| Now the Dawn arose from her couch, from the side
of the lordly Tithonus, to bear light to the immortals and to mortal men.
And lo, the gods were gathering to session, and among them Zeus that thunders
on high, whose might is above all. And Athena told them the tale of the
many woes of Odysseus, recalling them to mind; for near her heart was he
that then abode in the dwelling of the nymph:
"Father Zeus, and all ye other blessed gods that live for ever,
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. Howbeit,
as for him he lieth in an island suffering strong pains, in the halls
of the nymph Calypso, who holdeth him perforce; so he may not reach his
own country, for he hath no ships by him with oars, and no companions
to send him on his way over the broad back of the sea. And now, again,
they are set on slaying his beloved son on his homeward way, for he is
gone to fair Pylos and to goodly Lacedaemon, to seek tidings of his father."
And Zeus, gatherer of the clouds, answered and spake unto her:
"My child, what word hath escaped the door of thy lips? Nay, didst
thou not thyself plan this device, that Odysseus may assuredly take vengeance
on those men at his coming? As for Telemachus, do thou guide him by thine
art, as well as thou mayest, that so he may come to his own country all
unharmed, and the wooers may return in their ship with their labour all
in vain."
Therewith he spake to Hermes, his dear son:
"Hermes, forasmuch as even in all else thou art our herald, tell
unto the nymph of the braided tresses my unerring counsel, even the return
of the patient Odysseus, how he is to come to his home, with no furtherance
of gods or of mortal men. Nay, he shall sail on a well-bound raft, in
sore distress, and on the twentieth day arrive at fertile Scheria, even
at the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the gods. And they
shall give him all worship heartily as to a god, and send him on his way
in a ship to his own dear country, with gifts of bronze and gold, and
raiment in plenty, much store, such as never would Odysseus have won for
himself out of Troy, yea, though he had returned unhurt with the share
of the spoil that fell to him. On such wise is he fated to see his friends,
and come to his high-roofed home and his own country."
So spake he, nor heedless was the messenger, the slayer of Argos. Straightway
he bound beneath his feet his lovely golden sandals, that wax not old,
that bare him alike over the wet sea and over the limitless land, swift
as the breath of the wind. And he took the wand wherewith he lulls the
eyes of whomso he will, while others again he even wakes from out of sleep.
With this rod in his hand flew the strong slayer of Argos. Above Pieria
he passed and leapt from the upper air into the deep. Then he sped along
the wave like the cormorant, that chaseth the fishes through the perilous
gulfs of the unharvested sea, and wetteth his thick plumage in the brine.
Such like did Hermes ride upon the press of the waves. But when he had
now reached that far-off isle, he went forth from the sea of violet blue
to get him up into the land, till he came to a great cave, wherein dwelt
the nymph of the braided tresses: and he found her within. And on the
hearth there was a great fire burning, and from afar through the isle
was smelt the fragrance of cleft cedar blazing, and of sandal wood. And
the nymph within was singing with a sweet voice as she fared to and fro
before the loom, and wove with a shuttle of gold. And round about the
cave there was a wood blossoming, alder and poplar and sweet-smelling
cypress. And therein roosted birds long of wing, owls and falcons and
chattering sea-crows, which have their business in the waters. And lo,
there about the hollow cave trailed a gadding garden vine, all rich with
clusters. And fountains four set orderly were running with clear water,
hard by one another, turned each to his own course. And all around soft
meadows bloomed of violets and parsley, yea, even a deathless god who
came thither might wonder at the sight and be glad at heart. There the
messenger, the slayer of Argos, stood and wondered. Now when he had gazed
at all with wonder, anon he went into the wide cave; nor did Calypso,
that fair goddess, fail to know him, when she saw him face to face; for
the gods use not to be strange one to another, the immortals, not though
one have his habitation far away. But he found not Odysseus, the greathearted,
within the cave, who sat weeping on the shore even as aforetime, straining
his soul with tears and groans and griefs, and as he wept he looked wistfully
over the unharvested deep. And Calypso, that fair goddess, questioned
Hermes, when she had made him sit on a bright shining seat:
"Wherefore, I pray thee, Hermes, of the golden wand, hast thou
come hither, worshipful and welcome, whereas as of old thou wert not wont
to visit me? Tell me all thy thought; my heart is set on fulfilling it,
if fulfil it I may, and if it hath been fulfilled in the counsel of fate.
But now follow me further, that I may set before thee the entertainment
of strangers."
Therewith the goddess spread a table with ambrosia and set it by him,
and mixed tue ruddy nectar. So the messenger, the slayer of Argos, did
eat and drink. Now after he had supped and comforted his soul with food,
at the last he answered, and spake to her on this wise:
"Thou makest question of me on my coming, a goddess of a god, and
I will tell thee this my saying truly, at thy command. "Twas Zeus
that bade me come hither, by no will of mine; nay, who of his free will
would speed over such a wondrous space of brine, whereby is no city of
mortals that do sacrifice to the gods, and offer choice hecatombs? But
surely it is in no wise possible for another god to go beyond or to make
void the purpose of Zeus, lord of the aegis. He saith that thou hast with
thee a man most wretched beyond his fellows, beyond those men that round
the burg of Priam for nine years fought, and in the tenth year sacked
the city and departed homeward. Yet on the way they sinned against Athene,
and she raised upon them an evil blast and long waves of the sea. Then
all the rest of his good company was lost, but it came to pass that the
wind bare and the wave brought him hither. And now Zeus biddeth thee send
him hence with what speed thou mayest, for it is not ordained that he
die away from his friends, but rather it is his fate to look on them even
yet, and to come to his high-roofed home and his own country."
