Homer, Odyssey

§ 10.430 and, voicing winged words, he said to them:'Ah, wretched ones, where are we going? Why are you eager for these evils, going down to the hall of Circe, who'll make each and every one of us either pigs or wolves or lions, to guard her big house under compulsion,

§ 10.435 even as the Cyclops penned them, when our comrades went to his courtyard, and bold Odysseus followed with them, for by by this man's recklessness they perished!' “So said he, then I pondered in my mind drawing my sharp-edged sword from beside my thick thigh

§ 10.440 and cutting off his head with it to bring him to the ground though he was very close kin to me by marriage, but my comrades, from one place or another, restrained me with words meant to win me:' Zeus -born, if you order it, we'll let this one stay where he is beside the ship and guard it.

§ 10.445 Then, guide us to Circe's sacred home.' “So saying, they went up from the ship and sea. And Eurylochus was not left beside the hollow ship, but followed, for he feared my vehement rebuke. “Meanwhile, with kind care, Circe bathed and richly anointed

§ 10.450 with olive oil my other comrades in her house, then threw about them fleecy cloaks and tunics. We found them all dining well in her palace. When they saw and recognized each other face to face, they wept in lamentation, and the house echoed all around.

§ 10.455 The goddess divine stood near and said to me:' Zeus -nurtured Laertiades, resourceful Odysseus, raise loud lamentation no longer. I know myself how many sorrows you've suffered on the fishy sea and how much hostile men have harmed you on dry land,

§ 10.460 but come, eat food and drink wine, so that in your chest you'll get again the heart you had when you first left your native land of rugged Ithaca. Now, you're withered and heartless, with hard wandering always on your mind, and your heart

§ 10.465 is never in happiness, since you've surely suffered very much.' “So said she, and our manly spirit yielded in turn. There every day, until a year came to its end, we sat feasting on boundless meat and sweet wine. But when a year was over, and seasons turned around

§ 10.470 as the months passed, and long days brought about, right then my trusty comrades summoned me and said:'Possessed one, remember now your fatherland, if it's ordained that you be saved and reach your well-built house and your fatherland.'

§ 10.475 “So said they. Then my manly heart obeyed, So then all day until the sun went down, we sat feasting on boundless meat and sweet wine. When the sun went down and dusk came on, they lay down to sleep throughout the shadowy hall.

§ 10.480 “Then I climbed on Circe's gorgeous bed and entreated her by the knees. The goddess heard my voice, and, voicing winged words, I said to her:' Circe, fulfill for me the promise that you promised, to send me home. My heart is eager now,

§ 10.485 and my comrades' hearts as well, who make my dear heart pine, lamenting around me, when you're somewhere away.' “So said I, and the goddess divine immediately answered:' Zeus -nurtured Laertiades, resourceful Odysseus, stay no longer in my house against your will.

§ 10.490 But, first you need to complete a different journey, and go to the house of Hades and dread Persephone, to consult the soul of Teiresias the Theban, the blind seer whose mind is intact. To him, even after dying, Persephone gave mind,

§ 10.495 that he alone has wits, while others flit about as shadows.' “So said she. Then my dear heart was broken, and I sat weeping on the bed, and, truly, my heart no longer wished to live and see sun's light. Then after I'd had enough of weeping and writhing,

§ 10.500 right then I said to her in answer:' Circe, who'll guide us on this journey? No one's ever reached the house of Hades in a black ship!' “So said I, and the goddess divine immediately answered:' Zeus -nurtured Laertiades, resourceful Odysseus,

§ 10.505 don't let the absence of a guide bother you beside your ship, but set up the mast, spread the white sails, and sit. North Wind's breath will bear her for you. But when you drive through Ocean with your ship, there will be a rough headland and groves of Persephone,

§ 10.510 tall poplars and willows losing their fruit. Land your ship at that spot, by deep-eddying Ocean, but go yourself to the dank house of Hades. There Pyriphlegethus and Cocytus, which is a branch of the water of the Styx, flow into Acheron,

