Let the Achaeans find me a prize in fair exchange to my liking, or I will come and take your own, or that of Ajax or of Ulysses; and he to whomsoever I may come shall rue my coming.
And Ulysses went as captain.
Meanwhile Ulysses reached Chryse with the hecatomb.
They then got out upon the seashore and landed the hecatomb for Apollo; Chryseis also left the ship, and Ulysses led her to the altar to deliver her into the hands of her father. "
There she found Ulysses, peer of Jove in counsel, standing alone.
He had not as yet laid a hand upon his ship, for he was grieved and sorry; so she went close up to him and said," Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, are you going to fling yourselves into your ships and be off home to your own land in this way?
Ulysses knew the voice as that of the goddess: he flung his cloak from him and set off to run.
His servant Eurybates, a man of Ithaca, who waited on him, took charge of the cloak, whereon Ulysses went straight up to Agamemnon and received from him his ancestral, imperishable staff.
Achilles and Ulysses hated him worst of all, for it was with them that he was most wo nt to wrangle; now, however, with a shrill squeaky voice he began heaping his abuse on Agamemnon.
Thus railed Thersites, but Ulysses at once went up to him and rebuked him sternly. "
The people were sorry for him, yet they laughed heartily, and one would turn to his neighbour saying," Ulysses has done many a good thing ere now in fight and council, but he never did the Argives a better turn than when he stopped this fellow 's mouth from prating further.
Then Ulysses rose, sceptre in hand, and Minerva in the likeness of a herald bade the people be still, that those who were far off might hear him and consider his council.
First he asked Nestor and King Idomeneus, then the two Ajaxes and the son of Tydeus, and sixthly Ulysses, peer of gods in counsel; but Menelaus came of his own accord, for he knew how busy his brother then was.
Ulysses led the brave Cephallenians, who held Ithaca, Neritum with its forests, Crocylea, rugged Aegilips, Samos and Zacynthus, with the mainland also that was over against the islands.
These were led by Ulysses, peer of Jove in counsel, and with him there came twelve ships.
The old man next looked upon Ulysses;" Tell me," he said," who is that other, shorter by a head than Agamemnon, but broader across the chest and shoulders?
And Helen answered," He is Ulysses, a man of great craft, son of Laertes.
Ulysses once came here as envoy about yourself, and Menelaus with him.
When they stood up in presence of the assembled Trojans, Menelaus was the broader shouldered, but when both were seated Ulysses had the more royal presence.
After a time they delivered their message, and the speech of Menelaus ran trippingly on the tongue; he did not say much, for he was a man of few words, but he spoke very clearly and to the point, though he was the younger man of the two; Ulysses, on the other hand, when he rose to speak, was at first silent and kept his eyes fixed upon the ground.
Agamemnon and Ulysses both rose to meet them.
Hector and Ulysses measured the ground, and cast lots from a helmet of bronze to see which should take aim first.
A quarrel in Olympus—Minerva goes down and persuades Fandarus to violate the oaths by wounding Menelaus with an arrow—Agamemnon makes a speech and sends for Machaon—He then goes about among his captains and upbraids Ulysses and Sthenelus, who each of them retort fiercely—Diomed checks Sthenelus, and the two hosts then engage, with great slaughter on either side.
Near him also tarried cunning Ulysses, with his sturdy Cephallenians round him; they had not yet heard the battlecry, for the ranks of Trojans and Achaeans had only just begun to move, so they were standing still, waiting for some other columns of the Achaeans to attack the Trojans and begin the fighting.
Ulysses glared at him and answered," Son of Atreus, what are you talking about?
When Agamemnon saw that Ulysses was angry, he smiled pleasantly at him and withdrew his words. "
Ulysses," said he," noble son of Laertes, excellent in all good counsel, I have neither fault to find nor orders to give you, for I know your heart is right, and that you and I are of a mind.
Thereon Antiphus of the gleaming corslet, son of Priam, hurled a spear at Ajax from amid the crowd and missed him, but he hit Leucus, the brave comrade of Ulysses, in the groin, as he was dragging the body of Simoeisius over to the other side; so he fell upon the body and loosed his hold upon it.
Ulysses was furious when he saw Leucus slain, and strode in full armour through the front ranks till he was quite close; then he glared round about him and took aim, and the Trojans fell back as he did so.
Ulysses, infuriated by the death of his comrade, hit him with his spear on one temple, and the bronze point came through on the other side of his forehead.
The two Ajaxes, Ulysses and Diomed, cheered the Danaans on, fearless of the fury and onset of the Trojans.
Meanwhile the Achaeans carried off the body of Tlepolemus, whereon Ulysses was moved to pity, and panted for the fray as he beheld them.
Polypoetes then killed Astyalus, Ulysses Pidytes of Percote, and Teucer Aretaon.
After these Eurypylus son of Euaemon, Thoas the son of Andraemon, and Ulysses also rose.
The old man instantly began cutting the traces with his sword, but Hector 's fleet horses bore down upon him through the rout with their bold charioteer, even Hector himself, and the old man would have perished there and then had not Diomed been quick to mark, and with a loud cry called Ulysses to help him.
"Ulysses," he cried," noble son of Laertes where are you flying to, with your back turned like a coward?
Ulysses would not give ear, but sped onward to the ships of the Achaeans, and the son of Tydeus flinging himself alone into the thick of the fight took his stand before the horses of the son of Neleus. "
To this end he went round the ships and tents carrying a great purple cloak, and took his stand by the huge black hull of Ulysses ' ship, which was middlemost of all; it was from this place that his voice would carry farthest, on the one hand towards the tents of Ajax son of Telamon, and on the other towards those of Achilles— for these two heroes, well assured of their own strength, had valorously drawn up their ships at the two ends of the line.
Let Phoenix, dear to Jove, lead the way; let Ajax and Ulysses follow, and let the heralds Odius and Eurybates go with them.
Menservants poured water over the hands of the guests, while pages filled the mixingbowls with wine and water, and handed it round after giving every man his drinkoffering; then, when they had made their offerings, and had drunk each as much as he was minded, the envoys set out from the tent of Agamemnon son of Atreus; and Nestor, looking first to one and then to another, but most especially at Ulysses, was instant with them that they should prevail with the noble son of Peleus.
Ulysses and Ajax now came in— Ulysses leading the way— and stood before him.
Then Achilles took his seat facing Ulysses against the opposite wall, and bade his comrade Patroclus offer sacrifice to the gods; so he cast the offerings into the fire, and they laid their hands upon the good things that were before them.
As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, Ajax made a sign to Phoenix, and when he saw this, Ulysses filled his cup with wine and pledged Achilles.
Achilles answered," Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, I should give you formal notice plainly and in all fixity of purpose that there be no more of this cajoling, from whatsoever quarter it may come.
Let him look to you, Ulysses, and to the other princes to save his ships from burning.
Ajax son of Telamon then said," Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, let us be gone, for I see that our journey is vain.
On this they took every man his double cup, made their drinkofferings, and went back to the ships, Ulysses leading the way.
"Tell me, Ulysses," said he," will he save the ships from burning, or did he refuse, and is he still furious?"
Ulysses answered," Most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, Achilles will not be calmed, but is more fiercely angry than ever, and spurns both you and your gifts.
Ulysses and Diomed go out as spies, and meet Dolon, who gives them information: they then kill him, and profiting by what he had told them, kill Rhesus king of the Thracians and take his horses.
I will go with you, and we will rouse others, either the son of Tydeus, or Ulysses, or fleet Ajax and the valiant son of Phyleus.
First he called loudly to Ulysses peer of gods in counsel and woke him, for he was soon roused by the sound of the battlecry.
And Nestor knight of Gerene answered," Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, take it not amiss, for the Achaeans are in great straits.
On this Ulysses went at once into his tent, put his shield about his shoulders and came out with them.
The two Ajaxes, servants of Mars, Meriones, and the son of Nestor all wanted to go, so did Menelaus son of Atreus; Ulysses also wished to go among the host of the Trojans, for he was ever full of daring, and thereon Agamemnon king of men spoke thus:" Diomed," said he," son of Tydeus, man after my own heart, choose your comrade for yourself— take the best man of those that have offered, for many would now go with you.
Diomed answered," If you bid me take the man of my own choice, how in that case can I fail to think of Ulysses, than whom there is no man more eager to face all kinds of danger— and Pallas Minerva loves him well?
"Son of Tydeus," replied Ulysses," say neither good nor ill about me, for you are among Argives who know me well.
Meriones found a bow and quiver for Ulysses, and on his head he set a leathern helmet that was lined with a strong plaiting of leathern thongs, while on the outside it was thickly studded with boar 's teeth, well and skilfully set into it; next the head there was an inner lining of felt.
He gave it to Amphidamas of Cythera to take to Scandea, and Amphidamas gave it as a guestgift to Molus, who gave it to his son Meriones; and now it was set upon the head of Ulysses.
Ulysses was glad when he heard it and prayed to Minerva:" Hear me," he cried," daughter of aegisbearing Jove, you who spy out all my ways and who are with me in all my hardships; befriend me in this mine hour, and grant that we may return to the ships covered with glory after having achieved some mighty exploit that shall bring sorrow to the Trojans."
When he had left the horses and the troops behind him, he made all speed on his way, but Ulysses perceived his coming and said to Diomed," Diomed, here is some one from the camp; I am not sure whether he is a spy, or whether it is some thief who would plunder the bodies of the dead; let him get a little past us, we can then spring upon him and take him.
The others gave chase at once, and as a couple of welltrained hounds press forward after a doe or hare that runs screaming in front of them, even so did the son of Tydeus and Ulysses pursue Dolon and cut him off from his own people.
"Fear not," replied Ulysses," let no thought of death be in your mind; but tell me, and tell me true, why are you thus going about alone in the dead of night away from your camp and towards the ships, while other men are sleeping?
Ulysses smiled at him and answered," You had indeed set your heart upon a great reward, but the horses of the descendant of Aeacus are hardly to be kept in hand or driven by any other mortal man than Achilles himself, whose mother was an immortal.
Ulysses then said," Now tell me; are they sleeping among the Trojan troops, or do they lie apart?
Ulysses hung them up aloft in honour of Minerva the goddess of plunder, and prayed saying," Accept these, goddess, for we give them to you in preference to all the gods in Olympus: therefore speed us still further towards the horses and sleepingground of the Thracians."
Ulysses from some way off saw him and said," This, Diomed, is the man, and these are the horses about which Dolon whom we killed told us.
As he killed them Ulysses came and drew them aside by their feet one by one, that the horses might go forward freely without being frightened as they passed over the dead bodies, for they were not yet used to them.
Meanwhile Ulysses untied the horses, made them fast one to another and drove them off, striking them with his bow, for he had forgotten to take the whip from the chariot.
Ulysses beat them with his bow and they flew onward to the ships of the Achaeans.
When they reached the place where they had killed Hector 's scout, Ulysses stayed his horses, and the son of Tydeus, leaping to the ground, placed the bloodstained spoils in the hands of Ulysses and remounted: then he lashed the horses onwards, and they flew forward nothing loth towards the ships as though of their own free will.
I hope it may be Diomed and Ulysses driving in horses from the Trojans, but I much fear that the bravest of the Argives may have come to some harm at their hands."
Tell me," said he," renowned Ulysses, how did you two come by these horses?
And Ulysses answered," Nestor son of Neleus, honour to the Achaean name, heaven, if it so will, can give us even better horses than these, for the gods are far mightier than we are.
When they reached the strongly built quarters of the son of Tydeus, they tied the horses with thongs of leather to the manger, where the steeds of Diomed stood eating their sweet corn, but Ulysses hung the bloodstained spoils of Dolon at the stern of his ship, that they might prepare a sacred offering to Minerva.
In the forenoon the fight is equal, but Agamemnon turns the fortune of the day towards the Achaeans until he gets wounded and leaves the field—Hector then drives everything before him till he is wounded by Diomed—Paris wounds Diomed—Ulysses, Nestor, and Idomeneus perform prodigies of valour—Machaon is wounded—Nestor drives him off in his chariot—Achilles sees the pair driving towards the camp and sends Patroclus to ask who it is that is wounded—This is the beginning of evil for Patroclus—Nestor makes a long speech.
She took her stand by the huge black hull of Ulysses ' ship which was middlemost of all, so that her voice might carry farthest on either side, on the one hand towards the tents of Ajax son of Telamon, and on the other towards those of Achilles— for these two heroes, wellassured of their own strength, had valorously drawn up their ships at the two ends of the line.
"If," said Agamemnon," you are sons of Antimachus, who once at a council of Trojans proposed that Menelaus and Ulysses, who had come to you as envoys, should be killed and not suffered to return, you shall now pay for the foul iniquity of your father."
All had then been lost and no help for it, and the Achaeans would have fled pellmell to their ships, had not Ulysses cried out to Diomed," Son of Tydeus, what has happened to us that we thus forget our prowess?
With these words he struck Thymbraeus from his chariot to the ground, smiting him in the left breast with his spear, while Ulysses killed Molion who was his squire.
Diomed son of Tydeus slew them both and stripped them of their armour, while Ulysses killed Hippodamus and Hypeirochus.
