Homer
Wrote in Greek
The Odyssey
Written 800 B.C.E
Translated by Samuel Butler
The Odyssey
By Homer
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.
The Odyssey
By Homer
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 calf 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.
The Odyssey
By Homer
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 arter 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,
The Odyssey
By Homer
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 oam 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 f |
