ODYSSEY BOOK XI
NOW when again to the sea we had come and arrived at the vessel,
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Her did we firstly of all drag down to the vast salt water,
Then to the black-hulled vessel we carried the sails and the mainmast,
Lifted upon it the sheep we had found and quickly embarked us,
Heavily laden with grief and shedding tears in abundance.
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Following after us then in the wake of the blue-prowed vessel
Fair stern-breezes arose, sail-swelling and kindly companions,
Sent by the fair-tressed nymph, dread goddess with voice as a mortal.
So, when the gear of the ship we had busily stowed and adjusted,
Seated we watched while kept to her course by the wind and the steersman
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All day long with the sails full swollen she voyaged the waters.
Set was already the sun and darkened was every roadway
Ere to the bounds we arrived of the fathomless stream of the Ocean.
Here the Cimmerian people inhabit a land and a city
Shrouded in darkness of mist and of cloud, since never upon them
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Glorious Eëlios looks down with his radiant daylight,
Neither whenever he mounteth the starry expanses of heaven,
Nor as again to the earth he returns and from heaven descendeth;
Ever a darkness of death o'erhangs these pitiful mortals.
Here we arrived, and we drave on the beach, and we took from the vessel
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Both of the sheep and ascended the shore of the river of Ocean,
Pressing ahead till we came to the place foretold us by Circe.
Here held Eurylochus with his mate Perimedes the victims.
Then, with the keen-edged sword on my thigh drawn forth from its scabbard
Digging a trench of a cubit in length and a cubit in wideness,
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Round it to all of the souls of the dead I outpoured a libation,
Firstly of honey and milk, and of wine well-mellowed thereafter,
Thirdly of water, and sprinkled thereon white meal of the barley,
Offering many a vow to the host of the bodiless phantoms,
Ithaca reaching, the cow that was best of my herd and was barren
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Surely to slay in my home, and a pyre deck richly with presents,
Solely to Teiresias devoting a ram as oblation
Perfectly black and the finest of all of the flocks of my homestead.
Now when at length I had ended appeasing the people of Hades
Duly with vow and with prayer, I opened the throats of the victims
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Over the trench; and the black blood flowed; and behold, they collected,
Spirits from Erebus—souls of the dead, from the body departed:
Brides and unmarried youths, old men outworn by affliction,
Maidens of delicate bloom, their hearts new-laden with sorrow;
Many besides I beheld sore wounded with bronzen lances,
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Warriors slain in the fight, their bloodstained armour upon them.
Numberless all to the trench came flocking from this and from that side
Raising a wondrous cry; and a cold, pale terror possessed me.
Now was the moment to call on my comrades and urgently bid them,
Flaying the sheep, which lie by the steel unpitying slaughtered,
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Burnt oblation to make and prayers to the deities offer,
Hades' terrible power and dread Queen Persephoneia.
Then, with the keen-edged sword on my thigh drawn forth from its scabbard,
Seated I watched, restraining the host of the bodiless phantoms
Back from the blood, till of Teiresias I had gotten an answer.
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First of the shades to approach was the soul of Elpenor my shipmate,
Since not yet was he buried beneath earth's wide-way'd surface;
Still it was lying—the corse that we left in the palace of Circe—
All unwept and unburied; for other anxiety urged us.
Looking upon him I wept, for my spirit was moved to compassion;
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Uttering therefore my voice, these swift-winged words I addressed him :
'Say, how camest thou down to the gloom and the shadows, Elpenor?
Fleeter on foot thou camest than I in my dark-hulled vessel.'
Thus did I speak; whereat with a groan he addressed me in answer:
'Zeus-born son of Laertes, thou wise and wileful Odysseus,
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Ruined was I by the doom of a god and excess in the wine-cup.
Having aroused me from sleep on the palace of Circe, forgetting
Back to return by the way of the steep-built ladder, I tumbled
Right from the roof of the house, and out of the joint of the backbone
Broken at once was the neck, and my spirit departed to Hades.
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Now, by the love of the absent beloved at home I beseech thee,
Both by the love of thy wife and the father that cherished thy childhood,
Ay and by Telemachus, sole son in thy palace remaining..
Well do I know that departing from here, from the mansion of Hades,
Back thou'lt hold for the isle Aeaea thy well-built vessel—
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Here when thou com'st, O bear me in memory, prince, I implore thee,
Neither unwept and unburied abandon me homeward returning,
Parting in haste—lest aye as a curse from the gods I shall haunt thee.
Burn me, I pray, on a pyre with my armour and all my equipment;
Also erect me a tomb on the strand of the grey-green ocean,
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Haply for ages to come of a luckless man a remembrance!'
PATTEN WILSON
IN THE WORLD OF THE DEAD
These my entreaties fulfil, and my oar set aloft on the barrow,
Rowing with which when alive so often I toiled with my comrades.'