§ 10.515 and there is a rock and the junction of two roaring rivers. Then draw near there, hero, as I bid you, and dig a pit a cubit's length this way and that, and pour a libation to all the dead about it, first with milk and honey, thereafter with sweet wine,

§ 10.520 a third time with water, then sprinkle white barley groats upon it. Entreat repeatedly the helpless heads of the dead, that when you get to Ithaca you'll offer a cow that's not yet calved, your best one, in your palace, and will fill the pyre with good things, and that you'll sacrifice separately, to Teiresias alone,

§ 10.525 a solid-black ram, that stands out among your sheep. Then after you've entreated the famous tribes of corpses with your prayers, offer sheep there, a ram and a black female, turning them toward Erebus, but turn yourself away and face the river's streams. There, many souls

§ 10.530 of the dead who've died will come. Then at that moment urge and order your comrades to skin and burn the sheep that lie there slaughtered by ruthless bronze, and to pray to the gods, to mighty Hades and dread Persephone.

§ 10.535 You yourself, draw your sharp sword from beside your thigh and sit, but don't let the helpless heads of the dead go close to the blood before you question Teiresias. Then soon the seer, the leader of men, will come to you, who'll tell you the way and stages of your journey,

§ 10.540 and of your return home, how you'll go upon the fishy sea.' “So said she, and golden-throned Dawn immediately came. She dressed a cloak and tunic about me as clothing, and the nymph herself put on a great white cloak, delicate and lovely, threw a fine golden girdle

§ 10.545 around her waist, and put a veil on her head. Then I went throughout the house, and, going to each man, spurred on my comrades with words meant to win them:'Sleep no longer now, drowsing in sweet sleep, but let's go, for lady Circe's shown me the way!'

§ 10.550 “So said I, and their manly hearts were persuaded. But not even from there did I lead my comrades unharmed. The youngest was a certain Elpenor, none too brave in war or sound in mind, who'd lain down far away from my comrades, in Circe's

§ 10.555 sacred home, wanting cool air and heavy with wine. He heard the noise and clamor of his comrades moving, got up suddenly, and in his mind completely forgot to go to the long ladder to come back down, so he fell straight down from the roof. His neck was broken

§ 10.560 from the vertebrae and his soul went down to Hades. I said to them as they went on their way:'Perhaps you think you're going home to your beloved fatherland, but Circe has ordained a different journey, to the house of Hades and dread Persephone

§ 10.565 to consult the soul of Teiresias the Theban.' “So said I, and their dear heart was broken, and sitting down where they were, they wept and pulled out their hair, but no good result came of their weeping. “But when we were going to our swift ship and sea's shore,

§ 10.570 in grief, letting our thick tears fall, Circe came then and tethered beside the black ship a ram and a black female sheep, passing by us easily. Who with his eyes can perceive a god unwilling going either here or there?”

§ 11.1 BOOK 11 “Then after we'd gone down to the ship and sea, we first of all hauled the ship into the divine sea, then put the mast and sail in the dark ship, took and put aboard the sheep, and got aboard

§ 11.5 ourselves, in grief, shedding thick tears. For us, back behind our dark-prowed ship, a favorable, sail-filling, fair wind, a good companion, the dread goddess with human speech, fair-haired Circe, sent. We saw to each piece of gear throughout the ship,

§ 11.10 then sat, and the wind and pilot steered her. The sails were stretched as she moved on the sea all day, and the sun went down, and all the ways were dark. “She reached deep-flowing Ocean's boundary. The kingdom and the city of Cimmerian men are there,

§ 11.15 covered in mist and cloud. And the shining sun never looks down on them with his rays, neither when he goes to starry heaven nor when he heads back from heaven to the earth, but pernicious night spreads over wretched mortals.

