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320 They all held their peace till at last Agelaos son of Damastor said, "No one should take offense at what has just been said, nor gainsay it, for it is quite reasonable [ dikaios]. Leave off, therefore, ill-treating the stranger, or any one else of the servants who are about the house; I would say, however, a friendly word to Telemakhos and his mother, which I trust may commend itself to both. ‘As long,’ I would say, ‘as you had ground for hoping that Odysseus would one day come home, there will be no nemesis as a result of your waiting and suffering the suitors to be in your house. It would have been better that he should have returned, but it is now sufficiently clear that he will never do so; therefore talk all this quietly over with your mother, and tell her to marry the best man, and the one who makes her the most advantageous offer. Thus you will yourself be able to manage your own inheritance, and to eat and drink in peace, while your mother will look after some other man's house, not yours."’

338 To this Telemakhos answered, "By Zeus, Agelaos, and by the sorrows of my unhappy father, who has either perished far from Ithaca , or is wandering in some distant land, I throw no obstacles in the way of my mother's marriage; on the contrary I urge her to choose whomsoever she will, and I will give her numberless gifts into the bargain, but I dare not insist point blank that she shall leave the house against her own wishes. Heaven forbid that I should do this."

345 Athena now made the suitors fall to laughing immoderately, and set their wits wandering; but they were laughing with a forced laughter. Their meat became smeared with blood; their eyes filled with tears, and their hearts were heavy with forebodings. Theoklymenos saw this and said, "Unhappy men, what is it that ails you? There is a shroud of darkness drawn over you from head to foot, your cheeks are wet with tears; the air is alive with wailing voices; the walls and roof-beams drip blood; the gate of the cloisters and the court beyond them are full of ghosts trooping down into the night of Hades; the sun is blotted out of heaven, and a blighting gloom is over all the land."

358 Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily. Eurymakhos then said, "This stranger who has lately come here has lost his senses. Servants, turn him out into the streets, since he finds it so dark here."

Odyssey. Homer. Samuel Butler (Translator). London. 1900 (?).

Current edition Perseus

Odyssey (English) (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.)

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.) — 20.299 focus

ὣς εἰπὼν ἔρριψε βοὸς πόδα χειρὶ παχείῃ.

κείμενον ἐκ κανέοιο λαβών· ὁ δʼ ἀλεύατʼ Ὀδυσσεὺς

300

ἦκα παρακλίνας κεφαλήν, μείδησε δὲ θυμῷ

σαρδάνιον μάλα τοῖον· ὁ δʼ εὔδμητον βάλε τοῖχον.

Κτήσιππον δʼ ἄρα Τηλέμαχος ἠνίπαπε μύθῳ·

Κτήσιππʼ, ἦ μάλα τοι τόδε κέρδιον ἔπλετο θυμῷ·

οὐκ ἔβαλες τὸν ξεῖνον· ἀλεύατο γὰρ βέλος αὐτός.

305

ἦ γάρ κέν σε μέσον βάλον ἔγχεϊ ὀξυόεντι,

καί κέ τοι ἀντὶ γάμοιο πατὴρ τάφον ἀμφεπονεῖτο

ἐνθάδε. τῷ μή τίς μοι ἀεικείας ἐνὶ οἴκῳ

φαινέτω· ἤδη γὰρ νοέω καὶ οἶδα ἕκαστα,

ἐσθλά τε καὶ τὰ χέρηα· πάρος δʼ ἔτι νήπιος ἦα.

310

ἀλλʼ ἔμπης τάδε μὲν καὶ τέτλαμεν εἰσορόωντες,

μήλων σφαζομένων οἴνοιό τε πινομένοιο

καὶ σίτου· χαλεπὸν γὰρ ἐρυκακέειν ἕνα πολλούς.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε μηκέτι μοι κακὰ ῥέζετε δυσμενέοντες·

εἰ δʼ ἤδη μʼ αὐτὸν κτεῖναι μενεαίνετε χαλκῷ,

315

καί κε τὸ βουλοίμην, καί κεν πολὺ κέρδιον εἴη

τεθνάμεν ἢ τάδε γʼ αἰὲν ἀεικέα ἔργʼ ὁράασθαι,

ξείνους τε στυφελιζομένους δμῳάς τε γυναῖκας

ῥυστάζοντας ἀεικελίως κατὰ δώματα καλά.

