The Odyssey

son of violence come to make

A spoil of thy possessions while men dwell

In Ithaca. And now, my friend, I ask

Who was thy guest; whence came he, of what land

Claims he to be, where do his kindred dwell,

And where his patrimonial acres lie?

With tidings of thy father’s near return

Came he, or to receive a debt? How swift

Was his departure, waiting not for us

To know him! yet in aspect and in air

He seemed to be no man of vulgar note.”
Telemachus, the prudent, answered thus:⁠—

“My father’s coming, O Eurymachus,

Is to be hoped no more; nor can I trust

Tidings from whatsoever part they come,

Nor pay regard to oracles, although

My mother send to bring a soothsayer

Within the palace, and inquire of him.

But this man was my father’s guest; he comes

From Taphos; Mentes is his name, a son

Of the brave chief Anchialus; he reigns

Over the Taphians, men who love the sea.”
He spake, but in his secret heart he knew

The immortal goddess. Then the suitors turned.

Delighted, to the dance and cheerful song,

And waited for the evening. On their sports

The evening with its shadowy blackness came;

Then each to his own home withdrew to sleep,

While to his lofty chamber, in full view,

Built high in that magnificent palace home,

Telemachus went up, and sought his couch,

Intent on many thoughts. The chaste and sage

Dame Eurycleia by his side went up

With lighted torches⁠—she a child of Ops,

Pisenor’s son. Her, in her early bloom,

Laertes purchased for a hundred beeves,

And in his palace honored equally

With his chaste wife; yet never sought her bed.

He would not wrong his queen. ’Twas she who bore

The torches with Telemachus. She loved

Her young lord more than all the other maids,

And she had nursed him in his tender years.

He opened now the chamber door and sat

Upon the couch, put his soft tunic off

And placed it in the prudent matron’s hands.

She folded it and smoothed it, hung it near

To that fair bed, and, going quickly forth,

Pulled at the silver ring to close the door,

And drew the thong that moved the fastening bolt.

He, lapped in the soft fleeces, all night long.

Thought of the voyage Pallas had ordained.



Book II
Departure of Telemachus from Ithaca

The chief men of Ithaca assembled by Telemachus⁠—His complaint of the suitors⁠—Their attempt to justify themselves⁠—Prophecy of the return of Ulysses by the seer, Halitherses⁠—Request of Telemachus for a vessel to visit Pylos and Sparta, in quest of his father, granted by the assembly⁠—Preparations for his departure.

Now when the Morning, child of Dawn, appeared,

The dear son of Ulysses left his bed

And put his garments on. His trenchant sword

He hung upon his shoulders, and made fast

His shapely sandals to his shining feet,

And issued from his chamber like a god.

At once he bade the clear-voiced heralds call

The long-haired Greeks to council. They obeyed,

Quickly the chiefs assembled, and when all

Were at the appointed place, Telemachus

Went to the council, bearing in his hand

A brazen spear, yet went he not alone.

Two swift dogs followed him, while Pallas shed

A heavenly beauty over him, and all

Admired him as he came. He took the seat

Of his great father, and the aged men

Made way for him. And then Aegyptius spake⁠—

A hero bowed with age, who much had seen

And known. His son, the warlike Antiphus,

Went with the great Ulysses in his fleet

To courser-breeding Troy, and afterward

The cruel Cyclops, in the vaulted cave,

Slew him for his last meal. Three other sons

There were, and one of these, Eurynomus,

Was of the suitor train; the others took

Charge of their father’s acres. Never yet

Had he forgotten his lost son or ceased

To grieve for him, and as he spoke he wept
“Hear, men of Ithaca, what I shall say.

No council, no assembly, have we held

Since great Ulysses in his roomy ships

Departed from our isle. Who now is he

That summons us? On which of our young men

Or elders presses this necessity?

Is it belike that one of you has heard

Of an approaching foe, and can declare

The tidings clearly? Or would he propose

And urge some other matter which concerns

The public weal? A just and generous mind

I deem is his, and ’tis my hope that Jove

Will bring to pass the good at which he aims.”
As thus he spake Ulysses’ son rejoiced

In his auspicious words, nor longer kept

His seat, but, yielding to an inward force,

Rose midst them all to speak, while in his hand

Pisenor, the sagacious counsellor

And herald, placed the sceptre. Then he turned

To the old man, Aegyptius, speaking thus:⁠—
“O aged man, not far from thee is he

Who called this council, as thou soon shalt know

Mine chiefly is the trouble; I have brought

No news of an approaching foe, which I

Was first to hear, and would declare to all,

Nor urge I other matters which concern

The public weal; my own necessity⁠—

The evil that has fallen on my house⁠—

Constrains me; it is twofold. First, that I

Have lost an excellent father, who was king

Among you, and ruled o’er you with a sway

As gentle as a father’s. Greater yet

Is the next evil, and will soon o’erthrow

My house and waste my substance utterly.

Suitors, the sons of those who, in our isle,

Hold the chief rank, importunately press

Round my unwilling mother. They disdain

To ask her of Icarius, that the king

Her father may endow her, and bestow

His daughter on the man who best may gain

His favor, but with every day they come

Into our palace, sacrificing here

Oxen and sheep and fatling goats, and hold

High festival, and drink the purple wine

Unstinted, with unbounded waste; for here

Is no man like Ulysses to repel

The mischief from my house. Not such are we

As he was, to resist the wrong. We pass

For weaklings, immature in valor, yet

If I had but the power, assuredly

I would resist, for by these men are done

Insufferable things, nor does my house

Perish with honor. Ye yourselves should feel

Shame at these doings; ye should dread reproach

From those who dwell around us, and should fear

The offended gods, lest they repay these crimes

With vengeance. I beseech you, O my friends,

Both by Olympian Jove, and her by whom

Councils of men are summoned and dissolved⁠—

The goddess Themis⁠—that ye all refrain,

And leave me to my grief alone, unless

Ulysses, my great father, may