--- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/reportlab/demos/odyssey/odyssey.txt Tue Feb 15 15:15:37 2000 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,10440 @@
+Provided by The Internet Classics Archive.
+See bottom for copyright. Available online at
+ http://classics.mit.edu//Homer/odyssey.html
+
+The Odyssey
+By Homer
+
+
+Translated by Samuel Butler
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK I
+
+Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide
+after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit,
+and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted;
+moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life
+and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save
+his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating
+the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from
+ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, O daughter
+of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.
+
+So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely
+home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his
+wife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got
+him into a large cave and wanted to marry him. But as years went by,
+there came a time when the gods settled that he should go back to
+Ithaca; even then, however, when he was among his own people, his
+troubles were not yet over; nevertheless all the gods had now begun
+to pity him except Neptune, who still persecuted him without ceasing
+and would not let him get home.
+
+Now Neptune had gone off to the Ethiopians, who are at the world's
+end, and lie in two halves, the one looking West and the other East.
+He had gone there to accept a hecatomb of sheep and oxen, and was
+enjoying himself at his festival; but the other gods met in the house
+of Olympian Jove, and the sire of gods and men spoke first. At that
+moment he was thinking of Aegisthus, who had been killed by Agamemnon's
+son Orestes; so he said to the other gods:
+
+"See now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is after all nothing
+but their own folly. Look at Aegisthus; he must needs make love to
+Agamemnon's wife unrighteously and then kill Agamemnon, though he
+knew it would be the death of him; for I sent Mercury to warn him
+not to do either of these things, inasmuch as Orestes would be sure
+to take his revenge when he grew up and wanted to return home. Mercury
+told him this in all good will but he would not listen, and now he
+has paid for everything in full."
+
+Then Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, it served
+Aegisthus right, and so it would any one else who does as he did;
+but Aegisthus is neither here nor there; it is for Ulysses that my
+heart bleeds, when I think of his sufferings in that lonely sea-girt
+island, far away, poor man, from all his friends. It is an island
+covered with forest, in the very middle of the sea, and a goddess
+lives there, daughter of the magician Atlas, who looks after the bottom
+of the ocean, and carries the great columns that keep heaven and earth
+asunder. This daughter of Atlas has got hold of poor unhappy Ulysses,
+and keeps trying by every kind of blandishment to make him forget
+his home, so that he is tired of life, and thinks of nothing but how
+he may once more see the smoke of his own chimneys. You, sir, take
+no heed of this, and yet when Ulysses was before Troy did he not propitiate
+you with many a burnt sacrifice? Why then should you keep on being
+so angry with him?"
+
+And Jove said, "My child, what are you talking about? How can I forget
+Ulysses than whom there is no more capable man on earth, nor more
+liberal in his offerings to the immortal gods that live in heaven?
+Bear in mind, however, that Neptune is still furious with Ulysses
+for having blinded an eye of Polyphemus king of the Cyclopes. Polyphemus
+is son to Neptune by the nymph Thoosa, daughter to the sea-king Phorcys;
+therefore though he will not kill Ulysses outright, he torments him
+by preventing him from getting home. Still, let us lay our heads together
+and see how we can help him to return; Neptune will then be pacified,
+for if we are all of a mind he can hardly stand out against us."
+
+And Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, if, then,
+the gods now mean that Ulysses should get home, we should first send
+Mercury to the Ogygian island to tell Calypso that we have made up
+our minds and that he is to return. In the meantime I will go to Ithaca,
+to put heart into Ulysses' son Telemachus; I will embolden him to
+call the Achaeans in assembly, and speak out to the suitors of his
+mother Penelope, who persist in eating up any number of his sheep
+and oxen; I will also conduct him to Sparta and to Pylos, to see if
+he can hear anything about the return of his dear father- for this
+will make people speak well of him."
+
+So saying she bound on her glittering golden sandals, imperishable,
+with which she can fly like the wind over land or sea; she grasped
+the redoubtable bronze-shod spear, so stout and sturdy and strong,
+wherewith she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her,
+and down she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus, whereon forthwith
+she was in Ithaca, at the gateway of Ulysses' house, disguised as
+a visitor, Mentes, chief of the Taphians, and she held a bronze spear
+in her hand. There she found the lordly suitors seated on hides of
+the oxen which they had killed and eaten, and playing draughts in
+front of the house. Men-servants and pages were bustling about to
+wait upon them, some mixing wine with water in the mixing-bowls, some
+cleaning down the tables with wet sponges and laying them out again,
+and some cutting up great quantities of meat.
+
+Telemachus saw her long before any one else did. He was sitting moodily
+among the suitors thinking about his brave father, and how he would
+send them flying out of the house, if he were to come to his own again
+and be honoured as in days gone by. Thus brooding as he sat among
+them, he caught sight of Minerva and went straight to the gate, for
+he was vexed that a stranger should be kept waiting for admittance.
+He took her right hand in his own, and bade her give him her spear.
+"Welcome," said he, "to our house, and when you have partaken of food
+you shall tell us what you have come for."
+
+He led the way as he spoke, and Minerva followed him. When they were
+within he took her spear and set it in the spear- stand against a
+strong bearing-post along with the many other spears of his unhappy
+father, and he conducted her to a richly decorated seat under which
+he threw a cloth of damask. There was a footstool also for her feet,
+and he set another seat near her for himself, away from the suitors,
+that she might not be annoyed while eating by their noise and insolence,
+and that he might ask her more freely about his father.
+
+A maid servant then brought them water in a beautiful golden ewer
+and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands, and
+she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them
+bread, and offered them many good things of what there was in the
+house, the carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats and set
+cups of gold by their side, and a man-servant brought them wine and
+poured it out for them.
+
+Then the suitors came in and took their places on the benches and
+seats. Forthwith men servants poured water over their hands, maids
+went round with the bread-baskets, pages filled the mixing-bowls with
+wine and water, and they laid their hands upon the good things that
+were before them. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink
+they wanted music and dancing, which are the crowning embellishments
+of a banquet, so a servant brought a lyre to Phemius, whom they compelled
+perforce to sing to them. As soon as he touched his lyre and began
+to sing Telemachus spoke low to Minerva, with his head close to hers
+that no man might hear.
+
+"I hope, sir," said he, "that you will not be offended with what I
+am going to say. Singing comes cheap to those who do not pay for it,
+and all this is done at the cost of one whose bones lie rotting in
+some wilderness or grinding to powder in the surf. If these men were
+to see my father come back to Ithaca they would pray for longer legs
+rather than a longer purse, for money would not serve them; but he,
+alas, has fallen on an ill fate, and even when people do sometimes
+say that he is coming, we no longer heed them; we shall never see
+him again. And now, sir, tell me and tell me true, who you are and
+where you come from. Tell me of your town and parents, what manner
+of ship you came in, how your crew brought you to Ithaca, and of what
+nation they declared themselves to be- for you cannot have come by
+land. Tell me also truly, for I want to know, are you a stranger to
+this house, or have you been here in my father's time? In the old
+days we had many visitors for my father went about much himself."
+
+And Minerva answered, "I will tell you truly and particularly all
+about it. I am Mentes, son of Anchialus, and I am King of the Taphians.
+I have come here with my ship and crew, on a voyage to men of a foreign
+tongue being bound for Temesa with a cargo of iron, and I shall bring
+back copper. As for my ship, it lies over yonder off the open country
+away from the town, in the harbour Rheithron under the wooded mountain
+Neritum. Our fathers were friends before us, as old Laertes will tell
+you, if you will go and ask him. They say, however, that he never
+comes to town now, and lives by himself in the country, faring hardly,
+with an old woman to look after him and get his dinner for him, when
+he comes in tired from pottering about his vineyard. They told me
+your father was at home again, and that was why I came, but it seems
+the gods are still keeping him back, for he is not dead yet not on
+the mainland. It is more likely he is on some sea-girt island in mid
+ocean, or a prisoner among savages who are detaining him against his
+will I am no prophet, and know very little about omens, but I speak
+as it is borne in upon me from heaven, and assure you that he will
+not be away much longer; for he is a man of such resource that even
+though he were in chains of iron he would find some means of getting
+home again. But tell me, and tell me true, can Ulysses really have
+such a fine looking fellow for a son? You are indeed wonderfully like
+him about the head and eyes, for we were close friends before he set
+sail for Troy where the flower of all the Argives went also. Since
+that time we have never either of us seen the other."
+
+"My mother," answered Telemachus, tells me I am son to Ulysses, but
+it is a wise child that knows his own father. Would that I were son
+to one who had grown old upon his own estates, for, since you ask
+me, there is no more ill-starred man under heaven than he who they
+tell me is my father."
+
+And Minerva said, "There is no fear of your race dying out yet, while
+Penelope has such a fine son as you are. But tell me, and tell me
+true, what is the meaning of all this feasting, and who are these
+people? What is it all about? Have you some banquet, or is there a
+wedding in the family- for no one seems to be bringing any provisions
+of his own? And the guests- how atrociously they are behaving; what
+riot they make over the whole house; it is enough to disgust any respectable
+person who comes near them."
+
+"Sir," said Telemachus, "as regards your question, so long as my father
+was here it was well with us and with the house, but the gods in their
+displeasure have willed it otherwise, and have hidden him away more
+closely than mortal man was ever yet hidden. I could have borne it
+better even though he were dead, if he had fallen with his men before
+Troy, or had died with friends around him when the days of his fighting
+were done; for then the Achaeans would have built a mound over his
+ashes, and I should myself have been heir to his renown; but now the
+storm-winds have spirited him away we know not wither; he is gone
+without leaving so much as a trace behind him, and I inherit nothing
+but dismay. Nor does the matter end simply with grief for the loss
+of my father; heaven has laid sorrows upon me of yet another kind;
+for the chiefs from all our islands, Dulichium, Same, and the woodland
+island of Zacynthus, as also all the principal men of Ithaca itself,
+are eating up my house under the pretext of paying their court to
+my mother, who will neither point blank say that she will not marry,
+nor yet bring matters to an end; so they are making havoc of my estate,
+and before long will do so also with myself."
+
+"Is that so?" exclaimed Minerva, "then you do indeed want Ulysses
+home again. Give him his helmet, shield, and a couple lances, and
+if he is the man he was when I first knew him in our house, drinking
+and making merry, he would soon lay his hands about these rascally
+suitors, were he to stand once more upon his own threshold. He was
+then coming from Ephyra, where he had been to beg poison for his arrows
+from Ilus, son of Mermerus. Ilus feared the ever-living gods and would
+not give him any, but my father let him have some, for he was very
+fond of him. If Ulysses is the man he then was these suitors will
+have a short shrift and a sorry wedding.
+
+"But there! It rests with heaven to determine whether he is to return,
+and take his revenge in his own house or no; I would, however, urge
+you to set about trying to get rid of these suitors at once. Take
+my advice, call the Achaean heroes in assembly to-morrow -lay your
+case before them, and call heaven to bear you witness. Bid the suitors
+take themselves off, each to his own place, and if your mother's mind
+is set on marrying again, let her go back to her father, who will
+find her a husband and provide her with all the marriage gifts that
+so dear a daughter may expect. As for yourself, let me prevail upon
+you to take the best ship you can get, with a crew of twenty men,
+and go in quest of your father who has so long been missing. Some
+one may tell you something, or (and people often hear things in this
+way) some heaven-sent message may direct you. First go to Pylos and
+ask Nestor; thence go on to Sparta and visit Menelaus, for he got
+home last of all the Achaeans; if you hear that your father is alive
+and on his way home, you can put up with the waste these suitors will
+make for yet another twelve months. If on the other hand you hear
+of his death, come home at once, celebrate his funeral rites with
+all due pomp, build a barrow to his memory, and make your mother marry
+again. Then, having done all this, think it well over in your mind
+how, by fair means or foul, you may kill these suitors in your own
+house. You are too old to plead infancy any longer; have you not heard
+how people are singing Orestes' praises for having killed his father's
+murderer Aegisthus? You are a fine, smart looking fellow; show your
+mettle, then, and make yourself a name in story. Now, however, I must
+go back to my ship and to my crew, who will be impatient if I keep
+them waiting longer; think the matter over for yourself, and remember
+what I have said to you."
+
+"Sir," answered Telemachus, "it has been very kind of you to talk
+to me in this way, as though I were your own son, and I will do all
+you tell me; I know you want to be getting on with your voyage, but
+stay a little longer till you have taken a bath and refreshed yourself.
+I will then give you a present, and you shall go on your way rejoicing;
+I will give you one of great beauty and value- a keepsake such as
+only dear friends give to one another."
+
+Minerva answered, "Do not try to keep me, for I would be on my way
+at once. As for any present you may be disposed to make me, keep it
+till I come again, and I will take it home with me. You shall give
+me a very good one, and I will give you one of no less value in return."
+
+With these words she flew away like a bird into the air, but she had
+given Telemachus courage, and had made him think more than ever about
+his father. He felt the change, wondered at it, and knew that the
+stranger had been a god, so he went straight to where the suitors
+were sitting.
+
+Phemius was still singing, and his hearers sat rapt in silence as
+he told the sad tale of the return from Troy, and the ills Minerva
+had laid upon the Achaeans. Penelope, daughter of Icarius, heard his
+song from her room upstairs, and came down by the great staircase,
+not alone, but attended by two of her handmaids. When she reached
+the suitors she stood by one of the bearing posts that supported the
+roof of the cloisters with a staid maiden on either side of her. She
+held a veil, moreover, before her face, and was weeping bitterly.
+
+"Phemius," she cried, "you know many another feat of gods and heroes,
+such as poets love to celebrate. Sing the suitors some one of these,
+and let them drink their wine in silence, but cease this sad tale,
+for it breaks my sorrowful heart, and reminds me of my lost husband
+whom I mourn ever without ceasing, and whose name was great over all
+Hellas and middle Argos."
+
+"Mother," answered Telemachus, "let the bard sing what he has a mind
+to; bards do not make the ills they sing of; it is Jove, not they,
+who makes them, and who sends weal or woe upon mankind according to
+his own good pleasure. This fellow means no harm by singing the ill-fated
+return of the Danaans, for people always applaud the latest songs
+most warmly. Make up your mind to it and bear it; Ulysses is not the
+only man who never came back from Troy, but many another went down
+as well as he. Go, then, within the house and busy yourself with your
+daily duties, your loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants;
+for speech is man's matter, and mine above all others- for it is I
+who am master here."
+
+She went wondering back into the house, and laid her son's saying
+in her heart. Then, going upstairs with her handmaids into her room,
+she mourned her dear husband till Minerva shed sweet sleep over her
+eyes. But the suitors were clamorous throughout the covered cloisters,
+and prayed each one that he might be her bed fellow.
+
+Then Telemachus spoke, "Shameless," he cried, "and insolent suitors,
+let us feast at our pleasure now, and let there be no brawling, for
+it is a rare thing to hear a man with such a divine voice as Phemius
+has; but in the morning meet me in full assembly that I may give you
+formal notice to depart, and feast at one another's houses, turn and
+turn about, at your own cost. If on the other hand you choose to persist
+in spunging upon one man, heaven help me, but Jove shall reckon with
+you in full, and when you fall in my father's house there shall be
+no man to avenge you."
+
+The suitors bit their lips as they heard him, and marvelled at the
+boldness of his speech. Then, Antinous, son of Eupeithes, said, "The
+gods seem to have given you lessons in bluster and tall talking; may
+Jove never grant you to be chief in Ithaca as your father was before
+you."
+
+Telemachus answered, "Antinous, do not chide with me, but, god willing,
+I will be chief too if I can. Is this the worst fate you can think
+of for me? It is no bad thing to be a chief, for it brings both riches
+and honour. Still, now that Ulysses is dead there are many great men
+in Ithaca both old and young, and some other may take the lead among
+them; nevertheless I will be chief in my own house, and will rule
+those whom Ulysses has won for me."
+
+Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered, "It rests with heaven to
+decide who shall be chief among us, but you shall be master in your
+own house and over your own possessions; no one while there is a man
+in Ithaca shall do you violence nor rob you. And now, my good fellow,
+I want to know about this stranger. What country does he come from?
+Of what family is he, and where is his estate? Has he brought you
+news about the return of your father, or was he on business of his
+own? He seemed a well-to-do man, but he hurried off so suddenly that
+he was gone in a moment before we could get to know him."
+
+"My father is dead and gone," answered Telemachus, "and even if some
+rumour reaches me I put no more faith in it now. My mother does indeed
+sometimes send for a soothsayer and question him, but I give his prophecyings
+no heed. As for the stranger, he was Mentes, son of Anchialus, chief
+of the Taphians, an old friend of my father's." But in his heart he
+knew that it had been the goddess.
+
+The suitors then returned to their singing and dancing until the evening;
+but when night fell upon their pleasuring they went home to bed each
+in his own abode. Telemachus's room was high up in a tower that looked
+on to the outer court; hither, then, he hied, brooding and full of
+thought. A good old woman, Euryclea, daughter of Ops, the son of Pisenor,
+went before him with a couple of blazing torches. Laertes had bought
+her with his own money when she was quite young; he gave the worth
+of twenty oxen for her, and shewed as much respect to her in his household
+as he did to his own wedded wife, but he did not take her to his bed
+for he feared his wife's resentment. She it was who now lighted Telemachus
+to his room, and she loved him better than any of the other women
+in the house did, for she had nursed him when he was a baby. He opened
+the door of his bed room and sat down upon the bed; as he took off
+his shirt he gave it to the good old woman, who folded it tidily up,
+and hung it for him over a peg by his bed side, after which she went
+out, pulled the door to by a silver catch, and drew the bolt home
+by means of the strap. But Telemachus as he lay covered with a woollen
+fleece kept thinking all night through of his intended voyage of the
+counsel that Minerva had given him.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK II
+
+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,
+the first to speak. His son Antiphus had gone with Ulysses to Ilius,
+land of noble steeds, but the savage Cyclops had killed him when they
+were all shut up in the cave, and had cooked his last dinner for him,
+He had three sons left, of whom two still worked on their father's
+land, while the third, Eurynomus, was one of the suitors; nevertheless
+their father could not get over the loss of Antiphus, and was still
+weeping for him when he began his speech.
+
+"Men of Ithaca," he said, "hear my words. From the day Ulysses left
+us there has been no meeting of our councillors until now; who then
+can it be, whether old or young, that finds it so necessary to convene
+us? Has he got wind of some host approaching, and does he wish to
+warn us, or would he speak upon some other matter of public moment?
+I am sure he is an excellent person, and I hope Jove will grant him
+his heart's desire."
+
+Telemachus took this speech as of good omen and rose at once, for
+he was bursting with what he had to say. He stood in the middle of
+the assembly and the good herald Pisenor brought him his staff. Then,
+turning to Aegyptius, "Sir," said he, "it is I, as you will shortly
+learn, who have convened you, for it is I who am the most aggrieved.
+I have not got wind of any host approaching about which I would warn
+you, nor is there any matter of public moment on which I would speak.
+My grieveance is purely personal, and turns on two great misfortunes
+which have fallen upon my house. The first of these is the loss of
+my excellent father, who was chief among all you here present, and
+was like a father to every one of you; the second is much more serious,
+and ere long will be the utter ruin of my estate. The sons of all
+the chief men among you are pestering my mother to marry them against
+her will. They are afraid to go to her father Icarius, asking him
+to choose the one he likes best, and to provide marriage gifts for
+his daughter, but day by day they keep hanging about my father's house,
+sacrificing our oxen, sheep, and fat goats for their banquets, and
+never giving so much as a thought to the quantity of wine they drink.
+No estate can stand such recklessness; we have now no Ulysses to ward
+off harm from our doors, and I cannot hold my own against them. I
+shall never all my days be as good a man as he was, still I would
+indeed defend myself if I had power to do so, for I cannot stand such
+treatment any longer; my house is being disgraced and ruined. Have
+respect, therefore, to your own consciences and to public opinion.
+Fear, too, the wrath of heaven, lest the gods should be displeased
+and turn upon you. I pray you by Jove and Themis, who is the beginning
+and the end of councils, [do not] hold back, my friends, and leave
+me singlehanded- unless it be that my brave father Ulysses did some
+wrong to the Achaeans which you would now avenge on me, by aiding
+and abetting these suitors. Moreover, if I am to be eaten out of house
+and home at all, I had rather you did the eating yourselves, for I
+could then take action against you to some purpose, and serve you
+with notices from house to house till I got paid in full, whereas
+now I have no remedy."
+
+With this Telemachus dashed his staff to the ground and burst into
+tears. Every one was very sorry for him, but they all sat still and
+no one ventured to make him an angry answer, save only Antinous, who
+spoke thus:
+
+"Telemachus, insolent braggart that you are, how dare you try to throw
+the blame upon us suitors? It is your mother's fault not ours, for
+she is a very artful woman. This three years past, and close on four,
+she has 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 an 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 we shall
+go on harassing him with our suit; for we fear no man, and care neither
+for him, with all his fine speeches, nor for any fortune-telling of
+yours. You may preach as much as you please, but we shall only hate
+you the more. We shall go back and continue to eat up Telemachus's
+estate without paying him, till such time as his mother leaves off
+tormenting us by keeping us day after day on the tiptoe of expectation,
+each vying with the other in his suit for a prize of such rare perfection.
+Besides we cannot go after the other women whom we should marry in
+due course, but for the way in which she treats us."
+
+Then Telemachus said, "Eurymachus, and you other suitors, I shall
+say no more, and entreat you no further, for the gods and the people
+of Ithaca now know my story. Give me, then, a ship and a crew of twenty
+men to take me hither and thither, and I will go to Sparta and to
+Pylos in quest of my father who has so long been missing. Some one
+may tell me something, or (and people often hear things in this way)
+some heaven-sent message may direct me. If I can hear of him as alive
+and on his way home I will put up with the waste you suitors will
+make for yet another twelve months. If on the other hand I hear of
+his death, I will return at once, celebrate his funeral rites with
+all due pomp, build a barrow to his memory, and make my mother marry
+again."
+
+With these words he sat down, and Mentor who had been a friend of
+Ulysses, and had been left in charge of everything with full authority
+over the servants, rose to speak. He, then, plainly and in all honesty
+addressed them thus:
+
+"Hear me, men of Ithaca, I hope that you may never have a kind and
+well-disposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern you equitably;
+I hope that all your chiefs henceforward may be cruel and unjust,
+for there is not one of you but has forgotten Ulysses, who ruled you
+as though he were your father. I am not half so angry with the suitors,
+for if they choose to do violence in the naughtiness of their hearts,
+and wager their heads that Ulysses will not return, they can take
+the high hand and eat up his estate, but as for you others I am shocked
+at the way in which you all sit still without even trying to stop
+such scandalous goings on-which you could do if you chose, for you
+are many and they are few."
+
+Leiocritus, son of Evenor, answered him saying, "Mentor, what folly
+is all this, that you should set the people to stay us? It is a hard
+thing for one man to fight with many about his victuals. Even though
+Ulysses himself were to set upon us while we are feasting in his house,
+and do his best to oust us, his wife, who wants him back so very badly,
+would have small cause for rejoicing, and his blood would be upon
+his own head if he fought against such great odds. There is no sense
+in what you have been saying. Now, therefore, do you people go about
+your business, and let his father's old friends, Mentor and Halitherses,
+speed this boy on his journey, if he goes at all- which I do not think
+he will, for he is more likely to stay where he is till some one comes
+and tells him something."
+
+On this he broke up the assembly, and every man went back to his own
+abode, while the suitors returned to the house of Ulysses.
+
+Then Telemachus went all alone by the sea side, washed his hands in
+the grey waves, and prayed to Minerva.
+
+"Hear me," he cried, "you god who visited me yesterday, and bade me
+sail the seas in search of my father who has so long been missing.
+I would obey you, but the Achaeans, and more particularly the wicked
+suitors, are hindering me that I cannot do so."
+
+As he thus prayed, Minerva came close up to him in the likeness and
+with the voice of Mentor. "Telemachus," said she, "if you are made
+of the same stuff as your father you will be neither fool nor coward
+henceforward, for Ulysses never broke his word nor left his work half
+done. If, then, you take after him, your voyage will not be fruitless,
+but unless you have the blood of Ulysses and of Penelope in your veins
+I see no likelihood of your succeeding. Sons are seldom as good men
+as their fathers; they are generally worse, not better; still, as
+you are not going to be either fool or coward henceforward, and are
+not entirely without some share of your father's wise discernment,
+I look with hope upon your undertaking. But mind you never make common
+cause with any of those foolish suitors, for they have neither sense
+nor virtue, and give no thought to death and to the doom that will
+shortly fall on one and all of them, so that they shall perish on
+the same day. As for your voyage, it shall not be long delayed; your
+father was such an old friend of mine that I will find you a ship,
+and will come with you myself. Now, however, return home, and go about
+among the suitors; begin getting provisions ready for your voyage;
+see everything well stowed, the wine in jars, and the barley meal,
+which is the staff of life, in leathern bags, while I go round the
+town and beat up volunteers at once. There are many ships in Ithaca
+both old and new; I will run my eye over them for you and will choose
+the best; we will get her ready and will put out to sea without delay."
+
+Thus spoke Minerva daughter of Jove, and Telemachus lost no time in
+doing as the goddess told him. He went moodily and found the suitors
+flaying goats and singeing pigs in the outer court. Antinous came
+up to him at once and laughed as he took his hand in his own, saying,
+"Telemachus, my fine fire-eater, bear no more ill blood neither in
+word nor deed, but eat and drink with us as you used to do. The Achaeans
+will find you in everything- a ship and a picked crew to boot- so
+that you can set sail for Pylos at once and get news of your noble
+father."
+
+"Antinous," answered Telemachus, "I cannot eat in peace, nor take
+pleasure of any kind with such men as you are. Was it not enough that
+you should waste so much good property of mine while I was yet a boy?
+Now that I am older and know more about it, I am also stronger, and
+whether here among this people, or by going to Pylos, I will do you
+all the harm I can. I shall go, and my going will not be in vain though,
+thanks to you suitors, I have neither ship nor crew of my own, and
+must be passenger not captain."
+
+As he spoke he snatched his hand from that of Antinous. Meanwhile
+the others went on getting dinner ready about the buildings, jeering
+at him tauntingly as they did so.
+
+"Telemachus," said one youngster, "means to be the death of us; I
+suppose he thinks he can bring friends to help him from Pylos, or
+again from Sparta, where he seems bent on going. Or will he go to
+Ephyra as well, for poison to put in our wine and kill us?"
+
+Another said, "Perhaps if Telemachus goes on board ship, he will be
+like his father and perish far from his friends. In this case we should
+have plenty to do, for we could then divide up his property amongst
+us: as for the house we can let his mother and the man who marries
+her have that."
+
+This was how they talked. But Telemachus went down into the lofty
+and spacious store-room where his father's treasure of gold and bronze
+lay heaped up upon the floor, and where the linen and spare clothes
+were kept in open chests. Here, too, there was a store of fragrant
+olive oil, while casks of old, well-ripened wine, unblended and fit
+for a god to drink, were ranged against the wall in case Ulysses should
+come home again after all. The room was closed with well-made doors
+opening in the middle; moreover the faithful old house-keeper Euryclea,
+daughter of Ops the son of Pisenor, was in charge of everything both
+night and day. Telemachus called her to the store-room and said:
+
+"Nurse, draw me off some of the best wine you have, after what you
+are keeping for my father's own drinking, in case, poor man, he should
+escape death, and find his way home again after all. Let me have twelve
+jars, and see that they all have lids; also fill me some well-sewn
+leathern bags with barley meal- about twenty measures in all. Get
+these things put together at once, and say nothing about it. I will
+take everything away this evening as soon as my mother has gone upstairs
+for the night. I am going to Sparta and to Pylos to see if I can hear
+anything about the return of my dear father.
+
+When Euryclea heard this she began to cry, and spoke fondly to him,
+saying, "My dear child, what ever can have put such notion as that
+into your head? Where in the world do you want to go to- you, who
+are the one hope of the house? Your poor father is dead and gone in
+some foreign country nobody knows where, and as soon as your back
+is turned these wicked ones here will be scheming to get you put out
+of the way, and will share all your possessions among themselves;
+stay where you are among your own people, and do not go wandering
+and worrying your life out on the barren ocean."
+
+"Fear not, nurse," answered Telemachus, "my scheme is not without
+heaven's sanction; but swear that you will say nothing about all this
+to my mother, till I have been away some ten or twelve days, unless
+she hears of my having gone, and asks you; for I do not want her to
+spoil her beauty by crying."
+
+The old woman swore most solemnly that she would not, and when she
+had completed her oath, she began drawing off the wine into jars,
+and getting the barley meal into the bags, while Telemachus went back
+to the suitors.
+
+Then Minerva bethought her of another matter. She took his shape,
+and went round the town to each one of the crew, telling them to meet
+at the ship by sundown. She went also to Noemon son of Phronius, and
+asked him to let her have a ship- which he was very ready to do. When
+the sun had set and darkness was over all the land, she got the ship
+into the water, put all the tackle on board her that ships generally
+carry, and stationed her at the end of the harbour. Presently the
+crew came up, and the goddess spoke encouragingly to each of them.
+
+Furthermore she went to the house of Ulysses, and threw the suitors
+into a deep slumber. She caused their drink to fuddle them, and made
+them drop their cups from their hands, so that instead of sitting
+over their wine, they went back into the town to sleep, with their
+eyes heavy and full of drowsiness. Then she took the form and voice
+of Mentor, and called Telemachus to come outside.
+
+"Telemachus," said she, "the men are on board and at their oars, waiting
+for you to give your orders, so make haste and let us be off."
+
+On this she led the way, while Telemachus followed in her steps. When
+they got to the ship they found the crew waiting by the water side,
+and Telemachus said, "Now my men, help me to get the stores on board;
+they are all put together in the cloister, and my mother does not
+know anything about it, nor any of the maid servants except one."
+
+With these words he led the way and the others followed after. When
+they had brought the things as he told them, Telemachus went on board,
+Minerva going before him and taking her seat in the stern of the vessel,
+while Telemachus sat beside her. Then the men loosed the hawsers and
+took their places on the benches. Minerva sent them a fair wind from
+the West, that whistled over the deep blue waves whereon Telemachus
+told them to catch hold of the ropes and hoist sail, and they did
+as he told them. They set the mast in its socket in the cross plank,
+raised it, and made it fast with the forestays; then they hoisted
+their white sails aloft with ropes of twisted ox hide. As the sail
+bellied out with the wind, the ship flew through the deep blue water,
+and the foam hissed against her bows as she sped onward. Then they
+made all fast throughout the ship, filled the mixing-bowls to the
+brim, and made drink offerings to the immortal gods that are from
+everlasting, but more particularly to the grey-eyed daughter of Jove.
+
+Thus, then, the ship sped on her way through the watches of the night
+from dark till dawn.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK III
+
+But as the sun was rising from the fair sea into the firmament of
+heaven to shed light on mortals and immortals, they reached Pylos
+the city of Neleus. Now the people of Pylos were gathered on the sea
+shore to offer sacrifice of black bulls to Neptune lord of the Earthquake.
+There were nine guilds with five hundred men in each, and there were
+nine bulls to each guild. As they were eating the inward meats and
+burning the thigh bones [on the embers] in the name of Neptune, Telemachus
+and his crew arrived, furled their sails, brought their ship to anchor,
+and went ashore.
+
+Minerva led the way and Telemachus followed her. Presently she said,
+"Telemachus, you must not be in the least shy or nervous; you have
+taken this voyage to try and find out where your father is buried
+and how he came by his end; so go straight up to Nestor that we may
+see what he has got to tell us. Beg of him to speak the truth, and
+he will tell no lies, for he is an excellent person."
+
+"But how, Mentor," replied Telemachus, "dare I go up to Nestor, and
+how am I to address him? I have never yet been used to holding long
+conversations with people, and am ashamed to begin questioning one
+who is so much older than myself."
+
+"Some things, Telemachus," answered Minerva, "will be suggested to
+you by your own instinct, and heaven will prompt you further; for
+I am assured that the gods have been with you from the time of your
+birth until now."
+
+She then went quickly on, and Telemachus followed in her steps till
+they reached the place where the guilds of the Pylian people were
+assembled. There they found Nestor sitting with his sons, while his
+company round him were busy getting dinner ready, and putting pieces
+of meat on to the spits while other pieces were cooking. When they
+saw the strangers they crowded round them, took them by the hand and
+bade them take their places. Nestor's son Pisistratus at once offered
+his hand to each of them, and seated them on some soft sheepskins
+that were lying on the sands near his father and his brother Thrasymedes.
+Then he gave them their portions of the inward meats and poured wine
+for them into a golden cup, handing it to Minerva first, and saluting
+her at the same time.
+
+"Offer a prayer, sir," said he, "to King Neptune, for it is his feast
+that you are joining; when you have duly prayed and made your drink-offering,
+pass the cup to your friend that he may do so also. I doubt not that
+he too lifts his hands in prayer, for man cannot live without God
+in the world. Still he is younger than you are, and is much of an
+age with myself, so I he handed I will give you the precedence."
+
+As he spoke he handed her the cup. Minerva thought it very right and
+proper of him to have given it to herself first; she accordingly began
+praying heartily to Neptune. "O thou," she cried, "that encirclest
+the earth, vouchsafe to grant the prayers of thy servants that call
+upon thee. More especially we pray thee send down thy grace on Nestor
+and on his sons; thereafter also make the rest of the Pylian people
+some handsome return for the goodly hecatomb they are offering you.
+Lastly, grant Telemachus and myself a happy issue, in respect of the
+matter that has brought us in our to Pylos."
+
+When she had thus made an end of praying, she handed the cup to Telemachus
+and he prayed likewise. By and by, when the outer meats were roasted
+and had been taken off the spits, the carvers gave every man his portion
+and they all made an excellent dinner. As soon as they had had enough
+to eat and drink, Nestor, knight of Gerene, began to speak.
+
+"Now," said he, "that our guests have done their dinner, it will be
+best to ask them who they are. Who, then, sir strangers, are you,
+and from what port have you sailed? Are you traders? or do you sail
+the seas as rovers with your hand against every man, and every man's
+hand against you?"
+
+Telemachus answered boldly, for Minerva had given him courage to ask
+about his father and get himself a good name.
+
+"Nestor," said he, "son of Neleus, honour to the Achaean name, you
+ask whence we come, and I will tell you. We come from Ithaca under
+Neritum, and the matter about which I would speak is of private not
+public import. I seek news of my unhappy father Ulysses, who is said
+to have sacked the town of Troy in company with yourself. We know
+what fate befell each one of the other heroes who fought at Troy,
+but as regards Ulysses heaven has hidden from us the knowledge even
+that he is dead at all, for no one can certify us in what place he
+perished, nor say whether he fell in battle on the mainland, or was
+lost at sea amid the waves of Amphitrite. Therefore I am suppliant
+at your knees, if haply you may be pleased to tell me of his melancholy
+end, whether you saw it with your own eyes, or heard it from some
+other traveller, for he was a man born to trouble. Do not soften things
+out of any pity for me, but tell me in all plainness exactly what
+you saw. If my brave father Ulysses ever did you loyal service, either
+by word or deed, when you Achaeans were harassed among the Trojans,
+bear it in mind now as in my favour and tell me truly all."
+
+"My friend," answered Nestor, "you recall a time of much sorrow to
+my mind, for the brave Achaeans suffered much both at sea, while privateering
+under Achilles, and when fighting before the great city of king Priam.
+Our best men all of them fell there- Ajax, Achilles, Patroclus peer
+of gods in counsel, and my own dear son Antilochus, a man singularly
+fleet of foot and in fight valiant. But we suffered much more than
+this; what mortal tongue indeed could tell the whole story? Though
+you were to stay here and question me for five years, or even six,
+I could not tell you all that the Achaeans suffered, and you would
+turn homeward weary of my tale before it ended. Nine long years did
+we try every kind of stratagem, but the hand of heaven was against
+us; during all this time there was no one who could compare with your
+father in subtlety- if indeed you are his son- I can hardly believe
+my eyes- and you talk just like him too- no one would say that people
+of such different ages could speak so much alike. He and I never had
+any kind of difference from first to last neither in camp nor council,
+but in singleness of heart and purpose we advised the Argives how
+all might be ordered for the best.
+
+"When however, we had sacked the city of Priam, and were setting sail
+in our ships as heaven had dispersed us, then Jove saw fit to vex
+the Argives on their homeward voyage; for they had Not all been either
+wise or understanding, and hence many came to a bad end through the
+displeasure of Jove's daughter Minerva, who brought about a quarrel
+between the two sons of Atreus.
+
+"The sons of Atreus called a meeting which was not as it should be,
+for it was sunset and the Achaeans were heavy with wine. When they
+explained why they had called- the people together, it seemed that
+Menelaus was for sailing homeward at once, and this displeased Agamemnon,
+who thought that we should wait till we had offered hecatombs to appease
+the anger of Minerva. Fool that he was, he might have known that he
+would not prevail with her, for when the gods have made up their minds
+they do not change them lightly. So the two stood bandying hard words,
+whereon the Achaeans sprang to their feet with a cry that rent the
+air, and were of two minds as to what they should do.
