ODYSSEY BOOK IV
FAIR Lacedaemon they reached, embosomed in cavernous mountains.
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Here to the mansion they drave of the far-famed prince Menelaus.
Him in his palace they found in the midst of a throng of his kindred
Holding a marriage feast for his peerless son and his daughter,
Sending her forth to the son of Achilles, the router of cohorts,
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Whom long since in the land of the Trojans he promised the maiden,
Vowing to give her; and heaven was now completing the marriage.
Her was he sending with cars and with chariot-horses to journey
Unto the city renown'd of the Myrmidons, where he was chieftain.
Also a bride he was taking—Alector's daughter, of Sparta—
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Unto his son, the beloved and stalwart youth Megapenthes,
Born of a slave for to Helen an offspring never was granted
After she once gave birth to a daughter of exquisite beauty,
Hermione, who was fair as the Queen Aphrodite the golden.
Thus were holding a feast in the high-roofed halls of the palace
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Neighbours and all of the kin of the far-famed prince Menelaus,
Making them merry; amidst them a godlike singer was singing
Unto the sound of the harp; and aye as his song was beginning
Went two tumblers whirling around in the midst of the feasters.
Meanwhile reaching the gate of the palace the twain with their horses,
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Nestor's glorious son and Telemachus the heroic,
Halted, and here came forth and beheld them the lord Eteoneus,
Ever-alert attendant of far-famed King Menelaus;
Hurrying back to the house to report to the prince of the people,
Close to his side he approached, and swift-winged words he addressed him:
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"Guests be arrived, unknown—O Zeus-loved King Menelaus!—
Two be the men, and like to the offspring of Zeus the Almighty.
Say, shall we loose from the yokes for the men their fleet-paced horses,
Or shall we send them away where others shall give them reception?"
Sorely displeased gave answer the fair-haired prince Menelaus:
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"Ne'er did I deem thee a fool, Boëthous' son, Eteoneus,
—Never till now; but behold, it is childish folly thou pratest.
Verily both of us often as guests at the table of others
Ate of their bread ere safely we landed—if truly in safety
Zeus will protect us from evils to come. Go, loosen the horses;
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Then to the hall lead forward the strangers to share in the banquet."
Thus did he speak, and the man from the hall went busily hasting,
Calling on other alert attendants and bidding them follow.
These then, loosing from under the yoke all sweating the horses,
Carefully fastened them both in the stall, each one at a manger,
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Poured out spelt in the manger and mixed it with glittering barley,
Tilted the chariot up to the smooth white wall of the courtyard,
Then with the strangers returned to the wonderful house; and with marvel
Gazing around them they entered the home of the Zeus-loved monarch.
For, as the sheen of the sun or the moon, there floated a glory
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Over the high-roofed palace of far-famed King Menelaus.
Then, when at last they had sated their eyes with the pleasure of gazing,
Straightway into a bath well polished they entered and bathed them.
Now when the women had washed them and rubbed them with oil of the olive,
Round them they cast soft mantles of wool and doublets and led them
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Into the hall; and they seated them nigh Menelaus Atrides.
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 them wash, and she stationed a polished table beside him.
Then did a grave house-dame bring bread and lay it before him,
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Lavishly adding thereto from her stores full many a dainty.
Carrying platters aloft came also a carver and offered
Dishes of various meats; and gold-wrought goblets he gave them.
Then to the strangers a greeting addressed fair-haired Menelaus:
"Now partake of the food, and be welcome heartily! Later,
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After the supper is done, we shall ask your names and inform us
Whence your descent—for in neither is perished the blood of the parent;
Both are surely the children of chieftains nurtured by heaven,
Bearers of sceptres. By churls were suchlike never begotten."
These words spoken he took rich meat and placed it beside them,
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Roast of the chine of an ox that was served for himself as an honour.
Then did they stretch forth hands to the food that was lying before them.
Now when at last they had lost all longing for meat and the wine-cup,
Telemachus then turned him to Nestor's son and addressed him,
Holding his head right close, to be noticed of none of the others:
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"Nestor's son, dear friend, the delight of my heart, I beseech thee,
Mark but the flashing of bronze in the echoing halls of the palace,
Ay and of ivory too, and of amber, of gold and of silver.
Such, I believe, inside is the mansion of Zeus on Olympus!
Riches unending! Amazement possesseth me while I behold it."
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Thus as he spake it was noted of fair-haired prince Menelaus;
Wherefore lifting his voice these swift-winged words he addressed them :
"Nay, dear children, with Zeus to compete none dareth of mortals;
Lasting for ever and ever remain his mansion and riches.
Whether a mortal exists that can rival my treasures I know not;
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Possible were it; but far did I wander and sorely I suffered
Bringing them home in my ships, and the eighth year saw my arrival.
Even to Cyprus I came and to Phoenicé and to Egypt;
Aethiop tribes I beheld, and Erembian; visited Sidon,
Libya too, where lambs from their birth bear horns on the forehead;
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Here do the flocks thrice yean in the year's complete revolution;
Never is lacking abundance to any—to lord or to shepherd—
Either of sweet white milk, or of flesh for the table, or cheeses;
Such an unfailing supply is afforded by flocks to the milker.
While that in these far lands I was journeying, gathering riches,
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Wandering widely, another had meantime murdered my brother,
Caught unawares by the craft of his wife—that woman accursed :
Thus do I feel no joy in the wealth whereof I am master.
Ah but, I trow, these things ye have heard your fathers recounting,
Whosoever they be, for immense was the woe that I suffered,
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Even the loss of a home right happy and wealth in abundance.
Would that I dwelt in a homestead with only a part of my riches,
Yea with a third, and that still were living the heroes who perished
There on the plain of the Troad afar from the pastures of Argos.
Still, though all of the men I bewail and am ever lamenting,
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Ofttimes thinking thereon as I sit in the halls of my palace,
Bidding my soul for awhile to delight in her sorrow, and sometimes
Bidding her cease (since soon one wearies of chill lamentation),
None of them all howbeit I mourn, though sorely I miss them,
So as I grieve for the one—whose memory brings me abhorrence
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Even of food and of sleep; for of all of the sons of Achaea
None could dare and endure as Odysseus; but destiny gave him
Many a woe, and to me this inconsolable sorrow,
Sorrow for one that is vanished away long years, and we know not
Whether he lives or is dead; and I ween that at home they bewail him,
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Aged Laertes his sire, and the true-souled Penelopeia,
Yea and Telemachus, whom he left as a babe in his homestead."
