Homer, Odyssey

§ 18.120 from a basket and set them before him and toasted him with a golden goblet, saying: “Rejoice, father stranger! May good fortune be yours in the future, though you're now held by many evils.” Adroit Odysseus said to him in reply:

§ 18.125 “ Amphinomus, yes, you seem quite astute to me, of such a father, too, since I've heard of his good fame, that Nisus the Doulichian is one both good and wealthy. They say you're born of him, and you seem like a polite man. Because of this I'll tell you, and you must hear and heed me.

§ 18.130 The earth breeds nothing feebler than mankind, of all the things that breathe and move upon it. For man never thinks he'll suffer evil in the future, while his knees move and the gods provide him courage. But when the blessed gods bring even wretched things to pass,

§ 18.135 he bears this, too, though unwillingly, with a steadfast heart. For such is the mind of men upon the earth, just like the day the father of men and gods brings to it. For even I would once have been a happy one among men, but I gave in to violence and might and did many wicked things,

§ 18.140 trusting in my father and my brothers. So, let no one ever be a completely lawless man, but let him keep gods' gifts in silence, whatever they may give him. I see the suitors as they devise such wicked things, ravaging the possessions and dishonoring the wife

§ 18.145 of a man, whom I no longer think will be absent from his loved ones and his fatherland a long time, but who's very near. But may a divinity lead you homeward out of danger, and may you not meet that one, whenever he returns to his dear fatherland. For I think that one and the suitors will not part from one another

§ 18.150 without bloodshed, once he comes beneath his roof.” So said he, and poured a libation, and drank the honey-sweet wine, and put the goblet back into the hands of the marshal of men. Then Amphinomus went through the house, his dear heart in sorrow, nodding with his head, for in his heart he saw the evil,

§ 18.155 but even so he didn't escape doom. Athena bound him, too, to be tamed by might, under Telemachus' hands and spear. He at once sat back down on the chair from which he'd risen. Bright-eyed goddess Athena then put it in the mind of Icarius' daughter, prudent Penelope,

§ 18.160 to show herself to the suitors, so she could as much as possible open the suitors' hearts and become more esteemed in her husband's and son's eyes than she was before. She gave a forced laugh, called out her name, and said: “ Eurynome, my heart desires a thing it never did before,

§ 18.165 to show myself to the suitors, though they're hateful nonetheless, and I'd speak a word to my son, that it would be better he not consort at all with the arrogant suitors, who speak well, but ponder evilly on the future.” Housekeeper Eurynome said back to her:

§ 18.170 “Yes, my child, you've said all these things duly. But go, and speak a word to your son, and don't conceal it, after you've washed off your body and anointed your cheeks. But don't go sullied with tears about your face, since it's quite evil to mourn endlessly forever.

§ 18.175 For your son is already of the age, for what you most prayed for to the immortals, to see him grow a beard.” Prudent Penelope said back to her: “ Eurynome, don't urge these things, though you care for me, to wash off my body and anoint myself with unguent.

§ 18.180 For the gods who hold Olympus have destroyed my splendor, from the moment that one left in his hollow ship. But, please, bid Hippodameia and Autonoe come, so they can stand beside me in the palace. I won't go alone among men, for I'm ashamed to.”

§ 18.185 So said she, and the old woman went through and out the hall, to bring the message to the women and order them to come. Then bright-eyed goddess Athena thought of something else. She poured sweet sleep down upon Icarius' daughter, then all her joints were relaxed, she leaned back, and slept

§ 18.190 where she was on the couch. Meanwhile, the goddess divine gave her gifts immortal so the Achaeans would behold her with wonder. First she cleansed her beautiful face with a balm of beauty, an ambrosial one, the kind fair-crowned Cythereia anoints herself with, whenever she goes to the Graces' charming dance.