ὣς ἔφαθʼ, οἱ δʼ ἄρα πάντες ἀκὴν ἐγένοντο σιωπῇ·

320

ὀψὲ δὲ δὴ μετέειπε Δαμαστορίδης Ἀγέλαος·

ὦ φίλοι, οὐκ ἂν δή τις ἐπὶ ῥηθέντι δικαίῳ

ἀντιβίοις ἐπέεσσι καθαπτόμενος χαλεπαίνοι·

μήτε τι τὸν ξεῖνον στυφελίζετε μήτε τινʼ ἄλλον

δμώων, οἳ κατὰ δώματʼ Ὀδυσσῆος θείοιο.

325

Τηλεμάχῳ δέ κε μῦθον ἐγὼ καὶ μητέρι φαίην

ἤπιον, εἴ σφωϊν κραδίῃ ἅδοι ἀμφοτέροιϊν.

ὄφρα μὲν ὑμῖν θυμὸς ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν ἐώλπει

νοστήσειν Ὀδυσῆα πολύφρονα ὅνδε δόμονδε,

τόφρʼ οὔ τις νέμεσις μενέμεν τʼ ἦν ἰσχέμεναί τε

330

μνηστῆρας κατὰ δώματʼ, ἐπεὶ τόδε κέρδιον ἦεν,

εἰ νόστησʼ Ὀδυσεὺς καὶ ὑπότροπος ἵκετο δῶμα·

νῦν δʼ ἤδη τόδε δῆλον, ὅ τʼ οὐκέτι νόστιμός ἐστιν.

ἀλλʼ ἄγε, σῇ τάδε μητρὶ παρεζόμενος κατάλεξον,

γήμασθʼ ὅς τις ἄριστος ἀνὴρ καὶ πλεῖστα πόρῃσιν,

335

ὄφρα σὺ μὲν χαίρων πατρώϊα πάντα νέμηαι,

ἔσθων καὶ πίνων, ἡ δʼ ἄλλου δῶμα κομίζῃ.

τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·

οὐ μὰ Ζῆνʼ, Ἀγέλαε, καὶ ἄλγεα πατρὸς ἐμοῖο,

ὅς που τῆλʼ Ἰθάκης ἢ ἔφθιται ἢ ἀλάληται,

340

οὔ τι διατρίβω μητρὸς γάμον, ἀλλὰ κελεύω

γήμασθʼ ᾧ κʼ ἐθέλῃ, ποτὶ δʼ ἄσπετα δῶρα δίδωμι.

αἰδέομαι δʼ ἀέκουσαν ἀπὸ μεγάροιο δίεσθαι

μύθῳ ἀναγκαίῳ· μὴ τοῦτο θεὸς τελέσειεν.

Translations (8)

Odyssey Perseus (Homer. The Odyssey, Volume 1-2. Murray, A. T. (Augustus Taber), translator. London: William Heinmann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919.) — 20.299 focus

So saying, he hurled with strong hand the hoof of an ox, 300 taking it up from the basket where it lay. But Odysseus avoided it with a quick turn of his head, and in his heart he smiled a right grim and bitter smile; and the ox's hoof struck the well-built wall. Then Telemachus rebuked Ctesippus, and said: “Ctesippus, verily this thing fell out more to thy soul's profit. 305 Thou didst not smite the stranger, for he himself avoided thy missile, else surely would I have struck thee through the middle with my sharp spear, and instead of a wedding feast thy father would have been busied with a funeral feast in this land. Wherefore let no man, I warn you, make a show of forwardness in my house; for now I mark and understand all things, 310 the good and the evil, whereas heretofore I was but a child. But none the less we still endure to see these deeds, while sheep are slaughtered, and wine drunk, and bread consumed, for hard it is for one man to restrain many. Yet come, no longer work me harm of your evil wills. 315 But if you are minded even now to slay me myself with the sword, even that would I choose, and it would be better far to die than continually to behold these shameful deeds, strangers mishandled and men dragging the handmaidens in shameful fashion through the fair hall.” 320 So he spoke, and they were all hushed in silence, but at last there spoke among them Agelaus, son of Damastor: “Friends, no man in answer to what has been fairly spoken would wax wroth and make reply with wrangling words. Abuse not any more the stranger nor any 325 of the slaves that are in the house of divine Odysseus. But to Telemachus and his mother I would speak a gentle word, if perchance it may find favour in the minds of both. So long as the hearts in your breasts had hope that wise Odysseus would return to his own house, 330 so long there was no ground for blame that you waited, and restrained the wooers in your halls; for this was the better course, had Odysseus returned and come back to his house. But now this is plain, that he will return no more. Nay then, come, sit by thy mother and tell her this, 335 namely that she must wed him whosoever is the best man, and who offers the most gifts; to the end that thou mayest enjoy in peace all the heritage of thy fathers, eating and drinking, and that she may keep the house of another.” Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Nay, by Zeus, Agelaus, and by the woes of my father, 340 who somewhere far from Ithaca has perished or is wandering, in no wise do I delay my mother's marriage, but I bid her wed what man she will, and I offer besides gifts past counting. But I am ashamed to drive her forth from the hall against her will by a word of compulsion. May God never bring such a thing to pass.”

