Homer, Odyssey, Samuel Butler (Translator), 24.203

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203 Thus did they converse in the house of Hades deep down within the bowels of the earth. Meanwhile Odysseus and the others passed out of the town and soon reached the fair and well-tilled farm of Laertes , which he had reclaimed with infinite labor. Here was his house, with a lean-to running all round it, where the slaves who worked for him slept and sat and ate, while inside the house there was an old Sicel woman, who looked after him in this his country-farm. When Odysseus got there, he said to his son and to the other two:

214 "Go to the house, and kill the best pig that you can find for dinner. Meanwhile I want to see whether my father will know me, or fail to recognize me after so long an absence."

219 He then took off his armor and gave it to Eumaios and Philoitios, who went straight on to the house, while he turned off into the vineyard to make trial of his father. As he went down into the great orchard, he did not see Dolios, nor any of his sons nor of the other bondsmen, for they were all gathering thorns to make a fence for the vineyard, at the place where the old man had told them; he therefore found his father alone, hoeing a vine. He had on a dirty old shirt, patched and very shabby; his legs were bound round with thongs of oxhide to save him from the brambles, and he also wore sleeves of leather; he had a goat skin cap on his head, and was looking very woe-begone [ penthos]. When Odysseus saw him so worn, so old and full of sorrow [ penthos], he stood still under a tall pear tree and began to weep. He doubted whether to embrace him, kiss him, and tell him all about his having come home, or whether he should first question him and see what he would say. In the end he deemed it best to be crafty with him, so in this mind he went up to his father, who was bending down and digging about a plant.

244 "I see, sir," said Odysseus, "that you are an excellent gardener - what pains you take with it, to be sure. There is not a single plant, not a fig tree, vine, olive, pear, nor flower bed, but bears the trace of your attention. I trust, however, that you will not be offended if I say that you take better care of your garden than of yourself. You are old, unsavory, and very meanly clad. It cannot be because you are idle that your master takes such poor care of you, indeed your face and figure have nothing of the slave about them, and proclaim you of noble birth. I should have said that you were one of those who should wash well, eat well, and lie soft at night as old men have a right [ dikê] to do; but tell me, and tell me true, whose laborer are you, and in whose garden are you working? Tell me also about another matter. Is this place that I have come to really Ithaca ? I met a man just now who said so, but he was a dull fellow, and had not the patience to hear my story out when I was asking him about an old friend of mine, whether he was still living, or was already dead and in the house of Hades. Believe me when I tell you that this man came to my house once when I was in my own country and never yet did any stranger come to me whom I liked better. He said that his family came from Ithaca and that his father was Laertes , son of Arceisius. I received him hospitably, making him welcome to all the abundance of my house, and when he went away I gave him all customary presents. I gave him seven talents of fine gold, and a cup of solid silver with flowers chased upon it. I gave him twelve light cloaks, and as many pieces of tapestry; I also gave him twelve cloaks of single fold, twelve rugs, twelve fair mantles, and an equal number of shirts. To all this I added four good looking women skilled in all useful arts, and I let him take his choice."

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.) — 24.191 focus

τὸν δʼ αὖτε ψυχὴ προσεφώνεεν Ἀτρεΐδαο·

ὄλβιε Λαέρταο πάϊ, πολυμήχανʼ Ὀδυσσεῦ,

ἦ ἄρα σὺν μεγάλῃ ἀρετῇ ἐκτήσω ἄκοιτιν.

