Homer, Odyssey

§ 17.230 If he should come to divine Odysseus' home, his head and ribs will wear out many footstools from the palms of men as he's pelted through the house.” So said he, and, in folly, lashed out at his hip with his foot as he went by, but didn't drive him off the road,

§ 17.235 instead, Odysseus stayed in place, immovably, and pondered whether to rush at him with his club and take his life or pick him up around the waist and drive his head against the ground. He endured it instead and held his temper, but the swineherd looked in his face and cursed him, then lifted his hands and prayed a great prayer:

§ 17.240 “ Nymphs of this fountain, daughters of Zeus, if ever Odysseus burned thigh pieces for you, and wrapped them in the rich fat of kids and lambs, make this wish come true for me, that that man may come, and a divinity may bring him, who'll then surely scatter all the adornments

§ 17.245 you now wear in your wanton arrogance, as you ever roam throughout the city, while evil shepherds waste the sheep!” The goats' goatherd Melanthius said back to him: “Humph! How, skilled in crafty things, the dog has spoken, whom I'll take sometime on a well-benched black ship

§ 17.250 far away from Ithaca, so he can fetch me much substance. Would that Silverbow Apollo strike Telemachus today in his palace, or that he be tamed by the suitors, as even for Odysseus, far away, homecoming day has perished.” So saying, he left them where they were, going at an easy pace,

§ 17.255 then he went and very quickly reached the lord's house. As soon as he went in, he sat down among the suitors, across from Eurymachus, for he loved him most of all. Those working placed a portion of meat beside him, and the venerable housekeeper brought bread and set it

§ 17.260 before him to eat. Odysseus and the divine swineherd stopped as they came near, and the loud sound of a hollow lyre went round them, for Phemius was striking up to sing. Then he took him by the hand and said to the swineherd: “ Eumaeus, this is very surely the beautiful house of Odysseus

§ 17.265 and it's easy to recognize and easy to see among many. One room comes out of another, the courtyard is finished with a wall and coping, and the doors are well-secured and double-paneled. No man would look down on it. I perceive that in the house itself many men are holding a feast,

§ 17.270 since the smell of sacrifice rises up, and a lyre, that the gods created as companion to a feast, is calling.” Swineherd Eumaeus, you said to him in reply: “You knew it easily, since you're not without sense, in these things and others. But come, let's think about how these deeds will be.

§ 17.275 Either you go first into the well-settled house, and plunge into the suitors, while I'm left behind here, or if you want, stay here, and I'll go ahead of you. But don't take long, lest someone notice you outside and either hit you or drive you off. I bid you think about this.”

§ 17.280 Then long-suffering divine Odysseus answered him: “I see. I understand. You order one who has the wits for this. But go ahead of me, and I'll be left behind here, for I'm not ignorant at all of blows and peltings. I have a steadfast heart, since I've suffered many evils

§ 17.285 in waves and war. Let this also be among them. It's not possible in any way to hide a ravenous belly, a damned thing that gives men many evils, on whose account well-benched ships are readied upon the barren sea, bearing evils for enemies.

§ 17.290 So while they said such things to each other, a dog lying there held up his head and ears, steadfast Odysseus's Argos, whom he himself had raised once upon a time, but had no joy of before he went to sacred Ilium. In earlier times, the young men used to bring him

§ 17.295 after wild goats and deer and rabbits. By this time, he lay neglected, with his master gone away, on a deep pile of dung from mules and cattle that was poured in heaps before the doors until the slaves could take it to manure Odysseus' great estate.

§ 17.300 There lay the dog Argos, quite full of dog ticks. Just then, as he noticed Odysseus coming near, he wagged his tail and dropped both his ears, but after that no longer had the strength to come closer to his master. Then, looking away, Odysseus wiped away a tear,

§ 17.305 easily evading Eumaeus' notice, and immediately asked him: “ Eumaeus, it's very strange this dog lies on a dung pile. His form is fine, but I don't know, at least don't know it clearly, whether he was also fast at running, to match this shape of his, or ran the same way as the kind that are table dogs of men,

§ 17.310 whose masters take care of them for show.” Swineherd Eumaeus, you said to him in reply: “Truly, this is the dog of a man who died far away. If he were such, in both form and deeds, as when Odysseus left him behind and went to Troy,

§ 17.315 you'd look at him in wonder when you saw his speed and strength. For no wild creature, whatever one he chased, escaped him in the depths of deep forest, since he knew their spoor so well. Now he's in a bad state, and his master's perished elsewhere than in his fatherland, and the uncaring women don't take care of him.