§ 18.195 And she made her taller and thicker to behold, then made her whiter than sawn ivory. The goddess divine did so and departed, and the white-armed handmaids came out of the hall and came close with a cry. Sweet sleep released her,

§ 18.200 and she wiped her cheeks with her hands and said: “Ah, though I suffer very grimly, a soft slumber wrapped around me! If only chaste Artemis would grant so soft a death to me, right now, so I'd no longer mourn in my heart and waste away my life, yearning for the manifold virtues

§ 18.205 of my dear husband, when he was a preeminent Achaean.” So saying, she came down from the bright upper chamber, not alone. Two handmaids came with her, too. When the woman divine reached the suitors, she stood beside a column of the densely-made roof,

§ 18.210 holding a shiny veil against her cheeks, and a devoted handmaid stood on either side. Their knees were undone right where they were, and their hearts enchanted with love, and all prayed to lie in bed beside her. She spoke in turn to Telemachus, her beloved son:

§ 18.215 “ Telemachus, your wits are no longer steady, nor your thoughts. When still a child, you had rather cunning thoughts in your mind. Now, when at last you're big and have reached the measure of young manhood, and someone, a man from elsewhere, would say you're a rich man's offspring, looking at your height and beauty,

§ 18.220 your wits are no longer righteous, nor your thoughts, that such a thing as this has happened in our palace, you who let that stranger be abused this way. How is it now, if in any way a stranger sitting in our home would suffer in this way from grievous mistreatment?

§ 18.225 Shame and disgrace would be yours among mankind.” Astute Telemachus said back to her in turn: “Mother mine, I don't resent it that you're angry. But in my heart I know and note each thing, the goods things and the worse ones. I was yet a child before.

§ 18.230 But, indeed, I can't conceive of everything astutely, for, from one place and another, they sit beside me and confuse me, these men devising evils, and there are no helpers for me. Of course, the struggle of the stranger and Irus didn't happen to suit the suitors, but the stranger was better at violence.

§ 18.235 Father Zeus, and Athena, and Apollo, would that the suitors in our house were tamed now in this way and were nodding their heads, some in the courtyard, some inside the house, and each one's limbs were undone, as now that Irus sits at the courtyard gates,

§ 18.240 nodding with his head like one drunk with wine, not even able to stand straight on his feet or even to go home, to wherever he has to go to, since his dear limbs have been undone.” So as they said such to each other, Eurylochos said to Penelope:

§ 18.245 “Daughter of Icarius, prudent Penelope, If all the Achaeans throughout Iasian Argos could see you, more suitors would be dining in your palace in the morning, since you surpass all women in shape and stature and balanced mind inside you!”

§ 18.250 Then prudent Penelope answered him: “ Eurymachus, yes indeed, the immortals destroyed my virtue, both my shape and figure, when the Argives went up into Ilium and my husband Odysseus went with them. If that one came and took care of my life,

§ 18.255 my fame would be so much greater and finer. I grieve now, for a divinity has set so many evils upon me. Yes, when he went and left behind his fatherland, he grabbed my right hand at the wrist and said to me:'My wife, I don't think the well-greaved Achaeans

§ 18.260 will all come safely back from Troy, unharmed, for they say the Trojans are warriors, real men, javelin throwers, shooters of arrows, mounters of swift-footed horses, that soonest settle the great strife of deadlocked war.

§ 18.265 So, I don't know whether god will restore me or I'll be taken there in Troy. Let all things here be in your care. Pay attention to my father and mother in our palace, as you do now, or even more, since I'll be far away, then after you see our son has grown a beard,

§ 18.270 marry whom you want to and leave your home behind.' So he said. Now, at last, all this is being done. There will be a night when loathesome marriage is my fate, ruined me, from whom Zeus has taken happiness away. Instead, this grim grief has reached my heart and spirit.

§ 18.275 The custom of the suitors is not that done before them, by those who wish to woo a good woman and vie with one another for the daughter of a wealthy man, who themselves bring fat sheep and cattle, a feast for the girl's loved ones, and give splendid gifts,

§ 18.280 but don't eat another's substance without payment.” So said she, and long-suffering divine Odysseus was glad, because she wheedled gifts from them and enchanted their hearts with words meant to win them, but her mind was bent on other things. Eupeithes' son, Antinous, said back to her:

§ 18.285 “ Icarius' daughter, prudent Penelope, should any Achaean wish to bring gifts here, accept them, since it's not noble to refuse a gift, but we won't go back, either to our fields or anywhere else, until you get married to the one who's best of the Achaeans.”

