I am no
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prophet, and know very little about omens, but I speak as it is borne
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in upon me from heaven, and assure you that he will not be away much
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longer; for he is a man of such resource that even though he were in
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chains of iron he would find some means of getting home again. But tell
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me, and tell me true, can Ulysses really have such a fine looking fellow
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for a son? You are indeed wonderfully like him about the head and eyes,
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for we were close friends before he set sail for Troy where the flower
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of all the Argives went also. Since that time we have never either of us
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seen the other."
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"My mother," answered Telemachus, "tells me I am son to Ulysses, but it
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is a wise child that knows his own father. Would that I were son to one
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who had grown old upon his own estates, for, since you ask me, there
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is no more ill-starred man under heaven than he who they tell me is my
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father."
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And Minerva said, "There is no fear of your race dying out yet, while
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Penelope has such a fine son as you are. But tell me, and tell me true,
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what is the meaning of all this feasting, and who are these people? What
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is it all about? Have you some banquet, or is there a wedding in the
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family--for no one seems to be bringing any provisions of his own? And
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the guests--how atrociously they are behaving; what riot they make over
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the whole house; it is enough to disgust any respectable person who
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comes near them."
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"Sir," said Telemachus, "as regards your question, so long as my father
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was here it was well with us and with the house, but the gods in their
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displeasure have willed it otherwise, and have hidden him away more
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closely than mortal man was ever yet hidden. I could have borne it
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better even though he were dead, if he had fallen with his men before
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Troy, or had died with friends around him when the days of his fighting
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were done; for then the Achaeans would have built a mound over his
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ashes, and I should myself have been heir to his renown; but now the
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storm-winds have spirited him away we know not whither; he is gone
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without leaving so much as a trace behind him, and I inherit nothing
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but dismay. Nor does the matter end simply with grief for the loss of
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my father; heaven has laid sorrows upon me of yet another kind; for the
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chiefs from all our islands, Dulichium, Same, and the woodland island of
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Zacynthus, as also all the principal men of Ithaca itself, are eating up
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my house under the pretext of paying their court to my mother, who
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will neither point blank say that she will not marry, {7} nor yet bring
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matters to an end; so they are making havoc of my estate, and before
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long will do so also with myself."
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"Is that so?" exclaimed Minerva, "then you do indeed want Ulysses home
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again. Give him his helmet, shield, and a couple of lances, and if he is
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the man he was when I first knew him in our house, drinking and making
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merry, he would soon lay his hands about these rascally suitors, were
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he to stand once more upon his own threshold. He was then coming from
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Ephyra, where he had been to beg poison for his arrows from Ilus, son of
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Mermerus. Ilus feared the ever-living gods and would not give him any,
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but my father let him have some, for he was very fond of him. If Ulysses
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is the man he then was these suitors will have a short shrift and a
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sorry wedding.
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"But there! It rests with heaven to determine whether he is to return,
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and take his revenge in his own house or no; I would, however, urge you
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to set about trying to get rid of these suitors at once. Take my advice,
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call the Achaean heroes in assembly to-morrow morning--lay your case
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before them, and call heaven to bear you witness. Bid the suitors take
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themselves off, each to his own place, and if your mother's mind is set
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on marrying again, let her go back to her father, who will find her
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a husband and provide her with all the marriage gifts that so dear a
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daughter may expect. As for yourself, let me prevail upon you to take
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the best ship you can get, with a crew of twenty men, and go in quest
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of your father who has so long been missing. Some one may tell
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you something, or (and people often hear things in this way) some
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heaven-sent message may direct you. First go to Pylos and ask Nestor;
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thence go on to Sparta and visit Menelaus, for he got home last of all
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the Achaeans; if you hear that your father is alive and on his way home,
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you can put up with the waste these suitors will make for yet another
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twelve months. If on the other hand you hear of his death, come home at
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once, celebrate his funeral rites with all due pomp, build a barrow
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to his memory, and make your mother marry again. Then, having done all
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this, think it well over in your mind how, by fair means or foul, you
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may kill these suitors in your own house. You are too old to plead
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infancy any longer; have you not heard how people are singing Orestes'
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praises for having killed his father's murderer Aegisthus? You are a
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fine, smart looking fellow; show your mettle, then, and make yourself a
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name in story. Now, however, I must go back to my ship and to my crew,
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who will be impatient if I keep them waiting longer; think the matter
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over for yourself, and remember what I have said to you."
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"Sir," answered Telemachus, "it has been very kind of you to talk to me
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in this way, as though I were your own son, and I will do all you tell
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me; I know you want to be getting on with your voyage, but stay a little
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longer till you have taken a bath and refreshed yourself. I will then
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give you a present, and you shall go on your way rejoicing; I will give
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you one of great beauty and value--a keepsake such as only dear friends
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give to one another."
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Minerva answered, "Do not try to keep me, for I would be on my way at
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once. As for any present you may be disposed to make me, keep it till
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I come again, and I will take it home with me. You shall give me a very
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good one, and I will give you one of no less value in return."
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With these words she flew away like a bird into the air, but she had
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given Telemachus courage, and had made him think more than ever about
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his father. He felt the change, wondered at it, and knew that the
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stranger had been a god, so he went straight to where the suitors were
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sitting.
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Phemius was still singing, and his hearers sat rapt in silence as he
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told the sad tale of the return from Troy, and the ills Minerva had laid
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upon the Achaeans. Penelope, daughter of Icarius, heard his song from
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her room upstairs, and came down by the great staircase, not alone, but
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attended by two of her handmaids. When she reached the suitors she stood
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by one of the bearing posts that supported the roof of the cloisters {8}
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with a staid maiden on either side of her. She held a veil, moreover,
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before her face, and was weeping bitterly.
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"Phemius," she cried, "you know many another feat of gods and heroes,
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such as poets love to celebrate. Sing the suitors some one of these, and
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let them drink their wine in silence, but cease this sad tale, for it
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breaks my sorrowful heart, and reminds me of my lost husband whom I
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mourn ever without ceasing, and whose name was great over all Hellas and
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middle Argos." {9}
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"Mother," answered Telemachus, "let the bard sing what he has a mind to;
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bards do not make the ills they sing of; it is Jove, not they, who makes
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them, and who sends weal or woe upon mankind according to his own good
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pleasure. This fellow means no harm by singing the ill-fated return of
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the Danaans, for people always applaud the latest songs most warmly.
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Make up your mind to it and bear it; Ulysses is not the only man who
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never came back from Troy, but many another went down as well as he. Go,
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then, within the house and busy yourself with your daily duties, your
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loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for speech is
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man's matter, and mine above all others {10}--for it is I who am master
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here."
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She went wondering back into the house, and laid her son's saying in
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her heart. Then, going upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she
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mourned her dear husband till Minerva shed sweet sleep over her eyes.
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But the suitors were clamorous throughout the covered cloisters {11},
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and prayed each one that he might be her bed fellow.
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Then Telemachus spoke, "Shameless," he cried, "and insolent suitors, let
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us feast at our pleasure now, and let there be no brawling, for it is a
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rare thing to hear a man with such a divine voice as Phemius has; but in
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the morning meet me in full assembly that I may give you formal notice
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to depart, and feast at one another's houses, turn and turn about, at
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your own cost. If on the other hand you choose to persist in spunging
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upon one man, heaven help me, but Jove shall reckon with you in full,
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and when you fall in my father's house there shall be no man to avenge
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you."
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The suitors bit their lips as they heard him, and marvelled at the
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boldness of his speech. Then, Antinous, son of Eupeithes, said, "The
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gods seem to have given you lessons in bluster and tall talking; may
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Jove never grant you to be chief in Ithaca as your father was before
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you."
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Telemachus answered, "Antinous, do not chide with me, but, god willing,
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I will be chief too if I can. Is this the worst fate you can think of
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for me? It is no bad thing to be a chief, for it brings both riches
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and honour. Still, now that Ulysses is dead there are many great men in
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Ithaca both old and young, and some other may take the lead among them;
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nevertheless I will be chief in my own house, and will rule those whom
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Ulysses has won for me."
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Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered, "It rests with heaven to
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decide who shall be chief among us, but you shall be master in your
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own house and over your own possessions; no one while there is a man
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in Ithaca shall do you violence nor rob you. And now, my good fellow,
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I want to know about this stranger. What country does he come from?
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Of what family is he, and where is his estate? Has he brought you news
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about the return of your father, or was he on business of his own? He
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seemed a well to do man, but he hurried off so suddenly that he was gone
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in a moment before we could get to know him."
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"My father is dead and gone," answered Telemachus, "and even if some
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rumour reaches me I put no more faith in it now. My mother does indeed
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sometimes send for a soothsayer and question him, but I give his
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prophecyings no heed. As for the stranger, he was Mentes, son of
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Anchialus, chief of the Taphians, an old friend of my father's." But in
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his heart he knew that it had been the goddess.
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The suitors then returned to their singing and dancing until the
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evening; but when night fell upon their pleasuring they went home to
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bed each in his own abode. {12} Telemachus's room was high up in a tower
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{13} that looked on to the outer court; hither, then, he hied, brooding
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and full of thought. A good old woman, Euryclea, daughter of Ops,
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the son of Pisenor, went before him with a couple of blazing torches.
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Laertes had bought her with his own money when she was quite young; he
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gave the worth of twenty oxen for her, and shewed as much respect to her
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in his household as he did to his own wedded wife, but he did not take
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her to his bed for he feared his wife's resentment. {14} She it was who
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now lighted Telemachus to his room, and she loved him better than any of
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the other women in the house did, for she had nursed him when he was a
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baby. He opened the door of his bed room and sat down upon the bed; as
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he took off his shirt {15} he gave it to the good old woman, who folded
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it tidily up, and hung it for him over a peg by his bed side, after
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which she went out, pulled the door to by a silver catch, and drew the
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bolt home by means of the strap. {16} But Telemachus as he lay covered
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with a woollen fleece kept thinking all night through of his intended
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voyage and of the counsel that Minerva had given him.
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Book II
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ASSEMBLY OF THE PEOPLE OF ITHACA--SPEECHES OF TELEMACHUS AND OF THE
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SUITORS--TELEMACHUS MAKES HIS PREPARATIONS AND STARTS FOR PYLOS WITH
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MINERVA DISGUISED AS MENTOR.
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Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared Telemachus
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rose and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet,
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girded his sword about his shoulder, and left his room looking like an
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immortal god. He at once sent the criers round to call the people in
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assembly, so they called them and the people gathered thereon; then,
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when they were got together, he went to the place of assembly spear in
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hand--not alone, for his two hounds went with him. Minerva endowed him
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with a presence of such divine comeliness that all marvelled at him as
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he went by, and when he took his place in his father's seat even the
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|
oldest councillors made way for him.
|
|
Aegyptius, a man bent double with age, and of infinite experience, was
|
|
the first to speak. His son Antiphus had gone with Ulysses to Ilius,
|
|
land of noble steeds, but the savage Cyclops had killed him when they
|
|
were all shut up in the cave, and had cooked his last dinner for him.
|
|
{17} He had three sons left, of whom two still worked on their father's
|
|
land, while the third, Eurynomus, was one of the suitors; nevertheless
|
|
their father could not get over the loss of Antiphus, and was still
|
|
weeping for him when he began his speech.
|
|
"Men of Ithaca," he said, "hear my words. From the day Ulysses left us
|
|
there has been no meeting of our councillors until now; who then can it
|
|
be, whether old or young, that finds it so necessary to convene us? Has
|
|
he got wind of some host approaching, and does he wish to warn us, or
|
|
would he speak upon some other matter of public moment? I am sure he is
|
|
an excellent person, and I hope Jove will grant him his heart's desire."
|
|
Telemachus took this speech as of good omen and rose at once, for he was
|
|
bursting with what he had to say. He stood in the middle of the assembly
|
|
and the good herald Pisenor brought him his staff. Then, turning to
|
|
Aegyptius, "Sir," said he, "it is I, as you will shortly learn, who have
|
|
convened you, for it is I who am the most aggrieved. I have not got wind
|
|
of any host approaching about which I would warn you, nor is there any
|
|
matter of public moment on which I would speak. My grievance is purely
|
|
personal, and turns on two great misfortunes which have fallen upon my
|
|
house. The first of these is the loss of my excellent father, who was
|
|
chief among all you here present, and was like a father to every one
|
|
of you; the second is much more serious, and ere long will be the utter
|
|
ruin of my estate. The sons of all the chief men among you are pestering
|
|
my mother to marry them against her will. They are afraid to go to
|
|
her father Icarius, asking him to choose the one he likes best, and
|
|
to provide marriage gifts for his daughter, but day by day they keep
|
|
hanging about my father's house, sacrificing our oxen, sheep, and fat
|
|
goats for their banquets, and never giving so much as a thought to the
|
|
quantity of wine they drink. No estate can stand such recklessness; we
|
|
have now no Ulysses to ward off harm from our doors, and I cannot hold
|
|
my own against them. I shall never all my days be as good a man as he
|
|
was, still I would indeed defend myself if I had power to do so, for I
|
|
cannot stand such treatment any longer; my house is being disgraced and
|
|
ruined. Have respect, therefore, to your own consciences and to public
|
|
opinion. Fear, too, the wrath of heaven, lest the gods should be
|
|
displeased and turn upon you. I pray you by Jove and Themis, who is the
|
|
beginning and the end of councils, [do not] hold back, my friends, and
|
|
leave me singlehanded {18}--unless it be that my brave father Ulysses
|
|
did some wrong to the Achaeans which you would now avenge on me, by
|
|
aiding and abetting these suitors. Moreover, if I am to be eaten out of
|
|
house and home at all, I had rather you did the eating yourselves, for
|
|
I could then take action against you to some purpose, and serve you with
|
|
notices from house to house till I got paid in full, whereas now I have
|
|
no remedy." {19}
|
|
With this Telemachus dashed his staff to the ground and burst into
|
|
tears. Every one was very sorry for him, but they all sat still and no
|
|
one ventured to make him an angry answer, save only Antinous, who spoke
|
|
thus:
|
|
"Telemachus, insolent braggart that you are, how dare you try to throw
|
|
the blame upon us suitors? It is your mother's fault not ours, for she
|
|
is a very artful woman. This three years past, and close on four, she
|
|
had been driving us out of our minds, by encouraging each one of us, and
|
|
sending him messages without meaning one word of what she says. And then
|
|
there was that other trick she played us. She set up a great tambour
|
|
frame in her room, and began to work on an enormous piece of fine
|
|
needlework. 'Sweet hearts,' said she, 'Ulysses is indeed dead, still
|
|
do not press me to marry again immediately, wait--for I would not have
|
|
skill in needlework perish unrecorded--till I have completed a pall for
|
|
the hero Laertes, to be in readiness against the time when death shall
|
|
take him. He is very rich, and the women of the place will talk if he is
|
|
laid out without a pall.'
|
|
"This was what she said, and we assented; whereon we could see her
|
|
working on her great web all day long, but at night she would unpick the
|
|
stitches again by torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three years
|
|
and we never found her out, but as time wore on and she was now in her
|
|
fourth year, one of her maids who knew what she was doing told us, and
|
|
we caught her in the act of undoing her work, so she had to finish it
|
|
whether she would or no. The suitors, therefore, make you this answer,
|
|
that both you and the Achaeans may understand-'Send your mother away,
|
|
and bid her marry the man of her own and of her father's choice'; for I
|
|
do not know what will happen if she goes on plaguing us much longer with
|
|
the airs she gives herself on the score of the accomplishments Minerva
|
|
has taught her, and because she is so clever. We never yet heard of such
|
|
a woman; we know all about Tyro, Alcmena, Mycene, and the famous women
|
|
of old, but they were nothing to your mother any one of them. It was not
|
|
fair of her to treat us in that way, and as long as she continues in
|
|
the mind with which heaven has now endowed her, so long shall we go on
|
|
eating up your estate; and I do not see why she should change, for she
|
|
gets all the honour and glory, and it is you who pay for it, not she.
|
|
Understand, then, that we will not go back to our lands, neither here
|
|
nor elsewhere, till she has made her choice and married some one or
|
|
other of us."
|
|
Telemachus answered, "Antinous, how can I drive the mother who bore me
|
|
from my father's house? My father is abroad and we do not know whether
|
|
he is alive or dead. It will be hard on me if I have to pay Icarius the
|
|
large sum which I must give him if I insist on sending his daughter back
|
|
to him. Not only will he deal rigorously with me, but heaven will also
|
|
punish me; for my mother when she leaves the house will call on the
|
|
Erinyes to avenge her; besides, it would not be a creditable thing to
|
|
do, and I will have nothing to say to it. If you choose to take offence
|
|
at this, leave the house and feast elsewhere at one another's houses at
|
|
your own cost turn and turn about. If, on the other hand, you elect to
|
|
persist in spunging upon one man, heaven help me, but Jove shall reckon
|
|
with you in full, and when you fall in my father's house there shall be
|
|
no man to avenge you."
|
|
As he spoke Jove sent two eagles from the top of the mountain, and they
|
|
flew on and on with the wind, sailing side by side in their own lordly
|
|
flight. When they were right over the middle of the assembly they
|
|
wheeled and circled about, beating the air with their wings and glaring
|
|
death into the eyes of them that were below; then, fighting fiercely and
|
|
tearing at one another, they flew off towards the right over the town.
|
|
The people wondered as they saw them, and asked each other what all this
|
|
might be; whereon Halitherses, who was the best prophet and reader of
|
|
omens among them, spoke to them plainly and in all honesty, saying:
|
|
"Hear me, men of Ithaca, and I speak more particularly to the suitors,
|
|
for I see mischief brewing for them. Ulysses is not going to be
|
|
away much longer; indeed he is close at hand to deal out death and
|
|
destruction, not on them alone, but on many another of us who live in
|
|
Ithaca. Let us then be wise in time, and put a stop to this wickedness
|
|
before he comes. Let the suitors do so of their own accord; it will
|
|
be better for them, for I am not prophesying without due knowledge;
|
|
everything has happened to Ulysses as I foretold when the Argives set
|
|
out for Troy, and he with them. I said that after going through much
|
|
hardship and losing all his men he should come home again in the
|
|
twentieth year and that no one would know him; and now all this is
|
|
coming true."
|
|
Eurymachus son of Polybus then said, "Go home, old man, and prophesy to
|
|
your own children, or it may be worse for them. I can read these omens
|
|
myself much better than you can; birds are always flying about in the
|
|
sunshine somewhere or other, but they seldom mean anything. Ulysses has
|
|
died in a far country, and it is a pity you are not dead along with
|
|
him, instead of prating here about omens and adding fuel to the anger of
|
|
Telemachus which is fierce enough as it is. I suppose you think he will
|
|
give you something for your family, but I tell you--and it shall surely
|
|
be--when an old man like you, who should know better, talks a young one
|
|
over till he becomes troublesome, in the first place his young friend
|
|
will only fare so much the worse--he will take nothing by it, for the
|
|
suitors will prevent this--and in the next, we will lay a heavier fine,
|
|
sir, upon yourself than you will at all like paying, for it will bear
|
|
hardly upon you. As for Telemachus, I warn him in the presence of you
|
|
all to send his mother back to her father, who will find her a husband
|
|
and provide her with all the marriage gifts so dear a daughter may
|
|
expect. Till then we shall go on harassing him with our suit; for we
|
|
fear no man, and care neither for him, with all his fine speeches, nor
|
|
for any fortune-telling of yours. You may preach as much as you please,
|
|
but we shall only hate you the more. We shall go back and continue to
|
|
eat up Telemachus's estate without paying him, till such time as his
|
|
mother leaves off tormenting us by keeping us day after day on the
|
|
tiptoe of expectation, each vying with the other in his suit for a prize
|
|
of such rare perfection. Besides we cannot go after the other women whom
|
|
we should marry in due course, but for the way in which she treats us."
|
|
Then Telemachus said, "Eurymachus, and you other suitors, I shall say no
|
|
more, and entreat you no further, for the gods and the people of Ithaca
|
|
now know my story. Give me, then, a ship and a crew of twenty men to
|
|
take me hither and thither, and I will go to Sparta and to Pylos in
|
|
quest of my father who has so long been missing. Some one may tell
|
|
me something, or (and people often hear things in this way) some
|
|
heaven-sent message may direct me. If I can hear of him as alive and on
|
|
his way home I will put up with the waste you suitors will make for yet
|
|
another twelve months. If on the other hand I hear of his death, I will
|
|
return at once, celebrate his funeral rites with all due pomp, build a
|
|
barrow to his memory, and make my mother marry again."
|
|
With these words he sat down, and Mentor {20} who had been a friend of
|
|
Ulysses, and had been left in charge of everything with full authority
|
|
over the servants, rose to speak. He, then, plainly and in all honesty
|
|
addressed them thus:
|
|
"Hear me, men of Ithaca, I hope that you may never have a kind and
|
|
well-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern you equitably;
|
|
I hope that all your chiefs henceforward may be cruel and unjust, for
|
|
there is not one of you but has forgotten Ulysses, who ruled you as
|
|
though he were your father. I am not half so angry with the suitors, for
|
|
if they choose to do violence in the naughtiness of their hearts, and
|
|
wager their heads that Ulysses will not return, they can take the high
|
|
hand and eat up his estate, but as for you others I am shocked at
|
|
the way in which you all sit still without even trying to stop such
|
|
scandalous goings on--which you could do if you chose, for you are many
|
|
and they are few."
|
|
Leiocritus, son of Evenor, answered him saying, "Mentor, what folly is
|
|
all this, that you should set the people to stay us? It is a hard thing
|
|
for one man to fight with many about his victuals. Even though Ulysses
|
|
himself were to set upon us while we are feasting in his house, and do
|
|
his best to oust us, his wife, who wants him back so very badly, would
|
|
have small cause for rejoicing, and his blood would be upon his own head
|
|
if he fought against such great odds. There is no sense in what you have
|
|
been saying. Now, therefore, do you people go about your business, and
|
|
let his father's old friends, Mentor and Halitherses, speed this boy on
|
|
his journey, if he goes at all--which I do not think he will, for he
|
|
is more likely to stay where he is till some one comes and tells him
|
|
something."
|
|
On this he broke up the assembly, and every man went back to his own
|
|
abode, while the suitors returned to the house of Ulysses.
|
|
Then Telemachus went all alone by the sea side, washed his hands in the
|
|
grey waves, and prayed to Minerva.
|
|
"Hear me," he cried, "you god who visited me yesterday, and bade me sail
|
|
the seas in search of my father who has so long been missing. I would
|
|
obey you, but the Achaeans, and more particularly the wicked suitors,
|
|
are hindering me that I cannot do so."
|
|
As he thus prayed, Minerva came close up to him in the likeness and with
|
|
the voice of Mentor. "Telemachus," said she, "if you are made of
|
|
the same stuff as your father you will be neither fool nor coward
|
|
henceforward, for Ulysses never broke his word nor left his work half
|
|
done. If, then, you take after him, your voyage will not be fruitless,
|
|
but unless you have the blood of Ulysses and of Penelope in your veins
|
|
I see no likelihood of your succeeding. Sons are seldom as good men as
|
|
their fathers; they are generally worse, not better; still, as you are
|
|
not going to be either fool or coward henceforward, and are not entirely
|
|
without some share of your father's wise discernment, I look with hope
|
|
upon your undertaking. But mind you never make common cause with any of
|
|
those foolish suitors, for they have neither sense nor virtue, and give
|
|
no thought to death and to the doom that will shortly fall on one and
|
|
all of them, so that they shall perish on the same day. As for your
|
|
voyage, it shall not be long delayed; your father was such an old friend
|
|
of mine that I will find you a ship, and will come with you myself.
|
|
Now, however, return home, and go about among the suitors; begin getting
|
|
provisions ready for your voyage; see everything well stowed, the wine
|
|
in jars, and the barley meal, which is the staff of life, in leathern
|
|
bags, while I go round the town and beat up volunteers at once. There
|
|
are many ships in Ithaca both old and new; I will run my eye over them
|
|
for you and will choose the best; we will get her ready and will put out
|
|
to sea without delay."
|
|
Thus spoke Minerva daughter of Jove, and Telemachus lost no time in
|
|
doing as the goddess told him. He went moodily home, and found the
|
|
suitors flaying goats and singeing pigs in the outer court. Antinous
|
|
came up to him at once and laughed as he took his hand in his own,
|
|
saying, "Telemachus, my fine fire-eater, bear no more ill blood neither
|
|
in word nor deed, but eat and drink with us as you used to do. The
|
|
Achaeans will find you in everything--a ship and a picked crew to
|
|
boot--so that you can set sail for Pylos at once and get news of your
|
|
noble father."
|
|
"Antinous," answered Telemachus, "I cannot eat in peace, nor take
|
|
pleasure of any kind with such men as you are. Was it not enough that
|
|
you should waste so much good property of mine while I was yet a boy?
|
|
Now that I am older and know more about it, I am also stronger, and
|
|
whether here among this people, or by going to Pylos, I will do you all
|
|
the harm I can. I shall go, and my going will not be in vain--though,
|
|
thanks to you suitors, I have neither ship nor crew of my own, and must
|
|
be passenger not captain."
|
|
As he spoke he snatched his hand from that of Antinous. Meanwhile the
|
|
others went on getting dinner ready about the buildings, {21} jeering at
|
|
him tauntingly as they did so.
|
|
"Telemachus," said one youngster, "means to be the death of us; I
|
|
suppose he thinks he can bring friends to help him from Pylos, or again
|
|
from Sparta, where he seems bent on going. Or will he go to Ephyra as
|
|
well, for poison to put in our wine and kill us?"
|
|
Another said, "Perhaps if Telemachus goes on board ship, he will be like
|
|
his father and perish far from his friends. In this case we should have
|
|
plenty to do, for we could then divide up his property amongst us: as
|
|
for the house we can let his mother and the man who marries her have
|
|
that."
|
|
This was how they talked. But Telemachus went down into the lofty and
|
|
spacious store-room where his father's treasure of gold and bronze lay
|
|
heaped up upon the floor, and where the linen and spare clothes were
|
|
kept in open chests. Here, too, there was a store of fragrant olive oil,
|
|
while casks of old, well-ripened wine, unblended and fit for a god to
|
|
drink, were ranged against the wall in case Ulysses should come home
|
|
again after all. The room was closed with well-made doors opening in the
|
|
middle; moreover the faithful old house-keeper Euryclea, daughter of
|
|
Ops the son of Pisenor, was in charge of everything both night and day.
|
|
Telemachus called her to the store-room and said:
|
|
"Nurse, draw me off some of the best wine you have, after what you
|
|
are keeping for my father's own drinking, in case, poor man, he should
|
|
escape death, and find his way home again after all. Let me have twelve
|
|
jars, and see that they all have lids; also fill me some well-sewn
|
|
leathern bags with barley meal--about twenty measures in all. Get these
|
|
things put together at once, and say nothing about it. I will take
|
|
everything away this evening as soon as my mother has gone upstairs
|
|
for the night. I am going to Sparta and to Pylos to see if I can hear
|
|
anything about the return of my dear father."
|
|
When Euryclea heard this she began to cry, and spoke fondly to him,
|
|
saying, "My dear child, what ever can have put such notion as that into
|
|
your head? Where in the world do you want to go to--you, who are the
|
|
one hope of the house? Your poor father is dead and gone in some foreign
|
|
country nobody knows where, and as soon as your back is turned these
|
|
wicked ones here will be scheming to get you put out of the way, and
|
|
will share all your possessions among themselves; stay where you are
|
|
among your own people, and do not go wandering and worrying your life
|
|
out on the barren ocean."
|
|
"Fear not, nurse," answered Telemachus, "my scheme is not without
|
|
heaven's sanction; but swear that you will say nothing about all this
|
|
to my mother, till I have been away some ten or twelve days, unless she
|
|
hears of my having gone, and asks you; for I do not want her to spoil
|
|
her beauty by crying."
|
|
The old woman swore most solemnly that she would not, and when she
|
|
had completed her oath, she began drawing off the wine into jars, and
|
|
getting the barley meal into the bags, while Telemachus went back to the
|
|
suitors.
|
|
Then Minerva bethought her of another matter. She took his shape, and
|
|
went round the town to each one of the crew, telling them to meet at the
|
|
ship by sundown. She went also to Noemon son of Phronius, and asked him
|
|
to let her have a ship--which he was very ready to do. When the sun had
|
|
set and darkness was over all the land, she got the ship into the
|
|
water, put all the tackle on board her that ships generally carry, and
|
|
stationed her at the end of the harbour. Presently the crew came up, and
|
|
the goddess spoke encouragingly to each of them.
|
|
Furthermore she went to the house of Ulysses, and threw the suitors into
|
|
a deep slumber. She caused their drink to fuddle them, and made them
|
|
drop their cups from their hands, so that instead of sitting over their
|
|
wine, they went back into the town to sleep, with their eyes heavy and
|
|
full of drowsiness. Then she took the form and voice of Mentor, and
|
|
called Telemachus to come outside.
|
|
"Telemachus," said she, "the men are on board and at their oars, waiting
|
|
for you to give your orders, so make haste and let us be off."
|
|
On this she led the way, while Telemachus followed in her steps. When
|
|
they got to the ship they found the crew waiting by the water side, and
|
|
Telemachus said, "Now my men, help me to get the stores on board;
|
|
they are all put together in the cloister, and my mother does not know
|
|
anything about it, nor any of the maid servants except one."
|
|
With these words he led the way and the others followed after. When
|
|
they had brought the things as he told them, Telemachus went on board,
|
|
Minerva going before him and taking her seat in the stern of the vessel,
|
|
while Telemachus sat beside her. Then the men loosed the hawsers and
|
|
took their places on the benches. Minerva sent them a fair wind from
|
|
the West, {22} that whistled over the deep blue waves {23} whereon
|
|
Telemachus told them to catch hold of the ropes and hoist sail, and they
|
|
did as he told them. They set the mast in its socket in the cross plank,
|
|
raised it, and made it fast with the forestays; then they hoisted their
|
|
white sails aloft with ropes of twisted ox hide. As the sail bellied out
|
|
with the wind, the ship flew through the deep blue water, and the foam
|
|
hissed against her bows as she sped onward. Then they made all fast
|
|
throughout the ship, filled the mixing bowls to the brim, and made
|
|
drink offerings to the immortal gods that are from everlasting, but more
|
|
particularly to the grey-eyed daughter of Jove.
|
|
Thus, then, the ship sped on her way through the watches of the night
|
|
from dark till dawn,
|
|
Book III
|
|
TELEMACHUS VISITS NESTOR AT PYLOS.
|
|
but as the sun was rising from the fair sea {24} into the firmament of
|
|
heaven to shed light on mortals and immortals, they reached Pylos the
|
|
city of Neleus. Now the people of Pylos were gathered on the sea shore
|
|
to offer sacrifice of black bulls to Neptune lord of the Earthquake.
|
|
There were nine guilds with five hundred men in each, and there were
|
|
nine bulls to each guild. As they were eating the inward meats {25}
|
|
and burning the thigh bones [on the embers] in the name of Neptune,
|
|
Telemachus and his crew arrived, furled their sails, brought their ship
|
|
to anchor, and went ashore.
|
|
Minerva led the way and Telemachus followed her. Presently she said,
|
|
"Telemachus, you must not be in the least shy or nervous; you have taken
|
|
this voyage to try and find out where your father is buried and how he
|
|
came by his end; so go straight up to Nestor that we may see what he has
|
|
got to tell us. Beg of him to speak the truth, and he will tell no lies,
|
|
for he is an excellent person."
|
|
"But how, Mentor," replied Telemachus, "dare I go up to Nestor, and
|
|
how am I to address him? I have never yet been used to holding long
|
|
conversations with people, and am ashamed to begin questioning one who
|
|
is so much older than myself."
|
|
"Some things, Telemachus," answered Minerva, "will be suggested to
|
|
you by your own instinct, and heaven will prompt you further; for I am
|
|
assured that the gods have been with you from the time of your birth
|
|
until now."
|
|
She then went quickly on, and Telemachus followed in her steps till they
|
|
reached the place where the guilds of the Pylian people were assembled.
|
|
There they found Nestor sitting with his sons, while his company round
|
|
him were busy getting dinner ready, and putting pieces of meat on to the
|
|
spits {26} while other pieces were cooking. When they saw the strangers
|
|
they crowded round them, took them by the hand and bade them take their
|
|
places. Nestor's son Pisistratus at once offered his hand to each of
|
|
them, and seated them on some soft sheepskins that were lying on the
|
|
sands near his father and his brother Thrasymedes. Then he gave them
|
|
their portions of the inward meats and poured wine for them into a
|
|
golden cup, handing it to Minerva first, and saluting her at the same
|
|
time.
|
|
"Offer a prayer, sir," said he, "to King Neptune, for it is his feast
|
|
that you are joining; when you have duly prayed and made your drink
|
|
offering, pass the cup to your friend that he may do so also. I doubt
|
|
not that he too lifts his hands in prayer, for man cannot live without
|
|
God in the world. Still he is younger than you are, and is much of an
|
|
age with myself, so I will give you the precedence."
|
|
As he spoke he handed her the cup. Minerva thought it very right and
|
|
proper of him to have given it to herself first; {27} she accordingly
|
|
began praying heartily to Neptune. "O thou," she cried, "that encirclest
|
|
the earth, vouchsafe to grant the prayers of thy servants that call upon
|
|
thee. More especially we pray thee send down thy grace on Nestor and
|
|
on his sons; thereafter also make the rest of the Pylian people some
|
|
handsome return for the goodly hecatomb they are offering you. Lastly,
|
|
grant Telemachus and myself a happy issue, in respect of the matter that
|
|
has brought us in our ship to Pylos."
|
|
When she had thus made an end of praying, she handed the cup to
|
|
Telemachus and he prayed likewise. By and by, when the outer meats were
|
|
roasted and had been taken off the spits, the carvers gave every man his
|
|
portion and they all made an excellent dinner. As soon as they had had
|
|
enough to eat and drink, Nestor, knight of Gerene, began to speak.
|
|
"Now," said he, "that our guests have done their dinner, it will be best
|
|
to ask them who they are. Who, then, sir strangers, are you, and from
|
|
what port have you sailed? Are you traders? or do you sail the seas as
|
|
rovers with your hand against every man, and every man's hand against
|
|
you?"
|
|
Telemachus answered boldly, for Minerva had given him courage to ask
|
|
about his father and get himself a good name.
|
|
"Nestor," said he, "son of Neleus, honour to the Achaean name, you ask
|
|
whence we come, and I will tell you. We come from Ithaca under Neritum,
|
|
{28} and the matter about which I would speak is of private not public
|
|
import. I seek news of my unhappy father Ulysses, who is said to have
|
|
sacked the town of Troy in company with yourself. We know what fate
|
|
befell each one of the other heroes who fought at Troy, but as regards
|
|
Ulysses heaven has hidden from us the knowledge even that he is dead
|
|
at all, for no one can certify us in what place he perished, nor say
|
|
whether he fell in battle on the mainland, or was lost at sea amid the
|
|
waves of Amphitrite. Therefore I am suppliant at your knees, if haply
|
|
you may be pleased to tell me of his melancholy end, whether you saw it
|
|
with your own eyes, or heard it from some other traveller, for he was
|
|
a man born to trouble. Do not soften things out of any pity for me,
|
|
but tell me in all plainness exactly what you saw. If my brave father
|
|
Ulysses ever did you loyal service, either by word or deed, when you
|
|
Achaeans were harassed among the Trojans, bear it in mind now as in my
|
|
favour and tell me truly all."
|
|
"My friend," answered Nestor, "you recall a time of much sorrow to
|
|
my mind, for the brave Achaeans suffered much both at sea, while
|
|
privateering under Achilles, and when fighting before the great city
|
|
of king Priam. Our best men all of them fell there--Ajax, Achilles,
|
|
Patroclus peer of gods in counsel, and my own dear son Antilochus, a man
|
|
singularly fleet of foot and in fight valiant. But we suffered much more
|
|
than this; what mortal tongue indeed could tell the whole story? Though
|
|
you were to stay here and question me for five years, or even six, I
|
|
could not tell you all that the Achaeans suffered, and you would turn
|
|
homeward weary of my tale before it ended. Nine long years did we try
|
|
every kind of stratagem, but the hand of heaven was against us; during
|
|
all this time there was no one who could compare with your father in
|
|
subtlety--if indeed you are his son--I can hardly believe my eyes--and
|
|
you talk just like him too--no one would say that people of such
|
|
different ages could speak so much alike. He and I never had any kind
|
|
of difference from first to last neither in camp nor council, but in
|
|
singleness of heart and purpose we advised the Argives how all might be
|
|
ordered for the best.
|
|
"When, however, we had sacked the city of Priam, and were setting sail
|
|
in our ships as heaven had dispersed us, then Jove saw fit to vex the
|
|
Argives on their homeward voyage; for they had not all been either
|
|
wise or understanding, and hence many came to a bad end through the
|
|
displeasure of Jove's daughter Minerva, who brought about a quarrel
|
|
between the two sons of Atreus.
|
|
"The sons of Atreus called a meeting which was not as it should be, for
|
|
it was sunset and the Achaeans were heavy with wine. When they explained
|
|
why they had called the people together, it seemed that Menelaus was
|
|
for sailing homeward at once, and this displeased Agamemnon, who thought
|
|
that we should wait till we had offered hecatombs to appease the anger
|
|
of Minerva. Fool that he was, he might have known that he would not
|
|
prevail with her, for when the gods have made up their minds they do not
|
|
change them lightly. So the two stood bandying hard words, whereon the
|
|
Achaeans sprang to their feet with a cry that rent the air, and were of
|
|
two minds as to what they should do.
|
|
"That night we rested and nursed our anger, for Jove was hatching
|
|
mischief against us. But in the morning some of us drew our ships into
|
|
the water and put our goods with our women on board, while the rest,
|
|
about half in number, stayed behind with Agamemnon. We--the other
|
|
half--embarked and sailed; and the ships went well, for heaven had
|
|
smoothed the sea. When we reached Tenedos we offered sacrifices to the
|
|
gods, for we were longing to get home; cruel Jove, however, did not yet
|
|
mean that we should do so, and raised a second quarrel in the course of
|
|
which some among us turned their ships back again, and sailed away under
|
|
Ulysses to make their peace with Agamemnon; but I, and all the ships
|
|
that were with me pressed forward, for I saw that mischief was brewing.
|
|
The son of Tydeus went on also with me, and his crews with him. Later on
|
|
Menelaus joined us at Lesbos, and found us making up our minds about our
|
|
course--for we did not know whether to go outside Chios by the island
|
|
of Psyra, keeping this to our left, or inside Chios, over against the
|
|
stormy headland of Mimas. So we asked heaven for a sign, and were shown
|
|
one to the effect that we should be soonest out of danger if we headed
|
|
our ships across the open sea to Euboea. This we therefore did, and a
|
|
fair wind sprang up which gave us a quick passage during the night to
|
|
Geraestus, {29} where we offered many sacrifices to Neptune for
|
|
having helped us so far on our way. Four days later Diomed and his men
|
|
stationed their ships in Argos, but I held on for Pylos, and the wind
|
|
never fell light from the day when heaven first made it fair for me.
|
|
"Therefore, my dear young friend, I returned without hearing anything
|
|
about the others. I know neither who got home safely nor who were lost
|
|
but, as in duty bound, I will give you without reserve the reports that
|
|
have reached me since I have been here in my own house. They say the
|
|
Myrmidons returned home safely under Achilles' son Neoptolemus; so also
|
|
did the valiant son of Poias, Philoctetes. Idomeneus, again, lost no men
|
|
at sea, and all his followers who escaped death in the field got safe
|
|
home with him to Crete. No matter how far out of the world you live, you
|
|
will have heard of Agamemnon and the bad end he came to at the hands of
|
|
Aegisthus--and a fearful reckoning did Aegisthus presently pay. See what
|
|
a good thing it is for a man to leave a son behind him to do as Orestes
|
|
did, who killed false Aegisthus the murderer of his noble father. You
|
|
too, then--for you are a tall smart-looking fellow--show your mettle and
|
|
make yourself a name in story."
|
|
"Nestor son of Neleus," answered Telemachus, "honour to the Achaean
|
|
name, the Achaeans applaud Orestes and his name will live through all
|
|
time for he has avenged his father nobly. Would that heaven might grant
|
|
me to do like vengeance on the insolence of the wicked suitors, who
|
|
are ill treating me and plotting my ruin; but the gods have no such
|
|
happiness in store for me and for my father, so we must bear it as best
|
|
we may."
|
|
"My friend," said Nestor, "now that you remind me, I remember to have
|
|
heard that your mother has many suitors, who are ill disposed towards
|
|
you and are making havoc of your estate. Do you submit to this tamely,
|
|
or are public feeling and the voice of heaven against you? Who knows but
|
|
what Ulysses may come back after all, and pay these scoundrels in full,
|
|
either single-handed or with a force of Achaeans behind him? If Minerva
|
|
were to take as great a liking to you as she did to Ulysses when we were
|
|
fighting before Troy (for I never yet saw the gods so openly fond of any
|
|
one as Minerva then was of your father), if she would take as good care
|
|
of you as she did of him, these wooers would soon some of them forget
|
|
their wooing."
|
|
Telemachus answered, "I can expect nothing of the kind; it would be far
|
|
too much to hope for. I dare not let myself think of it. Even though the
|
|
gods themselves willed it no such good fortune could befall me."
|
|
On this Minerva said, "Telemachus, what are you talking about? Heaven
|
|
has a long arm if it is minded to save a man; and if it were me, I
|
|
should not care how much I suffered before getting home, provided I
|
|
could be safe when I was once there. I would rather this, than get home
|
|
quickly, and then be killed in my own house as Agamemnon was by the
|
|
treachery of Aegisthus and his wife. Still, death is certain, and when
|
|
a man's hour is come, not even the gods can save him, no matter how fond
|
|
they are of him."
|
|
"Mentor," answered Telemachus, "do not let us talk about it any more.
|
|
There is no chance of my father's ever coming back; the gods have long
|
|
since counselled his destruction. There is something else, however,
|
|
about which I should like to ask Nestor, for he knows much more than any
|
|
one else does. They say he has reigned for three generations so that it
|
|
is like talking to an immortal. Tell me, therefore, Nestor, and tell
|
|
me true; how did Agamemnon come to die in that way? What was Menelaus
|
|
doing? And how came false Aegisthus to kill so far better a man than
|
|
himself? Was Menelaus away from Achaean Argos, voyaging elsewhither
|
|
among mankind, that Aegisthus took heart and killed Agamemnon?"
|
|
"I will tell you truly," answered Nestor, "and indeed you have yourself
|
|
divined how it all happened. If Menelaus when he got back from Troy
|
|
had found Aegisthus still alive in his house, there would have been no
|
|
barrow heaped up for him, not even when he was dead, but he would have
|
|
been thrown outside the city to dogs and vultures, and not a woman would
|
|
have mourned him, for he had done a deed of great wickedness; but we
|
|
were over there, fighting hard at Troy, and Aegisthus, who was taking
|
|
his ease quietly in the heart of Argos, cajoled Agamemnon's wife
|
|
Clytemnestra with incessant flattery.
|
|
"At first she would have nothing to do with his wicked scheme, for she
|
|
was of a good natural disposition; {30} moreover there was a bard with
|
|
her, to whom Agamemnon had given strict orders on setting out for Troy,
|
|
that he was to keep guard over his wife; but when heaven had counselled
|
|
her destruction, Aegisthus carried this bard off to a desert island and
|
|
left him there for crows and seagulls to batten upon--after which she
|
|
went willingly enough to the house of Aegisthus. Then he offered many
|
|
burnt sacrifices to the gods, and decorated many temples with tapestries
|
|
and gilding, for he had succeeded far beyond his expectations.
|
|
"Meanwhile Menelaus and I were on our way home from Troy, on good terms
|
|
with one another. When we got to Sunium, which is the point of Athens,
|
|
Apollo with his painless shafts killed Phrontis the steersman of
|
|
Menelaus' ship (and never man knew better how to handle a vessel in
|
|
rough weather) so that he died then and there with the helm in his hand,
|
|
and Menelaus, though very anxious to press forward, had to wait in order
|
|
to bury his comrade and give him his due funeral rites. Presently, when
|
|
he too could put to sea again, and had sailed on as far as the Malean
|
|
heads, Jove counselled evil against him and made it blow hard till the
|
|
waves ran mountains high. Here he divided his fleet and took the one
|
|
half towards Crete where the Cydonians dwell round about the waters of
|
|
the river Iardanus. There is a high headland hereabouts stretching out
|
|
into the sea from a place called Gortyn, and all along this part of the
|
|
coast as far as Phaestus the sea runs high when there is a south wind
|
|
blowing, but after Phaestus the coast is more protected, for a small
|
|
headland can make a great shelter. Here this part of the fleet was
|
|
driven on to the rocks and wrecked; but the crews just managed to save
|
|
themselves. As for the other five ships, they were taken by winds and
|
|
seas to Egypt, where Menelaus gathered much gold and substance among
|
|
people of an alien speech. Meanwhile Aegisthus here at home plotted his
|
|
evil deed. For seven years after he had killed Agamemnon he ruled in
|
|
Mycene, and the people were obedient under him, but in the eighth year
|
|
Orestes came back from Athens to be his bane, and killed the murderer
|
|
of his father. Then he celebrated the funeral rites of his mother and
|
|
of false Aegisthus by a banquet to the people of Argos, and on that very
|
|
day Menelaus came home, {31} with as much treasure as his ships could
|
|
carry.
|
|
"Take my advice then, and do not go travelling about for long so far
|
|
from home, nor leave your property with such dangerous people in your
|
|
house; they will eat up everything you have among them, and you will
|
|
have been on a fool's errand. Still, I should advise you by all means
|
|
to go and visit Menelaus, who has lately come off a voyage among such
|
|
distant peoples as no man could ever hope to get back from, when the
|
|
winds had once carried him so far out of his reckoning; even birds
|
|
cannot fly the distance in a twelve-month, so vast and terrible are the
|
|
seas that they must cross. Go to him, therefore, by sea, and take your
|
|
own men with you; or if you would rather travel by land you can have a
|
|
chariot, you can have horses, and here are my sons who can escort you to
|
|
Lacedaemon where Menelaus lives. Beg of him to speak the truth, and he
|
|
will tell you no lies, for he is an excellent person."
|
|
As he spoke the sun set and it came on dark, whereon Minerva said, "Sir,
|
|
all that you have said is well; now, however, order the tongues of the
|
|
victims to be cut, and mix wine that we may make drink-offerings to
|
|
Neptune, and the other immortals, and then go to bed, for it is bed
|
|
time. People should go away early and not keep late hours at a religious
|
|
festival."
|
|
Thus spoke the daughter of Jove, and they obeyed her saying. Men
|
|
servants poured water over the hands of the guests, while pages filled
|
|
the mixing-bowls with wine and water, and handed it round after giving
|
|
every man his drink offering; then they threw the tongues of the victims
|
|
into the fire, and stood up to make their drink offerings. When they
|
|
had made their offerings and had drunk each as much as he was minded,
|
|
Minerva and Telemachus were for going on board their ship, but Nestor
|
|
caught them up at once and stayed them.
|
|
"Heaven and the immortal gods," he exclaimed, "forbid that you should
|
|
leave my house to go on board of a ship. Do you think I am so poor and
|
|
short of clothes, or that I have so few cloaks and as to be unable to
|
|
find comfortable beds both for myself and for my guests? Let me tell you
|
|
I have store both of rugs and cloaks, and shall not permit the son of
|
|
my old friend Ulysses to camp down on the deck of a ship--not while I
|
|
live--nor yet will my sons after me, but they will keep open house as I
|
|
have done."
|
|
Then Minerva answered, "Sir, you have spoken well, and it will be much
|
|
better that Telemachus should do as you have said; he, therefore, shall
|
|
return with you and sleep at your house, but I must go back to give
|
|
orders to my crew, and keep them in good heart. I am the only older
|
|
person among them; the rest are all young men of Telemachus' own age,
|
|
who have taken this voyage out of friendship; so I must return to the
|
|
ship and sleep there. Moreover to-morrow I must go to the Cauconians
|
|
where I have a large sum of money long owing to me. As for Telemachus,
|
|
now that he is your guest, send him to Lacedaemon in a chariot, and let
|
|
one of your sons go with him. Be pleased to also provide him with your
|
|
best and fleetest horses."
|
|
When she had thus spoken, she flew away in the form of an eagle, and all
|
|
marvelled as they beheld it. Nestor was astonished, and took Telemachus
|
|
by the hand. "My friend," said he, "I see that you are going to be a
|
|
great hero some day, since the gods wait upon you thus while you are
|
|
still so young. This can have been none other of those who dwell in
|
|
heaven than Jove's redoubtable daughter, the Trito-born, who shewed
|
|
such favour towards your brave father among the Argives. Holy queen," he
|
|
continued, "vouchsafe to send down thy grace upon myself, my good wife,
|
|
and my children. In return, I will offer you in sacrifice a broad-browed
|
|
heifer of a year old, unbroken, and never yet brought by man under the
|
|
yoke. I will gild her horns, and will offer her up to you in sacrifice."
|
|
Thus did he pray, and Minerva heard his prayer. He then led the way to
|
|
his own house, followed by his sons and sons in law. When they had got
|
|
there and had taken their places on the benches and seats, he mixed them
|
|
a bowl of sweet wine that was eleven years old when the housekeeper took
|
|
the lid off the jar that held it. As he mixed the wine, he prayed much
|
|
and made drink offerings to Minerva, daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove.
|
|
Then, when they had made their drink offerings and had drunk each as
|
|
much as he was minded, the others went home to bed each in his own
|
|
abode; but Nestor put Telemachus to sleep in the room that was over the
|
|
gateway along with Pisistratus, who was the only unmarried son now left
|
|
him. As for himself, he slept in an inner room of the house, with the
|
|
queen his wife by his side.
|
|
Now when the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Nestor left
|
|
his couch and took his seat on the benches of white and polished marble
|
|
that stood in front of his house. Here aforetime sat Neleus, peer of
|
|
gods in counsel, but he was now dead, and had gone to the house of
|
|
Hades; so Nestor sat in his seat sceptre in hand, as guardian of the
|
|
public weal. His sons as they left their rooms gathered round him,
|
|
Echephron, Stratius, Perseus, Aretus, and Thrasymedes; the sixth son
|
|
was Pisistratus, and when Telemachus joined them they made him sit with
|
|
them. Nestor then addressed them.
|
|
"My sons," said he, "make haste to do as I shall bid you. I wish first
|
|
and foremost to propitiate the great goddess Minerva, who manifested
|
|
herself visibly to me during yesterday's festivities. Go, then, one or
|
|
other of you to the plain, tell the stockman to look me out a heifer,
|
|
and come on here with it at once. Another must go to Telemachus' ship,
|
|
and invite all the crew, leaving two men only in charge of the vessel.
|
|
Some one else will run and fetch Laerceus the goldsmith to gild the
|
|
horns of the heifer. The rest, stay all of you where you are; tell the
|
|
maids in the house to prepare an excellent dinner, and to fetch seats,
|
|
and logs of wood for a burnt offering. Tell them also to bring me some
|
|
clear spring water."
|
|
On this they hurried off on their several errands. The heifer was
|
|
brought in from the plain, and Telemachus's crew came from the ship; the
|
|
goldsmith brought the anvil, hammer, and tongs, with which he worked his
|
|
gold, and Minerva herself came to accept the sacrifice. Nestor gave out
|
|
the gold, and the smith gilded the horns of the heifer that the goddess
|
|
might have pleasure in their beauty. Then Stratius and Echephron brought
|
|
her in by the horns; Aretus fetched water from the house in a ewer that
|
|
had a flower pattern on it, and in his other hand he held a basket of
|
|
barley meal; sturdy Thrasymedes stood by with a sharp axe, ready to
|
|
strike the heifer, while Perseus held a bucket. Then Nestor began with
|
|
washing his hands and sprinkling the barley meal, and he offered many
|
|
a prayer to Minerva as he threw a lock from the heifer's head upon the
|
|
fire.
|
|
When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley meal {32}
|
|
Thrasymedes dealt his blow, and brought the heifer down with a stroke
|
|
that cut through the tendons at the base of her neck, whereon the
|
|
daughters and daughters in law of Nestor, and his venerable wife
|
|
Eurydice (she was eldest daughter to Clymenus) screamed with delight.
|
|
Then they lifted the heifer's head from off the ground, and Pisistratus
|
|
cut her throat. When she had done bleeding and was quite dead, they cut
|
|
her up. They cut out the thigh bones all in due course, wrapped them
|
|
round in two layers of fat, and set some pieces of raw meat on the top
|
|
of them; then Nestor laid them upon the wood fire and poured wine over
|
|
them, while the young men stood near him with five-pronged spits in
|
|
their hands. When the thighs were burned and they had tasted the inward
|
|
meats, they cut the rest of the meat up small, put the pieces on the
|
|
spits and toasted them over the fire.
|
|
Meanwhile lovely Polycaste, Nestor's youngest daughter, washed
|
|
Telemachus. When she had washed him and anointed him with oil, she
|
|
brought him a fair mantle and shirt, {33} and he looked like a god as
|
|
he came from the bath and took his seat by the side of Nestor. When
|
|
the outer meats were done they drew them off the spits and sat down to
|
|
dinner where they were waited upon by some worthy henchmen, who kept
|
|
pouring them out their wine in cups of gold. As soon as they had had
|
|
enough to eat and drink Nestor said, "Sons, put Telemachus's horses to
|
|
the chariot that he may start at once."
|
|
Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said, and yoked the fleet
|
|
horses to the chariot. The housekeeper packed them up a provision
|
|
of bread, wine, and sweet meats fit for the sons of princes. Then
|
|
Telemachus got into the chariot, while Pisistratus gathered up the reins
|
|
and took his seat beside him. He lashed the horses on and they flew
|
|
forward nothing loth into the open country, leaving the high citadel of
|
|
Pylos behind them. All that day did they travel, swaying the yoke upon
|
|
their necks till the sun went down and darkness was over all the land.
|
|
Then they reached Pherae where Diocles lived, who was son to Ortilochus
|
|
and grandson to Alpheus. Here they passed the night and Diocles
|
|
entertained them hospitably. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered
|
|
Dawn, appeared, they again yoked their horses and drove out through the
|
|
gateway under the echoing gatehouse. {34} Pisistratus lashed the horses
|
|
on and they flew forward nothing loth; presently they came to the corn
|
|
lands of the open country, and in the course of time completed their
|
|
journey, so well did their steeds take them. {35}
|
|
Now when the sun had set and darkness was over the land,
|
|
Book IV
|
|
THE VISIT TO KING MENELAUS, WHO TELLS HIS STORY--MEANWHILE THE SUITORS
|
|
IN ITHACA PLOT AGAINST TELEMACHUS.
|
|
they reached the low lying city of Lacedaemon, where they drove straight
|
|
to the abode of Menelaus {36} [and found him in his own house, feasting
|
|
with his many clansmen in honour of the wedding of his son, and also of
|
|
his daughter, whom he was marrying to the son of that valiant warrior
|
|
Achilles. He had given his consent and promised her to him while he was
|
|
still at Troy, and now the gods were bringing the marriage about; so he
|
|
was sending her with chariots and horses to the city of the Myrmidons
|
|
over whom Achilles' son was reigning. For his only son he had found a
|
|
bride from Sparta, {37} the daughter of Alector. This son, Megapenthes,
|
|
was born to him of a bondwoman, for heaven vouchsafed Helen no more
|
|
children after she had borne Hermione, who was fair as golden Venus
|
|
herself.
|
|
So the neighbours and kinsmen of Menelaus were feasting and making merry
|
|
in his house. There was a bard also to sing to them and play his lyre,
|
|
while two tumblers went about performing in the midst of them when the
|
|
man struck up with his tune.] {38}
|
|
Telemachus and the son of Nestor stayed their horses at the gate,
|
|
whereon Eteoneus servant to Menelaus came out, and as soon as he saw
|
|
them ran hurrying back into the house to tell his Master. He went close
|
|
up to him and said, "Menelaus, there are some strangers come here, two
|
|
men, who look like sons of Jove. What are we to do? Shall we take their
|
|
horses out, or tell them to find friends elsewhere as they best can?"
|
|
Menelaus was very angry and said, "Eteoneus, son of Boethous, you never
|
|
used to be a fool, but now you talk like a simpleton. Take their horses
|
|
out, of course, and show the strangers in that they may have supper;
|
|
you and I have staid often enough at other people's houses before we got
|
|
back here, where heaven grant that we may rest in peace henceforward."
|
|
So Eteoneus bustled back and bade the other servants come with him. They
|
|
took their sweating steeds from under the yoke, made them fast to the
|
|
mangers, and gave them a feed of oats and barley mixed. Then they leaned
|
|
the chariot against the end wall of the courtyard, and led the way into
|
|
the house. Telemachus and Pisistratus were astonished when they saw it,
|
|
for its splendour was as that of the sun and moon; then, when they had
|
|
admired everything to their heart's content, they went into the bath
|
|
room and washed themselves.
|
|
When the servants had washed them and anointed them with oil, they
|
|
brought them woollen cloaks and shirts, and the two took their seats by
|
|
the side of Menelaus. A maid-servant brought them water in a beautiful
|
|
golden ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their
|
|
hands; and she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought
|
|
them bread, and offered them many good things of what there was in the
|
|
house, while the carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats and
|
|
set cups of gold by their side.
|
|
Menelaus then greeted them saying, "Fall to, and welcome; when you have
|
|
done supper I shall ask who you are, for the lineage of such men as
|
|
you cannot have been lost. You must be descended from a line of
|
|
sceptre-bearing kings, for poor people do not have such sons as you
|
|
are."
|
|
On this he handed them {39} a piece of fat roast loin, which had been
|
|
set near him as being a prime part, and they laid their hands on the
|
|
good things that were before them; as soon as they had had enough to eat
|
|
and drink, Telemachus said to the son of Nestor, with his head so close
|
|
that no one might hear, "Look, Pisistratus, man after my own heart,
|
|
see the gleam of bronze and gold--of amber, {40} ivory, and silver.
|
|
Everything is so splendid that it is like seeing the palace of Olympian
|
|
Jove. I am lost in admiration."
|
|
Menelaus overheard him and said, "No one, my sons, can hold his own
|
|
with Jove, for his house and everything about him is immortal; but among
|
|
mortal men--well, there may be another who has as much wealth as I
|
|
have, or there may not; but at all events I have travelled much and have
|
|
undergone much hardship, for it was nearly eight years before I could
|
|
get home with my fleet. I went to Cyprus, Phoenicia and the Egyptians;
|
|
I went also to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Erembians, and to
|
|
Libya where the lambs have horns as soon as they are born, and the sheep
|
|
lamb down three times a year. Every one in that country, whether master
|
|
or man, has plenty of cheese, meat, and good milk, for the ewes yield
|
|
all the year round. But while I was travelling and getting great riches
|
|
among these people, my brother was secretly and shockingly murdered
|
|
through the perfidy of his wicked wife, so that I have no pleasure in
|
|
being lord of all this wealth. Whoever your parents may be they must
|
|
have told you about all this, and of my heavy loss in the ruin {41} of a
|
|
stately mansion fully and magnificently furnished. Would that I had only
|
|
a third of what I now have so that I had stayed at home, and all those
|
|
were living who perished on the plain of Troy, far from Argos. I often
|
|
grieve, as I sit here in my house, for one and all of them. At times
|
|
I cry aloud for sorrow, but presently I leave off again, for crying is
|
|
cold comfort and one soon tires of it. Yet grieve for these as I may,
|
|
I do so for one man more than for them all. I cannot even think of him
|
|
without loathing both food and sleep, so miserable does he make me, for
|
|
no one of all the Achaeans worked so hard or risked so much as he did.
|
|
He took nothing by it, and has left a legacy of sorrow to myself, for he
|
|
has been gone a long time, and we know not whether he is alive or
|
|
dead. His old father, his long-suffering wife Penelope, and his son
|
|
Telemachus, whom he left behind him an infant in arms, are plunged in
|
|
grief on his account."
|
|
Thus spoke Menelaus, and the heart of Telemachus yearned as he bethought
|
|
him of his father. Tears fell from his eyes as he heard him thus
|
|
mentioned, so that he held his cloak before his face with both hands.
|
|
When Menelaus saw this he doubted whether to let him choose his own time
|
|
for speaking, or to ask him at once and find what it was all about.
|
|
While he was thus in two minds Helen came down from her high vaulted and
|
|
perfumed room, looking as lovely as Diana herself. Adraste brought her
|
|
a seat, Alcippe a soft woollen rug while Phylo fetched her the silver
|
|
work-box which Alcandra wife of Polybus had given her. Polybus lived in
|
|
Egyptian Thebes, which is the richest city in the whole world; he gave
|
|
Menelaus two baths, both of pure silver, two tripods, and ten talents of
|
|
gold; besides all this, his wife gave Helen some beautiful presents, to
|
|
wit, a golden distaff, and a silver work box that ran on wheels, with a
|
|
gold band round the top of it. Phylo now placed this by her side, full
|
|
of fine spun yarn, and a distaff charged with violet coloured wool was
|
|
laid upon the top of it. Then Helen took her seat, put her feet upon the
|
|
footstool, and began to question her husband. {42}
|
|
"Do we know, Menelaus," said she, "the names of these strangers who
|
|
have come to visit us? Shall I guess right or wrong?--but I cannot help
|
|
saying what I think. Never yet have I seen either man or woman so like
|
|
somebody else (indeed when I look at him I hardly know what to think)
|
|
as this young man is like Telemachus, whom Ulysses left as a baby behind
|
|
him, when you Achaeans went to Troy with battle in your hearts, on
|
|
account of my most shameless self."
|
|
"My dear wife," replied Menelaus, "I see the likeness just as you do.
|
|
His hands and feet are just like Ulysses; so is his hair, with the shape
|
|
of his head and the expression of his eyes. Moreover, when I was talking
|
|
about Ulysses, and saying how much he had suffered on my account, tears
|
|
fell from his eyes, and he hid his face in his mantle."
|
|
Then Pisistratus said, "Menelaus, son of Atreus, you are right in
|
|
thinking that this young man is Telemachus, but he is very modest, and
|
|
is ashamed to come here and begin opening up discourse with one whose
|
|
conversation is so divinely interesting as your own. My father, Nestor,
|
|
sent me to escort him hither, for he wanted to know whether you could
|
|
give him any counsel or suggestion. A son has always trouble at home
|
|
when his father has gone away leaving him without supporters; and this
|
|
is how Telemachus is now placed, for his father is absent, and there is
|
|
no one among his own people to stand by him."
|
|
"Bless my heart," replied Menelaus, "then I am receiving a visit from
|
|
the son of a very dear friend, who suffered much hardship for my sake.
|
|
I had always hoped to entertain him with most marked distinction when
|
|
heaven had granted us a safe return from beyond the seas. I should have
|
|
founded a city for him in Argos, and built him a house. I should have
|
|
made him leave Ithaca with his goods, his son, and all his people, and
|
|
should have sacked for them some one of the neighbouring cities that
|
|
are subject to me. We should thus have seen one another continually,
|
|
and nothing but death could have interrupted so close and happy an
|
|
intercourse. I suppose, however, that heaven grudged us such great good
|
|
fortune, for it has prevented the poor fellow from ever getting home at
|
|
all."
|
|
Thus did he speak, and his words set them all a weeping. Helen wept,
|
|
Telemachus wept, and so did Menelaus, nor could Pisistratus keep his
|
|
eyes from filling, when he remembered his dear brother Antilochus whom
|
|
the son of bright Dawn had killed. Thereon he said to Menelaus,
|
|
"Sir, my father Nestor, when we used to talk about you at home, told me
|
|
you were a person of rare and excellent understanding. If, then, it be
|
|
possible, do as I would urge you. I am not fond of crying while I am
|
|
getting my supper. Morning will come in due course, and in the forenoon
|
|
I care not how much I cry for those that are dead and gone. This is all
|
|
we can do for the poor things. We can only shave our heads for them and
|
|
wring the tears from our cheeks. I had a brother who died at Troy; he
|
|
was by no means the worst man there; you are sure to have known him--his
|
|
name was Antilochus; I never set eyes upon him myself, but they say that
|
|
he was singularly fleet of foot and in fight valiant."
|
|
"Your discretion, my friend," answered Menelaus, "is beyond your years.
|
|
It is plain you take after your father. One can soon see when a man
|
|
is son to one whom heaven has blessed both as regards wife and
|
|
offspring--and it has blessed Nestor from first to last all his days,
|
|
giving him a green old age in his own house, with sons about him who are
|
|
both well disposed and valiant. We will put an end therefore to all this
|
|
weeping, and attend to our supper again. Let water be poured over our
|
|
hands. Telemachus and I can talk with one another fully in the morning."
|
|
On this Asphalion, one of the servants, poured water over their hands
|
|
and they laid their hands on the good things that were before them.
|
|
Then Jove's daughter Helen bethought her of another matter. She drugged
|
|
the wine with an herb that banishes all care, sorrow, and ill humour.
|
|
Whoever drinks wine thus drugged cannot shed a single tear all the rest
|
|
of the day, not even though his father and mother both of them drop down
|
|
dead, or he sees a brother or a son hewn in pieces before his very eyes.
|
|
This drug, of such sovereign power and virtue, had been given to Helen
|
|
by Polydamna wife of Thon, a woman of Egypt, where there grow all sorts
|
|
of herbs, some good to put into the mixing bowl and others poisonous.
|
|
Moreover, every one in the whole country is a skilled physician, for
|
|
they are of the race of Paeeon. When Helen had put this drug in the
|
|
bowl, and had told the servants to serve the wine round, she said:
|
|
"Menelaus, son of Atreus, and you my good friends, sons of honourable
|
|
men (which is as Jove wills, for he is the giver both of good and evil,
|
|
and can do what he chooses), feast here as you will, and listen while I
|
|
tell you a tale in season. I cannot indeed name every single one of the
|
|
exploits of Ulysses, but I can say what he did when he was before Troy,
|
|
and you Achaeans were in all sorts of difficulties. He covered himself
|
|
with wounds and bruises, dressed himself all in rags, and entered the
|
|
enemy's city looking like a menial or a beggar, and quite different
|
|
from what he did when he was among his own people. In this disguise
|
|
he entered the city of Troy, and no one said anything to him. I alone
|
|
recognised him and began to question him, but he was too cunning for me.
|
|
When, however, I had washed and anointed him and had given him clothes,
|
|
and after I had sworn a solemn oath not to betray him to the Trojans
|
|
till he had got safely back to his own camp and to the ships, he told me
|
|
all that the Achaeans meant to do. He killed many Trojans and got much
|
|
information before he reached the Argive camp, for all which things the
|
|
Trojan women made lamentation, but for my own part I was glad, for my
|
|
heart was beginning to yearn after my home, and I was unhappy about
|
|
the wrong that Venus had done me in taking me over there, away from
|
|
my country, my girl, and my lawful wedded husband, who is indeed by no
|
|
means deficient either in person or understanding."
|
|
Then Menelaus said, "All that you have been saying, my dear wife, is
|
|
true. I have travelled much, and have had much to do with heroes, but
|
|
I have never seen such another man as Ulysses. What endurance too,
|
|
and what courage he displayed within the wooden horse, wherein all the
|
|
bravest of the Argives were lying in wait to bring death and destruction
|
|
upon the Trojans. {43} At that moment you came up to us; some god
|
|
who wished well to the Trojans must have set you on to it and you had
|
|
Deiphobus with you. Three times did you go all round our hiding place
|
|
and pat it; you called our chiefs each by his own name, and mimicked
|
|
all our wives--Diomed, Ulysses, and I from our seats inside heard what
|
|
a noise you made. Diomed and I could not make up our minds whether to
|
|
spring out then and there, or to answer you from inside, but Ulysses
|
|
held us all in check, so we sat quite still, all except Anticlus, who
|
|
was beginning to answer you, when Ulysses clapped his two brawny hands
|
|
over his mouth, and kept them there. It was this that saved us all, for
|
|
he muzzled Anticlus till Minerva took you away again."
|
|
"How sad," exclaimed Telemachus, "that all this was of no avail to save
|
|
him, nor yet his own iron courage. But now, sir, be pleased to send us
|
|
all to bed, that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon of sleep."
|
|
On this Helen told the maid servants to set beds in the room that was in
|
|
the gatehouse, and to make them with good red rugs, and spread coverlets
|
|
on the top of them with woollen cloaks for the guests to wear. So
|
|
the maids went out, carrying a torch, and made the beds, to which
|
|
a man-servant presently conducted the strangers. Thus, then, did
|
|
Telemachus and Pisistratus sleep there in the forecourt, while the son
|
|
of Atreus lay in an inner room with lovely Helen by his side.
|
|
When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Menelaus rose
|
|
and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet,
|
|
girded his sword about his shoulders, and left his room looking like an
|
|
immortal god. Then, taking a seat near Telemachus he said:
|
|
"And what, Telemachus, has led you to take this long sea voyage to
|
|
Lacedaemon? Are you on public, or private business? Tell me all about
|
|
it."
|
|
"I have come, sir," replied Telemachus, "to see if you can tell me
|
|
anything about my father. I am being eaten out of house and home; my
|
|
fair estate is being wasted, and my house is full of miscreants who keep
|
|
killing great numbers of my sheep and oxen, on the pretence of paying
|
|
their addresses to my mother. Therefore, I am suppliant at your knees if
|
|
haply you may tell me about my father's melancholy end, whether you saw
|
|
it with your own eyes, or heard it from some other traveller; for he was
|
|
a man born to trouble. Do not soften things out of any pity for myself,
|
|
but tell me in all plainness exactly what you saw. If my brave father
|
|
Ulysses ever did you loyal service either by word or deed, when you
|
|
Achaeans were harassed by the Trojans, bear it in mind now as in my
|
|
favour and tell me truly all."
|
|
Menelaus on hearing this was very much shocked. "So," he exclaimed,
|
|
"these cowards would usurp a brave man's bed? A hind might as well lay
|
|
her new born young in the lair of a lion, and then go off to feed in the
|
|
forest or in some grassy dell: the lion when he comes back to his lair
|
|
will make short work with the pair of them--and so will Ulysses with
|
|
these suitors. By father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, if Ulysses is still
|
|
the man that he was when he wrestled with Philomeleides in Lesbos, and
|
|
threw him so heavily that all the Achaeans cheered him--if he is still
|
|
such and were to come near these suitors, they would have a short shrift
|
|
and a sorry wedding. As regards your questions, however, I will not
|
|
prevaricate nor deceive you, but will tell you without concealment all
|
|
that the old man of the sea told me.
|
|
"I was trying to come on here, but the gods detained me in Egypt, for
|
|
my hecatombs had not given them full satisfaction, and the gods are very
|
|
strict about having their dues. Now off Egypt, about as far as a ship
|
|
can sail in a day with a good stiff breeze behind her, there is an
|
|
island called Pharos--it has a good harbour from which vessels can
|
|
get out into open sea when they have taken in water--and here the gods
|
|
becalmed me twenty days without so much as a breath of fair wind to help
|
|
me forward. We should have run clean out of provisions and my men would
|
|
have starved, if a goddess had not taken pity upon me and saved me in
|
|
the person of Idothea, daughter to Proteus, the old man of the sea, for
|
|
she had taken a great fancy to me.
|
|
"She came to me one day when I was by myself, as I often was, for the
|
|
men used to go with their barbed hooks, all over the island in the
|
|
hope of catching a fish or two to save them from the pangs of hunger.
|
|
'Stranger,' said she, 'it seems to me that you like starving in this
|
|
way--at any rate it does not greatly trouble you, for you stick here day
|
|
after day, without even trying to get away though your men are dying by
|
|
inches.'
|
|
"'Let me tell you,' said I, 'whichever of the goddesses you may happen
|
|
to be, that I am not staying here of my own accord, but must have
|
|
offended the gods that live in heaven. Tell me, therefore, for the gods
|
|
know everything, which of the immortals it is that is hindering me in
|
|
this way, and tell me also how I may sail the sea so as to reach my
|
|
home.'
|
|
"'Stranger,' replied she, 'I will make it all quite clear to you. There
|
|
is an old immortal who lives under the sea hereabouts and whose name
|
|
is Proteus. He is an Egyptian, and people say he is my father; he is
|
|
Neptune's head man and knows every inch of ground all over the bottom of
|
|
the sea. If you can snare him and hold him tight, he will tell you about
|
|
your voyage, what courses you are to take, and how you are to sail the
|
|
sea so as to reach your home. He will also tell you, if you so will, all
|
|
that has been going on at your house both good and bad, while you have
|
|
been away on your long and dangerous journey.'
|
|
"'Can you show me,' said I, 'some stratagem by means of which I may
|
|
catch this old god without his suspecting it and finding me out? For a
|
|
god is not easily caught--not by a mortal man.'
|
|
"'Stranger,' said she, 'I will make it all quite clear to you. About the
|
|
time when the sun shall have reached mid heaven, the old man of the sea
|
|
comes up from under the waves, heralded by the West wind that furs the
|
|
water over his head. As soon as he has come up he lies down, and goes to
|
|
sleep in a great sea cave, where the seals--Halosydne's chickens as they
|
|
call them--come up also from the grey sea, and go to sleep in shoals
|
|
all round him; and a very strong and fish-like smell do they bring with
|
|
them. {44} Early to-morrow morning I will take you to this place and
|
|
will lay you in ambush. Pick out, therefore, the three best men you have
|
|
in your fleet, and I will tell you all the tricks that the old man will
|
|
play you.
|
|
"'First he will look over all his seals, and count them; then, when he
|
|
has seen them and tallied them on his five fingers, he will go to sleep
|
|
among them, as a shepherd among his sheep. The moment you see that he is
|
|
asleep seize him; put forth all your strength and hold him fast, for he
|
|
will do his very utmost to get away from you. He will turn himself into
|
|
every kind of creature that goes upon the earth, and will become also
|
|
both fire and water; but you must hold him fast and grip him tighter
|
|
and tighter, till he begins to talk to you and comes back to what he was
|
|
when you saw him go to sleep; then you may slacken your hold and let him
|
|
go; and you can ask him which of the gods it is that is angry with you,
|
|
and what you must do to reach your home over the seas.'
|
|
"Having so said she dived under the waves, whereon I turned back to
|
|
the place where my ships were ranged upon the shore; and my heart was
|
|
clouded with care as I went along. When I reached my ship we got supper
|
|
ready, for night was falling, and camped down upon the beach.
|
|
"When the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, I took the three
|
|
men on whose prowess of all kinds I could most rely, and went along by
|
|
the sea-side, praying heartily to heaven. Meanwhile the goddess fetched
|
|
me up four seal skins from the bottom of the sea, all of them just
|
|
skinned, for she meant playing a trick upon her father. Then she dug
|
|
four pits for us to lie in, and sat down to wait till we should come up.
|
|
When we were close to her, she made us lie down in the pits one after
|
|
the other, and threw a seal skin over each of us. Our ambuscade would
|
|
have been intolerable, for the stench of the fishy seals was most
|
|
distressing {45}--who would go to bed with a sea monster if he could
|
|
help it?--but here, too, the goddess helped us, and thought of something
|
|
that gave us great relief, for she put some ambrosia under each man's
|
|
nostrils, which was so fragrant that it killed the smell of the seals.
|
|
{46}
|
|
"We waited the whole morning and made the best of it, watching the seals
|
|
come up in hundreds to bask upon the sea shore, till at noon the old man
|
|
of the sea came up too, and when he had found his fat seals he went over
|
|
them and counted them. We were among the first he counted, and he never
|
|
suspected any guile, but laid himself down to sleep as soon as he had
|
|
done counting. Then we rushed upon him with a shout and seized him; on
|
|
which he began at once with his old tricks, and changed himself first
|
|
into a lion with a great mane; then all of a sudden he became a dragon,
|
|
a leopard, a wild boar; the next moment he was running water, and then
|
|
again directly he was a tree, but we stuck to him and never lost hold,
|
|
till at last the cunning old creature became distressed, and said,
|
|
'Which of the gods was it, Son of Atreus, that hatched this plot with
|
|
you for snaring me and seizing me against my will? What do you want?'
|
|
"'You know that yourself, old man,' I answered, 'you will gain nothing
|
|
by trying to put me off. It is because I have been kept so long in this
|
|
island, and see no sign of my being able to get away. I am losing
|
|
all heart; tell me, then, for you gods know everything, which of the
|
|
immortals it is that is hindering me, and tell me also how I may sail
|
|
the sea so as to reach my home?'
|
|
"Then,' he said, 'if you would finish your voyage and get home quickly,
|
|
you must offer sacrifices to Jove and to the rest of the gods before
|
|
embarking; for it is decreed that you shall not get back to your
|
|
friends, and to your own house, till you have returned to the heaven-fed
|
|
stream of Egypt, and offered holy hecatombs to the immortal gods that
|
|
reign in heaven. When you have done this they will let you finish your
|
|
voyage.'
|
|
"I was broken hearted when I heard that I must go back all that long and
|
|
terrible voyage to Egypt; {47} nevertheless, I answered, 'I will do all,
|
|
old man, that you have laid upon me; but now tell me, and tell me true,
|
|
whether all the Achaeans whom Nestor and I left behind us when we set
|
|
sail from Troy have got home safely, or whether any one of them came
|
|
to a bad end either on board his own ship or among his friends when the
|
|
days of his fighting were done.'
