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587 "And now for yourself - stay here some ten or twelve days longer, and I will then speed you on your way. I will make you a noble present of a chariot and three horses. I will also give you a beautiful chalice that so long as you live you may think of me whenever you make a drink-offering to the immortal gods."

593 "Son of Atreus," replied Telemakhos, "do not press me to stay longer; I should be contented to remain with you for another twelve months; I find your conversation so delightful that I should never once wish myself at home with my parents; but my crew whom I have left at Pylos are already impatient, and you are detaining me from them. As for any present you may be disposed to make me, I had rather that it should he a piece of plate. I will take no horses back with me to Ithaca , but will leave them to adorn your own stables, for you have much flat ground in your kingdom where lotus thrives, as also meadowsweet and wheat and barley, and oats with their white and spreading ears; whereas in Ithaca we have neither open fields nor racecourses, and the country is more fit for goats than horses, and I like it the better for that. None of our islands have much level ground, suitable for horses, and Ithaca least of all."

609 Menelaos smiled and took Telemakhos’ hand within his own. "What you say," said he, "shows that you come of good family. I both can, and will, make this exchange for you, by giving you the finest and most precious piece of plate in all my house. It is a mixing-bowl by Hephaistos’ own hand, of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with gold. Phaidimos, king of the Sidonians, gave it me in the course of a visit which I paid him when I returned there on my homeward journey. I will make you a present of it."

620 Thus did they converse as guests kept coming to the king's house. They brought sheep and wine, while their wives had put up bread for them to take with them; so they were busy cooking their dinners in the courts.

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.) — 4.593 focus

τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·

Ἀτρεΐδη, μὴ δή με πολὺν χρόνον ἐνθάδʼ ἔρυκε.

καὶ γάρ κʼ εἰς ἐνιαυτὸν ἐγὼ παρὰ σοί γʼ ἀνεχοίμην

595

ἥμενος, οὐδέ κέ μʼ οἴκου ἕλοι πόθος οὐδὲ τοκήων·

αἰνῶς γὰρ μύθοισιν ἔπεσσί τε σοῖσιν ἀκούων

τέρπομαι. ἀλλʼ ἤδη μοι ἀνιάζουσιν ἑταῖροι

ἐν Πύλῳ ἠγαθέῃ· σὺ δέ με χρόνον ἐνθάδʼ ἐρύκεις.

δῶρον δʼ ὅττι κέ μοι δοίης, κειμήλιον ἔστω·

600

ἵππους δʼ εἰς Ἰθάκην οὐκ ἄξομαι, ἀλλὰ σοὶ αὐτῷ

ἐνθάδε λείψω ἄγαλμα· σὺ γὰρ πεδίοιο ἀνάσσεις

εὐρέος, ᾧ ἔνι μὲν λωτὸς πολύς, ἐν δὲ κύπειρον

πυροί τε ζειαί τε ἰδʼ εὐρυφυὲς κρῖ λευκόν.

ἐν δʼ Ἰθάκῃ οὔτʼ ἂρ δρόμοι εὐρέες οὔτε τι λειμών·

605

αἰγίβοτος, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπήρατος ἱπποβότοιο.

οὐ γάρ τις νήσων ἱππήλατος οὐδʼ ἐυλείμων,

αἵ θʼ ἁλὶ κεκλίαται· Ἰθάκη δέ τε καὶ περὶ πασέων.

ὣς φάτο, μείδησεν δὲ βοὴν ἀγαθὸς Μενέλαος,

χειρί τέ μιν κατέρεξεν ἔπος τʼ ἔφατʼ ἔκ τʼ ὀνόμαζεν·

610

αἵματός εἰς ἀγαθοῖο, φίλον τέκος, οἷʼ ἀγορεύεις·

τοιγὰρ ἐγώ τοι ταῦτα μεταστήσω· δύναμαι γάρ.

