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And when the maids had bathed them and anointed them with oil, 50 and had cast about them fleecy cloaks and tunics, they sat down on chairs beside Menelaus, son of Atreus. Then a handmaid brought water for the hands in a fair pitcher of gold, and poured it over a silver basin for them to wash, and beside them drew up a polished table. 55 And the grave housewife brought and set before them bread, and therewith dainties in abundance, giving freely of her store. And a carver lifted up and placed before them platters of all manner of meats, and set by them golden goblets. Then fair-haired Menelaus greeted the two and said: 60 “Take of the food, and be glad, and then when you have supped, we will ask you who among men you are; for in you two the breed of your sires is not lost, but ye are of the breed of men that are sceptred kings, fostered of Zeus; for base churls could not beget such sons as you.” 65 So saying he took in his hands roast meat and set it before them, even the fat ox-chine which they had set before himself as a mess of honor. So they put forth their hands to the good cheer lying ready before them. But when they had put from them the desire of food and drink, lo, then Telemachus spoke to the son of Nestor, 70 holding his head close to him, that the others might not hear: “Son of Nestor, dear to this heart of mine, mark the flashing of bronze throughout the echoing halls, and the flashing of gold, of electrum,¹ of silver, and of ivory. Of such sort, methinks, is the court of Olympian Zeus within, 75 such untold wealth is here; amazement holds me as I look.” Now as he spoke fair-haired Menelaus heard him, and he spoke and addressed them with winged words: “Dear children, with Zeus verily no mortal man could vie, for everlasting are his halls and his possessions; 80 but of men another might vie with me in wealth or haply might not. For of a truth after many woes and wide wanderings I brought my wealth home in my ships and came in the eighth year. Over Cyprus and Phoenicia I wandered, and Egypt , and I came to the Ethiopians and the Sidonians and the Erembi, 85 and to Libya , where the lambs are horned from their birth.² For there the ewes bear their young thrice within the full course of the year; there neither master nor shepherd has any lack of cheese or of meat or of sweet milk, but the flocks ever yield milk to the milking the year through. 90 While I wandered in those lands gathering much livelihood, meanwhile another slew my brother by stealth and at unawares, by the guile of his accursed wife. Thus, thou mayest see, I have no joy in being lord of this wealth; and you may well have heard of this from your fathers, whosoever they 95 may be, for full much did I suffer, and let fall into ruin a stately house and one stored with much goodly treasure. Would that I dwelt in my halls with but a third part of this wealth, and that those men were safe who then perished in the broad land of Troy far from horse-pasturing Argos .

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.) — 4.49 focus

τοὺς δʼ ἐπεὶ οὖν δμῳαὶ λοῦσαν καὶ χρῖσαν ἐλαίῳ,

ἀμφὶ δʼ ἄρα χλαίνας οὔλας βάλον ἠδὲ χιτῶνας,

ἔς ῥα θρόνους ἕζοντο παρʼ Ἀτρεΐδην Μενέλαον.

χέρνιβα δʼ ἀμφίπολος προχόῳ ἐπέχευε φέρουσα

καλῇ χρυσείῃ ὑπὲρ ἀργυρέοιο λέβητος,

νίψασθαι· παρὰ δὲ ξεστὴν ἐτάνυσσε τράπεζαν.

σῖτον δʼ αἰδοίη ταμίη παρέθηκε φέρουσα,

εἴδατα πόλλʼ ἐπιθεῖσα, χαριζομένη παρεόντων.

δαιτρὸς δὲ κρειῶν πίνακας παρέθηκεν ἀείρας

παντοίων, παρὰ δέ σφι τίθει χρύσεια κύπελλα.

τὼ καὶ δεικνύμενος προσέφη ξανθὸς Μενέλαος·

σίτου θʼ ἅπτεσθον καὶ χαίρετον. αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα

δείπνου πασσαμένω εἰρησόμεθʼ, οἵ τινές ἐστον

ἀνδρῶν· οὐ γὰρ σφῷν γε γένος ἀπόλωλε τοκήων,

ἀλλʼ ἀνδρῶν γένος ἐστὲ διοτρεφέων βασιλήων

σκηπτούχων, ἐπεὶ οὔ κε κακοὶ τοιούσδε τέκοιεν.

ὣς φάτο, καί σφιν νῶτα βοὸς παρὰ πίονα θῆκεν

ὄπτʼ ἐν χερσὶν ἑλών, τά ῥά οἱ γέρα πάρθεσαν αὐτῷ.

οἱ δʼ ἐπʼ ὀνείαθʼ ἑτοῖμα προκείμενα χεῖρας ἴαλλον.

αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο,

δὴ τότε Τηλέμαχος προσεφώνεε Νέστορος υἱόν,

ἄγχι σχὼν κεφαλήν, ἵνα μὴ πευθοίαθʼ οἱ ἄλλοι·

φράζεο, Νεστορίδη, τῷ ἐμῷ κεχαρισμένε θυμῷ,

χαλκοῦ τε στεροπὴν κὰδ δώματα ἠχήεντα

χρυσοῦ τʼ ἠλέκτρου τε καὶ ἀργύρου ἠδʼ ἐλέφαντος.

Ζηνός που τοιήδε γʼ Ὀλυμπίου ἔνδοθεν αὐλή,

ὅσσα τάδʼ ἄσπετα πολλά· σέβας μʼ ἔχει εἰσορόωντα.

τοῦ δʼ ἀγορεύοντος ξύνετο ξανθὸς Μενέλαος,

καί σφεας φωνήσας ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα·

τέκνα φίλʼ, ἦ τοι Ζηνὶ βροτῶν οὐκ ἄν τις ἐρίζοι·

ἀθάνατοι γὰρ τοῦ γε δόμοι καὶ κτήματʼ ἔασιν·

ἀνδρῶν δʼ ἤ κέν τίς μοι ἐρίσσεται, ἠὲ καὶ οὐκί,

κτήμασιν. ἦ γὰρ πολλὰ παθὼν καὶ πόλλʼ ἐπαληθεὶς

ἠγαγόμην ἐν νηυσὶ καὶ ὀγδοάτῳ ἔτει ἦλθον,

Κύπρον Φοινίκην τε καὶ Αἰγυπτίους ἐπαληθείς,

Αἰθίοπάς θʼ ἱκόμην καὶ Σιδονίους καὶ Ἐρεμβοὺς

καὶ Λιβύην, ἵνα τʼ ἄρνες ἄφαρ κεραοὶ τελέθουσι.

τρὶς γὰρ τίκτει μῆλα τελεσφόρον εἰς ἐνιαυτόν.

ἔνθα μὲν οὔτε ἄναξ ἐπιδευὴς οὔτε τι ποιμὴν

τυροῦ καὶ κρειῶν οὐδὲ γλυκεροῖο γάλακτος,

ἀλλʼ αἰεὶ παρέχουσιν ἐπηετανὸν γάλα θῆσθαι.

ἧος ἐγὼ περὶ κεῖνα πολὺν βίοτον συναγείρων

ἠλώμην, τῆός μοι ἀδελφεὸν ἄλλος ἔπεφνεν

λάθρῃ, ἀνωιστί, δόλῳ οὐλομένης ἀλόχοιο·

ὣς οὔ τοι χαίρων τοῖσδε κτεάτεσσιν ἀνάσσω.

καὶ πατέρων τάδε μέλλετʼ ἀκουέμεν, οἵ τινες ὑμῖν

εἰσίν, ἐπεὶ μάλα πολλὰ πάθον, καὶ ἀπώλεσα οἶκον

εὖ μάλα ναιετάοντα, κεχανδότα πολλὰ καὶ ἐσθλά.

ὧν ὄφελον τριτάτην περ ἔχων ἐν δώμασι μοῖραν

ναίειν, οἱ δʼ ἄνδρες σόοι ἔμμεναι, οἳ τότʼ ὄλοντο

Τροίῃ ἐν εὐρείῃ ἑκὰς Ἄργεος ἱπποβότοιο.

100

ἀλλʼ ἔμπης πάντας μὲν ὀδυρόμενος καὶ ἀχεύων

100

πολλάκις ἐν μεγάροισι καθήμενος ἡμετέροισιν

ἄλλοτε μέν τε γόῳ φρένα τέρπομαι, ἄλλοτε δʼ αὖτε

παύομαι· αἰψηρὸς δὲ κόρος κρυεροῖο γόοιο.

τῶν πάντων οὐ τόσσον ὀδύρομαι, ἀχνύμενός περ,

ὡς ἑνός, ὅς τέ μοι ὕπνον ἀπεχθαίρει καὶ ἐδωδὴν

105

μνωομένῳ, ἐπεὶ οὔ τις Ἀχαιῶν τόσσʼ ἐμόγησεν,

ὅσσʼ Ὀδυσεὺς ἐμόγησε καὶ ἤρατο. τῷ δʼ ἄρʼ ἔμελλεν

αὐτῷ κήδεʼ ἔσεσθαι, ἐμοὶ δʼ ἄχος αἰὲν ἄλαστον

κείνου, ὅπως δὴ δηρὸν ἀποίχεται, οὐδέ τι ἴδμεν,

ζώει ὅ γʼ ἦ τέθνηκεν. ὀδύρονταί νύ που αὐτὸν

110

Λαέρτης θʼ ὁ γέρων καὶ ἐχέφρων Πηνελόπεια

Τηλέμαχός θʼ, ὃν ἔλειπε νέον γεγαῶτʼ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ.

ὣς φάτο, τῷ δʼ ἄρα πατρὸς ὑφʼ ἵμερον ὦρσε γόοιο.

δάκρυ δʼ ἀπὸ βλεφάρων χαμάδις βάλε πατρὸς ἀκούσας,

χλαῖναν πορφυρέην ἄντʼ ὀφθαλμοῖιν ἀνασχὼν

115

ἀμφοτέρῃσιν χερσί. νόησε δέ μιν Μενέλαος,

μερμήριξε δʼ ἔπειτα κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμόν,

ἠέ μιν αὐτὸν πατρὸς ἐάσειε μνησθῆναι

ἦ πρῶτʼ ἐξερέοιτο ἕκαστά τε πειρήσαιτο.

ἧος ὁ ταῦθʼ ὥρμαινε κατὰ φρένα καὶ κατὰ θυμόν,

120

ἐκ δʼ Ἑλένη θαλάμοιο θυώδεος ὑψορόφοιο

ἤλυθεν Ἀρτέμιδι χρυσηλακάτῳ ἐικυῖα.

