Book twenty two of the Odyssey by Homer. The Odyssey, Book twenty two,
The Killing of the Suitors. The maids who have misconducted themselves are made
to cleanse the cloisters and are then hanged. Then Ulysses tore off his rags
and sprang on to the broad pavement with his bow and his quiver full of
arrows. He shed the arrows on to the ground at his feet and said,
the mighty contest is at an end. I will now see whether Apollo
will vouchsafe it to me to hit another mark which no man has yet hit.
On this he aimed a deadly arrow at Antinus, who was about to
take up a two handed gold cup to drink his wine, and already had
it in his hands. He had no thought of death. Who amongst all
the revelers would think that one man, however brave, would stand alone among
so many and kill him. The arrow struck Antonus in the throat, and
the point went clean through his neck, so that he fell over and the
cup from his hand, while a thick stream of blood gushed from his nostrils.
He kicked the table from him and upset the things on it, so
that the bread and roasted meats were all soiled as they fell over onto the
ground. The suitors were in an uproar when they saw that a man had
been hit. They sprang in dismay, one and all of them from their
seats, and looked everywhere toward the walls. But there was neither shield nor
spear, and they rebuked Ulysses very angrily. Stranger said they, you shall
pay for shooting people in this way. You shall see no other contest.
You are a doomed man. Him whom you have slain was the foremost youth
in Ithaca, and the vulture shall devour you for having killed him. Thus
they spoke, for they thought that he had killed Antonus by mistake, and
did not perceive that death was hanging over the head of every one of them.
But Ulysses glared at them and said, dogs, did you think that
I should not come back from Troy. You have wasted my substance, have
forced my women servants to lie with you, and have wooed my wife while
I was still living. You have feared neither God nor man, and now
you shall die. They turned pale with fear as he spoke, and every
man looked round about to see whither he might fly for safety. But Eurymicus
alone spoke. If you are, Ulysses, said he, then what you
have said is just. We have done much wrong on your lands and in
your house. But Antonus, who was the head in front of the offending,
lies low already it was all his doing. It was not that he
wanted to marry Penelope. He did not so much care about that. What
he wanted was something quite different, and Jove has not vouchsafed it to him.
He wanted to kill your son and to be chief man in Ithaca.
Now therefore, that he has met the death which was his due, spare
the lives of your people. We will make everything good among ourselves and pay
you in full for all that we have eaten and drunk. Each one of
us shall pay you a fine worth twenty oxen, and we will keep on
giving you gold and bronze till your heart is softened. Until we have done
this, no one can complain of your being enraged against us. Ulysses again
glared at him and said, though you should give me all that you have
in the world, both now and all that you ever shall have, I
will not stay my hand till I have paid all of you in full.
You must fight or fly for your lives, and fly not of man of
you shall the heart sank as they hurt him. But Eurymicus again spoke,
saying, my friends, this man will give us no quarter. He will
stand where he is and shoot us down till he has killed every man among
us. Let us then show fight, draw your swords, and hold up
the tables to shield you from his arrows. Let us have at him with
a rush to drive him from the pavement and doorway. We can then get
through into the town and raise such an alarm as shall soon stay shooting.
As he spoke, he drew his keen blade of bronze, sharpened on both
sides, and with a loud cry, sprang towards Ulysses. But Ulysses instantly
shot an arrow into his breast that caught him by the nipple and fixed itself
in his liver. He dropped his sword and fell doubled up over his table.
The cup and all the meats went over onto the ground as he smote
the earth with his forehead in the agonies of death, and he kicked the
stool with his feet until his eyes were closed in darkness. Then Amphinomus drew
his sword and made straight at Ulysses to try and get him away from the
door. But Telemachus was too quick for him and struck him from behind.
The spear caught him between the shoulders and went right through his chest, so
that he fell heavily to the ground and struck the earth with his forehead.
