The Odyssey
Book XX
Ulysses slept in the cloister upon an undressed bullock′s hide, on the
top of which he threw several skins of the sheep the suitors had eaten,
and Eurynome threw a cloak over him after he had laid himself down. There,
then, Ulysses lay wakefully brooding upon the way in which he should kill
the suitors; and by and by, the women who had been in the habit of misconducting
themselves with them, left the house giggling and laughing with one another.
This made Ulysses very angry, and he doubted whether to get up and kill
every single one of them then and there, or to let them sleep one more
and last time with the suitors. His heart growled within him, and as a
bitch with puppies growls and shows her teeth when she sees a stranger,
so did his heart growl with anger at the evil deeds that were being done:
but he beat his breast and said, "Heart, be still, you had worse than this
to bear on the day when the terrible Cyclops ate your brave companions;
yet you bore it in silence till your cunning got you safe out of the cave,
though you made sure of being killed."
Thus he chided with his heart, and checked it into endurance, but
he tossed about as one who turns a paunch full of blood and fat in front
of a hot fire, doing it first on one side and then on the other, that he
may get it cooked as soon as possible, even so did he turn himself about
from side to side, thinking all the time how, single handed as he was,
he should contrive to kill so large a body of men as the wicked suitors.
But by and by Minerva came down from heaven in the likeness of a woman,
and hovered over his head saying, "My poor unhappy man, why do you lie
awake in this way? This is your house: your wife is safe inside it, and
so is your son who is just such a young man as any father may be proud
of."
"Goddess," answered Ulysses, "all that you have said is true, but
I am in some doubt as to how I shall be able to kill these wicked suitors
single handed, seeing what a number of them there always are. And there
is this further difficulty, which is still more considerable. Supposing
that with Jove′s and your assistance I succeed in killing them, I must
ask you to consider where I am to escape to from their avengers when it
is all over."
"For shame," replied Minerva, "why, any one else would trust a
worse ally than myself, even though that ally were only a mortal and less
wise than I am. Am I not a goddess, and have I not protected you throughout
in all your troubles? I tell you plainly that even though there were fifty
bands of men surrounding us and eager to kill us, you should take all their
sheep and cattle, and drive them away with you. But go to sleep; it is
a very bad thing to lie awake all night, and you shall be out of your troubles
before long."
As she spoke she shed sleep over his eyes, and then went back to
Olympus.
While Ulysses was thus yielding himself to a very deep slumber
that eased the burden of his sorrows, his admirable wife awoke, and sitting
up in her bed began to cry. When she had relieved herself by weeping she
prayed to Diana saying, "Great Goddess Diana, daughter of Jove, drive an
arrow into my heart and slay me; or let some whirlwind snatch me up and
bear me through paths of darkness till it drop me into the mouths of overflowing
Oceanus, as it did the daughters of Pandareus. The daughters of Pandareus
lost their father and mother, for the gods killed them, so they were left
orphans. But Venus took care of them, and fed them on cheese, honey, and
sweet wine. Juno taught them to excel all women in beauty of form and understanding;
Diana gave them an imposing presence, and Minerva endowed them with every
kind of accomplishment; but one day when Venus had gone up to Olympus to
see Jove about getting them married (for well does he know both what shall
happen and what not happen to every one) the storm winds came and spirited
them away to become handmaids to the dread Erinyes. Even so I wish that
the gods who live in heaven would hide me from mortal sight, or that fair
Diana might strike me, for I would fain go even beneath the sad earth if
I might do so still looking towards Ulysses only, and without having to
yield myself to a worse man than he was. Besides, no matter how much people
may grieve by day, they can put up with it so long as they can sleep at
night, for when the eyes are closed in slumber people forget good and ill
alike; whereas my misery haunts me even in my dreams. This very night methought
there was one lying by my side who was like Ulysses as he was when he went
away with his host, and I rejoiced, for I believed that it was no dream,
but the very truth itself."
On this the day broke, but Ulysses heard the sound of her weeping,
and it puzzled him, for it seemed as though she already knew him and was
by his side. Then he gathered up the cloak and the fleeces on which he
had lain, and set them on a seat in the cloister, but he took the bullock′s
hide out into the open. He lifted up his hands to heaven, and prayed, saying
"Father Jove, since you have seen fit to bring me over land and sea to
my own home after all the afflictions you have laid upon me, give me a
sign out of the mouth of some one or other of those who are now waking
within the house, and let me have another sign of some kind from
outside."
