EX BtBLlOTHECA 
 FRANCES A. YATES 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/storyofodysseyOOchur_0 
 
THE STORY OF 
 THE ODYSSEY 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Rev. ALFRED J. CHURCH, M.A. 
 
 SOMETIME PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON 
 
 With Illustrations after Flaxman 
 
 LONDON 
 SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED 
 
 38 Great Russell Street 
 1905 
 
Copyright in the United States 
 
 J 
 
PENELOPE SURPRISED BY THE'SUITORS. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE COUNSEL OF ATHENE 
 
 When the great city of Troy had been taken, all the chiefs 
 who had fought against it set sail for their homes. But there 
 was wrath in heaven against them, so that they did not find a 
 safe and happy return. For one was shipwrecked, and another 
 was shamefully slain by his false wife in his palace, and others 
 found all things at home troubled and changed, and were 
 constrained to seek new. dwellings elsewhere ; and some were 
 driven far and wide about the world before they saw their native 
 land again. Of all, the wise Ulysses was he that wandered 
 farthest and suffered most, for when ten years had well-nigh 
 passed, he was still faraway from Ithaca, his kingdom. 
 
6 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 The gods were gathered in council in the hall of Olympus, all 
 but Poseidon, for he had gone to feast with the Ethiopians. 
 Now Poseidon was he who most hated Ulysses, and kept him 
 from his home. 
 
 Then spake Zeus among the immortal gods : " What an idle 
 thing it is that men lay the blame for what they suffer on the 
 gods ! See how ^Egisthus hath paid the penalty of his misdeeds. 
 For he took the wife of King Agamemnon, and slew the King 
 when he had come back to his home ; and this he did though 
 we warned him against such wickedness, sending to him 
 Hermes, our messenger ; and now he hath paid the price ! " 
 
 Then Athene made answer : " Verily, he hath well earned 
 his fate. So perish all that do such deeds ! It is for .Ulysses 
 that my heart is rent. Sore affliction doth he suffer in the 
 island of the sea, where the daughter of Atlas keepeth him, 
 seeking to make him forget his native land. And he, yearning 
 to see though it were the smoke rising up from the land of his 
 birth, is fain to die. And thou regardest it not at all. Did he 
 not offer thee many sacrifices in the land of Troy ? Wherefore 
 hast thou such wrath against him ?" 
 
 To her Zeus made reply : " What is this that thou sayest, my 
 daughter ? It is Poseidon that hath great wrath against Ulysses, 
 because he blinded his son Polyphemus the Cyclops. But come, 
 let us take counsel together that he may return to his home, for 
 Poseidon will not be able to contend against us all." 
 
 Then said Athene : " If this be thy will, then let us speed 
 Hermes the messenger to the island of Calypso, and let him 
 declare to the goddess our purpose that Ulysses shall return to 
 his home. And I will go to Ithaca, and stir up the spirit of his 
 son Telemachus, that first he speak out his mind to the suitors 
 of his mother who waste his substance, and next that he go to 
 Sparta and to Pylos, seeking tidings of his father. So shall the 
 youth win good report among men." 
 
 So she went to Ithaca, and there she took upon her the form 
 of Mentes, who was chief of the Taphians. 
 
 Now there were gathered in the house of Ulysses many 
 princes from the islands, suitors of the Queen Penelope, for 
 they said that Ulysses was dead, and that she should choose 
 
THE COUNSEL OF ATHENE 
 
 7 
 
 another husband. These were gathered together, and were 
 sitting playing draughts and feasting. And Telemachus sat 
 among them, vexed at heart, for they wasted his substance ; 
 neither was he master in his house. But when he saw the guest 
 at the door, he rose from his place, and welcomed him, and 
 made him sit down, and commanded that they should give him 
 food and wine. And when he had ended his meal, Telemachus 
 asked him of his business. 
 
 Thereupon the false Mentes said : " My name is Mentes, and 
 I am King of the Taphians, and I am sailing to Cyprus for 
 copper, taking iron in exchange. Now I have been long time 
 the friend of this house, of thy father and thy father's father, 
 and I came trusting to see thy father, for they told me that he 
 was here. But now I see that some god hath hindered his 
 return, for that he is yet alive I know full well. But tell me, 
 who are these that I see? Is this the gathering of a clan, or a 
 wedding feast ? Truly, a wise man would be wroth to see such 
 doings." 
 
 Telemachus made answer : " O sir, while my father was yet 
 alive, our house was rich and honoured ; but now that he is 
 gone, things are not well with me. I would not grieve so much 
 had he fallen in battle before Troy ; then had the Greeks 
 builded a great barrow for him, and even for his son, had he 
 won great renown. But now the storms of the sea have swept 
 him away. No honour hath he, and I am left in sore distress. 
 For these' whom thou seest are the princes of the island 
 that come here to woo my mother. She neither refaseth 
 nor accepteth ; and meanwhile they sit here, and waste my 
 substance." 
 
 Then said the false Mentes : " Now may the gods help thee ! 
 Thou art indeed in sore need of Ulysses. Would that he could 
 come and stand at the entering in of the gate with helmet and 
 shield and a spear in either hand, such as he was when he 
 came to my father's house from Ephyra ! Thither he had gone 
 seeking from Ilus, who was King of the land, a deadly drug 
 wherewith to anoint his arrows. But Ilus, because he had the 
 gods in awe, would not give it to him ; but my father gave it, 
 so much did he love him. But all these things are with the 
 
8 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 gods, whether he shall come back or no. But now hearken to 
 my counsel. First call an assembly of the people. Bid the 
 suitors go back, each man to his home ; and as for thy mother, if 
 she be moved to wed, let her return to her father's house, that her 
 kinsfolk may furnish a wedding feast, and prepare gifts such as 
 a daughter well beloved should have. Afterwards do thou fit 
 up a ship with twenty oars, and go, inquire concerning thy father, 
 if haply some man may give thee tidings of him ; or, maybe, 
 thou wilt hear a voice from Zeus concerning him. Go to Pylos 
 first, and afterwards to Sparta, where Menelaiis dwelleth, who of 
 all the Greeks came back the last to his home. If thou shouldst 
 hear that he is dead, then come back hither, and raise a mound 
 for him, and pay thereon due burial rites, and give thy mother 
 to a husband. And when thou hast made an end of all these 
 things, then devise in thy heart how thou mayest slay the suitors, 
 whether it be by force or craft, for it is time for thee to have 
 the thoughts of a man. Dost thou not know what glory Orestes 
 won among men, for that he slew ^Egisthus, the slayer of his 
 sire ? ; ' 
 
 Then said Telemachus : " Thou speakest these things out of 
 a friendly heart, as a father might speak to his son, nor will I 
 ever forget them. But now, I pray thee, abide here for a space, 
 that I may give thee a goodly gift, such as friends give to friends, 
 to be an heirloom in thy house." 
 
 But the false Mentes said : " Keep me no longer, for I am 
 eager to depart ; give me thy gift when I shall return." 
 
 So the goddess departed ; like to an eagle of the sea was she 
 as she flew. And Telemachus knew her to be a goddess as she 
 went. 
 
 Meanwhile Phemius the minstrel sang to the suitors, and his 
 song was of the ill return that the Greeks had from Troy through 
 the counsel of Athene. 
 
 When Penelope heard the song, she came down from the 
 upper chamber where she sat, and two handmaids bare her 
 company. And when she came to where the suitors sat, she 
 stood by the gate of the hall holding her shining veil before her 
 face. Then spake she to the minstrel, weeping the while, and 
 said : " Phemius, thou knowest many songs concerning the deeds 
 
THE COUNSEL OF ATHENE 
 
 9 
 
 of gods and men ; sing, therefore, one of these, and let the 
 guests drink the wine in silence. But stay this pitiful strain, for 
 it breaketh my heart to hear it. Surely, of all women I am the 
 most unhappy, so famous was the husband for whom I mourn." 
 
 But Telemachus made reply : " Why dost thou grudge the 
 minstrel, my mother, to make us glad in such fashion as his 
 spirit biddeth him ? It is no blame to him that he singeth of 
 the ill return of the Greeks, for ever do men most prize the 
 song that soundeth newest in their ears. Endure, therefore, to 
 listen, for not Ulysses only missed his return, but many a 
 famous chief besides. Go, then, to thy chamber, and mind 
 thy household affairs, and bid thy handmaids ply their tasks. 
 Speech belongeth unto men, and chiefly to me that am the 
 master in this house." 
 
 Then she went back to her chamber, for she was amazed at 
 her son, with such authority did he speak. Then she bewailed 
 her lord, till Athene sent down sleep upon her eyes. 
 
 When she was gone, Telemachus spake to the suitors, 
 saying : " Let us now feast and be merry, and let there be no 
 brawling among us. It is a good thing to listen to a minstrel 
 that hath a voice as the voice of a god. But in the morning 
 let us go to the assembly, that I may declare my purpose, to 
 wit, that ye leave this hall, and eat your own substance. But 
 if ye deem it a better thing that ye should waste another man ; s 
 goods, and make no recompense, then work your will. But 
 certainly Zeus shall requite you." 
 
 So he spake, and they marvelled all that he used such 
 boldness. And Antinoiis answered : " Surely, Telemachus, it 
 is of the bidding of the gods that thou speakest so boldly. 
 Therefore I pray that Zeus may never make thee King in 
 Ithaca, for, indeed, the kingdom is thy rightful inheritance." 
 
 Then said Telemachus : " It is no ill thing to be a king, for 
 his house groweth rich, and he himself is honoured. But there 
 are others in Ithaca, young and old, who may have the king- 
 ship, now that Ulysses is dead. Yet know that I will be lord 
 of my own house and of the slaves which Ulysses won for 
 himself with his own spear." 
 
 Thereupon spake Eurymachus, saying : " It is with the gods 
 
io THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 to say who shall be King in Ithaca ; but that thou shouldst 
 keep thine own goods and be lord in thine own house, no man 
 can deny. Never may that man come who shall wrest thy 
 substance from thee against thy will ! But tell me, who is 
 this stranger that came but just now to thy house ? Did he 
 bring tidings of thy father ? Or came he on some matter of 
 his own ? In strange fashion did he depart, tarrying not that 
 we might know him. Yet he seemed one of no mean degree." 
 
 Telemachus made answer : " Verily, Eurymachus, the day of 
 my father's return hath gone by forever. I make no count 
 of tidings, whencesoever they may come, nor do I regard any 
 divination wherewith any diviner may answer my mother, 
 when she entertaineth him in her hall. But as for this stranger, 
 he said that he was Mentes, King of the Taphians." 
 
 So spake Telemachus, but in his heart he knew that the 
 stranger was Athene. Then the suitors turned them to the 
 dance and to the song, making merry till the darkness fell. 
 Then they went each to his own house to sleep. 
 
 But Telemachus went to his chamber, pondering many 
 things in his heart. And Eurycleia, that had nursed him 
 when he was little, went with him, bearing torches in her 
 hands. He opened the door of the chamber, and took off his 
 doublet, and put it in the wise woman's hands. She folded it, 
 and smoothed it, and hung it on a pin, and went forth from 
 the room, and pulled to the door, and made it fast. And all 
 the night Telemachus thought in his heart of the journey 
 which Athene had showed him. 
 
THE ASSEMBLY 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE ASSEMBLY 
 
 When the morning came Telemachus bade the heralds call 
 the people to the assembly. So the heralds called them, and 
 they came in haste. And when they were gathered together, 
 he went his way to the place of meeting, holding in his hand 
 a spear, and two dogs followed him. Then did Athene shed a 
 marvellous grace upon him, so that all men wondered at him, 
 as he sat down in his father's place. 
 
 First spake ^gyptus, who was bowed with many years, and 
 was very wise. Four sons he had. One had gone with Ulysses 
 to Troy, and one was among the suitors of the Queen, and 
 two abode with their father in the field. He said : " Hearken 
 to me, men of Ithaca ! Never hath assembly been called in 
 Ithaca since Ulysses departed. Who now hath called us 
 together ? If it be Telemachus, what doth he want ? Hath 
 he heard any tidings of the coming back of the host ? He, 
 methinks, is a true man. May Zeus be with him and grant 
 him his heart's desire ! " 
 
 So spake the old man, and Telemachus was glad at the 
 omen of his speech. Then he rose up and said: — 
 
 " I have great trouble in my heart, men of Ithaca, for first 
 my father is not, whom ye all loved ; and next the princes 
 of the islands come hither, making suit to my mother, but she 
 waits ever for her husband, when he shall return. And they 
 devour all our substance ; nor is Ulysses here to defend it, 
 and I, in truth, am not able. And this is a grievous wrong, 
 and not to be borne." 
 
 Then he dashed his sceptre on the ground, and sat down, 
 weeping. And Antinoiis, who was one of the suitors, rose 
 up and said : — 
 
 " Nay, Telemachus, blame not us, but blame thy mother, 
 who indeed is crafty above all women. For now this is the 
 
12 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 fourth year that we have come suing for her hand, and she 
 has cheated us with hopes. Hear now this that she did. She 
 set up a great warp for weaving, and said to us : ' Listen, ye 
 that are my suitors. Hasten not my marriage till I finish this 
 web to be a burial cloth for Laertes, for indeed it would be a 
 foul shame if he who has won great possessions should lack 
 this honour. 5 So she spake, and for three years she cheated 
 us, for what she wove in the day she unravelled at night. But 
 when the fourth year was come, one of her maidens told us 
 of the matter, and we came upon her by night and found her 
 unravelling the web, even what she had woven in the day. 
 Then did she finish it, much against her will. Send away, 
 therefore, thy mother, and bid her marry whom she will. But 
 till this be done we will not depart." 
 
 Then answered Telemachus : " How can I send her away 
 against her will, who bare me and brought me up? Much forfeit 
 must I pay to Icarus, her father : ay, and the curses of my 
 mother would abide on me. Wherefore, I cannot do this thing." 
 
 So he spake ; and there came two eagles, which flew abreast 
 till they came over the assembly. Then did they wheel in 
 the air, and shook out from each many feathers, and tare each 
 other, and so departed. 
 
 Then cried Alitherses, the soothsayer : " Beware, ye suitors, 
 for great trouble is coming to you, and to others also. And 
 as for Ulysses, I said when he went to Troy that he should 
 return after twenty years ; and so it shall be." 
 
 And when the suitors would not listen, Telemachus said : 
 "Yet give me a ship and twenty rowers, that I may go to 
 Pylos and to Sparta, if haply I may hear news of my father. 
 And if I hear that he is dead, then will I come back hither, 
 and raise up a mound for him, and perform for him due burial 
 rites, and give my mother to a husband." 
 
 Having thus spoken, he sat down, and Mentor, whom 
 Ulysses, when he departed, set over his household, rose up in 
 the midst, and spake, saying : " Now henceforth never let any 
 king be kind and gentle in his heart or minded to work 
 righteousness. Let him rather be a hard man and unrighteous. 
 For now no man remembereth Ulysses of all the people whose 
 
THE ASSEMBLY 
 
 13 
 
 lord he was. Yet was he gentle as a father. If the suitors 
 are minded to do evil deeds, I hinder them not. They do 
 them at the peril of their own heads. It is with the people 
 that I am wroth, to see how they sit speechless, and cry not 
 shame upon the suitors ; and yet they are many in number, 
 and the suitors are few." 
 
 Then Leocritus, who was one of the suitors, answered : 
 " Surely thy wits wander, O Mentor, that thou biddest the 
 people put us down. Of a truth, if Ulysses himself should 
 come back, and should seek to drive the suitors from the hall, 
 it would fare ill with him. An evil doom would he meet, if he 
 fought with them that were more in number. As for the people, 
 let them go to their own houses. Let Mentor speed the young 
 man's voyage, for he is a friend of his house. Yet I doubt 
 whether he will ever accomplish it." 
 
 So he spake, and the assembly was dismissed. 
 
 But Telemachus went apart to the shore of the sea, and he 
 washed his hands in the water of the sea, and prayed to Athene, 
 saying : " Hear me, thou that didst come yesterday to the 
 house, and bid me take a ship, and sail across the sea, seeking 
 tidings of my father ! But the people delay my purpose, the 
 suitors stirring them up in the wickedness of their hearts." 
 
 And while he prayed, Athene stood by him, like to Mentor in 
 shape and speech. She spake, saying : " Thou art not, I trow, 
 without spirit and wit, and art like to be a true son of Ulysses 
 and Penelope. Wherefore, I have good hopes that this journey 
 of which thou speakest will not be in vain. But as for the 
 suitors, think not of them, for they talk folly, and know not of 
 the doom that is even now close upon them. Go, therefore, 
 and talk with the suitors as before, and get ready meat for a 
 journey, wine and meal. And I will gather men who will offer 
 themselves freely for the journey, and I will find a ship also, 
 the best in Ithaca." 
 
 Then Telemachus returned to the house, and the suitors were 
 flaying goats and singeing swine in the court. And Antinous 
 caught him by the hand and said : " Eat and drink, Tele- 
 machus, and we will find a ship and rowers for thee, that thou 
 mayest go where thou wilt, to inquire for thy father." 
 
THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 But Telemachus answered : " Think ye that I will eat and 
 drink with you, who so shamefully waste my substance? Be 
 sure of this, that I will seek vengeance against you, and if ye 
 deny me a ship, I will even go in another man's. 5 ' 
 
 So he spake, and dragged his hand from the hand of 
 Antinous. 
 
 And another of the suitors said : " Now will Telemachus go 
 and seek help against us from Pylos or from Sparta, or maybe 
 he will put poison in our cups, and so destroy us." 
 
 MORNING. 
 
 And another said : " Perchance he also will perisn, as nis 
 father has perished. Then should we have much labour, even 
 dividing all his substance, but the house should we give to his 
 mother and to her husband." 
 
 So they spake, mocking him. But he went to the chamber 
 of his father, in which were ranged many casks of old wine, and 
 store of gold and bronze, and clothing and olive oil ; and of 
 these things the prudent Eurycleia, who was the keeper of the 
 house, had care. To her he spake : " Mother, make ready for 
 me twelve jars of wine, not of the best, but of that which is 
 
THE ASSEMBLY 
 
 15 
 
 next to it, and twenty measures of barley-meal. At even will I 
 take them, when my mother sleeps, for I go to Pylos and 
 Sparta, if perchance I may hear news of my father.' 
 
 But the old woman said, weeping : " What meanest thou, 
 being an only son, thus to travel abroad? Wilt thou perish, as 
 thy father has perished ? For this evil brood of suitors will 
 devise means to slay thee and divide thy goods. Thou hadst 
 better sit peaceably at home." 
 
 Then Telemachus said : " 5 Tis at the bidding of the gods I 
 go. "Only swear that thou wilt say naught to my mother till 
 eleven or twelve days be past, unless, perchance, she should ask 
 concerning me. 55 
 
 And the old woman sware that it should be so. And Tele- 
 machus went again among the suitors. But Athene, meanwhile, 
 taking his shape, had gathered together a crew, and also had 
 borrowed a ship for the voyage. And, lest the suitors should 
 hinder the thing, she caused a deep sleep to fall upon them, 
 that they slept where they sat. Then she came in the shape of 
 Mentor to the palace, and called Telemachus forth, saying : 
 "The rowers are ready ; let us go." 
 
 Then Athene led the way, and they found the ship's crew 
 upon the shore. To them spake Telemachus, saying : " Come 
 now, my friends, let us carry the food on board, for it is all in 
 the chamber, and no one knoweth of the matter ; neither my 
 mother, nor any of the maidens, but one woman only." 
 
 So they went to the house with him, and carried all the pro- 
 vision, and . stowed it in the ship. Then Telemachus climbed 
 the ship and sat down on the stern, and Athene sat by him. 
 
 And when he called to the crew, they made ready to depart. 
 They raised the pine-tree mast, and set it in the hole that was 
 made for it, and they made it fast with stays. Then they hauled 
 up the white sails with ropes of ox-hide. And the wind filled 
 out the sail, and the water seethed about the stem of the ship, 
 as she hasted through the water. And when all was made 
 fast in the ship, then they mixed wine in the bowl, and poured 
 out drink-offerings to the gods, especially to Zeus. 
 
 So all the night, and till the dawn, the ship sped through 
 the sea. 
 
j6 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 nestor's tale 
 
 At sunrise the ship came to Pylos, where Nestor dwelt. Now 
 it so chanced that the people were offering a great sacrifice 
 upon the shore to Poseidon. Nine companies there were, and 
 in each company five hundred men, and for the five hundred 
 there were nine bulls. And now they had tasted of the inner 
 parts and were burning the slices of flesh on the thigh-bones to 
 the god, when Telemachus's company moored the ship and 
 came forth from it to the shore. 
 
 Athene spake to Telemachus, saying : " Now hast thou no 
 need to be ashamed. Thou hast sailed across the sea to hear 
 tidings of thy father. Go, therefore, to Nestor, and learn what 
 counsel he hath in the deep of his heart." 
 
 But Telemachus answered : " How shall I speak to him, 
 being so untried and young ? " 
 
 "Nay," said the goddess ; "but thou shalt think of something 
 thyself, and something the gods will put into thy mouth." 
 
 So saying she led the way, and they came to where Nestor 
 sat, with his sons, and a great company round him, making 
 ready the feast. When these saw the strangers, they clasped 
 their hands, and made them sit down on soft fleeces of wool 
 And Nestor's son Peisistratus bare messes of the best, and wine 
 in a cup of gold. To Athene first he gave the wine, for he 
 judged her to be the elder of the two, saying : " Pray now to 
 the Lord Poseidon, and make thy drink-offering, and when 
 thou hast so done, give the cup to thy friend that he may do 
 likewise." 
 
 Then Athene took the cup and prayed to Poseidon, saying : 
 " Vouchsafe renown to Nestor and his son, and a due return to 
 the men of Pylos for this great sacrifice. And grant that we 
 may accomplish that for which we have come hither." 
 
 And the son of Ulysses prayed in like manner. 
 
NESTOR'S TALE 
 
 17 
 
 When they had eaten and drunk their fill, Nestor said : 
 " Strangers, who are ye ? Sail ye over the seas for trade, or as 
 pirates that wander at hazard of their lives ? " 
 
 To him Telemachus made reply, Athene putting courage into 
 his heart : " We come from Ithaca, and our errand concerns 
 ourselves. I seek for tidings of my father, who in old time 
 fought by thy side, and sacked the city of Troy. Of all the 
 others, as many as did battle with the men of Troy, we have 
 heard, whether they have returned, or where they died ; but of 
 this man even the death remains untold. Therefore am I come 
 hither to thee, if haply thou mayest be willing to tell me of him, 
 whether thou sawesf his death with thine own eyes, or hast 
 heard it from another. Speak me no soft words for pity's sake, 
 but tell me plainly what thou hast seen." 
 
 Nestor made answer : " Thou bringest to my mind all that 
 we endured, warring round Priam's mighty town. There the 
 best of us were slain. Valiant Ajax lies there, and there Achilles, 
 and there Patroclus, and there my own dear son Antilochus. 
 Who could tell the tale of all that we endured ? Truly, no one, 
 not though thou shouldst abide here five years or six to listen. 
 For nine whole years we were busy, devising the ruin of the 
 enemy, which yet Zeus brought not to pass. And always 
 Ulysses passed the rest in craft, thy father Ulysses, if indeed 
 thou art his son, and verily thy speech is like to his ; one would 
 not think that a younger man could be so like to an elder. But 
 listen to my tale. When we had sacked Priam's town, Zeus 
 devised evil against the Greeks in the matter of their return, 
 for indeed they were not all prudent or just, and they had pro- 
 voked the wrath of Athene. First there arose debate between 
 the sons of Atreus. They called the Greeks to the assembly at 
 the going down of the sun, a thing which was against order, 
 and the people came heavy with wine. Then Menelaiis charged 
 them that they should return across the sea without delay : 
 but Agamemnon was minded to keep back the host, and offer 
 sacrifice to Athene, if haply he might appease her wrath. Fool ! 
 for he knew not that she was not to be persuaded. The gods 
 do not easily repent them of their purposes. So the twain 
 contended, and the Greeks made a dreadful clamour. That 
 
 B 
 
1 8 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 night we rested, being wroth with each other. And the next 
 day we of the one part launched our ships, and put on board 
 our possessions and the spoil we had taken from Troy. One 
 half of the people set sail, and one abode with Agamemnon. 
 And when we came to Tenedos there arose fresh strife among 
 us, for Ulysses turned back to Troy, but. I went on my way, 
 for I knew that the gods intended mischief against us. Diomed 
 also fled, and Menelaiis followed after us, overtaking us in 
 Lesbos. There we doubted whether we should sail to seaward 
 of Chios or within it. And when we asked the god for a sign, 
 he showed us that we should go straight across the sea to 
 Eubcea. Then there arose a shrill wind, and the ships ran 
 swiftly before it. On the fourth day Diomed moored his ships 
 in Argos ; and I still sailed for Pylos, nor did the wind fail me 
 till I came. So it is that I know not of my own knowledge 
 which of the Greeks was saved and which was lost. But what 
 I have heard, sitting here in my hall, thou shalt know, and I 
 will hide nothing from thee. The Myrmidons, the people of 
 Achilles, came safe, and safe Philoctetes, and safe Idomeneus, 
 with all them that the war had not devoured. But of the son 
 of Atreus ye have heard yourselves how ^Egisthus slew him in 
 his hall, and paid a dreadful penalty therefor. Verily, it is a 
 good thing that a son of a dead man should be left to take 
 vengeance for him. Only do thou, as thou art tall and comely, 
 so be valiant also." 
 
 Then said Telemachus : " Orestes avenged his father, and 
 gained great glory thereby. Would that the gods might give 
 me the like strength, that I might take vengeance on the suitors, 
 who work me such ill ! " 
 
 Nestor spake : "Tell me, dost thou willingly submit to this 
 oppression ? or do the people of the land hate thee ? Haply 
 Ulysses himself may come and requite them for their wicked- 
 ness. Yea, and if Athene cared for thee, as she cared for him — 
 never did I see a god show such love to a man as did Athene 
 to him— then might some of these men forget their thoughts of 
 marriage." 
 
 But Telemachus answered : " Scarcely can this be accom- 
 plished, old man ; no, not even if the gods so willed it." 
 
NESTOR'S TALE 
 
 19 
 
 Thereupon Athene spake, saying : " What word is this that 
 thou hast said, Telemachus ? A god might bring a man back, 
 even from far, did he will it so. But death, which is the common 
 lot of all, the gods themselves cannot avert." 
 
 Then Telemachus spake again : " Talk no more of these 
 things, Mentor. I would now ask Nestor of another matter. 
 Tell me now, son of Neleus, how died King Agamemnon ? 
 Where was Menelaiis ? Was he not in Argos, that ^Egisthus 
 took heart and slew his brother ? " 
 
 Nestor made answer : " I will tell thee the whole truth. 
 While we were besieging Troy, ./Egisthus, sitting in peace in 
 Argos, tempted the wife of Agamemnon, the fair Clytemnestra, 
 to sin. At the first she scorned him, for she was wise of heart. 
 Also there was a certain minstrel to whom the King, when he 
 departed from his home, gave the charge of his wife. But him 
 ^Egisthus carried to a lonely island, and left him there to be 
 the prey of the birds. After that he persuaded the wife of the 
 King. Many sacrifices did he offer, and many gifts did he 
 give to the gods, if haply he might appease their wrath. Now, 
 as for Menelaiis, he and I sailed together from Troy. But when 
 we came to Sunium, which is the headland of Athens, Apollo 
 slew the pilot of the King with his painless shafts. And the 
 King was holden there, for all that he was eager to go, that he 
 might pay due burial honours to his friend. But when he 
 sailed, then great waves rose against his ships, and the fleet 
 was divided. Part was brought near to Crete, and there the 
 ships perished on a great headland that there is, looking to- 
 wards the south-west wind, and the men hardly escaped. But 
 Menelaiis himself was driven to Egypt with five ships. There 
 he wandered long among men of alien speech, and gathered 
 for himself much gold. While he was there, even for seven 
 years, ^Egisthus bare rule in Mycenae, and the people were 
 subdued unto him. But in the eighth year the goodly Orestes 
 came from Athens and slew him, avenging his father. On that 
 self-same day came Menelaiis home from Egypt, bringing much 
 treasure in his ships. But wander not thou, my son, far from 
 home, while strangers devour thy substance. Rather go to 
 Menelaiis, for he hath but^ately come back from a far country ; 
 
2o THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 go and ask him to tell thee all that he knoweth. If thou wilt, 
 go with thy ships, or, if it please thee better, I will send thee 
 with a chariot and horses, and my sons shall be thy guides.' 5 
 So he spake, and the sun went down. 
 
 Then said Athene : " Let us cut up the tongues of the beasts, 
 and mix the wine, and make libation to Poseidon and the other 
 gods, and so bethink us of sleep, for it is the time. It is not 
 seemly to sit long at a banquet of the gods, when the sun hath 
 set." 
 
 So she spake, and they hearkened to her words. And when 
 they had finished, Athene and Telemachus would have gone 
 back to their ship. But Nestor stayed them, saying : " Now 
 Zeus and all the gods forbid that ye should depart to your 
 ship from my house, as though it were the dwelling of a needy 
 man that hath not rugs and blankets in his house, whereon his 
 guests may sleep ! Not so ; I have rugs and blankets enough. 
 Never shall the son of my friend Ulysses lay him down on his 
 ship's deck, while I am alive, or my children after me, to 
 entertain strangers in my hall." 
 
 Thereupon said the false Mentor : " This is good, dear father. 
 Let Telemachus abide with thee ; but I will go back to the 
 ship, and cheer the company, and tell them all. There I will 
 sleep this night, and to-morrow I go to the Cauconians, where 
 there is owing me a debt neither small nor of yesterday. But 
 do thou send this man on his way in thy chariot." 
 
 Then the goddess departed in the semblance of a sea-eagle, 
 and all that saw it were amazed. 
 
 Then the old man took Telemachus by the hand, and said : 
 " No coward or weakling art thou like to be, whom the gods 
 attend even now in thy youth. This is none other than Athene, 
 daughter of Zeus, the same that stood by thy father in the land 
 of Troy." 
 
 After this the old man led the company to his house. Here he 
 mixed for them a bowl of wine eleven years old ; and they made 
 libations and prayed to Athene ; and when they had drunk to 
 their hearts' content they lay down to sleep. Telemachus slept 
 on a bedstead beneath the gallery, and Peisistratus, who alone 
 of Nestor's sons was unwedded, slept by him. 
 
NESTOR'S TALE 
 
 21 
 
 The next day, as soon as it was morning, Nestor arose and 
 his sons. And the old man said : " Let one man go to the 
 plain for a heifer, and let another go to the ship of Telemachus, 
 and bid all the company come hither, leaving two only behind. 
 And a third shall command the goldsmith that he gild the 
 horns of the heifer, and let the handmaids prepare all things for 
 a feast." 
 
 They did as the old man commanded ; and after the sacrifice 
 the fair Polycaste, that was Nestors youngest daughter, gave 
 
 nestor's sacrifice. 
 
 Telemachus the bath, and anointed him with olive oil, and 
 arrayed him in a goodly mantle and tunic. Then he sat him 
 down by Nestor's side. 
 
 When they had eaten and drunk, old Nestor said : " Put 
 now the horses in the chariot that Telemachus may go his 
 way." 
 
 So they yoked the horses, and the dame that kept the stores 
 put into the chariot food and wine and dainties, such as princes 
 eat. And Peisistratus took the reins, and Telemachus rode with 
 him. And all that day they journeyed ; and when the land grew 
 
22 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 dark they came to the city of Pherae, where Diodes, son of 
 Orsilochus, was King, and there they rested ; and the next day, 
 travelling again, came to Lacedaemon, to the palace of King 
 Menelaiis. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 IN SPARTA 
 
 Now it chanced that Menelaiis had made a great feast that 
 day, for his daughter Hermione, the child of the fair Helen, was 
 married to Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, to whom she 
 had been promised at Troy ; and he had also taken a wife for 
 his son Megapenthes. And the two wayfarers stayed their 
 chariot at the door, and the steward spied them, and said to 
 Menelaiis : — 
 
 " Lo ! here are two strangers who are like the children of 
 kings. Shall we keep them here, or send them to another ? " 
 
 But Menelaiis was wroth, and said : " Shall we, who have 
 eaten so often of the bread of hospitality, send these strangers to 
 another ? Nay, but unyoke their horses and bid them sit down 
 to meat." 
 
 So the squires loosed the horses from the yoke, and fastened 
 them in the stall, and gave them spelt to eat and white barley 
 mixed with it, and led the men into the hall. Much did they 
 marvel at the sight, for there was a gleam as of the sun or moon 
 in the palace of Menelaiis. And when they had gazed their fill, 
 they bathed them in the polished baths. After that they sat 
 them down by the side of Menelaiis. Then a handmaid bare 
 
IN SPARTA 
 
 23 
 
 water in an ewer of gold, and poured it over a basin of silver 
 that they might wash their hands. Afterwards she drew a 
 polished table to their side, and a dame of reverend look brought 
 food, and set it by them, laying many dainties on the board, 
 and a carver placed by them platters of divers kinds of flesh, 
 and set near them golden bowls. 
 
 Then said Menelaiis : " Eat and be glad ; afterwards I will 
 ask you*who ye are, for ye seem like to the sons of kings. No 
 churls could have such children as ye are." 
 
 So spake he, and set before them the chine, which was his 
 own portion of the feast ; and when they had ended the meal, 
 Telemachus, looking round at the hall, said to his companion : — 
 
 " See the gold and the amber, and the silver and the ivory 
 This is as the hall of Olympian Zeus. 5 ' 
 
 This he spake with his face close to his comrade's ear, but 
 Menelaiis heard him and said : — 
 
 " With the halls of the gods nothing mortal may compare. 
 And among men also there may be the match of these things. 
 Yet I have wandered far, and got many possessions in many lands. 
 But woe is me ! while I gathered these things my brother was 
 foully slain in his house. Would that I had but the third part 
 of this wealth of mine, so that they who perished at Troy were 
 alive again ! And most of all I mourn for the great Ulysses, 
 for whether he be alive or dead no man knows." 
 
 But Telemachus wept to hear mention of his father, holding 
 up his purple cloak before his eyes. This Menelaiis saw, and 
 knew him who he was, and pondered whether he should wait 
 till he should himself speak of his father, or should rather 
 ask him of his errand. But while he pondered there came in 
 the fair Helen, and three maidens with her, of whom one set a 
 couch for her to sit, and one spread a carpet for her feet, and 
 one bare a basket of purple wool ; but she herself had a distaff 
 of gold in her hand. And when she saw the strangers she 
 said : — 
 
 " Who are these, Menelaiis ? Never have I seen such likeness 
 in man or woman as this one bears to Ulysses. Surely 7 tis his 
 son Telemachus, whom he left an infant at home when ye went 
 to Troy for my sake ! " 
 
24 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 Then said Menelaiis : " It must indeed be so, lady. For these 
 are the hands and feet of Ulysses, and the look of his eyes and his 
 hair. And but now, when I made mention of his name, he wept, 
 holding his mantle before his face." 
 
 Then said Peisistratus : " King Menelaiis, thou speakest truth. 
 This is indeed the son of Ulysses, who is come to thee, if haply 
 thou canst help him by word or deed." 
 
 And Menelaiis answered : " Then is he the son of a man whom 
 I loved right well. I thought to give him a city in this land, 
 bringing him from Ithaca with all his goods. Then might we 
 often have companied together, nor should aught have divided 
 us but death itself. But these things the gods have ordered 
 otherwise." 
 
 At these words they all wept — the fair Helen and Telemachus 
 and Menelaiis ; nor could Peisistratus refrain himself, for he 
 thought of his dear brother Antilochus, whom Memnon, son of 
 the Morning, slew at Troy. 
 
 Thus thinking, he spake to Menelaiis, saying : " Son of Atreus, 
 Nestor hath ever said of thee that thou art wise beyond all other 
 men. Yet I would have thee listen to me, for I for one have no 
 pleasure in weeping when we sit at supper-time. I blame not 
 indeed these who weep for him that hath died. This, indeed, is 
 all the due that we can pay to the dead, to cut the hair and to 
 weep. And I too have a brother dead, not the meanest of the 
 Greeks, whom thou must have known. I never, indeed, beheld 
 him, but men say that Antilochus was excellent in speed of foot 
 and in the fight." 
 
 To him Menelaiis made reply : " Thou hast said all that a 
 wise man might say ; yea, though he were older than thou. 
 Fitting it is that thou shouldst speak wisely, being sprung from 
 such a sire. But now will we cease from weeping ; and to- 
 morrow there is much that Telemachus and I must say one to 
 the other." 
 
 Then the fair Helen put a mighty medicine in the wine 
 whereof they drank — nepenthe men call it. So mighty is it that 
 whosoever drinks of it, that day he weeps not, though father and 
 mother die, and though men slay brother or son before his eyes. 
 Polydamna, wife of King Thoas, had given it to her in Egypt, 
 
IN SPARTA 
 
 25 
 
 where, indeed, many medicines grow that are mighty both for 
 good and ill. 
 
 And after this she said : " It were long to tell all the wise 
 and valiant deeds of Ulysses. One thing, however, ye shall 
 hear, and it is this : while the Greeks were before Troy he came 
 into the city, having disguised himself as a beggar man, yea, 
 and he had laid many blows upon himself, so that he seemed 
 to have been shamefully entreated. I only knew him who he 
 was, and questioned him, but he answered craftily. And after- 
 wards, when I had bathed him and anointed him with oil, I 
 sware that I would not tell the thing till he had gone back 
 to the camp. So he slew many Trojans with the sword, and 
 learnt many things. And while other women in Troy lamented, 
 I was glad, for my heart was turned again to my home." 
 
 Then Menelaiis said : " Thou speakest truly, lady. Many 
 men have I seen, and travelled over many lands, but never 
 have I seen one who might be matched with Ulysses. Well 
 do I remember how, when I and other chiefs of the Greeks sat 
 in the horse of wood, thou didst come, Deiphobus following 
 thee. Some god who loved the sons of Troy put the thing into 
 thy heart. Thrice didst thou walk round our hiding-place and 
 call by name to each one of the chiefs, likening thy voice in 
 marvellous fashion to the voice of his wife. Then would Diomed 
 and I have either risen from our place or answered thee straight- 
 way. But Ulysses hindered us, so saving all the Greeks." 
 
 But Telemachus said : " Yet all these things have not kept 
 him, but that he has perished." 
 
 And after that they slept. 
 
26 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 MENELAUS'S TALE 
 
 The next day Menelaiis said to Telemachus : " For what end 
 hast thou come hitherto fair Lacedaemon. Is it on some matter 
 of the common weal, or on business of thine own?" 
 
 Then Telemachus said: "I have come, if haply thou canst 
 tell me aught of my father. For certain suitors of my mother 
 devour my goods, nor do I see any help. Tell me, therefore, 
 true, sparing me not at all, but saying if thou knowest anything 
 of thyself, or hast heard it from another." 
 
 And Menelaiis answered : " It angers me to hear of these 
 cowards who would lie in a brave man's bed. So a hind lays 
 its young in a lion's den, but when he comes he slays both her 
 and them. So shall it be with these in the day when Ulysses 
 shall come back. But as to what thou askest me, I will answer 
 clearly and without turning aside. 
 
 " By the river ^Egyptus I was stayed long time, though I was 
 eager to get me home; the gods stayed me, for I had not offered 
 to them due sacrifice. Now there is an island in the wash of 
 the waves over against the land of Egypt — men call it Pharos, 
 and it is distant one day's voyage for a ship, if the wind bloweth 
 fair in her wake. Here did the gods keep me twenty days, nor 
 did the sea-winds ever blow. Then had all my corn been spent, 
 and the lives also of my men, but that the daughter of Proteus 
 had pity on me. Her heart was moved to see me when I 
 wandered alone, apart from my company, for they all roamed 
 about the island, fishing with hooks because hunger gnawed 
 them. So she stood by me and spake, saying : ' Art thou 
 foolish, stranger, and feeble of wit, or dost thou sit still for 
 thine own pleasure, because it is sweet to thee to suffer ? 
 Verily, thou stayest long in this place, and canst find no escape, 
 while the heart of thy people faileth within them.' Then I 
 answered: C I will tell thee the truth, whosoever thou art. It 
 
MENELAUS'S TALE 
 
 27 
 
 is not [my own will that holdeth me here : I must needs have 
 sinned against the gods. Tell me now which of the gods 
 have I offended, and how shall I contrive to return to my 
 own home ? 5 So I spake, and straightway the goddess made 
 answer : ' I will tell thee all. To this place resorteth Proteus, 
 who knoweth the depths of all the sea. My father is he. If 
 thou couldst lay an ambush for him and catch him, he will 
 declare to thee thy way, how thou mayest return across the 
 deep. Also he will show thee what good and what evil have 
 happened within thy halls while thou hast been wandering far 
 away.' So she spake, and I made reply : ; Devise thyself this 
 ambush, lest by . any chance he see me first and avoid me, 
 for it is hard for a man to overcome a god.' Then said the 
 goddess : ' When the sun in his course hath reached the mid- 
 heaven, then cometh the old man from the sea ; before the 
 breath of the west wind he cometh, and the ripple covereth 
 him. And when he is come out of the sea, he lieth down in 
 the caves to sleep, and all about him lie the seals, the brood 
 of ocean, and bitter is the smell of the salt water that they 
 breathe. Thither will I lead thee at break of day, thee and 
 three of thy companions. Choose them from thy ships, the 
 bravest that thou hast. And now I will tell thee the old man's 
 art. First, he will count the seals, and when he has told the 
 tale of them, he will lie down in the midst, as a shepherd in 
 the midst of his flock. Now, so soon as ye shall see him thus 
 laid down, then remember your courage, and hold him there, 
 for all that he shall strive to be free. For he will take all 
 manner of shapes of creatures that creep upon the earth, and 
 of water likewise, and of burning fire. But do ye grasp him 
 fast, and press him hard, and when he shall question thee, 
 returning to his proper shape, then let him go free, and ask 
 him which of the gods is angry with thee, and how thou mayest 
 return across the deep.' Thereupon she dived beneath the sea, 
 and I betook me to the ships ; but I was sorely troubled in 
 heart. The next morning I took three of my comrades, in 
 whom I trusted most, and lo ! she had brought from the sea 
 the skins of four sea calves, which she had new 7 ly flayed, for she 
 was minded to lay a snare for her father. She scooped hiding- 
 
28 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 places for us in the sand, and made us lie down therein, and 
 cast the skin of a sea-calf over each of us. It would have 
 been a grievous ambush, for the stench of the skins had dis- 
 tressed us sore, — who, indeed, would lay him down by a beast 
 of the sea ? — but she wrought a deliverance for us. She took 
 ambrosia, very sweet, and put it under each man's nostrils, that 
 it might do away with the stench of the beast. 
 
 " So all the morning we waited with steadfast hearts. And 
 the seals came forth from the brine, and ranged them in order 
 upon the shore. And at noon the old man came forth out of 
 the sea, and went along the line of the sea-beasts, and counted 
 them. Us, too, he counted among them, and perceived not our 
 device; and after that he laid him down to sleep. Then we 
 rushed upon him with a cry, and held him fast ; nor did he 
 forget his cunning, for he became a bearded lion, and a snake, 
 and a pard, and a great wild boar. Also he took the shape of 
 running water, and of a flowering tree. And all the while we 
 held him fast. When at last he was weary, he said, ' Which of 
 the gods, son of Atreus, bade thee thus waylay me?' But I 
 answered him : 4 Wherefore dost thou beguile me, old man, 
 with crooked words ? I am holden in this isle, and can find 
 no escape therefrom. Tell me now which of the gods hindereth 
 me, and how I may return across the sea ? 5 The old man 
 made reply : ' Thou shouldst have done sacrifice to Zeus and 
 the other gods before embarking, if thou wouldst have reached 
 thy native country with speed. But now thou must go again 
 to the river yEgyptus, and make offerings to the gods ; so shall 
 they grant that which thou desirest' Then was my spirit broken 
 within me, when I heard that I must traverse again this weary 
 way, but I said : ' Old man, I will do all thy bidding. But tell 
 me now, I pray thee, did the other Greeks, whom Nestor and 
 I left behind us in Troy, return safe to their homes, or perished 
 any by an evil death on board of his ship or among his friends ?' 
 To this the old man made reply : i Thou doest ill to ask such 
 things, for thou wilt weep to hear them. Two only of the chiefs 
 perished in returning; as for the others, thou knowest what 
 befell. The ship of the Lesser Ajax was smitten ; yet might he 
 have escaped, though Athene hated him, for by the help of 
 
MENELAUS'S TALE 
 
 29 
 
 Poseidon he reached the rocks. But there he spake, in the 
 blindness of his heart, high words of pride, saying that in 
 despite of the gods he had escaped the devouring sea. Then 
 did Poseidon smite with his trident the rock whereon he sat, 
 and the one part fell into the sea, carrying Ajax with it; so 
 he perished, drinking the brine. Thy brother indeed escaped 
 from the fates of the sea, for PI era saved him; but the storm- 
 wind carried him to the place where ^gisthus, son of Thyestes, 
 dwelt. But when Agamemnon set foot upon his native land, 
 he kissed it, weeping hot tears, so glad was he to see it again. 
 But the watchman spied him from his tower, even the watchman 
 whom the crafty ^Egisthus had hired with two talents of gold. 
 For the space of two years had he watched, lest Agamemnon 
 should pass by him unawares. So now he went to the house 
 of ^gisthus, bearing the news. And ^Egisthus contrived a 
 crafty treason. He set an ambush in the hall, twenty of the 
 bravest of the place, and in the further side of the hall he bade 
 men make ready a feast ; then he went with chariots and horses 
 to bid Agamemnon to the feast ; to his house he brought him, 
 knowing nothing of his doom. And after the feast he slew 
 him, as one slayeth an ox at his stall. Not one of the company 
 of Agamemnon was left, and of the company of ^Egisthus not 
 one.' Then I wept sore, caring nothing to live any more. But 
 the old man said : ' Weep not, son of Atreus, for there is no 
 help in tears. Rather make haste to return, for either thou 
 shalt find ^Egisthus yet alive, or haply Orestes may have slain 
 him, and thou shalt come in time for his funeral feast. ? So he 
 spake, and my heart was comforted within me, and I said : 
 i Their fate I know ; but there is yet another of whom I would 
 fain hear. Is he yet alive, wandering on the deep, or is he 
 dead ? Speak, though it grieve me to hear.' Straightway the 
 old man answered : 'It is the son of Laertes of whom thou 
 speakest. Him I saw in an island, even in the dwelling of 
 Calypso ; and he was shedding great tears, because the nymph 
 keeps him there perforce, so that he may not come to his own 
 country, for he hath neither ship nor comrades. But thou, 
 Menelaiis, wilt not die as other men. The gods will take thee 
 to the Elysian plain, that is at the world's end. No snow is 
 
3o THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 there, nor storm, nor any rain, but the ocean ever sendeth forth 
 the west wind to breathe cool on men. Thus shall it be with 
 thee, because thou hast Helen to wife, and so art as the son 
 of Zeus. 5 So spake Proteus, and plunged into the sea. The 
 next day we went back to the river ^Egyptus, the stream that 
 is fed from heaven, and . offered sacrifice to the gods. And 
 when I had appeased their anger, I made a great barrow to 
 Agamemnon, my brother, that his name might not be forgotten 
 among men. And when these things had been duly performed, 
 I set sail, and came back to my own country, for the gods gave 
 me a fair wind. But do thou tarry now in my halls. And 
 when thou art minded to go, I will give thee a chariot and 
 three horses with it, and a goodly cup also, from which thou 
 mayest pour libations to the gods ; but do thou remember me 
 all the days of thy life." 
 
 To him Telemachus made reply : " Keep me not long, son of 
 Atreus, for my company wait for me in Pylos, though indeed I 
 would be content to stay with thee for a whole year, nor would 
 any longing for my home come over me. And let any gift 
 thou givest me be a thing for me to treasure. But I will take 
 no horses to Ithaca. Rather let them stay here and grace thy 
 home, for thou art lord of a wide plain where there is wheat and 
 rye and barley. But in Ithaca there is no meadow land. It is 
 a pasture land of goats, yet verily it is more pleasant to my eyes 
 than if it were a fit feeding- place for horses." 
 
 Then said Menelaus : " Thou speakest well, as becometh the 
 son of thy father. Come, now, I will change the gifts. Of all 
 the treasures in my house, I will give thee the goodliest, especially 
 a bowl which the King of the Sidonians gave me. Of silver it is, 
 and the lips are finished with gold." 
 
 Now it had been made known meanwhile to the suitors in 
 Ithaca that Telemachus was gone upon this journey seeking his 
 father, and the thing displeased them much. And after that 
 they had held counsel about the matter, it seemed best that 
 they should lay an ambush against him which should slay him 
 as he came back to his home. So Antinoiis took twenty men 
 and departed, purposing to lie in wait in the strait between 
 Ithaca and Samos. 
 
MENELAUS'S TALE 
 
 3i 
 
 Nor was this counsel unknown to Penelope, for the herald 
 Medon had heard it, and he told her how that Telemachus had 
 gone seeking news of his father, and how the suitors purposed 
 to slay him as he returned. And she called her women, old 
 and young, and rebuked them, saying : " Wicked that ye were, 
 that knew that he was about to go, and did not rouse me from 
 my bed. Surely I had kept him, eager though he was, from his 
 journey, or he had left me dead behind him ! " 
 
 penelope's dream. 
 
 Then said Eurycleia : " Slay me, if thou wilt, but I will hide 
 nothing from thee. I knew his purpose, and I furnished him 
 with such things as he needed. But he made me swear that I 
 would not tell thee till the eleventh or twelfth day was come. 
 But go with thy maidens and make thy prayer to Athene that 
 she will save him from death ; and indeed I think that this 
 house is not altogether hated by the gods.'' 
 
 Then Penelope, having duly prepared herself, went with her 
 maidens to the upper chamber, and prayed aloud to Athene 
 
32 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 that she would save her son. And the suitors heard her praying, 
 and said : " Surely the Queen prays, thinking of her marriage, 
 nor knows that death is near to her son." 
 
 Then she lay down to sleep, and had neither eaten nor drunk. 
 And while she slept Athene sent her a dream in the likeness of 
 her sister Iphthime, who was the wife of Eumelus, son of 
 Alcestis. And the vision stood over her head and spake : 
 " Sleepest thou, Penelope ? The gods would not have thee 
 grieve, for thy son shall surely return." 
 
 And Penelope said : " How earnest thou here, my sister ? 
 For thy dwelling is far away. And how can I cease to weep 
 when my husband is lost ? And now son is gone, and I am 
 sore afraid for him, lest his enemies slay him." 
 
 But the vision answered : " Fear not at all ; for there is a 
 mighty helper with him, even Athene, who hath bid me tell thee 
 these things.'' 
 
 Then Penelope said : " If thou art a goddess, tell me this. 
 Is my husband yet alive?" 
 
 But the vision answered : " That I cannot say, whether he be 
 alive or dead." And so saying, it vanished into air. 
 
 And Penelope woke from her sleep, and her heart was 
 comforted. 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 ULYSSES ON HIS RAFT 
 
 Again the gods sate in council on high Olympus, and 
 Athene spake among them, saying : " Now let no king be 
 minded to do righteously, for see how there is no man that 
 
ULYSSES ON HIS RAFT 
 
 33 
 
 remembereth Ulysses, who was as a father to his people. And 
 he lieth far off, fast bound in Calypso's isle, and hath no ship to 
 take him to his own country. Also the suitors are set upon 
 slaying his son, who is gone to Pylos and to Lacedasmon, that 
 he may get tidings of his father." 
 
 To her Zeus made answer : " What is this that thou sayest ? 
 Didst not thou thyself plan this device that the vengeance of 
 Ulysses might be wrought upon the suitors ? As for Telemachus, 
 do thou guide him by thy art, as well thou mayest, so that he 
 may come to his own land unharmed, and the suitors may have 
 their labour in vain." 
 
 Also he said to Hermes : " Hermes, go to the nymph 
 Calypso, and tell her my sure purpose that Ulysses shall now 
 come back to his home." 
 
 So Hermes put on his golden sandals, and took his wand in 
 his hand, and came to the island of Ogygia, and to the cave 
 where Calypso dwelt. A fair place it was. In the cave was 
 burning a fire of sweet-smelling wood, and Calypso sat at her 
 loom, and sang with a lovely voice. And round about the cave 
 was a grove of alders and poplars and cypresses, wherein many 
 birds, falcons and owls and sea-crows, were wont to roost ; and 
 all about the mouth of the cave was a vine with purple clusters 
 of grapes ; and there were four fountains which streamed four 
 ways through meadows of parsley and violet. Very fair was 
 the place, so that even a god might marvel at it, and Hermes 
 stood and marvelled. Then went he into the cave, and Calypso 
 knew him when she saw him face to face, for the gods know 
 each other, even though their dwellings be far apart. But 
 Ulysses was not there, for he sat, as was his wont, on the sea- 
 shore, weeping and groaning, because he might not see wife 
 and home and country. 
 
 Then Calypso said to Hermes : " Wherefore has thou come 
 hither, Hermes of the golden wand ? Welcome thou art, but 
 thou hast not been used to visit me of old time. Tell me all 
 thy thought, that I may fulfil it if I may, but first follow me, 
 that I may set food before thee." 
 
 So she spread a table with ambrosia, and set it by him, and 
 mixed the ruddy nectar for him, and the messenger ate and 
 
 c 
 
34 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 drank. So, when he had comforted his soul with food, he spake, 
 saying : — 
 
 " Thou questionest of my coming, and I will tell thee the 
 truth. It is by no wish of mine own that I come, for who would 
 of his free will pass over a sea so wide, wherein is no city of 
 men that do sacrifice to the gods ? Zeus bade me come, and 
 none may go against the commands of Zeus. He saith that 
 thou hast with thee a man more wretched than all his fellows, as 
 many as fought against Troy for nine years and in the tenth year 
 departed homeward. All the rest of his company were lost, but 
 him the waves carried hither. Now, therefore, send him home 
 with what speed thou mayest ; for it is not fated that he should 
 die away from his friends. Rather shall he see again the high 
 roof of his home and his native country." 
 
 It vexed Calypso much to hear this, for she would fain have 
 kept Ulysses with her always, and she said : — 
 
 " Ye gods are always jealous when a goddess loves a mortal 
 man. And as for Ulysses, did not I save him when Zeus had 
 smitten his ship with a thunderbolt, and all his comrades had 
 perished? And now let him go — if it pleases Zeus. Only I 
 cannot send him, for I have neither ship nor rowers. Yet will I 
 willingly teach him how he may safely return." 
 
 And Hermes said : " Do this thing speedily, lest Zeus be 
 wroth with thee." 
 
 So he departed. And Calypso went seeking Ulysses, and 
 found him on the shore of the sea, looking out over the waters, 
 as was his wont, and weeping, for he was weary of his life, so 
 much did he desire to see Ithaca again. She stood by him and 
 said : — 
 
 " Weary not for thy native country, nor waste thyself with 
 tears. If thou wilt go, I will speed thee on thy way. Take, 
 therefore, thine axe and cut thee beams, and join them together, 
 and make a deck upon them, and I will give thee bread and 
 water and wine, and clothe thee also, so that thou mayest 
 return safe to thy native country, for the gods will have it so." 
 
 " Nay," said Ulysses, " what is this that thou sayest ? Shall 
 I pass in a raft over the dreadful sea, over which ships go not 
 without harm ? J will not go against thy will j but thou must 
 
ULYSSES ON HIS RAFT 
 
 35 
 
 swear the great oath of the gods that thou plannest no evil 
 against me." 
 
 Then Calypso smiled and said : " These are strange words. 
 By the Styx I swear that I plan no harm against thee, but only 
 such good as I would ask myself, did I need it ; for indeed my 
 heart is not of iron, but rather full of compassion." 
 
 Then they two went to the cave and sat down to meat, and 
 she sat before him food such as mortal men eat, but she herself 
 ate ambrosia and drank nectar, as the gods are wont. And 
 afterwards she said : — 
 
 " Why art thou so eager for thy home ? Surely if thou 
 knewest all the trouble that awaits thee, thou wouldst not go, 
 but wouldst rather dwell with me. And though thou desirest 
 all the day long to see thy wife, surely I am not less fair than 
 she." 
 
 " Be not angry," Ulysses made reply. " The wise Penelope 
 cannot, indeed, be compared to thee, for she is a mortal woman 
 and thou art a goddess. Yet is my home dear to me, and I 
 would fain see it again. Yea, and if some god should wreck 
 me on the deep, yet would I endure it with patient heart. 
 Aheady have I suffered much, and toiled much in perils of war 
 and perils of the sea. And as to what is yet to come, let it be 
 added to the tale of what hath been." 
 
 The next day Calypso gave him an axe with a handle of olive 
 wood, and an adze, and took him to the end of the island, where 
 there were great trees, long ago sapless and dry, alder and 
 poplar and pine. Of these he felled twenty, and lopped them 
 and worked them by the line. Then the goddess brought him 
 a gimlet, and he made holes in the logs and joined them with 
 pegs. And he made decks and side planking also ; also a mast 
 and a yard, and a rudder wherewith to turn the raft. And he 
 fenced it about with a bulwark of osier against the waves. The 
 sails, indeed, Calypso wove, and Ulysses fitted them with 
 braces and halyards and sheets. Last of all he pushed the 
 raft down to the sea with levers. 
 
 On the fourth day all was finished, and on the fifth day he 
 departed. And Calypso gave him goodly garments, and a 
 skin of wine, and a skin of water, and rich provender in a wallet 
 
36 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 of leather. She sent also a fair wind blowing behind, and 
 Ulysses set his sails and proceeded joyfully on his way ; nor 
 did he sleep, but watched the stars, the Pleiades and Bootes, 
 and the Bear, which men also call the Wain, which turneth 
 ever in one place, watching Orion. For Calypso had said to 
 him, " Keep the Bear ever on thy left as thou passest over the 
 sea." 
 
 Seventeen days he sailed ; and on the eighteenth day 
 appeared the shadowy hills of the island of the Phaeacians, 
 where it was nearest to him ; and the island showed, as a shield 
 might show, through the mist of the sea. 
 
 But now Poseidon, coming back from feasting with the 
 Ethiopians, spied him as he sailed, and it angered him to the 
 heart. He shook his head, and spake to himself, saying : 
 " Verily, the gods must have changed their purpose concerning 
 Ulysses while I was absent among the Ethiopians ; and now 
 he is nigh to the island of the Phaeacians, which if he reach, it 
 is ordained that he shall escape from his woes. Yet even now 
 I will send him far enough on a way of trouble." 
 
 Thereupon he gathered the clouds, and troubled the waters 
 of the deep, holding his trident in his hand. And he raised a 
 storm of all the winds that blow, and covered the land and sea 
 with clouds. 
 
 Sore troubled was Ulysses, and said to himself : " It was 
 true that Calypso spake when she said how that I should suffer 
 many troubles returning to my home. Would that I had died 
 that day when many a spear was cast by the men of Troy over 
 the dead Achilles. Then would the Greeks have buried me ; 
 but now I shall perish miserably." 
 
 And as he spake a great wave struck the raft and tossed him 
 far away, so that he dropped the rudder from his hand. Not 
 for a long time could he rise, so deep was he sunk, and so 
 heavy was the goodly clothing which Calypso had given him. 
 Yet at the last he rose, and spat the salt water out of his 
 mouth, and, so brave was he, sprang at the raft, and caught it, 
 and sat thereon, and was borne hither and thither by the waves. 
 But Ino saw him and pitied him — a woman she had been, and 
 was now a goddess of the sea — and rose from the deep like to 
 
ULYSSES ON HIS RAFT 
 
 37 
 
 a sea-gull upon the wing, and sat upon the raft, and spake, 
 saying : — 
 
 "Luckless mortal, why doth Poseidon hate thee so? He 
 shall not slay thee, though he fain would do it. Put off these 
 garments, and swim to the land of Phaeacia, putting this veil 
 under thy breast. And when thou art come to the land, loose 
 it from thee, and cast it into the sea ; but when thou castest it, 
 look away.' ; 
 
 Then the goddess gave him the veil, and dived again into 
 the deep as a sea-gull diveth, and the waves closed over her. 
 Then Ulysses pondered the matter, saying to himself : " Woe 
 is me ! can it be that another of the gods is contriving a snare 
 for me, bidding me leave my raft ? Verily, I will not yet obey 
 her counsel, for the land, when I saw it, seemed a long way off. 
 I am resolved what to do ; so long as the raft will hold 
 together, so long will I abide on it ; but when the waves shall 
 break it asunder, then will I swim, for nothing better may be 
 done." 
 
 But while he thought thus within himself, Poseidon sent 
 another great wave against the raft. As a stormy wind 
 scattereth a heap of husks, so did the wave scatter the timbers 
 of the raft. But Ulysses sat astride on a beam, as a man 
 sitteth astride of a horse ; and he stripped off from him the 
 goodly garments which Calypso had given him, and put the 
 veil under his breast, and so leapt into the sea, stretching out 
 his hands to swim. 
 
 And Poseidon, when he saw him, shook his head, and com- 
 muned with his soul, saying : " Even so, after all that thou 
 hast suffered, go wandering over the deep, till thou come to 
 the land. Thou wilt not say that thou hast not had trouble 
 enough." 
 
 But Athene, binding up the other winds, roused the swift 
 north wind that so Ulysses might escape from death. 
 
 So for two days and two nights he swam. But on the third 
 day there was a calm, and he saw the land from the top of a 
 great wave, for the waves were yet high, close at hand. Dear 
 as a father to his children, rising up from grievous sickness, so 
 dear was the land to Ulysses. But when he came near he 
 
38 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 heard the waves breaking along the shore, for there was no 
 harbour there, but only cliffs and rugged rocks. 
 
 Then at last the knees of Ulysses were loosened with fear, 
 and his heart was melted within him, and in heaviness of spirit 
 he spake to himself : " Woe is me ! for now, when beyond all 
 hope, Zeus hath given me the sight of land, there is no place 
 where I may win to shore from out of the sea. For the crags 
 are sharp, and the waves roar about them, and the smooth rock 
 riseth sheer from the sea, and the water is deep, so that I may 
 gain no foothold. If I should seek to land, then a great wave 
 may dash me on the rocks. And if I swim along the shore, if 
 haply I may find some harbour, I fear lest the winds may catch 
 me again and bear me out into the deep ; or it may be that 
 some god may send a monster of the sea against me ; and 
 verily there are many such in the sea-pastures, and I know that 
 Poseidon is very wroth against me. 5 ' 
 
 While he pondered these things in his heart a great wave 
 bare him to the rocks. Then had his skin been stripped from 
 him and all his bones broken, but that Athene put a thought 
 into his heart. For he rushed in towards the shore, and 
 clutched the rock with both his hands, and clung thereto till 
 the wave had passed. But as it ebbed back, it caught him, 
 and carried him again into the deep. Even as a cuttle-fish 
 is dragged from out its hole in the rock, so was he dragged by 
 the water, and the skin was stripped from his hand against the 
 rock. Then had Ulysses perished, even against the ordinance 
 of fate, had not Athene put a counsel in his heart. He swam 
 outside the breakers, and so along the shore, looking for a 
 place where the waves might be broken, or there should be a 
 harbour. At last he came to where a river ran into the sea. 
 Free was the place of rocks, and sheltered from the wind, and 
 Ulysses felt the stream of the river as he ran. Then he prayed 
 to the river-god : — 
 
 " Hear me, O King, whosoever thou art. I am come to thee 
 a suppliant, fleeing from the wrath of Poseidon. Save me, 
 O King." 
 
 Thereupon the river stayed his stream, and made the water 
 smooth before Ulysses, so that at last he won his way to the 
 
ULYSSES ON HIS RAFT 
 
 39 
 
 land. His knees were bent under him, and his hands dropped 
 at his side, and the salt water ran out his mouth and nostrils. 
 Breathless was he, and speechless ; but when he came to 
 himself, he loosed the veil from under his breast, and cast it 
 into the salt stream of the river, and the stream bare it to the 
 sea, and Ino came up and caught it in her hands. 
 
 Then he lay down on the rushes by the bank of the river and 
 kissed the earth, thinking within himself : " What now shall I 
 do ? for if I sleep here by the river, I fear that the dew and the 
 frost may slay me ; for indeed in the morning time the wind 
 from the river blows cold. And if I go up to the wood, to lay 
 me down to sleep in the thicket, I fear that some evil beast 
 may devour me. ,; 
 
 But it seemed better to go to the wood. So he went. Now 
 this was close to the river, and he found two bushes, of wild 
 olive one, and of fruitful olive the other. So thickly grown 
 together were they that the winds blew not through them, nor 
 did the sun pierce them, nor yet the rain. Thereunder crept 
 Ulysses, and found great store of leaves, shelter enough for two 
 or three, even in winter time, when the rain is heavy. Then 
 did Ulysses rejoice, laying himself in the midst, and covering 
 himself with leaves. Thus, even as a man who dwells apart 
 from others cherishes his fire, hiding it under the ashes, so 
 Ulysses cherished his life under the leaves. And Athene sent 
 down upon his eyelids deep sleep, that might ease him of 
 his toil. 
 
4o THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 NAUSICAA 
 
 Meanwhile Athene went to the city of the Phaeacians, to the 
 palace of Alcinoiis, their King. There she betook her to the 
 chamber where slept Nausicaa, daughter of the King, a maiden 
 fair as are the gods. The goddess stood above the maiden, in 
 the semblance of the daughter of Dymas (now Dymas was a 
 famous rover of the sea), a girl that was of like age with her, 
 and had found favour in her sight. 
 
 Athene spake, saying : " Why hath thy mother so careless a 
 child, Nausicaa? Lo ! thy raiment lieth unwashed, and yet 
 the day of thy marriage is at hand, when thou must have fair 
 clothing for thyself, and to give to them that shall lead thee to 
 thy bridegroom's house ; for thus doth a bride win good repute. 
 Do thou therefore arise with the day, and go to wash the 
 raiment, and I will go with thee. Ask thy father betimes in 
 the morning to give thee mules and a wagon to carry the 
 raiment and the robes. Also it is more becoming for thee to 
 ride than to go on foot, for the laundries are far from the city." 
 
 And when the morning was come, Nausicaa awoke, mar- 
 velling at the dream, and went seeking her parents. Her 
 mother she found busy with her maidens at the loom, spinning 
 yarn dyed with purple of the sea, and her father she met as he 
 was going to the council with the chiefs of the land. Then she 
 said : " Give me, father, the wagon with the mules, that I may 
 take the garments to the river to wash them. Thou shouldst 
 always have clean robes when thou goest to the council ; and 
 there are my five brothers also, who love to have newly-washed 
 garments at the dance." 
 
 But of her own marriage she said nothing. And her father, 
 knowing her thoughts, said : " I grudge thee not, dear child, 
 the mules or aught else. The men shall harness for thee a 
 wagon with strong wheels and fitted also with a frame." 
 
NA USICAA 
 
 41 
 
 Then he called to the men, and they made ready the wagon, 
 and harnessed the mules ; and the maiden brought the raiment 
 out of her chamber, and put it in the wagon. Also her mother 
 filled a basket with all manner of food, and poured wine in a 
 goat-skin bottle. Olive oil also she gave her, that Nausicaa and 
 her maidens might anoint themselves after the bath. And 
 Nausicaa took the reins, and touched the mules with the whip. 
 Then there was a clatter of hoofs, and the mules went on with 
 their load, nor did they grow weary. 
 
 When they came to the river, where was water enough for 
 the washing of raiment though it were ever so foul, the maidens 
 loosed the mules from the chariot, and set them free to graze 
 in the sweet clover by the river-bank. Then they took the 
 raiment from the wagon, and bare it to the river, and trod it in 
 the trenches, vying one with the other. And when they had 
 cleansed away all the stains, then they laid the garments on 
 the shore of the sea, where the waves had washed the pebbles 
 clean. After that they bathed, and anointed themselves ; and 
 then they sat down to eat and drink by the river-side ; and 
 after the meal they played at ball, singing as they played, and 
 Nausicaa led the song. Fair was she as Artemis when she 
 hunts wild goats or stags, overtopping all the nymphs that bear 
 her company. Fair are all, but she is fairer, and Latona, her 
 mother, is glad at heart. So was Nausicaa fairer than all the 
 maidens. And when they had ended their play, and were 
 yoking the mules, and folding up the raiment, Athene contrived 
 this thing, that the princess, throwing the ball to one of her 
 maidens, cast it so wide that it fell into the river. Whereupon 
 they all cried aloud, and Ulysses awoke. And he said to 
 himself : " What is this land to which I have come ? Are they 
 that dwell therein fierce or kind to strangers ? Just now I 
 seem to hear the voice of nymphs, or am I near the dwellings of 
 men ? " 
 
 Then he twisted a leafy bough about his loins, and rose up 
 and went towards the maidens, who indeed were frighted to see 
 him (for he was wild of aspect), and fled hither and thither. 
 But Nausicaa stood and fled not. Then Ulysses thought 
 within himself, should he go near and clasp her knees, or, lest 
 
42 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 haply this should anger her, should he stand and speak ? And 
 this he did, saying : — 
 
 " I am thy suppliant, O Queen. Whether thou art a goddess, 
 I know not. But if thou art a mortal, happy thy father and 
 mother, and happy thy brothers, and happiest of all he who 
 shall win thee in marriage. Never have I seen man or woman 
 so fair. Thou art like a young palm tree that but lately I saw 
 in Delos, springing by the temple of the god. But as for me, 
 I have been cast on this shore, having come from the island 
 Ogygia. Pity me, then, and lead me to the city, and give me 
 something, a wrapper of this linen, maybe, to put about me. 
 So may the gods give thee all blessings ! ;j 
 
 And Nausicaa made answer : " Thou seemest, stranger, to 
 be neither evil nor foolish ; and as for thy plight, the gods give 
 good fortune or bad, as they will. Thou shalt not lack 
 clothing or food, or anything that a suppliant should have. 
 And I will take thee to the city. Know also that this land 
 is Phasacia, and that I am daughter to Alcinoiis, who is King 
 thereof." 
 
 Then she called to her maidens : " What mean ye to flee 
 when ye see a man ? No enemy comes hither to harm us, for 
 we are dear to the gods, and also we live in an island of the 
 sea, so that men may not approach to work us wrong ; but if 
 one cometh here over-borne by trouble, it is well to succour 
 him. Give this man, therefore, food and drink, and wash him 
 in the river, where there is shelter from the wind.' , 
 
 So they brought him down to the river, and gave him a 
 tunic and a cloak to clothe himself withal, and also oil-olive in 
 a flask of gold. Then, at his bidding, they departed a little 
 space, and he washed the salt from his skin and out of his 
 hair, and anointed himself, and put on the clothing. And 
 Athene made him taller and fairer to see, and caused the hair 
 to be thick on his head, in colour as a hyacinth. Then he sat 
 down on the seashore, right beautiful to behold, and the maiden 
 said : — 
 
 " Not without some bidding of the gods comes this man to 
 our land. Before, indeed, I deemed him uncomely, but now he 
 seems like to the gods. I should be well content to have such a 
 
NA US1CAA 
 
 43 
 
 man for a husband, and maybe he might will to abide in this 
 land. But give him, ye maidens, food and drink. ; ' 
 
 So they gave him, and he ate ravenously, having fasted long. 
 Then Nausicaa bade yoke the mules, and said to Ulysses : — 
 
 " Arise, stranger, come with me, that I may bring thee to the 
 house of my father. But do thou as I shall tell thee, and, 
 indeed, thou seemest discreet enough. So long as we shall be 
 passing through the fields, follow quickly with the maidens 
 behind the chariot. But when we shall come to the city, — thou 
 
 ULYSSES FOLLOWING THE CAR OF NAUSICAA. 
 
 wilt see a high wall and a harbour on either side of the narrow 
 way that leadeth to the gate, — then follow the chariot no more. 
 Hard by the wall is a grove of Athene, a grove of poplars, with 
 a spring in the midst, and a meadow round about ; there abide 
 till such a time as I may have reached the house of my father. 
 For I would not that the people should speak lightly of me. 
 And I doubt not that were thou with me some one of the baser 
 sort would say : ' Who is this stranger, tall and fair, that cometh 
 with Nausicaa? Will he be her husband? Perchance it is 
 some god who has come down at her prayer, or a man from far 
 away ; for of us men of Phseacia she thinks scorn.' It would be 
 
44 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 shame that such words should be spoken. And indeed it is ill- 
 done of a maiden who, father and mother unknowing, companies 
 with men. But when thou shalt judge that I have come to the 
 palace, then go up thyself and ask for my father's house. Any 
 one, even a child, can show it thee, for the other Phasacians 
 dwell not in such. And when thou art come within the doors, 
 pass quickly through the hall to where my mother sits. Close 
 to the hearth is her seat, and my father's hard by, where he sits 
 with the wine-cup in his hand, as a god. Pass him by, and lay 
 hold of my mother's knees, and pray her that she give thee safe 
 return to thy country." 
 
 Then she smote the mules with the whip. Quickly did they 
 leave the river behind them ; but the maiden was heedful to 
 drive them so that Ulysses and the maidens might be able to 
 follow on foot. At sunset they came to the sacred grove of 
 Athene, and there Ulysses sat him down and prayed to Athene 
 saying, " Hear me, now, O daughter of Zeus, for before when 
 Poseidon smote me, thou heardest me not, and grant that this 
 people may look upon me with pity." 
 
 So he spake, and Athene heard him, but showed not herself 
 to him, face to face, for she feared the wrath of her uncle 
 Poseidon, so grievously did he rage against Ulysses. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ALCINOUS 
 
 Nausicaa came to her father's house, and there her brothers 
 unyoked the mules from the wagon, and carried the garments 
 
ALCINOtJS 
 
 45 
 
 into the house ; and the maiden went to her chamber, where 
 her nurse kindled for her a fire and prepared a meal. 
 
 At the same time Ulysses rose to go to the city ; and Athene 
 spread a mist about him, for she would not that any of the 
 Phseacians should see him and mock him. And when he was 
 now about to enter the city, the goddess took upon herself the 
 shape of a young maiden carrying a pitcher, and met him. 
 
 Then Ulysses asked her : " My child, canst thou tell me 
 where dwells Alcinoiis ? for I am a stranger in this place." 
 
 She answered : " I will show thee, for indeed he dwells near 
 to my own father. But be thou silent, for we Phseacians love 
 not strangers overmuch. " 
 
 Then Athene led the way, and Ulysses followed after her ; 
 and much he marvelled, as he went, at the harbours, and the 
 ships, and the places of assembly, and the walls. And when 
 they came to the palace, Athene said : " This is the place for 
 which thou didst inquire. Enter in ; here thou shalt find kings 
 at the feast ; but be not afraid ; the fearless man ever fares the 
 best. And look thou first for the Queen. Her name is Arete, 
 and she is near akin to the King, for she is indeed his brother's 
 child. Rhexenor was the King's brother ; him Apollo smote 
 with his shafts, being yet a young man, and Alcinoiis took his 
 daughter to wife. Never was wife more honoured of her lord 
 and of all the people. Nor does she lack understanding ; and 
 they whom she favoureth have an end of their troubles. If 
 she be well disposed to thee, doubtless thou wilt see thy native 
 country again." 
 
 Having thus spoken, Athene departed, going to the land of 
 Athens, and Ulysses entered the palace. In it there was a 
 gleam as of the sun or the moon. 
 
 A wondrous place it was, with walls of brass and doors of 
 gold, hanging on posts of silver ; and on either side of the door 
 were dogs of gold and silver, the work of Hephaestus, and 
 against the wall, all along from the threshold to the inner 
 chamber, were set seats, on which sat the chiefs of the Phaeacians, 
 feasting ; and youths wrought in gold stood holding torches in 
 their hands, to give light in the darkness. Fifty women were in 
 the house grinding corn and weaving robes, for the women of 
 
4 6 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 the land are no less skilled to weave than are the men to sail the 
 sea. And round about the house were gardens beautiful ex- 
 ceedingly, with orchards of fig, and apple, and pear, and 
 pomegranate, and olive. Drought hurts them not, nor frost, 
 and harvest comes after harvest without ceasing. Also there 
 was a vineyard ; and some of the grapes were parching in the 
 sun, and some were being gathered, and some again were but 
 just turning red. And there were beds of all manner of flowers ; 
 and in the midst of all were two fountains which never 
 failed. 
 
 These things Ulysses regarded for a space, and then passed 
 into the hall. And there the chiefs of Phasacia were drinking 
 their last cup to Hermes. Quickly he passed through them, and 
 put his hands on the knees of Arete and said — and as he spake 
 the mist cleared from about him, and all that were in the hall 
 beheld him : — 
 
 " I am a suppliant to thee, and to thy husband, and to thy 
 guests. The gods bless thee and them, and grant you to live in 
 peace, and that your children should come peacefully after you ! 
 Only, do ye send me home to my native country." 
 
 And he sat down in the ashes of the hearth. Then for a 
 space all were silent, but at last spake Echeneiis, who was the 
 oldest man in the land : — 
 
 " King Alcinoiis, this ill becomes you that this man should sit 
 in the ashes of the hearth. Raise him and bid him sit upon a 
 seat, and let us pour out to Father Zeus, who is the friend of 
 suppliants, and let the keeper of the house give him meat and 
 drink." 
 
 And Alcinoiis did so, bidding his eldest born, Laodamas, rise 
 from his seat. And an attendant poured water on his hands, 
 and the keeper of the house gave him meat and drink. Then, 
 when all had poured out to Father Zeus, King Alcinoiis spake, 
 saying : " In the morning we will call an assembly of the people, 
 and consider how we may take this stranger to his home, so that 
 he may reach it without trouble or pain. Home will we take him 
 without hurt, but what things may befall him there, we know 
 not ; these shall be as the Fates spun his thread, when his 
 mother bare him, But, if haply he is a god and not a. man, 
 
ALCINOUS 
 
 47 
 
 then is this a new device of the gods. For heretofore they have 
 shown themselves manifestly in our midst, when we offer 
 sacrifice, and sit by our sides at feasts. Yea, and if a traveller 
 meet them on the way, they use no disguise, for indeed they are 
 near of kin to us." 
 
 Then spake Ulysses : " Think not such things within thy 
 heart, O King ! No god am I, but if thou knowest one that is 
 most miserable among the sons of men, to him mayest thou 
 liken me. Of many woes might I tell. Nevertheless, suffer me 
 to eat ; 'tis a shameless thing, the appetite of a man, for, how 
 sad soever he be, yet it biddeth him eat and drink. But do ye, 
 when the day cometh, bestir yourselves, and carry me to my 
 home. Fain would I die if I could see my home again ! " 
 
 And they answered that it should be so, and went each to his 
 home. Only Ulysses was left in the hall, and Alcinous and 
 Arete with him. And Arete saw his cloak and tunic, that she 
 and her maidens had made them, and said : — 
 
 " Whence art thou, stranger ? and who gave thee these 
 garments ? ' J 
 
 So Ulysses told her how he had come from the island of 
 Calypso, and what he had suffered, and how Nausicaa had 
 found him on the shore, and guided him to the city. 
 
 But Alcinous blamed the maiden that she had not herself 
 brought him to the house. " For thou wast her suppliant," 
 he said. 
 
 "Nay, 55 said Ulysses, "she would have brought me, but I 
 would not, fearing thy wrath." For he would not have the 
 maiden blamed. 
 
 Then said Alcinous : " I am not one to be angered for such 
 cause. Gladly would I have such a one as thou art to be my 
 son-in-law, and I would give him house and wealth. But no 
 one would I stay against his will. And as for sending thee to 
 thy home, that is easy ; thou shalt lay thee down to sleep, and 
 my men shalt smite the sea with oars, and take thee whitherso- 
 ever thou wilt, even though it be further by far than Eubcea, 
 which they say is the furthest of all lands. Yet even thither did 
 our men go, carrying Rhadamanthus. In one day they went, 
 and returned the same ? and were not weary. For ve.rily my 
 
4 8 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 ships are the best that sail the sea, and my young men the most 
 skilful of all that ply the oar." 
 
 So he spake, and Ulysses rejoiced to hear his words. And 
 he prayed within himself, " Grant, Father Zeus, that Alcinoiis 
 may fulfil all that he hath said, and that I may come to my own 
 land!" 
 
 Then Arete bade her handmaids prepare a bed for the stranger. 
 So they went from the hall, with torches in their hands, and 
 made it ready. And when they had ended they called Ulysses, 
 saying, " Up, stranger, and sleep, for thy bed is ready."] 
 
 Right glad was he to sleep after all that he had endured. 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE PHiEACIANS 
 
 The next day the King arose at dawn, as also did Ulysses, 
 and the King led the way to the place of assembly. Meanwhile 
 Athene, wearing the guise of the King's herald, went throughout 
 the city, and to each man she said : "Come to the assembly, 
 captains and counsellors of the Phseacians, that ye may learn 
 concerning this stranger, who hath lately come to the hall of 
 Alcinoiis." 
 
 So she roused their desire, and the place of assembly was 
 filled to the utmost : much did the men marvel to see Ulysses, 
 for Athene had poured marvellous grace upon him, making him 
 fairer and taller and stronger to see. 
 
 Then the King rose up and spake : " Hearken, captains and 
 counsellors of the people to what I say. This stranger hath 
 
THE PHJEACIANS 
 
 49 
 
 come to my hall ; I know not who he is or whence he comes, 
 whether it be from the rising or the setting of the sun ; and he 
 prays that he may be safely carried to his home. This boon we 
 have been wont to give to strangers from old time. Let us 
 therefore choose a ship that hath never sailed before, and two 
 and fifty youths that are the best to ply the oar ; and when ye 
 have made ready the ship, then come to my house and feast ; I 
 will provide well for all. Bid, also, Demodocus the minstrel 
 come, for the gods have given to him above all others the gift 
 of song wherewith to rejoice the hearts of men." 
 
 Then they did as the King counselled. They made ready the 
 ship, and moored her by the shore, and after that they went to 
 the palace of the King. From one end thereof to the other it 
 was crowded, for many were there, both young and old. And 
 Alcinous slew for them twelve sheep, and eight swine, and two 
 oxen ; and his men prepared for the people a goodly feast. 
 
 Then came the servants of the King, leading the minstrel by 
 the hand. Much did the Muse love him, but she had given him 
 both good and evil. She had granted him the gift of sweet 
 song, but she had taken from him the sight of his eyes. The 
 servants set him in a silver chair, in the midst of the guests, and 
 hung a harp upon a pin above his head, and showed him how 
 he might reach his hand to take it. And close by his side they 
 placed a table and a basket and a cup of wine, that he might 
 drink at his pleasure. 
 
 So the Phseacians feasted in the hall ; and when they had 
 had enough of meat and drink, then the minstrel sang. He 
 sang a song, the fame of which had reached to heaven, of the 
 quarrel between Ulysses and Achilles, how they fell out at a 
 feast of the gods, and Agamemnon was glad when he saw that 
 the noblest of the Greeks were at strife. For Apollo at Pytho 
 had told him that it must be so ; that is to say, that the wisest 
 and the strongest must be at variance before he could take the 
 great city of Troy. 
 
 But as the minstrel sang, Ulysses held his purple cloak before 
 his face, for he was ashamed to weep in the sight of the people. 
 Whensoever the singer ceased from his song, then did Ulysses 
 wipe away the tears and pour out libations to the gods ; but 
 
 D 
 
5o THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 when he began again, for the chiefs loved to hear the song, then 
 again he covered his face and wept. But none noted the thing 
 save only Alcinoiis. 
 
 Then the King said to the chiefs : " Now that we have feasted 
 and delighted ourselves with song, let us go forth, that this 
 stranger may see that we are skilful in boxing and wrestling 
 and running." 
 
 So they went forth, a herald leading Demodocus by the hand, 
 for the minstrel was blind. Then stood up many Phaeacian 
 youths, and the fairest and strongest of them all was Laodamas, 
 eldest son to the King, and after him Euryalus. And next they 
 ran a race, and Clytoneus was the swiftest. And among the 
 wrestlers Euryalus was the best, and of the boxers, Laodamas. 
 And in throwing the quoit Elatrius excelled, and in leaping at 
 the bar, Amphialus. 
 
 Then Laodamas, Euryalus urging him, said to Ulysses : 
 " Father, wilt thou not try thy skill in some game, and put away 
 the trouble from thy heart ?" 
 
 But Ulysses answered : "Why askest thou this? I think of 
 my troubles rather than of sport, and sit among you, caring only 
 that I may see again my home." 
 
 Then said Euryalus : " And in very truth, stranger, thou hast 
 not the look of a wrestler or boxer. Rather would one judge 
 thee to be some trader, who sails over the sea for gain." 
 
 " Nay," answered Ulysses, " this is ill said. So true is it that 
 the gods give not all gifts to all men, beauty to one, and sweet 
 speech to another, Fair of form art thou ; no god could better 
 thee ; but thou speakest idle words. I am not unskilled in 
 these things, but stood among the first in the old days ; but 
 since have I suffered much in battle and shipwreck. Yet will 
 I make trial of my strength, for thy words have angered me." 
 
 Whereupon, clad in his mantle as he was, he took a quoit, 
 heavier far than such as the Phaeacians were wont to throw, and 
 sent it with a whirl. It hurtled through the air, so that the 
 brave Phaeacians crouched to the ground in fear, and it fell far 
 beyond all the rest. 
 
 Then Athene, for she had taken upon herself the guise of a 
 Phaeacian man, marked the place were it fell, and spake, saying : 
 
THE PHjEACIANS 
 
 5i 
 
 "Stranger, verily, even a blind man might discern this token of 
 thy strength, for it is not lost among the others, but lies far 
 beyond them. Be of good courage, therefore, in this contest ; 
 at least, none of the Phseacians shall surpass thee." 
 
 Then was Ulysses glad, seeing that he had a friend among 
 the people, and he said : " Now match this throw, young men, 
 if ye can* Soon will I cast another after it, as far, or further yet. 
 Nay, if any man is so minded, let him rise up and contend with 
 me, for I will match myself in wrestling or boxing, or even in 
 
 ULYSSES WEEPS AT THE SONG OF DEMODOCUS. 
 
 the race, with any man in Phaeacia, save Laodamas only, for he 
 is my friend. I can shoot with the bow, and only Philoctetes 
 could surpass me ; and I can cast a spear as far as other men 
 can shoot an arrow. But as for this race, it may be that some 
 one might outrun me, for I have suffered much on the sea." 
 
 But they were all silent, till the King stood up and said : 
 "Thou has spoken well. But we men of Phaeacia are not 
 mighty to wrestle or to box ; only we are swift of foot and skil- 
 ful to sail upon the sea. And we love feasts, and dances, and 
 the harp, and gay clothing, and the bath. In these things no 
 man may surpass us." 
 
52 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 Then the King bade Demodocus the minstrel sing again. 
 And when he had done so, the King's two sons, Alius and Lao- 
 damas, danced together ; and afterwards they played with the 
 ball, throwing it into the air, cloud high, and catching it right 
 skilfully. 
 
 And afterwards the King said : " Let us each give this stranger 
 a mantle and a tunic and a talent of gold, and let Euryalus make 
 his peace with words and with a gift." 
 
 And they all (now there were twelve princes, and Alcinous 
 the thirteenth) said that it should be so ; and Euryalus also 
 gave Ulysses a sword with a hilt of silver and a scabbard of 
 ivory. 
 
 When he gave it, he said : " Hail to thee, father ; if there 
 hath been aught of offence in my words, may the winds carry it 
 away ! And now may the gods grant to thee to see again thy 
 wife and thy friends and thy native country ! " 
 
 And Ulysses made answer to him : " Hail to thee also, my 
 friend ! The gods grant thee to be happy, and never to miss 
 this sword that thou hast given me ! " 
 
 Then all the princes brought their gifts. And Alcinous said 
 to the Queen : " Lady, bring hither a coffer, the best that thou 
 hast, and put therein a robe and a tunic. And I will give our 
 guest a fair golden chalice of my own that he may remember 
 me all the days of his life, when he poureth out libations to the 
 gods." 
 
 Then the Queen brought from her chamber a fair coffer, and 
 put therein the gifts which the princes had given : also with her 
 own hands she put therein a robe and a tunic. And she said: — 
 
 " Look now to the lid, and tie a knot, that no man can rob 
 thee by the way, when thou sleepest in the ship." 
 
 So Ulysses fixed well the lid, and tied it with a cunning knot 
 which Circe had taught him. After that he went to the bath. 
 As he came from the bath Nausicaa met him by the entering in 
 of the hall, and marvelled at him, so fair was he to look upon. 
 And she spake, saying : " Stranger, farewell. But when thou 
 comest to thine own country, think upon me once and again, for 
 indeed thou owest to me the price of thy life." 
 
 Ulysses made answer to her : " Nausicaa, may Zeus and Hera 
 
THE PHjEACIANS 
 
 53 
 
 grant me safe return to my home, so will I do honour to thee as 
 to a goddess, forever ; for indeed I owe thee my life.' ; 
 
 Then he went into the hail, and sat down by the side of the 
 King, and the squire came leading the blind minstrel by the 
 hand. Now Ulysses had cut off a rich portion from the chine 
 of a boar that had been set before him, and he said to the squire : 
 " Take this and give it to Demodocus. Verily, the minstrel is 
 held in honour by men, for the Muse teacheth him and loveth 
 him." 
 
 So the squire bare the dish, and set it on the knees of the 
 minstrel, rejoicing his heart. 
 
 When they all had had enough of food and drink, then 
 Ulysses spake to the minstrel, saying : " Demodocus, I know 
 not whether the Muse hath taught thee, or, it may be, Apollo, 
 but of a truth thou singest all the toil and trouble of the Greeks, 
 that they endured before the great city of Troy, as if thou hadst 
 thyself been there. Come, now, sing to us of the Horse of Wood 
 which Epeius made by the counsel of Athene, and how Ulysses 
 contrived that it should be taken up into the citadel of Troy, when 
 he had filled it with the bravest of the chiefs. Sing me this 
 aright, and I will bear witness for thee that thou art indeed a 
 minstrel whom the gods have taught." 
 
 Then, by the inspiration of the god, did the minstrel sing this 
 song. He told how one part of the Greeks set fire to their 
 camp, and embarked upon their ships, and sailed away ; and 
 how the other part — to wit, Ulysses and his comrades — sat hid- 
 den in the Horse which the men of Troy had dragged with their 
 own hands into their place of assembly. All about sat the 
 people, and three counsels were given. The first was to cleave 
 the wood, and the second to drag it to the brow of the hill and 
 cast it down thence, and the third to leave it as an offering to 
 the gods ; and the third counsel prevailed, for it was the doom 
 of the city that it should perish through the Horse. 
 
 Also the minstrel sang how the chiefs came forth from the 
 Horse, and went through the city, wasting it ; and how Ulysses 
 went with the King Menelaiis to the house of Deiphobus, 
 making a perilous venture, but prevailing by help of Athene. 
 
 Thus did the minstrel sing, and the heart of Ulysses was 
 
54 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 melted within him as he listened, and the tears ran down his 
 cheeks. As a woman throws herself upon the body of her dear 
 husband, who hath fallen fighting for his country, and seeing 
 him labouring for breath, for he is near to his end, waileth aloud, 
 and the foemen, coming up behind, smite her on her back and 
 shoulders with their spears, and lead her aw T ay into captivity, 
 and her cheeks are wasted with tears, even so fell the tears from 
 the eyes of Ulysses. 
 
 None of the company, save King Alcinoiis only, marked how 
 it fared with him. Then the King spake, saying : " Hearken, 
 ye princes of the Phaeacians, and let Demodocus cease from his 
 singing, for ever since he set his hand to the harp, this stranger 
 hath not ceased to weep. Let, therefore, the minstrel cease, and 
 let us make merry and rejoice as it is fitting to do. Are we not 
 met together that we may give gifts to this stranger, and send 
 him to his home ? Verily, the stranger and the suppliant are as 
 a brother to any one that is not altogether a fool. And hide not 
 thou, stranger, from us aught that I shall ask thee. Tell us by 
 what name they call thee at home, for no man, be he noble or of 
 mean estate, lacketh a name ; this his parents give him at the 
 first hour of his birth. Tell us also of thy land and thy city, 
 that our ships may shape their course to take thee thither. For 
 these are not as the ships of other men, that have steersmen and 
 rudders. They have an understanding of their own, and know 
 all the cities of men, and they pass over the deep, covered with 
 cloud, and have no fear of wreck. But my father was wont to 
 say that Poseidon bore a grudge against us because we carry all 
 men safely to their homes ; and that one day he would smite a 
 ship of ours as it came home from such an errand, changing it 
 to a rock that should overshadow our city. Let the god do 
 so or forbear as he will ! But thou, stranger, tell us thyself, — 
 whither thou hast wandered, and what cities thou hast seen, be 
 they cities of the unrighteous, or cities of them that are hospit- 
 able to strangers and fear the gods. Tell us, too, why thou 
 didst weep at hearing of the tale of Troy. Hadst thou, per- 
 chance, kinsmen, or kinsman by marriage, or friend — for a wise 
 friend is ever as a brother — among those that perished at Troy ? " 
 
THE CYCLOPS 
 
 55 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 THE CYCLOPS 
 
 (The Tale of Ulysses) 
 
 Then Ulysses answered the King, saying : " What shall I 
 tell thee first, and what last, for many sorrows have the gods 
 laid upon me ? First, I will tell my name, that ye may know it, 
 and that there may be friendship between us, even when I shall 
 be far away. I am Ulysses, Son of Laertes. In Ithaca I 
 dwell. Many islands lie about it, but Ithaca is furthest to the 
 west, and the others face the sun-rising. Very rugged is this 
 island of Ithaca, but it is the mother of brave men ; verily, there 
 is nothing dearer to a man than his own country. Calypso, the 
 fair goddess, would have had me abide with her, to be her 
 husband ; so also would Circe of the many wiles ; but they did 
 not prevail, because there is nothing that a man loves more than 
 his country and his parents. But now I will tell thee of all the 
 troubles that the gods laid upon me as I journeyed from Troy. 
 
 " The wind that bare me from Troy brought me to Ismarus, 
 which is a city of the Cicones. This I sacked, slaying the people 
 that dwelt therein. Much spoil did we take out of the city, 
 dividing it among the people, so that each man had his share. 
 And when we had done this, I commanded my men that they 
 should depart with all speed ; but they, in their folly, would not 
 hear me. For there was much wine to drink, and sheep and 
 kine to slay ; therefore they sat on the shore and feasted. Mean- 
 while the people of the city fetched others, their kinsmen that 
 dwelt in the mountains, and were more in number and more 
 valiant than they, and skilful in all manner of fighting. In the 
 early morning they assembled themselves together, thick as the 
 flowers and the leaves that grow in the spring time, and set the 
 battle in array. Then we fought with them ; while the day 
 waxed we prevailed over them, and beat them back, though 
 they were more in number than we ; but when the sun was 
 
56 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 descending in the heavens, then the Cicones overcame us, and 
 drove us to our ships. Six from each ship perished, but the 
 remnant of us escaped from death. 
 
 " Then we sailed, stricken with grief for our dear comrades, 
 yet rejoicing that we had escaped from destruction. Yet, before 
 we set sail, we called each man that had fallen in the battle by 
 his name three times. When we had sailed a little space, Zeus 
 sent the north wind against us with a mighty storm, covering 
 with clouds both land and sea, and the ships were driven before 
 it. So we lowered the sails, and rowed the ships to the land 
 with all our might. For two days we endured much distress 
 and sorrow, but on the third, when the morning light appeared, 
 we hoisted the sails and rested. Then had I come to my own 
 country, but the north wind and the sea drave me from my 
 course, so that I was carried past Cythera. For nine days did 
 the wind carry us before it. 
 
 " And on the tenth day we came to the land where the lotus 
 grows — a wondrous fruit, of which whomsoever eats cares not to 
 see country or wife or children again. Now the Lotus-eaters, 
 for so they called the people of the land, were a kindly folk, and 
 gave of the fruit to some of the sailors, not meaning them any 
 harm, but thinking it to be the best that they had to give. 
 These, when they had eaten, said that they would not sail any 
 more over the sea ; which, when I heard, I bade their comrades 
 bind them and carry them, sadly complaining, to the ships. 
 
 "Then, the wind having abated, we took to our boats, and 
 rowed for many days till we came to the country where the 
 Cyclopes dwell. Now a mile or so from the shore there was 
 an island, very fair and fertile, but no man dwells there or tills 
 the soil, and in the island a harbour where a ship may be safe 
 from all winds, and at the head of the harbour a stream falling 
 from a rock, and whispering alders all about it. Into this the 
 ships passed safely, and were hauled up on the beach, and the 
 crews slept by them, waiting for the morning. 
 
 " When the dawn appeared, then we wandered through the 
 island ; and the Nymphs of the land started the wild goats that 
 my company might have food to eat. Thereupon we took our 
 bows and our spears from the ships, and shot at the goats ; and 
 
THE CYCLOPS 
 
 57 
 
 the gods gave us plenty of prey. Twelve ships I had in my 
 command, and each ship had nine goats for their share, and my 
 own portion was ten. 
 
 " Then all the day we sat and feasted, drinking the sweet wine 
 which we had taken from the city of the Cicones, and eating the 
 flesh of the goats ; and as we sat we looked across to the land 
 of the Cyclops, seeing the smoke and hearing the voices of the 
 men and of the sheep and of the goats. And when the sun set 
 and darkness came over the land, we lay down upon the sea- 
 shore and slept. 
 
 " The next day I gathered my men together, and said, ' Abide 
 ye here, dear friends ; I with my own ship and my own company 
 will go and make trial of the folk that dwell in yonder island, 
 whether they are just or unjust.' 
 
 " So I climbed into my ship, and bade my company follow me : 
 so we came to the land of the Cyclops. Close to the shore 
 was a cave, with laurels round about the mouth. This was the 
 dwelling of the Cyclops. Alone he dwelt, a creature without 
 law. Nor was he like to mortal men, but rather to some wooded 
 peak of the hills that stands out apart from all the rest. 
 
 "Then I bade the rest of my comrades abide by the ship, and 
 keep it, but I took twelve men, the bravest that there were in the 
 crew, and went forth. I had with me a goat-skin full of the 
 wine, dark red, and sweet, which the priest of Apollo at Ismarus 
 had given me. Because we kept him and his wife and child 
 from harm when we sacked the city, reverencing the god, there- 
 fore did he give it me. Three things did he give me, — seven 
 talents of gold, and a mixing-bowl of silver, and of wine twelve 
 jars. So precious was it that none in his house knew of it 
 saving himself and his wife and one dame that kept the house. 
 When they drank of it they mixed twenty measures of water 
 with one of wine, and the smell that went up from it was 
 wondrous sweet. No man could easily refrain from drinking 
 it. With this wine I filled a great skin and bore it with me ; 
 also I bare corn in a wallet, for my heart within me boded that 
 I should need it. 
 
 " So we entered the cave, and judged that it was the dwelling 
 of some rich and skilful shepherd. For within there were pens 
 
58 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 for the young of the sheep and of the goats, divided all according 
 to their age, and there were baskets full of cheeses, and full 
 milkpans ranged along the wall. But the Cyclops himself was 
 away in the pastures. Then my companions besought me that 
 I would depart, taking with me, if I would, a store of cheeses 
 and sundry of the lambs and of the kids. But I would not, for 
 I wished to see, after my wont, what manner of host this strange 
 shepherd might be, and, if it might be, to take a gift from his 
 hand, such as is the due to strangers. Verily, his coming was 
 not to be a joy to my company. 
 
 " It was evening when the Cyclops came home, a mighty 
 giant, very tall of stature, and when we saw him we fled into the 
 secret place of the cave in great fear. On his shoulder he bore 
 a vast bundle of pine logs for his fire, and threw them down 
 outside the cave with a great crash, and drove the flocks within, 
 and closed the entrance with a huge rock, which twenty wagons 
 and more could not bear. Then he milked the ewes and all the 
 she-goats, and half of the milk he curdled for cheese, and half 
 he set ready for himself, when he should sup. Next he kindled 
 a fire with the pine logs, and the flame lighted up all the cave, 
 showing to him both me and my comrades. 
 
 " 4 Who are ye ? ' cried Polyphemus, for that was the giant's 
 name. £ Are ye traders, or, haply, pirates ? ' 
 
 " I shuddered at the dreadful voice and shape, but bare me 
 bravely, and answered : 6 We are no pirates, mighty sir, but 
 Greeks sailing back from Troy, and subjects of the great King 
 Agamemnon, whose fame is spread from one end of heaven to 
 the other. And we are come to beg hospitality of thee in the 
 name of Zeus, who rewards or punishes hosts and guests, 
 according as they be faithful the one to the other, or no/ 
 
 " 6 Nay,' said the giant ; 'it is but idle talk to tell me of Zeus 
 and the other gods. We Cyclopes take no account of gods, 
 holding ourselves to be much better and stronger than they. 
 But come, tell me where have you left your ship?' 
 
 " But I saw his thought when he asked about the ship, how 
 he was minded to break it, and take from us all hope of flight. 
 Therefore I answered him craftily: — 
 
 " 6 Ship have we none, for that which was ours King Poseidon 
 
THE CYCLOPS 
 
 59 
 
 brake, driving it on a jutting rock on this coast, and we whom 
 thou seest are all that are escaped from the waves.' 
 
 " Polyphemus answered nothing, but without more ado caught 
 up two of the men, as a man might catch up the whelps of a 
 dog, and dashed them on the ground, and tare them limb from 
 limb, and devoured them, with huge draughts of milk between, 
 leaving not a morsel, not even the very bones. But we that 
 were left, when we saw the dreadful deed, could only weep and 
 
 ULYSSES GIVING WINE TO POLYPHEMUS. 
 
 pray to Zeus for help. And when the giant had filled his maw 
 with human flesh and with the milk of the flocks, he lay down 
 among his sheep and slept. 
 
 " Then I questioned much in my heart whether I should slay 
 the monster as he slept, for I doubted not that my good sword 
 would pierce to the giant's heart, mighty as he was. But my 
 second thought kept me back, for I remembered that, should I 
 slay him, I and my comrades would yet perish miserably. For 
 who should move away the great rock that lay against the door 
 
6o 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 of the cave ? So we waited till the morning, with grief in our 
 hearts. And the monster woke, and milked his flocks, and 
 afterwards, seizing two men, devoured them for his meal. Then 
 he went to the pastures, but put the great rock on the mouth of 
 the cave, just as a man puts down the lid upon his quiver. 
 
 " All that day I was thinking what I might best do to save 
 myself and my companions, and the end of my thinking was 
 this : there was a mighty pole in the cave, green wood of an 
 olive tree, big as a ship's mast, which Polyphemus purposed to 
 use, when the smoke should have dried it, as a walking-staff. 
 Of this I cut off a fathom's length, and my comrades sharpened 
 it and hardened it in the fire, and then hid it away. At evening 
 the giant came back, and drove his sheep into the cave, nor left 
 the rams outside, as he had been wont to do before, but shut 
 them in. And having duly done his shepherd's work, he took, 
 as before, two of my comrades, and devoured them. And when 
 he had finished his supper, I came forward, holding the wine- 
 skin in my hand, and said : — 
 
 " ' Drink, Cyclops, now that thou hast feasted. Drink, and 
 see what precious things we had in our ship. But no one here- 
 after will come to thee with such like, if thou dealest with 
 strangers as cruelly as thou has dealt with us.' 
 
 " Then the Cyclops drank, and was mightily pleased, and 
 said : 6 Give me again to drink, and tell me thy name, stranger, 
 and I will give thee a gift such as a host should give. In good 
 truth this is a rare liquor. We, too, have vines, but they bear 
 not wine like this, which, indeed, must be such as the gods 
 drink in heaven.' 
 
 " Then I gave him the cup again, and he drank. Thrice I 
 gave it to him, and thrice he drank, not knowing what it was, 
 and how it would work within his brain. 
 
 " Then I spake to him : ' Thou didst ask my name, Cyclops. 
 My name is No Man. And now that thou knowest my name, 
 thou shouldst give me thy gift.' 
 
 " And he said : ' My gift shall be that I will eat thee last of 
 all thy company.' 
 
 " And as he spake, he fell back in a drunken sleep. Then I 
 bade my comrades be of good courage, for the time was come 
 
THE CYCLOPS 
 
 61 
 
 when they should be delivered. And they thrust the stake of 
 olive wood into the fire till it was ready, green as it was, to burst 
 into flame, and they thrust it into the monster's eye : for he had 
 but one eye, and that in the midst of his forehead, with the 
 eyebrow below it. And I, standing above, leant with all my 
 force upon the stake, and turned it about, as a man bores the 
 timber of a ship with a drill. And the burning wood hissed in 
 the eye, just as the red-hot iron hisses in the water when a man 
 seeks to temper steel for a sword. 
 
 " Then the giant leapt up, and tore away the stake, and cried 
 aloud, so that all the Cyclopes who dwelt on the mountain-side 
 heard him and came about his cave, asking him : ' What aileth 
 thee, Polyphemus, that thou makest this uproar in the peaceful 
 night, driving away sleep ? Is any one robbing thee of thy 
 sheep, or seeking to slay thee by craft or force ? 5 
 
 "And the giant answered : i No Man slays me by craft.' 
 
 " ' Nay, but, 5 they said, ' if no man does thee wrong, we cannot 
 help thee. The sickness which great Zeus may send, who can 
 avoid ? Pray to our father, Poseidon, for help/ 
 
 " So they spake, and I laughed in my heart when I saw how 
 I had beguiled them by the name that I had given. 
 
 " But the Cyclops rolled away the great stone from the door 
 of the cave, and sat in the midst, stretching out his hands, to 
 feel whether perchance the men within the cave would seek to 
 go out among the sheep. 
 
 " Long did I think how I and my comrades should best 
 escape. At last I lighted upon a device that seemed better than 
 all the rest, and much I thanked Zeus for that this once the 
 giant had driven the rams with the other sheep into the cave. 
 For, these being great and strong, I fastened my comrades 
 under the bellies of the beasts, tying them with osier twigs, of 
 which the giant made his bed. One ram I took, and fastened 
 a man beneath it, and two others I set, one on either side. So 
 I did with the six, for but six were left out of the twelve who 
 had ventured with me from the ship. And there was one 
 mighty ram, far larger than all the others, and to this I clung, 
 grasping the fleece tight with both my hands. So we all waited 
 for the morning. And when the morning came, the rams 
 
62 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 rushed forth to the pasture ; but the giant sat in the door and 
 felt the back of each as it went by, nor thought to try what 
 might be underneath. Last of all went the great ram. And 
 the Cyclops knew him as he passed, and said : — 
 
 " ' How is this, thou, who art the leader of the flock ? Thou 
 art not wont thus to lag behind. Thou hast always been the 
 first to run to the pastures and streams in the morning, and the 
 first to come back to the fold when evening fell ; and now thou 
 art last of all. Perhaps thou art troubled about thy master's 
 eye, which some wretch — No Man, they call him — has destroyed, 
 having first mastered me with wine. He has not escaped, I 
 ween. I would that thou couldst speak, and tell me where he 
 is lurking. Of a truth, I would dash out his brains upon the 
 ground, and avenge me of this No Man.' 
 
 " So speaking he let the ram pass out of the cave. But when 
 we were now out of reach of the giant, I loosed my hold of the 
 ram, and then unbound my comrades. And we hastened to our 
 ship, not forgetting to drive the sheep before us, and often look- 
 ing back till we came to the seashore. Right glad were those 
 that had abode by the ship to see us. Nor did they lament for 
 those that had died, though we were fain to do so, for I forbade, 
 fearing lest the noise of their weeping should betray us to the 
 giant, where we were. Then we all climbed into the ship, and 
 sitting well in order on the benches smote the sea with our oars, 
 laying to right lustily, that we might the sooner get away from 
 the accursed land. And when we had rowed a hundred yards 
 or so, so that a man's voice could yet be heard by one who 
 stood upon the shore, I stood up in the ship and shouted : — 
 
 " ' He was no coward, O Cyclops, whose comrades thou didst 
 so foully slay in thy den. Justly art thou punished, monster, 
 that devourest thy guests in thy dwelling. May the gods make 
 thee suffer yet worse things than these ! 5 
 
 " Then the Cyclops in his wrath brake off the top of a 
 great hill, a mighty rock, and hurled it where he had heard 
 the voice. Right in front of the ship's bow it fell, and a great 
 wave rose as it sank, and washed the ship back to the shore. 
 But I seized a long pole with both hands, and pushed the ship 
 from the land, and bade my comrades ply their oars, nodding 
 
THE CYCLOPS 
 
 63 
 
 with my head, for I would not speak, lest the Cyclops should 
 know where we were. Then they rowed with all their might 
 and main. 
 
 " And when we had gotten twice as far as before, I made as 
 if I would speak again ; but my comrades sought to hinder me, 
 saying : ' Nay, my lord, anger not the giant any more. Surely 
 we thought before we were lost, when he threw the great rock, 
 and washed our ship back to the shore. And if he hear thee 
 now, he may crush our ship and us, for the man throws a mighty 
 bolt, and throws it far/ 
 
 " But I would not be persuaded, but stood up and said : 
 4 Hear, Cyclops ! If any man ask who blinded thee, say that it 
 was the warrior Ulysses, son of Laertes, dwelling in Ithaca.' 
 
 " And the Cyclops answered with a groan : ' Of a truth, the 
 old oracles are fulfilled ; for long ago there came to this land 
 one Telemus, a prophet, and dwelt among us even to old 
 age. This man foretold to me that one Ulysses would rob me 
 of my sight. But I looked for a great man and a strong, who 
 should subdue me by force, and now a weakling has done the 
 deed, having cheated me with wine. But come thou hither, 
 Ulysses, and I will be a host indeed to thee. Or, at least, may 
 Poseidon give thee such a voyage to thy home as I would wish 
 thee to have. For know that Poseidon is my sire. Maybe that 
 he may heal me of my grievous wound. 5 
 
 " And I said : ' Would to God I could send thee down to the 
 abode of the dead, where thou wouldst be past all healing, even 
 from Poseidon's self.' 
 
 " Then the Cyclops lifted up his hands to Poseidon and 
 prayed : 6 Hear me, Poseidon, if I am indeed thy son and thou 
 my father. May this Ulysses never reach his home ! or, if the 
 Fates have ordered that he should reach it, may he come alone, 
 all his comrades lost, and come to find sore trouble in his 
 house ! ' 
 
 " And as he ended, he hurled another mighty rock, which 
 almost lighted on the rudder's end, yet missed it as by a hair's 
 breadth. And the wave that it raised was so great that it bare 
 us to the other shore. 
 
 " So we came to the island of the wild goats, where we found 
 
64 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 our comrades, who, indeed, had waited long for us in sore fear 
 lest we had perished. Then I divided amongst my company all 
 the sheep which we had taken from the Cyclops. And all, with 
 one consent, gave me for my share the great ram which had 
 carried me out of the cave, and I sacrificed it to Zeus. And all 
 that day we feasted right merrily on the flesh of sheep and on 
 sweet wine, and when the night was come, we lay down upon 
 the shore and slept. 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 v^OLUS ; THE UESTRYGONS ; CIRCE 
 
 (The Tale of Ulysses) 
 
 " The next morning we set sail, and came, after a while, to 
 the island where dwelleth y^Eolus. A floating island it is, and it 
 hath about it an unbroken wall of bronze, and the cliff runs up 
 sheer from the sea. Twelve children hath ^Eolus, six sons and 
 six daughters, and they dwell with him and feast with him and 
 their mother day by day. For a whole month did the King 
 entertain me in right friendly fashion, and I told him in order 
 the whole story of the things that had been done at Troy. 
 
 " Afterwards I told him of my journey, and asked help of him. 
 This he denied not, but gave me the skin of an ox nine years 
 old, in which he has bound all the winds that were contrary to 
 me, for Zeus hath made him keeper of the winds, that he may rouse 
 them or put them to rest as he will. This wallet of ox-hide he 
 bound fast to the deck of the ship with a thong of silver, that 
 not a wind might escape from it. But he let a gentle west wind 
 blow, that it might carry me and my comrades to our home. 
 
.EOLUS; THE LAlSTRYGONS; CIRCE 65 
 
 For nine days it blew, and now we were near to Ithaca, our 
 country, so that we saw the men that tended the beacon-lights, 
 for it was now near to the dawn on the tenth day. 
 
 " But now, by an ill chance, I fell asleep, being wholly wearied 
 out, for I had held the helm for nine days, nor trusted it to any 
 of my comrades. And while I slept my comrades, who had 
 cast eyes of envy on the great ox-hide, said one to another : — 
 
 " £ Strange it is how men love and honour this Ulysses whither- 
 soever he goes. And now he comes back from Troy with much 
 spoil, but we with empty hands. Let us see what it is that 
 v^Eolus hath given him, for doubtless in this ox-hide is much 
 silver and gold.' 
 
 " So they loosed the great bag of ox-hide, and lo ! all the 
 winds rushed out, and carried us far away from our country. But 
 I, waking with the tumult, doubted much whether I should not 
 throw myself into the sea and so die. But I endured, thinking 
 it better to live. Only I veiled my face and so lay still while the 
 ships drave before the winds, till we came again to the island 
 of ^olus. Then we landed, and fetched water, and ate our 
 meal by the side of our ships. And when our meal was ended, 
 I took a herald and one of my company, and went to the palace 
 of the King, and found him feasting with his wife and children, 
 and I sat down on the threshold. Much did they wonder to see 
 me, saying, ' What evil power has hindered thee, that thou didst 
 not reach thy country and home ? ' 
 
 " Then I answered : ' Blame not me, but the evil counsels of 
 my comrades, and sleep, which mastered me to my hurt. But 
 do ye help me again.' 
 
 " But he said, ' Begone ! we may not help him whom the gods 
 hate ; and hated of them thou surely art.' 
 
 " So ^olus sent me away. Then again we launched our 
 ships and set forth, toiling wearily at the oars, and sad at 
 heart. 
 
 " Six days we rowed, nor rested at night ; and on the seventh 
 we came to Lamos, which was a city of the Laestrygons, in whose 
 land the night is as the day, so that a man might earn double 
 wage, if only he wanted not sleep — shepherd by day and herds- 
 man by night. There was a fair haven with cliffs about it, and 
 
 E 
 
66 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 a narrow mouth with great rocks on either side. And within 
 are no waves, but always calm. 
 
 " Now I made fast my ship to the rocks that were without, 
 but the others entered the haven. Then I sent two men, and a 
 herald with them, and these came upon a smooth road by which 
 wagons brought down wood from the mountain to the city. 
 Here they met a maiden, the stalwart daughter of Antiphates, 
 King of the land, and asked of her who was lord of that country. 
 Whereupon she showed them her father's lofty palace. And 
 they, entering this, saw the maiden's mother, big as a mountain, 
 horrible to behold, who straightway called to Antiphates, her 
 husband. The messengers indeed fled to the ships ; but he 
 made a great shout, and the Lsestrygons came flocking about 
 him, giants, not men. And these broke off great stones from 
 the cliffs, each stone as much as a man could carry, and cast 
 them at the ships, so that they were broken. And the men they 
 speared, as if they were fishes, and devoured them. So it 
 happened to all the ships in the haven. I only escaped, for I 
 cut the hawser with my sword, and bade my men ply their 
 oars, which indeed they did right willingly. 
 
 " After a time we came to the island of /Eaea, where Circe 
 dwelt, who is the daughter of the Sun. Two days and nights 
 we lay upon the shore in great trouble and sorrow. On the 
 third I took my spear and sword and climbed a hill that there 
 was, for I wished to see to what manner of land we had come. 
 And having climbed it, I saw the smoke rising from the palace 
 of Circe, where it stood in the midst of a wood. Then I thought 
 awhile : should I go straightway to the palace that I saw, or 
 first return to my comrades on the shore ? And it seemed the 
 better counsel to go to the ship and bid my comrades make their 
 midday meal, and afterwards send them to search out the place. 
 But as I went, some god took pity on me, and sent a great stag, 
 with mighty antlers, across my path. The stag was going down 
 to the river to drink, for indeed the sun was now hot ; and 
 casting my spear at it I pierced it through. Then I fastened 
 together the feet with green withes and a fathom's length of 
 rope, and slinging the beast round my neck, so carried it to the 
 ship, leaning on my spear ; for indeed it was heavy to bear, nor 
 
^EOLUSj THE LjESTRYGONSj CIRCE 67 
 
 was it possible for me to carry it on my shoulder with one hand. 
 And when I was come to the ship, I cast down my burden. 
 Now the men were sitting with their faces muffled, so sad were 
 they. But when I bade them be of good cheer, they looked up 
 and marvelled at the great stag. And all that day we feasted 
 on deer's flesh and sweet wine, and at night lay down to sleep 
 on the shore. Bat when morning was come, I called my 
 comrades together, and spake : ' I know not, friends, where we 
 are. Only I know, having seen smoke yesterday from the hill, 
 that there is a dwelling in this island. 5 
 
 " It troubled the men much to hear this, for they thought of 
 the Cyclops and of the Loestrygons ; and they wailed aloud, but 
 there was no counsel in them. Wherefore I divided them into 
 two companies. I set Eurylochus over the one and I myself 
 took command of the other, and I shook lots in a helmet who 
 should go and search out the island, and the lot of Eurylochus 
 leapt out. So he went, and comrades twenty and two with him, 
 And in an open space in the wood they found the palace 
 of Circe. All about were wolves and lions ; yet these harmed 
 not the men, but stood up on their hind legs, fawning upon 
 them, as dogs fawn upon their master when he comes from his 
 meal, because he brings the fragments with him that they love. 
 And the men were afraid. And they stood in the porch and 
 heard the voice of Circe as she sang with a lovely voice and 
 plied the loom. Then said Polites, who was dearest of all my 
 comrades to me, in whom also I most trusted : £ Some one 
 within plies a great loom, and sings with a loud voice. Some 
 goddess is she, or woman. Let us make haste and call.' 
 
 " So they called to her, and she came out and beckoned to 
 them that they should follow. So they went, in their folly. 
 And she bade them sit, and mixed for them a mess, red wine, 
 and in it barley-meal and cheese and honey, and mighty drugs 
 withal, of which, if a man drank, he forgot all that he loved. 
 And when they had drunk she smote them with her wand. And 
 lo ! they had of a sudden the heads and the voices and the 
 bristles of swine, but the heart of a man was in them still. And 
 Circe shut them in sties, and gave them mast and acorns and 
 cornel to eat 
 
68 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 " But Eurylochus fled back to the ship, bringing tidings of 
 what had befallen his comrades. For a time he could not speak 
 a word, so full was his heart of grief, and his eyes of tears. 
 But, at last, when we had asked him many questions, he told us 
 this tale, saying : ' We went through the wood, as thou badest 
 us ; and in the midst of the glades we found a house, very fair, 
 builded of polished stone. And one within wove at a great 
 loom, singing with a clear voice, but whether she was a goddess 
 or a woman we knew not. Then my comrades called to her, 
 and she came out, and opened the doors and bade them come 
 in. So they went in, but I alone stayed without, for I feared 
 lest there might be some treachery. I saw not any of them 
 again, though I tarried long.' 
 
 " Thereupon I cast about my shoulder my silver-studded 
 sword, and took my bow also, and bade him lead me by the 
 way by which he had gone. But he caught me by both my 
 hands, and besought me, saying : 4 Take me not thither against 
 my will ; for I am persuaded that thou thyself wilt not return 
 again, nor bring any of thy comrades. Let us rather that 
 remain flee, and escape death. 5 Then I said, ' Stay here by the 
 ship, eating and drinking, if it be thy will, but I must go, for 
 necessity constrains me.' 
 
 "And when I had come to the house, there met we Hermes 
 of the golden wand, in the shape of a fair youth, who said to 
 me : — 
 
 " ' Art thou come to rescue thy comrades that are now swine 
 in Circe's house ? Nay, but thou shalt never go back thyself. 
 Yet, stay ; I will give thee such a drug as shall give thee power 
 to resist all her charms. For when she shall have mixed thee a 
 mess, and smitten thee with her wand, then do thou rush upon 
 her with thy sword, making as if thou wouldst slay her. And 
 when she shall pray for peace, do thou make her swear by 
 the great oath that binds the gods that she will not harm 
 thee.' 
 
 " Then Hermes showed me a certain herb, whose root was 
 black, but the flower white as milk. ' Moly,' the gods call it, 
 and very hard it is for mortal man to find ; but to the gods all 
 things are possible. 
 
JEOLUS; THE L/ESTRYGONS; CIRCE 69 
 
 " Thereupon Hermes departed to Olympus, but I went on to 
 the palace of the goddess, much troubled in heart. When I 
 came thither I stood in the porch and called, and Circe came, 
 and opened the doors, and bade me come in. 
 
 " Then she set me on a great chair, skilfully carven, with a 
 footstool for my feet. Afterward she gave me drink in a cup of 
 gold, but she had mixed in it a deadly charm. This I drank, 
 but was not bewitched, for the herb saved me. Then she smote 
 me with her wand, saying : ' Go now to the sty and lie there 
 with thy fellows.' Thereupon I drew my sword, and rushed 
 upon her, as though I would have slain her. Then she caught 
 me by the knees, and cried aloud : 'Who art thou? What is 
 thy race ? I marvel that thou couldst drink of this drink that I 
 have charmed, and yet take no hurt. I thought that there was 
 no mortal man .that could so do. Thou must have a soul 
 against which there is no enchantment. Verily, thou must be 
 that Ulysses who was to come to this island as he returned 
 from Troy, for so Hermes told me. But come, let us befriends.' 
 Then I said to her : ' Nay, goddess, but how can we two be 
 friends, when thou hast turned my companions into swine? I 
 fear thee that thou hast some deceit in thy heart, and thou wilt 
 take me unawares, and do me a great mischief. But swear a 
 mighty oath, even the oath by which the gods are bound, that 
 thou wilt not harm me.' 
 
 "Then Circe sware the mighty oath, even the oath by which 
 the gods are bound. 
 
 " After this her handmaids, that were fair women born of the 
 springs and streams and woods, prepared a feast. One set 
 coverlets of purple on the chairs, and another brought up tables 
 of silver to the chair, and set on the tables baskets of gold. A 
 third mixed sweet wine in a bowl of silver, and set thereby cups 
 of gold ; and the fourth filled a great caldron with water, and 
 put fire under it. And when it boiled, she mixed it with water 
 in the bath, duly tempering it, and the bath took away the 
 weariness from my limbs. And when I had bathed, a hand- 
 maid bare water in an ewer of gold, and poured it over a basin 
 of gold, that I might wash my hands. Then the housekeeper 
 brought me wheaten bread, and set many dainties on the table : 
 
?o THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 and Circe bade me eat ; but I sat silent and sorrowful, having 
 other thoughts in my mind. 
 
 " And when the goddess perceived that I was silent and ate 
 not, she said : ' Why dost thou sit, Ulysses, as though thou 
 wertdumb? Fearest thou any craft of mine? Nay, but that 
 may not be, for have I not sworn the great oath that binds the 
 gods ? ' 
 
 " Then I made answer : ' Nay, but who could think of meat 
 and drink when such things had befallen his companions ? J 
 
 ULYSSES AT THE TABLE OF CIRCE. 
 
 " Then Circe led the way, holding her wand in her hand, 
 and opened the doors of the sties, and drove out the swine that 
 had been men. Then she rubbed on each another mighty drug, 
 and the bristles fell from their bodies and they became men, 
 only younger and fairer than before. And when they saw me, 
 they clung to me and wept for joy, and Circe herself was moved 
 with pity. 
 
 " Then said she to me : ' Go, Ulysses, to thy ship, and put 
 away all the goods and tackling in the caves that are on the 
 
JEOLUSj THE LALSTRYGONSj CIRCE 71 
 
 shore, but come again hither thyself, and bring thy comrades 
 with thee. 5 
 
 " Then I went. Right glad were they who had stayed to see 
 me, glad as are the calves who have been penned in the fold- 
 yard when their mothers come back in the evening. And when 
 I told them what had been, and would have them follow me, 
 they were willing, save only Eurylochus, who said : — 
 
 " ' O ye fools, whither are we going ? To the dwelling of 
 Circe, who will change us all into swine, or wolves, or lions, 
 and keep us in prison, even as the Cyclops did ! For was it 
 not this same foolhardy Ulysses that lost our comrades there ?' 
 
 " Then I was very wroth and would have slain Eurylochus, 
 though he was near of kin to me. But my comrades hindered 
 me, saying : 1 Let him abide here and keep the ship, if he will. 
 But we will go with thee to the dwelling of Circe. 5 
 
 " Then I forbore to slay him. Nor did Eurylochus stay 
 behind, but followed with the rest. So we went to the dwelling 
 of Circe, who feasted us royally, so that we remained with her 
 for -a whole year, well content. 
 
 " But when the year was out my companions said to me : c It 
 were well to remember thy country, if it is indeed the will of 
 the gods that thou shouldst return thither. 5 
 
 " Then I besought Circe that she would send me on my way 
 homewards, as indeed she had promised to do. And she 
 answered, saying :— 
 
 " ' I would not have you abide in my house unwillingly. Yet 
 must thou first go another journey, even to the dwellings of the 
 dead, there to speak with the seer Teiresias. 5 
 
 " But I was sore troubled to hear such things, and wept aloud, 
 saying : ' Who shall guide us in this journey ? — for never yet 
 did ship make such a voyage as this. 5 
 
 " Then Circe made answer : ' Son of Laertes, trouble not thy- 
 self because thou hast no guide, only set up the mast in thy 
 ship, and spread out the sails, and sit thee down with thy 
 companions, and the north wind shall carry thee to the place 
 whereto thou art bound. When thou shalt have sailed across 
 the stream of ocean, thou shalt come to a waste shore, where 
 are many tall poplar trees and willows. Beach there thy ship 
 
72 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 on the shore of ocean, and go thyself to the dwelling of Hades. 
 There is a certain rock, and near to it meet two streams, to wit, 
 Phlegethon, which is the river of fire, and Cocytus, which is the 
 river of wailing. Dig there a trench ; it shall be a cubit long 
 and a cubit broad ; pour out thereby a drink-offering to the 
 dead : first of mead, and then of sweet wine, and thirdly of 
 water ; and sprinkle white barley thereon. And as thou doest 
 these things entreat the dead, and promise that when thou shalt 
 come again to Ithaca, thou wilt offer a barren heifer, even the 
 best thou hast, and that thou wilt sacrifice to Teiresias alone a 
 black ram, without blemish, the goodliest in the flock. And 
 after thou hast made thy prayers to the dead, offer up a black 
 ram and a black ewe. See that thou bend their heads towards 
 Erebus, but turn thyself to the shore of ocean. Then will come 
 many spirits of the dead, but suffer them not to drink of the 
 blood till thou shalt have spoken to Teiresias. Speedily will 
 the seer come to thee, and will tell thee how thou mayest return 
 to thy home. J 
 
 " The next morning I roused my companions, saying : ' Sleep 
 no more ; we will go on our way, for Circe hath shown to me 
 the whole matter. 5 
 
 " So I spake, and they consented to my words. Yet did not 
 I take all my company safe from the dwelling of the goddess. 
 There was a certain Elpenor, who was the youngest of them 
 all, and was neither valiant nor of an understanding mind. He 
 was sleeping apart from his fellows, on the housetop, for being 
 heavy with wine, he had craved for the coolness of the air. He, 
 then, hearing our voice, and the sound of men's feet, as they 
 moved hither and thither, leapt up of a sudden, and thought 
 not to come clown by the ladder by which he had gone up, 
 but fell down from the roof, so that his neck was broken and he 
 went down to the dwellings of the dead. 
 
 " But as my men were on their way, I spake to them, saying : 
 ' Ye think that ye are going to your native country ; not so, for 
 Circe hath showed me another journey that we must take, even 
 to the dwelling of Hades, that I may speak with the spirit of 
 Teiresias the seer.' 
 
 " So I spake, and their spirit was broken within them, and 
 
THE DWELLINGS OF THE DEAD 73 
 
 they sat down where they were, and mourned, and tare their 
 hair. But their weeping profited them nothing. 
 
 " Meanwhile Circe had gone, and made fast a ram and a 
 black ewe to the ship, passing on as we went, for none may 
 mark the goings of the immortal gods. 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE DWELLINGS OF THE DEAD 
 
 (The Tale of Ulysses) 
 
 " After this we made ready the ship for sailing, and put the 
 black sheep on board, and so departed ; and Circe sent a wind 
 from behind that filled the sails ; and all the day through our 
 ship passed quickly over the sea. 
 
 " And when the sun had set we came to the utmost border of 
 the ocean, where the Cimmerians dwell, being compassed about 
 with mist and cloud. Never doth the Sun behold them, either 
 when he climbs into the heaven, or when he descends there- 
 from ; but darkness surrounds them. Then I bade two of my 
 comrades make ready the sheep for sacrifice ; and I myself 
 dug a pit of a cubit every way, and poured in it a drink-offering 
 of honey and milk, and sweet wine, and water, and sprinkled 
 barley upon the drink-offering. Afterwards I took the sheep 
 and slew them, that their blood ran into the trench. And the 
 sons of the dead were gathered to the place, — maidens, and 
 old men who had borne the sorrows of many years, and warriors 
 that had been slain in battle, having their arms covered with 
 blood. All these gathered about the pit with a terrible cry ; 
 
74 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 and I was sore afraid. Then I bade my comrades flay the 
 carcasses of the sheep, and burn them with fire, and pray to 
 the gods of the dead ; but I myself sat down by the pit's side 
 and would not suffer the souls of the dead to come near unto 
 the blood until I had inquired of Teiresias. 
 
 " First of all came the soul of my comrade Elpenor. Much 
 did I wonder to see him, and I asked : 'How comest thou 
 hither, Elpenor, to the land of darkness ? and how have thy 
 feet outstripped my ship?' Then said Elpenor: 'I fell from 
 the roof of the palace of Circe, not bethinking me of the ladder, 
 and so brake my neck. But now, I pray thee, if thou lovest 
 wife and father and son, forget me not, when thou returnest to 
 the island of Circe, neither leave me without lamentation or 
 burial. Burn me with fire and my arms with me ; and make a 
 mound for me by the shore of the sea, that men may hear of 
 me and of my fate in after time. And set up my oar upon 
 my tomb, even the oar which I was wont to ply among my 
 comrades. 3 
 
 " Then I said to him : 4 All this shall be done as thou 
 desirest.' 
 
 " And we sat on either side of the trench as we talked, and I 
 held my sword over the blood. 
 
 " After him came to me the soul of my mother, whom I had 
 left alive when I sailed to Troy. Sorely I wept to see her, yet 
 suffered her not to come near and drink of the blood till I had 
 inquired of Teiresias. Then came Teiresias, holding a golden 
 sceptre in his hand, and spake, saying : ' Why hast thou left the 
 light of day, and come hither to this land of the dead, wherein 
 is no delight ? But come, depart from the pit, and take away 
 thy sword, that I may come near and tell thee true.' 
 
 " So I thrust my sword into the scabbard ; and Teiresias 
 drank of the blood ; and when he had drunk, he spake : c Thou 
 seekest to hear of thy going back to thy home. Know, there- 
 fore, that it shall be with peril and toil. For Poseidon will not 
 easily lay aside his wrath against thee, because thou didst take 
 from his dear son, the Cyclops, the sight of his eye. Yet for all 
 this ye may yet come safe to your home, if only thou canst 
 restrain thyself and thy comrades when ye come to the island of 
 
THE DWELLINGS OF THE DEAD 75 
 
 the Three Capes, and find there the oxen and the sheep of the 
 Sun. If ye let them be and harm them not, then may ye return 
 to Ithaca, though it be after grievous toil. But if not, then shall 
 ye perish. And if thou escape thyself, after long time shalt thou 
 return, having lost all thy comrades, and the ship of strangers 
 shall carry thee ; and thou shalt find trouble in thy house, even 
 men of violence that will devour thy substance while they seek 
 thy wife in marriage. And when thou shalt have avenged thy- 
 self on these, whether it be by craft, or openly with the sword, 
 then take thine oar and travel till thou come into the land of 
 men that know not the sea, and eat not their bread mingled with 
 salt, and have never looked on ships nor on oars, which are as 
 the wings of ships. And this shall be a clear token to thee, 
 when another traveller, meeting thee in the way, shalt say that 
 thou bearest a winnowing fan upon thy shoulders : then fix thine 
 oar in the ground and do sacrifice to Poseidon, even a sheep, 
 and a bull, and a boar. And afterwards return to thy home, 
 and offer a sacrifice of a hundred beasts to all the gods. And 
 death shall come to thee far from the sea, very gentle, and thou 
 shalt die in thy old age, with the people dwelling in peace about 
 thee.' 
 
 " To him I made answer : c So be it, Teiresias. All these 
 things the gods have ordered after their own will. But tell me 
 this. Here I see the soul of my mother that is dead ; and she 
 sits near the blood, but regards me not, nor speaks to me. How 
 can she know me, that I am indeed her son ? ; 
 
 " Then said Teiresias : ' Whomsoever of the dead thou shalt 
 suffer to drink of the blood, he will speak to thee ; but whomso- 
 ever thou sufferest not, he will depart in silence.' 
 
 " So I abode in my place ; and the soul of my mother came 
 near and drank of the blood. And when she had drunk, she 
 knew her son, and said : ' My son, why hast thou come into the 
 land of darkness, being yet alive ? Hast thou not yet returned 
 to thy home ? ' 
 
 " To her I made answer : ' I came hither to inquire of Teire- 
 sias of Thebes, and my home have I not seen. Truly trouble 
 hath followed me from the day that I first went with King- 
 Agamemnon to the land of Troy. But tell me, how didst thou 
 
7 6 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 die? Did a wasting disease slay thee, or didst Artemis smite 
 thee with sudden stroke of her arrow ? And my father and my 
 son, have they enjoyment of that which is mine, or have others 
 taken it from them ? And my wife, is she true to me, or hath 
 she wedded some prince among the Greeks ? ' 
 
 " Then said my mother : ' Thy wife is true, and sits weeping 
 for thee day and night. And thy son hath enjoyment of thy 
 possessions 3 and hath his due place at the feasts of the people. 
 But thy father cometh no longer to the city, but abideth in the 
 country. Nor hath he any couch for his bed, but in winter-tide 
 he sleeps, even as sleep the slaves, in the ashes near unto the 
 fire, and when the summer comes, in the corner of the vineyard 
 upon the leaves. Greatly doth he sorrow, waiting for thy return, 
 and the burden of old age lies heavy upon him. But as for me, 
 no wasting disease slew me, nor did Artemis smite me with her 
 arrows ; but I died of longing for thee, so sorely did I miss thy 
 wisdom and thy love.' 
 
 " Then I was fain to lay hold upon the soul of my mother. 
 Thrice I sprang forward, eager to embrace her, and thrice she 
 passed from out of my hands, even as passeth a shadow. And 
 when I said, 'How is this, my mother? art thou then but a 
 phantom, that the Queen of the dead hath sent me ?' my mother 
 answered me : ' Thus it is with the dead, my son. They have 
 no more any flesh and bones ; for these the might of the fire 
 devours ; but their souls are even as dreams, flying hither and 
 thither. But do thou return so soon as may be to the light, 
 and tell all that thou hast seen and heard to thy wife.' 
 
 " After I had ended my talk with my mother, there came to 
 me, by the sending of Queen Persephone, the souls of the 
 famous women that had been of old. And I suffered them to 
 come near, one by one, and drink of the blood ; and each, when 
 she had drunk, told me her name and her lineage. Thus I saw 
 Alcmena, that bare Hercules to Zeus, and Chloris, that was 
 mother of Nestor, the wisest of mortal men, and Leda, whose 
 sons were Castor, the tamer of horses, and Pollux, the mighty 
 boxer, and Iphimedia, wife of Aloeus, who bare Otus and Ephi- 
 altes, tallest of mortal men, and fairest also, after noble Orion. 
 Tallest they were ; for, being nine years old, they had fifty and 
 
THE DWELLINGS OF THE DEAD 
 
 four feet of height, and of breadth fifteen. These were minded 
 to make war upon the gods, purposing to set Ossa on Olympus, 
 and Pelion, with all its woods, upon Ossa. So they purposed ; 
 and verily they had done so, had they come to their full growth ; 
 but the son of Zeus, whom Latona bore to him, slew them with 
 his arrows before the down had grown upon their cheeks. 
 Ariadne also did I see, daughter of King Minos, whom Theseus 
 carried away from the land of Crete, and would have wedded 
 her, but Artemis smote with her arrows ; and Eriphyle, that 
 sold the life of her husband for gold. These I saw, and many 
 others also, wives and daughters of heroes. 
 
 " And when these had departed, for Queen Persephone bade 
 them go even as she had sent them, there came the soul of 
 Agamemnon, son of Atreus. Sorely grieving it came, and 
 about it were the souls of all that had perished together with 
 him by the evil craft of ^Egisthus. And when his spirit had 
 drunk of the blood, it knew me, and stretched out its hands to 
 me, seeking to lay hold of me, but could not, for it was a 
 shadow only, and had no substance in it. And when I saw it 
 ■ I had pity on the King, and spake : ' Tell me, King Agamem- 
 non, that was greatest of all the kings of the earth, what doom 
 of death hath come upon thee ? Did Poseidon raise a mighty 
 storm against thee, and break thy ships ? or did men slay thee 
 on the land, when thou wast seeking to drive away their cattle 
 and sheep or to take their city by force V 
 
 " Then Agamemnon made answer : 4 Neither did Poseidon 
 break my ships, nor did men slay me upon the land, but ^gis- 
 thus contrived death against me ; he and my accursed wife 
 together took counsel against me. He called me to a feast, and 
 after the feast he slew me as a man smiteth an ox at the manger. 
 Thus did I die in lamentable fashion, I and my comrades about 
 me ; for they were slain without mercy, as swine are slain in 
 some rich man's house for a marriage, or a common feast, or a 
 banquet. Verily, I have seen the deaths of many men, of whom 
 some were slain alone, and some in the press of the battle ; but 
 never saw I slaughter so piteous as this, when about the mixing 
 bowls of wine, and the tables laden with meat, we lay dying in 
 the hall, and the pavement ran with blood. And as I lay, I 
 
73 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 heard the very piteous voice of Cassandra, the daughter of 
 Priam, whom Clytemnestra, my wife, slew for my sake. Then 
 I laid my hands upon my sword, even as I was dying, and would 
 have raised it for a stroke. And she, my evil wife, stood apart ; 
 neither would she close my eyes or my mouth. Surely there is 
 nothing on earth more terrible or shameless than a woman. 
 For think what a deed this woman did, — contriving death 
 against her own husband ! And I had thought that I should 
 come a welcome guest to my children and my household ; and 
 lo ! the greeting that I had ! Verily this woman hath wrought 
 that which shall be a shame for all women hereafter, even for 
 them that shall do righteously.' 
 
 " Then I made answer to him : ' Verily, Zeus hath wrought 
 great evil to this house by means of the race of women. Many 
 they were that were slain in war for Helen's sake, and Clytem- 
 nestra also contrived death for thee.' 
 
 " Then King Agamemnon spake again : ' Mind, that thou 
 be not gentle with any woman whatsoever, nor tell to any all 
 thy counsel, but rather show a part and hide a part. Never- 
 theless, Ulysses, thy doom shall not come to thee from thy wife, 
 for Penelope, the daughter of Icarus, is good and wise. We 
 left her, I mind me, a newly-married wife in thy house, when 
 we sailed for Troy ; and she had thy young son upon her 
 breast. Now, I take it, Tie hath come to man's estate. Happy 
 is he, for his dear father will see him when he cometh to his 
 home, and they two shall clasp each other in their arms as 
 father and son should do. But as for me, my wife suffered me 
 not to satisfy my eyes with looking on my son, but slew me 
 first. And hearken thou again to this thing that I tell thee. 
 When thou comest back to thy native land, come not openly, 
 but in secret, for men may not trust in women any more. 
 Remember thou this, and tell me also, didst thou hear per- 
 chance of my son Orestes, that he lived, when thou wast in 
 Pylos, maybe, or in Sparta, with my brother Menelaiis ? For 
 surely he is yet alive.' 
 
 " To this I answered : ' Ask me not concerning him, for I 
 know not whether he be alive or dead ; and it is ill to speak 
 things that profit not' 
 
THE DWELLINGS OF THE DEAD 79 
 
 " So we two spake together ; and afterwards there came other 
 souls, as of Achilles, and of Patroclus, and of Antilochus, that 
 was eldest son of King Nestor, and of Ajax, that was the 
 strongest of all the Greeks after the son of Peleus. 
 
 " And first Achilles spake to me in a piteous voice : 'What 
 marvellous deed is it that thou hast done, son of Laertes ? How 
 didst thou dare to come down to the land wherein dwell the 
 spirits of the dead?' 
 
 " To him I made answer : ' I came hither, Achilles, to inquire 
 of Teiresias the seer, if he would show me some counsel by 
 which I might return to Ithaca. For I have not yet attained 
 to the land of Greece, nor to my native land, but wander about 
 in trouble without end. So evil is my doom ; but there never 
 hath been man that was happier than thou, no, nor shall be 
 hereafter ; for while thou wast yet alive, we Greeks honoured 
 thee, as men honour a god ; and now that thou art dead, thou 
 art the king of all the folk that dwell in this land.' 
 
 " But Achilles answered me forthwith : ' Speak to me, 
 Ulysses, no comfortable words about death. Verily, I would 
 desire to serve for hire some man of little substance, that had 
 but scant provision for his house, so that I might be alive upon 
 the earth, rather than be king over all the dead. But come, 
 tell me tidings of my son, if thou hast any. Did he go to the 
 war to be the first among the princes ? Tell me, also, of the 
 old man Peleus, my father. Doth he yet hold his place of 
 honour among the Myrmidons ? or do they make him of little 
 account because old age hath come upon him, taking from him 
 the swiftness of his feet and the strength of his hands? Verily, 
 if I could come to help him under the light of the sun, being 
 such as I was in the old days, when I slew heroes without 
 number before the walls of Troy, verily, I say, I would hinder 
 them who do him violence, and keep him from the honour that 
 is his.' 
 
 " I made answer : i Of Peleus I have heard nothing ; but of 
 thy son Neoptolemus I will tell thee all the truth as thou 
 wouldst have me do. I brought him myself from the island 
 of Scyros to Troy, to the host of the Greeks. And when he 
 came among us, he was behind no man in counsel. And in 
 
8o 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 battle he never abode in the crowd, but was ever foremost, 
 and slew many in the host of the Trojans. I could not tell 
 their names, so many they were ; but the chiefest of all was 
 Eurypylus, the Mysian, that was son to King Telephus, and 
 was the fairest of men that ever I beheld, save only Memnon, 
 the son of the Morning. And when we entered into the Horse 
 of Wood, that Epeiis wrought for the Greeks, that we might 
 take the city of Troy, then all the other princes of the Greeks 
 wept sore, and trembled for fear ; but he alone grew not pale 
 at all, nor wiped a tear from his cheek, but was ever longing to 
 go forth from the Horse, and had his hand upon the hilt of his 
 sword, purposing evil against the men of Troy. And when we 
 sacked the fair city of King Priam, then he had a goodly 
 portion of the spoil, and sailed home therewith in his ship ; 
 nor was he wounded at all with spear or sword, as ofttimes 
 chanceth to men in the press of the battle.' So I spake, and 
 the soul of Achilles departed with great strides through the 
 meadow of asphodel, very glad because his son had won for 
 himself much renown in war. 
 
 " The souls of other heroes also spake to me, and told their 
 grief ; but Ajax, the son of Telamon, stood apart, and kept 
 silence. For he was wroth because I had prevailed over him 
 when we two had contended together for the arms of Achilles. 
 And I said : ' Art thou, great Ajax, still angry by reason of 
 these accursed arms ? Surely the gods made them a trouble 
 to the Greeks, seeing that they caused thee, who wast a very 
 tower of strength to the host, to perish. Truly the Greeks 
 mourned for thee, even as they mourned for Achilles, the son 
 of Peleus. Yet blame not me, therefore, I pray thee, but Zeus, 
 who bare a grudge against the Greeks ; and come hither and 
 speak with me. 5 
 
 " And Ajax spake not a word, but departed. 
 
 "After this I saw King Minos sitting on a throne holding a 
 sceptre of gold in his hand. Thus he sat and judged the dead. 
 
 " Also I saw the giant Orion driving the beasts together as a 
 hunter drives them, in a meadow of asphodel, and he held in 
 his hand a great club wrought wholly of bronze. 
 
 "And I saw Tityos, the mighty son of Earth. On the ground 
 
THE DWELLINGS OF THE DEAD 81 
 
 he lay, and covered seven furlongs. Two vultures sat by him 
 and tare his liver ; nor could he keep them from him with his 
 hands. 
 
 " Tantalus also I saw, that was in very grievous plight ; for 
 he stood in a pool, and the water came near unto his chin ; but 
 when he would drink thereof, being sore athirst, he could not. 
 For so often as he stooped forward to drink, so often the 
 water was swallowed up by the earth, and the ground was 
 seen about his feet. Trees also of fair fruitage hung over his 
 head, pears and pomegranates, and apples very fair to behold, 
 and sweet figs and olives ; but so often as he reached his hand 
 to lay hold of them, so often the wind bore them away even 
 to the clouds. 
 
 "And Sisyphus I saw, and he also was in sore distress. For 
 with both his hands he grasped a great stone, seeking to push 
 it up the side of a hill. With much toil of knees and arms he 
 pushed it, but so soon as he came near to the top, then it 
 brake from him and leapt down very swiftly to the bottom of 
 the hill. 
 
 " Last of all, I saw the shadow of Hercules, his shadow only, 
 for the hero himself sat and feasted with the gods above, 
 having Hebe to wife, the daughter of Zeus. And all about 
 him there was a great crying of the souls, as is the crying of 
 birds ; and he, with a countenance dark as night, stood with 
 his bow in his hand and an arrow ever on the string, looking 
 with a dreadful purpose in his eyes like one about to shoot ; 
 and about his breast was a buckler of gold, and marvellous 
 things wrought thereupon, bears, and wild boars, and lions with 
 glaring eyes, battles also, and terrible slaughters of men. And 
 the shade of Hercules spake to me, saying : 6 Tell, me, hast 
 thou also such an evil lot on earth as Zeus gave to me ? For 
 he put me under the dominion of a churl that ever set me 
 hard labours to perform. Yea, and he sent me hither to fetch 
 hence the dog of hell, thinking that he could give me no 
 harder task than this. But I brought him up from hell to the 
 light of day, for Hermes and Athene helped me on my way.' 
 
 " So spake the shade of Hercules and departed. Then I 
 waited awhile, if haply I might see the souls of other heroes 
 
 F 
 
THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 that had lived in old time ; but as I stood, lo ! there came about 
 me thousands and thousands of the dead with a terrible cry, 
 and I was sore afraid. For I feared lest the great Queen 
 Persephone should send against me the terrible head of the 
 Gorgon. Therefore I departed from this place, and bade my 
 comrades embark upon the ships and loose the ropes. And we 
 embarked and sat upon the benches ; and the great stream of 
 Ocean bare us onward ; at the first we rowed, and afterwards 
 we hoisted the sails. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE SIRENS ; SCYLLA ; THE OXEN OF THE SUN 
 
 (The Tale of Ulysses) 
 
 " It was now evening when we came back to the island of 
 Circe. Therefore we beached the ship, and lay down by the 
 sea, and slept till the morning. And when it was morning we 
 arose, and went to the palace of Circe, and fetched thence the 
 body of our comrade Elpenor. We raised the funeral pile 
 where the farthest headland runs out into the sea, and burned 
 the dead man and his arms ; then we raised a mound over his 
 bones, and put a pillar on the top of the mound, and on the top 
 of the pillar his oar. 
 
 " But Circe knew of our coming, and of what we had done, 
 and she came and stood in our midst, her handmaids coming 
 with her, and bearing flesh and bread and wine in plenty. 
 Then she spake, saying : ' Overbold are ye, who have gone 
 down twice into the house of death which most men see but 
 
THE SIRENS; SCYLLA 
 
 83 
 
 once. Come now, eat and drink this day ; to-morrow shall ye 
 sail again over the sea, and I will tell you the way, and declare 
 all that shall happen, that ye may suffer no hindrance as 
 ye go.' 
 
 " So all that day we eat and feasted. And when the darkness 
 came over the land, my comrades lay them down by the ship 
 and slept. But Circe took me by the hand, and led me apart 
 from my company, and inquired of what I had seen and done. 
 And when I had told her all my tale, she spake, saying : 
 4 Hearken now to what I shall tell thee. First of all thou shalt 
 come to the Sirens, who bewitch all men with their singing. 
 For whoso cometh nigh to them not knowing, and listeneth to 
 their song, he seeth not wife or children any more ; for the 
 Sirens enchant him, and draw him to where they sit, with a 
 great heap of dead men's bones about them. Speed thy ship 
 past them, and first fill the ears of thy comrades with wax, lest 
 any should hear the song ; but if thou art minded thyself to 
 hear the song, let them bind ye fast to the mast. So shalt thou 
 hear the song, and take no harm. And if thou shalt entreat 
 thy comrades to loose thee, they must bind the bonds all the 
 faster. 
 
 " ' When thou shalt have passed the island of the Sirens, then 
 thou must choose for thyself which path thou shalt take. On 
 the one side are the rocks that men call the Wandering Rocks. 
 By these not even winged creatures can pass unharmed. Of 
 the very doves that carry ambrosia to Father Zeus the rocks 
 take every time one, and the father sendeth another to fill his 
 place. No ship can pass them by unhurt ; all round them do 
 the waves toss timbers of broken ships and bodies of men that 
 are drowned. One ship only hath ever passed them by, even 
 the ship Argo, and even her would the waves have dashed 
 upon the rocks, but that Hera, for love of Jason, caused her 
 to pass by. 
 
 " ' These there are on the one side, and on the other are two 
 rocks. The first rock reacheth with a sharp peak to the 
 heavens, and about the peak is a dark cloud that passeth not 
 away from it, no, not in summer time or harvest. This rock no 
 man could climb, even though he had twenty hands and feet, 
 
84 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 for it is steep and smooth. In the midst of this cliff is a cave 
 wherein dwelleth Scylla, the dreadful monster of the sea. Her 
 voice is but as the voice of a whelp newly born, and her 
 twelve feet are small and ill-grown, but she hath six necks, 
 exceeding long, and on each a head dreadful to behold, and in 
 each head three rows of teeth, thick set and full of death. 
 She is hidden up to her middle in the cave, but she putteth 
 her heads out of it, fishing for dolphins, or sea-dogs, or other 
 creatures of the sea, for indeed there are countless flocks of 
 them. No ship can pass her by unharmed, for with each head 
 she carrieth off a man, snatching them from the ship's deck. 
 Hard by, even a bow-shot off, is the other rock, lower by far, 
 and with a great fig-tree growing on the top. Beneath it 
 Charybdis thrice a day sucketh in the water, and thrice a day 
 spouteth it forth. If thou chance to be there when she sucks it 
 in, not even Poseidon's help could save thee. See, therefore, 
 that thou guide thy ship near to Scylla rather than to the other, 
 for it is better for thee to lose six men out of thy ship, than all 
 thy company together.' 
 
 u So Circe spake, and I said : c Tell me, goddess, can I by 
 any means escape from Charybdis on the one hand, and, on 
 the other, avenge me on this monster, when she would take my 
 comrades for a prey ? ' 
 
 " But the goddess said : ' Overbold thou art, and thinkest 
 ever of deeds of battle. Verily, thou wouldst do battle with 
 the gods themselves ; and surely Scylla is not of mortal race, 
 and against her there is no help. Thou wilt do better to flee. 
 For if thou tarry to put on thy armour, then will she dart forth 
 again, and take as many as before. Drive on thy ship, therefore, 
 with what speed may be, and call upon the mother that bare 
 this Scylla to be a bane to man, if haply she may keep her 
 daughter from darting forth a second time. 
 
 " ' After this, thou wilt come to the island of the Three 
 Capes, where are the herds and the flocks of the Sun. Seven 
 herds of kine there are and seven flocks of sheep, and fifty in 
 each. These neither are born, nor die, and they have two 
 goddesses to herd them. If ye do these no hurt, then shall ye 
 return, all of you, to Ithaca, but if ye harm them, then shall thy 
 
THE SIRENS; SCYLLA 
 
 85 
 
 ship be broken, and all thy company shall perisr, and thou 
 shalt return alone and after long delay.' 
 
 " Having so spoken the goddess departed. Then I roused 
 my men and they launched the ship, and smote the water with 
 their oars, and the goddess sending a favourable wind, we 
 hoisted the sails, and rested. 
 
 " But, as we went, I spake to my companions, saying : 
 ' Friends, it is not well that one or two only should know the 
 things that Circe prophesied to me. Therefore I will declare 
 them to you, that we may know beforehand the things that 
 shall come to pass, and so either die or live.' 
 
 " And first I told them of the Sirens ; and while I spake we 
 came to the Sirens' Island. Then did the breeze cease, and 
 there was a windless calm. So my comrades took down the 
 sails and put out the oars, and I cleft a great round of wax with 
 my sword, and, melting it in the sun, I anointed therewith the 
 ears of my men ; afterwards they bound me by hands and feet, 
 as I stood upright by the mast. And when we were so near 
 the shore as that the shout of a man could be heard therefrom, 
 the Sirens perceived the ship, and began their song. And 
 their song was this : — 
 
 " ' Hither, Ulysses, great Ac ha lan name, 
 Turn thy swift keel, and listen to our lay ; 
 Since never pilgrim near these regions came, 
 In black ship o?i the azure fields astray, 
 But heard our sweet voice ere he sailed away, 
 And in his joy passed on with ampler mind. 
 We know what labours were in a?icient day 
 Wrought in wide Troia, as the gods assig?ted ; 
 We know from land to land all toils of all mankind.' 
 
 66 Then I prayed that they would loose me, nodding my 
 head with a frown, for their ears were stopped ; but they plied 
 their oars, and Eurylochus and Perimedes put new bonds 
 upon me. And when we had passed by the island, then they 
 took the wax from their ears, and loosed my bonds. 
 
 " After this they saw a smoke and surf, and heard a mighty 
 roar, and their oars dropped out of their hands for fear ; but 
 I bade them be of good heart, for that by my counsel they had 
 escaped other dangers in past time, And the rowers I bad 
 
86 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 row as hard as they might. But to the helmsman I said : 
 'Steer the ship outside the smoke and the surf, and steer close 
 to the cliffs, lest the ship shoot off unawares and destroy us. 5 
 But of Scylla I said nothing, fearing lest they should lose heart, 
 and cease rowing altogether. Then 1 armed myself, and stood 
 in the prow waiting till Scylla should appear. 
 
 u So we sailed up the strait ; and there was sore trouble in 
 my heart, for on the one side was Scylla, and on the other 
 Charybdis, sucking down the water after a terrible sort. Now 
 would she vomit it forth, seething the while as a great caldron 
 seethes upon the fire, and the spray fell on the very tops of 
 the cliffs on either side. And then again she gulped the water 
 down, so that we could see to her very depths, even the white 
 sand that was at the bottom of the sea. Towards her we 
 looked, fearing destruction, and while we looked, Scylla caught 
 out of my ship six of my companions, the strongest and bravest 
 of them all. When I looked to my ship to find my crew, then 
 I saw their feet and hands, and I heard them call me by the 
 name, speaking to me for the last time. Even as a fisher, 
 standing on some headland, lets down his long line with a 
 bait, that he may ensnare the fishes of the sea, and each, as he 
 catches it, he flings writhing ashore, so did Scylla bear the 
 men writhing up the cliff to her cave. There did she devour 
 them ; and they cried to me terribly the while. Verily, of 
 all the things that I have seen upon the sea, this was the most 
 piteous of all. 
 
 " After this we came to the island of the Three Capes ; and 
 from my ship I heard the lowing of the kine and the bleating 
 of the sheep. Thereupon I called to mind the saying of 
 Teiresias the seer, how he charged me to shun the island of 
 the Sun. So I spake to my comrades, saying : ' Hear now the 
 counsels of Teiresias the seer and Circe. Straitly did they 
 charge me to sail by the island of the Sun ; for they said that 
 there the most dreadful evil would overtake us. Do ye then 
 row the ship past.' 
 
 " So I spake ; but Eurylochus made answer in wrath : 
 ' Surely, Ulysses, thou knowest not weariness, and art made 
 of iron, thus forbidding thy comrades, weary though they be 
 
THE SIRENS; SCYLLA 
 
 37 
 
 with toil and watching, to land upon this island, where we 
 might well refresh ourselves. Rash, also, art thou in that thou 
 commandest us to sail all night ; at night deadly winds spring 
 up, and how shall we escape, if some sudden storm from the 
 west or the south smite our ship, and break it in pieces ? 
 Rather let us stay, and take our meal and sleep by the ship's 
 side, and to-morrow will we sail again across the sea. J 
 
 " Thus he spake, and all consented to his speech. Then I 
 knew that the gods were minded to work us mischief, and I 
 made answer : ' Ye constrain me, being many against one. But 
 swear ye all an oath, that if ye find here either herd or flock, 
 ye will not be tempted by lawless appetite to slay either 
 bullock or sheep, but will rest content with the food that Circe 
 gave us. 5 
 
 " Then they all made oath that they would so do ; and when 
 they had sworn, they moored the ship within a creek, where 
 there was a spring of fresh water ; and so we took our meal. 
 But when we had enough of meat and drink, we remembered 
 our comrades whom Scylla had snatched from the ship and 
 devoured, and we mourned for them till slumber fell upon us. 
 
 " The next morning I spake to my company, saying : 
 ' Friends, we have yet food, both bread and wine. Stay, there- 
 fore, your hands from the flocks and herds, lest some mischief 
 take us, for they are the flocks and herds of the Sun, a mighty 
 god whose eye none may escape. 5 
 
 "With these words I persuaded them. For a month the 
 south wind blew without ceasing ; there was no other wind, 
 unless it were haply the east. So long, indeed, as the bread 
 and wine failed not the men, they harmed not the herds, 
 fearing to die. And afterwards, when our stores were con- 
 sumed, they wandered about the island, and searched for food, 
 snaring fishes and birds with hooks, for hunger pressed them 
 sorely. But I roamed ever by myself, praying to the gods that 
 they would send us deliverance. So it chanced one day that 
 slumber overcame me, — for this answer only did the gods give 
 me, — and I slept far away from my companions. 
 
 " Meanwhile Eurylochus spake thus to the others, using fatal 
 graft : ' Friends, listen to one who suffers the like affliction with 
 
88 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 you. Always is death a thing to be avoided ; but of all deaths 
 the most to be feared is the death by hunger. Come, therefore, 
 let us sacrifice to the gods in heaven the best of the oxen of the 
 Sun. And we will vow to build to the Sun, when we shall reach 
 the land of Ithaca, a great temple which we will adorn with gifts 
 many and precious. But if, indeed, he be minded to sink our 
 ship, being wroth for his oxen's sake, verily, I would rather die, 
 meeting the waves with open mouth, than waste slowly to death 
 upon this island.' 
 
 " To this they all gave consent. Then Eurylochus drave the 
 fattest of the kine, — for they ever grazed near the ship, — and the 
 men sacrificed it to the gods. But when they had done accord- 
 ing to custom, sprinkling green leaves, for barley they had none, 
 and pouring out libations of water instead of wine, and making 
 prayers to the gods, and had burnt the thigh-bones with the fat, 
 and had tasted the inner parts, then sleep forsook my eyes, and 
 I went my way to the shore. But ere I reached the place of the 
 ship, the savour of the flesh greeted me. And when I perceived 
 it, I cried aloud : ' O Zeus, this is a deadly sleep wherewith ye 
 lulled me to rest, for my comrades in their folly have grievously 
 offended the Sun. 5 
 
 " And even while I spake one of the nymphs that herded the 
 kine flew to the Sun with tidings of that which had been done. 
 Then spake the Sun among the other gods : ' Avenge me now 
 on the guilty comrades of Ulysses ; for they have slain the 
 herds which I delight to see both when I mount the heavens 
 and when I descend therefrom. Verily, if they pay not the due 
 penalty for their wrong-doing, I will go down and give my light 
 to the regions of the dead.' 
 
 " Then Zeus made answer : 1 Shine, thou Sun, as aforetime, 
 on the earth. Verily, my bolt can easily reach the bark of these 
 sinners, and break it in the middle of the sea.' 
 
 " All these things I heard afterwards from the nymph Calypso, 
 and she had heard them from Hermes, the messenger. 
 
 "With angry words did I rebuke my comrades, but found no 
 remedy for their wrong-doing, seeing that the kine were dead. 
 Then followed awful signs from heaven ; for the skins of the 
 kine crept, and the flesh bellowed upon the spits, as if it had the 
 
THE SIRENS; SCYLLA 
 
 39 
 
 voice of living creatures. For six days my friends feasted on 
 the cattle of the Sun ; but when the seventh day came, we 
 launched our ship upon the sea, and set sail. 
 
 " When we were now out of sight of the island of the Three 
 Capes, and no other land appeared, Zeus hung a dark cloud 
 over us, and suddenly the west wind came fiercely down upon 
 the ship, and snapped the shrouds on either side. Thereupon 
 the mast fell backward and brake the skull of a pilot, so that he 
 plunged, as a diver plunges, into the sea. Meantime Zeus 
 hurled his thunderbolt into the ship, filling it with sulphur from 
 end to end. Then my comrades fell from the ship ; I saw them 
 carried about it like to sea-gulls ; so did the gods baulk them of 
 their return. But I still abode on the ship, till the sides were 
 parted from the keel ; then I bound myself with a leathern 
 thong to the mast and the keel — for these were fastened together. 
 On these I sat, being driven by the wind. All night long was I 
 driven ; and with the morning I came again to Scylla and to 
 Charybdis. It was the time when she sucked in the waves ; 
 but I, borne upward by a wave, took fast hold of the branches 
 of the wild fig-tree that grew upon the rock. To this I clung 
 for a long time, but knew not how to climb higher up. So I 
 watched till she should vomit forth again the keel and the mast, 
 for these she had swallowed up. And when I saw them again, 
 then I plunged down from the rock, and caught hold of them, 
 and seated myself on them ; I rowed hard with the palms of my 
 hands ; arid the father of the gods suffered not Scylla to espy 
 me, else had I surely perished. For nine days I floated, and on 
 the tenth the gods carried me to the island of Calypso. 
 
 " But how I fared there ye know already, for I have already 
 told the tale to thee and to thy wife. But yesterday I told it ; 
 but to say again that which has been once spoken is another 
 thing, and I like it not." 
 
9o THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 ITHACA 
 
 When Ulysses had ended his tale there was silence for a 
 space throughout the hall. And after awhile King Alcinoiis 
 spake, saying : " Ulysses, now thou art come to my house, thou 
 shalt no longer be baulked of thy return. And on you, chiefs of 
 the Phasacians, that drink wine continually and listen to the 
 singing of the minstrel within my hall, I lay this command. 
 Garments, and gold, skilfully wrought, and such gifts besides as 
 the princes have given him, are already stored for this stranger 
 in a chest. Let us now, also, give him each a great tripod and 
 a caldron. We will give them to him, and afterwards we will 
 gather the price of them from among the people ; for such a 
 burden should not be laid upon one man." 
 
 This saying pleased the princes, and they went each man to 
 his house ; and the next day they brought the gifts ; and the 
 King himself bestowed them under the benches, that the rowers 
 might not be hindered in their rowing. 
 
 When these things were finished, the princes betook them to 
 the palace of the King ; and he sacrificed an ox to Zeus, and 
 they feasted, and the minstrel sang. But still Ulysses would 
 ever look to the sun, as if he would have hastened his going 
 down ; for indeed he was very desirous to return ; as a man 
 desireth his supper, when he hath been driving the plough all 
 day through a fallow field with a yoke of oxen before him, and 
 is right glad when the sun sinketh in the west, so Ulysses was 
 glad at the passing of the daylight. And he spake, saying : — 
 
 "Pour out, now, the drink-offering, my lord the King, and 
 send me on my way. Now do I bid you farewell, for ye have 
 given me all that my heart desired, to wit, noble gifts and 
 escort to my home. May the gods give me with them good 
 luck, and grant, also, that I may find my wife and my friends in 
 my home unharmed ! And may ye abide here in joy with your 
 
ITHACA 
 
 9i 
 
 wives and children, and may ye have all manner of good things, 
 and may no evil come near you." 
 
 Then spake the King to his squire : " Mix, now, the bowl, 
 Pontonoiis, and serve out the wine, that we may pray to Zeus, 
 and send the stranger on his way." 
 
 So Pontonoiis mixed the wine, and served it out ; and they all 
 made libation, and prayed. 
 
 Then Ulysses rose in his place, and placed the cup in the 
 
 ULYSSES ASLEEP LAID ON HIS OWN COAST BY THE PH^EACI AN SAILORS. 
 
 hand of Arete, the Queen, and spake : " Fare thee well, O 
 Queen, till old age and death, which no man may escape, shall 
 come upon thee ! I go to my home ; and do thou rejoice in thy 
 children and in thy people, and in thy husband, the King." 
 
 When he had so said, he stepped over the threshold. And 
 Alcinous sent with him a squire to guide him to the ship, and 
 Arete sent maidens, bearing one a fresh robe and a tunic, and 
 another carrying the coffer, and yet another with bread and wine. 
 When they came to the ship, the rowers took the things, and 
 
9 2 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 laid them in the hold. Also they spread for Ulysses a rug and 
 a linen sheet in the hinder part of the ship, that his sleep 
 might be sound. 
 
 When these things were ended Ulysses climbed on board, 
 and lay down ; and the men sat upon the benches, and unbound 
 the hawser. And it came to pass that so soon as they touched 
 the water with the oars, a deep sleep fell upon him. As four 
 horses carry a chariot quickly over the plain, so quick did the 
 ship pass over the waves. Not even a hawk, that is the swiftest 
 of all flying things, could have kept pace with it. 
 
 And when the star that is the herald of the morning came up 
 in the heaven, then did the ship approach the Island. There is 
 a certain harbour in Ithaca, the harbour of Phorcys, the sea-god, 
 where two great cliffs on either side break the force of the 
 waves ; a ship that can win her way into it can ride safely with- 
 out moorings. And at the head of this harbour there is an olive 
 tree, and a cave hard by that is sacred to the nymphs. Two 
 gates hath the cave, one looking towards the north by which 
 men may enter, and one towards the south, which pertaineth 
 only to the gods. To this place the Phaeacians guided the ship, 
 for they knew it well. Half the length of the keel did they run 
 her ashore, so quickly did they row her. Then they lifted 
 Ulysses out of the stern as he lay in the sheet and the rug which 
 the Queen had given him. And still he slept. They took out 
 also the gifts which the princes of the Phaeacians had given him, 
 and laid them in a heap by the trunk of the olive tree, a little 
 way from the road, lest some passer-by should come and 
 spoil them while Ulysses slept. After this they departed 
 homeward. 
 
 But Poseidon still remembered his anger, and said to Zeus : 
 " Now shall I be held in dishonour among the gods, for mortal 
 men, even these Phaeacians, who are of my own kindred, pay 
 me no regard. I said that this Ulysses should return in great 
 affliction to his home ; and now they have carried him safely 
 across the sea, with such a store of gifts as he never would have 
 won out of Troy, even had he come back unharmed with all his 
 share of the spoil." 
 
 To him Zeus made answer : "What is that thou sayest, lord 
 
ITHACA 
 
 93 
 
 of the sea ? How can the gods dishonour thee, who art the 
 eldest among them ? And if men withhold from thee the 
 worship that is due, thou canst punish them after thy pleasure. 
 Do, therefore, as thou wilt." 
 
 Then said Poseidon : " I had done so long since, but that I 
 feared thy wrath. But now I will smite this ship of the 
 Phaeacians as she cometh back from carrying this man to his 
 home. So shall they learn not to give henceforth safe carriage 
 to men ; and their city will I overshadow with a great 
 mountain." 
 
 And Zeus made answer to him : " Do as thou wilt." 
 
 Then Poseidon came down to the land of the Phaeacians, and 
 there he tarried till the ship came near, speeding swiftly on her 
 way. Thereupon he struck her, changing her into a stone, and 
 rooting her to the bottom of the sea. 
 
 But the Phaeacians said one to another : " Who is this that 
 hath hindered our ship, as she journeyed homeward ? Even 
 now she was plain to see." 
 
 But King Alcinoiis spake, saying : " Now are the oracles 
 fulfilled which my father was wont to speak. For he said that 
 Poseidon was wroth with us because we carried men safely 
 across the sea, and that one day the god would smite one of our 
 ships, and change it into a stone, and that he would overshadow 
 also our city with a great mountain. Now, therefore, let us 
 cease from conveying men to their homes, and let us do sacrifice 
 to Poseidon, slaying twelve bulls, that he overshadow not our 
 city with a great mountain." 
 
 So the King spake, and the princes did as he commanded 
 them. 
 
 Meanwhile Ulysses awoke in the land of Ithaca, and he knew 
 not the place, for Athene had spread a great mist about it, doing 
 it, as will be seen, with a good purpose, that he might safely 
 accomplish that which it was in his heart to do. Then Ulysses 
 started up, and made lament, saying : " Woe is me ! To what 
 end am I come ? Are the men barbarous and unjust, or are they 
 hospitable and righteous ? Whither shall I carry these riches of 
 mine? And whither shall I go myself? Surely the Phaeacians 
 have dealt unfairly with me, for they promised that they would 
 
94 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 carry me back to my own country, but now they have taken me 
 to a strange land. May Zeus, who is the defender of the 
 suppliant, punish them therefor ! But let me first see to my 
 goods, and reckon them up, lest haply the men should have 
 taken somewhat of them." 
 
 Thereupon he numbered the tripods, and the caldrons, and 
 the raiment, and the gold, and found that nothing was wanting 
 to the tale of the things. But not the less did he bewail him for 
 his country. 
 
 But as he walked, lamenting, by the shore, Athene met him, • 
 having the semblance of a young shepherd, fair to look upon, 
 such as are the sons of kings. Ulysses was glad when he saw 
 her, though he knew her not, and said : " Friend, thou art the 
 first man that I have seen in this land. Now, therefore, I pray 
 thee to save my substance and myself also. But first tell me 
 true — what land is this to which I am come, and what is the 
 people ? Is it an island, or a portion of the mainland ?" 
 
 And the false shepherd said : " Thou art foolish, or maybe, 
 hast come from very far, not to know this country. Many men 
 know it, both in the east and in the west. Rocky it is, not fit 
 for horses, nor is it very broad ; but it is fertile land, and good 
 for wine ; nor does it want for rain, and a good pasture it is 
 for oxen and goats ; and men call it Ithaca. Even in Troy, 
 which is very far, they say, from this land of Greece, men have 
 heard of Ithaca." 
 
 This Ulysses was right glad to hear. Yet he was not minded 
 to say who he was, but rather to feign a tale. 
 
 So he said : "Yes, of a truth, I heard of this Ithaca in Crete, 
 from which I am newly come, with all this wealth, leaving also 
 as much behind for my children. For I slew Orsilochus, son of 
 Idomeneus, the King, because he would have taken from me 
 my spoil. Wherefore I slew him, lying in wait for him by the 
 way. Then made I covenant with certain Phoenicians that 
 they should take me to Pylos or to Elis ; which thing, indeed, 
 they were minded to do, only the wind drave them hither, and 
 while I slept they put me upon the shore, and my possessions 
 with me, and departed to Sidon." 
 
 This pleased Athene much, and she changed her shape, 
 
ITHACA 
 
 95 
 
 becoming like to a tall woman, tall and fair, and said to 
 Ulysses : — 
 
 " Right cunning would he be who could cheat thee. Even 
 now in thy native country ceasest thou not from cunning words 
 and deceits ! But let these things be ; for thou, I trow, art the 
 wisest of mortal men, and I excel among the gods in counsel. 
 For I am Athene, daughter of Zeus, who am ever wont to stand 
 by thee and help thee. And now we will hide these possessions 
 of thine ; and thou must be silent, nor tell to any one who thou 
 art, and endure many things, so that thou mayest come to thine 
 own again." 
 
 To her Ulysses made answer : " Hardly may a mortal man 
 discern thee, O goddess, however wise he may be, for thou 
 takest many shapes. While I was making war against Troy 
 with the other Greeks, thou wast ever kindly to me. But from 
 the time that we took the city of Priam, and set sail for our 
 homes, I saw thee not, until thou didst meet me in the land of 
 the Phoeacians, comforting me, and guiding me thyself into the 
 city. And now I beseech, by thy Father Zeus, to tell me truly : 
 is this Ithaca that I see ? for it seems to me that I have come 
 to some other country, and that thou dost mock me. Tell me, 
 therefore, whether in very deed I am come to mine own 
 country." 
 
 Then Athene answered him : " Never will I leave thee, for 
 indeed thou art wise and prudent above all others. For any 
 other man, so coming back after many wanderings, would have 
 hastened to see his wife and his children ; but thou wiliest to 
 make trial first of thy wife. But as for this, that thou didst not 
 ever see me in thy wanderings, know that I was not minded to 
 be at enmity with Poseidon, my father's brother ; for he was 
 angry with thee because thou didst blind the Cyclops, his son. 
 But come now, I will show thee this land of Ithaca, that 
 thou mayest be assured in thy heart. Lo ! here is the harbour 
 of Phorcys ; here at the harbour's head is the olive tree ; here 
 also is the pleasant cave that is sacred to the nymphs, and there, 
 behold, is the wooded hill of Neriton." 
 
 Then the goddess scattered the mist, so that he saw the land. 
 Then, indeed, he knew it for Ithaca, and he kneeled down and 
 
9 6 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 kissed the ground, and prayed to the nymphs, saying : " Never 
 did I think to see you again ; but now I greet you lovingly. 
 Many gifts also will I give you, if Athene be minded, of her 
 grace, to bring me to my own again." 
 
 Then said Athene : "Take heart, and be not troubled. But 
 first let us put away thy goods safely in the secret place of the 
 cave." 
 
 Then Ulysses brought up the brass, and the gold, and the 
 raiment that the Phaeacians had given him, and they two 
 stored it in the cave, and Athene laid a great stone upon the 
 mouth. 
 
 And Athene said : " Think, man of many devices, how thou 
 wilt lay hands on these men, suitors of thy wife, who for three 
 years have sat in thy house devouring thy substance. And she 
 hath answered them craftily, making many promises, but still 
 waiting for thy coming. 55 
 
 Then Ulysses said : "Truly I had perished, even as Aga- 
 memnon perished, but for thee. But do thou help me, as of 
 old in Troy, for with thee at my side I would fight with three 
 hundred men." 
 
 Then said Athene : "Lo ! I will cause that no man shall 
 know thee, for I will wither the fair flesh on thy limbs, and take 
 the bright hair from thy head, and make thine eyes dull. And 
 the suitors shall take no account of thee, neither shall thy wife 
 nor thy son know thee. But go to the swineherd Eumseus, 
 where he dwells by the fountain of Arethusa, for he is faithful to 
 thee and to thy house. And I will hasten to Sparta, to the house 
 of Menelaiis, to fetch Telemachus, for he went thither, seeking 
 news of thee." 
 
 But Ulysses said to the goddess : "Why didst thou not tell 
 him, seeing that thou knewest all? Was it that he too might 
 wander over the seas in great affliction, and that others mean- 
 while might consume his goods ? 55 
 
 Then Athene made reply : " Trouble not thyself concerning 
 him. I guided him myself that he might earn a good report, as 
 a son searching for his father. Now he sitteth in peace in the 
 hall of Menelaiis. And though there are some that lie in wait 
 for him to slay him, yet shall they not have their will. Rather 
 
EUMjEUS, the swineherd 
 
 97 
 
 shall they perish themselves and others with them that have 
 devoured thy goods.'' 5 
 
 Then she touched him with her rod. She caused his skin to 
 wither, and wasted the hair upon his head, and made his skin as 
 the skin of an old man, and dimmed his eyes. His garments 
 she changed so that they became torn and filthy and defiled with 
 smoke. Over all she cast the skin of a great stag from which 
 the hair was worn. A staff also she gave him, and a tattered 
 wallet, and a rope wherewith to fasten it. 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 EUM^US, THE SWINEHERD 
 
 Athene departed to Lacedaemon that she might fetch Tele- 
 machus, and Ulysses went to the house of Eumaeus, the swine- 
 herd. A great courtyard there was, and twelve sties for the 
 sows, and four watchdogs, fierce as wild beasts, for such did the 
 swineherd breed. In each sty were penned fifty swine ; but the 
 hogs were fewer in number, for the suitors ever devoured them 
 at their feasts. There were but three hundred and threescore in 
 all. The swineherd himself was shaping sandals, and of his men 
 three were with the swine in the fields, and one was driving a fat 
 beast to the city, to be meat for the suitors. But when Ulysses 
 came near, the dogs ran upon him, and he dropped his staff and 
 sat down, and yet would have suffered harm, even on his own 
 threshold ; but the swineherd ran forth and drave away with 
 stones, and spake unto his lord, though, indeed, he knew him 
 not, saying : — 
 
 G 
 
98 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 " Old man, the dogs came near to kill thee. . That would, 
 indeed, have been a shame and a grief to me ; and, verily, I 
 have other griefs in plenty. Here I sit and sorrow for my lord, 
 and rear the fat swine for others to devour, while he, perchance, 
 wanders hungry over the deep, or in the land of strangers, if, 
 indeed, he lives. But come now, old man, to my house, and tell 
 me who thou art, and what sorrows thou hast thyself endured." 
 
 Then the swineherd led him to his dwelling, and set him down 
 
 ULYSSES CONVERSING WITH EUM^EUS. 
 
 on a seat of brushwood, with the hide of a wild goat spread on 
 it. The hide was both large and soft, and he was wont himself 
 to sleep on it. 
 
 Greatly did Ulysses rejoice at this welcome, and he said : 
 " Now may Zeus and the other gods grant thee thy heart's desire, 
 with such kindness hast thou received me ! " 
 
 The swineherd made answer : "It were a wicked thing in 
 me to slight a stranger, for the stranger and the beggar are 
 from Zeus. But from us that are thralls and in fear of our 
 
EUM^US, THE SWINEHERD 
 
 99 
 
 master, even a little gift is precious. And the gods have stayed 
 the return of my master. Surely had he come back he would 
 have given me a house, and a portion of land, and a fair wife 
 withal ; for such things do lords give to servants that serve them 
 well, in whose hand their substance increaseth, as verily it hath 
 increased in mine. Well would my lord have rewarded me, had 
 he tarried at home. But he hath perished as I would that all 
 the race of Helen might perish, so many valiant sons of the 
 Greeks hath she brought to death. For he, too, went to Troy, 
 that Agamemnon and Menelaiis, his brother, might work their 
 vengeance on the Trojans." 
 
 Then he went away to the sties, and brought from thence two 
 young pigs, and singed them, and cut them into pieces, and 
 broiled them upon spits. And when he had cooked them, he 
 set them before the beggar man. He also mixed wine in a bowl 
 of ivy-wood, and sat down over against his guest, and bade him 
 eat, saying : " Eat now such food as I can give thee ; as for the 
 fat hogs, them the suitors devour. Truly these men have no 
 pity, nor fear of the gods. They must have heard that my lord 
 is dead, so wickedly do they behave themselves, fearing no 
 recompense for their evil deeds. They do not woo as other 
 suitors woo, nor do they go back to their own houses, but they 
 sit at ease, and devour our wealth without stint. Verily, every 
 day and night, they kill, not one victim or two, but many, and 
 the wine they waste right wantonly. Once my lord had posses- 
 sions beyond all counting ; none in Ithaca nor on the mainland 
 had so much. Hear now the sum of them : On the mainland 
 twenty herds of kine, and flocks of sheep as many, and droves of 
 swine as many, and as many herds of goats. Also here at this 
 island's end he had eleven flocks of goats. Day by day do they 
 take one of the goats for the suitors, and I take for them the 
 best of the hogs. 55 
 
 So he spake, and Ulysses ate flesh and drank wine the while ; 
 but not a word did he speak, for he was planning the suitors' 
 death. But at the last he spake : " My friend, who was this, thy 
 lord, of whom thou speakest ? Thou sayest that he perished, 
 seeking to get vengeance for King Menelaiis. Tell me now, for 
 it may be that I have seen him, for I have wandered far." 
 
ioo THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 But Eumaeus said : " Nay, old man, thus do all wayfarers talk, 
 yet we hear no truth from them. Not a vagabond fellow comes 
 to this island but our Queen must see him, and ask him many 
 things, weeping the while. And thou, I doubt not, for a cloak 
 or a tunic, would tell a wondrous tale. But Ulysses, I know, is 
 dead, and either the fowls of the air devour him, or the fishes of 
 the sea." 
 
 But the false beggar said : " Hearken now, I tell thee, and that 
 not lightly, but confirming my words with an oath, that Ulysses 
 will return. And so soon as this shall come to pass thou shalt 
 let me have the reward of good tidings. A mantle and a tunic 
 shalt thou give me. But before it shall happen, I will take 
 nothing, though my need be sore ; I hate that man who speaks 
 guileful words under constraint of poverty, even as I hate the 
 gates of death. Now Zeus be my witness, and this hospitable 
 hearth of Ulysses to which I am come, that all these things 
 shall come to pass even as I have said. This year shall Ulysses 
 return ; yea, while the moon waneth he shall come, and take 
 vengeance on all who dishonour his name." 
 
 But Eumaeus made answer : " It is not I, old man, that shall 
 ever pay the reward of good tidings. Truly, Ulysses will never 
 more come back to his home. But let us turn our thought to 
 other things. Bring thou not these to my remembrance any 
 more ; for, indeed, my heart is filled with sorrow, if any man 
 put me in mind of my lord. As for thine oath, let it be. 
 Earnestly do I pray that Ulysses may indeed return ; for this 
 is my desire, and the desire of his wife, and of the old man 
 Laertes, and of Telemachus. And now I am troubled concern- 
 ing Telemachus also. I thought that he would be no worse a 
 man than his father ; but some one, whether it were god or 
 man I know not, reft him of his wits, and he went to Pylos, 
 seeking news of his father. And now the suitors lie in wait for 
 him, desiring that the race of Ulysses may perish utterly out of 
 the land. Yet of him also I will say no more, whether he die 
 or escape by help of Zeus. Come now, old man, and tell me 
 who art thou, and whence ? On what ship did thou come ? for 
 that by ship thou earnest to Ithaca I do not doubt." 
 
 Then Ulysses answered : " Had we food and wine to last us 
 
EUM^EUS, THE SWINEHERD 
 
 101 
 
 for a year, and could sit quietly here and talk, while others go 
 to their work, so long I should be in telling thee fully all my 
 troubles that I have endured upon the earth. But my tale is 
 this : — 
 
 " I am a Cretan, the son of one Castor, by a slave woman. 
 Now my father, while he lived, did by me as by his other sons. 
 But when he died they divided his goods, and gave me but a 
 small portion, and took my dwelling from me. Yet I won a rich 
 wife for myself, for I was brave and of good repute. No man 
 would sooner go to battle or to ambush than I, and I loved 
 ships and spears and arrows, which, methinks, some men hate. 
 Nine times did I lead my followers in ships against strangers, 
 and the tenth time I went with King Idomeneus to Troy. And 
 when the city of Priam had perished, I went back to my native 
 country, and there for the space of one month I tarried with my 
 wife, and afterwards I sailed with nine ships to Egypt. On the 
 fifth day — for the gods gave us a prosperous voyage— we came 
 to the river of Egypt. There did my comrades work much 
 wrong to the people of the land, spoiling their fields, and 
 leading into captivity their wives and children ; nor would they 
 hearken to me when I would have stayed them. Then the 
 Egyptians gathered an army, and came upon them, and slew 
 some and took others. And I, throwing down helmet and spear 
 and shield, hasted to the King of the land, where he sat in his 
 chariot, and prayed that he would have mercy on me, which 
 thing he did. And with him I dwelt for seven years, gathering 
 much wealth. But in ;the eighth year there came a trader of 
 Phoenicia, who beguiled me, that I went with him to his 
 country. And there I tarried for a year ; and afterwards he 
 carried me in his ship to Libya, meaning to sell me as a slave, 
 but Zeus brake the ship, so that I only was left alive. Nine 
 days did I float, keeping hold of the mast, and on the tenth a 
 wave cast me on the land of Thresprotia, where King fheidon 
 kindly entreated me, giving me food and raiment. There did I 
 hear tell of Ulysses ; yea, and saw the riches which he had 
 gathered together, which King Pheidon was keeping till he 
 himself should come back from Dodona, from the oracle of 
 Zeus. Thence I sailed in a ship for Dulichium, purposing to 
 
io2 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 go to King Acastus, but the sailors were minded to sell me for 
 a slave. Therefore they left me bound in the ship, but them- 
 selves took their supper on the shore. But in the meanwhile I 
 brake my bonds, the gods helping me, and leaping into the 
 sea, swam to the land, and hid myself in a wood that was 
 near.' ? 
 
 Then said the swineherd : " Stranger, thou has stirred my 
 heart with the tale of all that thou hast suffered. But in this 
 thing, I fear, thou speakest not aright, saying that Ulysses will 
 return. Well I know that he was hated of the gods, in that 
 they neither smote him when he was warring against the men 
 of Troy, nor afterwards among his friends, when the war was 
 ended. Then would the host have builded for him a great 
 barrow ; and he would have won great renown for himself and 
 for his children. But now he hath perished ingloriously by the 
 storms of the sea. As for me, I dwell apart with the swine, and 
 go not into the city, save when Penelope bids me come, because 
 there have been brought, no man knows whence, some tidings 
 of my master. Then all the people sit about the bringer of 
 news, and question him, both those who desire their lord's 
 return, and those who delight in devouring his substance with- 
 out recompense. But I care not to ask questions, since the 
 time when a certain ^Etplian cheated me with his story. He 
 too had slain a man, and had wandered over many lands, and 
 when he came to my house, I dealt kindly with him. This 
 fellow said that he had seen my lord with Idorneneus, King of 
 Crete, and that he was mending his ships which the storm had 
 broken. Also he said that he would come home when it was 
 summer, or, haply, harvest time, and would bring much wealth 
 with him. But thou, old man, seek not to gain my favour with 
 lies, nor to comfort me with idle words. Such things will not 
 incline me to thee, but only the fear of Zeus, and pity for thee. 5; 
 
 But Ulysses answered : " Verily, thou art slow of heart to 
 believe. Even with an oath have I not persuaded thee. But 
 come, let us make an agreement together, and the gods shall be 
 our witnesses. If thy lord shall return, then shalt thou give me 
 a mantle and a tunic, and send me on my way, whither I desire 
 to go. But if he come not back according to my word, then let 
 
EUM^US, THE SWINEHERD 103 
 
 thy men throw rne down from a great rock, that others may fear 
 to deceive." 
 
 Then the swineherd said : " Much credit, truly, should I gain 
 among men, if, having entertained thee in my house, I should 
 turn and slay thee ; and with a good heart, hereafter, should I 
 pray to Zeus. But it is time for supper, and I would that my 
 men were returned that we might make ready a meal." 
 
 While he spake, the swine and the swineherds drew near ; 
 and Eumaeus called to his fellows, saying : " Bring the best of 
 the swine, for I would entertain a guest who comes from far. 
 Verily, we endure much toil for these beasts, while others 
 devour them, and make no return." 
 
 So they brought a hog of five years old : and the swineherd 
 kindled a fire, and when he had cast bristles from the hog into 
 the fire, to do honour to the gods, he slew the beast, and made 
 ready the flesh. Seven portions he made ; one he set apart for 
 the nymphs and for Hermes, and of the rest he gave one to 
 each. But Ulysses had the chief portion, even the chine. 
 
 Then was Ulysses glad, and spake, saying : " Eumaeus, 
 mayest thou be as dear to Zeus, even as thou hast dealt kindly 
 with me." 
 
 And Eumaeus answered : " Eat, stranger, and make merry 
 with what thou hast. The gods give some things, and some 
 things they withhold." m 
 
 Now the night was cold, and it rained without ceasing, for 
 the west wind, that ever bringeth rain, was blowing ; and 
 Ulysses was minded to try the swineherd, whether he would 
 give him his own mantle, or bid another do so. Therefore, 
 when they were about to sleep, he said : — 
 
 " Listen to me ; for wine, that ever driveth the wits out of a 
 man, bids me speak. O that I was young, and my strength 
 unbroken, as in the days when we fought before the city of 
 Troy. 
 
 " Once upon a time we laid an ambush near to the city of 
 Troy. And Menelaiis and Ulysses and I were the leaders of it. 
 In the reeds we sat, and the night was cold, and the snow lay 
 upon our shields. Now all the others had cloaks, but I had left 
 mine behind at the ships. So, when the night was three parts 
 
io4 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 spent, I spake to Ulysses, ' Here am I without a cloak ; soon, 
 methinks, shall I perish with the cold.' Soon did he bethink 
 him of a remedy, for he was ever ready with counsel. There- 
 fore he said : 4 Hush, lest some one hear thee ; ' and to the 
 others, £ I have been warned in a dream. We are very far from 
 the ships, and in peril. Wherefore, let some one run to the 
 ships, to King Agamemnon, that he send more men to help.' 
 Then Thoas, son of Andrasmon, rose up and ran, casting off his 
 cloak ; and this I took, and slept warmly therein. Were I this 
 night such as then I was, I should not lack such kindness even 
 now." 
 
 Then said Eumseus : " This is well spoken, old man. Thou 
 shalt have a cloak to cover thee. But in the morning thou must 
 put on thy own rags again. Yet, perchance, when the son of 
 Ulysses shall come, he will give thee new garments." 
 
 Thereupon he arose, and set a bed for Ulysses, making it 
 with sheep-skins and goat-skins, near to the fire ; and when 
 Ulysses lay down, he cast a thick cloak over him, that he had 
 in store, if any great storm should arise. But he himself slept 
 beside the boars, to guard them ; and Ulysses was glad to see 
 that he was very careful for his master's substance, even though 
 he was so long time away 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE RETURN OF TELEMACHUS 
 
 Now all this time Telemachus tarried in Sparta with King 
 Menelaiis, and the son of Nestor was with him. To him, 
 
THE RETURN OF TELEMACHUS 105 
 
 therefore, Athene went. Nestor's son she found overcome with 
 slumber, but Telemachus could not sleep for thoughts of his 
 father. Athene stood near him, and spake, saying : — 
 
 " It is not well, Telemachus, that thou shouldst tarry longer 
 away from thy home, for there are some who spoil and devour 
 thy substance. Come, therefore, rouse thy host Menelaiis, and 
 pray him that he send thee on thy way, if haply thou mayest 
 yet find thy mother in her home. For her father and her 
 brethren are instant with her that she should take Eurymachus 
 for her husband, seeing that he hath far surpassed all the other 
 suitors in his gifts. Take heed, therefore, lest she take some 
 treasure from thy house, for the heart of a woman is ever set on 
 increasing the wealth of him who shall take her to wife, but of 
 her children, and of him that was her husband before, she 
 taketh no thought. Go, then, and put thy substance into the 
 hands of some woman in thy household whom thou judgest to 
 be most trusty, until the gods find thee a wife. Hearken also 
 to another matter. The bravest of the suitors lie in wait for 
 thee in the strait that is between Ithaca and Samos, desirous to 
 slay thee before thou shalt come again to thy home. Keep thy 
 ship, therefore, far from the place, and sail both by night and 
 by day, and one of the gods shall send thee a fair breeze. Also, 
 when thou comest to the land of Ithaca, send thy ship and 
 thy company to the city, but seek thyself the swineherd 
 Eumaeus, for he hath been ever true to thee. Rest there the 
 , night, and bid him go to the city on the day following, and 
 carry tidings to thy mother of thy safe return." 
 
 Then Telemachus woke the son of Nestor, touching him with 
 his heel, and saying : " Awake, son of Nestor, bring up thy 
 horses, and yoke them to the chariot, that we may go upon 
 our way." 
 
 But Peisistratus made answer : " We may not drive through 
 the darkness, how eager soever we be to depart. Soon will it 
 be dawn. Tarry thou till Menelaiis shall bring his gifts and 
 set them on the car, and send thee on thy way, for a guest 
 should take thought of the host that showeth him kindness." 
 
 And when the morning was come, and Menelaiis was risen 
 from his bed, Telemachus spake to him, saying : " Menelaiis, 
 
io6 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 send me now with all speed to my own country, for I am 
 greatly desirous to go there." 
 
 To him Menelaiis made answer : " I will not keep thee long, 
 seeing that thou desirest to return ; it were shame in a host 
 to be over gracious or lacking in grace. To be moderate is 
 better, neither speeding him that would fain stay nor keeping 
 him that would fain depart. But stay till I bring my gifts and 
 set them in the chariot. Let me also bid the women prepare 
 the meal in my hall, for it is both honour to me and a profit 
 to you that ye should eat well before ye set forth on a far 
 journey. But if thou wilt go further through the land, even to 
 Hellas and Argos, then let me go with thee ; to many cities 
 will we go, and none will send us empty away. 5 ' 
 
 But Telemachus said : " Not so, Menelaiis ; rather would I 
 go back straightway to mine own land, for I left none to watch 
 over my goods. It were ill done were I to perish seeking my 
 father, or to lose some precious possession out of my house." 
 
 Then Menelaiis bade his wife and the maids prepare the 
 meal, and his squire he bade kindle a fire and roast flesh ; and 
 he himself went to his treasury, and Helen and Megapenthes 
 with him. He himself took therefrom a double cup, and bade 
 Megapenthes bear a mixing-bowl of silver ; as for Helen, she 
 took from her coffers a robe that she had wrought with her 
 own hands. The fairest it was of all, and shone as shines a 
 star, and it lay beneath all the rest. 
 
 Then said Menelaiis : " Take this mixing-bowl ; it is wrought 
 of silver, but the lips are finished with gold ; Hephaestus wrought 
 it with his own hands, and the King of the Sidonians gave it 
 me. This cup also I give thee." 
 
 And beautiful Helen came, holding the robe in her hands, 
 and spake, saying : "Take, dear child, this memorial of Helen's 
 handiwork ; keep it against thy marriage day, for thy bride to 
 wear. Meanwhile, let thy mother have charge of it. And now 
 mayest thou return with joy to thy native country and thy 
 home ! " 
 
 Then they sat down to eat and drink ; and when they had 
 finished, then did Telemachus and Nestor's son yoke the 
 horses and climb into the chariot 
 
THE RETURN OF TELEMACHUS 107 
 
 But Menelaiis came forth bringing wine in a cup of gold, 
 that they might pour out an offering to the gods before they 
 departed. And he stood before the horses, and spake, 
 saying : — 
 
 " Farewell, gallant youths, and salute Nestor for me ; verily, 
 he was as a father to me, when we were waging war against 
 Troy." 
 
 To him Telemachus made answer : " That will we do ; and 
 may the gods grant that I find my father at home and tell him 
 what grace I have found in thy sight ! " 
 
 But even as he spake there flew forth at his right hand an 
 eagle, carrying a goose in his claws, that he had snatched from 
 the yard, and men and women followed it with loud shouting. 
 Across the horses it flew, still going to the right ; and they 
 were glad when they saw it. 
 
 Then said Nestor's son : " Think, Menelaiis ! Did Zeus 
 send this sign to us or thee ? " 
 
 But while Menelaiis pondered the matter, Helen spake, 
 saying : " Hear me when I say what the gods have put in my 
 heart. Even as this eagle came down from the hill where he 
 was bred, and snatched away the goose from the house, so 
 shall Ulysses come back to his home after many wanderings, 
 and take vengeance ; yea, even now he is there, devising evil 
 for the suitors." 
 
 And Telemachus cried aloud : " May Zeus so ordain it ! " 
 
 Then they departed and sped across the plain. That night 
 they tarried at Pherae ; but when they came the next day to 
 Pylos, Telemachus said to Peisistratus : " Son of Nestor, wilt 
 thou be as a friend to me, and do my bidding ? Leave me at 
 my ship ; take me not past, lest the old man, thy father, keep 
 me out of his kindness against my will, for, indeed, I am 
 desirous to go home." 
 
 And Nestor's son did so. He turned his horses towards the 
 shore and the ship. And coming there, he took out the gifts, 
 and laid them in the hinder part of the ship. This done, he 
 called Telemachus and said : " Climb now into thy ship, and 
 depart, ere I can reach my home. Well I know that my father 
 will come down, and bid thee return with him to his house ; 
 
108 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 nor, indeed, if he find thee here, will he go back without thee, 
 so wilful is he of heart." 
 
 And Telemachus bade his companions climb on to the ship ; 
 and they did so. 
 
 But while he was making ready, and praying, and making 
 a burnt-offering to Athene, came one who had slain a man, and 
 was fleeing from Argos. A soothsayer he was, Theoclymenus 
 by name, and he was of the lineage of Melampus. (This 
 Melampus stole the oxen of Phylaeus that he might win the 
 daughter of Neleus for his brother.) 
 
 This man stood by the ship, and said : " Tell me truly who 
 thou art, and from what city thou comest." 
 
 Telemachus made answer : " Stranger, I will tell thee all. 
 I am of Ithaca, and my father is Ulysses. I have gone forth 
 with my ship, that I may hear tidings of him." 
 
 Then said the soothsayer : " I have fled from my country, 
 because I slew one of my own kindred. Take me, therefore, 
 on board thy ship, for the avengers, even now, are following 
 hard after me. 3 ' 
 
 To him Telemachus made reply : " If thou desirest to come, 
 I will not drive thee away. Come with us to Ithaca, and I will 
 give thee of such things as I have.' 5 
 
 So they departed ; and Athene sent a wind that blew from 
 behind, and they sped on their way. 
 
 Meanwhile Ulysses sat with the swineherd and his men, and 
 supped. And Ulysses, willing to try the man's temper, said : 
 " In the morning I would fain go to the city, for I would not be 
 burdensome to thee. Let me rather go to the city if, perchance, 
 some one there may give me a cup of water and a morsel of 
 bread. Verily, to the house of Ulysses would I go, if haply the 
 suitors might give me a meal. Well could I serve them. No 
 man can light a fire, or cleave wood, or carve flesh, or pour out 
 wine, better than I.'' 
 
 " Nay,'' said the swineherd, " and thou hadst best not go 
 among the suitors, so proud and lawless are they. They that 
 serve them are not such as thou. They are young, and fair, 
 and gaily clad, and their heads are anointed with oil. Abide 
 rather here ; thou art not burdensome to us ; and when the son 
 
THE RETURN OF TELEMACHUS 109 
 
 of Ulysses shall come, he will give thee, maybe, a mantle and 
 a tunic." 
 
 Ulysses answered : " Now may Zeus bless thee for thy 
 kindness in that thou makest me cease from my wanderings. 
 Surely, nothing is more grievous to a man than to wander ; 
 but hunger compels him. Tell me now about the mother of 
 Ulysses and about his father. Are they yet alive?" 
 
 Then said the swineherd : " I will tell thee all. Laertes, the 
 father of Ulysses, yet lives ; yet doth he daily pray to die, such 
 sorrow hath he for his son, who is far away from his home, and 
 for his wife that is dead. Verily, it was her death that brought 
 him to old age before his time. And it was of grief for her son 
 that she died. Much kindness did I receive at her hands, 
 while she yet lived ; but now I lack it. As for my lady 
 Penelope, a great trouble hath fallen upon her house, even a 
 plague of evil-minded men." 
 
 Then said Ulysses to Eumasus : " Tell me now how it came 
 to pass that thou didst wander far from thy parents when thou 
 wast yet a little child. Did enemies sack the town in which 
 thy father dwelt, or did men find thee by thyself, tending a 
 flock or herd, and sell thee across the sea ? 93 
 
 Then the swineherd told this tale : — 
 
 "There is a certain island called Syria. Not many men 
 dwell there ; but it is a fertile land, with many flocks, and 
 plenty of corn and wine. Never doth famine come there, nor 
 wasting disease, but when the men grow old Apollo slayeth 
 them with his painless shafts, and the women Artemis. There 
 are two cities in the island, and my father reigned over both. 
 
 " Now there was in my father's house a certain Phoenician 
 woman. Tall she was, and fair, and skilful in handiwork. 
 And there came to the island certain Phoenicians in a ship, with 
 merchandise of women's ornaments and the like. These men 
 beguiled the woman that was in my father's house. One of 
 them asked her who she was and whence she came, and she 
 said to him : 4 I come from Sidon, and my father's name is 
 Arybas. But the sea-robbers, the Taphians, stole me away, as 
 I came home from the fields, and carried me across the sea, and 
 sold me to my master for a goodly price. 5 Then the man said : 
 
I 10 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 'Wilt thou return with us, and see again thy home, and thy 
 father and thy mother, for they yet live, and are reputed to be 
 wealthy ? ' The woman answered : ' That I would gladly do, if 
 ye will swear to me to bring me back to my home. 5 Then they 
 sware to her as she desired. Thereupon the woman said : 
 £ Hold now your peace, and let none speak to me, or greet me, 
 if ye chance to meet me in the city or at the well, lest haply 
 some one tell the matter to my master. Then would he put me 
 in bonds and would slay you. But when your ship is fully 
 freighted, then send a message to me in my master's house. 
 Then will I come with all the treasure on which I can lay my 
 hands. And there is another thing which also I would gladly 
 pay for my passage. I am nurse to my master's son, a little boy 
 that runs abroad with me. Him will I bring on board your ship, 
 and ye can sell him for a great price.' 
 
 " For a whole year did these strangers abide in the land 
 gathering much wealth. And at the end of the year, they sent 
 a message to the Phoenician woman. In this wise they sent it. 
 There came one of them to my father's house, having with him 
 a chain of gold strung with balls of amber. And while my 
 mother and the maidens in the hall were handling the chain and 
 bargaining for it, he nodded silently to the woman, and after 
 awhile departed. Then the woman took me by the hand, and 
 led me forth. And as she went she found three goblets, where 
 the guests of my father had been feasting. These she took up, 
 and hid in her bosom, and I followed her, knowing nothing. So 
 we went down to the ship, and it was now night. Then did the 
 Phoenicians take us on board, and set sail, and Zeus sent a 
 favourable wind. For six days they sailed, and on the seventh 
 Artemis slew the woman with her shafts, and she fell into the 
 hold. The men cast her forth to be the prey of the fishes, but 
 I was left in sadness. Then the wind carried them to Ithaca. 
 There Laertes bought me. So I came hither." 
 
 Then said Ulysses : " The gods have given thee good as well 
 as evil, for they have brought thee to the house of a kindly man." 
 
 After this the two lay down and slept. 
 
ULYSSES AND TELEMACHUS m 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 ULYSSES AND TELEMACHUS 
 
 TELEMACHUS in his ship came safe to the island of Ithaca, at 
 the place that was nearest to the swineherd's house. There 
 they beached the ship, and made it fast with anchors at the fore 
 part and hawsers at the stern, and they landed, and made ready 
 a meal. 
 
 When they had now had enough of meat and drink, Telema- 
 chus said : " Take now the ship to the city. I will come thither 
 in the evening, having first seen my farm ; and then I will pay 
 you your wages." 
 
 Then said Theoclymenus : " Whither shall I go, my son ? To 
 the house of any other man in Ithaca, or to the house of thy 
 mother ? " 
 
 Telemachus made answer : " At other times I would bid thee 
 go to our own house, for there is no lack of entertainment in it ; 
 but now thou wouldst fare but ill, for I shall not be there, and 
 mother will see no one, but sits apart in her chamber, and 
 weaves at her web. Go, therefore, to the house of Eurymachus. 
 He is the best of all the suitors, and most honoured of the 
 people. But what his end and the end of his fellows will be, I 
 know not." 
 
 Even as he spake a bird flew upon his right ; a hawk it was, 
 holding a dove in her talons. The hawk plucked the dove of its 
 feathers, and shed them down to the ground between Theocly- 
 menus and the ship. 
 
 Then the seer called Telemachus aside, and said to him : 
 " This flying of the bird was of the gods' doing. There is no 
 more kingly house than yours in Ithaca ; right soon shall ye 
 have the mastery." 
 
 Then Telemachus spake to Peiraeus, whom he trusted more 
 than any of his companions besides, saying: "Take this 
 stranger home with thee, and treat him well till I come." 
 
112 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 Peirasus answered : " Though thou tarry a long while, Tele- 
 machus, yet shall he not lack good cheer." 
 
 After this the ship went on to the city, and Telemachus went 
 up to the herdsman's house. 
 
 Now the herdsman and Ulysses had kindled a fire, and were 
 making ready breakfast. 
 
 And Ulysses heard the steps of a man, and, as the dogs 
 barked not, said to Eumaeus : " Lo ! there comes some comrade 
 or friend, for the dogs bark not." 
 
 And as he spake, Telemachus stood in the doorway ; and the 
 swineherd let fall from his hand the bowl in which he was mix- 
 ing wine, and ran to him and kissed his head and his eyes and 
 his hands. As a father kisses his only son, coming back to him 
 from a far country after ten years, so did the swineherd kiss 
 Telemachus. And when Telemachus came in, the false beggar, 
 though indeed he was his father, rose, and would have given 
 place to him : but Telemachus suffered him not. And when 
 they had eaten and drunk, Telemachus asked of the swineherd 
 who this stranger might be. 
 
 Then the swineherd told him as he had heard, and afterwards 
 said : " I hand him to thee : he is thy suppliant ; do as thou 
 wilt." 
 
 But Telemachus answered : " Nay, Eumaeus. For am I 
 master in my house ? Do not the suitors devour it ? And does 
 not my mother doubt whether she will abide with me, remem- 
 bering the great Ulysses, who was her husband, or will follow 
 some one of those who are suitors to her ? I will give this 
 stranger, indeed, food and clothing and a sword, and will send 
 him whithersoever he will, but I would not that he should go 
 among the suitors, so haughty are they and violent." 
 
 Then said Ulysses : " But why dost thou bear with these 
 men? Do the people hate thee, that thou canst not avenge 
 thyself on them ? and hast thou not kinsmen to help thee ? As 
 for me, I would rather die than see such shameful things done 
 in house of mine." 
 
 And Telemachus answered : "My people hate me not : but 
 as for kinsmen, I have none, for Acrisius had but one son, 
 Laertes, and he again but one, Ulysses, and Ulysses had none 
 
ULYSSES AND TELEMACHUS 113 
 
 other but me. Therefore da these men spoil my substance 
 without let, and, it may be, will take my life also. These things, 
 however, the gods will order. But do thou, Eumaeus, go to 
 Penelope, and tell her that I am returned ; but let no man know 
 thereof, for there are that counsel evil against me ; but I will 
 stay here meanwhile." 
 
 So Eumaeus departed. But when he had gone, Athene came, 
 like a woman tall and fair ; but Telemachus saw her not, for it 
 is not given to all to see the immortal gods ; but Ulysses saw 
 her, and the dogs saw her, and whimpered for fear. She signed 
 to Ulysses, and he went forth, and she said : — 
 
 " Hide not the matter from thy son, but plan with him how 
 ye may slay the suitors, and lo ! I am with you." 
 
 Then she touched him with her golden wand. First she put 
 about him a fresh robe of linen and new tunic. Also she made 
 him larger and fairer to behold. More dark did he grow, and 
 his cheeks were rounded again, and the beard spread out black 
 upon his chin. 
 
 Having so done, she passed away. But when Ulysses went 
 into the hut, his son looked at him, greatly marvelling. Indeed, 
 he feared that it might be some god. 
 
 " Stranger," he said, " surely thou art not what thou wast but 
 a moment since : other garments hast thou, and the colour of 
 thy skin is changed. Verily, thou must be some god from 
 heaven. Stay awhile, that we may offer to thee sacrifice, so 
 shalt thou have mercy on us ! " 
 
 Ulysses made answer : " I am no god : I am thy father, for 
 whom thou hast sought with much trouble of heart." 
 
 So saying he kissed his son, and let fall a tear, but before he 
 had kept in his tears continually. 
 
 But Telemachus, doubting yet whether this could indeed be 
 his father, made reply : " Thou canst not be my father ; some 
 god beguileth me that I may have sorrow upon sorrow. No 
 mortal man could contrive this of his own wit, making himself 
 now young, now old, at his pleasure. A moment since thou 
 wast old, and clad in vile garments ; now thou art as one of the 
 gods in heaven." 
 
 But Ulysses answered him, saying : " Telemachus, it is not 
 
 H 
 
114 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 fitting for thee to marvel so much at thy father's coming home. 
 It is indeed my very self who am come, having suffered many 
 things and wandered over many lands, now at last in the 
 twentieth year. And this at which thou wonderest is Athene's 
 work ; she it is that maketh me now like to an old man and a 
 beggar and now to a young man clad in rich raiment." 
 
 So speaking, he sat him down again, and Telemachus threw 
 himself upon his father's neck, mourning and shedding tears. 
 So they two lamented together, even as eagles of the sea or 
 vultures whose young ones have been taken from the nest before 
 they are fledged. So had they gone on till set of sun, but 
 Telemachus said to his father : " Tell me how thou earnest 
 back, my father ? " 
 
 So Ulysses told him, saying : " The Phasacians brought me 
 back from their country while I slept. Many gifts did they send 
 with me. These have I hidden in a cave. And to this place 
 have I come by the counsel of Athene, that we may plan together 
 for the slaying of the suitors. But come, tell me the number of 
 the suitors, how many they are and what manner of men. Shall 
 we twain be able to make war upon them or must we get the 
 help of others ? " 
 
 Then said Telemachus : "Thou art, I know, a great warrior, 
 my father, and a wise, but this thing we cannot do ; for these 
 men are not ten, no, nor twice ten, but from Dulichium come 
 fifty and two, and from Samos four and twenty, and from 
 Zacynthus twenty, and from Ithaca twelve ; and they have 
 Medon, the herald, and a minstrel also, and attendants." 
 
 Then said Ulysses : " Go thou home in the morning and 
 mingle with the suitors, and I will come as an old beggar ; and 
 if they entreat me shamefully, endure to see it, yea, if they drag 
 me to the door. Only, if thou wilt, speak to them prudent 
 words ; but they will not heed thee, for indeed their doom is near. 
 Heed this also : when I give thee the token, take all the arms 
 from the dwelling and hide them in thy chamber. And when 
 they shall ask thee why thou doest thus, say that thou takest 
 them out of the smoke, for that they are not such as Ulysses 
 left behind him when he went to Troy, but that the smoke has 
 soiled them. Say, also, that haply they might stir up strife 
 
ULYSSES AND TELEMACHUS 115 
 
 sitting at their cups, and that it is not well that arms should be 
 at hand, for that the, very steel draws on a man to fight. But 
 keep two swords and two spears and two shields — these shall be 
 for thee and me. Only let no one know of my coming back — 
 not Laertes, nor the swineherd, no, nor Penelope herself." 
 
 Meanwhile the ship of Telemachus came to the city. The 
 gifts the men carried to the house of Clytius ; but a herald went 
 to the palace with tidings for Penelope, lest she should be 
 troubled for her son. So these two, the herald and the swine- 
 herd, came together, having the same errand. The herald spake 
 out among the handmaids, saying : " O Queen, thy son is re- 
 turned from Pylos ! But the swineherd went up to Penelope by 
 herself, and told her all that Telemachus had bidden him to say. 
 When he had so done, he turned about, and went home to his 
 house and to the swine. 
 
 But the suitors were troubled in heart ; and Eurymachus said : 
 " This is a bold thing that Telemachus hath done. He hath 
 accomplished his journey, which we said he never would accom- 
 plish. Let us, therefore, get rowers together, and send a ship, 
 that we may bid our friends come back with all the speed they 
 may." 
 
 But even while he spake, Amphinomus turned him about, and 
 saw the ship in the harbour, and the men lowering the sails. 
 Then he laughed and said : " No need is there to send a 
 message, for the men themselves have come. Maybe some god 
 hath told them ; maybe they saw the ship of Telemachus go by, 
 and could not overtake it." 
 
 Then all the suitors went together to the place of assembly, 
 and Antinoiis stood up and spake : " See how the gods have 
 delivered this man ! All day long our scouts sat and watched 
 upon the headlands, one man taking another's place ; and at 
 sunset we rested not on the shore, but sailed on the sea, waiting 
 for the morning. Yet some god hath brought him home. Never- 
 theless we will bring him to an evil end, for so long as he liveth 
 we shall not accomplish our end. Let us make haste before he 
 assemble the people and tell them how we plotted against him. 
 Then will they hate us, and we shall be driven forth from the land. 
 Let us slay him, therefore, either in the field or by the way ; and 
 
u6 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 let us divide his possessions, but his house will we give to his 
 mother and to him who shall marry her. But if ye would rather 
 that he should live, then let us sit here no more, eating his 
 substance, but let us go each to his own home, and woo the 
 Queen from thence with bridal gifts, till one shall persuade her. 55 
 Then spake Amphinomus,— not one of the suitors was of a 
 more understanding heart than he,—" Friends, I would not that 
 Telemachus should be slain ; it is a fearful thing to slay the son 
 of a king. First, let us ask counsel of the gods. If the oracles of 
 Zeus approve, then will I slay him with mine own hand ; but if 
 they forbid, then I would have you refrain. 55 
 
 Thereupon they departed from the place of assembly, and went 
 to the house of Ulysses. 
 
 Now Penelope had heard from Medon, the herald, how the 
 suitors had plotted to slay her son ; therefore went to the hall 
 with her maidens with her, and stood in the door, holding her 
 veil before her face, and spake, saying :— 
 
 "Antinoiis, men say that thou art the best in counsel and 
 speech of all the princes of Ithaca. Not such, in truth, do I find 
 thee. Dost thou plot against the life of my son, having no 
 regard for the gods, nor any memory of good deeds ? Dost 
 thou not remember how thy father fled to this house, fearing the 
 anger of the people ? He had gone with the Taphians, the sea^ 
 robbers, and had harried a people that was at peace with us. 
 Therefore the people desired to slay him and to spoil his goods, 
 but Ulysses withstood them. Yet it is this man's house that 
 thou dost waste, and his son that thou wouldst slay. 55 
 
 But Eurymachus made answer : " Take courage, wise Penelope, 
 and let not thy heart be troubled. The man is not, nor shall be 
 born who shall raise a hand against Telemachus, so long as I 
 live upon the earth. Right soon would his blood gush out 
 about my spear ; many a time hath Ulysses set me upon his 
 knees, and given me roasted flesh, and held the wine-cup to my 
 lips . ' Therefore Telemachus is the dearest of men to me. Fear 
 not death for him from the suitors ; but the will of the god s 
 none may avoid. 55 
 
 So he spake, as if he would comfort her ; but all the while he 
 
 plotted the death of her son. 
 
ULYSSES IN HIS HOME 
 
 117 
 
 After this she went to her chamber, and wept for her lord till 
 Athene dropped sweet sleep upon her eyes. 
 
 Meanwhile the swineherd went back to his home. But before 
 he came Athene changed Ulysses again into the likeness of a 
 beggar man, lest he should know him and tell the matter to 
 Penelope. 
 
 Telemachus spake to him, saying : " What news is there in 
 the city ? Are the suitors come back from their ambush, or do 
 they still watch for my ship ?" 
 
 Eumaeus answered : " I did not think to go about the city 
 asking questions ; but what I know, that will I tell thee. Know 
 that the messenger from thy company joined himself to me, and, 
 indeed, was the first to tell the news to the Queen. This also I 
 know, that I saw a ship entering the harbour, and that there 
 were many men in her, and spears, and shields. These, haply, 
 were the suitors, but I know not of a certainty." 
 
 Then Telemachus looked to his father, but the swineherd's 
 eye he shunned. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 ULYSSES IN HIS HOME 
 
 When the morning came, Telemachus said to the swineherd : 
 " I go to the city, for my mother will not be satisfied till she see 
 my very face. And do thou lead this stranger to the city, that 
 he may there beg his bread from any that may have the mind 
 to give." 
 
 Thereupon Ulysses spake, saying : " I too, my friend, like 
 not to be left here, It is better for a man to beg his bread in 
 
THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 the town than in the fields. Go thou, and I will follow, so soon 
 as the sun shall wax hot, for my garments are exceeding poor, 
 and I fear lest the cold overcome me." 
 
 So Telemachus went his way, devising evil against the suitors 
 all the while. And when he came to the house his nurse Eury- 
 cleia saw him first, and kissed him. Penelope also came down 
 from her chamber, and cast her arms about him, and kissed 
 him on the face, and on both eyes, and spake, saying : " Thou 
 
 art come, Telemachus, light of mine eyes ! I thought not ever 
 to see thee again. But tell me, what news didst thou get of thy 
 father ? " 
 
 Telemachus made answer : " I cannot now speak of these 
 things. Get thee to thy chamber, and vow a sacrifice to all 
 the gods, if haply they will grant us vengeance for our wrongs. 
 But I must go to the market-place, that I may bid a stranger 
 to my house, whom I brought from Pylos, bidding Peiraeus 
 keep him till I should come." 
 
 ULYSSES AND HIS DOG. 
 
ULYSSES IN HIS HOME 
 
 119 
 
 Then Penelope did as he had bidden her. But Telemachus 
 went to the place of assembly, and Athene put such grace upon 
 him that all men marvelled to see him. The suitors he shunned, 
 but he sat down where Mentor and other friends of his house 
 were gathered together. 
 
 Then came Peiraeus, leading the stranger, and he spake, 
 saying : " Bid the women go straightway to my house, that 
 they may fetch the gifts which Menelaiis gave thee." 
 
 But Telemachus made reply : " Not so ; we know not yet 
 what may be the issue. If the suitors spoil my goods, then I 
 would that thou rather than they should have these gifts. But 
 if they perish, then shalt thou bring them to my house/ 5 
 
 Then he led the stranger to his house, and commanded that 
 they should set meat and drink before him. 
 
 When they had ended their meal, Penelope said to him : 
 " Verily, I will go to my chamber ; but tell me first, hast thou 
 any tidings of thy father ? 55 
 
 Then Telemachus rehearsed to her all that Nestor and 
 Menelaiis had told him. When he had ended, Theoclymenus, 
 the seer, spake thus : " Hear now, wife of Ulysses ; of a truth, — 
 Zeus be my witness, and this hospitable board of Ulysses and 
 this hearth, — Ulysses is even now in his own land, devising 
 death against the suitors. This I know, for the omens that I 
 saw were very clear. 55 
 
 Then Penelope made answer : "The gods grant that it be so, 
 stranger ! So shalt thou not lack many noble gifts. 55 
 
 Meanwhile the suitors were disporting themselves, casting of 
 weights and aiming with spears in a level place. And when it 
 was the time for supper, Medon, the herald, said : " Come now, 
 let us sup ; meat in season is a good thing. 55 
 So they made ready a feast. 
 
 Now in the meanwhile Eumseus and the false beggar were 
 coming to the city. And when they were now near to it, by the 
 fountain which Ithacus and his brethren had made, where was 
 also an altar of the nymphs, Melanthius, the goatherd, met 
 them, and spake evil to Eumaeus, rebuking that he brought 
 this beggar to the city. And he came near and smote Ulysses 
 with his foot on the thigh, but moved him not from the path. 
 
i2o THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 And Ulysses thought awhile, should he strike him with his club 
 and slay him, or dash him on the ground. But it seemed to 
 him better to endure. 
 
 But Eumaeus lifted up his hands and said : " Oh, now may 
 the nymphs of the fountain fulfil this hope, that Ulysses may 
 come back to his home, and tear from thee this finery of thine, 
 wherein thou comest to the city, leaving thy flock for evil 
 shepherds to devour ! " 
 
 So they went on to the palace. And at the door of the court 
 there lay the dog Argus, whom in the old days Ulysses had 
 reared with his own hand. But ere the dog grew to his full, 
 Ulysses had sailed to Troy. And while he was strong, men 
 used him in the chase, hunting wild goats and roe-deer and 
 hares. But now he lay on a dunghill, and the lice swarmed 
 upon him. Well he knew his master, and, for that he could 
 not come near to him, wagged his tail and drooped his ears. 
 
 And Ulysses, when he saw him, wiped away a tear, and said : 
 " Surely this is strange, Eumaeus, that such a dog, being of so 
 fine a breed, should lie here upon a dunghill." 
 
 And Eumaeus made reply : " He belongeth to a master who 
 died far away. For indeed, when Ulysses had him of old, he 
 was the strongest and swiftest of dogs ; but now my dear lord 
 has perished far away, and the careless women tend him not. 
 For when the master is away the slaves are careless of their 
 duty. Surely a man, when he is made a slave, loses half the 
 virtue of a man." 
 
 And as he spake the dog Argus died. Twenty years had he 
 waited, and saw his master at the last. 
 
 After this the two entered the hall. And Telemachus, when 
 he saw them, took from the basket bread and meat, as much 
 as his hands could hold, and bade carry them to the beggar, 
 and also to tell him that he might go round among the suitors, 
 asking alms. So he went, stretching out his hand as though he 
 were wont to beg ; and some gave, having compassion upon 
 him and marvelling at him, and some asked who he was. But 
 of all, Antinoiis was the most shameless. For when Ulysses 
 came to him and told him how he had had much riches and 
 power in former days, and how he had gone to Egypt and 
 
ULYSSES IN HIS HOME 
 
 121 
 
 had been sold a slave into Cyprus, Antinoiis mocked him, 
 saying : — 
 
 " Get thee from my table, or thou shalt find a worse Egypt 
 and a harder Cyprus than before." 
 
 Then Ulysses said : " Surely thy soul is evil though thy body 
 is fair ; for though thou sittest at another man's feast, yet wilt 
 thou give me nothing. 55 
 
 Then Antinoiis caught up the footstool that was under his feet, 
 and smote Ulysses therewith. But he stood firm as a rock ; 
 and in his heart he thought on revenge. So he went and sat 
 down at the door. And being there, he said : — 
 
 " Hear me, suitors of the Queen ! There is no wrath if a 
 man be smitten fighting for that which is his own, but Antinoiis 
 has smitten me because that I am poor. May the curse of 
 the hungry light on him therefor, ere he come to his marriage 
 day!" 
 
 Then spake Antinoiis : " Sit thou still, stranger, and eat thy 
 bread in silence, lest the young men drag thee from the house, 
 or strip thy flesh from off thy bones. 55 
 
 So he spake in his insolence ; but the others blamed him 
 saying : " Antinoiis, thou didst ill to smite the wanderer ; there 
 is a doom on such deeds, if there be any god in heaven. Verily, 
 the gods ofttimes put on the shape of men, and go through 
 cities, spying out whether there is righteous dealing or un- 
 righteous among them. 55 
 
 But Antinoiis heeded not. As for Telemachus, he nursed a 
 great sorrow in his heart to see his father so smitten ; yet he 
 shed not a tear, but sat in silence, meditating evil against the 
 suitors. 
 
 When Penelope also heard how the stranger had been smitten 
 in the halls, she spake to her maidens, saying : " So may 
 Apollo, the archer, smite Antinoiis ! 55 
 
 Then Eurynome, that kept house, made answer : " O that 
 our prayers might be fulfilled ! Surely not one of these evil 
 men should see another day. 55 
 
 To her replied Penelope : " Yea, nurse, all are enemies, but 
 Antinoiis is the worst. Verily, he is as hateful as death. 55 
 
 Then Penelope called to the swineherd and said : " Go now, 
 
122 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 and bring this stranger to me ; I would greet him, and inquire 
 of him whether he has heard tidings of Ulysses, or, it may 
 be, seen him with his eyes, for he seems to have wandered 
 far." 
 
 Euniceus made answer : " Truly this man will charm thy 
 heart, 0 Queen ! Three days did I keep him in my dwelling, 
 and he never ceased from telling of his sorrows. As a singer 
 of beautiful songs charmeth men, so did he charm me. He 
 saith that he is a Cretan, and that he hath heard of Ulysses, 
 that he is yet alive, and that he is bringing much wealth to his 
 home." 
 
 Then said Penelope : " Go, call the man, that I may speak 
 with him. O that Ulysses would indeed return ! Soon he and 
 his son would avenge them of these men, for all the wrong that 
 they have done ! " 
 
 And as she spake, Telemachus sneezed, and all the house 
 rang with the noise. And Penelope said again to Eumaeus : 
 " Call now this stranger ; didst thou not mark how my son 
 sneezed a blessing when I spake ? Verily, this vengeance shall 
 be wrought, nor shall one escape from it. And as for this 
 stranger, if I shall perceive that he hath spoken truth, I will 
 give him a new mantle and tunic." 
 
 So the swineherd spake to the stranger, saying : " Penelope 
 would speak with thee, and would inquire concerning her 
 husband. And if she find that thou hast spoken truth, she will 
 give thee a mantle and a tunic, and thou shalt have freedom to 
 beg throughout the land." 
 
 But the false beggar said : " Gladly would I tell to Penelope 
 the story of her husband, for I know him well. But I fear these 
 suitors. Even now, when this man struck me, and for naught, 
 none hindered the blow, no, not Telemachus himself. Go, 
 therefore, and bid the Queen wait till the setting of the sun." 
 
 So the swineherd went, and as he crossed the threshold 
 Penelope said : " Thou bringest him not ! What meaneth the 
 wanderer ? A beggar that is shamefaced knoweth his trade 
 but ill." 
 
 But the swineherd answered : " He doeth well, O lady, in 
 that he fearest the wrong-doing of these insolent men. He 
 
ULYSSES IN HIS HOME 
 
 123 
 
 would have thee wait till the setting of the sun, and indeed it is 
 better for thee to have speech with him alone." 
 
 Then said Penelope : " It is well ; the stranger is a man 
 of understanding. Verily, these men are insolent above all 
 others." 
 
 Then the swineherd went into the throng of the suitors, and 
 spake to Telemachus, holding his head close that none should 
 hear : " I go to see after matters at the farm. Take thou 
 heed of what befalleth here. Many of the people have ill-will 
 against us. May Zeus confound them ! n 
 
 Telemachus made answer : " Go, father, as thou sayest ; and 
 come again in the morning, bringing beasts for sacrifice." 
 
 So the swineherd departed ; and the suitors made merry in 
 the hall with dancing and singing, for the sun was near to the 
 setting. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 ULYSSES in his home {continued) 
 
 After awhile there came a beggar from the city, huge of 
 bulk, mighty to eat and drink, but his strength was not accord- 
 ing to his size. Arnseus was his name, but the young men 
 called him Irus, because he was their messenger, after Iris, the 
 messenger of Zeus. He spake to Ulysses : — 
 
 " Give place, old man, lest I drag thee forth ; the young men 
 even now would have it so, but I think it shame to strike such 
 an one as thee." 
 
 Then said Ulysses : " There is room for thee and for me ; 
 
124 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 get what thou canst, for I do not grudge thee aught, but beware 
 lest thou anger me, lest I harm thee, old though I am." 
 
 But Irus would not hear words of peace, but still challenged 
 him to fight. 
 
 And when Antinoiis saw this he was glad, and said : " This 
 is the goodliest sport that I have seen in this house. These two 
 beggars would fight ; let us haste and match them." 
 
 And the saying pleased them ; and Antinoiis spake again : 
 " Hear me, ye suitors of the Queen ! We have put aside these 
 
 ULYSSES PREPARING TO FIGHT WITH IRUS. 
 
 paunches of the goats for our supper. Let us agree, then, that 
 whosoever of these two shall prevail, shall have choice of these, 
 that which pleaseth him best, and shall hereafter eat with us, 
 and that no one else shall sit in his place." 
 
 Then said Ulysses : " It is hard for an old man to fight with 
 a young. Yet will I do it. Only do ye swear to me that no 
 one shall strike me a foul blow while I fight with this man." 
 
 Then Telemachus said that this should be so, and they all 
 consented to his words. And after this Ulysses girded himself 
 for the fight. And>ll that were there saw his thighs, how great 
 
ULYSSES IN HIS HOME 
 
 125 
 
 and strong they were, and his shoulders, how broad, and his 
 arms, how mighty. And they said one to another : " There 
 will be little of Irus left, so stalwart seems this beggar man. 71 
 But as for Irus himself, he would have slunk out of sight, but 
 they that were set to gird him compelled him to come forth. 
 
 Then said Antinoiis : " How is this, thou braggart, that thou 
 fearest this old man, all woe-begone as he is ? Hearken thou 
 to this. If this man prevails against thee, thou shalt be cast 
 into a ship and taken to the land of King Echetus, who will 
 cut off thy ears and thy nose for his dogs to eat." 
 
 So the two came together. And Ulysses thought whether he 
 should strike the fellow and slay him out of hand, or fell him to 
 the ground. And this last seemed the better of the two. So 
 when Irus had dealt him his blow, he smote him on the jaw, 
 and brake in the bone, so that he fell howling on the ground, 
 and the blood poured amain from his mouth. 
 
 Then all the suitors laughed aloud. But Ulysses dragged 
 the fellow out of the hall, and propped him by the wall of the 
 courtyard, putting a staff in his hand, and saying : " Sit there, 
 and keep dogs and swine from the door, but dare not hereafter 
 to lord it over men, no, not even over strangers and beggars, 
 lest some worst thing befall thee." 
 
 Then Antinoiis gave Ulysses a great paunch, and Amphi- 
 nomus gave two loaves, and pledged him in a cup, saying : 
 " Good luck to thee, father, hereafter, though now thou seemest 
 to have evil fortune ! ,} 
 
 And Ulysses made reply : " O Amphinomus, thou hast much 
 wisdom, methinks, and thy father, I know, is wise ! Take 
 heed, therefore. There is naught feebler upon earth than man. 
 For in the days of his prosperity he thinketh nothing of 
 trouble ; but when the gods send evil to him, there is no help 
 in him. I also trusted once in myself and my kinsmen, and 
 now — behold me what I am ! Let no man, therefore, do 
 violence and wrong, for Zeus shall requite such deeds at the 
 last. And now these suitors of the Queen are working evil to 
 him who is absent. Yet will he return some day and slay his 
 enemies. Fly thou, therefore, while yet there is time, nor meet 
 him when he comes." 
 
126 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 So he spake, with kindly thought. 
 
 But the other went through the house, sad at heart, for he 
 boded evil. For his doom was upon him, that he should die. 
 
 After this Athene put it into the heart of Penelope to show 
 herself to the suitors, that their hearts might be lifted up within 
 them to their ruin, and she might have more honour from her 
 husband and her son. Then Penelope spake to the nurse, 
 saying : " I have a desire, now for the first time, to show myself 
 to the suitors, though indeed they be hateful to me. Also I 
 would say a word to my son, that he consort not too much with 
 these insolent men, lest they do him some hurt." 
 
 The nurse answered : " It is well, lady ; go, speak to thy 
 son ; but first wash and anoint thy face. Let not thy cheeks 
 be stained with tears ; for it is not good to sorrow without 
 ceasing." 
 
 But Penelope said : " Speak no comfortable words to me ; 
 bid me not wash and anoint my face ; my bloom hath perished 
 from the day that my husband departed. But bid two of the 
 maidens come with me, for I am ashamed to go alone among 
 men." 
 
 Then the old woman went to hasten the coming of the 
 maidens. But Athene had other thoughts in her mind. She 
 caused sweet sleep to come upon the Queen, and while she 
 slept, the goddess gave her immortal gifts. Her face she 
 steeped in beauty, such as Aphrodite hath when she goeth to 
 the dances of the Graces. Also she made her taller and 
 greater to see, and brighter than ivory newly wrought. Having 
 done this she departed, and the maidens drew nigh. 
 
 Then sleep left Penelope, and she said : " Would that Artemis 
 would give a death painless as this slumber, that I might no 
 more waste my life mourning for my lord that is gone ! " 
 
 Then she came and stood in the door of the hall, with a 
 handmaid on either side. So fair she was to see that the hearts 
 of all the suitors were filled with love, and each of them prayed 
 that he might have her to wife. 
 
 But Penelope spake to Telemachus, saying : " My son, thou 
 art not as prudent as of old. When thou wast a child thou hadst 
 a ready wit ; but now, though thou hast come to manhood, and 
 
ULYSSES IN HIS HOME 
 
 127 
 
 art such for stature and beauty as a king's son should be, thy 
 thoughts go astray. What a deed hath even now been wrought in 
 thy house, when this stranger was mishandled ! It were a shame 
 to thee forever if he came to harm through such misdeeds." 
 
 To her Telernachus made answer : " I blame not thy anger, 
 my mother. Nevertheless, I cannot order all things well, for 
 evil men constrain me. But this battle between Irus and the 
 stranger did not end as the suitors would have had it, for the 
 stranger vanquished him. Would that all the suitors were now 
 even as he is, for he sits wagging his head by the gates, and 
 cannot stand upon his feet, nor get him to his own home, so 
 hath the stranger loosened his limbs ! " 
 
 But Eurymachus said to Penelope : "Verily, daughter of 
 Icarus, if all the Greeks could see thee, a greater crowd of 
 suitors would feast in thy halls to-morrow, so fair art thou, and 
 tall, and wise also of mind, surpassing all other women ! " 
 
 Then Penelope answered : 61 My beauty perished in the day 
 when my lord Ulysses departed for Troy. If only he would 
 return, then would it be well with me ! I remember how, when 
 he departed, he took me by the hand and said : 4 O lady, not 
 all the Greeks, methinks, will come back safe from Troy, for the 
 men of Troy, they say, are mighty with the spear and with the 
 bow, and skilful to drive chariots. Therefore I know not 
 whether I shall come back safe, or shall perish there before the 
 'city. Do thou, therefore, care for my father and my mother, 
 while I am absent, as now thou carest, yea, and even more. 
 And when thy son shall grow to be a bearded man, then marry 
 whom thou wilt.' So my husband spake. And now these 
 things have come to pass ; for a day must be when I shall be 
 constrained to another marriage, unhappy that I am. And I 
 have also this grief : my suitors are not such as suitors are wont 
 to be. For the custom with those who would woo a lady, the 
 daughter of a rich man, is to bring sheep and oxen of their own, 
 and to prepare a banquet for the friends of the bride, but not to 
 devour the substance of another and make no payment for it." 
 
 So she spake, and Ulysses was glad to see how she beguiled 
 the suitors, and drew gifts from them, having other thoughts in 
 her heart. 
 
128 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 Then Antinoiis made answer : " Take thou the gifts that we 
 bring thee, Penelope, for it is not well to refuse a gift ; but know 
 that we will not depart from thy halls, till thou hast chosen the 
 best of us for thy husband." 
 
 So he spake, and the rest agreed to his words. Each man 
 sent his squire to fetch his gift. The gift of Antinoiis was a 
 broidered robe, very fair and broad, with twelve brooches of 
 gold and twelve clasps. The gift of Eurymachus was a chain 
 of curious work, with beads of amber. Eurydamus gave earrings 
 with three drops, and Peisander a very precious jewel. All the 
 suitors gave a gift. 
 
 Then the Queen went to her chamber, and the suitors 
 delighted themselves with music and dancing ; and Ulysses 
 stood by the braziers, tending them, and watched the men. 
 
 Then Eurymachus began to speak among his friends : " Hear 
 me, suitors of the Queen ! Surely the gods have sent this man 
 to us. How marvellously does the light of the torches flash 
 from his bald head, whereon there is never a hair ! " 
 
 Thereupon he turned him to Ulysses, and said : " Stranger, 
 wilt thou serve me for hire at my farm among the hills ? Thy 
 wages shall be sure, and thou shalt labour, gathering stones for 
 the building of walls, and planting trees. Bread will I give 
 thee, and raiment, and shoes for thy feet. But thou art not 
 minded, methinks, to labour in the field ; thou likest better to 
 be a vagabond, and to fill thy belly without working." 
 
 But Ulysses made reply : " Eurymachus, I would that there 
 might be a trial between us, mowing grass, each with a scythe 
 in his hand, when the days grow long in the spring-time ! Then 
 might we two try one another, working till the evening is late, 
 and fasting the while. Or would that we were driving each a 
 yoke of two stout oxen, well fed and strong, in a field of 
 four acres ! Verily, thou shouldst see whether or no I could 
 drive a clean furrow before me. Or would that Zeus would stir 
 up war ! Thou shouldst see me in the forefront of the battle, 
 nor wouldst thou taunt me again with my appetite. Thou 
 thinkest overmuch of thyself, but if Ulysses would return yonder 
 door would not be wide enough for thee and thy fellows to flee." 
 
 Thereat Eurymachus waxed very wroth. " Old man," he said, 
 
ULYSSES IS DISCOVERED BY HIS NURSE 129 
 
 " I will do thee a mischief, for that thou speakest such idle 
 words. Is it that the wine hast stolen thy wits, or dost thou 
 always prate thus idly, or art thou beside thyself for joy because 
 thou hast vanquished Irus ? 55 
 
 So speaking he caught a footstool, and Ulysses sat down in 
 fear by the knees of Amphinomus, for he feared the prince. 
 And Eurymachus smote the cupbearer on the right hand as 
 he ladled out the wine, and the young man fell backward groan- 
 ing. Then said one of the suitors to his fellow : " Wouldst that 
 this stranger had perished before he came hither ! See what 
 tumult he has wrought. Now we shall have no more pleasure 
 in the feast." 
 
 But Telemachus said : " Plain is it, sirs, that ye have eaten 
 and drunken. And now that ye have had enough, go home 
 and rest. 5 ' 
 
 So he spake, and they marvelled at his boldness. 
 Then said Amphinomus : "The prince hath spoken well. 
 Let us make libation to the gods, and so depart." 
 And they did so. 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 ULYSSES IS DISCOVERED BY HIS NURSE 
 
 Ulysses spake to Telemachus, saying : "Come now, let us 
 hide away the arms that are in the hall. And if any of the 
 suitors ask concerning them, thou shalt say, £ I have put them 
 away out of the smoke, for they are not such as they were when 
 Ulysses departed, for the breath of fire hath marred them. And 
 for this cause also have I put them away, lest ye should quarrel 
 
 1 
 
i 3 o THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 and wound one another when ye are heated with wine ; for the 
 sight of iron tempteth a man to strike.' So shalt thou speak to 
 the suitors." 
 
 Then said Telemachus to Eurycleia, the nurse : £C Shut up the 
 women in their chambers, till I have put away in the armoury 
 the weapons of my father, for the smoke in the hall hath made 
 them dim." 
 
 The nurse made answer : " I wish, my child, that thou wouldst 
 ever have such care for thy father's possessions ! But say, who 
 shall bear the light, if thou wilt not have any of the women to go 
 before thee?" ' . 
 
 Then said Telemachus : " This stranger shall do it, for I will 
 not have any man eat my bread in idleness." 
 
 So the nurse shut up the women in their chambers, and 
 Ulysses and his son set themselves to carry the arms, to wit, 
 the shields and the helmets and the spears, from the hall into 
 the armoury. And Athene went ever before them, holding a 
 lamp of gold, that shed a very fair light. Thereupon said 
 Telemachus : " Surely, my father, this is a great wonder that 1 
 behold ' See the walls, and the beams, and the pillars are 
 bright as it were with flames of fire. This must be the doing of 
 
 a god." , . 
 
 But Ulysses made answer: "Hold thy peace ; keep the matter 
 
 in thine heart, and inquire not concerning it. And now he down 
 and sleep, for I would talk with thy mother." 
 
 So Telemachus went to his chamber, and slept, and Ulysses 
 was left alone in the hall, devising in his heart how he might 
 
 slav the suitors. , , . 
 
 And now Penelope came down, and sat by the fire, on a chair 
 cunningly wrought of silver and ivory, with a footstool that was 
 part of the chair. And soon the maidens came in, and took 
 away the fragments of food that were left, and the cups from 
 which the suitors drank, and piled fresh logs on the fire^ 
 
 Then Penelope called to the nurse, saying : Nurse, bring me 
 now a settle with a fleece upon it, that the stranger may sit and 
 
 ^i'thettebrought the settle and the fleece, and Ulysses sat 
 him down; and Penelope spake, saying : "Stranger, I will ask 
 
ULYSSES IS DISCOVERED BY HIS NURSE 131 
 
 thee first who art thou? Whence didst thou come? What is 
 thy city and thy father's name ? " 
 
 Ulysses made answer : " Lady, no man could find any fault 
 in thee. Thy fame is as the fame of a king who fears the gods, 
 and reigns over a valiant people, and his land beareth increase 
 of wheat and barley, and the trees are full of fruit, and the sheep 
 bring forth and fail not, and in the sea are many fish, and all 
 things prosper with him. Ask me now other things as thou 
 wilt ; but ask me not of my name, or my race, or my native 
 country, lest I weep as I think thereon, for I am a man of many 
 sorrows ; and it is not fitting to mourn and weep in the house of 
 another. Haply, too, the maidens may see me, and be wroth 
 with me, and say that I am melted in tears, even as a man that 
 is drunken with wine." 
 
 To him Penelope made reply : " Stranger, the gods took away 
 from me all comeliness of face and form on the day when 
 Ulysses, my husband, went with the Greeks to Troy. And now 
 I am sore beset with troubles. For the princes of the islands 
 round about, yea and of Ithaca itself, woo me against my will, 
 and devour my house. Vainly have I sought to escape their 
 wooing. For Athene put this into my heart that I should say to 
 them : ' Noble youths that would wed me, now that Ulysses is 
 dead, abide patiently, though ye be eager to hasten the marriage, 
 till I shall have finished this robe, to wit, a winding-sheet for 
 Laertes ; for it were a shame, if he, having had great wealth, 
 should lie in his grave without a winding-sheet' So I spake, and 
 they gave consent. Three years did I deceive them, weaving 
 the web by day, and by night unravelling it ; but in the fourth 
 year my handmaids betrayed me. And now I have no escape 
 from marriage, for my parents are instant with me, and my son 
 is vexed because these men devour his substance, and he is now 
 of an age to manage his own house. But come, tell me of what 
 race thou art ; thou art not born of an oak tree or a rock, as the 
 fables have it." 
 
 Then said Ulysses : " If thou wilt still ask me of my race, then 
 will I tell thee ; but thou wilt so bring sorrow upon me beyond 
 that to which I am bound ; for it is grief to a man who hath 
 wandered far and suffered much to speak of the matter. There 
 
132 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 is in the midst of the sea a land that men call Crete. A fair 
 land it is and fertile, and there are many inhabitants therein, 
 and cities four score and ten. In one of these cities, even 
 Cnossus, reigned Minos the King. Nine years old was he 
 when he began to reign. And Minos begat Deucalion, and 
 Deucalion had two sons, to wit, Idomeneus and me ; he was 
 the elder of the two, and by far the better. My name is Aethon. 
 Thither came Ulysses, when he was sailing to Troy, for the 
 wind had carried him out of his course. And he came up to 
 the city asking for Idomeneus, for he said that he was his friend ; 
 but it was the tenth day or the eleventh since Idomeneus had 
 sailed for Troy. Then I gave entertainment to him and his 
 company, barley-meal, and wine, and oxen for sacrifice. Twelve 
 days did they abide with me, for so long the north wind blew 
 continually, but on the thirteenth day it abated, and they 
 weighed anchor." 
 
 So Ulysses told his tale. False it was, but it seemed to be true. 
 And Penelope wept to hear it. As the snow melts upon the 
 hills when the south-east wind bloweth, and the streams run full, 
 so did Penelope weep for her lord. And Ulysses had compas- 
 sion on his wife, when he saw her weep ; but his own eyes he 
 kept as if they had been horn or iron. 
 
 But Penelope said : " Friend, suffer me to make trial of thee, 
 whether this was indeed my husband Ulysses. Tell me now 
 with what raiment he was clothed, and what manner of man he 
 was, and what his company. 55 
 
 Then Ulysses made answer : " I remember me that he had a 
 mantle, twofold, woollen, of sea-purple, clasped with a brooch of 
 gold, whereon was a dog that held a fawn by the throat ; mar- 
 vellously wrought was the dog and the fawn, so hard held the 
 one, so strove the other to be free. Also he had a tunic, white 
 and smooth, even as the skin of an onion when it is dry, which 
 the women much admire to see. But whether some one had 
 given him these things I know not, for, indeed, many gave him 
 gifts, and I also, even a sword and a tunic. Also he had a 
 herald with him, one Eurybates, older than he, dark-skinned, 
 round in the shoulders, with curly hair. 55 
 
 When Penelope heard this she wept yet more, for she knew by 
 
ULYSSES IS DISCOVERED BY HIS NURSE 133 
 
 these tokens that this man was indeed her lord. " This is true," 
 she said, " 0 stranger, for I myself gave him these garments, 
 and I folded them myself, and I also gave him the jewel. And 
 now, alas ! I shall see him no more." 
 
 But Ulysses made answer : " Nay, wife of Ulysses, say not so. 
 Cease from thy mourning, for Ulysses is yet alive. Near at 
 hand is he, in the land of the Thesprotians, and is bringing 
 many gifts with him. So Pheidon, the King of the land, told 
 me, and showed me the gifts which he had gathered ; many 
 they were and great, and will enrich his house to the tenth 
 generation. But Ulysses himself, when I was there, had gone 
 to Dodona, to inquire of Zeus — for there is the oracle of the god 
 in the midst of an oak tree — whether he shall return to his home 
 openly or by stealth. Be sure, O lady, that in this tenth year 
 Ulysses shall come, even when the old moon waneth and the 
 new is born." 
 
 . Then said Penelope : " May thy words be accomplished, O 
 stranger ! Verily, thou shouldst have much kindness at my 
 hands and many gifts. Yet I have a boding in my heart 
 that it shall not be. But now the handmaids shall spread 
 a bed for thee with mattress and blankets that thou mayest 
 sleep warm till morning shall come. And they shall wash thy 
 feet." 
 
 But Ulysses spake, saying : " Mattress and blankets have 
 been hateful to me since I left the land of Crete. I will lie as I 
 have been wont to lie for many nights, sleepless and waiting for 
 the day. And I have no delight in the bath ; nor shall any of 
 these maidens touch my feet. Yet if there be some old woman, 
 faithful of heart, her I would suffer to touch my feet." 
 
 Then said Penelope : " Such an one there is, even the woman 
 who nursed my lord, and cherished him, and carried him in her 
 arms, from the time when his mother bare him. She is now 
 weak with age, but she will wash thy feet." 
 
 And she spake to the nurse, saying : " Up, now, and wash 
 this man, who is of like age with thy master." 
 
 Then the old woman covered her face with her hands and 
 wept, saying : " Willingly will I wash thy feet both for Penelope's 
 sake and thine own. Many strangers, worn with travel, have 
 
134 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 come hither, but never saw I one that was so like to Ulysses 
 in voice and in feet." 
 
 And Ulysses made answer : " Even so have I heard before ; 
 men said ever that we were most like one to the other." 
 
 But when she had made ready the bath, then Ulysses sat aloof 
 from the hearth, and turned his face to the darkness, for he 
 feared in his heart lest, when the old woman should handle his 
 leg, she might know a great scar that was thereon. 
 
 Now the scar happened in this wise. 
 
 Ulysses went to Parnassus to see Autolycus, that was his 
 mother's father, a man who was skilful, above all others, in 
 thieving and in the making of oaths. This gift Hermes had 
 himself given him. Now Autolycus had once upon a time 
 gone to Ithaca, and found there his daughter's son newly born. 
 And after supper, the nurse, even Eurycleia, had laid the babe 
 upon his knees, saying : " Autolycus, give thyself a name to this 
 child ; for he is the child of many prayers." Then Autolycus 
 spake, saying : " My daughter, and my daughter's husband, 
 give this child the name that I shall say. I came to this land, 
 having great anger against many men. Let, therefore, his 
 name be Ulysses, 4 the man of wrath.' * And when he is come 
 to man's estate let him come to me, and I will give him such a 
 gift as shall rejoice his heart." Thus did it come to pass that 
 Ulysses went to see Autolycus ; and his grandfather and his 
 grandmother and their sons greeted him well, and made a feast 
 for him. The next morning they all went to the chase, and 
 Ulysses went with them. Up to the hill of Parnassus did they 
 climb ; and it was the time of sunrise. The beaters came to a 
 glade of the woodland, and the dogs went before, tracking a 
 scent, and after them came the sons of Autolycus, and with them 
 Ulysses. There in a very thick lair lay a great wild boar. So 
 thick was it that neither the sun nor the rain could pierce it, 
 and there was a great store of fallen leaves in the place. And 
 when the boar was roused by the trampling of men's feet, and 
 by the dogs, he sprang from his lair, and his hair bristled upon 
 his back, and his eyes shone, as he stood at bay. Then Ulysses 
 
 * Odusseus in the Greek form, as if from " odussesthai "= " to be 
 angry." 
 
ULYSSES IS DISCOVERED BY HIS NURSE 135 
 
 rushed in, first of all the company, holding his spear aloft with 
 his hand, being eager to smite the beast. But the boar was too 
 quick for him, for it charged, and wounded him above the knee, 
 and made a great rent in the flesh, striking him sideways with 
 his tusk ; nevertheless it reached not to the bone. But Ulysses 
 aimed at him right well, and smote him in the right shoulder, 
 piercing him through, so that he fell dead on the ground. Then 
 the sons of Autolycus bound up the wound, staying the blood 
 
 EUKYCLEIA DISCOVERS ULYSSES. 
 
 with a song of healing ; and they returned to the house of their 
 father. There they kept him till he was healed of his wound ; 
 and afterwards they sent him to his home with many noble 
 gifts. But the scar of the wound was left. 
 
 By this scar, then, the old nurse knew that it was Ulysses 
 himself, and said, " O Ulysses, O my child, to think that I 
 knew thee not ! y ' 
 
 And she looked towards the Queen, as meaning to tell the 
 thing to her. But Ulysses laid his hand on her throat : 
 
136 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 " Mother, wouldst thou kill me ? I am returned after twenty 
 years, and none must know till I shall be ready to take 
 vengeance." 
 
 And the old woman held her peace. And after this Penelope 
 talked with him again, telling him her dreams, how she had 
 seen a flock of geese in her palace, and how that an eagle had 
 slain them, and when she mourned for the geese, lo ! a voice 
 that said : " These geese are thy suitors, and the eagle thy 
 husband." 
 
 And Ulysses said the dream was well. And then she said 
 that on the morrow she must make her choice, for that she had 
 promised to bring forth the great bow that was Ulysses's, and 
 whosoever should draw it most easily, and shoot an arrow best 
 at a mark, he should be her husband. 
 
 And Ulysses made answer to her : " It is well, lady. Put 
 not off this trial of the bow, for before one of them shall draw 
 the string, the great Ulysses shall come and duly shoot at the 
 mark that shall be set." 
 
 After this Penelope slept. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE TRIAL OF THE BOW 
 
 Ulysses laid him down to sleep in the gallery of the hall. 
 On a bulPs hide undressed he lay, and over him he put fleeces 
 of sheep that had been slain for sacrifice and feast, and the 
 dame that kept the house threw a mantle over him. 
 
 But he slept not, for he had many thoughts in his heart. As 
 
THE TRIAL OF THE BOW 
 
 137 
 
 a man turns a paunch before a fire, so Ulysses turned him from 
 side to side, thinking how, being one against many, he might 
 slay the suitors in his hall. 
 
 Then Athene came down from Olympus, and stood over his 
 head, having taken upon herself the likeness of a woman. 
 And she spake, saying : " Wakest thou still, man of many 
 troubles ? Is not this thy house ? And is not thy wife within, 
 and thy son, being such an one as thou wouldst have him 
 to be?" 
 
 Ulysses made answer : " This is true, O goddess. But I 
 think how I, being one against many, can slay the suitors in 
 my hall. And this also troubles me : how, if I slay them, shall 
 I escape the avengers of blood ? " 
 
 Then answered the goddess : " Verily, thou art weak in faith. 
 Some put trust in men, yet men are weaker than the gods ; 
 why trustest not thou in me ? Verily, I am with thee, and will 
 keep thee to the end. But now sleep, for to watch all the night 
 is vexation of spirit." 
 
 So saying, she poured sleep upon his eyes and went back to 
 Olympus. 
 
 When the morning came Ulysses awoke, and he took up the 
 fleeces, and set them on a seat in the hall, and the bull's hide 
 he carried without. Then he lifted up his hands to Zeus, and 
 prayed, saying : " O Father Zeus, if thou hast led me to mine 
 own country of good will, then give me a sign." 
 
 And even as he spake Zeus thundered from Olympus ; and 
 Ulysses heard it, and was glad. Also a woman at the mill 
 spake a word of omen. Twelve women there were that ground 
 the meal, wheat, and barley. Eleven of these were now sleep- 
 ing, for they had finished their task ; but this one, being 
 weakest of all, was still grinding. And now she stayed her 
 work, and said : " Surely, Father Zeus, this is a sign, that thou 
 hast thundered in a clear sky. Grant now that this be the last 
 meal that I shall grind for the suitors in the house of Ulysses ! " 
 
 Afterwards came Telemachus, and spake to the nurse, saying : 
 " Hast thou given to the guest food and bedding as is meet, or 
 doth he lie uncared for ? " 
 
 The nurse made answer : " The stranger drank as much as 
 
138 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 he would, and ate till he said that he had had enough ; but 
 blankets and a. mattress he would not have ; on an undressed 
 hide he slept, with fleeces of sheep above. Also we cast a 
 mantle over him." 
 
 Next came the swineherd, leading three fatted hogs, the best 
 of all the herd. And he said : " Stranger, do these men treat 
 thee well ? " 
 
 Ulysses made answer : " May the gods requite them as they 
 have dealt insolently with me ! " 
 
 Afterwards came Melanthius, the goatherd, having goats for 
 the feast of the day. And he spake to Ulysses bitter words : 
 " Wilt thou still plague us, stranger, with thy begging? Verily, 
 I think that we shall not part till we have made trial of each 
 other with our fists. Thy begging is not to be borne ; and 
 there are other feasts whither thou mightest go." 
 
 But Ulysses answered him not a word. 
 
 Last came Philsetius, the neatherd, bringing a barren heifer 
 for the feast of the suitors. He spake to Ulysses, saying : 
 " May happiness come to thee, stranger, hereafter ! Now thou 
 art encompassed with sorrows. Mine eyes are full of tears as 
 I behold thee, for it may be that Ulysses is clad in vile gar- 
 ments like to these, wandering about among men, if, indeed, he 
 is yet alive. But if he is dead, that, indeed, is a great sorrow. 
 For he set me over his cattle, and these are now increased 
 beyond all counting ; never have herds increased more plenti- 
 fully. Nevertheless, it vexeth my heart because strangers are 
 ever devouring them in his hall. Verily, I would have fled 
 long since, for the thing is past all enduring, but that I hope to 
 see Ulysses yet come again to his own." 
 
 Then Ulysses made answer : " Neatherd, thou art a man of 
 an understanding heart. Now hearken to what I shall say, and 
 I will confirm it with an oath. While thou art still in this place, 
 Ulysses shall come home, and thou shall see it with thine eyes, 
 yea, and the slaying of the suitors also." 
 
 And after awhile the suitors came and sat down, as was their 
 wont, to the feast. And the servants bare to Ulysses, as 
 Telemachus had bidden, a full share with the others. And 
 when Ctesippus, a prince of Samos, saw this (he was a man 
 
THE TRIAL OF THE BOW 
 
 139 
 
 heedless of right and of the gods), he said : "Is it well that 
 this fellow should fare even as we ? Look now at the gift that 
 I shall give him." Whereupon he took a bullock's foot out of 
 a basket wherein it lay, and cast it at Ulysses. 
 
 But he moved his head to the left and shunned it, and it 
 flew on, marking the wall. And Telemachus cried in great 
 wrath : — 
 
 " It is well for thee, Ctesippus, that thou didst not strike this 
 stranger. For surely, hadst thou done this thing, my spear 
 
 I'ENELOPE CARRYING THE BOW OF ULYSSES TO THE SUITORS. 
 
 had pierced thee through, and thy father had made good 
 cheer, not for thy marriage, but for thy burial." 
 
 Then said Agelaiis : " This is well said. Telemachus should 
 not be wronged, no, nor this stranger. But, on the other hand, 
 he must bid his mother choose out of the suitors whom she 
 will, and marry him, nor waste our time any more." 
 
 And Telemachus said : " It is well. She shall marry whom she 
 will. But from my house I will never send her against her will." 
 
 And the suitors laughed ; but their laughter was not of 
 mirth, and the flesh which they ate dripped with blood, and 
 
Ho THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 their eyes were full of tears. And the eyes of the seer Theo- 
 clymenus were opened, and he cried : 
 
 " What ails you, miserable ones ? For your heads and your 
 faces and your knees are covered with darkness, and the voice 
 of groaning comes from you, and your cheeks are wet with 
 tears. Also the walls and the pillars are sprinkled with blood, 
 and the porch and the hall are full of shadows that move 
 towards hell, and the sun has perished from the heaven, and an 
 evil mist is over all." 
 
 But they laughed to hear him ; and Eurymachus said : "This 
 stranger is mad ; let us send him out of doors into the market- 
 place, for it seems that here it is dark." 
 
 Also they scoffed at Telemachus, but he heeded them not, 
 but sat waiting till his father should give the sign. 
 
 After this Penelope went to fetch the great bow of Ulysses, 
 which Iphitus had given to him. From the peg on which it 
 hung she took it with its sheath, and, sitting down, she laid it 
 on her knees and wept over it, and after this rose up and went 
 to where the suitors sat feasting in the hall. The bow she 
 brought, and also the quiver full of arrows, and standing by the 
 pillar of the dome, spake thus : — 
 
 " Ye suitors, who devour this house, making pretence that ye 
 wish to wed me, lo ! here is a proof of your skill. Here is the 
 bow of the great Ulysses. Whoso shall bend it easiest in his 
 hands, and shoot an arrow most easily through the helve-holes 
 of the twelve axes that Telemachus shall set up, him will I 
 follow, leaving this house, which I shall remember only in my 
 dreams." 
 
 Then she bade Eumaeus bear the bow and the arrows to the 
 suitors. And the good swineherd wept to see his master's bow, 
 and Philaetius, the herdsman of the kine, wept also, for he was 
 a good man, and loved the house of Ulysses. 
 
 Then Telemachus planted in due order the axes wherein 
 were the helve-holes, and was minded himself to draw the 
 bow ; and indeed would have done the thing, but Ulysses 
 signed to him that he should not. Wherefore, he said : 
 " Methinks I am too weak and young ; ye that are elder should 
 try the first." 
 
THE TRIAL OF THE BOW 
 
 Then first Leiodes, the priest, who alone among the suitors 
 hated their evil ways, made trial of the bow. But he moved it 
 not, but wearied his hands with it, for they were tender, and 
 unwont to toil. And he said : u I cannot bend this bow ; let 
 some other try ; but think that it shall be grief and pain to 
 many this day." 
 
 And Antinoiis was wroth to hear such words, and bade 
 Melanthius bring forth from the stores a roll of fat, that they 
 might anoint the string and soften it withal. So they softened 
 the string with fat, but not for that the more could they bend 
 it, for they tried all of them in vain, till only Antinoiis and 
 Eurymachus were left, who, indeed, were the bravest and the 
 strongest of them all. 
 
 Now the swineherd and the herdsman of the kine had gone 
 forth out of the yard, and Ulysses came behind them and said : 
 " What would ye do if Ulysses were to come back to his home? 
 Would ye fight for him or for the suitors ? " 
 
 And both said they would fight for him. 
 
 And Ulysses said : " It is even I who am come back in the 
 twentieth year, and ye, I know, are glad at heart that I am 
 come ; nor know I of any one besides. And if ye will help me 
 as brave men to-day, wives shall ye have, and possessions and 
 houses near to mine own. And ye shall be brothers and com- 
 rades to Telemachus. And for a sign, behold this scar, which 
 the wild boar made when I hunted with Autolycus." 
 
 Then they wept for joy and kissed Ulysses, and he also 
 kissed them. And he said to Eumseus that he should bring the 
 bow to him when the suitors had tried their fortune therewith ; 
 also that he should bid the women keep within doors, nor stir 
 out if they should hear the noise of battle. And Philaetius he 
 bade lock the doors of the hall, and fasten them with a rope. 
 
 After this he came back to the hall, and Eurymachus had 
 the bow in his hands and sought to warm it at the fire. Then 
 he essayed to draw it, but could not. And he groaned aloud, 
 saying : " Woe is me ! not for loss of this marriage only, for 
 there are other women to be wooed in Greece, but that we are 
 so much weaker than the great Ulysses. This is, indeed, 
 shame to tell." 
 
142 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 Then said Antinoiis : " Not so ; to-day is a holy day of the 
 god of archers ; therefore we could not draw the bow. But 
 to-morrow will we try once more, after due sacrifice to Apollo." 
 
 And this saying pleased them all ; but Ulysses said : " Let 
 me try this bow ; for I would fain know whether I have such 
 strength as I had in former days." 
 
 At this all the suitors were wroth, and chiefly Antinoiis, but 
 Penelope said that it should be so, and promised the man 
 great gifts if he could draw this bow. 
 
 But Telemachus spake thus : " Mother, the bow is mine to 
 give or to refuse. And no man shall say me nay, if I will that 
 this stranger make trial of it. But do thou go to thy chamber 
 with thy maidens, and let men take thought for these things." 
 
 And this he said, for that he would have her depart from the 
 hall forthwith, knowing what should happen therein. But she 
 marvelled to hear him speak with such authority, and answered 
 not, but departed. And when Eumasus would have carried the 
 bow to Ulysses, the suitors spake roughly to him, but Telemachus 
 constrained him to go. Therefore he took the bow and gave 
 it to his master. Then went he to Eurycleia, and bade her 
 shut the door of the women's chambers and keep them within, 
 whatsoever they might hear. 
 
 Then Ulysses handled the great bow, trying it, whether it 
 had taken any hurt, but the s suitors thought scorn of him. 
 Then, when he had found it to be without flaw, just as a 
 minstrel fastens a string upon his harp and strains it to the 
 pitch, so he strung the bow without toil ; and holding the 
 string in his right hand, he tried its tone, and the tone was 
 sweet as the voice of a swallow. Then he took an arrow from 
 the quiver, and laid the notch upon the string and drew it, 
 sitting as he was, and the arrow passed through every ring, 
 and stood in the wall beyond. Then he said to Telemachus : — 
 
 " There is yet a feast to be held before the sun goes down." 
 
 And he nodded the sign to Telemachus. And forthwith the 
 young man stood by him, armed with spear and helmet and 
 shield. 
 
THE SLAYING OF THE SUITORS 
 
 143 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE SLAYING OF THE SUITORS 
 
 Then spake Ulysses among the suitors : " This labour has 
 been accomplished Let me try at yet another mark." 
 
 And he aimed his arrow at Antinoiis. But the man was just 
 raising a cup to his lips, thinking not of death, for who had 
 thought that any man, though mightiest of mortals, would 
 venture on such a deed, being one among many? Right 
 through the neck passed the arrow-head, and the blood gushed 
 from his nostrils, and he dropped the cup and spurned the table 
 from him. 
 
 And all the suitors, when they saw him fall, leapt from their 
 seats ; but when they looked, there was neither spear nor shield 
 upon the wall. And they knew not whether it was by chance or 
 of set purpose that the stranger had smitten him. But Ulysses 
 then declared who he was, saying : — 
 
 " Dogs, ye thought that I should never come back ! There- 
 fore have ye devoured my house, and made suit to my wife 
 while I yet lived, and feared not the gods nor regarded men. 
 Therefore a sudden destruction is come upon you all." 
 
 Then when all the others trembled for fear, Eurymachus said : 
 " If thou be indeed Ulysses of Ithaca, thou hast said well. 
 Foul wrong has been done to thee in the house and in the field. 
 But lo ! he who was the mover of it all lieth here, even Antinoiis. 
 Nor was it so much this marriage that he sought, as to be King 
 of this land, having destroyed thy house. But we will pay 
 thee back for all that we have devoured, even twenty times as 
 much." 
 
 But Ulysses said : " Speak not of paying back. My hands 
 shall not cease from slaying till I have taken vengeance on 
 you all." 
 
 Then said Eurymachus to his comrades : " This man will not 
 stay his hands, He will smite us all with his arrows where he 
 
144 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 stands. But let us win the door, and raise a cry in the city ; 
 soon then will this archer have shot his last." 
 
 And he rushed on, with his two-edged knife in his hand. But 
 as he rushed, Ulysses smote him on the breast with an arrow, 
 and he fell forwards. And when Amphinomus came on, Tele- 
 machus slew him with his spear, but drew not the spear from 
 the body, lest some one should smite him unawares. 
 
 Then he ran to his father and said : " Shall I fetch arms for 
 us and our helpers ? " 
 
 " Yea," said he, " and tarry not, lest my arrows be spent." 
 
 ULYSSES KILLING THE SUITORS. 
 
 So he fetched from the armoury four shields and four helmets 
 and eight spears. And he and the servants, Eumaeus and 
 Philastius, armed themselves. Also Ulysses, when his arrows 
 were spent, donned helmet and shield, and took a mighty spear 
 in each hand. But Melanthius, the goatherd, crept up to the 
 armoury and brought down therefrom twelve helmets and 
 shields, and spears as many. And when Ulysses saw that the 
 suitors were arming themselves, he feared greatly, and said to 
 his son : 
 
 " There is treachery here. It is one of the women, or, it may 
 be, Melanthius, the goatherd." 
 
THE SLAYING OF THE SUITORS 
 
 And Telemachus said : " This fault is mine, my father, for I 
 left the door of the chamber unfastened. 57 
 
 And soon Eumasus spied Melanthius stealing up to the 
 chamber again, and followed him, and Philaetius with him. 
 There they caught him even as he took a helmet in one hand 
 and a shield in the other, and bound his feet and hands, and 
 fastened him aloft by a rope to the beams of the ceiling. 
 
 Then these two went back to the hall, and there also came 
 Athene, having the shape of Mentor. Still, for she would yet 
 further try the courage of Ulysses and his son, she helped them 
 not as yet, but, changing her shape, sat on the roof-beam like 
 unto a swallow. 
 
 And then cried Agelaiis : " Friends, Mentor is gone, and 
 helps them not. Let us not cast our spears at random, but let 
 six come on together, if, perchance, we may prevail against 
 them." 
 
 Then they cast their spears, but Athene turned them aside, 
 one to the pillar, and another to the door, and another to the 
 wall. But Ulysses and Telemachus and the two herdsmen slew 
 each his man ; and yet again they did so, and again. Only 
 Amphimedon wounded Telemachus, and Ctesippus grazed the 
 shoulder of Eumaeus. But Telemachus struck down Amphime- 
 don, and the herdsman of the kine slew Ctesippus, saying : 
 "Take this, for the ox-foot which thou gavest to our guest." 
 And all the while Athene' waved her flaming aegis shield from 
 above, and the suitors fell as birds are scattered and torn by 
 eagles. 
 
 Then Leiodes, the priest, made supplication to Ulysses, say- 
 ing : " I never wrought evil in this house, and would have kept 
 others from it, but they would not. Naught have I done save 
 serve at the altar ; wherefore, slay me not." 
 
 And Ulysses made reply : " That thou hast served at the altar 
 of these men is enough, and also that thou wouldst wed my 
 wife." 
 
 So he slew him ; but Phemius, the minstrel, he spared, for he 
 had sung among the suitors in the hall, of compulsion, and not 
 of good will ; and also Medon, the herald, bidding them go into 
 the yard without. There they sat, holding by the altar and 
 
 K 
 
146 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 looking fearfully every way, for they yet feared that they should 
 die. 
 
 So the slaughtering of the suitors was ended ; and now 
 Ulysses bade cleanse the hall and wash the benches and the 
 tables with water, and purify them with sulphur. And when 
 this was done, let Eurycleia, the nurse, he said, go to Penelope 
 and tell her that her husband was indeed returned. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE END OF THE WANDERING 
 
 Eurycleia went to the chamber of her mistress, bearing the 
 glad tidings. She made haste in her great joy, and her feet 
 stumbled one over the other. And she stood by the head of 
 Penelope, and spake, saying : " Awake, dear child, and see with 
 thine eyes that which thou hast desired so long. For, indeed, 
 Ulysses hath come back, and hath slain the men that devoured 
 his substance." 
 
 But Penelope made answer : " Surely, dear nurse, the gods 
 have bereft thee of thy sense ; and verily, they can make the 
 wisdom of the wise to be foolishness, and they can give wisdom 
 to the simple. Why dost thou mock me, rousing me out of my 
 sleep, the sweetest that hath ever come to my eyes since the 
 day when Ulysses sailed for Troy, most hateful of cities ? Go, 
 get thee to the chamber of the women ! Had another of the 
 maids roused me in this fashion, I had sent her back with a 
 sharp rebuke. But thine old age protects thee." 
 
 Then said the nurse ; " I mock thee not, dear child. In very 
 
THE END OF THE WANDERING 
 
 truth Ulysses is here. He is the stranger to whom such dis- 
 honour was done. But Telemachus knew long since who he 
 was, and hid the matter, that they might take vengeance on the 
 suitors. " 
 
 Then was Penelope glad, and she leapt from bed, and fell 
 upon the neck of the old woman, weeping, and saying : " Tell 
 me now the truth, whether, indeed, he hath come home, and 
 hath slain the suitors, he being but one man, and they many. 55 
 
 The nurse made answer : " How it was done I know not ; 
 only I heard the groaning of men that were being slain. Amazed 
 did we women sit in our chamber till thy son called me. Then 
 I found Ulysses standing among the dead, who lay one upon 
 another. Verily, thou hadst been glad at heart to see him, so 
 like to lion was he, all stained with blood and the labour of the 
 fight. And now the suitors lie in a heap, and he is purifying 
 his house with brimstone. But come, that ye may have an end 
 of all the sorrow that ye have endured, for thy desire is fulfilled. 
 Thy husband hath come back, and hath avenged him to the full 
 on these evil men. 55 
 
 But Penelope said : " Dear nurse, be not too bold in thy joy. 
 Thou knowest how gladly I would see him. But this is not he ; 
 it is one of the gods that hath slain the suitors, being wroth at 
 their insolence and wrong-doing. But Ulysses himself hath 
 perished. 55 
 
 Then the nurse spake, saying : " What is that thou sayest ? 
 That thy husband will return no more, when he is even now in 
 his own house ? Nay, thou art, indeed, slow to believe. Hear 
 now this manifest token that I espied with mine eyes, — the scar 
 of the wound that long since a wild boar dealt him with his tusk. 
 I saw it when I washed his feet, and would fain have told thee, 
 but he laid his hand upon my mouth, and in his wisdom suffered 
 me not to speak. 55 
 
 To her Penelope made answer : " It is hard for thee to know 
 the purposes of the gods. Nevertheless, I will go to my son, 
 that I may see the suitors dead, and the man that slew them. ?5 
 
 So she went and sat in the twilight by the other wall, and 
 Ulysses sat by a pillar, with eyes cast down, waiting till his wife 
 should speak to him. But she was sore perplexed ; for now she 
 
148 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 seemed to know him, and now she knew him not, being in such 
 evil case, for he had not suffered that the women should put new 
 robes upon him. 
 
 And Telemachus said: "Mother, evil mother, sittest thou 
 apart from my father, and speakest not to him ? Surely thy 
 heart is harder than a stone. 55 
 
 But Ulysses said : " Let be, Telemachus. Thy mother will 
 
 THE MEETING OF ULYSSES AND PENELOPE. 
 
 know that which is true in good time. But now let us hide this 
 slaughter for awhile, lest the friends of these men seek vengeance 
 against us. Wherefore, let there be music and dancing in the 
 hall, so that men shall say : 'This is the wedding of the 
 Queen, and there is joy in the palace,' and know not of the 
 truth. 55 
 
 So the minstrel played and the women danced. And mean- 
 while Ulysses went to the bath, and clothed himself in bright 
 apparel, and came back to the hall, and Athene made him fair 
 
THE END OF THE WANDERING 149 
 
 and young to see. Then he sat him down as before, over 
 against his wife, and said : — 
 
 " Surely, 0 lady, the gods have made thee harder of heart 
 than all women besides. Would other wife have kept away 
 from her husband, coming back now after twenty years ? " 
 
 And when she doubted yet, he spake again : " Hear thou 
 this, Penelope, and know that it is I indeed. I will tell thee of 
 the fashion of my bed. There grew an olive in the inner court, 
 with a stem of the bigness of a pillar. Round this did I build 
 the chamber, and I roofed it over, and put doors upon it. Then 
 I lopped off the boughs of the olive, and made it into the bed- 
 post. Afterwards, beginning from this, I wrought the bedstead 
 till I had finished it, inlaying the work with gold and silver and 
 ivory. And within I fastened a band of ox-hide that had been 
 dyed with purple. Whether the bedstead be now fast in its 
 place, or whether some one hath moved it — and verily, it was 
 no light thing to move — I know not. But this was its fashion 
 of old." 
 
 Then Penelope knew him, that he was her husband indeed, 
 and ran to him, and threw her arms about him and kissed him, 
 saying : " Pardon me, my lord, if I was slow to know thee ; for 
 ever I feared, so many wiles have men, that some one should 
 deceive me, saying that he was my husband. But now I know 
 this, that thou art he and not another." 
 
 And they wept over each other and kissed each other. So 
 did Ulysses come back to his home after twenty years. 
 
150 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF ULYSSES 
 
 The suitors being slain, Hermes led their souls down to the 
 dwellings of the dead, having in his hand the rod of gold where- 
 with he toucheth the eyes of men, causing some to sleep and 
 some to wake, and led them down ; and they followed after with 
 a clattering noise, like to the noise of bats when they fly to and 
 fro in a cavern. Then they went along the dark waters of 
 death, by the side of the stream of Ocean, and the gates of the 
 Sun, and the land of dreams, till they came to the meadow of 
 asphodel, where dwell the spirits of them that have lived their 
 life. There they saw the spirit of Achilles, and of Patroclus, 
 and of Antilochus, son of Nestor, and of Ajax ; and after these 
 the spirit of Agamemnon, and with him they that had perished 
 in his company by the hand of ^Egisthus. 
 
 Then spake Achilles to Agamemnon : " Truly, son of Atreus, 
 men were wont to say that Zeus loved thee above all others, 
 making thee ruler over many valiant men in the land of Troy. 
 Nevertheless, the doom of death came upon thee after an evil 
 sort. Better hadst thou died before the walls of Troy, for then 
 had the Greeks raised for thee a mighty tomb ! " 
 
 To him the spirit of Agamemnon made answer : " Happy 
 wert thou, son of Peleus, in that thou diedst far away from the 
 land of Greece. Many valiant men of the sons of Troy and of 
 the Greeks were slain around thee, where thou wast lying with 
 the dust of the battle about thee, forgetting all thy craft of war. 
 All that day we fought, and had not ceased but that Zeus stayed 
 the battle with a whirlwind. Then we carried thee back to the 
 ships, and laid thy body on a bed, and washed it with water and 
 anointed it with ointment. And even as we sat weeping about 
 thee, came thy mother with the deathless daughters of the sea ; 
 and we heard a terrible voice and were sore afraid. Then had 
 we fled to the ships but that Nestor, the wise old man, stayed 
 
THE TRIUMPH OF ULYSSES 
 
 us, saying : 4 Tarry ye here, sons of the Greeks, for the mother 
 of Achilles cometh with the daughters of the sea to mourn for 
 her son. 5 
 
 " Then we feared no more ; and the daughters of the sea 
 stood about thee, making lamentation, and put on thee clothing 
 of the gods. And the nine Muses sang thy dirge, answering 
 one the other with a very lovely voice ; and there was not 
 one of the Greeks but wept, so sweetly did they sing. Seventeen 
 nights and days as many we bewailed thee, gods and men 
 mingled together; and on the eighteenth day we kindled a 
 great fire and burnt thy body. Many sheep and oxen did we 
 slay ; and thou didst lie upon the pile with the garments of the 
 gods about thee, being anointed with much ointment and 
 honey ; and the chiefs ran round the burning pile clad in their 
 armour, and the cry of the host went up to heaven. And when 
 the flame had consumed thy body, then we gathered thy white 
 bones together and laid them in an urn of gold that thy mother 
 had brought, for Dionysus had given it to her, and it was the 
 fire-god's workmanship. And with thy bones were mingled the 
 bones of Patroclus ; and near to them, but apart, were the bones 
 of Nestor's son, Antilochus, whom thou didst love beyond all 
 thy comrades, save Patroclus only. And for you three the 
 Greeks made a great tomb upon a jutting rock, near to the 
 Hellespont, that men who pass thereby may see it for all time 
 to come. And thy mother brought prizes for which the sons of 
 the Greeks might contend in running, wrestling, and the like. 
 Truly I have seen the burying of many men, when the young 
 men gird up their loins to contend together, doing honour to 
 some king that is dead, but never have I seen such a burying as 
 thine, so fair were the prizes that Thetis of the silver feet set 
 before the chiefs of the host. Verily, thou wast dear to the 
 gods, and thy name shall be famous forever ; but as for me, 
 I died an evil death by the hands of yEgisthus and of my 
 accursed wife." 
 
 Thus did they speak together. And meanwhile the souls of 
 the suitors came near, an exceeding great company. And the 
 heroes marvelled to see them. And when King Agamemnon 
 looked upon them he knew Amphimedon ; for he had been his 
 
152 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 guest-friend in old time. And he said : " Tell me, Amphimedon, 
 how is this, that ye come hither in this fashion, chiefs all of you, 
 and all of you of equal age. Did Poseidon slay you on ship- 
 board, raising stormy winds and great waves of the sea against 
 you ? or did ye fall by the hand of the enemy on the land ? Tell 
 me, I pray thee, for thou art a friend by inheritance. Dost thou 
 not remember how I came, and my brother Menelaiis with me, 
 to the house of thy father, that we might persuade Ulysses to 
 go with us against Troy?" 
 
 To him Amphimedon made answer : "All this I remember. 
 And as to the fashion of our death, I will tell thee truly. We 
 sought the wife of Ulysses in marriage, thinking that he was 
 dead. But she would none of our wooing, but devised this 
 device. She set up a great loom and said : 1 Suffer me to tarry 
 till I have made a shroud for the burial of Laertes, that is father 
 to my husband ; that I may have no reproach among the 
 daughters of the Greeks. And when I have made it, then will 
 I marry the one whom I shall choose ! ' And when we had 
 consented thereto, she deceived us, for she wrought the shroud 
 by day, but at night she undid all that she had wrought. So 
 she deceived us for the space of three years ; and in the fourth 
 year we discovered her deceit. And after this an evil fate 
 brought Ulysses to his home again; and he, and his son Tele- 
 machus, and Eumaeus, the swineherd, contrived our death. For 
 he bade Queen Penelope bring forth the bow that was his, and 
 say that whosoever should bend it, he should be her husband. 
 So we took the bow, but there was not one of us that could bend 
 it ; but when Ulysses took it in his hand he bent it right easily. 
 Then he stood on the threshold of the chamber, and shot arrows 
 against us. Antinous first of all he slew, and the rest after- 
 wards, so that not one of us was left alive. And now our bodies 
 lie uncared for in his hall, nor is there any one to mourn for us 
 or to bury us. 55 
 
 Then said Agamemnon : " Happy art thou, Ulysses, and 
 mightily hast thou avenged thy wife. And she verily hath a 
 heart that is good and true. Never shall her fame perish from 
 among men. But as for Clytemnestra, she shall have an evil 
 report forever because she slew her husband." 
 
THE TRIUMPH OF ULYSSES 
 
 153 
 
 So these spake together in the dwellings of the dead. Mean- 
 while, Ulysses went forth from his palace to the dwelling of 
 Laertes, that was in the fields. There the old man dwelt, and 
 a woman of Sicily cared for him. And Ulysses spake to his son 
 and to the shepherds, saying : " Go ye into the house and 
 prepare a meal of swine's flesh, as savoury as may be ; and I 
 will make trial of my father, whether he will know me. For it 
 may well be that he hath forgotten me, seeing that I have been 
 now a long time absent." 
 
 So spake Ulysses, and gave also his arms to the men to keep 
 for him. So they went into the house. And Ulysses went to 
 the orchard, making search for his father. There he found not 
 Dolius, that was steward to Laertes, nor any one of his servants, 
 nor of his sons, for they were gone to make a fence about the 
 field. Only the old man he found ; and he was busy digging 
 about a tree. Filthy was the tunic he had about him and 
 sewn with thread ; and he had coverings of ox-hide on his 
 legs to keep them from the thorns, and gloves upon his hands, 
 and a cap of dog-skin on his head. And when Ulysses saw 
 him, how that he was worn with old age and very sorrowful, he 
 stood under a pear tree and wept. Then for awhile he took 
 counsel with himself, whether he should kiss his father and 
 embrace him, and make himself known, and tell him how he 
 had come back to his home, or should first inquire of him, and 
 learn all that he would know. And he judged it best first to 
 inquire. So he came near to the old man ; and the old man 
 was digging about a tree, having his head bent down. 
 
 Then said Ulysses : " Verily, old man, thou wantest not in 
 skill to deal with an orchard. And truly, neither fig, nor vine, 
 nor olive, nor pear may flourish in a garden without care. But 
 yet another thing will I say to thee, and be not thou wroth when 
 thou hearest it. Thy garden, indeed, is well cared for, but thou 
 thyself art in evil plight. For old age lieth heavy upon thee, 
 and thou art clad in filthy garments. Yet truly thou art not 
 idle, that thy master thus dealeth with thee ; nor, indeed, art 
 thou in any wise like unto a slave ; for thy face and thy stature 
 are as it might be of a king. Such an one as thou art should 
 wash himself, and sit down to meat, and sleep softly ; for such 
 
154 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 is the due of old age. But come, tell me truly, whose servant 
 art thou ? Whose orchard dost thou tend ? Tell me this also : 
 Is this, indeed, the land of Ithaca to which I am come? This, 
 indeed, a certain man that I met as I came hither told me, but 
 he seemed to be but of scanty wit, nor would he listen to my 
 words, nor tell me of a guest-friend that I have who dwelleth in 
 this place, whether he be alive or dead. I entertained him a 
 long time since in my house, and never was there stranger whom 
 I loved more than him. And he said that he was the son of 
 Laertes, and that he came from the land of Ithaca. Gifts also 
 I gave him, seven talents of gold, and a mixing-bowl of silver, 
 wrought about with flowers, and twelve cloaks that had never 
 been washed, and rugs as many, and four cloths, and tunics as 
 many also. Also I gave him four women, fair to look upon, and 
 skilled in all manner of handiwork." 
 
 To him Laertes made answer, weeping the while : " Doubt not, 
 stranger, that thou art come to the land of which thou inquirest. 
 But unrighteous and violent men have it in possession. But as 
 for the son of Laertes, hadst thou found him here, verily, he had 
 sent thee away with many gifts, even such as thou gavest to 
 him. But tell me truly, is it long time since thou didst give 
 him entertainment ? For, indeed, he is my son, unhappy man 
 that I am. Surely either he hath been drowned in the sea, and 
 the fishes have devoured him, or wild beasts and birds of the 
 air have eaten him up upon the land. And neither father nor 
 mother, nor his wife, Penelope, most prudent of women, could 
 make lamentation for him and lay him out for his burial. But 
 tell me, who art thou? Where is thy city, and what thy 
 parentage? Did thine own ship bring thee hither, and thy 
 companions with thee, or didst thou come as a trader upon the 
 ship of another? " 
 
 Then said Ulysses : " All this I will tell thee truly. I am of 
 the city of Alybas, and my father is Apheidas, and my name 
 Eperitus. It was of the doing of the gods that I came hither 
 from the land of Sicily, and not of mine own will. And my 
 ship is moored hard by. As for Ulysses, it is now the fifth year 
 since he left me. Yet verily, the omens were good when he 
 went forth on his journey, so that we both rejoiced, thinking 
 
THE TRIUMPH OF ULYSSES 155 
 
 that he would journey safely, and that we should be friends the 
 one to the other in the time to come." 
 
 So spake Ulysses ; and when the old man, his father, heard 
 these words, great grief came upon him, and he took up the 
 dust in his hands and poured it upon the white hairs of his 
 head. And the heart of Ulysses was moved within him as he 
 saw it, and he was ready to weep when he beheld his father. 
 Then he threw his arms about him and kissed him, and said : 
 " My father, here am I, thy son for whom thou weepest. Lo ! I 
 am come back to my native country after twenty years, and I 
 have avenged myself on them that sought my wife in marriage, 
 slaying them all." 
 
 To him the old man made answer : " If thou art my very son 
 Ulysses, tell me some clear sign whereby I may know thee." 
 
 Then said Ulysses : " See, now, this scar upon my thigh 
 where the wild boar wounded me on Mount Parnassus. For 
 thou and my mother sent me to my grandfather Autolycus, and 
 I was wounded in the hunting. And let this also be a sign to 
 thee. I will tell thee what trees of the orchard thou gavest me 
 long since, when I was a boy and walked with thee, inquiring 
 of thee their names. Thirteen pear trees didst thou give me, 
 and ten apple trees, and of fig trees two score. Fifty rows also 
 of vines didst thou promise to give me when the time of grapes 
 should come." 
 
 And the old man's heart was moved within him, and his knees 
 failed him, for he knew that the signs were true. And he threw 
 his arms about his son, and his son took him to him, and the 
 spirit of the old man revived, and he said : " Now I know that 
 there are gods in heaven when I hear that these evil men, the 
 suitors, have been punished for their wrong-doing. Neverthe- 
 less, I fear me much lest their kinsmen should stir up the men 
 of Ithaca and of the islands round about against us." 
 
 Then said Ulysses : " Trouble not thyself with these matters, 
 my father. Let us go rather to the house. There are Tele- 
 machus and Eumaeus, and the keeper of the herds, and they 
 have made ready, that we may dine." 
 
 So they went to the house, and found Telemachus and his 
 companions cutting flesh for the dinner and mixing the wine. 
 
156 THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 Then the woman of Sicily washed the old man Laertes and 
 anointed him with oil, and clad him in a fair cloak. And Athene 
 also stood by him, and made him taller and sturdier to look on 
 than before. And his son marvelled to behold him, so fair he 
 was and like to the gods that live forever, so that he spake to 
 him, saying : " O my father, surely one of the gods that live 
 forever hath made thee fair to look upon and tall ! " 
 
 And Laertes made answer : " Would to God that I had stood 
 by you yesterday, taking vengeance on the suitors, such as I 
 was in the old time when I took the fair city of Nericus. Many 
 a man had I slain with my spear, and thou wouldst have rejoiced 
 in thy heart." 
 
 Thus spake they together. And when the dinner was ready 
 they sat down to meat ; and the old man Dolius, with his sons, 
 approached, coming in from their labour ; for the woman of 
 Sicily, that was the mother of the lads, had called them. 
 And when they saw Ulysses, they stood amazed and speechless. 
 And Ulysses said : " Cease to wonder, old man, at this sight, 
 and sit down to meat ; truly we are ready for our meat, and have 
 waited long time for you." 
 
 Then Dolius ran to him, stretching forth both his hands, and 
 caught the hand of Ulysses and kissed it on the wrist. And he 
 spake, saying : u Right glad are we at thy coming, for we looked 
 not for thee. Surely it is of the gods that thou hast returned. 
 May all things be well with thee. But tell me, this. Knoweth 
 Queen Penelope of thy coming, or shall I send a messenger to 
 tell her?" 
 
 " Verily, she knoweth it," said Ulysses. Then the old man 
 sat down to meat, and his sons also, when they had greeted 
 Ulysses. 
 
 In the meanwhile there spread through the city the tidings 
 how the suitors had been slain ; and the kindred of the men 
 came to the house of Ulysses with many groans and tears, and 
 carried away the dead bodies and buried them. But such as 
 came from other lands they put on shipboard, that they might 
 carry them to the sepulchres of their fathers. And when these 
 things were ended they gathered themselves together in the 
 market-place ; and Eupeithes stood up amongst them, being 
 
THE TRIUMPH OF ULYSSES 
 
 157 
 
 sore troubled in his heart for his son Antinoiis, whom Ulysses 
 had slain first of all the suitors. He stood up, therefore, in the 
 midst, and spake : " Surely this man hath wrought great evils 
 in this land. First he took comrades with him to Troy, many 
 in number and brave. These all he lost, and their ships also. 
 And now he hath come hither and slain the princes of the 
 people. Shame it were to us, yea, among the generations to 
 come, if we avenge not ourselves on them that have slain our 
 sons and our brothers. Verily, I desire not life, if such should 
 go unpunished. Come, therefore, let us make haste lest they 
 cross over the sea and so escaped 
 
 So Eupeithes spake, weeping the while. And all the people 
 had pity to hear him. But Medon, the herald, stood up in 
 the assembly and spake, saying : " Hear me, men of Ithaca ! 
 Verily, Ulysses did not all these things without the helping of 
 the gods that live forever. I, indeed, saw with mine own eyes 
 one of the gods standing by Ulysses, being like to Prince 
 Mentor in shape. By Ulysses there stood a god, and strength- 
 ened him ; and another was there among the suitors, troubling 
 them so that they fell." 
 
 Thus spake Medon, the herald, and after him stood up 
 Alitherses, the seer, that knew all things that had been and 
 should be hereafter, and spake, saying : " It is of your folly, ye 
 men of Ithaca, that all these things have come to pass. Ye 
 would not hearken to me, no, nor to Mentor, nor would ye 
 restrain your sons from their folly. Great wickedness did they 
 work, wasting the goods of a brave man, and making suit to his 
 wife, for they thought not that he would return. Come now, 
 hearken unto me, lest some worse evil befall you." 
 
 Then some indeed rose up and made haste to depart ; and 
 these were the greater part ; but the others remained in their 
 places, for they liked not the counsel of Medon and the seer, 
 but regarded the words of Eupeithes. Then they clad them- 
 selves in their armour and marched to the city, Eupeithes 
 leading them. 
 
 Then spake Athene to Zeus : " Tell me, my father, what dost 
 thou purpose in thy heart ? Wilt thou that there be strife or 
 friendship between these two ? " 
 
THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY 
 
 To her Zeus made answer : " Why dost thou inquire this 
 thing of me ? Was it not of thy contriving that Ulysses slew 
 the suitors in his palace ? Order it as thou wilt. But let there 
 be peace and friendship in the end, that Ulysses may prosper in 
 the land, and the people dwell in happiness about him." 
 
 Then Athene departed, and came to the land of Ithaca. 
 
 And when Ulysses and they that sat with him had made an 
 end of eating and drinking, the King said, " Let some one go 
 forth and see whether these men are near at hand." 
 
 So the son of Dolius went forth. And as he stood on the 
 threshold he saw them approaching, and cried, " They are even 
 now close at hand ; let us arm ourselves in all haste." 
 
 So they armed themselves. With Ulysses were Telemachus, 
 and Eumseus, and the keeper of the herds. Also there stood 
 with him six sons of Dolius ; and the two old men also, Laertes 
 and Dolius, though their heads were white with age. And as 
 they went forth from the house Athene came near, having the 
 form and the voice of Prince Mentor. And when Ulysses saw 
 her, he was glad at heart, and spake to Telemachus, saying, " I 
 know thee well, my son, that thou wilt bear thyself bravely, and 
 do no dishonour to the house of thy fathers, that have ever been 
 famous in the land for courage and manhood." 
 
 Telemachus answered, " This, my father, thou shalt see for 
 thyself, if thou wilt." 
 
 And Laertes was glad at heart, and said, " How happy is this 
 day, in the which my son and my grandson contend one with 
 the other in valour." 
 
 Then Athene came near to the old man, and said, " Laertes, 
 pray thou first to Athene and Father Zeus, and then cast thy 
 spear." 
 
 So she spake, and breathed great strength into his heart. 
 And having prayed, he cast his spear, and smote Eupeithes 
 through the helmet, so that he fell dead upon the ground. Then 
 Ulysses and his son fell upon the men of Ithaca with swords 
 and two-handed spears. Verily, they had slain them all, but 
 that Athene* cried aloud, saying, " Cease, men of Ithaca, from 
 the battle, for it is too hard for you." 
 
 And the men were sore afraid when they heard her voice, 
 
THE TRIUMPH OF ULYSSES 
 
 159 
 
 and threw their arms upon the ground and fled, if haply they 
 might escape to the city. And when Ulysses would have 
 pursued after them, Zeus cast a thunderbolt from heaven, so 
 that it fell before the feet of Athene. And Athene cried, " Cease 
 from the battle, son of Laertes, lest Zeus be wroth with thee." 
 
 So Ulysses was stayed from the battle ; and Zeus and Athene 
 made peace between the King and the men of Ithaca. 
 
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