So did he speak; forthwith then I answered and thus I addressed him :
'Thus will I do, poor friend, and all of thy wishes accomplish.'
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So with disconsolate words did we sit conversing together,
I on the one side over the blood outstretching my broadsword,
While on the other related his story the ghost of my comrade.
Then drew near me the spirit of her who had perished—my mother,
Daughter of Autolycus great-hearted, Anticleia,
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Whom still living I left when to sacred Troy I departed.
Looking upon her I wept, for my spirit was moved to compassion.
Yet e'en thus did I suffer her not, though sorely it grieved me,
Nigh to the blood, ere Teiresias should give me his answer.
Then drew near me the spirit of Teiresias the diviner,
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Holding a sceptre of gold, and he knew forthwith and addressed me:
'Zeus-born son of Laertes, thou wise and wary Odysseus,
Why, unfortunate, why now, leaving the realms of the sunlight,
Comest thou hither to visit the dead and their dolorous country?
Nay, hold back from the trench and withdrawing thy keen-edged weapon
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Grant me to drink of the blood; so truth shall I tell thee unerring.'
Thus did he speak, and withdrawing my broadsword studded with silver
Back in the scabbard I thrust it; and after the gore he had tasted
Then forthwith these words did the faultless prophet address me :
'Home to regain, sweet home, is thy wish, O famous Odysseus.
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Ah but a difficult task will a deity make it, I fear me!
Ne'er will Poseidon forgive: so deep in his heart is implanted
Anger because thou hast blinded his son, his belovéd, the Cyclops.
Natheless still ye shall come, though suffering sore, to the homeland,
Knowst thou to bridle the lust of thy heart and the hearts of thy comrades
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Whensoever thou first with thy well-built vessel approachest
Isle Thrinacia, fleeing the surge of the violet ocean.
Pasturing there ye shall find fat flocks and the kine of the sun-god
E\ddot{e}lios, who all overseeth and all overheareth.
Now if ye leave them unharmed, and earnestly press on your journey,
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Verily Ithaca still shall ye reach, though suffering sorely;
Else—if ye harm them at all—I predict then utter perdition
Both for thy ship and thy mates—while thou, e'en shouldst thou escape it,
Late and in pitiful plight and with none of thy comrades surviving,
Borne on an alien ship shalt arrive, and at home find sorrows.
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Men thou shalt find, overbearing and insolent, eating thy substance,
Wooing thy godlike wife, and bringing her presents as suitors.
Yet these arrogant deeds thou'lt surely avenge at thy coming.
Then, when at last thou hast slain in the halls of thy palace the suitors,
Either by cunning or else by the sharp sword openly slaughtered,
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Forth once more thou shalt fare, with a well-shaped oar on thy shoulder,
Till to a people thou comest that never hath heard of the ocean,
Yea to a people that mix no salt with the food that they live on;
Neither hath any a vessel with cheeks red-painted beholden,
Neither hath knowledge of oars which serve as the wings of a vessel.
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Now will I give thee a sign most certain, that cannot escape thee.
Whensoever it haps that a chance wayfarer that meets thee
Says 'tis a winnowing fan that thou bearst on thy glistering shoulder,
Fixing the well-shaped oar in the ground, there leave it implanted.
Next, to Poseidon the king thou shalt offer a goodly oblation,
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Even a male of the swine and a male of the herd and the sheepfold;
Then turn homeward again, and many an offering holy
Slay to the deathless gods who inhabit the infinite heaven,
Each one after the other. At last shall a death from the ocean,
Such as of deaths is the mildest, befall thee and gently remove thee,
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Weary and worn, in a smooth old age; and around thee thy people
Happy shall live. Lo, this is the truth that I tell thee unerring.'
So did he speak; and I answered in turn, and thus I addressed him :
'Teiresias, all this have doubtless spun the immortals.
Now come, tell me a thing that I ask and clearly explain it !
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Here do I notice the spirit of her who has perished, my mother.
Silent she sitteth anigh to the blood, nor once has she ventured
Even to look in the face of her son, or a word to address him.
Answer me, prince—how might she perceive who standeth before her?'
So did I speak; forthwith then answering thus he addressed me:
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'Easy to say is the thing; and I straight in thy heart will implant it.
Whichsoever of all of the ghosts of the dead thou permittest
Nearer to come to the blood, it will truth foretell thee unerring;
Shouldst thou deny the approach, such soul will depart and will vanish.'
These words uttered, the spirit re-entered the mansion of Hades,
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Spirit of Teiresias, king-seer, his oracles ended,
While unmoved on the spot I remained, till lastly my mother,
Drawing anigh, of the black blood drank, and knowing me straightway
Uttered a pitiful wail, and with swift-winged words she addressed me:
Tell me, my child, how camest thou here to the gloom and the shadows,
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Being alive? 'Tis a sight full hard for the living to look on.
