ODYSSEY BOOK XIX
NOW when the godlike Odysseus was left in the hall of his homestead,
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Plotting with help of the goddess Athena the doom of the suitors,
Quickly he turned to his son, & with swift-winged words he addressed him:
"Telemachus—those weapons of war—we shall need to conceal them,
Every one, and with words of persuasion addressing the suitors
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Try to cajole them, if missing the arms they shall ply thee with questions.
Say: 'I've stowed them because of the smoke. They resemble no longer
Those once left by Odysseus behind him when sailing for Troyland;
Spoilt are all by the breath of the fire, where'er it has reached them.
Also a reason was put in my mind by the Father Cronion,
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Even the fear lest heated with wine and beginning to quarrel
One on another ye fall, and with blood bring shame on the feastings,
Ay and the wooings; for iron itself attracteth to bloodshed."
These words uttered, the youth, as his well-loved father commanded,
Called from her chamber and spake to the nurse, old Eurycleia :
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"Go, dear mother, and shut me the maids in the women's apartment,
While I shall bear to the room of the treasure the arms of my father,
Lying—the beautiful things—all tarnished by smoke and uncared for
During the years that my father was absent and during my childhood.
Now I will stow them away where vapour and smoke shall not reach them."
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Then did the dear old nurse make answer, and thus she addressed him:
“Ay and if also, my child, thou'dst give such care and attention
Unto the whole of the house, and the guarding of all of the treasures!
Come now, who shall attend thee and carry a cresset to light thee?
None of the maids thou permittest to come who attend to the lighting."
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Her sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:
"Lo, this stranger will light me. I ne'er shall allow to be idle
One that has tasted my rations, although he is come from a distance."
Thus did he speak, and the word that he uttered abode with her wingless.
Quickly she bolted the doors of the fair-built women's apartment.
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Then with his glorious son uprising the hero Odysseus
Carried the bronze-bossed shields and the helms to the innermost chamber,
Also the keen-edged spears; and before them the goddess Athene
Went with a cresset of gold that around poured wonderful lustre.
Suddenly then to his sire turned Telemachus, and addressed him:
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"Father, it sure is a marvellous thing that I plainly behold here—
Leastways so it appears for the walls and the beautiful alcoves,
Ay and the rafters of pine and the pillars that rise to the rooftrees,
All to my eyes seem flooded with light of a radiant splendour.
Surely within is a god who inhabits the infinite heaven."
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Him then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
"Hush! and confuse such things in thy heart, and refrain thee from questions!
Thus it is ever the wont of the gods who inhabit Olympus.
Go now, lay thee to sleep, and alone in the hall thou shalt leave me.
Here will I try to incite to a quarrel the maids and thy mother;
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Then by her sorrows induced she will ask me the whole of my story."
So did he speak, and his son went forth from the hall and betook him
Unto his chamber, to sleep, by the light of the radiant torches,
Where to repose was his wont whensoe'er sweet sleep overcame him.
There did he lay him to rest and awaited the sacred morning,
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While in the hall of his palace remaining the godlike Odysseus
Planned with the help of the goddess Athena the doom of the suitors.
Now came forth of her chamber the wise-souled Penelopeia,
Like to the daughter of Leto or Queen Aphrodite the golden.
Nigh to the hearth they had placed her the couch she was wont to recline on,
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Skilfully carved and with silver and ivory wrought by the artist
Icmalius, and below for the feet he had fashioned a footstool
Joined to the couch, on the which outspread was a beautiful sheepskin.
Hither she came and reclined her, the wise-souled Penelopeia.
Then did the white-armed maids from the women's apartment approaching
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Set them a-clearing the tables and all of the food and the goblets
Out of the which they had drunk, those insolent men, as they feasted.
Then from the braziers the ashes they cast on the ground, and they piled them
Freshly with many a log, to illumine the hall and to warm it.
Now once more was Odysseus assailed by the maiden Melantho:
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"Stranger, it seems thou art fain e'en now to annoy us, at night-time
Lolling about in the house and leering after the women.
Get thee away from the palace, thou wretch! Let thy supper content thee!
Else with a brand they'll beat thee and teach thee the way to the portal."
Glaring askance at the maid deep-plotting Odysseus addressed her:
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"Wherefore thus, good woman, with furious anger assail me ?
Merely because I am dirty and clothed in a sorry apparel ?
Merely because I am tramping the land? But necessity makes me.
E'en as myself must needs be a man that is beggar and vagrant.
