The Odyssey 1732 Studios

Ancient Greek · The Telemachy

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Book 2. The Assembly at Ithaca; Telemachus Sets Sail

Telemachus calls the first assembly in twenty years and asks the suitors to go. They mock him. Athena finds him a ship, and he sails by night.

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  1. 1

    When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered,

    ἦμοςwhenἦμος · conjunctionsubordinating conjunction
    δandδέ · particlecoordinating word
    ἠριγένειαearly-bornἠριγένεια · nominative singular feminine nounmodifies Ἠώς

    Epic epithet fixed with Dawn; formulaic, not freely applied to other nouns.

    φάνηappearedφαίνω · aorist passive indicative, 3rd singular verbadverbial to ἦμος
    ῥοδοδάκτυλοςrosy-fingeredῥοδοδάκτυλος · nominative singular feminine adjectivemodifies Ἠώς

    Classic Homeric formula 'rosy-fingered Dawn,' repeated verbatim throughout the epic.

    ἨώςDawnἠώς · nominative singular feminine nounsubject of φάνη
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    the dear son of Odysseus rose from his bed,

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    put on his clothes, and slung his sharp sword over his shoulder,

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    and beneath his shining feet bound his fine sandals,

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    and went out from his chamber, in face like a god.

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    At once he ordered the clear-voiced heralds

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    to summon the long-haired Achaeans to assembly.

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    They made the summons, and the people gathered very quickly.

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    But when they had assembled and were gathered together,

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    he set out to go to the assembly, holding a bronze spear in his hand,

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    not alone: two swift hounds followed along with him.

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    And Athena poured a marvelous grace over him.

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    All the people gazed in wonder at him as he came;

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    he sat in his father's seat, and the elders made way.

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    Then the hero Aegyptius was first among them to speak,

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    a man bent with age, who knew countless things.

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    For his own dear son had gone with godlike Odysseus

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    to Ilium of fine horses, in the hollow ships,

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    the spearman Antiphus; the savage Cyclops killed him

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    in the hollow cave, and made him his last supper.

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    He had three other sons, and one kept company with the suitors,

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    Eurynomus, while two always worked their father's lands.

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    Yet even so he did not forget that one, mourning and grieving.

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    Shedding tears for him, he spoke up and addressed them:

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    "Hear me now, men of Ithaca, whatever I shall say.

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    Never has there been an assembly of ours or a session

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    since godlike Odysseus departed in the hollow ships.

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    Who has now called us together so? What such need has come

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    upon any of the young men, or upon those who are older?

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    Has he heard some report of an army on the march,

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    which he might tell us clearly, since he learned of it first?

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    Or is there some other public matter he means to declare and speak of?

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    He seems to me a good man, and blessed. May Zeus

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    bring to fulfillment for him the good that he intends in his heart."

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    So he spoke, and the dear son of Odysseus rejoiced at the omen,

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    and no longer sat still, but was eager to speak.

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    He stood up in the middle of the assembly; the herald put the staff

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    into his hand, Pisenor, who knew wise counsels.

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    First, then, addressing the old man, he said:

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    "Old man, that man is not far off—you yourself will soon know him—

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    who called the people together: it is I, on whom grief most weighs.

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    I have not heard any report of an army on the march

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    which I might tell you clearly, having learned of it first,

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    nor do I declare or speak of any other public matter,

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    but of my own need, the evil that has fallen on my house—

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    twofold: first, I have lost my noble father, who once among you

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    here was king, and was gentle as a father;

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    and now, again, a far greater thing, which soon will utterly

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    shatter my whole house and destroy my living altogether.

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    Suitors press upon my mother against her will,

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    the dear sons of those men who are the noblest here,

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    who shrink from going to the house of her father

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    Icarius, so that he himself might dower his daughter

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    and give her to whom he wished, whoever came pleasing to him.

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    Instead they keep coming to our house, day after day,

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    slaughtering our oxen and sheep and fat goats,

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    they feast and drink the gleaming wine

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

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    such as Odysseus was, to ward off ruin from the house.

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    We are not such as to fend it off; and even hereafter

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    we shall be wretched and untrained in defense.

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    Truly I would defend myself, if only the power were in me.

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    For deeds no longer bearable have been done, and no longer well

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    has my house been ruined. Feel indignation yourselves,

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    and have shame before the other neighboring peoples

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    who dwell around us; and dread the wrath of the gods,

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    lest they turn things around in anger at evil deeds.

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    I implore you, by Olympian Zeus and by Themis,

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    who both dissolves the assemblies of men and seats them:

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    hold back, friends, and leave me alone to waste away

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    in bitter grief—unless somehow my noble father Odysseus

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    in enmity did evil to the well-greaved Achaeans,

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    for which you now do evil to me in return, in enmity,

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    urging these men on. It would be better for me

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    that you yourselves devour my treasures and my livestock.

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    If you were to eat them, there might one day be recompense;

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    for then through the town I would press my plea with words,

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    demanding back my goods, until all were repaid.

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    But now you cast upon my heart sorrows past remedy."

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    So he spoke in anger, and dashed the staff to the ground,

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    bursting into tears; and pity seized all the people.

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    Then all the others were silent, and no one dared

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    to answer Telemachus with harsh words;

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    only Antinous answered him, saying:

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    "Telemachus, loud talker, uncontrolled in spirit, what a thing you have said,

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    shaming us! You would fasten blame upon us.

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    But the suitors of the Achaeans are in no way to blame for you;

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    it is your own dear mother, who beyond all knows her cunning.

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    For it is now the third year, and the fourth will soon come,

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    since she has been thwarting the heart in the breasts of the Achaeans.

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    She gives all of them hope, and makes promises to each man,

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    sending out messages, but her mind intends other things.

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    And she devised in her mind this other trick:

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    she set up a great loom in the halls and began to weave,

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    a fine web of vast extent; and at once she said to us:

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

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    be patient, though eager for my marriage, until I finish

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    this cloth—so that my spinning not be wasted in vain—

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    a shroud for the hero Laertes, for the time when

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    the ruinous doom of grievous death shall lay him low,

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    lest some Achaean woman of the land blame me,

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    if he should lie without a shroud, who had won so much.'

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    So she spoke, and our proud hearts were persuaded.

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    Then by day she would weave at the great loom,

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

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    So for three years she escaped notice by the trick and won the Achaeans' trust;

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    but when the fourth year came and the seasons returned,

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    then one of the women, who knew clearly, told us,

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    and we caught her unraveling the splendid web.

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    So she finished it, against her will, under compulsion.

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    So this is the answer the suitors give you, that you may know it

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    yourself in your own heart, and that all the Achaeans may know it too:

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    send your mother away, and command her to marry

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    whomever her father bids and whoever pleases her.

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    But if she keeps on vexing the sons of the Achaeans for a long time,

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    intent in her heart on the gifts that Athena granted her above all others—

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    skill in surpassingly beautiful handiwork, and a noble mind,

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    and cunning wiles such as we never heard of even among the women of old,

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    among those who lived before, the fair-haired Achaean women,

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    Tyro and Alcmene and Mycene of the lovely crown—

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    of these not one had thoughts to match Penelope's;

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    yet in this one thing her scheming was not fitting.

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    For just so long will they devour your livelihood and your goods,

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    as long as she keeps this purpose that the gods are now

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    putting in her breast. Great glory she wins

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    for herself, but for you only the longing for much substance lost.

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    We will not go off to our own work nor anywhere else

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    until she marries the one of the Achaeans she chooses.

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    Then wise Telemachus answered him in turn:

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    "Antinous, there is no way I can thrust from my house against her will

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    the one who bore me, who reared me. My father is somewhere far off in the world,

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    alive or dead; and it would be hard to pay back so much

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    to Icarius, if of my own accord I send my mother away.

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    For from her father I will suffer evils, and a god will send

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    others, since my mother will call down the hateful Furies

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    as she leaves the house; and from men there will be indignation

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    against me. So I will never speak that word.

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    But if your own hearts feel any indignation at this,

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    get out of my halls, and busy yourselves with other feasts,

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    eating your own goods, taking turns from house to house.

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    But if this seems to you more profitable and better—

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    to ruin one man's livelihood without recompense—

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    then waste it; but I will cry out to the gods who live forever,

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    in hope that Zeus may grant deeds of requital to be done.

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    Then without recompense you would perish inside this house."

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    So spoke Telemachus, and for him far-seeing Zeus sent two eagles

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    flying down from on high, from a mountain peak.

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    For a while the two flew on with the breath of the wind,

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    close to each other, wings spread wide;

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    but when they reached the middle of the loud-voiced assembly,

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    there they wheeled about and shook their thick-feathered wings,

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    and looked down on the heads of all, and their gaze foretold destruction;

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    and tearing with their talons at each other's cheeks and necks

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    they darted to the right, across the houses and the city of the people.

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    They marveled at the birds when they saw them with their eyes,

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    and pondered in their hearts what these things were destined to bring about.

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    Then the old hero Halitherses spoke among them,

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    son of Mastor; for he alone of his generation excelled

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    in knowing birds and declaring what was fated;

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    with good intent toward them he addressed the assembly and spoke:

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    "Hear me now, men of Ithaca, in what I have to say;

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    and to the suitors above all I declare and speak these things:

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    for upon them a great calamity rolls down; for Odysseus

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    will not be far from his own much longer, but already somewhere

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    being near, he is sowing murder and death for all of them;

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    and there will be evil for many others too

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    of us who dwell in clear-skied Ithaca. But long before that

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    let us take thought how we may put a stop to them; let them also of their own accord

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    cease; for this is at once the better course for them.

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    For I do not prophesy untried, but with sure knowledge:

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    indeed for that man I say all has been fulfilled

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    just as I foretold to him, when the Argives were embarking

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    for Ilion, and resourceful Odysseus went among them.

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    I said that after suffering many evils, having lost all his companions,

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    unknown to all, in the twentieth year

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    he would come home; and now all this is being fulfilled."

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    Then Eurymachus, son of Polybus, answered him in turn:

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    "Old man, come now, go home and prophesy to your own children,

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    lest somehow they suffer harm hereafter;

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    in these things I am a far better prophet than you.

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    Many birds range about beneath the sun's rays,

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    but not all are meaningful. As for Odysseus,

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    he has perished far away, as you too should have perished with him—

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    would you had! Then you would not be spouting so much prophecy,

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    nor would you be inciting Telemachus in his anger,

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    expecting some gift for your house, if he should give one.

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    But I will speak out to you, and this will surely come to pass:

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    if you, who know much of old and ancient things,

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    beguiling a younger man with your words, urge him to be harsh,

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    first of all it will be the more grievous for him,

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    and he will be able to accomplish nothing at all on account of these men;

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    and on you, old man, we will lay a fine, that in your heart

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    you may grieve to pay; and the pain will be hard for you.

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    And to Telemachus, before you all, I myself give this counsel:

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    let him bid his mother go back to her father's house;

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    and they will arrange the marriage and provide the bridal gifts,

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    very many, such as should go with a beloved daughter.

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    For I do not think the sons of the Achaeans will cease before then

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    from their grievous wooing, since we fear no one at all,

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    neither Telemachus, for all his flood of words,

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    nor do we heed the prophecy that you, old man,

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    utter to no purpose—and you grow more hateful still.

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    His goods will be wickedly devoured, and there will never be

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    requital, so long as she keeps the Achaeans waiting on

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    her marriage; and we, awaiting it day after day,

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    contend with one another for the sake of her excellence, nor do we go after other women

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    whom it would be fitting for each of us to marry."

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    Then wise Telemachus answered him in turn:

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    "Eurymachus, and you others, all you proud suitors,

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    of these things I no longer entreat you nor make speeches;

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    for now the gods know them, and all the Achaeans.

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    But come, give me a swift ship and twenty companions,

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    who may accomplish my voyage for me this way and that.

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    For I will go to Sparta and to sandy Pylos

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    to learn of the homecoming of my father, long gone away,

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    in case some mortal may tell me, or I may hear a rumor

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    from Zeus, which above all brings men tidings of fame.

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    If I hear that my father is alive and homeward bound,

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    then, worn down though I am, I would still endure for a year;

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    but if I hear that he is dead and no longer living,

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    then, returning home to my dear native land,

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    I will heap up a grave-mound for him and pay the funeral rites due him,

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    many of them, as is fitting, and I will give my mother to a husband.