All in the midst are rivers enormous, terrible currents,
Ocean chiefly of all, not possible ever to traverse
Should one journey afoot nor sail in a well-built vessel.
Camest thou hither when voyaging back from the land of the Trojans?
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Long hast thou wandered and far with thy men and thy vessels, and never
Ithaca reached and beholden thy wife in the halls of thy palace?'
So did she speak; and in turn then answering thus I addressed her :
'Mother, my mother, necessity bringeth me hither to Hades,
Here to consult with the spirit of Teiresias the diviner.
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Never as yet was I nigh to Achaea, nor yet on the homeland
Planted a foot, but was tossed by the ceaseless storm of affliction
Ever from that first day when I followed the great Agamemnon
Sailing to Ilium famed for its horses, to fight with the Trojans.
Come now, answer me this that I ask thee and clearly explain it:
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What was the doom wherewith low-laying Death overcame thee,
Whether a weary disease—or did Artemis, darter of arrows,
Launching her painless shafts assail thee and suddenly slay thee?
Speak to me too of my sire, and the son that I left in my homestead,
Whether my honour is still in their hands, or is even already
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Held by another; and speak they of me as if never returning?
Tell of my wedded wife moreover the counsel and purpose:
Whether abideth she still with her son, all guarding securely,
Or doth already a chief of Achaea possess her in marriage?'
Thus did I speak, and at once made answer my honour'd mother:
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'Ay assuredly, still with a steadfast heart she remaineth
There in the halls of thy palace; and filled with the gloom of her sadness
Waneth the day and waneth the night, while ever she weepeth.
Nor is another adorned with thy honour; in quiet possession
Telemachus directs the demesne, and at banquets abundant
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Feasteth—for such it beseems a dispenser of justice to furnish,
Seeing that others invite him. But ever thy father abideth
Up at the farm, nor descends to the town, and possesseth for sleeping
Neither a bed nor a wrapper of wool nor a glistering blanket.
During the winter he sleeps, as the servants sleep, in the farmstead
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Nigh to the hearth in the ash, and a beggarly raiment he weareth;
Then, when the summer is come and the harvest's luxuriant season,
Oft in the nooks all round of the orchard knoll of the vineyard
Strown is his bed of the leaves down-fallen and lying in hollows.
Here aye groaning he lieth and nurseth his great grief greater,
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Yearning for thee to return, and his years lie heavy upon him.
Thus, e'en thus, did I perish as well and my doom I encountered.
Neither within our halls did the keen-eyed darter of arrows
Launching her painless shafts assail me and suddenly slay me,
Neither did any disease come over me, such as so often
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Painfully wasteth and out of the limbs extracteth the spirit;
'Twas but my longing for thee and thy counsels, my hero Odysseus,
Yea and thy tender affection, that reft me of life and its sweetness.'
So did she speak, and I pondered thereon and yearned in my spirit,
Longing to clasp to my bosom the soul of my dear dead mother.
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Three times forward I sprang with a heart which bade me embrace her;
Three times out of my hands as a shadow or vision of dreamland
Fled she, and ever became in my heart more bitter the anguish.
Then did I utter my voice and with swift-winged words I addressed her:
'Mother beloved, why waitest thou not when I long to embrace thee,
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So that we twain might wind our arms thus lovingly round us,
Sating ourselves, yea even in Hades, with chill lamentation?
Or is it only a phantom that high Queen Persephoneia
Sendeth, to make more bitter the grief wherewith I bewail thee?'
Thus did I speak, and at once made answer my honour'd mother:
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'Ah me, truly, my son, thou''rt most ill-fated of all men!
Nowise Persephoneia, the daughter of Zeus, hath deceived thee,
Seeing that such, when he dieth, is ever the lot of a mortal :
Then no longer the flesh and the bones are bound by the sinews;
These doth the heat of the flame with its irresistible fury
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Conquer, as soon as the life from the whitened bones is departed;
Then as a dream forth-flying the soul flits hither and thither.
Now to the light haste back right eagerly, all that I tell thee
Bearing in mind, nor later forget to thy wife to relate it.'
Thus did we twain hold converse together; and round me the women
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Gathered—for thither compelled them the high Queen Persephoneia—
Even the wives and the daughters of famous rulers and heroes.
Thronging from every side to the dark red blood they collected.
Then, as myself I bethought each after the other to question,
This was the plan that appeared to my mind as the best and the wisest:
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Drawing the keen-edged sword at my sinewy thigh from the scabbard,
Many together to drink of the dark red blood I allowed not.
Each one after the other in order approached it, and singly
Each declared her descent; and to all I addressed me with questions.
Tyro first I beheld, of a stock right noble descended;
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Daughter she boasted herself of Salmoneus, glorious hero,
Wife, as she said, of a son begotten by Aeolus, Cretheus.