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 20.299 focus

As he spoke he picked up a heifer’s foot [300] from the meat-basket in which it lay, and threw it at Odysseus, but Odysseus turned his head a little aside, and avoided it, smiling sardonically as he did so, and it hit the wall, not him. Then Telemachus spoke fiercely to Ktesippos, “It is a good thing for you,” said he, “that the stranger turned his head so that [305] you missed him. If you had hit him I should have run you through with my spear, and your father would have had to see about getting you buried rather than married in this house. So let me have no more unseemly behavior from any of you, for I am grown up now to the knowledge of good [310] and evil and understand what is going on, instead of being the child that I have been heretofore. I have long seen you killing my sheep and making free with my wheat and wine: I have put up with this, for one man is no match for many, but do me no further violence. [315] Still, if you wish to kill me, kill me; I would far rather die than see such disgraceful scenes day after day—guests insulted, and men dragging the women servants about the house in an unseemly way.”

[320] They all held their peace till at last Agelaos, son of Damastor, said, “No one should take offence at what has just been said, nor gainsay it, for it is quite reasonable [ dikaios]. Leave off, therefore, ill-treating the stranger, or anyone else [325] of the servants who are about the house; I would say, however, a friendly word to Telemachus and his mother, which I trust may commend itself to both. ‘As long,’ I would say, ‘as you had ground for hoping that Odysseus would one day come home, [330] no one could complain of [= “there will be no nemesis as a result of”] your waiting and suffering the suitors to be in your house. It would have been better that he should have returned, but it is now sufficiently clear that he will never do so; therefore talk all this quietly over with your mother, [335] and tell her to marry the best man, and the one who makes her the most advantageous offer. Thus you will yourself be able to manage your own inheritance, and to eat and drink in peace, while your mother will look after some other man’s house, not yours.’”

To this the spirited Telemachus answered, “By Zeus, Agelaos, and by the sorrows [340] of my unhappy father, who has either perished far from Ithaca, or is wandering in some distant land, I throw no obstacles in the way of my mother’s marriage; on the contrary I urge her to choose whomsoever she will, and I will give her numberless gifts into the bargain, but I dare not insist point blank that she shall leave the house against her own wishes. Heaven forbid that I should do this.”

[345]

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873)) — 20.299 focus

So speaking, with his strong right hand he flung

A bullock's foot, which from a canister

Hard by he plucked. Ulysses gently bowed

His head, and shunned the blow, and grimly smiled.

370

The missile struck the solid wall, and then

Telemachus rebuked the suitor thus : -

"Ctesippus, well hast thou escaped with life,

Not having hit the stranger, who himself

Shrank from the blow; else had I pinned thee through

375

With my sharp spear. Instead of wedding feast,

Thy father would have celebrated here

Thy funeral rites. Let no man in these halls

Bear himself insolently in my sight

Hereafter, for my reason now is ripe

380

To know the right from wrong. I was of late

A child, and now it is enough to bear

That ye should slay our sheep, and drink our wine,

And eat our bread, - for what can one man do

Against so many? Cease this petty war

385

Of wrong and hatred; but if ye desire

To take my life, 't is well; 't were better so.

And rather would I die by violence

Than live to see these most unmanly deeds, -

Guests driven away, and women-servants hauled

390

Through these fair rooms by brutal wassailers."