ὡς ἀγαθαὶ φρένες ἦσαν ἀμύμονι Πηνελοπείῃ,

κούρῃ Ἰκαρίου· ὡς εὖ μέμνητʼ Ὀδυσῆος,

195

ἀνδρὸς κουριδίου· τῷ οἱ κλέος οὔ ποτʼ ὀλεῖται

ἧς ἀρετῆς, τεύξουσι δʼ ἐπιχθονίοισιν ἀοιδὴν

ἀθάνατοι χαρίεσσαν ἐχέφρονι Πηνελοπείῃ,

οὐχ ὡς Τυνδαρέου κούρη κακὰ μήσατο ἔργα,

κουρίδιον κτείνασα πόσιν, στυγερὴ δέ τʼ ἀοιδὴ

200

ἔσσετʼ ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπους, χαλεπὴν δέ τε φῆμιν ὀπάσσει

θηλυτέρῃσι γυναιξί, καὶ ἥ κʼ εὐεργὸς ἔῃσιν.

ὣς οἱ μὲν τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγόρευον,

ἑσταότʼ εἰν Ἀΐδαο δόμοις, ὑπὸ κεύθεσι γαίης·

οἱ δʼ ἐπεὶ ἐκ πόλιος κατέβαν, τάχα δʼ ἀγρὸν ἵκοντο

205

καλὸν Λαέρταο τετυγμένον, ὅν ῥά ποτʼ αὐτὸς

Λαέρτης κτεάτισσεν, ἐπεὶ μάλα πόλλʼ ἐμόγησεν.

ἔνθα οἱ οἶκος ἔην, περὶ δὲ κλίσιον θέε πάντη,

ἐν τῷ σιτέσκοντο καὶ ἵζανον ἠδὲ ἴαυον

δμῶες ἀναγκαῖοι, τοί οἱ φίλα ἐργάζοντο.

210

ἐν δὲ γυνὴ Σικελὴ γρηῢς πέλεν, ἥ ῥα γέροντα

ἐνδυκέως κομέεσκεν ἐπʼ ἀγροῦ, νόσφι πόληος.

ἔνθʼ Ὀδυσεὺς δμώεσσι καὶ υἱέϊ μῦθον ἔειπεν·

ὑμεῖς μὲν νῦν ἔλθετʼ ἐϋκτίμενον δόμον εἴσω,

δεῖπνον δʼ αἶψα συῶν ἱερεύσατε ὅς τις ἄριστος·

215

αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ πατρὸς πειρήσομαι ἡμετέροιο,

αἴ κέ μʼ ἐπιγνώῃ καὶ φράσσεται ὀφθαλμοῖσιν,

ἦέ κεν ἀγνοιῇσι, πολὺν χρόνον ἀμφὶς ἐόντα.

ὣς εἰπὼν δμώεσσιν ἀρήϊα τεύχεʼ ἔδωκεν.

οἱ μὲν ἔπειτα δόμονδε θοῶς κίον, αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς

220

ἆσσον ἴεν πολυκάρπου ἀλωῆς πειρητίζων.

οὐδʼ εὗρεν Δολίον, μέγαν ὄρχατον ἐσκαταβαίνων,

οὐδέ τινα δμώων οὐδʼ υἱῶν· ἀλλʼ ἄρα τοί γε

αἱμασιὰς λέξοντες ἀλωῆς ἔμμεναι ἕρκος

ᾤχοντʼ, αὐτὰρ ὁ τοῖσι γέρων ὁδὸν ἡγεμόνευε.

225

τὸν δʼ οἶον πατέρʼ εὗρεν ἐϋκτιμένῃ ἐν ἀλωῇ,

λιστρεύοντα φυτόν· ῥυπόωντα δὲ ἕστο χιτῶνα

ῥαπτὸν ἀεικέλιον, περὶ δὲ κνήμῃσι βοείας

κνημῖδας ῥαπτὰς δέδετο, γραπτῦς ἀλεείνων,

χειρῖδάς τʼ ἐπὶ χερσὶ βάτων ἕνεκʼ· αὐτὰρ ὕπερθεν

230

αἰγείην κυνέην κεφαλῇ ἔχε, πένθος ἀέξων.

