Book twenty. Ulysses slept in the cloister upon an undressed bullock's hide, on
the top of which he threw several skins of the sheep the suitors had eaten,
and Uriname threw a cloak over him. After he had laid himself down
there. Then Ulysses lay wakefully brooding upon the way in which he should kill
the suitors. And by and by the women who had been in the habit
of misconducting themselves with them, left the house, giggling and laughing with one
another. This made Ulysses very angry, and he doubted whether to get up
and kill every single one of them then and there, or to let them
sleep one more and last time. With the suitors. His heart growled within
him, And as a bitch with puppies growls and shows her teeth when she
sees a stranger, so did his heart growl with anger at the evil deeds
that were being done. But he beat his breast and said, heart,
be still, you had worse than the us to bear on the day when
the terrible cyclops ate your brave companions. Yet you bore it in silence till
your cunning got you safe out of the cave, though you made sure of
being killed. Thus he chided with his heart and checked it into endurance.
But he tossed about as one who turns a paunch full of blood and fat
in front of a hot fire, doing it first on one side and then
on the other, that he may get it cooked as soon as possible.
Even so did he turn himself about from side to side, thinking all the
time how single handed as he was, he should contrive to kill so large
a body of men as the wicked suitors. But by and by Minerva came
down from heaven in the likeness of a woman, and hovered over his head,
saying, my poor, unhappy man, why do you lie awake in
this way? This is your house. Your wife is safe inside it,
and so is your son, who is just such a young man as any
father may be proud of. This, answered Ulysses, all that you have
said is true. But I am in some doubt as to how I shall
be able to kill these wicked suitors single handed, seeing what a number of
them there always are. And there is this further difficulty which is still more
considerable. Supposing that with joves and your assistance, I succeed in killing them,
I must ask you to consider where I am to escape to from their
avengers when it is all over. For shame, replied Minerva. Why anyone
else would trust a worse ally than myself, even though that ally were only
a mortal end less wise than I am? Am? I not a goddess,
and have I not protected you throughout in all your troubles? I tell
you plainly that even though there were fifty bands of men surrounding us and eager
to kill us, you should take all their sheep and cattle and drive them
away with you. But go to sleep. It is a very bad thing
to lie awake all night, and you shall be out of your troubles Before
long as she spoke, she shed sleep over his eyes, and then went
back to Olympus. While Ulysses was thus yielding himself to a very deep slumber
that eased the burden of his sorrows, his admirable wife awoke, and,
sitting up in her bed, began to cry. When she had relieved herself
by weeping, she prayed to Diana, saying, Great Goddess Diana, daughter
of Jove, drive an arrow into my heart and slay me, or let
some whirlwind snatch me up and bear me through paths of darkness till it dropped
me into the mouths of overflowing oceanus as it did the daughters of Pandareus.
The daughters of Pandareus lost their father and mother, for the gods killed them,
so they were left orphans. But Venus took care of them and fed
them on cheese, honey, and sweet wine. Juno taught them to excel
all women in beauty of form and understanding. Diana gave them an imposing presents,
and Minerva endowed them with every kind of accomplishment. But one day,
when Venus had gone up to Olympus to see Jove about getting them married for
a well, does he know both what shall happen and what not happen to
every one? The storm winds came and spirited them away to become handmaids to
the dread ereiny Is. Even so, I wish that the gods who live
in heaven would hide me from mortal sight, or that fair Diana might strike
me, for I would fain go even beneath the sad earth if I might
do so, still looking towards Ulysses only and without having to yield myself to
a worse man than he was. Besides, no matter how much people may
grieve by day, they can put up with it so long as they can
sleep at night. For when the eyes are closed in slumber, people forget
good and ill alike. Whereas my misery haunts me even in my dreams.
This very night, methought, there was one lying by my side who was
like Ulysses as he was when he went away with his host. And I
rejoiced, for I believed that it was no dream, but the very truth
itself. On this day broke, But Ulysses heard the sound of her weeping,
and it puzzled him, for it seemed as though she already knew him
and was by his side. Then he gathered up the cloak and the fleeces
on which he had lain, and set them on a seat in the cloister.
But he took the bullocks hide out into the open. He lifted up
his hands to heaven and prayed, saying, Father Jove, since you have
seen fit to bring me over land and sea to my own home, after
all the afflictions you have laid upon me, give me a sign out of
the mouth of some one or other of those who are now waking within the
house, and let me have another sign of some kind from outside. Thus
did he pray. Jove heard his prayer, and forthwith thundered high up among
the clouds from the splendor of Olympus, and sees was glad when he heard
it. At the same time, within the house, a millerwoman from hard
By in the mill room lifted up her voice and gave him another sign.
There were twelve millerwomen whose business it was to grind wheat and barley, which
are the staff of life. The others had ground their task and had gone
to take their rest. But this one had not yet finished, for she
was not so strong as they were, and when she heard the thunder,
she stopped grinding and gave the sign to her master. Father. Jove said,
she, you who rule over heaven and earth, You have thundered from
a clear sky without so much as a cloud in it, and this means
something for somebody. Grant the prayer then of me, your poor servant,
who calls upon you, and let this be the very last day that the
suitors dine in the house of Ulysses. They have worn me out with the
labor of grinding meal for them, and I hope they may never have another
dinner anywhere at all. Ulysses was glad he heard the omens conveyed to him
by the woman's speech and by the thunder, for he knew they meant that
he should avenge himself on the suitors. Then the other maids in the house
rose and lit the fire on the hearth. Telemachus also rose and put on
his clothes. He girded his sword about his shoulder, bound his sandals on
his comely feet, and took a doughty spear with a point of sharpened bronze.
Then he went to the threshold of the cloister and said to Euryclea,
nurse, did you make the stranger comfortable both as regards bed and board,
or did you let him shift for himself? For my mother, good woman,
though she is, has a way of paying great attention to second rate
people, and of neglecting others who are in reality much better. Men do
not find fault, child, said Euryclea, When there is no one to
find fault with. The stranger sat and drank his wine as long as he
liked. Your mother did ask him if he would take any more bread,
he said he would not. When he wanted to go to bed, she
told the servants to make one for him, But he said he was such
a wretched outcast that he would not sleep on a bed and under blankets.
He insisted on having an undressed bullock's hide and some sheepskins put for him in
the cloister, and I threw a cloak over him myself. Then Telemachus went
out of the court to the place where the Achaeans were meeting an assembly.
He had his spear in his hand, and he was not alone, for
his two dogs went with him. But Eurycleea called the maids and said,
come wake up. Set about sweeping the cloisters and sprinkling them with water,
to lay the dust, put the covers on the seats, wipe down the
tables, some of you with a wet sponge, clean out the mixing jugs
and the cups, and go for water from the fountain. At once.
The suitors will be here directly. They will be here early, for it
is a feast day. Thus did she speak, and they did even as
she had said. Twenty of them went to the fountain for water, and
the others set themselves busily to work about the house. The men who were
in attendance on the suitors also came up and began chopping firewood. By and
by the women returned from the fountain, and the swineherd came after them with
the three best pigs he could pick out. These he let feed about the
premises. And then he said, good humoredly to Ulysses, stranger, are
the suitors treating you any better now? Or are they as insolent as ever?
May heaven? Answered Ulysses, requite to them the wickedness with which they
deal high handedly in another man's house without any sense of shame. Thus did
they converse. Meanwhile, Melanthius, the goat herd, came up, for
he too was bringing in his best goats for the suitor's dinner, and he
had two shepherds with him. They tied the goats up under the gate house,
and then Melanthius began gibing at Ulysses. Are you still here, stranger?
Said he to pester people by begging about the house. Why can you
not go elsewhere? You and I shall not come to an understanding before we
have given each other a taste of our fists. You beg without any sense
of decency? Are there not feasts elsewhere among the Achaeans as well as here?
Ulysses made no answer, but bowed his head and brooded. Then a
third man, Filoecius, joined them, who was bringing in a barren heifer
and some goats. These were brought over by the boatmen, who are there
to take people over when anyone comes to them. So Filocius made his heifer
and his goats secure under the gate house, and then went up to the
swineherd, who swineherd said, he is this stranger that is lately come here?
Is he one of your men? What is his family? Where does
he come from? Poor fellow? He looks as if he had been some
great man. But the gods give sorrow to whom they will, even to
kings, if it so pleases them. As he spoke, he went up
to Ulysses and saluted him with his right hand. Good day to you,
father, stranger, said he. You seem to be very poorly off now,
but I hope you will have better times by and by Father Jove of
all gods, you are the most malicious. We are your own children,
yet you show us no mercy in all our misery and afflictions. A sweat
came over me when I saw this man, and my eyes filled with tears,
for he reminds me of Ulysses, who I fear is going about in
just such rags as this man's are, if indeed he is still among the
living, if he is already dead and in the house of Hades, then
alas for my good master, who made me his stockman when I was quite
young among the Cephalenians, and now his cattle are countless, no one could
have done better with them than I have, for they have bread like ears
of corn. Nevertheless, I have to keep bringing them in for others to
eat, who take no heed to his son, though he is in the
house, and you're not the wrath of Heaven, but are already eager to
divide ulysses property among them. Because he has been away so long. I
have often thought only it would not be right while his son is living,
of going off with the cattle to some foreign country. Bad as this would
be, it is still harder to stay here and be ill treated about other
people's herds. My position is intolerable, and I should long since have run
away and put myself under the protection of some other chief, only that I
believe my poor master will yet return and send all these suitors flying out of
the house. Stockman answered, Ulysses, you seem to be a very well
disposed person, and I can see that you are a man of sense.
Therefore I will tell you and will confirm my words with an oath by Jove,
the chief of all gods, and by that hearth of Ulysses, to
which I am now come. Ulysses shall return before you leave this place,
and if you are so minded you shall I'll see him killing the suitors who
are now masters here. If Jove were to bring this to pass, replied
the stockman, you should see how I would do my very utmost to help
him. And in like manner, Eumaeus prayed that Ulysses might return home.
Thus did they converse. Meanwhile, the suitors were hatching a plot to murder
Telemachus. But a bird flew near them on their left hand, an eagle
with a dove in its talons. On this, Amphinomus said, my friends,
this plot of ours to murder Telemachus will not succeed. Let us go
to dinner instead. The others assented, so they went inside and laid their
cloaks on the benches and seats. They sacrificed the sheep, goats, pigs,
and the heifer, and when the inward meats were cooked, they served
them round. They mixed the wine in the mixing bowls, and the swineherd
gave every man his cup, while Filoecius handed round the bread in the bread
basket, and Melanthius poured them out their wine. Then they laid their hands
upon the good things that were before them. Telemachus purposely made Ulysses sit in
the part of the cloister that was paved with stone. He gave him a
shabby looking seat at a little table to himself, and had his portion of
the inward meats brought to him, with his wine in a gold cup.
Sit there, said he, and drink your wine among the great people.
I will put a stop to the gibes and blows of the suitors, for
this is no public house, but belongs to Ulysses, and has passed from
him to me. Therefore, suitors, keep your hands and your tongues to
yourselves, or there will be mischief. The suitors bit their lips and marveled
at the boldness of his speech. Then Antinus said, we do not like
such language, but we will put up with it, for Telemachus is threatening
us in good earnest. If Jove had let us, we should have put
a stop to his brave talk air. Now, thus spoke Antinus, but
Telemachus heeded him not. Meanwhile, the heralds were bringing the holy Hecatombe through
the city, and the Achaeans gathered under the shady grove of Apollo. Then
they roasted the outer meat, drew it off the spits, gave every man
his portion, and feasted to their hearts content. Those who waited at table
gave Ulysses exactly the same portion as the others had, for Telemachus had told
them to do so. But Minerva would not let the suitors for one moment
drop their insolence, for she wanted Ulysses to become still more bitter against them.
Now there happened to be among them a ribald fellow, whose name was
Catessippus, and who came from Sammeh. This man, confident in his great
wealth, was paying court to the wife of Ulysses, and said to the
suitors, hear what I have to say. The stranger has already had as
large a portion as any one else. This is well, for it is
not right nor reasonable to ill treat any guest of Telemachus who comes here.
I will, however, make him a present on my own account, that
he may have something to give to the bathwoman or to some other of ulysses
servants. As he spoke, he picked up a heifer's foot from the meat
basket in which it lay, and threw it at Ulysses. But Ulysses turned
his head a little aside and avoided it, smiling grimly Sardinian fashion as he
did so, and it hit the wall, not him. On this Telemachus
spoke fiercely to Psysippus. It is a good thing for you, said he,
that the stranger turned his head so that you missed him. If you
had hit him, I should have run you through with my spear, and
your father would have had to see about getting you buried rather than married in
this house. So let me have no more unseemly behavior from any of you,
for I am grown up now to the knowledge of good and evil and
understand what is going on, instead of being the child that I have been.
Heretofore, I have long seen you killing my sheepened, making free with
my corn and wine. I have put up with this, for one man
is no match for many. But do me no further violence. Still,
if you wish to kill me, kill me. I would far rather die
than see such disgraceful scenes. Day after day, guests insulted, and men
dragging the women servants about the house in an unseemly way. They all held
their peace till at last Agilaus, son of Damastor, said, no one
should take offense at what has just been said, nor gainsay it, for
it is quite reasonable. Leave off. Therefore, ill treating the stranger or
any one else of the servants who are about the house. I would say,
however, a friendly word to Telemmachus and his mother, which I trust
may commend itself to both as long, I would say, as you had
ground for hoping that Ulysses would one day come home, no one could complain
of your waiting and suffering the suitors to be in your house. It would
have been at her that he should have returned, But it is now sufficiently
clear that he will never do so. Therefore, talk all this quietly over
with your mother, and tell her to marry the best man. And the
one who makes her the most advantageous offer. Thus, you will yourself be
able to manage your own inheritance, and to eat and drink in peace,
while your mother will look after some other man's house, not yours. To
this, Telemachus answered, by Jove Agilaus, and by the sorrows of my
unhappy father, who has either perished far from Ithaca or is wandering in some
distant land, I throw no obstacles in the way of my mother's marriage.
On the contrary, I urge her to choose whomsoever she will, and I
will give her numberless gifts into the bargain. But I dare not insist point
blank that she shall leave the house against her own wishes. Heaven forbid that
I should do this. Minerva now made the suitors fall to laughing immoderately,
and set their wits oneing. But they were laughing with a force to laughter.
Their meat became smeared with blood, their eyes filled with tears, and
their hearts were heavy with forebodings. Theo Clemenus saw this and said, unhappy
men, what is it that ails you? There is a shroud of darkness
drawn over you from head to foot. Your cheeks are wet with tears.
The air is alive with wailing voices. The walls and roof beams drip blood.
The gait of the cloisters, and the court beyond them are full of
ghosts trooping down into the night of hell. The sun is blotted out of
heaven, and a blighting gloom is over all the land. Thus did he
speak, and they all of them laughed heartily. Eurymachus then said, this
stranger who has lately come here has lost his senses. Servants turn him out
into the streets, since he finds it so dark here. But theo Clemenus
said, Eurymachus, you need not send anyone with me. Have eyes,
ears, and a pair of feet of my own, to say nothing of
an understanding mind. I will take these out of the house with me,
for I see mischief overhanging you, from which not one of you men who
are insulting people and plotting ill deeds in the house of Ulysses, will be
able to escape. He left the house as he spoke, and went back
to Piraeus, who gave him welcome. But the suitors kept looking at one
another and provoking Telemachus by laughing at the strangers. One insolent fellow said to
him, Telemachus, you are not happy in your guests. First you have
this importunate tramp who comes begging bread and wine, and has no skill for
work or for hard fighting, but is perfectly useless. And now here is
another fellow who is setting himself up as a prophet. Let me persuade you,
for it will be much better to put them on board ship and send
them off to the sea cells to sell for what they will bring. Telemachus
gave him no heed, but sat silently watching his father, expecting every moment
that he would begin his attack upon the suitors. Meanwhile, the daughter of
Acarius, wise Penelope, had had a rich seat placed for her, facing
the court and cloisters, so that she could hear what everyone was saying.
The dinner, indeed, had been prepared amid much merriment. It had been
both good and abundant, for they had sacrificed many victims. But the supper
was yet to come, and nothing can be conceived more gruesome than the meal
which a goddess and a brave man were soon to lay before them, For
they had brought their doom upon themselves. End of book twenty