|
|
"'Son of Atreus,' he answered, 'why ask me? You had better not know what
|
|
I can tell you, for your eyes will surely fill when you have heard my
|
|
story. Many of those about whom you ask are dead and gone, but many
|
|
still remain, and only two of the chief men among the Achaeans
|
|
perished during their return home. As for what happened on the field of
|
|
battle--you were there yourself. A third Achaean leader is still at sea,
|
|
alive, but hindered from returning. Ajax was wrecked, for Neptune drove
|
|
him on to the great rocks of Gyrae; nevertheless, he let him get safe
|
|
out of the water, and in spite of all Minerva's hatred he would have
|
|
escaped death, if he had not ruined himself by boasting. He said the
|
|
gods could not drown him even though they had tried to do so, and when
|
|
Neptune heard this large talk, he seized his trident in his two brawny
|
|
hands, and split the rock of Gyrae in two pieces. The base remained
|
|
where it was, but the part on which Ajax was sitting fell headlong
|
|
into the sea and carried Ajax with it; so he drank salt water and was
|
|
drowned.
|
|
"'Your brother and his ships escaped, for Juno protected him, but when
|
|
he was just about to reach the high promontory of Malea, he was caught
|
|
by a heavy gale which carried him out to sea again sorely against his
|
|
will, and drove him to the foreland where Thyestes used to dwell, but
|
|
where Aegisthus was then living. By and by, however, it seemed as though
|
|
he was to return safely after all, for the gods backed the wind into its
|
|
old quarter and they reached home; whereon Agamemnon kissed his native
|
|
soil, and shed tears of joy at finding himself in his own country.
|
|
"'Now there was a watchman whom Aegisthus kept always on the watch, and
|
|
to whom he had promised two talents of gold. This man had been looking
|
|
out for a whole year to make sure that Agamemnon did not give him the
|
|
slip and prepare war; when, therefore, this man saw Agamemnon go by,
|
|
he went and told Aegisthus, who at once began to lay a plot for him. He
|
|
picked twenty of his bravest warriors and placed them in ambuscade on
|
|
one side the cloister, while on the opposite side he prepared a banquet.
|
|
Then he sent his chariots and horsemen to Agamemnon, and invited him to
|
|
the feast, but he meant foul play. He got him there, all unsuspicious of
|
|
the doom that was awaiting him, and killed him when the banquet was
|
|
over as though he were butchering an ox in the shambles; not one of
|
|
Agamemnon's followers was left alive, nor yet one of Aegisthus', but
|
|
they were all killed there in the cloisters.'
|
|
"Thus spoke Proteus, and I was broken hearted as I heard him. I sat down
|
|
upon the sands and wept; I felt as though I could no longer bear to live
|
|
nor look upon the light of the sun. Presently, when I had had my fill of
|
|
weeping and writhing upon the ground, the old man of the sea said, 'Son
|
|
of Atreus, do not waste any more time in crying so bitterly; it can
|
|
do no manner of good; find your way home as fast as ever you can,
|
|
for Aegisthus may be still alive, and even though Orestes has been
|
|
beforehand with you in killing him, you may yet come in for his
|
|
funeral.'
|
|
"On this I took comfort in spite of all my sorrow, and said, 'I know,
|
|
then, about these two; tell me, therefore, about the third man of whom
|
|
you spoke; is he still alive, but at sea, and unable to get home? or is
|
|
he dead? Tell me, no matter how much it may grieve me.'
|
|
"'The third man,' he answered, 'is Ulysses who dwells in Ithaca. I
|
|
can see him in an island sorrowing bitterly in the house of the nymph
|
|
Calypso, who is keeping him prisoner, and he cannot reach his home for
|
|
he has no ships nor sailors to take him over the sea. As for your own
|
|
end, Menelaus, you shall not die in Argos, but the gods will take you to
|
|
the Elysian plain, which is at the ends of the world. There fair-haired
|
|
Rhadamanthus reigns, and men lead an easier life than any where else in
|
|
the world, for in Elysium there falls not rain, nor hail, nor snow, but
|
|
Oceanus breathes ever with a West wind that sings softly from the sea,
|
|
and gives fresh life to all men. This will happen to you because you
|
|
have married Helen, and are Jove's son-in-law.'
|
|
"As he spoke he dived under the waves, whereon I turned back to the
|
|
ships with my companions, and my heart was clouded with care as I went
|
|
along. When we reached the ships we got supper ready, for night was
|
|
falling, and camped down upon the beach. When the child of morning,
|
|
rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, we drew our ships into the water, and put
|
|
our masts and sails within them; then we went on board ourselves, took
|
|
our seats on the benches, and smote the grey sea with our oars. I
|
|
again stationed my ships in the heaven-fed stream of Egypt, and offered
|
|
hecatombs that were full and sufficient. When I had thus appeased
|
|
heaven's anger, I raised a barrow to the memory of Agamemnon that his
|
|
name might live for ever, after which I had a quick passage home, for
|
|
the gods sent me a fair wind.
|
|
"And now for yourself--stay here some ten or twelve days longer, and I
|
|
will then speed you on your way. I will make you a noble present of a
|
|
chariot and three horses. I will also give you a beautiful chalice
|
|
that so long as you live you may think of me whenever you make a
|
|
drink-offering to the immortal gods."
|
|
"Son of Atreus," replied Telemachus, "do not press me to stay longer; I
|
|
should be contented to remain with you for another twelve months; I find
|
|
your conversation so delightful that I should never once wish myself at
|
|
home with my parents; but my crew whom I have left at Pylos are already
|
|
impatient, and you are detaining me from them. As for any present you
|
|
may be disposed to make me, I had rather that it should be a piece of
|
|
plate. I will take no horses back with me to Ithaca, but will leave them
|
|
to adorn your own stables, for you have much flat ground in your kingdom
|
|
where lotus thrives, as also meadow-sweet and wheat and barley, and oats
|
|
with their white and spreading ears; whereas in Ithaca we have neither
|
|
open fields nor racecourses, and the country is more fit for goats than
|
|
horses, and I like it the better for that. {48} None of our islands have
|
|
much level ground, suitable for horses, and Ithaca least of all."
|
|
Menelaus smiled and took Telemachus's hand within his own. "What you
|
|
say," said he, "shows that you come of good family. I both can, and
|
|
will, make this exchange for you, by giving you the finest and most
|
|
precious piece of plate in all my house. It is a mixing bowl by Vulcan's
|
|
own hand, of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with gold.
|
|
Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it me in the course of a visit
|
|
which I paid him when I returned thither on my homeward journey. I will
|
|
make you a present of it."
|
|
Thus did they converse [and guests kept coming to the king's house. They
|
|
brought sheep and wine, while their wives had put up bread for them to
|
|
take with them; so they were busy cooking their dinners in the courts].
|
|
{49}
|
|
Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs or aiming with spears at
|
|
a mark on the levelled ground in front of Ulysses' house, and were
|
|
behaving with all their old insolence. Antinous and Eurymachus, who were
|
|
their ringleaders and much the foremost among them all, were sitting
|
|
together when Noemon son of Phronius came up and said to Antinous,
|
|
"Have we any idea, Antinous, on what day Telemachus returns from Pylos?
|
|
He has a ship of mine, and I want it, to cross over to Elis: I have
|
|
twelve brood mares there with yearling mule foals by their side not yet
|
|
broken in, and I want to bring one of them over here and break him."
|
|
They were astounded when they heard this, for they had made sure that
|
|
Telemachus had not gone to the city of Neleus. They thought he was
|
|
only away somewhere on the farms, and was with the sheep, or with the
|
|
swineherd; so Antinous said, "When did he go? Tell me truly, and
|
|
what young men did he take with him? Were they freemen or his own
|
|
bondsmen--for he might manage that too? Tell me also, did you let him
|
|
have the ship of your own free will because he asked you, or did he take
|
|
it without your leave?"
|
|
"I lent it him," answered Noemon, "what else could I do when a man of
|
|
his position said he was in a difficulty, and asked me to oblige him? I
|
|
could not possibly refuse. As for those who went with him they were the
|
|
best young men we have, and I saw Mentor go on board as captain--or some
|
|
god who was exactly like him. I cannot understand it, for I saw Mentor
|
|
here myself yesterday morning, and yet he was then setting out for
|
|
Pylos."
|
|
Noemon then went back to his father's house, but Antinous and Eurymachus
|
|
were very angry. They told the others to leave off playing, and to come
|
|
and sit down along with themselves. When they came, Antinous son of
|
|
Eupeithes spoke in anger. His heart was black with rage, and his eyes
|
|
flashed fire as he said:
|
|
"Good heavens, this voyage of Telemachus is a very serious matter; we
|
|
had made sure that it would come to nothing, but the young fellow has
|
|
got away in spite of us, and with a picked crew too. He will be giving
|
|
us trouble presently; may Jove take him before he is full grown. Find me
|
|
a ship, therefore, with a crew of twenty men, and I will lie in wait for
|
|
him in the straits between Ithaca and Samos; he will then rue the day
|
|
that he set out to try and get news of his father."
|
|
Thus did he speak, and the others applauded his saying; they then all of
|
|
them went inside the buildings.
|
|
It was not long ere Penelope came to know what the suitors were
|
|
plotting; for a man servant, Medon, overheard them from outside the
|
|
outer court as they were laying their schemes within, and went to tell
|
|
his mistress. As he crossed the threshold of her room Penelope said:
|
|
"Medon, what have the suitors sent you here for? Is it to tell the maids
|
|
to leave their master's business and cook dinner for them? I wish they
|
|
may neither woo nor dine henceforward, neither here nor anywhere else,
|
|
but let this be the very last time, for the waste you all make of my
|
|
son's estate. Did not your fathers tell you when you were children, how
|
|
good Ulysses had been to them--never doing anything high-handed, nor
|
|
speaking harshly to anybody? Kings may say things sometimes, and they
|
|
may take a fancy to one man and dislike another, but Ulysses never did
|
|
an unjust thing by anybody--which shows what bad hearts you have, and
|
|
that there is no such thing as gratitude left in this world."
|
|
Then Medon said, "I wish, Madam, that this were all; but they are
|
|
plotting something much more dreadful now--may heaven frustrate their
|
|
design. They are going to try and murder Telemachus as he is coming home
|
|
from Pylos and Lacedaemon, where he has been to get news of his father."
|
|
Then Penelope's heart sank within her, and for a long time she was
|
|
speechless; her eyes filled with tears, and she could find no utterance.
|
|
At last, however, she said, "Why did my son leave me? What business had
|
|
he to go sailing off in ships that make long voyages over the ocean like
|
|
sea-horses? Does he want to die without leaving any one behind him to
|
|
keep up his name?"
|
|
"I do not know," answered Medon, "whether some god set him on to it, or
|
|
whether he went on his own impulse to see if he could find out if his
|
|
father was dead, or alive and on his way home."
|
|
Then he went downstairs again, leaving Penelope in an agony of grief.
|
|
There were plenty of seats in the house, but she had no heart for
|
|
sitting on any one of them; she could only fling herself on the floor of
|
|
her own room and cry; whereon all the maids in the house, both old
|
|
and young, gathered round her and began to cry too, till at last in a
|
|
transport of sorrow she exclaimed,
|
|
"My dears, heaven has been pleased to try me with more affliction
|
|
than any other woman of my age and country. First I lost my brave and
|
|
lion-hearted husband, who had every good quality under heaven, and whose
|
|
name was great over all Hellas and middle Argos, and now my darling son
|
|
is at the mercy of the winds and waves, without my having heard one word
|
|
about his leaving home. You hussies, there was not one of you would so
|
|
much as think of giving me a call out of my bed, though you all of you
|
|
very well knew when he was starting. If I had known he meant taking this
|
|
voyage, he would have had to give it up, no matter how much he was bent
|
|
upon it, or leave me a corpse behind him--one or other. Now, however,
|
|
go some of you and call old Dolius, who was given me by my father on my
|
|
marriage, and who is my gardener. Bid him go at once and tell everything
|
|
to Laertes, who may be able to hit on some plan for enlisting public
|
|
sympathy on our side, as against those who are trying to exterminate his
|
|
own race and that of Ulysses."
|
|
Then the dear old nurse Euryclea said, "You may kill me, Madam, or let
|
|
me live on in your house, whichever you please, but I will tell you the
|
|
real truth. I knew all about it, and gave him everything he wanted in
|
|
the way of bread and wine, but he made me take my solemn oath that I
|
|
would not tell you anything for some ten or twelve days, unless you
|
|
asked or happened to hear of his having gone, for he did not want you to
|
|
spoil your beauty by crying. And now, Madam, wash your face, change
|
|
your dress, and go upstairs with your maids to offer prayers to Minerva,
|
|
daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, for she can save him even though he
|
|
be in the jaws of death. Do not trouble Laertes: he has trouble enough
|
|
already. Besides, I cannot think that the gods hate the race of the son
|
|
of Arceisius so much, but there will be a son left to come up after him,
|
|
and inherit both the house and the fair fields that lie far all round
|
|
it."
|
|
With these words she made her mistress leave off crying, and dried the
|
|
tears from her eyes. Penelope washed her face, changed her dress, and
|
|
went upstairs with her maids. She then put some bruised barley into a
|
|
basket and began praying to Minerva.
|
|
"Hear me," she cried, "Daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable. If
|
|
ever Ulysses while he was here burned you fat thigh bones of sheep or
|
|
heifer, bear it in mind now as in my favour, and save my darling son
|
|
from the villainy of the suitors."
|
|
She cried aloud as she spoke, and the goddess heard her prayer;
|
|
meanwhile the suitors were clamorous throughout the covered cloister,
|
|
and one of them said:
|
|
"The queen is preparing for her marriage with one or other of us. Little
|
|
does she dream that her son has now been doomed to die."
|
|
This was what they said, but they did not know what was going to happen.
|
|
Then Antinous said, "Comrades, let there be no loud talking, lest some
|
|
of it get carried inside. Let us be up and do that in silence, about
|
|
which we are all of a mind."
|
|
He then chose twenty men, and they went down to their ship and to the
|
|
sea side; they drew the vessel into the water and got her mast and sails
|
|
inside her; they bound the oars to the thole-pins with twisted thongs
|
|
of leather, all in due course, and spread the white sails aloft, while
|
|
their fine servants brought them their armour. Then they made the ship
|
|
fast a little way out, came on shore again, got their suppers, and
|
|
waited till night should fall.
|
|
But Penelope lay in her own room upstairs unable to eat or drink, and
|
|
wondering whether her brave son would escape, or be overpowered by the
|
|
wicked suitors. Like a lioness caught in the toils with huntsmen hemming
|
|
her in on every side she thought and thought till she sank into a
|
|
slumber, and lay on her bed bereft of thought and motion.
|
|
Then Minerva bethought her of another matter, and made a vision in
|
|
the likeness of Penelope's sister Iphthime daughter of Icarius who had
|
|
married Eumelus and lived in Pherae. She told the vision to go to the
|
|
house of Ulysses, and to make Penelope leave off crying, so it came into
|
|
her room by the hole through which the thong went for pulling the door
|
|
to, and hovered over her head saying,
|
|
"You are asleep, Penelope: the gods who live at ease will not suffer you
|
|
to weep and be so sad. Your son has done them no wrong, so he will yet
|
|
come back to you."
|
|
Penelope, who was sleeping sweetly at the gates of dreamland, answered,
|
|
"Sister, why have you come here? You do not come very often, but I
|
|
suppose that is because you live such a long way off. Am I, then, to
|
|
leave off crying and refrain from all the sad thoughts that torture me?
|
|
I, who have lost my brave and lion-hearted husband, who had every good
|
|
quality under heaven, and whose name was great over all Hellas and
|
|
middle Argos; and now my darling son has gone off on board of a ship--a
|
|
foolish fellow who has never been used to roughing it, nor to going
|
|
about among gatherings of men. I am even more anxious about him than
|
|
about my husband; I am all in a tremble when I think of him, lest
|
|
something should happen to him, either from the people among whom he has
|
|
gone, or by sea, for he has many enemies who are plotting against him,
|
|
and are bent on killing him before he can return home."
|
|
Then the vision said, "Take heart, and be not so much dismayed. There is
|
|
one gone with him whom many a man would be glad enough to have stand by
|
|
his side, I mean Minerva; it is she who has compassion upon you, and who
|
|
has sent me to bear you this message."
|
|
"Then," said Penelope, "if you are a god or have been sent here by
|
|
divine commission, tell me also about that other unhappy one--is he
|
|
still alive, or is he already dead and in the house of Hades?"
|
|
And the vision said, "I shall not tell you for certain whether he is
|
|
alive or dead, and there is no use in idle conversation."
|
|
Then it vanished through the thong-hole of the door and was dissipated
|
|
into thin air; but Penelope rose from her sleep refreshed and comforted,
|
|
so vivid had been her dream.
|
|
Meantime the suitors went on board and sailed their ways over the
|
|
sea, intent on murdering Telemachus. Now there is a rocky islet called
|
|
Asteris, of no great size, in mid channel between Ithaca and Samos, and
|
|
there is a harbour on either side of it where a ship can lie. Here then
|
|
the Achaeans placed themselves in ambush.
|
|
Book V
|
|
CALYPSO--ULYSSES REACHES SCHERIA ON A RAFT.
|
|
And now, as Dawn rose from her couch beside Tithonus--harbinger of light
|
|
alike to mortals and immortals--the gods met in council and with them,
|
|
Jove the lord of thunder, who is their king. Thereon Minerva began to
|
|
tell them of the many sufferings of Ulysses, for she pitied him away
|
|
there in the house of the nymph Calypso.
|
|
"Father Jove," said she, "and all you other gods that live in
|
|
everlasting bliss, I hope there may never be such a thing as a kind and
|
|
well-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern equitably. I hope
|
|
they will be all henceforth cruel and unjust, for there is not one of
|
|
his subjects but has forgotten Ulysses, who ruled them as though he were
|
|
their father. There he is, lying in great pain in an island where dwells
|
|
the nymph Calypso, who will not let him go; and he cannot get back to
|
|
his own country, for he can find neither ships nor sailors to take him
|
|
over the sea. Furthermore, wicked people are now trying to murder his
|
|
only son Telemachus, who is coming home from Pylos and Lacedaemon, where
|
|
he has been to see if he can get news of his father."
|
|
"What, my dear, are you talking about?" replied her father, "did you not
|
|
send him there yourself, because you thought it would help Ulysses to
|
|
get home and punish the suitors? Besides, you are perfectly able to
|
|
protect Telemachus, and to see him safely home again, while the suitors
|
|
have to come hurry-skurrying back without having killed him."
|
|
When he had thus spoken, he said to his son Mercury, "Mercury, you are
|
|
our messenger, go therefore and tell Calypso we have decreed that poor
|
|
Ulysses is to return home. He is to be convoyed neither by gods nor men,
|
|
but after a perilous voyage of twenty days upon a raft he is to reach
|
|
fertile Scheria, {50} the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to
|
|
the gods, and will honour him as though he were one of ourselves. They
|
|
will send him in a ship to his own country, and will give him more
|
|
bronze and gold and raiment than he would have brought back from Troy,
|
|
if he had had all his prize money and had got home without disaster.
|
|
This is how we have settled that he shall return to his country and his
|
|
friends."
|
|
Thus he spoke, and Mercury, guide and guardian, slayer of Argus, did as
|
|
he was told. Forthwith he bound on his glittering golden sandals with
|
|
which he could fly like the wind over land and sea. He took the wand
|
|
with which he seals men's eyes in sleep or wakes them just as he
|
|
pleases, and flew holding it in his hand over Pieria; then he swooped
|
|
down through the firmament till he reached the level of the sea, whose
|
|
waves he skimmed like a cormorant that flies fishing every hole and
|
|
corner of the ocean, and drenching its thick plumage in the spray. He
|
|
flew and flew over many a weary wave, but when at last he got to the
|
|
island which was his journey's end, he left the sea and went on by land
|
|
till he came to the cave where the nymph Calypso lived.
|
|
He found her at home. There was a large fire burning on the hearth, and
|
|
one could smell from far the fragrant reek of burning cedar and sandal
|
|
wood. As for herself, she was busy at her loom, shooting her golden
|
|
shuttle through the warp and singing beautifully. Round her cave there
|
|
was a thick wood of alder, poplar, and sweet smelling cypress trees,
|
|
wherein all kinds of great birds had built their nests--owls, hawks, and
|
|
chattering sea-crows that occupy their business in the waters. A vine
|
|
loaded with grapes was trained and grew luxuriantly about the mouth of
|
|
the cave; there were also four running rills of water in channels cut
|
|
pretty close together, and turned hither and thither so as to irrigate
|
|
the beds of violets and luscious herbage over which they flowed. {51}
|
|
Even a god could not help being charmed with such a lovely spot,
|
|
so Mercury stood still and looked at it; but when he had admired it
|
|
sufficiently he went inside the cave.
|
|
Calypso knew him at once--for the gods all know each other, no matter
|
|
how far they live from one another--but Ulysses was not within; he was
|
|
on the sea-shore as usual, looking out upon the barren ocean with tears
|
|
in his eyes, groaning and breaking his heart for sorrow. Calypso
|
|
gave Mercury a seat and said: "Why have you come to see me,
|
|
Mercury--honoured, and ever welcome--for you do not visit me often? Say
|
|
what you want; I will do it for you at once if I can, and if it can be
|
|
done at all; but come inside, and let me set refreshment before you."
|
|
As she spoke she drew a table loaded with ambrosia beside him and mixed
|
|
him some red nectar, so Mercury ate and drank till he had had enough,
|
|
and then said:
|
|
"We are speaking god and goddess to one another, and you ask me why I
|
|
have come here, and I will tell you truly as you would have me do. Jove
|
|
sent me; it was no doing of mine; who could possibly want to come all
|
|
this way over the sea where there are no cities full of people to offer
|
|
me sacrifices or choice hecatombs? Nevertheless I had to come, for none
|
|
of us other gods can cross Jove, nor transgress his orders. He says that
|
|
you have here the most ill-starred of all those who fought nine years
|
|
before the city of King Priam and sailed home in the tenth year after
|
|
having sacked it. On their way home they sinned against Minerva, {52}
|
|
who raised both wind and waves against them, so that all his brave
|
|
companions perished, and he alone was carried hither by wind and tide.
|
|
Jove says that you are to let this man go at once, for it is decreed
|
|
that he shall not perish here, far from his own people, but shall return
|
|
to his house and country and see his friends again."
|
|
Calypso trembled with rage when she heard this, "You gods," she
|
|
exclaimed, "ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You are always jealous
|
|
and hate seeing a goddess take a fancy to a mortal man, and live with
|
|
him in open matrimony. So when rosy-fingered Dawn made love to Orion,
|
|
you precious gods were all of you furious till Diana went and killed him
|
|
in Ortygia. So again when Ceres fell in love with Iasion, and yielded to
|
|
him in a thrice-ploughed fallow field, Jove came to hear of it before so
|
|
very long and killed Iasion with his thunderbolts. And now you are angry
|
|
with me too because I have a man here. I found the poor creature sitting
|
|
all alone astride of a keel, for Jove had struck his ship with lightning
|
|
and sunk it in mid ocean, so that all his crew were drowned, while he
|
|
himself was driven by wind and waves on to my island. I got fond of him
|
|
and cherished him, and had set my heart on making him immortal, so that
|
|
he should never grow old all his days; still I cannot cross Jove, nor
|
|
bring his counsels to nothing; therefore, if he insists upon it, let the
|
|
man go beyond the seas again; but I cannot send him anywhere myself
|
|
for I have neither ships nor men who can take him. Nevertheless I will
|
|
readily give him such advice, in all good faith, as will be likely to
|
|
bring him safely to his own country."
|
|
"Then send him away," said Mercury, "or Jove will be angry with you and
|
|
punish you".
|
|
On this he took his leave, and Calypso went out to look for Ulysses, for
|
|
she had heard Jove's message. She found him sitting upon the beach with
|
|
his eyes ever filled with tears, and dying of sheer home sickness; for
|
|
he had got tired of Calypso, and though he was forced to sleep with her
|
|
in the cave by night, it was she, not he, that would have it so. As for
|
|
the day time, he spent it on the rocks and on the sea shore, weeping,
|
|
crying aloud for his despair, and always looking out upon the sea.
|
|
Calypso then went close up to him said:
|
|
"My poor fellow, you shall not stay here grieving and fretting your life
|
|
out any longer. I am going to send you away of my own free will; so go,
|
|
cut some beams of wood, and make yourself a large raft with an upper
|
|
deck that it may carry you safely over the sea. I will put bread, wine,
|
|
and water on board to save you from starving. I will also give you
|
|
clothes, and will send you a fair wind to take you home, if the gods in
|
|
heaven so will it--for they know more about these things, and can settle
|
|
them better than I can."
|
|
Ulysses shuddered as he heard her. "Now goddess," he answered, "there is
|
|
something behind all this; you cannot be really meaning to help me home
|
|
when you bid me do such a dreadful thing as put to sea on a raft. Not
|
|
even a well found ship with a fair wind could venture on such a distant
|
|
voyage: nothing that you can say or do shall make me go on board a raft
|
|
unless you first solemnly swear that you mean me no mischief."
|
|
Calypso smiled at this and caressed him with her hand: "You know a great
|
|
deal," said she, "but you are quite wrong here. May heaven above and
|
|
earth below be my witnesses, with the waters of the river Styx--and this
|
|
is the most solemn oath which a blessed god can take--that I mean you
|
|
no sort of harm, and am only advising you to do exactly what I should do
|
|
myself in your place. I am dealing with you quite straightforwardly; my
|
|
heart is not made of iron, and I am very sorry for you."
|
|
When she had thus spoken she led the way rapidly before him, and Ulysses
|
|
followed in her steps; so the pair, goddess and man, went on and on till
|
|
they came to Calypso's cave, where Ulysses took the seat that Mercury
|
|
had just left. Calypso set meat and drink before him of the food that
|
|
mortals eat; but her maids brought ambrosia and nectar for herself, and
|
|
they laid their hands on the good things that were before them. When
|
|
they had satisfied themselves with meat and drink, Calypso spoke,
|
|
saying:
|
|
"Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, so you would start home to your own
|
|
land at once? Good luck go with you, but if you could only know how much
|
|
suffering is in store for you before you get back to your own country,
|
|
you would stay where you are, keep house along with me, and let me
|
|
make you immortal, no matter how anxious you may be to see this wife
|
|
of yours, of whom you are thinking all the time day after day; yet I
|
|
flatter myself that I am no whit less tall or well-looking than she
|
|
is, for it is not to be expected that a mortal woman should compare in
|
|
beauty with an immortal."
|
|
"Goddess," replied Ulysses, "do not be angry with me about this. I
|
|
am quite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so
|
|
beautiful as yourself. She is only a woman, whereas you are an immortal.
|
|
Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing else. If some
|
|
god wrecks me when I am on the sea, I will bear it and make the best
|
|
of it. I have had infinite trouble both by land and sea already, so let
|
|
this go with the rest."
|
|
Presently the sun set and it became dark, whereon the pair retired into
|
|
the inner part of the cave and went to bed.
|
|
When the child of morning rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, Ulysses put on
|
|
his shirt and cloak, while the goddess wore a dress of a light gossamer
|
|
fabric, very fine and graceful, with a beautiful golden girdle about her
|
|
waist and a veil to cover her head. She at once set herself to think how
|
|
she could speed Ulysses on his way. So she gave him a great bronze
|
|
axe that suited his hands; it was sharpened on both sides, and had a
|
|
beautiful olive-wood handle fitted firmly on to it. She also gave him a
|
|
sharp adze, and then led the way to the far end of the island where the
|
|
largest trees grew--alder, poplar and pine, that reached the sky--very
|
|
dry and well seasoned, so as to sail light for him in the water. {53}
|
|
Then, when she had shown him where the best trees grew, Calypso went
|
|
home, leaving him to cut them, which he soon finished doing. He cut down
|
|
twenty trees in all and adzed them smooth, squaring them by rule in good
|
|
workmanlike fashion. Meanwhile Calypso came back with some augers, so
|
|
he bored holes with them and fitted the timbers together with bolts and
|
|
rivets. He made the raft as broad as a skilled shipwright makes the beam
|
|
of a large vessel, and he fixed a deck on top of the ribs, and ran a
|
|
gunwale all round it. He also made a mast with a yard arm, and a rudder
|
|
to steer with. He fenced the raft all round with wicker hurdles as a
|
|
protection against the waves, and then he threw on a quantity of wood.
|
|
By and by Calypso brought him some linen to make the sails, and he made
|
|
these too, excellently, making them fast with braces and sheets. Last of
|
|
all, with the help of levers, he drew the raft down into the water.
|
|
In four days he had completed the whole work, and on the fifth Calypso
|
|
sent him from the island after washing him and giving him some clean
|
|
clothes. She gave him a goat skin full of black wine, and another larger
|
|
one of water; she also gave him a wallet full of provisions, and found
|
|
him in much good meat. Moreover, she made the wind fair and warm for
|
|
him, and gladly did Ulysses spread his sail before it, while he sat and
|
|
guided the raft skilfully by means of the rudder. He never closed his
|
|
eyes, but kept them fixed on the Pleiads, on late-setting Bootes, and on
|
|
the Bear--which men also call the wain, and which turns round and round
|
|
where it is, facing Orion, and alone never dipping into the stream of
|
|
Oceanus--for Calypso had told him to keep this to his left. Days seven
|
|
and ten did he sail over the sea, and on the eighteenth the dim outlines
|
|
of the mountains on the nearest part of the Phaeacian coast appeared,
|
|
rising like a shield on the horizon.
|
|
But King Neptune, who was returning from the Ethiopians, caught sight of
|
|
Ulysses a long way off, from the mountains of the Solymi. He could see
|
|
him sailing upon the sea, and it made him very angry, so he wagged his
|
|
head and muttered to himself, saying, "Good heavens, so the gods have
|
|
been changing their minds about Ulysses while I was away in Ethiopia,
|
|
and now he is close to the land of the Phaeacians, where it is decreed
|
|
that he shall escape from the calamities that have befallen him. Still,
|
|
he shall have plenty of hardship yet before he has done with it."
|
|
Thereon he gathered his clouds together, grasped his trident, stirred
|
|
it round in the sea, and roused the rage of every wind that blows till
|
|
earth, sea, and sky were hidden in cloud, and night sprang forth out of
|
|
the heavens. Winds from East, South, North, and West fell upon him all
|
|
at the same time, and a tremendous sea got up, so that Ulysses' heart
|
|
began to fail him. "Alas," he said to himself in his dismay, "what ever
|
|
will become of me? I am afraid Calypso was right when she said I should
|
|
have trouble by sea before I got back home. It is all coming true. How
|
|
black is Jove making heaven with his clouds, and what a sea the winds
|
|
are raising from every quarter at once. I am now safe to perish. Blest
|
|
and thrice blest were those Danaans who fell before Troy in the cause
|
|
of the sons of Atreus. Would that I had been killed on the day when the
|
|
Trojans were pressing me so sorely about the dead body of Achilles, for
|
|
then I should have had due burial and the Achaeans would have honoured
|
|
my name; but now it seems that I shall come to a most pitiable end."
|
|
As he spoke a sea broke over him with such terrific fury that the raft
|
|
reeled again, and he was carried overboard a long way off. He let go the
|
|
helm, and the force of the hurricane was so great that it broke the mast
|
|
half way up, and both sail and yard went over into the sea. For a long
|
|
time Ulysses was under water, and it was all he could do to rise to the
|
|
surface again, for the clothes Calypso had given him weighed him down;
|
|
but at last he got his head above water and spat out the bitter brine
|
|
that was running down his face in streams. In spite of all this,
|
|
however, he did not lose sight of his raft, but swam as fast as he could
|
|
towards it, got hold of it, and climbed on board again so as to escape
|
|
drowning. The sea took the raft and tossed it about as Autumn winds
|
|
whirl thistledown round and round upon a road. It was as though the
|
|
South, North, East, and West winds were all playing battledore and
|
|
shuttlecock with it at once.
|
|
When he was in this plight, Ino daughter of Cadmus, also called
|
|
Leucothea, saw him. She had formerly been a mere mortal, but had been
|
|
since raised to the rank of a marine goddess. Seeing in what great
|
|
distress Ulysses now was, she had compassion upon him, and, rising like
|
|
a sea-gull from the waves, took her seat upon the raft.
|
|
"My poor good man," said she, "why is Neptune so furiously angry with
|
|
you? He is giving you a great deal of trouble, but for all his bluster
|
|
he will not kill you. You seem to be a sensible person, do then as I bid
|
|
you; strip, leave your raft to drive before the wind, and swim to the
|
|
Phaeacian coast where better luck awaits you. And here, take my veil and
|
|
put it round your chest; it is enchanted, and you can come to no harm
|
|
so long as you wear it. As soon as you touch land take it off, throw it
|
|
back as far as you can into the sea, and then go away again." With these
|
|
words she took off her veil and gave it him. Then she dived down again
|
|
like a sea-gull and vanished beneath the dark blue waters.
|
|
But Ulysses did not know what to think. "Alas," he said to himself in
|
|
his dismay, "this is only some one or other of the gods who is luring me
|
|
to ruin by advising me to quit my raft. At any rate I will not do so at
|
|
present, for the land where she said I should be quit of all troubles
|
|
seemed to be still a good way off. I know what I will do--I am sure it
|
|
will be best--no matter what happens I will stick to the raft as long
|
|
as her timbers hold together, but when the sea breaks her up I will swim
|
|
for it; I do not see how I can do any better than this."
|
|
While he was thus in two minds, Neptune sent a terrible great wave that
|
|
seemed to rear itself above his head till it broke right over the raft,
|
|
which then went to pieces as though it were a heap of dry chaff tossed
|
|
about by a whirlwind. Ulysses got astride of one plank and rode upon
|
|
it as if he were on horseback; he then took off the clothes Calypso
|
|
had given him, bound Ino's veil under his arms, and plunged into the
|
|
sea--meaning to swim on shore. King Neptune watched him as he did so,
|
|
and wagged his head, muttering to himself and saying, "There now, swim
|
|
up and down as you best can till you fall in with well-to-do people.
|
|
I do not think you will be able to say that I have let you off too
|
|
lightly." On this he lashed his horses and drove to Aegae where his
|
|
palace is.
|
|
But Minerva resolved to help Ulysses, so she bound the ways of all the
|
|
winds except one, and made them lie quite still; but she roused a good
|
|
stiff breeze from the North that should lay the waters till Ulysses
|
|
reached the land of the Phaeacians where he would be safe.
|
|
Thereon he floated about for two nights and two days in the water, with
|
|
a heavy swell on the sea and death staring him in the face; but when the
|
|
third day broke, the wind fell and there was a dead calm without so much
|
|
as a breath of air stirring. As he rose on the swell he looked eagerly
|
|
ahead, and could see land quite near. Then, as children rejoice when
|
|
their dear father begins to get better after having for a long time
|
|
borne sore affliction sent him by some angry spirit, but the gods
|
|
deliver him from evil, so was Ulysses thankful when he again saw land
|
|
and trees, and swam on with all his strength that he might once more set
|
|
foot upon dry ground. When, however, he got within earshot, he began to
|
|
hear the surf thundering up against the rocks, for the swell still broke
|
|
against them with a terrific roar. Everything was enveloped in spray;
|
|
there were no harbours where a ship might ride, nor shelter of any kind,
|
|
but only headlands, low-lying rocks, and mountain tops.
|
|
Ulysses' heart now began to fail him, and he said despairingly to
|
|
himself, "Alas, Jove has let me see land after swimming so far that I
|
|
had given up all hope, but I can find no landing place, for the coast is
|
|
rocky and surf-beaten, the rocks are smooth and rise sheer from the sea,
|
|
with deep water close under them so that I cannot climb out for want of
|
|
foot hold. I am afraid some great wave will lift me off my legs and dash
|
|
me against the rocks as I leave the water--which would give me a
|
|
sorry landing. If, on the other hand, I swim further in search of some
|
|
shelving beach or harbour, a hurricane may carry me out to sea again
|
|
sorely against my will, or heaven may send some great monster of the
|
|
deep to attack me; for Amphitrite breeds many such, and I know that
|
|
Neptune is very angry with me."
|
|
While he was thus in two minds a wave caught him and took him with such
|
|
force against the rocks that he would have been smashed and torn to
|
|
pieces if Minerva had not shown him what to do. He caught hold of the
|
|
rock with both hands and clung to it groaning with pain till the wave
|
|
retired, so he was saved that time; but presently the wave came on again
|
|
and carried him back with it far into the sea--tearing his hands as the
|
|
suckers of a polypus are torn when some one plucks it from its bed, and
|
|
the stones come up along with it--even so did the rocks tear the skin
|
|
from his strong hands, and then the wave drew him deep down under the
|
|
water.
|
|
Here poor Ulysses would have certainly perished even in spite of his own
|
|
destiny, if Minerva had not helped him to keep his wits about him. He
|
|
swam seaward again, beyond reach of the surf that was beating against
|
|
the land, and at the same time he kept looking towards the shore to
|
|
see if he could find some haven, or a spit that should take the waves
|
|
aslant. By and by, as he swam on, he came to the mouth of a river, and
|
|
here he thought would be the best place, for there were no rocks, and it
|
|
afforded shelter from the wind. He felt that there was a current, so he
|
|
prayed inwardly and said:
|
|
"Hear me, O King, whoever you may be, and save me from the anger of the
|
|
sea-god Neptune, for I approach you prayerfully. Any one who has lost
|
|
his way has at all times a claim even upon the gods, wherefore in my
|
|
distress I draw near to your stream, and cling to the knees of your
|
|
riverhood. Have mercy upon me, O king, for I declare myself your
|
|
suppliant."
|
|
Then the god staid his stream and stilled the waves, making all calm
|
|
before him, and bringing him safely into the mouth of the river. Here
|
|
at last Ulysses' knees and strong hands failed him, for the sea had
|
|
completely broken him. His body was all swollen, and his mouth and
|
|
nostrils ran down like a river with sea-water, so that he could neither
|
|
breathe nor speak, and lay swooning from sheer exhaustion; presently,
|
|
when he had got his breath and came to himself again, he took off the
|
|
scarf that Ino had given him and threw it back into the salt {54} stream
|
|
of the river, whereon Ino received it into her hands from the wave that
|
|
bore it towards her. Then he left the river, laid himself down among the
|
|
rushes, and kissed the bounteous earth.
|
|
"Alas," he cried to himself in his dismay, "what ever will become of me,
|
|
and how is it all to end? If I stay here upon the river bed through the
|
|
long watches of the night, I am so exhausted that the bitter cold and
|
|
damp may make an end of me--for towards sunrise there will be a keen
|
|
wind blowing from off the river. If, on the other hand, I climb the hill
|
|
side, find shelter in the woods, and sleep in some thicket, I may escape
|
|
the cold and have a good night's rest, but some savage beast may take
|
|
advantage of me and devour me."
|
|
In the end he deemed it best to take to the woods, and he found one
|
|
upon some high ground not far from the water. There he crept beneath
|
|
two shoots of olive that grew from a single stock--the one an ungrafted
|
|
sucker, while the other had been grafted. No wind, however squally,
|
|
could break through the cover they afforded, nor could the sun's rays
|
|
pierce them, nor the rain get through them, so closely did they grow
|
|
into one another. Ulysses crept under these and began to make himself
|
|
a bed to lie on, for there was a great litter of dead leaves lying
|
|
about--enough to make a covering for two or three men even in hard
|
|
winter weather. He was glad enough to see this, so he laid himself down
|
|
and heaped the leaves all round him. Then, as one who lives alone in the
|
|
country, far from any neighbor, hides a brand as fire-seed in the
|
|
ashes to save himself from having to get a light elsewhere, even so did
|
|
Ulysses cover himself up with leaves; and Minerva shed a sweet sleep
|
|
upon his eyes, closed his eyelids, and made him lose all memories of his
|
|
sorrows.
|
|
Book VI
|
|
THE MEETING BETWEEN NAUSICAA AND ULYSSES.
|
|
So here Ulysses slept, overcome by sleep and toil; but Minerva went off
|
|
to the country and city of the Phaeacians--a people who used to live in
|
|
the fair town of Hypereia, near the lawless Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes
|
|
were stronger than they and plundered them, so their king Nausithous
|
|
moved them thence and settled them in Scheria, far from all other
|
|
people. He surrounded the city with a wall, built houses and temples,
|
|
and divided the lands among his people; but he was dead and gone to
|
|
the house of Hades, and King Alcinous, whose counsels were inspired
|
|
of heaven, was now reigning. To his house, then, did Minerva hie in
|
|
furtherance of the return of Ulysses.
|
|
She went straight to the beautifully decorated bedroom in which there
|
|
slept a girl who was as lovely as a goddess, Nausicaa, daughter to King
|
|
Alcinous. Two maid servants were sleeping near her, both very pretty,
|
|
one on either side of the doorway, which was closed with well made
|
|
folding doors. Minerva took the form of the famous sea captain Dymas's
|
|
daughter, who was a bosom friend of Nausicaa and just her own age; then,
|
|
coming up to the girl's bedside like a breath of wind, she hovered over
|
|
her head and said:
|
|
"Nausicaa, what can your mother have been about, to have such a lazy
|
|
daughter? Here are your clothes all lying in disorder, yet you are going
|
|
to be married almost immediately, and should not only be well dressed
|
|
yourself, but should find good clothes for those who attend you. This is
|
|
the way to get yourself a good name, and to make your father and mother
|
|
proud of you. Suppose, then, that we make tomorrow a washing day,
|
|
and start at daybreak. I will come and help you so that you may have
|
|
everything ready as soon as possible, for all the best young men among
|
|
your own people are courting you, and you are not going to remain a
|
|
maid much longer. Ask your father, therefore, to have a waggon and mules
|
|
ready for us at daybreak, to take the rugs, robes, and girdles, and you
|
|
can ride, too, which will be much pleasanter for you than walking, for
|
|
the washing-cisterns are some way from the town."
|
|
When she had said this Minerva went away to Olympus, which they say
|
|
is the everlasting home of the gods. Here no wind beats roughly, and
|
|
neither rain nor snow can fall; but it abides in everlasting sunshine
|
|
and in a great peacefulness of light, wherein the blessed gods are
|
|
illumined for ever and ever. This was the place to which the goddess
|
|
went when she had given instructions to the girl.
|
|
By and by morning came and woke Nausicaa, who began wondering about
|
|
her dream; she therefore went to the other end of the house to tell her
|
|
father and mother all about it, and found them in their own room. Her
|
|
mother was sitting by the fireside spinning her purple yarn with her
|
|
maids around her, and she happened to catch her father just as he was
|
|
going out to attend a meeting of the town council, which the Phaeacian
|
|
aldermen had convened. She stopped him and said:
|
|
"Papa dear, could you manage to let me have a good big waggon? I want to
|
|
take all our dirty clothes to the river and wash them. You are the chief
|
|
man here, so it is only right that you should have a clean shirt when
|
|
you attend meetings of the council. Moreover, you have five sons at
|
|
home, two of them married, while the other three are good looking
|
|
bachelors; you know they always like to have clean linen when they go to
|
|
a dance, and I have been thinking about all this."
|
|
She did not say a word about her own wedding, for she did not like to,
|
|
but her father knew and said, "You shall have the mules, my love, and
|
|
whatever else you have a mind for. Be off with you, and the men shall
|
|
get you a good strong waggon with a body to it that will hold all your
|
|
clothes."
|
|
On this he gave his orders to the servants, who got the waggon out,
|
|
harnessed the mules, and put them to, while the girl brought the clothes
|
|
down from the linen room and placed them on the waggon. Her mother
|
|
prepared her a basket of provisions with all sorts of good things, and a
|
|
goat skin full of wine; the girl now got into the waggon, and her mother
|
|
gave her also a golden cruse of oil, that she and her women might anoint
|
|
themselves. Then she took the whip and reins and lashed the mules on,
|
|
whereon they set off, and their hoofs clattered on the road. They pulled
|
|
without flagging, and carried not only Nausicaa and her wash of clothes,
|
|
but the maids also who were with her.
|
|
When they reached the water side they went to the washing cisterns,
|
|
through which there ran at all times enough pure water to wash any
|
|
quantity of linen, no matter how dirty. Here they unharnessed the mules
|
|
and turned them out to feed on the sweet juicy herbage that grew by the
|
|
water side. They took the clothes out of the waggon, put them in the
|
|
water, and vied with one another in treading them in the pits to get the
|
|
dirt out. After they had washed them and got them quite clean, they laid
|
|
them out by the sea side, where the waves had raised a high beach of
|
|
shingle, and set about washing themselves and anointing themselves with
|
|
olive oil. Then they got their dinner by the side of the stream, and
|
|
waited for the sun to finish drying the clothes. When they had done
|
|
dinner they threw off the veils that covered their heads and began to
|
|
play at ball, while Nausicaa sang for them. As the huntress Diana goes
|
|
forth upon the mountains of Taygetus or Erymanthus to hunt wild boars or
|
|
deer, and the wood nymphs, daughters of Aegis-bearing Jove, take their
|
|
sport along with her (then is Leto proud at seeing her daughter stand a
|
|
full head taller than the others, and eclipse the loveliest amid a whole
|
|
bevy of beauties), even so did the girl outshine her handmaids.
|
|
When it was time for them to start home, and they were folding the
|
|
clothes and putting them into the waggon, Minerva began to consider how
|
|
Ulysses should wake up and see the handsome girl who was to conduct him
|
|
to the city of the Phaeacians. The girl, therefore, threw a ball at one
|
|
of the maids, which missed her and fell into deep water. On this they
|
|
all shouted, and the noise they made woke Ulysses, who sat up in his bed
|
|
of leaves and began to wonder what it might all be.
|
|
"Alas," said he to himself, "what kind of people have I come amongst?
|
|
Are they cruel, savage, and uncivilised, or hospitable and humane? I
|
|
seem to hear the voices of young women, and they sound like those of
|
|
the nymphs that haunt mountain tops, or springs of rivers and meadows of
|
|
green grass. At any rate I am among a race of men and women. Let me try
|
|
if I cannot manage to get a look at them."
|
|
As he said this he crept from under his bush, and broke off a bough
|
|
covered with thick leaves to hide his nakedness. He looked like some
|
|
lion of the wilderness that stalks about exulting in his strength and
|
|
defying both wind and rain; his eyes glare as he prowls in quest of
|
|
oxen, sheep, or deer, for he is famished, and will dare break even
|
|
into a well fenced homestead, trying to get at the sheep--even such did
|
|
Ulysses seem to the young women, as he drew near to them all naked as he
|
|
was, for he was in great want. On seeing one so unkempt and so begrimed
|
|
with salt water, the others scampered off along the spits that jutted
|
|
out into the sea, but the daughter of Alcinous stood firm, for Minerva
|
|
put courage into her heart and took away all fear from her. She stood
|
|
right in front of Ulysses, and he doubted whether he should go up to
|
|
her, throw himself at her feet, and embrace her knees as a suppliant, or
|
|
stay where he was and entreat her to give him some clothes and show him
|
|
the way to the town. In the end he deemed it best to entreat her from a
|
|
distance in case the girl should take offence at his coming near enough
|
|
to clasp her knees, so he addressed her in honeyed and persuasive
|
|
language.
|
|
"O queen," he said, "I implore your aid--but tell me, are you a goddess
|
|
or are you a mortal woman? If you are a goddess and dwell in heaven, I
|
|
can only conjecture that you are Jove's daughter Diana, for your face
|
|
and figure resemble none but hers; if on the other hand you are a mortal
|
|
and live on earth, thrice happy are your father and mother--thrice
|
|
happy, too, are your brothers and sisters; how proud and delighted
|
|
they must feel when they see so fair a scion as yourself going out to a
|
|
dance; most happy, however, of all will he be whose wedding gifts have
|
|
been the richest, and who takes you to his own home. I never yet saw any
|
|
one so beautiful, neither man nor woman, and am lost in admiration as I
|
|
behold you. I can only compare you to a young palm tree which I saw when
|
|
I was at Delos growing near the altar of Apollo--for I was there, too,
|
|
with much people after me, when I was on that journey which has been the
|
|
source of all my troubles. Never yet did such a young plant shoot out
|
|
of the ground as that was, and I admired and wondered at it exactly as I
|
|
now admire and wonder at yourself. I dare not clasp your knees, but I
|
|
am in great distress; yesterday made the twentieth day that I had been
|
|
tossing about upon the sea. The winds and waves have taken me all the
|
|
way from the Ogygian island, {55} and now fate has flung me upon this
|
|
coast that I may endure still further suffering; for I do not think that
|
|
I have yet come to the end of it, but rather that heaven has still much
|
|
evil in store for me.
|
|
"And now, O queen, have pity upon me, for you are the first person I
|
|
have met, and I know no one else in this country. Show me the way to
|
|
your town, and let me have anything that you may have brought hither to
|
|
wrap your clothes in. May heaven grant you in all things your heart's
|
|
desire--husband, house, and a happy, peaceful home; for there is nothing
|
|
better in this world than that man and wife should be of one mind in a
|
|
house. It discomfits their enemies, makes the hearts of their friends
|
|
glad, and they themselves know more about it than any one."
|
|
To this Nausicaa answered, "Stranger, you appear to be a sensible,
|
|
well-disposed person. There is no accounting for luck; Jove gives
|
|
prosperity to rich and poor just as he chooses, so you must take what
|
|
he has seen fit to send you, and make the best of it. Now, however, that
|
|
you have come to this our country, you shall not want for clothes nor
|
|
for anything else that a foreigner in distress may reasonably look for.
|
|
I will show you the way to the town, and will tell you the name of our
|
|
people; we are called Phaeacians, and I am daughter to Alcinous, in whom
|
|
the whole power of the state is vested."
|
|
Then she called her maids and said, "Stay where you are, you girls. Can
|
|
you not see a man without running away from him? Do you take him for a
|
|
robber or a murderer? Neither he nor any one else can come here to do
|
|
us Phaeacians any harm, for we are dear to the gods, and live apart on a
|
|
land's end that juts into the sounding sea, and have nothing to do with
|
|
any other people. This is only some poor man who has lost his way, and
|
|
we must be kind to him, for strangers and foreigners in distress
|
|
are under Jove's protection, and will take what they can get and be
|
|
thankful; so, girls, give the poor fellow something to eat and drink,
|
|
and wash him in the stream at some place that is sheltered from the
|
|
wind."
|
|
On this the maids left off running away and began calling one another
|
|
back. They made Ulysses sit down in the shelter as Nausicaa had told
|
|
them, and brought him a shirt and cloak. They also brought him the
|
|
little golden cruse of oil, and told him to go and wash in the stream.
|
|
But Ulysses said, "Young women, please to stand a little on one side
|
|
that I may wash the brine from my shoulders and anoint myself with oil,
|
|
for it is long enough since my skin has had a drop of oil upon it. I
|
|
cannot wash as long as you all keep standing there. I am ashamed to
|
|
strip {56} before a number of good looking young women."
|
|
Then they stood on one side and went to tell the girl, while Ulysses
|
|
washed himself in the stream and scrubbed the brine from his back and
|
|
from his broad shoulders. When he had thoroughly washed himself, and had
|
|
got the brine out of his hair, he anointed himself with oil, and put
|
|
on the clothes which the girl had given him; Minerva then made him look
|
|
taller and stronger than before, she also made the hair grow thick on
|
|
the top of his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms; she
|
|
glorified him about the head and shoulders as a skilful workman who has
|
|
studied art of all kinds under Vulcan and Minerva enriches a piece of
|
|
silver plate by gilding it--and his work is full of beauty. Then he went
|
|
and sat down a little way off upon the beach, looking quite young and
|
|
handsome, and the girl gazed on him with admiration; then she said to
|
|
her maids:
|
|
"Hush, my dears, for I want to say something. I believe the gods who
|
|
live in heaven have sent this man to the Phaeacians. When I first saw
|
|
him I thought him plain, but now his appearance is like that of the gods
|
|
who dwell in heaven. I should like my future husband to be just such
|
|
another as he is, if he would only stay here and not want to go away.
|
|
However, give him something to eat and drink."
|
|
They did as they were told, and set food before Ulysses, who ate and
|
|
drank ravenously, for it was long since he had had food of any kind.
|
|
Meanwhile, Nausicaa bethought her of another matter. She got the linen
|
|
folded and placed in the waggon, she then yoked the mules, and, as she
|
|
took her seat, she called Ulysses:
|
|
"Stranger," said she, "rise and let us be going back to the town; I will
|
|
introduce you at the house of my excellent father, where I can tell you
|
|
that you will meet all the best people among the Phaeacians. But be sure
|
|
and do as I bid you, for you seem to be a sensible person. As long as
|
|
we are going past the fields and farm lands, follow briskly behind the
|
|
waggon along with the maids and I will lead the way myself. Presently,
|
|
however, we shall come to the town, where you will find a high wall
|
|
running all round it, and a good harbour on either side with a narrow
|
|
entrance into the city, and the ships will be drawn up by the road side,
|
|
for every one has a place where his own ship can lie. You will see the
|
|
market place with a temple of Neptune in the middle of it, and paved
|
|
with large stones bedded in the earth. Here people deal in ship's gear
|
|
of all kinds, such as cables and sails, and here, too, are the places
|
|
where oars are made, for the Phaeacians are not a nation of archers;
|
|
they know nothing about bows and arrows, but are a sea-faring folk, and
|
|
pride themselves on their masts, oars, and ships, with which they travel
|
|
far over the sea.
|
|
"I am afraid of the gossip and scandal that may be set on foot against
|
|
me later on; for the people here are very ill-natured, and some low
|
|
fellow, if he met us, might say, 'Who is this fine-looking stranger that
|
|
is going about with Nausicaa? Where did she find him? I suppose she is
|
|
going to marry him. Perhaps he is a vagabond sailor whom she has taken
|
|
from some foreign vessel, for we have no neighbours; or some god has at
|
|
last come down from heaven in answer to her prayers, and she is going to
|
|
live with him all the rest of her life. It would be a good thing if she
|
|
would take herself off and find a husband somewhere else, for she will
|
|
not look at one of the many excellent young Phaeacians who are in love
|
|
with her.' This is the kind of disparaging remark that would be made
|
|
about me, and I could not complain, for I should myself be scandalised
|
|
at seeing any other girl do the like, and go about with men in spite
|
|
of everybody, while her father and mother were still alive, and without
|
|
having been married in the face of all the world.
|
|
"If, therefore, you want my father to give you an escort and to help you
|
|
home, do as I bid you; you will see a beautiful grove of poplars by the
|
|
road side dedicated to Minerva; it has a well in it and a meadow all
|
|
round it. Here my father has a field of rich garden ground, about as far
|
|
from the town as a man's voice will carry. Sit down there and wait for
|
|
a while till the rest of us can get into the town and reach my father's
|
|
house. Then, when you think we must have done this, come into the town
|
|
and ask the way to the house of my father Alcinous. You will have no
|
|
difficulty in finding it; any child will point it out to you, for no one
|
|
else in the whole town has anything like such a fine house as he has.
|
|
When you have got past the gates and through the outer court, go right
|
|
across the inner court till you come to my mother. You will find her
|
|
sitting by the fire and spinning her purple wool by firelight. It is a
|
|
fine sight to see her as she leans back against one of the bearing-posts
|
|
with her maids all ranged behind her. Close to her seat stands that of
|
|
my father, on which he sits and topes like an immortal god. Never mind
|
|
him, but go up to my mother, and lay your hands upon her knees if you
|
|
would get home quickly. If you can gain her over, you may hope to see
|
|
your own country again, no matter how distant it may be."
|
|
So saying she lashed the mules with her whip and they left the river.
|
|
The mules drew well, and their hoofs went up and down upon the road.
|
|
She was careful not to go too fast for Ulysses and the maids who were
|
|
following on foot along with the waggon, so she plied her whip with
|
|
judgement. As the sun was going down they came to the sacred grove of
|
|
Minerva, and there Ulysses sat down and prayed to the mighty daughter of
|
|
Jove.
|
|
"Hear me," he cried, "daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable, hear
|
|
me now, for you gave no heed to my prayers when Neptune was wrecking me.
|
|
Now, therefore, have pity upon me and grant that I may find friends and
|
|
be hospitably received by the Phaeacians."
|
|
Thus did he pray, and Minerva heard his prayer, but she would not show
|
|
herself to him openly, for she was afraid of her uncle Neptune, who was
|
|
still furious in his endeavors to prevent Ulysses from getting home.
|
|
Book VII
|
|
RECEPTION OF ULYSSES AT THE PALACE OF KING ALCINOUS.
|
|
Thus, then, did Ulysses wait and pray; but the girl drove on to the
|
|
town. When she reached her father's house she drew up at the gateway,
|
|
and her brothers--comely as the gods--gathered round her, took the mules
|
|
out of the waggon, and carried the clothes into the house, while she
|
|
went to her own room, where an old servant, Eurymedusa of Apeira, lit
|
|
the fire for her. This old woman had been brought by sea from Apeira,
|
|
and had been chosen as a prize for Alcinous because he was king over the
|
|
Phaeacians, and the people obeyed him as though he were a god. {57}
|
|
She had been nurse to Nausicaa, and had now lit the fire for her, and
|
|
brought her supper for her into her own room.
|
|
Presently Ulysses got up to go towards the town; and Minerva shed a
|
|
thick mist all round him to hide him in case any of the proud Phaeacians
|
|
who met him should be rude to him, or ask him who he was. Then, as he
|
|
was just entering the town, she came towards him in the likeness of a
|
|
little girl carrying a pitcher. She stood right in front of him, and
|
|
Ulysses said:
|
|
"My dear, will you be so kind as to show me the house of king Alcinous?
|
|
I am an unfortunate foreigner in distress, and do not know one in your
|
|
town and country."
|
|
Then Minerva said, "Yes, father stranger, I will show you the house you
|
|
want, for Alcinous lives quite close to my own father. I will go before
|
|
you and show the way, but say not a word as you go, and do not look
|
|
at any man, nor ask him questions; for the people here cannot abide
|
|
strangers, and do not like men who come from some other place. They are
|
|
a sea-faring folk, and sail the seas by the grace of Neptune in ships
|
|
that glide along like thought, or as a bird in the air."
|
|
On this she led the way, and Ulysses followed in her steps; but not one
|
|
of the Phaeacians could see him as he passed through the city in the
|
|
midst of them; for the great goddess Minerva in her good will towards
|
|
him had hidden him in a thick cloud of darkness. He admired their
|
|
harbours, ships, places of assembly, and the lofty walls of the city,
|
|
which, with the palisade on top of them, were very striking, and when
|
|
they reached the king's house Minerva said:
|
|
"This is the house, father stranger, which you would have me show you.
|
|
You will find a number of great people sitting at table, but do not be
|
|
afraid; go straight in, for the bolder a man is the more likely he is to
|
|
carry his point, even though he is a stranger. First find the queen. Her
|
|
name is Arete, and she comes of the same family as her husband Alcinous.
|
|
They both descend originally from Neptune, who was father to Nausithous
|
|
by Periboea, a woman of great beauty. Periboea was the youngest daughter
|
|
of Eurymedon, who at one time reigned over the giants, but he ruined his
|
|
ill-fated people and lost his own life to boot.
|
|
"Neptune, however, lay with his daughter, and she had a son by him, the
|
|
great Nausithous, who reigned over the Phaeacians. Nausithous had two
|
|
sons Rhexenor and Alcinous; {58} Apollo killed the first of them while
|
|
he was still a bridegroom and without male issue; but he left a daughter
|
|
Arete, whom Alcinous married, and honours as no other woman is honoured
|
|
of all those that keep house along with their husbands.
|
|
"Thus she both was, and still is, respected beyond measure by her
|
|
children, by Alcinous himself, and by the whole people, who look upon
|
|
her as a goddess, and greet her whenever she goes about the city, for
|
|
she is a thoroughly good woman both in head and heart, and when any
|
|
women are friends of hers, she will help their husbands also to settle
|
|
their disputes. If you can gain her good will, you may have every hope
|
|
of seeing your friends again, and getting safely back to your home and
|
|
country."
|
|
Then Minerva left Scheria and went away over the sea. She went to
|
|
Marathon {59} and to the spacious streets of Athens, where she entered
|
|
the abode of Erechtheus; but Ulysses went on to the house of Alcinous,
|
|
and he pondered much as he paused a while before reaching the threshold
|
|
of bronze, for the splendour of the palace was like that of the sun or
|
|
moon. The walls on either side were of bronze from end to end, and the
|
|
cornice was of blue enamel. The doors were gold, and hung on pillars of
|
|
silver that rose from a floor of bronze, while the lintel was silver and
|
|
the hook of the door was of gold.
|
|
On either side there stood gold and silver mastiffs which Vulcan, with
|
|
his consummate skill, had fashioned expressly to keep watch over the
|
|
palace of king Alcinous; so they were immortal and could never grow old.
|
|
Seats were ranged all along the wall, here and there from one end to the
|
|
other, with coverings of fine woven work which the women of the house
|
|
had made. Here the chief persons of the Phaeacians used to sit and eat
|
|
and drink, for there was abundance at all seasons; and there were golden
|
|
figures of young men with lighted torches in their hands, raised on
|
|
pedestals, to give light by night to those who were at table. There are
|
|
{60} fifty maid servants in the house, some of whom are always grinding
|
|
rich yellow grain at the mill, while others work at the loom, or sit and
|
|
spin, and their shuttles go backwards and forwards like the fluttering
|
|
of aspen leaves, while the linen is so closely woven that it will turn
|
|
oil. As the Phaeacians are the best sailors in the world, so their women
|
|
excel all others in weaving, for Minerva has taught them all manner of
|
|
useful arts, and they are very intelligent.
|
|
Outside the gate of the outer court there is a large garden of
|
|
about four acres with a wall all round it. It is full of beautiful
|
|
trees--pears, pomegranates, and the most delicious apples. There are
|
|
luscious figs also, and olives in full growth. The fruits never rot nor
|
|
fail all the year round, neither winter nor summer, for the air is so
|
|
soft that a new crop ripens before the old has dropped. Pear grows on
|
|
pear, apple on apple, and fig on fig, and so also with the grapes, for
|
|
there is an excellent vineyard: on the level ground of a part of this,
|
|
the grapes are being made into raisins; in another part they are being
|
|
gathered; some are being trodden in the wine tubs, others further on
|
|
have shed their blossom and are beginning to show fruit, others again
|
|
are just changing colour. In the furthest part of the ground there are
|
|
beautifully arranged beds of flowers that are in bloom all the year
|
|
round. Two streams go through it, the one turned in ducts throughout the
|
|
whole garden, while the other is carried under the ground of the outer
|
|
court to the house itself, and the town's people draw water from it.
|
|
Such, then, were the splendours with which the gods had endowed the
|
|
house of king Alcinous.
|
|
So here Ulysses stood for a while and looked about him, but when he
|
|
had looked long enough he crossed the threshold and went within the
|
|
precincts of the house. There he found all the chief people among the
|
|
Phaeacians making their drink offerings to Mercury, which they always
|
|
did the last thing before going away for the night. {61} He went
|
|
straight through the court, still hidden by the cloak of darkness
|
|
in which Minerva had enveloped him, till he reached Arete and King
|
|
Alcinous; then he laid his hands upon the knees of the queen, and at
|
|
that moment the miraculous darkness fell away from him and he became
|
|
visible. Every one was speechless with surprise at seeing a man there,
|
|
but Ulysses began at once with his petition.
|
|
"Queen Arete," he exclaimed, "daughter of great Rhexenor, in my distress
|
|
I humbly pray you, as also your husband and these your guests (whom may
|
|
heaven prosper with long life and happiness, and may they leave their
|
|
possessions to their children, and all the honours conferred upon them
|
|
by the state) to help me home to my own country as soon as possible; for
|
|
I have been long in trouble and away from my friends."
|
|
Then he sat down on the hearth among the ashes and they all held their
|
|
peace, till presently the old hero Echeneus, who was an excellent
|
|
speaker and an elder among the Phaeacians, plainly and in all honesty
|
|
addressed them thus:
|
|
"Alcinous," said he, "it is not creditable to you that a stranger should
|
|
be seen sitting among the ashes of your hearth; every one is waiting to
|
|
hear what you are about to say; tell him, then, to rise and take a seat
|
|
on a stool inlaid with silver, and bid your servants mix some wine and
|
|
water that we may make a drink offering to Jove the lord of thunder,
|
|
who takes all well disposed suppliants under his protection; and let
|
|
the housekeeper give him some supper, of whatever there may be in the
|
|
house."
|
|
When Alcinous heard this he took Ulysses by the hand, raised him from
|
|
the hearth, and bade him take the seat of Laodamas, who had been sitting
|
|
beside him, and was his favourite son. A maid servant then brought him
|
|
water in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin for
|
|
him to wash his hands, and she drew a clean table beside him; an upper
|
|
servant brought him bread and offered him many good things of what there
|
|
was in the house, and Ulysses ate and drank. Then Alcinous said to one
|
|
of the servants, "Pontonous, mix a cup of wine and hand it round that
|
|
we may make drink-offerings to Jove the lord of thunder, who is the
|
|
protector of all well-disposed suppliants."
|
|
Pontonous then mixed wine and water, and handed it round after giving
|
|
every man his drink-offering. When they had made their offerings, and
|
|
had drunk each as much as he was minded, Alcinous said:
|
|
"Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, hear my words. You
|
|
have had your supper, so now go home to bed. To-morrow morning I shall
|
|
invite a still larger number of aldermen, and will give a sacrificial
|
|
banquet in honour of our guest; we can then discuss the question of his
|
|
escort, and consider how we may at once send him back rejoicing to his
|
|
own country without trouble or inconvenience to himself, no matter how
|
|
distant it may be. We must see that he comes to no harm while on his
|
|
homeward journey, but when he is once at home he will have to take
|
|
the luck he was born with for better or worse like other people. It is
|
|
possible, however, that the stranger is one of the immortals who
|
|
has come down from heaven to visit us; but in this case the gods
|
|
are departing from their usual practice, for hitherto they have made
|
|
themselves perfectly clear to us when we have been offering them
|
|
hecatombs. They come and sit at our feasts just like one of our selves,
|
|
and if any solitary wayfarer happens to stumble upon some one or other
|
|
of them, they affect no concealment, for we are as near of kin to the
|
|
gods as the Cyclopes and the savage giants are." {62}
|
|
Then Ulysses said: "Pray, Alcinous, do not take any such notion into
|
|
your head. I have nothing of the immortal about me, neither in body
|
|
nor mind, and most resemble those among you who are the most afflicted.
|
|
Indeed, were I to tell you all that heaven has seen fit to lay upon me,
|
|
you would say that I was still worse off than they are. Nevertheless,
|
|
let me sup in spite of sorrow, for an empty stomach is a very
|
|
importunate thing, and thrusts itself on a man's notice no matter how
|
|
dire is his distress. I am in great trouble, yet it insists that I shall
|
|
eat and drink, bids me lay aside all memory of my sorrows and dwell only
|
|
on the due replenishing of itself. As for yourselves, do as you propose,
|
|
and at break of day set about helping me to get home. I shall be content
|
|
to die if I may first once more behold my property, my bondsmen, and all
|
|
the greatness of my house." {63}
|
|
Thus did he speak. Every one approved his saying, and agreed that he
|
|
should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken reasonably. Then when
|
|
they had made their drink offerings, and had drunk each as much as he
|
|
was minded they went home to bed every man in his own abode, leaving
|
|
Ulysses in the cloister with Arete and Alcinous while the servants were
|
|
taking the things away after supper. Arete was the first to speak,
|
|
for she recognised the shirt, cloak, and good clothes that Ulysses
|
|
was wearing, as the work of herself and of her maids; so she said,
|
|
"Stranger, before we go any further, there is a question I should like
|
|
to ask you. Who, and whence are you, and who gave you those clothes? Did
|
|
you not say you had come here from beyond the sea?"
|
|
And Ulysses answered, "It would be a long story Madam, were I to relate
|
|
in full the tale of my misfortunes, for the hand of heaven has been laid
|
|
heavy upon me; but as regards your question, there is an island far away
|
|
in the sea which is called 'the Ogygian.' Here dwells the cunning and
|
|
powerful goddess Calypso, daughter of Atlas. She lives by herself far
|
|
from all neighbours human or divine. Fortune, however, brought me to
|
|
her hearth all desolate and alone, for Jove struck my ship with his
|
|
thunderbolts, and broke it up in mid-ocean. My brave comrades were
|
|
drowned every man of them, but I stuck to the keel and was carried
|
|
hither and thither for the space of nine days, till at last during the
|
|
darkness of the tenth night the gods brought me to the Ogygian island
|
|
where the great goddess Calypso lives. She took me in and treated me
|
|
with the utmost kindness; indeed she wanted to make me immortal that I
|
|
might never grow old, but she could not persuade me to let her do so.
|
|
"I stayed with Calypso seven years straight on end, and watered the good
|
|
clothes she gave me with my tears during the whole time; but at last
|
|
when the eighth year came round she bade me depart of her own free will,
|
|
either because Jove had told her she must, or because she had changed
|
|
her mind. She sent me from her island on a raft, which she provisioned
|
|
with abundance of bread and wine. Moreover she gave me good stout
|
|
clothing, and sent me a wind that blew both warm and fair. Days seven
|
|
and ten did I sail over the sea, and on the eighteenth I caught sight of
|
|
the first outlines of the mountains upon your coast--and glad indeed was
|
|
I to set eyes upon them. Nevertheless there was still much trouble in
|
|
store for me, for at this point Neptune would let me go no further, and
|
|
raised a great storm against me; the sea was so terribly high that I
|
|
could no longer keep to my raft, which went to pieces under the fury of
|
|
the gale, and I had to swim for it, till wind and current brought me to
|
|
your shores.
|
|
"There I tried to land, but could not, for it was a bad place and the
|
|
waves dashed me against the rocks, so I again took to the sea and swam
|
|
on till I came to a river that seemed the most likely landing place, for
|
|
there were no rocks and it was sheltered from the wind. Here, then, I
|
|
got out of the water and gathered my senses together again. Night was
|
|
coming on, so I left the river, and went into a thicket, where I covered
|
|
myself all over with leaves, and presently heaven sent me off into a
|
|
very deep sleep. Sick and sorry as I was I slept among the leaves all
|
|
night, and through the next day till afternoon, when I woke as the sun
|
|
was westering, and saw your daughter's maid servants playing upon the
|
|
beach, and your daughter among them looking like a goddess. I besought
|
|
her aid, and she proved to be of an excellent disposition, much more so
|
|
than could be expected from so young a person--for young people are apt
|
|
to be thoughtless. She gave me plenty of bread and wine, and when she
|
|
had had me washed in the river she also gave me the clothes in which you
|
|
see me. Now, therefore, though it has pained me to do so, I have told
|
|
you the whole truth."
|
|
Then Alcinous said, "Stranger, it was very wrong of my daughter not to
|
|
bring you on at once to my house along with the maids, seeing that she
|
|
was the first person whose aid you asked."
|
|
"Pray do not scold her," replied Ulysses; "she is not to blame. She did
|
|
tell me to follow along with the maids, but I was ashamed and afraid,
|
|
for I thought you might perhaps be displeased if you saw me. Every human
|
|
being is sometimes a little suspicious and irritable."
|
|
"Stranger," replied Alcinous, "I am not the kind of man to get angry
|
|
about nothing; it is always better to be reasonable; but by Father Jove,
|
|
Minerva, and Apollo, now that I see what kind of person you are, and how
|
|
much you think as I do, I wish you would stay here, marry my daughter,
|
|
and become my son-in-law. If you will stay I will give you a house and
|
|
an estate, but no one (heaven forbid) shall keep you here against your
|
|
own wish, and that you may be sure of this I will attend tomorrow to the
|
|
matter of your escort. You can sleep {64} during the whole voyage if you
|
|
like, and the men shall sail you over smooth waters either to your own
|
|
home, or wherever you please, even though it be a long way further
|
|
off than Euboea, which those of my people who saw it when they took
|
|
yellow-haired Rhadamanthus to see Tityus the son of Gaia, tell me is the
|
|
furthest of any place--and yet they did the whole voyage in a single day
|
|
without distressing themselves, and came back again afterwards. You
|
|
will thus see how much my ships excel all others, and what magnificent
|
|
oarsmen my sailors are."
|
|
Then was Ulysses glad and prayed aloud saying, "Father Jove, grant that
|
|
Alcinous may do all as he has said, for so he will win an imperishable
|
|
name among mankind, and at the same time I shall return to my country."
|
|
Thus did they converse. Then Arete told her maids to set a bed in the
|
|
room that was in the gatehouse, and make it with good red rugs, and to
|
|
spread coverlets on the top of them with woollen cloaks for Ulysses to
|
|
wear. The maids thereon went out with torches in their hands, and when
|
|
they had made the bed they came up to Ulysses and said, "Rise, sir
|
|
stranger, and come with us for your bed is ready," and glad indeed was
|
|
he to go to his rest.
|
|
So Ulysses slept in a bed placed in a room over the echoing gateway; but
|
|
Alcinous lay in the inner part of the house, with the queen his wife by
|
|
his side.
|
|
Book VIII
|
|
BANQUET IN THE HOUSE OF ALCINOUS--THE GAMES.
|
|
Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Alcinous
|
|
and Ulysses both rose, and Alcinous led the way to the Phaeacian place
|
|
of assembly, which was near the ships. When they got there they sat down
|
|
side by side on a seat of polished stone, while Minerva took the form
|
|
of one of Alcinous' servants, and went round the town in order to help
|
|
Ulysses to get home. She went up to the citizens, man by man, and said,
|
|
"Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, come to the assembly
|
|
all of you and listen to the stranger who has just come off a long
|
|
voyage to the house of King Alcinous; he looks like an immortal god."
|
|
With these words she made them all want to come, and they flocked to the
|
|
assembly till seats and standing room were alike crowded. Every one was
|
|
struck with the appearance of Ulysses, for Minerva had beautified him
|
|
about the head and shoulders, making him look taller and stouter than he
|
|
really was, that he might impress the Phaeacians favourably as being a
|
|
very remarkable man, and might come off well in the many trials of skill
|
|
to which they would challenge him. Then, when they were got together,
|
|
Alcinous spoke:
|
|
"Hear me," said he, "aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians,
|
|
that I may speak even as I am minded. This stranger, whoever he may be,
|
|
has found his way to my house from somewhere or other either East or
|
|
West. He wants an escort and wishes to have the matter settled. Let
|
|
us then get one ready for him, as we have done for others before him;
|
|
indeed, no one who ever yet came to my house has been able to complain
|
|
of me for not speeding on his way soon enough. Let us draw a ship into
|
|
the sea--one that has never yet made a voyage--and man her with two and
|
|
fifty of our smartest young sailors. Then when you have made fast
|
|
your oars each by his own seat, leave the ship and come to my house to
|
|
prepare a feast. {65} I will find you in everything. I am giving these
|
|
instructions to the young men who will form the crew, for as regards
|
|
you aldermen and town councillors, you will join me in entertaining
|
|
our guest in the cloisters. I can take no excuses, and we will have
|
|
Demodocus to sing to us; for there is no bard like him whatever he may
|
|
choose to sing about."
|
|
Alcinous then led the way, and the others followed after, while a
|
|
servant went to fetch Demodocus. The fifty-two picked oarsmen went to
|
|
the sea shore as they had been told, and when they got there they drew
|
|
the ship into the water, got her mast and sails inside her, bound
|
|
the oars to the thole-pins with twisted thongs of leather, all in due
|
|
course, and spread the white sails aloft. They moored the vessel a
|
|
little way out from land, and then came on shore and went to the house
|
|
of King Alcinous. The out houses, {66} yards, and all the precincts were
|
|
filled with crowds of men in great multitudes both old and young; and
|
|
Alcinous killed them a dozen sheep, eight full grown pigs, and two oxen.
|
|
These they skinned and dressed so as to provide a magnificent banquet.
|
|
A servant presently led in the famous bard Demodocus, whom the muse had
|
|
dearly loved, but to whom she had given both good and evil, for though
|
|
she had endowed him with a divine gift of song, she had robbed him of
|
|
his eyesight. Pontonous set a seat for him among the guests, leaning it
|
|
up against a bearing-post. He hung the lyre for him on a peg over his
|
|
head, and showed him where he was to feel for it with his hands. He also
|
|
set a fair table with a basket of victuals by his side, and a cup of
|
|
wine from which he might drink whenever he was so disposed.
|
|
The company then laid their hands upon the good things that were before
|
|
them, but as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, the muse
|
|
inspired Demodocus to sing the feats of heroes, and more especially
|
|
a matter that was then in the mouths of all men, to wit, the quarrel
|
|
between Ulysses and Achilles, and the fierce words that they heaped on
|
|
one another as they sat together at a banquet. But Agamemnon was glad
|
|
when he heard his chieftains quarrelling with one another, for Apollo
|
|
had foretold him this at Pytho when he crossed the stone floor to
|
|
consult the oracle. Here was the beginning of the evil that by the will
|
|
of Jove fell both upon Danaans and Trojans.
