The Cave of Polyphemus.Sig. Sugameli and the Author, in the Cave of Polyphemus."When morning came we hunted the wild goats, of which we152killed over a hundred,[17]and all day long to the going down of the sun we feasted on them and the store of wine we had taken from the Cicons. We kept looking also on the land of the Cyclopes over against us, which was so near that we could see the smoke of their stubble fires, and almost fancy we heard the bleating of their sheep and goats."We camped a second night upon the beach, and at day169break, having called a council, I said I would take my own ship and reconnoitre the country, but would leave the other ships at the island. Thereon I started, but when we got near the main land we saw a great cave in the cliff, not far from the sea, and there were large sheep yards in front of it. On landing I chose twelve men and went inland, taking with me a goat skin full of a very wondrous wine that Maron, priest of Apollo, had given me when I spared his life and that of his family at the time that we were sacking the city of the Cicons. The rest of my crew were to wait my return by the sea side."We soon reached the cave, and finding that the owner was216not at home we examined all that it contained; we saw vessels brimful of whey, and racks loaded with cheeses: the yards also were full of lambs and kids. My men implored me to let them steal some cheeses, drive off some of the lambs and kids, and sail away, but I would not, for I hoped the owner might give me something."We lit a fire in the cave, sacrificed some of the233cheeses to the gods, and ate others ourselves, waiting till the owner should return. When he came we found him to be a huge monster, more like a peak standing out against the sky onsome high mountain than a human being. He brought in with him a great bundle of firewood, which he flung down upon the floor with such a noise that we were scared and hid ourselves. He drove all his female goats and ewes into the cave, but left the males outside; and then he closed the door with a huge stone which not even two and twenty waggons could carry. He milked his245goats and ewes all orderly, and gave each one her own young [for these had been left in the yards all day]; then he drank some of the milk, and put part by for his supper. Presently he lit his fire and caught sight of us, whereon he asked us who we were."I told him we were on our way home from Troy, and begged256him in heaven's name to do us no hurt; but as soon as I had answered his question he gripped up two of my men, dashed them on the ground, and ate them raw, blood, bones, and bowels, like a savage lion of the wilderness. Then he lay down on the ground of the cave and went to sleep: on which I should have crept up to him and plunged my sword into his heart while he was sleeping had I not known that if I did we should never be able to shift the stone. So we waited till dawn should come."When day broke the monster again lit his fire, milked307his ewes all orderly, and gave each one her own young. Then he gripped up two more of my men, and as soon as he had eaten them he rolled the stone from the mouth of the cave, drove out his sheep, and put the stone back again. He had, however, left a large and long piece of olive wood in the cave, and when he had gone I and my men sharpened this at one end, and hid it in the sheep dung of which there was much in the cave. In the evening he returned, milked his ewes, and ate two more men; whereon I went up to him with the skin of wondrous wine that Maron had given me and gave him a bowl full of it. He asked for another, and then another, so I gave them to him, and he was so much delighted that he enquired my name and I said it was Noman."The wine now began to take effect, and in a short time371he fell dead drunk upon the ground. Then my men and I put the sharp end of the piece of olive wood in the fire till it waswell burning, and drove it into the wretch's eye, turning it round and round as though it were an auger. After a while he plucked it out, flung it from him, and began crying to his neighbours for help. When they came, they said, 'What ails you? Who is harming you?' and he answered, 'No man is harming me.' They then said that he must be ill, and had better pray to his father Neptune; so they went away, and I laughed at the success of my stratagem."Then I hid my men by binding them under the sheep's424bellies. The Cyclops, whose name was Polyphemus, groped his way to the stone, rolled it away, and sat at the mouth of the cave feeling the sheep's backs as they went out; but the men were under their bellies so he did not find one of them. Nor yet did he discover me, for I was ensconced in the thick belly-fleece of a ram which by some chance he had brought in with the ewes. But he was near finding me, for the ram went last, and he kept it for a while and talked to it."When we were outside, I dropped from under the ram and462unbound my companions. We drove the ewes down to my ship, got them on board, and rowed out to sea. When we were a little way out I jeered at the Cyclops, whereon he tore up a great rock and hurled it after us; it fell in front of the ship and all but hit the rudder; the wash, moreover, that it made nearly carried us back to the483land, but I kept the ship off it with a pole."When we had got about twice as far off as we were491before, I was for speaking to the Cyclops again, and though my men tried to stay me, I shouted out to him 'Cyclops, if you would know who it is that has blinded you, learn that it is I, Ulysses, son of Laertes, who live in Ithaca.'"'Alas,' he cried in answer, 'then the old prophecy about506me is coming true. I knew that I was to lose my sight by the hand of Ulysses, but I was looking for some man of great stature and noble mien, whereas he has proved to be a mere whippersnapper. Come here, then, Ulysses that I may offer you gifts of hospitality and pray my father Neptune, who shall heal my eye, to escort you safely home."'I wish,' said I, 'that I could be as sure of killing521youbody and soul as I am that not even Neptune will be able to cure your eye.'"Then he prayed to Neptune saying 'Hear me Neptune, if526I am indeed your son, and vouchsafe me that Ulysses son of Laertes may never reach his home. Still, if he must do so, and get back to his friends, let him lose all his men, and though he get home after all, let it be late, on another man's ship, and let him find trouble in his house.'"So saying he tore up a still larger rock and flung it527this time a little behind the ship, but so close that it all but hit the rudder: the wash, however, that it made carried us forward to the island from which we had set out."There we feasted on the sheep that we had taken, and556mourned the loss of our comrades whom Polyphemus had eaten.BOOK X.Æolus—the Lœstrygonians—Circe."So we sailed on and reached the island where dwells Æolus with his wife and family of six sons and six daughters, who live together amid great and continuous plenty. I staid with him a whole month, and when I would go, he tied all the winds up (for he was their keeper) in a leather sack, which he gave me; but he left the West wind free, for this was the one I wanted."Nine days did we sail, and on the tenth we could see our28native land with the stubble fires burning thereon. I had never let the rudder out of my hands till then, but being now close in shore I fell asleep. My men, thinking I had treasure in the sack, opened it to see, on which the winds came howling out and took us straight back to the Æolian island. So I went to the house of Æolus and prayed him to help me, but he said, 'Get you gone, abhorred of heaven: him whom heaven hates will I in no wise help.' So I went full sadly away."Six days thence did we sail onward, worn out in body77and mind, and on the seventh we reached the stronghold of king Lamus, the Læstrygonian city Telepylus, where the shepherdwho drives his flock into the town salutes another who is driving them out, and the other returns his salute. A man in that country could earn double wages if he could do without sleep, for they work much the same by night as they do by day. Here we landed, and I climbed a high rock to look round, but could see no signs of men or beast, save only smoke rising from the ground."Then I sent two of my crew with an attendant, to see100what manner of men the people might be, and they met a young woman who was coming down to fetch water from the spring Artacia, whence the people drew their water. This young woman took my men to the house of her father Antiphates, whereon they discovered the people to be giants and ogres like Polyphemus. One of my men was gripped up and eaten, but the other two escaped and reached the ships. The Læstrygonians raised a hue and cry after them, and rushing to the harbour, within which all my ships were moored except my own, they dashed my whole fleet in pieces with the rocks that they threw. I and my own ship alone escaped them, for we were outside, and I bade the men row for their lives."On and on did we sail, till we reached the island of133Circe, where heaven guided us into a harbour. Here I again climbed a rock and could see the smoke from Circe's house rising out of a thick wood; I then went back to the ship, and while on my way had the good fortune to kill a noble stag, which gave us a supply of meat on which we feasted all the rest of the day. Next morning I held a council and told my men of the smoke that I had seen."Eurylochus and twenty-two men then went inland to210reconnoitre, and found Circe's house made of squared stones and standing on high ground in the middle of the forest. This forest was full of wild beasts, poor dazed creatures whom Circe had bewitched, but they fawned upon my men and did not harm them. When the men got to the door of her house they could hear her singing inside most beautifully, so they called her down, and when she came she asked them in, gave them a drugged drink, and then turned them into pigs—all except Eurylochus who had remained outside."Eurylochus made all haste back to tell me, and I started244for Circe's house. When I was in the wood where the wild beasts were, Mercury met me and gave me an herb called277Moly, which would protect me from Circe's spells; he also305told me how I should treat her. Then I went to her house, and called her to come down."She asked me in, and tried to bewitch me as she had the312others, but the herb which Mercury had given me protected me; so I rushed at her with my drawn sword. When she saw this, she said she knew I must be Ulysses, and that I must marry her at once. But I said, 'Circe, you have just turned my men into pigs, and have done your best to bewitch me into the bargain; how can you expect me to be friendly with you? Still, if you will swear to take no unfair advantage of me, I will consent.' So she swore, and I consented at once."Then she set the four maid servants of her house to wash348me and feast me, but I was still moody and would not eat till Circe removed her spells from off my men, and brought them back safe and sound in human form. When she had done this she bade me go back to my ship and bring the rest of my men—which I presently did, and we staid with her for a whole twelve months, feasting continually and drinking an untold quantity of wine. At last, however, my men said that if I meant going home at all it was time I began to think of starting."That night, therefore, when I was in bed with Circe,480I told her how my men were murmuring, and asked her to let me go. This she said she would do; but I must first go down into the house of Hades, and consult the blind Theban prophet Tiresias. And she directed me what I should do."On the following morning I told my men, and we began 551 to get ready; but we had an accident before we started, for there was a foolish and not very valiant young man in my ship named Elpenor, who had got drunk and had gone on to the roof of Circe's house to sleep off his liquor in the cool. The bustle my men made woke him, and in his flurry he forgot all about coming down by the staircase, and fell right off the roof; whereby he broke his neck and was killed. We started,however, all the same, and Circe brought us a lamb and a black sheep to offer to the Shades below. She passed in and out among us, but we could not see her; who, indeed, can see the gods, when they are in no mind to be seen?BOOK XI.Ulysses in the house of Hades."When we were at the water side we got the lamb and the ewe on board and put out to sea, running all that day before a fair wind which Circe had sent us, and at nightfall entering the deep waters of the river Oceanus. Here is the land of the Cimmerians, who dwell in darkness which the sun's rays never pierce; we therefore made our ships fast to the shore and came out of her, going along the beach till we reached the place of which Circe had told us."Perimedes and Eurylochus then held the victims, while23I followed the instructions of Circe and slaughtered them, letting their blood flow into a trench which I had dug for it. On this, the ghosts came up in crowds from Erebus, brides, young bachelors, old men, maids who had been crossed in love, and warriors with their armour still smirched with blood. They cried with a strange screaming sound that made me turn pale with fear, but I would let none of them taste of the blood till Tiresias should have come and answered my questions."The first ghost I saw was that of Elpenor whose body was51still lying unburied at Circe's house. Then I said, 'How now, Elpenor? you have got here sooner by land than I have done by water.' The poor fellow told me how he had forgotten about the stairs, and begged me to give him all due rites when I returned to Circe's island—which I promised faithfully that I would do."Then I saw the ghost of my mother Anticlea, but in all81sadness I would not let her taste of the blood till Tiresias should have come and answered my questions."Presently Tiresias came with his golden sceptre in his90hand, bade me let him taste of the blood, and asked me why I had come."I told him I would learn how I was to get home to97Ithaca, and he said I should have much difficulty; 'Still,' he continued, 'you will reach your home if you can restrain your men when you come to the Thrinacian island, where you will find the cattle of the Sun. If you leave these unharmed, after much trouble you will yet reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, you will lose your men, and though you may get home after all, it will be late, [on another man's ship,[18]and you will find your115house full of riotous men who are wasting your substance and wooing your wife."'When you have got back you will indeed kill these men118either by treachery or in fair fight, and you must then take an oar, which you must carry till you have reached a people who know nothing about the sea and do not mix salt with their bread. These people have never heard of ships, nor of oars that are the wings with which ships fly; I will tell you how you may know them; you will meet a man by the way who will ask you whether it is a winnowing shovel that you have got upon your shoulder; when you hear this you must fix your oar in the ground, and offer sacrifice to Neptune, a ram, a bull and a boar; then go home again, and offer hecatombs to the gods that dwell in heaven.