But when the young Dawn showed again with her rosy fingers,
Telemachos, beloved son of godlike Odysseus,
then bound underneath his feet the beautiful sandals,
and took up a powerful spear which fitted his hand's grip,
5 on his way to the city, and going he spoke to his swineherd:
‘Father, I am going to the city, so that my mother
will see me, since as I suppose she will never give over
that bitter lamentation of hers and her tearful crying
until she sees me myself. But here is what I will tell you
10 to do; take this unhappy stranger to the city, so that
there he can beg his dinner, and any who will can give him
his bit of bread and his cupful; it is not for me to put up with
everybody, now when I have troubles on my mind. Therefore,
even if the stranger is terribly angry, it will be only
15 the worse for him. Speaking the truth is the way I like best.’
Then resourceful Odysseus spoke in turn and answered him:
‘Dear friend, neither do I desire that he should detain me
here; a beggar is better begging his dinner in the city
than in the country. Whoever wants to will give me something;
20 for I am no longer the right age to stay on the farms, the right age
to carry out any task the foreman imposes on me.
Go on then. This man, the one you have asked, will take me,
as soon as I have warmed myself by the fire and there is some
sunlight; these clothes are very poor, and I hope no morning
Odysseus and Telemachos return separately
25 frost undoes me. They say it is very far to the city.’
So he spoke, but Telemachos strode out through the steading,
walking fast, and planning evil things for the suitors.
But when he had arrived at the well-settled house, he carried
his spear over to a tall column, and propped it against it,
30 and he himself went inside, stepping over the stone threshold.
Far the first to see him was his nurse, Eurykleia,
as she spread the fleeces on the elaborate chairs. She burst out
in tears, and went straight to him, and around him the other
serving maids of patient-hearted Odysseus clustered,
35 and made much of him, and kissed him on his head and his shoulders.
But now circumspect Penelope came down from her chamber,
looking like Artemis, or like golden Aphrodite,
and burst into tears, and threw her arms around her beloved
son, and kissed him on his head and both of his shining
40 eyes, and tearfully spoke winged words and addressed him:
‘You have come, Telemachos, sweet light, and I thought I would never
see you again, when you had gone in the ship to Pylos
secretly, and against my will, for news of the father
you love. But come now, tell me what sights you have been seeing.’
45 Then the thoughtful Telemachos said to her in answer: ‘Mother, do not stir up a scene of sorrow, nor trouble
my heart once more, now I have escaped from sheer destruction;
but go, wash with water and put clean clothing upon your body,
and going on to the upper story with your attendant
50 women, vow to all the gods the service of complete
hecatombs, if Zeus grants requital for what is done to us.
But I will go to the place of meeting, so I can summon
my guest, who came along with me as I made my way here.
I sent him on ahead of me with my godlike companions,
55 and told Peiraios to take him to his own house, and give him
forthright honor and entertainment, until my arrival.’
So he spoke, and she had no winged words for an answer,
and she washed with water and put clean clothing upon her body,
and vowed to all the gods the service of complete hecatombs,
60 if Zeus were to grant requital for what had been done to them.
Telemachos then went striding out through the palace, and left it,
holding his spear, and a pair of light-footed dogs went with him.
Athene drifted an enchantment of grace upon him,
Telemachos fetches Theoklymenos
and all the people had their eyes on him as he came on.
65 Around him the haughty suitors clustered. They all were speaking
him fair, but in the deep of their hearts were devising evils.
Telemachos himself avoided their crowding numbers,
and where Mentor was sitting, and Antiphos and Halitherses,
the men who from the first had been his father's companions,
70 there he went and sat down, and they questioned him about everything.
Now Peiraios the famous spearman came near them, bringing
the guest through the city to the assembly, nor did Telemachos
stay for long far away from the guest, but came and stood by him.
First of the two to speak was Peiraios, who then said to him:
75 ‘Telemachos, have your women come to my house with all speed,
so I can send back the gifts which Menelaos has given you.’