|
|
Thus sang the bard, but Ulysses drew his purple mantle over his head and
|
|
covered his face, for he was ashamed to let the Phaeacians see that he
|
|
was weeping. When the bard left off singing he wiped the tears from his
|
|
eyes, uncovered his face, and, taking his cup, made a drink-offering to
|
|
the gods; but when the Phaeacians pressed Demodocus to sing further, for
|
|
they delighted in his lays, then Ulysses again drew his mantle over his
|
|
head and wept bitterly. No one noticed his distress except Alcinous, who
|
|
was sitting near him, and heard the heavy sighs that he was heaving. So
|
|
he at once said, "Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, we
|
|
have had enough now, both of the feast, and of the minstrelsy that is
|
|
its due accompaniment; let us proceed therefore to the athletic sports,
|
|
so that our guest on his return home may be able to tell his friends
|
|
how much we surpass all other nations as boxers, wrestlers, jumpers, and
|
|
runners."
|
|
With these words he led the way, and the others followed after. A
|
|
servant hung Demodocus's lyre on its peg for him, led him out of the
|
|
cloister, and set him on the same way as that along which all the chief
|
|
men of the Phaeacians were going to see the sports; a crowd of several
|
|
thousands of people followed them, and there were many excellent
|
|
competitors for all the prizes. Acroneos, Ocyalus, Elatreus, Nauteus,
|
|
Prymneus, Anchialus, Eretmeus, Ponteus, Proreus, Thoon, Anabesineus, and
|
|
Amphialus son of Polyneus son of Tecton. There was also Euryalus son of
|
|
Naubolus, who was like Mars himself, and was the best looking man
|
|
among the Phaeacians except Laodamas. Three sons of Alcinous, Laodamas,
|
|
Halios, and Clytoneus, competed also.
|
|
The foot races came first. The course was set out for them from the
|
|
starting post, and they raised a dust upon the plain as they all flew
|
|
forward at the same moment. Clytoneus came in first by a long way; he
|
|
left every one else behind him by the length of the furrow that a couple
|
|
of mules can plough in a fallow field. {67} They then turned to the
|
|
painful art of wrestling, and here Euryalus proved to be the best man.
|
|
Amphialus excelled all the others in jumping, while at throwing the disc
|
|
there was no one who could approach Elatreus. Alcinous's son Laodamas
|
|
was the best boxer, and he it was who presently said, when they had all
|
|
been diverted with the games, "Let us ask the stranger whether he excels
|
|
in any of these sports; he seems very powerfully built; his thighs,
|
|
calves, hands, and neck are of prodigious strength, nor is he at all
|
|
old, but he has suffered much lately, and there is nothing like the sea
|
|
for making havoc with a man, no matter how strong he is."
|
|
"You are quite right, Laodamas," replied Euryalus, "go up to your guest
|
|
and speak to him about it yourself."
|
|
When Laodamas heard this he made his way into the middle of the crowd
|
|
and said to Ulysses, "I hope, Sir, that you will enter yourself for some
|
|
one or other of our competitions if you are skilled in any of them--and
|
|
you must have gone in for many a one before now. There is nothing that
|
|
does any one so much credit all his life long as the showing himself a
|
|
proper man with his hands and feet. Have a try therefore at something,
|
|
and banish all sorrow from your mind. Your return home will not be long
|
|
delayed, for the ship is already drawn into the water, and the crew is
|
|
found."
|
|
Ulysses answered, "Laodamas, why do you taunt me in this way? my mind is
|
|
set rather on cares than contests; I have been through infinite trouble,
|
|
and am come among you now as a suppliant, praying your king and people
|
|
to further me on my return home."
|
|
Then Euryalus reviled him outright and said, "I gather, then, that you
|
|
are unskilled in any of the many sports that men generally delight in. I
|
|
suppose you are one of those grasping traders that go about in ships
|
|
as captains or merchants, and who think of nothing but of their outward
|
|
freights and homeward cargoes. There does not seem to be much of the
|
|
athlete about you."
|
|
"For shame, Sir," answered Ulysses, fiercely, "you are an insolent
|
|
fellow--so true is it that the gods do not grace all men alike in
|
|
speech, person, and understanding. One man may be of weak presence, but
|
|
heaven has adorned this with such a good conversation that he charms
|
|
every one who sees him; his honeyed moderation carries his hearers with
|
|
him so that he is leader in all assemblies of his fellows, and wherever
|
|
he goes he is looked up to. Another may be as handsome as a god, but his
|
|
good looks are not crowned with discretion. This is your case. No god
|
|
could make a finer looking fellow than you are, but you are a fool. Your
|
|
ill-judged remarks have made me exceedingly angry, and you are quite
|
|
mistaken, for I excel in a great many athletic exercises; indeed, so
|
|
long as I had youth and strength, I was among the first athletes of the
|
|
age. Now, however, I am worn out by labour and sorrow, for I have gone
|
|
through much both on the field of battle and by the waves of the weary
|
|
sea; still, in spite of all this I will compete, for your taunts have
|
|
stung me to the quick."
|
|
So he hurried up without even taking his cloak off, and seized a disc,
|
|
larger, more massive and much heavier than those used by the Phaeacians
|
|
when disc-throwing among themselves. {68} Then, swinging it back, he
|
|
threw it from his brawny hand, and it made a humming sound in the air as
|
|
he did so. The Phaeacians quailed beneath the rushing of its flight as
|
|
it sped gracefully from his hand, and flew beyond any mark that had been
|
|
made yet. Minerva, in the form of a man, came and marked the place where
|
|
it had fallen. "A blind man, Sir," said she, "could easily tell your
|
|
mark by groping for it--it is so far ahead of any other. You may make
|
|
your mind easy about this contest, for no Phaeacian can come near to
|
|
such a throw as yours."
|
|
Ulysses was glad when he found he had a friend among the lookers-on,
|
|
so he began to speak more pleasantly. "Young men," said he, "come up to
|
|
that throw if you can, and I will throw another disc as heavy or even
|
|
heavier. If anyone wants to have a bout with me let him come on, for I
|
|
am exceedingly angry; I will box, wrestle, or run, I do not care what it
|
|
is, with any man of you all except Laodamas, but not with him because I
|
|
am his guest, and one cannot compete with one's own personal friend.
|
|
At least I do not think it a prudent or a sensible thing for a guest
|
|
to challenge his host's family at any game, especially when he is in a
|
|
foreign country. He will cut the ground from under his own feet if he
|
|
does; but I make no exception as regards any one else, for I want to
|
|
have the matter out and know which is the best man. I am a good hand
|
|
at every kind of athletic sport known among mankind. I am an excellent
|
|
archer. In battle I am always the first to bring a man down with my
|
|
arrow, no matter how many more are taking aim at him alongside of me.
|
|
Philoctetes was the only man who could shoot better than I could when we
|
|
Achaeans were before Troy and in practice. I far excel every one else
|
|
in the whole world, of those who still eat bread upon the face of the
|
|
earth, but I should not like to shoot against the mighty dead, such as
|
|
Hercules, or Eurytus the Oechalian--men who could shoot against the gods
|
|
themselves. This in fact was how Eurytus came prematurely by his end,
|
|
for Apollo was angry with him and killed him because he challenged him
|
|
as an archer. I can throw a dart farther than any one else can shoot an
|
|
arrow. Running is the only point in respect of which I am afraid some of
|
|
the Phaeacians might beat me, for I have been brought down very low at
|
|
sea; my provisions ran short, and therefore I am still weak."
|
|
They all held their peace except King Alcinous, who began, "Sir, we have
|
|
had much pleasure in hearing all that you have told us, from which I
|
|
understand that you are willing to show your prowess, as having been
|
|
displeased with some insolent remarks that have been made to you by one
|
|
of our athletes, and which could never have been uttered by any one who
|
|
knows how to talk with propriety. I hope you will apprehend my meaning,
|
|
and will explain to any one of your chief men who may be dining with
|
|
yourself and your family when you get home, that we have an hereditary
|
|
aptitude for accomplishments of all kinds. We are not particularly
|
|
remarkable for our boxing, nor yet as wrestlers, but we are singularly
|
|
fleet of foot and are excellent sailors. We are extremely fond of good
|
|
dinners, music, and dancing; we also like frequent changes of linen,
|
|
warm baths, and good beds, so now, please, some of you who are the best
|
|
dancers set about dancing, that our guest on his return home may be able
|
|
to tell his friends how much we surpass all other nations as sailors,
|
|
runners, dancers, and minstrels. Demodocus has left his lyre at my
|
|
house, so run some one or other of you and fetch it for him."
|
|
On this a servant hurried off to bring the lyre from the king's house,
|
|
and the nine men who had been chosen as stewards stood forward. It was
|
|
their business to manage everything connected with the sports, so
|
|
they made the ground smooth and marked a wide space for the dancers.
|
|
Presently the servant came back with Demodocus's lyre, and he took his
|
|
place in the midst of them, whereon the best young dancers in the town
|
|
began to foot and trip it so nimbly that Ulysses was delighted with the
|
|
merry twinkling of their feet.
|
|
Meanwhile the bard began to sing the loves of Mars and Venus, and how
|
|
they first began their intrigue in the house of Vulcan. Mars made Venus
|
|
many presents, and defiled King Vulcan's marriage bed, so the sun, who
|
|
saw what they were about, told Vulcan. Vulcan was very angry when he
|
|
heard such dreadful news, so he went to his smithy brooding mischief,
|
|
got his great anvil into its place, and began to forge some chains which
|
|
none could either unloose or break, so that they might stay there in
|
|
that place. {69} When he had finished his snare he went into his bedroom
|
|
and festooned the bed-posts all over with chains like cobwebs; he also
|
|
let many hang down from the great beam of the ceiling. Not even a god
|
|
could see them so fine and subtle were they. As soon as he had spread
|
|
the chains all over the bed, he made as though he were setting out for
|
|
the fair state of Lemnos, which of all places in the world was the one
|
|
he was most fond of. But Mars kept no blind look out, and as soon as he
|
|
saw him start, hurried off to his house, burning with love for Venus.
|
|
Now Venus was just come in from a visit to her father Jove, and was
|
|
about sitting down when Mars came inside the house, and said as he took
|
|
her hand in his own, "Let us go to the couch of Vulcan: he is not at
|
|
home, but is gone off to Lemnos among the Sintians, whose speech is
|
|
barbarous."
|
|
She was nothing loth, so they went to the couch to take their rest,
|
|
whereon they were caught in the toils which cunning Vulcan had spread
|
|
for them, and could neither get up nor stir hand or foot, but found too
|
|
late that they were in a trap. Then Vulcan came up to them, for he had
|
|
turned back before reaching Lemnos, when his scout the sun told him what
|
|
was going on. He was in a furious passion, and stood in the vestibule
|
|
making a dreadful noise as he shouted to all the gods.
|
|
"Father Jove," he cried, "and all you other blessed gods who live for
|
|
ever, come here and see the ridiculous and disgraceful sight that I will
|
|
show you. Jove's daughter Venus is always dishonouring me because I am
|
|
lame. She is in love with Mars, who is handsome and clean built, whereas
|
|
I am a cripple--but my parents are to blame for that, not I; they ought
|
|
never to have begotten me. Come and see the pair together asleep on
|
|
my bed. It makes me furious to look at them. They are very fond of one
|
|
another, but I do not think they will lie there longer than they can
|
|
help, nor do I think that they will sleep much; there, however, they
|
|
shall stay till her father has repaid me the sum I gave him for his
|
|
baggage of a daughter, who is fair but not honest."
|
|
On this the gods gathered to the house of Vulcan. Earth-encircling
|
|
Neptune came, and Mercury the bringer of luck, and King Apollo, but the
|
|
goddesses staid at home all of them for shame. Then the givers of all
|
|
good things stood in the doorway, and the blessed gods roared with
|
|
inextinguishable laughter, as they saw how cunning Vulcan had been,
|
|
whereon one would turn towards his neighbour saying:
|
|
"Ill deeds do not prosper, and the weak confound the strong. See how
|
|
limping Vulcan, lame as he is, has caught Mars who is the fleetest god
|
|
in heaven; and now Mars will be cast in heavy damages."
|
|
Thus did they converse, but King Apollo said to Mercury, "Messenger
|
|
Mercury, giver of good things, you would not care how strong the chains
|
|
were, would you, if you could sleep with Venus?"
|
|
"King Apollo," answered Mercury, "I only wish I might get the chance,
|
|
though there were three times as many chains--and you might look on, all
|
|
of you, gods and goddesses, but I would sleep with her if I could."
|
|
The immortal gods burst out laughing as they heard him, but Neptune took
|
|
it all seriously, and kept on imploring Vulcan to set Mars free again.
|
|
"Let him go," he cried, "and I will undertake, as you require, that
|
|
he shall pay you all the damages that are held reasonable among the
|
|
immortal gods."
|
|
"Do not," replied Vulcan, "ask me to do this; a bad man's bond is bad
|
|
security; what remedy could I enforce against you if Mars should go away
|
|
and leave his debts behind him along with his chains?"
|
|
"Vulcan," said Neptune, "if Mars goes away without paying his damages,
|
|
I will pay you myself." So Vulcan answered, "In this case I cannot and
|
|
must not refuse you."
|
|
Thereon he loosed the bonds that bound them, and as soon as they were
|
|
free they scampered off, Mars to Thrace and laughter-loving Venus to
|
|
Cyprus and to Paphos, where is her grove and her altar fragrant with
|
|
burnt offerings. Here the Graces bathed her, and anointed her with oil
|
|
of ambrosia such as the immortal gods make use of, and they clothed her
|
|
in raiment of the most enchanting beauty.
|
|
Thus sang the bard, and both Ulysses and the seafaring Phaeacians were
|
|
charmed as they heard him.
|
|
Then Alcinous told Laodamas and Halius to dance alone, for there was no
|
|
one to compete with them. So they took a red ball which Polybus had made
|
|
for them, and one of them bent himself backwards and threw it up towards
|
|
the clouds, while the other jumped from off the ground and caught it
|
|
with ease before it came down again. When they had done throwing the
|
|
ball straight up into the air they began to dance, and at the same time
|
|
kept on throwing it backwards and forwards to one another, while all
|
|
the young men in the ring applauded and made a great stamping with their
|
|
feet. Then Ulysses said:
|
|
"King Alcinous, you said your people were the nimblest dancers in the
|
|
world, and indeed they have proved themselves to be so. I was astonished
|
|
as I saw them."
|
|
The king was delighted at this, and exclaimed to the Phaeacians,
|
|
"Aldermen and town councillors, our guest seems to be a person of
|
|
singular judgement; let us give him such proof of our hospitality as
|
|
he may reasonably expect. There are twelve chief men among you, and
|
|
counting myself there are thirteen; contribute, each of you, a clean
|
|
cloak, a shirt, and a talent of fine gold; let us give him all this in
|
|
a lump down at once, so that when he gets his supper he may do so with a
|
|
light heart. As for Euryalus he will have to make a formal apology and a
|
|
present too, for he has been rude."
|
|
Thus did he speak. The others all of them applauded his saying, and
|
|
sent their servants to fetch the presents. Then Euryalus said, "King
|
|
Alcinous, I will give the stranger all the satisfaction you require. He
|
|
shall have my sword, which is of bronze, all but the hilt, which is of
|
|
silver. I will also give him the scabbard of newly sawn ivory into which
|
|
it fits. It will be worth a great deal to him."
|
|
As he spoke he placed the sword in the hands of Ulysses and said, "Good
|
|
luck to you, father stranger; if anything has been said amiss may the
|
|
winds blow it away with them, and may heaven grant you a safe return,
|
|
for I understand you have been long away from home, and have gone
|
|
through much hardship."
|
|
To which Ulysses answered, "Good luck to you too my friend, and may the
|
|
gods grant you every happiness. I hope you will not miss the sword you
|
|
have given me along with your apology."
|
|
With these words he girded the sword about his shoulders and towards
|
|
sundown the presents began to make their appearance, as the servants of
|
|
the donors kept bringing them to the house of King Alcinous; here his
|
|
sons received them, and placed them under their mother's charge. Then
|
|
Alcinous led the way to the house and bade his guests take their seats.
|
|
"Wife," said he, turning to Queen Arete, "Go, fetch the best chest we
|
|
have, and put a clean cloak and shirt in it. Also, set a copper on the
|
|
fire and heat some water; our guest will take a warm bath; see also to
|
|
the careful packing of the presents that the noble Phaeacians have made
|
|
him; he will thus better enjoy both his supper and the singing that
|
|
will follow. I shall myself give him this golden goblet--which is of
|
|
exquisite workmanship--that he may be reminded of me for the rest of his
|
|
life whenever he makes a drink offering to Jove, or to any of the gods."
|
|
{70}
|
|
Then Arete told her maids to set a large tripod upon the fire as fast as
|
|
they could, whereon they set a tripod full of bath water on to a clear
|
|
fire; they threw on sticks to make it blaze, and the water became hot
|
|
as the flame played about the belly of the tripod. {71} Meanwhile Arete
|
|
brought a magnificent chest from her own room, and inside it she packed
|
|
all the beautiful presents of gold and raiment which the Phaeacians had
|
|
brought. Lastly she added a cloak and a good shirt from Alcinous, and
|
|
said to Ulysses:
|
|
"See to the lid yourself, and have the whole bound round at once, for
|
|
fear any one should rob you by the way when you are asleep in your
|
|
ship." {72}
|
|
When Ulysses heard this he put the lid on the chest and made it fast
|
|
with a bond that Circe had taught him. He had done so before an upper
|
|
servant told him to come to the bath and wash himself. He was very glad
|
|
of a warm bath, for he had had no one to wait upon him ever since he
|
|
left the house of Calypso, who as long as he remained with her had taken
|
|
as good care of him as though he had been a god. When the servants had
|
|
done washing and anointing him with oil, and had given him a clean cloak
|
|
and shirt, he left the bath room and joined the guests who were sitting
|
|
over their wine. Lovely Nausicaa stood by one of the bearing-posts
|
|
supporting the roof of the cloister, and admired him as she saw him
|
|
pass. "Farewell stranger," said she, "do not forget me when you are safe
|
|
at home again, for it is to me first that you owe a ransom for having
|
|
saved your life."
|
|
And Ulysses said, "Nausicaa, daughter of great Alcinous, may Jove the
|
|
mighty husband of Juno, grant that I may reach my home; so shall I bless
|
|
you as my guardian angel all my days, for it was you who saved me."
|
|
When he had said this, he seated himself beside Alcinous. Supper was
|
|
then served, and the wine was mixed for drinking. A servant led in the
|
|
favourite bard Demodocus, and set him in the midst of the company, near
|
|
one of the bearing-posts supporting the cloister, that he might lean
|
|
against it. Then Ulysses cut off a piece of roast pork with plenty of
|
|
fat (for there was abundance left on the joint) and said to a servant,
|
|
"Take this piece of pork over to Demodocus and tell him to eat it; for
|
|
all the pain his lays may cause me I will salute him none the less;
|
|
bards are honoured and respected throughout the world, for the muse
|
|
teaches them their songs and loves them."
|
|
The servant carried the pork in his fingers over to Demodocus, who took
|
|
it and was very much pleased. They then laid their hands on the good
|
|
things that were before them, and as soon as they had had to eat and
|
|
drink, Ulysses said to Demodocus, "Demodocus, there is no one in the
|
|
world whom I admire more than I do you. You must have studied under the
|
|
Muse, Jove's daughter, and under Apollo, so accurately do you sing the
|
|
return of the Achaeans with all their sufferings and adventures. If you
|
|
were not there yourself, you must have heard it all from some one who
|
|
was. Now, however, change your song and tell us of the wooden horse
|
|
which Epeus made with the assistance of Minerva, and which Ulysses got
|
|
by stratagem into the fort of Troy after freighting it with the men who
|
|
afterwards sacked the city. If you will sing this tale aright I will
|
|
tell all the world how magnificently heaven has endowed you."
|
|
The bard inspired of heaven took up the story at the point where some of
|
|
the Argives set fire to their tents and sailed away while others, hidden
|
|
within the horse, {73} were waiting with Ulysses in the Trojan place
|
|
of assembly. For the Trojans themselves had drawn the horse into their
|
|
fortress, and it stood there while they sat in council round it, and
|
|
were in three minds as to what they should do. Some were for breaking it
|
|
up then and there; others would have it dragged to the top of the rock
|
|
on which the fortress stood, and then thrown down the precipice; while
|
|
yet others were for letting it remain as an offering and propitiation
|
|
for the gods. And this was how they settled it in the end, for the city
|
|
was doomed when it took in that horse, within which were all the bravest
|
|
of the Argives waiting to bring death and destruction on the Trojans.
|
|
Anon he sang how the sons of the Achaeans issued from the horse, and
|
|
sacked the town, breaking out from their ambuscade. He sang how they
|
|
overran the city hither and thither and ravaged it, and how Ulysses went
|
|
raging like Mars along with Menelaus to the house of Deiphobus. It was
|
|
there that the fight raged most furiously, nevertheless by Minerva's
|
|
help he was victorious.
|
|
All this he told, but Ulysses was overcome as he heard him, and his
|
|
cheeks were wet with tears. He wept as a woman weeps when she throws
|
|
herself on the body of her husband who has fallen before his own city
|
|
and people, fighting bravely in defence of his home and children. She
|
|
screams aloud and flings her arms about him as he lies gasping for
|
|
breath and dying, but her enemies beat her from behind about the back
|
|
and shoulders, and carry her off into slavery, to a life of labour and
|
|
sorrow, and the beauty fades from her cheeks--even so piteously did
|
|
Ulysses weep, but none of those present perceived his tears except
|
|
Alcinous, who was sitting near him, and could hear the sobs and sighs
|
|
that he was heaving. The king, therefore, at once rose and said:
|
|
"Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, let Demodocus cease
|
|
his song, for there are those present who do not seem to like it. From
|
|
the moment that we had done supper and Demodocus began to sing, our
|
|
guest has been all the time groaning and lamenting. He is evidently
|
|
in great trouble, so let the bard leave off, that we may all enjoy
|
|
ourselves, hosts and guest alike. This will be much more as it should
|
|
be, for all these festivities, with the escort and the presents that we
|
|
are making with so much good will are wholly in his honour, and any
|
|
one with even a moderate amount of right feeling knows that he ought to
|
|
treat a guest and a suppliant as though he were his own brother.
|
|
"Therefore, Sir, do you on your part affect no more concealment nor
|
|
reserve in the matter about which I shall ask you; it will be more
|
|
polite in you to give me a plain answer; tell me the name by which your
|
|
father and mother over yonder used to call you, and by which you were
|
|
known among your neighbours and fellow-citizens. There is no one,
|
|
neither rich nor poor, who is absolutely without any name whatever, for
|
|
people's fathers and mothers give them names as soon as they are born.
|
|
Tell me also your country, nation, and city, that our ships may shape
|
|
their purpose accordingly and take you there. For the Phaeacians have
|
|
no pilots; their vessels have no rudders as those of other nations have,
|
|
but the ships themselves understand what it is that we are thinking
|
|
about and want; they know all the cities and countries in the whole
|
|
world, and can traverse the sea just as well even when it is covered
|
|
with mist and cloud, so that there is no danger of being wrecked or
|
|
coming to any harm. Still I do remember hearing my father say that
|
|
Neptune was angry with us for being too easy-going in the matter of
|
|
giving people escorts. He said that one of these days he should wreck a
|
|
ship of ours as it was returning from having escorted some one, {74} and
|
|
bury our city under a high mountain. This is what my father used to say,
|
|
but whether the god will carry out his threat or no is a matter which he
|
|
will decide for himself.
|
|
"And now, tell me and tell me true. Where have you been wandering, and
|
|
in what countries have you travelled? Tell us of the peoples themselves,
|
|
and of their cities--who were hostile, savage and uncivilised, and who,
|
|
on the other hand, hospitable and humane. Tell us also why you are made
|
|
so unhappy on hearing about the return of the Argive Danaans from Troy.
|
|
The gods arranged all this, and sent them their misfortunes in order
|
|
that future generations might have something to sing about. Did you
|
|
lose some brave kinsman of your wife's when you were before Troy? a
|
|
son-in-law or father-in-law--which are the nearest relations a man has
|
|
outside his own flesh and blood? or was it some brave and kindly-natured
|
|
comrade--for a good friend is as dear to a man as his own brother?"
|
|
Book IX
|
|
ULYSSES DECLARES HIMSELF AND BEGINS HIS STORY---THE CICONS, LOTOPHAGI,
|
|
AND CYCLOPES.
|
|
And Ulysses answered, "King Alcinous, it is a good thing to hear a bard
|
|
with such a divine voice as this man has. There is nothing better or
|
|
more delightful than when a whole people make merry together, with the
|
|
guests sitting orderly to listen, while the table is loaded with bread
|
|
and meats, and the cup-bearer draws wine and fills his cup for every
|
|
man. This is indeed as fair a sight as a man can see. Now, however,
|
|
since you are inclined to ask the story of my sorrows, and rekindle my
|
|
own sad memories in respect of them, I do not know how to begin, nor yet
|
|
how to continue and conclude my tale, for the hand of heaven has been
|
|
laid heavily upon me.
|
|
"Firstly, then, I will tell you my name that you too may know it, and
|
|
one day, if I outlive this time of sorrow, may become my guests though I
|
|
live so far away from all of you. I am Ulysses son of Laertes, renowned
|
|
among mankind for all manner of subtlety, so that my fame ascends to
|
|
heaven. I live in Ithaca, where there is a high mountain called Neritum,
|
|
covered with forests; and not far from it there is a group of islands
|
|
very near to one another--Dulichium, Same, and the wooded island of
|
|
Zacynthus. It lies squat on the horizon, all highest up in the sea
|
|
towards the sunset, while the others lie away from it towards dawn. {75}
|
|
It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave men, and my eyes know none
|
|
that they better love to look upon. The goddess Calypso kept me with her
|
|
in her cave, and wanted me to marry her, as did also the cunning Aeaean
|
|
goddess Circe; but they could neither of them persuade me, for there
|
|
is nothing dearer to a man than his own country and his parents, and
|
|
however splendid a home he may have in a foreign country, if it be far
|
|
from father or mother, he does not care about it. Now, however, I will
|
|
tell you of the many hazardous adventures which by Jove's will I met
|
|
with on my return from Troy.
|
|
"When I had set sail thence the wind took me first to Ismarus, which is
|
|
the city of the Cicons. There I sacked the town and put the people to
|
|
the sword. We took their wives and also much booty, which we divided
|
|
equitably amongst us, so that none might have reason to complain. I
|
|
then said that we had better make off at once, but my men very foolishly
|
|
would not obey me, so they staid there drinking much wine and killing
|
|
great numbers of sheep and oxen on the sea shore. Meanwhile the Cicons
|
|
cried out for help to other Cicons who lived inland. These were more in
|
|
number, and stronger, and they were more skilled in the art of war,
|
|
for they could fight, either from chariots or on foot as the occasion
|
|
served; in the morning, therefore, they came as thick as leaves and
|
|
bloom in summer, and the hand of heaven was against us, so that we were
|
|
hard pressed. They set the battle in array near the ships, and the hosts
|
|
aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another. {76} So long as the day
|
|
waxed and it was still morning, we held our own against them, though
|
|
they were more in number than we; but as the sun went down, towards the
|
|
time when men loose their oxen, the Cicons got the better of us, and we
|
|
lost half a dozen men from every ship we had; so we got away with those
|
|
that were left.
|
|
"Thence we sailed onward with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have
|
|
escaped death though we had lost our comrades, nor did we leave till we
|
|
had thrice invoked each one of the poor fellows who had perished by the
|
|
hands of the Cicons. Then Jove raised the North wind against us till it
|
|
blew a hurricane, so that land and sky were hidden in thick clouds, and
|
|
night sprang forth out of the heavens. We let the ships run before the
|
|
gale, but the force of the wind tore our sails to tatters, so we took
|
|
them down for fear of shipwreck, and rowed our hardest towards the land.
|
|
There we lay two days and two nights suffering much alike from toil and
|
|
distress of mind, but on the morning of the third day we again raised
|
|
our masts, set sail, and took our places, letting the wind and steersmen
|
|
direct our ship. I should have got home at that time unharmed had not
|
|
the North wind and the currents been against me as I was doubling Cape
|
|
Malea, and set me off my course hard by the island of Cythera.
|
|
"I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of nine days upon the
|
|
sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters, who
|
|
live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take
|
|
in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near
|
|
the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to
|
|
see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had
|
|
a third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the
|
|
Lotus-eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus,
|
|
which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about
|
|
home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to
|
|
them, but were for staying and munching lotus {77} with the Lotus-eaters
|
|
without thinking further of their return; nevertheless, though they wept
|
|
bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the
|
|
benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of them
|
|
should taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to get home, so they
|
|
took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars.
|
|
"We sailed hence, always in much distress, till we came to the land of
|
|
the lawless and inhuman Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes neither plant nor
|
|
plough, but trust in providence, and live on such wheat, barley, and
|
|
grapes as grow wild without any kind of tillage, and their wild grapes
|
|
yield them wine as the sun and the rain may grow them. They have no
|
|
laws nor assemblies of the people, but live in caves on the tops of
|
|
high mountains; each is lord and master in his family, and they take no
|
|
account of their neighbours.
|
|
"Now off their harbour there lies a wooded and fertile island not quite
|
|
close to the land of the Cyclopes, but still not far. It is over-run
|
|
with wild goats, that breed there in great numbers and are never
|
|
disturbed by foot of man; for sportsmen--who as a rule will suffer so
|
|
much hardship in forest or among mountain precipices--do not go there,
|
|
nor yet again is it ever ploughed or fed down, but it lies a wilderness
|
|
untilled and unsown from year to year, and has no living thing upon it
|
|
but only goats. For the Cyclopes have no ships, nor yet shipwrights who
|
|
could make ships for them; they cannot therefore go from city to city,
|
|
or sail over the sea to one another's country as people who have ships
|
|
can do; if they had had these they would have colonised the island, {78}
|
|
for it is a very good one, and would yield everything in due season.
|
|
There are meadows that in some places come right down to the sea
|
|
shore, well watered and full of luscious grass; grapes would do there
|
|
excellently; there is level land for ploughing, and it would always
|
|
yield heavily at harvest time, for the soil is deep. There is a good
|
|
harbour where no cables are wanted, nor yet anchors, nor need a ship be
|
|
moored, but all one has to do is to beach one's vessel and stay there
|
|
till the wind becomes fair for putting out to sea again. At the head of
|
|
the harbour there is a spring of clear water coming out of a cave, and
|
|
there are poplars growing all round it.
|
|
"Here we entered, but so dark was the night that some god must have
|
|
brought us in, for there was nothing whatever to be seen. A thick mist
|
|
hung all round our ships; {79} the moon was hidden behind a mass of
|
|
clouds so that no one could have seen the island if he had looked for
|
|
it, nor were there any breakers to tell us we were close in shore before
|
|
we found ourselves upon the land itself; when, however, we had beached
|
|
the ships, we took down the sails, went ashore and camped upon the beach
|
|
till daybreak.
|
|
"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared, we admired
|
|
the island and wandered all over it, while the nymphs Jove's daughters
|
|
roused the wild goats that we might get some meat for our dinner. On
|
|
this we fetched our spears and bows and arrows from the ships, and
|
|
dividing ourselves into three bands began to shoot the goats. Heaven
|
|
sent us excellent sport; I had twelve ships with me, and each ship got
|
|
nine goats, while my own ship had ten; thus through the livelong day to
|
|
the going down of the sun we ate and drank our fill, and we had plenty
|
|
of wine left, for each one of us had taken many jars full when we sacked
|
|
the city of the Cicons, and this had not yet run out. While we were
|
|
feasting we kept turning our eyes towards the land of the Cyclopes,
|
|
which was hard by, and saw the smoke of their stubble fires. We could
|
|
almost fancy we heard their voices and the bleating of their sheep and
|
|
goats, but when the sun went down and it came on dark, we camped down
|
|
upon the beach, and next morning I called a council.
|
|
"'Stay here, my brave fellows,' said I, 'all the rest of you, while I go
|
|
with my ship and exploit these people myself: I want to see if they are
|
|
uncivilised savages, or a hospitable and humane race.'
|
|
"I went on board, bidding my men to do so also and loose the hawsers; so
|
|
they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars. When we
|
|
got to the land, which was not far, there, on the face of a cliff near
|
|
the sea, we saw a great cave overhung with laurels. It was a station for
|
|
a great many sheep and goats, and outside there was a large yard, with
|
|
a high wall round it made of stones built into the ground and of trees
|
|
both pine and oak. This was the abode of a huge monster who was then
|
|
away from home shepherding his flocks. He would have nothing to do with
|
|
other people, but led the life of an outlaw. He was a horrid creature,
|
|
not like a human being at all, but resembling rather some crag that
|
|
stands out boldly against the sky on the top of a high mountain.
|
|
"I told my men to draw the ship ashore, and stay where they were, all
|
|
but the twelve best among them, who were to go along with myself. I also
|
|
took a goatskin of sweet black wine which had been given me by Maron,
|
|
son of Euanthes, who was priest of Apollo the patron god of Ismarus, and
|
|
lived within the wooded precincts of the temple. When we were sacking
|
|
the city we respected him, and spared his life, as also his wife and
|
|
child; so he made me some presents of great value--seven talents of fine
|
|
gold, and a bowl of silver, with twelve jars of sweet wine, unblended,
|
|
and of the most exquisite flavour. Not a man nor maid in the house knew
|
|
about it, but only himself, his wife, and one housekeeper: when he drank
|
|
it he mixed twenty parts of water to one of wine, and yet the fragrance
|
|
from the mixing-bowl was so exquisite that it was impossible to refrain
|
|
from drinking. I filled a large skin with this wine, and took a wallet
|
|
full of provisions with me, for my mind misgave me that I might have to
|
|
deal with some savage who would be of great strength, and would respect
|
|
neither right nor law.
|
|
"We soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding, so we went inside
|
|
and took stock of all that we could see. His cheese-racks were loaded
|
|
with cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his pens could hold.
|
|
They were kept in separate flocks; first there were the hoggets, then
|
|
the oldest of the younger lambs and lastly the very young ones {80} all
|
|
kept apart from one another; as for his dairy, all the vessels, bowls,
|
|
and milk pails into which he milked, were swimming with whey. When they
|
|
saw all this, my men begged me to let them first steal some cheeses, and
|
|
make off with them to the ship; they would then return, drive down the
|
|
lambs and kids, put them on board and sail away with them. It would have
|
|
been indeed better if we had done so but I would not listen to them, for
|
|
I wanted to see the owner himself, in the hope that he might give me
|
|
a present. When, however, we saw him my poor men found him ill to deal
|
|
with.
|
|
"We lit a fire, offered some of the cheeses in sacrifice, ate others
|
|
of them, and then sat waiting till the Cyclops should come in with his
|
|
sheep. When he came, he brought in with him a huge load of dry firewood
|
|
to light the fire for his supper, and this he flung with such a noise on
|
|
to the floor of his cave that we hid ourselves for fear at the far end
|
|
of the cavern. Meanwhile he drove all the ewes inside, as well as the
|
|
she-goats that he was going to milk, leaving the males, both rams and
|
|
he-goats, outside in the yards. Then he rolled a huge stone to the mouth
|
|
of the cave--so huge that two and twenty strong four-wheeled waggons
|
|
would not be enough to draw it from its place against the doorway. When
|
|
he had so done he sat down and milked his ewes and goats, all in due
|
|
course, and then let each of them have her own young. He curdled half
|
|
the milk and set it aside in wicker strainers, but the other half he
|
|
poured into bowls that he might drink it for his supper. When he had got
|
|
through with all his work, he lit the fire, and then caught sight of us,
|
|
whereon he said:
|
|
"'Strangers, who are you? Where do sail from? Are you traders, or do
|
|
you sail the sea as rovers, with your hands against every man, and every
|
|
man's hand against you?'
|
|
"We were frightened out of our senses by his loud voice and monstrous
|
|
form, but I managed to say, 'We are Achaeans on our way home from Troy,
|
|
but by the will of Jove, and stress of weather, we have been driven far
|
|
out of our course. We are the people of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, who
|
|
has won infinite renown throughout the whole world, by sacking so great
|
|
a city and killing so many people. We therefore humbly pray you to show
|
|
us some hospitality, and otherwise make us such presents as visitors may
|
|
reasonably expect. May your excellency fear the wrath of heaven, for we
|
|
are your suppliants, and Jove takes all respectable travellers under his
|
|
protection, for he is the avenger of all suppliants and foreigners in
|
|
distress.'
|
|
"To this he gave me but a pitiless answer, 'Stranger,' said he, 'you are
|
|
a fool, or else you know nothing of this country. Talk to me, indeed,
|
|
about fearing the gods or shunning their anger? We Cyclopes do not care
|
|
about Jove or any of your blessed gods, for we are ever so much stronger
|
|
than they. I shall not spare either yourself or your companions out of
|
|
any regard for Jove, unless I am in the humour for doing so. And now
|
|
tell me where you made your ship fast when you came on shore. Was it
|
|
round the point, or is she lying straight off the land?'
|
|
"He said this to draw me out, but I was too cunning to be caught in that
|
|
way, so I answered with a lie; 'Neptune,' said I, 'sent my ship on to
|
|
the rocks at the far end of your country, and wrecked it. We were driven
|
|
on to them from the open sea, but I and those who are with me escaped
|
|
the jaws of death.'
|
|
"The cruel wretch vouchsafed me not one word of answer, but with a
|
|
sudden clutch he gripped up two of my men at once and dashed them down
|
|
upon the ground as though they had been puppies. Their brains were shed
|
|
upon the ground, and the earth was wet with their blood. Then he tore
|
|
them limb from limb and supped upon them. He gobbled them up like a lion
|
|
in the wilderness, flesh, bones, marrow, and entrails, without leaving
|
|
anything uneaten. As for us, we wept and lifted up our hands to heaven
|
|
on seeing such a horrid sight, for we did not know what else to do; but
|
|
when the Cyclops had filled his huge paunch, and had washed down his
|
|
meal of human flesh with a drink of neat milk, he stretched himself
|
|
full length upon the ground among his sheep, and went to sleep. I was at
|
|
first inclined to seize my sword, draw it, and drive it into his vitals,
|
|
but I reflected that if I did we should all certainly be lost, for we
|
|
should never be able to shift the stone which the monster had put in
|
|
front of the door. So we stayed sobbing and sighing where we were till
|
|
morning came.
|
|
"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered dawn, appeared, he again lit
|
|
his fire, milked his goats and ewes, all quite rightly, and then let
|
|
each have her own young one; as soon as he had got through with all his
|
|
work, he clutched up two more of my men, and began eating them for his
|
|
morning's meal. Presently, with the utmost ease, he rolled the stone
|
|
away from the door and drove out his sheep, but he at once put it back
|
|
again--as easily as though he were merely clapping the lid on to a
|
|
quiver full of arrows. As soon as he had done so he shouted, and cried
|
|
'Shoo, shoo,' after his sheep to drive them on to the mountain; so I was
|
|
left to scheme some way of taking my revenge and covering myself with
|
|
glory.
|
|
"In the end I deemed it would be the best plan to do as follows: The
|
|
Cyclops had a great club which was lying near one of the sheep pens;
|
|
it was of green olive wood, and he had cut it intending to use it for
|
|
a staff as soon as it should be dry. It was so huge that we could
|
|
only compare it to the mast of a twenty-oared merchant vessel of large
|
|
burden, and able to venture out into open sea. I went up to this club
|
|
and cut off about six feet of it; I then gave this piece to the men and
|
|
told them to fine it evenly off at one end, which they proceeded to do,
|
|
and lastly I brought it to a point myself, charring the end in the fire
|
|
to make it harder. When I had done this I hid it under dung, which was
|
|
lying about all over the cave, and told the men to cast lots which of
|
|
them should venture along with myself to lift it and bore it into the
|
|
monster's eye while he was asleep. The lot fell upon the very four whom
|
|
I should have chosen, and I myself made five. In the evening the wretch
|
|
came back from shepherding, and drove his flocks into the cave--this
|
|
time driving them all inside, and not leaving any in the yards; I
|
|
suppose some fancy must have taken him, or a god must have prompted him
|
|
to do so. As soon as he had put the stone back to its place against the
|
|
door, he sat down, milked his ewes and his goats all quite rightly, and
|
|
then let each have her own young one; when he had got through with all
|
|
this work, he gripped up two more of my men, and made his supper off
|
|
them. So I went up to him with an ivy-wood bowl of black wine in my
|
|
hands:
|
|
"'Look here, Cyclops,' said I, you have been eating a great deal of
|
|
man's flesh, so take this and drink some wine, that you may see what
|
|
kind of liquor we had on board my ship. I was bringing it to you as a
|
|
drink-offering, in the hope that you would take compassion upon me and
|
|
further me on my way home, whereas all you do is to go on ramping and
|
|
raving most intolerably. You ought to be ashamed of yourself; how can
|
|
you expect people to come see you any more if you treat them in this
|
|
way?'
|
|
"He then took the cup and drank. He was so delighted with the taste of
|
|
the wine that he begged me for another bowl full. 'Be so kind,' he said,
|
|
'as to give me some more, and tell me your name at once. I want to make
|
|
you a present that you will be glad to have. We have wine even in this
|
|
country, for our soil grows grapes and the sun ripens them, but this
|
|
drinks like Nectar and Ambrosia all in one.'
|
|
"I then gave him some more; three times did I fill the bowl for him, and
|
|
three times did he drain it without thought or heed; then, when I saw
|
|
that the wine had got into his head, I said to him as plausibly as
|
|
I could: 'Cyclops, you ask my name and I will tell it you; give me,
|
|
therefore, the present you promised me; my name is Noman; this is what
|
|
my father and mother and my friends have always called me.'
|
|
"But the cruel wretch said, 'Then I will eat all Noman's comrades before
|
|
Noman himself, and will keep Noman for the last. This is the present
|
|
that I will make him.'
|
|
"As he spoke he reeled, and fell sprawling face upwards on the ground.
|
|
His great neck hung heavily backwards and a deep sleep took hold upon
|
|
him. Presently he turned sick, and threw up both wine and the gobbets of
|
|
human flesh on which he had been gorging, for he was very drunk. Then I
|
|
thrust the beam of wood far into the embers to heat it, and encouraged
|
|
my men lest any of them should turn faint-hearted. When the wood, green
|
|
though it was, was about to blaze, I drew it out of the fire glowing
|
|
with heat, and my men gathered round me, for heaven had filled their
|
|
hearts with courage. We drove the sharp end of the beam into the
|
|
monster's eye, and bearing upon it with all my weight I kept turning it
|
|
round and round as though I were boring a hole in a ship's plank with an
|
|
auger, which two men with a wheel and strap can keep on turning as long
|
|
as they choose. Even thus did we bore the red hot beam into his eye,
|
|
till the boiling blood bubbled all over it as we worked it round and
|
|
round, so that the steam from the burning eyeball scalded his eyelids
|
|
and eyebrows, and the roots of the eye sputtered in the fire. As a
|
|
blacksmith plunges an axe or hatchet into cold water to temper it--for
|
|
it is this that gives strength to the iron--and it makes a great hiss as
|
|
he does so, even thus did the Cyclops' eye hiss round the beam of olive
|
|
wood, and his hideous yells made the cave ring again. We ran away in a
|
|
fright, but he plucked the beam all besmirched with gore from his eye,
|
|
and hurled it from him in a frenzy of rage and pain, shouting as he did
|
|
so to the other Cyclopes who lived on the bleak headlands near him;
|
|
so they gathered from all quarters round his cave when they heard him
|
|
crying, and asked what was the matter with him.
|
|
"'What ails you, Polyphemus,' said they, 'that you make such a noise,
|
|
breaking the stillness of the night, and preventing us from being able
|
|
to sleep? Surely no man is carrying off your sheep? Surely no man is
|
|
trying to kill you either by fraud or by force?'
|
|
"But Polyphemus shouted to them from inside the cave, 'Noman is killing
|
|
me by fraud; no man is killing me by force.'
|
|
"'Then,' said they, 'if no man is attacking you, you must be ill; when
|
|
Jove makes people ill, there is no help for it, and you had better pray
|
|
to your father Neptune.'
|
|
"Then they went away, and I laughed inwardly at the success of my clever
|
|
stratagem, but the Cyclops, groaning and in an agony of pain, felt about
|
|
with his hands till he found the stone and took it from the door; then
|
|
he sat in the doorway and stretched his hands in front of it to catch
|
|
anyone going out with the sheep, for he thought I might be foolish
|
|
enough to attempt this.
|
|
"As for myself I kept on puzzling to think how I could best save my own
|
|
life and those of my companions; I schemed and schemed, as one who knows
|
|
that his life depends upon it, for the danger was very great. In the
|
|
end I deemed that this plan would be the best; the male sheep were well
|
|
grown, and carried a heavy black fleece, so I bound them noiselessly in
|
|
threes together, with some of the withies on which the wicked monster
|
|
used to sleep. There was to be a man under the middle sheep, and the two
|
|
on either side were to cover him, so that there were three sheep to each
|
|
man. As for myself there was a ram finer than any of the others, so I
|
|
caught hold of him by the back, esconced myself in the thick wool under
|
|
his belly, and hung on patiently to his fleece, face upwards, keeping a
|
|
firm hold on it all the time.
|
|
"Thus, then, did we wait in great fear of mind till morning came, but
|
|
when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the male sheep
|
|
hurried out to feed, while the ewes remained bleating about the pens
|
|
waiting to be milked, for their udders were full to bursting; but their
|
|
master in spite of all his pain felt the backs of all the sheep as they
|
|
stood upright, without being sharp enough to find out that the men were
|
|
underneath their bellies. As the ram was going out, last of all, heavy
|
|
with its fleece and with the weight of my crafty self, Polyphemus laid
|
|
hold of it and said:
|
|
"'My good ram, what is it that makes you the last to leave my cave this
|
|
morning? You are not wont to let the ewes go before you, but lead the
|
|
mob with a run whether to flowery mead or bubbling fountain, and are the
|
|
first to come home again at night; but now you lag last of all. Is it
|
|
because you know your master has lost his eye, and are sorry because
|
|
that wicked Noman and his horrid crew has got him down in his drink and
|
|
blinded him? But I will have his life yet. If you could understand and
|
|
talk, you would tell me where the wretch is hiding, and I would dash his
|
|
brains upon the ground till they flew all over the cave. I should thus
|
|
have some satisfaction for the harm this no-good Noman has done me.'
|
|
"As he spoke he drove the ram outside, but when we were a little way
|
|
out from the cave and yards, I first got from under the ram's belly,
|
|
and then freed my comrades; as for the sheep, which were very fat, by
|
|
constantly heading them in the right direction we managed to drive them
|
|
down to the ship. The crew rejoiced greatly at seeing those of us who
|
|
had escaped death, but wept for the others whom the Cyclops had killed.
|
|
However, I made signs to them by nodding and frowning that they were to
|
|
hush their crying, and told them to get all the sheep on board at once
|
|
and put out to sea; so they went aboard, took their places, and smote
|
|
the grey sea with their oars. Then, when I had got as far out as my
|
|
voice would reach, I began to jeer at the Cyclops.
|
|
"'Cyclops,' said I, 'you should have taken better measure of your man
|
|
before eating up his comrades in your cave. You wretch, eat up your
|
|
visitors in your own house? You might have known that your sin would
|
|
find you out, and now Jove and the other gods have punished you.'
|
|
"He got more and more furious as he heard me, so he tore the top from
|
|
off a high mountain, and flung it just in front of my ship so that
|
|
it was within a little of hitting the end of the rudder. {81} The sea
|
|
quaked as the rock fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised
|
|
carried us back towards the mainland, and forced us towards the shore.
|
|
But I snatched up a long pole and kept the ship off, making signs to my
|
|
men by nodding my head, that they must row for their lives, whereon they
|
|
laid out with a will. When we had got twice as far as we were before, I
|
|
was for jeering at the Cyclops again, but the men begged and prayed of
|
|
me to hold my tongue.
|
|
"'Do not,' they exclaimed, 'be mad enough to provoke this savage
|
|
creature further; he has thrown one rock at us already which drove us
|
|
back again to the mainland, and we made sure it had been the death
|
|
of us; if he had then heard any further sound of voices he would have
|
|
pounded our heads and our ship's timbers into a jelly with the rugged
|
|
rocks he would have heaved at us, for he can throw them a long way.'
|
|
"But I would not listen to them, and shouted out to him in my rage,
|
|
'Cyclops, if any one asks you who it was that put your eye out and
|
|
spoiled your beauty, say it was the valiant warrior Ulysses, son of
|
|
Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.'
|
|
"On this he groaned, and cried out, 'Alas, alas, then the old prophecy
|
|
about me is coming true. There was a prophet here, at one time, a man
|
|
both brave and of great stature, Telemus son of Eurymus, who was an
|
|
excellent seer, and did all the prophesying for the Cyclopes till he
|
|
grew old; he told me that all this would happen to me some day, and said
|
|
I should lose my sight by the hand of Ulysses. I have been all along
|
|
expecting some one of imposing presence and superhuman strength, whereas
|
|
he turns out to be a little insignificant weakling, who has managed to
|
|
blind my eye by taking advantage of me in my drink; come here, then,
|
|
Ulysses, that I may make you presents to show my hospitality, and urge
|
|
Neptune to help you forward on your journey--for Neptune and I are
|
|
father and son. He, if he so will, shall heal me, which no one else
|
|
neither god nor man can do.'
|
|
"Then I said, 'I wish I could be as sure of killing you outright and
|
|
sending you down to the house of Hades, as I am that it will take more
|
|
than Neptune to cure that eye of yours.'
|
|
"On this he lifted up his hands to the firmament of heaven and prayed,
|
|
saying, 'Hear me, great Neptune; if I am indeed your own true begotten
|
|
son, grant that Ulysses may never reach his home alive; or if he must
|
|
get back to his friends at last, let him do so late and in sore plight
|
|
after losing all his men [let him reach his home in another man's ship
|
|
and find trouble in his house.'] {82}
|
|
"Thus did he pray, and Neptune heard his prayer. Then he picked up
|
|
a rock much larger than the first, swung it aloft and hurled it with
|
|
prodigious force. It fell just short of the ship, but was within a
|
|
little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked as the rock fell
|
|
into it, and the wash of the wave it raised drove us onwards on our way
|
|
towards the shore of the island.
|
|
"When at last we got to the island where we had left the rest of our
|
|
ships, we found our comrades lamenting us, and anxiously awaiting our
|
|
return. We ran our vessel upon the sands and got out of her on to the
|
|
sea shore; we also landed the Cyclops' sheep, and divided them equitably
|
|
amongst us so that none might have reason to complain. As for the ram,
|
|
my companions agreed that I should have it as an extra share; so I
|
|
sacrificed it on the sea shore, and burned its thigh bones to Jove, who
|
|
is the lord of all. But he heeded not my sacrifice, and only thought how
|
|
he might destroy both my ships and my comrades.
|
|
"Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we feasted
|
|
our fill on meat and drink, but when the sun went down and it came on
|
|
dark, we camped upon the beach. When the child of morning rosy-fingered
|
|
Dawn appeared, I bade my men on board and loose the hawsers. Then they
|
|
took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars; so we sailed
|
|
on with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have escaped death though we
|
|
had lost our comrades.
|
|
Book X
|
|
AEOLUS, THE LAESTRYGONES, CIRCE.
|
|
"Thence we went on to the Aeolian island where lives Aeolus son of
|
|
Hippotas, dear to the immortal gods. It is an island that floats (as
|
|
it were) upon the sea, {83} iron bound with a wall that girds it. Now,
|
|
Aeolus has six daughters and six lusty sons, so he made the sons marry
|
|
the daughters, and they all live with their dear father and mother,
|
|
feasting and enjoying every conceivable kind of luxury. All day long the
|
|
atmosphere of the house is loaded with the savour of roasting meats till
|
|
it groans again, yard and all; but by night they sleep on their well
|
|
made bedsteads, each with his own wife between the blankets. These were
|
|
the people among whom we had now come.
|
|
"Aeolus entertained me for a whole month asking me questions all the
|
|
time about Troy, the Argive fleet, and the return of the Achaeans. I
|
|
told him exactly how everything had happened, and when I said I must go,
|
|
and asked him to further me on my way, he made no sort of difficulty,
|
|
but set about doing so at once. Moreover, he flayed me a prime ox-hide
|
|
to hold the ways of the roaring winds, which he shut up in the hide as
|
|
in a sack--for Jove had made him captain over the winds, and he could
|
|
stir or still each one of them according to his own pleasure. He put
|
|
the sack in the ship and bound the mouth so tightly with a silver thread
|
|
that not even a breath of a side-wind could blow from any quarter. The
|
|
West wind which was fair for us did he alone let blow as it chose; but
|
|
it all came to nothing, for we were lost through our own folly.
|
|
"Nine days and nine nights did we sail, and on the tenth day our native
|
|
land showed on the horizon. We got so close in that we could see the
|
|
stubble fires burning, and I, being then dead beat, fell into a light
|
|
sleep, for I had never let the rudder out of my own hands, that we might
|
|
get home the faster. On this the men fell to talking among themselves,
|
|
and said I was bringing back gold and silver in the sack that Aeolus
|
|
had given me. 'Bless my heart,' would one turn to his neighbour, saying,
|
|
'how this man gets honoured and makes friends to whatever city or
|
|
country he may go. See what fine prizes he is taking home from Troy,
|
|
while we, who have travelled just as far as he has, come back with hands
|
|
as empty as we set out with--and now Aeolus has given him ever so much
|
|
more. Quick--let us see what it all is, and how much gold and silver
|
|
there is in the sack he gave him.'
|
|
"Thus they talked and evil counsels prevailed. They loosed the sack,
|
|
whereupon the wind flew howling forth and raised a storm that carried us
|
|
weeping out to sea and away from our own country. Then I awoke, and knew
|
|
not whether to throw myself into the sea or to live on and make the best
|
|
of it; but I bore it, covered myself up, and lay down in the ship, while
|
|
the men lamented bitterly as the fierce winds bore our fleet back to the
|
|
Aeolian island.
|
|
"When we reached it we went ashore to take in water, and dined hard by
|
|
the ships. Immediately after dinner I took a herald and one of my men
|
|
and went straight to the house of Aeolus, where I found him feasting
|
|
with his wife and family; so we sat down as suppliants on the threshold.
|
|
They were astounded when they saw us and said, 'Ulysses, what brings you
|
|
here? What god has been ill-treating you? We took great pains to further
|
|
you on your way home to Ithaca, or wherever it was that you wanted to go
|
|
to.'
|
|
"Thus did they speak, but I answered sorrowfully, 'My men have undone
|
|
me; they, and cruel sleep, have ruined me. My friends, mend me this
|
|
mischief, for you can if you will.'
|
|
"I spoke as movingly as I could, but they said nothing, till their
|
|
father answered, 'Vilest of mankind, get you gone at once out of the
|
|
island; him whom heaven hates will I in no wise help. Be off, for you
|
|
come here as one abhorred of heaven.' And with these words he sent me
|
|
sorrowing from his door.
|
|
"Thence we sailed sadly on till the men were worn out with long and
|
|
fruitless rowing, for there was no longer any wind to help them. Six
|
|
days, night and day did we toil, and on the seventh day we reached the
|
|
rocky stronghold of Lamus--Telepylus, the city of the Laestrygonians,
|
|
where the shepherd who is driving in his sheep and goats [to be milked]
|
|
salutes him who is driving out his flock [to feed] and this last answers
|
|
the salute. In that country a man who could do without sleep might earn
|
|
double wages, one as a herdsman of cattle, and another as a shepherd,
|
|
for they work much the same by night as they do by day. {84}
|
|
"When we reached the harbour we found it land-locked under steep cliffs,
|
|
with a narrow entrance between two headlands. My captains took all their
|
|
ships inside, and made them fast close to one another, for there was
|
|
never so much as a breath of wind inside, but it was always dead calm. I
|
|
kept my own ship outside, and moored it to a rock at the very end of the
|
|
point; then I climbed a high rock to reconnoitre, but could see no sign
|
|
neither of man nor cattle, only some smoke rising from the ground. So I
|
|
sent two of my company with an attendant to find out what sort of people
|
|
the inhabitants were.
|
|
"The men when they got on shore followed a level road by which the
|
|
people draw their firewood from the mountains into the town, till
|
|
presently they met a young woman who had come outside to fetch water,
|
|
and who was daughter to a Laestrygonian named Antiphates. She was going
|
|
to the fountain Artacia from which the people bring in their water, and
|
|
when my men had come close up to her, they asked her who the king of
|
|
that country might be, and over what kind of people he ruled; so she
|
|
directed them to her father's house, but when they got there they found
|
|
his wife to be a giantess as huge as a mountain, and they were horrified
|
|
at the sight of her.
|
|
"She at once called her husband Antiphates from the place of assembly,
|
|
and forthwith he set about killing my men. He snatched up one of them,
|
|
and began to make his dinner off him then and there, whereon the other
|
|
two ran back to the ships as fast as ever they could. But Antiphates
|
|
raised a hue-and-cry after them, and thousands of sturdy Laestrygonians
|
|
sprang up from every quarter--ogres, not men. They threw vast rocks at
|
|
us from the cliffs as though they had been mere stones, and I heard
|
|
the horrid sound of the ships crunching up against one another, and the
|
|
death cries of my men, as the Laestrygonians speared them like fishes
|
|
and took them home to eat them. While they were thus killing my men
|
|
within the harbour I drew my sword, cut the cable of my own ship, and
|
|
told my men to row with all their might if they too would not fare like
|
|
the rest; so they laid out for their lives, and we were thankful enough
|
|
when we got into open water out of reach of the rocks they hurled at us.
|
|
As for the others there was not one of them left.
|
|
"Thence we sailed sadly on, glad to have escaped death, though we had
|
|
lost our comrades, and came to the Aeaean island, where Circe lives--a
|
|
great and cunning goddess who is own sister to the magician Aeetes--for
|
|
they are both children of the sun by Perse, who is daughter to Oceanus.
|
|
We brought our ship into a safe harbour without a word, for some god
|
|
guided us thither, and having landed we lay there for two days and two
|
|
nights, worn out in body and mind. When the morning of the third day
|
|
came I took my spear and my sword, and went away from the ship to
|
|
reconnoitre, and see if I could discover signs of human handiwork,
|
|
or hear the sound of voices. Climbing to the top of a high look-out I
|
|
espied the smoke of Circe's house rising upwards amid a dense forest of
|
|
trees, and when I saw this I doubted whether, having seen the smoke, I
|
|
would not go on at once and find out more, but in the end I deemed it
|
|
best to go back to the ship, give the men their dinners, and send some
|
|
of them instead of going myself.
|
|
"When I had nearly got back to the ship some god took pity upon my
|
|
solitude, and sent a fine antlered stag right into the middle of my
|
|
path. He was coming down his pasture in the forest to drink of the
|
|
river, for the heat of the sun drove him, and as he passed I struck
|
|
him in the middle of the back; the bronze point of the spear went clean
|
|
through him, and he lay groaning in the dust until the life went out of
|
|
him. Then I set my foot upon him, drew my spear from the wound, and laid
|
|
it down; I also gathered rough grass and rushes and twisted them into a
|
|
fathom or so of good stout rope, with which I bound the four feet of
|
|
the noble creature together; having so done I hung him round my neck and
|
|
walked back to the ship leaning upon my spear, for the stag was much too
|
|
big for me to be able to carry him on my shoulder, steadying him with
|
|
one hand. As I threw him down in front of the ship, I called the men
|
|
and spoke cheeringly man by man to each of them. 'Look here my friends,'
|
|
said I, 'we are not going to die so much before our time after all, and
|
|
at any rate we will not starve so long as we have got something to eat
|
|
and drink on board.' On this they uncovered their heads upon the sea
|
|
shore and admired the stag, for he was indeed a splendid fellow. Then,
|
|
when they had feasted their eyes upon him sufficiently, they washed
|
|
their hands and began to cook him for dinner.
|
|
"Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we stayed
|
|
there eating and drinking our fill, but when the sun went down and it
|
|
came on dark, we camped upon the sea shore. When the child of morning,
|
|
rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I called a council and said, 'My friends,
|
|
we are in very great difficulties; listen therefore to me. We have no
|
|
idea where the sun either sets or rises, {85} so that we do not even
|
|
know East from West. I see no way out of it; nevertheless, we must try
|
|
and find one. We are certainly on an island, for I went as high as
|
|
I could this morning, and saw the sea reaching all round it to the
|
|
horizon; it lies low, but towards the middle I saw smoke rising from out
|
|
of a thick forest of trees.'
|
|
"Their hearts sank as they heard me, for they remembered how they had
|
|
been treated by the Laestrygonian Antiphates, and by the savage ogre
|
|
Polyphemus. They wept bitterly in their dismay, but there was nothing to
|
|
be got by crying, so I divided them into two companies and set a captain
|
|
over each; I gave one company to Eurylochus, while I took command of
|
|
the other myself. Then we cast lots in a helmet, and the lot fell upon
|
|
Eurylochus; so he set out with his twenty-two men, and they wept, as
|
|
also did we who were left behind.
|
|
"When they reached Circe's house they found it built of cut stones, on
|
|
a site that could be seen from far, in the middle of the forest.
|
|
There were wild mountain wolves and lions prowling all round it--poor
|
|
bewitched creatures whom she had tamed by her enchantments and drugged
|
|
into subjection. They did not attack my men, but wagged their great
|
|
tails, fawned upon them, and rubbed their noses lovingly against them.
|
|
{86} As hounds crowd round their master when they see him coming from
|
|
dinner--for they know he will bring them something--even so did these
|
|
wolves and lions with their great claws fawn upon my men, but the men
|
|
were terribly frightened at seeing such strange creatures. Presently
|
|
they reached the gates of the goddess's house, and as they stood there
|
|
they could hear Circe within, singing most beautifully as she worked at
|
|
her loom, making a web so fine, so soft, and of such dazzling colours
|
|
as no one but a goddess could weave. On this Polites, whom I valued and
|
|
trusted more than any other of my men, said, 'There is some one inside
|
|
working at a loom and singing most beautifully; the whole place resounds
|
|
with it, let us call her and see whether she is woman or goddess.'
|
|
"They called her and she came down, unfastened the door, and bade them
|
|
enter. They, thinking no evil, followed her, all except Eurylochus, who
|
|
suspected mischief and staid outside. When she had got them into her
|
|
house, she set them upon benches and seats and mixed them a mess with
|
|
cheese, honey, meal, and Pramnian wine, but she drugged it with wicked
|
|
poisons to make them forget their homes, and when they had drunk she
|
|
turned them into pigs by a stroke of her wand, and shut them up in her
|
|
pig-styes. They were like pigs--head, hair, and all, and they grunted
|
|
just as pigs do; but their senses were the same as before, and they
|
|
remembered everything.
|
|
"Thus then were they shut up squealing, and Circe threw them some acorns
|
|
and beech masts such as pigs eat, but Eurylochus hurried back to tell me
|
|
about the sad fate of our comrades. He was so overcome with dismay
|
|
that though he tried to speak he could find no words to do so; his eyes
|
|
filled with tears and he could only sob and sigh, till at last we forced
|
|
his story out of him, and he told us what had happened to the others.
|
|
"'We went,' said he, 'as you told us, through the forest, and in the
|
|
middle of it there was a fine house built with cut stones in a place
|
|
that could be seen from far. There we found a woman, or else she was a
|
|
goddess, working at her loom and singing sweetly; so the men shouted to
|
|
her and called her, whereon she at once came down, opened the door, and
|
|
invited us in. The others did not suspect any mischief so they followed
|
|
her into the house, but I staid where I was, for I thought there might
|
|
be some treachery. From that moment I saw them no more, for not one of
|
|
them ever came out, though I sat a long time watching for them.'
|
|
"Then I took my sword of bronze and slung it over my shoulders; I also
|
|
took my bow, and told Eurylochus to come back with me and shew me the
|
|
way. But he laid hold of me with both his hands and spoke piteously,
|
|
saying, 'Sir, do not force me to go with you, but let me stay here, for
|
|
I know you will not bring one of them back with you, nor even return
|
|
alive yourself; let us rather see if we cannot escape at any rate with
|
|
the few that are left us, for we may still save our lives.'
|
|
"'Stay where you are, then,' answered I, 'eating and drinking at the
|
|
ship, but I must go, for I am most urgently bound to do so.'
|
|
"With this I left the ship and went up inland. When I got through the
|
|
charmed grove, and was near the great house of the enchantress Circe,
|
|
I met Mercury with his golden wand, disguised as a young man in the
|
|
hey-day of his youth and beauty with the down just coming upon his
|
|
face. He came up to me and took my hand within his own, saying, 'My poor
|
|
unhappy man, whither are you going over this mountain top, alone and
|
|
without knowing the way? Your men are shut up in Circe's pigstyes, like
|
|
so many wild boars in their lairs. You surely do not fancy that you can
|
|
set them free? I can tell you that you will never get back and will have
|
|
to stay there with the rest of them. But never mind, I will protect
|
|
you and get you out of your difficulty. Take this herb, which is one
|
|
of great virtue, and keep it about you when you go to Circe's house, it
|
|
will be a talisman to you against every kind of mischief.
|
|
"'And I will tell you of all the wicked witchcraft that Circe will try
|
|
to practice upon you. She will mix a mess for you to drink, and she will
|
|
drug the meal with which she makes it, but she will not be able to charm
|
|
you, for the virtue of the herb that I shall give you will prevent her
|
|
spells from working. I will tell you all about it. When Circe strikes
|
|
you with her wand, draw your sword and spring upon her as though you
|
|
were going to kill her. She will then be frightened, and will desire you
|
|
to go to bed with her; on this you must not point blank refuse her, for
|
|
you want her to set your companions free, and to take good care also of
|
|
yourself, but you must make her swear solemnly by all the blessed gods
|
|
that she will plot no further mischief against you, or else when she has
|
|
got you naked she will unman you and make you fit for nothing.'
|
|
"As he spoke he pulled the herb out of the ground and shewed me what it
|
|
was like. The root was black, while the flower was as white as milk; the
|
|
gods call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it, but the gods can do
|
|
whatever they like.
|
|
"Then Mercury went back to high Olympus passing over the wooded island;
|
|
but I fared onward to the house of Circe, and my heart was clouded with
|
|
care as I walked along. When I got to the gates I stood there and called
|
|
the goddess, and as soon as she heard me she came down, opened the door,
|
|
and asked me to come in; so I followed her--much troubled in my mind.
|
|
She set me on a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver, there was a
|
|
footstool also under my feet, and she mixed a mess in a golden goblet
|
|
for me to drink; but she drugged it, for she meant me mischief. When she
|
|
had given it me, and I had drunk it without its charming me, she struck
|
|
me with her wand. 'There now,' she cried, 'be off to the pigstye, and
|
|
make your lair with the rest of them.'
|
|
"But I rushed at her with my sword drawn as though I would kill her,
|
|
whereon she fell with a loud scream, clasped my knees, and spoke
|
|
piteously, saying, 'Who and whence are you? from what place and people
|
|
have you come? How can it be that my drugs have no power to charm you?
|
|
Never yet was any man able to stand so much as a taste of the herb I
|
|
gave you; you must be spell-proof; surely you can be none other than the
|
|
bold hero Ulysses, who Mercury always said would come here some day with
|
|
his ship while on his way home from Troy; so be it then; sheathe your
|
|
sword and let us go to bed, that we may make friends and learn to trust
|
|
each other.'
|
|
"And I answered, 'Circe, how can you expect me to be friendly with you
|
|
when you have just been turning all my men into pigs? And now that you
|
|
have got me here myself, you mean me mischief when you ask me to go to
|
|
bed with you, and will unman me and make me fit for nothing. I shall
|
|
certainly not consent to go to bed with you unless you will first take
|
|
your solemn oath to plot no further harm against me.'
|
|
"So she swore at once as I had told her, and when she had completed her
|
|
oath then I went to bed with her.
|
|
"Meanwhile her four servants, who are her housemaids, set about their
|
|
work. They are the children of the groves and fountains, and of the
|
|
holy waters that run down into the sea. One of them spread a fair purple
|
|
cloth over a seat, and laid a carpet underneath it. Another brought
|
|
tables of silver up to the seats, and set them with baskets of gold. A
|
|
third mixed some sweet wine with water in a silver bowl and put golden
|
|
cups upon the tables, while the fourth brought in water and set it to
|
|
boil in a large cauldron over a good fire which she had lighted. When
|
|
the water in the cauldron was boiling, {87} she poured cold into it
|
|
till it was just as I liked it, and then she set me in a bath and began
|
|
washing me from the cauldron about the head and shoulders, to take the
|
|
tire and stiffness out of my limbs. As soon as she had done washing me
|
|
and anointing me with oil, she arrayed me in a good cloak and shirt
|
|
and led me to a richly decorated seat inlaid with silver; there was a
|
|
footstool also under my feet. A maid servant then brought me water in a
|
|
beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin for me to wash
|
|
my hands, and she drew a clean table beside me; an upper servant brought
|
|
me bread and offered me many things of what there was in the house, and
|
|
then Circe bade me eat, but I would not, and sat without heeding what
|
|
was before me, still moody and suspicious.
|
|
"When Circe saw me sitting there without eating, and in great grief, she
|
|
came to me and said, 'Ulysses, why do you sit like that as though you
|
|
were dumb, gnawing at your own heart, and refusing both meat and drink?
|
|
Is it that you are still suspicious? You ought not to be, for I have
|
|
already sworn solemnly that I will not hurt you.'
|
|
"And I said, 'Circe, no man with any sense of what is right can think of
|
|
either eating or drinking in your house until you have set his friends
|
|
free and let him see them. If you want me to eat and drink, you must
|
|
free my men and bring them to me that I may see them with my own eyes.'
|
|
"When I had said this she went straight through the court with her wand
|
|
in her hand and opened the pigstye doors. My men came out like so many
|
|
prime hogs and stood looking at her, but she went about among them and
|
|
anointed each with a second drug, whereon the bristles that the bad drug
|
|
had given them fell off, and they became men again, younger than they
|
|
were before, and much taller and better looking. They knew me at once,
|
|
seized me each of them by the hand, and wept for joy till the whole
|
|
house was filled with the sound of their halloa-ballooing, and Circe
|
|
herself was so sorry for them that she came up to me and said, 'Ulysses,
|
|
noble son of Laertes, go back at once to the sea where you have left
|
|
your ship, and first draw it on to the land. Then, hide all your ship's
|
|
gear and property in some cave, and come back here with your men.'
|
|
"I agreed to this, so I went back to the sea shore, and found the men at
|
|
the ship weeping and wailing most piteously. When they saw me the silly
|
|
blubbering fellows began frisking round me as calves break out and
|
|
gambol round their mothers, when they see them coming home to be milked
|
|
after they have been feeding all day, and the homestead resounds with
|
|
their lowing. They seemed as glad to see me as though they had got back
|
|
to their own rugged Ithaca, where they had been born and bred. 'Sir,'
|
|
said the affectionate creatures, 'we are as glad to see you back as
|
|
though we had got safe home to Ithaca; but tell us all about the fate of
|
|
our comrades.'
|
|
"I spoke comfortingly to them and said, 'We must draw our ship on to the
|
|
land, and hide the ship's gear with all our property in some cave; then
|
|
come with me all of you as fast as you can to Circe's house, where
|
|
you will find your comrades eating and drinking in the midst of great
|
|
abundance.'
|
|
"On this the men would have come with me at once, but Eurylochus tried
|
|
to hold them back and said, 'Alas, poor wretches that we are, what will
|
|
become of us? Rush not on your ruin by going to the house of Circe, who
|
|
will turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions, and we shall have to
|
|
keep guard over her house. Remember how the Cyclops treated us when our
|
|
comrades went inside his cave, and Ulysses with them. It was all through
|
|
his sheer folly that those men lost their lives.'
|
|
"When I heard him I was in two minds whether or no to draw the keen
|
|
blade that hung by my sturdy thigh and cut his head off in spite of
|
|
his being a near relation of my own; but the men interceded for him
|
|
and said, 'Sir, if it may so be, let this fellow stay here and mind the
|
|
ship, but take the rest of us with you to Circe's house.'
|
|
"On this we all went inland, and Eurylochus was not left behind after
|
|
all, but came on too, for he was frightened by the severe reprimand that
|
|
I had given him.
|
|
"Meanwhile Circe had been seeing that the men who had been left behind
|
|
were washed and anointed with olive oil; she had also given them woollen
|
|
cloaks and shirts, and when we came we found them all comfortably at
|
|
dinner in her house. As soon as the men saw each other face to face
|
|
and knew one another, they wept for joy and cried aloud till the whole
|
|
palace rang again. Thereon Circe came up to me and said, 'Ulysses, noble
|
|
son of Laertes, tell your men to leave off crying; I know how much you
|
|
have all of you suffered at sea, and how ill you have fared among cruel
|
|
savages on the mainland, but that is over now, so stay here, and eat and
|
|
drink till you are once more as strong and hearty as you were when you
|
|
left Ithaca; for at present you are weakened both in body and mind; you
|
|
keep all the time thinking of the hardships you have suffered during
|
|
your travels, so that you have no more cheerfulness left in you.'
|
|
"Thus did she speak and we assented. We stayed with Circe for a whole
|
|
twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity both of meat and wine. But
|
|
when the year had passed in the waning of moons and the long days had
|
|
come round, my men called me apart and said, 'Sir, it is time you began
|
|
to think about going home, if so be you are to be spared to see your
|
|
house and native country at all.'
|
|
"Thus did they speak and I assented. Thereon through the livelong day to
|
|
the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and wine, but when
|
|
the sun went down and it came on dark the men laid themselves down to
|
|
sleep in the covered cloisters. I, however, after I had got into bed
|
|
with Circe, besought her by her knees, and the goddess listened to what
|
|
I had got to say. 'Circe,' said I, 'please to keep the promise you made
|
|
me about furthering me on my homeward voyage. I want to get back and so
|
|
do my men, they are always pestering me with their complaints as soon as
|
|
ever your back is turned.'
|
|
"And the goddess answered, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, you shall
|
|
none of you stay here any longer if you do not want to, but there
|
|
is another journey which you have got to take before you can sail
|
|
homewards. You must go to the house of Hades and of dread Proserpine to
|
|
consult the ghost of the blind Theban prophet Teiresias, whose reason is
|
|
still unshaken. To him alone has Proserpine left his understanding even
|
|
in death, but the other ghosts flit about aimlessly.'
|
|
"I was dismayed when I heard this. I sat up in bed and wept, and would
|
|
gladly have lived no longer to see the light of the sun, but presently
|
|
when I was tired of weeping and tossing myself about, I said, 'And who
|
|
shall guide me upon this voyage--for the house of Hades is a port that
|
|
no ship can reach.'
|
|
"'You will want no guide,' she answered; 'raise your mast, set your
|
|
white sails, sit quite still, and the North Wind will blow you there
|
|
of itself. When your ship has traversed the waters of Oceanus, you will
|
|
reach the fertile shore of Proserpine's country with its groves of tall
|
|
poplars and willows that shed their fruit untimely; here beach your
|
|
ship upon the shore of Oceanus, and go straight on to the dark abode of
|
|
Hades. You will find it near the place where the rivers Pyriphlegethon
|
|
and Cocytus (which is a branch of the river Styx) flow into Acheron, and
|
|
you will see a rock near it, just where the two roaring rivers run into
|
|
one another.
|
|
"'When you have reached this spot, as I now tell you, dig a trench
|
|
a cubit or so in length, breadth, and depth, and pour into it as a
|
|
drink-offering to all the dead, first, honey mixed with milk, then wine,
|
|
and in the third place water--sprinkling white barley meal over the
|
|
whole. Moreover you must offer many prayers to the poor feeble ghosts,
|
|
and promise them that when you get back to Ithaca you will sacrifice a
|
|
barren heifer to them, the best you have, and will load the pyre with
|
|
good things. More particularly you must promise that Teiresias shall
|
|
have a black sheep all to himself, the finest in all your flocks.
|
|
"'When you shall have thus besought the ghosts with your prayers, offer
|
|
them a ram and a black ewe, bending their heads towards Erebus; but
|
|
yourself turn away from them as though you would make towards the river.
|
|
On this, many dead men's ghosts will come to you, and you must tell your
|
|
men to skin the two sheep that you have just killed, and offer them as a
|
|
burnt sacrifice with prayers to Hades and to Proserpine. Then draw your
|
|
sword and sit there, so as to prevent any other poor ghost from
|
|
coming near the spilt blood before Teiresias shall have answered your
|
|
questions. The seer will presently come to you, and will tell you about
|
|
your voyage--what stages you are to make, and how you are to sail the
|
|
sea so as to reach your home.'
|
|
"It was day-break by the time she had done speaking, so she dressed
|
|
me in my shirt and cloak. As for herself she threw a beautiful light
|
|
gossamer fabric over her shoulders, fastening it with a golden girdle
|
|
round her waist, and she covered her head with a mantle. Then I went
|
|
about among the men everywhere all over the house, and spoke kindly to
|
|
each of them man by man: 'You must not lie sleeping here any longer,'
|
|
said I to them, 'we must be going, for Circe has told me all about it.'
|
|
And on this they did as I bade them.
