10283 lines
664 KiB
Go
10283 lines
664 KiB
Go
package main
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func readOdyssey(line int) string {
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var out string
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currentline := 1
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for _, char := range odyssey {
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if currentline == line {
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if char == '\n' {
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break
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}
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out += string(char)
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} else if char == '\n' {
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currentline++
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}
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}
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return out
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}
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var odyssey = `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.
|
|
Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared Telemachus
|
|
rose and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet,
|
|
girded his sword about his shoulder, and left his room looking like an
|
|
immortal god. He at once sent the criers round to call the people in
|
|
assembly, so they called them and the people gathered thereon; then,
|
|
when they were got together, he went to the place of assembly spear in
|
|
hand--not alone, for his two hounds went with him. Minerva endowed him
|
|
with a presence of such divine comeliness that all marvelled at him as
|
|
he went by, and when he took his place in his father's seat even the
|
|
oldest councillors made way for him.
|
|
Aegyptius, a man bent double with age, and of infinite experience, was
|
|
the first to speak. His son Antiphus had gone with Ulysses to Ilius,
|
|
land of noble steeds, but the savage Cyclops had killed him when they
|
|
were all shut up in the cave, and had cooked his last dinner for him.
|
|
{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
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is nothing dearer to a man than his own country and his parents, and
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|
however splendid a home he may have in a foreign country, if it be far
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from father or mother, he does not care about it. Now, however, I will
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|
tell you of the many hazardous adventures which by Jove's will I met
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with on my return from Troy.
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|
"When I had set sail thence the wind took me first to Ismarus, which is
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the city of the Cicons. There I sacked the town and put the people to
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the sword. We took their wives and also much booty, which we divided
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|
equitably amongst us, so that none might have reason to complain. I
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then said that we had better make off at once, but my men very foolishly
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|
would not obey me, so they staid there drinking much wine and killing
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|
great numbers of sheep and oxen on the sea shore. Meanwhile the Cicons
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|
cried out for help to other Cicons who lived inland. These were more in
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|
number, and stronger, and they were more skilled in the art of war,
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|
for they could fight, either from chariots or on foot as the occasion
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|
served; in the morning, therefore, they came as thick as leaves and
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|
bloom in summer, and the hand of heaven was against us, so that we were
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hard pressed. They set the battle in array near the ships, and the hosts
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aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another. {76} So long as the day
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waxed and it was still morning, we held our own against them, though
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they were more in number than we; but as the sun went down, towards the
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|
time when men loose their oxen, the Cicons got the better of us, and we
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|
lost half a dozen men from every ship we had; so we got away with those
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|
that were left.
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"Thence we sailed onward with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have
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|
escaped death though we had lost our comrades, nor did we leave till we
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had thrice invoked each one of the poor fellows who had perished by the
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|
hands of the Cicons. Then Jove raised the North wind against us till it
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|
blew a hurricane, so that land and sky were hidden in thick clouds, and
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|
night sprang forth out of the heavens. We let the ships run before the
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|
gale, but the force of the wind tore our sails to tatters, so we took
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|
them down for fear of shipwreck, and rowed our hardest towards the land.
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|
There we lay two days and two nights suffering much alike from toil and
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|
distress of mind, but on the morning of the third day we again raised
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|
our masts, set sail, and took our places, letting the wind and steersmen
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|
direct our ship. I should have got home at that time unharmed had not
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|
the North wind and the currents been against me as I was doubling Cape
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|
Malea, and set me off my course hard by the island of Cythera.
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|
"I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of nine days upon the
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|
sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters, who
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|
live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take
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|
in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near
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|
the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to
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|
see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had
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|
a third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the
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|
Lotus-eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus,
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|
which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about
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|
home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to
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|
them, but were for staying and munching lotus {77} with the Lotus-eaters
|
|
without thinking further of their return; nevertheless, though they wept
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|
bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the
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|
benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of them
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|
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.
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|
"We sailed hence, always in much distress, till we came to the land of
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|
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
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|
high mountains; each is lord and master in his family, and they take no
|
|
account of their neighbours.
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|
"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
|
|
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