§ 18.290 So said Antinous, and his words pleased them, and each dispatched a herald to bring gifts. To Antinous, one brought a big gorgeous robe, an embroidered one. There were twelve brooches on it, all golden, fitted with finely-curved clasps.

§ 18.295 To Eurymachus, another brought a richly-worked chain, a golden one, strung with amber, like the sun. To Eurydamas, two cohorts brought earrings, with three clustering drops, and much grace shone from them. From the house of lord Peisander Polyctorides,

§ 18.300 a cohort brought a necklace, a gorgeous gift of glory. Each other Achaean then brought a different fine gift. Then the woman divine went up to the upper chamber, and her handmaids carried the gorgeous gifts for her. Turning to dancing and delightful song,

§ 18.305 they enjoyed themselves and waited for evening to come, and dark evening came upon them as they enjoyed themselves. They at once set up three lampstands in the palace, to give light, and put dry firewood around them, dry long ago, exceedingly dry, newly split by bronze,

§ 18.310 and mixed in torches between them. Taking turns, steadfast Odysseus' slave women kept the light up. Then he himself, Zeus -born adroit Odysseus, said to them: “Slave women of Odysseus, of a master long time gone, go to the room where your venerable queen is,

§ 18.315 sit beside her in the hall and delight her, spinning yarn on the distaff or carding wool with your hands. Then I'll provide light for all of these men, For even if they wish to wait for fair-throned Dawn, they won't at all defeat me. I am very much-enduring.”

§ 18.320 So said he, and they looked at each other and laughed. Fair-cheeked Melantho scolded him shamefully, whom Dolios fathered and Penelope cared for and raised as her child and gave playthings for her heart. But even so, she had no sorrow in her heart for Penelope,

§ 18.325 but loved and mixed with Eurymachus instead. With words of reproach, she scolded Odysseus: “Wretched stranger, you're someone who's deranged in wits, and you don't want to go to a smith's house, or a lounging place somewhere, to sleep, but you do a lot of talking here,

§ 18.330 boldly, among many men, yet you fear nothing in your heart. Yes, wine surely holds your wits, or, indeed, your mind is always such as this, which is why you speak idly. Are you smug because you beat that vagrant, Irus? Beware, lest some other, better than Irus, stands up to you,

§ 18.335 someone who'll hammer you about the head with well-knit hands, sully you with lots of blood, and send you from the house!” Then adroit Odysseus said to her with a scowl: “Yes, bitch, I'll soon go there and tell Telemachus what kind of things you're saying, so he'll hack you limb from limb right where you are!”

§ 18.340 So saying, he scared away the women with his words. They made their way through the house, and the limbs of each were undone in fear, for they thought he spoke the truth. Then he stood beside the burning lampstands, giving light and looking after all of them, but with his mind his heart was pondering

§ 18.345 other things, things that would not be unaccomplished. But Athena did not completely allow the manly suitors to refrain from heart-grieving outrage, so that grief would yet more enter the heart of Laertiades Odysseus. Polybus' son Eurymachus was the first of them to speak.

§ 18.350 Mocking Odysseus, he made him a source of laughter to his comrades: “Hear me, suitors of a glorious queen, while I say what the heart in my chest commands me. This man came to Odysseus' home, not without god's aid. Nonetheless, it seems to me that there's a blaze of torches

§ 18.355 from his head, since no hairs, not even a few, are on it.” He spoke, and said to Odysseus, the sacker of cities, at the same time: “Stranger, would you be willing to work for hire, if I took you into service, and your pay were guaranteed, at the far edge of my farm, growing tall trees and gathering stones for walls?

§ 18.360 I'd provide you food there all year round, dress clothes about you, and give you sandals for your feet. But since you've by now learned evil deeds, you won't want to go about your work, but would prefer to beg throughout the kingdom, so you can feed your insatiable belly.”