Then the thoughtful Telemachos said to him in answer:
‘Peiraios, since we do not know how all this will come out,
or whether the haughty suitors will kill me here in my palace
80 treacherously, and divide up all my father's possessions,
I wish that you yourself, or one of these men, should keep them,
and have the profit. But if I can plot their death and destruction,
bring them to my house; and there will be gratitude shown on both sides.’
So he spoke, and led the long-suffering stranger back to
85 his house. And when they had arrived at the well-settled palace,
they laid down their mantles along the chairs and the benches,
and stepped into the bathtubs, smooth-polished, and bathed there.
Then, when the maids had bathed them and anointed them with oil,
and put cloaks of thick fleece and tunics upon them, they went
90 forth from the bathing tubs, and took their places on settles.
A maidservant brought water for them and poured it from a splendid
and golden pitcher, holding it above a silver basin
for them to wash, and she pulled a polished table before them.
A grave housekeeper brought in the bread and served it to them,
95 adding many good things to it, generous with her provisions.
His mother sat opposite beside the pillar supporting
the hall, sitting back on a chair and turning fine yarn on a distaff.
They put forth their hands to the good things that lay ready before them.
But when they had put away their desire for eating and drinking,
100 it was circumspect Penelope who began their discourse:
‘Telemachos, I will go back now to my upper chamber,
and lie down on my bed, which is made sorrowful, always
Penelope told of the travels
disordered with the tears I have wept, ever since Odysseus
went with the sons of Atreus to Troy; and you had no patience
105 to tell me—before the haughty suitors arrive at our palace—
any news you may have heard of your father's homecoming.’
Then the thoughtful Telemachos said to her in answer:
‘Then, my mother, I will tell you the whole true story.
We went to Pylos, and to Nestor, shepherd of the people,
110 and he, in his high house, gave me hospitality, and loving
free attention, as a father would to his own beloved
son, who was newly arrived from a long voyage elsewhere. So he
freely took care of me, with his own glorious children.
But he said he had heard nothing about enduring Odysseus,
115 nor whether he was alive or dead, from any of the peoples
of earth. He sent me to Atreus' son, spear-famed Menelaos,
giving me passage with his own horses and compact chariot.
There I saw Helen of Argos, for whose sake Argives and Trojans
had undergone much hardship by the gods' will. Menelaos
120 of the great war cry questioned me, when I came to him,
and asked what need had brought me to glorious Lakedaimon;
whereupon I told him the whole truth of my story,
and he in turn spoke to me then and gave me an answer:
“Oh, for shame, it was in the bed of a bold and strong man
125 they wished to lie, they themselves being all unwarlike.
As when a doe has brought her fawns to the lair of a lion,
and put them there to sleep, they are newborn and still suckling,
then wanders out into the foothills and the grassy corners,
grazing there, but now the lion comes back to his own lair
130 and visits a shameful destruction on both mother and children;
so now Odysseus will visit shameful destruction on these men.
O father Zeus and Athene and Apollo, I wish that
as he was when, upon a time, in strong-founded Lesbos
he stood up and wrestled Philomeleides from a challenge,
135 and threw him strongly, so delighting all the Achaians;
I wish that such an Odysseus would come now among the suitors.
They all would find death was quick and marriage a painful matter.
But for what you entreat me for and ask me about, I will not
turn away from the tale and speak idly, nor will I deceive you,
140 but of what the ever-truthful Old Man of the Sea told me,
I will tell you all without concealment, and hold back nothing.
of Telemachos
He said he had seen him on an island, suffering strong pains
in the palace of the nymph Kalypso, and she detains him,
by constraint, and he cannot make his way to his country;
145 for he has not any ships by him, nor any companions
who can convey him back across the sea's wide ridges.”
So spoke Atreus' son, spear-famed Menelaos. After
I had done all this I came back. The immortals gave me a following
wind, and brought me quickly to the dear land of my fathers.’
150 So he spoke, and stirred the spirit within her. And now Theoklymenos, a godlike man, spoke to both of them:
‘O respected wife of Odysseus, son of Laertes,
attend my word, because he does not understand clearly,
but I shall prophesy truly to you, and hold back nothing.
