ODYSSEY BOOK XX
SO in the porch of the hall did the godlike Odysseus repose him.
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First on the floor he extended an untanned hide, and above it
Spread him a number of fleeces of sheep that the princes had slaughtered.
Eurynomé then covered him o'er with a wrap as he lay there.
Long did Odysseus, with heart that was brooding on ills for the suitors,
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Lie there sleepless. And out of the inner apartment the women,
Those that had ever till now consorted in love with the suitors,
Came forth, bandying laughter and merriment one with another.
Then, as he heard them, aroused was the soul in the depths of his bosom.
Many a time did he waver with doubt in his mind and his spirit
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Whether to haste in pursuit and to deal out death to the maidens,
Every one, or to leave them alone with the arrogant suitors
One time more and the last; and his heart growled fiercely within him;
E'en as a dog, when in front of her helpless puppies she paces,
Growls in her rage at a man that she knows not and longs to assail him,
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So it was growling within him in wrath at their infamous actions.
Then on his bosom he smote and his heart he addressed and rebuked it:
"Courage, my heart, and endure! Still worse was the shame thou enduredst,
E'en on the day when the huge irresistible monster, the Cyclops,
Ate my heroic companions, but thou wast undaunted, till cunning
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Freed thee from out of the cave where certain appeared thy destruction."
Thus did he speak to the heart in his bosom, exhorting it sharply;
Yea and it heard and obeyed him, and held with a patient endurance
Firm. But Odysseus himself kept turning to this and to that side.
Just as a man in the front of a fire that is mightily blazing
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Holdeth a pudding of blood and of fat, and to this and to that side
Constantly turns it, and longs for the thing to be speedily roasted,
So was he tossing to this and to that side, musing in spirit
How 'twere best to attempt the attack on the impudent suitors
Single against so many. And now drew near him Athene,
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Come from the heights of Olympus and changed to a woman in semblance.
Standing beside him, anigh to his head, these words she addressed him :
"Wherefore still art thou lying awake, most hapless of mortals?
Lo now, here is thy home; here too is thy wife in thy homestead,
Ay and thy son-such son as by every father is longed for."
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Her then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus :
"Verily all thou hast said, O goddess, is true and befitting;
Still I am much in suspense and am musing in mind and in spirit
How 'twere best to attempt the attack on the impudent suitors,
Being but one, while here in the house they're ever in numbers.
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Also a doubt still greater is making me muse in my spirit :
Were I to slay them by help of thyself and of Zeus the Almighty,
Whither to flee and escape the avenger? Resolve it, I pray thee!"
Him forthwith gave answer the grey-eyed goddess Athene:
"Slow to believe! Why, many a man oft trusts in a comrade
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Weaker by far-in a mortal with no such counsels as mine be.
I am the goddess who vowed to protect thee till all was accomplished,
Yea and in every danger; and once more plainly I tell thee,
Even if companies fifty in number of men that be mortal
Compassed us closely about, right eager in battle to slay us,
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All of their fat-fed flocks thou'dst capture and all of their cattle.
Come, compose thee to slumber! A weary vexation is watching
All night sleepless; and now thou art rising from out of thy troubles."
These words uttered Athena, and poured forth sleep on his eyelids;
Then she departed, the beautiful goddess, and came to Olympus.
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Meanwhile slumber had seized him and loosened the cares of his spirit,
Slumber that loosens the limbs. But his true-souled wife had awakened.
Long on her soft-strown bed she had sat and had wept and lamented,
Till, when at length she was weary in spirit of weeping and wailing,
Then did the fairest of women to Artemis turn in entreaty:
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"Artemis, lady divine, O daughter of Zeus the Almighty,
Send, I beseech thee, an arrow that piercing my bosom shall slay me
Now in a moment or would that the hurricane blast of the storm-winds
Seized me, and sweeping me off on the shadowy paths of the tempests
Hurled me below, where back to the sea comes streaming the Ocean,
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E'en as the daughters of Pandareüs were seized by the storm-blast.
