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330 Now the son of Terpes, the minstrel, was still seeking to escape black fate, even Phemius, who sang perforce among the wooers. He stood with the clear-toned lyre in his hands near the postern door, and he was divided in mind whether he should slip out from the hall 335 and sit down by the well-built altar of great Zeus, the God of the court, whereon Laertes and Odysseus had burned many things of oxen, or whether he should rush forward and clasp the knees of Odysseus in prayer. And as he pondered this seemed to him the better course, to clasp the knees of Odysseus, son of Laertes. 340 So he laid the hollow lyre on the ground between the mixing-bowl and the silver-studded chair, and himself rushed forward and clasped Odysseus by the knees, and made entreaty to him, and spoke winged words: “By thy knees I beseech thee, Odysseus, and do thou respect me and have pity; 345 on thine own self shall sorrow come hereafter, if thou slayest the minstrel, even me, who sing to gods and men. Self-taught am I, and the god has planted in my heart all manner of lays, and worthy am I to sing to thee as to a god; wherefore be not eager to cut my throat. 350 Aye, and Telemachus too will bear witness to this, thy dear son, how that through no will or desire of mine I was wont to resort to thy house to sing to the wooers at their feasts, but they, being far more and stronger, led me hither perforce.” So he spoke, and the strong and mighty Telemachus heard him, 355 and quickly spoke to his father, who was near: “Stay thy hand, and do not wound this guiltless man with the sword. Aye, and let us save also the herald, Medon, who ever cared for me in our house, when I was a child—unless perchance Philoetius has already slain him, or the swineherd, 360 or he met thee as thou didst rage through the house.” So he spoke, and Medon, wise of heart, heard him, for he lay crouching beneath a chair, and had clothed himself in the skin of an ox, newly flayed, seeking to avoid black fate. Straightway he rose from beneath the chair and stripped off the ox-hide, 365 and then rushed forward and clasped Telemachus by the knees, and made entreaty to him, and spoke winged words: “Friend, here I am; stay thou thy hand and bid thy father stay his, lest in the greatness of his might he harm me with the sharp bronze in his wrath against the wooers, who wasted his 370 possessions in the halls, and in their folly honored thee not at all.” But Odysseus of many wiles smiled, and said to him: “Be of good cheer, for he has delivered thee and saved thee, that thou mayest know in thy heart and tell also to another, how far better is the doing of good deeds than of evil. 375 But go forth from the halls and sit down outside in the court away from the slaughter, thou and the minstrel of many songs, till I shall have finished all that I must needs do in the house.”

Odyssey. Homer. A. T. Murray (Translator). London. 1919.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Ὀδύσσεια Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey, Volume 1-2. Murray, A. T. (Augustus Taber), editor. London: William Heinmann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919.) — 22.330 focus

Τερπιάδης δʼ ἔτʼ ἀοιδὸς ἀλύσκανε κῆρα μέλαιναν,

330

Φήμιος, ὅς ῥʼ ἤειδε μετὰ μνηστῆρσιν ἀνάγκῃ.

ἔστη δʼ ἐν χείρεσσίν ἔχων φόρμιγγα λίγειαν

ἄγχι παρʼ ὀρσοθύρην· δίχα δὲ φρεσὶ μερμήριζεν,

ἢ ἐκδὺς μεγάροιο Διὸς μεγάλου ποτὶ βωμὸν

ἑρκείου ἵζοιτο τετυγμένον, ἔνθʼ ἄρα πολλὰ

335

Λαέρτης Ὀδυσεύς τε βοῶν ἐπὶ μηρίʼ ἔκηαν,

ἦ γούνων λίσσοιτο προσαΐξας Ὀδυσῆα.

ὧδε δέ οἱ φρονέοντι δοάσσατο κέρδιον εἶναι,

γούνων ἅψασθαι Λαερτιάδεω Ὀδυσῆος.

ἦ τοι ὁ φόρμιγγα γλαφυρὴν κατέθηκε χαμᾶζε

340

μεσσηγὺς κρητῆρος ἰδὲ θρόνου ἀργυροήλου,

αὐτὸς δʼ αὖτʼ Ὀδυσῆα προσαΐξας λάβε γούνων,

καί μιν λισσόμενος ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

γουνοῦμαί σʼ, Ὀδυσεῦ· σὺ δέ μʼ αἴδεο καί μʼ ἐλέησον·

αὐτῷ τοι μετόπισθʼ ἄχος ἔσσεται, εἴ κεν ἀοιδὸν

345

πέφνῃς, ὅς τε θεοῖσι καὶ ἀνθρώποισιν ἀείδω.

αὐτοδίδακτος δʼ εἰμί, θεὸς δέ μοι ἐν φρεσὶν οἴμας

παντοίας ἐνέφυσεν· ἔοικα δέ τοι παραείδειν

ὥς τε θεῷ· τῷ μή με λιλαίεο δειροτομῆσαι.

καί κεν Τηλέμαχος τάδε γʼ εἴποι, σὸς φίλος υἱός,

350

ὡς ἐγὼ οὔ τι ἑκὼν ἐς σὸν δόμον οὐδὲ χατίζων

πωλεύμην μνηστῆρσιν ἀεισόμενος μετὰ δαῖτας,

ἀλλὰ πολὺ πλέονες καὶ κρείσσονες ἦγον ἀνάγκῃ.

ὣς φάτο, τοῦ δʼ ἤκουσʼ ἱερὴ ἲς Τηλεμάχοιο,

αἶψα δʼ ἑὸν πατέρα προσεφώνεεν ἐγγὺς ἐόντα·

355

ἴσχεο μηδέ τι τοῦτον ἀναίτιον οὔταε χαλκῷ·

καὶ κήρυκα Μέδοντα σαώσομεν, ὅς τέ μευ αἰεὶ

οἴκῳ ἐν ἡμετέρῳ κηδέσκετο παιδὸς ἐόντος,

εἰ δὴ μή μιν ἔπεφνε Φιλοίτιος ἠὲ συβώτης,

ἠὲ σοὶ ἀντεβόλησεν ὀρινομένῳ κατὰ δῶμα.

360

ὣς φάτο, τοῦ δʼ ἤκουσε Μέδων πεπνυμένα εἰδώς·

πεπτηὼς γὰρ ἔκειτο ὑπὸ θρόνον, ἀμφὶ δὲ δέρμα

ἕστο βοὸς νεόδαρτον, ἀλύσκων κῆρα μέλαιναν.

αἶψα δʼ ἀπὸ θρόνου ὦρτο, θοῶς δʼ ἀπέδυνε βοείην

Τηλέμαχον δʼ ἄρʼ ἔπειτα προσαΐξας λάβε γούνων,

365

καί μιν λισσόμενος ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

ὦ φίλʼ, ἐγὼ μὲν ὅδʼ εἰμί, σὺ δʼ ἴσχεο εἰπὲ δὲ πατρὶ

μή με περισθενέων δηλήσεται ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ,

ἀνδρῶν μνηστήρων κεχολωμένος, οἵ οἱ ἔκειρον

κτήματʼ ἐνὶ μεγάροις, σὲ δὲ νήπιοι οὐδὲν ἔτιον.