Thus did he speak, and a longing to wail in the youth was awakened,
While at the name of his sire from his eye there trickled a teardrop.
Hastily then uplifting his mantle of purple, he held it
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Close to his face with his hands; which marking the prince Menelaus
Doubtfully mused for a while in the depths of his mind and his spirit,
Whether to leave him alone and allow him to mention his father,
Or to begin forthwith and with questions straitly to test him.
Thus as he mused and revolved such things in his mind and his spirit,
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Out of the fragrant recess of a high-roofed chamber appearing
Helen approached—like Artemis, goddess of glittering arrows.
Set was her well-wrought chair by her maiden attendant Adrasté,
While by Alcippe a wrapper was carried of delicate sheep-wool;
Phylo carried a basket of silver, a present to Helen
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Given by Polybus' wife, Alcandré, dwelling in Thebae,
City of Egypt, the houses whereof hold many a treasure.
Polybus gave to the prince two bathing-vessels of silver,
Two great tripods as well, and of gold ten talents he gave him.
Also his consort bestowed right beautiful presents on Helen,
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Even a distaff of gold, and a fine-wrought basket of silver
Standing on wheels; but in gold were finished the rims of the basket.
This was the one now placed at her side by the maiden attendant
Laden with yarn well-dressed for the spinning, and o'er it the distaff
Lay outstretched with its wool dark-dyed of a violet colour.
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So she reclined on the chair; and below for her feet was a footstool.
Straightway then to her husband she spake and questioned him closely:
"Know we at all these men, Zeus-foster'd king Menelaus?
What is the race they avow, these strangers that visit thy palace?
Should I dissemble, or speak what is true? I am minded to speak it.
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Never before, I affirm, did I see such likeness in mortal,
Whether in woman or man (it amazeth me while I behold it),
Such as the youth here bears to the son of the noble Odysseus,
Telemachus, who was left as a newborn child in the homestead,
While that his father and ye the Achaeans for sake of a wanton,
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Even myself, came boldly assailing the town of the Trojans."
Her then in answer addressed these words fair-haired Menelaus:
"Verily now I perceive, O lady, the likeness thou notest.
Such were truly the hands and the feet of the hero Odysseus;
Such was the glance of his eyes, and also his hair and his forehead.
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Ay and behold, just now, as I spake concerning Odysseus,
Calling to mind how sorely he toiled and suffered affliction
All for my sake, from the eyes of the youth there trickled a teardrop;
Hastily then to his face he uplifted his mantle of purple."
Him then addressing did Nestor's son Peisistratus answer:
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"Captain of warrior hosts, Zeus-loved Menelaus Atrides,
Verily this is indeed, as thou sayest, the son of Odysseus;
Lowly however he beareth his spirit and holds it unseemly
Now on his early arrival to utter presumptuous language
Here in the presence of one whose voice as a god's doth enchant us.
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Touching myself, I was sent by the knight Gerenian Nestor
Him to attend on his journey as guide for he longed to behold thee,
Hoping to hear thee suggest some counsel for word or for action.
Many a trouble and grief, when a father is gone from the homestead,
Falls on a son, if he lacketh another to help and defend him.
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Telemachus has it thus for his father is vanished, and no one,
None in the land of his birth, can he find to protect him from ruin."
Him then in answer addressed these words fair-haired Menelaus:
"Verily now 'tis the son of a friend that is come to my palace,
One that hath borne for the sake of myself full many a trial!
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Great was my longing to welcome him home as I welcomed no other,
None of the Argives, had Zeus the Olympian, god of the thunder,
Granted us both to return with the swift ships over the ocean.
Then had I found him a city in Argos and made him a homestead,
Bidding him come with his goods and his child from the Ithacan island,
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Ay and with all of his people—A town I had emptied of dwellers,
One of the towns in the region anigh, of the which I am chieftain.
Here had we oft foregathered in friendship, and nothing had ever
Parted us, each one loving and happy in love of the other,
Till at the last with its shadow the darkness of death overwhelmed us.
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All howbeit was fated, I ween, and the envy of heaven
Cut from the one poor mortal the hope of return to his homeland."
Thus did he speak, and a longing to wail in them all he awakened:
Weeping was Argive Helen, the daughter of Zeus the Almighty;
Weeping was Telemachus, and prince Menelaus Atrides;
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Neither did Nestor's son keep tearless eyes as he listened,
Deep in his spirit recalling the thought of the hero unrivalled
Antilochus, who was slain by the glorious son of the Morning.
Thinking thereon, to the monarch with swift-winged words he addressed him :
"Atreus' son, of thy wisdom, surpassing the wisdom of mortals,
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Ancient Nestor was wont to recount us, if e'er in his palace
Mention was made of thy name and we plied each other with questions.
Now too follow my counsel, if possible—since, as I hold it,
Wailing amidst of a banquet is far from a pleasure, and daylight
Soon will be dawning. I blame not indeed nor resent as unseemly
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Weeping for one who is dead—whose destined doom is accomplished.
This is the one last due we can offer to pitiful mortals,
Even the cutting of hair and the falling from cheeks of the teardrop.
I too mourn for the lost—for a brother that died—of the Argives
None of the worst; and methinks thou'rt like to have known him; for my part
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Ne'er did I meet or behold him; but ever of all was the foremost
Antilochus, it is said, unrivalled in speed and in fighting."
Him then in turn gave answer the fair-haired prince Menelaus:
"Friend, thou speak'st as a man endowed with the spirit of wisdom
Well might speak and perform—yea, even a man that is elder.
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Seeing that such is thy father, to speak thus wisely becomes thee.
Easily known is the child of a man whom Father Cronion
Destines to bliss on the day of his birth and the day of his marriage.
Such is the fortune that all of his life he hath granted to Nestor,
Yea and allots him a smooth old age in the halls of his homestead,
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Blesséd in sons so wise and all unrivalled as spearmen.
Now let us, putting away this sadness that lately befell us,
Mind us again of the feast. Let a page bring water and pour it
Over the hands. In the morn we shall find full many a story,
Telemachus and myself, to recount each one to the other."
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Thus did he speak and Asphalion on the hands poured water,
Ever-alert attendant of far-famed prince Menelaus.