δώρων δʼ ὅσσʼ ἐν ἐμῷ οἴκῳ κειμήλια κεῖται,

δώσω ὃ κάλλιστον καὶ τιμηέστατόν ἐστιν·

δώσω τοι κρητῆρα τετυγμένον· ἀργύρεος δὲ

615

ἔστιν ἅπας, χρυσῷ δʼ ἐπὶ χείλεα κεκράανται,

ἔργον δʼ Ἡφαίστοιο. πόρεν δέ ἑ Φαίδιμος ἥρως,

Σιδονίων βασιλεύς, ὅθʼ ἑὸς δόμος ἀμφεκάλυψε

κεῖσέ με νοστήσαντα· τεῒν δʼ ἐθέλω τόδʼ ὀπάσσαι.

ὣς οἱ μὲν τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀγόρευον,

620

δαιτυμόνες δʼ ἐς δώματʼ ἴσαν θείου βασιλῆος.

οἱ δʼ ἦγον μὲν μῆλα, φέρον δʼ ἐυήνορα οἶνον·

σῖτον δέ σφʼ ἄλοχοι καλλικρήδεμνοι ἔπεμπον.

ὣς οἱ μὲν περὶ δεῖπνον ἐνὶ μεγάροισι πένοντο.

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.) — 4.593 focus

Then wise Telemachus answered him: “Son of Atreus, keep me no long time here, 595 for verily for a year would I be content to sit in thy house, nor would desire for home or parents come upon me; for wondrous is the pleasure I take in listening to thy tales and thy speech. But even now my comrades are chafing in sacred Pylos , and thou art keeping me long time here. 600 And whatsoever gift thou wouldest give me, let it be some treasure; but horses will I not take to Ithaca , but will leave them here for thyself to delight in, for thou art lord of a wide plain, wherein is lotus in abundance, and galingale and wheat and spelt, and broad-eared white barley. 605 But in Ithaca there are no widespread courses nor aught of meadow-land. It is a pasture-land of goats and pleasanter than one that pastures horses. For not one of the islands that lean upon the sea is fit for driving horses, or rich in meadows, and Ithaca least of all.” So he spoke, and Menelaus, good at the war-cry, smiled, 610 and stroked him with his hand, and spoke, and addressed him: “Thou art of noble blood, dear child, that thou speakest thus. Therefore will I change these gifts, for well I may. Of all the gifts that lie stored as treasures in my house, I will give thee that one which is fairest and costliest. 615 I will give thee a well-wrought mixing bowl. All of silver it is, and with gold are the rims thereof gilded, the work of Hephaestus; and the warrior Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it me, when his house sheltered me as I came thither, and now I am minded to give it to thee.” 620 Thus they spoke to one another, and meanwhile the banqueters came to the palace of the divine king. They drove up sheep, and brought strengthening wine, and their wives with beautiful veils sent them bread. Thus they were busied about the feast in the halls.

English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Butler, rev. Nagy et al., 2020)) — 4.593 focus

“Son of Atreus,” replied the spirited Telemachus, “do not press me to stay longer; [595] I should be contented to remain with you for another twelve months; I find your conversation so delightful that I should never once wish myself at home with my parents; but my crew whom I have left at Pylos are already impatient, and you are detaining me from them. [600] As for any present you may be disposed to make me, I had rather that it should be a piece of plate. I will take no horses back with me to Ithaca, but will leave them to adorn your own stables, for you have much flat ground in your kingdom where lotus thrives, as also meadowsweet and wheat and barley, and oats with their white and spreading ears; [605] whereas in Ithaca we have neither open fields nor racecourses, and the country is more fit for goats than horses, and I like it the better for that. None of our islands have much level ground, suitable for horses, and Ithaca least of all.”

Menelaos smiled [610] and took Telemachus’ hand within his own. “What you say,” said he, “shows that you come of good family. I both can, and will, make this exchange for you, by giving you the finest and most precious piece of plate in all my house. [615] It is a mixing-bowl by Hephaistos’ own hand, of pure silver, except the rim, which is inlaid with gold. The hero Phaidimos, king of the Sidonians, gave it me in the course of a visit which I paid him when I returned there on my homeward journey. I will make you a present of it.”

