| Now so soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered,
the dear son of Odysseus gat him up from his bed, and put on his raiment
and cast his sharp sword about his shoulder, and beneath his smooth feet
he bound his goodly sandals, and stept forth from his chamber in presence
like a god. And straightway he bade the clear-voiced heralds to call the
long-haired Achaeans to the assembly. And the heralds called the gathering,
and the Achaeans were assembled quickly. Now when they were gathered and
come together, he went on his way to the assembly holding in his hand a
spear of bronze, --not alone he went, for two swift hounds bare him company.
Then Athene shed on him a wondrous grace, and all the people marvelled at
him as he came. And he sat him in his father's seat and the elders gave
place to him.
Then the lord Aegyptus spake among them first; bowed was he with age,
and skilled in things past number. Now for this reason he spake that his
dear son, the warrior Antiphus, had gone in the hollow ships to Ilios
of the goodly steeds; but the savage Cyclops slew him in his hollow cave,
and made of him then his latest meal. Three other sons Aegyptus had, and
one consorted with the wooers, namely Eurynomus, but two continued in
their father's fields; yet even so forgat he not that son, still mourning
and sorrowing. So weeping for his sake he made harangue and spake among
them:
"Hearken now to me, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I shall
say. Never hath our assembly or session been since the day that goodly
Odysseus departed in the hollow ships. And now who was minded thus to
assemble us? On what man hath such sore need come, of the young men or
of the elder born? Hath he heard some tidings of the host now returning,
which he might plainly declare to us, for that he first learned thereof,
or doth he show forth and tell some other matter of the common weal? Methinks
he is a true man-- good luck be with him! Zeus vouchsafe him some good
thing in his turn, even all his heart's desire!"
So spake he, and the dear son of Odysseus was glad at the omen of the
word; nor sat he now much longer, but he burned to speak, and he stood
in mid assembly; and the herald Peisenor, skilled in sage counsels, placed
the staff in his hands. Then he spake, accosting the old man first:
"Old man, he is not far off, and soon shalt thou know it for thyself,
he who called the folk together, even I: for sorrow hath come to me in
chief. Neither have I heard any tidings of the host now returning, which
I may plainly declare to you, for that I first learned thereof; neither
do I show forth or tell any other matter of the common weal, but mine
own need, for that evil hath befallen my house, a double woe. First, I
have lost my noble sire, who sometime was king among you here, and was
gentle as a father; and now is there an evil yet greater far, which surely
shall soon make grievous havoc of my whole house and ruin all my livelihood.
My mother did certain wooers beset sore against her will, even the sons
of those men that here are the noblest. They are too craven to go to the
house of her father Icarius, that he may himself set the bride-price for
his daughter, and bestow her on whom he will, even on him who finds favour
in his sight. But they resorting to our house day by day sacrifice oxen
and sheep and fat goats, and keep revel, and drink the dark wine recklessly,
and lo, our great wealth is wasted, for there is no man now alive such
as Odysseus was, to keep ruin from the house. As for me I am nowise strong
like him to ward mine own; verily to the end of my days shall I be a weakling
and all unskilled in prowess. Truly I would defend me if but strength
were mine; for deeds past sufferance have now been wrought, and now my
house is wasted utterly beyond pretence of right. Resent it in your own
hearts, and have regard to your neighbours who dwell around, and tremble
ye at the anger of the gods, lest haply they turn upon you in wrath at
your evil deeds [Or: lest they bring your evil deeds in wrath on your
own heads]. I pray you by Olympian Zeus and by Themis, who looseth and
gathereth the meetings of men, let be, my friends, and leave me alone
to waste in bitter grief; --unless it so be that my father, the good Odysseus,
out of evil heart wrought harm to the goodly-greaved Achaeans, in quittance
whereof ye now work me harm out of evil hearts, and spur on these men.
Better for me that ye yourselves should eat up my treasures and my flocks.
Were ye so to devour them, ere long would some recompense be made, for
we would urge our plea throughout the town, begging back our substance,
until all should be restored. But now without remedy are the pains that
ye lay up in my heart."
So spake he in wrath, and dashed the staff to the ground, and brake
forth in tears; and pity fell on all the people. Then all the others held
their peace, and none had the heart to answer Telemachus with hard words,
but Antinous alone made answer, saying:
"Telemachus, proud of speech and unrestrained in fury, what is
this thou hast said to put us to shame, and wouldest fasten on us reproach?