Then Telemachus sprang away from him, leaving his spear still in the body,
for he feared that if he stayed to draw it out, some one of
the Achaeans might come up and hack at him with his sword or knock him
down. So he set off at a run and immediately was at his father's
side. Then he said, father, let me bring you a shield,
two spears, and a brass helmet for your temples. I will arm myself
as well, and will bring other armor for the swineherd and the stockman,
for we had better be armed. Run and fetch them, answered Ulysses,
while my arrows hold out, or when I am alone, they may get
me away from the door. Telemachus did as his father said and went off
to the storeroom where the armor was kept. He chose four shields, eight
spears, and four brass helmets with horsehair plumes. He brought them with all
speed to his father and armed himself first, while a stockman and the swineherd
also put on their armor and took their places near Ulysses. Meanwhile, Ulysses,
as long as his arrows lasted, had been shooting the suitors one by
one, and they fell thick on one another. When his arrows gave out,
he set the boat to stand against the end wall of the house by
the doorpost, and hung a shield four hides thick about his shoulders on his
comely head. He set his helmet, well wrought with a crest of horsehair
that nodded menacingly above it, and he grasped two redoubtable bronze shod spears.
Now there was a trap door on the wall, while at one end of
the pavement there was an exit leading to a narrow passage, and this exit
was closed by a well made door. Ulysses told Felicius to stand by this
door and guard it, for only one person could attack it at a time.
But Agilaius shouted out, cannot someone go up to the trap door and
tell the people what is going on? Help? Would come at once,
and we should soon make an end of this man and his shooting. This
may not be, Agilius, answered Melanthius. The mouth of the narrow passage
is dangerously near the entrance to the outer court. One brave man could prevent
any number from getting in. But I know what I will do. I
will bring you arms from the storeroom, for I am sure it is there
that Ulysses and his son have put them on this the goat heard. Melanthius
went by back passages to the storeroom of ulysses house. There he chose twelve
shields with as many helmets and spears, and brought them back as fast as
he could give them to the suitors. Ulysses heart began to fail him when
he saw the suitors putting on their armor and brandishing their spears. He saw
the greatness of the danger and said to Telemachus, some one of the women
inside us helping the suitors against us, or it may be Melanthius. Telemachus
answered, the fault, father is mine and mine only. I left the
storeroom door open, and they have kept a sharper lookout than I have.
Go Eumaeus put the door to and see whether it is one of the women
who is doing this, or whether, as I suspect, it is Melanthius,
the son of Dulius. Thus did they converse. Meanwhile, Melanthius was
again going to the storeroom to fetch more armor. But the swineherd saw him
and said to Ulysses, who was beside him, Ulysses, noble son of
Leertes, it is that scoundrel Melanthius, just as we suspected, who is
going to the store room. Say shall I kill him if I can get
the better of him, or shall I bring him here that you may take
your own revenge for all the many wrongs that he has done in your house?
Ulysses answered Telemachus, and I will hold these suitors in check no matter
what they do. Go back, both of you and bind Melanthius hands and
feet behind him, Throw him into the storeroom, and make the door fast
behind you. Then fasten a noose about his body, and string him close
up to the rafters from a high bearing post, that he may linger on
in an agony. Thus did he speak, and they did even as he
had said. They went to the storeroom, which they entered before Melanthius saw
them, for he was busy searching for arms in the innermost part of the
room. So the two took their stand on either side of the door and
waited by and by. Melanthius came out with a helmet in one hand and
an old, dry rotted shield in the other, which had been borne by
Laertes when he was young, but which had been long since thrown aside,
and the straps had become unsown. On this the two seized him, dragged
him back by the hair, and threw him struggling to the ground. They
bent his hands and feet well behind his back and bound them tight with a
painful bond, as Ulysses had told them. Then they fastened a noose about
his body and strung him up from a high pillar, till he was close
up to the rafters, and over him. Did you then vaunt o swineherd,
Eumaeus saying, Melanthius, you will pass the night on a soft bed
as you deserve. You will know very well when morning comes from the streams
of Oceanus, and it is time for you to be driving in your goats
for the suitors to feast on there. Then they left him in very cruel
bondage, and having put on their armor They closed the door behind them and
went back to take their places by the side of Ulysses, whereon the four
men stood in the cloister, fierce and full of fury. Nevertheless, those
who were in the body of the court were still both brave and many.
