The Odyssey

say, and be assured my words

Will be fulfilled: experienced as thou art,

If thou by treacherous speeches shalt inflame

A younger man than thou to violent deeds,

The sharper punishment shall first be his,

But we will lay on thee a penalty,

Old man, which thou shalt find it hard to bear,

And bitterly wilt thou repent. And now

Let me persuade Telemachus to send

His mother to her father. They will make

A marriage for her there, and give with her

A liberal dowry, such as may become

A favorite daughter on her wedding-day,

Else never will the sons of Greece renounce,

I think, the difficult suit. We do not fear

Telemachus himself, though glib of speech,

Nor care we for the empty oracle

Which thou, old man, dost utter, making thee

Only more hated. Still will his estate

Be wasted, nor will order e’er return

While she defers her marriage with some prince

Of the Achaians. We shall urge our suit

For that most excellent of womankind

As rivals, nor withdraw to seek the hand

Of others, whom we fitly might espouse.”
To this discreet Telemachus replied:⁠—

“Eurymachus, and ye, the illustrious train

Of suitors, I have nothing more to ask⁠—

No more to say⁠—for now the gods and all

The Achaians know the truth. But let me have

A gallant barque, and twenty men to make

From coast to coast a voyage, visiting

Sparta and sandy Pylos, to inquire

For my long-absent father, and the chance

Of his return, if any of mankind

Can tell me aught, or if some rumor come

From Jove, since thus are tidings often brought

To human knowledge. Should I learn that yet

He lives and may return, I then would wait

A twelvemonth, though impatient. Should I hear

That he no longer lives, I shall return

Homeward, and pile his monument on high

With funeral honors that become the dead,

And give my mother to a second spouse.”
He spake and took his seat, and then arose

Mentor, once comrade of the excellent chief

Ulysses, who, departing with his fleet,

Consigned his household to the aged man,

That they should all obey him, and that he

Should safely keep his charge. He rose amid

The assembly, and addressed them wisely thus:⁠—
“Hear and attend, ye men of Ithaca,

To what I say. Let never sceptred king

Henceforth be gracious, mild, and merciful,

And righteous; rather be he deaf to prayer

And prone to deeds of wrong, since no one now

Remembers the divine Ulysses more,

Among the people over whom he ruled

Benignly like a father. Yet I bear

No envy to the haughty suitors here,

Moved as they are to deeds of violence

By evil counsels, since, in pillaging

The substance of Ulysses, who they say

Will nevermore return, they risk their lives.

But I am angry with the rest, with all

Of you who sit here mute, nor even with words

Of stern reproof restrain their violence,

Though ye so many are and they so few.”
Leiocritus, Evenor’s son, rejoined:⁠—

“Malicious Mentor, foolish man! what talk

Is this of holding us in check? ’Twere hard

For numbers even greater than our own

To drive us from a feast. And should the prince

Of Ithaca, Ulysses, come himself,

Thinking to thrust the illustrious suitors forth

That banquet in these palace halls, his queen

Would have no cause for joy at his return,

Greatly as she desired it. He would draw

Sure death upon himself in strife with us

Who are so many. Thou hast spoken ill.

Now let the people who are gathered here

Disperse to their employments. We will leave

Mentor and Halitherses, who were both

His father’s early comrades, to provide

For the youth’s voyage. He will yet remain

A long time here, I think, to ask for news

In Ithaca, and never will set sail.”
Thus having said, he instantly dismissed

The people; they departed to their homes;

The suitors sought the palace of the prince.
Then to the ocean-side, apart from all,

Went forth Telemachus, and washed his hands

In the gray surf, and prayed to Pallas thus:⁠—
“Hear me, thou deity who yesterday,

In visiting our palace, didst command

That I should traverse the black deep to learn

News of my absent father, and the chance

Of his return! The Greeks themselves withstand,

My purpose; the proud suitors most of all.”
Such was his prayer, and straightway Pallas stood,

In form and voice like Mentor, by his side,

And thus accosted him with winged words:⁠—
“Telemachus, thou henceforth shalt not lack

Valor or wisdom. If with thee abides

Thy father’s gallant spirit, as he was

In deed and word, thou wilt not vainly make

This voyage. But if thou be not in truth

The son of him and of Penelope,

Then I rely not on thee to perform

What thou dost meditate. Few sons are like

Their fathers: most are worse, a very few

Excel their parents. Since thou wilt not lack

Valor and wisdom in the coming time,

Nor is thy father’s shrewdness wanting quite

In thee, great hope there is that happily

This plan will be fulfilled. Regard not then

The suitor train, their purposes and plots.

Senseless are they, as little wise as just,

And have no thought of the black doom of death

Now drawing near to sweep them in a day

To their destruction. But thy enterprise

Must suffer no delay. So much am I

Thy father’s friend and thine, that I will cause

A swift barque to be fitted out for sea,

And will myself attend thee. Go now hence

Among the suitors, and make ready there

The needful stores, and let them all be put

In vessels⁠—wine in jars, and meal, the strength

Of man, in close thick skins⁠—while I engage,

Among the people here, a willing crew.

Ships are there in our seagirt Ithaca

Full many, new and old, and I will choose

The best of these, and see it well equipped.

Then will we drag it down to the broad sea.”
Thus Pallas spake, the child of Jupiter.

Telemachus obeyed the heavenly voice,

And stayed not; home he hastened, where he saw

Sadly the arrogant suitors in the hall,

Busily flaying goats and roasting swine.

Antinoüs, laughing, came to meet the youth.

And fastened on his hand, and thus he spake:⁠—
“Telemachus, thou youth of lofty speech

And boundless in abuse, let neither word

Nor deed that may displease thee vex thy heart,

But gayly eat and drink as thou wert wont.

The Achaians generously will provide

Whatever thou requirest, ship and men⁠—

All chosen rowers⁠—that thou mayst arrive

Sooner at sacred Pylos, there to learn

Tidings of thy illustrious father’s fate.”
Then spake discreet Telemachus in turn:⁠—

“Antinoüs, never could I sit with you,

Arrogant ones! in silence nor enjoy

The feast in quiet. Is it not