Speaker 1: Book twenty of the Odyssey by Homer, translated by Samuel Butler.
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Odyssey
Speaker 1: Book twenty. Ulysses cannot sleep Penelope's prayer to Diana. The
Speaker 1: two signs from heaven, Eumaeus and Felicius, arrive. The suitors dine.
Speaker 1: Tysippus throws an Ox's foot at Ulysses. The Eccleminus foretells
Speaker 1: disaster and leaves the house. Ulysses slept in the cloister
Speaker 1: upon an undressed bullock's hide, on the top of which
Speaker 1: he threw several skins of the sheep the suitors had eaten,
Speaker 1: and Euryymy threw a cloak over him. After he had
Speaker 1: laid himself down there. Then Ulysses lay wakefully brooding upon
Speaker 1: the way in which he should kill the suitors. And
Speaker 1: by and by the women, who had been in the
Speaker 1: habit of misconducting themselves with them, left the house, giggling
Speaker 1: and laughing with one another. This Ulysses very angry, and
Speaker 1: he doubted whether to get up and kill every single
Speaker 1: one of them then and there, or to let them
Speaker 1: sleep one more and last time with the suitors. His
Speaker 1: heart growled within him, and as a bitch with puppy's
Speaker 1: growls and shows her teeth when she sees a stranger,
Speaker 1: so did his heart growl with anger at the evil
Speaker 1: deeds that were being done. But he beat his breast
Speaker 1: and said, heart, be still, you had worse than this
Speaker 1: to bear on the day when the terrible cyclops ate
Speaker 1: your brave companions. Yet you bore it in silence till
Speaker 1: your cunning got you safe out of the cave, though
Speaker 1: you made sure of being killed. Thus he chided with
Speaker 1: his heart and checked it into endurance. But he tossed
Speaker 1: about as one who turns a paunch full of blood
Speaker 1: and fat in front of a hot fire, doing it
Speaker 1: first on one side and then on the other, that
Speaker 1: he may get it cooked as soon as possible. Even
Speaker 1: so did he turn himself about from side to side,
Speaker 1: thinking all the time how single handed as he was,
Speaker 1: he should contrive to kill so large a body of
Speaker 1: men as the wicked suitors. But by and by Minerva
Speaker 1: came down from heaven in the likeness of a woman,
Speaker 1: and hovered over his head, saying, my poor unhappy man,
Speaker 1: why do you lie awake in this way? This is
Speaker 1: your house, Your wife is safe inside it, and so
Speaker 1: is your son, who is just such a young man
Speaker 1: as any father may be proud of. Goddess, answered Ulysses.
Speaker 1: All that you have said is true, But I am
Speaker 1: in some doubt as to how I shall be able
Speaker 1: to kill these wicked suitors single handed, seeing what a
Speaker 1: number of them there always are. And there is this
Speaker 1: further difficulty, which is still more considerable. Supposing that, with
Speaker 1: joves and your assistance, I succeed in killing them, I
Speaker 1: must ask you to consider where I am to escape
Speaker 1: to from their avengers when it is all over. For shame,
Speaker 1: replied Minerva. Why any one else would trust a worse
Speaker 1: ally than myself, even though that ally were only immortal
Speaker 1: and less wise than I am? Am I not a goddess,
Speaker 1: and have I not protected you throughout in all your troubles?
Speaker 1: I tell you plainly that even though there were fifty
Speaker 1: bands of men surrounding us and eager to kill us,
Speaker 1: you should take all their sheep and cattle and drive
Speaker 1: them away with you. But go to sleep. It is
Speaker 1: a very bad thing to lie awake all night, and
Speaker 1: you shall be out of your troubles. Before long as
Speaker 1: she spoke, she shed sleep over his eyes, and then
Speaker 1: went back to Olympus. While Ulysses was thus yielding himself
Speaker 1: to a very deep slumber that eased the burden of
Speaker 1: his sorrows, his admirable wife awoke, and, sitting up in
Speaker 1: her bed, began to cry. When she had relieved herself
Speaker 1: by weeping, she prayed to Diana, saying, Great Goddess Diana,
Speaker 1: daughter of Jove, drive an arrow into my heart and
Speaker 1: slay me. Or let some whirlwind snatch me up and
Speaker 1: bear me through paths of darkness till it dropped me
Speaker 1: into the mouths of over flowing oceanus as it did
Speaker 1: the daughters of Pandarius. The daughters of Pandarius lost their
Speaker 1: father and mother, for the gods killed them, so they
Speaker 1: were left orphans. But Venus took care of them and
Speaker 1: fed them on cheese, honey, and sweet wine. Juno taught
Speaker 1: them to excel all women in beauty of form and understanding.
Speaker 1: Diana gave them an imposing presence, and Minerva endowed them
Speaker 1: with every kind of accomplishment. But one day, when Venus
Speaker 1: had gone up to Olympus to see Jove about getting
Speaker 1: them married, for well does he know both what shall happen?
Speaker 1: And what not happened to everyone the storm winds came
Speaker 1: and spirited them away to become handmaids to the dread Errhinis.
Speaker 1: Even so, I wished that the gods who live in
Speaker 1: heaven would hide me from mortal sight, or that fair
Speaker 1: Diana might strike me, for I would fain go even
Speaker 1: beneath the sad earth, if I might do so, still
Speaker 1: looking towards Ulysses only, and without having to yield myself
Speaker 1: to a worse man than he was. Besides, no matter
Speaker 1: how much people may grieve by day, they can put
Speaker 1: up with it so long as they can sleep at night.
Speaker 1: For when the eyes are closed in slumber, people forget
Speaker 1: good and ill alike. Whereas my misery haunts me even
Speaker 1: in my dreams. This very night, methought, there was one
Speaker 1: lying by my side who was like Ulysses as he
Speaker 1: was when he went away with his host. And I rejoiced,
Speaker 1: for I believe that it was no dream but the
Speaker 1: very truth itself. On this the day broke, but Ulysses
Speaker 1: heard the sound of her weeping, and it puzzled him,
Speaker 1: for it seemed as though she already knew him and
Speaker 1: was by his side. Then he gathered up the cloak
Speaker 1: and the fleeces on which he had lain, and set
Speaker 1: them on a seat in the cloister, But he took
Speaker 1: the bullock's hide out into the open. He lifted up
Speaker 1: his hands to Heaven and prayed, saying, Father Jove, since
Speaker 1: you have seen fit to bring the overland and see
Speaker 1: to my own home, after all the afflictions you have
Speaker 1: laid upon me, give me a sign out of the
Speaker 1: mouth of some one or other of those who are
Speaker 1: now waking within the house, and let me have another
Speaker 1: sign of some kind from outside. Thus did he pray.
Speaker 1: Jove heard his prayer, and forthwith thundered high up among
Speaker 1: the clouds from the splendor of Olympus and Ulysses. Was
Speaker 1: glad when he heard it. At the same time, within
Speaker 1: the house, a midller woman from hard By in the
Speaker 1: mill room lifted up her voice and gave him another sign.
Speaker 1: There were twelve miller women whose business it was to
Speaker 1: grind wheat and barley, which are the staff of life.
Speaker 1: The others had ground their task and had gone to
Speaker 1: take their rest. But this one had not yet finished,
Speaker 1: for she was not so strong as they were, and
Speaker 1: when she heard the thunder, she stopped grinding, and gave
Speaker 1: the sign to her master. Father Jove said, she, you
Speaker 1: who rule over heaven and earth, You have thundered from
Speaker 1: a clear sky without so much as a cloud in it,
Speaker 1: and this means something for somebody. Grant the prayer then
Speaker 1: of me, your poor servant, who calls upon you, and
Speaker 1: let this be the very last day that the suitors
Speaker 1: dine in the house of Ulysses. They have worn me
Speaker 1: out with labor of grinding meal for them, and I
Speaker 1: hope they may never have another dinner anywhere at all.
Speaker 1: Ulysses was glad when he heard the omens conveyed to
Speaker 1: him by the woman's speech and by the thunder, for
Speaker 1: he knew they meant that he should avenge himself on
Speaker 1: the suitors. Then the other maids in the house rose
Speaker 1: and lit the fire on the hearth. Telemachus also rose
Speaker 1: and put on his clothes. He girded his sword about
Speaker 1: his shoulder, bound his sandals on to his comely feet,
Speaker 1: and took a dowdy spear with a point of sharpened bronze.
Speaker 1: Then he went to the threshold of the cloister and
Speaker 1: said to Euryclia, nurse, did you make the stranger comfortable
Speaker 1: both as regards bed and board, or did you let
Speaker 1: him shift for himself? For my mother, good woman, though
Speaker 1: she is, has a way of paying great attention to
Speaker 1: second rate people, and of neglecting others who are in
Speaker 1: reality much better. Men do not find fault, child, said Euryclia,
Speaker 1: when there is no one to find fault with. The
Speaker 1: stranger sat and drank his wine as long as he liked.
Speaker 1: Your mother did ask him if he would take any
Speaker 1: more bread, and he said he would not. When he
Speaker 1: wanted to go to bed, she told the servants to
Speaker 1: make one for him, but he said he was such
Speaker 1: a wretched outcast that he would not sleep on a
Speaker 1: bed and under blankets. He insisted on having an undressed
Speaker 1: bullock's hide and some sheepskins put for him in the cloister,
Speaker 1: And I threw a cloak over him myself. Then Telemachus
Speaker 1: went out of the court to the place where the
Speaker 1: Achaeans were meeting in assembly. He had his spear in
Speaker 1: his hand, and he was not alone, for his two
Speaker 1: dogs went with him. But Eurycleia called the maids and said,
Speaker 1: come wake up. Set about sweep the cloisters and sprinkling
Speaker 1: them with water. To lay the dust, put the covers
Speaker 1: on the seats, wipe down the table, some of you
Speaker 1: with a wet sponge, clean out the mixing jugs and
Speaker 1: the cups, and go for water from the fountain. At once.
Speaker 1: The suitors will be here directly. They will be here early,
Speaker 1: for it is a feast day. Thus did she speak,
Speaker 1: and they did even as she had said. Twenty of
Speaker 1: them went to the fountain for water, and the others
Speaker 1: set themselves busily to work about the house. The men
Speaker 1: who were in attendance on the suitors also came up
Speaker 1: and began chopping firewood. By and bye, The women returned
Speaker 1: from the fountain, and the swineherd came after them with
Speaker 1: the three best pigs he could pick out. These he
Speaker 1: let feet about the premises, and then he said, good
Speaker 1: humoredly to Ulysses, stranger, are the suitors treating you any
Speaker 1: better now? Or are they as insolent as ever? Nay?
Speaker 1: Heaven answered Ulysses, requite to them the wick goodness with
Speaker 1: which they deal high handedly in another man's house, without
Speaker 1: any sense of shame. Thus did they converse. Meanwhile, Melanthius
Speaker 1: the goatherd came up, for he too was bringing in
Speaker 1: his best goats for the suitor's dinner, and he had
Speaker 1: two shepherds with him. They tied the goats up under
Speaker 1: the gate house, and then Melanthius began jibing at Ulysses.
Speaker 1: Are you still here, stranger? Said he to pester people
Speaker 1: by begging about the house. Why can you not go elsewhere?
Speaker 1: You and I shall not come to an understanding before
Speaker 1: we have given each other a taste of our fists.
Speaker 1: You beg without any sense of decency? Are there not
Speaker 1: feasts elsewhere among the Achaeans as well as here? Ulysses
Speaker 1: made no answer, but bowed his head and brooded. Then
Speaker 1: a third man, Felicious, joined them, who was bringing in
Speaker 1: a barren heifer and some goats. These were brought over
Speaker 1: by the boatmen, who were there to take people over
Speaker 1: when any one comes to them. So Felicious made his
Speaker 1: heifer and his goats secure under the gatehouse, and then
Speaker 1: went up to the swineherd, who swineherd said, he is
Speaker 1: this stranger that has lately come here? Is he one
Speaker 1: of your men? What is his family? Where does he
Speaker 1: come from? Poor fellow? He looks as if he had
Speaker 1: been some great man. But the gods give sorrow to
Speaker 1: whom they will, even to kings if it so pleases them.
Speaker 1: As he spoke, he went up to Ulysses and saluted
Speaker 1: him with his right hand. Good day to you, father, Stranger,
Speaker 1: said he. You seem to be very poorly off now,
Speaker 1: but I hope you'll have better times by and by
Speaker 1: Father Jove, of all the gods, you are the most malicious.
Speaker 1: We are your own children, yet you show us no
Speaker 1: mercy in all our misery and afflictions. A sweat came
Speaker 1: over me when I saw this man, and my eyes
Speaker 1: filled with tears, for he reminds me of Ulysses, who
Speaker 1: I fear is going about in just such rags as
Speaker 1: this man's are, if indeed he is still among the living,
Speaker 1: if he is already dead and in the house of Hades,
Speaker 1: then alas for my good master, who made me his
Speaker 1: stockmen when I was quite young among the Cephallenians, and
Speaker 1: now his cattle are countless, no one could have done
Speaker 1: better with them than I have, for they have bread
Speaker 1: like ears of corn. Nevertheless, I have to keep bringing
Speaker 1: them in for others to eat, who take no heed
Speaker 1: to his son, though he is in the house and
Speaker 1: fear not the wrath of heaven, but are already eager
Speaker 1: to divide ulysses property among them. Because he has been
Speaker 1: away so long, I have often thought only it would
Speaker 1: not be right while his son is living, of giving
Speaker 1: off with the cattle to some foreign country. Bad as
Speaker 1: this would be, it is still harder to stay here
Speaker 1: and be ill treated about other people's herds. My position
Speaker 1: is intolerable, and I should long since have run away
Speaker 1: and put myself under the protection of some other chief.
Speaker 1: Only that I believe my poor master will yet return
Speaker 1: and send all these suitors flying out of the house.
Speaker 1: Stockman answered, Ulysses. You seem to be a very well
Speaker 1: disposed person, and I can see that you are a
Speaker 1: man of sense. Therefore I will tell you, and will
Speaker 1: confirm my words with an oath by Jove, the chief
Speaker 1: of all gods, and by that hearth of Ulysses, to
Speaker 1: which I am now come. Ulysses shall return before you
Speaker 1: leave this place, and if you are so minded, you
Speaker 1: shall see him killing the suitors who are now masters here.
Speaker 1: If Jove were to bring this to pass, replied the stockman,
Speaker 1: you should see how I would do my very utmost
Speaker 1: to help him, and in like manner, Eumaeus prayed that
Speaker 1: Ulysses might return home. Thus did they converse. Meanwhile, the
Speaker 1: suitors were hatching a plot to murder Telemachus. But a
Speaker 1: bird flew near them on their left hand, an eagle
Speaker 1: with a dove in its talons. On this Amphinymus said,
Speaker 1: my friends, this plot of ours to murder Telemachus will
Speaker 1: not succeed. Let us go to dinner instead. The others assented,
Speaker 1: so they went inside and laid their cloaks on the
Speaker 1: benches and seats. They sacrificed the sheep, goats, pigs, and
Speaker 1: the heifer, and when the inward meats were cooked, they
Speaker 1: served them round. They mixed the wine in the mixing bowls,
Speaker 1: and the swineherd gave every man his cup, while Felicius
Speaker 1: handed round the bread and the bread baskets, and Melanthius
Speaker 1: poured them out their wine. Then they laid their hands
Speaker 1: upon the good things that were before them. Telemachus purposely
Speaker 1: made Ulysses sit in the part of the cloister that
Speaker 1: was paved with stone. He gave him a shabby looking
Speaker 1: seat at a little table to himself, and had his
Speaker 1: portion of the inward meats brought to him with his
Speaker 1: wine in a gold cup. Sit there, said he, and
Speaker 1: drink your wine among the great people. I will put
Speaker 1: a stop to the jibes and blows of the suitors,
Speaker 1: for this is no public house, but belongs to Ulysses,
Speaker 1: and has passed from him to me. Therefore, suitors, keep
Speaker 1: your hands and your tongues to yourselves, or there will
Speaker 1: be mischief. The suitors bit their lips and marveled at
Speaker 1: the boldness of his speech. Then Antonus said, we do
Speaker 1: not like such language, but we will put up with it,
Speaker 1: for Telemachus is threatening us in good earnest. If Jove
Speaker 1: had led us, we should have put us stop to
Speaker 1: his brave talk. Ere Now, thus spoke Antonus, but Telemachus
Speaker 1: heeded him not. Meanwhile, the heralds were bringing the Holy
Speaker 1: hecatomb through the city, and the Achaeans gathered under the
Speaker 1: shady grove of Apollo. Then they roast to the outer meat,
Speaker 1: drew it off the spits, gave every man his portion,
Speaker 1: and feasted to their hearts content. Those who waited at
Speaker 1: table gave Ulysses exactly the same portion as the others had,
Speaker 1: for Telemachus had told them to do so. But Minerva
Speaker 1: would not let the suitors for one moment dropped their insolence,
Speaker 1: for she wanted Ulysses to become still more bitter against them.
Speaker 1: Now there happened to be among them a ribled fellow,
Speaker 1: whose name was Tysippus, and who came from Sami. This man,
Speaker 1: confident in his great wealth, was paying court to the
Speaker 1: wife of Ulysses, and said to the suitors, hear what
Speaker 1: I have to say. The stranger has already had as
Speaker 1: large a portion as any one else. This is well,
Speaker 1: but it is not right nor reasonable to ill treat
Speaker 1: any guests of Telemachus who comes here. I will, however,
Speaker 1: make him a present on my own account, that he
Speaker 1: may have something to give the bath woman or to
Speaker 1: some other of ulysses servants. As he spoke, he picked
Speaker 1: up a heifer's foot from the meat basket in which
Speaker 1: it lay, and threw it at Ulysses. But Ulysses turned
Speaker 1: his head a little aside and avoided it, smiling grimly
Speaker 1: Sardinian fashion as he did so, and it hit the wall,
Speaker 1: not him. On this Telemachus spoke fear to Tysippus. It
Speaker 1: is a good thing for you, said he, that the
Speaker 1: stranger turned his head so that you missed him. If
Speaker 1: you had hid him, I should have run you through
Speaker 1: with my spear, and your father would have had to
Speaker 1: see about getting you buried rather than married in this house.
Speaker 1: So let me have no more unseemly behavior from any
Speaker 1: of you, for I am grown up now to the
Speaker 1: knowledge of good and evil and understand what is going on,
Speaker 1: instead of being the child that I have been here too,
Speaker 1: for I have long seen you killing my sheep and
Speaker 1: making free with my corn and wine. I have put
Speaker 1: up with this, for one man is no match for many.
Speaker 1: But do me no further violence. Still, if you wish
Speaker 1: to kill me, kill me. I would far rather die
Speaker 1: than see such disgraceful scenes. Day after day, guests insulted
Speaker 1: and been dragging the women servants about the house in
Speaker 1: an unseemly way. They all held their peace till at
Speaker 1: last a jellious son of Damaster said, no one should
Speaker 1: take offense at what has just been said, nor gainsay it,
Speaker 1: for it is quite reasonable. Leave off therefore, ill treating
Speaker 1: the stranger or any one else of the servants who
Speaker 1: are about the house. I would say, however, a friendly
Speaker 1: word to Telemachus and his mother, which I trust may
Speaker 1: command itself to both as long, I would say, as
Speaker 1: you had ground for hoping that Ulysses would one day
Speaker 1: come home, no one could complain of your waiting and
Speaker 1: suffering the suitors to be in your house. It would
Speaker 1: have been better that he should have returned, But it
Speaker 1: is now sufficiently clear that he will never do so. Therefore,
Speaker 1: talk all this quietly over with your mother, and tell
Speaker 1: her to marry the best man and the one who
Speaker 1: makes her the most advantageous offer. Thus you will yourself
Speaker 1: be able to manage your own inheritance and to eat
Speaker 1: and drink in peace, while your mother will look after
Speaker 1: some other man's house, not yours. To this, Telemachus answered
Speaker 1: by Jove Jellius, and by the sorrows of my unhappy father,
Speaker 1: who as either perished far from Ithaca, or as wandering
Speaker 1: in some distant land. I throw no obstacles in the
Speaker 1: way of my mother's marriage. On the contrary, I urge
Speaker 1: her to choose whomsoever she will, and I will give
Speaker 1: her numberless gifts into the bargain. But I dare not
Speaker 1: insist point blank that she shall leave the house against
Speaker 1: her own wishes. Heaven forbid that I should do this.
Speaker 1: Minerva now made the suitors fall to laughing immoderately, and
Speaker 1: set their wits wandering. But they were laughing with a
Speaker 1: forest laughter. Their meat became smeared with blood, their eyes
Speaker 1: filled with tears, and their hearts were heavy with forebodings.
Speaker 1: Theoclemenus saw this and said, unhappy men, what is it
Speaker 1: that ails you? There is a shroud of darkness drawn
Speaker 1: over you from head to foot. Your cheeks are wet
Speaker 1: with tears. The air is alive with wailing voices. The
Speaker 1: walls and roof beams drip blood. The gait of the cloisters,
Speaker 1: and the court beyond them are full of ghosts trooping
Speaker 1: down into the night of hell. The sun is blotted
Speaker 1: out of heaven, and a blighting gloom is over all
Speaker 1: the land. Thus did he speak, and the all of
Speaker 1: them laughed heartily. Eurymicus then said, this stranger, who has
Speaker 1: lady come here, has lost his senses. Servants turn him
Speaker 1: out into the streets, since he finds it so dark here.
Speaker 1: But Theoclemenus said, Eurymicus, you need not send any one
Speaker 1: with me. I have eyes, ears, and a pair of
Speaker 1: feet of my own, to say nothing of an understanding, mind,
Speaker 1: I will take these out of the house with me,
Speaker 1: for I see mischief overhanging you, from which not one
Speaker 1: of you men, who are insulting people and plodding ill
Speaker 1: deeds in the house of Ulysses, will be able to escape.
Speaker 1: He left the house as he spoke and went back
Speaker 1: to Pirius, who gave him welcome. But the suitors kept
Speaker 1: looking at one another and provoking Telemachus by laughing at
Speaker 1: the strangers. One insolent fellow said to him, Telemach, you
Speaker 1: are not happy in your guests. First you have this
Speaker 1: importunate tramp who comes begging bread and wine, and has
Speaker 1: no skill for work or for hard fighting, but is
Speaker 1: perfectly useless. And now here is another fellow who is
Speaker 1: setting himself up as a prophet. Let me persuade you,
Speaker 1: for it will be much better to put them on
Speaker 1: board ship and send them off to the Sisals to
Speaker 1: sell for what they will bring. Telemachus gave him no heed,
Speaker 1: but sat silently watching his father, expecting every moment that
Speaker 1: he would begin his attack upon the suitors. Meanwhile, the
Speaker 1: daughter of Vicarius Wise, Penelope, had had a rich seat
Speaker 1: placed for her facing the court, and the cloisters so
Speaker 1: that she could hear what everyone was saying. The dinner,
Speaker 1: indeed had been prepared amid much merriment. It had been
Speaker 1: both good and abundant, for they had sacrificed many victims.
Speaker 1: But the supper was yet to come. And nothing can
Speaker 1: be conceived more gruesome than the meal which a goddess
Speaker 1: and a brave of man were soon to lay before them,
Speaker 1: For they had brought their doom upon themselves. End of
Speaker 1: Book twenty