155 Zeus be my witness, first of the gods, and the table of friendship,
and the hearth of blameless Odysseus, to which I come as a suppliant,
that Odysseus is already here in the land of his fathers,
sitting still or advancing, learning of all these evil
actions, and devising evils for all of the suitors.
160 Such was the bird sign I interpreted, and I told it
to Telemachos, as I sat aboard the strong-benched vessel.’
Then in turn circumspect Penelope answered him:
‘If only this word, stranger and guest, were brought to fulfillment,
soon you would be aware of my love and many gifts given
165 by me, so any man who met you would call you blessed.’
So now these three were conversing thus with each other,
but meanwhile before the palace of Odysseus the suitors
amused themselves with discs and with light spears for throwing,
on a leveled floor, unruly men, as they always had been.
170 But when it was time for dinner, and the sheep from the fields had been coming
in from all sides, and the same men as usual drove them,
then Medon spoke to the suitors. It was he among all the heralds
whom they liked best, and he used to wait on them at their feasting:
‘Young men, since you have all taken your pleasure in exercise,
175 go on into the house so we can make dinner ready.
Nothing is any the worse when meals are taken in season.’
He spoke, and they stood up and went, and did as he told them;
and they, when they had gone into the well-settled palace,
laid their mantles down along the chairs and the benches,
Eumaios and Odysseus meet Melanthios
180 and set about sacrificing great-sized sheep, and fat goats,
and sacrificing an ox of the herd, and fattened porkers,
as they prepared their feast. But Odysseus now and the noble
swineherd were stirring themselves to go to town from the country.
First of the two to speak was the swineherd, leader of people:
185 ‘Stranger, since then you are eager to go to the city
today, as my master told you to do, though I could have wanted
you rather to stay here and guard the steading—even so
I go in awe of him and fear him, and any reproaches
he might give me; a scolding comes hard from a master—so then,
190 let us be on our way, for most of the day is already
gone. The evening is coming on. You may find it colder.’
Then resourceful Odysseus spoke in turn and answered him:
‘I see, I understand. You speak to one who follows you.
But let us be on our way. You be my guide on the journey.
195 Only give me some kind of cudgel, if you have any
cut, to lean on. They say the road is very slippery.’
He spoke, and over his shoulder slung the ugly wallet
that was full of holes, with a twist of rope attached to dangle it.
Eumaios gave him a walking stick that suited his fancy,
200 and the two of them went on, with the dogs and the herdsman staying
behind to guard the farm. He led his lord to the city,
looking as he did like a dismal vagabond and an old man,
propping on a stick, and wore wretched clothing upon his body.
Now as they went down over the stony road, and were coming
205 close to the city, and had arrived at the fountain, sweet-running
and made of stone; and there the townspeople went for their water;
Ithakos had made this, and Neritos, and Polyktor;
and around it was a grove of black poplars, trees that grow by
water, all in a circle, and there was cold water pouring
210 down from the rock above; over it had been built an altar
of the nymphs, and there all the wayfarers made their sacrifice;
there Melanthios, son of Dolios, came upon them
as he drove his goats, the ones that were finest among his goatflocks,
for the suitors' dinner, and two other herdsmen went along with him.
215 Seeing the two he spoke and named them, giving them curses
overbearing and shameful, and stirred the heart of Odysseus:
‘See now how the rascal comes on leading a rascal
about; like guides what is like itself, just as a god does.
on their way to town
Where, you detestable swineherd, are you taking this wretched
220 man, this bothersome beggar who spoils the fun of the feasting,
the kind who stands and rubs his shoulders on many doorposts,
begging only for handouts, never for swords or caldrons.
If you would turn him over to me to keep my steading,
then he could drink whey and build up a big leg muscle,
225 sweeping my pens, and carrying green stuff in to the young goats.
But since he has learned nothing but mischief, he will not be willing
to go to work, but would rather go begging all through the district,
asking for handouts and feeding up his bottomless belly.
But I tell you this straight out and it will be a thing accomplished.
