The Odyssey 1732 Studios

Ancient Greek · The Homecoming

Ὀδυσσείας ρ

Book 17. Odysseus Returns to His House as a Beggar

The beggar follows Telemachus to the palace. At the gate the old dog Argos knows his master and dies. Antinous throws a footstool at him.

606 lines · 95 notes

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    When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,

    ἦμοςwhenἦμος · adverbadverbial to φάνη
    δandδέ · particlesentence particle
    ἠριγένειαearly-bornἠριγένεια · nominative singular feminine nounmodifies Ἠώς

    epithet compound (ἦρι + γεν-), "born at dawn," fixed formula for Ἠώς

    φάνηappearedφαίνω · aorist passive indicative, 3rd singular verbadverbial to τότ᾽

    aorist passive of φαίνω, "was made to appear/shone forth" — formulaic dawn-line verb

    ῥοδοδάκτυλοςrosy-fingeredῥοδοδάκτυλος · nominative singular feminine adjectivemodifies Ἠώς

    stock Homeric epithet ῥοδοδάκτυλος, always paired with Ἠώς at line end

    ἨώςDawnἠώς · nominative singular feminine nounsubject of φάνη
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    then indeed Telemachus bound the fine sandals beneath his feet,

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    Telemachus, the dear son of godlike Odysseus,

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    and he took up the strong spear that fit his grip,

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    eager for the city, and he spoke to his swineherd:

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    "Old friend, truly I am going to the city, so that my mother

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    may see me; for I do not think she will leave off before

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    her hateful weeping and tearful lament,

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    until she sees me myself. But to you I give this charge:

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    lead the wretched stranger to the city, so that there

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    he may beg his meal; whoever wishes will give him

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    a crust and a cup. There is no way that I can endure

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    all men, having griefs enough in my own heart.

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    And if the stranger is greatly angered, the worse it will be

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    for him; for I love to speak the truth."

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    Then resourceful Odysseus answered him:

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    "Friend, I myself have no wish to be kept here;

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    it is better for a beggar to beg his meal through the city

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    than through the fields; whoever wishes will give to me.

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    For I am no longer of an age to stay at the steadings,

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    so as to obey a master in everything he commands.

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    But go; this man will lead me, the one you bid,

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    as soon as I have warmed at the fire and the day grows warm.

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    For terribly poor are these clothes I wear; I fear the frost

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    of morning may overcome me; and you say the city is far off."

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    So he spoke, and Telemachus had gone out through the steading,

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    stepping swiftly on his feet, sowing trouble for the suitors.

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    But when he reached the well-built halls,

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    he set the spear he carried against a tall pillar,

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    and went inside himself, and crossed the stone threshold.

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    Far before all others the nurse Eurycleia saw him,

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    as she was spreading fleeces over the elaborate chairs,

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    and bursting into tears she came straight up; and around him the other

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    handmaids of stout-hearted Odysseus gathered,

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    and lovingly kissed his head and shoulders.

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    Then out of her chamber came thoughtful Penelope,

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    like Artemis or golden Aphrodite,

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    and weeping she threw her arms around her dear son,

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    and kissed his head and both his beautiful eyes,

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    and lamenting she spoke winged words to him:

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    "You have come, Telemachus, sweet light. I no longer

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    thought to see you, after you went by ship to Pylos

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    secretly, against my will, for news of your dear father.

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    But come, tell me how you met with the sight of him."

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    Then wise Telemachus answered her in turn:

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    "My mother, do not rouse lament in me, nor stir my heart

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    in my breast, when I have just escaped sheer destruction.

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    But wash yourself, take clean garments upon your body,

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    go up to the upper room with your attendant women,

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    and vow to all the gods that you will offer perfect hecatombs,

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    if Zeus should somehow bring about deeds of requital.

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    But I will go to the assembly, so that I may call

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    a stranger, who followed me here from there as I came.

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    I sent him ahead with my godlike companions,

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    and I bade Peiraeus, leading him to his house,

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    to entertain and honor him kindly, until I should come."

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    So he spoke, and the word remained unwinged for her.

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    And she washed herself, took clean garments upon her body,

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    and vowed to all the gods that she would offer perfect hecatombs,

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    if Zeus should somehow bring about deeds of requital.

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    Then Telemachus went out through the great hall,

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    spear in hand; and two swift dogs followed along with him.

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    And Athena shed a divine grace upon him,

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    and all the people gazed in wonder as he came on.

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    Around him the lordly suitors gathered,

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    speaking fair words, but brooding evil in their hearts.

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    But he then avoided their great crowd,

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    and went where Mentor sat, and Antiphus and Halitherses,

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    who from the beginning were his father's companions;

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    there he went and sat down; and they questioned him on each thing.

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    Then Peiraeus, famed for his spear, came near to them,

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    leading the stranger through the city to the assembly; nor for long

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    did Telemachus turn away from the stranger, but stood beside him.

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    And Peiraeus was first to speak a word to him:

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    "Telemachus, quickly send your women to my house,

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    so that I may send back to you the gifts Menelaus gave you."

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    Then wise Telemachus answered him in turn:

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    "Peiraeus, we do not know how these matters will turn out.

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    If the lordly suitors, in the halls,

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    kill me by stealth and divide all my father's goods,

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    I would rather you keep and enjoy them than one of these men.

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    But if I sow death and doom for them,

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    then gladly bring them to my house, and I will gladly receive them."

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    So speaking, he led the long-suffering stranger to the house.

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    But when they reached the well-built halls,

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    they laid down their cloaks on the chairs and seats,

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    and stepping into the polished bathtubs they washed.

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    And when the handmaids had washed them and anointed them with oil,

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    and had thrown thick cloaks and tunics about them,

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    they stepped out of the baths and sat down on the chairs.

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    A handmaid brought water for the hands and poured it from a pitcher,

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    a fine golden one, over a silver basin,

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    for washing; and she drew a polished table beside them.

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    The honored housekeeper brought bread and set it by them,

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    laying out many dishes, freely giving of her store.

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    And the mother sat across from them by the doorpost of the hall,

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    reclining on a chair, spinning fine threads of yarn.

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    Then they laid their hands on the good things spread ready before them.

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    But when they had put away their desire for drink and food,

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    thoughtful Penelope began to speak among them:

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    "Telemachus, truly I will go up to the upper room

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    and lie down on my bed, which has become for me a thing of grief,

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    always stained with my tears, ever since Odysseus

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    went off with the sons of Atreus to Ilium. But you did not bring yourself,

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    before the lordly suitors came into this house,

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    to tell me clearly of your father's return, if you heard anything."

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    Then wise Telemachus answered her in turn:

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    "Well then, mother, I will tell you the truth.

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    We went to Pylos and to Nestor, shepherd of the people;

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    and he, receiving me in his lofty halls,

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    welcomed me kindly, as a father welcomes his own son

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    come home after long years from far away; so that man

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    tended me kindly, together with his glorious sons.

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    But of stout-hearted Odysseus he said he had never

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    heard a word from any man on earth, alive or dead.

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    Instead he sent me on to Atreus' son, Menelaos famed for the spear,

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    with horses and a chariot well joined together.

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    There I saw Argive Helen, for whose sake so many

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    Argives and Trojans suffered by the will of the gods.

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    Then at once Menelaos, good at the war-cry, asked me

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    what need had brought me to noble Lacedaemon;

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    and I told him the whole truth in full.

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    And then he answered me with these words:

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    'Shame on them! So into the bed of a strong-hearted man

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    they wished to lie, cowards that they are themselves.

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    As when a deer in the thicket of a mighty lion

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    has laid her newborn suckling fawns to sleep,

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    and roams the mountain slopes and grassy glens

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    to graze, and then the lion comes into his lair

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    and looses a hideous doom upon them both —

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    so will Odysseus loose a hideous doom on these men.

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    Would that — by father Zeus, Athena, and Apollo —

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    he were such as once in well-built Lesbos

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    he rose to wrestle Philomeleides out of a quarrel,

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    and threw him hard, so that all the Achaeans rejoiced —

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    such an Odysseus, were he to come among the suitors,

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    they would all find a swift death and a bitter marriage.

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    But as for what you ask and beg of me, I would not

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    speak otherwise, off the point, nor would I deceive you;

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    rather, what the unerring old man of the sea told me,

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    of that I will hide no word from you nor conceal it.

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    He said he had seen him on an island, suffering bitter griefs,

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    in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who holds him there

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    by force; and he cannot reach his native land,

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    for he has no oared ships at hand and no companions

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    to send him on over the broad back of the sea.'

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    So spoke Atreus' son, Menelaos famed for the spear.

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    When this was done I set out for home; and the immortals

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    gave me a fair wind and swiftly sent me to my dear native land."

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    So he spoke, and stirred the heart in her breast.

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    Then godlike Theoklymenos spoke among them:

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    "Honored wife of Laertes' son Odysseus,

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    indeed that man does not know clearly; but mark my word.

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    For I will prophesy to you exactly and conceal nothing:

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    let Zeus now be my witness first among the gods, and this hospitable table,

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    and the hearth of blameless Odysseus, to which I have come,

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    that truly Odysseus is already in his native land,

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    sitting or moving about, learning of these evil deeds,

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    and he is sowing ruin for all the suitors.

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    Such a bird-omen I marked as I sat aboard

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    the well-benched ship, and I called it out to Telemachus."

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    Then wise Penelope answered him in turn:

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    "If only this word of yours, stranger, might come to pass!

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    Then you would soon know my friendship and many gifts

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    from me, so that anyone meeting you would call you blessed."

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    So they spoke such things to one another,

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    while the suitors, in front of Odysseus' hall,

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    were amusing themselves throwing discuses and hunting-spears,

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    on the leveled ground, where they kept up their old insolence.

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    But when it was dinnertime and the flocks came in

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    from the fields on every side, and the usual men led them,

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    then Medon spoke to them; for he above all

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    was the herald they favored, and he attended them at the feast:

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    "Young men, now that you have all delighted your hearts with the games,

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    come to the house, so that we may make ready the feast;

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    for it is no bad thing to take dinner at the proper hour."

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    So he spoke, and they rose and went, obeying his word.

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    And when they reached the well-built halls,

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    they laid their cloaks down on the chairs and seats,

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    and slaughtered great sheep and fat goats,

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    and slaughtered fattened hogs and a cow from the herd,

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    making ready their feast. Meanwhile, from the country toward the town

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    Odysseus and the noble swineherd made ready to go.

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    And the swineherd, leader of men, began to speak among them:

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    "Stranger, since now indeed you are eager to go to the town

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    today, as my master commanded — though for my part I

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    would rather you stayed here to guard the steading;

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    but I respect and fear him, lest later on

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    he scold me; and the rebukes of masters are hard to bear —

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    but come now, let us go; for the day is far

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    spent, and soon toward evening it will be colder for you."

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    Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him:

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    "I know, I understand; you urge what I already have in mind.

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    But let us go, and you lead the whole way.

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    And give me, if you have one anywhere cut and ready, a staff

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    to lean on, since you say the road is very slippery."

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    He spoke, and slung across his shoulders a shabby pouch,

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    full of holes, with a twisted cord for a strap;

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    and Eumaeus gave him a staff to his liking.

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    The two set off, and the dogs and herdsmen stayed

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    to guard the steading behind them; but he led his master to the city

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    looking like a wretched beggar and an old man,

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    leaning on his staff, with miserable rags about his body.

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    But when, walking down the rugged path,

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    they drew near the town and came to the fountain,

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    the well-built, fair-flowing spring where the townsfolk drew their water,

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    which Ithacus and Neritus and Polyctor had made;

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    and around it was a grove of water-loving poplars,

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    in a full circle, and cold water flowed down

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    from a rock on high; and above it an altar had been built

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    to the nymphs, where all wayfarers used to make offerings.

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    There Melanthius, son of Dolius, overtook them,

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    driving goats that stood out among all the herds,

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    for the suitors' dinner; and two herdsmen came with him.

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    Seeing them, he railed at them and spoke insulting words,

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    outrageous and shameful, and he stirred the heart of Odysseus:

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    "Now indeed one scoundrel is leading another scoundrel along,

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    for a god always brings like to like.

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    Where, pray, are you taking this glutton, you wretched swineherd,

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    this loathsome beggar, this spoiler of feasts?

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    who, standing beside many a doorpost, will rub his shoulders raw,

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    begging for scraps, not for swords or cauldrons.

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    If you would give him to me to be a keeper of the steadings

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    and a sweeper of the pens, to carry fresh shoots to the kids,

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    then, drinking whey, he might put some fat on his thigh.

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    But since he has learned only evil ways, he will not be willing

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    to set himself to work, but rather, cringing through the land,

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    he chooses to beg, and so to feed his insatiable belly.

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    But I will tell you outright, and it will surely come to pass:

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    if he comes to the house of godlike Odysseus,

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    many a stool flung from men's hands about his head

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    will wear his ribs raw as he is pelted up and down the hall.

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    So he spoke, and as he passed, in his folly he kicked out

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    at his hip, but he did not knock him off the path,

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    and Odysseus held firm. He pondered within himself

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    whether to rush at him with his club and take his life,

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    or to lift him bodily and dash his head against the ground.

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    But he endured it and held himself in check; and the swineherd,

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    looking him in the face, rebuked him, and prayed aloud, lifting his hands:

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    "Nymphs of the spring, daughters of Zeus, if ever Odysseus

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    burned thigh-pieces to you, wrapped in rich fat,

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    of lambs or kids, fulfill this longing of mine:

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    that he, that man, may come, and a god guide him home.

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    Then he would scatter all the fine airs

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    that you now flaunt in your insolence, forever roaming

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    through the town while worthless herdsmen ruin the flocks."

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    Then Melanthius the goatherd answered him:

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    "For shame! What a thing to say from this cur, skilled in spite!

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    One day I will carry him off on a black, well-benched ship,

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    far from Ithaca, where he might fetch me a good price.

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    Would that Apollo of the silver bow might strike Telemachus

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    this very day in the halls, or be brought down by the suitors,

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    just as Odysseus has lost his day of homecoming, far away."

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    So saying, he left them coming on at their slow pace,

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    while he himself went on and quickly reached the master's house.

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    At once he went inside and sat down among the suitors,

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    across from Eurymachus, for him he loved the most.

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    Those who were serving set a portion of meat before him,

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    and the honored housekeeper brought and set bread beside him

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    to eat. Now Odysseus and the noble swineherd

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    drew near and halted, and around them came the sound

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    of the hollow lyre, for Phemius was lifting his voice

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    to sing. Then Odysseus took the swineherd by the hand and said:

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    "Eumaeus, surely this is the fine house of Odysseus,

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    easy to recognize, and to pick out among many.

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    One part follows on another, and the courtyard is finished

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    with a wall and coping, and the double doors are well-fenced,

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    stoutly made. No man could storm it by force.

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    And I see that many men are holding a feast within,

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    for the savor of fat rises, and the lyre

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    rings out, which the gods have made the companion of the feast."

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    Then, swineherd Eumaeus, you answered him:

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    "You judged it rightly, for in other things too you are no fool.

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    But come, let us consider how these matters shall go.

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    Either you go in first to the well-built house

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    and enter among the suitors, while I stay behind here;

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    or, if you wish, wait here, and I will go ahead.

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    But do not linger, in case someone outside should notice you

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    and throw something or strike you. I bid you weigh this well."

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    Then the much-enduring noble Odysseus answered him:

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    "I know, I understand; you bid one who already grasps it.

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    Go on ahead, and I will stay behind here.

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    I am no stranger to blows or to things thrown at me.

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    My heart is steeled, for I have suffered many evils

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    on the waves and in war; let this be added to the rest.

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    But there is no hiding the belly in its craving,

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    the cursed thing, which gives men so much evil,

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    for whose sake even the well-benched ships are fitted out

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    over the barren sea, carrying ruin to enemies."

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    So they spoke such things to one another;

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    and a dog lying there raised his head and ears,

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    Argos, the dog of much-enduring Odysseus, whom long ago he himself

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    had reared, but never enjoyed; before that, to sacred Ilium

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    he had gone. In earlier days the young men used to take him out

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    after wild goats and deer and hares.

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    But now he lay neglected, his master gone away,

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    in deep dung, which before the doorway

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    of mules and oxen lay heaped in plenty, until

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    the slaves of Odysseus could cart it off to dung the great field.

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    There lay the dog Argos, full of ticks.

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    But then, as soon as he sensed Odysseus near,

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    he wagged his tail and dropped both his ears,

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    but he no longer had the strength to come closer

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    to his master. And Odysseus, looking aside, wiped away a tear,

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    easily hiding it from Eumaeus, and at once he asked him:

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    "Eumaeus, it is a real wonder, this dog lying in the dung.

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    His build is handsome; but this I cannot tell for certain,

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    whether along with this fine looks he was also swift to run,

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    or whether he was merely one of those table dogs

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    that masters keep for the sake of looks."

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    Then, swineherd Eumaeus, you answered him:

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    "This is indeed the dog of a man who died far away.

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    If he were such in body and in deeds

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    as when Odysseus left him behind, going to Troy,

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    you would soon marvel to see his speed and strength.

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    No wild beast he chased could escape him

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    in the depths of the deep wood, for he was keen on the scent.

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    But now he is held by misery, and his master far from home

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    has perished, and the careless women give him no thought.

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    Slaves, when their masters no longer rule over them,

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    are no longer willing to do their work as they should.

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    For far-seeing Zeus takes away half a man's worth

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    from a man, once the day of slavery takes hold of him."

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    So saying, he went into the well-built house,

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    and made straight through the hall to the proud suitors.

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    But as for Argos, the doom of black death seized him

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    the moment he had seen Odysseus, in the twentieth year.