He ended, and the assembly all sat mute

Till Agelaüs spake, Damastor's son : -

"O friends! let no man here with carping words

Gainsay what is so rightly said, nor yet

395

Insult the stranger more, nor one of those

Who serve the household of the godlike chief

Ulysses in his palace. I would say

This word in kindness to Telemachus

And to his mother; may it please them both !

400

While yet the hope was cherished in your hearts

That wise Ulysses would return, no blame

Could fasten on the queen that she remained

Unwedded, and resisted those who came

To woo her in the palace. Better so,

405

Had he come home again. Yet now, 't is clear,

He comes no more. Go then, Telemachus,

And, sitting by thy mother, bid her wed

The noblest of her wooers, and the one

Who brings the richest gifts; and thou possess

410

Thy father's wealth in peace, and eat and drink

At will, while she shall find another home."

And thus discreet Telemachus replied:

"Nay, Agelaüs, for I swear by Jove,

And by my father's sufferings, who has died,

415

Or yet is wandering, far from Ithaca,

That I do nothing to delay the choice

And marriage of my mother. I consent

That she become the wife of whom she list,

And him who offers most. But I should feel

420

Great shame to thrust her forth against her will,

And with unfilial speeches; God forbid!"

English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858)) — 20.299 focus

He said: and of the steer before him placed,

365

That sinewy fragment at Ulysses cast,

Where to the pastern-bone, by nerves combin'd,

The well-horn'd foot indissolubly join'd;

Which, whizzing high, the wall unseemly sign'd.

The chief indignant grins a ghastly smile;

370

Revenge and scorn within his bosom boil:

When thus the prince, with pious rage inflam'd:

"Had not th' inglorious wound thy malice aim'd

Fall'n guiltless of the mark, my certain spear

Had made thee buy the brutal triumph dear:

375

Nor should thy sire a queen his daughter boast;

The suitor, now, had vanish'd in a ghost:

No more, ye lewd compeers, with lawless power

Invade my dome, my herds and flocks devour:

For genuine worth, of age mature to know,

380

My grape shall redden, and my harvest grow.

Or, if each other's wrongs ye still support,

With rapes and riot to profane my court;

What single arm with numbers can contend?

On me let all your lifted swords descend,

385

And with my life such vile dishonours end."

A long cessation of discourse ensued,

By gentler Agelaüs thus renew'd:

"A just reproof, ye peers! your rage restrain

From the protected guest, and menial train:

390

And, prince! to stop the source of future ill,

Assent yourself, and gain the royal will.

Whilst hope prevail'd to see your sire restor'd,

Of right the queen refus'd a second lord:

But who so vain of faith, so blind to fate,

395

To think he still survives to claim the state?

Now press the sovereign dame with warm desire

To wed, as wealth or worth her choice inspire:

The lord selected to the nuptial joys

Far hence will lead the long-contended prize:

400

Whilst, in paternal pomp with plenty bless'd,

You reign, of this imperial dome possess'd."

Sage and serene Telemachus replies:

"By him at whose behest the thunder flies,

And by the name on earth I most revere,

405

By great Ulysses, and his woes, I swear!

(Who never must review his dear domain;

Enroll'd, perhaps, in Pluto's dreary train,)

Whene'er her choice the royal dame avows,

My bridal gifts shall load the future spouse:

410

But from this dome my parent queen to chase!

From me, ye gods! avert such dire disgrace."

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 20.299 focus

With that he hurled at Ulysses' head

A cow's foot, but he turn'd his head the while,

And from the stroke himself delivered.

275

Then smil'd Ulysses a sardonic smile;

Telemachus his anger could not hide.

'Tis well, said he, you did not hurt him here,

For else, believe it, you had surely died

0' th' place, run through the body with my spear,

280

And never found a wife here, but a grave.

Therefore give over this behaviour wild;

Of good and bad I now some knowledge have,

And do not always take me for a child.

What's past I bear, the havoc of my cattle,

285

My corn and wine consumed lavishly;

'Tis hard for one with many t' enter battle.

Use me no longer as an enemy;

For fighting to be slain I'd rather chuse,

Than see my guests or servants harshly used;

290

My women, as they pass about the house,

To be so basely tugg'd, touz'd, and abus'd.

This said, awhile the suitors silent were;

But not long after, Agelaus spake.