τῇ δʼ ἄρʼ ἅμʼ Ἀδρήστη κλισίην εὔτυκτον ἔθηκεν,

Ἀλκίππη δὲ τάπητα φέρεν μαλακοῦ ἐρίοιο,

Φυλὼ δʼ ἀργύρεον τάλαρον φέρε, τόν οἱ ἔθηκεν

125

Ἀλκάνδρη, Πολύβοιο δάμαρ, ὃς ἔναιʼ ἐνὶ Θήβῃς

Αἰγυπτίῃς, ὅθι πλεῖστα δόμοις ἐν κτήματα κεῖται·

ὃς Μενελάῳ δῶκε δύʼ ἀργυρέας ἀσαμίνθους,

δοιοὺς δὲ τρίποδας, δέκα δὲ χρυσοῖο τάλαντα.

χωρὶς δʼ αὖθʼ Ἑλένῃ ἄλοχος πόρε κάλλιμα δῶρα·

130

χρυσέην τʼ ἠλακάτην τάλαρόν θʼ ὑπόκυκλον ὄπασσεν

ἀργύρεον, χρυσῷ δʼ ἐπὶ χείλεα κεκράαντο.

τόν ῥά οἱ ἀμφίπολος Φυλὼ παρέθηκε φέρουσα

νήματος ἀσκητοῖο βεβυσμένον· αὐτὰρ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ

ἠλακάτη τετάνυστο ἰοδνεφὲς εἶρος ἔχουσα.

135

ἕζετο δʼ ἐν κλισμῷ, ὑπὸ δὲ θρῆνυς ποσὶν ἦεν.

αὐτίκα δʼ ἥ γʼ ἐπέεσσι πόσιν ἐρέεινεν ἕκαστα·

ἴδμεν δή, Μενέλαε διοτρεφές, οἵ τινες οἵδε

ἀνδρῶν εὐχετόωνται ἱκανέμεν ἡμέτερον δῶ;

ψεύσομαι ἦ ἔτυμον ἐρέω; κέλεται δέ με θυμός.

140

οὐ γάρ πώ τινά φημι ἐοικότα ὧδε ἰδέσθαι

οὔτʼ ἄνδρʼ οὔτε γυναῖκα, σέβας μʼ ἔχει εἰσορόωσαν,

ὡς ὅδʼ Ὀδυσσῆος μεγαλήτορος υἷι ἔοικε,

Τηλεμάχῳ, τὸν ἔλειπε νέον γεγαῶτʼ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ

κεῖνος ἀνήρ, ὅτʼ ἐμεῖο κυνώπιδος εἵνεκʼ Ἀχαιοὶ

145

ἤλθεθʼ ὑπὸ Τροίην πόλεμον θρασὺν ὁρμαίνοντες.

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.) — 4.37 focus

37 So Eteoneus bustled back and bade other servants come with him. They took their sweating hands from under the yoke, made them fast to the mangers, and gave them a feed of oats and barley mixed. Then they leaned the chariot against the end wall of the courtyard, and led the way into the house. Telemakhos and Peisistratos were astonished when they saw it, for its splendor was as that of the sun and moon; then, when they had admired everything to their heart's content, they went into the bath room and washed themselves.

49 When the servants had washed them and anointed them with oil, they brought them woolen cloaks and shirts, and the two took their seats by the side of Menelaos. A maidservant brought them water in a beautiful golden ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands; and she drew a clean table beside them. An upper servant brought them bread, and offered them many good things of what there was in the house, while the carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats and set cups of gold by their side.

59 Menelaos then greeted them saying, "Eat up, and welcome; when you have finished supper I shall ask who you are, for the lineage of such men as you cannot have been lost. You must be descended from a line of scepter-bearing kings, for poor people do not have such sons as you are."

65 On this he handed them a piece of fat roast loin, which had been set near him as being a prime part, and they laid their hands on the good things that were before them; as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, Telemakhos said to the son of Nestor, with his head so close that no one might hear, "Look, Peisistratos, man after my own heart, see the gleam of bronze and gold - of amber, ivory, and silver. Everything is so splendid that it is like seeing the palace of Olympian Zeus. I am lost in admiration."

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 4.49 focus

When the servants had washed them and anointed them with oil, [50] they brought them woolen cloaks and khitons, and the two took their seats by the side of Menelaos, son of Atreus. A maidservant brought them water in a beautiful golden ewer, and poured it into a silver basin for them to wash their hands; and she drew a clean table beside them. [55] An upper servant brought them bread, and offered them many good things of what there was in the house, while the carver fetched them plates of all manner of meats and set cups of gold by their side.

Fair-haired Menelaos then greeted them saying, [60] “Eat up, and welcome; when you have finished supper I shall ask who you are, for the lineage of such men as you cannot have been lost. You must be descended from a line of scepter-bearing kings, for poor people do not have such sons as you are.”

[65] Then he handed them a piece of fat roast loin, which had been set near him as being a prime part, and they laid their hands on the good things that were before them; as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, Telemachus said to the son of Nestor, with [70] his head so close that no one might hear, 71 “I want you to notice something, son of Nestor, you who are so dear to my heart: 72 notice the flash [ steropē] of bronze [ khalkos] as its light pervades the echoing hall 73 and also the flash of gold and of electrum and of silver and of ivory. 74 I’m guessing that Zeus, who lives on Olympus, has such a hall inside his palace, [75] and he would have as many indescribable things as are here. A sense of holy awe takes hold of me as I look at these things.”

Menelaos of the fair hair overheard him and said, “No one, my sons, can hold his own with Zeus, for his house and everything about him is immortal; but among mortal men— [80] well, there may be another who has as much wealth as I have, or there may not; but at all events I have traveled much and have undergone much hardship, for it was nearly eight years before I could get home with my fleet. I went to Cyprus, Phoenicia and the Egyptians; I went also to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Erembians, [85] and to Libya where the lambs have horns as soon as they are born, and the sheep bear lambs three times a year. Every one in that country, whether master or man, has plenty of cheese, meat, and good milk, for the ewes yield all the year round. [90] But while I was traveling and getting great riches among these people, my brother was secretly and shockingly murdered through the perfidy of his wicked wife, so that I have no pleasure in being lord of all this wealth. Whoever your parents may be they must have told you about all this, [95] and of my heavy loss in the ruin of a stately dwelling fully and magnificently furnished. Would that I had only a third of what I now have so that I had stayed at home, and all those were living who perished on the plain of Troy, far from horse-pasturing Argos. [100]

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873)) — 4.49 focus

They with delighted eyes

Gazed, and, descending to the polished baths,

They bathed. The attendant maids who at the bath

Had ministered, anointing them with oil,

Arrayed the stranger guests in fleecy cloaks

And tunics. Each sat down upon a throne

Near to Atrides. Now a handmaid brought

A beautiful ewer of gold, and laver wrought

Of silver, and poured water for their hands,

And spread a polished table near their seat;

The reverend matron of the household came

With bread, and set before them many a dish

Gathered from all the feast. The carver next

Brought chargers lifted high, and in them meats

Of every flavor, and before them placed

Beakers of gold. The fair-haired monarch gave

His hand to each, and then bespake them thus : -

"Now taste our banquet and rejoice, and when

Ye are refreshed with food we will inquire

Who ye may be; for ye are not of those

Whose race degenerates, ye are surely born

Of sceptred kings, the favorites of Jove.

Ignoble men have never sons like you."

Thus having said, and taking in his hands

A fatling bullock's chine, which menials brought

Roasted, and placed beside the king in sign

Of honor, this he laid before his guests.

And they put forth their hands and banqueted;

And when the calls of hunger and of thirst

At length were stilled, Telemachus inclined

His head toward Nestor's son, that no one else

Might listen to his words, and thus he said:

"See, son of Nestor, my beloved friend,

In all these echoing rooms the sheen of brass,

Of gold, of amber, and of ivory ;

Such is the palace of Olympian Jove

Within its walls. How many things are here

Of priceless worth! I wonder as I gaze."

The fair-haired Menelaus heard him speak,

And thus accosted both with winged words : -

"Dear sons, no mortal man may vie with Jove,

100

Whose palace and possessions never know

Decay, but other men may vie or not

In wealth with me. 'T was after suffering

And wandering long that in my fleet I brought

My wealth with me, and landed on this coast

105

In the eighth year. For I had roamed afar

To Cyprus and to Phœnice, and where

The Egyptians dwell, and Ethiopia's sons,

And the Sidonians, and the Erembian race,

And to the coast of Lybia, where the lambs

110

Are yeaned with budding horns. There do the ewes

Thrice in the circle of the year bring forth

Their young. There both the master of the herd

And herdsman know no lack of cheese, or flesh,

Or of sweet milk; for there the herds yield milk

115

The whole year round. While I was roaming thus,

And gathering store of wealth, another slew

My brother, unforewarned, and through the fraud

Of his own guilty consort. Therefore small

Is the content I find in bearing rule

120

O'er these possessions. Ye have doubtless heard

This from your parents, be they who they may;

For much have I endured, and I have lost

A palace, a most noble dwelling-place,

Full of things rare and precious. Even now

125

Would I possessed within my palace here

But the third part of these ; and would that they

Were yet alive who perished on the plain

Of Troy afar from Argos and its steeds!

English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858)) — 4.49 focus

Refresh'd, they wait them to the bower of state,

Where circled with his peers Atrides sate:

Thron'd next the king, a fair attendant brings

The purest product of the crystal springs;

High on a massy vase of silver mould,

The burnish'd laver flames with solid gold.

In solid gold the purple vintage flows,

And on the board a second banquet rose

MENELAUS

'Accept this welcome to the Spartan court;
70

'The waste of nature let the feast repair,

'Then your high lineage and your names declare ;

'Say from what sceptred ancestry ye claim,

'Recorded eminent in deathless fame?

'For vulgar parents cannot stamp their race
75

With signatures of such majestic grace.'

Ceasing, benevolent he straight assigns

The royal portion of the choicest chines¹

To each accepted friend: with grateful haste

They share the honours of the rich repast.

Sufficed, soft whispering thus to Nestor's son,

His head reclin'd, young Ithacus begun.

TELEMACHUS

'View'st thou unmov'd, O ever honour'd most!

'These prodigies of art, and wondrous cost!
85

'Above, beneath, around the palace shines

'The sumless treasure of exhausted mines :

'The spoils of elephants the roofs inlay,

'And studded amber darts a golden ray :

'Such, and not nobler, in the realms above
90

'My wonder dictates is the dome of Jove.'

The monarch took the word, and grave replied,

'Presumptuous are the vaunts, and vain the pride

'Of man, who dares in pomp with Jove contest,

Unchanged, immortal, and supremely blest!

With all my affluence when my woes are weigh'd,

'Envy will own the purchase dearly paid.

'For eight slow-circling years by tempest toss'd,

'From Cyprus to the far Phoenician coast

'(Sidon the capital) I stretch'd my toil

100

'Through regions fatten'd with the flows of Nile.