§ 17.320 Slaves, when masters no longer hold power over them, no longer wish to do what's right thereafter. For far-seeing Zeus takes half a man's virtue away, when the day of slavery drags him down.” So saying, he entered the well-settled house,

§ 17.325 then went straight through the hall, among the illustrious suitors. Then in turn the doom of black death took hold of Argos, as soon as he saw Odysseus, in the twentieth year. Godlike Telemachus was by far the first to see him, as the swineherd came through the house, and quickly afterward

§ 17.330 nodded to call him to him. Eumaeus looked around and grabbed a stool that lay where the carver sat carving lots of meat for the suitors who dined throughout the house. He brought it, and set it down at the table of Telemachus, across from him, then sat down there himself, and a herald

§ 17.335 took a portion and served it, taking bread out of a basket for him, too. Odysseus entered the house close after him, looking like a sordid beggar and old man, propping himself up, and wretched were the things he wore as clothes around his flesh. He sat on the ash threshold, inside the doors,

§ 17.340 and leaned on a cypress doorpost, that a carpenter had once expertly planed and made straight to the line. Telemachus spoke to the swineherd and called him to him, and took a whole loaf from the gorgeous basket and meats, as much as his hands could hold when he threw them around it:

§ 17.345 “Take this and give it to the stranger, and bid him go about the suitors and beg hard from all of them. Shame is not a good thing for a man in need.” So said he, and the swineherd went, when he heard his command, then stood near Odysseus, and said these winged words:

§ 17.350 “ Telemachus gives you this, stranger, and bids you go about the suitors and beg hard from all of them. He says shame is not a good thing for a beggar man.” Adroit Odysseus said to him in reply: “Lord Zeus, may Telemachus be blessed among men for me,

§ 17.355 and may he have everything he eagerly desires in his heart.” He spoke, and took it in both hands and put it down right there before his feet, on his shabby pouch, and ate it while the singer sang in the palace. When he'd had his meal and the divine singer had stopped,

§ 17.360 the suitors raised a din throughout the hall. Then Athena stood close beside Laertiades Odysseus and spurred him, so he'd gather wheat bread among the suitors to find out which ones were righteous and which ones lawless. But even so, she wasn't about to ward off evil for any of them.

§ 17.365 He made his way, from left to right, to beg from each man, holding out his hand on all sides, as if he'd been a beggar long ago. They felt pity for him, and gave to him, and wondered about him, and asked each other who he was and where he came from. And the goats' goatherd Melanthius spoke among them”

§ 17.370 “Hear me, suitors of a very famous queen, about this stranger, for, yes, I've seen him before. Yes, indeed, the swineherd was his guide here, but I don't clearly know where he himself claims his race comes from.” So said he, and Antinous scolded the swineherd:

§ 17.375 “Infamous swineherd, why did you bring this one to the city? Don't we have enough vagrants besides him, annoying beggars, ones who take the joy from feasts? Does it matter so little to you, that the ones gathered here devour your master's substance, that you invited this one here, too?”

§ 17.380 Swineherd Eumaeus, you said to him in reply: “ Antinous, though you're a noble, you aren't speaking nobly. For who invites a stranger from elsewhere, when he comes upon another, unless he's one of those who work for the kingdom, a seer, or a healer of evils, or a skilled worker with beams,

§ 17.385 or even an inspired singer, who would delight with his singing? For these are invited by mortals all over the boundless earth, but no one would invite a beggar who'd consume him. But you're always, beyond all the suitors, hard on Odysseus' slaves, especially to me, but as for me,

§ 17.390 I don't care, as long as my discreet Penelope is alive in the palace, and godlike Telemachus.” Astute Telemachus said back to him in turn: “Be quiet. Please don't give that one such a long answer. Antinous is accustomed to ever cruelly provoking

§ 17.395 with hard words, and he encourages others to, too.” He spoke, and said winged words to Antinous: “ Antinous, yes, you care for me well, as a father for a son, you who order me to drive this stranger from my palace with words of compulsion. May god not bring this to pass.