[620] Thus did they converse as guests kept coming to the king’s house. They brought sheep and wine, while their wives had put up bread for them to take with them; so they were busy cooking their dinners in the courts.

[625] Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs or aiming with spears at a mark on the leveled ground in front of Odysseus’ house, and were behaving with all their old hubris.

English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cullen Bryant, 1873)) — 4.593 focus

Then spake discreet Telemachus again :

"Atrides, seek not to detain me long,

755

Though I could sit contentedly a year

Beside thee, never longing for my home,

Nor for my parents, such delight I find

In listening to thy words; but even now,

In hallowed Pylos, my companions grow

760

Weary, while thou delayest my return.

The gifts, - whate'er thou choosest to bestow, --

Let them be such as I can treasure up.

The steeds to Ithaca I may not take,

I leave them to adorn thy retinue;

765

For thou art ruler o'er a realm of plains,

Where grows much lotos, and sweet grasses spring,

And wheat and rye, and the luxuriant stalks

Of the white barley. But in Ithaca

Are no broad grounds for coursing, meadows none.

770

Goats graze amid its fields, a fairer land

Than those where horses feed. No isle that lies

Within the deep has either roads for steeds

Or meadows, least of all has Ithaca."

He spake; the valiant Menelaus smiled,

775

And kindly touched him with his hand and said :

"Dear son, thou comest of a generous stock;

Thy words declare it. I will change my gifts,

As well I may. Of all that in my house

Are treasured up, the choicest I will give,

780

And the most precious. I will give a cup

Wrought all of silver save its brim of gold.

It is the work of Vulcan. Phædimus

The hero, King of Sidon, gave it me,

When I was coming home, and underneath

785

His roof was sheltered. Now it shall be thine."

So talked they with each other. Meantime came

Those who prepared the banquet to the halls

Of the great monarch. Bringing sheep they came

And strengthening wine. Their wives, who on their brows

790

Wore showy fillets, brought the bread, and thus

Within the house of Menelaus all

Was bustle, setting forth the evening meal.

English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Alexander Pope, 1726, ed. Watson, 1858)) — 4.593 focus

'My quick return' (young Ithacus rejoin'd)

'Damps the warm wishes of my raptur'd mind:

'Did not my fate my needful haste constrain,

'Charm'd by your speech, so graceful and humane,

'Lost in delight the circling year would roll,

815

'While deep attention fix'd my listening soul.

'But now to Pyle permit my destin'd way;

'My lov'd associates chide my long delay:

TELEMACHUS

'In dear remembrance of your royal grace,

'I take the present of the promis'd vase;
820

'The coursers, for the champaign sports retain;

'That gift our barren rocks will render vain:

'Horrid with cliffs, our meagre land allows

'Thin herbage for the mountain goat to browse,

'But neither mead nor plain supplies, to feed
825

'The sprightly courser, or indulge his speed :

'To sea-surrounded realms the gods assign

'Small tract of fertile lawn, the least to mine.'

His hand the king with tender passion press'd,

And, smiling, thus the royal youth address'd:

830

MENELAUS

'O early worth! a soul so wise, and young,

'Proclaims you from the sage Ulysses sprung.

'Selected from my stores, of matchless price

'An urn shall recompense your prudent choice:

'Not mean the massy mould of silver, grac'd
835

'By Vulcan's art, the verge with gold enchas'd.

'A pledge the sceptred power of Sidon gave,

'When to his realm I plough'd the orient wave.'

Thus they alternate; while with artful care

The menial train the regal feast prepare:

840

The firstlings of the flock are doom'd to die;

Rich fragrant wines the cheering bowl supply;

A female band the gift of Ceres bring;

And the gilt roofs with genial triumph ring.

English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Thomas Hobbes, 1667, ed. Molesworth 1843)) — 4.593 focus

Then said Telemachus, I here have lien

Long time already, and my men at Pyle

Are weary of expecting me; else I

Could stay a year, and never all that while

My mind have on my house or family,

560

So much I taken am with your discourse.