§ 18.365 Adroit Odysseus said to him in reply: “ Eurymachus, why, I'd like us to have a work contest, in the season of spring, when the days are getting long, in grass. I'd have a well-curved scythe, and you'd have one like it, and there'd be grass at hand,

§ 18.370 so we could test each other's work, fasting till the very twilight. I'd also like there to be oxen to drive, the very best ones, tawny, big ones, both fed full of grass, of the same age and equally able to carry, whose strength is inexhaustible, and that there'd be a four-acre field, and the clods yield to the plow.

§ 18.375 Then you'd see if I could cut unbroken furrows before me. I'd also like for Cronion to start up a war from somewhere, today, then that I'd have a shield and two spears, and a solid-bronze helmet, fitted to my temples. Then you'd see me mixing in the first of front-line fighters,

§ 18.380 and you wouldn't speak reproachfully of this belly of mine. But you act so very wantonly, and have a mind that's cruel, and, I suppose, you think you're someone big and mighty because you consort with small ones, and not good ones. If Odysseus were to come and reach his fatherland,

§ 18.385 suddenly these doors, although they're very wide, would be narrow for one fleeing through the doorway to outside.” So said he, and Eurymachus became more enraged at heart, and spoke winged words to him with a scowl: “Ah, you wretch! Yes, I'll soon make evil for you, for what you say

§ 18.390 boldly, among many men, yet you fear nothing in your heart. Yes, wine surely holds your wits, or, indeed, your mind is always such as this, which is why you speak idly. Are you smug because you beat that vagrant, Irus?” So saying, he grabbed a footstool, but Odysseus

§ 18.395 sat down before the knees of Amphinomus, the Doulichian, in fear of Eurymachus, who then struck a wine-bearer on the right hand. The pitcher fell with a boom to the ground, then the wine-bearer fell with a cry backwards in the dust. The suitors raised an uproar throughout the shadowy palace.

§ 18.400 In this way, glancing at another near him, one would say: “If only this wandering stranger had been killed elsewhere before he came, then he wouldn't have caused such an uproar. But now we're quarreling over beggars, and there'll be no pleasure from this fine feast once the worse prevails.”

§ 18.405 The sacred force of Telemachus spoke among them: “Possessed ones, you're mad, and no longer hide in your hearts your eating and your drinking. Surely some god excites you. But, when you've dined well, go home and go to sleep, when your heart bids you. I chase no one away.

§ 18.410 So said he, and all bit their lips and marveled at Telemachus, because he spoke undaunted. Amphinomus addressed them and spoke among them, the brilliant son of Nisus, of lord Aretiades: “My friends, no one should be angry and attack

§ 18.415 with wrangling words when a thing is spoken justly. Don't at all abuse this stranger or any other of the slaves who are here in divine Odysseus' house. But come, let the wine-bearer pour drops of libation in our cups, so we can make libation and go home and go to sleep.

§ 18.420 Let's leave that stranger in Odysseus' palace to make trouble for Telemachus, since he came to his dear home.” So said he, and the words he spoke pleased all of them. The hero Mulius mixed a bowl for them. A herald from Doulichion, he was a cohort of Amphinomus.

§ 18.425 He passed it out to all, one after another, and they made libation to the blessed gods and drank the honey-hearted wine. Then after they'd made libation and drunk as much as hearts desired, they made their way to bed, each to his own house.

§ 19.1 BOOK 19 But divine Odysseus remained in the hall, and pondered murder for the suitors with Athena's aid. Suddenly, he spoke winged words to Telemachus: “ Telemachus, you need to store the martial battle gear inside,

§ 19.5 all of it entirely, then with gentle words beguile the suitors when they miss it and question you:'I stored them, away from the smoke, since they're no longer like the ones Odysseus left behind when he went to Troy once upon a time, but they're befouled, so much has smoke's breath come to them.

§ 19.10 Furthermore, a divinity's thrown this even greater fear in my mind, lest you by chance get drunk, start a quarrel among you, wound each other, and disgrace your feast and wooing. For iron on its own attracts a man.'” So said he, and Telemachus obeyed his dear father,

§ 19.15 called out nurse Eurycleia, and said to her: “Come, madam, please keep the women in the palace, so I can store in the chamber my father's fine armor, uncared for, that the smoke stains throughout my house since my father went away, and I was still a child.

§ 19.20 Now I want to store it so the breath of fire won't reach it.” Dear nurse Eurycleia said back to him: “My child, I'd like you someday to develop prudence in caring for the house and watching over all your possessions, but come, who'll go get a light and carry it for you,

§ 19.25 since you won't let the slave women come out, who'd give light?” Astute Telemachus said back to her in turn: “This stranger here. For I won't let one be idle, who takes for himself of our daily ration, even if he's come from far away.” So said he, but words for her were wingless,

§ 19.30 and she barred the doors of the well-settled palace. Two sprang up, Odysseus and his beloved son, and carried in the helmets, and bossed shields, and sharp spears. In front of them, Pallas Athena held a golden lamp and made gorgeous light.

§ 19.35 Right then Telemachus suddenly said to his father: “Father, yes, it's a great wonder, this thing I see with my eyes. Certainly, to me, the palace walls, the beautiful bases, the fir beams, and the columns that hold things up high appear to my eyes as if of blazing fire.

§ 19.40 Some god's inside, quite surely, one of those who rule wide heaven.” Adroit Odysseus said to him in reply: “Be silent, and hold in check your mind, and don't ask questions. This is indeed the way of the gods who hold Olympus. But, you lie down, and I'll be left behind here,

§ 19.45 so I can provoke further the women slaves and your mother, who, in mourning for me, will ask about every thing.” So said he, and Telemachus went through and out the hall, under torches giving light, to his chamber, to lie down where he slept before when sweet sleep would come to him.

§ 19.50 There and then he lay down and awaited divine Dawn. But divine Odysseus remained in the hall, and pondered murder for the suitors with Athena's aid. Prudent Penelope came out of her chamber, like Artemis or golden Aphrodite.

§ 19.55 They set a chair for her beside the fire, where she used to sit, inlaid with ivory and silver, that the woodworker Icmalius made, and under it he'd set a footstool for feet, growing out of it, on which a big fleece had been thrown. Then prudent Penelope sat down there.

§ 19.60 White-armed women slaves came out of the hall, and they took away much food, and the tables, and the goblets from which the very mighty men had drunk. They threw fire from the lampstands onto the floor, but heaped lots of wood on the lampstands, so there'd be light and they'd be warmed.

§ 19.65 That one, Melantho, scolded Odysseus a second time again: “Stranger, even now will you still distress us here, and whirl throughout the house, throughout the night, ogling women? Go outside instead, wretch, and enjoy your dinner, or, you go outside soon, struck by a firebrand, too!”

§ 19.70 Then adroit Odysseus said to her with a scowl: “Possessed one, why have at me this way with a resentful heart? Is it that I'm filthy and wear foul clothing on my flesh, as I beg throughout the kingdom? For necessity weighs on me. Beggars and wanderers are such men.

§ 19.75 Why, even I lived in a house among men once upon a time, 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.

§ 19.80 But Zeus Cronion ruined me, since he wished to, I suppose. So, you, beware now, woman, that you don't also someday lose all the splendor with which you now excel among the women slaves. Beware lest your mistress somehow resent you and be hard, or that Odysseus come, for there's still a measure of hope in that.

§ 19.85 If, as it seems, he's perished and his homecoming is no more, such as son as he is here already, by the grace of Apollo, Telemachus, whose notice no woman in the palace who is wicked will escape, since he's no longer the age for that.” So said se, and prudent Penelope heard him,

§ 19.90 and she scolded her handmaid, called out her name, and said: “By no means, you bold one, you fearless bitch, do I miss anything of this terrible deed you do, one you'll rub off on your head! For you knew it all well, since you heard from me yourself, how I was going to to ask the stranger in my palace

§ 19.95 about my husband. since I mourn him constantly.” She spoke, and then said to housekeeper Eurynome: “ Eurynome, bring a chair now, and a fleece upon it, so this stranger can sit down and tell his story and listen to me. I want to question him.”

