The Odyssey, Page 39

  for lack of occupants, is full of foul spiders' webs."

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  Then the swineherd, leader of men, responded to him, saying:

  "Indeed, she still holds on with an all too steadfast spirit

  here in your halls, and always the sorrowful nights

  and days too waste her away with ceaseless weeping."

  After thus speaking he took the bronze spear from him,

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  and Telemachos entered, passing over the stone threshold.

  As he approached, Odysseus, his father, offered him his seat,

  But Telemachos, facing him, refused the offer, saying:

  "Sit down, stranger: we'll find us another seat somewhere

  in our own farmstead--here's the man's who'll set it for us."

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  So he spoke. Odysseus sat down again. For Telemachos

  the swineherd spread green brushwood, put a fleece over it,

  and Odysseus' dear son now seated himself, and the swineherd

  set before each of them platters of roast meat

  left over from what they'd eaten the day before,

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  and hastily put fresh cuts of bread in the baskets,

  and in his ivy-wood bowl mixed some honey-sweet wine,

  and then sat down himself, facing godlike Odysseus.

  So they reached out their hands to the good things ready for them;

  But when they had satisfied their desire for food and drink,

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  Telemachos then addressed the noble swineherd, saying:

  "Dad, where did this stranger come from? How did sailors

  bring him here to Ithake? Who did they say they were?

  For I don't imagine he made his way here on foot."

  To him then, swineherd Eumaios, you responded, saying:

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  "Very well, child: I'll tell you the whole true story. He claims

  to be from broad Krete by birth. He says he's wandered

  all over, from one human settlement to another,

  a vagrant: that's the fate some divinity spun for him.

  But now he's run away from a vessel of the Thesprotians

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  and come to my farmstead. I put him into your hands.

  Do what you like with him. He says he's your suppliant."

  Sagacious Telemachos responded to him, saying:

  "Eumaios, what you just said embarrasses me! For how

  am I to give this stranger a good welcome in my house?

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  I'm only a youth still, I don't trust the strength of my hands

  against any man who may pick a quarrel with me.

  As for my mother, the heart in her breast is divided,

  whether to stay there with me and run the household,

  respecting her husband's bed and the voice of the people,

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  or to go off with whoever's the best of the Achaians

  as a suitor there in her halls, who offers the richest gifts.

  And regarding this stranger, since he's come to your home,

  I'll clothe him in mantle and tunic, garments of quality,

  and give him a two-edged sword and sandals for his feet,

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  and send him wherever his heart and spirit dictate.

  Or, if you like, keep him here and care for him in the farmstead,

  and I'll send him down clothes and all the food he needs

  to eat, so he won't be the ruin of you and your comrades.

  But up there I won't let him go, to sojourn among

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  the suitors, for they're overweening and wanton, and may

  mock him: that would cause me the greatest embarrassment.

  It's hard for one man to get anything done against many,

  however strong he may be: they have far the greater power."

  Much-enduring noble Odysseus now addressed him, saying:

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  "Friend--surely it's proper that I should reply--indeed

  you rend my heart as I listen to all you tell me

  of the reckless acts that these suitors are now committing

  in your halls, against the will of one such as yourself!

  Tell me, do you let yourself be oppressed? Or is it

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  that some god's word has led your countrymen to hate you?

  Or is it your brothers you blame, whom a man relies on

  in a tight corner, even when a major feud arises?

  I wish I was really as young now as I am in spirit,

  or the son of peerless Odysseus, or the man himself--

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  might return from his wandering: there's still room for hope:1

  then might some foreign mortal at once cut off my head

  if I didn't prove myself a disaster to all those fellows

  when I came to the main hall of Laertes' son Odysseus!

  Were they to overwhelm me, one man alone, by numbers,

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  I'd much rather go down fighting, killed in my own home,

  than have to go on witnessing these unseemly actions--

  strangers maltreated, women servants forcibly dragged

  and manhandled everywhere in this beautiful building,

  wine recklessly squandered, men devouring my food

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  without purpose or limit, no end to the business in sight."