Then did they stretch forth hands to the food that was lying before them.
Meantime Helen the daughter of Zeus planned other devices,
Casting a drug in the wine from the which were drinking the feasters.
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Soother of pain is the drug, and of wrath, and of every sorrow;
Whosoe'er should swallow a draught thus mixed in a wine-bowl,
Not for the space of a day on his cheeks would trickle a teardrop,
Not if his father himself should die or the mother that bare him,
Nay not e'en if his brother be slain, or the son that he loveth
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Fall by the edge of the sword, and he see them dying before him.
Many a suchlike drug, both potent and kindly, did Helen
Gain from the consort of Thon, Polydamna, a woman of Egypt.
(Here doth the fertile soil breed potent plants in abundance,
Many benign, thus mixed as a potion, and many malignant.
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Every dweller in Egypt moreover surpasseth as healer
Others of mortals; for truly the folk is the race of Paeon.)
So when the potion was mingled she bade bear forth to the drinkers,
Then once more brake silence, addressing her husband in answer:
"Zeus-loved king Menelaus Atrides, and all of you present,
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Sons of illustrious sires (It is God who to this or to that one
Giveth of good or of evil. To him are possible all things),
Seated remain, I beseech, in the hall, and renewing the banquet
Take ye enjoyment in tales—I will tell one suiting the season.
All of the stories I ne'er can relate, nor e'en can I name them,
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All the adventurous feats of the dauntless-hearted Odysseus;
One will I tell that was dared and was done by the valiant hero
While in the Trojan land ye Achaeans suffered affliction.
Unto disfiguring stripes of the lash he subjected his body;
Then with his shoulders enveloped in pitiful wraps, as a bondman,
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Into the wide-way'd town of the foe he audaciously entered.
Here he assumed the disguise of an utterly different person,
Even a beggar—a part scarce his at the camp of the Grecians.
Thus in the town of the Trojans he entered; nor felt a suspicion
Any but I—for beneath the disguise of the beggar I knew him;
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Ay and I questioned him too; but he met me with crafty evasions.
Lastly, whenas he was bathed and anointed with oil of the olive,
Raiment I gave him to don and the solemn assurance I made him
Not to betray him amidst of the Trojan folk as Odysseus,
Till to the huts of the camp he had come and the swift-winged vessels.
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Then did he clearly inform me of all the designs of the Grecians.
Thus he escaped, and many a Trojan he slew with the broadsword
Ere to the Greeks he was come; and he carried them plentiful tidings.
Then did the women of Troy raise shrill lamentation; but my heart
Joy'd, for already my spirit was changed, and again I was yearning
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Back to my home, and repented the madness that queen Aphrodite
Sent me when thither, afar from my well-loved country, she led me,
Making me part from my child and my marriage-bed and a husband
Lacking in nought—nor gifts of the mind nor beauty of person."
Her then in turn gave answer the fair-haired prince Menelaus:
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“Verily, lady, thou tellest thy tale in an excellent manner.
Many a hero I knew, and his inmost thoughts and his counsels
Carefully marked, and in many a far-off land did I travel,
Yet did I never behold with my eyes such daring in mortal
Like to the inborn courage of dauntless-hearted Odysseus.
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Hear this too that was dared and was done by the valiant hero.
While in the wood-built horse were sitting the chiefs of the Argives,
All of us, plotting to bring on the enemy death and destruction,
Thither anon thou camest. (A deity surely impelled thee,
One that was wishing to grant to the Trojans glory and honour.)
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Godlike Deïphobus came also giving thee escort.
Testing by touch of the fingers the hollow ambush, thou passedst
Thrice all round it, and calling by name on the chiefs of the Argives
Madest thy voice to resemble the voice of a woman of Argos.
Meanwhile Tydeus' son and myself and the godlike Odysseus
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Sat in the midst and listened intent to thy voice as it called us.
Both of us others indeed kept longing to rise and to rush forth
Out of the ambush, or else from within to respond to thy calling;
Only Odysseus opposed our eager excitement and stay'd us.
Then, all silent remaining the rest of the sons of Achaea,
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Anticlus was alone still wishing to give thee an answer,
Ay and he opened his mouth; but Odysseus was sudden and closed it
Firmly with powerful hands, thus saving the lives of the Grecians,
Holding him fast till away thou wast summoned by Pallas Athene."
Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:
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"Captain of warrior hosts, Zeus-loved Menelaus Atrides,
Still more grievous it seems that to hinder his pitiful ending
Nought did avail, though truly within him his heart was of iron.
Now will I beg thee to show us to bed; 'tis the season already
Gladly to lay us to rest and with slumber sweet to delight us."
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Thus did he speak, and Argive Helen commanded her maidens
Under the porch two beds to arrange, and beautiful blankets,
Purple, upon them to cast, and over them coverlets spreading,
Mantles of wool moreover to lay enwrapping them warmly.
So from the hall went quickly the handmaids carrying torches.
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Then, when the beds were strown, with a henchman to guide them the strangers,
Nestor's glorious son and Telemachus the heroic,
Came forth unto the porch in the front of the palace and slept there.
Atreus' son too slept in the innermost room of the mansion,
Long-robed Helen reposing anigh, most lovely of women.
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Now when the morning was newly arisen, the roseate-fingered,
Then from his bed uprose Menelaus good at the war-cry,
Donned his apparel and hung him his keen-edged sword from his shoulder;
Under his smooth-skinned feet then tying his beautiful sandals
Out of his chamber he came as a god immortal in presence;
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Near to Odysseus' son then seating himself he addressed him:
"Hero Telemachus, come say what reason hath brought thee
Hither to fair Lacedaemon across wide wastes of the ocean,
Whether a public affair or a private? Tell me exactly!"
Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:
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"Captain of warrior hosts, Zeus-loved Menelaus Atrides,
Hither for news I am come—hast thou aught to relate—of my father.
Wasted away and devoured is the wealth of my lands and my homestead;
Filled is my palace with foes, who for ever infest it, and slaughter
Sheep of my thick-thronged folds and my shambling, crook-horned cattle;
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Suitors these of my mother, exceedingly insolent mortals.
Wherefore now to thy knees am I come, if perchance thou art able
News of his pitiful death to impart. Peradventure thou sawst it
Even with thine own eyes, or hast heard some tale from another,
One who had wandered—for born to a pitiful fate was Odysseus.