§ 17.400 Take and give to him. I don't begrudge you, for I bid it. At any rate, don't regard my mother in this, or any slaves besides, who are in divine Odysseus' house. But, such a thought as this isn't in your chest, for you'd rather eat a lot yourself than give to someone else.”

§ 17.405 Antinous said back to him in reply: “ Telemachus, you blowhard, unrestrained in fury, what kind of thing you've said. If all the suitors handed him as much, the house could keep him far away for three months!” So said he, and he grabbed a footstool, on which he'd had his sleek feet

§ 17.410 as he reveled, and showed it from under the table where it lay. All the rest gave to him, and filled his pouch with bread and meat. And Odysseus would soon have gone back to the threshold and tested the Achaeans with impunity, but he stood beside Antinous and said to him:

§ 17.415 “Give, friend. You don't seem to me to be the worst of the Achaeans, but the best, since you're like a king. Therefore, you must give me even better food than others did, and I'll sing your fame throughout the boundless earth. For I also lived in a house among men once upon a time,

§ 17.420 blessed with wealth, and I often gave to a wanderer such as I, whatever kind he was and whatever need he came with. I had slaves, quite countless, and many other things with which men live well and are called wealthy. But Zeus Cronion ruined me, since he wished to, I suppose,

§ 17.425 who got me to go with wide-roaming pirates to Egypt, a long journey, so I would be destroyed. I moored my double-curved ships in river Egypt. Then, yes, indeed, I bid my trusty comrades to stay where they were beside the ships and protect the ships,

§ 17.430 and I sent scouts to make their way to look-outs. But yielding to wanton violence, giving in to their own fury, they very suddenly ravaged the gorgeous fields of Egyptian men, led out the women and young children, and killed them. The outcry soon reached the city.

§ 17.435 The others heard the cry and came with dawn's appearance. The entire plain was filled with infantry, and horses, and the glare of bronze. Lightning-hurler Zeus cast evil panic in my comrades, and no one dared to stand fast face-to-face, for evils from all sides surrounded them.

§ 17.440 Then they killed many of us with sharp bronze, and led away the living, to do forced labor for them. Then they gave me to a stranger, bound for Cyprus, who met them, Dmetor Iasides, who ruled in might over Cyprus. Now, at last, suffering sorrows, I've come from there to here.”

§ 17.445 Antinous in turn replied to him and said: “What divinity brought this sorrow, as trouble for our feast? Stand in the middle there, far away from my table, lest you soon come to a bitter Egypt and Cyprus. You're such a bold one and a shameless beggar!

§ 17.450 You stand by all of them, one after another, and they give with reckless abandon, since there's not any reluctance or pity in being gracious with another's things, since each has much beside him.” Adroit Odysseus drew back and said to him: “Hmmm. Your wits, then, aren't suited to your looks.

§ 17.455 You wouldn't even give a lump of salt to your suppliant, from your house, you who sit now at another's, and can't bring yourself to pick any of the bread and give it to me, though there's much beside you.” So said he, and Antinous became more enraged at heart, and spoke winged words to him with a scowl:

§ 17.460 “I think now you'll no longer go back nobly out and through the hall, when now you speak reproachfully, too!” So said he, and picked up and threw the footstool, and hit him in the back at the base of his right shoulder, but he stood steady as a rock, and Antinous' missile didn't make him fall,

§ 17.465 but he shook his head in silence, brooding deeply over evils. He went back to the threshold and sat down, then put down his very full pouch and said to the suitors: “Hear me, suitors of a glorious queen, while I say what the heart in my chest commands me.

§ 17.470 Surely, there's no pain, nor any sorrow, in his heart when a man is struck battling for his own possessions, either for white sheep or cattle. But Antinous struck me because of my wretched belly, a damned thing, that gives men many evils.

