Speaker 1: Book twenty two of the Odyssey by Homer, translated by
Speaker 1: Samuel Butler. This LibriVox according is in the public domain.
Speaker 1: The Odyssey Book twenty two, The Killing of the Suitors.
Speaker 1: The maids who have misconducted themselves are made to cleanse
Speaker 1: the cloisters and are then hanged. Then Ulysses tore off
Speaker 1: his rags and sprang on to the broad pavement with
Speaker 1: his bow and his quiver full of arrows. He shed
Speaker 1: the arrows on to the ground at his feet, and said,
Speaker 1: the mighty contest is at an end. I will now
Speaker 1: see whether Apollo will vouchsafe it to me to hit
Speaker 1: another mark which no man has yet hit. On this
Speaker 1: he aimed a deadly arrow at Antinus, who was about
Speaker 1: to take up a two handed gold cup to drink
Speaker 1: his wine, and already had it in his hands. He
Speaker 1: had no thought of death. Who amongst all the revelers
Speaker 1: would think that one man, however brave, would stand alone
Speaker 1: among so many and kill him. The arrow struck Antonus
Speaker 1: in the throat, and the point went clean through his neck,
Speaker 1: so that he fell over, and the cup dropped from
Speaker 1: his hand, while a thick stream of blood gushed from
Speaker 1: his nostrils. He kicked the table from him and upset
Speaker 1: the things on it, so that the bread and roasted
Speaker 1: meats were all soiled. As they fell over on to
Speaker 1: the ground. The suitors were in an uproar when they
Speaker 1: saw that a man had been hit. They sprang in
Speaker 1: dismay one and all of them from their seats and
Speaker 1: looked everywhere toward the walls. But there was neither shield
Speaker 1: nor spear, and they rebuked Ulysses very angrily. Stranger said they,
Speaker 1: you shall pay for shooting people in this way. You
Speaker 1: shall see no other contest. You are a doomed man.
Speaker 1: Heim whom you have slain, was the foremost youth in Ithaca,
Speaker 1: and the vulture shall devour you for having killed him.
Speaker 1: Thus they spoke, for they thought that he had killed
Speaker 1: Antonus by mistake, and did not perceive that death was
Speaker 1: hanging over the head of every one of them. But
Speaker 1: Ulysses glared at them and said, dogs, did you think
Speaker 1: that I should not come back from Troy. You have
Speaker 1: wasted my substance, have forced my women servants to lie
Speaker 1: with you, and have wooed my wife while I was
Speaker 1: still living. You have feared neither God nor man, and
Speaker 1: now you shall die. They turned pale with fear as
Speaker 1: he spoke, and every man looked round about to see
Speaker 1: whither he might fly for safety. But Eurymicus alone spoke.
Speaker 1: If you are, Ulysses, said he, then what you have
Speaker 1: said is just. We have done much wrong on your
Speaker 1: lands and in your house. But Antonas, who was the
Speaker 1: head in front of the offending, lies low. Already it
Speaker 1: was all his doing. It was not that he wanted
Speaker 1: to marry Penelope. He did not so much care about that.
Speaker 1: What he wanted was something quite different, and Jove has
Speaker 1: not vouchsafed it to him. He wanted to kill your
Speaker 1: son and to be chief man in Ithaca. Now therefore
Speaker 1: that he has met the death which was his due,
Speaker 1: spare the lives of your people. We will make everything
Speaker 1: good among ourselves and pay you in full for all
Speaker 1: that we have eaten and drunk. Each one of us
Speaker 1: shall pay you a fine worth twenty oxen, and we
Speaker 1: will keep on giving you gold and bronze till your
Speaker 1: heart is softened. Until we have done this, no one
Speaker 1: can complain of your being enraged against us. Ulysses again
Speaker 1: glared at him and said, though you should give me
Speaker 1: all that you have in the world, both now and
Speaker 1: all that you ever shall have. I will not stay
Speaker 1: my hand till I have paid all of you in full.