370

τὸν δʼ ἐπιμειδήσας προσέφη πολύμητις Ὀδυσσεύς·

θάρσει, ἐπεὶ δή σʼ οὗτος ἐρύσσατο καὶ ἐσάωσεν,

ὄφρα γνῷς κατὰ θυμόν, ἀτὰρ εἴπῃσθα καὶ ἄλλῳ,

ὡς κακοεργίης εὐεργεσίη μέγʼ ἀμείνων.

ἀλλʼ ἐξελθόντες μεγάρων ἕζεσθε θύραζε

375

ἐκ φόνου εἰς αὐλήν, σύ τε καὶ πολύφημος ἀοιδός,

ὄφρʼ ἂν ἐγὼ κατὰ δῶμα πονήσομαι ὅττεό με χρή.

Translations (8)

Odyssey Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey: rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Butler, Samuel, 1835-1902, translator. Revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. London: A.C. Fifield, 1900.) — 22.326 focus

326 With these words he picked up the sword that Agelaos had dropped when he was being killed, and which was lying upon the ground. Then he struck Leiodes on the back of his neck, so that his head fell rolling in the dust while he was yet speaking.

330 The minstrel Phemios son of Terpes - he who had been forced by the suitors to sing to them - now tried to save his life. He was standing near towards the trap door, and held his lyre in his hand. He did not know whether to flee out of the room and sit down by the altar of Zeus that was in the outer court, and on which both Laertes and Odysseus had offered up the thigh bones of many an ox, or whether to go straight up to Odysseus and embrace his knees, but in the end he deemed it best to embrace Odysseus’ knees. So he laid his lyre on the ground the ground between the mixing-bowl and the silver-studded seat; then going up to Odysseus he caught hold of his knees and said, "Odysseus, I beseech you have mercy on me and spare me. You will be sorry [ akhos] for it afterwards if you kill a bard who can sing both for gods and men as I can. I make all my lays myself, and heaven visits me with every kind of inspiration. I would sing to you as though you were a god, do not therefore be in such a hurry to cut my head off. Your own son Telemakhos will tell you that I did not want to frequent your house and sing to the suitors after their meals, but they were too many and too strong for me, so they made me."

354 Telemakhos heard him, and at once went up to his father. "Hold!" he cried, "the man is guiltless, do him no hurt; and we will spare Medon too, who was always good to me when I was a boy, unless Philoitios or Eumaios has already killed him, or he has fallen in your way when you were raging about the court."

361 Medon caught these words of Telemakhos, for he was crouching under a seat beneath which he had hidden by covering himself up with a freshly flayed heifer's hide, so he threw off the hide, went up to Telemakhos, and laid hold of his knees.

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 22.330 focus

The minstrel Phemios, son of Terpes—he who had been forced by the suitors to sing to them—now tried to save his life. He was standing near towards the trap door, and held his lyre in his hand. He did not know whether to flee out of the hall and sit down by the altar of [335] Zeus that was in the outer court, and on which both Laertes and Odysseus had offered up the thigh bones of many an ox, or whether to go straight up to Odysseus and embrace his knees, but in the end he thought it best to embrace Odysseus’ knees. [340] So he laid his lyre on the ground between the mixing-bowl and the silver-studded seat; then going up to Odysseus he caught hold of his knees and said, “Odysseus, I beseech you have mercy on me and spare me. [345] You will feel grief [ akhos] for it afterwards if you kill a bard who can sing both for gods and men as I can. I am self-taught, and the god implanted every kind of lay in my phrenes. I would sing to you as though you were a god, do not therefore be in such a hurry to cut my head off. [350] Your own son Telemachus will tell you that I did not want to frequent your house and sing to the suitors after their meals, but they were too many and too strong for me, so they made me.”

The hallowed prince Telemachus heard him, [355] and at once went up to his father. “Hold!” he cried, “the man is guiltless, do him no hurt; and we will spare Medon, our herald, too, who was always good to me when I was a boy, unless Philoitios or Eumaios has already killed him, [360] or he has fallen in your way when you were raging about the court.”

Medon caught these words of Telemachus, for he was crouching under a seat beneath which he had hidden by covering himself up with a freshly flayed heifer’s hide, so he threw off the hide, went up to Telemachus, [365] and laid hold of his knees. “Here I am, my dear sir,” said he, “stay your hand therefore, and tell your father, or he will kill me in his rage against the suitors [370] for having wasted his substance and been so foolishly disrespectful to yourself.”

Resourceful Odysseus smiled at him and answered, “Fear not; Telemachus has saved your life, that you may know in future, and tell other people, how greatly better good deeds prosper than evil ones. [375] Go, therefore, outside the halls into the outer court, and be out of the way of the slaughter—you and the bard—while I finish my work here inside.”

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873)) — 22.330 focus

Phemius, the son of Terpius, skilled in song,

Alone escaped the bitter doom of death.

He by constraint had sung among the train

Of suitors, and was standing now beside

The postern door, and held his sweet-toned lyre,

410

And pondered whether he should leave the hall,

And sit before the altar of the great

Herceian Jove, where, with Laertes, once

Ulysses oft had burned the thighs of beeves,

Or whether he should fling himself before

415

Ulysses, as a suppliant, at his knees.

This to his thought seemed wisest, to approach

Laertes' son, and clasp his knees. He placed

His sweet harp on the floor, between the cup

And silver-studded seat, and went and clasped

420

The hero's knees, and said in winged words :-

"I come, Ulysses, to thy knees. Respect

And spare me. It will be a grief to thee,

Hereafter, shouldst thou slay a bard, who sings

For gods and men alike. I taught myself

425

This art; some god has breathed into my mind

Songs of all kinds, and I could sing to thee

As to a god. O, seek not then to take

My life! Thy own dear son Telemachus

Will bear me witness that not willingly

430

Nor for the sake of lucre did I come

To sing before the suitors at their feasts

And in thy palace, but was forced to come

By numbers and by mightier men than I."

He ceased; Telemachus, the mighty, heard

435

And thus bespake his father at his side : -

"Refrain; smite not the guiltless with the sword ;

And be the herald, Medon, also spared,

Who in our palace had the care of me

Through all my childhood; if he be not slain

440

Already by Philœtius, or by him

Who tends the swine, or if he have not met

Thyself, when thou wert ranging through the hall."

He spake, and the sagacious Medon heard,

As crouching underneath a throne he lay,

445

Wrapped in the skin just taken from a steer,

To hide from the black doom of death. He came

From where he lay, and quickly flung aside

The skin, and, springing forward, clasped the knees

Of the young prince, and said in winged words :

450

"Dear youth, behold me here; be merciful;

Speak to thy father, that he put not forth

His sword to slay me, eager as he is

For vengeance, and incensed against the men

Who haunt these halls to make his wealth a spoil,

455

And in their folly hold thyself in scorn."

