THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER

S >> S. H. BUTCHER, M.A. >> THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER

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And Odysseus of many counsels answered him, saying: 'My
lord Alcinous, most notable of all the people, there is a
time for many words and there is a time for sleep. But if
thou art eager still to listen, I would not for my part
grudge to tell thee of other things more pitiful still,
even the woes of my comrades, those that perished
afterward, for they had escaped with their lives from the
dread war-cry of the Trojans, but perished in returning by
the will of an evil woman.

'Now when holy Persephone had scattered this way and that
the spirits of the women folk, thereafter came the soul of
Agamemnon, son of Atreus, sorrowing; and round him others
were gathered, the ghosts of them who had died with him in
the house of Aegisthus and met their doom. And he knew me
straightway when he had drunk the dark blood, yea, and he
wept aloud, and shed big tears as he stretched forth his
hands in his longing to reach me. But it might not be, for
he had now no steadfast strength nor power at all in
moving, such as was aforetime in his supple limbs.

'At the sight of him I wept and was moved with compassion,
and uttering my voice, spake to him winged words: "Most
renowned son of Atreus, Agamemnon, king of men, say what
doom overcame thee of death that lays men at their length?
Did Poseidon smite thee in thy ships, raising the dolorous
blast of contrary winds, or did unfriendly men do thee hurt
upon the land, whilst thou wert cutting off their oxen and
fair flocks of sheep, or fighting to win a city and the
women thereof?"

'So spake I, and straightway he answered, and said unto me:
"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
devices, it was not Poseidon that smote me in my ships, and
raised the dolorous blast of contrary winds, nor did
unfriendly men do me hurt upon the land, but Aegisthus it
was that wrought me death and doom and slew me, with the
aid of my accursed wife, as one slays an ox at the stall,
after he had bidden me to his house, and entertained me at
a feast. Even so I died by a death most pitiful, and round
me my company likewise were slain without ceasing, like
swine with glittering tusks which are slaughtered in the
house of a rich and mighty man, whether at a wedding
banquet or a joint-feast or a rich clan-drinking. Ere now
hast thou been at the slaying of many a man, killed in
single fight or in strong battle, yet thou wouldst have
sorrowed the most at this sight, how we lay in the hall
round the mixing-bowl and the laden boards, and the floor
all ran with blood. And most pitiful of all that I heard
was the voice of the daughter of Priam, of Cassandra, whom
hard by me the crafty Clytemnestra slew. Then I strove to
raise my hands as I was dying upon the sword, but to earth
they fell. And that shameless one turned her back upon me,
and had not the heart to draw down my eyelids with her
fingers nor to close my mouth. So surely is there nought
more terrible and shameless than a woman who imagines such
evil in her heart, even as she too planned a foul deed,
fashioning death for her wedded lord. Verily I had thought
to come home most welcome to my children and my thralls;
but she, out of the depth of her evil knowledge, hath shed
shame on herself and on all womankind, which shall be for
ever, even on the upright."

'Even so he spake, but I answered him, saying: "Lo now, in
very sooth, hath Zeus of the far-borne voice wreaked
wondrous hatred on the seed of Atreus through the counsels
of woman from of old. For Helen's sake so many of us
perished, and now Clytemnestra hath practised treason
against thee, while yet thou wast afar off."

'Even so I spake, and anon he answered me, saying:
"Wherefore do thou too, never henceforth be soft even to
thy wife, neither show her all the counsel that thou
knowest, but a part declare and let part be hid. Yet shalt
not thou, Odysseus, find death at the hand of thy wife, for
she is very discreet and prudent in all her ways, the wise
Penelope, daughter of Icarius. Verily we left her a bride
new wed when we went to the war, and a child was at her
breast, who now, methinks, sits in the ranks of men, happy
in his lot, for his dear father shall behold him on his
coming, and he shall embrace his sire as is meet. But us
for my wife, she suffered me not so much as to have my fill
of gazing on my son; ere that she slew me, even her lord.
And yet another thing will I tell thee, and do thou ponder
it in thy heart. Put thy ship to land in secret, and not
openly, on the shore of thy dear country; for there is no
more faith in woman. But come, declare me this and plainly
tell it all, if haply ye hear of my son as yet living,
either, it may be, in Orchomenus or in sandy Pylos, or
perchance with Menelaus in wide Sparta, for goodly Orestes
hath not yet perished on the earth."

'Even so he spake, but I answered him, saying: "Son of
Atreus, wherefore dost thou ask me straitly of these
things? Nay I know not at all, whether he be alive or dead;
it is ill to speak words light as wind."

'Thus we twain stood sorrowing, holding sad discourse,
while the big tears fell fast: and therewithal came the
soul of Achilles, son of Peleus, and of Patroclus and of
noble Antilochus and of Aias, who in face and form was
goodliest of all the Danaans, after the noble son of
Peleus. And the spirit of the son of Aeacus, fleet of foot,
knew me again, and making lament spake to me winged words:

'"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
devices, man overbold, what new deed and hardier than this
wilt thou devise in thy heart? How durst thou come down to
the house of Hades, where dwell the senseless dead, the
phantoms of men outworn?"

'So he spake, but I answered him: "Achilles, son of Peleus,
mightiest far of the Achaeans, I am come hither to seek to
Teiresias, if he may tell me any counsel, how I may come to
rugged Ithaca. For not yet have I come nigh the Achaean
land, nor set foot on mine own soil, but am still in evil
case; while as for thee, Achilles, none other than thou
wast heretofore the most blessed of men, nor shall any be
hereafter. For of old, in the days of thy life, we Argives
gave thee one honour with the gods, and now thou art a
great prince here among the dead. Wherefore let not thy
death be any grief to thee, Achilles."

'Even so I spake, and he straightway answered me, and said:
"Nay, speak not comfortably to me of death, oh great
Odysseus. Rather would I live on ground {*} as the hireling
of another, with a landless man who had no great
livelihood, than bear sway among all the dead that be
departed. But come, tell me tidings of that lordly son of
mine--did he follow to the war to be a leader or not? And
tell me of noble Peleus, if thou hast heard aught,--is he
yet held in worship among the Myrmidons, or do they
dishonour him from Hellas to Phthia, for that old age binds
him hand and foot? For I am no longer his champion under
the sun, so mighty a man as once I was, when in wide Troy I
slew the best of the host, and succoured the Argives. Ah!
could I but come for an hour to my father's house as then I
was, so would I make my might and hands invincible, to be
hateful to many an one of those who do him despite and keep
him from his honour."

{* [Greek] seems to mean 'upon the earth,' 'above ground,'
as opposed to the dead who are below, rather than 'bound to
the soil,' in which sense most commentators take it.}

'Even so he spake, but I answered him saying: "As for noble
Peleus, verily I have heard nought of him; but concerning
thy dear son Neoptolemus, I will tell thee all the truth,
according to thy word. It was I that led him up out of
Scyros in my good hollow ship, in the wake of the
goodly-greaved Achaeans. Now oft as we took counsel around
Troy town, he was ever the first to speak, and no word
missed the mark; the godlike Nestor and I alone surpassed
him. But whensoever we Achaeans did battle on the plain of
Troy, he never tarried behind in the throng or the press of
men, but ran out far before us all, yielding to none in
that might of his. And many men he slew in warfare dread;
but I could not tell of all or name their names, even all
the host he slew in succouring the Argives; but, ah, how he
smote with the sword that son of Telephus, the hero
Eurypylus, and many Ceteians {*} of his company were slain
around him, by reason of a woman's bribe. He truly was the
comeliest man that ever I saw, next to goodly Memnon. And
again when we, the best of the Argives, were about to go
down into the horse which Epeus wrought, and the charge of
all was laid on me, both to open the door of our good
ambush and to shut the same, then did the other princes and
counsellors of the Danaans wipe away the tears, and the
limbs of each one trembled beneath him, but never once did
I see thy son's fair face wax pale, nor did he wipe the
tears from his cheeks: but he besought me often to let him
go forth from the horse, and kept handling his sword-hilt,
and his heavy bronze-shod spear, and he was set on mischief
against the Trojans. But after we had sacked the steep city
of Priam, he embarked unscathed with his share of the
spoil, and with a noble prize; he was not smitten with the
sharp spear, and got no wound in close fight: and many such
chances there be in war, for Ares rageth confusedly."

{* See Lenormant, Premieres Civilisations, vol. i. p.289.}

'So I spake, and the spirit of the son of Aeacus, fleet of
foot, passed with great strides along the mead of asphodel,
rejoicing in that I had told him of his son's renown.

'But lo, other spirits of the dead that be departed stood
sorrowing, and each one asked of those that were dear to
them. The soul of Aias, son of Telamon, alone stood apart
being still angry for the victory wherein I prevailed
against him, in the suit by the ships concerning the arms
of Achilles, that his lady mother had set for a prize; and
the sons of the Trojans made award and Pallas Athene. Would
that I had never prevailed and won such a prize! So goodly
a head hath the earth closed over, for the sake of those
arms, even over Aias, who in beauty and in feats of war was
of a mould above all the other Danaans, next to the noble
son of Peleus. To him then I spake softly, saying:

'"Aias, son of noble Telamon, so art thou not even in death
to forget thy wrath against me, by reason of those arms
accursed, which the gods set to be the bane of the Argives?
What a tower of strength fell in thy fall, and we Achaeans
cease not to sorrow for thee, even as for the life of
Achilles, son of Peleus! Nay, there is none other to blame,
but Zeus, who hath borne wondrous hate to the army of the
Danaan spearsmen, and laid on thee thy doom. Nay, come
hither, my lord, that thou mayest hear my word and my
speech; master thy wrath and thy proud spirit."

'So I spake, but he answered me not a word and passed to
Erebus after the other spirits of the dead that be
departed. Even then, despite his anger, would he have
spoken to me or I to him, but my heart within me was minded
to see the spirits of those others that were departed.

'There then I saw Minos, glorious son of Zeus, wielding a
golden sceptre, giving sentence from his throne to the
dead, while they sat and stood around the prince, asking
his dooms through the wide-gated house of Hades.

'And after him I marked the mighty Orion driving the wild
beasts together over the mead of asphodel, the very beasts
that himself had slain on the lonely hills, with a strong
mace all of bronze in his hands, {*} that is ever unbroken.

{* [Greek] in strict grammar agrees with [Greek] in 574,
but this merely by attraction, for in sense it refers not
to the living man, but to his phantom.}

'And I saw Tityos, son of renowned Earth, lying on a
levelled ground, and he covered nine roods as he lay, and
vultures twain beset him one on either side, and gnawed at
his liver, piercing even to the caul, but he drave them not
away with his hands. For he had dealt violently with Leto,
the famous bedfellow of Zeus, as she went up to Pytho
through the fair lawns of Panopeus.

'Moreover I beheld Tantalus in grievous torment, standing
in a mere and the water came nigh unto his chin. And he
stood straining as one athirst, but he might not attain to
the water to drink of it. For often as that old man stooped
down in his eagerness to drink, so often the water was
swallowed up and it vanished away, and the black earth
still showed at his feet, for some god parched it evermore.
And tall trees flowering shed their fruit overhead, pears
and pomegranates and apple trees with bright fruit, and
sweet figs and olives in their bloom, whereat when that old
man reached out his hands to clutch them, the wind would
toss them to the shadowy clouds.

'Yea and I beheld Sisyphus in strong torment, grasping a
monstrous stone with both his hands. He was pressing
thereat with hands and feet, and trying to roll the stone
upward toward the brow of the hill. But oft as he was about
to hurl it over the top, the weight would drive him back,
so once again to the plain rolled the stone, the shameless
thing. And he once more kept heaving and straining, and the
sweat the while was pouring down his limbs, and the dust
rose upwards from his head.

'And after him I descried the mighty Heracles, his phantom,
I say; but as for himself he hath joy at the banquet among
the deathless gods, and hath to wife Hebe of the fair
ankles, child of great Zeus, and of Here of the golden
sandals. And all about him there was a clamour of the dead,
as it were fowls flying every way in fear, and he like
black Night, with bow uncased, and shaft upon the string,
fiercely glancing around, like one in the act to shoot. And
about his breast was an awful belt, a baldric of gold,
whereon wondrous things were wrought, bears and wild boars
and lions with flashing eyes, and strife and battles and
slaughters and murders of men. Nay, now that he hath
fashioned this, never another may he fashion, whoso stored
in his craft the device of that belt! And anon he knew me
when his eyes beheld me, and making lament he spake unto me
winged words:

'"Son of Laertes, of the seed of Zeus, Odysseus of many
devices: ah! wretched one, dost thou too lead such a life
of evil doom, as I endured beneath the rays of the sun? I
was the son of Zeus Cronion, yet had I trouble beyond
measure, for I was subdued unto a man far worse than I. And
he enjoined on me hard adventures, yea and on a time he
sent me hither to bring back the hound of hell; for he
devised no harder task for me than this. I lifted the hound
and brought him forth from out of the house of Hades; and
Hermes sped me on my way and the grey-eyed Athene."

'Therewith he departed again into the house of Hades, but I
abode there still, if perchance some one of the hero folk
besides might come, who died in old time. Yea and I should
have seen the men of old, whom I was fain to look on,
Theseus and Peirithous, renowned children of the gods. But
ere that might be the myriad tribes of the dead thronged up
together with wondrous clamour: and pale fear gat hold of
me, lest the high goddess Persephone should send me the
head of the Gorgon, that dread monster, from out of Hades.

'Straightway then I went to the ship, and bade my men mount
the vessel, and loose the hawsers. So speedily they went on
board, and sat upon the benches. And the wave of the flood
bore the barque down the stream of Oceanus, we rowing
first, and afterwards the fair wind was our convoy.

Book XII

Odysseus, his passage by the Sirens, and by Scylla and
Charybdis. The sacrilege committed by his men in the isle
Thrinacia. The destruction of his ships and men. How he
swam on a plank nine days together, and came to Ogygia,
where he stayed seven years with Calypso.

'Now after the ship had left the stream of the river
Oceanus, and was come to the wave of the wide sea, and the
isle Aeaean, where is the dwelling place of early Dawn and
her dancing grounds, and the land of sunrising, upon our
coming thither we beached the ship in the sand, and
ourselves too stept ashore on the sea beach. There we fell
on sound sleep and awaited the bright Dawn.

'So soon as early Dawn shone forth, the rosy-fingered, I
sent forth my fellows to the house of Circe to fetch the
body of the dead Elpenor. And speedily we cut billets of
wood and sadly we buried him, where the furthest headland
runs out into the sea, shedding big tears. But when the
dead man was burned and the arms of the dead, we piled a
barrow and dragged up thereon a pillar, and on the topmost
mound we set the shapen oar.

'Now all that task we finished, and our coming from out of
Hades was not unknown to Circe, but she arrayed herself and
speedily drew nigh, and her handmaids with her bare flesh
and bread in plenty and dark red wine. And the fair goddess
stood in the midst and spake in our ears, saying:

'"Men overbold, who have gone alive into the house of
Hades, to know death twice, while all men else die once for
all. Nay come, eat ye meat and drink wine here all day
long; and with the breaking of the day ye shall set sail,
and myself I will show you the path and declare each thing,
that ye may not suffer pain or hurt through any grievous
ill-contrivance by sea or on the land."

'So spake she, and our lordly souls consented thereto. Thus
for that time we sat the livelong day, until the going down
of the sun, feasting on abundant flesh and on sweet wine.
Now when the sun sank and darkness came on, my company laid
them to rest by the hawsers of the ship. Then she took me
by the hand and led me apart from my dear company, and made
me to sit down and laid herself at my feet, and asked all
my tale. And I told her all in order duly. Then at the last
the Lady Circe spake unto me, saying:

'"Even so, now all these things have an end; do thou then
hearken even as I tell thee, and the god himself shall
bring it back to thy mind. To the Sirens first shalt thou
come, who bewitch all men, whosoever shall come to them.
Whoso draws nigh them unwittingly and hears the sound of
the Sirens' voice, never doth he see wife or babes stand by
him on his return, nor have they joy at his coming; but the
Sirens enchant him with their clear song, sitting in the
meadow, and all about is a great heap of bones of men,
corrupt in death, and round the bones the skin is wasting.
But do thou drive thy ship past, and knead honey-sweet wax,
and anoint therewith the ears of thy company, lest any of
the rest hear the song; but if thou myself art minded to
hear, let them bind thee in the swift ship hand and foot,
upright in the mast-stead, and from the mast let rope-ends
be tied, that with delight thou mayest hear the voice of
the Sirens. And if thou shalt beseech thy company and bid
them to loose thee, then let them bind thee with yet more
bonds. But when thy friends have driven thy ship past
these, I will not tell thee fully which path shall
thenceforth be thine, but do thou thyself consider it, and
I will speak to thee of either way. On the one side there
are beetling rocks, and against them the great wave roars
of dark-eyed Amphitrite. These, ye must know, are they the
blessed gods call the Rocks Wandering. By this way even
winged things may never pass, nay, not even the cowering
doves that bear ambrosia to Father Zeus, but the sheer rock
evermore takes away one even of these, and the Father sends
in another to make up the tale. Thereby no ship of men ever
escapes that comes thither, but the planks of ships and the
bodies of men confusedly are tossed by the waves of the sea
and the storms of ruinous fire. One ship only of all that
fare by sea hath passed that way, even Argo, that is in all
men's minds, on her voyage from Aeetes. And even her the
wave would lightly have cast there upon the mighty rocks,
but Here sent her by for love of Jason.

'"On the other part are two rocks, whereof the one reaches
with sharp peak to the wide heaven, and a dark cloud
encompasses it; this never streams away, and there is no
clear air about the peak neither in summer nor in harvest
tide. No mortal man may scale it or set foot thereon, not
though he had twenty hands and feet. For the rock is
smooth, and sheer, as it were polished. And in the midst of
the cliff is a dim cave turned to Erebus, towards the place
of darkness, whereby ye shall even steer your hollow ship,
noble Odysseus. Not with an arrow from a bow might a man in
his strength reach from his hollow ship into that deep
cave. And therein dwelleth Scylla, yelping terribly. Her
voice indeed is no greater than the voice of a new-born
whelp, but a dreadful monster is she, nor would any look on
her gladly, not if it were a god that met her. Verily she
hath twelve feet all dangling down; and six necks exceeding
long, and on each a hideous head, and therein three rows of
teeth set thick and close, full of black death. Up to her
middle is she sunk far down in the hollow cave, but forth
she holds her heads from the dreadful gulf, and there she
fishes, swooping round the rock, for dolphins or sea-dogs,
or whatso greater beast she may anywhere take, whereof the
deep-voiced Amphitrite feeds countless flocks. Thereby no
sailors boast that they have fled scatheless ever with
their ship, for with each head she carries off a man, whom
she hath snatched from out the dark-prowed ship.

'"But that other cliff, Odysseus, thou shalt note, lying
lower, hard by the first: thou couldest send an arrow
across. And thereon is a great fig-tree growing, in fullest
leaf, and beneath it mighty Charybdis sucks down black
water, for thrice a day she spouts it forth, and thrice a
day she sucks it down in terrible wise. Never mayest thou
be there when she sucks the water, for none might save thee
then from thy bane, not even the Earth-Shaker! But take
heed and swiftly drawing nigh to Scylla's rock drive the
ship past, since of a truth it is far better to mourn six
of thy company in the ship, than all in the selfsame hour."

'So spake she, but I answered, and said unto her: "Come I
pray thee herein, goddess, tell me true, if there be any
means whereby I might escape from the deadly Charybdis and
avenge me on that other, when she would prey upon my
company."

'So spake I, and that fair goddess answered me: "Man
overbold, lo, now again the deeds of war are in thy mind
and the travail thereof. Wilt thou not yield thee even to
the deathless gods? As for her, she is no mortal, but an
immortal plague, dread, grievous, and fierce, and not to be
fought with; and against her there is no defence; flight is
the bravest way. For if thou tarry to do on thine armour by
the cliff, I fear lest once again she sally forth and catch
at thee with so many heads, and seize as many men as
before. So drive past with all thy force, and call on
Cratais, mother of Scylla, which bore her for a bane to
mortals. And she will then let her from darting forth
thereafter.

'"Then thou shalt come unto the isle Thrinacia; there are
the many kine of Helios and his brave flocks feeding, seven
herds of kine and as many goodly flocks of sheep, and fifty
in each flock. They have no part in birth or in corruption,
and there are goddesses to shepherd them, nymphs with fair
tresses, Phaethusa and Lampetie whom bright Neaera bare to
Helios Hyperion. Now when the lady their mother had borne
and nursed them, she carried them to the isle Thrinacia to
dwell afar, that they should guard their father's flocks
and his kine with shambling gait. If thou doest these no
hurt, being heedful of thy return, truly ye may even yet
reach Ithaca, albeit in evil case. But if thou hurtest
them, I foreshow ruin for thy ship and for thy men, and
even though thou shouldest thyself escape, late shalt thou
return in evil plight with the loss of all thy company."

'So spake she, and anon came the golden-throned Dawn. Then
the fair goddess took her way up the island. But I departed
to my ship and roused my men themselves to mount the vessel
and loose the hawsers. And speedily they went aboard and
sat upon the benches, and sitting orderly smote the grey
sea water with their oars. And in the wake of our
dark-prowed ship she sent a favouring wind that filled the
sails, a kindly escort,--even Circe of the braided tresses,
a dread goddess of human speech. And straightway we set in
order the gear throughout the ship and sat us down, and the
wind and the helmsman guided our barque.

'Then I spake among my company with a heavy heart:
"Friends, forasmuch as it is not well that one or two alone
should know of the oracles that Circe, the fair goddess,
spake unto me, therefore will I declare them, that with
foreknowledge we may die, or haply shunning death and
destiny escape. First she bade us avoid the sound of the
voice of the wondrous Sirens, and their field of flowers,
and me only she bade listen to their voices. So bind ye me
in a hard bond, that I may abide unmoved in my place,
upright in the mast-stead, and from the mast let rope-ends
be tied, and if I beseech and bid you to set me free, then
do ye straiten me with yet more bonds."

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