|
|
"Even so, however, I did not get them away without misadventure. We had
|
|
with us a certain youth named Elpenor, not very remarkable for sense or
|
|
courage, who had got drunk and was lying on the house-top away from the
|
|
rest of the men, to sleep off his liquor in the cool. When he heard the
|
|
noise of the men bustling about, he jumped up on a sudden and forgot
|
|
all about coming down by the main staircase, so he tumbled right off the
|
|
roof and broke his neck, and his soul went down to the house of Hades.
|
|
"When I had got the men together I said to them, 'You think you are
|
|
about to start home again, but Circe has explained to me that instead of
|
|
this, we have got to go to the house of Hades and Proserpine to consult
|
|
the ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias.'
|
|
"The men were broken-hearted as they heard me, and threw themselves
|
|
on the ground groaning and tearing their hair, but they did not mend
|
|
matters by crying. When we reached the sea shore, weeping and lamenting
|
|
our fate, Circe brought the ram and the ewe, and we made them fast hard
|
|
by the ship. She passed through the midst of us without our knowing it,
|
|
for who can see the comings and goings of a god, if the god does not
|
|
wish to be seen?
|
|
Book XI
|
|
THE VISIT TO THE DEAD. {88}
|
|
"Then, when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship into the
|
|
water and got her mast and sails into her; we also put the sheep on
|
|
board and took our places, weeping and in great distress of mind. Circe,
|
|
that great and cunning goddess, sent us a fair wind that blew dead aft
|
|
and staid steadily with us keeping our sails all the time well filled;
|
|
so we did whatever wanted doing to the ship's gear and let her go as the
|
|
wind and helmsman headed her. All day long her sails were full as she
|
|
held her course over the sea, but when the sun went down and darkness
|
|
was over all the earth, we got into the deep waters of the river
|
|
Oceanus, where lie the land and city of the Cimmerians who live
|
|
enshrouded in mist and darkness which the rays of the sun never pierce
|
|
neither at his rising nor as he goes down again out of the heavens, but
|
|
the poor wretches live in one long melancholy night. When we got there
|
|
we beached the ship, took the sheep out of her, and went along by the
|
|
waters of Oceanus till we came to the place of which Circe had told us.
|
|
"Here Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, while I drew my sword
|
|
and dug the trench a cubit each way. I made a drink-offering to all the
|
|
dead, first with honey and milk, then with wine, and thirdly with water,
|
|
and I sprinkled white barley meal over the whole, praying earnestly to
|
|
the poor feckless ghosts, and promising them that when I got back to
|
|
Ithaca I would sacrifice a barren heifer for them, the best I had, and
|
|
would load the pyre with good things. I also particularly promised
|
|
that Teiresias should have a black sheep to himself, the best in all my
|
|
flocks. When I had prayed sufficiently to the dead, I cut the throats of
|
|
the two sheep and let the blood run into the trench, whereon the ghosts
|
|
came trooping up from Erebus--brides, {89} young bachelors, old men worn
|
|
out with toil, maids who had been crossed in love, and brave men who had
|
|
been killed in battle, with their armour still smirched with blood; they
|
|
came from every quarter and flitted round the trench with a strange kind
|
|
of screaming sound that made me turn pale with fear. When I saw them
|
|
coming I told the men to be quick and flay the carcasses of the two dead
|
|
sheep and make burnt offerings of them, and at the same time to repeat
|
|
prayers to Hades and to Proserpine; but I sat where I was with my sword
|
|
drawn and would not let the poor feckless ghosts come near the blood
|
|
till Teiresias should have answered my questions.
|
|
"The first ghost that came was that of my comrade Elpenor, for he had
|
|
not yet been laid beneath the earth. We had left his body unwaked and
|
|
unburied in Circe's house, for we had had too much else to do. I was
|
|
very sorry for him, and cried when I saw him: 'Elpenor,' said I, 'how
|
|
did you come down here into this gloom and darkness? You have got here
|
|
on foot quicker than I have with my ship.'
|
|
"'Sir,' he answered with a groan, 'it was all bad luck, and my own
|
|
unspeakable drunkenness. I was lying asleep on the top of Circe's house,
|
|
and never thought of coming down again by the great staircase but fell
|
|
right off the roof and broke my neck, so my soul came down to the house
|
|
of Hades. And now I beseech you by all those whom you have left behind
|
|
you, though they are not here, by your wife, by the father who brought
|
|
you up when you were a child, and by Telemachus who is the one hope of
|
|
your house, do what I shall now ask you. I know that when you leave this
|
|
limbo you will again hold your ship for the Aeaean island. Do not
|
|
go thence leaving me unwaked and unburied behind you, or I may bring
|
|
heaven's anger upon you; but burn me with whatever armour I have, build
|
|
a barrow for me on the sea shore, that may tell people in days to come
|
|
what a poor unlucky fellow I was, and plant over my grave the oar I used
|
|
to row with when I was yet alive and with my messmates.' And I said, 'My
|
|
poor fellow, I will do all that you have asked of me.'
|
|
"Thus, then, did we sit and hold sad talk with one another, I on the one
|
|
side of the trench with my sword held over the blood, and the ghost
|
|
of my comrade saying all this to me from the other side. Then came the
|
|
ghost of my dead mother Anticlea, daughter to Autolycus. I had left her
|
|
alive when I set out for Troy and was moved to tears when I saw her, but
|
|
even so, for all my sorrow I would not let her come near the blood till
|
|
I had asked my questions of Teiresias.
|
|
"Then came also the ghost of Theban Teiresias, with his golden sceptre
|
|
in his hand. He knew me and said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, why,
|
|
poor man, have you left the light of day and come down to visit the dead
|
|
in this sad place? Stand back from the trench and withdraw your sword
|
|
that I may drink of the blood and answer your questions truly.'
|
|
"So I drew back, and sheathed my sword, whereon when he had drank of the
|
|
blood he began with his prophecy.
|
|
"'You want to know,' said he, 'about your return home, but heaven will
|
|
make this hard for you. I do not think that you will escape the eye
|
|
of Neptune, who still nurses his bitter grudge against you for having
|
|
blinded his son. Still, after much suffering you may get home if you
|
|
can restrain yourself and your companions when your ship reaches the
|
|
Thrinacian island, where you will find the sheep and cattle belonging to
|
|
the sun, who sees and gives ear to everything. If you leave these flocks
|
|
unharmed and think of nothing but of getting home, you may yet after
|
|
much hardship reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, then I forewarn you of
|
|
the destruction both of your ship and of your men. Even though you may
|
|
yourself escape, you will return in bad plight after losing all your
|
|
men, [in another man's ship, and you will find trouble in your house,
|
|
which will be overrun by high-handed people, who are devouring your
|
|
substance under the pretext of paying court and making presents to your
|
|
wife.
|
|
"'When you get home you will take your revenge on these suitors; and
|
|
after you have killed them by force or fraud in your own house, you must
|
|
take a well made oar and carry it on and on, till you come to a country
|
|
where the people have never heard of the sea and do not even mix salt
|
|
with their food, nor do they know anything about ships, and oars that
|
|
are as the wings of a ship. I will give you this certain token which
|
|
cannot escape your notice. A wayfarer will meet you and will say it must
|
|
be a winnowing shovel that you have got upon your shoulder; on this you
|
|
must fix the oar in the ground and sacrifice a ram, a bull, and a boar
|
|
to Neptune. {90} Then go home and offer hecatombs to all the gods in
|
|
heaven one after the other. As for yourself, death shall come to you
|
|
from the sea, and your life shall ebb away very gently when you are full
|
|
of years and peace of mind, and your people shall bless you. All that I
|
|
have said will come true].' {91}
|
|
"'This,' I answered, 'must be as it may please heaven, but tell me and
|
|
tell me and tell me true, I see my poor mother's ghost close by us; she
|
|
is sitting by the blood without saying a word, and though I am her own
|
|
son she does not remember me and speak to me; tell me, Sir, how I can
|
|
make her know me.'
|
|
"'That,' said he, 'I can soon do. Any ghost that you let taste of the
|
|
blood will talk with you like a reasonable being, but if you do not let
|
|
them have any blood they will go away again.'
|
|
"On this the ghost of Teiresias went back to the house of Hades, for his
|
|
prophecyings had now been spoken, but I sat still where I was until my
|
|
mother came up and tasted the blood. Then she knew me at once and spoke
|
|
fondly to me, saying, 'My son, how did you come down to this abode of
|
|
darkness while you are still alive? It is a hard thing for the living to
|
|
see these places, for between us and them there are great and terrible
|
|
waters, and there is Oceanus, which no man can cross on foot, but he
|
|
must have a good ship to take him. Are you all this time trying to find
|
|
your way home from Troy, and have you never yet got back to Ithaca nor
|
|
seen your wife in your own house?'
|
|
"'Mother,' said I, 'I was forced to come here to consult the ghost of
|
|
the Theban prophet Teiresias. I have never yet been near the Achaean
|
|
land nor set foot on my native country, and I have had nothing but one
|
|
long series of misfortunes from the very first day that I set out with
|
|
Agamemnon for Ilius, the land of noble steeds, to fight the Trojans. But
|
|
tell me, and tell me true, in what way did you die? Did you have a long
|
|
illness, or did heaven vouchsafe you a gentle easy passage to eternity?
|
|
Tell me also about my father, and the son whom I left behind me, is my
|
|
property still in their hands, or has some one else got hold of it, who
|
|
thinks that I shall not return to claim it? Tell me again what my wife
|
|
intends doing, and in what mind she is; does she live with my son and
|
|
guard my estate securely, or has she made the best match she could and
|
|
married again?'
|
|
"My mother answered, 'Your wife still remains in your house, but she is
|
|
in great distress of mind and spends her whole time in tears both night
|
|
and day. No one as yet has got possession of your fine property, and
|
|
Telemachus still holds your lands undisturbed. He has to entertain
|
|
largely, as of course he must, considering his position as a magistrate,
|
|
{92} and how every one invites him; your father remains at his old place
|
|
in the country and never goes near the town. He has no comfortable bed
|
|
nor bedding; in the winter he sleeps on the floor in front of the fire
|
|
with the men and goes about all in rags, but in summer, when the warm
|
|
weather comes on again, he lies out in the vineyard on a bed of vine
|
|
leaves thrown any how upon the ground. He grieves continually about your
|
|
never having come home, and suffers more and more as he grows older. As
|
|
for my own end it was in this wise: heaven did not take me swiftly and
|
|
painlessly in my own house, nor was I attacked by any illness such as
|
|
those that generally wear people out and kill them, but my longing to
|
|
know what you were doing and the force of my affection for you--this it
|
|
was that was the death of me.' {93}
|
|
"Then I tried to find some way of embracing my poor mother's ghost.
|
|
Thrice I sprang towards her and tried to clasp her in my arms, but each
|
|
time she flitted from my embrace as it were a dream or phantom, and
|
|
being touched to the quick I said to her, 'Mother, why do you not stay
|
|
still when I would embrace you? If we could throw our arms around one
|
|
another we might find sad comfort in the sharing of our sorrows even in
|
|
the house of Hades; does Proserpine want to lay a still further load of
|
|
grief upon me by mocking me with a phantom only?'
|
|
"'My son,' she answered, 'most ill-fated of all mankind, it is not
|
|
Proserpine that is beguiling you, but all people are like this when they
|
|
are dead. The sinews no longer hold the flesh and bones together; these
|
|
perish in the fierceness of consuming fire as soon as life has left the
|
|
body, and the soul flits away as though it were a dream. Now, however,
|
|
go back to the light of day as soon as you can, and note all these
|
|
things that you may tell them to your wife hereafter.'
|
|
"Thus did we converse, and anon Proserpine sent up the ghosts of the
|
|
wives and daughters of all the most famous men. They gathered in crowds
|
|
about the blood, and I considered how I might question them severally.
|
|
In the end I deemed that it would be best to draw the keen blade that
|
|
hung by my sturdy thigh, and keep them from all drinking the blood at
|
|
once. So they came up one after the other, and each one as I questioned
|
|
her told me her race and lineage.
|
|
"The first I saw was Tyro. She was daughter of Salmoneus and wife of
|
|
Cretheus the son of Aeolus. {94} She fell in love with the river Enipeus
|
|
who is much the most beautiful river in the whole world. Once when she
|
|
was taking a walk by his side as usual, Neptune, disguised as her lover,
|
|
lay with her at the mouth of the river, and a huge blue wave arched
|
|
itself like a mountain over them to hide both woman and god, whereon he
|
|
loosed her virgin girdle and laid her in a deep slumber. When the god
|
|
had accomplished the deed of love, he took her hand in his own and
|
|
said, 'Tyro, rejoice in all good will; the embraces of the gods are not
|
|
fruitless, and you will have fine twins about this time twelve months.
|
|
Take great care of them. I am Neptune, so now go home, but hold your
|
|
tongue and do not tell any one.'
|
|
"Then he dived under the sea, and she in due course bore Pelias and
|
|
Neleus, who both of them served Jove with all their might. Pelias was
|
|
a great breeder of sheep and lived in Iolcus, but the other lived in
|
|
Pylos. The rest of her children were by Cretheus, namely, Aeson, Pheres,
|
|
and Amythaon, who was a mighty warrior and charioteer.
|
|
"Next to her I saw Antiope, daughter to Asopus, who could boast of
|
|
having slept in the arms of even Jove himself, and who bore him two sons
|
|
Amphion and Zethus. These founded Thebes with its seven gates, and built
|
|
a wall all round it; for strong though they were they could not hold
|
|
Thebes till they had walled it.
|
|
"Then I saw Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon, who also bore to Jove
|
|
indomitable Hercules; and Megara who was daughter to great King Creon,
|
|
and married the redoubtable son of Amphitryon.
|
|
"I also saw fair Epicaste mother of king Oedipodes whose awful lot it
|
|
was to marry her own son without suspecting it. He married her after
|
|
having killed his father, but the gods proclaimed the whole story to the
|
|
world; whereon he remained king of Thebes, in great grief for the spite
|
|
the gods had borne him; but Epicaste went to the house of the mighty
|
|
jailor Hades, having hanged herself for grief, and the avenging spirits
|
|
haunted him as for an outraged mother--to his ruing bitterly thereafter.
|
|
"Then I saw Chloris, whom Neleus married for her beauty, having given
|
|
priceless presents for her. She was youngest daughter to Amphion son of
|
|
Iasus and king of Minyan Orchomenus, and was Queen in Pylos. She bore
|
|
Nestor, Chromius, and Periclymenus, and she also bore that marvellously
|
|
lovely woman Pero, who was wooed by all the country round; but Neleus
|
|
would only give her to him who should raid the cattle of Iphicles from
|
|
the grazing grounds of Phylace, and this was a hard task. The only man
|
|
who would undertake to raid them was a certain excellent seer, {95} but
|
|
the will of heaven was against him, for the rangers of the cattle caught
|
|
him and put him in prison; nevertheless when a full year had passed and
|
|
the same season came round again, Iphicles set him at liberty, after
|
|
he had expounded all the oracles of heaven. Thus, then, was the will of
|
|
Jove accomplished.
|
|
"And I saw Leda the wife of Tyndarus, who bore him two famous sons,
|
|
Castor breaker of horses, and Pollux the mighty boxer. Both these heroes
|
|
are lying under the earth, though they are still alive, for by a special
|
|
dispensation of Jove, they die and come to life again, each one of them
|
|
every other day throughout all time, and they have the rank of gods.
|
|
"After her I saw Iphimedeia wife of Aloeus who boasted the embrace
|
|
of Neptune. She bore two sons Otus and Ephialtes, but both were short
|
|
lived. They were the finest children that were ever born in this world,
|
|
and the best looking, Orion only excepted; for at nine years old they
|
|
were nine fathoms high, and measured nine cubits round the chest. They
|
|
threatened to make war with the gods in Olympus, and tried to set Mount
|
|
Ossa on the top of Mount Olympus, and Mount Pelion on the top of Ossa,
|
|
that they might scale heaven itself, and they would have done it too if
|
|
they had been grown up, but Apollo, son of Leto, killed both of them,
|
|
before they had got so much as a sign of hair upon their cheeks or chin.
|
|
"Then I saw Phaedra, and Procris, and fair Ariadne daughter of the
|
|
magician Minos, whom Theseus was carrying off from Crete to Athens, but
|
|
he did not enjoy her, for before he could do so Diana killed her in the
|
|
island of Dia on account of what Bacchus had said against her.
|
|
"I also saw Maera and Clymene and hateful Eriphyle, who sold her own
|
|
husband for gold. But it would take me all night if I were to name every
|
|
single one of the wives and daughters of heroes whom I saw, and it is
|
|
time for me to go to bed, either on board ship with my crew, or here. As
|
|
for my escort, heaven and yourselves will see to it."
|
|
Here he ended, and the guests sat all of them enthralled and speechless
|
|
throughout the covered cloister. Then Arete said to them:--
|
|
"What do you think of this man, O Phaeacians? Is he not tall and good
|
|
looking, and is he not clever? True, he is my own guest, but all of you
|
|
share in the distinction. Do not be in a hurry to send him away, nor
|
|
niggardly in the presents you make to one who is in such great need, for
|
|
heaven has blessed all of you with great abundance."
|
|
Then spoke the aged hero Echeneus who was one of the oldest men among
|
|
them, "My friends," said he, "what our august queen has just said to us
|
|
is both reasonable and to the purpose, therefore be persuaded by it;
|
|
but the decision whether in word or deed rests ultimately with King
|
|
Alcinous."
|
|
"The thing shall be done," exclaimed Alcinous, "as surely as I still
|
|
live and reign over the Phaeacians. Our guest is indeed very anxious to
|
|
get home, still we must persuade him to remain with us until to-morrow,
|
|
by which time I shall be able to get together the whole sum that I mean
|
|
to give him. As regards his escort it will be a matter for you all, and
|
|
mine above all others as the chief person among you."
|
|
And Ulysses answered, "King Alcinous, if you were to bid me to stay here
|
|
for a whole twelve months, and then speed me on my way, loaded with your
|
|
noble gifts, I should obey you gladly and it would redound greatly to
|
|
my advantage, for I should return fuller-handed to my own people, and
|
|
should thus be more respected and beloved by all who see me when I get
|
|
back to Ithaca."
|
|
"Ulysses," replied Alcinous, "not one of us who sees you has any idea
|
|
that you are a charlatan or a swindler. I know there are many people
|
|
going about who tell such plausible stories that it is very hard to see
|
|
through them, but there is a style about your language which assures me
|
|
of your good disposition. Moreover you have told the story of your own
|
|
misfortunes, and those of the Argives, as though you were a practiced
|
|
bard; but tell me, and tell me true, whether you saw any of the mighty
|
|
heroes who went to Troy at the same time with yourself, and perished
|
|
there. The evenings are still at their longest, and it is not yet bed
|
|
time--go on, therefore, with your divine story, for I could stay here
|
|
listening till tomorrow morning, so long as you will continue to tell us
|
|
of your adventures."
|
|
"Alcinous," answered Ulysses, "there is a time for making speeches, and
|
|
a time for going to bed; nevertheless, since you so desire, I will not
|
|
refrain from telling you the still sadder tale of those of my comrades
|
|
who did not fall fighting with the Trojans, but perished on their
|
|
return, through the treachery of a wicked woman.
|
|
"When Proserpine had dismissed the female ghosts in all directions,
|
|
the ghost of Agamemnon son of Atreus came sadly up to me, surrounded by
|
|
those who had perished with him in the house of Aegisthus. As soon as he
|
|
had tasted the blood, he knew me, and weeping bitterly stretched out his
|
|
arms towards me to embrace me; but he had no strength nor substance any
|
|
more, and I too wept and pitied him as I beheld him. 'How did you come
|
|
by your death,' said I, 'King Agamemnon? Did Neptune raise his winds and
|
|
waves against you when you were at sea, or did your enemies make an end
|
|
of you on the main land when you were cattle-lifting or sheep-stealing,
|
|
or while they were fighting in defence of their wives and city?'
|
|
"'Ulysses,' he answered, 'noble son of Laertes, I was not lost at sea
|
|
in any storm of Neptune's raising, nor did my foes despatch me upon the
|
|
mainland, but Aegisthus and my wicked wife were the death of me between
|
|
them. He asked me to his house, feasted me, and then butchered me most
|
|
miserably as though I were a fat beast in a slaughter house, while all
|
|
around me my comrades were slain like sheep or pigs for the wedding
|
|
breakfast, or picnic, or gorgeous banquet of some great nobleman. You
|
|
must have seen numbers of men killed either in a general engagement, or
|
|
in single combat, but you never saw anything so truly pitiable as the
|
|
way in which we fell in that cloister, with the mixing bowl and the
|
|
loaded tables lying all about, and the ground reeking with our blood. I
|
|
heard Priam's daughter Cassandra scream as Clytemnestra killed her close
|
|
beside me. I lay dying upon the earth with the sword in my body, and
|
|
raised my hands to kill the slut of a murderess, but she slipped away
|
|
from me; she would not even close my lips nor my eyes when I was dying,
|
|
for there is nothing in this world so cruel and so shameless as a woman
|
|
when she has fallen into such guilt as hers was. Fancy murdering her own
|
|
husband! I thought I was going to be welcomed home by my children and my
|
|
servants, but her abominable crime has brought disgrace on herself and
|
|
all women who shall come after--even on the good ones.'
|
|
"And I said, 'In truth Jove has hated the house of Atreus from first to
|
|
last in the matter of their women's counsels. See how many of us fell
|
|
for Helen's sake, and now it seems that Clytemnestra hatched mischief
|
|
against you too during your absence.'
|
|
"'Be sure, therefore,' continued Agamemnon, 'and not be too friendly
|
|
even with your own wife. Do not tell her all that you know perfectly
|
|
well yourself. Tell her a part only, and keep your own counsel about the
|
|
rest. Not that your wife, Ulysses, is likely to murder you, for Penelope
|
|
is a very admirable woman, and has an excellent nature. We left her a
|
|
young bride with an infant at her breast when we set out for Troy. This
|
|
child no doubt is now grown up happily to man's estate, {96} and he and
|
|
his father will have a joyful meeting and embrace one another as it is
|
|
right they should do, whereas my wicked wife did not even allow me
|
|
the happiness of looking upon my son, but killed me ere I could do so.
|
|
Furthermore I say--and lay my saying to your heart--do not tell people
|
|
when you are bringing your ship to Ithaca, but steal a march upon them,
|
|
for after all this there is no trusting women. But now tell me, and
|
|
tell me true, can you give me any news of my son Orestes? Is he in
|
|
Orchomenus, or at Pylos, or is he at Sparta with Menelaus--for I presume
|
|
that he is still living.'
|
|
"And I said, 'Agamemnon, why do you ask me? I do not know whether your
|
|
son is alive or dead, and it is not right to talk when one does not
|
|
know.'
|
|
"As we two sat weeping and talking thus sadly with one another the ghost
|
|
of Achilles came up to us with Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax who was
|
|
the finest and goodliest man of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus.
|
|
The fleet descendant of Aeacus knew me and spoke piteously, saying,
|
|
'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, what deed of daring will you undertake
|
|
next, that you venture down to the house of Hades among us silly dead,
|
|
who are but the ghosts of them that can labour no more?'
|
|
"And I said, 'Achilles, son of Peleus, foremost champion of the
|
|
Achaeans, I came to consult Teiresias, and see if he could advise me
|
|
about my return home to Ithaca, for I have never yet been able to get
|
|
near the Achaean land, nor to set foot in my own country, but have been
|
|
in trouble all the time. As for you, Achilles, no one was ever yet so
|
|
fortunate as you have been, nor ever will be, for you were adored by all
|
|
us Argives as long as you were alive, and now that you are here you are
|
|
a great prince among the dead. Do not, therefore, take it so much to
|
|
heart even if you are dead.'
|
|
"'Say not a word,' he answered, 'in death's favour; I would rather be
|
|
a paid servant in a poor man's house and be above ground than king of
|
|
kings among the dead. But give me news about my son; is he gone to the
|
|
wars and will he be a great soldier, or is this not so? Tell me also if
|
|
you have heard anything about my father Peleus--does he still rule among
|
|
the Myrmidons, or do they show him no respect throughout Hellas and
|
|
Phthia now that he is old and his limbs fail him? Could I but stand by
|
|
his side, in the light of day, with the same strength that I had when I
|
|
killed the bravest of our foes upon the plain of Troy--could I but be
|
|
as I then was and go even for a short time to my father's house, any one
|
|
who tried to do him violence or supersede him would soon rue it.'
|
|
"'I have heard nothing,' I answered, 'of Peleus, but I can tell you all
|
|
about your son Neoptolemus, for I took him in my own ship from Scyros
|
|
with the Achaeans. In our councils of war before Troy he was always
|
|
first to speak, and his judgement was unerring. Nestor and I were the
|
|
only two who could surpass him; and when it came to fighting on the
|
|
plain of Troy, he would never remain with the body of his men, but would
|
|
dash on far in front, foremost of them all in valour. Many a man did
|
|
he kill in battle--I cannot name every single one of those whom he slew
|
|
while fighting on the side of the Argives, but will only say how
|
|
he killed that valiant hero Eurypylus son of Telephus, who was the
|
|
handsomest man I ever saw except Memnon; many others also of the
|
|
Ceteians fell around him by reason of a woman's bribes. Moreover, when
|
|
all the bravest of the Argives went inside the horse that Epeus had
|
|
made, and it was left to me to settle when we should either open the
|
|
door of our ambuscade, or close it, though all the other leaders and
|
|
chief men among the Danaans were drying their eyes and quaking in every
|
|
limb, I never once saw him turn pale nor wipe a tear from his cheek;
|
|
he was all the time urging me to break out from the horse--grasping
|
|
the handle of his sword and his bronze-shod spear, and breathing fury
|
|
against the foe. Yet when we had sacked the city of Priam he got his
|
|
handsome share of the prize money and went on board (such is the fortune
|
|
of war) without a wound upon him, neither from a thrown spear nor in
|
|
close combat, for the rage of Mars is a matter of great chance.'
|
|
"When I had told him this, the ghost of Achilles strode off across a
|
|
meadow full of asphodel, exulting over what I had said concerning the
|
|
prowess of his son.
|
|
"The ghosts of other dead men stood near me and told me each his own
|
|
melancholy tale; but that of Ajax son of Telamon alone held aloof--still
|
|
angry with me for having won the cause in our dispute about the armour
|
|
of Achilles. Thetis had offered it as a prize, but the Trojan prisoners
|
|
and Minerva were the judges. Would that I had never gained the day in
|
|
such a contest, for it cost the life of Ajax, who was foremost of all
|
|
the Danaans after the son of Peleus, alike in stature and prowess.
|
|
"When I saw him I tried to pacify him and said, 'Ajax, will you not
|
|
forget and forgive even in death, but must the judgement about that
|
|
hateful armour still rankle with you? It cost us Argives dear enough to
|
|
lose such a tower of strength as you were to us. We mourned you as much
|
|
as we mourned Achilles son of Peleus himself, nor can the blame be laid
|
|
on anything but on the spite which Jove bore against the Danaans, for it
|
|
was this that made him counsel your destruction--come hither, therefore,
|
|
bring your proud spirit into subjection, and hear what I can tell you.'
|
|
"He would not answer, but turned away to Erebus and to the other ghosts;
|
|
nevertheless, I should have made him talk to me in spite of his being
|
|
so angry, or I should have gone on talking to him, {97} only that there
|
|
were still others among the dead whom I desired to see.
|
|
"Then I saw Minos son of Jove with his golden sceptre in his hand
|
|
sitting in judgement on the dead, and the ghosts were gathered sitting
|
|
and standing round him in the spacious house of Hades, to learn his
|
|
sentences upon them.
|
|
"After him I saw huge Orion in a meadow full of asphodel driving the
|
|
ghosts of the wild beasts that he had killed upon the mountains, and he
|
|
had a great bronze club in his hand, unbreakable for ever and ever.
|
|
"And I saw Tityus son of Gaia stretched upon the plain and covering some
|
|
nine acres of ground. Two vultures on either side of him were digging
|
|
their beaks into his liver, and he kept on trying to beat them off with
|
|
his hands, but could not; for he had violated Jove's mistress Leto as
|
|
she was going through Panopeus on her way to Pytho.
|
|
"I saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus, who stood in a lake that
|
|
reached his chin; he was dying to quench his thirst, but could never
|
|
reach the water, for whenever the poor creature stooped to drink, it
|
|
dried up and vanished, so that there was nothing but dry ground--parched
|
|
by the spite of heaven. There were tall trees, moreover, that shed their
|
|
fruit over his head--pears, pomegranates, apples, sweet figs and juicy
|
|
olives, but whenever the poor creature stretched out his hand to take
|
|
some, the wind tossed the branches back again to the clouds.
|
|
"And I saw Sisyphus at his endless task raising his prodigious stone
|
|
with both his hands. With hands and feet he tried to roll it up to the
|
|
top of the hill, but always, just before he could roll it over on to the
|
|
other side, its weight would be too much for him, and the pitiless stone
|
|
{98} would come thundering down again on to the plain. Then he would
|
|
begin trying to push it up hill again, and the sweat ran off him and the
|
|
steam rose after him.
|
|
"After him I saw mighty Hercules, but it was his phantom only, for he is
|
|
feasting ever with the immortal gods, and has lovely Hebe to wife, who
|
|
is daughter of Jove and Juno. The ghosts were screaming round him like
|
|
scared birds flying all whithers. He looked black as night with his bare
|
|
bow in his hands and his arrow on the string, glaring around as though
|
|
ever on the point of taking aim. About his breast there was a wondrous
|
|
golden belt adorned in the most marvellous fashion with bears, wild
|
|
boars, and lions with gleaming eyes; there was also war, battle, and
|
|
death. The man who made that belt, do what he might, would never be able
|
|
to make another like it. Hercules knew me at once when he saw me, and
|
|
spoke piteously, saying, 'My poor Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, are
|
|
you too leading the same sorry kind of life that I did when I was above
|
|
ground? I was son of Jove, but I went through an infinity of suffering,
|
|
for I became bondsman to one who was far beneath me--a low fellow
|
|
who set me all manner of labours. He once sent me here to fetch the
|
|
hell-hound--for he did not think he could find anything harder for me
|
|
than this, but I got the hound out of Hades and brought him to him, for
|
|
Mercury and Minerva helped me.'
|
|
"On this Hercules went down again into the house of Hades, but I stayed
|
|
where I was in case some other of the mighty dead should come to me.
|
|
And I should have seen still other of them that are gone before, whom
|
|
I would fain have seen--Theseus and Pirithous--glorious children of the
|
|
gods, but so many thousands of ghosts came round me and uttered such
|
|
appalling cries, that I was panic stricken lest Proserpine should send
|
|
up from the house of Hades the head of that awful monster Gorgon. On
|
|
this I hastened back to my ship and ordered my men to go on board at
|
|
once and loose the hawsers; so they embarked and took their places,
|
|
whereon the ship went down the stream of the river Oceanus. We had to
|
|
row at first, but presently a fair wind sprang up.
|
|
Book XII
|
|
THE SIRENS, SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS, THE CATTLE OF THE SUN.
|
|
"After we were clear of the river Oceanus, and had got out into the open
|
|
sea, we went on till we reached the Aeaean island where there is dawn
|
|
and sun-rise as in other places. We then drew our ship on to the sands
|
|
and got out of her on to the shore, where we went to sleep and waited
|
|
till day should break.
|
|
"Then, when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I sent
|
|
some men to Circe's house to fetch the body of Elpenor. We cut firewood
|
|
from a wood where the headland jutted out into the sea, and after we had
|
|
wept over him and lamented him we performed his funeral rites. When his
|
|
body and armour had been burned to ashes, we raised a cairn, set a stone
|
|
over it, and at the top of the cairn we fixed the oar that he had been
|
|
used to row with.
|
|
"While we were doing all this, Circe, who knew that we had got back from
|
|
the house of Hades, dressed herself and came to us as fast as she could;
|
|
and her maid servants came with her bringing us bread, meat, and wine.
|
|
Then she stood in the midst of us and said, 'You have done a bold thing
|
|
in going down alive to the house of Hades, and you will have died twice,
|
|
to other people's once; now, then, stay here for the rest of the
|
|
day, feast your fill, and go on with your voyage at daybreak tomorrow
|
|
morning. In the meantime I will tell Ulysses about your course, and
|
|
will explain everything to him so as to prevent your suffering from
|
|
misadventure either by land or sea.'
|
|
"We agreed to do as she had said, and feasted through the livelong day
|
|
to the going down of the sun, but when the sun had set and it came on
|
|
dark, the men laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables of the
|
|
ship. Then Circe took me by the hand and bade me be seated away from
|
|
the others, while she reclined by my side and asked me all about our
|
|
adventures.
|
|
"'So far so good,' said she, when I had ended my story, 'and now pay
|
|
attention to what I am about to tell you--heaven itself, indeed, will
|
|
recall it to your recollection. First you will come to the Sirens who
|
|
enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close
|
|
and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never
|
|
welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to
|
|
death with the sweetness of their song. There is a great heap of dead
|
|
men's bones lying all around, with the flesh still rotting off them.
|
|
Therefore pass these Sirens by, and stop your men's ears with wax that
|
|
none of them may hear; but if you like you can listen yourself, for you
|
|
may get the men to bind you as you stand upright on a cross piece half
|
|
way up the mast, {99} and they must lash the rope's ends to the mast
|
|
itself, that you may have the pleasure of listening. If you beg and pray
|
|
the men to unloose you, then they must bind you faster.
|
|
"'When your crew have taken you past these Sirens, I cannot give you
|
|
coherent directions {100} as to which of two courses you are to take; I
|
|
will lay the two alternatives before you, and you must consider them for
|
|
yourself. On the one hand there are some overhanging rocks against which
|
|
the deep blue waves of Amphitrite beat with terrific fury; the blessed
|
|
gods call these rocks the Wanderers. Here not even a bird may pass, no,
|
|
not even the timid doves that bring ambrosia to Father Jove, but the
|
|
sheer rock always carries off one of them, and Father Jove has to send
|
|
another to make up their number; no ship that ever yet came to these
|
|
rocks has got away again, but the waves and whirlwinds of fire are
|
|
freighted with wreckage and with the bodies of dead men. The only vessel
|
|
that ever sailed and got through, was the famous Argo on her way from
|
|
the house of Aetes, and she too would have gone against these great
|
|
rocks, only that Juno piloted her past them for the love she bore to
|
|
Jason.
|
|
"'Of these two rocks the one reaches heaven and its peak is lost in a
|
|
dark cloud. This never leaves it, so that the top is never clear not
|
|
even in summer and early autumn. No man though he had twenty hands and
|
|
twenty feet could get a foothold on it and climb it, for it runs sheer
|
|
up, as smooth as though it had been polished. In the middle of it there
|
|
is a large cavern, looking West and turned towards Erebus; you must
|
|
take your ship this way, but the cave is so high up that not even the
|
|
stoutest archer could send an arrow into it. Inside it Scylla sits and
|
|
yelps with a voice that you might take to be that of a young hound, but
|
|
in truth she is a dreadful monster and no one--not even a god--could
|
|
face her without being terror-struck. She has twelve mis-shapen feet,
|
|
and six necks of the most prodigious length; and at the end of each neck
|
|
she has a frightful head with three rows of teeth in each, all set very
|
|
close together, so that they would crunch any one to death in a moment,
|
|
and she sits deep within her shady cell thrusting out her heads and
|
|
peering all round the rock, fishing for dolphins or dogfish or
|
|
any larger monster that she can catch, of the thousands with which
|
|
Amphitrite teems. No ship ever yet got past her without losing some men,
|
|
for she shoots out all her heads at once, and carries off a man in each
|
|
mouth.
|
|
"'You will find the other rock lie lower, but they are so close together
|
|
that there is not more than a bow-shot between them. [A large fig
|
|
tree in full leaf {101} grows upon it], and under it lies the sucking
|
|
whirlpool of Charybdis. Three times in the day does she vomit forth her
|
|
waters, and three times she sucks them down again; see that you be not
|
|
there when she is sucking, for if you are, Neptune himself could not
|
|
save you; you must hug the Scylla side and drive ship by as fast as you
|
|
can, for you had better lose six men than your whole crew.'
|
|
"'Is there no way,' said I, 'of escaping Charybdis, and at the same time
|
|
keeping Scylla off when she is trying to harm my men?'
|
|
"'You dare devil,' replied the goddess, 'you are always wanting to fight
|
|
somebody or something; you will not let yourself be beaten even by the
|
|
immortals. For Scylla is not mortal; moreover she is savage, extreme,
|
|
rude, cruel and invincible. There is no help for it; your best chance
|
|
will be to get by her as fast as ever you can, for if you dawdle about
|
|
her rock while you are putting on your armour, she may catch you with
|
|
a second cast of her six heads, and snap up another half dozen of your
|
|
men; so drive your ship past her at full speed, and roar out lustily to
|
|
Crataiis who is Scylla's dam, bad luck to her; she will then stop her
|
|
from making a second raid upon you.'
|
|
"'You will now come to the Thrinacian island, and here you will see
|
|
many herds of cattle and flocks of sheep belonging to the sun-god--seven
|
|
herds of cattle and seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in each
|
|
flock. They do not breed, nor do they become fewer in number, and they
|
|
are tended by the goddesses Phaethusa and Lampetie, who are children of
|
|
the sun-god Hyperion by Neaera. Their mother when she had borne them and
|
|
had done suckling them sent them to the Thrinacian island, which was
|
|
a long way off, to live there and look after their father's flocks and
|
|
herds. If you leave these flocks unharmed, and think of nothing but
|
|
getting home, you may yet after much hardship reach Ithaca; but if you
|
|
harm them, then I forewarn you of the destruction both of your ship
|
|
and of your comrades; and even though you may yourself escape, you will
|
|
return late, in bad plight, after losing all your men.'
|
|
"Here she ended, and dawn enthroned in gold began to show in heaven,
|
|
whereon she returned inland. I then went on board and told my men to
|
|
loose the ship from her moorings; so they at once got into her, took
|
|
their places, and began to smite the grey sea with their oars. Presently
|
|
the great and cunning goddess Circe befriended us with a fair wind
|
|
that blew dead aft, and staid steadily with us, keeping our sails well
|
|
filled, so we did whatever wanted doing to the ship's gear, and let her
|
|
go as wind and helmsman headed her.
|
|
"Then, being much troubled in mind, I said to my men, 'My friends, it
|
|
is not right that one or two of us alone should know the prophecies that
|
|
Circe has made me, I will therefore tell you about them, so that whether
|
|
we live or die we may do so with our eyes open. First she said we were
|
|
to keep clear of the Sirens, who sit and sing most beautifully in a
|
|
field of flowers; but she said I might hear them myself so long as no
|
|
one else did. Therefore, take me and bind me to the crosspiece half
|
|
way up the mast; bind me as I stand upright, with a bond so fast that I
|
|
cannot possibly break away, and lash the rope's ends to the mast itself.
|
|
If I beg and pray you to set me free, then bind me more tightly still.'
|
|
"I had hardly finished telling everything to the men before we
|
|
reached the island of the two Sirens, {102} for the wind had been very
|
|
favourable. Then all of a sudden it fell dead calm; there was not a
|
|
breath of wind nor a ripple upon the water, so the men furled the sails
|
|
and stowed them; then taking to their oars they whitened the water with
|
|
the foam they raised in rowing. Meanwhile I look a large wheel of wax
|
|
and cut it up small with my sword. Then I kneaded the wax in my strong
|
|
hands till it became soft, which it soon did between the kneading and
|
|
the rays of the sun-god son of Hyperion. Then I stopped the ears of all
|
|
my men, and they bound me hands and feet to the mast as I stood upright
|
|
on the cross piece; but they went on rowing themselves. When we had got
|
|
within earshot of the land, and the ship was going at a good rate, the
|
|
Sirens saw that we were getting in shore and began with their singing.
|
|
"'Come here,' they sang, 'renowned Ulysses, honour to the Achaean name,
|
|
and listen to our two voices. No one ever sailed past us without staying
|
|
to hear the enchanting sweetness of our song--and he who listens will
|
|
go on his way not only charmed, but wiser, for we know all the ills that
|
|
the gods laid upon the Argives and Trojans before Troy, and can tell you
|
|
everything that is going to happen over the whole world.'
|
|
"They sang these words most musically, and as I longed to hear them
|
|
further I made signs by frowning to my men that they should set me free;
|
|
but they quickened their stroke, and Eurylochus and Perimedes bound me
|
|
with still stronger bonds till we had got out of hearing of the Sirens'
|
|
voices. Then my men took the wax from their ears and unbound me.
|
|
"Immediately after we had got past the island I saw a great wave from
|
|
which spray was rising, and I heard a loud roaring sound. The men were
|
|
so frightened that they loosed hold of their oars, for the whole sea
|
|
resounded with the rushing of the waters, {103} but the ship stayed
|
|
where it was, for the men had left off rowing. I went round, therefore,
|
|
and exhorted them man by man not to lose heart.
|
|
"'My friends,' said I, 'this is not the first time that we have been
|
|
in danger, and we are in nothing like so bad a case as when the Cyclops
|
|
shut us up in his cave; nevertheless, my courage and wise counsel
|
|
saved us then, and we shall live to look back on all this as well. Now,
|
|
therefore, let us all do as I say, trust in Jove and row on with might
|
|
and main. As for you, coxswain, these are your orders; attend to them,
|
|
for the ship is in your hands; turn her head away from these steaming
|
|
rapids and hug the rock, or she will give you the slip and be over
|
|
yonder before you know where you are, and you will be the death of us.'
|
|
"So they did as I told them; but I said nothing about the awful monster
|
|
Scylla, for I knew the men would not go on rowing if I did, but would
|
|
huddle together in the hold. In one thing only did I disobey Circe's
|
|
strict instructions--I put on my armour. Then seizing two strong spears
|
|
I took my stand on the ship's bows, for it was there that I expected
|
|
first to see the monster of the rock, who was to do my men so much harm;
|
|
but I could not make her out anywhere, though I strained my eyes with
|
|
looking the gloomy rock all over and over.
|
|
"Then we entered the Straits in great fear of mind, for on the one hand
|
|
was Scylla, and on the other dread Charybdis kept sucking up the salt
|
|
water. As she vomited it up, it was like the water in a cauldron when it
|
|
is boiling over upon a great fire, and the spray reached the top of the
|
|
rocks on either side. When she began to suck again, we could see the
|
|
water all inside whirling round and round, and it made a deafening sound
|
|
as it broke against the rocks. We could see the bottom of the whirlpool
|
|
all black with sand and mud, and the men were at their wits ends for
|
|
fear. While we were taken up with this, and were expecting each moment
|
|
to be our last, Scylla pounced down suddenly upon us and snatched up my
|
|
six best men. I was looking at once after both ship and men, and in a
|
|
moment I saw their hands and feet ever so high above me, struggling in
|
|
the air as Scylla was carrying them off, and I heard them call out my
|
|
name in one last despairing cry. As a fisherman, seated, spear in hand,
|
|
upon some jutting rock {104} throws bait into the water to deceive the
|
|
poor little fishes, and spears them with the ox's horn with which his
|
|
spear is shod, throwing them gasping on to the land as he catches them
|
|
one by one--even so did Scylla land these panting creatures on her
|
|
rock and munch them up at the mouth of her den, while they screamed and
|
|
stretched out their hands to me in their mortal agony. This was the most
|
|
sickening sight that I saw throughout all my voyages.
|
|
"When we had passed the [Wandering] rocks, with Scylla and terrible
|
|
Charybdis, we reached the noble island of the sun-god, where were the
|
|
goodly cattle and sheep belonging to the sun Hyperion. While still at
|
|
sea in my ship I could bear the cattle lowing as they came home to the
|
|
yards, and the sheep bleating. Then I remembered what the blind Theban
|
|
prophet Teiresias had told me, and how carefully Aeaean Circe had warned
|
|
me to shun the island of the blessed sun-god. So being much troubled I
|
|
said to the men, 'My men, I know you are hard pressed, but listen while
|
|
I tell you the prophecy that Teiresias made me, and how carefully Aeaean
|
|
Circe warned me to shun the island of the blessed sun-god, for it
|
|
was here, she said, that our worst danger would lie. Head the ship,
|
|
therefore, away from the island.'
|
|
"The men were in despair at this, and Eurylochus at once gave me an
|
|
insolent answer. 'Ulysses,' said he, 'you are cruel; you are very strong
|
|
yourself and never get worn out; you seem to be made of iron, and now,
|
|
though your men are exhausted with toil and want of sleep, you will not
|
|
let them land and cook themselves a good supper upon this island, but
|
|
bid them put out to sea and go faring fruitlessly on through the watches
|
|
of the flying night. It is by night that the winds blow hardest and do
|
|
so much damage; how can we escape should one of those sudden squalls
|
|
spring up from South West or West, which so often wreck a vessel when
|
|
our lords the gods are unpropitious? Now, therefore, let us obey the
|
|
behests of night and prepare our supper here hard by the ship; to-morrow
|
|
morning we will go on board again and put out to sea.'
|
|
"Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. I saw that
|
|
heaven meant us a mischief and said, 'You force me to yield, for you are
|
|
many against one, but at any rate each one of you must take his solemn
|
|
oath that if he meet with a herd of cattle or a large flock of sheep,
|
|
he will not be so mad as to kill a single head of either, but will be
|
|
satisfied with the food that Circe has given us.'
|
|
"They all swore as I bade them, and when they had completed their oath
|
|
we made the ship fast in a harbour that was near a stream of fresh
|
|
water, and the men went ashore and cooked their suppers. As soon as they
|
|
had had enough to eat and drink, they began talking about their poor
|
|
comrades whom Scylla had snatched up and eaten; this set them weeping
|
|
and they went on crying till they fell off into a sound sleep.
|
|
"In the third watch of the night when the stars had shifted their
|
|
places, Jove raised a great gale of wind that flew a hurricane so that
|
|
land and sea were covered with thick clouds, and night sprang forth out
|
|
of the heavens. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared,
|
|
we brought the ship to land and drew her into a cave wherein the
|
|
sea-nymphs hold their courts and dances, and I called the men together
|
|
in council.
|
|
"'My friends,' said I, 'we have meat and drink in the ship, let us mind,
|
|
therefore, and not touch the cattle, or we shall suffer for it; for
|
|
these cattle and sheep belong to the mighty sun, who sees and gives ear
|
|
to everything.' And again they promised that they would obey.
|
|
"For a whole month the wind blew steadily from the South, and there was
|
|
no other wind, but only South and East. {105} As long as corn and wine
|
|
held out the men did not touch the cattle when they were hungry; when,
|
|
however, they had eaten all there was in the ship, they were forced
|
|
to go further afield, with hook and line, catching birds, and taking
|
|
whatever they could lay their hands on; for they were starving. One day,
|
|
therefore, I went up inland that I might pray heaven to show me some
|
|
means of getting away. When I had gone far enough to be clear of all
|
|
my men, and had found a place that was well sheltered from the wind,
|
|
I washed my hands and prayed to all the gods in Olympus till by and by
|
|
they sent me off into a sweet sleep.
|
|
"Meanwhile Eurylochus had been giving evil counsel to the men, 'Listen
|
|
to me,' said he, 'my poor comrades. All deaths are bad enough but there
|
|
is none so bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the best of these
|
|
cows and offer them in sacrifice to the immortal gods? If we ever get
|
|
back to Ithaca, we can build a fine temple to the sun-god and enrich it
|
|
with every kind of ornament; if, however, he is determined to sink our
|
|
ship out of revenge for these homed cattle, and the other gods are of
|
|
the same mind, I for one would rather drink salt water once for all and
|
|
have done with it, than be starved to death by inches in such a desert
|
|
island as this is.'
|
|
"Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. Now the cattle,
|
|
so fair and goodly, were feeding not far from the ship; the men,
|
|
therefore, drove in the best of them, and they all stood round them
|
|
saying their prayers, and using young oak-shoots instead of barley-meal,
|
|
for there was no barley left. When they had done praying they killed the
|
|
cows and dressed their carcasses; they cut out the thigh bones, wrapped
|
|
them round in two layers of fat, and set some pieces of raw meat on top
|
|
of them. They had no wine with which to make drink-offerings over the
|
|
sacrifice while it was cooking, so they kept pouring on a little water
|
|
from time to time while the inward meats were being grilled; then, when
|
|
the thigh bones were burned and they had tasted the inward meats, they
|
|
cut the rest up small and put the pieces upon the spits.
|
|
"By this time my deep sleep had left me, and I turned back to the ship
|
|
and to the sea shore. As I drew near I began to smell hot roast meat, so
|
|
I groaned out a prayer to the immortal gods. 'Father Jove,' I exclaimed,
|
|
'and all you other gods who live in everlasting bliss, you have done me
|
|
a cruel mischief by the sleep into which you have sent me; see what fine
|
|
work these men of mine have been making in my absence.'
|
|
"Meanwhile Lampetie went straight off to the sun and told him we had
|
|
been killing his cows, whereon he flew into a great rage, and said
|
|
to the immortals, 'Father Jove, and all you other gods who live in
|
|
everlasting bliss, I must have vengeance on the crew of Ulysses' ship:
|
|
they have had the insolence to kill my cows, which were the one thing I
|
|
loved to look upon, whether I was going up heaven or down again. If they
|
|
do not square accounts with me about my cows, I will go down to Hades
|
|
and shine there among the dead.'
|
|
"'Sun,' said Jove, 'go on shining upon us gods and upon mankind over the
|
|
fruitful earth. I will shiver their ship into little pieces with a bolt
|
|
of white lightning as soon as they get out to sea.'
|
|
"I was told all this by Calypso, who said she had heard it from the
|
|
mouth of Mercury.
|
|
"As soon as I got down to my ship and to the sea shore I rebuked each
|
|
one of the men separately, but we could see no way out of it, for the
|
|
cows were dead already. And indeed the gods began at once to show signs
|
|
and wonders among us, for the hides of the cattle crawled about, and
|
|
the joints upon the spits began to low like cows, and the meat, whether
|
|
cooked or raw, kept on making a noise just as cows do.
|
|
"For six days my men kept driving in the best cows and feasting upon
|
|
them, but when Jove the son of Saturn had added a seventh day, the fury
|
|
of the gale abated; we therefore went on board, raised our masts, spread
|
|
sail, and put out to sea. As soon as we were well away from the island,
|
|
and could see nothing but sky and sea, the son of Saturn raised a black
|
|
cloud over our ship, and the sea grew dark beneath it. We did not get on
|
|
much further, for in another moment we were caught by a terrific squall
|
|
from the West that snapped the forestays of the mast so that it fell
|
|
aft, while all the ship's gear tumbled about at the bottom of the
|
|
vessel. The mast fell upon the head of the helmsman in the ship's
|
|
stern, so that the bones of his head were crushed to pieces, and he fell
|
|
overboard as though he were diving, with no more life left in him.
|
|
"Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts, and the ship went round and
|
|
round, and was filled with fire and brimstone as the lightning struck
|
|
it. The men all fell into the sea; they were carried about in the water
|
|
round the ship, looking like so many sea-gulls, but the god presently
|
|
deprived them of all chance of getting home again.
|
|
"I stuck to the ship till the sea knocked her sides from her keel (which
|
|
drifted about by itself) and struck the mast out of her in the direction
|
|
of the keel; but there was a backstay of stout ox-thong still hanging
|
|
about it, and with this I lashed the mast and keel together, and getting
|
|
astride of them was carried wherever the winds chose to take me.
|
|
"[The gale from the West had now spent its force, and the wind got into
|
|
the South again, which frightened me lest I should be taken back to the
|
|
terrible whirlpool of Charybdis. This indeed was what actually happened,
|
|
for I was borne along by the waves all night, and by sunrise had reached
|
|
the rock of Scylla, and the whirlpool. She was then sucking down the
|
|
salt sea water, {106} but I was carried aloft toward the fig tree, which
|
|
I caught hold of and clung on to like a bat. I could not plant my feet
|
|
anywhere so as to stand securely, for the roots were a long way off and
|
|
the boughs that overshadowed the whole pool were too high, too vast, and
|
|
too far apart for me to reach them; so I hung patiently on, waiting till
|
|
the pool should discharge my mast and raft again--and a very long while
|
|
it seemed. A jury-man is not more glad to get home to supper, after
|
|
having been long detained in court by troublesome cases, than I was to
|
|
see my raft beginning to work its way out of the whirlpool again. At
|
|
last I let go with my hands and feet, and fell heavily into the sea,
|
|
hard by my raft on to which I then got, and began to row with my hands.
|
|
As for Scylla, the father of gods and men would not let her get further
|
|
sight of me--otherwise I should have certainly been lost.] {107}
|
|
"Hence I was carried along for nine days till on the tenth night the
|
|
gods stranded me on the Ogygian island, where dwells the great and
|
|
powerful goddess Calypso. She took me in and was kind to me, but I need
|
|
say no more about this, for I told you and your noble wife all about it
|
|
yesterday, and I hate saying the same thing over and over again."
|
|
Book XIII
|
|
ULYSSES LEAVES SCHERIA AND RETURNS TO ITHACA.
|
|
Thus did he speak, and they all held their peace throughout the covered
|
|
cloister, enthralled by the charm of his story, till presently Alcinous
|
|
began to speak.
|
|
"Ulysses," said he, "now that you have reached my house I doubt not you
|
|
will get home without further misadventure no matter how much you have
|
|
suffered in the past. To you others, however, who come here night after
|
|
night to drink my choicest wine and listen to my bard, I would insist
|
|
as follows. Our guest has already packed up the clothes, wrought gold,
|
|
{108} and other valuables which you have brought for his acceptance;
|
|
let us now, therefore, present him further, each one of us, with a large
|
|
tripod and a cauldron. We will recoup ourselves by the levy of a general
|
|
rate; for private individuals cannot be expected to bear the burden of
|
|
such a handsome present."
|
|
Every one approved of this, and then they went home to bed each in his
|
|
own abode. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared they
|
|
hurried down to the ship and brought their cauldrons with them. Alcinous
|
|
went on board and saw everything so securely stowed under the ship's
|
|
benches that nothing could break adrift and injure the rowers. Then they
|
|
went to the house of Alcinous to get dinner, and he sacrificed a bull
|
|
for them in honour of Jove who is the lord of all. They set the steaks
|
|
to grill and made an excellent dinner, after which the inspired bard,
|
|
Demodocus, who was a favourite with every one, sang to them; but Ulysses
|
|
kept on turning his eyes towards the sun, as though to hasten his
|
|
setting, for he was longing to be on his way. As one who has been all
|
|
day ploughing a fallow field with a couple of oxen keeps thinking about
|
|
his supper and is glad when night comes that he may go and get it, for
|
|
it is all his legs can do to carry him, even so did Ulysses rejoice when
|
|
the sun went down, and he at once said to the Phaeacians, addressing
|
|
himself more particularly to King Alcinous:
|
|
"Sir, and all of you, farewell. Make your drink-offerings and send me on
|
|
my way rejoicing, for you have fulfilled my heart's desire by giving me
|
|
an escort, and making me presents, which heaven grant that I may turn
|
|
to good account; may I find my admirable wife living in peace among
|
|
friends, {109} and may you whom I leave behind me give satisfaction
|
|
to your wives and children; {110} may heaven vouchsafe you every good
|
|
grace, and may no evil thing come among your people."
|
|
Thus did he speak. His hearers all of them approved his saying and
|
|
agreed that he should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken
|
|
reasonably. Alcinous therefore said to his servant, "Pontonous, mix
|
|
some wine and hand it round to everybody, that we may offer a prayer to
|
|
father Jove, and speed our guest upon his way."
|
|
Pontonous mixed the wine and handed it to every one in turn; the others
|
|
each from his own seat made a drink-offering to the blessed gods that
|
|
live in heaven, but Ulysses rose and placed the double cup in the hands
|
|
of queen Arete.
|
|
"Farewell, queen," said he, "henceforward and for ever, till age and
|
|
death, the common lot of mankind, lay their hands upon you. I now take
|
|
my leave; be happy in this house with your children, your people, and
|
|
with king Alcinous."
|
|
As he spoke he crossed the threshold, and Alcinous sent a man to conduct
|
|
him to his ship and to the sea shore. Arete also sent some maidservants
|
|
with him--one with a clean shirt and cloak, another to carry his strong
|
|
box, and a third with corn and wine. When they got to the water side
|
|
the crew took these things and put them on board, with all the meat and
|
|
drink; but for Ulysses they spread a rug and a linen sheet on deck that
|
|
he might sleep soundly in the stern of the ship. Then he too went on
|
|
board and lay down without a word, but the crew took every man his place
|
|
and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone to which it had been bound.
|
|
Thereon, when they began rowing out to sea, Ulysses fell into a deep,
|
|
sweet, and almost deathlike slumber. {111}
|
|
The ship bounded forward on her way as a four in hand chariot flies over
|
|
the course when the horses feel the whip. Her prow curvetted as it were
|
|
the neck of a stallion, and a great wave of dark blue water seethed in
|
|
her wake. She held steadily on her course, and even a falcon, swiftest
|
|
of all birds, could not have kept pace with her. Thus, then, she cut her
|
|
way through the water, carrying one who was as cunning as the gods, but
|
|
who was now sleeping peacefully, forgetful of all that he had suffered
|
|
both on the field of battle and by the waves of the weary sea.
|
|
When the bright star that heralds the approach of dawn began to show,
|
|
the ship drew near to land. {112} Now there is in Ithaca a haven of the
|
|
old merman Phorcys, which lies between two points that break the line
|
|
of the sea and shut the harbour in. These shelter it from the storms of
|
|
wind and sea that rage outside, so that, when once within it, a ship may
|
|
lie without being even moored. At the head of this harbour there is a
|
|
large olive tree, and at no great distance a fine overarching cavern
|
|
sacred to the nymphs who are called Naiads. {113} There are mixing bowls
|
|
within it and wine-jars of stone, and the bees hive there. Moreover,
|
|
there are great looms of stone on which the nymphs weave their robes of
|
|
sea purple--very curious to see--and at all times there is water within
|
|
it. It has two entrances, one facing North by which mortals can go
|
|
down into the cave, while the other comes from the South and is more
|
|
mysterious; mortals cannot possibly get in by it, it is the way taken by
|
|
the gods.
|
|
Into this harbour, then, they took their ship, for they knew the place.
|
|
{114} She had so much way upon her that she ran half her own length on
|
|
to the shore; {115} when, however, they had landed, the first thing they
|
|
did was to lift Ulysses with his rug and linen sheet out of the ship,
|
|
and lay him down upon the sand still fast asleep. Then they took out the
|
|
presents which Minerva had persuaded the Phaeacians to give him when he
|
|
was setting out on his voyage homewards. They put these all together by
|
|
the root of the olive tree, away from the road, for fear some passer by
|
|
{116} might come and steal them before Ulysses awoke; and then they made
|
|
the best of their way home again.
|
|
But Neptune did not forget the threats with which he had already
|
|
threatened Ulysses, so he took counsel with Jove. "Father Jove," said
|
|
he, "I shall no longer be held in any sort of respect among you gods, if
|
|
mortals like the Phaeacians, who are my own flesh and blood, show such
|
|
small regard for me. I said I would let Ulysses get home when he had
|
|
suffered sufficiently. I did not say that he should never get home at
|
|
all, for I knew you had already nodded your head about it, and promised
|
|
that he should do so; but now they have brought him in a ship fast
|
|
asleep and have landed him in Ithaca after loading him with more
|
|
magnificent presents of bronze, gold, and raiment than he would ever
|
|
have brought back from Troy, if he had had his share of the spoil and
|
|
got home without misadventure."
|
|
And Jove answered, "What, O Lord of the Earthquake, are you talking
|
|
about? The gods are by no means wanting in respect for you. It would
|
|
be monstrous were they to insult one so old and honoured as you are. As
|
|
regards mortals, however, if any of them is indulging in insolence and
|
|
treating you disrespectfully, it will always rest with yourself to deal
|
|
with him as you may think proper, so do just as you please."
|
|
"I should have done so at once," replied Neptune, "if I were not anxious
|
|
to avoid anything that might displease you; now, therefore, I should
|
|
like to wreck the Phaeacian ship as it is returning from its escort.
|
|
This will stop them from escorting people in future; and I should also
|
|
like to bury their city under a huge mountain."
|
|
"My good friend," answered Jove, "I should recommend you at the very
|
|
moment when the people from the city are watching the ship on her way,
|
|
to turn it into a rock near the land and looking like a ship. This
|
|
will astonish everybody, and you can then bury their city under the
|
|
mountain."
|
|
When earth-encircling Neptune heard this he went to Scheria where the
|
|
Phaeacians live, and stayed there till the ship, which was making rapid
|
|
way, had got close in. Then he went up to it, turned it into stone, and
|
|
drove it down with the flat of his hand so as to root it in the ground.
|
|
After this he went away.
|
|
The Phaeacians then began talking among themselves, and one would turn
|
|
towards his neighbour, saying, "Bless my heart, who is it that can have
|
|
rooted the ship in the sea just as she was getting into port? We could
|
|
see the whole of her only a moment ago."
|
|
This was how they talked, but they knew nothing about it; and Alcinous
|
|
said, "I remember now the old prophecy of my father. He said that
|
|
Neptune would be angry with us for taking every one so safely over the
|
|
sea, and would one day wreck a Phaeacian ship as it was returning from
|
|
an escort, and bury our city under a high mountain. This was what my old
|
|
father used to say, and now it is all coming true. {117} Now therefore
|
|
let us all do as I say; in the first place we must leave off giving
|
|
people escorts when they come here, and in the next let us sacrifice
|
|
twelve picked bulls to Neptune that he may have mercy upon us, and not
|
|
bury our city under the high mountain." When the people heard this they
|
|
were afraid and got ready the bulls.
|
|
Thus did the chiefs and rulers of the Phaeacians pray to king Neptune,
|
|
standing round his altar; and at the same time {118} Ulysses woke up
|
|
once more upon his own soil. He had been so long away that he did not
|
|
know it again; moreover, Jove's daughter Minerva had made it a foggy
|
|
day, so that people might not know of his having come, and that she
|
|
might tell him everything without either his wife or his fellow citizens
|
|
and friends recognising him {119} until he had taken his revenge upon
|
|
the wicked suitors. Everything, therefore, seemed quite different to
|
|
him--the long straight tracks, the harbours, the precipices, and the
|
|
goodly trees, appeared all changed as he started up and looked upon his
|
|
native land. So he smote his thighs with the flat of his hands and cried
|
|
aloud despairingly.
|
|
"Alas," he exclaimed, "among what manner of people am I fallen? Are they
|
|
savage and uncivilised or hospitable and humane? Where shall I put all
|
|
this treasure, and which way shall I go? I wish I had staid over there
|
|
with the Phaeacians; or I could have gone to some other great chief who
|
|
would have been good to me and given me an escort. As it is I do not
|
|
know where to put my treasure, and I cannot leave it here for fear
|
|
somebody else should get hold of it. In good truth the chiefs and rulers
|
|
of the Phaeacians have not been dealing fairly by me, and have left me
|
|
in the wrong country; they said they would take me back to Ithaca and
|
|
they have not done so: may Jove the protector of suppliants chastise
|
|
them, for he watches over everybody and punishes those who do wrong.
|
|
Still, I suppose I must count my goods and see if the crew have gone off
|
|
with any of them."
|
|
He counted his goodly coppers and cauldrons, his gold and all his
|
|
clothes, but there was nothing missing; still he kept grieving about not
|
|
being in his own country, and wandered up and down by the shore of
|
|
the sounding sea bewailing his hard fate. Then Minerva came up to him
|
|
disguised as a young shepherd of delicate and princely mien, with a good
|
|
cloak folded double about her shoulders; she had sandals on her comely
|
|
feet and held a javelin in her hand. Ulysses was glad when he saw her,
|
|
and went straight up to her.
|
|
"My friend," said he, "you are the first person whom I have met with in
|
|
this country; I salute you, therefore, and beg you to be well disposed
|
|
towards me. Protect these my goods, and myself too, for I embrace your
|
|
knees and pray to you as though you were a god. Tell me, then, and tell
|
|
me truly, what land and country is this? Who are its inhabitants? Am I
|
|
on an island, or is this the sea board of some continent?"
|
|
Minerva answered, "Stranger, you must be very simple, or must have come
|
|
from somewhere a long way off, not to know what country this is. It is
|
|
a very celebrated place, and everybody knows it East and West. It is
|
|
rugged and not a good driving country, but it is by no means a bad
|
|
island for what there is of it. It grows any quantity of corn and also
|
|
wine, for it is watered both by rain and dew; it breeds cattle also
|
|
and goats; all kinds of timber grow here, and there are watering places
|
|
where the water never runs dry; so, sir, the name of Ithaca is known
|
|
even as far as Troy, which I understand to be a long way off from this
|
|
Achaean country."
|
|
Ulysses was glad at finding himself, as Minerva told him, in his own
|
|
country, and he began to answer, but he did not speak the truth, and
|
|
made up a lying story in the instinctive wiliness of his heart.
|
|
"I heard of Ithaca," said he, "when I was in Crete beyond the seas, and
|
|
now it seems I have reached it with all these treasures. I have left
|
|
as much more behind me for my children, but am flying because I killed
|
|
Orsilochus son of Idomeneus, the fleetest runner in Crete. I killed him
|
|
because he wanted to rob me of the spoils I had got from Troy with so
|
|
much trouble and danger both on the field of battle and by the waves of
|
|
the weary sea; he said I had not served his father loyally at Troy as
|
|
vassal, but had set myself up as an independent ruler, so I lay in wait
|
|
for him with one of my followers by the road side, and speared him as
|
|
he was coming into town from the country. It was a very dark night and
|
|
nobody saw us; it was not known, therefore, that I had killed him, but
|
|
as soon as I had done so I went to a ship and besought the owners, who
|
|
were Phoenicians, to take me on board and set me in Pylos or in Elis
|
|
where the Epeans rule, giving them as much spoil as satisfied them. They
|
|
meant no guile, but the wind drove them off their course, and we sailed
|
|
on till we came hither by night. It was all we could do to get inside
|
|
the harbour, and none of us said a word about supper though we wanted it
|
|
badly, but we all went on shore and lay down just as we were. I was very
|
|
tired and fell asleep directly, so they took my goods out of the ship,
|
|
and placed them beside me where I was lying upon the sand. Then they
|
|
sailed away to Sidonia, and I was left here in great distress of mind."
|
|
Such was his story, but Minerva smiled and caressed him with her hand.
|
|
Then she took the form of a woman, fair, stately, and wise, "He must be
|
|
indeed a shifty lying fellow," said she, "who could surpass you in all
|
|
manner of craft even though you had a god for your antagonist. Dare
|
|
devil that you are, full of guile, unwearying in deceit, can you not
|
|
drop your tricks and your instinctive falsehood, even now that you are
|
|
in your own country again? We will say no more, however, about this, for
|
|
we can both of us deceive upon occasion--you are the most accomplished
|
|
counsellor and orator among all mankind, while I for diplomacy and
|
|
subtlety have no equal among the gods. Did you not know Jove's daughter
|
|
Minerva--me, who have been ever with you, who kept watch over you in
|
|
all your troubles, and who made the Phaeacians take so great a liking
|
|
to you? And now, again, I am come here to talk things over with you, and
|
|
help you to hide the treasure I made the Phaeacians give you; I want to
|
|
tell you about the troubles that await you in your own house; you have
|
|
got to face them, but tell no one, neither man nor woman, that you have
|
|
come home again. Bear everything, and put up with every man's insolence,
|
|
without a word."
|
|
And Ulysses answered, "A man, goddess, may know a great deal, but you
|
|
are so constantly changing your appearance that when he meets you it
|
|
is a hard matter for him to know whether it is you or not. This much,
|
|
however, I know exceedingly well; you were very kind to me as long as we
|
|
Achaeans were fighting before Troy, but from the day on which we went on
|
|
board ship after having sacked the city of Priam, and heaven dispersed
|
|
us--from that day, Minerva, I saw no more of you, and cannot ever
|
|
remember your coming to my ship to help me in a difficulty; I had to
|
|
wander on sick and sorry till the gods delivered me from evil and I
|
|
reached the city of the Phaeacians, where you encouraged me and took me
|
|
into the town. {120} And now, I beseech you in your father's name, tell
|
|
me the truth, for I do not believe I am really back in Ithaca. I am in
|
|
some other country and you are mocking me and deceiving me in all you
|
|
have been saying. Tell me then truly, have I really got back to my own
|
|
country?"
|
|
"You are always taking something of that sort in your head," replied
|
|
Minerva, "and that is why I cannot desert you in your afflictions; you
|
|
are so plausible, shrewd and shifty. Any one but yourself on returning
|
|
from so long a voyage would at once have gone home to see his wife and
|
|
children, but you do not seem to care about asking after them or hearing
|
|
any news about them till you have exploited your wife, who remains at
|
|
home vainly grieving for you, and having no peace night or day for the
|
|
tears she sheds on your behalf. As for my not coming near you, I was
|
|
never uneasy about you, for I was certain you would get back safely
|
|
though you would lose all your men, and I did not wish to quarrel with
|
|
my uncle Neptune, who never forgave you for having blinded his son.
|
|
{121} I will now, however, point out to you the lie of the land, and
|
|
you will then perhaps believe me. This is the haven of the old merman
|
|
Phorcys, and here is the olive tree that grows at the head of it; [near
|
|
it is the cave sacred to the Naiads;] {122} here too is the overarching
|
|
cavern in which you have offered many an acceptable hecatomb to the
|
|
nymphs, and this is the wooded mountain Neritum."
|
|
As she spoke the goddess dispersed the mist and the land appeared. Then
|
|
Ulysses rejoiced at finding himself again in his own land, and kissed
|
|
the bounteous soil; he lifted up his hands and prayed to the nymphs,
|
|
saying, "Naiad nymphs, daughters of Jove, I made sure that I was never
|
|
again to see you, now therefore I greet you with all loving salutations,
|
|
and I will bring you offerings as in the old days, if Jove's redoubtable
|
|
daughter will grant me life, and bring my son to manhood."
|
|
"Take heart, and do not trouble yourself about that," rejoined Minerva,
|
|
"let us rather set about stowing your things at once in the cave, where
|
|
they will be quite safe. Let us see how we can best manage it all."
|
|
Therewith she went down into the cave to look for the safest hiding
|
|
places, while Ulysses brought up all the treasure of gold, bronze, and
|
|
good clothing which the Phaeacians had given him. They stowed everything
|
|
carefully away, and Minerva set a stone against the door of the cave.
|
|
Then the two sat down by the root of the great olive, and consulted how
|
|
to compass the destruction of the wicked suitors.
|
|
"Ulysses," said Minerva, "noble son of Laertes, think how you can lay
|
|
hands on these disreputable people who have been lording it in your
|
|
house these three years, courting your wife and making wedding presents
|
|
to her, while she does nothing but lament your absence, giving hope and
|
|
sending encouraging messages {123} to every one of them, but meaning the
|
|
very opposite of all she says."
|
|
And Ulysses answered, "In good truth, goddess, it seems I should have
|
|
come to much the same bad end in my own house as Agamemnon did, if you
|
|
had not given me such timely information. Advise me how I shall best
|
|
avenge myself. Stand by my side and put your courage into my heart as on
|
|
the day when we loosed Troy's fair diadem from her brow. Help me now as
|
|
you did then, and I will fight three hundred men, if you, goddess, will
|
|
be with me."
|
|
"Trust me for that," said she, "I will not lose sight of you when once
|
|
we set about it, and I imagine that some of those who are devouring your
|
|
substance will then bespatter the pavement with their blood and brains.
|
|
I will begin by disguising you so that no human being shall know you; I
|
|
will cover your body with wrinkles; you shall lose all your yellow
|
|
hair; I will clothe you in a garment that shall fill all who see it with
|
|
loathing; I will blear your fine eyes for you, and make you an unseemly
|
|
object in the sight of the suitors, of your wife, and of the son whom
|
|
you left behind you. Then go at once to the swineherd who is in charge
|
|
of your pigs; he has been always well affected towards you, and is
|
|
devoted to Penelope and your son; you will find him feeding his pigs
|
|
near the rock that is called Raven {124} by the fountain Arethusa, where
|
|
they are fattening on beechmast and spring water after their manner.
|
|
Stay with him and find out how things are going, while I proceed to
|
|
Sparta and see your son, who is with Menelaus at Lacedaemon, where he
|
|
has gone to try and find out whether you are still alive." {125}
|
|
"But why," said Ulysses, "did you not tell him, for you knew all about
|
|
it? Did you want him too to go sailing about amid all kinds of hardship
|
|
while others are eating up his estate?"
|
|
Minerva answered, "Never mind about him, I sent him that he might be
|
|
well spoken of for having gone. He is in no sort of difficulty, but
|
|
is staying quite comfortably with Menelaus, and is surrounded with
|
|
abundance of every kind. The suitors have put out to sea and are lying
|
|
in wait for him, for they mean to kill him before he can get home. I do
|
|
not much think they will succeed, but rather that some of those who are
|
|
now eating up your estate will first find a grave themselves."
|
|
As she spoke Minerva touched him with her wand and covered him with
|
|
wrinkles, took away all his yellow hair, and withered the flesh over his
|
|
whole body; she bleared his eyes, which were naturally very fine ones;
|
|
she changed his clothes and threw an old rag of a wrap about him, and a
|
|
tunic, tattered, filthy, and begrimed with smoke; she also gave him an
|
|
undressed deer skin as an outer garment, and furnished him with a staff
|
|
and a wallet all in holes, with a twisted thong for him to sling it over
|
|
his shoulder.
|
|
When the pair had thus laid their plans they parted, and the goddess
|
|
went straight to Lacedaemon to fetch Telemachus.
|
|
Book XIV
|
|
ULYSSES IN THE HUT WITH EUMAEUS.
|
|
Ulysses now left the haven, and took the rough track up through the
|
|
wooded country and over the crest of the mountain till he reached the
|
|
place where Minerva had said that he would find the swineherd, who was
|
|
the most thrifty servant he had. He found him sitting in front of his
|
|
hut, which was by the yards that he had built on a site which could be
|
|
seen from far. He had made them spacious {126} and fair to see, with
|
|
a free run for the pigs all round them; he had built them during his
|
|
master's absence, of stones which he had gathered out of the ground,
|
|
without saying anything to Penelope or Laertes, and he had fenced them
|
|
on top with thorn bushes. Outside the yard he had run a strong fence of
|
|
oaken posts, split, and set pretty close together, while inside he had
|
|
built twelve styes near one another for the sows to lie in. There were
|
|
fifty pigs wallowing in each stye, all of them breeding sows; but the
|
|
boars slept outside and were much fewer in number, for the suitors
|
|
kept on eating them, and the swineherd had to send them the best he
|
|
had continually. There were three hundred and sixty boar pigs, and the
|
|
herdsman's four hounds, which were as fierce as wolves, slept always
|
|
with them. The swineherd was at that moment cutting out a pair of
|
|
sandals {127} from a good stout ox hide. Three of his men were out
|
|
herding the pigs in one place or another, and he had sent the fourth to
|
|
town with a boar that he had been forced to send the suitors that they
|
|
might sacrifice it and have their fill of meat.
|
|
When the hounds saw Ulysses they set up a furious barking and flew at
|
|
him, but Ulysses was cunning enough to sit down and loose his hold of
|
|
the stick that he had in his hand: still, he would have been torn by
|
|
them in his own homestead had not the swineherd dropped his ox hide,
|
|
rushed full speed through the gate of the yard and driven the dogs off
|
|
by shouting and throwing stones at them. Then he said to Ulysses, "Old
|
|
man, the dogs were likely to have made short work of you, and then you
|
|
would have got me into trouble. The gods have given me quite enough
|
|
worries without that, for I have lost the best of masters, and am in
|
|
continual grief on his account. I have to attend swine for other people
|
|
to eat, while he, if he yet lives to see the light of day, is starving
|
|
in some distant land. But come inside, and when you have had your fill
|
|
of bread and wine, tell me where you come from, and all about your
|
|
misfortunes."
|
|
On this the swineherd led the way into the hut and bade him sit down.
|
|
He strewed a good thick bed of rushes upon the floor, and on the top of
|
|
this he threw the shaggy chamois skin--a great thick one--on which he
|
|
used to sleep by night. Ulysses was pleased at being made thus welcome,
|
|
and said "May Jove, sir, and the rest of the gods grant you your heart's
|
|
desire in return for the kind way in which you have received me."
|
|
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Stranger, though a still
|
|
poorer man should come here, it would not be right for me to insult him,
|
|
for all strangers and beggars are from Jove. You must take what you
|
|
can get and be thankful, for servants live in fear when they have young
|
|
lords for their masters; and this is my misfortune now, for heaven has
|
|
hindered the return of him who would have been always good to me and
|
|
given me something of my own--a house, a piece of land, a good looking
|
|
wife, and all else that a liberal master allows a servant who has worked
|
|
hard for him, and whose labour the gods have prospered as they have mine
|
|
in the situation which I hold. If my master had grown old here he would
|
|
have done great things by me, but he is gone, and I wish that Helen's
|
|
whole race were utterly destroyed, for she has been the death of many a
|
|
good man. It was this matter that took my master to Ilius, the land of
|
|
noble steeds, to fight the Trojans in the cause of king Agamemnon."