Then Jove's daughter, Minerva came up to them, having assumed the voice and
form of Mentor. Ulysses was glad when he saw her and said, Mentor,
lend me your help, and forget not your old comrade, nor the
many good turns he has done you. Besides, you are my age mate.
But all the time he felt sure it was Minerva, and the suitors
from the other side raise an uproar when they saw her. Agilius was the
first to approach her Mentor. He cried, do not Ulysses beguile you in
deciding with him and fighting the suitors. This is what we will do.
When we have killed these people, father and son, we will kill you
too. You shall pay for it with your head. And when we have
killed you, we will take all you have indoors or out, and bring
it into hotchpot with Ulysses property. We will not let your sons live in
your house, nor your daughters, or shall your widow continue to live in
the city of Ithaca. This made me nervous still more furious, so she
scolded Ulysses very angrily. Ulysses said she, your strength and prowess are no
longer what they were when you fought for nine long years among the Trojans about
the noble lady Helen. You killed many a man in those days, and
it was through your stratagem that Priam city was taken. How comes it that
you are so lamentably less valiant now than you are in your own ground face
to face with the suitors in your own house. Come on, my good
fellow, stand by my side and see how Mentor, son of Alsimus,
shall fight your foes and requite your kindnesses conferred upon him. But she would
not give him full victory as yet, for she wished still further to prove
his own prowess and that of his brave son. So she flew up to
one of the rafters in the roof of the cloister and sat upon it in
the form of a swallow. Meanwhile, a jealous son of Damaster, Uryanimus,
Amphimidon, Dematolemus, Pissander, and Polybus son of Polyctor, bore the
brunt of the fight upon the suitor side. Of all those who were still
fighting for their lives, they were by far the most valiant, for the
others had already fallen under the arrows of Ulysses. Agellius shouted to them and
said, my friends, he will soon have to leave off, for Mentor
has gone away after having done nothing for him. But bragg they are standing
at the doors unsupported. Do not aim at him all at once, but
six of you throw your spears first, and see if you cannot cover yourselves
with glory by killing him. When he has fallen. We need not be
uneasy about the others. They threw their spears as he bade them, but
Minerva made them all of no effect. One hit the doorpost, another went
against the door, the pointed shaft of another struck the wall. And as
soon as they had avoided all the spears of the suitors, Ulysses said to
his own men, my friend, I should say, we two had better
let drive into the middle of them, or they will crown all the harm
they have done us by killing us outright. They therefore aimed straight in front
of them and threw their spears. Ulysses killed Dematolemus, Telemachus, Eurydes,
Eumaeus Elettis, and while the stockmen killed Passander. These all bit the dust,
and as the others drew back into a corner, Ulysses and his men
rushed forward and regained their spears by drawing them from the bodies of the dead.
The suitors now aimed a second time, but again Minerva made their weapons
for the most part without effect. One hit a bearing post of the cloister,
another went against the door, while the pointed shaft of another struck the
wall. Still, Amphimitin just took a piece of the topskin from off Telemachus's
wrist, and Tysippus managed to graze Eumaeus's shoulder above his shield, but the
spear went on and fell to the ground. Then Ulysses and his men leapt
drive into the crowd of suitors. Ulysses hit Eurydamus, Telemachus, Amphimedon,
and Eumaeus Polybus. After this the stockmen hit Toosippus in the breast and taunted
him, saying, foul mouthed son of Polythses, do not be so foolish
as to talk wickedly another time. But let Heaven direct your speech, for
the gods are far stronger than men. I make you a present of this
advice, to repay you for the foot which you gave Ulysses when he was
begging about in his own house. Thus spoke the stockman, and Ulysses struck
the son of Damaster with a spear in close fight, while Telemachus hit Leocritus,
son of Evanor, in the belly, and the dart went clean through
him, so that he fell forward, full on his face upon the ground.
