The Odyssey, Page 53

  After all those empty boasts his friend Mentor's deserted him,

  and they're left by themselves there at the outer doorway!

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  So don't now throw your long spears at them all together,

  but you six throw first, see whether Zeus will maybe

  grant that Odysseus be hit, and we win the glory--

  once he's fallen, there's no need to worry about the others."

  So he spoke. They all threw their spears as he suggested,

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  with force; but Athene made all their efforts unsuccessful.

  One of them hit a doorpost of the well-built feast hall,

  a second the close-fitting door itself; another's

  bronze-weighted ash spear ended up against the wall.

  So when the suitors' spears had missed them, much-enduring

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  Odysseus at once addressed them, saying: "My friends,

  this, I'd say, is the moment for us too now to hurl

  our own spears into the thick of these suitors, who are so eager

  to kill and strip us, on top of their earlier misdemeanors."

  So he spoke, and they all now threw their keen-edged spears

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  with careful aim. Odysseus hit Demoptolemos;

  Telemachos, Euryades; the swineherd, Elatos; while

  the cowherd who cared for the cattle killed Peisandros.

  These then all together bit the wide earth with their teeth,

  and the suitors retreated to the innermost part of the hall,

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  while the others rushed forward and pulled their spears from the dead.

  Then once more the suitors threw their keen-edged spears

  with force,4 but Athene made their efforts mostly unsuccessful.

  one of them hit a doorpost of the well-built feast hall,

  a second the close-fitting door itself; another's

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  bronze-weighted ash spear ended up against the wall.

  but Amphimedon hit Telemachos on the arm at his wrist,

  a glancing blow, the bronze scraping the surface of the skin,

  and Ktesippos with his long spear grazed Eumaios' shoulder

  above his shield, but the spear flew on, ended in the ground.

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  Then once more those with the sharp and subtle-minded Odysseus

  flung their own keen-edged spears into the thick of the suitors,

  and once more Odysseus, city-sacker, scored a hit,

  on Eurydamas; Telemachos on Amphimedon; the swineherd

  on Polybos, while the herder of cattle struck Ktesippos

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  square in the breast, and boasted over him, saying:

  "Polytherses' son, insult-fancier, nevermore, ever, again

  thoughtlessly talk big, but leave any kind of comment

  to the gods, since they are far mightier! Here is a guest-gift

  for you, a return for that ox hoof you lately presented

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  to godlike Odysseus, on his begging round in the house."

  So spoke the crumple-horned cattle's herder; but Odysseus

  now wounded Damastor's son with his long spear, close up,

  and Telemachos wounded Leokritos, Euenor's son,

  with a spear in the nether belly, drove the bronze through:

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  he fell prone, hitting the ground squarely with his forehead.

  Then Athene held up her aegis, the destroyer of mortals,

  from on high in the roof: the suitors were terrified,

  and stampeded through the hall like a herd of cows

  that the darting gadfly descends on and drives to distraction

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  in the season of spring, when the days are lengthening;

  and just as vultures, with crooked talons and hooked beaks,

  come out from the mountains and swoop down on other birds,

  that fly fast over the plain, and avoid the clouds, but still

  the vultures pounce and destroy them: they have no defense

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  or way of escape, and men enjoy watching the hunt--

  so now did they harry the suitors throughout the hall,

  striking them right and left, and hideous cries went up

  as their heads were cracked, and the whole floor ran with blood.

  Leiodes rushed forward and clasped Odysseus' knees

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  and with winged words entreated him, saying: "I beg you

  by your knees, Odysseus, respect me and pity me! Never,

  I tell you, have I offended any woman here in your halls

  by improper word or deed: in fact I did my best

  to stop any other suitor who began to behave that way!

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  But they took no notice, wouldn't restrain their hands from mischief,

  and through such wanton misconduct have met a ghastly fate.

  Yet I, their soothsayer, who have done no wrong, will die

  along with them: there's no gratitude for benefits received!"