Father and mother they lost by the act of the gods, and as orphans
Sole they remained in the halls of the palace; but Queen Aphrodite
Fed them on curds and on honey and wine that was sweet as the honey.
Then were given the maidens above all women by Hera
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Beauty and wisdom, and chaste Queen Artemis granted them stature,
While from Athena they learnt the designing of exquisite handwork.
Now when the fair Aphrodite was wending to lofty Olympus,
There to obtain for the maidens the blissful assurance of wedlock,
Seeking the promise of Zeus who delighteth in thunder (he knoweth
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All that to earthborn mortals is granted by Fate or denied them),
Meantime down came sweeping the Harpies, the Spirits of Tempest,
Snatched them, and unto the hateful Erinyes gave them as handmaids.
Thus too sweep me away, O gods who inhabit Olympus!
Else, O fair-tressed Artemis, smite me!-and thus, with Odysseus
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Imaged in mind, I shall go to the terrible nethermost darkness,
Nor shall I ever rejoice the affections of one that is baser.
Now herein is an evil endurable-namely, whenever
One that by day sits weeping, with heart sore stricken by sorrow,
Yieldeth at night to the power of sleep: all things he forgetteth,
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Evil as well as the good, when it once o'ershadows his eyelids,
While for myself some deity sends false dreams to afflict me;
Yea and to-night one like to my husband was sleeping beside me,
Such as he seemed when he sailed with the host; and the heart in my bosom
Joy'd, for I thought that at last it was true-no dream, but a vision."
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Thus did she speak, and anon came Morning, the golden-enthronéd.
Now as she wept had her voice been heard by the godlike Odysseus.
Forthwith fell he a-musing thereat, and she seemed to his fancy
Surely to know him already and close to his head to be standing.
Rolling together the wraps and the fleeces wherein he had slumbered
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These on a settle he laid in the hall, then carried the oxhide
Out to the court, and to Zeus uplifted his hands in entreaty :
"Father, if truly thy grace and the favour of heaven hath led me
Over the wet and the dry to my home (though sorely ye plagued me),
Grant me, I pray, that an omen be uttered by one that is waking
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Here in the house; and without, O Zeus, send also a portent!"
Such was the prayer that he uttered, and Zeus, great Counsellor, heard him.
Forthwith out of the radiant heights of Olympus he thundered
Down from aloft, from the sky; and godlike Odysseus exulted.
Also was uttered a voice by a woman that ground in an outhouse
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Nigh to him. Here were standing the mills of the prince of the people.
These were worked by the women, a dozen in number, that toiled there
Making the meal of the wheat and the barley, the marrow of mortals.
All of the rest were sleeping, for ground was the whole of their wheat-grain.
She was the weakest, and now was alone and incessantly toiling.
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Stopping her mill she exclaimed (to her master it came as an omen):
"Father of all! Great Zeus, who art monarch of men and immortals,
Loudly in sooth thou hast thundered from starry expanses of heaven,
Nor is a cloud to be seen! It is surely a portent for some one!
Also for me, poor wretch, accomplish the prayer that I utter:
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O for the last and the latest of all their delightful carousings
Here in the halls of Odysseus to-day to be held by the suitors!
Yea, for the men have loosened my knees with this pitiless labour,
Grinding the grain-so now let them finish their feastings for ever!"
Then did Odysseus rejoice, for he felt that the voice was an omen,
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E'en as the thunder of Zeus, and that vengeance had come for the guilty.
Now had the rest of the maids in the beautiful home of Odysseus
Gathered, and soon on the hearth the unwearied flame they rekindled.
Telemachus too rose from his bed, as a god in his beauty,
Donned his apparel, suspended his keen-edged sword from the shoulder,
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Under his smooth-skinned feet then fastened his beautiful sandals,
Lifted his powerful spear, with its blade sharp-pointed and bronzen,
Went to the threshold and, there as he stood, called Eurycleia:
"Say, dear nurse, did ye honour the guest in the house? did ye give him
Food and a bed? or, left to himself, is he lying uncared for?