'Next, Aethiopia's utmost bound explore,

'And the parch'd borders of th' Arabian shore:

'Then warp my voyage on the southern gales,

'O'er the warm Lybian wave to spread my sails:

105

'That happy clime, where, each revolving year,

'The teeming ewes a triple offspring bear;

'And two fair crescents of translucent horn

'The brows of all their young increase adorn :

'The shepherd swains, with sure abundance bless'd,

110

On the fat flock and rural dainties feast;

'Nor want of herbage makes the dairy fail,

'But every season fills the foaming pail.

'Whilst, heaping unwish'd wealth, I distant roam,

'The best of brothers, at his natal home,

115

'By the dire fury of a traitress wife,

'Ends the sad evening of a stormy life :

'Whence with incessant grief my soul annoy'd,

'These riches are possess'd, but not enjoy'd!

'My wars, the copious theme of every tongue,

120

'To you your fathers have recorded long :

'How favouring Heaven repaid my glorious toils

'With a sack'd palace, and barbaric spoils.

'Oh! had the gods so large a boon denied,

'And life, the just equivalent, supplied

125

'To those brave warriors, who, with glory fir'd,

'Far from their country in my cause expir'd!

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 4.49 focus

After they were well washed and anointed,

And clothed with soft nappy cloak and coat,

That they should near him sit the king appointed,

And near unto his throne their chairs were brought.

A maid the golden bason and the ewer

To wash their hands, over a cauldron brings.

(The cauldron also was of silver pure);

Another on the table laid good things,

Another bread. The carver also cuts

Of every sort of meat the choicest bits,

And them on trenchers on the table puts.

And Menelaus, pointing to it, sits,

And heartily invites them to fall to.

Eat now, said he, we shall have time enough

When you have supp'd, to ask you where and who ?

Your ancestors are not obscure I know,

Such children are not got by wretched men.

And as he spake he took from his own mess

As much as both his hands could comprehend

Of good chine-beef, and gave it to these guests,

And then they laid their hands upon their meat.

But when their hunger and their thirst was gone,

Telemachus, that near sat to his seat,

Whispered Pisistratus, You, Nestor's son,

Do you not mark the splendour in this house,

Of brass, gold, amber, silver, ivory ?

Such sure the house is of Olympius,

So many and so glorious things I see.

But Menelaus heard him. Let, said he,

No mortal man with Jupiter compare;

His house decays not, nor goods wasted be.

What men compare with me I do not care;

For why, my goods I paid for very dear,

With pain and peril in my coming home,

And wand'ring up and down at sea eight year,

Before I could into my country come.

I was in Cyprus and Phœnicia,

Came to the Cydons and Erembians,

To Egypt, and to Ethiopia,

And to the fertile ground o' th' Libyans,

Where ev'ry year the sheep three times do breed,

And all the lambs fall homed from the dam;

Nor master nor his man there stands in need

Of cheese or milk, or tender flesh of lamb.

While I my goods amongst them wand'ring got,

I lost my brother, by his wife betrayed,

And therefore in my riches glory not.

And all this to you have your fathers said.

Absent, I lost my house, and much rich stuff;

Had I my fellows sav'd I led to Troy,

I'd been content with the third part thereof.

So, all to all, I've little cause of joy:

For all my friends at Troy lost griev'd was I,

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 4.49 focus

Down to the king's most bright-kept baths they went;

Where handmaids did their services present,

Bath'd, balm'd them, shirts and well-napt weeds put on,

And by Atrides' side set each his throne.

Then did the handmaid-royal water bring,

And to a laver, rich and glittering,

Of massy gold, pour'd; which she plac'd upon

A silver caldron, into which might run

The water as they wash'd. Then set she near

A polish'd table, on which all the cheer

The present could afford a reverend dame,

That kept the larder, set. A cook then came,

And divers dishes, borne thence, serv'd again;

Furnish'd the board with bowls of gold. And then,

His right hand given the guests, Atrides said:

"Eat, and be cheerful. Appetite allay'd,

I long to ask, of what stock ye descend;

For not from parents whose race nameless end

We must derive your offspring. Men obscure

Could get none such as you. The portraiture

Of Jove-sustain'd and sceptre-bearing kings

Your either person in his presence brings."

An ox's fat chine then they up did lift,

And set before the guests; which was a gift,

Sent as an honour to the king's own taste.

They saw yet 'twas but to be eaten plac'd,

And fell to it. But food and wine's care past,

Telemachus thus prompted Nestor's son,

(His ear close laying, to be heard of none)

" Consider, thou whom most my mind esteems,

The brass-work here, how rich it is in beams,

And how, besides, it makes the whole house sound;

What gold, and amber, silver, ivory, round

Is wrought about it. Out of doubt, the hall

Of Jupiter Olympius hath of all

This state the like. How many infinites

Take up to admiration all men's sights!"

Atrides over-heard, and said: "Lov'd son,

No mortal must affect contention

With Jove, whose dwellings are of endless date.

Perhaps of men some one may emulate,

Or none, my house, or me; for I am one

That many a grave extreme have undergone,

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Much error felt by sea, and till th' eighth year,

Had never stay, but wander'd far and near,

Cyprus, Phœnicia, and Sidonia,

And fetch'd the far-off Æthiopia,

Reach'd the Erembi of Arabia,

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And Lybia, where with horns ewes yean their lambs,

Which every full year ewes are three times dams,

Where neither king, nor shepherd, want comes near

Of cheese, or flesh, or sweet milk; all the year

They ever milk their ewes. And here while I

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Err'd, gathering means to live, one, murderously,

Unwares, unseen, bereft my brother's life,

Chiefly betray'd by his abhorred wife.

So hold I, not enjoying, what you see.

And of your fathers, if they living be,

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You must have heard this, since my sufferings were

So great and famous; from this palace here

(So rarely-well-built, furnished so well,

And substanced with such a precious deal

Of well-got treasure) banish'd by the doom

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Of Fate, and erring as I had no home.

And now I have, and use it, not to take

Th' entire delight it offers, but to make

Continual wishes, that a triple part

Of all it holds were wanting, so my heart

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Were eas'd of sorrows, taken for their deaths

That fell at Troy, by their revived breaths.

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 4.49 focus

They enter'd each a bath, and by the hands

Of maidens laved, and oil'd, and clothed again

With shaggy mantles and resplendent vests,

Sat both enthroned at Menelaus' side.

And now a maiden charged with golden ewer,

And with an argent laver, pouring first

Pure water on their hands, supplied them next,

With a bright table, which the maiden, chief

In office, furnish'd plenteously with bread

And dainties, remnants of the last regale.

Then came the sewer, who with delicious meats

Dish after dish, served them, and placed beside

The chargers cups magnificent of gold,

When Menelaus grasp'd their hands, and said.

Eat and rejoice, and when ye shall have shared

Our nuptial banquet, we will, then, enquire

Who are ye both; for, certain, not from those

Wh Whose generation perishes are ye,

But rather of some race of sceptred Chiefs

Heaven-born; the base have never sons like you.

So saying, he from the board lifted his own

Distinguish'd portion, and the fatted chine

Gave to his guests; the savoury viands they

With outstretch'd hands assail'd, and when the force

No longer now of appetite they felt,

Telemachus, inclining close his head

To Nestor's son, lest others should his speech

Witness, in whisper'd words him thus address'd.

Dearest Pisistratus, observe, my friend!

How all the echoing palace with the light

Of beaming brass, of gold and amber shines

Silver and ivory! for radiance such

The interior mansion of Olympian Jove

I deem. What wealth, how various, how immense

Is here! astonish'd I survey the sight!

But Menelaus, golden-hair'd, his speech

O'erhearing, thus in accents wing'd replied.

My children! let no mortal man pretend

Comparison with Jove; for Jove's abode

And all his stores are incorruptible.

But whether mortal man with me may vie

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In the display of wealth, or whether not,

This know, that after many toils endured,

And perilous wanderings wide, in the eighth year

I brought my treasures home. Remote I roved

To Cyprus, to Phœnice, to the shores

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Of Ægypt; Æthiopia's land I reach'd,

Th' Erembi, the Sidonians, and the coasts

Of Libya, where the lambs their foreheads show

At once with horns defended, soon as yean'd.

There, thrice within the year the flocks produce,

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Nor master, there, nor shepherd ever feels

A dearth of cheese, of flesh, or of sweet milk

Delicious, drawn from udders never dry.

While, thus, commodities on various coasts

Gathering I roam'd, another, by the arts

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Of his pernicious spouse aided, of life

Bereaved my brother privily, and when least

He fear'd to lose it. Therefore little joy

To me results from all that I possess.

Your fathers (be those fathers who they may,)

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These things have doubtless told you; for immense

Have been my sufferings, and I have destroy'd

A palace well inhabited and stored

With precious furniture of every kind;

Such, that I would to heaven! I own'd at home

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Though but the third of it, and that the Greeks

Who perish'd then, beneath the walls of Troy

Far from steed-pastured Argos, still survived.

English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911)) — 4 focus

ODYSSEY BOOK IV

FAIR Lacedaemon they reached, embosomed in cavernous mountains.

Here to the mansion they drave of the far-famed prince Menelaus.

Him in his palace they found in the midst of a throng of his kindred

Holding a marriage feast for his peerless son and his daughter,

Sending her forth to the son of Achilles, the router of cohorts,

Whom long since in the land of the Trojans he promised the maiden,

Vowing to give her; and heaven was now completing the marriage.

Her was he sending with cars and with chariot-horses to journey

Unto the city renown'd of the Myrmidons, where he was chieftain.

Also a bride he was taking—Alector's daughter, of Sparta—

Unto his son, the beloved and stalwart youth Megapenthes,

Born of a slave for to Helen an offspring never was granted

After she once gave birth to a daughter of exquisite beauty,

Hermione, who was fair as the Queen Aphrodite the golden.

Thus were holding a feast in the high-roofed halls of the palace

Neighbours and all of the kin of the far-famed prince Menelaus,

Making them merry; amidst them a godlike singer was singing

Unto the sound of the harp; and aye as his song was beginning

Went two tumblers whirling around in the midst of the feasters.

Meanwhile reaching the gate of the palace the twain with their horses,

Nestor's glorious son and Telemachus the heroic,

Halted, and here came forth and beheld them the lord Eteoneus,

Ever-alert attendant of far-famed King Menelaus;

Hurrying back to the house to report to the prince of the people,

Close to his side he approached, and swift-winged words he addressed him:

"Guests be arrived, unknown—O Zeus-loved King Menelaus!—

Two be the men, and like to the offspring of Zeus the Almighty.

Say, shall we loose from the yokes for the men their fleet-paced horses,

Or shall we send them away where others shall give them reception?"

Sorely displeased gave answer the fair-haired prince Menelaus:

"Ne'er did I deem thee a fool, Boëthous' son, Eteoneus,

—Never till now; but behold, it is childish folly thou pratest.