Hector soon marked the havoc Diomed and Ulysses were making, and bore down upon them with a loud cry, followed by the Trojan ranks; brave Diomed was dismayed when he saw them, and said to Ulysses who was beside him," Great Hector is bearing down upon us and we shall be undone; let us stand firm and wait his onset."
Thus he spoke, but Ulysses came up and stood over him.
Ulysses was now alone; not one of the Argives stood by him, for they were all panicstricken."
As hounds and lusty youths set upon a wild boar that sallies from his lair whetting his white tusks— they attack him from every side and can hear the gnashing of his jaws, but for all his fierceness they still hold their ground— even so furiously did the Trojans attack Ulysses.
Socus, hero that he was, made all speed to help him, and when he was close to Ulysses he said," Farfamed Ulysses, insatiable of craft and toil, this day you shall either boast of having killed both the sons of Hippasus and stripped them of their armour, or you shall fall before my spear."
With these words he struck the shield of Ulysses.
Ulysses knew that his hour was not yet come, but he gave ground and said to Socus," Wretch, you shall now surely die.
He fell heavily to the ground and Ulysses vaunted over him saying," O Socus, son of Hippasus tamer of horses, death has been too quick for you and you have not escaped him: poor wretch, not even in death shall your father and mother close your eyes, but the ravening vultures shall enshroud you with the flapping of their dark wings and devour you.
When the Trojans saw that Ulysses was bleeding they raised a great shout and came on in a body towards him; he therefore gave ground, and called his comrades to come and help him.
Thrice did he cry as loudly as man can cry, and thrice did brave Menelaus hear him; he turned, therefore, to Ajax who was close beside him and said," Ajax, noble son of Telamon, captain of your people, the cry of Ulysses rings in my ears, as though the Trojans had cut him off and were worsting him while he is singlehanded.
The Trojans had gathered round Ulysses like ravenous mountain jackals round the carcase of some horned stag that has been hit with an arrow— the stag has fled at full speed so long as his blood was warm and his strength has lasted, but when the arrow has overcome him, the savage jackals devour him in the shady glades of the forest.
Then heaven sends a fierce lion thither, whereon the jackals fly in terror and the lion robs them of their prey— even so did Trojans many and brave gather round crafty Ulysses, but the hero stood at bay and kept them off with his spear.
Menelaus took Ulysses by the hand, and led him out of the press while his squire brought up his chariot, but Ajax rushed furiously on the Trojans and killed Doryclus, a bastard son of Priam; then he wounded Pandocus, Lysandrus, Pyrasus, and Pylartes; as some swollen torrent comes rushing in full flood from the mountains on to the plain, big with the rain of heaven— many a dry oak and many a pine does it engulf, and much mud does it bring down and cast into the sea— even so did brave Ajax chase the foe furiously over the plain, slaying both men and horses.
He recks not of the dismay that reigns in our host; our most valiant chieftains lie disabled, brave Diomed, son of Tydeus, is wounded; so are Ulysses and Agamemnon; Eurypylus has been hit with an arrow in the thigh, and I have just been bringing this man from the field— he too wounded with an arrow.
Ulysses and I were in the house, inside, and heard all that he said to you; for we came to the fair house of Peleus while beating up recruits throughout all Achaea, and when we got there we found Menoetius and yourself, and Achilles with you.
When he had got as far as the ships of Ulysses, where was their place of assembly and court of justice, with their altars dedicated to the gods, Eurypylus son of Euaemon, met him, wounded in the thigh with an arrow, and limping out of the fight.
Agamemnon proposes that the Achaeans should sail home, and is rebuked by Ulysses—Juno beguiles Jupiter—Hector is wounded.
The wounded kings, the son of Tydeus, Ulysses, and Agamemnon son of Atreus, fell in with Nestor as they were coming up from their ships— for theirs were drawn up some way from where the fighting was going on, being on the shore itself inasmuch as they had been beached first, while the wall had been built behind the hindermost.
Ulysses looked fiercely at him and said," Son of Atreus, what are you talking about?
Agamemnon answered," Ulysses, your rebuke has stung me to the heart.
The son of Tydeus, Ulysses, and Agamemnon, wounded though they were, set the others in array, and went about everywhere effecting the exchanges of armour; the most valiant took the best armour, and gave the worse to the worse man.
Brave Diomed son of Tydeus has been hit with a spear, while famed Ulysses and Agamemnon have received swordwounds; Eurypylus again has been struck with an arrow in the thigh; skilled apothecaries are attending to these heroes, and healing them of their wounds; are you still, O Achilles, so inexorable?
Two sons of Mars, Ulysses and the son of Tydeus, came limping, for their wounds still pained them; nevertheless they came, and took their seats in the front row of the assembly.
I will give you all that Ulysses offered you yesterday in your tents: or if it so please you, wait, though you would fain fight at once, and my squires shall bring the gifts from my ship, that you may see whether what I give you is enough."
Then Ulysses said," Achilles, godlike and brave, send not the Achaeans thus against Ilius to fight the Trojans fasting, for the battle will be no brief one, when it is once begun, and heaven has filled both sides with fury; bid them first take food both bread and wine by the ships, for in this there is strength and stay.
Ulysses answered," Achilles, son of Peleus, mightiest of all the Achaeans, in battle you are better than I, and that more than a little, but in counsel I am much before you, for I am older and of greater knowledge.
Ulysses weighed out the ten talents of gold and then led the way back, while the young Achaeans brought the rest of the gifts, and laid them in the middle of the assembly.
On this he sent the other princes away, save only the two sons of Atreus and Ulysses, Nestor, Idomeneus, and the knight Phoenix, who stayed behind and tried to comfort him in the bitterness of his sorrow: but he would not be comforted till he should have flung himself into the jaws of battle, and he fetched sigh on sigh, thinking ever of Patroclus.
Forthwith uprose great Ajax the son of Telamon, and crafty Ulysses, full of wiles, rose also.
Ulysses could not throw Ajax, nor Ajax him; Ulysses was too strong for him; but when the Achaeans began to tire of watching them, Ajax said to Ulysses," Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, you shall either lift me, or I you, and let Jove settle it between us."
He lifted him from the ground as he spoke, but Ulysses did not forget his cunning.
He hit Ajax in the hollow at back of his knee, so that he could not keep his feet, but fell on his back with Ulysses lying upon his chest, and all who saw it marvelled.
Then Ulysses in turn lifted Ajax and stirred him a little from the ground but could not lift him right off it, his knee sank under him, and the two fell side by side on the ground and were all begrimed with dust.
Forthwith uprose fleet Ajax son of Oileus, with cunning Ulysses, and Nestor 's son Antilochus, the fastest runner among all the youth of his time.
The course was set out for them from the startingpost, and the son of Oileus took the lead at once, with Ulysses as close behind him as the shuttle is to a woman 's bosom when she throws the woof across the warp and holds it close up to her; even so close behind him was Ulysses— treading in his footprints before the dust could settle there, and Ajax could feel his breath on the back of his head as he ran swiftly on.
The Achaeans all shouted applause as they saw him straining his utmost, and cheered him as he shot past them; but when they were now nearing the end of the course Ulysses prayed inwardly to Minerva."
Ulysses therefore carried off the mixingbowl, for he got before Ajax and came in first.
Then he said to the Argives," Alas, the goddess has spoiled my running; she watches over Ulysses and stands by him as though she were his own mother."
Ajax is somewhat older than I am, and as for Ulysses, he belongs to an earlier generation, but he is hale in spite of his years, and no man of the Achaeans can run against him save only Achilles."
So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his wife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him into a large cave and wanted to marry him.
Then Minerva said," Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, it served Aegisthus right, and so it would any one else who does as he did; but Aegisthus is neither here nor there; it is for Ulysses that my heart bleeds, when I think of his sufferings in that lonely seagirt island, far away, poor man, from all his friends.
This daughter of Atlas has got hold of poor unhappy Ulysses, and keeps trying by every kind of blandishment to make him forget his home, so that he is tired of life, and thinks of nothing but how he may once more see the smoke of his own chimneys.
You, sir, take no heed of this, and yet when Ulysses was before Troy did he not propitiate you with many a burnt sacrifice?
How can I forget Ulysses than whom there is no more capable man on earth, nor more liberal in his offerings to the immortal gods that live in heaven?
Bear in mind, however, that Neptune is still furious with Ulysses for having blinded an eye of Polyphemus king of the Cyclopes.
Polyphemus is son to Neptune by the nymph Thoosa, daughter to the seaking Phorcys; therefore though he will not kill Ulysses outright, he torments him by preventing him from getting home.
And Minerva said," Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, if, then, the gods now mean that Ulysses should get home, we should first send Mercury to the Ogygian island to tell Calypso that we have made up our minds and that he is to return.
In the meantime I will go to Ithaca, to put heart into Ulysses ' son Telemachus; I will embolden him to call the Achaeans in assembly, and speak out to the suitors of his mother Penelope, who persist in eating up any number of his sheep and oxen; I will also conduct him to Sparta and to Pylos, to see if he can hear anything about the return of his dear father— for this will make people speak well of him."
So saying she bound on her glittering golden sandals, imperishable, with which she can fly like the wind over land or sea; she grasped the redoubtable bronzeshod spear, so stout and sturdy and strong, wherewith she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her, and down she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus, whereon forthwith she was in Ithaca, at the gateway of Ulysses ' house, disguised as a visitor, Mentes, chief of the Taphians, and she held a bronze spear in her hand.
But tell me, and tell me true, can Ulysses really have such a fine looking fellow for a son?
"My mother," answered Telemachus," tells me I am son to Ulysses, but it is a wise child that knows his own father.
exclaimed Minerva," then you do indeed want Ulysses home again.
If Ulysses is the man he then was these suitors will have a short shrift and a sorry wedding.
Make up your mind to it and bear it; Ulysses is not the only man who never came back from Troy, but many another went down as well as he.
Still, now that Ulysses is dead there are many great men in Ithaca both old and young, and some other may take the lead among them; nevertheless I will be chief in my own house, and will rule those whom Ulysses has won for me."
His son Antiphus had gone with Ulysses to Ilius, land of noble steeds, but the savage Cyclops had killed him when they were all shut up in the cave, and had cooked his last dinner for him.
From the day Ulysses left us there has been no meeting of our councillors until now; who then can it be, whether old or young, that finds it so necessary to convene us?
No estate can stand such recklessness; we have now no Ulysses to ward off harm from our doors, and I can not hold my own against them.
I pray you by Jove and Themis, who is the beginning and the end of councils,[ do not] hold back, my friends, and leave me singlehanded— unless it be that my brave father Ulysses did some wrong to the Achaeans which you would now avenge on me, by aiding and abetting these suitors.
Sweet hearts,' said she,' Ulysses is indeed dead, still do not press me to marry again immediately, wait— for I would not have skill in needlework perish unrecorded— till I have completed a pall for the hero Laertes, to be in readiness against the time when death shall take him.
Ulysses is not going to be away much longer; indeed he is close at hand to deal out death and destruction, not on them alone, but on many another of us who live in Ithaca.
Let the suitors do so of their own accord; it will be better for them, for I am not prophesying without due knowledge; everything has happened to Ulysses as I foretold when the Argives set out for Troy, and he with them.
Ulysses has died in a far country, and it is a pity you are not dead along with him, instead of prating here about omens and adding fuel to the anger of Telemachus which is fierce enough as it is.
With these words he sat down, and Mentor who had been a friend of Ulysses, and had been left in charge of everything with full authority over the servants, rose to speak.
He, then, plainly and in all honesty addressed them thus: "Hear me, men of Ithaca, I hope that you may never have a kind and welldisposed ruler any more, nor one who will govern you equitably; I hope that all your chiefs henceforward may be cruel and unjust, for there is not one of you but has forgotten Ulysses, who ruled you as though he were your father.
I am not half so angry with the suitors, for if they choose to do violence in the naughtiness of their hearts, and wager their heads that Ulysses will not return, they can take the high hand and eat up his estate, but as for you others I am shocked at the way in which you all sit still without even trying to stop such scandalous goings on— which you could do if you chose, for you are many and they are few."
Even though Ulysses himself were to set upon us while we are feasting in his house, and do his best to oust us, his wife, who wants him back so very badly, would have small cause for rejoicing, and his blood would be upon his own head if he fought against such great odds.
On this he broke up the assembly, and every man went back to his own abode, while the suitors returned to the house of Ulysses.
Telemachus," said she," if you are made of the same stuff as your father you will be neither fool nor coward henceforward, for Ulysses never broke his word nor left his work half done.
If, then, you take after him, your voyage will not be fruitless, but unless you have the blood of Ulysses and of Penelope in your veins I see no likelihood of your succeeding.
Here, too, there was a store of fragrant olive oil, while casks of old, wellripened wine, unblended and fit for a god to drink, were ranged against the wall in case Ulysses should come home again after all.
Furthermore she went to the house of Ulysses, and threw the suitors into a deep slumber.
I seek news of my unhappy father Ulysses, who is said to have sacked the town of Troy in company with yourself.
We know what fate befell each one of the other heroes who fought at Troy, but as regards Ulysses heaven has hidden from us the knowledge even that he is dead at all, for no one can certify us in what place he perished, nor say whether he fell in battle on the mainland, or was lost at sea amid the waves of Amphitrite.
If my brave father Ulysses ever did you loyal service, either by word or deed, when you Achaeans were harassed among the Trojans, bear it in mind now as in my favour and tell me truly all."