But let my present be some monument;

To Ithaca I'll never carry horse,

They for the plains are more convenient;

Large plains, which you have here in many places,

565

And where store is of wheat, and rice, and lote.

In Ithaca there is no ground for races,

Nor pastures good enough to feed a goat.

In th' isles about it, gallop can no horse;

In th' isle itself, nor gallop nor be fed.

570

When be had made an end of his discourse,

Atrides, smiling on him, strok'd his head.

'Tis spoken, said he, like a gallant man,

And that descended is of noble blood.

I'll give you other presents, for I can,

575

In place of these, that shall be full as good.

A monument kept in my treasury,

Of massive silver a fair temperer,

The work of Vulcan, which was given me

At Sidon, by the king, when I was there.

580

Whilst they together thus discoursing staid,

The bidden guests, fat sheep, rich wine bring in,

And bread their wives upon the table laid,

And about supper busy were within.

English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (George Chapman, 1667, ed. Hooper 1857)) — 4.593 focus

He answer'd; "Stay me not too long time here,

790

Though I could sit attending all the year.

Nor should my house, nor parents, with desire,

Take my affections from you, so on fire

With love to hear you are my thoughts; but so

My Pylian friends I shall afflict with woe,

795

Who mourn even this stay. Whatsoever be

The gifts your grace is to bestow on me,

Vouchsafe them such as I may bear and save

For your sake ever. Horse, I list not have,

To keep in Ithaca, but leave them here,

800

To your soil's dainties, where the broad fields bear

Sweet cypers grass, where men-fed lote doth flow,

Where wheat-like spelt, and wheat itself, doth grow,

Where barley, white, and spreading like a tree;

But Ithaca hath neither ground to be,

805

For any length it comprehends, a race

To try a horse's speed, nor any place

To make him fat in; fitter far to feed

A cliff-bred goat, than raise or please a steed.

Of all isles, Ithaca doth least provide

810

Or meads to feed a horse, or ways to ride."

He, smiling, said: " Of good blood art thou, son.

What speech, so young! What observation

Hast thou made of the world! I well am pleased

To change my gifts to thee, as being confess'd

815

Unfit indeed, my store is such I may.

Of all my house-gifts then, that up I lay

For treasure there, I will bestow on thee

The fairest, and of greatest price to me.

I will bestow on thee a rich carv'd cup,

820

Of silver all, but all the brims wrought up

With finest gold; it was the only thing

That the heroical Sidonian king

Presented to me, when we were to part

At his receipt of me, and 'twas the art

825

Of that great Artist that of heaven is free;

And yet even this will I bestow on thee."

This speech thus ended, guests came, and did bring

Muttons, for presents, to the God-like king,

And spirit-prompting wine, that strenuous makes.

830

Their riband-wreathed wives brought fruit and cakes.

Thus in this house did these their feast apply;

English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (William Cowper, 1791, ed. Southey)) — 4.593 focus

Him, prudent, then answered Telemachus.

715

Atrides seek not to detain me here

Long time; for though contented I could sit

The year beside thee, nor regret my home

Or parents, (so delightful thy discourse

Sounds in my ear,) yet, even now, I know,

720

That my attendants to the Pylian shore

Wish my return, whom thou thus long detain'st.

What boon soe'er thou givest me, be it such

As I may treasured keep; but horses none

Take I to Ithaca; them rather far

725

With every rich endowment of the soil

Keep thou, for thy own glory. Thou art Lord

Of an extended plain, where copious springs

The lotus, herbage of all savours, wheat,

Pulse, and white barley of luxuriant growth.

730

But Ithaca no level champaign owns,

A nursery of goats, and yet a land

Fairer than even pastures to the eye.

No sea-encircled isle of ours affords

Smooth course commodious, and expanse of meads,

735

But my own Ithaca transcends them all!

He said; the Hero Menelaus smiled,

And stroaking tenderly his cheek, replied.

Dear youth! thy speech proclaims thy noble blood.

I can with ease supply thee from within

740

With what shall suit thee better, and the gift

Of all that I possess which most excels

In beauty, and the noblest shall be thine.