Speaker 1: You must fight or fly for your lives, and fly
Speaker 1: not a man of you shall. The heart sank as
Speaker 1: they heard him, But Eurymicus again spoke, saying, my friends,
Speaker 1: this man will give us no quarter. He will stand
Speaker 1: where he is and shoot us down till he has
Speaker 1: killed every man among us. Let us then show fight,
Speaker 1: draw your swords, and hold up the tables to shield
Speaker 1: you from his arrows. Let us have it him with
Speaker 1: a rush to drive him from the pavement and doorway.
Speaker 1: We can then get through into the town and raise
Speaker 1: such an alarm as shall soon stay his shooting. As
Speaker 1: he spoke, he drew his keen blade of brons, sharpened
Speaker 1: on both sides, and with a loud cry, sprang towards Ulysses.
Speaker 1: But Ulysses instantly shot an arrow into his breast that
Speaker 1: caught him by the nipple and fixed itself in his liver.
Speaker 1: He dropped his sword and fell doubled up over his table.
Speaker 1: The cup and all the meats went over onto the
Speaker 1: ground as he smote the earth with his forehead in
Speaker 1: the agonies of death, and he kicked the stool with
Speaker 1: his feet until his eyes were closed in darkness. Then
Speaker 1: Amphinimus drew his sword and made straight at Ulysses to
Speaker 1: try and get him away from the door. But Telemachus
Speaker 1: was too quick for him and struck him from behind.
Speaker 1: The spear caught him between the shoulders and went right
Speaker 1: through his chest, so that he fell heavily to the
Speaker 1: ground and struck the earth with his forehead. Then Telemachus
Speaker 1: sprang away from him, leaving his spear still in the body,
Speaker 1: for he feared that if he stayed to draw it out,
Speaker 1: some one of the Achaeans might come up and hack
Speaker 1: at him with his sword or knock him down. So
Speaker 1: he set off at a run and immediately was at
Speaker 1: his father's side. Then he said, father, let me bring
Speaker 1: you a shield, two spears, and a brass helmet for
Speaker 1: your temples. I will arm myself as well, and will
Speaker 1: bring other armor for the swineherd and the stockmen, for
Speaker 1: we had better be armed. Run and fetch them, answered Ulysses,
Speaker 1: while my arrows hold out, or when I am alone,
Speaker 1: they may get me away from the door. Telemachus did
Speaker 1: as his father said, and went off to the storeroom
Speaker 1: where the armor was kept. He chose four shields, eight spears,
Speaker 1: and four brass helmets with horse hair plumes. He brought
Speaker 1: them with all speed to his father and armed himself first,
Speaker 1: while a stockman and the swineherd also put on their
Speaker 1: armor and took their places near Ulysses. Meanwhile, Ulysses, as
Speaker 1: long as his arrows lasted, had been shooting the suitors.
Speaker 1: One by one. They fell thick on one another. When
Speaker 1: his arrows gave out, he set the boat to stand
Speaker 1: against the inn wall of the house by the door post,
Speaker 1: and hung a shield four hides thick about his shoulders
Speaker 1: on his comely head. He set his helmet, well wrought
Speaker 1: with a crest of horsehair that knodded menacingly above it,
Speaker 1: and he grasped two redoubtable bronze shod spears. Now there
Speaker 1: was a trap door on the wall, while at one
Speaker 1: end of the pavement there was an exit leading to
Speaker 1: a narrow passage, and this exit was closed by a
Speaker 1: well made door. Ulysses told Felicius to stand by this
Speaker 1: door and guard it, for only one person could attack
Speaker 1: it at a time. But Agelaius shouted out cannot some
Speaker 1: one go up to the trap door and tell the
Speaker 1: people what is going on. Help would come at once,
Speaker 1: and we should soon make an end of this man
Speaker 1: and his shooting. This may not be Agelius, answered Melanthius.
Speaker 1: The mouth of the narrow passage is dangerously near the
Speaker 1: entrance to the outer court. One brave man could prevent
Speaker 1: any number from getting in. But I know what I
Speaker 1: will do. I will bring you arms from the storeroom,
Speaker 1: for I am sure it is there that Ulysses and
Speaker 1: his son have put them on this the goatherd Melanthius
Speaker 1: went by back passages to the storeroom of ulysses house.
Speaker 1: There he chose twelve shields with as many helmets and spears,
Speaker 1: and brought them back as fast as he could give
Speaker 1: them to the suitors. Ulysses heart began to fail him
Speaker 1: when he saw the suitors putting on their armor and
Speaker 1: brandishing their spears. He saw the greatness of the danger
Speaker 1: and said to Telemachus, some one of the women inside
Speaker 1: us helping the suitors against us, or it may be Melanthius.
Speaker 1: Telemachus answered, the fault father is mine and mine only.
Speaker 1: I left the storeroom door open, and they have kept
Speaker 1: a sharper, lookout than I have go Eumaeus, put the
Speaker 1: door to and see whether it is one of the
Speaker 1: women who is doing this, or whether, as I suspect,
Speaker 1: it is Melanthius, the son of Daulius. Thus did they converse. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: Melanthius was again going to the storeroom to fetch more armor.
Speaker 1: But the swineherd saw him and said to Ulysses, who
Speaker 1: was beside him, Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, it is
Speaker 1: that scoundrel Melanthius, just as we suspected, who is going
Speaker 1: to the storeroom. Say shall I kill him if I
Speaker 1: can get the better of him, or shall I bring
Speaker 1: him here that you may take your own revenge for
Speaker 1: all the many wrongs that he has done in your house?
Speaker 1: Ulysses answered Telemachus, and I will hold these suitors in
Speaker 1: check no matter what they do. Go back, both of
Speaker 1: you and bind Melanthius's hands and feet behind him, Throw
Speaker 1: him into the storeroom, and make the door fast behind you.
Speaker 1: Then fasten a noose about his body and string him
Speaker 1: close up to the rafters from a high bearing post,
Speaker 1: that he may linger on in an agony. Thus did
Speaker 1: he speak, and they did even as he had said,
Speaker 1: they went to the storeroom, which they entered before Melanthius
Speaker 1: saw them, for he was busy searching for arms in
Speaker 1: the innermost part of the room. So the two took
Speaker 1: their stand on either side of the door and wait
Speaker 1: by and by. Melanthius came out with a helmet in
Speaker 1: one hand and an old, dry rotted shield in the other,
Speaker 1: which had been borne by Laertes when he was young,
Speaker 1: but which had been long since thrown aside, and the
Speaker 1: straps had become unsown. On this the two seized him,
Speaker 1: dragged him back by the hair, and threw him struggling
Speaker 1: to the ground. They bent his hands and feet well
Speaker 1: behind his back and bound them tight with a painful bond,
Speaker 1: as Ulysses had told them. Then they fastened a noose
Speaker 1: about his body and strung him up from a high pillar,
Speaker 1: till he was close up to the rafters and over him.
Speaker 1: Did you then, vaunt o swineherd, Eumaeus saying Melanthius, you
Speaker 1: will pass the night on a soft bed as you deserve.
Speaker 1: You will know very well when morning comes from the
Speaker 1: streams of Oceanus, and it is time for you to
Speaker 1: be driving in your goats for the suitors to feast
Speaker 1: on there. Then they left him in very cruel bondage,
Speaker 1: and having put on their armor, they closed the door
Speaker 1: behind them and went back to take their places by
Speaker 1: the side Ulysses, whereon the four men stood in the cloister,
Speaker 1: fierce and full of fury. Nevertheless, those who were in
Speaker 1: the body of the court were still both brave and many.
Speaker 1: Then Jove's daughter, Minerva came up to them, having assumed
Speaker 1: the voice and form of Mentor. Ulysses was glad when
Speaker 1: he saw her and said, Mentor, lend me your help,
Speaker 1: and forget not your old comrade, nor the many good
Speaker 1: turns he has done you. Besides, you are my age mate.
Speaker 1: But all the time he felt sure it was Minerva,
Speaker 1: and the suitors from the other side raised an uproar
Speaker 1: when they saw her. A Julius was the first to
Speaker 1: reproach her Mentor. He cried, do not Ulysses, beguile you
Speaker 1: to siding with him and fighting the suitors. This is
Speaker 1: what we will do. When we have killed these people,
Speaker 1: father and son, we will kill you too. You shall
Speaker 1: pay for it with your head. And when we have
Speaker 1: killed you, we will take all you have indoors or
Speaker 1: out and bring it into high with Ulysses property. We
Speaker 1: will not let your sons live in your house, nor
Speaker 1: your daughters, nor shall your widow continue to live in
Speaker 1: the city of Ithaca. This made me nervous still more furious,
Speaker 1: so she scolded Ulysses very angrily. Ulysses said she, your
Speaker 1: strength and prowess are no longer what they were when
Speaker 1: you fought for nine long years among the Trojans about
Speaker 1: the noble lady Helen. You killed many a man in
Speaker 1: those days, and it was through your stratagem that Priam
Speaker 1: City was taken. How comes it that you are so
Speaker 1: lamentably less valiant now than you are in your own
Speaker 1: ground face to face with the suitors in your own house.
Speaker 1: Come on, my good fellow, stand by my side and
Speaker 1: see how Mentor, son of Alcimus, shall fight your foes
Speaker 1: and requite your kindnesses conferred upon him. But she would
Speaker 1: not give him full victory as yet, for she wished
Speaker 1: still further to prove his own prowess and that of
Speaker 1: his brave son. So she flew up to one of
Speaker 1: the rafters in the roof of the cloister and sat
Speaker 1: upon it in the form of a swallow. Meanwhile, a Jelius,
Speaker 1: son of Damaster, Euryinymus Amphimidon, Demaptolemus Pisander, and Polybus, son
Speaker 1: of Polyctor, bore the brunt of the fight upon the
Speaker 1: suitor side. Of all those who were still fighting for
Speaker 1: their lives, they were by far the most valiant, for
Speaker 1: the others had already fallen under the arrows of Ulysses. A.
Speaker 1: Jelias shouted to them and said, my friends, he will
Speaker 1: soon have to leave off, for Mentor has gone away
Speaker 1: after having done nothing for him, but brag. They are
Speaker 1: standing at the doors unsupported. Do not aim at him
Speaker 1: all at once, but six of you throw your spears first,
Speaker 1: and see if you cannot cover yourselves with glory by
Speaker 1: killing him. When he has fallen. We need not be
Speaker 1: uneasy about the others. They threw their spears as he
Speaker 1: bade them, but Minerva made them all of no effect.
Speaker 1: One hit the door post, another went against the door,
Speaker 1: the pointed shaft of another struck the wall. And as
Speaker 1: soon as they had avoided all the spears of the suitors,
Speaker 1: Ulysses said to his own men, my friends, I should say,
Speaker 1: we two had better let drive into the middle of them,
Speaker 1: or they will crown all the harm they have done
Speaker 1: us by killing us outright. They therefore aimed straight in
Speaker 1: front of them and threw their spears. Ulysses killed Demaptolemus, Telemachus, Euriatees,
Speaker 1: Eumaeus Iletus, and while the stockmen killed Pissander. These all
Speaker 1: bit the dust, and as the others drew back into
Speaker 1: a corner, Ulysses and his men rushed forward and regained
Speaker 1: their spears by drawing them from the bodies of the dead.
Speaker 1: The suitors now aimed a second time, but again Minerva
Speaker 1: made their weapons for the most part without effect. One
Speaker 1: hit a bearing post of the cloister, another went against
Speaker 1: the door, while the pointed shaft of another struck the wall. Still,
Speaker 1: Amphimedon just took a piece of the topskin from off
Speaker 1: Telemachus's wrist, and Dysippus managed to graze Eumaeus's shoulder above
Speaker 1: his shield, but the spear went on and fell to
Speaker 1: the ground. Then Ulysses and his men let drive into
Speaker 1: the crowd of suitors. Ulysses hit Eurydemus, Telemachus, Amphimidon, and
Speaker 1: Eumaeus Polybus. After this the stockman hit Tysippus in the
Speaker 1: breast and taunted him, saying foul mouthed son of Polythses.
Speaker 1: Do not be so foolish as to talk wickedly another time.
Speaker 1: But let Heaven direct your speech, for the gods are
Speaker 1: far stronger than men. I make you a present of
Speaker 1: this advice to repay you for the foot which you
Speaker 1: gave Ulysses when he was begging about in his own house.
Speaker 1: Thus spoke the stockman, and Ulysses struck the son of
Speaker 1: Damaster with a spear in close fight, while Telemachus Hitleocritus,
Speaker 1: son of Evanor in the belly, and the dart went
Speaker 1: clean through him, so that he fell forward, full on
Speaker 1: his face upon the ground. Then Minerva, from her seat
Speaker 1: on the rafter, held up her deadly aegis, and the
Speaker 1: hearts of the suitors quailed. They fled to the other
Speaker 1: end of the court like a herd of ca maddened
Speaker 1: by the gadfly. In early summer, when the days are
Speaker 1: at their longest, as eagle beaked, crooked talon vultures from
Speaker 1: the mountains swooped down on the smaller birds that cower
Speaker 1: in flocks upon the ground and kill them, for they
Speaker 1: cannot either fight or fly, and lookers on enjoy the sport.
Speaker 1: Even so did Ulysses and his men fall upon the
Speaker 1: suitors and smite them on every side. They made a
Speaker 1: horrible groaning as their brains were being battered in, and
Speaker 1: the ground seethed with their blood. Ladies then caught the
Speaker 1: knees of Ulysses and said, Ulysses, I beseech you have
Speaker 1: mercy upon me and spare me. I have never wronged
Speaker 1: any of the women in your house, either in word
Speaker 1: or deed, and I tried to stop the others I
Speaker 1: saw them, but they would not listen. And now they
Speaker 1: are paying for their folly. I was their sacrificing priest.
Speaker 1: If you kill me, I shall die without having done
Speaker 1: anything to deserve it, and shall have got no thanks
Speaker 1: for all the good that I did. Ulysses looked sternly
Speaker 1: at him and answered, if you were their sacrificing priest,
Speaker 1: you must have prayed many a time that it might
Speaker 1: be long before I got home again, and that you
Speaker 1: might marry my wife and have children by her. Therefore
Speaker 1: you shall die. With these words, he picked up the
Speaker 1: sword that Agelius had dropped when he was being killed,
Speaker 1: and which was lying upon the ground. Then he struck
Speaker 1: Ladies on the back of his neck, so that his
Speaker 1: head fell rolling in the dust while he was yet
Speaker 1: speaking the minstrel Femius, son of Turpies. He who had
Speaker 1: been forced by the suitors to sing to them, now
Speaker 1: tried to save his life. He was standing near towards
Speaker 1: the trap door and held his lyre in his hand.
Speaker 1: He did not know whether to fly out of the
Speaker 1: cloister and sit down by the altar of Jove that
Speaker 1: was in the outer court, and on which both the
Speaker 1: Artes and Ulysses had offered up the thigh bones of
Speaker 1: many an ox, or whether to go straight up to
Speaker 1: Ulysses and embrace his knees. But in the end he
Speaker 1: deemed it best to embrace ulysses knees. So he laid
Speaker 1: his lyre on the ground between the mixing bowl and
Speaker 1: the silver studded seat. Then, going up to Ulysses, he
Speaker 1: caught hold of his knees and said, Ulysses, I beseech
Speaker 1: you have mercy on me and spare me. You will
Speaker 1: be sorry for it afterwards. If you kill a bard
Speaker 1: who can sing both for gods and men as I can,
Speaker 1: I make all my lays myself, and Heaven visits me
Speaker 1: with every kind of inspiration, I would sing to you
Speaker 1: as though you were a god. Do not therefore be
Speaker 1: in such a hurry to cut my head off Your
Speaker 1: own son, Telemachus will tell you that I did not
Speaker 1: want to freaquent your house and sing to the suitors
Speaker 1: after their meals. But they were too many and too
Speaker 1: strong for me, so they made me. Telemachus heard him,
Speaker 1: and at once went up to his father. Hold he cried,
Speaker 1: the man is guiltless. Do him no hurt, and we
Speaker 1: will spare Meaden too, who was always good to me
Speaker 1: when I was a boy, Unless Felicius or Eumaeus has
Speaker 1: already killed him, or he has fallen in your way
Speaker 1: when you are raging about the court, meet and caught
Speaker 1: these words of Telemachus, for he was crouching under a
Speaker 1: seat beneath which he had hidden by covering himself up
Speaker 1: with a freshly flayed heifer's side. So he threw off
Speaker 1: the hide, went up to Telemachus and laid hold of
Speaker 1: his knees. Here I am, my dear sir, said he
Speaker 1: stay your hand therefore and tell your father, or he
Speaker 1: will kill me in his rage against the suitors for
Speaker 1: having wasted his substance and been so foolishly disrespectful to yourself.
Speaker 1: Ulysses smiled at him and answered, fear not, Telemachus has
Speaker 1: saved your life, that you may know in future and
Speaker 1: tell other people how greatly better good deeds prosper than
Speaker 1: evil ones. Go therefore, outside the cloister, into the outer court,
Speaker 1: and be out of the way of the slaughter you
Speaker 1: and the bard, while I finish my work here inside.
Speaker 1: The pair went into the outer court as fast as
Speaker 1: they could, and sat down by Jove's great altar, looking
Speaker 1: fearfully round and still expecting that they would be killed.
Speaker 1: Then Ulysses searched the whole court carefully over to see
Speaker 1: if any one had managed to hide himself and was
Speaker 1: still living. But he found them all lying in the
Speaker 1: dust and weltering in their blood. They were like fishes
Speaker 1: which fishermen had netted out of the sea and thrown
Speaker 1: upon the beach, to lie gasping for water till the
Speaker 1: heat of the sun makes an end of them. Even
Speaker 1: so were the suitors lying all huddled up, one against
Speaker 1: the other. Then Ulysses said to Telemachus, call Nurse Euryclea,
Speaker 1: I have something to say to her. Telemachus went and
Speaker 1: knocked at the door of the women's room. Make haste,
Speaker 1: said he, you, old woman, who have been set over
Speaker 1: all the other women in the house, Come outside. My
Speaker 1: father wishes to speak to you. When Euryclea heard this,
Speaker 1: she unfastened the door of the women's room and came out,
Speaker 1: following Telemachus. She found Ulysses among the corpses, bespattered with
Speaker 1: blood and filth, like a lion that has just been
Speaker 1: devouring an ox. And his breast and both cheeks were
Speaker 1: all bloody, so that he is a fearful sight. Even
Speaker 1: so was Ulysses besmirch from head to foot with gore.
Speaker 1: When she saw all the corpses and such a quantity
Speaker 1: of blood, she was beginning to cry out for joy,
Speaker 1: for she saw that a great deed had been done.
Speaker 1: But Ulysses checked her. Old woman said he rejoice in silence.
Speaker 1: Restrain yourself, and do not make any noise about it.
Speaker 1: It is an unholy thing to vaunt over dead men.
Speaker 1: Heaven's doom and their own evil deeds have brought these
Speaker 1: men to destruction. For they respected no man in the
Speaker 1: whole world, neither rich nor poor, who came near them.
Speaker 1: And they have come to a bad end as a
Speaker 1: punishment for their wickedness and folly. Now, however, tell me
Speaker 1: which of the women in the house have misconducted themselves,
Speaker 1: and who are innocent. I will tell you the truth,
Speaker 1: my son answered Eurycleia. There are fifty women in the
Speaker 1: house whom we teach to do things such as carding,
Speaker 1: wool and all kinds of household work. Of these, then,
Speaker 1: all have misbehaved and have been wanting in respect to
Speaker 1: me and also to Penelope. They showed no disrespect to Telemachus,
Speaker 1: for he has only lately grown, and his mother never
Speaker 1: permitted him to give orders to the female servants. But
Speaker 1: let me go upstairs and tell your wife all that
Speaker 1: has happened. For some God has been sending her to sleep.
Speaker 1: Do not wake her yet, answered Ulysses, But tell the
Speaker 1: women who have misconducted themselves to come to me. Eurycleia
Speaker 1: left the cloister to tell the women and make them
Speaker 1: come to Ulysses. In the meantime, he called Telemachus the
Speaker 1: stockman and the swineherd, begin said he to remove the
Speaker 1: dead and make the women help. You. Then get sponges
Speaker 1: and clean water to swill down the tables and seats.
Speaker 1: When ye have thirdly cleanse the whole cloisters, take the
Speaker 1: women into the space between the domed room and the
Speaker 1: wall of the outer court, and run them through with
Speaker 1: your swords till they are quite dead and have forgotten
Speaker 1: all about love and the way in which they used
Speaker 1: to lie in secret with the suitors. On this the
Speaker 1: women came down in a body, weeping and wailing bitterly.
Speaker 1: First they carried the dead bodies out and propped them
Speaker 1: up against one another in the gatehouse. Ulysses ordered them
Speaker 1: about and made them do their work quickly, so they
Speaker 1: had to carry the bodies out. When they had done this,
Speaker 1: they cleaned all the tables and seats with sponges and water,
Speaker 1: while Telemachus and the two others shoveled up the blood
Speaker 1: and dirt from the ground, and the women carried it
Speaker 1: all away and put it out of doors. Then, when
Speaker 1: they had made the whole place quite clean and orderly,
Speaker 1: they took the women out and hemmed them in the
Speaker 1: narrow space between the wall of the domed room and
Speaker 1: that of the yard, so that they could not get away.
Speaker 1: And Telemachus said to the other two, I shall not
Speaker 1: let these women die A clean death, for they were
Speaker 1: insolent to me and my mother, and used to sleep
Speaker 1: with the suitors. So saying, he made a ship's cable
Speaker 1: fast to one of the bearing posts that supported the
Speaker 1: roof of the domed room, and secured it all around
Speaker 1: the building at a good height, lest any of the
Speaker 1: women's feet should touch the ground. And as thrushes or
Speaker 1: doves beat against a net that has been set for
Speaker 1: them in a thicket, just as they were getting to
Speaker 1: their nest, and a terrible fate awaits them, Even so
Speaker 1: did the women have to put their heads in nooses,
Speaker 1: one after the other, and die most miserably. Their feet
Speaker 1: moved convulsively for a while, but not for very long.
Speaker 1: As for Melanthius, they took him through the cloister into
Speaker 1: the inner court. There they cut off his nose and
Speaker 1: his ears. They drew out his vitals and gave them
Speaker 1: to the dog's raw, and then, in their fury, they
Speaker 1: cut off his hands and his feet. When they had
Speaker 1: done this, they washed their hands and feet and went
Speaker 1: back into the house, for all was now over, And
Speaker 1: Ulysses said to the dear old nurse Eurycleia, bring me sulfur,
Speaker 1: which cleanses all pollution, and fetch fire, also that I
Speaker 1: may burn it and purify the cloister. Go moreover and
Speaker 1: tell Penelope to come here with her attendants, and also
Speaker 1: all the maid servants that are in the house. All
Speaker 1: that you have said is true, answered Euryclia. But let
Speaker 1: me bring you some clean clothes, a shirt and cloak.
Speaker 1: Do not keep these rags on your back any longer.
Speaker 1: It is not right. First light me a fire, replied Ulysses.
Speaker 1: She brought the fire in sulfur, as he had bidden her,
Speaker 1: and Ulysses thoroughly purified the cloisters and both the inner
Speaker 1: and outer courts. Then she went inside to call the
Speaker 1: women and tell them what had happened. Whereon they came
Speaker 1: from their apartment with torches in their hands, and pressed
Speaker 1: round Ulysses to embrace him, kissing his head and shoulders
Speaker 1: and taking hold of his hands. It made him feel
Speaker 1: as if he should like to weep, for he remembered
Speaker 1: every one of them. End of Book twenty two s