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    Godlike Telemachus was the very first to see him,

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    the swineherd, coming through the hall, and quickly then

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    he nodded and called him over; and Eumaeus, glancing about, took a stool

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    that lay there, where the carver used to sit cutting much meat

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    as he carved for the suitors feasting through the house;

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    he carried it and set it down by Telemachus' table,

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    facing him, and there he himself sat down; and to him the herald

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    took a portion and set it before him, and lifted bread from the basket.

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    Close behind him Odysseus came into the house,

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    looking like a wretched beggar and an old man,

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    leaning on his staff, and the sorry rags were wrapped about his body.

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    He sat down on the ash-wood threshold inside the doors,

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    leaning against a cypress doorpost, which once a carpenter

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    had planed with skill and trued straight to the line.

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    Telemachus called the swineherd over to him and spoke,

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    taking a whole loaf from the lovely basket

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    and as much meat as his hands could hold cupped together:

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    "Take these and give them to the stranger, and tell him

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    to beg, going round to every one of the suitors;

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    shame is no good companion for a man in need."

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    So he spoke, and the swineherd went, when he heard the order,

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    and standing close beside him spoke winged words:

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    "Stranger, Telemachus gives you these, and tells you

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    to beg, going round to every one of the suitors;

  352. 352

    he says shame is no good thing in a man who must ask alms."

  353. 353

    Then resourceful Odysseus answered him:

  354. 354

    "Lord Zeus, may Telemachus be blessed among men,

  355. 355

    and may all that his heart desires come to pass for him."

  356. 356

    He spoke, and took it in both hands and laid it down

  357. 357

    there before his feet, upon the shabby wallet,

  358. 358

    and ate while the bard was singing through the hall;

  359. 359

    by the time he had finished his meal, the divine bard left off.

  360. 360

    The suitors made an uproar through the hall. But Athena,

  361. 361

    standing close beside Laertes' son Odysseus,

  362. 362

    urged him to gather bread among the suitors,

  363. 363

    and learn which of them were decent and which were lawless;

  364. 364

    yet even so she did not mean to spare a single one from ruin.

  365. 365

    He went begging from each man, moving rightward,

  366. 366

    stretching out his hand on all sides, as if he had long been a beggar.

  367. 367

    They gave out of pity, and marveled at him,

  368. 368

    and asked one another who he was and where he came from.

  369. 369

    Then Melanthius, the goatherd, spoke among them:

  370. 370

    "Hear me, you suitors of the glorious queen,

  371. 371

    about this stranger; for I have seen him before.

  372. 372

    It was the swineherd, to be sure, who led him here,

  373. 373

    but the man himself I do not know clearly, where he claims his race is from."

  374. 374

    So he spoke, and Antinous abused the swineherd with words:

  375. 375

    "You notorious swineherd, why on earth did you bring this fellow

  376. 376

    to the town? Have we not vagrants enough already,

  377. 377

    tiresome beggars, the spoilers of feasts?

  378. 378

    Do you make light of it that they gather here and eat up

  379. 379

    your master's living, that you have called in this one too?"

  380. 380

    Then you answered him, swineherd Eumaeus:

  381. 381

    "Antinous, you do not speak well, noble though you are;

  382. 382

    for who ever goes himself to summon a stranger from abroad,

  383. 383

    some other man, unless he is one of those who serve the people,

  384. 384

    a seer, or a healer of ills, or a worker of timber,

  385. 385

    or even an inspired bard, who can delight with his song?

  386. 386

    These are the ones men invite over the boundless earth;

  387. 387

    but no one would call in a beggar to eat him out of house.

  388. 388

    But you are always the harshest of all the suitors

  389. 389

    toward Odysseus' servants, and most of all toward me. Yet I, for my part,

  390. 390

    do not care, so long as prudent Penelope

  391. 391

    lives in the halls, and godlike Telemachus."

  392. 392

    Then wise Telemachus said to him in answer:

  393. 393

    "Hush, do not answer this man with many words;

  394. 394

    Antinous is forever picking quarrels cruelly

  395. 395

    with harsh words, and he eggs on the others too."

  396. 396

    Then he spoke winged words to Antinous:

  397. 397

    "Antinous, how kindly you care for me, like a father for his son,

  398. 398

    you who order the stranger driven from the hall

  399. 399

    with a word of force. May no god bring that to pass.

  400. 400

    Take and give to him; I do not grudge it, I bid you do it.

  401. 401

    Do not, in this, hold back out of regard for my mother, nor for any other

  402. 402

    of the servants who are in the house of godlike Odysseus.

  403. 403

    But you have no such thought in your breast;

  404. 404

    you would far rather eat yourself than give to another."

  405. 405

    Then Antinous answered him in turn:

  406. 406

    "Telemachus, you windy talker, reckless in your spirit, what a thing to say!

  407. 407

    If all the suitors gave him as much as I would,

  408. 408

    this house would keep him off and away for three whole months."

  409. 409

    So he spoke, and seizing the footstool he brought it out from under the table

  410. 410

    where it lay, on which he rested his sleek feet as he banqueted.

  411. 411

    But all the others gave, and filled the wallet

  412. 412

    with bread and meat; and soon Odysseus

  413. 413

    was about to go back to the threshold and taste the Achaeans' gifts,

  414. 414

    but he stopped beside Antinous and spoke to him:

  415. 415

    "Give, friend; you seem to me not the worst of the Achaeans,

  416. 416

    but the best, since you look like a king.

  417. 417

    So you ought to give bread, even more freely than the others,

  418. 418

    and I will spread your fame over the boundless earth.

  419. 419

    For I too once dwelt in a house among men,

  420. 420

    a rich man in a wealthy home, and often I gave to the wanderer,

  421. 421

    whoever he might be and in whatever need he came;

  422. 422

    I had servants beyond counting, and many other things besides

  423. 423

    by which men live well and are called wealthy.

  424. 424

    But Zeus, son of Cronos, laid it all waste—for so he wished, I suppose—

  425. 425

    who sent me off with far-roaming pirates

  426. 426

    to go to Egypt, a long voyage, that I might perish there.

  427. 427

    I moored my curved ships in the river of Egypt.

  428. 428

    There, to be sure, I ordered my trusty companions

  429. 429

    to stay by the ships and guard them,

  430. 430

    and I sent scouts off to the lookout points.

  431. 431

    But they, giving way to insolence and yielding to their own impulse,

  432. 432

    at once began to ravage the lovely fields of the Egyptian men,

  433. 433

    and carried off the women and little children,

  434. 434

    and killed the men; and quickly the outcry reached the city.

  435. 435

    Hearing the shout, they came at the showing of dawn;

  436. 436

    the whole plain was filled with foot-soldiers and horses

  437. 437

    and the flash of bronze; and Zeus who delights in thunder

  438. 438

    cast cowardly panic on my comrades, and none dared

  439. 439

    to stand and face them; for ruin closed in on every side.

  440. 440

    There they killed many of us with the sharp bronze,

  441. 441

    and others they led away alive, to do forced labor for them.

  442. 442

    But me they gave to a stranger who met them, to take to Cyprus,

  443. 443

    Dmetor son of Iasus, who ruled Cyprus with might.

  444. 444

    From there I have now come here, suffering hardships.

  445. 445

    Then Antinous answered him and said:

  446. 446

    "What god has brought this plague upon us, this spoiler of our feast?

  447. 447

    Stand off there in the middle, away from my table,

  448. 448

    or you may soon reach a bitter Egypt and Cyprus.

  449. 449

    What a bold and shameless beggar you are!

  450. 450

    You stand by each man in turn, and they give to you

  451. 451

    recklessly, since there is no restraint, no pity,

  452. 452

    in giving away another's goods, when plenty lies at hand for each."

  453. 453

    Then, drawing back, Odysseus of many wiles replied to him:

  454. 454

    "For shame! So your looks and your wits do not match after all.

  455. 455

    From your own house you would not give even a pinch of salt to your servant,

  456. 456

    you who now, sitting at another man's table, could not bear

  457. 457

    to take a scrap of bread and give it to me, though plenty lies here."

  458. 458

    So he spoke, and Antinous grew angrier still in his heart,

  459. 459

    and glaring darkly at him he spoke winged words:

  460. 460

    "Now I think you will no longer pass back out through the hall

  461. 461

    in good order, since you fling insults at me as well."

  462. 462

    So he spoke, and seizing a footstool he struck the right shoulder,

  463. 463

    low on the back. But Odysseus stood firm as a rock,

  464. 464

    unmoved; the missile of Antinous did not stagger him,

  465. 465

    but in silence he shook his head, brooding evil deep within.

  466. 466

    He went back to the threshold and sat down there, and set down his wallet,

  467. 467

    well-filled, and spoke among the suitors:

  468. 468

    "Hear me, you suitors of the glorious queen,

  469. 469

    that I may say what the heart in my breast commands.

  470. 470

    Truly there is no grief in the mind, no sorrow,

  471. 471

    when a man, fighting in defense of his own possessions,

  472. 472

    is struck, whether over his cattle or his white sheep.

  473. 473

    But Antinous struck me for the sake of my wretched belly,

  474. 474

    that accursed thing, which gives men so many evils.

  475. 475

    Yet if anywhere there are gods and Furies for beggars,

  476. 476

    may the doom of death find Antinous before his marriage."

  477. 477

    Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, answered him:

  478. 478

    "Eat in peace, stranger, where you sit, or go off elsewhere,

  479. 479

    lest the young men drag you through the house for what you say,

  480. 480

    by a foot or a hand, and strip the skin from all of you."

  481. 481

    So he spoke, but they were all exceedingly indignant,

  482. 482

    and one of the arrogant young men would say:

  483. 483

    "Antinous, you did wrong to strike that wretched wanderer.

  484. 484

    Doomed man, what if he should be some heavenly god?

  485. 485

    For the gods, in the likeness of strangers from far lands,

  486. 486

    taking all kinds of forms, range through the cities,

  487. 487

    watching over the insolence and the good order of men."

  488. 488

    So spoke the suitors, but he paid no heed to their words.

  489. 489

    Telemachus nursed a great grief in his heart

  490. 490

    for the man struck, yet he let no tear fall to the ground from his eyes,

  491. 491

    but in silence he shook his head, brooding evil deep within.

  492. 492

    Now when wise Penelope heard of him,

  493. 493

    struck in the hall, she spoke among her serving women:

  494. 494

    "May Apollo, famed for his bow, strike you down in the same way!"

  495. 495

    Then Eurynome the housekeeper said to her:

  496. 496

    "If only an end might come in answer to our prayers!

  497. 497

    Then not one of these men would reach fair-throned Dawn."

  498. 498

    Then wise Penelope answered her:

  499. 499

    "Nurse, they are all hateful to me, for they plot evil,

  500. 500

    but Antinous most of all is like black death.

  501. 501

    Some luckless stranger wanders through the house,

  502. 502

    begging from the men, for need drives him on.

  503. 503

    There all the others filled his wallet and gave to him,

  504. 504

    but this man hurled a footstool low at his right shoulder."

  505. 505

    So she spoke among her serving women,

  506. 506

    seated in her chamber, while noble Odysseus was eating his dinner.

  507. 507

    Then she called the noble swineherd to her and spoke:

  508. 508

    "Go, noble Eumaeus, and bid the stranger

  509. 509

    come, so that I may greet him and ask him

  510. 510

    whether perhaps he has heard of much-enduring Odysseus

  511. 511

    or seen him with his eyes; for he seems much-traveled."

  512. 512

    Then you answered her, Eumaeus the swineherd:

  513. 513

    "If only, my queen, the Achaeans would fall silent!

  514. 514

    Such tales he tells, he would charm the dear heart within you.

  515. 515

    For three nights I kept him, three days I held him

  516. 516

    in my hut; for to me he came first when he fled from his ship.

  517. 517

    Yet still he had not finished telling of his troubles.

  518. 518

    As when a man gazes at a singer who, taught by the gods,

  519. 519

    sings words of longing to mortals,

  520. 520

    and they yearn endlessly to hear him whenever he sings,

  521. 521

    so he charmed me as he sat beside me in my hut.

  522. 522

    He says he is a guest-friend of Odysseus's house from of old,

  523. 523

    dwelling in Crete, where the race of Minos lives.

  524. 524

    From there he has now come here, suffering hardships,

  525. 525

    tumbling onward. He vows he has heard of Odysseus,

  526. 526

    near at hand, in the rich land of the Thesprotians,

  527. 527

    alive; and he is bringing many treasures home."

  528. 528

    Then wise Penelope answered him:

  529. 529

    "Go, call him here, that he may tell it to my face.

  530. 530

    Let these men amuse themselves, sitting at the doors

  531. 531

    or here within the house, since their hearts are merry.

  532. 532

    For their own goods lie untouched in their homes,

  533. 533

    their bread and sweet wine; their servants eat those,

  534. 534

    while they come to our house day after day,

  535. 535

    slaughtering our oxen and sheep and fat goats,

  536. 536

    and feast and drink the gleaming wine,

  537. 537

    recklessly; and much is consumed. For there is no man,

  538. 538

    such as Odysseus was, to keep ruin from the house.

  539. 539

    But if Odysseus should come and reach his native land,

  540. 540

    soon, with his son, he would take vengeance for the men's violence."