I give thee, wrought elaborate, a cup

Itself all silver, bound with lip of gold.

745

It is the work of Vulcan, which to me

The Hero Phædimus imparted, King

Of the Sidonians, when on my return

His house received me. That shall be thy own.

Thus they conferr'd; and now the busy train

750

Of menials culinary at the gate

Enter'd of Menelaus, Chief renown'd;

They brought him sheep, with heart-ennobling wine,

While all their wives, their brows with frontlets bound,

Came charged with bread. Thus busy they prepared

755

A banquet in the mansion of the King.

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

ODYSSEY BOOK IV

FAIR Lacedaemon they reached, embosomed in cavernous mountains.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unto his son, the beloved and stalwart youth Megapenthes,

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

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

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

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

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

Making them merry; amidst them a godlike singer was singing

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

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

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

Nestor's glorious son and Telemachus the heroic,

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

Ever-alert attendant of far-famed King Menelaus;

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sorely displeased gave answer the fair-haired prince Menelaus:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Calling on other alert attendants and bidding them follow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lavishly adding thereto from her stores full many a dainty.

Carrying platters aloft came also a carver and offered

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

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

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

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

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

Both are surely the children of chieftains nurtured by heaven,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lasting for ever and ever remain his mansion and riches.

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

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

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

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

Aethiop tribes I beheld, and Erembian; visited Sidon,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wandering widely, another had meantime murdered my brother,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

100

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

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

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

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

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

105

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

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

Many a woe, and to me this inconsolable sorrow,

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

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

110

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

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

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

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

Hastily then uplifting his mantle of purple, he held it

115

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

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

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

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

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

120

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

Helen approached—like Artemis, goddess of glittering arrows.

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

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

Phylo carried a basket of silver, a present to Helen

125

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

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

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

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

Also his consort bestowed right beautiful presents on Helen,

130

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Calling to mind how sorely he toiled and suffered affliction

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

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

Him then addressing did Nestor's son Peisistratus answer:

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

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

Lowly however he beareth his spirit and holds it unseemly

Now on his early arrival to utter presumptuous language

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

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Touching myself, I was sent by the knight Gerenian Nestor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weeping was Telemachus, and prince Menelaus Atrides;

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

Deep in his spirit recalling the thought of the hero unrivalled

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Easily known is the child of a man whom Father Cronion

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

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

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

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Blesséd in sons so wise and all unrivalled as spearmen.

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

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

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

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

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

Ever-alert attendant of far-famed prince Menelaus.

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

Meantime Helen the daughter of Zeus planned other devices,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

230

Every dweller in Egypt moreover surpasseth as healer

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

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

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

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

235

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

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

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

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

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

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All the adventurous feats of the dauntless-hearted Odysseus;

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

While in the Trojan land ye Achaeans suffered affliction.

Unto disfiguring stripes of the lash he subjected his body;

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

245

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

Here he assumed the disguise of an utterly different person,

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

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

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

250

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

260

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Like to the inborn courage of dauntless-hearted Odysseus.

270

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

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

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

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

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

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Godlike Deïphobus came also giving thee escort.

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

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

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

Meanwhile Tydeus' son and myself and the godlike Odysseus

280

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

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

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

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

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

285

Anticlus was alone still wishing to give thee an answer,

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

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

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

Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

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

Still more grievous it seems that to hinder his pitiful ending

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

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

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

295

Thus did he speak, and Argive Helen commanded her maidens

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

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

Mantles of wool moreover to lay enwrapping them warmly.

So from the hall went quickly the handmaids carrying torches.

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

Nestor's glorious son and Telemachus the heroic,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Under his smooth-skinned feet then tying his beautiful sandals

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

310

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

"Hero Telemachus, come say what reason hath brought thee

Hither to fair Lacedaemon across wide wastes of the ocean,

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

Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

315

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

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

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

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

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

320

Suitors these of my mother, exceedingly insolent mortals.