He spake; the sage Ulysses smiled and said :

"Be of good cheer, since this my son protects

And rescues thee. Now mayst thou well perceive,

And say to other men, how much more safe

460

Is doing good than evil. Go thou forth

Out of this slaughter to the open court,

Thou and the illustrious bard, and sit ye there,

While here within I do what yet I must."

English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858)) — 22.330 focus

Phemius alone the hand of vengeance spar'd,

Phemius the sweet, the heaven-instructed bard.

Beside the gate the reverend minstrel stands;

The lyre, now silent, trembling in his hands;

370

Dubious to supplicate the chief, or fly

To Jove's inviolable altar nigh,

Where oft Laërtes holy vows had paid,

And oft Ulysses smoking victims laid.

His honour'd harp with care he first set down,

375

Between the laver and the silver throne;

Then, prostrate stretch'd before the dreadful man,

Persuasive thus, with accent soft began:

"O king! to mercy be thy soul inclin'd,

And spare the poet's ever-gentle kind.

380

A deed like this thy future fame would wrong,

For dear to gods and man is sacred song.

Self-taught I sing; by Heaven, and Heaven alone,

The genuine seeds of poesy are sown:

And (what the gods bestow) the lofty lay

385

To gods alone and godlike worth we pay.

Save then the poet, and thyself reward;

'Tis thine to merit, mine is to record.

That here I sung, was force, and not desire:

This hand reluctant touch'd the warbling wire;

390

And, let thy son attest, nor sordid pay,

Nor servile flattery, stain'd the moral lay."

The moving words Telemachus attends,

His sire approaches, and the bard defends.

"O mix not, father, with those impious dead

395

The man divine; forbear that sacred head;

Medon, the herald, too, our arms may spare,

Medon, who made my infancy his care;

If yet he breathes, permit thy son to give

Thus much to gratitude, and bid him live."

400

Beneath a table, trembling with dismay,

Couch'd close to earth, unhappy Medon lay,

Wrapp'd in a new-slain ox's ample hide;

Swift at the word he cast his screen aside,

Sprung to the prince, embraced his knee with tears,

405

And thus with grateful voice address'd his ears:

"O prince! O friend! lo here thy Medon stands:

Ah stop the hero's unresisted hands,

Incens'd too justly by that impious brood,

Whose guilty glories now are set in blood."

410

To whom Ulysses with a pleasing eye:

"Be bold, on friendship and my son rely;

Live, an example for the world to read,

How much more safe the good than evil deed:

Thou, with the heaven-taught bard, in peace resort

415

From blood and carnage to yon open court:

Me other work requires."—With timorous awe

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 22.330 focus

But Phemius, the minstrel, 'scaped free,

For thither he came not for meat or bread:

The suitors forced him of necessity.

He had his fiddle in his hand, and stood

Within the door, and studied what to do,

290

Whether unto Ulysses go he should,

Or out a door unto the altar go

I'th' court, whereon with many a fat beast

Ulysses oft devoutly had serv'd Jove;

And having paus'd, at last he thought it best

295

To go t' Ulysses and his mercy prove.

Then down he laid his fiddle on the floor,

Between the temp'rer and a studded chair,

Then went and fell upon his knees before

Ulysses, and thus to him made his prayer:

300

Save me, Ulysses, and consider that

If you me slay, it after you will grieve.

I am a singer, but was never taught;

For song to me the Gods did freely give.

I sing to Gods and men, and have the skill

305

To sing to you as to a God; therefore,

Of cutting off my head lay by the will.

Besides, Telemachus can tell you more;

I was not hither drawn with smell of roast,

But many men and strong brought me by force.

310

Telemachus, that knew this was no boast,

Cried out, Hold father, 'tis not our best course

To slay the innocent, and I would fain

Save Medon too, that lov'd me from a boy,

And took care of me, if he be not slain

315

By coming in your or your servants' way.

Under a seat Medon himself had laid,

And wrapp'd himself up in a raw cow-hide,

And hearing what Telemachus had said,

Skipp'd nimbly out, his cow-skin cast aside,

320

And falling at Telemachus his knee,

lie to him said, O friend, lo here I stand;

Forbear, I pray, and to your father be

A means that also he may hold his hand;

For whilst his anger 'gainst the suitors staid,

325

That wasted have his goods, and him despis'd,

Killing each way about him, I'm afraid

He might perhaps kill me too unadvis'd.

Ulysses hearing, answered thus agen:

Take courage, man, there is no danger nigh,

330

And this remember, and tell other men,

That justice better thrives than knavery.

Go now into the court, and stay without,

Both you and Phemius, that I may do

The bus'ness in the house I am about.

335

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 22.330 focus

Then did the poet Phemius (whose surname

Was call'd Terpiades; who thither came

435

Forced by the Wooers) fly death; but being near

The court's great gate, he stood, and parted there

In two his counsels; either to remove

And take the altar of Herceian Jove

(Made sacred to him, with a world of art

440

Engraven about it, where were wont t' impart

Laertes and Ulysses many a thigh

Of broad-brow'd oxen to the Deity)

Or venture to Ulysses, clasp his knee,

And pray his ruth. The last was the decree

445

His choice resolved on. 'Twixt the royal throne

And that fair table that the bowl stood on

With which they sacrificed, his harp he laid

Along the earth, the King's knees hugg'd, and said:

"Ulysses! Let my prayers obtain of thee

450

My sacred skill's respect, and ruth to me!

It will hereafter grieve thee to have slain

A poet, that doth sing to Gods and men.

I of myself am taught, for God alone

All sorts of song hath in my bosom sown,

455

And I, as to a God, will sing to thee;

Then do not thou deal like the priest with me.

Thine own loved son Telemachus will say,

That not to beg here, nor with willing way

Was my access to thy high court address'd,

460

To give the Wooers my song after feast,

But, being many, and so much more strong,

They forced me hither, and compell'd my song."

This did the prince's sacred virtue hear,

And to the King, his father, said: "Forbear

465

To mix the guiltless with the guilty's blood.

And with him likewise let our mercies save

Medon the herald, that did still behave

Himself with care of my good from a child,

If by Eumæus yet he be not kill'd,

470

Or by Philætius, nor your fury met,

While all this blood about the house it swet."

This Medon heard, as lying hid beneath

A throne set near, half dead with fear of death;

A new-flay'd ox-hide, as but there thrown by,

475

His serious shroud made, he lying there to fly.

But hearing this he quickly left the throne,

His ox-hide cast as quickly, and as soon

The prince's knees seized, saying: "O my love,

I am not slain, but here alive and move.

480

Abstain yourself, and do not see your sire

Quench with my cold blood the unmeasured fire

That flames in his strength, making spoil of me,

His wrath's right, for the Wooers' injury."

Ulysses smiled, and said: "Be confident

485

This man hath saved and made thee different,

To let thee know, and say, and others see,

Good life is much more safe than villany.

Go then, sit free without from death within.

This much-renowned singer from the sin

490

Of these men likewise quit. Both rest you there,

While I my house purge as it fits me here."

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 22.330 focus

But Phemius, son of Terpius, bard divine,

385

Who, through compulsion, with his song regaled

The suitors, a like dreadful death escaped.