Then Minerva, from her seat on the rafter, held up her deadly
aegis, and the hearts of the suitors quailed. They fled to the other
end of the court like a herd of cattle, maddened by the gadfly.
In early summer, when the days are at their longest, as eagle beaked,
crooked taloned vultures from the mountains swooped down on the smaller birds that cower
in flocks upon the ground and kill them, for they cannot either fight or
fly, and lookers on enjoy the sport. Even so did Ulysses and his
men fall upon the suitors and smite them on every side. They made a
horrible groaning as their brains were being battered in and the ground seethed with their
blood. Lades then caught the knees of Ulysses and said, Ulysses, I
beseech you have mercy upon me and spare me. I have never wronged any
of the women in your house, either in word or deed. And I
tried to stop the others I saw them, but they would not listen.
And now they are paying for their folly. I was their sacrificing priest.
If you kill me, I shall die without having done anything to deserve it,
and shall have got no thanks for all the good that I did.
Ulysses looked sternly at him and answered, if you were their sacrificing priest,
you must have prayed many a time time that it might be long before I
got home again, and that you might marry my wife and have children by
her. Therefore you shall die. With these words, he picked up the
sword that Agellius had dropped when he was being killed, and which was lying
upon the ground. Then he struck Lades on the back of his neck,
so that his head fell rolling in the dust. While he was yet speaking.
The minstrel Femius, son of Terpis, He who had been forced by
the suitors to sing to them, now tried to save his life. He
was standing near towards the trap door and held his lyre in his hand.
He did not know whether to fly out of the cloister and sit down by
the altar of Jove that was in the outer court, and on which both
Riartes and Ulysses had offered up the thigh bones of many an ox, or
whether to go straight up to Ulysses and embrace his knees. But in the
end he deemed it best to embrace ulysses knees. So he laid his lyre
on the ground between the mixing bowl and the silver studded seat. Then,
going up to Ulysses, he caught hold of his knees and said, Ulysses,
I beseech you have mercy on me and spare me. You will be
sorry for it afterwards if you kill a bart who can sing both for gods
and men, as I can, I make all my lays myself, and
Heaven visits me with every kind of inspiration. I would sing to you as
though you were a god. Do not therefore be in such a hurry to
cut my head off. Your own son, Telemachus will tell you that I
did not want to frequent your house and sing to the suitors after their meals,
but they were too many and too strong for me, so they made
me. Telemachus hurt him, and at once went up to his father.
Hold He cried, the man is guiltless to him, no hurt, and
we will spare Meaton too, who is always good to me when I was
a boy, unless Felicius or Eumaeus has already killed him, or he has
fallen in your way when you are raging about the court. Meadan caught these
words of Telemachus, for he was crouching under a seat beneath which he had
hidden by covering himself up with a freshly flayed heifer's hide. So he threw
off the hide, went up to Telemachus and laid hold of his knees.
Here I am, my dear sir, said he stay your hand therefore,
and tell your father, or he will kill me in his rage against the
suitors, for having wasted his substance and been so foolishly disrespectful to yourself.
Ulysses smiled at him and answered, fear not, Telemachus has saved your life,
that you may know in future and tell other people how greatly better good
deeds prosper than evil ones. Go therefore, outside the cloister, into the
outer court, and be out of the way of the slaughter you and the
bard, while I finish my work here inside. The pair went into the
outer court as fast as they could, and sat down by Jove's great altar,
looking fearfully round and still expecting that they would be killed. Then Ulysses
searched the whole court carefully over to see if anyone had managed to hide himself
and was still living. But he found them all lying in the dust and
weltering in their blood. They were like fishes which fishermen had netted out of
the sea and thrown upon the beach, to lie gasping for water till the
heat of the sun makes an end of them. Even so were the suitors
lying, all huddled up, one against the other. Then Ulysses said to
Telemachus, call nurse Eurycleia. I have something to say to her. Telemachus
went and knocked at the door of the women's room. Make haste, said
he, you, old woman who have been said, over all the other
women in the house, come outside, my father wishes to speak to you.