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Nor do thou shrink to offend, nor speak soft words in compassion.
Tell me exactly the truth—how far thou hast chanced to behold him.
Lo, I entreat thee :—if ever my father, the noble Odysseus,
Either by word or by deed accomplished the thing that he promised
Where in the Trojan land ye Achaeans suffered affliction,
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This, I beseech thee, remember, and tell me the whole as it happened."
Sorely displeased gave answer the fair-haired prince Menelaus :
"Nay, by the gods! in the bed of a man right valiant-hearted
These have chosen a couch for themselves—poor cowardly creatures!
E'en as it haps when a hind in the lair of a powerful lion
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Maketh a bed for her fawns, new-litter'd and delicate sucklings,
Fares then forth to the slopes and the grassy ravines of the mountains
Seeking for pasture—and lo, to his covert returning the lion
Suddenly maketh of both of the yeanlings a terrible ending;
Thus shall a terrible ending be made of the men by Odysseus.
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Would that, by Father Zeus and Athena and Phoebus Apollo,
Such as he proved when of yore in the flourishing island of Lesbos
Fearless he met with the huge Philomeleides in a contest,
Wrestled and heavily threw him, and all the Achaeans exulted;
Would that he came e'en such an Odysseus—to visit the suitors,
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Bringing to all of them speedy perdition and nuptials of anguish!
Now for the matter whereof thou dost ask and entreat me, I promise
Nought will I wrest from the truth, nor evasively speak and deceive thee;
All that the ancient god of the sea—that prophet unerring—
Told me, of this will I nought keep back nor attempt to conceal it.
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Once, as in Egypt I yearned to return to my home, the immortals
Hindered me still, for I failed to perform sufficing oblations
(Yea and the deities will it that mortals shall keep their commandments).
Now by the mouth of Aegyptus, amidst deep surges of ocean,
Riseth an isle—and the name that they give to the island is Pharos—
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Distant so far from the coast that a hollow vessel can reach it
Sailing the whole of a day when the wind blows shrilly behind her.
Here is a haven secure, whence many a well-built vessel
Puts forth into the ocean, with dark sweet water replenished.
Days full twenty herein by the gods I was holden, nor ever
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Rose with a favouring breath such breeze of the sea as attendeth
Vessels, to waft them along o'er wide expanses of ocean.
Now had the food been wholly consumed, and the strength of my comrades,
Save for the help of a goddess who felt compassion and saved me,
Daughter of Proteus, ancient and powerful god of the ocean,
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Eidotheë, whose heart I had strongly aroused to affection.
While I was roaming alone and afar from the others she met me.
These all over the coast of the isle were wandering widely
Fishing with well-bent hooks, since famine gnawed at their belly.
Near to my side she approached and uplifted her voice and addressed me :
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'Utterly childish thou seemst, O stranger, and indolent-witted.
Or is it choice that hath made thee remiss? Does suffering please thee?
Lo, it is long in this isle thou art holden, nor seemst to be able
Any escape to devise ; and thy comrades' spirit is failing.'
Thus did she speak; forthwith then I answered and thus I addressed her :
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'Whichsoever thou be'st of the goddesses, all will I tell thee.
Nowise willingly here am I held, but have surely by sinning
Angered immortals who dwell in the wide expanses of heaven.
Therefore tell me, I pray—since gods have knowledge of all things—
Which of the deities fetters me thus, and has hindered my going?
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Tell me the way to return and the teeming ocean to traverse!'
Thus did I speak; forthwith responded the beautiful goddess:
'Yea, O stranger, the truth will I tell thee and clearly explain it.
Oft doth an ancient god of the ocean—the prophet unerring—
Proteus, hither resort—an Egyptian immortal, who knoweth
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Every deep of the seas, and as herdsman serveth Poseidon.
Him do the voices of all as the father proclaim who begat me.
Lo now, shouldst thou be able by laying an ambush to catch him,
All he will surely reveal thee—the course and the bounds of thy journey—
Tell thee the way to return and the teeming ocean to traverse;
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Ay and if so thou shalt wish, Zeus-fostered prince, he will tell thee
All that has happened of good and of ill in the halls of thy homestead
During the years thou hast fared on a journey so long and so grievous.'
Thus did she speak; forthwith then I answered and thus I addressed her :
• Plan me an ambush thyself for the old sea-god, to ensnare him,
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Lest too soon he shall see me and, ware of my purpose, escape me.
Truly to master a god is a difficult task for a mortal.'
So did I speak; forthwith responded the beautiful goddess :
'Yea, O stranger, the truth will I tell thee and plainly declare it :
Oft as the sun upmounting attaineth the middle of heaven,
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Out of the brine creeps forth that ancient oracular sea-god.
Hidden beneath black ripples he comes when the Zephyr is blowing,
Crawls from the water, and lays him to sleep in the shade of a cavern.
Round him the brood fin-footed of seals of the fair Halosydne
Issuing forth from the grey salt sea lie huddled together
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Sleeping, and rank is the smell they emit of the deep salt water.
Unto the spot will I guide thee as soon as the morn is appearing;
There will I hide thee and station thy comrades. Be careful to choose thee
Three of the bravest of all of thy men in the well-decked vessels.
Now of the magical wiles of that ancient god I will tell thee :
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First he will number his seals and will go on his round to inspect them;
After the counting is over and every seal is inspected,
Down in the midst, as a shepherd amidst of his flock, he will lay him.
Now so soon as ye see him at last well settled for slumber,
Then is the moment at hand that ye look to your strength and your courage :
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Hold to him fast, however he longs and attempts to escape you!
This he will try by assuming the form of whatever of creatures
Creeps on the earth, and of water, and fire that fiercely consumeth.
Yet shall ye ever the more persistently hold him and grip him,
Till at the last he shall speak and himself shall address thee a question,
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Bearing the shape once more in the which he was seen as he slumbered;
Then shalt thou loosen thy hold from the ancient god and release him;
Question him too, O prince, which deity beareth thee malice;
Ask him the way to return and the teeming ocean to traverse.'
These words uttered, she plunged in the flood of the billowing ocean.
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Then to the vessels, that lay high-beached on the sands of the sea-shore,
Straight I returned, and my heart as I went grew dark with forebodings.
