The Odyssey 1732 Studios

Ancient Greek · The Homecoming

Ὀδυσσείας τ

Book 19. Penelope and the Beggar; The Recognition of the Scar

Penelope questions the beggar. The old nurse Eurycleia washes his feet, finds the boar's scar, and knows him. Penelope tells her dream of the geese.

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    But noble Odysseus stayed behind in the hall,

    Metre

    αὐτὰρbutἀτάρ · particlesentence particle
    ὁheὁ · articlemodifies Ὀδυσσεύς
    ἐνinἐν · prepositionpreposition
    μεγάρῳhallμέγαρον · dative singular neuter nounadverbial to ἐν
    ὑπελείπετοstayed behindὑπολείπω · imperfect medio-passive indicative, 3rd singular verbmain verb

    Middle voice ὑπελείπετο marks Odysseus lingering of his own accord, not being left.

    δῖοςnobleδῖος · nominative singular masculine adjectivemodifies Ὀδυσσεύς

    δῖος is the stock epithet for Odysseus, filling the line-end formula.

    ὈδυσσεύςOdysseusὈδυσσεύς · nominative singular masculine nounsubject of ὑπελείπετο
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    plotting the suitors' slaughter together with Athena;

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    and at once he spoke winged words to Telemachus:

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    "Telemachus, we must store the weapons of war away inside,

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    every one of them. And when the suitors miss them and question you,

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    put them off with soft words, the moment they ask after them, longing for them.

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    Say: 'I stowed them clear of the smoke, since they no longer looked like

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    those that Odysseus left behind when he set out for Troy,

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    but were tarnished, as far as the breath of the fire had reached them.

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    And on top of that a god has put this greater fear in my heart:

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    that you might somehow, sodden with wine, set a quarrel going among yourselves,

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    and wound one another and bring shame on the feast

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    and the wooing; for iron of itself draws a man on.'"

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    So he spoke, and Telemachus obeyed his dear father,

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    and calling out the nurse Eurycleia he said to her:

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    "Nurse, come now, shut the women up for me inside the halls,

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    so that I may store away in the chamber my father's fine

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    armor, which neglected throughout the house the smoke is dulling

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    while my father is away; and I was still a child then.

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    Now I want to store it where the breath of the fire will not reach it."

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    Then his dear nurse Eurycleia answered him:

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    "If only, child, you would at last take up such good sense

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    as to care for the house and guard all its possessions.

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    But come, who then will go with you to carry the light?

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    You would not let the serving-women come forward who might have given light."

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    Then wise Telemachus answered her in turn:

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    "This stranger here; for I will not tolerate an idle man who lays a hand

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    on my grain-ration, even one come from far away."

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

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    She barred the doors of the well-built halls.

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    Then the two of them sprang up, Odysseus and his glorious son,

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    and carried inside the helmets and the bossed shields

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    and the sharp-pointed spears; and before them Pallas Athena,

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    holding a golden lamp, made a light wondrously fair.

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    Then at once Telemachus spoke to his father:

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    "Father, truly this is a great marvel my eyes behold.

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    Surely the walls of the halls and the fair crossbeams,

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    the rafters of fir, and the pillars rising high,

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    shine before my eyes as if with blazing fire.

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    Surely some god is within, of those who hold the wide heaven."

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    Then Odysseus of many devices answered him:

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    "Hush, hold it within your mind and ask no questions.

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    This, you see, is the way of the gods who hold Olympus.

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    But go you and lie down, while I stay behind here,

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    so that I may stir up the serving-women and your mother still further;

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    and she in her grief will question me about each thing."

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    So he spoke, and Telemachus went out through the hall

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    to lie down in his chamber, by the light of blazing torches,

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    where before he used to sleep whenever sweet sleep came over him;

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    there then he lay down too and waited for bright Dawn.

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    But noble Odysseus stayed behind in the hall,

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    plotting the suitors' slaughter together with Athena.

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    Then wise Penelope came down from her chamber,

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    like Artemis or golden Aphrodite.

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    For her they set a chair beside the fire, where she would sit,

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    inlaid with ivory and silver; once a craftsman

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    had made it, Icmalius, and fitted a footstool beneath for the feet,

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    joined to the chair itself, over which a great fleece was thrown.

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    There then wise Penelope sat down.

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    And the white-armed serving-women came from the hall.

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    They cleared away the abundant food and the tables

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    and the cups from which the overbearing men had been drinking;

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    and they threw the fire from the braziers down to the ground, and on them

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    heaped much fresh wood, to give light and warmth.