So spake he, and Calypso, that fair goddess, shuddered and uttered her
voice, and spake unto him winged words' "Hard are ye gods and jealous
exceeding, who ever grudge goddesses penly to mate with men, if any make
a mortal her dear bed-fellow. Even so when rosy-fingered Dawn took Orion
for her lover, ye gods that live at ease were jealous thereof, till chaste
Artemis, of the golden throne, slew him in Ortygia with the visitation
of her gentle shafts. So too when fair-tressed Demeter yielded to her
love, and lay with Iasion in the thrice-ploughed fallow-field, Zeus was
not long without tidings thereof, and cast at him with his white bolt
and slew him. So again ye gods now grudge that a mortal man should dwell
with me. Him I saved as he went all alone bestriding the keel of a bark,
for that Zeus had crushed [smote] and cleft his swift ship with a white
bolt in the midst of the wine-dark deep. There all the rest of his good
company was lost, but it came to pass that the wind bare and the wave
brought him hither. And him have I loved and cherished, and I said that
I would make him to know not dcath and age for ever. Yet forasmuch as
it is no wise possible for another god to go beyond, or make void the
purpose of Zeus, lord of the aegis, let him away over the unharvested
seas, if the summons and the bidding be of Zeus. But I will give him no
despatch, not I, for I have no ships by me with oars, nor company to bear
him on his way over the broad back of the sea. Yet will I be forward to
put this in his mind, and will hide nought, that all unharmed he may come
to his own country."
Then the messenger, the slayer of Argos, answered her:
"Yea, speed him now upon his path and have regard unto the wrath
of Zeus, lest haply he be angered and bear hard on thee hereafter."
Therewith the great slayer of Argos departed, but the lady nymph went
on her way to the great-hearted Odysseus, when she had heard the message
of Zeus. And there she found him sitting on the shore, and his eyes were
never dry to tears, and his sweet life was ebbing away as he mourned for
his return; of the nymph no more found favour in his sight. Howsoever
by night he would sleep by her, as needs he must, in the hollow caves,
unwilling lover by a willing lady. And in the day-time he would sit on
the rocks and on the beach, straining his soul with tears, and groans,
and griefs, and through his tears he would look wistfully over the unharvested
deep. So standing near him that fair goddess spake to him:
"Hapless man, sorrow no more I pray thee in this isle, nor let
thy good life waste away, for even now will I send thee hence with all
my heart. Nay, arise and cut long beams, and fashion a wide raft with
the axe, and lay deckings high thereupon, that it may bear thee over the
misty deep. And I will place therein bread and water, and red wine to
thy heart's desire, to keep hunger far away. And I will put raiment upon
thee, and send a fair gale in thy wake, that so thou mayest come all unharmed
to thine own country, if indeed it be the good pleasure of the gods who
hold wide heaven, who are stronger than I am both to will and to do."
So she spake, and the steadfast goodly Odysseus shuddered, and uttering
his voice spake to her winged words:
"Herein, goddess, thou hast plainly some other thought, and in
no wise my furtherance, for that thou biddest me to cross in a raft the
great gulf of the sea so dread and difficult, which not even the swift
gallant ships pass over rejoicing in the breeze of Zeus. Nor would I go
aboard a raft to displeasure thee, unless thou wilt deign, O goddess,
to swear a great oath not to plan any hidden guile to mine own hurt."
So spake he, and Calypso, the fair goddess, smiled and caressed him
with her hand, and spake and hailed him:
"Knavish thou art, and no weakling in wit, thou that hast conceived
and spoken such a word. Let earth be now witness hereto, and the wide
heaven above, and that falling water of the Styx, the greatest oath and
the most terrible to the blessed gods, that I will not plan any hidden
guile to thine own hurt. Nay, but my thoughts are such, and such will
be my counsel, as I would devise for myself, if ever so sore a need came
over me. For I too have a righteous mind, and my heart within me is not
of iron, but pitiful even as thine."
Therewith the fair goddess led the way quickly, and he followed hard
in the steps of the goddess. And they reached the hollow cave, the goddess
and the man; so he sat him down upon the chair whence Hermes had arisen,
and the nymph placed by him all manner of food to eat and drink, such
as is meat for men. As for her she sat over against divine Odysseus, and
the handmaids placed by her ambrosia and nectar. So they put forth their
hands upon the good cheer set before them. But after they had taken their
fill of meat and drink, Calypso, the fair goddess, spake first and said:
"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many devices,
so it is indeed thy wish to get thee home to thine own dear country even
in this hour? Good fortune go with thee even so! Yet didst thou know in
thine heart what a measure of suffering thou art ordained to fulfil, or
ever thou reach thine own country, here, even here, thou wouldst abide
with me and keep this house, and wouldst never taste of death, though
thou longest to see thy wife, for whom thou hast ever a desire day by
day. Not in sooth that I avow me to be less noble than she in form or
fashion, for it is in no wise meet that mortal women should match them
with immortals, in shape and comeliness."