Fast by the postern, harp in hand, he stood,

Doubtful if, issuing, he should take his seat

Beside the altar of Hercæan Jove,

390

Where oft Ulysses offer'd, and his sire,

Fat thighs of beeves, or whether he should haste,

An earnest suppliant, to embrace his knees.

That course, at length, most pleased him; then between

The beaker and an argent studded throne

395

He grounded his sweet lyre, and seizing fast

The Hero's knees, him suppliant thus address'd.

I clasp thy knees, Ulysses! oh respect

My suit, and spare me. Thou shalt not escape

Regret thyself hereafter, if thou slay

400

Me, charmer of the woes of Gods and men.

Self-taught am I, and treasure in my mind

Themes of all argument from heaven inspired,

And I can sing to thee as to a God.

Ah then behead me not! Put even the wish

405

Far from thee! for thy own beloved son

Can witness, that not drawn by choice, or driven

By stress of want, resorting to thine house

I have regaled these revellers so oft,

But under force of mightier far than I.

410

Heard of Telemachus, approaching quick

His father, thus humane he interposed.

So he; whose words soon as the sacred might

Hold-Harm not with the vengeful faulchion's edge

This blameless man; and we will also spare

415

Medon the herald, who hath ever been

A watchful guardian of my boyish years,

Unless Philœtius have already slain him,

Or else Eumæus, or thyself, perchance,

Unconscious, in the tumult of our foes.

420

He spake, whom Medon hearing (for he lay

Beneath a throne, and in a new-stript hide

Enfolded, trembling with the dread of death,)

Sprang from his hiding-place, and casting off

The skin, flew to Telemachus, embraced

425

His knees, and in wing'd accents thus exclaim'd.

Prince! I am here-oh, pity me! repress

Thine own, and pacify thy father's wrath,

That he destroy not me, through fierce revenge

Of their iniquities who have consumed

430

His wealth, and in their folly scorn'd his son.

To whom Ulysses, ever wise, replied,

Smiling complacent. Fear not; my own son

Hath pleaded for thee. Therefore (taught thyself

That truth) teach others the superior worth

435

Of benefits with injuries compared.

But go ye forth, thou and the sacred bard,

That ye may sit distant in yonder court

From all this carnage, while I give command

Myself concerning it, to those within.

440

English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911)) — 22 focus

ODYSSEY BOOK XXII

CASTING his beggarly raiment aside, deep-plotting Odysseus

Leapt on the threshold of stone, still holding the bow and the quiver

Laden with bolts; and before him the swift-winged arrows he poured out

Close to his feet on the floor; and he spake, addressing the suitors:

"Lo, this fatal, calamitous contest is done—it is finished!

Now for a mark far other—a mark ne'er smit by a bowman!

This will I choose me, and see if renown shall be sent by Apollo."

Spake, and at Antinous directed the sharp-fanged arrow,

Just as he paused at the moment of lifting a beautiful goblet,

Golden, with handles at both of its sides; and already he held it,

Meaning to drink of the wine; and of death no thought or suspicion

Troubled his mind. (Would any believe in the midst of a banquet

One man, single among so many, however audacious,

Thus might compass his doom and plunge him in death and in darkness?)

Steadily aimed was the bolt of Odysseus: it struck on the gullet.

Pierced was the delicate neck right through by the point of the arrow.

Over he lurched; from his hand dropt crashing the cup, and he lay there

Mortally struck, while jetted a thick red stream of his life-blood

Out of his nostrils. His foot, convulsively striking the table,

Spurned it afar and upset it. Defiled lay all of the viands,

Spilt on the ground, roast flesh with the bread. Then clamour and tumult

Rose in the hall when the suitors beheld their comrade was fallen.

Up from the seats at the table they leaped in a panic of terror,

Eagerly peering around at the well-built walls to discover

Either a shield or a spear strong-shafted; but nothing they found there.

Then on Odysseus they turned and with angry reviling assailed him:

"Stranger, in sooth thou'lt suffer for shooting at men! In a contest

Never again shalt thou share. Death certain and sudden awaits thee.

Lo, thou hast murdered a man who was foremost of all of the princes

Here in the Ithacan land—so Ithacan vultures shall eat thee."

Thus spake all, for they deemed of a truth that the stranger had killed him

Not with intent. Ah, fools! yea, foolish and blind, for they saw not

Over the heads of them all impending the toils of destruction.

Glaring askance at the men, deep-plotting Odysseus addressed them :

"Dogs! ye imagined me never returning again to my homestead

Back from the land of the Trojans and so laid waste my possessions,

Won by compulsion to lustful embraces the women, my servants,

Yea and with guile came wooing my wife while still I was living,

Neither afraid of the gods who inhabit the infinite heaven

Nor that the vengeance of man could smite you hereafter. Behold now

Over the heads of you all impending the toils of destruction!"

Thus did he speak. Forthwith pale dread seized all of the suitors,

Each one peering to 'scape from the doom that was swiftly approaching.

Eurymachus was the one that alone found voice, and he answered :

'Art thou Odysseus the Ithacan, come once more to thy homeland,

Truly thou speakest with right. Such things have wrought the Achaeans,

Many and many infatuate deeds in thy palace and farmsteads.

Lo now, he that was guilty of all here lieth before us,

Antinous. It is he that alone these crimes hath incited.

Not so much that he needed to wed or was longing for marriage;

No, his intent was another—but heaven refused to fulfil it—

E'en to install as the king of the flourishing Ithacan people

None but himself, and, catching thy son in an ambush, to slay him.

Now he is dead, as he richly deserved. So spare us, thy people,

Even thy own! We will go each one to his tribe, and hereafter

Each shall requite thee for all he has eaten and drunk in thy palace,

Each one make an atonement of five score oxen in value.

Also with bronze and with gold will we offer requital and soften

Fully thy heart. Till then for thy wrath none truly can blame thee."

Glaring askance at the man, thus spake deep-plotting Odysseus:

"Eurymachus, if ye give me the whole of the wealth of your fathers,

All ye at present possess and all ye shall add to it later,

Not e'en thus shall my hands be restrained nor shall cease from the slaughter

Till I shall wreak my revenge to the full on the sins of the suitors.

Now there lieth before you to fight, or to flee—if by fighting

Any shall hope, or by fleeing, to save him from doom and destruction.

Nay but I trow not a man shall escape from his utter perdition."

Thus as he spake were loosened the knees and the hearts of the suitors.

Then spake Eurymachus once more as he turned to his comrades :

"Friends, it is vain! The invincible might of his hands he will check not.

Now he has got in his power the smooth-wrought bow and the quiver,

Down from the threshold of stone he will shoot us, until he has slain us

All, to a man. Let us turn our minds to the fury of battle.

Draw ye! and hold ye the tables before you to shield you as bucklers,

Quenching his bolts so fatal and swift. Then, rushing upon him

All in a body, attempt from the threshold and portal to drive him!

So let us get to the city and quickly arouse the alarm there!

Then shall the shaft that the fellow has shot be the last of his lifetime."