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Such is the way with my mother: although of a good understanding,
Blindly she seemeth to value the one or the other of mortals;
Often she honours the worse and dismisses the better unhonoured."
Him forthwith gave answer the wise-souled Eurycleia:
"Nay but, my child, no blame hath thy mother; thou needst not reproach her.
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Wine he was given, and sat there drinking as long as he listed;
Food he refused: no longer he hungered, he said; for she asked him.
Then, as the time was at hand to be mindful of rest and of slumber,
Some of her maiden attendants she ordered to place him a bedstead.
Natheless, like to a man that is utterly broken and wretched,
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Neither to sleep on a bed was he willing nor wrap him in blankets.
Spreading the untanned hide of an ox and a couple of sheepskins,
Out in the passage he slept; and we covered him o'er with a mantle."
Thus did she speak, and the youth fared forth by the hall of the palace
Bearing his spear; and by two of his fleet-paced hounds he was followed.
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Then to the council he went of the well-greaved sons of Achaea,
While to her maidens she issued her orders, that good old woman,
Eurycleia, the daughter of Ops, who was son of Pisenor :
"Come now, set ye to work! Some busily see to the sweeping.
Sprinkle with water the floor of the hall, and the covers of purple
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Place on the fair-wrought chairs. Some wipe down all of the tables,
Rubbing them clean with a sponge; then rinse out every wine-bowl,
Also the twy-cupped beakers of delicate work; and let others
Go to the fountain for water, and quickly return with it hither.
Not much longer, methinks, from the hall will the suitors be absent;
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Early the morn they will come; 'tis for all of the people a feast-day."
Thus did she speak, and they listened with care to her words and obeyed her :
Twenty departed at once to the fountain of dark spring water,
While that the others remained in the palace and skilfully toiled there.
Then there entered the thralls of the noble Achaeans, and straightway
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Skilfully cleft them of wood right many a log; and the women
Came from the fountain; and also the swineherd arrived, and he joined them.
Down from the farm three hogs he had driven, the fattest and finest.
These he permitted to feed in the beautiful palace enclosure,
While to Odysseus he came and with words right gentle addressed him:
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"Stranger, with greater regard seem now the Achaeans to treat thee?
Or, as they acted before in the hall, with dishonour and insult?"
Him then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus :
"O for the gods to avenge, Eumaeus, the scorn and the outrage
Shown by the wanton infatuate deeds of the insolent fellows
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Here in the home of another! Nor shame do they feel-not the smallest."
Thus did the twain stand there conversing the one with the other.
Then came passing anigh them Melanthius master of goatherds,
Driving his goats, prime beasts that from all of the flocks he had chosen,
Meant for the suitors to eat; and by herdsmen twain he was followed.
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Now when the goats he had tethered beneath the reëchoing portal,
Up to Odysseus he came and with words of abuse he addressed him :
"Stranger, it seems thou art fain e'en here in the house to annoy us,
Begging from all of the men !-Go, get thee away from the palace!
Ne'er shall we twain find means to be rid of the matter and part us
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Ere each tastes of the fists of the other. I call it indecent,
Begging and begging! Besides, there's feasting with other Achaeans."
Thus did he speak; and Odysseus replied not a word, but he stood there
Silently shaking his head, as a man that is brooding on evil.
Now did a third draw nigh them, Philoetius, master of neatherds,
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Leading a cow that was barren and fat-fed goats for the suitors.
Them had the ferrymen brought from the mainland (as many a mortal
Also they ferry across, whosoever arrives at the crossing).
These when he safely had tethered beneath the reëchoing portal,
Up to the side of the swineherd he came and addressed him a question :
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"Swineherd, who is the stranger, I pray-this man that is newly
Come as a guest to the house? What race doth he boast to belong to?
Where is the place of his birth, and which is the land of his fathers?
Hapless he seems; but in form he is like to a lord and a chieftain;
Yea and the gods mar often a man that is driven to wander-
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Fate that can hap to a ruler himself, if they spin him misfortune."