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    When he had spoken so, he sat down, and among them rose up

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    Mentor, who was the companion of blameless Odysseus,

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    and to whom, as he sailed away in his ships, he had entrusted his whole house,

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    to obey the old man and to keep everything safe and sound.

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    He, with good will toward them, addressed the assembly and spoke:

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    "Hear me now, men of Ithaca, in what I have to say.

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    Let no sceptered king from now on be kindly, gentle, and mild,

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    nor mindful in his heart of what is right,

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    but let him always be harsh and do what is wicked,

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    since no one remembers godlike Odysseus

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    among the people he ruled, though he was gentle as a father.

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    Yet I do not so much begrudge the proud suitors

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    for doing their violent deeds in the malice of their minds;

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    for it is their own heads they stake when they devour by force

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    the house of Odysseus, whom they say will come home no more.

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    But now I am indignant at the rest of the people, how you all

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    sit in silence, and never with words of rebuke

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    do you restrain the few suitors, though you are many."

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    Then Leiocritus son of Euenor answered him:

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    "Mentor, you mischief-maker, out of your wits, what a thing to say,

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    urging them to hold us back! It is a hard thing

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    to fight over a feast against men who are even more in number.

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    For even if Odysseus of Ithaca himself were to come

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    and long in his heart to drive out of the hall the proud suitors

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    feasting throughout his house,

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    his wife would take no joy in his coming, however much she longed for him,

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    but right there he would meet an unseemly death,

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    if he fought against numbers. You have not spoken as is fitting.

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    But come, let the people scatter, each to his own work,

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    and Mentor and Halitherses can speed this fellow on his journey,

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    they who from the first are his father's companions.

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    But I think that, sitting still a long while, he will wait for news

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    here in Ithaca, and will never accomplish this voyage."

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    So he spoke, and quickly broke up the assembly.

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    They scattered then, each to his own home,

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    and the suitors went to the house of godlike Odysseus.

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    But Telemachus, walking off alone to the shore of the sea,

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    washed his hands in the gray brine and prayed to Athena:

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    "Hear me, you god who came yesterday to our house

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    and bade me go in a ship over the misty sea

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    to seek news of the homecoming of my father, long gone away —

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    all this the Achaeans hinder,

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    and most of all the suitors in their wicked arrogance."

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    So he spoke in prayer, and Athena came near to him,

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    in the likeness of Mentor both in form and in voice,

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    and she spoke and addressed him with winged words:

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    "Telemachus, you will be neither base nor witless in the days to come,

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    if indeed your father's noble strength is instilled in you,

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    such a man as he was, to accomplish both deed and word;

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    then this journey of yours will be neither vain nor unfulfilled.

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    But if you are not the offspring of him and of Penelope,

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    then I have no hope you will accomplish what you long for.

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    For few are the sons who turn out equal to their fathers;

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    most are worse, and few are better than their father.

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    But since you will be neither base nor witless in the days to come,

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    and the cunning of Odysseus has not wholly failed you,

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    there is hope, then, that you will accomplish these deeds.

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    So now let go the plan and purpose of the suitors,

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    the senseless ones, for they are neither prudent nor just;

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    they have no knowledge of death and the black doom,

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    which is now close upon them, to perish all in a single day.

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    The journey you long for will not long be delayed;

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    for I am such a friend of your father's house,

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    I who will fit out a swift ship for you and come along myself.

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    But go now to the house and mingle with the suitors,

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    and make ready provisions, and stow everything in vessels —

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    wine in two-handled jars, and barley meal, the marrow of men,

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    in close-sewn skins. And I will go through the land and gather

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    volunteer companions quickly. There are many ships

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    in sea-girt Ithaca, both new and old;

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    of these I will pick out for you the one that is best,

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    and quickly making her ready we will launch her on the broad sea."

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    So spoke Athena, daughter of Zeus. And Telemachus no longer

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    lingered, once he had heard the voice of the goddess.

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    He set out for the house, his dear heart heavy with grief,

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    and there he found the proud suitors in the halls,

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    flaying goats and singeing fat hogs in the court.

