The Odyssey 1732 Studios

Ancient Greek · The Telemachy

Ὀδυσσείας δ

Book 4. Telemachus in Sparta; Menelaus, Helen, and the Old Man of the Sea

Menelaus and Helen remember Odysseus. Menelaus tells how he trapped the Old Man of the Sea and learned Odysseus is alive. The suitors plan to kill Telemachus.

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  1. 1

    And they came to Lacedaemon, low-lying and full of hollow ravines,

    Metre

    οἱtheyὁ · nominative plural masculine pronounsubject of ἷξον
    δandδέ · particlesentence particle
    ἷξονcame toἵκω · aorist active indicative, 3rd plural verbmain verb

    ἷξον = root aorist of ἵκω 'come/reach', no thematic vowel — a compact epic aorist.

    κοίληνhollow, low-lyingκοῖλος · accusative singular feminine adjectivemodifies Λακεδαίμονα
    ΛακεδαίμοναLacedaemonΛακεδαίμων · accusative singular feminine nounobject of ἷξον
    κητώεσσανfull of ravinesκητώεις · accusative singular feminine adjectivemodifies Λακεδαίμονα

    κητώεις is a fixed Homeric epithet for Lacedaemon, of disputed sense ('hollow'/'full of chasms').

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    and drove on toward the house of glorious Menelaus.

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    They found him giving a wedding feast for his many kinsmen,

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    for the marriage of his son and his blameless daughter, there in his house.

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    The girl he was sending to the son of Achilles, breaker of men;

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    for at Troy he had first promised and given his nod of consent

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    to give her to him, and now the gods were bringing the marriage to fulfillment.

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    So now he was sending her on her way with horses and chariots

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    to the famous city of the Myrmidons, over whom her husband ruled.

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    And for his son he was bringing home from Sparta the daughter of Alector,

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    for his late-born son, strong Megapenthes, had been born to him

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    of a slave woman; for to Helen the gods gave no more offspring

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    after she had borne her first child, her lovely daughter,

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    Hermione, who had the beauty of golden Aphrodite.

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    So they were feasting throughout the great high-roofed hall,

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    the neighbors and kinsmen of glorious Menelaus,

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    taking their delight; and among them a divine singer made music,

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    playing the lyre, while two tumblers among them,

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    as he led off the song, whirled through the middle of the crowd.

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    Meanwhile in the forecourt of the house those two, both the men and the horses,

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    Telemachus the hero and the splendid son of Nestor,

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    halted; and lord Eteoneus, coming forward, saw them,

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    the ready attendant of glorious Menelaus,

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    and he went off through the house to bring word to the shepherd of the people,

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    and standing close beside him spoke winged words:

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    "There are two strangers here, Menelaus, nurtured by Zeus,

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    two men, and in build they resemble the line of great Zeus.

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    But tell me, shall we unyoke their swift horses for them,

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    or send them on to some other man who may welcome them?"

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    Then deeply angered, fair-haired Menelaus said to him:

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    "You were no fool before this, Eteoneus, son of Boethoos,

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    but now you babble foolishness like a child.

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    Surely we two ourselves ate much hospitality

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    from other men before we came here, in hope that Zeus

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    might someday put an end to our misery. So unyoke the horses

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    of the strangers, and bring the men themselves inside to feast."

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    So he spoke, and Eteoneus rushed through the hall and called the other

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    ready attendants to come along with him.

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    They loosed the sweating horses from under the yoke,

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    and tied them up at the horses' mangers,

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    and threw down spelt for them, mixing in white barley,

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    and they leaned the chariot against the gleaming wall,

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    and led the men into the godlike house. And when they saw it

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    they marveled throughout the hall of the Zeus-nurtured king;

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    for there was a radiance as of the sun or the moon

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    throughout the high-roofed house of glorious Menelaus.

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    But when they had taken their fill of gazing with their eyes,

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    they stepped into the polished bathtubs and washed.

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    And when the serving women had bathed them and anointed them with oil,

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    and thrown thick wool cloaks and tunics about them,

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    they sat down on chairs beside Menelaus, son of Atreus.

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    A handmaid brought water and poured it from a pitcher,

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    a beautiful golden one, over a silver basin,

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    for them to wash; and she drew up a polished table beside them.

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    The honored housekeeper brought bread and set it before them,

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    laying out many dishes, glad to give from her stores.

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    The carver lifted platters of meat and set them out,

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    meats of every kind, and placed golden cups beside them.

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    And in welcome fair-haired Menelaus said to them:

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    "Help yourselves to the food, and be glad. Then afterward,

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    when you two have eaten supper, we shall ask who you are

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    among men; for the stock of your fathers has not been lost in you,

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    but you are of the line of Zeus-nurtured kings,

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    scepter-bearers, since base men could not father sons like these."

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    So he spoke, and set before them the rich chine of an ox

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    taking it roasted in his hands, which had been served to him as the portion of honor.

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    And they reached out their hands to the good things lying ready before them.

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

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    then Telemachus spoke to the son of Nestor,

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    holding his head close, so that the others might not hear:

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    "Look, son of Nestor, you who delight my heart,

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    at the gleam of bronze through the echoing halls,

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    and of gold and amber and silver and ivory.

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    Such, surely, is the court of Olympian Zeus within,

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    so countless are these riches; awe holds me as I gaze."

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    Fair-haired Menelaus overheard him as he spoke,

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    and lifting his voice he spoke winged words to them:

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    "Dear children, with Zeus no mortal could contend;

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    for his house and his possessions are immortal.

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    But among men, one might or might not rival me

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    in possessions. For indeed, having suffered much and wandered much,

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    I brought these things home in my ships, and came back in the eighth year,

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    after wandering to Cyprus and Phoenicia and the Egyptians,

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    and I reached the Ethiopians and the Sidonians and the Erembi,

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    and Libya, where the lambs grow horns at once,

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    for the ewes bear young three times within the full circle of the year.

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    There neither master nor shepherd goes short

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    of cheese or of meat or of sweet milk,

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    but they always furnish milk in plenty to draw.

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    While I was wandering in those lands, gathering much wealth,

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    meanwhile another man killed my brother

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    in secret, unawares, by the cunning of his accursed wife.

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    So it is with no joy that I am lord over these riches.

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    You are bound to have heard this from your fathers, whoever they are

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    for you, since I suffered very much, and lost a house

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    well and richly settled, holding many fine things.

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    Would that I dwelt in my halls with only a third part of all this,

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    and that those men were safe who then perished

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    in wide Troy, far from horse-pasturing Argos.