|
|
As he spoke he bound his girdle round him and went to the styes where
|
|
the young sucking pigs were penned. He picked out two which he brought
|
|
back with him and sacrificed. He singed them, cut them up, and spitted
|
|
them; when the meat was cooked he brought it all in and set it before
|
|
Ulysses, hot and still on the spit, whereon Ulysses sprinkled it over
|
|
with white barley meal. The swineherd then mixed wine in a bowl of
|
|
ivy-wood, and taking a seat opposite Ulysses told him to begin.
|
|
"Fall to, stranger," said he, "on a dish of servant's pork. The fat pigs
|
|
have to go to the suitors, who eat them up without shame or scruple; but
|
|
the blessed gods love not such shameful doings, and respect those who do
|
|
what is lawful and right. Even the fierce freebooters who go raiding on
|
|
other people's land, and Jove gives them their spoil--even they,
|
|
when they have filled their ships and got home again live
|
|
conscience-stricken, and look fearfully for judgement; but some god
|
|
seems to have told these people that Ulysses is dead and gone; they
|
|
will not, therefore, go back to their own homes and make their offers of
|
|
marriage in the usual way, but waste his estate by force, without fear
|
|
or stint. Not a day or night comes out of heaven, but they sacrifice not
|
|
one victim nor two only, and they take the run of his wine, for he was
|
|
exceedingly rich. No other great man either in Ithaca or on the mainland
|
|
is as rich as he was; he had as much as twenty men put together. I will
|
|
tell you what he had. There are twelve herds of cattle upon the main
|
|
land, and as many flocks of sheep, there are also twelve droves of pigs,
|
|
while his own men and hired strangers feed him twelve widely spreading
|
|
herds of goats. Here in Ithaca he runs even large flocks of goats on
|
|
the far end of the island, and they are in the charge of excellent goat
|
|
herds. Each one of these sends the suitors the best goat in the flock
|
|
every day. As for myself, I am in charge of the pigs that you see here,
|
|
and I have to keep picking out the best I have and sending it to them."
|
|
This was his story, but Ulysses went on eating and drinking ravenously
|
|
without a word, brooding his revenge. When he had eaten enough and was
|
|
satisfied, the swineherd took the bowl from which he usually drank,
|
|
filled it with wine, and gave it to Ulysses, who was pleased, and said
|
|
as he took it in his hands, "My friend, who was this master of yours
|
|
that bought you and paid for you, so rich and so powerful as you tell
|
|
me? You say he perished in the cause of King Agamemnon; tell me who he
|
|
was, in case I may have met with such a person. Jove and the other gods
|
|
know, but I may be able to give you news of him, for I have travelled
|
|
much."
|
|
Eumaeus answered, "Old man, no traveller who comes here with news will
|
|
get Ulysses' wife and son to believe his story. Nevertheless, tramps in
|
|
want of a lodging keep coming with their mouths full of lies, and not a
|
|
word of truth; every one who finds his way to Ithaca goes to my mistress
|
|
and tells her falsehoods, whereon she takes them in, makes much of them,
|
|
and asks them all manner of questions, crying all the time as women will
|
|
when they have lost their husbands. And you too, old man, for a shirt
|
|
and a cloak would doubtless make up a very pretty story. But the wolves
|
|
and birds of prey have long since torn Ulysses to pieces, or the fishes
|
|
of the sea have eaten him, and his bones are lying buried deep in sand
|
|
upon some foreign shore; he is dead and gone, and a bad business it is
|
|
for all his friends--for me especially; go where I may I shall never
|
|
find so good a master, not even if I were to go home to my mother and
|
|
father where I was bred and born. I do not so much care, however, about
|
|
my parents now, though I should dearly like to see them again in my own
|
|
country; it is the loss of Ulysses that grieves me most; I cannot speak
|
|
of him without reverence though he is here no longer, for he was very
|
|
fond of me, and took such care of me that wherever he may be I shall
|
|
always honour his memory."
|
|
"My friend," replied Ulysses, "you are very positive, and very hard of
|
|
belief about your master's coming home again, nevertheless I will not
|
|
merely say, but will swear, that he is coming. Do not give me anything
|
|
for my news till he has actually come, you may then give me a shirt and
|
|
cloak of good wear if you will. I am in great want, but I will not take
|
|
anything at all till then, for I hate a man, even as I hate hell fire,
|
|
who lets his poverty tempt him into lying. I swear by king Jove, by the
|
|
rites of hospitality, and by that hearth of Ulysses to which I have now
|
|
come, that all will surely happen as I have said it will. Ulysses
|
|
will return in this self same year; with the end of this moon and the
|
|
beginning of the next he will be here to do vengeance on all those who
|
|
are ill treating his wife and son."
|
|
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Old man, you will neither
|
|
get paid for bringing good news, nor will Ulysses ever come home; drink
|
|
your wine in peace, and let us talk about something else. Do not keep on
|
|
reminding me of all this; it always pains me when any one speaks about
|
|
my honoured master. As for your oath we will let it alone, but I only
|
|
wish he may come, as do Penelope, his old father Laertes, and his son
|
|
Telemachus. I am terribly unhappy too about this same boy of his; he was
|
|
running up fast into manhood, and bade fare to be no worse man, face
|
|
and figure, than his father, but some one, either god or man, has been
|
|
unsettling his mind, so he has gone off to Pylos to try and get news of
|
|
his father, and the suitors are lying in wait for him as he is coming
|
|
home, in the hope of leaving the house of Arceisius without a name in
|
|
Ithaca. But let us say no more about him, and leave him to be taken, or
|
|
else to escape if the son of Saturn holds his hand over him to protect
|
|
him. And now, old man, tell me your own story; tell me also, for I want
|
|
to know, who you are and where you come from. Tell me of your town
|
|
and parents, what manner of ship you came in, how crew brought you to
|
|
Ithaca, and from what country they professed to come--for you cannot
|
|
have come by land."
|
|
And Ulysses answered, "I will tell you all about it. If there were meat
|
|
and wine enough, and we could stay here in the hut with nothing to do
|
|
but to eat and drink while the others go to their work, I could easily
|
|
talk on for a whole twelve months without ever finishing the story of
|
|
the sorrows with which it has pleased heaven to visit me.
|
|
"I am by birth a Cretan; my father was a well to do man, who had many
|
|
sons born in marriage, whereas I was the son of a slave whom he had
|
|
purchased for a concubine; nevertheless, my father Castor son of Hylax
|
|
(whose lineage I claim, and who was held in the highest honour among the
|
|
Cretans for his wealth, prosperity, and the valour of his sons) put me
|
|
on the same level with my brothers who had been born in wedlock. When,
|
|
however, death took him to the house of Hades, his sons divided his
|
|
estate and cast lots for their shares, but to me they gave a holding
|
|
and little else; nevertheless, my valour enabled me to marry into a rich
|
|
family, for I was not given to bragging, or shirking on the field of
|
|
battle. It is all over now; still, if you look at the straw you can see
|
|
what the ear was, for I have had trouble enough and to spare. Mars and
|
|
Minerva made me doughty in war; when I had picked my men to surprise the
|
|
enemy with an ambuscade I never gave death so much as a thought, but was
|
|
the first to leap forward and spear all whom I could overtake. Such was
|
|
I in battle, but I did not care about farm work, nor the frugal home
|
|
life of those who would bring up children. My delight was in ships,
|
|
fighting, javelins, and arrows--things that most men shudder to think
|
|
of; but one man likes one thing and another another, and this was what
|
|
I was most naturally inclined to. Before the Achaeans went to Troy,
|
|
nine times was I in command of men and ships on foreign service, and I
|
|
amassed much wealth. I had my pick of the spoil in the first instance,
|
|
and much more was allotted to me later on.
|
|
"My house grew apace and I became a great man among the Cretans,
|
|
but when Jove counselled that terrible expedition, in which so many
|
|
perished, the people required me and Idomeneus to lead their ships to
|
|
Troy, and there was no way out of it, for they insisted on our doing
|
|
so. There we fought for nine whole years, but in the tenth we sacked the
|
|
city of Priam and sailed home again as heaven dispersed us. Then it was
|
|
that Jove devised evil against me. I spent but one month happily with my
|
|
children, wife, and property, and then I conceived the idea of making a
|
|
descent on Egypt, so I fitted out a fine fleet and manned it. I had nine
|
|
ships, and the people flocked to fill them. For six days I and my men
|
|
made feast, and I found them many victims both for sacrifice to the gods
|
|
and for themselves, but on the seventh day we went on board and set sail
|
|
from Crete with a fair North wind behind us though we were going down a
|
|
river. Nothing went ill with any of our ships, and we had no sickness
|
|
on board, but sat where we were and let the ships go as the wind and
|
|
steersmen took them. On the fifth day we reached the river Aegyptus;
|
|
there I stationed my ships in the river, bidding my men stay by them and
|
|
keep guard over them while I sent out scouts to reconnoitre from every
|
|
point of vantage.
|
|
"But the men disobeyed my orders, took to their own devices, and ravaged
|
|
the land of the Egyptians, killing the men, and taking their wives and
|
|
children captive. The alarm was soon carried to the city, and when they
|
|
heard the war cry, the people came out at daybreak till the plain was
|
|
filled with horsemen and foot soldiers and with the gleam of armour.
|
|
Then Jove spread panic among my men, and they would no longer face the
|
|
enemy, for they found themselves surrounded. The Egyptians killed many
|
|
of us, and took the rest alive to do forced labour for them. Jove,
|
|
however, put it in my mind to do thus--and I wish I had died then and
|
|
there in Egypt instead, for there was much sorrow in store for me--I
|
|
took off my helmet and shield and dropped my spear from my hand; then
|
|
I went straight up to the king's chariot, clasped his knees and kissed
|
|
them, whereon he spared my life, bade me get into his chariot, and took
|
|
me weeping to his own home. Many made at me with their ashen spears and
|
|
tried to kill me in their fury, but the king protected me, for he feared
|
|
the wrath of Jove the protector of strangers, who punishes those who do
|
|
evil.
|
|
"I stayed there for seven years and got together much money among the
|
|
Egyptians, for they all gave me something; but when it was now going on
|
|
for eight years there came a certain Phoenician, a cunning rascal, who
|
|
had already committed all sorts of villainy, and this man talked me over
|
|
into going with him to Phoenicia, where his house and his possessions
|
|
lay. I stayed there for a whole twelve months, but at the end of that
|
|
time when months and days had gone by till the same season had come
|
|
round again, he set me on board a ship bound for Libya, on a pretence
|
|
that I was to take a cargo along with him to that place, but really that
|
|
he might sell me as a slave and take the money I fetched. I suspected
|
|
his intention, but went on board with him, for I could not help it.
|
|
"The ship ran before a fresh North wind till we had reached the sea
|
|
that lies between Crete and Libya; there, however, Jove counselled their
|
|
destruction, for as soon as we were well out from Crete and could see
|
|
nothing but sea and sky, he raised a black cloud over our ship and the
|
|
sea grew dark beneath it. Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts and
|
|
the ship went round and round and was filled with fire and brimstone
|
|
as the lightning struck it. The men fell all into the sea; they
|
|
were carried about in the water round the ship looking like so many
|
|
sea-gulls, but the god presently deprived them of all chance of getting
|
|
home again. I was all dismayed. Jove, however, sent the ship's mast
|
|
within my reach, which saved my life, for I clung to it, and drifted
|
|
before the fury of the gale. Nine days did I drift but in the darkness
|
|
of the tenth night a great wave bore me on to the Thesprotian coast.
|
|
There Pheidon king of the Thesprotians entertained me hospitably without
|
|
charging me anything at all--for his son found me when I was nearly dead
|
|
with cold and fatigue, whereon he raised me by the hand, took me to his
|
|
father's house and gave me clothes to wear.
|
|
"There it was that I heard news of Ulysses, for the king told me he
|
|
had entertained him, and shown him much hospitality while he was on his
|
|
homeward journey. He showed me also the treasure of gold, and wrought
|
|
iron that Ulysses had got together. There was enough to keep his family
|
|
for ten generations, so much had he left in the house of king Pheidon.
|
|
But the king said Ulysses had gone to Dodona that he might learn Jove's
|
|
mind from the god's high oak tree, and know whether after so long an
|
|
absence he should return to Ithaca openly, or in secret. Moreover the
|
|
king swore in my presence, making drink-offerings in his own house as
|
|
he did so, that the ship was by the water side, and the crew found,
|
|
that should take him to his own country. He sent me off however before
|
|
Ulysses returned, for there happened to be a Thesprotian ship sailing
|
|
for the wheat-growing island of Dulichium, and he told those in charge
|
|
of her to be sure and take me safely to King Acastus.
|
|
"These men hatched a plot against me that would have reduced me to the
|
|
very extreme of misery, for when the ship had got some way out from land
|
|
they resolved on selling me as a slave. They stripped me of the shirt
|
|
and cloak that I was wearing, and gave me instead the tattered old
|
|
clouts in which you now see me; then, towards nightfall, they reached
|
|
the tilled lands of Ithaca, and there they bound me with a strong rope
|
|
fast in the ship, while they went on shore to get supper by the sea
|
|
side. But the gods soon undid my bonds for me, and having drawn my rags
|
|
over my head I slid down the rudder into the sea, where I struck out and
|
|
swam till I was well clear of them, and came ashore near a thick wood
|
|
in which I lay concealed. They were very angry at my having escaped and
|
|
went searching about for me, till at last they thought it was no further
|
|
use and went back to their ship. The gods, having hidden me thus easily,
|
|
then took me to a good man's door--for it seems that I am not to die yet
|
|
awhile."
|
|
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Poor unhappy stranger, I
|
|
have found the story of your misfortunes extremely interesting, but that
|
|
part about Ulysses is not right; and you will never get me to believe
|
|
it. Why should a man like you go about telling lies in this way? I know
|
|
all about the return of my master. The gods one and all of them detest
|
|
him, or they would have taken him before Troy, or let him die with
|
|
friends around him when the days of his fighting were done; for then the
|
|
Achaeans would have built a mound over his ashes and his son would have
|
|
been heir to his renown, but now the storm winds have spirited him away
|
|
we know not whither.
|
|
"As for me I live out of the way here with the pigs, and never go to the
|
|
town unless when Penelope sends for me on the arrival of some news
|
|
about Ulysses. Then they all sit round and ask questions, both those who
|
|
grieve over the king's absence, and those who rejoice at it because they
|
|
can eat up his property without paying for it. For my own part I have
|
|
never cared about asking anyone else since the time when I was taken in
|
|
by an Aetolian, who had killed a man and come a long way till at last
|
|
he reached my station, and I was very kind to him. He said he had seen
|
|
Ulysses with Idomeneus among the Cretans, refitting his ships which had
|
|
been damaged in a gale. He said Ulysses would return in the following
|
|
summer or autumn with his men, and that he would bring back much wealth.
|
|
And now you, you unfortunate old man, since fate has brought you to my
|
|
door, do not try to flatter me in this way with vain hopes. It is not
|
|
for any such reason that I shall treat you kindly, but only out of
|
|
respect for Jove the god of hospitality, as fearing him and pitying
|
|
you."
|
|
Ulysses answered, "I see that you are of an unbelieving mind; I have
|
|
given you my oath, and yet you will not credit me; let us then make a
|
|
bargain, and call all the gods in heaven to witness it. If your master
|
|
comes home, give me a cloak and shirt of good wear, and send me to
|
|
Dulichium where I want to go; but if he does not come as I say he will,
|
|
set your men on to me, and tell them to throw me from yonder precipice,
|
|
as a warning to tramps not to go about the country telling lies."
|
|
"And a pretty figure I should cut then," replied Eumaeus, "both now and
|
|
hereafter, if I were to kill you after receiving you into my hut and
|
|
showing you hospitality. I should have to say my prayers in good earnest
|
|
if I did; but it is just supper time and I hope my men will come in
|
|
directly, that we may cook something savoury for supper."
|
|
Thus did they converse, and presently the swineherds came up with
|
|
the pigs, which were then shut up for the night in their styes, and a
|
|
tremendous squealing they made as they were being driven into them. But
|
|
Eumaeus called to his men and said, "Bring in the best pig you have,
|
|
that I may sacrifice him for this stranger, and we will take toll of him
|
|
ourselves. We have had trouble enough this long time feeding pigs, while
|
|
others reap the fruit of our labour."
|
|
On this he began chopping firewood, while the others brought in a fine
|
|
fat five year old boar pig, and set it at the altar. Eumaeus did not
|
|
forget the gods, for he was a man of good principles, so the first thing
|
|
he did was to cut bristles from the pig's face and throw them into the
|
|
fire, praying to all the gods as he did so that Ulysses might return
|
|
home again. Then he clubbed the pig with a billet of oak which he had
|
|
kept back when he was chopping the firewood, and stunned it, while the
|
|
others slaughtered and singed it. Then they cut it up, and Eumaeus began
|
|
by putting raw pieces from each joint on to some of the fat; these he
|
|
sprinkled with barley meal, and laid upon the embers; they cut the rest
|
|
of the meat up small, put the pieces upon the spits and roasted them
|
|
till they were done; when they had taken them off the spits they
|
|
threw them on to the dresser in a heap. The swineherd, who was a most
|
|
equitable man, then stood up to give every one his share. He made seven
|
|
portions; one of these he set apart for Mercury the son of Maia and the
|
|
nymphs, praying to them as he did so; the others he dealt out to the men
|
|
man by man. He gave Ulysses some slices cut lengthways down the loin
|
|
as a mark of especial honour, and Ulysses was much pleased. "I hope,
|
|
Eumaeus," said he, "that Jove will be as well disposed towards you as I
|
|
am, for the respect you are showing to an outcast like myself."
|
|
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Eat, my good fellow, and
|
|
enjoy your supper, such as it is. God grants this, and withholds that,
|
|
just as he thinks right, for he can do whatever he chooses."
|
|
As he spoke he cut off the first piece and offered it as a burnt
|
|
sacrifice to the immortal gods; then he made them a drink-offering,
|
|
put the cup in the hands of Ulysses, and sat down to his own portion.
|
|
Mesaulius brought them their bread; the swineherd had brought this man
|
|
on his own account from among the Taphians during his master's absence,
|
|
and had paid for him with his own money without saying anything either
|
|
to his mistress or Laertes. They then laid their hands upon the good
|
|
things that were before them, and when they had had enough to eat and
|
|
drink, Mesaulius took away what was left of the bread, and they all went
|
|
to bed after having made a hearty supper.
|
|
Now the night came on stormy and very dark, for there was no moon. It
|
|
poured without ceasing, and the wind blew strong from the West, which is
|
|
a wet quarter, so Ulysses thought he would see whether Eumaeus, in the
|
|
excellent care he took of him, would take off his own cloak and give
|
|
it him, or make one of his men give him one. "Listen to me," said he,
|
|
"Eumaeus and the rest of you; when I have said a prayer I will tell you
|
|
something. It is the wine that makes me talk in this way; wine will make
|
|
even a wise man fall to singing; it will make him chuckle and dance
|
|
and say many a word that he had better leave unspoken; still, as I have
|
|
begun, I will go on. Would that I were still young and strong as when we
|
|
got up an ambuscade before Troy. Menelaus and Ulysses were the leaders,
|
|
but I was in command also, for the other two would have it so. When we
|
|
had come up to the wall of the city we crouched down beneath our armour
|
|
and lay there under cover of the reeds and thick brushwood that grew
|
|
about the swamp. It came on to freeze with a North wind blowing; the
|
|
snow fell small and fine like hoar frost, and our shields were coated
|
|
thick with rime. The others had all got cloaks and shirts, and slept
|
|
comfortably enough with their shields about their shoulders, but I had
|
|
carelessly left my cloak behind me, not thinking that I should be too
|
|
cold, and had gone off in nothing but my shirt and shield. When the
|
|
night was two-thirds through and the stars had shifted their places, I
|
|
nudged Ulysses who was close to me with my elbow, and he at once gave me
|
|
his ear.
|
|
"'Ulysses,' said I, 'this cold will be the death of me, for I have no
|
|
cloak; some god fooled me into setting off with nothing on but my shirt,
|
|
and I do not know what to do.'
|
|
"Ulysses, who was as crafty as he was valiant, hit upon the following
|
|
plan:
|
|
"'Keep still,' said he in a low voice, 'or the others will hear you.'
|
|
Then he raised his head on his elbow.
|
|
"'My friends,' said he, 'I have had a dream from heaven in my sleep. We
|
|
are a long way from the ships; I wish some one would go down and tell
|
|
Agamemnon to send us up more men at once.'
|
|
"On this Thoas son of Andraemon threw off his cloak and set out running
|
|
to the ships, whereon I took the cloak and lay in it comfortably enough
|
|
till morning. Would that I were still young and strong as I was in those
|
|
days, for then some one of you swineherds would give me a cloak both out
|
|
of good will and for the respect due to a brave soldier; but now people
|
|
look down upon me because my clothes are shabby."
|
|
And Eumaeus answered, "Old man, you have told us an excellent story,
|
|
and have said nothing so far but what is quite satisfactory; for the
|
|
present, therefore, you shall want neither clothing nor anything else
|
|
that a stranger in distress may reasonably expect, but to-morrow morning
|
|
you have to shake your own old rags about your body again, for we have
|
|
not many spare cloaks nor shirts up here, but every man has only one.
|
|
When Ulysses' son comes home again he will give you both cloak and
|
|
shirt, and send you wherever you may want to go."
|
|
With this he got up and made a bed for Ulysses by throwing some
|
|
goatskins and sheepskins on the ground in front of the fire. Here
|
|
Ulysses lay down, and Eumaeus covered him over with a great heavy cloak
|
|
that he kept for a change in case of extraordinarily bad weather.
|
|
Thus did Ulysses sleep, and the young men slept beside him. But the
|
|
swineherd did not like sleeping away from his pigs, so he got ready
|
|
to go outside, and Ulysses was glad to see that he looked after his
|
|
property during his master's absence. First he slung his sword over his
|
|
brawny shoulders and put on a thick cloak to keep out the wind. He also
|
|
took the skin of a large and well fed goat, and a javelin in case of
|
|
attack from men or dogs. Thus equipped he went to his rest where the
|
|
pigs were camping under an overhanging rock that gave them shelter from
|
|
the North wind.
|
|
Book XV
|
|
MINERVA SUMMONS TELEMACHUS FROM LACEDAEMON--HE MEETS WITH THEOCLYMENUS
|
|
AT PYLOS AND BRINGS HIM TO ITHACA--ON LANDING HE GOES TO THE HUT OF
|
|
EUMAEUS.
|
|
But Minerva went to the fair city of Lacedaemon to tell Ulysses' son
|
|
that he was to return at once. She found him and Pisistratus sleeping
|
|
in the forecourt of Menelaus's house; Pisistratus was fast asleep,
|
|
but Telemachus could get no rest all night for thinking of his unhappy
|
|
father, so Minerva went close up to him and said:
|
|
"Telemachus, you should not remain so far away from home any longer, nor
|
|
leave your property with such dangerous people in your house; they
|
|
will eat up everything you have among them, and you will have been on a
|
|
fool's errand. Ask Menelaus to send you home at once if you wish to
|
|
find your excellent mother still there when you get back. Her father and
|
|
brothers are already urging her to marry Eurymachus, who has given her
|
|
more than any of the others, and has been greatly increasing his wedding
|
|
presents. I hope nothing valuable may have been taken from the house in
|
|
spite of you, but you know what women are--they always want to do the
|
|
best they can for the man who marries them, and never give another
|
|
thought to the children of their first husband, nor to their father
|
|
either when he is dead and done with. Go home, therefore, and put
|
|
everything in charge of the most respectable woman servant that you
|
|
have, until it shall please heaven to send you a wife of your own. Let
|
|
me tell you also of another matter which you had better attend to. The
|
|
chief men among the suitors are lying in wait for you in the Strait
|
|
{128} between Ithaca and Samos, and they mean to kill you before you
|
|
can reach home. I do not much think they will succeed; it is more likely
|
|
that some of those who are now eating up your property will find a grave
|
|
themselves. Sail night and day, and keep your ship well away from the
|
|
islands; the god who watches over you and protects you will send you a
|
|
fair wind. As soon as you get to Ithaca send your ship and men on to the
|
|
town, but yourself go straight to the swineherd who has charge of your
|
|
pigs; he is well disposed towards you, stay with him, therefore, for the
|
|
night, and then send him to Penelope to tell her that you have got back
|
|
safe from Pylos."
|
|
Then she went back to Olympus; but Telemachus stirred Pisistratus with
|
|
his heel to rouse him, and said, "Wake up Pisistratus, and yoke the
|
|
horses to the chariot, for we must set off home." {129}
|
|
But Pisistratus said, "No matter what hurry we are in we cannot drive
|
|
in the dark. It will be morning soon; wait till Menelaus has brought his
|
|
presents and put them in the chariot for us; and let him say good bye to
|
|
us in the usual way. So long as he lives a guest should never forget a
|
|
host who has shown him kindness."
|
|
As he spoke day began to break, and Menelaus, who had already risen,
|
|
leaving Helen in bed, came towards them. When Telemachus saw him he
|
|
put on his shirt as fast as he could, threw a great cloak over his
|
|
shoulders, and went out to meet him. "Menelaus," said he, "let me go
|
|
back now to my own country, for I want to get home."
|
|
And Menelaus answered, "Telemachus, if you insist on going I will not
|
|
detain you. I do not like to see a host either too fond of his guest or
|
|
too rude to him. Moderation is best in all things, and not letting a
|
|
man go when he wants to do so is as bad as telling him to go if he would
|
|
like to stay. One should treat a guest well as long as he is in the
|
|
house and speed him when he wants to leave it. Wait, then, till I
|
|
can get your beautiful presents into your chariot, and till you have
|
|
yourself seen them. I will tell the women to prepare a sufficient dinner
|
|
for you of what there may be in the house; it will be at once more
|
|
proper and cheaper for you to get your dinner before setting out on
|
|
such a long journey. If, moreover, you have a fancy for making a tour
|
|
in Hellas or in the Peloponnese, I will yoke my horses, and will conduct
|
|
you myself through all our principal cities. No one will send us away
|
|
empty handed; every one will give us something--a bronze tripod, a
|
|
couple of mules, or a gold cup."
|
|
"Menelaus," replied Telemachus, "I want to go home at once, for when
|
|
I came away I left my property without protection, and fear that
|
|
while looking for my father I shall come to ruin myself, or find that
|
|
something valuable has been stolen during my absence."
|
|
When Menelaus heard this he immediately told his wife and servants to
|
|
prepare a sufficient dinner from what there might be in the house. At
|
|
this moment Eteoneus joined him, for he lived close by and had just got
|
|
up; so Menelaus told him to light the fire and cook some meat, which he
|
|
at once did. Then Menelaus went down into his fragrant store room, {130}
|
|
not alone, but Helen went too, with Megapenthes. When he reached the
|
|
place where the treasures of his house were kept, he selected a double
|
|
cup, and told his son Megapenthes to bring also a silver mixing bowl.
|
|
Meanwhile Helen went to the chest where she kept the lovely dresses
|
|
which she had made with her own hands, and took out one that was largest
|
|
and most beautifully enriched with embroidery; it glittered like a star,
|
|
and lay at the very bottom of the chest. {131} Then they all came back
|
|
through the house again till they got to Telemachus, and Menelaus said,
|
|
"Telemachus, may Jove, the mighty husband of Juno, bring you safely home
|
|
according to your desire. I will now present you with the finest and
|
|
most precious piece of plate in all my house. It is a mixing bowl of
|
|
pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with gold, and it is the
|
|
work of Vulcan. Phaedimus king of the Sidonians made me a present of it
|
|
in the course of a visit that I paid him while I was on my return home.
|
|
I should like to give it to you."
|
|
With these words he placed the double cup in the hands of Telemachus,
|
|
while Megapenthes brought the beautiful mixing bowl and set it before
|
|
him. Hard by stood lovely Helen with the robe ready in her hand.
|
|
"I too, my son," said she, "have something for you as a keepsake from
|
|
the hand of Helen; it is for your bride to wear upon her wedding day.
|
|
Till then, get your dear mother to keep it for you; thus may you go back
|
|
rejoicing to your own country and to your home."
|
|
So saying she gave the robe over to him and he received it gladly. Then
|
|
Pisistratus put the presents into the chariot, and admired them all as
|
|
he did so. Presently Menelaus took Telemachus and Pisistratus into the
|
|
house, and they both of them sat down to table. A maid servant brought
|
|
them water in a beautiful golden ewer, and poured it into a silver basin
|
|
for them to wash their hands, and she drew a clean table beside them;
|
|
an upper servant brought them bread and offered them many good things of
|
|
what there was in the house. Eteoneus carved the meat and gave them each
|
|
their portions, while Megapenthes poured out the wine. Then they laid
|
|
their hands upon the good things that were before them, but as soon as
|
|
they had had enough to eat and drink Telemachus and Pisistratus yoked
|
|
the horses, and took their places in the chariot. They drove out through
|
|
the inner gateway and under the echoing gatehouse of the outer court,
|
|
and Menelaus came after them with a golden goblet of wine in his right
|
|
hand that they might make a drink-offering before they set out. He stood
|
|
in front of the horses and pledged them, saying, "Farewell to both of
|
|
you; see that you tell Nestor how I have treated you, for he was as
|
|
kind to me as any father could be while we Achaeans were fighting before
|
|
Troy."
|
|
"We will be sure, sir," answered Telemachus, "to tell him everything as
|
|
soon as we see him. I wish I were as certain of finding Ulysses returned
|
|
when I get back to Ithaca, that I might tell him of the very great
|
|
kindness you have shown me and of the many beautiful presents I am
|
|
taking with me."
|
|
As he was thus speaking a bird flew on his right hand--an eagle with a
|
|
great white goose in its talons which it had carried off from the farm
|
|
yard--and all the men and women were running after it and shouting. It
|
|
came quite close up to them and flew away on their right hands in front
|
|
of the horses. When they saw it they were glad, and their hearts took
|
|
comfort within them, whereon Pisistratus said, "Tell me, Menelaus, has
|
|
heaven sent this omen for us or for you?"
|
|
Menelaus was thinking what would be the most proper answer for him to
|
|
make, but Helen was too quick for him and said, "I will read this matter
|
|
as heaven has put it in my heart, and as I doubt not that it will come
|
|
to pass. The eagle came from the mountain where it was bred and has
|
|
its nest, and in like manner Ulysses, after having travelled far and
|
|
suffered much, will return to take his revenge--if indeed he is not back
|
|
already and hatching mischief for the suitors."
|
|
"May Jove so grant it," replied Telemachus, "if it should prove to be
|
|
so, I will make vows to you as though you were a god, even when I am at
|
|
home."
|
|
As he spoke he lashed his horses and they started off at full speed
|
|
through the town towards the open country. They swayed the yoke upon
|
|
their necks and travelled the whole day long till the sun set and
|
|
darkness was over all the land. Then they reached Pherae, where Diocles
|
|
lived who was son of Ortilochus, the son of Alpheus. There they passed
|
|
the night and were treated hospitably. When the child of morning,
|
|
rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, they again yoked their horses and their
|
|
places in the chariot. They drove out through the inner gateway and
|
|
under the echoing gatehouse of the outer court. Then Pisistratus lashed
|
|
his horses on and they flew forward nothing loath; ere long they came to
|
|
Pylos, and then Telemachus said:
|
|
"Pisistratus, I hope you will promise to do what I am going to ask you.
|
|
You know our fathers were old friends before us; moreover, we are both
|
|
of an age, and this journey has brought us together still more closely;
|
|
do not, therefore, take me past my ship, but leave me there, for if I go
|
|
to your father's house he will try to keep me in the warmth of his good
|
|
will towards me, and I must go home at once."
|
|
Pisistratus thought how he should do as he was asked, and in the end he
|
|
deemed it best to turn his horses towards the ship, and put Menelaus's
|
|
beautiful presents of gold and raiment in the stern of the vessel. Then
|
|
he said, "Go on board at once and tell your men to do so also before
|
|
I can reach home to tell my father. I know how obstinate he is, and am
|
|
sure he will not let you go; he will come down here to fetch you, and he
|
|
will not go back without you. But he will be very angry."
|
|
With this he drove his goodly steeds back to the city of the Pylians and
|
|
soon reached his home, but Telemachus called the men together and gave
|
|
his orders. "Now, my men," said he, "get everything in order on board
|
|
the ship, and let us set out home."
|
|
Thus did he speak, and they went on board even as he had said. But as
|
|
Telemachus was thus busied, praying also and sacrificing to Minerva
|
|
in the ship's stern, there came to him a man from a distant country,
|
|
a seer, who was flying from Argos because he had killed a man. He was
|
|
descended from Melampus, who used to live in Pylos, the land of sheep;
|
|
he was rich and owned a great house, but he was driven into exile by the
|
|
great and powerful king Neleus. Neleus seized his goods and held them
|
|
for a whole year, during which he was a close prisoner in the house
|
|
of king Phylacus, and in much distress of mind both on account of the
|
|
daughter of Neleus and because he was haunted by a great sorrow that
|
|
dread Erinys had laid upon him. In the end, however, he escaped with his
|
|
life, drove the cattle from Phylace to Pylos, avenged the wrong that had
|
|
been done him, and gave the daughter of Neleus to his brother. Then he
|
|
left the country and went to Argos, where it was ordained that he should
|
|
reign over much people. There he married, established himself, and had
|
|
two famous sons Antiphates and Mantius. Antiphates became father of
|
|
Oicleus, and Oicleus of Amphiaraus, who was dearly loved both by Jove
|
|
and by Apollo, but he did not live to old age, for he was killed
|
|
in Thebes by reason of a woman's gifts. His sons were Alcmaeon
|
|
and Amphilochus. Mantius, the other son of Melampus, was father to
|
|
Polypheides and Cleitus. Aurora, throned in gold, carried off Cleitus
|
|
for his beauty's sake, that he might dwell among the immortals, but
|
|
Apollo made Polypheides the greatest seer in the whole world now that
|
|
Amphiaraus was dead. He quarrelled with his father and went to live in
|
|
Hyperesia, where he remained and prophesied for all men.
|
|
His son, Theoclymenus, it was who now came up to Telemachus as he was
|
|
making drink-offerings and praying in his ship. "Friend," said he,
|
|
"now that I find you sacrificing in this place, I beseech you by your
|
|
sacrifices themselves, and by the god to whom you make them, I pray you
|
|
also by your own head and by those of your followers tell me the truth
|
|
and nothing but the truth. Who and whence are you? Tell me also of your
|
|
town and parents."
|
|
Telemachus said, "I will answer you quite truly. I am from Ithaca, and
|
|
my father is Ulysses, as surely as that he ever lived. But he has come
|
|
to some miserable end. Therefore I have taken this ship and got my crew
|
|
together to see if I can hear any news of him, for he has been away a
|
|
long time."
|
|
"I too," answered Theoclymenus, "am an exile, for I have killed a man
|
|
of my own race. He has many brothers and kinsmen in Argos, and they
|
|
have great power among the Argives. I am flying to escape death at their
|
|
hands, and am thus doomed to be a wanderer on the face of the earth. I
|
|
am your suppliant; take me, therefore, on board your ship that they may
|
|
not kill me, for I know they are in pursuit."
|
|
"I will not refuse you," replied Telemachus, "if you wish to join us.
|
|
Come, therefore, and in Ithaca we will treat you hospitably according to
|
|
what we have."
|
|
On this he received Theoclymenus' spear and laid it down on the deck of
|
|
the ship. He went on board and sat in the stern, bidding Theoclymenus
|
|
sit beside him; then the men let go the hawsers. Telemachus told them to
|
|
catch hold of the ropes, and they made all haste to do so. They set the
|
|
mast in its socket in the cross plank, raised it and made it fast with
|
|
the forestays, and they hoisted their white sails with sheets of twisted
|
|
ox hide. Minerva sent them a fair wind that blew fresh and strong to
|
|
take the ship on her course as fast as possible. Thus then they passed
|
|
by Crouni and Chalcis.
|
|
Presently the sun set and darkness was over all the land. The vessel
|
|
made a quick passage to Pheae and thence on to Elis, where the Epeans
|
|
rule. Telemachus then headed her for the flying islands, {132} wondering
|
|
within himself whether he should escape death or should be taken
|
|
prisoner.
|
|
Meanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd were eating their supper in the hut,
|
|
and the men supped with them. As soon as they had had to eat and drink,
|
|
Ulysses began trying to prove the swineherd and see whether he would
|
|
continue to treat him kindly, and ask him to stay on at the station or
|
|
pack him off to the city; so he said:
|
|
"Eumaeus, and all of you, to-morrow I want to go away and begin begging
|
|
about the town, so as to be no more trouble to you or to your men. Give
|
|
me your advice therefore, and let me have a good guide to go with me
|
|
and show me the way. I will go the round of the city begging as I needs
|
|
must, to see if any one will give me a drink and a piece of bread. I
|
|
should like also to go to the house of Ulysses and bring news of her
|
|
husband to Queen Penelope. I could then go about among the suitors and
|
|
see if out of all their abundance they will give me a dinner. I should
|
|
soon make them an excellent servant in all sorts of ways. Listen and
|
|
believe when I tell you that by the blessing of Mercury who gives grace
|
|
and good name to the works of all men, there is no one living who would
|
|
make a more handy servant than I should--to put fresh wood on the fire,
|
|
chop fuel, carve, cook, pour out wine, and do all those services that
|
|
poor men have to do for their betters."
|
|
The swineherd was very much disturbed when he heard this. "Heaven help
|
|
me," he exclaimed, "what ever can have put such a notion as that into
|
|
your head? If you go near the suitors you will be undone to a certainty,
|
|
for their pride and insolence reach the very heavens. They would never
|
|
think of taking a man like you for a servant. Their servants are all
|
|
young men, well dressed, wearing good cloaks and shirts, with well
|
|
looking faces and their hair always tidy, the tables are kept quite
|
|
clean and are loaded with bread, meat, and wine. Stay where you are,
|
|
then; you are not in anybody's way; I do not mind your being here, no
|
|
more do any of the others, and when Telemachus comes home he will give
|
|
you a shirt and cloak and will send you wherever you want to go."
|
|
Ulysses answered, "I hope you may be as dear to the gods as you are to
|
|
me, for having saved me from going about and getting into trouble; there
|
|
is nothing worse than being always on the tramp; still, when men have
|
|
once got low down in the world they will go through a great deal on
|
|
behalf of their miserable bellies. Since, however, you press me to stay
|
|
here and await the return of Telemachus, tell me about Ulysses' mother,
|
|
and his father whom he left on the threshold of old age when he set
|
|
out for Troy. Are they still living or are they already dead and in the
|
|
house of Hades?"
|
|
"I will tell you all about them," replied Eumaeus, "Laertes is still
|
|
living and prays heaven to let him depart peacefully in his own house,
|
|
for he is terribly distressed about the absence of his son, and also
|
|
about the death of his wife, which grieved him greatly and aged him more
|
|
than anything else did. She came to an unhappy end {133} through sorrow
|
|
for her son: may no friend or neighbour who has dealt kindly by me come
|
|
to such an end as she did. As long as she was still living, though she
|
|
was always grieving, I used to like seeing her and asking her how she
|
|
did, for she brought me up along with her daughter Ctimene, the youngest
|
|
of her children; we were boy and girl together, and she made little
|
|
difference between us. When, however, we both grew up, they sent Ctimene
|
|
to Same and received a splendid dowry for her. As for me, my mistress
|
|
gave me a good shirt and cloak with a pair of sandals for my feet, and
|
|
sent me off into the country, but she was just as fond of me as ever.
|
|
This is all over now. Still it has pleased heaven to prosper my work in
|
|
the situation which I now hold. I have enough to eat and drink, and can
|
|
find something for any respectable stranger who comes here; but there
|
|
is no getting a kind word or deed out of my mistress, for the house has
|
|
fallen into the hands of wicked people. Servants want sometimes to see
|
|
their mistress and have a talk with her; they like to have something
|
|
to eat and drink at the house, and something too to take back with them
|
|
into the country. This is what will keep servants in a good humour."
|
|
Ulysses answered, "Then you must have been a very little fellow,
|
|
Eumaeus, when you were taken so far away from your home and parents.
|
|
Tell me, and tell me true, was the city in which your father and mother
|
|
lived sacked and pillaged, or did some enemies carry you off when you
|
|
were alone tending sheep or cattle, ship you off here, and sell you for
|
|
whatever your master gave them?"
|
|
"Stranger," replied Eumaeus, "as regards your question: sit still, make
|
|
yourself comfortable, drink your wine, and listen to me. The nights
|
|
are now at their longest; there is plenty of time both for sleeping and
|
|
sitting up talking together; you ought not to go to bed till bed time,
|
|
too much sleep is as bad as too little; if any one of the others wishes
|
|
to go to bed let him leave us and do so; he can then take my master's
|
|
pigs out when he has done breakfast in the morning. We too will sit here
|
|
eating and drinking in the hut, and telling one another stories about
|
|
our misfortunes; for when a man has suffered much, and been buffeted
|
|
about in the world, he takes pleasure in recalling the memory of sorrows
|
|
that have long gone by. As regards your question, then, my tale is as
|
|
follows:
|
|
"You may have heard of an island called Syra that lies over above
|
|
Ortygia, {134} where the land begins to turn round and look in another
|
|
direction. {135} It is not very thickly peopled, but the soil is good,
|
|
with much pasture fit for cattle and sheep, and it abounds with wine
|
|
and wheat. Dearth never comes there, nor are the people plagued by any
|
|
sickness, but when they grow old Apollo comes with Diana and kills them
|
|
with his painless shafts. It contains two communities, and the whole
|
|
country is divided between these two. My father Ctesius son of Ormenus,
|
|
a man comparable to the gods, reigned over both.
|
|
"Now to this place there came some cunning traders from Phoenicia (for
|
|
the Phoenicians are great mariners) in a ship which they had freighted
|
|
with gewgaws of all kinds. There happened to be a Phoenician woman in
|
|
my father's house, very tall and comely, and an excellent servant; these
|
|
scoundrels got hold of her one day when she was washing near their ship,
|
|
seduced her, and cajoled her in ways that no woman can resist, no matter
|
|
how good she may be by nature. The man who had seduced her asked her who
|
|
she was and where she came from, and on this she told him her father's
|
|
name. 'I come from Sidon,' said she, 'and am daughter to Arybas, a
|
|
man rolling in wealth. One day as I was coming into the town from the
|
|
country, some Taphian pirates seized me and took me here over the sea,
|
|
where they sold me to the man who owns this house, and he gave them
|
|
their price for me.'
|
|
"The man who had seduced her then said, 'Would you like to come along
|
|
with us to see the house of your parents and your parents themselves?
|
|
They are both alive and are said to be well off.'
|
|
"'I will do so gladly,' answered she, 'if you men will first swear me a
|
|
solemn oath that you will do me no harm by the way.'
|
|
"They all swore as she told them, and when they had completed their oath
|
|
the woman said, 'Hush; and if any of your men meets me in the street or
|
|
at the well, do not let him speak to me, for fear some one should go and
|
|
tell my master, in which case he would suspect something. He would put
|
|
me in prison, and would have all of you murdered; keep your own counsel
|
|
therefore; buy your merchandise as fast as you can, and send me word
|
|
when you have done loading. I will bring as much gold as I can lay my
|
|
hands on, and there is something else also that I can do towards paying
|
|
my fare. I am nurse to the son of the good man of the house, a funny
|
|
little fellow just able to run about. I will carry him off in your ship,
|
|
and you will get a great deal of money for him if you take him and sell
|
|
him in foreign parts.'
|
|
"On this she went back to the house. The Phoenicians stayed a whole
|
|
year till they had loaded their ship with much precious merchandise,
|
|
and then, when they had got freight enough, they sent to tell the
|
|
woman. Their messenger, a very cunning fellow, came to my father's house
|
|
bringing a necklace of gold with amber beads strung among it; and
|
|
while my mother and the servants had it in their hands admiring it and
|
|
bargaining about it, he made a sign quietly to the woman and then went
|
|
back to the ship, whereon she took me by the hand and led me out of the
|
|
house. In the fore part of the house she saw the tables set with
|
|
the cups of guests who had been feasting with my father, as being in
|
|
attendance on him; these were now all gone to a meeting of the public
|
|
assembly, so she snatched up three cups and carried them off in the
|
|
bosom of her dress, while I followed her, for I knew no better. The sun
|
|
was now set, and darkness was over all the land, so we hurried on as
|
|
fast as we could till we reached the harbour, where the Phoenician ship
|
|
was lying. When they had got on board they sailed their ways over the
|
|
sea, taking us with them, and Jove sent then a fair wind; six days did
|
|
we sail both night and day, but on the seventh day Diana struck the
|
|
woman and she fell heavily down into the ship's hold as though she were
|
|
a sea gull alighting on the water; so they threw her overboard to the
|
|
seals and fishes, and I was left all sorrowful and alone. Presently the
|
|
winds and waves took the ship to Ithaca, where Laertes gave sundry of
|
|
his chattels for me, and thus it was that ever I came to set eyes upon
|
|
this country."
|
|
Ulysses answered, "Eumaeus, I have heard the story of your misfortunes
|
|
with the most lively interest and pity, but Jove has given you good as
|
|
well as evil, for in spite of everything you have a good master, who
|
|
sees that you always have enough to eat and drink; and you lead a good
|
|
life, whereas I am still going about begging my way from city to city."
|
|
Thus did they converse, and they had only a very little time left for
|
|
sleep, for it was soon daybreak. In the mean time Telemachus and his
|
|
crew were nearing land, so they loosed the sails, took down the mast,
|
|
and rowed the ship into the harbour. {136} They cast out their mooring
|
|
stones and made fast the hawsers; they then got out upon the sea shore,
|
|
mixed their wine, and got dinner ready. As soon as they had had enough
|
|
to eat and drink Telemachus said, "Take the ship on to the town, but
|
|
leave me here, for I want to look after the herdsmen on one of my farms.
|
|
In the evening, when I have seen all I want, I will come down to the
|
|
city, and to-morrow morning in return for your trouble I will give you
|
|
all a good dinner with meat and wine." {137}
|
|
Then Theoclymenus said, "And what, my dear young friend, is to become of
|
|
me? To whose house, among all your chief men, am I to repair? or shall I
|
|
go straight to your own house and to your mother?"
|
|
"At any other time," replied Telemachus, "I should have bidden you go to
|
|
my own house, for you would find no want of hospitality; at the present
|
|
moment, however, you would not be comfortable there, for I shall be
|
|
away, and my mother will not see you; she does not often show herself
|
|
even to the suitors, but sits at her loom weaving in an upper chamber,
|
|
out of their way; but I can tell you a man whose house you can go
|
|
to--I mean Eurymachus the son of Polybus, who is held in the highest
|
|
estimation by every one in Ithaca. He is much the best man and the most
|
|
persistent wooer, of all those who are paying court to my mother and
|
|
trying to take Ulysses' place. Jove, however, in heaven alone knows
|
|
whether or no they will come to a bad end before the marriage takes
|
|
place."
|
|
As he was speaking a bird flew by upon his right hand--a hawk, Apollo's
|
|
messenger. It held a dove in its talons, and the feathers, as it tore
|
|
them off, {138} fell to the ground midway between Telemachus and the
|
|
ship. On this Theoclymenus called him apart and caught him by the hand.
|
|
"Telemachus," said he, "that bird did not fly on your right hand without
|
|
having been sent there by some god. As soon as I saw it I knew it was an
|
|
omen; it means that you will remain powerful and that there will be no
|
|
house in Ithaca more royal than your own."
|
|
"I wish it may prove so," answered Telemachus. "If it does, I will show
|
|
you so much good will and give you so many presents that all who meet
|
|
you will congratulate you."
|
|
Then he said to his friend Piraeus, "Piraeus, son of Clytius, you have
|
|
throughout shown yourself the most willing to serve me of all those who
|
|
have accompanied me to Pylos; I wish you would take this stranger to
|
|
your own house and entertain him hospitably till I can come for him."
|
|
And Piraeus answered, "Telemachus, you may stay away as long as you
|
|
please, but I will look after him for you, and he shall find no lack of
|
|
hospitality."
|
|
As he spoke he went on board, and bade the others do so also and loose
|
|
the hawsers, so they took their places in the ship. But Telemachus
|
|
bound on his sandals, and took a long and doughty spear with a head
|
|
of sharpened bronze from the deck of the ship. Then they loosed the
|
|
hawsers, thrust the ship off from land, and made on towards the city
|
|
as they had been told to do, while Telemachus strode on as fast as he
|
|
could, till he reached the homestead where his countless herds of
|
|
swine were feeding, and where dwelt the excellent swineherd, who was so
|
|
devoted a servant to his master.
|
|
Book XVI
|
|
ULYSSES REVEALS HIMSELF TO TELEMACHUS.
|
|
Meanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd had lit a fire in the hut and were
|
|
were getting breakfast ready at daybreak, for they had sent the men out
|
|
with the pigs. When Telemachus came up, the dogs did not bark but fawned
|
|
upon him, so Ulysses, hearing the sound of feet and noticing that the
|
|
dogs did not bark, said to Eumaeus:
|
|
"Eumaeus, I hear footsteps; I suppose one of your men or some one of
|
|
your acquaintance is coming here, for the dogs are fawning upon him and
|
|
not barking."
|
|
The words were hardly out of his mouth before his son stood at the door.
|
|
Eumaeus sprang to his feet, and the bowls in which he was mixing wine
|
|
fell from his hands, as he made towards his master. He kissed his head
|
|
and both his beautiful eyes, and wept for joy. A father could not be
|
|
more delighted at the return of an only son, the child of his old age,
|
|
after ten years' absence in a foreign country and after having gone
|
|
through much hardship. He embraced him, kissed him all over as though he
|
|
had come back from the dead, and spoke fondly to him saying:
|
|
"So you are come, Telemachus, light of my eyes that you are. When I
|
|
heard you had gone to Pylos I made sure I was never going to see you any
|
|
more. Come in, my dear child, and sit down, that I may have a good look
|
|
at you now you are home again; it is not very often you come into
|
|
the country to see us herdsmen; you stick pretty close to the town
|
|
generally. I suppose you think it better to keep an eye on what the
|
|
suitors are doing."
|
|
"So be it, old friend," answered Telemachus, "but I am come now because
|
|
I want to see you, and to learn whether my mother is still at her
|
|
old home or whether some one else has married her, so that the bed of
|
|
Ulysses is without bedding and covered with cobwebs."
|
|
"She is still at the house," replied Eumaeus, "grieving and breaking her
|
|
heart, and doing nothing but weep, both night and day continually."
|
|
As he spoke he took Telemachus' spear, whereon he crossed the stone
|
|
threshold and came inside. Ulysses rose from his seat to give him place
|
|
as he entered, but Telemachus checked him; "Sit down, stranger," said
|
|
he, "I can easily find another seat, and there is one here who will lay
|
|
it for me."
|
|
Ulysses went back to his own place, and Eumaeus strewed some green
|
|
brushwood on the floor and threw a sheepskin on top of it for Telemachus
|
|
to sit upon. Then the swineherd brought them platters of cold meat, the
|
|
remains from what they had eaten the day before, and he filled the bread
|
|
baskets with bread as fast as he could. He mixed wine also in bowls of
|
|
ivy-wood, and took his seat facing Ulysses. Then they laid their hands
|
|
on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had
|
|
enough to eat and drink Telemachus said to Eumaeus, "Old friend, where
|
|
does this stranger come from? How did his crew bring him to Ithaca, and
|
|
who were they?--for assuredly he did not come here by land."
|
|
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "My son, I will tell you
|
|
the real truth. He says he is a Cretan, and that he has been a great
|
|
traveller. At this moment he is running away from a Thesprotian ship,
|
|
and has taken refuge at my station, so I will put him into your hands.
|
|
Do whatever you like with him, only remember that he is your suppliant."
|
|
"I am very much distressed," said Telemachus, "by what you have just
|
|
told me. How can I take this stranger into my house? I am as yet young,
|
|
and am not strong enough to hold my own if any man attacks me. My mother
|
|
cannot make up her mind whether to stay where she is and look after the
|
|
house out of respect for public opinion and the memory of her husband,
|
|
or whether the time is now come for her to take the best man of those
|
|
who are wooing her, and the one who will make her the most advantageous
|
|
offer; still, as the stranger has come to your station I will find him
|
|
a cloak and shirt of good wear, with a sword and sandals, and will send
|
|
him wherever he wants to go. Or if you like you can keep him here at the
|
|
station, and I will send him clothes and food that he may be no burden
|
|
on you and on your men; but I will not have him go near the suitors,
|
|
for they are very insolent, and are sure to ill treat him in a way that
|
|
would greatly grieve me; no matter how valiant a man may be he can do
|
|
nothing against numbers, for they will be too strong for him."
|
|
Then Ulysses said, "Sir, it is right that I should say something myself.
|
|
I am much shocked about what you have said about the insolent way in
|
|
which the suitors are behaving in despite of such a man as you are. Tell
|
|
me, do you submit to such treatment tamely, or has some god set your
|
|
people against you? May you not complain of your brothers--for it is to
|
|
these that a man may look for support, however great his quarrel may be?
|
|
I wish I were as young as you are and in my present mind; if I were son
|
|
to Ulysses, or, indeed, Ulysses himself, I would rather some one came
|
|
and cut my head off, but I would go to the house and be the bane of
|
|
every one of these men. {139} If they were too many for me--I being
|
|
single-handed--I would rather die fighting in my own house than see such
|
|
disgraceful sights day after day, strangers grossly maltreated, and men
|
|
dragging the women servants about the house in an unseemly way, wine
|
|
drawn recklessly, and bread wasted all to no purpose for an end that
|
|
shall never be accomplished."
|
|
And Telemachus answered, "I will tell you truly everything. There is no
|
|
enmity between me and my people, nor can I complain of brothers, to whom
|
|
a man may look for support however great his quarrel may be. Jove has
|
|
made us a race of only sons. Laertes was the only son of Arceisius, and
|
|
Ulysses only son of Laertes. I am myself the only son of Ulysses who
|
|
left me behind him when he went away, so that I have never been of any
|
|
use to him. Hence it comes that my house is in the hands of numberless
|
|
marauders; for the chiefs from all the neighbouring islands, Dulichium,
|
|
Same, Zacynthus, as also all the principal men of Ithaca itself, are
|
|
eating up my house under the pretext of paying court to my mother, who
|
|
will neither say point blank that she will not marry, nor yet bring
|
|
matters to an end, so they are making havoc of my estate, and before
|
|
long will do so with myself into the bargain. The issue, however,
|
|
rests with heaven. But do you, old friend Eumaeus, go at once and tell
|
|
Penelope that I am safe and have returned from Pylos. Tell it to herself
|
|
alone, and then come back here without letting any one else know, for
|
|
there are many who are plotting mischief against me."
|
|
"I understand and heed you," replied Eumaeus; "you need instruct me no
|
|
further, only as I am going that way say whether I had not better let
|
|
poor Laertes know that you are returned. He used to superintend the work
|
|
on his farm in spite of his bitter sorrow about Ulysses, and he would
|
|
eat and drink at will along with his servants; but they tell me that
|
|
from the day on which you set out for Pylos he has neither eaten nor
|
|
drunk as he ought to do, nor does he look after his farm, but sits
|
|
weeping and wasting the flesh from off his bones."
|
|
"More's the pity," answered Telemachus, "I am sorry for him, but we must
|
|
leave him to himself just now. If people could have everything their own
|
|
way, the first thing I should choose would be the return of my father;
|
|
but go, and give your message; then make haste back again, and do not
|
|
turn out of your way to tell Laertes. Tell my mother to send one of her
|
|
women secretly with the news at once, and let him hear it from her."
|
|
Thus did he urge the swineherd; Eumaeus, therefore, took his sandals,
|
|
bound them to his feet, and started for the town. Minerva watched
|
|
him well off the station, and then came up to it in the form of a
|
|
woman--fair, stately, and wise. She stood against the side of the entry,
|
|
and revealed herself to Ulysses, but Telemachus could not see her, and
|
|
knew not that she was there, for the gods do not let themselves be seen
|
|
by everybody. Ulysses saw her, and so did the dogs, for they did not
|
|
bark, but went scared and whining off to the other side of the yards.
|
|
She nodded her head and motioned to Ulysses with her eyebrows; whereon
|
|
he left the hut and stood before her outside the main wall of the yards.
|
|
Then she said to him:
|
|
"Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, it is now time for you to tell your
|
|
son: do not keep him in the dark any longer, but lay your plans for the
|
|
destruction of the suitors, and then make for the town. I will not be
|
|
long in joining you, for I too am eager for the fray."
|
|
As she spoke she touched him with her golden wand. First she threw
|
|
a fair clean shirt and cloak about his shoulders; then she made him
|
|
younger and of more imposing presence; she gave him back his colour,
|
|
filled out his cheeks, and let his beard become dark again. Then she
|
|
went away and Ulysses came back inside the hut. His son was astounded
|
|
when he saw him, and turned his eyes away for fear he might be looking
|
|
upon a god.
|
|
"Stranger," said he, "how suddenly you have changed from what you were
|
|
a moment or two ago. You are dressed differently and your colour is not
|
|
the same. Are you some one or other of the gods that live in heaven? If
|
|
so, be propitious to me till I can make you due sacrifice and offerings
|
|
of wrought gold. Have mercy upon me."
|
|
And Ulysses said, "I am no god, why should you take me for one? I am
|
|
your father, on whose account you grieve and suffer so much at the hands
|
|
of lawless men."
|
|
As he spoke he kissed his son, and a tear fell from his cheek on to the
|
|
ground, for he had restrained all tears till now. But Telemachus could
|
|
not yet believe that it was his father, and said:
|
|
"You are not my father, but some god is flattering me with vain hopes
|
|
that I may grieve the more hereafter; no mortal man could of himself
|
|
contrive to do as you have been doing, and make yourself old and young
|
|
at a moment's notice, unless a god were with him. A second ago you
|
|
were old and all in rags, and now you are like some god come down from
|
|
heaven."
|
|
Ulysses answered, "Telemachus, you ought not to be so immeasurably
|
|
astonished at my being really here. There is no other Ulysses who will
|
|
come hereafter. Such as I am, it is I, who after long wandering and much
|
|
hardship have got home in the twentieth year to my own country. What you
|
|
wonder at is the work of the redoubtable goddess Minerva, who does with
|
|
me whatever she will, for she can do what she pleases. At one moment she
|
|
makes me like a beggar, and the next I am a young man with good clothes
|
|
on my back; it is an easy matter for the gods who live in heaven to make
|
|
any man look either rich or poor."
|
|
As he spoke he sat down, and Telemachus threw his arms about his father
|
|
and wept. They were both so much moved that they cried aloud like eagles
|
|
or vultures with crooked talons that have been robbed of their half
|
|
fledged young by peasants. Thus piteously did they weep, and the sun
|
|
would have gone down upon their mourning if Telemachus had not suddenly
|
|
said, "In what ship, my dear father, did your crew bring you to Ithaca?
|
|
Of what nation did they declare themselves to be--for you cannot have
|
|
come by land?"
|
|
"I will tell you the truth, my son," replied Ulysses. "It was the
|
|
Phaeacians who brought me here. They are great sailors, and are in the
|
|
habit of giving escorts to any one who reaches their coasts. They took
|
|
me over the sea while I was fast asleep, and landed me in Ithaca, after
|
|
giving me many presents in bronze, gold, and raiment. These things by
|
|
heaven's mercy are lying concealed in a cave, and I am now come here on
|
|
the suggestion of Minerva that we may consult about killing our enemies.
|
|
First, therefore, give me a list of the suitors, with their number, that
|
|
I may learn who, and how many, they are. I can then turn the matter
|
|
over in my mind, and see whether we two can fight the whole body of them
|
|
ourselves, or whether we must find others to help us."
|
|
To this Telemachus answered, "Father, I have always heard of your renown
|
|
both in the field and in council, but the task you talk of is a very
|
|
great one: I am awed at the mere thought of it; two men cannot stand
|
|
against many and brave ones. There are not ten suitors only, nor twice
|
|
ten, but ten many times over; you shall learn their number at once.
|
|
There are fifty-two chosen youths from Dulichium, and they have six
|
|
servants; from Same there are twenty-four; twenty young Achaeans from
|
|
Zacynthus, and twelve from Ithaca itself, all of them well born. They
|
|
have with them a servant Medon, a bard, and two men who can carve at
|
|
table. If we face such numbers as this, you may have bitter cause to rue
|
|
your coming, and your revenge. See whether you cannot think of some one
|
|
who would be willing to come and help us."
|
|
"Listen to me," replied Ulysses, "and think whether Minerva and her
|
|
father Jove may seem sufficient, or whether I am to try and find some
|
|
one else as well."
|
|
"Those whom you have named," answered Telemachus, "are a couple of good
|
|
allies, for though they dwell high up among the clouds they have power
|
|
over both gods and men."
|
|
"These two," continued Ulysses, "will not keep long out of the fray,
|
|
when the suitors and we join fight in my house. Now, therefore, return
|
|
home early to-morrow morning, and go about among the suitors as
|
|
before. Later on the swineherd will bring me to the city disguised as a
|
|
miserable old beggar. If you see them ill treating me, steel your heart
|
|
against my sufferings; even though they drag me feet foremost out of
|
|
the house, or throw things at me, look on and do nothing beyond gently
|
|
trying to make them behave more reasonably; but they will not listen to
|
|
you, for the day of their reckoning is at hand. Furthermore I say, and
|
|
lay my saying to your heart; when Minerva shall put it in my mind, I
|
|
will nod my head to you, and on seeing me do this you must collect all
|
|
the armour that is in the house and hide it in the strong store room.
|
|
Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you are removing it; say
|
|
that you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke, inasmuch as it
|
|
is no longer what it was when Ulysses went away, but has become soiled
|
|
and begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly that you are
|
|
afraid Jove may set them on to quarrel over their wine, and that they
|
|
may do each other some harm which may disgrace both banquet and wooing,
|
|
for the sight of arms sometimes tempts people to use them. But leave
|
|
a sword and a spear apiece for yourself and me, and a couple of oxhide
|
|
shields so that we can snatch them up at any moment; Jove and Minerva
|
|
will then soon quiet these people. There is also another matter; if you
|
|
are indeed my son and my blood runs in your veins, let no one know that
|
|
Ulysses is within the house--neither Laertes, nor yet the swineherd, nor
|
|
any of the servants, nor even Penelope herself. Let you and me exploit
|
|
the women alone, and let us also make trial of some other of the men
|
|
servants, to see who is on our side and whose hand is against us."
|
|
"Father," replied Telemachus, "you will come to know me by and by, and
|
|
when you do you will find that I can keep your counsel. I do not think,
|
|
however, the plan you propose will turn out well for either of us. Think
|
|
it over. It will take us a long time to go the round of the farms and
|
|
exploit the men, and all the time the suitors will be wasting your
|
|
estate with impunity and without compunction. Prove the women by all
|
|
means, to see who are disloyal and who guiltless, but I am not in favour
|
|
of going round and trying the men. We can attend to that later on, if
|
|
you really have some sign from Jove that he will support you."
|
|
Thus did they converse, and meanwhile the ship which had brought
|
|
Telemachus and his crew from Pylos had reached the town of Ithaca. When
|
|
they had come inside the harbour they drew the ship on to the land;
|
|
their servants came and took their armour from them, and they left all
|
|
the presents at the house of Clytius. Then they sent a servant to tell
|
|
Penelope that Telemachus had gone into the country, but had sent the
|
|
ship to the town to prevent her from being alarmed and made unhappy.
|
|
This servant and Eumaeus happened to meet when they were both on the
|
|
same errand of going to tell Penelope. When they reached the House, the
|
|
servant stood up and said to the queen in the presence of the waiting
|
|
women, "Your son, Madam, is now returned from Pylos"; but Eumaeus went
|
|
close up to Penelope, and said privately all that her son had bidden
|
|
him tell her. When he had given his message he left the house with its
|
|
outbuildings and went back to his pigs again.
|
|
The suitors were surprised and angry at what had happened, so they
|
|
went outside the great wall that ran round the outer court, and held
|
|
a council near the main entrance. Eurymachus, son of Polybus, was the
|
|
first to speak.
|
|
"My friends," said he, "this voyage of Telemachus's is a very serious
|
|
matter; we had made sure that it would come to nothing. Now, however,
|
|
let us draw a ship into the water, and get a crew together to send after
|
|
the others and tell them to come back as fast as they can."
|
|
He had hardly done speaking when Amphinomus turned in his place and
|
|
saw the ship inside the harbour, with the crew lowering her sails, and
|
|
putting by their oars; so he laughed, and said to the others, "We need
|
|
not send them any message, for they are here. Some god must have told
|
|
them, or else they saw the ship go by, and could not overtake her."
|
|
On this they rose and went to the water side. The crew then drew the
|
|
ship on shore; their servants took their armour from them, and they went
|
|
up in a body to the place of assembly, but they would not let any one
|
|
old or young sit along with them, and Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spoke
|
|
first.
|
|
"Good heavens," said he, "see how the gods have saved this man from
|
|
destruction. We kept a succession of scouts upon the headlands all day
|
|
long, and when the sun was down we never went on shore to sleep, but
|
|
waited in the ship all night till morning in the hope of capturing and
|
|
killing him; but some god has conveyed him home in spite of us. Let
|
|
us consider how we can make an end of him. He must not escape us; our
|
|
affair is never likely to come off while he is alive, for he is very
|
|
shrewd, and public feeling is by no means all on our side. We must make
|
|
haste before he can call the Achaeans in assembly; he will lose no time
|
|
in doing so, for he will be furious with us, and will tell all the world
|
|
how we plotted to kill him, but failed to take him. The people will not
|
|
like this when they come to know of it; we must see that they do us no
|
|
hurt, nor drive us from our own country into exile. Let us try and
|
|
lay hold of him either on his farm away from the town, or on the road
|
|
hither. Then we can divide up his property amongst us, and let his
|
|
mother and the man who marries her have the house. If this does not
|
|
please you, and you wish Telemachus to live on and hold his father's
|
|
property, then we must not gather here and eat up his goods in this way,
|
|
but must make our offers to Penelope each from his own house, and she
|
|
can marry the man who will give the most for her, and whose lot it is to
|
|
win her."
|
|
They all held their peace until Amphinomus rose to speak. He was the son
|
|
of Nisus, who was son to king Aretias, and he was foremost among all the
|
|
suitors from the wheat-growing and well grassed island of Dulichium; his
|
|
conversation, moreover, was more agreeable to Penelope than that of any
|
|
of the other suitors, for he was a man of good natural disposition. "My
|
|
friends," said he, speaking to them plainly and in all honestly, "I am
|
|
not in favour of killing Telemachus. It is a heinous thing to kill one
|
|
who is of noble blood. Let us first take counsel of the gods, and if the
|
|
oracles of Jove advise it, I will both help to kill him myself, and will
|
|
urge everyone else to do so; but if they dissuade us, I would have you
|
|
hold your hands."
|
|
Thus did he speak, and his words pleased them well, so they rose
|
|
forthwith and went to the house of Ulysses, where they took their
|
|
accustomed seats.
|
|
Then Penelope resolved that she would show herself to the suitors. She
|
|
knew of the plot against Telemachus, for the servant Medon had overheard
|
|
their counsels and had told her; she went down therefore to the court
|
|
attended by her maidens, and when she reached the suitors she stood by
|
|
one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister holding a
|
|
veil before her face, and rebuked Antinous saying:
|
|
"Antinous, insolent and wicked schemer, they say you are the best
|
|
speaker and counsellor of any man your own age in Ithaca, but you are
|
|
nothing of the kind. Madman, why should you try to compass the death
|
|
of Telemachus, and take no heed of suppliants, whose witness is Jove
|
|
himself? It is not right for you to plot thus against one another.
|
|
Do you not remember how your father fled to this house in fear of the
|
|
people, who were enraged against him for having gone with some Taphian
|
|
pirates and plundered the Thesprotians who were at peace with us? They
|
|
wanted to tear him in pieces and eat up everything he had, but Ulysses
|
|
stayed their hands although they were infuriated, and now you devour his
|
|
property without paying for it, and break my heart by wooing his wife
|
|
and trying to kill his son. Leave off doing so, and stop the others
|
|
also."
|
|
To this Eurymachus son of Polybus answered, "Take heart, Queen Penelope
|
|
daughter of Icarius, and do not trouble yourself about these matters.
|
|
The man is not yet born, nor never will be, who shall lay hands upon
|
|
your son Telemachus, while I yet live to look upon the face of the
|
|
earth. I say--and it shall surely be--that my spear shall be reddened
|
|
with his blood; for many a time has Ulysses taken me on his knees,
|
|
held wine up to my lips to drink, and put pieces of meat into my hands.
|
|
Therefore Telemachus is much the dearest friend I have, and has nothing
|
|
to fear from the hands of us suitors. Of course, if death comes to him
|
|
from the gods, he cannot escape it." He said this to quiet her, but in
|
|
reality he was plotting against Telemachus.
|
|
Then Penelope went upstairs again and mourned her husband till Minerva
|
|
shed sleep over her eyes. In the evening Eumaeus got back to Ulysses
|
|
and his son, who had just sacrificed a young pig of a year old and were
|
|
helping one another to get supper ready; Minerva therefore came up to
|
|
Ulysses, turned him into an old man with a stroke of her wand, and
|
|
clad him in his old clothes again, for fear that the swineherd might
|
|
recognise him and not keep the secret, but go and tell Penelope.
|
|
Telemachus was the first to speak. "So you have got back, Eumaeus," said
|
|
he. "What is the news of the town? Have the suitors returned, or are
|
|
they still waiting over yonder, to take me on my way home?"
|
|
"I did not think of asking about that," replied Eumaeus, "when I was in
|
|
the town. I thought I would give my message and come back as soon as I
|
|
could. I met a man sent by those who had gone with you to Pylos, and he
|
|
was the first to tell the news to your mother, but I can say what I saw
|
|
with my own eyes; I had just got on to the crest of the hill of Mercury
|
|
above the town when I saw a ship coming into harbour with a number of
|
|
men in her. They had many shields and spears, and I thought it was the
|
|
suitors, but I cannot be sure."
|
|
On hearing this Telemachus smiled to his father, but so that Eumaeus
|
|
could not see him.
|
|
Then, when they had finished their work and the meal was ready, they ate
|
|
it, and every man had his full share so that all were satisfied. As
|
|
soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, they laid down to rest and
|
|
enjoyed the boon of sleep.
|
|
Book XVII
|
|
TELEMACHUS AND HIS MOTHER MEET--ULYSSES AND EUMAEUS COME DOWN TO THE
|
|
TOWN, AND ULYSSES IS INSULTED BY MELANTHIUS--HE IS RECOGNISED BY THE
|
|
DOG ARGOS--HE IS INSULTED AND PRESENTLY STRUCK BY ANTINOUS WITH A
|
|
STOOL--PENELOPE DESIRES THAT HE SHALL BE SENT TO HER.
|
|
When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Telemachus
|
|
bound on his sandals and took a strong spear that suited his hands, for
|
|
he wanted to go into the city. "Old friend," said he to the swineherd,
|
|
"I will now go to the town and show myself to my mother, for she will
|
|
never leave off grieving till she has seen me. As for this unfortunate
|
|
stranger, take him to the town and let him beg there of any one who will
|
|
give him a drink and a piece of bread. I have trouble enough of my own,
|
|
and cannot be burdened with other people. If this makes him angry so
|
|
much the worse for him, but I like to say what I mean."
|
|
Then Ulysses said, "Sir, I do not want to stay here; a beggar can always
|
|
do better in town than country, for any one who likes can give him
|
|
something. I am too old to care about remaining here at the beck and
|
|
call of a master. Therefore let this man do as you have just told him,
|
|
and take me to the town as soon as I have had a warm by the fire, and
|
|
the day has got a little heat in it. My clothes are wretchedly thin, and
|
|
this frosty morning I shall be perished with cold, for you say the city
|
|
is some way off."
|
|
On this Telemachus strode off through the yards, brooding his revenge
|
|
upon the suitors. When he reached home he stood his spear against a
|
|
bearing-post of the cloister, crossed the stone floor of the cloister
|
|
itself, and went inside.
|
|
Nurse Euryclea saw him long before any one else did. She was putting the
|
|
fleeces on to the seats, and she burst out crying as she ran up to him;
|
|
all the other maids came up too, and covered his head and shoulders with
|
|
their kisses. Penelope came out of her room looking like Diana or Venus,
|
|
and wept as she flung her arms about her son. She kissed his forehead
|
|
and both his beautiful eyes, "Light of my eyes," she cried as she spoke
|
|
fondly to him, "so you are come home again; I made sure I was never
|
|
going to see you any more. To think of your having gone off to Pylos
|
|
without saying anything about it or obtaining my consent. But come, tell
|
|
me what you saw."
|
|
"Do not scold me, mother," answered Telemachus, "nor vex me, seeing what
|
|
a narrow escape I have had, but wash your face, change your dress, go
|
|
upstairs with your maids, and promise full and sufficient hecatombs to
|
|
all the gods if Jove will only grant us our revenge upon the suitors. I
|
|
must now go to the place of assembly to invite a stranger who has come
|
|
back with me from Pylos. I sent him on with my crew, and told Piraeus to
|
|
take him home and look after him till I could come for him myself."
|
|
She heeded her son's words, washed her face, changed her dress, and
|
|
vowed full and sufficient hecatombs to all the gods if they would only
|
|
vouchsafe her revenge upon the suitors.
|
|
Telemachus went through, and out of, the cloisters spear in hand--not
|
|
alone, for his two fleet dogs went with him. Minerva endowed him with a
|
|
presence of such divine comeliness that all marvelled at him as he went
|
|
by, and the suitors gathered round him with fair words in their mouths
|
|
and malice in their hearts; but he avoided them, and went to sit with
|
|
Mentor, Antiphus, and Halitherses, old friends of his father's house,
|
|
and they made him tell them all that had happened to him. Then Piraeus
|
|
came up with Theoclymenus, whom he had escorted through the town to the
|
|
place of assembly, whereon Telemachus at once joined them. Piraeus was
|
|
first to speak: "Telemachus," said he, "I wish you would send some of
|
|
your women to my house to take away the presents Menelaus gave you."
|
|
"We do not know, Piraeus," answered Telemachus, "what may happen. If
|
|
the suitors kill me in my own house and divide my property among them,
|
|
I would rather you had the presents than that any of those people should
|
|
get hold of them. If on the other hand I managed to kill them, I shall
|
|
be much obliged if you will kindly bring me my presents."
|
|
With these words he took Theoclymenus to his own house. When they got
|
|
there they laid their cloaks on the benches and seats, went into the
|
|
baths, and washed themselves. When the maids had washed and anointed
|
|
them, and had given them cloaks and shirts, they took their seats at
|
|
table. A maid servant then brought them water in a beautiful golden
|
|
ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands;
|
|
and she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them
|
|
bread and offered them many good things of what there was in the
|
|
house. Opposite them sat Penelope, reclining on a couch by one of the
|
|
bearing-posts of the cloister, and spinning. Then they laid their hands
|
|
on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had
|
|
enough to eat and drink Penelope said:
|
|
"Telemachus, I shall go upstairs and lie down on that sad couch, which I
|
|
have not ceased to water with my tears, from the day Ulysses set out for
|
|
Troy with the sons of Atreus. You failed, however, to make it clear to
|
|
me before the suitors came back to the house, whether or no you had been
|
|
able to hear anything about the return of your father."
|
|
"I will tell you then truth," replied her son. "We went to Pylos and saw
|
|
Nestor, who took me to his house and treated me as hospitably as though
|
|
I were a son of his own who had just returned after a long absence; so
|
|
also did his sons; but he said he had not heard a word from any
|
|
human being about Ulysses, whether he was alive or dead. He sent me,
|
|
therefore, with a chariot and horses to Menelaus. There I saw Helen, for
|
|
whose sake so many, both Argives and Trojans, were in heaven's wisdom
|
|
doomed to suffer. Menelaus asked me what it was that had brought me to
|
|
Lacedaemon, and I told him the whole truth, whereon he said, 'So, then,
|
|
these cowards would usurp a brave man's bed? A hind might as well lay
|
|
her new-born young in the lair of a lion, and then go off to feed in the
|
|
forest or in some grassy dell. The lion, when he comes back to his lair,
|
|
will make short work with the pair of them, and so will Ulysses with
|
|
these suitors. By father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, if Ulysses is still
|
|
the man that he was when he wrestled with Philomeleides in Lesbos, and
|
|
threw him so heavily that all the Greeks cheered him--if he is still
|
|
such, and were to come near these suitors, they would have a short
|
|
shrift and a sorry wedding. As regards your question, however, I will
|
|
not prevaricate nor deceive you, but what the old man of the sea told
|
|
me, so much will I tell you in full. He said he could see Ulysses on
|
|
an island sorrowing bitterly in the house of the nymph Calypso, who was
|
|
keeping him prisoner, and he could not reach his home, for he had no
|
|
ships nor sailors to take him over the sea.' This was what Menelaus told
|
|
me, and when I had heard his story I came away; the gods then gave me a
|
|
fair wind and soon brought me safe home again."