After at last I had come to the sea and arrived at my vessels,
After the supper was done and ambrosial night was descending,
Then did we lay us to sleep on the surf-beat strand of the ocean.
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Now when the morning was newly arisen, the roseate-fingered,
Straight I betook me along by the beach of the wide-wayed waters
Uttering many a prayer to the gods. Of the band of my shipmates
Three I had brought, whom chiefly I trusted for any adventure.
Meanwhile plunging below in the broad-spread gulf of the ocean
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Out of the watery depths four sea-calves' skins she had carried,
All of them flayed quite fresh—a device for ensnaring her father.
Then, so soon in the sand she had scooped out hollows for hiding,
Sitting she waited until we arrived at the spot and approached her.
So in the lairs she arranged us and covered us each with a seal's skin.
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Terrible now had it been—this lying in ambush; for sorely
Tried us the deadly malodorous stench of the brine-bred sea-calves;
(Where is the man would care to be couched with a monster of ocean?)
This howbeit she spared us, devising what greatly relieved us:
Bringing ambrosia, under the nostrils of each she applied it,
445
Breathing a scent so sweet that it conquered the stench of the sea-beasts.
Thus then all of the morning we waited with hearts of endurance,
Till at the last from the brine came flocking the seals, and they laid them
One by another in ranks on the surf-beat strand of the ocean.
High was the noon when the old god crawled from the water, and straightway,
450
Finding his fat-fed flock, went round it and counted the number,
Counting us too in the number of seals, nor felt a suspicion,
Noticing nought of the snare; and he laid him to slumber amidst them.
Suddenly then with a shout did we cast us upon him and hold him
Fast with the hands; and the old sea-god forgat not his cunning.
455
Firstly, behold, to the form of a long-maned lion he changed him,
Then to a serpent, and then an enormous boar, and a leopard;
Melted to water, and then as a tree shot towering upward.
Natheless still we persistently held him with hearts of endurance,
Till at the last, grown weary of trying his magic devices,
460
Thus did he speak—that old sea-god—and addressed me a question :
'Say now, which of immortals hath given thee counsel, Atrides,
Thus to enforce me by laying an ambush? For what dost thou want me?"
So did he speak; forthwith then I answered and thus I addressed him :
'Nay, thou knowest it! Why dost thou prate, old man, to mislead me?
465
Lo, it is long in this isle I am holden, nor yet am I able
Any escape to devise, and the heart in my bosom is failing.
Therefore tell me, I pray (since gods have knowledge of all things),
Which of the deities fetters me thus and has hindered my going?
Tell me the way to return and the teeming ocean to traverse.'
470
So did I speak; forthwith then he answered and thus he addressed me:
'Ay, but thou shouldst have offered to Zeus and to other immortals,
Ere embarking, a goodly oblation and prayed them to bring thee
Over the wine-dark sea with the utmost speed to thy country,
Since thou art fated thy friends no more to revisit, and never
475
Win to thy well-built home and arrive at the land of thy fathers,
PATTEN WILSON,
THE STRUGGLE WITH PROTEUS
Ere once more to the flood of the heav'n-sprung river of Egypt
Making return thou shalt offer again some splendid atonement
Unto immortals who dwell in the wide expanses of heaven.
Then shall the deities grant thee the path that thy soul desireth.'
480
Thus did he speak and my spirit was utterly broken within me,
Since he had bid me retraverse my path on the mist-bound ocean
Back to the river Aegyptus, so long and grievous a journey.
Yet e'en thus did I find me the words to address him in answer:
'Well then, all will I duly perform, old man, as thou biddest.
485
Tell me however a thing that I ask thee, and clearly explain it :
Whether the whole of the Greeks came home unscathed in their vessels,
All who remained when with Nestor I sailed from the land of the Trojans.
Know'st thou of any that met an inglorious death on the ocean,
Or at the hands of his kindred, when wound to the end was the warfare?'
490
So did I speak; forthwith then he answered and thus he addressed me:
'Atreus' son, what maketh thee ask? 'Twere verily better
Nothing to know, nor to learn of my thoughts. Not long, I assure thee,
Tearless wouldst thou remain, if with all these sorrows acquainted.
Many a man of the Grecians is fallen and many surviving.
495
Two of the leaders alone of the bronzen-coated Achaeans
Perished returning (thyself wert present during the warfare).
One, still living, I ween, on the wide-spread ocean is holden.
Ajax met with his death in the midst of his long-oared vessels.
First by Poseidaon he was favoured, and coming to Gyrae
500
Under enormous cliffs found refuge safe from the ocean,
Yea and had surely escaped, though hated by Pallas Athene,
Had he not uttered a vaunt in his pride and infatuate madness,
Saying in spite of the gods he had traversed the gulf of the waters.
Him did Poseidon hear as he uttered the arrogant boasting.
505
Straight with his powerful hands did the sea-god seizing his trident
Smite on the rock Gyraean a blow which cleft it asunder.
Part of it held, but the part that was broken was flung in the ocean,
Even the portion whereon he had climbed and had sat in his madness.
So to the infinite depths of the billowing ocean it bore him.
510
There did he die, down-swallowing floods of the salt sea water.
Touching thy brother, escaping the dangers of ocean he safely
Crossed in his hollow ships, by the favour of Hera protected.
Ay and he nearly as far as Malea's precipitous headland
Now was arrived, when a tempest of wind down-sweeping upon him
515
Carried him, heavily groaning, away to the home of the fishes,
Unto a distant bound of the land, once home of Thyestes,
Later the dwelling-place of Aegisthus, the son of Thyestes.
Hence too dawned for thy brother a hope of returning in safety.
Veered by the gods was the wind to a breeze which wafted him homeward.
520
Then at the last did he step on the land of his birth, and exultant,
Touching the earth of his own dear country he kissed it, and teardrops
Many and hot did he shed in his joy at beholding his homeland.
Him from a sentinel crag did the watcher descry, who was stationed
There by the crafty Aegisthus and promised reward for his watching,
525
E'en two talents of gold; and the whole of a year he had watched there,
Lest that the king should pass and make him remember his prowess.
Straight did he haste with the news to the house of the prince of the people.
Here forthwith was a plot right cunning devised by Aegisthus:
Choosing him twenty—the best of the fighters—he set them in ambush,
530
While at the opposite end of the hall he commanded a banquet.