[19]As for your own end, death shall come to you very gently from the sea, and shall take you when you are full of years and peace of mind, and your people shall bless you.']137"Having thus said he went back within the house of Hades.150Then I let my mother's ghost draw near and taste of the blood, whereon she knew me, and asked me what it was that had brought me though still alive into the abode of death. So I told her, and asked her how she had come by her end. 'Tell me, also,' I continued, 'about my father, and the son whom I left behind me. Is my property still safe in their hands, or does another hold it who thinks that I shall not return? Of what mind, again, is my wife?177Does she still live with her son and keep watch over his estate, or is she already married to the best man among the Achæans?'"'Your wife,' answered my mother, 'is still at home,180but she spends her life in tears both night and day. Telemachus holds your estate, and sees much company, for he is a magistrate and all men invite him. Your father lives a poor hard life in the country and never goes near the town. As for me, I died of nothing but sheer grief on your account. And now, return to the upper world as fast as you can, that you may tell all that you have seen to your wife.'"Then Proserpine sent up the ghosts of the wives and225daughters of great kings and heroes of old time, and I made each of them tell me about herself. There were Tyro, Antiope, Alcmena, Epicaste the mother of Œdipus, Chloris, Leda, Iphimedea, Phædra, Procris, Ariadne, and hateful Eriphyle; with all these did I discourse, nor can I tell you with how many more noble women, for it is now late, and time to go to rest."Here Ulysses ceased, and from one end of the covered333cloisters to the other his listeners sat entranced with the charm of his story.Then Arete said, "What think you of this man now,336Phæacians, both as regards his personal appearance and his abilities? True he is my guest, but his presence is an honour to you all. Be not niggardly, therefore, in the presents that you will make him, for heaven has endowed you all with great abundance." Alcinous also spoke urging Ulysses to tell still more of his adventures, and to say whether he met any of the heroes who had fought together with him at Troy. Thus pressed Ulysses resumed his story."When Proserpine," said he, "had dismissed the female385ghosts, the ghost of Agamemnon drew near, surrounded by those of the men who had fallen with him in the house of Ægisthus. He was weeping bitterly, and I asked him how he met his end; whereon he detailed to me the treachery of Clytemnestra, which he said threw disgrace upon all women even on the good ones. 'Be sure,' he continued, 'that you433never be too open with your wife; tell her a part only, and keep the rest to yourself. Not that you need have any fear about Penelope for she is an admirable woman. You willmeet your son, too, who by this time must be a449grown man. Nevertheless, do not let people know when you are coming home, but steal a march upon them. And now give me what news you can about my son Orestes.' To which I answered that I could tell him nothing."While we were thus holding sad talk with one another,465the ghost of Achilles came up and asked me for news of his father Peleus, and of his son. I said I could tell him nothing about Peleus, but his son Neoptolemus was with me in the wooden horse, and though all the others were trembling in every limb and wiping the tears from their cheeks, Neoptolemus did not even turn pale, nor shed a single tear. Whereon Achilles strode away over a meadow full of asphodel, exulting in the prowess of his son."Other ghosts then came up and spoke with me but that of541Ajax alone held aloof, for he was still brooding over the armour of Achilles which had been awarded to me and not to him. I spoke to him but he would not answer; nevertheless I should have gone on talking to him till he did, had I not been anxious to see yet other ghosts."I saw Minos with his golden sceptre passing sentence on568the dead; Orion also, driving before him over a meadow full of asphodel the ghosts of the wild beasts whom he had slain upon the mountains. I saw Tityus with the vulture ever digging its beak into his liver, Tantalus also, in a lake whose waters reached his neck but fled him when he would drink, and Sisyphus rolling his mighty stone uphill till the sweat ran off him and the steam rose from him."Then I saw mighty Hercules. The ghosts were screaming601round him like scared birds, flying all whithers. He looked black as night with his bare bow in his hand and his arrow on the string, glaring round as though ever on the point of taking aim. About his breast there was a wondrous golden belt marvellously enriched with bears, wild boars, and lions with gleaming eyes; there were also war, battle, and death."And I should have seen yet others of the great dead had630not the ghosts come about me in so many thousands that I feared Proserpine might send up the Gorgon's head. I thereforebade my men make all speed back to their ship; so they hastened on board and we rowed out on to the waters of Oceanus, where before long we fell in with a fair wind.BOOK XII.The Sirens—Scylla and Charybdis—the cattle of the Sun."As soon as we were clear of the river Oceanus, we got out into the open and reached the Ææan island, where there is dawn and sunrise. There we landed, camped down upon the beach, and waited till morning came. At daybreak I sent my men to fetch the body of Elpenor, which we burned and buried. We built a barrow over him, and in it we fixed the oar with which he had been used to row."When Circe heard that we had returned, she came down16with her maids, bringing bread and wine. 'To-day,' she said, 'eat and drink, and to-morrow go on your way.'"We agreed to this, and feasted the live-long day to the23going down of the sun, but at nightfall Circe took me aside, and told me of the voyage that was before us. 'You will first,' said she, 'come to the island of the two Sirens, who sit in a field of flowers, and warble all who draw near them to death with the sweetness of their song. Dead men's bones are lying strewn all round them; still, if you would hear them, you can stop your men's ears with wax and bid them bind you to a cross-plank on the mast."'As regards the next point that you will reach I can55give you no definite instructions as to which of two courses you must take. You must do the best you can. I can only put the alternatives before you. I refer to the cliffs which the gods call "the wanderers," and which close in on anything that would pass through them—even upon the doves that are bringing ambrosia to Father Jove. The sea moreover is strewn with wreckage from ships which the waves and hurricanes of fire have destroyed."'Of the two rocks,[20]the one rises in a peak to73heaven, and is overhung at all times with a dark cloud that never leaves it. It looks towards the West, and there is a cave in it, higher than an arrow can reach. In this sits Scylla yelping with a squeaky voice like that of a young hound, but she is an awful monster with six long necks and six heads with three rows of teeth in each; whenever a ship passes, she springs out and snatches up a man in each mouth."'The other rock is lower, but they are so close that101you can shoot an arrow from the one to the other. [On it there is a fig-tree in full leaf].[21]Underneath it103is the terrible whirlpool of Charybdis, which sucks the water down and vomits it out again three times a day. If you are there when she is sucking, not even Neptune can save you; so hug the Scylla side, for you had better lose six men than your whole crew."'You will then arrive at the Thrinacian island, where127you will see the cattle of the Sun (and also his sheep) in charge of the two nymphs Lampetie and Phaëthusa. If132you leave these flocks unharmed, after much trouble you will yet reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, you will lose your men, and though you may get home after all, it will be late.'"Here she ended, and at break of day we set out, with a142fair wind which Circe sent us. I then told my men about the two Sirens, but had hardly done so before we were at the island itself, whereon it fell a dead calm. I kneaded wax and stopped the men's ears; they bound me to a cross-plank on the mast; I heard the Sirens sing, and when I struggled to free myself they bound me still tighter. So we passed the island by."Shortly after this I saw smoke and a great wave ahead,201and heard a dull thumping sound. The sea was in an uproar, and my men were so frightened that they loosed hold of theiroars, till I put heart into them, bade them row their hardest, and told the steersman to hug the Scylla side. But I said nothing about Scylla, though I kept straining my eyes all over her rock to see if I could espy her."So there we were, with Scylla on the one hand and dread234Charybdis on the other. We could see the sea seething as in a cauldron, and the black ooze at the bottom with a wall of whirling waters careering round it. While my men were pale with fear at this awful sight, Scylla shot out her long necks and swooped down on six of them. I could see their poor hands and feet struggling in the air as she bore them aloft, and hear them call out my name in one last despairing cry. This was the most horrid sight that I saw in all my voyages."Having passed the cliffs,[22]and Scylla and Charybdis,260we came to the Thrinacian island, and from my ship I could hear the cattle lowing, and the sheep bleating. Then, remembering the warning that Tiresias and Circe had given me, I bade my men give the island a wide berth. But Eurylochus was insolent, and sowed disaffection among them, so that I was forced to yield and let them land for the night, after making them swear most solemnly that they would do the cattle no harm. We camped, therefore, on the beach near a stream."But in the third watch of the night there came up a312great gale, and in the morning we drew our ship ashore and left her in a large cave wherein the sea nymphs meet and hold their dances. I then called my men together, and again warned them."It blew a gale from the South for a whole month, except325when the wind shifted to the East, and there was no other wind save only South and East. As long as the corn and wine which Circe had given us held out, my men kept their word, but after a time they began to feel the pangs of hunger, and I went apart to pray heaven to take compassion upon us. I washed my hands and prayed, and when I had done so, I fell asleep."Meanwhile Eurylochus set my men on to disobey me, and339they drove in some of the cattle and killed them. When I woke, and had got nearly back to the ship, I began to smell roast meat and knew full well what had happened."The nymph Lampetie went immediately and told the Sun374what my men had done. He was furious, and threatened Jove that if he was not revenged he would never shine in heaven again but would go down and give his light among the dead. 'All day long,' said he, 'whether I was going up heaven or down, there was nothing I so dearly loved to look upon as those cattle.'"Jove told him he would wreck our ship as soon as it was385well away from land, and the Sun said no more. I know all this because Calypso told me, and she had it from Mercury."My men feasted six days—alarmed by the most awful397prodigies; for the skins of the cattle kept walking about, and the joints of meat lowed while they were being roasted. On the seventh day the wind dropped and we got away from the island, but as soon as we were out of sight of land a sudden squall sprang up, during which Jove struck our ship with his thunderbolts and broke it up. All my men were drowned, and so too should I have been, had I not made myself a raft by lashing the mast (which I found floating about) and the ship's keel together.["The wind, which during the squall came from the West,426now changed to the South, and blew all night, so that by morning I was back between Scylla and Charybdis again. My raft got carried down the whirlpool, but I clung on to the boughs of the fig tree, for a weary weary while, during which I felt as impatient as a magistrate who is detained in court by troublesome cases when he wants to get home to dinner. But in the course of time my raft worked its way out again, and when it was underneath me I dropped on to it and was carried out of the pool. Happily for me Jove did not let Scylla see me.][23]"Thence I was born along for nine days in the sea, and447wastaken to the Ogygian island of Calypso. I told you about this yesterday and will not repeat it, for I hate saying the same thing twice over."BOOK XIII.Ulysses is taken back to Ithaca by the Phæacians.Thus did Ulysses speak, and Alcinous immediately proposed that they should make him still further presents. The expence, however, of these, he said, should be borne by a levy or rate upon the public at large. The guests assented, and then went home to bed.Next morning they brought their presents of hardware down18to the ship, and Alcinous saw them so stowed that they should not incommode the rowers. There was then a second banquet at Alcinous's house, but Ulysses kept looking at the sun all the time, longing for it to set that he might start on his way. At last he rose and addressed the Phæacians; after thanking them, he concluded by saying that he hoped he should find his wife on his return living among her friends in peace and quietness,[24]and43that the Phæacians would continue to give satisfaction to their wives and children. He also bade farewell to Arete, and wished her all happiness with her children, her people, and with King Alcinous.When Ulysses reached the ship, a rug and sail were spread73for him, on which he lay down, and immediately fell into a deep sleep—so deep as to resemble death itself. The ship sped on her way faster than a falcon's flight and80with the break of day they reached Ithaca.Now in Ithaca there is a sheltered harbour in which a96ship can ride without being even moored. At the head of this there is a large olive tree, near which there is a cave sacred to the Naiads, where you may find their cups and amphoræ of stone, and the stone looms whereon they weave their robes of sea-purple—very curious. The wild bees, too, build their nests in it. There is water in it all the year round, and it has two entrances, one looking North, by which mortals can go downinto the cave, and the other towards the South, but men cannot enter by it—it is the way taken by gods.The sailors knew this harbour, and took the ship into it.112They were rowing so hard that they ran half her length on to the shore, and when they had got out of her they took Ulysses off, still fast asleep on his rug and sail, and laid him down on the ground. Hard by him they also laid all the presents the Phæacians had made him; they left them by the roots of the olive tree, a little out of the path, that no passer by might steal them, and then went back to Scheria.Neptune now saw what the Phæacians had done, and went to125consult Jove how he should be revenged. It was arranged that he should go to Scheria, turn the ship into stone just as it was coming into port, and root it in the sea.163So he did this, and the Phæacians said, "Alack, who has rooted the ship in the sea just as it was coming in? We could see all of it a minute