When we reached Tenedos we offered sacrifices to the gods, for we were longing to get home; cruel Jove, however, did not yet mean that we should do so, and raised a second quarrel in the course of which some among us turned their ships back again, and sailed away under Ulysses to make their peace with Agamemnon; but I, and all the ships that were with me pressed forward, for I saw that mischief was brewing.
Who knows but what Ulysses may come back after all, and pay these scoundrels in full, either singlehanded or with a force of Achaeans behind him?
If Minerva were to take as great a liking to you as she did to Ulysses when we were fighting before Troy( for I never yet saw the gods so openly fond of any one as Minerva then was of your father), if she would take as good care of you as she did of him, these wooers would soon some of them forget their wooing."
Let me tell you I have store both of rugs and cloaks, and shall not permit the son of my old friend Ulysses to camp down on the deck of a ship— not while I live— nor yet will my sons after me, but they will keep open house as I have done."
Never yet have I seen either man or woman so like somebody else( indeed when I look at him I hardly know what to think) as this young man is like Telemachus, whom Ulysses left as a baby behind him, when you Achaeans went to Troy with battle in your hearts, on account of my most shameless self."
His hands and feet are just like Ulysses; so is his hair, with the shape of his head and the expression of his eyes.
Moreover, when I was talking about Ulysses, and saying how much he had suffered on my account, tears fell from his eyes, and he hid his face in his mantle."
I can not indeed name every single one of the exploits of Ulysses, but I can say what he did when he was before Troy, and you Achaeans were in all sorts of difficulties.
I have travelled much, and have had much to do with heroes, but I have never seen such another man as Ulysses.
Three times did you go all round our hiding place and pat it; you called our chiefs each by his own name, and mimicked all our wives— Diomed, Ulysses, and I from our seats inside heard what a noise you made.
Diomed and I could not make up our minds whether to spring out then and there, or to answer you from inside, but Ulysses held us all in check, so we sat quite still, all except Anticlus, who was beginning to answer you, when Ulysses clapped his two brawny hands over his mouth, and kept them there.
If my brave father Ulysses ever did you loyal service either by word or deed, when you Achaeans were harassed by the Trojans, bear it in mind now as in my favour and tell me truly all."
A hind might as well lay her new born young in the lair of a lion, and then go off to feed in the forest or in some grassy dell: the lion when he comes back to his lair will make short work with the pair of them— and so will Ulysses with these suitors.
By father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, if Ulysses is still the man that he was when he wrestled with Philomeleides in Lesbos, and threw him so heavily that all the Achaeans cheered him— if he is still such and were to come near these suitors, they would have a short shrift and a sorry wedding.
"'The third man,' he answered,' is Ulysses who dwells in Ithaca.
Meanwhile the suitors were throwing discs or aiming with spears at a mark on the levelled ground in front of Ulysses ' house, and were behaving with all their old insolence.
Did not your fathers tell you when you were children, how good Ulysses had been to them— never doing anything highhanded, nor speaking harshly to anybody?
Kings may say things sometimes, and they may take a fancy to one man and dislike another, but Ulysses never did an unjust thing by anybody— which shows what bad hearts you have, and that there is no such thing as gratitude left in this world."
Bid him go at once and tell everything to Laertes, who may be able to hit on some plan for enlisting public sympathy on our side, as against those who are trying to exterminate his own race and that of Ulysses."
If ever Ulysses while he was here burned you fat thigh bones of sheep or heifer, bear it in mind now as in my favour, and save my darling son from the villainy of the suitors."
She told the vision to go to the house of Ulysses, and to make Penelope leave off crying, so it came into her room by the hole through which the thong went for pulling the door to, and hovered over her head saying, "You are asleep, Penelope: the gods who live at ease will not suffer you to weep and be so sad.
Thereon Minerva began to tell them of the many sufferings of Ulysses, for she pitied him away there in the house of the nymph Calypso.
I hope they will be all henceforth cruel and unjust, for there is not one of his subjects but has forgotten Ulysses, who ruled them as though he were their father.
replied her father," did you not send him there yourself, because you thought it would help Ulysses to get home and punish the suitors?
When he had thus spoken, he said to his son Mercury," Mercury, you are our messenger, go therefore and tell Calypso we have decreed that poor Ulysses is to return home.
Calypso knew him at once— for the gods all know each other, no matter how far they live from one another— but Ulysses was not within; he was on the seashore as usual, looking out upon the barren ocean with tears in his eyes, groaning and breaking his heart for sorrow.
On this he took his leave, and Calypso went out to look for Ulysses, for she had heard Jove 's message.
Ulysses shuddered as he heard her."
When she had thus spoken she led the way rapidly before him, and Ulysses followed in her steps; so the pair, goddess and man, went on and on till they came to Calypso 's cave, where Ulysses took the seat that Mercury had just left.
When they had satisfied themselves with meat and drink, Calypso spoke, saying: "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, so you would start home to your own land at once?
"Goddess," replied Ulysses," do not be angry with me about this.
When the child of morning rosyfingered Dawn appeared, Ulysses put on his shirt and cloak, while the goddess wore a dress of a light gossamer fabric, very fine and graceful, with a beautiful golden girdle about her waist and a veil to cover her head.
She at once set herself to think how she could speed Ulysses on his way.
Moreover, she made the wind fair and warm for him, and gladly did Ulysses spread his sail before it, while he sat and guided the raft skilfully by means of the rudder.
But King Neptune, who was returning from the Ethiopians, caught sight of Ulysses a long way off, from the mountains of the Solymi.
He could see him sailing upon the sea, and it made him very angry, so he wagged his head and muttered to himself, saying," Good heavens, so the gods have been changing their minds about Ulysses while I was away in Ethiopia, and now he is close to the land of the Phaeacians, where it is decreed that he shall escape from the calamities that have befallen him.
Winds from East, South, North, and West fell upon him all at the same time, and a tremendous sea got up, so that Ulysses ' heart began to fail him."
For a long time Ulysses was under water, and it was all he could do to rise to the surface again, for the clothes Calypso had given him weighed him down; but at last he got his head above water and spat out the bitter brine that was running down his face in streams.
Seeing in what great distress Ulysses now was, she had compassion upon him, and, rising like a seagull from the waves, took her seat upon the raft.
But Ulysses did not know what to think."
Ulysses got astride of one plank and rode upon it as if he were on horseback; he then took off the clothes Calypso had given him, bound Ino 's veil under his arms, and plunged into the sea— meaning to swim on shore.
But Minerva resolved to help Ulysses, so she bound the ways of all the winds except one, and made them lie quite still; but she roused a good stiff breeze from the North that should lay the waters till Ulysses reached the land of the Phaeacians where he would be safe.
Then, as children rejoice when their dear father begins to get better after having for a long time borne sore affliction sent him by some angry spirit, but the gods deliver him from evil, so was Ulysses thankful when he again saw land and trees, and swam on with all his strength that he might once more set foot upon dry ground.
Ulysses ' heart now began to fail him, and he said despairingly to himself," Alas, Jove has let me see land after swimming so far that I had given up all hope, but I can find no landing place, for the coast is rocky and surfbeaten, the rocks are smooth and rise sheer from the sea, with deep water close under them so that I can not climb out for want of foot hold.
Here poor Ulysses would have certainly perished even in spite of his own destiny, if Minerva had not helped him to keep his wits about him.
Here at last Ulysses ' knees and strong hands failed him, for the sea had completely broken him.
Ulysses crept under these and began to make himself a bed to lie on, for there was a great litter of dead leaves lying about— enough to make a covering for two or three men even in hard winter weather.
Then, as one who lives alone in the country, far from any neighbor, hides a brand as fireseed in the ashes to save himself from having to get a light elsewhere, even so did Ulysses cover himself up with leaves; and Minerva shed a sweet sleep upon his eyes, closed his eyelids, and made him lose all memories of his sorrows.
So here Ulysses slept, overcome by sleep and toil; but Minerva went off to the country and city of the Phaeacians— a people who used to live in the fair town of Hypereia, near the lawless Cyclopes.
To his house, then, did Minerva hie in furtherance of the return of Ulysses.
When it was time for them to start home, and they were folding the clothes and putting them into the waggon, Minerva began to consider how Ulysses should wake up and see the handsome girl who was to conduct him to the city of the Phaeacians.
On this they all shouted, and the noise they made woke Ulysses, who sat up in his bed of leaves and began to wonder what it might all be.
He looked like some lion of the wilderness that stalks about exulting in his strength and defying both wind and rain; his eyes glare as he prowls in quest of oxen, sheep, or deer, for he is famished, and will dare break even into a well fenced homestead, trying to get at the sheep— even such did Ulysses seem to the young women, as he drew near to them all naked as he was, for he was in great want.
She stood right in front of Ulysses, and he doubted whether he should go up to her, throw himself at her feet, and embrace her knees as a suppliant, or stay where he was and entreat her to give him some clothes and show him the way to the town.
They made Ulysses sit down in the shelter as Nausicaa had told them, and brought him a shirt and cloak.
But Ulysses said," Young women, please to stand a little on one side that I may wash the brine from my shoulders and anoint myself with oil, for it is long enough since my skin has had a drop of oil upon it.
Then they stood on one side and went to tell the girl, while Ulysses washed himself in the stream and scrubbed the brine from his back and from his broad shoulders.
They did as they were told, and set food before Ulysses, who ate and drank ravenously, for it was long since he had had food of any kind.
She got the linen folded and placed in the waggon, she then yoked the mules, and, as she took her seat, she called Ulysses: "Stranger," said she," rise and let us be going back to the town; I will introduce you at the house of my excellent father, where I can tell you that you will meet all the best people among the Phaeacians.
She was careful not to go too fast for Ulysses and the maids who were following on foot along with the waggon, so she plied her whip with judgement.
As the sun was going down they came to the sacred grove of Minerva, and there Ulysses sat down and prayed to the mighty daughter of Jove.
Thus did he pray, and Minerva heard his prayer, but she would not show herself to him openly, for she was afraid of her uncle Neptune, who was still furious in his endeavors to prevent Ulysses from getting home.
Thus, then, did Ulysses wait and pray; but the girl drove on to the town.
Presently Ulysses got up to go towards the town; and Minerva shed a thick mist all round him to hide him in case any of the proud Phaeacians who met him should be rude to him, or ask him who he was.
She stood right in front of him, and Ulysses said: "My dear, will you be so kind as to show me the house of king Alcinous?
On this she led the way, and Ulysses followed in her steps; but not one of the Phaeacians could see him as he passed through the city in the midst of them; for the great goddess Minerva in her good will towards him had hidden him in a thick cloud of darkness.
She went to Marathon and to the spacious streets of Athens, where she entered the abode of Erechtheus; but Ulysses went on to the house of Alcinous, and he pondered much as he paused a while before reaching the threshold of bronze, for the splendour of the palace was like that of the sun or moon.
So here Ulysses stood for a while and looked about him, but when he had looked long enough he crossed the threshold and went within the precincts of the house.
Every one was speechless with surprise at seeing a man there, but Ulysses began at once with his petition.
When Alcinous heard this he took Ulysses by the hand, raised him from the hearth, and bade him take the seat of Laodamas, who had been sitting beside him, and was his favourite son.
A maid servant then brought him water in a beautiful golden ewer and poured it into a silver basin for him to wash his hands, and she drew a clean table beside him; an upper servant brought him bread and offered him many good things of what there was in the house, and Ulysses ate and drank.
Then Ulysses said:" Pray, Alcinous, do not take any such notion into your head.
Then when they had made their drink offerings, and had drunk each as much as he was minded they went home to bed every man in his own abode, leaving Ulysses in the cloister with Arete and Alcinous while the servants were taking the things away after supper.
Arete was the first to speak, for she recognised the shirt, cloak, and good clothes that Ulysses was wearing, as the work of herself and of her maids; so she said," Stranger, before we go any further, there is a question I should like to ask you.
And Ulysses answered," It would be a long story Madam, were I to relate in full the tale of my misfortunes, for the hand of heaven has been laid heavy upon me; but as regards your question, there is an island far away in the sea which is called' the Ogygian.'
"Pray do not scold her," replied Ulysses;" she is not to blame.
Then was Ulysses glad and prayed aloud saying," Father Jove, grant that Alcinous may do all as he has said, for so he will win an imperishable name among mankind, and at the same time I shall return to my country."
Then Arete told her maids to set a bed in the room that was in the gatehouse, and make it with good red rugs, and to spread coverlets on the top of them with woollen cloaks for Ulysses to wear.
The maids thereon went out with torches in their hands, and when they had made the bed they came up to Ulysses and said," Rise, sir stranger, and come with us for your bed is ready," and glad indeed was he to go to his rest.
So Ulysses slept in a bed placed in a room over the echoing gateway; but Alcinous lay in the inner part of the house, with the queen his wife by his side.
Now when the child of morning, rosyfingered Dawn, appeared, Alcinous and Ulysses both rose, and Alcinous led the way to the Phaeacian place of assembly, which was near the ships.
When they got there they sat down side by side on a seat of polished stone, while Minerva took the form of one of Alcinous' servants, and went round the town in order to help Ulysses to get home.