§ 19.100 So said she, and that one very deftly brought and set down a well-wrought chair and threw a fleece upon it, then long-suffering divine Odysseus sat down there. Prudent Penelope was the first of them to speak: “Stranger, first, I'll ask you this myself:

§ 19.105 What man and from where are you? Where are your city and parents?” Adroit Odysseus said to her in reply: “My lady, no mortal on the boundless earth would chide you, for, indeed, your fame reaches wide heaven, as does that of a noble king, a god-fearing one,

§ 19.110 who rules over men, many and mighty, and upholds righteousness. Then the black earth bears wheat and barley, trees are heavy with fruit, sheep bear young steadily, and the sea provides fish, from his good government, and people prosper under him.

§ 19.115 So, ask me, in your house, of other things, but don't ask of me my race and fatherland, lest you fill my heart the more with pain as I recall them. I'm very full of sorrow, and ought not at all sit in the house of another sniveling and groaning,

§ 19.120 since it's not good to mourn endlessly forever. May none of your women slaves, or you yourself, resent me, and say I swim in tears because my wits are heavy with wine.” Then prudent Penelope answered him: “Stranger, yes indeed, the immortals destroyed

§ 19.125 my virtue, both my shape and figure, when the Argives went up into Ilium and my husband Odysseus went with them. If that one came and took care of my life, my fame would be so much greater and finer. I grieve now, for a divinity has set so many evils upon me.

§ 19.130 For all the nobles who rule over the islands of Doulichion, Same, and wooded Zacynthus, and who live about clear Ithaca itself, woo me though I'm unwilling, and are consuming my house. Therefore I pay heed to neither strangers, nor suppliants,

§ 19.135 nor at all to heralds, who are workers for the kingdom, but, longing for dear Odysseus, I melt away at heart. They hasten marriage; I wind wiles. First, a divinity breathed it in my mind to set up a great loom in my palace and weave a web,

§ 19.140 with threads long and fine, then I immediately said to them:'Young men, my suitors, since Odysseus has died, wait, though eager for my wedding, until I can complete this cloth, lest my weaving be ruined and in vain, a burial cloth for hero Laertes, for the time when

§ 19.145 baneful doom, of death that brings long woe, takes him down, lest any any Achaean woman throughout the kingdom resent me should he who won many things lie without a shroud.' So said I, and their manly hearts were persuaded. Then by day I wove a great web,

§ 19.150 but at night, when I had torches placed beside it, I unraveled it. Three years I went unnoticed in my trick, and so persuaded the Achaeans, but when a fourth year came, and seasons came round, and many days passed excessively as the months waned, right then, on account of my slave women, careless bitches,

§ 19.155 they came upon me, and caught me, and threatened me with words. So, I finished it, albeit unwillingly, under compulsion. Now I'm not able to escape marriage and I find no other ploy any longer. My parents urge me strongly to get married, and my son is vexed because they eat our substance,

§ 19.160 and he knows it, since he's a man by now, and, in particular, the kind to take care of a house to which Zeus grants glory. But, even so, tell me of your race, where you're from, for you're not from a rock or from an oak of ancient story.” Adroit Odysseus said to her in reply:

§ 19.165 “Venerable wife of Laertiades Odysseus, won't you stop asking me about my race? Then I'll tell you. Yes, you give me to more sorrows than I'm held by, for that's the way it is, whenever a man is away from his fatherland for as long a time as I now,

§ 19.170 wandering to many mortals' cities, suffering sorrows. But even so, I'll tell you what seek from me and ask me. There is a certain land, Crete, in the middle of the wine-dark sea, a fine and rich land, sea-girt, in which are many men, countless men, and ninety cities,

§ 19.175 and one language is mixed with another. There are Achaeans in it, great-hearted Eteocretans in it, Cydonians in it, streaming-haired Dorians, and divine Pelasgians. Cnossos is among them, a great city, where Minos, great Zeus's intimate, ruled as king nine years,

§ 19.180 the father of my father, great-hearted Deucalion. Deucalion fathered me and lord Idomeneus, but Idomeneus went in the curved ships to Ilium with the Atreidae. I had the famed name Aethon, and was younger in age. He was older and better.

§ 19.185 I saw Odysseus there and gave him guest-gifts, for a wind's force had brought him down to Crete, driving him off course past Maleia as he headed for Troy. He moored in Amnisus, where the cave of Eileithyia is, in hard harbors, and barely avoided the windstorms.