+
+"That night we rested and nursed our anger, for Jove was hatching
+mischief against us. But in the morning some of us drew our ships
+into the water and put our goods with our women on board, while the
+rest, about half in number, stayed behind with Agamemnon. We- the
+other half- embarked and sailed; and the ships went well, for heaven
+had smoothed the sea. When we reached Tenedos we offered sacrifices
+to the gods, for we were longing to get home; cruel Jove, however,
+did not yet mean that we should do so, and raised a second quarrel
+in the course of which some among us turned their ships back again,
+and sailed away under Ulysses to make their peace with Agamemnon;
+but I, and all the ships that were with me pressed forward, for I
+saw that mischief was brewing. The son of Tydeus went on also with
+me, and his crews with him. Later on Menelaus joined us at Lesbos,
+and found us making up our minds about our course- for we did not
+know whether to go outside Chios by the island of Psyra, keeping this
+to our left, or inside Chios, over against the stormy headland of
+Mimas. So we asked heaven for a sign, and were shown one to the effect
+that we should be soonest out of danger if we headed our ships across
+the open sea to Euboea. This we therefore did, and a fair wind sprang
+up which gave us a quick passage during the night to Geraestus, where
+we offered many sacrifices to Neptune for having helped us so far
+on our way. Four days later Diomed and his men stationed their ships
+in Argos, but I held on for Pylos, and the wind never fell light from
+the day when heaven first made it fair for me.
+
+"Therefore, my dear young friend, I returned without hearing anything
+about the others. I know neither who got home safely nor who were
+lost but, as in duty bound, I will give you without reserve the reports
+that have reached me since I have been here in my own house. They
+say the Myrmidons returned home safely under Achilles' son Neoptolemus;
+so also did the valiant son of Poias, Philoctetes. Idomeneus, again,
+lost no men at sea, and all his followers who escaped death in the
+field got safe home with him to Crete. No matter how far out of the
+world you live, you will have heard of Agamemnon and the bad end he
+came to at the hands of Aegisthus- and a fearful reckoning did Aegisthus
+presently pay. See what a good thing it is for a man to leave a son
+behind him to do as Orestes did, who killed false Aegisthus the murderer
+of his noble father. You too, then- for you are a tall, smart-looking
+fellow- show your mettle and make yourself a name in story."
+
+"Nestor son of Neleus," answered Telemachus, "honour to the Achaean
+name, the Achaeans applaud Orestes and his name will live through
+all time for he has avenged his father nobly. Would that heaven might
+grant me to do like vengeance on the insolence of the wicked suitors,
+who are ill treating me and plotting my ruin; but the gods have no
+such happiness in store for me and for my father, so we must bear
+it as best we may."
+
+"My friend," said Nestor, "now that you remind me, I remember to have
+heard that your mother has many suitors, who are ill disposed towards
+you and are making havoc of your estate. Do you submit to this tamely,
+or are public feeling and the voice of heaven against you? Who knows
+but what Ulysses may come back after all, and pay these scoundrels
+in full, either single-handed or with a force of Achaeans behind him?
+If Minerva were to take as great a liking to you as she did to Ulysses
+when we were fighting before Troy (for I never yet saw the gods so
+openly fond of any one as Minerva then was of your father), if she
+would take as good care of you as she did of him, these wooers would
+soon some of them him, forget their wooing."
+
+Telemachus answered, "I can expect nothing of the kind; it would be
+far too much to hope for. I dare not let myself think of it. Even
+though the gods themselves willed it no such good fortune could befall
+me."
+
+On this Minerva said, "Telemachus, what are you talking about? Heaven
+has a long arm if it is minded to save a man; and if it were me, I
+should not care how much I suffered before getting home, provided
+I could be safe when I was once there. I would rather this, than get
+home quickly, and then be killed in my own house as Agamemnon was
+by the treachery of Aegisthus and his wife. Still, death is certain,
+and when a man's hour is come, not even the gods can save him, no
+matter how fond they are of him."
+
+"Mentor," answered Telemachus, "do not let us talk about it any more.
+There is no chance of my father's ever coming back; the gods have
+long since counselled his destruction. There is something else, however,
+about which I should like to ask Nestor, for he knows much more than
+any one else does. They say he has reigned for three generations so
+that it is like talking to an immortal. Tell me, therefore, Nestor,
+and tell me true; how did Agamemnon come to die in that way? What
+was Menelaus doing? And how came false Aegisthus to kill so far better
+a man than himself? Was Menelaus away from Achaean Argos, voyaging
+elsewhither among mankind, that Aegisthus took heart and killed Agamemnon?"
+
+"I will tell you truly," answered Nestor, "and indeed you have yourself
+divined how it all happened. If Menelaus when he got back from Troy
+had found Aegisthus still alive in his house, there would have been
+no barrow heaped up for him, not even when he was dead, but he would
+have been thrown outside the city to dogs and vultures, and not a
+woman would have mourned him, for he had done a deed of great wickedness;
+but we were over there, fighting hard at Troy, and Aegisthus who was
+taking his ease quietly in the heart of Argos, cajoled Agamemnon's
+wife Clytemnestra with incessant flattery.
+
+"At first she would have nothing to do with his wicked scheme, for
+she was of a good natural disposition; moreover there was a bard with
+her, to whom Agamemnon had given strict orders on setting out for
+Troy, that he was to keep guard over his wife; but when heaven had
+counselled her destruction, Aegisthus thus 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 it blow hard till the waves ran mountains high. Here he divided
+his fleet and took the one half towards Crete where the Cydonians
+dwell round about the waters of the river Iardanus. There is a high
+headland hereabouts stretching out into the sea from a place called
+Gortyn, and all along this part of the coast as far as Phaestus the
+sea runs high when there is a south wind blowing, but after Phaestus
+the coast is more protected, for a small headland can make a great
+shelter. Here this part of the fleet was driven on to the rocks and
+wrecked; but the crews just managed to save themselves. As for the
+other five ships, they were taken by winds and seas to Egypt, where
+Menelaus gathered much gold and substance among people of an alien
+speech. Meanwhile Aegisthus here at home plotted his evil deed. For
+seven years after he had killed Agamemnon he ruled in Mycene, and
+the people were obedient under him, but in the eighth year Orestes
+came back from Athens to be his bane, and killed the murderer of his
+father. Then he celebrated the funeral rites of his mother and of
+false Aegisthus by a banquet to the people of Argos, and on that very
+day Menelaus came home, with as much treasure as his ships could carry.
+
+"Take my advice then, and do not go travelling about for long so far
+from home, nor leave your property with such dangerous people in your
+house; they will eat up everything you have among them, and you will
+have been on a fool's errand. Still, I should advise you by all means
+to go and visit Menelaus, who has lately come off a voyage among such
+distant peoples as no man could ever hope to get back from, when the
+winds had once carried him so far out of his reckoning; even birds
+cannot fly the distance in a twelvemonth, 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 forgoing 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 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 also to 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 showed
+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's
+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 the sacrifice. Nestor
+gave out the gold, and the smith gilded the horns of the heifer that
+the goddess might have pleasure in their beauty. Then Stratius and
+Echephron brought her in by the horns; Aretus fetched water from the
+house in a ewer that had a flower pattern on it, and in his other
+hand he held a basket of barley meal; sturdy Thrasymedes stood by
+with a sharp axe, ready to strike the heifer, while Perseus held a
+bucket. Then Nestor began with washing his hands and sprinkling the
+barley meal, and he offered many a prayer to Minerva as he threw a
+lock from the heifer's head upon the fire.
+
+When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley meal Thrasymedes
+dealt his blow, and brought the heifer down with a stroke that cut
+through the tendons at the base of her neck, whereon the daughters
+and daughters-in-law of Nestor, and his venerable wife Eurydice (she
+was eldest daughter to Clymenus) screamed with delight. Then they
+lifted the heifer's head from off the ground, and Pisistratus cut
+her throat. When she had done bleeding and was quite dead, they cut
+her up. They cut out the thigh bones all in due course, wrapped them
+round in two layers of fat, and set some pieces of raw meat on the
+top of them; then Nestor laid them upon the wood fire and poured wine
+over them, while the young men stood near him with five-pronged spits
+in their hands. When the thighs were burned and they had tasted the
+inward meats, they cut the rest of the meat up small, put the pieces
+on the spits and toasted them over the fire.
+
+Meanwhile lovely Polycaste, Nestor's youngest daughter, washed Telemachus.
+When she had washed him and anointed him with oil, she brought him
+a fair mantle and shirt, and he looked like a god as he came from
+the bath and took his seat by the side of Nestor. When the outer meats
+were done they drew them off the spits and sat down to dinner where
+they were waited upon by some worthy henchmen, who kept pouring them
+out their wine in cups of gold. As soon as they had had 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 sweetmeats fit for the sons of princes. Then Telemachus
+got into the chariot, while Pisistratus gathered up the reins and
+took his seat beside him. He lashed the horses on and they flew forward
+nothing loth into the open country, leaving the high citadel of Pylos
+behind them. All that day did they travel, swaying the yoke upon their
+necks till the sun went down and darkness was over all the land. Then
+they reached Pherae where Diocles lived, who was son to Ortilochus
+and grandson to Alpheus. Here they passed the night and Diocles entertained
+them hospitably. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn; appeared,
+they again yoked their horses and drove out through the gateway under
+the echoing gatehouse. Pisistratus lashed the horses on and they flew
+forward nothing loth; presently they came to the corn lands Of the
+open country, and in the course of time completed their journey, so
+well did their steeds take them.
+
+Now when the sun had set and darkness was over the land,
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK IV
+
+They reached the low lying city of Lacedaemon them where they drove
+straight to the of abode Menelaus [and found him in his own house,
+feasting with his many clansmen in honour of the wedding of his son,
+and also of his daughter, whom he was marrying to the son of that
+valiant warrior Achilles. He had given his consent and promised her
+to him while he was still at Troy, and now the gods were bringing
+the marriage about; so he was sending her with chariots and horses
+to the city of the Myrmidons over whom Achilles' son was reigning.
+For his only son he had found a bride from Sparta, daughter of Alector.
+This son, Megapenthes, was born to him of a bondwoman, for heaven
+vouchsafed Helen no more children after she had borne Hermione, who
+was fair as golden Venus herself.
+
+So the neighbours and kinsmen of Menelaus were feasting and making
+merry in his house. There was a bard also to sing to them and play
+his lyre, while two tumblers went about performing in the midst of
+them when the man struck up with his tune.]
+
+Telemachus and the son of Nestor stayed their horses at the gate,
+whereon Eteoneus servant to Menelaus came out, and as soon as he saw
+them ran hurrying back into the house to tell his Master. He went
+close up to him and said, "Menelaus, there are some strangers come
+here, two men, who look like sons of Jove. What are we to do? Shall
+we take their horses out, or tell them to find friends elsewhere as
+they best can?"
+
+Menelaus was very angry and said, "Eteoneus, son of Boethous, you
+never used to be a fool, but now you talk like a simpleton. Take their
+horses out, of course, and show the strangers in that they may have
+supper; you and I have stayed 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 other servants come with him. They
+took their sweating hands 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 maidservant brought them water in a beautiful
+golden ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their
+hands; and she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought
+them bread, and offered them many good things of what there was in
+the house, while the carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats
+and set cups of gold by their side.
+
+Menelaus then greeted them saying, "Fall to, and welcome; when you
+have done supper I shall ask who you are, for the lineage of such
+men as you cannot have been lost. You must be descended from a line
+of sceptre-bearing kings, for poor people do not have such sons as
+you are."
+
+On this he handed them a piece of fat roast loin, which had been set
+near him as being a prime part, and they laid their hands on the good
+things that were before them; as soon as they had had enough to eat
+and drink, Telemachus said to the son of Nestor, with his head so
+close that no one might hear, "Look, Pisistratus, man after my own
+heart, see the gleam of bronze and gold- of amber, ivory, and silver.
+Everything is so splendid that it is like seeing the palace of Olympian
+Jove. I am lost in admiration."
+
+Menelaus overheard him and said, "No one, my sons, can hold his own
+with Jove, for his house and everything about him is immortal; but
+among mortal men- well, there may be another who has as much wealth
+as I have, or there may not; but at all events I have travelled much
+and have undergone much hardship, for it was nearly eight years before
+I could get home with my fleet. I went to Cyprus, Phoenicia and the
+Egyptians; I went also to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Erembians,
+and to Libya where the lambs have horns as soon as they are born,
+and the sheep lamb down three times a year. Every one in that country,
+whether master or man, has plenty of cheese, meat, and good milk,
+for the ewes yield all the year round. But while I was travelling
+and getting great riches among these people, my brother was secretly
+and shockingly murdered through the perfidy of his wicked wife, so
+that I have no pleasure in being lord of all this wealth. Whoever
+your parents may be they must have told you about all this, and of
+my heavy loss in the ruin of a stately mansion fully and magnificently
+furnished. Would that I had only a third of what I now have so that
+I had stayed at home, and all those were living who perished on the
+plain of Troy, far from Argos. I of grieve, as I sit here in my house,
+for one and all of them. At times I cry aloud for sorrow, but presently
+I leave off again, for crying is cold comfort and one soon tires of
+it. Yet grieve for these as I may, I do so for one man more than for
+them all. I cannot even think of him without loathing both food and
+sleep, so miserable does he make me, for no one of all the Achaeans
+worked so hard or risked so much as he did. He took nothing by it,
+and has left a legacy of sorrow to myself, for he has been gone a
+long time, and we know not whether he is alive or dead. His old father,
+his long-suffering wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus, whom he
+left behind him an infant in arms, are plunged in grief on his account."
+
+Thus spoke Menelaus, and the heart of Telemachus yearned as he bethought
+him of his father. Tears fell from his eyes as he heard him thus mentioned,
+so that he held his cloak before his face with both hands. When Menelaus
+saw this he doubted whether to let him choose his own time for speaking,
+or to ask him at once and find what it was all about.
+
+While he was thus in two minds Helen came down from her high vaulted
+and perfumed room, looking as lovely as Diana herself. Adraste brought
+her a seat, Alcippe a soft woollen rug while Phylo fetched her the
+silver work-box which Alcandra wife of Polybus had given her. Polybus
+lived in Egyptian Thebes, which is the richest city in the whole world;
+he gave Menelaus two baths, both of pure silver, two tripods, and
+ten talents of gold; besides all this, his wife gave Helen some beautiful
+presents, to wit, a golden distaff, and a silver work-box that ran
+on wheels, with a gold band round the top of it. Phylo now placed
+this by her side, full of fine spun yarn, and a distaff charged with
+violet coloured wool was laid upon the top of it. Then Helen took
+her seat, put her feet upon the footstool, and began to question her
+husband.
+
+"Do we know, Menelaus," said she, "the names of these strangers who
+have come to visit us? Shall I guess right or wrong?-but I cannot
+help saying what I think. Never yet have I seen either man or woman
+so like somebody else (indeed when I look at him I hardly know what
+to think) as this young man is like Telemachus, whom Ulysses left
+as a baby behind him, when you Achaeans went to Troy with battle in
+your hearts, on account of my most shameless self."
+
+"My dear wife," replied Menelaus, "I see the likeness just as you
+do. His hands and feet are just like Ulysses'; so is his hair, with
+the shape of his head and the expression of his eyes. Moreover, when
+I was talking about Ulysses, and saying how much he had suffered on
+my account, tears fell from his eyes, and he hid his face in his mantle."
+
+Then Pisistratus said, "Menelaus, son of Atreus, you are right in
+thinking that this young man is Telemachus, but he is very modest,
+and is ashamed to come here and begin opening up discourse with one
+whose conversation is so divinely interesting as your own. My father,
+Nestor, sent me to escort him hither, for he wanted to know whether
+you could give him any counsel or suggestion. A son has always trouble
+at home when his father has gone away leaving him without supporters;
+and this is how Telemachus is now placed, for his father is absent,
+and there is no one among his own people to stand by him."
+
+"Bless my heart," replied Menelaus, "then I am receiving a visit from
+the son of a very dear friend, who suffered much hardship for my sake.
+I had always hoped to entertain him with most marked distinction when
+heaven had granted us a safe return from beyond the seas. I should
+have founded a city for him in Argos, and built him a house. I should
+have made him leave Ithaca with his goods, his son, and all his people,
+and should have sacked for them some one of the neighbouring cities
+that are subject to me. We should thus have seen one another continually,
+and nothing but death could have interrupted so close and happy an
+intercourse. I suppose, however, that heaven grudged us such great
+good fortune, for it has prevented the poor fellow from ever getting
+home at all."
+
+Thus did he speak, and his words set them all a weeping. Helen wept,
+Telemachus wept, and so did Menelaus, nor could Pisistratus keep his
+eyes from filling, when he remembered his dear brother Antilochus
+whom the son of bright Dawn had killed. Thereon he said to Menelaus,
+
+"Sir, my father Nestor, when we used to talk about you at home, told
+me you were a person of rare and excellent understanding. If, then,
+it be possible, do as I would urge you. I am not fond of crying while
+I am getting my supper. Morning will come in due course, and in the
+forenoon I care not how much I cry for those that are dead and gone.
+This is all we can do for the poor things. We can only shave our heads
+for them and wring the tears from our cheeks. I had a brother who
+died at Troy; he was by no means the worst man there; you are sure
+to have known him- his name was Antilochus; I never set eyes upon
+him myself, but they say that he was singularly fleet of foot and
+in fight valiant."
+
+"Your discretion, my friend," answered Menelaus, "is beyond your years.
+It is plain you take after your father. One can soon see when a man
+is son to one whom heaven has blessed both as regards wife and offspring-
+and it has blessed Nestor from first to last all his days, giving
+him a green old age in his own house, with sons about him who are
+both we 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 recognized 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 roam
+after my home, and I was unhappy about wrong that Venus had done me
+in taking me over there, away from my country, my girl, and my lawful
+wedded husband, who is indeed by no means deficient either in person
+or understanding."
+
+Then Menelaus said, "All that you have been saying, my dear wife,
+is true. I have travelled much, and have had much to do with heroes,
+but I have never seen such another man as Ulysses. What endurance
+too, and what courage he displayed within the wooden horse, wherein
+all the bravest of the Argives were lying in wait to bring death and
+destruction upon the Trojans. At that moment you came up to us; some
+god who wished well to the Trojans must have set you on to it and
+you had Deiphobus with you. Three times did you go all round our hiding
+place and pat it; you called our chiefs each by his own name, and
+mimicked all our wives -Diomed, Ulysses, and I from our seats inside
+heard what a noise you made. Diomed and I could not make up our minds
+whether to spring out then and there, or to answer you from inside,
+but Ulysses held us all in check, so we sat quite still, all except
+Anticlus, who was beginning to answer you, when Ulysses clapped his
+two brawny hands over his mouth, and kept them there. It was this
+that saved us all, for he muzzled Anticlus till Minerva took you away
+again."
+
+"How sad," exclaimed Telemachus, "that all this was of no avail to
+save him, nor yet his own iron courage. But now, sir, be pleased to
+send us all to bed, that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon
+of sleep."
+
+On this Helen told the maid servants to set beds in the room that
+was in the gatehouse, and to make them with good red rugs, and spread
+coverlets on the top of them with woollen cloaks for the guests to
+wear. So the maids went out, carrying a torch, and made the beds,
+to which a man-servant presently conducted the strangers. Thus, then,
+did Telemachus and Pisistratus sleep there in the forecourt, while
+the son of Atreus lay in an inner room with lovely Helen by his side.
+
+When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Menelaus
+rose and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet,
+girded his sword about his shoulders, and left his room looking like
+an immortal god. Then, taking a seat near Telemachus he said:
+
+"And what, Telemachus, has led you to take this long sea voyage to
+Lacedaemon? Are you on public or private business? Tell me all about
+it."
+
+"I have come, sir replied Telemachus, "to see if you can tell me anything
+about my father. I am being eaten out of house and home; my fair estate
+is being wasted, and my house is full of miscreants who keep killing
+great numbers of my sheep and oxen, on the pretence of paying their
+addresses to my mother. Therefore, I am suppliant at your knees if
+haply you may tell me about my father's melancholy end, whether you
+saw it with your own eyes, or heard it from some other traveller;
+for he was a man born to trouble. Do not soften things out of any
+pity for myself, but tell me in all plainness exactly what you saw.
+If my brave father Ulysses ever did you loyal service either by word
+or deed, when you Achaeans were harassed by the Trojans, bear it in
+mind now as in my favour and tell me truly all."
+
+Menelaus on hearing this was very much shocked. "So," he exclaimed,
+"these cowards would usurp a brave man's bed? A hind might as well
+lay her new born young in the lair of a lion, and then go off to feed
+in the forest or in some grassy dell: the lion when he comes back
+to his lair will make short work with the pair of them- and so will
+Ulysses with these suitors. By father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, if
+Ulysses is still the man that he was when he wrestled with Philomeleides
+in Lesbos, and threw him so heavily that all the Achaeans cheered
+him- if he is still such and were to come near these suitors, they
+would have a short shrift and a sorry wedding. As regards your questions,
+however, I will not prevaricate nor deceive you, but will tell you
+without concealment all that the old man of the sea told me.
+
+"I was trying to come on here, but the gods detained me in Egypt,
+for my hecatombs had not given them full satisfaction, and the gods
+are very strict about having their dues. Now off Egypt, about as far
+as a ship can sail in a day with a good stiff breeze behind her, there
+is an island called Pharos- it has a good harbour from which vessels
+can get out into open sea when they have taken in water- and the gods
+becalmed me twenty days without so much as a breath of fair wind to
+help me forward. We should have run clean out of provisions and my
+men would have starved, if a goddess had not taken pity upon me and
+saved me in the person of Idothea, daughter to Proteus, the old man
+of the sea, for she had taken a great fancy to me.
+
+"She came to me one day when I was by myself, as I often was, for
+the men used to go with their barbed hooks, all over the island in
+the hope of catching a fish or two to save them from the pangs of
+hunger. 'Stranger,' said she, 'it seems to me that you like starving
+in this way- at any rate it does not greatly trouble you, for you
+stick here day after day, without even trying to get away though your
+men are dying by inches.'
+
+"'Let me tell you,' said I, 'whichever of the goddesses you may happen
+to be, that I am not staying here of my own accord, but must have
+offended the gods that live in heaven. Tell me, therefore, for the
+gods know everything. which of the immortals it is that is hindering
+me in this way, and tell me also how I may sail the sea so as to reach
+my home.'
+
+"'Stranger,' replied she, 'I will make it all quite clear to you.
+There is an old immortal who lives under the sea hereabouts and whose
+name is Proteus. He is an Egyptian, and people say he is my father;
+he is Neptune's head man and knows every inch of ground all over the
+bottom of the sea. If you can snare him and hold him tight, he will
+tell you about your voyage, what courses you are to take, and how
+you are to sail the sea so as to reach your home. He will also tell
+you, if you so will, all that has been going on at your house both
+good and bad, while you have been away on your long and dangerous
+journey.'
+
+"'Can you show me,' said I, 'some stratagem by means of which I may
+catch this old god without his suspecting it and finding me out? For
+a god is not easily caught- not by a mortal man.'
+
+"'Stranger,' said she, 'I will make it all quite clear to you. About
+the time when the sun shall have reached mid heaven, the old man of
+the sea comes up from under the waves, heralded by the West wind that
+furs the water over his head. As soon as he has come up he lies down,
+and goes to sleep in a great sea cave, where the seals- Halosydne's
+chickens as they call them- come up also from the grey sea, and go
+to sleep in shoals all round him; and a very strong and fish-like
+smell do they bring with them. Early to-morrow morning I will take
+you to this place and will lay you in ambush. Pick out, therefore,
+the three best men you have in your fleet, and I will tell you all
+the tricks that the old man will play you.
+
+"'First he will look over all his seals, and count them; then, when
+he has seen them and tallied them on his five fingers, he will go
+to sleep among them, as a shepherd among his sheep. The moment you
+see that he is asleep seize him; put forth all your strength and hold
+him fast, for he will do his very utmost to get away from you. He
+will turn himself into every kind of creature that goes upon the earth,
+and will become also both fire and water; but you must hold him fast
+and grip him tighter and tighter, till he begins to talk to you and
+comes back to what he was when you saw him go to sleep; then you may
+slacken your hold and let him go; and you can ask him which of the
+gods it is that is angry with you, and what you must do to reach your
+home over the seas.'
+
+"Having so said she dived under the waves, whereon I turned back to
+the place where my ships were ranged upon the shore; and my heart
+was clouded with care as I went along. When I reached my ship we got
+supper ready, for night was falling, and camped down upon the beach.
+
+"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I took the
+three men on whose prowess of all kinds I could most rely, and went
+along by the sea-side, praying heartily to heaven. Meanwhile the goddess
+fetched me up four seal skins from the bottom of the sea, all of them
+just skinned, for she meant playing a trick upon her father. Then
+she dug four pits for us to lie in, and sat down to wait till we should
+come up. When we were close to her, she made us lie down in the pits
+one after the other, and threw a seal skin over each of us. Our ambuscade
+would have been intolerable, for the stench of the fishy seals was
+most distressing- who would go to bed with a sea monster if he could
+help it?-but here, too, the goddess helped us, and thought of something
+that gave us great relief, for she put some ambrosia under each man's
+nostrils, which was so fragrant that it killed the smell of the seals.
+
+"We waited the whole morning and made the best of it, watching the
+seals come up in hundreds to bask upon the sea shore, till at noon
+the old man of the sea came up too, and when he had found his fat
+seals he went over them and counted them. We were among the first
+he counted, and he never suspected any guile, but laid himself down
+to sleep as soon as he had done counting. Then we rushed upon him
+with a shout and seized him; on which he began at once with his old
+tricks, and changed himself first into a lion with a great mane; then
+all of a sudden he became a dragon, a leopard, a wild boar; the next
+moment he was running water, and then again directly he was a tree,
+but we stuck to him and never lost hold, till at last the cunning
+old creature became distressed, and said, Which of the gods was it,
+Son of Atreus, that hatched this plot with you for snaring me and
+seizing me against my will? What do you want?'
+
+"'You know that yourself, old man,' I answered, 'you will gain nothing
+by trying to put me off. It is because I have been kept so long in
+this island, and see no sign of my being able to get away. I am losing
+all heart; tell me, then, for you gods know everything, which of the
+immortals it is that is hindering me, and tell me also how I may sail
+the sea so as to reach my home?'
+
+"Then,' he said, 'if you would finish your voyage and get home quickly,
+you must offer sacrifices to Jove and to the rest of the gods before
+embarking; for it is decreed that you shall not get back to your friends,
+and to your own house, till you have returned to the heaven fed stream
+of Egypt, and offered holy hecatombs to the immortal gods that reign
+in heaven. When you have done this they will let you finish your voyage.'
+
+"I was broken hearted when I heard that I must go back all that long
+and terrible voyage to Egypt; nevertheless, I answered, 'I will do
+all, old man, that you have laid upon me; but now tell me, and tell
+me true, whether all the Achaeans whom Nestor and I left behind us
+when we set sail from Troy have got home safely, or whether any one
+of them came to a bad end either on board his own ship or among his
+friends when the days of his fighting were done.'
+
+"'Son of Atreus,' he answered, 'why ask me? You had better not know
+what I can tell you, for your eyes will surely fill when you have
+heard my story. Many of those about whom you ask are dead and gone,
+but many still remain, and only two of the chief men among the Achaeans
+perished during their return home. As for what happened on the field
+of battle- you were there yourself. A third Achaean leader is still
+at sea, alive, but hindered from returning. Ajax was wrecked, for
+Neptune drove him on to the great rocks of Gyrae; nevertheless, he
+let him get safe out of the water, and in spite of all Minerva's hatred
+he would have escaped death, if he had not ruined himself by boasting.
+He said the gods could not drown him even though they had tried to
+do so, and when Neptune heard this large talk, he seized his trident
+in his two brawny hands, and split the rock of Gyrae in two pieces.
+The base remained where it was, but the part on which Ajax was sitting
+fell headlong into the sea and carried Ajax with it; so he drank salt
+water and was drowned.
+
+"'Your brother and his ships escaped, for Juno protected him, but
+when he was just about to reach the high promontory of Malea, he was
+caught by a heavy gale which carried him out to sea again sorely against
+his will, and drove him to the foreland where Thyestes used to dwell,
+but where Aegisthus was then living. By and by, however, it seemed
+as though he was to return safely after all, for the gods backed the
+wind into its old quarter and they reached home; whereon Agamemnon
+kissed his native soil, and shed tears of joy at finding himself in
+his own country.
+
+"'Now there was a watchman whom Aegisthus kept always on the watch,
+and to whom he had promised two talents of gold. This man had been
+looking out for a whole year to make sure that Agamemnon did not give
+him the slip and prepare war; when, therefore, this man saw Agamemnon
+go by, he went and told Aegisthus who at once began to lay a plot
+for him. He picked twenty of his bravest warriors and placed them
+in ambuscade on one side the cloister, while on the opposite side
+he prepared a banquet. Then he sent his chariots and horsemen to Agamemnon,
+and invited him to the feast, but he meant foul play. He got him there,
+all unsuspicious of the doom that was awaiting him, and killed him
+when the banquet was over as though he were butchering an ox in the
+shambles; not one of Agamemnon's followers was left alive, nor yet
+one of Aegisthus', but they were all killed there in the cloisters.'
+
+"Thus spoke Proteus, and I was broken hearted as I heard him. I sat
+down upon the sands and wept; I felt as though I could no longer bear
+to live nor look upon the light of the sun. Presently, when I had
+had my fill of weeping and writhing upon the ground, the old man of
+the sea said, 'Son of Atreus, do not waste any more time in crying
+so bitterly; it can do no manner of good; find your way home as fast
+as ever you can, for Aegisthus be still alive, and even though Orestes
+has beforehand with you in kilting 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
+he 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 meadowsweet and
+wheat and barley, and oats with their white and spreading ears; whereas
+in Ithaca we have neither open fields nor racecourses, and the country
+is more fit for goats than horses, and I like it the better for that.
+None of our islands have much level ground, suitable for horses, and
+Ithaca least of all."
+
+Menelaus smiled and took Telemachus's hand within his own. "What you
+say," said he, "shows that you come of good family. I both can, and
+will, make this exchange for you, by giving you the finest and most
+precious piece of plate in all my house. It is a mixing-bowl by Vulcan's
+own hand, of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with gold.
+Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it me in the course of a visit
+which I paid him when I returned thither on my homeward journey. I
+will make you a present of it."
+
+Thus did they converse [and guests kept coming to the king's house.
+They brought sheep and wine, while their wives had put up bread for
+them to take with them; so they were busy cooking their dinners in
+the courts].
+
+Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs or aiming with spears at
+a mark on the levelled ground in front of Ulysses' house, and were
+behaving with all their old insolence. Antinous and Eurymachus, who
+were their ringleaders and much the foremost among them all, were
+sitting together when Noemon son of Phronius came up and said to Antinous,
+
+"Have we any idea, Antinous, on what day Telemachus returns from Pylos?
+He has a ship of mine, and I want it, to cross over to Elis: I have
+twelve brood mares there with yearling mule foals by their side not
+yet broken in, and I want to bring one of them over here and break
+him."
+
+They were astounded when they heard this, for they had made sure that
+Telemachus had not gone to the city of Neleus. They thought he was
+only away somewhere on the farms, and was with the sheep, or with
+the swineherd; so Antinous said, "When did he go? Tell me truly, and
+what young men did he take with him? Were they freemen or his own
+bondsmen- for he might manage that too? Tell me also, did you let
+him have the ship of your own free will because he asked you, or did
+he take it without your leave?"
+
+"I lent it him," answered Noemon, "what else could I do when a man
+of his position said he was in a difficulty, and asked me to oblige
+him? I could not possibly refuse. As for those who went with him they
+were the best young men we have, and I saw Mentor go on board as captain-
+or some god who was exactly like him. I cannot understand it, for
+I saw Mentor here myself yesterday morning, and yet he was then setting
+out for Pylos."
+
+Noemon then went back to his father's house, but Antinous and Eurymachus
+were very angry. They told the others to leave off playing, and to
+come and sit down along with themselves. When they came, Antinous
+son of Eupeithes spoke in anger. His heart was black with rage, and
+his eyes flashed fire as he said:
+
+"Good heavens, this voyage of Telemachus is a very serious matter;
+we had made sure that it would come to nothing, but the young fellow
+has got away in spite of us, and with a picked crew too. He will be
+giving us trouble presently; may Jove take him before he is full grown.
+Find me a ship, therefore, with a crew of twenty men, and I will lie
+in wait for him in the straits between Ithaca and Samos; he will then
+rue the day that he set out to try and get news of his father."
+
+Thus did he speak, and the others applauded his saying; they then
+all of them went inside the buildings.
+
+It was not long ere Penelope came to know what the suitors were plotting;
+for a man servant, Medon, overheard them from outside the outer court
+as they were laying their schemes within, and went to tell his mistress.
+As he crossed the threshold of her room Penelope said: "Medon, what
+have the suitors sent you here for? Is it to tell the maids to leave
+their master's business and cook dinner for them? I wish they may
+neither woo nor dine henceforward, neither here nor anywhere else,
+but let this be the very last time, for the waste you all make of
+my son's estate. Did not your fathers tell you when you were children
+how good Ulysses had been to them- never doing anything high-handed,
+nor speaking harshly to anybody? Kings may say things sometimes, and
+they may take a fancy to one man and dislike another, but Ulysses
+never did an unjust thing by anybody- which shows what bad hearts
+you have, and that there is no such thing as gratitude left in this
+world."
+
+Then Medon said, "I wish, Madam, that this were all; but they are
+plotting something much more dreadful now- may heaven frustrate their
+design. They are going to try and murder Telemachus as he is coming
+home from Pylos and Lacedaemon, where he has been to get news of his
+father."
+
+Then Penelope's heart sank within her, and for a long time she was
+speechless; her eyes filled with tears, and she could find no utterance.
+At last, however, she said, "Why did my son leave me? What business
+had he to go sailing off in ships that make long voyages over the
+ocean like sea-horses? Does he want to die without leaving any one
+behind him to keep up his name?"
+
+"I do not know," answered Medon, "whether some god set him on to it,
+or whether he went on his own impulse to see if he could find out
+if his father was dead, or alive and on his way home."
+
+Then he went downstairs again, leaving Penelope in an agony of grief.
+There were plenty of seats in the house, but she had no heart for
+sitting on any one of them; she could only fling herself on the floor
+of her own room and cry; whereon all the maids in the house, both
+old and young, gathered round her and began to cry too, till at last
+in a transport of sorrow she exclaimed,
+
+"My dears, heaven has been pleased to try me with more affliction
+than any other woman of my age and country. First I lost my brave
+and lion-hearted husband, who had every good quality under heaven,
+and whose name was great over all Hellas and middle Argos, and now
+my darling son is at the mercy of the winds and waves, without my
+having heard one word about his leaving home. You hussies, there was
+not one of you would so much as think of giving me a call out of my
+bed, though you all of you very well knew when he was starting. If
+I had known he meant taking this voyage, he would have had to give
+it up, no matter how much he was bent upon it, or leave me a corpse
+behind him- one or other. Now, however, go some of you and call old
+Dolius, who was given me by my father on my marriage, and who is my
+gardener. Bid him go at once and tell everything to Laertes, who may
+be able to hit on some plan for enlisting public sympathy on our side,
+as against those who are trying to exterminate his own race and that
+of Ulysses."
+
+Then the dear old nurse Euryclea said, "You may kill me, Madam, or
+let me live on in your house, whichever you please, but I will tell
+you the real truth. I knew all about it, and gave him everything he
+wanted in the way of bread and wine, but he made me take my solemn
+oath that I would not tell you anything for some ten or twelve days,
+unless you asked or happened to hear of his having gone, for he did
+not want you to spoil your beauty by crying. And now, Madam, wash
+your face, change your dress, and go upstairs with your maids to offer
+prayers to Minerva, daughter of Aegis-bearing Jove, for she can save
+him even though he be in the jaws of death. Do not trouble Laertes:
+he has trouble enough already. Besides, I cannot think that the gods
+hate die race of 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
+
+And now, as Dawn rose from her couch beside Tithonus- harbinger of
+light alike to mortals and immortals- the gods met in council and
+with them, Jove the lord of thunder, who is their king. Thereon Minerva
+began to tell them of the many sufferings of Ulysses, for she pitied
+him away there in the house of the nymph Calypso.