Thus did he pray. Jove heard his prayer and forthwith thundered
high up among the from the splendour of Olympus, and Ulysses was glad when
he heard it. At the same time within the house, a miller-woman from hard
by in the mill room lifted up her voice and gave him another sign. There
were twelve miller-women whose business it was to grind wheat and barley
which are the staff of life. The others had ground their task and had gone
to take their rest, but this one had not yet finished, for she was not
so strong as they were, and when she heard the thunder she stopped grinding
and gave the sign to her master. "Father Jove," said she, "you who rule
over heaven and earth, you have thundered from a clear sky without so much
as a cloud in it, and this means something for somebody; grant the prayer,
then, of me your poor servant who calls upon you, and let this be the very
last day that the suitors dine in the house of Ulysses. They have worn
me out with the labour of grinding meal for them, and I hope they may never
have another dinner anywhere at all."
Ulysses was glad when he heard the omens conveyed to him by the
woman′s speech, and by the thunder, for he knew they meant that he should
avenge himself on the suitors.
Then the other maids in the house rose and lit the fire on the
hearth; Telemachus also rose and put on his clothes. He girded his sword
about his shoulder, bound his sandals on his comely feet, and took a doughty
spear with a point of sharpened bronze; then he went to the threshold of
the cloister and said to Euryclea, "Nurse, did you make the stranger comfortable
both as regards bed and board, or did you let him shift for himself?- for
my mother, good woman though she is, has a way of paying great attention
to second-rate people, and of neglecting others who are in reality much
better men."
"Do not find fault child," said Euryclea, "when there is no one
to find fault with. The stranger sat and drank his wine as long as he liked:
your mother did ask him if he would take any more bread and he said he
would not. When he wanted to go to bed she told the servants to make one
for him, but he said he was re such wretched outcast that he would not
sleep on a bed and under blankets; he insisted on having an undressed bullock′s
hide and some sheepskins put for him in the cloister and I threw a cloak
over him myself."
Then Telemachus went out of the court to the place where the Achaeans
were meeting in assembly; he had his spear in his hand, and he was not
alone, for his two dogs went with him. But Euryclea called the maids and
said, "Come, wake up; set about sweeping the cloisters and sprinkling them
with water to lay the dust; put the covers on the seats; wipe down the
tables, some of you, with a wet sponge; clean out the mixing-jugs and the
cups, and for water from the fountain at once; the suitors will be here
directly; they will be here early, for it is a feast
day."
Thus did she speak, and they did even as she had said: twenty of
them went to the fountain for water, and the others set themselves busily
to work about the house. The men who were in attendance on the suitors
also came up and began chopping firewood. By and by the women returned
from the fountain, and the swineherd came after them with the three best
pigs he could pick out. These he let feed about the premises, and then
he said good-humouredly to Ulysses, "Stranger, are the suitors treating
you any better now, or are they as insolent as ever?"
"May heaven," answered Ulysses, "requite to them the wickedness
with which they deal high-handedly in another man′s house without any sense
of shame."
Thus did they converse; meanwhile Melanthius the goatherd came
up, for he too was bringing in his best goats for the suitors′ dinner;
and he had two shepherds with him. They tied the goats up under the gatehouse,
and then Melanthius began gibing at Ulysses. "Are you still here, stranger,"
said he, "to pester people by begging about the house? Why can you not
go elsewhere? You and I shall not come to an understanding before we have
given each other a taste of our fists. You beg without any sense of decency:
are there not feasts elsewhere among the Achaeans, as well as
here?"
Ulysses made no answer, but bowed his head and brooded. Then a
third man, Philoetius, joined them, who was bringing in a barren heifer
and some goats. These were brought over by the boatmen who are there to
take people over when any one comes to them. So Philoetius made his heifer
and his goats secure under the gatehouse, and then went up to the swineherd.
"Who, Swineherd," said he, "is this stranger that is lately come here?
Is he one of your men? What is his family? Where does he come from? Poor
fellow, he looks as if he had been some great man, but the gods give sorrow
to whom they will- even to kings if it so pleases them
As he spoke he went up to Ulysses and saluted him with his right
hand; "Good day to you, father stranger," said he, "you seem to be very
poorly off now, but I hope you will have better times by and by. Father
Jove, of all gods you are the most malicious. We are your own children,
yet you show us no mercy in all our misery and afflictions. A sweat came
over me when I saw this man, and my eyes filled with tears, for he reminds
me of Ulysses, who I fear is going about in just such rags as this man′s
are, if indeed he is still among the living. If he is already dead and
in the house of Hades, then, alas! for my good master, who made me his
stockman when I was quite young among the Cephallenians, and now his cattle
are countless; no one could have done better with them than I have, for
they have bred like ears of corn; nevertheless I have to keep bringing
them in for others to eat, who take no heed of his son though he is in
the house, and fear not the wrath of heaven, but are already eager to divide
Ulysses′ property among them because he has been away so long. I have often
thought- only it would not be right while his son is living- of going off
with the cattle to some foreign country; bad as this would be, it is still
harder to stay here and be ill-treated about other people′s herds. My position
is intolerable, and I should long since have run away and put myself under
the protection of some other chief, only that I believe my poor master
will yet return, and send all these suitors flying out of the
house."
"Stockman," answered Ulysses, "you seem to be a very well-disposed
person, and I can see that you are a man of sense. Therefore I will tell
you, and will confirm my words with an oath: by Jove, the chief of all
gods, and by that hearth of Ulysses to which I am now come, Ulysses shall
return before you leave this place, and if you are so minded you shall
see him killing the suitors who are now masters here."
"If Jove were to bring this to pass," replied the stockman, "you
should see how I would do my very utmost to help him."
And in like manner Eumaeus prayed that Ulysses might return
home.
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile the suitors were hatching a plot
to murder Telemachus: but a bird flew near them on their left hand- an
eagle with a dove in its talons. On this Amphinomus said, "My friends,
this plot of ours to murder Telemachus will not succeed; let us go to dinner
instead."
The others assented, so they went inside and laid their cloaks
on the benches and seats. They sacrificed the sheep, goats, pigs, and the
heifer, and when the inward meats were cooked they served them round. They
mixed the wine in the mixing-bowls, and the swineherd gave every man his
cup, while Philoetius handed round the bread in the breadbaskets, and Melanthius
poured them out their wine. Then they laid their hands upon the good things
that were before them.
Telemachus purposely made Ulysses sit in the part of the cloister
that was paved with stone; he gave him a shabby-looking seat at a little
table to himself, and had his portion of the inward meats brought to him,
with his wine in a gold cup. "Sit there," said he, "and drink your wine
among the great people. I will put a stop to the gibes and blows of the
suitors, for this is no public house, but belongs to Ulysses, and has passed
from him to me. Therefore, suitors, keep your hands and your tongues to
yourselves, or there will be mischief."
The suitors bit their lips, and marvelled at the boldness of his
speech; then Antinous said, "We do not like such language but we will put
up with it, for Telemachus is threatening us in good earnest. If Jove had
let us we should have put a stop to his brave talk ere
now."
Thus spoke Antinous, but Telemachus heeded him not. Meanwhile the
heralds were bringing the holy hecatomb through the city, and the Achaeans
gathered under the shady grove of Apollo.
Then they roasted the outer meat, drew it off the spits, gave every
man his portion, and feasted to their hearts′ content; those who waited
at table gave Ulysses exactly the same portion as the others had, for Telemachus
had told them to do so.
But Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment drop their
insolence, for she wanted Ulysses to become still more bitter against them.
Now there happened to be among them a ribald fellow, whose name was Ctesippus,
and who came from Same. This man, confident in his great wealth, was paying
court to the wife of Ulysses, and said to the suitors, "Hear what I have
to say. The stranger has already had as large a portion as any one else;
this is well, for it is not right nor reasonable to ill-treat any guest
of Telemachus who comes here. I will, however, make him a present on my
own account, that he may have something to give to the bath-woman, or to
some other of Ulysses′ servants."