Once of a river enamoured, the heaven-descended Enipeus,
(He is the river the fairest by far on earth that is flowing)
Often she wandered along by Enipeus' beautiful currents;
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Likened to whom did the Shaker of Earth, land-girding Poseidon,
Lay him adown by her side at the mouth of the eddying river.
Purple the wave stood round them, as solid and huge as a mountain,
Arching above and hiding the god and the earth-born woman.
Then did he, loosing the zone of the maid, shed slumber upon her.
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Now so soon as Poseidon his amorous work had accomplished,
Tenderly clasping her hand he addressed her and greeted her kindly:
'Woman, be glad in my love! When the year's revolution is ended
Glorious children to bear will be thine; for unfruitful is never
Couch of immortal. But see that thou carefully cherish and tend them.
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Go to thy home, and be still, nor utter the name that I tell thee :
Lo, it is I that address thee, the King Earth-shaking Poseidon.'
These words uttered, he plunged in the depths of the billowing ocean.
So she conceived and she brought forth twins, both Neleus and also
Pelias, ministers mighty of Zeus the omnipotent Father
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Both of them. Pelias dwelt in the widespread land of Iolcos,
Wealthy in flocks, and the home of his brother was Pylos the sandy.
Also to Cretheus she bare, this queen unrivalled of women,
Aeson, and then Pheres, and the charioteer Amythaon.
Antiopé then next I beheld, who was child of Asopus.
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She, as she boasted, had slept in the arms of the Father of heaven,
Yea and had borne to the Sire two sons, Amphion and Zethus.
These first founded the city of Thebes and builded her portals
Seven, and crowned her with towers, for towerless were they unable
Wide-spaced Thebes securely to hold, though great was their power.
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Alcmené was the next I beheld, Amphitryon's consort.
She did the hero with heart of a lion, the labour-enduring
Hercules bear, conceived in embracement of Zeus the Almighty.
Megara too I beheld, fair daughter of Creon the haughty,
Wife of Amphitryon's son, whose strength was for ever unwearied.
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Next was the mother of Oedipodés, fair queen Epicasté,
She who a horrible deed with a mind unconscious committed,
Wedding her son, who had taken the life of his sire and thereafter
Married her; then to the world all suddenly heaven revealed it.
He in the beautiful city of Thebes, still suffering sorrows,
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Ruled the Cadmeans, fulfilling calamitous counsels of heaven.
She went down to the mansion of Hades, the terrible Warder,
Having suspended a noose hung sheer from the height of a rafter,
Whelmed by her grief and despair; and to him full many a sorrow
Left she behind—such woes as a mother's avengers accomplish.
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Chloris the beautiful then I beheld, whom formerly Neleus
Married for sake of her beauty—and numberless presents he offered;
Youngest daughter was she of Amphion, the son of a chieftain
Iasus. (Minyan Orchomenus was the town of the monarch.)
She as the Pylian queen brought forth right glorious children,
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Nestor, and then Chromius, and Períclymenus the undaunted.
Sister to these was Pero the stately, a wonder for mortals.
Her all neighbouring chiefs came wooing, but willing was Neleus
Only to give her to him who the crook-horned broad-browed cattle
Safely from Phylace brought, where Iphiclus wielded his power—
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Difficult cattle to lift; and alone did the prophet unerring
Venture to drive them away; but a fate right grievous entrapped him,
Even the torment of bonds and the savage revenge of the herdsmen,
Till, when the fulness of time with its days and its months was completed,
Seasons returning again till the year had repeated its circle,
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Then at the last did the power of Iphiclus set him at freedom,
After he uttered his rede; and the counsel of Zeus was accomplished.
Ledé also I saw, the illustrious wife of the monarch
Tyndareüs. Two valiant sons did she bear to her husband,
Castor the tamer of steeds, and the boxer renowned Polydeuces.
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These doth the Earth, great Mother of life, now hold in her bosom.
Yet, though buried below, great honour they have of the Father,
Sometimes coming to life, and on days alternate returning
Back to the dead; and worship is paid them as peers of immortals.
Next then Iphimedeia I saw, who was wife of Aloeus.
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Once (she was wont to affirm) she had slept in the arms of Poseidon,
Whom two sons she had borne, both destined early to perish,
Otus like to a god and the widely renowned Ephialtes,
Tallest of all that the earth e'er nourished, the Mother of harvests,
Fairest moreover by far, save only the famous Orion.
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Yea and truly when nine years old nine cubits they measured
Even in breadth; but in height they had grown nine fathoms already.
These—so runneth the tale—once threatened the gods of Olympus
Din terrific of battle to rouse and the whirlwind of combat.
Ossa they strove on the crest of Olympus to pile, and on Ossa
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Pelion waving with forests, to help them in scaling the heaven.
Ay and this they had done, had they reached full measure of manhood
Ere by the son who was gotten by Zeus of the fair-tressed Leto
Both of them perished; nor yet had the first down under their temples
Blossomed, nor clothed was the chin with the beard's luxuriant outgrowth.