Every one was struck with the appearance of Ulysses, for Minerva had beautified him about the head and shoulders, making him look taller and stouter than he really was, that he might impress the Phaeacians favourably as being a very remarkable man, and might come off well in the many trials of skill to which they would challenge him.
The company then laid their hands upon the good things that were before them, but as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, the muse inspired Demodocus to sing the feats of heroes, and more especially a matter that was then in the mouths of all men, to wit, the quarrel between Ulysses and Achilles, and the fierce words that they heaped on one another as they sat together at a banquet.
Thus sang the bard, but Ulysses drew his purple mantle over his head and covered his face, for he was ashamed to let the Phaeacians see that he was weeping.
When the bard left off singing he wiped the tears from his eyes, uncovered his face, and, taking his cup, made a drinkoffering to the gods; but when the Phaeacians pressed Demodocus to sing further, for they delighted in his lays, then Ulysses again drew his mantle over his head and wept bitterly.
When Laodamas heard this he made his way into the middle of the crowd and said to Ulysses," I hope, Sir, that you will enter yourself for some one or other of our competitions if you are skilled in any of them— and you must have gone in for many a one before now.
Ulysses answered," Laodamas, why do you taunt me in this way?
"For shame, Sir," answered Ulysses, fiercely," you are an insolent fellow— so true is it that the gods do not grace all men alike in speech, person, and understanding.
Ulysses was glad when he found he had a friend among the lookerson, so he began to speak more pleasantly. "
Presently the servant came back with Demodocus 's lyre, and he took his place in the midst of them, whereon the best young dancers in the town began to foot and trip it so nimbly that Ulysses was delighted with the merry twinkling of their feet.
Thus sang the bard, and both Ulysses and the seafaring Phaeacians were charmed as they heard him.
Then Ulysses said: "King Alcinous, you said your people were the nimblest dancers in the world, and indeed they have proved themselves to be so.
As he spoke he placed the sword in the hands of Ulysses and said," Good luck to you, father stranger; if anything has been said amiss may the winds blow it away with them, and may heaven grant you a safe return, for I understand you have been long away from home, and have gone through much hardship."
To which Ulysses answered," Good luck to you too my friend, and may the gods grant you every happiness.
Lastly she added a cloak and a good shirt from Alcinous, and said to Ulysses: "See to the lid yourself, and have the whole bound round at once, for fear any one should rob you by the way when you are asleep in your ship."
When Ulysses heard this he put the lid on the chest and made it fast with a bond that Circe had taught him.
And Ulysses said," Nausicaa, daughter of great Alcinous, may Jove the mighty husband of Juno, grant that I may reach my home; so shall I bless you as my guardian angel all my days, for it was you who saved me."
Then Ulysses cut off a piece of roast pork with plenty of fat( for there was abundance left on the joint) and said to a servant," Take this piece of pork over to Demodocus and tell him to eat it; for all the pain his lays may cause me I will salute him none the less; bards are honoured and respected throughout the world, for the muse teaches them their songs and loves them."
They then laid their hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had to eat and drink, Ulysses said to Demodocus," Demodocus, there is no one in the world whom I admire more than I do you.
Now, however, change your song and tell us of the wooden horse which Epeus made with the assistance of Minerva, and which Ulysses got by stratagem into the fort of Troy after freighting it with the men who afterwards sacked the city.
The bard inspired of heaven took up the story at the point where some of the Argives set fire to their tents and sailed away while others, hidden within the horse were waiting with Ulysses in the Trojan place of assembly.
He sang how they overran the city hither and thither and ravaged it, and how Ulysses went raging like Mars along with Menelaus to the house of Deiphobus.
All this he told, but Ulysses was overcome as he heard him, and his cheeks were wet with tears.
She screams aloud and flings her arms about him as he lies gasping for breath and dying, but her enemies beat her from behind about the back and shoulders, and carry her off into slavery, to a life of labour and sorrow, and the beauty fades from her cheeks— even so piteously did Ulysses weep, but none of those present perceived his tears except Alcinous, who was sitting near him, and could hear the sobs and sighs that he was heaving.
And Ulysses answered," King Alcinous, it is a good thing to hear a bard with such a divine voice as this man has.
I am Ulysses son of Laertes, renowned among mankind for all manner of subtlety, so that my fame ascends to heaven.
"But I would not listen to them, and shouted out to him in my rage,' Cyclops, if any one asks you who it was that put your eye out and spoiled your beauty, say it was the valiant warrior Ulysses, son of Laertes, who lives in Ithaca.'
There was a prophet here, at one time, a man both brave and of great stature, Telemus son of Eurymus, who was an excellent seer, and did all the prophesying for the Cyclopes till he grew old; he told me that all this would happen to me some day, and said I should lose my sight by the hand of Ulysses.
I have been all along expecting some one of imposing presence and superhuman strength, whereas he turns out to be a little insignificant weakling, who has managed to blind my eye by taking advantage of me in my drink; come here, then, Ulysses, that I may make you presents to show my hospitality, and urge Neptune to help you forward on your journey— for Neptune and I are father and son.
"On this he lifted up his hands to the firmament of heaven and prayed, saying,' Hear me, great Neptune; if I am indeed your own true begotten son, grant that Ulysses may never reach his home alive; or if he must get back to his friends at last, let him do so late and in sore plight after losing all his men[ let him reach his home in another man 's ship and find trouble in his house.'
They were astounded when they saw us and said,' Ulysses, what brings you here?
Never yet was any man able to stand so much as a taste of the herb I gave you; you must be spellproof; surely you can be none other than the bold hero Ulysses, who Mercury always said would come here some day with his ship while on his way home from Troy; so be it then; sheathe your sword and let us go to bed, that we may make friends and learn to trust each other.'
"When Circe saw me sitting there without eating, and in great grief, she came to me and said,' Ulysses, why do you sit like that as though you were dumb, gnawing at your own heart, and refusing both meat and drink?
They knew me at once, seized me each of them by the hand, and wept for joy till the whole house was filled with the sound of their halloaballooing, and Circe herself was so sorry for them that she came up to me and said,' Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, go back at once to the sea where you have left your ship, and first draw it on to the land.
Remember how the Cyclops treated us when our comrades went inside his cave, and Ulysses with them.
Thereon Circe came up to me and said,' Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, tell your men to leave off crying; I know how much you have all of you suffered at sea, and how ill you have fared among cruel savages on the mainland, but that is over now, so stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and hearty as you were when you left Ithaca; for at present you are weakened both in body and mind; you keep all the time thinking of the hardships you have suffered during your travels, so that you have no more cheerfulness left in you.'
"And the goddess answered,' Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, you shall none of you stay here any longer if you do not want to, but there is another journey which you have got to take before you can sail homewards.
He knew me and said,' Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, why, poor man, have you left the light of day and come down to visit the dead in this sad place?
And Ulysses answered," King Alcinous, if you were to bid me to stay here for a whole twelve months, and then speed me on my way, loaded with your noble gifts, I should obey you gladly and it would redound greatly to my advantage, for I should return fullerhanded to my own people, and should thus be more respected and beloved by all who see me when I get back to Ithaca."
"Ulysses," replied Alcinous," not one of us who sees you has any idea that you are a charlatan or a swindler.
"Alcinous," answered Ulysses," there is a time for making speeches, and a time for going to bed; nevertheless, since you so desire, I will not refrain from telling you the still sadder tale of those of my comrades who did not fall fighting with the Trojans, but perished on their return, through the treachery of a wicked woman.
"'Ulysses,' he answered,' noble son of Laertes, I was not lost at sea in any storm of Neptune 's raising, nor did my foes despatch me upon the mainland, but Aegisthus and my wicked wife were the death of me between them.
Not that your wife, Ulysses, is likely to murder you, for Penelope is a very admirable woman, and has an excellent nature.
The fleet descendant of Aeacus knew me and spoke piteously, saying,' Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, what deed of daring will you undertake next, that you venture down to the house of Hades among us silly dead, who are but the ghosts of them that can labour no more?'
Hercules knew me at once when he saw me, and spoke piteously, saying,' My poor Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, are you too leading the same sorry kind of life that I did when I was above ground?
In the meantime I will tell Ulysses about your course, and will explain everything to him so as to prevent your suffering from misadventure either by land or sea.'
"'Come here,' they sang,' renowned Ulysses, honour to the Achaean name, and listen to our two voices.
Ulysses,' said he,' you are cruel; you are very strong yourself and never get worn out; you seem to be made of iron, and now, though your men are exhausted with toil and want of sleep, you will not let them land and cook themselves a good supper upon this island, but bid them put out to sea and go faring fruitlessly on through the watches of the flying night.
"Meanwhile Lampetie went straight off to the sun and told him we had been killing his cows, whereon he flew into a great rage, and said to the immortals,' Father Jove, and all you other gods who live in everlasting bliss, I must have vengeance on the crew of Ulysses ' ship: they have had the insolence to kill my cows, which were the one thing I loved to look upon, whether I was going up heaven or down again.
"Ulysses," said he," now that you have reached my house I doubt not you will get home without further misadventure no matter how much you have suffered in the past.
They set the steaks to grill and made an excellent dinner, after which the inspired bard, Demodocus, who was a favourite with every one, sang to them; but Ulysses kept on turning his eyes towards the sun, as though to hasten his setting, for he was longing to be on his way.
As one who has been all day ploughing a fallow field with a couple of oxen keeps thinking about his supper and is glad when night comes that he may go and get it, for it is all his legs can do to carry him, even so did Ulysses rejoice when the sun went down, and he at once said to the Phaeacians, addressing himself more particularly to King Alcinous: "Sir, and all of you, farewell.
Pontonous mixed the wine and handed it to every one in turn; the others each from his own seat made a drinkoffering to the blessed gods that live in heaven, but Ulysses rose and placed the double cup in the hands of queen Arete.
When they got to the water side the crew took these things and put them on board, with all the meat and drink; but for Ulysses they spread a rug and a linen sheet on deck that he might sleep soundly in the stern of the ship.
Thereon, when they began rowing out to sea, Ulysses fell into a deep, sweet, and almost deathlike slumber.
She had so much way upon her that she ran half her own length on to the shore; when, however, they had landed, the first thing they did was to lift Ulysses with his rug and linen sheet out of the ship, and lay him down upon the sand still fast asleep.
They put these all together by the root of the olive tree, away from the road, for fear some passer by might come and steal them before Ulysses awoke; and then they made the best of their way home again.
But Neptune did not forget the threats with which he had already threatened Ulysses, so he took counsel with Jove."
I said I would let Ulysses get home when he had suffered sufficiently.
Thus did the chiefs and rulers of the Phaeacians pray to king Neptune, standing round his altar; and at the same time Ulysses woke up once more upon his own soil.
Ulysses was glad when he saw her, and went straight up to her.
Ulysses was glad at finding himself, as Minerva told him, in his own country, and he began to answer, but he did not speak the truth, and made up a lying story in the instinctive wiliness of his heart.
And Ulysses answered," A man, goddess, may know a great deal, but you are so constantly changing your appearance that when he meets you it is a hard matter for him to know whether it is you or not.
Then Ulysses rejoiced at finding himself again in his own land, and kissed the bounteous soil; he lifted up his hands and prayed to the nymphs, saying," Naiad nymphs, daughters of Jove, I made sure that I was never again to see you, now therefore I greet you with all loving salutations, and I will bring you offerings as in the old days, if Jove 's redoubtable daughter will grant me life, and bring my son to manhood."
Therewith she went down into the cave to look for the safest hiding places, while Ulysses brought up all the treasure of gold, bronze, and good clothing which the Phaeacians had given him.
"Ulysses," said Minerva," noble son of Laertes, think how you can lay hands on these disreputable people who have been lording it in your house these three years, courting your wife and making wedding presents to her, while she does nothing but lament your absence, giving hope and sending encouraging messages to every one of them, but meaning the very opposite of all she says."
And Ulysses answered," In good truth, goddess, it seems I should have come to much the same bad end in my own house as Agamemnon did, if you had not given me such timely information.
"But why," said Ulysses," did you not tell him, for you knew all about it?
Ulysses now left the haven, and took the rough track up through the wooded country and over the crest of the mountain till he reached the place where Minerva had said that he would find the swineherd, who was the most thrifty servant he had.
When the hounds saw Ulysses they set up a furious barking and flew at him, but Ulysses was cunning enough to sit down and loose his hold of the stick that he had in his hand: still, he would have been torn by them in his own homestead had not the swineherd dropped his ox hide, rushed full speed through the gate of the yard and driven the dogs off by shouting and throwing stones at them.
Then he said to Ulysses," Old man, the dogs were likely to have made short work of you, and then you would have got me into trouble.
Ulysses was pleased at being made thus welcome, and said" May Jove, sir, and the rest of the gods grant you your heart 's desire in return for the kind way in which you have received me."
He singed them, cut them up, and spitted them; when the meat was cooked he brought it all in and set it before Ulysses, hot and still on the spit, whereon Ulysses sprinkled it over with white barley meal.
The swineherd then mixed wine in a bowl of ivywood, and taking a seat opposite Ulysses told him to begin.
Even the fierce freebooters who go raiding on other people 's land, and Jove gives them their spoil— even they, when they have filled their ships and got home again live consciencestricken, and look fearfully for judgement; but some god seems to have told these people that Ulysses is dead and gone; they will not, therefore, go back to their own homes and make their offers of marriage in the usual way, but waste his estate by force, without fear or stint.