§ 17.475 But if there are for beggars gods and furies somewhere, may the doom of death meet Antinous before his marriage!” Eupeithes' son Antinous said back to him: “Sit down and eat in peace, stranger, or go off elsewhere, lest the young men drag you through the house by your hands and feet,

§ 17.480 and tear your skin completely off for the kinds of things you say.” So said he, and all were haughtily indignant, then some wantonly arrogant young man spoke this way: “ Antinous, you struck this wretched wanderer not nobly. Your cursed, if he's somehow some god from heaven!

§ 17.485 And the gods, disguised as strangers from another land, become all kinds of things, and visit the cities, observing the wanton arrogance and good governance of men.” So said the suitors, but he didn't heed their words. Telemachus fostered great sorrow in his heart

§ 17.490 at his striking, but didn't let tears fall from his eyelids to the ground, but he shook his head in silence, brooding deeply over evils. When prudent Penelope heard that he'd been struck in her hall, among her slave women she said: “I wish famed archer Apollo would strike you yourself this way!”

§ 17.495 Housekeeper Eurynome said back to her: “If only there would be fulfillment for our prayers, not one of them would reach the fair-throned Dawn!” Prudent Penelope said back to her: “Lady, all of them are hateful, since they're devising evils,

§ 17.500 but Antinous is the most like a black agent of death. Some wretched stranger wanders through our house begging from the men, for his lack of means commands him. Then all the others gave and filled his pouch, but that one struck the base of his right shoulder with a footstool.”

§ 17.505 While she spoke this way among her women slaves as she sat in her chamber, divine Odysseus had dinner. Then she called for the divine swineherd and said to him: “Go, divine swineherd, go bid that stranger come, so I can welcome him and ask him

§ 17.510 if by chance he's heard of steadfast Odysseus or seen him with his eyes, for he seems like a wide-roving one.” Swineherd Eumaeus, you said to her in reply: “My queen, if only the Achaeans would be silent for you, he'd say the kind of things that'd enchant your dear heart.

§ 17.515 I held him for three nights, and kept him for three days in my hut, for he reached me first after he escaped from ship, but he never got to the end of the evil that he spoke of. As when a man beholds a singer, who's learned from gods and sings words desirable to mortals,

§ 17.520 whom they eagerly desire to hear without interruption when he sings, so that one sat beside me and enchanted me in my halls. He says he's a hereditary guest-friend of Odysseus, and lives in Crete, where the race of Minos is. Now, at last, suffering sorrows, he came from there to here,

§ 17.525 as he rolls from place to place. He states he's heard of Odysseus, nearby, in the rich kingdom of Thesprotian men, alive. He's bringing many possessions to his home.” Prudent Penelope said back to him: “Go, call him here, so he himself can tell me face to face.

§ 17.530 Let these men indulge in play, either sitting at the doors or right here in the house, since their heart is merry. For their property lies undefiled in their homes, their food and sweet wine, that their housemates eat, but they come and go every day to our house,

§ 17.535 and slaughter our cattle and fat goats and sheep, and drink our sparkling wine in revelry with reckless abandon. These many things are wasted, for there's no man here, such as Odysseus used to be, to keep this curse from our house. If Odysseus would come and reach his fatherland,

§ 17.540 he'd at once, with his son, avenge the men's violence.” So said she, and Telemachus sneezed loudly, and it echoed terribly about the house. Penelope laughed, and immediately spoke winged words to Eumaeus: “Go, please, and call that stranger here before me.

§ 17.545 Don't you see my son has sneezed at all my words? Therefore, death will not be unaccomplished for the suitors, for every single one of them, and none will avoid death and its agents. I'll tell you something else, and you put it in your mind. If I perceive that he tells everything infallibly,

§ 17.550 I'll dress him in fine clothing, a cloak and tunic.” So said she, and the swineherd went when he heard her words, stood close to Odysseus, and spoke winged words to him: “Father stranger, prudent Penelope, the mother of Telemachus, summons you, and her heart bids her ask you something

§ 17.555 about her husband, even if she suffers sorrows. If she perceives that you tell everything infallibly, she'll dress you in a cloak and tunic, things you need most of all. And, begging food throughout the kingdom, you'll feed your belly, and he'll give to you who wishes to.”