These words loudly he uttered, and drawing his sword from the scabbard,

Bronzen and sharpened on both of the edges, he leaped on Odysseus

Terribly shouting; but just at the moment the godlike Odysseus

Loosened a bolt from the bow, and smiting his breast by the nipple

Into the liver was driven the swift-winged shaft; and his sword dropt

Out of his hand to the ground; then, staggering, over a table,

All entangled around it, he fell and scattered the dishes

On to the floor with the food and a twy-cupped bowl; and his forehead

Smote on the earth as he writhed in his agony, spurning the armchair

Sharply with both of his feet. On his eyes then darkness descended.

Amphinomus now rushed at Odysseus, the glorious hero,

Charging him straight from the front with his sharp sword drawn from the scabbard,

Hoping to drive him away from the portal; but ere he had reached him

Telemachus from behind with a bronze-shod javelin smote him

Right in the midst of the back; and out of his breast it protruded.

Crashing he fell, and he struck on the ground with the whole of his forehead.

Telemachus sprang back, but his long-stemmed spear he had left there

Planted in Amphinomus, for he feared lest one of the nobles

While he was drawing it forth might suddenly rush to assail him,

Giving a stab with a sword or a downward stroke of his weapon.

Then to his well-loved father he ran, and reaching him quickly

Stood at his side, and in haste these swift-winged words he addressed him :

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"Father, at once I will fetch thee a shield and a couple of lances,

Also a helm all bronze with a visor to cover the temples.

Then I will go and will clothe me in armour, and give to the swineherd

Other, and also the cowherd. 'Tis better in arms to equip us."

Forthwith answering spake these words deep-plotting Odysseus:

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"Run for them! run!—while yet I have arrows enough to defend me!

Lest thus single I fail to resist and be thrust from the doorway."

Thus did he speak, and the youth, as his well-loved father commanded,

Ran to the chamber in which were lying the glorious weapons.

Out of them eight good lances and four of the shields he selected;

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Four bronze helmets he chose him with horse-tails heavily crested,

Carrying which he returned full quickly and came to his father.

Firstly himself in a harness of bronze he invested; and likewise

Also the thralls, those twain, encased them in beautiful armour.

Then at the side of the wise and wary Odysseus they placed them.

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He however, as long as the arrows sufficed to defend him,

Aye at the suitors at one or the other—entrapped in his mansion

Aimed; and they fell as he smote them, the one by the side of the other.

Then, when the shafts had deserted their lord and had failed him in shooting,

Nigh to the post of the door of the massively builded apartment

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Propping the bow, on the face of the inside glistering house-wall,

Over his shoulders he hung him a fourfold target of oxhide;

Also a well-wrought helm on his stalwart head he adjusted,

Plumed with the tail of a horse, which terribly nodded above it.

Then two weapons he chose, bronze-bladed and powerful lances.

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Now in the well-built wall was a high-raised postern inserted

Flush with the slab of the threshold, and here from the hall was an outlet

Through to a passage by doors well-fitting and double defended.

This had Odysseus commanded the good old swineherd to look to

Standing anigh it; for here was the only approach to the passage.

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Then from the midst of the suitors, addressing them, spake Agelaus:

"Friends, is a man to be found who will mount by the postern and quickly

Bring a report to the men of the city and rouse an alarm there ?

Then shall the shafts that the fellow has shot be the last of his lifetime."

Him forthwith gave answer Melanthius master of goatherds :

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"Twere not possible, prince Agelaus, for terribly near it

Opens the beautiful door of the court, and the mouth of the passage

Offers a peril, for one strong man might hinder a thousand.

Navy, let me fetch you, to arm you withal, both weapons and hauberks

Out of the chamber in which (for I trow it was there and not elsewhere)

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All were stowed by this fine prince Telemachus and his father."

These words spoken, he clambered—Melanthius master of goatherds—

Up by the loophole lights of the hall to the rooms of Odysseus.

Thence twelve targets he took and a dozen of lances, and also

Twelve bronze helmets he chose him with horse-tails heavily crested.

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Then he returned, and he brought them and gave them in haste to the suitors.

Now did the knee-joints quake and the inmost heart of Odysseus

While he perceived them equipping themselves in the armour and shaking

Long-stemmed spears in their hands; and he felt that his task was a great one.

Quickly he turned to his son and with swift-winged words he addressed him :

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"Telemachus, is it one of the maids in the women's apartment

Plying this treacherous game—or else peradventure Melantheus?"

Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

"Father, the fault is my own that it happened, and guilty is no one

Other, for after I opened the fast-closed door of the chamber

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Wholly forgetting I left it, and some one cleverer spied it.

Go now, good Eumaeus, and closing the door of the chamber

Watch and discover if one of the women is doing this mischief;

Else it is Dolius' son, I am certain, the goatherd Melantheus."

Thus did the men hold converse and counsel the one with the other.

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Then once more to the chamber Melanthius master of goatherds

Went for the beautiful arms; and the good old swineherd, who saw it,

Hastily called to Odysseus, who stood full near, and addressed him :

"Zeus-born son of Laertes, thou wise and wary Odysseus,

Yea it is even the fellow we thought, that impudent goatherd!

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See, he is going again to the room! Come, tell me exactly :

Should I be able to master the man, were't better to slay him,

Or shall I bring him to thee for his punishment, so that he pay for

All of the many transgressions his malice devised in thy homestead?"

Him then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:

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"I and my son will be able to cope with the insolent suitors,

Holding them penned in the hall of the palace in spite of their fury.

Ye two, twisting the hands and the feet of the fellow behind him,

Drag him within. To his back then lashing a panel of boarding,

Firmly attach to his body a rope strong-stranded, and haul him

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Up by a pillar aloft till he dangle anigh to the roof-beam,

So that he live right long while suffering terrible torture."

Thus did he speak, and they listened attent to his words and obeyed them.

Unto the chamber they went, and they saw him within; but he wist not;

Right at the innermost end of the room he was searching for armour.

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So at the door they remained, each one by the side of a door-post.

Soon came crossing the threshold Melanthius master of goatherds,

Laden with arms: in the one of his hands was a beautiful helmet,

While in the other he carried a buckler—a broad and an old one

Spotted with mould (as a youngster the hero Laertes had borne it;

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Here long years it had lain, and the seams were loose of the oxhide).

Suddenly leaping upon him they seized him, and into the chamber

Dragged by the hair he was flung on the floor, and groaning he lay there,

While with a bond right grievous they girded his hands and his ankles,

Twisting the limbs well back and securely, as bid by the master,

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Even Also Laertes' son, long-suffering godlike Odysseus.

Then to his body attaching a rope strong-stranded they hauled him

Up by a pillar aloft till he dangled anigh to the roof-beam.

Here as he hung Eumaeus the swineherd addressed him and mocked him :

"Somewhat a long and a sleepless night thou'lt find it, Melantheus,

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Though right soft is the bed in the which thou art couched, as befits thee;

Nor shall the Dawn, when she newly ariseth from streams of the Ocean,

Fail to appear to thee throned in her glory, as erst when thou dravest

Goats of the flock to the palace to furnish a feast for the suitors."