  With an angry glance, resourceful Odysseus responded, saying:

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  "If, as you claim, you in fact are their soothsayer, then surely

  many times you'll have made a prayer in my halls that the end

  of a sweet homecoming might be kept far from me, that you

  might be the one with whom my dear wife went, bore children!

  For that you won't escape a most bitter death."

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  So saying,

  he seized in his sturdy hand a sword that lay nearby:

  Agelaos had dropped it at the moment when he was killed.

  With this sword Odysseus now slashed through Leiodes' neck.

  The man was still speaking as his head rolled in the dust.

  Terpes' son too, the minstrel, was still trying to avoid black fate--

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  Phemios, who was compelled to perform among the suitors.

  He now stood holding the clear-toned lyre in his hands,

  close to the postern door, uncertain in his mind

  whether to slip from the hall and sit at the well-built altar

  of Zeus of Enclosures, on which Laertes and Odysseus

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  had burnt in his honor so many thighs of oxen,

  or whether to run to Odysseus, entreat him at his knees.

  And as he reflected, it struck him that this was the better course:

  to run up and clasp the knees of Laertes' son Odysseus.

  So he laid down his hollow lyre upon the floor

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  between the mixing-bowl and his silver-studded chair,

  and himself ran forward and clasped Odysseus by the knees,

  and addressed him with winged words, saying: "By your knees

  I entreat you, Odysseus! Respect me and pity me! On you

  hereafter shall sorrow be laid, if you choose to kill a minstrel

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  such as I am, who performs for both gods and mankind!

  I am self-taught, but the god has planted in my heart

  lays of all kinds: I'm equipped to perform before you

  as I would for a god--so don't be too ready to cut my throat!

  Telemachos too, your dear son, could testify to the fact

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  that it was against my will, with no desire on my part,

  that I came to your house to sing for the suitors at their feasts--

  they were stronger, and far more of them: they made me come."

  So he spoke. Telemachos, princely in power, heard him,

  and at once he addressed his nearby father, saying:

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  "Whatever you do, don't maim this innocent man with the bronze!

  Let's also spare Medon the herald, who used to look after me

  here in our house while I was still a child--that is,

  if Philoitios or the swi
neherd hasn't already killed him,

  or he ran into you when you were storming through the house."

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  So he spoke, and Medon, sagacious at heart, overheard him.

  He'd ducked down under a chair, and wrapped himself in

  the fresh-flayed hide of an ox, trying to avoid black fate.

  At once he got up from the chair, quickly threw off the oxhide,

  rushed forward, clasped Telemachos by the knees,

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  and uttering winged words then entreated him, saying:

  "Friend, here I am, it is I! Stay your hand, speak to your father,

  lest in his great strength he hurt me with the sharp bronze

  while incensed against these men, the suitors, who wasted

  his goods here in his halls, and--the fools!--paid you no honor."

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  But resourceful Odysseus smiled, and then addressed him, saying:

  "Relax! Telemachos here has protected you and saved you,

  so you may know in your heart, and pass the word to others,

  how much better kind actions are than mean ones! But for now

  leave the feast hall, go sit down outside in the courtyard,

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  away from the slaughter, you and the lay-rich minstrel,

  until I've finished the work I need to do here indoors."

  So he spoke. The two now went off, out of the feast hall,

  and sat themselves down by great Zeus' altar, glancing

  in all directions, still half-expecting to be murdered.

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  Odysseus too looked around, in his domain, to see whether

  any man, still alive, was hiding, in an effort to dodge black fate.

  But what he saw was each one of them in the blood and dust--

  the whole crowd, fallen, dead, like fish that fishermen

  have drawn in their fine-meshed net up from the grey sea

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  onto some crescent beach, and they all are lying there

  heaped up on the sand, sorely missing the waves of the sea;

  but Helios, the bright sun, now heats the life out of them--

  just so the suitors all lay there, heaped up upon one another.

  Resourceful Odysseus now addressed Telemachos, saying:

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  "Telemachos, go and summon the nurse Eurykleia to me:

  There's something I have on my mind that I need to say to her."

  So he spoke, and Telemachos, in obedience to his father,

  went and opened the door, and called to Eurykleia, saying:

  "Up with you now, old woman--you who are in charge

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  of all the serving women we have in our hall--come here!