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    Yet even so, though I mourn and grieve for all of them,

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    often as I sit in our halls,

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    at times I ease my heart with weeping, and at other times again

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    I leave off; for a man is soon sated with chilling lament.

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    Yet for none of them all do I grieve so much, sorrowful though I am,

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    as for one, who makes sleep and food hateful to me

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    when I remember him, since no one of the Achaeans toiled so much

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    as Odysseus toiled and endured. For him it was destined

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    to have sorrows himself, and for me a grief never to be forgotten

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    for him, since he has been gone so long, and we do not know

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    whether he lives or has died. Surely they are mourning for him,

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    old Laertes and prudent Penelope mourn for him,

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    and Telemachus, whom he left newly born in his house.

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    So he spoke, and in him he stirred a longing to weep for his father.

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    A tear fell from his eyelids to the ground when he heard his father named,

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    and he held up his purple cloak before his eyes

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    with both his hands. But Menelaus noticed him,

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    and then he pondered in his mind and in his heart

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    whether to let him recall his father on his own,

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    or whether to question him first and test him point by point.

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    While he was turning this over in his mind and in his heart,

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    Helen came out of her fragrant high-roofed chamber,

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    like Artemis of the golden distaff.

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    Adraste set a well-made chair beside her,

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    Alcippe brought a rug of soft wool,

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    and Phylo carried a silver basket, which had been given her

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    by Alcandra, the wife of Polybus, who lived in Thebes

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    of Egypt, where the most treasures lie stored in the houses;

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    he gave Menelaus two silver bathing-tubs,

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    two tripods, and ten talents of gold.

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    And separately his wife gave Helen lovely gifts:

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    she presented a golden distaff and a basket on wheels,

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    of silver, and its rims were finished off with gold.

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    This the maidservant Phylo carried and set beside her,

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    filled with finely spun yarn; and across it

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    the distaff was laid, holding violet-dark wool.

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    She sat down on the chair, and beneath her feet was a footstool.

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    At once she questioned her husband about every detail:

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    "Do we know, Menelaus nurtured by Zeus, who these men

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    claim to be who have come to our house?

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    Shall I be wrong, or speak the truth? My heart bids me speak.

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    For I say I have never yet seen anyone so alike —

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    no man and no woman — awe holds me as I look —

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    as this man resembles the son of great-hearted Odysseus,

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    Telemachus, whom that man left newly born in his house

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    when for the sake of me, shameless creature, the Achaeans

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    came to Troy, stirring up bold war."

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    Answering her, fair-haired Menelaus spoke:

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    "So now I too think it, wife, as you reckon it;

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    for such were that man's feet, and such his hands,

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    the glances of his eyes, his head, and the hair above.

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    And just now, remembering Odysseus,

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    I was telling how much that man toiled and suffered

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    for my sake; and he let a bitter tear fall from beneath his brows,

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    holding up his purple cloak before his eyes."

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    Then Nestor's son Peisistratus answered him:

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    "Son of Atreus, Menelaus nurtured by Zeus, leader of men,

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    this man is indeed that one's son, as you say;

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    but he is modest, and feels shame in his heart

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    to come here for the first time and let loose a flood of words

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    before you, in whose voice we two delight as in a god's.

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    But Gerenian Nestor, the horseman, sent me forth

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    to follow as his escort; for he longed to see you,

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    so that you might suggest to him some word or deed.

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    For a son has many griefs when his father is gone

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    in his halls, if there are no others to help him,

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    as now for Telemachus the one is gone, and there are no others

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    to ward off evil from him throughout the land."

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    Answering him, fair-haired Menelaus spoke:

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    "Well now! Truly the son of a man dear to me has come

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    to my house — one who endured many trials for my sake.

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    And I had thought, when he came, to honor him beyond all other

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    Argives, if Olympian Zeus of the wide gaze had granted

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    the two of us a homecoming over the sea in our swift ships.

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    And I would have settled him a city in Argos and built him a house,

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    bringing him from Ithaca with his goods and his child

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    and all his people, after sacking one city

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    of those that lie round about and are ruled by me.

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    And often, being here, we would have met; nor would anything

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    else have parted us two, loving and delighting in each other,

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    until the black cloud of death wrapped us round.

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    But this, I suppose, the god himself was bound to begrudge,

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    who made that unhappy man, him alone, never to return."

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    So he spoke, and in them all he stirred a longing to weep.

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    Argive Helen wept, sprung from Zeus,

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    and Telemachus wept, and Atreus' son Menelaus,

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    nor did Nestor's son keep his eyes free of tears;

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    for he remembered in his heart noble Antilochus,

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    whom the glorious son of shining Dawn had killed.

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    Remembering him, he spoke winged words:

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    "Son of Atreus, that you are beyond mortals wise in mind

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    old Nestor used to say, whenever we recalled you

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    in his halls, and questioned one another.

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    And now, if it is at all possible, heed me; for I

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    take no pleasure in weeping after supper, but also Dawn

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    will come, early-born; not that I find any fault at all

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    in weeping for whatever mortal dies and meets his fate.

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    This indeed is the only honor for wretched mortals:

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    to cut one's hair and let a tear fall from the cheeks.

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    For my own brother too has died, by no means the worst

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    of the Argives; and you are likely to have known him; but I

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    never met him nor saw him; but they say that beyond others

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    Antilochus was outstanding — swift to run and a fighter."

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    Answering him, fair-haired Menelaus spoke:

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    "My friend, since you have said all that a sensible man

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    might say and do, even one who were older —

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    for you are of such a father, and so you speak wisely too;

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    easily known is the offspring of a man for whom the son of Cronos

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    spins out prosperity, both at his marriage and his birth,

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    as now he has granted Nestor, continually all his days,

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    to grow old in comfort within his halls,

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    and to have sons both prudent and best with the spear.

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    But let us leave off the weeping that came before,

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    and let us turn again to supper, and over our hands let them pour

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    water. There will be words in the morning as well

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    for Telemachus and me to speak through with each other."

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    So he spoke, and Asphalion poured water over their hands,

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    the busy attendant of glorious Menelaus.

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    And they reached out their hands to the good things set ready before them.

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    Then Helen, sprung from Zeus, thought of something else:

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    at once she cast a drug into the wine they were drinking,

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    one that banished grief and anger and made a man forget every sorrow.

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    Whoever swallowed it down, once it was mixed in the bowl,

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    would not let a tear fall down his cheeks for a whole day,

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    not even if his mother and his father were to die,

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    not even if before his eyes men should cut down with bronze

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    his brother or his own dear son, and he were watching it happen.

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    Such cunning drugs the daughter of Zeus possessed,

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    good ones, which Polydamna had given her, the wife of Thon,

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    an Egyptian woman, where the grain-giving earth bears the most

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    drugs, many good when mixed and many baneful;

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    there every man is a healer skilled beyond all

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    other men, for they are of the race of Paeon.

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    Now when she had cast it in and bidden them pour the wine,

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    she answered once more and spoke among them:

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    "Menelaus, son of Atreus, cherished by Zeus, and you also,

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    sons of noble men: God gives now to one man and now to another,

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    Zeus gives good and evil, for he is able to do all things.

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    So now feast, sitting here in the hall,

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    and take pleasure in stories; for I will tell one that fits the hour.

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    I could not tell them all nor name every one,

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    all the trials of enduring-hearted Odysseus;

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    but here is one thing the strong man did and dared

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    in the land of the Trojans, where you Achaeans suffered hardships.

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    He mastered his own body with disfiguring blows,

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    threw wretched rags about his shoulders, looking like a slave,

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    and stole into the broad-streeted city of his enemies.

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    He hid himself, made himself look like another man,

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    a beggar, one nothing like the man he was at the ships of the Achaeans.

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    In that likeness he slipped into the city of the Trojans, and they all

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    took no notice; I alone knew him for who he was,

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    and I questioned him; but he kept evading me with his cunning.

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    Yet when I had bathed him and anointed him with oil,

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    and clothed him in garments, and sworn a mighty oath

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    not to reveal Odysseus among the Trojans

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    until he had come back to the swift ships and the huts,

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    only then did he tell me the whole plan of the Achaeans.

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    He killed many of the Trojans with the long-edged bronze

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    and went back to the Argives, carrying off much knowledge.

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    Then the other Trojan women wailed shrilly; but my own heart

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    rejoiced, for by now my heart had turned toward going home

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    back again, and I groaned over the madness that Aphrodite

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    gave me, when she led me there, away from my dear native land,

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    abandoning my child and my marriage chamber and my husband,

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    a man lacking nothing, neither in mind nor in looks."

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    Then fair-haired Menelaus answered her:

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    "Yes, wife, all this you have told rightly and in order.

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    By now I have learned the counsel and mind of many

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    heroic men, and I have traveled over much of the earth;

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    but never yet have I seen with my own eyes such a one

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    as was the steadfast heart of enduring-hearted Odysseus.

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    Here is the kind of thing that strong man did and dared

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    inside the carved horse, where all we best men sat,

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    we Argives, bringing slaughter and death to the Trojans.

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    Then you came there; some power must have urged you on,

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    some divinity who wished to grant glory to the Trojans;

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    and godlike Deiphobus came with you as you walked.

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    Three times you circled the hollow ambush, feeling it over,

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    and you called out the best of the Danaans by name,

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    making your voice like the voices of all the Argives' wives.

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    But I and the son of Tydeus and noble Odysseus,

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    sitting in the midst of them, heard how you cried out.

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    We two, both stirred up, were eager and longed

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    either to go out, or to answer you at once from within;

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    but Odysseus held us back and checked us, eager as we were.

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    Then all the other sons of the Achaeans kept silent,

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    but Anticlus alone wanted to answer you

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    with words. Yet Odysseus pressed his mouth shut with his hands,

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    relentlessly, with his strong hands, and so saved all the Achaeans;

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    he held him until Pallas Athena led you away."

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    Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him:

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    "Menelaus, son of Atreus, cherished by Zeus, leader of armies,

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    it is the more painful; for none of this warded off his grim death,

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    not even though the heart within him were made of iron.

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    But come, lead us off to bed, so that even now

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    we may lie down and take our pleasure in sweet sleep."

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    So he spoke, and Argive Helen bade the serving women

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    set up beds beneath the portico, and lay on fine blankets,

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    purple ones, and spread coverlets over them,

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    and put thick woolen cloaks on top for them to wear.

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    They went out from the hall, torches in their hands,

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    and made the beds; and a herald led the guests out.

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    So they slept there in the forecourt of the house,

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    Telemachus the hero and the splendid son of Nestor;

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    but the son of Atreus slept in the inmost room of the high house,

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    and beside him lay Helen of the trailing robe, lovely among women.

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    When early-born Dawn appeared, rosy-fingered,

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    Menelaus, good at the war cry, rose from his bed,

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

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    bound fine sandals beneath his shining feet,

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    and went out from his chamber, like a god to look upon,

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    and sat down beside Telemachus, and spoke, and called him by name:

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    "What need has brought you here, Telemachus, hero,

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    to noble Lacedaemon, over the broad back of the sea?

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    Is it public or private? Tell me this truly."

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    Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him:

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    "Menelaus, son of Atreus, cherished by Zeus, leader of armies,

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    I have come, in hope you might tell me some word of my father.

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    My house is being devoured, my rich fields are ruined,

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    and my home is full of hostile men, who always

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    slaughter my thronging sheep and my shambling, twist-horned cattle,

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    the suitors of my mother, men of overbearing insolence.

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    And so now I come to your knees, in hope you may be willing

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    to tell of his grim death, if perhaps you saw it

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    with your own eyes, or heard the tale from another

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    who wandered; for his mother bore him to misery beyond all men.

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    And do not, out of pity or respect, soften it for me,

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    but tell me clearly how it was you met the sight of him.

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    I beg you, if ever my father, noble Odysseus,

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    took upon himself some word or deed and carried it through

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    in the land of the Trojans, where you Achaeans suffered hardships,

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    of these things now remind me, and tell me the unerring truth."

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    Then, deeply moved, fair-haired Menelaus answered him:

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    "Shameful! Truly into the bed of a strong-hearted man

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    they have wished to lie, cowards that they are themselves.

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    As when in a thicket a deer has laid to sleep

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    her newborn suckling fawns, the lair of a mighty lion,

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    and ranges over the mountain spurs and the grassy glens

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    as she grazes, but then he comes back into his lair,

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    and on both of them he lets loose an unseemly doom,

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    so will Odysseus let loose an unseemly doom on those men.

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    Would that, Father Zeus and Athena and Apollo,

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    such as he was once in well-built Lesbos,

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    when he rose and wrestled Philomeleides out of a quarrel,

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    and threw him down hard, and all the Achaeans rejoiced —

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    such as he was then, may Odysseus come among the suitors:

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

  347. 347

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

  348. 348

    speak other things aside and evade you, nor deceive you,

  349. 349

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

  350. 350

    of these I will hide from you not one word nor conceal it.

