“And Phaedra and Procris I saw, and fair Ariadne, the daughter of Minos of baneful mind, whom once Theseus was fain to bear from Crete to the hill of sacred Athens; but he had no joy of her, for ere that Artemis slew her
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in sea-girt Dia because of the witness of Dionysus.
“And Maera and Clymene I saw, and hateful Eriphyle, who took precious gold as the price of the life of her own lord. But I cannot tell or name all the wives and daughters of heroes that I saw;
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ere that immortal night would wane. Nay, it is now time to sleep, either when I have gone to the swift ship and the crew, or here. My sending shall rest with the gods, and with you.”
So he spoke, and they were all hushed in silence, and were held spell-bound throughout the shadowy halls.
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Then among them white-armed Arete was the first to speak:
“Phaeacians, how seems this man to you for comeliness and stature, and for the balanced spirit within him? And moreover he is my guest, though each of you has a share in this honor. Wherefore be not in haste to send him away, nor
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stint your gifts to one in such need; for many are the treasures which lie stored in your halls by the favour of the gods.”
Then among them spoke also the old lord Echeneus, who was an elder among the Phaeacians:“Friends, verily not wide of the mark or of our own thought
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are the words of our wise queen. Nay, do you give heed to them. Yet it is on Alcinous here that deed and word depend.”
Then again Alcinous answered him and said:“This word of hers shall verily hold, as surely as I live and am lord over the Phaeacians, lovers of the oar.
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But let our guest, for all his great longing to return, nevertheless endure to remain until tomorrow, till I shall make all our gift complete. His sending shall rest with the men, with all, but most of all with me; for mine is the control in the land.”
Then Odysseus of many wiles answered him and said:
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“Lord Alcinous, renowned above all men, if you should bid me abide here even for a year, and should further my sending, and give glorious gifts, even that would I choose; and it would be better far to come with a fuller hand to my dear native land.
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Aye, and I should win more respect and love from all men who should see me when I had returned to Ithaca.”
Homer. The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919.
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