Then did he go to invite Agamemnon the prince of the people;
Even with cars and with horses he met him—but brooded on murder;
Welcomed him home, all unsuspecting of treason—and killed him—
Feasted him—killed him as one might slaughter an ox at the manger.
535
Neither was left one man that had followed with King Agamemnon,
Nor of Aegisthus' men: all died in the hall of the palace.
Thus did he speak, and my spirit was utterly broken within me.
Bitterly weeping I sat on the sand, and the heart in my bosom
Cared not for living on earth or longer beholding the sunlight.
540
Then, when at last I was weary of weeping and writhing in anguish,
Speaking again he addressed me, that ancient oracular sea-god:
'Atreus' son, no longer, I pray, persist in this endless
Weeping, wherein no gain we shall find. Nay, rather bethink thee
How with the utmost speed to arrive at the land of thy fathers;
545
So shalt thou seize him alive, unless he is killed by Orestes
Ere thou arrivest and findest them holding his funeral banquet.'
Thus as he spake, in my heart and my valiant spirit within me
Once more comfort revived, though bitter indeed was my sorrow.
Then did I open my lips and with swift-winged words I addressed him:
550
'Now their fate do I know. Come, tell me the name of the third one,
Even the one still held in the midst of the wide-spread ocean,
Living or dead. Though bitter my grief, I am eager to hear it.'
Thus did I speak; forthwith then he answered and thus he addressed me :
'He that I mean is Odysseus the Ithacan, son of Laertes.
555
Him I beheld on an island, and plentiful tears he was shedding,
Held in Calypso's halls; for the sea-nymph still with compulsion
Keepeth him there all hopeless of reaching the land of his fathers,
Since no ship well-fitted with oars he possesseth or shipmates,
Such as to help him to traverse the wide expanses of ocean.
560
Touching thyself and thy fate, O Zeus-loved prince Menelaus,
Not with thy doom thou'lt meet midst horse-grazed meadows of Argos.
Thee to the ends of the earth and the plain Elysian later
Gods everlasting shall bring, where dwells fair-haired Rhadamanthys;
Here is a life that of all is the lightest for earth-born mortals:
565
Here comes never the snow, nor a violent tempest and rain-storm;
Here incessantly breatheth the breeze of the soft-voiced Zephyr
Sent by the ocean to bring to the land and its dwellers refreshment.
Yea, since Helen is thine, gods hail thee as son of the Highest.'
These words uttered, he plunged in the flood of the billowing ocean.
570
Then to the vessels, together with those my heroic companions,
Straight I returned, and my heart as I went grew dark with forebodings.
After at last we had come to the sea and arrived at the vessel,
After the supper was made and ambrosial night was descending,
Then did we lay us to sleep on the surf-beat strand of the ocean.
575
Now when the morning was newly arisen, the roseate-fingered,
Firstly of all down-dragging the ships to the vast salt water
On to the well-trimmed vessels we carried the sails and the mainmasts,
Then ourselves we embarked and seating us down on the benches
Smote with the well-ranged oars on the grey-green brine of the ocean.
580
Back to the stream we returned of the heav'n-sprung river of Egypt;
Here our vessels I moored and performed sufficing oblations.
So when appeased was the wrath of the gods everlasting, I straightway
Built Agamemnon a tomb, for his fame's undying remembrance;
Which things duly fulfilled I departed, and favouring breezes,
585
Sent by the deities, sped me across to the home that I yearned for.
Now come, hearken I pray, and remain thou here in my palace
Till the eleventh is past and the twelfth day come to its dawning;
Then will I speed thy departing and offer thee glorious presents,
Horses three and a car well polished; and then I will give thee
590
Also a beautiful cup, that whenever thou makest libation
Unto the gods thou'lt think of thy friend so long as thou livest."
Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:
"Ah, Menelaus, attempt no longer, I beg, to detain me!
E'en for the space of a year 'twere easy to sit with contentment
595
Here at thy side, nor yearn to revisit my home and my parents,
Such is the wonderful pleasure with which to thy words and thy stories
Ravished I list; but already my mates are weary of waiting
Over in beautiful Pylos—for long is the time thou hast kept me.
Touching thy gift, give rather a present to keep as an heirloom!
600
Horses to Ithaca ne'er will I take—far liefer I leave them
Here, as the pride of thy stalls. Thou art lord of a plain and of pastures
Widely extending and bearing abundance of lotus and spear-grass,
Waving with wheat and with spelt and with broad-ear'd glistering barley.
Ithaca holds not a mead, nor widespread courses for riding;
605
Pastures it offers for goats more lovely than pastures for horses.
Suited for riding and pasturing horses is none of the islands
Lying exposed to the ocean, and Ithaca less than the others."
Thus did he speak. With a smile Menelaus good at the war-cry
Touched him caressing, and thus with a word of affection addressed him :
610
"Noble indeed is thy blood, dear child, since nobly thou speakest.
Well, I will make an exchange in the gifts—I can readily do so.
Out of the store of the treasures that lie in my palace as heirlooms
One that is fairest of all, unrivalled in worth, will I give thee,
Even a bowl for the mixing of wine, well-fashioned of silver,
615
All of it solid; but finished with gold is the lip of the vessel.
This is a work of Hephaestus that hero Phaedimus gave me,
King of the people of Sidon, who once in his palace received me,
Thither returning, and now I am wishful on thee to bestow it."
Thus long time did they hold such converse one with the other.
620
Meantime banqueters flocked to the house of the godlike monarch
Bringing the sheep for the feast, and wine which gladdens a mortal.
Bread moreover was sent by the fair-tressed wives of the feasters.
Then in the hall of the palace they busily furnished a banquet.
Meantime sported the suitors in front of the home of Odysseus,
625
Taking delight in the hurling of spears and in casting the discus,
Using a levelled ground that was often the scene of their uproars.
Seated was Antinous, and anigh him was sitting the godlike
Eurymachus. These two were bravest and best of the suitors.
Now came Phronius' son, and approached them, the famous Noëmon.
630
Turning to Antinous he addressed him and asked him a question :
"Antinous, do we know in the least—doth none of us know it, —
How soon Telemachus is returning from Pylos the sandy ?
Off he is gone with a vessel of mine, and it happens I need her
Over to spacious Elis to cross, for a dozen of brood-mares
635
There I possess. Hard-labouring mules I am rearing beneath them,
Still unbroken, and one I will take from the mother and train it."