+
+"Father Jove," said she, "and all you other gods that live in everlasting
+bliss, I hope there may never be such a thing as a kind and well-disposed
+ruler any more, nor one who will govern equitably. I hope they will
+be all henceforth cruel and unjust, for there is not one of his subjects
+but has forgotten Ulysses, who ruled them as though he were their
+father. There he is, lying in great pain in an island where dwells
+the nymph Calypso, who will not let him go; and he cannot get back
+to his own country, for he can find neither ships nor sailors to take
+him over the sea. Furthermore, wicked people are now trying to murder
+his only son Telemachus, who is coming home from Pylos and Lacedaemon,
+where he has been to see if he can get news of his father."
+
+"What, my dear, are you talking about?" replied her father, "did you
+not send him there yourself, because you thought it would help Ulysses
+to get home and punish the suitors? Besides, you are perfectly able
+to protect Telemachus, and to see him safely home again, while the
+suitors have to come hurry-skurrying back without having killed him."
+
+When he had thus spoken, he said to his son Mercury, "Mercury, you
+are our messenger, go therefore and tell Calypso we have decreed that
+poor Ulysses is to return home. He is to be convoyed neither by gods
+nor men, but after a perilous voyage of twenty days upon a raft he
+is to reach fertile Scheria, the land of the Phaeacians, who are near
+of kin to the gods, and will honour him as though he were one of ourselves.
+They will send him in a ship to his own country, and will give him
+more bronze and gold and raiment than he would have brought back from
+Troy, if he had had had all his prize money and had got home without
+disaster. This is how we have settled that he shall return to his
+country and his friends."
+
+Thus he spoke, and Mercury, guide and guardian, slayer of Argus, did
+as he was told. Forthwith he bound on his glittering golden sandals
+with which he could fly like the wind over land and sea. He took the
+wand with which he seals men's eyes in sleep or wakes them just as
+he pleases, and flew holding it in his hand over Pieria; then he swooped
+down through the firmament till he reached the level of the sea, whose
+waves he skimmed like a cormorant that flies fishing every hole and
+corner of the ocean, and drenching its thick plumage in the spray.
+He flew and flew over many a weary wave, but when at last he got to
+the island which was his journey's end, he left the sea and went on
+by land till he came to the cave where the nymph Calypso lived.
+
+He found her at home. There was a large fire burning on the hearth,
+and one could smell from far the fragrant reek of burning cedar and
+sandal wood. As for herself, she was busy at her loom, shooting her
+golden shuttle through the warp and singing beautifully. Round her
+cave there was a thick wood of alder, poplar, and sweet smelling cypress
+trees, wherein all kinds of great birds had built their nests- owls,
+hawks, and chattering sea-crows that occupy their business in the
+waters. A vine loaded with grapes was trained and grew luxuriantly
+about the mouth of the cave; there were also four running rills of
+water in channels cut pretty close together, and turned hither and
+thither so as to irrigate the beds of violets and luscious herbage
+over which they flowed. Even a god could not help being charmed with
+such a lovely spot, so Mercury stood still and looked at it; but when
+he had admired it sufficiently he went inside the cave.
+
+Calypso knew him at once- for the gods all know each other, no matter
+how far they live from one another- but Ulysses was not within; he
+was on the sea-shore as usual, looking out upon the barren ocean with
+tears in his eyes, groaning and breaking his heart for sorrow. Calypso
+gave Mercury a seat and said: "Why have you come to see me, Mercury-
+honoured, and ever welcome- for you do not visit me often? Say what
+you want; I will do it for be 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, one another, and
+you ask me why I have come here, and I will tell you truly as you
+would have me do. Jove sent me; it was no doing of mine; who could
+possibly want to come all this way over the sea where there are no
+cities full of people to offer me sacrifices or choice hecatombs?
+Nevertheless I had to come, for none of us other gods can cross Jove,
+nor transgress his orders. He says that you have here the most ill-starred
+of all those who fought nine years before the city of King Priam and
+sailed home in the tenth year after having sacked it. On their way
+home they sinned against Minerva, who raised both wind and waves against
+them, so that all his brave companions perished, and he alone was
+carried hither by wind and tide. Jove says that you are to let this
+by 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,
+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
+long and killed Iasion with his thunder-bolts. 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 mage
+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 at am no whit less tall or well-looking
+than she is, for it is not to be expected that a mortal woman should
+compare in beauty with an immortal."
+
+"Goddess," replied Ulysses, "do not be angry with me about this. I
+am quite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so
+beautiful as yourself. She is only a woman, whereas you are an immortal.
+Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing else. If
+some god wrecks me when I am on the sea, I will bear it and make the
+best of it. I have had infinite trouble both by land and sea already,
+so let this go with the rest."
+
+Presently the sun set and it became dark, whereon the pair retired
+into the inner part of the cave and went to bed.
+
+When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Ulysses put
+on his shirt and cloak, while the goddess wore a dress of a light
+gossamer fabric, very fine and graceful, with a beautiful golden girdle
+about her waist and a veil to cover her head. She at once set herself
+to think how she could speed Ulysses on his way. So she gave him a
+great bronze axe that suited his hands; it was sharpened on both sides,
+and had a beautiful olive-wood handle fitted firmly on to it. She
+also gave him a sharp adze, and then led the way to the far end of
+the island where the largest trees grew- alder, poplar and pine, that
+reached the sky- very dry and well seasoned, so as to sail light for
+him in the water. Then, when she had shown him where the best trees
+grew, Calypso went home, leaving him to cut them, which he soon finished
+doing. He cut down twenty trees in all and adzed them smooth, squaring
+them by rule in good workmanlike fashion. Meanwhile Calypso came back
+with some augers, so he bored holes with them and fitted the timbers
+together with bolts and rivets. He made the raft as broad as a skilled
+shipwright makes the beam of a large vessel, and he filed 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, 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 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 Phaecian 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 will 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 foothold. 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 stayed his stream and stilled the waves, making all calm
+before him, and bringing him safely into the mouth of the river. Here
+at last Ulysses' knees and strong hands failed him, for the sea had
+completely broken him. His body was all swollen, and his mouth and
+nostrils ran down like a river with sea-water, so that he could neither
+breathe nor speak, and lay swooning from sheer exhaustion; presently,
+when he had got his breath and came to himself again, he took off
+the scarf that Ino had given him and threw it back into the salt stream
+of the river, whereon Ino received it into her hands from the wave
+that bore it towards her. Then he left the river, laid himself down
+among the rushes, and kissed the bounteous earth.
+
+"Alas," he cried to himself in his dismay, "what ever will become
+of me, and how is it all to end? If I stay here upon the river bed
+through the long watches of the night, I am so exhausted that the
+bitter cold and damp may make an end of me- for towards sunrise there
+will be a keen wind blowing from off the river. If, on the other hand,
+I climb the hill side, find shelter in the woods, and sleep in some
+thicket, I may escape the cold and have a good night's rest, but some
+savage beast may take advantage of me and devour me."
+
+In the end he deemed it best to take to the woods, and he found one
+upon some high ground not far from the water. There he crept beneath
+two shoots of olive that grew from a single stock- the one an ungrafted
+sucker, while the other had been grafted. No wind, however squally,
+could break through the cover they afforded, nor could the sun's rays
+pierce them, nor the rain get through them, so closely did they grow
+into one another. Ulysses crept under these and began to make himself
+a bed to lie on, for there was a great litter of dead leaves lying
+about- enough to make a covering for two or three men even in hard
+winter weather. He was glad enough to see this, so he laid himself
+down and heaped the leaves all round him. Then, as one who lives alone
+in the country, far from any neighbor, hides a brand as fire-seed
+in the ashes to save himself from having to get a light elsewhere,
+even so did Ulysses cover himself up with leaves; and Minerva shed
+a sweet sleep upon his eyes, closed his eyelids, and made him lose
+all memories of his sorrows.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK VI
+
+So here Ulysses slept, overcome by sleep and toil; but Minerva went
+off to the country and city of the Phaecians- 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 uncivilized, or hospitable and humane?
+I seem to hear the voices of young women, and they sound like those
+of the nymphs that haunt mountain tops, or springs of rivers and meadows
+of green grass. At any rate I am among a race of men and women. Let
+me try if I cannot manage to get a look at them."
+
+As he said this he crept from under his bush, and broke off a bough
+covered with thick leaves to hide his nakedness. He looked like some
+lion of the wilderness that stalks about exulting in his strength
+and defying both wind and rain; his eyes glare as he prowls in quest
+of oxen, sheep, or deer, for he is famished, and will dare break even
+into a well-fenced homestead, trying to get at the sheep- even such
+did Ulysses seem to the young women, as he drew near to them all naked
+as he was, for he was in great want. On seeing one so unkempt and
+so begrimed with salt water, the others scampered off along the spits
+that jutted out into the sea, but the daughter of Alcinous stood firm,
+for Minerva put courage into her heart and took away all fear from
+her. She stood right in front of Ulysses, and he doubted whether he
+should go up to her, throw himself at her feet, and embrace her knees
+as a suppliant, or stay where he was and entreat her to give him some
+clothes and show him the way to the town. In the end he deemed it
+best to entreat her from a distance in case the girl should take offence
+at his coming near enough to clasp her knees, so he addressed her
+in honeyed and persuasive language.
+
+"O queen," he said, "I implore your aid- but tell me, are you a goddess
+or are you a mortal woman? If you are a goddess and dwell in heaven,
+I can only conjecture that you are Jove's daughter Diana, for your
+face and figure resemble none but hers; if on the other hand you are
+a mortal and live on earth, thrice happy are your father and mother-
+thrice happy, too, are your brothers and sisters; how proud and delighted
+they must feel when they see so fair a scion as yourself going out
+to a dance; most happy, however, of all will he be whose wedding gifts
+have been the richest, and who takes you to his own home. I never
+yet saw any one so beautiful, neither man nor woman, and am lost in
+admiration as I behold you. I can only compare you to a young palm
+tree which I saw when I was at Delos growing near the altar of Apollo-
+for I was there, too, with much people after me, when I was on that
+journey which has been the source of all my troubles. Never yet did
+such a young plant shoot out of the ground as that was, and I admired
+and wondered at it exactly as I now admire and wonder at yourself.
+I dare not clasp your knees, but I am in great distress; yesterday
+made the twentieth day that I had been tossing about upon the sea.
+The winds and waves have taken me all the way from the Ogygian island,
+and now fate has flung me upon this coast that I may endure still
+further suffering; for I do not think that I have yet come to the
+end of it, but rather that heaven has still much evil in store for
+me.
+
+"And now, O queen, have pity upon me, for you are the first person
+I have met, and I know no one else in this country. Show me the way
+to your town, and let me have anything that you may have brought hither
+to wrap your clothes in. May heaven grant you in all things your heart's
+desire- husband, house, and a happy, peaceful home; for there is nothing
+better in this world than that man and wife should be of one mind
+in a house. It discomfits their enemies, makes the hearts of their
+friends glad, and they themselves know more about it than any one."
+
+To this Nausicaa answered, "Stranger, you appear to be a sensible,
+well-disposed person. There is no accounting for luck; Jove gives
+prosperity to rich and poor just as he chooses, so you must take what
+he has seen fit to send you, and make the best of it. Now, however,
+that you have come to this our country, you shall not want for clothes
+nor for anything else that a foreigner in distress may reasonably
+look for. I will show you the way to the town, and will tell you the
+name of our people; we are called Phaeacians, and I am daughter to
+Alcinous, in whom the whole power of the state is vested."
+
+Then she called her maids and said, "Stay where you are, you girls.
+Can you not see a man without running away from him? Do you take him
+for a robber or a murderer? Neither he nor any one else can come here
+to do us Phaeacians any harm, for we are dear to the gods, and live
+apart on a land's end that juts into the sounding sea, and have nothing
+to do with any other people. This is only some poor man who has lost
+his way, and we must be kind to him, for strangers and foreigners
+in distress are under Jove's protection, and will take what they can
+get and be thankful; so, girls, give the poor fellow something to
+eat and drink, and wash him in the stream at some place that is sheltered
+from the wind."
+
+On this the maids left off running away and began calling one another
+back. They made Ulysses sit down in the shelter as Nausicaa had told
+them, and brought him a shirt and cloak. They also brought him the
+little golden cruse of oil, and told him to go wash in the stream.
+But Ulysses said, "Young women, please to stand a little on one side
+that I may wash the brine from my shoulders and anoint myself with
+oil, for it is long enough since my skin has had a drop of oil upon
+it. I cannot wash as long as you all keep standing there. I am ashamed
+to strip before a number of good-looking young women."
+
+Then they stood on one side and went to tell the girl, while Ulysses
+washed himself in the stream and scrubbed the brine from his back
+and from his broad shoulders. When he had thoroughly washed himself,
+and had got the brine out of his hair, he anointed himself with oil,
+and put on the clothes which the girl had given him; Minerva then
+made him look taller and stronger than before, she also made the hair
+grow thick on the top of his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth
+blossoms; she glorified him about the head and shoulders as a skilful
+workman who has studied art of all kinds under Vulcan and Minerva
+enriches a piece of silver plate by gilding it- and his work is full
+of beauty. Then he went and sat down a little way off upon the beach,
+looking quite young and handsome, and the girl gazed on him with admiration;
+then she said to her maids:
+
+"Hush, my dears, for I want to say something. I believe the gods who
+live in heaven have sent this man to the Phaeacians. When I first
+saw him I thought him plain, but now his appearance is like that of
+the gods who dwell in heaven. I should like my future husband to be
+just such another as he is, if he would only stay here and not want
+to go away. However, give him something to eat and drink."
+
+They did as they were told, and set food before Ulysses, who ate and
+drank ravenously, for it was long since he had had food of any kind.
+Meanwhile, Nausicaa bethought her of another matter. She got the linen
+folded and placed in the waggon, she then yoked the mules, and, as
+she took her seat, she called Ulysses:
+
+"Stranger," said she, "rise and let us be going back to the town;
+I will introduce you at the house of my excellent father, where I
+can tell you that you will meet all the best people among the Phaecians.
+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 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 scandalized 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' 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 Phaecians."
+
+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
+
+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 Phaecians, and the people obeyed him as though he were
+a god. She had been nurse to Nausicaa, and had now lit the fire for
+her, and brought her supper for her into her own room.
+
+Presently Ulysses got up to go towards the town; and Minerva shed
+a thick mist all round him to hide him in case any of the proud Phaecians
+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 Phaecians 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 Phaecians. Nausithous had
+two sons Rhexenor and Alcinous; Apollo killed the first of them while
+he was still a bridegroom and without male issue; but he left a daughter
+Arete, whom Alcinous married, and honours as no other woman is honoured
+of all those that keep house along with their husbands.
+
+"Thus she both was, and still is, respected beyond measure by her
+children, by Alcinous himself, and by the whole people, who look upon
+her as a goddess, and greet her whenever she goes about the city,
+for she is a thoroughly good woman both in head and heart, and when
+any women are friends of hers, she will help their husbands also to
+settle their disputes. If you can gain her good will, you may have
+every hope of seeing your friends again, and getting safely back to
+your home and country."
+
+Then Minerva left Scheria and went away over the sea. She went to
+Marathon and to the spacious streets of Athens, where she entered
+the abode of Erechtheus; but Ulysses went on to the house of Alcinous,
+and he pondered much as he paused a while before reaching the threshold
+of bronze, for the splendour of the palace was like that of the sun
+or moon. The walls on either side were of bronze from end to end,
+and the cornice was of blue enamel. The doors were gold, and hung
+on pillars of silver that rose from a floor of bronze, while the lintel
+was silver and the hook of the door was of gold.
+
+On either side there stood gold and silver mastiffs which Vulcan,
+with his consummate skill, had fashioned expressly to keep watch over
+the palace of king Alcinous; so they were immortal and could never
+grow old. Seats were ranged all along the wall, here and there from
+one end to the other, with coverings of fine woven work which the
+women of the house had made. Here the chief persons of the Phaecians
+used to sit and eat and drink, for there was abundance at all seasons;
+and there were golden figures of young men with lighted torches in
+their hands, raised on pedestals, to give light by night to those
+who were at table. There are fifty maid servants in the house, some
+of whom are always grinding rich yellow grain at the mill, while others
+work at the loom, or sit and spin, and their shuttles go, backwards
+and forwards like the fluttering of aspen leaves, while the linen
+is so closely woven that it will turn oil. As the Phaecians 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 Phaecians making their drink-offerings to Mercury, which they
+always did the last thing before going away for the night. He went
+straight through the court, still hidden by the cloak of darkness
+in which Minerva had enveloped him, till he reached Arete and King
+Alcinous; then he laid his hands upon the knees of the queen, and
+at that moment the miraculous darkness fell away from him and he became
+visible. Every one was speechless with surprise at seeing a man there,
+but Ulysses began at once with his petition.
+
+"Queen Arete," he exclaimed, "daughter of great Rhexenor, in my distress
+I humbly pray you, as also your husband and these your guests (whom
+may heaven prosper with long life and happiness, and may they leave
+their possessions to their children, and all the honours conferred
+upon them by the state) to help me home to my own country as soon
+as possible; for I have been long in trouble and away from my friends."
+
+Then he sat down on the hearth among the ashes and they all held their
+peace, till presently the old hero Echeneus, who was an excellent
+speaker and an elder among the Phaeacians, plainly and in all honesty
+addressed them thus:
+
+"Alcinous," said he, "it is not creditable to you that a stranger
+should be seen sitting among the ashes of your hearth; every one is
+waiting to hear what you are about to say; tell him, then, to rise
+and take a seat on a stool inlaid with silver, and bid your servants
+mix some wine and water that we may make a drink-offering to Jove
+the lord of thunder, who takes all well-disposed suppliants under
+his protection; and let the housekeeper give him some supper, of whatever
+there may be in the house."
+
+When Alcinous heard this he took Ulysses by the hand, raised him from
+the hearth, and bade him take the seat of Laodamas, who had been sitting
+beside him, and was his favourite son. A maid servant then brought
+him water in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin
+for him to wash his hands, and she drew a clean table beside him;
+an upper servant brought him bread and offered him many good things
+of what there was in the house, and Ulysses ate and drank. Then Alcinous
+said to one of the servants, "Pontonous, mix a cup of wine and hand
+it round that we may make drink-offerings to Jove the lord of thunder,
+who is the protector of all well-disposed suppliants."
+
+Pontonous then mixed wine and water, and handed it round after giving
+every man his drink-offering. When they had made their offerings,
+and had drunk each as much as he was minded, Alcinous said:
+
+"Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, hear my words. You
+have had your supper, so now go home to bed. To-morrow morning I shall
+invite a still larger number of aldermen, and will give a sacrificial
+banquet in honour of our guest; we can then discuss the question of
+his escort, and consider how we may at once send him back rejoicing
+to his own country without trouble or inconvenience to himself, no
+matter how distant it may be. We must see that he comes to no harm
+while on his homeward journey, but when he is once at home he will
+have to take the luck he was born with for better or worse like other
+people. It is possible, however, that the stranger is one of the immortals
+who has come down from heaven to visit us; but in this case the gods
+are departing from their usual practice, for hitherto they have made
+themselves perfectly clear to us when we have been offering them hecatombs.
+They come and sit at our feasts just like one of our selves, and if
+any solitary wayfarer happens to stumble upon some one or other of
+them, they affect no concealment, for we are as near of kin to the
+gods as the Cyclopes and the savage giants are."
+
+Then Ulysses said: "Pray, Alcinous, do not take any such notion into
+your head. I have nothing of the immortal about me, neither in body
+nor mind, and most resemble those among you who are the most afflicted.
+Indeed, were I to tell you all that heaven has seen fit to lay upon
+me, you would say that I was still worse off than they are. Nevertheless,
+let me sup in spite of sorrow, for an empty stomach is a very importunate
+thing, and thrusts itself on a man's notice no matter how dire is
+his distress. I am in great trouble, yet it insists that I shall eat
+and drink, bids me lay aside all memory of my sorrows and dwell only
+on the due replenishing of itself. As for yourselves, do as you propose,
+and at break of day set about helping me to get home. I shall be content
+to die if I may first once more behold my property, my bondsmen, and
+all the greatness of my house."
+
+Thus did he speak. Every one approved his saying, and agreed that
+he should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken reasonably. Then
+when they had made their drink-offerings, and had drunk each as much
+as he was minded they went home to bed every man in his own abode,
+leaving Ulysses in the cloister with Arete and Alcinous while the
+servants were taking the things away after supper. Arete was the first
+to speak, for she recognized 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,
+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 to-morrow to the matter of your escort. You can sleep during
+the whole voyage if you like, and the men shall sail you over smooth
+waters either to your own home, or wherever you please, even though
+it be a long way further off than Euboea, which those of my people
+who saw it when they took yellow-haired Rhadamanthus to see Tityus
+the son of Gaia, tell me is the furthest of any place- and yet they
+did the whole voyage in a single day without distressing themselves,
+and came back again afterwards. You will thus see how much my ships
+excel all others, and what magnificent oarsmen my sailors are."
+
+Then was Ulysses glad and prayed aloud saying, "Father Jove, grant
+that Alcinous may do all as he has said, for so he will win an imperishable
+name among mankind, and at the same time I shall return to my country."
+
+Thus did they converse. Then Arete told her maids to set a bed in
+the room that was in the gatehouse, and make it with good red rugs,
+and to spread coverlets on the top of them with woollen cloaks for
+Ulysses to wear. The maids thereon went out with torches in their
+hands, and when they had made the bed they came up to Ulysses and
+said, "Rise, sir stranger, and come with us for your bed is ready,"
+and glad indeed was he to go to his rest.
+
+So Ulysses slept in a bed placed in a room over the echoing gateway;
+but Alcinous lay in the inner part of the house, with the queen his
+wife by his side.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK VIII
+
+Now when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Alcinous
+and Ulysses both rose, and Alcinous led the way to the Phaecian 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 Phaecians favourably
+as being a very remarkable man, and might come off well in the many
+trials of skill to which they would challenge him. Then, when they
+were got together, Alcinous spoke:
+
+"Hear me," said he, "aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians,
+that I may speak even as I am minded. This stranger, whoever he may
+be, has found his way to my house from somewhere or other either East
+or West. He wants an escort and wishes to have the matter settled.
+Let us then get one ready for him, as we have done for others before
+him; indeed, no one who ever yet came to my house has been able to
+complain of me for not speeding on his way soon enough. Let us draw
+a ship into the sea- one that has never yet made a voyage- and man
+her with two and fifty of our smartest young sailors. Then when you
+have made fast your oars each by his own seat, leave the ship and
+come to my house to prepare a feast. I will find you in everything.
+I am giving will 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 outhouses, 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 gat 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 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 Phaecians except Laodamas. Three sons of Alcinous, Laodamas,
+Halios, and Clytoneus, competed also.
+
+The foot races came first. The course was set out for them from the
+starting post, and they raised a dust upon the plain as they all flew
+forward at the same moment. Clytoneus came in first by a long way;
+he left every one else behind him by the length of the furrow that
+a couple of mules can plough in a fallow field. They then turned to
+the painful art of wrestling, and here Euryalus proved to be the best
+man. Amphialus excelled all the others in jumping, while at throwing
+the disc there was no one who could approach Elatreus. Alcinous's
+son Laodamas was the best boxer, and he it was who presently said,
+when they had all been diverted with the games, "Let us ask the stranger
+whether he excels in any of these sports; he seems very powerfully
+built; his thighs, claves, hands, and neck are of prodigious strength,
+nor is he at all old, but he has suffered much lately, and there is
+nothing like the sea for making havoc with a man, no matter how strong
+he is."
+
+"You are quite right, Laodamas," replied Euryalus, "go up to your
+guest and speak to him about it yourself."
+
+When Laodamas heard this he made his way into the middle of the crowd
+and said to Ulysses, "I hope, Sir, that you will enter yourself for
+some one or other of our competitions if you are skilled in any of
+them- and you must have gone in for many a one before now. There is
+nothing that does any one so much credit all his life long as the
+showing himself a proper man with his hands and feet. Have a try therefore
+at something, and banish all sorrow from your mind. Your return home
+will not be long delayed, for the ship is already drawn into the water,
+and the crew is found."
+
+Ulysses answered, "Laodamas, why do you taunt me in this way? my mind
+is set rather on cares than contests; I have been through infinite
+trouble, and am come among you now as a suppliant, praying your king
+and people to further me on my return home."
+
+Then Euryalus reviled him outright and said, "I gather, then, that
+you are unskilled in any of the many sports that men generally delight
+in. I suppose you are one of those grasping traders that go about
+in ships as captains or merchants, and who think of nothing but of
+their outward freights and homeward cargoes. There does not seem to
+be much of the athlete about you."
+
+"For shame, Sir," answered Ulysses, fiercely, "you are an insolent
+fellow- so true is it that the gods do not grace all men alike in
+speech, person, and understanding. One man may be of weak presence,
+but heaven has adorned this with such a good conversation that he
+charms every one who sees him; his honeyed moderation carries his
+hearers with him so that he is leader in all assemblies of his fellows,
+and wherever he goes he is looked up to. Another may be as handsome
+as a god, but his good looks are not crowned with discretion. This
+is your case. No god could make a finer looking fellow than you are,
+but you are a fool. Your ill-judged remarks have made me exceedingly
+angry, and you are quite mistaken, for I excel in a great many athletic
+exercises; indeed, so long as I had youth and strength, I was among
+the first athletes of the age. Now, however, I am worn out by labour
+and sorrow, for I have gone through much both on the field of battle
+and by the waves of the weary sea; still, in spite of all this I will
+compete, for your taunts have stung me to the quick."
+
+So he hurried up without even taking his cloak off, and seized a disc,
+larger, more massive and much heavier than those used by the Phaeacians
+when disc-throwing among themselves. Then, swinging it back, he threw
+it from his brawny hand, and it made a humming sound in the air as
+he did so. The Phaeacians quailed beneath the rushing of its flight
+as it sped gracefully from his hand, and flew beyond any mark that
+had been made yet. Minerva, in the form of a man, came and marked
+the place where it had fallen. "A blind man, Sir," said she, "could
+easily tell your mark by groping for it- it is so far ahead of any
+other. You may make your mind easy about this contest, for no Phaeacian
+can come near to such a throw as yours."
+
+Ulysses was glad when he found he had a friend among the lookers-on,
+so he began to speak more pleasantly. "Young men," said he, "come
+up to that throw if you can, and I will throw another disc as heavy
+or even heavier. If anyone wants to have a bout with me let him come
+on, for I am exceedingly angry; I will box, wrestle, or run, I do
+not care what it is, with any man of you all except Laodamas, but
+not with him because I am his guest, and one cannot compete with one's
+own personal friend. At least I do not think it a prudent or a sensible
+thing for a guest to challenge his host's family at any game, especially
+when he is in a foreign country. He will cut the ground from under
+his own feet if he does; but I make no exception as regards any one
+else, for I want to have the matter out and know which is the best
+man. I am a good hand at every kind of athletic sport known among
+mankind. I am an excellent archer. In battle I am always the first
+to bring a man down with my arrow, no matter how many more are taking
+aim at him alongside of me. Philoctetes was the only man who could
+shoot better than I could when we Achaeans were before Troy and in
+practice. I far excel every one else in the whole world, of those
+who still eat bread upon the face of the earth, but I should not like
+to shoot against the mighty dead, such as Hercules, or Eurytus the
+Cechalian-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 Phaecians
+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 be 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, minstrels. Demodocus
+has left his lyre at my house, so run some one or other of you and
+fetch it for him."
+
+On this a servant hurried off to bring the lyre from the king's house,
+and the nine men who had been chosen as stewards stood forward. It
+was their business to manage everything connected with the sports,
+so they made the ground smooth and marked a wide space for the dancers.
+Presently the servant came back with Demodocus's lyre, and he took
+his place in the midst of them, whereon the best young dancers in
+the town began to foot and trip it so nimbly that Ulysses was delighted
+with the merry twinkling of their feet.
+
+Meanwhile the bard began to sing the loves of Mars and Venus, and
+how they first began their intrigue in the house of Vulcan. Mars made
+Venus many presents, and defiled King Vulcan's marriage bed, so the
+sun, who saw what they were about, told Vulcan. Vulcan was very angry
+when he heard such dreadful news, so he went to his smithy brooding
+mischief, got his great anvil into its place, and began to forge some
+chains which none could either unloose or break, so that they might
+stay there in that place. When he had finished his snare he went into
+his bedroom and festooned the bed-posts all over with chains like
+cobwebs; he also let many hang down from the great beam of the ceiling.
+Not even a god could see them, so fine and subtle were they. As soon
+as he had spread the chains all over the bed, he made as though he
+were setting out for the fair state of Lemnos, which of all places
+in the world was the one he was most fond of. But Mars kept no blind
+look out, and as soon as he saw him start, hurried off to his house,
+burning with love for Venus.
+
+Now Venus was just come in from a visit to her father Jove, and was
+about sitting down when Mars came inside the house, an 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 stayed 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 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 Phaecians "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 sword, which is of bronze, all but the hilt, which is
+of silver. I will also give him the scabbard of newly sawn ivory into
+which it fits. It will be worth a great deal to him."
+
+As he spoke he placed the sword in the hands of Ulysses and said,
+"Good luck to you, father stranger; if anything has been said amiss
+may the winds blow it away with them, and may heaven grant you a safe
+return, for I understand you have been long away from home, and have
+gone through much hardship."
+
+To which Ulysses answered, "Good luck to you too my friend, and may
+the gods grant you every happiness. I hope you will not miss the sword
+you have given me along with your apology."
+
+With these words he girded the sword about his shoulders and towards
+sundown the presents began to make their appearance, as the servants
+of the donors kept bringing them to the house of King Alcinous; here
+his sons received them, and placed them under their mother's charge.
+Then Alcinous led the way to the house and bade his guests take their
+seats.
+
+"Wife," said he, turning to Queen Arete, "Go, fetch the best chest
+we have, and put a clean cloak and shirt in it. Also, set a copper
+on the fire and heat some water; our guest will take a warm bath;
+see also to the careful packing of the presents that the noble Phaeacians
+have made him; he will thus better enjoy both his supper and the singing
+that will follow. I shall myself give him this golden goblet- which
+is of exquisite workmanship- that he may be reminded of me for the
+rest of his life whenever he makes a drink-offering to Jove, or to
+any of the gods."
+
+Then Arete told her maids to set a large tripod upon the fire as fast
+as they could, whereon they set a tripod full of bath water on to
+a clear fire; they threw on sticks to make it blaze, and the water
+became hot as the flame played about the belly of the tripod. Meanwhile
+Arete brought a magnificent chest her own room, and inside it she
+packed all the beautiful presents of gold and raiment which the Phaeacians
+had brought. Lastly she added a cloak and a good shirt from Alcinous,
+and said to Ulysses:
+
+"See to the lid yourself, and have the whole bound round at once,
+for fear any one should rob you by the way when you are asleep in
+your ship."
+
+When Ulysses heard this he put the lid on the chest and made it fast
+with a bond that Circe had taught him. He had done so before an upper
+servant told him to come to the bath and wash himself. He was very
+glad of a warm bath, for he had had no one to wait upon him ever since
+he left the house of Calypso, who as long as he remained with her
+had taken as good care of him as though he had been a god. When the
+servants had done washing and anointing him with oil, and had given
+him a clean cloak and shirt, he left the bath room and joined the
+guests who were sitting over their wine. Lovely Nausicaa stood by
+one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof if the cloister, and
+admired him as she saw him pass. "Farewell stranger," said she, "do
+not forget me when you are safe at home again, for it is to me first
+that you owe a ransom for having saved your life."
+
+And Ulysses said, "Nausicaa, daughter of great Alcinous, may Jove
+the mighty husband of Juno, grant that I may reach my home; so shall
+I bless you as my guardian angel all my days, for it was you who saved
+me."
+
+When he had said this, he seated himself beside Alcinous. Supper was
+then served, and the wine was mixed for drinking. A servant led in
+the favourite bard Demodocus, and set him in the midst of the company,
+near one of the bearing-posts supporting the cloister, that he might
+lean against it. Then Ulysses cut off a piece of roast pork with plenty
+of fat (for there was abundance left on the joint) and said to a servant,
+"Take this piece of pork over to Demodocus and tell him to eat it;
+for all the pain his lays may cause me I will salute him none the
+less; bards are honoured and respected throughout the world, for the
+muse teaches them their songs and loves them."
+
+The servant carried the pork in his fingers over to Demodocus, who
+took it and was very much pleased. They then laid their hands on the
+good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had to
+eat and drink, Ulysses said to Demodocus, "Demodocus, there is no
+one in the world whom I admire more than I do you. You must have studied
+under the Muse, Jove's daughter, and under Apollo, so accurately do
+you sing the return of the Achaeans with all their sufferings and
+adventures. If you were not there yourself, you must have heard it
+all from some one who was. Now, however, change your song and tell
+us of the wooden horse which Epeus made with the assistance of Minerva,
+and which Ulysses got by stratagem into the fort of Troy after freighting
+it with the men who afterwards sacked the city. If you will sing this
+tale aright I will tell all the world how magnificently heaven has
+endowed you."
+
+The bard inspired of heaven took up the story at the point where some
+of the Argives set fire to their tents and sailed away while others,
+hidden within the horse, were waiting with Ulysses in the Trojan place
+of assembly. For the Trojans themselves had drawn the horse into their
+fortress, and it stood there while they sat in council round it, and
+were in three minds as to what they should do. Some were for breaking
+it up then and there; others would have it dragged to the top of the
+rock on which the fortress stood, and then thrown down the precipice;
+while yet others were for letting it remain as an offering and propitiation
+for the gods. And this was how they settled it in the end, for the
+city was doomed when it took in that horse, within which were all
+the bravest of the Argives waiting to bring death and destruction
+on the Trojans. Anon he sang how the sons of the Achaeans issued from
+the horse, and sacked the town, breaking out from their ambuscade.
+He sang how they over ran the city hither and thither and ravaged
+it, and how Ulysses went raging like Mars along with Menelaus to the
+house of Deiphobus. It was there that the fight raged most furiously,
+nevertheless by Minerva's help he was victorious.
+
+All this he told, but Ulysses was overcome as he heard him, and his
+cheeks were wet with tears. He wept as a woman weeps when she throws
+herself on the body of her husband who has fallen before his own city
+and people, fighting bravely in defence of his home and children.
+She screams aloud and flings her arms about him as he lies gasping
+for breath and dying, but her enemies beat her from behind about the
+back and shoulders, and carry her off into slavery, to a life of labour
+and sorrow, and the beauty fades from her cheeks- even so piteously
+did Ulysses weep, but none of those present perceived his tears except
+Alcinous, who was sitting near him, and could hear the sobs and sighs
+that he was heaving. The king, therefore, at once rose and said:
+
+"Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, let Demodocus cease
+his song, for there are those present who do not seem to like it.
+From the moment that we had done supper and Demodocus began to sing,
+our guest has been all the time groaning and lamenting. He is evidently
+in great trouble, so let the bard leave off, that we may all enjoy
+ourselves, hosts and guest alike. This will be much more as it should
+be, for all these festivities, with the escort and the presents that
+we are making with so much good will, are wholly in his honour, and
+any one with even a moderate amount of right feeling knows that he
+ought to treat a guest and a suppliant as though he were his own brother.
+
+"Therefore, Sir, do you on your part affect no more concealment nor
+reserve in the matter about which I shall ask you; it will be more
+polite in you to give me a plain answer; tell me the name by which
+your father and mother over yonder used to call you, and by which
+you were known among your neighbours and fellow-citizens. There is
+no one, neither rich nor poor, who is absolutely without any name
+whatever, for people's fathers and mothers give them names as soon
+as they are born. Tell me also your country, nation, and city, that
+our ships may shape their purpose accordingly and take you there.
+For the Phaeacians have no pilots; their vessels have no rudders as
+those of other nations have, but the ships themselves understand what
+it is that we are thinking about and want; they know all the cities
+and countries in the whole world, and can traverse the sea just as
+well even when it is covered with mist and cloud, so that there is
+no danger of being wrecked or coming to any harm. Still I do remember
+hearing my father say that Neptune was angry with us for being too
+easy-going in the matter of giving people escorts. He said that one
+of these days he should wreck a ship of ours as it was returning from
+having escorted some one, and bury our city under a high mountain.
+This is what my father used to say, but whether the god will carry out his
+threat or no is a matter which he will decide for himself.
+
+"And now, tell me and tell me true. Where have you been wandering,
+and in what countries have you travelled? Tell us of the peoples themselves,
+and of their cities- who were hostile, savage and uncivilized, and
+who, on the other hand, hospitable and humane. Tell us also why you
+are made 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
+
+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 there
+guests though I live so far away from all of you. I am Ulysses son
+of Laertes, reknowned among mankind for all manner of subtlety, so
+that my fame ascends to heaven. I live in Ithaca, where there is a
+high mountain called Neritum, covered with forests; and not far from
+it there is a group of islands very near to one another- Dulichium,
+Same, and the wooded island of Zacynthus. It lies squat on the horizon,
+all highest up in the sea towards the sunset, while the others lie
+away from it towards dawn. It is a rugged island, but it breeds brave
+men, and my eyes know none that they better love to look upon. The
+goddess Calypso kept me with her in her cave, and wanted me to marry
+her, as did also the cunning Aeaean goddess Circe; but they could
+neither of them persuade me, for there is nothing dearer to a man
+than his own country and his parents, and however splendid a home
+he may have in a foreign country, if it be far from father or mother,
+he does not care about it. Now, however, I will tell you of the many
+hazardous adventures which by Jove's will I met with on my return
+from Troy.