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Phaedré then I beheld and Procris, and fair Ariadne
Daughter of Minos, the wizard of bale. Her formerly Theseus,
Bearing from Crete, to the hill of the sacred city of Athens
Listed to bring, but he won not his pleasure, for Artemis slew her
Where in the sea-girt Dia the god Dionysus accused her.
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Maera and Clymene then I beheld, and vile Eriphylé,
Her that a trinket of gold as the price of her husband accepted.
Nay, but I never shall finish the tale of the women, or name them,
All whom there I beheld, both wives and daughters of heroes;
Ere I had ended had waned the ambrosial night—and already
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Time 'tis to lay me to sleep, by my swift-winged ship and my shipmates,
Or in thy palace; and ye and the gods will provide me an escort."
Thus did he speak, and they sat all utterly silent and speechless,
Holden as 'twere by a spell in the shadowy hall of the palace.
First did the white-armed Arété find words to address them:
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"Say, Phaeacians, where now standeth the man in your liking,
Both as to favour and form and to wit well-balanced within him?
Though as a guest he is mine, yet all of us share in the honour.
Not too hastily homeward dismiss him, nor, seeing he needs them,
Charily stint with the gifts, since verily many a treasure
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Lies, by the grace of the gods, stored up in the halls of your homesteads."
Then in their midst made answer the hero, old Echenéus,
One that was honoured as Elder of all Phaeacian nobles:
"Truly, my friends, not wide of the mark nor of right and of reason
Speaketh the queen. She is wise. It beseemeth us well to obey her.
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Yet 'tis on Alcinous that dependeth the word, and the action."
Then King Alcinous outspake and answered him saying:
"Ay and in sooth it shall hold, this word she hath spoken, I swear it,
Sure as I live and am king of the bold Phaeacian sea-folk.
Still, let the stranger endure, though sorely he yearn for his homeland,
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Natheless here to remain to the morrow, till all of the presents
Duly in order I set; and my people shall see to the convoy,
All of them—chiefly myself; for my will is a law to the nation."
Him then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
"Ο King Alcinous, illustrious prince of the people,
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E'en for the space of a year wert thou to command me to tarry
While ye prepare me an escort and load me with glorious presents,
Willing I were to remain, and it were much more to my profit
Thus with a well-filled hand to arrive at the land of my fathers:
Far more love and worship I sure would win from the people,
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All who beheld me returning in safety to Ithaca's island."
Him King Alcinous addressing again gave answer:
"Nay but, Odysseus, believe not that looking on thee we imagine
Thee as a weaver of wiles and a crafty deceiver—a fellow
Such as in every quarter the black earth breeds in abundance,
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Fashioning mazes of lies whence egress none can discover.
Thine is the beauty of words, and within thee is keen understanding.
Skilfully, even as singeth a bard, thou tellest thy story,
All those pitiful troubles of thine and the woes of the Argives.
Come now, tell me a thing that I ask thee and clearly explain it :
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Saw'st thou not any of those thy heroic companions who also
Sailed to the city of Troy, and their doom encountered and perished?
Long, unspeakably long is the night, nor as yet in the palace
Time is for sleep; so all of thy wonderful story relate me.
E'en to the sacred dawn will I patiently listen, if only
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Here in my hall thou art willing to tell me the rest of thy travails."
Him then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:
"O King Alcinous, illustrious prince of the people,
There is a time for the telling of tales, time also for slumber.
Still, if thou longest to list to me further, I may not deny thee,
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Nor will I shrink from recounting a far more pitiful story,
Even the sorrows of those of my comrades who perished thereafter,
Those who, at Troy unscathed in the terrible turmoil of battle,
Perished foully at home by the wiles of a treacherous woman.
Now when the phantom host of the souls of the women had vanished,
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Scattered hither and thither by chaste Queen Persephoneia,
Then drew near me the spirit of King Agamemnon Atrides,
Sorrowing. Round him was gathered a throng of the others who likewise
Met with their destined doom and died in the house of Aegisthus.
Knowing me straight, so soon as the dark red blood he had tasted,
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Shrilly he uttered a wail and poured forth tears in abundance,
Eagerly stretching extended his arms in his longing to reach me,
Vainly for no more strength was surviving within him or power
Such as was present before in the flexible limbs of his body.
Now when I saw him I wept, for my spirit was moved to compassion;
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Uttering therefore my voice these swift-winged words I addressed him:
'Atreus' glorious son, O Monarch of men Agamemnon,
What was the doom wherewith low-laying Death overcame thee?
Whether did thee and thy ships o'erwhelm Earth-shaking Poseidon,
Sending the adverse blast of a dolorous tempest against thee,
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Or was it hostile men that on dry land wrought thy destruction,
Whilst that ye drave from the pasture the fair-fleeced sheep and the oxen,
Or as around some city ye fought for the spoil and the women?'