Thus held tight in the deadly embrace of the rope he was left there,

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While in the armour they clad them, and shutting the glistering portal

Quickly returned to the master, the wise and wary Odysseus.

Here then, breathing the fury of battle, they stood on the door-stone,

Four of them, while in the hall stood many opposing them bravely.

Now did the daughter of Zeus draw nigh them, the goddess Athene,

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Once more likened to Mentor in voice and in bodily semblance.

Then did Odysseus rejoice as he saw her, and spake to her saying:

"Mentor, I pray thee, defend me from harm, and remember thy comrade,

One that was dear and was kind to thee often—the friend of thy boyhood!"

Thus did he speak, but he deemed 'twas Athena who stirreth the battle.

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Then from the depths of the hall great clamour was raised by the suitors,

Foremost shouting abuse Agelaus the son of Damastor :

"Mentor, I bid thee beware lest words of Odysseus beguile thee

Thus with the suitors to fight and to stand by his side and defend him,

Since I am sure we shall win us the end that we purpose in this wise :

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After the death of the twain (they shall die, both son and the father)

Thou shalt be slain, thou too—such mischievous deeds thou art wishing

Here in the palace to work. With thy head thou shalt pay for thy folly.

So with the edge of the sword we shall rob you of strength to resist us ;

Then thy possessions—the whole of the wealth in thy fields and thy mansion—

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All we shall mix with the wealth of Odysseus, and ne'er shall we suffer

Either thy sons or thy daughters to dwell in the halls of thy homestead,

Nor shall thy excellent wife go gadding about in the city."

So did he speak, and it maddened to fury the heart of Athene,

Till on Odysseus she turned and with angry reproaches addressed him:

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"Now no longer, Odysseus, of worth is thy strength or thy manhood,

Such as was thine when in battle for white-armed Helen the high-born

Nine long years with the Trojans thou foughtest unweariedly ever,

Slaughtering many and many a foe in the terrible warfare.

Thine was the counsel that captured the wide-wayed city of Priam.

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How then! Now thou art come to thy home and to all thy possessions,

Why in the face of the suitors lament and behave as a weakling?

BATTEN WILSON
THE SLAUGHTER OF THE SUITORS

Navy, come hither, my friend, to my side! Stand nigh and behold me,

So shalt thou learn from my deeds what manner of mortal is Mentor,

Alcimus' son, to requite thee a kindness by fighting thy foemen."

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Thus did she speak, but she gave no victory full and decisive;

Still was she wishing to put to a trial the strength and the prowess

Both of Odysseus himself and his valiant son; and she vanished,

Suddenly flying aloft to the smoke-stained roof of the palace,

Where on a rafter she sat in the fashion and form of a swallow.

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Now took lead in the fray Agelaus the son of Damastor,

Eurynomus, Demoptolemus, and the son of Polyctor

Peisandrus, and Amphimedon and Polybus wily,

Even the best and the bravest by far that of all of the suitors

Still were living and fighting to save their lives from destruction

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(Others already the bow with the storm of its arrows had conquered).

These Agelaus addressed and to all of them shouted, exclaiming:

"Friends, the invincible strength of the fellow is failing already!

Lo too, Mentor is gone from his side, with his brags and his boastings,

Leaving the four thus standing alone in the front of the doorway.

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Come, let us hurl with the spears—not all of us casting together :

Six of us only attempt it at first, in the hope that the Father

Grant that we gain us the glory of smiting and slaying Odysseus.

Should this fellow be brought to a fall, of the others I reck not."

Thus did he speak, and they cast at Odysseus with spears as he bade them,

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Eagerly hurling; but all were foiled by the goddess Athene.

Into the post of the door of the strong-built hall of the palace

One of them drave, and the door close-fastened was smit by another,

While in the wall struck lances of ash bronze-bladed and heavy.

So when they thus had escaped unharmed from the spears of the suitors,

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Then to address them began long-suffering godlike Odysseus :

"Now for myself is the moment to speak and to bid you, my comrades,

Into the throng of the suitors to hurl; for they thirst to destroy us,

Adding to all of their former iniquities murder and rapine."

Thus did he speak, and the four, their keen-edged lances uplifting,

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Hurled them with accurate aim. Demoptolemus by Odysseus,

Euryades by the prince, Elatus by the swineherd was smitten,

Peisandrus by the man who as neatherd tended the cattle.

Biting the dust these lay on the floor's wide surface extended,

While to the end of the hall in a panic retreated the others.

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Then dashed forward the four and drew their spears from the corpses..

Now once more did the suitors, the keen-edged lances uplifting

Eagerly hurl; but the most were foiled by the goddess Athene.

Into the post of the door of the strong-built hall of the palace

One of them drave, and the door close-fastened was smit by another,

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While in the wall struck lances of ash bronze-bladed and heavy.

Amphimedon natheless smote Telemachus by the hand-joint

Lightly, the edge of the blade scarce scratching the skin on the surface.

Next with a long-stemmed spear Ctesippus hurled at the swineherd.

Over his shield, just grazing the shoulder, it flew, and alighted.

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Then did the four on the side of the wise and wary Odysseus

Once more hurl in the throng of the suitors the keen-edged lances.

Smitten was Eurydamas by Odysseus the sacker of cities;

Amphimedon fell struck by the prince, Polybus by the swineherd,

Ctesippus by the man who as neatherd tended the cattle;

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Full on the breast he was struck, and the man exultingly mocked him :

"Ah, Polytherses' son, thou'rt fond of abuse, but I warn thee

Never to yield to the folly of brag, but to leave the decision

Unto the gods, whose wisdom is greater by far than a mortal's.

This is my gift in return for the foot of an ox that thou gavest

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Unto the godlike Odysseus when here in his home he was begging."

These words uttered the herd of the crook-horned kine; and Odysseus

Stabbed with the thrust of a spear long-shafted the son of Damastor;

Telemachus too smote Leiocritus, son of Euenor,

Right in the midst of the flank, and the blade clean through him was driven ;

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Forward he fell and he struck on the ground with the whole of his forehead.

Then did Athena her aegis uplift, that is death to a mortal;

High in the roof she displayed it, appalling the minds of the suitors.

Hither and thither they rushed in a panic, as kine on a pasture

Scatter whene'er comes glancing and darting upon them a gadfly

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Late in the season of spring, when the days grow longer and longer;

While as the vultures with sharp-hooked beaks and with terrible talons

Out of the hills come swooping and chasing the birds of the lowland

Down from the clouds, till over the plain affrighted they flutter,

Then pounce suddenly down and destroy them, and nought can defend them,

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Nor can they flee (men also rejoice at the chase and the capture),

Thus those four gave chase in the hall to the horde of the suitors,

Smiting around them to left and to right; and a horrible groaning

Rose midst lopping of heads; and the floor ran red with the life-blood.

Leiodes, with a rush, now fell at the feet of Odysseus,

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Clasping his knees in entreaty; and swift-winged words he addressed him :

"Lo, by thy knees I beseech thee to pity and spare me, Odysseus!