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    Then Melantho reviled Odysseus a second time again:

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    "Stranger, will you still keep on plaguing us here through the night,

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    roaming about the house and ogling the women?

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    Get out the door, you wretch, and be content with your dinner;

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    or soon you will be struck with a firebrand and go out the door."

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    Then with a scowl Odysseus of many devices answered her:

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    "You strange woman, why do you set upon me like this, with such a spiteful heart?

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    Is it because I am filthy, and wear shabby clothes on my body,

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    and beg through the land? Necessity drives me to it.

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    Such are beggars and homeless wandering men.

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    For I too once lived in a house among men,

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    blessed and rich, and often I gave to a wanderer,

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    whatever sort he was and with whatever need he came.

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    I had servants past counting, and many other things

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    by which men live well and are called wealthy.

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    But Zeus the son of Cronus ruined it—for so, I suppose, he willed.

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    So now, woman, beware lest you too one day lose all

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    the splendor in which you now outshine the serving-women;

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    lest somehow your mistress grow angry and turn harsh on you,

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    or Odysseus come; for there is still a portion of hope.

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    And even if he has perished so, and is no longer to return,

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    still by Apollo's grace he has such a son,

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    Telemachus; and not one of the women in the halls

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    escapes his notice when she misbehaves, since he is no longer so young."

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    So he spoke, and wise Penelope heard him,

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    and she rebuked the maid, spoke a word and called her by name:

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    "Bold creature, shameless bitch, you do not escape me at all,

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    doing this great wrong, which you will wipe off onto your own head.

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    For you knew all of it well, since you heard it from me myself,

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    how I intended in my own halls

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    to question the stranger about my husband, since I am sharply grieved."

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    She spoke, and addressed Eurynome the housekeeper:

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    "Eurynome, bring a chair now and a fleece upon it,

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    so that the stranger may sit and speak his word and listen

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    to me; for I wish to question him."

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    So she spoke, and the woman very briskly brought and set down

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    a polished chair, and threw a fleece upon it;

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    there then much-enduring noble Odysseus sat down.

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    And wise Penelope began the talk among them:

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    "Stranger, this first I myself will ask you:

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    who among men are you, and from where? Where is your city and your parents?"

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    Then Odysseus of many devices answered her:

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    "Lady, no mortal upon the boundless earth

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    could find fault with you; for indeed your fame reaches the wide heaven,

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    like that of some blameless king, who god-fearing

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    and ruling over many strong men

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    upholds good judgments, and the black earth bears for him

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    wheat and barley, and the trees are heavy with fruit,

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    the flocks bring forth without fail, and the sea yields fish

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    under his good rule, and the people flourish beneath him.

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    So ask me now about all else here in your house,

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    but do not probe into my lineage and my native land,

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    lest you fill my heart still fuller with sorrows

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    as I remember; I am a man of much grieving. And it is not right for me

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    to sit weeping and wailing in a house not my own,

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    since it is the worse thing to mourn endlessly without measure;

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    lest one of the maids be angry with me, or you yourself,

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    and say I drift in tears because my wits are heavy with wine.

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    Then wise Penelope answered him:

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    "Stranger, truly my excellence, my looks and my form,

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    the immortals destroyed when the Argives embarked for Ilium,

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    and among them went my husband Odysseus.

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    If he were to come and take charge of my life again,

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    then greater would my fame be, and fairer thus.

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    But now I grieve, so many are the evils a god has loosed upon me.

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    For all the noblest who hold power over the islands,

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    over Dulichium and Same and wooded Zacynthus,

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    and those who dwell about Ithaca itself, clear in the sun,

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    they woo me against my will and waste away my house.

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    So I take no heed of strangers, nor of suppliants,

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    nor at all of heralds, who do the people's work;

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    but longing for Odysseus I melt away my own heart.

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    They press for the marriage, but I spin out my schemes.

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    First a god breathed into my mind the thought of a robe:

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    I set up a great loom in the hall and began to weave,

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    a fine web of vast measure; and at once I said to them:

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    'Young men, my suitors, since noble Odysseus is dead,

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    hold back, though you press my marriage, until I finish this robe—

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    let not my spinning be wasted and the threads come to nothing—

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    a shroud for the hero Laertes, against the time when

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    the ruinous doom of death that lays men low takes hold of him;

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    so that none of the Achaean women in the land may blame me

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    if he lay without a winding-sheet, who had won so much.'

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    So I spoke, and their proud hearts were persuaded.