+
+"When I had set sail thence the wind took me first to Ismarus, which
+is the city of the Cicons. There I sacked the town and put the people
+to the sword. We took their wives and also much booty, which we divided
+equitably amongst us, so that none might have reason to complain.
+I then said that we had better make off at once, but my men very foolishly
+would not obey me, so they stayed there drinking much wine and killing
+great numbers of sheep and oxen on the sea shore. Meanwhile the Cicons
+cried out for help to other Cicons who lived inland. These were more
+in number, and stronger, and they were more skilled in the art of
+war, for they could fight, either from chariots or on foot as the
+occasion served; in the morning, therefore, they came as thick as
+leaves and bloom in summer, and the hand of heaven was against us,
+so that we were hard pressed. They set the battle in array near the
+ships, and the hosts aimed their bronze-shod spears at one another.
+So long as the day waxed and it was still morning, we held our own
+against them, though they were more in number than we; but as the
+sun went down, towards the time when men loose their oxen, the Cicons
+got the better of us, and we lost half a dozen men from every ship
+we had; so we got away with those that were left.
+
+"Thence we sailed onward with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have
+escaped death though we had lost our comrades, nor did we leave till
+we had thrice invoked each one of the poor fellows who had perished
+by the hands of the Cicons. Then Jove raised the North wind against
+us till it blew a hurricane, so that land and sky were hidden in thick
+clouds, and night sprang forth out of the heavens. We let the ships
+run before the gale, but the force of the wind tore our sails to tatters,
+so we took them down for fear of shipwreck, and rowed our hardest
+towards the land. There we lay two days and two nights suffering much
+alike from toil and distress of mind, but on the morning of the third
+day we again raised our masts, set sail, and took our places, letting
+the wind and steersmen direct our ship. I should have got home at
+that time unharmed had not the North wind and the currents been against
+me as I was doubling Cape Malea, and set me off my course hard by
+the island of Cythera.
+
+"I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of nine days upon the
+sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eater,
+who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed
+to take in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the
+shore near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of
+my company to see what manner of men the people of the place might
+be, and they had a third man under them. They started at once, and
+went about among the Lotus-eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave
+them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate
+of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back
+and say what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching
+lotus with the Lotus-eater without thinking further of their return;
+nevertheless, though they wept bitterly I forced them back to the
+ships and made them fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to
+go on board at once, lest any of them should taste of the lotus and
+leave off wanting to get home, so they took their places and smote
+the grey sea with their oars.
+
+"We sailed hence, always in much distress, till we came to the land
+of the lawless and inhuman Cyclopes. Now the Cyclopes neither plant
+nor plough, but trust in providence, and live on such wheat, barley,
+and grapes as grow wild without any kind of tillage, and their wild
+grapes yield them wine as the sun and the rain may grow them. They
+have no laws nor assemblies of the people, but live in caves on the
+tops of high mountains; each is lord and master in his family, and
+they take no account of their neighbours.
+
+"Now off their harbour there lies a wooded and fertile island not
+quite close to the land of the Cyclopes, but still not far. It is
+overrun 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 colonized the island, for it is a very good one, and would yield
+everything in due season. There are meadows that in some places come
+right down to the sea shore, well watered and full of luscious grass;
+grapes would do there excellently; there is level land for ploughing,
+and it would always yield heavily at harvest time, for the soil is
+deep. There is a good harbour where no cables are wanted, nor yet
+anchors, nor need a ship be moored, but all one has to do is to beach
+one's vessel and stay there till the wind becomes fair for putting
+out to sea again. At the head of the harbour there is a spring of
+clear water coming out of a cave, and there are poplars growing all
+round it.
+
+"Here we entered, but so dark was the night that some god must have
+brought us in, for there was nothing whatever to be seen. A thick
+mist hung all round our ships; the moon was hidden behind a mass of
+clouds so that no one could have seen the island if he had looked
+for it, nor were there any breakers to tell us we were close in shore
+before we found ourselves upon the land itself; when, however, we
+had beached the ships, we took down the sails, went ashore and camped
+upon the beach till daybreak.
+
+"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, we admired
+the island and wandered all over it, while the nymphs Jove's daughters
+roused the wild goats that we might get some meat for our dinner.
+On this we fetched our spears and bows and arrows from the ships,
+and dividing ourselves into three bands began to shoot the goats.
+Heaven sent us excellent sport; I had twelve ships with me, and each
+ship got nine goats, while my own ship had ten; thus through the livelong
+day to the going down of the sun we ate and drank our fill,- and we
+had plenty of wine left, for each one of us had taken many jars full
+when we sacked the city of the Cicons, and this had not yet run out.
+While we were feasting we kept turning our eyes towards the land of
+the Cyclopes, which was hard by, and saw the smoke of their stubble
+fires. We could almost fancy we heard their voices and the bleating
+of their sheep and goats, but when the sun went down and it came on
+dark, we camped down upon the beach, and next morning I called a council.
+
+"'Stay here, my brave fellows,' said I, 'all the rest of you, while
+I go with my ship and exploit these people myself: I want to see if
+they are uncivilized 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, Apollo son of Euanthes, who was priest of Apollo the patron
+god of Ismarus, and lived within the wooded precincts of the temple.
+When we were sacking the city we respected him, and spared his life,
+as also his wife and child; so he made me some presents of great value-
+seven talents of fine gold, and a bowl of silver, with twelve jars
+of sweet wine, unblended, and of the most exquisite flavour. Not a
+man nor maid in the house knew about it, but only himself, his wife,
+and one housekeeper: when he drank it he mixed twenty parts of water
+to one of wine, and yet the fragrance from the mixing-bowl was so
+exquisite that it was impossible to refrain from drinking. I filled
+a large skin with this wine, and took a wallet full of provisions
+with me, for my mind misgave me that I might have to deal with some
+savage who would be of great strength, and would respect neither right
+nor law.
+
+"We soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding, so we went
+inside and took stock of all that we could see. His cheese-racks were
+loaded with cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his pens
+could hold. They were kept in separate flocks; first there were the
+hoggets, then the oldest of the younger lambs and lastly the very
+young ones all kept apart from one another; as for his dairy, all
+the vessels, bowls, and milk pails into which he milked, were swimming
+with whey. When they saw all this, my men begged me to let them first
+steal some cheeses, and make off with them to the ship; they would
+then return, drive down the lambs and kids, put them on board and
+sail away with them. It would have been indeed better if we had done
+so but I would not listen to them, for I wanted to see the owner himself,
+in the hope that he might give me a present. When, however, we saw
+him my poor men found him ill to deal with.
+
+"We lit a fire, offered some of the cheeses in sacrifice, ate others
+of them, and then sat waiting till the Cyclops should come in with
+his sheep. When he came, he brought in with him a huge load of dry
+firewood to light the fire for his supper, and this he flung with
+such a noise on to the floor of his cave that we hid ourselves for
+fear at the far end of the cavern. Meanwhile he drove all the ewes
+inside, as well as the she-goats that he was going to milk, leaving
+the males, both rams and he-goats, outside in the yards. Then he rolled
+a huge stone to the mouth of the cave- so huge that two and twenty
+strong four-wheeled waggons would not be enough to draw it from its
+place against the doorway. When he had so done he sat down and milked
+his ewes and goats, all in due course, and then let each of them have
+her own young. He curdled half the milk and set it aside in wicker
+strainers, but the other half he poured into bowls that he might drink
+it for his supper. When he had got through with all his work, he lit
+the fire, and then caught sight of us, whereon he said:
+
+"'Strangers, who are you? Where do sail from? Are you traders, or
+do you sail the as rovers, with your hands against every man, and
+every man's hand against you?'
+
+"We were frightened out of our senses by his loud voice and monstrous
+form, but I managed to say, 'We are Achaeans on our way home from
+Troy, but by the will of Jove, and stress of weather, we have been
+driven far out of our course. We are the people of Agamemnon, son
+of Atreus, who has won infinite renown throughout the whole world,
+by sacking so great a city and killing so many people. We therefore
+humbly pray you to show us some hospitality, and otherwise make us
+such presents as visitors may reasonably expect. May your excellency
+fear the wrath of heaven, for we are your suppliants, and Jove takes
+all respectable travellers under his protection, for he is the avenger
+of all suppliants and foreigners in distress.'
+
+"To this he gave me but a pitiless answer, 'Stranger,' said he, 'you
+are a fool, or else you know nothing of this country. Talk to me,
+indeed, about fearing the gods or shunning their anger? We Cyclopes
+do not care about Jove or any of your blessed gods, for we are ever
+so much stronger than they. I shall not spare either yourself or your
+companions out of any regard for Jove, unless I am in the humour for
+doing so. And now tell me where you made your ship fast when you came
+on shore. Was it round the point, or is she lying straight off the
+land?'
+
+"He said this to draw me out, but I was too cunning to be caught in
+that way, so I answered with a lie; 'Neptune,' said I, 'sent my ship
+on to the rocks at the far end of your country, and wrecked it. We
+were driven on to them from the open sea, but I and those who are
+with me escaped the jaws of death.'
+
+"The cruel wretch vouchsafed me not one word of answer, but with a
+sudden clutch he gripped up two of my men at once and dashed them
+down upon the ground as though they had been puppies. Their brains
+were shed upon the ground, and the earth was wet with their blood.
+Then he tore them limb from limb and supped upon them. He gobbled
+them up like a lion in the wilderness, flesh, bones, marrow, and entrails,
+without leaving anything uneaten. As for us, we wept and lifted up
+our hands to heaven on seeing such a horrid sight, for we did not
+know what else to do; but when the Cyclops had filled his huge paunch,
+and had washed down his meal of human flesh with a drink of neat milk,
+he stretched himself full length upon the ground among his sheep,
+and went to sleep. I was at first inclined to seize my sword, draw
+it, and drive it into his vitals, but I reflected that if I did we
+should all certainly be lost, for we should never be able to shift
+the stone which the monster had put in front of the door. So we stayed
+sobbing and sighing where we were till morning came.
+
+"When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, he again
+lit his fire, milked his goats and ewes, all quite rightly, and then
+let each have her own young one; as soon as he had got through with
+all his work, he clutched up two more of my men, and began eating
+them for his morning's meal. Presently, with the utmost ease, he rolled
+the stone away from the door and drove out his sheep, but he at once
+put it back again- as easily as though he were merely clapping the
+lid on to a quiver full of arrows. As soon as he had done so he shouted,
+and cried 'Shoo, shoo,' after his sheep to drive them on to the mountain;
+so I was left to scheme some way of taking my revenge and covering
+myself with glory.
+
+"In the end I deemed it would be the best plan to do as follows. The
+Cyclops had a great club which was lying near one of the sheep pens;
+it was of green olive wood, and he had cut it intending to use it
+for a staff as soon as it should be dry. It was so huge that we could
+only compare it to the mast of a twenty-oared merchant vessel of large
+burden, and able to venture out into open sea. I went up to this club
+and cut off about six feet of it; I then gave this piece to the men
+and told them to fine it evenly off at one end, which they proceeded
+to do, and lastly I brought it to a point myself, charring the end
+in the fire to make it harder. When I had done this I hid it under
+dung, which was lying about all over the cave, and told the men to
+cast lots which of them should venture along with myself to lift it
+and bore it into the monster's eye while he was asleep. The lot fell
+upon the very four whom I should have chosen, and I myself made five.
+In the evening the wretch came back from shepherding, and drove his
+flocks into the cave- this time driving them all inside, and not leaving
+any in the yards; I suppose some fancy must have taken him, or a god
+must have prompted him to do so. As soon as he had put the stone back
+to its place against the door, he sat down, milked his ewes and his
+goats all quite rightly, and then let each have her own young one;
+when he had got through with all this work, he gripped up two more
+of my men, and made his supper off them. So I went up to him with
+an ivy-wood bowl of black wine in my hands:
+
+"'Look here, Cyclops,' said I, you have been eating a great deal of
+man's flesh, so take this and drink some wine, that you may see what
+kind of liquor we had on board my ship. I was bringing it to you as
+a drink-offering, in the hope that you would take compassion upon
+me and further me on my way home, whereas all you do is to go on ramping
+and raving most intolerably. You ought to be ashamed yourself; how
+can you expect people to come see you any more if you treat them in
+this way?'
+
+"He then took the cup and drank. He was so delighted with the taste
+of the wine that he begged me for another bowl full. 'Be so kind,'
+he said, 'as to give me some more, and tell me your name at once.
+I want to make you a present that you will be glad to have. We have
+wine even in this country, for our soil grows grapes and the sun ripens
+them, but this drinks like nectar and ambrosia all in one.'
+
+"I then gave him some more; three times did I fill the bowl for him,
+and three times did he drain it without thought or heed; then, when
+I saw that the wine had got into his head, I said to him as plausibly
+as I could: 'Cyclops, you ask my name and I will tell it you; give
+me, therefore, the present you promised me; my name is Noman; this
+is what my father and mother and my friends have always called me.'
+
+"But the cruel wretch said, 'Then I will eat all Noman's comrades
+before Noman himself, and will keep Noman for the last. This is the
+present that I will make him.'
+
+As he spoke he reeled, and fell sprawling face upwards on the ground.
+His great neck hung heavily backwards and a deep sleep took hold upon
+him. Presently he turned sick, and threw up both wine and the gobbets
+of human flesh on which he had been gorging, for he was very drunk.
+Then I thrust the beam of wood far into the embers to heat it, and
+encouraged my men lest any of them should turn faint-hearted. When
+the wood, green though it was, was about to blaze, I drew it out of
+the fire glowing with heat, and my men gathered round me, for heaven
+had filled their hearts with courage. We drove the sharp end of the
+beam into the monster's eye, and bearing upon it with all my weight
+I kept turning it round and round as though I were boring a hole in
+a ship's plank with an auger, which two men with a wheel and strap
+can keep on turning as long as they choose. Even thus did we bore
+the red hot beam into his eye, till the boiling blood bubbled all
+over it as we worked it round and round, so that the steam from the
+burning eyeball scalded his eyelids and eyebrows, and the roots of
+the eye sputtered in the fire. As a blacksmith plunges an axe or hatchet
+into cold water to temper it- for it is this that gives strength to
+the iron- and it makes a great hiss as he does so, even thus did the
+Cyclops' eye hiss round the beam of olive wood, and his hideous yells
+made the cave ring again. We ran away in a fright, but he plucked
+the beam all besmirched with gore from his eye, and hurled it from
+him in a frenzy of rage and pain, shouting as he did so to the other
+Cyclopes who lived on the bleak headlands near him; so they gathered
+from all quarters round his cave when they heard him crying, and asked
+what was the matter with him.
+
+"'What ails you, Polyphemus,' said they, 'that you make such a noise,
+breaking the stillness of the night, and preventing us from being
+able to sleep? Surely no man is carrying off your sheep? Surely no
+man is trying to kill you either by fraud or by force?
+
+"But Polyphemus shouted to them from inside the cave, 'Noman is killing
+me by fraud! Noman is killing me by force!'
+
+"'Then,' said they, 'if no man is attacking you, you must be ill;
+when Jove makes people ill, there is no help for it, and you had better
+pray to your father Neptune.'
+
+"Then they went away, and I laughed inwardly at the success of my
+clever stratagem, but the Cyclops, groaning and in an agony of pain,
+felt about with his hands till he found the stone and took it from
+the door; then he sat in the doorway and stretched his hands in front
+of it to catch anyone going out with the sheep, for he thought I might
+be foolish enough to attempt this.
+
+"As for myself I kept on puzzling to think how I could best save my
+own life and those of my companions; I schemed and schemed, as one
+who knows that his life depends upon it, for the danger was very great.
+In the end I deemed that this plan would be the best. The male sheep
+were well grown, and carried a heavy black fleece, so I bound them
+noiselessly in threes together, with some of the withies on which
+the wicked monster used to sleep. There was to be a man under the
+middle sheep, and the two on either side were to cover him, so that
+there were three sheep to each man. As for myself there was a ram
+finer than any of the others, so I caught hold of him by the back,
+esconced myself in the thick wool under his belly, and flung on patiently
+to his fleece, face upwards, keeping a firm hold on it all the time.
+
+"Thus, then, did we wait in great fear of mind till morning came,
+but when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, the male
+sheep hurried out to feed, while the ewes remained bleating about
+the pens waiting to be milked, for their udders were full to bursting;
+but their master in spite of all his pain felt the backs of all the
+sheep as they stood upright, without being sharp enough to find out
+that the men were underneath their bellies. As the ram was going out,
+last of all, heavy with its fleece and with the weight of my crafty
+self; Polyphemus laid hold of it and said:
+
+"'My good ram, what is it that makes you the last to leave my cave
+this morning? You are not wont to let the ewes go before you, but
+lead the mob with a run whether to flowery mead or bubbling fountain,
+and are the first to come home again at night; but now you lag last
+of all. Is it because you know your master has lost his eye, and are
+sorry because that wicked Noman and his horrid crew have got him down
+in his drink and blinded him? But I will have his life yet. If you
+could understand and talk, you would tell me where the wretch is hiding,
+and I would dash his brains upon the ground till they flew all over
+the cave. I should thus have some satisfaction for the harm a this
+no-good Noman has done me.'
+
+"As spoke he drove the ram outside, but when we were a little way
+out from the cave and yards, I first got from under the ram's belly,
+and then freed my comrades; as for the sheep, which were very fat,
+by constantly heading them in the right direction we managed to drive
+them down to the ship. The crew rejoiced greatly at seeing those of
+us who had escaped death, but wept for the others whom the Cyclops
+had killed. However, I made signs to them by nodding and frowning
+that they were to hush their crying, and told them to get all the
+sheep on board at once and put out to sea; so they went aboard, took
+their places, and smote the grey sea with their oars. Then, when I
+had got as far out as my voice would reach, I began to jeer at the
+Cyclops.
+
+"'Cyclops,' said I, 'you should have taken better measure of your
+man before eating up his comrades in your cave. You wretch, eat up
+your visitors in your own house? You might have known that your sin
+would find you out, and now Jove and the other gods have punished
+you.'
+
+"He got more and more furious as he heard me, so he tore the top from
+off a high mountain, and flung it just in front of my ship so that
+it was within a little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked
+as the rock fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised carried
+us back towards the mainland, and forced us towards the shore. But
+I snatched up a long pole and kept the ship off, making signs to my
+men by nodding my head, that they must row for their lives, whereon
+they laid out with a will. When we had got twice as far as we were
+before, I was for jeering at the Cyclops again, but the men begged
+and prayed of me to hold my tongue.
+
+"'Do not,' they exclaimed, 'be mad enough to provoke this savage creature
+further; he has thrown one rock at us already which drove us back
+again to the mainland, and we made sure it had been the death of us;
+if he had then heard any further sound of voices he would have pounded
+our heads and our ship's timbers into a jelly with the rugged rocks
+he would have heaved at us, for he can throw them a long way.'
+
+"But I would not listen to them, and shouted out to him in my rage,
+'Cyclops, if any one asks you who it was that put your eye out and
+spoiled your beauty, say it was the valiant warrior Ulysses, son of
+Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.'
+
+"On this he groaned, and cried out, 'Alas, alas, then the old prophecy
+about me is coming true. There was a prophet here, at one time, a
+man both brave and of great stature, Telemus son of Eurymus, who was
+an excellent seer, and did all the prophesying for the Cyclopes till
+he grew old; he told me that all this would happen to me some day,
+and said I should lose my sight by the hand of Ulysses. I have been
+all along expecting some one of imposing presence and superhuman strength,
+whereas he turns out to be a little insignificant weakling, who has
+managed to blind my eye by taking advantage of me in my drink; come
+here, then, Ulysses, that I may make you presents to show my hospitality,
+and urge Neptune to help you forward on your journey- for Neptune
+and I are father and son. He, if he so will, shall heal me, which
+no one else neither god nor man can do.'
+
+"Then I said, 'I wish I could be as sure of killing you outright and
+sending you down to the house of Hades, as I am that it will take
+more than Neptune to cure that eye of yours.'
+
+"On this he lifted up his hands to the firmament of heaven and prayed,
+saying, 'Hear me, great Neptune; if I am indeed your own true-begotten
+son, grant that Ulysses may never reach his home alive; or if he must
+get back to his friends at last, let him do so late and in sore plight
+after losing all his men [let him reach his home in another man's
+ship and find trouble in his house.']
+
+"Thus did he pray, and Neptune heard his prayer. Then he picked up
+a rock much larger than the first, swung it aloft and hurled it with
+prodigious force. It fell just short of the ship, but was within a
+little of hitting the end of the rudder. The sea quaked as the rock
+fell into it, and the wash of the wave it raised drove us onwards
+on our way towards the shore of the island.
+
+"When at last we got to the island where we had left the rest of our
+ships, we found our comrades lamenting us, and anxiously awaiting
+our return. We ran our vessel upon the sands and got out of her on
+to the sea shore; we also landed the Cyclops' sheep, and divided them
+equitably amongst us so that none might have reason to complain. As
+for the ram, my companions agreed that I should have it as an extra
+share; so I sacrificed it on the sea shore, and burned its thigh bones
+to Jove, who is the lord of all. But he heeded not my sacrifice, and
+only thought how he might destroy my ships and my comrades.
+
+"Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we feasted
+our fill on meat and drink, but when the sun went down and it came
+on dark, we camped upon the beach. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered
+Dawn, appeared, I bade my men on board and loose the hawsers. Then
+they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars; so
+we sailed on with sorrow in our hearts, but glad to have escaped death
+though we had lost our comrades.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK X
+
+Thence we went on to the Aeoli island where lives Aeolus son of Hippotas,
+dear to the immortal gods. It is an island that floats (as it were)
+upon the sea, iron bound with a wall that girds it. Now, Aeolus has
+six daughters and six lusty sons, so he made the sons marry the daughters,
+and they all live with their dear father and mother, feasting and
+enjoying every conceivable kind of luxury. All day long the atmosphere
+of the house is loaded with the savour of roasting meats till it groans
+again, yard and all; but by night they sleep on their well-made bedsteads,
+each with his own wife between the blankets. These were the people
+among whom we had now come.
+
+"Aeolus entertained me for a whole month asking me questions all the
+time about Troy, the Argive fleet, and the return of the Achaeans.
+I told him exactly how everything had happened, and when I said I
+must go, and asked him to further me on my way, he made no sort of
+difficulty, but set about doing so at once. Moreover, he flayed me
+a prime ox-hide to hold the ways of the roaring winds, which he shut
+up in the hide as in a sack- for Jove had made him captain over the
+winds, and he could stir or still each one of them according to his
+own pleasure. He put the sack in the ship and bound the mouth so tightly
+with a silver thread that not even a breath of a side-wind could blow
+from any quarter. The West wind which was fair for us did he alone
+let blow as it chose; but it all came to nothing, for we were lost
+through our own folly.
+
+"Nine days and nine nights did we sail, and on the tenth day our native
+land showed on the horizon. We got so close in that we could see the
+stubble fires burning, and I, being then dead beat, fell into a light
+sleep, for I had never let the rudder out of my own hands, that we
+might get home the faster. On this the men fell to talking among themselves,
+and said I was bringing back gold and silver in the sack that Aeolus
+had given me. 'Bless my heart,' would one turn to his neighbour, saying,
+'how this man gets honoured and makes friends to whatever city or
+country he may go. See what fine prizes he is taking home from Troy,
+while we, who have travelled just as far as he has, come back with
+hands as empty as we set out with- and now Aeolus has given him ever
+so much more. Quick- let us see what it all is, and how much gold
+and silver there is in the sack he gave him.'
+
+"Thus they talked and evil counsels prevailed. They loosed the sack,
+whereupon the wind flew howling forth and raised a storm that carried
+us weeping out to sea and away from our own country. Then I awoke,
+and knew not whether to throw myself into the sea or to live on and
+make the best of it; but I bore it, covered myself up, and lay down
+in the ship, while the men lamented bitterly as the fierce winds bore
+our fleet back to the Aeolian island.
+
+"When we reached it we went ashore to take in water, and dined hard
+by the ships. Immediately after dinner I took a herald and one of
+my men and went straight to the house of Aeolus, where I found him
+feasting with his wife and family; so we sat down as suppliants on
+the threshold. They were astounded when they saw us and said, 'Ulysses,
+what brings you here? What god has been ill-treating you? We took
+great pains to further you on your way home to Ithaca, or wherever
+it was that you wanted to go to.'
+
+"Thus did they speak, but I answered sorrowfully, 'My men have undone
+me; they, and cruel sleep, have ruined me. My friends, mend me this
+mischief, for you can if you will.'
+
+"I spoke as movingly as I could, but they said nothing, till their
+father answered, 'Vilest of mankind, get you gone at once out of the
+island; him whom heaven hates will I in no wise help. Be off, for
+you come here as one abhorred of heaven. "And with these words he
+sent me sorrowing from his door.
+
+"Thence we sailed sadly on till the men were worn out with long and
+fruitless rowing, for there was no longer any wind to help them. Six
+days, night and day did we toil, and on the seventh day we reached
+the rocky stronghold of Lamus- Telepylus, the city of the Laestrygonians,
+where the shepherd who is driving in his sheep and goats [to be milked]
+salutes him who is driving out his flock [to feed] and this last answers
+the salute. In that country a man who could do without sleep might
+earn double wages, one as a herdsman of cattle, and another as a shepherd,
+for they work much the same by night as they do by day.
+
+"When we reached the harbour we found it land-locked under steep cliffs,
+with a narrow entrance between two headlands. My captains took all
+their ships inside, and made them fast close to one another, for there
+was never so much as a breath of wind inside, but it was always dead
+calm. I kept my own ship outside, and moored it to a rock at the very
+end of the point; then I climbed a high rock to reconnoitre, but could
+see no sign neither of man nor cattle, only some smoke rising from
+the ground. So I sent two of my company with an attendant to find
+out what sort of people the inhabitants were.
+
+"The men when they got on shore followed a level road by which the
+people draw their firewood from the mountains into the town, till
+presently they met a young woman who had come outside to fetch water,
+and who was daughter to a Laestrygonian named Antiphates. She was
+going to the fountain Artacia from which the people bring in their
+water, and when my men had come close up to her, they asked her who
+the king of that country might be, and over what kind of people he
+ruled; so she directed them to her father's house, but when they got
+there they found his wife to be a giantess as huge as a mountain,
+and they were horrified at the sight of her.
+
+"She at once called her husband Antiphates from the place of assembly,
+and forthwith he set about killing my men. He snatched up one of them,
+and began to make his dinner off him then and there, whereon the other
+two ran back to the ships as fast as ever they could. But Antiphates
+raised a hue and cry after them, and thousands of sturdy Laestrygonians
+sprang up from every quarter- ogres, not men. They threw vast rocks
+at us from the cliffs as though they had been mere stones, and I heard
+the horrid sound of the ships crunching up against one another, and
+the death cries of my men, as the Laestrygonians speared them like
+fishes and took them home to eat them. While they were thus killing
+my men within the harbour I drew my sword, cut the cable of my own
+ship, and told my men to row with alf their might if they too would
+not fare like the rest; so they laid out for their lives, and we were
+thankful enough when we got into open water out of reach of the rocks
+they hurled at us. As for the others there was not one of them left.
+
+"Thence we sailed sadly on, glad to have escaped death, though we
+had lost our comrades, and came to the Aeaean island, where Circe
+lives a great and cunning goddess who is own sister to the magician
+Aeetes- for they are both children of the sun by Perse, who is daughter
+to Oceanus. We brought our ship into a safe harbour without a word,
+for some god guided us thither, and having landed we there for two
+days and two nights, worn out in body and mind. When the morning of
+the third day came I took my spear and my sword, and went away from
+the ship to reconnoitre, and see if I could discover signs of human
+handiwork, or hear the sound of voices. Climbing to the top of a high
+look-out I espied the smoke of Circe's house rising upwards amid a
+dense forest of trees, and when I saw this I doubted whether, having
+seen the smoke, I would not go on at once and find out more, but in
+the end I deemed it best to go back to the ship, give the men their
+dinners, and send some of them instead of going myself.
+
+When I had nearly got back to the ship some god took pity upon my
+solitude, and sent a fine antlered stag right into the middle of my
+path. He was coming down his pasture in the forest to drink of the
+river, for the heat of the sun drove him, and as he passed I struck
+him in the middle of the back; the bronze point of the spear went
+clean through him, and he lay groaning in the dust until the life
+went out of him. Then I set my foot upon him, drew my spear from the
+wound, and laid it down; I also gathered rough grass and rushes and
+twisted them into a fathom or so of good stout rope, with which I
+bound the four feet of the noble creature together; having so done
+I hung him round my neck and walked back to the ship leaning upon
+my spear, for the stag was much too big for me to be able to carry
+him on my shoulder, steadying him with one hand. As I threw him down
+in front of the ship, I called the men and spoke cheeringly man by
+man to each of them. 'Look here my friends,' said I, 'we are not going
+to die so much before our time after all, and at any rate we will
+not starve so long as we have got something to eat and drink on board.'
+On this they uncovered their heads upon the sea shore and admired
+the stag, for he was indeed a splendid fellow. Then, when they had
+feasted their eyes upon him sufficiently, they washed their hands
+and began to cook him for dinner.
+
+"Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun we stayed
+there eating and drinking our fill, but when the sun went down and
+it came on dark, we camped upon the sea shore. When the child of morning,
+fingered Dawn, appeared, I called a council and said, 'My friends,
+we are in very great difficulties; listen therefore to me. We have
+no idea where the sun either sets or rises, so that we do not even
+know East from West. I see no way out of it; nevertheless, we must
+try and find one. We are certainly on an island, for I went as high
+as I could this morning, and saw the sea reaching all round it to
+the horizon; it lies low, but towards the middle I saw smoke rising
+from out of a thick forest of trees.'
+
+"Their hearts sank as they heard me, for they remembered how they
+had been treated by the Laestrygonian Antiphates, and by the savage
+ogre Polyphemus. They wept bitterly in their dismay, but there was
+nothing to be got by crying, so I divided them into two companies
+and set a captain over each; I gave one company to Eurylochus, while
+I took command of the other myself. Then we cast lots in a helmet,
+and the lot fell upon Eurylochus; so he set out with his twenty-two
+men, and they wept, as also did we who were left behind.
+
+"When they reached Circe's house they found it built of cut stones,
+on a site that could be seen from far, in the middle of the forest.
+There were wild mountain wolves and lions prowling all round it- poor
+bewitched creatures whom she had tamed by her enchantments and drugged
+into subjection. They did not attack my men, but wagged their great
+tails, fawned upon them, and rubbed their noses lovingly against them.
+As hounds crowd round their master when they see him coming from dinner-
+for they know he will bring them something- even so did these wolves
+and lions with their great claws fawn upon my men, but the men were
+terribly frightened at seeing such strange creatures. Presently they
+reached the gates of the goddess's house, and as they stood there
+they could hear Circe within, singing most beautifully as she worked
+at her loom, making a web so fine, so soft, and of such dazzling colours
+as no one but a goddess could weave. On this Polites, whom I valued
+and trusted more than any other of my men, said, 'There is some one
+inside working at a loom and singing most beautifully; the whole place
+resounds with it, let us call her and see whether she is woman or
+goddess.'
+
+"They called her and she came down, unfastened the door, and bade
+them enter. They, thinking no evil, followed her, all except Eurylochus,
+who suspected mischief and stayed outside. When she had got them into
+her house, she set them upon benches and seats and mixed them a mess
+with cheese, honey, meal, and Pramnian but she drugged it with wicked
+poisons to make them forget their homes, and when they had drunk she
+turned them into pigs by a stroke of her wand, and shut them up in
+her pigsties. They were like pigs-head, hair, and all, and they grunted
+just as pigs do; but their senses were the same as before, and they
+remembered everything.
+
+"Thus then were they shut up squealing, and Circe threw them some
+acorns and beech masts such as pigs eat, but Eurylochus hurried back
+to tell me about the sad fate of our comrades. He was so overcome
+with dismay that though he tried to speak he could find no words to
+do so; his eyes filled with tears and he could only sob and sigh,
+till at last we forced his story out of him, and he told us what had
+happened to the others.
+
+"'We went,' said he, as you told us, through the forest, and in the
+middle of it there was a fine house built with cut stones in a place
+that could be seen from far. There we found a woman, or else she was
+a goddess, working at her loom and singing sweetly; so the men shouted
+to her and called her, whereon she at once came down, opened the door,
+and invited us in. The others did not suspect any mischief so they
+followed her into the house, but I stayed where I was, for I thought
+there might be some treachery. From that moment I saw them no more,
+for not one of them ever came out, though I sat a long time watching
+for them.'
+
+"Then I took my sword of bronze and slung it over my shoulders; I
+also took my bow, and told Eurylochus to come back with me and show
+me the way. But he laid hold of me with both his hands and spoke piteously,
+saying, 'Sir, do not force me to go with you, but let me stay here,
+for I know you will not bring one of them back with you, nor even
+return alive yourself; let us rather see if we cannot escape at any
+rate with the few that are left us, for we may still save our lives.'
+
+"'Stay where you are, then, 'answered I, 'eating and drinking at the
+ship, but I must go, for I am most urgently bound to do so.'
+
+"With this I left the ship and went up inland. When I got through
+the charmed grove, and was near the great house of the enchantress
+Circe, I met Mercury with his golden wand, disguised as a young man
+in the hey-day of his youth and beauty with the down just coming upon
+his face. He came up to me and took my hand within his own, saying,
+'My poor unhappy man, whither are you going over this mountain top,
+alone and without knowing the way? Your men are shut up in Circe's
+pigsties, like so many wild boars in their lairs. You surely do not
+fancy that you can set them free? I can tell you that you will never
+get back and will have to stay there with the rest of them. But never
+mind, I will protect you and get you out of your difficulty. Take
+this herb, which is one of great virtue, and keep it about you when
+you go to Circe's house, it will be a talisman to you against every
+kind of mischief.
+
+"'And I will tell you of all the wicked witchcraft that Circe will
+try to practise upon you. She will mix a mess for you to drink, and
+she will drug the meal with which she makes it, but she will not be
+able to charm you, for the virtue of the herb that I shall give you
+will prevent her spells from working. I will tell you all about it.
+When Circe strikes you with her wand, draw your sword and spring upon
+her as though you were goings to kill her. She will then be frightened
+and will desire you to go to bed with her; on this you must not point
+blank refuse her, for you want her to set your companions free, and
+to take good care also of yourself, but you make her swear solemnly
+by all the blessed that she will plot no further mischief against
+you, or else when she has got you naked she will unman you and make
+you fit for nothing.'
+
+"As he spoke he pulled the herb out of the ground an showed me what
+it was like. The root was black, while the flower was as white as
+milk; the gods call it Moly, and mortal men cannot uproot it, but
+the gods can do whatever they like.
+
+"Then Mercury went back to high Olympus passing over the wooded island;
+but I fared onward to the house of Circe, and my heart was clouded
+with care as I walked along. When I got to the gates I stood there
+and called the goddess, and as soon as she heard me she came down,
+opened the door, and asked me to come in; so I followed her- much
+troubled in my mind. She set me on a richly decorated seat inlaid
+with silver, there was a footstool also under my feet, and she mixed
+a mess in a golden goblet for me to drink; but she drugged it, for
+she meant me mischief. When she had given it me, and I had drunk it
+without its charming me, she struck she, struck me with her wand.
+'There now,' she cried, 'be off to the pigsty, and make your lair
+with the rest of them.'
+
+"But I rushed at her with my sword drawn as though I would kill her,
+whereon she fell with a loud scream, clasped my knees, and spoke piteously,
+saying, 'Who and whence are you? from what place and people have you
+come? How can it be that my drugs have no power to charm you? Never
+yet was any man able to stand so much as a taste of the herb I gave
+you; you must be spell-proof; surely you can be none other than the
+bold hero Ulysses, who Mercury always said would come here some day
+with his ship while on his way home form Troy; so be it then; sheathe
+your sword and let us go to bed, that we may make friends and learn
+to trust each other.'
+
+"And I answered, 'Circe, how can you expect me to be friendly with
+you when you have just been turning all my men into pigs? And now
+that you have got me here myself, you mean me mischief when you ask
+me to go to bed with you, and will unman me and make me fit for nothing.
+I shall certainly not consent to go to bed with you unless you will
+first take your solemn oath to plot no further harm against me.'