§ 11.20 We beached our ship when we got there, unloaded the sheep, and went back ourselves along Ocean's stream until we reached the place Circe had described. “There Eurylochus and Perimedes held the sacred victims, and I drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh,

§ 11.25 dug a pit a cubit's length this way and that, and poured a libation to all the dead about it, first with milk and honey, thereafter with sweet wine, a third time with water, then sprinkled white barley groats upon it. I repeatedly entreated the helpless heads of the dead,

§ 11.30 that when I got to Ithaca I'd offer a cow that's not yet calved, my best one, in my palace, then I'd fill the pyre with good things, and that I'd sacrifice separately, to Teiresias alone, a solid-black ram, that stands out among our sheep. After I'd implored with prayers and vows the tribes of corpses,

§ 11.35 I took the sheep and cut their throats and the cloud-dark blood flowed into the pit. Up out of Erebus they gathered, the souls of the dead who'd died, brides, young men never married, old men who'd suffered much, tender maidens with hearts new to sorrow,

§ 11.40 and many wounded by bronze spears, men killed in battle, holding armor stained with gore. They stalked about the pit in throngs from one place and another with an awful screeching, and green terror seized me. Then at that moment I urged and ordered my comrades

§ 11.45 to skin and burn the sheep that lay there slaughtered by ruthless bronze, and to pray to the gods, to mighty Hades and dread Persephone. I myself drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh and sat, but didn't let the helpless heads of the dead

§ 11.50 get close to the blood before I questioned Teiresias. “The soul of my comrade Elpenor came first, for he'd not yet been buried under the wide-wayed earth, since we'd left his body in Circe's hall, unwept for and unburied, since other work bore down on us.

§ 11.55 I wept when I saw him, felt pity in my heart, and, voicing winged words, said to him:' Elpenor, how did you come beneath the gloomy darkness? you got here on foot sooner than I with my black ship!' “So said I, and he cried out in pain and answered me:

§ 11.60' Zeus -born Laertiades, resourceful Odysseus, a divinity's evil doom and abundant wine confused me. I laid down in Circe's hall and did not think to go to the long ladder to come back down, so I fell straight down from the roof. My neck was broken

§ 11.65 from the vertebrae and my soul came down to Hades. Now I supplicate you by those behind, the ones not by our side, by your wife and your father, who raised you when you were little, and by Telemachus, whom you left alone in your palace. For I know that when you go from here, out of the house of Hades,

§ 11.70 you'll take your well-built ship to the island of Aeaea. There, then, my lord, I urge that you remember me. Don't go back, and turn your back on me, and leave me unwept for and unburied, lest I in some way become a cause of gods' wrath for you, but burn me with my trappings, any that I have,

§ 11.75 and heap a grave mound for me on the gray shore of the sea, the mound of a wretched man, that those yet to be will know me. Do this for me, and stick upon the mound the oar with which I rowed among my comrades when I was alive.' “So said he, then I said to him in answer:

§ 11.80'O wretched one, I'll do and carry out these things for you.' “So we sat taking turns with dreadful words, as I, with my sword over the blood, kept him away, and my comrade's phantom spoke much on the other side. “The soul of my dead mother came to me,

§ 11.85 the daughter of Autolycus, great-hearted Anticlea whom I'd left alive when I went to sacred Ilium. I wept when I saw her, felt pity in my heart, but even so, despite my intense grief, I wouldn't let her get close to the blood before I questioned Teiresias.

§ 11.90 “Then came the soul of Teiresias the Theban, holding a golden scepter, and he knew me and said to me:' Zeus -born Laertiades, resourceful Odysseus, why, wretched one, have you left sun's light and come to see the dead and this gruesome place?

§ 11.95 But withdraw from the pit and withhold your sharp sword, so I can drink the blood and speak infallibly to you.' “So said he, and I drew back and thrust my silver-studded sword firmly into its sheath, and after he drank the dark blood, right then the noble seer said to me:

§ 11.100'You seek, brilliant Odysseus, a honey-sweet return, but a god will make that difficult for you, for I don't think Earth-shaker will miss it, who's put resentment in his heart for you, enraged that you blinded his beloved son. But even so, though you suffer evils, you may still reach home,

§ 11.105 if you're willing to restrain your heart and your comrades', when you first put in your well-built ship at the island of Thrinacia, and flee the violet sea, and find the grazing cattle and plump sheep of Helios, who sees all and hears all.