  Sagacious Telemachos responded to him, saying:

  "So, stranger, I'll give you a full and truthful answer.

  The people in general do not hate or resent me,

  nor have I brothers to blame, whom a man relies on

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  in a tight corner, even when a major feud arises.

  The fact is, our line's been kept single by the son of Kronos:

  Arkeisios sired Laertes, his one and only son;

  Then he in turn had one son, Odysseus; and Odysseus

  had only me, left me here in his halls, got no joy of me.

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  That's why countless enemies now occupy our house.

  For all the highborn leaders who lord it over the islands--

  Doulichion, Same, and forested Zakynthos,

  besides those who rule as princes in rugged Ithake--

  are all courting my mother, and wasting my property.

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  She neither rejects this hateful marriage nor is able

  to end the business; so they go on eating up my estate

  and waste it away--very soon they'll tear me to pieces too!

  Yet indeed all these matters rest on the knees of the gods.

  But now, dad, you go quickly, tell strong-minded Penelope

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  that I'm safely back here for her, all the way from Pylos.

  I'm going to stay on here, and you come straight back yourself

  when you've told her, and only her: not a single other Achaian

  should get wind of it. Many people are planning trouble for me."

  To him, then, swineherd Eumaios, you responded, saying:

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  "Noted and understood. You're spelling it out for the wise.

  But come, tell me this, and give me an honest answer:

  Should I not, this same trip, also take the news to Laertes,

  poor man? For a while, despite his great grief over Odysseus,

  he'd still keep an eye on the fields, still eat and drink

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  with the servants at home whenever the mood so took him;

  but now, from the day when you went off by ship to Pylos,

  they say he no longer eats or drinks as before,

  or goes out to the estate, but sits wailing and weeping

  in lamentation, and the flesh is wasting from his bones."

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  Sagacious Telemachos then responded to him, saying:

  "That's too sad, but for now we'll leave him, despite our grief.

  For if
mortals somehow could have all they wanted, then

  our first choice would be the day for my father's return.

  When you've given your message, come back. Don't wander off

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  over the fields after him, but instruct my mother

  to send off a servant, the housekeeper, as soon as may be,

  secretly: she could take a message to the old man."

  With that he sent off the swineherd, who found his sandals,

  put them on, and left for the city. Nor did Athene fail

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  to see the swineherd Eumaios depart from the farmstead,

  and herself approached now, in the likeness of a woman,

  one tall and handsome, and skilled in fine handiwork.

  She stood outside the hut's entrance, visible to Odysseus;

  but Telemachos neither saw her in front of him nor

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  was aware of her presence: gods are not clearly manifest to all.

  But the dogs, like Odysseus, saw her: they didn't bark, but slunk--

  terrified, whining--to the far side of the farmstead.

  She nodded to noble Odysseus: he saw it, and went

  out from the hall, past the great wall of the courtyard,

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  and stood before her. Athene then addressed him, saying:

  "Laertes' son, Zeus' scion, resourceful Odysseus,

  the time has come: say the word to your son, don't hide it,

  so that you both may plot death and doom for the suitors

  for when you go back to the far-famed city: I myself

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  shall not be slow to join you: I'm ready for this battle!"

  That said, Athene touched him with her golden wand.

  She dressed him first in a new well-laundered mantle

  and tunic, made his body more youthful and powerful.

  His complexion grew swarthy again, his cheeks filled out,

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  and the beard on his chin darkened once more. This done,

  she took herself off, and Odysseus now went back

  into the hut. His dear son was amazed at the sight,

  and averted his eyes in alarm, lest this might be a god,

  and spoke, and addressed him with winged words, saying:

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  "Stranger, you look quite different from what you did earlier:

  you have different clothes on, your color isn't the same!

  You must be one of the gods who hold broad heaven!

  Be gracious, that we may bring you acceptable offerings

  and golden gifts, finely wrought. Only spare us, be merciful!"

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  To him then much-enduring noble Odysseus responded:

  "I am no kind of god! Why liken me to the immortals?

  No, I am your father, for whose sake you are grieving

  and suffering much from the violence of men."

  So saying

  he kissed his son, and the tears ran down his cheeks

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  that hitherto he'd always firmly held back; but Telemachos--

  not yet convinced that this man was really his father--

  once more spoke out, and responded to him, saying

  "You can't be Odysseus, my father! No, this is some deity

  that's deceiving me, so that I'll grieve more bitterly hereafter!

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  There's no way a mortal man could contrive all this

  by his own unaided wit--it required a god to help him,

  who could easily as he wanted make him either young or old.

  For you, a moment ago, were an old man, meanly clad,

  whereas now you resemble the gods who possess broad heaven."

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  Then resourceful Odysseus responded to him, saying:

  "Telemachos, it's not fitting, when your own father is here,

  in the house, to be so astonished, indeed suspicious!

  I tell you, no other Odysseus will ever come here--

  It is I, such as I am, who have suffered much, wandered far,

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  and now, in the twentieth year, have come back home!

  What you see here's the work of Athene, leader of hosts,

  who transforms me however she wants, for she has the power--

  sometimes to resemble a beggar, then again in the likeness

  of a young man, his body decked out in expensive clothes!

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  Easy enough for the gods, who possess broad heaven,

  both to exalt a mortal man, and to debase him."

  That said, he sat down. Telemachos, shedding tears,

  cried out, and flung his arms round his own good father,

  and a longing arose in them both for lamentation:

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  their sobs came thicker and louder than the cries of birds,

  vultures or sea eagles with hooked talons, whose chicks

  hunters stole from their nests before they were full-fledged--

  just as piteous were their sobs and the tears they shed.

  And now the sun's light would have set on their lamentation

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  had not Telemachos asked a quick question of his father:

  "On what kind of ship, dear father, was it that sailors

  brought you here to Ithake? And who did they claim to be?

  For I don't imagine you made your way here on foot."

  Much-enduring noble Odysseus answered him, saying:

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  "So then, my child, I'll tell you the whole true story.

  The Phaiakians brought me here, men famous for their ships--

  other men too they convey, whoever approaches them--

  and ferrying me asleep in a swift ship over the deep

  they set me down on Ithake, and gave me splendid gifts,

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  bronze and gold in plenty, and woven clothing,

  all of which by the gods' grace is lying stored in caves.

  And now I've come here at Athene's instigation

  so that we may make plans together for killing our enemies.

  So come, count up and tell me the full tally of the suitors,

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  that I may know how many, and who, these fellows are,

  and after thinking it over in my peerless mind, decide

  whether we two are sufficient to stand against them alone,

  without the aid of others, or will need to round up support."

  Sagacious Telemachos responded to him, saying:

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  "Father, I've always been told about your great renown,

  that you were both a tough combatant and a shrewd planner;

  But what you just said is too much, I'm astounded! No way

  could two men fight so many, and strong men too!

  not just a group of ten suitors, or even twice that,

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  but many, many more! Let me tally them for you:

  From Doulichion there are no fewer than fifty-two

  chosen youths, with six servants to wait on them;

  from Same, the count lists two dozen individuals;

  from Zakynthos, there are two score youths of the Achaians,

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  and from Ithake itself, a dozen, all from the best families,

  and with these Medon the herald and the godlike minstrel,

  and a couple of serving men, skilled at carving roast meat.

  Should we encounter all these indoors, then bitter and desperate

  would be the revenge that you're here to take on their violence.

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  So, is there any supporter that you can you bring to mind,

  someone who'd gladly step forward to help the two of us?"

  Then much-enduring noble Odysseus responded to him, saying:

  "Well now, I'll tell you, and you listen and pay attention,

  and decide for yourself if Athene with Zeus the Father

 
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  will suffice, or if I should find some other defender too."

  Sagacious Telemachos then responded to him, saying:

  "Good indeed are these two defenders whom you mention,