ago."Then Alcinous told them how Neptune had long ago171threatened to do this to some Phæacian ship on its return from giving an escort, and also to bury their city under a high mountain as a punishment for giving escorts so freely. The Phæacians, therefore, made ready great sacrifices to Neptune, that he might have mercy upon them.While they were thus standing round the altar of the god,185Ulysses woke in his own land, but he had been away so long that he did not know it. Minerva, too, had shed a thick mist round him so that he might remain unseen while she told him how things were going on; for she did not want his wife or anyone else to know of his return until he had taken his revenge upon the suitors. Therefore she made everything look strange to him—the long straight paths, the harbours with their shipping, the steep precipices, and the trees.Ulysses now stood up and wondered where he was. He did197not believe he was in Ithaca and complained bitterly of the Phæacians for having brought him wrong. Then he counted all the tripods, cauldrons, gold, and raiment, that they had given him, to see if he had been robbed; but everything was there, and he was in dismay as to what he should do with them.As he was thus in doubt Minerva came up to him disguised as a young shepherd, so he asked her what country he was in, and she answered that he was in Ithaca.Ulysses said he had heard that there was such a place; he256told Minerva a long lying story as to how he had come to be where she saw him, and on this the goddess assumed the form of a woman, fair, stately, and wise, and laughed at him for not knowing her. Ulysses answered that she was not an easy person to recognise for she was continually changing her appearance. Moreover, though she had been very good to him at Troy, she had left him in the lurch ever since, until she had taken him into the city of the Phæacians. "Do not," he said, "deceive me any further, but tell me whether or no this is really Ithaca.""You are always cunning and suspicious," replied the329goddess, "and that is why I cannot find it in my heart to leave you. Any one else on returning from a long voyage would at once have gone up to his house to see his wife and children, but you do not seem to care about knowing anything about them, and only think of testing your wife's fidelity. As for my having left you in the lurch,339I knew all the time that you would get home safely in the end, and I did not want to quarrel with my uncle Neptune. I will now prove to you that you are in Ithaca—Here is the harbour of the old merman Phorcys, with the large345olive tree at the head of it; near it is the cave which is sacred to the Naiads; here, again, is the overarching347cavern in which you have sacrificed many a hecatomb to349the nymphs, and this is the wooded mountain of Neritum."351The goddess then dispersed the mist and let the prospect352be seen. Ulysses was thus convinced, and Minerva helped him to hide the treasure which the Phæacians had given him, by concealing it in the cave. Having done this she bade Ulysses consider how he should kill the wicked suitors. "They have been lording it," she said, "in your house this three years,[25]paying court to your wife and making her gifts of wooing, while she, poor woman,380though she flatters them, and holds out hopes to every man of them by sending him messages, is really plunged in the deepest grief on your account, and does not mean a word of what she says.""Great heavens," replied Ulysses, "what a narrow escape I382have had from meeting the fate of Agamemnon. Stand by me, goddess, and advise me how I shall be revenged.""I will disguise you," said Minerva, "as a miserable old397beggar so that no one shall know you. "When I have done so, go to your swineherd, who has been always loyal to you and yours. You will find him with his pigs by the fountain Arethusa near the rock that is called Raven. Meantime I will go to Sparta and fetch Telemachus, who is gone thither to try and get news of you.""But why," Ulysses answered, "did you not tell him, for416you knew all about it?""Do not be uneasy about him," she answered, "he is in the420midst of great abundance. I sent him, that he might get himself a good name by having gone."Minerva then disguised Ulysses beyond all possible429recognition, and the two separated—she going to Sparta, and Ulysses to the abode of his swineherd.BOOK XIV.Ulysses in the hut of Eumæus.Ulysses followed a steep path that led from the harbour through the forest and over the top of the mountain, till he reached the hut of Eumæus, who was the most thrifty servant he had, and had built a number of fine yards and pigstyes during his master's absence.Ulysses found him sitting at the door of his hut, which5had been built high up in a place that could been seen from far; he had his four fierce dogs about him, and was cutting himself out a pair of sandal shoes.The dogs flew at Ulysses, and it was all Eumæus could do29to check them; "They were like," said he, "to have made anend of you, which would have got me into a scrape, and I am in sorrow enough already through the loss, which I deplore without ceasing, of the best of masters. But come in, have something to eat, and then tell me your story."On this he brought him inside, threw some brushwood on48the floor, and spread a goat's skin over it for Ulysses to lie on. "I cannot do much for you," he said; "servants go in fear when they have young lords over them, as I now have, for my good old master went to Troy with Agamemnon and I shall never see him again."He then went out and killed two sucking pigs, singed72them, cut them up, put the pieces of meat on skewers to roast on the embers, and brought them smoking hot, skewers and all, to Ulysses, who floured them. "Eat," said the swineherd, "a dish of servant's pork; the fuller grown meat has to go down to the suitors." He then explained how rich Ulysses was."And who, pray," said Ulysses, "was this noble master of115yours? You say that he fell at Troy, and in that case I might be able to give you news of him.""That," answered Eumæus, "may not be: people are always121coming and flattering my poor mistress with false hopes, but they are all liars. My master Ulysses is dead and gone, and I shall never see another like him. I cannot bear even to mention his name.""My friend," replied Ulysses, "do not be too hard of148belief. I swear by this hearth to which I am now come, that Ulysses will return before the present month is over. If he comes you shall give me a shirt and cloak, but I will take nothing till then.""My friend," said Eumæus, "say not another word. You165will never get your shirt and cloak. Now, moreover, I am as anxious about his son Telemachus as I have been about Ulysses himself; for he is gone to Pylos, and the suitors are lying in wait for him on his return. Let us, however, say no more about him now; tell me, rather, about yourself who you are, and how you came here."Then Ulysses told him a long lying story about his191adventures in Crete: how he was compelled to go to Troy in jointcommand with Idomeneus over the Cretan forces; how he made a descent on Egypt, got taken prisoner, acquired wealth, and afterwards was inveigled into going to Libya; how on the voyage thither, after leaving Crete, the ship was wrecked and he was cast on the coast of Thesprotia. "Here it was," he continued, "that I heard of Ulysses from King Pheidon, who was expecting him back daily from Dodona, where he had been to consult the oracle; he told me Ulysses was to return to Ithaca immediately, but there was a ship bound for Dulichium, and the king sent me on board it before Ulysses returned from Dodona. The sailors on this ship resolved to sell me as a slave, and bound me; but they landed on the coast of Ithaca, where I gave them the slip, and found my way to your hut.""Poor man," answered the swineherd, "but you will never360get me to believe about Ulysses. Why should you tell me such lies? I have heard these stories too often, and will never believe them again."Ulysses tried still further to convince him, but it was390no use, and presently the under swineherds came back with the pigs that had been out feeding, and Eumæus told them to kill the best pig they had, and get supper ready, which they accordingly did. He was a good man and mindful of his duties to the gods, so when the pig was killed he threw some of its bristles into the fire and prayed heaven for the return of Ulysses. Then they supped and went to bed.Now it was a wild rough night, and after they had lain457down, Ulysses, fearing that he might be cold, told another lying story of an adventure he had had at Troy in company with Ulysses, by means of which Eumæus was induced to cover him over with a spare cloak of his own. Then the swineherd went out to pass the night with the pigs—and Ulysses was pleased at seeing how well he looked after his property, though he believed his master to be absent. First he slung his sword over his shoulders, and put on a thick cloak to keep out the wind; he also took the skin of a well-fed goat, and a javelin in case of attack from men or dogs. Thus equipped he went to his rest where the pigs were camped under an overhanging rock that sheltered them from the North Wind.BOOK XV.Telemachus returns from Pylos, and on landing goes to the hut of Eumæus.Minerva now went to Lacedæmon and found Telemachus and Pisistratus fast asleep. She appeared to Telemachus in a dream, and told him that he was to return at once to Ithaca, for his mother was about to marry Eurymachus, and would probably go off with some of his property. She also17told him how the suitors were lying in wait for him in the straits between Ithaca and Samos. She said that as soon as he reached Ithaca he was to leave the ship before29sending it on to the town, and go to the swineherd's hut. "Sleep there," she said, "and in the morning send the swineherd to tell Penelope that you have returned safely."Then she went away and Telemachus woke up. He kicked43Pisistratus to wake him, and said that they must start at once. Pisistratus answered that this was impossible; it was still dark, and they must say good bye to Menelaus, who, if Telemachus would only wait, would be sure to give them a present.At break of day, seeing Menelaus up and about, Telemachus56flung on his shirt and cloak, and told him that they must go.Menelaus said he would not detain them, but on the score67alike of propriety and economy, they must have something to eat before starting, and also receive the presents that were waiting Telemachus's acceptance. "I will tell the servants," said he, "to get something ready for you of what there may be in the house, and if you would like to make a tour of the principal cities of the Peloponese, I will conduct you. No one will send us away empty handed. Every one will give us something."But Telemachus said he must start at once, for he had86left property behind him that was insecurely guarded.When Menelaus heard this he told his wife and servants to92get dinner ready at once. Eteoneus, who lived at no great distance, now came up, and Menelaus told him to light the fire and begin cooking; and he did as he was told.Menelaus then went down into his store room together with99Megapenthes, and brought up a double cup and a silver mixing bowl, while Helen fetched a dress of wondrous125beauty, the work of her own hands. Menelaus presented the cup and mixing bowl, and then Helen said, "Take this, my son, as a keepsake from the hand of Helen, and let your bride wear it on her wedding day. Till then let your dear mother keep it for you. Thus may you go on your way with a light heart."Telemachus thanked her; Pisistratus stowed the presents130in the chariot, and they all sat down to dinner. Eteoneus carved, and Megapenthes served round the wine. When they had done eating the two young men prepared to set out.As they were on the point of starting, an eagle flew upon160their right hand, with a goose in its talons which it had carried off from the farm yard. This omen was so good that every one was delighted to see it, and Pisistratus said, "Say, king Menelaus, is the omen for us or for yourself?"Menelaus was in doubt how to answer, but Helen said that169as the eagle had come from a mountain and seized the goose, so Ulysses should return and take vengeance on the suitors. Telemachus said he only hoped it might prove so, and the pair then drove on. They reached Pylos on the following day, and Telemachus urged Pisistratus to drive199him straight to his ship, for fear Nestor should detain him if he went to his house."I know," said Pisistratus, "how obstinate he is. He211would come down to your ship, if he knew you were there, and would never go back without you. But he will be very angry." He then drove to the ship, and Telemachus told the crew to get her under way as fast as they could.Now as he was attending to every thing and sacrificing222to Minerva, there came to him a man of the race of Melampus who was flying from Argos because he had killed a man. His name was Theoclymenus and he came of an old and highly honourable family, his father and grandfather having been celebrated prophets and divines. He besought Telemachus to take him to Ithaca and thus save him from enemies who were in pursuit. Telemachus consented, took Theoclymenus on board, and laid his spear down on the deck.Then they sailed away, and next day they got among the 297 flying islands,[26]whereon Telemachus wondered whether he should be taken or should escape.All this time Ulysses was in the hut with Eumæus, and301after supper Ulysses said he should like to go down to the town next day, and see if the suitors would take him into their service. Eumæus at once explained to him that any such idea was out of the question. "You do not know," he said, "what men these suitors are; their insolence reaches heaven; the young men who wait on them have good looking faces and well kempt heads; the tables are always clean and loaded with abundance. The suitors would be the death of you; stay here, then, where you are in nobody's way, till Telemachus returns from Pylos."Ulysses thanked Eumæus for his information, and then340began to ask whether his father and mother were still living; he was told that Anticlea was dead,[27]and that Laertes, though still alive, would be glad to follow her. Eumæus said he had been brought up in their service, and was better off formerly, for there was no getting a good word out of his mistress now, inasmuch as the suitors had turned the house upside down. "Servants," he said, "like to have a talk with their mistress and hear things from her own lips; they like being told to eat and drink, and being allowed to take something back with them into the country. This is what will keep servants cheerful and contented."On being further questioned by Ulysses, Eumæus told380how he had been kidnapped as a child by some Phœnician traders who had seduced his nurse (also a Phœnician) and persuaded her to go away with them, and bring him with her."I was born," he said, "in the island of Syra over403against Ortygia, where the sun turns.