Behold the fault is not in the Achaean wooers, but in thine own mother,
for she is the craftiest of women. For it is now the third year, and the
fourth is fast going by, since she began to deceive the minds of the Achaeans
in their breasts. She gives hope to all, and makes promises to every man,
and sends them messages, but her mind is set on other things. And she
hath devised in her heart this wile besides; she set up in her halls a
mighty web, fine of woof and very wide, whereat she would weave, and anon
she spake among us:
"'Ye princely youths, my wooers, now that the goodly Odysseus is
dead, do ye abide patiently, how eager soever to speed on this marriage
of mine, till I finish the robe. I would not that the threads perish to
no avail, even this shroud for the hero Laertes, against the day when
the ruinous doom shall bring him low, of death that lays men at their
length. So shall none of the Achaean women in the land count it blame
in me, as well might be, were he to lie without a winding-sheet, a man
that had gotten great possessions.'
"So spake she, and our high hearts consented thereto. So then in
the day time she would weave the mighty web, and in the night unravel
the same, when she had let place the torches by her. Thus for the space
of three years she hid the thing by craft and beguiled the minds of the
Achaeans; but when the fourth year arrived and the seasons came round,
then at the last one of her women who knew all declared it, and we found
her unravelling the splendid web. Thus she finished it perforce and sore
against her will. But as for thee, the wooers make thee answer thus, that
thou mayest know it in thine own heart, thou and all the Achaeans! Send
away thy mother, and bid her be married to whomsoever her father commands,
and whoso is well pleasing unto her. But if she will continue for long
to vex the sons of the Achaeans, pondering in her heart those things that
Athene hath given her beyond women, knowledge of all fair handiwork, yea,
and cunning wit, and wiles-- so be it! Such wiles as hers we have never
yet heard that any even of the women of old did know, of those that aforetime
were fairtressed Achaean ladies, Tyro, and Alcmene, and Mycene, with the
bright crown. Not one of these in the imaginations of their hearts was
like unto Penelope, yet herein at least her imagining was not good. For
in despite of her the wooers will devour thy living and thy substance,
so long as she is steadfast in such purpose as the gods now put within
her breast: great renown for herself she winneth, but for thee regret
for thy much livelihood. But we will neither go to our own lands, nor
otherwhere, till she marry that man whom she will of the Achaeans."
Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying:
"Antinous, I may in no wise thrust forth from the house, against
her will, the woman that bare me, that reared me: while as for my father
he is abroad on the earth, whether he be alive or dead. Moreover, it is
hard for me to make heavy restitution to Icarius, as needs I must, if
of mine own will I send my mother away. For I shall have evil at his hand,
at the hand of her father, and some god will give me more besides, for
my mother will call down the dire Avengers as she departs from the house,
and I shall have blame of men; surely then I will never speak this word.
Nay, if your own heart, even yours, is indignant, quit ye my halls, and
busy yourselves with other feasts, eating your own substance, and going
in turn from house to house. But if ye deem this a likelier and a better
thing, that one man's goods should perish without atonement, then waste
ye as ye will: and I will call upon the everlasting gods, if haply Zeus
may grant that acts of recompense be made: so should ye hereafter perish
in the halls without atonement."
So spake Telemachus, and in answer to his prayer did Zeus, of the far
borne voice, send forth two eagles in flight, from on high, from the mountain-crest.
A while they flew as fleet as the blasts of the wind, side by side, with
straining of their pinions. But when they had now reached the mid assembly,
the place of many voices, there they wheeled about and flapped their strong
wings, and looked down upon the heads of all, and destruction was in their
gaze. Then tore they with their talons each the other's cheeks and neck
on every side, and so sped to the right across the dwellings and the city
of the people. And the men marvelled at the birds when they had sight
of them, and pondered in their hearts the things that should come to pass.
Yea and the old man, the lord Halitherses son of Mastor spake among them,
for he excelled his peers in knowledge of birds, and in uttering words
of fate. With good will he made harangue and spake among them:
"Hearken to me now, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I shall
say: and mainly to the wooers do I show forth and tell these things, seeing
that a mighty woe is rolling upon them. For Odysseus shall not long be
a way from his friends, nay, even now, it may be, he is near, and sowing
the seeds of death and fate for these men, every one; and he will be a
bane to many another likewise of us who dwell in clear-seen Ithaca. But
long ere that falls out let us advise us how we may make an end of their
mischief; yea, let them of their own selves make an end, for this is the
better way for them, as will soon be seen. For I prophesy not as one unproved,
but with sure knowledge; verily, I say, that for him all things now are
come to pass, even as I told him, what time the Argives embarked for Ilios,
and with them went the wise Odysseus. I said that after sore affliction,
with the loss of all his company, unknown to all, in the twentieth year
he should come home. And behold, all these things now have an end."
And Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered him, saying:
"Go now, old man, get thee home and prophesy to thine own children,
lest haply they suffer harm hereafter: but herein am I a far better prophet
than thou. Howbeit there be many birds that fly to and fro under the sun's
rays, but all are not birds of fate. Now as for Odysseus, he hath perished
far away, as would that thou too with him hadst been cut off: so wouldst
thou not have babbled thus much prophecy, nor wouldst thou hound on Telemachus
that is already angered, expecting a gift for thy house, if perchance
he may vouchsafe thee aught. But now will I speak out, and my word shall
surely be accomplished. If thou that knowest much lore from of old, shalt
beguile with words a younger man, and rouse him to indignation, first
it shall be a great grief to him: --and yet he can count on no aid from
these who hear him; --while upon thee, old man, we will lay a fine, that
thou mayest pay it and chafe at heart, and sore pain shall be thine. And
I myself will give a word of counsel to Telemachus in presence of you
all. Let him command his mother to return to her father's house; and her
kinsfolk will furnish a wedding feast, and array the gifts of wooing,
exceeding many, all that should go back with a daughter dearly beloved.
For ere that, I trow, we sons of the Achaeans will not cease from our
rough wooing, since, come what may, we fear not any man, no, not Telemachus,
full of words though he be, nor soothsaying do we heed, whereof thou,
old man pratest idly, and art hated yet the more. His substance too shall
be woefully devoured, nor shall recompense ever be made, so long as she
shall put off the Achaeans in the matter of her marriage; while we in
expectation, from day to day, vie one with another for the prize of her
perfection, nor go we after other women whom it were meet that we should
each one wed."
Then wise Telemachus answered him saying:
"Eurymachus, and ye others, that are lordly wooers, I entreat you
no more concerning this nor speak thereof, for the gods have knowledge
of it now and all the Achaeans. But come, give me a swift ship and twenty
men, who shall accomplish for me my voyage to and fro. For I will go to
Sparta and to sandy Pylos to inquire concerning the return of my father
that is long afar, if perchance any man shall tell me aught, or if I may
hear the voice from Zeus, that chiefly brings tidings to men. If I shall
hear news of the life and the returning of my father, then verily I may
endure the wasting for yet a year; but if I shall hear that he is dead
and gone, let me then return to my own dear country, and pile his mound,
and over it pay burial rites full many as is due, and I will give my mother
to a husband."
So with that word he sat him down; then in the midst up rose Mentor,
the companion of noble Odysseus. He it was to whom Odysseus, as he departed
in the fleet, had given the charge over all his house, that it should
obey the old man, and that he should keep all things safe. With good will
he now made harangue and spake among them:
"Hearken to me now, ye men of Ithaca, to the word that I shall
say. Henceforth let not any sceptred king be kind and gentle with all
his heart, nor minded to do righteously, but let him alway be a hard man
and work unrighteousness: for behold, there is none that remembereth divine
Odysseus of the people whose lord he was, and was gentle as a father.
Howsoever, it is not that I grudge the lordly wooers their deeds of violence
in the evil devices of their heart. For at the hazard of their own heads
they violently devour the household of Odysseus, and say of him that he
will come no more again. But I am indeed wroth with the rest of the people,
to see how ye all sit thus speechless, and do not cry shame upon the wooers,
and put them down, ye that are so many and they so few."
And Leocritus, son of Euenor, answered him, saying:
"Mentor infatuate, with thy wandering wits, what word hast thou
spoken, that callest upon them to put us down? Nay, it is a hard thing
to fight about a feast, and that with men who are even more in number
than you. Though Odysseus of Ithaca himself should come and were eager
of heart to drive forth from the hall the lordly wooers that feast throughout
his house, yet should his wife have no joy of his coming, though she yearns
for him; --but even there should he meet foul doom, if he fought with
those that outnumbered him; so thou hast not spoken aright. But as for
the people, come now, scatter yourselves each one to his own lands, but
Mentor and Halitherses will speed this man's voyage, for they are friends
of his house from of old. Yet after all, methinks, that long time he will
abide and seek tidings in Ithaca, and never accomplish this voyage."
Thus he spake, and in haste they broke up the assembly. So they were
scattered each one to his own dwelling, while the wooers departed to the
house of divine Odysseus.
Then Telemachus, going far apart to the shore of the sea, laved his
hands in the grey sea water, and prayed unto Athene, saying:
"Hear me, thou who yesterday didst come in thy godhead to our house,
and badest me go in a ship across the misty seas, to seek tidings of the
return of my father that is long gone: but all this my purpose do the
Achaeans delay, and mainly the wooers in the naughtiness of their pride."