Thus did he speak, and they gazed with amazement, for ne'er had they deemed him
Gone to Neleïan Pylos, but thought he was still in the country,
Somewhere either afield with the flocks or perhaps with the swineherd.
640
Then spake Antinous, Eupeithes' son, and addressed him :
"Tell me the truth! Say, when did he go? What followers took he?
Were they the pick of the Ithacan youths, or a crew of his own men,
Servants and thralls of the farm? He was capable even of this too.
Also relate me the truth of the matter and give me assurance :
645
Took he by force and in spite of thy wishes thy black-hulled vessel ?
Or was it willingly lent him—thy ship—when he asked and entreated?"
Straightway Phronius' son thus answered, the famous Noëmon:
"Willingly lent was my ship. How could one possibly elsewise,
Seeing a man like this, with a mind so full of vexations,
650
Begging a loan? 'Twas truly a difficult thing to refuse him.
Also the noblest youths of the land—we only excepted—
Join'd him as crew; and Mentor I noticed embarking as captain,
Mentor or else an immortal in all points like him exactly.
One thing puzzles me still; for the godlike Mentor I saw here
655
Yester dawn—but the vessel had started already for Pylos."
These words uttered, he left them and went to the house of his father,
While in the valiant spirits of both fierce anger was kindled.
Unto the suitors they called to desist from the games and be seated.
Then spoke Antinous, Eupeithes' son, and addressed them:
660
Wroth was the man, with a heart in the turbulent depths of his bosom
Swelling with rage, and his two eyes blazing as flames of a furnace:
"Heavens! A fine thing now and an impudent too—has accomplished
Telemachus, with this voyage of his that we never believed in.
Gone is the child, and in spite of us all! He has simply defied us—
665
Got them to launch him a ship, and has chosen the best of the rowers!
Now still more of a plague he will prove. Zeus hurl to perdition
Him and his fury before he shall hatch new troubles to vex us.
Come now, give me a good swift vessel and twenty companions,
So shall I lay me an ambush and watch his arrival, and catch him
670
Just 'twixt Ithacan shores and the rock-bound island of Samos.
Doleful enough he'll find these sailings in search of a father!"
Thus did he speak, and they all of them shouted approval and urged it.
Then forthwith uprising they entered the house of Odysseus.
Neither for long thereafter from Penelopeia was hidden
675
All that was said, and the plot so darkly devised by the suitors.
Medon the herald informed her, who oft to the plottings had listened
Standing outside of the court as they wove these counsels within it.
Thorough the palace he hasted to tell it to Penelopeia,
Till, as he stepped from the stone of the door she perceived and addressed him :
680
"Wherefore, herald, I pray, art thou sent by the arrogant suitors?
Cam'st thou to order the women attendants of godlike Odysseus
Laying aside their tasks to prepare these masters a banquet?
Would that without more wooings, without more banquetings either,
Now on the spot they'd sup their last and their latest supper!
685
Ye that as wolves come trooping and wasting the wealth of the homestead,
Riches of Telemachus wise-hearted, I ween that ye never
Heard your fathers in days of the past—you being but children—
Speak of Odysseus and how he was prized by the men that begat you,
How that he never in word or in deed wrought any injustice
690
Unto the people—the wont of a ruler appointed by heaven,
While that he hateth the one of his subjects and favours another.
No! by Odysseus was none e'er treated with pride and presumption,
Whilst for yourselves what spirit is yours, what shameless behaviour,
Plainly appears; and to him that is kind ye are utterly thankless."
695
Then did the sage old Medon, the herald, address her in answer:
"Would, dear lady, that this were the worst of the evils that threaten!
Greater by far is the crime, and fraught more fully with danger,
Now by the suitors devised. God grant that they never fulfil it !
Telemachus with the edge of the sword they are meaning to murder
700
While he is voyaging homeward; for, hoping to hear of his father,
Lately he started for Pylos the fair and divine Lacedaemon."
Thus did he speak, and with knees and with heart all quaking she stood there.
Speechless long she remained, struck mute, while gathering teardrops
Flooded her eyes, and the flow of her clear-voiced utterance failed her,
705
Till at the last she recovered her speech and addressed him in answer:
“Wherefore, herald, I pray, is my son departed? He nowise
Needed to mount on a ship—on a swift-paced vessel that sailors
Ride as a horse and traverse the watery waste of the ocean.
Wills he that even his name no longer remain in remembrance?"
710
Then did the sage old Medon, the herald, in answer address her:
"Whether a deity urged him I know not, or whether within him
Moved was his spirit to journey to Pylos to gain him assurance
Or of his father's return or else of the fate he hath met with."
These words uttered he turned and retraversed the house of Odysseus,
715
While o'erwhelmed with her grief, heartbroken, and wholly unable
Still on a chair to remain of the many that stood in her homestead—
Down by the threshold she sank on the floor of the well-built chamber,
Uttering pitiful wails, and around her lamented her maidens,
All of the women attendants, the young as the old, in the palace.
720
These then addressing with many a groan spake Penelopeia :
"Dear ones, listen for sorrow hath Zeus the Olympian sent me
Passing the sorrows of all of the friends and the mates of my childhood.
Erstwhile lost I a husband—my lord with the heart of a lion—
Foremost of all of the Grecians in every manly perfection,
725
Him whose fame is abroad through Hellas and midmost Argos.
Now is my dearly-belovéd, my son, swept hence by the storm-blasts,
Vanished from hearing and home—nay, e'en of his going I heard not!
Ah, hard-hearted! for none of you, none, took thought to inform me,
Waking me out of my slumbers, and none, though fully ye knew it,
730
Said to me aught when he mounted aboard of the black-hulled vessel.
Had I but known he was making him ready to fare on a journey,
Verily either at home he had stay'd, though bent on departure,
Else he had left me behind him dead in the halls of his homestead.
Nay come, one of you haste and the good old Dolius summon,
735
Even the slave I received, ere hither I came, from my father.
Now to my garden of trees he attends. Go, see that he quickly
Sit by the side of Laertes and tell him of all that has happened.
He peradventure will weave a device in his mind, and in public
Unto the people will proffer his plaint of the men who so fiercely
740
Purpose his seed to destroy and the seed of the godlike Odysseus."
Her did the nurse give answer, the dear old Eurycleia:
“Slay me, my mistress belov'd, with the pitiless blade, or in pity
Leave me to live in thy halls—not a word will I hide of the matter.