Thus did I speak; forthwith these words he addressed me in answer:
'Zeus-born son of Laertes, thou wise and wileful Odysseus,
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Neither did me and my ships o'erwhelm Earth-shaking Poseidon,
Sending an adverse blast of a dolorous tempest against me,
Nor was it hostile men that on dry land wrought my destruction.
He that my ruin devised and plotted my death was Aegisthus,
He and that woman accursed, my wife. To his palace he bade me,
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Feasted me, killed me as one might slaughter an ox at the manger.
Thus by a death full wretched I died, and round me my comrades,
Even as white-tusked hogs are slain one after the other
While at the house of a wealthy and powerful lord is preparing
Either a wedding or banquet of friends or a sumptuous wine-bout.
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Many a time hast thou been where warriors lay in their life-blood,
Fallen when fighting alone or in midmost shock of the battle;
Ah but a sight like this—it had made thee to groan in thy spirit,
How all round by the side of the bowl and the high-piled tables
Slaughtered we lay in the hall, and with blood swam all of the pavement.
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Sound most woeful of all that I heard was the cry of Cassandra,
Daughter of Priam, who, stabbed by the treacherous-soul'd Clytemnestra,
Fell right over me there as I lay ; and my hands I uplifted,
E'en though dying, to clutch at my sword; but that pitiless she-wolf
Left me, nor found in her heart, as I went to the mansion of Hades,
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Even my eyelids to close, or my lips press gently together.
Verily nought is so dire, so shameless is nought, as a woman,
Should she conceive in her heart some terrible deed to accomplish,
Such as this woman hath done in devising an impious murder,
Even the death of the lord of her youth. I believed I was coming
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Back to my children and all of my servants as one who was welcome
Homeward returning; but she, with a wickedness ne'er to be equalled,
Infamy brought on herself and on every woman for ever,
All that shall ever be born, yea even on her that is upright.'
Thus did he speak; whereat these words I addressed him in answer:
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'Ah! Loud-thundering Zeus hath indeed on the offspring of Atreus
Terribly wreaked his revenge by the means of the plottings of women,
E'en from the very beginning. For Helen we perished in thousands;
Now in thy absence hath schemed Clytemnestra this treason against thee.'
Thus did I speak; forthwith then answering thus he addressed me :
440
'Therefore beware thou too, nor to woman be weakly complaisant.
Tell her not all of the truth that is known to thy innermost bosom.
Part of it utter, and part keep carefully hidden within thee.
Nay but I trow no death by the hand of thy wife shall befall thee,
Since she is wise, full wise, with a mind well furnished with reason,
445
Even the daughter of Icarius, sage Penelopeia.
Her as a bride new-wedded we left in thy palace behind us,
Sailing away to the war; and a child on her bosom was lying,
Then but a babe. In the ranks of the men now surely he sitteth,
Happy in this—that his well-loved sire at his coming shall see him,
450
Yea and be held in the arms of his son, as is right and is seemly.
Me did this consort of mine not e'en with the eyes did she let me
Gaze with delight on my son. Ere this she had murdered her husband.
Further a thing will I say—do thou ponder it wisely within thee :
Openly dare not to enter a port of thy well-loved country;
455
Secretly put to the land. No woman is more to be trusted.
Now come, tell me a thing that I ask thee and plainly declare it :
Hear ye perchance some news of my son in the land of the living,
Either in Orchomenos maybe or in Pylos the sandy,
Or in the widespread city of Sparta with prince Menelaus?
460
Dead he is never, but still on the earth is my noble Orestes.'
So did he speak; whereat these words I addressed him in answer:
'Atreus' son, why thus dost thou ask me? I verily know not
Whether he lives or is dead, and an evil is idle discussion.'
So in a mournful strain did we stand conversing together
465
Sorrowing sadly; and ever the great tears fell in abundance.
Then drew near me the soul of the great Pelean Achilles,
Also the souls of Patroclus and Antilochus the unrivalled,
Ajax too, who excelled all others in form and in favour,
All of the Danaan chiefs save only the peerless Achilles.
470
Straight did the soul of that warrior swift, old Aeacus' grandson,
Know me, and wailing aloud these swift-winged words he addressed me :
'Zeus-born son of Laertes, thou wise and wileful Odysseus!
Desperate one! What next is the deed thou'lt wish to accomplish?
How dost thou dare to descend to the realms where dwell the departed,
475
Senseless shadows, the phantoms of men whose labour is ended?'
So did he speak; whereat these words I addressed him in answer:
'Peleus' glorious son, O prince of Achaeans, Achilles,
Seeking for Teiresias am I come, with intent to entreat him
Counsel to give how best I shall reach rough Ithaca's island.
480
Never as yet was I nigh to Achaea, nor yet on the homeland
Planted a foot, but am worn with my woes, whilst never, Achilles,
Never was man so blessed as thou in the past and thereafter.