|
|
With these words he moved the heart of Penelope. Then Theoclymenus said
|
|
to her:
|
|
"Madam, wife of Ulysses, Telemachus does not understand these things;
|
|
listen therefore to me, for I can divine them surely, and will hide
|
|
nothing from you. May Jove the king of heaven be my witness, and the
|
|
rites of hospitality, with that hearth of Ulysses to which I now come,
|
|
that Ulysses himself is even now in Ithaca, and, either going about the
|
|
country or staying in one place, is enquiring into all these evil deeds
|
|
and preparing a day of reckoning for the suitors. I saw an omen when I
|
|
was on the ship which meant this, and I told Telemachus about it."
|
|
"May it be even so," answered Penelope; "if your words come true, you
|
|
shall have such gifts and such good will from me that all who see you
|
|
shall congratulate you."
|
|
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs, or
|
|
aiming with spears at a mark on the levelled ground in front of the
|
|
house, and behaving with all their old insolence. But when it was now
|
|
time for dinner, and the flock of sheep and goats had come into the town
|
|
from all the country round, {140} with their shepherds as usual, then
|
|
Medon, who was their favourite servant, and who waited upon them at
|
|
table, said, "Now then, my young masters, you have had enough sport, so
|
|
come inside that we may get dinner ready. Dinner is not a bad thing, at
|
|
dinner time."
|
|
They left their sports as he told them, and when they were within the
|
|
house, they laid their cloaks on the benches and seats inside, and then
|
|
sacrificed some sheep, goats, pigs, and a heifer, all of them fat and
|
|
well grown. {141} Thus they made ready for their meal. In the meantime
|
|
Ulysses and the swineherd were about starting for the town, and the
|
|
swineherd said, "Stranger, I suppose you still want to go to town
|
|
to-day, as my master said you were to do; for my own part I should have
|
|
liked you to stay here as a station hand, but I must do as my master
|
|
tells me, or he will scold me later on, and a scolding from one's master
|
|
is a very serious thing. Let us then be off, for it is now broad day; it
|
|
will be night again directly and then you will find it colder." {142}
|
|
"I know, and understand you," replied Ulysses; "you need say no more.
|
|
Let us be going, but if you have a stick ready cut, let me have it to
|
|
walk with, for you say the road is a very rough one."
|
|
As he spoke he threw his shabby old tattered wallet over his shoulders,
|
|
by the cord from which it hung, and Eumaeus gave him a stick to his
|
|
liking. The two then started, leaving the station in charge of the dogs
|
|
and herdsmen who remained behind; the swineherd led the way and his
|
|
master followed after, looking like some broken down old tramp as he
|
|
leaned upon his staff, and his clothes were all in rags. When they had
|
|
got over the rough steep ground and were nearing the city, they reached
|
|
the fountain from which the citizens drew their water. This had
|
|
been made by Ithacus, Neritus, and Polyctor. There was a grove of
|
|
water-loving poplars planted in a circle all round it, and the clear
|
|
cold water came down to it from a rock high up, {143} while above the
|
|
fountain there was an altar to the nymphs, at which all wayfarers used
|
|
to sacrifice. Here Melanthius son of Dolius overtook them as he was
|
|
driving down some goats, the best in his flock, for the suitors' dinner,
|
|
and there were two shepherds with him. When he saw Eumaeus and Ulysses
|
|
he reviled them with outrageous and unseemly language, which made
|
|
Ulysses very angry.
|
|
"There you go," cried he, "and a precious pair you are. See how heaven
|
|
brings birds of the same feather to one another. Where, pray, master
|
|
swineherd, are you taking this poor miserable object? It would make any
|
|
one sick to see such a creature at table. A fellow like this never won a
|
|
prize for anything in his life, but will go about rubbing his shoulders
|
|
against every man's door post, and begging, not for swords and cauldrons
|
|
{144} like a man, but only for a few scraps not worth begging for. If
|
|
you would give him to me for a hand on my station, he might do to clean
|
|
out the folds, or bring a bit of sweet feed to the kids, and he could
|
|
fatten his thighs as much as he pleased on whey; but he has taken to bad
|
|
ways and will not go about any kind of work; he will do nothing but
|
|
beg victuals all the town over, to feed his insatiable belly. I say,
|
|
therefore--and it shall surely be--if he goes near Ulysses' house he
|
|
will get his head broken by the stools they will fling at him, till they
|
|
turn him out."
|
|
On this, as he passed, he gave Ulysses a kick on the hip out of pure
|
|
wantonness, but Ulysses stood firm, and did not budge from the path. For
|
|
a moment he doubted whether or no to fly at Melanthius and kill him
|
|
with his staff, or fling him to the ground and beat his brains out;
|
|
he resolved, however, to endure it and keep himself in check, but the
|
|
swineherd looked straight at Melanthius and rebuked him, lifting up his
|
|
hands and praying to heaven as he did so.
|
|
"Fountain nymphs," he cried, "children of Jove, if ever Ulysses burned
|
|
you thigh bones covered with fat whether of lambs or kids, grant my
|
|
prayer that heaven may send him home. He would soon put an end to
|
|
the swaggering threats with which such men as you go about insulting
|
|
people--gadding all over the town while your flocks are going to ruin
|
|
through bad shepherding."
|
|
Then Melanthius the goatherd answered, "You ill conditioned cur, what
|
|
are you talking about? Some day or other I will put you on board ship
|
|
and take you to a foreign country, where I can sell you and pocket the
|
|
money you will fetch. I wish I were as sure that Apollo would strike
|
|
Telemachus dead this very day, or that the suitors would kill him, as I
|
|
am that Ulysses will never come home again."
|
|
With this he left them to come on at their leisure, while he went
|
|
quickly forward and soon reached the house of his master. When he
|
|
got there he went in and took his seat among the suitors opposite
|
|
Eurymachus, who liked him better than any of the others. The servants
|
|
brought him a portion of meat, and an upper woman servant set bread
|
|
before him that he might eat. Presently Ulysses and the swineherd came
|
|
up to the house and stood by it, amid a sound of music, for Phemius was
|
|
just beginning to sing to the suitors. Then Ulysses took hold of the
|
|
swineherd's hand, and said:
|
|
"Eumaeus, this house of Ulysses is a very fine place. No matter how far
|
|
you go, you will find few like it. One building keeps following on after
|
|
another. The outer court has a wall with battlements all round it; the
|
|
doors are double folding, and of good workmanship; it would be a hard
|
|
matter to take it by force of arms. I perceive, too, that there are many
|
|
people banqueting within it, for there is a smell of roast meat, and
|
|
I hear a sound of music, which the gods have made to go along with
|
|
feasting."
|
|
Then Eumaeus said, "You have perceived aright, as indeed you generally
|
|
do; but let us think what will be our best course. Will you go inside
|
|
first and join the suitors, leaving me here behind you, or will you wait
|
|
here and let me go in first? But do not wait long, or some one may see
|
|
you loitering about outside, and throw something at you. Consider this
|
|
matter I pray you."
|
|
And Ulysses answered, "I understand and heed. Go in first and leave
|
|
me here where I am. I am quite used to being beaten and having things
|
|
thrown at me. I have been so much buffeted about in war and by sea that
|
|
I am case-hardened, and this too may go with the rest. But a man cannot
|
|
hide away the cravings of a hungry belly; this is an enemy which gives
|
|
much trouble to all men; it is because of this that ships are fitted out
|
|
to sail the seas, and to make war upon other people."
|
|
As they were thus talking, a dog that had been lying asleep raised his
|
|
head and pricked up his ears. This was Argos, whom Ulysses had bred
|
|
before setting out for Troy, but he had never had any work out of him.
|
|
In the old days he used to be taken out by the young men when they went
|
|
hunting wild goats, or deer, or hares, but now that his master was gone
|
|
he was lying neglected on the heaps of mule and cow dung that lay in
|
|
front of the stable doors till the men should come and draw it away
|
|
to manure the great close; and he was full of fleas. As soon as he saw
|
|
Ulysses standing there, he dropped his ears and wagged his tail, but he
|
|
could not get close up to his master. When Ulysses saw the dog on the
|
|
other side of the yard, he dashed a tear from his eyes without Eumaeus
|
|
seeing it, and said:
|
|
"Eumaeus, what a noble hound that is over yonder on the manure heap: his
|
|
build is splendid; is he as fine a fellow as he looks, or is he only one
|
|
of those dogs that come begging about a table, and are kept merely for
|
|
show?"
|
|
"This hound," answered Eumaeus, "belonged to him who has died in a far
|
|
country. If he were what he was when Ulysses left for Troy, he would
|
|
soon show you what he could do. There was not a wild beast in the forest
|
|
that could get away from him when he was once on its tracks. But now he
|
|
has fallen on evil times, for his master is dead and gone, and the women
|
|
take no care of him. Servants never do their work when their master's
|
|
hand is no longer over them, for Jove takes half the goodness out of a
|
|
man when he makes a slave of him."
|
|
As he spoke he went inside the buildings to the cloister where the
|
|
suitors were, but Argos died as soon as he had recognised his master.
|
|
Telemachus saw Eumaeus long before any one else did, and beckoned him
|
|
to come and sit beside him; so he looked about and saw a seat lying
|
|
near where the carver sat serving out their portions to the suitors; he
|
|
picked it up, brought it to Telemachus's table, and sat down opposite
|
|
him. Then the servant brought him his portion, and gave him bread from
|
|
the bread-basket.
|
|
Immediately afterwards Ulysses came inside, looking like a poor
|
|
miserable old beggar, leaning on his staff and with his clothes all in
|
|
rags. He sat down upon the threshold of ash-wood just inside the doors
|
|
leading from the outer to the inner court, and against a bearing-post of
|
|
cypress-wood which the carpenter had skilfully planed, and had made to
|
|
join truly with rule and line. Telemachus took a whole loaf from the
|
|
bread-basket, with as much meat as he could hold in his two hands, and
|
|
said to Eumaeus, "Take this to the stranger, and tell him to go
|
|
the round of the suitors, and beg from them; a beggar must not be
|
|
shamefaced."
|
|
So Eumaeus went up to him and said, "Stranger, Telemachus sends you
|
|
this, and says you are to go the round of the suitors begging, for
|
|
beggars must not be shamefaced."
|
|
Ulysses answered, "May King Jove grant all happiness to Telemachus, and
|
|
fulfil the desire of his heart."
|
|
Then with both hands he took what Telemachus had sent him, and laid it
|
|
on the dirty old wallet at his feet. He went on eating it while the
|
|
bard was singing, and had just finished his dinner as he left off.
|
|
The suitors applauded the bard, whereon Minerva went up to Ulysses and
|
|
prompted him to beg pieces of bread from each one of the suitors, that
|
|
he might see what kind of people they were, and tell the good from the
|
|
bad; but come what might she was not going to save a single one of them.
|
|
Ulysses, therefore, went on his round, going from left to right, and
|
|
stretched out his hands to beg as though he were a real beggar. Some of
|
|
them pitied him, and were curious about him, asking one another who
|
|
he was and where he came from; whereon the goatherd Melanthius said,
|
|
"Suitors of my noble mistress, I can tell you something about him, for I
|
|
have seen him before. The swineherd brought him here, but I know nothing
|
|
about the man himself, nor where he comes from."
|
|
On this Antinous began to abuse the swineherd. "You precious idiot," he
|
|
cried, "what have you brought this man to town for? Have we not tramps
|
|
and beggars enough already to pester us as we sit at meat? Do you think
|
|
it a small thing that such people gather here to waste your master's
|
|
property--and must you needs bring this man as well?"
|
|
And Eumaeus answered, "Antinous, your birth is good but your words evil.
|
|
It was no doing of mine that he came here. Who is likely to invite a
|
|
stranger from a foreign country, unless it be one of those who can do
|
|
public service as a seer, a healer of hurts, a carpenter, or a bard who
|
|
can charm us with his singing? Such men are welcome all the world over,
|
|
but no one is likely to ask a beggar who will only worry him. You are
|
|
always harder on Ulysses' servants than any of the other suitors
|
|
are, and above all on me, but I do not care so long as Telemachus and
|
|
Penelope are alive and here."
|
|
But Telemachus said, "Hush, do not answer him; Antinous has the
|
|
bitterest tongue of all the suitors, and he makes the others worse."
|
|
Then turning to Antinous he said, "Antinous, you take as much care of
|
|
my interests as though I were your son. Why should you want to see this
|
|
stranger turned out of the house? Heaven forbid; take something and give
|
|
it him yourself; I do not grudge it; I bid you take it. Never mind my
|
|
mother, nor any of the other servants in the house; but I know you will
|
|
not do what I say, for you are more fond of eating things yourself than
|
|
of giving them to other people."
|
|
"What do you mean, Telemachus," replied Antinous, "by this swaggering
|
|
talk? If all the suitors were to give him as much as I will, he would
|
|
not come here again for another three months."
|
|
As he spoke he drew the stool on which he rested his dainty feet from
|
|
under the table, and made as though he would throw it at Ulysses, but
|
|
the other suitors all gave him something, and filled his wallet with
|
|
bread and meat; he was about, therefore, to go back to the threshold and
|
|
eat what the suitors had given him, but he first went up to Antinous and
|
|
said:
|
|
"Sir, give me something; you are not, surely, the poorest man here; you
|
|
seem to be a chief, foremost among them all; therefore you should be the
|
|
better giver, and I will tell far and wide of your bounty. I too was a
|
|
rich man once, and had a fine house of my own; in those days I gave to
|
|
many a tramp such as I now am, no matter who he might be nor what he
|
|
wanted. I had any number of servants, and all the other things which
|
|
people have who live well and are accounted wealthy, but it pleased Jove
|
|
to take all away from me. He sent me with a band of roving robbers to
|
|
Egypt; it was a long voyage and I was undone by it. I stationed my ships
|
|
in the river Aegyptus, and bade my men stay by them and keep guard
|
|
over them, while I sent out scouts to reconnoitre from every point of
|
|
vantage.
|
|
"But the men disobeyed my orders, took to their own devices, and ravaged
|
|
the land of the Egyptians, killing the men, and taking their wives and
|
|
children captives. The alarm was soon carried to the city, and when they
|
|
heard the war-cry, the people came out at daybreak till the plain was
|
|
filled with soldiers horse and foot, and with the gleam of armour. Then
|
|
Jove spread panic among my men, and they would no longer face the enemy,
|
|
for they found themselves surrounded. The Egyptians killed many of us,
|
|
and took the rest alive to do forced labour for them; as for myself,
|
|
they gave me to a friend who met them, to take to Cyprus, Dmetor by
|
|
name, son of Iasus, who was a great man in Cyprus. Thence I am come
|
|
hither in a state of great misery."
|
|
Then Antinous said, "What god can have sent such a pestilence to plague
|
|
us during our dinner? Get out, into the open part of the court, {145}
|
|
or I will give you Egypt and Cyprus over again for your insolence and
|
|
importunity; you have begged of all the others, and they have given you
|
|
lavishly, for they have abundance round them, and it is easy to be free
|
|
with other people's property when there is plenty of it."
|
|
On this Ulysses began to move off, and said, "Your looks, my fine sir,
|
|
are better than your breeding; if you were in your own house you would
|
|
not spare a poor man so much as a pinch of salt, for though you are in
|
|
another man's, and surrounded with abundance, you cannot find it in you
|
|
to give him even a piece of bread."
|
|
This made Antinous very angry, and he scowled at him saying, "You shall
|
|
pay for this before you get clear of the court." With these words he
|
|
threw a footstool at him, and hit him on the right shoulder blade near
|
|
the top of his back. Ulysses stood firm as a rock and the blow did not
|
|
even stagger him, but he shook his head in silence as he brooded on his
|
|
revenge. Then he went back to the threshold and sat down there, laying
|
|
his well filled wallet at his feet.
|
|
"Listen to me," he cried, "you suitors of Queen Penelope, that I may
|
|
speak even as I am minded. A man knows neither ache nor pain if he gets
|
|
hit while fighting for his money, or for his sheep or his cattle; and
|
|
even so Antinous has hit me while in the service of my miserable belly,
|
|
which is always getting people into trouble. Still, if the poor have
|
|
gods and avenging deities at all, I pray them that Antinous may come to
|
|
a bad end before his marriage."
|
|
"Sit where you are, and eat your victuals in silence, or be off
|
|
elsewhere," shouted Antinous. "If you say more I will have you dragged
|
|
hand and foot through the courts, and the servants shall flay you
|
|
alive."
|
|
The other suitors were much displeased at this, and one of the young men
|
|
said, "Antinous, you did ill in striking that poor wretch of a tramp: it
|
|
will be worse for you if he should turn out to be some god--and we know
|
|
the gods go about disguised in all sorts of ways as people from foreign
|
|
countries, and travel about the world to see who do amiss and who
|
|
righteously." {146}
|
|
Thus said the suitors, but Antinous paid them no heed. Meanwhile
|
|
Telemachus was furious about the blow that had been given to his father,
|
|
and though no tear fell from him, he shook his head in silence and
|
|
brooded on his revenge.
|
|
Now when Penelope heard that the beggar had been struck in the
|
|
banqueting-cloister, she said before her maids, "Would that Apollo would
|
|
so strike you, Antinous," and her waiting woman Eurynome answered, "If
|
|
our prayers were answered not one of the suitors would ever again see
|
|
the sun rise." Then Penelope said, "Nurse, {147} I hate every single one
|
|
of them, for they mean nothing but mischief, but I hate Antinous like
|
|
the darkness of death itself. A poor unfortunate tramp has come begging
|
|
about the house for sheer want. Every one else has given him
|
|
something to put in his wallet, but Antinous has hit him on the right
|
|
shoulder-blade with a footstool."
|
|
Thus did she talk with her maids as she sat in her own room, and in
|
|
the meantime Ulysses was getting his dinner. Then she called for the
|
|
swineherd and said, "Eumaeus, go and tell the stranger to come here, I
|
|
want to see him and ask him some questions. He seems to have travelled
|
|
much, and he may have seen or heard something of my unhappy husband."
|
|
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "If these Achaeans, Madam,
|
|
would only keep quiet, you would be charmed with the history of his
|
|
adventures. I had him three days and three nights with me in my hut,
|
|
which was the first place he reached after running away from his ship,
|
|
and he has not yet completed the story of his misfortunes. If he had
|
|
been the most heaven-taught minstrel in the whole world, on whose lips
|
|
all hearers hang entranced, I could not have been more charmed as I
|
|
sat in my hut and listened to him. He says there is an old friendship
|
|
between his house and that of Ulysses, and that he comes from Crete
|
|
where the descendants of Minos live, after having been driven hither and
|
|
thither by every kind of misfortune; he also declares that he has heard
|
|
of Ulysses as being alive and near at hand among the Thesprotians, and
|
|
that he is bringing great wealth home with him."
|
|
"Call him here, then," said Penelope, "that I too may hear his story.
|
|
As for the suitors, let them take their pleasure indoors or out as they
|
|
will, for they have nothing to fret about. Their corn and wine remain
|
|
unwasted in their houses with none but servants to consume them, while
|
|
they keep hanging about our house day after day sacrificing our oxen,
|
|
sheep, and fat goats for their banquets, and never giving so much as
|
|
a thought to the quantity of wine they drink. No estate can stand such
|
|
recklessness, for we have now no Ulysses to protect us. If he were to
|
|
come again, he and his son would soon have their revenge."
|
|
As she spoke Telemachus sneezed so loudly that the whole house resounded
|
|
with it. Penelope laughed when she heard this, and said to Eumaeus, "Go
|
|
and call the stranger; did you not hear how my son sneezed just as I
|
|
was speaking? This can only mean that all the suitors are going to be
|
|
killed, and that not one of them shall escape. Furthermore I say, and
|
|
lay my saying to your heart: if I am satisfied that the stranger is
|
|
speaking the truth I shall give him a shirt and cloak of good wear."
|
|
When Eumaeus heard this he went straight to Ulysses and said, "Father
|
|
stranger, my mistress Penelope, mother of Telemachus, has sent for you;
|
|
she is in great grief, but she wishes to hear anything you can tell her
|
|
about her husband, and if she is satisfied that you are speaking the
|
|
truth, she will give you a shirt and cloak, which are the very things
|
|
that you are most in want of. As for bread, you can get enough of that
|
|
to fill your belly, by begging about the town, and letting those give
|
|
that will."
|
|
"I will tell Penelope," answered Ulysses, "nothing but what is strictly
|
|
true. I know all about her husband, and have been partner with him
|
|
in affliction, but I am afraid of passing through this crowd of cruel
|
|
suitors, for their pride and insolence reach heaven. Just now, moreover,
|
|
as I was going about the house without doing any harm, a man gave me
|
|
a blow that hurt me very much, but neither Telemachus nor any one else
|
|
defended me. Tell Penelope, therefore, to be patient and wait till
|
|
sundown. Let her give me a seat close up to the fire, for my clothes are
|
|
worn very thin--you know they are, for you have seen them ever since I
|
|
first asked you to help me--she can then ask me about the return of her
|
|
husband."
|
|
The swineherd went back when he heard this, and Penelope said as she saw
|
|
him cross the threshold, "Why do you not bring him here, Eumaeus? Is he
|
|
afraid that some one will ill-treat him, or is he shy of coming inside
|
|
the house at all? Beggars should not be shamefaced."
|
|
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "The stranger is quite
|
|
reasonable. He is avoiding the suitors, and is only doing what any one
|
|
else would do. He asks you to wait till sundown, and it will be much
|
|
better, madam, that you should have him all to yourself, when you can
|
|
hear him and talk to him as you will."
|
|
"The man is no fool," answered Penelope, "it would very likely be as
|
|
he says, for there are no such abominable people in the whole world as
|
|
these men are."
|
|
When she had done speaking Eumaeus went back to the suitors, for he had
|
|
explained everything. Then he went up to Telemachus and said in his ear
|
|
so that none could overhear him, "My dear sir, I will now go back to the
|
|
pigs, to see after your property and my own business. You will look to
|
|
what is going on here, but above all be careful to keep out of danger,
|
|
for there are many who bear you ill will. May Jove bring them to a bad
|
|
end before they do us a mischief."
|
|
"Very well," replied Telemachus, "go home when you have had your dinner,
|
|
and in the morning come here with the victims we are to sacrifice for
|
|
the day. Leave the rest to heaven and me."
|
|
On this Eumaeus took his seat again, and when he had finished his dinner
|
|
he left the courts and the cloister with the men at table, and went
|
|
back to his pigs. As for the suitors, they presently began to amuse
|
|
themselves with singing and dancing, for it was now getting on towards
|
|
evening.
|
|
Book XVIII
|
|
THE FIGHT WITH IRUS--ULYSSES WARNS AMPHINOMUS--PENELOPE GETS PRESENTS
|
|
FROM THE SUITORS--THE BRAZIERS--ULYSSES REBUKES EURYMACHUS.
|
|
Now there came a certain common tramp who used to go begging all over
|
|
the city of Ithaca, and was notorious as an incorrigible glutton and
|
|
drunkard. This man had no strength nor stay in him, but he was a great
|
|
hulking fellow to look at; his real name, the one his mother gave him,
|
|
was Arnaeus, but the young men of the place called him Irus, {148}
|
|
because he used to run errands for any one who would send him. As soon
|
|
as he came he began to insult Ulysses, and to try and drive him out of
|
|
his own house.
|
|
"Be off, old man," he cried, "from the doorway, or you shall be dragged
|
|
out neck and heels. Do you not see that they are all giving me the wink,
|
|
and wanting me to turn you out by force, only I do not like to do so?
|
|
Get up then, and go of yourself, or we shall come to blows."
|
|
Ulysses frowned on him and said, "My friend, I do you no manner of harm;
|
|
people give you a great deal, but I am not jealous. There is room enough
|
|
in this doorway for the pair of us, and you need not grudge me things
|
|
that are not yours to give. You seem to be just such another tramp as
|
|
myself, but perhaps the gods will give us better luck by and by. Do not,
|
|
however, talk too much about fighting or you will incense me, and old
|
|
though I am, I shall cover your mouth and chest with blood. I shall
|
|
have more peace tomorrow if I do, for you will not come to the house of
|
|
Ulysses any more."
|
|
Irus was very angry and answered, "You filthy glutton, you run on
|
|
trippingly like an old fish-fag. I have a good mind to lay both hands
|
|
about you, and knock your teeth out of your head like so many boar's
|
|
tusks. Get ready, therefore, and let these people here stand by and
|
|
look on. You will never be able to fight one who is so much younger than
|
|
yourself."
|
|
Thus roundly did they rate one another on the smooth pavement in front
|
|
of the doorway, {149} and when Antinous saw what was going on he laughed
|
|
heartily and said to the others, "This is the finest sport that you
|
|
ever saw; heaven never yet sent anything like it into this house. The
|
|
stranger and Irus have quarreled and are going to fight, let us set them
|
|
on to do so at once."
|
|
The suitors all came up laughing, and gathered round the two ragged
|
|
tramps. "Listen to me," said Antinous, "there are some goats' paunches
|
|
down at the fire, which we have filled with blood and fat, and set aside
|
|
for supper; he who is victorious and proves himself to be the better
|
|
man shall have his pick of the lot; he shall be free of our table and we
|
|
will not allow any other beggar about the house at all."
|
|
The others all agreed, but Ulysses, to throw them off the scent, said,
|
|
"Sirs, an old man like myself, worn out with suffering, cannot hold his
|
|
own against a young one; but my irrepressible belly urges me on, though
|
|
I know it can only end in my getting a drubbing. You must swear, however
|
|
that none of you will give me a foul blow to favour Irus and secure him
|
|
the victory."
|
|
They swore as he told them, and when they had completed their oath
|
|
Telemachus put in a word and said, "Stranger, if you have a mind to
|
|
settle with this fellow, you need not be afraid of any one here. Whoever
|
|
strikes you will have to fight more than one. I am host, and the other
|
|
chiefs, Antinous and Eurymachus, both of them men of understanding, are
|
|
of the same mind as I am."
|
|
Every one assented, and Ulysses girded his old rags about his loins,
|
|
thus baring his stalwart thighs, his broad chest and shoulders, and his
|
|
mighty arms; but Minerva came up to him and made his limbs even stronger
|
|
still. The suitors were beyond measure astonished, and one would turn
|
|
towards his neighbour saying, "The stranger has brought such a thigh out
|
|
of his old rags that there will soon be nothing left of Irus."
|
|
Irus began to be very uneasy as he heard them, but the servants girded
|
|
him by force, and brought him [into the open part of the court] in such
|
|
a fright that his limbs were all of a tremble. Antinous scolded him and
|
|
said, "You swaggering bully, you ought never to have been born at all if
|
|
you are afraid of such an old broken down creature as this tramp is.
|
|
I say, therefore--and it shall surely be--if he beats you and proves
|
|
himself the better man, I shall pack you off on board ship to the
|
|
mainland and send you to king Echetus, who kills every one that comes
|
|
near him. He will cut off your nose and ears, and draw out your entrails
|
|
for the dogs to eat."
|
|
This frightened Irus still more, but they brought him into the middle
|
|
of the court, and the two men raised their hands to fight. Then Ulysses
|
|
considered whether he should let drive so hard at him as to make an end
|
|
of him then and there, or whether he should give him a lighter blow that
|
|
should only knock him down; in the end he deemed it best to give the
|
|
lighter blow for fear the Achaeans should begin to suspect who he was.
|
|
Then they began to fight, and Irus hit Ulysses on the right shoulder;
|
|
but Ulysses gave Irus a blow on the neck under the ear that broke in the
|
|
bones of his skull, and the blood came gushing out of his mouth; he fell
|
|
groaning in the dust, gnashing his teeth and kicking on the ground, but
|
|
the suitors threw up their hands and nearly died of laughter, as Ulysses
|
|
caught hold of him by the foot and dragged him into the outer court as
|
|
far as the gate-house. There he propped him up against the wall and put
|
|
his staff in his hands. "Sit here," said he, "and keep the dogs and pigs
|
|
off; you are a pitiful creature, and if you try to make yourself king of
|
|
the beggars any more you shall fare still worse."
|
|
Then he threw his dirty old wallet, all tattered and torn over his
|
|
shoulder with the cord by which it hung, and went back to sit down upon
|
|
the threshold; but the suitors went within the cloisters, laughing and
|
|
saluting him, "May Jove, and all the other gods," said they, "grant
|
|
you whatever you want for having put an end to the importunity of this
|
|
insatiable tramp. We will take him over to the mainland presently, to
|
|
king Echetus, who kills every one that comes near him."
|
|
Ulysses hailed this as of good omen, and Antinous set a great goat's
|
|
paunch before him filled with blood and fat. Amphinomus took two loaves
|
|
out of the bread-basket and brought them to him, pledging him as he
|
|
did so in a golden goblet of wine. "Good luck to you," he said, "father
|
|
stranger, you are very badly off at present, but I hope you will have
|
|
better times by and by."
|
|
To this Ulysses answered, "Amphinomus, you seem to be a man of good
|
|
understanding, as indeed you may well be, seeing whose son you are. I
|
|
have heard your father well spoken of; he is Nisus of Dulichium, a man
|
|
both brave and wealthy. They tell me you are his son, and you appear to
|
|
be a considerable person; listen, therefore, and take heed to what I am
|
|
saying. Man is the vainest of all creatures that have their being upon
|
|
earth. As long as heaven vouchsafes him health and strength, he thinks
|
|
that he shall come to no harm hereafter, and even when the blessed gods
|
|
bring sorrow upon him, he bears it as he needs must, and makes the best
|
|
of it; for God almighty gives men their daily minds day by day. I know
|
|
all about it, for I was a rich man once, and did much wrong in the
|
|
stubbornness of my pride, and in the confidence that my father and my
|
|
brothers would support me; therefore let a man fear God in all things
|
|
always, and take the good that heaven may see fit to send him without
|
|
vain glory. Consider the infamy of what these suitors are doing; see how
|
|
they are wasting the estate, and doing dishonour to the wife, of one who
|
|
is certain to return some day, and that, too, not long hence. Nay, he
|
|
will be here soon; may heaven send you home quietly first that you may
|
|
not meet with him in the day of his coming, for once he is here the
|
|
suitors and he will not part bloodlessly."
|
|
With these words he made a drink-offering, and when he had drunk he put
|
|
the gold cup again into the hands of Amphinomus, who walked away serious
|
|
and bowing his head, for he foreboded evil. But even so he did not
|
|
escape destruction, for Minerva had doomed him to fall by the hand of
|
|
Telemachus. So he took his seat again at the place from which he had
|
|
come.
|
|
Then Minerva put it into the mind of Penelope to show herself to the
|
|
suitors, that she might make them still more enamoured of her, and win
|
|
still further honour from her son and husband. So she feigned a mocking
|
|
laugh and said, "Eurynome, I have changed my mind, and have a fancy to
|
|
show myself to the suitors although I detest them. I should like also to
|
|
give my son a hint that he had better not have anything more to do with
|
|
them. They speak fairly enough but they mean mischief."
|
|
"My dear child," answered Eurynome, "all that you have said is true,
|
|
go and tell your son about it, but first wash yourself and anoint your
|
|
face. Do not go about with your cheeks all covered with tears; it is not
|
|
right that you should grieve so incessantly; for Telemachus, whom you
|
|
always prayed that you might live to see with a beard, is already grown
|
|
up."
|
|
"I know, Eurynome," replied Penelope, "that you mean well, but do not
|
|
try and persuade me to wash and to anoint myself, for heaven robbed
|
|
me of all my beauty on the day my husband sailed; nevertheless, tell
|
|
Autonoe and Hippodamia that I want them. They must be with me when I
|
|
am in the cloister; I am not going among the men alone; it would not be
|
|
proper for me to do so."
|
|
On this the old woman {150} went out of the room to bid the maids go to
|
|
their mistress. In the meantime Minerva bethought her of another matter,
|
|
and sent Penelope off into a sweet slumber; so she lay down on her couch
|
|
and her limbs became heavy with sleep. Then the goddess shed grace and
|
|
beauty over her that all the Achaeans might admire her. She washed
|
|
her face with the ambrosial loveliness that Venus wears when she goes
|
|
dancing with the Graces; she made her taller and of a more commanding
|
|
figure, while as for her complexion it was whiter than sawn ivory. When
|
|
Minerva had done all this she went away, whereon the maids came in from
|
|
the women's room and woke Penelope with the sound of their talking.
|
|
"What an exquisitely delicious sleep I have been having," said she, as
|
|
she passed her hands over her face, "in spite of all my misery. I wish
|
|
Diana would let me die so sweetly now at this very moment, that I
|
|
might no longer waste in despair for the loss of my dear husband, who
|
|
possessed every kind of good quality and was the most distinguished man
|
|
among the Achaeans."
|
|
With these words she came down from her upper room, not alone but
|
|
attended by two of her maidens, and when she reached the suitors she
|
|
stood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister,
|
|
holding a veil before her face, and with a staid maid servant on either
|
|
side of her. As they beheld her the suitors were so overpowered and
|
|
became so desperately enamoured of her, that each one prayed he might
|
|
win her for his own bed fellow.
|
|
"Telemachus," said she, addressing her son, "I fear you are no longer so
|
|
discreet and well conducted as you used to be. When you were younger you
|
|
had a greater sense of propriety; now, however, that you are grown up,
|
|
though a stranger to look at you would take you for the son of a well to
|
|
do father as far as size and good looks go, your conduct is by no means
|
|
what it should be. What is all this disturbance that has been going on,
|
|
and how came you to allow a stranger to be so disgracefully ill-treated?
|
|
What would have happened if he had suffered serious injury while a
|
|
suppliant in our house? Surely this would have been very discreditable
|
|
to you."
|
|
"I am not surprised, my dear mother, at your displeasure," replied
|
|
Telemachus, "I understand all about it and know when things are not
|
|
as they should be, which I could not do when I was younger; I cannot,
|
|
however, behave with perfect propriety at all times. First one and then
|
|
another of these wicked people here keeps driving me out of my mind,
|
|
and I have no one to stand by me. After all, however, this fight between
|
|
Irus and the stranger did not turn out as the suitors meant it to do,
|
|
for the stranger got the best of it. I wish Father Jove, Minerva, and
|
|
Apollo would break the neck of every one of these wooers of yours, some
|
|
inside the house and some out; and I wish they might all be as limp as
|
|
Irus is over yonder in the gate of the outer court. See how he nods
|
|
his head like a drunken man; he has had such a thrashing that he cannot
|
|
stand on his feet nor get back to his home, wherever that may be, for he
|
|
has no strength left in him."
|
|
Thus did they converse. Eurymachus then came up and said, "Queen
|
|
Penelope, daughter of Icarius, if all the Achaeans in Iasian Argos could
|
|
see you at this moment, you would have still more suitors in your house
|
|
by tomorrow morning, for you are the most admirable woman in the whole
|
|
world both as regards personal beauty and strength of understanding."
|
|
To this Penelope replied, "Eurymachus, heaven robbed me of all my beauty
|
|
whether of face or figure when the Argives set sail for Troy and my dear
|
|
husband with them. If he were to return and look after my affairs, I
|
|
should both be more respected and show a better presence to the world.
|
|
As it is, I am oppressed with care, and with the afflictions which
|
|
heaven has seen fit to heap upon me. My husband foresaw it all, and when
|
|
he was leaving home he took my right wrist in his hand--'Wife,' he said,
|
|
'we shall not all of us come safe home from Troy, for the Trojans fight
|
|
well both with bow and spear. They are excellent also at fighting from
|
|
chariots, and nothing decides the issue of a fight sooner than this. I
|
|
know not, therefore, whether heaven will send me back to you, or whether
|
|
I may not fall over there at Troy. In the meantime do you look after
|
|
things here. Take care of my father and mother as at present, and even
|
|
more so during my absence, but when you see our son growing a beard,
|
|
then marry whom you will, and leave this your present home.' This is
|
|
what he said and now it is all coming true. A night will come when I
|
|
shall have to yield myself to a marriage which I detest, for Jove has
|
|
taken from me all hope of happiness. This further grief, moreover, cuts
|
|
me to the very heart. You suitors are not wooing me after the custom of
|
|
my country. When men are courting a woman who they think will be a good
|
|
wife to them and who is of noble birth, and when they are each trying
|
|
to win her for himself, they usually bring oxen and sheep to feast the
|
|
friends of the lady, and they make her magnificent presents, instead of
|
|
eating up other people's property without paying for it."
|
|
This was what she said, and Ulysses was glad when he heard her trying
|
|
to get presents out of the suitors, and flattering them with fair words
|
|
which he knew she did not mean.
|
|
Then Antinous said, "Queen Penelope, daughter of Icarius, take as many
|
|
presents as you please from any one who will give them to you; it is not
|
|
well to refuse a present; but we will not go about our business nor stir
|
|
from where we are, till you have married the best man among us whoever
|
|
he may be."
|
|
The others applauded what Antinous had said, and each one sent his
|
|
servant to bring his present. Antinous's man returned with a large and
|
|
lovely dress most exquisitely embroidered. It had twelve beautifully
|
|
made brooch pins of pure gold with which to fasten it. Eurymachus
|
|
immediately brought her a magnificent chain of gold and amber beads that
|
|
gleamed like sunlight. Eurydamas's two men returned with some
|
|
earrings fashioned into three brilliant pendants which glistened most
|
|
beautifully; while king Pisander son of Polyctor gave her a necklace
|
|
of the rarest workmanship, and every one else brought her a beautiful
|
|
present of some kind.
|
|
Then the queen went back to her room upstairs, and her maids brought the
|
|
presents after her. Meanwhile the suitors took to singing and dancing,
|
|
and stayed till evening came. They danced and sang till it grew dark;
|
|
they then brought in three braziers {151} to give light, and piled them
|
|
up with chopped firewood very old and dry, and they lit torches from
|
|
them, which the maids held up turn and turn about. Then Ulysses said:
|
|
"Maids, servants of Ulysses who has so long been absent, go to the queen
|
|
inside the house; sit with her and amuse her, or spin, and pick wool.
|
|
I will hold the light for all these people. They may stay till morning,
|
|
but shall not beat me, for I can stand a great deal."
|
|
The maids looked at one another and laughed, while pretty Melantho began
|
|
to gibe at him contemptuously. She was daughter to Dolius, but had been
|
|
brought up by Penelope, who used to give her toys to play with, and
|
|
looked after her when she was a child; but in spite of all this she
|
|
showed no consideration for the sorrows of her mistress, and used to
|
|
misconduct herself with Eurymachus, with whom she was in love.
|
|
"Poor wretch," said she, "are you gone clean out of your mind? Go and
|
|
sleep in some smithy, or place of public gossips, instead of chattering
|
|
here. Are you not ashamed of opening your mouth before your betters--so
|
|
many of them too? Has the wine been getting into your head, or do you
|
|
always babble in this way? You seem to have lost your wits because you
|
|
beat the tramp Irus; take care that a better man than he does not come
|
|
and cudgel you about the head till he pack you bleeding out of the
|
|
house."
|
|
"Vixen," replied Ulysses, scowling at her, "I will go and tell
|
|
Telemachus what you have been saying, and he will have you torn limb
|
|
from limb."
|
|
With these words he scared the women, and they went off into the body
|
|
of the house. They trembled all over, for they thought he would do as he
|
|
said. But Ulysses took his stand near the burning braziers, holding up
|
|
torches and looking at the people--brooding the while on things that
|
|
should surely come to pass.
|
|
But Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment cease their
|
|
insolence, for she wanted Ulysses to become even more bitter against
|
|
them; she therefore set Eurymachus son of Polybus on to gibe at him,
|
|
which made the others laugh. "Listen to me," said he, "you suitors of
|
|
Queen Penelope, that I may speak even as I am minded. It is not for
|
|
nothing that this man has come to the house of Ulysses; I believe the
|
|
light has not been coming from the torches, but from his own head--for
|
|
his hair is all gone, every bit of it."
|
|
Then turning to Ulysses he said, "Stranger, will you work as a servant,
|
|
if I send you to the wolds and see that you are well paid? Can you build
|
|
a stone fence, or plant trees? I will have you fed all the year round,
|
|
and will find you in shoes and clothing. Will you go, then? Not you; for
|
|
you have got into bad ways, and do not want to work; you had rather fill
|
|
your belly by going round the country begging."
|
|
"Eurymachus," answered Ulysses, "if you and I were to work one against
|
|
the other in early summer when the days are at their longest--give me a
|
|
good scythe, and take another yourself, and let us see which will last
|
|
the longer or mow the stronger, from dawn till dark when the mowing
|
|
grass is about. Or if you will plough against me, let us each take a
|
|
yoke of tawny oxen, well-mated and of great strength and endurance:
|
|
turn me into a four acre field, and see whether you or I can drive the
|
|
straighter furrow. If, again, war were to break out this day, give me
|
|
a shield, a couple of spears and a helmet fitting well upon my
|
|
temples--you would find me foremost in the fray, and would cease your
|
|
gibes about my belly. You are insolent and cruel, and think yourself
|
|
a great man because you live in a little world, and that a bad one. If
|
|
Ulysses comes to his own again, the doors of his house are wide, but you
|
|
will find them narrow when you try to fly through them."
|
|
Eurymachus was furious at all this. He scowled at him and cried, "You
|
|
wretch, I will soon pay you out for daring to say such things to me, and
|
|
in public too. Has the wine been getting into your head or do you always
|
|
babble in this way? You seem to have lost your wits because you beat the
|
|
tramp Irus." With this he caught hold of a footstool, but Ulysses sought
|
|
protection at the knees of Amphinomus of Dulichium, for he was afraid.
|
|
The stool hit the cupbearer on his right hand and knocked him down: the
|
|
man fell with a cry flat on his back, and his wine-jug fell ringing to
|
|
the ground. The suitors in the covered cloister were now in an uproar,
|
|
and one would turn towards his neighbour, saying, "I wish the stranger
|
|
had gone somewhere else, bad luck to him, for all the trouble he gives
|
|
us. We cannot permit such disturbance about a beggar; if such ill
|
|
counsels are to prevail we shall have no more pleasure at our banquet."
|
|
On this Telemachus came forward and said, "Sirs, are you mad? Can you
|
|
not carry your meat and your liquor decently? Some evil spirit has
|
|
possessed you. I do not wish to drive any of you away, but you have had
|
|
your suppers, and the sooner you all go home to bed the better."
|
|
The suitors bit their lips and marvelled at the boldness of his speech;
|
|
but Amphinomus the son of Nisus, who was son to Aretias, said, "Do not
|
|
let us take offence; it is reasonable, so let us make no answer. Neither
|
|
let us do violence to the stranger nor to any of Ulysses' servants. Let
|
|
the cupbearer go round with the drink-offerings, that we may make them
|
|
and go home to our rest. As for the stranger, let us leave Telemachus to
|
|
deal with him, for it is to his house that he has come."
|
|
Thus did he speak, and his saying pleased them well, so Mulius of
|
|
Dulichium, servant to Amphinomus, mixed them a bowl of wine and water
|
|
and handed it round to each of them man by man, whereon they made their
|
|
drink-offerings to the blessed gods: Then, when they had made their
|
|
drink-offerings and had drunk each one as he was minded, they took their
|
|
several ways each of them to his own abode.
|
|
Book XIX
|
|
TELEMACHUS AND ULYSSES REMOVE THE ARMOUR--ULYSSES INTERVIEWS
|
|
PENELOPE--EURYCLEA WASHES HIS FEET AND RECOGNISES THE SCAR ON HIS
|
|
LEG--PENELOPE TELLS HER DREAM TO ULYSSES.
|
|
Ulysses was left in the cloister, pondering on the means whereby with
|
|
Minerva's help he might be able to kill the suitors. Presently he said
|
|
to Telemachus, "Telemachus, we must get the armour together and take
|
|
it down inside. Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you have
|
|
removed it. Say that you have taken it to be out of the way of the
|
|
smoke, inasmuch as it is no longer what it was when Ulysses went
|
|
away, but has become soiled and begrimed with soot. Add to this more
|
|
particularly that you are afraid Jove may set them on to quarrel over
|
|
their wine, and that they may do each other some harm which may disgrace
|
|
both banquet and wooing, for the sight of arms sometimes tempts people
|
|
to use them."
|
|
Telemachus approved of what his father had said, so he called nurse
|
|
Euryclea and said, "Nurse, shut the women up in their room, while I take
|
|
the armour that my father left behind him down into the store room. No
|
|
one looks after it now my father is gone, and it has got all smirched
|
|
with soot during my own boyhood. I want to take it down where the smoke
|
|
cannot reach it."
|
|
"I wish, child," answered Euryclea, "that you would take the management
|
|
of the house into your own hands altogether, and look after all the
|
|
property yourself. But who is to go with you and light you to the
|
|
store-room? The maids would have done so, but you would not let them."
|
|
"The stranger," said Telemachus, "shall show me a light; when people eat
|
|
my bread they must earn it, no matter where they come from."
|
|
Euryclea did as she was told, and bolted the women inside their room.
|
|
Then Ulysses and his son made all haste to take the helmets, shields,
|
|
and spears inside; and Minerva went before them with a gold lamp in her
|
|
hand that shed a soft and brilliant radiance, whereon Telemachus said,
|
|
"Father, my eyes behold a great marvel: the walls, with the rafters,
|
|
crossbeams, and the supports on which they rest are all aglow as with
|
|
a flaming fire. Surely there is some god here who has come down from
|
|
heaven."
|
|
"Hush," answered Ulysses, "hold your peace and ask no questions, for
|
|
this is the manner of the gods. Get you to your bed, and leave me here
|
|
to talk with your mother and the maids. Your mother in her grief will
|
|
ask me all sorts of questions."
|
|
On this Telemachus went by torch-light to the other side of the inner
|
|
court, to the room in which he always slept. There he lay in his bed
|
|
till morning, while Ulysses was left in the cloister pondering on the
|
|
means whereby with Minerva's help he might be able to kill the suitors.
|
|
Then Penelope came down from her room looking like Venus or Diana, and
|
|
they set her a seat inlaid with scrolls of silver and ivory near the
|
|
fire in her accustomed place. It had been made by Icmalius and had a
|
|
footstool all in one piece with the seat itself; and it was covered with
|
|
a thick fleece: on this she now sat, and the maids came from the women's
|
|
room to join her. They set about removing the tables at which the wicked
|
|
suitors had been dining, and took away the bread that was left, with
|
|
the cups from which they had drunk. They emptied the embers out of the
|
|
braziers, and heaped much wood upon them to give both light and heat;
|
|
but Melantho began to rail at Ulysses a second time and said, "Stranger,
|
|
do you mean to plague us by hanging about the house all night and spying
|
|
upon the women? Be off, you wretch, outside, and eat your supper there,
|
|
or you shall be driven out with a firebrand."
|
|
Ulysses scowled at her and answered, "My good woman, why should you be
|
|
so angry with me? Is it because I am not clean, and my clothes are all
|
|
in rags, and because I am obliged to go begging about after the manner
|
|
of tramps and beggars generally? I too was a rich man once, and had a
|
|
fine house of my own; in those days I gave to many a tramp such as I now
|
|
am, no matter who he might be nor what he wanted. I had any number of
|
|
servants, and all the other things which people have who live well and
|
|
are accounted wealthy, but it pleased Jove to take all away from me;
|
|
therefore, woman, beware lest you too come to lose that pride and place
|
|
in which you now wanton above your fellows; have a care lest you get
|
|
out of favour with your mistress, and lest Ulysses should come home, for
|
|
there is still a chance that he may do so. Moreover, though he be dead
|
|
as you think he is, yet by Apollo's will he has left a son behind him,
|
|
Telemachus, who will note anything done amiss by the maids in the house,
|
|
for he is now no longer in his boyhood."
|
|
Penelope heard what he was saying and scolded the maid, "Impudent
|
|
baggage," said she, "I see how abominably you are behaving, and you
|
|
shall smart for it. You knew perfectly well, for I told you myself, that
|
|
I was going to see the stranger and ask him about my husband, for whose
|
|
sake I am in such continual sorrow."
|
|
Then she said to her head waiting woman Eurynome, "Bring a seat with a
|
|
fleece upon it, for the stranger to sit upon while he tells his story,
|
|
and listens to what I have to say. I wish to ask him some questions."
|
|
Eurynome brought the seat at once and set a fleece upon it, and as soon
|
|
as Ulysses had sat down Penelope began by saying, "Stranger, I shall
|
|
first ask you who and whence are you? Tell me of your town and parents."
|
|
"Madam," answered Ulysses, "who on the face of the whole earth can dare
|
|
to chide with you? Your fame reaches the firmament of heaven itself; you
|
|
are like some blameless king, who upholds righteousness, as the monarch
|
|
over a great and valiant nation: the earth yields its wheat and barley,
|
|
the trees are loaded with fruit, the ewes bring forth lambs, and the sea
|
|
abounds with fish by reason of his virtues, and his people do good deeds
|
|
under him. Nevertheless, as I sit here in your house, ask me some other
|
|
question and do not seek to know my race and family, or you will recall
|
|
memories that will yet more increase my sorrow. I am full of heaviness,
|
|
but I ought not to sit weeping and wailing in another person's house,
|
|
nor is it well to be thus grieving continually. I shall have one of the
|
|
servants or even yourself complaining of me, and saying that my eyes
|
|
swim with tears because I am heavy with wine."
|
|
Then Penelope answered, "Stranger, heaven robbed me of all beauty,
|
|
whether of face or figure, when the Argives set sail for Troy and my
|
|
dear husband with them. If he were to return and look after my affairs
|
|
I should be both more respected and should show a better presence to
|
|
the world. As it is, I am oppressed with care, and with the afflictions
|
|
which heaven has seen fit to heap upon me. The chiefs from all our
|
|
islands--Dulichium, Same, and Zacynthus, as also from Ithaca itself,
|
|
are wooing me against my will and are wasting my estate. I can therefore
|
|
show no attention to strangers, nor suppliants, nor to people who say
|
|
that they are skilled artisans, but am all the time broken-hearted
|
|
about Ulysses. They want me to marry again at once, and I have to invent
|
|
stratagems in order to deceive them. In the first place heaven put it in
|
|
my mind to set up a great tambour-frame in my room, and to begin
|
|
working upon an enormous piece of fine needlework. Then I said to them,
|
|
'Sweethearts, Ulysses is indeed dead, still, do not press me to marry
|
|
again immediately; wait--for I would not have my skill in needlework
|
|
perish unrecorded--till I have finished making a pall for the hero
|
|
Laertes, to be ready against the time when death shall take him. He
|
|
is very rich, and the women of the place will talk if he is laid out
|
|
without a pall.' This was what I said, and they assented; whereon I
|
|
used to keep working at my great web all day long, but at night I would
|
|
unpick the stitches again by torch light. I fooled them in this way for
|
|
three years without their finding it out, but as time wore on and I was
|
|
now in my fourth year, in the waning of moons, and many days had been
|
|
accomplished, those good for nothing hussies my maids betrayed me to the
|
|
suitors, who broke in upon me and caught me; they were very angry with
|
|
me, so I was forced to finish my work whether I would or no. And now
|
|
I do not see how I can find any further shift for getting out of this
|
|
marriage. My parents are putting great pressure upon me, and my son
|
|
chafes at the ravages the suitors are making upon his estate, for he is
|
|
now old enough to understand all about it and is perfectly able to look
|
|
after his own affairs, for heaven has blessed him with an excellent
|
|
disposition. Still, notwithstanding all this, tell me who you are and
|
|
where you come from--for you must have had father and mother of some
|
|
sort; you cannot be the son of an oak or of a rock."
|
|
Then Ulysses answered, "Madam, wife of Ulysses, since you persist in
|
|
asking me about my family, I will answer, no matter what it costs me:
|
|
people must expect to be pained when they have been exiles as long as
|
|
I have, and suffered as much among as many peoples. Nevertheless, as
|
|
regards your question I will tell you all you ask. There is a fair and
|
|
fruitful island in mid-ocean called Crete; it is thickly peopled and
|
|
there are ninety cities in it: the people speak many different languages
|
|
which overlap one another, for there are Achaeans, brave Eteocretans,
|
|
Dorians of three-fold race, and noble Pelasgi. There is a great
|
|
town there, Cnossus, where Minos reigned who every nine years had a
|
|
conference with Jove himself. {152} Minos was father to Deucalion, whose
|
|
son I am, for Deucalion had two sons Idomeneus and myself. Idomeneus
|
|
sailed for Troy, and I, who am the younger, am called Aethon; my
|
|
brother, however, was at once the older and the more valiant of the two;
|
|
hence it was in Crete that I saw Ulysses and showed him hospitality, for
|
|
the winds took him there as he was on his way to Troy, carrying him out
|
|
of his course from cape Malea and leaving him in Amnisus off the cave of
|
|
Ilithuia, where the harbours are difficult to enter and he could hardly
|
|
find shelter from the winds that were then raging. As soon as he got
|
|
there he went into the town and asked for Idomeneus, claiming to be his
|
|
old and valued friend, but Idomeneus had already set sail for Troy some
|
|
ten or twelve days earlier, so I took him to my own house and showed him
|
|
every kind of hospitality, for I had abundance of everything. Moreover,
|
|
I fed the men who were with him with barley meal from the public store,
|
|
and got subscriptions of wine and oxen for them to sacrifice to their
|
|
heart's content. They stayed with me twelve days, for there was a gale
|
|
blowing from the North so strong that one could hardly keep one's feet
|
|
on land. I suppose some unfriendly god had raised it for them, but on
|
|
the thirteenth day the wind dropped, and they got away."
|
|
Many a plausible tale did Ulysses further tell her, and Penelope wept
|
|
as she listened, for her heart was melted. As the snow wastes upon the
|
|
mountain tops when the winds from South East and West have breathed upon
|
|
it and thawed it till the rivers run bank full with water, even so did
|
|
her cheeks overflow with tears for the husband who was all the time
|
|
sitting by her side. Ulysses felt for her and was sorry for her, but he
|
|
kept his eyes as hard as horn or iron without letting them so much
|
|
as quiver, so cunningly did he restrain his tears. Then, when she had
|
|
relieved herself by weeping, she turned to him again and said: "Now,
|
|
stranger, I shall put you to the test and see whether or no you really
|
|
did entertain my husband and his men, as you say you did. Tell me, then,
|
|
how he was dressed, what kind of a man he was to look at, and so also
|
|
with his companions."
|
|
"Madam," answered Ulysses, "it is such a long time ago that I can hardly
|
|
say. Twenty years are come and gone since he left my home, and went
|
|
elsewhither; but I will tell you as well as I can recollect. Ulysses
|
|
wore a mantle of purple wool, double lined, and it was fastened by a
|
|
gold brooch with two catches for the pin. On the face of this there was
|
|
a device that shewed a dog holding a spotted fawn between his fore paws,
|
|
and watching it as it lay panting upon the ground. Every one marvelled
|
|
at the way in which these things had been done in gold, the dog
|
|
looking at the fawn, and strangling it, while the fawn was struggling
|
|
convulsively to escape. {153} As for the shirt that he wore next his
|
|
skin, it was so soft that it fitted him like the skin of an onion, and
|
|
glistened in the sunlight to the admiration of all the women who beheld
|
|
it. Furthermore I say, and lay my saying to your heart, that I do not
|
|
know whether Ulysses wore these clothes when he left home, or whether
|
|
one of his companions had given them to him while he was on his voyage;
|
|
or possibly some one at whose house he was staying made him a present
|
|
of them, for he was a man of many friends and had few equals among the
|
|
Achaeans. I myself gave him a sword of bronze and a beautiful purple
|
|
mantle, double lined, with a shirt that went down to his feet, and I
|
|
sent him on board his ship with every mark of honour. He had a servant
|
|
with him, a little older than himself, and I can tell you what he was
|
|
like; his shoulders were hunched, {154} he was dark, and he had thick
|
|
curly hair. His name was Eurybates, and Ulysses treated him with greater
|
|
familiarity than he did any of the others, as being the most like-minded
|
|
with himself."
|
|
Penelope was moved still more deeply as she heard the indisputable
|
|
proofs that Ulysses laid before her; and when she had again found relief
|
|
in tears she said to him, "Stranger, I was already disposed to pity you,
|
|
but henceforth you shall be honoured and made welcome in my house. It
|
|
was I who gave Ulysses the clothes you speak of. I took them out of
|
|
the store room and folded them up myself, and I gave him also the gold
|
|
brooch to wear as an ornament. Alas! I shall never welcome him home
|
|
again. It was by an ill fate that he ever set out for that detested city
|
|
whose very name I cannot bring myself even to mention."
|
|
Then Ulysses answered, "Madam, wife of Ulysses, do not disfigure
|
|
yourself further by grieving thus bitterly for your loss, though I can
|
|
hardly blame you for doing so. A woman who has loved her husband and
|
|
borne him children, would naturally be grieved at losing him, even
|
|
though he were a worse man than Ulysses, who they say was like a god.
|
|
Still, cease your tears and listen to what I can tell you. I will hide
|
|
nothing from you, and can say with perfect truth that I have lately
|
|
heard of Ulysses as being alive and on his way home; he is among the
|
|
Thesprotians, and is bringing back much valuable treasure that he has
|
|
begged from one and another of them; but his ship and all his crew
|
|
were lost as they were leaving the Thrinacian island, for Jove and
|
|
the sun-god were angry with him because his men had slaughtered the
|
|
sun-god's cattle, and they were all drowned to a man. But Ulysses
|
|
stuck to the keel of the ship and was drifted on to the land of the
|
|
Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the immortals, and who treated him
|
|
as though he had been a god, giving him many presents, and wishing to
|
|
escort him home safe and sound. In fact Ulysses would have been here
|
|
long ago, had he not thought better to go from land to land gathering
|
|
wealth; for there is no man living who is so wily as he is; there is no
|
|
one can compare with him. Pheidon king of the Thesprotians told me all
|
|
this, and he swore to me--making drink-offerings in his house as he did
|
|
so--that the ship was by the water side and the crew found who would
|
|
take Ulysses to his own country. He sent me off first, for there
|
|
happened to be a Thesprotian ship sailing for the wheat-growing
|
|
island of Dulichium, but he showed me all the treasure Ulysses had got
|
|
together, and he had enough lying in the house of king Pheidon to keep
|
|
his family for ten generations; but the king said Ulysses had gone to
|
|
Dodona that he might learn Jove's mind from the high oak tree, and know
|
|
whether after so long an absence he should return to Ithaca openly or in
|
|
secret. So you may know he is safe and will be here shortly; he is close
|
|
at hand and cannot remain away from home much longer; nevertheless I
|
|
will confirm my words with an oath, and call Jove who is the first and
|
|
mightiest of all gods to witness, as also that hearth of Ulysses to
|
|
which I have now come, that all I have spoken shall surely come to pass.
|
|
Ulysses will return in this self same year; with the end of this moon
|
|
and the beginning of the next he will be here."
|
|
"May it be even so," answered Penelope; "if your words come true you
|
|
shall have such gifts and such good will from me that all who see you
|
|
shall congratulate you; but I know very well how it will be. Ulysses
|
|
will not return, neither will you get your escort hence, for so surely
|
|
as that Ulysses ever was, there are now no longer any such masters in
|
|
the house as he was, to receive honourable strangers or to further them
|
|
on their way home. And now, you maids, wash his feet for him, and make
|
|
him a bed on a couch with rugs and blankets, that he may be warm and
|
|
quiet till morning. Then, at day break wash him and anoint him again,
|
|
that he may sit in the cloister and take his meals with Telemachus. It
|
|
shall be the worse for any one of these hateful people who is uncivil to
|
|
him; like it or not, he shall have no more to do in this house. For how,
|
|
sir, shall you be able to learn whether or no I am superior to others of
|
|
my sex both in goodness of heart and understanding, if I let you dine in
|
|
my cloisters squalid and ill clad? Men live but for a little season; if
|
|
they are hard, and deal hardly, people wish them ill so long as they are
|
|
alive, and speak contemptuously of them when they are dead, but he that
|
|
is righteous and deals righteously, the people tell of his praise among
|
|
all lands, and many shall call him blessed."
|
|
Ulysses answered, "Madam, I have foresworn rugs and blankets from the
|
|
day that I left the snowy ranges of Crete to go on shipboard. I will
|
|
lie as I have lain on many a sleepless night hitherto. Night after night
|
|
have I passed in any rough sleeping place, and waited for morning. Nor,
|
|
again, do I like having my feet washed; I shall not let any of the young
|
|
hussies about your house touch my feet; but, if you have any old and
|
|
respectable woman who has gone through as much trouble as I have, I will
|
|
allow her to wash them."
|
|
To this Penelope said, "My dear sir, of all the guests who ever yet
|
|
came to my house there never was one who spoke in all things with such
|
|
admirable propriety as you do. There happens to be in the house a most
|
|
respectable old woman--the same who received my poor dear husband in
|
|
her arms the night he was born, and nursed him in infancy. She is
|
|
very feeble now, but she shall wash your feet." "Come here," said she,
|
|
"Euryclea, and wash your master's age-mate; I suppose Ulysses' hands and
|
|
feet are very much the same now as his are, for trouble ages all of us
|
|
dreadfully fast."
|
|
On these words the old woman covered her face with her hands; she began
|
|
to weep and made lamentation saying, "My dear child, I cannot think
|
|
whatever I am to do with you. I am certain no one was ever more
|
|
god-fearing than yourself, and yet Jove hates you. No one in the whole
|
|
world ever burned him more thigh bones, nor gave him finer hecatombs
|
|
when you prayed you might come to a green old age yourself and see your
|
|
son grow up to take after you: yet see how he has prevented you alone
|
|
from ever getting back to your own home. I have no doubt the women in
|
|
some foreign palace which Ulysses has got to are gibing at him as all
|
|
these sluts here have been gibing at you. I do not wonder at your
|
|
not choosing to let them wash you after the manner in which they have
|
|
insulted you; I will wash your feet myself gladly enough, as Penelope
|
|
has said that I am to do so; I will wash them both for Penelope's
|
|
sake and for your own, for you have raised the most lively feelings of
|
|
compassion in my mind; and let me say this moreover, which pray attend
|
|
to; we have had all kinds of strangers in distress come here before now,
|
|
but I make bold to say that no one ever yet came who was so like Ulysses
|
|
in figure, voice, and feet as you are."
|
|
"Those who have seen us both," answered Ulysses, "have always said we
|
|
were wonderfully like each other, and now you have noticed it too."
|
|
Then the old woman took the cauldron in which she was going to wash his
|
|
feet, and poured plenty of cold water into it, adding hot till the bath
|
|
was warm enough. Ulysses sat by the fire, but ere long he turned away
|
|
from the light, for it occurred to him that when the old woman had hold
|
|
of his leg she would recognise a certain scar which it bore, whereon the
|
|
whole truth would come out. And indeed as soon as she began washing her
|
|
master, she at once knew the scar as one that had been given him by
|
|
a wild boar when he was hunting on Mt. Parnassus with his excellent
|
|
grandfather Autolycus--who was the most accomplished thief and perjurer
|
|
in the whole world--and with the sons of Autolycus. Mercury himself had
|
|
endowed him with this gift, for he used to burn the thigh bones of goats
|
|
and kids to him, so he took pleasure in his companionship. It happened
|
|
once that Autolycus had gone to Ithaca and had found the child of his
|
|
daughter just born. As soon as he had done supper Euryclea set the
|
|
infant upon his knees and said, "Autolycus, you must find a name for
|
|
your grandson; you greatly wished that you might have one."
|
|
"Son-in-law and daughter," replied Autolycus, "call the child thus: I
|
|
am highly displeased with a large number of people in one place and
|
|
another, both men and women; so name the child 'Ulysses,' or the child
|
|
of anger. When he grows up and comes to visit his mother's family on Mt.
|
|
Parnassus, where my possessions lie, I will make him a present and will
|
|
send him on his way rejoicing."
|
|
Ulysses, therefore, went to Parnassus to get the presents from
|
|
Autolycus, who with his sons shook hands with him and gave him welcome.
|
|
His grandmother Amphithea threw her arms about him, and kissed his head,
|
|
and both his beautiful eyes, while Autolycus desired his sons to get
|
|
dinner ready, and they did as he told them. They brought in a five year
|
|
old bull, flayed it, made it ready and divided it into joints; these
|
|
they then cut carefully up into smaller pieces and spitted them; they
|
|
roasted them sufficiently and served the portions round. Thus through
|
|
the livelong day to the going down of the sun they feasted, and every
|
|
man had his full share so that all were satisfied; but when the sun set
|
|
and it came on dark, they went to bed and enjoyed the boon of sleep.
|
|
When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the sons of
|
|
Autolycus went out with their hounds hunting, and Ulysses went too.
|
|
They climbed the wooded slopes of Parnassus and soon reached its breezy
|
|
upland valleys; but as the sun was beginning to beat upon the fields,
|
|
fresh-risen from the slow still currents of Oceanus, they came to a
|
|
mountain dell. The dogs were in front searching for the tracks of the
|
|
beast they were chasing, and after them came the sons of Autolycus,
|
|
among whom was Ulysses, close behind the dogs, and he had a long
|
|
spear in his hand. Here was the lair of a huge boar among some thick
|
|
brushwood, so dense that the wind and rain could not get through it, nor
|
|
could the sun's rays pierce it, and the ground underneath lay thick
|
|
with fallen leaves. The boar heard the noise of the men's feet, and the
|
|
hounds baying on every side as the huntsmen came up to him, so he rushed
|
|
from his lair, raised the bristles on his neck, and stood at bay with
|
|
fire flashing from his eyes. Ulysses was the first to raise his spear
|
|
and try to drive it into the brute, but the boar was too quick for him,
|
|
and charged him sideways, ripping him above the knee with a gash that
|
|
tore deep though it did not reach the bone. As for the boar, Ulysses hit
|
|
him on the right shoulder, and the point of the spear went right through
|
|
him, so that he fell groaning in the dust until the life went out of
|
|
him. The sons of Autolycus busied themselves with the carcass of the
|
|
boar, and bound Ulysses' wound; then, after saying a spell to stop the
|
|
bleeding, they went home as fast as they could. But when Autolycus and
|
|
his sons had thoroughly healed Ulysses, they made him some splendid
|
|
presents, and sent him back to Ithaca with much mutual good will. When
|
|
he got back, his father and mother were rejoiced to see him, and asked
|
|
him all about it, and how he had hurt himself to get the scar; so he
|
|
told them how the boar had ripped him when he was out hunting with
|
|
Autolycus and his sons on Mt. Parnassus.
|
|
As soon as Euryclea had got the scarred limb in her hands and had well
|
|
hold of it, she recognised it and dropped the foot at once. The leg fell
|
|
into the bath, which rang out and was overturned, so that all the water
|
|
was spilt on the ground; Euryclea's eyes between her joy and her grief
|
|
filled with tears, and she could not speak, but she caught Ulysses
|
|
by the beard and said, "My dear child, I am sure you must be Ulysses
|
|
himself, only I did not know you till I had actually touched and handled
|
|
you."
|
|
As she spoke she looked towards Penelope, as though wanting to tell her
|
|
that her dear husband was in the house, but Penelope was unable to
|
|
look in that direction and observe what was going on, for Minerva had
|
|
diverted her attention; so Ulysses caught Euryclea by the throat with
|
|
his right hand and with his left drew her close to him, and said,
|
|
"Nurse, do you wish to be the ruin of me, you who nursed me at your own
|
|
breast, now that after twenty years of wandering I am at last come to
|
|
my own home again? Since it has been borne in upon you by heaven to
|
|
recognise me, hold your tongue, and do not say a word about it to any
|
|
one else in the house, for if you do I tell you--and it shall surely
|
|
be--that if heaven grants me to take the lives of these suitors, I will
|
|
not spare you, though you are my own nurse, when I am killing the other
|
|
women."
|
|
"My child," answered Euryclea, "what are you talking about? You know
|
|
very well that nothing can either bend or break me. I will hold my
|
|
tongue like a stone or a piece of iron; furthermore let me say, and lay
|
|
my saying to your heart, when heaven has delivered the suitors into your
|
|
hand, I will give you a list of the women in the house who have been
|
|
ill-behaved, and of those who are guiltless."
|
|
And Ulysses answered, "Nurse, you ought not to speak in that way; I am
|
|
well able to form my own opinion about one and all of them; hold your
|
|
tongue and leave everything to heaven."
|
|
As he said this Euryclea left the cloister to fetch some more water, for
|
|
the first had been all spilt; and when she had washed him and anointed
|
|
him with oil, Ulysses drew his seat nearer to the fire to warm himself,
|
|
and hid the scar under his rags. Then Penelope began talking to him and
|
|
said:
|
|
"Stranger, I should like to speak with you briefly about another matter.
|
|
It is indeed nearly bed time--for those, at least, who can sleep in
|
|
spite of sorrow. As for myself, heaven has given me a life of such
|
|
unmeasurable woe, that even by day when I am attending to my duties and
|
|
looking after the servants, I am still weeping and lamenting during the
|
|
whole time; then, when night comes, and we all of us go to bed, I lie
|
|
awake thinking, and my heart becomes a prey to the most incessant and
|
|
cruel tortures. As the dun nightingale, daughter of Pandareus, sings in
|
|
the early spring from her seat in shadiest covert hid, and with many
|
|
a plaintive trill pours out the tale how by mishap she killed her own
|
|
child Itylus, son of king Zethus, even so does my mind toss and turn in
|
|
its uncertainty whether I ought to stay with my son here, and safeguard
|
|
my substance, my bondsmen, and the greatness of my house, out of regard
|
|
to public opinion and the memory of my late husband, or whether it is
|
|
not now time for me to go with the best of these suitors who are wooing
|
|
me and making me such magnificent presents. As long as my son was still
|
|
young, and unable to understand, he would not hear of my leaving my
|
|
husband's house, but now that he is full grown he begs and prays me to
|
|
do so, being incensed at the way in which the suitors are eating up his
|
|
property. Listen, then, to a dream that I have had and interpret it for
|
|
me if you can. I have twenty geese about the house that eat mash out
|
|
of a trough, {155} and of which I am exceedingly fond. I dreamed that a
|
|
great eagle came swooping down from a mountain, and dug his curved beak
|
|
into the neck of each of them till he had killed them all. Presently
|
|
he soared off into the sky, and left them lying dead about the yard;
|
|
whereon I wept in my dream till all my maids gathered round me, so
|
|
piteously was I grieving because the eagle had killed my geese. Then he
|
|
came back again, and perching on a projecting rafter spoke to me with
|
|
human voice, and told me to leave off crying. 'Be of good courage,' he
|
|
said, 'daughter of Icarius; this is no dream, but a vision of good omen
|
|
that shall surely come to pass. The geese are the suitors, and I am no
|
|
longer an eagle, but your own husband, who am come back to you, and who
|
|
will bring these suitors to a disgraceful end.' On this I woke, and when
|
|
I looked out I saw my geese at the trough eating their mash as usual."
|
|
"This dream, Madam," replied Ulysses, "can admit but of one
|
|
interpretation, for had not Ulysses himself told you how it shall be
|
|
fulfilled? The death of the suitors is portended, and not one single one
|
|
of them will escape."
|
|
And Penelope answered, "Stranger, dreams are very curious and
|
|
unaccountable things, and they do not by any means invariably come true.
|
|
There are two gates through which these unsubstantial fancies proceed;
|
|
the one is of horn, and the other ivory. Those that come through
|
|
the gate of ivory are fatuous, but those from the gate of horn mean
|
|
something to those that see them. I do not think, however, that my own
|
|
dream came through the gate of horn, though I and my son should be most
|
|
thankful if it proves to have done so. Furthermore I say--and lay my
|
|
saying to your heart--the coming dawn will usher in the ill-omened day
|
|
that is to sever me from the house of Ulysses, for I am about to hold a
|
|
tournament of axes. My husband used to set up twelve axes in the court,
|
|
one in front of the other, like the stays upon which a ship is built;
|
|
he would then go back from them and shoot an arrow through the whole
|
|
twelve. I shall make the suitors try to do the same thing, and whichever
|
|
of them can string the bow most easily, and send his arrow through all
|
|
the twelve axes, him will I follow, and quit this house of my lawful
|
|
husband, so goodly and so abounding in wealth. But even so, I doubt not
|
|
that I shall remember it in my dreams."
|
|
Then Ulysses answered, "Madam, wife of Ulysses, you need not defer your
|
|
tournament, for Ulysses will return ere ever they can string the bow,
|
|
handle it how they will, and send their arrows through the iron."
|
|
To this Penelope said, "As long, sir, as you will sit here and talk
|
|
to me, I can have no desire to go to bed. Still, people cannot do
|
|
permanently without sleep, and heaven has appointed us dwellers on earth
|
|
a time for all things. I will therefore go upstairs and recline upon
|
|
that couch which I have never ceased to flood with my tears from the day
|
|
Ulysses set out for the city with a hateful name."
|
|
She then went upstairs to her own room, not alone, but attended by her
|
|
maidens, and when there, she lamented her dear husband till Minerva shed
|
|
sweet sleep over her eyelids.
|
|
Book XX
|
|
ULYSSES CANNOT SLEEP--PENELOPE'S PRAYER TO DIANA--THE TWO SIGNS FROM
|
|
HEAVEN--EUMAEUS AND PHILOETIUS ARRIVE--THE SUITORS DINE--CTESIPPUS
|
|
THROWS AN OX'S FOOT AT ULYSSES--THEOCLYMENUS FORETELLS DISASTER AND
|
|
LEAVES THE HOUSE.
|
|
Ulysses slept in the cloister upon an undressed bullock's hide, on the
|
|
top of which he threw several skins of the sheep the suitors had eaten,
|
|
and Eurynome {156} threw a cloak over him after he had laid himself
|
|
down. There, then, Ulysses lay wakefully brooding upon the way in which
|
|
he should kill the suitors; and by and by, the women who had been in the
|
|
habit of misconducting themselves with them, left the house giggling and
|
|
laughing with one another. This made Ulysses very angry, and he doubted
|
|
whether to get up and kill every single one of them then and there, or
|
|
to let them sleep one more and last time with the suitors. His heart
|
|
growled within him, and as a bitch with puppies growls and shows her
|
|
teeth when she sees a stranger, so did his heart growl with anger at
|
|
the evil deeds that were being done: but he beat his breast and said,
|
|
"Heart, be still, you had worse than this to bear on the day when the
|
|
terrible Cyclops ate your brave companions; yet you bore it in silence
|
|
till your cunning got you safe out of the cave, though you made sure of
|
|
being killed."
|
|
Thus he chided with his heart, and checked it into endurance, but he
|
|
tossed about as one who turns a paunch full of blood and fat in front
|
|
of a hot fire, doing it first on one side and then on the other, that he
|
|
may get it cooked as soon as possible, even so did he turn himself about
|
|
from side to side, thinking all the time how, single handed as he was,
|
|
he should contrive to kill so large a body of men as the wicked suitors.
|
|
But by and by Minerva came down from heaven in the likeness of a woman,
|
|
and hovered over his head saying, "My poor unhappy man, why do you lie
|
|
awake in this way? This is your house: your wife is safe inside it, and
|
|
so is your son who is just such a young man as any father may be proud
|
|
of."
|
|
"Goddess," answered Ulysses, "all that you have said is true, but I am
|
|
in some doubt as to how I shall be able to kill these wicked suitors
|
|
single handed, seeing what a number of them there always are. And there
|
|
is this further difficulty, which is still more considerable. Supposing
|
|
that with Jove's and your assistance I succeed in killing them, I must
|
|
ask you to consider where I am to escape to from their avengers when it
|
|
is all over."
|
|
"For shame," replied Minerva, "why, any one else would trust a worse
|
|
ally than myself, even though that ally were only a mortal and less wise
|
|
than I am. Am I not a goddess, and have I not protected you throughout
|
|
in all your troubles? I tell you plainly that even though there were
|
|
fifty bands of men surrounding us and eager to kill us, you should take
|
|
all their sheep and cattle, and drive them away with you. But go to
|
|
sleep; it is a very bad thing to lie awake all night, and you shall be
|
|
out of your troubles before long."
|
|
As she spoke she shed sleep over his eyes, and then went back to
|
|
Olympus.
|
|
While Ulysses was thus yielding himself to a very deep slumber that
|
|
eased the burden of his sorrows, his admirable wife awoke, and sitting
|
|
up in her bed began to cry. When she had relieved herself by weeping she
|
|
prayed to Diana saying, "Great Goddess Diana, daughter of Jove, drive an
|
|
arrow into my heart and slay me; or let some whirlwind snatch me up and
|
|
bear me through paths of darkness till it drop me into the mouths
|
|
of over-flowing Oceanus, as it did the daughters of Pandareus. The
|
|
daughters of Pandareus lost their father and mother, for the gods killed
|
|
them, so they were left orphans. But Venus took care of them, and fed
|
|
them on cheese, honey, and sweet wine. Juno taught them to excel all
|
|
women in beauty of form and understanding; Diana gave them an imposing
|
|
presence, and Minerva endowed them with every kind of accomplishment;
|
|
but one day when Venus had gone up to Olympus to see Jove about getting
|
|
them married (for well does he know both what shall happen and what
|
|
not happen to every one) the storm winds came and spirited them away to
|
|
become handmaids to the dread Erinyes. Even so I wish that the gods who
|
|
live in heaven would hide me from mortal sight, or that fair Diana might
|
|
strike me, for I would fain go even beneath the sad earth if I might
|
|
do so still looking towards Ulysses only, and without having to yield
|
|
myself to a worse man than he was. Besides, no matter how much people
|
|
may grieve by day, they can put up with it so long as they can sleep at
|
|
night, for when the eyes are closed in slumber people forget good and
|
|
ill alike; whereas my misery haunts me even in my dreams. This very
|
|
night methought there was one lying by my side who was like Ulysses as
|
|
he was when he went away with his host, and I rejoiced, for I believed
|
|
that it was no dream, but the very truth itself."