Let's not, said he, against a truth so clear

295

Struggle, and what is said in ill part take;

Nor harshly use the stranger any more,

Nor any servant of Telemachus;

But yet I have a silly word in store

For him, and for his mother, and for us.

300

Whilst there was hope Ulysses might come home,

The suitors had done best at home to stay,

Expecting him, and not have hither come;

But since there's none, to's mother he should say,

Take one of them for husband, which you please,

305

And most shall give you; so shall he enjoy

His father's means, and eat and drink at ease,

And she with her new husband go her way.

To this Telemachus replying says,

By Jove, and by my father's misery,

310

Who now is lost and dead, or somewhere strays

Far off from Ithaca, it is not I

That do my mother keep from marrying

Whom she thinks good. I do advise her still

To take the man that shall most treasure bring;

315

But I'll not make her do't against her will.

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 20.299 focus

Thus snatch'd he with a valiant hand, from out

The poor folks' common basket, a neat's foot,

And threw it at Ulysses; who his head

Shrunk quietly aside, and let it shed

455

His malice on the wall; the suffering man

A laughter raising most Sardinian,

With scorn and wrath mix'd, at the Samian.

Whom thus the prince reproved: "Your valour wan

Much grace, Ctesippus, and hath eased your mind

460

With mighty profit, yet you see it find

No mark it aimed at; the poor stranger's part

Himself made good enough, to 'scape your dart.

But should I serve thee worthily, my lance

Should strike thy heart through, and, in place t'advance

465

Tholf in nuptials with his wealth, thy sire

Should make thy tomb here; that the foolish fire

Of all such valours may not dare to show

These foul indecencies to me. I now

Have years to understand my strength, and know

470

The good and bad of things, and am no more

At your large suff'rance, to behold my store

Consumed with patience, see my cattle slain,

My wine exhausted, and my bread in vain

Spent on your license; for to one then young

475

So many enemies were match too strong.

But let me never more be witness to

Your hostile minds, nor those base deeds ye do;

For, should ye kill me in my offer'd wreak,

I wish it rather, and my death would speak

480

Much more good of me, than to live and see

Indignity upon indignity,

My guests provoked with bitter words and blows,

My women servants dragg'd about my house

To lust and rapture." This made silence seize

485

The house throughout; till Damastorides

At length the calm brake, and said: "Friend, forbear

To give a just speech a disdainful ear;

The guest no more touch, nor no servant here.

Myself will to the Prince and Queen commend

490

A motion grateful, if they please to lend

Grateful receipt. As long as any hope

Left wise Ulysses any passage ope

To his return in our conceits, so long

The Queen's delays to our demands stood strong

495

In cause and reason, and our quarrels thus

With guests, the Queen, or her Telemachus,

Set never foot amongst our liberal feast;

For should the King return, though thought deceas'd,

It had been gain to us, in finding him,

500

To lose his wife. But now, since nothing dim

The days break out that show he never more

Shall reach the dear touch of his country shore,

Sit by your mother, in persuasion

That now it stands her honour much upon

505

To choose the best of us, and, who gives most,

To go with him home. For so, all things lost

In sticking on our haunt so, you shall clear

Recover in our no more concourse here,

Possess your birth-right wholly, eat and drink,

510

And never more on our disgraces think."

"By Jove, no, Agelaus! For I swear

By all my father's sorrows, who doth err

Far off from Ithaca, or rests in death,

I am so far from spending but my breath

515

To make my mother any more defer

Her wished nuptials, that I'll counsel her

To make her free choice; and besides will give

Large gifts to move her. But I fear to drive

Or charge her hence; for God will not give way

520

To any such course, if I should assay."

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 20.299 focus

So saying, he from a basket near at hand

Heaved an ox-foot, and with a vigorous arm

360

Hurl'd it. Ulysses gently bow'd his head,

Shunning the blow, but gratified his just

Resentment with a broad sardonic smile

Of dread significance. He smote the wall.

Then thus Telemachus rebuked the deed.

365

Ctesippus, thou art fortunate; the bone

Struck not the stranger, for he shunn'd the blow;

Else, I had surely thrust my glittering lance

Right through thee; then, no hymenæal rites

Of thine should have employ'd thy father here,

370

But thy funereal. No man therefore treat

Me with indignity within these walls,

For though of late a child, I can discern

Now, and distinguish between good and ill.