[28]It is not populous, but contains two cities which occupy the whole land between them, and my father was king over them both. A few days after mynurse had kidnapped me, and while we were on our voyage, Diana killed her, and she was flung overboard, but I was taken to Ithaca where Laertes bought me."Ulysses and Eumæus spent the greater part of the night493talking with one another, and at dawn Telemachus's crew drew near to land, furled their sails and rowed into the harbour. There they threw out their mooring stones, made their ship fast, landed, and ate their dinner on the shore. When they had done, Telemachus said, "Now take the ship on to the city; I will go to look after my farm and will come down in the evening. Tomorrow morning I will give you all a hearty meal to reward you for your trouble.""But what," said Theoclymenus, "is to become of me? To508whose house am I to go?""At any other time," answered Telemachus, "I should take512you to my own house, but you would not find it convenient now, for I shall not be there, and my mother will not see you. I shall therefore send you to the house of Eurymachus, who is one of the first men we have, and is most eager in his suit for my mother's hand."As he spoke a hawk flew on Telemachus's right hand, with525a dove whose feathers it was plucking while it flew. Theoclymenus assured Telemachus that this was an omen which boded most happily for the prosperity of his house. It was then settled that Theoclymenus should go to the house of Piræus the son of Clytius.The crew now loosed the ship from her moorings and went547on as they had been told to do, while Telemachus wended his way in all haste to the pig farm where Eumæus lived.BOOK XVI.Ulysses and Telemachus become known to one another.Ulysses and Eumæus prepared their meal at daybreak. When Telemachus was reaching the hut, Ulysses observed that the dogs did not bark, though he heard footsteps, and enquired whether the visitor was some acquaintance30of theswineherd's. He had hardly done speaking when Telemachus entered, and was welcomed by Eumæus."Is my mother still at the house," said he, "or has she33left it with another husband, and the bed of Ulysses is festooned with cobwebs?""She is still there," answered Eumæus, "spending her time36in tears both night and day."Eumæus set refreshments before him and when he had done49eating he asked who the stranger might be.When Telemachus heard that Ulysses was a ship-wrecked68suppliant he was much displeased. "I am as yet too young," he said, "to be able to hold my own in the house; what sufficient support, then, can I give this man? Still, as he has come to you I will send him clothes and all necessary food; and let him stay with you; I will not have him go near the suitors, for harm would be sure to come of it."Ulysses expressed his surprise and indignation about the90suitors, whereon Telemachus explained still further, and wound up by telling Eumæus to go at once and inform Penelope of his return. Eumæus asked if he should turn a little out of his way and tell Laertes, but Telemachus said he was not to do so. Penelope would send him word all in due course.As soon as Eumæus was gone Minerva came to the hut.157Ulysses knew her, and so did the dogs, for they went whining away to the other end of the yards, but Telemachus did not see her. She made a sign to Ulysses that he was to come outside, and when he had done so she told him he was to reveal himself to his son—whereon she struck him with her wand, endowed him with a noble presence, and clothed him in goodly raiment.Then he went back into the hut and told his son who he178was; but for a long while Telemachus would not believe. At last, however, when he was convinced, the pair flung their arms about each other's necks, and wept like eagles or vultures who had been robbed of their young. Indeed they would have wept till sundown had it not occurred to Telemachus to ask his father in what ship he had come to Ithaca, and whose crew it was that had brought him.Ulysses told him about the Phæacians, and how he had225hidden the presents they had given him. "I am now come," he said, "by Minerva's advice, to consult with you as to how we shall take vengeance on the suitors. I would therefore learn how many there are of them, and consider whether we two can kill them, or whether we must get help from outside."Telemachus said it was hopeless to think of attacking the240suitors without assistance. There were fifty-two from Dulichium, with six followers, twenty-four from Same, twenty from Zacynthus, and twelve from Ithaca.Ulysses explained that he could rely on help from Jove258and from Minerva, and thought that this would be enough. "They will not be long in joining us," said he, "when the fight has begun in good earnest. Go, then, tomorrow to the town, and join the suitors; let the swineherd bring me later, disguised as a poor miserable beggar. Never mind how much violence you may see the suitors do me. Look on and say nothing, beyond asking them in a friendly way to leave me alone. Also, find some pretext for removing the armour from the walls. Say it is taking harm with the smoke, and that the sight of armour sometimes sets men fighting, so that it is better away—but leave two swords, shields and spears for you and me to snatch295up."As they were thus conversing, the ship that had brought321Telemachus from Pylos reached the harbour of Ithaca, and the crew took the presents which Menelaus had given him to the house of Clytius. They sent a man to tell Penelope that Telemachus was at the farm, and had sent the ship on to allay her anxiety. This man and the swineherd met at the house of Ulysses, and the man said, in the presence of the maids, "Madam, your son is returned from Pylos;" but Eumæus stood by her, and told her all that her son had bidden him. Then he went back to his pig-farm.The suitors were very angry, and were about sending342a ship to fetch those who had been lying in wait for Telemachus, when Amphinomus, a suitor, happened to turn round and saw their ship coming into harbour. So he laughed and said, "We have no need to send, for the men are here." On this they allwent to meet the ship, and Antinous said that as Telemachus had escaped them in spite of their great vigilance, they must kill him, either at the farm or as he was coming thence. Otherwise he would expose their plot, and they would have the people rise against them. "If," he concluded, "this does not please you, and you would let him live, we cannot eat up his estate any longer, but must go home, urge our suit each from his own house, and let the one among us take Penelope who will give most for her, or whose lot it may happen to be."Amphinomus, who came from the well-grassed and394grain-growing island of Dulichium, then spoke. He was a man of good natural disposition, and his conversation was more pleasing to Penelope than that of any of the other suitors; "I will only consent to kill Telemachus," said he, "if the gods give us their approval. It is a serious thing to kill a man who is of royal race. If they sanction it, I will be with you; otherwise I am for letting it alone."The rest assented, and they went back to the house.406But Medon told Penelope of this new plot, so she went attended by her gentlewomen, stood by one of the bearing-posts that supported the roof of the cloister, and bitterly rebuked Antinous for his ingratitude in forgetting how Ulysses in old days had saved the life of his father Eupeithes.Eurymachus then made a fair but false speech vowing431eternal friendship to Telemachus, and Penelope returned to her own room to mourn her husband till Minerva closed her eyes in slumber.In the evening Eumæus got back to his hut just as the452others had killed a yearling pig and were getting supper ready. Meanwhile Minerva had again disguised Ulysses as an old beggar."What news from the town, Eumæus?" said Telemachus. "Have460the suitors got back with their ship?""I did not ask," answered Eumæus, "for when I had464given my message I turned straight home; but I met the messenger from your own crew, who told your mother of your return before I could do so. As I was coming here, and was on the hill of Mercury above the town, I saw a ship with many menand much armour coming into port; so I suppose it was the suitors, but I cannot be sure."Telemachus gave his father a look, but so that the476swineherd could not see him. Then they all got their supper and went to bed.BOOK XVII.Telemachus goes to the town, and is followed by Eumæus and Ulysses, who is maltreated by the suitors.When morning came Telemachus told Eumæus that he would now go to the town and show himself to his mother, who would never be comforted till she saw him with her own eyes. "As for this miserable stranger," he continued, "take him to the town, that he may beg there and get what he can; if this does not please him, so much the worse for him, but I like to say what I mean."Ulysses said he should be glad to go, for a beggar could16do much better in town than country; but he must warm himself first, and wait till the sun had got some heat in it; his clothes were very bad, and he should perish with cold, for the town was some way off.Telemachus then left, and when he reached the house he26set his spear against a strong bearing post, crossed the stone pavement and went inside. He found Euryclea putting the sheep skins on to the seats. She and all the other maids ran up to him as soon as they saw him, and kissed him on the head and shoulders. Then Penelope came weeping from her room, embraced him, and told him to tell her all that he had seen.Telemachus bade her go back to her room and pray to45Minerva that they might be revenged on the suitors. "I must go," said he, "to the place of assembly, to look after a guest whom I have brought with me, and whom I have left with Piræus."Penelope did as her son had said, while Telemachus went61to the place of assembly, and his two dogs with him. The suitors, who had not yet gone to the house of Ulysses for the day, gathered round him, and made him fair speeches, buthe knew their falsehood and went to sit with his old friends Mentor, Antiphus and Halitherses. Presently Piræus came up, bringing Theoclymenus with him, and said, "I wish you would send some of your women to my house to take away the presents that Menelaus gave you."Telemachus said he did not know what might happen; if77the suitors killed him, he had rather Piræus kept the presents than that the suitors should have them. If, on the other hand, he killed the suitors he should be much obliged if Piræus would let him have the presents.Then he took Theoclymenus to his own house, where they84had a bath, and refreshments were set before them. Penelope sat near them, spinning, while they were at table, and then said she should go up stairs and lie down on that couch which she had never ceased to water with her tears from the day her husband left her. "But you had not the patience," she added, "to tell me, before the suitors came, whether you had been able to hear anything about your father."Telemachus told her how good Nestor had been to him,107and how he had sent him on to Menelaus, who had assured him that Ulysses was still alive, but was detained by Calypso, from whom he could not get away for want of a ship. Penelope was very much agitated, but Theoclymenus reassured her by telling her about the omen which had greeted Telemachus on his return to Ithaca.While they were thus conversing, the suitors were166playing at quoits and aiming javelins at a mark on the level ground in front of Ulysses' house. But when it was near dinner time and the flocks were coming in from all the country round with their shepherds as usual [to be milked], Medon, who was a great favourite with the suitors, called them to come in and set about getting their dinner ready. They therefore came in and began to butcher some sheep, goats, pigs, and a heifer.Meanwhile Eumæus told Ulysses that it was time to make182a start, for the day was well up and if he waited till afternoon he would find the cold more severe. "At any rate," said Ulysses, "let me have a staff if you have one, for the path is rugged." Eumæus gave him one, and they set out along thesteep path leading to the town. When they were nearly there they came to the fountain which Ithacus, Neritus, and Polyctor had made, and from which the people drew their water; here they fell in with Melantheus[29]son of Dolius, who was bringing goats for the suitors' dinner, he and his two under shepherds.Melanthius heaped all kinds of insult on Ulysses and215Eumæus, and tried to kick Ulysses off the path, but could not do so. Ulysses restrained himself, and prayed to the nymphs, whereon Melanthius said he would put him on board ship and sell him in some foreign country. He then hurried on, leaving the swineherd and his master to follow at their own pace.When they got near the house they could hear the sound of260Phemius's lyre, and his voice as he sang to the suitors. They could also smell the savour of roast meats.[30]Eumæus said that he would go in first, but that Ulysses had better follow him soon, for if he was seen standing about in the outer court people might throw things at him.As they were thus talking the old hound Argus who was290lying on the dunghill, very full of fleas, caught sight of Ulysses, recognised him, wagged his tail, and tried to come to him, but could not do so. Thereon Ulysses wiped a tear from his eyes, and asked Eumæus whether the dog was of any use, or whether he was kept only for his good looks. Eumæus said what a noble hound Argus had been, but the dog, having seen his master, died just as Eumæus went inside the house.Telemachus saw him enter and beckoned him to a seat328at his own table. Ulysses followed him shortly, and sat down on the floor of ash wood inside the door way, leaning against a bearing-post of well-squared Cyprus wood. Telemachus noted him and said to Eumæus, "Take the stranger this handful of bread and meat, tell him also to go round and beg from the others, for a beggar must not be shamefaced." Eumæus gave him both the message and the bread and meat.Then Ulysses began to go round begging, for he wanted to360exploit the suitors. He went from left to right, and some tookcompassion on him while others begun asking who he might be; Melanthius then said that he had come with the swineherd. Antinous, therefore, asked Eumæus what he meant by bringing such a man to plague them."I did not ask him to come," answered Eumæus. "Who was380likely to ask a man of that sort? One would ask a divine, a physician, a carpenter, or a bard. You are always hardest of all the suitors on Ulysses' servants, and especially upon me, but I do not care so long as I have Penelope and Telemachus on my side.""Hush," said Telemachus, "Antinous has the bitterest392tongue of them all, and he makes the others worse." Then he turned towards Antinous and said, "Give him something: I do not grudge it. Never mind my mother or any of the servants—not you—but you are fonder of eating than of giving."Antinous said, "You are a swaggering upstart; if all the405suitors will give him as much as I will, he will not come near the house again this three months."As he spoke he menaced Ulysses with the footstool409from under his table. The other suitors all gave him something; and he was about to leave, when he determined to again beg from Antinous and trumped him up a story of the misfortunes that had befallen him in Egypt.
The Cave of Polyphemus.
The Cave of Polyphemus.
Sig. Sugameli and the Author, in the Cave of Polyphemus.
Sig. Sugameli and the Author, in the Cave of Polyphemus.