|
|
On this the day broke, but Ulysses heard the sound of her weeping, and
|
|
it puzzled him, for it seemed as though she already knew him and was by
|
|
his side. Then he gathered up the cloak and the fleeces on which he had
|
|
lain, and set them on a seat in the cloister, but he took the bullock's
|
|
hide out into the open. He lifted up his hands to heaven, and prayed,
|
|
saying "Father Jove, since you have seen fit to bring me over land and
|
|
sea to my own home after all the afflictions you have laid upon me, give
|
|
me a sign out of the mouth of some one or other of those who are now
|
|
waking within the house, and let me have another sign of some kind from
|
|
outside."
|
|
Thus did he pray. Jove heard his prayer and forthwith thundered high
|
|
up among the clouds from the splendour of Olympus, and Ulysses was glad
|
|
when he heard it. At the same time within the house, a miller-woman from
|
|
hard by in the mill room lifted up her voice and gave him another sign.
|
|
There were twelve miller-women whose business it was to grind wheat and
|
|
barley which are the staff of life. The others had ground their task and
|
|
had gone to take their rest, but this one had not yet finished, for
|
|
she was not so strong as they were, and when she heard the thunder she
|
|
stopped grinding and gave the sign to her master. "Father Jove," said
|
|
she, "you, who rule over heaven and earth, you have thundered from a
|
|
clear sky without so much as a cloud in it, and this means something for
|
|
somebody; grant the prayer, then, of me your poor servant who calls
|
|
upon you, and let this be the very last day that the suitors dine in the
|
|
house of Ulysses. They have worn me out with labour of grinding meal for
|
|
them, and I hope they may never have another dinner anywhere at all."
|
|
Ulysses was glad when he heard the omens conveyed to him by the woman's
|
|
speech, and by the thunder, for he knew they meant that he should avenge
|
|
himself on the suitors.
|
|
Then the other maids in the house rose and lit the fire on the hearth;
|
|
Telemachus also rose and put on his clothes. He girded his sword about
|
|
his shoulder, bound his sandals on to his comely feet, and took a
|
|
doughty spear with a point of sharpened bronze; then he went to the
|
|
threshold of the cloister and said to Euryclea, "Nurse, did you make the
|
|
stranger comfortable both as regards bed and board, or did you let him
|
|
shift for himself?--for my mother, good woman though she is, has a
|
|
way of paying great attention to second-rate people, and of neglecting
|
|
others who are in reality much better men."
|
|
"Do not find fault child," said Euryclea, "when there is no one to find
|
|
fault with. The stranger sat and drank his wine as long as he liked:
|
|
your mother did ask him if he would take any more bread and he said he
|
|
would not. When he wanted to go to bed she told the servants to make one
|
|
for him, but he said he was such a wretched outcast that he would not
|
|
sleep on a bed and under blankets; he insisted on having an undressed
|
|
bullock's hide and some sheepskins put for him in the cloister and I
|
|
threw a cloak over him myself." {157}
|
|
Then Telemachus went out of the court to the place where the Achaeans
|
|
were meeting in assembly; he had his spear in his hand, and he was not
|
|
alone, for his two dogs went with him. But Euryclea called the maids and
|
|
said, "Come, wake up; set about sweeping the cloisters and sprinkling
|
|
them with water to lay the dust; put the covers on the seats; wipe down
|
|
the tables, some of you, with a wet sponge; clean out the mixing-jugs
|
|
and the cups, and go for water from the fountain at once; the suitors
|
|
will be here directly; they will be here early, for it is a feast day."
|
|
Thus did she speak, and they did even as she had said: twenty of them
|
|
went to the fountain for water, and the others set themselves busily to
|
|
work about the house. The men who were in attendance on the suitors also
|
|
came up and began chopping firewood. By and by the women returned from
|
|
the fountain, and the swineherd came after them with the three best pigs
|
|
he could pick out. These he let feed about the premises, and then he
|
|
said good-humouredly to Ulysses, "Stranger, are the suitors treating you
|
|
any better now, or are they as insolent as ever?"
|
|
"May heaven," answered Ulysses, "requite to them the wickedness with
|
|
which they deal high-handedly in another man's house without any sense
|
|
of shame."
|
|
Thus did they converse; meanwhile Melanthius the goatherd came up, for
|
|
he too was bringing in his best goats for the suitors' dinner; and he
|
|
had two shepherds with him. They tied the goats up under the gatehouse,
|
|
and then Melanthius began gibing at Ulysses. "Are you still here,
|
|
stranger," said he, "to pester people by begging about the house? Why
|
|
can you not go elsewhere? You and I shall not come to an understanding
|
|
before we have given each other a taste of our fists. You beg without
|
|
any sense of decency: are there not feasts elsewhere among the Achaeans,
|
|
as well as here?"
|
|
Ulysses made no answer, but bowed his head and brooded. Then a third
|
|
man, Philoetius, joined them, who was bringing in a barren heifer and
|
|
some goats. These were brought over by the boatmen who are there to take
|
|
people over when any one comes to them. So Philoetius made his heifer
|
|
and his goats secure under the gatehouse, and then went up to the
|
|
swineherd. "Who, Swineherd," said he, "is this stranger that is lately
|
|
come here? Is he one of your men? What is his family? Where does he come
|
|
from? Poor fellow, he looks as if he had been some great man, but the
|
|
gods give sorrow to whom they will--even to kings if it so pleases
|
|
them."
|
|
As he spoke he went up to Ulysses and saluted him with his right hand;
|
|
"Good day to you, father stranger," said he, "you seem to be very poorly
|
|
off now, but I hope you will have better times by and by. Father Jove,
|
|
of all gods you are the most malicious. We are your own children, yet
|
|
you show us no mercy in all our misery and afflictions. A sweat came
|
|
over me when I saw this man, and my eyes filled with tears, for he
|
|
reminds me of Ulysses, who I fear is going about in just such rags as
|
|
this man's are, if indeed he is still among the living. If he is already
|
|
dead and in the house of Hades, then, alas! for my good master, who made
|
|
me his stockman when I was quite young among the Cephallenians, and now
|
|
his cattle are countless; no one could have done better with them than I
|
|
have, for they have bred like ears of corn; nevertheless I have to keep
|
|
bringing them in for others to eat, who take no heed to his son though
|
|
he is in the house, and fear not the wrath of heaven, but are already
|
|
eager to divide Ulysses' property among them because he has been away so
|
|
long. I have often thought--only it would not be right while his son
|
|
is living--of going off with the cattle to some foreign country; bad as
|
|
this would be, it is still harder to stay here and be ill-treated about
|
|
other people's herds. My position is intolerable, and I should long
|
|
since have run away and put myself under the protection of some other
|
|
chief, only that I believe my poor master will yet return, and send all
|
|
these suitors flying out of the house."
|
|
"Stockman," answered Ulysses, "you seem to be a very well-disposed
|
|
person, and I can see that you are a man of sense. Therefore I will tell
|
|
you, and will confirm my words with an oath. By Jove, the chief of all
|
|
gods, and by that hearth of Ulysses to which I am now come, Ulysses
|
|
shall return before you leave this place, and if you are so minded you
|
|
shall see him killing the suitors who are now masters here."
|
|
"If Jove were to bring this to pass," replied the stockman, "you should
|
|
see how I would do my very utmost to help him."
|
|
And in like manner Eumaeus prayed that Ulysses might return home.
|
|
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors were hatching a plot to
|
|
murder Telemachus: but a bird flew near them on their left hand--an
|
|
eagle with a dove in its talons. On this Amphinomus said, "My friends,
|
|
this plot of ours to murder Telemachus will not succeed; let us go to
|
|
dinner instead."
|
|
The others assented, so they went inside and laid their cloaks on the
|
|
benches and seats. They sacrificed the sheep, goats, pigs, and the
|
|
heifer, and when the inward meats were cooked they served them round.
|
|
They mixed the wine in the mixing-bowls, and the swineherd gave every
|
|
man his cup, while Philoetius handed round the bread in the bread
|
|
baskets, and Melanthius poured them out their wine. Then they laid their
|
|
hands upon the good things that were before them.
|
|
Telemachus purposely made Ulysses sit in the part of the cloister that
|
|
was paved with stone; {158} he gave him a shabby looking seat at a
|
|
little table to himself, and had his portion of the inward meats brought
|
|
to him, with his wine in a gold cup. "Sit there," said he, "and drink
|
|
your wine among the great people. I will put a stop to the gibes and
|
|
blows of the suitors, for this is no public house, but belongs to
|
|
Ulysses, and has passed from him to me. Therefore, suitors, keep your
|
|
hands and your tongues to yourselves, or there will be mischief."
|
|
The suitors bit their lips, and marvelled at the boldness of his speech;
|
|
then Antinous said, "We do not like such language but we will put up
|
|
with it, for Telemachus is threatening us in good earnest. If Jove had
|
|
let us we should have put a stop to his brave talk ere now."
|
|
Thus spoke Antinous, but Telemachus heeded him not. Meanwhile the
|
|
heralds were bringing the holy hecatomb through the city, and the
|
|
Achaeans gathered under the shady grove of Apollo.
|
|
Then they roasted the outer meat, drew it off the spits, gave every man
|
|
his portion, and feasted to their heart's content; those who waited
|
|
at table gave Ulysses exactly the same portion as the others had, for
|
|
Telemachus had told them to do so.
|
|
But Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment drop their
|
|
insolence, for she wanted Ulysses to become still more bitter against
|
|
them. Now there happened to be among them a ribald fellow, whose name
|
|
was Ctesippus, and who came from Same. This man, confident in his
|
|
great wealth, was paying court to the wife of Ulysses, and said to the
|
|
suitors, "Hear what I have to say. The stranger has already had as
|
|
large a portion as any one else; this is well, for it is not right nor
|
|
reasonable to ill-treat any guest of Telemachus who comes here. I
|
|
will, however, make him a present on my own account, that he may have
|
|
something to give to the bath-woman, or to some other of Ulysses'
|
|
servants."
|
|
As he spoke he picked up a heifer's foot from the meat-basket in which
|
|
it lay, and threw it at Ulysses, but Ulysses turned his head a little
|
|
aside, and avoided it, smiling grimly Sardinian fashion {159} as he did
|
|
so, and it hit the wall, not him. On this Telemachus spoke fiercely to
|
|
Ctesippus, "It is a good thing for you," said he, "that the stranger
|
|
turned his head so that you missed him. If you had hit him I should have
|
|
run you through with my spear, and your father would have had to see
|
|
about getting you buried rather than married in this house. So let me
|
|
have no more unseemly behaviour from any of you, for I am grown up
|
|
now to the knowledge of good and evil and understand what is going on,
|
|
instead of being the child that I have been heretofore. I have long seen
|
|
you killing my sheep and making free with my corn and wine: I have put
|
|
up with this, for one man is no match for many, but do me no further
|
|
violence. Still, if you wish to kill me, kill me; I would far rather die
|
|
than see such disgraceful scenes day after day--guests insulted, and men
|
|
dragging the women servants about the house in an unseemly way."
|
|
They all held their peace till at last Agelaus son of Damastor said, "No
|
|
one should take offence at what has just been said, nor gainsay it, for
|
|
it is quite reasonable. Leave off, therefore, ill-treating the stranger,
|
|
or any one else of the servants who are about the house; I would say,
|
|
however, a friendly word to Telemachus and his mother, which I trust may
|
|
commend itself to both. 'As long,' I would say, 'as you had ground for
|
|
hoping that Ulysses would one day come home, no one could complain of
|
|
your waiting and suffering {160} the suitors to be in your house. It
|
|
would have been better that he should have returned, but it is now
|
|
sufficiently clear that he will never do so; therefore talk all this
|
|
quietly over with your mother, and tell her to marry the best man,
|
|
and the one who makes her the most advantageous offer. Thus you will
|
|
yourself be able to manage your own inheritance, and to eat and drink
|
|
in peace, while your mother will look after some other man's house, not
|
|
yours.'"
|
|
To this Telemachus answered, "By Jove, Agelaus, and by the sorrows of my
|
|
unhappy father, who has either perished far from Ithaca, or is wandering
|
|
in some distant land, I throw no obstacles in the way of my mother's
|
|
marriage; on the contrary I urge her to choose whomsoever she will, and
|
|
I will give her numberless gifts into the bargain, but I dare not insist
|
|
point blank that she shall leave the house against her own wishes.
|
|
Heaven forbid that I should do this."
|
|
Minerva now made the suitors fall to laughing immoderately, and set
|
|
their wits wandering; but they were laughing with a forced laughter.
|
|
Their meat became smeared with blood; their eyes filled with tears,
|
|
and their hearts were heavy with forebodings. Theoclymenus saw this
|
|
and said, "Unhappy men, what is it that ails you? There is a shroud
|
|
of darkness drawn over you from head to foot, your cheeks are wet with
|
|
tears; the air is alive with wailing voices; the walls and roof-beams
|
|
drip blood; the gate of the cloisters and the court beyond them are full
|
|
of ghosts trooping down into the night of hell; the sun is blotted out
|
|
of heaven, and a blighting gloom is over all the land."
|
|
Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily. Eurymachus
|
|
then said, "This stranger who has lately come here has lost his senses.
|
|
Servants, turn him out into the streets, since he finds it so dark
|
|
here."
|
|
But Theoclymenus said, "Eurymachus, you need not send any one with me.
|
|
I have eyes, ears, and a pair of feet of my own, to say nothing of an
|
|
understanding mind. I will take these out of the house with me, for
|
|
I see mischief overhanging you, from which not one of you men who are
|
|
insulting people and plotting ill deeds in the house of Ulysses will be
|
|
able to escape."
|
|
He left the house as he spoke, and went back to Piraeus who gave him
|
|
welcome, but the suitors kept looking at one another and provoking
|
|
Telemachus by laughing at the strangers. One insolent fellow said to
|
|
him, "Telemachus, you are not happy in your guests; first you have this
|
|
importunate tramp, who comes begging bread and wine and has no skill
|
|
for work or for hard fighting, but is perfectly useless, and now here is
|
|
another fellow who is setting himself up as a prophet. Let me persuade
|
|
you, for it will be much better to put them on board ship and send them
|
|
off to the Sicels to sell for what they will bring."
|
|
Telemachus gave him no heed, but sate silently watching his father,
|
|
expecting every moment that he would begin his attack upon the suitors.
|
|
Meanwhile the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, had had a rich seat
|
|
placed for her facing the court and cloisters, so that she could hear
|
|
what every one was saying. The dinner indeed had been prepared amid much
|
|
merriment; it had been both good and abundant, for they had sacrificed
|
|
many victims; but the supper was yet to come, and nothing can be
|
|
conceived more gruesome than the meal which a goddess and a brave man
|
|
were soon to lay before them--for they had brought their doom upon
|
|
themselves.
|
|
Book XXI
|
|
THE TRIAL OF THE AXES, DURING WHICH ULYSSES REVEALS HIMSELF TO EUMAEUS
|
|
AND PHILOETIUS
|
|
Minerva now put it in Penelope's mind to make the suitors try their
|
|
skill with the bow and with the iron axes, in contest among themselves,
|
|
as a means of bringing about their destruction. She went upstairs and
|
|
got the store-room key, which was made of bronze and had a handle of
|
|
ivory; she then went with her maidens into the store-room at the end of
|
|
the house, where her husband's treasures of gold, bronze, and wrought
|
|
iron were kept, and where was also his bow, and the quiver full of
|
|
deadly arrows that had been given him by a friend whom he had met in
|
|
Lacedaemon--Iphitus the son of Eurytus. The two fell in with one another
|
|
in Messene at the house of Ortilochus, where Ulysses was staying in
|
|
order to recover a debt that was owing from the whole people; for the
|
|
Messenians had carried off three hundred sheep from Ithaca, and had
|
|
sailed away with them and with their shepherds. In quest of these
|
|
Ulysses took a long journey while still quite young, for his father and
|
|
the other chieftains sent him on a mission to recover them. Iphitus had
|
|
gone there also to try and get back twelve brood mares that he had lost,
|
|
and the mule foals that were running with them. These mares were the
|
|
death of him in the end, for when he went to the house of Jove's son,
|
|
mighty Hercules, who performed such prodigies of valour, Hercules to his
|
|
shame killed him, though he was his guest, for he feared not heaven's
|
|
vengeance, nor yet respected his own table which he had set before
|
|
Iphitus, but killed him in spite of everything, and kept the mares
|
|
himself. It was when claiming these that Iphitus met Ulysses, and gave
|
|
him the bow which mighty Eurytus had been used to carry, and which on
|
|
his death had been left by him to his son. Ulysses gave him in return
|
|
a sword and a spear, and this was the beginning of a fast friendship,
|
|
although they never visited at one another's houses, for Jove's son
|
|
Hercules killed Iphitus ere they could do so. This bow, then, given him
|
|
by Iphitus, had not been taken with him by Ulysses when he sailed for
|
|
Troy; he had used it so long as he had been at home, but had left it
|
|
behind as having been a keepsake from a valued friend.
|
|
Penelope presently reached the oak threshold of the store-room; the
|
|
carpenter had planed this duly, and had drawn a line on it so as to get
|
|
it quite straight; he had then set the door posts into it and hung the
|
|
doors. She loosed the strap from the handle of the door, put in the key,
|
|
and drove it straight home to shoot back the bolts that held the doors;
|
|
{161} these flew open with a noise like a bull bellowing in a meadow,
|
|
and Penelope stepped upon the raised platform, where the chests stood in
|
|
which the fair linen and clothes were laid by along with fragrant herbs:
|
|
reaching thence, she took down the bow with its bow case from the peg
|
|
on which it hung. She sat down with it on her knees, weeping bitterly as
|
|
she took the bow out of its case, and when her tears had relieved her,
|
|
she went to the cloister where the suitors were, carrying the bow and
|
|
the quiver, with the many deadly arrows that were inside it. Along
|
|
with her came her maidens, bearing a chest that contained much iron
|
|
and bronze which her husband had won as prizes. When she reached the
|
|
suitors, she stood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of
|
|
the cloister, holding a veil before her face, and with a maid on either
|
|
side of her. Then she said:
|
|
"Listen to me you suitors, who persist in abusing the hospitality of
|
|
this house because its owner has been long absent, and without other
|
|
pretext than that you want to marry me; this, then, being the prize that
|
|
you are contending for, I will bring out the mighty bow of Ulysses, and
|
|
whomsoever of you shall string it most easily and send his arrow through
|
|
each one of twelve axes, him will I follow and quit this house of my
|
|
lawful husband, so goodly, and so abounding in wealth. But even so I
|
|
doubt not that I shall remember it in my dreams."
|
|
As she spoke, she told Eumaeus to set the bow and the pieces of iron
|
|
before the suitors, and Eumaeus wept as he took them to do as she had
|
|
bidden him. Hard by, the stockman wept also when he saw his master's
|
|
bow, but Antinous scolded them. "You country louts," said he, "silly
|
|
simpletons; why should you add to the sorrows of your mistress by crying
|
|
in this way? She has enough to grieve her in the loss of her husband;
|
|
sit still, therefore, and eat your dinners in silence, or go outside if
|
|
you want to cry, and leave the bow behind you. We suitors shall have to
|
|
contend for it with might and main, for we shall find it no light matter
|
|
to string such a bow as this is. There is not a man of us all who is
|
|
such another as Ulysses; for I have seen him and remember him, though I
|
|
was then only a child."
|
|
This was what he said, but all the time he was expecting to be able to
|
|
string the bow and shoot through the iron, whereas in fact he was to
|
|
be the first that should taste of the arrows from the hands of Ulysses,
|
|
whom he was dishonouring in his own house--egging the others on to do so
|
|
also.
|
|
Then Telemachus spoke. "Great heavens!" he exclaimed, "Jove must have
|
|
robbed me of my senses. Here is my dear and excellent mother saying she
|
|
will quit this house and marry again, yet I am laughing and enjoying
|
|
myself as though there were nothing happening. But, suitors, as the
|
|
contest has been agreed upon, let it go forward. It is for a woman whose
|
|
peer is not to be found in Pylos, Argos, or Mycene, nor yet in Ithaca
|
|
nor on the mainland. You know this as well as I do; what need have I to
|
|
speak in praise of my mother? Come on, then, make no excuses for delay,
|
|
but let us see whether you can string the bow or no. I too will make
|
|
trial of it, for if I can string it and shoot through the iron, I shall
|
|
not suffer my mother to quit this house with a stranger, not if I can
|
|
win the prizes which my father won before me."
|
|
As he spoke he sprang from his seat, threw his crimson cloak from him,
|
|
and took his sword from his shoulder. First he set the axes in a row, in
|
|
a long groove which he had dug for them, and had made straight by line.
|
|
{162} Then he stamped the earth tight round them, and everyone was
|
|
surprised when they saw him set them up so orderly, though he had never
|
|
seen anything of the kind before. This done, he went on to the pavement
|
|
to make trial of the bow; thrice did he tug at it, trying with all his
|
|
might to draw the string, and thrice he had to leave off, though he had
|
|
hoped to string the bow and shoot through the iron. He was trying for
|
|
the fourth time, and would have strung it had not Ulysses made a sign to
|
|
check him in spite of all his eagerness. So he said:
|
|
"Alas! I shall either be always feeble and of no prowess, or I am too
|
|
young, and have not yet reached my full strength so as to be able
|
|
to hold my own if any one attacks me. You others, therefore, who are
|
|
stronger than I, make trial of the bow and get this contest settled."
|
|
On this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door [that led
|
|
into the house] with the arrow standing against the top of the bow. Then
|
|
he sat down on the seat from which he had risen, and Antinous said:
|
|
"Come on each of you in his turn, going towards the right from the place
|
|
at which the cupbearer begins when he is handing round the wine."
|
|
The rest agreed, and Leiodes son of Oenops was the first to rise. He
|
|
was sacrificial priest to the suitors, and sat in the corner near the
|
|
mixing-bowl. {163} He was the only man who hated their evil deeds and
|
|
was indignant with the others. He was now the first to take the bow and
|
|
arrow, so he went on to the pavement to make his trial, but he could not
|
|
string the bow, for his hands were weak and unused to hard work, they
|
|
therefore soon grew tired, and he said to the suitors, "My friends, I
|
|
cannot string it; let another have it, this bow shall take the life and
|
|
soul out of many a chief among us, for it is better to die than to live
|
|
after having missed the prize that we have so long striven for, and
|
|
which has brought us so long together. Some one of us is even now hoping
|
|
and praying that he may marry Penelope, but when he has seen this bow
|
|
and tried it, let him woo and make bridal offerings to some other woman,
|
|
and let Penelope marry whoever makes her the best offer and whose lot it
|
|
is to win her."
|
|
On this he put the bow down, letting it lean against the door, {164}
|
|
with the arrow standing against the tip of the bow. Then he took his
|
|
seat again on the seat from which he had risen; and Antinous rebuked him
|
|
saying:
|
|
"Leiodes, what are you talking about? Your words are monstrous and
|
|
intolerable; it makes me angry to listen to you. Shall, then, this bow
|
|
take the life of many a chief among us, merely because you cannot bend
|
|
it yourself? True, you were not born to be an archer, but there are
|
|
others who will soon string it."
|
|
Then he said to Melanthius the goatherd, "Look sharp, light a fire in
|
|
the court, and set a seat hard by with a sheep skin on it; bring us also
|
|
a large ball of lard, from what they have in the house. Let us warm the
|
|
bow and grease it--we will then make trial of it again, and bring the
|
|
contest to an end."
|
|
Melanthius lit the fire, and set a seat covered with sheep skins beside
|
|
it. He also brought a great ball of lard from what they had in the
|
|
house, and the suitors warmed the bow and again made trial of it, but
|
|
they were none of them nearly strong enough to string it. Nevertheless
|
|
there still remained Antinous and Eurymachus, who were the ringleaders
|
|
among the suitors and much the foremost among them all.
|
|
Then the swineherd and the stockman left the cloisters together, and
|
|
Ulysses followed them. When they had got outside the gates and the outer
|
|
yard, Ulysses said to them quietly:
|
|
"Stockman, and you swineherd, I have something in my mind which I am in
|
|
doubt whether to say or no; but I think I will say it. What manner of
|
|
men would you be to stand by Ulysses, if some god should bring him back
|
|
here all of a sudden? Say which you are disposed to do--to side with the
|
|
suitors, or with Ulysses?"
|
|
"Father Jove," answered the stockman, "would indeed that you might so
|
|
ordain it. If some god were but to bring Ulysses back, you should see
|
|
with what might and main I would fight for him."
|
|
In like words Eumaeus prayed to all the gods that Ulysses might return;
|
|
when, therefore, he saw for certain what mind they were of, Ulysses
|
|
said, "It is I, Ulysses, who am here. I have suffered much, but at last,
|
|
in the twentieth year, I am come back to my own country. I find that you
|
|
two alone of all my servants are glad that I should do so, for I
|
|
have not heard any of the others praying for my return. To you two,
|
|
therefore, will I unfold the truth as it shall be. If heaven shall
|
|
deliver the suitors into my hands, I will find wives for both of you,
|
|
will give you house and holding close to my own, and you shall be to me
|
|
as though you were brothers and friends of Telemachus. I will now give
|
|
you convincing proofs that you may know me and be assured. See, here is
|
|
the scar from the boar's tooth that ripped me when I was out hunting on
|
|
Mt. Parnassus with the sons of Autolycus."
|
|
As he spoke he drew his rags aside from the great scar, and when they
|
|
had examined it thoroughly, they both of them wept about Ulysses, threw
|
|
their arms round him, and kissed his head and shoulders, while Ulysses
|
|
kissed their hands and faces in return. The sun would have gone down
|
|
upon their mourning if Ulysses had not checked them and said:
|
|
"Cease your weeping, lest some one should come outside and see us, and
|
|
tell those who are within. When you go in, do so separately, not both
|
|
together; I will go first, and do you follow afterwards; let this
|
|
moreover be the token between us; the suitors will all of them try to
|
|
prevent me from getting hold of the bow and quiver; do you, therefore,
|
|
Eumaeus, place it in my hands when you are carrying it about, and
|
|
tell the women to close the doors of their apartment. If they hear any
|
|
groaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house, they must not
|
|
come out; they must keep quiet, and stay where they are at their work.
|
|
And I charge you, Philoetius, to make fast the doors of the outer court,
|
|
and to bind them securely at once."
|
|
When he had thus spoken, he went back to the house and took the seat
|
|
that he had left. Presently, his two servants followed him inside.
|
|
At this moment the bow was in the hands of Eurymachus, who was warming
|
|
it by the fire, but even so he could not string it, and he was greatly
|
|
grieved. He heaved a deep sigh and said, "I grieve for myself and for us
|
|
all; I grieve that I shall have to forgo the marriage, but I do not care
|
|
nearly so much about this, for there are plenty of other women in Ithaca
|
|
and elsewhere; what I feel most is the fact of our being so inferior to
|
|
Ulysses in strength that we cannot string his bow. This will disgrace us
|
|
in the eyes of those who are yet unborn."
|
|
"It shall not be so, Eurymachus," said Antinous, "and you know it
|
|
yourself. Today is the feast of Apollo throughout all the land; who can
|
|
string a bow on such a day as this? Put it on one side--as for the axes
|
|
they can stay where they are, for no one is likely to come to the house
|
|
and take them away: let the cupbearer go round with his cups, that we
|
|
may make our drink-offerings and drop this matter of the bow; we will
|
|
tell Melanthius to bring us in some goats tomorrow--the best he has; we
|
|
can then offer thigh bones to Apollo the mighty archer, and again make
|
|
trial of the bow, so as to bring the contest to an end."
|
|
The rest approved his words, and thereon men servants poured water over
|
|
the hands of the guests, while pages filled the mixing-bowls with wine
|
|
and water and handed it round after giving every man his drink-offering.
|
|
Then, when they had made their offerings and had drunk each as much as
|
|
he desired, Ulysses craftily said:--
|
|
"Suitors of the illustrious queen, listen that I may speak even as I am
|
|
minded. I appeal more especially to Eurymachus, and to Antinous who
|
|
has just spoken with so much reason. Cease shooting for the present and
|
|
leave the matter to the gods, but in the morning let heaven give victory
|
|
to whom it will. For the moment, however, give me the bow that I may
|
|
prove the power of my hands among you all, and see whether I still have
|
|
as much strength as I used to have, or whether travel and neglect have
|
|
made an end of it."
|
|
This made them all very angry, for they feared he might string the bow,
|
|
Antinous therefore rebuked him fiercely saying, "Wretched creature, you
|
|
have not so much as a grain of sense in your whole body; you ought
|
|
to think yourself lucky in being allowed to dine unharmed among your
|
|
betters, without having any smaller portion served you than we others
|
|
have had, and in being allowed to hear our conversation. No other beggar
|
|
or stranger has been allowed to hear what we say among ourselves; the
|
|
wine must have been doing you a mischief, as it does with all those who
|
|
drink immoderately. It was wine that inflamed the Centaur Eurytion when
|
|
he was staying with Peirithous among the Lapithae. When the wine had
|
|
got into his head, he went mad and did ill deeds about the house of
|
|
Peirithous; this angered the heroes who were there assembled, so they
|
|
rushed at him and cut off his ears and nostrils; then they dragged him
|
|
through the doorway out of the house, so he went away crazed, and bore
|
|
the burden of his crime, bereft of understanding. Henceforth, therefore,
|
|
there was war between mankind and the centaurs, but he brought it upon
|
|
himself through his own drunkenness. In like manner I can tell you that
|
|
it will go hardly with you if you string the bow: you will find no mercy
|
|
from any one here, for we shall at once ship you off to king Echetus,
|
|
who kills every one that comes near him: you will never get away alive,
|
|
so drink and keep quiet without getting into a quarrel with men younger
|
|
than yourself."
|
|
Penelope then spoke to him. "Antinous," said she, "it is not right that
|
|
you should ill-treat any guest of Telemachus who comes to this house.
|
|
If the stranger should prove strong enough to string the mighty bow of
|
|
Ulysses, can you suppose that he would take me home with him and make me
|
|
his wife? Even the man himself can have no such idea in his mind:
|
|
none of you need let that disturb his feasting; it would be out of all
|
|
reason."
|
|
"Queen Penelope," answered Eurymachus, "we do not suppose that this man
|
|
will take you away with him; it is impossible; but we are afraid lest
|
|
some of the baser sort, men or women among the Achaeans, should go
|
|
gossiping about and say, 'These suitors are a feeble folk; they are
|
|
paying court to the wife of a brave man whose bow not one of them was
|
|
able to string, and yet a beggarly tramp who came to the house strung it
|
|
at once and sent an arrow through the iron.' This is what will be said,
|
|
and it will be a scandal against us."
|
|
"Eurymachus," Penelope answered, "people who persist in eating up the
|
|
estate of a great chieftain and dishonouring his house must not expect
|
|
others to think well of them. Why then should you mind if men talk as
|
|
you think they will? This stranger is strong and well-built, he says
|
|
moreover that he is of noble birth. Give him the bow, and let us see
|
|
whether he can string it or no. I say--and it shall surely be--that if
|
|
Apollo vouchsafes him the glory of stringing it, I will give him a cloak
|
|
and shirt of good wear, with a javelin to keep off dogs and robbers,
|
|
and a sharp sword. I will also give him sandals, and will see him sent
|
|
safely wherever he wants to go."
|
|
Then Telemachus said, "Mother, I am the only man either in Ithaca or in
|
|
the islands that are over against Elis who has the right to let any
|
|
one have the bow or to refuse it. No one shall force me one way or the
|
|
other, not even though I choose to make the stranger a present of the
|
|
bow outright, and let him take it away with him. Go, then, within the
|
|
house and busy yourself with your daily duties, your loom, your distaff,
|
|
and the ordering of your servants. This bow is a man's matter, and mine
|
|
above all others, for it is I who am master here."
|
|
She went wondering back into the house, and laid her son's saying in her
|
|
heart. Then going upstairs with her handmaids into her room, she mourned
|
|
her dear husband till Minerva sent sweet sleep over her eyelids.
|
|
The swineherd now took up the bow and was for taking it to Ulysses, but
|
|
the suitors clamoured at him from all parts of the cloisters, and one of
|
|
them said, "You idiot, where are you taking the bow to? Are you out of
|
|
your wits? If Apollo and the other gods will grant our prayer, your own
|
|
boarhounds shall get you into some quiet little place, and worry you to
|
|
death."
|
|
Eumaeus was frightened at the outcry they all raised, so he put the bow
|
|
down then and there, but Telemachus shouted out at him from the other
|
|
side of the cloisters, and threatened him saying, "Father Eumaeus,
|
|
bring the bow on in spite of them, or young as I am I will pelt you with
|
|
stones back to the country, for I am the better man of the two. I wish
|
|
I was as much stronger than all the other suitors in the house as I am
|
|
than you, I would soon send some of them off sick and sorry, for they
|
|
mean mischief."
|
|
Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily, which put them
|
|
in a better humour with Telemachus; so Eumaeus brought the bow on and
|
|
placed it in the hands of Ulysses. When he had done this, he called
|
|
Euryclea apart and said to her, "Euryclea, Telemachus says you are to
|
|
close the doors of the women's apartments. If they hear any groaning or
|
|
uproar as of men fighting about the house, they are not to come out, but
|
|
are to keep quiet and stay where they are at their work."
|
|
Euryclea did as she was told and closed the doors of the women's
|
|
apartments.
|
|
Meanwhile Philoetius slipped quietly out and made fast the gates of
|
|
the outer court. There was a ship's cable of byblus fibre lying in the
|
|
gatehouse, so he made the gates fast with it and then came in again,
|
|
resuming the seat that he had left, and keeping an eye on Ulysses, who
|
|
had now got the bow in his hands, and was turning it every way about,
|
|
and proving it all over to see whether the worms had been eating into
|
|
its two horns during his absence. Then would one turn towards his
|
|
neighbour saying, "This is some tricky old bow-fancier; either he has
|
|
got one like it at home, or he wants to make one, in such workmanlike
|
|
style does the old vagabond handle it."
|
|
Another said, "I hope he may be no more successful in other things than
|
|
he is likely to be in stringing this bow."
|
|
But Ulysses, when he had taken it up and examined it all over, strung it
|
|
as easily as a skilled bard strings a new peg of his lyre and makes
|
|
the twisted gut fast at both ends. Then he took it in his right hand
|
|
to prove the string, and it sang sweetly under his touch like the
|
|
twittering of a swallow. The suitors were dismayed, and turned colour
|
|
as they heard it; at that moment, moreover, Jove thundered loudly as a
|
|
sign, and the heart of Ulysses rejoiced as he heard the omen that the
|
|
son of scheming Saturn had sent him.
|
|
He took an arrow that was lying upon the table {165}--for those
|
|
which the Achaeans were so shortly about to taste were all inside the
|
|
quiver--he laid it on the centre-piece of the bow, and drew the notch of
|
|
the arrow and the string toward him, still seated on his seat. When
|
|
he had taken aim he let fly, and his arrow pierced every one of the
|
|
handle-holes of the axes from the first onwards till it had gone right
|
|
through them, and into the outer courtyard. Then he said to Telemachus:
|
|
"Your guest has not disgraced you, Telemachus. I did not miss what I
|
|
aimed at, and I was not long in stringing my bow. I am still strong, and
|
|
not as the suitors twit me with being. Now, however, it is time for
|
|
the Achaeans to prepare supper while there is still daylight, and
|
|
then otherwise to disport themselves with song and dance which are the
|
|
crowning ornaments of a banquet."
|
|
As he spoke he made a sign with his eyebrows, and Telemachus girded on
|
|
his sword, grasped his spear, and stood armed beside his father's seat.
|
|
Book XXII
|
|
THE KILLING OF THE SUITORS--THE MAIDS WHO HAVE MISCONDUCTED THEMSELVES
|
|
ARE MADE TO CLEANSE THE CLOISTERS AND ARE THEN HANGED.
|
|
Then Ulysses tore off his rags, and sprang on to the broad pavement
|
|
with his bow and his quiver full of arrows. He shed the arrows on to the
|
|
ground at his feet and said, "The mighty contest is at an end. I will
|
|
now see whether Apollo will vouchsafe it to me to hit another mark which
|
|
no man has yet hit."
|
|
On this he aimed a deadly arrow at Antinous, who was about to take up a
|
|
two-handled gold cup to drink his wine and already had it in his hands.
|
|
He had no thought of death--who amongst all the revellers would think
|
|
that one man, however brave, would stand alone among so many and kill
|
|
him? The arrow struck Antinous in the throat, and the point went clean
|
|
through his neck, so that he fell over and the cup dropped from his
|
|
hand, while a thick stream of blood gushed from his nostrils. He kicked
|
|
the table from him and upset the things on it, so that the bread and
|
|
roasted meats were all soiled as they fell over on to the ground. {166}
|
|
The suitors were in an uproar when they saw that a man had been hit;
|
|
they sprang in dismay one and all of them from their seats and looked
|
|
everywhere towards the walls, but there was neither shield nor spear,
|
|
and they rebuked Ulysses very angrily. "Stranger," said they, "you shall
|
|
pay for shooting people in this way: you shall see no other contest;
|
|
you are a doomed man; he whom you have slain was the foremost youth in
|
|
Ithaca, and the vultures shall devour you for having killed him."
|
|
Thus they spoke, for they thought that he had killed Antinous by
|
|
mistake, and did not perceive that death was hanging over the head of
|
|
every one of them. But Ulysses glared at them and said:
|
|
"Dogs, did you think that I should not come back from Troy? You have
|
|
wasted my substance, {167} have forced my women servants to lie with
|
|
you, and have wooed my wife while I was still living. You have feared
|
|
neither God nor man, and now you shall die."
|
|
They turned pale with fear as he spoke, and every man looked round about
|
|
to see whither he might fly for safety, but Eurymachus alone spoke.
|
|
"If you are Ulysses," said he, "then what you have said is just. We have
|
|
done much wrong on your lands and in your house. But Antinous who was
|
|
the head and front of the offending lies low already. It was all his
|
|
doing. It was not that he wanted to marry Penelope; he did not so much
|
|
care about that; what he wanted was something quite different, and Jove
|
|
has not vouchsafed it to him; he wanted to kill your son and to be chief
|
|
man in Ithaca. Now, therefore, that he has met the death which was his
|
|
due, spare the lives of your people. We will make everything good among
|
|
ourselves, and pay you in full for all that we have eaten and drunk.
|
|
Each one of us shall pay you a fine worth twenty oxen, and we will keep
|
|
on giving you gold and bronze till your heart is softened. Until we have
|
|
done this no one can complain of your being enraged against us."
|
|
Ulysses again glared at him and said, "Though you should give me all
|
|
that you have in the world both now and all that you ever shall have,
|
|
I will not stay my hand till I have paid all of you in full. You must
|
|
fight, or fly for your lives; and fly, not a man of you shall."
|
|
Their hearts sank as they heard him, but Eurymachus again spoke saying:
|
|
"My friends, this man will give us no quarter. He will stand where he
|
|
is and shoot us down till he has killed every man among us. Let us then
|
|
show fight; draw your swords, and hold up the tables to shield you
|
|
from his arrows. Let us have at him with a rush, to drive him from the
|
|
pavement and doorway: we can then get through into the town, and raise
|
|
such an alarm as shall soon stay his shooting."
|
|
As he spoke he drew his keen blade of bronze, sharpened on both sides,
|
|
and with a loud cry sprang towards Ulysses, but Ulysses instantly shot
|
|
an arrow into his breast that caught him by the nipple and fixed itself
|
|
in his liver. He dropped his sword and fell doubled up over his table.
|
|
The cup and all the meats went over on to the ground as he smote the
|
|
earth with his forehead in the agonies of death, and he kicked the stool
|
|
with his feet until his eyes were closed in darkness.
|
|
Then Amphinomus drew his sword and made straight at Ulysses to try and
|
|
get him away from the door; but Telemachus was too quick for him, and
|
|
struck him from behind; the spear caught him between the shoulders and
|
|
went right through his chest, so that he fell heavily to the ground and
|
|
struck the earth with his forehead. Then Telemachus sprang away from
|
|
him, leaving his spear still in the body, for he feared that if he
|
|
stayed to draw it out, some one of the Achaeans might come up and hack
|
|
at him with his sword, or knock him down, so he set off at a run, and
|
|
immediately was at his father's side. Then he said:
|
|
"Father, let me bring you a shield, two spears, and a brass helmet for
|
|
your temples. I will arm myself as well, and will bring other armour for
|
|
the swineherd and the stockman, for we had better be armed."
|
|
"Run and fetch them," answered Ulysses, "while my arrows hold out, or
|
|
when I am alone they may get me away from the door."
|
|
Telemachus did as his father said, and went off to the store room where
|
|
the armour was kept. He chose four shields, eight spears, and four brass
|
|
helmets with horse-hair plumes. He brought them with all speed to his
|
|
father, and armed himself first, while the stockman and the swineherd
|
|
also put on their armour, and took their places near Ulysses. Meanwhile
|
|
Ulysses, as long as his arrows lasted, had been shooting the suitors one
|
|
by one, and they fell thick on one another: when his arrows gave out, he
|
|
set the bow to stand against the end wall of the house by the door post,
|
|
and hung a shield four hides thick about his shoulders; on his comely
|
|
head he set his helmet, well wrought with a crest of horse-hair that
|
|
nodded menacingly above it, {168} and he grasped two redoubtable
|
|
bronze-shod spears.
|
|
Now there was a trap door {169} on the wall, while at one end of the
|
|
pavement {170} there was an exit leading to a narrow passage, and this
|
|
exit was closed by a well-made door. Ulysses told Philoetius to stand by
|
|
this door and guard it, for only one person could attack it at a time.
|
|
But Agelaus shouted out, "Cannot some one go up to the trap door and
|
|
tell the people what is going on? Help would come at once, and we should
|
|
soon make an end of this man and his shooting."
|
|
"This may not be, Agelaus," answered Melanthius, "the mouth of the
|
|
narrow passage is dangerously near the entrance to the outer court. One
|
|
brave man could prevent any number from getting in. But I know what I
|
|
will do, I will bring you arms from the store-room, for I am sure it is
|
|
there that Ulysses and his son have put them."
|
|
On this the goatherd Melanthius went by back passages to the store-room
|
|
of Ulysses' house. There he chose twelve shields, with as many helmets
|
|
and spears, and brought them back as fast as he could to give them to
|
|
the suitors. Ulysses' heart began to fail him when he saw the suitors
|
|
{171} putting on their armour and brandishing their spears. He saw the
|
|
greatness of the danger, and said to Telemachus, "Some one of the women
|
|
inside is helping the suitors against us, or it may be Melanthius."
|
|
Telemachus answered, "The fault, father, is mine, and mine only; I left
|
|
the store room door open, and they have kept a sharper look out than
|
|
I have. Go, Eumaeus, put the door to, and see whether it is one of the
|
|
women who is doing this, or whether, as I suspect, it is Melanthius the
|
|
son of Dolius."
|
|
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Melanthius was again going to the
|
|
store room to fetch more armour, but the swineherd saw him and said to
|
|
Ulysses who was beside him, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, it is that
|
|
scoundrel Melanthius, just as we suspected, who is going to the store
|
|
room. Say, shall I kill him, if I can get the better of him, or shall
|
|
I bring him here that you may take your own revenge for all the many
|
|
wrongs that he has done in your house?"
|
|
Ulysses answered, "Telemachus and I will hold these suitors in check, no
|
|
matter what they do; go back both of you and bind Melanthius' hands and
|
|
feet behind him. Throw him into the store room and make the door fast
|
|
behind you; then fasten a noose about his body, and string him close up
|
|
to the rafters from a high bearing-post, {172} that he may linger on in
|
|
an agony."
|
|
Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said; they went to the
|
|
store room, which they entered before Melanthius saw them, for he was
|
|
busy searching for arms in the innermost part of the room, so the
|
|
two took their stand on either side of the door and waited. By and by
|
|
Melanthius came out with a helmet in one hand, and an old dry-rotted
|
|
shield in the other, which had been borne by Laertes when he was young,
|
|
but which had been long since thrown aside, and the straps had become
|
|
unsewn; on this the two seized him, dragged him back by the hair, and
|
|
threw him struggling to the ground. They bent his hands and feet well
|
|
behind his back, and bound them tight with a painful bond as Ulysses had
|
|
told them; then they fastened a noose about his body and strung him up
|
|
from a high pillar till he was close up to the rafters, and over him did
|
|
you then vaunt, O swineherd Eumaeus saying, "Melanthius, you will pass
|
|
the night on a soft bed as you deserve. You will know very well when
|
|
morning comes from the streams of Oceanus, and it is time for you to be
|
|
driving in your goats for the suitors to feast on."
|
|
There, then, they left him in very cruel bondage, and having put on
|
|
their armour they closed the door behind them and went back to take
|
|
their places by the side of Ulysses; whereon the four men stood in the
|
|
cloister, fierce and full of fury; nevertheless, those who were in the
|
|
body of the court were still both brave and many. Then Jove's daughter
|
|
Minerva came up to them, having assumed the voice and form of Mentor.
|
|
Ulysses was glad when he saw her and said, "Mentor, lend me your help,
|
|
and forget not your old comrade, nor the many good turns he has done
|
|
you. Besides, you are my age-mate."
|
|
But all the time he felt sure it was Minerva, and the suitors from the
|
|
other side raised an uproar when they saw her. Agelaus was the first to
|
|
reproach her. "Mentor," he cried, "do not let Ulysses beguile you into
|
|
siding with him and fighting the suitors. This is what we will do: when
|
|
we have killed these people, father and son, we will kill you too. You
|
|
shall pay for it with your head, and when we have killed you, we will
|
|
take all you have, in doors or out, and bring it into hotch-pot with
|
|
Ulysses' property; we will not let your sons live in your house, nor
|
|
your daughters, nor shall your widow continue to live in the city of
|
|
Ithaca."
|
|
This made Minerva still more furious, so she scolded Ulysses very
|
|
angrily. {173} "Ulysses," said she, "your strength and prowess are no
|
|
longer what they were when you fought for nine long years among the
|
|
Trojans about the noble lady Helen. You killed many a man in those days,
|
|
and it was through your stratagem that Priam's city was taken. How comes
|
|
it that you are so lamentably less valiant now that you are on your own
|
|
ground, face to face with the suitors in your own house? Come on, my
|
|
good fellow, stand by my side and see how Mentor, son of Alcimus shall
|
|
fight your foes and requite your kindnesses conferred upon him."
|
|
But she would not give him full victory as yet, for she wished still
|
|
further to prove his own prowess and that of his brave son, so she flew
|
|
up to one of the rafters in the roof of the cloister and sat upon it in
|
|
the form of a swallow.
|
|
Meanwhile Agelaus son of Damastor, Eurynomus, Amphimedon, Demoptolemus,
|
|
Pisander, and Polybus son of Polyctor bore the brunt of the fight upon
|
|
the suitors' side; of all those who were still fighting for their lives
|
|
they were by far the most valiant, for the others had already fallen
|
|
under the arrows of Ulysses. Agelaus shouted to them and said, "My
|
|
friends, he will soon have to leave off, for Mentor has gone away after
|
|
having done nothing for him but brag. They are standing at the doors
|
|
unsupported. Do not aim at him all at once, but six of you throw your
|
|
spears first, and see if you cannot cover yourselves with glory by
|
|
killing him. When he has fallen we need not be uneasy about the others."
|
|
They threw their spears as he bade them, but Minerva made them all of
|
|
no effect. One hit the door post; another went against the door; the
|
|
pointed shaft of another struck the wall; and as soon as they had
|
|
avoided all the spears of the suitors Ulysses said to his own men, "My
|
|
friends, I should say we too had better let drive into the middle of
|
|
them, or they will crown all the harm they have done us by killing us
|
|
outright."
|
|
They therefore aimed straight in front of them and threw their spears.
|
|
Ulysses killed Demoptolemus, Telemachus Euryades, Eumaeus Elatus, while
|
|
the stockman killed Pisander. These all bit the dust, and as the others
|
|
drew back into a corner Ulysses and his men rushed forward and regained
|
|
their spears by drawing them from the bodies of the dead.
|
|
The suitors now aimed a second time, but again Minerva made their
|
|
weapons for the most part without effect. One hit a bearing-post of
|
|
the cloister; another went against the door; while the pointed shaft of
|
|
another struck the wall. Still, Amphimedon just took a piece of the
|
|
top skin from off Telemachus's wrist, and Ctesippus managed to graze
|
|
Eumaeus's shoulder above his shield; but the spear went on and fell
|
|
to the ground. Then Ulysses and his men let drive into the crowd of
|
|
suitors. Ulysses hit Eurydamas, Telemachus Amphimedon, and Eumaeus
|
|
Polybus. After this the stockman hit Ctesippus in the breast, and
|
|
taunted him saying, "Foul-mouthed son of Polytherses, do not be so
|
|
foolish as to talk wickedly another time, but let heaven direct your
|
|
speech, for the gods are far stronger than men. I make you a present of
|
|
this advice to repay you for the foot which you gave Ulysses when he was
|
|
begging about in his own house."
|
|
Thus spoke the stockman, and Ulysses struck the son of Damastor with a
|
|
spear in close fight, while Telemachus hit Leocritus son of Evenor in
|
|
the belly, and the dart went clean through him, so that he fell forward
|
|
full on his face upon the ground. Then Minerva from her seat on the
|
|
rafter held up her deadly aegis, and the hearts of the suitors quailed.
|
|
They fled to the other end of the court like a herd of cattle maddened
|
|
by the gadfly in early summer when the days are at their longest. As
|
|
eagle-beaked, crook-taloned vultures from the mountains swoop down on
|
|
the smaller birds that cower in flocks upon the ground, and kill
|
|
them, for they cannot either fight or fly, and lookers on enjoy the
|
|
sport--even so did Ulysses and his men fall upon the suitors and smite
|
|
them on every side. They made a horrible groaning as their brains were
|
|
being battered in, and the ground seethed with their blood.
|
|
Leiodes then caught the knees of Ulysses and said, "Ulysses I beseech
|
|
you have mercy upon me and spare me. I never wronged any of the women in
|
|
your house either in word or deed, and I tried to stop the others. I
|
|
saw them, but they would not listen, and now they are paying for their
|
|
folly. I was their sacrificing priest; if you kill me, I shall die
|
|
without having done anything to deserve it, and shall have got no thanks
|
|
for all the good that I did."
|
|
Ulysses looked sternly at him and answered, "If you were their
|
|
sacrificing priest, you must have prayed many a time that it might be
|
|
long before I got home again, and that you might marry my wife and have
|
|
children by her. Therefore you shall die."
|
|
With these words he picked up the sword that Agelaus had dropped when
|
|
he was being killed, and which was lying upon the ground. Then he struck
|
|
Leiodes on the back of his neck, so that his head fell rolling in the
|
|
dust while he was yet speaking.
|
|
The minstrel Phemius son of Terpes--he who had been forced by the
|
|
suitors to sing to them--now tried to save his life. He was standing
|
|
near towards the trap door, {174} and held his lyre in his hand. He did
|
|
not know whether to fly out of the cloister and sit down by the altar of
|
|
Jove that was in the outer court, and on which both Laertes and Ulysses
|
|
had offered up the thigh bones of many an ox, or whether to go straight
|
|
up to Ulysses and embrace his knees, but in the end he deemed it best
|
|
to embrace Ulysses' knees. So he laid his lyre on the ground between the
|
|
mixing bowl {175} and the silver-studded seat; then going up to Ulysses
|
|
he caught hold of his knees and said, "Ulysses, I beseech you have mercy
|
|
on me and spare me. You will be sorry for it afterwards if you kill a
|
|
bard who can sing both for gods and men as I can. I make all my lays
|
|
myself, and heaven visits me with every kind of inspiration. I would
|
|
sing to you as though you were a god, do not therefore be in such a
|
|
hurry to cut my head off. Your own son Telemachus will tell you that I
|
|
did not want to frequent your house and sing to the suitors after their
|
|
meals, but they were too many and too strong for me, so they made me."
|
|
Telemachus heard him, and at once went up to his father. "Hold!" he
|
|
cried, "the man is guiltless, do him no hurt; and we will spare Medon
|
|
too, who was always good to me when I was a boy, unless Philoetius or
|
|
Eumaeus has already killed him, or he has fallen in your way when you
|
|
were raging about the court."
|
|
Medon caught these words of Telemachus, for he was crouching under a
|
|
seat beneath which he had hidden by covering himself up with a freshly
|
|
flayed heifer's hide, so he threw off the hide, went up to Telemachus,
|
|
and laid hold of his knees.
|
|
"Here I am, my dear sir," said he, "stay your hand therefore, and tell
|
|
your father, or he will kill me in his rage against the suitors for
|
|
having wasted his substance and been so foolishly disrespectful to
|
|
yourself."
|
|
Ulysses smiled at him and answered, "Fear not; Telemachus has saved your
|
|
life, that you may know in future, and tell other people, how greatly
|
|
better good deeds prosper than evil ones. Go, therefore, outside
|
|
the cloisters into the outer court, and be out of the way of the
|
|
slaughter--you and the bard--while I finish my work here inside."
|
|
The pair went into the outer court as fast as they could, and sat down
|
|
by Jove's great altar, looking fearfully round, and still expecting that
|
|
they would be killed. Then Ulysses searched the whole court carefully
|
|
over, to see if anyone had managed to hide himself and was still living,
|
|
but he found them all lying in the dust and weltering in their blood.
|
|
They were like fishes which fishermen have netted out of the sea, and
|
|
thrown upon the beach to lie gasping for water till the heat of the sun
|
|
makes an end of them. Even so were the suitors lying all huddled up one
|
|
against the other.
|
|
Then Ulysses said to Telemachus, "Call nurse Euryclea; I have something
|
|
to say to her."
|
|
Telemachus went and knocked at the door of the women's room. "Make
|
|
haste," said he, "you old woman who have been set over all the other
|
|
women in the house. Come outside; my father wishes to speak to you."
|
|
When Euryclea heard this she unfastened the door of the women's room
|
|
and came out, following Telemachus. She found Ulysses among the
|
|
corpses bespattered with blood and filth like a lion that has just been
|
|
devouring an ox, and his breast and both his cheeks are all bloody, so
|
|
that he is a fearful sight; even so was Ulysses besmirched from head
|
|
to foot with gore. When she saw all the corpses and such a quantity of
|
|
blood, she was beginning to cry out for joy, for she saw that a great
|
|
deed had been done; but Ulysses checked her, "Old woman," said he,
|
|
"rejoice in silence; restrain yourself, and do not make any noise about
|
|
it; it is an unholy thing to vaunt over dead men. Heaven's doom and
|
|
their own evil deeds have brought these men to destruction, for they
|
|
respected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor poor, who came
|
|
near them, and they have come to a bad end as a punishment for their
|
|
wickedness and folly. Now, however, tell me which of the women in the
|
|
house have misconducted themselves, and who are innocent." {176}
|
|
"I will tell you the truth, my son," answered Euryclea. "There are fifty
|
|
women in the house whom we teach to do things, such as carding wool,
|
|
and all kinds of household work. Of these, twelve in all {177} have
|
|
misbehaved, and have been wanting in respect to me, and also to
|
|
Penelope. They showed no disrespect to Telemachus, for he has only
|
|
lately grown and his mother never permitted him to give orders to the
|
|
female servants; but let me go upstairs and tell your wife all that has
|
|
happened, for some god has been sending her to sleep."
|
|
"Do not wake her yet," answered Ulysses, "but tell the women who have
|
|
misconducted themselves to come to me."
|
|
Euryclea left the cloister to tell the women, and make them come to
|
|
Ulysses; in the meantime he called Telemachus, the stockman, and the
|
|
swineherd. "Begin," said he, "to remove the dead, and make the women
|
|
help you. Then, get sponges and clean water to swill down the tables and
|
|
seats. When you have thoroughly cleansed the whole cloisters, take the
|
|
women into the space between the domed room and the wall of the outer
|
|
court, and run them through with your swords till they are quite dead,
|
|
and have forgotten all about love and the way in which they used to lie
|
|
in secret with the suitors."
|
|
On this the women came down in a body, weeping and wailing bitterly.
|
|
First they carried the dead bodies out, and propped them up against one
|
|
another in the gatehouse. Ulysses ordered them about and made them do
|
|
their work quickly, so they had to carry the bodies out. When they had
|
|
done this, they cleaned all the tables and seats with sponges and water,
|
|
while Telemachus and the two others shovelled up the blood and dirt from
|
|
the ground, and the women carried it all away and put it out of doors.
|
|
Then when they had made the whole place quite clean and orderly, they
|
|
took the women out and hemmed them in the narrow space between the wall
|
|
of the domed room and that of the yard, so that they could not get away:
|
|
and Telemachus said to the other two, "I shall not let these women die
|
|
a clean death, for they were insolent to me and my mother, and used to
|
|
sleep with the suitors."
|
|
So saying he made a ship's cable fast to one of the bearing-posts that
|
|
supported the roof of the domed room, and secured it all around the
|
|
building, at a good height, lest any of the women's feet should touch
|
|
the ground; and as thrushes or doves beat against a net that has been
|
|
set for them in a thicket just as they were getting to their nest, and a
|
|
terrible fate awaits them, even so did the women have to put their heads
|
|
in nooses one after the other and die most miserably. {178} Their feet
|
|
moved convulsively for a while, but not for very long.
|
|
As for Melanthius, they took him through the cloister into the inner
|
|
court. There they cut off his nose and his ears; they drew out his
|
|
vitals and gave them to the dogs raw, and then in their fury they cut
|
|
off his hands and his feet.
|
|
When they had done this they washed their hands and feet and went back
|
|
into the house, for all was now over; and Ulysses said to the dear old
|
|
nurse Euryclea, "Bring me sulphur, which cleanses all pollution, and
|
|
fetch fire also that I may burn it, and purify the cloisters. Go,
|
|
moreover, and tell Penelope to come here with her attendants, and also
|
|
all the maidservants that are in the house."
|
|
"All that you have said is true," answered Euryclea, "but let me bring
|
|
you some clean clothes--a shirt and cloak. Do not keep these rags on
|
|
your back any longer. It is not right."
|
|
"First light me a fire," replied Ulysses.
|
|
She brought the fire and sulphur, as he had bidden her, and Ulysses
|
|
thoroughly purified the cloisters and both the inner and outer courts.
|
|
Then she went inside to call the women and tell them what had happened;
|
|
whereon they came from their apartment with torches in their hands, and
|
|
pressed round Ulysses to embrace him, kissing his head and shoulders and
|
|
taking hold of his hands. It made him feel as if he should like to weep,
|
|
for he remembered every one of them. {179}
|
|
Book XXIII
|
|
PENELOPE EVENTUALLY RECOGNISES HER HUSBAND--EARLY IN THE MORNING
|
|
ULYSSES, TELEMACHUS, EUMAEUS, AND PHILOETIUS LEAVE THE TOWN.
|
|
Euryclea now went upstairs laughing to tell her mistress that her dear
|
|
husband had come home. Her aged knees became young again and her feet
|
|
were nimble for joy as she went up to her mistress and bent over her
|
|
head to speak to her. "Wake up Penelope, my dear child," she exclaimed,
|
|
"and see with your own eyes something that you have been wanting this
|
|
long time past. Ulysses has at last indeed come home again, and has
|
|
killed the suitors who were giving so much trouble in his house, eating
|
|
up his estate and ill treating his son."
|
|
"My good nurse," answered Penelope, "you must be mad. The gods sometimes
|
|
send some very sensible people out of their minds, and make foolish
|
|
people become sensible. This is what they must have been doing to you;
|
|
for you always used to be a reasonable person. Why should you thus mock
|
|
me when I have trouble enough already--talking such nonsense, and waking
|
|
me up out of a sweet sleep that had taken possession of my eyes and
|
|
closed them? I have never slept so soundly from the day my poor husband
|
|
went to that city with the ill-omened name. Go back again into the
|
|
women's room; if it had been any one else who had woke me up to bring me
|
|
such absurd news I should have sent her away with a severe scolding. As
|
|
it is your age shall protect you."
|
|
"My dear child," answered Euryclea, "I am not mocking you. It is quite
|
|
true as I tell you that Ulysses is come home again. He was the stranger
|
|
whom they all kept on treating so badly in the cloister. Telemachus knew
|
|
all the time that he was come back, but kept his father's secret that he
|
|
might have his revenge on all these wicked people."
|
|
Then Penelope sprang up from her couch, threw her arms round Euryclea,
|
|
and wept for joy. "But my dear nurse," said she, "explain this to me;
|
|
if he has really come home as you say, how did he manage to overcome the
|
|
wicked suitors single handed, seeing what a number of them there always
|
|
were?"
|
|
"I was not there," answered Euryclea, "and do not know; I only heard
|
|
them groaning while they were being killed. We sat crouching and huddled
|
|
up in a corner of the women's room with the doors closed, till your
|
|
son came to fetch me because his father sent him. Then I found Ulysses
|
|
standing over the corpses that were lying on the ground all round him,
|
|
one on top of the other. You would have enjoyed it if you could have
|
|
seen him standing there all bespattered with blood and filth, and
|
|
looking just like a lion. But the corpses are now all piled up in the
|
|
gatehouse that is in the outer court, and Ulysses has lit a great fire
|
|
to purify the house with sulphur. He has sent me to call you, so come
|
|
with me that you may both be happy together after all; for now at last
|
|
the desire of your heart has been fulfilled; your husband is come home
|
|
to find both wife and son alive and well, and to take his revenge in his
|
|
own house on the suitors who behaved so badly to him."
|
|
"My dear nurse," said Penelope, "do not exult too confidently over all
|
|
this. You know how delighted every one would be to see Ulysses come
|
|
home--more particularly myself, and the son who has been born to both
|
|
of us; but what you tell me cannot be really true. It is some god who is
|
|
angry with the suitors for their great wickedness, and has made an end
|
|
of them; for they respected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor
|
|
poor, who came near them, and they have come to a bad end in consequence
|
|
of their iniquity; Ulysses is dead far away from the Achaean land; he
|
|
will never return home again."
|
|
Then nurse Euryclea said, "My child, what are you talking about? but you
|
|
were all hard of belief and have made up your mind that your husband is
|
|
never coming, although he is in the house and by his own fire side
|
|
at this very moment. Besides I can give you another proof; when I was
|
|
washing him I perceived the scar which the wild boar gave him, and I
|
|
wanted to tell you about it, but in his wisdom he would not let me, and
|
|
clapped his hands over my mouth; so come with me and I will make this
|
|
bargain with you--if I am deceiving you, you may have me killed by the
|
|
most cruel death you can think of."
|
|
"My dear nurse," said Penelope, "however wise you may be you can hardly
|
|
fathom the counsels of the gods. Nevertheless, we will go in search of
|
|
my son, that I may see the corpses of the suitors, and the man who has
|
|
killed them."
|
|
On this she came down from her upper room, and while doing so she
|
|
considered whether she should keep at a distance from her husband and
|
|
question him, or whether she should at once go up to him and embrace
|
|
him. When, however, she had crossed the stone floor of the cloister, she
|
|
sat down opposite Ulysses by the fire, against the wall at right angles
|
|
{180} [to that by which she had entered], while Ulysses sat near one of
|
|
the bearing-posts, looking upon the ground, and waiting to see what his
|
|
brave wife would say to him when she saw him. For a long time she sat
|
|
silent and as one lost in amazement. At one moment she looked him full
|
|
in the face, but then again directly, she was misled by his shabby
|
|
clothes and failed to recognise him, {181} till Telemachus began to
|
|
reproach her and said:
|
|
"Mother--but you are so hard that I cannot call you by such a name--why
|
|
do you keep away from my father in this way? Why do you not sit by his
|
|
side and begin talking to him and asking him questions? No other woman
|
|
could bear to keep away from her husband when he had come back to her
|
|
after twenty years of absence, and after having gone through so much;
|
|
but your heart always was as hard as a stone."
|
|
Penelope answered, "My son, I am so lost in astonishment that I can find
|
|
no words in which either to ask questions or to answer them. I cannot
|
|
even look him straight in the face. Still, if he really is Ulysses
|
|
come back to his own home again, we shall get to understand one another
|
|
better by and by, for there are tokens with which we two are alone
|
|
acquainted, and which are hidden from all others."
|
|
Ulysses smiled at this, and said to Telemachus, "Let your mother put me
|
|
to any proof she likes; she will make up her mind about it presently.
|
|
She rejects me for the moment and believes me to be somebody else,
|
|
because I am covered with dirt and have such bad clothes on; let us,
|
|
however, consider what we had better do next. When one man has killed
|
|
another--even though he was not one who would leave many friends to take
|
|
up his quarrel--the man who has killed him must still say good bye to
|
|
his friends and fly the country; whereas we have been killing the stay
|
|
of a whole town, and all the picked youth of Ithaca. I would have you
|
|
consider this matter."
|
|
"Look to it yourself, father," answered Telemachus, "for they say you
|
|
are the wisest counsellor in the world, and that there is no other
|
|
mortal man who can compare with you. We will follow you with right good
|
|
will, nor shall you find us fail you in so far as our strength holds
|
|
out."
|
|
"I will say what I think will be best," answered Ulysses. "First wash
|
|
and put your shirts on; tell the maids also to go to their own room and
|
|
dress; Phemius shall then strike up a dance tune on his lyre, so that if
|
|
people outside hear, or any of the neighbours, or some one going along
|
|
the street happens to notice it, they may think there is a wedding in
|
|
the house, and no rumours about the death of the suitors will get about
|
|
in the town, before we can escape to the woods upon my own land. Once
|
|
there, we will settle which of the courses heaven vouchsafes us shall
|
|
seem wisest."
|
|
Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. First they washed
|
|
and put their shirts on, while the women got ready. Then Phemius took
|
|
his lyre and set them all longing for sweet song and stately dance. The
|
|
house re-echoed with the sound of men and women dancing, and the people
|
|
outside said, "I suppose the queen has been getting married at last.
|
|
She ought to be ashamed of herself for not continuing to protect her
|
|
husband's property until he comes home." {182}
|
|
This was what they said, but they did not know what it was that had been
|
|
happening. The upper servant Eurynome washed and anointed Ulysses in his
|
|
own house and gave him a shirt and cloak, while Minerva made him look
|
|
taller and stronger than before; she also made the hair grow thick on
|
|
the top of his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms; she
|
|
glorified him about the head and shoulders just as a skilful workman who
|
|
has studied art of all kinds under Vulcan or Minerva--and his work is
|
|
full of beauty--enriches a piece of silver plate by gilding it. He came
|
|
from the bath looking like one of the immortals, and sat down opposite
|
|
his wife on the seat he had left. "My dear," said he, "heaven has
|
|
endowed you with a heart more unyielding than woman ever yet had. No
|
|
other woman could bear to keep away from her husband when he had come
|
|
back to her after twenty years of absence, and after having gone through
|
|
so much. But come, nurse, get a bed ready for me; I will sleep alone,
|
|
for this woman has a heart as hard as iron."
|
|
"My dear," answered Penelope, "I have no wish to set myself up, nor to
|
|
depreciate you; but I am not struck by your appearance, for I very well
|
|
remember what kind of a man you were when you set sail from Ithaca.
|
|
Nevertheless, Euryclea, take his bed outside the bed chamber that he
|
|
himself built. Bring the bed outside this room, and put bedding upon it
|
|
with fleeces, good coverlets, and blankets."
|
|
She said this to try him, but Ulysses was very angry and said, "Wife,
|
|
I am much displeased at what you have just been saying. Who has been
|
|
taking my bed from the place in which I left it? He must have found it a
|
|
hard task, no matter how skilled a workman he was, unless some god came
|
|
and helped him to shift it. There is no man living, however strong and
|
|
in his prime, who could move it from its place, for it is a marvellous
|
|
curiosity which I made with my very own hands. There was a young olive
|
|
growing within the precincts of the house, in full vigour, and about as
|
|
thick as a bearing-post. I built my room round this with strong walls
|
|
of stone and a roof to cover them, and I made the doors strong and
|
|
well-fitting. Then I cut off the top boughs of the olive tree and left
|
|
the stump standing. This I dressed roughly from the root upwards and
|
|
then worked with carpenter's tools well and skilfully, straightening
|
|
my work by drawing a line on the wood, and making it into a bed-prop.
|
|
I then bored a hole down the middle, and made it the centre-post of my
|
|
bed, at which I worked till I had finished it, inlaying it with gold and
|
|
silver; after this I stretched a hide of crimson leather from one side
|
|
of it to the other. So you see I know all about it, and I desire to
|
|
learn whether it is still there, or whether any one has been removing it
|
|
by cutting down the olive tree at its roots."
|
|
When she heard the sure proofs Ulysses now gave her, she fairly broke
|
|
down. She flew weeping to his side, flung her arms about his neck, and
|
|
kissed him. "Do not be angry with me Ulysses," she cried, "you, who are
|
|
the wisest of mankind. We have suffered, both of us. Heaven has denied
|
|
us the happiness of spending our youth, and of growing old, together; do
|
|
not then be aggrieved or take it amiss that I did not embrace you thus
|
|
as soon as I saw you. I have been shuddering all the time through fear
|
|
that someone might come here and deceive me with a lying story; for
|
|
there are many very wicked people going about. Jove's daughter Helen
|
|
would never have yielded herself to a man from a foreign country, if she
|
|
had known that the sons of Achaeans would come after her and bring her
|
|
back. Heaven put it in her heart to do wrong, and she gave no thought
|
|
to that sin, which has been the source of all our sorrows. Now, however,
|
|
that you have convinced me by showing that you know all about our
|
|
bed (which no human being has ever seen but you and I and a single
|
|
maidservant, the daughter of Actor, who was given me by my father on my
|
|
marriage, and who keeps the doors of our room) hard of belief though I
|
|
have been I can mistrust no longer."
|
|
Then Ulysses in his turn melted, and wept as he clasped his dear and
|
|
faithful wife to his bosom. As the sight of land is welcome to men who
|
|
are swimming towards the shore, when Neptune has wrecked their ship with
|
|
the fury of his winds and waves; a few alone reach the land, and these,
|
|
covered with brine, are thankful when they find themselves on firm
|
|
ground and out of danger--even so was her husband welcome to her as she
|
|
looked upon him, and she could not tear her two fair arms from about
|
|
his neck. Indeed they would have gone on indulging their sorrow till
|
|
rosy-fingered morn appeared, had not Minerva determined otherwise, and
|
|
held night back in the far west, while she would not suffer Dawn to
|
|
leave Oceanus, nor to yoke the two steeds Lampus and Phaethon that bear
|
|
her onward to break the day upon mankind.
|
|
At last, however, Ulysses said, "Wife, we have not yet reached the end
|
|
of our troubles. I have an unknown amount of toil still to undergo. It
|
|
is long and difficult, but I must go through with it, for thus the shade
|
|
of Teiresias prophesied concerning me, on the day when I went down into
|
|
Hades to ask about my return and that of my companions. But now let us
|
|
go to bed, that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon of sleep."
|
|
"You shall go to bed as soon as you please," replied Penelope, "now that
|
|
the gods have sent you home to your own good house and to your country.
|
|
But as heaven has put it in your mind to speak of it, tell me about the
|
|
task that lies before you. I shall have to hear about it later, so it is
|
|
better that I should be told at once."
|
|
"My dear," answered Ulysses, "why should you press me to tell you?
|
|
Still, I will not conceal it from you, though you will not like it. I do
|
|
not like it myself, for Teiresias bade me travel far and wide, carrying
|
|
an oar, till I came to a country where the people have never heard of
|
|
the sea, and do not even mix salt with their food. They know nothing
|
|
about ships, nor oars that are as the wings of a ship. He gave me this
|
|
certain token which I will not hide from you. He said that a wayfarer
|
|
should meet me and ask me whether it was a winnowing shovel that I had
|
|
on my shoulder. On this, I was to fix my oar in the ground and sacrifice
|
|
a ram, a bull, and a boar to Neptune; after which I was to go home and
|
|
offer hecatombs to all the gods in heaven, one after the other. As for
|
|
myself, he said that death should come to me from the sea, and that my
|
|
life should ebb away very gently when I was full of years and peace of
|
|
mind, and my people should bless me. All this, he said, should surely
|
|
come to pass."
|
|
And Penelope said, "If the gods are going to vouchsafe you a happier
|
|
time in your old age, you may hope then to have some respite from
|
|
misfortune."
|
|
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile Eurynome and the nurse took torches
|
|
and made the bed ready with soft coverlets; as soon as they had laid
|
|
them, the nurse went back into the house to go to her rest, leaving the
|
|
bed chamber woman Eurynome {183} to show Ulysses and Penelope to bed by
|
|
torch light. When she had conducted them to their room she went
|
|
back, and they then came joyfully to the rites of their own old bed.
|
|
Telemachus, Philoetius, and the swineherd now left off dancing, and made
|
|
the women leave off also. They then laid themselves down to sleep in the
|
|
cloisters.
|
|
When Ulysses and Penelope had had their fill of love they fell talking
|
|
with one another. She told him how much she had had to bear in seeing
|
|
the house filled with a crowd of wicked suitors who had killed so many
|
|
sheep and oxen on her account, and had drunk so many casks of wine.
|
|
Ulysses in his turn told her what he had suffered, and how much trouble
|
|
he had himself given to other people. He told her everything, and she
|
|
was so delighted to listen that she never went to sleep till he had
|
|
ended his whole story.
|
|
He began with his victory over the Cicons, and how he thence reached the
|
|
fertile land of the Lotus-eaters. He told her all about the Cyclops
|
|
and how he had punished him for having so ruthlessly eaten his brave
|
|
comrades; how he then went on to Aeolus, who received him hospitably and
|
|
furthered him on his way, but even so he was not to reach home, for to
|
|
his great grief a hurricane carried him out to sea again; how he went on
|
|
to the Laestrygonian city Telepylos, where the people destroyed all his
|
|
ships with their crews, save himself and his own ship only. Then he told
|
|
of cunning Circe and her craft, and how he sailed to the chill house of
|
|
Hades, to consult the ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias, and how he
|
|
saw his old comrades in arms, and his mother who bore him and brought
|
|
him up when he was a child; how he then heard the wondrous singing of
|
|
the Sirens, and went on to the wandering rocks and terrible Charybdis
|
|
and to Scylla, whom no man had ever yet passed in safety; how his men
|
|
then ate the cattle of the sun-god, and how Jove therefore struck the
|
|
ship with his thunderbolts, so that all his men perished together,
|
|
himself alone being left alive; how at last he reached the Ogygian
|
|
island and the nymph Calypso, who kept him there in a cave, and fed
|
|
him, and wanted him to marry her, in which case she intended making him
|
|
immortal so that he should never grow old, but she could not persuade
|
|
him to let her do so; and how after much suffering he had found his way
|
|
to the Phaeacians, who had treated him as though he had been a god, and
|
|
sent him back in a ship to his own country after having given him gold,
|
|
bronze, and raiment in great abundance. This was the last thing about
|
|
which he told her, for here a deep sleep took hold upon him and eased
|
|
the burden of his sorrows.
|
|
Then Minerva bethought her of another matter. When she deemed that
|
|
Ulysses had had both of his wife and of repose, she bade gold-enthroned
|
|
Dawn rise out of Oceanus that she might shed light upon mankind. On
|
|
this, Ulysses rose from his comfortable bed and said to Penelope,
|
|
"Wife, we have both of us had our full share of troubles, you, here, in
|
|
lamenting my absence, and I in being prevented from getting home though
|
|
I was longing all the time to do so. Now, however, that we have at last
|
|
come together, take care of the property that is in the house. As for
|
|
the sheep and goats which the wicked suitors have eaten, I will take
|
|
many myself by force from other people, and will compel the Achaeans to
|
|
make good the rest till they shall have filled all my yards. I am now
|
|
going to the wooded lands out in the country to see my father who has
|
|
so long been grieved on my account, and to yourself I will give these
|
|
instructions, though you have little need of them. At sunrise it will
|
|
at once get abroad that I have been killing the suitors; go upstairs,
|
|
therefore, {184} and stay there with your women. See nobody and ask no
|
|
questions." {185}
|
|
As he spoke he girded on his armour. Then he roused Telemachus,
|
|
Philoetius, and Eumaeus, and told them all to put on their armour also.
|
|
This they did, and armed themselves. When they had done so, they
|
|
opened the gates and sallied forth, Ulysses leading the way. It was now
|
|
daylight, but Minerva nevertheless concealed them in darkness and led
|
|
them quickly out of the town.
|
|
Book XXIV
|
|
THE GHOSTS OF THE SUITORS IN HADES--ULYSSES AND HIS MEN GO TO THE HOUSE
|
|
OF LAERTES--THE PEOPLE OF ITHACA COME OUT TO ATTACK ULYSSES, BUT MINERVA
|
|
CONCLUDES A PEACE.