Translations (7)

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.) — 24.191 focus

Then the spirit of the son of Atreus answered him: “Happy son of Laertes, Odysseus of many devices, of a truth full of all excellence was the wife thou didst win, so good of understanding was peerless Penelope, 195 daughter of Icarius, in that she was loyally mindful of Odysseus, her wedded husband. Therefore the fame of her virtue shall never perish, but the immortals shall make among men on earth a pleasant song in honor of constant Penelope. Not on this wise did the daughter of Tyndareus devise evil deeds 200 and slay her wedded husband, and hateful shall the song regarding her be among men, and evil repute doth she bring upon all womankind, even upon her that doeth uprightly.” Thus the two spoke to one another, as they stood in the house of Hades beneath the depths of the earth. 205 But Odysseus and his men, when they had gone down from the city, quickly came to the fair and well-ordered farm of Laertes, which he had won for himself in days past, and much had he toiled for it.¹ There was his house, and all about it ran the sheds in which ate, and sat, and slept 210 the servants that were bondsmen, that did his pleasure; but within it was an old Sicilian woman, who tended the old man with kindly care there at the farm, far from the city. Then Odysseus spoke to the servants and to his son, saying: “Do you now go within the well-built house, 215 and straightway slay for dinner the best of the swine; but I will make trial of my father, and see whether he will recognize me and know me by sight, or whether he will fail to know me, since I have been gone so long a time.” So saying, he gave to the slaves his battle-gear. 220 They thereafter went quickly to the house; but Odysseus drew near to the fruitful vineyard in his quest. Now he did not find Dolius as he went down into the great orchard, nor any of his slaves or of his sons, but as it chanced 225 they had gone to gather stones for the vineyard wall, and the old man was their leader. But he found his father alone in the well-ordered vineyard, digging about a plant; and he was clothed in a foul tunic, patched and wretched, and about his shins he had bound stitched greaves of ox-hide to guard against scratches, 230 and he wore gloves upon his hands because of the thorns, and on his head a goatskin cap; and he nursed his sorrow.

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 24.191 focus

O blessed [ olbios] son of Laertes, Odysseus of many wiles, 193 it is truly with great merit [ aretē] that you got to have your wife. 194 For the thinking [ phrenes] of faultless Penelope was sound: [195] she, daughter of Ikarios, kept Odysseus, well in mind, 196 that properly-wedded [ kouridios] husband of hers. Thus the glory [ kleos] will never perish for him, 197 the glory that comes from his merit [ aretē], and a song will be created for earth-bound humans 198 by the immortals—a song that brings beautiful and pleasurable recompense for sensible Penelope 199 —unlike the daughter of Tyndareos [= Clytemnestra], who masterminded evil deeds, [200] killing her properly-wedded [ kouridios] husband, and a hateful subject of song 201 she will be throughout all humankind, and she will give a harsh reputation 202 to women, female [ thēluterai] that they are—even for the kind of woman who does noble things.”

Thus did they converse in the house of Hādēs deep down within the bowels of the earth. [205] Meanwhile Odysseus and the others passed out of the town and soon reached the fair and well-tilled farm of Laertes, which he had reclaimed with infinite labor. Here was his house, with a lean-to running all round it, where the slaves who worked for him [210] slept and sat and ate, while inside the house there was an old Sicilian woman, who looked after him in this his country-farm. When Odysseus got there, he said to his son and to the other two: “Go to the house, [215] and kill the best pig that you can find for dinner. Meanwhile I want to see whether my father will know me, or fail to recognize me after so long an absence.”

He then took off his armor and gave it to Eumaios and Philoitios, [220] who went straight on to the house, while he turned off into the vineyard to make trial of his father. As he went down into the great orchard, he did not see Dolios, nor any of his sons nor of the other bondsmen, for they were all gathering thorns to make a fence [225] for the vineyard, at the place where the old man had told them; he therefore found his father alone, hoeing a vine. He had on a dirty old khiton, patched and very shabby; his legs were bound round with thongs of ox-hide to save him from the brambles, [230] and he also wore sleeves of leather; he had a goat skin cap on his head, and was looking full of grief [ penthos].

