THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER
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S. H. BUTCHER, M.A. >> THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER
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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
close-fitted 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.
Book III
Nestor entertains Telemachus at Pylos and tells him how the
Greeks departed from Troy; and sends him for further
information to Sparta.
Now the sun arose and left the lovely mere, speeding to the
brazen heaven, to give light to the immortals and to mortal
men on the earth, the graingiver, and they reached Pylos,
the stablished castle of Neleus. There the people were
doing sacrifice on the sea shore, slaying black bulls
without spot to the dark-haired god, the shaker of the
earth. Nine companies there were, and five hundred men sat
in each, and in every company they held nine bulls ready to
hand. Just as they had tasted the inner parts, and were
burning the slices of the thighs on the altar to the god,
the others were bearing straight to land, and brailed up
the sails of the gallant ship, and moored her, and
themselves came forth. And Telemachus too stept forth from
the ship, and Athene led the way. And the goddess,
grey-eyed Athene, spake first to him, saying:
'Telemachus, thou needst not now be abashed, no, not one
whit. For to this very end didst thou sail over the deep,
that thou mightest hear tidings of thy father, even where
the earth closed over him, and what manner of death he met.
But come now, go straight to Nestor, tamer of horses: let
us learn what counsel he hath in the secret of his heart.
And beseech him thyself that he may give unerring answer;
and he will not lie to thee, for he is very wise.'
The wise Telemachus answered, saying: 'Mentor, and how
shall I go, how shall I greet him, I, who am untried in
words of wisdom? Moreover a young man may well be abashed
to question an elder.'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again:
'Telemachus, thou shalt bethink thee of somewhat in thine
own breast, and somewhat the god will give thee to say. For
thou, methinks, of all men wert not born and bred without
the will of the gods.'
So spake Pallas Athene and led the way quickly; and he
followed hard in the steps of the goddess. And they came to
the gathering and the session of the men of Pylos. There
was Nestor seated with his sons, and round him his company
making ready the feast, and roasting some of the flesh and
spitting other. Now when they saw the strangers, they went
all together, and clasped their hands in welcome, and would
have them sit down. First Peisistratus, son of Nestor, drew
nigh, and took the hands of each, and made them to sit down
at the feast on soft fleeces upon the sea sand, beside his
brother Thrasymedes and his father. And he gave them messes
of the inner meat, and poured wine into a golden cup, and
pledging her, he spake unto Pallas Athene, daughter of
Zeus, lord of the aegis:
'Pray now, my guest, to the lord Poseidon, even as it is
his feast whereon ye have chanced in coming hither. And
when thou hast made drink offering and prayed, as is due,
give thy friend also the cup of honeyed wine to make
offering thereof, inasmuch as he too, methinks, prayeth to
the deathless gods, for all men stand in need of the gods.
Howbeit he is younger and mine own equal in years,
therefore to thee first will I give the golden chalice.'
Therewith he placed in her hand the cup of sweet wine. And
Athene rejoiced in the wisdom and judgment of the man, in
that he had given to her first the chalice of gold. And
straightway she prayed, and that instantly, to the lord
Poseidon:
'Hear me, Poseidon, girdler of the earth, and grudge not
the fulfilment of this labour in answer to our prayer. To
Nestor first and to his sons vouchsafe renown, and
thereafter grant to all the people of Pylos a gracious
recompense for this splendid hecatomb. Grant moreover that
Telemachus and I may return, when we have accomplished that
for which we came hither with our swift black ship.'
Now as she prayed on this wise, herself the while was
fulfilling the prayer. And she gave Telemachus the fair
two-handled cup; and in like manner prayed the dear son of
Odysseus. Then, when the others had roasted the outer parts
and drawn them off the spits, they divided the messes and
shared the glorious feast. But when they had put from them
the desire of meat and drink, Nestor of Gerenia, lord of
chariots, first spake among them:
'Now is the better time to enquire and ask of the strangers
who they are, now that they have had their delight of food.
Strangers, who are ye? Whence sail ye over the wet ways? On
some trading enterprise, or at adventure do ye rove, even
as sea-robbers, over the brine, for they wander at hazard
of their own lives bringing bale to alien men?'
Then wise Telemachus answered him and spake with courage,
for Athene herself had put boldness in his heart, that he
might ask about his father who was afar, and that he might
be had in good report among men:
'Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, thou
askest whence we are, and I will surely tell thee all. We
have come forth out of Ithaca that is below Neion; and this
our quest whereof I speak is a matter of mine own, and not
of the common weal. I follow after the far-spread rumour of
my father, if haply I may hear thereof, even of the goodly
steadfast Odysseus, who upon a time, men say, fought by thy
side and sacked the city of the Trojans. For of all the
others, as many as warred with the Trojans, we hear
tidings, and where each one fell by a pitiful death; but
even the death of this man Cronion hath left untold. For
none can surely declare the place where he hath perished,
whether he was smitten by foemen on the mainland, or lost
upon the deep among the waves of Amphitrite. So now am I
come hither to thy knees, if perchance thou art willing to
tell me of his pitiful death, as one that saw it with thine
own eyes, or heard the story from some other wanderer,--
for his mother bare him to exceeding sorrow. And speak me
no soft words in ruth or pity, but tell me plainly what
sight thou didst get of him. Ah! I pray thee, if ever at
all my father, noble Odysseus, made promise to thee of word
or work, and fulfilled the same in the land of the Trojans,
where ye Achaeans suffered affliction; these things, I pray
thee, now remember and tell me truth.'
Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, answered him: 'My
friend, since thou hast brought sorrow back to mind,
behold, this is the story of the woe which we endured in
that land, we sons of the Achaeans, unrestrained in fury,
and of all that we bore in wanderings after spoil, sailing
with our ships over the misty deep, wheresoever Achilles
led; and of all our war round the mighty burg of king
Priam. Yea and there the best of us were slain. There lies
valiant Aias, and there Achilles, and there Patroclus, the
peer of the gods in counsel, and there my own dear son,
strong and noble, Antilochus, that excelled in speed of
foot and in the fight. And many other ills we suffered
beside these; who of mortal men could tell the tale? Nay
none, though thou wert to abide here for five years, ay and
for six, and ask of all the ills which the goodly Achaeans
then endured. Ere all was told thou wouldst be weary and
turn to thine own country. For nine whole years we were
busy about them, devising their ruin with all manner of
craft; and scarce did Cronion bring it to pass. There never
a man durst match with him in wisdom, for goodly Odysseus
very far outdid the rest in all manner of craft, Odysseus
thy father, if indeed thou art his son,--amazement comes
upon me as I look at thee; for verily thy speech is like
unto his; none would say that a younger man would speak so
like an elder. Now look you, all the while that myself and
goodly Odysseus were there, we never spake diversely either
in the assembly or in the council, but always were of one
mind, and advised the Argives with understanding and sound
counsel, how all might be for the very best. But after we
had sacked the steep city of Priam, and had departed in our
ships, and a god had scattered the Achaeans, even then did
Zeus devise in his heart a pitiful returning for the
Argives, for in no wise were they all discreet or just.
Wherefore many of them met with an ill faring by reason of
the deadly wrath of the grey-eyed goddess, the daughter of
the mighty sire, who set debate between the two sons of
Atreus. And they twain called to the gathering of the host
all the Achaeans, recklessly and out of order, against the
going down of the sun; and lo, the sons of the Achaeans
came heavy with wine. And the Atreidae spake out and told
the reason wherefore they had assembled the host. Then
verily Menelaus charged all the Achaeans to bethink them of
returning over the broad back of the sea, but in no sort
did he please Agamemnon, whose desire was to keep back the
host and to offer holy hecatombs, that so he might appease
that dread wrath of Athene. Fool! for he knew not this,
that she was never to be won; for the mind of the
everlasting gods is not lightly turned to repentance. So
these twain stood bandying hard words; but the
goodly-greaved Achaeans sprang up with a wondrous din, and
twofold counsels found favour among them. So that one night
we rested, thinking hard things against each other, for
Zeus was fashioning for us a ruinous doom. But in the
morning, we of the one part drew our ships to the fair salt
sea, and put aboard our wealth, and the low-girdled Trojan
women. Now one half the people abode steadfastly there with
Agamemnon, son of Atreus, shepherd of the host; and half of
us embarked and drave to sea and swiftly the ships sailed,
for a god made smooth the sea with the depths thereof. And
when we came to Tenedos, we did sacrifice to the gods,
being eager for the homeward way; but Zeus did not yet
purpose our returning, nay, hard was he, that roused once
more an evil strife among us. Then some turned back their
curved ships, and went their way, even the company of
Odysseus, the wise and manifold in counsel, once again
showing a favour to Agamemnon, son of Atreus. But I fled on
with the squadron that followed me, for I knew how now the
god imagined mischief. And the warlike son of Tydeus fled
and roused his men thereto. And late in our track came
Menelaus of the fair hair, who found us in Lesbos,
considering about the long voyage, whether we should go
sea-ward of craggy Chios, by the isle of Psyria, keeping
the isle upon our left, or inside Chios past windy Mimas.
So we asked the god to show us a sign, and a sign he
declared to us, and bade us cleave a path across the middle
sea to Euboea, that we might flee the swiftest way from
sorrow. And a shrill wind arose and blew, and the ships ran
most fleetly over the teeming ways, and in the night they
touched at Geraestus. So there we sacrificed many thighs of
bulls to Poseidon, for joy that we had measured out so
great a stretch of sea. It was the fourth day when the
company of Diomede son of Tydeus, tamer of horses, moored
their gallant ships at Argos; but I held on for Pylos, and
the breeze was never quenched from the hour that the god
sent it forth to blow. Even so I came, dear child, without
tidings, nor know I aught of those others, which of the
Achaeans were saved and which were lost. But all that I
hear tell of as I sit in our halls, thou shalt learn as it
is meet, and I will hide nothing from thee. Safely, they
say, came the Myrmidons the wild spearsmen, whom the famous
son of high-souled Achilles led; and safely Philoctetes,
the glorious son of Poias. And Idomeneus brought all his
company to Crete, all that escaped the war, and from him
the sea gat none. And of the son of Atreus even yourselves
have heard, far apart though ye dwell, how he came, and how
Aegisthus devised his evil end; but verily he himself paid
a terrible reckoning. So good a thing it is that a son of
the dead should still be left, even as that son also took
vengeance on the slayer of his father, guileful Aegisthus,
who slew his famous sire. And thou too, my friend, for I
see thee very comely and tall, be valiant, that even men
unborn may praise thee.'
And wise Telemachus answered him, and said: 'Nestor, son of
Neleus, great glory of the Achaeans, verily and indeed he
avenged himself, and the Achaeans shall noise his fame
abroad, that even those may hear who are yet for to be. Oh
that the gods would clothe me with such strength as his,
that I might take vengeance on the wooers for their cruel
transgression, who wantonly devise against me infatuate
deeds! But the gods have woven for me the web of no such
weal, for me or for my sire. But now I must in any wise
endure it.'
Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, made answer:
'Dear friend, seeing thou dost call these things to my
remembrance and speak thereof, they tell me that many
wooers for thy mother's hand plan mischief within the halls
in thy despite. Say, dost thou willingly submit thee to
oppression, or do the people through the land hate thee,
obedient to the voice of a god? Who knows but that Odysseus
may some day come and requite their violence, either
himself alone or all the host of the Achaeans with him? Ah,
if but grey-eyed Athene were inclined to love thee, as once
she cared exceedingly for the renowned Odysseus in the land
of the Trojans, where we Achaeans were sore afflicted, for
never yet have I seen the gods show forth such manifest
love, as then did Pallas Athene standing manifest by him,--
if she would be pleased so to love thee and to care for
thee, then might certain of them clean forget their
marriage.'
And wise Telemachus answered him, saying: 'Old man, in no
wise methinks shall this word be accomplished. This is a
hard saying of thine, awe comes over me. Not for my hopes
shall this thing come to pass, not even if the gods so
willed it.'
Then the goddess, grey-eyed Athene, spake to him again:
'Telemachus, what word hath escaped the door of thy lips?
Lightly might a god, if so he would, bring a man safe home
even from afar. Rather myself would I have travail and much
pain ere I came home and saw the day of my returning, than
come back and straightway perish on my own hearth-stone,
even as Agamemnon perished by guile at the hands of his own
wife and of Aegisthus. But lo you, death, which is common
to all, the very gods cannot avert even from the man they
love, when the ruinous doom shall bring him low of death
that lays men at their length.'
And wise Telemachus answered her, saying: 'Mentor, no
longer let us tell of these things, sorrowful though we be.
There is none assurance any more of his returning, but
already have the deathless gods devised for him death and
black fate. But now I would question Nestor, and ask him of
another matter, as one who above all men knows judgments
and wisdom: for thrice, men say, he hath been king through
the generations of men; yea, like an immortal he seems to
me to look upon. Nestor, son of Neleus, now tell me true:
how died the son of Atreus, Agamemnon of the wide domain?
Where was Menelaus? What death did crafty Aegisthus plan
for him, in that he killed a man more valiant far than he?
Or was Menelaus not in Argos of Achaia but wandering
elsewhere among men, and that other took heart and slew
Agamemnon?'
Then Nestor of Gerenia, lord of chariots, answered him:
'Yea now, my child, I will tell thee the whole truth.
Verily thou guessest aright even of thyself how things
would have fallen out, if Menelaus of the fair hair, the
son of Atreus, when he came back from Troy, had found
Aegisthus yet alive in the halls. Then even in his death
would they not have heaped the piled earth over him, but
dogs and fowls of the air would have devoured him as he lay
on the plain far from the town. {*} Nor would any of the
Achaean women have bewailed him; so dread was the deed he
contrived. Now we sat in leaguer there, achieving many
adventures; but he the while in peace in the heart of
Argos, the pastureland of horses, spake ofttimes, tempting
her, to the wife of Agamemnon. Verily at the first she
would none of the foul deed, the fair Clytemnestra, for she
had a good understanding. Moreover there was with her a
minstrel, whom the son of Atreus straitly charged as he
went to Troy to have a care of his wife. But when at last
the doom of the gods bound her to her ruin, then did
Aegisthus carry the minstrel to a lonely isle, and left him
there to be the prey and spoil of birds; while as for her,
he led her to his house, a willing lover with a willing
lady. And he burnt many thigh slices upon the holy altars
of the gods, and hung up many offerings, woven-work and
gold, seeing that he had accomplished a great deed, beyond
all hope. Now we, I say, were sailing together on our way
from Troy, the son of Atreus and I, as loving friends. But
when we had reached holy Sunium, the headland of Athens,
there Phoebus Apollo slew the pilot of Menelaus with the
visitation of his gentle shafts, as he held between his
hands the rudder of the running ship, even Phrontis, son of
Onetor, who excelled the tribes of men in piloting a ship,
whenso the storm-winds were hurrying by. Thus was Menelaus
holden there, though eager for the way, till he might bury
his friend and pay the last rites over him. But when he in
his turn, faring over the wine-dark sea in hollow ships,
reached in swift course the steep mount of Malea, then it
was that Zeus of the far-borne voice devised a hateful
path, and shed upon them the breath of the shrill winds,
and great swelling waves arose like unto mountains. There
sundered he the fleet in twain, and part thereof he brought
nigh to Crete, where the Cydonians dwelt about the streams
of Iardanus. Now there is a certain cliff, smooth and sheer
towards the sea, on the border of Gortyn, in the misty
deep, where the South-West Wind drives a great wave against
the left headland, towards Phaestus, and a little rock
keeps back the mighty water. Thither came one part of the
fleet, and the men scarce escaped destruction, but the
ships were broken by the waves against the rock; while
those other five dark-prowed ships the wind and the water
bare and brought nigh to Egypt. Thus Menelaus, gathering
much livelihood and gold, was wandering there with his
ships among men of strange speech, and even then Aegisthus
planned that pitiful work at home. And for seven years he
ruled over Mycenae, rich in gold, after he slew the son of
Atreus, and the people were subdued unto him. But in the
eighth year came upon him goodly Orestes back from Athens
to be his bane, and slew the slayer of his father, guileful
Aegisthus, who killed his famous sire. Now when he had
slain him, he made a funeral feast to the Argives over his
hateful mother, and over the craven Aegisthus. And on the
selfsame day there came to him Menelaus of the loud
war-cry, bringing much treasure, even all the freight of
his ships. So thou, my friend, wander not long far away
from home, leaving thy substance behind thee and men in thy
house so wanton, lest they divide and utterly devour all
thy wealth, and thou shalt have gone on a vain journey.
Rather I bid and command thee to go to Menelaus, for he
hath lately come from a strange country, from the land of
men whence none would hope in his heart to return, whom
once the storms have driven wandering into so wide a sea.
Thence not even the birds can make their way in the space
of one year, so great a sea it is and terrible. But go now
with thy ship and with thy company, or if thou hast a mind
to fare by land, I have a chariot and horses at thy
service, yea and my sons to do thy will, who will be thy
guides to goodly Lacedaemon, where is Menelaus of the fair
hair. Do thou thyself entreat him, that he may give thee
unerring answer. He will not lie to thee, for he is very
wise.'
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