Scroll 16
Meanwhile Odysseus and the
swineherd had lit a fire in the hut and were getting breakfast ready
at daybreak for they had sent the men out with the pigs. When
Telemakhos came up, the dogs did not bark, but fawned upon him, so
Odysseus, hearing the sound of feet and noticing that the dogs did
not bark, said to Eumaios:
"Eumaios, I hear footsteps; I
suppose one of your men or some one of your acquaintance is coming
here, for the dogs are fawning upon him and not barking."
The words were hardly out of his
mouth before his son stood at the door. Eumaios sprang to his feet,
and the bowls in which he was mixing wine fell from his hands, as he
made towards his master. He kissed his head and both his beautiful
eyes, and wept for joy. A father could not be more delighted at the
return of an only son, the child of his old age, after ten
years’ absence in a foreign country and after having gone
through much hardship. He embraced him, kissed him all over as though
he had come back from the dead, and spoke fondly to him
saying:
"So you are come, Telemakhos,
light of my eyes that you are. When I heard you had gone to
Pylos I
made sure I was never going to see you any more. Come in, my dear
child, and sit down, that I may have a good look at you now you are
home again; it is not very often you come into the country to see us
herdsmen; you stick pretty close to the town generally. I suppose you
think it better to keep an eye on what the suitors are
doing."
"So be it, old friend," answered
Telemakhos, "but I am come now because I want to see you, and to
learn whether my mother is still at her old home or whether some one
else has married her, so that the bed of Odysseus is without bedding
and covered with cobwebs."
"She is still at the house,"
replied Eumaios, "grieving and breaking her heart, and doing nothing
but weep, both night and day continually."
As spoke he took Telemakhos’
spear, whereon he crossed the stone threshold and came inside.
Odysseus rose from his seat to give him place as he entered, but
Telemakhos checked him; "Sit down, stranger." said he, "I can easily
find another seat, and there is one here who will lay it for
me."
Odysseus went back to his own
place, and Eumaios strewed some green brushwood on the floor and
threw a sheepskin on top of it for Telemakhos to sit upon. Then the
swineherd brought them platters of cold meat, the remains from what
they had eaten the day before, and he filled the bread baskets with
bread as fast as he could. He mixed wine also in bowls of ivy-wood,
and took his seat facing Odysseus. Then they laid their hands on the
good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had enough
to eat and drink Telemakhos said to Eumaios, "Old friend, where does
this stranger come from? How did his crew bring him to
Ithaca, and
who were they?-for assuredly he did not come here by
land"’
To this you answered, O swineherd
Eumaios, "My son, I will tell you the real truth
[alêthês]. He says he is a Cretan, and
that he has been a great traveler. At this moment he is running away
from a Thesprotian ship, and has refuge at my station, so I will put
him into your hands. Do whatever you like with him, only remember
that he is your suppliant."
"I am very much distressed," said
Telemakhos, "by what you have just told me. How can I take this
stranger into my house? I am as yet young, and am not strong enough
to hold my own if any man attacks me. My mother cannot make up her
mind whether to stay where she is and look after the house out of
respect for public [dêmos] opinion and the
memory of her husband, or whether the time is now come for her to
take the best man of those who are wooing her, and the one who will
make her the most advantageous offer; still, as the stranger has come
to your station I will find him a cloak and shirt of good wear, with
a sword and sandals, and will send him wherever he wants to go. Or if
you like you can keep him here at the station, and I will send him
clothes and food that he may be no burden on you and on your men; but
I will not have him go near the suitors, for they are very insolent
[hubris], and are sure to ill-treat him in a way that
would greatly grieve [akhos] me; no matter how valiant
a man may be he can do nothing against numbers, for they will be too
strong for him."