§ 11.110 If you keep your mind on your return and leave them unharmed, you may even yet reach Ithaca, though you suffer evils, but if you harm them, I predict destruction for you then, for your ship, and for your comrades. Even if you yourself avoid it, you'll get home evilly late, having lost all your comrades,

§ 11.115 on someone else's ship. In your house you'll find misery, haughty men, who are devouring your substance, wooing your godlike wife, and giving her bride gifts. But, you'll surely make them pay for their violence when you come. Then after you've killed the suitors in your palace,

§ 11.120 by guile or with sharp bronze openly, then take a well-shaped oar and go until you reach them, those men who don't know the sea and don't eat food mixed with salt. They know neither red-cheeked ships

§ 11.125 nor well-shaped oars that are the wings for ships. I'll tell you a sign, a very clear one, and it won't escape your notice. When another wayfarer meets you and says you have a winnowing fan on your dazzling shoulder, right then stick your well-shaped oar into the ground

§ 11.130 and offer fine sacred victims to lord Poseidon, a ram, a bull, and a boar that mates with pigs. Depart for home and offer sacred hecatombs to the immortal gods, who hold wide heaven, to all, one right after another. Death will come to you yourself,

§ 11.135 such a very gentle one, out of the sea, and will slay you, worn out with sleek old age, but your people will be prosperous about you. I tell this you infallibly.' “So said he, then I said to him in answer:' Teiresias, no doubt the gods themselves have spun this.

§ 11.140 But come, tell me this and recount it exactly. Look at that soul there, of my dead mother, who sits in silence near the blood, and hasn't dared to look at or to speak to her own son. Tell me, my lord, how can she recognize that I'm that one?'

§ 11.145 “So said I, and he immediately in answer said to me:'I'll tell you something simple and put it in your mind. Whomever of the dead who've died you let get near the blood will speak to you infallibly, but whomever you begrudge will indeed go back again.'

§ 11.150 “So said I, and the soul of lord Teiresias went into the house of Hades, after he recounted his prophecy. But I stayed in place where I was, so my mother could come and drink the cloud-dark blood. She knew me immediately, and, wailing winged words, she said to me:

§ 11.155'My child, how did you come beneath the gloomy darkness, alive as you are? It's hard for those alive to see these things, for in between are great rivers and dread streams, Ocean first, which it's no way possible for one on foot to cross, unless one has a well-built ship.

§ 11.160 Have you just come here from Troy after wandering a long time with your ship and comrades? Haven't you gone yet to Ithaca or seen your wife in your palace?' “So said she, then I said to her in answer:'My mother, necessity brought me to Hades,

§ 11.165 to consult the soul of Teiresias the Theban. For I never came near Achaean land, or ever set foot on my own, but I've wandered always and had sorrow, from the very first moment I followed divine Agamemnon to fine-foaled Ilium to do battle with the Trojans.

§ 11.170 But come, tell me this, and recount it exactly. What doom of death that brings long woe has tamed you? A protracted disease? Or did Arrow-shedder Artemis attack with her painless darts and kill you? Tell me of my father and the son I left behind.

§ 11.175 Does my place of honor still belong to them, or does some other man already have it, who says that I'm no longer coming home? Tell me the mind and will of my wedded wife. Does she remain beside my son and keep all my things intact, or has one of the best of the Achaeans already married her?'

§ 11.180 “So said I, and my lady mother immediately answered:'In truth, she waits with a patient heart in your palace, but forever for her, unhappy days and nights pass by as she sheds tears. No one any longer holds your fine place of honor, but Telemachus,

§ 11.185 undisturbed, occupies your estates and dines at equal meals, which it's fitting that a man who gives judgment attend, for all invite him. Your father stays where he is, on the farm, and doesn't go down to the city, and has no bed and bedding, or shining sheets, or blankets,

§ 11.190 but sleeps in winter where the slaves do in the house, in the dust near the fire, and wears foul clothing on his flesh. But when summer and blooming harvest time have come, all about, down the hill of his wine-bearing vineyard, beds of fallen leaves are thrown upon the ground.