When Euuclea heard this, she unfastened the door of the women's room and
came out, following Telemachus. She found Ulysses among the corpses, bespattered with
blood and filth, like a lion that has just been devouring an ox.
And his breast and both cheeks were all bloody, so that he is a
fearful sight. Even so was Ulysses besmirched from head to foot with gore.
When she saw all the corpses and such a quantity of blood, she was
beginning to cry out for joy, for she saw that a great deed had
been done. But Ulysses checked her. Old woman said he rejoice in silence.
Restrain yourself, and do not make any noise about it. It is
an unholy thing to vaunt over dead men. Heaven's doom and their own evil
deeds have brought these men to destruction. For they respected no man in the
whole world, neither rich nor poor, who came near them, and they
have come to a bad end as a punishment for their wickedness and folly.
Now, however, tell me which of the women in the house have misconducted
themselves, and who are innocent. I will tell you the truth, my
son, answered Eurycleia. There are fifty women in the house whom we teach
to do things such as carding, wool, and all kinds of household work.
Of these, twelve in all have misbehaved and have been wanting in respect
to me and also to Penelope. They showed no disrespect to Telemachus, for
he has only lately grown, and his mother never permitted him to give orders
to the female servants. But let me go upstairs and tell your wife all
that has happened. For some God has been sending her to sleep. Do
not wake her yet, answered Ulysses, but tell the women who have misconducted
themselves to come to me. Euryclea left the cloister to tell the women and
make them come to Ulysses. In the meantime, he called Telemachus the stockman
and the swineherd, begin said he to remove the dead and make the women
help. You. Then get sponges and clean water to swill down the tables
and seats. When yeth thoroughly cleanse the whole, cloisters take the women into
the space between the domed room and the wall of the outer court, and
run them through with your swords till they are quite dead and have forgotten all
about love and the way in which they used to lie in secret with the
suitors. On this the women came down in a body, weeping and wailing
bitterly. First they carried the dead bodies out and propped them up against one
another in the gate house, Ulysses ordered them about and made them do their
work quickly, so they had to carry the bodies out. When they had
done this, they cleaned all the tables and seats with sponges and water,
while Telemachus and the two others shoveled up the blood and dirt from the ground,
and the women carried it all away and put it out of doors.
Then, when they had made the whole place quite clean and orderly, they
took the women out and hemmed them in the narrow space between the wall of
the domed room and that of the yard, so that they could not get
away. And Telemachus said to the other two, I shall not let these
women die a clean death, for they were insolent to me and my mother,
and used to sleep with the suitors, so saying, he made a
ship's cable fast to one of the bearing posts that supported the roof of the
domed room, and secured it all around the building at a good height,
lest any of the women's feet should touch the ground. And as thrushes or
doves beat against a net that has been set for them in a thicket,
just as they were getting to their nest, and a terrible fate awaits them.
Even so did the women have to put their heads in nooses, one
after the other, and die most miserably. Their feet moved convulsively for a
while, but not for very long. As for Melanthius, they took him
through the cloister into the inner court. There they cut off his nose and
his ears. They drew out his vitals and gave them to the dogs raw,
And then, in their fury, they cut off his hands and his
feet. When they had done this, they washed their hands and feet and
went back into the house. For all was now over, And Ulysses said
to the dear old nurse Ycleia, bring me sulfur, which cleanses all pollution,
and fetch fire, also that I may burn it and purify the cloisters.
Go moreover, and tell Penelope to come here with her attendants, also
all the maid servants that are in the house. All that you have said
is true, answered Eurycleia. But let me bring you some clean clothes,
a shirt and cloak. Do not keep these rags on your back any longer.
It is not right. First, light me a fire, replied Ulysses.
She brought the fire and sulfur as he had bidden her, and Ulysses
thoroughly purified the cloisters and both the inner and outer courts. Then she went
inside to call the women and tell them what had happened. Whereon they came
from their apartment with torches in their hands, and pressed round Ulysses to embrace
him, kissing his head and shoulders and taking hold of his hands. It
made him feel as if he should like to weep, for he remembered every
one of them. End of Book twenty two