Then Odysseus said, "Sir, it is
right that I should say something myself. I am much shocked about
what you have said about the insolent way in which the suitors are
behaving in despite of such a man as you are. Tell me, do you submit
to such treatment tamely, or do the people of your
dêmos, following the voice of some god, hate
[ekhthros] you? May you not complain of your brothers
- for it is to these that a man may look for support, however great
his quarrel may be? I wish I were as young as you are and in my
present mind; if I were son to Odysseus, or, indeed, Odysseus
himself, I would rather some one came and cut my head off, but I
would go to the house and be the bane of every one of these men. If
they were too many for me - I being single-handed - I would rather
die fighting in my own house than see such disgraceful sights day
after day, strangers grossly maltreated, and men dragging the women
servants about the house in an unseemly way, wine drawn recklessly,
and bread wasted all to no purpose for an end that shall never be
accomplished."
And Telemakhos answered, "I will
tell you truly everything. There is no enmity between me and my
dêmos, nor can I complain of brothers, to whom a man may
look for support however great his quarrel may be. Zeus has made us a
race of only sons.
Laertes was the only son of Arceisius, and
Odysseus only son of
Laertes. I am myself the only son of Odysseus
who left me behind him when he went away, so that I have never been
of any use to him. Hence it comes that my house is in the hands of
numberless marauders; for the chiefs from all the neighboring
islands, Dulichium, Same,
Zacynthus, as also all the principal men of
Ithaca itself, are eating up my house under the pretext of paying
court to my mother, who will neither say point blank that she will
not marry, nor yet bring matters to an end, so they are making havoc
of my estate, and before long will do so with myself into the
bargain. The issue, however, rests with heaven. But do you, old
friend Eumaios, go at once and tell Penelope that I am safe and have
returned from
Pylos. Tell it to herself alone, and then come back
here without letting any one else know, for there are many who are
plotting mischief against me."
"I understand and heed you,"
replied Eumaios; "you need instruct me no further, only I am going
that way say whether I had not better let poor
Laertes know that you
are returned. He used to superintend the work on his farm in spite of
his bitter sorrow about Odysseus, and he would eat and drink at will
along with his servants; but they tell me that from the day on which
you set out for
Pylos he has neither eaten nor drunk as he ought to
do, nor does he look after his farm, but sits weeping and wasting the
flesh from off his bones."
"More's the pity," answered
Telemakhos, "I am sorry for him, but we must leave him to himself
just now. If people could have everything their own way, the first
thing I should choose would be the return of my father; but go, and
give your message; then make haste back again, and do not turn out of
your way to tell
Laertes. Tell my mother to send one of her women
secretly with the news at once, and let him hear it from
her."
Thus did he urge the swineherd;
Eumaios, therefore, took his sandals, bound them to his feet, and
started for the town. Athena watched him well off the station, and
then came up to it in the form of a woman - fair, stately, and wise.
She stood against the side of the entry, and revealed herself to
Odysseus, but Telemakhos could not see her, and knew not that she was
there, for the gods do not let themselves be seen by everybody.
Odysseus saw her, and so did the dogs, for they did not bark, but
went scared and whining off to the other side of the yards. She
nodded her head and motioned to Odysseus with her eyebrows; whereon
he left the hut and stood before her outside the main wall of the
yards. Then she said to him:
"Odysseus, noble son of
Laertes,
it is now time for you to tell your son: do not keep him in the dark
any longer, but lay your plans for the destruction of the suitors,
and then make for the town. I will not be long in joining you, for I
too am eager for the fray."
As she spoke she touched him with
her golden wand. First she threw a fair clean shirt and cloak about
his shoulders; then she made him younger and of more imposing
presence; she gave him back his color, filled out his cheeks, and let
his beard become dark again. Then she went away and Odysseus came
back inside the hut. His son was astounded when he saw him, and
turned his eyes away for fear he might be looking upon a
god.
"Stranger," said he, "how
suddenly you have changed from what you were a moment or two ago. You
are dressed differently and your color is not the same. Are you some
one or other of the gods that live in heaven? If so, be propitious to
me till I can make you due sacrifice and offerings of wrought gold.
Have mercy upon me."
And Odysseus said, "I am no god,
why should you take me for one? I am your father, on whose account
you grieve and suffer so much at the hands of violent
[biê] men."