+
+"So she swore at once as I had told her, and when she had completed
+her oath then I went to bed with her.
+
+"Meanwhile her four servants, who are her housemaids, set about their
+work. They are the children of the groves and fountains, and of the
+holy waters that run down into the sea. One of them spread a fair
+purple cloth over a seat, and laid a carpet underneath it. Another
+brought tables of silver up to the seats, and set them with baskets
+of gold. A third mixed some sweet wine with water in a silver bowl
+and put golden cups upon the tables, while the fourth she brought
+in water and set it to boil in a large cauldron over a good fire which
+she had lighted. When the water in the cauldron was boiling, she poured
+cold into it till it was just as I liked it, and then she set me in
+a bath and began washing me from the cauldron about the head and shoulders,
+to take the tire and stiffness out of my limbs. As soon as she had
+done washing me and anointing me with oil, she arrayed me in a good
+cloak and shirt and led me to a richly decorated seat inlaid with
+silver; there was a footstool also under my feet. A maid servant then
+brought me water in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver
+basin for me to wash my hands, and she drew a clean table beside me;
+an upper servant brought me bread and offered me many things of what
+there was in the house, and then Circe bade me eat, but I would not,
+and sat without heeding what was before me, still moody and suspicious.
+
+"When Circe saw me sitting there without eating, and in great grief,
+she came to me and said, 'Ulysses, why do you sit like that as though
+you were dumb, gnawing at your own heart, and refusing both meat and
+drink? Is it that you are still suspicious? You ought not to be, for
+I have already sworn solemnly that I will not hurt you.'
+
+"And I said, 'Circe, no man with any sense of what is right can think
+of either eating or drinking in your house until you have set his
+friends free and let him see them. If you want me to eat and drink,
+you must free my men and bring them to me that I may see them with
+my own eyes.'
+
+"When I had said this she went straight through the court with her
+wand in her hand and opened the pigsty doors. My men came out like
+so many prime hogs and stood looking at her, but she went about among
+them and anointed each with a second drug, whereon the bristles that
+the bad drug had given them fell off, and they became men again, younger
+than they were before, and much taller and better looking. They knew
+me at once, seized me each of them by the hand, and wept for joy till
+the whole house was filled with the sound of their hullabalooing,
+and Circe herself was so sorry for them that she came up to me and
+said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, go back at once to the sea where
+you have left your ship, and first draw it on to the land. Then, hide
+all your ship's gear and property in some cave, and come back here
+with your men.'
+
+"I agreed to this, so I went back to the sea shore, and found the
+men at the ship weeping and wailing most piteously. When they saw
+me the silly blubbering fellows began frisking round me as calves
+break out and gambol round their mothers, when they see them coming
+home to be milked after they have been feeding all day, and the homestead
+resounds with their lowing. They seemed as glad to see me as though
+they had got back to their own rugged Ithaca, where they had been
+born and bred. 'Sir,' said the affectionate creatures, 'we are as
+glad to see you back as though we had got safe home to Ithaca; but
+tell us all about the fate of our comrades.'
+
+"I spoke comfortingly to them and said, 'We must draw our ship on
+to the land, and hide the ship's gear with all our property in some
+cave; then come with me all of you as fast as you can to Circe's house,
+where you will find your comrades eating and drinking in the midst
+of great abundance.'
+
+"On this the men would have come with me at once, but Eurylochus tried
+to hold them back and said, 'Alas, poor wretches that we are, what
+will become of us? Rush not on your ruin by going to the house of
+Circe, who will turn us all into pigs or wolves or lions, and we shall
+have to keep guard over her house. Remember how the Cyclops treated
+us when our comrades went inside his cave, and Ulysses with them.
+It was all through his sheer folly that those men lost their lives.'
+
+"When I heard him I was in two minds whether or no to draw the keen
+blade that hung by my sturdy thigh and cut his head off in spite of
+his being a near relation of my own; but the men interceded for him
+and said, 'Sir, if it may so be, let this fellow stay here and mind
+the ship, but take the rest of us with you to Circe's house.'
+
+"On this we all went inland, and Eurylochus was not left behind after
+all, but came on too, for he was frightened by the severe reprimand
+that I had given him.
+
+"Meanwhile Circe had been seeing that the men who had been left behind
+were washed and anointed with olive oil; she had also given them woollen
+cloaks and shirts, and when we came we found them all comfortably
+at dinner in her house. As soon as the men saw each other face to
+face and knew one another, they wept for joy and cried aloud till
+the whole palace rang again. Thereon Circe came up to me and said,
+'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, tell your men to leave off crying;
+I know how much you have all of you suffered at sea, and how ill you
+have fared among cruel savages on the mainland, but that is over now,
+so stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and
+hearty as you were when you left Ithaca; for at present you are weakened
+both in body and mind; you keep all the time thinking of the hardships-
+you have suffered during your travels, so that you have no more cheerfulness
+left in you.'
+
+"Thus did she speak and we assented. We stayed with Circe for a whole
+twelvemonth feasting upon an untold quantity both of meat and wine.
+But when the year had passed in the waning of moons and the long days
+had come round, my men called me apart and said, 'Sir, it is time
+you began to think about going home, if so be you are to be spared
+to see your house and native country at all.'
+
+"Thus did they speak and I assented. Thereon through the livelong
+day to the going down of the sun we feasted our fill on meat and wine,
+but when the sun went down and it came on dark the men laid themselves
+down to sleep in the covered cloisters. I, however, after I had got
+into bed with Circe, besought her by her knees, and the goddess listened
+to what I had got to say. 'Circe,' said I, 'please to keep the promise
+you made me about furthering me on my homeward voyage. I want to get
+back and so do my men, they are always pestering me with their complaints
+as soon as ever your back is turned.'
+
+"And the goddess answered, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, you shall
+none of you stay here any longer if you do not want to, but there
+is another journey which you have got to take before you can sail
+homewards. You must go to the house of Hades and of dread Proserpine
+to consult the ghost of the blind Theban prophet Teiresias whose reason
+is still unshaken. To him alone has Proserpine left his understanding
+even in death, but the other ghosts flit about aimlessly.'
+
+"I was dismayed when I heard this. I sat up in bed and wept, and would
+gladly have lived no longer to see the light of the sun, but presently
+when I was tired of weeping and tossing myself about, I said, 'And
+who shall guide me upon this voyage- for the house of Hades is a port
+that no ship can reach.'
+
+"'You will want no guide,' she answered; 'raise you mast, set your
+white sails, sit quite still, and the North Wind will blow you there
+of itself. When your ship has traversed the waters of Oceanus, you
+will reach the fertile shore of Proserpine's country with its groves
+of tall poplars and willows that shed their fruit untimely; here beach
+your ship upon the shore of Oceanus, and go straight on to the dark
+abode of Hades. You will find it near the place where the rivers Pyriphlegethon
+and Cocytus (which is a branch of the river Styx) flow into Acheron,
+and you will see a rock near it, just where the two roaring rivers
+run into one another.
+
+"'When you have reached this spot, as I now tell you, dig a trench
+a cubit or so in length, breadth, and depth, and pour into it as a
+drink-offering to all the dead, first, honey mixed with milk, then
+wine, and in the third place water-sprinkling white barley meal over
+the whole. Moreover you must offer many prayers to the poor feeble
+ghosts, and promise them that when you get back to Ithaca you will
+sacrifice a barren heifer to them, the best you have, and will load
+the pyre with good things. More particularly you must promise that
+Teiresias shall have a black sheep all to himself, the finest in all
+your flocks.
+
+"'When you shall have thus besought the ghosts with your prayers,
+offer them a ram and a black ewe, bending their heads towards Erebus;
+but yourself turn away from them as though you would make towards
+the river. On this, many dead men's ghosts will come to you, and you
+must tell your men to skin the two sheep that you have just killed,
+and offer them as a burnt sacrifice with prayers to Hades and to Proserpine.
+Then draw your sword and sit there, so as to prevent any other poor
+ghost from coming near the split blood before Teiresias shall have
+answered your questions. The seer will presently come to you, and
+will tell you about your voyage- what stages you are to make, and
+how you are to sail the see so as to reach your home.'
+
+"It was day-break by the time she had done speaking, so she dressed
+me in my shirt and cloak. As for herself she threw a beautiful light
+gossamer fabric over her shoulders, fastening it with a golden girdle
+round her waist, and she covered her head with a mantle. Then I went
+about among the men everywhere all over the house, and spoke kindly
+to each of them man by man: 'You must not lie sleeping here any longer,'
+said I to them, 'we must be going, for Circe has told me all about
+it.' And this they did as I bade them.
+
+"Even so, however, I did not get them away without misadventure. We
+had with us a certain youth named Elpenor, not very remarkable for
+sense or courage, who had got drunk and was lying on the house-top
+away from the rest of the men, to sleep off his liquor in the cool.
+When he heard the noise of the men bustling about, he jumped up on
+a sudden and forgot all about coming down by the main staircase, so
+he tumbled right off the roof and broke his neck, and his soul went
+down to the house of Hades.
+
+"When I had got the men together I said to them, 'You think you are
+about to start home again, but Circe has explained to me that instead
+of this, we have got to go to the house of Hades and Proserpine to
+consult the ghost of the Theban prophet Teiresias.'
+
+"The men were broken-hearted as they heard me, and threw themselves
+on the ground groaning and tearing their hair, but they did not mend
+matters by crying. When we reached the sea shore, weeping and lamenting
+our fate, Circe brought the ram and the ewe, and we made them fast
+hard by the ship. She passed through the midst of us without our knowing
+it, for who can see the comings and goings of a god, if the god does
+not wish to be seen?
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK XI
+
+Then, when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship into
+the water and got her mast and sails into her; we also put the sheep
+on board and took our places, weeping and in great distress of mind.
+Circe, that great and cunning goddess, sent us a fair wind that blew
+dead aft and stayed steadily with us keeping our sails all the time
+well filled; so we did whatever wanted doing to the ship's gear and
+let her go as the wind and helmsman headed her. All day long her sails
+were full as she held her course over the sea, but when the sun went
+down and darkness was over all the earth, we got into the deep waters
+of the river Oceanus, where lie the land and city of the Cimmerians
+who live enshrouded in mist and darkness which the rays of the sun
+never pierce neither at his rising nor as he goes down again out of
+the heavens, but the poor wretches live in one long melancholy night.
+When we got there we beached the ship, took the sheep out of her,
+and went along by the waters of Oceanus till we came to the place
+of which Circe had told us.
+
+"Here Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, while I drew my sword
+and dug the trench a cubit each way. I made a drink-offering to all
+the dead, first with honey and milk, then with wine, and thirdly with
+water, and I sprinkled white barley meal over the whole, praying earnestly
+to the poor feckless ghosts, and promising them that when I got back
+to Ithaca I would sacrifice a barren heifer for them, the best I had,
+and would load the pyre with good things. I also particularly promised
+that Teiresias should have a black sheep to himself, the best in all
+my flocks. When I had prayed sufficiently to the dead, I cut the throats
+of the two sheep and let the blood run into the trench, whereon the
+ghosts came trooping up from Erebus- brides, young bachelors, old
+men worn out with toil, maids who had been crossed in love, and brave
+men who had been killed in battle, with their armour still smirched
+with blood; they came from every quarter and flitted round the trench
+with a strange kind of screaming sound that made me turn pale with
+fear. When I saw them coming I told the men to be quick and flay the
+carcasses of the two dead sheep and make burnt offerings of them,
+and at the same time to repeat prayers to Hades and to Proserpine;
+but I sat where I was with my sword drawn and would not let the poor
+feckless ghosts come near the blood till Teiresias should have answered
+my questions.
+
+"The first ghost 'that came was that of my comrade Elpenor, for he
+had not yet been laid beneath the earth. We had left his body unwaked
+and unburied in Circe's house, for we had had too much else to do.
+I was very sorry for him, and cried when I saw him: 'Elpenor,' said
+I, 'how did you come down here into this gloom and darkness? You have
+here on foot quicker than I have with my ship.'
+
+"'Sir,' he answered with a groan, 'it was all bad luck, and my own
+unspeakable drunkenness. I was lying asleep on the top of Circe's
+house, and never thought of coming down again by the great staircase
+but fell right off the roof and broke my neck, so my soul down to
+the house of Hades. And now I beseech you by all those whom you have
+left behind you, though they are not here, by your wife, by the father
+who brought you up when you were a child, and by Telemachus who is
+the one hope of your house, do what I shall now ask you. I know that
+when you leave this limbo you will again hold your ship for the Aeaean
+island. Do not go thence leaving me unwaked and unburied behind you,
+or I may bring heaven's anger upon you; but burn me with whatever
+armour I have, build a barrow for me on the sea shore, that may tell
+people in days to come what a poor unlucky fellow I was, and plant
+over my grave the oar I used to row with when I was yet alive and
+with my messmates.' And I said, 'My poor fellow, I will do all that
+you have asked of me.'
+
+"Thus, then, did we sit and hold sad talk with one another, I on the
+one side of the trench with my sword held over the blood, and the
+ghost of my comrade saying all this to me from the other side. Then
+came the ghost of my dead mother Anticlea, daughter to Autolycus.
+I had left her alive when I set out for Troy and was moved to tears
+when I saw her, but even so, for all my sorrow I would not let her
+come near the blood till I had asked my questions of Teiresias.
+
+"Then came also the ghost of Theban Teiresias, with his golden sceptre
+in his hand. He knew me and said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes,
+why, poor man, have you left the light of day and come down to visit
+the dead in this sad place? Stand back from the trench and withdraw
+your sword that I may drink of the blood and answer your questions
+truly.'
+
+"So I drew back, and sheathed my sword, whereon when he had drank
+of the blood he began with his prophecy.
+
+"You want to know,' said he, 'about your return home, but heaven will
+make this hard for you. I do not think that you will escape the eye
+of Neptune, who still nurses his bitter grudge against you for having
+blinded his son. Still, after much suffering you may get home if you
+can restrain yourself and your companions when your ship reaches the
+Thrinacian island, where you will find the sheep and cattle belonging
+to the sun, who sees and gives ear to everything. If you leave these
+flocks unharmed and think of nothing but of getting home, you may
+yet after much hardship reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, then I
+forewarn you of the destruction both of your ship and of your men.
+Even though you may yourself escape, you will return in bad plight
+after losing all your men, [in another man's ship, and you will find
+trouble in your house, which will be overrun by high-handed people,
+who are devouring your substance under the pretext of paying court
+and making presents to your wife.
+
+"'When you get home you will take your revenge on these suitors; and
+after you have killed them by force or fraud in your own house, you
+must take a well-made oar and carry it on and on, till you come to
+a country where the people have never heard of the sea and do not
+even mix salt with their food, nor do they know anything about ships,
+and oars that are as the wings of a ship. I will give you this certain
+token which cannot escape your notice. A wayfarer will meet you and
+will say it must be a winnowing shovel that you have got upon your
+shoulder; on this you must fix the oar in the ground and sacrifice
+a ram, a bull, and a boar to Neptune. Then go home and offer hecatombs
+to an the gods in heaven one after the other. As for yourself, death
+shall come to you from the sea, and your life shall ebb away very
+gently when you are full of years and peace of mind, and your people
+shall bless you. All that I have said will come true].'
+
+"'This,' I answered, 'must be as it may please heaven, but tell me
+and tell me and tell me true, I see my poor mother's ghost close by
+us; she is sitting by the blood without saying a word, and though
+I am her own son she does not remember me and speak to me; tell me,
+Sir, how I can make her know me.'
+
+"'That,' said he, 'I can soon do Any ghost that you let taste of the
+blood will talk with you like a reasonable being, but if you do not
+let them have any blood they will go away again.'
+
+"On this the ghost of Teiresias went back to the house of Hades, for
+his prophecyings had now been spoken, but I sat still where I was
+until my mother came up and tasted the blood. Then she knew me at
+once and spoke fondly to me, saying, 'My son, how did you come down
+to this abode of darkness while you are still alive? It is a hard
+thing for the living to see these places, for between us and them
+there are great and terrible waters, and there is Oceanus, which no
+man can cross on foot, but he must have a good ship to take him. Are
+you all this time trying to find your way home from Troy, and have
+you never yet got back to Ithaca nor seen your wife in your own house?'
+
+"'Mother,' said I, 'I was forced to come here to consult the ghost
+of the Theban prophet Teiresias. I have never yet been near the Achaean
+land nor set foot on my native country, and I have had nothing but
+one long series of misfortunes from the very first day that I set
+out with Agamemnon for Ilius, the land of noble steeds, to fight the
+Trojans. But tell me, and tell me true, in what way did you die? Did
+you have a long illness, or did heaven vouchsafe you a gentle easy
+passage to eternity? Tell me also about my father, and the son whom
+I left behind me; is my property still in their hands, or has some
+one else got hold of it, who thinks that I shall not return to claim
+it? Tell me again what my wife intends doing, and in what mind she
+is; does she live with my son and guard my estate securely, or has
+she made the best match she could and married again?'
+
+"My mother answered, 'Your wife still remains in your house, but she
+is in great distress of mind and spends her whole time in tears both
+night and day. No one as yet has got possession of your fine property,
+and Telemachus still holds your lands undisturbed. He has to entertain
+largely, as of course he must, considering his position as a magistrate,
+and how every one invites him; your father remains at his old place
+in the country and never goes near the town. He has no comfortable
+bed nor bedding; in the winter he sleeps on the floor in front of
+the fire with the men and goes about all in rags, but in summer, when
+the warm weather comes on again, he lies out in the vineyard on a
+bed of vine leaves thrown anyhow upon the ground. He grieves continually
+about your never having come home, and suffers more and more as he
+grows older. As for my own end it was in this wise: heaven did not
+take me swiftly and painlessly in my own house, nor was I attacked
+by any illness such as those that generally wear people out and kill
+them, but my longing to know what you were doing and the force of
+my affection for you- this it was that was the death of me.'
+
+"Then I tried to find some way of embracing my mother's ghost. Thrice
+I sprang towards her and tried to clasp her in my arms, but each time
+she flitted from my embrace as it were a dream or phantom, and being
+touched to the quick I said to her, 'Mother, why do you not stay still
+when I would embrace you? If we could throw our arms around one another
+we might find sad comfort in the sharing of our sorrows even in the
+house of Hades; does Proserpine want to lay a still further load of
+grief upon me by mocking me with a phantom only?'
+
+"'My son,' she answered, 'most ill-fated of all mankind, it is not
+Proserpine that is beguiling you, but all people are like this when
+they are dead. The sinews no longer hold the flesh and bones together;
+these perish in the fierceness of consuming fire as soon as life has
+left the body, and the soul flits away as though it were a dream.
+Now, however, go back to the light of day as soon as you can, and
+note all these things that you may tell them to your wife hereafter.'
+
+"Thus did we converse, and anon Proserpine sent up the ghosts of the
+wives and daughters of all the most famous men. They gathered in crowds
+about the blood, and I considered how I might question them severally.
+In the end I deemed that it would be best to draw the keen blade that
+hung by my sturdy thigh, and keep them from all drinking the blood
+at once. So they came up one after the other, and each one as I questioned
+her told me her race and lineage.
+
+"The first I saw was Tyro. She was daughter of Salmoneus and wife
+of Cretheus the son of Aeolus. She fell in love with the river Enipeus
+who is much the most beautiful river in the whole world. Once when
+she was taking a walk by his side as usual, Neptune, disguised as
+her lover, lay with her at the mouth of the river, and a huge blue
+wave arched itself like a mountain over them to hide both woman and
+god, whereon he loosed her virgin girdle and laid her in a deep slumber.
+When the god had accomplished the deed of love, he took her hand in
+his own and said, 'Tyro, rejoice in all good will; the embraces of
+the gods are not fruitless, and you will have fine twins about this
+time twelve months. Take great care of them. I am Neptune, so now
+go home, but hold your tongue and do not tell any one.'
+
+"Then he dived under the sea, and she in due course bore Pelias and
+Neleus, who both of them served Jove with all their might. Pelias
+was a great breeder of sheep and lived in Iolcus, but the other lived
+in Pylos. The rest of her children were by Cretheus, namely, Aeson,
+Pheres, and Amythaon, who was a mighty warrior and charioteer.
+
+"Next to her I saw Antiope, daughter to Asopus, who could boast of
+having slept in the arms of even Jove himself, and who bore him two
+sons Amphion and Zethus. These founded Thebes with its seven gates,
+and built a wall all round it; for strong though they were they could
+not hold Thebes till they had walled it.
+
+"Then I saw Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon, who also bore to Jove
+indomitable Hercules; and Megara who was daughter to great King Creon,
+and married the redoubtable son of Amphitryon.
+
+"I also saw fair Epicaste mother of king OEdipodes whose awful lot
+it was to marry her own son without suspecting it. He married her
+after having killed his father, but the gods proclaimed the whole
+story to the world; whereon he remained king of Thebes, in great grief
+for the spite the gods had borne him; but Epicaste went to the house
+of the mighty jailor Hades, having hanged herself for grief, and the
+avenging spirits haunted him as for an outraged mother- to his ruing
+bitterly thereafter.
+
+"Then I saw Chloris, whom Neleus married for her beauty, having given
+priceless presents for her. She was youngest daughter to Amphion son
+of Iasus and king of Minyan Orchomenus, and was Queen in Pylos. She
+bore Nestor, Chromius, and Periclymenus, and she also bore that marvellously
+lovely woman Pero, who was wooed by all the country round; but Neleus
+would only give her to him who should raid the cattle of Iphicles
+from the grazing grounds of Phylace, and this was a hard task. The
+only man who would undertake to raid them was a certain excellent
+seer, but the will of heaven was against him, for the rangers of the
+cattle caught him and put him in prison; nevertheless when a full
+year had passed and the same season came round again, Iphicles set
+him at liberty, after he had expounded all the oracles of heaven.
+Thus, then, was the will of Jove accomplished.
+
+"And I saw Leda the wife of Tyndarus, who bore him two famous sons,
+Castor breaker of horses, and Pollux the mighty boxer. Both these
+heroes are lying under the earth, though they are still alive, for
+by a special dispensation of Jove, they die and come to life again,
+each one of them every other day throughout all time, and they have
+the rank of gods.
+
+"After her I saw Iphimedeia wife of Aloeus who boasted the embrace
+of Neptune. She bore two sons Otus and Ephialtes, but both were short
+lived. They were the finest children that were ever born in this world,
+and the best looking, Orion only excepted; for at nine years old they
+were nine fathoms high, and measured nine cubits round the chest.
+They threatened to make war with the gods in Olympus, and tried to
+set Mount Ossa on the top of Mount Olympus, and Mount Pelion on the
+top of Ossa, that they might scale heaven itself, and they would have
+done it too if they had been grown up, but Apollo, son of Leto, killed
+both of them, before they had got so much as a sign of hair upon their
+cheeks or chin.
+
+"Then I saw Phaedra, and Procris, and fair Ariadne daughter of the
+magician Minos, whom Theseus was carrying off from Crete to Athens,
+but he did not enjoy her, for before he could do so Diana killed her
+in the island of Dia on account of what Bacchus had said against her.
+
+"I also saw Maera and Clymene and hateful Eriphyle, who sold her own
+husband for gold. But it would take me all night if I were to name
+every single one of the wives and daughters of heroes whom I saw,
+and it is time for me to go to bed, either on board ship with my crew,
+or here. As for my escort, heaven and yourselves will see to it."
+
+Here he ended, and the guests sat all of them enthralled and speechless
+throughout the covered cloister. Then Arete said to them:
+
+"What do you think of this man, O Phaecians? Is he not tall and good
+looking, and is he not Clever? True, he is my own guest, but all of
+you share in the distinction. Do not he a hurry to send him away,
+nor niggardly in the presents you make to one who is in such great
+need, for heaven has blessed all of you with great abundance."
+
+Then spoke the aged hero Echeneus who was one of the oldest men among
+them, "My friends," said he, "what our august queen has just said
+to us is both reasonable and to the purpose, therefore be persuaded
+by it; but the decision whether in word or deed rests ultimately with
+King Alcinous."
+
+"The thing shall be done," exclaimed Alcinous, "as surely as I still
+live and reign over the Phaeacians. Our guest is indeed very anxious
+to get home, still we must persuade him to remain with us until to-morrow,
+by which time I shall be able to get together the whole sum that I
+mean to give him. As regards- his escort it will be a matter for you
+all, and mine above all others as the chief person among you."
+
+And Ulysses answered, "King Alcinous, if you were to bid me to stay
+here for a whole twelve months, and then speed me on my way, loaded
+with your noble gifts, I should obey you gladly and it would redound
+greatly to my advantage, for I should return fuller-handed to my own
+people, and should thus be more respected and beloved by all who see
+me when I get back to Ithaca."
+
+"Ulysses," replied Alcinous, "not one of us who sees you has any idea
+that you are a charlatan or a swindler. I know there are many people
+going about who tell such plausible stories that it is very hard to
+see through them, but there is a style about your language which assures
+me of your good disposition. Moreover you have told the story of your
+own misfortunes, and those of the Argives, as though you were a practised
+bard; but tell me, and tell me true, whether you saw any of the mighty
+heroes who went to Troy at the same time with yourself, and perished
+there. The evenings are still at their longest, and it is not yet
+bed time- go on, therefore, with your divine story, for I could stay
+here listening till to-morrow morning, so long as you will continue
+to tell us of your adventures."
+
+"Alcinous," answered Ulysses, "there is a time for making speeches,
+and a time for going to bed; nevertheless, since you so desire, I
+will not refrain from telling you the still sadder tale of those of
+my comrades who did not fall fighting with the Trojans, but perished
+on their return, through the treachery of a wicked woman.
+
+"When Proserpine had dismissed the female ghosts in all directions,
+the ghost of Agamemnon son of Atreus came sadly up to me, surrounded
+by those who had perished with him in the house of Aegisthus. As soon
+as he had tasted the blood he knew me, and weeping bitterly stretched
+out his arms towards me to embrace me; but he had no strength nor
+substance any more, and I too wept and pitied him as I beheld him.
+'How did you come by your death,' said I, 'King Agamemnon? Did Neptune
+raise his winds and waves against you when you were at sea, or did
+your enemies make an end of you on the mainland when you were cattle-lifting
+or sheep-stealing, or while they were fighting in defence of their
+wives and city?'
+
+"'Ulysses,' he answered, 'noble son of Laertes, was not lost at sea
+in any storm of Neptune's raising, nor did my foes despatch me upon
+the mainland, but Aegisthus and my wicked wife were the death of me
+between them. He asked me to his house, feasted me, and then butchered
+me most miserably as though I were a fat beast in a slaughter house,
+while all around me my comrades were slain like sheep or pigs for
+the wedding breakfast, or picnic, or gorgeous banquet of some great
+nobleman. You must have seen numbers of men killed either in a general
+engagement, or in single combat, but you never saw anything so truly
+pitiable as the way in which we fell in that cloister, with the mixing-bowl
+and the loaded tables lying all about, and the ground reeking with
+our-blood. I heard Priam's daughter Cassandra scream as Clytemnestra
+killed her close beside me. I lay dying upon the earth with the sword
+in my body, and raised my hands to kill the slut of a murderess, but
+she slipped away from me; she would not even close my lips nor my
+eyes when I was dying, for there is nothing in this world so cruel
+and so shameless as a woman when she has fallen into such guilt as
+hers was. Fancy murdering her own husband! I thought I was going to
+be welcomed home by my children and my servants, but her abominable
+crime has brought disgrace on herself and all women who shall come
+after- even on the good ones.'
+
+"And I said, 'In truth Jove has hated the house of Atreus from first
+to last in the matter of their women's counsels. See how many of us
+fell for Helen's sake, and now it seems that Clytemnestra hatched
+mischief against too during your absence.'
+
+"'Be sure, therefore,' continued Agamemnon, 'and not be too friendly
+even with your own wife. Do not tell her all that you know perfectly
+well yourself. Tell her a part only, and keep your own counsel about
+the rest. Not that your wife, Ulysses, is likely to murder you, for
+Penelope is a very admirable woman, and has an excellent nature. We
+left her a young bride with an infant at her breast when we set out
+for Troy. This child no doubt is now grown up happily to man's estate,
+and he and his father will have a joyful meeting and embrace one another
+as it is right they should do, whereas my wicked wife did not even
+allow me the happiness of looking upon my son, but killed me ere I
+could do so. Furthermore I say- and lay my saying to your heart- do
+not tell people when you are bringing your ship to Ithaca, but steal
+a march upon them, for after all this there is no trusting women.
+But now tell me, and tell me true, can you give me any news of my
+son Orestes? Is he in Orchomenus, or at Pylos, or is he at Sparta
+with Menelaus- for I presume that he is still living.'
+
+"And I said, 'Agamemnon, why do you ask me? I do not know whether
+your son is alive or dead, and it is not right to talk when one does
+not know.'
+
+"As we two sat weeping and talking thus sadly with one another the
+ghost of Achilles came up to us with Patroclus, Antilochus, and Ajax
+who was the finest and goodliest man of all the Danaans after the
+son of Peleus. The fleet descendant of Aeacus knew me and spoke piteously,
+saying, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, what deed of daring will you
+undertake next, that you venture down to the house of Hades among
+us silly dead, who are but the ghosts of them that can labour no more?'
+
+"And I said, 'Achilles, son of Peleus, foremost champion of the Achaeans,
+I came to consult Teiresias, and see if he could advise me about my
+return home to Ithaca, for I have never yet been able to get near
+the Achaean land, nor to set foot in my own country, but have been
+in trouble all the time. As for you, Achilles, no one was ever yet
+so fortunate as you have been, nor ever will be, for you were adored
+by all us Argives as long as you were alive, and now that you are
+here you are a great prince among the dead. Do not, therefore, take
+it so much to heart even if you are dead.'
+
+"'Say not a word,' he answered, 'in death's favour; I would rather
+be a paid servant in a poor man's house and be above ground than king
+of kings among the dead. But give me news about son; is he gone to
+the wars and will he be a great soldier, or is this not so? Tell me
+also if you have heard anything about my father Peleus- does he still
+rule among the Myrmidons, or do they show him no respect throughout
+Hellas and Phthia now that he is old and his limbs fail him? Could
+I but stand by his side, in the light of day, with the same strength
+that I had when I killed the bravest of our foes upon the plain of
+Troy- could I but be as I then was and go even for a short time to
+my father's house, any one who tried to do him violence or supersede
+him would soon me it.'
+
+"'I have heard nothing,' I answered, 'of Peleus, but I can tell you
+all about your son Neoptolemus, for I took him in my own ship from
+Scyros with the Achaeans. In our councils of war before Troy he was
+always first to speak, and his judgement was unerring. Nestor and
+I were the only two who could surpass him; and when it came to fighting
+on the plain of Troy, he would never remain with the body of his men,
+but would dash on far in front, foremost of them all in valour. Many
+a man did he kill in battle- I cannot name every single one of those
+whom he slew while fighting on the side of the Argives, but will only
+say how he killed that valiant hero Eurypylus son of Telephus, who
+was the handsomest man I ever saw except Memnon; many others also
+of the Ceteians fell around him by reason of a woman's bribes. Moreover,
+when all the bravest of the Argives went inside the horse that Epeus
+had made, and it was left to me to settle when we should either open
+the door of our ambuscade, or close it, though all the other leaders
+and chief men among the Danaans were drying their eyes and quaking
+in every limb, I never once saw him turn pale nor wipe a tear from
+his cheek; he was all the time urging me to break out from the horse-
+grasping the handle of his sword and his bronze-shod spear, and breathing
+fury against the foe. Yet when we had sacked the city of Priam he
+got his handsome share of the prize money and went on board (such
+is the fortune of war) without a wound upon him, neither from a thrown
+spear nor in close combat, for the rage of Mars is a matter of great
+chance.'
+
+"When I had told him this, the ghost of Achilles strode off across
+a meadow full of asphodel, exulting over what I had said concerning
+the prowess of his son.
+
+"The ghosts of other dead men stood near me and told me each his own
+melancholy tale; but that of Ajax son of Telamon alone held aloof-
+still angry with me for having won the cause in our dispute about
+the armour of Achilles. Thetis had offered it as a prize, but the
+Trojan prisoners and Minerva were the judges. Would that I had never
+gained the day in such a contest, for it cost the life of Ajax, who
+was foremost of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus, alike in
+stature and prowess.
+
+"When I saw him I tried to pacify him and said, 'Ajax, will you not
+forget and forgive even in death, but must the judgement about that
+hateful armour still rankle with you? It cost us Argives dear enough
+to lose such a tower of strength as you were to us. We mourned you
+as much as we mourned Achilles son of Peleus himself, nor can the
+blame be laid on anything but on the spite which Jove bore against
+the Danaans, for it was this that made him counsel your destruction-
+come hither, therefore, bring your proud spirit into subjection, and
+hear what I can tell you.'
+
+"He would not answer, but turned away to Erebus and to the other ghosts;
+nevertheless, I should have made him talk to me in spite of his being
+so angry, or I should have gone talking to him, only that there were
+still others among the dead whom I desired to see.
+
+"Then I saw Minos son of Jove with his golden sceptre in his hand
+sitting in judgement on the dead, and the ghosts were gathered sitting
+and standing round him in the spacious house of Hades, to learn his
+sentences upon them.
+
+"After him I saw huge Orion in a meadow full of asphodel driving the
+ghosts of the wild beasts that he had killed upon the mountains, and
+he had a great bronze club in his hand, unbreakable for ever and ever.
+
+"And I saw Tityus son of Gaia stretched upon the plain and covering
+some nine acres of ground. Two vultures on either side of him were
+digging their beaks into his liver, and he kept on trying to beat
+them off with his hands, but could not; for he had violated Jove's
+mistress Leto as she was going through Panopeus on her way to Pytho.
+
+"I saw also the dreadful fate of Tantalus, who stood in a lake that
+reached his chin; he was dying to quench his thirst, but could never
+reach the water, for whenever the poor creature stooped to drink,
+it dried up and vanished, so that there was nothing but dry ground-
+parched by the spite of heaven. There were tall trees, moreover, that
+shed their fruit over his head- pears, pomegranates, apples, sweet
+figs and juicy olives, but whenever the poor creature stretched out
+his hand to take some, the wind tossed the branches back again to
+the clouds.
+
+"And I saw Sisyphus at his endless task raising his prodigious stone
+with both his hands. With hands and feet he' tried to roll it up to
+the top of the hill, but always, just before he could roll it over
+on to the other side, its weight would be too much for him, and the
+pitiless stone would come thundering down again on to the plain. Then
+he would begin trying to push it up hill again, and the sweat ran
+off him and the steam rose after him.
+
+"After him I saw mighty Hercules, but it was his phantom only, for
+he is feasting ever with the immortal gods, and has lovely Hebe to
+wife, who is daughter of Jove and Juno. The ghosts were screaming
+round him like scared birds flying all whithers. He looked black as
+night with his bare bow in his hands and his arrow on the string,
+glaring around as though ever on the point of taking aim. About his
+breast there was a wondrous golden belt adorned in the most marvellous
+fashion with bears, wild boars, and lions with gleaming eyes; there
+was also war, battle, and death. The man who made that belt, do what
+he might, would never be able to make another like it. Hercules knew
+me at once when he saw me, and spoke piteously, saying, my poor Ulysses,
+noble son of Laertes, are you too leading the same sorry kind of life
+that I did when I was above ground? I was son of Jove, but I went
+through an infinity of suffering, for I became bondsman to one who
+was far beneath me- a low fellow who set me all manner of labours.
+He once sent me here to fetch the hell-hound- for he did not think
+he could find anything harder for me than this, but I got the hound
+out of Hades and brought him to him, for Mercury and Minerva helped
+me.'
+
+"On this Hercules went down again into the house of Hades, but I stayed
+where I was in case some other of the mighty dead should come to me.
+And I should have seen still other of them that are gone before, whom
+I would fain have seen- Theseus and Pirithous glorious children of
+the gods, but so many thousands of ghosts came round me and uttered
+such appalling cries, that I was panic stricken lest Proserpine should
+send up from the house of Hades the head of that awful monster Gorgon.
+On this I hastened back to my ship and ordered my men to go on board
+at once and loose the hawsers; so they embarked and took their places,
+whereon the ship went down the stream of the river Oceanus. We had
+to row at first, but presently a fair wind sprang up.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK XII
+
+"After we were clear of the river Oceanus, and had got out into the
+open sea, we went on till we reached the Aeaean island where there
+is dawn and sunrise as in other places. We then drew our ship on to
+the sands and got out of her on to the shore, where we went to sleep
+and waited till day should break.
+
+"Then, when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, I
+sent some men to Circe's house to fetch the body of Elpenor. We cut
+firewood from a wood where the headland jutted out into the sea, and
+after we had wept over him and lamented him we performed his funeral
+rites. When his body and armour had been burned to ashes, we raised
+a cairn, set a stone over it, and at the top of the cairn we fixed
+the oar that he had been used to row with.