|
|
Then Mercury of Cyllene summoned the ghosts of the suitors, and in his
|
|
hand he held the fair golden wand with which he seals men's eyes in
|
|
sleep or wakes them just as he pleases; with this he roused the ghosts
|
|
and led them, while they followed whining and gibbering behind him. As
|
|
bats fly squealing in the hollow of some great cave, when one of them
|
|
has fallen out of the cluster in which they hang, even so did the ghosts
|
|
whine and squeal as Mercury the healer of sorrow led them down into the
|
|
dark abode of death. When they had passed the waters of Oceanus and the
|
|
rock Leucas, they came to the gates of the sun and the land of dreams,
|
|
whereon they reached the meadow of asphodel where dwell the souls and
|
|
shadows of them that can labour no more.
|
|
Here they found the ghost of Achilles son of Peleus, with those of
|
|
Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax, who was the finest and handsomest man
|
|
of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus himself.
|
|
They gathered round the ghost of the son of Peleus, and the ghost of
|
|
Agamemnon joined them, sorrowing bitterly. Round him were gathered also
|
|
the ghosts of those who had perished with him in the house of Aegisthus;
|
|
and the ghost of Achilles spoke first.
|
|
"Son of Atreus," it said, "we used to say that Jove had loved you better
|
|
from first to last than any other hero, for you were captain over many
|
|
and brave men, when we were all fighting together before Troy; yet the
|
|
hand of death, which no mortal can escape, was laid upon you all too
|
|
early. Better for you had you fallen at Troy in the hey-day of your
|
|
renown, for the Achaeans would have built a mound over your ashes, and
|
|
your son would have been heir to your good name, whereas it has now been
|
|
your lot to come to a most miserable end."
|
|
"Happy son of Peleus," answered the ghost of Agamemnon, "for having
|
|
died at Troy far from Argos, while the bravest of the Trojans and the
|
|
Achaeans fell round you fighting for your body. There you lay in the
|
|
whirling clouds of dust, all huge and hugely, heedless now of your
|
|
chivalry. We fought the whole of the livelong day, nor should we ever
|
|
have left off if Jove had not sent a hurricane to stay us. Then, when we
|
|
had borne you to the ships out of the fray, we laid you on your bed and
|
|
cleansed your fair skin with warm water and with ointments. The Danaans
|
|
tore their hair and wept bitterly round about you. Your mother, when she
|
|
heard, came with her immortal nymphs from out of the sea, and the sound
|
|
of a great wailing went forth over the waters so that the Achaeans
|
|
quaked for fear. They would have fled panic-stricken to their ships had
|
|
not wise old Nestor whose counsel was ever truest checked them saying,
|
|
'Hold, Argives, fly not sons of the Achaeans, this is his mother coming
|
|
from the sea with her immortal nymphs to view the body of her son.'
|
|
"Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans feared no more. The daughters of the
|
|
old man of the sea stood round you weeping bitterly, and clothed you
|
|
in immortal raiment. The nine muses also came and lifted up their sweet
|
|
voices in lament--calling and answering one another; there was not an
|
|
Argive but wept for pity of the dirge they chaunted. Days and nights
|
|
seven and ten we mourned you, mortals and immortals, but on the
|
|
eighteenth day we gave you to the flames, and many a fat sheep with many
|
|
an ox did we slay in sacrifice around you. You were burnt in raiment of
|
|
the gods, with rich resins and with honey, while heroes, horse and foot,
|
|
clashed their armour round the pile as you were burning, with the tramp
|
|
as of a great multitude. But when the flames of heaven had done
|
|
their work, we gathered your white bones at daybreak and laid them in
|
|
ointments and in pure wine. Your mother brought us a golden vase to hold
|
|
them--gift of Bacchus, and work of Vulcan himself; in this we mingled
|
|
your bleached bones with those of Patroclus who had gone before you, and
|
|
separate we enclosed also those of Antilochus, who had been closer to
|
|
you than any other of your comrades now that Patroclus was no more.
|
|
"Over these the host of the Argives built a noble tomb, on a point
|
|
jutting out over the open Hellespont, that it might be seen from far
|
|
out upon the sea by those now living and by them that shall be born
|
|
hereafter. Your mother begged prizes from the gods, and offered them
|
|
to be contended for by the noblest of the Achaeans. You must have
|
|
been present at the funeral of many a hero, when the young men gird
|
|
themselves and make ready to contend for prizes on the death of some
|
|
great chieftain, but you never saw such prizes as silver-footed Thetis
|
|
offered in your honour; for the gods loved you well. Thus even in death
|
|
your fame, Achilles, has not been lost, and your name lives evermore
|
|
among all mankind. But as for me, what solace had I when the days of my
|
|
fighting were done? For Jove willed my destruction on my return, by the
|
|
hands of Aegisthus and those of my wicked wife."
|
|
Thus did they converse, and presently Mercury came up to them with the
|
|
ghosts of the suitors who had been killed by Ulysses. The ghosts of
|
|
Agamemnon and Achilles were astonished at seeing them, and went up
|
|
to them at once. The ghost of Agamemnon recognised Amphimedon son of
|
|
Melaneus, who lived in Ithaca and had been his host, so it began to talk
|
|
to him.
|
|
"Amphimedon," it said, "what has happened to all you fine young men--all
|
|
of an age too--that you are come down here under the ground? One could
|
|
pick no finer body of men from any city. Did Neptune raise his winds and
|
|
waves against you when you were at sea, or did your enemies make an end
|
|
of you on the mainland when you were cattle-lifting or sheep-stealing,
|
|
or while fighting in defence of their wives and city? Answer my
|
|
question, for I have been your guest. Do you not remember how I came to
|
|
your house with Menelaus, to persuade Ulysses to join us with his ships
|
|
against Troy? It was a whole month ere we could resume our voyage, for
|
|
we had hard work to persuade Ulysses to come with us."
|
|
And the ghost of Amphimedon answered, "Agamemnon, son of Atreus, king of
|
|
men, I remember everything that you have said, and will tell you fully
|
|
and accurately about the way in which our end was brought about. Ulysses
|
|
had been long gone, and we were courting his wife, who did not say point
|
|
blank that she would not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end, for she
|
|
meant to compass our destruction: this, then, was the trick she played
|
|
us. She set up a great tambour frame in her room and began to work on an
|
|
enormous piece of fine needlework. 'Sweethearts,' said she, 'Ulysses
|
|
is indeed dead, still, do not press me to marry again immediately;
|
|
wait--for I would not have my skill in needlework perish
|
|
unrecorded--till I have completed a pall for the hero Laertes, against
|
|
the time when death shall take him. He is very rich, and the women of
|
|
the place will talk if he is laid out without a pall.' This is what she
|
|
said, and we assented; whereupon we could see her working upon her great
|
|
web all day long, but at night she would unpick the stitches again
|
|
by torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three years without our
|
|
finding it out, but as time wore on and she was now in her fourth year,
|
|
in the waning of moons and many days had been accomplished, one of her
|
|
maids who knew what she was doing told us, and we caught her in the act
|
|
of undoing her work, so she had to finish it whether she would or no;
|
|
and when she showed us the robe she had made, after she had had it
|
|
washed, {186} its splendour was as that of the sun or moon.
|
|
"Then some malicious god conveyed Ulysses to the upland farm where his
|
|
swineherd lives. Thither presently came also his son, returning from
|
|
a voyage to Pylos, and the two came to the town when they had hatched
|
|
their plot for our destruction. Telemachus came first, and then after
|
|
him, accompanied by the swineherd, came Ulysses, clad in rags and
|
|
leaning on a staff as though he were some miserable old beggar. He came
|
|
so unexpectedly that none of us knew him, not even the older ones among
|
|
us, and we reviled him and threw things at him. He endured both being
|
|
struck and insulted without a word, though he was in his own house; but
|
|
when the will of Aegis-bearing Jove inspired him, he and Telemachus
|
|
took the armour and hid it in an inner chamber, bolting the doors behind
|
|
them. Then he cunningly made his wife offer his bow and a quantity
|
|
of iron to be contended for by us ill-fated suitors; and this was the
|
|
beginning of our end, for not one of us could string the bow--nor nearly
|
|
do so. When it was about to reach the hands of Ulysses, we all of us
|
|
shouted out that it should not be given him, no matter what he might
|
|
say, but Telemachus insisted on his having it. When he had got it in his
|
|
hands he strung it with ease and sent his arrow through the iron. Then
|
|
he stood on the floor of the cloister and poured his arrows on the
|
|
ground, glaring fiercely about him. First he killed Antinous, and then,
|
|
aiming straight before him, he let fly his deadly darts and they fell
|
|
thick on one another. It was plain that some one of the gods was
|
|
helping them, for they fell upon us with might and main throughout the
|
|
cloisters, and there was a hideous sound of groaning as our brains
|
|
were being battered in, and the ground seethed with our blood. This,
|
|
Agamemnon, is how we came by our end, and our bodies are lying still
|
|
uncared for in the house of Ulysses, for our friends at home do not
|
|
yet know what has happened, so that they cannot lay us out and wash
|
|
the black blood from our wounds, making moan over us according to the
|
|
offices due to the departed."
|
|
"Happy Ulysses, son of Laertes," replied the ghost of Agamemnon, "you
|
|
are indeed blessed in the possession of a wife endowed with such rare
|
|
excellence of understanding, and so faithful to her wedded lord as
|
|
Penelope the daughter of Icarius. The fame, therefore, of her virtue
|
|
shall never die, and the immortals shall compose a song that shall be
|
|
welcome to all mankind in honour of the constancy of Penelope. How far
|
|
otherwise was the wickedness of the daughter of Tyndareus who killed her
|
|
lawful husband; her song shall be hateful among men, for she has brought
|
|
disgrace on all womankind even on the good ones."
|
|
Thus did they converse in the house of Hades deep down within the bowels
|
|
of the earth. Meanwhile Ulysses and the others passed out of the town
|
|
and soon reached the fair and well-tilled farm of Laertes, which he
|
|
had reclaimed with infinite labour. Here was his house, with a lean-to
|
|
running all round it, where the slaves who worked for him slept and sat
|
|
and ate, while inside the house there was an old Sicel woman, who looked
|
|
after him in this his country-farm. When Ulysses got there, he said to
|
|
his son and to the other two:
|
|
"Go to the house, and kill the best pig that you can find for dinner.
|
|
Meanwhile I want to see whether my father will know me, or fail to
|
|
recognise me after so long an absence."
|
|
He then took off his armour and gave it to Eumaeus and Philoetius, who
|
|
went straight on to the house, while he turned off into the vineyard to
|
|
make trial of his father. As he went down into the great orchard, he did
|
|
not see Dolius, nor any of his sons nor of the other bondsmen, for they
|
|
were all gathering thorns to make a fence for the vineyard, at the place
|
|
where the old man had told them; he therefore found his father alone,
|
|
hoeing a vine. He had on a dirty old shirt, patched and very shabby;
|
|
his legs were bound round with thongs of oxhide to save him from the
|
|
brambles, and he also wore sleeves of leather; he had a goat skin cap on
|
|
his head, and was looking very woe-begone. When Ulysses saw him so worn,
|
|
so old and full of sorrow, he stood still under a tall pear tree and
|
|
began to weep. He doubted whether to embrace him, kiss him, and tell him
|
|
all about his having come home, or whether he should first question him
|
|
and see what he would say. In the end he deemed it best to be crafty
|
|
with him, so in this mind he went up to his father, who was bending down
|
|
and digging about a plant.
|
|
"I see, sir," said Ulysses, "that you are an excellent gardener--what
|
|
pains you take with it, to be sure. There is not a single plant, not a
|
|
fig tree, vine, olive, pear, nor flower bed, but bears the trace of your
|
|
attention. I trust, however, that you will not be offended if I say
|
|
that you take better care of your garden than of yourself. You are old,
|
|
unsavoury, and very meanly clad. It cannot be because you are idle that
|
|
your master takes such poor care of you, indeed your face and figure
|
|
have nothing of the slave about them, and proclaim you of noble birth.
|
|
I should have said that you were one of those who should wash well, eat
|
|
well, and lie soft at night as old men have a right to do; but tell me,
|
|
and tell me true, whose bondman are you, and in whose garden are you
|
|
working? Tell me also about another matter. Is this place that I have
|
|
come to really Ithaca? I met a man just now who said so, but he was a
|
|
dull fellow, and had not the patience to hear my story out when I was
|
|
asking him about an old friend of mine, whether he was still living, or
|
|
was already dead and in the house of Hades. Believe me when I tell you
|
|
that this man came to my house once when I was in my own country and
|
|
never yet did any stranger come to me whom I liked better. He said that
|
|
his family came from Ithaca and that his father was Laertes, son of
|
|
Arceisius. I received him hospitably, making him welcome to all the
|
|
abundance of my house, and when he went away I gave him all customary
|
|
presents. I gave him seven talents of fine gold, and a cup of solid
|
|
silver with flowers chased upon it. I gave him twelve light cloaks,
|
|
and as many pieces of tapestry; I also gave him twelve cloaks of single
|
|
fold, twelve rugs, twelve fair mantles, and an equal number of shirts.
|
|
To all this I added four good looking women skilled in all useful arts,
|
|
and I let him take his choice."
|
|
His father shed tears and answered, "Sir, you have indeed come to the
|
|
country that you have named, but it is fallen into the hands of wicked
|
|
people. All this wealth of presents has been given to no purpose. If
|
|
you could have found your friend here alive in Ithaca, he would have
|
|
entertained you hospitably and would have requited your presents amply
|
|
when you left him--as would have been only right considering what you
|
|
had already given him. But tell me, and tell me true, how many years is
|
|
it since you entertained this guest--my unhappy son, as ever was? Alas!
|
|
He has perished far from his own country; the fishes of the sea have
|
|
eaten him, or he has fallen a prey to the birds and wild beasts of some
|
|
continent. Neither his mother, nor I his father, who were his parents,
|
|
could throw our arms about him and wrap him in his shroud, nor could
|
|
his excellent and richly dowered wife Penelope bewail her husband as was
|
|
natural upon his death bed, and close his eyes according to the offices
|
|
due to the departed. But now, tell me truly for I want to know. Who
|
|
and whence are you--tell me of your town and parents? Where is the
|
|
ship lying that has brought you and your men to Ithaca? Or were you a
|
|
passenger on some other man's ship, and those who brought you here have
|
|
gone on their way and left you?"
|
|
"I will tell you everything," answered Ulysses, "quite truly. I come
|
|
from Alybas, where I have a fine house. I am son of king Apheidas, who
|
|
is the son of Polypemon. My own name is Eperitus; heaven drove me off my
|
|
course as I was leaving Sicania, and I have been carried here against
|
|
my will. As for my ship it is lying over yonder, off the open country
|
|
outside the town, and this is the fifth year since Ulysses left my
|
|
country. Poor fellow, yet the omens were good for him when he left me.
|
|
The birds all flew on our right hands, and both he and I rejoiced to
|
|
see them as we parted, for we had every hope that we should have another
|
|
friendly meeting and exchange presents."
|
|
A dark cloud of sorrow fell upon Laertes as he listened. He filled both
|
|
hands with the dust from off the ground and poured it over his grey
|
|
head, groaning heavily as he did so. The heart of Ulysses was touched,
|
|
and his nostrils quivered as he looked upon his father; then he sprang
|
|
towards him, flung his arms about him and kissed him, saying, "I am he,
|
|
father, about whom you are asking--I have returned after having been
|
|
away for twenty years. But cease your sighing and lamentation--we have
|
|
no time to lose, for I should tell you that I have been killing the
|
|
suitors in my house, to punish them for their insolence and crimes."
|
|
"If you really are my son Ulysses," replied Laertes, "and have come back
|
|
again, you must give me such manifest proof of your identity as shall
|
|
convince me."
|
|
"First observe this scar," answered Ulysses, "which I got from a boar's
|
|
tusk when I was hunting on Mt. Parnassus. You and my mother had sent me
|
|
to Autolycus, my mother's father, to receive the presents which when he
|
|
was over here he had promised to give me. Furthermore I will point out
|
|
to you the trees in the vineyard which you gave me, and I asked you all
|
|
about them as I followed you round the garden. We went over them all,
|
|
and you told me their names and what they all were. You gave me thirteen
|
|
pear trees, ten apple trees, and forty fig trees; you also said you
|
|
would give me fifty rows of vines; there was corn planted between each
|
|
row, and they yield grapes of every kind when the heat of heaven has
|
|
been laid heavy upon them."
|
|
Laertes' strength failed him when he heard the convincing proofs which
|
|
his son had given him. He threw his arms about him, and Ulysses had to
|
|
support him, or he would have gone off into a swoon; but as soon as he
|
|
came to, and was beginning to recover his senses, he said, "O father
|
|
Jove, then you gods are still in Olympus after all, if the suitors have
|
|
really been punished for their insolence and folly. Nevertheless, I
|
|
am much afraid that I shall have all the townspeople of Ithaca up here
|
|
directly, and they will be sending messengers everywhere throughout the
|
|
cities of the Cephallenians."
|
|
Ulysses answered, "Take heart and do not trouble yourself about that,
|
|
but let us go into the house hard by your garden. I have already told
|
|
Telemachus, Philoetius, and Eumaeus to go on there and get dinner ready
|
|
as soon as possible."
|
|
Thus conversing the two made their way towards the house. When they got
|
|
there they found Telemachus with the stockman and the swineherd cutting
|
|
up meat and mixing wine with water. Then the old Sicel woman took
|
|
Laertes inside and washed him and anointed him with oil. She put him on
|
|
a good cloak, and Minerva came up to him and gave him a more imposing
|
|
presence, making him taller and stouter than before. When he came back
|
|
his son was surprised to see him looking so like an immortal, and said
|
|
to him, "My dear father, some one of the gods has been making you much
|
|
taller and better-looking."
|
|
Laertes answered, "Would, by Father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, that
|
|
I were the man I was when I ruled among the Cephallenians, and took
|
|
Nericum, that strong fortress on the foreland. If I were still what I
|
|
then was and had been in our house yesterday with my armour on, I should
|
|
have been able to stand by you and help you against the suitors. I
|
|
should have killed a great many of them, and you would have rejoiced to
|
|
see it."
|
|
Thus did they converse; but the others, when they had finished their
|
|
work and the feast was ready, left off working, and took each his proper
|
|
place on the benches and seats. Then they began eating; by and by old
|
|
Dolius and his sons left their work and came up, for their mother, the
|
|
Sicel woman who looked after Laertes now that he was growing old, had
|
|
been to fetch them. When they saw Ulysses and were certain it was he,
|
|
they stood there lost in astonishment; but Ulysses scolded them good
|
|
naturedly and said, "Sit down to your dinner, old man, and never mind
|
|
about your surprise; we have been wanting to begin for some time and
|
|
have been waiting for you."
|
|
Then Dolius put out both his hands and went up to Ulysses. "Sir," said
|
|
he, seizing his master's hand and kissing it at the wrist, "we have long
|
|
been wishing you home: and now heaven has restored you to us after we
|
|
had given up hoping. All hail, therefore, and may the gods prosper you.
|
|
{187} But tell me, does Penelope already know of your return, or shall
|
|
we send some one to tell her?"
|
|
"Old man," answered Ulysses, "she knows already, so you need not trouble
|
|
about that." On this he took his seat, and the sons of Dolius gathered
|
|
round Ulysses to give him greeting and embrace him one after the other;
|
|
then they took their seats in due order near Dolius their father.
|
|
While they were thus busy getting their dinner ready, Rumour went round
|
|
the town, and noised abroad the terrible fate that had befallen the
|
|
suitors; as soon, therefore, as the people heard of it they gathered
|
|
from every quarter, groaning and hooting before the house of Ulysses.
|
|
They took the dead away, buried every man his own, and put the bodies
|
|
of those who came from elsewhere on board the fishing vessels, for the
|
|
fishermen to take each of them to his own place. They then met angrily
|
|
in the place of assembly, and when they were got together Eupeithes
|
|
rose to speak. He was overwhelmed with grief for the death of his son
|
|
Antinous, who had been the first man killed by Ulysses, so he said,
|
|
weeping bitterly, "My friends, this man has done the Achaeans great
|
|
wrong. He took many of our best men away with him in his fleet, and he
|
|
has lost both ships and men; now, moreover, on his return he has been
|
|
killing all the foremost men among the Cephallenians. Let us be up and
|
|
doing before he can get away to Pylos or to Elis where the Epeans rule,
|
|
or we shall be ashamed of ourselves for ever afterwards. It will be an
|
|
everlasting disgrace to us if we do not avenge the murder of our sons
|
|
and brothers. For my own part I should have no more pleasure in life,
|
|
but had rather die at once. Let us be up, then, and after them, before
|
|
they can cross over to the main land."
|
|
He wept as he spoke and every one pitied him. But Medon and the bard
|
|
Phemius had now woke up, and came to them from the house of Ulysses.
|
|
Every one was astonished at seeing them, but they stood in the middle of
|
|
the assembly, and Medon said, "Hear me, men of Ithaca. Ulysses did not
|
|
do these things against the will of heaven. I myself saw an immortal god
|
|
take the form of Mentor and stand beside him. This god appeared, now in
|
|
front of him encouraging him, and now going furiously about the court
|
|
and attacking the suitors whereon they fell thick on one another."
|
|
On this pale fear laid hold of them, and old Halitherses, son of Mastor,
|
|
rose to speak, for he was the only man among them who knew both past and
|
|
future; so he spoke to them plainly and in all honesty, saying,
|
|
"Men of Ithaca, it is all your own fault that things have turned out as
|
|
they have; you would not listen to me, nor yet to Mentor, when we
|
|
bade you check the folly of your sons who were doing much wrong in the
|
|
wantonness of their hearts--wasting the substance and dishonouring the
|
|
wife of a chieftain who they thought would not return. Now, however, let
|
|
it be as I say, and do as I tell you. Do not go out against Ulysses, or
|
|
you may find that you have been drawing down evil on your own heads."
|
|
This was what he said, and more than half raised a loud shout, and at
|
|
once left the assembly. But the rest stayed where they were, for the
|
|
speech of Halitherses displeased them, and they sided with Eupeithes;
|
|
they therefore hurried off for their armour, and when they had armed
|
|
themselves, they met together in front of the city, and Eupeithes led
|
|
them on in their folly. He thought he was going to avenge the murder
|
|
of his son, whereas in truth he was never to return, but was himself to
|
|
perish in his attempt.
|
|
Then Minerva said to Jove, "Father, son of Saturn, king of kings, answer
|
|
me this question--What do you propose to do? Will you set them fighting
|
|
still further, or will you make peace between them?"
|
|
And Jove answered, "My child, why should you ask me? Was it not by your
|
|
own arrangement that Ulysses came home and took his revenge upon the
|
|
suitors? Do whatever you like, but I will tell you what I think will
|
|
be most reasonable arrangement. Now that Ulysses is revenged, let them
|
|
swear to a solemn covenant, in virtue of which he shall continue to
|
|
rule, while we cause the others to forgive and forget the massacre of
|
|
their sons and brothers. Let them then all become friends as heretofore,
|
|
and let peace and plenty reign."
|
|
This was what Minerva was already eager to bring about, so down she
|
|
darted from off the topmost summits of Olympus.
|
|
Now when Laertes and the others had done dinner, Ulysses began by
|
|
saying, "Some of you go out and see if they are not getting close up
|
|
to us." So one of Dolius's sons went as he was bid. Standing on the
|
|
threshold he could see them all quite near, and said to Ulysses, "Here
|
|
they are, let us put on our armour at once."
|
|
They put on their armour as fast as they could--that is to say Ulysses,
|
|
his three men, and the six sons of Dolius. Laertes also and Dolius did
|
|
the same--warriors by necessity in spite of their grey hair. When they
|
|
had all put on their armour, they opened the gate and sallied forth,
|
|
Ulysses leading the way.
|
|
Then Jove's daughter Minerva came up to them, having assumed the form
|
|
and voice of Mentor. Ulysses was glad when he saw her, and said to
|
|
his son Telemachus, "Telemachus, now that you are about to fight in an
|
|
engagement, which will show every man's mettle, be sure not to disgrace
|
|
your ancestors, who were eminent for their strength and courage all the
|
|
world over."
|
|
"You say truly, my dear father," answered Telemachus, "and you shall
|
|
see, if you will, that I am in no mind to disgrace your family."
|
|
Laertes was delighted when he heard this. "Good heavens," he exclaimed,
|
|
"what a day I am enjoying: I do indeed rejoice at it. My son and
|
|
grandson are vying with one another in the matter of valour."
|
|
On this Minerva came close up to him and said, "Son of Arceisius---best
|
|
friend I have in the world--pray to the blue-eyed damsel, and to Jove
|
|
her father; then poise your spear and hurl it."
|
|
As she spoke she infused fresh vigour into him, and when he had prayed
|
|
to her he poised his spear and hurled it. He hit Eupeithes' helmet, and
|
|
the spear went right through it, for the helmet stayed it not, and
|
|
his armour rang rattling round him as he fell heavily to the ground.
|
|
Meantime Ulysses and his son fell upon the front line of the foe and
|
|
smote them with their swords and spears; indeed, they would have killed
|
|
every one of them, and prevented them from ever getting home again,
|
|
only Minerva raised her voice aloud, and made every one pause. "Men of
|
|
Ithaca," she cried, "cease this dreadful war, and settle the matter at
|
|
once without further bloodshed."
|
|
On this pale fear seized every one; they were so frightened that their
|
|
arms dropped from their hands and fell upon the ground at the sound of
|
|
the goddess' voice, and they fled back to the city for their lives. But
|
|
Ulysses gave a great cry, and gathering himself together swooped down
|
|
like a soaring eagle. Then the son of Saturn sent a thunderbolt of fire
|
|
that fell just in front of Minerva, so she said to Ulysses, "Ulysses,
|
|
noble son of Laertes, stop this warful strife, or Jove will be angry
|
|
with you."
|
|
Thus spoke Minerva, and Ulysses obeyed her gladly. Then Minerva assumed
|
|
the form and voice of Mentor, and presently made a covenant of peace
|
|
between the two contending parties.
|
|
FOOTNOTES
|
|
{1} Black races are evidently known to the writer as stretching all
|
|
across Africa, one half looking West on to the Atlantic, and the other
|
|
East on to the Indian Ocean.
|
|
{2} The original use of the footstool was probably less to rest the feet
|
|
than to keep them (especially when bare) from a floor which was often
|
|
wet and dirty.
|
|
{3} The [Greek] or seat, is occasionally called "high," as being higher
|
|
than the [Greek] or low footstool. It was probably no higher than an
|
|
ordinary chair is now, and seems to have had no back.
|
|
{4} Temesa was on the West Coast of the toe of Italy, in what is now the
|
|
gulf of Sta Eufemia. It was famous in remote times for its copper mines,
|
|
which, however, were worked out when Strabo wrote.
|
|
{5} i.e. "with a current in it"--see illustrations and map near the end
|
|
of bks. v. and vi. respectively.
|
|
{6} Reading [Greek] for [Greek], cf. "Od." iii. 81 where the same
|
|
mistake is made, and xiii. 351 where the mountain is called Neritum, the
|
|
same place being intended both here and in book xiii.
|
|
{7} It is never plausibly explained why Penelope cannot do this, and
|
|
from bk. ii. it is clear that she kept on deliberately encouraging the
|
|
suitors, though we are asked to believe that she was only fooling them.
|
|
{8} See note on "Od." i. 365.
|
|
{9} Middle Argos means the Peleponnese which, however, is never so
|
|
called in the "Iliad". I presume "middle" means "middle between the two
|
|
Greek-speaking countries of Asia Minor and Sicily, with South Italy";
|
|
for that parts of Sicily and also large parts, though not the whole of
|
|
South Italy, were inhabited by Greek-speaking races centuries before the
|
|
Dorian colonisations can hardly be doubted. The Sicians, and also the
|
|
Sicels, both of them probably spoke Greek.
|
|
{10} cf. "Il." vi. 490-495. In the "Iliad" it is "war," not "speech,"
|
|
that is a man's matter. It argues a certain hardness, or at any rate
|
|
dislike of the "Iliad" on the part of the writer of the "Odyssey,"
|
|
that she should have adopted Hector's farewell to Andromache here, as
|
|
elsewhere in the poem, for a scene of such inferior pathos.
|
|
{11} [Greek] The whole open court with the covered cloister running
|
|
round it was called [Greek], or [Greek], but the covered part was
|
|
distinguished by being called "shady" or "shadow-giving". It was in this
|
|
part that the tables for the suitors were laid. The Fountain Court at
|
|
Hampton Court may serve as an illustration (save as regards the use of
|
|
arches instead of wooden supports and rafters) and the arrangement
|
|
is still common in Sicily. The usual translation "shadowy" or "dusky"
|
|
halls, gives a false idea of the scene.
|
|
{12} The reader will note the extreme care which the writer takes to
|
|
make it clear that none of the suitors were allowed to sleep in Ulysses'
|
|
house.
|
|
{13} See Appendix; g, in plan of Ulysses' house.
|
|
{14} I imagine this passage to be a rejoinder to "Il." xxiii. 702-705 in
|
|
which a tripod is valued at twelve oxen, and a good useful maid of
|
|
all work at only four. The scrupulous regard of Laertes for his wife's
|
|
feelings is of a piece with the extreme jealousy for the honour of
|
|
woman, which is manifest throughout the "Odyssey".
|
|
{15} [Greek] "The [Greek], or tunica, was a shirt or shift, and served
|
|
as the chief under garment of the Greeks and Romans, whether men
|
|
or women." Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, under
|
|
"Tunica".
|
|
{16} Doors fastened to all intents and purposes as here described may be
|
|
seen in the older houses at Trapani. There is a slot on the outer side
|
|
of the door by means of which a person who has left the room can shoot
|
|
the bolt. My bedroom at the Albergo Centrale was fastened in this way.
|
|
{17} [Greek] So we vulgarly say "had cooked his goose," or "had settled
|
|
his hash." Aegyptus cannot of course know of the fate Antiphus had met
|
|
with, for there had as yet been no news of or from Ulysses.
|
|
{18} "Il." xxii. 416. [Greek] The authoress has bungled by borrowing
|
|
these words verbatim from the "Iliad", without prefixing the necessary
|
|
"do not," which I have supplied.
|
|
{19} i.e. you have money, and could pay when I got judgment, whereas the
|
|
suitors are men of straw.
|
|
{20} cf. "Il." ii. 76. [Greek]. The Odyssean passage runs [Greek]. Is
|
|
it possible not to suspect that the name Mentor was coined upon that of
|
|
Nestor?
|
|
{21} i.e. in the outer court, and in the uncovered part of the inner
|
|
house.
|
|
{22} This would be fair from Sicily, which was doing duty for Ithaca in
|
|
the mind of the writer, but a North wind would have been preferable for
|
|
a voyage from the real Ithaca to Pylos.
|
|
{23} [Greek] The wind does not whistle over waves. It only whistles
|
|
through rigging or some other obstacle that cuts it.
|
|
{24} cf. "Il." v.20. [Greek] The Odyssean line is [Greek]. There can
|
|
be no doubt that the Odyssean line was suggested by the Iliadic, but
|
|
nothing can explain why Idaeus jumping from his chariot should suggest
|
|
to the writer of the "Odyssey" the sun jumping from the sea. The
|
|
probability is that she never gave the matter a thought, but took the
|
|
line in question as an effect of saturation with the "Iliad," and of
|
|
unconscious cerebration. The "Odyssey" contains many such examples.
|
|
{25} The heart, liver, lights, kidneys, etc. were taken out from the
|
|
inside and eaten first as being more readily cooked; the [Greek], or
|
|
bone meat, was cooking while the [Greek] or inward parts were being
|
|
eaten. I imagine that the thigh bones made a kind of gridiron, while at
|
|
the same time the marrow inside them got cooked.
|
|
{26} i.e. skewers, either single, double, or even five pronged. The meat
|
|
would be pierced with the skewer, and laid over the ashes to grill--the
|
|
two ends of the skewer being supported in whatever way convenient. Meat
|
|
so cooking may be seen in any eating house in Smyrna, or any Eastern
|
|
town. When I rode across the Troad from the Dardanelles to Hissarlik and
|
|
Mount Ida, I noticed that my dragoman and his men did all our outdoor
|
|
cooking exactly in the Odyssean and Iliadic fashion.
|
|
{27} cf. "Il." xvii. 567. [Greek] The Odyssean lines are--[Greek]
|
|
{28} Reading [Greek] for [Greek], cf. "Od." i.186.
|
|
{29} The geography of the Aegean as above described is correct, but is
|
|
probably taken from the lost poem, the Nosti, the existence of which is
|
|
referred to "Od." i.326,327 and 350, etc. A glance at the map will show
|
|
that heaven advised its supplicants quite correctly.
|
|
{30} The writer--ever jealous for the honour of women--extenuates
|
|
Clytemnestra's guilt as far as possible, and explains it as due to her
|
|
having been left unprotected, and fallen into the hands of a wicked man.
|
|
{31} The Greek is [Greek] cf. "Iliad" ii. 408 [Greek] Surely the [Greek]
|
|
of the Odyssean passage was due to the [Greek] of the "Iliad." No other
|
|
reason suggests itself for the making Menelaus return on the very day of
|
|
the feast given by Orestes. The fact that in the "Iliad" Menelaus came
|
|
to a banquet without waiting for an invitation, determines the writer
|
|
of the "Odyssey" to make him come to a banquet, also uninvited, but
|
|
as circumstances did not permit of his having been invited, his coming
|
|
uninvited is shown to have been due to chance. I do not think the
|
|
authoress thought all this out, but attribute the strangeness of the
|
|
coincidence to unconscious cerebration and saturation.
|
|
{32} cf. "Il." i.458, ii. 421. The writer here interrupts an Iliadic
|
|
passage (to which she returns immediately) for the double purpose of
|
|
dwelling upon the slaughter of the heifer, and of letting Nestor's wife
|
|
and daughter enjoy it also. A male writer, if he was borrowing from the
|
|
"Iliad," would have stuck to his borrowing.
|
|
{33} cf. "Il." xxiv. 587,588 where the lines refer to the washing the
|
|
dead body of Hector.
|
|
{34} See illustration on opposite page. The yard is typical of many that
|
|
may be seen in Sicily. The existing ground-plan is probably unmodified
|
|
from Odyssean, and indeed long pre-Odyssean times, but the earlier
|
|
buildings would have no arches, and would, one would suppose, be mainly
|
|
timber. The Odyssean [Greek] were the sheds that ran round the yard
|
|
as the arches do now. The [Greek] was the one through which the main
|
|
entrance passed, and which was hence "noisy," or reverberating. It had
|
|
an upper story in which visitors were often lodged.
|
|
{35} This journey is an impossible one. Telemachus and Pisistratus would
|
|
have been obliged to drive over the Taygetus range, over which there has
|
|
never yet been a road for wheeled vehicles. It is plain therefore that
|
|
the audience for whom the "Odyssey" was written was one that would be
|
|
unlikely to know anything about the topography of the Peloponnese, so
|
|
that the writer might take what liberties she chose.
|
|
{36} The lines which I have enclosed in brackets are evidently an
|
|
afterthought--added probably by the writer herself--for they evince
|
|
the same instinctively greater interest in anything that may concern a
|
|
woman, which is so noticeable throughout the poem. There is no further
|
|
sign of any special festivities nor of any other guests than Telemachus
|
|
and Pisistratus, until lines 621-624 (ordinarily enclosed in brackets)
|
|
are abruptly introduced, probably with a view of trying to carry off the
|
|
introduction of the lines now in question.
|
|
The addition was, I imagine, suggested by a desire to excuse and explain
|
|
the non-appearance of Hermione in bk. xv., as also of both Hermione and
|
|
Megapenthes in the rest of bk. iv. Megapenthes in bk. xv. seems to be
|
|
still a bachelor: the presumption therefore is that bk. xv. was written
|
|
before the story of his marriage here given. I take it he is only
|
|
married here because his sister is being married. She having been
|
|
properly attended to, Megapenthes might as well be married at the same
|
|
time. Hermione could not now be less than thirty.
|
|
I have dealt with this passage somewhat more fully in my "Authoress of
|
|
the Odyssey", p.136-138. See also p. 256 of the same book.
|
|
{37} Sparta and Lacedaemon are here treated as two different places,
|
|
though in other parts of the poem it is clear that the writer
|
|
understands them as one. The catalogue in the "Iliad," which the writer
|
|
is here presumably following, makes the same mistake ("Il." ii. 581,582)
|
|
{38} These last three lines are identical with "Il." vxiii. 604-606.
|
|
{39} From the Greek [Greek] it is plain that Menelaus took up the piece
|
|
of meat with his fingers.
|
|
{40} Amber is never mentioned in the "Iliad." Sicily, where I suppose
|
|
the "Odyssey" to have been written, has always been, and still is, one
|
|
of the principal amber producing countries. It was probably the only one
|
|
known in the Odyssean age. See "The Authoress of the Odyssey", p260.
|
|
{41} This no doubt refers to the story told in the last poem of the
|
|
Cypria about Paris and Helen robbing Menelaus of the greater part of his
|
|
treasures, when they sailed together for Troy.
|
|
{42} It is inconceivable that Helen should enter thus, in the middle of
|
|
supper, intending to work with her distaff, if great festivities were
|
|
going on. Telemachus and Pisistratus are evidently dining en famille.
|
|
{43} In the Italian insurrection of 1848, eight young men who were being
|
|
hotly pursued by the Austrian police hid themselves inside Donatello's
|
|
colossal wooden horse in the Salone at Padua, and remained there for
|
|
a week being fed by their confederates. In 1898 the last survivor was
|
|
carried round Padua in triumph.
|
|
{44} The Greek is [Greek]. Is it unfair to argue that the writer is a
|
|
person of somewhat delicate sensibility, to whom a strong smell of fish
|
|
is distasteful?
|
|
{45} The Greek is [Greek]. I believe this to be a hit at the writer's
|
|
own countrymen who were of Phocaean descent, and the next following line
|
|
to be a rejoinder to complaints made against her in bk. vi. 273-288, to
|
|
the effect that she gave herself airs and would marry none of her own
|
|
people. For that the writer of the "Odyssey" was the person who has
|
|
been introduced into the poem under the name of Nausicaa, I cannot bring
|
|
myself to question. I may remind English readers that [Greek] (i.e.
|
|
phoca) means "seal." Seals almost always appear on Phocaean coins.
|
|
{46} Surely here again we are in the hands of a writer of delicate
|
|
sensibility. It is not as though the seals were stale; they had only
|
|
just been killed. The writer, however is obviously laughing at her own
|
|
countrymen, and insulting them as openly as she dares.
|
|
{47} We were told above (lines 357,357) that it was only one day's sail.
|
|
{48} I give the usual translation, but I do not believe the Greek will
|
|
warrant it. The Greek reads [Greek].
|
|
This is usually held to mean that Ithaca is an island fit for breeding
|
|
goats, and on that account more delectable to the speaker than it would
|
|
have been if it were fit for breeding horses. I find little authority
|
|
for such a translation; the most equitable translation of the text as it
|
|
stands is, "Ithaca is an island fit for breeding goats, and delectable
|
|
rather than fit for breeding horses; for not one of the islands is good
|
|
driving ground, nor well meadowed." Surely the writer does not mean that
|
|
a pleasant or delectable island would not be fit for breeding horses?
|
|
The most equitable translation, therefore, of the present text being
|
|
thus halt and impotent, we may suspect corruption, and I hazard the
|
|
following emendation, though I have not adopted it in my translation, as
|
|
fearing that it would be deemed too fanciful. I would read:--[Greek].
|
|
As far as scanning goes the [Greek] is not necessary; [Greek] iv. 72,
|
|
[Greek] iv. 233, to go no further afield than earlier lines of the same
|
|
book, give sufficient authority for [Greek], but the [Greek] would not
|
|
be redundant; it would emphasise the surprise of the contrast, and I
|
|
should prefer to have it, though it is not very important either way.
|
|
This reading of course should be translated "Ithaca is an island fit for
|
|
breeding goats, and (by your leave) itself a horseman rather than
|
|
fit for breeding horses--for not one of the islands is good and well
|
|
meadowed ground."
|
|
This would be sure to baffle the Alexandrian editors. "How," they would
|
|
ask themselves, "could an island be a horseman?" and they would cast
|
|
about for an emendation. A visit to the top of Mt. Eryx might perhaps
|
|
make the meaning intelligible, and suggest my proposed restoration of
|
|
the text to the reader as readily as it did to myself.
|
|
I have elsewhere stated my conviction that the writer of the "Odyssey"
|
|
was familiar with the old Sican city at the top of Mt. Eryx, and that
|
|
the Aegadean islands which are so striking when seen thence did duty
|
|
with her for the Ionian islands--Marettimo, the highest and most
|
|
westerly of the group, standing for Ithaca. When seen from the top of
|
|
Mt. Eryx Marettimo shows as it should do according to "Od." ix. 25,26,
|
|
"on the horizon, all highest up in the sea towards the West," while
|
|
the other islands lie "some way off it to the East." As we descend
|
|
to Trapani, Marettimo appears to sink on to the top of the island of
|
|
Levanzo, behind which it disappears. My friend, the late Signor E.
|
|
Biaggini, pointed to it once as it was just standing on the top of
|
|
Levanzo, and said to me "Come cavalca bene" ("How well it rides"), and
|
|
this immediately suggested my emendation to me. Later on I found in
|
|
the hymn to the Pythian Apollo (which abounds with tags taken from the
|
|
"Odyssey") a line ending [Greek] which strengthened my suspicion that
|
|
this was the original ending of the second of the two lines above under
|
|
consideration.
|
|
{49} See note on line 3 of this book. The reader will observe that
|
|
the writer has been unable to keep the women out of an interpolation
|
|
consisting only of four lines.
|
|
{50} Scheria means a piece of land jutting out into the sea. In my
|
|
"Authoress of the Odyssey" I thought "Jutland" would be a suitable
|
|
translation, but it has been pointed out to me that "Jutland" only means
|
|
the land of the Jutes.
|
|
{51} Irrigation as here described is common in gardens near Trapani. The
|
|
water that supplies the ducts is drawn from wells by a mule who turns a
|
|
wheel with buckets on it.
|
|
{52} There is not a word here about the cattle of the sun-god.
|
|
{53} The writer evidently thought that green, growing wood might also be
|
|
well seasoned.
|
|
{54} The reader will note that the river was flowing with salt water
|
|
i.e. that it was tidal.
|
|
{55} Then the Ogygian island was not so far off, but that Nausicaa might
|
|
be assumed to know where it was.
|
|
{56} Greek [Greek]
|
|
{57} I suspect a family joke, or sly allusion to some thing of which
|
|
we know nothing, in this story of Eurymedusa's having been brought from
|
|
Apeira. The Greek word "apeiros" means "inexperienced," "ignorant." Is
|
|
it possible that Eurymedusa was notoriously incompetent?
|
|
{58} Polyphemus was also son to Neptune, see "Od." ix. 412,529. he was
|
|
therefore half brother to Nausithous, half uncle to King Alcinous, and
|
|
half great uncle to Nausicaa.
|
|
{59} It would seem as though the writer thought that Marathon was close
|
|
to Athens.
|
|
{60} Here the writer, knowing that she is drawing (with embellishments)
|
|
from things actually existing, becomes impatient of past tenses and
|
|
slides into the present.
|
|
{61} This is hidden malice, implying that the Phaeacian magnates were
|
|
no better than they should be. The final drink-offering should have been
|
|
made to Jove or Neptune, not to the god of thievishness and rascality
|
|
of all kinds. In line 164 we do indeed find Echeneus proposing that
|
|
a drink-offering should be made to Jove, but Mercury is evidently,
|
|
according to our authoress, the god who was most likely to be of use to
|
|
them.
|
|
{62} The fact of Alcinous knowing anything about the Cyclopes suggests
|
|
that in the writer's mind Scheria and the country of the Cyclopes were
|
|
not very far from one another. I take the Cyclopes and the giants to be
|
|
one and the same people.
|
|
{63} "My property, etc." The authoress is here adopting an Iliadic line
|
|
(xix. 333), and this must account for the absence of all reference
|
|
to Penelope. If she had happened to remember "Il." v.213, she would
|
|
doubtless have appropriated it by preference, for that line reads "my
|
|
country, my wife, and all the greatness of my house."
|
|
{64} The at first inexplicable sleep of Ulysses (bk. xiii. 79, etc.)
|
|
is here, as also in viii. 445, being obviously prepared. The writer
|
|
evidently attached the utmost importance to it. Those who know that the
|
|
harbour which did duty with the writer of the "Odyssey" for the one in
|
|
which Ulysses landed in Ithaca, was only about 2 miles from the place
|
|
in which Ulysses is now talking with Alcinous, will understand why the
|
|
sleep was so necessary.
|
|
{65} There were two classes--the lower who were found in provisions
|
|
which they had to cook for themselves in the yards and outer precincts,
|
|
where they would also eat--and the upper who would eat in the cloisters
|
|
of the inner court, and have their cooking done for them.
|
|
{66} Translation very dubious. I suppose the [Greek] here to be the
|
|
covered sheds that ran round the outer courtyard. See illustrations at
|
|
the end of bk. iii.
|
|
{67} The writer apparently deems that the words "as compared with what
|
|
oxen can plough in the same time" go without saying. Not so the writer
|
|
of the "Iliad" from which the Odyssean passage is probably taken. He
|
|
explains that mules can plough quicker than oxen ("Il." x.351-353)
|
|
{68} It was very fortunate that such a disc happened to be there, seeing
|
|
that none like it were in common use.
|
|
{69} "Il." xiii. 37. Here, as so often elsewhere in the "Odyssey," the
|
|
appropriation of an Iliadic line which is not quite appropriate puzzles
|
|
the reader. The "they" is not the chains, nor yet Mars and Venus. It is
|
|
an overflow from the Iliadic passage in which Neptune hobbles his horses
|
|
in bonds "which none could either unloose or break so that they might
|
|
stay there in that place." If the line would have scanned without the
|
|
addition of the words "so that they might stay there in that place,"
|
|
they would have been omitted in the "Odyssey."
|
|
{70} The reader will note that Alcinous never goes beyond saying that
|
|
he is going to give the goblet; he never gives it. Elsewhere in both
|
|
"Iliad" and "Odyssey" the offer of a present is immediately followed by
|
|
the statement that it was given and received gladly--Alcinous actually
|
|
does give a chest and a cloak and shirt--probably also some of the corn
|
|
and wine for the long two-mile voyage was provided by him--but it is
|
|
quite plain that he gave no talent and no cup.
|
|
{71} "Il." xviii, 344-349. These lines in the "Iliad" tell of the
|
|
preparation for washing the body of Patroclus, and I am not pleased that
|
|
the writer of the "Odyssey" should have adopted them here.
|
|
{72} see note {64}
|
|
{73} see note {43}
|
|
{74} The reader will find this threat fulfilled in bk. xiii
|
|
{75} If the other islands lay some distance away from Ithaca (which
|
|
the word [Greek] suggests), what becomes of the [Greek] or gut between
|
|
Ithaca and Samos which we hear of in Bks. iv. and xv.? I suspect that
|
|
the authoress in her mind makes Telemachus come back from Pylos to the
|
|
Lilybaean promontory and thence to Trapani through the strait between
|
|
the Isola Grande and the mainland--the island of Asteria being the one
|
|
on which Motya afterwards stood.
|
|
{76} "Il." xviii. 533-534. The sudden lapse into the third person here
|
|
for a couple of lines is due to the fact that the two Iliadic lines
|
|
taken are in the third person.
|
|
{77} cf. "Il." ii. 776. The words in both "Iliad" and "Odyssey" are
|
|
[Greek]. In the "Iliad" they are used of the horses of Achilles'
|
|
followers as they stood idle, "champing lotus."
|
|
{78} I take all this passage about the Cyclopes having no ships to
|
|
be sarcastic--meaning, "You people of Drepanum have no excuse for not
|
|
colonising the island of Favognana, which you could easily do, for you
|
|
have plenty of ships, and the island is a very good one." For that
|
|
the island so fully described here is the Aegadean or "goat" island of
|
|
Favognana, and that the Cyclopes are the old Sican inhabitants of Mt.
|
|
Eryx should not be doubted.
|
|
{79} For the reasons why it was necessary that the night should be so
|
|
exceptionally dark see "The Authoress of the Odyssey" pp. 188-189.
|
|
{80} None but such lambs as would suck if they were with their mothers
|
|
would be left in the yard. The older lambs should have been out feeding.
|
|
The authoress has got it all wrong, but it does not matter. See "The
|
|
Authoress of the Odyssey" p.148.
|
|
{81} This line is enclosed in brackets in the received text, and is
|
|
omitted (with note) by Messrs. Butcher & Lang. But lines enclosed in
|
|
brackets are almost always genuine; all that brackets mean is that the
|
|
bracketed passage puzzled some early editor, who nevertheless found
|
|
it too well established in the text to venture on omitting it. In the
|
|
present case the line bracketed is the very last which a full-grown male
|
|
editor would be likely to interpolate. It is safer to infer that the
|
|
writer, a young woman, not knowing or caring at which end of the ship
|
|
the rudder should be, determined to make sure by placing it at both
|
|
ends, which we shall find she presently does by repeating it (line 340)
|
|
at the stern of the ship. As for the two rocks thrown, the first I take
|
|
to be the Asinelli, see map facing p.80. The second I see as the two
|
|
contiguous islands of the Formiche, which are treated as one, see map
|
|
facing p.108. The Asinelli is an island shaped like a boat, and pointing
|
|
to the island of Favognana. I think the authoress's compatriots, who
|
|
probably did not like her much better that she did them, jeered at the
|
|
absurdity of Ulysses' conduct, and saw the Asinelli or "donkeys," not as
|
|
the rock thrown by Polyphemus, but as the boat itself containing Ulysses
|
|
and his men.
|
|
{82} This line exists in the text here but not in the corresponding
|
|
passage xii. 141. I am inclined to think it is interpolated (probably
|
|
by the poetess herself) from the first of lines xi. 115-137, which I can
|
|
hardly doubt were added by the writer when the scheme of the work was
|
|
enlarged and altered. See "The Authoress of the Odyssey" pp. 254-255.
|
|
{83} "Floating" ([Greek]) is not to be taken literally. The island
|
|
itself, as apart from its inhabitants, was quite normal. There is no
|
|
indication of its moving during the month that Ulysses stayed with
|
|
Aeolus, and on his return from his unfortunate voyage, he seems to
|
|
have found it in the same place. The [Greek] in fact should no more be
|
|
pressed than [Greek] as applied to islands, "Odyssey" xv. 299--where
|
|
they are called "flying" because the ship would fly past them. So also
|
|
the "Wanderers," as explained by Buttmann; see note on "Odyssey" xii.
|
|
57.
|
|
{84} Literally "for the ways of the night and of the day are near." I
|
|
have seen what Mr. Andrew Lang says ("Homer and the Epic," p.236, and
|
|
"Longman's Magazine" for January, 1898, p.277) about the "amber route"
|
|
and the "Sacred Way" in this connection; but until he gives his grounds
|
|
for holding that the Mediterranean peoples in the Odyssean age used to
|
|
go far North for their amber instead of getting it in Sicily, where it
|
|
is still found in considerable quantities, I do not know what weight I
|
|
ought to attach to his opinion. I have been unable to find grounds
|
|
for asserting that B.C. 1000 there was any commerce between the
|
|
Mediterranean and the "Far North," but I shall be very ready to learn
|
|
if Mr. Lang will enlighten me. See "The Authoress of the Odyssey" pp.
|
|
185-186.
|
|
{85} One would have thought that when the sun was driving the stag down
|
|
to the water, Ulysses might have observed its whereabouts.
|
|
{86} See Hobbes of Malmesbury's translation.
|
|
{87} "Il." vxiii. 349. Again the writer draws from the washing the body
|
|
of Patroclus--which offends.
|
|
{88} This visit is wholly without topographical significance.
|
|
{89} Brides presented themselves instinctively to the imagination of the
|
|
writer, as the phase of humanity which she found most interesting.
|
|
{90} Ulysses was, in fact, to become a missionary and preach Neptune to
|
|
people who knew not his name. I was fortunate enough to meet in Sicily
|
|
a woman carrying one of these winnowing shovels; it was not much shorter
|
|
than an oar, and I was able at once to see what the writer of the
|
|
"Odyssey" intended.
|
|
{91} I suppose the lines I have enclosed in brackets to have been added
|
|
by the author when she enlarged her original scheme by the addition of
|
|
books i.-iv. and xiii. (from line 187)-xxiv. The reader will observe
|
|
that in the corresponding passage (xii. 137-141) the prophecy ends with
|
|
"after losing all your comrades," and that there is no allusion to the
|
|
suitors. For fuller explanation see "The Authoress of the Odyssey" pp.
|
|
254-255.
|
|
{92} The reader will remember that we are in the first year of Ulysses'
|
|
wanderings, Telemachus therefore was only eleven years old. The same
|
|
anachronism is made later on in this book. See "The Authoress of the
|
|
Odyssey" pp. 132-133.
|
|
{93} Tradition says that she had hanged herself. Cf. "Odyssey" xv. 355,
|
|
etc.
|
|
{94} Not to be confounded with Aeolus king of the winds.
|
|
{95} Melampus, vide book xv. 223, etc.
|
|
{96} I have already said in a note on bk. xi. 186 that at this point of
|
|
Ulysses' voyage Telemachus could only be between eleven and twelve years
|
|
old.
|
|
{97} Is the writer a man or a woman?
|
|
{98} Cf. "Il." iv. 521, [Greek]. The Odyssean line reads, [Greek]. The
|
|
famous dactylism, therefore, of the Odyssean line was probably suggested
|
|
by that of the Ileadic rather than by a desire to accommodate sound to
|
|
sense. At any rate the double coincidence of a dactylic line, and an
|
|
ending [Greek], seems conclusive as to the familiarity of the writer of
|
|
the "Odyssey" with the Iliadic line.
|
|
{99} Off the coast of Sicily and South Italy, in the month of May, I
|
|
have seen men fastened half way up a boat's mast with their feet resting
|
|
on a crosspiece, just large enough to support them. From this point
|
|
of vantage they spear sword-fish. When I saw men thus employed I could
|
|
hardly doubt that the writer of the "Odyssey" had seen others like them,
|
|
and had them in her mind when describing the binding of Ulysses. I have
|
|
therefore with some diffidence ventured to depart from the received
|
|
translation of [Greek] (cf. Alcaeus frag. 18, where, however, it is
|
|
very hard to say what [Greek] means). In Sophocles' Lexicon I find a
|
|
reference to Chrysostom (l, 242, A. Ed. Benedictine Paris 1834-1839)
|
|
for the word [Greek], which is probably the same as [Greek], but I have
|
|
looked for the passage in vain.
|
|
{100} The writer is at fault here and tries to put it off on Circe. When
|
|
Ulysses comes to take the route prescribed by Circe, he ought to pass
|
|
either the Wanderers or some other difficulty of which we are not told,
|
|
but he does not do so. The Planctae, or Wanderers, merge into Scylla and
|
|
Charybdis, and the alternative between them and something untold
|
|
merges into the alternative whether Ulysses had better choose Scylla or
|
|
Charybdis. Yet from line 260, it seems we are to consider the Wanderers
|
|
as having been passed by Ulysses; this appears even more plainly from
|
|
xxiii. 327, in which Ulysses expressly mentions the Wandering rocks as
|
|
having been between the Sirens and Scylla and Charybdis. The writer,
|
|
however, is evidently unaware that she does not quite understand her own
|
|
story; her difficulty was perhaps due to the fact that though Trapanese
|
|
sailors had given her a fair idea as to where all her other localities
|
|
really were, no one in those days more than in our own could localise
|
|
the Planctae, which in fact, as Buttmann has argued, were derived not
|
|
from any particular spot, but from sailors' tales about the difficulties
|
|
of navigating the group of the Aeolian islands as a whole (see note on
|
|
"Od." x. 3). Still the matter of the poor doves caught her fancy, so she
|
|
would not forgo them. The whirlwinds of fire and the smoke that hangs on
|
|
Scylla suggests allusion to Stromboli and perhaps even Etna. Scylla is
|
|
on the Italian side, and therefore may be said to look West. It is about
|
|
8 miles thence to the Sicilian coast, so Ulysses may be perfectly well
|
|
told that after passing Scylla he will come to the Thrinacian island or
|
|
Sicily. Charybdis is transposed to a site some few miles to the north of
|
|
its actual position.
|
|
{101} I suppose this line to have been intercalated by the author when
|
|
lines 426-446 were added.
|
|
{102} For the reasons which enable us to identify the island of the two
|
|
Sirens with the Lipari island now Salinas--the ancient Didyme, or "twin"
|
|
island--see The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp. 195, 196. The two
|
|
Sirens doubtless were, as their name suggests, the whistling gusts, or
|
|
avalanches of air that at times descend without a moment's warning from
|
|
the two lofty mountains of Salinas--as also from all high points in the
|
|
neighbourhood.
|
|
{103} See Admiral Smyth on the currents in the Straits of Messina,
|
|
quoted in "The Authoress of the Odyssey," p. 197.
|
|
{104} In the islands of Favognana and Marettimo off Trapani I have seen
|
|
men fish exactly as here described. They chew bread into a paste and
|
|
throw it into the sea to attract the fish, which they then spear. No
|
|
line is used.
|
|
{105} The writer evidently regards Ulysses as on a coast that looked
|
|
East at no great distance south of the Straits of Messina somewhere,
|
|
say, near Tauromenium, now Taormina.
|
|
{106} Surely there must be a line missing here to tell us that the keel
|
|
and mast were carried down into Charybdis. Besides, the aorist [Greek]
|
|
in its present surrounding is perplexing. I have translated it as though
|
|
it were an imperfect; I see Messrs. Butcher and Lang translate it as
|
|
a pluperfect, but surely Charybdis was in the act of sucking down the
|
|
water when Ulysses arrived.
|
|
{107} I suppose the passage within brackets to have been an afterthought
|
|
but to have been written by the same hand as the rest of the poem. I
|
|
suppose xii. 103 to have been also added by the writer when she decided
|
|
on sending Ulysses back to Charybdis. The simile suggests the hand of
|
|
the wife or daughter of a magistrate who had often seen her father come
|
|
in cross and tired.
|
|
{108} Gr. [Greek]. This puts coined money out of the question, but
|
|
nevertheless implies that the gold had been worked into ornaments of
|
|
some kind.
|
|
{109} I suppose Teiresias' prophecy of bk. xi. 114-120 had made no
|
|
impression on Ulysses. More probably the prophecy was an afterthought,
|
|
intercalated, as I have already said, by the authoress when she changed
|
|
her scheme.
|
|
{110} A male writer would have made Ulysses say, not "may you give
|
|
satisfaction to your wives," but "may your wives give satisfaction to
|
|
you."
|
|
{111} See note {64}.
|
|
{112} The land was in reality the shallow inlet, now the salt works of
|
|
S. Cusumano--the neighbourhood of Trapani and Mt. Eryx being made to do
|
|
double duty, both as Scheria and Ithaca. Hence the necessity for making
|
|
Ulysses set out after dark, fall instantly into a profound sleep, and
|
|
wake up on a morning so foggy that he could not see anything till the
|
|
interviews between Neptune and Jove and between Ulysses and Minerva
|
|
should have given the audience time to accept the situation. See
|
|
illustrations and map near the end of bks. v. and vi. respectively.
|
|
{113} This cave, which is identifiable with singular completeness, is
|
|
now called the "grotta del toro," probably a corruption of "tesoro," for
|
|
it is held to contain a treasure. See The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp.
|
|
167-170.
|
|
{114} Probably they would.
|
|
{115} Then it had a shallow shelving bottom.
|
|
{116} Doubtless the road would pass the harbour in Odyssean times as it
|
|
passes the salt works now; indeed, if there is to be a road at all there
|
|
is no other level ground which it could take. See map above referred to.
|
|
{117} The rock at the end of the Northern harbour of Trapani, to which
|
|
I suppose the writer of the "Odyssey" to be here referring, still bears
|
|
the name Malconsiglio--"the rock of evil counsel." There is a legend
|
|
that it was a ship of Turkish pirates who were intending to attack
|
|
Trapani, but the "Madonna di Trapani" crushed them under this rock just
|
|
as they were coming into port. My friend Cavaliere Giannitrapani of
|
|
Trapani told me that his father used to tell him when he was a boy that
|
|
if he would drop exactly three drops of oil on to the water near the
|
|
rock, he would see the ship still at the bottom. The legend is evidently
|
|
a Christianised version of the Odyssean story, while the name supplies
|
|
the additional detail that the disaster happened in consequence of an
|
|
evil counsel.
|
|
{118} It would seem then that the ship had got all the way back from
|
|
Ithaca in about a quarter of an hour.
|
|
{119} And may we not add "and also to prevent his recognising that he
|
|
was only in the place where he had met Nausicaa two days earlier."
|
|
{120} All this is to excuse the entire absence of Minerva from books
|
|
ix.-xii., which I suppose had been written already, before the authoress
|
|
had determined on making Minerva so prominent a character.
|
|
{121} We have met with this somewhat lame attempt to cover the writer's
|
|
change of scheme at the end of bk. vi.
|
|
{122} I take the following from The Authoress of the Odyssey, p. 167.
|
|
"It is clear from the text that there were two [caves] not one, but some
|
|
one has enclosed in brackets the two lines in which the second cave is
|
|
mentioned, I presume because he found himself puzzled by having a second
|
|
cave sprung upon him when up to this point he had only been told of one.
|
|
"I venture to think that if he had known the ground he would not have
|
|
been puzzled, for there are two caves, distant about 80 or 100 yards
|
|
from one another." The cave in which Ulysses hid his treasure is, as I
|
|
have already said, identifiable with singular completeness. The other
|
|
cave presents no special features, neither in the poem nor in nature.
|
|
{123} There is no attempt to disguise the fact that Penelope had long
|
|
given encouragement to the suitors. The only defence set up is that she
|
|
did not really mean to encourage them. Would it not have been wiser to
|
|
have tried a little discouragement?
|
|
{124} See map near the end of bk. vi. Ruccazzu dei corvi of course means
|
|
"the rock of the ravens." Both name and ravens still exist.
|
|
{125} See The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp. 140, 141. The real reason
|
|
for sending Telemachus to Pylos and Lacedaemon was that the authoress
|
|
might get Helen of Troy into her poem. He was sent at the only point in
|
|
the story at which he could be sent, so he must have gone then or not at
|
|
all.
|
|
{126} The site I assign to Eumaeus's hut, close to the Ruccazzu dei
|
|
Corvi, is about 2,000 feet above the sea, and commands an extensive
|
|
view.
|
|
{127} Sandals such as Eumaeus was making are still worn in the Abruzzi
|
|
and elsewhere. An oblong piece of leather forms the sole: holes are cut
|
|
at the four corners, and through these holes leathern straps are passed,
|
|
which are bound round the foot and cross-gartered up the calf.
|
|
{128} See note {75}
|
|
{129} Telemachus like many another good young man seems to expect every
|
|
one to fetch and carry for him.
|
|
{130} "Il." vi. 288. The store room was fragrant because it was made of
|
|
cedar wood. See "Il." xxiv. 192.
|
|
{131} cf. "Il." vi. 289 and 293-296. The dress was kept at the bottom
|
|
of the chest as one that would only be wanted on the greatest occasions;
|
|
but surely the marriage of Hermione and of Megapenthes (bk, iv. ad
|
|
init.) might have induced Helen to wear it on the preceding evening,
|
|
in which case it could hardly have got back. We find no hint here of
|
|
Megapenthes' recent marriage.
|
|
{132} See note {83}.
|
|
{133} cf. "Od." xi. 196, etc.
|
|
{134} The names Syra and Ortygia, on which island a great part of the
|
|
Doric Syracuse was originally built, suggest that even in Odyssean times
|
|
there was a prehistoric Syracuse, the existence of which was known to
|
|
the writer of the poem.
|
|
{135} Literally "where are the turnings of the sun." Assuming, as we may
|
|
safely do, that the Syra and Ortygia of the "Odyssey" refer to Syracuse,
|
|
it is the fact that not far to the South of these places the land turns
|
|
sharply round, so that mariners following the coast would find the
|
|
sun upon the other side of their ship to that on which they'd had it
|
|
hitherto.
|
|
Mr. A. S. Griffith has kindly called my attention to Herod iv. 42,
|
|
where, speaking of the circumnavigation of Africa by Phoenician mariners
|
|
under Necos, he writes:
|
|
"On their return they declared--I for my part do not believe them, but
|
|
perhaps others may--that in sailing round Libya [i.e. Africa] they had
|
|
the sun upon their right hand. In this way was the extent of Libya first
|
|
discovered.
|
|
"I take it that Eumaeus was made to have come from Syracuse because
|
|
the writer thought she rather ought to have made something happen at
|
|
Syracuse during her account of the voyages of Ulysses. She could
|
|
not, however, break his long drift from Charybdis to the island of
|
|
Pantellaria; she therefore resolved to make it up to Syracuse in another
|
|
way."
|
|
{135} Modern excavations establish the existence of two and only two
|
|
pre-Dorian communities at Syracuse; they were, so Dr. Orsi informed me,
|
|
at Plemmirio and Cozzo Pantano. See The Authoress of the Odyssey, pp.
|
|
211-213.
|
|
{136} This harbour is again evidently the harbour in which Ulysses had
|
|
landed, i.e. the harbour that is now the salt works of S. Cusumano.
|
|
{137} This never can have been anything but very niggardly pay for some
|
|
eight or nine days' service. I suppose the crew were to consider the
|
|
pleasure of having had a trip to Pylos as a set off. There is no trace
|
|
of the dinner as having been actually given, either on the following or
|
|
any other morning.
|
|
{138} No hawk can tear its prey while it is on the wing.
|
|
{139} The text is here apparently corrupt, and will not make sense as it
|
|
stands. I follow Messrs. Butcher and Lang in omitting line 101.
|
|
{140} i.e. to be milked, as in South Italian and Sicilian towns at the
|
|
present day.
|
|
{141} The butchering and making ready the carcases took place partly in
|
|
the outer yard and partly in the open part of the inner court.
|
|
{142} These words cannot mean that it would be afternoon soon after they
|
|
were spoken. Ulysses and Eumaeus reached the town which was "some way
|
|
off" (xvii. 25) in time for the suitor's early meal (xvii. 170 and 176)
|
|
say at ten or eleven o' clock. The context of the rest of the book shows
|
|
this. Eumaeus and Ulysses, therefore, cannot have started later than
|
|
eight or nine, and Eumaeus's words must be taken as an exaggeration for
|
|
the purpose of making Ulysses bestir himself.
|
|
{143} I imagine the fountain to have been somewhere about where the
|
|
church of the Madonna di Trapani now stands, and to have been fed with
|
|
water from what is now called the Fontana Diffali on Mt. Eryx.
|
|
{144} From this and other passages in the "Odyssey" it appears that
|
|
we are in an age anterior to the use of coined money--an age when
|
|
cauldrons, tripods, swords, cattle, chattels of all kinds, measures
|
|
of corn, wine, or oil, etc. etc., not to say pieces of gold, silver,
|
|
bronze, or even iron, wrought more or less, but unstamped, were the
|
|
nearest approach to a currency that had as yet been reached.
|
|
{145} Gr. is [Greek]
|
|
{146} I correct these proofs abroad and am not within reach of Hesiod,
|
|
but surely this passage suggests acquaintance with the Works and Ways,
|
|
though it by no means compels it.
|
|
{147} It would seem as though Eurynome and Euryclea were the same
|
|
person. See note {156}
|
|
{148} It is plain, therefore, that Iris was commonly accepted as the
|
|
messenger of the gods, though our authoress will never permit her to
|
|
fetch or carry for any one.
|
|
{149} i.e. the doorway leading from the inner to the outer court.
|
|
{150} Surely in this scene, again, Eurynome is in reality Euryclea. See
|
|
note {156}
|
|
{151} These, I imagine, must have been in the open part of the inner
|
|
courtyard, where the maids also stood, and threw the light of their
|
|
torches into the covered cloister that ran all round it. The smoke would
|
|
otherwise have been intolerable.
|
|
{152} Translation very uncertain; vide Liddell and Scott, under [Greek]
|
|
{153} See photo on opposite page.
|
|
{154} cf. "Il." ii. 184, and 217, 218. An additional and well-marked
|
|
feature being wanted to convince Penelope, the writer has taken the
|
|
hunched shoulders of Thersites (who is mentioned immediately after
|
|
Eurybates in the "Iliad") and put them on to Eurybates' back.
|
|
{155} This is how geese are now fed in Sicily, at any rate in summer,
|
|
when the grass is all burnt up. I have never seen them grazing.
|
|
{156} Lower down (line 143) Euryclea says it was herself that had thrown
|
|
the cloak over Ulysses--for the plural should not be taken as implying
|
|
more than one person. The writer is evidently still fluctuating between
|
|
Euryclea and Eurynome as the name for the old nurse. She probably
|
|
originally meant to call her Euryclea, but finding it not immediately
|
|
easy to make Euryclea scan in xvii. 495, she hastily called her
|
|
Eurynome, intending either to alter this name later or to change the
|
|
earlier Euryclea's into Eurynome. She then drifted in to Eurynome
|
|
as convenience further directed, still nevertheless hankering after
|
|
Euryclea, till at last she found that the path of least resistance
|
|
would lie in the direction of making Eurynome and Euryclea two persons.
|
|
Therefore in xxiii. 289-292 both Eurynome and "the nurse" (who can be
|
|
none other than Euryclea) come on together. I do not say that this is
|
|
feminine, but it is not unfeminine.
|
|
{157} See note {156}
|
|
{158} This, I take it, was immediately in front of the main entrance of
|
|
the inner courtyard into the body of the house.
|
|
{159} This is the only allusion to Sardinia in either "Iliad" or
|
|
"Odyssey."
|
|
{160} The normal translation of the Greek word would be "holding back,"
|
|
"curbing," "restraining," but I cannot think that the writer meant
|
|
this--she must have been using the word in its other sense of "having,"
|
|
"holding," "keeping," "maintaining."
|
|
{161} I have vainly tried to realise the construction of the fastening
|
|
here described.
|
|
{162} See plan of Ulysses' house in the appendix. It is evident that the
|
|
open part of the court had no flooring but the natural soil.
|
|
{163} See plan of Ulysses' house, and note {175}.
|
|
{164} i.e. the door that led into the body of the house.
|
|
{165} This was, no doubt, the little table that was set for Ulysses,
|
|
"Od." xx. 259.
|
|
Surely the difficulty of this passage has been overrated. I suppose
|
|
the iron part of the axe to have been wedged into the handle, or bound
|
|
securely to it--the handle being half buried in the ground. The axe
|
|
would be placed edgeways towards the archer, and he would have to shoot
|
|
his arrow through the hole into which the handle was fitted when the axe
|
|
was in use. Twelve axes were placed in a row all at the same height,
|
|
all exactly in front of one another, all edgeways to Ulysses whose arrow
|
|
passed through all the holes from the first onward. I cannot see how the
|
|
Greek can bear any other interpretation, the words being, [Greek]
|
|
"He did not miss a single hole from the first onwards." [Greek]
|
|
according to Liddell and Scott being "the hole for the handle of an
|
|
axe, etc.," while [Greek] ("Od." v. 236) is, according to the same
|
|
authorities, the handle itself. The feat is absurdly impossible, but our
|
|
authoress sometimes has a soul above impossibilities.
|
|
{166} The reader will note how the spoiling of good food distresses the
|
|
writer even in such a supreme moment as this.
|
|
{167} Here we have it again. Waste of substance comes first.
|
|
{168} cf. "Il." iii. 337 and three other places. It is strange that
|
|
the author of the "Iliad" should find a little horse-hair so alarming.
|
|
Possibly enough she was merely borrowing a common form line from some
|
|
earlier poet--or poetess--for this is a woman's line rather than a
|
|
man's.
|
|
{169} Or perhaps simply "window." See plan in the appendix.
|
|
{170} i.e. the pavement on which Ulysses was standing.
|
|
{171} The interpretation of lines 126-143 is most dubious, and at best
|
|
we are in a region of melodrama: cf., however, i.425, etc. from which it
|
|
appears that there was a tower in the outer court, and that Telemachus
|
|
used to sleep in it. The [Greek] I take to be a door, or trap door,
|
|
leading on to the roof above Telemachus's bed room, which we are told
|
|
was in a place that could be seen from all round--or it might be simply
|
|
a window in Telemachus's room looking out into the street. From the
|
|
top of the tower the outer world was to be told what was going on, but
|
|
people could not get in by the [Greek]: they would have to come in by
|
|
the main entrance, and Melanthius explains that the mouth of the narrow
|
|
passage (which was in the lands of Ulysses and his friends) commanded
|
|
the only entrance by which help could come, so that there would be
|
|
nothing gained by raising an alarm. As for the [Greek] of line 143,
|
|
no commentator ancient or modern has been able to say what was
|
|
intended--but whatever they were, Melanthius could never carry twelve
|
|
shields, twelve helmets, and twelve spears. Moreover, where he could
|
|
go the others could go also. If a dozen suitors had followed Melanthius
|
|
into the house they could have attacked Ulysses in the rear, in which
|
|
case, unless Minerva had intervened promptly, the "Odyssey" would have
|
|
had a different ending. But throughout the scene we are in a region of
|
|
extravagance rather than of true fiction--it cannot be taken seriously
|
|
by any but the very serious, until we come to the episode of Phemius and
|
|
Medon, where the writer begins to be at home again.
|
|
{172} I presume it was intended that there should be a hook driven into
|
|
the bearing-post.
|
|
{173} What for?
|
|
{174} Gr: [Greek]. This is not [Greek].
|
|
{175} From lines 333 and 341 of this book, and lines 145 and 146 of bk.
|
|
xxi we can locate the approach to the [Greek] with some certainty.
|
|
{176} But in xix. 500-502 Ulysses scolded Euryclea for offering
|
|
information on this very point, and declared himself quite able to
|
|
settle it for himself.
|
|
{177} There were a hundred and eight Suitors.
|
|
{178} Lord Grimthorpe, whose understanding does not lend itself to easy
|
|
imposition, has been good enough to write to me about my conviction that
|
|
the "Odyssey" was written by a woman, and to send me remarks upon the
|
|
gross absurdity of the incident here recorded. It is plain that all
|
|
the authoress cared about was that the women should be hanged: as for
|
|
attempting to realise, or to make her readers realise, how the hanging
|
|
was done, this was of no consequence. The reader must take her word for
|
|
it and ask no questions. Lord Grimthorpe wrote:
|
|
"I had better send you my ideas about Nausicaa's hanging of the
|
|
maids (not 'maidens,' of whom Froude wrote so well in his 'Science of
|
|
History') before I forget it all. Luckily for me Liddell & Scott have
|
|
specially translated most of the doubtful words, referring to this very
|
|
place.
|
|
"A ship's cable. I don't know how big a ship she meant, but it must have
|
|
been a very small one indeed if its 'cable' could be used to tie tightly
|
|
round a woman's neck, and still more round a dozen of them 'in a row,'
|
|
besides being strong enough to hold them and pull them all up.
|
|
"A dozen average women would need the weight and strength of more than
|
|
a dozen strong heavy men even over the best pulley hung to the roof
|
|
over them; and the idea of pulling them up by a rope hung anyhow round a
|
|
pillar [Greek] is absurdly impossible; and how a dozen of them could be
|
|
hung dangling round one post is a problem which a senior wrangler would
|
|
be puzzled to answer... She had better have let Telemachus use his sword
|
|
as he had intended till she changed his mind for him."
|
|
{179} Then they had all been in Ulysses' service over twenty years;
|
|
perhaps the twelve guilty ones had been engaged more recently.
|
|
{180} Translation very doubtful--cf. "It." xxiv. 598.
|
|
{181} But why could she not at once ask to see the scar, of which
|
|
Euryclea had told her, or why could not Ulysses have shown it to her?
|
|
{182} The people of Ithaca seem to have been as fond of carping as the
|
|
Phaeacians were in vi. 273, etc.
|
|
{183} See note {156}. Ulysses's bed room does not appear to have been
|
|
upstairs, nor yet quite within the house. Is it possible that it was
|
|
"the domed room" round the outside of which the erring maids were, for
|
|
aught we have heard to the contrary, still hanging?
|
|
{184} Ulysses bedroom in the mind of the writer is here too apparently
|
|
down stairs.
|
|
{185} Penelope having been now sufficiently whitewashed, disappears from
|
|
the poem.
|
|
{186} So practised a washerwoman as our authoress doubtless knew that by
|
|
this time the web must have become such a wreck that it would have gone
|
|
to pieces in the wash.
|
|
A lady points out to me, just as these sheets are leaving my hands, that
|
|
no really good needlewoman--no one, indeed, whose work or character was
|
|
worth consideration--could have endured, no matter for what reason, the
|
|
unpicking of her day's work, day after day for between three and four
|
|
years.
|
|
{187} We must suppose Dolius not yet to know that his son Melanthius
|
|
had been tortured, mutilated, and left to die by Ulysses' orders on the
|
|
preceding day, and that his daughter Melantho had been hanged. Dolius
|
|
was probably exceptionally simple-minded, and his name was ironical.
|
|
So on Mt. Eryx I was shown a man who was always called Sonza Malizia or
|
|
"Guileless"--he being held exceptionally cunning.
|
|
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|
|
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