230 If he ever comes near the house of godlike Odysseus,
his ribs and head will feel the weight of plenty of footstools
flung at him all over the house by the hands of heroes.’
So he spoke, and as he went by recklessly lashed out
with his heel to the hip, but failed to knock him out of the pathway,
235 for Odysseus stood it, unshaken, while he pondered within him
whether to go for him with his cudgel, and take the life from him,
or pick him up like a jug and break his head on the ground. Yet
still he stood it, and kept it all inside him. The swineherd
stared, and cursed him, and prayed aloud with his hands uplifted:
240 ‘Nymphs of the fountain, daughters of Zeus, if ever Odysseus
burned for you the thigh pieces of lambs or goats, wrapping them
in the rich fat, then grant me this favor I ask for, namely
that the man himself will come home, with the divinity guiding him;
so, Melanthios, he would send flying all those glories
245 you wear now in your insolence, forever loitering
here in the town, while useless herdsmen ruin the sheepflocks.’
Then in turn Melanthios the goatherd answered him:
‘Shame on the speaking of this nasty-minded dog. Some day
I will get him aboard a strong-benched ship, and take him
250 far from Ithaka, where he could win me a good livelihood.
If only Apollo, silver-bowed, would strike down Telemachos
today in his halls, or he were killed by the suitors, as surely
as Odysseus, far away, has lost his day of homecoming.’
So he spoke, and left them there, as they went on easily;
255 but he went forward, and quickly came to the house of his master.
He went straight on inside, and sat down next to the suitors,
opposite Eurymachos, whom he was fondest of. The servants
The old dog Argos recognizes Odysseus
doing the dinner placed a portion of meat before him.
A grave housekeeper brought the bread and set it down for him
260 to eat. Odysseus, on his way with the noble swineherd,
stood close in front of the house, and around them came the clamor
of the hollow lyre, for Phemios had struck up the music
to sing. Odysseus took the swineherd's hand, and said to him:
‘Eumaios, surely this is the handsome house of Odysseus.
265 Easily it is singled out and seen among many,
for one part is joined on to another, and the courtyard is worked on
with wall and copings, and the doors have been well made, with double
panels. Nobody could belittle this house. And also
I realize that many men are holding a feast there,
270 for the smell of the food comes to me, and there is the clamor
of the lyre, which the gods made to be companion of feasting.’
Then, O swineherd Eumaios, you said to him in answer:
‘Easily you perceived it, nor are you otherwise without
sense; but come, let us think out how we will act in these matters.
275 Either you go on first into the well-settled palace,
and go among the suitors, and leave me here on the outside;
or if you will, stay here, while I go on ahead of you.
But do not be slow, or someone here outside, seeing you,
might strike you, or throw something. Here, I bid you be careful.’
280 Then much-enduring great Odysseus said to him in answer: ‘I see, I understand; you speak to one who follows you.
But you go on ahead, and I will stay here on the outside.
I am not unfamiliar with blows, and things thrown at me.
The spirit in me is enduring, since I have suffered much hardship
285 on the waves and in the fighting; so let this adventure follow.
Even so, there is no suppressing the ravenous belly,
a cursed thing, which bestows many evils on men, seeing
that even for its sake the strong-built ships are handled
across the barren great sea, bringing misfortune to enemies.’
290 Now as these two were conversing thus with each other, a dog who was lying there raised his head and ears. This was
Argos, patient-hearted Odysseus' dog, whom he himself
raised, but got no joy of him, since before that he went to sacred
Ilion. In the days before, the young men had taken him
295 out to follow goats of the wild, and deer, and rabbits;
but now he had been put aside, with his master absent,
but dies before revealing his identity
and lay on the deep pile of dung, from the mules and oxen,
which lay abundant before the gates, so that the servants
of Odysseus could take it to his great estate, for manuring.
300 There the dog Argos lay in the dung, all covered with dog ticks.
Now, as he perceived that Odysseus had come close to him,
he wagged his tail, and laid both his ears back; only
he now no longer had the strength to move any closer
to his master, who, watching him from a distance, without Eumaios
305 noticing, secretly wiped a tear away, and said to him:
‘Eumaios, this is amazing, this dog that lies on the dunghill.