+
+"While we were doing all this, Circe, who knew that we had got back
+from the house of Hades, dressed herself and came to us as fast as
+she could; and her maid servants came with her bringing us bread,
+meat, and wine. Then she stood in the midst of us and said, 'You have
+done a bold thing in going down alive to the house of Hades, and you
+will have died twice, to other people's once; now, then, stay here
+for the rest of the day, feast your fill, and go on with your voyage
+at daybreak tomorrow morning. In the meantime I will tell Ulysses
+about your course, and will explain everything to him so as to prevent
+your suffering from misadventure either by land or sea.'
+
+"We agreed to do as she had said, and feasted through the livelong
+day to the going down of the sun, but when the sun had set and it
+came on dark, the men laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables
+of the ship. Then Circe took me by the hand and bade me be seated
+away from the others, while she reclined by my side and asked me all
+about our adventures.
+
+"'So far so good,' said she, when I had ended my story, 'and now pay
+attention to what I am about to tell you- heaven itself, indeed, will
+recall it to your recollection. First you will come to the Sirens
+who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too
+close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will
+never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble
+him to death with the sweetness of their song. There is a great heap
+of dead men's bones lying all around, with the flesh still rotting
+off them. Therefore pass these Sirens by, and stop your men's ears
+with wax that none of them may hear; but if you like you can listen
+yourself, for you may get the men to bind you as you stand upright
+on a cross-piece half way up the mast, and they must lash the rope's
+ends to the mast itself, that you may have the pleasure of listening.
+If you beg and pray the men to unloose you, then they must bind you
+faster.
+
+"'When your crew have taken you past these Sirens, I cannot give you
+coherent directions as to which of two courses you are to take; I
+will lay the two alternatives before you, and you must consider them
+for yourself. On the one hand there are some overhanging rocks against
+which the deep blue waves of Amphitrite beat with terrific fury; the
+blessed gods call these rocks the Wanderers. Here not even a bird
+may pass, no, not even the timid doves that bring ambrosia to Father
+Jove, but the sheer rock always carries off one of them, and Father
+Jove has to send another to make up their number; no ship that ever
+yet came to these rocks has got away again, but the waves and whirlwinds
+of fire are freighted with wreckage and with the bodies of dead men.
+The only vessel that ever sailed and got through, was the famous Argo
+on her way from the house of Aetes, and she too would have gone against
+these great rocks, only that Juno piloted her past them for the love
+she bore to Jason.
+
+"'Of these two rocks the one reaches heaven and its peak is lost in
+a dark cloud. This never leaves it, so that the top is never clear
+not even in summer and early autumn. No man though he had twenty hands
+and twenty feet could get a foothold on it and climb it, for it runs
+sheer up, as smooth as though it had been polished. In the middle
+of it there is a large cavern, looking West and turned towards Erebus;
+you must take your ship this way, but the cave is so high up that
+not even the stoutest archer could send an arrow into it. Inside it
+Scylla sits and yelps with a voice that you might take to be that
+of a young hound, but in truth she is a dreadful monster and no one-
+not even a god- could face her without being terror-struck. She has
+twelve mis-shapen feet, and six necks of the most prodigious length;
+and at the end of each neck she has a frightful head with three rows
+of teeth in each, all set very close together, so that they would
+crunch any one to death in a moment, and she sits deep within her
+shady cell thrusting out her heads and peering all round the rock,
+fishing for dolphins or dogfish or any larger monster that she can
+catch, of the thousands with which Amphitrite teems. No ship ever
+yet got past her without losing some men, for she shoots out all her
+heads at once, and carries off a man in each mouth.
+
+"'You will find the other rocks lie lower, but they are so close together
+that there is not more than a bowshot between them. [A large fig tree
+in full leaf grows upon it], and under it lies the sucking whirlpool
+of Charybdis. Three times in the day does she vomit forth her waters,
+and three times she sucks them down again; see that you be not there
+when she is sucking, for if you are, Neptune himself could not save
+you; you must hug the Scylla side and drive ship by as fast as you
+can, for you had better lose six men than your whole crew.'
+
+"'Is there no way,' said I, 'of escaping Charybdis, and at the same
+time keeping Scylla off when she is trying to harm my men?'
+
+"'You dare-devil,' replied the goddess, you are always wanting to
+fight somebody or something; you will not let yourself be beaten even
+by the immortals. For Scylla is not mortal; moreover she is savage,
+extreme, rude, cruel and invincible. There is no help for it; your
+best chance will be to get by her as fast as ever you can, for if
+you dawdle about her rock while you are putting on your armour, she
+may catch you with a second cast of her six heads, and snap up another
+half dozen of your men; so drive your ship past her at full speed,
+and roar out lustily to Crataiis who is Scylla's dam, bad luck to
+her; she will then stop her from making a second raid upon you.
+
+"'You will now come to the Thrinacian island, and here you will see
+many herds of cattle and flocks of sheep belonging to the sun-god-
+seven herds of cattle and seven flocks of sheep, with fifty head in
+each flock. They do not breed, nor do they become fewer in number,
+and they are tended by the goddesses Phaethusa and Lampetie, who are
+children of the sun-god Hyperion by Neaera. Their mother when she
+had borne them and had done suckling them sent them to the Thrinacian
+island, which was a long way off, to live there and look after their
+father's flocks and herds. If you leave these flocks unharmed, and
+think of nothing but getting home, you may yet after much hardship
+reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, then I forewarn you of the destruction
+both of your ship and of your comrades; and even though you may yourself
+escape, you will return late, in bad plight, after losing all your
+men.'
+
+"Here she ended, and dawn enthroned in gold began to show in heaven,
+whereon she returned inland. I then went on board and told my men
+to loose the ship from her moorings; so they at once got into her,
+took their places, and began to smite the grey sea with their oars.
+Presently the great and cunning goddess Circe befriended us with a
+fair wind that blew dead aft, and stayed steadily with us, keeping
+our sails well filled, so we did whatever wanted doing to the ship's
+gear, and let her go as wind and helmsman headed her.
+
+"Then, being much troubled in mind, I said to my men, 'My friends,
+it is not right that one or two of us alone should know the prophecies
+that Circe has made me, I will therefore tell you about them, so that
+whether we live or die we may do so with our eyes open. First she
+said we were to keep clear of the Sirens, who sit and sing most beautifully
+in a field of flowers; but she said I might hear them myself so long
+as no one else did. Therefore, take me and bind me to the crosspiece
+half way up the mast; bind me as I stand upright, with a bond so fast
+that I cannot possibly break away, and lash the rope's ends to the
+mast itself. If I beg and pray you to set me free, then bind me more
+tightly still.'
+
+"I had hardly finished telling everything to the men before we reached
+the island of the two Sirens, for the wind had been very favourable.
+Then all of a sudden it fell dead calm; there was not a breath of
+wind nor a ripple upon the water, so the men furled the sails and
+stowed them; then taking to their oars they whitened the water with
+the foam they raised in rowing. Meanwhile I look a large wheel of
+wax and cut it up small with my sword. Then I kneaded the wax in my
+strong hands till it became soft, which it soon did between the kneading
+and the rays of the sun-god son of Hyperion. Then I stopped the ears
+of all my men, and they bound me hands and feet to the mast as I stood
+upright on the crosspiece; but they went on rowing themselves. When
+we had got within earshot of the land, and the ship was going at a
+good rate, the Sirens saw that we were getting in shore and began
+with their singing.
+
+"'Come here,' they sang, 'renowned Ulysses, honour to the Achaean
+name, and listen to our two voices. No one ever sailed past us without
+staying to hear the enchanting sweetness of our song- and he who listens
+will go on his way not only charmed, but wiser, for we know all the
+ills that the gods laid upon the Argives and Trojans before Troy,
+and can tell you everything that is going to happen over the whole
+world.'
+
+"They sang these words most musically, and as I longed to hear them
+further I made by frowning to my men that they should set me free;
+but they quickened their stroke, and Eurylochus and Perimedes bound
+me with still stronger bonds till we had got out of hearing of the
+Sirens' voices. Then my men took the wax from their ears and unbound
+me.
+
+"Immediately after we had got past the island I saw a great wave from
+which spray was rising, and I heard a loud roaring sound. The men
+were so frightened that they loosed hold of their oars, for the whole
+sea resounded with the rushing of the waters, but the ship stayed
+where it was, for the men had left off rowing. I went round, therefore,
+and exhorted them man by man not to lose heart.
+
+"'My friends,' said I, 'this is not the first time that we have been
+in danger, and we are in nothing like so bad a case as when the Cyclops
+shut us up in his cave; nevertheless, my courage and wise counsel
+saved us then, and we shall live to look back on all this as well.
+Now, therefore, let us all do as I say, trust in Jove and row on with
+might and main. As for you, coxswain, these are your orders; attend
+to them, for the ship is in your hands; turn her head away from these
+steaming rapids and hug the rock, or she will give you the slip and
+be over yonder before you know where you are, and you will be the
+death of us.'
+
+"So they did as I told them; but I said nothing about the awful monster
+Scylla, for I knew the men would not on rowing if I did, but would
+huddle together in the hold. In one thing only did I disobey Circe's
+strict instructions- I put on my armour. Then seizing two strong spears
+I took my stand on the ship Is bows, for it was there that I expected
+first to see the monster of the rock, who was to do my men so much
+harm; but I could not make her out anywhere, though I strained my
+eyes with looking the gloomy rock all over and over
+
+"Then we entered the Straits in great fear of mind, for on the one
+hand was Scylla, and on the other dread Charybdis kept sucking up
+the salt water. As she vomited it up, it was like the water in a cauldron
+when it is boiling over upon a great fire, and the spray reached the
+top of the rocks on either side. When she began to suck again, we
+could see the water all inside whirling round and round, and it made
+a deafening sound as it broke against the rocks. We could see the
+bottom of the whirlpool all black with sand and mud, and the men were
+at their wit's ends for fear. While we were taken up with this, and
+were expecting each moment to be our last, Scylla pounced down suddenly
+upon us and snatched up my six best men. I was looking at once after
+both ship and men, and in a moment I saw their hands and feet ever
+so high above me, struggling in the air as Scylla was carrying them
+off, and I heard them call out my name in one last despairing cry.
+As a fisherman, seated, spear in hand, upon some jutting rock throws
+bait into the water to deceive the poor little fishes, and spears
+them with the ox's horn with which his spear is shod, throwing them
+gasping on to the land as he catches them one by one- even so did
+Scylla land these panting creatures on her rock and munch them up
+at the mouth of her den, while they screamed and stretched out their
+hands to me in their mortal agony. This was the most sickening sight
+that I saw throughout all my voyages.
+
+"When we had passed the [Wandering] rocks, with Scylla and terrible
+Charybdis, we reached the noble island of the sun-god, where were
+the goodly cattle and sheep belonging to the sun Hyperion. While still
+at sea in my ship I could bear the cattle lowing as they came home
+to the yards, and the sheep bleating. Then I remembered what the blind
+Theban prophet Teiresias had told me, and how carefully Aeaean Circe
+had warned me to shun the island of the blessed sun-god. So being
+much troubled I said to the men, 'My men, I know you are hard pressed,
+but listen while I tell you the prophecy that Teiresias made me, and
+how carefully Aeaean Circe warned me to shun the island of the blessed
+sun-god, for it was here, she said, that our worst danger would lie.
+Head the ship, therefore, away from the island.'
+
+"The men were in despair at this, and Eurylochus at once gave me an
+insolent answer. 'Ulysses,' said he, 'you are cruel; you are very
+strong yourself and never get worn out; you seem to be made of iron,
+and now, though your men are exhausted with toil and want of sleep,
+you will not let them land and cook themselves a good supper upon
+this island, but bid them put out to sea and go faring fruitlessly
+on through the watches of the flying night. It is by night that the
+winds blow hardest and do so much damage; how can we escape should
+one of those sudden squalls spring up from South West or West, which
+so often wreck a vessel when our lords the gods are unpropitious?
+Now, therefore, let us obey the of night and prepare our supper here
+hard by the ship; to-morrow morning we will go on board again and
+put out to sea.'
+
+"Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. I saw that
+heaven meant us a mischief and said, 'You force me to yield, for you
+are many against one, but at any rate each one of you must take his
+solemn oath that if he meet with a herd of cattle or a large flock
+of sheep, he will not be so mad as to kill a single head of either,
+but will be satisfied with the food that Circe has given us.'
+
+"They all swore as I bade them, and when they had completed their
+oath we made the ship fast in a harbour that was near a stream of
+fresh water, and the men went ashore and cooked their suppers. As
+soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, they began talking about
+their poor comrades whom Scylla had snatched up and eaten; this set
+them weeping and they went on crying till they fell off into a sound
+sleep.
+
+"In the third watch of the night when the stars had shifted their
+places, Jove raised a great gale of wind that flew a hurricane so
+that land and sea were covered with thick clouds, and night sprang
+forth out of the heavens. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered
+Dawn, appeared, we brought the ship to land and drew her into a cave
+wherein the sea-nymphs hold their courts and dances, and I called
+the men together in council.
+
+"'My friends,' said I, 'we have meat and drink in the ship, let us
+mind, therefore, and not touch the cattle, or we shall suffer for
+it; for these cattle and sheep belong to the mighty sun, who sees
+and gives ear to everything. And again they promised that they would
+obey.
+
+"For a whole month the wind blew steadily from the South, and there
+was no other wind, but only South and East. As long as corn and wine
+held out the men did not touch the cattle when they were hungry; when,
+however, they had eaten all there was in the ship, they were forced
+to go further afield, with hook and line, catching birds, and taking
+whatever they could lay their hands on; for they were starving. One
+day, therefore, I went up inland that I might pray heaven to show
+me some means of getting away. When I had gone far enough to be clear
+of all my men, and had found a place that was well sheltered from
+the wind, I washed my hands and prayed to all the gods in Olympus
+till by and by they sent me off into a sweet sleep.
+
+"Meanwhile Eurylochus had been giving evil counsel to the men, 'Listen
+to me,' said he, 'my poor comrades. All deaths are bad enough but
+there is none so bad as famine. Why should not we drive in the best
+of these cows and offer them in sacrifice to the immortal Rods? If
+we ever get back to Ithaca, we can build a fine temple to the sun-god
+and enrich it with every kind of ornament; if, however, he is determined
+to sink our ship out of revenge for these homed cattle, and the other
+gods are of the same mind, I for one would rather drink salt water
+once for all and have done with it, than be starved to death by inches
+in such a desert island as this is.'
+
+"Thus spoke Eurylochus, and the men approved his words. Now the cattle,
+so fair and goodly, were feeding not far from the ship; the men, therefore
+drove in the best of them, and they all stood round them saying their
+prayers, and using young oak-shoots instead of barley-meal, for there
+was no barley left. When they had done praying they killed the cows
+and dressed their carcasses; they cut out the thigh bones, wrapped
+them round in two layers of fat, and set some pieces of raw meat on
+top of them. They had no wine with which to make drink-offerings over
+the sacrifice while it was cooking, so they kept pouring on a little
+water from time to time while the inward meats were being grilled;
+then, when the thigh bones were burned and they had tasted the inward
+meats, they cut the rest up small and put the pieces upon the spits.
+
+"By this time my deep sleep had left me, and I turned back to the
+ship and to the sea shore. As I drew near I began to smell hot roast
+meat, so I groaned out a prayer to the immortal gods. 'Father Jove,'
+I exclaimed, 'and all you other gods who live in everlasting bliss,
+you have done me a cruel mischief by the sleep into which you have
+sent me; see what fine work these men of mine have been making in
+my absence.'
+
+"Meanwhile Lampetie went straight off to the sun and told him we had
+been killing his cows, whereon he flew into a great rage, and said
+to the immortals, 'Father Jove, and all you other gods who live in
+everlasting bliss, I must have vengeance on the crew of Ulysses' ship:
+they have had the insolence to kill my cows, which were the one thing
+I loved to look upon, whether I was going up heaven or down again.
+If they do not square accounts with me about my cows, I will go down
+to Hades and shine there among the dead.'
+
+"'Sun,' said Jove, 'go on shining upon us gods and upon mankind over
+the fruitful earth. I will shiver their ship into little pieces with
+a bolt of white lightning as soon as they get out to sea.'
+
+"I was told all this by Calypso, who said she had heard it from the
+mouth of Mercury.
+
+"As soon as I got down to my ship and to the sea shore I rebuked each
+one of the men separately, but we could see no way out of it, for
+the cows were dead already. And indeed the gods began at once to show
+signs and wonders among us, for the hides of the cattle crawled about,
+and the joints upon the spits began to low like cows, and the meat,
+whether cooked or raw, kept on making a noise just as cows do.
+
+"For six days my men kept driving in the best cows and feasting upon
+them, but when Jove the son of Saturn had added a seventh day, the
+fury of the gale abated; we therefore went on board, raised our masts,
+spread sail, and put out to sea. As soon as we were well away from
+the island, and could see nothing but sky and sea, the son of Saturn
+raised a black cloud over our ship, and the sea grew dark beneath
+it. We not get on much further, for in another moment we were caught
+by a terrific squall from the West that snapped the forestays of the
+mast so that it fell aft, while all the ship's gear tumbled about
+at the bottom of the vessel. The mast fell upon the head of the helmsman
+in the ship's stern, so that the bones of his head were crushed to
+pieces, and he fell overboard as though he were diving, with no more
+life left in him.
+
+"Then Jove let fly with his thunderbolts, and the ship went round
+and round, and was filled with fire and brimstone as the lightning
+struck it. The men all fell into the sea; they were carried about
+in the water round the ship, looking like so many sea-gulls, but the
+god presently deprived them of all chance of getting home again.
+
+"I stuck to the ship till the sea knocked her sides from her keel
+(which drifted about by itself) and struck the mast out of her in
+the direction of the keel; but there was a backstay of stout ox-thong
+still hanging about it, and with this I lashed the mast and keel together,
+and getting astride of them was carried wherever the winds chose to
+take me.
+
+"[The gale from the West had now spent its force, and the wind got
+into the South again, which frightened me lest I should be taken back
+to the terrible whirlpool of Charybdis. This indeed was what actually
+happened, for I was borne along by the waves all night, and by sunrise
+had reacfied the rock of Scylla, and the whirlpool. She was then sucking
+down the salt sea water, but I was carried aloft toward the fig tree,
+which I caught hold of and clung on to like a bat. I could not plant
+my feet anywhere so as to stand securely, for the roots were a long
+way off and the boughs that overshadowed the whole pool were too high,
+too vast, and too far apart for me to reach them; so I hung patiently
+on, waiting till the pool should discharge my mast and raft again-
+and a very long while it seemed. A juryman is not more glad to get
+home to supper, after having been long detained in court by troublesome
+cases, than I was to see my raft beginning to work its way out of
+the whirlpool again. At last I let go with my hands and feet, and
+fell heavily into the sea, bard by my raft on to which I then got,
+and began to row with my hands. As for Scylla, the father of gods
+and men would not let her get further sight of me- otherwise I should
+have certainly been lost.]
+
+"Hence I was carried along for nine days till on the tenth night the
+gods stranded me on the Ogygian island, where dwells the great and
+powerful goddess Calypso. She took me in and was kind to me, but I
+need say no more about this, for I told you and your noble wife all
+about it yesterday, and I hate saying the same thing over and over
+again."
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK XIII
+
+Thus did he speak, and they all held their peace throughout the covered
+cloister, enthralled by the charm of his story, till presently Alcinous
+began to speak.
+
+"Ulysses," said he, "now that you have reached my house I doubt not
+you will get home without further misadventure no matter how much
+you have suffered in the past. To you others, however, who come here
+night after night to drink my choicest wine and listen to my bard,
+I would insist as follows. Our guest has already packed up the clothes,
+wrought gold, and other valuables which you have brought for his acceptance;
+let us now, therefore, present him further, each one of us, with a
+large tripod and a cauldron. We will recoup ourselves by the levy
+of a general rate; for private individuals cannot be expected to bear
+the burden of such a handsome present."
+
+Every one approved of this, and then they went home to bed each in
+his own abode. When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared,
+they hurried down to the ship and brought their cauldrons with them.
+Alcinous went on board and saw everything so securely stowed under
+the ship's benches that nothing could break adrift and injure the
+rowers. Then they went to the house of Alcinous to get dinner, and
+he sacrificed a bull for them in honour of Jove who is the lord of
+all. They set the steaks to grill and made an excellent dinner, after
+which the inspired bard, Demodocus, who was a favourite with every
+one, sang to them; but Ulysses kept on turning his eyes towards the
+sun, as though to hasten his setting, for he was longing to be on
+his way. As one who has been all day ploughing a fallow field with
+a couple of oxen keeps thinking about his supper and is glad when
+night comes that he may go and get it, for it is all his legs can
+do to carry him, even so did Ulysses rejoice when the sun went down,
+and he at once said to the Phaecians, addressing himself more particularly
+to King Alcinous:
+
+"Sir, and all of you, farewell. Make your drink-offerings and send
+me on my way rejoicing, for you have fulfilled my heart's desire by
+giving me an escort, and making me presents, which heaven grant that
+I may turn to good account; may I find my admirable wife living in
+peace among friends, and may you whom I leave behind me give satisfaction
+to your wives and children; may heaven vouchsafe you every good grace,
+and may no evil thing come among your people."
+
+Thus did he speak. His hearers all of them approved his saying and
+agreed that he should have his escort inasmuch as he had spoken reasonably.
+Alcinous therefore said to his servant, "Pontonous, mix some wine
+and hand it round to everybody, that we may offer a prayer to father
+Jove, and speed our guest upon his way."
+
+Pontonous mixed the wine and handed it to every one in turn; the others
+each from his own seat made a drink-offering to the blessed gods that
+live in heaven, but Ulysses rose and placed the double cup in the
+hands of queen Arete.
+
+"Farewell, queen," said he, "henceforward and for ever, till age and
+death, the common lot of mankind, lay their hands upon you. I now
+take my leave; be happy in this house with your children, your people,
+and with king Alcinous."
+
+As he spoke he crossed the threshold, and Alcinous sent a man to conduct
+him to his ship and to the sea shore. Arete also sent some maid servants
+with him- one with a clean shirt and cloak, another to carry his strong-box,
+and a third with corn and wine. When they got to the water side the
+crew took these things and put them on board, with all the meat and
+drink; but for Ulysses they spread a rug and a linen sheet on deck
+that he might sleep soundly in the stern of the ship. Then he too
+went on board and lay down without a word, but the crew took every
+man his place and loosed the hawser from the pierced stone to which
+it had been bound. Thereon, when they began rowing out to sea, Ulysses
+fell into a deep, sweet, and almost deathlike slumber.
+
+The ship bounded forward on her way as a four in hand chariot flies
+over the course when the horses feel the whip. Her prow curveted as
+it were the neck of a stallion, and a great wave of dark blue water
+seethed in her wake. She held steadily on her course, and even a falcon,
+swiftest of all birds, could not have kept pace with her. Thus, then,
+she cut her way through the water. carrying one who was as cunning
+as the gods, but who was now sleeping peacefully, forgetful of all
+that he had suffered both on the field of battle and by the waves
+of the weary sea.
+
+When the bright star that heralds the approach of dawn began to show.
+the ship drew near to land. Now there is in Ithaca a haven of the
+old merman Phorcys, which lies between two points that break the line
+of the sea and shut the harbour in. These shelter it from the storms
+of wind and sea that rage outside, so that, when once within it, a
+ship may lie without being even moored. At the head of this harbour
+there is a large olive tree, and at no distance a fine overarching
+cavern sacred to the nymphs who are called Naiads. There are mixing-bowls
+within it and wine-jars of stone, and the bees hive there. Moreover,
+there are great looms of stone on which the nymphs weave their robes
+of sea purple- very curious to see- and at all times there is water
+within it. It has two entrances, one facing North by which mortals
+can go down into the cave, while the other comes from the South and
+is more mysterious; mortals cannot possibly get in by it, it is the
+way taken by the gods.
+
+Into this harbour, then, they took their ship, for they knew the place,
+She had so much way upon her that she ran half her own length on to
+the shore; when, however, they had landed, the first thing they did
+was to lift Ulysses with his rug and linen sheet out of the ship,
+and lay him down upon the sand still fast asleep. Then they took out
+the presents which Minerva had persuaded the Phaeacians to give him
+when he was setting out on his voyage homewards. They put these all
+together by the root of the olive tree, away from the road, for fear
+some passer by might come and steal them before Ulysses awoke; and
+then they made the best of their way home again.
+
+But Neptune did not forget the threats with which he had already threatened
+Ulysses, so he took counsel with Jove. "Father Jove," said he, "I
+shall no longer be held in any sort of respect among you gods, if
+mortals like the Phaeacians, who are my own flesh and blood, show
+such small regard for me. I said I would Ulysses get home when he
+had suffered sufficiently. I did not say that he should never get
+home at all, for I knew you had already nodded your head about it,
+and promised that he should do so; but now they have brought him in
+a ship fast asleep and have landed him in Ithaca after loading him
+with more magnificent presents of bronze, gold, and raiment than he
+would ever have brought back from Troy, if he had had his share of
+the spoil and got home without misadventure."
+
+And Jove answered, "What, O Lord of the Earthquake, are you talking
+about? The gods are by no means wanting in respect for you. It would
+be monstrous were they to insult one so old and honoured as you are.
+As regards mortals, however, if any of them is indulging in insolence
+and treating you disrespectfully, it will always rest with yourself
+to deal with him as you may think proper, so do just as you please."
+
+"I should have done so at once," replied Neptune, "if I were not anxious
+to avoid anything that might displease you; now, therefore, I should
+like to wreck the Phaecian ship as it is returning from its escort.
+This will stop them from escorting people in future; and I should
+also like to bury their city under a huge mountain."
+
+"My good friend," answered Jove, "I should recommend you at the very
+moment when the people from the city are watching the ship on her
+way, to turn it into a rock near the land and looking like a ship.
+This will astonish everybody, and you can then bury their city under
+the mountain."
+
+When earth-encircling Neptune heard this he went to Scheria where
+the Phaecians live, and stayed there till the ship, which was making
+rapid way, had got close-in. Then he went up to it, turned it into
+stone, and drove it down with the flat of his hand so as to root it
+in the ground. After this he went away.
+
+The Phaeacians then began talking among themselves, and one would
+turn towards his neighbour, saying, "Bless my heart, who is it that
+can have rooted the ship in the sea just as she was getting into port?
+We could see the whole of her only moment ago."
+
+This was how they talked, but they knew nothing about it; and Alcinous
+said, "I remember now the old prophecy of my father. He said that
+Neptune would be angry with us for taking every one so safely over
+the sea, and would one day wreck a Phaeacian ship as it was returning
+from an escort, and bury our city under a high mountain. This was
+what my old father used to say, and now it is all coming true. Now
+therefore let us all do as I say; in the first place we must leave
+off giving people escorts when they come here, and in the next let
+us sacrifice twelve picked bulls to Neptune that he may have mercy
+upon us, and not bury our city under the high mountain." When the
+people heard this they were afraid and got ready the bulls.
+
+Thus did the chiefs and rulers of the Phaecians to king Neptune, standing
+round his altar; and at the same time Ulysses woke up once more upon
+his own soil. He had been so long away that he did not know it again;
+moreover, Jove's daughter Minerva had made it a foggy day, so that
+people might not know of his having come, and that she might tell
+him everything without either his wife or his fellow citizens and
+friends recognizing him until he had taken his revenge upon the wicked
+suitors. Everything, therefore, seemed quite different to him- the
+long straight tracks, the harbours, the precipices, and the goodly
+trees, appeared all changed as he started up and looked upon his native
+land. So he smote his thighs with the flat of his hands and cried
+aloud despairingly.
+
+"Alas," he exclaimed, "among what manner of people am I fallen? Are
+they savage and uncivilized or hospitable and humane? Where shall
+I put all this treasure, and which way shall I go? I wish I had stayed
+over there with the Phaeacians; or I could have gone to some other
+great chief who would have been good to me and given me an escort.
+As it is I do not know where to put my treasure, and I cannot leave
+it here for fear somebody else should get hold of it. In good truth
+the chiefs and rulers of the Phaeacians have not been dealing fairly
+by me, and have left me in the wrong country; they said they would
+take me back to Ithaca and they have not done so: may Jove the protector
+of suppliants chastise them, for he watches over everybody and punishes
+those who do wrong. Still, I suppose I must count my goods and see
+if the crew have gone off with any of them."
+
+He counted his goodly coppers and cauldrons, his gold and all his
+clothes, but there was nothing missing; still he kept grieving about
+not being in his own country, and wandered up and down by the shore
+of the sounding sea bewailing his hard fate. Then Minerva came up
+to him disguised as a young shepherd of delicate and princely mien,
+with a good cloak folded double about her shoulders; she had sandals
+on her comely feet and held a javelin in her hand. Ulysses was glad
+when he saw her, and went straight up to her.
+
+"My friend," said he, "you are the first person whom I have met with
+in this country; I salute you, therefore, and beg you to be will disposed
+towards me. Protect these my goods, and myself too, for I embrace
+your knees and pray to you as though you were a god. Tell me, then,
+and tell me truly, what land and country is this? Who are its inhabitants?
+Am I on an island, or is this the sea board of some continent?"
+
+Minerva answered, "Stranger, you must be very simple, or must have
+come from somewhere a long way off, not to know what country this
+is. It is a very celebrated place, and everybody knows it East and
+West. It is rugged and not a good driving country, but it is by no
+means a bid island for what there is of it. It grows any quantity
+of corn and also wine, for it is watered both by rain and dew; it
+breeds cattle also and goats; all kinds of timber grow here, and there
+are watering places where the water never runs dry; so, sir, the name
+of Ithaca is known even as far as Troy, which I understand to be a
+long way off from this Achaean country."
+
+Ulysses was glad at finding himself, as Minerva told him, in his own
+country, and he began to answer, but he did not speak the truth, and
+made up a lying story in the instinctive wiliness of his heart.
+
+"I heard of Ithaca," said he, "when I was in Crete beyond the seas,
+and now it seems I have reached it with all these treasures. I have
+left as much more behind me for my children, but am flying because
+I killed Orsilochus son of Idomeneus, the fleetest runner in Crete.
+I killed him because he wanted to rob me of the spoils I had got from
+Troy with so much trouble and danger both on the field of battle and
+by the waves of the weary sea; he said I had not served his father
+loyally at Troy as vassal, but had set myself up as an independent
+ruler, so I lay in wait for him and with one of my followers by the
+road side, and speared him as he was coming into town from the country.
+my It was a very dark night and nobody saw us; it was not known, therefore,
+that I had killed him, but as soon as I had done so I went to a ship
+and besought the owners, who were Phoenicians, to take me on board
+and set me in Pylos or in Elis where the Epeans rule, giving them
+as much spoil as satisfied them. They meant no guile, but the wind
+drove them off their course, and we sailed on till we came hither
+by night. It was all we could do to get inside the harbour, and none
+of us said a word about supper though we wanted it badly, but we all
+went on shore and lay down just as we were. I was very tired and fell
+asleep directly, so they took my goods out of the ship, and placed
+them beside me where I was lying upon the sand. Then they sailed away
+to Sidonia, and I was left here in great distress of mind."
+
+Such was his story, but Minerva smiled and caressed him with her hand.
+Then she took the form of a woman, fair, stately, and wise, "He must
+be indeed a shifty lying fellow," said she, "who could surpass you
+in all manner of craft even though you had a god for your antagonist.
+Dare-devil that you are, full of guile, unwearying in deceit, can
+you not drop your tricks and your instinctive falsehood, even now
+that you are in your own country again? We will say no more, however,
+about this, for we can both of us deceive upon occasion- you are the
+most accomplished counsellor and orator among all mankind, while I
+for diplomacy and subtlety have no equal among the gods. Did you not
+know Jove's daughter Minerva- me, who have been ever with you, who
+kept watch over you in all your troubles, and who made the Phaeacians
+take so great a liking to you? And now, again, I am come here to talk
+things over with you, and help you to hide the treasure I made the
+Phaeacians give you; I want to tell you about the troubles that await
+you in your own house; you have got to face them, but tell no one,
+neither man nor woman, that you have come home again. Bear everything,
+and put up with every man's insolence, without a word."
+
+And Ulysses answered, "A man, goddess, may know a great deal, but
+you are so constantly changing your appearance that when he meets
+you it is a hard matter for him to know whether it is you or not.
+This much, however, I know exceedingly well; you were very kind to
+me as long as we Achaeans were fighting before Troy, but from the
+day on which we went on board ship after having sacked the city of
+Priam, and heaven dispersed us- from that day, Minerva, I saw no more
+of you, and cannot ever remember your coming to my ship to help me
+in a difficulty; I had to wander on sick and sorry till the gods delivered
+me from evil and I reached the city of the Phaeacians, where you encouraged
+me and took me into the town. And now, I beseech you in your father's
+name, tell me the truth, for I do not believe I am really back in
+Ithaca. I am in some other country and you are mocking me and deceiving
+me in all you have been saying. Tell me then truly, have I really
+got back to my own country?"
+
+"You are always taking something of that sort into your head," replied
+Minerva, "and that is why I cannot desert you in your afflictions;
+you are so plausible, shrewd and shifty. Any one but yourself on returning
+from so long a voyage would at once have gone home to see his wife
+and children, but you do not seem to care about asking after them
+or hearing any news about them till you have exploited your wife,
+who remains at home vainly grieving for you, and having no peace night
+or day for the tears she sheds on your behalf. As for my not coming
+near you, I was never uneasy about you, for I was certain you would
+get back safely though you would lose all your men, and I did not
+wish to quarrel with my uncle Neptune, who never forgave you for having
+blinded his son. I will now, however, point out to you the lie of
+the land, and you will then perhaps believe me. This is the haven
+of the old merman Phorcys, and here is the olive tree that grows at
+the head of it; [near it is the cave sacred to the Naiads;] here too
+is the overarching cavern in which you have offered many an acceptable
+hecatomb to the nymphs, and this is the wooded mountain Neritum."
+
+As she spoke the goddess dispersed the mist and the land appeared.
+Then Ulysses rejoiced at finding himself again in his own land, and
+kissed the bounteous soil; he lifted up his hands and prayed to the
+nymphs, saying, "Naiad nymphs, daughters of Jove, I made sure that
+I was never again to see you, now therefore I greet you with all loving
+salutations, and I will bring you offerings as in the old days, if
+Jove's redoubtable daughter will grant me life, and bring my son to
+manhood."
+
+"Take heart, and do not trouble yourself about that," rejoined Minerva,
+"let us rather set about stowing your things at once in the cave,
+where they will be quite safe. Let us see how we can best manage it
+all."
+
+Therewith she went down into the cave to look for the safest hiding
+places, while Ulysses brought up all the treasure of gold, bronze,
+and good clothing which the Phaecians had given him. They stowed everything
+carefully away, and Minerva set a stone against the door of the cave.
+Then the two sat down by the root of the great olive, and consulted
+how to compass the destruction of the wicked suitors.
+
+"Ulysses," said Minerva, "noble son of Laertes, think how you can
+lay hands on these disreputable people who have been lording it in
+your house these three years, courting your wife and making wedding
+presents to her, while she does nothing but lament your absence, giving
+hope and sending your encouraging messages to every one of them, but
+meaning the very opposite of all she says'
+
+And Ulysses answered, "In good truth, goddess, it seems I should have
+come to much the same bad end in my own house as Agamemnon did, if
+you had not given me such timely information. Advise me how I shall
+best avenge myself. Stand by my side and put your courage into my
+heart as on the day when we loosed Troy's fair diadem from her brow.
+Help me now as you did then, and I will fight three hundred men, if
+you, goddess, will be with me."
+
+"Trust me for that," said she, "I will not lose sight of you when
+once we set about it, and I would imagine that some of those who are
+devouring your substance will then bespatter the pavement with their
+blood and brains. I will begin by disguising you so that no human
+being shall know you; I will cover your body with wrinkles; you shall
+lose all your yellow hair; I will clothe you in a garment that shall
+fill all who see it with loathing; I will blear your fine eyes for
+you, and make you an unseemly object in the sight of the suitors,
+of your wife, and of the son whom you left behind you. Then go at
+once to the swineherd who is in charge of your pigs; he has been always
+well affected towards you, and is devoted to Penelope and your son;
+you will find him feeding his pigs near the rock that is called Raven
+by the fountain Arethusa, where they are fattening on beechmast and
+spring water after their manner. Stay with him and find out how things
+are going, while I proceed to Sparta and see your son, who is with
+Menelaus at Lacedaemon, where he has gone to try and find out whether
+you are still alive."
+
+"But why," said Ulysses, "did you not tell him, for you knew all about
+it? Did you want him too to go sailing about amid all kinds of hardship
+while others are eating up his estate?"