None of the women, I swear, did I wrong in the halls of thy palace

Either by act unseemly or word; yea, also the others

Often I tried to restrain when I saw such folly committed.

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Natheless ne'er did they listen nor keep their hands from offending;

So hath a terrible doom o'erwhelmed them because of their madness.

What! shall an innocent priest who has harmed thee in nothing be slaughtered

Even as those? Is it thus thou repayest me thanks for my goodness?"

Glaring askance at the man deep-plotting Odysseus addressed him:

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"Navy, if indeed thou avowst thee as priest to the rabble of suitors,

Often, I ween, in the hall of my palace a prayer thou hast offered

Begging my happy return might still be afar from fulfilment,

Ay and my well-loved wife might wed thee and bear thee an offspring.

So thou art doomed to a death right bitter—nor hope to escape it."

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These words uttered, he seized with his powerful hand on a broadsword

Lying anear—dropt there on the floor by the prince Agelaus

While he was dying—and into the nape of the kneeler he drave it.

Down in the dust went rolling the head while still it was speaking.

Filled with a hope to escape from the darkness of death was the minstrel

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Phemius, Terpes' son, who had sung at the feasts by compulsion.

Holding his sweet-voiced lute in his tremulous fingers he stood there

Nigh to the postern door; and his heart was divided within him

Whether to slip from the hall and to flee to the altar for refuge

Built in the court to omnipotent Zeus, where often aforetime

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Thighs of the cattle Odysseus had burnt, and his father Laertes,

Or rush forward and grasp with his hands at the knees of Odysseus.

Thus as he pondered thereon this plan seemed surely the better,

Even to fall at the feet of the godlike son of Laertes.

Therefore his hollow phorminx he set on the floor of the palace

340

Next to a crater of wine and an armchair studded with silver,

Then rushed forward and fell at the feet of Odysseus and begged him,

Clasping his knees in entreaty; and swift-winged words he addressed him :

"Lo, by thy knees I beseech thee to pity and spare me, Odysseus

Also thyself wouldst suffer hereafter the pain of repentance

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Wert thou to slaughter a minstrel, who singeth for men and immortals.

None but the god was my master: he breathed in my heart and he taught me

All the enchantment of song; and now I am singing before thee

E'en as my god. Then long not to smite at my throat and to slay me!

Yea, and thy well-loved son prince Telemachus will assure thee

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Ne'er was I willing to come to thy halls, far less was I wishful

Here to resort with the suitors and sing to them after the banquet.

Being the stronger by far and many in number, they forced me."

Thus as he spake he was heard by the valiant son of Odysseus.

Quickly the prince turned round and called to his father anigh him :

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"Hold! he is innocent! Strike not the man with thy weapon, my father!

Medon the herald as well let us save, for he ever aforetime

Tended me carefully while I was still but a child in thy homestead,

Should he be living and not by Philoetius slain, or the swineherd,

Neither discovered by thee while raging around in the palace."

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Thus as he spake he was heard by the wise old Medon the herald.

Cowering under a chair, wrapt round in a new-flayed oxskin,

Hiding in hope to escape from the darkness of death, he was lying.

Swiftly uprising from under the chair and unrolling the oxhide

Forward he sprang, and he fell at the feet of the youth, in entreaty

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Clasping his knees, and with haste these swift-winged words he addressed him:

"Friend, I am here! Hold, hold, I beseech thee! and call to thy father

Lest in his furious might with the keen-edged sword he shall harm me,

Angered because of the men—these suitors who wasted his substance

Here in his palace ;—and thee they regarded as nothing, the madmen!"

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Then to the man spake thus with a smile deep-plotting Odysseus:

"Be not afraid! Thou art safe. He wishes to succour and save thee.

So shalt thou feel in thy heart this truth, and shalt tell it to others:

Better by far is the doing of good than the doing of evil.

Go now, both of you. Go from the hall and away from the slaughter.

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Sit outside in the court, both sweet-voiced singer and herald,

While I remain in the palace to finish my work, as I needs must."

So did he speak, and the twain went forth from the hall to the courtyard.

Here by the altar of Zeus the Almighty they sat, and around them

Hither and thither they peered and of death were ever expectant.

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Also Odysseus was peering around in the house, to discover

Any remaining and hoping to 'escape death's terrible darkness.

Weltering there in the dust and in blood lay all of the suitors,

Fallen in many and many a heap, like fishes that boatmen

Drag in a strong-meshed net from the grey-green depths of the ocean

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On to the beach of a hollow recess in the shore, and they lie there

Heaped on the sand, all gasping in vain for the salt sea water,

While by the heat of the sun drawn forth is the life from their bodies.

Thus were lying in heaps, piled one on the other, the suitors.

Then at the last to his son deep-plotting Odysseus addressed him :

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"Telemachus, go call me the old nurse Eurycleia,

So that I tell her a thing that is stirring my spirit within me."

Thus did he speak, and the youth, as his well-loved father commanded,

Rattled the door of the chamber and called nurse Eurycleia :

"Hither in haste, old dame, who over the women attendants

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Keepest an eye and hast charge of them all in the palace as matron.

Haste! for my father is bidding thee come. He has something to tell thee."

Thus did he speak, and the word that he uttered abode with her wingless.

Opening quickly the door of the fair-built women's apartment,

Over the threshold she stept; and the youth went onward before her,

400

Till to Odysseus she came. In the midst of the dead he was standing,

Smeared all over with blood and filthy with gore. As a lion,

Leaving the place in the which he has eaten an ox of the farmstead,

Goes on his way, and the whole of the chest and the cheeks of the monster

Drip with the gore——and a terror befalleth the man who beholds him—

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So all smeared with the blood on his hands and his feet was Odysseus.

Now when the slain she beheld and the terrible blood, and in triumph

Fain had exulted aloud (for she saw that the deed was accomplished),

Then did Odysseus, perceiving her longing, restrain and rebuke her,

While upraising his voice these swift-winged words he addressed her :

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"Woman, exult in thy heart, but in silence, subduing thy triumph.

Triumphing over the slain is a deed unseemly, unholy.

These hath the doom of the gods in the midst of their wickedness smitten,

Seeing they treated alike all earth-born men with dishonour,

Good no less than the bad—yea every one that approached them.

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So hath a terrible doom o'erwhelmed them because of their madness.

Come now, tell me of all concerning the maids in the palace,

Which of them honour me not and which are guiltless among them."

Then did the dear old nurse make answer and thus she addressed him:

"Well now, all of the truth in this matter, my child, I will tell thee.

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Here in thy palace the women that serve are fifty in number,

Thralls that we trained of ourselves to attend to the work of the household,

Such as the carding of wool and enduring the labours of bondage.

Twelve of the maidens in all have trodden the path of dishonour,

Neither respecting myself nor the mistress, Penelopeia.

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Telemachus was of late but a half-grown lad, and his mother

Would not allow him to give his commands to the women attendants.

Come now, might I ascend to the glistering upper apartment

All to report to thy wife? Some deity sank her in slumber."

Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:

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"Navy, not yet shalt thou wake her; but go to the women and tell them

Hither to come—those maidens that shamelessly acted aforetime."

Thus did he speak, and the nurse went back to the inner apartment

Bearing the message, and ordered the women to hasten their coming.

Now did Odysseus to Telemachus and the cowherd and swineherd

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Call, and he bade them approach, and with swift-winged words he addressed them:

"See to removing the bodies, and order the women to help you.

Then to the cleaning attend of the fine-wrought chairs and the tables.

Wash them with water, and use soft porous sponges to rub them.

Then, when the whole of the mansion is thoroughly cleansed and in order,

440

Lead those maids from the hall, and bringing them out of the palace

Down by the dome-roofed kitchen and faultless fence of the courtyard

Smite them with swords long-bladed, until ye shall see them before you,

All of them, dead. Yea, thus let them die and forget the delicious

Rites of the goddess of love that they held with the suitors in secret."

445

Thus did he speak, and the women approached all huddled together

Uttering terrible wails as they shed great tears in abundance.

Firstly the bodies they bore of the slain from the hall, and they set them

Under the inside porch of the gate of the high-walled courtyard,

Propping them one by the other, Odysseus directing the bearers,

450

Forcing them also to work, for they carried the dead by compulsion.

Then they aligned to cleaning the fine-wrought chairs and the tables,

Washed them with water, and used soft porous sponges to rub them.

Meanwhile Telemachus and the cowherd and also the swineherd

Scraping with shovels the floor of the strong-built hall of the mansion

455

Cleared it and all was collected and carried away by the women.

Now when the whole of the house they had cleansed and had set it in order,

Leading the women away from the hall and forth from the palace

Down to the dome-roofed kitchen and faultless fence of the courtyard,

Into a corner they drove them that gave no hope of escaping.

460

Then sage Telemachus spake first, addressing his comrades:

"Heaven forbid that I put to a death so cleanly and honest

Women as these, who brought on my head such shame and dishonour,

Yea and the head of my mother, consorting in love with the suitors."

Speaking, he seized on the rope of a blue-prowed vessel and lashed it

465

High on a pillar, and over the dome of the kitchen he slung it,

Hoisting it tautly, that none might reach to the ground for a foothold.

Then, as it haps if a covey of long-winged thrushes or pigeons

Suddenly fall in the snares of a trap that is set in a thicket,

Whither they flock for the night—but a bed right cruel receives them—

470

Thus with their heads in a row stood all of the women, with nooses

Over the neck, to a death most cruel and pitiful destined.

So with their feet some moments they writhed—and soon it was over.

Out by the porch to the yard they conducted Melanthius also.

First with the merciless steel of his ears and his nose they deprived him;

475

Then they extracted and threw as a feast to the dogs his intestines;

Lastly they hacked off both of his hands and his feet in their fury.

Now when the blood from their hands and their feet they had washed, to Odysseus

Into the house they returned; and the whole of the deed was accomplished.

Then to the dear nurse Eurycleia he called, and address her :

480

"Nurse, bring sulphur! It cleanseth pollution. And bring me a brazier,

So that I sweeten the hall with the fumes. Then go to thy mistress;

Bid her to come to my presence with all of her maiden attendants;

Summon moreover the rest of the women that serve in the palace."

Him then in turn gave answer the dear nurse Eurycleia :

485

"Yea of a surety, my child, thou hast spoken according to reason.

Still, come now, I will fetch thee a mantle and tunic for raiment.

Thus, with thy great wide shoulders enveloped in beggarly tatters,

Stand not here in the hall. 'Twere verily blameful to do so."

Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus:

490

"Firstly I wish in the hall for a brazier of coals to be brought me."

Thus did he speak, and the dear nurse Eurycleia, obeying,

Brought to her master the sulphur and brazier of coal, and Odysseus

Thoroughly sweetened with fumes of the sulphur the house and the courtyard.

Then did the old dame go through all of the beautiful mansion

495

Taking the news to the women and bidding them hasten their coming.

So with a torch in the hand these came from the inner apartments.

Flocking around him they greeted Odysseus with joy and embraced him

Lovingly kissing his head and his shoulders in token of welcome,

Grasping and kissing his hands. And a rapture sweet overcame him,

500

Even a longing for wailing and tears as he saw them and knew them.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Gregory Nagy

At the end of Rhapsody 21, Odysseus has already passed, in rapid succession, two of three successive tests that needed to be endured by the true king of Ithaca. That is, he has already performed a stringing of his mighty bow and has already won an ultimate contest in archery by executing a perfect shot with the very first arrow that he shoots from the bow. But now, at the beginning of Rhapsody 22, the third test awaits Odysseus. He must now kill the suitors, and the successive killings that follow will ultimately eliminate all the would-be husbands of Penelope. In the end, Odysseus will be the only Achaean left standing. And he has by now been revealed as the only true husband, the only true king. So, he has become the best of the Achaeans in the Homeric Odyssey. But a question remains. Now that all the suitors have been killed, what will happen to the other characters in the Odyssey who had turned against the king in the course of his lengthy absence? Here is where things get really ugly. The extreme cruelty of the retribution that awaits these characters, as we see it narrated here in Odyssey 22, presents the modern reader with moral problems that cannot be evaded.

draft js image error Odysseus kiling Penelope’s suitors. Attic red-figure skyphos, ca. 440 BCE. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

source

The name of this aoidos ‘singer’ Phemios is a “speaking name” (nomen loquens): the adjectival Phēmios is derived from the noun phēmē, defined in the comment at O.02.035 as ‘something said that means more than what is meant by the one who says it’. Accordingly, as I note in the same comment, Phemios is a singer whose songs mean more than what is meant by that singer. On the content of what Phemios sings, see the comment on O.01.342. For still more on the content, see the comment at O.22.376, where we see that an epithet of this singer is poluphēmos having many different kinds of things said’. Not only the name Phēmios is a “speaking name”: so too is the patronymic of this singer, Terpiadēs, O.22.330, derived from the verb terpein meaning ‘give delight’. On the poetic connotations of this verb, see especially the comment at O.08.026–045.

source

All those who cooperated with the suitors are killed, except for two: Odysseus spares the lives of the poet Phemios and the herald Medon. Phemios is described as an aoidos ‘singer’ at O.22.330 and Medon as a kērux ‘herald’ at O.22.357.

source

On oimē as the ‘story-thread’ of song, see the comment at O.08.074.

source

Leonard Muellner

analysis of the differentiation of blame in the Odyssey (vs. in the Iliad) and the muting of the mēnis theme in it, here especially regarding the suitors, their relatives, and Odysseus and his family

source

contrasting Phemios’ plea to be spared to Odysseus with that of Leodes, in context of the analysis of Odysseus’ response to Leodes in O.22.231 as taking him to take pride in his relationship with the suitors

source

Homer Odyssey 22.330

A. T. Murray (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

ODYSSEY BOOK XXII

BATTEN WILSON
THE SLAUGHTER OF THE SUITORS

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

ODYSSEY BOOK XXII

BATTEN WILSON THE SLAUGHTER OF THE SUITORS

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

BATTEN WILSON
THE SLAUGHTER OF THE SUITORS