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    Antinous came straight up to Telemachus, laughing,

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    and clasped his hand, and spoke and called him by name:

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    "Telemachus, you windy talker, unbridled in your rage, let no other

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    wicked deed or word be brewing in your breast,

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    but eat and drink with me, as you used to do before.

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    All these things the Achaeans will surely accomplish for you —

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    a ship and chosen oarsmen, so that you may come the sooner

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    to sacred Pylos, after news of your noble father."

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    Then wise Telemachus answered him in turn:

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    "Antinous, there is no way, among you overbearing men,

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    to feast in silence and take my ease in peace.

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    Is it not enough that before this you wasted much fine

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    property of mine, you suitors, while I was still a child?

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    But now that I am grown, and by listening to others' words

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    I learn the truth, and the spirit swells within me,

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    I will try to hurl evil dooms upon you,

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    whether I go to Pylos, or stay here among this people.

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    Go I will — and the voyage I speak of will not be in vain —

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    as a passenger; for I have command of neither ship nor oarsmen

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    of my own; so, I suppose, it seemed more to your advantage."

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    He spoke, and snatched his hand out of the hand of Antinous,

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    easily; and the suitors busied themselves with the feast throughout the house.

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    And they mocked and taunted him with their words.

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    And thus would one of the overbearing young men speak:

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    "Surely Telemachus is plotting murder against us;

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    he means to bring helpers from sandy Pylos,

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    or even from Sparta, so terribly does he long to go;

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    or he means to go to Ephyra, that rich land,

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    to bring back from there a life-destroying drug,

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    and cast it into the wine-bowl and kill us all."

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    And another of the arrogant young men would say in turn:

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    "Who knows whether he too, sailing off in his hollow ship,

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    may perish far from his friends, wandering, just as Odysseus did?

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    That way he would only add still more to our trouble,

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    for then we would divide all his goods among us, and his house

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    we would give to his mother to keep, and to whoever married her."

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    So they spoke. But he went down into his father's high-roofed storeroom,

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    a broad chamber where gold and bronze lay heaped,

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    and clothing in chests, and a plentiful store of fragrant olive oil;

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    and there stood jars of old, sweet-tasting wine,

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    holding within them an unmixed, godlike drink,

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    set in a row against the wall, in case Odysseus

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    should ever come home again, after suffering many hardships.

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    Double doors, close-fitted and tightly joined, were shut upon it,

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    folding doors; and within, a housekeeper, night and day,

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    guarded everything with the cunning shrewdness of her mind,

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    Eurycleia, daughter of Ops, son of Peisenor.

  348. 348

    Telemachus called her into the storeroom and spoke to her:

  349. 349

    "Nurse, come now, draw me off sweet wine into jars,

  350. 350

    the most delicious, next to that which you keep in reserve

  351. 351

    thinking of that ill-fated man, in case he should come from somewhere,

  352. 352

    Zeus-born Odysseus, having escaped death and the fates.

  353. 353

    Fill twelve of them, and fit them all with lids.

  354. 354

    And pour me barley meal into well-stitched leather bags;

  355. 355

    let there be twenty measures of ground barley meal.

  356. 356

    Let only you yourself know of it; have all of it gathered together,

  357. 357

    for in the evening I will fetch it, at the moment when

  358. 358

    my mother has gone up to her room and turned her thoughts to sleep.

  359. 359

    For I am going to Sparta and to sandy Pylos

  360. 360

    to learn of the homecoming of my dear father, if somehow I may hear of it."

  361. 361

    So he spoke, and his dear nurse Eurycleia cried aloud,

  362. 362

    and wailing, she addressed him with winged words:

  363. 363

    "Why, dear child, has this thought come into your mind?

  364. 364

    Where do you wish to go, over so much of the earth,

  365. 365

    being our only beloved son? He has perished far from his homeland,

  366. 366

    Zeus-born Odysseus, in a land of strangers.

  367. 367

    And these men, the moment you go, will plot evil against you afterward,

  368. 368

    so that you may die by treachery, and they will divide all this among themselves.

  369. 369

    No, stay here, sitting upon your own; there is no need for you

  370. 370

    to suffer hardship over the barren sea, nor to wander."

  371. 371

    Then thoughtful Telemachus answered her in turn:

  372. 372

    "Take heart, nurse, since this plan is not without a god's will.