+
+Minerva answered, "Never mind about him, I sent him that he might
+be well spoken of for having gone. He is in no sort of difficulty,
+but is staying quite comfortably with Menelaus, and is surrounded
+with abundance of every kind. The suitors have put out to sea and
+are lying in wait for him, for they mean to kill him before he can
+get home. I do not much think they will succeed, but rather that some
+of those who are now eating up your estate will first find a grave
+themselves."
+
+As she spoke Minerva touched him with her wand and covered him with
+wrinkles, took away all his yellow hair, and withered the flesh over
+his whole body; she bleared his eyes, which were naturally very fine
+ones; she changed his clothes and threw an old rag of a wrap about
+him, and a tunic, tattered, filthy, and begrimed with smoke; she also
+gave him an undressed deer skin as an outer garment, and furnished
+him with a staff and a wallet all in holes, with a twisted thong for
+him to sling it over his shoulder.
+
+When the pair had thus laid their plans they parted, and the goddess
+went straight to Lacedaemon to fetch Telemachus.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK XIV
+
+Ulysses now left the haven, and took the rough track up through the
+wooded country and over the crest of the mountain till he reached
+the place where Minerva had said that he would find the swineherd,
+who was the most thrifty servant he had. He found him sitting in front
+of his hut, which was by the yards that he had built on a site which
+could be seen from far. He had made them spacious and fair to see,
+with a free ran for the pigs all round them; he had built them during
+his master's absence, of stones which he had gathered out of the ground,
+without saying anything to Penelope or Laertes, and he had fenced
+them on top with thorn bushes. Outside the yard he had run a strong
+fence of oaken posts, split, and set pretty close together, while
+inside lie had built twelve sties near one another for the sows to
+lie in. There were fifty pigs wallowing in each sty, all of them breeding
+sows; but the boars slept outside and were much fewer in number, for
+the suitors kept on eating them, and die swineherd had to send them
+the best he had continually. There were three hundred and sixty boar
+pigs, and the herdsman's four hounds, which were as fierce as wolves,
+slept always with them. The swineherd was at that moment cutting out
+a pair of sandals from a good stout ox hide. Three of his men were
+out herding the pigs in one place or another, and he had sent the
+fourth to town with a boar that he had been forced to send the suitors
+that they might sacrifice it and have their fill of meat.
+
+When the hounds saw Ulysses they set up a furious barking and flew
+at him, but Ulysses was cunning enough to sit down and loose his hold
+of the stick that he had in his hand: still, he would have been torn
+by them in his own homestead had not the swineherd dropped his ox
+hide, rushed full speed through the gate of the yard and driven the
+dogs off by shouting and throwing stones at them. Then he said to
+Ulysses, "Old man, the dogs were likely to have made short work of
+you, and then you would have got me into trouble. The gods have given
+me quite enough worries without that, for I have lost the best of
+masters, and am in continual grief on his account. I have to attend
+swine for other people to eat, while he, if he yet lives to see the
+light of day, is starving in some distant land. But come inside, and
+when you have had your fill of bread and wine, tell me where you come
+from, and all about your misfortunes."
+
+On this the swineherd led the way into the hut and bade him sit down.
+He strewed a good thick bed of rushes upon the floor, and on the top
+of this he threw the shaggy chamois skin- a great thick one- on which
+he used to sleep by night. Ulysses was pleased at being made thus
+welcome, and said "May Jove, sir, and the rest of the gods grant you
+your heart's desire in return for the kind way in which you have received
+me."
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Stranger, though a still
+poorer man should come here, it would not be right for me to insult
+him, for all strangers and beggars are from Jove. You must take what
+you can get and be thankful, for servants live in fear when they have
+young lords for their masters; and this is my misfortune now, for
+heaven has hindered the return of him who would have been always good
+to me and given me something of my own- a house, a piece of land,
+a good looking wife, and all else that a liberal master allows a servant
+who has worked hard for him, and whose labour the gods have prospered
+as they have mine in the situation which I hold. If my master had
+grown old here he would have done great things by me, but he is gone,
+and I wish that Helen's whole race were utterly destroyed, for she
+has been the death of many a good man. It was this matter that took
+my master to Ilius, the land of noble steeds, to fight the Trojans
+in the cause of kin Agamemnon."
+
+As he spoke he bound his girdle round him and went to the sties where
+the young sucking pigs were penned. He picked out two which he brought
+back with him and sacrificed. He singed them, cut them up, and spitted
+on them; when the meat was cooked he brought it all in and set it
+before Ulysses, hot and still on the spit, whereon Ulysses sprinkled
+it over with white barley meal. The swineherd then mixed wine in a
+bowl of ivy-wood, and taking a seat opposite Ulysses told him to begin.
+
+"Fall to, stranger," said he, "on a dish of servant's pork. The fat
+pigs have to go to the suitors, who eat them up without shame or scruple;
+but the blessed gods love not such shameful doings, and respect those
+who do what is lawful and right. Even the fierce free-booters who
+go raiding on other people's land, and Jove gives them their spoil-
+even they, when they have filled their ships and got home again live
+conscience-stricken, and look fearfully for judgement; but some god
+seems to have told these people that Ulysses is dead and gone; they
+will not, therefore, go back to their own homes and make their offers
+of marriage in the usual way, but waste his estate by force, without
+fear or stint. Not a day or night comes out of heaven, but they sacrifice
+not one victim nor two only, and they take the run of his wine, for
+he was exceedingly rich. No other great man either in Ithaca or on
+the mainland is as rich as he was; he had as much as twenty men put
+together. I will tell you what he had. There are twelve herds of cattle
+upon the mainland, and as many flocks of sheep, there are also twelve
+droves of pigs, while his own men and hired strangers feed him twelve
+widely spreading herds of goats. Here in Ithaca he runs even large
+flocks of goats on the far end of the island, and they are in the
+charge of excellent goatherds. Each one of these sends the suitors
+the best goat in the flock every day. As for myself, I am in charge
+of the pigs that you see here, and I have to keep picking out the
+best I have and sending it to them."
+
+This was his story, but Ulysses went on eating and drinking ravenously
+without a word, brooding his revenge. When he had eaten enough and
+was satisfied, the swineherd took the bowl from which he usually drank,
+filled it with wine, and gave it to Ulysses, who was pleased, and
+said as he took it in his hands, "My friend, who was this master of
+yours that bought you and paid for you, so rich and so powerful as
+you tell me? You say he perished in the cause of King Agamemnon; tell
+me who he was, in case I may have met with such a person. Jove and
+the other gods know, but I may be able to give you news of him, for
+I have travelled much."
+
+Eumaeus answered, "Old man, no traveller who comes here with news
+will get Ulysses' wife and son to believe his story. Nevertheless,
+tramps in want of a lodging keep coming with their mouths full of
+lies, and not a word of truth; every one who finds his way to Ithaca
+goes to my mistress and tells her falsehoods, whereon she takes them
+in, makes much of them, and asks them all manner of questions, crying
+all the time as women will when they have lost their husbands. And
+you too, old man, for a shirt and a cloak would doubtless make up
+a very pretty story. But the wolves and birds of prey have long since
+torn Ulysses to pieces, or the fishes of the sea have eaten him, and
+his bones are lying buried deep in sand upon some foreign shore; he
+is dead and gone, and a bad business it is for all his friends- for
+me especially; go where I may I shall never find so good a master,
+not even if I were to go home to my mother and father where I was
+bred and born. I do not so much care, however, about my parents now,
+though I should dearly like to see them again in my own country; it
+is the loss of Ulysses that grieves me most; I cannot speak of him
+without reverence though he is here no longer, for he was very fond
+of me, and took such care of me that whereever he may be I shall always
+honour his memory."
+
+"My friend," replied Ulysses, "you are very positive, and very hard
+of belief about your master's coming home again, nevertheless I will
+not merely say, but will swear, that he is coming. Do not give me
+anything for my news till he has actually come, you may then give
+me a shirt and cloak of good wear if you will. I am in great want,
+but I will not take anything at all till then, for I hate a man, even
+as I hate hell fire, who lets his poverty tempt him into lying. I
+swear by king Jove, by the rites of hospitality, and by that hearth
+of Ulysses to which I have now come, that all will surely happen as
+I have said it will. Ulysses will return in this self same year; with
+the end of this moon and the beginning of the next he will be here
+to do vengeance on all those who are ill treating his wife and son."
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Old man, you will neither
+get paid for bringing good news, nor will Ulysses ever come home;
+drink you wine in peace, and let us talk about something else. Do
+not keep on reminding me of all this; it always pains me when any
+one speaks about my honoured master. As for your oath we will let
+it alone, but I only wish he may come, as do Penelope, his old father
+Laertes, and his son Telemachus. I am terribly unhappy too about this
+same boy of his; he was running up fast into manhood, and bade fare
+to be no worse man, face and figure, than his father, but some one,
+either god or man, has been unsettling his mind, so he has gone off
+to Pylos to try and get news of his father, and the suitors are lying
+in wait for him as he is coming home, in the hope of leaving the house
+of Arceisius without a name in Ithaca. But let us say no more about
+him, and leave him to be taken, or else to escape if the son of Saturn
+holds his hand over him to protect him. And now, old man, tell me
+your own story; tell me also, for I want to know, who you are and
+where you come from. Tell me of your town and parents, what manner
+of ship you came in, how crew brought you to Ithaca, and from what
+country they professed to come- for you cannot have come by land."
+
+And Ulysses answered, "I will tell you all about it. If there were
+meat and wine enough, and we could stay here in the hut with nothing
+to do but to eat and drink while the others go to their work, I could
+easily talk on for a whole twelve months without ever finishing the
+story of the sorrows with which it has pleased heaven to visit me.
+
+"I am by birth a Cretan; my father was a well-to-do man, who had many
+sons born in marriage, whereas I was the son of a slave whom he had
+purchased for a concubine; nevertheless, my father Castor son of Hylax
+(whose lineage I claim, and who was held in the highest honour among
+the Cretans for his wealth, prosperity, and the valour of his sons)
+put me on the same level with my brothers who had been born in wedlock.
+When, however, death took him to the house of Hades, his sons divided
+his estate and cast lots for their shares, but to me they gave a holding
+and little else; nevertheless, my valour enabled me to marry into
+a rich family, for I was not given to bragging, or shirking on the
+field of battle. It is all over now; still, if you look at the straw
+you can see what the ear was, for I have had trouble enough and to
+spare. Mars and Minerva made me doughty in war; when I had picked
+my men to surprise the enemy with an ambuscade I never gave death
+so much as a thought, but was the first to leap forward and spear
+all whom I could overtake. Such was I in battle, but I did not care
+about farm work, nor the frugal home life of those who would bring
+up children. My delight was in ships, fighting, javelins, and arrows-
+things that most men shudder to think of; but one man likes one thing
+and another another, and this was what I was most naturally inclined
+to. Before the Achaeans went to Troy, nine times was I in command
+of men and ships on foreign service, and I amassed much wealth. I
+had my pick of the spoil in the first instance, and much more was
+allotted to me later on.
+
+"My house grew apace and I became a great man among the Cretans, but
+when Jove counselled that terrible expedition, in which so many perished,
+the people required me and Idomeneus to lead their ships to Troy,
+and there was no way out of it, for they insisted on our doing so.
+There we fought for nine whole years, but in the tenth we sacked the
+city of Priam and sailed home again as heaven dispersed us. Then it
+was that Jove devised evil against me. I spent but one month happily
+with my children, wife, and property, and then I conceived the idea
+of making a descent on Egypt, so I fitted out a fine fleet and manned
+it. I had nine ships, and the people flocked to fill them. For six
+days I and my men made feast, and I found them many victims both for
+sacrifice to the gods and for themselves, but on the seventh day we
+went on board and set sail from Crete with a fair North wind behind
+us though we were going down a river. Nothing went ill with any of
+our ships, and we had no sickness on board, but sat where we were
+and let the ships go as the wind and steersmen took them. On the fifth
+day we reached the river Aegyptus; there I stationed my ships in the
+river, bidding my men stay by them and keep guard over them while
+I sent out scouts to reconnoitre from every point of vantage.
+
+"But the men disobeyed my orders, took to their own devices, and ravaged
+the land of the Egyptians, killing the men, and taking their wives
+and children captive. The alarm was soon carried to the city, and
+when they heard the war cry, the people came out at daybreak till
+the plain was filled with horsemen and foot soldiers and with the
+gleam of armour. Then Jove spread panic among my men, and they would
+no longer face the enemy, for they found themselves surrounded. The
+Egyptians killed many of us, and took the rest alive to do forced
+labour for them. Jove, however, put it in my mind to do thus- and
+I wish I had died then and there in Egypt instead, for there was much
+sorrow in store for me- I took off my helmet and shield and dropped
+my spear from my hand; then I went straight up to the king's chariot,
+clasped his knees and kissed them, whereon he spared my life, bade
+me get into his chariot, and took me weeping to his own home. Many
+made at me with their ashen spears and tried to kil me in their fury,
+but the king protected me, for he feared the wrath of Jove the protector
+of strangers, who punishes those who do evil.
+
+"I stayed there for seven years and got together much money among
+the Egyptians, for they all gave me something; but when it was now
+going on for eight years there came a certain Phoenician, a cunning
+rascal, who had already committed all sorts of villainy, and this
+man talked me over into going with him to Phoenicia, where his house
+and his possessions lay. I stayed there for a whole twelve months,
+but at the end of that time when months and days had gone by till
+the same season had come round again, he set me on board a ship bound
+for Libya, on a pretence that I was to take a cargo along with him
+to that place, but really that he might sell me as a slave and take
+the money I fetched. I suspected his intention, but went on board
+with him, for I could not help it.
+
+"The ship ran before a fresh North wind till we had reached the sea
+that lies between Crete and Libya; there, however, Jove counselled
+their destruction, for as soon as we were well out from Crete and
+could see nothing but sea and sky, he raised a black cloud over our
+ship and the sea grew dark beneath it. Then Jove let fly with his
+thunderbolts and the ship went round and round and was filled with
+fire and brimstone as the lightning struck it. The men fell all into
+the sea; they were carried about in the water round the ship looking
+like so many sea-gulls, but the god presently deprived them of all
+chance of getting home again. I was all dismayed; Jove, however, sent
+the ship's mast within my reach, which saved my life, for I clung
+to it, and drifted before the fury of the gale. Nine days did I drift
+but in the darkness of the tenth night a great wave bore me on to
+the Thesprotian coast. There Pheidon king of the Thesprotians entertained
+me hospitably without charging me anything at all for his son found
+me when I was nearly dead with cold and fatigue, whereon he raised
+me by the hand, took me to his father's house and gave me clothes
+to wear.
+
+"There it was that I heard news of Ulysses, for the king told me he
+had entertained him, and shown him much hospitality while he was on
+his homeward journey. He showed me also the treasure of gold, and
+wrought iron that Ulysses had got together. There was enough to keep
+his family for ten generations, so much had he left in the house of
+king Pheidon. But the king said Ulysses had gone to Dodona that he
+might learn Jove's mind from the god's high oak tree, and know whether
+after so long an absence he should return to Ithaca openly, or in
+secret. Moreover the king swore in my presence, making drink-offerings
+in his own house as he did so, that the ship was by the water side,
+and the crew found, that should take him to his own country. He sent
+me off however before Ulysses returned, for there happened to be a
+Thesprotian ship sailing for the wheat-growing island of Dulichium,
+and he told those in charge of her to be sure and take me safely to
+King Acastus.
+
+"These men hatched a plot against me that would have reduced me to
+the very extreme of misery, for when the ship had got some way out
+from land they resolved on selling me as a slave. They stripped me
+of the shirt and cloak that I was wearing, and gave me instead the
+tattered old clouts in which you now see me; then, towards nightfall,
+they reached the tilled lands of Ithaca, and there they bound me with
+a strong rope fast in the ship, while they went on shore to get supper
+by the sea side. But the gods soon undid my bonds for me, and having
+drawn my rags over my head I slid down the rudder into the sea, where
+I struck out and swam till I was well clear of them, and came ashore
+near a thick wood in which I lay concealed. They were very angry at
+my having escaped and went searching about for me, till at last they
+thought it was no further use and went back to their ship. The gods,
+having hidden me thus easily, then took me to a good man's door- for
+it seems that I am not to die yet awhile."
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Poor unhappy stranger,
+I have found the story of your misfortunes extremely interesting,
+but that part about Ulysses is not right; and you will never get me
+to believe it. Why should a man like you go about telling lies in
+this way? I know all about the return of my master. The gods one and
+all of them detest him, or they would have taken him before Troy,
+or let him die with friends around him when the days of his fighting
+were done; for then the Achaeans would have built a mound over his
+ashes and his son would have been heir to his renown, but now the
+storm winds have spirited him away we know not whither.
+
+"As for me I live out of the way here with the pigs, and never go
+to the town unless when Penelope sends for me on the arrival of some
+news about Ulysses. Then they all sit round and ask questions, both
+those who grieve over the king's absence, and those who rejoice at
+it because they can eat up his property without paying for it. For
+my own part I have never cared about asking anyone else since the
+time when I was taken in by an Aetolian, who had killed a man and
+come a long way till at last he reached my station, and I was very
+kind to him. He said he had seen Ulysses with Idomeneus among the
+Cretans, refitting his ships which had been damaged in a gale. He
+said Ulysses would return in the following summer or autumn with his
+men, and that he would bring back much wealth. And now you, you unfortunate
+old man, since fate has brought you to my door, do not try to flatter
+me in this way with vain hopes. It is not for any such reason that
+I shall treat you kindly, but only out of respect for Jove the god
+of hospitality, as fearing him and pitying you."
+
+Ulysses answered, "I see that you are of an unbelieving mind; I have
+given you my oath, and yet you will not credit me; let us then make
+a bargain, and call all the gods in heaven to witness it. If your
+master comes home, give me a cloak and shirt of good wear, and send
+me to Dulichium where I want to go; but if he does not come as I say
+he will, set your men on to me, and tell them to throw me from yonder
+precepice, as a warning to tramps not to go about the country telling
+lies."
+
+"And a pretty figure I should cut then," replied Eumaeus, both now
+and hereafter, if I were to kill you after receiving you into my hut
+and showing you hospitality. I should have to say my prayers in good
+earnest if I did; but it is just supper time and I hope my men will
+come in directly, that we may cook something savoury for supper."
+
+Thus did they converse, and presently the swineherds came up with
+the pigs, which were then shut up for the night in their sties, and
+a tremendous squealing they made as they were being driven into them.
+But Eumaeus called to his men and said, "Bring in the best pig you
+have, that I may sacrifice for this stranger, and we will take toll
+of him ourselves. We have had trouble enough this long time feeding
+pigs, while others reap the fruit of our labour."
+
+On this he began chopping firewood, while the others brought in a
+fine fat five year old boar pig, and set it at the altar. Eumaeus
+did not forget the gods, for he was a man of good principles, so the
+first thing he did was to cut bristles from the pig's face and throw
+them into the fire, praying to all the gods as he did so that Ulysses
+might return home again. Then he clubbed the pig with a billet of
+oak which he had kept back when he was chopping the firewood, and
+stunned it, while the others slaughtered and singed it. Then they
+cut it up, and Eumaeus began by putting raw pieces from each joint
+on to some of the fat; these he sprinkled with barley meal, and laid
+upon the embers; they cut the rest of the meat up small, put the pieces
+upon the spits and roasted them till they were done; when they had
+taken them off the spits they threw them on to the dresser in a heap.
+The swineherd, who was a most equitable man, then stood up to give
+every one his share. He made seven portions; one of these he set apart
+for Mercury the son of Maia and the nymphs, praying to them as he
+did so; the others he dealt out to the men man by man. He gave Ulysses
+some slices cut lengthways down the loin as a mark of especial honour,
+and Ulysses was much pleased. "I hope, Eumaeus," said he, "that Jove
+will be as well disposed towards you as I am, for the respect you
+are showing to an outcast like myself."
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "Eat, my good fellow, and
+enjoy your supper, such as it is. God grants this, and withholds that,
+just as he thinks right, for he can do whatever he chooses."
+
+As he spoke he cut off the first piece and offered it as a burnt sacrifice
+to the immortal gods; then he made them a drink-offering, put the
+cup in the hands of Ulysses, and sat down to his own portion. Mesaulius
+brought them their bread; the swineherd had bought this man on his
+own account from among the Taphians during his master's absence, and
+had paid for him with his own money without saying anything either
+to his mistress or Laertes. They then laid their hands upon the good
+things that were before them, and when they had had enough to eat
+and drink, Mesaulius took away what was left of the bread, and they
+all went to bed after having made a hearty supper.
+
+Now the night came on stormy and very dark, for there was no moon.
+It poured without ceasing, and the wind blew strong from the West,
+which is a wet quarter, so Ulysses thought he would see whether Eumaeus,
+in the excellent care he took of him, would take off his own cloak
+and give it him, or make one of his men give him one. "Listen to me,"
+said he, "Eumaeus and the rest of you; when I have said a prayer I
+will tell you something. It is the wine that makes me talk in this
+way; wine will make even a wise man fall to singing; it will make
+him chuckle and dance and say many a word that he had better leave
+unspoken; still, as I have begun, I will go on. Would that I were
+still young and strong as when we got up an ambuscade before Troy.
+Menelaus and Ulysses were the leaders, but I was in command also,
+for the other two would have it so. When we had come up to the wall
+of the city we crouched down beneath our armour and lay there under
+cover of the reeds and thick brush-wood that grew about the swamp.
+It came on to freeze with a North wind blowing; the snow fell small
+and fine like hoar frost, and our shields were coated thick with rime.
+The others had all got cloaks and shirts, and slept comfortably enough
+with their shields about their shoulders, but I had carelessly left
+my cloak behind me, not thinking that I should be too cold, and had
+gone off in nothing but my shirt and shield. When the night was two-thirds
+through and the stars had shifted their their places, I nudged Ulysses
+who was close to me with my elbow, and he at once gave me his ear.
+
+"'Ulysses,' said I, 'this cold will be the death of me, for I have
+no cloak; some god fooled me into setting off with nothing on but
+my shirt, and I do not know what to do.'
+
+"Ulysses, who was as crafty as he was valiant, hit upon the following
+plan:
+
+"'Keep still,' said he in a low voice, 'or the others will hear you.'
+Then he raised his head on his elbow.
+
+"'My friends,' said he, 'I have had a dream from heaven in my sleep.
+We are a long way from the ships; I wish some one would go down and
+tell Agamemnon to send us up more men at once.'
+
+"On this Thoas son of Andraemon threw off his cloak and set out running
+to the ships, whereon I took the cloak and lay in it comfortably enough
+till morning. Would that I were still young and strong as I was in
+those days, for then some one of you swineherds would give me a cloak
+both out of good will and for the respect due to a brave soldier;
+but now people look down upon me because my clothes are shabby."
+
+And Eumaeus answered, "Old man, you have told us an excellent story,
+and have said nothing so far but what is quite satisfactory; for the
+present, therefore, you shall want neither clothing nor anything else
+that a stranger in distress may reasonably expect, but to-morrow morning
+you have to shake your own old rags about your body again, for we
+have not many spare cloaks nor shirts up here, but every man has only
+one. When Ulysses' son comes home again he will give you both cloak
+and shirt, and send you wherever you may want to go."
+
+With this he got up and made a bed for Ulysses by throwing some goatskins
+and sheepskins on the ground in front of the fire. Here Ulysses lay
+down, and Eumaeus covered him over with a great heavy cloak that he
+kept for a change in case of extraordinarily bad weather.
+
+Thus did Ulysses sleep, and the young men slept beside him. But the
+swineherd did not like sleeping away from his pigs, so he got ready
+to go and Ulysses was glad to see that he looked after his property
+during his master's absence. First he slung his sword over his brawny
+shoulders and put on a thick cloak to keep out the wind. He also took
+the skin of a large and well fed goat, and a javelin in case of attack
+from men or dogs. Thus equipped he went to his rest where the pigs
+were camping under an overhanging rock that gave them shelter from
+the North wind.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK XV
+
+But Minerva went to the fair city of Lacedaemon to tell Ulysses'
+son that he was to return at once. She found him and Pisistratus sleeping
+in the forecourt of Menelaus's house; Pisistratus was fast asleep,
+but Telemachus could get no rest all night for thinking of his unhappy
+father, so Minerva went close up to him and said:
+
+"Telemachus, you should not remain so far away from home any longer,
+nor leave your property with such dangerous people in your house;
+they will eat up everything you have among them, and you will have
+been on a fool's errand. Ask Menelaus to send you home at once if
+you wish to find your excellent mother still there when you get back.
+Her father and brothers are already urging her to marry Eurymachus,
+who has given her more than any of the others, and has been greatly
+increasing his wedding presents. I hope nothing valuable may have
+been taken from the house in spite of you, but you know what women
+are- they always want to do the best they can for the man who marries
+them, and never give another thought to the children of their first
+husband, nor to their father either when he is dead and done with.
+Go home, therefore, and put everything in charge of the most respectable
+woman servant that you have, until it shall please heaven to send
+you a wife of your own. Let me tell you also of another matter which
+you had better attend to. The chief men among the suitors are lying
+in wait for you in the Strait between Ithaca and Samos, and they mean
+to kill you before you can reach home. I do not much think they will
+succeed; it is more likely that some of those who are now eating up
+your property will find a grave themselves. Sail night and day, and
+keep your ship well away from the islands; the god who watches over
+you and protects you will send you a fair wind. As soon as you get
+to Ithaca send your ship and men on to the town, but yourself go straight
+to the swineherd who has charge your pigs; he is well disposed towards
+you, stay with him, therefore, for the night, and then send him to
+Penelope to tell her that you have got back safe from Pylos."
+
+Then she went back to Olympus; but Telemachus stirred Pisistratus
+with his heel to rouse him, and said, "Wake up Pisistratus, and yoke
+the horses to the chariot, for we must set off home."
+
+But Pisistratus said, "No matter what hurry we are in we cannot drive
+in the dark. It will be morning soon; wait till Menelaus has brought
+his presents and put them in the chariot for us; and let him say good-bye
+to us in the usual way. So long as he lives a guest should never forget
+a host who has shown him kindness."
+
+As he spoke day began to break, and Menelaus, who had already risen,
+leaving Helen in bed, came towards them. When Telemachus saw him he
+put on his shirt as fast as he could, threw a great cloak over his
+shoulders, and went out to meet him. "Menelaus," said he, "let me
+go back now to my own country, for I want to get home."
+
+And Menelaus answered, "Telemachus, if you insist on going I will
+not detain you. not like to see a host either too fond of his guest
+or too rude to him. Moderation is best in all things, and not letting
+a man go when he wants to do so is as bad as telling him to go if
+he would like to stay. One should treat a guest well as long as he
+is in the house and speed him when he wants to leave it. Wait, then,
+till I can get your beautiful presents into your chariot, and till
+you have yourself seen them. I will tell the women to prepare a sufficient
+dinner for you of what there may be in the house; it will be at once
+more proper and cheaper for you to get your dinner before setting
+out on such a long journey. If, moreover, you have a fancy for making
+a tour in Hellas or in the Peloponnese, I will yoke my horses, and
+will conduct you myself through all our principal cities. No one will
+send us away empty handed; every one will give us something- a bronze
+tripod, a couple of mules, or a gold cup."
+
+"Menelaus," replied Telemachus, "I want to go home at once, for when
+I came away I left my property without protection, and fear that while
+looking for my father I shall come to ruin myself, or find that something
+valuable has been stolen during my absence."
+
+When Menelaus heard this he immediately told his wife and servants
+to prepare a sufficient dinner from what there might be in the house.
+At this moment Eteoneus joined him, for he lived close by and had
+just got up; so Menelaus told him to light the fire and cook some
+meat, which he at once did. Then Menelaus went down into his fragrant
+store room, not alone, but Helen went too, with Megapenthes. When
+he reached the place where the treasures of his house were kept, he
+selected a double cup, and told his son Megapenthes to bring also
+a silver mixing-bowl. Meanwhile Helen went to the chest where she
+kept the lovely dresses which she had made with her own hands, and
+took out one that was largest and most beautifully enriched with embroidery;
+it glittered like a star, and lay at the very bottom of the chest.
+Then they all came back through the house again till they got to Telemachus,
+and Menelaus said, "Telemachus, may Jove, the mighty husband of Juno,
+bring you safely home according to your desire. I will now present
+you with the finest and most precious piece of plate in all my house.
+It is a mixing-bowl of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid
+with gold, and it is the work of Vulcan. Phaedimus king of the Sidonians
+made me a present of it in the course of a visit that I paid him while
+I was on my return home. I should like to give it to you."
+
+With these words he placed the double cup in the hands of Telemachus,
+while Megapenthes brought the beautiful mixing-bowl and set it before
+him. Hard by stood lovely Helen with the robe ready in her hand.
+
+"I too, my son," said she, "have something for you as a keepsake from
+the hand of Helen; it is for your bride to wear upon her wedding day.
+Till then, get your dear mother to keep it for you; thus may you go
+back rejoicing to your own country and to your home."
+
+So saying she gave the robe over to him and he received it gladly.
+Then Pisistratus put the presents into the chariot, and admired them
+all as he did so. Presently Menelaus took Telemachus and Pisistratus
+into the house, and they both of them sat down to table. A maid servant
+brought them water in a beautiful golden ewer, and poured it into
+a silver basin for them to wash their hands, and she drew a clean
+table beside them; an upper servant brought them bread and offered
+them many good things of what there was in the house. Eteoneus carved
+the meat and gave them each their portions, while Megapenthes poured
+out the wine. Then they laid their hands upon the good things that
+were before them, but as soon as they had had had enough to eat and
+drink Telemachus and Pisistratus yoked the horses, and took their
+places in the chariot. They drove out through the inner gateway and
+under the echoing gatehouse of the outer court, and Menelaus came
+after them with a golden goblet of wine in his right hand that they
+might make a drink-offering before they set out. He stood in front
+of the horses and pledged them, saying, "Farewell to both of you;
+see that you tell Nestor how I have treated you, for he was as kind
+to me as any father could be while we Achaeans were fighting before
+Troy."
+
+"We will be sure, sir," answered Telemachus, "to tell him everything
+as soon as we see him. I wish I were as certain of finding Ulysses
+returned when I get back to Ithaca, that I might tell him of the very
+great kindness you have shown me and of the many beautiful presents
+I am taking with me."
+
+As he was thus speaking a bird flew on his right hand- an eagle with
+a great white goose in its talons which it had carried off from the
+farm yard- and all the men and women were running after it and shouting.
+It came quite close up to them and flew away on their right hands
+in front of the horses. When they saw it they were glad, and their
+hearts took comfort within them, whereon Pisistratus said, "Tell me,
+Menelaus, has heaven sent this omen for us or for you?"
+
+Menelaus was thinking what would be the most proper answer for him
+to make, but Helen was too quick for him and said, "I will read this
+matter as heaven has put it in my heart, and as I doubt not that it
+will come to pass. The eagle came from the mountain where it was bred
+and has its nest, and in like manner Ulysses, after having travelled
+far and suffered much, will return to take his revenge- if indeed
+he is not back already and hatching mischief for the suitors."
+
+"May Jove so grant it," replied Telemachus; "if it should prove to
+be so, I will make vows to you as though you were a god, even when
+I am at home."
+
+As he spoke he lashed his horses and they started off at full speed
+through the town towards the open country. They swayed the yoke upon
+their necks and travelled the whole day long till the sun set and
+darkness was over all the land. Then they reached Pherae, where Diocles
+lived who was son of Ortilochus, the son of Alpheus. There they passed
+the night and were treated hospitably. When the child of morning,
+rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, they again yoked their horses and their
+places in the chariot. They drove out through the inner gateway and
+under the echoing gatehouse of the outer court. Then Pisistratus lashed
+his horses on and they flew forward nothing loath; ere long they came
+to Pylos, and then Telemachus said:
+
+"Pisistratus, I hope you will promise to do what I am going to ask
+you. You know our fathers were old friends before us; moreover, we
+are both of an age, and this journey has brought us together still
+more closely; do not, therefore, take me past my ship, but leave me
+there, for if I go to your father's house he will try to keep me in
+the warmth of his good will towards me, and I must go home at once."
+
+Pisistratus thought how he should do as he was asked, and in the end
+he deemed it best to turn his horses towards the ship, and put Menelaus's
+beautiful presents of gold and raiment in the stern of the vessel.
+Then he said, "Go on board at once and tell your men to do so also
+before I can reach home to tell my father. I know how obstinate he
+is, and am sure he will not let you go; he will come down here to
+fetch you, and he will not go back without you. But he will be very
+angry."
+
+With this he drove his goodly steeds back to the city of the Pylians
+and soon reached his home, but Telemachus called the men together
+and gave his orders. "Now, my men," said he, "get everything in order
+on board the ship, and let us set out home."
+
+Thus did he speak, and they went on board even as he had said. But
+as Telemachus was thus busied, praying also and sacrificing to Minerva
+in the ship's stern, there came to him a man from a distant country,
+a seer, who was flying from Argos because he had killed a man. He
+was descended from Melampus, who used to live in Pylos, the land of
+sheep; he was rich and owned a great house, but he was driven into
+exile by the great and powerful king Neleus. Neleus seized his goods
+and held them for a whole year, during which he was a close prisoner
+in the house of king Phylacus, and in much distress of mind both on
+account of the daughter of Neleus and because he was haunted by a
+great sorrow that dread Erinyes had laid upon him. In the end, however,
+he escaped with his life, drove the cattle from Phylace to Pylos,
+avenged the wrong that had been done him, and gave the daughter of
+Neleus to his brother. Then he left the country and went to Argos,
+where it was ordained that he should reign over much people. There
+he married, established himself, and had two famous sons Antiphates
+and Mantius. Antiphates became father of Oicleus, and Oicleus of Amphiaraus,
+who was dearly loved both by Jove and by Apollo, but he did not live
+to old age, for he was killed in Thebes by reason of a woman's gifts.
+His sons were Alcmaeon and Amphilochus. Mantius, the other son of
+Melampus, was father to Polypheides and Cleitus. Aurora, throned in
+gold, carried off Cleitus for his beauty's sake, that he might dwell
+among the immortals, but Apollo made Polypheides the greatest seer
+in the whole world now that Amphiaraus was dead. He quarrelled with
+his father and went to live in Hyperesia, where he remained and prophesied
+for all men.
+
+His son, Theoclymenus, it was who now came up to Telemachus as he
+was making drink-offerings and praying in his ship. "Friend'" said
+he, "now that I find you sacrificing in this place, I beseech you
+by your sacrifices themselves, and by the god to whom you make them,
+I pray you also by your own head and by those of your followers, tell
+me the truth and nothing but the truth. Who and whence are you? Tell
+me also of your town and parents."
+
+Telemachus said, "I will answer you quite truly. I am from Ithaca,
+and my father is 'Ulysses, as surely as that he ever lived. But he
+has come to some miserable end. Therefore I have taken this ship and
+got my crew together to see if I can hear any news of him, for he
+has been away a long time."
+
+"I too," answered Theoclymenus, am an exile, for I have killed a man
+of my own race. He has many brothers and kinsmen in Argos, and they
+have great power among the Argives. I am flying to escape death at
+their hands, and am thus doomed to be a wanderer on the face of the
+earth. I am your suppliant; take me, therefore, on board your ship
+that they may not kill me, for I know they are in pursuit."
+
+"I will not refuse you," replied Telemachus, "if you wish to join
+us. Come, therefore, and in Ithaca we will treat you hospitably according
+to what we have."
+
+On this he received Theoclymenus' spear and laid it down on the deck
+of the ship. He went on board and sat in the stern, bidding Theoclymenus
+sit beside him; then the men let go the hawsers. Telemachus told them
+to catch hold of the ropes, and they made all haste to do so. They
+set the mast in its socket in the cross plank, raised it and made
+it fast with the forestays, and they hoisted their white sails with
+sheets of twisted ox hide. Minerva sent them a fair wind that blew
+fresh and strong to take the ship on her course as fast as possible.
+Thus then they passed by Crouni and Chalcis.
+
+Presently the sun set and darkness was over all the land. The vessel
+made a quick pass sage to Pheae and thence on to Elis, where the Epeans
+rule. Telemachus then headed her for the flying islands, wondering
+within himself whether he should escape death or should be taken prisoner.
+
+Meanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd were eating their supper in the
+hut, and the men supped with them. As soon as they had had to eat
+and drink, Ulysses began trying to prove the swineherd and see whether
+he would continue to treat him kindly, and ask him to stay on at the
+station or pack him off to the city; so he said:
+
+"Eumaeus, and all of you, to-morrow I want to go away and begin begging
+about the town, so as to be no more trouble to you or to your men.
