ODYSSEY BOOK XIII
THUS did he end; and they sat all utterly silent and speechless,
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Holden as 'twere by a spell in the shadowy hall of the palace.
Then King Alcinous outspake and in answer addressed him:
"Since now under the roof of my bronze-floored palace, Odysseus,
Safe thou art come, thou'lt never, methinks, go wandering further,
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Ere to thy home thou return'st, however to hardship accustomed.
Now to you all and to each I announce this further injunction,
Each who is wont to partake of the glowing wine of the elders
Here in my banqueting-hall, and to list to the song of the minstrel :
Lo, in a polished coffer the raiment received by the stranger
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Lieth, and fair things fashioned of gold, and the rest of the presents
Which Phaeacian lords of the council collected together.
Come, let us also present him a full-sized tripod and cauldron,
Each of us; then can we later, by making collection in public,
Win us repayment; 'tis hard when the one does favours for nothing."
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Thus spake Alcinous and his speech was received with approval.
Each one then to his homestead departed to lay him to slumber.
Now when the morning was newly arisen, the roseate-fingered,
Quickly they brought to the vessel the bronze that rejoiceth a mortal;
This did the powerful chief, King Alcinous, on the vessel
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Going around stow under the benches away, to prevent it
Hindering any that rowed when amain at his oar he was pulling.
Then to the house of the king they betook them and set them a-feasting,
After the powerful monarch had given an ox to be slaughtered
Unto Cronion, the ruler of all, who dwells in the storm-cloud.
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So when the thighs they had burnt they partook of a glorious banquet,
Making them merry, and harked to the strains of the godlike singer
Demodocus, blind bard by the people beloved; but Odysseus
Ever and ever was turning his eyes to the sun in its splendour,
Longing to hasten its setting, so eager he felt for departure.
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Even as yearns for his supper a man when his wine-red oxen
All day long have tugged at a jointed plough in a fallow,
E'en as he joys when he seeth the sun's light sink to the setting,
So he can get to his food and his knee-joints ache as he walketh-
Thus did Odysseus rejoice when the sunlight sank to the setting.
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Suddenly then to the lovers of ships, Phaeacia's nobles,
Chiefly to Alcinous these words addressing, he turned him:
"O King Alcinous, illustrious prince of the people,
Pour ye libation and bid me farewell !-farewell to you also !
Now it is all fulfilled as I wished in the depth of my bosom,
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Escort and loving gifts—May the gods celestial grant me
Blessing therein! May I come to my home, and my peerless consort
There may I find still living and well, with the rest of my dear ones!
Ye too, bide ye at home with your wedded wives and your children,
Making them happy with love. May the gods prosperity grant you,
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Every kind, and all that is ill dwell far from the people."
Thus did he speak, and they all assented and made resolution
Homeward the stranger to help, since duly and well he had spoken.
Then did the powerful king to his henchman turn and address him :
"Pontonoüs, come mix strong wine and serve us a bumper,
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Plenty for all at the feast, that a prayer we may raise to the Father,
Ere we shall send our guest on his way to his distant homeland."
Thus did he speak; and a wine honey-hearted was mixed by the henchman;
Then to them all he dispensed it in turn; and they made a libation
Unto the blesséd immortals who dwell in the infinite heaven,
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Pouring it there as they sat. Then rising, the godlike Odysseus
Into the hands of the queen gave over his twy-cupped goblet,
While uplifting his voice these swift-winged words he addressed her:
"Fare thee well, O queen, and be happy for ever, till lastly
Age shall befall thee, and death, which cometh to every mortal.
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Now it is need that I go; but do thou live joyfully alway
Here in thy home with the monarch, thy lord, and thy children and people!"
These words said, stept over the threshold the godlike Odysseus,
Having beside him the herald whom Alcinous had commanded
Down to the shore of the sea and the swift-winged vessel to guide him.
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Also had Arete told three of her women to follow.
One of them bare in her arms fresh raiment a cloak and a doublet;
Then was a second commissioned to carry the strong-made coffer,
While that the third had a burden of bread and of glittering red wine.
So, when at last they had come to the sea and arrived at the vessel,
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Speedily then was it all by the high-born men of the escort
Taken aboard and bestowed in the hold with the wine and the viands.
Also they spread for Odysseus a rug and a wrapper of linen
Nigh to the stern, on the deck of the hollow vessel, to lie there
Soundly asleep; and he mounted the ship and composed him to slumber
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Silently, while that the crew sat down on the benches in order,
Each in his place; and loosed from the mooring-stone was the hawser.
PATTEN WILSON
THE ARRIVAL AT ITHACA
Then, as they backward swung uptossing the brine with the oar-blades,
Softly a sleep profound spread over his slumbering eyelids,
Deep as a trance and surpassingly sweet—yea, death it resembled.
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Now did the vessel as over a plain four stallion coursers
Harnessed abreast, 'neath strokes of the lash, come thundering onward,
Bounding aloft as they gallop apace their course to accomplish,
So did the stern of the ship go bounding aloft—and behind it
Mightily eddied the dark blue wave of the bellowing ocean.
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Steadily onward she flew; not even the falcon that soareth,
Swiftest of birds of the air, might vie with the ship in her swiftness;
So did she speed on her way, right easily cleaving the billows,
Bearing a man who was like to the gods everlasting in wisdom,
One who had suffered already in heart full many a sorrow,
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Tossed by the billows of war and the grievous waves of the ocean.
Now he is sleeping in peace, forgetful of all that he suffered.
So when the star was on high that of all is the brightest, and ofttimes
Comes as the herald of light when the newborn day is arising,
Voyaging over the waters the ship drew near to an island
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Where is a haven of Phorcys, the ancient god of the ocean.
Here it is Ithacan land. Two capes jut forth from the coast-line,
High precipitous cliffs but aslope to the verge of the harbour,
Fending the monstrous surge of the rollers aroused by the storm-winds
Out in the open; but ever within unloosed from the cable
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Well-decked vessels can ride when they enter the bound of the roadstead.
Now at the head of the haven a long-leaved olive is growing,
Distant from which not far is a pleasant and shadowy grotto,
Hallowed haunt of the nymphs who are known as the fountain naiads.
Here in the depths of the cave are amphora vessels and wine-bowls
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Formed of the rock, and the bees hide here their treasures of honey;
Here stand, fashioned in stone, vast looms, where many a naiad
Weaveth her robes of the deep-sea purple, a wonder to gaze at.
Water perennial welleth within. Two mouths hath the cavern;
One to the North Wind looks and is easy for mortals to enter,
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One to the South, and is more for the gods; nor ever by this way
Entereth any of human race; 'tis a path for immortals.
Into the haven they rowed (they had known it before), and the vessel
Ran on the beach: to the half of her length on the sand was she driven,
Such was her speed, and such was the strength of the hands that impelled her.
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Out of the well-benched vessel when now they had stepped on the dry land,
First from the deck of the hollow ship uplifting Odysseus,
E'en as he lay in the rug and the glistering wrapper of linen,
Down on the sand of the shore, still heavy with slumber, they placed him.
Then from the vessel they landed the gifts that the king and the nobles,
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Moved by the noble Athena, bestowed when for home he departed.
These in a heap up-piling they left at the foot of the olive
Somewhat aside from the path, lest any that saw it in passing,
Ere that Odysseus awoke, might venture anigh and despoil him.
These now homeward returned.
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But the King Earth-shaking Poseidon
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Ne'er had forgotten the vows that he uttered when erst he had threatened
Godlike Odysseus, and turning to Zeus he demanded his counsel:
"Father Zeus! I can hope henceforth from the gods everlasting
Little respect, since men that be mortal so little respect me,
E'en Phaeacian folk—whose race from myself is descended.
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Lo, full many afflictions I vowed should fall on Odysseus
Ere to his home he returned—though wholly to stay his returning
Ne'er did I try from the moment thou gav'st thy consent and thy promise.
Now these men have borne him asleep in a swift-winged vessel
Over the sea and on Ithaca set him, and richly with presents
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Helped him with bronze and with gold and abundance of woven apparel-
Treasures so many as ne'er from the Trojans Odysseus had gained him
Had he returned unscathed with his well-won share in the booty."
Him forthwith gave answer the god who gathers the storm-clouds:
"Lo now, what is this word, Earth-shaker and Ruler of ocean?
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Thee nowise dishonour the gods. 'Twere difficult truly
Thee, who art eldest and best of us all, to assail with dishonour,
While if a mortal, obeying his hardy and arrogant nature,
Honours thee not, it is thine to avenge thee, or now or hereafter.
Act as thou willst as it seems to be best to the spirit within thee!"
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Then did the King Earth-shaking Poseidon address him in answer:
"Quickly enough had I done as thou say'st, O King of the storm-clouds,
Had I not held thee in awe and dreaded arousing thy anger.