Verily both of us often as guests at the table of others

Ate of their bread ere safely we landed—if truly in safety

Zeus will protect us from evils to come. Go, loosen the horses;

Then to the hall lead forward the strangers to share in the banquet."

Thus did he speak, and the man from the hall went busily hasting,

Calling on other alert attendants and bidding them follow.

These then, loosing from under the yoke all sweating the horses,

Carefully fastened them both in the stall, each one at a manger,

Poured out spelt in the manger and mixed it with glittering barley,

Tilted the chariot up to the smooth white wall of the courtyard,

Then with the strangers returned to the wonderful house; and with marvel

Gazing around them they entered the home of the Zeus-loved monarch.

For, as the sheen of the sun or the moon, there floated a glory

Over the high-roofed palace of far-famed King Menelaus.

Then, when at last they had sated their eyes with the pleasure of gazing,

Straightway into a bath well polished they entered and bathed them.

Now when the women had washed them and rubbed them with oil of the olive,

Round them they cast soft mantles of wool and doublets and led them

Into the hall; and they seated them nigh Menelaus Atrides.

Water for washing of hands by a maiden was brought in an ewer

Beautiful, golden; and over a basin of silver she poured it,

Bidding them wash, and she stationed a polished table beside him.

Then did a grave house-dame bring bread and lay it before him,

Lavishly adding thereto from her stores full many a dainty.

Carrying platters aloft came also a carver and offered

Dishes of various meats; and gold-wrought goblets he gave them.

Then to the strangers a greeting addressed fair-haired Menelaus:

"Now partake of the food, and be welcome heartily! Later,

After the supper is done, we shall ask your names and inform us

Whence your descent—for in neither is perished the blood of the parent;

Both are surely the children of chieftains nurtured by heaven,

Bearers of sceptres. By churls were suchlike never begotten."

These words spoken he took rich meat and placed it beside them,

Roast of the chine of an ox that was served for himself as an honour.

Then did they stretch forth hands to the food that was lying before them.

Now when at last they had lost all longing for meat and the wine-cup,

Telemachus then turned him to Nestor's son and addressed him,

Holding his head right close, to be noticed of none of the others:

"Nestor's son, dear friend, the delight of my heart, I beseech thee,

Mark but the flashing of bronze in the echoing halls of the palace,

Ay and of ivory too, and of amber, of gold and of silver.

Such, I believe, inside is the mansion of Zeus on Olympus!

Riches unending! Amazement possesseth me while I behold it."

Thus as he spake it was noted of fair-haired prince Menelaus;

Wherefore lifting his voice these swift-winged words he addressed them :

"Nay, dear children, with Zeus to compete none dareth of mortals;

Lasting for ever and ever remain his mansion and riches.

Whether a mortal exists that can rival my treasures I know not;

Possible were it; but far did I wander and sorely I suffered

Bringing them home in my ships, and the eighth year saw my arrival.

Even to Cyprus I came and to Phoenicé and to Egypt;

Aethiop tribes I beheld, and Erembian; visited Sidon,

Libya too, where lambs from their birth bear horns on the forehead;

Here do the flocks thrice yean in the year's complete revolution;

Never is lacking abundance to any—to lord or to shepherd—

Either of sweet white milk, or of flesh for the table, or cheeses;

Such an unfailing supply is afforded by flocks to the milker.

While that in these far lands I was journeying, gathering riches,

Wandering widely, another had meantime murdered my brother,

Caught unawares by the craft of his wife—that woman accursed :

Thus do I feel no joy in the wealth whereof I am master.

Ah but, I trow, these things ye have heard your fathers recounting,

Whosoever they be, for immense was the woe that I suffered,

Even the loss of a home right happy and wealth in abundance.

Would that I dwelt in a homestead with only a part of my riches,

Yea with a third, and that still were living the heroes who perished

There on the plain of the Troad afar from the pastures of Argos.

Still, though all of the men I bewail and am ever lamenting,

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Ofttimes thinking thereon as I sit in the halls of my palace,

Bidding my soul for awhile to delight in her sorrow, and sometimes

Bidding her cease (since soon one wearies of chill lamentation),

None of them all howbeit I mourn, though sorely I miss them,

So as I grieve for the one—whose memory brings me abhorrence

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Even of food and of sleep; for of all of the sons of Achaea

None could dare and endure as Odysseus; but destiny gave him

Many a woe, and to me this inconsolable sorrow,

Sorrow for one that is vanished away long years, and we know not

Whether he lives or is dead; and I ween that at home they bewail him,

110

Aged Laertes his sire, and the true-souled Penelopeia,

Yea and Telemachus, whom he left as a babe in his homestead."

Thus did he speak, and a longing to wail in the youth was awakened,

While at the name of his sire from his eye there trickled a teardrop.

Hastily then uplifting his mantle of purple, he held it

115

Close to his face with his hands; which marking the prince Menelaus

Doubtfully mused for a while in the depths of his mind and his spirit,

Whether to leave him alone and allow him to mention his father,

Or to begin forthwith and with questions straitly to test him.

Thus as he mused and revolved such things in his mind and his spirit,

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Out of the fragrant recess of a high-roofed chamber appearing

Helen approached—like Artemis, goddess of glittering arrows.

Set was her well-wrought chair by her maiden attendant Adrasté,

While by Alcippe a wrapper was carried of delicate sheep-wool;

Phylo carried a basket of silver, a present to Helen

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Given by Polybus' wife, Alcandré, dwelling in Thebae,

City of Egypt, the houses whereof hold many a treasure.

Polybus gave to the prince two bathing-vessels of silver,

Two great tripods as well, and of gold ten talents he gave him.

Also his consort bestowed right beautiful presents on Helen,

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Even a distaff of gold, and a fine-wrought basket of silver

Standing on wheels; but in gold were finished the rims of the basket.

This was the one now placed at her side by the maiden attendant

Laden with yarn well-dressed for the spinning, and o'er it the distaff

Lay outstretched with its wool dark-dyed of a violet colour.

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So she reclined on the chair; and below for her feet was a footstool.

Straightway then to her husband she spake and questioned him closely:

"Know we at all these men, Zeus-foster'd king Menelaus?

What is the race they avow, these strangers that visit thy palace?

Should I dissemble, or speak what is true? I am minded to speak it.

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Never before, I affirm, did I see such likeness in mortal,

Whether in woman or man (it amazeth me while I behold it),

Such as the youth here bears to the son of the noble Odysseus,

Telemachus, who was left as a newborn child in the homestead,

While that his father and ye the Achaeans for sake of a wanton,

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Even myself, came boldly assailing the town of the Trojans."

Her then in answer addressed these words fair-haired Menelaus:

"Verily now I perceive, O lady, the likeness thou notest.

Such were truly the hands and the feet of the hero Odysseus;

Such was the glance of his eyes, and also his hair and his forehead.

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Ay and behold, just now, as I spake concerning Odysseus,

Calling to mind how sorely he toiled and suffered affliction

All for my sake, from the eyes of the youth there trickled a teardrop;

Hastily then to his face he uplifted his mantle of purple."

Him then addressing did Nestor's son Peisistratus answer:

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"Captain of warrior hosts, Zeus-loved Menelaus Atrides,

Verily this is indeed, as thou sayest, the son of Odysseus;

Lowly however he beareth his spirit and holds it unseemly

Now on his early arrival to utter presumptuous language

Here in the presence of one whose voice as a god's doth enchant us.

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Touching myself, I was sent by the knight Gerenian Nestor

Him to attend on his journey as guide for he longed to behold thee,

Hoping to hear thee suggest some counsel for word or for action.

Many a trouble and grief, when a father is gone from the homestead,

Falls on a son, if he lacketh another to help and defend him.

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Telemachus has it thus for his father is vanished, and no one,

None in the land of his birth, can he find to protect him from ruin."

Him then in answer addressed these words fair-haired Menelaus:

"Verily now 'tis the son of a friend that is come to my palace,

One that hath borne for the sake of myself full many a trial!

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Great was my longing to welcome him home as I welcomed no other,

None of the Argives, had Zeus the Olympian, god of the thunder,

Granted us both to return with the swift ships over the ocean.

Then had I found him a city in Argos and made him a homestead,

Bidding him come with his goods and his child from the Ithacan island,

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Ay and with all of his people—A town I had emptied of dwellers,

One of the towns in the region anigh, of the which I am chieftain.

Here had we oft foregathered in friendship, and nothing had ever

Parted us, each one loving and happy in love of the other,

Till at the last with its shadow the darkness of death overwhelmed us.

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All howbeit was fated, I ween, and the envy of heaven

Cut from the one poor mortal the hope of return to his homeland."

Thus did he speak, and a longing to wail in them all he awakened:

Weeping was Argive Helen, the daughter of Zeus the Almighty;

Weeping was Telemachus, and prince Menelaus Atrides;

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Neither did Nestor's son keep tearless eyes as he listened,

Deep in his spirit recalling the thought of the hero unrivalled

Antilochus, who was slain by the glorious son of the Morning.

Thinking thereon, to the monarch with swift-winged words he addressed him :

"Atreus' son, of thy wisdom, surpassing the wisdom of mortals,

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Ancient Nestor was wont to recount us, if e'er in his palace

Mention was made of thy name and we plied each other with questions.

Now too follow my counsel, if possible—since, as I hold it,

Wailing amidst of a banquet is far from a pleasure, and daylight

Soon will be dawning. I blame not indeed nor resent as unseemly

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Weeping for one who is dead—whose destined doom is accomplished.

This is the one last due we can offer to pitiful mortals,

Even the cutting of hair and the falling from cheeks of the teardrop.

I too mourn for the lost—for a brother that died—of the Argives

None of the worst; and methinks thou'rt like to have known him; for my part

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Ne'er did I meet or behold him; but ever of all was the foremost

Antilochus, it is said, unrivalled in speed and in fighting."

Him then in turn gave answer the fair-haired prince Menelaus:

"Friend, thou speak'st as a man endowed with the spirit of wisdom

Well might speak and perform—yea, even a man that is elder.

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Seeing that such is thy father, to speak thus wisely becomes thee.

Easily known is the child of a man whom Father Cronion

Destines to bliss on the day of his birth and the day of his marriage.

Such is the fortune that all of his life he hath granted to Nestor,

Yea and allots him a smooth old age in the halls of his homestead,

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Blesséd in sons so wise and all unrivalled as spearmen.

Now let us, putting away this sadness that lately befell us,

Mind us again of the feast. Let a page bring water and pour it

Over the hands. In the morn we shall find full many a story,

Telemachus and myself, to recount each one to the other."

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Thus did he speak and Asphalion on the hands poured water,

Ever-alert attendant of far-famed prince Menelaus.

Then did they stretch forth hands to the food that was lying before them.

Meantime Helen the daughter of Zeus planned other devices,

Casting a drug in the wine from the which were drinking the feasters.

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Soother of pain is the drug, and of wrath, and of every sorrow;

Whosoe'er should swallow a draught thus mixed in a wine-bowl,

Not for the space of a day on his cheeks would trickle a teardrop,

Not if his father himself should die or the mother that bare him,

Nay not e'en if his brother be slain, or the son that he loveth

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Fall by the edge of the sword, and he see them dying before him.

Many a suchlike drug, both potent and kindly, did Helen

Gain from the consort of Thon, Polydamna, a woman of Egypt.

(Here doth the fertile soil breed potent plants in abundance,

Many benign, thus mixed as a potion, and many malignant.

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Every dweller in Egypt moreover surpasseth as healer

Others of mortals; for truly the folk is the race of Paeon.)

So when the potion was mingled she bade bear forth to the drinkers,

Then once more brake silence, addressing her husband in answer:

"Zeus-loved king Menelaus Atrides, and all of you present,

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Sons of illustrious sires (It is God who to this or to that one

Giveth of good or of evil. To him are possible all things),

Seated remain, I beseech, in the hall, and renewing the banquet

Take ye enjoyment in tales—I will tell one suiting the season.

All of the stories I ne'er can relate, nor e'en can I name them,

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All the adventurous feats of the dauntless-hearted Odysseus;

One will I tell that was dared and was done by the valiant hero

While in the Trojan land ye Achaeans suffered affliction.

Unto disfiguring stripes of the lash he subjected his body;

Then with his shoulders enveloped in pitiful wraps, as a bondman,

245

Into the wide-way'd town of the foe he audaciously entered.

Here he assumed the disguise of an utterly different person,

Even a beggar—a part scarce his at the camp of the Grecians.

Thus in the town of the Trojans he entered; nor felt a suspicion

Any but I—for beneath the disguise of the beggar I knew him;

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Ay and I questioned him too; but he met me with crafty evasions.

Lastly, whenas he was bathed and anointed with oil of the olive,

Raiment I gave him to don and the solemn assurance I made him

Not to betray him amidst of the Trojan folk as Odysseus,

Till to the huts of the camp he had come and the swift-winged vessels.

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Then did he clearly inform me of all the designs of the Grecians.

Thus he escaped, and many a Trojan he slew with the broadsword

Ere to the Greeks he was come; and he carried them plentiful tidings.

Then did the women of Troy raise shrill lamentation; but my heart

Joy'd, for already my spirit was changed, and again I was yearning

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Back to my home, and repented the madness that queen Aphrodite

Sent me when thither, afar from my well-loved country, she led me,

Making me part from my child and my marriage-bed and a husband

Lacking in nought—nor gifts of the mind nor beauty of person."

Her then in turn gave answer the fair-haired prince Menelaus:

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“Verily, lady, thou tellest thy tale in an excellent manner.

Many a hero I knew, and his inmost thoughts and his counsels

Carefully marked, and in many a far-off land did I travel,

Yet did I never behold with my eyes such daring in mortal

Like to the inborn courage of dauntless-hearted Odysseus.

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Hear this too that was dared and was done by the valiant hero.

While in the wood-built horse were sitting the chiefs of the Argives,

All of us, plotting to bring on the enemy death and destruction,

Thither anon thou camest. (A deity surely impelled thee,

One that was wishing to grant to the Trojans glory and honour.)

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Godlike Deïphobus came also giving thee escort.

Testing by touch of the fingers the hollow ambush, thou passedst

Thrice all round it, and calling by name on the chiefs of the Argives

Madest thy voice to resemble the voice of a woman of Argos.

Meanwhile Tydeus' son and myself and the godlike Odysseus

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Sat in the midst and listened intent to thy voice as it called us.

Both of us others indeed kept longing to rise and to rush forth

Out of the ambush, or else from within to respond to thy calling;

Only Odysseus opposed our eager excitement and stay'd us.

Then, all silent remaining the rest of the sons of Achaea,

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Anticlus was alone still wishing to give thee an answer,

Ay and he opened his mouth; but Odysseus was sudden and closed it

Firmly with powerful hands, thus saving the lives of the Grecians,

Holding him fast till away thou wast summoned by Pallas Athene."

Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

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"Captain of warrior hosts, Zeus-loved Menelaus Atrides,

Still more grievous it seems that to hinder his pitiful ending

Nought did avail, though truly within him his heart was of iron.

Now will I beg thee to show us to bed; 'tis the season already

Gladly to lay us to rest and with slumber sweet to delight us."

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Thus did he speak, and Argive Helen commanded her maidens

Under the porch two beds to arrange, and beautiful blankets,

Purple, upon them to cast, and over them coverlets spreading,

Mantles of wool moreover to lay enwrapping them warmly.

So from the hall went quickly the handmaids carrying torches.

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Then, when the beds were strown, with a henchman to guide them the strangers,

Nestor's glorious son and Telemachus the heroic,

Came forth unto the porch in the front of the palace and slept there.

Atreus' son too slept in the innermost room of the mansion,

Long-robed Helen reposing anigh, most lovely of women.

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Now when the morning was newly arisen, the roseate-fingered,

Then from his bed uprose Menelaus good at the war-cry,

Donned his apparel and hung him his keen-edged sword from his shoulder;

Under his smooth-skinned feet then tying his beautiful sandals

Out of his chamber he came as a god immortal in presence;

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Near to Odysseus' son then seating himself he addressed him:

"Hero Telemachus, come say what reason hath brought thee

Hither to fair Lacedaemon across wide wastes of the ocean,

Whether a public affair or a private? Tell me exactly!"

Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

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"Captain of warrior hosts, Zeus-loved Menelaus Atrides,

Hither for news I am come—hast thou aught to relate—of my father.

Wasted away and devoured is the wealth of my lands and my homestead;

Filled is my palace with foes, who for ever infest it, and slaughter

Sheep of my thick-thronged folds and my shambling, crook-horned cattle;

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Suitors these of my mother, exceedingly insolent mortals.

Wherefore now to thy knees am I come, if perchance thou art able

News of his pitiful death to impart. Peradventure thou sawst it

Even with thine own eyes, or hast heard some tale from another,

One who had wandered—for born to a pitiful fate was Odysseus.

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Nor do thou shrink to offend, nor speak soft words in compassion.

Tell me exactly the truth—how far thou hast chanced to behold him.

Lo, I entreat thee :—if ever my father, the noble Odysseus,

Either by word or by deed accomplished the thing that he promised

Where in the Trojan land ye Achaeans suffered affliction,

330

This, I beseech thee, remember, and tell me the whole as it happened."

Sorely displeased gave answer the fair-haired prince Menelaus :

"Nay, by the gods! in the bed of a man right valiant-hearted

These have chosen a couch for themselves—poor cowardly creatures!

E'en as it haps when a hind in the lair of a powerful lion

335

Maketh a bed for her fawns, new-litter'd and delicate sucklings,

Fares then forth to the slopes and the grassy ravines of the mountains

Seeking for pasture—and lo, to his covert returning the lion

Suddenly maketh of both of the yeanlings a terrible ending;

Thus shall a terrible ending be made of the men by Odysseus.

340

Would that, by Father Zeus and Athena and Phoebus Apollo,

Such as he proved when of yore in the flourishing island of Lesbos

Fearless he met with the huge Philomeleides in a contest,

Wrestled and heavily threw him, and all the Achaeans exulted;

Would that he came e'en such an Odysseus—to visit the suitors,

345

Bringing to all of them speedy perdition and nuptials of anguish!

Now for the matter whereof thou dost ask and entreat me, I promise

Nought will I wrest from the truth, nor evasively speak and deceive thee;

All that the ancient god of the sea—that prophet unerring—

Told me, of this will I nought keep back nor attempt to conceal it.

350

Once, as in Egypt I yearned to return to my home, the immortals

Hindered me still, for I failed to perform sufficing oblations

(Yea and the deities will it that mortals shall keep their commandments).

Now by the mouth of Aegyptus, amidst deep surges of ocean,

Riseth an isle—and the name that they give to the island is Pharos—

355

Distant so far from the coast that a hollow vessel can reach it

Sailing the whole of a day when the wind blows shrilly behind her.

Here is a haven secure, whence many a well-built vessel

Puts forth into the ocean, with dark sweet water replenished.

Days full twenty herein by the gods I was holden, nor ever

360

Rose with a favouring breath such breeze of the sea as attendeth

Vessels, to waft them along o'er wide expanses of ocean.

Now had the food been wholly consumed, and the strength of my comrades,

Save for the help of a goddess who felt compassion and saved me,

Daughter of Proteus, ancient and powerful god of the ocean,

365

Eidotheë, whose heart I had strongly aroused to affection.

While I was roaming alone and afar from the others she met me.

These all over the coast of the isle were wandering widely

Fishing with well-bent hooks, since famine gnawed at their belly.

Near to my side she approached and uplifted her voice and addressed me :

370

'Utterly childish thou seemst, O stranger, and indolent-witted.

Or is it choice that hath made thee remiss? Does suffering please thee?

Lo, it is long in this isle thou art holden, nor seemst to be able

Any escape to devise ; and thy comrades' spirit is failing.'

Thus did she speak; forthwith then I answered and thus I addressed her :

375

'Whichsoever thou be'st of the goddesses, all will I tell thee.

Nowise willingly here am I held, but have surely by sinning

Angered immortals who dwell in the wide expanses of heaven.

Therefore tell me, I pray—since gods have knowledge of all things—

Which of the deities fetters me thus, and has hindered my going?

380

Tell me the way to return and the teeming ocean to traverse!'

Thus did I speak; forthwith responded the beautiful goddess:

'Yea, O stranger, the truth will I tell thee and clearly explain it.

Oft doth an ancient god of the ocean—the prophet unerring—

Proteus, hither resort—an Egyptian immortal, who knoweth

385

Every deep of the seas, and as herdsman serveth Poseidon.

Him do the voices of all as the father proclaim who begat me.

Lo now, shouldst thou be able by laying an ambush to catch him,

All he will surely reveal thee—the course and the bounds of thy journey—

Tell thee the way to return and the teeming ocean to traverse;

390

Ay and if so thou shalt wish, Zeus-fostered prince, he will tell thee

All that has happened of good and of ill in the halls of thy homestead

During the years thou hast fared on a journey so long and so grievous.'

Thus did she speak; forthwith then I answered and thus I addressed her :

• Plan me an ambush thyself for the old sea-god, to ensnare him,

395

Lest too soon he shall see me and, ware of my purpose, escape me.

Truly to master a god is a difficult task for a mortal.'

So did I speak; forthwith responded the beautiful goddess :

'Yea, O stranger, the truth will I tell thee and plainly declare it :

Oft as the sun upmounting attaineth the middle of heaven,

400

Out of the brine creeps forth that ancient oracular sea-god.