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873)) — 24.191 focus

In turn the soul of Agamemnon spake :

235

"Son of Laertes, fortunate and wise,

Ulysses! thou by feats of eminent might

And valor dost possess thy wife again.

And nobly minded is thy blameless queen,

The daughter of Icarius, faithfully

240

Remembering him to whom she gave her troth

While yet a virgin. Never shall the fame

Of his great valor perish, and the gods

Themselves shall frame, for those who dwell on earth,

Sweet strains in praise of sage Penelope.

245

Not such was she who treacherously slew

The husband of her youth, — she of the house

Of Tyndarus. Her name among mankind

Shall be the hateful burden of a song;

And great is the dishonor it has brought

250

On women, even the faithful and the good."

So talked they with each other, standing there

In Pluto's realm beneath the vaulted earth.

Meantime Ulysses, hastening from the town,

Came to the fair fields of Laertes, tilled

255

With care. Laertes, after years of toil,

Acquired them. There his dwelling stood; a shed

Encircled it, where ate and sat and slept

The servants of the household, who fulfilled

His slightest wish. An old Sicilian dame

260

Was there, who waited, in that distant spot,

On her old master with assiduous care.

And then Ulysses to his followers said : -

"Go into that fair dwelling, and with speed

Slay for our feast the fattest of the swine.

265

I go to prove my father; I would learn

Whether he knows me when he sees my face,

Or haply knows me not, so long away."

He spake, and laid his weapons in their hands.

Straight toward the house they went. Ulysses passed

270

Into the fruitful orchard, there to prove

His father. Going down and far within

The garden-plot, he found not Dolius there,

Nor any of the servants, nor his sons.

All were abroad, old Dolius leading them.

275

They gathered thorns to fence the garden-grounds.

There, delving in that fertile spot, around

A newly planted tree, Ulysses saw

His father only, sordidly arrayed

In a coarse tunic, patched and soiled. He wore

280

Patched greaves of bullock's hide upon his thighs,

A fence against the thorns; and on his hands

Gloves, to protect them from the prickly stems

Of bramble; and upon his head a cap

Of goatskin. There he brooded o'er his grief.

285

English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858)) — 24.191 focus

"Oh bless'd Ulysses!" (thus the king express'd

His sudden rapture,) "in thy consort bless'd!

Not more thy wisdom than her virtue shin'd;

220

Not more thy patience than her constant mind.

Icarius' daughter, glory of the past,

And model to the future age, shall last:

The gods, to honour her fair fame, shall raise

(Their great reward,) a poet in her praise.

225

Not such, O Tyndarus! thy daughter's¹ deed,

By whose dire hand her king and husband bled;

Her shall the Muse to infamy prolong,

Example dread, and theme of tragic song!

The general sex shall suffer in her shame,

230

And even the best that bears a woman's name."

Thus in the regions of eternal shade

Conferr'd the mournful phantoms of the dead;

While from the town Ulysses and his band

Pass'd to Laërtes' cultivated land.

235

The ground himself had purchas'd with his pain,

And labour made the rugged soil a plain.

There stood his mansion of the rural sort,

With useful buildings round the lowly court;

Where the few servants that divide his care,

240

Took their laborious rest, and homely fare:

And one Sicilian matron, old and sage,

With constant duty tends his drooping age.

Here now arriving, to his rustic band,

And martial son, Ulysses gave command.

245

"Enter the house, and of the bristly swine

Select the largest to the powers divine.

Alone, and unattended, let me try

If yet I share the old man's memory:

If those dim eyes can yet Ulysses know,

250

(Their light and dearest object long ago,)

Now changed with time, with absence, and with woe."

Then to his train he gives his spear and shield;

The house they enter: and he seeks the field

Through rows of shade, with various fruitage crowned,

255

And labour'd scenes of richest verdure round.