As he spoke he kissed his son,
and a tear fell from his cheek on to the ground, for he had
restrained all tears till now. but Telemakhos could not yet believe
that it was his father, and said:
"You are not my father, but some
daimôn is flattering me with vain hopes that I may
grieve the more hereafter; no mortal man could of himself contrive
with his noos to do as you have been doing, and make yourself
old and young at a moment's notice, unless a god were with him.
A second ago you were old and all in rags, and now you are like some
god come down from heaven."
Odysseus answered, "Telemakhos,
you ought not to be so immeasurably astonished at my being really
here. There is no other Odysseus who will come hereafter. Such as I
am, it is I, who after long wandering and much hardship have got home
in the twentieth year to my own country. What you wonder at is the
work of the redoubtable goddess Athena, who does with me whatever she
will, for she can do what she pleases. At one moment she makes me
like a beggar, and the next I am a young man with good clothes on my
back; it is an easy matter for the gods who live in heaven to make
any man look either rich or poor."
As he spoke he sat down, and
Telemakhos threw his arms about his father and wept. They were both
so much moved that they cried aloud like eagles or vultures with
crooked talons that have been robbed of their half fledged young by
peasants. Thus piteously did they weep, and the sun would have gone
down upon their mourning if Telemakhos had not suddenly said, "In
what ship, my dear father, did your crew bring you to
Ithaca? Of what
nation did they declare themselves to be - for you cannot have come
by land?"
"I will tell you the truth
[alêtheia], my son," replied Odysseus. "It was
the Phaeacians who brought me here. They are great sailors, and are
in the habit of giving escorts to any one who reaches their coasts.
They took me over the sea while I was fast asleep, and landed me in
Ithaca, after giving me many presents in bronze, gold, and raiment.
These things by heaven's mercy are lying concealed in a cave,
and I am now come here on the suggestion of Athena that we may
consult about killing our enemies. First, therefore, give me a list
of the suitors, with their number, that I may learn who, and how
many, they are. I can then turn the matter over in my mind, and see
whether we two can fight the whole body of them ourselves, or whether
we must find others to help us."
To this Telemakhos answered,
"Father, I have always heard of your renown [kleos]
both in the field and in council, but the task you talk of is a very
great one: I am awed at the mere thought of it; two men cannot stand
against many and brave ones. There are not ten suitors only, nor
twice ten, but ten many times over; you shall learn their number at
once. There are fifty-two chosen [krînô]
youths from Dulichium, and they have six servants; from Same there
are twenty-four; twenty young Achaeans from
Zacynthus, and twelve
from
Ithaca itself, all of them well born. They have with them a
servant Medon, a bard, and two men who can carve at table. If we face
such numbers as this, you may have bitter cause to rue your coming,
and your violent revenge [biê]. See whether you
cannot think of some one who would be willing to come and help
us."
"Listen to me," replied Odysseus,
"and think whether Athena and her father Zeus may seem sufficient, or
whether I am to try and find some one else as well."
"Those whom you have named,"
answered Telemakhos, "are a couple of good allies, for though they
dwell high up among the clouds they have power over both gods and
men."
"These two," continued Odysseus,
"will not keep long out of the fray, when the suitors and we join
fight in my house. Now, therefore, return home early tomorrow
morning, and go about among the suitors as before. Later on the
swineherd will bring me to the city disguised as a miserable old
beggar. If you see them ill-treating me, steel your heart against my
sufferings; even though they drag me feet foremost out of the house,
or throw things at me, look on and do nothing beyond gently trying to
make them behave more reasonably; but they will not listen to you,
for the day of their reckoning is at hand. Furthermore I say, and lay
my saying to your heart, when Athena shall put it in my mind, I will
nod my head to you, and on seeing me do this you must collect all the
armor that is in the house and hide it in the strong store room. Make
some excuse when the suitors ask you why you are removing it; say
that you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke, inasmuch as
it is no longer what it was when Odysseus went away, but has become
soiled and begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly that you
are afraid Zeus may set them on to quarrel over their wine, and that
they may do each other some harm which may disgrace both banquet and
wooing, for the sight of arms sometimes tempts people to use them.