Once I was owner of house and of home and was held by my fellows
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Rich in estate, and was wont full often to give to a vagrant,
Every beggar, whatever he seemed and whatever he wanted.
Many and many a thrall I possessed and abundance of all things
Such as allow of an easy existence and rich reputation.
Then I was ruined by Father Cronion—I ween that he willed it.
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Wherefore, woman, beware lest thou too utterly losest
All the renown and the glory in which thou excell'st as a handmaid.
Well can it happen if only thy lady is driven to anger,
Or.. if Odysseus return—and of hope still left is a remnant—
Else, if indeed he is dead and is ne'er to return to his homeland,
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Such is already his son—yea such, by the grace of Apollo,
Telemachus is become, no handmaid here in his palace
Playing the wanton escapeth his eye—no more is he childish."
Thus as he spake he was heard by the wise-souled Penelopeia.
Straight to the maiden she turned and addressed her and sharply rebuked her :
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"Neither, thou shameless, impertinent thing, doth thy conduct escape me.
Gross is the sin thou committ'st: with thy head thou shalt purge the pollution.
Also thou knewest it well—for thou verily heardst me assert it—
How I was minded to come to the hall and to question the stranger
Touching the fate of my lord; for my endless sorrow outwears me."
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Turning her then to her woman, the house-dame, thus she addressed her :
"Eurynomé, come, bring me a chair with a cover of sheepskin,
So that the stranger can sit and can tell me his story and also
Listen to all that I ask for I wish him to answer my questions."
Thus did she speak, and the woman, a chair well-polished selecting,
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Speedily brought it and placed it, and covered it o'er with a sheepskin.
Here did he sit him adown, long-suffering godlike Odysseus.
Then she began to address him, the wise-souled Penelopeia:
"Firstly of all, O stranger, I wish thee to answer a question :
Whence and what mortal thou beest. Tell too of thy city and parents."
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Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus :
"Lady, on earth there lives not the man would wish to offend thee
Saying thee nay, for thy fame is as high as the infinite heaven,
E'en as the fame of a monarch that feareth the gods and is blameless,
One that as ruler supreme of a great and a powerful nation
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Ever defendeth the right; and the dark earth beareth in season
Barley and wheat, and the trees are laden with fruitage, and alway
Yean unfailing the flocks, and the sea gives fish in abundance ;
So by his wisdom he guideth his people and maketh them prosper.
Wherefore all thou shalt ask will I answer thee here in thy palace;
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Yet, I beseech thee to question me not of my race and my homeland,
Lest by thy words still more thou shalt fill with affliction my spirit
Waking the past, where many a sorrow was mine; and I must not
Here in thy home—in the house of a stranger—with groaning and wailing
Sit and lament; and it profiteth nought to be endlessly mourning.
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Yea and I fear 'twould anger thy handmaid (even thyself too);
Then she will say I am swimming in tears as a man that is drunken."
Him then in answer addressed these words wise Penelopeia :
“Stranger, if e'er I was deemed to excel in the beauty of person,
All was destroyed by the gods when the Argives, sailing for Troyland,
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Mounted the vessels—with whom went also my husband Odysseus.
O that he came once more, and had care of my life as aforetime!
So were fairer my fame, and my lot more happy; for alway
Now I am sad—such woes hath a deity sent to assail me.
All of the foremost men who as chieftains rule in the islands,
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Samos and Dulichium and the woodland heights of Zacynthus,
Yea and the princes around me in far-seen Ithaca dwelling,
All come wooing, despite my refusal, and wasting my homestead.
Wherefore little I care for my guests, or if beggars entreat me,
Little for heralds I care, who work for the weal of the people;
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Wasted away is my heart as I yearn for Odysseus, and alway
While these suitors incite me to wed I am spinning devices.
First was the shroud that I wove (and a deity prompted me surely).
Rearing a spacious loom in my hall I betook me to weaving,
Working a broad and a delicate web; and anon I addressed them :
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'Princes who sue for my hand, since dead is the noble Odysseus,
Patiently wait, though eager to hasten my marriage, till fully
Woven this web—lest vainly I forfeit the fruits of my spinning.
Lo, 'tis a shroud for the hero Laertes, to wrap him, whenever
Bringing his destined doom low-laying death overtakes him;
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Else in Achaea's land might well some woman reproach me,
Were he to lie, who possessed such riches, lacking a grave-cloth.'
So did I speak, and within them the valiant heart was persuaded.
Thus then all of the day at the spacious loom I was weaving;
During the night I unravelled the web, with my torches beside me.