And Odysseus of many counsels answered, and spake unto her:
"Be not wroth with me hereat, goddess and queen. Myself I know
it well, how wise Penelope is meaner to look upon than thou, in comeliness
and stature. But she is mortal and thou knowest not age nor death. Yet
even so, I wish and long day by day to fare homeward and see the day of
my returning. Yea, and if some god shall wreck me in the wine-dark deep,
even so I will endure, with a heart within me patient of affliction. For
already have I suffered full much, and much have I toiled in perils of
waves and war; let this be added to the tale of those."
So spake he, and the sun sank and darkness came on. Then they twain
went into the chamber of the hollow rock, and had their delight of love,
abiding each by other.
So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, anon Odysseus
put on him a mantle and doublet, and the nymph clad her in a great shining
robe, light of woof and gracious, and about her waist she cast a fair
golden girdle, and a veil withal upon her head. Then she considered of
the sending of Odysseus, the great-hearted. She gave him a great axe,
fitted to his grasp, an axe of bronze double-edged, and with a goodly
handle of olive wood fastened well. Next she gave him a polished adze,
and she led the way to the border of the isle where tall trees grew, alder
and poplar, and pine that reacheth unto heaven, seasoned long since and
sere, that might lightly float for him. Now after she had shown him where
the tall trees grew, Calypso, the fair goddess, departed homeward. And
he set to cutting timber, and his work went busily. Twenty trees in all
he felled, and then trimmed them with the axe of bronze, and deftly smoothed
them, and over them made straight the line. Meanwhile Calypso, the fair
goddess, brought him augers, so he bored each piece and jointed them together,
and then made all fast with trenails and dowels. Wide as is the floor
of a broad ship of burden, which some man well skilled in carpentry may
trace him out, of such beam did Odysseus fashion his broad raft. And thereat
he wrought, and set up the deckings, fitting them to the close-set uprights,
and finished them off with long gunwales, and there he set a mast, and
a yard arm fitted thereto, and moreover he made him a rudder to guide
the craft. And he fenced it with wattled osier withies from stem to stern,
to be a bulwark against the wave, and piled up wood to back them. Meanwhile
Calypso, the fair goddess, brought him web of cloth to make him sails;
and these too he fashioned very skilfully. And he made fast therein braces
and halyards and sheets, and at last he pushed the raft with levers down
to the fair salt sea.
It was the fourth day when he had accomplished all. And, lo, on the
fifth, the fair Calypso sent him on his way from the island, when she
had bathed him and clad him in fragrant attire. Moreover, the goddess
placed on board the ship two skins, one of dark wine, and another, a great
one, of water, and corn too in a wallet, and she set therein a store of
dainties to his heart's desire, and sent forth a warm and gentle wind
to blow. And goodly Odysseus rejoiced as he set his sails to the breeze.
So he sate and cunningly guided the craft with the helm, nor did sleep
fall upon his eyelids, as he viewed the Pleiads and Bootes, that setteth
late, and the Bear, which they likewise call the Wain, which turneth ever
in one place, and keepeth watch upon Orion, and alone hath no part in
the baths of Ocean. This star, Calypso, the fair goddess, bade him to
keep ever on the left as he traversed the deep. Ten days and seven he
sailed traversing the deep, and on the eighteenth day appeared the shadowy
hills of the land of the Phaeacians, at the point where it lay nearest
to him; and it showed like a shield in the misty deep.
Now the lord, the shaker of the earth, on his way from the Ethiopians
espied him afar off from the mountains of the Solymi: even thence he saw
Odysseus as he sailed over the deep; and he was mightily angered in spirit,
and shaking his head he communed with his own heart. "Lo now, it
must be that the gods at the last have changed their purpose concerning
Odysseus, while I was away among the Ethiopians. And now he is nigh to
the Phaeacian land, where it is ordained that he escape the great issues
of the woe which hath come upon him. But, methinks, that even yet I will
drive him far enough in the path of suffering."
With that he gathered the clouds and troubled the waters of the deep,
grasping his trident in his hands; and he roused all storms of all manner
of winds, and shrouded in clouds the land and sea: and down sped night
from heaven. The East Wind and the South Wind clashed, and the stormy
West, and the North, that is born in the bright air, rolling onward a
great wave. Then were the knees of Odysseus loosened and his heart melted,
and heavily he spake to his own great spirit:
"Oh, wretched man that I am! what is to befal me at the last? I
fear that indeed the goddess spake all things truly, who said that I should
fill up the measure of sorrow on the deep, or ever I came to mine own
country; and lo, all these things have an end. In such wise doth Zeus
crown the wide heaven with clouds, and hath troubled the deep, and the
blasts rush on of all the winds; yea, now is utter doom assured me. Thrice
blessed those Danaans, yea, four times blessed, who perished on a time
in wide Troy-land, doing a pleasure to the sons of Atreus! Would to God
that I too had died, and met my fate on that day when the press of Trojans
cast their bronze-shod spears upon me, fighting, for the body of the son
of Peleus! So should I have gotten my dues of burial, and the Achaeans
would have spread my fame; but now it is my fate to be overtaken by a
pitiful death."
Even as he spake, the great wave smote down upon him, driving on in
terrible wise, that the raft reeled again. And far therefrom he fell,
and lost the helm from his hand; and the fierce blast of the jostling
winds came and brake his mast in the midst, and sail and yard-arm fell
afar into the deep. Long time the water kept him under, nor could he speedily
rise from beneath the rush of the mighty wave: for the garments hung heavy
which fair Calypso gave him. But late and at length he came up, and spat
forth from his mouth the bitter salt water, which ran down in streams
from his head. Yet even so forgat he not his raft, for all his wretched
plight, but made a spring after it in the waves, and clutched it to him,
and sat in the midst thereof, avoiding the issues of death; and the great
wave swept it hither and thither along the stream. And as the North Wind
in the harvest tide sweeps the thistledown along the plain, and close
the tufts cling each to other, even so the winds bare the raft hither
and thither along the main. Now the South would toss it to the North to
carry, and now again the East would yield it to the West to chase.
But the daughter of Cadmus marked him, Ino of the fair ankles, Leucothea,
who in time past was a maiden of mortal speech, but now in the depths
of the salt sea she had gotten her share of worship from the gods. She
took pity on Odysseus in his wandering and travail, and she rose, like
a sea-gull on the wing, from the depth of the mere, and sat upon the well-bound
raft and spake saying:
"Hapless one, wherefore was Poseidon, shaker of the earth, so wondrous
wroth with thee, seeing that he soweth for thee the seeds of many evils?
Yet shall he not make a full end of thee, for all his desire. But do even
as I tell thee, and methinks thou art no witless. Cast off these garments,
and leave the raft to drift before the winds, but do thou swim with thine
hands and strive to win a footing on the coast of the Phaeacians, where
it is decreed that thou escape. Here, take this veil imperishable and
wind it about thy breast; so is there no fear that thou suffer aught or
perish. But when thou hast laid hold of the mainland with thy hands, loose
it from off thee and cast it into the wine-dark deep far from the land,
and thyself turn away."
With that the goddess gave the veil, and for her part dived back into
the heaving deep, like a sea-gull: and the dark wave closed over her.
But the steadfast, goodly Odysseus pondered, and heavily he spake to his
own brave spirit:
"Ah, woe is me! Can it be that some one of the immortals is weaving
a new snare for me, that she bids me quit my raft? Nay verily, I will
not yet obey, for I had sight of the shore yet a long way off, where she
told me that I might escape. I am resolved what I will do; --and methinks
on this wise it is best. So long as the timbers abide in the dowels, so
long will I endure steadfast in affliction, but so soon as the wave hath
shattered my raft asunder, I will swim, for meanwhile no better counsel
may be."
While yet he pondered these things in his heart and soul, Poseidon,
shaker of the earth, stirred against him a great wave, terrible and grievous,
and vaulted from the crest, and therewith smote him. And as when a great
tempestuous wind tosseth a heap of parched husks, and scatters them this
way and that, even so did the wave scatter the long beams of the raft.
But Odysseus bestrode a single beam, as one rideth on a courser, and stript
him of the garments which fair Calypso gave him. And presently he wound
the veil beneath his breast, and fell prone into the sea, outstretching
his hands as one eager to swim. And the lord, the shaker of the earth,
saw him and shook his head, and communed with his own soul. "Even
so, after all thy sufferings, go wandering over the deep, till thou shalt
come among a people, the fosterlings of Zeus. Yet for all that I deem
not that thou shalt think thyself too lightly afflicted." Therewith
he lashed his steeds of the flowing manes, and came to Aegae, where is
his lordly home.
But Athene, daughter of Zeus, turned to new thoughts. Behold, she bound
up the courses of the other winds, and charged them all to cease and be
still; but she roused the swift North and brake the waves before him that
so Odysseus, of the seed of Zeus, might mingle with the Phaeacians, lovers
of the oar, avoiding death and the fates.
So for two nights and two days he was wandering in the swell of the
sea, and much his heart boded of death. But when at last the fair-tressed
Dawn brought the full light of the third day, thereafter the breeze fell,
and lo, there was a breathless calm, and with a quick glance ahead, (he
being upborne on a great wave,) he saw the land very near. And even as
when most welcome to his children is the sight of a father's life, who
lies in sickness and strong pains long wasting away, some angry god assailing
him; and to their delight the gods have loosed him from his trouble; so
welcome to Odysseus showed land and wood; and he swam onward, being eager
to set foot on the strand. But when he was within earshot of the shore,
and heard now the thunder of the sea against the reefs-- for the great
wave crashed against the dry land belching in terrible wise, and all was
covered with foam of the sea, --for there were no harbours for ships nor
shelters, but jutting headlands and reefs and cliffs, then at last the
knees of Odysseus were loosened and his heart melted, and in heaviness
he spake to his own brave spirit:
"Ah me! now that beyond all hope Zeus hath given me sight of land,
and withal I have cloven my way through this gulf of the sea, here there
is no place to land on from out of the grey water. For without are sharp
crags, and round them the wave roars surging, and sheer the smooth rock
rises, and the sea is deep thereby, so that in no wise may I find firm
foothold and escape my bane, for as I fain would go ashore, the great
wave may haply snatch and dash me on the jagged rock-- and a wretched
endeavour that would be. But if I swim yet further along the coast to
find, if I may, spits that take the waves aslant and havens of the sea,
I fear lest the stormwind catch me again and bear me over the teeming
deep, making heavy moan; or else some god may even send forth against
me a monster from out of the shore water; and many such pastureth the
renowned Amphitrite. For I know how wroth against me hath been the great
Shaker of the Earth."
Whilst yet he pondered these things in his heart and mind, a great wave
bore him to the rugged shore. There would he have been stript of his skin
and all his bones been broken, but that the goddess, grey-eyed Athene,
put a thought into his heart. He rushed in, and with both his hands clutched
the rock, whereto he clung till the great wave went by. So he escaped
that peril, but again with backward wash it leapt on him and smote him
and cast him forth into the deep. And as when the cuttlefish is dragged
forth from his chamber, the many pebbles clinging to his suckers, even
so was the skin stript from his strong hand against the rocks, and the
great wave closed over him. There of a truth would luckless Odysseus have
perished beyond that which was ordained, had not grey-eyed Athene given
him sure counsel. He rose from the line of the breakers that belch upon
the shore, and swam outside, ever looking landwards, to find, if he might,
spits that take the waves aslant, and havens of the sea. But when he came
in his swimming over against the mouth of a fair-flowing river whereby
the place seemed best in his eyes, smooth of rocks, and withal there was
a covert from the wind, Odysseus felt the river running, and prayed to
him in his heart:
"Hear me, O king, whosoever thou art; unto thee am I come, as to
one to whom prayer is made, while I flee the rebukes of Poseidon from
the deep. Yea, reverend even to the deathless gods is that man who comes
as a wanderer, even as I now have come to thy stream and to thy knees
after much travail. Nay pity me, O king; for I avow myself thy suppliant."
So spake he, and the god straightway stayed his stream and withheld
his waves, and made the water smooth before him, and brought him safely
to the mouths of the river. And his knees bowed and his stout hands fell,
for his heart was broken by the brine. And his flesh was all swollen and
a great stream of sea water gushed up through his mouth and nostrils.
So he lay without breath or speech, swooning, such terrible weariness
came upon him. But when now his breath returned and his spirit came to
him again, he loosed from off him the veil of the goddess, and let it
fall into the salt flowing river. And the great wave bare it back down
the stream, and lightly Ino caught it in her hands. The Odysseus turned
from the river, and fell back in the reeds, and kissed earth, the grain-river,
and heavily he spake unto his own brave spirit:
"Ah, woe is me! what is to betide me? what shall happen unto me
at the last? If I watch the river bed all through the careful night, I
fear that the bitter frost and fresh dew may overcome me, as I breathe
forth my life for faintness, for the river breeze blows cold betimes in
the morning. But if I climb the hill-side up to the shady wood, and there
take rest in the thickets, though perchance the cold and weariness leave
hold of me, and sweet sleep may come over me, I fear lest of wild beasts
I become the spoil and prey."
So as he thought thereon this seemed to him the better way. He went
up to the wood, and found it nigh the water in a place of wide prospect.
So he crept beneath twin bushes that grew from one stem, both olive trees,
one of them wild olive. Through these the force of the wet winds blew
never, neither did the bright sun light on it with his rays, nor could
the rain pierce through, so close were they twined either to other; and
thereunder crept Odysseus and anon he heaped together with his hands a
broad couch; for of fallen leaves there was great plenty, enough to cover
two or three men in winter time, however hard the weather. And the steadfast
goodly Odysseus beheld it and rejoiced, and he laid him in the midst thereof
and flung over him the fallen leaves. And as when a man hath hidden away
a brand in the black embers at an upland farm, one that hath no neighbours
nigh, and so saveth the seed of fire, that he may not have to seek a light
otherwhere, even so did Odysseus cover him with the leaves. And Athene
shed sleep upon his eyes, that so it might soon release him from his weary
travail, overshadowing his eyelids.
|
And now, as Dawn rose
from her couch beside Tithonus- harbinger of light alike
to mortals and immortals- the gods met in council and with them, Jove
the lord of thunder, who is their king. 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.
"Father Jove," said she, "and all you other gods that live in everlasting
bliss, I hope there may never be such a thing as a kind and well-disposed
ruler any more, nor one who will govern equitably. 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. There
he is, lying in great pain in an island where dwells the nymph Calypso,
who will not let him go; and he cannot get back to his own country, for
he can find neither ships nor sailors to take him over the sea. Furthermore,
wicked people are now trying to murder his only son Telemachus, who is
coming home from Pylos and Lacedaemon, where he has been to see if he can
get news of his father."
"What, my dear, are you talking about?" replied her father, "did
you not send him there yourself, because you thought it would help Ulysses
to get home and punish the suitors? Besides, you are perfectly able to
protect Telemachus, and to see him safely home again, while the suitors
have to come hurry-skurrying back without having killed
him."
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. He is to be convoyed neither by gods nor
men, but after a perilous voyage of twenty days upon a raft he is to reach
fertile Scheria, the land of the Phaeacians, who are near of kin to the
gods, and will honour him as though he were one of ourselves. They will
send him in a ship to his own country, and will give him more bronze and
gold and raiment than he would have brought back from Troy, if he had had
had all his prize money and had got home without disaster. This is how
we have settled that he shall return to his country and his
friends."
Thus he spoke, and Mercury, guide and guardian, slayer of Argus,
did as he was told. Forthwith he bound on his glittering golden sandals
with which he could fly like the wind over land and sea. He took the wand
with which he seals men's eyes in sleep or wakes them just as he pleases,
and flew holding it in his hand over Pieria; then he swooped down through
the firmament till he reached the level of the sea, whose waves he skimmed
like a cormorant that flies fishing every hole and corner of the ocean,
and drenching its thick plumage in the spray. He flew and flew over many
a weary wave, but when at last he got to the island which was his journey's
end, he left the sea and went on by land till he came to the cave where
the nymph Calypso lived.
He found her at home. There was a large fire burning on the hearth,
and one could smell from far the fragrant reek of burning cedar and sandal
wood. As for herself, she was busy at her loom, shooting her golden shuttle
through the warp and singing beautifully. Round her cave there was a thick
wood of alder, poplar, and sweet smelling cypress trees, wherein all kinds
of great birds had built their nests- owls, hawks, and chattering sea-crows
that occupy their business in the waters. A vine loaded with grapes was
trained and grew luxuriantly about the mouth of the cave; there were also
four running rills of water in channels cut pretty close together, and
turned hither and thither so as to irrigate the beds of violets and luscious
herbage over which they flowed. Even a god could not help being charmed
with such a lovely spot, so Mercury stood still and looked at it; but when
he had admired it sufficiently he went inside the cave.
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 sea-shore as usual, looking out upon the barren ocean with
tears in his eyes, groaning and breaking his heart for sorrow. Calypso
gave Mercury a seat and said: "Why have you come to see me, Mercury- honoured,
and ever welcome- for you do not visit me often? Say what you want; I will
do it for be you at once if I can, and if it can be done at all; but come
inside, and let me set refreshment before you.
As she spoke she drew a table loaded with ambrosia beside him and
mixed him some red nectar, so Mercury ate and drank till he had had enough,
and then said:
"We are speaking god and goddess to one another, one another, and
you ask me why I have come here, and I will tell you truly as you would
have me do. Jove sent me; it was no doing of mine; who could possibly want
to come all this way over the sea where there are no cities full of people
to offer me sacrifices or choice hecatombs? Nevertheless I had to come,
for none of us other gods can cross Jove, nor transgress his orders. He
says that you have here the most ill-starred of alf those who fought nine
years before the city of King Priam and sailed home in the tenth year after
having sacked it. On their way home they sinned against Minerva, who raised
both wind and waves against them, so that all his brave companions perished,
and he alone was carried hither by wind and tide. Jove says that you are
to let this by man go at once, for it is decreed that he shall not perish
here, far from his own people, but shall return to his house and country
and see his friends again."
Calypso trembled with rage when she heard this, "You gods," she
exclaimed, to be ashamed of yourselves. You are always jealous and hate
seeing a goddess take a fancy to a mortal man, and live with him in open
matrimony. So when rosy-fingered Dawn made love to Orion, you precious
gods were all of you furious till Diana went and killed him in Ortygia.
So again when Ceres fell in love with Iasion, and yielded to him in a thrice
ploughed fallow field, Jove came to hear of it before so long and killed
Iasion with his thunder-bolts. And now you are angry with me too because
I have a man here. I found the poor creature sitting all alone astride
of a keel, for Jove had struck his ship with lightning and sunk it in mid
ocean, so that all his crew were drowned, while he himself was driven by
wind and waves on to my island. I got fond of him and cherished him, and
had set my heart on making him immortal, so that he should never grow old
all his days; still I cannot cross Jove, nor bring his counsels to nothing;
therefore, if he insists upon it, let the man go beyond the seas again;
but I cannot send him anywhere myself for I have neither ships nor men
who can take him. Nevertheless I will readily give him such advice, in
all good faith, as will be likely to bring him safely to his own
country."
"Then send him away," said Mercury, "or Jove will be angry with
you and punish you"'
On this he took his leave, and Calypso went out to look for Ulysses,
for she had heard Jove's message. She found him sitting upon the beach
with his eyes ever filled with tears, and dying of sheer home-sickness;
for he had got tired of Calypso, and though he was forced to sleep with
her in the cave by night, it was she, not he, that would have it so. As
for the day time, he spent it on the rocks and on the sea-shore, weeping,
crying aloud for his despair, and always looking out upon the sea. Calypso
then went close up to him said:
"My poor fellow, you shall not stay here grieving and fretting
your life out any longer. I am going to send you away of my own free will;
so go, cut some beams of wood, and make yourself a large raft with an upper
deck that it may carry you safely over the sea. I will put bread, wine,
and water on board to save you from starving. I will also give you clothes,
and will send you a fair wind to take you home, if the gods in heaven so
will it- for they know more about these things, and can settle them better
than I can."
Ulysses shuddered as he heard her. "Now goddess," he answered,
"there is something behind all this; you cannot be really meaning to help
me home when you bid me do such a dreadful thing as put to sea on a raft.
Not even a well-found ship with a fair wind could venture on such a distant
voyage: nothing that you can say or do shall mage me go on board a raft
unless you first solemnly swear that you mean me no
mischief."
Calypso smiled at this and caressed him with her hand: "You know
a great deal," said she, "but you are quite wrong here. May heaven above
and earth below be my witnesses, with the waters of the river Styx- and
this is the most solemn oath which a blessed god can take- that I mean
you no sort of harm, and am only advising you to do exactly what I should
do myself in your place. I am dealing with you quite straightforwardly;
my heart is not made of iron, and I am very sorry for
you."
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. Calypso set meat and drink before him of the food that mortals
eat; but her maids brought ambrosia and nectar for herself, and they laid
their hands on the good things that were before them. 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? Good luck go with you, but if you could only know how
much suffering is in store for you before you get back to your own country,
you would stay where you are, keep house along with me, and let me make
you immortal, no matter how anxious you may be to see this wife of yours,
of whom you are thinking all the time day after day; yet I flatter myself
that at am no whit less tall or well-looking than she is, for it is not
to be expected that a mortal woman should compare in beauty with an
immortal."
"Goddess," replied Ulysses, "do not be angry with me about this.
I am quite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so beautiful
as yourself. She is only a woman, whereas you are an immortal. Nevertheless,
I want to get home, and can think of nothing else. If some god wrecks me
when I am on the sea, I will bear it and make the best of it. I have had
infinite trouble both by land and sea already, so let this go with the
rest."
Presently the sun set and it became dark, whereon the pair retired
into the inner part of the cave and went to bed.
When the child of morning, rosy-fingered 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. So she gave him a great bronze axe
that suited his hands; it was sharpened on both sides, and had a beautiful
olive-wood handle fitted firmly on to it. She also gave him a sharp adze,
and then led the way to the far end of the island where the largest trees
grew- alder, poplar and pine, that reached the sky- very dry and well seasoned,
so as to sail light for him in the water. Then, when she had shown him
where the best trees grew, Calypso went home, leaving him to cut them,
which he soon finished doing. He cut down twenty trees in all and adzed
them smooth, squaring them by rule in good workmanlike fashion. Meanwhile
Calypso came back with some augers, so he bored holes with them and fitted
the timbers together with bolts and rivets. He made the raft as broad as
a skilled shipwright makes the beam of a large vessel, and he filed a deck
on top of the ribs, and ran a gunwale all round it. He also made a mast
with a yard arm, and a rudder to steer with. He fenced the raft all round
with wicker hurdles as a protection against the waves, and then he threw
on a quantity of wood. By and by Calypso brought him some linen to make
the sails, and he made these too, excellently, making them fast with braces
and sheets. Last of all, with the help of levers, he drew the raft down
into the water.
In four days he had completed the whole work, and on the fifth
Calypso sent him from the island after washing him and giving him some
clean clothes. She gave him a goat skin full of black wine, and another
larger one of water; she also gave him a wallet full of provisions, and
found him in much good meat. 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. He never closed his
eyes, but kept them fixed on the Pleiads, on late-setting Bootes, and on
the Bear- which men also call the wain, and which turns round and round
where it is, facing Orion, and alone never dipping into the stream of Oceanus-
for Calypso had told him to keep this to his left. Days seven and ten did
he sail over the sea, and on the eighteenth the dim outlines of the mountains
on the nearest part of the Phaeacian coast appeared, rising like a shield
on the horizon.
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, 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. Still, he shall
have plenty of hardship yet before he has done with
it."
Thereon he gathered his clouds together, grasped his trident, stirred
it round in the sea, and roused the rage of every wind that blows till
earth, sea, and sky were hidden in cloud, and night sprang forth out of
the heavens. 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. "Alas," he said to himself in his dismay, "what ever will
become of me? I am afraid Calypso was right when she said I should have
trouble by sea before I got back home. It is all coming true. How black
is Jove making heaven with his clouds, and what a sea the winds are raising
from every quarter at once. I am now safe to perish. Blest and thrice blest
were those Danaans who fell before Troy in the cause of the sons of Atreus.
Would that had been killed on the day when the Trojans were pressing me
so sorely about the dead body of Achilles, for then I should have had due
burial and the Achaeans would have honoured my name; but now it seems that
I shall come to a most pitiable end."
As he spoke a sea broke over him with such terrific fury that the
raft reeled again, and he was carried overboard a long way off. He let
go the helm, and the force of the hurricane was so great that it broke
the mast half way up, and both sail and yard went over into the sea. 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. In spite of all this, however,
he did not lose sight of his raft, but swam as fast as he could towards
it, got hold of it, and climbed on board again so as to escape drowning.
The sea took the raft and tossed it about as Autumn winds whirl thistledown
round and round upon a road. It was as though the South, North, East, and
West winds were all playing battledore and shuttlecock with it at
once.
When he was in this plight, Ino daughter of Cadmus, also called
Leucothea, saw him. She had formerly been a mere mortal, but had been since
raised to the rank of a marine goddess. Seeing in what great distress Ulysses
now was, she had compassion upon him, and, rising like a sea-gull from
the waves, took her seat upon the raft.
"My poor good man," said she, "why is Neptune so furiously angry
with you? He is giving you a great deal of trouble, but for all his bluster
he will not kill you. You seem to be a sensible person, do then as I bid
you; strip, leave your raft to drive before the wind, and swim to the Phaecian
coast where better luck awaits you. And here, take my veil and put it round
your chest; it is enchanted, and you can come to no harm so long as you
wear it. As soon as you touch land take it off, throw it back as far as
you can into the sea, and then go away again." With these words she took
off her veil and gave it him. Then she dived down again like a sea-gull
and vanished beneath the dark blue waters.
But Ulysses did not know what to think. "Alas," he said to himself
in his dismay, "this is only some one or other of the gods who is luring
me to ruin by advising me to will quit my raft. At any rate I will not
do so at present, for the land where she said I should be quit of all troubles
seemed to be still a good way off. I know what I will do- I am sure it
will be best- no matter what happens I will stick to the raft as long as
her timbers hold together, but when the sea breaks her up I will swim for
it; I do not see how I can do any better than this."
While he was thus in two minds, Neptune sent a terrible great wave
that seemed to rear itself above his head till it broke right over the
raft, which then went to pieces as though it were a heap of dry chaff tossed
about by a whirlwind. 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. King Neptune watched him as he did so, and wagged his
head, muttering to himself and saying, "'There now, swim up and down as
you best can till you fall in with well-to-do people. I do not think you
will be able to say that I have let you off too lightly." On this he lashed
his horses and drove to Aegae where his palace is.
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.
Thereon he floated about for two nights and two days in the water,
with a heavy swell on the sea and death staring him in the face; but when
the third day broke, the wind fell and there was a dead calm without so
much as a breath of air stirring. As he rose on the swell he looked eagerly
ahead, and could see land quite near. 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.
When, however, he got within earshot, he began to hear the surf thundering
up against the rocks, for the swell still broke against them with a terrific
roar. Everything was enveloped in spray; there were no harbours where a
ship might ride, nor shelter of any kind, but only headlands, low-lying
rocks, and mountain tops.
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 surf-beaten, the rocks are smooth and rise sheer from the
sea, with deep water close under them so that I cannot climb out for want
of foothold. I am afraid some great wave will lift me off my legs and dash
me against the rocks as I leave the water- which would give me a sorry
landing. If, on the other hand, I swim further in search of some shelving
beach or harbour, a hurricane may carry me out to sea again sorely against
my will, or heaven may send some great monster of the deep to attack me;
for Amphitrite breeds many such, and I know that Neptune is very angry
with me."
While he was thus in two minds a wave caught him and took him with
such force against the rocks that he would have been smashed and torn to
pieces if Minerva had not shown him what to do. He caught hold of the rock
with both hands and clung to it groaning with pain till the wave retired,
so he was saved that time; but presently the wave came on again and carried
him back with it far into the sea-tearing his hands as the suckers of a
polypus are torn when some one plucks it from its bed, and the stones come
up along with it even so did the rocks tear the skin from his strong hands,
and then the wave drew him deep down under the water.
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.
He swam seaward again, beyond reach of the surf that was beating against
the land, and at the same time he kept looking towards the shore to see
if he could find some haven, or a spit that should take the waves aslant.
By and by, as he swam on, he came to the mouth of a river, and here he
thought would be the best place, for there were no rocks, and it afforded
shelter from the wind. He felt that there was a current, so he prayed inwardly
and said:
"Hear me, O King, whoever you may be, and save me from the anger
of the sea-god Neptune, for I approach you prayerfully. Any one who has
lost his way has at all times a claim even upon the gods, wherefore in
my distress I draw near to your stream, and cling to the knees of your
riverhood. Have mercy upon me, O king, for I declare myself your
suppliant."
Then the god stayed his stream and stilled the waves, making all
calm before him, and bringing him safely into the mouth of the river. Here
at last Ulysses' knees and strong hands failed him, for the sea had completely
broken him. His body was all swollen, and his mouth and nostrils ran down
like a river with sea-water, so that he could neither breathe nor speak,
and lay swooning from sheer exhaustion; presently, when he had got his
breath and came to himself again, he took off the scarf that Ino had given
him and threw it back into the salt stream of the river, whereon Ino received
it into her hands from the wave that bore it towards her. Then he left
the river, laid himself down among the rushes, and kissed the bounteous
earth.
"Alas," he cried to himself in his dismay, "what ever will become
of me, and how is it all to end? If I stay here upon the river bed through
the long watches of the night, I am so exhausted that the bitter cold and
damp may make an end of me- for towards sunrise there will be a keen wind
blowing from off the river. If, on the other hand, I climb the hill side,
find shelter in the woods, and sleep in some thicket, I may escape the
cold and have a good night's rest, but some savage beast may take advantage
of me and devour me."
In the end he deemed it best to take to the woods, and he found
one upon some high ground not far from the water. There he crept beneath
two shoots of olive that grew from a single stock- the one an ungrafted
sucker, while the other had been grafted. No wind, however squally, could
break through the cover they afforded, nor could the sun's rays pierce
them, nor the rain get through them, so closely did they grow into one
another. 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. He was
glad enough to see this, so he laid himself down and heaped the leaves
all round him. Then, as one who lives alone in the country, far from any
neighbor, hides a brand as fire-seed 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.
|