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Pallas, the blue-eyed goddess, answered thus :-

"I will tell all and truly. I am named

220

Mentes; my father was the great in war

Anchialus. I rule a people skilled

To wield the oar, the Taphians, and I come

With ship and crew across the dark blue deep

To Temesè, and to a race whose speech

225

Is different from my own, in quest of brass,

And bringing bright steel with me. I have left

Moored at the field behind the town my bark,

Within the bay of Reithrus, and beneath

The woods of Neius. We claim to be

230

Guests by descent, and from our fathers' time,

As thou wilt learn if thou shouldst meet and ask

Laertes, the old hero. It is said

He comes no more within the city walls,

But in the fields dwells sadly by himself,

235

Where an old handmaid sets upon his board

His food and drink when weariness unnerves

His limbs in creeping o'er the fertile soil

Of his rich vineyard. I am come because

I heard thy father had at last returned,

240

And now am certain that the gods delay

His journey hither; for the illustrious man

Cannot have died, but is detained alone

Somewhere upon the ocean, in some spot

Girt by the waters. There do cruel men

245

And savage keep him, pining to depart.

Now let me speak of what the gods reveal,

And what I deem will surely come to pass,

Although I am no seer and have no skill

In omens drawn from birds. Not long the chief

250

Will be an exile from his own dear land,

Though fettered to his place by links of steel;

For he has large invention, and will plan

A way for his escape. Now tell me this,

And truly; tall in stature as thou art,

255

Art thou in fact Ulysses' son? In face

And glorious eyes thou dost resemble him

Exceedingly; for he and I of yore

Were oftentimes companions, ere he sailed

For Ilium, whither also went the best

260

Among the Argives in their roomy ships,

Nor have we seen each other since that day."

Telemachus, the prudent, spake: "O guest,

True answer shalt thou have. My mother says

I am his son; I know not; never man

265

Knew his own father. Would I were the son

Of one whose happier lot it was to meet

Amidst his own estates the approach of age.

Now the most wretched of the sons of men

Is he to whom they say I owe my birth.

270

Thus is thy question answered." Then again

Spake blue-eyed Pallas : "Of a truth, the gods

Ordain not that thy race, in years to come,

Should be inglorious, since Penelope

Hath borne thee such as I behold thee now.

275

But frankly answer me, - what feast is here,

And what is this assembly? What may be

The occasion? is a banquet given ? is this

A wedding? A collation, where the guests

Furnish the meats, I think it cannot be,

280

So riotously goes the revel on

Throughout the palace. A well-judging man,

If he should come among them, would be moved

With anger at the shameful things they do."

Odyssey. Homer. Boston. 1873.

Current edition Experimental

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) (English) (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)

Ὀδύσσεια Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey, Volume 1-2. Murray, A. T. (Augustus Taber), editor. London: William Heinmann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919.) — 1.178 focus

τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε θεά, γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·

τοιγὰρ ἐγώ τοι ταῦτα μάλʼ ἀτρεκέως ἀγορεύσω.

Μέντης Ἀγχιάλοιο δαΐφρονος εὔχομαι εἶναι

180

υἱός, ἀτὰρ Ταφίοισι φιληρέτμοισιν ἀνάσσω.

νῦν δʼ ὧδε ξὺν νηὶ κατήλυθον ἠδʼ ἑτάροισιν

πλέων ἐπὶ οἴνοπα πόντον ἐπʼ ἀλλοθρόους ἀνθρώπους,

ἐς Τεμέσην μετὰ χαλκόν, ἄγω δʼ αἴθωνα σίδηρον.

νηῦς δέ μοι ἥδʼ ἕστηκεν ἐπʼ ἀγροῦ νόσφι πόληος,

185

ἐν λιμένι Ῥείθρῳ ὑπὸ Νηίῳ ὑλήεντι.

ξεῖνοι δʼ ἀλλήλων πατρώιοι εὐχόμεθʼ εἶναι

ἐξ ἀρχῆς, εἴ πέρ τε γέροντʼ εἴρηαι ἐπελθὼν

Λαέρτην ἥρωα, τὸν οὐκέτι φασὶ πόλινδε

ἔρχεσθʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀπάνευθεν ἐπʼ ἀγροῦ πήματα πάσχειν

190

γρηὶ σὺν ἀμφιπόλῳ, ἥ οἱ βρῶσίν τε πόσιν τε

παρτιθεῖ, εὖτʼ ἄν μιν κάματος κατὰ γυῖα λάβῃσιν

ἑρπύζοντʼ ἀνὰ γουνὸν ἀλωῆς οἰνοπέδοιο.

νῦν δʼ ἦλθον· δὴ γάρ μιν ἔφαντʼ ἐπιδήμιον εἶναι,

σὸν πατέρʼ· ἀλλά νυ τόν γε θεοὶ βλάπτουσι κελεύθου.

195

οὐ γάρ πω τέθνηκεν ἐπὶ χθονὶ δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,

ἀλλʼ ἔτι που ζωὸς κατερύκεται εὐρέι πόντῳ

νήσῳ ἐν ἀμφιρύτῃ, χαλεποὶ δέ μιν ἄνδρες ἔχουσιν

ἄγριοι, οἵ που κεῖνον ἐρυκανόωσʼ ἀέκοντα.

αὐτὰρ νῦν τοι ἐγὼ μαντεύσομαι, ὡς ἐνὶ θυμῷ

200

ἀθάνατοι βάλλουσι καὶ ὡς τελέεσθαι ὀίω,

οὔτε τι μάντις ἐὼν οὔτʼ οἰωνῶν σάφα εἰδώς.

οὔ τοι ἔτι δηρόν γε φίλης ἀπὸ πατρίδος αἴης

ἔσσεται, οὐδʼ εἴ πέρ τε σιδήρεα δέσματʼ ἔχῃσιν·

φράσσεται ὥς κε νέηται, ἐπεὶ πολυμήχανός ἐστιν.

205

ἀλλʼ ἄγε μοι τόδε εἰπὲ καὶ ἀτρεκέως κατάλεξον,

εἰ δὴ ἐξ αὐτοῖο τόσος πάϊς εἰς Ὀδυσῆος.

αἰνῶς μὲν κεφαλήν τε καὶ ὄμματα καλὰ ἔοικας

κείνῳ, ἐπεὶ θαμὰ τοῖον ἐμισγόμεθʼ ἀλλήλοισιν,

πρίν γε τὸν ἐς Τροίην ἀναβήμεναι, ἔνθα περ ἄλλοι

210

Ἀργείων οἱ ἄριστοι ἔβαν κοίλῃς ἐνὶ νηυσίν·

ἐκ τοῦ δʼ οὔτʼ Ὀδυσῆα ἐγὼν ἴδον οὔτʼ ἔμʼ ἐκεῖνος.

τὴν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·

τοιγὰρ ἐγώ τοι, ξεῖνε, μάλʼ ἀτρεκέως ἀγορεύσω.

μήτηρ μέν τέ μέ φησι τοῦ ἔμμεναι, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ γε

215

οὐκ οἶδʼ· οὐ γάρ πώ τις ἑὸν γόνον αὐτὸς ἀνέγνω.

ὡς δὴ ἐγώ γʼ ὄφελον μάκαρός νύ τευ ἔμμεναι υἱὸς

ἀνέρος, ὃν κτεάτεσσιν ἑοῖς ἔπι γῆρας ἔτετμε.

νῦν δʼ ὃς ἀποτμότατος γένετο θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων,

τοῦ μʼ ἔκ φασι γενέσθαι, ἐπεὶ σύ με τοῦτʼ ἐρεείνεις.