But leave a sword and a spear apiece for yourself and me, and a
couple oxhide shields so that we can snatch them up at any moment;
Zeus and Athena will then soon quiet these people. There is also
another matter; if you are indeed my son and my blood runs in your
veins, let no one know that Odysseus is within the house - neither
Laertes, nor yet the swineherd, nor any of the servants, nor even
Penelope herself. Let you and me make trial the women alone, and let
us also make trial of some other of the men servants, to see who is
on our side and whose hand is against us."
"Father," replied Telemakhos,
"you will come to know me by and by, and when you do you will find
that I can keep your counsel. I do not think, however, the plan you
propose will be a gain [kerdos] for either of us.
Think it over. It will take us a long time to go the round of the
farms and exploit the men, and all the time the suitors will be
wasting your estate with impunity and without compunction. Prove the
women by all means, to see who are disloyal and who guiltless, but I
am not in favor of going round and trying the men. We can attend to
that later on, if you really have some sign from Zeus that he will
support you."
Thus did they converse, and
meanwhile the ship which had brought Telemakhos and his crew from
Pylos had reached the town of
Ithaca. When they had come inside the
harbor they drew the ship on to the land; their servants came and
took their armor from them, and they left all the presents at the
house of Klytios. Then they sent a servant to tell Penelope that
Telemakhos had gone into the country, but had sent the ship to the
town to prevent her from being alarmed and made unhappy. This servant
and Eumaios happened to meet when they were both on the same errand
of going to tell Penelope. When they reached the House, the servant
stood up and said to the queen in the presence of the waiting women,
"Your son, my lady, is now returned from
Pylos"; but Eumaios went
close up to Penelope, and said privately that her son had given
bidden him tell her. When he had given his message he left the house
with its outbuildings and went back to his pigs again.
The suitors were surprised and
angry at what had happened, so they went outside the great wall that
ran round the outer court, and held a council near the main entrance.
Eurymakhos, son of Polybos, was the first to speak.
"My friends," said he, "this
voyage of Telemakhos’ is a very serious matter; we had made sure
that it would come to nothing. Now, however, let us draw a ship into
the water, and get a crew together to send after the others and tell
them to come back as fast as they can."
He had hardly done speaking when
Amphinomos turned in his place and saw the ship inside the harbor,
with the crew lowering her sails, and putting by their oars; so he
laughed, and said to the others, "We need not send them any message,
for they are here. Some god must have told them, or else they saw the
ship go by, and could not overtake her.
On this they rose and went to the
water side. The crew then drew the ship on shore; their servants took
their armor from them, and they went up in a body to the place of
assembly, but they would not let any one old or young sit along with
them, and Antinoos, son of Eupeithes, spoke first.
"Good heavens," said he, "see how
the gods have saved this man from destruction. We kept a succession
of scouts upon the headlands all day long, and when the sun was down
we never went on shore to sleep, but waited in the ship all night
till morning in the hope of capturing and killing him; but some
daimôn has conveyed him home in spite of us. Let us
consider how we can make an end of him. He must not escape us; our
affair is never likely to come off while is alive, for he is very
shrewd in noos, and public feeling is by no means all on our
side. We must make haste before he can call the Achaeans in assembly;
he will lose no time in doing so, for he will be furious with us, and
will tell all the world how we plotted to kill him, but failed to
take him. The people will not like this when they come to know of it;
we must see that they do us no hurt, nor drive us from our own
dêmos into exile. Let us try and lay hold of him either
on his farm away from the town, or on the road hither. Then we can
divide up his property amongst us, and let his mother and the man who
marries her have the house. If this does not please you, and you wish
Telemakhos to live on and hold his father's property, then we
must not gather here and eat up his goods in this way, but must make
our offers to Penelope each from his own house, and she can marry the
man who will give the most for her, and whose lot it is to win
her."