So spake he in prayer, and Athene drew nigh him in the likeness of Mentor,
in fashion and in voice, and she spake and hailed him in winged words:
"Telemachus, even hereafter thou shalt not be craven or witless,
if indeed thou hast a drop of thy father's blood and a portion of his
spirit; such an one was he to fulfil both word and work. Nor, if this
be so, shall thy voyage be vain or unfulfilled. But if thou art not the
very seed of him and of Penelope, then have I no hope that thou wilt accomplish
thy desire. For few children, truly, are like their father; lo, the more
part are worse, yet a few are better than the sire. But since thou shalt
not even hereafter be craven or witless, nor hath the wisdom of Odysseus
failed thee quite, so is there good hope of thine accomplishing this work.
Wherefore now take no heed of the counsel or the purpose of the senseless
wooers, for they are in no way wise or just: neither know they aught of
death and of black fate, which already is close upon them, that they are
all to perish in one day. But the voyage on which thy heart is set shall
not long be lacking to thee-- so faithful a friend of thy father am I,
who will furnish thee a swift ship and myself be thy companion. But go
thou to the house, and consort with the wooers, and make ready corn, and
bestow all in vessels, the wine in jars and barleyflour, the marrow of
men, in well-sewn skins; and I will lightly gather in the township a crew
that offer themselves willingly. There are many ships, new and old, in
seagirt Ithaca; of these I will choose out the best for thee, and we will
quickly rig her and launch her on the broad deep."
So spake Athene, daughter of Zeus, and Telemachus made no long tarrying,
when he had heard the voice of the goddess. He went on his way towards
the house, heavy at heart, and there he found the noble wooers in the
halls, flaying goats and singeing swine in the court. And Antinous laughed
out and went straight to Telemachus, and clasped his hand and spake and
hailed him:
"Telemachus, proud of speech and unrestrained in fury, let no evil
word any more be in thy heart, nor evil work, but let me see thee eat
and drink as of old. And the Achaeans will make thee ready all things
without fail, a ship and chosen oarsmen, that thou mayest come the quicker
to fair Pylos, to seek tidings of thy noble father."
Then wise Telemachus answered him, saying:
"Antinous, in no wise in your proud company can I sup in peace,
and make merry with a quiet mind. Is it a little thing, ye wooers, that
in time past ye wasted many good things of my getting, while as yet I
was a child? But now that I am a man grown, and learn the story from the
lips of others, and my spirit waxeth within me, I will seek to let loose
upon you evil fates, as I may, going either to Pylos for help, or abiding
here in this township. Yea, I will go, nor vain shall the voyage be whereof
I speak; a passenger on another's ship go I, for I am not to have a ship
nor oarsmen of mine own; so in your wisdom ye have thought it for the
better."
He spake and snatched his hand from out the hand of Antinous, lightly, and
all the while the wooers were busy feasting through the house; and they
mocked him and sharply taunted him, and thus would some proud youth speak:
"In very truth Telemachus planneth our destruction. He will bring
a rescue either from sandy Pylos, or even it may be from Sparta, so terribly
is he set on slaying us. Or else he will go to Ephyra, a fruitful land,
to fetch a poisonous drug that he may cast it into the bowl and make an
end of all of us."
And again another proud youth would say:
"Who knows but that he himself if he goes hence on the hollow ship,
may perish wandering far from his friends, even as Odysseus? So should
we have yet more ado, for then must we divide among us all his substance,
and moreover give the house to his mother to possess it, and to him whosoever
should wed her."
So spake they; but he stepped down into the vaulted treasure-chamber
of his father, a spacious room, where gold and bronze lay piled, and raiment
in coffers, and fragrant olive oil in plenty. And there stood casks of
sweet wine and old, full of the unmixed drink divine, all orderly ranged
by the wall, ready if ever Odysseus should come home, albeit after travail
and much pain. And the closefitted doors, the folding doors, were shut,
and night and day there abode within a dame in charge, who guarded all
in the fulness of her wisdom, Eurycleia, daughter of Ops son of Peisenor.
Telemachus now called her into the chamber and spake unto her, saying:
"Mother, come draw off for me sweet wine in jars, the choicest
next to that thou keepest mindful ever of that ill-fated one, Odysseus,
of the seed of Zeus, if perchance he may come I know not whence, having
avoided death and the fates. So fill twelve jars, and close each with
his lid, and pour me barley-meal into well-sewn skins, and let there be
twenty measures of the grain of bruised barley-meal. Let none know this
but thyself! As for these things let them all be got together; for in
the evening I will take them with me, at the time that my mother hath
gone to her upper chamber and turned her thoughts to sleep. Lo, to Sparta
I go and to sandy Pylos to seek tidings of my dear father's return, if
haply I may hear thereof."
So spake he, and the good nurse Eurycleia wailed aloud, and making lament
spake to him winged words:
"Ah, wherefore, dear child, hath such a thought arisen in thine
heart? How shouldst thou fare over wide lands, thou that art an only child
and well-beloved? As for him he hath perished, Odysseus of the seed of
Zeus, far from his own country in the land of strangers. And yonder men,
so soon as thou art gone, will devise mischief against thee thereafter,
that thou mayest perish by guile, and they will share among them all this
wealth of thine. Nay, abide here, settled on thine own lands: thou hast
no need upon the deep unharvested to suffer evil and go wandering."
Then wise Telemachus answered her, saying:
"Take heart, nurse, for lo, this my purpose came not but of a god.
But swear to tell no word thereof to my dear mother, till at least it
shall be the eleventh or twelfth day from hence, or till she miss me of
herself, and hear of my departure, that so she may not mar her fair face
with her tears."
Thus he spake, and the old woman sware a great oath by the gods not
to reveal it. But when she had sworn and done that oath, straightway she
drew off the wine for him in jars, and poured barley-meal into well-sewn
skins, and Telemachus departed to the house and consorted with the wooers.
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, turned to other thoughts. In the
likeness of Telemachus she went all through the city, and stood by each
one of the men and spake her saying, and bade them gather at even by the
swift ship. Furthermore, she craved a swift ship of Noemon, famous son
of Phronius, and right gladly he promised it.
Now the sun sank and all the ways were darkened. Then at length she
let drag the swift ship to the sea and stored within it all such tackling
as decked ships carry. And she moored it at the far end of the harbour
and the good company was gathered together, and the goddess cheered on
all.
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, turned to other thoughts. She went
on her way to the house of divine Odysseus; and there she shed sweet sleep
upon the wooers and made them distraught in their drinking, and cast the
cups from their hands. And they arose up to go to rest throughout the
city, nor sat they yet a long while, for slumber was falling on their
eyelids. Now grey eyed Athene spake unto Telemachus, and called him from
out the fair-lying halls, taking the likeness of Mentor, both in fashion
and in voice:
"Telemachus, thy goodly-greaved companions are sitting already
at their oars, it is thy despatch they are awaiting. Nay then, let us
go, that we delay them not long from the way."
Therewith Pallas Athene led the way quickly, and he followed hard in
the steps of the goddess. Now when they had come down to the ship and
to the sea, they found the long-haired youths of the company on the shore;
and the mighty prince Telemachus spake among them:
"Come hither, friends, let us carry the corn on board, for all
is now together in the room, and my mother knows nought thereof, nor any
of the maidens of the house: one woman only heard my saying."
Thus he spake and led the way, and they went with him. So they brought
all and stowed it in the decked ship, according to the word of the dear
son of Odysseus. Then Telemachus climbed the ship, and Athene went before
him, and behold, she sat her down in the stern, and near her sat Telemachus.
And the men loosed the hawsers and climbed on board themselves and sat
down upon the benches. And grey-eyed Athene sent them a favourable gale,
a fresh West Wind, singing over the wine-dark sea.
And Telemachus called unto his company and bade them lay hands on the
tackling, and they hearkened to his call. So they raised the mast of pine
tree and set it in the hole of the cross plank, and made it fast with
forestays, and hauled up the white sails with twisted ropes of oxhide.
And the wind filled the belly of the sail, and the dark wave seethed loudly
round the stem of the running ship, and she fleeted over the wave, accomplishing
her path. Then they made all fast in the swift black ship, and set mixing
bowls brimmed with wine, and poured drink offering to the deathless gods
that are from everlasting, and in chief to the grey eyed daughter of Zeus.
So all night long and through the dawn the ship cleft her way.
|
Now when the child of
morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared, Telemachus rose
and dressed himself. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet, girded
his sword about his shoulder, and left his room looking
like an immortal god. He at once sent the criers round
to call the people in assembly, so they called them and
the people gathered thereon; then, when they were got together,
he went to the place of assembly spear in hand- not alone, for
his two hounds went with him. Minerva endowed him with a presence of such
divine comeliness that all marvelled at him as he went by, and when he
took his place' in his father's seat even the oldest councillors made way
for him.
Aegyptius, a man bent double with age, and of infinite experience, the
first to speak 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, He had three sons
left, of whom two still worked on their father's land, while the third,
Eurynomus, was one of the suitors; nevertheless their father
could not get over the loss of Antiphus, and was still
weeping for him when he began his speech.
"Men of Ithaca," he said, "hear my words. 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?
Has he got wind of some host approaching, and does he wish to warn us,
or would he speak upon some other matter of public moment? I am sure he
is an excellent person, and I hope Jove will grant him his heart's desire."
Telemachus took this speech as of good omen and rose at once, for he
was bursting with what he had to say. He stood in the middle of the assembly
and the good herald Pisenor brought him his staff. Then, turning to
Aegyptius, "Sir," said he, "it is I, as you will shortly learn, who have
convened you, for it is I who am the most aggrieved. I have not got wind
of any host approaching about which I would warn you, nor is there any
matter of public moment on which I would speak. My grieveance is purely
personal, and turns on two great misfortunes which have
fallen upon my house. The first of these is the loss of
my excellent father, who was chief among all you here present,
and was like a father to every one of you; the second is
much more serious, and ere long will be the utter ruin of my
estate. The sons of all the chief men among you are pestering my mother
to marry them against her will. They are afraid to go to
her father Icarius, asking him to choose the one he likes
best, and to provide marriage gifts for his daughter, but
day by day they keep hanging about my father's house, sacrificing
our oxen, sheep, and fat goats for their banquets, and never giving
so much as a thought to the quantity of wine they drink. No estate can
stand such recklessness; we have now no Ulysses to ward off harm from our
doors, and I cannot hold my own against them. I shall never all my days
be as good a man as he was, still I would indeed defend myself if I
had power to do so, for I cannot stand such treatment any longer; my house
is being disgraced and ruined. Have respect, therefore, to your own consciences
and to public opinion. Fear, too, the wrath of heaven, lest the
gods should be displeased and turn upon you. 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. Moreover, if I am to be eaten out of
house and home at all, I had rather you did the eating yourselves, for I
could then take action against you to some purpose, and serve you with notices
from house to house till I got paid in full, whereas now I have no
remedy."
With this Telemachus dashed his staff to the ground and burst into tears.
Every one was very sorry for him, but they all sat still and no one
ventured to make him an angry answer, save only Antinous, who spoke thus:
"Telemachus, insolent braggart that you are, how dare you try to throw
the blame upon us suitors? It is your mother's fault not ours, for she
is a very artful woman. This three years past, and close on four, she has
been driving us out of our minds, by encouraging each one of us, and sending
him messages without meaning one word of what she says. And then there
was that other trick she played us. She set up a great tambour frame in
her room, and began to work on an enormous piece of fine needlework. '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. He is very rich, and the women of
the place will talk if he is laid out without a pall.'
"This was what she said, and we assented; whereon we could see her
working on her great web all day long, but at night she would unpick the
stitches again by torchlight. She fooled us in this way for three years
and we never found her out, but as time wore on and she
was now in her fourth year, one of her maids who knew what
she was doing told us, and we caught her in the act of
undoing her work, so she had to finish it whether she would
or no. The suitors, therefore, make you this answer, that both you
and the Achaeans may understand-'Send your mother away, and bid her marry
the man of her own and of her father's choice'; for I do not know what
will happen if she goes on plaguing us much longer with the airs she gives
herself on the score of the accomplishments Minerva has taught her, and
because she is so clever. We never yet heard of such a woman; we know all
about Tyro, Alcmena, Mycene, and the famous women of old, but they were
nothing to your mother, any one of them. It was not fair of her to treat
us in that way, and as long as she continues in the mind with which heaven
has now endowed her, so long shall we go on eating up your estate; and
I do not see why she should change, for she gets all the honour and glory,
and it is you who pay for it, not she. Understand, then, that we will
not go back to our lands, neither here nor elsewhere, till she has made
her choice and married some one or other of us."
Telemachus answered, "Antinous, how can I drive the mother who bore
me from my father's house? My father is abroad and we do not know whether
he is alive or dead. It will be hard on me if I have to pay Icarius the
large sum which I must give him if I insist on sending his daughter back
to him. Not only will he deal rigorously with me, but heaven will also
punish me; for my mother when she leaves the house will calf on the Erinyes
to avenge her; besides, it would not be a creditable thing to do, and
I will have nothing to say to it. If you choose to take offence at this,
leave the house and feast elsewhere at one another's houses at your own
cost turn and turn about. If, on the other hand, you elect to persist in
spunging upon one man, heaven help me, but Jove shall reckon with you in
full, and when you fall in my father's house there shall be no man to avenge
you."
As he spoke Jove sent two eagles from the top of the mountain, and
they flew on and on with the wind, sailing side by side in their own lordly
flight. When they were right over the middle of the assembly they wheeled
and circled about, beating the air with their wings and glaring death
into the eyes of them that were below; then, fighting fiercely and tearing
at one another, they flew off towards the right over the town. The
people wondered as they saw them, and asked each other what an this might
be; whereon Halitherses, who was the best prophet and reader of omens among
them, spoke to them plainly and in all honesty, saying:
"Hear me, men of Ithaca, and I speak more particularly to the suitors, for
I see mischief brewing for them. 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 us then be
wise in time, and put a stop to this wickedness before he comes. 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. I
said that after going through much hardship and losing all his men he should
come home again in the twentieth year and that no one would know him;
and now all this is coming true."
Eurymachus son of Polybus then said, "Go home, old man, and prophesy to
your own children, or it may be worse for them. I can read these omens myself
much better than you can; birds are always flying about in the sunshine
somewhere or other, but they seldom mean anything. 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. I suppose you think he will give you something for
your family, but I tell you- and it shall surely be- when an old man like
you, who should know better, talks a young one over till he becomes troublesome,
in the first place his young friend will only fare so much the
worse- he will take nothing by it, for the suitors will prevent this- and
in the next, we will lay a heavier fine, sir, upon yourself than you will
at all like paying, for it will bear hardly upon you. As for Telemachus,
I warn him in the presence of you all to send his mother
back to her father, who will find her a husband and provide
her with all the marriage gifts so dear a daughter may
expect. Till we shall go on harassing him with our suit;
for we fear no man, and care neither for him, with all his fine speeches,
nor for any fortune-telling of yours. You may preach as
much as you please, but we shall only hate you the more.
We shall go back and continue to eat up Telemachus's estate
without paying him, till such time as his mother leaves
off tormenting us by keeping us day after day on the tiptoe of expectation,
each vying with the other in his suit for a prize of such
rare perfection. Besides we cannot go after the other
women whom we should marry in due course, but for the
way in which she treats us."
Then Telemachus said, "Eurymachus, and you other suitors, I shall say
no more, and entreat you no further, for the gods and the people of Ithaca
now know my story. Give me, then, a ship and a crew of twenty men to
take me hither and thither, and I will go to Sparta and to Pylos in quest
of my father who has so long been missing. Some one may tell me something,
or (and people often hear things in this way) some heaven-sent
message may direct me. If I can hear of him as alive and
on his way home I will put up with the waste you suitors
will make for yet another twelve months. If on the other
hand I hear of his death, I will return at once, celebrate his
funeral rites with all due pomp, build a barrow to his memory, and make
my mother marry again."
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
well-disposed 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."
Leiocritus, son of Evenor, answered him saying, "Mentor, what folly is
all this, that you should set the people to stay us? It is a hard thing
for one man to fight with many about his victuals. 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. There is no sense in what you have been
saying. Now, therefore, do you people go about your business, and let
his father's old friends, Mentor and Halitherses, speed this boy on his
journey, if he goes at all- which I do not think he will, for he is more
likely to stay where he is till some one comes and tells him something."
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.
Then Telemachus went all alone by the sea side, washed his hands in
the grey waves, and prayed to Minerva.
"Hear me," he cried, "you god who visited me yesterday, and bade me
sail the seas in search of my father who has so long been missing. I would
obey you, but the Achaeans, and more particularly the wicked suitors, are
hindering me that I cannot do so."
As he thus prayed, Minerva came close up to him in the likeness and
with the voice of Mentor. "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. Sons are seldom as good men as their fathers; they are
generally worse, not better; still, as you are not going to be either fool
or coward henceforward, and are not entirely without some share of your
father's wise discernment, I look with hope upon your undertaking. But
mind you never make common cause with any of those foolish suitors, for
they have neither sense nor virtue, and give no thought to death and to
the doom that will shortly fall on one and all of them, so that they shall
perish on the same day. As for your voyage, it shall not be long delayed;
your father was such an old friend of mine that I will find you a
ship, and will come with you myself. Now, however, return home, and go about
among the suitors; begin getting provisions ready for your voyage; see
everything well stowed, the wine in jars, and the barley meal, which is
the staff of life, in leathern bags, while I go round the town and beat
up volunteers at once. There are many ships in Ithaca
both old and new; I will run my eye over them for you
and will choose the best; we will get her ready and will
put out to sea without delay."
Thus spoke Minerva daughter of Jove, and Telemachus lost no time in
doing as the goddess told him. He went moodily and found the suitors flaying
goats and singeing pigs in the outer court. Antinous came up to him
at once and laughed as he took his hand in his own, saying, "Telemachus,
my fine fire-eater, bear no more ill blood neither in
word nor deed, but eat and drink with us as you used to
do. The Achaeans will find you in everything- a ship and
a picked crew to boot- so that you can set sail for Pylos
at once and get news of your noble father."
"Antinous," answered Telemachus, "I cannot eat in peace, nor take pleasure
of any kind with such men as you are. Was it not enough that you should
waste so much good property of mine while I was yet a boy? Now that I
am older and know more about it, I am also stronger, and whether here among
this people, or by going to Pylos, I will do you all the harm I can. I
shall go, and my going will not be in vain though, thanks to you suitors,
I have neither ship nor crew of my own, and must be passenger
not captain."
As he spoke he snatched his hand from that of Antinous. Meanwhile the
others went on getting dinner ready about the buildings, jeering at him
tauntingly as they did so.
"Telemachus," said one youngster, "means to be the death of us; I
suppose he thinks he can bring friends to help him from Pylos, or again
from Sparta, where he seems bent on going. Or will he
go to Ephyra as well, for poison to put in our wine and
kill us?"
Another said, "Perhaps if Telemachus goes on board ship, he will be
like his father and perish far from his friends. In this case we should
have plenty to do, for we could then divide up his property
amongst us: as for the house we can let his mother and
the man who marries her have that."
This was how they talked. But Telemachus went down into the lofty and
spacious store-room where his father's treasure of gold and bronze lay
heaped up upon the floor, and where the linen and spare clothes were kept
in open chests. Here, too, there was a store of fragrant olive oil, while
casks of old, well-ripened wine, unblended and fit for a god to drink, were
ranged against the wall in case Ulysses should come home again after all.
The room was closed with well-made doors opening in the middle; moreover
the faithful old house-keeper Euryclea, daughter of Ops
the son of Pisenor, was in charge of everything both night
and day. Telemachus called her to the store-room and said:
"Nurse, draw me off some of the best wine you have, after what you
are keeping for my father's own drinking, in case, poor man, he should escape
death, and find his way home again after all. Let me have twelve jars,
and see that they all have lids; also fill me some well-sewn leathern bags
with barley meal- about twenty measures in all. Get these things put together
at once, and say nothing about it. I will take everything away this
evening as soon as my mother has gone upstairs for the night. I am going
to Sparta and to Pylos to see if I can hear anything about the return of
my dear father.
When Euryclea heard this she began to cry, and spoke fondly to him,
saying, "My dear child, what ever can have put such notion as that into
your head? Where in the world do you want to go to- you, who are the one
hope of the house? Your poor father is dead and gone in some foreign country
nobody knows where, and as soon as your back is turned these wicked ones
here will be scheming to get you put out of the way, and will share all
your possessions among themselves; stay where you are among your own people,
and do not go wandering and worrying your life out on the barren ocean."
"Fear not, nurse," answered Telemachus, "my scheme is not without heaven's
sanction; but swear that you will say nothing about all this to my
mother, till I have been away some ten or twelve days, unless she hears
of my having gone, and asks you; for I do not want her
to spoil her beauty by crying."
The old woman swore most solemnly that she would not, and when she
had completed her oath, she began drawing off the wine into jars, and getting
the barley meal into the bags, while Telemachus went back to the suitors.
Then Minerva bethought her of another matter. She took his shape, and
went round the town to each one of the crew, telling them to meet at the
ship by sundown. She went also to Noemon son of Phronius, and asked him
to let her have a ship- which he was very ready to do. When the sun had
set and darkness was over all the land, she got the ship into the water,
put all the tackle on board her that ships generally carry,
and stationed her at the end of the harbour. Presently
the crew came up, and the goddess spoke encouragingly
to each of them.
Furthermore she went to the house of Ulysses, and threw the suitors into
a deep slumber. She caused their drink to fuddle them, and made them drop
their cups from their hands, so that instead of sitting over their wine,
they went back into the town to sleep, with their eyes heavy and full
of drowsiness. Then she took the form and voice of Mentor, and called Telemachus
to come outside.
"Telemachus," said she, "the men are on board and at their oars, waiting
for you to give your orders, so make haste and let us be off."
On this she led the way, while Telemachus followed in her steps. When
they got to the ship they found the crew waiting by the water side, and
Telemachus said, "Now my men, help me to get the stores on board; they are
all put together in the cloister, and my mother does not know anything about
it, nor any of the maid servants except one."
With these words he led the way and the others followed after. When
they had brought the things as he told them, Telemachus went on board, Minerva
going before him and taking her seat in the stern of the vessel, while
Telemachus sat beside her. Then the men loosed the hawsers and took their
places on the benches. Minerva sent them a fair wind from the West, that
whistled over the deep blue waves whereon Telemachus told them to catch
hold of the ropes and hoist sail, and they did as he told them. They set
the mast in its socket in the cross plank, raised it, and made it fast with
the forestays; then they hoisted their white sails aloft with ropes of
twisted ox hide. As the sail bellied out with the wind, the ship flew through
the deep blue water, and the foam hissed against her bows as she sped
onward. Then they made all fast throughout the ship, filled the mixing-bowls
to the brim, and made drink offerings to the immortal
gods that are from everlasting, but more particularly
to the grey-eyed daughter of Jove.
Thus, then, the ship sped on her way through the watches of the night
from dark till dawn. |