The shape of him is splendid, and yet I cannot be certain
whether he had the running speed to go with this beauty,
or is just one of the kind of table dog that gentlemen
310 keep, and it is only for show that their masters care for them.’
Then, O swineherd Eumaios, you said to him in answer:
‘This, it is too true, is the dog of a man who perished
far away. If he were such, in build and performance,
as when Odysseus left him behind, when he went to Ilion,
315 soon you could see his speed and his strength for yourself. Never
could any wild animal, in the profound depths of the forest,
escape, once he pursued. He was very clever at tracking.
But now he is in bad times. His master, far from his country,
has perished, and the women are careless, and do not look after him;
320 and serving men, when their masters are no longer about, to make them
work, are no longer willing to do their rightful duties.
For Zeus of the wide brows takes away one half of the virtue
from a man, once the day of slavery closes upon him.’
So he spoke, and went into the strongly-settled palace,
325 and strode straight on, to the great hall and the haughty suitors,
But the doom of dark death now closed over the dog, Argos,
when, after nineteen years had gone by, he had seen Odysseus.
Godlike Telemachos was the first by far to notice
the swineherd as he came into the house, and quickly he nodded
330 to summon him over. The swineherd, looking about him, picked up
a chair that was lying near where the carver sat, cutting
much meat for the suitors, as these feasted all through the palace.
This he took and placed it by Telemachos' table
facing him, then sat down there himself, and the herald
335 took a portion, and served him, and passed him bread from the basket.
Odysseus in his own house
Close after him Odysseus now came into the palace,
looking as he did like a dismal vagabond and an old man,
propping on a stick, and wore foul clothing upon his body.
He sat down then on the ashwood threshold, inside the doorway,
340 leaning against the doorpost of cypress wood, which the carpenter
once had expertly planed, and drawn it true to a chalkline;
but Telemachos spoke a word to the swineherd, calling him over,
taking and giving him a whole loaf from the beautiful basket,
with meat, as much food as both arms could hold in their compass:
345 ‘Take all this and give it to the stranger, but also tell him
to go about among the suitors, and beg from all of them.
Modesty, for a man in need, is not a good quality.’
So he spoke, and the swineherd went, when he heard his order.
He came and stood close by Odysseus, and spoke in winged words:
350 ‘Stranger, Telemachos gives you this, and also he tells you
to go about among the suitors, and beg from all of them.
He said that modesty, for a poor man, is no good quality.’
Then resourceful Odysseus spoke in turn and answered him:
‘Lord Zeus, let Telemachos be one of the prosperous
355 men; let everything befall him that his heart longs for.’
He spoke, and with both hands accepting everything, laid it
there in front of his feet, on top of the ugly wallet,
and ate it, all the while the singer sang in the halls. Then,
when he had eaten his dinner, and the divine singer was finished,
360 the suitors raised their tumult along the halls; but Athene
came then and stood close by Odysseus, son of Laertes,
and stirred him to go collect his bits of bread from the suitors,
and so learn which of them were fair, which unfair; but even
so, she would not deliver any of them from disaster.
365 He went on his way, from left to right, so to beg from each man,
reaching his hand out always, as if for a long time he had been
a beggar, and they took pity and gave, and they wondered at him;
they asked each other what man he was, and where he came from.
But now Melanthios, the goat-herding man, said to them:
370 ‘Hear me now, you suitors of our glorious queen, concerning
this stranger; for I have seen him before; know then
that it was the swineherd who guided him here, but I do not know clearly
who the man is himself, or what race he claims to come of.’
begs from the suitors
So he spoke. Antinoös spoke then and scolded the swineherd:
375 ‘O most distinguished swineherd, why did you bring this fellow
to the city? Do we not already have enough other
vagabonds, and bothersome beggars to ruin our feasting?
Or, now that men gather here to eat up your master's substance,
is that not enough, but you had to invite this one in also?’
380 Then, O swineherd Eumaios, you said to him in answer: ‘Antinoös, though you are noble, this was not well spoken.
For who goes visiting elsewhere so as to call in another
stranger, unless he is one who works for the people, either
a prophet, or a healer of sickness, or a skilled workman,
385 or inspired singer, one who can give delight by his singing?
These are the men who all over the endless earth are invited.
But nobody would ask in a beggar, one who would feed on
himself. You, though, beyond all the other suitors, are heavy
on the servants of Odysseus, and me most of all, but I
390 for my part do not care, while still circumspect Penelope
lives in the palace, together with godlike Telemachos.’
Then the thoughtful Telemachos said to him in answer:
‘Silence. Do not answer him at such length. Antinoös
has made it his habit always to irritate others with hurtful
395 words, and stir them up, and encourages others to do so.’
So he spoke, and then addressed his words to Antinoös:
‘Antinoös, as a father for his son you take good care
of me, when you tell our stranger guest to get out of the palace,
with a strict word. May this not be the end god makes of it.
400 Take and give. I do not begrudge you. I even urge you.
And do not have any respect for my mother, nor yet for any
thrall beside, who lives in the house of godlike Odysseus.
But such is not the kind of intention you keep within you.
You are more eager to eat, yourself, than to give to another.’
405 Then in turn Antinoös said to him in answer: ‘High-spoken intemperate Telemachos, what accusations
you have made. If all the suitors would hand him this kind of present,
the house would then do without him for the space of three months.’
So he spoke, and picked up a footstool that lay by the table
410 and showed it. He had his shining feet on it as he feasted.
But all the others gave to him, and they filled his wallet
with bread and meat, and Odysseus was on the point of finishing
Odysseus struck by Antinoös
his test of the Achaians, and getting back free to his doorsill;
but now he stood by Antinoös, and spoke a word to him:
415 ‘Give, dear friend. You seem to me, of all the Achaians,
not the worst, but the best. You look like a king. Therefore,
you ought to give me a better present of food than the others
have done, and I will sing your fame all over the endless
earth, for I too once lived in my own house among people,
420 prospering in wealth, and often I gave to a wanderer
according to what he was and wanted when he came to me;
and I had serving men by thousands, and many another
good thing, by which men live well and are called prosperous. Only
Zeus, son of Kronos, spoiled it all—somehow he wished to—
425 when he put it into my head to go with the roving pirates
to Egypt, a long voyage, so that I must be ruined.
I stayed my oarswept ships inside the Aigyptos River.
Then I urged my eager companions to stay where they were, there
close to the fleet, and to guard the ships, and was urgent with them
430 to send lookouts to the watching places, but they following
their own impulse, and giving way to marauding violence,
suddenly began plundering the Egyptians' beautiful
fields, and carried off the women and innocent children,
and killed the men, and soon the outcry came to the city.
435 They heard the shouting, and at the time when dawn shows, they came
on us, and all the plain was filled with horses and infantry
and the glare of bronze; and Zeus who delights in the thunder flung down
a foul panic among my companions, and none was so hardy
as to stand and fight, for the evils stood in a circle around them.
440 There they killed many of us with the sharp bronze, and others
they led away alive, to work for them in forced labor;
but they gave me away, into Cyprus, to a stranger arriving,
Dmetor, Iasos' son, who was the strong king in Cyprus.
From there I came here, where I am now, suffering hardships.’
445 Then Antinoös answered him in turn, and said to him: ‘What spirit brought this pain upon us, to spoil our feasting?
Stand off, so, in the middle, and keep away from my table,
or otherwise you may find yourself in a sorry Cyprus
or Egypt, you are so bold a one, and a shameless beggar.
450 You went the whole circle and stood by all, and they all gave to you
who is scolded by the others
recklessly, for there is no holding back nor sparing
of favors from another man's goods, since each has plenty.’
Now resourceful Odysseus spoke, as he drew back from him:
‘Shame; the wits in you, it is clear, do not match your outward
455 beauty. You would not give a bit of salt to a servant
in your own house, since now, sitting at another's, you could not
take a bit of bread and give it to me. It is there in abundance.’