"When morning came we hunted the wild goats, of which we152killed over a hundred,[17]and all day long to the going down of the sun we feasted on them and the store of wine we had taken from the Cicons. We kept looking also on the land of the Cyclopes over against us, which was so near that we could see the smoke of their stubble fires, and almost fancy we heard the bleating of their sheep and goats.
"We camped a second night upon the beach, and at day169break, having called a council, I said I would take my own ship and reconnoitre the country, but would leave the other ships at the island. Thereon I started, but when we got near the main land we saw a great cave in the cliff, not far from the sea, and there were large sheep yards in front of it. On landing I chose twelve men and went inland, taking with me a goat skin full of a very wondrous wine that Maron, priest of Apollo, had given me when I spared his life and that of his family at the time that we were sacking the city of the Cicons. The rest of my crew were to wait my return by the sea side.
"We soon reached the cave, and finding that the owner was216not at home we examined all that it contained; we saw vessels brimful of whey, and racks loaded with cheeses: the yards also were full of lambs and kids. My men implored me to let them steal some cheeses, drive off some of the lambs and kids, and sail away, but I would not, for I hoped the owner might give me something.
"We lit a fire in the cave, sacrificed some of the233cheeses to the gods, and ate others ourselves, waiting till the owner should return. When he came we found him to be a huge monster, more like a peak standing out against the sky onsome high mountain than a human being. He brought in with him a great bundle of firewood, which he flung down upon the floor with such a noise that we were scared and hid ourselves. He drove all his female goats and ewes into the cave, but left the males outside; and then he closed the door with a huge stone which not even two and twenty waggons could carry. He milked his245goats and ewes all orderly, and gave each one her own young [for these had been left in the yards all day]; then he drank some of the milk, and put part by for his supper. Presently he lit his fire and caught sight of us, whereon he asked us who we were.
"I told him we were on our way home from Troy, and begged256him in heaven's name to do us no hurt; but as soon as I had answered his question he gripped up two of my men, dashed them on the ground, and ate them raw, blood, bones, and bowels, like a savage lion of the wilderness. Then he lay down on the ground of the cave and went to sleep: on which I should have crept up to him and plunged my sword into his heart while he was sleeping had I not known that if I did we should never be able to shift the stone. So we waited till dawn should come.
"When day broke the monster again lit his fire, milked307his ewes all orderly, and gave each one her own young. Then he gripped up two more of my men, and as soon as he had eaten them he rolled the stone from the mouth of the cave, drove out his sheep, and put the stone back again. He had, however, left a large and long piece of olive wood in the cave, and when he had gone I and my men sharpened this at one end, and hid it in the sheep dung of which there was much in the cave. In the evening he returned, milked his ewes, and ate two more men; whereon I went up to him with the skin of wondrous wine that Maron had given me and gave him a bowl full of it. He asked for another, and then another, so I gave them to him, and he was so much delighted that he enquired my name and I said it was Noman.
"The wine now began to take effect, and in a short time371he fell dead drunk upon the ground. Then my men and I put the sharp end of the piece of olive wood in the fire till it waswell burning, and drove it into the wretch's eye, turning it round and round as though it were an auger. After a while he plucked it out, flung it from him, and began crying to his neighbours for help. When they came, they said, 'What ails you? Who is harming you?' and he answered, 'No man is harming me.' They then said that he must be ill, and had better pray to his father Neptune; so they went away, and I laughed at the success of my stratagem.
"Then I hid my men by binding them under the sheep's424bellies. The Cyclops, whose name was Polyphemus, groped his way to the stone, rolled it away, and sat at the mouth of the cave feeling the sheep's backs as they went out; but the men were under their bellies so he did not find one of them. Nor yet did he discover me, for I was ensconced in the thick belly-fleece of a ram which by some chance he had brought in with the ewes. But he was near finding me, for the ram went last, and he kept it for a while and talked to it.
"When we were outside, I dropped from under the ram and462unbound my companions. We drove the ewes down to my ship, got them on board, and rowed out to sea. When we were a little way out I jeered at the Cyclops, whereon he tore up a great rock and hurled it after us; it fell in front of the ship and all but hit the rudder; the wash, moreover, that it made nearly carried us back to the483land, but I kept the ship off it with a pole.
"When we had got about twice as far off as we were491before, I was for speaking to the Cyclops again, and though my men tried to stay me, I shouted out to him 'Cyclops, if you would know who it is that has blinded you, learn that it is I, Ulysses, son of Laertes, who live in Ithaca.'
"'Alas,' he cried in answer, 'then the old prophecy about506me is coming true. I knew that I was to lose my sight by the hand of Ulysses, but I was looking for some man of great stature and noble mien, whereas he has proved to be a mere whippersnapper. Come here, then, Ulysses that I may offer you gifts of hospitality and pray my father Neptune, who shall heal my eye, to escort you safely home.
"'I wish,' said I, 'that I could be as sure of killing521youbody and soul as I am that not even Neptune will be able to cure your eye.'
"Then he prayed to Neptune saying 'Hear me Neptune, if526I am indeed your son, and vouchsafe me that Ulysses son of Laertes may never reach his home. Still, if he must do so, and get back to his friends, let him lose all his men, and though he get home after all, let it be late, on another man's ship, and let him find trouble in his house.'
"So saying he tore up a still larger rock and flung it527this time a little behind the ship, but so close that it all but hit the rudder: the wash, however, that it made carried us forward to the island from which we had set out.
"There we feasted on the sheep that we had taken, and556mourned the loss of our comrades whom Polyphemus had eaten.
Æolus—the Lœstrygonians—Circe.
"So we sailed on and reached the island where dwells Æolus with his wife and family of six sons and six daughters, who live together amid great and continuous plenty. I staid with him a whole month, and when I would go, he tied all the winds up (for he was their keeper) in a leather sack, which he gave me; but he left the West wind free, for this was the one I wanted.
"Nine days did we sail, and on the tenth we could see our28native land with the stubble fires burning thereon. I had never let the rudder out of my hands till then, but being now close in shore I fell asleep. My men, thinking I had treasure in the sack, opened it to see, on which the winds came howling out and took us straight back to the Æolian island. So I went to the house of Æolus and prayed him to help me, but he said, 'Get you gone, abhorred of heaven: him whom heaven hates will I in no wise help.' So I went full sadly away.
"Six days thence did we sail onward, worn out in body77and mind, and on the seventh we reached the stronghold of king Lamus, the Læstrygonian city Telepylus, where the shepherdwho drives his flock into the town salutes another who is driving them out, and the other returns his salute. A man in that country could earn double wages if he could do without sleep, for they work much the same by night as they do by day. Here we landed, and I climbed a high rock to look round, but could see no signs of men or beast, save only smoke rising from the ground.
"Then I sent two of my crew with an attendant, to see100what manner of men the people might be, and they met a young woman who was coming down to fetch water from the spring Artacia, whence the people drew their water. This young woman took my men to the house of her father Antiphates, whereon they discovered the people to be giants and ogres like Polyphemus. One of my men was gripped up and eaten, but the other two escaped and reached the ships. The Læstrygonians raised a hue and cry after them, and rushing to the harbour, within which all my ships were moored except my own, they dashed my whole fleet in pieces with the rocks that they threw. I and my own ship alone escaped them, for we were outside, and I bade the men row for their lives.
"On and on did we sail, till we reached the island of133Circe, where heaven guided us into a harbour. Here I again climbed a rock and could see the smoke from Circe's house rising out of a thick wood; I then went back to the ship, and while on my way had the good fortune to kill a noble stag, which gave us a supply of meat on which we feasted all the rest of the day. Next morning I held a council and told my men of the smoke that I had seen.
"Eurylochus and twenty-two men then went inland to210reconnoitre, and found Circe's house made of squared stones and standing on high ground in the middle of the forest. This forest was full of wild beasts, poor dazed creatures whom Circe had bewitched, but they fawned upon my men and did not harm them. When the men got to the door of her house they could hear her singing inside most beautifully, so they called her down, and when she came she asked them in, gave them a drugged drink, and then turned them into pigs—all except Eurylochus who had remained outside.
"Eurylochus made all haste back to tell me, and I started244for Circe's house. When I was in the wood where the wild beasts were, Mercury met me and gave me an herb called277Moly, which would protect me from Circe's spells; he also305told me how I should treat her. Then I went to her house, and called her to come down.
"She asked me in, and tried to bewitch me as she had the312others, but the herb which Mercury had given me protected me; so I rushed at her with my drawn sword. When she saw this, she said she knew I must be Ulysses, and that I must marry her at once. But I said, 'Circe, you have just turned my men into pigs, and have done your best to bewitch me into the bargain; how can you expect me to be friendly with you? Still, if you will swear to take no unfair advantage of me, I will consent.' So she swore, and I consented at once.
"Then she set the four maid servants of her house to wash348me and feast me, but I was still moody and would not eat till Circe removed her spells from off my men, and brought them back safe and sound in human form. When she had done this she bade me go back to my ship and bring the rest of my men—which I presently did, and we staid with her for a whole twelve months, feasting continually and drinking an untold quantity of wine. At last, however, my men said that if I meant going home at all it was time I began to think of starting.
"That night, therefore, when I was in bed with Circe,480I told her how my men were murmuring, and asked her to let me go. This she said she would do; but I must first go down into the house of Hades, and consult the blind Theban prophet Tiresias. And she directed me what I should do.
"On the following morning I told my men, and we began 551 to get ready; but we had an accident before we started, for there was a foolish and not very valiant young man in my ship named Elpenor, who had got drunk and had gone on to the roof of Circe's house to sleep off his liquor in the cool. The bustle my men made woke him, and in his flurry he forgot all about coming down by the staircase, and fell right off the roof; whereby he broke his neck and was killed. We started,however, all the same, and Circe brought us a lamb and a black sheep to offer to the Shades below. She passed in and out among us, but we could not see her; who, indeed, can see the gods, when they are in no mind to be seen?
Ulysses in the house of Hades.
"When we were at the water side we got the lamb and the ewe on board and put out to sea, running all that day before a fair wind which Circe had sent us, and at nightfall entering the deep waters of the river Oceanus. Here is the land of the Cimmerians, who dwell in darkness which the sun's rays never pierce; we therefore made our ships fast to the shore and came out of her, going along the beach till we reached the place of which Circe had told us.
"Perimedes and Eurylochus then held the victims, while23I followed the instructions of Circe and slaughtered them, letting their blood flow into a trench which I had dug for it. On this, the ghosts came up in crowds from Erebus, brides, young bachelors, old men, maids who had been crossed in love, and warriors with their armour still smirched with blood. They cried with a strange screaming sound that made me turn pale with fear, but I would let none of them taste of the blood till Tiresias should have come and answered my questions.
"The first ghost I saw was that of Elpenor whose body was51still lying unburied at Circe's house. Then I said, 'How now, Elpenor? you have got here sooner by land than I have done by water.' The poor fellow told me how he had forgotten about the stairs, and begged me to give him all due rites when I returned to Circe's island—which I promised faithfully that I would do.
"Then I saw the ghost of my mother Anticlea, but in all81sadness I would not let her taste of the blood till Tiresias should have come and answered my questions.
"Presently Tiresias came with his golden sceptre in his90hand, bade me let him taste of the blood, and asked me why I had come.
"I told him I would learn how I was to get home to97Ithaca, and he said I should have much difficulty; 'Still,' he continued, 'you will reach your home if you can restrain your men when you come to the Thrinacian island, where you will find the cattle of the Sun. If you leave these unharmed, after much trouble you will yet reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, you will lose your men, and though you may get home after all, it will be late, [on another man's ship,[18]and you will find your115house full of riotous men who are wasting your substance and wooing your wife.
"'When you have got back you will indeed kill these men118either by treachery or in fair fight, and you must then take an oar, which you must carry till you have reached a people who know nothing about the sea and do not mix salt with their bread. These people have never heard of ships, nor of oars that are the wings with which ships fly; I will tell you how you may know them; you will meet a man by the way who will ask you whether it is a winnowing shovel that you have got upon your shoulder; when you hear this you must fix your oar in the ground, and offer sacrifice to Neptune, a ram, a bull and a boar; then go home again, and offer hecatombs to the gods that dwell in heaven.[19]As for your own end, death shall come to you very gently from the sea, and shall take you when you are full of years and peace of mind, and your people shall bless you.']137
"Having thus said he went back within the house of Hades.150Then I let my mother's ghost draw near and taste of the blood, whereon she knew me, and asked me what it was that had brought me though still alive into the abode of death. So I told her, and asked her how she had come by her end. 'Tell me, also,' I continued, 'about my father, and the son whom I left behind me. Is my property still safe in their hands, or does another hold it who thinks that I shall not return? Of what mind, again, is my wife?177Does she still live with her son and keep watch over his estate, or is she already married to the best man among the Achæans?'