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Three long years with my secret device I befooled the Achaeans,
Till, when the fourth year came, and as season was followed by season,
After the waning of months, and when many a day was accomplished,
Then by the help of my maidens—the reckless and impudent creatures—
Coming upon me by stealth they surprised me, and loudly reproached me.
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Thus was I forced, though sorely unwilling, to finish the labour.
Now can I neither escape from a marriage, nor yet am I able
Further device to discover; and urgently also my parents
Bid me to marry; and vexed is my son as they waste his possessions;
Yes, for he knows is already a man, and is capable fully
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Care to bestow on his home: such glory the Father vouchsafes him.
Navy but I beg thee to tell me the race to the which thou belongest.
Not from a rock thou art sprung nor the ancient fabulous oak-tree."
Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
"Lady and consort revered of Odysseus the son of Laertes,
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Never, methinks, thou'lt weary of asking me after my kindred.
Well, I will tell thee the truth—though verily pain it will cause me
More than the pain that I feel, as is ever the way when a mortal
Such long years as myself from the land of his birth is an exile,
Visiting many a city of strangers and suffering hardships.
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Yet e'en so I will answer thy question and all thou hast asked me.
There is a land called Crete in the midst of the wine-dark ocean,
Fertile and fair, girt round by the water, with people upon it
Many—a numberless host; and ninety the towns they inhabit.
Mixed is the speech of the tongues of the diverse races—Achaeans,
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True-born Cretans, a race high-hearted, Cydonian people,
Long-plumed Dorian folk and the heaven-descended Pelasgi.
One of the towns, and the greatest, is Cnosus, the city that Minos
Ruled nine years; and he shared in the counsels of Zeus the Almighty.
Minos' son, and my father, was Deucalion the heroic.
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Also by Deucalion prince Idomeneus was begotten.
He was my brother; he sailed with the crook-beaked vessels to Troyland,
Following Atreus' sons. He was better at arms and was elder;
I, who was younger, was called by the name right famous of Aethon.
There I Odysseus beheld: as my guest I received him with presents.
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Unto the island of Crete he was borne by the might of the storm-wind
While he was steering for Troy, swept southward afar from Malea.
So in Amnisus he stayed, by the cavern of Eileithyia.
Hard is the haven to win, and he barely escaped from the tempest.
Then to the city of Cnosus he came and he asked for my brother,
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Saying that Idomeneus was a friend whom he loved and respected.
Ay but already the tenth or eleventh morn had arisen
Since in the crook-beaked ships he had sailed for the land of the Trojans.
So to the house I invited Odysseus and treated him kindly,
Offering freely of all the abundant wealth of the homestead.
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Also I gave him and all of the men that had followed him thither
Presents collected in public of glittering wine and of barley,
Oxen moreover to slaughter for feasts to their souls' satisfaction.
Ten days long in the port were prisoned the godlike Achaeans,
Penned by the hurricane North, that permitted not even on dry land
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Any to stand on his feet; for a hostile deity roused it.
Then on the thirteenth morning it fell, and at once they departed."
Thus in the likeness of truth he related a tissue of falsehood.
Meantime weeping she listened, her cheeks all flooded with teardrops,
Like to the snow when it melteth away from the heights of the mountains,
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Thawed by the breath of the Eurus—the snow that the Zephyr hath sprinkled.
E'en as it melteth and filleth with water the beds of the rivers,
Thus was her beautiful face all flooded with tears as she listened,
Mourning the death of her husband—who sat at her side; and Odysseus,
Touched to the heart by the grief of his wife, felt tender compassion;
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Yet did his eyes keep fixed, as of horn they had been or of iron,
Motionless under the lids. Tears came, but he skilfully hid them.
Now when at last she had taken her fill of her tears and lamenting
Once more found she the words for an answer, and thus she addressed him:
"Friend—for a friend I will call thee—to test thee is now my intention,
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Whether in sooth he was there with his valiant comrades, and whether
Truly my husband was welcomed as guest in thy halls, as thou sayest.
Tell me exactly, I pray, of the raiment he wore on his body;
Tell me the manner of man that he seemed and his followers also."
Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
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"Lady, to answer is hard, for I never again was anigh him
These long years and already methinks full twenty they number
Since he departed and sailed from the shores of my native country.
Yet e'en so can I tell how still in my heart he is imaged.
Purple and thick was the cloak that was worn by the godlike Odysseus,
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Twofold, knit by a brooch that was fashioned of gold and was furnished
Doubly with sockets for pins; and the front was embossed with a picture :
Here was a hound that was holding a dappled fawn with his forefeet,
Watching it struggle; and all that beheld were greatly astonished
How, though golden, the hound kept watching the fawn as he choked it,
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While in the longing to win an escape with the legs it was writhing.
Further, I noticed the tunic he wore: 'twas of linen that glister'd
Like to the delicate skin that is peeled from a shrivelling onion;
Such was the softness thereof; and it gleamed as the sun in his glory.
Verily many a woman that saw it was filled with amazement.
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Also a thing I will say, which carefully mark and consider :
Whether at home such garment was worn by Odysseus I know not;
Haply he got it as gift from a friend when he mounted the vessel,
Or from a stranger perhaps for of many a man did Odysseus
Win the affection, and few were like him among the Achaeans.
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I too gave him a present—a dagger of bronze and a tunic
Beautiful, purple of colour and fringed with a border of tassels.
Also with honour I brought him aboard of his well-decked vessel.
Then, I remember, a herald—his elder in years by a little—
Alway attended him; ay, I can also describe his appearance:
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Round in the shoulders and dark in his skin, and with hair that was curly.
Eurybatés was his name, and of all of his comrades Odysseus
Honoured him most, for the man had a mind that was like to the master's."
Thus as he spake to a longing for tears still more he aroused her,
Since in her heart she confessed that the token was sure that he gave her.
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Now when at last she had sated her soul with her tearful lamenting,
Once more finding the words for an answer she spake and addressed him :
"Stranger, before it was only thy misery moved my compassion;
Now as a friend I shall welcome and honour thee here in my homestead.
Yes—these garments, I gave them myself—just such as thou sayest—
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Folded I carried them forth from my room, and the glittering brooch too
Added to serve as adornment. But, ah, no more shall I see him!
Ne'er shall I welcome him home to the well-loved land of his fathers;
Navy, for I know to his doom in the hollow ship he departed
Sailing for Ilion, city of doom, name ne'er to be uttered."
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Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
"Lady and consort revered of Odysseus the son of Laertes,
Waste no longer with weeping thy beautiful body, nor sorrow,
Wearing thy spirit away, for thy lord!—Though scarce can I blame thee;
Every woman is fain to lament when she loseth her husband,
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One who loved her in youth and has made her the mother of children,
Though not a man as Odysseus, the equal, they say, of immortals.
Stay howbeit thy tears and consider my words, I beseech thee.
This I can tell thee for certain, nor longer I wish to conceal it,
Touching thy husband's return that I heard of Odysseus but lately,
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Not in a far-off land but the rich Thesprotian country,
Ay and alive; and he brings full many a beautiful treasure,
Gifts that he got by request from the people. His trusty companions
All he has lost, and his hollow ship, on the wine-dark ocean,
While he was leaving the isle Thrinacia—since they had angered
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Zeus and the sun-god Eëlios; for they slaughtered his oxen.
All of them perished, entombed in the fathomless surges of ocean—
All but himself; he was borne on the keel of his ship to the dry land,
Land of a nation akin to the gods, Phaeacian people.
These right heartily welcomed and honoured him like an immortal,
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Giving him many a gift; and they wished of themselves to convoy him
Safely again to his home, and Odysseus had verily been here
Long since, only it seemed to his mind more prudent and better
Wealth to collect as he journeyed around through many a country,
Since more wily and gainful devices than others of mortals
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Knoweth Odysseus; on earth there lives not his equal in cunning.
Now it was this that I heard from the King of Thesprotia, Pheidon:
Oft he assured me on oath, as he poured in his hall a libation,
Dragged to the sea was the ship, and the crew of the rowers was ready,
Waiting to carry him home to the well-loved land of his fathers.
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Me ere this he despatched—for it chanced that a vessel was sailing,
Manned with Thesprotian folk, to the island of bountiful harvests
Dulichium; and he showed me the wealth that Odysseus had gathered,
Treasures sufficient to feed one's heirs to the tenth generation;
Such was the wealth that Odysseus had stored in the halls of the monarch.
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Now he was gone, I was told, to Dodona, to list to the counsel
Zeus from the thick-leaved height of his oak might utter to guide him
So as to win once more to the well-loved land of his fathers
Whence so long he is missed, whether open his coming or secret.
Thus, as I say, he is safe; ere long thou'lt learn his arrival;
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Yea he is even at hand, nor afar from his friends and his homeland
Long will he tarry—And yet, I will give thee an oath to confirm it.
First then witness it Zeus, of immortals the highest and strongest,
Yea and the hearth to the which I am come of the noble Odysseus,
Verily all these things that I tell thee will find a fulfilment.
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While this year on its path still circles return shall Odysseus,
Even as this moon dies and the new-born moon is appearing."
Him forthwith gave answer the wise-souled Penelopeia:
"Stranger, I pray for the word thou hast spoken to find a fulfilment;
Then shalt thou speedily find both friendship and many a present
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Come from me—such that whoever shall meet thee will hold thee as blesséd.
Ah but in this wise bodeth my spirit, and thus it will happen :
Ne'er shall Odysseus return to his home, and ne'er shalt thou gain thee
Escort hence for the house now lacketh a lord and a master
Such as Odysseus when living amidst us if e'er he was living—
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Ready to welcome and honour a guest and to speed him at parting.
Hearken, my maids—ye shall wash this stranger and place him a bedstead.
Strew it with bedding—a mattress and wrappers and glistering blankets,
So that he lie right warm till the fair-throned morn shall awake him.
Mind at the dawning of day to prepare him a bath and anoint him;
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Then at the table with Telemachus let his seat be provided
Here in the hall—'Twill be worse for the fellow, whoe'er of the suitors
Harms him or wantonly vexes his soul. No longer shall such one
Here find profit, although full sorely his spirit be angered.
Navy, O stranger... for how wilt thou ever discern me a woman
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Better than others in good understanding and thoughtful devices,
Should I allow thee unwashed and unkempt and in sorry apparel
Here to be seated as guest in my hall? Short-lived is a mortal.
Every one who is hard in his nature and hard in his actions,
All men call down curses upon him and long for his ruin
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While he is living; as soon as he dieth they merrily mock him.
Every one who is blameless in nature and blameless in action,
Widely is spread his repute by the guests he hath kindly entreated
E'en to the ends of the earth, and by many is lauded his goodness."
Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
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"Lady and consort revered of Odysseus the son of Laertes,
Verily unto my soul have wrappers and glistering blankets
Hateful appeared from the day when the snow-clad mountains of Creta
Faded from sight as I voyaged from thence on the long-oared vessel.
Navy, I will lie as so often I lay all sleepless till daybreak,
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Since full many a night on a bed unspeakably wretched
Have I reclined and awaited the fair-throned beautiful morning.
Also the bathing of feet delighteth my heart as aforetime
Now no longer, and never my foot shall be touched by a woman,
Any of all of the maidens who work in thy palace as servants,
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Save peradventure a dame right agéd, devoted and loyal,
One that has learnt in her heart to endure much sorrow, as I have.
Should such woman be present I would not forbid her to bathe me."
Him forthwith gave answer the wise-souled Penelopeia:
"Stranger belovéd—for ne'er was a man more full of discretion,
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None more worthy of love that has come as a guest to my homestead—
Such is the wisdom and prudence thou showest in all thou hast spoken.
Truly an ancient attendant I own, full sage and discerning,
One who was nurse to my lord—ill-fated Odysseus; she reared him,
Yea in her arms she received him as soon as his mother had borne him
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She will provide thee a bath for the feet, though agéd and feeble.
Come now, rise at my bidding, thou wise-souled Eurycleia !
Bathe this man. He is like to thy master in age; and Odysseus
Now is perhaps just such in his hands and his feet as this stranger,
Since that a man grows old full soon if he meeteth misfortune."
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Thus did she speak, and her agéd attendant, bitterly weeping,
Covered her face with her hands, while words right doleful she uttered :
"Woe to me! Woe for my child! All helpless I mourn thee—of all men
Hated by heaven the most, though pious and heaven revering.
Never did any of mortals to Zeus that delighteth in thunder
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Offerings make of the fat thigh-flesh, and of chosen oblations,
Such as thyself wert wont while praying the Father to bring thee
Unto a smooth old age and thy glorious son to his manhood;
Yet hath he taken from thee—thee only the day of returning.
Yea and MCF as e'en thus in an alien people the women
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Mocked him whenever he came to the far-famed house of a chieftain,
Even as here thou art mocked by the women—the impudent creatures.
Ay and to shun their taunts and their ceaseless insults thou willst not
These should bathe thee; but, lo, I am ready to do as my mistress
Bids me, the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelopeia.
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Gladly thy feet will I wash—not only for Penelopeia,
Navy, but for thine own sake; for the heart in my bosom with pity
Deeply is moved. Moreover, attentively mark what I tell thee:
Many a wayworn stranger arrives at the palace, but never
Mortal I saw so like to another as here is the likeness—
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So in thy form and thy voice and thy feet thou art like to Odysseus."
Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
"True, old lady—and thus says every one that beheld us
Me and Odysseus : exceedingly like is the one to the other;
So 'tis affirmed—as thyself moreover hast noted and told me."
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Thus did he speak, and the old nurse, taking a glittering basin
Used for the washing of feet, poured into it plentiful water,
Firstly the cold—then added a beaker of warm; and Odysseus
Sat by the hearth; but his face he had suddenly turned to the darkness,
Struck by the fear lest while that she handled his body the woman,
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Seeing the scar, might know him, and all might then be discovered.
So she approached, and she set her to wash him—her lord; and she straightway
Knew him, perceiving the wound that a boar's white tusk had inflicted
Once when he went to Parnassus to visit the sire of his mother,
Autolycus and his sons—brave prince, who in craft was unrivalled,
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Skilled in the taking of oaths, and deceits that a deity taught him,
Even Hermeias himself; for he burnt well-pleasing oblations,
Thighs of the lambs and the kids, and the god vouchsafed him his favour.
Now it had chanced, when he came to the fertile Ithacan country,
Autolycus found there with a new-born infant his daughter.
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Him laid Eurycleia the nurse on the knees of his grandsire
E'en as he ended his supper, and turned to the prince and addressed him:
"Autolycus, now think of the name that thou willst to be given
Unto the son of thy daughter—the darling that long she has prayed for."
Then prince Autolycus upraising his voice made answer:
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"Daughter, and lord of my daughter, a name I will tell you to give him.
Hither, behold, I am come much angered at many a mortal,
Many a man and a woman on earth which nourisheth all things;
Wherefore name him Odysseus, 'The Angered'; moreover I promise,
Should he arrive at his manhood, and come to the home of his mother,
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Even the palace that lies on Parnassus amid my possessions,
Out of my wealth I will make him a gift and dismiss him rejoicing."
So to receive from the prince these glorious presents Odysseus
Come to Parnassus, and Autolycus and the sons of the chieftain
Offered him greeting with grasp of the hand and with words of affection;
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Amphitheë moreover, his mother's mother, embraced him,
Giving him kisses on both of his beautiful eyes and his forehead.
Autolycus now ordered his sons, the illustrious princes,
Quickly a meal to prepare; and they hastily did as he bade them.
Bringing a five-year male from the herd of the cattle, they killed it,
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Flayed it and deftly prepared it—divided the whole of the carcass,
Skilfully chopped it in pieces and spitted the pieces on skewers.
Then, when with care it was roasted and ready, they portioned the messes.
Thus then all of the day, till the sun sank down in the ocean,
Feasting they sat, and their souls lacked nought in the plentiful banquet,
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Till, when the sun went down and come was the gloom of the twilight,
Weary they laid us to sleep and accepted the blessing of slumber.
Now when the morning was newly arisen, the roseate-fingered,
Forthwith gat them away to the chase both dogs and their masters,
Sons of the prince, old Autolycus; and the godlike Odysseus
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Went with them. Soon they arrived at the woodclad slopes of the mountain,
Even Parnassus, and entered at once in the wind-swept gorges,
Just as the sun with his light new-risen was smiting the cornfields,
Mounting on high from the placid and fathomless depths of the ocean.
Then at a glade of the woodland the beaters arrived, and before them
435
Onward the dogs spread, scenting a trail, and the sons of the chieftain
Followed behind, and amidst of them all went godlike Odysseus
Close to the dogs, and his quivering spear in his hand he was swaying.
Here was a monstrous boar, that had made him a lair in the thicket,
Whither the might of the wind ne'er breathed through laden with moisture,
440
Neither did ever the sun with the shafts of his radiance pierce it,
Nor did the rain drip through it at all, so deep in the covert
Hid was the lair of the boar; and of leaves was a plentiful downfall.
Soon did the sound of the feet of the dogs and the beaters arouse him
Nearer approaching. He rushed from the depths of the thicket to meet them.
445
Every bristle erect, and his eyes all flaming, he stood there
Facing them. Then to advance was the first and the foremost Odysseus.
Lifting his long sharp spear in his powerful hand, he attacked him,
Eagerly trying to stab; but the boar, too quick for him, lashed out
Sideways, striking him over the knee with the tusk; and it ripped through
450
Much of the flesh; but as far as the bone of the man it attained not.
Then by Odysseus was smitten the boar: on the right, by the shoulder,
Struck him and passed clean through him the point of the glittering spear-blade.
Over he rolled in the dust with a scream, and fled was his spirit.
Autolycus' dear sons then busied them over the carcass;
455
Also they tended the wound of the valiant godlike Odysseus—
Bound it with skill, and the dark red blood with a song of enchantment
Staunched; and at once they returned to the home of their well-loved father.
Here did the prince old Autolycus and the sons of the chieftain
Carefully see to his healing, and offered him glorious presents;
460
Soon too, lovingly speeding his willing departure, they sent him
Back to the Ithacan isle; and his mother, the queen, and his father
Joyed to behold him returned to his home, and they asked him of all things—
Questioned him how he had come by the wound; and he duly related
How by the glittering tusk of a boar he was struck on Parnassus,
465
When with the sons of the chief, prince Autolycus, he was hunting.
Now as the flat of her hand passed o'er it, the agéd attendant
Knew it at once by the touch. Down dropt she the foot she was holding.
PATTEN WILSON.
THE RECOGNITION OF ODYSSEUS BY EURYCLEIA
On to the edge of the basin the leg struck sharply. The vessel
Clattered and rang as it fell on its side, upsetting the water.
470
Joy overwhelmed her together with grief, while gathering teardrops
Flooded her eyes, and the flow of her clear-voiced utterance failed her.
Then, to the chin of Odysseus uplifting her hand, she addressed him:
"Yea, thou art truly Odysseus—my child ! my beloved ! my master!
Nor did I know thee until I had handled the whole of thy body!"
475
E'en as she spake she was eagerly glancing at Penelopeia,
Wishing to tell her that here in his home was her own dear husband.
Yet was her mistress unable to answer her look or to note it,
Since that the goddess Athena diverted her mind ; and Odysseus
Groped with his right for the throat of the woman and clutched it and held it,
480
While with the other he drew her anigh him and spake to her saying:
"Nurse, dost thou wish to destroy me—the child thou didst tenderly nourish
Here on thy breast—when at last, all perils and sufferings ended,
Now in the twentieth year I am come to the land of my fathers?
Since thou art ware of the truth (for a god to thy heart hath revealed it)
485
Keep thou silence—that none in the palace suspect it beside thee.
This moreover I say 'twill certainly find a fulfilment—
Should God grant me to vanquish the arrogant suitors, not even
Thee will I spare, fond nurse of my childhood, whenever the others
Here in my halls I shall slay—those faithless ones of the handmaids."
490
Him forthwith gave answer the wise-souled Eurycleia :
"Navy but my child, what word by the door of thy lips hath escaped thee!
Surely thou knowest how strong is my will and unbending my spirit.
Firm I will keep me—as firm and as rigid as stone or as iron.
Also a thing will I say, which carefully mark and remember :
495
Should God grant it indeed that thou vanquish the arrogant suitors,
Then I will tell thee of all concerning the maids in the palace,
Which of them honour thee not and which are guiltless among them."
Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
"Nurse, why talkst thou of these? It is nowise needful to tell me.
500
Well shall I mark them and learn to distinguish the one from the other.
Keep such words to thyself! Leave all to the gods, and be silent!"
Thus did he speak; and the nurse passed forth from the hall to procure her
Water again for his feet; for the whole he had spilt of the other.
So, when at last he was bathed and anointed with oil of the olive,
505
Nearer again to the hearth drew up with his settle Odysseus,
Wishing to warm him, and covered the scar with his ragged apparel.
Then to the lights he attended, and nigh to the glow of the braziers
"Stranger, for mine own sake still one slight question I ask thee.
Soon will be coming for all the delectable season of slumber,
510
Coming for all whom sweet sleep visits in spite of their sorrows,
While for myself.. it was sorrow unending a deity sent me.
All day long I am soothing my spirit with weeping and wailing,
While I attend to my work and the tasks of my maids in the palace.
Then, when the darkness is come and all are buried in slumber,
515
Sleepless I lie on my couch with a close-thronged heart, and around it
Stinging anxieties swarm and distress me amidst of my mourning.
E'en as the daughter of Pandareüs, pale-plumaged Aëdon,
Singeth her exquisite song when the season of spring is advancing,
Out of her hidden retreat in the midst of the clustering branches
520
Pouring with many a varying note her melodious music,
While she bewaileth the darling she slew in her ignorant madness,
Itylus—even her child, whose father was Zethus the monarch;
Thus too wavers my spirit and swaying to this and to that side
Biddeth me now to remain with my son, protecting securely
525
All my possessions and slaves and the high-roofed halls of my homestead,
Paying respect to the bed of my lord and the voice of the people;
Then it will bid me to follow the man who of all the Achaeans
Proveth the best of the suitors and offereth numberless presents.
Touching my son—so long as he still was a child and was thoughtless
530
Never he wished me to wed and abandon the home of my husband;
Now he is grown; and as soon as he reached full measure of manhood
Straight he began to beseech me to go—to depart from the palace—
Angered in heart at the waste of his wealth by the princes Achaean.
Now will I beg thee to list to a dream that I dreamt, and to rede it.
535
Geese, some twenty in number, I keep at the house, and they feed on
Wheat that I put in the water; and watching them giveth me pleasure.
Once, from the mountain descending, an eagle, enormous and hook-beaked,
Heaves them by seizing and breaking the necks of them all; and they lay there
Strewn in a heap in the court, while soaring to heaven he vanished.
540
Then, as I wept and lamented aloud (although I was dreaming),
Hurriedly gathered around me the fair-tressed maids of Achaea,
Hearing me bitterly wail for my geese all killed by the eagle.
Swiftly howbeit returning he sat on the end of a roof-beam,
Whence with the voice of a man he addressed me and stayed me from weeping :
545
'Daughter of far-famed Icarius, take courage! I bring thee
No mere dream but a vision of truth that will find a fulfilment.
Lo these geese—they betoken the suitors; and I, that as eagle
Firstly appeared in thy dream, am returned to thee now as thy husband,
Yea and will bring down fearful destruction on all of the suitors.'
550
Thus as he spake, from its spell sweet slumber released me, and straightway
Peering around I perceived that my geese were still in the courtyard
Greedily eating the corn at the side of the trough, as aforetime."
Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
"None, O lady, I ween, were able the dream to interpret
555
Elsewise wresting its meaning, for truly Odysseus in person
Telleth thee how he shall bring it to pass. Doom threatens the suitors,
All of them. None shall escape from his lot and the death that awaits him."
Him forthwith gave answer the wise-souled Penelopeia:
"Stranger, a dream is a thing right difficult, hard to interpret;
560
Neither is all that we dream oft certain to find a fulfilment.
Twain are fabled the gates of the shadowy visions of Dreamland,
One of them fashioned of horn, and of ivory fashioned the other.
Every vision that passeth the white sawn ivory portal
Lightly deceives, and the message it bringeth is never accomplished;
565
All which pass to the earth by the gate smooth-polished of ox-horn
Smoothly accomplish the truth, so oft as a mortal beholds them.
Never howbeit from thence (do I fear) did my wonderful vision
Come to me; else to myself and my son 'twere joyfully welcome.
Also a thing will I say, which carefully mark and remember :
570
Soon will be here the detestable dawn that will cut me for ever
Hence, from the home of Odysseus. I purpose to summon a contest,
Using the axes that here in the hall he has often erected,
Set in a row as the ribs of a vessel, a dozen in number.
Placing him then at a distance he shot through all with his arrow.
575
Now am I minded to offer this trial of skill to the suitors.
Who with his hands most easily stringeth the bow of Odysseus,
Should he be able to shoot clean through all twelve of the axes,
Him I shall follow as wife, and shall bid farewell to this mansion,
Beautiful, beautiful home of my girlhood, abounding in comfort—
580
Home that I often in future, methinks, in my dreams shall remember."
Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus :
"Lady and consort revered of Odysseus the son of Laertes,
Make no further delay with this trial of skill in thy homestead,
Seeing that verily soon will return deep-plotting Odysseus
585
Ere by the men, as in vain with the bow smooth-polished they fumble,
Stretched is the string on the notch and the iron is pierced by an arrow."
Him forthwith gave answer the wise-souled Penelopeia:
"Shouldst thou be willing to sit at my side in the hall and delight me,
Never the whole of the night would slumber descend on my eyelids.
590
Sleep howbeit we must; for to live and to lack it is able
None of mankind; such fate is allotted by heaven to mortals,
Every wight that is dwelling on earth, rich giver of harvests.
So I shall mount to my upper apartment, and there, when I enter,
Lay me again on the bed that is ever the place of my groanings,
595
Watered so oft by my tears from the day that Odysseus departed
Sailing to Ilion, city of doom, name ne'er to be uttered.
There I shall lay me to rest. Do thou lay thee to sleep in the palace.
Strew thee a bed on the ground; or the maidens shall place thee a bedstead."
These words spoken she went to her glistering upper apartment
600
Neither alone did she go: she was followed by all of her maidens.
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.
“Euryclea Discovers Ulysses” (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.