Thus as he spake he approached and his right hand offered in welcome;
Then he uplifted his voice and with swift-winged words he addressed him :
"Welcome, father and stranger! I wish thee in future a fortune
Happier. Now, as it seems, thou'rt holden of many an evil.
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Father of all, great Zeus! More baneful is none of immortals!
Ne'er dost thou feel compassion for mortals although thou begett'st them,
Making them ever to dwell with misfortune, with pain and with sorrow.
E'en as I saw him I sweated, and tears come flooding mine eyes still
While I remember Odysseus-for, ah, I am certain that he too
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Thus in a raiment of rags goes roaming from people to people,
Haps it indeed that he still is alive and beholdeth the sunlight.
Should he however be dead and gone to the mansion of Hades,
Woe to me! Woe for Odysseus, my good dear master, who set me
Over his kine, as a youngster among Cephallenian people!
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These are growing unspeakably many: with none of the chieftains
Waxing and flourishing thus is the breed of the broad-browed cattle.
Ay, but I now am commanded by others, and batten my cattle
Only for strangers to eat. Of the heir in the palace they reck not,
Neither the wrath of the gods do they fear. Nought else do they long for
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Save to divide the estate of my lord, who so long is unheard of.
Many and many a time with my heart in the depth of my bosom
This I revolve: 'twere wrong, while liveth the son of my master,
Taking the cows to abandon the country and make for another,
Some far alien land; but methinks it is worse to remain here,
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Sitting and guarding my cattle for others, and suffering hardships.
Ay and indeed long since I had found some powerful chieftain
Whither to flee-for I vow it is scarce endurable sometimes;
Still I am alway a-thinking of him-poor master!-and dreaming
How he shall come and shall scatter the suitors in rout from the palace."
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Him then in answer addressed these words deep-plotting Odysseus :
"Neatherd, seeing thou seemst not a man that is evil or foolish
(Nay, I confess it myself, in thy thoughts much wisdom is present),
Therefore a thing will I say, and with solemn oath will confirm it:
First then witness it Zeus, and the table at which I am welcomed,
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Yea and the hearth, to the which I am come, of the noble Odysseus,
While thou art here in the mansion Odysseus shall come to his homestead,
Ay and with thine own eyes, if thou willst, thou'lt surely behold him
Slaughtering all of the suitors, who dare in his palace to lord it."
Him gave answer the man who as cowherd tended the cattle :
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"Would, O stranger, that Zeus might grant to thy words a fulfilment !
Then thou'dst learn of my strength and behold how ready my hands be."
Likewise spake Eumaeus, and calling on all the immortals
Prayed for Odysseus the wise to return once more to his homeland.
Now as the men stood there conversing the one with the other,
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Secretly planning the doom and death of the son of Odysseus
Plotted the suitors-but lo, on the left came flying an eagle,
King of the uppermost air, with a quivering dove in his talons.
Then spake Amphinomus to the others, and thus he addressed them :
"Friends, I am sure it will never succeed, this thing that we purpose,
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Murdering Telemachus. Let us think once more of the banquet!"
Thus spake Amphinomus, and his words pleased all of the others.
So they betook them at once to the palace of godlike Odysseus.
Here, when aside they had laid on the chairs and the couches their mantles,
Fatlings they slew of the goats and the heaviest beasts of the sheepfold;
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Also they slew fat hogs and a cow that was brought from the pasture,
Roasted the livers and portioned the messes, and then in the wine-bowls
Mingled the wine; and the cups were carried around by the swineherd,
While by Philoetius, master of herdsmen, in beautiful baskets
Bread was dispensed, and the wine poured out by the goatherd Melantheus.
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Then did they stretch forth hands to the food that was lying before them.
Telemachus with a crafty intent now seated Odysseus
Nigh to the threshold of stone of the strong-built banqueting-chamber.
Wretchedly poor was the chair that he placed him, and small was the table.
Then of the liver he served him a portion, and filled him a goblet,
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Even a beaker of gold; and he spake these words and addressed him:
"There now, sit at thy ease midst nobles, and quaff of the wine-cup.