"'Your wife,' answered my mother, 'is still at home,180but she spends her life in tears both night and day. Telemachus holds your estate, and sees much company, for he is a magistrate and all men invite him. Your father lives a poor hard life in the country and never goes near the town. As for me, I died of nothing but sheer grief on your account. And now, return to the upper world as fast as you can, that you may tell all that you have seen to your wife.'
"Then Proserpine sent up the ghosts of the wives and225daughters of great kings and heroes of old time, and I made each of them tell me about herself. There were Tyro, Antiope, Alcmena, Epicaste the mother of Œdipus, Chloris, Leda, Iphimedea, Phædra, Procris, Ariadne, and hateful Eriphyle; with all these did I discourse, nor can I tell you with how many more noble women, for it is now late, and time to go to rest."
Here Ulysses ceased, and from one end of the covered333cloisters to the other his listeners sat entranced with the charm of his story.
Then Arete said, "What think you of this man now,336Phæacians, both as regards his personal appearance and his abilities? True he is my guest, but his presence is an honour to you all. Be not niggardly, therefore, in the presents that you will make him, for heaven has endowed you all with great abundance." Alcinous also spoke urging Ulysses to tell still more of his adventures, and to say whether he met any of the heroes who had fought together with him at Troy. Thus pressed Ulysses resumed his story.
"When Proserpine," said he, "had dismissed the female385ghosts, the ghost of Agamemnon drew near, surrounded by those of the men who had fallen with him in the house of Ægisthus. He was weeping bitterly, and I asked him how he met his end; whereon he detailed to me the treachery of Clytemnestra, which he said threw disgrace upon all women even on the good ones. 'Be sure,' he continued, 'that you433never be too open with your wife; tell her a part only, and keep the rest to yourself. Not that you need have any fear about Penelope for she is an admirable woman. You willmeet your son, too, who by this time must be a449grown man. Nevertheless, do not let people know when you are coming home, but steal a march upon them. And now give me what news you can about my son Orestes.' To which I answered that I could tell him nothing.
"While we were thus holding sad talk with one another,465the ghost of Achilles came up and asked me for news of his father Peleus, and of his son. I said I could tell him nothing about Peleus, but his son Neoptolemus was with me in the wooden horse, and though all the others were trembling in every limb and wiping the tears from their cheeks, Neoptolemus did not even turn pale, nor shed a single tear. Whereon Achilles strode away over a meadow full of asphodel, exulting in the prowess of his son.
"Other ghosts then came up and spoke with me but that of541Ajax alone held aloof, for he was still brooding over the armour of Achilles which had been awarded to me and not to him. I spoke to him but he would not answer; nevertheless I should have gone on talking to him till he did, had I not been anxious to see yet other ghosts.
"I saw Minos with his golden sceptre passing sentence on568the dead; Orion also, driving before him over a meadow full of asphodel the ghosts of the wild beasts whom he had slain upon the mountains. I saw Tityus with the vulture ever digging its beak into his liver, Tantalus also, in a lake whose waters reached his neck but fled him when he would drink, and Sisyphus rolling his mighty stone uphill till the sweat ran off him and the steam rose from him.
"Then I saw mighty Hercules. The ghosts were screaming601round him like scared birds, flying all whithers. He looked black as night with his bare bow in his hand and his arrow on the string, glaring round as though ever on the point of taking aim. About his breast there was a wondrous golden belt marvellously enriched with bears, wild boars, and lions with gleaming eyes; there were also war, battle, and death.
"And I should have seen yet others of the great dead had630not the ghosts come about me in so many thousands that I feared Proserpine might send up the Gorgon's head. I thereforebade my men make all speed back to their ship; so they hastened on board and we rowed out on to the waters of Oceanus, where before long we fell in with a fair wind.
The Sirens—Scylla and Charybdis—the cattle of the Sun.
"As soon as we were clear of the river Oceanus, we got out into the open and reached the Ææan island, where there is dawn and sunrise. There we landed, camped down upon the beach, and waited till morning came. At daybreak I sent my men to fetch the body of Elpenor, which we burned and buried. We built a barrow over him, and in it we fixed the oar with which he had been used to row.
"When Circe heard that we had returned, she came down16with her maids, bringing bread and wine. 'To-day,' she said, 'eat and drink, and to-morrow go on your way.'
"We agreed to this, and feasted the live-long day to the23going down of the sun, but at nightfall Circe took me aside, and told me of the voyage that was before us. 'You will first,' said she, 'come to the island of the two Sirens, who sit in a field of flowers, and warble all who draw near them to death with the sweetness of their song. Dead men's bones are lying strewn all round them; still, if you would hear them, you can stop your men's ears with wax and bid them bind you to a cross-plank on the mast.
"'As regards the next point that you will reach I can55give you no definite instructions as to which of two courses you must take. You must do the best you can. I can only put the alternatives before you. I refer to the cliffs which the gods call "the wanderers," and which close in on anything that would pass through them—even upon the doves that are bringing ambrosia to Father Jove. The sea moreover is strewn with wreckage from ships which the waves and hurricanes of fire have destroyed.
"'Of the two rocks,[20]the one rises in a peak to73heaven, and is overhung at all times with a dark cloud that never leaves it. It looks towards the West, and there is a cave in it, higher than an arrow can reach. In this sits Scylla yelping with a squeaky voice like that of a young hound, but she is an awful monster with six long necks and six heads with three rows of teeth in each; whenever a ship passes, she springs out and snatches up a man in each mouth.
"'The other rock is lower, but they are so close that101you can shoot an arrow from the one to the other. [On it there is a fig-tree in full leaf].[21]Underneath it103is the terrible whirlpool of Charybdis, which sucks the water down and vomits it out again three times a day. If you are there when she is sucking, not even Neptune can save you; so hug the Scylla side, for you had better lose six men than your whole crew.
"'You will then arrive at the Thrinacian island, where127you will see the cattle of the Sun (and also his sheep) in charge of the two nymphs Lampetie and Phaëthusa. If132you leave these flocks unharmed, after much trouble you will yet reach Ithaca; but if you harm them, you will lose your men, and though you may get home after all, it will be late.'
"Here she ended, and at break of day we set out, with a142fair wind which Circe sent us. I then told my men about the two Sirens, but had hardly done so before we were at the island itself, whereon it fell a dead calm. I kneaded wax and stopped the men's ears; they bound me to a cross-plank on the mast; I heard the Sirens sing, and when I struggled to free myself they bound me still tighter. So we passed the island by.
"Shortly after this I saw smoke and a great wave ahead,201and heard a dull thumping sound. The sea was in an uproar, and my men were so frightened that they loosed hold of theiroars, till I put heart into them, bade them row their hardest, and told the steersman to hug the Scylla side. But I said nothing about Scylla, though I kept straining my eyes all over her rock to see if I could espy her.
"So there we were, with Scylla on the one hand and dread234Charybdis on the other. We could see the sea seething as in a cauldron, and the black ooze at the bottom with a wall of whirling waters careering round it. While my men were pale with fear at this awful sight, Scylla shot out her long necks and swooped down on six of them. I could see their poor hands and feet struggling in the air as she bore them aloft, and hear them call out my name in one last despairing cry. This was the most horrid sight that I saw in all my voyages.
"Having passed the cliffs,[22]and Scylla and Charybdis,260we came to the Thrinacian island, and from my ship I could hear the cattle lowing, and the sheep bleating. Then, remembering the warning that Tiresias and Circe had given me, I bade my men give the island a wide berth. But Eurylochus was insolent, and sowed disaffection among them, so that I was forced to yield and let them land for the night, after making them swear most solemnly that they would do the cattle no harm. We camped, therefore, on the beach near a stream.
"But in the third watch of the night there came up a312great gale, and in the morning we drew our ship ashore and left her in a large cave wherein the sea nymphs meet and hold their dances. I then called my men together, and again warned them.
"It blew a gale from the South for a whole month, except325when the wind shifted to the East, and there was no other wind save only South and East. As long as the corn and wine which Circe had given us held out, my men kept their word, but after a time they began to feel the pangs of hunger, and I went apart to pray heaven to take compassion upon us. I washed my hands and prayed, and when I had done so, I fell asleep.
"Meanwhile Eurylochus set my men on to disobey me, and339they drove in some of the cattle and killed them. When I woke, and had got nearly back to the ship, I began to smell roast meat and knew full well what had happened.
"The nymph Lampetie went immediately and told the Sun374what my men had done. He was furious, and threatened Jove that if he was not revenged he would never shine in heaven again but would go down and give his light among the dead. 'All day long,' said he, 'whether I was going up heaven or down, there was nothing I so dearly loved to look upon as those cattle.'
"Jove told him he would wreck our ship as soon as it was385well away from land, and the Sun said no more. I know all this because Calypso told me, and she had it from Mercury.
"My men feasted six days—alarmed by the most awful397prodigies; for the skins of the cattle kept walking about, and the joints of meat lowed while they were being roasted. On the seventh day the wind dropped and we got away from the island, but as soon as we were out of sight of land a sudden squall sprang up, during which Jove struck our ship with his thunderbolts and broke it up. All my men were drowned, and so too should I have been, had I not made myself a raft by lashing the mast (which I found floating about) and the ship's keel together.
["The wind, which during the squall came from the West,426now changed to the South, and blew all night, so that by morning I was back between Scylla and Charybdis again. My raft got carried down the whirlpool, but I clung on to the boughs of the fig tree, for a weary weary while, during which I felt as impatient as a magistrate who is detained in court by troublesome cases when he wants to get home to dinner. But in the course of time my raft worked its way out again, and when it was underneath me I dropped on to it and was carried out of the pool. Happily for me Jove did not let Scylla see me.][23]
"Thence I was born along for nine days in the sea, and447wastaken to the Ogygian island of Calypso. I told you about this yesterday and will not repeat it, for I hate saying the same thing twice over."
Ulysses is taken back to Ithaca by the Phæacians.
Thus did Ulysses speak, and Alcinous immediately proposed that they should make him still further presents. The expence, however, of these, he said, should be borne by a levy or rate upon the public at large. The guests assented, and then went home to bed.
Next morning they brought their presents of hardware down18to the ship, and Alcinous saw them so stowed that they should not incommode the rowers. There was then a second banquet at Alcinous's house, but Ulysses kept looking at the sun all the time, longing for it to set that he might start on his way. At last he rose and addressed the Phæacians; after thanking them, he concluded by saying that he hoped he should find his wife on his return living among her friends in peace and quietness,[24]and43that the Phæacians would continue to give satisfaction to their wives and children. He also bade farewell to Arete, and wished her all happiness with her children, her people, and with King Alcinous.
When Ulysses reached the ship, a rug and sail were spread73for him, on which he lay down, and immediately fell into a deep sleep—so deep as to resemble death itself. The ship sped on her way faster than a falcon's flight and80with the break of day they reached Ithaca.
Now in Ithaca there is a sheltered harbour in which a96ship can ride without being even moored. At the head of this there is a large olive tree, near which there is a cave sacred to the Naiads, where you may find their cups and amphoræ of stone, and the stone looms whereon they weave their robes of sea-purple—very curious. The wild bees, too, build their nests in it. There is water in it all the year round, and it has two entrances, one looking North, by which mortals can go downinto the cave, and the other towards the South, but men cannot enter by it—it is the way taken by gods.
The sailors knew this harbour, and took the ship into it.112They were rowing so hard that they ran half her length on to the shore, and when they had got out of her they took Ulysses off, still fast asleep on his rug and sail, and laid him down on the ground. Hard by him they also laid all the presents the Phæacians had made him; they left them by the roots of the olive tree, a little out of the path, that no passer by might steal them, and then went back to Scheria.
Neptune now saw what the Phæacians had done, and went to125consult Jove how he should be revenged. It was arranged that he should go to Scheria, turn the ship into stone just as it was coming into port, and root it in the sea.163So he did this, and the Phæacians said, "Alack, who has rooted the ship in the sea just as it was coming in? We could see all of it a minute ago."
Then Alcinous told them how Neptune had long ago171threatened to do this to some Phæacian ship on its return from giving an escort, and also to bury their city under a high mountain as a punishment for giving escorts so freely. The Phæacians, therefore, made ready great sacrifices to Neptune, that he might have mercy upon them.