Hidden beneath black ripples he comes when the Zephyr is blowing,

Crawls from the water, and lays him to sleep in the shade of a cavern.

Round him the brood fin-footed of seals of the fair Halosydne

Issuing forth from the grey salt sea lie huddled together

405

Sleeping, and rank is the smell they emit of the deep salt water.

Unto the spot will I guide thee as soon as the morn is appearing;

There will I hide thee and station thy comrades. Be careful to choose thee

Three of the bravest of all of thy men in the well-decked vessels.

Now of the magical wiles of that ancient god I will tell thee :

410

First he will number his seals and will go on his round to inspect them;

After the counting is over and every seal is inspected,

Down in the midst, as a shepherd amidst of his flock, he will lay him.

Now so soon as ye see him at last well settled for slumber,

Then is the moment at hand that ye look to your strength and your courage :

415

Hold to him fast, however he longs and attempts to escape you!

This he will try by assuming the form of whatever of creatures

Creeps on the earth, and of water, and fire that fiercely consumeth.

Yet shall ye ever the more persistently hold him and grip him,

Till at the last he shall speak and himself shall address thee a question,

420

Bearing the shape once more in the which he was seen as he slumbered;

Then shalt thou loosen thy hold from the ancient god and release him;

Question him too, O prince, which deity beareth thee malice;

Ask him the way to return and the teeming ocean to traverse.'

These words uttered, she plunged in the flood of the billowing ocean.

425

Then to the vessels, that lay high-beached on the sands of the sea-shore,

Straight I returned, and my heart as I went grew dark with forebodings.

After at last I had come to the sea and arrived at my vessels,

After the supper was done and ambrosial night was descending,

Then did we lay us to sleep on the surf-beat strand of the ocean.

430

Now when the morning was newly arisen, the roseate-fingered,

Straight I betook me along by the beach of the wide-wayed waters

Uttering many a prayer to the gods. Of the band of my shipmates

Three I had brought, whom chiefly I trusted for any adventure.

Meanwhile plunging below in the broad-spread gulf of the ocean

435

Out of the watery depths four sea-calves' skins she had carried,

All of them flayed quite fresh—a device for ensnaring her father.

Then, so soon in the sand she had scooped out hollows for hiding,

Sitting she waited until we arrived at the spot and approached her.

So in the lairs she arranged us and covered us each with a seal's skin.

440

Terrible now had it been—this lying in ambush; for sorely

Tried us the deadly malodorous stench of the brine-bred sea-calves;

(Where is the man would care to be couched with a monster of ocean?)

This howbeit she spared us, devising what greatly relieved us:

Bringing ambrosia, under the nostrils of each she applied it,

445

Breathing a scent so sweet that it conquered the stench of the sea-beasts.

Thus then all of the morning we waited with hearts of endurance,

Till at the last from the brine came flocking the seals, and they laid them

One by another in ranks on the surf-beat strand of the ocean.

High was the noon when the old god crawled from the water, and straightway,

450

Finding his fat-fed flock, went round it and counted the number,

Counting us too in the number of seals, nor felt a suspicion,

Noticing nought of the snare; and he laid him to slumber amidst them.

Suddenly then with a shout did we cast us upon him and hold him

Fast with the hands; and the old sea-god forgat not his cunning.

455

Firstly, behold, to the form of a long-maned lion he changed him,

Then to a serpent, and then an enormous boar, and a leopard;

Melted to water, and then as a tree shot towering upward.

Natheless still we persistently held him with hearts of endurance,

Till at the last, grown weary of trying his magic devices,

460

Thus did he speak—that old sea-god—and addressed me a question :

'Say now, which of immortals hath given thee counsel, Atrides,

Thus to enforce me by laying an ambush? For what dost thou want me?"

So did he speak; forthwith then I answered and thus I addressed him :

'Nay, thou knowest it! Why dost thou prate, old man, to mislead me?

465

Lo, it is long in this isle I am holden, nor yet am I able

Any escape to devise, and the heart in my bosom is failing.

Therefore tell me, I pray (since gods have knowledge of all things),

Which of the deities fetters me thus and has hindered my going?

Tell me the way to return and the teeming ocean to traverse.'

470

So did I speak; forthwith then he answered and thus he addressed me:

'Ay, but thou shouldst have offered to Zeus and to other immortals,

Ere embarking, a goodly oblation and prayed them to bring thee

Over the wine-dark sea with the utmost speed to thy country,

Since thou art fated thy friends no more to revisit, and never

475

Win to thy well-built home and arrive at the land of thy fathers,

PATTEN WILSON,
THE STRUGGLE WITH PROTEUS

Ere once more to the flood of the heav'n-sprung river of Egypt

Making return thou shalt offer again some splendid atonement

Unto immortals who dwell in the wide expanses of heaven.

Then shall the deities grant thee the path that thy soul desireth.'

480

Thus did he speak and my spirit was utterly broken within me,

Since he had bid me retraverse my path on the mist-bound ocean

Back to the river Aegyptus, so long and grievous a journey.

Yet e'en thus did I find me the words to address him in answer:

'Well then, all will I duly perform, old man, as thou biddest.

485

Tell me however a thing that I ask thee, and clearly explain it :

Whether the whole of the Greeks came home unscathed in their vessels,

All who remained when with Nestor I sailed from the land of the Trojans.

Know'st thou of any that met an inglorious death on the ocean,

Or at the hands of his kindred, when wound to the end was the warfare?'

490

So did I speak; forthwith then he answered and thus he addressed me:

'Atreus' son, what maketh thee ask? 'Twere verily better

Nothing to know, nor to learn of my thoughts. Not long, I assure thee,

Tearless wouldst thou remain, if with all these sorrows acquainted.

Many a man of the Grecians is fallen and many surviving.

495

Two of the leaders alone of the bronzen-coated Achaeans

Perished returning (thyself wert present during the warfare).

One, still living, I ween, on the wide-spread ocean is holden.

Ajax met with his death in the midst of his long-oared vessels.

First by Poseidaon he was favoured, and coming to Gyrae

500

Under enormous cliffs found refuge safe from the ocean,

Yea and had surely escaped, though hated by Pallas Athene,

Had he not uttered a vaunt in his pride and infatuate madness,

Saying in spite of the gods he had traversed the gulf of the waters.

Him did Poseidon hear as he uttered the arrogant boasting.

505

Straight with his powerful hands did the sea-god seizing his trident

Smite on the rock Gyraean a blow which cleft it asunder.

Part of it held, but the part that was broken was flung in the ocean,

Even the portion whereon he had climbed and had sat in his madness.

So to the infinite depths of the billowing ocean it bore him.

510

There did he die, down-swallowing floods of the salt sea water.

Touching thy brother, escaping the dangers of ocean he safely

Crossed in his hollow ships, by the favour of Hera protected.

Ay and he nearly as far as Malea's precipitous headland

Now was arrived, when a tempest of wind down-sweeping upon him

515

Carried him, heavily groaning, away to the home of the fishes,

Unto a distant bound of the land, once home of Thyestes,

Later the dwelling-place of Aegisthus, the son of Thyestes.

Hence too dawned for thy brother a hope of returning in safety.

Veered by the gods was the wind to a breeze which wafted him homeward.

520

Then at the last did he step on the land of his birth, and exultant,

Touching the earth of his own dear country he kissed it, and teardrops

Many and hot did he shed in his joy at beholding his homeland.

Him from a sentinel crag did the watcher descry, who was stationed

There by the crafty Aegisthus and promised reward for his watching,

525

E'en two talents of gold; and the whole of a year he had watched there,

Lest that the king should pass and make him remember his prowess.

Straight did he haste with the news to the house of the prince of the people.

Here forthwith was a plot right cunning devised by Aegisthus:

Choosing him twenty—the best of the fighters—he set them in ambush,

530

While at the opposite end of the hall he commanded a banquet.

Then did he go to invite Agamemnon the prince of the people;

Even with cars and with horses he met him—but brooded on murder;

Welcomed him home, all unsuspecting of treason—and killed him—

Feasted him—killed him as one might slaughter an ox at the manger.

535

Neither was left one man that had followed with King Agamemnon,

Nor of Aegisthus' men: all died in the hall of the palace.

Thus did he speak, and my spirit was utterly broken within me.

Bitterly weeping I sat on the sand, and the heart in my bosom

Cared not for living on earth or longer beholding the sunlight.

540

Then, when at last I was weary of weeping and writhing in anguish,

Speaking again he addressed me, that ancient oracular sea-god:

'Atreus' son, no longer, I pray, persist in this endless

Weeping, wherein no gain we shall find. Nay, rather bethink thee

How with the utmost speed to arrive at the land of thy fathers;

545

So shalt thou seize him alive, unless he is killed by Orestes

Ere thou arrivest and findest them holding his funeral banquet.'

Thus as he spake, in my heart and my valiant spirit within me

Once more comfort revived, though bitter indeed was my sorrow.

Then did I open my lips and with swift-winged words I addressed him:

550

'Now their fate do I know. Come, tell me the name of the third one,

Even the one still held in the midst of the wide-spread ocean,

Living or dead. Though bitter my grief, I am eager to hear it.'

Thus did I speak; forthwith then he answered and thus he addressed me :

'He that I mean is Odysseus the Ithacan, son of Laertes.

555

Him I beheld on an island, and plentiful tears he was shedding,

Held in Calypso's halls; for the sea-nymph still with compulsion

Keepeth him there all hopeless of reaching the land of his fathers,

Since no ship well-fitted with oars he possesseth or shipmates,

Such as to help him to traverse the wide expanses of ocean.

560

Touching thyself and thy fate, O Zeus-loved prince Menelaus,

Not with thy doom thou'lt meet midst horse-grazed meadows of Argos.

Thee to the ends of the earth and the plain Elysian later

Gods everlasting shall bring, where dwells fair-haired Rhadamanthys;

Here is a life that of all is the lightest for earth-born mortals:

565

Here comes never the snow, nor a violent tempest and rain-storm;

Here incessantly breatheth the breeze of the soft-voiced Zephyr

Sent by the ocean to bring to the land and its dwellers refreshment.

Yea, since Helen is thine, gods hail thee as son of the Highest.'

These words uttered, he plunged in the flood of the billowing ocean.

570

Then to the vessels, together with those my heroic companions,

Straight I returned, and my heart as I went grew dark with forebodings.

After at last we had come to the sea and arrived at the vessel,

After the supper was made and ambrosial night was descending,

Then did we lay us to sleep on the surf-beat strand of the ocean.

575

Now when the morning was newly arisen, the roseate-fingered,

Firstly of all down-dragging the ships to the vast salt water

On to the well-trimmed vessels we carried the sails and the mainmasts,

Then ourselves we embarked and seating us down on the benches

Smote with the well-ranged oars on the grey-green brine of the ocean.