They all held their peace until
Amphinomos rose to speak. He was the son of Nisus, who was son to
king Aretias, and he was foremost among all the suitors from the
wheat-growing and well grassed island of Dulichium; his conversation,
moreover, was more agreeable to Penelope than that of any of the
other for he was a man of good natural disposition. "My friends,"
said he, speaking to them plainly and in all honestly, "I am not in
favor of killing Telemakhos. It is a heinous thing to kill one who is
of noble blood. Let us first take counsel of the gods, and if the
oracles of Zeus advise it, I will both help to kill him myself, and
will urge everyone else to do so; but if they dissuade us, I would
have you hold your hands."
Thus did he speak, and his words
pleased them well, so they rose forthwith and went to the house of
Odysseus where they took their accustomed seats.
Then Penelope resolved that she
would show herself to the outrageous [hubris] suitors.
She knew of the plot against Telemakhos, for the servant Medon had
overheard their counsels and had told her; she went down therefore to
the court attended by her maidens, and when she reached the suitors
she stood by one of the bearing-posts supporting the roof of the room
holding a veil before her face, and rebuked Antinoos
saying:
"Antinoos, insolent
[hubris] and wicked schemer, they say you are the best
speaker and counselor of any man your own age in the
dêmos of
Ithaca, but you are nothing of the kind.
Madman, why should you try to compass the death of Telemakhos, and
take no heed of suppliants, whose witness is Zeus himself? It is not
right for you to plot thus against one another. Do you not remember
how your father fled to this house in fear of the people
[dêmos], who were enraged against him for having
gone with some Taphian pirates and plundered the Thesprotians who
were at peace with us? They wanted to tear him in pieces and eat up
everything he had, but Odysseus stayed their hands although they were
infuriated, and now you devour his property without paying for it,
and break my heart by wooing his wife and trying to kill his son.
Leave off doing so, and stop the others also."
To this Eurymakhos son of Polybos
answered, "Take heart, Queen Penelope daughter of Ikarios, and do not
trouble yourself about these matters. The man is not yet born, nor
never will be, who shall lay hands upon your son Telemakhos, while I
yet live to look upon the face of the earth. I say - and it shall
surely be - that my spear shall be reddened with his blood; for many
a time has Odysseus taken me on his knees, held wine up to my lips to
drink, and put pieces of meat into my hands. Therefore Telemakhos is
much the dearest friend I have, and has nothing to fear from the
hands of us suitors. Of course, if death comes to him from the gods,
he cannot escape it." He said this to quiet her, but in reality he
was plotting against Telemakhos.
Then Penelope went upstairs again
and mourned her husband till Athena shed sleep over her eyes. In the
evening Eumaios got back to Odysseus and his son, who had just
sacrificed a young pig of a year old and were ready; helping one
another to get supper ready; Athena therefore came up to Odysseus,
turned him into an old man with a stroke of her wand, and clad him in
his old clothes again, for fear that the swineherd might recognize
him and not keep the secret, but go and tell Penelope.
Telemakhos was the first to
speak. "So you have got back, Eumaios," said he. "What is the news
[kleos] of the town? Have the suitors returned, or are
they still waiting over yonder, to take me on my way
home?"
"I did not think of asking about
that," replied Eumaios, "when I was in the town. I thought I would
give my message and come back as soon as I could. I met a man sent by
those who had gone with you to
Pylos, and he was the first to tell
the new your mother, but I can say what I saw with my own eyes; I had
just got on to the crest of the hill of Hermes above the town when I
saw a ship coming into harbor with a number of men in her. They had
many shields and spears, and I thought it was the suitors, but I
cannot be sure."
On hearing this Telemakhos smiled
to his father, but so that Eumaios could not see him.
Then, when they had finished
their labor [ponos] and the meal was ready, they ate
it, and every man had his full share so that all were satisfied. As
soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, they laid down to rest
and enjoyed the boon of sleep.