Nor aged Dolius, nor his sons were there,

Nor servants, absent on another care;

To search the woods for sets of flowery thorn,

Their orchard bounds to strengthen and adorn.

260

But all alone the hoary king he found;

His habit coarse, but warmly wrapp'd around;²

His head, that bow'd with many a pensive care,

Fenced with a double cap of goatskin hair:

His buskins old, in former service torn,

265

But well repair'd; and gloves against the thorn.

In this array the kingly gardener stood,

And clear'd a plant, encumber'd with its wood.

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 24.191 focus

Then said Atrides, O virtue excellent

Of your fair wife, happy Ulysses, you,

That with great valour have her repossessed.

My wife, Tyndareus' daughter, was not such.

Your consort's fame will be hereafter dressed

185

In noble songs, and the sex honour much.

But my wife's name shall stand in ballads vile,

And, sung in filthy songs, the sex disgrace.

Thus they discoursing were in hell. Meanwhile

Ulysses cometh to Laertes' place:

190

About it many lodgings were, wherein

His necessary servants all were laid;

And there they fed, and sat, and slept. But in

The house itself one old Sicelian maid,

That of his person always had the care.

195

Ulysses then, lest supper they should lack,

Said to his two good servants, For our fare

You must again unto the town go back,

And fetch a swine, the fattest in the sties,

Meanwhile I'll to the vineyard go, and try

200

Whether my father know can with his eyes,

After so long an absence, that 'tis I.

This said, his servants armed homeward hie,

And to the vineyard goes Ulysses then.

But Dolius he there could not espy,

205

Nor any of his sons, or of his men.

His sons and servants all abroad were gone,

For thorns to mend the hedges of the ground.

Laertes in the vineyard all alone

Placing of earth about a plant he found.

210

On him he had a foul coat, full of patches,

And ugly leather boots, those patch'd also;

But good enough to save his legs from scratches:

Gloves of the same against the briars too.

A goat-skin head-piece he had on to boot.

215

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 24.191 focus

Atrides' ghost gave answer: "O bless'd son

Of old Laertes, thou at length hast won

255

With mighty virtue thy unmatched wife.

How good a knowledge, how untouch'd a life,

Bath wise Penelope! How well she laid

Her husband's rights up, whom she loved a maid!

For which her virtues shall extend applause

260

Beyond the circles frail mortality draws;

The deathless in this vale of death comprising

Her praise in numbers into infinites rising.

The daughter Tyndarus begat begot

No such chaste thoughts, but cut the virgin knot

265

That knit her spouse and her with murderous swords.

For which posterities shall put hateful words

To notes of her that all her sex defamed,

And for her ill shall even the good be blamed."

To this effect these these digressions made

270

In hell, earth's dark and ever-hiding shade.

Ulysses and his son, now past the town,

Soon reach'd the field elaborately grown

By old Laertes' labour, when, with cares

For his lost son, he left all court affairs,

275

And took to this rude upland; which with toil

He made a sweet and habitable soil;

Where stood a house to him; about which ran,

In turnings thick and labyrinthian,

Poor hovels, where his necessary men

280

That did those works (of pleasure to him then)

Might sit, and eat, and sleep. In his own house

An old Sicilian dame lived, studious

To serve his sour age with her cheerful pains.

Then said Ulysses to his son and swains:

285

"Go you to town, and for your dinner kill

The best swine ye can choose; myself will still

Stay with my father, and assay his eye

If my acknowledged truth it can descry,

Or that my long time's travel doth so change

290

My sight to him that I appear as strange."

Thus gave he arms to them, and home they hied.

Ulysses to the fruitful field applied

His present place; nor found he Dolius there,

His sons, or any servant, anywhere

295

In all that spacious ground; all gone from thence

Were dragging bushes to repair a fence,

Old Dolius leading all. Ulysses found

His father far above in that fair ground,

Employ'd in praning of a plant; his weeds

300

All torn and tatter'd, fit for homely deeds,

But not for him. Upon his legs he wore

Patch'd boots to guard him from the bramble's gore;

His hands had thorn-proof hedging mittens on;

His head a goat-skin casque; through all which shone

305

His heart given over to abjectest moan.

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 24.191 focus

Him answer'd, then, the shade of Atreus' son.

Oh happy offspring of Laertes! shrewd

230

Ulysses! matchless valour thou hast shewn

Recovering thus thy wife; nor less appears

The virtue of Icarius' daughter wise,

The chaste Penelope, so faithful found

To her Ulysses, husband of her youth.

235

His glory, by superior merit earn'd,

Shall never die, and the immortal Gods

Shall make Penelope a theme of song

Delightful in the ears of all mankind.

Not such was Clytemnestra, daughter vile

240

Of Tyndarus; she shed her husband's blood,

And shall be chronicled in song a wife

Of hateful memory, by whose offence

Even the virtuous of her sex are shamed.

Thus they, beneath the vaulted roof obscure

245

Of Pluto's house, conferring mutual stood.

Meantime, descending from the city-gates,

Ulysses, by his son and by his swains

Follow'd, arrived at the delightful farm

Which old Laertes had with strenuous toil

250

Himself long since acquired. There stood his house

Encompass'd by a bower in which the hinds

Who served and pleased him, ate, and sat, and slept.

An ancient woman, a Sicilian, dwelt

There also, who in that sequester'd spot

255

Attended diligent her aged Lord.

Then thus Ulysses to his followers spake.

Haste now, and entering, slay ye of the swine

The best for our regale; myself the while,

Will prove my father, if his eye hath still

260

Discernment of me, or if absence long

Have worn the knowledge of me from his mind.

He said, and gave into his servants' care

His arms; they swift proceeded to the house,

And to the fruitful grove himself as swift

265

To prove his father. Down he went at once

Into the spacious garden-plot, but found

Nor Dolius there, nor any of his sons

Or servants; they were occupied elsewhere,

And with the ancient hind himself, employ'd

270

Collecting thorns with which to fence the grove.

In that umbrageous spot he found alone

Laertes, with his hoe clearing a plant;

Sordid his tunic was, with many a patch

Mended unseemly; leathern were his greaves,

275

Thong-tied and also patch'd, a frail defence

Against sharp thorns, while gloves secured his hands

From briar-points, and on his head he bore

A goat-skin casque, nourishing hopeless woe.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Douglas Frame

evidence for rarity of ἠέ κεν instead of ἤ κεν. Appears to appear only once

source

Gregory Nagy

Before the Odyssey comes to an end, the Singer of Tales reaches back to what seems to be the beginning of the Iliad. It is as if the second epic, the Odyssey, could now restart before it ends by reaching back into the first epic, the Iliad. Still, there will be no restart here. The plot of that first epic had started with a grand feud between Achilles and Agamemnon, but the plot of the second epic will now come to an end with a resolution of that feud. The feuding is over, so that the two main characters of the Iliad can now take time to review not only what happened in the Iliad but also, beyond the Iliad, how the two of them died, each his own way. Since they are now dead, they have to speak ghost to ghost, but that is not enough for Agamemnon. He must also speak with the new ghosts, the suitors, who will now give him a retrospective on the Odyssey. This way, Agamemnon can compare the story of his own life with the stories of both Odysseus and Achilles. And the comparison must be most depressing for him. But the Odyssey does not end with the sad thoughts of Agamemnon. Odysseus still has to reconnect with his own ancestors, and so there needs to be a final recognition scene between the son and his father Laertes. But even after this reconnection of the generations is finally achieved, the story is still not done. The feuding that has been triggered by the killing of the suitors must end; otherwise, the story cannot end.

draft js image error “Mercury Conducting the Souls of the Suitors to the Infernal Regions” (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

Homer Odyssey 24.203

Samuel Butler (Translator)

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