+Give me your advice therefore, and let me have a good guide to go
+with me and show me the way. I will go the round of the city begging
+as I needs must, to see if any one will give me a drink and a piece
+of bread. I should like also to go to the house of Ulysses and bring
+news of her husband to queen Penelope. I could then go about among
+the suitors and see if out of all their abundance they will give me
+a dinner. I should soon make them an excellent servant in all sorts
+of ways. Listen and believe when I tell you that by the blessing of
+Mercury who gives grace and good name to the works of all men, there
+is no one living who would make a more handy servant than I should-
+to put fresh wood on the fire, chop fuel, carve, cook, pour out wine,
+and do all those services that poor men have to do for their betters."
+
+The swineherd was very much disturbed when he heard this. "Heaven
+help me," he exclaimed, "what ever can have put such a notion as that
+into your head? If you go near the suitors you will be undone to a
+certainty, for their pride and insolence reach the very heavens. They
+would never think of taking a man like you for a servant. Their servants
+are all young men, well dressed, wearing good cloaks and shirts, with
+well looking faces and their hair always tidy, the tables are kept
+quite clean and are loaded with bread, meat, and wine. Stay where
+you are, then; you are not in anybody's way; I do not mind your being
+here, no more do any of the others, and when Telemachus comes home
+he will give you a shirt and cloak and will send you wherever you
+want to go."
+
+Ulysses answered, "I hope you may be as dear to the gods as you are
+to me, for having saved me from going about and getting into trouble;
+there is nothing worse than being always ways on the tramp; still,
+when men have once got low down in the world they will go through
+a great deal on behalf of their miserable bellies. Since however you
+press me to stay here and await the return of Telemachus, tell about
+Ulysses' mother, and his father whom he left on the threshold of old
+age when he set out for Troy. Are they still living or are they already
+dead and in the house of Hades?"
+
+"I will tell you all about them," replied Eumaeus, "Laertes is still
+living and prays heaven to let him depart peacefully his own house,
+for he is terribly distressed about the absence of his son, and also
+about the death of his wife, which grieved him greatly and aged him
+more than anything else did. She came to an unhappy end through sorrow
+for her son: may no friend or neighbour who has dealt kindly by me
+come to such an end as she did. As long as she was still living, though
+she was always grieving, I used to like seeing her and asking her
+how she did, for she brought me up along with her daughter Ctimene,
+the youngest of her children; we were boy and girl together, and she
+made little difference between us. When, however, we both grew up,
+they sent Ctimene to Same and received a splendid dowry for her. As
+for me, my mistress gave me a good shirt and cloak with a pair of
+sandals for my feet, and sent me off into the country, but she was
+just as fond of me as ever. This is all over now. Still it has pleased
+heaven to prosper my work in the situation which I now hold. I have
+enough to eat and drink, and can find something for any respectable
+stranger who comes here; but there is no getting a kind word or deed
+out of my mistress, for the house has fallen into the hands of wicked
+people. Servants want sometimes to see their mistress and have a talk
+with her; they like to have something to eat and drink at the house,
+and something too to take back with them into the country. This is
+what will keep servants in a good humour."
+
+Ulysses answered, "Then you must have been a very little fellow, Eumaeus,
+when you were taken so far away from your home and parents. Tell me,
+and tell me true, was the city in which your father and mother lived
+sacked and pillaged, or did some enemies carry you off when you were
+alone tending sheep or cattle, ship you off here, and sell you for
+whatever your master gave them?"
+
+"Stranger," replied Eumaeus, "as regards your question: sit still,
+make yourself comfortable, drink your wine, and listen to me. The
+nights are now at their longest; there is plenty of time both for
+sleeping and sitting up talking together; you ought not to go to bed
+till bed time, too much sleep is as bad as too little; if any one
+of the others wishes to go to bed let him leave us and do so; he can
+then take my master's pigs out when he has done breakfast in the morning.
+We two will sit here eating and drinking in the hut, and telling one
+another stories about our misfortunes; for when a man has suffered
+much, and been buffeted about in the world, he takes pleasure in recalling
+the memory of sorrows that have long gone by. As regards your question,
+then, my tale is as follows:
+
+"You may have heard of an island called Syra that lies over above
+Ortygia, where the land begins to turn round and look in another direction.
+It is not very thickly peopled, but the soil is good, with much pasture
+fit for cattle and sheep, and it abounds with wine and wheat. Dearth
+never comes there, nor are the people plagued by any sickness, but
+when they grow old Apollo comes with Diana and kills them with his
+painless shafts. It contains two communities, and the whole country
+is divided between these two. My father Ctesius son of Ormenus, a
+man comparable to the gods, reigned over both.
+
+"Now to this place there came some cunning traders from Phoenicia
+(for the Phoenicians are great mariners) in a ship which they had
+freighted with gewgaws of all kinds. There happened to be a Phoenician
+woman in my father's house, very tall and comely, and an excellent
+servant; these scoundrels got hold of her one day when she was washing
+near their ship, seduced her, and cajoled her in ways that no woman
+can resist, no matter how good she may be by nature. The man who had
+seduced her asked her who she was and where she came from, and on
+this she told him her father's name. 'I come from Sidon,' said she,
+'and am daughter to Arybas, a man rolling in wealth. One day as I
+was coming into the town from the country some Taphian pirates seized
+me and took me here over the sea, where they sold me to the man who
+owns this house, and he gave them their price for me.'
+
+"The man who had seduced her then said, 'Would you like to come along
+with us to see the house of your parents and your parents themselves?
+They are both alive and are said to be well off.'
+
+"'I will do so gladly,' answered she, 'if you men will first swear
+me a solemn oath that you will do me no harm by the way.'
+
+"They all swore as she told them, and when they had completed their
+oath the woman said, 'Hush; and if any of your men meets me in the
+street or at the well, do not let him speak to me, for fear some one
+should go and tell my master, in which case he would suspect something.
+He would put me in prison, and would have all of you murdered; keep
+your own counsel therefore; buy your merchandise as fast as you can,
+and send me word when you have done loading. I will bring as much
+gold as I can lay my hands on, and there is something else also that
+I can do towards paying my fare. I am nurse to the son of the good
+man of the house, a funny little fellow just able to run about. I
+will carry him off in your ship, and you will get a great deal of
+money for him if you take him and sell him in foreign parts.'
+
+"On this she went back to the house. The Phoenicians stayed a whole
+year till they had loaded their ship with much precious merchandise,
+and then, when they had got freight enough, they sent to tell the
+woman. Their messenger, a very cunning fellow, came to my father's
+house bringing a necklace of gold with amber beads strung among it;
+and while my mother and the servants had it in their hands admiring
+it and bargaining about it, he made a sign quietly to the woman and
+then went back to the ship, whereon she took me by the hand and led
+me out of the house. In the fore part of the house she saw the tables
+set with the cups of guests who had been feasting with my father,
+as being in attendance on him; these were now all gone to a meeting
+of the public assembly, so she snatched up three cups and carried
+them off in the bosom of her dress, while I followed her, for I knew
+no better. The sun was now set, and darkness was over all the land,
+so we hurried on as fast as we could till we reached the harbour,
+where the Phoenician ship was lying. When they had got on board they
+sailed their ways over the sea, taking us with them, and Jove sent
+then a fair wind; six days did we sail both night and day, but on
+the seventh day Diana struck the woman and she fell heavily down into
+the ship's hold as though she were a sea gull alighting on the water;
+so they threw her overboard to the seals and fishes, and I was left
+all sorrowful and alone. Presently the winds and waves took the ship
+to Ithaca, where Laertes gave sundry of his chattels for me, and thus
+it was that ever I came to set eyes upon this country."
+
+Ulysses answered, "Eumaeus, I have heard the story of your misfortunes
+with the most lively interest and pity, but Jove has given you good
+as well as evil, for in spite of everything you have a good master,
+who sees that you always have enough to eat and drink; and you lead
+a good life, whereas I am still going about begging my way from city
+to city."
+
+Thus did they converse, and they had only a very little time left
+for sleep, for it was soon daybreak. In the meantime Telemachus and
+his crew were nearing land, so they loosed the sails, took down the
+mast, and rowed the ship into the harbour. They cast out their mooring
+stones and made fast the hawsers; they then got out upon the sea shore,
+mixed their wine, and got dinner ready. As soon as they had had enough
+to eat and drink Telemachus said, "Take the ship on to the town, but
+leave me here, for I want to look after the herdsmen on one of my
+farms. In the evening, when I have seen all I want, I will come down
+to the city, and to-morrow morning in return for your trouble I will
+give you all a good dinner with meat and wine."
+
+Then Theoclymenus said, 'And what, my dear young friend, is to become
+of me? To whose house, among all your chief men, am I to repair? or
+shall I go straight to your own house and to your mother?"
+
+"At any other time," replied Telemachus, "I should have bidden you
+go to my own house, for you would find no want of hospitality; at
+the present moment, however, you would not be comfortable there, for
+I shall be away, and my mother will not see you; she does not often
+show herself even to the suitors, but sits at her loom weaving in
+an upper chamber, out of their way; but I can tell you a man whose
+house you can go to- I mean Eurymachus the son of Polybus, who is
+held in the highest estimation by every one in Ithaca. He is much
+the best man and the most persistent wooer, of all those who are paying
+court to my mother and trying to take Ulysses' place. Jove, however,
+in heaven alone knows whether or no they will come to a bad end before
+the marriage takes place."
+
+As he was speaking a bird flew by upon his right hand- a hawk, Apollo's
+messenger. It held a dove in its talons, and the feathers, as it tore
+them off, fell to the ground midway between Telemachus and the ship.
+On this Theoclymenus called him apart and caught him by the hand.
+"Telemachus," said he, "that bird did not fly on your right hand without
+having been sent there by some god. As soon as I saw it I knew it
+was an omen; it means that you will remain powerful and that there
+will be no house in Ithaca more royal than your own."
+
+"I wish it may prove so," answered Telemachus. "If it does, I will
+show you so much good will and give you so many presents that all
+who meet you will congratulate you."
+
+Then he said to his friend Piraeus, "Piraeus, son of Clytius, you
+have throughout shown yourself the most willing to serve me of all
+those who have accompanied me to Pylos; I wish you would take this
+stranger to your own house and entertain him hospitably till I can
+come for him."
+
+And Piraeus answered, "Telemachus, you may stay away as long as you
+please, but I will look after him for you, and he shall find no lack
+of hospitality."
+
+As he spoke he went on board, and bade the others do so also and loose
+the hawsers, so they took their places in the ship. But Telemachus
+bound on his sandals, and took a long and doughty spear with a head
+of sharpened bronze from the deck of the ship. Then they loosed the
+hawsers, thrust the ship off from land, and made on towards the city
+as they had been told to do, while Telemachus strode on as fast as
+he could, till he reached the homestead where his countless herds
+of swine were feeding, and where dwelt the excellent swineherd, who
+was so devoted a servant to his master.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK XVI
+
+Meanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd had lit a fire in the hut and
+were were getting breakfast ready at daybreak for they had sent the
+men out with the pigs. When Telemachus came up, the dogs did not bark,
+but fawned upon him, so Ulysses, hearing the sound of feet and noticing
+that the dogs did not bark, said to Eumaeus:
+
+"Eumaeus, I hear footsteps; I suppose one of your men or some one
+of your acquaintance is coming here, for the dogs are fawning urn
+him and not barking."
+
+The words were hardly out of his mouth before his son stood at the
+door. Eumaeus sprang to his feet, and the bowls in which he was mixing
+wine fell from his hands, as he made towards his master. He kissed
+his head and both his beautiful eyes, and wept for joy. A father could
+not be more delighted at the return of an only son, the child of his
+old age, after ten years' absence in a foreign country and after having
+gone through much hardship. He embraced him, kissed him all over as
+though he had come back from the dead, and spoke fondly to him saying:
+
+"So you are come, Telemachus, light of my eyes that you are. When
+I heard you had gone to Pylos I made sure I was never going to see
+you any more. Come in, my dear child, and sit down, that I may have
+a good look at you now you are home again; it is not very often you
+come into the country to see us herdsmen; you stick pretty close to
+the town generally. I suppose you think it better to keep an eye on
+what the suitors are doing."
+
+"So be it, old friend," answered Telemachus, "but I am come now because
+I want to see you, and to learn whether my mother is still at her
+old home or whether some one else has married her, so that the bed
+of Ulysses is without bedding and covered with cobwebs."
+
+"She is still at the house," replied Eumaeus, "grieving and breaking
+her heart, and doing nothing but weep, both night and day continually."
+
+As spoke he took Telemachus' spear, whereon he crossed the stone threshold
+and came inside. Ulysses rose from his seat to give him place as he
+entered, but Telemachus checked him; "Sit down, stranger." said he,
+"I can easily find another seat, and there is one here who will lay
+it for me."
+
+Ulysses went back to his own place, and Eumaeus strewed some green
+brushwood on the floor and threw a sheepskin on top of it for Telemachus
+to sit upon. Then the swineherd brought them platters of cold meat,
+the remains from what they had eaten the day before, and he filled
+the bread baskets with bread as fast as he could. He mixed wine also
+in bowls of ivy-wood, and took his seat facing Ulysses. Then they
+laid their hands on the good things that were before them, and as
+soon as they had had enough to eat and drink Telemachus said to Eumaeus,
+"Old friend, where does this stranger come from? How did his crew
+bring him to Ithaca, and who were they?-for assuredly he did not come
+here by land"'
+
+To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus, "My son, I will tell you
+the real truth. He says he is a Cretan, and that he has been a great
+traveller. At this moment he is running away from a Thesprotian ship,
+and has refuge at my station, so I will put him into your hands. Do
+whatever you like with him, only remember that he is your suppliant."
+
+"I am very much distressed," said Telemachus, "by what you have just
+told me. How can I take this stranger into my house? I am as yet young,
+and am not strong enough to hold my own if any man attacks me. My
+mother cannot make up her mind whether to stay where she is and look
+after the house out of respect for public opinion and the memory of
+her husband, or whether the time is now come for her to take the best
+man of those who are wooing her, and the one who will make her the
+most advantageous offer; still, as the stranger has come to your station
+I will find him a cloak and shirt of good wear, with a sword and sandals,
+and will send him wherever he wants to go. Or if you like you can
+keep him here at the station, and I will send him clothes and food
+that he may be no burden on you and on your men; but I will not have
+him go near the suitors, for they are very insolent, and are sure
+to ill-treat him in a way that would greatly grieve me; no matter
+how valiant a man may be he can do nothing against numbers, for they
+will be too strong for him."
+
+Then Ulysses said, "Sir, it is right that I should say something myself.
+I am much shocked about what you have said about the insolent way
+in which the suitors are behaving in despite of such a man as you
+are. Tell me, do you submit to such treatment tamely, or has some
+god set your people against you? May you not complain of your brothers-
+for it is to these that a man may look for support, however great
+his quarrel may be? I wish I were as young as you are and in my present
+mind; if I were son to Ulysses, or, indeed, Ulysses himself, I would
+rather some one came and cut my head off, but I would go to the house
+and be the bane of every one of these men. If they were too many for
+me- I being single-handed- I would rather die fighting in my own house
+than see such disgraceful sights day after day, strangers grossly
+maltreated, and men dragging the women servants about the house in
+an unseemly way, wine drawn recklessly, and bread wasted all to no
+purpose for an end that shall never be accomplished."
+
+And Telemachus answered, "I will tell you truly everything. There
+is no emnity between me and my people, nor can I complain of brothers,
+to whom a man may look for support however great his quarrel may be.
+Jove has made us a race of only sons. Laertes was the only son of
+Arceisius, and Ulysses only son of Laertes. I am myself the only son
+of Ulysses who left me behind him when he went away, so that I have
+never been of any use to him. Hence it comes that my house is in the
+hands of numberless marauders; for the chiefs from all the neighbouring
+islands, Dulichium, Same, Zacynthus, as also all the principal men
+of Ithaca itself, are eating up my house under the pretext of paying
+court to my mother, who will neither say point blank that she will
+not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end, so they are making havoc
+of my estate, and before long will do so with myself into the bargain.
+The issue, however, rests with heaven. But do you, old friend Eumaeus,
+go at once and tell Penelope that I am safe and have returned from
+Pylos. Tell it to herself alone, and then come back here without letting
+any one else know, for there are many who are plotting mischief against
+me."
+
+"I understand and heed you," replied Eumaeus; "you need instruct me
+no further, only I am going that way say whether I had not better
+let poor Laertes know that you are returned. He used to superintend
+the work on his farm in spite of his bitter sorrow about Ulysses,
+and he would eat and drink at will along with his servants; but they
+tell me that from the day on which you set out for Pylos he has neither
+eaten nor drunk as he ought to do, nor does he look after his farm,
+but sits weeping and wasting the flesh from off his bones."
+
+"More's the pity," answered Telemachus, "I am sorry for him, but we
+must leave him to himself just now. If people could have everything
+their own way, the first thing I should choose would be the return
+of my father; but go, and give your message; then make haste back
+again, and do not turn out of your way to tell Laertes. Tell my mother
+to send one of her women secretly with the news at once, and let him
+hear it from her."
+
+Thus did he urge the swineherd; Eumaeus, therefore, took his sandals,
+bound them to his feet, and started for the town. Minerva watched
+him well off the station, and then came up to it in the form of a
+woman- fair, stately, and wise. She stood against the side of the
+entry, and revealed herself to Ulysses, but Telemachus could not see
+her, and knew not that she was there, for the gods do not let themselves
+be seen by everybody. Ulysses saw her, and so did the dogs, for they
+did not bark, but went scared and whining off to the other side of
+the yards. She nodded her head and motioned to Ulysses with her eyebrows;
+whereon he left the hut and stood before her outside the main wall
+of the yards. Then she said to him:
+
+"Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, it is now time for you to tell your
+son: do not keep him in the dark any longer, but lay your plans for
+the destruction of the suitors, and then make for the town. I will
+not be long in joining you, for I too am eager for the fray."
+
+As she spoke she touched him with her golden wand. First she threw
+a fair clean shirt and cloak about his shoulders; then she made him
+younger and of more imposing presence; she gave him back his colour,
+filled out his cheeks, and let his beard become dark again. Then she
+went away and Ulysses came back inside the hut. His son was astounded
+when he saw him, and turned his eyes away for fear he might be looking
+upon a god.
+
+"Stranger," said he, "how suddenly you have changed from what you
+were a moment or two ago. You are dressed differently and your colour
+is not the same. Are you some one or other of the gods that live in
+heaven? If so, be propitious to me till I can make you due sacrifice
+and offerings of wrought gold. Have mercy upon me."
+
+And Ulysses said, "I am no god, why should you take me for one? I
+am your father, on whose account you grieve and suffer so much at
+the hands of lawless men."
+
+As he spoke he kissed his son, and a tear fell from his cheek on to
+the ground, for he had restrained all tears till now. but Telemachus
+could not yet believe that it was his father, and said:
+
+"You are not my father, but some god is flattering me with vain hopes
+that I may grieve the more hereafter; no mortal man could of himself
+contrive to do as you have been doing, and make yourself old and young
+at a moment's notice, unless a god were with him. A second ago you
+were old and all in rags, and now you are like some god come down
+from heaven."
+
+Ulysses answered, "Telemachus, you ought not to be so immeasurably
+astonished at my being really here. There is no other Ulysses who
+will come hereafter. Such as I am, it is I, who after long wandering
+and much hardship have got home in the twentieth year to my own country.
+What you wonder at is the work of the redoubtable goddess Minerva,
+who does with me whatever she will, for she can do what she pleases.
+At one moment she makes me like a beggar, and the next I am a young
+man with good clothes on my back; it is an easy matter for the gods
+who live in heaven to make any man look either rich or poor."
+
+As he spoke he sat down, and Telemachus threw his arms about his father
+and wept. They were both so much moved that they cried aloud like
+eagles or vultures with crooked talons that have been robbed of their
+half fledged young by peasants. Thus piteously did they weep, and
+the sun would have gone down upon their mourning if Telemachus had
+not suddenly said, "In what ship, my dear father, did your crew bring
+you to Ithaca? Of what nation did they declare themselves to be- for
+you cannot have come by land?"
+
+"I will tell you the truth, my son," replied Ulysses. "It was the
+Phaeacians who brought me here. They are great sailors, and are in
+the habit of giving escorts to any one who reaches their coasts. They
+took me over the sea while I was fast asleep, and landed me in Ithaca,
+after giving me many presents in bronze, gold, and raiment. These
+things by heaven's mercy are lying concealed in a cave, and I am now
+come here on the suggestion of Minerva that we may consult about killing
+our enemies. First, therefore, give me a list of the suitors, with
+their number, that I may learn who, and how many, they are. I can
+then turn the matter over in my mind, and see whether we two can fight
+the whole body of them ourselves, or whether we must find others to
+help us."
+
+To this Telemachus answered, "Father, I have always heard of your
+renown both in the field and in council, but the task you talk of
+is a very great one: I am awed at the mere thought of it; two men
+cannot stand against many and brave ones. There are not ten suitors
+only, nor twice ten, but ten many times over; you shall learn their
+number at once. There are fifty-two chosen youths from Dulichium,
+and they have six servants; from Same there are twenty-four; twenty
+young Achaeans from Zacynthus, and twelve from Ithaca itself, all
+of them well born. They have with them a servant Medon, a bard, and
+two men who can carve at table. If we face such numbers as this, you
+may have bitter cause to rue your coming, and your revenge. See whether
+you cannot think of some one who would be willing to come and help
+us."
+
+"Listen to me," replied Ulysses, "and think whether Minerva and her
+father Jove may seem sufficient, or whether I am to try and find some
+one else as well."
+
+"Those whom you have named," answered Telemachus, "are a couple of
+good allies, for though they dwell high up among the clouds they have
+power over both gods and men."
+
+"These two," continued Ulysses, "will not keep long out of the fray,
+when the suitors and we join fight in my house. Now, therefore, return
+home early to-morrow morning, and go about among the suitors as before.
+Later on the swineherd will bring me to the city disguised as a miserable
+old beggar. If you see them ill-treating me, steel your heart against
+my sufferings; even though they drag me feet foremost out of the house,
+or throw things at me, look on and do nothing beyond gently trying
+to make them behave more reasonably; but they will not listen to you,
+for the day of their reckoning is at hand. Furthermore I say, and
+lay my saying to your heart, when Minerva shall put it in my mind,
+I will nod my head to you, and on seeing me do this you must collect
+all the armour that is in the house and hide it in the strong store
+room. Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you are removing
+it; say that you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke,
+inasmuch as it is no longer what it was when Ulysses went away, but
+has become soiled and begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly
+that you are afraid Jove may set them on to quarrel over their wine,
+and that they may do each other some harm which may disgrace both
+banquet and wooing, for the sight of arms sometimes tempts people
+to use them. But leave a sword and a spear apiece for yourself and
+me, and a couple oxhide shields so that we can snatch them up at any
+moment; Jove and Minerva will then soon quiet these people. There
+is also another matter; if you are indeed my son and my blood runs
+in your veins, let no one know that Ulysses is within the house- neither
+Laertes, nor yet the swineherd, nor any of the servants, nor even
+Penelope herself. Let you and me exploit the women alone, and let
+us also make trial of some other of the men servants, to see who is
+on our side and whose hand is against us."
+
+"Father," replied Telemachus, "you will come to know me by and by,
+and when you do you will find that I can keep your counsel. I do not
+think, however, the plan you propose will turn out well for either
+of us. Think it over. It will take us a long time to go the round
+of the farms and exploit the men, and all the time the suitors will
+be wasting your estate with impunity and without compunction. Prove
+the women by all means, to see who are disloyal and who guiltless,
+but I am not in favour of going round and trying the men. We can attend
+to that later on, if you really have some sign from Jove that he will
+support you."
+
+Thus did they converse, and meanwhile the ship which had brought Telemachus
+and his crew from Pylos had reached the town of Ithaca. When they
+had come inside the harbour they drew the ship on to the land; their
+servants came and took their armour from them, and they left all the
+presents at the house of Clytius. Then they sent a servant to tell
+Penelope that Telemachus had gone into the country, but had sent the
+ship to the town to prevent her from being alarmed and made unhappy.
+This servant and Eumaeus happened to meet when they were both on the
+same errand of going to tell Penelope. When they reached the House,
+the servant stood up and said to the queen in the presence of the
+waiting women, "Your son, Madam, is now returned from Pylos"; but
+Eumaeus went close up to Penelope, and said privately that her son
+had given bidden him tell her. When he had given his message he left
+the house with its outbuildings and went back to his pigs again.
+
+The suitors were surprised and angry at what had happened, so they
+went outside the great wall that ran round the outer court, and held
+a council near the main entrance. Eurymachus, son of Polybus, was
+the first to speak.
+
+"My friends," said he, "this voyage of Telemachus's is a very serious
+matter; we had made sure that it would come to nothing. Now, however,
+let us draw a ship into the water, and get a crew together to send
+after the others and tell them to come back as fast as they can."
+
+He had hardly done speaking when Amphinomus turned in his place and
+saw the ship inside the harbour, with the crew lowering her sails,
+and putting by their oars; so he laughed, and said to the others,
+"We need not send them any message, for they are here. Some god must
+have told them, or else they saw the ship go by, and could not overtake
+her.
+
+On this they rose and went to the water side. The crew then drew the
+ship on shore; their servants took their armour from them, and they
+went up in a body to the place of assembly, but they would not let
+any one old or young sit along with them, and Antinous, son of Eupeithes,
+spoke first.
+
+"Good heavens," said he, "see how the gods have saved this man from
+destruction. We kept a succession of scouts upon the headlands all
+day long, and when the sun was down we never went on shore to sleep,
+but waited in the ship all night till morning in the hope of capturing
+and killing him; but some god has conveyed him home in spite of us.
+Let us consider how we can make an end of him. He must not escape
+us; our affair is never likely to come off while is alive, for he
+is very shrewd, and public feeling is by no means all on our side.
+We must make haste before he can call the Achaeans in assembly; he
+will lose no time in doing so, for he will be furious with us, and
+will tell all the world how we plotted to kill him, but failed to
+take him. The people will not like this when they come to know of
+it; we must see that they do us no hurt, nor drive us from our own
+country into exile. Let us try and lay hold of him either on his farm
+away from the town, or on the road hither. Then we can divide up his
+property amongst us, and let his mother and the man who marries her
+have the house. If this does not please you, and you wish Telemachus
+to live on and hold his father's property, then we must not gather
+here and eat up his goods in this way, but must make our offers to
+Penelope each from his own house, and she can marry the man who will
+give the most for her, and whose lot it is to win her."
+
+They all held their peace until Amphinomus rose to speak. He was the
+son of Nisus, who was son to king Aretias, and he was foremost among
+all the suitors from the wheat-growing and well grassed island of
+Dulichium; his conversation, moreover, was more agreeable to Penelope
+than that of any of the other for he was a man of good natural disposition.
+"My friends," said he, speaking to them plainly and in all honestly,
+"I am not in favour of killing Telemachus. It is a heinous thing to
+kill one who is of noble blood. Let us first take counsel of the gods,
+and if the oracles of Jove advise it, I will both help to kill him
+myself, and will urge everyone else to do so; but if they dissuade
+us, I would have you hold your hands."
+
+Thus did he speak, and his words pleased them well, so they rose forthwith
+and went to the house of Ulysses where they took their accustomed
+seats.
+
+Then Penelope resolved that she would show herself to the suitors.
+She knew of the plot against Telemachus, for the servant Medon had
+overheard their counsels and had told her; she went down therefore
+to the court attended by her maidens, and when she reached the suitors
+she stood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the cloister
+holding a veil before her face, and rebuked Antinous saying:
+
+"Antinous, insolent and wicked schemer, they say you are the best
+speaker and counsellor of any man your own age in Ithaca, but you
+are nothing of the kind. Madman, why should you try to compass the
+death of Telemachus, and take no heed of suppliants, whose witness
+is Jove himself? It is not right for you to plot thus against one
+another. Do you not remember how your father fled to this house in
+fear of the people, who were enraged against him for having gone with
+some Taphian pirates and plundered the Thesprotians who were at peace
+with us? They wanted to tear him in pieces and eat up everything he
+had, but Ulysses stayed their hands although they were infuriated,
+and now you devour his property without paying for it, and break my
+heart by his wooing his wife and trying to kill his son. Leave off
+doing so, and stop the others also."
+
+To this Eurymachus son of Polybus answered, "Take heart, Queen Penelope
+daughter of Icarius, and do not trouble yourself about these matters.
+The man is not yet born, nor never will be, who shall lay hands upon
+your son Telemachus, while I yet live to look upon the face of the
+earth. I say- and it shall surely be- that my spear shall be reddened
+with his blood; for many a time has Ulysses taken me on his knees,
+held wine up to my lips to drink, and put pieces of meat into my hands.
+Therefore Telemachus is much the dearest friend I have, and has nothing
+to fear from the hands of us suitors. Of course, if death comes to
+him from the gods, he cannot escape it." He said this to quiet her,
+but in reality he was plotting against Telemachus.
+
+Then Penelope went upstairs again and mourned her husband till Minerva
+shed sleep over her eyes. In the evening Eumaeus got back to Ulysses
+and his son, who had just sacrificed a young pig of a year old and
+were ready; helping one another to get supper ready; Minerva therefore
+came up to Ulysses, turned him into an old man with a stroke of her
+wand, and clad him in his old clothes again, for fear that the swineherd
+might recognize him and not keep the secret, but go and tell Penelope.
+
+Telemachus was the first to speak. "So you have got back, Eumaeus,"
+said he. "What is the news of the town? Have the suitors returned,
+or are they still waiting over yonder, to take me on my way home?"
+
+"I did not think of asking about that," replied Eumaeus, "when I was
+in the town. I thought I would give my message and come back as soon
+as I could. I met a man sent by those who had gone with you to Pylos,
+and he was the first to tell the new your mother, but I can say what
+I saw with my own eyes; I had just got on to the crest of the hill
+of Mercury above the town when I saw a ship coming into harbour with
+a number of men in her. They had many shields and spears, and I thought
+it was the suitors, but I cannot be sure."
+
+On hearing this Telemachus smiled to his father, but so that Eumaeus
+could not see him.
+
+Then, when they had finished their work and the meal was ready, they
+ate it, and every man had his full share so that all were satisfied.
+As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, they laid down to
+rest and enjoyed the boon of sleep.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+BOOK XVII
+
+When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Telemachus
+bound on his sandals and took a strong spear that suited his hands,
+for he wanted to go into the city. "Old friend," said he to the swineherd,
+"I will now go to the town and show myself to my mother, for she will
+never leave off grieving till she has seen me. As for this unfortunate
+stranger, take him to the town and let him beg there of any one who
+will give him a drink and a piece of bread. I have trouble enough
+of my own, and cannot be burdened with other people. If this makes
+him angry so much the worse for him, but I like to say what I mean."
+
+Then Ulysses said, "Sir, I do not want to stay here; a beggar can
+always do better in town than country, for any one who likes can give
+him something. I am too old to care about remaining here at the beck
+and call of a master. Therefore let this man do as you have just told
+him, and take me to the town as soon as I have had a warm by the fire,
+and the day has got a little heat in it. My clothes are wretchedly
+thin, and this frosty morning I shall be perished with cold, for you
+say the city is some way off."
+
+On this Telemachus strode off through the yards, brooding his revenge
+upon the When he reached home he stood his spear against a bearing-post
+of the cloister, crossed the stone floor of the cloister itself, and
+went inside.
+
+Nurse Euryclea saw him long before any one else did. She was putting
+the fleeces on to the seats, and she burst out crying as she ran up
+to him; all the other maids came up too, and covered his head and
+shoulders with their kisses. Penelope came out of her room looking
+like Diana or Venus, and wept as she flung her arms about her son.
+She kissed his forehead and both his beautiful eyes, "Light of my
+eyes," she cried as she spoke fondly to him, "so you are come home
+again; I made sure I was never going to see you any more. To think
+of your having gone off to Pylos without saying anything about it
+or obtaining my consent. But come, tell me what you saw."
+
+"Do not scold me, mother,' answered Telemachus, "nor vex me, seeing
+what a narrow escape I have had, but wash your face, change your dress,
+go upstairs with your maids, and promise full and sufficient hecatombs
+to all the gods if Jove will only grant us our revenge upon the suitors.
+I must now go to the place of assembly to invite a stranger who has
+come back with me from Pylos. I sent him on with my crew, and told
+Piraeus to take him home and look after him till I could come for
+him myself."
+
+She heeded her son's words, washed her face, changed her dress, and
+vowed full and sufficient hecatombs to all the gods if they would
+only vouchsafe her revenge upon the suitors.
+
+Telemachus went through, and out of, the cloisters spear in hand-
+not alone, for his two fleet dogs went with him. Minerva endowed him
+with a presence of such divine comeliness that all marvelled at him
+as he went by, and the suitors gathered round him with fair words
+in their mouths and malice in their hearts; but he avoided them, and
+went to sit with Mentor, Antiphus, and Halitherses, old friends of
+his father's house, and they made him tell them all that had happened
+to him. Then Piraeus came up with Theoclymenus, whom he had escorted
+through the town to the place of assembly, whereon Telemachus at once
+joined them. Piraeus was first to speak: "Telemachus," said he, "I
+wish you would send some of your women to my house to take awa the
+presents Menelaus gave you."
+
+"We do not know, Piraeus," answered Telemachus, "what may happen.
+If the suitors kill me in my own house and divide my property among
+them, I would rather you had the presents than that any of those people
+should get hold of them. If on the other hand I manage to kill them,
+I shall be much obliged if you will kindly bring me my presents."
+
+With these words he took Theoclymenus to his own house. When they
+got there they laid their cloaks on the benches and seats, went into
+the baths, and washed themselves. When the maids had washed and anointed
+them, and had given them cloaks and shirts, they took their seats
+at table. A maid servant then brought them water in a beautiful golden
+ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands;
+and she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them
+bread and offered them many good things of what there was in the house.
+Opposite them sat Penelope, reclining on a couch by one of the bearing-posts
+of the cloister, and spinning. Then they laid their hands on the good
+things that were before them, and as soon as they had had enough to
+eat and drink Penelope said:
+
+"Telemachus, I shall go upstairs and lie down on that sad couch, which
+I have not ceased to water with my tears, from the day Ulysses set
+out for Troy with the sons of Atreus. You failed, however, to make
+it clear to me before the suitors came back to the house, whether
+or no you had been able to hear anything about the return of your
+father."
+
+"I will tell you then truth," replied her son. "We went to Pylos and
+saw Nestor, who took me to his house and treated me as hospitably
+as though I were a son of his own who had just returned after a long
+absence; so also did his sons; but he said he had not heard a word
+from any human being about Ulysses, whether he was alive or dead.
+He sent me, therefore, with a chariot and horses to Menelaus. There
+I saw Helen, for whose sake so many, both Argives and Trojans, were
+in heaven's wisdom doomed to suffer. Menelaus asked me what it was
+that had brought me to Lacedaemon, and I told him the whole truth,
+whereon he said, 'So, then, these cowards would usurp a brave man's
+bed? A hind might as well lay her new-born young in the lair of a
+lion, and then go off to feed in the forest or in some grassy dell.
+The lion, when he comes back to his lair, will make short work with
+the pair of them, and so will Ulysses with these suitors. By father
+Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, if Ulysses is still the man that he was
+when he wrestled with Philomeleides in Lesbos, and threw him so heavily
+that all the Greeks cheered him- if he is still such, and were to
+come near these suitors, they would have a short shrift and a sorry
+wedding. As regards your question, however, I will not prevaricate
+nor deceive you, but what the old man of the sea told me, so much
+will I tell you in full. He said he could see Ulysses on an island
+sorrowing bitterly in the house of the nymph Calypso, who was keeping
+him prisoner, and he could not reach his home, for he had no ships
+nor sailors to take him over the sea.' This was what Menelaus told
+me, and when I had heard his story I came away; the gods then gave
+me a fair wind and soon brought me safe home again."
+
+With these words he moved the heart of Penelope. Then Theoclymenus
+said to her:
+
+"Madam, wife of Ulysses, Telemachus does not understand these things;
+listen therefore to me, for I can divine them surely, and will hide
+nothing from you. May Jove the king of heaven be my witness, and the
+rites of hospitality, with that hearth of Ulysses to which I now come,
+that Ulysses himself is even now in Ithaca, and, either going about
+the country or staying in one place, is enquiring into all these evil
+deeds and preparing a day of reckoning for the suitors. I saw an omen
+when I was on the ship which meant this, and I told Telemachus about
+it."
+
+"May it be even so," answered Penelope; "if your words come true,
+you shall have such gifts and such good will from me that all who
+see you shall congratulate you."
+
+Thus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs,
+or aiming with spears at a mark on the levelled ground in front of
+the house, and behaving with all their old insolence. But when it
+was now time for dinner, and the flock of sheep and goats had come
+into the town from all the country round, with their shepherds as
+usual, then Medon, who was their favourite servant, and who waited
+upon them at table, said, "Now then, my young masters, you have had
+enough sport, so come inside that we may get dinner ready. Dinner