Violent act or abuse it is I that am going to stop it,
Spite of the suitors. We keep not a tavern for common resorters
Here in the house; 'twas the home of Odysseus; to me he bequeathed it.
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Listen, ye suitors! I beg you to curb all spirit of brawling,
Ay and of violent acts. No quarrel and strife shall arise here!"
Thus did he speak and the men, all biting their lips in amazement,
Marvelled at Telemachus and the dauntless words he had uttered.
Then spake Antinous, Eupeithes' son, and addressed them :
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"Though it is hard to submit, let us suffer, Achaeans, in silence
Telemachus and his talk! He is even beginning to threaten!
Well, it was Father Cronion that stayed it or else we had stopped him
Chattering here in the hall, though mightily fluent his tongue be."
Thus spake Antinous; but the youth recked nought of his gibings.
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Meantime up from the city was coming the sacred oblation
Led by the heralds; and soon did the long-haired sons of Achaea
Gather them under the shadowy grove of the archer Apollo.
Now when the outside meat they had roasted and drawn from the skewers
All they apportioned and sat them adown to a glorious banquet.
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Also in front of Odysseus a portion was set by the servants
Like to the share that they all had received; since so had commanded
Telemachus, dear son of the hero godlike Odysseus.
Nowise willed it Athena to suffer the arrogant suitors
Still to refrain from insulting contempt, for she wished the resentment
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Deeper to sink in the heart of Odysseus the son of Laertes.
Now in the band of the suitors was one that was utterly lawless;
Ctesippus was his name, and he lived in the island of Samé.
He too, trusting the wondrous extent of his wealthy possessions,
Courted the wife of Odysseus, the lord who so long was unheard of.
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Such was the fellow that now to the insolent suitors addressed him :
"Listen, ye high-born suitors! allow me to tell you of something!
See, they've served to the stranger a portion (and well he deserves it !)
Like to the rest. 'Twere truly a wrong and unfair to neglect him,
Guest as he seemeth of Telemachus-like all that arrive here.
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Lo, I will give him the gift of a guest: he is free to present it
Unto the woman that tendeth the bath, or to any he listeth,
Any a drudge in the whole of the palace of godlike Odysseus."
Spake, and with strong broad hand outstretched to a basket beside him
Lifted the foot of an ox-and he hurled; but Odysseus escaped it,
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Quietly swerving aside with the head; and he smiled in his spirit
Grimly enough, while smit was the strong-built wall by the ox-foot.
Then spake Telemachus, as he turned to the man and rebuked him :
"Verily, friend Ctesippus, thy soul had a lucky escape there!
Missed was thy mark-for the stranger himself evaded thy missile;
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Else with my sharp-edged spear had I smitten thee through in the middle.
So had thy funeral busied thy father instead of thy wedding
Here in my halls; for I vow in my house so grossly and rudely
None shall behave. I am come to discretion, and well can distinguish
All that is good or is bad-no more I'm a child as aforetime.
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Truly before, I allow, we endured it, beholding in silence
Slaughter of flocks and of herds, and the wine all drunk and exhausted,
Ay and the bread. It is hard for the one to be fighting the many.
Come now, cease from the ills that ye do and the ills ye intend me !
Else, if already ye long with the edge of the sword to destroy me,
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Far more willing I were-yea verily better I hold it-
Thus to be slain than for ever to see such shameful procedure,
Guests disgracefully treated and servant-maids of the household
Haled by the men in the halls of my beautiful home to dishonour."
So did he speak ; and they sat all utterly silent and speechless,
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Till at the last found voice Agelaus, the son of Damastor :
"Listen, my friends! When the word that is spoken is spoken with justice,
None should surely be wroth with the speaker and answer in anger.
Neither maltreat, I beseech you, the stranger, nor other soever,
None of the drudges that serve in the palace of godlike Odysseus.
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Also to Telemachus and his mother I venture to offer
Gentle advice-let them lay it to heart, both one and the other:
While your spirit that dwells in the depths of the bosom within you
Hoped for Odysseus the wise to return once more to his homeland,
None could deem it a wrong that ye waited, nor suffered the suitors
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Here in the house to resort; since thus it was certainly better,
Should peradventure Odysseus arrive and appear at his homestead.