As he spoke he picked up a heifer′s foot from the meat-basket in
which it lay, and threw it at Ulysses, but Ulysses turned his head a little
aside, and avoided it, smiling grimly Sardinian fashion as he did so, and
it hit the wall, not him. On this Telemachus spoke fiercely to Ctesippus,
"It is a good thing for you," said he, "that the stranger turned his head
so that you missed him. If you had hit him I should have run you through
with my spear, and your father would have had to see about getting you
buried rather than married in this house. So let me have no more unseemly
behaviour from any of you, for I am grown up now to the knowledge of good
and evil and understand what is going on, instead of being the child that
I have been heretofore. I have long seen you killing my sheep and making
free with my corn and wine: I have put up with this, for one man is no
match for many, but do me no further violence. Still, if you wish to kill
me, kill me; I would far rather die than see such disgraceful scenes day
after day- guests insulted, and men dragging the women servants about the
house in an unseemly way."
They all held their peace till at last Agelaus son of Damastor
said, "No one should take offence at what has just been said, nor gainsay
it, for it is quite reasonable. Leave off, therefore, ill-treating the
stranger, or any one else of the servants who are about the house; I would
say, however, a friendly word to Telemachus and his mother, which I trust
may commend itself to both. ′As long,′ I would say, ′as you had ground
for hoping that Ulysses would one day come home, no one could complain
of your waiting and suffering the suitors to be in your house. It would
have been better that he should have returned, but it is now sufficiently
clear that he will never do so; therefore talk all this quietly over with
your mother, and tell her to marry the best man, and the one who makes
her the most advantageous offer. Thus you will yourself be able to manage
your own inheritance, and to eat and drink in peace, while your mother
will look after some other man′s house, not yours."′
To this Telemachus answered, "By Jove, Agelaus, and by the sorrows
of my unhappy father, who has either perished far from Ithaca, or is wandering
in some distant land, I throw no obstacles in the way of my mother′s marriage;
on the contrary I urge her to choose whomsoever she will, and I will give
her numberless gifts into the bargain, but I dare not insist point blank
that she shall leave the house against her own wishes. Heaven forbid that
I should do this."
Minerva now made the suitors fall to laughing immoderately, and
set their wits wandering; but they were laughing with a forced laughter.
Their meat became smeared with blood; their eyes filled with tears, and
their hearts were heavy with forebodings. Theoclymenus saw this and said,
"Unhappy men, what is it that ails you? There is a shroud of darkness drawn
over you from head to foot, your cheeks are wet with tears; the air is
alive with wailing voices; the walls and roof-beams drip blood; the gate
of the cloisters and the court beyond them are full of ghosts trooping
down into the night of hell; the sun is blotted out of heaven, and a blighting
gloom is over all the land."
Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed heartily. Eurymachus
then said, "This stranger who has lately come here has lost his senses.
Servants, turn him out into the streets, since he finds it so dark
here."
But Theoclymenus said, "Eurymachus, you need not send any one with
me. I have eyes, ears, and a pair of feet of my own, to say nothing of
an understanding mind. I will take these out of the house with me, for
I see mischief overhanging you, from which not one of you men who are insulting
people and plotting ill deeds in the house of Ulysses will be able to
escape."
He left the house as he spoke, and went back to Piraeus who gave
him welcome, but the suitors kept looking at one another and provoking
Telemachus fly laughing at the strangers. One insolent fellow said to him,
"Telemachus, you are not happy in your guests; first you have this importunate
tramp, who comes begging bread and wine and has no skill for work or for
hard fighting, but is perfectly useless, and now here is another fellow
who is setting himself up as a prophet. Let me persuade you, for it will
be much better, to put them on board ship and send them off to the Sicels
to sell for what they will bring."
Telemachus gave him no heed, but sat silently watching his father,
expecting every moment that he would begin his attack upon the
suitors.
Meanwhile the daughter of Icarius, wise Penelope, had had had a
rich seat placed for her facing the court and cloisters, so that she could
hear what every one was saying. The dinner indeed had been prepared amid
merriment; it had been both good and abundant, for they had sacrificed
many victims; but the supper was yet to come, and nothing can be conceived
more gruesome than the meal which a goddess and a brave man were soon to
lay before them- for they had brought their doom upon
themselves.
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