Erst, in the life on the earth, no less than a god we revered thee,
We the Achaeans; and now in the realm of the dead as a monarch
485
Here thou dost rule; then why should death thus grieve thee, Achilles?'
Thus did I speak; forthwith then answering thus he addressed me:
'Speak not smoothly of death, I beseech, O famous Odysseus!
Better by far to remain on the earth as the thrall of another,
E'en of a portionless man that hath means right scanty for living,
490
Rather than reign sole king in the realm of the bodiless phantoms.
Come now, speak of my son! of the brave young gallant inform me:
Followed or followed he not to the war? and became he a leader?
Say to me also if aught thou hast learnt of the glorious Peleus :
Whether he still is revered by the powerful Myrmidon people,
495
Or peradventure is scorned and dishonoured in Hellas and Phthia,
Now that in hand and in foot he is feeble, by age overmastered,
Neither again can I come to the light of the sun to avenge him,
Such as I was when of yore on the widespread plain of the Trojans
Slaying the best of the host of the foemen I succoured the Argives.
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Were I as such to return but a day to the home of my father
Quickly my arm's irresistible might I'd make to be hateful
Unto the cowards that do him despite and deprive him of honour.'
Thus did he speak; forthwith then answering thus I addressed him :
'Verily nothing I learnt by report of the glorious Peleus,
505
While of thy only begotten, Neoptolemus thy belovéd,
All that I know will I truly relate, fulfilling thy wishes.
I myself was the man who on board of my fair-trimmed vessel
Brought him from Scyros' isle to the well-greaved sons of Achaea.
Now whensoever around Troy city we sat in the council
510
Foremost ever he spake, nor missed he the mark in his speaking;
None was experter but I and the godlike eloquent Nestor.
Then, whensoever in war on the Trojan plain we contested,
Never in midst of the throng he remained and the ranks of his comrades;
Far to the fore outleaping, in courage he yielded to no one.
515
Many a warrior too did he slay in the terrible conflict.
All of it ne'er can I tell, nor recount thee the names of the fallen,
All of the host of the foemen he slew as he succoured the Argives;
Only of Telephus' son, who was smit by his sword, can I tell thee,
Warrior Eurypylus; and many a one of his comrades,
520
Folk Ceteian, was slain through treacherous bribes of a woman.
Goodlier man did I never behold save glorious Memnon.
Then, as we mounted and hid in the horse that was made by Epéus,
All of us Argive chiefs, and to me the command was entrusted
Either to open the door of the well-hid ambush or close it,
525
Then stood all of the others, the Danaan leaders and chieftains,
Wiping the tears from their eyes, and with knees all quaking beneath them;
Him not once I perceived, not even a moment I noticed,
Either a whit grown pale in his handsome face, or a teardrop
Wiping away from his cheek. Nay, often he begged me to let him
530
Forth from the horse, and ever he handled the hilt of his broadsword,
Handled his bronze-shod lance, in his longing to harry the Trojans.
Then, when we captured and plundered the steep-walled city of Priam,
Bearing a share right gallant of spoil he returned to his vessel
All unscathed, not smitten at all by the edge of a spear-blade,
535
Neither in close hand-fight was he wounded—and such a misfortune
Often befalleth in war, where blind is the fury of Ares.'
So did he speak; and the soul of the swift Pelean Achilles
Stalked with gigantic strides to and fro on the asphodel meadow,
Proudly exultant to hear of his son and his glory in warfare.
540
Then did the rest of the souls of the dead that from earth had departed
Throng lamenting around me, and each asked after his dearest.
Only apart did the shade of the great Telamonian Ajax
Stand far off, in his wrath, and alone—by the victory angered
Which erstwhile I had won in my suit by the ships of the Argives,
545
Claiming the arms of Achilles, the prize that his mother the goddess
Place at award of the sons of the Trojans and Pallas Athene.
Would I had never prevailed and won such prize in the contest,
Since that by reason thereof such head in the earth lies covered,
Ajax—in beauty of form and in deeds all others excelling,
550
All of the Danaan chiefs save only the peerless Achilles.
Therefore thus I addressed him with gentlest words of persuasion:
'Ajax, brave old Telamon's son, wilt thou never be able
Even in death such wrath to forget at the thought of the armour?
Curse on it!—Sure by the gods it was sent as a plague to the Argives.
555
Ah, what a tower is fallen with thee! yea, all the Achaeans,
E'en as we mourned for the life of the great Pelean Achilles,
Mourn unceasing for thee. Nor truly thereof is another
Guilty but Zeus—for he pours on the host of the Danaan spearmen
Measureless hate; and on thee he hath laid this doom and destruction.
560
Nay, come hither, my lord! Come, list to my words and allow me
All to relate—O conquer the wrath and the pride of thy spirit!'