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

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

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

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

325

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

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

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

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

Where in the Trojan land ye Achaeans suffered affliction,

330

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

Sorely displeased gave answer the fair-haired prince Menelaus :

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

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

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

335

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

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

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

Suddenly maketh of both of the yeanlings a terrible ending;

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

340

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

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

Fearless he met with the huge Philomeleides in a contest,

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

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

345

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hindered me still, for I failed to perform sufficing oblations

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

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

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

355

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

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

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

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

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

360

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

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

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

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

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

365

Eidotheë, whose heart I had strongly aroused to affection.

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

These all over the coast of the isle were wandering widely

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

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

370

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

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

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

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

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

375

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

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

Angered immortals who dwell in the wide expanses of heaven.

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

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

380

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

Thus did I speak; forthwith responded the beautiful goddess:

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

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

Proteus, hither resort—an Egyptian immortal, who knoweth

385

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

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

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

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

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

390

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

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

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

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

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

395

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

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

So did I speak; forthwith responded the beautiful goddess :

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

Oft as the sun upmounting attaineth the middle of heaven,

400

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

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

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

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

Issuing forth from the grey salt sea lie huddled together

405

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

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

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

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

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

410

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

After the counting is over and every seal is inspected,

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

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

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

415

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

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

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

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

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

420

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

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

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

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

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

425

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

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

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

After the supper was done and ambrosial night was descending,

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

430

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

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

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

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

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

435

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

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

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

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

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

440

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

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

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

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

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

445

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

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

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

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

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

450

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

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

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

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

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

455

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

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

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

Natheless still we persistently held him with hearts of endurance,

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

460

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

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

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

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

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

465

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

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

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

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

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

470

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

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

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

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

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

475

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

PATTEN WILSON,
THE STRUGGLE WITH PROTEUS

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

Making return thou shalt offer again some splendid atonement

Unto immortals who dwell in the wide expanses of heaven.

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

480

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

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

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

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

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

485

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

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

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

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

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

490

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

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

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

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

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

495

Two of the leaders alone of the bronzen-coated Achaeans

Perished returning (thyself wert present during the warfare).

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

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

First by Poseidaon he was favoured, and coming to Gyrae

500

Under enormous cliffs found refuge safe from the ocean,

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

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

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

Him did Poseidon hear as he uttered the arrogant boasting.

505

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

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

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

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

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

510

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

Touching thy brother, escaping the dangers of ocean he safely

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

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

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

515

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

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

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

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

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

520

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

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

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

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

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

525

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

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

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

Here forthwith was a plot right cunning devised by Aegisthus:

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

530

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

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

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

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

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

535

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

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

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

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

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

540

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

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

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

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

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

545

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

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

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

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

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

550

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

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

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

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

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

555

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

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

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

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

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

560

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

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

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

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

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

565

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

Here incessantly breatheth the breeze of the soft-voiced Zephyr

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

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

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

570

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

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

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

After the supper was made and ambrosial night was descending,

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

575

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

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

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

Then ourselves we embarked and seating us down on the benches

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

580

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

Here our vessels I moored and performed sufficing oblations.

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

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

Which things duly fulfilled I departed, and favouring breezes,

585

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

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

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

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

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

590

Also a beautiful cup, that whenever thou makest libation

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

Him sage Telemachus addressing in turn gave answer:

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

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

595

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

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

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

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

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

600

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

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

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

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

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

605

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

Suited for riding and pasturing horses is none of the islands

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

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

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

610

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

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

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

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

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

615

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

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

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

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

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

620

Meantime banqueters flocked to the house of the godlike monarch

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

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

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

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

625

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

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

Seated was Antinous, and anigh him was sitting the godlike

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

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

630

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

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

How soon Telemachus is returning from Pylos the sandy ?

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

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

635

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

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

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

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

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

640

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

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

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

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

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

645

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

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

Straightway Phronius' son thus answered, the famous Noëmon:

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

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

650

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

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

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

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

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

655

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

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

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

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

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

660

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

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

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

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

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

665

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

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

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

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

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

670

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

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

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

Then forthwith uprising they entered the house of Odysseus.