580

Back to the stream we returned of the heav'n-sprung river of Egypt;

Here our vessels I moored and performed sufficing oblations.

So when appeased was the wrath of the gods everlasting, I straightway

Built Agamemnon a tomb, for his fame's undying remembrance;

Which things duly fulfilled I departed, and favouring breezes,

585

Sent by the deities, sped me across to the home that I yearned for.

Now come, hearken I pray, and remain thou here in my palace

Till the eleventh is past and the twelfth day come to its dawning;

Then will I speed thy departing and offer thee glorious presents,

Horses three and a car well polished; and then I will give thee

590

Also a beautiful cup, that whenever thou makest libation

Unto the gods thou'lt think of thy friend so long as thou livest."

Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

"Ah, Menelaus, attempt no longer, I beg, to detain me!

E'en for the space of a year 'twere easy to sit with contentment

595

Here at thy side, nor yearn to revisit my home and my parents,

Such is the wonderful pleasure with which to thy words and thy stories

Ravished I list; but already my mates are weary of waiting

Over in beautiful Pylos—for long is the time thou hast kept me.

Touching thy gift, give rather a present to keep as an heirloom!

600

Horses to Ithaca ne'er will I take—far liefer I leave them

Here, as the pride of thy stalls. Thou art lord of a plain and of pastures

Widely extending and bearing abundance of lotus and spear-grass,

Waving with wheat and with spelt and with broad-ear'd glistering barley.

Ithaca holds not a mead, nor widespread courses for riding;

605

Pastures it offers for goats more lovely than pastures for horses.

Suited for riding and pasturing horses is none of the islands

Lying exposed to the ocean, and Ithaca less than the others."

Thus did he speak. With a smile Menelaus good at the war-cry

Touched him caressing, and thus with a word of affection addressed him :

610

"Noble indeed is thy blood, dear child, since nobly thou speakest.

Well, I will make an exchange in the gifts—I can readily do so.

Out of the store of the treasures that lie in my palace as heirlooms

One that is fairest of all, unrivalled in worth, will I give thee,

Even a bowl for the mixing of wine, well-fashioned of silver,

615

All of it solid; but finished with gold is the lip of the vessel.

This is a work of Hephaestus that hero Phaedimus gave me,

King of the people of Sidon, who once in his palace received me,

Thither returning, and now I am wishful on thee to bestow it."

Thus long time did they hold such converse one with the other.

620

Meantime banqueters flocked to the house of the godlike monarch

Bringing the sheep for the feast, and wine which gladdens a mortal.

Bread moreover was sent by the fair-tressed wives of the feasters.

Then in the hall of the palace they busily furnished a banquet.

Meantime sported the suitors in front of the home of Odysseus,

625

Taking delight in the hurling of spears and in casting the discus,

Using a levelled ground that was often the scene of their uproars.

Seated was Antinous, and anigh him was sitting the godlike

Eurymachus. These two were bravest and best of the suitors.

Now came Phronius' son, and approached them, the famous Noëmon.

630

Turning to Antinous he addressed him and asked him a question :

"Antinous, do we know in the least—doth none of us know it, —

How soon Telemachus is returning from Pylos the sandy ?

Off he is gone with a vessel of mine, and it happens I need her

Over to spacious Elis to cross, for a dozen of brood-mares

635

There I possess. Hard-labouring mules I am rearing beneath them,

Still unbroken, and one I will take from the mother and train it."

Thus did he speak, and they gazed with amazement, for ne'er had they deemed him

Gone to Neleïan Pylos, but thought he was still in the country,

Somewhere either afield with the flocks or perhaps with the swineherd.

640

Then spake Antinous, Eupeithes' son, and addressed him :

"Tell me the truth! Say, when did he go? What followers took he?

Were they the pick of the Ithacan youths, or a crew of his own men,

Servants and thralls of the farm? He was capable even of this too.

Also relate me the truth of the matter and give me assurance :

645

Took he by force and in spite of thy wishes thy black-hulled vessel ?

Or was it willingly lent him—thy ship—when he asked and entreated?"

Straightway Phronius' son thus answered, the famous Noëmon:

"Willingly lent was my ship. How could one possibly elsewise,

Seeing a man like this, with a mind so full of vexations,

650

Begging a loan? 'Twas truly a difficult thing to refuse him.

Also the noblest youths of the land—we only excepted—

Join'd him as crew; and Mentor I noticed embarking as captain,

Mentor or else an immortal in all points like him exactly.

One thing puzzles me still; for the godlike Mentor I saw here

655

Yester dawn—but the vessel had started already for Pylos."

These words uttered, he left them and went to the house of his father,

While in the valiant spirits of both fierce anger was kindled.

Unto the suitors they called to desist from the games and be seated.

Then spoke Antinous, Eupeithes' son, and addressed them:

660

Wroth was the man, with a heart in the turbulent depths of his bosom

Swelling with rage, and his two eyes blazing as flames of a furnace:

"Heavens! A fine thing now and an impudent too—has accomplished

Telemachus, with this voyage of his that we never believed in.

Gone is the child, and in spite of us all! He has simply defied us—

665

Got them to launch him a ship, and has chosen the best of the rowers!

Now still more of a plague he will prove. Zeus hurl to perdition

Him and his fury before he shall hatch new troubles to vex us.

Come now, give me a good swift vessel and twenty companions,

So shall I lay me an ambush and watch his arrival, and catch him

670

Just 'twixt Ithacan shores and the rock-bound island of Samos.

Doleful enough he'll find these sailings in search of a father!"

Thus did he speak, and they all of them shouted approval and urged it.

Then forthwith uprising they entered the house of Odysseus.

Neither for long thereafter from Penelopeia was hidden

675

All that was said, and the plot so darkly devised by the suitors.

Medon the herald informed her, who oft to the plottings had listened

Standing outside of the court as they wove these counsels within it.

Thorough the palace he hasted to tell it to Penelopeia,

Till, as he stepped from the stone of the door she perceived and addressed him :

680

"Wherefore, herald, I pray, art thou sent by the arrogant suitors?

Cam'st thou to order the women attendants of godlike Odysseus

Laying aside their tasks to prepare these masters a banquet?

Would that without more wooings, without more banquetings either,

Now on the spot they'd sup their last and their latest supper!

685

Ye that as wolves come trooping and wasting the wealth of the homestead,

Riches of Telemachus wise-hearted, I ween that ye never

Heard your fathers in days of the past—you being but children—

Speak of Odysseus and how he was prized by the men that begat you,

How that he never in word or in deed wrought any injustice

690

Unto the people—the wont of a ruler appointed by heaven,

While that he hateth the one of his subjects and favours another.

No! by Odysseus was none e'er treated with pride and presumption,

Whilst for yourselves what spirit is yours, what shameless behaviour,

Plainly appears; and to him that is kind ye are utterly thankless."

695

Then did the sage old Medon, the herald, address her in answer:

"Would, dear lady, that this were the worst of the evils that threaten!

Greater by far is the crime, and fraught more fully with danger,

Now by the suitors devised. God grant that they never fulfil it !

Telemachus with the edge of the sword they are meaning to murder

700

While he is voyaging homeward; for, hoping to hear of his father,

Lately he started for Pylos the fair and divine Lacedaemon."

Thus did he speak, and with knees and with heart all quaking she stood there.

Speechless long she remained, struck mute, while gathering teardrops

Flooded her eyes, and the flow of her clear-voiced utterance failed her,

705

Till at the last she recovered her speech and addressed him in answer:

“Wherefore, herald, I pray, is my son departed? He nowise

Needed to mount on a ship—on a swift-paced vessel that sailors

Ride as a horse and traverse the watery waste of the ocean.

Wills he that even his name no longer remain in remembrance?"

710

Then did the sage old Medon, the herald, in answer address her:

"Whether a deity urged him I know not, or whether within him

Moved was his spirit to journey to Pylos to gain him assurance

Or of his father's return or else of the fate he hath met with."

These words uttered he turned and retraversed the house of Odysseus,

715

While o'erwhelmed with her grief, heartbroken, and wholly unable

Still on a chair to remain of the many that stood in her homestead—

Down by the threshold she sank on the floor of the well-built chamber,

Uttering pitiful wails, and around her lamented her maidens,

All of the women attendants, the young as the old, in the palace.

720

These then addressing with many a groan spake Penelopeia :

"Dear ones, listen for sorrow hath Zeus the Olympian sent me

Passing the sorrows of all of the friends and the mates of my childhood.

Erstwhile lost I a husband—my lord with the heart of a lion—

Foremost of all of the Grecians in every manly perfection,

725

Him whose fame is abroad through Hellas and midmost Argos.

Now is my dearly-belovéd, my son, swept hence by the storm-blasts,

Vanished from hearing and home—nay, e'en of his going I heard not!

Ah, hard-hearted! for none of you, none, took thought to inform me,

Waking me out of my slumbers, and none, though fully ye knew it,

730

Said to me aught when he mounted aboard of the black-hulled vessel.

Had I but known he was making him ready to fare on a journey,

Verily either at home he had stay'd, though bent on departure,

Else he had left me behind him dead in the halls of his homestead.

Nay come, one of you haste and the good old Dolius summon,

735

Even the slave I received, ere hither I came, from my father.

Now to my garden of trees he attends. Go, see that he quickly

Sit by the side of Laertes and tell him of all that has happened.

He peradventure will weave a device in his mind, and in public

Unto the people will proffer his plaint of the men who so fiercely

740

Purpose his seed to destroy and the seed of the godlike Odysseus."

Her did the nurse give answer, the dear old Eurycleia:

“Slay me, my mistress belov'd, with the pitiless blade, or in pity

Leave me to live in thy halls—not a word will I hide of the matter.

All of it, all, did I know; I supplied him with all that he wanted,

745

Even with bread and with sweet strong wine, and I solemnly promised

Nothing to thee to reveal till the twelfth day came to its dawning

(Didst thou not miss him before, and by questioning learn his departure)

Lest thou perchance shouldst weep and thy fair face mar with thy weeping.

Nay now, bathe thee with water and throw fresh raiment around thee,

750

Then to thy upper apartment ascending with women attendants

Pray to Athena, the daughter of Zeus who beareth the aegis.

She is a goddess that even from death will be able to save him.

Trouble the old man not! — he hath trouble enough—and believe me,

Ne'er is the race of Arceisius' son by the blesséd immortals

755

Hated so wholly; an heir shall survive and shall hold in possession

High-roof'd homes and the fruitful domains spread widely around them."

Thus did she still her lament and her pitiful tears; and her lady,

After herself she had bathed and cast fresh raiment around her,

Unto her upper apartment ascending with women attendants

760

Placed in a basket the barley for sprinkling and prayed to Athene:

"Daughter of Zeus who beareth the aegis, thou maiden unwearied,

Listen! If ever of yore in his homestead wileful Odysseus

Burnt to thy honour the fat thigh pieces of sheep or of oxen,

This I beseech thee remember, and rescue my son, my beloved !