§ 17.560 Long-suffering divine Odysseus said back to him: “ Eumaeus, I'd right now tell everything infallibly to Icarius' daughter, prudent Penelope, for I well know of that one, and we've accepted the same hardship, but I cower before the throng of hard suitors

§ 17.565 whose wanton arrogance and violence reach to iron heaven. For just now, when this man, as I was going through the house doing nothing evil, struck me and gave me pain, neither Telemachus nor anyone else did anything to prevent it. So, urge Penelope to wait now in the palace,

§ 17.570 despite her eagerness, until the sun goes down. At that time let her ask me about her husband's homecoming day, and seat me closer to the fire, for I've wretched clothes, indeed, and you know it yourself, since I came to you first as a suppliant.” So said he, and the swineherd went when he heard his words,

§ 17.575 and as he went over the threshold Penelope said to him: “You don't bring him, Eumaeus? Why does the wanderer devise this? Is he perhaps unduly scared of someone, or even in another way ashamed to be in our home? A bashful beggar is a bad one.” Swineherd Eumaeus, you said to her in reply:

§ 17.580 “He speaks duly, exactly what another would think, too, in avoiding the wanton arrogance of men who display it. So he urges you to wait until the sun goes down, and this way is far better for you yourself, my queen, that you to talk to the stranger by yourself and listen to his words.”

§ 17.585 Prudent Penelope said back to him: “This stranger's not without sense. He suspects how it might be. For never have any mortal men, men acting wantonly, this way devised such wicked things as these.” So said she, and the divine swineherd made his way

§ 17.590 into the throng of suitors when she'd gone through everything, and immediately spoke winged words to Telemachus, holding his head close so others couldn't hear him: “My friend, I'm going off to guard the pigs, and other things, your substance and mine. Let all here be in your care.

§ 17.595 Keep yourself safe first, and in your mind be wary lest you suffer anything. Many Achaeans are devising evils. May Zeus utterly destroy them before they're trouble for us!” Astute Telemachus said back to him in turn: “It will be so, father. Go when you've had your evening meal,

§ 17.600 and in the morning come and bring fine victims. Then all here will be seen to by me and by immortals.” So said he, and the swineherd sat down again on a well-polished chair, and when he'd satisfied his appetite with food and drink he made his way back to his pigs and left the courtyard and the hall

§ 17.605 full of diners, who were enjoying themselves in dance and song, for by now the evening of the day had come on.

§ 18.1 BOOK 18 Now a public beggar came, who used to beg throughout the town of Ithaca, distinguished by his ravenous belly, eating and drinking incessantly. He had neither strength nor vigor, but his form was quite large to look at.

§ 18.5 Arnaeus was his name, for his lady mother gave it to him at his birth, but the young men called him Irus because he'd go and give messages whenever someone bid him. He came to try to drive Odysseus from his home, and abusively said winged words to him:

§ 18.10 “Give up the doorway, old man, lest you soon be dragged out by the foot. Don't you see them all winking at me, urging me to drag you out? Nonetheless, I'm ashamed to do it, so get up, lest our quarrel soon become one for our hands, too.” Then adroit Odysseus said to him with a scowl:

§ 18.15 “Possessed one, I neither say nor do any evil to you, and don't begrudge one giving to you, even one who takes up much. This threshold will hold both of us, and there's no need for you to begrudge something belonging to others. You seem to me to be a vagrant, just as I am, and presumably it's gods who grant good fortune.

§ 18.20 Don't challenge me too much with your hands. Don't make me angry. Lest, old man though I am, I'll stain your chest and lips with blood, then I'd have peace, and still even more of it tomorrow, for I don't think you'll be coming back at all, a second time, to Laertiades Odysseus's hall.”

§ 18.25 The vagrant Irus said to him in anger: “Humph! How glibly this greedy pig talks, like an old woman, a furnace woman. I'd like to connive evils for him, hammer him with both hands, knock all his teeth out of his jaws, on the ground, like a pig when it devours crops.

§ 18.30 Gird yourself, so all of these here, too, can observe us as we fight. But how can you do battle with a younger man?” In this way, in front of the lofty doors, at the smooth threshold, they wholeheartedly got rough with each other. Antinous' sacred soul heard them,

§ 18.35 and he laughed out loud sweetly and said the suitors: “My friends, never before has such a thing happened, that god has brought such amusement to this house. Irus and the stranger are provoking each other to battle with their hands. So, let's quickly drive them together!”