Neither for long thereafter from Penelopeia was hidden

675

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

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

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

Thorough the palace he hasted to tell it to Penelopeia,

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

680

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

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

Laying aside their tasks to prepare these masters a banquet?

Would that without more wooings, without more banquetings either,

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

685

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

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

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

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

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

690

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

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

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

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

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

695

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

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

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

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

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

700

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

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

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

Speechless long she remained, struck mute, while gathering teardrops

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

705

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

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

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

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

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

710

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

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

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

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

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

715

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

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

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

Uttering pitiful wails, and around her lamented her maidens,

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

720

These then addressing with many a groan spake Penelopeia :

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

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

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

Foremost of all of the Grecians in every manly perfection,

725

Him whose fame is abroad through Hellas and midmost Argos.

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

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

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

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

730

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

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

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

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

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

735

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

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

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

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

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

740

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

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

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

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

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

745

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

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

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

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

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

750

Then to thy upper apartment ascending with women attendants

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

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

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

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

755

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

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

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

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

Unto her upper apartment ascending with women attendants

760

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

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

Listen! If ever of yore in his homestead wileful Odysseus

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

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

765

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

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

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

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

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

770

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

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

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

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

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

775

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

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

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

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

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

780

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

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

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

Weapons also aboard were carried by haughty attendants.

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

785

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

Still in her upper apartment remained wise Penelopeia.

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

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

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

790

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

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

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

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

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

795

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

Iphthimé, who was daughter of Icarius great-hearted.

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

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

Bidding it make the bewailing and sorrowing Penelopeia

800

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

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

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

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

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

805

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

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

Then forthwith gave answer the wise-souled Penelopeia,

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

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

810

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

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

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

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

Foremost of all of the Achaeans in every manly perfection,

815

Him whose fame is abroad through Hellas and midmost Argos.

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

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

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

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

820

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

Seeing that many a foe plots evil devices against him,

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

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

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

825

She who attendeth and guards him is such that a mortal in peril

Ever will pray her to stand at his side (for to aid she is able),

Pallas Athena, the goddess who pities thee now in thy sorrow;

Yea it is she that hath bidden me come this message to bring thee.”

Then to the phantom again spake wise-souled Penelopeia:

830

"Art thou divine, or hast listened to words by divinity spoken,

Come, I beseech, and the fate of that other unfortunate tell me,

Whether he still is alive on the earth and beholdeth the sunlight,

Or is he dead and already below in the mansion of Hades?"

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

835

"Touching the fate of thy lord I can say to thee nothing for certain

Whether he lives or is dead; and an evil is idle discussion."

These words uttered it glided away by the bolt of the doorpost

Into the air and the breezes of heaven; and out of her slumbers

Penelopeia awoke, and the heart in her bosom was lightened,

840

Such was the clearness with which had approached her that vision of midnight.

Now had the suitors embarked and had voyaged the paths of the waters

Plotting a violent death in their hearts for the son of Odysseus.

Far from the land there riseth a crag in the midst of the waters,

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

845

Asteris; tiny the isle, but within it a harbour for shipping

Twy-mouthed; here the Achaeans awaited him, lying in ambush.

New Alexandria Commentaries

Gregory Nagy

With the continued aid of the goddess Athena, young Telemachus now becomes an ideal guest for his new hosts, Menelaos together with Helen. The identity of Helen as a goddess becomes more evident now that she is back in Sparta. This divine identity will point to the future immortalization of the hero Menelaos by virtue of his winning back Helen as his consort.

draft js image error “The Fair Helen.” Willy Pogany (Hungarian, 1882–1955). Image via.

source

Homer Odyssey 4.587

Samuel Butler (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

ODYSSEY BOOK IV

PATTEN WILSON,
THE STRUGGLE WITH PROTEUS

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

ODYSSEY BOOK IV

PATTEN WILSON, THE STRUGGLE WITH PROTEUS

New Alexandria Commentaries

Stable identifiers

PATTEN WILSON,
THE STRUGGLE WITH PROTEUS