He spoke, and Antinoös in his heart grew still more angry.
Looking at him from under his brows, he addressed him in winged words:
460 ‘Now I think that you can no longer make a respectable
retreat out of the palace, since what you say is scurrilous.’
He spoke, and threw the footstool and hit him in the right shoulder
near the base, in the back, but he stood up to it, steady
as a rock, nor did the missile thrown by Antinoös shake him,
465 but he shook his head in silence, deeply devising evils.
He went back to the sill and sat there, and spread out before him
the wallet that was well filled, and spoke a word to the suitors:
‘You who are suitors of this most glorious queen, hear me
while I speak out what the heart within my breast urges:
470 there is no grief that comes to the heart, nor yet any sorrow,
when a man is hit, fighting in battle for the sake of his own
possessions, either to guard his shining sheep or his cattle;
but Antinoös struck me all because of my wretched belly,
that cursed thing, who bestows many evils on men. Therefore,
475 if there are any gods or any furies for beggars,
Antinoös may find his death before he is married.’
Then Antinoös, son of Eupeithes, gave him an answer:
‘Go in peace, stranger, and sit down, or go away elsewhere,
or else, for the way you talk, the young men might take you and drag you
480 by hand or foot through the house, and tear the skin on your body.’
So he spoke, but all the rest were wildly indignant,
and this is the way one of these haughty young men would speak to him:
‘Antinoös, you did badly to hit the unhappy vagabond:
a curse on you, if he turns out to be some god from heaven.
485 For the gods do take on all sorts of transformations, appearing
as strangers from elsewhere, and thus they range at large through the cities,
watching to see which men keep the laws, and which are violent.’
Eumaios tells Penelope
So spoke the suitors, but he paid no attention to what they were saying.
But Telemachos sustained in his heart a great sorrow over
490 the blow, but he did not let fall from his eyes any groundward
tear, but shook his head in silence, deeply devising
evils. But when circumspect Penelope heard that the stranger
had been struck in her halls, she spoke to her serving women:
‘Thus, I pray, may the archer Apollo strike at the striker.’
495 Then the housekeeper, Eurynome, spoke and answered: ‘If only some fulfillment befell our prayers. Then not one
of these men would be alive to meet the Dawn in her splendor.’
Circumspect Penelope said to her in answer:
‘Mother, they are all hateful, since all are devising evils,
500 but Antinoös, beyond the rest, is like black death. Here is
a stranger, some unfortunate man, who goes through our palace
asking alms of the men, for his helplessness forces him to it.
Then all the others gave and filled his bag, but this man
struck him with a footstool at the base of the right shoulder.’
505 So Penelope, sitting up in her chamber, conversed with her serving women, while great Odysseus was eating his dinner.
But now she summoned the noble swineherd to her, saying:
‘Go on your way now, noble Eumaios, and tell the stranger
to come, so I can befriend him, and so I can ask him
510 if he has somewhere heard any news of steadfast Odysseus
or seen him in person. He seems like a man who has wandered widely.’
Then, O swineherd Eumaios, you said to her in answer:
‘If only these Achaians, my queen, would let you have silence!
Such stories he tells, he would charm out the dear heart within you.
515 Three nights I had him with me, and for three days I detained him
in my shelter, for he came first to me. He had fled from a vessel;
but he has not yet told the story of all his suffering.
But as when a man looks to a singer, who has been given
from the gods the skill with which he sings for delight of mortals,
520 and they are impassioned and strain to hear it when he sings to them,
so he enchanted me in the halls as he sat beside me.
He says that he is a friend by family of Odysseus,
with his home in Crete, where lives the generation of Minos,
and from there he made his way to this place, suffering hardships,
525 driven helpless along. He claims he has heard that Odysseus
about his unknown guest
is near, in the rich country of the men of Thesprotia,
and alive, and bringing many treasures back to his household.’
Then in turn circumspect Penelope said to him:
‘Go now, call him here, so he can tell me directly,
530 and let these people sit by the doors and play their games, or else
go and do it at home, whenever the spirit favors.
