The Odyssey

the blood

Had ceased to flow, and life had left its limbs,

They quickly severed joint from joint; they hewed

The thighs away, and duly covered them

With caul, a double fold, on which they laid

Raw strips of flesh. The aged monarch burned

These over the cleft wood, and poured dark wine

Upon them, while beside him stood the youths

With five-pronged spits; and when the thighs were burned

And entrails tasted, all the rest they carved

Into small portions and transfixed with spits,

And roasted, holding the sharp spits in hand.

Meantime, fair Polycastè, youngest born

Of Nestor’s daughters, gave Telemachus

The bath; and after he had bathed she shed

A rich oil over him, and in a cloak

Of noble texture and a tunic robed

The prince, who, like a god in presence, left

The bath, and took his place where Nestor sat,

The shepherd of the people. When the youths

Had roasted well and from the spits withdrawn

The flesh, they took their places at the feast.

Then rose up chosen men, and poured the wine

Into the cups of gold; and when at length

The thirst and appetite were both allayed,

The knight, Gerenian Nestor, thus began:⁠—
“Rise now, my sons; join to the bright-haired steeds

My car, and let Telemachus depart.”
He spake; they hearkened and obeyed, and straight

Yoked the swift horses to the car. Then came

The matron of the household, laying bread

And wine within the car, and dainties such

As make a prince’s fare. Telemachus

Then climbed into the sumptuous seat. The son

Of Nestor and the chief of armed bands,

Peisistratus, climbed also, took his place

Beside him, grasped the reins, and with the lash

Urged on the coursers. Not unwillingly

They darted toward the plain, and left behind

The lofty Pylos. All that day they shook

The yoke on both their necks. The sun went down;

The highways lay in darkness when they came

To Pherae and the abode of Diocles,

Son of Orsilochus, who claimed to be

The offspring of Alpheius. They with him

Found welcome there, and there that night they slept.
And when the rosy-fingered Morn appeared,

They yoked the horses, climbed the shining car,

And issued from the palace gate beneath

The sounding portico. Peisistratus

Wielded the lash to urge the coursers on,

And not unwillingly they flew and reached

A land of harvests. Here the travellers found

Their journey’s end, so swiftly those fleet steeds

Had borne them on. And now the sun went down,

And darkness gathered over all the ways.



Book IV
Conference of Telemachus and Menelaus

Arrival of Telemachus and his companion at Sparta⁠—A wedding; the marriage of the daughter of Menelaus⁠—Helen in Sparta⁠—Entertainment of the guests⁠—Helen’s account of her return to her husband⁠—The Trojan horse⁠—Narrative of the visit of Menelaus to Egypt, in order to consult the sea-god, Proteus⁠—Menelaus informed by him that Ulysses is detained by Calypso in her island⁠—Plot of the suitors to lie in wait for Telemachus on his voyage and destroy him⁠—Penelope visited and consoled by Pallas in a dream.

They came to Lacedaemon’s valley, seamed

With dells, and to the palace of its king,

The glorious Menelaus, whom they found

Within, and at a wedding banquet, made

Both for his blameless daughter and his son,

And many guests. Her he must send away,

Bride of the son of that invincible chief,

Achilles. He betrothed her while in Troy,

And gave his kingly word, and now the gods

Fulfilled it by the marriage. He was now

Sending her forth, with steeds and cars, to reach

The noble city of the Myrmidons,

Where ruled her consort. From the Spartan coast

He brought Alector’s daughter for his son,

The gallant Megapenthes, borne to him

By a handmaiden in his later years.

For not to Helen had the gods vouchsafed

Yet other offspring, after she had brought

A lovely daughter forth, Hermione,

Like golden Venus both in face and form.
So banqueting the neighbors and the friends

Of glorious Menelaus sat beneath

The lofty ceiling of those spacious halls,

Delighted with the feast. A sacred bard

Amidst them touched the harp and sang to them

While, as the song began, two dancers sprang

Into the midst and trod the measure there
But they⁠—the hero-youth Telemachus

And Nestor’s eminent son⁠—were at the gate,

And standing in the entrance with their steeds.

The worthy Eteoneus, coming forth⁠—

The trusty servant of the glorious son

Of Atreus⁠—saw, and hastening thence to tell

The shepherd of the people, through the hall

He came to him, and spake these winged words:⁠—
“O Menelaus, foster-child of Jove,

Two strangers have arrived, two men who seem

Descended from almighty Jupiter.

Shall we then loose the harness from their steeds,

Or bid them elsewhere seek a friendly host?”
The fair-haired king indignantly replied:⁠—

“Nay, Eteoneus, thou hast not been wont.

Son of Boëthus, thus to play the fool.

Thou pratest idly, like a child. Ourselves

Have sat, as guests, at generous banquets given

By other men, when journeying hitherward

In hope that Jove might grant a respite here

From our disasters. Hasten, then, to loose

The steeds, and bring the strangers to the feast.”
He spake; the attendant hastened forth and called

The other trusty servitors, with charge

To follow. They unyoked the sweaty steeds,

And bound them to the stalls, and gave them oats,

With which they mingled the white barley-grains,

And close against the shining wall they placed

The car, and then they led the guests within

The sumptuous palace. Entering, these admired

The palace of the foster-child of Jove,

For like the splendor of the sun and moon

Its glory was. They with delighted eyes

Gazed, and, descending to the polished baths,

They bathed. The attendant maids who at the bath

Had ministered, anointing them with oil,

Arrayed the stranger guests in fleecy cloaks

And tunics. Each sat down upon a throne

Near to Atrides. Now a handmaid brought

A beautiful ewer of gold, and laver wrought

Of silver, and poured water for their hands,

And spread a polished table near their seat;

The reverend matron of the household came

With bread, and set before them many a dish

Gathered from all the feast. The carver next

Brought chargers lifted high, and in them meats

Of every flavor, and before them placed

Beakers of gold. The fair-haired monarch gave

His hand to each, and then bespake them thus:⁠—
“Now taste our banquet and rejoice, and when

Ye are refreshed with food we will inquire

Who ye may be; for ye are not of those

Whose race degenerates, ye are surely born

Of sceptred kings, the favorites of Jove.

Ignoble men have never sons like you.”
Thus having said, and taking in his hands

A fatling bullock’s