Now it is plain however that never again he is coming.
Wherefore go to thy mother and sit at her side and persuade her,
Bidding her marry the best of the men, whose offer is greatest.
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Then thou'lt live on the wealth of thy father in peace and in gladness,
Eating and drinking, and she will attend to the house of another."
Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer :
"Nay, Agelaus, I swear it by Zeus and the griefs of my father,
Far from his Ithacan home now perished or roaming as exile,
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Not by myself is her marriage delayed-nay, rather I bid her
Wed with the man of her choice. Great gifts will I add as her dowry.
Still, 'twere shameless, I think, from the palace to drive her unwilling,
Giving her orders to quit. May heaven forbid that I do so!"
Thus spake Telemachus, and, excited by Pallas Athene,
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Laughter unquenchable rose. But she wildered the wits of the suitors.
Strangely, as coming from alien voices, resounded the laughter.
Dabbled with gore was the meat of the banquet. The eyes of the feasters
Floated in tears, and the minds of the men were set upon wailing.
Then did the seer divine, Theoclýmenus, speak and address them:
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"Ah, unfortunate men! What horror is this that has happened?
Shrouded in night are faces and heads. To the knees it descendeth.
Out of it flash forth wails. All cheeks are flooded with teardrops.
Yea and the walls are spattered with blood, and the beautiful alcoves.
See too, crowded with ghosts is the porch and crowded the courtyard,
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Hurrying down to the darkness of Erebus! Out of the heaven
Withered and gone is the sun, and a poisonous mist is arising."
Thus did he speak; but they all right merrily laughed as they heard him.
Eurymachus then called, prince Polybus' son, to his comrades :
"Sure he is mad, this guest that is newly arrived from a distance!
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Come now quickly, my lads, and escort him away from the palace
Out to the square-since here he complaineth of night and of darkness!"
Then did the seer divine, Theoclýmenus, answer him saying:
"Eurymachus, I shall need not to bid thee vouchsafe me an escort.
Both of mine eyes I possess, and a couple of ears and of feet too,
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Also a mind in my head well furnished-nor truly a bad one.
So I will rise and be gone, since clearly I see a disaster
Coming; and none of you all shall be able to shun or avert it,
None of the suitors by whom in the house of the godlike Odysseus
Men are treated with insult and plann'd are wicked devices."
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These words uttered, he went from the pleasant abodes of the palace
Unto the home of his host Peiraeus, who gladly received him.
Meantime many a suitor, exchanging a glance with another,
Girded at Telemachus to provoke him, deriding his guest-friends,
While from the midst would speak some insolent youth and address him :
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"Telemachus, thou art sure most luckless of men in thy guest-friends,
Such as the nobody here thou art harbouring-gluttonous vagrant,
Begging for ever for wine and for victuals and wholly unskilled in
Matters of work or of war-just living on earth as a burden.
Then, as another again, this fellow that rose as a prophet!
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Nay now, take my advice! 'twere verily wiser and better.
Guests like these let us ship on a well-benched vessel and send them
Unto Sicilian folk-'twould pay thee enough for the trouble."
Thus did the suitors deride: but the youth recked nought of their gibings.
Silent he gazed at his father, for ever expecting to see him
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Suddenly stretch forth hands on the horde of the insolent suitors.
Now on the opposite side in her beautiful chair she was lying,
Even the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelopeia;
Therefore to every word that was said in the hall she had listened.
Merrily thus midst laughter the men made ready the dinner,
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Dinner delightful, abundant for many a beast they had slaughtered.
Supper however was coming; and ne'er was a supper unwelcome
Such as the one by the hands of a goddess and valiant hero
Soon to be served for the men whose wickedness made the beginning.
“The Harpies Going to Seize the Daughters of Pandareus” (1805). John Flaxman (English, 1755–1826). Purchased as part of the Oppé Collection with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund 1996.