For their own properties are stored, unspoiled, in their houses,
bread, and sweet wine, but this their own house-people eat. Meanwhile,
they, day by day visiting our house, and always
535 dedicating our oxen, and our sheep and fat goats,
hold their festival and recklessly drink up our shining
wine; and most of it is used up, for there is no man here
such as Odysseus was, to keep the plague from his household.
But if Odysseus could come, and return to the land of his fathers,
540 soon, with his son, he could punish the violence of these people.’
She spoke, and Telemachos sneezed amain, and around him the palace
re-echoed terribly to the sound. Penelope, laughing,
spoke presently to Eumaios and addressed him in winged words:
‘Go, please, and summon the stranger into my presence. Do you
545 not see how my son sneezed for everything I have spoken?
May it mean that death, accomplished in full, befall the suitors
each and all, not one avoiding death and destruction.
And put away in your heart this other thing that I tell you.
If I learn that everything he says is truthfully spoken,
550 I will give him beautiful clothing to wear, a tunic and mantle.’
So she spoke, and the swineherd went, when he heard what she told him,
and he came and stood close by Odysseus and spoke in winged words:
‘Father and friend, circumspect Penelope, mother
of Telemachos, summons you, for her heart is urgent to find out
555 from you about her husband, though she is suffering troubles.
And if she learns that all you say is truthfully spoken,
she will give you a tunic and mantle to wear, what you have need of
most of all; and you, by begging your bread through the city,
can keep your belly sustained; and he who will can give to you.’
560 Then in turn much-enduring great Odysseus answered him: ‘Eumaios, by and by I will tell everything truly
to the daughter of Ikarios, circumspect Penelope.
For I know well about him, we have suffered the same sad story.
Eumaios goes back
Only now I am afraid of this swarm of rough suitors,
565 whose outrageous violence goes up into the iron
sky. For even now, as I went through the house, doing
no harm, and this man struck me and gave me over to suffering,
Telemachos could not save me from this, nor could any other.
Tell Penelope, therefore, for all her eagerness, to wait
570 for me in the palace until the sun has set. Let her
then question me about her husband's day of homecoming,
giving me a seat close to the fire, since these are wretched
clothes I have. You know this yourself; you are my first patron.’
So he spoke, and the swineherd went, when he heard what he told him.
575 But Penelope said to him as he stepped over the threshold:
‘You do not bring him, Eumaios? What is this vagabond thinking?
Does he fear some indignity, or is he otherwise bashful
about the house? A bashful vagabond makes a bad beggar.’
Then, O swineherd Eumaios, you said to her in answer:
580 ‘He speaks within reason, as another man might think also,
in keeping away from the violence of these insolent men. Therefore
he tells you to wait until after the sun has gone down. For you
yourself also, my queen, this way it will be much better:
to talk in private to the stranger, and hear his story.’
585 Then in turn circumspect Penelope answered him: ‘So it shall be. The stranger's thought is not without good sense,
since never yet among mortal mankind have there been any
men who have been so violent in their wild endeavors.’
So she instructed him, and the noble swineherd went back
590 into the crowd of the suitors, when he had understood all of it.
At once he spoke his winged words to Telemachos, leaning
his head close to him, so that none of the others might hear him:
‘Dear child, I am going back to guard the pigs and that other
livelihood that is yours and mine. Let all be in your charge
595 here. First of all take care of yourself, and be very watchful
against harm to you. There are many Achaians who wish you evil.
May Zeus destroy them before they can make any harm befall us.’
Then the thoughtful Telemachos said to him in answer:
‘So it shall be, my father. Go, when you have had your supper;
600 but come again in the morning, and bring us beautiful victims.
I myself will see to things here, as will the immortals.’
So he spoke, and the other sat down again on a polished
leaving Odysseus in the palace
chair. But when he had his fill of eating and drinking,
he went on back to the pigs, and left the courts and the palace
605 full of banqueters, who took their pleasure in singing
and dancing. By now the later part of the day had come on.