Now I am minded to smite this fine Phaeacian vessel
While from the convoy she homeward returns in the mist-bound ocean;
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Yea I will smite her and teach them to stop and to stay with their convoys.
This will I do, and will whelm with the mass of a mountain the city."
Him forthwith gave answer the god who gathers the storm-clouds:
"Friend, as it seems to my mind, 'twere verily better and wiser,
Just at the moment when out of the city the whole of the people
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Watcheth her enter the harbour, to change her, anigh to the sea-shore,
Into a rock with the form of a vessel, that ever hereafter
Mortals shall wonder. Then whelm with the mass of a mountain the city !"
Now when he heard this saying the King Earth-shaker Poseidon
Went to the Scherian isle, where dwell Phaeacian people.
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Here he remained till anigh was the ship as she voyaged the ocean
Rapidly speeding along ; then the King Earth-shaker, approaching,
Suddenly changed her to stone and rooted her deep in the waters,
Smiting with downward stroke of the hand; and he turned and departed.
Uttering swift-winged words then turned them the one to the other
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All of the Scherian folk—those famous oarsmen and sailors-
Each man gazing the while at the man that was standing beside him :
"Ah me! who is it fettered the swift ship fast on the ocean
E'en as she entered the port? Just now she was visible plainly."
Thus spake one to the other, but how it had happened they knew not.
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Then King Alcinous rose up in the midst and harangued them:
"Lo now, surely the doom prophetic is falling upon me
Told by my sire, who was wont to proclaim that Poseidon was angered,
Jealous because we unfailingly offer an escort to all men.
'Some day'—so did he speak—'as a fine Phaeacian vessel
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Over the mist-bound deep from a convoy returns shall the sea-god
Smite her to pieces and whelm with the mass of a mountain the city.'
Such was the rede of my sire, and it all finds now a fulfilment.
Come now, hear what I say, and let all of us follow my counsel!
Never again let us give such convoy, if wandering mortals
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Come to the city; and now let us offer Poseidon atonement;
Twelve choice bulls let us slaughter in hope he may show us compassion,
Neither in anger o'erwhelm with the mass of a mountain the city."
So did he speak, and in fear they prepared them the bulls for oblation.
Thus then offering prayers to Poseidon, the king of the ocean,
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All of the best of the land, Phaeacia's princes and leaders,
Stood surrounding the altar.
And godlike Odysseus, awaking,
Opened his eyes on the land of his birth, nor yet did he know it,
Such long years had he wandered afar; and around him the goddess
Pallas Athena, the daughter of Zeus, poured mist to conceal him,
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Keeping him hidden until she had given him counsel in all things,
Lest that his wife might know him, or friends, or the men of the city,
Ere for transgression the suitors had paid complete satisfaction.
Wherefore utterly strange was the land to the eyes of its master,
All of the clambering paths and all of the sheltering havens,
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Lofty precipitous crags and the bloom of luxuriant forests.
Hastily rising he stood and gazing around on his homeland
Uttered a pitiful groan and on both of his thighs in despondence
Smote with a downward stroke of the hands and made lamentation:
"Ah me, what is the folk whose country I now am arrived at ?
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Dwell here savages wanton and wild, despisers of justice ?
Have they a love for the stranger and hearts that revere the immortals?
Whither to carry my treasure I know not at all ; and myself too
Where shall I turn me? I would 'twere back in the Scherian island
Just as it was; and perchance I had found some powerful monarch
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Elsewhere, ready to grant me a welcome and give me an escort.
Now I am truly in doubt to bestow it. I Airs like not
Leaving it here as a find and a welcome booty for others.
Nay but in sooth not at all like lovers of wisdom and justice
Acted, methinks, those high Phaeacian nobles and princes,
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Bringing me thus to a land unknown; for they promised to bring me
Unto the far-seen Ithacan isle, and the promise is broken.
Zeus I beseech to requite it, the suppliant's god, who is watching
Ever the deeds of mankind and punisheth every sinner.
Well now, come, I will look to the presents and reckon the number;
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Haply departing they took of the things on the hollow vessel."
These words said, he inspected the tripods and beautiful cauldrons,
Numbering all, and the gold and the woven and exquisite garments.