§ 11.195 He lies there in grief, greatly fosters sadness in his heart, and pines for your return. A hard old age has come upon him. For in this way I, too, met my fate and perished. Neither did the sharp-sighted Arrow-shedder attack with painless darts and kill me in the palace,

§ 11.200 nor did any any disease come upon me, which most often takes life out of the limbs with dreadful wasting, but yearning for you, and your counsels, brilliant Odysseus, and your gentleness, robbed me of my honey-sweet life.' “So said she, then I pondered in my mind

§ 11.205 and wanted to embrace my dead mother's soul. Three times I rushed, and my heart urged me to hold her, and three times she flew from my hands like a shadow or even a dream, and the pain became sharper in my heart, and, voicing winged words, I said to her:

§ 11.210'My mother, why don't you stay still for me, eager to hold you, so even in the house of Hades we can throw our dear arms about each other and have our fill of chilling lamentation? Or, is this some phantom that illustrious Persephone spurs on to me, so that I'd groan yet more in lamentation?'

§ 11.215 “So said I, and my lady mother immediately answered:'Oh my, my child, ill-fated beyond all men, Zeus's daughter Persephone is in no way tricking you, but this is the way of mortals when one dies. For sinews no longer hold flesh and bones together,

§ 11.220 but the mighty fury of blazing fire consumes them, as soon as life leaves the white bones, and the soul, like a dream, flies about and flies away. So speed toward the light most quickly, and keep all these things in mind, so you may even after tell your wife.'

§ 11.225 “So the two of us exchanged words, then the women came, for illustrious Persephone spurred them on, all wives and daughters of aristocrats. They gathered all together around the dark blood, while I considered how I'd question each.

§ 11.230 And in my heart this plan seemed best, to draw my sharp-edged sword from beside my thick thigh and not let them all drink the dark blood at one time. They came near one after another, and each declared her birth. I questioned each and every one.

§ 11.235 “I then saw Tyro first, daughter of a noble father, who claimed she was the offspring of noble Salmoneus, and claimed to be the wife of Cretheus Aeolides. She'd fallen in love with a river, divine Enipeus, who is by far the handsomest of rivers on the earth,

§ 11.240 and she used to haunt Enipeus' beautiful streams. Earth-holder, the Earth-Shaker, appeared like Enipeus, and lay beside her in the mouth of the eddying river, and a purple wave stood around them, high as a mountain, curved over them, and hid the mortal woman and the god.

§ 11.245 He loosed her maiden girdle, then poured sleep down upon her. Then after he'd completed his acts of love, he put his hand in hers, called out her name, and said:'Woman, rejoice in our love. When the year goes round, you'll give birth to splendid children, since immortals' beddings

§ 11.250 are not without results. Then, you, take care of them and rear them. But go home now, and keep quiet, and don't give my name, but I am indeed the Earth-shaker, Poseidon!' “So saying, he dove beneath the surging sea. She conceived and gave birth to Pelias and Neleus,

§ 11.255 both of whom became mighty cohorts of great Zeus. Pelias dwelt in spacious Iolcus and was rich in sheep, and the other dwelt in sandy Pylos. The queen of women then bore others to Cretheus, Aeson, Pheres, and Amythaon the chariot-fighter.

§ 11.260 “Then after her I saw Antiope, daughter of Asopus, who boasted that she'd slept even in the arms of Zeus, and bore two sons, Amphion and Zethus, who were first to found the seat of seven-gated Thebes, and walled it, since they could not live in spacious Thebes

§ 11.265 without a wall, even mighty as they were. “Then after her I saw Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon, who bore bold-spirited lion -hearted Heracles, and mixed in great Zeus' arms, and Megara, high-spirited Creon's daughter,

§ 11.270 whom Amphitryon's son, ever untiring in courage, had as wife. “I saw Oedipus' mother, beautiful Epicaste, who in ignorance of mind did a monstrous deed and married her own son, who'd killed his own father and married her, and the gods at once made this well known to men.