While they were thus standing round the altar of the god,185Ulysses woke in his own land, but he had been away so long that he did not know it. Minerva, too, had shed a thick mist round him so that he might remain unseen while she told him how things were going on; for she did not want his wife or anyone else to know of his return until he had taken his revenge upon the suitors. Therefore she made everything look strange to him—the long straight paths, the harbours with their shipping, the steep precipices, and the trees.
Ulysses now stood up and wondered where he was. He did197not believe he was in Ithaca and complained bitterly of the Phæacians for having brought him wrong. Then he counted all the tripods, cauldrons, gold, and raiment, that they had given him, to see if he had been robbed; but everything was there, and he was in dismay as to what he should do with them.As he was thus in doubt Minerva came up to him disguised as a young shepherd, so he asked her what country he was in, and she answered that he was in Ithaca.
Ulysses said he had heard that there was such a place; he256told Minerva a long lying story as to how he had come to be where she saw him, and on this the goddess assumed the form of a woman, fair, stately, and wise, and laughed at him for not knowing her. Ulysses answered that she was not an easy person to recognise for she was continually changing her appearance. Moreover, though she had been very good to him at Troy, she had left him in the lurch ever since, until she had taken him into the city of the Phæacians. "Do not," he said, "deceive me any further, but tell me whether or no this is really Ithaca."
"You are always cunning and suspicious," replied the329goddess, "and that is why I cannot find it in my heart to leave you. Any one else on returning from a long voyage would at once have gone up to his house to see his wife and children, but you do not seem to care about knowing anything about them, and only think of testing your wife's fidelity. As for my having left you in the lurch,339I knew all the time that you would get home safely in the end, and I did not want to quarrel with my uncle Neptune. I will now prove to you that you are in Ithaca—Here is the harbour of the old merman Phorcys, with the large345olive tree at the head of it; near it is the cave which is sacred to the Naiads; here, again, is the overarching347cavern in which you have sacrificed many a hecatomb to349the nymphs, and this is the wooded mountain of Neritum."351
The goddess then dispersed the mist and let the prospect352be seen. Ulysses was thus convinced, and Minerva helped him to hide the treasure which the Phæacians had given him, by concealing it in the cave. Having done this she bade Ulysses consider how he should kill the wicked suitors. "They have been lording it," she said, "in your house this three years,[25]paying court to your wife and making her gifts of wooing, while she, poor woman,380though she flatters them, and holds out hopes to every man of them by sending him messages, is really plunged in the deepest grief on your account, and does not mean a word of what she says."
"Great heavens," replied Ulysses, "what a narrow escape I382have had from meeting the fate of Agamemnon. Stand by me, goddess, and advise me how I shall be revenged."
"I will disguise you," said Minerva, "as a miserable old397beggar so that no one shall know you. "When I have done so, go to your swineherd, who has been always loyal to you and yours. You will find him with his pigs by the fountain Arethusa near the rock that is called Raven. Meantime I will go to Sparta and fetch Telemachus, who is gone thither to try and get news of you."
"But why," Ulysses answered, "did you not tell him, for416you knew all about it?"
"Do not be uneasy about him," she answered, "he is in the420midst of great abundance. I sent him, that he might get himself a good name by having gone."
Minerva then disguised Ulysses beyond all possible429recognition, and the two separated—she going to Sparta, and Ulysses to the abode of his swineherd.
Ulysses in the hut of Eumæus.
Ulysses followed a steep path that led from the harbour through the forest and over the top of the mountain, till he reached the hut of Eumæus, who was the most thrifty servant he had, and had built a number of fine yards and pigstyes during his master's absence.
Ulysses found him sitting at the door of his hut, which5had been built high up in a place that could been seen from far; he had his four fierce dogs about him, and was cutting himself out a pair of sandal shoes.
The dogs flew at Ulysses, and it was all Eumæus could do29to check them; "They were like," said he, "to have made anend of you, which would have got me into a scrape, and I am in sorrow enough already through the loss, which I deplore without ceasing, of the best of masters. But come in, have something to eat, and then tell me your story."
On this he brought him inside, threw some brushwood on48the floor, and spread a goat's skin over it for Ulysses to lie on. "I cannot do much for you," he said; "servants go in fear when they have young lords over them, as I now have, for my good old master went to Troy with Agamemnon and I shall never see him again."
He then went out and killed two sucking pigs, singed72them, cut them up, put the pieces of meat on skewers to roast on the embers, and brought them smoking hot, skewers and all, to Ulysses, who floured them. "Eat," said the swineherd, "a dish of servant's pork; the fuller grown meat has to go down to the suitors." He then explained how rich Ulysses was.
"And who, pray," said Ulysses, "was this noble master of115yours? You say that he fell at Troy, and in that case I might be able to give you news of him."
"That," answered Eumæus, "may not be: people are always121coming and flattering my poor mistress with false hopes, but they are all liars. My master Ulysses is dead and gone, and I shall never see another like him. I cannot bear even to mention his name."
"My friend," replied Ulysses, "do not be too hard of148belief. I swear by this hearth to which I am now come, that Ulysses will return before the present month is over. If he comes you shall give me a shirt and cloak, but I will take nothing till then."
"My friend," said Eumæus, "say not another word. You165will never get your shirt and cloak. Now, moreover, I am as anxious about his son Telemachus as I have been about Ulysses himself; for he is gone to Pylos, and the suitors are lying in wait for him on his return. Let us, however, say no more about him now; tell me, rather, about yourself who you are, and how you came here."
Then Ulysses told him a long lying story about his191adventures in Crete: how he was compelled to go to Troy in jointcommand with Idomeneus over the Cretan forces; how he made a descent on Egypt, got taken prisoner, acquired wealth, and afterwards was inveigled into going to Libya; how on the voyage thither, after leaving Crete, the ship was wrecked and he was cast on the coast of Thesprotia. "Here it was," he continued, "that I heard of Ulysses from King Pheidon, who was expecting him back daily from Dodona, where he had been to consult the oracle; he told me Ulysses was to return to Ithaca immediately, but there was a ship bound for Dulichium, and the king sent me on board it before Ulysses returned from Dodona. The sailors on this ship resolved to sell me as a slave, and bound me; but they landed on the coast of Ithaca, where I gave them the slip, and found my way to your hut."
"Poor man," answered the swineherd, "but you will never360get me to believe about Ulysses. Why should you tell me such lies? I have heard these stories too often, and will never believe them again."
Ulysses tried still further to convince him, but it was390no use, and presently the under swineherds came back with the pigs that had been out feeding, and Eumæus told them to kill the best pig they had, and get supper ready, which they accordingly did. He was a good man and mindful of his duties to the gods, so when the pig was killed he threw some of its bristles into the fire and prayed heaven for the return of Ulysses. Then they supped and went to bed.
Now it was a wild rough night, and after they had lain457down, Ulysses, fearing that he might be cold, told another lying story of an adventure he had had at Troy in company with Ulysses, by means of which Eumæus was induced to cover him over with a spare cloak of his own. Then the swineherd went out to pass the night with the pigs—and Ulysses was pleased at seeing how well he looked after his property, though he believed his master to be absent. First he slung his sword over his shoulders, and put on a thick cloak to keep out the wind; he also took the skin of a well-fed goat, and a javelin in case of attack from men or dogs. Thus equipped he went to his rest where the pigs were camped under an overhanging rock that sheltered them from the North Wind.
Telemachus returns from Pylos, and on landing goes to the hut of Eumæus.
Minerva now went to Lacedæmon and found Telemachus and Pisistratus fast asleep. She appeared to Telemachus in a dream, and told him that he was to return at once to Ithaca, for his mother was about to marry Eurymachus, and would probably go off with some of his property. She also17told him how the suitors were lying in wait for him in the straits between Ithaca and Samos. She said that as soon as he reached Ithaca he was to leave the ship before29sending it on to the town, and go to the swineherd's hut. "Sleep there," she said, "and in the morning send the swineherd to tell Penelope that you have returned safely."
Then she went away and Telemachus woke up. He kicked43Pisistratus to wake him, and said that they must start at once. Pisistratus answered that this was impossible; it was still dark, and they must say good bye to Menelaus, who, if Telemachus would only wait, would be sure to give them a present.
At break of day, seeing Menelaus up and about, Telemachus56flung on his shirt and cloak, and told him that they must go.
Menelaus said he would not detain them, but on the score67alike of propriety and economy, they must have something to eat before starting, and also receive the presents that were waiting Telemachus's acceptance. "I will tell the servants," said he, "to get something ready for you of what there may be in the house, and if you would like to make a tour of the principal cities of the Peloponese, I will conduct you. No one will send us away empty handed. Every one will give us something."
But Telemachus said he must start at once, for he had86left property behind him that was insecurely guarded.
When Menelaus heard this he told his wife and servants to92get dinner ready at once. Eteoneus, who lived at no great distance, now came up, and Menelaus told him to light the fire and begin cooking; and he did as he was told.
Menelaus then went down into his store room together with99Megapenthes, and brought up a double cup and a silver mixing bowl, while Helen fetched a dress of wondrous125beauty, the work of her own hands. Menelaus presented the cup and mixing bowl, and then Helen said, "Take this, my son, as a keepsake from the hand of Helen, and let your bride wear it on her wedding day. Till then let your dear mother keep it for you. Thus may you go on your way with a light heart."
Telemachus thanked her; Pisistratus stowed the presents130in the chariot, and they all sat down to dinner. Eteoneus carved, and Megapenthes served round the wine. When they had done eating the two young men prepared to set out.
As they were on the point of starting, an eagle flew upon160their right hand, with a goose in its talons which it had carried off from the farm yard. This omen was so good that every one was delighted to see it, and Pisistratus said, "Say, king Menelaus, is the omen for us or for yourself?"
Menelaus was in doubt how to answer, but Helen said that169as the eagle had come from a mountain and seized the goose, so Ulysses should return and take vengeance on the suitors. Telemachus said he only hoped it might prove so, and the pair then drove on. They reached Pylos on the following day, and Telemachus urged Pisistratus to drive199him straight to his ship, for fear Nestor should detain him if he went to his house.
"I know," said Pisistratus, "how obstinate he is. He211would come down to your ship, if he knew you were there, and would never go back without you. But he will be very angry." He then drove to the ship, and Telemachus told the crew to get her under way as fast as they could.
Now as he was attending to every thing and sacrificing222to Minerva, there came to him a man of the race of Melampus who was flying from Argos because he had killed a man. His name was Theoclymenus and he came of an old and highly honourable family, his father and grandfather having been celebrated prophets and divines. He besought Telemachus to take him to Ithaca and thus save him from enemies who were in pursuit. Telemachus consented, took Theoclymenus on board, and laid his spear down on the deck.
Then they sailed away, and next day they got among the 297 flying islands,[26]whereon Telemachus wondered whether he should be taken or should escape.
All this time Ulysses was in the hut with Eumæus, and301after supper Ulysses said he should like to go down to the town next day, and see if the suitors would take him into their service. Eumæus at once explained to him that any such idea was out of the question. "You do not know," he said, "what men these suitors are; their insolence reaches heaven; the young men who wait on them have good looking faces and well kempt heads; the tables are always clean and loaded with abundance. The suitors would be the death of you; stay here, then, where you are in nobody's way, till Telemachus returns from Pylos."
Ulysses thanked Eumæus for his information, and then340began to ask whether his father and mother were still living; he was told that Anticlea was dead,[27]and that Laertes, though still alive, would be glad to follow her. Eumæus said he had been brought up in their service, and was better off formerly, for there was no getting a good word out of his mistress now, inasmuch as the suitors had turned the house upside down. "Servants," he said, "like to have a talk with their mistress and hear things from her own lips; they like being told to eat and drink, and being allowed to take something back with them into the country. This is what will keep servants cheerful and contented."
On being further questioned by Ulysses, Eumæus told380how he had been kidnapped as a child by some Phœnician traders who had seduced his nurse (also a Phœnician) and persuaded her to go away with them, and bring him with her.
"I was born," he said, "in the island of Syra over403against Ortygia, where the sun turns.[28]It is not populous, but contains two cities which occupy the whole land between them, and my father was king over them both. A few days after mynurse had kidnapped me, and while we were on our voyage, Diana killed her, and she was flung overboard, but I was taken to Ithaca where Laertes bought me."