  351. 351

    In Egypt, though I longed to come home here, the gods

  352. 352

    held me back, since I had not offered them full hecatombs.

  353. 353

    And the gods always wished us to be mindful of their commands.

  354. 354

    Now there is a certain island in the surging sea

  355. 355

    off the coast of Egypt — Pharos they call it —

  356. 356

    as far off as a hollow ship can cover in a full day,

  357. 357

    when a shrill wind blows behind her;

  358. 358

    and there is a good harbor in it, from which men launch

  359. 359

    their balanced ships into the sea, once they have drawn dark water.

  360. 360

    There the gods held me twenty days, nor did the winds

  361. 361

    ever appear blowing seaward, which are the ships'

  362. 362

    escorts over the broad back of the sea.

  363. 363

    And now all our provisions would have run out, and the men's strength,

  364. 364

    had not one of the goddesses taken pity on me and saved me,

  365. 365

    Eidothea, the daughter of mighty Proteus, the old man of the sea;

  366. 366

    for it was her heart above all that I stirred.

  367. 367

    She met me as I wandered alone, apart from my companions;

  368. 368

    for they were always roaming about the island fishing

  369. 369

    with bent hooks, and hunger was wearing at their bellies.

  370. 370

    She came and stood near me and spoke and addressed me:

  371. 371

    'You are a fool, stranger, far too much so, and slack of mind,

  372. 372

    or do you give up willingly and take pleasure in suffering pain?

  373. 373

    So long now you are penned on the island, and no way out

  374. 374

    can you find, and the heart of your companions is dwindling.'

  375. 375

    So she spoke, and I answered her and said:

  376. 376

    'I will speak out to you, whichever of the goddesses you are,

  377. 377

    that I am not held back here by any will of mine, but I must

  378. 378

    have sinned against the immortals, who hold the broad sky.

  379. 379

    But tell me — for the gods know all things —

  380. 380

    which of the immortals shackles me and bars me from my road,

  381. 381

    and about my homecoming, how I may travel over the fishy sea.'

  382. 382

    So I spoke, and at once the bright goddess answered:

  383. 383

    'Then I will tell you, stranger, quite truthfully.

  384. 384

    A certain old man of the sea, unerring, frequents this place,

  385. 385

    the immortal Proteus of Egypt, who knows the depths

  386. 386

    of all the sea, the servant of Poseidon;

  387. 387

    and they say he is my father, who begot me.

  388. 388

    If you could somehow lie in wait and catch hold of him,

  389. 389

    he would tell you the way and the stages of your journey,

  390. 390

    and your homecoming, how you may travel over the fishy sea.

  391. 391

    And he would tell you too, god-nurtured one, if you wish,

  392. 392

    whatever evil and good has been done in your halls

  393. 393

    while you have been away on your long and grievous road.'

  394. 394

    So she spoke, and I answered her and said:

  395. 395

    'Devise, then, yourself the ambush of the divine old man,

  396. 396

    lest somehow, seeing or learning of me beforehand, he escape;

  397. 397

    for a god is hard for a mortal man to master.'

  398. 398

    So I spoke, and at once the bright goddess answered:

  399. 399

    'Then I will tell you, stranger, quite truthfully.

  400. 400

    When the sun has bestridden the middle of the sky,

  401. 401

    then out of the sea comes the unerring old man of the sea,

  402. 402

    under the breath of the West Wind, hidden by the dark ripple,

  403. 403

    and coming out he lies down to sleep in the hollow caves;

  404. 404

    and around him the seals, brood of the lovely sea-goddess,

  405. 405

    sleep in a herd, having risen up from the gray sea,

  406. 406

    breathing out the bitter smell of the deep brine.

  407. 407

    There I will lead you when Dawn appears

  408. 408

    and lay you down in a row; and you choose well your companions,

  409. 409

    three, who are the best beside your well-benched ships.

  410. 410

    And I will tell you all the deadly tricks of the old man.

  411. 411

    First he will count the seals and go over them;

  412. 412

    but when he has numbered them all by fives and seen them,

  413. 413

    he will lie down among them like a shepherd among his flocks of sheep.

  414. 414

    As soon as you see him laid down to rest,

  415. 415

    then let your care be for strength and might,

  416. 416

    to hold him fast there, struggling and straining though he be to slip away.

  417. 417

    He will try turning into all things, whatever creep

  418. 418

    upon the earth, and into water and blazing fire;

  419. 419

    but you, hold him unyielding and press him all the harder.

  420. 420

    But when at last he himself questions you with words,

  421. 421

    in the same form as when you saw him laid to rest,

  422. 422

    then hold back your force and let the old man go,

  423. 423

    hero, and ask which of the gods is troubling you,

  424. 424

    and about your homecoming, how you may travel over the fishy sea.'

  425. 425

    So saying she sank beneath the surging sea.

  426. 426

    But I went toward the ships, where they stood on the sands,

  427. 427

    and my heart churned darkly within me as I walked.

  428. 428

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

  429. 429

    we made our supper ready, and ambrosial night came on;

  430. 430

    then we lay down to sleep on the breaking surf of the sea.

  431. 431

    When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,

  432. 432

    then along the shore of the wide-wayed sea

  433. 433

    I went, praying earnestly to the gods; and my companions,

  434. 434

    three of them, I led, the ones I trusted most for any venture.

  435. 435

    Meanwhile she, plunging beneath the broad gulf of the sea,

  436. 436

    brought from the deep the skins of four seals;

  437. 437

    all of them were freshly flayed; she was contriving a trick against her father.

  438. 438

    And having hollowed out beds in the sea-sand

  439. 439

    she sat waiting; and we came very close to her;

  440. 440

    she bedded us down in a row, and threw a skin over each one.

  441. 441

    There the ambush would have been most dreadful, for terribly did

  442. 442

    the deadly stench of the sea-bred seals afflict us;

  443. 443

    for who would lie down beside a monster of the deep?

  444. 444

    But she herself saved us and devised a great help:

  445. 445

    she brought ambrosia and set it under each man's nostril,

  446. 446

    sweet-smelling indeed, and it killed the monster's reek.

  447. 447

    All the morning we waited with an enduring heart,

  448. 448

    and the seals came up from the sea in a throng. Then they

  449. 449

    lay down in rows along the breaking surf;

  450. 450

    and at midday the old man came from the sea and found his seals

  451. 451

    well-fed, and went over them all, and counted their number;

  452. 452

    among the monsters he counted us first, nor in his heart

  453. 453

    did he suspect a trick; then he too lay down.

  454. 454

    And we with a shout rushed upon him, and around him our hands

  455. 455

    we flung; but the old man did not forget his cunning craft,

  456. 456

    but first of all he became a lion with a fine mane,

  457. 457

    then a serpent, and a leopard, and a great boar;

  458. 458

    he became running water, and a tree with lofty foliage;

  459. 459

    but we held him unflinchingly with an enduring heart.

  460. 460

    But when at last the old man, skilled in deadly wiles, grew weary,

  461. 461

    then questioning me with words he spoke:

  462. 462

    "Which of the gods, son of Atreus, plotted these schemes with you,

  463. 463

    so that you took me against my will by ambush? What do you need?"

  464. 464

    So he spoke, and I in answer said to him:

  465. 465

    "You know, old man—why do you ask this to put me off?

  466. 466

    How long I am held back on this island, and no way out

  467. 467

    can I find, and the heart within me wastes away.

  468. 468

    But you tell me—for the gods know all things—

  469. 469

    which of the immortals shackles me and binds me from my course,

  470. 470

    and how I may make my homecoming over the fish-filled sea."

  471. 471

    So I spoke, and he at once answered and said to me:

  472. 472

    "You should indeed, to Zeus and the other gods,

  473. 473

    have offered fine sacrifices before embarking, so that most swiftly

  474. 474

    you might reach your fatherland, sailing over the wine-dark sea.

  475. 475

    For it is not your fate to see your friends and to reach

  476. 476

    your well-built house and your fatherland,

  477. 477

    until you go back to the waters of Egypt, the heaven-fed river,

  478. 478

    once more, and offer holy hecatombs

  479. 479

    to the immortal gods who hold the wide heaven;

  480. 480

    and then the gods will grant you the journey you long for."

  481. 481

    So he spoke, and the heart within me was broken,

  482. 482

    because he ordered me again over the misty sea

  483. 483

    to go to Egypt, the long and grievous voyage.

  484. 484

    But even so I answered him with words and said:

  485. 485

    "This I will do, old man, just as you command.

  486. 486

    But come, tell me this, and recount it exactly:

  487. 487

    did all the Achaeans come home unharmed in their ships,

  488. 488

    those whom Nestor and I left behind when we sailed from Troy,

  489. 489

    or did anyone perish by a bitter death aboard his ship,

  490. 490

    or in the arms of his friends, once he had wound up the war?"

  491. 491

    So I spoke, and he at once answered and said to me:

  492. 492

    "Son of Atreus, why ask me this? You have no need

  493. 493

    to know it, nor to learn my mind; nor do I think

  494. 494

    you will be long without weeping, once you learn it all.

  495. 495

    For many of them were laid low, and many were left;

  496. 496

    but only two leaders of the bronze-clad Achaeans

  497. 497

    perished on the homeward voyage; in the fighting you yourself were there.

  498. 498

    And one still, alive, is held back somewhere on the wide sea.

  499. 499

    Ajax was brought down among his long-oared ships.

  500. 500

    First Poseidon drove him onto the Gyrae,

  501. 501

    the great rocks, yet brought him safe out of the sea;

  502. 502

    and he would have escaped his doom, though hated by Athena,

  503. 503

    had he not hurled out an arrogant word and been greatly blinded—

  504. 504

    he said that in defiance of the gods he had escaped the great gulf of the sea.

  505. 505

    And Poseidon heard him as he spoke aloud;

  506. 506

    at once then, taking his trident in his mighty hands,

  507. 507

    he struck the Gyraean rock and split it apart;

  508. 508

    and one part stayed where it was, but the broken piece fell into the sea,

  509. 509

    the very piece on which Ajax first sat when he was so blinded;

  510. 510

    it carried him down over the boundless surging sea.

  511. 511

    So there he perished, when he had drunk the salt water.

  512. 512

    But your brother somehow escaped the death-spirits and got away

  513. 513

    in his hollow ships; and lady Hera saved him.

  514. 514

    But when he was just about to reach the steep height of Malea,

  515. 515

    then a storm-wind snatched him up

  516. 516

    and bore him, groaning heavily, over the fish-filled sea

  517. 517

    to the edge of the country, where Thyestes once dwelt

  518. 518

    in former days, but where now Aegisthus, Thyestes' son, was living.

  519. 519

    But when from there too a safe homecoming appeared,

  520. 520

    and the gods turned the wind back, and they reached home,

  521. 521

    then in joy he set foot on his fatherland's soil,

  522. 522

    and he kissed and clasped his native earth; and from him many

  523. 523

    warm tears poured down, for gladly he saw his land.

  524. 524

    But a watchman saw him from his lookout, one set there

  525. 525

    by guileful Aegisthus, who had promised him as wage

  526. 526

    two talents of gold; and he kept watch for a whole year,

  527. 527

    lest the king pass by unseen and remember his furious valor.

  528. 528

    And he went to bring word to the shepherd of the people.

  529. 529

    At once Aegisthus devised a treacherous scheme:

  530. 530

    picking out the twenty best men from the people,

  531. 531

    he set them in ambush, and on the other side ordered a feast to be made ready.

  532. 532

    Then he went to summon Agamemnon, shepherd of the people,

  533. 533

    with horses and chariots, plotting a shameful deed.

  534. 534

    He led him up, unaware of his doom, and slew him

  535. 535

    when he had feasted him, as one kills an ox at the manger.

  536. 536

    Not one of the son of Atreus' companions who followed him was left,

  537. 537

    nor one of Aegisthus', but they were slain in the halls."

  538. 538

    So he spoke, and the heart within me was broken,

  539. 539

    and I wept, sitting on the sands, nor did my heart

  540. 540

    any longer wish to live and to see the light of the sun.

  541. 541

    But when I had had my fill of weeping and writhing,

  542. 542

    then the unerring old man of the sea spoke to me:

  543. 543

    "No longer, son of Atreus, for so long a time and so unyieldingly

  544. 544

    weep, since we shall find no remedy in it; but as quickly as you can

  545. 545

    strive to reach your fatherland.

  546. 546

    For either you will find him still alive, or Orestes

  547. 547

    will have killed him first, and you may come upon the funeral."

  548. 548

    So he spoke, and the heart and proud spirit within me

  549. 549

    once more in my breast, grieved though I was, were warmed,

  550. 550

    and speaking aloud I addressed him with winged words:

  551. 551

    These two, then, I know of; but name me the third man,

  552. 552

    whoever still lives, held back on the wide sea,

  553. 553

    or has died; I wish to hear it, grieved though I am."

  554. 554

    So I spoke, and at once he answered me and said:

  555. 555

    "The son of Laertes, who keeps his house in Ithaca.

  556. 556

    I saw him on an island, shedding heavy tears,

  557. 557

    in the halls of the nymph Calypso, who by force

  558. 558

    holds him; and he cannot reach his native land,

  559. 559

    for he has no oared ships at hand, nor companions,

  560. 560

    who might send him on over the broad back of the sea.

  561. 561

    But for you it is not fated, Menelaus nurtured by Zeus,

  562. 562

    to die in horse-pasturing Argos and meet your doom,

  563. 563

    but the immortals will send you to the Elysian plain

  564. 564

    and the ends of the earth, where fair-haired Rhadamanthus lives,

  565. 565

    where life is easiest of all for human beings:

  566. 566

    no snow, nor heavy storm, nor ever any rain,

  567. 567

    but always Ocean sends up the gusts of the West Wind

  568. 568

    blowing clear and shrill, to refresh all people.

  569. 569

    This is because you have Helen and are a son-in-law of Zeus."

  570. 570

    So saying, he plunged beneath the surging sea.

  571. 571

    But I went off to the ships with my godlike companions,

  572. 572

    and my heart darkened with many cares as I walked.

  573. 573

    And when we had come down to the ship and the sea,

  574. 574

    we made ready our supper, and ambrosial night came on,

  575. 575

    and then we lay down to sleep on the breaking surf of the sea.

  576. 576

    When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared,

  577. 577

    first of all we dragged the ships down into the bright sea,

  578. 578

    and set up the masts and sails in the balanced ships,

  579. 579

    and the men themselves went aboard and sat at the oarlocks;

  580. 580

    sitting in rows, they struck the gray sea with their oars.

  581. 581

    Back to the river of Egypt, fed by the rains of Zeus,

  582. 582

    I brought my ships to anchor, and made full hecatombs.

  583. 583

    And when I had stilled the anger of the everlasting gods,

  584. 584

    I heaped up a tomb for Agamemnon, that his glory might never die.

  585. 585

    Having finished these things I set out for home, and the immortals

  586. 586

    gave me a fair wind, and sped me swiftly to my own dear land.

  587. 587

    But come now, stay on in my halls

  588. 588

    until the eleventh and twelfth day shall come;

  589. 589

    and then I will send you off well, and give you splendid gifts,

  590. 590

    three horses and a well-polished chariot; and besides

  591. 591

    I will give you a fine cup, so that you may pour libations to the gods,

  592. 592

    the immortals, and remember me all your days."

  593. 593

    Then thoughtful Telemachus answered him in turn:

  594. 594

    "Son of Atreus, do not keep me here for a long time.

  595. 595

    For indeed I could hold out beside you even for a year,

  596. 596

    sitting here, and no longing for home or parents would take me;

  597. 597

    for wondrously do I delight in listening to your tales

  598. 598

    and your words. But by now my companions are growing restless

  599. 599

    in sacred Pylos; and you are keeping me here a long time.

  600. 600

    Whatever gift you give me, let it be a keepsake;

  601. 601

    but horses I will not take to Ithaca; rather, for yourself

  602. 602

    I will leave them here as an ornament. For you are lord of a broad plain,

  603. 603

    in which there is much clover, and galingale,

  604. 604

    wheat and spelt and broad-eared white barley.

  605. 605

    But in Ithaca there are no wide courses, nor any meadow;

  606. 606

    it is a pasture for goats, and lovelier than land that grazes horses.

  607. 607

    For none of the islands is fit for driving horses, nor rich in meadows,

  608. 608

    of those that slope to the sea; and Ithaca least of all."

  609. 609

    So he spoke, and Menelaus, good at the war-cry, smiled,

  610. 610

    and stroked him with his hand, and spoke, and called him by name:

  611. 611

    "You are of good blood, dear child, by the way you speak.

  612. 612

    Therefore I will change these gifts for you; for I am able.

  613. 613

    Of all the treasures that lie stored in my house,

  614. 614

    I will give the one that is finest and most precious:

  615. 615

    I will give you a well-wrought mixing-bowl; it is

  616. 616

    all of silver, and the rims are finished with gold,

  617. 617

    the work of Hephaestus. The hero Phaedimus gave it to me,

  618. 618

    king of the Sidonians, when his house sheltered me

  619. 619

    on my way back there; this is what I wish to grant you."

  620. 620

    So they were speaking such things to one another,

  621. 621

    while the banqueters came to the halls of the godlike king.

  622. 622

    They brought sheep, and carried strong, manly wine;

  623. 623

    and their wives in their fair veils sent bread along with them.

  624. 624

    So they busied themselves about the meal in the halls.

  625. 625

    Meanwhile the suitors, in front of Odysseus' hall,

  626. 626

    were amusing themselves with discuses and throwing spears

  627. 627

    on the leveled ground, as before, in their insolence.

  628. 628

    But Antinous was sitting there, and godlike Eurymachus,

  629. 629

    the leaders of the suitors, and far the best in excellence.

  630. 630

    To them Noemon, son of Phronius, drew near

  631. 631

    and addressed Antinous, questioning him with these words:

  632. 632

    "Antinous, do we know in our minds, or not,

  633. 633

    when Telemachus will return from sandy Pylos?

  634. 634

    He went off taking a ship of mine; and I have need of it,

  635. 635

    to cross over to spacious Elis, where I have horses,

  636. 636

    twelve brood mares, and under them sturdy mule foals,

  637. 637

    unbroken; I would drive one off and break it in."

  638. 638

    So he spoke, and they were amazed in their hearts; for they did not think

  639. 639

    he had gone to Neleian Pylos, but somewhere there at home,

  640. 640

    among the fields, with the flocks, or with the swineherd.

  641. 641

    Then Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spoke to him in turn:

  642. 642

    "Tell me truly: when did he go, and what young men

  643. 643

    went with him? Chosen ones of Ithaca, or his own

  644. 644

    hired men and slaves? He could have managed even that.

  645. 645

    And tell me this in truth, that I may know it well:

  646. 646

    did he take the black ship from you by force, against your will,

  647. 647

    or did you give it willingly, when he pressed you with his plea?"

  648. 648

    Then Noemon, son of Phronius, answered him:

  649. 649

    "I myself gave it willingly. What else would anyone do,

  650. 650

    when such a man, with cares in his heart,

  651. 651

    makes a request? It would be hard to refuse the gift.

  652. 652

    The young men who are foremost in the land after us,

  653. 653

    they went with him; and I saw the one boarding as leader

  654. 654

    was Mentor — or a god, who was just like him in everything.

  655. 655

    But this is what amazes me: I saw noble Mentor here

  656. 656

    yesterday at dawn, though then he had embarked on the ship for Pylos."

  657. 657

    So speaking, he went off to his father's house,

  658. 658

    and the proud hearts of the two of them were astounded.

  659. 659

    They made the suitors sit down together and stop their contests,

  660. 660

    and among them Antinous, son of Eupeithes, spoke,

  661. 661

    grieving; and his heart, darkened all around, was filled

  662. 662

    to bursting with rage, and his two eyes were like blazing fire.

  663. 663

    "Outrageous! Truly a great deed has been brazenly carried through

  664. 664

    by Telemachus, this voyage — and we said it would never come to pass.

  665. 665

    In defiance of us all, the young boy has just slipped away,

  666. 666

    having launched a ship and picked the best men from the people.

  667. 667

    He will begin to be a worse trouble even hereafter; but may Zeus

  668. 668

    destroy his strength before he reaches the full measure of manhood.

  669. 669

    Come now, give me a swift ship and twenty companions,

  670. 670

    so that I may ambush him on his way back and lie in wait

  671. 671

    in the strait between Ithaca and rugged Samos,

  672. 672

    so that this seafaring of his on his father's account may end in grief."

  673. 673

    So he spoke, and they all approved and urged him on.

  674. 674

    Then at once they rose and went to the house of Odysseus.

  675. 675

    Nor was Penelope long left in ignorance

  676. 676

    of the schemes the suitors were brooding in their hearts;

  677. 677

    for the herald Medon told her, who had overheard their plans

  678. 678

    while standing outside the court, as they wove their plot within.

  679. 679

    He went to carry the news through the house to Penelope;

  680. 680

    and as he stepped over the threshold Penelope addressed him:

  681. 681

    "Herald, why have the lordly suitors sent you here?

  682. 682

    Is it to tell the maids of godlike Odysseus

  683. 683

    to leave off their work and prepare a feast for them?

  684. 684

    Would that they had never wooed me nor gathered anywhere else,

  685. 685

    but were dining here now for the last and final time —

  686. 686

    you who, forever crowding here, devour so much of the living,

  687. 687

    the wealth of wise Telemachus. Nor in days past, when you were children,

  688. 688

    did you ever hear from your own fathers

  689. 689

    what kind of man Odysseus was among your parents —

  690. 690

    never doing anyone an outrage, never speaking one,

  691. 691

    among the people: that is the way of godlike kings.

  692. 692

    One mortal a king may hate, another he may love;

  693. 693

    but that man never did a single reckless wrong to anyone.

  694. 694

    Yet your temper and your shameful deeds

  695. 695

    are plain to see, and there is no gratitude afterward for kindnesses done."

  696. 696

    Then Medon, who knew prudent things, answered her:

  697. 697

    "Would, my queen, that this were the worst of the evil.

  698. 698

    But the suitors are planning another, far greater and more grievous —

  699. 699

    may the son of Cronos never let it come to pass:

  700. 700

    they are eager to kill Telemachus with the sharp bronze

  701. 701

    as he comes home; for he has gone after news of his father

  702. 702

    to holy Pylos and to noble Lacedaemon."

  703. 703

    So he spoke, and her knees gave way and her dear heart,

  704. 704

    and for a long time speechlessness seized her; her two eyes

  705. 705

    filled with tears, and her flowing voice was checked.

  706. 706

    Late at last she answered him and said:

  707. 707

    "Herald, why has my child gone? There was no need for him

  708. 708

    to embark on the swift-faring ships, which serve men

  709. 709

    as horses of the sea and cross the vast watery waste.

  710. 710

    Was it so that not even his name might be left among men?"

  711. 711

    Then Medon, who knew prudent things, answered her:

  712. 712

    "I do not know whether some god stirred him, or whether his own

  713. 713

    heart drove him to go to Pylos, to learn

  714. 714

    of his father's return, or what fate he has met."

  715. 715

    So having spoken he went off down through the house of Odysseus.

  716. 716

    And heart-destroying grief poured over her, nor could she any longer bear

  717. 717

    to sit on a chair, though there were many in the house,

  718. 718

    but she sank down on the threshold of her well-wrought chamber,

  719. 719

    wailing piteously; and around her the maidservants whimpered,

  720. 720

    all of them, as many as were in the house, young and old.

  721. 721

    Weeping bitterly, Penelope spoke among them:

  722. 722

    "Hear me, dear friends; for the Olympian has given me sorrows beyond measure,

  723. 723

    beyond all the women who were reared and born together with me;

  724. 724

    I who long ago lost my noble husband, lion-hearted,

  725. 725

    excelling in every kind of excellence among the Danaans,

  726. 726

    noble, whose fame is wide through Hellas and the heart of Argos.

  727. 727

    And now the storm winds have snatched away my beloved son

  728. 728

    without glory from the halls, and I never heard of his setting out.

  729. 729

    Cruel women, not one of you took it to heart

  730. 730

    to rouse me from my bed, though you knew it well in your hearts,

  731. 731

    the moment that he went down to the hollow black ship.

  732. 732

    For had I learned that he was bent on this journey,

  733. 733

    then surely either he would have stayed, however eager for the road,

  734. 734

    or he would have left me dead behind him in the halls.

  735. 735

    Come, let someone quickly call old Dolius,

  736. 736

    my servant, whom my father gave me as I was still coming here,

  737. 737

    and who tends my orchard of many trees, so that with all speed

  738. 738

    he may sit beside Laertes and tell him all this,

  739. 739

    in case that man, having woven some plan in his mind,

  740. 740

    may go out and appeal to the people, who are bent

  741. 741

    on destroying both his line and that of godlike Odysseus."

  742. 742

    Then the dear nurse Eurycleia answered her:

  743. 743

    "Dear bride, kill me with the pitiless bronze

  744. 744

    or let me live on in the hall; I will not hide the truth from you.