This was his story, but Ulysses went on eating and drinking ravenously without a word, brooding his revenge.
When he had eaten enough and was satisfied, the swineherd took the bowl from which he usually drank, filled it with wine, and gave it to Ulysses, who was pleased, and said as he took it in his hands," My friend, who was this master of yours that bought you and paid for you, so rich and so powerful as you tell me?
Eumaeus answered," Old man, no traveller who comes here with news will get Ulysses ' wife and son to believe his story.
But the wolves and birds of prey have long since torn Ulysses to pieces, or the fishes of the sea have eaten him, and his bones are lying buried deep in sand upon some foreign shore; he is dead and gone, and a bad business it is for all his friends— for me especially; go where I may I shall never find so good a master, not even if I were to go home to my mother and father where I was bred and born.
I do not so much care, however, about my parents now, though I should dearly like to see them again in my own country; it is the loss of Ulysses that grieves me most; I can not speak of him without reverence though he is here no longer, for he was very fond of me, and took such care of me that wherever he may be I shall always honour his memory."
"My friend," replied Ulysses," you are very positive, and very hard of belief about your master 's coming home again, nevertheless I will not merely say, but will swear, that he is coming.
I swear by king Jove, by the rites of hospitality, and by that hearth of Ulysses to which I have now come, that all will surely happen as I have said it will.
Ulysses will return in this self same year; with the end of this moon and the beginning of the next he will be here to do vengeance on all those who are ill treating his wife and son."
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus," Old man, you will neither get paid for bringing good news, nor will Ulysses ever come home; drink your wine in peace, and let us talk about something else.
And Ulysses answered," I will tell you all about it.
"There it was that I heard news of Ulysses, for the king told me he had entertained him, and shown him much hospitality while he was on his homeward journey.
He showed me also the treasure of gold, and wrought iron that Ulysses had got together.
But the king said Ulysses had gone to Dodona that he might learn Jove 's mind from the god 's high oak tree, and know whether after so long an absence he should return to Ithaca openly, or in secret.
He sent me off however before Ulysses returned, for there happened to be a Thesprotian ship sailing for the wheatgrowing island of Dulichium, and he told those in charge of her to be sure and take me safely to King Acastus.
To this you answered, O swineherd Eumaeus," Poor unhappy stranger, I have found the story of your misfortunes extremely interesting, but that part about Ulysses is not right; and you will never get me to believe it.
"As for me I live out of the way here with the pigs, and never go to the town unless when Penelope sends for me on the arrival of some news about Ulysses.
He said he had seen Ulysses with Idomeneus among the Cretans, refitting his ships which had been damaged in a gale.
He said Ulysses would return in the following summer or autumn with his men, and that he would bring back much wealth.
Ulysses answered," I see that you are of an unbelieving mind; I have given you my oath, and yet you will not credit me ;let us then make a bargain, and call all the gods in heaven to witness it.
Eumaeus did not forget the gods, for he was a man of good principles, so the first thing he did was to cut bristles from the pig 's face and throw them into the fire, praying to all the gods as he did so that Ulysses might return home again.
He gave Ulysses some slices cut lengthways down the loin as a mark of especial honour, and Ulysses was much pleased.
As he spoke he cut off the first piece and offered it as a burnt sacrifice to the immortal gods; then he made them a drinkoffering, put the cup in the hands of Ulysses, and sat down to his own portion.
It poured without ceasing, and the wind blew strong from the West, which is a wet quarter ,so Ulysses thought he would see whether Eumaeus, in the excellent care he took of him, would take off his own cloak and give it him, or make one of his men give him one."
Menelaus and Ulysses were the leaders, but I was in command also, for the other two would have it so.
When the night was twothirds through and the stars had shifted their places, I nudged Ulysses who was close to me with my elbow, and he at once gave me his ear.
"'Ulysses,' said I,' this cold will be the death of me, for I have no cloak; some god fooled me into setting off with nothing on but my shirt, and I do not know what to do.'
"Ulysses, who was as crafty as he was valiant, hit upon the following plan: "'Keep still,' said he in a low voice,' or the others will hear you.'
When Ulysses ' son comes home again he will give you both cloak and shirt, and send you wherever you may want to go."
With this he got up and made a bed for Ulysses by throwing some goatskins and sheepskins on the ground in front of the fire.
Here Ulysses lay down, and Eumaeus covered him over with a great heavy cloak that he kept for a change in case of extraordinarily bad weather.
Thus did Ulysses sleep, and the young men slept beside him.
But the swineherd did not like sleeping away from his pigs, so he got ready to go outside, and Ulysses was glad to see that he looked after his property during his master 's absence.
But Minerva went to the fair city of Lacedaemon to tell Ulysses ' son that he was to return at once.
I wish I were as certain of finding Ulysses returned when I get back to Ithaca, that I might tell him of the very great kindness you have shown me and of the many beautiful presents I am taking with me."
The eagle came from the mountain where it was bred and has its nest, and in like manner Ulysses, after having travelled far and suffered much, will return to take his revenge— if indeed he is not back already and hatching mischief for the suitors."
I am from Ithaca, and my father is Ulysses, as surely as that he ever lived.
Meanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd were eating their supper in the hut, and the men supped with them.
As soon as they had had to eat and drink, Ulysses began trying to prove the swineherd and see whether he would continue to treat him kindly, and ask him to stay on at the station or pack him off to the city; so he said: "Eumaeus, and all of you, tomorrow I want to go away and begin begging about the town, so as to be no more trouble to you or to your men.
I should like also to go to the house of Ulysses and bring news of her husband to Queen Penelope.
Ulysses answered," I hope you may be as dear to the gods as you are to me, for having saved me from going about and getting into trouble; there is nothing worse than being always on the tramp; still, when men have once got low down in the world they will go through a great deal on behalf of their miserable bellies.
Since, however, you press me to stay here and await the return of Telemachus, tell me about Ulysses ' mother, and his father whom he left on the threshold of old age when he set out for Troy.
Ulysses answered," Then you must have been a very little fellow, Eumaeus, when you were taken so far away from your home and parents.
Ulysses answered," Eumaeus, I have heard the story of your misfortunes with the most lively interest and pity, but Jove has given you good as well as evil, for in spite of everything you have a good master, who sees that you always have enough to eat and drink; and you lead a good life, whereas I am still going about begging my way from city to city."
He is much the best man and the most persistent wooer, of all those who are paying court to my mother and trying to take Ulysses ' place.
Meanwhile Ulysses and the swineherd had lit a fire in the hut and were were getting breakfast ready at daybreak, for they had sent the men out with the pigs.
When Telemachus came up, the dogs did not bark but fawned upon him ,so Ulysses, hearing the sound of feet and noticing that the dogs did not bark, said to Eumaeus: "Eumaeus, I hear footsteps; I suppose one of your men or some one of your acquaintance is coming here, for the dogs are fawning upon him and not barking."
"So be it, old friend," answered Telemachus," but I am come now because I want to see you, and to learn whether my mother is still at her old home or whether some one else has married her, so that the bed of Ulysses is without bedding and covered with cobwebs."
Ulysses rose from his seat to give him place as he entered, but Telemachus checked him;" Sit down, stranger," said he," I can easily find another seat, and there is one here who will lay it for me."
Ulysses went back to his own place, and Eumaeus strewed some green brushwood on the floor and threw a sheepskin on top of it for Telemachus to sit upon.
He mixed wine also in bowls of ivywood, and took his seat facing Ulysses.
Then Ulysses said," Sir, it is right that I should say something myself.
I wish I were as young as you are and in my present mind; if I were son to Ulysses, or, indeed, Ulysses himself, I would rather some one came and cut my head off, but I would go to the house and be the bane of every one of these men.
Laertes was the only son of Arceisius, and Ulysses only son of Laertes.
I am myself the only son of Ulysses who left me behind him when he went away, so that I have never been of any use to him.
He used to superintend the work on his farm in spite of his bitter sorrow about Ulysses, and he would eat and drink at will along with his servants; but they tell me that from the day on which you set out for Pylos he has neither eaten nor drunk as he ought to do, nor does he look after his farm, but sits weeping and wasting the flesh from off his bones."
She stood against the side of the entry, and revealed herself to Ulysses, but Telemachus could not see her, and knew not that she was there, for the gods do not let themselves be seen by everybody.
Ulysses saw her, and so did the dogs, for they did not bark, but went scared and whining off to the other side of the yards.
She nodded her head and motioned to Ulysses with her eyebrows; whereon he left the hut and stood before her outside the main wall of the yards.
Then she said to him: "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, it is now time for you to tell your son: do not keep him in the dark any longer, but lay your plans for the destruction of the suitors, and then make for the town.
Then she went away and Ulysses came back inside the hut.
And Ulysses said," I am no god, why should you take me for one?
Ulysses answered," Telemachus, you ought not to be so immeasurably astonished at my being really here.
There is no other Ulysses who will come hereafter.
"I will tell you the truth, my son," replied Ulysses.
"Listen to me," replied Ulysses," and think whether Minerva and her father Jove may seem sufficient, or whether I am to try and find some one else as well."
"These two," continued Ulysses," will not keep long out of the fray, when the suitors and we join fight in my house.
Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you are removing it ;say that you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke, inasmuch as it is no longer what it was when Ulysses went away, but has become soiled and begrimed with soot.
There is also another matter; if you are indeed my son and my blood runs in your veins, let no one know that Ulysses is within the house— neither Laertes, nor yet the swineherd, nor any of the servants, nor even Penelope herself.
Thus did he speak, and his words pleased them well ,so they rose forthwith and went to the house of Ulysses, where they took their accustomed seats.
They wanted to tear him in pieces and eat up everything he had, but Ulysses stayed their hands although they were infuriated, and now you devour his property without paying for it, and break my heart by wooing his wife and trying to kill his son.
I say— and it shall surely be— that my spear shall be reddened with his blood; for many a time has Ulysses taken me on his knees, held wine up to my lips to drink, and put pieces of meat into my hands.
In the evening Eumaeus got back to Ulysses and his son, who had just sacrificed a young pig of a year old and were helping one another to get supper ready; Minerva therefore came up to Ulysses, turned him into an old man with a stroke of her wand, and clad him in his old clothes again, for fear that the swineherd might recognise him and not keep the secret, but go and tell Penelope.
Then Ulysses said," Sir, I do not want to stay here; a beggar can always do better in town than country, for any one who likes can give him something.
Then they laid their hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink Penelope said: "Telemachus, I shall go upstairs and lie down on that sad couch, which I have not ceased to water with my tears, from the day Ulysses set out for Troy with the sons of Atreus.
"We went to Pylos and saw Nestor, who took me to his house and treated me as hospitably as though I were a son of his own who had just returned after a long absence; so also did his sons; but he said he had not heard a word from any human being about Ulysses, whether he was alive or dead.
The lion, when he comes back to his lair, will make short work with the pair of them, and so will Ulysses with these suitors.
By father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, if Ulysses is still the man that he was when he wrestled with Philomeleides in Lesbos, and threw him so heavily that all the Greeks cheered him— if he is still such, and were to come near these suitors, they would have a short shrift and a sorry wedding.
He said he could see Ulysses on an island sorrowing bitterly in the house of the nymph Calypso, who was keeping him prisoner, and he could not reach his home, for he had no ships nor sailors to take him over the sea.'
Then Theoclymenus said to her: "Madam, wife of Ulysses, Telemachus does not understand these things; listen therefore to me, for I can divine them surely, and will hide nothing from you.
May Jove the king of heaven be my witness, and the rites of hospitality, with that hearth of Ulysses to which I now come, that Ulysses himself is even now in Ithaca, and, either going about the country or staying in one place, is enquiring into all these evil deeds and preparing a day of reckoning for the suitors.
In the meantime Ulysses and the swineherd were about starting for the town, and the swineherd said," Stranger, I suppose you still want to go to town today, as my master said you were to do; for my own part I should have liked you to stay here as a station hand, but I must do as my master tells me, or he will scold me later on, and a scolding from one 's master is a very serious thing.
"I know, and understand you," replied Ulysses;" you need say no more.
When he saw Eumaeus and Ulysses he reviled them with outrageous and unseemly language, which made Ulysses very angry.
I say, therefore— and it shall surely be— if he goes near Ulysses ' house he will get his head broken by the stools they will fling at him, till they turn him out."
On this, as he passed, he gave Ulysses a kick on the hip out of pure wantonness, but Ulysses stood firm, and did not budge from the path.
"Fountain nymphs," he cried," children of Jove, if ever Ulysses burned you thigh bones covered with fat whether of lambs or kids, grant my prayer that heaven may send him home.
I wish I were as sure that Apollo would strike Telemachus dead this very day, or that the suitors would kill him, as I am that Ulysses will never come home again."
Presently Ulysses and the swineherd came up to the house and stood by it, amid a sound of music, for Phemius was just beginning to sing to the suitors.
Then Ulysses took hold of the swineherd 's hand, and said: "Eumaeus, this house of Ulysses is a very fine place.
And Ulysses answered," I understand and heed.
This was Argos, whom Ulysses had bred before setting out for Troy, but he had never had any work out of him.
As soon as he saw Ulysses standing there, he dropped his ears and wagged his tail, but he could not get close up to his master.