  541. 541

    So she spoke, and Telemachus sneezed loudly, and all around the house

  542. 542

    rang terribly. And Penelope laughed,

  543. 543

    and at once she spoke winged words to Eumaeus:

  544. 544

    "Go now, call the stranger here before me.

  545. 545

    Do you not see how my son sneezed at all my words?

  546. 546

    By this no half-doom of death will fall on the suitors,

  547. 547

    on every one; not one will escape death and the fates.

  548. 548

    And another thing I will tell you; lay it to heart:

  549. 549

    if I find that he tells all things truthfully,

  550. 550

    I will clothe him in a cloak and tunic, fine garments."

  551. 551

    So she spoke, and the swineherd went off, once he had heard her words;

  552. 552

    and standing close he spoke winged words to him:

  553. 553

    "Stranger, father, prudent Penelope calls for you,

  554. 554

    the mother of Telemachus; her heart bids her ask you something

  555. 555

    about her husband, sorely as she has already suffered grief.

  556. 556

    And if she finds that you tell her the whole truth without error,

  557. 557

    she will clothe you in a cloak and tunic, the very things you

  558. 558

    need most; and for bread, by begging through the district

  559. 559

    you will feed your belly; whoever wishes will give to you."

  560. 560

    Then much-enduring noble Odysseus answered him:

  561. 561

    "Eumaeus, I would readily tell the whole truth without error

  562. 562

    to the daughter of Icarius, prudent Penelope;

  563. 563

    for I know much about that man, and we have shared the same misery.

  564. 564

    But I dread the throng of these hard suitors,

  565. 565

    whose violence and outrage reach the iron heaven.

  566. 566

    For even now, when this man, as I went through the house

  567. 567

    doing no harm, struck me and gave me over to pain,

  568. 568

    neither Telemachus nor anyone else warded it off.

  569. 569

    So now bid Penelope wait within the halls,

  570. 570

    eager though she is, until the sun has set;

  571. 571

    and then let her ask me about her husband's day of return,

  572. 572

    seating me closer beside the fire; for the clothes I have

  573. 573

    are wretched. You know it yourself, since I first came to you as a suppliant."

  574. 574

    So he spoke, and the swineherd went off, once he had heard his words.

  575. 575

    And as he stepped over the threshold Penelope addressed him:

  576. 576

    "You are not bringing him, Eumaeus. What does the wanderer mean by this?

  577. 577

    Is he afraid of someone overbearing, or is he otherwise

  578. 578

    ashamed to come through the house? A bashful wanderer is a bad thing."

  579. 579

    Then you answered her, Eumaeus the swineherd:

  580. 580

    "He speaks fittingly, just as anyone else would think,

  581. 581

    shunning the outrage of overbearing men.

  582. 582

    He bids you wait until the sun has set.

  583. 583

    And it is far better for you yourself this way, O queen,

  584. 584

    to speak a word to the stranger alone and to hear him in return."

  585. 585

    Then prudent Penelope answered him in turn:

  586. 586

    "The stranger is no fool; he guesses how things may well be.

  587. 587

    For surely there are no mortal men anywhere

  588. 588

    who in their insolence devise such reckless outrages."

  589. 589

    So she spoke, and the noble swineherd went off

  590. 590

    into the throng of suitors, since he had told her everything.

  591. 591

    At once he spoke winged words to Telemachus,

  592. 592

    holding his head close, so that the others would not overhear:

  593. 593

    "Dear friend, I am going off to guard the pigs and those things out there,

  594. 594

    your livelihood and mine; you take charge of everything here.

  595. 595

    First of all keep yourself safe, and take care in your heart

  596. 596

    that no harm comes to you; many of the Achaeans plot evil,

  597. 597

    whom may Zeus destroy before disaster comes upon us."

  598. 598

    Then wise Telemachus answered him in turn:

  599. 599

    "So it shall be, old friend; but go now, after your evening meal;

  600. 600

    and at dawn come and bring fine victims for sacrifice;

  601. 601

    all these things will be the care of me and the immortals."

  602. 602

    So he spoke, and the other sat down again on the well-polished stool,

  603. 603

    and when he had filled his heart with food and drink

  604. 604

    he set off to go back to the pigs, leaving the courtyard and the hall

  605. 605

    full of feasters; and they were taking their delight in dancing and song,

  606. 606

    for by now the evening hour of day had come on.

The particulars

The text
Ὀδύσσεια, Homer. The Homecoming.
Translation
Public-domain Greek (Homer, ancient; text via the Perseus Digital Library). English translation © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC.
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Two whoopie pies and a pine. An inside joke.