765

Ward far off the malicious designs of the insolent suitors!"

These prayers uttered, she wailed, and her vows were heard by the goddess,

While from the shadowy hall came sounding the din of the suitors,

All of the insolent youths thus shouting, the one to the other :

"Lo now, truly at last our lady of many a wooer

770

Thinketh of wedding—nor knows that the death of her son is determined."

Thus spake one to the other, nor knew they of what was determined.

Antinous then turned to his fellows, and thus he addressed them :

"See to avoid, good sirs, all language loudly disdainful—

All such boasting—that none to the palace within shall report it.

775

Rather in silence, so far as ye can, let us rise and accomplish

All we bespake, for the thing we decided was fully agreed on."

Thus did he speak, and choosing him twenty, the best of the rowers,

Forthwith went on his way to the ship and the strand of the ocean.

Here did they first draw down to the deep sea water a vessel,

780

Then, on the black-hulled vessel embarking the sails and the mast-tree,

All of the oars to the tholes made fast with the lashings of leather,

Each in its place, and the white sails hoisted aloft on the yardarm.

Weapons also aboard were carried by haughty attendants.

Now when at last she was moor'd high out in the harbour, embarking

785

There on the vessel they supped and awaited the coming of even.

Still in her upper apartment remained wise Penelopeia.

Fasting she lay on her couch, and heedless of thirst and of hunger

Mused on her valiant son—was he yet to escape from destruction,

Or was he doomed as the victim to fall of the arrogant suitors?

790

E'en as a lion that wavers in doubt in the throng of the hunters,

Fearing, as closer they draw the insidious circle around him,

Thus did she waver in doubt till, a deep sleep falling upon her,

Backward softly she sank with her joints all loosened, and slumbered.

Other was now the device of the grey-eyed goddess Athene.

795

First she created a phantom. In form it was like to a woman,

Iphthimé, who was daughter of Icarius great-hearted.

(Her Eumelus had taken to wife, and her home was at Pherae.)

Then did she send it to go to the palace of godlike Odysseus,

Bidding it make the bewailing and sorrowing Penelopeia

800

Cease from her groaning and shedding of tears and her sad lamentation.

Into the room by the hole of the latch-string entered the phantom,

Stood at the head of the queen, and thus it began to address her :

"Sleep'st thou, Penelopeia, outwearied at heart with thy mourning?

Ne'er can it hap that the gods, who live at their ease in the heaven,

805

Wish thee to weep and to sorrow. Again to his home they will bring him,

Even thy son for in nought hath he vexed the immortals by sinning."

Then forthwith gave answer the wise-souled Penelopeia,

Though at the portal of dreams she already was slumbering softly:

"Wherefore now art thou come, O sister? Never aforetime

810

Here to resort was thy wont, since distant far is thy homestead.

Yea and thou biddest me cease from my pain and forget my afflictions,

All those many afflictions that torture my mind and my spirit!

Its-while lost I a husband—my lord with the heart of a lion,

Foremost of all of the Achaeans in every manly perfection,

815

Him whose fame is abroad through Hellas and midmost Argos.

Now is my well-loved son on a hollow vessel departed,

Yet but a child, unskilled in the deeds of a man and in speaking.

Him I lament more bitterly still than I mourned for his father,

Yea I lament and I tremble in fear lest aught shall befall him

820

Either among those people he visits, or else on the ocean,

Seeing that many a foe plots evil devices against him,

Longing to kill him or ever he win to the land of his fathers."

Then to the queen once more made answer the shadowy phantom:

"Take thou courage, nor feel in thy heart such dread and despondence.

825

She who attendeth and guards him is such that a mortal in peril

Ever will pray her to stand at his side (for to aid she is able),

Pallas Athena, the goddess who pities thee now in thy sorrow;

Yea it is she that hath bidden me come this message to bring thee.”

Then to the phantom again spake wise-souled Penelopeia:

830

"Art thou divine, or hast listened to words by divinity spoken,

Come, I beseech, and the fate of that other unfortunate tell me,

Whether he still is alive on the earth and beholdeth the sunlight,

Or is he dead and already below in the mansion of Hades?"

Then to the queen once more made answer the shadowy phantom:

835

"Touching the fate of thy lord I can say to thee nothing for certain

Whether he lives or is dead; and an evil is idle discussion."

These words uttered it glided away by the bolt of the doorpost

Into the air and the breezes of heaven; and out of her slumbers

Penelopeia awoke, and the heart in her bosom was lightened,

840

Such was the clearness with which had approached her that vision of midnight.

Now had the suitors embarked and had voyaged the paths of the waters

Plotting a violent death in their hearts for the son of Odysseus.

Far from the land there riseth a crag in the midst of the waters,

Just 'twixt Ithacan shores and the rock-bound island of Samos,

845

Asteris; tiny the isle, but within it a harbour for shipping

Twy-mouthed; here the Achaeans awaited him, lying in ambush.

Notes on the current edition

Odyssey

1. 1

2. 1

New Alexandria Commentaries

Gregory Nagy

With the continued aid of the goddess Athena, young Telemachus now becomes an ideal guest for his new hosts, Menelaos together with Helen. The identity of Helen as a goddess becomes more evident now that she is back in Sparta. This divine identity will point to the future immortalization of the hero Menelaos by virtue of his winning back Helen as his consort.

draft js image error “The Fair Helen.” Willy Pogany (Hungarian, 1882–1955). Image via.

source

Epitome from Nagy 2016.02.18§§1–4

[§1] The wording about to be quoted describes the very first impression experienced by the young hero Telemachus when he sees the splendor of the palace of Menelaos and Helen. We join the action as Telemachus and his traveling companion, the young hero Peisistratos, son of Nestor, are both being escorted into the palace of Menelaos and Helen:

|43 αὐτοὺς δ’ εἰσῆγον θεῖον δόμον. οἱ δὲ ἰδόντες |44 θαύμαζον κατὰ δῶμα διοτρεφέος βασιλῆος· |45 ὥς τε γὰρ ἠελίου αἴγλη πέλεν ἠὲ σελήνης |46 δῶμα καθ’ ὑψερεφὲς Μενελάου κυδαλίμοιο. |47 αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ τάρπησαν ὁρώμενοι ὀφθαλμοῖσιν …

|43 They were escorted inside the heavenly [theion] palace. Seeing what they were seeing, |44 they were filled with awe [thauma] as they proceeded through the palace of the king, that man whose origins are celestial. |45 There was a gleam [aiglē] there, which was like the gleam of the sun or the moon, |46 spreading throughout that palace famed for its high ceilings, that home of radiant Menelaos. |47 But then, after they had feasted their eyes on what they saw …

O.04.043–047

[§2] At this point, the story proceeds to take the visitors through a series of welcoming rituals, followed by a grand dinner arranged by Menelaos as the gracious host, O.04.047–070. And now the dinner conversation gets underway, starting with words of appreciation spoken by Telemachus and intended for Menelaos. Telemachus speaks here as a grateful guest, addressing his fellow guest Peisistratos, son of Nestor, but his words are really intended for Menelaos as the generous host. I will now quote these words of Telemachus as spoken to the son of Nestor—words that not only compliment Menelaos but also express most sincerely the young guest’s awestruck reaction to the splendor of the king’s palace:

|71 “φράζεο, Νεστορίδη, τῷ ἐμῷ κεχαρισμένε θυμῷ, |72 χαλκοῦ τε στεροπὴν κατὰ δώματα ἠχήεντα |73 χρυσοῦ τ’ ἠλέκτρου τε καὶ ἀργύρου ἠδ’ ἐλέφαντος. |74 Ζηνός που τοιήδε γ’ Ὀλυμπίου ἔνδοθεν αὐλή, |75 ὅσσα τάδ’ ἄσπετα πολλά· σέβας μ’ ἔχει εἰσορόωντα.”

|71 “I want you to notice something, son of Nestor, you who are so dear to my heart: |72 notice the flash [steropē] of bronze [khalkos] as its light pervades the echoing hall |73 and also the flash of gold and of electrum and of silver and of ivory. |74 I’m guessing that Zeus, who lives on Olympus, has such a hall inside his palace, |75 and he would have as many indescribable things as are here. A sense of holy awe [sebas] takes hold of me as I look at these things.”

O.04.071–075

[§3] What first catches the young man’s eye here is all the shining bronze he sees. And then it’s the gold, then the electrum, then the silver, and finally the ivory. But the first impression is the bronze, all that bronze. The light that he sees streaming from the bronze envelops everything with its radiance, and it’s just like heaven for the young man.

[§4] “Thought I’d died and gone to heaven.” The colloquial saying that I just quoted, which has become the title of a popular song recorded in 1991 by Bryan Adams, captures the young man’s awareness that he has just experienced something celestial. The reduced theology of this kind of imagined heaven resembles the celestial realm of the ancient Greek gods. Their ‘sky’ or ouranos, as we read at I.17.425, is traditionally visualized as ‘made of bronze’, khalkeos (χάλκεον οὐρανόν). This expression shows its own special kind of reduced theology: from out of the sky, when it’s bright, the gleam of a mighty bronze dome envelops everything on earth. Presiding over this bronze dome is the god Zeus, whose heavenly residence is called the khalkobates dō, ‘the palace with floor made of bronze’ (χαλκοβατὲς δῶ), I.01.426; I.14.173, I.21.438, I.21.505, O.08.321—a residence situated high above Mount Olympus, I.01.426, I.21.438, I.21.505. As we will see at O.07.084–090, the heavenly residence of Menelaos is comparable to the palace of Alkinoos (latinized as Alcinous), king of the Phaeacians.

source

Menelaos laments here the sorrows of Trojan War, O.04.093–112, and Telemachus responds by weeping, O.04.113–116. These sorrows are accentuated by the personal involvement of heroes like Menelaos and Odysseus as main participants in the war. The very idea of lament, as signaled elsewhere by words like penthos and akhos, is seen here as an aspect of genuine narrative about the heroic world. As we are about to see, such a genuine narrative is to be contrasted with the false narrative induced by the drug nēpenthes, O.04.221, which prevents contact with the emotional world of lament. For the interpretation of nēpenthes as ‘negating sorrow [penthos]’, I refer ahead to the comment on O.04.220–226.

source

Homer Odyssey 4.49

A. T. Murray (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

ODYSSEY BOOK IV

PATTEN WILSON,
THE STRUGGLE WITH PROTEUS

Notes on the current edition

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

ODYSSEY BOOK IV

PATTEN WILSON, THE STRUGGLE WITH PROTEUS

Notes on the current edition

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

PATTEN WILSON,
THE STRUGGLE WITH PROTEUS