Ulysses and Eumæus spent the greater part of the night493talking with one another, and at dawn Telemachus's crew drew near to land, furled their sails and rowed into the harbour. There they threw out their mooring stones, made their ship fast, landed, and ate their dinner on the shore. When they had done, Telemachus said, "Now take the ship on to the city; I will go to look after my farm and will come down in the evening. Tomorrow morning I will give you all a hearty meal to reward you for your trouble."
"But what," said Theoclymenus, "is to become of me? To508whose house am I to go?"
"At any other time," answered Telemachus, "I should take512you to my own house, but you would not find it convenient now, for I shall not be there, and my mother will not see you. I shall therefore send you to the house of Eurymachus, who is one of the first men we have, and is most eager in his suit for my mother's hand."
As he spoke a hawk flew on Telemachus's right hand, with525a dove whose feathers it was plucking while it flew. Theoclymenus assured Telemachus that this was an omen which boded most happily for the prosperity of his house. It was then settled that Theoclymenus should go to the house of Piræus the son of Clytius.
The crew now loosed the ship from her moorings and went547on as they had been told to do, while Telemachus wended his way in all haste to the pig farm where Eumæus lived.
Ulysses and Telemachus become known to one another.
Ulysses and Eumæus prepared their meal at daybreak. When Telemachus was reaching the hut, Ulysses observed that the dogs did not bark, though he heard footsteps, and enquired whether the visitor was some acquaintance30of theswineherd's. He had hardly done speaking when Telemachus entered, and was welcomed by Eumæus.
"Is my mother still at the house," said he, "or has she33left it with another husband, and the bed of Ulysses is festooned with cobwebs?"
"She is still there," answered Eumæus, "spending her time36in tears both night and day."
Eumæus set refreshments before him and when he had done49eating he asked who the stranger might be.
When Telemachus heard that Ulysses was a ship-wrecked68suppliant he was much displeased. "I am as yet too young," he said, "to be able to hold my own in the house; what sufficient support, then, can I give this man? Still, as he has come to you I will send him clothes and all necessary food; and let him stay with you; I will not have him go near the suitors, for harm would be sure to come of it."
Ulysses expressed his surprise and indignation about the90suitors, whereon Telemachus explained still further, and wound up by telling Eumæus to go at once and inform Penelope of his return. Eumæus asked if he should turn a little out of his way and tell Laertes, but Telemachus said he was not to do so. Penelope would send him word all in due course.
As soon as Eumæus was gone Minerva came to the hut.157Ulysses knew her, and so did the dogs, for they went whining away to the other end of the yards, but Telemachus did not see her. She made a sign to Ulysses that he was to come outside, and when he had done so she told him he was to reveal himself to his son—whereon she struck him with her wand, endowed him with a noble presence, and clothed him in goodly raiment.
Then he went back into the hut and told his son who he178was; but for a long while Telemachus would not believe. At last, however, when he was convinced, the pair flung their arms about each other's necks, and wept like eagles or vultures who had been robbed of their young. Indeed they would have wept till sundown had it not occurred to Telemachus to ask his father in what ship he had come to Ithaca, and whose crew it was that had brought him.
Ulysses told him about the Phæacians, and how he had225hidden the presents they had given him. "I am now come," he said, "by Minerva's advice, to consult with you as to how we shall take vengeance on the suitors. I would therefore learn how many there are of them, and consider whether we two can kill them, or whether we must get help from outside."
Telemachus said it was hopeless to think of attacking the240suitors without assistance. There were fifty-two from Dulichium, with six followers, twenty-four from Same, twenty from Zacynthus, and twelve from Ithaca.
Ulysses explained that he could rely on help from Jove258and from Minerva, and thought that this would be enough. "They will not be long in joining us," said he, "when the fight has begun in good earnest. Go, then, tomorrow to the town, and join the suitors; let the swineherd bring me later, disguised as a poor miserable beggar. Never mind how much violence you may see the suitors do me. Look on and say nothing, beyond asking them in a friendly way to leave me alone. Also, find some pretext for removing the armour from the walls. Say it is taking harm with the smoke, and that the sight of armour sometimes sets men fighting, so that it is better away—but leave two swords, shields and spears for you and me to snatch295up."
As they were thus conversing, the ship that had brought321Telemachus from Pylos reached the harbour of Ithaca, and the crew took the presents which Menelaus had given him to the house of Clytius. They sent a man to tell Penelope that Telemachus was at the farm, and had sent the ship on to allay her anxiety. This man and the swineherd met at the house of Ulysses, and the man said, in the presence of the maids, "Madam, your son is returned from Pylos;" but Eumæus stood by her, and told her all that her son had bidden him. Then he went back to his pig-farm.
The suitors were very angry, and were about sending342a ship to fetch those who had been lying in wait for Telemachus, when Amphinomus, a suitor, happened to turn round and saw their ship coming into harbour. So he laughed and said, "We have no need to send, for the men are here." On this they allwent to meet the ship, and Antinous said that as Telemachus had escaped them in spite of their great vigilance, they must kill him, either at the farm or as he was coming thence. Otherwise he would expose their plot, and they would have the people rise against them. "If," he concluded, "this does not please you, and you would let him live, we cannot eat up his estate any longer, but must go home, urge our suit each from his own house, and let the one among us take Penelope who will give most for her, or whose lot it may happen to be."
Amphinomus, who came from the well-grassed and394grain-growing island of Dulichium, then spoke. He was a man of good natural disposition, and his conversation was more pleasing to Penelope than that of any of the other suitors; "I will only consent to kill Telemachus," said he, "if the gods give us their approval. It is a serious thing to kill a man who is of royal race. If they sanction it, I will be with you; otherwise I am for letting it alone."
The rest assented, and they went back to the house.406But Medon told Penelope of this new plot, so she went attended by her gentlewomen, stood by one of the bearing-posts that supported the roof of the cloister, and bitterly rebuked Antinous for his ingratitude in forgetting how Ulysses in old days had saved the life of his father Eupeithes.
Eurymachus then made a fair but false speech vowing431eternal friendship to Telemachus, and Penelope returned to her own room to mourn her husband till Minerva closed her eyes in slumber.
In the evening Eumæus got back to his hut just as the452others had killed a yearling pig and were getting supper ready. Meanwhile Minerva had again disguised Ulysses as an old beggar.
"What news from the town, Eumæus?" said Telemachus. "Have460the suitors got back with their ship?"
"I did not ask," answered Eumæus, "for when I had464given my message I turned straight home; but I met the messenger from your own crew, who told your mother of your return before I could do so. As I was coming here, and was on the hill of Mercury above the town, I saw a ship with many menand much armour coming into port; so I suppose it was the suitors, but I cannot be sure."
Telemachus gave his father a look, but so that the476swineherd could not see him. Then they all got their supper and went to bed.
Telemachus goes to the town, and is followed by Eumæus and Ulysses, who is maltreated by the suitors.
When morning came Telemachus told Eumæus that he would now go to the town and show himself to his mother, who would never be comforted till she saw him with her own eyes. "As for this miserable stranger," he continued, "take him to the town, that he may beg there and get what he can; if this does not please him, so much the worse for him, but I like to say what I mean."
Ulysses said he should be glad to go, for a beggar could16do much better in town than country; but he must warm himself first, and wait till the sun had got some heat in it; his clothes were very bad, and he should perish with cold, for the town was some way off.
Telemachus then left, and when he reached the house he26set his spear against a strong bearing post, crossed the stone pavement and went inside. He found Euryclea putting the sheep skins on to the seats. She and all the other maids ran up to him as soon as they saw him, and kissed him on the head and shoulders. Then Penelope came weeping from her room, embraced him, and told him to tell her all that he had seen.
Telemachus bade her go back to her room and pray to45Minerva that they might be revenged on the suitors. "I must go," said he, "to the place of assembly, to look after a guest whom I have brought with me, and whom I have left with Piræus."
Penelope did as her son had said, while Telemachus went61to the place of assembly, and his two dogs with him. The suitors, who had not yet gone to the house of Ulysses for the day, gathered round him, and made him fair speeches, buthe knew their falsehood and went to sit with his old friends Mentor, Antiphus and Halitherses. Presently Piræus came up, bringing Theoclymenus with him, and said, "I wish you would send some of your women to my house to take away the presents that Menelaus gave you."
Telemachus said he did not know what might happen; if77the suitors killed him, he had rather Piræus kept the presents than that the suitors should have them. If, on the other hand, he killed the suitors he should be much obliged if Piræus would let him have the presents.
Then he took Theoclymenus to his own house, where they84had a bath, and refreshments were set before them. Penelope sat near them, spinning, while they were at table, and then said she should go up stairs and lie down on that couch which she had never ceased to water with her tears from the day her husband left her. "But you had not the patience," she added, "to tell me, before the suitors came, whether you had been able to hear anything about your father."
Telemachus told her how good Nestor had been to him,107and how he had sent him on to Menelaus, who had assured him that Ulysses was still alive, but was detained by Calypso, from whom he could not get away for want of a ship. Penelope was very much agitated, but Theoclymenus reassured her by telling her about the omen which had greeted Telemachus on his return to Ithaca.
While they were thus conversing, the suitors were166playing at quoits and aiming javelins at a mark on the level ground in front of Ulysses' house. But when it was near dinner time and the flocks were coming in from all the country round with their shepherds as usual [to be milked], Medon, who was a great favourite with the suitors, called them to come in and set about getting their dinner ready. They therefore came in and began to butcher some sheep, goats, pigs, and a heifer.
Meanwhile Eumæus told Ulysses that it was time to make182a start, for the day was well up and if he waited till afternoon he would find the cold more severe. "At any rate," said Ulysses, "let me have a staff if you have one, for the path is rugged." Eumæus gave him one, and they set out along thesteep path leading to the town. When they were nearly there they came to the fountain which Ithacus, Neritus, and Polyctor had made, and from which the people drew their water; here they fell in with Melantheus[29]son of Dolius, who was bringing goats for the suitors' dinner, he and his two under shepherds.
Melanthius heaped all kinds of insult on Ulysses and215Eumæus, and tried to kick Ulysses off the path, but could not do so. Ulysses restrained himself, and prayed to the nymphs, whereon Melanthius said he would put him on board ship and sell him in some foreign country. He then hurried on, leaving the swineherd and his master to follow at their own pace.
When they got near the house they could hear the sound of260Phemius's lyre, and his voice as he sang to the suitors. They could also smell the savour of roast meats.[30]Eumæus said that he would go in first, but that Ulysses had better follow him soon, for if he was seen standing about in the outer court people might throw things at him.
As they were thus talking the old hound Argus who was290lying on the dunghill, very full of fleas, caught sight of Ulysses, recognised him, wagged his tail, and tried to come to him, but could not do so. Thereon Ulysses wiped a tear from his eyes, and asked Eumæus whether the dog was of any use, or whether he was kept only for his good looks. Eumæus said what a noble hound Argus had been, but the dog, having seen his master, died just as Eumæus went inside the house.
Telemachus saw him enter and beckoned him to a seat328at his own table. Ulysses followed him shortly, and sat down on the floor of ash wood inside the door way, leaning against a bearing-post of well-squared Cyprus wood. Telemachus noted him and said to Eumæus, "Take the stranger this handful of bread and meat, tell him also to go round and beg from the others, for a beggar must not be shamefaced." Eumæus gave him both the message and the bread and meat.
Then Ulysses began to go round begging, for he wanted to360exploit the suitors. He went from left to right, and some tookcompassion on him while others begun asking who he might be; Melanthius then said that he had come with the swineherd. Antinous, therefore, asked Eumæus what he meant by bringing such a man to plague them.
"I did not ask him to come," answered Eumæus. "Who was380likely to ask a man of that sort? One would ask a divine, a physician, a carpenter, or a bard. You are always hardest of all the suitors on Ulysses' servants, and especially upon me, but I do not care so long as I have Penelope and Telemachus on my side."
"Hush," said Telemachus, "Antinous has the bitterest392tongue of them all, and he makes the others worse." Then he turned towards Antinous and said, "Give him something: I do not grudge it. Never mind my mother or any of the servants—not you—but you are fonder of eating than of giving."
Antinous said, "You are a swaggering upstart; if all the405suitors will give him as much as I will, he will not come near the house again this three months."
As he spoke he menaced Ulysses with the footstool409from under his table. The other suitors all gave him something; and he was about to leave, when he determined to again beg from Antinous and trumped him up a story of the misfortunes that had befallen him in Egypt.