All of it, all, did I know; I supplied him with all that he wanted,
745
Even with bread and with sweet strong wine, and I solemnly promised
Nothing to thee to reveal till the twelfth day came to its dawning
(Didst thou not miss him before, and by questioning learn his departure)
Lest thou perchance shouldst weep and thy fair face mar with thy weeping.
Nay now, bathe thee with water and throw fresh raiment around thee,
750
Then to thy upper apartment ascending with women attendants
Pray to Athena, the daughter of Zeus who beareth the aegis.
She is a goddess that even from death will be able to save him.
Trouble the old man not! — he hath trouble enough—and believe me,
Ne'er is the race of Arceisius' son by the blesséd immortals
755
Hated so wholly; an heir shall survive and shall hold in possession
High-roof'd homes and the fruitful domains spread widely around them."
Thus did she still her lament and her pitiful tears; and her lady,
After herself she had bathed and cast fresh raiment around her,
Unto her upper apartment ascending with women attendants
760
Placed in a basket the barley for sprinkling and prayed to Athene:
"Daughter of Zeus who beareth the aegis, thou maiden unwearied,
Listen! If ever of yore in his homestead wileful Odysseus
Burnt to thy honour the fat thigh pieces of sheep or of oxen,
This I beseech thee remember, and rescue my son, my beloved !
765
Ward far off the malicious designs of the insolent suitors!"
These prayers uttered, she wailed, and her vows were heard by the goddess,
While from the shadowy hall came sounding the din of the suitors,
All of the insolent youths thus shouting, the one to the other :
"Lo now, truly at last our lady of many a wooer
770
Thinketh of wedding—nor knows that the death of her son is determined."
Thus spake one to the other, nor knew they of what was determined.
Antinous then turned to his fellows, and thus he addressed them :
"See to avoid, good sirs, all language loudly disdainful—
All such boasting—that none to the palace within shall report it.
775
Rather in silence, so far as ye can, let us rise and accomplish
All we bespake, for the thing we decided was fully agreed on."
Thus did he speak, and choosing him twenty, the best of the rowers,
Forthwith went on his way to the ship and the strand of the ocean.
Here did they first draw down to the deep sea water a vessel,
780
Then, on the black-hulled vessel embarking the sails and the mast-tree,
All of the oars to the tholes made fast with the lashings of leather,
Each in its place, and the white sails hoisted aloft on the yardarm.
Weapons also aboard were carried by haughty attendants.
Now when at last she was moor'd high out in the harbour, embarking
785
There on the vessel they supped and awaited the coming of even.
Still in her upper apartment remained wise Penelopeia.
Fasting she lay on her couch, and heedless of thirst and of hunger
Mused on her valiant son—was he yet to escape from destruction,
Or was he doomed as the victim to fall of the arrogant suitors?
790
E'en as a lion that wavers in doubt in the throng of the hunters,
Fearing, as closer they draw the insidious circle around him,
Thus did she waver in doubt till, a deep sleep falling upon her,
Backward softly she sank with her joints all loosened, and slumbered.
Other was now the device of the grey-eyed goddess Athene.
795
First she created a phantom. In form it was like to a woman,
Iphthimé, who was daughter of Icarius great-hearted.
(Her Eumelus had taken to wife, and her home was at Pherae.)
Then did she send it to go to the palace of godlike Odysseus,
Bidding it make the bewailing and sorrowing Penelopeia
800
Cease from her groaning and shedding of tears and her sad lamentation.
Into the room by the hole of the latch-string entered the phantom,
Stood at the head of the queen, and thus it began to address her :
"Sleep'st thou, Penelopeia, outwearied at heart with thy mourning?
Ne'er can it hap that the gods, who live at their ease in the heaven,
805
Wish thee to weep and to sorrow. Again to his home they will bring him,
Even thy son for in nought hath he vexed the immortals by sinning."
Then forthwith gave answer the wise-souled Penelopeia,
Though at the portal of dreams she already was slumbering softly:
"Wherefore now art thou come, O sister? Never aforetime
810
Here to resort was thy wont, since distant far is thy homestead.
Yea and thou biddest me cease from my pain and forget my afflictions,
All those many afflictions that torture my mind and my spirit!
Its-while lost I a husband—my lord with the heart of a lion,
Foremost of all of the Achaeans in every manly perfection,
815
Him whose fame is abroad through Hellas and midmost Argos.
Now is my well-loved son on a hollow vessel departed,
Yet but a child, unskilled in the deeds of a man and in speaking.
Him I lament more bitterly still than I mourned for his father,
Yea I lament and I tremble in fear lest aught shall befall him
820
Either among those people he visits, or else on the ocean,
Seeing that many a foe plots evil devices against him,
Longing to kill him or ever he win to the land of his fathers."
Then to the queen once more made answer the shadowy phantom:
"Take thou courage, nor feel in thy heart such dread and despondence.
825
She who attendeth and guards him is such that a mortal in peril
Ever will pray her to stand at his side (for to aid she is able),
Pallas Athena, the goddess who pities thee now in thy sorrow;
Yea it is she that hath bidden me come this message to bring thee.”
Then to the phantom again spake wise-souled Penelopeia:
830
"Art thou divine, or hast listened to words by divinity spoken,
Come, I beseech, and the fate of that other unfortunate tell me,
Whether he still is alive on the earth and beholdeth the sunlight,
Or is he dead and already below in the mansion of Hades?"
Then to the queen once more made answer the shadowy phantom:
835
"Touching the fate of thy lord I can say to thee nothing for certain
Whether he lives or is dead; and an evil is idle discussion."
These words uttered it glided away by the bolt of the doorpost
Into the air and the breezes of heaven; and out of her slumbers
Penelopeia awoke, and the heart in her bosom was lightened,
840
Such was the clearness with which had approached her that vision of midnight.
Now had the suitors embarked and had voyaged the paths of the waters
Plotting a violent death in their hearts for the son of Odysseus.
Far from the land there riseth a crag in the midst of the waters,
Just 'twixt Ithacan shores and the rock-bound island of Samos,
845
Asteris; tiny the isle, but within it a harbour for shipping
Twy-mouthed; here the Achaeans awaited him, lying in ambush.
“The Fair Helen.” Willy Pogany (Hungarian, 1882–1955).
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