When Ulysses saw the dog on the other side of the yard, he dashed a tear from his eyes without Eumaeus seeing it, and said: "Eumaeus, what a noble hound that is over yonder on the manure heap: his build is splendid; is he as fine a fellow as he looks, or is he only one of those dogs that come begging about a table, and are kept merely for show?"
If he were what he was when Ulysses left for Troy, he would soon show you what he could do.
Immediately afterwards Ulysses came inside, looking like a poor miserable old beggar, leaning on his staff and with his clothes all in rags.
Ulysses answered," May King Jove grant all happiness to Telemachus, and fulfil the desire of his heart."
The suitors applauded the bard, whereon Minerva went up to Ulysses and prompted him to beg pieces of bread from each one of the suitors, that he might see what kind of people they were, and tell the good from the bad; but come what might she was not going to save a single one of them.
Ulysses, therefore, went on his round, going from left to right, and stretched out his hands to beg as though he were a real beggar.
You are always harder on Ulysses ' servants than any of the other suitors are, and above all on me, but I do not care so long as Telemachus and Penelope are alive and here."
As he spoke he drew the stool on which he rested his dainty feet from under the table, and made as though he would throw it at Ulysses, but the other suitors all gave him something, and filled his wallet with bread and meat; he was about, therefore, to go back to the threshold and eat what the suitors had given him, but he first went up to Antinous and said: "Sir, give me something; you are not, surely, the poorest man here; you seem to be a chief, foremost among them all; therefore you should be the better giver, and I will tell far and wide of your bounty.
On this Ulysses began to move off, and said," Your looks, my fine sir, are better than your breeding; if you were in your own house you would not spare a poor man so much as a pinch of salt, for though you are in another man 's, and surrounded with abundance, you can not find it in you to give him even a piece of bread."
Ulysses stood firm as a rock and the blow did not even stagger him, but he shook his head in silence as he brooded on his revenge.
Thus did she talk with her maids as she sat in her own room, and in the meantime Ulysses was getting his dinner.
He says there is an old friendship between his house and that of Ulysses, and that he comes from Crete where the descendants of Minos live, after having been driven hither and thither by every kind of misfortune; he also declares that he has heard of Ulysses as being alive and near at hand among the Thesprotians, and that he is bringing great wealth home with him."
No estate can stand such recklessness, for we have now no Ulysses to protect us.
When Eumaeus heard this he went straight to Ulysses and said," Father stranger, my mistress Penelope, mother of Telemachus, has sent for you; she is in great grief, but she wishes to hear anything you can tell her about her husband, and if she is satisfied that you are speaking the truth, she will give you a shirt and cloak, which are the very things that you are most in want of.
"I will tell Penelope," answered Ulysses," nothing but what is strictly true.
As soon as he came he began to insult Ulysses, and to try and drive him out of his own house.
Ulysses frowned on him and said," My friend, I do you no manner of harm; people give you a great deal, but I am not jealous.
I shall have more peace tomorrow if I do, for you will not come to the house of Ulysses any more."
The others all agreed, but Ulysses, to throw them off the scent, said," Sirs, an old man like myself, worn out with suffering, can not hold his own against a young one; but my irrepressible belly urges me on, though I know it can only end in my getting a drubbing.
Every one assented, and Ulysses girded his old rags about his loins, thus baring his stalwart thighs, his broad chest and shoulders, and his mighty arms; but Minerva came up to him and made his limbs even stronger still.
Then Ulysses considered whether he should let drive so hard at him as to make an end of him then and there, or whether he should give him a lighter blow that should only knock him down; in the end he deemed it best to give the lighter blow for fear the Achaeans should begin to suspect who he was.
Then they began to fight, and Irus hit Ulysses on the right shoulder; but Ulysses gave Irus a blow on the neck under the ear that broke in the bones of his skull, and the blood came gushing out of his mouth; he fell groaning in the dust, gnashing his teeth and kicking on the ground, but the suitors threw up their hands and nearly died of laughter, as Ulysses caught hold of him by the foot and dragged him into the outer court as far as the gatehouse.
Ulysses hailed this as of good omen, and Antinous set a great goat 's paunch before him filled with blood and fat.
To this Ulysses answered," Amphinomus, you seem to be a man of good understanding, as indeed you may well be, seeing whose son you are.
This was what she said, and Ulysses was glad when he heard her trying to get presents out of the suitors, and flattering them with fair words which he knew she did not mean.
Then Ulysses said: "Maids, servants of Ulysses who has so long been absent, go to the queen inside the house; sit with her and amuse her, or spin, and pick wool.
"Vixen," replied Ulysses, scowling at her," I will go and tell Telemachus what you have been saying, and he will have you torn limb from limb."
But Ulysses took his stand near the burning braziers, holding up torches and looking at the people— brooding the while on things that should surely come to pass.
But Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment cease their insolence, for she wanted Ulysses to become even more bitter against them; she therefore set Eurymachus son of Polybus on to gibe at him, which made the others laugh. "
It is not for nothing that this man has come to the house of Ulysses; I believe the light has not been coming from the torches, but from his own head— for his hair is all gone, every bit of it."
Then turning to Ulysses he said," Stranger, will you work as a servant, if I send you to the wolds and see that you are well paid?
"Eurymachus," answered Ulysses," if you and I were to work one against the other in early summer when the days are at their longest— give me a good scythe, and take another yourself, and let us see which will last the longer or mow the stronger, from dawn till dark when the mowing grass is about.
If Ulysses comes to his own again, the doors of his house are wide, but you will find them narrow when you try to fly through them."
With this he caught hold of a footstool, but Ulysses sought protection at the knees of Amphinomus of Dulichium, for he was afraid.
Neither let us do violence to the stranger nor to any of Ulysses ' servants.
Ulysses was left in the cloister, pondering on the means whereby with Minerva 's help he might be able to kill the suitors.
Say that you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke, inasmuch as it is no longer what it was when Ulysses went away, but has become soiled and begrimed with soot.
Then Ulysses and his son made all haste to take the helmets, shields, and spears inside; and Minerva went before them with a gold lamp in her hand that shed a soft and brilliant radiance, whereon Telemachus said," Father, my eyes behold a great marvel: the walls, with the rafters, crossbeams, and the supports on which they rest are all aglow as with a flaming fire.
"Hush," answered Ulysses," hold your peace and ask no questions, for this is the manner of the gods.
There he lay in his bed till morning, while Ulysses was left in the cloister pondering on the means whereby with Minerva 's help he might be able to kill the suitors.
They emptied the embers out of the braziers, and heaped much wood upon them to give both light and heat; but Melantho began to rail at Ulysses a second time and said," Stranger, do you mean to plague us by hanging about the house all night and spying upon the women?
Ulysses scowled at her and answered," My good woman, why should you be so angry with me?
I had any number of servants, and all the other things which people have who live well and are accounted wealthy, but it pleased Jove to take all away from me; therefore, woman, beware lest you too come to lose that pride and place in which you now wanton above your fellows; have a care lest you get out of favour with your mistress, and lest Ulysses should come home, for there is still a chance that he may do so.
Eurynome brought the seat at once and set a fleece upon it, and as soon as Ulysses had sat down Penelope began by saying," Stranger, I shall first ask you who and whence are you?
"Madam," answered Ulysses," who on the face of the whole earth can dare to chide with you?
I can therefore show no attention to strangers, nor suppliants, nor to people who say that they are skilled artisans, but am all the time brokenhearted about Ulysses.
Then I said to them,' Sweethearts, Ulysses is indeed dead, still, do not press me to marry again immediately ;wait— for I would not have my skill in needlework perish unrecorded— till I have finished making a pall for the hero Laertes, to be ready against the time when death shall take him.
Then Ulysses answered," Madam, wife of Ulysses, since you persist in asking me about my family, I will answer, no matter what it costs me: people must expect to be pained when they have been exiles as long as I have, and suffered as much among as many peoples.
Idomeneus sailed for Troy, and I, who am the younger, am called Aethon; my brother, however, was at once the older and the more valiant of the two; hence it was in Crete that I saw Ulysses and showed him hospitality, for the winds took him there as he was on his way to Troy, carrying him out of his course from cape Malea and leaving him in Amnisus off the cave of Ilithuia, where the harbours are difficult to enter and he could hardly find shelter from the winds that were then raging.
Many a plausible tale did Ulysses further tell her, and Penelope wept as she listened, for her heart was melted.
Ulysses felt for her and was sorry for her, but he kept his eyes as hard as horn or iron without letting them so much as quiver, so cunningly did he restrain his tears.
"Madam," answered Ulysses," it is such a long time ago that I can hardly say.
Ulysses wore a mantle of purple wool, double lined, and it was fastened by a gold brooch with two catches for the pin.
Furthermore I say, and lay my saying to your heart, that I do not know whether Ulysses wore these clothes when he left home, or whether one of his companions had given them to him while he was on his voyage; or possibly some one at whose house he was staying made him a present of them, for he was a man of many friends and had few equals among the Achaeans.
His name was Eurybates, and Ulysses treated him with greater familiarity than he did any of the others, as being the most likeminded with himself."
Penelope was moved still more deeply as she heard the indisputable proofs that Ulysses laid before her; and when she had again found relief in tears she said to him," Stranger, I was already disposed to pity you, but henceforth you shall be honoured and made welcome in my house.
It was I who gave Ulysses the clothes you speak of.
Then Ulysses answered," Madam, wife of Ulysses, do not disfigure yourself further by grieving thus bitterly for your loss, though I can hardly blame you for doing so.
A woman who has loved her husband and borne him children, would naturally be grieved at losing him, even though he were a worse man than Ulysses, who they say was like a god.
I will hide nothing from you, and can say with perfect truth that I have lately heard of Ulysses as being alive and on his way home; he is among the Thesprotians, and is bringing back much valuable treasure that he has begged from one and another of them; but his ship and all his crew were lost as they were leaving the Thrinacian island, for Jove and the sungod were angry with him because his men had slaughtered the sungod 's cattle, and they were all drowned to a man.
But Ulysses stuck to the keel of the ship and was drifted on to the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the immortals, and who treated him as though he had been a god, giving him many presents, and wishing to escort him home safe and sound.
In fact Ulysses would have been here long ago, had he not thought better to go from land to land gathering wealth; for there is no man living who is so wily as he is; there is no one can compare with him.
Pheidon king of the Thesprotians told me all this, and he swore to me— making drinkofferings in his house as he did so— that the ship was by the water side and the crew found who would take Ulysses to his own country.
He sent me off first, for there happened to be a Thesprotian ship sailing for the wheatgrowing island of Dulichium, but he showed me all the treasure Ulysses had got together, and he had enough lying in the house of king Pheidon to keep his family for ten generations; but the king said Ulysses had gone to Dodona that he might learn Jove 's mind from the high oak tree, and know whether after so long an absence he should return to Ithaca openly or in secret.
So you may know he is safe and will be here shortly; he is close at hand and can not remain away from home much longer; nevertheless I will confirm my words with an oath, and call Jove who is the first and mightiest of all gods to witness, as also that hearth of Ulysses to which I have now come, that all I have spoken shall surely come to pass.
Ulysses will return in this self same year; with the end of this moon and the beginning of the next he will be here."
Ulysses will not return, neither will you get your escort hence, for so surely as that Ulysses ever was ,there are now no longer any such masters in the house as he was, to receive honourable strangers or to further them on their way home.
Ulysses answered," Madam, I have foresworn rugs and blankets from the day that I left the snowy ranges of Crete to go on shipboard.
"Come here," said she," Euryclea, and wash your master 's agemate; I suppose Ulysses ' hands and feet are very much the same now as his are, for trouble ages all of us dreadfully fast."
I have no doubt the women in some foreign palace which Ulysses has got to are gibing at him as all these sluts here have been gibing at you.
I do not wonder at your not choosing to let them wash you after the manner in which they have insulted you; I will wash your feet myself gladly enough, as Penelope has said that I am to do so; I will wash them both for Penelope 's sake and for your own, for you have raised the most lively feelings of compassion in my mind; and let me say this moreover, which pray attend to; we have had all kinds of strangers in distress come here before now, but I make bold to say that no one ever yet came who was so like Ulysses in figure, voice, and feet as you are."
"Those who have seen us both," answered Ulysses," have always said we were wonderfully like each other, and now you have noticed it too."
Ulysses sat by the fire, but ere long he turned away from the light, for it occurred to him that when the old woman had hold of his leg she would recognise a certain scar which it bore, whereon the whole truth would come out.
"Soninlaw and daughter," replied Autolycus," call the child thus: I am highly displeased with a large number of people in one place and another, both men and women; so name the child' Ulysses,' or the child of anger.
Ulysses, therefore, went to Parnassus to get the presents from Autolycus, who with his sons shook hands with him and gave him welcome.
When the child of morning, rosyfingered Dawn, appeared, the sons of Autolycus went out with their hounds hunting, and Ulysses went too.
The dogs were in front searching for the tracks of the beast they were chasing, and after them came the sons of Autolycus, among whom was Ulysses, close behind the dogs, and he had a long spear in his hand.
Ulysses was the first to raise his spear and try to drive it into the brute, but the boar was too quick for him, and charged him sideways, ripping him above the knee with a gash that tore deep though it did not reach the bone.
As for the boar, Ulysses hit him on the right shoulder, and the point of the spear went right through him, so that he fell groaning in the dust until the life went out of him.
The sons of Autolycus busied themselves with the carcass of the boar, and bound Ulysses ' wound; then, after saying a spell to stop the bleeding, they went home as fast as they could.
But when Autolycus and his sons had thoroughly healed Ulysses, they made him some splendid presents, and sent him back to Ithaca with much mutual good will.
The leg fell into the bath, which rang out and was overturned, so that all the water was spilt on the ground; Euryclea 's eyes between her joy and her grief filled with tears, and she could not speak, but she caught Ulysses by the beard and said," My dear child, I am sure you must be Ulysses himself, only I did not know you till I had actually touched and handled you."
As she spoke she looked towards Penelope, as though wanting to tell her that her dear husband was in the house, but Penelope was unable to look in that direction and observe what was going on, for Minerva had diverted her attention; so Ulysses caught Euryclea by the throat with his right hand and with his left drew her close to him, and said," Nurse, do you wish to be the ruin of me, you who nursed me at your own breast, now that after twenty years of wandering I am at last come to my own home again?
And Ulysses answered," Nurse, you ought not to speak in that way; I am well able to form my own opinion about one and all of them; hold your tongue and leave everything to heaven."
As he said this Euryclea left the cloister to fetch some more water, for the first had been all spilt; and when she had washed him and anointed him with oil, Ulysses drew his seat nearer to the fire to warm himself, and hid the scar under his rags.
"This dream, Madam," replied Ulysses," can admit but of one interpretation, for had not Ulysses himself told you how it shall be fulfilled?
Furthermore I say— and lay my saying to your heart— the coming dawn will usher in the illomened day that is to sever me from the house of Ulysses, for I am about to hold a tournament of axes.
Then Ulysses answered," Madam, wife of Ulysses, you need not defer your tournament, for Ulysses will return ere ever they can string the bow, handle it how they will, and send their arrows through the iron."
I will therefore go upstairs and recline upon that couch which I have never ceased to flood with my tears from the day Ulysses set out for the city with a hateful name."
Ulysses slept in the cloister upon an undressed bullock 's hide, on the top of which he threw several skins of the sheep the suitors had eaten, and Eurynome threw a cloak over him after he had laid himself down.
There, then, Ulysses lay wakefully brooding upon the way in which he should kill the suitors; and by and by, the women who had been in the habit of misconducting themselves with them, left the house giggling and laughing with one another.
This made Ulysses very angry, and he doubted whether to get up and kill every single one of them then and there, or to let them sleep one more and last time with the suitors.
"Goddess," answered Ulysses," all that you have said is true, but I am in some doubt as to how I shall be able to kill these wicked suitors single handed, seeing what a number of them there always are.
While Ulysses was thus yielding himself to a very deep slumber that eased the burden of his sorrows, his admirable wife awoke, and sitting up in her bed began to cry.
Even so I wish that the gods who live in heaven would hide me from mortal sight, or that fair Diana might strike me, for I would fain go even beneath the sad earth if I might do so still looking towards Ulysses only, and without having to yield myself to a worse man than he was.
This very night methought there was one lying by my side who was like Ulysses as he was when he went away with his host, and I rejoiced, for I believed that it was no dream, but the very truth itself."
On this the day broke, but Ulysses heard the sound of her weeping, and it puzzled him, for it seemed as though she already knew him and was by his side.
Jove heard his prayer and forthwith thundered high up among the clouds from the splendour of Olympus, and Ulysses was glad when he heard it.
Father Jove," said she," you, who rule over heaven and earth, you have thundered from a clear sky without so much as a cloud in it, and this means something for somebody; grant the prayer, then, of me your poor servant who calls upon you, and let this be the very last day that the suitors dine in the house of Ulysses.
Ulysses was glad when he heard the omens conveyed to him by the woman 's speech, and by the thunder, for he knew they meant that he should avenge himself on the suitors.
These he let feed about the premises, and then he said goodhumouredly to Ulysses," Stranger, are the suitors treating you any better now, or are they as insolent as ever?"
"May heaven," answered Ulysses," requite to them the wickedness with which they deal highhandedly in another man 's house without any sense of shame."
They tied the goats up under the gatehouse, and then Melanthius began gibing at Ulysses."
Ulysses made no answer, but bowed his head and brooded.
As he spoke he went up to Ulysses and saluted him with his right hand;" Good day to you, father stranger," said he," you seem to be very poorly off now, but I hope you will have better times by and by.
A sweat came over me when I saw this man, and my eyes filled with tears, for he reminds me of Ulysses, who I fear is going about in just such rags as this man 's are, if indeed he is still among the living.
for my good master, who made me his stockman when I was quite young among the Cephallenians, and now his cattle are countless; no one could have done better with them than I have, for they have bred like ears of corn; nevertheless I have to keep bringing them in for others to eat, who take no heed to his son though he is in the house, and fear not the wrath of heaven, but are already eager to divide Ulysses ' property among them because he has been away so long.
"Stockman," answered Ulysses," you seem to be a very welldisposed person, and I can see that you are a man of sense.
By Jove, the chief of all gods, and by that hearth of Ulysses to which I am now come, Ulysses shall return before you leave this place, and if you are so minded you shall see him killing the suitors who are now masters here."
And in like manner Eumaeus prayed that Ulysses might return home.
Telemachus purposely made Ulysses sit in the part of the cloister that was paved with stone; he gave him a shabby looking seat at a little table to himself, and had his portion of the inward meats brought to him, with his wine in a gold cup. "
I will put a stop to the gibes and blows of the suitors, for this is no public house, but belongs to Ulysses, and has passed from him to me.
Then they roasted the outer meat, drew it off the spits, gave every man his portion, and feasted to their heart 's content; those who waited at table gave Ulysses exactly the same portion as the others had, for Telemachus had told them to do so.
But Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment drop their insolence, for she wanted Ulysses to become still more bitter against them.
This man, confident in his great wealth, was paying court to the wife of Ulysses, and said to the suitors," Hear what I have to say.
I will, however, make him a present on my own account, that he may have something to give to the bathwoman, or to some other of Ulysses ' servants."
As he spoke he picked up a heifer 's foot from the meatbasket in which it lay, and threw it at Ulysses, but Ulysses turned his head a little aside, and avoided it, smiling grimly Sardinian fashion as he did so, and it hit the wall, not him.
As long,' I would say,' as you had ground for hoping that Ulysses would one day come home, no one could complain of your waiting and suffering the suitors to be in your house.
I will take these out of the house with me, for I see mischief overhanging you, from which not one of you men who are insulting people and plotting ill deeds in the house of Ulysses will be able to escape."
The two fell in with one another in Messene at the house of Ortilochus, where Ulysses was staying in order to recover a debt that was owing from the whole people; for the Messenians had carried off three hundred sheep from Ithaca, and had sailed away with them and with their shepherds.
In quest of these Ulysses took a long journey while still quite young, for his father and the other chieftains sent him on a mission to recover them.
It was when claiming these that Iphitus met Ulysses, and gave him the bow which mighty Eurytus had been used to carry, and which on his death had been left by him to his son.
Ulysses gave him in return a sword and a spear, and this was the beginning of a fast friendship, although they never visited at one another 's houses, for Jove 's son Hercules killed Iphitus ere they could do so.
This bow, then, given him by Iphitus, had not been taken with him by Ulysses when he sailed for Troy; he had used it so long as he had been at home, but had left it behind as having been a keepsake from a valued friend.
Then she said: "Listen to me you suitors, who persist in abusing the hospitality of this house because its owner has been long absent, and without other pretext than that you want to marry me; this, then, being the prize that you are contending for, I will bring out the mighty bow of Ulysses, and whomsoever of you shall string it most easily and send his arrow through each one of twelve axes, him will I follow and quit this house of my lawful husband, so goodly, and so abounding in wealth.
There is not a man of us all who is such another as Ulysses; for I have seen him and remember him, though I was then only a child."
This was what he said, but all the time he was expecting to be able to string the bow and shoot through the iron, whereas in fact he was to be the first that should taste of the arrows from the hands of Ulysses, whom he was dishonouring in his own house— egging the others on to do so also.
He was trying for the fourth time, and would have strung it had not Ulysses made a sign to check him in spite of all his eagerness.
Then the swineherd and the stockman left the cloisters together, and Ulysses followed them.
When they had got outside the gates and the outer yard, Ulysses said to them quietly: "Stockman, and you swineherd, I have something in my mind which I am in doubt whether to say or no; but I think I will say it.
What manner of men would you be to stand by Ulysses, if some god should bring him back here all of a sudden?
Say which you are disposed to do— to side with the suitors, or with Ulysses?"
If some god were but to bring Ulysses back, you should see with what might and main I would fight for him."
In like words Eumaeus prayed to all the gods that Ulysses might return; when, therefore, he saw for certain what mind they were of, Ulysses said," It is I, Ulysses, who am here.
As he spoke he drew his rags aside from the great scar, and when they had examined it thoroughly, they both of them wept about Ulysses, threw their arms round him, and kissed his head and shoulders, while Ulysses kissed their hands and faces in return.
The sun would have gone down upon their mourning if Ulysses had not checked them and said: "Cease your weeping, lest some one should come outside and see us, and tell those who are within.
He heaved a deep sigh and said," I grieve for myself and for us all; I grieve that I shall have to forgo the marriage, but I do not care nearly so much about this, for there are plenty of other women in Ithaca and elsewhere; what I feel most is the fact of our being so inferior to Ulysses in strength that we can not string his bow.
Then, when they had made their offerings and had drunk each as much as he desired, Ulysses craftily said:— "Suitors of the illustrious queen, listen that I may speak even as I am minded.
If the stranger should prove strong enough to string the mighty bow of Ulysses, can you suppose that he would take me home with him and make me his wife?
The swineherd now took up the bow and was for taking it to Ulysses, but the suitors clamoured at him from all parts of the cloisters, and one of them said," You idiot, where are you taking the bow to?
Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily, which put them in a better humour with Telemachus; so Eumaeus brought the bow on and placed it in the hands of Ulysses.
There was a ship 's cable of byblus fibre lying in the gatehouse, so he made the gates fast with it and then came in again, resuming the seat that he had left, and keeping an eye on Ulysses, who had now got the bow in his hands, and was turning it every way about, and proving it all over to see whether the worms had been eating into its two horns during his absence.
But Ulysses, when he had taken it up and examined it all over, strung it as easily as a skilled bard strings a new peg of his lyre and makes the twisted gut fast at both ends.
The suitors were dismayed, and turned colour as they heard it; at that moment, moreover, Jove thundered loudly as a sign, and the heart of Ulysses rejoiced as he heard the omen that the son of scheming Saturn had sent him.
Then Ulysses tore off his rags, and sprang on to the broad pavement with his bow and his quiver full of arrows.
The suitors were in an uproar when they saw that a man had been hit; they sprang in dismay one and all of them from their seats and looked everywhere towards the walls, but there was neither shield nor spear, and they rebuked Ulysses very angrily. "
But Ulysses glared at them and said: "Dogs, did you think that I should not come back from Troy?
"If you are Ulysses," said he," then what you have said is just.
Ulysses again glared at him and said," Though you should give me all that you have in the world both now and all that you ever shall have, I will not stay my hand till I have paid all of you in full.
As he spoke he drew his keen blade of bronze, sharpened on both sides, and with a loud cry sprang towards Ulysses, but Ulysses instantly shot an arrow into his breast that caught him by the nipple and fixed itself in his liver.
Then Amphinomus drew his sword and made straight at Ulysses to try and get him away from the door; but Telemachus was too quick for him, and struck him from behind; the spear caught him between the shoulders and went right through his chest, so that he fell heavily to the ground and struck the earth with his forehead.
"Run and fetch them," answered Ulysses," while my arrows hold out, or when I am alone they may get me away from the door."
He brought them with all speed to his father, and armed himself first, while the stockman and the swineherd also put on their armour, and took their places near Ulysses.
Meanwhile Ulysses, as long as his arrows lasted, had been shooting the suitors one by one, and they fell thick on one another :when his arrows gave out, he set the bow to stand against the end wall of the house by the door post, and hung a shield four hides thick about his shoulders; on his comely head he set his helmet, well wrought with a crest of horsehair that nodded menacingly above it and he grasped two redoubtable bronzeshod spears.
Ulysses told Philoetius to stand by this door and guard it, for only one person could attack it at a time.
But I know what I will do, I will bring you arms from the storeroom, for I am sure it is there that Ulysses and his son have put them."
On this the goatherd Melanthius went by back passages to the storeroom of Ulysses ' house.
Ulysses ' heart began to fail him when he saw the suitors putting on their armour and brandishing their spears.
Meanwhile Melanthius was again going to the store room to fetch more armour, but the swineherd saw him and said to Ulysses who was beside him," Ulysses, noble son of Laertes ,it is that scoundrel Melanthius, just as we suspected, who is going to the store room.
Ulysses answered," Telemachus and I will hold these suitors in check, no matter what they do; go back both of you and bind Melanthius ' hands and feet behind him.
They bent his hands and feet well behind his back, and bound them tight with a painful bond as Ulysses had told them; then they fastened a noose about his body and strung him up from a high pillar till he was close up to the rafters, and over him did you then vaunt, O swineherd Eumaeus saying," Melanthius, you will pass the night on a soft bed as you deserve.
There, then, they left him in very cruel bondage, and having put on their armour they closed the door behind them and went back to take their places by the side of Ulysses; whereon the four men stood in the cloister, fierce and full of fury; nevertheless, those who were in the body of the court were still both brave and many.
Ulysses was glad when he saw her and said," Mentor, lend me your help, and forget not your old comrade, nor the many good turns he has done you.
Mentor," he cried," do not let Ulysses beguile you into siding with him and fighting the suitors.
You shall pay for it with your head, and when we have killed you, we will take all you have, in doors or out, and bring it into hotchpot with Ulysses ' property; we will not let your sons live in your house, nor your daughters, nor shall your widow continue to live in the city of Ithaca."
This made Minerva still more furious, so she scolded Ulysses very angrily. "
Ulysses," said she," your strength and prowess are no longer what they were when you fought for nine long years among the Trojans about the noble lady Helen.
Meanwhile Agelaus son of Damastor, Eurynomus, Amphimedon, Demoptolemus, Pisander, and Polybus son of Polyctor bore the brunt of the fight upon the suitors ' side; of all those who were still fighting for their lives they were by far the most valiant, for the others had already fallen under the arrows of Ulysses.
One hit the door post; another went against the door; the pointed shaft of another struck the wall; and as soon as they had avoided all the spears of the suitors Ulysses said to his own men," My friends, I should say we too had better let drive into the middle of them, or they will crown all the harm they have done us by killing us outright."
Ulysses killed Demoptolemus, Telemachus Euryades, Eumaeus Elatus, while the stockman killed Pisander.
These all bit the dust, and as the others drew back into a corner Ulysses and his men rushed forward and regained their spears by drawing them from the bodies of the dead.
Then Ulysses and his men let drive into the crowd of suitors.
Ulysses hit Eurydamas, Telemachus Amphimedon, and Eumaeus Polybus.
I make you a present of this advice to repay you for the foot which you gave Ulysses when he was begging about in his own house."
Thus spoke the stockman, and Ulysses struck the son of Damastor with a spear in close fight, while Telemachus hit Leocritus son of Evenor in the belly, and the dart went clean through him, so that he fell forward full on his face upon the ground.
As eaglebeaked, crooktaloned vultures from the mountains swoop down on the smaller birds that cower in flocks upon the ground, and kill them, for they can not either fight or fly, and lookers on enjoy the sport— even so did Ulysses and his men fall upon the suitors and smite them on every side.
Leiodes then caught the knees of Ulysses and said," Ulysses I beseech you have mercy upon me and spare me.
Ulysses looked sternly at him and answered," If you were their sacrificing priest, you must have prayed many a time that it might be long before I got home again, and that you might marry my wife and have children by her.
He did not know whether to fly out of the cloister and sit down by the altar of Jove that was in the outer court, and on which both Laertes and Ulysses had offered up the thigh bones of many an ox, or whether to go straight up to Ulysses and embrace his knees, but in the end he deemed it best to embrace Ulysses ' knees.
So he laid his lyre on the ground between the mixing bowl and the silverstudded seat; then going up to Ulysses he caught hold of his knees and said," Ulysses, I beseech you have mercy on me and spare me.
Ulysses smiled at him and answered," Fear not; Telemachus has saved your life, that you may know in future, and tell other people, how greatly better good deeds prosper than evil ones.
Then Ulysses searched the whole court carefully over, to see if anyone had managed to hide himself and was still living, but he found them all lying in the dust and weltering in their blood.
Then Ulysses said to Telemachus," Call nurse Euryclea; I have something to say to her."
She found Ulysses among the corpses bespattered with blood and filth like a lion that has just been devouring an ox, and his breast and both his cheeks are all bloody, so that he is a fearful sight; even so was Ulysses besmirched from head to foot with gore.
When she saw all the corpses and such a quantity of blood, she was beginning to cry out for joy, for she saw that a great deed had been done; but Ulysses checked her," Old woman," said he," rejoice in silence; restrain yourself, and do not make any noise about it; it is an unholy thing to vaunt over dead men.
"Do not wake her yet," answered Ulysses," but tell the women who have misconducted themselves to come to me."
Euryclea left the cloister to tell the women, and make them come to Ulysses; in the meantime he called Telemachus, the stockman, and the swineherd.
Ulysses ordered them about and made them do their work quickly, so they had to carry the bodies out.
When they had done this they washed their hands and feet and went back into the house, for all was now over; and Ulysses said to the dear old nurse Euryclea," Bring me sulphur, which cleanses all pollution, and fetch fire also that I may burn it, and purify the cloisters.
"First light me a fire," replied Ulysses.
She brought the fire and sulphur, as he had bidden her, and Ulysses thoroughly purified the cloisters and both the inner and outer courts.
Then she went inside to call the women and tell them what had happened; whereon they came from their apartment with torches in their hands, and pressed round Ulysses to embrace him, kissing his head and shoulders and taking hold of his hands.
Ulysses has at last indeed come home again, and has killed the suitors who were giving so much trouble in his house, eating up his estate and ill treating his son."
It is quite true as I tell you that Ulysses is come home again.
Then I found Ulysses standing over the corpses that were lying on the ground all round him, one on top of the other.
But the corpses are now all piled up in the gatehouse that is in the outer court, and Ulysses has lit a great fire to purify the house with sulphur.
You know how delighted every one would be to see Ulysses come home— more particularly myself, and the son who has been born to both of us; but what you tell me can not be really true.
It is some god who is angry with the suitors for their great wickedness, and has made an end of them; for they respected no man in the whole world, neither rich nor poor, who came near them, and they have come to a bad end in consequence of their iniquity; Ulysses is dead far away from the Achaean land; he will never return home again."
When, however, she had crossed the stone floor of the cloister, she sat down opposite Ulysses by the fire, against the wall at right angles[ to that by which she had entered], while Ulysses sat near one of the bearingposts, looking upon the ground, and waiting to see what his brave wife would say to him when she saw him.
Still, if he really is Ulysses come back to his own home again, we shall get to understand one another better by and by, for there are tokens with which we two are alone acquainted, and which are hidden from all others."
Ulysses smiled at this, and said to Telemachus," Let your mother put me to any proof she likes; she will make up her mind about it presently.
"I will say what I think will be best," answered Ulysses. "
The upper servant Eurynome washed and anointed Ulysses in his own house and gave him a shirt and cloak, while Minerva made him look taller and stronger than before; she also made the hair grow thick on the top of his head, and flow down in curls like hyacinth blossoms; she glorified him about the head and shoulders just as a skilful workman who has studied art of all kinds under Vulcan or Minerva— and his work is full of beauty— enriches a piece of silver plate by gilding it.
She said this to try him, but Ulysses was very angry and said," Wife, I am much displeased at what you have just been saying.
When she heard the sure proofs Ulysses now gave her, she fairly broke down.
"Do not be angry with me Ulysses," she cried," you, who are the wisest of mankind.
Then Ulysses in his turn melted, and wept as he clasped his dear and faithful wife to his bosom.
At last, however, Ulysses said," Wife, we have not yet reached the end of our troubles.
"My dear," answered Ulysses," why should you press me to tell you?
Meanwhile Eurynome and the nurse took torches and made the bed ready with soft coverlets; as soon as they had laid them, the nurse went back into the house to go to her rest, leaving the bed chamber woman Eurynome to show Ulysses and Penelope to bed by torch light.
When Ulysses and Penelope had had their fill of love they fell talking with one another.
Ulysses in his turn told her what he had suffered, and how much trouble he had himself given to other people.
When she deemed that Ulysses had had both of his wife and of repose, she bade goldenthroned Dawn rise out of Oceanus that she might shed light upon mankind.
On this, Ulysses rose from his comfortable bed and said to Penelope," Wife, we have both of us had our full share of troubles, you, here, in lamenting my absence, and I in being prevented from getting home though I was longing all the time to do so.
When they had done so, they opened the gates and sallied forth, Ulysses leading the way.
Thus did they converse, and presently Mercury came up to them with the ghosts of the suitors who had been killed by Ulysses.
Do you not remember how I came to your house with Menelaus, to persuade Ulysses to join us with his ships against Troy?
It was a whole month ere we could resume our voyage, for we had hard work to persuade Ulysses to come with us."
Ulysses had been long gone, and we were courting his wife, who did not say point blank that she would not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end, for she meant to compass our destruction: this, then, was the trick she played us.
Sweethearts,' said she,' Ulysses is indeed dead, still, do not press me to marry again immediately ;wait— for I would not have my skill in needlework perish unrecorded— till I have completed a pall for the hero Laertes, against the time when death shall take him.
"Then some malicious god conveyed Ulysses to the upland farm where his swineherd lives.
Telemachus came first, and then after him, accompanied by the swineherd, came Ulysses, clad in rags and leaning on a staff as though he were some miserable old beggar.
When it was about to reach the hands of Ulysses, we all of us shouted out that it should not be given him, no matter what he might say, but Telemachus insisted on his having it.
This, Agamemnon, is how we came by our end, and our bodies are lying still uncared for in the house of Ulysses, for our friends at home do not yet know what has happened, so that they can not lay us out and wash the black blood from our wounds, making moan over us according to the offices due to the departed."
"Happy Ulysses, son of Laertes," replied the ghost of Agamemnon," you are indeed blessed in the possession of a wife endowed with such rare excellence of understanding, and so faithful to her wedded lord as Penelope the daughter of Icarius.
Meanwhile Ulysses and the others passed out of the town and soon reached the fair and welltilled farm of Laertes, which he had reclaimed with infinite labour.
When Ulysses got there, he said to his son and to the other two: "Go to the house, and kill the best pig that you can find for dinner.
When Ulysses saw him so worn, so old and full of sorrow, he stood still under a tall pear tree and began to weep.
"I see, sir," said Ulysses," that you are an excellent gardener— what pains you take with it, to be sure.
"I will tell you everything," answered Ulysses," quite truly.
As for my ship it is lying over yonder, off the open country outside the town, and this is the fifth year since Ulysses left my country.
The heart of Ulysses was touched, and his nostrils quivered as he looked upon his father; then he sprang towards him, flung his arms about him and kissed him, saying," I am he, father, about whom you are asking— I have returned after having been away for twenty years.
"If you really are my son Ulysses," replied Laertes," and have come back again, you must give me such manifest proof of your identity as shall convince me."
"First observe this scar," answered Ulysses," which I got from a boar 's tusk when I was hunting on Mt.
He threw his arms about him, and Ulysses had to support him, or he would have gone off into a swoon; but as soon as he came to, and was beginning to recover his senses, he said," O father Jove, then you gods are still in Olympus after all, if the suitors have really been punished for their insolence and folly.
Ulysses answered," Take heart and do not trouble yourself about that, but let us go into the house hard by your garden.
When they saw Ulysses and were certain it was he, they stood there lost in astonishment; but Ulysses scolded them good naturedly and said," Sit down to your dinner, old man, and never mind about your surprise; we have been wanting to begin for some time and have been waiting for you."
Then Dolius put out both his hands and went up to Ulysses. "
"Old man," answered Ulysses," she knows already, so you need not trouble about that.
"On this he took his seat, and the sons of Dolius gathered round Ulysses to give him greeting and embrace him one after the other; then they took their seats in due order near Dolius their father.
While they were thus busy getting their dinner ready, Rumour went round the town, and noised abroad the terrible fate that had befallen the suitors; as soon, therefore, as the people heard of it they gathered from every quarter, groaning and hooting before the house of Ulysses.
He was overwhelmed with grief for the death of his son Antinous, who had been the first man killed by Ulysses, so he said, weeping bitterly," My friends, this man has done the Achaeans great wrong.
But Medon and the bard Phemius had now woke up, and came to them from the house of Ulysses.
Ulysses did not do these things against the will of heaven.
Do not go out against Ulysses, or you may find that you have been drawing down evil on your own heads."
Was it not by your own arrangement that Ulysses came home and took his revenge upon the suitors?
Now that Ulysses is revenged, let them swear to a solemn covenant, in virtue of which he shall continue to rule, while we cause the others to forgive and forget the massacre of their sons and brothers.
Now when Laertes and the others had done dinner, Ulysses began by saying," Some of you go out and see if they are not getting close up to us."
Standing on the threshold he could see them all quite near, and said to Ulysses," Here they are, let us put on our armour at once."
They put on their armour as fast as they could— that is to say Ulysses, his three men, and the six sons of Dolius.
When they had all put on their armour, they opened the gate and sallied forth, Ulysses leading the way.
Ulysses was glad when he saw her, and said to his son Telemachus," Telemachus, now that you are about to fight in an engagement, which will show every man 's mettle, be sure not to disgrace your ancestors, who were eminent for their strength and courage all the world over."
Meantime Ulysses and his son fell upon the front line of the foe and smote them with their swords and spears; indeed, they would have killed every one of them, and prevented them from ever getting home again, only Minerva raised her voice aloud, and made every one pause."
But Ulysses gave a great cry, and gathering himself together swooped down like a soaring eagle.
Then the son of Saturn sent a thunderbolt of fire that fell just in front of Minerva, so she said to Ulysses," Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, stop this warful strife, or Jove will be angry with you."
Thus spoke Minerva, and Ulysses obeyed her gladly.