  745. 745

    I knew all of this, and I gave him all he asked,

  746. 746

    bread and sweet wine; but he took a great oath from me

  747. 747

    not to tell you before the twelfth day came,

  748. 748

    or before you missed him yourself and heard he had gone,

  749. 749

    so that you might not mar your fair skin with weeping.

  750. 750

    But now bathe yourself, and take clean clothing upon your skin,

  751. 751

    and go up to the upper room with your attendant women

  752. 752

    and pray to Athena, daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus;

  753. 753

    for she could then save him even from death.

  754. 754

    And do not vex the old man, vexed as he already is; for I do not think

  755. 755

    that the line of Arceisius is utterly hated

  756. 756

    by the blessed gods, but there will still be one to come who shall possess

  757. 757

    the high-roofed halls and the rich fields far around."

  758. 758

    So she spoke, and she lulled her lament and stayed her eyes from weeping.

  759. 759

    And she bathed herself, and took clean clothing upon her skin,

  760. 760

    and went up to the upper room with her attendant women,

  761. 761

    and set the barley grains in a basket, and prayed to Athena:

  762. 762

    "Hear me, child of aegis-bearing Zeus, unwearied one,

  763. 763

    if ever Odysseus of many counsels in his halls

  764. 764

    burned for you the fat thighbones of ox or sheep,

  765. 765

    remember them for me now, and save my dear son,

  766. 766

    and ward off the suitors in their wicked arrogance."

  767. 767

    So speaking she raised the ritual cry, and the goddess heard her prayer.

  768. 768

    But the suitors made an uproar throughout the shadowy halls,

  769. 769

    and thus would one of the arrogant young men say:

  770. 770

    "Truly the much-wooed queen is preparing a marriage

  771. 771

    is making her ready, and she does not know that murder is being prepared for her son.

  772. 772

    So one of them would say, but they did not know how things had been arranged.

  773. 773

    Then Antinous spoke out among them and addressed them:

  774. 774

    "You reckless fools, avoid all this overweening talk

  775. 775

    every one of you, lest someone report it even inside the house.

  776. 776

    Come, let us rise in silence and carry through

  777. 777

    the plan that has found favor with all our hearts."

  778. 778

    So saying, he picked out the twenty best men,

  779. 779

    and they set out toward the swift ship and the shore of the sea.

  780. 780

    First of all they dragged the ship down into the deep water,

  781. 781

    and set the mast and the sails in the black ship,

  782. 782

    and fitted the oars in the leather thole-straps,

  783. 783

    all in good order, and spread out the white sails.

  784. 784

    Their high-spirited attendants brought them their armor.

  785. 785

    They moored her well out in the channel, then disembarked themselves,

  786. 786

    and there they took their supper, and waited for evening to come.

  787. 787

    But up in her chamber prudent Penelope

  788. 788

    lay there fasting, untasting of food and of drink,

  789. 789

    pondering whether her blameless son would escape death,

  790. 790

    or be overcome by the overweening suitors.

  791. 791

    As much as a lion broods, in a throng of men,

  792. 792

    in fear, when they draw their cunning ring around him,

  793. 793

    so much was she brooding when sweet sleep came over her;

  794. 794

    and she slept, leaning back, and all her limbs were loosened.

  795. 795

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

  796. 796

    she made a phantom, and likened its form to a woman,

  797. 797

    to Iphthime, daughter of great-hearted Icarius,

  798. 798

    whom Eumelus had wed, who made his home in Pherae.

  799. 799

    She sent it to the house of godlike Odysseus,

  800. 800

    so that it might stop Penelope from her mourning and wailing,

  801. 801

    from her weeping and her tearful lament.

  802. 802

    It entered the chamber along the strap of the door-bolt,

  803. 803

    and stood above her head, and spoke a word to her:

  804. 804

    "You are sleeping, Penelope, grieved at heart?

  805. 805

    The gods who live at ease do not allow you

  806. 806

    to weep or be distressed, since your son will yet come home;

  807. 807

    for he is in no way an offender against the gods."

  808. 808

    Then prudent Penelope answered her,

  809. 809

    as she slumbered very sweetly at the gates of dreams:

  810. 810

    "Why, sister, have you come here? Before now you never

  811. 811

    used to visit, since you dwell in a home very far away.

  812. 812

    And you bid me cease from my misery and the many pains

  813. 813

    that trouble me in my mind and in my heart,

  814. 814

    I who first lost my noble, lion-hearted husband,

  815. 815

    graced with every excellence among the Danaans,

  816. 816

    noble, whose fame is wide through Hellas and mid-Argos;

  817. 817

    and now my beloved son has gone off on a hollow ship,

  818. 818

    a mere boy, knowing nothing of hardships or of assemblies.

  819. 819

    For him indeed I grieve even more than for that other one;

  820. 820

    for him I tremble and am afraid, lest he suffer something,

  821. 821

    either among the people where he has gone, or on the sea;

  822. 822

    for many enemies are scheming against him,

  823. 823

    eager to kill him before he can reach his native land."

  824. 824

    Then the dim phantom answered her and said:

  825. 825

    "Take heart, and do not fear too greatly in your mind;

  826. 826

    for such an escort goes with him as other

  827. 827

    men have prayed to have stand beside them, since she has the power,

  828. 828

    Pallas Athena; and she pities you in your grief,

  829. 829

    she who now has sent me to tell you these things."

  830. 830

    Then prudent Penelope spoke to her again:

  831. 831

    "If indeed you are a god and have heard a god's voice,

  832. 832

    come then, tell me also of that other ill-fated man,

  833. 833

    whether he still lives somewhere and sees the light of the sun,

  834. 834

    or is already dead and in the house of Hades."

  835. 835

    Then the dim phantom answered her and said:

  836. 836

    "I will not tell you of that man at length,

  837. 837

    whether he lives or has died; it is wrong to babble idle things."

  838. 838

    So saying, it slipped away past the bolt of the doorpost

  839. 839

    into the breaths of the winds. And she started up from sleep,

  840. 840

    the daughter of Icarius; and her heart was warmed,

  841. 841

    that so vivid a dream had sped to her in the dead of night.

  842. 842

    Meanwhile the suitors had embarked and were sailing the watery ways,

  843. 843

    brooding in their hearts on sheer murder for Telemachus.

  844. 844

    There is a certain rocky island in the midst of the sea,

  845. 845

    midway between Ithaca and rugged Samos,

  846. 846

    Asteris, not large; it has harbors safe for ships on it,

  847. 847

    with two mouths; there the Achaeans waited, lying in ambush for him.

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.