§ 11.275 But while he suffered sorrows and ruled in much-loved Thebes over the Cadmeans through the fatal plans of gods, she came to the house Hades, the mighty Gatekeeper, having fastened a noose high from a lofty rafter, hung by her own sorrow. She left behind for Oedipus

§ 11.280 so many sorrows, all that the Avengers of a mother make happen. “And I saw gorgeous Chloris, whom Neleus once married because of her beauty, after he gave her countless bride-gifts, the youngest daughter of Amphion Iasides, who ruled in power in Minyean Orchomenus once upon a time.

§ 11.285 She was the queen of Pylos and bore Neleus splendid children, Nestor, Chromius, and lordly Periclymenus. In addition to them she bore mighty Pero, a wonder to mortals, whom all those who dwelt about Pylos wooed. But Neleus gave her to no one who wouldn't drive the broad-browed

§ 11.290 curved-horned cattle of mighty Iphicles out of Phylace, ones difficult to drive. Only a noble seer undertook to drive them, but a god's harsh fate, hard bonds and rustic herdsmen, tied him down. But when at last days and months came to an end,

§ 11.295 a year came round again, and seasons arrived, right then mighty Iphicles freed him, since he'd told him all his prophecies, as Zeus's will was done. “And I saw Leda, the spouse of Tyndareus, who bore by Tyndareus two stouthearted sons,

§ 11.300 Castor the tamer of horses and Pollux good at boxing, The life-giving earth covers them both, alive, and even beneath the earth they have honor from Zeus, every other day they live, on the other day they die, and they've been granted honor equal to the gods.

§ 11.305 “After her I beheld Iphimedea, the spouse of Aloeus, who used to say she'd mixed with Poseidon, and she'd given birth to two sons, but they were short-lived, godlike Otus and far-famed Ephialtes, whom the grain-giving earth bred tallest

§ 11.310 and handsomest by far after only famed Orion. For at nine years old, they were at least nine cubits wide, then they became at least nine fathoms tall. They threatened even the immortals on Olympus, that they'd cause the combat of impetuous war.

§ 11.315 They meant to put Ossa on top of Olympus, then trembling-leaved Pelion on Ossa, so heaven could be scaled. And they'd surely have done it, if they'd reached the full measure of manhood, but the son of Zeus, whom fair-haired Leto bore, destroyed them both, before whiskers bloomed

§ 11.320 beneath their temples and covered their chins with budding down. “I saw Phaedra and Procris and beautiful Ariadne, the daughter of malevolent Minos, she whom Theseus brought from Crete to the hill of sacred Athens once upon a time, but had no joy of her before Artemis killed her

§ 11.325 on sea-girt Dia, on the testimony of Dionysus. “I saw Maera and Clymene and loathsome Eriphyle, who accepted precious gold for her beloved husband's life. I couldn't name or tell the story of them all, all the heroes' wives and daughters that I saw,

§ 11.330 before immortal night would wane. But it's now time to sleep, either at my swift ship, going to my comrades, or here where I am. My convoy is up to you and to the gods.” So said he, and all became silent in silence, spellbound throughout the shadowy hall.

§ 11.335 White-armed Arete was the first of them to speak: “Phaeacians, how does this man appear to you, in shape and stature and balanced mind inside him? He's my guest-friend, but each of you shares in the honor. Don't send him off in haste, or stint on gifts

§ 11.340 to one so much in need, for much property is laid up in your palaces by the will of the gods.” An old man also spoke among them, the hero Echeneus, who was long an elder of Phaeacian men: “Friends, certainly our prudent queen speaks

§ 11.345 neither off the mark nor short of expectation, so obey her. But from here on word and deed depend on Alcinous.” Alcinous in turn replied to him and said: “This word will be so, as long as I'm living and rule the oar-loving Phaeacians.

§ 11.350 Let the guest be patient, though he very much longs for his return, to wait until tomorrow, until I can complete the whole gift. His convoy is a matter for all men, especially for me, for the power in this kingdom is mine.” Adroit Odysseus said to him in reply: