Book twenty one. Minerva now put it in Penelope's mind to make the suitors
try their skill with the bow and with the iron axes in contest among themselves,
as a means of bringing about their destruction. She went upstairs and got
to the storeroom key, which was made of bronze and had a handle of
ivory. She then went with her maidens into the store room at the end
of the house, where her husband's treasures of gold, bronze and wrought iron
were kept, and where was also his bow and the quiver full of deadly
arrows that had been given him by a friend whom he had met in Lazy
Damon Iphithus, the son of Eurytis. The two fell in with one another
in Messine at the house of Orticolus, where Ulysses was staying, in order
to recover a debt that was owing from the whole people, For the Messenians
had carried off three hundred sheep from Ithaca and had sailed away with them and
with their shepherds in quest of these. Ulysses took a long journey while still
quite young, for his father and the other chieftains sent him on a mission
to recover them. Iphithus had gone there also to try to get back twelve
brute mares that he had lost and the mule foalds that were running with them.
These mayors were the death of him in the end, for when he
went to the house of Jove's son mighty Hercules, who performed such prodigies of
valor, Hercules, to his shame, killed him, though he was his
guest, for he feared not Heaven's vengeance, nor yet respected his own table,
which he had set before Iphithus, but killed him in spite of everything,
and kept the mayors himself. It was when claiming these that Eupithus met
Ulysses and gave him the bow which Mighty Eurytus had been used to carry,
and which on his death had been left by him to his son. Ulysses
gave him in return a sword and a and this was the beginning of a
fast friendship, although they never visited at one another's houses, for Jove's son
Hercules killed Iphius ere they could do so. This bow, then given him
by Iphithus, had not been taken with him by Ulysses when he sailed for
Troy. He had used it so long as he had been at home,
but had left it behind as having been a keepsake from a valued friend.
Penelope presently reached the oaked threshold of the storeroom. The carpenter had planed this
jewelie and had drawn a line on it so as to get it quite straight.
He had then set the doorposts into it and hung the doors. She
loosed the strap from the handle of the door, put in the key,
and drove it straight home to shoot back the bolts that held the doors.
These flew open with a noise like a bull bellowing in a meadow, and
Loppy stepped upon the raised platform where the chests stood, in which the fair
linen and clothes were laid by, along with fragrant herbs. Reaching thence,
she took down the bow with its bow case from the peg on which it
hung. She sat down with it on her knees, weeping bitterly as she
took the bow out of its case, And when her tears had relieved her,
she went to the cloister where the suitors were carrying the bow and a
quiver with the many deadly arrows that were inside it. Along with her came
her maidens, bearing a chest that contained much iron and bronze, which her
husband had won as prices. When she reached the suitors, she stood by
one of the bearing posts supporting the roof of the cloister, holding a wail
before her face, and with a mate on either side of her. Then
she said, listen to me, you suitors, who persist in using the
hospitality of this house because its owner has been long absent, and without other
pretext than that you want to marry me. This, then, being the
prize that you are contending for, I will bring out the mighty bow of
Ulysses, and whomsoever of you shall string it most easily and send his arrow
through each one of twelve actes him will I follow and quit this house of
my lawful husband, so goodly and so abounding in wealth. But even so
I doubt not that I shall remember it in my dreams. As she spoke,
she told Eumineus to set the bow and the pieces of iron before the
suitors, and Eumaeus wept as he took them to do as she had bidden
him. Hard By the stockman wept also when he saw his master's bow.
But Antinuous scolded them, you country a louts, said he silly impotence.
Why should you add to the sorrows of your mistress by crying in this way,
she has enough to grieve her in the loss of her husband. Sit
still, therefore, and eat your dinners in silence, or go outside if
you want to cry, and leave the bow behind you. We suitors shall
have to contend for it with might and main, for we shall find it
no light matter to string such a bow as this is. There is not
a man of us all who is such another as Ulysses, for I have
seen him and remember him, though I was then only a child. This
was all he said. But all the time he was expecting to be able
to string the bow and shoot through the iron, whereas in fact he was
to be the first that should taste of the arrows from the hands of Ulysses,
whom he was dishonoring in his own house, aching the others on to
do so also. Then Telemachus spoke great heavens. He exclaimed, Jove must
have robbed me of my senses. Here is my dear and excellent mother,
saying she will quit this house and marry again. Yet I am laughing and
enjoying myself, as though there were nothing happening. But suitors, as the
contest has been agreed upon, let it go forward. It is for a
woman whose peer is not to be found in pylas Argos or my scene,
nor yet in Ithaca, nor on the mainland. You know this as well
as I do. What need have I to speak in praise of my mother?
Come on, then, make no excuses for delay. But let us
see whether you can string the bow or no, I too will make trial
of it. For if I can string it and shoot through the iron,
I shall not suffer my mother to quit this house with a stranger, not
if I can win the prizes which my father won before me. As he
spoke, he sprang from his seat, threw his crimson cloak from him,
and took his word from his shoulder. First he set the axes in a
row, in a long groove, which he had dug for them and had
weighed straight by line. Then he stamped the earth tight round them, and
everyone was surprised when I saw him set up so orderly, though he had
never seen anything of the kind. Before this done, he went on to
the pavement to make trial of the bow. Thrice did he tug at it,
trying with all his might to draw the string, and thrice he had
to leave off. Though he had hoped to string the bow and shoot through
the iron. He was trying for the fourth time and would have strung it
had not Ulysses made a sign to check him in spite of all his eagerness,
So he said, alas, I shall either be always feeble and of
no prowess, or I am too young and have not yet reached my full
strength so as to be able to hold my own if anyone attacks me.
You others, therefore, who are stronger than I, make trial of the
bow and get this contest settled. On this, he put the bow down,
letting it lean against the door that led into the house, with the
arrow standing against the top of the bow. Then he sat down on a
seat from which he had risen, and Antinouis said, come on, each
of you, in his turn, going towards, to ride from the place
at which the cupbearer when he is handing round the wine. The rest agreed,
and Layodes, son of wien Ups, was the first to rise.
He was sacrificial priest to the suitors and sat in a corner near the mixing
bowl. He was the only man who hated their evil deeds and was indignant
with the others. He was now the first to take the bow an arrow.
So he went on to the pavement to make his trial. But he
could not string the bow, for his hands were weak and unused to hard
work. They therefore soon grew tired, and he said to the suitors,
my friends, I cannot string it. Let another have it. This bow
shall take the life and soul out of many a chief among us, for
it is better to die than to live, after having missed the prize that
we have so long striven for, and which has brought us so long together.
Some one of us is even now hoping and praying that he may marry
Penelope. But when he has seen this bow and tried it, let him
woo and make bridal offerings to some other woman, and let Penelope marry whoever
makes her the best offer, and whose lot it is to win her.
On this he put the bow down, letting it lean aginst the door,
with the arrow standing against the tip of the bow. Then he took his
seat again on the seat from which he had risen, and Antinous rebuked him,
saying, Laodes, what are you talking about? Your words are monstrous
and intolerable. It makes me angry to listen to you. Shall, then
this bow take the life of many a chief among us, merely because you
cannot bend it yourself. True, you were not born to be an archer.
But there are others who will soon string it. Then he said to
Melanthius, the goatherd, look sharp, Light a fire in the court,
and set a seat hard by with a sheepskin on it. Bring us also
a large ball of lard from what they have in a house. Let us
warm the bough and grease it. We will then make trial of it again
and bring the contest to an end. Melanthius lit the fire and set a
seat covered with sheepskins beside it. He also brought a great ball of lard
from what they had in the house, and the suitors warmed the bow and
again made trial of it. But they were none of them nearly strong enough
to string it. Nevertheless, there still remained Antinuous and Eurymachus, who were
the ringleaders among the suitors, and much the foremost among them all. Then,
the swineherd and the stockman left the cloisters together, and Ulysses followed them.
When they had cut outside the gates and yard yard. Ulysses said to
them quietly, Stockman, and you swineherd, I have something in my mind
which I am in doubt whether to say or no, But I think I
will say it. What manner of men would you be to stand by Ulysses
if some God should bring him back here? All of a sudden, say
which you are disposed to do, to side with the suitors or with Ulysses.
Father Jove answered the stockman would indeed that you might so obtain in it.
If some God were but to bring Ulysses back, you should see with
what might and main I would fight for him. In like words, Eumaeus
prayed to all the gods that Ulysses might return. When therefore he saw for
certain what mind they were of Ulysses said, it is I Ulysses who am
here. I have suffered much, but at last, in the twentieth year,
I am come back to my own country. I find that you two,
alone of all my servants, are glad that I should do so,
for I have not heard any of the others praying for my return to you
two. Therefore will I unfold the truth as it shall be if heaven shall
deliver the suitors into my hands. I will find wives for both of you,
will give you house and holding close to my own, and you shall
be to me as though you were brothers and friends of Telemachus. I will
now give you convincing proofs that you may know me and be assured. See
here is the scar from the boar's tooth that ripped me when I was out
hunting on Mount Parnassus with the sons of Odolysis. As he spoke, he
drew his rags aside from a great scar. And when they had examined it
thoroughly, they both of them wept about. Ulysses threw their arms around him
and kissed his head and shoulders, while Ulysses kissed their hands and faces in
return. The sun would have gone down upon their mourning if Ulysses had not
checked them and said, seize your weeping, lest someone should come outside and
see us, and tell those who are within. When you go in,
do so separately, not both together. I will go first, and do
you follow afterwards. Let this moreover be the token between us. The suitors.
Will all of them try to prevent me from getting hold of the bow
and quiver. Do you therefore humaneus place it in my hands when you are
carrying it about, and tell the women to close the doors of their apartment.
If they hear any groaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house,
they must not come out. They must keep quiet and stay where they
are at their work. And I charge you, Philoetius, to make fast
the doors of the outer court, and to bind them securely at once.
When he had thus spoken, he went back to the house and took the
seat that he had left presently. His two servants followed him inside. At
this moment, the bow was in the hands of Eurymachus, who was warming
it by the fire. But even so he could not string it, and
he was greatly grieved. He heaved a deep sigh and said, I grieve
for myself and for us all. I grieve that I shall have to forego
the marriage. But I do not care nearly so much about this, for
there are plenty of other women in Ithaca and elsewhere. What I feel most
is the fact of our being so inferior to Ulysses in strength that we cannot
string his bow. This will disgrace us in the eyes of those who are
yet unborne. It shall not be so, Eurymachus said, Antinous, and
you know it yourself. Today is the feast of Apollo throughout all the land.
Who can string a bow on such a day as this put it on
one side. As for the axes, they can stay where they are,
for no one is likely to come to the house and take them away.
Let the cup bear go round with his cups, that we may make our
drink offerings, and drop this matter of the bow. We will tell Melanthius
to bring us some goats tomorrow, the best he has. We can then
offer thigh bones to Apollo the mighty archer, and again make trial of the
bow, as to bring the contest to an end. The rest approved his
words, and thereon menservants poured water over the hands of the guests, while
pages filled the mixing bowls with wine and water and handed it round, after
giving every man his drink offering. Then, when they had made their offerings
and had drunk each as much as he desired, Ulysses craftily said, suitors
of the illustrious queen, listen, that I may speak, even as I
am minded. I appeal more especially to Eurymachus and to Antonius, who has
just spoken with so much reason. Cease shooting for the present, and leave
the matter to the gods. But in the morning, let Heaven give victory
to whom it will. For the moment, however, give me the bow,
that I may prove the power of my hands among you all, and
see whether I still have as much strength as I used to have, or
whether travel and neglect have made an end of it. This made them all
very angry, for they feared he might string the bow. An Tenuous therefore
rebuked him fiercely, saying, wretched creature, you have not so much as
a grain of sense in your whole body. You ought to think yourself lucky
in being allowed to dine unharmed among your betters, without having any smaller portion
served you than we others have had, and in being allowed to hear our
conversation. No other beggar or stranger has been allowed to hear what we have
said among ourselves. The wine must have been doing you a mischief, as
it does with all those drinking immoderately. It was wine that inflamed the censure
Eurytian when he was staying with Perithus among the Lappy, when the wine had
got into his head. He went mad and did ill deeds about the house
of Peritheus. This angered the heroes who were there assembled, so they rushed
at him and cut off his ears and nostrils. Then they dragged him through
the doorway out of the house. So he went away grazed and bore the
burden of his crime, bereft of understanding. Henceforth, therefore there was war
between mankind and the centaurs. But he brought it upon himself through his own
drunkenness. In like manner. I can tell you that it will go hardly
with you. If you string the bow, you will find no mercy from
anyone here, for we shall at once ship you off to King Akeithus,
who kills every one that comes near him. You will never get away alive.
So drink and keep quiet, without getting into a quarrel with men and
younger than yourself. Penelope then spoke to him, and Tenuous said she,
it is not right that you should ill treat any guest of Telemachus who comes
to this house. If the stranger should prove strong enough to string the mighty
bow of Ulysses, can you suppose that he would take me home with him
and make him his wife. Even the man himself can have no such idea
in his mind. None of you need let that disturb his feasting. It
would be out of all reason. Queen Penelope answered, Eurymachus, we do
not suppose that this man will take you away with him. It is impossible.
But we are afraid lest some of the baser sort men or women among
the Achaeans should go gossiping about and say these suitors are a feeble folk.
They are paying court to the wife of a brave man, whose bow not
one of them was will to string, And yet a beggarly tramp who came
to the house strung it at once and sent an arrow through the iron.
This is what will be said, and it will be a scandal against us.
Eurymachus Penelope answered, people who persist in eating up the estate of a
great chieftain and dishonoring his house must not expect others to think well of them.
Why then, should you mind if men talk as you think they will.
This stranger is strong and well built. He says moreover that he is
of noble birth. Give him the bow, and let us see whether he
can string it. Or no, I say, and it shall surely be
that if Apollo vouchsafe us him the glory of stringing it, I will give
him a cloak and a shirt of good wear, with a javelin to keep
up dogs and robbers, and a sharp sword. I will also give him
sandals, and we'll see him sent safely wherever he wants to go. Then,
Telemachus said, mother, I am the only man, either in Ithaca
or in the islands that are over against Elis, who has the right to
let anyone have the bow or to refuse it. No one shall force me
one way or the other, not even though I choose to make the stranger
a present of the bow outright and let him take it away with him.
Go then within the house, and busy yourself with your daily duties, your
loom, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants. This bow is
a man's matter, and mine above all others, for it is I who
am master. Here. She went, wandering back into the house and laid
her sons, saying in her heart. Then going upstairs with her handmaids into
her room, she mourned her dear husband till Minerva sent sweet sleep over her
eyelids the swineherds. Now took up the bow and was for taking it to
Ulysses. But the suitors clamored at him from all parts of the cloisters,
and one of them said, you idiot, where are you taking the bow
to? Are you out of your wits? If Apollo and the other gods
will grant our prayer, your own borehounds shall get you into some quiet little
place and worry you to death. Eumaeus was frightened at the outcry they all
raised, so he put the bow down then and there. But Telemachus shouted
out at him from the other side of the cloisters and threatened him, saying,
father, Eumaeus, bring the bow on in spite of them, or
young as I am, I will pelt you with stones back to the country.
For I am the better man of the two. I wish I was
as much stronger than all the other suitors in a house as I am than
you, I would soon send some of them off, sick and sorry for
their mean mischief. Thus did he speak, and they all of them laughed
heartily, which put them in a better humor with Telemachus. So Eumaeus brought
the bow on and placed it in the hands of Ulysses. When he had
done this, he called Eurycleia apart and said to her, Euryclea, Telemachus
says, you are to close the doors of the women's apartments. If they
hear any groaning or uproar as of men fighting about the house, they are
not to come out, but are to keep quiet and stay where they are
at their work. Euryclea did as she was told and closed the doors of
the women's apartments. Meanwhile, Philoetius slipped quietly on and made fast the gates
of the outer court. There was a ship's cable of Biblus fiber lying in
the gatehouse, so he made the gates fast with it, and then came
in again, resuming the seat that he had left, and keeping an eye
on Ulysses, who had now got the bow in his hands and was turning
it every way about and proving it all over to see whether the worms had
been eating into its two horns during his absence. Then would one turn towards
his neighbor, saying, this is some tricky old bow fancier. Either he
has got one legged at home, or he wants to make one in such
workman light style, does the old vagabond handle it? Another said, I
hope he may be no more successful in other things than he is likely to
be in stringing this bow. But Ulysses, when he had taken it up
and examined it all over, strung it as easily as a skilled bart strings
a new peg of his lyre, and makes the twisted gut fast at both
ends. Then he took it in his right hand to prove the string,
and it sang sweetly under his touch, like the twittering of a swallow.
The suitors were dismayed and turned color as they heard it at that moment.
Moreover, job thundered loudly as a sign, and the heart of Ulysses rejoiced
as he heard the omen that the son of scheming Saturn had sent him.
He took an arrow that was lying upon the table, for those which the
Achaeans were so shortly about to taste, were all inside the quiver. He
laid it on the centerpiece of the bow, and drew the notch of the
arrow and a string toward him, still seated on his seat. When he
had taken aim, he let fly, and his arrow pierced every one of
the handle holes of the axes, from the first onwards till it had gone
right through them and into the outer courtyard. Then he said to Telemachus,
your guest has not disgraced you. Lemachus, I did not miss what I
aimed at, and I was not long in stringing my bow. I am
still strong, and not as the suitors twit me with being. Now,
however, it is time for the Achaeans to prepare supper while there is still
daylight, and then otherwise to disport themselves with song and dance, which are
the crowning ornaments of a banquet. As he spoke, he made a sign
with his eyebows, and Telemachus girded on his word, grasped his spear,
and stood on beside his father's seat. And of Book twenty one