  373. 373

    But swear that you will not tell this to my dear mother,

  374. 374

    until the eleventh or twelfth day has come,

  375. 375

    or until she herself misses me and hears that I have set out,

  376. 376

    so that she may not mar her lovely skin with weeping."

  377. 377

    So he spoke, and the old woman swore the gods' great oath.

  378. 378

    But when she had sworn and completed the oath,

  379. 379

    at once then she drew off the wine for him into jars,

  380. 380

    and poured barley meal for him into well-stitched leather bags.

  381. 381

    And Telemachus, going into the hall, mingled with the suitors.

  382. 382

    Then the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, thought of another thing.

  383. 383

    Likening herself to Telemachus, she went everywhere through the city,

  384. 384

    and standing beside each man she spoke her word,

  385. 385

    bidding them gather at the swift ship in the evening.

  386. 386

    And from Noemon, the illustrious son of Phronius,

  387. 387

    she asked a swift ship; and he readily promised it to her.

  388. 388

    The sun went down and all the ways grew dark,

  389. 389

    and then she dragged the swift ship down to the sea, and into it

  390. 390

    she put all the gear that well-benched ships carry.

  391. 391

    She moored it at the harbor's edge, and around it the loyal companions

  392. 392

    gathered in a throng; and the goddess urged on each man.

  393. 393

    Then the goddess, gray-eyed Athena, thought of another thing.

  394. 394

    She made her way to the house of godlike Odysseus.

  395. 395

    There she poured sweet sleep over the suitors,

  396. 396

    and dazed them as they drank, and struck the cups from their hands.

  397. 397

    They roused themselves to sleep throughout the city, and no longer

  398. 398

    sat there, since sleep was falling upon their eyelids.

  399. 399

    Then gray-eyed Athena spoke to Telemachus,

  400. 400

    having called him out from the well-built halls,

  401. 401

    likened to Mentor both in form and in voice:

  402. 402

    "Telemachus, already now your well-greaved companions

  403. 403

    sit at their oars, awaiting your setting out.

  404. 404

    Come, let us go, and not delay long upon the journey."

  405. 405

    So speaking, Pallas Athena led the way

  406. 406

    swiftly; and he then walked behind in the footsteps of the goddess.

  407. 407

    But when they had come down to the ship and the sea,

  408. 408

    they found there on the shore the long-haired companions.

  409. 409

    And among them spoke the sacred might of Telemachus:

  410. 410

    "Come, friends, let us fetch the provisions; for everything is already

  411. 411

    gathered together in the hall. My mother knows nothing of it,

  412. 412

    nor do the other handmaids; one alone has heard the plan."

  413. 413

    So speaking, he led the way, and they went along with him.

  414. 414

    And they, carrying everything, set it down on the well-benched ship,

  415. 415

    as the dear son of Odysseus commanded.

  416. 416

    Then Telemachus went aboard the ship, and Athena led the way,

  417. 417

    and she sat down at the stern of the ship; and close beside her

  418. 418

    Telemachus sat. And the men loosed the stern cables,

  419. 419

    and they too went aboard and sat down at the oarlocks.

  420. 420

    Gray-eyed Athena sent them a favorable wind,

  421. 421

    a fresh West Wind, singing over the wine-dark sea.

  422. 422

    And Telemachus, urging on his companions, commanded them

  423. 423

    to lay hold of the tackle; and they heard him as he urged them.

  424. 424

    The mast of fir they set up within the hollow mast-box,

  425. 425

    raising it high, and made it fast with the forestays,

  426. 426

    and hauled up the white sails with well-twisted ropes of oxhide.

  427. 427

    The wind filled the belly of the sail, and around the prow

  428. 428

    the dark wave hissed loudly as the ship moved on,

  429. 429

    and she ran over the wave, cutting her way along her path.

  430. 430

    Having made fast the tackle throughout the swift black ship,

  431. 431

    they set up mixing-bowls brimming with wine,

  432. 432

    and poured libations to the immortal gods who live forever,

  433. 433

    and above all to the gray-eyed daughter of Zeus.

  434. 434

    All night long and into the dawn she cut her way along her path.

The particulars

The text
Ὀδύσσεια, Homer. The Telemachy.
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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.