Nothing he missed of them all, and with joyless thoughts of his homeland
Slowly he wandered along by the shore of the bellowing ocean
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Then approached him the goddess Athene
Likened in form to a youth who tendeth the sheep on a pasture,
Having a delicate beauty of mien, as the son of a chieftain;
Twofold over her shoulders a well-wrought mantle she carried;
Sandals she wore on her fair white feet, and a lance she was holding.
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Then as he saw her Odysseus rejoiced and advancing to meet her
Lifted in welcome his voice, and with swift-winged words he addressed her :
"Friend, since thou art the first I have lighted upon in the country,
Welcome!—for truly I hope that thou com'st with a friendly intention-
Rescue this treasure of mine, and myself too! Lo, I beseech thee
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Even as wert thou a god, at thy knees as a suppliant falling.
Also relate me the truth—for I fain would know it for certain :
What is this land? What people and natives dwell in the country?
One of the far-seen isles peradventure? or one of the beaches
Sloping adown to the sea on the fertile coast of the mainland?"
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Him forthwith gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:
"Foolish thou seemst, O stranger, or else thou art come from a distance,
Seeing thou askest the name of the land. So utterly nameless
Sooth it is not. There's many and many a mortal that knows it-
Every mortal that dwells in the east, whence dawneth the sunrise,
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Every mortal behind in the west, where fadeth the daylight.
Truly the island is rugged—not fit for the driving of horses-
Still, not utterly poor, though lacking in open expanses.
Corn in amazing abundance it groweth, and also the wine-grape
Ripens, and ever with rain and with freshening dew it is moistened.
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Good is the isle as a pasture for goats and for kine, and it beareth
Every manner of wood and hath watering-places that fail not.
Therefore, stranger, hath Ithaca's name reached even to Troyland,
Though right far, it is said, 'tis away from the shores of Achaea."
So did she speak, and it joyed long-suffering godlike Odysseus,
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Yea he rejoiced in the land of his birth when he heard what she told him,
Pallas Athena, the daughter of Zeus who beareth the aegis.
Then uplifting his voice these swift-winged words he addressed her ;
Yet no truth did he speak, for he curbed it before it was uttered,
Keeping, as ever, control of the mind right cunning within him:
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"Ah yes, Ithaca's name I have heard far over the ocean,
E'en in the broad-spread island of Creta, from which I am come now,
I and this treasure of mine; and as much did I leave for my children,
Flying the land; for the son I had killed of a prince of the country,
Orsilochus swift-footed, who conquered in fleetness of running
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Every mortal that liveth on bread in the isle of the Cretans.
Him I had killed—for he wished to deprive me of all of my booty
Gotten at Troy, in the winning whereof great toil I had suffered,
Tossed on the billows of war and the grievous waves of the ocean-
Wished it because I refused as attendant to follow his father
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There in the Trojan land, and had captained a band of my fellows.
So with my bronze-shod spear I attacked him whenas he was coming
Home from the fields, waylaying him close to the road with a comrade.
Black was the night that enshrouded the heaven; no mortal perceived us;
None was aware of the deed I had done when of life I bereft him.
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Now no sooner the man with my sharp-edged spear I had murdered,
Straight to a ship I betook me of proud Phoenician sea-folk;
Them I entreated, and gave them of spoil that delighteth a mortal,
Earnestly begging them take me aboard of the vessel and land me
Either at Pylos or Elis the fair, where rule the Epeans.
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Thither to come howbeit withheld them the might of the storm-wind,
Much as they wished it; nor acted they willingly thus to deceive me.
Out of the course thus driven, at night we arrived at this island.
Toilfully rowing ahead to a harbour we came, and exhausted,
Wholly forgetful of food, though needing sorely a supper,
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Stepped from the vessel and, just as we were, lay down on the sea-shore.
Now when in slumber refreshing I sank outworn with my labours,
Carrying all of my goods from the hollow vessel, they placed them
Here at my side, where sleeping I lay on the sands of the sea-shore.
Then, embarking again, for the flourishing city of Sidon
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Started, and here I am left with a heart that is heavy with trouble."
Thus had he spoken when, smiling, the grey-eyed goddess Athene
Touched him with gentle caress; and she changed to the form of a woman
Beautiful, stately, and gifted with deftness in exquisite handwork.
Then uplifting her voice these swift-winged words she addressed him :
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"Truly a master in craft were one that excelled thee in cunning!
Conquered in guile were e'en the immortal who happened to meet thee.
Ah, thou audacious inventor of falsehood, insatiate trickster,
Even at home, as it seemeth, thou mean'st not to cease from deceiving,
Weaving thy fables, wherein from the ground of thy heart thou delightest.
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Come, let us speak no longer thereof! We are both of us practised
Weavers of wiles for of all of mankind thou art easily foremost
Both in thy counsels and speech, and amid the immortals I win me
Fame for my wit and my wiles. Yet how didst thou fail to discern me,
Pallas Athena, the daughter of Zeus—that goddess who always
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Stands at thy side and defends thee in every hardship and danger,
Ay and who gained thee the love and the favour of all the Phaeacians?
Now am I come that we two may take some counsel together,
Also in safety to bring these gifts that the lordly Phaeacians
Gave at thy homeward departing (for such was my will and intention),
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Yea and in order to tell thee of all thou art destined to suffer
E'en in thy well-built home—So resign thee to fate and endure it!
Nor do thou utter a word to a man of them all or a woman,
Telling that home thou art come from thy wanderings. Suffer in silence !
E'en though bitter the pain and deep the indignity, bear it!"
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Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus :
"Difficult 'twere for the mortal thou meetest, goddess, to know thee,
Though right clever he were, for thou cloth'st thee in every semblance.
This howbeit I know, that thou gavest me favour aforetime,
While in the country of Troy were warring the sons of Achaea;
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Yet, when at last we had plundered the steep-built city of Priam,
After the Greeks had embarked on the ships and a god had dispersed them,
Never again I beheld thee, thou daughter of Zeus, nor perceived thee
Mounting aboard of my vessel in order to save me from sorrow.
Cherishing deep in my bosom a heart that was stricken with anguish,
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Ever I wandered, until the immortals from evil released me,
Even till thou thyself in the rich Phaeacian country
Gavest me comforting words and didst show me the way in the city.
Now in the name of the Father I beg thee to tell me for never
May I believe I am come to the far-seen Ithacan island;
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Nay, in a foreign land I am roaming, and merely to mock me
This thou art saying, and cheating my soul with an empty illusion-
Tell me the truth! Am I come to the dear-loved land of my fathers?"
Him forthwith gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:
"Ever and alway the same suspicious thoughts in thy bosom !
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This is the reason I ne'er can desert thee in all thy affliction,
Since thou art wary and ready of wit and surpassing in prudence.
Gladly had many a man, thus safely returned from a far land,
Hastened him home in the longing to look on his wife and his children;
Nowise such is thy wish—nor to listen and learn from another,
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Ere thou hast tested thy wife to the full; but she sitteth, as alway,
There in thy palace halls, and filled with the gloom of her sadness
Waneth the day and waneth the night, while ever she weepeth.
Truly I ne'er had a doubt—nay, deep in my spirit I knew it,
Knew thy return was assured, though lost were all of thy comrades;
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Yet was I all unwilling to strive with my father's brother,
Even Poseidon, who cherished at heart such anger against thee,
Raging because of his well-loved son, whom thou reftest of eyesight.
Come now, look on the scene and assure thee 'tis Ithaca's island!
Here is the haven of Phorcys, the ancient god of the ocean !
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There, at the head of the harbour, a high-branch'd olive is growing,
Distant from which not far is a pleasant shadowy grotto,
Sacred haunt of the nymphs that are known as the fountain naiads;
There is the cave with its roof high-arched where often aforetime
Unto the nymphs thou hast made full many a perfect oblation.
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There too, clothed in its forests, the mountain of Neriton riseth."
These words spoken, she scattered the mist and uncovered the landscape.
Then exulted in joy long-suffering godlike Odysseus;
Yea he rejoiced and embracing the earth, dear mother of harvests,
Uttered a prayer to the nymphs, uplifting his hands to the heaven :
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'Fountain Naiads, ye daughters of Zeus, I had verily never
Hoped to behold you again. With the vows of affection I greet you;
Yea and oblation of gifts we shall make you, as often aforetime,
Should but the daughter of Zeus, the bestower of booty, Athene,
Graciously grant me to live, and my son to arrive at his manhood."
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Then once more made answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene :
"Take thou courage, nor suffer thy heart herein to be anxious!
Now let us carry the gifts to the depth of this wonderful grotto;
There we will hide them at once, since there we can leave them in safety;
Then let us twain take counsel together to act for the wisest."
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Thus when the goddess had spoken she plunged in the shadowy cavern
Eagerly searching for places of hiding; and quickly Odysseus
Bringing the whole of his treasure—the gold and the bronze adamantine,
Fine-wrought garments as well, that Phaeacian nobles had given-
Stowed them away; and a boulder was set in the door by the goddess,
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Pallas Athena, the daughter of Zeus who beareth the aegis.
Then did the twain at the base of the sacred olive recline them,
There to consult, devising the doom of the insolent suitors.
First of the twain to begin was the grey-eyed goddess Athene:
"Zeus-born son of Laertes, thou wise and wileful Odysseus,
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Think how best with a strong right hand these suitors to punish,
Shamelessly lording it still, as for three long years, in thy palace,
Wooing thy godlike wife and offering presents as lovers,
While with continual grief in her heart, as she waits for thy coming,
All she befooleth with hopes, and she giveth her promise to each one
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Sending him many a message; but things far other she longs for."
Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus :
"Lo now, just as it happ'd to Atrides, King Agamemnon!
Just his terrible doom in my halls I was fated to suffer,
Hadst thou not told me of all, O goddess, and duly advised me.
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Now come, weave me a plan, how best I may hope to requite them.
Stand thou too by my side, and with dauntless courage endue me,
E'en as at Troy, when we loosened her shining tiara of towers.
Art thou so eager to stand, O grey-eyed goddess, beside me,
Then am I ready enough three hundred foes to encounter,
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Having thy favour, my lady and goddess, to help and befriend me."
Him forthwith gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:
"Yea assuredly still I befriend thee, and ne'er shall forsake thee
Then, when at last we shall come to the work; and if much I mistake not,
Soon with his blood and his brains the unmeasured earth will bespatter
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Many a man of the suitors, who now are wasting thy substance.
Come, I will change thy appearance that none shall be able to know thee;
All of the fair smooth flesh on thy pliant limbs will I wither,
Shrivel the yellow hair from thy head and wrap thee in raiment
Beggarly, such that a man might hacker at any that wore it.
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Lustreless too will I make thine eyes, once gleaming in beauty,
So that a thing of contempt thou'lt seem to the whole of the suitors,
Yea to thy wife and the son thou didst leave as a babe in thy palace.
Now for thyself 'twere best to betake thee at first to the swineherd,
Even the thrall who attends to thy pigs. He is full of devotion
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Both for thyself and thy son and the wise-souled Penelopeia.
Sitting in charge of the swine thou'lt find him—the herd that is feeding
Nigh to the Raven's Rock at the side of the spring Arethusa,
Eating the acorns wherein they delight, and drinking the fountain's
Dark sweet water—a food that doth nourish luxuriant fatness.
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Here by the side of the swineherd remain and question him fully,
While I betake me to Sparta, the city of beautiful women,
Telemachus to recall; for thy son, thy beloved, Odysseus,
Thither, to wide Lacedaemon, is gone and to prince Menelaus,
Tidings of thee to discover, if still on the earth thou art living."
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Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
'Why hast thou said to him nought of the truth, though fully thou knewst it?
Was't to compel him to wander with sufferings, like to his father,
Over the wastes of the sea, while strangers devour his possessions?"
Him forthwith gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:
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"Let not the thought of thy son too grievously trouble thy spirit.
I myself was his guide, for I wished him to win by the journey
Manly renown. Nor imagine he suffereth hardship. In comfort
Now in Atrides' palace he sits in the midst of abundance.
True, in their black-hulled ship these youths are lying in ambush
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Eager to kill him before he arrives at the land of his fathers;
Yet do I reck not thereof, for the earth far sooner shall swallow
Many a one of the wooers who daily consume thy possessions."
Thus when Athena had spoken, her wand she extended and touched him;
All of the fair smooth flesh on his limbs of his body she withered,
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Shrivelled the yellow hair from his head, and the whole of his person,
Every limb, with the skin of a man right agéd she covered ;
Lustreless too did she make those eyes, once gleaming in beauty;
Round him in stead of his raiment she wrapt vile rags and a doublet
Hanging in tatters and filthy, with smoke all foully besmutted,
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Over him cast as a mantle the hide of a timorous roe-deer
Naked of hair, and she gave him a staff and a beggarly wallet
Terribly tattered and torn; and thereon was a cord to suspend it.
Thus, their counsellings ended, they parted, the goddess Athene
Going to fair Lacedaemon to seek for the son of Odysseus.
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“Ulysses Asleep Laid on his Own Coast by the Phaeacian Sailors” (1805). John Flaxman (English, 1755–1826). Purchased as part of the Oppé Collection with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund 1996.