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    Then by day I would weave at the great loom,

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    but at night, once I had set torches by, I would unravel it.

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    So for three years I went unseen and persuaded the Achaeans;

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    but when the fourth year came and the seasons rolled round,

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    as the months waned and many days were accomplished,

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    then indeed, through my maids—shameless dogs—

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    they came upon me and caught me, and rebuked me with their words.

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    So I finished it, against my will, under compulsion.

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    And now I can neither escape the marriage nor find any other

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    scheme; my parents press me hard

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    to marry, and my son chafes as they devour his living,

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    knowing it well; for he is now a man fully able

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    to care for a household, one to whom Zeus grants honor.

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    But even so, tell me your lineage, where you come from.

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    For you are not sprung from the oak of old story, nor from a rock."

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    Then resourceful Odysseus answered her:

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    "Honored wife of Odysseus, son of Laertes,

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    will you never cease asking after my birth?

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    Well, I will tell you—though you will give me over to sorrows

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    more than I already hold; for that is the way, when a man

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    has been gone from his homeland as long as I now have,

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    wandering over many cities of men, suffering pains.

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    But even so I will tell you what you ask and inquire of me.

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    There is a land called Crete, in the midst of the wine-dark sea,

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    fair and rich, washed round by the sea; and in it the people are

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    many, past counting, and there are ninety cities.

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    Tongue mingles with tongue: there are Achaeans,

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    and great-hearted true Cretans, and Cydonians,

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    Dorians in three tribes, and noble Pelasgians.

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    Among them is Knossos, a great city, where Minos

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    reigned nine years at a time, the confidant of mighty Zeus,

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    the father of my father, great-hearted Deukalion.

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    Deukalion fathered me and lord Idomeneus;

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    but he went off to Ilium in the beaked ships

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    with the sons of Atreus, while my own famous name is Aethon,

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    the younger born; he was the elder and the better man.

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    There it was that I saw Odysseus and gave him guest-gifts.

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    For the force of the wind had driven him down to Crete

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    as he made for Troy, carrying him off course past Malea;

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    it set him at Amnisos, where the cave of Eileithyia stands,

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    in difficult harbors, and he barely escaped the storms.

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    At once he went up to the town and asked for Idomeneus,

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    for he said he was his guest-friend, dear and honored.

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    But for Idomeneus the tenth or eleventh dawn had already come

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    since he had gone off to Ilium in the beaked ships.

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    So I led Odysseus to my house and entertained him well,

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    kindly making him welcome, for there was plenty in my house;

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    and for the rest of his companions, who followed along with him,

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    I gathered barley from the people's store and gave it, and gleaming wine,

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    and oxen to sacrifice, that they might content their hearts.

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    There the noble Achaeans stayed twelve days,

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    for a great North Wind, Boreas, penned them in, and would not let them

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    stand even on the land—some harsh god had roused it.

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    On the thirteenth the wind fell, and they put out to sea."

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    He spoke, telling many lies that seemed like the truth,

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    and as she listened her tears flowed and her face was wet.

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    As snow melts down upon the high mountain peaks,

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    which the East Wind has thawed when the West Wind pours it down,

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    and as it melts the rivers run full and flowing—

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    so her fair cheeks melted as she shed her tears,

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    weeping for her own husband, who sat beside her. But Odysseus

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    pitied in his heart his weeping wife,

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    yet his eyes stood as if of horn or iron,

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    unmoving in their lids; by guile he held back his tears.

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    But when she had had her fill of tearful lament,

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    she answered him once more and spoke to him with words:

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    "Now, stranger, I think I will put you to the test,

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    whether in truth, there with your godlike companions,

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    you really hosted my husband in your halls, as you say.

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    Tell me what sort of clothing he wore about his body,

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    what he himself was like, and the companions who followed him."

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    Then resourceful Odysseus answered her:

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    "Lady, it is hard to speak of him after so long an absence,

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    for it is now the twentieth year

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    since he went away from there and left my homeland behind;

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    yet I will tell you how my heart pictures him.

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    Noble Odysseus wore a cloak of purple wool,

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    doubled over; and on it was fashioned a brooch of gold

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    with twin sheaths for the pin; and on its face was a marvel of craft:

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    in its forepaws a hound held a dappled fawn,

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    gripping it as it writhed; and everyone marveled at it,

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    how, though they were of gold, the one throttled the fawn as it gripped it,

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    while the other, straining to escape, struggled with its feet.

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    And I noticed the tunic, glistening on his body,

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    fine as the skin of a dried onion:

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    so soft it was, and bright as the sun;

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    indeed many women gazed at him in wonder.

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    And I will tell you something else, and lay it up in your heart:

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    I do not know whether Odysseus wore these clothes at home,

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    or whether some comrade gave them to him as he went aboard the swift ship,

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    or perhaps some host, since to many men Odysseus

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    was dear; for few of the Achaeans were his equal.

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    And I myself gave him a bronze sword and a double cloak,

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    a fine purple one, and a tunic reaching to his feet,

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    and with full honor I sent him off on his well-benched ship.

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    Moreover a herald attended him, a little older than himself,

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    and I will describe to you what sort of man he was.

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    Round-shouldered he was, dark-skinned, with curly hair,

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    and Eurybates was his name; Odysseus honored him above the rest

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    of his comrades, because his mind matched his own."

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    So he spoke, and stirred in her still more the longing to weep,

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    as she recognized the sure tokens that Odysseus described to her.

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    And when she had had her fill of tearful lament,

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    then she answered him with these words:

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    "Now, stranger, though before this you were merely pitiable,

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    you shall be dear and honored in my halls;

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    for it was I myself who gave him those clothes you describe,

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    folding them from the storeroom, and I fastened on the shining brooch

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    to be his glory. But I shall not welcome him again

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    coming home to his own dear native land.

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    It was by an evil fate that Odysseus, in his hollow ship,

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    went off to look upon Evil-Ilion, name not to be spoken."

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    Then resourceful Odysseus answered her:

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    "Honored wife of Odysseus, son of Laertes,

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    do not mar your fair skin any longer, nor waste your heart away

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    with weeping for your husband. Yet I do not blame you at all;

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    for any woman mourns when she has lost

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    her wedded husband, to whom she bore children in love,

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    even one other than Odysseus, who they say was like the gods.

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    But cease your weeping, and mark my words:

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    for I will tell you truly and will hide nothing,

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    how I have already heard of the homecoming of Odysseus,

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

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    alive; and he is bringing many fine treasures,

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    begging them through the land. But his trusty comrades

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    he lost, along with his hollow ship, on the wine-dark sea,

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    as he came from the island of Thrinacia; for angry with him were

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    both Zeus and the Sun, because his comrades had killed the Sun's cattle.

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    They all perished in the surging sea;

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    but the wave cast him upon his ship's keel onto dry land,

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    into the country of the Phaeacians, who are kin to the gods,

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    and they honored him heartily like a god,

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    and gave him much, and were eager themselves to escort him

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    home unharmed. And Odysseus would long ago

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    have been here; but to his heart this seemed the better course:

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    to gather wealth, traveling over the wide earth;

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    so far beyond all mortal men in the ways of gain

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    does Odysseus know, nor could any other mortal rival him.

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    So Pheidon, king of the Thesprotians, told me;

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    and he swore to me, pouring libation in his house,

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    that the ship was drawn down and the crew made ready,

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    who would convey him to his own dear native land.

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    But me he sent off first, for a ship happened to be sailing,

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    a ship of Thesprotian men, bound for Dulichium rich in wheat.

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    And he showed me the treasures Odysseus had gathered;

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    they would keep a man's heirs to the tenth generation,

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    so many were the heirlooms lying there in the king's halls.

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    And he said that Odysseus had gone to Dodona, so that from the god's

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    high-leafed oak he might hear the counsel of Zeus,

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    how he should return to his own dear native land,

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    after so long an absence, whether openly or in secret.

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    So he is safe and will come back even now,

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    very near at hand, and no longer far from his friends and his native land

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    will he be kept away for long; yet I will give you my oath upon it.

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    Let Zeus be my witness now first, highest and best of the gods,

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

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    truly all this shall be brought to pass as I declare.

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    Within this very year Odysseus will come here,

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    as one month wanes and the next begins."

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    Then prudent Penelope answered him:

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    "Ah, stranger, would that this word might be fulfilled!

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    Then you would soon know my kindness and many gifts

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    from me, so that whoever met you would call you blessed.

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    But in my heart I have a foreboding of how it will be:

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    Odysseus will never come home again, nor will you obtain

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    an escort, since there are no such masters in this house

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    as Odysseus was among men — if ever he truly was —

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    to send honored guests on their way and to receive them.

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    But come, maids, wash him and spread a bed for him,

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    with bedding and cloaks and gleaming coverlets,

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    so that warm and comfortable he may reach golden-throned Dawn.

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    And at daybreak, very early, bathe him and anoint him,

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    so that within, beside Telemachus, he may take thought of his meal,

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    seated in the hall; and it shall be the worse for any of those men

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    who vexes this man to the heart's hurt; he will accomplish nothing

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    more here, however terribly enraged he may be.

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    For how, stranger, will you learn of me whether at all

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    I surpass other women in understanding and shrewd counsel,

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    if you dine unkempt and clad in rags in the halls?

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    Human beings are short-lived creatures.

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    Whoever is himself harsh and harsh in his thoughts,

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    on him all mortals call down sorrows for the time to come

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    while he lives; and once he is dead all men mock at him.

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    But whoever is himself blameless and knows what is blameless,

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    his wide fame strangers carry abroad

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    among all peoples, and many call him noble.

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    Then resourceful Odysseus answered her:

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    Honored lady, wife of Odysseus son of Laertes,

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    truly cloaks and glossy rugs have become hateful to me

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    ever since I first left the snowy mountains of Crete

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    behind me, going aboard a ship with long oars,

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    and so I will lie, as before, through sleepless nights;

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    for many nights now on a wretched bed

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    I have spent, and waited for the bright-throned, holy Dawn.

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    Nor are foot-washings any pleasure to my heart;

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    no woman shall touch my foot

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    of those who serve as maids throughout your house,

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    unless there is some aged crone, wise and devoted,

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    one who has endured in her heart as much as I myself.

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    Her I would not begrudge to touch my feet.

  349. 349

    Then prudent Penelope answered him in turn:

  350. 350

    Dear stranger, never yet has any man so thoughtful

  351. 351

    of guests from distant lands come dear to my house,

  352. 352

    so shrewdly and so sensibly do you speak in all things.

  353. 353

    I have an old woman with a shrewd and steady mind,

  354. 354

    who well nourished that ill-fated man and reared him,

  355. 355

    taking him in her hands when his mother first bore him.

  356. 356

    She shall wash your feet, frail though she now is.

  357. 357

    Come now, rise up, prudent Eurycleia,

  358. 358

    and wash this man, your master's age-mate. And surely Odysseus

  359. 359

    is by now such as this in his feet and such in his hands;

  360. 360

    for swiftly do mortals grow old in misfortune.

  361. 361

    So she spoke, and the old woman covered her face with her hands,

  362. 362

    and let fall warm tears, and uttered a mournful word:

  363. 363

    Alas for you, my child, helpless that I am! Surely Zeus

  364. 364

    hated you above all men, god-fearing though your heart was.

  365. 365

    For no mortal ever burned for Zeus who delights in thunder

  366. 366

    so many rich thigh-pieces nor such choice hecatombs

  367. 367

    as you used to give him, praying that you might reach

  368. 368

    a sleek old age and rear your glorious son.

  369. 369

    But now from you alone he has taken away the day of homecoming.

  370. 370

    So perhaps even at him the women mocked,

  371. 371

    women of distant hosts, when he came to some famous house,

  372. 372

    just as these bitches here all jeer at you,

  373. 373

    whose insolence and many disgraces you now avoid

  374. 374

    by not letting them wash you. But me, not unwilling, bids

  375. 375

    the daughter of Icarius, prudent Penelope.

  376. 376

    Therefore I will wash your feet, both for Penelope's own sake

  377. 377

    and for yours, since the heart within me is stirred

  378. 378

    with grief. But come now, attend to the word I speak:

  379. 379

    Many sorely-tried strangers have come here,

  380. 380

    but I declare I have never yet seen any so alike

  381. 381

    as you are in build and voice and feet to Odysseus.

  382. 382

    Then resourceful Odysseus answered her:

  383. 383

    Old woman, so indeed say all who have seen with their eyes

  384. 384

    the two of us, that we are very like

  385. 385

    each other, just as you yourself shrewdly observe.

  386. 386

    So he spoke, and the old woman took the gleaming cauldron

  387. 387

    in which she would wash his feet, and poured in much water,

  388. 388

    cold, and then added hot on top. But Odysseus

  389. 389

    sat away by the hearth and quickly turned toward the dark;

  390. 390

    for at once he feared in his heart that, taking hold of him,

  391. 391

    she might notice the scar and his secret be laid bare.

  392. 392

    She came close and began to wash her master; and at once she knew

  393. 393

    the scar, which once a boar had dealt him with its white tusk

  394. 394

    when he had gone to Parnassus to visit Autolycus and his sons,

  395. 395

    his mother's noble father, who surpassed all men

  396. 396

    in thievery and in oaths; the god himself had granted it,

  397. 397

    Hermes; for to him he burned welcome thigh-pieces

  398. 398

    of lambs and kids; and the god went readily at his side.

  399. 399

    Now Autolycus, having come to the rich land of Ithaca,

  400. 400

    found a child newly born to his daughter;

  401. 401

    and Eurycleia set him upon his dear knees

  402. 402

    as he finished his supper, and spoke and addressed him:

  403. 403

    Autolycus, now find yourself a name to give

  404. 404

    your child's dear child; he is much prayed-for.

  405. 405

    Then Autolycus answered her and said:

  406. 406

    My son-in-law and my daughter, give him the name I shall tell:

  407. 407

    since I come here having been angered at many,

  408. 408

    both men and women, across the bountiful earth,

  409. 409

    let his name be 'Odysseus.' And as for me,

  410. 410

    when he has grown to manhood and comes to the great house

  411. 411

    of his mother's people on Parnassus, where my possessions lie,

  412. 412

    of these I will give him, and send him off rejoicing.

  413. 413

    For these gifts Odysseus came, that Autolycus might give him splendid presents.

  414. 414

    Him then Autolycus and the sons of Autolycus

  415. 415

    greeted with their hands and with gentle words;

  416. 416

    and his mother's mother, Amphithea, embracing Odysseus,

  417. 417

    kissed his head and both his lovely eyes.

  418. 418

    And Autolycus called upon his glorious sons

  419. 419

    to prepare a meal; and they heeded his urging,

  420. 420

    and at once led in a five-year-old bull;

  421. 421

    they flayed it and dressed it and cut it all up,

  422. 422

    and skillfully chopped it small and pierced it on spits,

  423. 423

    and roasted it carefully, and divided out the portions.

  424. 424

    So then all day long until the sun went down

  425. 425

    they feasted, and their hearts lacked nothing of the equal feast;

  426. 426

    but when the sun had set and darkness came on,

  427. 427

    then they lay down and took the gift of sleep.

  428. 428

    And when early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,

  429. 429

    they set out to the hunt, both the hounds and they themselves,

  430. 430

    the sons of Autolycus; and among them noble Odysseus

  431. 431

    went; and they climbed the steep mountain clothed in forest,

  432. 432

    Parnassus, and soon reached its windy folds.

  433. 433

    Then the Sun had just begun to strike the fields,

  434. 434

    risen from the gently-flowing, deep-streamed Ocean,

  435. 435

    and the beaters came to a glen; and ahead of them

  436. 436

    went the dogs, searching out the tracks, while behind

  437. 437

    came the sons of Autolycus; and among them noble Odysseus

  438. 438

    went close behind the hounds, brandishing his long-shadowing spear.

  439. 439

    There in a dense thicket a great boar lay couched;

  440. 440

    through it neither the force of the wet, blowing winds could pierce,

  441. 441

    nor did the blazing Sun strike it with his rays,

  442. 442

    nor did the rain pierce it through; so dense

  443. 443

    was it, and within lay a great drift of fallen leaves.

  444. 444

    Then the noise of the feet of men and dogs came about him,

  445. 445

    as they pressed on in the hunt; and he came out to meet them from the thicket,

  446. 446

    bristling his mane well, and with fire glaring in his eyes,

  447. 447

    and stood right beside them; and first of all Odysseus

  448. 448

    rushed forward, lifting his long spear in his stout hand,

  449. 449

    eager to strike; but the boar got in first and gashed him

  450. 450

    above the knee, and tore away much flesh with his tusk

  451. 451

    as he charged sideways, but did not reach the man's bone.

  452. 452

    But Odysseus struck him, hitting his mark on the right shoulder,

  453. 453

    and the point of the shining spear went straight through;

  454. 454

    and he fell down in the dust with a squeal, and his life flew away.

  455. 455

    Then the dear sons of Autolycus busied themselves about the boar,

  456. 456

    and the wound of noble, godlike Odysseus

  457. 457

    they bound up skillfully, and with a chant the dark blood

  458. 458

    they stopped, and quickly they came to the house of their dear father.

  459. 459

    Then Autolycus and the sons of Autolycus,

  460. 460

    having healed him well and given him splendid gifts,

  461. 461

    swiftly sent him rejoicing to his dear homeland,

  462. 462

    to Ithaca. There his father and his honored mother

  463. 463

    rejoiced at his return and asked him about everything,

  464. 464

    about the scar, what he had suffered; and he told them well

  465. 465

    how a boar had gashed him with its white tusk while he hunted,

  466. 466

    when he had gone to Parnassus with the sons of Autolycus.

  467. 467

    This scar the old woman took in the flat of her hands,

  468. 468

    and recognized it as she felt it, and let the foot drop;

  469. 469

    the leg fell into the basin, and the bronze rang out,

  470. 470

    and it tipped over to the other side, and the water spilled out on the ground.

  471. 471

    Joy and pain together seized her heart, and her two eyes

  472. 472

    filled with tears, and her strong voice was checked.

  473. 473

    She touched his chin and spoke to Odysseus:

  474. 474

    "Truly you are Odysseus, dear child; and I

  475. 475

    did not know you before, before I had felt all over my master."

  476. 476

    She spoke, and looked toward Penelope with her eyes,

  477. 477

    wishing to point out that her dear husband was within.

  478. 478

    But she could neither look across at her nor notice anything,

  479. 479

    for Athena had turned her mind aside; meanwhile Odysseus,

  480. 480

    groping with his hand, caught her by the throat with his right,

  481. 481

    and with the other drew her close to himself, and spoke:

  482. 482

    "Nurse, why do you want to destroy me? You yourself reared me

  483. 483

    at your own breast; and now, after suffering many pains,

  484. 484

    I have come in the twentieth year to my homeland.

  485. 485

    But since you have perceived it and a god has put it in your heart,

  486. 486

    be silent, so that no one else in the halls may learn of it.

  487. 487

    For I will speak out thus, and it will surely be brought to pass:

  488. 488

    if a god should subdue the lordly suitors beneath my hand,

  489. 489

    not even you, my nurse though you are, will I spare, when the other

  490. 490

    serving-women in my halls I am killing."

  491. 491

    Then wise Eurycleia answered him:

  492. 492

    "My child, what a word has escaped the barrier of your teeth!

  493. 493

    You know what my spirit is — steadfast and unyielding;

  494. 494

    I will hold firm like some solid stone or iron.

  495. 495

    And I will tell you another thing, and you lay it to your heart:

  496. 496

    if a god should subdue the lordly suitors beneath you,

  497. 497

    then I will name for you the women in the halls,

  498. 498

    both those who dishonor you and those who are guiltless."

  499. 499

    Then much-scheming Odysseus answered her:

  500. 500

    "Nurse, why would you name them? You have no need to.

  501. 501

    I myself will note them well and learn each one;

  502. 502

    but keep your story in silence, and leave it to the gods."

  503. 503

    So he spoke, and the old woman went out through the hall

  504. 504

    to fetch water for the feet, for the first had all been spilled.

  505. 505

    But when she had washed him and anointed him richly with oil,

  506. 506

    Odysseus drew his stool again closer to the fire

  507. 507

    to warm himself, and hid the scar beneath his rags.

  508. 508

    Then wise Penelope began to speak among them:

  509. 509

    "Stranger, this much more I will ask you myself,

  510. 510

    for indeed the hour of sweet rest will soon be here,

  511. 511

    for anyone whom sweet sleep may take, troubled though he be.

  512. 512

    But to me a god has given grief beyond measure;

  513. 513

    for by day I find relief in mourning, in lamenting,

  514. 514

    looking to my own tasks and to the maids in the house;

  515. 515

    but when night comes, and sleep takes hold of all,

  516. 516

    I lie in my bed, and thick about my throbbing heart

  517. 517

    sharp cares stir me up as I lament.

  518. 518

    As when the daughter of Pandareus, the pale-green nightingale,

  519. 519

    sings beautifully when spring is newly come,

  520. 520

    perched among the thick leaves of the trees,

  521. 521

    she who, shifting her notes often, pours out her many-toned voice,

  522. 522

    mourning her dear child Itylus, whom once with the bronze

  523. 523

    she killed through folly, the son of lord Zethus —

  524. 524

    so too my own heart is stirred in two directions, this way and that,

  525. 525

    whether I should stay beside my son and keep all things secure,

  526. 526

    my property, my slaves, and my great high-roofed house,

  527. 527

    respecting my husband's bed and the talk of the people,

  528. 528

    or whether now I should follow whoever of the Achaeans is best,

  529. 529

    who woos me in the halls, offering countless bride-gifts.

  530. 530

    While my son was still a child and light of mind,

  531. 531

    he would not let me marry and leave my husband's house;

  532. 532

    but now that he is grown and reaching the full measure of youth,

  533. 533

    he even prays that I will go back out of the house,

  534. 534

    grieving for his property, which the Achaeans are devouring.

  535. 535

    But come now, interpret this dream for me, and listen.

  536. 536

    Twenty geese in my house eat wheat

  537. 537

    from out of the water, and I am warmed at heart watching them;

  538. 538

    but a great eagle with a hooked beak came down from the mountain

  539. 539

    and broke the necks of all of them and killed them; and they lay scattered

  540. 540

    in a heap in the halls, and he was lifted up into the bright sky.

  541. 541

    But I wept and wailed, even though it was in a dream,

  542. 542

    and the fair-haired Achaean women gathered about me,

  543. 543

    as I mourned piteously that the eagle had killed my geese.

  544. 544

    But back he came and perched on a jutting roof-beam,

  545. 545

    and with a human voice he checked me and spoke:

  546. 546

    'Take courage, daughter of far-famed Icarius:

  547. 547

    this is no dream, but a true waking vision that will come to pass for you.

  548. 548

    The geese are the suitors, and I, who before was a bird,

  549. 549

    an eagle, am now in turn your own husband come home,

  550. 550

    who will bring upon all the suitors a shameful doom.'

  551. 551

    So he spoke, and honey-sweet sleep released me;

  552. 552

    and looking out I saw the geese in the hall,

  553. 553

    feeding on wheat from the trough, where they were before.

  554. 554

    Answering her, Odysseus of many devices said:

  555. 555

    Lady, there is no way to read this dream

  556. 556

    by twisting it aside, since Odysseus himself

  557. 557

    has shown you how he will fulfill it: destruction is revealed for the suitors,

  558. 558

    for every one of them, and none will escape death and the fates.

  559. 559

    Then thoughtful Penelope answered him in turn:

  560. 560

    Stranger, dreams are baffling and their speech is hard to judge,

  561. 561

    and not everything in them comes to pass for mortals.

  562. 562

    For there are two gates of insubstantial dreams:

  563. 563

    the one is fashioned of horn, the other of ivory.

  564. 564

    Of these, the ones that come through the sawn ivory

  565. 565

    deceive us, carrying words that will not be fulfilled;

  566. 566

    but those that come out through the polished horn

  567. 567

    bring true things to pass, whenever a mortal sees them.

  568. 568

    But I do not think my dread dream came to me

  569. 569

    from there — though it would be welcome to me and to my son.

  570. 570

    Another thing I will tell you, and lay it up in your heart:

  571. 571

    this coming dawn is the ill-named one, that will part me

  572. 572

    from the house of Odysseus; for now I will set up a contest,

  573. 573

    the axes, which in his own halls that man

  574. 574

    used to set up in a row, like the props of a ship, twelve in all;

  575. 575

    then standing far off he would shoot an arrow through them.

  576. 576

    Now I will set this contest before the suitors:

  577. 577

    whoever most easily strings the bow in his hands

  578. 578

    and shoots an arrow through all twelve axes,

  579. 579

    him I will follow, forsaking this house,

  580. 580

    my bridal home, so beautiful and full of livelihood;

  581. 581

    a house I think I will remember even in my dreams.

  582. 582

    Answering her, Odysseus of many devices said:

  583. 583

    Revered lady, wife of Odysseus son of Laertes,

  584. 584

    do not put off this contest any longer in your halls;

  585. 585

    for Odysseus of many devices will come here

  586. 586

    before these men, handling the polished bow,

  587. 587

    can string its cord and shoot an arrow through the iron.

  588. 588

    Then thoughtful Penelope answered him in turn:

  589. 589

    If you were willing, stranger, sitting beside me in the halls

  590. 590

    to give me pleasure, no sleep would be poured over my eyes.

  591. 591

    But it is not possible for people to be forever

  592. 592

    sleepless; for the immortals have set a due measure

  593. 593

    for each thing for mortals upon the grain-giving earth.

  594. 594

    But I, for my part, will go up to my upper chamber

  595. 595

    and lie down on my bed, which has become a place of groaning,

  596. 596

    ever stained with my tears, ever since Odysseus

  597. 597

    went off to look on Evil-Ilion, not to be named.

  598. 598

    There let me lie; but you lie down somewhere in this house,

  599. 599

    either spreading bedding on the floor, or let them lay you a bed.

  600. 600

    So saying she went up to her shining upper rooms,

  601. 601

    not alone, for the other handmaids went with her.

  602. 602

    And going up to the upper room with her serving women

  603. 603

    she then wept for Odysseus, her dear husband, until

  604. 604

    bright-eyed Athena cast sweet sleep upon her eyelids.

The particulars

The text
Ὀδύσσεια, Homer. The Homecoming.
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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.