Thus did I speak, but he answered me nothing and followed the others
Downward to Erebus—souls of the dead that from earth had departed.
Yet, though angered, he sure had addressed me, or I had addressed him,
565
Had not my heart been fain in the depth of the bosom within me
Others to see of the souls of the dead that from earth had departed.
Minos then I beheld, illustrious son of the Father,
Bearing a sceptre of gold, to the dead dispensing his judgments,
Seated; and thronging the throne of the king they awaited the verdicts,
570
Sitting or standing anigh in the wide-door'd mansion of Hades.
Next came looming in sight the enormous giant Orion
Driving together the beasts of the chase on the asphodel meadow,
Even the beasts he had hunted of yore on the desolate mountains,
Bearing a club in his hand all-bronzen and alway unbroken.
575
Tityos too I beheld, huge offspring of glorious Gaia,
Lying outstretched on a plain. Nine roods with his body he covered.
Squatting at both of his sides was a vulture that tore at his liver,
Plunging its beak in his caul; and his hands knew nought to defend him.
Ay, for he ravished the mistress of Zeus, illustrious Leto,
580
Whilst through Pánopes' beautiful lawns she was coming to Pytho.
There did I Tantalus also behold in his terrible torments,
Fixed in a lake; and as high as his chin reached nearly the water.
Tortured by thirst he appeared, but to taste one drop was unable,
Since whenever the old man stooped in his longing for water
585
Ever it withered away, sucked down, while where he was standing
Ever the black earth showed; and this ebb was the work of a demon.
Trees too, loftily-leaved, their fruits suspended above him:
Pears were there and pomegranates and apples with glittering fruitage,
Figs with their rich sweet harvest and growth of luxuriant olives.
590
These, whenever the old man straightened him upward to clutch them,
Off to the shadowy clouds were carried away by a whirlwind.
There did I Sisyphus also behold in his travail and torments,
Heaving with both of his hands the enormous mass of a boulder;
Ay, with his hands and his feet he was heaving and pushing it ever
595
Up to the crest of a hill; then, ever again, at the moment
Ere he surmounted the height, by the weight o'ermastering conquered
Back to the valley below it rebounded, the pitiless boulder.
Then once more he began with the heaving and straining, his members
Streaming with sweat, while over his head hung eddying dust-clouds.
600
Then in his might I beheld huge Hercules, phantom terrific—
Phantom I say, for the hero himself is among the immortals
Joying in feasts, and is wedded to Hebe of beautiful ankles,
Daughter of Hera with sandals of gold and of Zeus the Almighty.
Round him a clamour arose of the dead, who to this and to that side
605
Fluttered affrighted as birds; and like to the darkness of midnight,
Holding his uncased bow in his hand and a shaft on the bowstring,
Terribly peering he stood, as a man that is ready for shooting.
Terrible too, engirding him round on the breast, was the baldrick.
Fashioned of gold was the belt, and with wondrous things it was pictured:
610
Bears and boars of the wold and lions savagely glaring,
Turmoil of war and the slaying of men and battle and bloodshed.
Whoso fashioned this thing, nought else let him fashion for ever,
Since this belt by his skill he hath set in the store of his treasures!
Me did he straightway know so soon as his eyes had perceived me;
615
Then with a pitiful wail these swift-winged words he addressed me :
'Zeus-born son of Laertes, thou wise and wileful Odysseus—
Ah poor mortal! for surely a life ill-fated thou leadest,
Such as the life that was mine to endure once under the sunlight.
Son of Cronion, of Zeus the Almighty, was I—but affliction
620
Ever-unending I knew, to a wight far weaker than I was
Bound as a thrall; and in sooth right grievous the labours he set me.
Yea, e'en hither he sent me to fetch him the Dog—and another
Labour than this did he never devise that I found to be harder.
Him natheless did I capture and drag from the palace of Hades,
625
Hermes speeding my quest and the grey-eyed goddess Athene.'
These words uttered, the spirit re-entered the mansion of Hades,
While on the spot I remained, still steadfastly waiting for other
Hero-chiefs to approach that in bygone ages had perished.
Yea and I surely had seen such heroes of old that I longed for,
630
Theseus and Peirithoüs, those glorious sons of immortals;
Now, howbeit, had gathered the myriad hosts of the phantoms
Raising a wondrous cry, and a pale cold terror possessed me,
Lest might come that terrible monster, the head of the Gorgon,
Sent from the nether abyss by the dread Queen Persephoneia.
635
Therefore straight to the ship I returned, and I bade my companions
Into the vessel to mount and to loose from the mooring the cable.
All then quickly embarked and took their seats on the benches.
Downward she sped on the river of Ocean's billowy current,
Firstly by rowing, but later was borne by a favouring stern-wind.
640
“Teiresias appears to Ulysses during the sacrifice,” (1780–1785). Henry Fuseli (German, 1741–1825). 