THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER
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S. H. BUTCHER, M.A. >> THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER
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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 thistle-down 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 not 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.'
{* Lit. Strive after an arrival on the land, etc. [Greek]
originally meant going, journeying, and had no idea of
return. The earlier use survives here, and in Soph.
Philoct. 43, Eur. Iph. Aul. 1261. Similarly, perhaps,
[Greek] in Odyssey iv.619, xv.119, and [Greek] frequently}
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 storm-winds 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.
Then Odysseus turned from the river, and fell back in the
reeds, and kissed earth, the grain-giver, 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.
Book VI
Nausicaa, going to a river near that place to wash the
clothes of her father, mother, and brethren, while the
clothes were drying played with her maids at ball; and
Odysseus coming forth is fed and clothed, and led on his
way to the house of her father, King Alcinous.
So there he lay asleep, the steadfast goodly Odysseus,
fordone with toil and drowsiness. Meanwhile Athene went to
the land and the city of the Phaeacians, who of old, upon a
time, dwelt in spacious Hypereia; near the Cyclopes they
dwelt, men exceeding proud, who harried them continually,
being mightier than they. Thence the godlike Nausithous
made them depart, and he carried them away, and planted
them in Scheria, far off from men that live by bread. And
he drew a wall around the town, and builded houses and made
temples for the gods and meted out the fields. Howbeit ere
this had he been stricken by fate, and had gone down to the
house of Hades, and now Alcinous was reigning, with wisdom
granted by the gods. To his house went the goddess,
grey-eyed Athene, devising a return for the great-hearted
Odysseus. She betook her to the rich-wrought bower, wherein
was sleeping a maiden like to the gods in form and
comeliness, Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous, high of
heart. Beside her on either hand of the pillars of the door
were two handmaids, dowered with beauty from the Graces,
and the shining doors were shut.
But the goddess, fleet as the breath of the wind, swept
towards the couch of the maiden, and stood above her head,
and spake to her in the semblance of the daughter of a
famous seafarer, Dymas, a girl of like age with Nausicaa,
who had found grace in her sight. In her shape the
grey-eyed Athene spake to the princess, saying:
'Nausicaa, how hath thy mother so heedless a maiden to her
daughter? Lo, thou hast shining raiment that lies by thee
uncared for, and thy marriage day is near at hand, when
thou thyself must needs go beautifully clad, and have
garments to give to them who shall lead thee to the house
of the bridegroom! And, behold, these are the things whence
a good report goes abroad among men, wherein a father and
lady mother take delight. But come, let us arise and go
a-washing with the breaking of the day, and I will follow
with thee to be thy mate in the toil, that without delay
thou mayst get thee ready, since truly thou art not long to
be a maiden. Lo, already they are wooing thee, the noblest
youths of all the Phaeacians, among that people whence thou
thyself dost draw thy lineage. So come, beseech thy noble
father betimes in the morning to furnish thee with mules
and a wain to carry the men's raiment, and the robes, and
the shining coverlets. Yea and for thyself it is seemlier
far to go thus than on foot, for the places where we must
wash are a great way off the town.'
So spake the grey-eyed Athene, and departed to Olympus,
where, as they say, is the seat of the gods that standeth
fast for ever. Not by winds is it shaken, nor ever wet with
rain, nor doth the snow come nigh thereto, but most clear
air is spread about it cloudless, and the white light
floats over it. Therein the blessed gods are glad for all
their days, and thither Athene went when she had shown
forth all to the maiden.
Anon came the throned Dawn, and awakened Nausicaa of the
fair robes, who straightway marvelled on the dream, and
went through the halls to tell her parents, her father dear
and her mother. And she found them within, her mother
sitting by the hearth with the women her handmaids,
spinning yarn of sea-purple stain, but her father she met
as he was going forth to the renowned kings in their
council, whither the noble Phaeacians called him. Standing
close by her dear father she spake, saying: 'Father, dear,
couldst thou not lend me a high waggon with strong wheels,
that I may take the goodly raiment to the river to wash, so
much as I have lying soiled? Yea and it is seemly that thou
thyself, when thou art with the princes in council,
shouldest have fresh raiment to wear. Also, there are five
dear sons of thine in the halls, two married, but three are
lusty bachelors, and these are always eager for new-washen
garments wherein to go to the dances; for all these things
have I taken thought.'
This she said, because she was ashamed to speak of glad
marriage to her father; but he saw all and answered,
saying:
'Neither the mules nor aught else do I grudge thee, my
child. Go thy ways, and the thralls shall get thee ready a
high waggon with good wheels, and fitted with an upper
frame.'
Therewith he called to his men, and they gave ear, and
without the palace they made ready the smooth-running
mule-wain, and led the mules beneath the yoke, and
harnessed them under the car, while the maiden brought
forth from her bower the shining raiment. This she stored
in the polished car, and her mother filled a basket with
all manner of food to the heart's desire, dainties too she
set therein, and she poured wine into a goat-skin bottle,
while Nausicaa climbed into the wain. And her mother gave
her soft olive oil also in a golden cruse, that she and her
maidens might anoint themselves after the bath. Then
Nausicaa took the whip and the shining reins, and touched
the mules to start them; then there was a clatter of hoofs,
and on they strained without flagging, with their load of
the raiment and the maiden. Not alone did she go, for her
attendants followed with her.
Now when they were come to the beautiful stream of the
river, where truly were the unfailing cisterns, and bright
water welled up free from beneath, and flowed past, enough
to wash the foulest garments clean, there the girls
unharnessed the mules from under the chariot, and turning
them loose they drove them along the banks of the eddying
river to graze on the honey-sweet clover. Then they took
the garments from the wain, in their hands, and bore them
to the black water, and briskly trod them down in the
trenches, in busy rivalry. Now when they had washed and
cleansed all the stains, they spread all out in order along
the shore of the deep, even where the sea, in beating on
the coast, washed the pebbles clean. Then having bathed and
anointed them well with olive oil, they took their mid-day
meal on the river's banks, waiting till the clothes should
dry in the brightness of the sun. Anon, when they were
satisfied with food, the maidens and the princess, they
fell to playing at ball, casting away their tires, and
among them Nausicaa of the white arms began the song. And
even as Artemis, the archer, moveth down the mountain,
either along the ridges of lofty Taygetus or Erymanthus,
taking her pastime in the chase of boars and swift deer,
and with her the wild wood-nymphs disport them, the
daughters of Zeus, lord of the aegis, and Leto is glad at
heart, while high over all she rears her head and brows,
and easily may she be known,--but all are fair; even so the
girl unwed outshone her maiden company.
But when now she was about going homewards, after yoking
the mules and folding up the goodly raiment, then grey-eyed
Athene turned to other thoughts, that so Odysseus might
awake, and see the lovely maiden, who should be his guide
to the city of the Phaeacian men. So then the princess
threw the ball at one of her company; she missed the girl,
and cast the ball into the deep eddying current, whereat
they all raised a piercing cry. Then the goodly Odysseus
awoke and sat up, pondering in his heart and spirit:
'Woe is me! to what men's land am I come now? say, are they
froward, and wild, and unjust, or are they hospitable, and
of God-fearing mind? How shrill a cry of maidens rings
round me, of the nymphs that hold the steep hill-tops, and
the river-springs, and the grassy water meadows! It must
be, methinks, that I am near men of human speech. Go to, I
myself will make trial and see.'
Therewith the goodly Odysseus crept out from under the
coppice, having broken with his strong hand a leafy bough
from the thick wood, to hold athwart his body, that it
might hide his nakedness withal. And forth he sallied like
a lion mountain-bred, trusting in his strength, who fares
out blown and rained upon, with flaming eyes; amid the kine
he goes or amid the sheep or in the track of the wild deer;
yea, his belly bids him go even to the good homestead to
make assay upon the flocks. Even so Odysseus was fain to
draw nigh to the fair-tressed maidens, all naked as he was,
such need had come upon him. But he was terrible in their
eyes, being marred with the salt sea foam, and they fled
cowering here and there about the jutting spits of shore.
And the daughter of Alcinous alone stood firm, for Athene
gave her courage of heart, and took all trembling from her
limbs. So she halted and stood over against him, and
Odysseus considered whether he should clasp the knees of
the lovely maiden, and so make his prayer, or should stand
as he was, apart, and beseech her with smooth words, if
haply she might show him the town, and give him raiment.
And as he thought within himself, it seemed better to stand
apart, and beseech her with smooth words, lest the maiden
should be angered with him if he touched her knees: so
straightway he spake a sweet and cunning word:
'I supplicate thee, O queen, whether thou art a goddess or
a mortal! If indeed thou art a goddess of them that keep
the wide heaven; to Artemis, then, the daughter of great
Zeus, I mainly liken thee, for beauty and stature and
shapeliness. But if thou art one of the daughters of men
who dwell on earth, thrice blessed are thy father and thy
lady mother, and thrice blessed thy brethren. Surely their
souls ever glow with gladness for thy sake, each time they
see thee entering the dance, so fair a flower of maidens.
But he is of heart the most blessed beyond all other who
shall prevail with gifts of wooing, and lead thee to his
home. Never have mine eyes beheld such an one among
mortals, neither man nor woman; great awe comes upon me as
I look on thee. Yet in Delos once I saw as goodly a thing:
a young sapling of a palm tree springing by the altar of
Apollo. For thither too I went, and much people with me, on
that path where my sore troubles were to be. Yea, and when
I looked thereupon, long time I marvelled in spirit,--for
never grew there yet so goodly a shoot from ground,--even
in such wise as I wonder at thee, lady, and am astonied and
do greatly fear to touch thy knees, though grievous sorrow
is upon me. Yesterday, on the twentieth day, I escaped from
the wine-dark deep, but all that time continually the wave
bare me, and the vehement winds drave, from the isle
Ogygia. And now some god has cast me on this shore, that
here too, methinks, some evil may betide me; for I trow not
that trouble will cease; the gods ere that time will yet
bring many a thing to pass. But, queen, have pity on me,
for after many trials and sore to thee first of all am I
come, and of the other folk, who hold this city and land, I
know no man. Nay show me the town, give me an old garment
to cast about me, if thou hadst, when thou camest here, any
wrap for the linen. And may the gods grant thee all thy
heart's desire: a husband and a home, and a mind at one
with his may they give--a good gift, for there is nothing
mightier and nobler than when man and wife are of one heart
and mind in a house, a grief to their foes, and to their
friends great joy, but their own hearts know it best.'
Then Nausicaa of the white arms answered him, and said:
'Stranger, forasmuch as thou seemest no evil man nor
foolish--and it is Olympian Zeus himself that giveth weal
to men, to the good and to the evil, to each one as he
will, and this thy lot doubtless is of him, and so thou
must in anywise endure it:--and now, since thou hast come
to our city and our land, thou shalt not lack raiment, nor
aught else that is the due of a hapless suppliant, when he
has met them who can befriend him. And I will show thee the
town, and name the name of the people. The Phaeacians hold
this city and land, and I am the daughter of Alcinous,
great of heart, on whom all the might and force of the
Phaeacians depend.'
Thus she spake, and called to her maidens of the fair
tresses: 'Halt, my maidens, whither flee ye at the sight of
a man? Ye surely do not take him for an enemy? That mortal
breathes not, and never will be born, who shall come with
war to the land of the Phaeacians, for they are very dear
to the gods. Far apart we live in the wash of the waves,
the outermost of men, and no other mortals are conversant
with us. Nay, but this man is some helpless one come hither
in his wanderings, whom now we must kindly entreat, for all
strangers and beggars are from Zeus, and a little gift is
dear. So, my maidens, give the stranger meat and drink, and
bathe him in the river, where withal is a shelter from the
winds.'
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