Suffice it that we patiently endure

375

To be spectators daily of our sheep

Slaughter'd, our bread consumed, our stores of wine

Wasted; for what can one to all opposed?

Come then-persist no longer in offence

And hostile hate of me; or if ye wish

380

To slay me, pause not. It were better far

To die, and I had rather much be slain,

Than thus to witness your atrocious deeds

Day after day; to see our guests abused,

With blows insulted, and the women dragg'd

385

With a licentious violence obscene

From side to side of all this fair abode.

He said, and all sat silent, till at length

Thus Agelaüs spake, Diastor's son.

My friends! let none with contradiction thwart

390

And rude reply, words rational and just;

Assault no more the stranger, nor of all

The servants of renown'd Ulysses here

Harm any. My advice, both to the Queen

And to Telemachus, shall gentle be,

395

May it but please them. While the hope survived

Within your bosoms of the safe return

Of wise Ulysses to his native isle,

So long good reason was that she should use

Delay, and hold our wooing in suspence;

400

For had Ulysses come, that course had proved

Wisest and best; but that he comes no more

Appears now manifest. Thou, therefore, Prince!

Seeking thy mother, counsel her to wed

The noblest, and who offers richest dower,

405

That thou, for thy peculiar, may'st enjoy

Thy own inheritance in peace and ease,

And she, departing, find another home.

To whom Telemachus, discrete, replied.

I swear by Jove, and by my father's woes,

410

Who either hath deceased far from his home,

Or lives a wanderer, that I interpose

No hindrance to her nuptials. Let her wed

Who offers most, and even whom she will.

But to dismiss her rudely were a deed

415

Unfilial. That I dare not;-God forbid!

English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (H. B. Cotterill, 1911)) — 20 focus

ODYSSEY BOOK XX

SO in the porch of the hall did the godlike Odysseus repose him.

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,

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

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,

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

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

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,

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."

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.

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

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,

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.

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:

"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,

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

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

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

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,

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."

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

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

100

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

105

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.

110

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:

115

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,

120

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,

125

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,

140

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.

145

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

150

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;

155

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

160

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:

165

"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

170

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.

175

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

180

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,

185

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 :

190

"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-

195

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.

200

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

205

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!

210

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

215

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,

220

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."

225

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,

230

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 :

235

"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,

240

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,

245

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;

250

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.

255

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,

260

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.

265

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 :

270

"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.

275

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.

280

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

285

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.

290

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.

295

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,

300

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;

305

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.

310

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,

315

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,

320

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.

325

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

330

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.

335

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,

340

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,

345

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:

350

"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,

355

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!

360

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,

365

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."

370

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 :

375

"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!

380

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

385

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,

390

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.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Gregory Nagy

Rhapsody 20 reveals the darkest thoughts of Penelope. There she is, lying awake in bed, unable to fall asleep, and now she starts to think the unthinkable, tearfully spilling her private thoughts by praying to Artemis: I want to die in the worst way, she confides to the goddess, so why don’t you shoot me with your arrows, putting me out of my misery? Or maybe my death should be even worse? Penelope is now haunted by horror stories about unfortunate girls who thought they were getting married but who instead became servants to infernal Furies. She cries for them and she cries for herself, thinking of a dream she had about sleeping with Odysseus, who was looking the way he had looked twenty years ago. Her crying carries over till daybreak, and her laments are overheard from not that far away by Odysseus, who is having his own dark thoughts about the vengeance he so passionately desires.

draft js image error “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. Image via the Tate.

source

See also O.11.179, O.15.521–522, O.16.076, O.18.289, and O.19.528. Here again it is said that whoever succeeds in marrying Penelope would surely qualify as ‘the best of the Achaeans’.

source

Because the goddess Athena has destabilized for the suitors their noēma ‘thinking [by way of nóos]’, they will be incapable of ever recognizing the disguised Odysseus—until it is too late for them. The noun noēma is derived from the verb noeîn ‘take note of, notice’, which signals the kind of thinking that leads to recognition. See especially the comment at O.19.215–248.

source

Among the many signs that signal the doom of the suitors, this omen as pictured here at O.20.354 is perhaps the most striking.

source

Homer Odyssey 20.320

Samuel Butler (Translator)

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