§ 18.40 So said he, and all of them sprang up in laughter and gathered about the ill-clad beggars, and Antinous, the son of Eupeithes, said to them: “Listen to me, manly suitors, so I can say something. There are goat bellies lying here in the fire, that we filled

§ 18.45 with blood and fat and set aside for supper. Whichever of the two should win and prove to be the better, let him stand up and take for himself the one of them he wishes. Further, he'll dine with us forever, and we won't let any other beggar beg from us and mix with us inside.”

§ 18.50 So said Antinous, and his words pleased them, then the crafty-minded one, adroit Odysseus, said to them: “My friends, it's no way possible for an old man, worn out with woe, to do battle with a young man. But, the belly, the evil-doer, impels me, so that I might be tamed by his blows.

§ 18.55 But come now, all of you swear a great oath to me, that no one will do Irus a favor and recklessly strike me with a heavy hand and tame by might me for that one.” So said he, and they all swore as he bid them. Then after they'd sworn and completed the oath,

§ 18.60 the sacred force of Telemachus spoke among them again: “Stranger, if you heart and manly spirit impel you to defend yourself against this one, don't fear any of the other Achaeans, since he who strikes you will do battle with many more. I, your host, and two kings assent to it,

§ 18.65 Antinous and Eurymachus, astute men both.” So said he, and all applauded him, then Odysseus girded his rags around his loins, and showed his thighs, both beautiful and big, then his wide shoulders showed, and his chest and well-knit arms. Then Athena

§ 18.70 stood nearby and made the limbs grow for the shepherd of people. All the suitors were exceedingly amazed. In this way, glancing at another near him, one would say: “Yes, soon Irus, as Un- Irus, will have evil he's brought on himself, such thigh muscle does this old man show, out of his rags.”

§ 18.75 So said they, and Irus' heart was evilly troubled, but even so, the manservants girded him and brought him, by constraint, though he was frightened, and his flesh trembled on his limbs. Antinous scolded him, called out his name, and said: “Would that you weren't now alive, or hadn't been born, you lummox,

§ 18.80 if you tremble now at this one and fear him terribly, an old man, worn out with the woe that's come to him. But I'll declare this to you, and it will come to pass: If this one should defeat you and prove to be the better, I'll throw you in a swift ship and send you to the mainland,

§ 18.85 to king Echetus, most noxious of all mortals, who'll cut off your nose and ears with ruthless bronze, pull out your balls, and give them raw to dogs to tear to pieces.” So said he, and even greater trembling seized his limbs, but they led him up into the middle, and both put up their hands.

§ 18.90 Right then long-suffering divine Odysseus pondered whether to hit him so his soul would leave him right where he fell or to hit him lightly and stretch him on the ground. This way seemed better to him as he thought about it, to hit him lightly, so the Achaeans not take note of him.

§ 18.95 Right then they put their hands up, and Irus hit him on the right shoulder, but the other hit him on the neck below the ear and crushed the bones in. At once red blood came down into his mouth, and he fell bleating in the dust, and he gnashed his teeth together, kicking at the ground. Then the illustrious suitors

§ 18.100 held up their hands and died with laughter. Then Odysseus took him by the feet and dragged him through and out the porch until he reached the courtyard and the gates of the portico. And he sat him, leaning him against the courtyard wall, and thrust a staff into his hand, and, voicing winged words, he said to him:

§ 18.105 “Sit there now, and keep the pigs and dogs away, but don't be a lord of strangers and of beggars, wretched as you are, lest you perhaps incur even greater evil.” He spoke, and threw around his shoulder the unseemly pouch, full of holes. A twisted cord was on it as a strap.

§ 18.110 He went immediately to the threshold and sat down. The suitors went inside, laughing sweetly, and welcomed him with words: “Stranger, may Zeus and the other immortal gods grant to you whatever you want most and is dear to your heart, you who stopped this insatiable one from roaming

§ 18.115 in our kingdom. For we'll take him over to the mainland soon, to king Echetus, most noxious of all mortals.” So said they, and divine Odysseus rejoiced at the omen. Antinous placed a big belly before him, full of fat and blood, then Amphinous took two loaves