220

τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε θεά, γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·

οὐ μέν τοι γενεήν γε θεοὶ νώνυμνον ὀπίσσω

θῆκαν, ἐπεὶ σέ γε τοῖον ἐγείνατο Πηνελόπεια.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε μοι τόδε εἰπὲ καὶ ἀτρεκέως κατάλεξον·

τίς δαίς, τίς δὲ ὅμιλος ὅδʼ ἔπλετο; τίπτε δέ σε χρεώ;

225

εἰλαπίνη ἠὲ γάμος; ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἔρανος τάδε γʼ ἐστίν·

ὥς τέ μοι ὑβρίζοντες ὑπερφιάλως δοκέουσι

δαίνυσθαι κατὰ δῶμα. νεμεσσήσαιτό κεν ἀνὴρ

αἴσχεα πόλλʼ ὁρόων, ὅς τις πινυτός γε μετέλθοι.

Translations (8)

Odyssey Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey, Volume 1-2. Murray, A. T. (Augustus Taber), translator. London: William Heinmann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919.) — 1.178 focus

Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “Therefore of a truth will I frankly tell thee all. 180 I declare that I am Mentes, the son of wise Anchialus, and I am lord over the oar-loving Taphians. And now have I put in here, as thou seest, with ship and crew, while sailing over the wine-dark sea to men of strange speech, on my way to Temese for copper; and I bear with me shining iron. 185 My ship lies yonder beside the fields away from the city, in the harbor of Rheithron, under woody Neion. Friends of one another do we declare ourselves to be, even as our fathers were, friends from of old. Nay, if thou wilt, go and ask the old warrior Laertes, who, they say, 190 comes no more to the city, but afar in the fields suffers woes attended by an aged woman as his handmaid, who sets before him food and drink, after weariness has laid hold of his limbs, as he creeps along the slope of his vineyard plot. And now am I come, for of a truth men said that he, 195 thy father, was among his people; but lo, the gods are thwarting him of his return. For not yet has goodly Odysseus perished on the earth, but still, I ween, he lives and is held back on the broad sea in a sea-girt isle, and cruel men keep him, a savage folk, that constrain him, haply sore against his will. 200 Nay, I will now prophesy to thee, as the immortals put it in my heart, and as I think it shall be brought to pass, though I am in no wise a soothsayer, nor one versed in the signs of birds. Not much longer shall he be absent from his dear native land, no, not though bonds of iron hold him. 205 He will contrive a way to return, for he is a man of many devices. But come, tell me this and declare it truly, whether indeed, tall as thou art, thou art the son of Odysseus himself. Wondrously like his are thy head and beautiful eyes; for full often did we consort with one another 210 before he embarked for the land of Troy , whither others, too, the bravest of the Argives, went in their hollow ships. But since that day neither have I seen Odysseus, nor he me.” Then wise Telemachus answered her: “Therefore of a truth, stranger, will I frankly tell thee all. 215 My mother says that I am his child; but I know not, for never yet did any man of himself know his own parentage. Ah, would that I had been the son of some blest man, whom old age overtook among his own possessions. But now of him who was the most ill-fated of mortal men 220 they say that I am sprung, since thou askest me of this.” Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “Surely, then, no nameless lineage have the gods appointed for thee in time to come, seeing that Penelope bore thee such as thou art. But come, tell me this and declare it truly. 225 What feast, what throng is this? What need hast thou of it? Is it a drinking bout, or a wedding feast? For this plainly is no meal to which each brings his portion, with such outrage and overweening do they seem to me to be feasting in thy halls. Angered would a man be at seeing all these shameful acts, any man of sense who should come among them.”

Odyssey Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey: rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Butler, Samuel, 1835-1902, translator. Revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. London: A.C. Fifield, 1900.) — 1.158 focus

158 "I hope, sir," said he, "that you will not be offended with what I am going to say. Singing comes cheap to those who do not pay for it, and all this is done at the cost of one whose bones lie rotting in some wilderness or grinding to powder in the surf. If these men were to see my father come back to Ithaca they would pray for longer legs rather than a longer purse, for wealth would not serve them; but he, alas, has fallen on an ill fate, and even when people do sometimes say that he is coming, we no longer heed them; we shall never see him again. And now, sir, tell me and tell me true, who you are and where you come from. Tell me of your town and parents, what manner of ship you came in, how your crew brought you to Ithaca , and of what nation they declared themselves to be - for you cannot have come by land. Tell me also truly, for I want to know, are you a stranger to this house, or have you been here in my father's time? In the old days we had many visitors for my father went about much himself."

178 And Athena answered, "I will tell you truly and particularly all about it. I am Mentes, son of Anchialos, and I am King of the Taphians. I have come here with my ship and crew, on a voyage to men of a foreign tongue being bound for Temesa with a cargo of iron, and I shall bring back copper. As for my ship, it lies over yonder off the open country away from the town, in the harbor Rheithron under the wooded mountain Neritum. Our fathers were friends before us, as old Laertes will tell you, if you will go and ask him. They say, however, that he never comes to town now, and lives by himself in the country, faring hardly, with an old woman to look after him and get his dinner for him, when he comes in tired from pottering about his vineyard. They told me your father was at home again, and that was why I came, but it seems the gods are still keeping him back, for he is not dead yet not on the mainland. It is more likely he is on some sea-girt island in mid ocean, or a prisoner among savages who are detaining him against his will. I am no seer [ mantis], and know very little about omens, but I speak as it is borne in upon me from heaven, and assure you that he will not be away much longer; for he is a man of such resource that even though he were in chains of iron he would find some means of getting home again. But tell me, and tell me true, can Odysseus really have such a fine looking young man for a son? You are indeed wonderfully like him about the head and eyes, for we were close friends before he set sail for Troy where the flower of all the Argives went also. Since that time we have never either of us seen the other."

214 "My mother," answered Telemakhos, "tells me I am son to Odysseus, but it is a wise child that knows his own father. Would that I were son to one who had grown old upon his own estates, for, since you ask me, there is no more ill-starred man under heaven than he who they tell me is my father."

223 And Athena said, "There is no fear of your race dying out yet, while Penelope has such a fine son as you are. But tell me, and tell me true, what is the meaning of all this feasting, and who are these people? What is it all about? Have you some banquet, or is there a wedding in the family - for no one seems to be bringing any provisions of his own? And the guests - how atrociously they are behaving; what riot they make over the whole house; it is enough to disgust any respectable person who comes near them."

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 1.178 focus

And owl-vision Athena answered, “I will tell you truly and particularly all about it. [180] I am Mentes, son of high-spirited Ankhialos, and I am King of the oar-loving Taphians. I have come here with my ship and crew, on a voyage to men of a foreign tongue being bound for Temesa with a cargo of iron, and I shall bring back copper. [185] As for my ship, it lies over yonder off the open country away from the town, in the harbor Rheithron under the wooded mountain Neriton. Our fathers were friends before us, as the old hero Laertes will tell you, if you will go and ask him. They say, however, that he never comes to town [190] now, and lives by himself in the country, faring hardly, with an old woman to look after him and get his dinner for him, when he comes in tired from pottering about his vineyard. They told me your father was at home again, and that was why I came, [195] but it seems the gods are still keeping him back, for he is not dead yet not on the mainland. It is more likely he is on some sea-girt island in mid ocean, or a prisoner among savages who are detaining him against his will. [200] I am no prophet [ mantis], and know very little about omens, but I speak as it is borne in upon me from the sky, and assure you that he will not be away much longer; for he is a man of such resource that even though he were in chains of iron he would find some means [205] of getting home again. But tell me, and tell me true, can Odysseus really have such a fine looking young man for a son? You are indeed wonderfully like him about the head and eyes, for we were close friends [210] before he set sail for Troy where the flower of all the Argives went also. Since that time we have never either of us seen the other.”

[215] “My mother,” answered the spirited Telemachus, “tells me I am son to Odysseus, but it is a wise child that knows his own father. Would that I were son to one who had grown old upon his own estates, for, since you ask me, there is no more ill-starred man under the sky than he [220] who they tell me is my father.”

And owl-vision Athena said, “There is no fear of your lineage dying out yet, while Penelope has such a fine son as you are. But tell me, and tell me true, [225] what is the meaning of all this feasting, and who are these people? What is it all about? Have you some banquet, or is there a wedding in the family—for no one seems to be bringing any provisions of his own? And the guests—how atrociously they are behaving; what riot they make over the whole house; it is enough to disgust any respectable person who comes near them.”

[230]

English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858)) — 1.178 focus

'My birth I boast' (the blue-ey'd virgin cries)

'From great Anchialus, renown'd and wise:

'Mentes my name; I rule the Taphian race,

230

'Whose bounds the deep circumfluent waves embrace:

230

'A duteous people, and industrious isle,

'To naval arts inured, and stormy toil.

'Freighted with iron from my native land,

'I steer my voyage to the Brutian strand;¹

MINERVA

'To gain by commerce, for the labour'd mass,
235

'A just proportion of refulgent brass.

'Far from your capital my ship resides

'At Reithrus,² and secure at anchor rides;

'Where waving groves on airy Neion grow,

'Supremely tall, and shade the deeps below.
240

'Thence to revisit your imperial dome,

'An old hereditary guest I come :

'Your father's friend. Laertes can relate

'Our faith unspotted, and its early date;

'Who, press'd with heart-corroding grief and years,
245

'To the gay court a rural shed prefers,

'Where, sole of all his train, a matron sage

'Supports with homely food his drooping age,

'With feeble steps from marshalling his vines

'Returning sad, when toilsome day declines.
250

'With friendly speed, induced by erring fame,

'To hail Ulysses' safe return, I came ;

'But still the frown of some celestial power

'With envious joy retards the blissful hour.

'Let not your soul be sunk in sad despair;
255

'He lives, he breathes this heavenly vital air,

'Among a savage race, whose shelfy bounds

'With ceaseless roar the foaming deep surrounds.

'The thoughts which roll within my ravish'd breast,

'To me, no seer, the inspiring gods suggest ;
260

'Nor skill'd, nor studious, with prophetic eye

'To judge the winged omens of the sky.

'Yet hear this certain speech, nor deem it vain ;

'Though adamantine bonds the chief restrain,

'The dire restraint his wisdom will defeat,
265

'And soon restore him to his regal seat.

'But, generous youth! sincere and free declare,

'Are you, of manly growth, his royal heir ?

'For sure Ulysses in your look appears,

'The same his features, if the same his years.
270

'Such was that face, on which I dwelt with joy

'Ere Greece assembled stemm'd the tides to Troy;

MINERVA

'But, parting then for that detested shore,

'Our eyes, unhappy! never greeted more.'

TELEMACHUS

'To prove a genuine birth (the prince replies)
275

'On female truth assenting faith relies:

'Thus manifest of right, I build my claim

'Sure-founded on a fair maternal fame,

'Ulysses' son; but happier he, whom fate

'Hath placed beneath the storms which toss the great!
280

'Happier the son, whose hoary sire is bless'd

'With humble affluence, and domestic rest!

'Happier than I, to future empire born,

'But doom'd a father's wretched fate to mourn!'

MINERVA

To whom, with aspect mild, the guest divine:
285

'Oh true descendant of a scepter'd line!

'The gods a glorious fate, from anguish free,

'To chaste Penelope's increase decree.

'But say, yon jovial troop so gaily dress'd,

'Is this a bridal or a friendly feast ?
290

'Or from their deed I rightlier may divine,

'(Unseemly flown with insolence and wine!)

'Unwelcome revellers, whose lawless joy

'Pains the sage ear, and hurts the sober eye.'

TELEMACHUS

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 1.178 focus

I'll clearly speak, said Pallas, t' every thing.

215

My father was Anchialus, and I

Mentes, my city Taphos, and I king;

My people to the oar themselves apply.

At present bound I am to Temisa

For brass; and iron I carry with me thither.

220

Under Mount Neion, not near Ithaca,

My ship at Reithrus rideth safe from weather.

As for your father, we were mutual guests

(Ask the old lord Laertes) from our youth.

With one old maid alone his meat to dress,

225

He lives at's country house, hell tell you truth.

There creeps he in his vineyard up and down.

And I came hither now, 'cause I was told

By some, his son Ulysses was in town.

But 'tis not so. The Gods do him withhold

230

From his dear wife, and native country still

Within an island, where the savage men

By force detain him much against his will:

But all in vain, he shall return again.

For I presage, and come it shall to pass,

235

That am no prophet, nor birds understand;

Though he were tied there with chains of brass,

He shall get loose and see his native land.

But say, are you indeed, that arc so grown,

His son ? Your heads and eyes are like, I mark,

240

For we were well to one another known;

But 'twas before he did for Troy embark

With other princes of the Argive youth;

But never saw him since.

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 1.178 focus

On him again the grey-eyed Maid did pass

This kind reply: " I'll answer passing true

275

All thou hast ask'd: My birth his honour drew

From wise Anchialus. The name I bear

Is Mentas, the commanding islander

Of all the Taphians studious in the art

Of navigation; having touch'd this part

280

With ship and men, of purpose to maintain

Course through the dark seas t' other-languag'd men;

And Temesis sustains the city's name

For which my ship is bound, made known by fame

For rich in brass, which my occasions need,

285

And therefore bring I shining steel in stead,

Which their use wants, yet makes my vessel's freight,

That near a plough'd field rides at anchor's weight,

Apart this city, in the harbour call'd

Rethrus, whose waves with Neius' woods are wall'd.

290

Thy sire and I were ever mutual guests,

At either's house still interchanging feasts.

I glory in it. Ask, when thou shalt see

Laertes, th' old heroë, these of me,

From the beginning. He, men say, no more

295

Visits the city, but will needs deplore

His son's believed loss in a private field;

One old maid only at his hands to yield

Food to his life, as oft as labour makes

His old limbs faint; which, though he creeps, he takes

300

Along a fruitful plain, set all with vines,

Which husbandman-like, though a king, he proins.

But now I come to be thy father's guest;

I hear he wanders, while these wooers feast.

And (as th' Immortals prompt me at this hour)

305

I'll tell thee, out of a prophetic power,

(Not as profess'd a prophet, nor clear seen

At all times what shall after chance to men)

What I conceive, for this time, will be true:

The Gods' inflictions keep your sire from you.

310

Divine Ulysses, yet, abides not dead

Above earth, nor beneath, nor buried

In any seas, as you did late conceive,

But, with the broad sea sieged, is kept alive

Within an isle by rude and upland men,

315

That in his spite his passage home detain.

Yet long it shall not be before he tread

His country's dear earth, though solicited,

And held from his return, with iron chains;

For he hath wit to forge a world of trains,

320

And will, of all, be sure to make good one

For his return, so much relied upon.

But tell me, and be true: Art thou indeed

So much a son, as to be said the seed

Of Ithacus himself? Exceeding much

325

Thy forehead and fair eyes at his form touch;

For oftentimes we met, as you and I

Meet at this hour, before he did apply

His powers for Troy, when other Grecian states

In hollow ships were his associates.

330

But, since that time, mine eyes could never see

Renown'd Ulysses, nor met his with me."

The wise Telemachus again replied:

"You shall with all I know be satisfied.

My mother certain says I am his son;

335

I know not; nor was ever simply known

By any child the sure truth of his sire.

But would my veins had took in living fire

From some man happy, rather than one wise,

Whom age might see seis'd of what youth made prise.

340

But he whoever of the mortal race

Is most unblest, he holds my father's place.

This, since you ask, I answer." She, again:

"The Gods sure did not make the future strain

¹²³⁴

Both of thy race and days obscure to thee,

345

Since thou wert born so of Penelope.

The style may by thy after acts be won,

Of so great sire the high undoubted son.

Say truth in this then: What's this feasting here?

What all this rout? Is all this nuptial cheer?

350

Or else some friendly banquet made by thee?

For here no shots are, where all sharers be.

Past measure contumeliously this crew

Fare through thy house; which should th' ingenuous view

Of any good or wise man come and find,

355

(Impiety seeing play'd in every kind)

He could not but through every vein be mov'd."

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 1.178 focus

I will with all simplicity of truth

Thy questions satisfy. Behold in me

225

Mentes, the offspring of a Chief renown'd

In war, Anchialus; and I rule, myself,

An island race, the Taphians oar-expert.

With ship and mariners I now arrive,

Seeking a people of another tongue

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Athwart the gloomy flood, in quest of brass

For which I barter steel, ploughing the waves

To Temesa. My ship beneath the woods

Of Neïus, at yonder field that skirts

Your city, in the haven Rhethrus rides.

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We are hereditary guests; our Sires

Were friends long since; as, when thou seest him next,

The Hero old Laertes will avouch,

Of whom, I learn, that he frequents no more

The city now, but in sequester'd scenes

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Dwells sorrowful, and by an ancient dame

With food and drink supplied oft as he feels

Refreshment needful to him, while he creeps

Between the rows of his luxuriant vines.

But I have come drawn hither by report,

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Which spake thy Sire arrived, though still it seems

The adverse Gods his homeward course retard.

For not yet breathless lies the noble Chief,

But in some island of the boundless flood

Resides a prisoner, by barbarous force

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Of some rude race detain'd reluctant there.

And I will now foreshow thee what the Gods

Teach me, and what, though neither augur skill'd

Nor prophet, I yet trust shall come to pass.

He shall not, henceforth, live an exile long

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From his own shores, no, not although in bands

Of iron held, but will ere long contrive

His own return; for in expedients, framed

With wondrous ingenuity, he abounds.

But tell me true; art thou, in stature such,

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Son of himself Ulysses? for thy face

And eyes bright-sparkling, strongly indicate

Ulysses in thee. Frequent have we both

Conversed together thus, thy Sire and I,

Ere yet he went to Troy, the mark to which

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So many Princes of Achaia steer'd.

Him since I saw not, nor Ulysses me.

To whom Telemachus, discrete, replied.

Stranger! I tell thee true; my mother's voice

Affirms me his, but, since no mortal knows

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His derivation, I affirm it not.

Would I had been son of some happier sire,

Ordain'd in calm possession of his own

To reach the verge of life. But now, report

Proclaims me his, whom I of all mankind

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Unhappiest deem. — Thy question is resolved.

Then answer thus Pallas blue-eyed return'd.

From no ignoble race, in future days,

The Gods shall prove thee sprung, whom so endow'd

With every grace Penelope hath borne.

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But tell me true. What festival is this?

This throng, whence are they? wherefore hast thou need

Of such a multitude? Behold I here

A banquet, or a nuptial feast? for these

Meet not by contribution to regale,

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With such brutality and din they hold

Their riotous banquet! A wise man and good

Arriving, now, among them, at the sight

Of such enormities would much be wroth.

English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911)) — 1 focus

ODYSSEY BOOK I

SING, O Muse, of the man so wary and wise, who in far lands

Wandered whenas he had wasted the sacred town of the Trojans.

Many a people he saw and beheld their cities and customs,

Many a woe he endured in his heart as he tossed on the ocean,

Striving to win him his life and to bring home safely his comrades.

Ah but he rescued them not, those comrades, much as he wished it.

Ruined by their own act of infatuate madness they perished,

Fools that they were—who the cows of the sun-god, lord Hyperion,

Slaughtered and ate; and he took from the men their day of returning.

Sing—whence-ever the lay—sing, Zeus-born goddess, for us too!

Now were all of the rest of the Greeks who had 'scaped from destruction

Safely at home and secure from the dangers of war and the ocean,

All but the one, whom yearning in vain for his wife and his homeland

Still did the beautiful goddess, the sea-nymph lady Calypso,

Hold in her hollow caves, with a longing to make him her husband.

Ay and at last, when the year in the slow revolution of seasons

Came, in the which, as the gods had ordained, he returned to his country,

Ithaca's isle, e'en then was he nowise free from his troubles,

Though once more with his own; and the gods were touched with compassion,

All but Poseidaon, who was ever unceasingly angered

Raging at godlike Odysseus and keeping him far from his homeland.

Now was he gone to revisit the far-off Aethiop people—

Aethiop people that dwell wide-sundered, furthest of mortals,

Some where sinks Hyperion to rest, some where he ariseth.

Here he expected of rams and of oxen a solemn oblation,

Here he rejoiced as he sat at the feast. But the other immortals

Unto the mansion of Zeus the Olympian gathered together.

Then in the midst brake silence the Father of men and immortals,

Since in the depths of his heart he remembered the noble Aegisthus

Slaughtered by King Agamemnon's son, far-famous Orestes;

Mindful of him these words he addressed to the gods everlasting:

"Verily! how these mortals of earth give blame to the heaven!

Evil is sent by the gods, they affirm! It is they that in folly,

Ay in the madness of folly, o'erleaping their destiny, seek it.

Thus did Aegisthus, in spite of his fate predestined, in madness

Marry the wife of Atrides and murdered her lord at his coming.

Fully he knew of the doom that impended for this we foretold him,

Sending him Hermes, the keen-eyed Slayer of Argus, to warn him

Neither to murder the man nor his wife to solicit as suitor :

Else shall Orestes repay for his father a terrible vengeance

After the days of his youth, when he learneth to long for his homeland.

Such was the warning of Hermes, but nowise heeded Aegisthus

Well-meant counsel—and now he hath paid all reckonings fully."

Him forthwith gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:

"Father of Gods, O mighty Cronion, the highest of Monarchs!

Truly he lies o'erwhelmed by a doom that he merited richly.

Thus too perish whoever of men such deed shall accomplish !

Ah but the heart in my bosom is rent for the wileful Odysseus.

Hard is his fate: long years doth he ceaselessly suffer affliction

Far from his home on a sea-girt isle: 'tis the navel of ocean,

Even this isle well-wooded, whereon hath dwelling a goddess,

Daughter of Atlas, the wizard of bale, who of every ocean

Knoweth the watery depths, and alone upholdeth the pillars

Soaring aloft and keeping the earth and heaven asunder.

This is the god whose daughter a wretched and sorrowing mortal

Keepeth, and ever with soft and with flattering words of endearment

Charms him, to make him forgetful of Ithaca's isle ; and Odysseus

Yearns to behold once more but the smoke rise eddying upward

Out of the land of his birth—and he longeth to die. But within thee

All unmoved is thy spirit, Olympian. What! did Odysseus

Ne'er by the ships of the Greeks do honour to thee with oblations,

There, on the Trojan plain? Then why so wroth at the man, Zeus?"

Her then in turn gave answer the Father who gathers the storm-clouds:

"Nay but my child, what word from the door of thy lips hath escaped thee !

How am I likely to cease to remember the godlike Odysseus,

Him who in mind all mortals excels and in giving oblation

Unto the gods everlasting who dwell in the infinite heaven?

No—but Poseidaon, Earth-girdler, stubbornly rageth,

Angered because of his son, by Odysseus bereft of his eyesight,

Even that equal of gods the immense Polyphemus, a Cyclops

Greater than all of the others. Thoösa the nymph was his mother,

Daughter of Phorcys the lord of the barren expanses of ocean.

She in the hollow caves of the sea held tryst with Poseidon.

Hence to Odysseus it haps that, albeit the King Earth-shaker

Slayeth him not, yet he maketh him wander afar from his homeland.

Come now, all of us here— let us straight take counsel together

How he shall once more win to his home; and Poseidon will surely

Cease from his wrath, for he ne'er will be able alone to oppose us,

Setting at nought and defying the will of the other immortals."

Him then again gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:

"Father of all of us, mighty Cronion, the highest of Monarchs !

Seems it a thing well-pleasing to all of the blessed immortals

Thus to permit to return to his home wise-hearted Odysseus,

Then let us bid Hermeias the messenger, Slayer of Argus,

Speedily winging his flight to the far Ogygian island,

Bring to the fair-tressed nymph our will's immutable verdict,

Even that patient Odysseus return and arrive at his homeland.

Now for myself I shall visit the Ithacan island, if haply

Rousing his son still more I can light in his bosom the courage

Unto a meeting to summon the long-haired lords of Achaea,

Yea and a warning to utter to all of the suitors, who slaughter

Sheep of his thick-thronged folds and his shambling crook-horned cattle.

Then as his guide will I bring him to Sparta and Pylos the sandy,

Tidings to hear, if he can, of the homeward return of his father.

Hence too honour and fame shall he win in the land of the living."

These words uttered she bound to her ankles the beautiful sandals,

Golden, immortal, that carry her over the waters of ocean

Swift as the blast of a storm, and across earth's boundless expanses.

Then with her powerful spear bronze-bladed, of terrible keenness,

Weighty, enormous and strong—wherewith in the ranks of the battle

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Vanquisheth all that she hateth that daughter of Zeus the Almighty—

Flashing she fell to the earth from the glittering heights of Olympus

Down, till on Ithacan land she alit by the porch of Odysseus,

E'en by the courtyard door, with the spear in her hand, and she stood there

Likened in form to a stranger, to Mentes, Taphian chieftain.

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Then was she quickly aware of the arrogant suitors, who haply

Under the porch of the palace at draughts their minds were amusing,

Seated on skins of the cows they had slaughtered themselves for a banquet.

Busily flitting around were pages attendant and henchmen:

Some in the bowls were mixing together the wine and the water,

110

Others with sponges porous and soft were washing the tables,

Setting them forth, while others apportioned the plentiful messes.

Godlike Telemachus was the first of them all to perceive her.

Grievously troubled at heart he was sitting amidst of the suitors,

Picturing how peradventure his valiant father from somewhere

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Suddenly coming and driving the suitors in rout from the palace

Honour again might win as the lord of his own possessions.

Dreaming thereon as he sat with the suitors, he noticed Athene.

Straight to the portal he went, for he felt sore vexed in his spirit

Seeing a stranger so long at the door, and, whenas he arrived there,

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Grasping her right and taking the bronzen spear from the goddess,

Opened in greeting his lips, and with swift-winged words he addressed her :

"Hail, O stranger! With us thou art sure of a welcome; and later,

After partaking of food, thou'lt tell us if aught thou art needing."

These words spoken, he turned and was followed by Pallas Athene.

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Unto the high-roofed mansion he led her, and stepping within it

Leaned on the shaft of a pillar the spear he was bearing, and fixed it

Into a stand bright-polished wherein were resting the others,

Many and many a spear of the valiant-hearted Odysseus;

Then on a chair, outspreading the cover of linen, he set her:

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Richly adorned was the chair, and below for the feet was a footstool.

Close to it set he a seat for himself rich-broidered, withdrawing

Far from the suitors, in fear that the stranger annoyed by the uproar

Loathing for food might feel, with that insolent rabble about him;

Ay and he also was fain of his long-lost father to ask him.

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Water for washing of hands by a maiden was brought in an ewer

Beautiful, golden, and over a basin of silver she poured it,

Bidding him wash; and she stationed a polished table beside him.

Then did a grave house-dame bring bread and lay it before him

Lavishly adding thereto of her stores full many a dainty.

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Carrying platters aloft came also the carver and offered

Dishes of various meats; and golden goblets he gave them,

Ofttimes filling the which passed hither and thither the henchman.

Now to the hall came crowding the arrogant suitors, and straightway

All of them sat them in order adown on the couches and armchairs.

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Soon was the water for washing of hands poured out by the henchman,

Baskets of wheaten bread up-piled were brought by the maidens

While that the youths wreathed high with the foaming liquor the wine-bowls.

Then did they stretch forth hands to the food that was lying before them

Till, when at last they had lost all longing for meat and the wine-cup,

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Came to the mind of the suitors the thought of a different pleasure,

Even of singing and dancing—for such is the crown of a banquet.

So, when a herald had handed a beautiful harp to the singer

Phemius (ever unwilling he sang, compelled by the suitors),

Unto the sounds of his harping his exquisite voice he uplifted.

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Telemachus meanwhile spake low to the goddess Athene,

Holding his head right close, to be noticed of none of the others:

"List, dear stranger!—for sure at my words thou'lt never be angered—

Such are the pleasures of such !—harp-playing and dancing! No wonder,

Seeing they eat the possessions of others, nor fear the avenger!

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Eat the possessions of him whose whitening bones peradventure

Rot in the rain on the land or roll in the waves of the ocean!

Were they to see him return some day to the Ithacan homeland,

All of them straight to the gods would pray to be lighter in running

Rather than richer endowed with the treasures of gold and of garments.

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Nay, it is vain ! he is dead of a pitiful death, nor is longer

Comfort remaining, whoever of earth-born mortals denies it

Saying he cometh again—since dead is the day of his coming.

Come now tell me a thing that I ask thee and clearly explain it :

Who art thou? Whence dost thou come? Tell too of thy city, thy parents.

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Whose is the vessel whereon thou art come? How haps it that sailors

Brought thee to Ithacan land? What folk did they boast to belong to,

Seeing, methinks, it was never on foot that thou hither arrivedst?

One thing further relate me exactly, for fain will I know it :

Art thou a traveller new to the land, or a friend of my father—

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Guest peradventure? for such came ofttimes unto his homestead,

Many a one, while yet he remained in the land of the living.”

Him then in turn gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:

"Well, I will tell thee of all that thou askest and truly relate it.

Mentes such is my name. Of a wise-souled father I boast me,

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Anchialus, and myself am the prince of the Taphian sea-folk.

Now am I come to a port of thy land with my vessel and comrades

Sailing the wine-dark deep on my way to a city of strangers,

Tempsa; for copper I seek, and my cargo is glittering iron.

Yonder my ship on the side of the country afar from the city

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Lieth in Reithron's port, by the wood-clothed Neïan headland.

Yes, it is true—we can boast to be guest-friends one of another

Even from days long past. If thou doubt'st, go ask of the grandsire,

Hero Laertes. They say that he now no more to the city

Cometh, but living afar in the uplands suffers affliction

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Sole with an ancient crone who attends to his eating and drinking,

Placing before him his food when exhaustion cometh upon him

Weariedly creeping about on the sloping knoll of his vineyard.

Now I am here for they said he was home once more in his country,

Even thy father; but heaven, it seemeth, hath hindered his coming.

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Natheless never on earth has he perished, the godlike Odysseus:

Still he is living, methinks, mid the broad expanses of ocean,

Held on a sea-girt isle, where hostile people retain him,

Savages, forcing him all unwillingly still to remain there.

Nay, I will venture to speak as a prophet—for deep in my bosom

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Heaven hath planted a thought that I feel to be sure of fulfilment,

Though I am neither at all a diviner or augur unerring—

Verily not much longer afar from his well-loved homeland

Still shall he stay, not e'en though fetters of iron constrain him:

Sure he will plan his escape—such master of many devices.

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Now come tell me a thing that I ask thee and clearly explain it,

Whether indeed (as thy stature proclaims) thou art child of Odysseus.

Marvellous both of thy head and thy beautiful eyes is the likeness

Unto the man that I knew when we oft held converse together,

Ere he embarked for the land of the Trojans, whither so many

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Others, chiefs of the Argives, in hollow vessels departed.

Since then ne'er did I see him again, nor was seen by Odysseus."

Her sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

"Well, Sir stranger, the truth will I tell thee and clearly relate it.

Ever my mother hath called me the child of Odysseus. For my part

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How can I know? Not the wisest of sons can discover his father.

Would that my fortune had made me the child of a happier mortal,

Son of a man whom age finds living in peace in his homestead!

Elsewise heaven hath will'd it: the most ill-fated of all men,

He, as they say, is my sire. Thus far can I answer thy question."

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Him then again gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:

"Surely for thee is the heaven no nameless race in the future

Keeping in store for a son so worthy of Penelopeia.

Now come, tell me a thing that I ask thee and clearly explain it :

What doth this banqueting mean? and this crowd? Why needful thy presence ?

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Hold they a wedding? or bout? No club-collation it seemeth:

Such is the insolent licence in which they appear to indulge them

Banqueting here in thy hall! Just cause for a man to be angered,

Were but a sensible person to see such shameful proceeding!"

Her sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

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"Since, O stranger, thou fain wouldst hear of this matter and learn it,

Once did the house of my sire seem like to be rich and be blameless, —

Like to remain what it was while here in his home he was living.

Other, alas, was the will of immortals who plotted his ruin.

Lo, they have made him to vanish—as utterly vanished hath no man

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Ever before. Nay, e'en for his death ne'er thus had I sorrowed,

Had he but met it amidst of his mates in the land of the Trojans,

Or in the arms of his friends, when he wound to an ending the warfare.

Then had the hosts of Achaea erected a tomb to his honour;

Yea and for me for his son he had left great glory behind him.

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Ah but the spirits of storm to a death inglorious swept him,

Vanished, unseen and unheard of; and nothing but mourning and anguish

Me he bequeathed! Nor now do I sorrow and make lamentation

Only for him; for the gods send other and grievous afflictions.

All of the chief of the men who as princes rule in the islands,

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Samos and Dulichium and the woodlands rich of Zacynthus,

Ay and as many besides as in rock-bound Ithaca lord it,

All come wooing my mother and wasting the wealth of the homestead.

She dares neither reject their hateful proposals of marriage,

Nor can she end it; and thus do the men, consuming, devouring,

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Ruin my home—me too will they soon o'erwhelm in its ruin."

Then in exceeding displeasure again spake Pallas Athene:

"Nay by the gods, right sorely thou need'st that the absent Odysseus

Come to thee quickly and lay strong hands on the impudent suitors!

Would that I saw him this moment in front of the door of the palace

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Suddenly stand—with his helmet and shield and a couple of lances—

Such as he was in the days when mine eyes first lighted upon him

Making him merry and quaffing his wine in the hall of my homestead,

Newly from Ephyra come—from the town of the Mermerid Ilus.

Even to such far land had he sailed in his swift-winged vessel

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Seeking a drug right deadly of which he was fain to possess him—

Poison, to smear on the tips of his bronze-shod arrows; but Ilus

Gave it him not, for he shrank from the wrath of the gods everlasting.

Yet from my father he gat it, who loved him in marvellous fashion.

O that he came—e'en such an Odysseus—to visit the suitors,

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Bringing on all of them speedy perdition and nuptials of anguish!

Nay but we know not the truth; on the knees of the gods it is lying,

Whether he ever shall come, or shall come no more, to avenge him

Here in the halls of his home; but do thou take thought, I exhort thee,

How to eject from the hall of thy palace this rabble of suitors.

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Now mark well what I say, and give it thy earnest attention.

Summon to-morrow to come to a council the princely Achaeans;

Make to them all an announcement and call on the gods to be witness.

Order the suitors from here to disperse each one to his homestead;

While for thy mother—if truly her heart be enamoured of wedlock,

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Send her again to her home—to the house of her powerful father.

There can her parents arrange for the wedding and settle the presents,

All of the wealth that is wont with a well-loved daughter to follow.

Now for thyself—such plan I suggest: 'twere wise to accept it.

Manning with twice ten rowers a vessel—thy goodliest galley—

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Start on the quest for thy sire, who so long is afar and unheard of.

Haply an earth-born man shall inform thee, or haply shall Rumour,

Daughter of Zeus, who on earth is the busiest bringer of tidings.

Firstly betake thee to Pylos, the godlike Nestor to question.

Thence seek Sparta, the court of the fair-haired prince Menelaus:

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He was the last to return of the bronzen-coated Achaeans.

Shouldst thou be told of thy father as living and homeward returning,

Surely for one year more thou'lt bear with the waste of thy substance.

Should they report him as perished and gone from the land of the living,

Quickly return, and regaining the well-loved home of thy fathers

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Straightway build him a tomb, and funeral offerings offer

Many and rich, as is meet, and thy mother bestow on a husband.

Then, when at last these things are duly fulfilled and accomplished,

Hold thou counsel at once with the thoughts and the feelings within thee

How to be quit of the suitors, and here in the hall of thy homestead

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Slay them by craft or by open assault. No more it beseems thee

Childish thoughts to indulge, for thy age no longer is childish.

Surely thou know'st of the fame that was won by the noble Orestes:

How he is praised by the nations for killing his father's assassin,

Crafty Aegisthus, who murdered his sire, great King Agamemnon.

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Also do thou, dear lad, as in form thou art comely and stalwart,

Show thee courageous and win thee a name in the age that is coming!

Now I am fain to descend once more to my swift-winged vessel,

Where are waiting my men, and, I doubt not, chafe at my absence.

Take thou thought for thyself and attend to the counsel I gave thee."

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Her sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

"Verily, stranger, with kindly intent these words thou hast uttered,

Like to a father advising his son. I shall never forget them.

Yet, I bursts, remain, though eager to haste on thy journey!

Stay till refreshed with a bath, and the heart in thy bosom contented,

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Back to thy ship thou returnest with gladness, bearing a present

Rare in its worth and its beauty—a present to keep as an heirloom;

Such will I give thee—the gift of a friend to a friend that he loveth."

Him forthwith gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:

"Nay, no longer withhold me! I yearn me away on my journey.

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Touching thy present—whatever thy heart shall enjoin thee to give me—

Give it when back I am coming, to carry it straight to my homeland.

Choose it as rare as thou willst; it will gain thee another as goodly."

These words spoken, departed the grey-eyed goddess Athene,

Flitting away as a bird by the roof-hole. Deep in his bosom

320

Courage and manly resolve she had planted, and roused a remembrance

Keener than erst of his sire; and he marked the emotion within him

Greatly astonied in spirit, suspecting a deity's presence.

Then to the suitors he went and the strength of a god was upon him.

Here was the minstrel beginning to sing, and the suitors in silence

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Listening sat; and he sang of the homeward return of the Grecians,

Pitiful story of woes inflicted by Pallas Athene.

Now in her upper apartment the wise-souled Penelopeia,

Daughter of Icarius, was aware of the wonderful singing.

Straightway leaving her room by the high-built stair she descended ;

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Neither alone did she go; two maidens followed behind her.

So when at last she had come to the suitors, that fairest of women

Stood by the post of the door of the massively builded apartment,

Holding in front of her cheeks soft folds of her glistering head-dress.

There as she stood, with a trusty attendant on this and on that side,

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Suddenly bursting in tears to the godlike bard she addressed her:

"Phemius, many another enrapturing story thou knowest,

Deeds of immortals and men—themes often by singers recounted.

Such be thy song as thou sitt'st with the guests. Let them listen in silence

Quaffing the wine. But desist, I beseech, from the strain thou art singing,

340

Pitiful story, that ever the heart in the depths of my bosom

Woundeth—for me hath befallen an inconsolable sorrow;

Such was the well-loved lord that I mourn—nor can ever forget him—

One whose fame is abroad through Hellas and midmost Argos.”

Her sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

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"Wherefore, mother, prevent that the sweet-voiced singer delight us

E'en as his spirit is moved? It is never the singer, believe me,

Bringeth us bale; it is Zeus that is guilty thereof; he allotteth

Every mortal that liveth on bread what fortune he willeth.

Nor do I blame that he singeth the pitiful fates of the Argives,

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Seeing that ever by mortals the more extolled is a singer

Singing the song that the newest resounds in the ears of the people.

Therefore harden thy heart and thy mind with the courage to listen.

'Twas not Odysseus alone that was reft of the day of returning

Back from the Trojan land; there perished many another.

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Now to thy chamber return and attend to thine own occupation,

Even the loom and the distaff, and order thy maiden attendants

Busily keep to their tasks; we men will attend to the talking,

All of us—chiefly myself; it is I that am lord of the household."

Full of amazement she turned her to go to the women's apartment,

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Hiding the masterful words of her son deep down in her bosom.

So to her upper apartment ascending with maiden attendants

Here she lamented Odysseus her well-loved husband, till gently

Slumber was poured on her lids by the grey-eyed goddess Athene.

Now in the shadowy hall loud clamour arose of the suitors,

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Each one uttering prayers to the gods to possess her in marriage,

Till sage Telemachus spake out and began to address them:

"Hearken, my mother's suitors—outrageous and riotous brawlers!

Now let us fall to the feast and be merry—but boisterous uproar

Keep we afar! It is pleasant to list to the song of a minstrel

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Such as this singer of mine; for in voice he is like an immortal.

Early to-morrow I ask you to come to the place of the council,

All of you. There shall I make you an open and plain declaration,

Bidding you quit these halls. Ye can seek your junketings elsewhere.

Feed on your own! Go feasting in turn each one with the other!

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Should it however appear to your minds more pleasant and better

Thus to devour the possession of others, nor fear the avenger,

Waste as ye will!—but the gods everlasting I call to my succour,

Hoping that heaven will grant such deeds to receive retribution.

Then in this selfsame hall shall ye perish—and none shall avenge you."

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Thus did he speak, and the men all biting their lips in amazement

Marvelled at Telemachus and the valiant words he had spoken.

Then spake Antinous, Eupeithes' son, and addressed him:

"Verily, Telemachus, it is heaven itself that hath taught thee

Such big blustering vaunts, such impudent boldness of language.

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Never Cronion, I trust, would choose for the Ithacan island

Thee as a king—though truly thou claimest the right to inherit!"

Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer :

"Antinous—and I trust at my words thou'lt never be angered—

E'en this honour—if offered by Zeus—I am ready to bear it.

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Deemest thou ruling the worst of the evils that mortals inherit ?

Nay—to be ruler is never an evil; for quickly the homestead

Richer and richer becomes and the man held higher in honour.

Many another however among the Achaeans is chieftain

Here in the rock-bound Ithacan isle, both aged and younger.

395

One of them haply will gain him the title—as dead is Odysseus.

But, for myself, I intend to be master and lord of my household,

Lord of my servants of all that the sword of Odysseus hath won me."

Forthwith Polybus' son, Prince Eurymachus, made answer :

"Telemachus, on the knees of the gods everlasting it lieth

400

Who as the king of the Ithacan island shall rule the Achaeans.

Hold thou fast to thy own! be the master and lord of thy household!

Never shall any be found that shall venture with force to assail thee,

Seeking to ruin thy home—while Ithaca stands as a nation.

Now, good friend, I am fain to examine thee touching this stranger.

405

Whence arrived is the man? What folk doth he boast to belong to?

Where is his land, and his kin? Where lies the domain of his homestead?

Came he perchance some tidings to bring of thy father's returning?

Travels he hither in hope some want of his own to provide for?

How of a sudden he rose and was gone! in a moment was vanished,

410

Ere we had made us acquainted! yet seemed not a churl in appearance!"

Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

"Eurymachus, clean gone is the hope of my father's returning,

Nor do I further believe in reports, where'er they may come from,

Nor divination consider of aught—such tales as my mother

415

Hears from the lips of diviners she calls to the house and examines.

This is an ancient guest of my household. He cometh from Taphos.

Mentes—such is his name. Of a wise-souled father he boasts him,

Anchialus, and himself is the prince of the Taphian sea-folk."

Thus did he speak; but he knew in his heart 'twas a goddess immortal.

420

Now to the joys of the dance and the pleasures of singing they turned them,

Making them merry, and thus they awaited the coming of even;

Nor was the merriment over when come was the darkness of even;

Then at the last they departed to sleep, each one to his homestead.

Telemachus, where fronting the fair-built court was his chamber

425

(Builded aloft was the room in a site with a beautiful prospect)

Thither betook him to bed, while deep in his spirit he pondered.

Thither with torches ablaze attended him also the trusty

Eurycleia, the daughter of Ops, who was son of Pisenor.

Once, long since, had Laertes expended his wealth to possess her,

430

Then in her prime; and a score of his kine as the price he had given.

Honour he gave her as much as his own true wife in the household;

Nor did he make her his mistress; he shrank from the wrath of his consort.

She was the servant that carried the torches to light him; she loved him

More than the rest of the maids, and had served as the nurse to his childhood.

435

Now so soon as the door of the fair-built chamber she opened,

Seating him down on the bed, of his doublet soft he disrobed him;

This to the hands of the careful and sage old dame he entrusted.

She, when at length she had folded the tunic and skilfully smoothed it,

Hanging it up on a peg at the side of his rich-carved bedstead,

440

Went from the chamber, and pulling the door by the handle of silver

Shut it and fastened it, drawing the bolt well home with the latch-string.

Here for the livelong night, close covered with wrappings of sheep's wool,

Lying he thought of the journey that Pallas Athena had plann'd him.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Gregory Nagy

The comments I offer on Odyssey Rhapsody 1 through Rhapsody 24, starting here with Rhapsody 1, were based mostly on details that derive from seven books that I indicate in the Bibliography by way of these abbreviations: BA, GMP, H24H, HC, HPC, HQ, HR, MoM, PasP, PH. Each one of these books has its own index locorum. My colleague Anita Nikkanen, an Associate Editor for this online project, tracked the sequences of Homeric verses as listed in the indices for six of these books and then summarized my comments on those verses. Following up on her meticulous work, I am in the process of converting her summaries into a form of commentary. My comments on the Odyssey as I presented them in Classical Inquiries are merely samplings of the content that I hope to contribute to the overall commentary, to which a number of other colleagues are also contributing their own comments. That said, I now proceed to offer a sampling of comments on Rhapsody 1. At this point, my comments about the beginning of the Odyssey need no further introduction of their own.

draft js image error Zeus, Athena, and Hermes (1810). Drawing by John Flaxman. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

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The theme of abduction by gusts of wind is analyzed at length in the comment at O.15.250-251.

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The text as transmitted by Aristarchus (see inventory of Words and Ideas) reads:

πρῶτα μὲν ἐς Πύλον ἐλθὲ καὶ εἴρεο Νέστορα δῖον,

κεῖθεν δὲ Σπάρτηνδε παρὰ ξανθὸν Μενέλαον·

ὃς γὰρ δεύτατος ἦλθεν Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων.

‘First you [= Telemachus] go to Pylos and ask radiant Nestor

and then from there to Sparta and to golden-haired Menelaos,

the one who was the last of the Achaeans, wearers of bronze tunics, to come back home.’

But the text as transmitted by Zenodotus (see again the inventory of Words and Ideas) reads:

πρῶτα μὲν ἐς Πύλον ἐλθέ, …

κεῖθεν δ’ ἐς Κρήτην τε παρ’ Ἰδομενῆα ἄνακτα,

ὃς γὰρ δεύτατος ἦλθεν Ἀχαιῶν χαλκοχιτώνων.

‘First go to Pylos …

and then from there to Crete and to king Idomeneus

who was the last of the Achaeans, wearers of bronze tunics, to come back home.’

Here at O.01.284–286, as also already at O.01.093, the variant reading that we see transmitted by Zenodotus (quoted in the scholia for O.03.313) indicates a variant epic tradition to which I have already referred as a Cretan Odyssey in my comment on O.01.093. As I argue in Nagy 2015.09.24§§36–37, what we see in these variant verses is a trace of a Cretan Odyssey as primarily represented in our Odyssey by the “Cretan lies,” which are micro-narratives embedded in the epic macro-narrative of the Homeric Odyssey. In comments forthcoming, there will be more to say about these “Cretan lies.” Here I confine my comments to points that are relevant to what we read at O.01.093 and O.01.284–286. In “our” Odyssey, as Nestor reports at O.03.191–192, Idomeneus after the Trojan War returns to Crete with all his men safe and sound. In the Cretan Odyssey, by contrast, Idomeneus seems to have traveled with Odysseus after the conquest of Troy by the Achaeans, and this king of the Cretans even experienced, together with Odysseus, the horrors of the Cave of the Cyclops: such a story about joint adventures experienced by Idomeneus and Odysseus is attested in a painting on a red-figure stamnos, 480 BCE, featuring the name-tags ΙΔΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ ‘Ida-meneus’ [sic] and ΟΔΥΣΥΣ ‘Odusus’ [sic] appended to images of these two heroes, showing each one of the two clinging to a ram’s underbelly (Levaniouk 2011:105).

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Leonard Muellner

comment on birth and death in epic diction in term of being let forth into the light and absence from it, respectively, here, with reference to Odysseus in Kalypso’s cave

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comment on birth and death in epic diction in term of being let forth into the light and absence from it, respectively, here, with reference to Odysseus in Kalypso’s cave

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Olga Levaniouk

This is the first occurrence of Penelope's name in the Odyssey. Πηνελόπεια is a nom parlant and signals Penelope's belonging to a thematically related group of women in myth. The name was perceived as significant in antiquity and a linguistically unobjectionable derivation from the name of a bird, πηνέλοψ, was known to Didymus (as attested by Eustathius' Commentarii ad Homeri Odysseam 1.65.36). The etymology of the word πηνέλοψ itself is obscure beyond the second part of the compound, derived from the h₃ek^ṷ root and meaning "looking (like)" (Chantraine 2009, s.v. ὄπωπα, πηνέλοψ). Nevertheless, the relevance of the penelops to Penelope can be ascertained. The penelops appears to be a bird similar to a halcyon. According to Aristotle Historia Animalium (593b23) the penelops is a small waterbird and lives at sea. Penelopes are mentioned together with halcyons in Aristophanes Birds 298 and Ibycus fr. 317a PMG. In the latter fragment, penelopes are described as ποικίλαι (2), αἰολόδειροι (2), and possibly also ἁλιπορφυρίδες (3), if Schneidewin's reconstruction is correct (Schneidewin 1833.128-131). Penelopes are said to be ποικιλόδειροι and τανυσίπτεροι in Alcaeus 345 L-P.2. Of these epithets the penelops shares with the halcyon ποικίλος ‘of varied color’ and τανυσίπτερος ‘long-winged’. If ἁλιπορφυρίδες is correctly restored, then this too allies the penelops to the halcyon, which is described by the rare epithet ἁλιπόρφυρος in Alcman 26 PMG.4. The penelops in Alcaeus 345 L-P. and the halcyon in Alcman 26 PMG are represented as (respectively) flying over the waves and coming from Okeanos. In poetry and myth, the (female) halcyon characteristically faithful to her mate, laments when the mate is lost, and is tied to the solar symbolism of death and rebirth (e.g. Alcman 26 PMG, Simonides 508 PMG, Aristotle, Historia Animalium 8.542b4, Dionysius, De Avibus 2.7, Plutarch On the Intelligence of Animals * 983a). These features are shared by a mythological character whose name derives from the name of the bird, Alkyone, the wife of Keyx (Hesiod, fr. 10a.94-96 M, fr. 10d MW, Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.410-748, Ps.-Apollodorus 1.7.4). Alkyone is a woman dominated by faithfulness to her husband, for whom she laments and finally dies when he departs on a long sea voyage and does not return. Just as Penelope's story is morphologically similar to that of Alkyone, so are the two birds that give them their names. Being similar to the halcyon, the penelops is a fitting match for Penelope, among whose dominant features are faithfulness to her husband and lament for him while he is absent. An argument has also been made that Penelope takes part in the operation of the overarching solar metaphor in the Odyssey (Levaniouk 2011:298-312). The similarities between the two myths parallel those between the two bird-named women and also those between the two birds. The connections appear to be systemic rather than accidental. Penelope and Alkyone have further points of contact with yet another woman with a bird's name, Aedon the nightingale, to whom Penelope compares herself in Odyssey 19.518. Penelope and Alkyone are closer to each other than to Aedon, though all three share key features, the most important being their laments. In the same way, penelops and halcyon are more similar to each other than to the nightingale, but both have associations with the latter. Both ποικιλόδειρος and αἰολόδειρος (the epithets of the penelops in Alcaeus and Ibycus respectively) are epithets of the nightingale (Hesiod Works and Days 203; Nonnus Dionysiaca 26.211). In Ibycus’ fragment penelopes and halcyons are represented as sitting πετάλοισιν ἐπ' ἀκροτάτοις ‘on the topmost leaves’, literally ‘petals’, a topos about the nightingale (Odyssey xix 520, Homeric Hymn to Pan 17-18, Anthologia Palatina 12.2.3, 12.136.3). Since the halcyon's voice is described in the same terms as that of the nightingale and since, like the nightingale, the halcyon is imagined as a woman transformed into a bird and forever lamenting, it is likely that the penelops too is a bird of lament similar to the nightingale and the halcyon and that, as with the nightingale (Nagy 196:59n.1), the compounds with -δειρος applied to it (ποικιλόδειρος and αἰολόδειρος) signify the quality of its voice rather than the color of its neck. For a fuller discussion of the name's significance see Levaniouk 2011:287-318.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nReferences\r\n\r\nChantraine, P. 2009. Dictionaire etymologique de la langue grecque. Histoire des mots. Paris.\r\n\r\nLevaniouk, O. 2011. The Eve of the Festival. Cambridge, MA.\r\n\r\nNagy, G. 1996. Poetry as Performance: Homer and beyond. Cambridge.\r\n\r\nSchneidewin, F. 1833. Ibyci Rhegini Carminum Reliquiae, Göttingen.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n

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Homer Odyssey 1.178

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Current edition Experimental

MINERVA

'But, parting then for that detested shore,

'Our eyes, unhappy! never greeted more.'

TELEMACHUS

ODYSSEY BOOK I

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Experimental

MINERVA 'But, parting then for that detested shore, 'Our eyes, unhappy! never greeted more.'

TELEMACHUS

ODYSSEY BOOK I

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

MINERVA

'But, parting then for that detested shore,

'Our eyes, unhappy! never greeted more.'