  My father is calling for you, he wants to say something to you."

  So he spoke. Her own word remained unwinged: she opened

  the doors of the well-built feast hall, and came out, Telemachos

  leading the way before her. She found Odysseus

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  standing amid the bodies of the men he had killed,

  bespattered with blood and gore, like a lion that's come

  from the farmstead where it's been feeding on an ox, and all

  its breast and its jowls on either side are beslobbered

  with blood, so that it is a terrible sight to behold--

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  just so was Odysseus bespattered, hands and feet alike.

  But she, on beholding the corpses and the widespread bloodshed,

  began a cry of triumph, for the mighty deed she saw;

  but Odysseus stopped her, cut short her enthusiasm,

  and uttering winged words, addressed her, saying:

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  "Keep your joy to yourself, old woman--don't exult aloud!

  It's not decent to vaunt over men that have been killed.

  These dead were destroyed by divine fate and their own

  dastardly acts: they honored no mortals on this earth,

  either high or low, of those that came among them,

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  and so through their wanton deeds they met a sorry end.

  Now tell me about the women in this household--both those

  whose conduct dishonors me, and those that are innocent."

  Then his dear nurse Eurykleia responded to him, saying:

  "Very well, my child: I'll tell you the truth of the matter.

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  Fifty women there are that live here in your halls,

  handmaids we taught to perform their various tasks,

  carding the wool while enduring a lifetime of servitude:

  of these there are twelve who chose the path of shamelessness,

  showing no respect for me or Penelope herself--

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  Telemachos, though, only lately came of age: his mother

  hasn't allowed him control over the women servants.

  But now, please, let me go to that bright upper chamber

  and break the news to your wife, whom some god's kept asleep."

  To her resourceful Odysseus then responded, saying:

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  "No, don't wake her yet. But go and tell those women

  who've been guilty of shameful behavior to come in here, to me."

  So he spoke. The old woman went out through the hall

  to bring the women his message, and order them to come;

  while Odysseus summoned Telemachos, as well as the cowherd

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  and swineherd, and addressed them with winged words, saying:

  "Start removing the corpses now. Get the women to help you.

  Then have them clean off these elegant chairs and tables,

  washing them down with water, using porous sponges.

  When you've put the whole hall in proper order, then

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  take these maidservants out of the well-built hall, to a spot

  midway between the round house and the courtyard's flawless wall,

  and cut them up with your long sharp swords till you've taken

  the life from them all and they've forgotten their Aphrodisiac

  pleasures under the suitors, lying with them clandestinely."

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  As he spoke, the women arrived in a body, all sobbing

  desperately, all shedding big tears. So first of all

  they bore out the bodies of the slain, and stacked them

  under the colonnade of the well-walled courtyard,

  propped up against one another, while Odysseus directed

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  their work himself, hurrying them. They were forced to carry

  the corpses. Then they cleaned off the elegant chairs and tables,

  washing them down with water, using porous sponges.

  Telemachos meanwhile, with the cowherd and the swineherd,

  scraped off the floor of the close-built house with shovels,

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  and the women collected the scrapings, deposited them outside.

  Then, when they'd put the whole hall in proper order,

  they took the maidservants out of that well-built hall, to a spot

  midway between the round house and the courtyard's flawless wall,

  and shut them in a tight corner, with no possible escape.

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  Sagacious Telemachos now spoke first to the others, saying:

  "A clean death isn't the way by which I want to end

  these women's lives: they poured insults on my own head

  and my mother's too, all while they were sleeping with the suitors."

  So he spoke, and taking the cable of a dark-prowed vessel,

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  hitched one end to a tall pillar, the other about the round house,

  stretching it high, so no woman could touch the ground with her feet.5

  As when long-winged thrushes or doves are caught in the snare

  that's been set for them in a thicket
, as they're flying back

  to their roosts, and hateful the bed that now welcomes them,

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  these women's heads bobbed in a line, and round their necks

  nooses were set for all, to give them most piteous deaths: